New-York tribune., 1906-07-29

emician." says Mr.. Kfnnosuke, 'wtao, having
seen treaty port or two in Nippon. and those
Outlandsh first few balls a rEuropeenne held In
Tohio-burlesques, which murdered the classic
grace Of our women and their costumes-can.
without burdening himself with tedious study,
sit down and, with such comfort and ease, tell
US that he knows IT allP'
What particularly annoys Mr.. Kinnosuke Is
Lofts charaoterizing Japanese women as
dolls" and in his article on the subject fn q
recent number OF ''The Forum Mr. Kinnosuke
eoduceS a great number OF historical examples
70 show that they are anything but that. Then
he pays his respects 70 Basil Hall Chamberlain,
who, he says. although a grave and reverend
and an old inhabitant Of Nippon, is just as far
astray in the matter of Japanese women as Lott
IS. Lott labelled them dolls; Professor Chamber
lain declared that their husbands treated them
like babies: and Mr.. Kinnosuke does not know
which statement is further from the truth.
The men OF Nippon have the greatest re-
spect for the intellect OF the women he says;
and he is even trifle apOlOgetic for what he
considers the inferiOrity Of the men, ''It has not
been altogether the fault OF the men Of Nippon
he says, that they have spent so much of their
time and effort upon the art Of war and in the
prontless pursuit of gold. and. therefore have
not had half as much time as our women to de-
vote TO the cultivation OF the powers Of the
MIND. The brains OF Nippon have al
ways been with her women rather than with the
men. And what is more huIniliating STILL is the
fact that Nippon women very often Outdo their
brothers in their own territory. The one in Nip
pom whose generalship conducted the first sue
Cessrul foreign campaign was the Empress JingO.
Under her victorious banner the warriors of
Nippon marched through Corea on their first
foreign campaign In all the desperate sieges
OF the feudal days the women Of the clans, spears
in hand, were always conspicuous for their brav-
cry and fighting qualities. To-day we are very
proud TO say Of TOkugawa Ieyasu, the founder
OF the Tokugawa ShOgunate, that he the
greatest constructive statesman that Nippon
has ever known. Nevertheless every historian
admits that in the building OF the house Of
TOkugawa it is impossible to say how much of
its stability ana Of the profound wisdom Of it's
policy due to the famous lady called
kasuganotsubOne. And what names,
pray can America give us, out of all her ac-
complished and enlightened women, that can be
placed even within measurable distance of the
heights where stands the name Of Koshikibu as
lyric poet? To find one in any way comparable
with her we must so TO the one songstress Of
Greece-SaphO:
Mans plaything!'" he says scornfully in
another place. anent certain Christian mis-
siOnary's Characterization Of the Japanese
woman. "a student Of the shadiest side Of New
York society might find pertinent mean
ing in this expression Of the reverend critic"
And again: "In Nippon many persons could
write many page on the unknown husbands of
well known women: but it would tax the genius
OF an apolOgist and something of a sOphist to say
much about the unknown wives of we'll known
men, which seems to be fairly entertaining
topic in the happy West, where" Mr. Kinnosuke
ironically remarks, " the wife at once takes her
place as queen of the home!"