The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-06-30
THE EXTREMES
Japanese Magazine a
Curious Mixture.
Occidental Ideas Accepted But
Old Style Of Books Are
Still Studied.

cf the many ideas that have been Dor
rowed from Western sources, that of
preparing daily papers, magazines and
other general literature for the public
is already conspicuous in Japan. Where
the TWO extremes of East and West
meet. as in the case of the magazine
the "Fuzoku Gaho," our attention is
drawn toward the efforts that have
been made to form an interesting adj
dition to literature and art
The magazine is hybrid betw .en
ancient and recent work of which
many examples are now issued to the
japanese pubic. The system uooa
which IL is got up" shows that al
though Western ideas have been ac-
cepted, In many respects the original
manner of making books is still stu lied
The title page and frontispiece will be
found at the end of the journal aud
the pages numbered, according 20 o.r
Idea, backwards. The text is given in
usual Oriental style. running half way
down the page from top to botto,n
commencing from the right hand side.
AL matter for reading, either exp.ana-
tons OF pictures. news, advertiser
and so forth, Is printed In Chinese char
acters. with the exception Of the last
page. which is in Japanese
The Illustrations show the influeno e
or Western ideas. The "Fuzoku Gaho"
Is profusely illustrated in various ways
double PACED pictures confined to sin
gle subjects, and made up of a1y
sketches az we find them In weekly
numbers~of the Graphic, etc. This sy,;-
TEN Is most frequently resorted to
where several classes OF the community
are engaged in the same occupation, or
when the old and new version Of exist
hot off .f,,e, -
othe- by way of contrast. Single PACED
pictures In black and white or colors,
and also small sketches interspersed in
the text. are comprised within the COW
ers of this monthly.
The "FuZoku Gaho" embraces a va
riety of subjects of historic worth and
present intereSt-ancisnt manners and
customs that are rapidly disappearing.
such as the secret forging of swords,
the cutting of stone implements the
celebration OF old established festivals
down to the latest incidents in Corea
and Formosa, thus inspiring many
readers by the wide range of subjects
II embraces. Occasionally advertise
ments OF English goods appear in a
cloud of Chinese ideaographs, for in
stance, the figure of an English watch
printed on colored paper to arrest at
tention; and Japanese articles of manu-
facture are recommended in the same
European method.
Owing to the use of Chinese ideao-
graphs. in which most printed matter
Is given, the editing of a journal or
newspaper in Japan is no light task.
Dir. Henry Norman tells us that the
STAFF employed on daily amounts to
nearly hundred and fifty persons. As
the Japanese equivalent for the Chi
nese characters employed requires TO
be kept coHtirNally in the ears of those
who pick out ~ ideaographs for the
printer. the pressSoom is one murmur
Of , sinsIsong from lips OF the boys
walls. The sounds must be uttered or
they cannot be recognized among the
many thousand types that need 10 be
overlooked for the compilation of a
printed book. The lower classes in
Japan cannot understand their jour
nails unless they can read them aloud.
I Too much credit must not be placed
as yet upon daily intel igence. If news
that will interest the public is not to b
gained through the days events, it
must be forthcoming from the brains of
! the reporters. The absence of a gem
eral Geographic system or any other
/ quick way of disseminating news from
one town to another renders reliable
/ informa ton difficult to collect at a Civ
en- time. Besides editors must not
give too much TO the public, and the
large staff necessary is partly owing to
indiscretions of this kind There must
always be one or more editors to spare.
/ III injuoicious liberality of information
has enforced the temporary residence
OF an editor in place of silence, safety
and police supervision another must
be ready to take up the work. NJ
Salwey in Asiatic Quarterly.