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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 1907)
6 FfME LXmiTS BY THE JAPANESE OF THE EVERY MY TW FN$ Of LTFt ft ? - I - 5 THB Tokyo Imluslrlal Kxposition was lormauy oponed in Marcn, rut as a great deal was said about the un fintstitd state of tlie buildings and ex hibits we waited until last week to at tend. So much of what the Japanese are making. In and about the capital of the. empire, is shown that you may be Interested to hear of the things we saw. The buildings, which cover 42 acres of ground, are situated in Vyeno, the larg est park In Tokyo. They were put up at o cost of 1.2iV).vm yen. most of the ex pense being borne by the Tokyo Pre fecture. The fair Is really a sort of taate of good things to come, an Intro duction to the International exposition, which la to take place In 1912. Baron Senge, Governor of Tokyo. Is president. Admission is only 10 sen for adults and 8 sen for children, except on holidays, when tho charge Is raised to 1.1 and 7 en. Thousands of people from all over Japan are attending: even In Kyushu, the southernmost island of the empire, par ties of high-school students are being or ganized to visit the fair. The attendance is reckoned at TO.Ortn per day. IasI Monday was a disagreeable day with a wind blowing hotter and fiercer than any Chinook, but the weather peemed to make no difference to the crowds of Japanese who filled the many streetcars running out to Uyeno Park. Tokyo is an enormous city with miles of little grey houses of one and (wo stories, and the ride from the railway station Is a monotonous one. takin? three-quarters of an hour. Together with the Japanese we entered the park, going under the cherry tree. -past a statue commemorat ing the last battle of the Restoration In 35tS. which was fought on these grounds, past some forlorn graves marked with stone images, past the theater building with Its band playing loudlv. then through the gates of the first compound Into the first big building. Here to the right were exhibits from the Tokyo school, showing things made by the scholars and showing the plans of the schoolrooms.- tiny models of the desks and benches, even models of tho brooms, dustpans and watering-pots used. Women were .standing Intensely interest ed, five deep, about the waxen figure of a Valued nurse, giving medicine to a lit tle boy rolled up in bed. Not far away a group of aoldlers, children and country men stood, clustered about an exhibit of dolls and pottery figures representing ebb-fly gods, historical figures and social customs. The favorite with the crowd was a mud-smeared boy being held up by his mother for inspection. Apparently the crowd could all sympa thize with the feelings of the pottery' boy. Kven I was stirred to memories of days when I came home .ith dress torn or muddy and no excuse save the always accepted one: "It happened on an acci dent." Near by were cases full of fenc ing outfits, ping-pong and tennis sets, croquet, boxing gloves and baseball mitts, all made in Tokio. Baseball, by the, way, is dearer to the heart of the Japanese lad than any other game, and one can hardly look about during the Spring and Summer months without see ing boys of all sizes and ages playing catch; and office boys, sent out on er Tands. are often caught playing ball in the alleys. Most of the labels on exhibits were written In Japanese, but here and there English had been attempted, with curious results. Copies of prints by Hokusai, the master artist, were attributed to "Prof. Hokusai tone might as well say Prof. Rembrandt) and beneath were the words: "He was undoubtedly excelled for tbe illustration in story books and often lllllllji-"! 1 4' kje- referred as a champion of caricature. M riiten below .a lacquered caDinet tntaia with mother-of-pearl was the following: "This Is presented by Mr. Chlharu Seisei ken's who belongs to the lineage of Korin, Ogata celebrated fine artist at about 1677 and suit with Japanese and foreign bouse as mostly a practical book' shelf." The exhibits were marked "Hand off." and before the photographs of mem bers of the imperial family, by MarukI the court photographer, was a sign: "Hat off." which the people obeyed without hesitation. The display of musical Instruments was most Interesting. There were Japanese Instruments, the koto, sanlesen, flute and belva, there were all Btyles of foreign pianos and cottage organs, made In Toklo. Some tiny, baby organs, marked yen IS i), interested us because they w-ere quite unlike any we ever saw at home and because they are used in near ly all of the schools here. Not long ago we attended service at a little Christian chapel in a country town. It was early when we arrived and a Japanese youth was laboriously picking out a gospel Jiynin on a little organ. Then the pastor arrived and the youth picked up the or gan in his arms, put it aside in a corner and church began. The people are be coming interested in foreign music, and while now they do not get beyond the mechanical parts of it. It Is possible that there may be great musicians in Japan in time. On the left side of the building Is a big display of porcelain, a great deal of it being made !n Nagoya simply for ex portwhich means that it is not the best and a great deal came from Imarl, where potteries were established by a Korean some 300 years ago. The best porcelain displayed was some by Maku za. who has his kilns and hips in the outskirts of Yokohama. One small peachhlow vase wm marked yen 500 and a big blue one was yen 550. Makuza Kozan Is a man of great reputation here abouts and a winner of medals abroad. Many of his pieces are In imitation of the old Chinese. The wooden articles were interesting. Some trays Inlaid with mother-of-pearl