| Show J a pan Is holing oung 0 A A A 4 baseball Ba ceball Is I 1 popular in japan by national C society WaA hington D C Q service HEN occidental man first WUEN W thinks about the far hast east china and japan are envisaged as being much alike indeed almost as twins hut but time enables him to discriminate historically china Is old and ethical ical the burden of all hr literature Is what ought I 1 to do japan Is young and esthetic the burden of her thought as recorded for a thousand years rears Is what Is beautiful geologically china is pre ancient japan Is recent long after mother earth had settled down to rear her earlier brood of lands japan the youngster arrived only about herec threescore years ago japan shocked her elders in asia by departing politically and socially from the ancient ways and turning toward those of the western barbarians in nature also japan has changed within our remembrance bandal san one of the eruptions on her pretty face misbehaved for hundreds of years so far as known in human record perhaps during the millenniums of unrecorded time it had been entirely dormant As suddenly as the discharge of a cannon it blew off its rocky cap in IM and killed more than human beings curiously enough in japanese the s same ame sound san serves to the ear for either mister or for mountain the onetime one time medieval village Yedo and the swift growing national capital tokyo which it became was lev aled in and again in 1923 1023 by destructive tive earth adjustments of old the rest of the world knew not of these earthquakes in the era of el electric ec wires even a tremor Is news like some vast factory town in which the blazing furnaces take a sabbath rest to begin again on monday japan has sonic some dormant volcanoes how pretty flower covered and of graceful figure they seem yet tet these mountain forms are liable at any moment to become unruly and when in these fits of deadly temper they often devastate vast areas of human habitation and alter many square miles of landscape as we saw sav in 1 1923 at least 50 of these sleeping farly like cones have the promise and potency of continued activity lovely as their outlines often are their breath may be sulphurous to ohp point of danger even een graceful fuji seemingly as demure as a virgin in her teens cannot be trusted lles lies on a bed of fire garments of green forests of grand trees the veils of bamboo thickets a tapestry of flowers or even a mantle of winter snow provide no insurance against direful outburst but if japan acts often like a fury we must excuse her because the bed on which she lies iles Is one of lire fire go down to beppu in kyushu for example where the dally daily rice Is cooked by subterranean heat where people resort to bake out or broil out their various ailments in the hot seashore sand thousands of men and women for hours even days lie ile covered with the pulverized volcanic de bals bris by wet baking or parboiling par boiling even to scarification the patients seek to expel their many ills beppu Is a delightful place for a patie patient tit with rheumatic or other miseries while there Is a fair chance of being an sall hallowed allowed owed up and changed to a cinder by some fresh outburst of melted rock such as only a century or two ago filled the valleys with scoria and lava who cares when no one can foretell the hour does not the man of beppu know that other parts of fair japan may be visited long before his turn comes did not at kagoshima of old supposed to be solid rock erupt and bury a whole town of 1000 people moreover how bow welcome the sequel to these earths outbursts fertile soil covered with a carpet of lovely flowers and plants and easily coaxed into luxuriant production of food for man I gata ga nal nai dont care Is the usual verdict on the unknown with the merry hearted sons and daughters how fair are the latter of nippon one vho aho ho had known the sons of the land ot of the gods for more than half a century classifies the two kinds of men into dont cares and those who after every repulse of nature cry let us rebuild I 1 then caleb like ille these hearten others by declaring we are well ell awe alae to do it like natures dress which later clothes in threefold loveliness with ith color beauty and perfume what was once fiery scoria the maidens know how to add to their physical charms through the witchery of raiment in his ideas of beauty and especially of d dress ress patterns and wha whatever Is applied to bodily wear the japanese artist designer excels for variety and originality he possibly leads the world men and women in their garb lovingly copy natures woods moods when a maiden adds to her faultlessly graceful costume a fujiyama neck and shoulders with a superb coiffure who can do less than admire was it lackadaisical in the native poet to write of her one glance find and you would give your province another and you would barter your kingdom love their lands beauty yet as of for their women as expressed in strains of admiration so also and more have their poets written of the beautiful scenery and the special features of their native land they reckon even clouds mist sunrise glow and sunset glory as part of their count rys lire life and adornment yet it Is not they but we who say her of nature for personification Is rare in japanese literature art or Ian language guage of a thousand figures of speech in poetry many of which refer to the tha moon scarce a dozen bear any resemblance to the description of that luminary as a fair maiden with white fire laden ne nevertheless apart front from literature in japan all nature Is alive with personality sona lity the mountains especially in the beauty spots are inhabited by gods and goddesses to the average native these personalities in the realm of imagination seem as real as the virgin priestesses at the shinto shrines every bear ear at the invitation and u under rider the direction of the imperial court thousands of the short 31 syl table lable poems are sent for oblivion or glory by the people from beggar boy to noble to the courts staff of literary appraisers and censors after due scrutiny and appraisement rewards are meted out not to rhymesters rhy tor for there are none but to the poets but let us come down to facts and figures of area and population and of fac facilities fifties of movement by land and sea travel today in the japanese empire Is one of luxury and detailed convenience as compared with what existed CO years ago japan proper Is now threaded with miles of railways and trolleys rivers are crossed by countless bridges and the ocean paths to all continents are traversed by ships that move with an affluence and punctuality that are akin to the movements of the heavenly bodies intellectual preparation for change had been in progress a century or more before the arrival of president peaceful armada of japans modern history la is truly as much one of interior discipline as of any reinforcement from the outside on the other hand americas intervention under perry was really an extension and fresh application of the Jk monroe lonroe doctrine it came at an opportune time the old mikado or emperor komel was nearing his demise and his son and heir who was destined to rule the new japan in the longest reign 1867 1912 known in the nations history was soon to take the throne during his reign the compromise between the personalities and energies representing war and peace resulted in shattering forever the chinese claim of sovereignty over the Nan bansei sei islands and korea and rolled back the tide of Itus and european aggression honshu the chief island the present day empire consists of 0 the four large islands of japan proper with nearly smaller ones taiwan formosa karafuto Kara futo the portion of sakhalin Sak halin below the fiftieth parallel of north latitude and korea the count rys life centers on main island honshu the chief theater of its history here Is the bulk of the population and here are the chief cities towns and villages are thickly clusty clustered e d hence in the minds of fo foreigners this large island with its S SG 00 oo square miles ot of area Is practically japan to risk a further computation one fancies that so 80 per cent of all visitors to japan do honshu only nevertheless th eless kyujin with busy nagasaki on its sout southwest hest tip being the historic home of the dutch who for nearly three centuries kept the world informed concerning the hermit nation Is far from un unknown knowla to the world a large |
