ter. Each of these great leaders of Japan had his wife by his side
at the banquet table.

It was a small group.

One of the speakers of the evening said: "Perhaps you Americans do not
realize that this banquet is an unusual occasion in Japan. I think that
it is the first time that I have ever attended a banquet in all my life,
when so many Japanese gentlemen had their own wives with them at that
banquet. It is a very unusual thing to do, but I hope that, in time, it
will become more common in Japan, as it is in America."

This speech was met with amused laughter on the part of the Japanese
gentlemen present; but laughter that was kindly; and it was met with
applause on the part of the Americans present.

It was typical of the attitude of even the educated Japanese man toward
the matter of appearing in public with his wife at his side.

Up in Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido, we were entertained by a
beautiful Japanese woman. We had been away from America for several
months and were tired of eating Japanese food, so when we were invited
to this Japanese home for a dinner we groaned.

But much to our delight, when we sat down we had as fine an American
dinner as any of us had ever eaten.

I turned to our hostess, a most beautiful Japanese woman; the wife of
the Dean of the College at Sapporo; and said: "Do you have servants who
know how to cook American food?"

"No, I cooked it all myself!" she said much to my surprise with a bow
and a smile.

And there she sat, cool and poised after having cooked food enough for
fifteen people that morning; and arranging for it to be served in the
finest style; with place cards, salted almonds, Turkey, pudding,
vegetables and everything that makes an American dinner good; including
a fine salad. There she sat; as cool, calm and collected as if servants
had done all of the work that morning instead of she herself.

And never in all of my life have I seen a more gracious hostess. She
watched the wants of every guest. She noted which guests liked a special
food, and saw to it that they had plenty of that particular food; and,
in addition to this she kept a fascinating line of conversation going
constantly during the meal.

"Do you live in American fashion or Japanese fashion?" I asked her,
knowing that she had been educated in America.

"Both!" was her reply. "We have Japanese rooms for our Japanese guests
and American rooms for our European and American guests."

"But how