English is the Language of the East

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 522, 27 November 1928, Page 13

English is the Language of the East

Top Hats in Japan AUCKLAND ROTARIAN RETURNS The top hats, frock coats and per- | feet English of the Japanese business men made a deep impression on Mr. F. J. Shanly, who returned by tne UUmaroa to-day after attending the Rotary Convention in Japan. Mr. Shanly spent three weeks m Japan and has returned with a wonderful appreciation of the courtesy of the people. English, he -says, can be truly called the language of the East. At Suva, Honolulu, Tokyo, Hong-Kong, Manila —it was always the same: English could be spoken and understood. In Japan the coolies and taxi-men spoke sufficient of our language to be intelligible. The. leaders of business and the professions in Japan spoke English perfectly. The visitors to the Rotary Convention were put at their ease immediately they landed in Japan, and were given a wonderful reception by the cultured and refined Japanese whom they met. The ceaseless streams of people in the streets of Tokyo, Osaka and the other big towns of Japan leave a lasting impression on the visitor, said Mr. Shanly. Some carry their burdens, others pull them in carts, others again lead oxen or horses —the whole making a continual clatter. The largest part of Japan’s 80,000,000 of people toil ceaselessly without time limitations or union regulations. In Yokohama, said Mr. Shanly, the work of reconstruction is still going on steadily, and a splendid new city is rising from the ruins which followed the earthquake. Wide, straight streets are replacing the former narrow, winding ones. Only temporary wooden structures are allowed to be built on the old sites, so that removal, if necessary, will be easy. One of the most interesting features of Yokohama is an “Earthquake Museum,” where miniature models of the city before and after the ’quake are on view. These bring home to. the visitor the disastrous effects of the terrible catastrophe, when every building in the city was either razed or burned to the ground. Mr. Shanly saj's that Rotary is flourishing in Japan, and there are clubs in all the principal towns. The organisation sponsors many social movements, including the Boy Scouts and child welfare.