Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-14

Isl W3 of Japan thu the newspaper.
A MI The JapanNse press exercises
eJ a powerful influence, not only
upon politics, but upon the
social life of the people. 1t has peen
the medium through which the COM
naratiyely few men educated in west
ern ideas have impaired their new
found knowledge to the masses. AS In
the United States, there are all sorts
and conditions of newspapers here, but
they may generally be divided into two
elasses-the sober journals and the
''yellow." One class is marked by It's
dignified attitude whether in praise or
criticism; the other by its intemperate
editorial tone. it's bold headlines In
red Ink and it's appeal TO the masses as
against the classes.
japanese y-turvydom cannot be
found in the manner in which newspa-
pers are conducted; it is manifest only
in their mechanical aspect. The Jap
anese read from right to left and their
written or printed lines run from the
top to the bottom. Consequently the
columns of newspaper run across the
page horizontally instead of vertically.
The linotype is impossible in Japan be-
cause the printer must have types for
over five thousand different characters,
and no typesetting machine could sup
ply such q demand. So that the max
ing of a newspaper is altogether dif-
ferent in the beginning. The type is Sc
lected by one set of men, arranged by
another and turned over to the make
up man. who arranges the pages in
the manner of his western brother, eX-
cept that he works upside down and
crosswise. Then come the stereotyper
and the web perfecting press and the
differences between the Occident and
Orient are submerged and oblit-
Grated by the triumph of modern me-
chanical science.
The newspaper itself, If translated
into English, would be quite familiar
to the American reader. There are cable
news from abroad. telegraph news
from all over the empire, local news,
society happenings, politics, theatrical
news, sport, features, cartoons con-
tinued story and advertisements. The
want ads are led by the matrimonial
classification. but their style Is about
the same as the American. There are
the daily weather forecast. the hail
road timetable and the daily adven-
lures of the almond-eyed cousins of
Buster Brown and Happy Hoollgan.
The Toxic Asahi is conducting a tour
the party now being In the United
States. The Jiji Shimpo has been car
rying on a beauty contest, printing
every day half a page of halftone cuts
of fair Nipponese bellies who are en-
tered in the lists in response to the
Jijis acceptance of the challenge of q
Chicago newspaper to beat its selec-
ton of a Chicago girl as the most
beautiful woman in the world. This
t11 10
ment in Japan and proved to be a cir
culation getter for the Jill. The comic
weeklies took it up and Toxic Puck
published cartoon of the winner of
the first prize dreaming of the Ameri-
can millionaire who would see her pic
ture in Chicago and cross the Pacific
to claim his almond-eyed bride.
The attention paid to American af-
fairs Is illustrated by the enterprise
displayed by a Toxic paper when con-
gress met last December. Not being
able to secure an advance copy of
President Roosevelt's message to con-
gress IL succeeded in having an intel
ligent synopsis made in the United
States that could be placed upon the
wire as soon as the reading of the
message was begun in congress. This
synopsis was over thousand words In
for transmission.
The national sport of Japan is wrest-
ling and the great matches are held
in Toxic twice year-in January and
May. The wrestlers are paid an an
nual salary, and whether his stipend
is augmented or diminished is deter
mined by the exhibition of prowess at
these two festivals. The wrestlers are
in training for weeks, drinking as
many gallons of beer each day as pos
sible to make them fat. The Toxic
newspapers send special correspond
ents to the training quarters, columns
of gossip are printed each day and
snapshots of the heroes in characters
tic attitudes appear from time to time.
When a baseball team from Hawaii
came to play a series with a Toxic coll
lege nine the newspapers treated 1t
with columns of space, just as Ameri-
can dailies play up the post series
championship games between the lead
els of the rival major leagues.
Mr.. Taft landed in Yokohama at
o'clock In the morning. At o'clock in
the afternoon the Toxic Hochi was on
the street with halftone pictures of
the distinguished American on his way
down the gangplank. In the present
political campaign the leading news
papers will send special correspondents
to close districts to follow the candi-
dates on the hustings. During the late
war with Russia nearly every newspa-
per in Japan had a man at the front
and the war news was given to the
people in extras, which appeared with
frequency reminding one Of New
York In 1898.
The business of the newspaper also
follows closely the pattern of west
ern Journalism. The papers are circu-
lated for from 10 to 25 cents a month,
less than 1t costs to produce them. In
Japan, as in America, circulation is a
losing game and profit must come from
advertising. The rates for advertising
here are exceedingly high in propor-
tion to the general standard of living.
One of the leading newspapers of To-
kio charges 80 cents line, six lines to
the inch. Paper is cheaper than In the
United States and labor costs nothing
like as much. The typesetters receive
from Is to 20 cents a day, the foreman
not more than a dollar. In the press
room so cents a day is considered high
wages. The editorial helpers are bet
ter paid reversing the rule obtaining
in the United States, where the average
reporter receives a smaller salary than
the compositor who puts his copy into
type.