Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 May 1883 — HOTEL LIFE IN JAPAN. [ARTICLE]

HOTEL LIFE IN JAPAN.

Mr Traveler* Are Accommodated In th* Flowery Kingdom. (From a Letter in the San Francisco Chronicle.] Life in a Japanese hotel is a revelation of carelessness one would have to travel far to duplicate. The construction of the house is responsible for much of this, for every room is entered from a corridor open to the sunlight and general use, the sliding paper screen when in position admitting all the light that ground glass would give. The occupants are served with their meals in their rooms* each person ordering as he' desires st any moment during the day or evening. An order given for a meal to be served* is filled immediately. A clap of the hands summons a servant to attend to* you, and that without delay. The matted floor is the sofa to lounge upon, there being provided a cotton or silk-quilted cushion for the use of each person. During the day it is very rare to find the screens closed at the front of any room occupied by visitors. The interior of every department is as open as to the inspection of every one in the house as it is to the uses of the occupant. The' conversation is the property of neighbors as well, unless carried on in a very low tone. At night the bedding arrangements are prepared when required. A number of thick quilts, piled onb upon the other, complete the outfit, with a rest for the head. A light is placed in the room that is supposed to burn all night. It is a ( mail taper, placed in a vessel containing a vegetable oil that is put inside of a small lantern made of paper, standing some three feet high. The preparation of food at the hotels is a process that can be witnessed by the guests, as the kitchen and cooking facilities are placed in open view of all. Kitchen, storeroom, pantry and general office of the establishment generally occupy the most conspicuous room on the premises. The cooking is done on portable furnaces and charcoal fires. There are no chimneys needed or used. Fish are usually kept in a reservoir and killed as they are needed. Fresh vegetables are kept under the trickling water, and in all well-conducted places there is a scrupulous neatness manifest in all the culinary arrangements. Everyone, guest or otherwise, must take off his shoes before he can enter the establishment. There is no creaking noises or trampings heard to irritate the nervous, and corns never trouble while one is in a Japanese hotel. The mats upon the floors are as yielding to the tread as the most luxurious carpets ever made. I wish I could say that there were no fleas to trouble a guest as he seeks to compose himself, but in truth he can not, and a great drawback it is to one’s comfort to be pestered with these nimble insects that are domesticated and at home in these places. The thick mats upon the floor make famous places to hide in. Mosquitoes are guarded against by a large net attached to the ceiling of the room and reaching to the floor, being nearly as large as the room. When the net is in position for the night, if it is in perfect condition, the mosquito is left out in the cold. He may sing his song, but he can not bite. If some one would invent some method to hive fleas he would make his fortune quickly.