The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1899-06-08
BUSINESS IN JAPAN.
THE NEW TREATIES OPENING
THE WHOLE COUNTRY.
courtesy of Shopkeepers--Nativc Meth
DDS Not Expeditions Enough for Euro
peans or Americans-The Native Stock
Exchange IA Queer Place. v

Iext July opening the whole of Japan
trade with foreigners they will
'rlng about sweeping and radical
;hanges in the life of the people who
lave been called ''the Yankees of the
east, says the New York Tribune.
except in the six ports now permitted
o trade with foreign nations-Yo ko-
lama, Kobe, Tor Hiogo), Osaka, Ma
;asaki, Hakodate and Niigata-and in
hirteen other less important ones,
where foreign commerce is allowed
inder severe restrictions, the empire of
lapan Is at present closed to outsiders
20 far as traffic with them is con-
'erned. Practically the whole of the
Interior is debarred from business in
ercourse with people of other nations,
md the result of this is, Of course. a
.otal unfamiliarity on the part Of the
majority of Japanese with the trade
customs of the rest of the world.
Now that the whole country is to be
thrown open, however, there is sud-
len curiosity and eagerness on the
part of its inhabitants to know how
these strangers propose to carry on
heir commercial relations, and while
{ will be necessary, naturally, for for
signers to conform in some measure
% japanese ways, it is more necessary
still that the japanese be instructed
II the more practical and less cere-
nonious business methods and man
lers of Europeans and Americans.
For this purpose treaty operation COM
nittees are being formed in all parts
Of the empire to explain to the Japa-
lese merchants and the people gener-
Ally the most important points Of diff
ference between their own and foreign
IDEAS. For the guidance of the for
.igners translations Of the more COM
non Japanese laws are also being pre-
pared. Many a tourist in former years
would have been grateful for this
piece OF work if it had been performed
sooner, for it would have kept him
from various unintentional offenses
against Japanese ideas of correct be-
havior.
Above all things, the subjects of the
mikado are a polite people, polite with
patience and persistence which know
40 limit, and the best efforts OF for
eigner to equal them cannot fail to
seem almost like rudeness in COMPARE
son. No European-and certainly no
American-could bow, for example, as
does the Japanese gentleman who
meets a business friend in the street
His inclination is a veritable eastern
salaam. and it is to be feared that he
will stare with gentle reproach at the
jerky little nod which his hurrying
foreign acquaintance is likely to give
him in return. His ceremonious in
quiries regarding the honorable
health of the exalted friend and his
lllustrious family" are often destined,
1t is to be feared, to be disposed of all
too briefly for Japanese notions OF
such things. The idea of haste and of
business pure and simple, shorn of So
cial ceremonies, will come as bar
W tic IdiIkc pIb ~ 10
bound to be manifested wherever the
foreigners obtain a considerable foot
hold in trade. Many of the Japanese
cities, too, will probably see striking
changes in their appearance after the
foreign traders have become we'll es-
tablished in them. At present most OF
the towns of the empire are still like
wildernesses of flimsy little buildings,
scarcely better than wooden sheds
picturesque, it is true, but frail. The
business portion is small and compact
in one place, but even here there is
hardly anything to distinguish 1t from
the rest of the city. There are no big
warehouses, no busy factories with
their whirling machinery, no heavy
traffic in the streets, no hustle. no
noise. Even in Tokyo this state of
affairs Is to be found. There are some
horse cars, which charge the modest
sum of 1 sen (half cent? a ride. and
there is one electric street railway.
Other electric lines are either in proc
ess of building or in contemplation.
but there is much opposition to them
among the Japanese.
"Our cities are very pretty said
well-educated. Americanized Japanese
in this city the other day, and the
people in them think the cars a dis
I can't help sympathizing
with that feeling to some extent. or
course, the electric ears would be a
great convenience in many ways, but
they do seem out of harmony with the
Japanese surroundings, and, really, the
which everybody uses-for-
eigners as much as any one else-is
not at all bad vehicle. 1t is COM
Portable, and the coolies who carry it
are quick runners" The jinrikishas
also have the advantage OF being
cheap, the usual charge being 10 sen
Is cents) for a two-mile trip. One
may also hire them for different