in simple designs caught our eyes; and especially fine was a panel, carved by a Tokio artist, showing three saints stand ing in bold relief against the plain back ground. The expression of faces and hands was w-ondcrful. yet very simple and done with few lines. There was a big display of lacquer, chiefly trays and the tables and bowls that the Japanese use for meals. The finest were made In Kanozawa. on the west coast. There were some beautifully carved and lac quered altars: and before these were many people, walking slowly and talking in low tones. Tenshoda. silversmith to the Imperial household, showed some truly artistic things. A tea service of most graceful shape and design, with the bent bodies of dragon flies for bandies, was what fascinated us most. Wishing to save ourselves for things to come, we hurried by some practical exhibits of galvanized iron buckets, rubber tubing, divers' suits, chemicals, and the common paper that Is made from the spruce and cedar that grow at the base of Mt. ToJI. The brown hamboo baskets that the Japanese use for flowers, kept us they are cleverly twisted together. We paused some time before the little long-handled combs, and the big ones made of hard wood from the Hokkalds that are used In dressing a Japanese lady's hair. Then we went on Into the next build ing. l'Trst was a display of the golden clasps that Japanese ladies wear in front of their obe's. They were Jew elled, and mucli to our disappointment. THE SUNDAY I 0 v 7 quite foreign In style, only a few show ing pure Japanese designs. Next soma fine Ivory carvings, done by Toklo carvers, who excell all others in the Kmplre, were being examined by the Judges appointed to award medals for the Exposition. A strange piece of furniture amused us. It was marked "Ornamental settee, yen 8600.00," and it was moet substantial,- with costly fittings, but quite the most useless piece of furniture I have ever seen, more like a folding bed than a settee, yet comfortable for neither Jing nor sitting. There were exhibits of matting made for export, exhibits of the lovely fairy like silk and paper lanterns that come from Gifu. "modern gold "screens, bot tled beer, biscuits and sake. At the last display was a Japanese gentle man carefiilly noting down the names of the different brands. Out of curi osity we priced some Japanese ladies' clogs. One black lacquered pair cost yen 600, and one pair of white wood with Insoles of fine bamboo and bro caded thongs cct yen 1200. The new slippers had a patent way of changing the thongs and were shod with soft leather so that they wear much bet ter than the old-style ones. Footwear is a great problem with the Japanese just now, and many of them wear heavy leather shoes on the street, fas tened with clasps in such a way that they are easily slipped off when the home Is reached. The Japanese are far more curious about our shoes than about anything else we wear, and oflen as we meet them on the street we find them gazing steadily at our foot wear. It was a pleasant change to wander from the crowded aisles out Into the open court where groups of Japanese mer chants, coolies, students, soldiers, farm ers, black-teethed women from the coun try and town women of the middle class, and children of all ages were sitting lis tening to the band and watching a very foreign fountain play. Our tickets, presented by Baron Senge. admitted us to the Welcome Kail, & building In Japanese style with foreign furniture. Here shy ne-sans brought us rice flour cakes, shaped like cherry-blossoms, foreign and Japajiese tea. They OREGONIAX, PORTLAND, FOftETON TNFLUEKCEttOV ITSELF TN ALL THE DRAWING m PAINTING IMC- 4 ? .7 . vt: presented us with of the exposition postcards and maps and copies of the Through the glass Excursion Journal. sha.il we could see a great part of Tokio looking duller and grayer than usual In the clouds of dust blown about by the high winds. At tiffin time we left the hall and sought a restaurant near by. This was the menu: Price. Ten. The First (Moon) Tsukl 1.00 The Second (Snow) Tuki 80 The Third (Flower) Hana 60 The Fourth (Star) Hash! .35 Wines, liquors and spirits are sold In cups. Every description of ham; every description of soup; every description of oalf, every description of fish, every de scription of egg; miscellaneous meats every description of beef. The First (Moon) meal was what we chose; it consisted of soup, fish, three meat courses, potatoes, macaroni, ice cream, lady fingers and coffee. The rea son there was so much meat and so little vegetable was in deference to the Japa nese, who eat almost nothing but vegeta bles and fish at home and almost nothing but meat elsewhere. Tiffin finished, we returned conscien tiously to the exposition. In & small building were the Toklo arsenal exhibit, a relief map of the city waterworks and a big relief map of Tokio with tiny houses and streets and parks. About this last the people were crowded point ing out to one another their own homes and other familiar spots. The little red cross building was filled with surgical Instruments, bandages and so on; the one happy thought in it being the figures of Japanese nurses caring for two wounded Russians. Whoever had made those fig ures of Russians had made them frankly, as they seemed to him: Big, yellow-haired barbarians, wild-eyed and enraged at re ceiving help from their enemies. To a foreign visitor quite the best part of the exposition Is the building devoted to Japanese fabrics, silks for obes, the most expensive part of a Japanese lady's costume, were artistic In color, texture and design. Some with much gold woven in were especially beautiful- Yet when we came to look at the cheap cotton ma- 1 terials, and a mixture of cotton and wool 1 called tocherimen, we