Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-09-22
FIRST InPRESsIONs OF JAPAN.
Strange Combinations OF European
and Eastern Life In Yokohama.

TIE xoSEY-xAxrSs POLICY or rur FOREIGN SET.
lLENEST-PEN SKETCHES OF A JAPANESE SEA.
PoRr-THE GRACE or NATIVE woxKS-A n.R.
BARIc KELIGIors FESTIVAL.
From TIE STARS Travelling COMMISSIONS
YOKOHAMA. July 10. 1883.
NY feiiow-passengers by the Belgic are now on
their homewsrd voyage In her. They have in
spected Yokohama and Tokyo; they nave travelled
IN the Interior; they have "done" NikSo In the
north and kyoto in the south: they have sailed
over the Inland Sea; they have become experts
In japanese antiquities; they are informed upon
japanese politics.; from tea-house 20 temple and
from tne Daioutsu 70 Fu1iyama nothing has es-
capped their scrutiny. AT last they are gazing
again over the blue Pacific but how differently
from few short weeks aeoI Then all was eager
ANTICIPATION; now there Is the proud safety OF
rounded experience and ruIlness OF knowledge
Japan, the unknown. the immemorial, the mag
netic, the ardently desired the wonderland Oh the
world. mas been encompassed by a summers trip
IL Is oaack-penciled In their Murray it has become
the accomplished fact, the squeezed orange
Happy fellow passengers!
For my own part have hardly been outside the
Two cnief cities and know nothing yet OF many
0l tnese places But have seen a good deal OF
Japanese HE, both public and private; have
visited every government Institution In the capt.
TAI; have met the leading merchants and the
leauing journalists; have had the privilege OF
taking over japanese affairs with nearly every
foreign minister and japanese minister OF state
and nave had the great honor or being presented
70 the Mlkado himself sui / start 10 write my
'nrst impressions" OF this wonderful country with
much more dilndence than / should have felt a
get below the surface and below the conceptions
VI the foreign population The japan OF to-day
does not wear her heart upon her sleeve nearly so
much as people think.
ANEW OF YOKOHAMA.
EVerybody's acquaintance with Japan begins az
Yokohama, which is a pity. When one meets
strange man one desires 10 look at his face not at
his boots. Neither does a sane man begin his IN
spection OF mill by putting his nnger between
The millstones Externally Yokohama pretty
place AZ night, when the big steamer swings
slowly up TO her anchorage In the haroor and
nounces herself To the sleeping Inhabitants by
great blasts OF her log horn, To which gun from
We Anerlcan man-oi.war responds, as she brings
The American mails, Yokohama Is a double semi
circle OF bright lights and their reflection dancing
In the dark water. In the morning, when hun
dred sampans crowd about the ship. each easily pro-
PEELED by Its naked occupant with one huge scull
over the stern, ana with the sunrise, an enormous
coal barge comes alongside and a hundred nearly
naked men and boys pass UP the coal from hand
70 hand IN what would seem ut home bread
baskets Yokohama Is long boulevard, called
pier, called the "Hstoba," With a pleasant
wooded hill To the lett, known as the "Blun7
dotted with white houses. The harbor or bay Itself
Is circle OF water perhaps three miles wIde-Dls
enough at any rate 10 be 50 rough in windy
weather that the snips have 10 geI up steam aud
80 10 sea Tor safety. IL Is crowded with shipping
bow-a dozen white English men-Uf-waT, tiny
eockle-sheil gun-ooats ike tine Rather, fine
der, and that awkward terrible monster,
the lnperieu,e; two Old black American
irigates with as mucn rigging as an
ship, the MOnOcacy, a red-and- white paddle
wheel affair like a Long Island Sound Terry boat,
30 old and cranky that II would probably be un-
safe TO get up steam her. and She will doubtless
De broken up and sod piecemeal not mile from
where she hes; stray Chilidn corvette, with the
air OF a steam fisning-smack, and Dutcn gun
ooat-heaven knows what they are dong here;
three or four big black liners, belonging the o.
and o., the +. anu u, the MessagerieS Maritimes,
and the Nippon Yusen Kaishd, the Japanese line
10 shanghai; anu hundreds OF native JunkS and
slmpans, with their vIkIng-like lofty prows and
stems and square pleated sails. The British en-
plre 50 lar seems 10 me coextenSive with the sea:
Yokohama Bay is more English tnan the Mersey.
THE FOREIGN SETTLEMENT.
