The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1905-01-13
JAPAN'S WOMEN In WAR
THEIR DEEDS LIKE THOSE OF
THE NATIONS OF SPARTA.


The Loss of Son or Husband in the
Service of the Mikado Accounted an
Honor-once Even the Women
Fought-Now They Are Eager to
Serve as Nurses.
No nation has a better right to be
proud of what it's women have done in
wartime than Japan Even the moth
ers and wives of ancient Sparta have
been rivalled in deeds of patriotism
and self-sacrifice by the women OF
Japan.
In the feudal times, which came to
an end in Japan only 80 years ago, all
gentlewomen were trained in the use
Of the sword and lance. The women
of the samurai class received regu-
lar military education and if the cas-
tie of a daimio was besieged, they
were capable of assisting in the de-
fence if necessary.
A noted instance of the martial
prowess of the Japanese women &C.
CURED during the siege of the castle
of Wakamatsu in 1869, where the Sho-
Gun made his final stand against the
forces of the Mikado. Nearly one
thousand women and girls belonging
to the families of samurai attached
to the Shotgun fought behind the bar
ricades and on the castle walls. Many
of them were killed in battle, while
not few committed suicide rather
than undergo the humiliation Of de-
feat
Yet the Amazonian qualities of the
women of old Japan did not detract
from their womanliness. They were
tender mothers and loving wives. The
nursing of the wounded and sick was
part of the education of every samu-
raj woman.
With the passing away Of the age
of chivalry in Japan, upon the down
fall 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.
1t 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 vol
unteering to go to the front as nurses
today is greater than in 1895. But the
women who stay at home are not lack
ing in patriotic devotion.
There is an anecdote concerning the
mother of the heroic Commander SAX
amoto, who was killed on the bridge
of his ship, the Akagi, at the battle
of Yalu, which shows how the spirit
of patriotism flames in the hearts of
Japanese women.
An official of the navy department
called on the family of the naval off
Ger to convey, as delicately as posi-
BILE, the news of his death. Having
communicated his tidings to a mem
Der of the family, he was about to
depart when the shoji slid open soft
ly 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
visiting 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 to
weep over their dead, because it was
considered disloyal to the Mikado to
weep for those who had had the honor
to die fighting for him. When a wife
or a mother heard that husband or
a son had been killed in battle, the
first expression uttered, was an &C
Acknowledgement of the honor conferred
upon her by the gods in being be-
reaved for the cause of the Emperor.
To the western mind such patriot
ism appears to be fantastic and hard
to understand. In the light of Japan
ese history it does not seem so
strange.
The spirit of patriotism in the Jap
anese women of the present genera
ton Is the outgrowth of ages of feu-
dalism. The loyalty and devotion
which the women of past generations
gave to their feudal family head are
in the present generation given to the
In time of war the Empress of Japan
sets an example for all the women of
the country by her activities in be-
half of all those who are suffering or
In distress. She may be seen frequent
ly visiting the great military hospitals,
by party Of court ladies |
and noblemen's wives.
Following the example of the EN-
press all the great ladies of Toxic So
ciety do what they can to relieve the |
distress and suffering that inevitably
follow war There is no class of wo-
men that does not contribute some
thing to this cause; even those but