278 



Till'. (H'II)I-: TO NATURE 



Japanese Attitude Toward Animals. 

 \i VSUJIRO HONDA, "I Mil SOI [ETY 

 FOR ill E HUM w l PRO! El I tON 



I IF \ \ I \l M.S. .1 VPAN. 



Japanese mytholog) indicates the 

 fact thai our early ancestors became 

 settled agriculturists without passing 



MASUTIRO HONDA. 



through the pastoral stage of evolu- 

 tion. The physical conditions of the 

 island country preclude pastoral indus- 

 try almost entirely. We have not 

 therefore sufficiently learned how to 

 take care of animals, and what domes- 

 tic animals we have are poor in size, 

 quality and variety. 



Buddhism, on the other hand, in- 

 stilled in our minds the sinfulness of 

 taking life in whatsoever form it may 

 be. Confucianism has also taught us 

 to extend our benevolence even to 

 plant creation. One of our classical 

 poets expressed in his immortal verse, 

 the idea that he would offer flowers to 



Buddha as they stand and thrive in the 

 field, because the hands that cut and 

 mutilate the beautiful things must 

 surely defile them. The Japanese art 

 of floral arrangement was in itself in- 

 spired by an untold compassion on the 

 blossoms that people carelessly picked 

 for momentary enjoyment and threw 

 on the -round without thought. The 

 desire to keep alive those discarded 

 flowers as long as possible was the 

 origin of floral compositions of grace- 

 ful lines and harmonious colors. 



Dogs and cats are allowed to bask 

 in the sun in the middle of the street 

 or road, without molestation on the 

 part of drivers and foot-passengers. 

 The late George T. Angell of Boston 

 wrote to us and praised us for this. 

 Farmers as a rule keep only one ox or 

 horse for plowing and as a beast of 

 burden, and the animal is a member of 

 the family. He lives usually under the 

 same roof with the family, at one end 

 of the house. If therefore the animal 

 coughs, or sneezes, or shows any other 

 signs of ill-health, he will be cared for 

 at once. As our domestic industry 

 passes into factory labor to some ex- 

 tent, steam and electricity are gradu- 

 ally- lightening the burden of carrier 

 animals. 



Cruelty to dumb animals does exist, 

 we must admit, but it is largely from 

 ignorance rather than malice. And our 

 extreme abhorrence to take lives pro- 

 duced a negative kind of cruelty in 

 allowing sick or wounded animals to 

 linger on in their suffering. We 

 humane workers of Japan, therefore, 

 are endeavoring to educate the public 

 in the sentiment of the positive love 

 and better care of the dumb creation. 

 The name of our organization has 

 lately been changed in the Society for 

 the Humane Protection of Animals, as 

 the word cruelty was considered un- 

 desirable and unpleasant. As yet we 

 do not feel the need of penalizing mal- 

 treatment of animals. What cruelty 

 there is is dealt with by police regula- 

 tions, the means employed being ad- 

 monition, fine, detention, or immediate 

 redress of the wrong done. 



Our method of work being essenti- 

 ally educative, books, booklets and 

 lectures are much resorted to. Such 



