NEW LIGHT FOR OLD
The Old and the New Japan jostle each other at every turn. One day we
visited the tomb of the heroic Nogi, who sacrificed his life on the
altar of _Bushido_, and the next we received at the Embassy the pupils
of the Tokyo Normal School, who will have so large a share in the
continued remodelling of the nation. The Land of the Rising Sun has
undergone decided changes within the last fifty years in her desire to
make herself the equal of the Great Powers of Christendom; she has been
willing to cast aside tradition, to modify her form of government, to
adopt Western customs. But none of these things appears to me so vital
as the reconstruction of her educational system and the free admission
of a new religious belief.
The old system of Japanese education was derived from Chinese models as
early as the eighth century, but for many hundred years it was barely
kept alive in Buddhist monasteries, and was never fully carried out
until the Tokugawa period. The higher institutions were devoted entirely
to the study of Chinese history and literature, and their object was
chiefly to train efficient servants of the State. Buddhist priests were
the usual teachers of the lower classes, but retired _samurai_ often
opened elementary schools, such as that pictured so vividly by one of
their pupils:[7]
[7] Dr. Nitobe, in "The Japanese Nation."
"This primitive school," he says, "consisted of a couple of rooms, where
some twenty or thirty boys (and a very few girls), ranging in age from
seven to fourteen, spent the forenoon, each reading in turn with the
teacher for half an hour some paragraphs from Confucius and Mencius, and
devoting the rest of the time to calligraphy. Of the three R's, 'riting
demanded the most time and reading but little, 'rithmetic scarcely any,
except in a school attended by children of the common people as distinct
from those of the _samurai_. Sons of the _samurai_ class had other
curricula than the three R's. They began fencing, _jiu-jutsu_,
spear-practice and horsemanship, when quite young, and usually took
these lessons in the early morning. As a child of seven, I remember
being roused by my mother before dawn in the winter, and reluctantly,
often in positively bad humour, picking my way barefooted through the
snow. The idea was to accustom children to hardihood and endurance.
There was little fun in the schoolroom, except such as our ingenious
minds devised behind our teacher's back."
Yet this primitive system of education trained leaders of sufficient
wisdom, unselfishness and breadth of view to guide Japan safely from the
old to the new. Okubo and Kido, two members of the embassy that was sent
to the treaty powers in 1871, discovered, upon landing in San Francisco,
that the very bell-boys and waiters in the hotel understood the issues
at stake in the election then going on. This convinced them that nothing
but education could enable Japan to hold her own beside the Western
world. Okubo said, "We must first educate leaders, and the rest will
follow." Kido said, "We must educate the masses; for unless the people
are trained, they cannot follow their leaders." Between the two, they
got something of both.
The younger generation lost no time in availing themselves of their new
privileges, and indeed they are to-day so eager for learning that, after
their daily work, many of them sit up the greater part of the night to
study. In consequence, they often grow anæmic, nervous and melancholy.
While the Japanese seem now to have adapted their elementary schools to
the needs of their people, they have not been so successful with their
secondary schools, called "middle" for boys and "high" for girls. The
course of study for boys is much the same as in this country, except
that instead of Greek and Latin they have Chinese and Yamato--old
Japanese. English occupies six hours a week through the whole five-year
course, but is taught only for reading, so that while most educated
Japanese can understand some English and have read the classics of our
literature, they may not be able to carry on a conversation in our
language. In girls' high schools there is a room that might be styled "a
laboratory of manners," where pupils have a "course in etiquette,
including ceremonial tea and flower arrangement." The certificate of the
middle school legally admits a student to the government colleges, but
as there are only eight of these institutions in the country, they
cannot receive all who apply. Consequently, students must pass a rigid
entrance examination. There are four Imperial universities, of which
that in Tokyo is the oldest and has about six thousand students, and
several private universities, one of which, Waseda, has an enrollment of
more than seven thousand.
It did not escape the notice of the wisest leaders that perhaps the
weakest point in this new educational system was its lack of moral
training, all religious teaching being forbidden in government schools.
