Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-06-27
WOMEN iN JAPAN

, position superior to that of their
Asiatic sisters Their seciusion, even
In the old days. was not so strict.
They led a freer and more outdoor
life. and they were educated to q GER
tain extent The family idea and
rule prevailed. and with the exquisite
politeness of those people exalted def
erence was paid the mother OF
the family. The Confucian laws
were recognized there as well,
and her duties and obligations were
strictly defined by them Her three
great duties were obedience to her
father, her husband and eldest son, as
they in turn became the head of her
family.
japanese women of the middle and
upper classes were taught to read and
write the common language in the
hirdkand, or simple running charac-
tiers. instead of the square characters
OF the classic language. All novels,
plays and newspapers are written in
the hirakdnd. and women are still the
great uovel-readers of Japan No
woman attended the theater before
marriage. and the upper classes not at
I'll. the realism and license of the stage
being given as reason. A japanese
woman's education formerly comprised
endless lessons and practice in the
mysteries of etiquette. learning to
play the koto and samisen. and to ar
range bouquets. Women of literarytaste
were not uncommon at court, and the
screens in the Empress suite in the
old Kiota palace are covered with au-
tograph poems dashed off by herself or
her ladies in waiting. The present
Empress of Japan is poetic in her
tastes and has shown a great interest
in Western literature. 1t is under her
head that such reforms in the condi-
ton of women have taken place, and
in the court life she moves and acts as
any sovereign lady of European
country.
Since 1870 new laws have been
made regarding the legal status of
women in Japan, and the people are
still in transition between the old Gus
toms and the new condition of things.
Under the present laws women can
hold property. dispose of 1t and man
age their affairs on much better terms
than are possible to the women of
some European nations. They can
testify in court, although they seldom
do it. old prejudices not being suffi-
GENTLY overcome to allow a woman's
testimony to have much weight with
a Japanese Judge
The advancement of women has
been the most wonderful feature in
the progress of Japan during the last
twenty years. The Empress Haru has
led most of the movements, and found
ed institutions and schools destined to
assist Japanese women to higher
and more nearly equal intellectual and
social plane with men and with West
ern women. Besides these institu-
tions. the Empress is at the head OF
the Fujiu Kiofu Kwai, a society for
the advancement of women, and aim
ing to secure them higher social and
legal estate. Many Japenese men are
members of this society, and earnestly
devoted to its ends, more especially
those who, having occupied official
positions abroad, have had the oI,por-
tunity to see and feel how different
the position of the women of their
tries compared to what they en-
joyed at home. The late Viseount
Mort, the Minister of Education.
who was assassinated in Febru-
airy, 1889, was an ardent worker in
this cause. He organized a society of
literary men, the Meirokusha. that
through its publications urged the adj
vancement of women, and their eman-
cipation from the old customs and eti-
quette, and Viscount Morris great
point was the social and legal equality
of men and women He was the first
noble to make the new marriage cere-
mony conspicuous, a civil contract
being drawn up before the Governor
of Toxic, and signed by Viscount Mort
and Mile. Hirose. In his death the
women of Japan lost their ablest and
most powerful champion.
Japanese women have been quick to,
accept foreign methods of instruction.
and prove themselves intelligent and
faithful students. In the hospitals
and training schools for nurses they
shO~ much ability. and take satlsfac-
tory standing. No one among them
has yet aspired to be a student of law,
and while there have been women
writer's of novels, poems and dramas,
history tells of but one Portia, muir.
deress who defended herself in court.
and won her acquittal by the force
and. eloquence of her arguments. The
exciting melodrama of her life and
trial is an old favorite with all theater-
goers.
The women of Japan have always
occupied the highest plane of any
Asiatic women, and the future prom.
ises them position and consideration
equal to that Of their American sis
tiers. Oriental and Occidental reform.
ers can ask no more.-Harper's
Bazaar.