The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1951-08-09
Newly Appointed Welfare Director
Tells OF Social Problems In Japan
Robert w. Stemple Explains
Cultural Differences In
Far East
BY TACY LEvERING


of our time and thought has been
ccntered on the Far East The critical
situation there has aroused in our
minds questions about a people who
have completely different cultural
background from ours. A great many
of the Republican readers might be
interested in learning more about the
Japanese customs.
Robert Stemple, recently appointed
head of the county welfare board, has
Just returned to Oakland after spend
ing three years in Japan working with
the Occupation.
Mr. Stemple and | sat before
bright, CHEEKY fire in the living room
of the Stemple home and discussed,
or rather he discussed, his work with
the japanese. He was an advisor in
the Civil Affairs section Of the Su-
preme Command Allied Powers, Gen
eral Headquarters. 1t was his work
to advise the Occupational directors
about how to carry out new rules and
laws.
The greatest problem connected
with his work seemed to him to be
the lack Of any paid social workers.
All the welfare work was done by the
"minsci-nn" which, translated, means
welfare commissioners. These min
sci-inn" were usually men of good
social standing in their community,
such as doctors, lawyers, dentists, or
farmers. They were nearly all elderly;
the average age, Mr.. Stemple said,
was sixty, and of course they had no
training. They did welfare work as
side line and had no definite working
hours. AS a result they sometimes ac-
complished little because this work
was of secondary importance to them.
Often, Mr.. Stemple said, people would
be answered with an abrupt mo"
even if some aid could have been
managed.
| asked if the people ever rebelled
against the refusals for help, and
that brought us to one of the main
differences between the Japanese
character and our own. They never
question authority. If they are told
something is wrong or right, then
they believe it without second
thought They do not look for the
reasoning behind the statement; they
accept it as correct.
There are other differences, too
Take, for instance, in the field of
education. Each division of their
school system seems to be mutually
exclusive. Elementary education is for
one class and is complete in itself for
the experience and needs of that
group, but college education is en-
tirely different, even requiring diff
ferent style of writing. The charac-
tiers Qetters) and ways of expressing
ideas become more complicated with
each level and more elaborate and re-
stricted by convention. The system
of writing is so complicated that a
typewriter has to have 1900 charac-
tiers. AS you can imagine, most cor
respondence is hand-written.
Another of their basic differences
from us is in their art and music
Their art is very delicate, done in
exquistely fine line and rigidly
bound by tradition and rule. Although
they accept work done outside of
their own country as art, their in
terest lies only in their own style.
Their music, Mr.. Stemple said, is like
nothing he had ever heard before. 1t
is played nearly altogether on stringed
Instruments, and very little of it is
written down. He once asked one of
the geshas, or dancing girls, if she
could read music. He even went so
far as to draw the lines and put in
certain notes, however, she still had
no idea what the notes signified. 1t
is not hard to understand why Jap
anese renditions of American music
are not all that can be desired.
Then there is the difference in food
tastes. To them, rice is everything.
1t is their meat and potatoes. In
America the average person enjoys
a sandwich for lunch; in Japan the
business man carries with him a lit
tie tin of cold, cooked rice, which is
his lunch If a japanese had to
choose between a steak and rice, there
would be no question; he would reach
for tn erice. Mr.. Stemple said that
during the period when rice was
rationed they tried to give the Jap
anese potatoes, but still they clam
ored for rice. In restaurants they have
gradually made allowance for the
peculiar taste of Americans and have
begun to provide form of greyish
steak with limp and saggng French
fries as side dish.
Another of their differences is in
the way they treat women. In Japan
woman's only place is in the home
On the street, Mr.. Stemple said
women still walk a few PAGES behind
their husbands and nearly always
carry their children OF heavy bundles
A man rarely takes his wife to the
I to-,