Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1917-08-29
A. G. Bal. Includes His Articles
This Wees II. ut His Trip to
China % Japan.
LETTERS HAVE BEL
ALL VERY INAc STING
Have Been Widely Read and Com.
mented on. The Word Pictures
Were Most Real.


found in Japan.
On the morning of April the 30th,
with fourteen sedans, carried by Sc
japanese, we leave Miyanoshita for
an excursion to Hokone Lake. There
is no road where riksha could be
hauled, only narrow paths which
have worn deep into the, gravel by
the feet OF the sedan carrier. They
carry you at about three mile gait,
always good natured they seem to en-
JOY the experience.
Our route took us through a terri
tory entirely reforested to the top of
the mountains with clytomaria and
along this route were being built
many hotel stopping places of native
surroundings. No doubt the present
prosperity of Japan brought about by
the war bringing a great amount of
money to Japan from Russia had en-
couraged pleasure ground improve
ments as these were.
By the roadside we see a very an
cient carving and beside it in English
on tablet it is described as the Flo,
carved il the ninth century, the
first stone carving in Japan.
1t is eight miles to Hokone Lake.
Here we find very good native ho-
tel, the Malsuzaka, where we had a
good dinner The lake is three miles
long; we took row and sail boats to
the farther end carrying our sedans
AID men and from there were carried
up the mountain to Big He'll, a ioca-
tion much like our Yellowstone Park
having all the sulphurious fumes of
the internal region as it is described.
The day gave us many pleasant i'm
pressions but we saw nothing more
inviting than the view from the cliff
at our own Decorah Park, which
], must mention as having few super
iors no matter where you may go.
After purchasing many remem-
brances of this most pleasant summer
resort we are autoed to Kodzu and
again resume our journey north, go
ing to Nikko about so Ri north, a Ri
being two and half miles, tn Jap
aaese reckoning. in Ri only in DIS
tance.
We go direct to the Kanaya hotel,
kept by the father and brother of the
proprietor of the hotel at Miyanoshi-
ia. 1t is very peculiar in Japan, these
brothers had entirely different sur
names. We had met them on shipsand
become acquainted with them and
they described the reason for their
names being different as one of them
had married the daughter of the own
er of the hotel at Miyanoshita and
gone to live with them and if you go
and live with the wife you take her
name. In this instance he had mar
ried into an estate and a wife where
it was no disgrace to change names.
The wife, a beautiful, accomplished
Catholic nunaery and embraced that
faith was entitled to have her hus-
band embrace her name as he had
inherited her estate.
These two brothers keep the best
places we saw in Japan. They seem
to vie with each other which shall
keep the finest place; every attention
is given to their guests and the Kan
ava hotel deserves a full patronage.
The last thirty miles of our ride on
the train is along an immense growth
of Clyptomaria trees set in two rows,
making an avenue about four rods
wide. These trees were set by the
early Shoguns hundreds of years
since and many of them from six to
eight feet in diameter and hundreds
of feet high.
Nikko is one of the most historic
cities OF Japan and around it has
clustered much of the religious SEN
timent of that country and their
greatest places of worship center
here.
On the morning of the Sd of ~
we look out of our window on snow
covered mountains, reaching most
down to our hotel and reminding us
we are now nearly as far north as our
own home in Iowa.
On this morning we take RickshsS
to the great temples the greatest in
Japan as TO its general surroundings.
croan bousas and nurseries are