ITO SAN
_Ama no hara
Fumi-todorokashi
Naru-kami mo
Omou-naka wo ba
Sakuru mono ka wa?_
Can even the God of Thunder
Whose footfall resounds
In the plains of the sky
Put asunder
Those whom love joins?
Geoffrey's conscience was disturbed. His face was lined and worried
with thought, such as had left him untroubled since the effervescences
of his early youth. Like many young men of his caste, he had soon
submitted all the baffling riddles of conduct to the thumb rule of
Good Form. This Yoshiwara question was to him something more than
a moral conundrum. It was a subtle attack by the wife of his bosom,
aided and abetted by his old friend Reggie Forsyth and by the
mysterious forces of this unfamiliar land as typified by Yaé Smith,
against the citadel of Good Form, against the stronghold of his
principles.
Geoffrey himself wished to see the Yoshiwara. His project had been
that one evening, when Asako had been invited to dinner by friends, he
and Reggie would go and look at the place. This much was sanctioned by
Good Form.
For him to take his wife there, and for people to know that he
had done so, would be the worst of Bad Form, the conduct of a rank
outsider. Unfortunately, it was also Bad Form for him to discuss the
matter with Asako.
A terrible dilemma.
Was it possible that the laws of Good and Bad Form were only locally
binding, and that here in Japan they were no longer valid?
Reggie was different. He was so awfully clever. He could extemporize
on Good Form as he could extemporize on the piano. Besides, he was a
victim to the artistic temperament, which cannot control itself. But
Reggie had not been improved by his sojourn in this queer country, or
he would never have so far forgotten himself as to speak in such a way
in the presence of ladies.
Geoffrey would give him a good beating at tennis; and then, having
reduced him to a fit state of humility, he would have it out with him.
For Barrington was not a man to nurse displeasure against his friends.
The tennis courts at Tokyo--which stand in a magnificent central
position one day to be occupied by the Japanese Houses of
Parliament--are every afternoon the meeting place for youth in exile
with a sprinkling of Japanese, some of whom have acquired great skill
at the game. Towards tea-time the ladies arrive to watch the evening
efforts of their husbands and admirers, and to escort them home when
the light begins to fail. So the tennis courts have become a little
social oasis in the vast desert of oriental life. Brilliant it is not.
Sparkle there is none. But there is a certain chirpiness, the forced
gaiety of caged birds.
The day was warm and bright. The snow had vanished as though by
supernatural command. Geoffrey enjoyed his game thoroughly, although
he was beaten, being out of practice and unused to gravel courts. But
the exercise made him, in his own language, "sweat like a pig," and he
felt better. He thought he would shelve the unpleasant subject for the
time being; but it was Reggie himself who revived it.
"About the Yoshiwara," he said, seating himself on one of the benches
placed round the courts. "They are having a special show down there
to-morrow. It will probably be worth seeing."
"Look here," said Geoffrey, "is it the thing for ladies--English
ladies--to go to a place like that?"
"Of course," answered his friend, "it is one of the sights of
Tokyo. Why, I went with Lady Cynthia not so long ago. She was quite
fascinated."
"By Jove!" Geoffrey ejaculated. "But for a young girl--? Did Miss
Cairns go too?"
"Not on that occasion; but I have no doubt she has been."
"But isn't it much the same as taking a lady to a public brothel?"
"Not in the least," was Reggie's answer, "it is like along Piccadilly
after nightfall, looking in at the Empire, and returning via Regent
Street; and in Paris, like a visit to the _Rat Mort_ and the _Bal
Tabarin_. It is the local version of an old theme."
"But is that a nice sight for a lady?"
"It is what every lady wants to see."
"Reggie, what rot! Any clean-minded girl--"
"Geoffrey, old man, would _you_ like to see the place?"
"Yes, but for a man it's different."
"Why do you want to see it? You're not going there for business, I
presume?"
"Why? for curiosity, I suppose. One hears such a lot of people talk
about the Yoshiwara--"
"For curiosity, that's right: and do you really think that women, even
clean-minded women, have less curiosity than men?"
Geoffrey Barrington started to laugh at his own discomfiture.
"Reggie, you were always a devil for arguing!" he said. "At home one
would never talk about things like that."
"There must be a slight difference then between Home and Abroad.
Certain bonds are relaxed. Abroad, one is a sight-seer. One is out to
watch the appearance and habits of the natives in a semi-scientific
mood, just as one looks at animals in the Zoo. Besides, nobody knows
or cares who one is. One has no awkward responsibilities towards one's
neighbours; and there is little or no danger of finding an intimate
acquaintance in an embarrassing position. In London one lives in
constant dread of finding people out."
