Annie Laura Miller Writes of
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BY ANNIR LAURA MILLER.
THE chief impression that a dweller
in Yokohama, seventeen miles from
the capital, has of Tokyo, is miles
and miles stretching In every direction, of
little gray houses and shops; and sec
ondary to that Is the Impression of a
city made up of things mediaeval and
modern; the old moat and watch towers
about the palace, the old gardens, the
new wide streets and public buildings
and electric cars, ' the people dressed,
tome of them in the costumes of their
forefathers and others dressed In the
latest European style.
Tho train entering Tokyo comes first
to Shliagawa, a suburb overlooking1 the
artificial old forts out In the bay, then
goes through the outskirts of the city,
passing a modern match factory and
other manufacturing buildings with
chimneys made of thin Iron to withstand
earthquake shocks for an earthquake
center Is out In Tokyo bay then passing
two Imperial gardens, tt ' pulls Into the
station. There is a deafening clatter and
scraping of wooden shoes on the pave
ment, a pause at tho wicket and one is
out stepping Into a ricksha or a decrepit
Victoria ordered beforehand from the
stables.
It is a block to the Glnza, the wide
main street, and here, looking at the
many electric cars and foreign buildings,
one fancies oneself back In America for
a moment, only to lose the delusion when
the glance strays to rickshas filled with
Japanese and to carts laden with country
produce or to the strange signs In Jap
anese and distorted English.
There is a big bazaar of Japanese ar
ticles, there are photographers, haber
dashers, a jeweler's where culture pearls
are sold, bicycle and crockery shops, a
chop of nothing but coolie towels costing
only a few sen each, but with pricelessly
artistic designs printed on them.
Conservatism Hun Mad.
There Is the shop of the ciiief grocer
of Tokyo, a man with a somewhat me
diaeval idea of business, apparently, for
he lately refused to keep a certain kind
of "tinned biscuits," much liked by -his
foreign customers, for the simple reason
that the demand for them was so great
ho could never keep them In stock. How
the law of supply and demand, dear to
the heart of some political economists,
would suffer In a nation of such men!
At the end of the Glnza Is a Nihom
bashi, an insignificant bridge, but a cele
brated one for in the old days it was
reckoned the end of the" Tokaido, the
great road connecting Tokyo and Kyoto
when both cities wcro capitals. A picture
of It is first in Hlroshige's famous set
of prints showing the stations of the
old road.
Beyond the bridge is tho fish market,
a busy place In the early morning. Then
the little gray 6hops stretch for miles
out toward Uyeno Park. Somewhere in
the midst of them Is the big shop of
the Mltsuls, the wealthiest family in
Japan. Here among articles for foreign
ers are the most exquisite kimono pat
terns such as Japanese ladies wear and
gorgeous obe's, heavy with threads of
real gold. And somewhere tucked away
In the vast city are Ivory carvers and
silversmiths, the best in the empire, al
though the real artistic center of Japan
is still Kyoto.
In Officialdom.
Not far away is the Imperial, the big
foreign hotel, and in this part of the city
are also many of the government build
ings, big. rather imposing, foreign struc
tures; the government printing office,
the naval department, the Judicial de
partment, courts of Justice, the foreign
office, the ministries of finance, educa
tion and interior, headquarters of the
general staff and the two houses of the
diet, the' scene of stormy discussions
last week, when . the party in favor of
military .expansion overthrew the party
In favor of. husiness expansion, and the
premier, Saionji, himself handed in a
resignation that was not accepted.
At tlie Exclusive Palace.
Nearby is the moat surrounding the
Jingo palace grounds; the wide moat
with big old pine trees growing above
on the high wall, where are white watch
towers with loop holes for archers, and
groat iron-bound gates, all impregnated
Ft ill w ith the very spirit of the Middle
rges. No foreigners enter the palace
except for special audiences, which have
been granted during the past two years
to men of various interests: Mr. SchlfT,
General Booth of the Salvation Army,
Secretary Taft and others, while the
latest guests have been the Chinese
prince, Pu Lun, and the little Korean
crow n prince. This Is the oldest part
of Tokyo, the site of a castle built in
147.6 by a great feudal lord. In 1603
Jycyasu made it his capital and here,
while tho do-nothing Mikados lived in
Kyoto, he and his line4uled the country
fit 1"
liMTiwitMtrtfl nf i
until the restoration, when the Mikado
came from Kyoto and made Tokyo his
capital. The Stiogun who abdicated then
lives still in Tokyo, a hale and hearty
old man, -who practices archery some
times with the long-bow In his garden.
