EDITORIAL 
27 
America-Japan Magazine. 
We have been tavored with several 
back numbers ot “America-Japan,” 
published in Tokyo, Japan. This maga- 
zine contains much interesting reading 
and is evidently doing good work in 
helping Japanese and Americans to un- 
derstand one another. Of that under- 
standing there is need. Here at Ar- 
cAdiA we have always believed, as evi- 
denced by the establishment of our Lit- 
tle Japan, in cultivating friendly rela- 
tions with that rapidly growing na- 
tion, as we believe in the innate good- 
ness, faithfulness and effectiveness of 
the Japanese people. But more than all 
that, we believe that they have an ideal 
point of view in their love of nature 
and its aesthetic portrayal. The trouble, 
so far as there is any trouble and 1 do 
not believe there is much, is that we 
often misunderstand the Japanese 
methods and possibly they sometimes 
misunderstand ours. As this magazine 
so nicely puts it, “The story used to be 
told of the good missionary who 
preached long and earnestly to a Jap- 
anese audience about the dignity of 
human life. But as he unfortunately 
said ninjin (carrots) instead of ningen 
(mankind) his polite audience misun- 
derstood him altogether. He was talk- 
ing of one thing and they were thinking 
of something very different.” 
The editor of The Guide to Na- 
ture especially appreciates “America- 
Japan” as a magazine of peace 
and good will, but in addition he 
personally appreciates it because John 
Trumbull Swift, schoolmate of the 
editor of The Guide to Nature, 
is editor of “America-Japan,” in Tokyo. 
John, you work away at the big Jap- 
anese end of the line and we will tell 
our people here in Little Japan the good 
qualities of your adopted people and 
show our people the artistic decorations 
of our Rest Cottage by your people. As 
Thoreau said that there should be a 
little of spring in all seasons, so I think 
the more of Japan you can scatter to 
our Little Japan over in America the 
better we will hyphenate America- 
Japan. 
Nature’s Mirror. 
BY BERNARD E. JOHNSON, GLADYS, VIRGINIA. 
Where the water ripples onward 
On its journey to the sea, 
Still traveling downward, onward, 
It forms a mirror for nature and for me. 
Nature in Japan. 
[From a personal letter from a school- 
mate, Professor John Trumbull Swift, to the 
editor of this magazine. Not "to the Editor’’ 
but “My dear Ed." How much a slight 
variation means!] 
Nature in Japan is particularly at- 
tractive because Japan is an island 
country and her picturesque scenery is 
all close together within a compara- 
tively small area. Her hills and valleys 
are close to the sea. Paths lead along 
almost every ridge so one has every- 
where glimpses of inland mountains or 
blue waters which give to walking a 
double pleasure. \\ hat increases this 
pleasure immensely is the simple fact 
that there are no fences and one may 
walk almost anywhere in the country. 
Life in Japan is, according to the na- 
ture of the people, largely arranged ac- 
cording to convention. In the winter 
the thing to do is to go out into the 
suburbs to some garden to view the 
plum blossoms which begin to bloom 
in January. What is admired is not a 
young tree full of bloom, but some old 
stump with just a half dozen scattered 
flowers upon it. In April we have the 
flowering cherry which is the national 
emblem of the Japanese people, beauti- 
ful but short-lived. The trees are so 
full of bloom that when the wind 
strikes them we have the “cherry snow” 
which is always admired. Of cherry 
trees the weeping cherry is the most 
beautiful. I remember one seen years 
ago in the mountains, a wild tree, tall 
and slender, as graceful as any willow, 
standing like a great fountain of coral 
pink against the dark green of the hills 
about it. The August flower is the 
morning-glory, the fad of elderly gen- 
tlemen who devote much time to cul- 
tivating the plant in pots, and develop- 
ing it in size and color. Of the latter 
there are a great variety of tones. To 
secure the best results one has to get 
up at midnight and water one’s plants 
so that the flowers may be fresh and 
full when they open at sunrise. 
The autumn flower is the chrysanthe- 
mum which is also the imperial flower 
of the country. Then it is that the won- 
derful gardens of the Akasaka palace in 
Tokyo are opened to favored visitors 
and one wanders along winding paths 
under ancient pine trees interspersed 
with brilliant maples until the spaces 
devoted to the crysanthemums are 
reached. Many tourists come in the 
