Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-02-19
JAPANESE WOMEN IN WAR.
Their Deeds Like Those of the Womer
of Sparta.

of Sparta.
No nation has a better right to be
proud Of what its women have done in
wartime than Japan. Even the moth
ers and wives Of ancient Sparta have
been rivalled in deeds Of patriotism
and self-sacrifice by the women Of ia
pan.
In the feudal times which came to an
end in Japan only thirty years ago,
all gentlewomen were; trained in the
use Of the sword and lance. The wo-
men of the samurai class received a
regular military education and If the
castle of daimio was besieged, they
were capable Of assisting in the de-
fence If necessary.
A noted instance Of the martial
red during the siege Of. the castle Of
Wakamatsu in 1869, where the Shotgun
made his final stand against the forces
of the Mikado. Nearly one thousand
women and girls belonging to the fam
lilies Of samurai attached to the Shotgun
fought behind the barricades and on
the castle walls. Many of them were
killed in battle, while not few COM
mitted suicide rather than undergo the
humiliation Of defeat.
Yet the Amazonian qualities Of the
women Of old Japan did not detract
from their womanliness. They were
tender mothers and loving wives. The
nursing of the wounded and sick was
part of the education Of every samurai
woman.
With the passing away Of the age OF
chivalry in Japan, upon the downfall
Of the Shogunate, the Japanese woman
was called upon to face new conditions.
and how she met these conditions Is
shown in the history of the Chinese
war of 1895.
It is matter Of record that some TO-
900 Japanese women volunteered to go
to the front as nurses in the field hos
pitals at the outbreak Of the Chinese
war, and advices from Japan state
that the number Of women volunteer
ing to go to the front as nurses to-
day is greater than in 1895. But the
women who stay at home are not lack
ing in patriotic devotion.
There Is an anecdote concerning the
mother of the heroic Commander Saka-
motto, who was killed on the bridge Of
his ship. the Akagi. at the battle OF
Yalu, which shows how the spirit Of
patriotism flames in the hearts Of Jap
anese women.
An official Of the navy department
called on the family Of the naval Of
fcer to convey, as delicately as posst-
BILE, the news of his death. Having
communicated his tidings to a member
of the family, he was about to depart,
when the shoji slid open softly and the
aged mother Of the dead commander
staggered into the room.
| She had been an accidental caves
dropper and had heard all. Tremb-
ling with emotion she bowed low to
the visiting officer and said:
Tell the emperor I rejoice that a
son of mine has been able to be OF
some service to him."
| Some Japanese women refused to
weep over their dead, because 1t was
considered disloyal to the Mikado to
weep for those who had had the honor
to die fighting for him. When a wife
or a mother heard that husband or
son had been killed in battle, the first
/ QnknnWl- -
edgment Of the honor conferred upon
her by the gods in being bereaved for
the cause Of the emperor.
To the western mind such patriotism
appears to be fantastic and hard to
understand. In the light Of Japanese
history 1t does not seem so strange.
The spirit Of patriotism in the ia
panese women of the present genera
ton is the outgrowth Of ages Of feud-
alism. The loyalty and devotion which
the women Of past generations gave
to their feudal family head are in the
present generation given to the Mix
ado.
In time of war the empress Of Japan
sets an example for all the women OF
the country by her activities In behalf
Of all those who are suffering or In
distress. She may by seen frequently
visiting the great military hospitals,
accompanied by party of court ladies
and noblemens wives.
Following the example of the en-
press all the great ladies Of Toxic So
ciety do what they can to relieve the
distress and suffering that inevitably
follow war. There is no class Of women
that does not contribute something to
this cause; even those butterflies, the
geishas, and the unhappy creatures In
the Yoshiwaras give their share.
It Is not only the women Of the
samurai class who show passionate
patriotism in wartime. All classes OF
society are represented in the modern
Japanese army, and the peasant wo-
man has given proof that she Is quite
as devoted to the Mikado as the
samurai lady.
| A story Is told Of an old peasant
woman who sent her only son to fight
for the emperor in the Chinese war.
BY depriving herself Of everything but
the barest necessaries of life, and toll
ing early and late in the fields, she
had been able to give her son a supe-
rior education, and she lad the satis-
faction of seeing him fairly started on
a business career, which promised to
be successful when the call to arms
sounded.
| The little peasant mother bade her