The herald., 1919-09-25
Travel IN JAPAN
|u,tsI Customs Somewhat EN-
barrassing to Europeans.
s,.n in Public, In Water That
w.uId Boil Lobster Is, or
us.d to Be, in the Ma
ture Of Torture.

,,.s the advent Of the modern no
:" IN Japan the old inns or rest
'ei - have been to large extent rel
hous' % obscurity, but some still sur
esas' IN parts where European tra'ei.
H'e ,oIdom penetrate. The kind OF
ss So accorded TO visitors in one
SeieO .,,,oge inns is very far removed
Of un' western ideas of hospitality.
l5Ou is the interesting experience r Oh
hele ro,ar as related in The Caterer
. nd Al Hotelkeepers' Gazette; - oo,.
anu w. coon as l arrived l was con-
"a bv the polite hostess into the
oue..' arestroom, which looked out
cue. che cool orchard Of temple.
upon ",.b,ons we're brought in, and
~. rimonos. I took off my dusty
plls s,,s, clothes, and put on first the
,.rsr kimona, made of cotton; ana
Then a gaudy silk one bright WIN the
eolors of the hotel.
'' "rbe room, like all japanese rooms
80, hare except for single decora'
s' There is always special corner
Wv the rooms ornament, which Is
". s.,mes a vase of flowers. some
.mss piece of china. sometimes SIM
NV painting upon silk or a woodcut'
pn .rbiects are not seldom such as
- blush to the European cheek
w., thew have no such effect on the
,snonese who seem more concerned
ten tho arrangement than the sub
w.. ~ the ornaments. There are
..r,ct rules for decoration; 1t Is iaid
,s,vn for example, that flowers OF OH
s.,ont colors should not be mixed IN
sAt length, because I was famishing'
Low table and a brazier were brought
!, and set in front Of me and my
cushions. s,ahs
every time thought I had finished,
.,o hostess or one Of the maids Wouiu
win IN with another tray OF dishes
and MT them before me on the table.
Had not been able to use chopStlcks
h.fora 7 should certainly have become
.Irert by the end of that meal.
"a little while after the meal-for
I, did end at last was told that the
hath was ready. was taken to me
onsn courtyard and introduced to the
arrangements there.
1.-TWO huge barrels were sunk in the
.er,h one filed with hot, the other
with cold water. There was a thln
.creen on two sides-not against pry'
inc ewes, but simply to keep off the
wind. Indeed as ! began to take on
nv kimonos an interested audience
of both sexes turned to watch me. This
was unpleasant, and l did my best to
dodge their gaze behind the screen.
IT might have saved myself the
trouble. A moment later, in reply to
the calls of the innkeeper and his
wife their daughter came up hastily
10 bathe me- as her duty was. She
WAS not IN the least embarrassed--anc
soon had other things to worry me
for when, at the young lady's direction
Ilet myself down into the hot tub
discovered that, in the usual Japanese
fashion, the heat of the water In II
was not less than rs degrees Fahren
belt.
up TO n, neck in that hot bath
suffered exquisite torture, which turned
to the most exquisite agony when
stepped on the still hotter kettle lying
on the bottom Of the tub. The inn
keepers daughter pulled me out, ret
asa lobster and very nearly boiled
She dropped me, more dead than alive
Into the cold tub. pulled rue cut again
and dried me.
"Then she bowed politely, and lief
ne to return to my ROOM"