A Silk Factory—Employment for Women—A Police Escort—The Japanese Police
Force.
KUBOTA, _July_ 23.
MY next visit was to a factory of handloom silk-weavers, where 180 hands,
half of them women, are employed. These new industrial openings for
respectable employment for women and girls are very important, and tend
in the direction of a much-needed social reform. The striped silk
fabrics produced are entirely for home consumption.
Afterwards I went into the principal street, and, after a long search
through the shops, bought some condensed milk with the “Eagle” brand and
the label all right, but, on opening it, found it to contain small
pellets of a brownish, dried curd, with an unpleasant taste! As I was
sitting in the shop, half stifled by the crowd, the people suddenly fell
back to a respectful distance, leaving me breathing space, and a message
came from the chief of police to say that he was very sorry for the
crowding, and had ordered two policemen to attend upon me for the
remainder of my visit. The black and yellow uniforms were most truly
welcome, and since then I have escaped all annoyance. On my return I
found the card of the chief of police, who had left a message with the
house-master apologising for the crowd by saying that foreigners very
rarely visited Kubota, and he thought that the people had never seen a
foreign woman.
I went afterwards to the central police station to inquire about an
inland route to Aomori, and received much courtesy, but no information.
The police everywhere are very gentle to the people,—a few quiet words or
a wave of the hand are sufficient, when they do not resist them. They
belong to the _samurai_ class, and, doubtless, their naturally superior
position weighs with the _heimin_. Their faces and a certain _hauteur_
of manner show the indelible class distinction. The entire police force
of Japan numbers 23,300 educated men in the prime of life, and if 30 per
cent of them do wear spectacles, it does not detract from their
usefulness. 5600 of them are stationed at Yedo, as from thence they can
be easily sent wherever they are wanted, 1004 at Kiyôto, and 815 at
Osaka, and the remaining 10,000 are spread over the country. The police
force costs something over £400,000 annually, and certainly is very
efficient in preserving good order. The pay of ordinary constables
ranges from 6 to 10 _yen_ a month. An enormous quantity of superfluous
writing is done by all officialdom in Japan, and one usually sees
policemen writing. What comes of it I don’t know. They are mostly
intelligent and gentlemanly-looking young men, and foreigners in the
interior are really much indebted to them. If I am at any time in
difficulties I apply to them, and, though they are disposed to be
somewhat _de haut en bas_, they are sure to help one, except about
routes, of which they always profess ignorance.
On the whole, I like Kubota better than any other Japanese town, perhaps
because it is so completely Japanese and has no air of having seen better
days. I no longer care to meet Europeans—indeed I should go far out of
my way to avoid them. I have become quite used to Japanese life, and
think that I learn more about it in travelling in this solitary way than
I should otherwise.