Accordingly, in 1890, the late Emperor issued the Imperial Rescript on
Education, a printed copy of which with the Emperor's autograph is
sacredly cherished in every school, and upon which nearly all modern
Japanese text-books of ethics are based. The most important part of this
document reads as follows:
"Ye, Our subjects, be filial to your parents, affectionate to your
brothers and sisters; as husbands and wives be harmonious, as friends
true; bear yourselves in modesty and moderation; extend your benevolence
to all; pursue learning and cultivate the arts, and thereby develop
intellectual faculties and perfect moral powers; furthermore, advance
public good and promote common interests; always respect the
Constitution and observe the laws; should emergency arise, offer
yourselves courageously to the State; and thus guard and maintain the
prosperity of Our Imperial Throne, coeval with heaven and earth."
I was much interested in two secondary schools in Tokyo. We had the
pleasure of entertaining the graduating class of young men from the
Normal School. Professor Swift, who accompanied them, had been teaching
in Japan for twenty-five years, having had the present Emperor at one
time in his school. He said his students had never been received at the
Embassy before, and in fact, he thought none of them had ever been in a
European house. There were about forty of the Japanese and one young
Chinaman. I think most of them were perhaps about twenty years old. They
wore European dress, but the Japanese master came in his native costume.
According to their rules of politeness, they gathered about the door,
and could scarcely be induced to come in to shake hands with us. When
they finally did come, they backed into a corner, and in true Japanese
fashion had to be invited three times before they would enter the
tea-room.
These students go out through Japan to teach English after they
graduate. They did not speak English, however, quite so well as I had
expected, but no doubt they were a little frightened, and probably they
were more used to such questions as I heard at one school when the
teacher read to the class, "Where was Phineas when the mob gathered
about the portal?" Our guests enjoyed the mechanical bear and tiger,
for, like most people of the East, the Japanese are especially fond of
such toys. The students seemed to take interest in the photographs also,
and when one asked for music, we started the Victor and allowed them to
choose their own records.
Male and female teachers are trained in separate normal schools, which
are government institutions. All their expenses--for board, clothing,
tuition and books--are met by the State. After a preparatory course of
one year, they take the regular course of four years, which covers a
very full curriculum. Music, gymnastics, manual training, law and
economics form part of this very modern course of study, and commerce
and agriculture may be added. English is also included, but made
optional. The necessary training in teaching is given in a practice
school attached to each normal school. A shorter course of one year is
devoted chiefly to the study of methods and practical work. A severe
military training is given in the schools for males. Graduates from the
regular course are obliged to serve the State as teachers for seven
years, and those from the shorter course for two years.
[Illustration: MISS TSUDA'S SCHOOL, TOKYO.]
The second school which particularly interested me was Miss Tsuda's.
Miss Tsuda herself was one of several Japanese children from good
families who, when they were very young, were sent to America to be
educated. Three of the girls, it is said, decided at school how they
wished to live their lives. One said that above all things she should
marry for love and in the Western fashion, and so it was--she met a
young Japanese studying in America, and they were married and returned
to Japan. The second one said she wished to be a power, and she returned
home and in Japanese fashion was married by her parents to a very
prominent leader in political life. Miss Tsuda felt that she wished to
help her countrywomen, and that she would remain unmarried and devote
her life to education. So, curiously enough, these three women have
carried out the ideals of their girlhood.
The school for the higher education of Japanese girls which Miss Tsuda
has established is practically a post-graduate course, to fit them for
teachers. One class that I visited was reading really difficult
English--something of George Eliot's. Miss Tsuda herself is a graduate
of Bryn Mawr, and speaks most beautiful English--perhaps the most
perfect I have heard from any Japanese. The school is supported chiefly,
I understand, by people in Philadelphia. I was told that the Bible was
taught, but that the study of it was not compulsory, and that many of
the girls were Buddhists. These students are from all stations in life.
The outside of the buildings was in Japanese style, but the schoolrooms
were like those in America; the pupils sat in chairs and had desks. I
inquired why they did not sit on the mats, and Miss Tsuda said they had
adopted chairs and desks because the girls felt that on the whole the
chairs were more comfortable, and that they could move more quickly. It
is thought the race will grow taller if they all learn to use chairs,
instead of sitting on their legs as they have always done. The majority
of the girls had writing-boxes and books upon the floors of their own
rooms, and kept their bedding in a cupboard after the custom of their
people, but they were allowed to have chairs if they asked for them.
