Morning journal and courier., 1884-01-18


 taurant-OR for Kobe-A Steamer Race | Kobe.
 ToKIyo, Dec. 10.
 To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 It is doubtless simple statement of fact
 to say that the Japanese are more friendly
 towards Americans than toward any other
 race of foreigners. will not say Gas many
 Englishmen are willing to admit that this
 has been on account of the superior kindness
 manifested by travelling Americans toward
 the Japanese; but will say that it may be in
 part attributable to the generous policy pur-
 sued by our minister, Judge Bingham, and
 to the visits of such Americans as General
 Grant, who was so much made of and in
 turn showed so much courtesy. It thus hap
 psns that in their street signs natives court
 American patronage for introducing all sorts
 of allusions calculated to tickle Yankee pride. For instance, the George Washington Hotel,
 though not likely to draw patronage on its
 own merits, is supposed to have claim upon
 all Americans by reason of it's title. The
 mistakes made on these signs are simply ap
 pailing. At one place read: ''Ales wines
 and aerated wattors, Taken by the American
 plan, on a straw"
 The mail which was brought in this morn l ing at breakfast contained beautifully print ed circular in elegant English type, which contained the following: 'I take pleasure in informing my patrons that have just in-
 vested in some fine pasturage, consisting of several new American COWS. and that await l their kind and earnest solicitations'
 There always plenty of bazaars open in | JaDAH686 m hU l foreigners. I visited several during the fore noon, and as they are all essentially alike, will devote sentence or two to speaking of | their arrangement. The visitor enters a l rather attraetiyely decorated store front and passing nonchalantly down the room, is soon surprised to find himself a prisoner. In other words, if he attempted to retreat he is l gently but firmly prevented, and Is pointed, 1 instead, to the route of march at the rear l end. Reluctantly he passes on between rows Of goods, turning corners here and there but always prevented from making his escape 1 by any side entrances private exits by means of ropes. On and on he trudges won 7ering if he is being led like Peneus into painless labyrinth, from which-unlike Peneus-he has no means of escape At | length his fears are allayed, for be emerges upon public highway, perhaps other than the one by which he entered. thoroughly be- l widered as to the points of the compass The truth Is that two moro proprieto tors of fancy stores combine in establishing bazaar l and this fact explains the persistence with which you are impelled onward through the exhibition. The articles on sale seem to in clude every kind of goods except groceries, and frequently do include some kinds Of fruits and confectionery. took down list of prices but as survey them nov they look so numerous that I will simply say
 mark of from forty to fifty per cent and sometimes more-oe the run of American prices. and you have the general rule. There were the most elegantly embroidered silk pin cushions 6nd kakemonos Cor wall pictures) for the equivalent of fifty cents in American money. On the other hand I have seen the most costly articles iu some of the stores There was one sideboerd in black lacquer in. laid with pearl in exquisite designs, for which the sum of 1000 yen was wanted, and along side Of It were embroidered screens labelled $50 and 400 yen. I am sure the prices would have been doubled in America. If a person could only take things home with him, now would be the time and this the place to in- vest money. But fancy carrying bronze storks ten feet high clear around the world with you, or any other articles, simply be- cause they are cheap.
 Occasionally passed temples where heath en devotees were mumbling their orisons, and casting paltry offerings into the huge contributgbn B6xes of cest-iror oG~-- wood. This worship impresses the traveller ceedingly formal. Japanese, if they worship at all (and the majority do not), humble their pray CTS aloud, and may be seen thus engaged on railway trains, steamboats, and in other public places, as if taking advantage of en forced leisure to perform a weeks worship at a time in advance.
 Every household has shrine, providing there is any religious sentiment at all in the | family; and these plain and Unnoticed, | save in cases where the people wish to be ex- ceSsively ceremonous, when the shrine may ha al oh and or twice I have witnessed an exercise before | this shrine which might possibly have been l called devotion but ordinarily few rapid
 words, careless gesture or two, acconlpa
 nied frequently by laughter and side-tslk, | constitute that which these people have the audacity to call worship.
 | By this time 1t was noon, and in order to ! cap the excursion with thoroughly Japanese | climax. stopped at native restaurant, con | ducted on the European plan, for lunch l This announcement may surprise some read l CTS, and I confess that I had been in Japan four weeks before found that the Japanese have eating houses where they repair for the food of civilized nations. These restaur- ants are called beef shops. Many of them are equipped with chairs, tables, gas chande- 1 Hers and every important eatabIe to be found in American restaurants. These tony ones charge seventy sen and one yen per meal The one l visited wRs, however, more repre- sentative Entering the shop laboriously removed my shoes, according to the uniyer- sal fashion, and received in return for them my lunch check-No 2S printed in Japanese Passing up the usual steep, polished stairs I availed myself of my limited Japanese and ordered rice, sugar and milk aud a steak Then accepted the cushion which 8 waiting moosmie hsstened to proffer me, and seated myself upon matted divan in the absence of chairs and tables. Soon the moosmie returned with plate coptain
 Il. leaves of parsley. and supplied with radishes, cabbage and water crosses for side dishes. This was ''Singo" or "gft dish, which 1t is always necessary to serve to the guest first My order has been communicated to a woman at a desk below, who IGbUriously writes out every order in detail in big book kept by the proprietor. Ths native guests were squattin9 about the room cooking their own steaks and other meats over pots of ooals, furnished them according to their own invariable request. The steak that had ordered was of course brought cooked, and that admirably, and was accompanied by fried potatoes, wooden castor, knife and fork, spoons, native and foreign condiments, toothpcks, &c. The meal over, I inquired of the waiting maid, ''Ikura Chow much)?' To which she replied, according to the absolute formula, "Arieato (thank you)" and then she pro- ceeded to reckon on her co6nting machine, the result of which was that was pro nounced her debtor for twelve and one-haIf sen, ten sen for the steak and two and one-half for the rice. I paid the quite req sonabIe.demand and ssI passed down stairs to claim my shoes the drowsing moosmies about the room rallied Git dull day) sufficient ly to chorus again cordially, 'Arigato, lras ehii (thank you, come again)!"
 Kobe, the port of entry for these western cities of Japan, is distant 8 thirty.six hours ride by steamer from Yokohama. The journey may be taken by the regular P. and 0. Hong | Kong boat, the Mitsu Bshi Shanghai steamer | or any one of the almost daily native steam CTS. Being in somewhat ofa hurry. I resolved | to start one day in advance of the regular | Shanghai boat and so procured my ticket by native steamer belonging to the same line (the Mitsu Bishi company. It so happened | that the native boat delayed in the har- bor of Yokohama twenty four hours behind her schedule time, so that was not likely to make anything in point of time by the ar- rangemeHt, although I comforted myself that would have chance to see what Japa- nese navigation was like. The boats were to leave at the same time, four o'clock in the afternoon, and half an hour before that time the steamer Canton was to leave for New York, via Kobe At three o'clock took Sampan from the native hatoba for the Hioga Maru, which was the name of this native
 Il al