Show CW 1 41 1 4 t 4 ak 4 aw W N 1 4 4 f F t x N 11 0 01 W strolling down a tokyo lane lana prepared by national geographic society washington D C WHO sorel Serl serece ce F ONE who witnessed the destruction I 1 IF wrought by earthquake and fire in 1023 3 returned to tokyo today he would hardly recognize the japanese capital for on the former debris strewn site has risen the new tokyo rebuilt tokyo Is a city of broad streets of many splendid buildings of spacious parks parka for the tourist it has lost much of its charm but after all it belongs to the japanese not to the tourist old property lines were obliterated lite rated to widen and straighten the streets because bitter experience had proved that broad streets serve to prevent the spread of fire and because new knowledge of hygiene taught that the public health demands light and air the buildings of the new tokyo are solidly constructed to resist both earthquakes and fire the parks are spacious because the people have taken to athletics because they still want gardens to wander in and because huge parks parka make forever impossible that horror of 1923 when people fleeing with their possessions to a small open square were caught there by the fire and burned to death the old wooden bridges that spanned the many canals of the city have been replaced by modern modem stone or steel and concrete bridges wh which leb it if less picturesque will not burn and will carry safely the busses which go to all parts of tokyo As most foreigners in tokyo stay at the imperial hotel that Is the natural place to start a cursory inspection of this strange new old city directly opposite the hotel Is hibiya park its great athletic field Is almost constantly in use actually the boys begin to play baseball there as soon as dawn makes it possible to see the hall bau beyond the azaleas Is an artificial lake with a great bronze crane and a wisteria wi arbor and dwarf trees just what we think of as typically japanese still farther along there are playgrounds tor for children and tennis courts and an outdoor gymnasium with parallel bars and all the usual paraphernalia this part of the park Is always crowded you see some first class athletic stunts and can watch excellent tennis and you be bela begin la to wonder whether the artificial aie lake Is not meant for the tourists and the tennis courts for the japanese girls in school uniform more of park Is devoted to the new japan than to the old so also among the crowds of people in the park more are dressed in european than in japanese clothes the young men playing tennis are in flannels and sweaters the old men watching them are generally in kimonos simonos and heavy over garments the girls who so eagerly take part in some of the milder sports are generally dressed in the blue uniform of the schools a uniform which would be appropriate to any an y american school it american schoolgirls cared nothing about fashion it it Is raining as it so often Is these schoolgirls carry ugly black alpaca umbrellas their mothers on the other hand who are dressed in japanese clothes carry lovely broad spreading paper umbrellas gay in color and at the same time serviceable it if you look down from an upper window on a rainy day the street seems strewn with lovely flat flowers the clothes in tokyo are always interesting te resting most host of the people one sees in the main business section are dressed in european clothes and a large proportion especially among the young people throughout the city but there seems to be no hard and fast rule you will see bee a man mail dressed exactly as he would be in new york talking with a friend who Is entirely american as to clothes except for wooden clogs and perhaps the third member of the group may wear american can shoes a kimono and a bowler hat but nhat bat do these people who have adopted european dress do when they go home perhaps the answer Is in the architecture of the better class of recently built private houses the rich man has his european house but this european house almost invariably has its japanese wing where there are no chairs but soft white mats on the floor where there Is no clutter of furniture and pictures rather a single picture a single spray of flowers a lovely low red lacquer table and peace where the beauty of the room lies in the satin texture of the wood used in proportion and simplicity and the almost exquisite cleanliness they cling to their clogs clog there la is no doubt that japanese clothes are more comfortable than ours except thit that the foreigner would always be worried by the shoes and yet it Is these wooden clogs to which the people seem to cling most tenaciously cious clou sly ly shoe shops are everywhere and are among the most interesting for a foreigner since here are toot foot gear for men and women for girls and maidens and staid married women shoes change with the age of the w wearer as much as with the purpose durpos 0 tor for which they are worn always of 0 wood or straw their trimming changes in color and material and shape so that in a shoe shop you can study the fashions as they have been ordained by custom there are no paris dressmakers or london tailors who set the fa fashions 8 alons as they please in japan the cut ot of dress does riot not change from year to year but only from youth to age aga little boys are dressed in sober colors little girls in the very gayest ot of flowered kimonos simonos ki monos then as girls grow up they adopt plain colors subdued and lovely in tint set oft off by elaborate obis or sashes of heavy b brocaded silk the most famous shopping street ot of tokyo the ginza was utterly destroyed by the fire and earthquake it Is today by no means a beautiful street its buildings of uneven height and oi of every kind of architecture here are the great department stores comparable with similar stores in the united states often similarly arranged displaying their goods attractively tr they are rather more expensive than other shops but carry only good quality and have fixed prices for this reason they are popular with the japanese and seem always to be crowded bicycles are numerous the ginza Is banal except for the people and after all it Is always the tha people who make a street there are very few streets in this world worth remembering empty the ginza Is always crowded there are trolley cars and buses and taxis a few private motors a rare jin generally containing a tourist and countless bl cycles it seems as if most of the tha bicycles of the world were I 1 in n tokyo and that most of those in tokyo must be in the gin ganza za that Is until you yon go into another street and there seem to be more trick bicycle riders in tokyo th than a n in all the circuses of europe and america only in tokyo they perform on the street and do not know they ar are e performing not only can a man on a bicycle wind h his IS way unconcerned through crowds hurrying in all directions but he an can do it carrying aloft a three tiered tra tray y filled died with bowls of soup n i one goes to the ginza aga again in and again partly because it Is th tb elIace one naturally goes to buy anat from fruit to a Mi kimoto p pearl t oy a ah III i umbrella but principally b auitt bec at Is a wonderful place to go got t 4 tross cross section of the life of the city the imperial palace wald etca t walled grounds Is the hea heart afo this was originally the pal aceti Eho guns who as war lorda 16 ey should be well protected cirki A 4 therefore a tremendous lak geat the palace grounds a jary icv haps two all miles es outside of w eral era hundred yards flo moat was aj another th 1 of and between the two g 1 liln permitted business buildings 11 in front of the doub e ing to the palace Is arii b 4 eari 13 of tree dotted land a r reI jw 11 space decreed by the a 0 s itla t not cut by boulevards but still separates ep the palace grounds from the the tha important business busine sr section of tokyo here are the ralli rall road station the great office buildings the imperial theater the banks all solidly bulit built all western in architecture but all with that subtle land and indefinable touch which makes make them japanese the the and adjoining districts of the city might be a part of chicago or new york except that on recount account of earthquake conditions no skyscrapers site are permitted one or two of the great banks are as fine as bank buildings anywhere and in the vaults of the mitsui bank it seems that much of he wealth of the world might be stored and safely stored the new american embassy la Is a handsome building on it a bill about a mile from the palace but very near the Gal or foreign office |