Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-04
The Empire of Japan
II-Where the East Is HustIing
By Frederic il Haskin

( cannot get at home, no matter how long
his purse.
Toxic and Yokohama, it is true. are
cursed with hotels which have the
western vice of charging stiff prices
| together with the Oriental fault of
providing third rate accommodation.
| but neither Toxic nor Yokohama is
Japan. In most of the other cities and
small resorts frequented by the trav-
cling public the hotels meet the re-
quirements of the westerner much
more fully than those of any other
part of the east with the exception of
the few awakened spots in China. A
few years ago the japanese mind
could not conceive of a sane person
getting into a tub of cold water in the
morning. The result of this idiosyn-
Grassy was that the most elaborate in
structions looking to the preparation
of the matitutinal cold tub resulted in
the water being tepid little fur
ther back in Japanese history filling a
tub with fresh water for each tubber
was considered unnecessary. Nova
days the newest hotels provide tub
and shower baths, with hot or cold
water at all hours for all and sundry,
and rooms are equipped with station
ary washstands. Japanese hotel men
have sent representatives to America
whence come the majority of the
visitors to this country-to learn what
is required of first class hostelries.
japanese trains, upon the important
railroad lines, are equipped with dim
ing cars conducted upon the most mod
ern and western plan. Upon these cars
one may have a fiVe-courSe dinner for
one yen-the equivalent of a half dol
lar in America-and each dish is cooked
to order. 1t is true that the portions
are small, but the dinner is sufficient
and it is as we'll cooked as it would
be in New York or Paris. Most of the
Japanese still buy the small pots Of
hot tea and wooden boxes of freshly
cooked rice and fish sold for a few sen
at the way stations, but the foreigner
enjoys a dining car service equal to
similar accommodations at home.
Japanese trains are still slow as COM
pared to the fast American or Canad-
ian trains, but they almost invariably
make their scheduled time and rates
of transportation are low. The least
satisfactory mode of conveyance to the
westerner to whom it's novelty has
ceased to appeal, is the jinriksha-the
gift of an American missionary to the
Orient. The "riksha," which had its
origin in a man power vehicle arranged
for the accommodation of an invalid,
and which is now used as far from
Japan as Ceylon, strikes the new ar
rival in Japan as being cheap at the
price 1t is upon the contrary quite
expensive. The minimum fare for the
European is as much as street car
fare in the United States, and the
"riksha" coolies objection to anything
but a short haul is such that a rate
of twenty cents a mile for slow We
hicle is about what is paid, and where
there is a sharp upgrade one must
walk, hire a coolie to push, or feel
oe6 nd of bif11caIf RtIf the jinTiKgh1
is an institution between Yokohama
and Colombo, and it will doubtless re-
main so.
For the visitor who prefers to live in
Japanese style there are still plenty of
hotels where one may sit on the floor
to drink tea and eat his dinner, and
sleep on the floor with an uncomfor-
table, thin slice OF bedding between
himself and the boards. One has only
to dodge the smart hotel runner with
the label on his cap to find his way
to one of these native places of public
entertainment where he may enjoy
Japanese life" and aching joints to
his hearts content.
The revenues Japan is deriving from
an increasing stream of tourists, both
in the expenses of travel in this coun-
try and in the business done by mer-
chants with visitors, constitutes an
item by no means negligible. To en-
courage the continuance and expand
the growth of the business of catering
to the tourist, the habits of his kind
are being intelligently studied and
means of entertaining him are being
improved from year to year. One no
longer makes the pilgrimage to Nikko
by jnriksha or in a chair Upon ar
riving in that sacred city at a prosaic
railroad station, instead of approach
ing it gradually through the cathedral
dimness of an avenue of giant cryp-
tomaria trees, he finds several solid
blocks of tawdry curio stores inter
vening between the station and the
splendid lacquered temples. But he
may stop at modern hotel where he
dimes de rigeur and dimes as we'll as
he would in a European or American
capital. If he prefers. he may get
discomfort and atmosphere in a
japanese hotel just around the cor
ner. But wherever he goes in Japan
he will find the east adjusting.
TomorrOw-The Empire of Japan. III:
The Islands for the Islanders.