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REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



Decemlier 1, 1913. 



had not been " fortified by fixed principles " 

 to " safegfuard them " against acquiring any 

 sympathy with Eastern peoples. Therefore 

 they did so understand and sympathise. 



Mr. Fielding-Hall illustrates every 

 point by actual examples taken from his 

 own experience of administration, and 

 his suggestions for reform are most rea- 

 sonable and their application more than 

 necessary with the increasing tension 

 caused by a rigid bureaucracy. The 

 writer concludes : — 



So with an understanding and a sym- 

 pathetic personnel the administration would 

 be brought nearer to the people, until at 

 length, when their capacity for self-govern- 

 ment had developed, they would be able to 

 take over our administrative machine little 

 by little and work it themselves. 



They could never do that now. If by any 

 chance they did get possession of the 

 machinery now they would set to work to 

 smash it till none remained. 



LESSONS FOR JAPAN. 



Dr. Jigoro Kano, President of the 



Higher Normal College, writes in " The 



Japanese Magazine," giving the results 



of his observation during his recent tour 



round the world. Dr. Kano entitles his 



remarks, " How Japan will Change," and 



notes the improvements which have taken 



place since his journey some twenty 



years ago. The writer first deals with 



the question of material wealth, and 



asks, " Why is the West so rich and 



Japan so poor" and finds the answer in 



the inferior organising ability of his race 



and the lack of concentration necessary 



to build up large mercantile interests : — 



Another reform we should endeavour to 

 bring about is the abolition of the custom 

 of retiring from the activities of life as soon 

 as we get a little money, and leaving busi- 

 ness to our children. This custom of going 

 " inkyo " is retarding the progress of our 

 national development. Just when a man has 

 achieved success and has reached the richest 

 period of experience, he gives up and lets 

 those without the advantage of his know- 

 ledge plod on alone. He indeed goes to 

 swell the ranks of the idle, which cannot be 

 good for civilisation. The Western custom 

 of wearing out instead of rusting out has 

 had a valuable effect upon national progress 

 that we in Japan have been losing in the 

 past. 



Dr. Kano is impressed b\- the su]3erior 



advertising resources and methods of 



other countries in contrast with the 



aloofness of the Japanese: — 



Japan has not only much to receive from 

 foreign countries, but she has much to give ; 

 and it is to be regretted that as yet we have 

 done little or nothing to make our country 



well known abroad. True we have been ap- 

 preciated for our prowess in war, and for 

 our art in painting and ceramics; and we 

 are now importing raw material and sending 

 back manufactures to the sources of our 

 imports ; but the real Japan the West does 

 not know ; and it is our duty to teach th<- 

 world what we are and what we can do. 

 Unless we take the trouble and expense to 

 reveal our " Yamato-damashii " to the West, 

 then the only hope of peace with Occidentals 

 is to be absorbed by their civilisation ; we 

 must abandon our own and accept theirs, ' 

 they will have none of us. But if we teach 

 the world the imeaning of our civilisation, the 

 West will see that it has as much to learn 

 from us as to give us, and peace between 

 East and West will be based on mutiial 

 assimilation instead of one-sided absorption. 

 This is a matter of vital importance to our 

 international future. The West will not learn 

 our language; so we shall have to teach 

 the West about Japan by means of Western 

 languages. 



The writer concludes by emphasising 

 the need for ideals in education : — 



I beg to say finally that we need greater 

 improvement in domestic and moral educa- 

 tion. I have been convinced by my travels, 

 as well as my experience in educational 

 work, that we have to depend more and more 

 on the character of the teacher as a moulder 

 of moral nature in the schoolroom. It is the 

 living example that counts. We must insist, 

 moreover, on greater attention to parental 

 duties, so that the moral and other lessons 

 taught at school may be supported and made 

 effective in the home. Any neglect in these 

 matters is fatal to education and th^^ future 

 of the nation. 



SHINTO SHRINES. 



" The Treasury " for October prints 

 an article on .Shinto shrines, b\' .S. Bal- 

 lard. 



The Shinto shrines of Japan, (he 

 says) form one of the most interesting 

 features of an interesting country. 

 They are to be found on the tops of 

 lonely mountains, as well as in the heart 

 of busy cities, and the wealth of local 

 tradition and folk-lore connected with 

 them is such as is only to be found in 

 a country where religion is based on 

 the worship of national hejroes . . . 

 One result of the death of the late Em- 

 peror has been a revival of Shintoism, 

 which is much encouraged by the Gov- 

 ernment. Shinto shrines have been 

 erected in Government schools, and on 

 festival days the scholars are often 

 marched to the shrine of the local deity, 

 where they are expected to make a bow. 

 There is reason to believe that Chris- 

 tianity will some day supersede the 

 Shinto faith. 



