The Coolidge examiner., 1932-11-11

Strolling Down
prepared by the National Geographic
Society. Washington. d. ca
tWNU Service.)
IF ONE who witnessed the destruc-
tion wrought by earthquake and
fire in 1923, returned to Tokyo to-
day, he would hardly recognize the
japanese capital, for on the former
debrisstrewn site has risen the new
Tokyo.
Rebuilt Tokyo is a city of broad
streets, of many splendid buildings,
of spacious parks. For the tour
ist it has lost much of it's charm;
but, after all, it belongs to the Japa-
nese, not to the tourist. Old prop
erty lines were obliterated to
widen and straighten the streets, be-
cause bitter experience had proved
that broad streets serve to prevent
the spread of fire, and because new
knowledge of hygiene taught that
the public health demands light and
air.
The buildings of the New Tokyo
are solidly constructed, to resist
both earthquake and fire. The parks
are spacious because the people have
taken to athletics. because they still
want gardens to wander in, and be-
cause huge parks make forever i'm
possible that horror of 1923, when
10000 people, fleeing with their pos
sessions to small open square,
were caught there by the fire and
burned to death.
The old wooden bridges that
spanned the many canals of the city
have been replaced by modern stone
or steel and concrete bridges, which,
IL less picturesque, will not burn
and will carry safely the busses
which go to all parts Of Tokyo.
AS most foreigners in Tokyo stay
at the Imperial hotel, that is the
natural place to start a cursory in
spection of this strange new-old city.
Directly opposite the hotel is
Hibiya park. Its great athletic field
is almost constantly in use. Actu-
ally the boys begin to play baseball
there as soon as dawn makes it pos
sible to see the ball.
Beyond the aZaleas is an artificial
lake. with a great bronze crane and
wisteria arbor and dwarf trees
just what we think of as typically
Japanese. Still farther along, there
are Fairgrounds for children and
tennis courts and an outdoor gym
nasium, with parallel bars and all
the usual paraphernalia. This part
Of the park is always crowded. You
see some first-class athletic stunts
and can watch excellent tennis, and
you begin to wonder whether the
artificial lake is not meant for the
tourists and the tennis courts for
the Japanese.
Girls in School Uniform.
More of Hibiya park is devoted
to the new Japan than to the old :;
so, also. among the crowds of peo-
pie in the park, more are dressed In
European than in Japanese clothes.
The young men playing tennis are
In fiannels and sweaters; the old
men watching them are generally in
kimonos and heavy overgarments.
The girls, who so eagerly take
part in some of the milder sports.
are generally dressed in the blue
uniform characteristic of the schools
"a uniform which would be appro-
pirate to any American school, IL
American schoolgirls cared nothing
about fashion. If it is raining, as it
so often Is, these schoolgirls carry
ugly black alpaca umbrellas. Their
mothers, on the other hand, who
are dressed In Japanese clothes,
carry lovely, broad-spreading paper
umbrellas, gay In color and at the
same time serviceable. If you look
down from an upper window on
rainy day, the street seems strewn
with lovely fiat flowers.
The clothes in Tokyo are always
interesting. Most of the people one
sees in the main business section are
dressed In European clothes, and
large proportion, especially among
the young people, throughout the
city; but there seems to be no hard
and fast rule. You will see a man
dressed exactly as he would be in
New York talking with friend who
IS entirely American as to clothes,
except for wooden clogs; and per-
maps the third member of the group
may wear American shoes, a kimo-
no, and a bowler hat.
But what do these people who
have adopted European dress do
when they go home? Perhaps the
answer is in the architecture of the
better class of recently built pri-
vate houses. The rich man has his
European house, but this European
house usually has its Japanese
wing, where there are no chairs. but
soft white mats on the floor: where