a row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived. a flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while kent and kittrick took off their shoes. kikuchi appeared. "we are nearly all of us here," he smiled. "come in. make yourself at home, mr. kent, kittrick-san will tell you that we don't stand on ceremony."
in a large room, unfurnished save for a few kakemono pictures, they found kubota and half a dozen foreign office men, with six or seven correspondents, talking, smoking. butterfield of the times and templeton of the express were old hands, with many years in japan behind them. most of the others were far more recent arrivals. some of them showed by the self-conscious lack of ease of the white man when he first finds himself, socially, in stocking feet, that they were still new in japan. kent was introduced. the conversation flowed on, in groups. tea and cigarettes were served.
a maid slid aside some of the partitions and they looked into a large room with small, individual lacquered tables set in three sides of a square, each with a cushion on the matting. "please take your seats, gentlemen," kubota waved them in. "take your places where you please."
they squatted on the cushions. kent was pleased to have on one side young kikuchi. he had taken an instinctive liking to him. on the other side was jones, a dumpy, solemn-faced man, fidgety, ill at ease.[pg 31] beyond him was kittrick. farther along, on both sides, sat the rest, japanese and foreigners mingled. conversation flowed easily, mostly in english.
soup was brought in lacquered, covered bowls, and a cloud of geisha appeared, a score or more, brightly clad in shimmering silks, with huge brocade obi scarfs fashioned in elaborate bow-like arrangements. the curious whitening of the faces, with the black, delicately arched eyebrows, almond eyes, crimson lips, fantastically high headdress, tastefully contrived contrasts of color, all served to provide an exotic air, to produce the impression that, after all, this was japan, a unique country, different from all others. the deadening effect of trite modernism produced by the modern garb of the japanese hosts, their perfect foreign polish, faded into the background. the geisha scattered among the tables, seating themselves with the guests, smiling to them, attending to their needs. as he looked across the table into the pretty face opposite him, kent experienced a sense of grateful relief. thank god, the bloom and charm of old fairy-tale-like japan had not all faded away yet.
he fumbled with his chopsticks. he had almost forgotten the art of using them. the geisha gently took them from him, smiled engagingly, showed him how to use them. "so desho."
he thanked her in japanese. her finely formed hands, small like a child's, came up in surprise. "but you can't use chopsticks; you are new in japan; and still you speak japanese. bikuri shimashita. i am surprised."
the spirit of the thing swept over him. he felt as if he had played with geisha all his life. "it is true. i have just come. but i looked into your bright eyes, and see, the words have come to me. it is a gift."
"i think you lie." she eyed him dubiously. japanese girls are disposed to take literally even the unbelievable. "kikuchi-san, he lies, doesn't he?"
but kikuchi smilingly upheld him. "it is true. he has just come. you know, these foreigners are truly wonderful people."
"it is wonderful." she clapped her hands delightedly, called over other girls that they might share in the marvel. they twittered like birds. kent suddenly found himself the center of attention, enjoyed the exhilaration of flashing jeu de mots, though he found that his childhood's vocabulary served only haltingly in the bright thrust and parry repartée with the geisha.
"i didn't know you could speak japanese. what are they saying?" it was the querulous voice of jones. kent felt a quick pang of sympathy for him; he had been forgotten, neglected even by the geisha in the excitement.
"oh, i lived here as a child, and i remember a little, but i told that girl that i was learning the language from her eyes; such is the gay foolishness with geisha, irresponsibility, laughter, that is the charm." but he could not draw jones in. "i see," was his only reply, and he turned to the food before him.
