How a Japanese Viewed Our Work at Kobe by W. C. Dunscombe

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 17, 1907

How a Japanese Viewed Our Work at Kobe

By W. C. Dunscombe

A SHORT time ago a friend introduced me to the editor of the largest Japanese paper in Kobe. I showed him through our sanitarium, and had him take dinner with us. Shortly after this he wrote up the things which he saw here in three consecutive numbers. The Japanese patients have been just pouring in since then. They say they saw the article in the paper, and want to know if we can help them. This was the very thing we have been praying for, to have an opportunity to work for the Japanese people. We were able to take care of some of them at the Japanese sanitarium, and the rest we had to turn away. One of our teachers translated two of the articles, as follows:—

“A Visit to a Strange Place—Strange Experiences—An Afternoon at the Kobe Sanitarium—Skull Working in the Dark—Editor’s Hair Standing on End, and Sparks of Fire from His Body—Skeleton of the Editor Seen through His Clothes—Model of Vegetarian Diet—Hygienic Cooking to Be Taught without any Fee.

“My readers may easily suppose, glancing at my peculiar headings, that I have been dreaming. But it is neither a dream nor a vision that I experienced day before yesterday with my keen, open eyes. You would have noticed a large mansion towering on the right side of the slope which leads from Sankaku-choba to Kitano-cho, and having on the top of the gate these letters, “Kobe Sanitarium,” in the shape of a crescent.

“This is a hospital of a peculiar kind, which is superintended by Dr. Dunscombe, from America. It is quite different in its nature from the ordinary hospitals. Here they do not use any medicine at all, but by nutritious vegetarian food, by electricity, massage, and different kinds of baths, they help their patients to get well by natural means, without caring for profit. There are actually many people who have recovered from chronic diseases by receiving the treatments here in this sanitarium.

“I visited the sanitarium on the afternoon of the day before yesterday through the introduction of my foreign friend. We walked between the green turfs within the gate, and pressed the bell at the porch, which was shaded by the big leaves of spreading branches of white magnolia. It was Dr. Dunscombe who met us at the door. He is a refined gentleman of middle age, and is neither too fat nor too thin. He treated us with very polite manners, and led us into the drawing-room. The room was quite large; although its decorations were not elaborate, it was simple and refined and refreshing. The machinery of electricity seemed as if it were waiting for the guests.

“When I was there, I was told that the patients were not allowed to smoke, which seemed strange to me, being such a close friend to tobacco.

“Presently Mrs. Dunscombe appeared, and we were introduced by the doctor. She has a very bright complexion, and seems very healthy, and besides all this she is very gentle and graceful. I was surprised by the pleasant manner with which she treated her guests. I felt that foreign ladies are more skilful in the treatment of guests than are the Japanese. Dr. Dunscombe, my friend, and I talked over various subjects, and we were presently invited to dinner.

“At the opposite side of the table sat Dr. and Mrs. Dunscombe, and I took a seat beside my friend opposite the doctor. I waited almost impatiently for my dishes, being very anxious to see what they could give me without using meat. By and by the boy carried in soup. Indeed it was peculiar. It was made of fruit entirely, and had a pink color. The host first bowed his head and asked the blessing. Though a heathen, I was obliged to bow mine also, because I thought it would seem very awkward for a man to keep erect, as he might seem senseless, while the others were offering an earnest prayer.

“I tasted a spoonful of the soup. What a deliciousness my tongue felt! It was cold and sweet, and had a refreshing flavor. Next we had toast, which I will call a nutritious test, and which was peculiar to the sanitarium. The dish which I thought most special to this dining-room was the butter made of nankin mame. This was peanut butter, had a brown color, and is very much like Japanese miso. It was very nice. If you want some, go to the sanitarium and you can get plenty if you are generous enough to pay only seventy-five sen for two pounds.

“Next I had a still more peculiar dish. It was made of nuts, American corn, and tomatoes. ‘How do you like it?’ our host asked. ‘Don’t you taste some meat in it?’

“I was quite sure that I tasted meat in it. If one were not told beforehand, he could easily be deceived to take it for mince-meat. Moreover, it had very light taste, and seemed to me to be easily digested. Besides these there were many dishes, but they were all vegetable. The fruit ice was very nice and new to me, and the sponge-cake, too. I was told that the cake was made without baking-powder. Of course they do not use liquor nor alcohol, but they use lemon juice for drink.

“I tasted and tasted, and felt as if I were taking food that would keep men’s lives as long as they wished.” W. C. DUNSCOMBE, M. D.