With the Aristocrats.
Scattered about not far from the Im
perial palace grounds are the residences
ef Japanese aristocrats, the palaces of
Prince Arisugawa and Prince Fushimi
of the royal family, and the foreign em
bassies and legations, big, old-fashioned
foreign houses, most of them, that would
make American architects and pWmbers
throw, up their hands In horror. There
are not enough houses to go around the
official circle, the Swedish minister and
Bonie members of the Russian embassy
live in Yokohama and go back and forth
by train, . while some members of other
embassies live in Japanese houses fur
nished and heated In European style
Once, soon after the war, the betto,
driving us about for a round of calls,
pointed out to tis Admiral Togo's home,
a simple Japanese house with a little
garden hid behind a, high wall.
There is in another part of' the city
a small foreign settlement, called by
the irreverent "Holy Land," made up
of a hospital, a school, a church and the
homes of some missionaries and teachers.
The foreigners in Tokyo are only an in
significant part of the two million In
habitants of the city.
Parks That the People Vsc.
Tokyo has several public parks. Hibiga,
the scene of ' the riots soon after the
signing of the Portsmouth treaty,, is
rather a bare and unattractive spot, in
teresting chiefly because it is a sort. of
playground lor the youth of the city,
who swarm there to play their favorite
game of baseball. Uyeno is the most
popular park with the common people,
who go there to Walk under the cherry
trees that turn to rosy pink clouds when
the April sun is -warm. The spot was
set apart for temple grounds in 15 and
a magninceni temple was built there to
ward off evil demons from the palace,
for the ground lies to the northeast of
the palace, tlie direction by which
demons come when they have foul de
signs on the souls of men.' The temple
stood until 1868, when it was burned dur
ing the battle that gave the Mikado's
followers victory over the followers of
the Shogun. Little remains of the former
buildings: there is a red pasoda among
the cryptonierias, nnd a picturesque ave
nue lined with old stone lanterns leads
THE' SUNDAY QREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, FEBRUARY 16, 1908.
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to a shrme dedicated to . the spirit of
Iyeyasu, tlie greatest of tho : Snoguns,
Beyond is tlie Imperial musqura and.be--yond
that are two small temples and. the
tombs of, six Shoguns. ,.
But the favorite spot with the peo
ple is near the statue of Saigo, the
successful leader of the-Imperial forces
in 1S68; here they ' sit at the little, tea
sheds under the cherry trees and look
over the great., gray city spread out
before them. In quite another part -of
the city is Shiba Park with : its' gor
geous mortuary temples and tombs of
the Shoguns, under gnarled and . an
cient pine trees. '.One gives ' 2d sen 'to
the custodian priest and enters a tem
ple gorgeous . with ' lacquer; and gold,
flowers and animals of many ' colors,
w-ith altars ornamented . with' rich em
broideries, censers and candlesticks of
brass. Behind the temples are ' the
tombs, simple . and impressive-iU' their
quiet surroundings.
' City of Temples. '
Kyoto is a city of ' temples, built
when Buddhism was a great power in
the land, but-Toiyo. became' tbe '.capital
Today's Activities at the National
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too late yto.be. much influenced by
Buddhism, and. the chief shrine in the
city is the simple . Shinto temple of
Yasukuni,tthe "Spirit-Invoking Shrine."
Here . Admiral Togo and his vice-admirals
held service for the souls of the
comrades, officers and common sailors,
slain in the, war, addressing- thera In a
moving : Invocation, as ' if they were
present. -
" The temple of the lower classes is
Asakusa, much more a pleasure resort-
J than', ' a place of ' worship,
so . lightly do the populace hold their
religion. - A .' street : lined . with " little
.booths,' where cheap brlffht ornaments
arid toys 'are sold' leads to the temple
yard,, and .'inside the gate are .stalls
wh2re .one' 'may. ,buy rosaries.- The
dingy;' hall pf ; the temple is filled with
votive ' offerings, contrasting strangely
with the; gorgeous altar' which is pro
tected, by, a-. wire netting from the
flocks of' pigeons that - flutter . about.
