Evening star., 1923-11-26
EAST is EAST
BY FRANK Fl. HEDGES

I
where in the world has been inter
rupted by the disaster that has laid
waste the port city of Yokohama and
made of the capital of Japan a desc
| late and stricken community. 1t is
often difficult from this side of the
Pacific to imagine the conditions
under which friends live and carry
on their work in the island empire of
the east. Japan seems so fantastic
| to the man or woman who has never
been there that he cannot picture
everyday life amid a surrounding
and background of gayly colored
kimonos, jinrikisha, bowers of cherry
blossoms and-the ever present pos
sibility Of a devastating earthquake
and fire.
| Many missionaries living in the in
terror lead a life that differs greatly
from that of the business and official
communities in the port cities and
the capital of Japan. To these lat
ter the residents of Toxic and Yoko-
| hama, life Is in a large degree the
| same as in America, save that there
is always present the fascination and
/ lure of the strange and exotic GUS
toms of an alien and picturesque race.
! The food that Americans eat in
| Japan is very much the same food
| that Americans eat IN San Francisco
Or Washington. Beef and chicken,
eggs and bread, potatoes and ice
cream are always to be had. TRUE,
such vegetables as tender bamboo
shoots or lotus root, that are typically
Japanese. Rice is seldom served to
the foreigner (and every American in
Japan is, of course, a foreignerD
because the Japanese believe he pre-
| fers other food.
The Clothes that might have been
seen worn by Americans parading the
fashionable Ginza before its destruc-
/ tion would have been duplicates of
vania avenue or 10th street this after
noon. Although Japanese kimonos
are far more comfortable than tight
| fitting trousers and coat on a hot
\ can who is willing 20 be considered
\ odd and a freak who will depart from
! the clothes of his native land to adopt
| Japanese dress. Fashion magazines
are as eagerly scanned in feminine
| ambassadorial circles in Toxic as in
boudoirs in New York.
[ X X X X
! Most Americans in Toxic do, it
is true. live in Japanese houses. but
| they are houses that have been
adapted to conform with American
habits. The embassies and legations
are western style, while a number
| of business men and missionaries
have homes built as are the homes of
| this country. Others rent a typical
Japanese house and then furnish and
partly remodel 1t. The soft straw
mats may be left on the floors, but
| chairs, tables and beds are intro
| duced. The paper screens that take
the place of windows usually give
way to glass and wood. Lack of
| furnace heat in the winter Is the only
real drawback to a Japanse house
! after it has been thus remodeled.
| Servants are plentiful and less ex-
pensive than in this country, but the
! ideal conditions Of twenty years ago
no longer exist Man servants now
demand wages so high that in many
| homes they have been replaced with
women.
Business, naturally. occupies the
major part of the daylight hours Of
| the men. For the women there is
less to do. Social position demands
that they shall not do their. own
! housework, and to scoff at social po-
sition in the far east is to court dis
aster in business and in many other
J ways. The Japanese masses have
scant respect for the foreigner who
does not keep his place" and his
place is high in the social scale.
Women's clubs like those in this
country, Red Cross work and similar
activities gain in importance as
housework is put to one side. Glasses
to study Japanese color prints.
flower arrangement or some other
| form of Japanese artistic expression
/ are formed. In fact, the interest in
| the culture of Japan is very real
| interest on the part of both men and
women. A walk through any street
! or alleyway in Toyko never fails to
| stir the imagination and whet the
| curiosity.
| The Imperial Hotel is, perhaps. the
center of American life in the capital.
| In Yokohama it was the Grand Hotel.
! the Gaiety Theater on the Bluff" and
the Yokohama United Club. Tea and
dinner dances are held in the hotels.
/ Appointments to meet friends are
made there. The luncheon. or tiff1n.
| hour always means the gathering of
or. if they be men. perhaps in the bar,
| for Japan has not yet seen fit to pro-
hfbft wines and liquor.
| X X X x
| Summer and winter resorts in the
mountains or on the seashore draw
/ many Americans over the week end
or for longer periods of rest and play.
Perhaps half of the American women
in Japan spend the hot summer
months in the northern mountain viii
| lage of Karuizowa- Church and mis-
| sionary organizations plan their con-
ventions to be held there at that time
being certain of large attendance
from all corners of the empire.
| Tennis, golf and yachting are prob
ably the most popular sports. Base
ball and basket ball teams of Amer
/ leans are pitted againgst the teams
I of Japanese colleges and universities
/ Riding is indulged in by some, while
mountain climbing and cross country
rambles are exceedingly popular. The
multiplicity of beautiful walks within
easy distance of any city in Japan
makes tramping a delightful exercise
Lack Of good roads handicaps motor
| ing.
The Japanese thearer is visited only
occasionally save by those Ameri-
| cans who have made a study of Jap
| anese stage art, for the drama or
| dance appeals as an artistic but little
understood spectacle. American mo-
| tson pictures may be seen at any time.
Japan has become as ardent a dew
otee of the films as in tbs country,
and more than half or those shown
+, are of American manufacture. Books
and magazines are valued more
| highly the farther one is from their
source Dinner is the great social
event Because the bulk Of the Amer
leans living in Japan are well edu-
Gated and well read. 1t is seldom that
| a dinner party is held where the
1 "a IntarnSfinO
| Any American with friends in Japan
may be certain of pleasant visit