The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1922-01-13

lately emerged from state Of civil
lization almost as remote and unusual
as one might find on the moon-here
are facts enough to form a basis for
that "Asiatic Mystery" CT which the
Western world has heard so much.
Getting down beneath the crust Of
convention, however, Where is the
'Asiatic Mystery" asks Joseph l. c.
Clarke, author of one of the most re-
cent and highly considered volumes
on the Japanese people ("Japan at
First Hand" Dodd, Mead).' II had
been warned that l would never be
able to understand the japanese" he
writes, that, behind all appearances,
was the mystery of the East, impene-
trable to Western eyes and under
standing" He demurs:
"My observation leads me to the
reverse conclusion. The Japanese
people are fills, of all intensely hu-
man as we understand the word, with
virtues and frailties like our own,
with our motives of action and direc-
tions of interest. They laugh hearth
| ": you can hear it all around you.
They weep, too, but it is point of
honor or custom or etiquette to do it
secretly when they can. Sometimes,
alas. they must out with it.
81 was at marionette show at Osa-
ka. The marionettes are one-third
size and very life-like, but they are
manipulated by men standing behind
them in full sight of the audience. 1t
was medieval play of Masaoka, a
mother of Spartan quality who. ou-
of loyalty to her prince. felt Obliged
10 stand dumb and stoical while her
babe was murdered before her eyes.
Soon the murderer departed, leaving
her alone.
The mother Dse warily, looked
about stealthily. then sprang sudden
" upon the body of her child and hug
ged it to her breast. The crowded !
audience. men and women, burst into |
tears. Sobs were heard on all sid=s
and the group of geishas, twenty or !
more. seated near the stage and look |
ing like great bed of chrysanthe-
NUNS, sobbed the loudest Of all New |
err was there more weeping at Madam |
X
Eyes, they weep.
"They love and toll, toll unremit- |
tingly. They honor their parents; /
the family is living unit, with quite |
a domestic government arranging |
things in an orderly way. They are !
intensely patriotic. They are mark
edly polite and hospitable. They are |
scrupulously clean; every japanese |
takes a hot bath daily. They dress
decently. They are thrifty; they are
keen traders. They are imbued with |
the spirit of progress. They learn
quickly and study with avidity."'
Nevertheless, objects Julian Street, !
the magazine writer and journalistic |
observer of things in general, the ia
panese are full of reversed ideas.
There is a good deal more to the
"Asiatic Mystery" he announces in
his current volume, Mysterious ia
pan" doubleday Page), than the
Language barrier" which Mr.. Clarke
finds so important. ION the day or
my arrival in Japan" he writes:
81 started a list of things which,
a according to our ideas the japanese |
do backwards-or which according |
to their ideas we do backwards. l
suppose that every traveller in Japan |
has kent some such record. My list, |
beginning with the observation that |
their books commence at what we call |
the back, that the lines of type run |
down the page instead of across, and |
that 'foot-notes' are printed at the |
top of the page, soon grew to consid-
cradle proportions. Almost every |
day | had been able to add an item |
or two, and every time | did so l
found myself playing with the fancy
that such contrarieties ought in some
way to be associated with the fact
that we stand foot-to-foot with the
japanese upon the globe.
The japanese method of beckon-
ing would, TO us. signify go away
boats are beached stern foremost;
horses are backed into their stalls;
saving and planning are accomplished
with a pulling instead of driving mo-
ton; keys turn in their locks in re-
verse direction from that customary
with us. In the japanese game OF
Go, played on sort of checkerboard,
the pieces are placed not within the
squares but over the points of linear
intersection. During the day Japan
csc houses, with their sliding walls
of wood and paper, are wide open,
L.. N. ,;oht thaxy ora anolOcad with |