# National Geographic Magazine/Volume 16/Number 3/The Characteristics of the Japanese People

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JAPANESE PEOPLE
By Baron Kentaro Kaneko, of the House of Peers of Japan
I CONSIDER it the greatest honor ever conferred upon me to speak before you here at the National Capital of the greatest Republic. As your President has announced, I have been out of practice in speaking the English language for nearly twenty-five years, and when I was asked by the Society to make an address I declined, because to speak in a foreign tongue after being out of practice so many years is a difficult task, and besides I can hardly convey my ideas and make you understand what I have in my mind. But the request was so sincere and so earnest that I felt that if I still declined I might offend the Society, so I accepted at last with hesitation, but with the greatest pleasure.
The subject of Japan is being written and talked about a great deal at this moment; therefore the subject I have selected for tonight is rather a different one, and might be called "The Characteristics of the Japanese People."
You have no doubt heard and read much about Japan, and my country is already familiar to you, but we have so far been misrepresented in many ways, even in the circle of scholars and learned communities. We have been often called a race of imitators or a race of copyists. To be sure, we have copied many things entirely foreign to our own institutions, but in so doing we follow always a certain principle. This misrepresentation arises from the fact that a foreign observer fails to distinguish between the outward appearance of human activity and the inner workings of man's mind.
Many travelers come to our country; they pass through from one end of the Empire to another; they go through the streets and squares; they see the people and buildings, and when they come home they say "the Japanese are copyists and they are a race of imitators," because they only see the outward appearance of our activity, but, unfortunately, never study the inner workings of our minds; therefore I have selected tonight this subject to present before you— the inner workings of the Japanese mind. The subject is rather gigantic— you might think too gigantic— but I will try to explain as clearly as I can.
"ADOPT, ADAPT, ADEPT"
The Japanese have a peculiar char- acter. When they come in contact with a foreign civilization they always go through three stages of evolution: First, they pass through the stage of imita- tion. At this period they imitate every- thing that comes from a foreign source, and I might say that they blindly copy. But after some years of imitation they arrive at the stage of adaptation ; then at last they reach the stage of origina- tion. These three stages are clearly shown by our history, if we only ex- amine into the inner workings of Japa- nese mind.
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE CHINESE CIVILIZATION
About 1,500 years ago, when we in- troduced the Chinese civilization into our country, we copied everything after Chinese fashion. At that time we had no national alphabet. There were some sorts of signs to express ideas in writ- ing, and even these signs differed in different parts of the country. The Chinese had a highly developed type of hieroglyphics to express their ideas; therefore at one time the Chinese hiero- glyphics took such a hold on the mind of the Japanese that we adopted them as our national language. The imperial edicts were written in Chinese hieroglyphics and government records were kept in that language; even Chinese scholars were employed in the govern- ment service as clerks and secretaries, and the Japanese language was almost on the verge of destruction and ruin. This same phenomenon was found even in England when she introduced the Norman- French civilization. The Norman-French language was taught in schools and was spoken at the palace, as well as in . the upper circles. The legal briefs in the courts were prepared in the Norman-French, and the judg- ments of the court were given in that language. Take, as an example, meat. When an animal is found in the field it is called an ox; but when it is prepared and served on a nobleman's table it is called beef, which comes from M beuf " of the Norman-French. So, again, when prepared on the table it is called mutton — ' ' mouton, ' ' from the Norman- French; but when found in the field it is called a sheep. In Japan we went on exactly in the same way as the En- glish people. Among the upper classes, as well as at the court, we used entirely the Chinese hieroglyphics. Every doc- ument of the government was kept in Chinese hieroglyphics, and the Japanese language was only spoken among peas- ants and in a remote part of the coun- try, where the Chinese civilization did not reach.
