TOKIO TO-DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 144, 20 June 1931, Page 11

TOKIO TO-DAY

CITY OS 1 CONTRASTS

OCCIDENTAL BUSINESS

ORIENTAL. PLEASURES

(By Magellan, Jan.) Travellers from the Far East- irequently report the passing of tho real Japan. "The East is We^t," they lament, recalling experiences in motor vessels 'built at Nagasaki, or the sight of super-express electric trains hurtling past the paddy fields. But the real Japan is no more hidden by the addition of a few skyscrapers than her business men are disguised by the adoption of tho bowler hat. Forty years ago it was tho fad among the inmates of one of Tokio'e gay quarters to adopt the coat and skirt common in European cities, but men -were not attracted by styles unsuitcd to the Japanese figure, so the fashion was short-lived. Even the official decree that ladies of the court should wear "foreign style" dresses had no influence on the Japanese women, who are usually eager to ombracc royal suggestions in the humbler ranks. To-day, on the Ginza, Tokio's Great White Way, it is exceedingly rare to discover anything but kimono in use among the women, whose ordinarily stumpy figure is somehow granted an infinity of grace by the folds of- their national costume. Among thejnen of the city, for business purposes in the manipulation of office routine, the styles of London and New York are favourite. But in the evening almost all prefer to' slip into the silk kimono which lends them also an air of grace and assurance. Eating styles have been adapted to the quick lunch habits of modern commercial 'men, and in dozens of enormous establishments in Tokio one may order Boston clam chowder, waffles and coffee, or beefsteak, all well known by their English names. In true New York style the men from office buildings, containing hundreds of firms, will rush into a sandwich shop and risk indigestion through coffee and doughnuts) washed down with ice water. But, in the evening, whether in their homes or in any of the thousands of restaurants, Japanese food, served in lacquer bowls nnd downed with the aid of chopsticks, is almost universal. SEAECH TOR AMUSEMENT. The Japanese are essentially a people constantly engaged in the search for amusement. The; ;large department stores, the banks, office buildings, railway stations, underground rapid expresses, and motor transportation are accepted as evils to assist the nation to compete: with the high-speed commercial output of Europeans and Americans. In their search for amusement there has been but a very slight invasion of foreign methods. • The talking motion pictures and the "leg shows," or popular revues, have gained a definite place in the country, and thousands of theatres show films from overseas and of Japanese production. Round-abouts, swings, motor-cycle races, and side-show freaks are encountered but rarely. The real Japan has dominated invading influences of the ■western barbarians, even though the mechanical genius of the white man has been utilised to enable millions of people to live in health close proximity. The reason is that essentially the Japanese work for the joy of contrasting the sexes. It is still the principal pleasure of a Japanese woman to be as essentially feminine as possible and for the man to be as masculine as he may dare. This leads to over-emphasis on occasion, and it is possible to find women too submissive and men who appear upstarts and braggarts, but, in the main, a pleasant contrast is maintained. As in the past, a Japanese man derives his greatest pleasure when in the company of a woman. To further this end he is anxious that as many women as possible shall be versed in the arts of singing, dancing, of ' flower arrangement, colour harmony, and, if possible, in light conversation in no way reminiscent of the office routine which clouds his working day. CAPITAL CITY REMODELLED. Tokio, in spite of its changed physical aspect, is fundamentally unlike a foreign city. Following the great earth shock of September, 1923, it was possible to remodel the capital city, for resulting fires destroyed 220,000 bouses; 1,545,000 people were rendered homeless, and, due to the destruction of factories, 68,000 wore thrown out of employment. Money was raised abroad for the major portion of the £100,000,000 required for restoration and reconstruction. It would have been possible to undertake the whole work of raising the finances in the domestic market, but the brains and energy of the country would have been too long divorted from competing for overseas trade in China, India, and the East Indies. Furthermore, as building materials necessarily would come from abroad, it was doubly advantageous to finance through London and New York. That a Tokio new to the eye arose from the ruins is shown by tho following table, of buildings in the city in.various years:— Built of Earth Stone Brick Concrete Wood 1822 ... 22,658 1639 C 857 427 324,089 1923 ... 4,170 305 , 1745 457 135,350 1926 ■ ... 3,432 436 1828 1583 319,632 Ideas, as well as cement and Bteel, were imported, and schools, bathhouses, football stadiums, hospitals, department stores and offices were constructed almost without a single Japanese feature, but of these only the football stadiums can be classed as belonging to the great Oriental industry of providing a source of amusement. The gay quarters, restaurants, and tea houses, as well as the dwelling houses, all, in short, catering to the private lives of the people, were erected in Japanese stylo, usually of wood. The markets, the temples, and the shops carry on in true ' Oriental style| ■ It is true that there are in Tokio today a dozen dancing halls, where the latest jazz music is played, but the Japanese girls, particularly the-geisha,' find the jazz steps so simple and so easy to ac^jiire after their own intricate classical styles that they are rather bored by the constant repetition of an elementary movement and are not really interested. Foreign business men, ambassadors sometimes, and the military and naval attaches from foreign Powers are frequenters of the jazz halls in company with the youths of Tokio in search of novelty. It is commonly remarked as a modern wonder that Japanese girlsf in voluminous kimono, and mounted on thick cork slippers without heels, can do the tango or Charleston to near perfection.

Eugby football and baseball have captured the enthusiasm of- Tokio young men, and, in the season, some (fcilf-dozen excellent university matches may be in progress at'once. Recently a visiting Japanese Eugby team played six matches in Canada without defeat. Cricket is played only by a few foreigners. Yet jiu-jitsu and wrestling remain the greatest sports of the nation.