lifiieu of HfV'tenx, l/?:0*!. 



INTERVIEWS ON TOPICS OF THE MONTH. 



AUSTRALASIAN INTERVIEWS. 



LXXXV. -PROFESSOR ISHIKAWA. PH. D., DELEGATE FROM TOKIO UNIVERSITY 

 TO THE MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS. 



Professor' Ishikawa. 



A chat with Pro- 

 t'fssor Ishikawa, 

 Doctor of Philoso- 

 l)hy at the Tokio 

 L'niversity, Japan, 

 w as an inspiration. 

 Professor Ishikawa 

 had just returned 

 from Adelaide when 

 1 saw him in tiie 

 liome of Dr. Bevan, 

 whose guest he was, 

 and he was prepar- 

 ]'v^ for a trip to the 

 ISlack Spur in com- 

 p.my with Profes- 

 .sor Vasilyev, just 

 l)rioi to his depar- 

 ture to his liome. 



N'eedless to sa} . 

 Professor Ishikawa 

 stated himself to be 

 in love with the 

 countr)' and the 

 people who were for 

 the time his hosts. 

 L'riiane, dignified, jioiite to a degree (how our ag- 

 |,rressiveness must grate on a refined Oriental mind). 

 Professor Ishikawa is the emhodiment of educated 

 refinement. 



Of course to a L'ni\ersit\ Professor, the chief ob- 

 ject of study would lie the educational systems of the 

 land of his visit, and the Professor declared him- 

 self to be enamoured fif our educational system. 

 " What is your system of education in Jajjan ?' I 

 -ked him. " Is it compul.sory, 1s it free, is it in 

 the hands of the Government ?.' 



" Our schools are not free,", he said. " We have 

 Ijoth ])rivale and pul>lic .schools, and a small fee is 

 charged for instruction, so low, however, that it is 

 not a harrier to any family "desirous of educating 

 their children. As a matter, of fact, if parents are 

 too poor to send the children to school, the ])ayment 

 IS remitted. Our sy.stem is very complete, and a 

 bov or girl on go right U)i to the L'niversities with- 

 out verv much expense. In each village or town we 

 have a kind of Council, of which the Mayor is the 

 head, and one of its chief duties is to go about 

 among the homes of the jjeople, enrjuiring into their 

 condition, and doing what can lie done to stimulate 

 interest in life generally, and to promote the ad- 



-,an(-ement of educational matters, which are very 

 largely su|)erintended by them." 



"' Is'the door of vour Universities open very \yide?" 



" No ; that is a thing that will need to be remedied, 

 (^ur entrance examinations are very stiff, mainly for 

 the reason ;hu our University arcommodaticn =s as yet 

 inade luate. and we could not possibly accommodate 

 all the students wdio desire to get in. Consequently, 

 we have made the entrance narrow, with the result 

 that thousands of students lose their enthusiasm, and, 

 moreover, the nation loses the benefit of their higher 

 education." 



"I su))pose the proper remedy for this is more 

 Universities ?' 



" Undoubtedly," said the Professor, with an e.\- 

 ]iressive gesture, "that would te the ideal, and I 

 heartily sujiport in my own land a movement in that 

 direction." 



Of course I could not refrain from asking Pro- 

 It ssor Ishikawa (delicate though the subject was) 

 his feelings al.out the prohibition of the mass of his 

 countrymen from settling in Australia. 



" Needless to say," he said, " neither I nor my 

 country peojile like it. It is not so much, mind you, 

 that we are prevented from fulfilling a desire to 

 come, if the desire seized us, but we feel that our 

 national dignity is affected. Surely an outcry would 

 be raised if we were to a|iply the same principles to 

 Britishers, not because they might want to come, and 

 would be thus prevented, l>ut because of the inference 

 which would necessarily follow. It really means 

 that one nation considers another unworthy to enter 

 its gates. Now, we have a Treaty with )0ur nation, 

 and vet vou class us as unworthy to enter. Of 

 course, some folks have an idea that, if the prohibi- 

 tion w-ere removed. practi<-ally all Japan is so eager 

 to escape from its own country, that it would migmte 

 to .\ustralia. Yes, I know the idea, and the strength 

 iif it in .Australia, hut it is a ridiculous one. We 

 J a]):. ne.se love our own country just as much as other 

 nationalities do theirs, and the bulk of our people 

 would no more dream of coming away from it than 

 do the liulk of the Qermans, because .Australia is 

 n])cn to the people of that nation." 



Regar.ling Japan's position in Corea, Professor 

 Ishikawa said that there was no doubt that Corea 

 woidd become Japanised in a very little time. " As 

 a matter of fact," he .said. " Martjuis Ito is directing 

 affairs there at the jiresent time." 



Upon the broader ideas of nationalism and fra- 

 tf-rnitv. Professor Ishikawa's views leave nothing to 



