The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-01
ROUNDABOUT IN JAPAN
By BISHOP E. E. Hoss

Nobody can be truly said to have seen Japan that has not seen the Inland sea. This body of water, 240 miles in length, and from 8 to 40 miles in width, is en- closed between Hondo, the main Japan csc island. on the north. and the two other islands of chief importance Shi- koku and Kyushu, on the south. It has only five openings to the ocean, and these are securely guarded against the ap- proach of hostile ships. At the head or eastern end of it are the two great cities of Kobe and Osaka, while many other large cities, such as Hiroshima and Natsuyama, lie along it's shores. From end to end it is literally studded with islands The Japanese say that there are many thousands of them, but this estl- mate must include every barren rock that lifts it's head\ above the waters None of the islands is large, and a great many of them are very small One and all they are exceedingly beautiful, es- pecially when the moist summer season makes up for their lack of forests by covering them with a vegetation as pro fuse and as green as that of Ireland it. self Wherever there is the least possi- bility of winning a subsistence a dense Dopulation is found, engaged in agricul- tNre, or in fishing, or in some kind of do- E. with fish of all sorts, and are caught on great scale The little boats in which the fishermen ply their vocation are never out of sight, and often they may be seen in great fleets. Nothing could be more picturesque The food supply of the na- ton is immensely enhanced from this source Without 1t the people would be hard put to for the means of living Along with rice and sweet potatoes fish Is a staple article of diet in every Japanese home-all kinds being eaten9
 I made my circuit of the sea chiefly on the Beppu Maru, a small but well-built boat that sails from Kobe. Fortunately for me good friend the Rev MT. Nose ly, who know the country, it's language and it's ways. went with me That doubled the pleasure of the trip, and vir- tually cancelled all it's unpleasant fea- lures. I may as we'll say here that nobody else is so entirely familiar with the conditions in all oriental countries as the missionaries are. To them more than to any other class of men the minds of the people are an open book Neither travellers, nor resident merchants, nor even diplomats except in rare instances, are so competent to give accurate tnfor- nation Travellers are usually caught with the superficial aspects of things; merchants gather little knowledge outside the lines Of their trade, ana the case of many diplomats is exceedingly well put fin that most remarkable book, Weales "Indiscreet Letters From Peking," in which it is brought out that the ambas- sadors for a whole year pooh-poohed the assurances which poured in upon them from many quarters, that the Boxer out break was imminent. But the mission aries live in close touch with the people, enter their homes, meet them on the streets, speak their tongue, and have a sympathetic acquaintance with the whole range of their lives. This is not the view that used to be entertained but it is the one that more and more prevails among thoughtful people. The missionary is rapidly coming to his own in the estima- tion of the world.
 Our boat was crowded with passengers in the cabins, and packed in the steer age.l How the poor folk down below managed to exist in their hot and narrow quarters is more than I can tell. But they are accustomed to narrow quar- ters all their lives Ventilation is almost ar unknown thing in Japanese houses. being dreaded rather than welcomed. MT. Mosely and got tiny cabin between us, scarcely big enough to turn around in But it chanced to be on a corner with two little sits of windows. which we opened at once as life preservers. Having deposited our travelling apparatus weSvent out and hunted shady spot OH the upper deck to read Hurlbut's The Passing of Korea" to refresh ourselves