Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-01
SHOPPING IN JAPAN
Plenty Time and Politeness
Are Necessary.
STORES SIMPLE ENOUGH
BEAUTIFUL OBJECTS TO BE HAD
FOR A SONG.
After the Silk Shops Foreigners Like
Best the Bazaars in the
Temples.
STORES SIMPLE ENOUGH
Copyright, 1902, by Douglas sladen.)

sNritten Tor The Evening Star.
To start a Japanese shop is the simplest
thing in the world. You take the front off
your house and arrange your worldly pos
sessions on the floor. Japanese floors are
raised off the street, though nothing Is
raised off them. The transient customer
sits on the edge of the floor sidesaddle A
real shopper, who means to do the thing
properly, like a peasant buying jewelry in
Italy, climbs up on the floor. which Is also
the counter. and squats on his heels.
Real Japanese shops don't have doors or
windows or counters. Shop windows in
New York don't leave much wall in a
12-foot frontage but even an American
shop windows does not take the whole front
of the house.
The Japanese don't have many regular
shops. There are very few streets of shops
even in Tokyo. which is as large as Berlin.
Foreigners never buy anything but curios
and knick-knacks at Japanese shops; If
they are fools they deal with shops kept
by Europeans; If they want good bargains
they deal with Cinnamon. There are many
Chinese shops in treaty ports. The Chi
naman Is cheaper and more reliable than
the Japanese. European shopkeepers do
not set up In Japan for philanthropic rea-
sons. Japanese shopkeepers are the low
est class of the population except the
cedence of them in society," and precedence
is the hobby of the Japanese.
t. Their Low Social Grade.
You have different bow and a different
salutaton for a man who is below you or
your equal, and several for the people
above you. You have even a different lam
guage for each, and Japanese writing wrign
giles like the carvings on their temples
In doh hoy IN laor Lo1xy
bow and kick away their trains before
they are presented at courts, Japanese
infants learn their alphabet of salaams
1t Is the only alphabet they have; to the
Japanese all the world Is a court.
This makes 1t serious matter going to
Japanese shop, unless you are going to buy
silk handkerchiefs. the only thing foreign
ers buy often enough to spoil the manners
riksha and the riksha boy lies about you
All the attendants in the shop salaam till
you wish they would get up and let you
catch their eye and explain what you want.
When they do get up, instead of having
shop-Walker and four counter jumpers ask
ing you to repeat your order you are Of
fered five cups of tea-Japanese tea without
milk or sugar-but you can have sailed
Cherry blossoms If you want, when 1t Is a
good shop. This Is the Japanese way OF
asking you to take drink.
What the Shops Are Like.
Hoou JAPANESE SHOPS contain nothing eX-
cept the proprietor. When you have got as
far as explaining what you want, he gives
orders to attendants, who hiss as If they
were brushing horse and trying to keep
the hairs out Of their mouths, while they
rub their knees and bob their heads.
Off they go at a run-good servants al
ways run-and bring back goods tied up in
faded green silk handkerchiefs or green
cotton cloths. The goods are kept in the
goodwin, but the customer is never taken
there lest he should choose right away and
have done with it, instead of being et!quet-
tically worked up for half day with
enough tea for a bath.
Japanese goodwin has no windows, and
only one door, and looks like a black or
white plaster coffin with a heavy gabled
roof and a crest which fills the whole gable.
Its thick walls are made of compressed
plaster, covered with lacquer and the Jap
aneSe believe it to be fire and burglar proof.
1t looks like meerschaum or ebony. All
Japanese houses Of any importance have
godoWns.
The japanese keep all their things put
away, and have them out Except their
wives) one at time to admire-they even
apply the goodwin principle to their wives.
This method Of shopping Is slow, and as 1
was not buying Quarterly Books or choice
curios I tired of it. The right way would be
to have etiquette servant like prison
editor to start an hour before you and get
through the gymnastics before you arrived.
You could choose one who held plenty OF
tea, because If you don't drink tea you are
charged more as a worthless person or
barbarian with no knowledge Of business.
The Eternal Tea Cup.
1t is better, however, to sit on your heels
and drink cups of japanese tea than to
stand about bars drinking whistles. Once
upon a time I published book in Japan.
I was only thirty then and had my life be-
fore me. I called in on my way to the ex-
hibition to ask when 1 might expect some
proofs which had been due a month. 1 had
to go upstairs and take tea on the floor, and
eat an orange, and some bean-fower sweets
before 1 could ask the question, lest L
should hurt the publishers feelings. 1t took
half an hour, but the time was not wasted,
because he sent his foreman to the exhibit
ton with me to get free lesson in English.
If you have a good riksha boy, he goes in
with you to tell you how to behave.
l made up my mind only to deal with
pawnshops, unless l was buying camphor
wood boxes or paper umbrellas. When you
buy direct from the manufacturer things