Viewing page 53 of 240

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

FEW GLOWING neon lights and blazing banners on big billboards carry the name of the Japanese stores and shops. The name appears on a large, square cut of cloth––split in the middle–-called a noren. This hangs in front of the entrance and when the customer enters he's just got to notice it. (When making the rounds of the sake houses he may not notice the noren. In fact, he may not even notice a 21-gun salute, if it should blast in his ear.)

The noren is split so it will easily part when the patron enters. The stranger to Japanese stores, restaurants, and sake houses, however, is inclined to believe that it is torn, ripped, and not methodically sliced at all.

Besides flashing the name of the establishment and advertising a product, the noren shouts, in Japanese characters, welcome and thank you for calling. Maido arigato gozaimasu, it says. These words are also delivered, song-like, by the employees when a customer enters. Even when leaving a Japanese movie theater, the words are shouted by a row of usherettes to the moviegoer.

With such verbal pleasantries beamed his way, the serviceman finds a return to the establishment irresistible.


48