The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1901-11-22

THE HOPES OF JAPAN.

OF all the lands in the world none
exerts the peculiar fascination of Japan
Others have equal beauty of scenery
greater grandeur, more noble works
of art, more interesting problems o.
society. But none possesses an Cqua
fascination. No one who has been in
the real Japan which lies outside the
treaty ports and the foreign hotels and
railways ever could or ever would
forget his experiences. No one, if he
could, would ever fail to return.
The great secret of this charm lies
with the people themselves. They
have made fine art Of personal re-
lations. Their acts are those of good
taste and good humor Two cities o.
about the same size and relative i'm
portance are Paris and Toxic. NJ
two could show greater contrast iI
spirit. Both are, in Il sense, cities O
pleasure. Toxic is a city of contin
uous joyousness, little pleasures drawn
from simple things, which leave ne
sting and draw nothing from future
happiness. Paris is t,.>erish and feels
the "ditfeirncr i'll tie mulnin, anC
the hard fierce lust and cruel deed'
which go with the search for pleasure
that draws on the future for the Joys
of the present.
No one who catches the spirit ol
Paris can fail to miss the underlying
sadness. tue pity of it all. The spirit
of Tokio-not of all Toxic, but of its
life as a whole is as fresh as the
song of birds, as "swcet as children's
prattle is." and it is good 20 be under
its spell.
Part of this charm lies in the fail
scenery of Japan. Great wooded
mountains, snowy cones OF volcanoes
dashing rivers and resting lakes, each
dropped in its place with a wonderful
eye to the picturesque. The tall
cryptomeras of the central forests
rival their sister sequoias and red
woods Of the California slopes. The
japanese pine is unique among trees
for whei ever it grows, it stands as il
posing for its portrait, the center oi
each scene in which it occurs. If there
be an island of white ashes in some
purple bay, there will stand seven
pines in row across it, each pointing
its long arms in seven differerent direc.
tions. On the old royal highway oil
the feudal days, from end to end OF
Japan, stand long rows of shelterine
pines as old as the dynasty, each with
all the individuality of one in the
series Of kings. The great pine OF
karasaki stretches its long arms fur.
ther, perhaps, than those Of any other
tree whatsoever in any country.
With the scenery goes the wealth
of flowers, the hum of singing inst cts
and once the song of birds also till the
soulless Paris millinery and the woman
with the dead warblcrs on her bat
wrought their practical! determination
The geograpy and the history OF Japan
have their charms as we'll and these
sink deep into the l.earts of the Japa.
nese. Every moor was once the scene
of great battle. On every noun
tain pass great deeds were wrought
Even tho these names and deeds have
long since passed into mythology. yet
they are none the less potent to touch
the heart of the new as well as the old
Japan. From the great central noun
tain axis of the main island rocky
promontores thrust themselves out
across the rice fields far into the sea.
The warm kuro, Shiwo or Black
Stream, comes up from the Philippines
and Formosa and washes the crags
Ise and Izu, Xii aud Sagami, in which
these promontories end. In the warm
water and sultry vapor-laden air is
developed the richest marine life that
dwelis on any coast in the whole world.
And this abundance Of life on land and
sea 10y day or 10y night is one Of the
joys of Japan.
With the people themselves tie vir-
tues Of life are all closely joined to-
gethcr. Tue name of Bushdc means
the spirit OF honor, and this honor
covers all the virtues Of suhrletv,
hone sly, hopefuincss, patriotism and
religion. 1t is the heart of japanese
character. 1t makes this character
and in turn is created by it.
The Shinto religion, the primitive
religion of Japan is often defined as
ancestor worship" 1t is more than
this, far more, but it is also less than
this. 1t has been called no religion
at all, because it has no creed, no
ceremonies necessary to it practice,
no sacred legends or mysteries, and
nothing of the machinery of spiritual
power which characterize great re-
ligions in other countries. 1t makes
no proselytcs. 1t opposes no belief
and insists on none. 1t is the animat-
ing spirit that causes Japanese to
love his children, to be kind to his
wife, to help the stranger, to be loyal
to Japan, to devote his life to her
service, and, above all, to be worthy
of the traditions of his ancestry, to
be 4 man, even as his great fathers
were, and to do no act which is I'M