Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1905-07-21
JAPAN'S WAR LITERATURE,
Magazines Full of Pictures and Sol
venirs of Battles.

Magazines Full of Pictures and Sou
venirs of Battles.
All Japan is flooded with war liter
allure of various kinds and some Of the
overflow has found its way to Mime
apOlis through the medium of Japa-
nese residents in that city, says the
Minneapolis Tribune. The bellboys at
the Nicollet are particularly we'll sup
piled with magazines, illustrated sup
plements and official war records, all
filled with accounts of battles, sieges
and marches, written in queer-looking
Japanese characters.
One OF these, a pamphlet containing
the official records of the war pub
lished in two editions, one covering the
flict on Feb. 6, 1904, up to the 9th Of
last July, and the other recording
events down to Jan. 2 1905, is publish
ed by brother and a cousin of Frank
and Harry Nomura, two of the Nicol-
let bellbOys. Another is an illustrated
supplement to the regular war maya
zine. This is eagerly awaited and it's
monthly arrival is the signal for the
Japs at the hotel to foregather as soon
as opportunity offers and look over the
numerous photographs of camp scenes,
heroes and battlefields, which fill its
pages from cover to cover, with just
enough reading matter to make it in
teresting to the Japanese.
The Sun Trade Journal is the title
of another of the collection. This is d
monthly magazine, published in Tokyo
and devoted to the Anglo-Japanese-
American interests. The first twenty
four pages are in English and of the
typical magazine style, consisting of
articles on different subjects of public
interest by well-knoWn men, editorial
comment, current topics and a brief
resume of the events Of the war dur
ing the month. The remainder Of the
magazine is in the language of Nip
pom: but the advertisers seem to be
almost all Americans and in the midst
of the Japanese character the eve
lights upon the names of well-knOwn
firms in New York. Chicago, st. Louis
and other cities of the United States.
Of interest as giving a line on the
character of the Japanese schools. is
the students monthly, gotten out by
the pupils of the academy at Tokyo.
This contains stories written by stu
dents and professors at the academy,
writing of a more serious character
on the sciences and mathematics, IL
Illustrated by drawings and examina-
tons into English and German. to-
gether. OF course, with more or less
about that one absorbing topic. the
war.
One peculiariarity about the make
up of these periodicals from the land
of the Rising Sun which presents it
self to the western mind is the way
in which they read. from right to left
instead of from left to right, so that
the front cover is on what is usually
regarded as the back of the magazine.
Another remarkable thing about them
is that the advertisements are all
printed on gayly colored sheets of pa
per. which are easily distinguished
from the ordinary white pages on
which the general reading matter ap-
pears. so that in perusing a japanese
magazine the unsuspecting reader can
not possibly be inveigled into examin-
ing into the merits of some new soap
or breakfast food without his full con-