Hanging upon the _shoji_ were Christian mottoes, photographs of their
relatives, and in one case a picture of Nogi. European food is given
here, as well as Japanese, and our methods of cooking are taught.
These students have modern gymnastic training every day, and they also
play baseball, which the old-fashioned Japanese think very unladylike.
Every Saturday evening they play games, have charades, and act little
plays, both in English and Japanese.
On a previous visit, some years ago, L. had gone over the Imperial
University with Professor Yoshida. At that time Tokyo University and the
Engineering College had lately been amalgamated. He said it seemed
strange, coming from an American university, to see the complete neglect
of what we call classics, Latin and Greek. All the modern sciences,
medicine, the 'ologies and law were studied in English, German and
French.
One department, the seismic, established especially for the separate
study of volcanic disturbances and earthquakes, was then peculiar to
this university. It is particularly interesting to the Japanese, for
they are constantly experiencing such disturbances--the late eruption in
the province of Satsuma is a hint that results might be still more
serious.
In the art schools in Tokyo, which we visited, we saw the students
painting and carving in their peculiar, painstaking way.
An American teacher, who is not herself a missionary but has lived with
missionaries in Japan for some time, and whom I consider an impartial
judge, has given me her opinions on educational matters, including the
work of the mission schools. The Japanese need, she feels, both moral
and commercial instruction of the kind that only Western teachers can
give. This teaching should be well given by the mission schools. At
first, as in Korea, these schools were the only sources of Western
thought, so they were frequented by all the Japanese who wished for any
sort of progress. Everything was gobbled down hungrily. Even if they
were not religiously inclined, they pretended to be, for this was their
only means of learning English.
At the present time, the government schools teach Western branches, but
they are hampered by a narrow-minded educational board with antiquated
methods, and tied up by miles of red tape, so that their teaching of
Western studies is away behind the times. We might consider the English
heard all over Japan a fair sample of the superficiality that prevails,
but, to be impartial, we must take into account the difficulties that
have to be overcome by students and teachers. Because of the ideographs
and other peculiarities of their own tongue, it is far more difficult
for the Japanese to learn English than for us to learn French or German.
Government schools are superior in Japanese branches--they teach
Japanese and Chinese classics and ethics, Japanese law and ideals better
than the mission schools--and certificates from them give better
positions, so ambitious Japanese go to them, but in Western subjects
they try to do too many things. The students work only for examinations,
not for really substantial progress. This is noticeable, except in rare
individuals, who would probably progress under any conditions. The best
Japanese educators realize this as well as the foreigners and greatly
deplore it.
The reason that some of the mission schools are not so good as they
might be is that they are too much occupied with proselyting, and hardly
give more than superficial training to students. It would be better for
the Japanese in the end if more real educators were sent out rather than
so many preachers. If the mission schools would combine in having
Japanese teachers for Japanese subjects, there could be concentration of
effort and expense.
There is also a crying need, my friend says, of schools for foreign
children, because there are no good ones in Japan, and it is expensive
to send the boys and girls to America or Europe. An international
foreign language school, too, is much needed. _The ignorance of foreign
tongues is one of the greatest barriers to amicable relations with other
countries._ The inscrutability of the Japanese, which we hear so much
about, is due principally to their lack of familiarity with languages.
To understand the religious situation in Japan at all, it is necessary
to take another backward glance over her history. Except during the two
hundred and fifty years of the Tokugawa Period, the country has always
been open to foreigners and foreign ideas. Chinese and Koreans, who
brought new religions, a new civilization and a new philosophy, were
gladly received. Young men from Japan sought learning in other
countries, even in distant India. So, when Francis Xavier and his
intrepid Jesuits made their way thither in the sixteenth century, they
found a cordial welcome awaiting them.
For fifty years Christian work went on; hundreds of thousands of
Japanese accepted the Roman Catholic faith. But the Roman Church claims
to be superior to the State, and the rulers of Japan saw reason to
believe that the priests were aiming at political power. At once they
reversed their former policy, branded Christianity as "_Ja-kyo_," the
"Evil Way," and set about its extermination. Thousands of converts laid
down their lives for the new faith in the terrible persecution that
followed; foreigners were driven out of Japan, and her own people were
forbidden to leave her shores.
