Fat Yens

Japanese speculators rubbed and rubbed their crinkly parchment-skinned hands. The yen has been mounting, leaping upward. Last week it touched 46.19-c-, the nearest approach to parity (49.85-c-) since 1923.

In the counting houses of Toyko could be heard a shrill, joyous cackling. Aged financiers assured one another over chopsticks* and rice that the Golden Sun of Japan will soon rise upon a yen restored to the gold standard. Meanwhile Japanese government officials called attention to the fact that the embargo against exporting silver from Japan was recently lifted without untoward results.

*"Chop" is pidgin-English for "quick." The Chinese call these implements kwaitsze, literally "the quick ones." The etiquette governing their use is elaborate. To lay them crossed upon the bowl is a sign that one wishes to leave the table. During a period of mourning chopsticks are usually put away, and the mourners eat with their fingers.