"But my wife," Geoffrey continued, troubled once more, "I can't
imagine--"
"Mrs. Barrington may be an exception; but take my word for it, every
woman, however good and holy, is intensely interested in the lives
of her fallen sisters. They know less about them than we do. They are
therefore more mysterious and interesting to them. And yet they are
much nearer to them by the whole difference of sex. There is always
a personal query arising, 'I, too, might have chosen that life--what
would it have brought me?' There is a certain compassion, too;
and above all there is the intense interest of rivalry. Who is not
interested in his arch-enemy? and what woman does not want to know by
what unholy magic her unfair competitor holds her power over men?"
The tennis courts were filling with youths released from offices. In
the court facing them, two young fellows had begun a single. One of
them was a Japanese; the other, though his hair and eyes were of the
native breed, was too fair of skin and too tall of stature. He was
a Eurasian. They both played exceedingly well. The rallies were long
sustained, the drives beautifully timed and taken. The few unemployed
about the courts soon made this game the object of their special
attention.
"Who are they?" asked Geoffrey, glad to change the conversation.
"That's Aubrey Smith, Yaé's brother, one of the best players here,
and Viscount Kamimura, who ought to be quite the best; but he has just
married, and his wife will not let him play often enough."
"Oh," exclaimed Geoffrey, "he was on the ship with us coming out."
He had not recognised the good-looking young Japanese. He had not
expected to meet him somehow in such a European _milieu_. Kamimura had
noticed his fellow-traveller, however; and when the set was over
and the players had changed sides, he came up and greeted him most
cordially.
"I hear you are already married," said Geoffrey. "Our best
congratulations!"
"Thank you," replied Kamimura, blushing. Japanese blush readily in
spite of their complexion.
"We Japanese must not boast about our wives. It is what you call Bad
Form. But I would like her to meet Mrs. Barrington. She speaks English
not so badly."
"Yes," said Geoffrey, "I hope you will come and dine with us one
evening at the Imperial."
"Thank you very much," answered the young Viscount. "How long are you
staying in Japan?"
"Oh, for some months."
"Then we shall meet often, I hope," he said, and returned to his game.
"A very decent fellow; quite human," Reggie commented.
"Yes, isn't he?" said Geoffrey; and then he asked suddenly,--
"Do you think he would take his wife to see the Yoshiwara?"
"Probably not; but then they are Japanese people living in Japan. That
alters everything."
"I don't think so," said Geoffrey; and he was conscious of having
scored off his friend for once.
Miss Yaé Smith had arrived on her daily visit to the courts. She was
already surrounded by a little retinue of young men, who, however,
scattered at Reggie's approach.
Miss Yaé smiled graciously on the two new-comers and inquired after
Mrs. Barrington.
"It was so nice to talk with her the other day; it was like being in
England again."
Yes, Miss Yaé had been in England and in America too. She preferred
those countries very much to Japan. It was so much more amusing. There
was so little to do here. Besides, in Japan it was such a small world;
and everybody was so disagreeable; especially the women, always saying
untrue, unkind things.
She looked so immaterial and sprite-like in her blue kimono, her
strange eyes downcast as her habit was when talking about herself and
her own doings, that Geoffrey could think no evil of her, nor could he
wonder at Reggie's gaze of intense admiration which beat upon her like
sunlight on a picture.
However, Asako must be waiting for him. He took his leave, and
returned to his hotel.
* * * * *
Asako had been entertaining a visitor. She had gone out shopping for
an hour, not altogether pleased to find herself alone. On her return,
a Japanese gentleman in a vivid green suit had risen from a seat in
the lounge of the hotel, and had introduced himself.
"I am Ito, your attorney-of-law."
He was a small, podgy person with a round oily face and heavy voluted
moustaches. The expression of his eyes was hidden behind gold-rimmed
spectacles. It would have been impossible for a European to guess his
age, anything between twenty-five and fifty. His thick, plum-coloured
hair was brushed up on his forehead in a butcher-boy's curl. His teeth
glittered with dentist's gold. He wore a tweed suit of bright
pea-soup colour, a rainbow tie and yellow boots. Over the bulge of an
egg-shaped stomach hung a massive gold watch-chain blossoming into a
semi-heraldic charm, which might be a masonic emblem or a cycling club
badge. His breastpocket appeared to hold a quiverful of fountain-pens.
"How do you do, Mrs. Harrington? I am pleased to meet you."
The voice was high and squeaky, like a boy's voice when it is
breaking. The extended hand was soft and greasy in spite of its
attempt at a firm grip. With elaborate politeness he ushered Mrs.
Harrington into her chair. He took his place close beside her, crossed
his fat legs, and stuck his thumbs into his arm-holes.
"I am your friend Ito," he began, "your father's friend, and I am sure
to be your friend, too."
But for the reference to her father she would have snubbed him. She
decided to give him tea in the lounge, and not to invite him to her
private rooms. A growing distrust of her countrymen, arising largely
from observation of the ways of Tanaka, was making little Asako less
confiding than of yore. She was still ready to be amused by them, but
she was becoming less credulous of the Japanese pose of simplicity
and the conventional smile. However, she was soon melted by Mr. Ito's
kindliness of manner. He patted her hand, and called her "little
girl."
