Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1913-05-30

from which his orders came. Till six
teen years Of age he had never walked,
and the art of walking was with him a
stiff and harsh practice TO the end.
1t must not be inferred, however.
that Japans progress was slow during
the reigr. of Mutsuhito. In fact. 1t
will be recalled that the opposite was
the case.
The occidental influence was every
where seen, and a great era of change
came upon the empire.
A Democratic Prince.
Yoshihito's life in its earliest years
reflected the changed condition Of ia
pan He was brought up democratic
ally and attended school in the College
of Peers, which, is intended for the ed
ucation of princes and mobiles, but
which is open to all.
| Here he worked with the rest, pos
sessinS no privileges unpossessed by
/ the most obscure and with punetual-
| ity insisted upon from even him, the
| descendant of the gods.
In this way came the comparative
development of his social instincts and
his preference for talking directly with
his company than through the august
intermediary of court otiicialdom.
Later, however, he came under the
/ care of tutor. General Oku, who was
assisted by Mr.. Adachi, who seems
to have been linguistically inclined.
/ From General Oku he also studied
military tactics and early proved that
in Japan royalty is something of tai
( isman. AT. thirteen he was a lieuten-
ant, at sixteen colonel of the army
| in these early years from our west
/ ern viewpoint he lived life of re-
markable independence of parental
control. He occupied, almost from in
| fancy, a palace of his own-not, how
! ever, distant from the emperors and
/ within that park which could com
/ fortably accommodate the Vatican and
/ Central park and be sublimely uncon-
/ scous OF the assimilation
! This, under the charge OF a cham
/ berlain and three assistants and at a
/ yearly experse Of $4,000 yen, was his
/ home throughout his years of school,
/ tanned everything that even a crown
prince of Japan should have.
/ 1t came perilously peqr the. luxufies
/ offered by any ocean liner. TheSsmall
and weakly prince had his gymnasium,
| his bowling alley, his tennis and arch
cry courts, his stables, his riding pa
/ viion, his fishing ponds.
And these developed in him an out
! door taste which gave him. if not rug
! ged, at least normal health. n Here
| his youth was spent in the society
mostly of royal relatives--the Japa-
nese examples of his sisters and his
cousins and bis aunts.
/ In the seciusion of his palace also
| Yoshihito developed a keen attachment
| for versificatiOn, whichever in mod
/ ern Japan-is deemed one of the most
important accomplishments in court
circles, writing both in japanese and
/ Chinese, the last activity correspond
| ing with that Latin verse which it was
the joy of English scholars in other
times to compose.
A Modern Palace.
! In 1906, when Yoshihito's three
| story palace was built at a cost OF
4 100000, it was European rather than
Japanese in character. 1t was modern
both in design and in equipment.
A strange contrast is afforded by
the Imperial palace, where Mutushito
lived. Here the note is Japanese, IN
| congruously blended with the mechanr
/ zeal devices of the occident, long and
/ low as its labyrinths of buildings, and
/ it is chiefly remarkable for its covered
/ passages and its covered courts.
| The architecture is of the ancient
japanese style, with high roofs at
| sharp angles and heavy gray tiles No
| whisper of the European speaks there
Inside are walls of plate glass and
lacquer, which, rolled aside, open up
/ vistas of tremendous rooms.
Generally here visitors are impressed
with the triumph OF Japanese SIMPLE
/ ity which characterizes 1t, though.
strangely enough, the imperial apart
| ments are furnished with French rose
wood furniture and rugs in the Euro
1 pean style. Mutsuhito invariably ate
at table and with those ever widening
/ influences, knives and forks.
/ Throughout the palace. too one finds,
/ even in medieval environment, cleo
/ trie lights, in the mystic covered court
yards, in the fascinating connecting
passages which 80 up and down and.
necessarily. in the very Frenchy mod
/ ern dining room itself
But in the emperor's suit, IN the
midst of the many indications OF west
/ ern ways, in smoking rooms, libraries,
/ billiard rooms, dressing rooms. stands
/ one incongruity which seems fnsen-
sibly to creep into the blended civiliza-
| ton of the japanese.
It is the imperial bedroom. plain to
earenness in its japanese style, I'M
ventilated, dark. windowless and sur
rounded on every side by the rooms OF
the emperor's personal bodyguard. Il
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