more food was brought, course after course, daintily served, strange dishes, often puzzling as to how they must be eaten. the geisha fluttered about, changing from table to table, staying a few minutes with this guest, a bit longer with this other, charmingly gay, beautiful creatures, woman bodies in butterfly raiment, and with the radiant spontaneous happiness of children. and with all their laughing familiarity, intimacy almost, they were constantly watchful, alert to attend the men, with bewildering skill picking the bones from the trout, which were served whole, leaf-garlanded, on richly ornamented porcelain. sake was brought in, hot, in small stone bottles. guests and geisha lifted steaming little cups, laughed, drank, the girls constantly refilling the tiny bowls. the atmosphere titillated with laughter and talk. the men stretched themselves more easily on their cushions. some rose and went visiting at other tables. the room was electric with gayety, staccato japanese and guttural english words mingling, accompanied, set off by the rippling laughter of the geisha.
kubota had begun the journey which is the function of the host. from table to table he proceeded, offering a cup of sake to each guest. the guests drank; each rinsed the cup in the bowl of water on the table before him, the ones who were old in japan doing it expertly, immersing the bowl and withdrawing it suddenly so that the water was sucked in by the vacuum with a gurgling cluck. then the guest would hold the bowl out towards the geisha. she filled it, and he handed it to kubota, who drank ceremoniously, said a few words of polite greeting, and passed on to the next guest. he passed his cup to kent. "i am glad to greet you here as a new friend," he said. "i hope we may often enjoy ourselves together." they drank.
kubota passed on to jones' table, held out his cup, but jones waved it away. "thanks, but i disapprove of liquor." a look of blank surprise crept over kubota's face. the hand with the cup remained outstretched. it took him a moment to adjust himself to the surprising situation. then he smiled engagingly. but jones remained solemn, impassive. kittrick came to the rescue. "are you not going to drink with me, mr. kubota?" the incident passed, but kent felt his sympathy for jones turning to disgust. he turned impatiently to the geisha.
but there was a stir among the girls. a number of them were running towards the space where there were no tables. samisens were brought in. three of the girls seated themselves, began tuning the instruments. three others ranged themselves in line and stood waiting. suddenly ivory plectra smote taut strings. in a loud treble, almost stridently, the voices of the singers rose over the noisy clamor of the music. the dancers postured for a moment, each with a fan, closed, held straight before her. a chord was struck. instantly the three fans were snapped open, simultaneously, with a graceful, wide sweep of arms, deep, fluttering sleeves following the undulating movements of small, bejeweled hands. the guests leaned back, watching the brilliant picture, the three girls, faces set in conventional expressionless masks, rich, gorgeous silks waving and sweeping in rhythmic movement, synchronizing with the bizarre cadences of the samisens and the voices, a picture of graceful lines, swaying and changing harmoniously, waves of radiant, flaming colors and shimmering, indefinite tints. the real orient finally, gorgeous, rare, exotic. a wave of pleasure, satisfaction, swept over kent. impulsively he turned to jones.
"barbaric." the cold, hard tone cut in like a discord. kent stared at him. great heavens, what a point of view! he was about to turn impatiently towards the dancers, but jones cut in quickly. it was as if anger, resentment, disgust, had been accumulating in him, from one phase of the entertainment to another, had been pent up, gathering volume until he must free himself of his thoughts. he seemed to clamor for kent's attention, to demand it, speaking nervously, jerkily, finger tips drumming on the table top in emphasis.
"i wish i hadn't come. it is a shock to me to see[pg 35] these men, high officials of the government, publicly, brazenly disporting themselves with these women, common women, singers, dancers. and, i really can't help saying it, to see white men, americans, entering into this degradation. look at it," he swept his hand towards the dancers, swaying in soft, seductive movement before his irritated eyes. a small hangyoku, geisha apprentice, sitting close by, saw his outstretched hand. she glanced at him, puzzled, eager to be of service, and hastily handed him a cup of sake. he swept it aside, and she gazed at him, wondering, black child's eyes large with surprise against the white powder of her face, quaint doll features contrasting oddly against the high coiffure.
