Evening star., 1933-01-18
Japan Has Blended New
And Old Civilizations
To the Editor Of The Star:

To the Editor Of The Star:
There has been speculation among
historians as to how much Western
civilization Japan has adopted or graft
ed on to her life. A look will show there
is both the new and the old, side by
side.
A japanese exporter who supplies
much raw silk for the Western market
lives among large collection of ancient
dwarf trees of many shapes and vari-
eties He employs especially trained
gardeners to attend their needs. They
are groomed and titivated and occasion
ally appear at public shows. In appear
ance they are like twisted giants of the
forest seen through the wrong end Of
a telescope. Reduced and distorted
pines, NAPLES with miniature star leaves,
weeping willows well adapted to dim
mutton, tiny oaks with lumpy branches,
the famous cryptomeras reduced to but
few inches. The head of large ship
ping firm whose steamers call at ports
in every continent, for his diversion,
meticulously brushes examples of Sung
calligraphy so profound and intricate
most Western minds may never COM
prehend it. The pride with which the
men have adopted Occidental dress for
business is only equaled by the satisfac-
ton with which they put on kimono
for comfort at home. The Offices OF
these same people are furnished with
modern adding machines, typewriters,
steel and upholstered furniture, yet
when at home they sink with relief
upon the straw mats Of their floors and
balance home accounts upon the abacus.
The chief of a modern department store,
in his leisure, reads the early Confucian
Canon. Our style OF dancing is popular
and here it seems East meets West. The
ladies gracefully waltz in soft-toned XII
mono and cork-soled sandals; their
partners In tuxedo.
In no land is education so highly
priced as in Japan. Receiving a jap
anese and an Occidental education is
comparable to our most exacting curri-
cula. Strong determination and perse-
verance are prerequisites; the Spartan
patriotism of the old order supplies
these.
Even at the cinema in Japan one
may see the old and the new. The
building follows the old type in which
shoes and geta, the native clogs are
ranked in the ante-chamber. There are
no chairs-all sit on the floor. In jap
anese films there Is good photography.
but always a depressing sadness of
theme which appeals to this melancholy
race. The plot is historical, with Wig
OTOuS DlOOQ-CuTQllnB movement, nara
kiri, duels and frenzied gestures. They
are the films of old folk dramas already
familiar to most Japanese and they are
followed with intense interest There is
another film-from Hollywood. 1t is a
talky in the American dialect" and
what it lacks in artistic photography
is supplied by boisterouS dialogue. One
of the theaters staff apparently attempts
to talk it down: they go higher and
still higher till there is pandemonium.
He is interpreting the lines The audi
ence, too, is both new and old. The men
are about evenly divided between XII
mono and sack suit. The ladies are
| two to one in favor of kimono and he'll
met-like coiffure. A few will display
Paris frocks.
Going home by half-yen taxi the
chauffeur observes the street in which
you live has been sprinkled, then to
comply with an ordinance he adjusts
brush-like spatter guards parallel to the
outside of each wheel so he may not
spoil the clothes Of pedestrians when
hurrving along through puddles.
| And so it is that the japanese have
both the new and the old, or as much
of 1t as suits them.
JUDSON COUNCILL.
| Clifton Station. Va.