found them .Quite J JUNE 23, -1907. as artistic. There were crepe klmonas In exquisite soft shades that made American gowns look barbarous. About one show case the people were so crowded that we sought a side aisle as soon as we saw what held their attention: Pour life-size figures dressed In klmonas, a Chinese woman, a Japanese, a red-haired Anglo Saxon and a negress. The art gallery we visited in the com pany of an artist friend, Mr. Tshikawa, who showed Ave water-colors of Man churlan street scenes, quite in foreign style. A friend of his whom we met had two landscapes In water colors, one show ing sunset light behind evergreen trees. The number of modern water colors ex hibited was not large, and while all seemed to us to be true, none were espe cially fine. Many of the oil paintings were "still life," always annoying be cause they have so much still and so little life about them. We were most impressed by a painting of Mitsutany's, "A Tale of Battle." A young soldier seated on the floor is talk ing of Manchuria to the family grouped about him. the brother, sister, wife and the old gray-hatred father holding a little girl against his shoulders. The soldier's face and figure are full of life and ani mation as he fighta the battle over again while the others are listening with rapt attention. A portrait interested us be cause of its color-scheme a black-haired woman In a. white kimona with A black l fi H u 3i i i HI satin obe. Most of the pictures were not convincing; even those of the Japanese style done on silk gauze with water color showed little strength. Some had beauti ful coloring, but nearly all showed for eign Influence in the drawing, many sug gesting modern posters, while some others were feeble imitations of the work of old Chinese and Japanese artists. One pic ture had wild geese In Japanese style standing on rocks, painted In imitation of foreign style. One religious picture showing Kwannon, the goddess of mercy, emerging from a mist, had coloring like Are opals, very strange and very beautiful. Out of 800 paintings submitted, only 300 were chosen. Mr. Tshikawa. said, and then he showed us pictures painted by the Judges. Even these had been much influenced by for eign art. Even the casual observer can not fail to see that Japanese painting Is In a transition stage not free from the old traditions, yet still stranger to the real spirit of foreign art. What pleased us most in the art gallery was some palmed designs for kimona decorations. They were so well done that they looked at first like pieces of cloth. From the pictures we went down to the second compound on the edge of Shln obadzu Pond. Fisherman's curiosity led us to the acquarium. The unhappy bellow ing of a sealion disturbed the peace of the place, but the many queer fish were inter- esiln. Soma watet-dogj looked moat un- -it i! I I 1 Interesting to us until we were told by a Japanese gentleman that country peo ple catch them and make a powder from the bodies, and this powder -put in the pocket of the loved one who does not love In return will surely win affection from the hardest-hearted. This powder is even advertised in newspapers. Once more we braved the gale and went to the Formosan building, where we drank tea and ate banana flour sweetmeats, while a little Cninese sing-song girl played the blwa and sang to us. She sang first of a young man who went from home and married the princess of a far-off country, but homesickness came over him and he wished himself a bird tnat he might fly back, or a fish that he might swim home to his loved ones. Then the shy little sing-sohg girl ran away and needed much coaxing before she sang: again. This time the song was of a young man who fougnt the aborigines of his own land. He was captured and adopted as a son bv the chief of the tribe. Meanwhile his wife had grown, very poor and as she worked one day In the fields she was addressed by a bird who asked her for a message for : her husband. The poor wife tore off ' some of her white garment and wrote ; on It with the blood from her finger. ' Her husband, out hunting, shot at a j bird and missed it. but down fluttered i the message from bis sorrowing wife, i whereupon the young man left the aborigine king and went home. Assured of his return we left the buildings amid a choroa of sayonaras and turned our steps homeward. Ignoring the ma chinery hall, the foreign exhibits and other buildings, leaving them for a less windy day The exposition is interesting, chiefly because it shows what tlw Japanese 1 J ! '.mi people use and like, foreign things and Japanese things dwelling in peace side by side. ' Yokohama. Japan. May 13. Strawberry Shortcake. Every man will tell you that the noonday delusibn and snare in down town lunch rooms is strawberry short cake. What be gets there Is rather stale, very yellow, sponge cake, with stale. taRteless berries crushed between the layers and half-sour cream whipped or beaten meringue on top of all. What he wants Is the sort of shortcake mother used to make and here ts the recipe: One quart of flower In which has been sifted a pinch of salt, two table spoonfuls of sugar and three teaspoons of baking powder. Into this. rub half a cup of butter and work into the soft est possible mass you can handle with milk. Roll out to an Inch thickness, bake In a moderate oven (about 25 minutes Is required), and slip onto a large plate or platter. When cold enough to handle, split and butter lightly. Pile the first layer with ber ries which have been hulled, chopped a little with a silver knife, sugared thor oughly and allowed to stand while the cake wan baking. Lay over this the top layer, etud thickly with berries and shower with powdered sugar. Serve warm with cream and milk, halt , und hull.