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Show " ' -ir t---' i ' 7 1 1 .,ftr.,'i,.i!-y. .j ii.ini.ii.nrw n. .igyp? yjVwtaBwikww I : ' fT If ' ; ' , A Japanese Newsboy. (Prepared by the National Oeosraphlc Society. Washington, D. C.) THE recent burning In Tokyo of the plant of the Japan Advertiser, Adver-tiser, best known American daily newspaper in the Orient, arouses Interest in its Japanese competitors com-petitors and the way in which west-ern west-ern newspaper methods have been adapted to conditions In the Land of the Rising Sun. That Japan should, in the very few years since her modern mod-ern metamorphosis, have so speedily caught up with the van of periodical publication is less wonderful when one remembers that the Orient Is the birthplace of the "art preservative," and that China possesses the oldest newspaper In the world. There have been similar newspapers newspa-pers from remote antiquity in Japan ; small sheets roughly struck off from wooden blocks detailing some great political fact, or describing some crime or some generally Interesting event. The first attempt at a modern journal jour-nal In Japan was In 1864, when the Kualgai Shlmhun was undertaken by Joseph Hess, a picturesque character, who in 1850 was cast away In the wrecking of a junk, rescued and carried car-ried to America. Here he lived for a number of years, acquired a smattering smatter-ing of western ideas and methods, and, when Japan was opened after the visit of Commodore Perry, returned to his native land as an Interpreter. The first modern newspaper monthly month-ly worthy of the name was founded by John Black, an Englishman, one of the first foreign residents of Yokohama. Yoko-hama. This was in 1872. Since then Japanese journalism has grown with wonderful rapidity, both In volume and In character. There are now some eight hundred newspapers and magazines mag-azines published In the empire, of S which more than two hundred are in Tokyo. Of the newspapers there are the Kuampo, which is the official gazette, containing the government announcements, announce-ments, such as laws, regulations, and appointments; the Kokumln, much quoted In press dispatches from Tokyo, as giving the government opinion of things International during the premiership pre-miership of Prince Katsura, and the Nlchl NichI, as expressing popular sentiment of the better sort. Of magazines there are scores of every sort and kind literary, artistic, legal, medical, scientific technical along all lines of modern accomplishment accomplish-ment and endeavor. Jiji-Shlmpo Is "The Times." The Jiji-Shimpo corresponds In a measure to our words "The Times." "JIJi" means "timely events" or "daily events." "Shlmpo" is the word for Journal or merely "paper." The Jlji-Shliupo Is a monument, In a way, to the memory of Its founder; not more a monument than a constant reincarnation of his spirit and influence. influ-ence. It was founded 48 years ago by the late Fukuzawa Xuklchl, who was often called the Japanese Gladstone. No account of Japan, however brief, and particularly no reference to Its Intellectual and literary development, would be complete without reference to the life and Influence of this remarkable re-markable man. The policy of the paper Is Independent. Inde-pendent. It Is partisan only In that it Is liberal, devoted to progress, and opposed to any retrograde policy In -V Japanese civilization. When it takes occasion to differ with the government. govern-ment. It does so with dignified and logical criticism, and not with the hysterlcul effusions that appear in the "yellow" journals that have developed " in Japan as elsewhere. Recause of this scholarly and dig-nllled dig-nllled character, Jljl-Shlmpo wields a great influence and Its voice Is potent In shaping and controlling public opin- Ion. The paper emphasizes Its commer- cial department and a staff of trained men looks after this part of the news. A foreign department of three editors edi-tors cares for the cable and telegraph dispatches and keeps In close and Intelligent In-telligent touch with international affairs. af-fairs. Domestic news Is gathered by correspondents corre-spondents in every city and Important town of the empire, sifted, and arranged ar-ranged by two editors. Twenty men compose the city staff and, In close harmony with the re-portorlal re-portorlal methods of our Occidental papers, cover the local news of Tokyo, a city of more than two million. In common with all Oriental languages, lan-guages, Japanese is written and printed print-ed from right to left, and the title, therefore, is in the upper right hand corner of what would be for us the eighth page. The lines of print are vertical and read from top to bottom and from right to left. Each article Is in a small square surrounded by a border. How the Type Is Set. Typesetting in Japanese Is a tedious and laborious piece of business from an Occidental viewpoint, though the many hands employed make it rapid enough In an Oriental sense. Japanese Is printed in two sets of characters the borrowed Chinese, which are ideographic, ideo-graphic, each representing a word or a group of words; and side by side with these characters, in their vertical line, runs the translation or explanation explana-tion in the Indigenous, grass characters, charac-ters, a sort of phonetic or stenographic script easily read and understood by the common and uneducated people. When an article or editorial Is ready in manuscript, it Is sent first to the Ideographic composing room, where it is divided Into "takes" and given to Clilnese compositors. The room is filled with closely set racks, containing the thousands of varieties of ideographic type. Each compositor goes from rack to rack looking for the character required. re-quired. That he may not forget what he Is looking for, he sings it over and over audibly, In a cracked, nasal sort of sing-song. A composing room is anything but a quiet place, resembling the chorus of a Chinese theater. When the article is finished, It Is placed In a sort of galley, tied together to-gether and sent to the real compositors, composi-tors, who untie it and proceed with a pair of tweezers to place the small grass type beside the Ideograph characters. char-acters. This work demands scholarship scholar-ship of a high order, for It requires not only an accurate and exact knowledge knowl-edge of orthography and language, but general information in regard to the subjects discussed, that the multi-meaning multi-meaning characters may be interpreted. inter-preted. The type thus completed Is proved, the proof carefully read and corrected and taken then to the Imposing stones, where It goes Into the make-up of the paper. All typesetting is of necessity hand work, as the peculiar character of the language precludes the use of a linotype. lino-type. Stereotyping and press work are along the ordinary lines required for an American perfecting machine, from which the paper conies, folded and counted as In one of our own establishments. estab-lishments. The day's work Is similar to our own although the hours differ slightly. slight-ly. The editorial department begins activities about eleven In the morning and Its work Is completed by five in the afternoon. The typesetters are at work by eight. The business offices are open from ten to ten. The first edition Is on the press by eight. In order that It may catch the night trains for provincial circulation. The city edition goes to press at 1:00 a, m. |