OUR JAVANESE ALLY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 36, 1 February 1908, Page 3

OUR JAVANESE ALLY.

AN UiNFLATTEKIXt; CRITIC. Air, VV. S. Jones, of Oaiuaru, has been giving his impressions of Japan and her people iu a series of articles, from which the following extracts are made: — From a western standpoint, Japan is an inversion of all eodiiied ideas of morality. As a result, many things are done in Jajian which severely shock Kuropean ideas oi propriety. Amongst thu people the honour of the parents is the first consideration, and auceslorwurship is their whole religion. They are totally deficient ot any standard of nioralily, either commercial or social. •Japanese women are regarded simply as chattels, and chivalry luwanls them is unknown iu the country. The duty ol the young girl is obedience to her parcuts. This is her whole creed, and she consents to be sold to a life of shame ungrudgingly. It is the will ol her parems, and the money it brings will enable them to live in comfort. It is not depravity as judged by Japanese standards. Society smiles upon the system, and it has the complete approval of the Alikadu and his advisers. .Money is the. impelling cause, and Shinto is its apostle. Frail womankind is not ostracised by its more fortunate sisters; it is often honoured for its sacrifice. With men it is essentially a business proposal, carried out on the generally accepted principle that women are a legal medium ot exchange. The average male Japanese, whatever he may appear to liis own people, no longer merely juggles with the truth, he is a polished liar. Perhaps he owes this to Ms country. Who can say: At any rate it somewhat equalises matters to enter into the contest of wits armed with this knowledge. A writer Inis said: "The chief defect of Japanese morality is the minor jilace it t gives to the individual." A countless procession of ancestors, extending into the dim past, occupies all his virtuous thoughts. It is fate, and the son -.f -Nippon is first and lust a fatalist. The commercial reputation of the Japanese throughout the East—indeed, throughout the world—is an uuenviaffic one.

The average tradesman is utterly mreliahlc, and the infringement of trademarks is carried on wholesale. Hundreds of cases were, pending while the writer was in the country, but as the Court invariably upheld the defendant iu his plea that he "used the labels that he might sell his gouds," any chance of securing an injunction was hopeless. The Japanese are a demonstrative people, and fetes are held in honour ef everything oll'cring the slightest excuse. The Emperors birthday, his marriage day, hi, patron saint's day, his christening day, arc all made the occasion for a liberal display of flags and paper lanterns, the ••uainedays ' of his ancestors extending back in an unbroken line for "iIHUI years being similarly dignified, uie various llower seasons are. marked by festivals—the camelia, the plum, and the cherry, the lotus, the chrysanthemum and the maple. Flower worship in the country is traditional. The cherry

blossoms beautify the landscape in April and Jlav, aud in the latter month the

wistaria comes into bloom, lasting lor about eight weeks. The azalea- and iris lluwer in .lime, the lotus in August, and the chrysanthemum in October and November. Of all the flowers the wistaria perhaps most nearly approaches perfection. At Kasukalie, near lokio, there is a vine OOfi years old glorilied by thousands of blossoms during the season, some of them three and four feet long. The man in the street participates in the festivities, but often has only a hazy notion of what he is celebrating. He becomes wildly enthusiastic because enthusiasm is infectious in Japan, and the shopkeepers have signalled some cause for jubilation by erecting long rows ol lanterns and festoons of coloured paper. A luneral is a ceremony marked by great rejoicing, and except for the presence of the collin reclining upon the raised bier it would be imagined that the procession was one et' revellers. There is no suspicion of mourning. I lie colours are bright, and the faces of the people indicate that no element of sorrow is allowed to insinuate itself. The departed friend or relative has gone to join those ancestors who through life he lias worshipped as the embodiment 01 all the virtues; therefore he is to be envied. 1 mie was when all Japanese women willi a proper sense ol their duty to sociely blackened their teeth and shaved their eye-brows on entering the married stuie. .Now it is just as remarkable to see a young woman who has submitted lo siien disligUßinein as it is to meet one of over tony who has not permitted this hideous fashion of a past

