The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-12-14

needless than other people in the East. and
thus custom defends them. The masses
go bare of foot and head when cold wealth
er does not forbid; the kimono, the common
dress, does not cover the heels, and 1t Is
folded in a loose at the neck. In rain
or mud a woman does not hesitate to lift
the garment clear of her bare calves-the
men gather theirs to the thighs-and in
very warm weather the upper portion may
not be closely confined. But such display
excites neither remark nor notice among
themselves nor is it designed to do so. the
habit being as guileless as 1t Is universal.
When no one thinks wrong of bathing In
open street, sight which need not be
hunted in interior villages, but which is
to be had at treaty ports. the inferior ex-
hibition raises question whether visitors
not too mawkish to laugh at such sights
may not betray more conscious immodesty
than those who present them.
Japanese women do not lack ideas of their
own on the subject of modest dress. The
article which they call "obi'' covers re-
quirements in that respect, in their esti-
nation 1t is a broad. thick sash. at the
waist. folded in a huge bow behind. What
ever the discomforts of weather, the obi is
unQer no circumstances OHlllIeO WHICH a
woman appears outside her door. Besides
answering the purposes OF support and con-
cealment. the obi, worn with kimono OF
rich ma terial, adds to the appearance of
well-dressed Japanese woman. Objection
to Japanese dresses by those who are urg-
ing reform in this direction is not based
on considerations of modesty or of taste.
1t has reference solely to the difficulty
,;ol, o-ilN
and rapidly, or in accomplishing anything
requiring activity. When Japanese wom-
an is bound up in a kimono. and has to
propel herself wooden clogs, her loco
motion can be neither speedy nor graceful.
HERITAGE OF GOOD LIVES.
Calumny has such a start in reports con-
corning the morality of Japanese women
that the efforts of many close and intelli-
gent observers, qualified to speak by long
residence, seemed to have failed to spread
the truth as widely as it deserves. The
care bestowed upon the early life of Japan
csc women of good family, and the devo-
ton with which after marriage they apply
themselves to their responsibilities, relieves
that class of incentives to dissolute lives
Since domestic scandal moreover, is ex-
ceedingly rare, the inference may be per-
MISSILE that occasion is not furnished for
it by the women of the higher classes.
The most popular man in Japan for many
years, Fukuzawa Yukichi, known as the
Sage Of Mita, who had the gift of getting
at the sense of the people, and of voicing
| 1t in language that appealed to great and
lcwly alike, approved himself no more
thoroughly in public sentiment than when
in the discussion of this subject he said
| that the great middle class, the saving ele-
ment of every nation, lived upon as high
a plane of ethical life as any people In the
| world, even when judged by Western
standards. There are overwhelming evil
dences. apart from mere statement or
| opinion, that the ranks against which crit
icism is leveled are recruited from the
| lowest classes.
stories OF the sale of children by destitute
! families, of the lease of grown girls by rel
| atfves in acute need and of the voluntary
sacrifice of themselves by daughters to re-
| lfeve the distress of parents are commonly
| told to account for the ever abundant sup
| ply of human material for this traffic.
| Whatever the origin or the explanation of
the agencies which have overrun the trad
| ing ports in the East with an unfailing
| supply from Japan, it may be remarked
that neither in Japan nor elsewhere is
| there lack of demand at such ports. A few
foreigners have japanese wives whom So
| ciety recognizes. In some such instances
marriage was contracted in regular form
| after mode of former life in which the
woman felt herself legally bound and the
| foreigner could not be held by process of
| law. He knew that fact, whether or not
the woman knew or believed it. When she
supposed herself married it may be fairly
| thought that her mind contemplated rela-
/ ton Of that kind not all one-sided, in which
| event the stigma of immortality could hard
| ly attach to her. Complaint of disloyalty
| by women so attached has never been
heard, while ii has not been uncommon
that foreign men have made no scruple Of
| maintaining other than a monogamistic
relation. The notion has not abated, in
deed, among many foreigners, that when a
man comes to Japan from abroad to live
he may without impropriety-is almost ex-
| pected-to provide himself with al least one
| hOusekeeper. An establishment maintained
by single foreigner in Yokohama is said
| to have nine of these adjuncts. Example
of that kind is hardly open to misconcep-
ton, even by the native women. who con-
tribute their share to it by an arrangement
| wholly pecuniary.
VICE NEVER OBTRUSIvE.
In relation to places of common resort,
the most notorious and most flourishing
are those which foreigners patronize. The
toys would become useless and disappear
if they did not divert. and those who play
with them in the resorts which, in Japan
and throughout the East, have given wom-
en- here reputation for general immortality,
are not Japanese. Moreover. such life does
not obtrude itself. BY custom and by law
it is wholly apart from the scenes one
commonly encounters If vice is wanted in
Japan it must be sought. 1t never stalks
out in search of victims. So unfailingly is
this true that the appearance of a woman
| unattended in the street at any hour sug-
gests no improperly to any one here, even
| a foreigner, and she is quite safe from mo-
MRS. NJ. AGNES GARRETT