After the "Long Sleep" of the Tokugawa Period, the Meiji Era, known as
the "Awakening," began in 1867. Once more Christianity was brought in,
but this time in the guise of Protestantism, and again it made rapid
progress. By the middle of the eighties some Japanese leaders of opinion
were even advising that it should be declared the national religion,
although this was largely for political reasons. However, full religious
liberty was granted in 1889.
In the early nineties came the reaction. The conservative element in the
nation began to make itself heard against the mad rush for new things.
Japanese students returning from abroad brought stories of vice and
crime in Christian lands. The Japanese began to discover, too, that the
standard of Christian ethics was a higher one than they had ever known,
and demanded a change of life as well as of belief, and that the
diplomacy of so-called Christian countries was often anything but
Christian. So those who had simply "gone with the crowd" into the
Christian ranks fell away. The churches were sifted.
This revulsion of feeling was not lasting. Gradually the Japanese came
to modify their conclusions. Those who remained in the churches did so
from conviction, and a stronger church was the result. In this period of
reaction Japan simply stopped to take breath, to adjust itself to the
new life upon which it had entered. Progress now may be slower, but it
is more substantial.
The missionary question is absorbing, if one has time to see what has
been done and what is being done now in the schools and kindergartens
and hospitals, although to-day these Christian teachers are not playing
so important a rôle as they did a few years ago. At first the Japanese
went to the foreigners as their advisers and teachers, but now that they
have travelled more and know more of Western ideas they do not need them
so much. Six hundred thousand dollars goes yearly from America to Japan
for missions. Japan is a poor country, but some people feel it is time
for the rich men there to come forward and contribute to their own
charities, rather than to let foreigners do so large a share. I feel
that there is more need of missionaries in China to-day, especially
medical missionaries.
Fifty years ago there was desperate need of medical missionaries in
Japan. When Dr. Hepburn opened his dispensary in a Buddhist temple at
Kanagawa, diseased beggars were very common on the streets, for
hospitals were unknown. Now there are over one thousand public hospitals
managed by Japanese doctors, who are well fitted for their
profession--some have been educated in Germany and are very skilful.
As there are natural hot springs in Japan, lepers in the early stages of
the disease go there in the hope of being cured, but as a cure is not
possible, they gradually become worse and cannot leave the country, so
one often sees them begging in the streets. The only beggars I have ever
seen in Japan have been victims of leprosy.
Up to 1907 there were no hospitals for lepers except those founded by
foreign missionaries. In that year the Government established five of
these institutions, but as they are always crowded, the poor sufferers
cannot be received unless they are very ill. Father Testevinde, a French
Catholic priest, founded the first private hospital for lepers--which is
still the largest--in 1889. Miss Riddell, an Englishwoman, has
established another, which she is now trying to enlarge.
Eye troubles are especially prevalent in Japan, but the blind earn their
living by massage, and the note of their flute is often heard in the
street. There is a great deal of tuberculosis, but there are no
sanatoriums for consumptives, who are taken into the regular hospitals.
As the sufferers are kept in their homes until the last stages, the
disease is spreading rapidly.
It is very common to see children afflicted with skin-diseases. Japanese
mothers believe that inborn wickedness comes out in this form. Since
they no longer shave the children's heads as in the old days, however,
the skin trouble is disappearing somewhat. Well-organized dispensaries
and district nurses are certainly much needed in out-of-the-way
villages, but no provision has as yet been made for such work. Midwives,
however, are to be found.
The Episcopal hospital in Tokyo, where Japanese women are taught
nursing, is supposed to be the best in the country. Dr. Teusler is doing
excellent work there. The Japanese hospitals are not so well managed as
the best foreign ones, and the training for women nurses is not so long
or so thorough as in America. It is difficult for foreigners to judge
their hospitals, because they are intended for Japanese patients and
their whole manner of living is so different from ours. At first, on
account of native customs, only the poorer class of women could be
induced to take up nursing as a profession, but to-day the better class
are engaging in it.
