Jinrikisha Days in Japan
A large foreign colony is resident in Tokio, the diplomatic corps, the great numbers of missionaries, and those employed by the Government in the university, schools, and departments constituting a large community. The missionary settlement now holds the Tsukiji district near the railway station; that piece of made ground along the shore first ceded for the exclusive occupation of foreigners. Besides being malarial, Tsukiji was formerly the rag-pickers’ district, and its selection was not complimentary to the great powers, all of whose legations have now left it. To reside outside of Tsukiji is permitted to non-officials only when in Japanese employ. Rich art collectors, scientists, and enthusiasts, who choose to live in Tokio, must be claimed as employés or teachers by some kindly Japanese friend, who becomes responsible for the stranger’s conduct. These limitations pertain to the treaty regulations, which permit no foreigners to go more than twenty-five miles beyond a treaty port without a passport, which may be obtained through a legation, and which names the places to be visited. The police register the arrival of all strangers, and keep a record of their movements. The United States Legation issues as a passport only a page of thick mulberry paper covered with the essential writings in Japanese characters. The British Legation encloses a similar passport in a small pamphlet of instructions, wherein the holder is minutely admonished as to his behavior, warned not to quarrel, not to deface monuments, not to destroy shrubs or trees, nor break windows. At Kobé, any American citizen may, if he likes, procure a passport for Kioto from the Kencho, or governor’s office, without applying to his consul. Travellers of all other nationalities must proceed through their consuls, and this recognition of the freedom and independence of the American citizen is a tribute to the individual sovereignty of his nation, concerning which a Japanese poet writes:
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