The" temple grounds swarm with peo
ple, men, -women and children, pausing
at, the tea sheds or going on to some of
the many shows, to nave a photograph
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SSm.-ECTRIC CARS
taken, to wander through the menag
eries and feed carrots to tlie monkeys,
to watch the trained birds perform, to
see wrestlers and tumblers or to watch
the skeleton dance at tlie clever puppet
show;. . -
Pray a Little, Play a'XIttle.
A wonderful place, Asakusa, where
the people pray a little and play a lit
tle and go home weary after a pleasant
day. ' The , Nishi-HongwanJI is differ
ent a new temple, very spacious, very
dignified, w-ith a religious atmosphere
about it that lowers even the unbe
liever's voice to a whisper as he walks
forward to see the altar. . A favorite
spot with the people Is the temple in
closure, where the I'orty-Seven Romies
are buried.. It is. in a quiet spot In
Shinagawa, away' from the noise of the
city, that the Forty-Seven lie, "brave
men and true," who died for their lord;
and tho people flock there by the hun
dreds to .worship and burn incense. In
another part of Tokyo, in a cemetery
attached to a small t"emple, is . the
grave of Hokusai, "the old man mad
with painting." ...
floral Festivals! . ;
- Then there- are the flower gardens
and festivals, dear to the Japanese.
Tokyo has been burned so many times
that there is a saying that "Fire is
the flower'of Yedo," but there are real
flowers, too, in their season. There is
the Imperial cherry - blossom garden
party, given In the grounds of the
Summer palace, and. there is the Im
perial chrysanthemum party, given
when the maple leaves turn red in the
grounds surrounding the palace of the
Crown Prince. These are for . foreign
and Japanese officials and visitors.
Every Autumn Count Okuma issues
invitations to a garden party in his
chrysanthemum . garden - in the out
skirts of Tokyo. Count and Countess
Okuma receive their guests at the en
trance to a restful Japanese bit of gar
den, then the guests pass on to look at
the flowers and to have tea in a pa
vilion. Every Spring all Tokyo goes to see
the wistaria at Kameido, to sit under
the vines drinking tea, to clamber over
the half-moon bridges , or ' simply to
gaze by the hour at the long stream
ers of flowers that hang overhead and
are reflected In the pond below. There
is a reony show, too, each Spring, of
flowers wonderful. In color and shape,
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of a beauty that makes our sturdy gar
den peonies 'common' and unattractive
by comparison. There are other flower
shows and festivals, for. the Japanese
never -lose an opportunity to linger
over fIowei-3 and trees.
The theater Is a' great diversion of
the middle class Japanese. They go
and spend the day with their families,
Her Leapyear Privilege
LEAP year has come around once
more and everything looks promis
ing for ' a big crop of regulation
jokes.' Susceptible young men who have
been respectfully (and otherwise) de
clined during the last three years like to
talk now about their ' slim prospect of
eluding capture.
Of course nobody ever knew of girls
proposing in years divisible by four, any
more than, in those divisible by three or
five. But that makes no difference. The
subject is too good a one for the joke
maker to abandon. It has been his prop
erty for hundreds of years anyhow and
that gives him some rights.
According to tradition it was no less a
personage than St. Patrick himself who
conferred what is commonly known as
the leap year privilege on. women. And
it was St. Bridget who" beguiled him into
making the concession.
That takes the origin back to about the
year 400. which would seem to give it good
deep roots. This is the story as told by
the tradition mongers:
One day as St. Patrick was strolling
along the shore of LougU Neagh, he was
accosted by St. Bridget, who with much
weeping and wailing declared that the
sisters in her nunnery felt themselves to
be deeply abused because they as women
had not the privileeg of ; popping the
question. At' that time' celibacy, although
approved by the church as the. proper life
of a religieuse and consequently made
binding oir the individual by a private
vow, .was not enforced by a general and
absolute rule for the' clergy..
St. Patrick was sternly resolved upon
celibacy for hlmself.-'but he was so moved
by tho lamentations of St. Bridget that he
offered to help out the nunnery ladies by
conceding to them, an occasional enjoy
ment of the privilege of proposing. Being
an ecclesiastic, ", his' thoughts naturally
turned on groups -of' seven; .so. he said
they might propose once in seven years.