In no branch of medical work has Japan made greater progress or achieved
finer results than in the Red Cross. In 1877 the _Hakuaisha_ was
formed--the Society of Universal Love--which cared for the wounded in
the great civil war. Japan joined the European Red Cross League in 1887.
The Japanese Red Cross was finely organized for service during the war
with Russia. The first work was the care of the Russian sailors at
Chemulpo, who were even presented with artificial limbs by the Empress
of Japan. During the war six thousand sick and wounded Russian prisoners
were cared for by the Japanese. In return the Russians subscribed to the
Japanese Red Cross. The women nurses remained at home stations, all
relief detachments at the front consisting of men only, but on the
relief ships there were both sexes. An American nurse who was in Japan
during the war said we had many things to learn from the Japanese and
few to teach, in the way of handling the wounded.
The pamphlet called, "The Red Cross in the Far East," states that if a
member dies, his _hair_ or his _ashes_ with the death certificate and
his personal belongings shall be forwarded to his former quarters.
The Red Cross in Japan numbers now more than one million five hundred
thousand members, has twelve hospitals and two hospital ships, and
nearly four thousand doctors, apothecaries and nurses ready for service.
On her first voyage, the hospital ship _Kosai Maru_, was out from March,
1904, until December, 1905, and transported more than thirteen thousand
patients. There are Red Cross stations also in Formosa and Port Arthur.
The Empress Dowager often attended the meetings of the society, and
assisted with large contributions. The Japanese Red Cross is said to be
the largest, the best and the richest in the world.
[Illustration: RED CROSS HOSPITAL BUILDINGS.]
To return to distinctively religious work, the time that I could myself
give to the observation of missions was limited, but I saw something of
the Episcopal work in Tokyo. Bishop McKim was absent most of the winter
in the Philippines, but the Rev. Dr. Wallace, whom we had known in
Honolulu years before, conducted the services. Japanese services were
also held at the cathedral, and a school for native children was carried
on by the mission. The bishop's house and that of Dr. Wallace, which
were in the cathedral compound, were of brick and looked fairly
comfortable.
As the lower classes are decidedly emotional and are easily influenced
by revival meetings, while the better class naturally tend toward
philosophy and other intellectual studies, there is room for Christian
workers of different denominations. In actual numbers there are more of
the Episcopalians than of any other Protestant denomination, as they
include the English, Canadians, Australians and Americans. Next to these
in number are the Presbyterians. There is a Unitarian mission conducted
by the Rev. Dr. MacCauley, who has been there many years and whom we
knew well. The Baptists are prominent in Yokohama. The American Board
missionaries--the Congregationalists--I have been told, do the best
work.
A very kindly spirit exists among them all, but they could economize
greatly if they worked even more in union. Each mission, for instance,
has its Japanese secretary, because of the difficulty of the language,
but if they combined, they could do with fewer secretaries, and could
also have Japanese teachers for Japanese subjects. A few big,
broad-minded men--like Dr. Greene, who was looked up to by every
one--who were men of affairs as well as clergymen, could do much good by
acting as the heads of the missions and directing the Japanese
Christians, somewhat as is done in the stations of the American Board.
Right here I wish to pay my tribute to the beautiful life and the great
work of the Rev. Dr. Greene, whose death last September left the
American Board mission poorer for his loss. Dr. Greene and his wife went
to Japan in 1869, when the government edict banning Christianity was
still in force. They lived to see the country under a constitutional
government, with a modern system of education and full religious
liberty. Dr. Greene was a missionary statesman; he was the intimate
friend of Count Okuma and other Japanese leaders. As teacher, author,
translator of the New Testament, and president of the Asiatic Society,
he did a varied work. A few months before his death the Emperor
conferred upon Dr. Greene the Third Class of the Order of the Rising
Sun, the highest decoration awarded to civilians residing in Japan.
A work frequently overlooked is the service rendered in translation and
the compilation of dictionaries. When Dr. Hepburn, to whom I have
already referred, reached Japan in 1859, immediately after establishing
his dispensary, he began the preparation of a Japanese-English
dictionary, and as he had previously lived for several years in China,
he was able to make rapid progress. In 1867 he brought out his great
lexicon, which was published in Shanghai, because printing from metal
type was not then done in Japan. When an invoice of it arrived in
Yokohama, "Two worlds, as by an isthmus, seemed to have been united....