Therefore this period might be called the era of imitation. Did our country remain long at that stage? Fortunately there came a scholar — the most famous scholar we ever had — by the name of Mabie, who returned from China in 735 A. D. He was in China many years for his education at Chinese schools. When he came back he saw what was most needed in his native country, and he invented out of the Chinese hieroglyphics the forty-seven characters of our alphabet, founded upon the principle of phonetic language. As you know, the Japanese language is phonetic, whereas the Chinese is hieroglyphic. This alphabet is called Shin Kana, which means a genuine alphabet, in order to distinguish from another and later invention of alphabet called Kata Kana. This period might be considered as the dawn of our era of adaptation, for we did not remain long in the stage of imitation, but soon began to realize the future of our civilization, and became conscious of the necessity of our national linguistic independence. Therefore the invention of the alphabet of 47 letters is always considered to have given birth to the Japanese literature, and is reckoned as the beginning of Japanese civilization.
​After passing through the stage of adaptation, we soon entered into the stage of origination. In the year 757 A. D. a collection of old Japanese poems was compiled in the newly invented phonetic language. Again, in 798 A. D. the history of Japan was for the first time written in the new language — not in Chinese hieroglyphics as formerly.
THE PART PLAYED BY WOMEN IN JAPANESE LITERATURE
In the early part of the eleventh cen- tury ' ' The Tale of Prince Gengie ' ' was compiled by Murasaki Shikibu, a lady- in-waiting to the Empress, and about the same time another book, "The Scrap book Under the Pillow," was written by another lady-in-waiting by the name of Seisho Nagon. This lady, while on duty, observed everything going on in the political as well as social circle of the imperial court, and at night when she retired she used to write what- ever she saw during the day in a scrap- book which she kept under her pillow. This custom she kept up during her life- time, and afterward the scrap-books were compiled and published in book form. These two books, ' ' The Tale of Prince Gengie " and " The Scrap-book Under the Pillow," are considered even now as our Japanese classics, and are studied in our colleges and universities as much as Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" and Spencer's " Fairy Queen " in your col- leges. So you see that our women took a first rank in Japanese literature, and men (unfortunately for them) must be contented to occupy a second position, for men did not prove themselves capa- ble of such a literary work, and those ladies fully mastered the new language and wrote in a most beautiful style, which had never yet been excelled by any man or woman. This period is called the era of origination in our literature.
Next we come to the subject of religion. We have passed through three stages in our religion just as much as in our literature.
Buddhism was first introduced into Japan through Korea in the year 552 A. D. — that is, 1,353 years ago. At first Buddhism was embraced by the higher classes, particulary among scholarly circles, but the lower classes or common people still clung to their old faith of Shintoism. Those who believed in Buddhism went so far as to copy the ceremonies and ritualisms. The doc- trine of Buddhism was written in the Chinese language, and the believers offered their prayers in that tongue. At one time Buddhism made such a stride as to become almost a state re- ligion, but the common people still op- posed it, with a determination to uphold their own Shintoism. Consequently a most terrible struggle began between the two religions — Buddhism in the hands of the upper classes and Shintoism in the hearts of the common people. Such a contest as this blocked every step in Japan's progress, but finally the states- men and priests began to understand that they no longer could force upon the people a blind imitation of Buddhism, and they changed their policy and tried to find out some means to meet the re- quirements of the time. Here again we reach the stage of adaptation.
THE GREAT DAIBUTSU
They invented an ingenious theory of explaining and interpreting the religious principle of Buddhism. They adapted the theory of Monotheism as well as Polytheism by saying that there is only one Supreme Power, which is personified in the form of various gods and goddesses, according to the different countries and different institutions. Thus they reconcile the principle of the one Supreme Power in Buddhism with the Polytheistic theory of Shintoism.
