Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-25
HOW THEY CELEBRATED
When the Japs Got News Of
Their First Victories.
TURNED THINGS LOOSE
TORCHLIGHT PROFESSIONS IN
WHICH THOUSANDS MARCHED.
War Spirit is Wonderfully Strong-Sol-
diers Anxious to Die for Their
Emperor.
TURNED THINGS LOOSE
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star

IOh1O FEBRUARY 70, INN.
AS the "Hochi Shimbun'' (the Daily ..e-
porter of this city naively puts It. the
confusion in Tokyo is very great Even the
messenger boys and the milkmen are so
jubilant that they have no respect for their
elders"
All Japan has turned itself loose and Is
rejoicing boisterously over the victories at
Chemulpo and Port Arthur. True no one
knows very much about the victories be-
yond the mere heavily censored announce
ments, but the people are not bothering
themselves about details. The main thing
Is that their emperor's will has been done
the flag of the rising SUM- carried on to
glorious victory
Flags and lanterns are displayed in front
OF every house. The students parade the
streets at night, Illuminating the crowded
thoroughfares with their tin torches and
paper lanterns. Feasting is going on on all
sides. The clubs and societies are keeping
open house; scores of business houses are
closed Country people have come into the
city by the thousand to Join in the celebra-
tlon ana IN many cases the entire popula-
tlon OF town has escorted its recruits and
reserves to the barracks. The boys are
giving the police plenty of trouble in break
ing up their mock battles with the Rus
SLAMS In the temple grounds; and the tenn
pies themselves are crowded with thou-
sands of worshipers, all intent upon giving
their soldier and sailor relatives in battle
Prints of Admirals Togo and Uriu are riot
ously displayed, and the rival newspapers
nave plaStered their extras on the bllild-
lhgs at street corners, on the telegraph and
telephone poles and underneath the shop
WINDOWS. Great crowds are continually
around the extras, attracted there by the
cry of the newsboys-"Gogair'-a their
energetic manipulation of brass bells the
size of an American farm dinner bell
Water coiors showing the sinking of the
russians ships vie with the extras for at
tention. and the air by day and night is
hlled with the shouting of the excited city
-"Taikoku banzai," "Kaigan banzaii',
,Rikugun banzai!' CLong live the en-
the army!D Many of the lanterns in the
professions also bear these legends
Nightly Jubilations.
As soon as night falls professions are
formed spontaneously in all parts of the
city, and with boisterous patriotism all
make for Gina street CTokyo's Broadway
and then to HiJiya Park. which adioins the
imperial palace, and which is in the center
of the city. The multitude does not go
nearer to the palace; they have too great a
respect for the mikado to do such a thing
But once in the park the thousands of
marchers cheer their emperor their army
ana their navy, and listen good naturedly
TO speeches by their leaders and not in
frequently by foreigners for hundreds of
europeans are celebrating as enthusiastic
cally as native-born.
The speeches of Mr.. Lee, an Englishman.
particularly please the Japs His Japanese
is wonderful al all times but most wonder
full when he gets excited and shouts raj
koku banzai; Still the Japs thunder
out all that he talks about. and Mr. I ga
Is easily the most popular white man in
Tokyo today. "a
The women alone seem to have retained
some of that restrained calm which marked
the nation before the censors allowed tbe
papers to publish their sadly abbreviated
accounts of victory. from which even the
names of the warships taking part have
been struck out and are represented bv cir
cles one circle for each word of the shin,s
name. The women are calm. forsooth. be-
cause they know that if their husbands ana
ed they have reached the chief end Of man
they have spilled their blood for the en-
peror. --
At the Temples.
Mothers and wives are giving no evidence
OF excitement other than going to the
temples to buy lots. At the Kotohira
Ienpie of Shiba on the tenth-the temples
ieasI oay-thousands of women bought
lots The gods take good care that these
lois brlng good news to the purchasers
that the son will win glory on the sea that
the father will lead the charge on the enc
my; that the husband will meet a gIorions
death on the battlefield. And so the We
men go back to their homes calm and com
forted ' O'iii
This Spartan-like readiness of the Ian
women to give up everything for the good
OF the country Is shown in miniature in the
sacrlnce of little Miss IIanemura Masa
Miss Hanemura Masa whose name is
now known all over Nippon is in the
fourth grade of the Yokohama grammar
school. When the official announcement
came showing that the government had de-
cided upon war Miss Masa presented her
self at the barracks, sought out the com
mander with that infinite patience peculiar
to her sex in Japan, and handed the OFFICER
letter. This was the letter that little
Miss Masa had written:
with war with Russia in prospect
have saved every cent of the money that
my mother gave me to buy candy with
and now L have got three yen and thirty
five sen, and l wish it to be used for the
army and navy expenses. I shall be very
glad If you accept my little present and l
send it with the letter"
1t is not hard to understand where the
Japanese woman gets her Spartan spirit
it is born in her
The War Game.
The school boys are making sacrifices as
well their sisters-they would prefer
sacrificing their hves-but since the news
of victory their chief outlet for their pent-
up enthusiasm has been the war game 1t
is just such a game as American bows play
sides are chosen and one is called the
Russian army and the other the Japanese
Only here the boys of one street will take
one side and oppose the boys from another
street. Naturally, the youngsters have a
difficult time deciding who shall be Rus
SLAMS" but once this is determined it is in
cumbent on the Russians to put up Just
stiff a fight as they would if they were
representing their own beloved land
boy who shirks because he does not fancy
the idea of battling in makebeiief for his
lands enemy is disgraced among his com
rades and family. Hence, the temple
grounds are the scenes daily of stiff en-
counters that result in such accounts as
this
THE police have hard time pacifying
the children, who are eager to play the
war game. Yesterday, about II o'clock, in
the grounds Of the Tamahime Inar Temple
of Asakusa, the children gathered and had
a Russo-Japanese fight The children of
Tamahime street acted as Russian soldiers
and the boys of Sanya street as Japanese.
They yelled and made a great noise. The
Russians retreated into the rear grounds,
but the japanese followed them in good
order, and two boys shot two Russians in
the head with air rifles, and gave them
serious injuries. The boys were taken to
the police court and later given to their
parents"
Exuberance of Patriotism.