Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-02
much too long to DiI.luaE a. the side as

nuuen w .O.aS " a. sne Saoe 90
Most Of the young iisn had adopted
the European shoe-aiways Of the elastic
side sort-but these SEEMED to be worn
was held in much favor because Of its com
fort They retainedsn too.t the tingasa,-the
great wooden headpiece covered with
heavy lacquer of scarlet and gold TO
than astounding. The coats and trousers
never could be made to at. and when shoes
were worn they were torture. Some OF
the older men utterly refused to attempt
SO far as to have their regularly designed
costume made of the heaviest English
broadcloth OF course. this was utterly
unsuited as material TOT their kino VI
and refuses to shape Itself as do the beau
tiful silks and linens of the old times.
Most of US thought that the Jap
anese people were about to change tneiI
of the young men proudly called his Pa
risian fashion honorable. His Partisan
fashions honorable was chiefly distinguished
for its marvellous broadcloth coat, Iaceo
with white silk, upon which his mon or
crest was embroidered six times. Even the
imperial court felt the influence OF THIS
fever for change, but this seems now 10
have been only temporary AFFAIR.
For the most part the military have re-
turned to a more reasonable method OF
wearing fairly convenient kind of Euro
pean uniform, but only at drills and OF
fetal functions. At home. and out OF OF
fetal hours they return to the native cos
tune and the ultimate change seems as
far away as ever.
A Tabooed Subject Among Samurai.
Zone curious thing that came to my no
tice in the college days was that while the
Japanese students readily understood the
most difficult problems in mathematics.
gunnery, shipbuilding and other technical
things. they could not understand a west
ern love story as it appears in our lftera-
tIre Stories Of war and fighting on land
and sea, and tales of heroism and daring OF
every description were readily comprehend
ed, but they considered it exceeding bad
taste to discuss any matter in which
woman had part.
ITO speak. even in the most guarded
fashion, of anything closely related to
domestic affairs is, to the Japanese, the
height of bad breeding. To mention kiss
or a caress would have been barbarism to
their classes, and though the teachers of
English literature in the college tried to
make the boys understand the western
point of view, it was found to be practical
ly impossible. They simply would not dis
cuss the affair at all.
"One of the teachers told me that he
tried to make his class comprehend the
meaning of the line, She is more beautiful
than day The Japs knew what a beauti-
full day was, and they understood what a
beautiful woman meant, but tat .Iiere could
be any possible analogy between the beauty
of a day and the beauty of a woman was
something beyond them.
But it must not be understood that
women play but little part in the warfare
of Japan. Men go forth to battle there
just as they do the world over. to fight for
woman as represented in the home. 1t is
one of the guiding spirits for fghting-but
1t is not mentioned. 1t seems to me that
this shows in some degree the mental attf-
IL Lgol H.. h. T,vxo ,cl. apD
ers. This is the habit of repression car
ried to the last degree. We have homely
proverb which says something like Say
nothing and saw wood The japanese
equivalent might be summed up In the
words of their proverb, Silence and pa
tience .
The Mikado's Sacrifice for the Navy.
LAS have said the teaching of practical
seamanship and the other things necessary
in the training of the students at the war
college was easy enough. 1t must be re-
membered that the whole wonderful i'm
perial navy has been built up in thirty
years. They must be quick at learning to
have accomplished so much.
zone thing that helped to do this is not
generally known. The mikado has used
great part of his private fortune in the pur-
the imperial government. with the exception
of letter carriers and policemen, are re-
quired to contribute one-tenth OF their
salaries to the naval defense fund Rich
land owners and merchants throughout the
empire voluntarily contribute large sums
each year for the same purpose.
"In order to preserve the empire 1t was
necessary for Japan to become strong
quickly To do this 1t was necessary for
her to build up great navy quickly. This
she has done, and we who have had some
little part in the training of her officers
and men can realize more fully what this
means"