The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-01-17


Tonanese merchant who does a large
BUSINESS in New York and other Amer
Law cities, but, at the same time,
,,ant them to become little Americans,
.oo want them to have all the ad-
,.,rtares of an American training. I
rant them to get all the benefits of the
land TO which belong and the land in
which they live"
This is the common feeling of all the
rapanese who live in this country with
regard to the bringing up of their chill
dren. The Chinese in America, thor
onrhly imbued with the logged con-
servatism of their race. bring their
children UP as they would be brought
nm in China, and seclude them as far
as possible from their American en-
vironment.
Not so the Japanese. They do not
retain their native costumes and GUS
+ons. as their Chinese cousins do. They
adapt themselves to their surroundings
and show the greatest anxiety to make
little Americans out of their children.
Many of the Japanese families in
American cities are wealthy. their
heads being prominent merchants, pro-
fessOnal men. diplomats. or consuls.
They live i'll handsome suburban homes
or sumptuous city apartments, with
surroundings, service, food and dress
as typicaIly American as though the
land of kimonas, chrysanthemums, and
cherry blossoms were not.
Take the case of the Japanese Con-
sui General in New York, Mr.. Uchida,
who lives on that fashionable thor
oughfare, Central Park, West. His
little girl and boy are being brought
IN in a thoroughly American way
The girl, little Moto, a charming
peach blossom maiden. is now on her
first visit to her grandfather's house in
Japan. She is to remain there for two
years in order to learn all about her
own country. and then she will return
to American to be finished" like any
other future debutante.
The boy. 5-year-old Isao-whose
name sounds. in his own soft speech.
exactly like that of Jacobs hairy
brother in the Scriptures-is one of
the brightest of the pupils at fash
ionable New York kindergarten. His
small neighbor, Dishikio Nagasaki, the
son of a rich banker on Wall street,
drinks with him from the same foun-
tain of knowledge. In manners, games,
and general outlook on life, these two
little Japs appear to be exactly like
any healthy. lively American boy.
Their Japanese nurses, who wear the
picturesque dress of their native land,
and teach them the fairy tales and
games of ancient Nippon, are the only
distinctively Oriental features in the
home life of these children. In other
respects, it is like that of any we'll
bred, well-dresesd, well-loved Ameri-
can child. And so it is with scores of
other Japanese youngsters in this
broad land.
Il should estimate" said the editor
of a Japanese newspaper published in
New York, that there are at least 500
Japanese in New York-perhaps more.
most of them are men in good posi-
tions-merchants and the like-ard
many of them are bringing up their
families here.
Whenever they can afford to do so,
they send their children to Japan for
several years to be partly educated
there, and to learn all about their own
country But they take care that they
shall be educated also in this country
and have thorough American train
ing.
They want them to be both Japan
ese and American. Sometimes the jap
anese training comes first. sometimes
the American. Many children born here
do not see their native land until they
are grown up and have come out in
American society. But though they
may never have seen Japan, you may
be quite sure that they have been
carefully taught to love their country
and reverence their Mikado.
They are just as patriotic as if they
had lived all their lives in Toxic OF
Kobe instead of in Washington or in
New York. 1 know of one japanese
youngster now going to school here
who used to get into daily fights with
his playmates because he insisted that
Admiral Ito was a greater man than
Admiral Dewey, and the battle of the
Yalu more glorious victory than the
fight in Manila bay"
In San Francisco there are consider
ably over 5000 Japanese, most of
whom are of the coolie class or occupy
mental positions. The proportion of
wealthy Japanese in that city is not
nearly so large as it is in New York.
Many of the Japs in the Pacific me-
tropolis marry white women and give
up all idea of returning to their ma
tive land. They take out their nat
uralizaton papers, become thoroughly
Americanized, and bring up their chill
dren exactly as Americans would do.
These denationalized Japs no not, as
d rue, mix with tnelr own COuHlIy
men, and they do not like their chill
dren to learn anything about Japan,
not even the fairy tales or the games.
At least three thousand Japanese
work in American families IN san
Francisco as domestic servants, ana
large proportion of them are mere chill
dren. Boys come over from Japan at
the age of 10. IL, or IA to get an Amerl-
can education. They are alone, WITH
out friends, almost penniless, and they
would seem to run a good chance OF
starving in a strange land. But tney
always manage TO get along all right
ana 10 secure the education Tor WHICH
lney crossed the seas.
They take situations as servants
without wages. They merely stipu-
Idte for their food and clothes ana
ieaVe Of absence during the day 10 at
tend school. In the morning and the
evening they work hard and faithlully
70 make UP for lost time. Faithtulness
~ The quality in which they outshlne
az other servants available on the IA
ylnc coast They always advertise
uIal "A faithful Japanese boy needs
situation. and it is no idle boast
You might think" said an Amerl-
van woman who has kept house in san
francisco for many years, that II
"ould be an awkward arrangement IN
1hy household to have the servant alb
SENT during the morning and the
sleater part Of the afternoons; but 1t IS
Iol | have employed many of these
SnPahese boys, some of them only
etVen or twelve years old, and have
ngr mad any trouble with them. l