jones went on urgently, as if in competition with the whimper and cry of the samisens, the strident voices. "it seems to me that we white men should set them an example, that we have a duty to perform, that even as we are newspapermen, we should assist the missionaries, act as missionaries here——"
kittrick's attention had been attracted. he cut in. "if you will pardon me, mr. jones, i think we have too many missionaries here already. japan has far less misery and crime than there is in our big cities, new york, chicago, san francisco. why don't they clean up at home first, where they are needed, maybe, before they come out here. you take my word for it, mr. jones, japan can get along quite nicely without them, and so can the rest of us. but what is the use of talking. if you can't enjoy the hospitality you have accepted, at least have the decency not to criticize it. here, little beauty," he turned to the hangyoku. "fill the cups, please. have a drink with me, kent."
an uproarious twang of the samisens marked the end of the dance. the guests clapped. the dancers sank to the floor, bowed in deep salutation, ran down[pg 36] among the guests. the men rose from their places, new groups formed. kent was glad to escape. he went up to kubota, expressed his pleasure. he felt as if he must make some atonement for jones, wondered whether the japanese had noticed him. he sensed a soft pressure on his arm. it was the geisha who had first waited on him at table. she had plucked from her hair an ornament, a cluster of artificial flowers, curiously and intricately wrought, with little polished metal bits faintly tinkling and glittering among the red and purple petals. she offered it to him. "you are a nice stranger," she smiled up to him. "i want you to have this. it is a katami, a souvenir." he glanced to kubota, a little at a loss. the diplomat laughed. "it is all right. take it. it is an omen that japan likes you. i hope that you may like japan."
it was getting late. the foreigners began to leave. the japanese remained behind. "they always do," commented kittrick. "i have an idea that now the real fun begins. but we never see it. almost always only the surface, here in japan."
"he came near spoiling the evening, that man jones," he remarked, as they walked from the tea house. "of course, he has a right to his point of view, but why drag in the missionary question on such an occasion. it made me angry. in fact, he made me say more about the missionaries than i really meant."
kent laughed. "it seems an odd thing how it crops up in all sorts of incongruous places, isn't it; in steamer smoking rooms, in hotel bars. do you people really dislike them so?"
"it is a big jump from geisha to missionaries," said kittrick. "still, since you ask, i should say that on the whole i don't. in some ways the missionaries[pg 37] do a lot of good for the standing of the white man in the orient, men like doctor wheelwright, for instance, men of broad education and culture, who in a way serve as demonstrations to the japanese that the west, our race, has culture and high ideals, something beyond mere lust for gain and pleasure. you know otherwise the rest of us—most of us, at least—might easily give the orientals the idea that we are entirely materialists, that we stand a poor comparison with their own scholars and men of culture. but then there is the other class of missionaries, the fellows with little minds, who can't see beyond the narrow vision they gained at their seminaries, who are forever deploring what they call the evil example set by the worldly white man, you and me, finding fault with our conduct, ever criticizing us, and, for business reasons, taking the side of the japanese if we happen to criticize japan. i feel as if the good done by the one class is about evened up by the nuisance caused by the other. i am thankful that i have friends among the first class; the others i carefully avoid. as for the good they do among the japanese, i don't know. they undoubtedly do some good, but, on the other hand, personally i can't help being a bit suspicious of the native christian. so many of them go in for christianity on account of material advantages. it is an easy way to learn english, for one thing, and then, undoubtedly, many of them, the class of japanese who want to be modern, who grasp at any modern movement, be it french art, opera music, communism, or jazz, take up christianity with sort of an idea that it is up-to-date, haikara they call it. it is only fair to say, though, that all the smoking-room talk you hear about the missionaries living at ease on the fat of the land is largely rot. most of them have to live modestly enough, on mighty small salaries. i am willing to give them credit, most of them, of being sincere enough. i am neutral. i am willing to let them alone, if they will leave me alone. there is the missionary question in the orient in a nutshell. well, here i take my car. give my regards to karsten—and to jun-san. good night."
