The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-03-22
THE UP-TO- DATE JAP
OLIVE HOLL A N D

whose spell so large number have fallen.
In the open rice fields. in the tea fields. in
the fallow land productive of such beauty
and charm of verdure, may still see
the slow. cumbrous but quaint and interest
ing wooden OK pillow. The spider-like
American article, with it's bright and grim
ming shares, has not yet entirely super
seeded those of native manufacture.
JAPANESE WARE.
Connosseurs and collectors are never
weary Of telling us of the deterioration of
japanese ware, lacquer and art. They at
tribute 1t, and possibly rightly so, to the
increase of the export trade, which last
year reached the total of nearly a23. 100000.
But they exaggerate. In the small native
shops, more especially of the inland and
less tourist-ridden villages are still to be
found veritable objects dart, comparable
with almost the best of ancient work. Cab
inets. exquisitely inlaid with ivory, nacre
and ebony and lined with sweet-smellng
cedar. Lacquer boxes with quaint designs
OF impossible sea monsters; delicate feath-
er-like branches and sprays Of flowers.
Vases OF most beautiful workmanship and
decorativeness. So-called prints which
exhibit the ancient coloring In all its depth
and charm, even occasionally some ex-
amples little inferior in their puppies, blues
and crimsons. to those seen in the works
OF Hokusai, Toyokuni and masters of the
Kano school. But at price! And one is
almost driven to think that the real griev-
ance with collectors is rather that, than
the admitted but exaggerated decadence of
Japanese art and art work.
I,,x- .rc
Paris" said a collector to me one day.
There are none now to be had in Japan"
There are, but they are no longer-as was
the case twenty-five years ago-to be found
save In odd corners to which the collector
q mean rather the amateur) rarely pene-
trates. Dealers do. and acquire them for
sale in Paris or in London at fabulous
prices.
The japan Of the traveller. for as yet
the mere tourist is not all pervading in the
land of the chrysanthemum, shows less of
change than one might expect The advent
of railways, telephones and electricity have
not yet entirely destroyed the picturesque
and the interesting.
They cannot detract from the roseate hue
upon the snowy cap of Fugi San; the charm
and fascination of a Japanese summer
| night; or the fresh beauty of
japanese spring dawn. We may yet
see tramways running, amid the
cryptomerias. wistarias and cherry bios
som Of the Kasuaga Park. Nara, or des-
ecrating equally lovely spots. But for the
present the advance of Japan has happily
not lain in that direction.
METAL WORKER AND CARPENTER.
Coming from the more modern portions
Of japanese towns, from the busy quays,
| the dock-yards, the aggressively modern If
convenient telephone exchange. to the by
| ways and strange narrow streets of the
| older quarters. Here progress is almost I'M
known as yet A slight tapping noise-it is
| scarcely more than would be made by the
death watch"-proceeds from the interior
of dim workshop. 1t is the metal worker
| Scoring modern American tools, he sits
squatting before his task. in the faint light
which falls through the window from the
shady narrow street, tapping upon his vase,
or box, or metal panel, with old tools which
may have belonged to his grandfathers'
| grandfather, little toylike hammers, and
slender, blunted chisels. His measure (and
how wonderfully accurate it proves) pro-
vided for him by nature; consisting of his
d
man, in a long. loose, coat-like garment,
once smoke blue, and now faded into
| patches of French gray; what contrast to
the young Japanese clerk who saunters
down the street in trousers. cutaway coat,
and bowler hat; European of Europeans!
The old order and the new within a few
yards of one another.
| From this caricature-for this he is,
| though he has learned to wear the unpic-
turesque garb to which he clings with some
| degree of aplomb-how charming to turn to
the carpenter few yards further up the
| street. His tools are around him, scarcely
/ any of them are larger than those in a
boys set at home. The little plane he runs
| so methodically along the lid of the cedar
wood chest he is making would cause a
| British carpenter to laugh; as would also
the wage at which he acomplishes work un-
| equaled for honesty Of purpose. How
| painstaking he is! Most people must have
| heard the travellers tale Git has always
| of course happened to a friend-that use
full friendD of the carpenter who is making
| duplicate cabinet carried out his instruc-
| tons to the letter. and broke one of the
little carved doors in half so that he might
repair ii again to look like the copy to
which a similar misfortune had happened.
| But, though this particular tale may not
be true in fact it is so in substance, and
serves to illustrate the exactitude and
painstaking care which has done much to
bring Japan to her present place in the far
East, and in the estimation of Western
| peoples
THEATERS.
Another thing which is not yet modern
lied is the Japanese theater. Here little or
| no advance has been made in respect of
! scenery the details of mounting. Mag
nificent acting-that Is, Japanese acting
one may often find, but the scenery and
scenic effects would make the most make
shift amateur dramatic company smile.
Musical comedy, smart" plays. comic OPP
eras are unknown In Japan. Most of the
plays are tragic. and how long! 1--WE come
back this year to see the finish of the play
you were acting last fall said an Amer
lean to a Japanese friend. IF you're going
to run Ii another year l guess I'll have to