The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-26
ALABAMA MAN WRITES
 IMPRESSIONS OF JAPAN

up his feet under him on the seat and
 go to sleep. He mover lets his feet rest on the floor as we do.
 | One peculiar thing about the Japanese | is their inability to figure rapidly They seem to have no mental arithmetic and
 are amazed at the foreigner who fig
 ures up his purchases In his mind while
 the Jap has to resort to his counting
 frame, the abacus, for the smallest pur-
 chases. The popular idea that the Jap
 anese employ Chinese in their banks
 on account of their honesty is not cor
 rect. The Chinese can figure rapidly
 and correctly while the Japanese can
 not. Much has been said about the dis
 honesty of the Japanese. I must say I failed to find the slightest thing that looked crookel In their dealings with me. Invariably in the shops, if there was defect in any article you were purchasing, 1t was pointed out even at the risk of missing the sale. From
 start to finish during my stay enquir- ed closely about the missionary work that was being done in Japan l talk ed to missionaries wont to their schools and saw much of their everyday work I talked with many Americans and other foreigners who had lived in Ja- Iprofessed converts themselves. As may be imagined, got various opinions and conclusions as to what the missionary had accomplished. One of the most ef- ficient missionaries I met was woman in charge of q school in Tokyo. l went to her school and spent a half day. She
 had two hundred and fifty pupils and a good corps of teachers. The pupils all paid their own way in school There
 was no mistaking the gentle, refining in- fLences of a Christian education when you looked In the faces Of her pupils ana hea I'd them talk. I asked her as to the number of converts in Japan. Her estt-
 mate was 60.0oo. The work has been
 going on for more than fifty years and Japan has q population of more than so 0oC, ,00o Several well informed and un- pre,udiced American residents afterwards
 told me that they doubted if there were anything like half that number. and that
 those merely went to tho missionary
 schools to learn English. Of one thing
 am sure-an English education is neces-
 ssry before they can ever understand our
 fcfm of religion,
 Many said boldly that when Japanese
 became Christian. he became tricky and
 LII reliable. There was no question that
 the opinion of the missionary work as held by the American and other foreign residents who have had chance to ob- serve their work, was not favorable. The Jspanese religion Is, the Buddhist and Sltinto 3cults. The teachings of Buddha seem to be good. The Shinto is nothing more than a reverence or worship of ones ancestors. The country Is filled with so called temples. deserted and decayins. Every house has Shinto shrine but this does not satisfy the soul, They have no church organization and in their religious ideas seem to be drfting-so 1t may be that a Christian religion might fit after ali Still, doubt 1t. It Is said that tlere is no profanity among the Japa- ne St and I am sure that they are kind to each other and their children.
 was In all the large cities of Japan and went over them pretty thoroughly. yet only saw one beggar. Their blind are scrupulously cared for and are never seen on the streets. The people are very po- lite. yet they never shake hands or kiss. When you arrive at a Japanese inn you