generation. .Neatness and cleanliness are two of the most striking characteristics: of the rate. The linger-nails of both sexes, in nearly every walk of life, are carefully trimmed and the hands are well-shaped. .No one manicures nine methodically than the Japanese, but a peculiarity, no doubt traditional, is still practised—tin* nail of the little iingor being allowed to grow any length up to an inch, then being tapered oil' to a shape somewhat resembling the nib of a fountain pen. The hair-dressing of the ■Japanese ladies, and indeed of all women in the country, is an artistic triumph, and in many instances it requires the savings ol some considerable period to meet the coilfeur's bill, m these circumstances it is net surprising that the operation is not repeated mure frequently than once in three weeks. Howeversuch is the care exercised by the owner of the liberally-oiled tresses that one might be paruoaed tor thinking that they were the object of constant attention. Every hair appears to be in the light place, milling being avoided by the use as a pillow of a block of wood, shaped in the centre to fit the neck. The Japanese woman's head-dress is her greatest pride, and she will submit lo any discomlort rather than that her hair should be disarranged. An agreeaole survival of the traditional Japanese politeness is the elaborate bow with which compatriot and foreigner alike are greeted, liven the (Jiloertian extravaganza cannot exaggerate its deliberateness. it is the never-failing salutation, aud is eloquent with tile natural courtesy of the people. But the more pronounced the obeisance the greater the need tor Keeping a firm Hold of one's .pursestrings. The reverence of the country will very quickly resolve itself imc, the sordid terms ol pounds, shillings, and pence. The cries of the night are unique. The blind woman pathetically proclaims her calling as a masseuse, and her petition for assistance is pitifully ire.jiient; the custodians for the various large establishments persistently beat Iheir slicks to scare away the devils which haunt the darkness; and in uie belt of the night Ihe watchman clanks a multifarious assortment of iron instruments m luken of his oilier. This latter seeks io warn oil' the possible depredator rather than to take him in lla"rante delicto by appearing upon tile scene with rubber-soled uoiselessness.

'flu- authorities are alive lo the necessity for maintaining the secrecy of their fortifications, and the camera of the tourist is ever looked upon with tsusI'lcion. The open parade grounds .are sedulously guarded from the gratuitous attentions of visitors, while at Moji and "ther strategic points the carrying of a camera in the town its a penal offence In dnpmi, as in Germany, the uniform Injure., conspicuously. The CO unlrv- is practically under martial rule, and com. panics ol soldiers arc to he seen everywhere The army is systcmatieaiiv kept on a war footing, and from th'cli 'leiuonstnitions which are from time 10 time made in the various centres, H 1 would.appear not that Japan had just lmished a lierye-raciiing struggle some two years before, but thatsho was moliiusing her forces for imminent uoullict. Soldiers mid policemen arc recruit"d to preserve the law of the country, which i- only a law unto the people' of tlint country themselves. The municipal behaviour "I the inhabitants is exemplary the thermometer ol national integrity'is at zero, "

W hilf Japan in beeomiiig a great military Power, she is also attaining (, 0 solm , eiiiiiieuc-e ill the coiiimcrcial world. The strength of her navy makes for trade, and >l|e has proved the toughness of her bulwarks on t lie China Seas in a practical manner. JSut the history of the world proves that the increase of commerce ami the march of progress invariably takes place at the expense of natural beauty. Picturcsipienoss is ruthlessly rooted out to provide room lor faclorics and stores and railways. When a country assume, l|i.i mantle "I civili-atiotl it sheds the greatest ~f its attracli'ilis-ilistiiieliveness-- ami sinks it- individuality in the common 1 Nea of trade. Japan has imitated more | or les, successfully all the known inventions of the West, and it mav confidently lie expected that froni the present stage of evolution she will develop into a tolerable semblance 0 f Western civilisation in a setting of Western methods, 1