xx Japan

sub-call! As far as the world then, strange, fascinating lands beckoneth,

bid us revel in their exotic spenders, come with us as we head for a port of call! Far away over the western ocean, five thousand miles down the path of the setting sun, lies a long, narrow chain of islands, smiling and green like an emerald diadem for the coast of Asia.

We are about to visit the island empire whose legendary beauty surpasses imagination. A lotus land of ancient shrines and temples. The ferry realm of cherry blossoms. Japan. We land at Yokohama, Japan's great modern seaport.

I did. I did. Were you looking at that darling baby? Just like a little doll. I'll say east me to west here. Get a load of that fellow wearing a derby hat in the corner.

Oh please. Your mind speaking English with me? Teach all saying in school, That's us making perfect speaking. We are bewildered by our first glimpse of Japan, this land of miracles. Everywhere about us is an astonishing mixture of last-minute Western modernity and age-old oriental customs.

Ancient temples alongside concrete office buildings. Smart Japanese women and Tariyas from the Roodalapay hurry toward the modern department stores with their sisters and gay kimonas, high-glisting popphures and obes, Their tiny, white stocking feet shuffling along and clattering wooden gators.

Japan is governed by an enlightened and constitutional monarchy, but the house appears in a house of representatives. The emperor, known as the Makado, is the direct descendant of the dynasty which has ruled Japan for twenty seven hundred years.

For many centuries, the Makado ruled an undisputed absolute sovereignty. But during the 12th century AD, great, powerful families arose, and their quarrels and intrigues began to threaten the solidarity of the Empire itself. There is grave concern in the palace at Kyoto, as the Makado discusses the rising crisis with his lords.