The rapids were a mere ripple, the current was strong,
one boatman almost slept upon his paddle, the other
Only woke to
bale the boat when it was half-full of water, the shores were
silent and pretty, and almost without population till we reached
the large town of Araya, which straggles along a high bank for a
considerable distance, and after nine peaceful hours we turned off
from the main stream of the Omono just at the outskirts of Kubota,
and poled up a narrow, green river, fringed by dilapidated backs of
houses, boat-building yards, and rafts of timber on one side, and
dwelling-houses, gardens, and damp greenery on the other. This
stream is crossed by very numerous bridges.
I got a cheerful upstairs room at a most friendly yadoya, and my
three days here have been fully occupied and very pleasant.
"Foreign food" - a good beef-steak, an excellent curry, cucumbers,
and foreign salt and mustard, were at once obtained, and I felt my
"eyes lightened" after partaking of them.
Kubota is a very attractive and purely Japanese town of 36,000
people, the capital of Akita ken. A fine mountain, called
Taiheisan, rises above its fertile valley, and the Omono falls into
the Sea of Japan close to it. It has a number of kurumas, but,
owing to heavy sand and the badness of the roads, they can only go
three miles in any direction. It is a town of activity and brisk
trade, and manufactures a silk fabric in stripes of blue and black,
and yellow and black, much used for making hakama and kimonos, a
species of white silk crepe with a raised woof, which brings a high
price in Tokiyo shops, fusuma, and clogs. Though it is a castle
town, it is free from the usual "deadly-lively" look, and has an
air of prosperity and comfort. Though it has few streets of shops,
it covers a great extent of ground with streets and lanes of
pretty, isolated dwelling-houses, surrounded by trees, gardens, and
well-trimmed hedges, each garden entered by a substantial gateway.
The existence of something like a middle class with home privacy
and home life is suggested by these miles of comfortable "suburban
residences." Foreign influence is hardly at all felt, there is not
a single foreigner in Government or any other employment, and even
the hospital was organised from the beginning by Japanese doctors.
This fact made me greatly desire to see it, but, on going there at
the proper hour for visitors, I was met by the Director with
courteous but vexatious denial. No foreigner could see it, he
said, without sending his passport to the Governor and getting a
written order, so I complied with these preliminaries, and 8 a.m.
of the next day was fixed for my visit Ito, who is lazy about
interpreting for the lower orders, but exerts himself to the utmost
on such an occasion as this, went with me, handsomely clothed in
silk, as befitted an "Interpreter," and surpassed all his former
efforts.
The Director and the staff of six physicians, all handsomely
dressed in silk, met me at the top of the stairs, and conducted me
to the management room, where six clerks were writing. Here there
was a table, solemnly covered with a white cloth, and four chairs,
on which the Director, the Chief Physician, Ito, and I sat, and
pipes, tea, and sweetmeats, were produced. After this, accompanied
by fifty medical students, whose intelligent looks promise well for
their success, we went round the hospital, which is a large two-
storied building in semi-European style, but with deep verandahs
all round. The upper floor is used for class-rooms, and the lower
accommodates 100 patients, besides a number of resident students.
Ten is the largest number treated in any one room, and severe cases
are treated in separate rooms. Gangrene has prevailed, and the
Chief Physician, who is at this time remodelling the hospital, has
closed some of the wards in consequence. There is a Lock Hospital
under the same roof. About fifty important operations are annually
performed under chloroform, but the people of Akita ken are very
conservative, and object to part with their limbs and to foreign
drugs. This conservatism diminishes the number of patients.
The odour of carbolic acid pervaded the whole hospital, and there
were spray producers enough to satisfy Mr. Lister! At the request
of Dr. K. I saw the dressing of some very severe wounds carefully
performed with carbolised gauze, under spray of carbolic acid, the
fingers of the surgeon and the instruments used being all carefully
bathed in the disinfectant. Dr. K. said it was difficult to teach
the students the extreme carefulness with regard to minor details
which is required in the antiseptic treatment, which he regards as
one of the greatest discoveries of this century. I was very much
impressed with the fortitude shown by the surgical patients, who
went through very severe pain without a wince or a moan. Eye cases
are unfortunately very numerous. Dr. K. attributes their extreme
prevalence to overcrowding, defective ventilation, poor living, and
bad light.
After our round we returned to the management room to find a meal
laid out in English style - coffee in cups with handles and saucers,
and plates with spoons. After this pipes were again produced, and
the Director and medical staff escorted me to the entrance, where
we all bowed profoundly. I was delighted to see that Dr.
Kayabashi, a man under thirty, and fresh from Tokiyo, and all the
staff and students were in the national dress, with the hakama of
rich silk. It is a beautiful dress, and assists dignity as much as
the ill-fitting European costume detracts from it. This was a very
interesting visit, in spite of the difficulty of communication
through an interpreter.
The public buildings, with their fine gardens, and the broad road
near which they stand, with its stone-faced embankments, are very
striking in such a far-off ken.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 54 of 112
Words from 54322 to 55342
of 115002
