The Press., 1897-07-22
w. C. T. U.
From our Y Missionary.

My Dear Y's Fl wish I could draw true picture of Japan fo1 you at this season. Truly, 1t is one vast fiowor gar den. No wonder the people of the Mix ado's Empire are so artistic. The pines of the north and the palms of the tropics grow side by side, and with their setting of roses and lilies, form nature's most perfect cameo. And then there's snow- capped Fujiyama. No matter what the angle of vision, 1t is always in the back ground. To see it in the early morning is to receive an inspiration for the whole day. It seems as If the Father had set this ideal before us to woo us to higher and holier endeavor. l am sure shall always be better because it has been my p-isiledge to gaze long and often upon beautiful Fujiyama, and I know, now, that I can never be satisfied to attain merely mediocre spiritual heights. There is certainly much good in people who have this mountain constantly before them, for we become like what we look upon and Fuji could suggest nothing but purity and truth.
 Soon after joined the Young Ladies' Foreign Missionary society, I was asked to prepare paper on "Young Women Here, Young Women There," the tsere meaning girls of the Far East. I was much impressed then with the differences which a study of conditions revealed, but did not dream that they were as great as they are, 1. G., difference in privileges and positions, not in the mind and heart of the girls. We know young women may doanything in English-speaking countries; here, there are certain prescribed lines, out of which 1t is as impossible to move las for a railroad engine to make pro- necessary to go into detail or enumerate these differences. Just think of what an American girl Is permitted to do and the respect that Is paid her, and then remem- Der that Japahese girls priviledges and position are just the opposite.
 Recently listened to a young minister who had spent several years in America. During his address he thanked God that he had been permitted to go to our country where he had learned to appreciate woman hood. Then he amused his audience very much by initiating 8 gentleman taking off his hat and lowing very low, while the ladies merely inclined their heads, and he told how strange 1t seemed to him. Here, 1t is the woman who prostrates herself, and she can not bow until she is first recognized by the gentleman. All GUS toms are reversed gentlemen being served first at table, etc., if indeed ladies are permitted to sit at table with gentleman at all. Broad-minded great-hearted men are trying to change these customs, but progress must be slow.
 In the face of all these things you ask what are the prospects for temperance work among young women in Japan. As compared with the home lands should say, as midnight to midday, yet am not discouraged. There are about thirty-five Christian girls schools in Japan. Three of them now have Y organizations, with a pledged membership of two hundred and forty. Three others have sent invi- tat1ons to be organized, and am hope full of at least three more. have set my hearton having one thousand white-ribbon girls in Japan, though 1 may not reach that number, for have learned that many of the schools are very small.
 While of course I have changed my ideas somewhat as to methods of work, as my perspective has changed, still I can not get away from my earliest im- pressions, viz., that the girls now in the schools and colleges, and the children, are to be the "corner stones" upon which the ''palace" of the w. c. T. U. in Japan is to be built. We can not hope to train many mothers, 1t Is too late; we can not work for the Japan of to-day, 1t Is the future that is ours. So while I shall con- tinue to speak to general audiences and do "whatever my hands find to do," I shall make a special effort to reach the young women and children.
 In addition to the three distinctive Y's, there are now societies in two Bible schools where young ladies are largely in the majority. The last of these was or ganized two weeks ago in the Higgins Memorial House, Yokohama, a school under the direction of Misses Griffith and Simons, who are loyal white-ribboners and know the reason why. This organi- zation was preceded by five lectures on five successive afternoons.
 Miss Tami Mitani (you can pronounce this name easily when tell you that there are no accented syllables in this language that all the as are broad or Italian 8, and that 1 when not preceded by another vowel has always the sound of long e), the new national superintendent of the Y's, has gone to work in earnest. Some of these days Pll tell you more about her. think we are fortunate, too, in our L. T. l.. superintendent Mrs. Motori (long o), whose husband is a professor in the Imperial University, has been chosen for that place. shall have scientific temperance instruction manuals translat- ed.
 And now may 1 make 8 confession2 1 have overworked, because the acclimat- ing is so hard, and must go more slowly If can. You are often praying for me and are working for Japan. could not let you make any sacrifices for me, did not know that the measure of your inter- est will be the measure of the blessing that you yourself will receive. What beautiful law The reflex benefits are al- ways the larger part. Phillips Brook said: 1T can not afford not to be interest ed ia everything that helps humanity, for the sake of my own development heaven ward" Do you not feel the truth of