"I am your old lawyer," he kept on saying, "your father's friend, and
your best friend too. Anything you want, just ring me and you have it.
There's my number. Don't forget now. Shiba 1326. What do you think
of Japan, now? Beautiful country, I think. And you have not yet seen
Miyanoshita, or Kamakura, or Nikko temples. You have not yet got
automobile, I think. Indeed, I am sorry for you. That is a very wrong
thing! I shall at once order for you a very splendid automobile,
and we must make a grand trip. Every rich and noble person possesses
splendid automobile."
"Oh, that would be nice!" Asako clapped her hands. "Japan is so
pretty. I do want to see more of it. But I must ask my husband about
buying the motor."
Ito laughed a fat, oily laugh.
"Indeed, that is Japanese style, little girl. Japanese wife say, 'I
ask my husband.' American style wife very different. She say, 'My
husband do this, do that'--like coolie. I have travelled much abroad.
I know American custom very well."
"My husband gives me all I want, and a great deal more," said Asako.
"He is very kind man," grinned the lawyer, "because the money is all
yours--not his at all. Ha, ha!"
Then, seeing that his officiousness was overstepping the mark, he
added,--
"I know American ladies very well. They don't give money to their
husbands. They tell their husbands, 'You give money to me.' They just
do everything themselves, writing cheques all the time!"
"Really?" said Asako; "but my husband is the kindest and best man in
the world!"
"Quite right, quite right. Love your husband like a good little girl.
But don't forget your old lawyer, Ito. I was your father's friend. We
were at school together here in Tokyo."
This interested Asako immensely. She tried to make the lawyer talk
further, but he said that it was a very long story, and he must tell
her some other time. Then she asked him about her cousin, Mr. Fujinami
Gentaro.
"He is away from town just now. When he returns, I think he will
invite you to splendid feast."
With that he took his leave.
"What do you think of him?" Asako asked Tanaka, who had been watching
the interview with an attendant chorus of _boy sans_.
"He is _haikara_ gentleman," was the reply.
Now, _haikara_, is a native corruption of the words "high collar," and
denoted at first a variety of Japanese "nut," who aped the European
and the American in his habits, manners and dress--of which pose
the high collar was the most visible symbol. The word was presumably
contemptuous in its origin. It has since, however, changed its
character as so to mean anything smart and fashionable. You can live
in a _haikara_ house, you can read _haikara_ books, you can wear a
_haikara_ hat. It has become indeed practically a Japanese equivalent
for that untranslatable expression "_chic_."
* * * * *
Asako Harrington, like all simple people, had little familiarity save
with the superficial stratum of her intelligence. She lived in the
gladness of her eyes like a happy young animal. Nothing, not even her
marriage, had touched her very profoundly. Even the sudden shock of
de Brie's love-making had not shaken anything deeper than her natural
pride and her ignorance of mankind.
But in this strange, still land, whose expression looks inwards and
whose face is a mask, a change was operating. Ito left her, as he had
intended, with a growing sense of her own importance as distinct from
her husband. "I was your father's friend: we were at school together
here in Tokyo." Why, Geoffrey did not even know her father's name.
Asako did not think as closely as this. She could not. But she must
have looked very thoughtful; for when Geoffrey came in, he saw her
still sitting in the lounge, and exclaimed,--
"Why, my little Yum Yum, how serious we are! We look as if we were at
our own funeral. Couldn't you get the things you wanted?"
"Oh yes," said Asako, trying to brighten up, "and I've had a visitor.
Guess!"
"Relations?"
"No and yes. It was Mr. Ito, the lawyer."
"Oh, that little blighter. That reminds me. I must go and see him
to-morrow, and find out what he is doing with our money."
"_My_ money," laughed Asako, "Tanaka never lets me forget that."
"Of course, little one," said Geoffrey, "I'd be in the workhouse if it
wasn't for you."
"Geoffrey darling," said his wife hesitating, "will you give me
something?"
"Yes, of course, my sweetheart, what do you want?"
"I want a motor-car, yes please; and I'd like to have a cheque-book of
my own. Sometimes when I am out by myself I would like--"
"Why, of course," said Geoffrey, "you ought to have had one long ago.
But it was your own idea; you didn't want to be bothered with money."
"Oh Geoffrey, you angel, you are so good to me."
She clung to his neck; and he, seeing the hotel deserted and nobody
about, raised her in his arms and carried her bodily upstairs to the
interest and amusement of the chorus of _boy sans_, who had just been
discussing why _danna san_ had left _okusan_ for so many hours that
afternoon, and who and what was the Japanese gentleman who had been
talking to _okusan_ in the hall.