The Indianapolis journal., 1903-12-06
JAPANESE INTEREST.

One who tries to keep up with the out
put of current literature and recent books
cannot fail TO be struck with the immense
number of volumes relating to Japan There
seems to be sudden glut Of japanese books
on the market-and yet not glut either,
for these books are but an answer to
demand, and they find ready sale. For
number of years there has been lively in
terest in things Japanese, and now, more
than ever before. the eyes of the world are
searching for information about the pro-
gressive and interesting folk Of "Chrysan-
themum Land"
There is something particularly fascinat-
ing about this nation SO unlike our own,
and about which we read so much and
know so little. The Oriental customs and
ideals are so far removed from ours, and
yet the march of progress has brought them
so close to us. The remarkable intelli-
gence Of the people of japan, their quick
ness in grasping Western ideas and their
eagerness to establish an up-to-date civil
lization have recently made them prominent
among nations.
There is some occasion for regret in the
remarkable progress they have made and
their wholesale adoption Of Occidental
methods. Many fear that they are too quick
to do away with their national customs and
in casting overheard many things which
mark their racial individuality. Japan's
literature, her poetry and art and religious
and home life are so distinctive that it
would be a sad mistake to discard it all
for a mere imitation Of something newer.
One is disappointed when he visits a
country and finds 1t only duplicate of the
one he has left; and in Japan especially,
"A land not like ours, that land of strange
OF demons and spooks with mysterious
OF gods who breathe ice, who cause peaches
And manage the moonshine and turn on the
showers
and many things beside.
One change. however. may be productive
of good results. The Japanese propose to
discard the cumbersope Geographic style
of writing which they have always used and
to substitute Roman letters in writing their
language. This change would remove the
great barrier between Western scholarship
| and Oriental literature. The spoken Ian
| guage of the Japanese is not exceedingly
| difficult to learn, it is said, but 1T takes
many years of patient study to acquire even
| the rudiments Of the Japanese writing A
change to phonetic spelling would open up
world. The Japanese would have no SEN
| timental compunctions about throwing away
their old letters and adopting new ones, for
| their present alphabet is not their own, but
was borrowed, with some alterations. from
the Chinese.
| Lafcadio Hearn and other delightful writ
ers have aroused so much interest in Japa-
nese literature and customs that the world
would eagerly hail such change in writ
| ing. There are treasures of song and story,
| and Buddhist lore of many bygone centur-
| les only awaiting this transliteration to
| open them to the world, and 1t may lend a
new iapetus to Japan's new literature.
| The country possesses many delightful
poets and prose writer's, who may be ex-
| pected to furnish a fresh growth Of flowers
| peculiar to the Japanese soil. 1t is hoped
that this new literature will not be merely
other things in Japan are coming to be.