Evening star., 1924-01-27
By SIDNEY +. MASHBIR.
Recently of the General St,fY or the
United States Army on Special
Duty i'm japan,

army on special
Duty In Japan.
may safely be said that no sin
gle act within the past 2,400
years, marking the period of re-
corded history in Japan. will be
found to have had as profound an
erect on the internal, and in some
ways the external, relations of thar
ration as the recent attempt on the
life of Hirohito. the prince regent of
the Japanese empire.
Although for hundreds of years
PRIOR to the restoration of the En-
peror Meiji, during the latter part
Of last century, the actual power OF
government was exercised by the
various shoguns, there has never been
the slightest attempt or hint of such
at attempt upon the life of or the
supreme authority (although at times
merely nominally SOD of the emperor.
During the strife-riven centuries
marking the epic fueds between the
Ten and the Hojo clans. and the final
Conquest hy and the 500 years Of
peace under the fifteen generations
al the Tok ugawa ShoSurate. there
has nS|,r been d moment when tn"
lie Of the emperor or of any q the
imperial family has been endangered.
Indeed, sacred has been the per-
son Of the emperor that only in re-
ent years has il come to be thought
possible TO gaze upon his awful pres
tnce and live.
Upon the retur- K the present
I'rince regent from his European
tour year before last--tn itself an
'poch- making event-the vast multi
Eis return broke all precedents o<
silence in the imperial presence by
rheering as he passed. 1t was stated
by the Colloquial press that the vast
'BanZai. which seemed to surge
from the passing procession as the
mighty billows from the prov of a
man -of-war. had apparently rolled
lack the tide Of age-long supersti-
t!on. and had proclaimed Hir ohito as
a real and "democratiC' ruler of the
people.
Held I'm Nenerution and Awe.
It is almost impossible for the
western mind TO understand the ven
GRAFTON and awe IN which the i'm
7eriaI family is held, unless an at
anese standpoint, and unless the fol-
lowing facts are borne clearly in
mind:
Jtmmu Tenno. the first Emperor of
Japan. is believe ed by them TO be the
direct lineal descendant of Annette
rasu. the sun goddess. For 2,3o0
wears compare the life OF any Euro
rean nationi his descendants have
ruled over Japan--the land of the
gods"-in a single line OF unbroken
succession.
Not only is the Emperor considered
' TO be the temporal ruler of the en-
pire, but he is also more than the
spiritual head of the state religion of
Shinto; he is in person the direct lin
cal descendent of the gods and their
representative on the earth.
The czar was the spiritual head of
the Greek Catholic Church: the kali
ser purported to have an amicable
working agreement with mis- Gott.
hut at no time have either of them
.ivinely annointcd and appointed as
tney claimed to be--been regarded as
the actual heir of the Deity Himself
Further the entire Foundation of
the Japanese life is based On The fara-
lily system and the emperor is re-
garded as the father of the people
and the head of the family. No Jap
:lnese home, from the rnagnitic snt and
luxurious palaces of the peerage to
the humbl hut of the lowli~St coolie,
but has built into IL al the time of its
erection, a raised dais to be used as
seat by the emperor if he should
ever chance to visit. and his picture Is
invariably found enshrined upon the
family god shelf
Take Articles rs "Sacred."
At imperial garden parties and 9TH
er imperial functions, ] have seen
members of the highest and wealth.
lest families OF the realm secrete, in
their kimono sleeves, pieces OF cake,
bottles OF champagne. and on one oc-
casion even the press commented
freely on the fact that certain per
SON. had carried away a whole
chicken in his high silk hat. Rtdicu-
lous as these actions may appear 20
lis there Is a very definite reason for
them. None Of these people but could
have purchased the things he took. or
who would have stopped 10 the slight
est dishonesty, but those articles
' were bestowed" by the emperor and
were sacred. SO that not only they
themselves, but their families and re-
tainers partook of them as of a sac
ramenr
Within the past year one OF the
highest generals of the Japanese
army was relieved of command and
placed on the retired list when 1t be-
came known that he had given to a
Seisha d few OF a gift of a packaG
OF cigarettes which had been be-
slowed upon him by the emperor.
Until recent years, upon the pass
ing of an imperial procession. the
people fell prone upon the earth and
dared not raise their faces y look
Less than six months ago. while
was in tramcar near the Sakurada-
mon gate Of the palace the police en-
tered and stopped all ears and pulled
down all the blinds, in order that no
one might gaze down on the prince
regent. who was returning from a
cabinet meeting.
In whatever light these things may
appear to us they must be regarded
IS matters of the most profound i'm
portance to the Japanese mind and
as the result of centuries of definite
trend of thought, and / have there
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