BOOKS OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 127, 22 February 1919, Page 11

BOOKS OF THE DAY

JAPAN AT FIKST HAND. Tho over increasing importance of the part Japan is'destined,to piny not only in the I-'ar Bast but in connection with tlio political future o£ tlie world generally invests any new and well-written book on the country and its people with special interest.' Such a. work is Mr. Joseph I. C; ; Clarke'B "Japan, at First Hand: Her..isjlahds, their people, the picturesnuertfio real, vitli the latest facts and figures on their war-timo trade expansion and commercial outreach" (NT.: Dodd, Mead: and' Co., per S.' and W. Mac kay). To'6;'.';aiinny:,.;l»oks on Japan are merely- the'gossipirig records of tho overage globe-trotter's banal experiences.Hero wo have a book lis essentially "of good faith" as was Montaigne's masterpiece, a ./book which reflects.the author's cultured-' mind, his shrewdness in distinguishing and.analysing"national characteristics, his broad and open: mind, his ever-present indefatigable..effort..to get 'at the truth .and to set,forth the results of his investigations with clarity and due. regard for the most delicate feelings of the people ..-whoso -'history, habits, manners, and customs ho presents in so attractive a form: Ho tells us that he found the Japanese people

verv normal, human beings, with likes, diaiikes,- and-leanings much like other people. Their mystical quality which so many,"try to dijcovor'is simply a. persistent bolief in a spirit- world; and an underlying lovo of Japan. Theso. are the "growth .-of" aj,*es,' : ; enforced.-, and ' inculcated by nearly throa centuries of isolation be•■'foro -tho present- half-century • or bo of -;tabrag.";on--"tho:. Western ""-civilisation."l 'foilnd' tlio people as it whole models, of industry and good conduct, markedly nnited in their family bonds, bearing and forbearing with" their';'neighbours, very democratic inTspirlt. . .v

On the tendency :.to grow : liioro and more democratic -as-Vthe New Japan develops herself, Mr. Clarke frequently refers, "A"fairer, broader Japan rises all round," 'lie says, "to the level of its great opportunities.". For a ~'time .the wave of successful' commercialism which swept over the 1 country seemed to..constitute a nienaco .to the moral character of the nation, for'.with it, for a time, at least, came political corriiption,; and -the "get-rich-quick" maiiia tempted weak men to do dishonourable things. To-day, according to our author,."she' is doyelopirig a':passion for' reform and public ' honesty that should make her the stronger' "for the humiliations endured and for the moral.ly estranged and actually driven from public life."' ..' . ' ' :

The wave of anger. ' that swept over Japan upon the discovqry that a German firm had bcdn able to carry, tho oustomary bribery.with which it carried on its entorpriseß .into 'the- heart of ,tho.- Japanese Navy, waa ■ really .inspiring-to see. Victors of two wars in which naval heroism, efficiency and 'devotion ;had ; been lamps of effulgence, it was heartrending, to tho nation to learu that the fllth of the German briber had befouled, the great .service, led by the imihortal Togo. No wonder a Ministry toppled when-tne thunder of national anger, as - , from the' heights' of- a nibral Fujiyama, rolled down Over'the laud.

Mr. Clarke's descriptions of- :lie borne life of too is his account of what he calls Japans educational furore. There 'is£ a -national passion for learning. Eight millions of children are being educated in thirtyseven thousand scho'ois, and there are over seven thousand technical schools. Tho universities are developing 1 a much broader class of tuition; and woman is gradually coming to her own in the Far Eastern educational world. The pastimes of the people, their religious beliefs, Japanese drama. and art are the subjects ot special chapters, and Mr. Clarke is careful »to exposo somo popular Western errors concerning' the status cf the famous geisha, as to whoso '.professional earnings and life generally he-gives many curious details. The chaptcr on the Japanese Press reveals some .very curious facts concerning journalism in tho Far East. The. difficulties with - which; the Japaneso compositor (oil-a.vernacular journal) has .to. contend (TO to the Western mind positively staggering. Tho Japanese comp. must know and ba able to find no fewer than "10,000 ideographic characters. The linotype on the vernacular- Press Js, of. course, -impossible. New ..journals appear with "astonishing frequency,, only to die I natural death after tfhat, to tlio proprietors and staff, must seem an alarmingly brief existence, but the larger cities possess well written, well printed dailies conducted very largely on European and American lilies. Mr. Clarko specially commends the ''Japan Times," founded by an Englishman, but now under Japaneso owners,, for its broad-minded point of view and its fine service of foreign news. •In successive .chapters the author deals with tlie Japanese 'P'a'rliauiehl; "and political System generally, with Japan's .commercial progressiveness, and with the financial and banking institutions and methods; giving, on theso subjects much detailed and instructive information. He also give? an interesting account of Korea,- as it now is under Japanese control. which he quotes as an example of "colonial uplift." According to tho author Japan's administration of Korean affairs has been to the great advantage of. the - people.. New industries have. been, promoted, a comprehensive, and -- ' enlightened- • education system has been ■ established, and Japanese rule is now accepted by the more intelligent Koreans as infinitely superior to that it replaced, After a description of: the Manelmrian battlefields and-of a visit to Port Arthur and Kiaochow, Mr. Clarke gives an interesting account of a brief tour through Northern China and a visit to Peking, In the two. final,chapentitled respectively - "Some AntiJapanese. Polemics," and. "Japan at aGlance," the author provides a valuable resuriie of latter-day Japanese political history, more particularly of her relations with China. H« warmly criticises certain American writers who early in tho war exhibited grave indiscretion in raising the Japanese bogey. Mr. Clarke hints that in certain cases German propaganda was at work. As to America's futuro" relation's with Japan',: Mf. Clarke, evidently writing soon after the United States enteroil the world-war, says:— Japan has a powerful army and an efficient fleet.. Should either or'both be tho American bogey? No mail of common aeiise who views the present giatit "struggle will deny the possibilities of unexpected hostility between any two or three or four Powers, but he must think twice or thrico beforo-hc finds a validrreanon for Japan orosslng five thousand miles of water to knock - with iron •knuckles .at our door. No noed to discuss the physical difficulties of armed transport; 110 need to drag in the Philippines or Hawaii or the iittlo island dot of Guam. In war the tail goes with the hide. It is the will to war that is necessary. I do.not believe it exists iu Japan, even in the irresponsible quarters. It is absent from the .Government. I am willing to rest on that statement.

