The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-04-17

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THE UNEASY CHAIR
AN AMALGAMATloN OF occiDEN-
TAI AND ORIENTAL CIVILIZATIONS
COMlNG.-Japan's awakening and the
important place among the nations OF the
world which is promised her by victory
IN the present war mean more to the
world, perhaps, than is generally under
stood. 1t may sound strong, but there Is
the best Of ground for believing that the
rise Of Japan to power means that
new and profound influence Is to he felt
In the civilization Of the world at large.
One Is strongly impelled to this con-
clusfon, at least, by reading The White
Peril In the Far East, IAN Interpretation
OF the significance Of the Russo-J Japanese
war" by Sidney Lewis Gulick, long q
resident Of Japan and evidently a close
student of Japanese life.
The most striking chapter is that on
"The Mission of Japan" which mission
Baron Kaneko is quoted as having stated
in this wise: 1.-THE Japanese mind Is
earnestly engaged in molding into one
the two forms Of culture, the oriental and
occidental. its ambition being to harmon,
ize them 4
Mr. Gulick says: Japan is fitted by
psychic nature to interpret each to the
other (the occident and the orient), and
to unite the best elements of both" K.
.Uchimura speaks as follows Of the same
matter, according to quotation in Mr..
Gulick's book: There have been con-
slant attempts for the, union Of these
magnetic currents. Grander tasks await
the young Japan who has the best Of
Europe and the best Of Asia at her COM
mand. At her touch the circuit is COM
pleted, and the healthy fluid shall over
flow the earth" .
What will be the effect, then, Of the
influence of Japan upon western civiliza-
ton? If it will be good, then the real
peril to the far east and to the world is
the white-Russia.
And there can be little doubt that the
west has much to learn from the east.
See what she has done in reducing the
ravages of disease in war. She has taught
the world some lessons, in the same con-
nection, in patience, heroism and bravery,
and possibly in religion. ~
In the last. Japan has at least taught
the world that she believes what she
processes as to the great problem Of i'm
mortality, and her people regulate their
daily lives upon that belief. Upon no
other basis can be found an adequate ex-
PLANTATION Of their bravery in battle. It
has been called fanatical, but it is not
that. There has been no blood-lust, no
excessive religious zeal. Their conduct
has shown an absence Of both. Their
bravery, on the contrary, is Of the high
est type, which, recognizing to the full
impending dangers, yet meets them un
flinchingly,, and more than half way.
The Japanese may have twisted their
belief in immortality into some curious
forms, but, If, with their other influences
upon western civilization. they should
emphasize the belief Of Christian peoples
| in the Importance Of living their faith in
Immortality, the effect on the west would
be profound and farther reaching than
can be foreseen. ... -.
| If Japan has mission for the west, il
| is an important one and one will scarce
| ~ be able to doubt that she has a mission
after reading 1.-THE White Peril in tine
Far East"
Fleming II. Reyell Co., New York, 81.
| HARlkARI AND IMMORTALITY; =
STARTLING BIT OF JAPANESE PHI
ILOSoPHY.-H there is anything that t.
| the western mind brands the Japanese
as 'sheathen,'' 1T is the horrible practice
Of "harikari,' or harakiri, as the Jap.
anese spell it-suieide by dfsembew elmen'
/ to save themselves from dishonor Of any
sort. {; Yet in The independent for Apri
| I3 is found an article by Adachi Kinnosu
Ike, evidently Of Japan, setting forth hari
kari as evidence Of the deep-rooted be-
lief Of the Japanese in human lmmor
tally
/ Mr. Kinnosuke says that with the Jap
anese to die is quite as trivial an affai
as to sleep. Death, therefore, being
:Enothing, and failure to accomplish an i'm
4 portant purpose, especially if 1t be o
a patriotic nature, being a dishonor, tn
Japanese when confronted with failur
commits harikari. He feels bound to d.
this if he sees the possibility of further
ing by his death the cause he himsel
failed IN. The writer gives the following
as an example:
An officer, his sword broken, fatally wounded
s. committed harikari in front Of Liao-yang. TIL
men under him dashed ahead like band o
demons, with one thought OF avenging the dealt
1 and of carrying to completion the work b
had left undone.
4 He knew that as long as His breath was With
his body his men would cling around him Il
their desperate efforts to save him from hostil
bullets and hostile swords > He kney
also that by SO dying he would not only inspir
his men with fire as from above, but his ex
ample in showing himself samurai of the oil
standard would inspire the morale Of the entir
army to the extent that his example woul
4 count more than the reinforcement of a thou
sand men.
Harikari, from his standpoint there
fore, was the natural and logical thing
Death was nothing to him; the accom-
plishment of his work was everything
him."
The whole conduct in the Japanese !
the present war has shown that they hol
life exceedingly cheap. The testimony (
all Of their writer's is that this Is becaus
, they believe that bodily death docs nt
! destroy life, but merely. changes Its form
that death is a very trivial incident
: life. This is the way Mr.. Kinnosuli
puts 1t:
You Of the west say that you believe in th
) Immortality Of the soul, and 80 do we; onl
we so little farther than merely saying !
Because we look upon life and death from Il
standpoint Of the larger tome Of which the eartl
ly life is nothing but page, and very sma
lone, too, are we to be considered misguided IN
benighted, mere heather to be pttied:
Il THOUGHT He HAD The GuALlFl
IcATloNS OF a "HERo."-1n this day
many books, almost any one is likely
be touched with the mania for writin
! as the thousands upon thousands
7 worthless manuscripts which crowd ever
q publishers office eloquently testify. Al
S thors Of any repute are continually befr