The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-05-07
JAP AN IN
TRANS|TU
Motives for Changes Of
Custom.
THE RELIGIOUS ISSUE
Christianity Welcomed Temporarily
and Mainly for its Strengthen
ing Effect Upon Character.

TOKYO, April 24.-If Japan ever.
becomes Christian it will not be to
gain the kingdom of heaven" but to
strengthen her national character, to
complete her resemblance to the civil
lied world, and to help her to fight
Russia. All the articles written by
Japanese philosophers who think that
religion Is very good thing for the
masses, show clearly that this is their
idea. In the current issue of the Toxic
Maisha Shimpo, for example, Mr..
Ukita tries hard to convince his coun-
tlymen that all powerful States have
originated with religion, and that re-
ligion is necessary for taem at least
until they are full-grown. Sixteen re-
spectacle Japanese thinkers have late
ly addressed a series of questions on
religion to the students of all the
high and middle schools Of Japan, and
some Of these questions are rather pc
culiar. The boys are questioned, for.
instance, "as to the effect on their
minds which intercourse with society
has generally had;" and the following
queries are submitted to them: Do
you believe in religion? Have you any
desire for religion? If you 90 not be-
lieve In religion yourself do you rec
ognize it's necessity for others? If so,
on what grounds?
This is very complimentary indeed
to the understanding Of the youth Of,
the Land of the Rising Sun, but 1t does
not prevent Japan from seeing that its
students are degenerating at an alarm
ing rate, physically and spiritually. A
military officer has recently discovered
that they have the worst physique for
their age of any class of the communi-
ty, and the Japanese student Is often,
it must be remembered, a hardy lad OF
forty or thereabouts. The Japan
Times tries to excuse their constant
and bloodthirsty fights in which cour-
age is often displayed, but hardly so
often as cruelty and treachery, by
speaking of the lads as being animated
by the old samurai spirit, and warning
edUcationalists not to repress that spir-
1t but to guide and stimulate it's de-
velopment in the right direction SO
far as her school boys are concerned,
Japan is sparing the rod and spelling
the child. Apart from the unnatural
violence with which the boys fight,
there are two facts which prove this
to be the case, and one of them places
the Japanese schoolboy in a different
category to the schoolboy of any Chris
tian country. He is frequenter of the
tea-house. The second fact is that he
is a confirmed striker-not going on
strike spasmodically like the British
or American schoolboy, but marking
every month by a strike, generally di-
rected against some obnoxious master,
always gaining the Geographic col
umns of the press all over the country,
Il Ea;, II Go,
days ago the budding BONES" in one
of the largest Buddhist divinity schools
| in the country went out on strike al
| most to man.
| They always excelled at wrestling,
but lately they have taken with great
enthusiasm to all forms of athletic ex
| e"cise. This is not to lie wondered al,
considering that the physical tralnint.
| which all who eni9r the army-'hat is,
! f. acticallv, the whole nation lave to
undergo, has a.,1l.,v and sIs!hly IN
proved the national physique t. the as
| tonishment Of the people themselves.
Athletic associations have consequently
sprung up among them, and the physi-
cal development of the school children
will probably be better looked after
than it Is now. At present the Japanese
students are among the worst devel-
oped specimens of humanity on the face
of the earth, owing to over education,
the finished product Of the Japanese
universities generally presenting the
appearance of a sickly, puny, undevel
oped youth. Great careis now being be
slowed on the voices of the young, and
this is very necessary, as ninety mine
Japanese out of a hundred have a very
harsn and disagreeable voice, which
would not only tell against them as
orators but even as commercial tray-
ellers.
| With Buddhism educated Japanese
are discontented, for they know that
many Of the monks lead corrupt lives,
but no other religion seems to take the
place of Buddhism, Christianity least of
all. The attituue Of the Japanese mind
toward Christianity is peculiar. He can
not leave off regarding 1t from the out
side. He cannot enter the temple and
be really one of the worshipers. Great
numbers of educated Japanese buy
Christian books and read them, but
it is always in order to harden their
| character and discipline their minds
to give them something of that stub
born resolution of Kruger and Crom-
well, which sent the Pilgrim Fathers
to the shores of the New World but
never to make them rerent for their
sins - repent for their sins, The
idea of the thing would make
them laugh, as it would have made Un-