Seven years! No wonder St. . Bridget
demurred. A girl'.who was. 34' when one
of these privileged years 'came would be
21 before she would get another chance,
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eating and sitting for hours packed In
little boxes, watching the stage in
tently, weeping with the -unhappy
characters and laughing with the
happy ones. At the Meljaza not long
ago we saw a thrilling melodrama,
translated from the French and adapt
ed a Sirt of semi-foreign play far
too . full of morbid and bloodthirsty
stiuatlons to stilt our taste, hut thor
oughly enjoyed by the Japanese audi
ence. Another time at tho Kabuklza we
saw a lovely, allegorical little opera In
one act. It formed part of the theat
rical performance given afterward by
Baron Goto one of the ablest of
Japan's statesmen In honor of Prince
Pu Lun. Diplomats and aristocratic
Japanese formed the audience that
evening. It was one of the few times
that people of the higher class have
attended tho theater, which was for
bidden them in the old days.
Scant Entertainment of Diplomats.
Diplomats who have lived at Euro
pean courts say that nowhere else in
tho world are the foreign representa
tives received so little at court as in
Japan. There are the two garden par
ties, but tlie only day when the diplo
matic corps goes in a body to court
Is on New Year's morning. Then they
are formally received, given light re
freshments and each person present is
given a small lacquered box containing
candy. On the 3d of November, the
birthday of tlie Emperor, Count and
Countess Jlayashl, of the Foreign Of
fice, give a ball. It Is a brilliant spec
tacle. This year the third fell on Sun
day, so the members of the British and
American embassies, true to their re
ligious training, did not dance in the
court quadrille, with which the ball
opened; only the other European dip
lomats and their wives danced with
the Japanese princesses.
When distinguished foreign officials
come to Tokyothey are entertained
wijth tiffins and'uinners. given at the
Imperial Hotel, and with Japanese
feaats and geisha dancing at the Maple
Club; some few are entertained at the
palaces, but they are seldom invited
into , tho homes of Japanese officials.
Not long ago Admiral and Madam Iju
lu gave a big reception at the Naval
Club, the genial Admiral going about
from table to table toasting his guests,
while Lieutenants and Captains of th
navy served them.
Tokyo is an interesting capital, with
its mixture of old and new, of Jap
anese and European, and one might
spend a lifetime there learning to know
it thoroughly.
Yokohama, Japan, January 20.
and all the best years of her life for that
special purpose would be gone. For at
that time a woman of 21 was as much a
matrimonial antiquity as a woman of 31
is today.
Consequently, so the story goes, St.
Bridget threw her arms around St. Pat
rick's neck and exclaimed:
"Arrah, Pathrtck. Jewell! I daurn't go
back to the gurrls wid sich a proposal.
Mek It wan year in four!"
To which the genial saint replied:
"Biddy, acushla. squeeze me that way
again and I'll give you leap year,' the
longest one of the lot!"
Thus encouraged and bethinking her
that she herself had no husband St.
Bridget forthwith proposed to St. Patrick.
But he had taken the vow of celibacy
so he had to soften his refusal with a
kiss and the present of a silk gown. .
"And ever since then." says Walsh,
who tells the story In his "Curiosities of
Popular Customs," "if a man refuses a
leap year proposal he must pay the
penalty of a silk gown and kiss."
However, there Is a. limit to this obliga
tion, for other authorities say that the
lady cannot claim- the dress unless at
the time of tho proposal she -is "the
wearer of a scarlet petticoat, the lower
portion of which she must exhibit to the
gentleman, who by the law of leap year
is compelled to present to the lady the
dress which shall cover tlie petticoat."
This reference to "the law of leap year"
is more serious than might be supposed,
for it is declared that the custom of
women proposing wan actually upheld by
laws in Scotland, France and Spain,
"while in lilnland tho custom was so
deeply rooted that it needed no laws to
uphold It."
- in 1228 a law was passed in Scotland
making a man liable to a fine of not
more than 10 for refusing a woman
during leap year, unless he could show
that he had proposed to somebody .else
prior to leap year or had been engaged
by some other inquiring woman.
One thing is' certain, the fflth of Feb
ruary Is more scantily provided with
saints than any other dily in tlie year.
St. Oswald being the only one in the
calendar for that day.