Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-03-03
RELIGION IN JAPAN.

II Hatsuji Mayesawa, the only Japa- nese undergraduate student in the Sheffield Scientific school, .who is very
 popular, and was recently given d1n- l ner by the members of the junior and senior classes, attended meeting of l the English Lutherans ill New Haven Sunday evening. By request he made 1 a few remarks concerning religious 1 matters in Japan, in which he said: l Il stand before you tonight, not to make any show of knowledge, but ] rather of ignorance. However. my ] honored teacher, Dr Granville, wish
 ed me to make few remarks relating
 to my native country, Japan. So 1
 am going to say a few words about
 the relation between religion and the students i'll Japanese colleges.
 "When I came to New Haven,
 was not surprised to see students run ming about in sweaters and canvas
 shoes, I was not surprised to see the great stone buildings, like castles, but was surprised to find that one of the 1 largest of them was devoted to relig- l ious purposes, namely Battell chapel.
 This building seems to me to rep
 resent the union of all those longings after what is grand and good in life.
 l think that anyone who has fixed ! religious belief is happier than one who has not. So I think that students at Yale, future American citizens as they are, should be very happy ill this way.
 ] 'On the other hand, when I recall my student life in college in Japan, find this happiness lacking. l do not wish you to understand, however, that student life in Japan is not jolly, but this one kind of happiness is miss ing. This fact is not their fault, but 1 is owing to present conditions ill Ja- pan.
 Ut is not so long ago that Gommo- 1 dore Perry came to Japan, and open ed her gates to the affairs of tue world. It is only since then that she has been making rapid progress in the higher civilization. so that improve ments in every department are not yet complete. Moreover, religious strife l is not so easily decided as information al war. In Japan everyone breathes the air of freedom. For example, no social harm would result to one, whethee he should say, i am q Budd- hist or I am a Christian. So we may say that people in Japan are more broadminded in this point than they were formerly. Of course there are many religious colleges open ln the fiowery kingdom, but ill the ordi- nary college there is no chapel. no meeting either Buddhist or Christian So the student is not supposed to at tend either Christian church or Budd- histic temple, although many of them do go.
 "There are many students. who, 1slx,, eS,elf cir and every year they bring back new Land true ideas of religious theory. Just as our Buddhism was an i'm proyement on that of Thibet and China, so, can imagine that our
 scholars will develop a religion some what different from their models. "You may think it strange when l say that I am trying every day to quench my religious thirst. But l have two great llandicaps, my scant knowledge of English, and my lack of religious understanding. And by the way. it is mystery to me why 1t Is not necessary for scientific, students like myself. who have the dryest work in the university, to have the yplift- ing of daily chapel With regard to l the Japanese students it is safe to say that there is great indecision about matters of religion
 At least this was the case three years ago, when I left Japan. l hope,
 once more, you understand that the Japanese student is not ignorant of religion. Indeed, he knows too many kinds, so that it is hard for. him to
 choose one of them, just as 1t is not easy for a beautiful giri to select the king among her suitors
 .sThese students have fine mental ability, as is shown by the high rank of Japanese society, but they have no
 model to represent their religious ideas. Therefore the one who can ere
 ate for them q model, will go down i'll
 history as one of the greatest benefac-
 tors of Nippon. as Japan is really caIl-