A Budget of Letters from Japan; Reminiscences of Work and Travel in Japan (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1886. Excerpt: ... LETTER IX. TOKIO. Being A Confidential Chat About The Metropolis. Tokio, May 31, 1875. Dear Julius Marcellus: Your letter from Naples came duly to hand. You ask me many questions about the situation and general features of Tokio; about the geological aspects of the surrounding country; about its history, its inhabitants, the methods to which we resort for amusement, the present system of schools, and the social features of the place in general. Although your questions appear simple enough, yet, to transfer my ideas accurately to your mind through the clumsy media of pen and ink, will take no little time and paper. Written descriptions rarely convey accurate impressions to the reader's mind, and it is correspondingly rare to find a knight of the pen who does not regard his version or description of place, character, or thing thoroughly correct. It is amusing to notice how the same question will be answered by different persons. Ask a dozen residents of Tokio or Yokohama whether gratitude should be considered an element of Japanese character, and you will find yourself in possession of a vast and entertaining variety of affirmation, negation, and invective. Be it therefore understood that we are only going to state our own views upon the metropolis. As the day is warm I shall lay myself out systematically for my work. In the first place, I have ordered the boy to put a couple of bottles of lemonade down the well so that I may refresh my pen betimes. I have ordered all the shojees to be taken out, thus throwing parlor, bedrooms, and diningroom into one vast, airy apartment. So I am sitting in a kind of pavilion opening out on all sides into the garden. My chum has gone out for a day's shooting in the paddy fields beyond the Sumida; so that my only companion ...