Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-08-07
R-omANIzArIoN IN P
japanese. Adopting the Roman AlphasPt
"A Society Of Reform Organized
New Orleans Tmes-Democratl

japanese Adopting the ROman AlphaHPt
"A Society Of Reform Organized
New Orleans TmesDemocratl
japan offers perhaps the only historical
instance Of a nation voluntarily abandon
ing It's manners, customs, beliefs and
learning, within the short space Of a gen
Grafton. in order TO adopt a foreign civil
cation, Of which 1t recognizes the over
whelminQ superiority. ~Old japan
the japan of the eighteenth century-has
ceased TO sexist except in fragments
of its antique arts, and IN such
legends as We have charming ex-
Amples of in Milford's collection
The new Japan is a land Of nineteenth
century civilization, illuminated by cleo
tricity, trayersed by railways, speaking
through telephones, guarded by repeating
rifles and breech-loadlng cannon n tur-
reted navies of steel. The medical science
of Paris and of Berlin is familiar to the
students of Yokohama; the perfected
press prints daily editions of Japanese pa
pers; chemistry and dynamics boast
scholars in Yeddo. At our own exposition
we had some admirable proofs OF the
high status of education in Japan; and
non who viewed the exhibits in charge
of Ichizo Hattori, left the main building
without a feeling Of profound respect for
the intelligence and learning OF our Orien-
tai brethren.
Since then Japan has made another
great stride in progress; she has adopted
the Roman alphabet. The old Geographic
characters have been q serious obstacle to
study, ever since their adaptation to cast
type, fine specimens of such printing be-
ing on exhibition here. AS each new
word required new signs, and as the
number of these were enormously in
creased by the expansion Of learning in
Japan. the strain entailed upon the
students memory became something in
describable. An ordinary public school
student was obliged to commence his task
by loading his memory with at least 1000
Geographic characters. But if he wished
to graduate in o higher college, he had to
learn not 1000, but at the very least s, 900
characters, to familiarize himself with
which required six years Of constant APP
plication.
The reform has begun-not 80 rapidly,
perhaps, as could be wished; but upon a
very solid basis. A society has been
formed called the Society of Romaniza-
ton, " with a membership of more than
1000 persons, many of whom are princes
and government odicialG A committee
consisting of two Europeans and four ma.
tives, wes appointed to establish the rules
for the transcription of japanese words
into Roman characters; and their work
was very satisfactorily accomplished.
Now the society is at work upon a Jap
anese dictionary arranged upon this prin-
ciple; and a special journal is to be
founded in support of the undertaking.
The government warmly supports this
reform.
1t is true that in the transcription of
various Oriental alphabets. special charac-
ters have to be used, as in the system for
Persian. Arabic and Sanscrit pronuncia-
ton adopted by Max Muller. But these
+ characters are simply Roman letters es-
pecially accumulated, 80 as to render
sounds peculiar to the tongue transliter-
Z ated. Leon de Rosny, the eminent Japan
< csc scholar, showed long ago in his trans
liberation Of the Si.Ka-Zen.Yo, that the
, Japanese language could be we'll adapted
as a whole to the English alphabet