As a rapid feat of intellect and industry, it seemed a _tour de force_,
a Marathon run." Later, Dr. Hepburn assisted in translating the Bible
into Japanese. For all his work--as physician, lexicographer, translator
of the Bible--and especially for his noble character, he was known in
Japan as "_Kunshi_," the superior man. Engraved on his tombstone are the
words, "God bless the Japanese."
The following statistics, given out recently by the Japanese Bureau of
Religion, are interesting as showing the number of adherents to each of
the great faiths:
Christians, 140,000
Buddhists, 29,420,000
Believing Buddhists, 18,910,000
Shintoists, 19,390,000
Believing Shintoists, 710,000
Temples with priests, 72,128
Temples without priests, 37,417
The discrepancy between the number of "believing Shintoists" and
Shintoists is explained when we remember that all persons in government
employ--military and naval officers, officials in the civil service, and
teachers in government schools--must be nominal Shintoists, even though
they are Buddhists at heart.
I cannot better close this chapter than by giving the opinions of a few
representative people of different faiths and nationalities upon the
subject of missions in Japan.
Professor Masumi Hino of Doshisha University, _a Christian Japanese_,
gives reasons why none of the old faiths will meet the needs of Japan
to-day. He says, "Shinto stands for polytheism, which in Japan stands
side by side with skepticism and religious indifference." He credits
Confucianism with teaching "fair and square dealings with every man,"
but adds, "It nevertheless fails to meet the people's yearning after the
eternal values." Buddhism will also, he believes, "fail to be the
supreme spiritual force in Japan," because it does not attach sufficient
importance to ethical teaching; because it sinks the individual in "the
absolute and the whole;" and because its belief in immortality is "based
on the pessimistic view of life."
Professor Hino acknowledges his own debt and that of the Japanese people
to all three religions, but questions whether any of these can meet the
pressure of twentieth-century life and problems. For himself he believes
Christianity alone "is able to meet the demands of the coming generation
in Japan."
Mr. E. J. Harrison, _a resident of Japan for fourteen years_, says in
his book, "The Fighting Spirit of Japan":
"I venture the opinion merely for what it may be worth, but that opinion
is, that those who flatter themselves that the day will ever dawn when
the Japanese as a people will profess Christianity imagine a vain thing,
and are pursuing a will-o'-the-wisp. They will dabble in Christianity as
they have dabbled and are dabbling in numerous other 'anities,' 'isms,'
and 'ologies'; but the sort of Christianity which will ultimately be
evolved in Japan will have very little in common with its various
prototypes of the Occident." Most people residing in Japan for any
length of time agree with Mr. Harrison.
Then there is the _missionary opinion_. As recently as August 22, 1913,
Rev. Dr. Greene wrote from Tokyo:
"Everything points to an increased appreciation of the place of religion
in human life. The rapid headway which the more spiritual philosophy of
the West, as represented by Bergson and Eucken, is making among the
thoughtful men of Japan, including the young men of the universities,
suggests much promise. Professor Anezaki, head of the department of
Comparative Religion in the Imperial University of Tokyo, said not long
ago that the students were weary of the materialism still propagated by
certain of the older Japanese thinkers, and were seeking guidance of
younger men imbued with the more recent philosophical thought.
"If the Christian leaders will but put themselves in harmony with this
deep-flowing stream, they may well indulge the brightest hopes."
At a special gathering of public men in Tokyo in 1913, when evangelistic
preachers from America were present, Baron Sakatani, the Mayor, although
_not a Christian himself_, said:
"You men of the West owe us a lot. Your civilization has come in and
broken down very largely the old faiths of Japan. We are looking for a
new and better one. You owe it to us to help us find something to take
the place of that which we have lost."
A year or two ago, the Minister of Education, who is _not a Christian_,
called a conference of Buddhists, Shintoists and Christians, at which he
said, "What Japan needs is more vital religion, and I ask each of you to
become more in earnest in bringing your faith to bear upon the lives of
our people."