The mirror., 1922-04-27
IN TOKYO'S STREETS

ike 50 Hfdny Chickens OH country ROAD.
The Ginza is Tokyo's principal shopping
street, long and wide-about the only wide
: street in Japan, and sidewalks on either
side. Poetry has been written about the
Gina. There are dwarf willow trees
growing at intervals along this thorough
fare right out of the sidewalks. Thousands
of bicycles and their riders swarm along
Other vehicles and quantity dressed people
weave their way in and out among each
other. Street cars thread their way
through the traffic, always jammed full to
the bursting point. If the day is little
rainy, the japanese umbrellas add great
bit of picturesqueness to the scene If the
day is warm and sunshiny, the gay silk
kimonos and the equally gay-colored silk
sunshades of the Japanese women make
the scene just as attractive.
Tokyo boasts one of the finest depart
ment stores in the world, which is located
on this Ginza street. If anyone from
home ever comes to Tokyo, he will, and
should, visit the great Mitsukoshi depart
ment store. 1t is modern in every respect,
even to the moving stairway, yet nicely
adapted to Japanese ways. For instance,
anyone wearing shoes to the store must
stop at the entrance, where Japanese
boy places "covers" over his shoes before
he enters Covers are canvas cloth affairs
with bands around the tops to keep them
on your feet They fit over the shoes.
japanese who wear the native gaita or
wooden clogs leave their footwear at the
door until they are ready to depart, wear
ing on their feet only the japanese tabe,
ankle-high and of heavy cloth, which ans
wers the purpose of sock. This foot
gear is split next the big toe and is very
comfortable on the feet, in contrast to the
cramped and disfguring footdress of the
Chinese.
The manager of this great department
store, which is capitalized at several mil
lion of yen, is Japanese who came up
from the rank of an ordinary coolie. He
formerly did menial jobs around the store
as a young fellow. Other Japanese now
in positions of influence, who are great
successes in either business or in diploma
tic circles were only poor boys of poor
parentage in earlier years. Many such
examples could be cited.
Leaving the big department store, we
witness a collision on the Gina between
bicycle and pedestrian. Down the
street comes the japanese boy on bike.
He collides with japanese man making
his way across at street intersection.
Down go rider, man and all, in cloud of
dust. Both jump up as quickly as possible
to disentangle themselves from the wreck
age. Both man and boy bow profusely to
each other and apologize for living. Each
goes his way without an angry word hav-
ing been said.
The japanese have very few swear
words or any words which serve the same
purpose. The japanese who have been to
America know how to swear, but these
who speak only the native tongue are
handicapped to that extent About the
worst Japanese swear-word in common
use here is the word "bakka," which means
nothing stronger than fool.
Kimonos are worn by the women on
every occasion and in every position in
life, except that foreign dress is the official
court costume required for the very
classiest of court functions. Very seldom
do japanese women appear on the streets
in foreign dress in Tokyo. Yokohama, be-
ing port city, is slightly more foreign
in every respect. There are kimonos and
kimonos. Kimonos for the kitchen, kimo-
nos for the street, kimonos to be worn as
undergarments, and kimonos for sleeping
in. Party kimonos, formal kimonos, en-