In order to convince the popular mind with this theory, Emperor Shomu patronized a movement to erect a large ​bronze statue of Daibutsu or Buddha at Nara, and this statue was erected in 752 A. D., after fourteen years in casting and construction. No doubt some of you who have visited Japan have seen the statue, but no foreigner has so far ever examined into its history and in- vestigated why it was erected at the ancient capital of Nara. Thus Emperor Shomu succeeded in reconciling the two conflicting religions of Shintoism and Buddhism. This period might be called the era of adaptation of the Indian re- ligion in Japan. Henceforth Buddhism swept from one end of the country to the other, converting a large number of people by the theory that ' ' Shintoism is for the living and Buddhism for the dead," or, in other words, that while we are living on this earth the Shinto gods protect us, but when we die our soul returns to the last repose, where Buddha reigns.
THE MARTIN LUTHER OF JAPAN
In the beginning of the thirteenth cen- tury there was one priest by the name of Shinran, who is considered in our re- ligious history as a Japanese Martin Luther. He revolutionized the funda- mental principle of Buddhism by a new doctrine, for up to that time Buddhism strenuously upheld a monastic life, and the priests were compelled to live in celi- bacy and abstain from eating any animal food. But this famous priest, seeing the popular mind already turned toward Buddhism, started anew doctrine that a priest, being human, is just as much susceptible as laymen, and abstinence from human wants is against the laws of nature ; moreover, a priest must live among the people so as to understand the real nature and feeling of man and woman; therefore a monastic life should be given up and priests should eat ani- mal food and get married, if they de- sire so to do. From this period the progress of Buddhism with this new doctrine was wonderful and took com- plete hold of the popular mind. Even at the present time this Shinran sect of Buddhism has the largest number of believers in Japan. Thus the Japa- nese have gone through three stages — of imitation, of adaptation, and of origina- tion — and in the last stage Shinran was the originator of the new form of Buddhism just as much as Martin L,u- ther was of the Protestantism of the Christian religion of the West. Next in the sphere of government and law we find the same three stages of evolution. After the introduction of Chinese civilization our governmental organization was moulded after the fash- ion of the governmental system of the To dynasty of China. In the year 701 A. D. we reorganized the departments of our government in accordance with the principles and forms of the Chinese system, and adopted the Chinese law in every branch of our national affairs. At the palace the Emperor as well as the petty officials wore the Chinese headgear and gown. We blindly imitated every- thing Chinese. This new regime for the organization of the Japanese Em- pire was embodied in the laws of the Taiho era (701 A. D) ; but this wholesale change in the political institution was too much for Japan to carry out at that time. Therefore those laws were only exe- cuted around the capitol of Kioto and were not carried out in the remote parts of the country.
But the Hojo dynasty, the second military Shogunate of Japan's feudal- ism, discovered the weakness and de- fects in the laws of Taiho, because the laws of a foreign country could never be executed in toto, for the simple rea- son that every nation has traditional laws of its own which every law-giver must not disregard. Therefore Taka- toki Hojo, a great statesman, investi- gated the old customs and traditions of Japan and modified the Chinese-imita- tion laws of the Taiho era so as to meet the requirements of the country.
​This modification is found in a compilation of the customs and traditions of old Japan, iwhich was promulgated in the fifty articles of Teiyei era (1232 A. D.). This is something like the Justinian Roman laws compiled in the reign of Emperor Justinian. This period we call the era of adaptation in our legal evolution.
THE JAPANESE JURY OF TWELVE JUDGES FOUNDED 670 YEARS AGO
No doubt an American audience will be much interested to know that as long ( ago as the year 1232 A. D. a Japanese statesman made the laws in touch with the popular feeling, for by the laws of the Teiyei era he established a council of state with twelve judges, the same number as the English jury. These twelve judges sat in the council chamber, before whom all litigation was brought for investigation and decision. The plaintiff and defendant had their spokesmen, who argued and defended the case ; and afterward the twelve judges retired into a closed chamber, where an oath was administered to them as follows:
"During the deliberation of a case, and the decision afterward between right and wrong, neither family con- nections, nor sympathy with or antipa- thy against, the party shall influence. Fear not a powerful family, or favor not a friend, but speak in accordance with the dictates of truth. Should there be a case decided wrong and redress re- fused to a man, we shall be punished by all the gods and goddesses of the realm. Thus, we swear and affix our signatures."
