Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1903-12-07
OBSERVATIONS IN JAPAN.

469 miles northeast of Shanghai,
china, across the East China Sea, is
Nagasaki, Japan, a city of 100000
thousand inha bitants, situated in the
part of the island of
Kyushu, on one of the most beautiful
harbors in the world. The shallow
ness of the harbor prevents large sea-
going vessels from reaching the dock.
Passengers desiring to go ashore
must either take sampdn or hotel
launch. Land is no sooner reached
than one is surrounded by eager
men clamoring for patron
age. The 'rikisha-men have dis
tinctive dress. They wear blue tights,
a loose fitting blouse, straw sandals,
and q straw hat covered by blue !
cotton cloth and marked by number
used for identification. The jinrik-
isha, invented by an American about
1868, is now generally used as means
of conveyance in Japan, the Malay
Peninsula, and the ports of China
and India. In the city of Tokyo alone
there are $4,000 men employed in
drawing these two-wheeled carriages.
The usual fare is from Is to % sen for
two and one-half miles. Is or 20 sen
per hour is also common rate. The
word jinrikisha means man-power-
| vehicle. The 'rikisha men go in
single file, those going one way being
OH one side of the street and those
going the other way on the opposite
side. Having visited bank or
money exchange, we become &C
quainted with Japanese money. The
gen and sen correspond respectively
to our dollar and cent, with this
difference, viewer, the yen being
equivalent to Mexican dollar or
fifty cents (U. S. and the sen being
worth only one-h half a cent Gu. s.
The gold standard was adopted for
Japanese money in 1897. The yen is
conveniently divided decimally, as is
the U. S. dollar, into sen, 2-sen, s.
sen, 1O-sen, 2O-sen, and 50-sen pieces.
Among the points of interest at
Nagasaki is the Suwa temple, which is
frequented by adherents of the
Shinto religion. This temple is
approached by a long flight of granite
stairs, over which is the tori, or
gateway commonly associated with
Japanese temples. The tori is formed
by two upright and two horizontal
bars and twas originally built as
perch for the sacred birds. In front
of the temple stands a large bronze
horse.ssgs Near by are kept sacred
horse and a sacred deer. The horse
was hitched in a narrow stall in q
small shed and probably wished he
could lay aside his relie ious functions
and Craze in pastures green. The
temple was covered by a projecting
bark roof, was only one story high
built of wood implanted, and wa'
plain and empty Oh the inside, in thi
last respect differing from Buddhis
temples, which contain religion
properties.
The houses of Nagasaki are for thu
most part built of wood and roofe'
with tile. They are one story higl
and implanted. Tea houses are yer.
common. The floors are covered
with thick straw mating. One i
required on entering to substi1ut
light sandals for shoes. Pape
screens take the place of partition
and sliding walls serve as doors an
= windows. Many houses are sur
3 rounded by verandas, which ar
closed up in cold weather by settin
up the portable walls. Guests ar
asked to be seated upon cushion
Il which are provided in the absence
( chairs. The host brings in woode
e box, in which is an earthern jar cor
tanning burning charcoal. Over tn
charcoal fire tea is prepared and
- fact all cooking is done in this name
II A small quantity of strong tea
., | 1nbO t1hy SuPo' OHO
served on lacquer trays. Knives an
forks are not in evidence, and one
- expected to eat with chopsticks.
is said that the Japanese live vel
cheaply, three cents day beir
sufficient to support one perso
Both in China and in Japan rice is Il
'staff of life."
tn | Nagasaki was the first port open
Of FOREIGNERS. 1t lost some of its III
Of portance in 1869, on the opening
Yokohama and Kobe. These tv
III last mentioned cities rank first a
We second respectively in commerce
Importance, among Japanese por
Nagasaki is the proud possessor of
million dollar dry dock. Nagasaki