THE JAPANESE INVASION

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 201, 27 September 1916, Page 3

THE JAPANESE INVASION

(Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Sept. 25. The arrival of the big Japanese cargo steamer Akita Manx in Wellington lias created a groat deal of local interest, and yesterday afternoon the decks of the Eastern trader were crowded for several hoars with visitors anxious to / make her acquaintance and the acquaintance of her crew at close quarters. The features about the vessel that particularly struck the critics were her remarkably graceful lines, in striking contrast to those of the average British tramp, and her scrupulous cleanliness from stem to stern, from Captain Tan-j aka —who, by the way, is a Japanese, not a Maori, as his name might suggest —down to the smallest boy on board, seemed delighted to see their visitors, and gave everyone who cared to mount the gangway the free run of the ship. In this respect there is no occasion to make invidious comparisons between British sailors and Japanese sailors, as hospitality is characteristic of the seafarer under every flag, but the Japanese have realised in a special degree the value of advertising, and with them to realise a good thing is to make it as effective as possible. Captain Tanaka himself, besides being an able commandex-, is a very tactful diplomat, a well-informed trade commissioner, and a seductive tourist agent all rolled into one, with an intelligent recognition of the possibilities of close commercial intercourse between his beloved Nippon and this distant part of the British Empire The Japanese invasion has made another step in its peaceful penetration under very suspicious circumstances.