This is the oath they take before they deliberate and examine the case. Here we have the law, whose spirit and prin- ciple are exactly the same as the Anglo- Saxon common law. Again, in 1336 A. D. the laws of the Kenbu era were promulgated by the Asikaga dynasty. This era, combined with that of the Hojo dynasty, might be called the stage of adaptation ; but the era of origination begins later on with the Tokugawa dy- nasty, because the Shogunate of that family made for the first time the distinc- tion of the laws between the sovereign de jure and sovereign de facto by pro- mulgating "The Seventeen Articles for the Imperial Family " and " The Eigh- teen Articles for the Military Ruler," and then again they made the laws for the people, which were denominated as "The One Hundred Articles of the Tokugawa Regime." Thus the laws — imperial, military, and common — were executed throughout the whole country without an intermission until the impe- rial restoration in 1868. With this theory of the characteristics of the Jap- anese people in our minds, we will find the same three stages of evolution throughout the whole course of our national progress in arts, architecture, industry, commerce, etc.
THUS OUR TRAINING FOR CENTURIES HAD EQUIPPED US TO ASSIMILATE ANOTHER CIVILIZATION
Therefore, when we were confronted at the time of the imperial restoration, in 1868, with a new type of civilization, the western civilization, we were fully equipped by our individual strength and national power to assimilate the foreign civilization with our own, for we had gone through many hard and persevering struggles — religious, social, and political — for many centuries, and without fear could welcome the modern culture and science.
WE STRIVE TO MARK OUT A "GRAND POLICY FOR A CENTURY TO COME"
Here I might refer to one fact, that the Japanese are a little different from the western people in regard to their respect for the past, for they adore the past and the history of their ancestors much more than occidental people do. ​As keenly and as profoundly as we look toward our future and our prosperity — the future of our family and our na- tion — we cling still more keenly and more delicately to our past — the tradi- tion of our forefathers and our nation. We always look ahead in search for something higher than our present con- dition for our descendants. Our pres- ent welfare and happiness is nothing to us when compared with an illustrious past and a great future for our family and our nation.
Thus looking forward to our future, we constantly strive to mark out "the grand policy for a century to come." This is a rather high-sounding word, but when we examine our history we always find it underlying in our national movements — social, religious, and polit- ical — because the Japanese from time immemorial have shown their peculiar characteristic to mark out what they will do for the future. In order to es- tablish this grand policy they always study the problem with a far-reaching foresight. This trend of mind is the characteristic of our race. When they contemplate a great problem for national affairs they never think of themselves, but always look forward through the labyrinths of the future to find out the surest way to attain their ultimate aim and goal. According to Japanese notion, compared to this grand policy for the future the present welfare and happiness of ourselves dwindles into nothingness. This policy was clearly and positively marked out by our Em- peror on his ascension to the throne, in 1868. Upon that memorable day he swore before the nation in his ' ' Five Ar- ticles of the Imperial Oaths": "Seek knowledge in the civilized world, and discriminate the good from the bad and adopt the best ; and finally establish the national assembly where all the im- portant affairs of nation shall be decided by public voice." This is the funda- mental principle of our national aspira- tion, closely followed by the Emperor himself and down to the meanest peas- ant. In order to carry out this policy we must first bear in mind and maintain the past traditions of our country and then engraft upon them the western culture and science.
WHAT WE HAVE TAKEN FROM EUROPE AND AMERICA
With this view we began to reorganize our country in 1868. Since the imperial restoration we have studied the systems of government of the United States and European countries. As you have divided your government into different departments, we divided our government into similar departments. We adopted a compulsory system of national education, exactly on the same plan as your common-school system, of eight years of compulsory education. A boy and girl must attend school as soon as they attain the age of six, and remain there until the age of fourteen. The first four years we teach them the Japanese and Chinese languages, and the latter four years we add English; therefore when a boy and girl graduate from our common schools they can read and speak English. By teaching the Chinese and English languages besides our own we bring up a new generation prepared to seek knowledge in the outer world, as commanded by the Emperor.
