Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-02
Hot Sulphur Springs for Those
Who Have Strayed From
the Straight and
Narrow Path.
BY VIM. T. ELLIS.


KARUIZAWA, Japan.-Exactly how a
missionary goes about introducing his
teachings to heather" community which
knows absolutely nothing about Christian
ity is an interesting point seldom made
plain; now l have seen it done, and the
procedure is worth describing This trip to
a large interior town, where missionaries
and Christianity are unknown, with the IN
cidents which befell by the way, was the
most interesting experience thus far en-
countered in Japan.
In several features this particular preach
ing expedition was abnormal. 1t was mace
in connection with an excursion to the Ia
mons hot springs of Kusatsu by party OF
missionaries who are spending their vaca-
ton in Karuizawa, the largest summer re-
sort for foreigners in Japan. There were
eight young American missionaries Two
Japanese teachers or evangelists, and my
self in the party which started early one
morning for the twenty-tive-mi.e walk
over the mountains to kusatsu. II was
worth while to get this intimate view or
missionaries, for three days OF nara traVei
under these conditions was enough 10 re-
veal the inwardness of a mans nature.
And l must say that l did not find these
men especially different from any other
crowd of educated young men. Ihey told
stories by the hundred made pad puhS'
played horse with one another, and al
together behaved like school boys out on
a lark There not enough preacherly
dignity in the crowd, after the hrst hour'
to make a casSock vest. Their good ma
ture and animal spirits struck me as re-
snarka BILE; at the end of the hrst twenty
miles l saw one missionary chase another
I'D a mountain side al a dead run, for some
practical joke that had been played. Per-
haps the picture that | am drawing may
not please some pious folk over the seas
who think that the missionary shouid pc
49, tao,
people to whom he has gone but for my
part / thought it eminently sane and
creditable, and really an argument for the
fitness of the missionary.
The men, all clergymen, were typical, l
think, and all except two were under thirty.
The American board was represented by
Hilton Pedley and E. S: Cobb, the Northern
Methodist by A. d. Berry, E. 7. 1glehart
and C. S. Dawson and the Northern Pres
byterians by Arthur P. Vaughn, A. x.
Reischauer and J. E. Hail, the last an ex-
Cumberland Presbyterian. Two are the
sons of missionaries, having lived in Japan
pra ctically all their lives, except when being
educated in America.
The long tramp to kusatsu was amid
beautiful mountain scenery, past the famous
active volcano Asama, over the high park
lands where are the imperial horse farms,
at one point across a long suspension brldge
made or telegraph wire, anu luIOuSu SLudAA
native villages where silk culture is carried
on until under the shadow of Shirane, an
other active volcano, the sulphurous village
of Kusatsu was reached at q o clock in the
passed, some in jinrikshas, some in a chair
like arrangement slung on a pole over the
shoulders of two coolies and some on pack
saddles, often two persons to horse, one IN
a pannier-like seat on either SIDE.
Escaping from the five runners from the
one so-called European hotel, who besieged
US at various points along the latter halI
of the Journey and despite the assurances
from apparently disnterested persons that
all the native inns were full, the party, by
an exercise of it's japanese speech ana
western persistence, found an emlnently
satisfactory Japanese hotel, Where all the
missionaries were at once at home, being
quite accustomed to eating and sleeping
on the floor. At once the native teachers
set out to arrange for a religious service by
the foreigners.
Soon the kindly paternalism of the Jap
anese police was encountered. Immedl-
ately upon reaching their inn the foreign
ers had been obliged to register their names
and ages and occupations, where they
came from, whittier they were going and
how long they intended to stay. This Is
part of the marvelously complete system
whereby the police department keeps
record of every foreigner within the Dor
ders of the empire. Soon the japanese
teacher returned to say that the police,
while quite willing that the visitors should
hold a preaching service In the public
square, advised that 1t be very short and
simple lest there be trouble with the rough
element in town. Later there came sec
ond message couched in politest terms.
suggesting that the meeting be held in the
hotel, where the honorable gentlemen
lodged, at the upper end Of the village.
So it was arranged Shortly after y
O'Clock. lighted by the conventional paper
lanterns which the inn supplied we pro-
ceeded to the public square. alongside Of a
steaming pool whose sulphurous fumes sug
gested the opposite of things heavenly In
fact, Kusatsu Itself is good place for
preaching. Its very existence is based
largely upon the consequences of immoral
ity. The permanent population is about
1,5OO persons, all living off the visitors,
who number between three and four thou
sand, more than score of whom are Eu-
ropeans. These hot sulphur baths, for CEN
turtles the most famous in Japan, while
efficacious in rheumatism and govt, are
skin diseases. BY far the largest number
! of visitors go to Kusatsu as a penalty for
their own or their parents transgressions
Of the moral law.
X
AS I watched the people on the street and
in the baths the next morning / thought
that the most appropriate scripture for
that communicated appropriate, perhaps,
for politeness-would be- BE sure your sin
will find you out" Even yet cannot de-
termine which was the sadder sight, the
squads Of decrepit old men in the baths, or
! the larger companies Of youths. The very
fact Of the purpose for which these hot
springs are used. and the further fact that
the existence of the unnameable disease,
both here and throughout Japan. Is not even
| regarded as a reason dor shame. would
seem to argue the need for some new moral
teachings. Certainly Buddhism offers no
! remedy; I learned at Kusatsu that next
month Is the time for the visit of the
Buddhist priests who suffer from the malady
most commonly treated at the springs! Evil
IDENTIFY Buddhism as practiced in Japan is
different from Buddhism as preached in
Boston.
At the lower end of the town Is the gen.
eral bath where the lepers battle. Here one
may see sights sufficient for a lifetime al
though the baths keep the flesh Of the vic
Tins in better condition than is common
with lepers. The lepers. several hundred of
them, of all ages, and manned in every con-
ceivabie manner are not at all Guaranteed,
but wander freely about and engage in the