Birmingham age-herald., 1895-07-13
THE LAPS ARE HAPPY
THEIR GREAT koTo EXPOSITION IS
 A DISTINCT SUCCESS.

View Foroigners-The Great American
 Trolley In the sLand of the Rising Sun"
 By all odds the most interesting and fas- cinating city in Japan is the ancient capi- tai, Kioto. It is absolutely tho heart of Japan, if not the soul. "What Rome is to Europe Kioto is to Japan, says the guide, who is a learned man. The foreigner is not much seen here, and his impress is rarely folt. The two semiforcign hotels arc under Japanese management, and thero are not ten fin de sieclc structures in the whole city. Kioto's people arc sharply diff ferent from those of the treaty ports-hand- somcr types are seen and the politcness is most genuine. The location is simply su- perb, tho environments ever attractive. With it's horseshoe dome of vortant noun tains, its broad reaching river Kamo in it's center, it's well paved, clean streets, it's wonderful temples, it's ancient castle and palace and it's griIny ages of tradition, Xii oto is indeed spot well worth visiting.
 Wayfarers are all delighted with it, and the universal spontaneous expression of foreigners is that Kioto should be today the capital of tho empire Tokyo is vast in area-a city of dust and distance Ev- erybody apparently lives five miles from everybody else. Time is lost in visiting places of interest. Tho great modern gov ernmcnt buildings give the city's center most incongruous aprcarance-the squal- i'd acres of ancient frame structures im- pinging upon the triumphs of architec- tural art "as tho too of tho peasant might "gall the courtier's kibc.' On tho other hand, kioto, sitting compactly upon a level plain at the feet of her mountains, is &C., ccssible, natural, clean, and from an old Japanese standpoint, perfect city.
 Always beehive of industry, Kioto to- day is buster than ever. Her national ex- position is making her S50, 900 people un- usually happy. This she calls this year tho "Heianscnto Kinensai" tho celcbra- tion of tho eleven hundredth annivcr- sary of tho setting up of tho capital by tho flftieth emperor, Kwanmu. The city, as tho French would say, is today "tout pavoise." Every house has its Iris ing sun" flag, uniform in size and setting, and each has in it's front protubcrant and plethoric lantern. By day one moves along miles and miles of streets almost archcd with banners, and at night the col ored lights fill the city with radiance
 Great crowds of ruralists flock to the wondrous show, wearing the garb fash toned thousand years ago and studying everything with the curiosity of children. To all such foreigners arc a rarity. For a party of Europeans to stop in front of a shop is to draw crowd of staring adults and happy faced children. They stare and smile, but thore is never any rudeness. One feels that he is giving much enjoy ment, and he forgives all intrusion. Stop ping yesterday in front of bamboo shop, 1 soon had an audience of as quaint look ing beings as ever my eyes rested on. The early Jap, with his inverted bread bowl hat, his lcggings and his straw sandals, was there, likewise the half naked cooly, the little child with still smaller child strapped on his back, grinning oirls, helf .i. d oiti people ana tie ever happy, bound ing, big eyed boys. They gazed and gab- bled and smiled and watched with pro- found interest the deal with the youthful bamboo worker. Having been subjected to much of this sort of thing in Japan, enjoyed the inspection greatly. I studied the faces around me with interest.
 The one thing here which attracts uni versal attention is the trolley railway line extending from the Central railway station to the exposition grounds. 1tis, of course, an American institution and it is well constructed. Every car is packed from morning till night, and crowds of people 
 mysterious working of tho electricity seems to fill the ruralists with awe, and ono can well imagine here the significance of tho slang term 'yap," as applied to our west ern town visitors touched with timothy and filled with inexperience. This little railway will be immensely profitable. It shows what the future of the trolley will be in the dcnscly populated cities of Ja- pan, which arc fairly yearning for it. Alas for tho patient tireless, trotting jinrikisha manl
 Viewed from OUT standpoint tho exposi- tion is neither great nor gorgeous, but it is full of interest from first to last. It, too, is Japan. Tho buildings arc large, airy and clean, and the grounds through out arc perfect. All is orderly. With the exception of few war panoramas on the outskirts there arc no flaring diversions no disgusting Midway plaisance shows In fabrics tho exposition excols. The cereal department shows the wonderful resources of Japan agriculturally. In machinery the initiative faculty of the people is thor oughly demonstrated. I saw nothing new or suggestive, but from clothes wringcr to printing press and dynamo 1 saw the un- erring evidence of their skill and dctermi- nation to achieve.
 Inc Ntluc Ol tiilS eAlCSltiOu lS tiidt lb shows the steady and the marvellous ad- vancement of Japan. It is new Japan in- decd. Those who saw its national fair 15 years ago are astoundcd by the develop ment and are busy wondering what tho next 15 or 20 years will show. Another value is tho educational one. The admis- sion price is only 5 sen. Everybody can go. On tho two days that I was there I saw hundreds of companies of happy faced uniformed schoolboys going through the various departments, each with notebook and pencil in hand, making careful mem- oranda of all that they saw. These young gentlemen will write essays on these won- derful things. The notebook seemed to be very popular with all classes. I saw no end of elderly gentlemen going about lnak ing notes in tho impressive manner of the country newspaper reporter Their glcancd knowledge will no doubt Do disseminated. John A. Cockerill in New York Herald.