JAPAN 



3117 



JAPAN 



can and European models; and for a long time 

 after Japan opened its doors to Western influ- 

 ence there was a constant call for educated 

 foreigners who could assist in building up a 

 system. To-day education is compulsory be- 

 tween the ages of six and ten, and while it is 

 not free, the school boards are compelled to 

 provide tuition for those too poor to pay. 

 There are kindergartens, elementary and mid- 

 dle schools, normals, and three national uni- 

 versities; while of technical and special schools 

 there is a fair number. One decided sign of 

 the progress of Japan within the last few dec- 

 ades has been the growing care for the educa- 

 tion of girls, who receive the same instruction 

 as the boys and are as well represented in the 

 schools. Much help toward such progress has 

 been given by the mission schools, the first 

 institutions within the Empire to concern 

 themselves with the teaching of girls. 



The eagerness with which Japanese students 

 have accepted education according to Western 

 standards has been wonderful, but sometimes 

 it almost seems that the change came too sud- 

 denly. Many a young man, attempting to 

 attend the university and at the same time 

 support himself, has found the struggle too 

 difficult and has taken refuge in suicide. In- 



A TORII GATE 



Such a fantastic structure is usually placed be- 

 fore the entrance to some sacred place and also 

 is seen in harbors and water-ways. It is a super- 

 stition of Japanese sailors that fair weather and 

 success will attend them on a voyage if their craft 

 is sailed beneath the lintels of the torii. Only 

 very small boats can actually pass through the 

 gate. 



deed, there are periodic epidemics of suicide 

 on the part of young men, and authorities can 

 account for such a fact among so cheerful a 

 people only on the grounds of a too great 

 mental strain. 



Religion. Japan is a land of temples, but 

 its people are not especially religious, as that 



word is understood among Western peoples. 

 All faiths are tolerated, and Christianity has 

 made considerable progress under the protec- 

 tion of the government, the various sects pos- 

 sessing a total membership estimated at about 

 150,000. But by far the greater number of the 

 inhabitants profess either Shintoism or Bud- 

 dhism. The former is a sort of a nature wor- 

 ship which peoples the world with innumerable 

 deities, chief of whom is the sun-goddess, from 

 whom the mikados, or emperors, are supposed 

 to be descended. This original religion of the 

 country has scarcely any services except occa- 

 sional celebrations, and it exercises very little 

 influence, whether for good or ill, on the lives 

 of the people. 



Buddhism claims the majority of the peo- 

 ple, many of the Shintoists being Buddhists 

 as well, and that despite the fact that the gov- 

 ernment has since 1871 frowned upon this im- 

 ported religion. It has scores of thousands of 

 temples, some of them large and gorgeous, 

 and its high priests number over 50,000. 



Language and Literature. The language of 

 Japan stands almost by itself, not being re- 

 lated, as are its people, to the Chinese. For 

 the Chinese tongue has only monosyllables, 

 while the Japanese may have long words like 

 the English. Very many Chinese words have 

 been introduced, some so long ago that they 

 have lost their identity, and some more re- 

 cently/ but they are not pronounced as the 

 Chinese pronounce them. Japanese is an in- 

 flected language, but not strongly so. In writ- 

 ing Japanese the ideographs, or modified pic- 

 ture-writings, of China are used, though they 

 have been changed to fit the many-syllabled 

 character of the language. Many of the books 

 in fact practically all those on serious or 

 technical subjects are written in Chinese, 

 while Japanese is the language of pure litera- 

 ture, such as poetry, the drama and the essay. 

 Many Japanese are learning the English lan- 

 guage. 



Japanese literature includes poetry and 

 stories, which critics commend highly; plays, of 

 which the Japanese as a people are especially 

 fond; history, geography and works on the va- 

 rious sciences. Most of the last writings are 

 very modern, dating from the years since the 

 opening-up of the country to Western civiliza- 

 tion, about 1854. The literature of old time 

 concerned itself very largely with religious doc- 

 trines. Romances and short poems, travels 

 and diaries there were in earlier days, but they 

 were few in number and very restricted in 



