The evening world., 1917-09-27
THE JAPANESE MISSION.

TUE cts ateua, a cordial welcome " vl,oOun, i'AH and the
other membsrs Of tie Imperial japanese ComHusioA Shs
become i4 guess 4 dsy
Tho national odop q Japan, already cOnspseuous among the
nsp displayed in honor Of this nsuOns SnisA, vll be accorded . place
of special distinction berds the starr and Stripes. and Esv York
viii do ~. best 10 make hs visitors feel the vhOlshssrtsd snthusiAam
Of IL greeting.
The modern, thriving and progrs.hv. people from whom this
Mission comes 90 u, have moved fast and far since the time only sixty
odd years ago when commOdor. Perry. In tn. words Of = japanese
suthor. "lindly shook Japan from her long siumbsr!"
Americans nov recognize Japan ~ q wideawaks, efficient ally
not only Cor war but for the future work Of establishing the civilized
world upon lasting foundation, Of liberty and peace after democracy
has trumphed.
ain the past fifty years" TO quote an eminent Japanese merchant
Japan has been importing, dige'tins. ss'imilstins Western civtnrS
ton"
So extraordinary and rapid Ia. been III. success. n h. mad. Of
ths process that In scarcely more than . generation Japan has come
TO be an important and respected factor at the forefront Of political
and commercial progress.
The Japanese themselves are the first TO point out the special
debt they owe the United States for what they havo learned during
the last half century. Business methods, industrial efficiency, upto
date inventions, hbor-savins, cOmiOrt-givins OOnvenionOss are. they
assure us, by no means all.
To American educational systems they have given close and con-
slant attention. They have also taken pains TO learn to know Us
through our history and through our literature, Hawthorne, Irving
Emerson, Mark Twain. even Walt Whitman and Henry jaime, are
more than names to japanese readers. Forty tsnsatons Of Emerson
are SAID to have been published In Japan
"To us," Mr.. Naoichi Masaoka, Japanese editor and author, AZ.
Arms, "the eloquence Of Webster and Patrick Henry is q fact as
familiar as the loyalty Of Gen. Nogi. Benjamin Franklins Auto
biography is used in many middle schools az q text book Of English,
and u boys and girls, as they take lessons from II every day Of the
week, become so familiar with him that they feel as II his were not
q foreign name"
All testimony to this effort on the part Of tho Japanese 10 un-
derdard and appreciate America raises the natural question,
Do Americans try to any such extent 10 understand and appre-
cate Japanp
The answer. we regret to say cannot yet be In the affirmative.
Given the present relation which exists between this country and
Japan as allies in a paramount cause; given the desrabnity Of deepen
ing and strengthening the understanding between the two nations In
order that It may Withstand the commercial strain and stress with.
which the world is certain to be seized when the war Is over; given
the Embellishments Of the past, the facts OF the preaent the nroh
lens that loom ahead-thiS visit Of the Imperial Japanese Mission
ought to set Americans thinking whether, now moro than ever, they
do not owe /. to themselves to broaden the basis Of information upon
which they estimate and Judge Japan