igooj Social Traditions 



ingness or even inability to form personal judg- Japanese 

 ments. Decisions in important matters are almost P^y<^^°^°iy 

 always group operations, and even in high places 

 few seem capable of standing alone. All obey orders 

 readily. In the smaller communities an accepted 

 leader, the go-no (head farmer), possesses undefined 

 local power, society not having as yet fully emanci- 

 pated itself from the feudal clan system. This last 

 Abe compared to caste rule among monkeys. It 

 is noticed, he said, that when a male has once 

 whipped his fellow, he remains master for life; no 

 matter how old or weak he may become, the other 

 dares not touch him. So with both daimyo and go-no 

 in relation to their rivals. Among humans, however, 

 the situation is still further falsified by tradition, 

 which recognizes temporary superiority as a basis 

 of permanent inheritance. 



The grip of caste among the lower classes is well The grip 

 shown in the rice fields in August, when perhaps a °^ '^^^^^ 

 million people are at work in the mud. Of these, 

 three fourths (men and women alike) wear the same 

 ancient garb — broad straw hat tied down bonnet 

 fashion, blue shirt, and light blue trousers looking as 

 though their wearer had been melted into them, for 

 it was quite impossible to see how he got them on or 

 off when wet, as they always were — while on the 

 back a broad, turtle-like shield of woven straw makes 

 known the status of the individual. Men that draw 

 fishing seines use broad hats and mat-like aprons; 

 certain venders of farm products aflFect garments 

 made almost entirely of straw, so that they look like 

 little wandering haystacks. Such variety lends great 

 picturesqueness to a crowd of Japanese peasants, 

 but binding uniformity within the group must be 



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