Anna Louise Tittman Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

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Anna Tittman I 10 4
Q. Did you use their toilets?
A. No.
Q. You mustlve been unaomfo&able.
A. I think we could get something in the station. I th* that was it.
"If one\iwBhes tea while traveling, they maJ tell the st@ion man at
one station and a little pot of tea with small cups will te waiting at the
next station for the cost of five sen. The teapot and a cup are thus
dropped at. the next station. (chuckles) One may also punchase lunches in
little wooden bbxes. These boxes contain a section of rice, another of herring,
another of stringed beans and so forth. Being Jap @od, the hricans
do not fYnd them very pXLatable. We arrived at Nikkq about 1: 00 p.m.
and were taken inmediately in autos to the Nikko Hotel. @ accomdations
here were very good. The food was good also.
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We cl-ed up a mauntain four and a half miles after hav ridden six miles
on the trajn. A bad rainstorm came up when we were only If way up, but
we kept on going. !?here were teahouses all along the way here we refreshed
ourselves. Our issue raincoats were initiated and found be quite wo'cthless
as the rain soaked throw to the skin in spite of twm.
We arrived at We Chuzenji at 5:00 p.m., just in tim to b e the descent
by 7:00 p.m. We were disappointed in not seeing Chuzenjion a clew day.
We were somy we didn't see it on a clear day, as the pictpms show it to be
perfectly beautiful. We were a cold be-ed lot when qe reached the hotel.
Most of us took hot baths and went right to bed, having 041: dinners served
in our rom. The little Japanese maids gave us excellen-t; service. When
I got clothes the next mrmjulg, they were nicely pressqd, underwear washed
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and imed.
At ni&t a geisha party was on. Those of us who could nod have gone because
of wet clothes were supplied with Japanese clothes. Now we geisha party
consists. of tea, dances, and so forth by Japanese @isha. We were
served by geisha girls. It seems that a mixed party as ows was-makes the
party a reputable thing, but It really is mant for a mnrs party an winds
up very disreputable. l'Q costume consisted of a li&t weaght chemls , a
pair of Jap stockings which weE made of whzte material ar$d cam on1 ! to nw
ankles. Then small straw sandals, a blue and a t e stripad kimnno. The
stockings had a separate space for the big toe like this, and the shbe [zoril
had a small strap running through this space. They were Bather painv."
The geisha girls were dressed in the gayest of kimonos. 'They danced the
harvest dance, the victory dance and?,lobhers. Afterwards, We all sat around
the room in a squatting position. A Japanese lady in the center beat on a
drmmwLth her eyes closed while a large rubber ball was passed from ne person
to another rapidly about the room. The. person who held it at th 8 tim--
the drwm~r ceased beating--wad given a drink. The ladlea, of course, drank
Jap cider which is like American soda water. " The ladies 2I guess in our
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Q. You didn't drink any wine?
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