Tho illustrations number over a hundred and depict famous scenic beauties, the manners and customs of the people. Some of them are very beautiful. "An Australian in the R.F.A." ...liniler. the'title .'.'An Australian in tho R.F.A." (Sydney: W. C. l'eiifold anil Co., per S. and W. Mackav), are given a selection, of extracts from the letters and diary of a young Australian ofliccr, Adrian Consett Stephen, M. C., Lieut. K.F.A., who, at tho ago of twenty-three, after only six weeks' training iu.'. England, went to tho front and remained on activo service, with , the usual leave intervals,, until, March, 1918, when, lie was killed in action at Hillebpke. Tho' young soldier had bcou a very prominent figure ill university circles in Sydney, graduating li.A. iu 1913 and obtaining his Ll'i.B. two years later. Ho wa? then about to be called lo the Bar, but decided lo enlist. That ho would havo achieved eminence either at the Bar or as a playwright—several of his plays were performed by tho University Dramntic Society and the Stage Society of Sydney—was tlio conviction of a wide circle of friends, but, with Adrian Stephen, as with so many other young Australians and New Zealanders, the joint call of patriotism and duty, with, too, that of the "Great Adventure,'

.wliidli..appeals to ad spirited youii" Britoiis, was too insistent to-bo withstood. His • letters and. the extracts from Ins diary here collected show him to have been possessed of the keenest sense ot duty and n spirit of unqueiichable determination. Also, as the ,\onng soldiers father says in a' brief but. most interesting preface: '"l'hey reflect as in a mirror the distinct personality of theivri eland further the invincible will, modest heroism, and cheery courage with which the youth of our . race have faced the unknown which each day had- '.n store for them": As a series of war pictm-es painted by an.Australian serviiig with a . British regiment,, the letters have a spol eial interest. Again.and'agaiu the yoiin;; Australian officer records his intense admiration for tlio fine rplaliths o the British "Tommy," his wonderful jia- ' tience, his- unfailiiiff pood . liuimur. Jus grim. /'slick' it-'through" determination. his kind-heartedness to women _ aim children. The humorona -.tonchcs. in. tic letters - , arc :freqiiiOiit," ns also, alas, 19 the note of Kniesomq iragedv arid'poignant '.pathos! i 11 liave' space onlv/.for <,ne Ijriot extra'cf.' a pas.?nge descriptive, of a battle-field.-(Sausage Valley,-near Albert) at l ) a r met, most, of my (Australian) friends in tho grey hours beforo dawn, non 1 liappenel to lic on duty. In civilised lite I havo a rooted objection to " a wn if J? either too' .late;'Or too eai'ly-but in Hms ; valley it had a mystery orid a. wonder that -made it bearable. - The battlefield became .- the - battlefield - of •«. -battlefield of fiction with, the taiißle or ■nasty like vast' Riders webs; the shell holes' that covered without- mcicy the whole ground made it- seemi lilte a crater-strewn count,ry- o£ the moon. One could- nee-torn uniforms, rifles in ■protiiBion, -tin helmets; thousands'of castawaj •bombs/ Btrctehers sticking up -gauiiU} .from the 'ground, and -all tho desolation and wreckage pt-fte Aa a, wrpreant 6aid to me: • I don t think even Patsy M'GiU could' 'describe this. Hut at that vague hour one was spared the .realities of broad daylight; one did not see that the uniforms were soaked in bbod, and- that, the, buttons hi* been rinne'd oil for souvenirs, nor that tlio tin .•helmets - were splashed wlth . , i(l ma " f brain, and • broken haversacks did not reveal indecently the ■ privueics of some dead man, Ins soap; his socks, his home letters 1 Btrewn ivliero ltoracß and mines trampled on-them. One of the most .'dramatic pictures in •'the "book is'the. voithg officer's description of 'the . figh ting "round Th : iepval,. .-l>ut in-deed'there-is scarce a page that d9es not chronicle somo tlie'ed -of - gallantry or heroically quiet defianco of danger, . Australia' may well' he proud of her sons who fought in tlie great war, and in tho long years to como such, records as those of Adrian Stephen will', it is to he hoped, be cherished amongst the most priceless literary heirloom's of the Commonwealth.- •