The Washington times., 1917-04-27
JAP ACCUSES HIS
PEOPLE OF FOLLY
Celebrated Writer Attacks Ex-
travagant and Futile Gus
toms of Country.

A very remarkable article, although
critical in many features, by Japan's
cleverest special writer, Saito Man.
appears in the Tokyo Advertiser of
March 10.
He charges that Japanese young
women are given 10 many forms or
extravaganza and that fathers and
husbands encourage them in their fol-
Iy. He them takes up That he calls
the three cardinal conditions of ma
terial existence, namely, food, cloth
ing. and the dwelling. He says:
'Jn the matter Of eating, II Is
agreed that the JapaneseSculSine Is not
OF the richest in nutritive quality. II Is
not inexpensive; japanese dinners are
elaborate in preparation, artistic in
presentation, but for satisfying the
inner man are far inferior to Europ-
can or even Chinese cooking. The
chief characteristic Of purely Japan
ese dinner is to please the eye, not
the palate or stomach. 1t is national
joke that one must eat a meal before
going to or after returning from a
Japanese dinner. o, how much labor
and expense is lavished on Gochiso
(entertainment) to make IL ME to
look at, This is all sheer waste and
luxury and is to be condemned. Pro-
violence has kindly put in the power
OF every Japanese to live in the most
economical manner, so the japanese
dinner is a blasphemous abuse OF pro-
videptial beneficence. It is an anach-
romistic relic of feudalism, reminis-
cent of the morbid tastes of idle,
luxurious over-lords! A monstrous
Is thaaa cnGfOna not
going out OF fashion.
Costume Reform
archaic costumes, especially those
universally worn by ladies, demand re-
form. The INDECENT world can be
clothed out of the materials wasted in
gorgeous kipono sleeves! Nothing Is
so absurd as the long, heavy, pendu-
liant sleeves attached to a girls holi-
day kimono. They serve no purpose,
impede locomotion and are a pitiful
spectacle.
The g:rdle is more cumbrous and ex-
pensive-especially those woven in
one piece of heaviest silk. Formerly,
the latter were only worn, at weddings
and state affairs! now every geisha
has one! Every wife must have one to
sport at the theater. In price this
maruobi varies from 30 to 1000 yen
($15 to 5000 and upward! To gtrule
1t requires all the strength of a we'll
built husband or father. / do not
known any japanese woman who ever
succeeded in putting on one herself.
1t is over three feet wide. folded into
half that width when worn. and its
length is three times the full height
OF its wearer. In weight. IL is terrific
-thickly embroidered as IL is with
golden threads. II is chiefest attrac-
tion in the whole dress scheme of Jap
anese womanhood! One might as well
ask a woman to discard her hair as Il!
Every well-dressed japanese lady is
martyr to her girdles. Her entire
waist is covered with layers OF belt.
ing. From the viewpoint OF health,
the girdle (obi) H. a most damnable
contriVance. as every doctor asserts.
Expensive Clothes.
''The unwon;su extravaganee of
citation. IL one spends $50 for a suit
OF clothes Of western fashioning he
can make a very presentabIe appear.
ance; but a similar amount Is far
from sufficient to properly dress a
man in japanese attire, with kimono.
Women are largely to blame for the
continuance OF the native costume,
because they refuse to bow to friends
in foreign clothing!
'The japanese dwelling Is far fitter
for a gods habitation than for most
humans. susceptible to the severity of
Japanese weather in winter. They are
fashioned like ShintO shrines! Too