On shore, private hOu ses the club and the hotels.
occupy the Bund and face the sea. They are all
two-story buildings with wide verandahs and
large windows, and before each semi-publc H.
stitution Is row OF JinrfkishaS, the universal
twowheeled baby carriage with shafts IL W hicn
you make any journey from 4 hundred yards to q
hundred miles, drawn by one or more snort cob
Ike coolies, dressed only In shirt and draws OF
back telling his name or association, and under
whose brown SKIN the muscles stand IN ropes and
Knots In altogether abnormal fashion. There Is
silly travellers, tale that mans lie averages
only nve years alter he becomes jinrikisha
WeaS sOOt in course heart or man n0, with Rous
soon succumo 10 such work, but there are
plenty OF Jolly and healthy LOOKING men Ia middle
HE calling out Tor your patronage. Many OF them,
however. suffer from varicose veins, and not a Few
have the hollow racking cough OF the consumpttve.
The resident soon gets caIous this; the visitor
generally gets nd Of them with a few sen and en-
cages healthy man. Behind the Bund is the busi-
ness part OF the foreign settlement, a number OF
streets OF solid brick AID stone buildings far more
sober and quiet than any mercantile quarter ut
home. The bank building 5, Tor instance have the
ments OF police-statlon. Sleek weil-ied China
men. the go-OetweenS OF the foreign merchants and
The japanese, stroll about In taelr gray cotton
vests and blue silk trousers and always with
huge cneroot; endless bales OF silk and tea are
being handled 10 quaint ..snanties"-the Japanese
coolie Is firm believer that "verse sweeIens TOLL
however rude the sound" and II he has only a
hole 10 bore he bores IL (and us) with a ~ Tim
Business begins at 10 and ends with ). and be-
elephant as for merchant, Tor they are all at
thin The residences on the BLUM are delIghtrul
long view over the bay. Every oody lives there
who can AFFORD IL, and the public garden for ten
MS and afternoon tea could hardly be prettier or
pleasAnter.
TIE JAPANESE TOWN.
Beyond the business part OF Yokohama Is the
japanese town. There are two or three streets OF
nne shops ana massive nre-proof .,godownsr uhe
Cninaman's pidgin English for warehouse from
busincss), where silks and lacquer and bronzes
and ivory are sold 10 gobetrotters prices which
bear more causal relation 10 the pocket OF the
purchaser than 70 the price OF production. But
the rest OF the japanese town with Its $4,000 IN
1eo4lo1eS - apparently pOOT anu ccrtall.y
Characteristic aud shall postpone any descrIp-
ton for better subject Upon cuIio-DuyIny
however, word may be acceptable u lntendnx
Visitors have prowled pretty much all oyer
lokonana and TOKYO some. lines alone and
sometimes under the guidance OF friendly ex-
pert, and have nnisned by coming back Tor most
OF the things wanted 70 Deakln Brothers on the
bund. Unless you know exactly what you want
and can recognize IL and It's counterfeit when YOU
see them, you are quite certain TO buy rubbish al
hign rate; and Is One tourist In a Thousand abIe
10 Tell q lacquer kogO by korin from an Incense
II ON M h. M
kutani porcelain from forgery by Nakuzu OF
Yokohama, or = bronze by seimin from It's doe
tored Reproduction by kyoto experts? doubt It,
Deakin's best Things, on the other hand- are
bought Tor MIN BY professional japanese Judges
and when he tells you that a certain thing n, 81,
and-sos the chances are about even InaI AZ Is
ABOUT curios, OF course, there Is NO certaaty ex-
cept the certainty OF great risk and there are not
more than haI a dozen cOnnoisseurs In the world
who could give you mucn better percentage OF
security than this BY firSt-class japanese curio-
dealer, TOO, you are only shown one thing at a
utne and good deal OF Tea drink ny and
s~eetmeat eating Is sandwiched In between the
lacquer and the Lung-chHoUt-yao. between the
oronze and The orocade. Whereas at DeakIc's you
can spend hours Al your leisure looking over much
the most VARIED collection OF cuTios especially Of
the bcautifui modern things, Tor sale Japan and
the wal -Ianng man. though u fool, cannot err
much therein. IL ne charges you a little mOre-of
cU0rse ne would scout the idea-y0u are still the
better on BY several days time spent in vain
Ing. gOod-sZed JInriklsha 0ll, and a slom &C n
acne. i have uweiI on TINS point because every