It is interesting to learn that the authorities in Tokyo are studying plans to lessen the inconveniences and annoyances suffered by foreign visitors to Japan, for the amount of surveillance continually exercised over them, even before the outbreak of the various incidents Which have disturbed the Far East has irked tourists considerably. The impression has been created that while the Japanese authorities are justified in doing everything to prevent aliens within their boundaries acquiring knowles which they naturally desire to keep sec the manner in which they are "supervised fails to make their visits to Japan as attractive as otherwise they would be. Not the least annoying practice is the continual subjection of visitors to inquiries, and the claim in a telegram published elsewhere that a traveller in Korea was questioned no fewer than five times in the course of a short railway journey does not appear, in the light of other experience: to be in any way exaggerated. The very delightful holiday resorts of which there is such a number of Japan would attract for more visitors if they were not subjected to all manner of interrogation at all sorts of times, and by all types of officials. Much of the irritation may be caused by the official qu: tioning, though it is not without the bounds of possibility that on occasion junior officials indulge in the interrogations, not because of any real necessity, but for the purpose of practising their English. That impression has on occasion been confirmed when travelling between Japanese ports. The landing certificates may have been made out fully by the passenger intending to land. In some instances so long s all the questions have been fully answer the Japanese passport officials have been content to get through with their w with the utmost despatch. On other occasions passengers have been subjected to considerable additional questioning and that upon matters not covered on declaration made out in accordance with the requirements of law. On one such occasion a Shanghai newspaperman. such wildfowl are always under addition suspicion,—was interrogated for quite half an hour, the questioner not only desiring to know the paper for which he worked, the year of its establishment, its approximate circulation, the name of the editor, and when he joined the paper, but actually his age. The passenger did not know, but realizing it is always the best thing to give some sort of answer, hazarded a guess. It was entirely wrong, but the reply having been duly inscribed upon the landing application. is probably now on permanent record, thouzb why jhe information was necessary to enable the passport officer to ascertain whether the passenger was a fit person to be allowed to, land is something which "i feller can understand."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.