Show aa ar J ja 1 1 p 4 wi rr aw t g awl I 1 f Z ei SG W politeness is re w fal the world over dem dares clares hamilton holt ed aba aitor of 0 the independent mr air holt recently returned from a tour of observation that covered japan korea and manchuria not even eien the french can surpass them in that respect he continues such pretty genuine and universal courtesy from all classes high and low I 1 havo have never experienced in cleanliness no people in the world approaches them it probably probable not very far from the truth to say that every japanese man yoman woman and an d child takes a hot bath every day going over to korea from japan I 1 went down don u into the hold of the steamer Bt eainer about midnight there were or more third class passeri passengers kers fast asleep all packed in like figs in throe three tiers of beds though the only ventilation came from a skylight above the room was wals as fresh and odorless as the deck above those who have visited lae steerage of ani any transatlantic liner leven the best will I 1 appreciate appie clate this novel no el experience the cheerfulness and contentedness of the japanese are as apparent to any visitor as their politeness and cleanliness every japanese Ja has a perpetual perli smile on oil his face facci ile ha has schooled himself to bo be contented As for their in reference to art architecture and painting I 1 shall ball refer here to two incidents I 1 went to the chrysanthemum shows la in doth both boklo and nagoya in both places the halls were literally packed with poor people who had paid good money to see ree nothing but rows of potted chrysanthemums great self control centre I 1 on oil the railroad from kyoto to to klo we suddenly carce came in sight eight of fujiyama the peerless mountain afountain vt of japan there were some 30 japanese in our compartment every passenger on tb opposite side of the th ocar car noved moved across the aisle and then the entire carload gazed lp in rapt adoration it at the sacred halt half hour we veip skirting its base their self control la is a trait that impresses every one one of the most interesting te talks I 1 had bad during my trip was with a young grandmother of forty who would not admit that we ve americans excelled the japanese because we ive were demonstrative with those we loved anil and communicated our happiness to others by freely expressing it it I 1 no spartan woman ever made sterner flees than the many japanese wives who during the russo japanese war committed suicide BO 60 that their husbands at the front would not have to waver between home and country in the battles crisis abere Is no DO doubt that the business morality in japan Is generally genei ally lower 6 than in the west the testimony of f foreigners foreline s doing business in japan Is almost unanimous on oil this point the chief complaint Is that the japanese haye hake two prices for everything and that they have but a rudimentary sense of the obligation of a contract I 1 was told for instance that it war wan a common thing for a house builder to refuse to carry out his contract if he found he had miscalculated on hla his estl estimate mate and was not joling to make a 11 profit thero there are mitigating considers cons con sidera tlona however that should be taken into account before the restoration the business men constituted the most moat despised class in japan except the criminals under the classes were graded as follows 1 the emperor above all 2 the nobles 3 the samurai 4 the farmers fan ners 6 5 artists and artisans 6 the merchants and trA tr adera derol 7 the criminals and outcasts ca ts in no country in the world la Is there more religious freedom than in japan three religions flourish shintoism buddhism and christianity Shinto lam Is the indigenous religion of japan its foundation stones are loyalty and the worship of ancestors heroes and nature ShInto lara la Is the rell religion gloa of the emperor and consequently Is favored by the government its moral precepts are taught in the schools buddhism sin has for its central doctrine the unity of all life and the brotherhood of man while its ita ideal la is life made glorious by self belt conquest and exalted by boundless love and lindom lit dom A japanese can bo be and often la Is an adherent of both and buddhism temples beautiful buddhism alone ofearl the world religions has never carried on its ita propaganda by the sword it is now nov divided into a great number of 0 sects of 0 late it has witnessed a decided revival in japan though neither nor buddhism has the clear conception ot of a personal god that christianity offers the great man of noble character la Is held to be the direct impersonation of 0 the divine spirit of 0 course a large laige part of our sightseeing was visiting the shrines irinea st and temples many of them beautiful beyond description I 1 can never for get the shinto shrines in woodland glades which no human being ever enters where the many gaze reverently through the latticed windows into the twilight silence within and where abide abad e divinities and ghosts of coble men nor can I 1 cease to remember the soft enchantment of the buddhist temples the deep music of the great bells the green pence peace of the gardens haunted by fearless things doves that nutter flutter down at call fishes rising to be fed 1 I shall be expected to say some thing about the present status japan most alost travelers return from japan either cither missionary pro oravill or missionary anti if they have ba vernade made their headquarters as perhaps most do in yokohama and kobe anti anil rain gl aled e d almost exclusively with the foreign business men they are likely to take the antl anti missionary point of view they will not get an anti missionary ahn impression however it they er spend most of their time lime among the japanese as a I 1 did while it Is true irue that christianity la Is probably not keeping pae pace w with th the growth of population christian ethical standards hive have already permeated the ration nation and are universally r incorporated into the japanese social system acceptance of christianity as aa such has haa hardly touched the upper and lower classes it has its footing fooling almost entirely in the middle class the students as with us are especially susceptible to its appeal the two chief hindrances to the spread of christianity aside from worldwide causes seem to be the present diversity ind and antagonism of denominations and the quite obvious alg cre pancy between christian Chilst lan profession and practice when christian nations offer themselves as moral leaders leader after the rapacity with which they have established themselves in the orient the educated Japa japanese to Is tempted to smile at the incongruity |