The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1906-03-08
LETTER FROM JAPAN.
Mrs. E. A. Fisher to Her Sister, Mrs Sarah
c, Sherman.

Mrs. E. A. Fisher to Her Sister, Mrs. Sarah
c. Sherman.
TOXIC, Nov. 27, 1905. Dear sister:
Have just arrived here tonight from
Yokohama after proving around all
day in shops and banks. The Japanese
are very slow people in business. l
wrote you on the steamer and posted it
at Honolulu. We we're delighted with
Honolulu. 1t is almost like Ceylon, and
am glad that we own it, and not Eng
land, for they have tropical countries
enough. We arrived there early in the
morning and when we went on deck a
scene of beauty and grandeur met our
eyes. In the foreground lies the city;
but there are SO many trees, palms of
various kinds, that we see little of the
town until we land. The mountains
lie back of the city and stretch as far
as the eye can reach. They are all of
volcanic origin and are rugged and
scanned. The first thing we did on
landing was to ride on an electric car
the whole length of the town. The
houses are mostly of the bungalow
style Of architecture. 1t is rarely that
you see house of more than one story;
but they look pretty and comfortable
and each has a large compound sur
rounding it, filled with rare and beauti-
full flowers. Many of them have hedges
surrounding them of the hibiscus with
its large scarlet blossoms. l have seen
them in New England in the hot
houses. The oleanders grow to height
of more than twenty feet, and are cover
ed with blossoms, both pink and white.
The tulip trees were in bloom, and
many other that | could not name.
The cars ran through the most beauti-
full park that | ever saw, filled with
tropical trees and shrubs.
The croton that | have struggled to
keep alive through one of our northern
winters in the Conservatives, here
grows to a large shrub and the leaves
are of the most brilliant colOrs. There
is the best aquarium here that | ever
saw, although some say that the one at
Naples is the best in the world. We
had lovely day there and at five o'clock
our ship steamed away for Japan. In
so long voyage the time passes slowly;
there is so little to take your attention,
and one tires of reading. There was
paper published on board and an En-
gliSh gentleman who was one of the
contributors brought our names in
thus
''There were two little ladies from Boston
Who the good ship Siberia crossed on;
They were used to the seas,
One Fisher, the other d 'BO'sen'".
Our voyage was on the whole quite
rough, and many were sick. When we
saw man leaning over the rail and
looking very pale, we did not ask what
he saw, we simply murmured to our
selves "It is better to have lunched and
lost than never to have lunched at ALL"
But, putting nonsense aside, we were all
glad when land was seen in Yokohama
bay. We were rather sorry to part with
many of our kind friends, many of
whom we shall never meet again in this
world. Four of them have remained
with us so far, and will for number of
weeks, and we six go everywhere to-
ether. AS one of them is Doctor we
feel quite safe We have enjoyed Japan,
as it is so different from any other
country; but the people are very much
palmer looking than l had supposed;
in fact the most of them are positively
ugly, they have such fiat faces. l have
visited Buddhist temples and Shinto
temples until l am tired. l went one
day out to Tranakura to see an immense
bronze image of Budha, which is forty
nine feet high, ninety-seven inches in
circumference and length of face eight
feet. We do not walk step but are
carried in jinriksha and man trotS
off with us for five or six miles without
stopping. The hotels here are very
good, but are more expensive than
European hotels. | find one thing here
to condemn, and that is the way the
mothers carry their children on their
backs; it makes the women stoop so
badly. The vegetable markets here are
wonderful; some of the roots of carrots
and artichokes are fifteen inches long.
When l look at this people and think
of the wonderful strides they have
made in the last fifty years, | wonder
what they will be i'll the future.
E. A. FISHER.
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