Characteristics of the Japanese People 99 



When we come into contact with a 

 foreign civilization we at first blindly 

 imitate it, because that is, according to 

 our idea, the shortest cut to our ultimate 

 goal ; but we are never satisfied to re- 

 main forever in the stage of imitation. 

 This is clearly shown by our progress 

 during the last thirty-seven years since 

 the introduction of the western culture 

 and science. Our recent evolution dif- 

 fers from the case of our forefathers in 

 this respect, that our era of imitation 

 after 1868 was very short, and the stage 

 of adaptation began very soon after, and 

 even the latter stage was simply a pass- 

 ing phenomenon before we reached the 

 stage of origination. The proof of this 

 fact was fully shown by our constitu- 

 tion. If you examine the constitution 

 of Japan from the first article to the 

 last you will find it quite different from 

 those of American or European coun- 

 tries, yet its frame and foundation are 

 in accordance with the principles of the 

 western constitutions. Therefore I 

 might say that the constitution of Japan 

 is a living monument of the origination 

 of Japanese statesmanship. 



Again, in the realm of science, we 

 have already reached the stage of origi- 

 nation by Dr Kitasato's discovery of a 

 new bacteria. He discovered it in Ger- 

 many and was decorated by the German 

 government ; and Dr Takamine, who is 

 now living in New York, discovered 

 adrenalin, a medicine which is used to 

 stop bleeding, particularly by oculists 

 in operations on the eye. Next comes 

 Baron Ito, whose untiring investigation 

 in botany made his name recognized by 

 both American and European scientists. 



Major Shimose's smokeless powder is 

 a Japanese invention, and is acknowl- 

 edged far more powerful than the En- 

 glish lyddite or the French melinite. 

 This powder is by an actual test five 

 times as strong as the European pow- 

 ders. When a shell that is filled with 

 lyddite or melinite is fired it will break 

 into ten or fifteen pieces, whereas the 



same shell filled with Shimose's smoke- 

 less powder when exploded bursts into 

 2,000 to 2,300 pieces. It is now con- 

 sidered the most powerful smokeless 

 powder ever invented, and its inventor 

 is a major in the Japanese army. Thus 

 we have already entered into the era of 

 origination. 



In closing I may here sum up in a few- 

 words that although we dearly cling to 

 the memory of the past, yet we eagerly 

 hope for a great future, and in order to 

 realize this hope we mark out the 

 ' ' grand policy of a century to come ' ' 

 with a far-reaching foresight. For 

 means to carry out this policy we come 

 to Europe and America. We go to Ger- 

 many to study the German system of 

 exactness, for they are noted for thor- 

 oughness in everything, but their system 

 was found by our experience to be too 

 stiff and inflexible. As exact and thor- 

 ough as their system is, it is much more 

 liable to leave us handicapped; therefore 

 we come to America, for the Americans 

 are the most practical people in the 

 world. They cannot mark out such an 

 exact system as the Germans, but they 

 always use their common sense and come 

 out successfully whenever they encoun- 

 ter a difficulty. They do not care so 

 much for academic principles, but they 

 have the tact to solve any question from 

 a practical point of view; thus in Anglo- 

 Saxon practicability we found our in- 

 dispensable rescue. 



OUR ASPIRATIONS 



This ' ' grand policy ' ' for our national 

 affairs, marked out "for a century to 

 come ' ' by our far-reaching foresight, 

 coupled with German exactness and 

 American practicability, will be the fu- 

 ture course of the Japanese people. 

 Then you will ask, What are your aims 

 and aspirations ? To this question I an- 

 swer that our national ambition is by 

 engrafting the western culture and 

 science upon our own institutions to 

 blend together and assimilate the two 



