The Portland daily press., 1894-01-08
THE TRANQUIL JAPANESE.
They Are So Different Prom Us That They
Piaue Our Curiosity,


The Japanese are so different from us in
every way they pique our curiosity. Is
their wonderful tranquility the result of
long ages of education to suppress their
emotions, Or have they fewer emotions to
express? Students Of the country take
sides on this question and wage wordy
wars over it. One man told me that they
were of the Tartar race, and suppose he
thought | was frivolous when | replied
that if they were they must be the cream
of Tartar. Another will not allow that
they have any souls, yet we find them ca
pable of self sacrifice, even to death in
obedience to the sentiment of loyalty to
duty, and every day witness spectacles
of devotion which wildly recall the Cath
Ole peasantry of Europe Men, women
and children go to the temples to pray, and
when in the attitude of prayer are obliv-
ious to the movements of careless ''globe
trotters'' about them. We see much child
ishness, frivolity and even evidences of
barbarism, in connection with some of the
temples, but others have a pure symbol
ism, and their religious worship seems to
mean what religion everywhere means
the looking up of human beings to the
highest they can conceive, comforted by
the hope that good behavior will be re-
warded or distressed by the fear that sin
will be punished in another life.
They do not seem to be a. thoughtful
people, but take life like children, keenly
alive to the beauties of nature, skillful in
all they do and intensely artistic to their
fingers ends tt is said that even their
language illustrates the impersonality of
their temperament. Their social institu-
tons are based on the family, and not
upon the individual. The patriarchal form
of society survives here. Children are
taught to be obedient to their father and
to worship their ancestors. 1t is through
the father that the family continuity ex-
tends. The mother does not count. II
the wife have children, especially sons, she
is all right. If she fails here, she has no
assurance of her position. Yet we find
here woman not secluded, not showing
evidence of oppression, simple, natural and
merry. l am told that frequently 1.-The
gray mare is the better horse" and the
man submits to the better Judgment of his
wife.
/ don't know why we should need to
worry about these people. They seem to
be doing very we'll for themselves. They
have attained their ideals far more conf
pletely than we have. How to do any
thing has been settled here for ages. They
were doing fine things when our ancestors
had scarcely emerged from barbarism.
The country has finished look. Wherever
wall is needed we find it. Their cities are
much cleaner than ours. Their houses,
though they seem bare to us, are in some
respects more sensible and better ordered
than our own. They are rapidly assimi-
lating all that they want of our civiliza-
ton. They have the railroad, the tele-
graph, canals, steamships-all thoroughly
constructed and well managed. Their post
al service compels the admiration of their
critic for it's efficiency and accuracy. Pub
lie education is universal and practical.
With their skill, taste, industry and econ
omy I see no reason why the Japanese
should not have brilliant future.-Bos-
ton Herald.