The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-09-09
American Characteristics as
Seen by Oriental Writers

Shogyo Tamura, a popular Japanese
writer of fiction who lived for seven
years in America, where at different
times and in many places, from San
Francisco to New York, he was a stu
dent butler, yacht boy and keeper of
rOlling-ball game at summer resorts,
has written a book on American man.
ners and customs. These are some Of
his characteristic views
Weeping.
The American woman usually per-
mits herself the luxury of tears while
standing. When she weeps, she first
faces the heavens, extends her arms,
covers her eyes with her hands, and
permits the tears to fall as may be in
stately manner. Her attitude re-
minds me of the dignity of the Jap
ase performers of the sword dance.
Then she carries her grief to a man.
tlepiece or tall piece of furniture and
gives herself up to her emotions I'M
restrainedly, all the while moving her
6AONiuOASl bub lCAdlulllB nGI SlduuluR
position. While we marvel at it all,
she suddenly throws her tears to the
winds, moves her hands in fantastic
gesture, and pours out long string
of words. Her spirit is truly wonder
full. This weeping is seen to best al
vantage on the stage, but is essen
TALLY the same as the real thing. One
of course at times meets with the
American woman who weeps quietly,
with handkerchief to her eyes, but
that is not the way of the star act
ress, and, it must be confessed, to me
always conveyed a sense of humor.
No Japanese man would know what
to do if confronted with the staccato
weeping of the American woman. 1t
is frankly clever to turn your back
when weeping. The woman weeping
on the Japanese stage does not use
= her shoulders, and in consequence d.
minishes the effect The Japanese
carry the weeping to the nose, while
in America it is voiced at the throat.
dSCe IN FIOWSfSs
The Americans are a flower-loving
people. The rose, violet, poppy,
daisy, tulip and golden-rod are repre-
sentative flower plants. Americans
delight in beautiful flowers no less
than the Japanese, but they do not
seem to care for the trees in blossom
as the Japanese admire the plum,
cherry and pear; nor do they appar
emily comprehend the beauty of the
blossoms taken together with the
leaves and branches They seem not
to have an aesthetic appreciation for
the art of nature in harmonizing the
color of the blossoms with that of the
leaves, and of the leaves with the
branches. Or, perhaps, their sense in
this direction is not so strong as that
possessed by the Japanese. When
they want flowers for decoration,
they put them in vases, and admire
the naked beauty of them. There are
of course exceptions, for, in the case
of the tulip, they seem to love the
leaves as we'll as the flowers; but it
lis still true that the tendency Of
Americans is to admire the flowers
and the leaves separately.
At one time when l was a guest
of a family, a young woman in the
house asked me to decorate the table
with cherry blossoms, to be found in
l,,ry, I To-, oil,
in several branches of the blossoms,
and arranged them in a vase accord
ing to the Japanese method of flower
arrangement. The young woman hap
pened to come in, and at once said
that my method of arrangement was
not good. AS this was work of
some pride, the remark was not par
ticularly pleasing; so I asked, why
not good? She said, why, don't you
see, this is not a bit pretty? You
must put more blossoms together,
and make them SNOWY In your way
these long and short branches are too
obtrusive, and there are leaves, too
which separate the blossoms and re-
duce their effect And she looked
truly dissatisfied, The philosophy OF
flower arrangement-how the length
of the branches are measured, and
how the number of blossoms and
leaves counted, so that this single
vase might be a miniature picture Of
nature, was to her a sealed book
She could not appreciate my arrange
ment, She said: 1t is an Oriental
idea, not accepted in America.
would be satisfied if the blossoms
pleased my eyes only during the short
time spent for luncheon. AS to ma
ture, I can see plenty of it during
my afternoon walk Your argument