The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-03-06
THE JAPANESE WOMEN IN WAR

40 nation has a better right to be
IN proud of what its women have
done i'm wartime than Japan. Even
the mothers and wives of ancient
Sparta have been rtvalled in deeds Of
patriotism and self sacrifice by The
women of Japan.
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 women OF the
samuTai class received a regular mill
tary education and il the castle of a
daimio was besieged, they We're capable
of assisting in the defense If Necessary.
\ noted instance of the martial PROV
ess of the Japanese women, occurred
during the siege of the castle of Waka-
matsu in 1859. where the Shotgun made
his final stand against the forces of the
mikado. Nearly LOCO women and girls
belonging TO the families OF Samurai
attached TO the Shotgun fought behind
the baTTicades and on the castle walls.
Many of them were killed in battle,
while not few committed suicide rath-
er than undergo the humiliation Of de-
feat.
Yet the Ammonium qualities of the
women Of old japan did not detTact
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 a matter Of record that some
10000 japanese women volunteered to
go TO the front as nurses in the field
hospitals at the outbreak Of the Chi
nese war. and advices from Japan state
that the number of women volunteer
ing TO go TO the front as nurses today
is greater than in 1895. But the women
who stay at home are not lacking III
patriotic devotion.
There is an arecdote concerning the
mother Of the heroic Commander Saka-
motto. who was killed on the bridge OF
his ship. the Akagi. at the battle of
Yaiu. 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 Off
Ger to convey, as delicately as possible,
the news of his death. Having COM
munlcated his tlulnES TO a rnemDer 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. Trembling
with emotion, she bowed low TO the Wis
iting officer and said:
Tell the emperor / rejoice that a son
of mine has been able TO be Of some
service to him."
Some Japanese women refused &c
weep over their dead, because it was
considered disloyal to the milIado Ia
weep for those who had had the honor
TO die fighting for him. When a wife
or a mother heard that husband or a
sor had been killed in battle, the first
expression uttered was an acknOwledg-
ment 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 10 be fantastic and hard tC
understand. In the light Of japanese
history il does not seem so strange.
The spirit of patriotism in the japan
csc women of the present generation is
the outgrOwth of ages OF feudalism. The
loyalty and devotion which the women
Of past generations gave TO their feudal
family head are in the present genera
ton given 10 the mikado.
In time Of war the empress of Japan
sets an example for all the women OF