In the organization of our army we copied the German system, and in our navy the English and American. In our code of laws we imitated La Code Napoleon, and afterward the German principle and method. In finance we copied your system by adopting your gold, silver, nickel, and copper money, and we went so far as to copy the greenbacks from you. Our first paper money was made and printed in New York in 1870, and if you will take up those old Japanese greenbacks you will find them exactly the same as yours, and no difference except in the writing.
​When we come into contact with a foreign civilization we at first blindly imitate it, because that is, according to our idea, the shortest cut to our ultimate goal ; but we are never satisfied to re- main forever in the stage of imitation. This is clearly shown by our progress during the last thirty-seven years since the introduction of the western culture and science. Our recent evolution dif- fers from the case of our forefathers in this respect, that our era of imitation after 1868 was very short, and the stage of adaptation began very soon after, and even the latter stage was simply a pass- ing phenomenon before we reached the stage of origination. The proof of this fact was fully shown by our constitu- tion. If you examine the constitution of Japan from the first article to the last you will find it quite different from those of American or European coun- tries, yet its frame and foundation are in accordance with the principles of the western constitutions. Therefore I might say that the constitution of Japan is a living monument of the origination of Japanese statesmanship.
Again, in the realm of science, we have already reached the stage of origi- nation by Dr Kitasato's discovery of a new bacteria. He discovered it in Ger- many and was decorated by the German government ; and Dr Takamine, who is now living in New York, discovered adrenalin, a medicine which is used to stop bleeding, particularly by oculists in operations on the eye. Next comes Baron Ito, whose untiring investigation in botany made his name recognized by both American and European scientists. Major Shimose's smokeless powder is a Japanese invention, and is acknowl- edged far more powerful than the En- glish lyddite or the French melinite. This powder is by an actual test five times as strong as the European pow- ders. When a shell that is filled with lyddite or melinite is fired it will break into ten or fifteen pieces, whereas the same shell filled with Shimose's smoke- less powder when exploded bursts into 2,000 to 2,300 pieces. It is now con- sidered the most powerful smokeless powder ever invented, and its inventor is a major in the Japanese army. Thus we have already entered into the era of origination.
In closing I may here sum up in a few words that although we dearly cling to the memory of the past, yet we eagerly hope for a great future, and in order to realize this hope we mark out the "grand policy of a century to come" with a far-reaching foresight. For means to carry out this policy we come to Europe and America. We go to Germany to study the German system of exactness, for they are noted for thoroughness in everything, but their system was found by our experience to be too stiff and inflexible. As exact and thorough as their system is, it is much more liable to leave us handicapped; therefore we come to America, for the Americans are the most practical people in the world. They cannot mark out such an exact system as the Germans, but they always use their common sense and come out successfully whenever they encounter a difficulty. They do not care so much for academic principles, but they have the tact to solve any question from a practical point of view; thus in Anglo-Saxon practicability we found our indispensable rescue.
OUR ASPIRATIONS
This "grand policy" for our national affairs, marked out "for a century to come" by our far-reaching foresight, coupled with German exactness and American practicability, will be the future course of the Japanese people. Then you will ask, What are your aims and aspirations? To this question I answer that our national ambition is by engrafting the western culture and science upon our own institutions to blend together and assimilate the two ​types of civilization—oriental and occidental—and by doing so to bring forth a new type of civilization, in which the culture and science of the two hemispheres will meet, not in conflict, but in harmony, so as to enable us to share the inheritance of Christian religion, oriental philosophy, Greek art, Roman law, and modern science.
Thus we hope in the course of the twentieth century to have at least one fruit out of our earnest and persevering efforts to contribute to the progress of mankind.