The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-11
''HALKARA" GIRL
JAPANESE FOLLOWING IN FOOT.
 STEPS or AMERICANS,
It is Possible Now to Witness Scenes
 Which Only . Decade Ago Would Have Been Inconceivnhle

Have Been IAeaneeivahIe
 in Japan. "
 Toxic, Tuesday. April 15.---The Japa- nese people are, In a measure, learn ing the English language and such of tn em as have acquired A few words are anxious, by their use. to give evidence of their westernism.
 When the men do it. the result Is off, ten more or less ridiculous. but quite the contrary when the speakers are two or more typical Tokio girl grad uates." wearing the characteristic "ebi cha halkama" or crimson skirt which is now largely in evidence in most Japanese cities as a sort of convenient compromise between the Occidental pettIcoat and the national kimono.
 The "hai-kara" girl. as she is called In Japanese--the words are a corruP- ton of high collar" and are made to apply to Japanese men and women alike who are prone te ape western customs--have evolved into something analogous to the Summer glrr' of the United States and not infrequently her daring violation of old time conventions furnishes the comic papers with a theme for sarcastic comment or indig- nanE denuneiation. Japanese etiquette has hitherto frowned sternly upon that informal mingling of the sexes which is a matter of course in the West, the
 
 training. as well as the tendency of the times already noted. has dealt these old ideas a shrewd blow. Girls des- tined for an up- date education flock into the capital from the provinces and unless they have friends here or can live on the school premises, must pat ronize the boarding houses, where no control of their conduct can be exer- cIsed.
 Allowing for inevitable exaggeration and the love of scandalous gossip. which is as common to the East as to the West, 1t would be idle to deny tn at abuses exist and that the sudden re- action from undue restriction to the opposite pole of personal freedom has in not a few instances done more harm than good. Be this as 1t may, 1t Is possible now to witness scenes, which only a decade ago would have been all most inconeeivable in Japan. A sort of crude Rallantry is being exploited hv a special group of students, both male and female. Often enough this phenomenon Is genuinely platenfc and does not exceed the limits of a silly adoption of Western sentimenta1ity. But on the other hand, the history of some of these affairs of the heart are far from innocent and end in tragedy.
 Rexuiarly In the vernacular papers. one may read of suicides from disap- pointed love by ootH young men ana women, and in many cases the lovers, finding 1t impossible for some reason or other to marry. end their lives sim ultansously by binding their bodies to- Kether and jumping Into river, plac- ing themselves on a railway track ia the path of an approaching engine, or taking a dose of poison. Occasionally the man stays his mistress with g sword and then puts an end to himself in the same manner. This form of sui- eide is universally known as "shinju" and 1t Is popularly regarded as an everlasting disgrace for either party 10 the compact to survive the other
 In connection with this "hai-kara" tendency there has come to be ob- served in Japan a certain Western def erence toward Japanese women which ten years ago was unheard of For instance. a Japanese win nowadays give up his seat to woman in crowded street car particularly If for eiEners are present 10 witness his ex- hIbItion of courtesy, and If the man and hls wife both attire themselves in Western clothes and so forth to some function, he will treat her as long as thev both wear the clothes, as he un- derstands Western women are treated by their escorts. This demeanor. now ever, in all Likelihood Will De dropped as soon as the couple are back home and h ave shifted to thelr more com fortable national dress