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-5-
strange or ill at ease.

To begin with, Fujiyama welcomed us. Seasoned travelers told that only very occasionally was it possible to see Fuji from the harbor, but we awakened to hear enthusiastic voices in the corridor crying, "Have you seen Fuji?" - and dressing as hastily as possible we went out on deck in the clear, crisp dawn to see the great snow-crowned cone rising out of the clouds across the bay. Mist obscured it for a while, and then later the sun shone once more on the perfect mountain, and we had one more brief glimpse of it.

Before we were ashore, Dr. Koga, Director of the Tokyo Zoo, was on hand to welcome us. He brought us a letter from Dr. Kawamura, who was sorry not to be there, too, but hoped to see us later on. Dr. Koga, a tall, almost Indian-looking Japanese, led us out through the customs, and into a car, and drove us out of Yokohama to Tokyo, about fifteen miles, through the most intricate traffic imaginable. Bicycles by the thousands were weaving al ng the road, pedestrians, men pulling carts, oxen, trucks and motor cars of all kinds, made a maze that no American driver could have worked through with any remaining vestiges of sanity. I held my breath almost all the way to the Imperial Hotel, but finally decided that self-suffocation would eventually be as fatal as the crash th t never seemed to materialize, and let the chauffeur worry about the traffic.

We had a short look at the famous, earthquake proof hotel, and then went with Dr. Koga to the Zoo. First we went into his office and drank little bowls of very hot tea,and understood why the Japanese inhale it - if you take in enough cool air with the hot liquid you don't get burnt! Then we walked around the Park, which was much larger and handsomer than we had expected. In addition to a lovely setting, with little streams and waterfalls and gardens and terraces, there was a really good collection of animals [[overwritten]] L [[/overwritten]] : a fine pair of giraffes, a performing elephant (with which we were photographed), an elephant that was a present from the Boy Scouts of Siam to the Boy Scouts of Japan,- 1500 animals altogether. Admission is 15 sen for adults, 10 sen for children, and the books more than balance at the end of the year. February 4th is a holiday, and the Zoo was crowded. The women were lovely in their kimonos, and most of them had babies on their backs.

We had a European lunch at Seiyoken, a fine restaur nt in Ueno Park. Then we went back to Koga's office, and were joined by Dr. Yatsu, of the Imperial University, and Dr. Okada, the herpetologist. At each arrival we had another cup of tea, then we went to the University, which is composed of big, modern buildings, saw some of the laborator[[overwritten]] ye [[/overwritten]]ies and the auditorium, and then drove to the Meiji Shrine, where we walked about half a mile through the most beautifully cared for park, went under the enormous torii, and washed our hands before approaching the sh[[overwritten]] i [[/overwritten]]rine itself. We bowed and waited while our Japanese friends prayed, and then drove back to the town.

We were taken to Mimatsu, which on the ground floor is a fairly European tea-room. After we had had tea, we went upstairs, where the second floor has been made to look like a Japanese tea house, with stone[[strikethrough]] s [[/strikethrough]] walks, rather damp,plants, and innumerable little individual rooms. Into one of these went, first taking off our shoes (and of course I had a hole in my stocking toe). The floor was covered with

Transcription Notes:
Imperial = the I appears to have been typed over a T.