The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-06-20
Hold That Ancestor and Hero Wor
ship Has on the Practical Mind
r of the Modern Japanese
~ JOSEPH I. e. CLARKE.

vnd,n,,ka, on the 10Th instant al 10 and
- IN. morning respectively to worship
,.uv before the shrina where the de.
.,.d soldiers. who Nave sacrificed their
,,.. tor the cause NJ the Emperor and the
-, .,.en. and are worshipped as euard.
Wv. =, the state Before and after the day
!, AZ In,enal worship. during six days. as
..,t, stated. a fete will be held al the
-. and the heroes OF Using tao will be
80 -opaa Tunes. April is, 1915.
-ut's does modern Japan turn
aside from its pressing prob
lens of the present to honor.
10 g,orify its heroic dead--the
s,.a ~ Tsing-tao Of 1914 have entered
~. ~rstional pantheon: henceforth
,hsv i've with a cody life of their
own.
yes, they are making a god Of
him
VI. were talking IN Toxic about
,s..s Of battle in old and new Japan
and It's foreign wars. and some one
Rad let drop the name of Tachibana.
There was a sudden chorus of eulogy
ava one u college man with some
ching Of awe in his tones suggested
the curious process Of creation Of the
divine as something well on its way.
And It was quite true.
7, was doubtless the mystical trend
IN Iafcadio Hearn's extremely sens
,iv. mind that made him practically
b4r,n his Interpretation" OF Japan to
IN. Western world by examining the
attitude Of the japanese to the mex
world. He found the latter filled in
..t.E h.1g.s u.fth Tho chAGfG Of
all the japanese who have passed
through the gates OF death from the
teginning Of time. from the beginning
Of the gods. He devotes much atten-
ton 10 ancestor worship.
Nothing. Mr.. Hearn believes. is
more alive in Japan than the dead--.f
We may put It that way. They are
with the living all the time. guiding
them IN the affairs of life and must be
daily w%orshipped and at all times pro-
ttiasd. for. look you. they can do
YOU great harm II neglected. Honor
your dead for the love you bore them
IN their lifetime, II you fail. look out.
Therefore il is hat the first rite In
the daily round Of life is 10 offer food
and drink 10 them in every palace.
house ana nut IN the ana
I, was possibly good psychology TO
take up the study of the people Of
japan from that standpoint. The re-
lg!ous. or what " for the re-
lgious. faith OF a people gives a GER
tain clue 10 many vital characteristics
when YOU are bent on metlculous diff
!rentiatlon. but all peoples have
underlying. because ancient. beliefs
about the souls Of the dead. and they
AFFECT life and conduct In about the
eame way, so that after all you end
the inquiry about where you started.
IN other words, conduct between man
and man and man and woman-the
working OF the social contracts
really affected by the constant facts
about us in the living world rather
than In any reflection from the world
Of the dead-much more dimly popu-
lous as the dead world may be.
Still, Lafcsdio Hearn's mystical out
tok and inward examining bring one
Jus, 10 the right mood for our sub
!sct-the making Of gods in Japan.
We establish a link with the vas: un-
tSplorab.e realm whose hither shores
We may only cross at the price of the
ne Which nature has infleXibly laugh:
70 10 preserve, to nourish and 10
prize. Something which in excep-
tionsl cases will lead us to lay down
that LIE gladly. cheerfully: ave, to take
the very fortress OF ones life by aclf-
assault in obedience TO its call, what
ever that something is. must be power
iul indeed. and well worth considering.
Looking below the intense practical
working Of the modern Japanese mind.
lis wholly material grasp on material
things, its swift assimilation Of mod
en science in its essence as well as
IN It's details, We do truly come on an
other world OF thought. with their
rnost agnostic We are told that the
ano!ent beliefs cling TO some corner
Of their mental fabric. that their filial
devotion is unbroken. that reverence
for the souls OF their dead persists
II men who believe they have no souls
H their own. and that the governing
powers Of the gods survive In the
minds Of men who believe mind to
be nothing more than a function OF
matter put into that vibration which
' az ii'N ihhtil ~ a. ''-'c
70 the mass Of the people still be-
lev!ng simply in the old order Of the
ruling gods,
In that realm where they rule there
no place for the earth developed
instincts that make men barter
SHARPLY chatter endless.y and grasp
'esoIutely in pursuit OF gain. with
creed and avar!ce at ones elbow. No,
leFe are self-abnega,ion. self-sacrihce
accommodation on their thrones. and
az men must bow down before them
whatever that realm may have been
ed'ed IN the past-rel.g!on or what
mott Is now in Japan what there's,
"the word calls patriotism.
y is the circumstances OF Japan
'd'ed In the highest, most exalted
persona. terms. and which by it's very
"atat!on tends TO react on the mass
=! he people to its lowest ranks. max
hg a standard for all OF the cleares'
eenh.t!on. SO much for the ground
"ofk q a process of which | witnessed
many a~hsorbingly interesting details
tm1d the multifarious evidences ol
she hat.onal material outreach of 10.
day.
pne more fact must be recalled
nancy the fact unique in the word
vat The supreme ruler of Japan /.
""hse.i a god and the direct descend
e"' % the gods in unbroken line. Ir
we SH.nto cult. which is the nat!ona
'e'S'oA Of Japan, the M!kado, the En-
pIoF' is the descendant Of the SUI
.o'dtSs, Through him all japanese
ore me children Of the great gods. III
"tHe!r sacred father and high placed