The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-07-20
men OF AMERICA
WOMEN'S SLAVES
THIS FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF
JAPANESE LECTURER.
DIR. Iyenaga, Comparing the Women Of
the East and the West, Impales the
Foibles Of the Men as Well as the
Women Of the United States.

With sarcasm so keen-edged and 50
delicate that it was a delight, and a wit
SO kindly that it was sometimes decelv-
ing, DR.. Toyokishi Iyenaga, lecturing
on Japanese women at the state univer.
sity last evening, ruthlessly exposed
the frailities Of the American girl, be-
fore an audience largely made up Of
that American product: With begull-
ing humor he arraigned her sel6shness,
her fiirtatious disposition, her taste and
almost convicted her Of cruelty while
protesting an admiration for her dig
nifty, the freedom she uses wisely, and
her natural ease and grace. And the
American man he obviously giti!es for
of the situation
"People hold the view that the jap
anese woman is poor, spirltless cre ca
ture, y he began, ssbecause she is quiet,
embarrassed gait in public, because she
fans her husband while he eats, bows
at his going and coming. The Ameri-
can man carries his lady'se shawl, he
ties her shoes, he slaves from dawn till
midnight that she may have the new
bonnet, but do you call the men poor,
spiritless creatures9''1 :ss
After referring to the important
place occupied by women in Japanese
| life and art before Confucianism and
Buddhism were introduced into the
country, DR.. Iyenaga said the Japanese
women Of this generation were Crying
as hard to redeem their lost rights and
privileges as the American man to re-
cover those rights and privileges SO
graciously surrendered to the angels of
existence. i ,s=a
DR.. Iyenaga considered two extreme
! types of Japanese women, the woman
Of the high class an example of ethi'
cal perfection, possibly only in 80:
ciety founded on ancestral worship, and
the geisha girl, her antithesis, that
strange combination of rare sweetness
and sordid frailty. which possesses such
DR.: Iyengaga: --,..'..".
"She never forgets to be a lady, an6
she never allows herself to be take1
for one. She is celestial lady without
her intellectual and moral nature -.
! Her Self Culture. g. -
Since religion with so pernicious al
influence on sex, and so degrading tt
woman, has gained power in the coun
try, the Japanese woman has had tt
turn to the cultivation of her inne:
ity. Obedience, the watchword Of he
life, inculcates unfinching devotion t.
her parents, husband and children, TO
whom no sacrifice, even that sometime
involving herself and her honor, is to,
great. From childhood she is taught t.
stife those emotions which are no
pleasant for others to see, and cult
vate kindness, cheerfulness, sympa
thy. Her education consists in learnin
to read and write, to dance, to max
and serve tea gracefully, to defend he1
4 self with certain weapons, and arrang
flowers
HNorthing gives me 50 much pair
said the Japanese lecturer, Gas
an American woman. with her ANGEL
features, deck herself with a bouque
!: of flowers massed together with savage
ry and senseless taste.''
The Japanese woman knows not tn
art of filtration, in which her Amer
. can sister IS past master. And why
1 times comes the Japanese girl is SUI
= piled with her husband and since
) must be some one Of her parents s.
>, lection, it makes no difference VIII
Il while the American girl is rival wit
! her sisters. The climax of the Japanes
woman s life comes when she is
= mother and her greatest ambition is
Q be the wife Of a great man and tt
!. mother Of great children.
It Sympathy for Men.
" DIR. Iyenaga feels a deep sympatl
v for the American man and his apparel
J subjugation to women. IT don It wo
der,' said he, that there are so mar
bachelors. The American courtship
: such a risky. undertaking.. One lit
word Of mo- and the work of mont
!, and years is all lost.'
NJ The Japanese paragon of self-abneg
~ ton does not reach the ideal Of HON
,. maker because in spite of all her VI
tues, she is not interesting. This si
h of Japanese femininity has be-
It brought to perfection by the geisha gi
r. To her are the arts of entertainme1
20 the small talk, repartee and delight
lg frivoiity are all known and until t.
o. other Japanese women have learn
t. these arts the geisha girl is role mai
8. will play.
n In closing DR.. Iyenaga spoke Of t
:, new schools in which the Japane
1e girls are being educated and the 81
at markable and extraordinary produ
~ Of Japanese and European culture tn
IS results. The new woman of Jap
u will reach nearer the ideal of wife a.
s. mother, DR.. lyenaga predicts, for 8
Ut will have the cultivation Of mind 6
a now lacks and will not lose that bes
, tiful 1tnselfshness and domitable "
de she has developed thru long tcentur
Of self-denial and quiet self -efaceme