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ODD CUSTOMS IN JAPAN

“On the clay of m yarrival in Japan, says that humorous writer, Mr Julian Street, “I started a list of things which according to our ideas, we do backwards. I suppose that every traveller in Japan h\es kept some sue hrecord. My list, beginning with the observation that their books commence at what we call the back, that the lines of type run down the page instead of across, and that “footnotes” are printed at the top of the page, soon grew to considerable /proportions. Almost every day I had been able to add an item or two, and every time I did so I found myself playing with the fancy that such contrarities ought in some way to be associated with the fact that we stand foot-to-foot wit hi he Japanese upon the globe. The Japanese method of beckoning would, to us, signify “go away”; boats are beached stern’ formost; horses are backed into their stalls; sawing and planing are accomplished with a pulling instead of a driving motion; keys turn in their locks in a reverse direction from that customary with us. At the door of a theatre or a restaurant the Japanese check their shoes instead of their hats.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NEM19221011.2.61

Bibliographic details

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 11 October 1922, Page 5

Word Count
206

ODD CUSTOMS IN JAPAN Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 11 October 1922, Page 5

ODD CUSTOMS IN JAPAN Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 11 October 1922, Page 5