The Press., 1894-09-06
CHESTERFIELDIAN.
JAPANESE ARE STlCkLERS FOR ETl-
 OUETTE AND CEREMONY.
That Is, They Are Extremely Courteous to Each Other, but Not to Toreigners-They |
 Are Not Slow to Take Advantage of Uncle |
 Sam's Subjects.

That Is, They Are Extremely Courteous to
 Each Other, but Not to Toreigners-They
 Are Not Slow to Take Advantage of Uncle
 Sam's Subjects.
 A schoolboy will tell you that Japan is not exactly our antipodes, but to our notions everything is almost the op- 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 con- 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 8 token of being overwhelmed at the honor. And now the salutations- no abrupt "Hellop' or "How are you?" but "Your servant is rejoiced to see your honorable countenance.
 In the early days, say 20 or 25 years ago-that is, the time when w. E. Griffis wrote '"The Mikado's Empire"
 tod i,, ha same manner, and we have only our selves to blame for the dislike with which we are regarded at present. Those of us who tried to learn the lan- 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 ne, " the very worst expression a Japanese can utter and which can only be translated by our emphatic ''the d--d 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 8 Japanese bargain ing for jinriksha. He makes an offer, and the cooly, 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 cooly few hours later. He is asked twice or three times the fare which Japanese would pay, and if he offers that the cooly says simply, "No" (this is the extent of his knowledge of our tongue), and with "baka da ne" returns to his stand.
 Go into a native store accompanied by a Japanese gentleman. The storekeeper, squatted behind his hibachi (charcoal brazierl 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 can, but as to wasting his civility upon 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 ill the United States and elsewhere, and they have not been slow to take ad- vantage of the high regard in which they are held. But this is neither a race nor nation that requires betting, nor is it necessary to go into ecstasies over them. On the contrary, this people of over 40. 900, 900 has a wonderful vii tality and a national vigor that will make themselves felt in the worlds history.
 But in describing conditions as they actually are ethere 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