St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-05-22
iFt AsJAUNT1N JAPAN.
Judge Flandrau Describes His visit
= TO that Land.


There was very large and select audi
ence at Stewart hall last evening, which
listened with the deepest interest to the
graphic description given by Hon. G. E.
Flandrau to the Dramatic club of his visit
to Japan last year, in company with Judge
Wilkin. s-4l
- On entering the hall each attendant was
presented with veritable Japanese fan,
while the platform upon which the speaker
stood was gotten up in imitation of Japa-
nese room, and was adorned with rugs,
tapestries, fans, sunshades and host OF
other articles of Japanese handiwork, the
same being lighted with Japanese lanterns
OF rich design. q
Judge Flandrau preceded his lecture by
saying that while this club was six years
old he had never contributed, though a
member, any histripnic or terpsichorean tai
ent, and to make up for, it would give the
club an hours conversation on his travels
in Japan, of which So little is generally
known to the American public. M u
X, In order to do this he would take his
hearers a journey of 5000 miles, requiring
tWenty-seven nays of travel, in five min
utess On leaving ST. Paul he touched edt
ppf e. SALT LAKE CITY, ID err
on the shores of the dead sea of America, o
beautiful city, notorious for the tenacity
with which people cling to religions of older
or newer origins, and in which Joe Smith
and Brigham Young had built up their
great fraud. He then described the cross
ing of the Sierras into the valley of the Sac
ramentO as passing from Hades into Elys-
ium, and paid glowing tribute to the city
of San Francisco, in which the Palace
hotel, for comfort, ease and elegance, sur
passes all the hotels of the world. ST. Paul
and San Francisco both had their origin in
1S47, and both had grown since that time
beyond all precedent. To him all the real
cities in this Republic were New York,
New, Orleans, Chicago, San Francisco and
st. Paul. s~'
From San Francisco to Japan the steamer
ticket cost $3.50, and in the passage one
was completely isolated from the world.
1t was trip. for repose and serenity, and
the sea was as calm as White Bear lake
until the beautiful shores of Japan were
sighted, where every inch of land was
planted to a seed, and where the variety
of crops sown made its gardens resemble
in color crazy quilt. All the villages
and towns in Japan had the same appear
ance, having fiat roofs, no steeples, and
the buildings being of red-broWn color.
The scene on arrival Of the steamer at
Yokohama was described, in which the
Jap hackInan with his two-wheeled vehicle,
drawn by, himself, put to discount all the
cheek of the American product. The geo
graphical outline of Japan was given at
length, with its frigid zone in the north
and tropical in the south, and it was moth
ing more or less than a cluster of islands,
all of which. were larger than the United
States with Alaska left off staa.. =, go,
Up. to the sixth century Japan has no
history but tradition, when the Chinese in
troduced their idolatry. = 1t treated its royal
family as the children of the gods, but how
the common people got INTO the world it
had no theory. a. 81 .,,ni1es,gs..r i. stna.
ii THEY ARE VERY RELIGIOUS, ~
have hosts of temples which are richly
adorned and situated in the most beautiful
localities. These are surrounded by ancient
groves Off theieamphor tree, and area won
der to all who behold them. They are
famous for their ancient statues in bronze,
all of which are in squatting posture, one of
the largest of which is as awesome as the
Egyptian Sphinx, and six men can stand in
side of its hollow head.
They trace their present mikado as the
121st in succession since 660 years before
Christ. The speaker then at length pro-
ceeded to describe these monarchS and the
feudal harons of the nation, somewhat
resembling the robber barons of the Rhine
in their lawleSsness against the people and
the government itself; and also the ruins of
many of their great castles. These latter
were captured in the revolution of 1868, in
which the power o. the mikado was made
supreme and European customs were intro
duced into Japan. At this point the
speaker paid noble tribute to Commodore
Perry, who, for the United States, opened
the first ports in China to our trade, and
then in turn to the japanese.
As artisans the Japanese eXcelled in the
manufacture of silks, bronze, porcelain;
and their art of sword making was once
equal to that of Damascus. Rice, tea and
fish were their staples, and in raising rice
they even made water run up hill for the
purposes of irrigation. At this point the
speaker dropped off into a conversational
narrative of his visit to inland Japan, full
of new and interesting facts, but not to be
satisfactorily reproduced in the short space
allotted to this synopsis. This embraced a
description of travel, habits, costumes,
bathing, dining, dwelling, artisanship, pro-
auctions, etc. The people inland were
found to be most pleasant and courteous,
while their gardens made the country bios
som as a rose. M
A PLEASANT DESCRIPTION
was given of several dinner parties given in
honor of 1.-TWO American noblemen," in
which the Japanese girls fed these s'noble-
men" with the chop-sticks. The japanese
women were most aesthetic in the matter of
dress, and the fine fabrics which they have
to get themselves up in would make an
American woman go mad with envy. The
Japanese girls, with their jet black hair and
eyes, were very beautiful. but with mar
rage all this was transformed into hideous-
ness. After marriage the Japanese woman
colors her pearly teeth black and shayes off
her eyebrows, so that no man may ever
look upon her in admiration again.
The speaker then gave an account of
Japanese wreStlers selected In youth for
their size and strength, and trained at the
expense of the government for giving pub
lie exhibitions for the amusement Of the
people. One of these had been in America
some time and no one had ever fioored him
or ever would this side of the ocean.
The Japanese, he believed, had great
future before them as an Eastern nation, hay
ing in them the making up of a grand people.
After illusions to one of the governors of
the Japanese provinces resembling Gov.
Ramsey and a description of compliment
tary letters on silk given the Americannoble-
men by Chinese consul, Judge Flandreal
closed by saying that though there was
much to be curious over and wonder at in
the older countries, there was nothing in
them to inspire the love which we hold for
our own. We rejoice we have no ruins
and no kings, for honor and intelligence is
our badge of royalty and liberty, priceless
liberty our mistress and our pride.
THE GRAND ARMY.