Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-09-21
ABOUT JAPANESE WOMEN
They Are Said to Be Good and
Charming.
And Have Been Sadly Misrepresented
q Superficial Knowledge.

de Guerville in Illustrated American.
Nothing in Japan appeals more charm
ingly to the stranger-man or woman-than
the sweet and graceful maidens in their
beautiful and picturesque costumes of
bright-colored silks. The Japanese claim
and not without reason-that nine-tenths
| of what has been published about the sweet
daughters of Nippon is absolutely untrue.
and was written by men who know but
very little of Japan and nothing at all of
its women.
1 remember 4 long conversation had on
the subject with one of the prettiest and
most charming ladies of Toxic. Countess
Inouye, whose father-in-law is one of the
great statesmen Of Japan. The converse
ton having turned upon the subject Of Jap
anese women, she exclaimed:
"Oh, you foreigners are really too anus
ing when speaking and writing about us.
So much fun I had reading Pierre Lott and
Edwin Arnold! All! Ah!-it is more than
| droll'
'Of what do you reproach them?"
"Reproach them? Why, to be talking of
what they know absolutely nothing. Just
see Pierre Lott, for instance. He comes
here, spends a few weeks en- tete-a-tete
with a dancing girl Of the very lowest
class. whose language he cannot speak.
| who laughs at him and thinks he is the
Queerest thing on earth-and who after
| that goes and writes books about Japan
| csc women! The worst is that foreigners
reading these books will come to the con-
clusion that we are all like Nine. Chrysan-
theme"
But Sir Edwin Arnold speaks in a very
| different manner"
''Oh, yes. but he does not know much
! more He only knows half a dozen charm
| ing little ladies. and he is too much Of a
| poet to judge them as man. He loves
| them as he loves nature, and would not
possibly speak of them in everyday prose:
| He Grapes them in the wells Of poesy, and
| dreams ne is in heaven surrounded by an
| gels. 1t seems SO foolish to u.s."
Every writer on the subject seems to
| have different opinion-so different in
fact, that one would be inclined to think
! that there are several Japans in this world
| There is but one. but 1t contains several
classes Of women whose conditions are
| very different.
We laugh at japanese women dressing in
| foreign clothes. Certainly they are not as
| graceful as in their own costumes, for they
do not know how % wear the occidental
| dresses. The wearing of unfamiliar gar
| ments cannot be learned In day. Let the
American girls try on the Japanese dresses
| without the help Of a competent costumer,
and see what they will look like-to jap
| anese eyes.
And now few words about the morals
| of japanese women. 1t is generally be-
lieved in Europe and in America that the
| morals over there are very low. 1t Is I'M
| doubtedly due to the ridiculous and most
unreliable stories which globe trotters de-
| light In telling their friends. There is not
in the world a more moral people than the
Japanese.
These globe trotters know absolutely
| nothing Of the Japanese women of the
| middle or upper classes, and during the
meet the geisha girls. whose business 1t is
| to sing and dance and sell their smiles. But
| such a class OF women is to be found in
every country. and they are far less de-
| graded in japan than they are in Paris,
| London, New York or San Francisco. There
| can be no comparison. These women In
| Japan do not live the life Of dirt and mis-
cry, the disgustingly vicious life of the un-
| nolles or of Dupont street. They are well
| dressed. well fed. well taken care Of. well
| treated. They are comparatively well ed
ucated. and are all good musicians. They
| could not become geisha girls unless they
| knew how to play on the samisen sing and
dance. They all have excellent manners.
| Most Of them are sold by their parents.
who. of course. belong to the very lowest
| class of people, to individuals who make It
| q business to give them the needed educa-
| ton, and later hire them out by the hour.
month. Their proprietor lodges and
| boards them, and gives them the money
necessary to buy their pretty clothes.
Strange to say. girls Of this class who have
to buy them back and marry them have
uniformly made the best Of wives. Many
Japanese ladies now prominent used to be
| geishas.
To have q past" does not prevent a wo-
man from getting into society, provided she
actually behaves WELL Even the women Of
the low class, whose morals are loose be-
fore they marry. become honest wives as
soon as they belong to a husband.
Japanese women do not care mueh for
love-passionate love-as 1t exists in our
country. In fact. 1t seems unknown to
them. ana have come to the conclusion
that it's on account Of all Of them having
uniformly dark skin and hair. 1t is a WELL
known fact that q man with light hair will
| most naturally fall in love with q brunette
but seldom with a blonde, and vice versa.
In spite of the many stories circulated
in their clubs and other places by men who
| have left a great deal Of money in Japan,
try thoroughly dislike foreigners, and have
never heard yet of one of them being IL
love with one OF US.
Strange as it may appear. a kiss is an
unknown thing in Japan-not unknown to
the gay maidens of Yokohama, Kobe OF
Nagasaki. who have so much to do for the
amusement Of foreigners-but unknown tc
the Japanese in general. A lover never
kisses his sweetheart-a mother never
kisses her child. He made a great mistake
the man who wrote that "a kiss is natures
Volapuk. the universal language Of love. "
You can kiss any Japanese girl. She Will
not object. for she cannot possibly under
stand what you mean. She will only think
What queer people these foreigners are!'
Japanese women have three recreations-
smoking, singing and dancing. They smoke
most gracefully, as they do everything
This habit was introduced into Japan by
the Spaniards some $50 years ago. japanese
girls, however, do not smoke cigarettes
like the bellies of Andalusia, but pipes. the
! daintiest little pipes. beautifully orna
mented, and holding just enough tobacco
for one or two puffs
| And now what of that reputation fol-
beauty which the japanese women are en-
Joying-again. thanks to the stories o.
globe trotters? The fact is that there ar,
fewer pretty girls there than in America
and have not seen one that was beauti
full. The most one can say Of a japanese
} beauty is: How pretty she is!' or How
cute"' One could never think Of saying
What q beautiful woman!
And yet the Japanese girl charms every
, one. She does rot charm by her so-callet
beauty, but by her originality, her grace
fulness, her gentleness, her kindness, bel
sweetness She is the best-natured woman
, in the world. the most affable, the most po
| lite and the most amfable.
1 m nuvs~