Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-07
The Empire of Japan
V-Use of Printers Ink
By Frederic j. Haskin

to writers by the hospitality of Japan
Treating with the press is not the
whole of the effort of the publicity
corps composed of samurai who have
discarded the obsolete twin swords of
their order for the guidance of the
pen, and of noblemen with resplendent
jeweled decorations upon their martial
breasts. Persons from abroad whose
utterances have weight, and who
might discuss Japanese affairs at
hcme, or perhaps be interviewed" by
the press, are taken in hand.
They are feasted, feted, wined and
dined, introduced to princes, made to
associate with peers, led about among
the iris gardens, encouraged to come
to Japan during the season of cherry
blossoms or of wistaria, asked to geisha
dinners. Generally speaking, these dis
tinguished sojourners in the land of
the rising sun go home carrying in the
backs of their heads the firm convic-
ton that the sun not only rises in the
island empire but also sets there.
Some of them, like the journalists,
write books. Others merely go home
and fire their fellow countrymen with
a keen desire to visit the land of "lit-
tie brown heroes" and their sisters and
their cousins and their aunts. Women,
full of imagination and adjectives
have long constituted an important
part Of the overseas contingent in
Japan.
Sometimes the effort to encourage
the production of favorable books has
sunk to the level of the sordid, but this
has only been where the itching palm
was held out. An American whose
reputation was better than his char
acter came to this side of the Pacific
under an arrangement with a promi-
nent Japanese to write a book upon q
political question for stipulated lump
I,s- f,,,, ,f1At
expenses. He went home and palmed
off that miserable product upon an in
nocent New York publisher. But he
and the methods of handling" him
constitute an exception to the rule
Usually the Japanese does not assume
that a given pen is purchasable, and
usually he is right.
In the matter of handling the stu
alton at home the substituting of news
papers is chiefly relied upon to create
favorable publicity. Subsidizing COM
merclal enterprises is a part of the
policy of the modernized Japanese gov
ernment. The receipt of subsidy Is
perhaps regarded by a certain section
of the Japanese press-partly published
by foreigners and in English and part
ly by Japanese and in Japanese-as
quasl-legitimate.
A resident correspondent finds it easy
to secure subsidy either in the form
of money payment for services rem
| dered, or in the form of a sinecure
created to meet the need. 1t would of
course be unjust to say that even
| seemingly respectable newspaper men
are often amenable to this treatment.
The opportunity exists for those who
are, but in the matter of resident cor
respondents as we'll as visitors, the
Japanese government usually assumes
that an offer of subsidy or bribe will
| be declined save by journalistic
| "beachcomber' who is here in search
| of a means of getting a living by hook
or by crook, and there are not many
of this stripe. The effort to prevent
the respectable correspondent from
| publishing anything inimical to the in
terests Of Japan as an aspiring world
| power or a growing industrial and
| manufacturing country, takes the form
of an attempt to win him by hospital
ity, and this is of course, legitimate.
| Over the tea cups in Toxic there is
| told the story of how the correspon-
dent of news distributing organiza-
| ton was accorded distinguished con-
sideration by his host, the imperial
| government, through representatives
| who undertook the work of bringing
him around to the viewpoint of the
Japanese patriot. When an earthquake
| shock was felt throughout Japan he
omitted it from his daily grist Of news
| for fear 1t might discourage the tour
| lists who were expected to visit the
country during the then approaching
season. Possibly this is a tale adorned
to point a moral, but in Toxic it is
seriously insisted that the earthquake
shock did occur and that it was sup
pressed in a number of foreign news
| papers as a result of the solicitude OF
a correspondent for the welfare of
his adopted land.
| The japanese publicity scheme does
not confine itself to Japan, but extends
| to other countries through channels
other than the newspaper columns filed
from this country. In one way or an
| other Japan is represented, in each OF
| the western capitals, by news source
which is working in concert with SINH
| lar sources at home. Efforts have also
extended to the field of Chinese jour
nalism, which is a growing one and
| which will be an important factor in
| the middle kingdom in the future, but
here less success is being scored than in
the west. The Chinese are suspicious of
| everything Japanese or pro-Japanese,
| and 1t is difficult nowadays to plant
and water any Japanese propaganda
within the boundaries of China.
Great Britain has for a long time had
| its so-called government organ, and in
national politics in the United States
there is a more or less tickle and inde-
| pendent administration press" some
! what too mobile to suit the purposes or
| a political party. But in the matter or
promoting publicity to forward her in
! terests in international affairs, Japan
takes the lead over all of the countries
of the world.
Tomorrow-The Empire of Japan. VI'
Relations with the United States.