Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-20
THE MULBERRY BUSH
Whv We Admire Japan

NIE HAD lunch yesterday with Mr..
w Frank Doubleday the publisher, and
during the course of "a combination plate
luncheon" at tdeleted by the food admins.
tration) Mr.. Doubleday was speaking of
Japan, having recently come back from
that delightful country. He urged the ne
cessity for complete and ungrudging CO.
operation between this nation and Japan.
He said that the usual answer he hears
when he advocates this is, Yes, but can
we trust herr"
If we don't trust her, says Mr. Double
day, Germany will--apd will be tickled to
get the chance.
Certainly there can be no more impor-
tant work for the diplomats of this coun.
try than to foster and increase friendship
and understanding between the United
States and Japan, We have no patience
with those who persist in seeing some Sin
lister menace in every paragraph of news
that comes from the East. One of the
most insidious forms Of German propa-
ganda is the effort to arouse our distrust
of Japan The friendship and mutual con-
| fidence of the two nations are as essential
| to the safety of the world as the friendship
| and confidence between the United States
| and Great Britain.
| Perhaps our love and esteem for Japan
| rest on very slight grounds, but at any
rate our reason is a fragrant one to wit
| the tea pot. once we read very charm
| ing little book by Okaiura KakuZo, "The
! Book of Tea" In this book the japanese
| passion for tea is described as more than
| an idealization of one form of drinking:
| it is religion of the art of life. We wish
| every one who has ever heard the base
| libel that "the Japanese are the Germans
| of the East would read this book, with
its appealing picture of the Japanese love
| Of simplicity and beauty. Note what it
says of the song of the Japanese kettle:
| The kettle sings well. for pieces of iron
| are SO arranged in the bottom as to pro-
| duce a peculiar melody in which one may
| hear the echoes of n cataract muffled by
| clouds of a Distant sTea breaking among
| the rocks a a-ranstorna sweeping through
| bamboo forest, or of the soughing of pines
| on some faraway hill
The japanese have found a whole re-
lgion and philosophy of beauty in the
| naive contemplation of simple and lovely
| things See how Okakura Kakuzo de.
scribes the familiar and humble beauty of
boiling water:
! There are three stages of boiling: the
| first boil is when the little bubbles like
| the eyes of fishes swim on the surface ;'the
| second boil Is when the bubbles are like
! crystal beads rolling in a fountain; the
| third boil is when the pillows surge wildly
| in the kettle. The cake-tea is roasted
before the fire until it becomes soft like a
| babys arm.
The japanese have learned. one of the
great secrets of happiness and virtue in
this world: the surprising beauty of the
familiar things. people that finds i'm
passoned worship in the loveliness Of a
mountains pure outline, in rain and cherry
blossoms and cleanliness and obedience
and courtesy, this is a people from whom
we can learn much. If the japanese ever
talk of a menace" they might we'll fear
the menace of American ugliness and
haste. How truly they might say of us:
do you think we can trust the Ameri
cans? They have no reverence for beauty!
| Both for our own sake and for the fu-
ture happiness OF the world let us seek
cooperation and friendship with our allies
of Japan.