Carrie Chapman Catt - Diaries, Korea and Japan, October 4th - 30th, 1912 (Box 1, Folder 8)

got [illegible] quite of the very early in the ages and has never got back in this country. Among the higher [illegible] she had the worst and of every event, and has only liberty [arose?] from a [illegible] custom which compelled aid the men to go home at 8 o'clock and [illegible] who got caught out, for a heavy penalty was his. There with the men safe at home, the women could go out! I'm sorry to say that the Japs have taken [illegible] But [illegible] little bay and give Choseners go to school so something better will come. Men and women wear white the men a sort of robe which isn't bad, the women a bunchy starched skirt with a jacket so short that the bosoms of a nursing mother frankly hang out between the skirt and jacket, and those of other women seem to find their way under the open space, but no one notices. Open bosoms are the fashion here. The English [illegible] at [illegible] [illegible] hers [illegible] to the nipple, here a Chosen [woman?] shows the nipple but not the lap. All the same. The men [illegible] a funny little black hat and when in mourning both men and women wear a perfectly[illegible] straw hat. The street life is the chief thing those in Seoul and in the country which looks so much like the USA as not to be strange. The dress of the

women is [most?] [illegible] in Asia, but they make pretty little slippers turned up at the toes which are usual in colors. They all look, men and women as tho [though?] they had their best [illegible] on.

One interesting thing from the book concerning Chosen [unpressed?] me. It seems China set great store on ginseng roots which are man shaped. They gave the [illegible] for diseases of the [anus?] the lets foot diseases of the legs, the body for the body etc. Now this root grew in Korea and the people had a more [illegible] and got fine prices for their product. The Dutch merchantmen who came to China wished to meet [illegible] [demand?] [illegible] supply if possible, and [illegible] the Dutch in New York very soon the [illegible] in Mass. [illegible] [illegible] the country for guessing which guess [illegible] there. In exchange they got rum, and were [illegible] by it to the dispair [despair] of the missionaries but continued guessing [hunting?] for more [rum?] From Albany the [illegible] of these roots [illegible] down the Hudson to New York, hence to Amsterdam hence to London, where British E. India Co. bought them and landed them in [illegible], hence to Peking, where [illegible] [illegible] [gathered?] guessing "broke the [market?] [ruined?] the monopoly of the [illegible] This was in 1757! When [Cena?] was a Hermit Kingdom and [illegible] feeble colony, and steamships were not [illegible] (p9 388)

We left Seoul on Monday and traveled all day to [illegible] where we took the steamer for [illegible] [seka?] We arrived at 6, must ashen in a launch, found

Entrance to home and office of Am. Consul at Mukden formerly a Buddhist Temple

One of the Consel's Stone dogs at Mukden

Carts and [illegible] wear station at Mukden

an exceedingly polite railroad guide who checked our baggage and looked after us perfectly and then refused a fee! We were now in Japan! We had a hour to wait and took a walk. Here as in [illegible] and Manchuria and upper China we were as curious looking as a brass monkey. Our hats and our big feet were the chief sources of curiosity and amusement. At 2:30 we arrived at Mayajima where we crossed to the Island of that name by a short ferry. The Japanese call this one of the three prettiest places in Japan. Here is a [Shinto?] Temple and the whole place is sacred. Until recently they allowed no one to be born or to die there. If a birth occurred by accident, they hustled the offending mother away in hot haste and [say?] she had to for three weeks! A corpse was more easily managed. The place is simply packed with little shops where clever little things are sold, which tempt and [illegible] to pieces before me gets to the hotel with there. We worked hard [illegible] as much as possible and did not go home until dark and were agreed that we had never seen a prettier place. The Shinto Temple was simple and clean. A woman with a little baby came and [illegible] some money into a big box knelt before it until a priest came and [illegible] [us?] to come inside. There she knelt with a gay kimono [illegible] [around?] her with

Street scene in Mukden the signs are often embroidered in brilliant colors and suspended from some gayly decorated dragon or bird projecting from the building.

Circular street sign

One of the Consul's logo