The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1894-06-17
CHESTERFIELDIAN.
JAPANESE ARE STlcKLERS FOR ETH
ouETTE AND CEREMONY.

- $1,000
Sans Subjects.
A schoolboy will tell you that Japan
is not exactly our antipodes, but to
our notions everything is almost the OPP
posite of what we are accustomed TO-
Flowers are scentless; fruit trees are
cultivated not for the fruit they yield,
but for the blossoms they bear; what
little native fruit there is is tasteless.
Stately forest trees are dwarfed, so that
the garden Of few square yards may
have its pond, bridge and full grown
oak Nature is stunted and oppressed,
yet at the same time aided and assisted
SO that the result may be pleasing to
the eye, and therein lies the secret of
the Japanese character.
Real sterling worth is nothing com
pared to etiquette; ceremony is every
thing. Observe those two common sail
ors meeting in the street. Regardless
Of passersby and Of any vehicle that may
interrupt their greeting, they uncover,
bow deeply, heaving deep drawn sigh
as a token of being overwhelmed OF
bQ0 uOuOIs k3uu AOW bllO GdlutdblOub--
no abrupt "Hello'' or 'How are your"
but "Your servant is rejoioed to see
your honorable countenance.
In the early days, say 20 or % years
ago--that is, the time when w. &c.
Griffis wrote ''The Mikado's Empire"
we foreigners were treated in the
same manner, and we have only our
+0 11o,~,a For fIa dic1i1ya ~r-ifh
which we are regarded at present.
Those of us who tried to learn the Ian
guage, being accustomed to the terse
and more or less abrupt Anglo-Saxon,
had very little patience with this con-
tinuous flow Of ceremonial Many is the
time that hearty "baka da me-" the
very worst expression Japanese can
utter and which can only be translated
by our emphatic "the id fool, ," was
hurled at the back Of the unconscious
foreigner. He had offended against the
supreme law, the code of ethics, by dis
regarding ceremonial forms which the
native considers indispensable in all
intercourse Here is Japanese bargain
ing for jinriksha. He makes an offer,
and the cody, bareheaded, with pro-
found salaam, says, "That is honorably
SO, but may it please your honor to be-
stow" etc. A foreigner bargains with
the same cody few hours later. He
is asked twice or three times the fare
which a Japanese would pay, and If he
offers that the cody says simply, "No''
(this is the extent of his knowledge of
our tongue) and with a "baka da ne''
returns to his stand.
Go into native store accompanied by
a Japanese gentleman. The storekeeper,
squatted behind his hibachi charcoal
brazier), bows profoundly to your friend
and favors you with stare. Would his
politeness not be thrown away upon
such boor as you, being a foreigner,
are supposed to be? You are welcome
to buy, and he will squeeze you all he
you-bahl
There is no use in mincing matters.
Japan has been described time and again
by ephemeral visitors who saw every
thing as through rose colored glasses.
The consequence is that Japan and the
japanese have been misrepresented,
both in the United States and elsewhere,
and they have not been slow to take adj
vantage of the high regard in which
they are held. But this is neither a
race nor nation that requires petting,
nor is it necessary to go into ecstasies
over them. On the contrary, this people
of over DO, 900, 900 has wonderful vi
tally and national vigor that will
make themselves felt in the worlds
history.
But in describing conditions as they
actually are there is no intention to cast
all the odium upon the Japanese. It has
been stated before that we foreigners
are chiefly to blame. To explain this
more fully it is only necessary to look
into the matter of business intercourse
as between foreigner and native.
In early days-in some firms-this
custom still prevails. The bargaining
with the natives was intrusted to the
colnpradore, usually a Chinaman, who
spoke the Yokohama kotoba (dialect) of |
the Japanese. Now a Chinaman consid-
ers himself as at least the equal if not
the superior of us, but is decidedly ar
rogant toward Japanese, who in his
turn regards his Monaghan neighbor
with the contempt Of Californian.
Under these circumstances a Japa-
nese gentleman on business intent would |
come to Yokohama. Instead of meeting |
with the courtesy to which, in his own
country at least, he certainly is entitled,
ne would be detained by the Chinaman
il perhaps meet some supercilious Junior
clerk fresh from the mother country
md consequently not little impressed
With his own superiority over any ma
i've, asking him, "What do you want?"
md then refer him to the Chinaman.
Is it not natural that this Japanese
hould shake the dust of this house and
make a solemn vow not to cross the
threshold again?
To be sure, most firms have suppressed
ID tho Chinese compradore by native
alesmen or Interpreters, but these be-
ong to the lower class of Japanese, with
whom a gentleman will not associate.
Hence misunderstanding and ill feeling
,revail
japanese Of the better class give Yoke
anna a wide berth. To them this city
$ an anomaly, fungus upon the sacred
oil Of Dali Nippon, and some foreign
rs, thoughtlessly perhaps, do much to
Ill