The Newtown bee., 1900-06-08
TowN ToPIcs.
The Sunrise Kingdom.

! F what they do, in corner Of the globe where you have never been, is, of course, to go to that place and see for yourself with your own eyes. Another way Is to read books Of travel; for travellers have gone everywhere. and about everyone who travels now-a-days has burning desire when he reaches home to tell in 8 ] book what he has seen. But the next best thing to going yourself, for instance, to Japan is to have native Japanese come to you and tell you about his peo- pie, their manners and their ways. This is just what was done, Sunday evening, May 27, in the missionary meeting at the Congregational church. The announce ment of missionary meeting is not to- day an attractive sound. It suggests dullness to most people but those who were present Sunday evening in the Congregational church forgot for the while that it was 8 missionary meeting :; 1t seemed just like being in Japan and be- ing introduced to the people in their homes.
 Rev T. Kudo, the speaker, has been seven years in this country. He made an apology at the beginning of his ad- dress for his broken English, and it is true that he does not handle it fluently. We little realize what cumbersome machine this English language is; we have been growing into it from infancy. It takes foreigner to find it's intrica- a{as lso, ,NSksan or& r1 kcr many of them. MT Kudo did very we'll, however sand when he recited the Lords Prayer in his own language, he plainly showed that he was then on home ground and his tongue did not get in the way of his words or his words in the way of his tongue, whichever you please.
 Japan would be strange country to travel in, and what an awkwardness we would make of it ''doing in Rome as Romans dol" In fact, we simply could not; we would be bound on every occa. sion to do, not as the Japanese, but as the Americans do, and then we would be laughed at for our pains. In Japan the kitchen is in the front of che house, the parlor in the rear; the horse is kept in the barn with his head toward the door; in Japan they read their newspapers commencing with the last column of the last page. that is, we would call it the last column of the last page, but they don't. We would say that the Japanese went at everything hindside foremost, but they would say just that of us; you zee 1t makes big difference from what point you are looking at things.
 The Japanese are progressive people i; when they see good thing they know it and they adopt it. That Is the reason why they won in the late war with China The Chinese thought the weapons of their ancestors were good enough to use l; the Japanese thought that America was pretty well up in the art of war and so had ships and guns modelled after ours. The Japanese are scrupulously clean. They do not wear shoes, but sort of double sandal, 80 that the outer form can be left at the door, and then they will enter the house, as we should say, in their stocking feet. They do not have chairs or tables; in fact, if you went into Japanese home, your first exclamation would be: "Why, where is the furni. ture?" About all they have ia stored away in the closet to come out on special occasions. Thus the bed, or mattress is brought out at night and placed upon the floor and in the morning, like the Arabs tent, the bed Is silently folded to- gether and as silently taken away. Thus, on the special occasion when some com pany, the bric-a-brac and ornaments are brought forth from this capacious closet, not all at once, for that might dazzle the guest with the abundance of riches, but one thing at time, so that the enjoy ment of beholding may be long drawn out.
 l We hear 8 good deal about ssa good Methodist handshake." If our Methodist brethren are inveterate handshakers, like OEhello, their occupation would be gone in Japan, for the Japanese never shake hands. Instead of shaking hands, they bow, bow very low, and when this bow ing is done in the house, they get right 401WA OA gACA hACCS 6AA pUuxk GnGE
 heads on the floor. You could hardly call the Japanese stiff necked people
 Their spinal column must become quite
 supple, and what an humble folk they
 must be! We imagine that our ladies
 too, might learn something even iron
 our antipodes. Let me see, do they no
 say that the greatest discovery of tn
 18th century was the discovery of al
 American lady's poeketa In Japan tn pocket is carried where some people ST
 said to carry their hearts, on the sleeve
 and it is..a big pocket, too. It will hol
 about anything a book of medium siz
 could be thrown in and wholly lost t view.
 The writer was especially glad to hea sof the religious condition of Japan. Iti
 not particularly encouraging, neither 1t discouraging. The Japanese now, r Iligiouswise, are neither going back nc Igoing ahead ]; they are at 8 standstil
 The old faiths have lost their power an Itheir hold; only the ignorant among th Ipeople cling to the worship of idols. Tt upper classes are waiting, waiting ft
 more light, waiting for 3 moving impulse
 and here is Christainity's chance. ca
 Ithe Christian missionaries make the pc
 lple see that the Christain religion vi
 Lust fill the gap, that 1t is the thing f
 reception of which the decadence of Il
 told faiths has paved the way? We thil
 that they will. Nations are not no