The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16
A FIRST GLIMPSE OF JAPAN
BY BISHOP e. e. HosS

OIL IOItlSn country Is WItH AOu III ~
reach it, Things are fresher then than
they will be later. After a while they
will be pretty sure to grow stale and
commonplace. When that stage is
reached one feels scarcely inclined to
write at all. On the whole 1t is better
to use the season of excited curiosity.
Still there are some disadvantages in do
ing so. For example, one is sure to
make all sorts of blunders, mistate facts,
TO misrepresent conditions and to sub
stitute the airy dreams of his own i'm
agination for the sober truth. In what
I am about to say I shall use all pos
sibe diligence to avoid the creation of
any wrong impressions: but I am not
vain enough to set myself up as capable
of furnishing expert information. All
that 1 actually know is gathered from
the conscientious reading of books, from
conversations with men long in the
country, and from such personal obser-
vations as I have been able to make in
the course of my journeyings here and
there in the land.
My ship the Cheyo Mara. a Japanese
vessel of modern build, which could make
the voyage from San Francisco to Yoxo-
hama In twelve DAYS. but is under con-
tract with the Pacific Mail Steamship
company not to do it in less than six
teen, sailed from the former port on July
10 and reached the latter on the early
morning of August 6. For some reason
which I could not satisfactorily discover,
we did not go right up to the dock, but
anchored a few hundred yards out With
out much red tape, the port surgeon gave
us a clean bill Of health and suffered us
to land at once. My destination was
Kobe, 800 miles to the west; but as the
ship was to tarrv for three days, I glad
" availed myself of the opportunity to
see what could be seen in the vicinity.
Fortunately for me, friend, for many
years resident in Japan, was present to
meet me, and to put himself at my SER
vice That made a vast difference. If 7
had been compelled to depend on my
guidebook-Murray is the Baedezer Of
Japan-or to secure the company of
professional guide. should have been
much at loss. Between the two methods
of seeing a country there is no COM
parison. Those who have tried both, as
I have, will be more than ready to con-
firm all that I have said on the subject.
Yokohama Is a modern city. When Com
nodore Perry came hither in 1854 under
the order of President Fillmore and Sec
rotary Graham it was simply, except for
a hill or bluff In one small quarter of 1t,
wide and unattractive mud flat, on
which there was an ancient village of
mean appearance. The shotgun at Yeddo
hardly did not relish the thought of for
eign ships so close to his court and tried
hard to persuade the American sailor to
go on to Nagonki, 700 miles to the west.
where the Dutch had enjoyed limited
trading facilities for more than two CEN
turtles, and to conduct his negotiations
from that point; but Perry was made of
the same sort of material as his famous
brother who won the great victory over
the British on Lake Erie m 1914, and pos
itively refused to be drawn into any such
1ong-distance program. He had been in
structed to deal directly with the court
and obedience to authority was the rule
of his life. AS a result of his quiet and
friendly persistence, a treaty was exc
cuted providing for the opening of a
port at Kanagawa, a thriving town on
the other side of the bay. But the
ia panese authorities, finding that col |
1isons were inevitable between the for |
eigners and the armed and warlike re-
tanners of the daimios passing along the
road on their way to and from the court |
gave facilities for leaving land at Yoko- |
hama instead, and the merchants, much |
against their own will removed thither in |
1858 Consuls protested against the change |
as an act of bad faith, but the super |
iority Of the new anchorage soon recon-
cited everybody to it. By 1866 a great
town had sprung up, the most of which
was destroyed by fire in that year. The
TeDu1lQlnR, ana bDldTBeiltHl VI II was Il
rapid work. At the present time there
is a population of about 100000 including
many Europeans and Americans. These
latter-those of them that can afford it
live chiefly on the bluff, but do business
in the town. There Is not much of
beauty about the place. Nature has
made that impossible. But the harbor
is full of attractions. Ships of nearly
every nation are anchored here and there
he in fba
water, and the FESTIVE sampans, little
boats Of Malayan origin, go flying hither
and thither without number. They look
a good deal like our American canoes,
but are propelled by a single oar that
works in a ball and socket attachment
on the stern. This oar resembles nothing
so much as a fish's tail, and defies man.
ipulation by an inexpert hand. As you
look at It 1t seems to be slipping con-
stantly out of the grasp. But 1t really
enables the native workmen. who are very
skillful in the use of 1t, to conserve every
atom of energy that they put forth, both
in the forward stroke and in the back
ward movement. They do not hesitate
TO venture In these tiny crafts far out to
sea lust as the Indians do in their awk-
ward and cumbersome catamarans OH
the coast Of northern Brazil.
The Chiyo Nam had scarcely come to
a standstill before II was invaded by
large company of hotel runners, vendors
of silk and curios and tailors offering to
take measures and make suits OF linen
or pongee in single day. Having
learned by sad experience in other parts
that one is likely under such circum-
stances to pay high prices for inferior
goods. I made no trades, but speedily
boarded a steam launch and went ashore
The launch, was somewhat surprised to
discover. made no charge. In South
America one Is taxed very heavily for
such a service-anywhere from $3.50 to 50.
IT did not take me long to learn that In
MANY other respects Japan is cheap
country. When l landed at Kobe few
DAYS later porter took my two trunks
and three satchels, carried me through
the custom house and then hauled me
and all my baggage at least a mile for
only So cents Some things, however, are
very costly. At the foreign hotels in the
chief cities the rates are from 81 to 81
or IS per day. One or two experiments
made me little shy of patronizing these
establishments, though there are times
when it is a necessity to do so.
Having determined to make an excur-
sion to Nikko, 100 miles away, we took
tinrikishas for the railroad station in a
distant part of the city. Now the jinrik-
isha. which was invented about 40 years
ago by missionary, and has been much
improved in recent years by ball-bearing
bicycle wheels and rubber tires, is SIM
ply a sort OF exaggerated baby carriage.