Part 4 (1/2)

Much has been said in regard to the commercial honor and integrity of the j.a.panese. Our first American minister to j.a.pan, Townsend Harris, p.r.o.nounced them ”the greatest liars upon the face of the earth.” A foreign employee in a government school, when asked concerning the native character, replied in two words--_deceit_ and _conceit_. The numerous exceptions to upright dealing in mercantile circles seem to justify these judgments. Native merchants are unreliable in such matters as punctuality, veracity, and the keeping of contracts. They will do all in their {68} power to avoid the fulfilment of a contract which would entail a loss. The artisan cla.s.s is even more unreliable in these respects than are the merchants.

To offset this, it should be said that, while the people are frequently unreliable in private matters, in public affairs and in all governmental relations they are honest and fair-dealing. Public office is seldom perverted for private ends, and the national conscience would quickly call to account any official who would enrich himself at the public expense. In this respect j.a.pan is in striking contrast with the other nations of the East, and, alas! with many of those of the West as well.

I have not endeavored to give an exhaustive statement of the national characteristics of the j.a.panese people, but have simply tried to give enough to help my readers to an appreciation of the native character.

I have endeavored to be strictly truthful and at the same time to do justice to the race. While fully recognizing the failings of the j.a.panese, we must also recognize the great improvement of the national character in recent years, and must remember that they are in many respects laboring at a great disadvantage, and deserve, not hatred and contempt, but our warmest sympathy and love.

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IV

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS

A study of the manners and customs of foreign peoples is both interesting and profitable. If we have no knowledge of the customs of other nations we are apt to think that our own customs have their ground in eternal reason, and that all customs differing from ours are necessarily false and wrong. But if we study the manners of other lands, and learn of the daily observance of customs many of which are squarely opposed to our own, and which nevertheless work well, we will be led to value our own customs at their true worth, and to realize that we have not a monopoly of all that is good, convenient, and useful.

To know the manners and customs of a country is to know much about that country. There is no truer index of the character of a people's life.

Knowing these, the prevailing morality and governing laws may be very largely inferred. In fact, {70} every phase of a nation's life has so intimate a connection with the manners and customs that a study of these is exceedingly profitable.

Such a study is especially necessary to those who would gain a correct knowledge of the nature and difficulties of mission work in foreign lands. The customs of a people will have a direct bearing upon mission work among them. If Christianity violates national customs it will be condemned; if it observes them it will be tolerated. Whether it observes or violates them must depend upon the nature of the customs themselves. The success of Christianity in any country will depend, in part, upon the nature of the customs prevalent there. Therefore it is wise for us to study those of j.a.pan, in order to a better understanding of the people and of the condition and prospects of mission work among them.

One of the most striking facts in connection with j.a.panese customs is that many of them are exactly opposed to those which prevail in the West. People who have been accustomed to doing certain things one way all their lives, and have come to look upon that as the only way, upon coming out here are shocked to find these very same things done in precisely the opposite way. This is so to such an extent that j.a.pan has been called ”Topsyturvydom.” But to those who are acquainted with the customs of both East and {71} West it is a serious question which one is topsy-turvy. After one has become used to them, many of the customs appear just as sensible and convenient as those of America or Europe. Why this opposition, we do not know, but perhaps the fact that the j.a.panese are antipodal to us makes it fitting that their customs should be antipodal too. I will point out a few of the things that are so different.

The manner of making books and of writing letters is very different from that to which my readers are accustomed. An Occidental has an idea that something inherent in things necessitates that a book begin at the left side, and the thought of beginning at the other side appears to him ridiculous. But in reality it is every whit as convenient, fitting, and sensible to begin at one side as at the other; and all j.a.panese books begin at the side which people of the West call the end, i.e., at the right side, and read toward the left. While English books are printed across the page in lines from left to right, j.a.panese books are printed from right to left in columns. An Occidental generally turns the leaves of his book from the top with his left hand; an Oriental turns them from the bottom with his right hand.

