Evening star., 1923-09-17
EAST is EAST
BY FRANK H. HEDGES

of shore along the head Of Toxic ba3
4 that are now blackened ruins Is u
be reared a great city resembling tn,
Capital city of the new world. Tht
new Toxic Is to be like Washington
Dispatches from across the Pacifl,
| tell how Japanese have looked at the
world. have seen what was good ant
have chosen what they consider besi
as a model in rebuilding their owr
J capital. 1t is typical. so typical thai
1t might almost be called imperative
of the Japan that has fought her way
] into the front rank of nations during
| the past half century.
But the idea of a city Of broad
thoroughfares, of white marble build
' ings and of green parks and open
| spaces carries with IL a note Of plain
tive sadness for one who knew and
| loved the old Toxic, the city of mar.
row streets. of drab, unpainted houses
! and of dirt There is no intention to
| decry the beauty of Washington, but
1t seems pitiful that the old Toxic
| should perish.
Il II 4
From the hilltop of the city dull
gray roofs stretched in very direc-
| tion as far as the eye could carry
Here and there a patch of green tree
! tops stood out vividly like an island
Of color in the dry sea of monotone
Buildings, the sharp-edged structures
| of stone and brick that men used for
offices, jutted upward like the fingers
I of some cubist model. Toxic was not
| a city of beauty from above.
Neither was It lovely from the
ground. IT was merely an enormous
| background OF neutral tinted gray
ness. Etched against this sober dull
ness, with all the quick eagerness of
: the color prints of Hiroshige or
Hokusai. was seen a little child in
brilliant hued kimono. green branches
| of dropping pine tree bending down
to kiss blue water, a glimpse of Flu
| jiyama through a bower OF cherry
blossoms or the graceful lines of the
severely simple tori of the Shinto
faith.
Along the many miles OF bay front
Sumida river queerly shaped junks
with strange fantastic sails moved in
and out among squat steamers belch-
ing smoke. Green gardens filled with
flowers broke the long line of wharves
and factories. One section, known as
Tsukiji, had a boulevard along the
bund on which there fronted old
English manor houses and the spires
of churches. the Settlement" Japar
first gave to foreigners within he
capital. Great bridges made of steel
and concrete spanned the Sumida
where once had been graceful arches
& i **
Between the bay front and the frs
low Lying hills was a fiat level stretch
threaded by numerous twisting, tide
water canals. that was the business cen.
ter. The Ginza. that long street which
reflected in miniature the whole life
and growth Of the empire since the
days of Perry. paralleled the curvin'
line Of the bay a few blocks inland
Little shops OF wood, whose fronts were
lifted out by day, stood here and there
but their neighbors were tall buildings
boastfuI of the strides Japan had mad
in modern ways OF life. The Bridge o.
Japan, center of the empire that the
shoguns knew, was stin the vortex %
the nation. Department stores and
banks, office buildings and vast ware.
houses, markets and factories cinste-
ed about the Nihombashi. as did the
street merchants and ftinerant artists ir
other days. .se--- -.ss.-ss --z --- +=-
a triple moat and gray stone
walls inclosed the enormous grounds or
the imperial palace, home Of the mikado
spot venerated by all Japanese. Gov
ernmenr buildings, most of them inita
i've of America or Europe, stood nea'
the palace AS the hills rose from ths
homes of millions. Little wooden house,
like those built centuries ago were IN
terspersed with an occasional mansion
copied from abroad, but everywhere thc
modern buildings, whether homes or
slSyscrapers or government departments
formed st-anOe. inconerious sights fo-
the old Toxic was pre-eminently a
Japanese city.
:; X =
And now this is to be changed. The
new city that is TO front the bay Of
Toxic is TO be like Washington. Broad
streets and boulevards are to be cut
through the ruined district. and fron'
their sidewalks will rear white marbI.
structures. tall buildings of brick an6
steel homes like the homes of this city
It win be beautiful city. city Lowell
to look upon, for the sense of beauty ir
inherent in the Japanese. The first
copies of western architecture made by'
japan were not lovely, but at that time
the Japanese did not trust their ow-
frdement in FOREIGN taste and copied
bIindty. They have since learned to
choose and reject.
Engineers and architects will be bor-
rowed from this nation. and the wort
nf rebuilding will go forward with few
ertsh haste. The cost will be borne
uncomplainingiy. since Japan will know
that it is an investment and not a
thrown into the creation of one of the
greatest navies of the world will be
diverted to the recreation of the
capital.
Japan will have a new background
one, perhaps, more In keeping with the
Japan of today, but one that will lack
much of the quaint charm and appea,
Of the old. despite it's new-made love-
ifness. The fascination of the narrow
dirty streets, throneed by gay children
tumbhng over one another, will be gone
Parks and Fairgrounds win be filled by
them, but not the streets. Instead OF
tiny open shops with bright colored silks
nutterins in the breeze. goods will be
sold across counters inside of stores.
Science and orderliness are soon to re
place the old picturesque higgledy-pig
gledy. 1T is progressive step forward
and as such Is to be praised and well
comed. but because old things become
endeared through their very age there
IL pang in seeing the Toxic of other
DAYS pass permanently from fba Fana