Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-17
From The STARS Travelling Commissioner

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Prom The STARS Travelling Commissioner.
TOKYO August 26th.
Japan has been wen called the Third King
dom Of Merry Dreams. Amusement il univer-
sal here, and so far from it being true that
daughter Is mans property alone" everybody
laugNs-eScepting the solemn policeman-men.
women and children, even the very dogs have
atwinAle IN their eyes they stretch them
selves out over the middle Of the streets and
seem TO smile as the coolies pulling jinrikishas
run round them For a man would no more
think OF running over dogs tail here, if the dog
did not move, than he would think OF pinching
his grandfather. and have been almost ierked
out of my jinrikisha by the sudden twist NV
men bs e made round the long tail which some
lazy cur had stretched across the street. Yes
terday saw a school boy steal up behind an
other school boy and hit him tremendous
th"aek over the head with a heavy roll of
paper ne was carrying. Did the first one angrily
,nIsa'eh or attempt TO punch his head?" Not
OH, ne turned round and they both laughed
nearby Many time my heart has been in
my mouth as my two coolies have plunged
headlonS into crowd intent on some street
performance, and it seemed impossible to avoid
Anocklng down men and women and running
over little children. But no. the coolies raise
great shout, shove half the people one way and
hall the other. andas the spokes of the wheels
Craze their shins and almost take the top-knots
OH the little people do they all turn and hurl
curses after us, as a crowd would respond to
such treatment anywhere else? Not they, they
Just burst out laughing.
OHIO AND NEW YORK.
While am on the subject of japanese philo-
logy there are two other stories worth telling.
The japanese salutation Good morning" is
Ohdyo pronounced O-l.ie-o. Now, when the
a T,lfr ,lo,,
arrived at Japan and alghted in state at the
pier at Yokohama, the crowd greeted him with
erIes OF Oia0yo. Otayo, burned clever people
tnese, remarked the fattered judge. How
the deuce did they know was from Ohio!"
The other story was told me by one of the
Tokyo editors. who speaks English very well.
how do you say Good morning in Japanese,
Mr. Fukuchi?" an American lady asked him.
"Oadyo, madam" he replied. All" she said
that's very easy toremember, because it's the
name of one of the states of my own
country. Next morning. as he was walk
ing along. the lady passed him in jinri-
kisha- ''Mr. Fukuchi.' she cried. New York
New York; little Japanese by the way. is
very easily learned. and II you add 10 a small
vocabulary dozen or so of the multitude Of
quaint and pointed Japanese proverbs, and
carefuity acquire the exact pronunciation of
these. you can soon secure reputation for con-
versational hueEcy. Moreover. the presence
OF an interpreter is a nuisance at the investiga-
tion OF many of the things that a student of
men and manners wants to know But to speak
Japanese with ease and accuracy is an extreme
ly rare accomplishment for a foreigner As for
English as she Is spoke" bv the Japanese.
could give dozens of EXAMPLES 4 friend for
instance. who is educated gentleman with
high legal degree, wrote TO me the other day
urging me to travel by a certain route because
there 1.-THE scenes delight, the cooler cline, the
FOLK dIsinterestedness, all combine to make us
happy"
HIGH JINKs AND Low JINKs.
But to return to our jinks. These may be
divided into High Jinks and Low Jinks-the
high fever and the low fever of pleasure The
former are those that must be prepared be fore
hand; the latter require only the stretching out
OF the hand-or rather OF the legs. OF Low
jlnks. again. there Is this difference: either YOU
may go to them or yOu may have them brought
to you. A japanese gentleman does not often
go to a theater, nor. indeed. if he is specially
careful OF his own reputation. to tea house;
japanese lady. never. Therefore the people
whose business il is to amuse others hold them
selves IN readiness 10 respond at all times to a
private summons. and japanese host pro-
vides after dinner dancers or story-tellers or
1ugglers or musicians. Just at home we
should order Punch and judy or a conjurer
Tor children party. The Low links. however
that you go IN search OF more attractive
and interesting. Wei 5 much more varied
and universal, so shall deal chiefly with them
Nine-tenths of the amusements of the Japan-
csc center around the tea-house or choud
There are hundreds of these in Tokyo. ranging
j h
panese Delmonico's. and a dozen or so of repu-
tation and fashion patronized by the man about
town. Let us place ourselves in the shoes of
one OF these when he has either finished his
dinner at about Z O'Clock proposes to take il |
abroad. He has his favorite tea-house we will
say the well-knOwn one called for no conceiva-
Bile reason HdD1noyd-''the house of the
beach Bna-rin-''the plum grove"-in the
Shimbashi quarter. half mile from the rail-
way station. Ii is in a narrow lane with moth
ing outside to guide you except a sign on a
paper lamp announcing that cooked food may
be had within No sooner do YOU slide back
the outside door and enter than three or four
female figures appear in the dim light and well
come you with a chorus OF Konabq1-,ca-..Good
evening and ShibdrGG1i-..What long
time since you have been here~ if you are
an hao,fne- You dof your shoes. mount upon
the raised floor. and one of the figures which
turns out upon closer acquaintance TO be a
buxom little hand-maiden in a cotton gown.
lights paper candle-lamp upona long bamboo
stem. leads you to one of the rooms of the
house and places square leather cushions for
you The honorable mistress" of the house
osd'ntsa,s-probabiy appears for few min
utes: You exchange compliments with her and
Cotton Gown (this has become proper name.
TO distinguish them from the silk gowns YOU
VIII see later reappears with tea cakes and
the inevitable tobacco brazier. Then she seats
herself upon her heels. smiles wisely and pref
tIy upon you and awaits your orders. She
knows, Of course, that you did not come to a
tea-house 10 enjoy your own COMPANY. and the
ohly questlon Is-thOugh this one asO she could
probably answer for you decentralization
VIII you summon?
THE GEIsHA.
Hereby hangs the story of the geisha-that
most characteristic and curious product Of
Japanese social hfe-and il must be told before
We can proceed. For parents who wish to
make money out of their daughters there is a
way less degrading and hopeless than to con-
denim them to the Yoshiwara-a wav which.
slightly less profitable to the parents offers
an infinitely more independent goal to the
child They can apprentice her to somebody
as singing CIR! or gelsta pronounced gn,i-
Ss0h). The mortgagee-to use the handiest
term-pays a small sum. usually from twenty
10 fifty dollars, takes the girl when she is four
teen or fifteen, has her carefully instructed i'm
the arts OF dancing and playiug upon the
sonise,a, provides her with beautiful clothes
and as soon as she is proficient in dancing
she assumes q poetIcal name-..Miss Pine"
Miss Little Snow" or Miss
Spring Flower" and he lets her out at so much
an hour to amuse the guests at tea-house or a
private party, where she adds the functions of
waitress. She is virtually at his disposal for a
term of years. so far as all her movements are
concerned and the master or mistress takes
the lions share OF her earnings Her afdires
de o0ur are left theoretically in her own hands
While she is still but child she il called Lop-