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ie WINNETKA WEEKLY TALK, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1924 Wilmette Traveler in Japan Finds Natives Friendly and Honest Lot J. Melville Brown Says Ex- clusion Act Is Good But Effected Without Tact Editor's note: J. Melville Brown of Wilmette, who with his family is travel- ing around the world, writes the follow- ing letter from Japan. Mr. Brown gives his impressions of the customs and manners of the Japanese and de- scribes clearly their cconomic and social conditions. In view of the present relations between Japan and the United States this letter is especially timely. September 20, 1924 "We have been in Japan six weeks and will leave in a few days for China. We came with many prejudices and an innumerable list of "don'ts," most of which have vanished away. Per- haps some of our impressions may prove interesting. At least they will not deter intending visitors to this misunderstood and much slandered Island Empire. "Because of its great sea girth Japan is humid and consequently in- tensely green. Were it not for its mountain ranges and rugged land- scape ,it might rival the gentle downs and dales of old England. "We will suppose the traveler en- ters Yokohama bay on a cloudless day. The great ship will glide through the glassy waters making scarcely a ripple. Hundreds of tiny sampans will lie motionless about, their shadows reflecting in the blue sea as if they had been there for centuries. A close inspection through glasses will show tiny films of charcoal smoke leisurely lifting upwards and semi-naked forms lying under the shadows of the queer looking sails. Perhaps the majestic outlines of Fuyu Fuji-San in the dis- tance distracts from these small ob- jects, for who would look at a crawl- ing caterpillar when an eagle can be seen flying? So Fuji-San clear cut as a diamond, blue outlined in summer and glistening white in winter, the most dominant feature in all Japan's landscape, claims our first attention. Courteous Customs Officials "We all dread customs officials and vexatious delays. Some gossiping traveler has told us Japanese customs officials are the worst on earth. So we make the simple avowal that we have with us nothing dutiable, and are agreeably surprised that without ex- amining our baggage we are courteous- ly handed clearance slips and in a verv short time are on Japanese soil. 'A hotel porter greets us and we are given baggage checks, which we ac- cept hesitatingly wondering if we shall ever see our trunks again. But they precede us to the hotel and are in our rooms as soon as we are. When we land we do not know a thing about Japanese currency, but there is a small exchange shop on the dock, and a polite clerk in Japanese costume smilingly takes our Cook's checques, quickly compares signatures, and in no time we are given the equivalent in Japanese currency and a memo- randum of the transaction, which we afterwards find is absolutely correct in every detail. "Back home we may have extended a very slight courtesy to a Japanese student at Northwestern university. We may also have written about our intended visit to Japan, suggesting that she call at our hotel during our stay in Tokyo. What happens? She knows the difficulties we must en- counter these first few days in a new land, with a curiously strange people and unintelligible language and un- tried customs, and in two huge cities, cruelly strangled and twisted out of shape and torn to death by aterrible catastrophe. So she takes the hot, dusty, and dirty twenty mile ride and waits, no one knows how many hours, in that shadeless wharf to greet us. And for days with the thermometer in the nineties, and the sun merciless she continues to be our guide, until we know the customs and can get around alone. Police are Efficient "By and by we decide to go to a mountain resort to escape the heat. While there we indulge in an auto- mobile ride to a neighboring village and lose our glasses. We mention the loss to the police department, who im- mediately telephone the neighboring village and in two days the glasses are returned, all offered reward being politely refused. About this time we discover that an umbrella has heen lost and recall it may have been left at a certain rickshaw stand in Tokyo. So we write to our little Japanese friend who institutes an inquiry and the umbrella is found and promptly returned. "At our hotel in Nikko an absent- minded elderly traveler missed her watch and complained to the man- agement that it had been stolen. He quietly told her it was impossible, that people in Japan were honest. So a thorough search was made for the watch, which was finally found in the toe of the lady's bedroom slipper where it had fallen from her pillow. Japanese Galantry . "We are returning from our moun- tain retreat to Tokyo and become en- gaged in a delightful conversation with a Japanese gentleman. As we enter the city we inquire about a certain bank where we can draw funds on our letters of credit. He tells us the bank will close soon and invites us to ride in his car that will meet him at the station. We demur. but he politely insists, saying he must go to this same bank himself. At the bank we are introduced to the foreign department by the gentleman who re- quests them to attend to our wants quickly and to give us the lowest rate of exchange. We are then in- vited to the gentleman's private office where we discover that he is manag- ing director of the institution. He presses us to remain over in Tokyo another day and visit his family at their seashore residence. He then orders his chauffeur to drive us to our hotel. All this kindness, unosten- tatiously performed towards an utter stranger. Incidents like this can be multiplied all through Japan. "While not unduly careless we leave our trunks unlocked and rooms un- fastened and have not missed an arti- cle great or small The deference shown is delightful and is a lesson to us brusque Americans to watch saiu- tations among Japanese ladies and gentlemen. Refuting an Old Story "John Paris in his books, 'Kimono' and 'Sayonara', writes rather luridly about certain social evils in Yokohama and Tokyo. Is there any large city the world over without them? It is said these evils in Osaka, the Man- chester of Japan, are even worse, but an Englishman tells me they don't compare with portions of London, and a New Yorker says Gotham has sorer spots on her East Side. On the short stretch of sidewalk between the Chi- cago river and the Northwestern de- pot are more whining sing-song beg- gars than can be seen in all Japan despite the gruesome earthquakes, fires, and resultant poverty. "We stopped for several days at a small hotel near the base of Mt. Fuji. (Continued on page 21) The Alicia Pratt / School of Dancing i} Re-opens FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1924 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1924 Winnetka Woman's Club Beginning and advanced classes comprising Character, Interpre- tive, Pantomine, Eccentric, Plas- tiques, Dance Dramas and the newest Ballroom Steps. < 1125 Davis St. University 2433 3 2 3 ON MONDAY OCTOBER 27th ELIZABETH DUNCAN will open her shop at 812 ELM ST. 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