WHAT THEY DO IN JAPAN.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 927, 21 September 1910, Page 11

WHAT THEY DO IN JAPAN.

,A very fascinating book called' "In Lotus Land," written by Mr. Herbert G. Wonting, has just recently been published and is full of most delightful descriptions as well as views of Japan, tho flora of tho country, its arts and its people. In speaking of the Japanese women the writer says .that one of the most charming features about travel in Japan is that one cannot pass , a day without being' more or less under the gentle influence of the But, besides being pro-eminent m the house, she is fust becoming an important factor ill the whole social and industrial system of the country.' One sees:female assistants in all the large rokio shops, clerks in post office, operators at telephone exchanges, and ticket sellers at tho railway stations. The Japanese girl is no longer content to remain a pretty chattel of "the home. Her emancipation is progressing by leaps : and bounds. Healthy athletic exercises every daycare changing the entire physique of the modern Japanese/girl, and'sho is al-' ready larger and heavier and longer-limbed-than her mother. She is more independent, and walks the streets . unnoticed and fear of molestation. But the time'is far distant when Japanese -women- will clamour- for ' votes, though; they have been able to show all the world that their services were almost as vital -,to the' country in time of war as those,of. men. Japanese women have been' seriously. misrepresented" by being made to talk "pidgin .English. -They never say "velly''. for "very" or "likee*' for "like." They say. "riW,' Nor do they, say "talkee," "walkeo," "thinkee," etc. ; English is now taught correctly in every school. There is nothing'a Japanese girl or woman i resents more, than ,to be called a butterfly, which is an emblem of illconstancy. A Japanese friend with whom the author.had travelled much had a d?eply-loved sister, who was stricken with consumption. One day he received a letter, which he opened and read. Then turning to me with a smile that I shall never forget he laughed, "Ha, ha, my sister is dead already!" "At first a chill of repulsion swept over me; then my soul went out to him in sympathy, for though there was not'-a quiver of an eyelash, I' know that the smile was a lie, and'-that .his heart-was almost breaking at the unexpected ; blow." Mr." Ponting was in Japan during the Russian war as correspondent; and at Hiroshima he learnt tho great part Japanese women can play- in war. For iieo«-ly -three weeks he spent the' greater, part of each, day m the hospital, where over 20,000 wounded ' soldiers were being cared for. The Red Cross' Society in which the . Japanese women played so great a part, was as perfectly organised as every other 'department of the army. Everything.went with the smoothness of a well-oiled machine. t Among tho many .pathetic scenes that ho witnessed during those weeks at Hiroshima no .incident affected him so deeply as when the,pupils of a primarv school for little Japanese girls visited the principal wards. .There were perhaps 50:inall in the care of their lady teachers, and asi they tripped silently in their softwhite socks into, tho ward'they all courteously "bowed several times to the'patients, first on'one side and then on the other. Every soldier who could returned the courtesy. The principal lady teacher, .in sweetj gentle tones, then quietly addressed the men, telling them how great was the honour that she and her pupils felt:in visiting so,many gallant soldiers. Ihe teacher then addressed the children, telling them briefly the story of the great battle in which the poor 'fellows had; fought, and how bravely 'they had done their duty. The tiny lassies bowed again, .and proceeded to another ward. The incident was a stirring object-lesson of how Jopein loses no opportunity of educating her -children;- '.-' ■ ~ •.

■Peggy, a little girl of six years old, was!! looking out: of her nursery window into the street below. A coster with a■' donkey and trap was selling •vegetables there, and, in order to get at som? of his wares right 'behind, he had propped a ladder against the back of the.cart, and was mounted oh it, when the donkey moved forward a few paces, and the coster sat down extremely . heavily in _ the road. At this moment: the child's mother came into the room, and Peggy recounted what Md just happened, adding—"Oh, mummy,: he was such a good man, because after ho fell down,'instead of getting up and beating the donkey, he just sat there and told God all about it!"