Preface
visits, covering nearly three years’ stay in the Island Empire, a period during which a continued residence was maintained, by turns, in each of the larger ports, while many weeks were spent in Kioto, Nara, and Nikko. Its object will be attained if it helps the tourist to enjoy more satisfactorily his stay in Japan, or if it gives the stay-at-home reader a greater interest in those fascinating people and their lovely home. Unfortunately, it is impossible in acknowledging the kindness of the many Japanese friends and acquaintances who secured to me so many unusual enjoyments and experiences, to begin to give the long list of their names. Each foreign visitor must feel himself indebted to the whole race for being Japanese, and therefore the most interesting population in the world, and his obligation is to the whole people, as much as to particular individuals.
To Mr. John Brisben Walker, of The Cosmopolitan, thanks are extended for permission to reprint the chapter entitled “The Japanese Theatre,” which first appeared in the pages of that magazine.
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