Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1899-10-05
LETTER FROM JAPAN.
II IsARAGo MICHI,
SHIBA, TOKYO, JAPAN,
A,,r,uo+ 81 1900


August 81, 1899.
EDITOR OF SHEPHERDsTowN REGIS
TER-Dear Sir Half truant TO past
promises Of correspondence for publ
cation, l shall obey present impulse
to send you some notes on a recent
vacation trip. Attempt at description
would be vain and deceptive. For
neither pen, brush nor tongue could
suggest to one who has not seen an ac-
curate idea Of things japanese. Of
the countless volumes inspired by this
country, its customs, It's civilization
and people, not one but attests the
impotence Of language vividly and ac-
curately to convey ideas Nor is this
the slightest reproach to the authors.
Far, far more alien to American ideas
are these subjects than are the man
ners, the customs, the dress, the hab-
itations, and implements, the industrial
and social organization Of England at
the time OF James II. Yet who is con-
tent with the picture of England at
that time, which his fancy can fashion
from the literature of that period?
If to the Western mind different
phases of Occidental civilization are
often amazing what is more natural
than that, for the Western mind, Ori-
eutaI civilation should be lncompre-
hensible. So it is in fact The Eu-
ropeans and Americans who have re-
sided longest in Japan are those who
are least positive in their views about
all that concerns japanese character,
custom, civilization and their varied
products. Such considerations i'm
peratively prescribe very narrow lin
its for my own efforts. Merely to in
dicate some personal impressions is q
seemingly modest attempt. But even
this is excessively difficult. The
whence and the whittier of human life
are, for him who has not seen Japan,
scarcely less mysterious than are the
subjects which most impress me. The
impressions themselves are extremely
volatile. Before you are conscious Of
this full force. they have already be-
gun to evaporate. They are like those
beautiful, beautiful dreams which
thrill with delight, so soon to become
dim, fast fading memory.
memory
In company with Mr.. Mason, Zone
of the authors of "Murray's Handbook
Of Japan, y made, in three weeks, a
trip of over thirteen hundred miles
This included travel by railway, by
steamship on the Sea Of Japan and the
straits and sea lying between this and
the northernmost island, by sort of
stage coach, and by jjnrikisha.
The jmr1kjsha is a small two-wheeled
falling-top buggy. 1t has two shafts,
connected by cross piece in front,
and is pushed from before by a man.
1t is the almost universal japanese
substitute for buggies, carriages, and
also, to a considerable, though gradu-
ally diminishing, extent, for stage
coaches, railways and tramways Ow-
ing to the general absence of side
walks, to the prevalence Of dust or
mud in the streets, to the facility with
which this miniature carriage is taken
everywhere-from the very doorway
o: departure to the doorway of des-
tination, it is likewise extensively
used as a substitute for those more
primitive organs of locomotion-hu-
man legs This substitution dimin-
ishes exercise, and superinduces a
species of laziness which often degen-
crates, especially in the case of for
eigners, into general physical col
lapse. Established custom of un-
known origin, favored by mans fond
ness for self delusiOn, persists in as
cribing such loss of health to peculiar
ities of japanese climate.
Repulsive as is the idea Of being
drawn by man, the jinrikisha fast
wins favor from the foreigner. 1t goes
where carriage could not. It's equal
ly comfortable, and almost equally
rapid. You are relieved of both coach
man and the annoyance of driving.
You have only to tell your "horse"
where to go. He will even relieve the
monotony of a long journey by con-
versation-if you can speak japanese.
He is an efficient footman, and, when
in permanent service, is useful to run