In Western libraries the books are placed on their ends in rows; in j.a.pan they are laid flat down on their sides and piled up in columns.

If we see several good dictionaries {72} or encyclopedias in a man's study we are apt to infer that he is a man of studious habits; the j.a.panese of olden times inferred just the opposite. The idea seems to have been that a scholar would already have the meaning and use of all words in his head and would not need to refer to a dictionary. A j.a.panese friend who came into my study one day expressed great surprise at seeing several large dictionaries there. ”You have certainly had better educational advantages than I have,” he said, ”and yet I can get along with a very small dictionary; why cannot you?” Upon inquiry, I learned that many j.a.panese keep their dictionaries concealed, because they do not want it said that they must refer to them often.

The manner of addressing letters in j.a.pan is exactly opposed to ours.

Take a familiar example. We write:

MR. FRANK JONES, 110 Gay Street, Knoxville, Tennessee.

A j.a.panese would write it:

Tennessee, Knoxville, Gay Street, 110, JONES, FRANK, MR.

The latter is certainly the more sensible method, because what the postmaster wants to see is not {73} the name of the man to whom the letter is addressed, but the place to which it is to go.

In matters of dress there are some customs quite opposed to our own.

The American lady, especially if she goes to a ball, has her neck and arms bare, but she would be shocked at the very mention of having her feet bare. The j.a.panese lady puts her heaviest clothing on her arms and shoulders, but does not at all mind being seen with bare feet and ankles. Many of the ladies do not wear any foot-gear at all in the house, but these same women could hardly be induced to expose their arms and necks as Western women do.

A Western lady is very anxious to have a thin, narrow waist; her j.a.panese sister wants a broad one. In the West curly hair is highly prized on girls and women; in the East it is considered an abomination.

If you tell a little girl here that her hair is curly, she will consider it a disgrace and will cry bitterly. The most striking difference in regard to dress, however, is in mourning dress. Whereas in the West it is always black, in j.a.pan it is always white.

Another remarkable contrast is found in the relation of the s.e.xes. In America the woman is given the precedence in everything. Her husband, and all other men who come within her influence, must serve and honor her. Attend an evening party and see woman in her glory. How {74} the men crowd round her, anxious to serve or entertain! When supper is announced they vie with one another for the honor of escorting her to the dining-room. She must have first seat at table and be first served, and during the progress of the meal the men must be careful to see that she has everything her sweet will desires. When supper is over the ladies precede the men to the drawing-room, and by the time the men again appear on the scene the ladies, including the hostess, are settled in the easiest chairs. When the time for departure has come it is my lady who announces to the hostess--not the host--her departure, and her husband or escort simply awaits her bidding. In j.a.pan all of this is changed. The man takes precedence everywhere, and the woman must serve him. At meals the woman must first wait on her husband and then she herself may eat. When, guests come, the husband is the chief entertainer, and the wife takes a back seat and says little. On pa.s.sing through a door, entering a train or carriage, etc., the husband always precedes his wife. When walking on the street together she does not walk by his side, but comes along behind. The men do not intend to mistreat the women; they simply take what they regard their due as the head of the family.

Among the customs most peculiar in the eyes of Westerners and most squarely opposed to their {75} own are those relating to marriage. In j.a.pan the young man and woman have nothing whatever to do with the match-making, except to give their consent to the arrangements of their parents; and frequently even this is not asked. The wedding is arranged in some such manner as this: Whenever the parents of a young man think their son old enough to get married they secure the services of some friend, who acts as ”go-between.” It is the duty of this party to search out a suitable girl and win the consent of her parents to the marriage. While this is going on it is not likely that either of the young people is aware of it, but as soon as the parents have arranged matters to their own satisfaction they are informed. It often happens that the man has never seen his bride until the wedding-day. Young people seldom object to the arrangements of their parents, and marriages made in this way seem to work well.

In the West the wedding often takes place in church; in j.a.pan the temples are studiously avoided at such times. There a minister is nearly always present; here they are very careful to exclude priests.