Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-01-29
Japanese Hotels
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Washington, ID. c., Jan. %. japanese
| hotel Keepers expect grand rush q
tourists in the near future, aud hotcl'
are being spr,iccd up TO meet the exactinf
demands of the foreigner, according te
Fl. $. Yamaguchi, the japanese hote
magnatc.
! Japan cncrgos from technical state
Of war into An era Of prosperity IT.
financial condition 10 similar to that Of the
United States. great deal Of money If
IN circulation, the vnlue OF the yen equal
70 our half dollar is Iessened and prices
arc on the rise. The visitor To japan can-
not estimate his expenses on the scale oi
the cheap Jap toys aud trinkets sold in OH
oriental shops and ten cent stores. lie
will, il he goes to frst-class European
plan hotel, enjoy practically all the lux
uries of first-clnss hote! in this country,
and the size Of the bill will remind him
very much of America.
THE Japanese hotel business il going
through revolutionary period, gays
MIR. Yamagucbi, who is touring the United
States to lenrn innovations for his three
hotels. Japanese hotels have made
progress in The last five years that we never
dreamed Of, he continued. Il have fifty
tons of things in New York now--ma-
chnery and equpfncnt-and ! have not
finished buying.
Most Of these purchases, he explains,
arc labor saving devices. japanese labor
is neither 80 cheap nor 30 plentiful as 1T
formerly Was, and 40 motors t0 freeze ioc-
cream, chop meat and wash dishes must
replace hand labor, even in the orient
where human service is to be had at the
lowest rates.
five MONTH YoR MAID.
Five dollars month is the precnt
pay for hotel maid in Japan. To thls
the management adds food and clothing,
which bring the cost OF a girl to about
fifteen dollars. The Japanese maid fully
earns ber salary, clothing and all. She
knows little Of eight-hour agitation, but
works STEADILY for ten hours, sometimes
longer. The shorthours epidemic has
reached Japan, however, and labor Is
beginning TO demand fifty-seven hour
week in place Of seventy-fve hours OF
longer.
II the JapaneBe hotci keeper regrets the
high cost of labor, be Is stu more down
cast when he considers food priccs. Sea-
weed, rice, and fish are within the range
Of the ordinary Jap pcckctbook, but the
European hotel is expected To serve west
0,
style. The japanese hotel manager has to
consider butter At seventy-five cents a
pound, and eggs at five cents apiece. He
serves them, and his rates mount in proper
American fashion. Six dollars day, Mr.
Yamaguchi tells us, is now the price Of
room in the big Japanese hotels. This
includes meals, electric lights, waters in
evening clothes, . regular bed, and de-
gree of privacy unknown 10 the famous
native inns.
Mr.. Yamaguchi has gwen much thought
to the policy of the Japanese hotel. Most
of the guests at the best hotels there are
Americans, and the next in number are
English.
These people" he says, do not go
tn japan to see the American style Of
building. and still they want American
We put up hotels that shall
have Japa nese effect, but they must be
simple, easily cleaned and sanitary-no
elaborate carvings as in japanese inns"
Western food and furniture combined
with japanese decorations come AZ near
to suiiing everybody as possible, he finds. |
Mr.. Yanraguchi has visited New York's
largest hotels, and those of Washington |
knd White Sulphur Springs. He IL now
On his way to New Orleans, then across /
the continent to Riverside, California, |
and other weetem cities.
The results Of his study will be Incor- |
porated ia his newest hotel, now being
built near Yokohama. The new hotel is
TO be concrete structure, SIX stories high, |
and containing l50 rooms. A six-story
building Is quite skyscraper IN Japan,
md Is only made possible by the use OF