JAPANESE CHARACTERISTICS
It is next to impossible for an alien to judge accurately the characteristics of a people. That a foreigner's interpretation of a nation's character, and of the moral influences that direct and mold its life, is apt to be imperfect and erroneous is now a recognized truth. An Englishman cannot understand a Frenchman, nor a Frenchman an Englishman. Even people so closely related as the English and Americans, with a common ancestry, common history and traditions, a common speech, common laws, and a common faith, find great difficulty in properly understanding one another. The American essayist Emerson did not venture to write "English Traits" until he had visited England, mingled freely with the people, and familiarized himself with the manifold phases of English character; and Bryce's excellent work on "The American Commonwealth," in which American characteristics are reflected more truly than they have been by any other English writer, did not see the light until its author had made frequent visits to the United States and had carefully studied his subject for seventeen years.
If it is so hard to understand a kindred people, how much harder it is to understand a people so alien as the Japanese! Here the religion, language, manners and customs, and moral ideas are so different from our own that the task of portraying the real characteristics of the race becomes a colossal one. It should be attempted only by men who have had years of practical experience with the people, who can read their language and look at things from their standpoint, and who bring to their task a loving sympathy with the people whose life they would portray.
But nothing is more common than to meet with sweeping judgments on Japanese character by persons utterly incompetent to make them. Men who have perhaps never seen Japan sit in judgment upon her with a gusto unequaled. Globe-trotters, spending at most only a few weeks here, and necessarily learning nothing of the inner life of the people, have made most sweeping statements concerning the traits of national character, such as: "The Japanese are a nation of liars;" "They are mere imitators, originating nothing;" "They are fickle and quite unreliable;" "Licentiousness is the most prominent trait in the national character," etc. Now it is unnecessary to say that judgments formed in this way are worthless. Here, if anywhere, it behooves one to write only after careful study and observation, and even then to speak with caution.
Physically the Japanese are inferior to the races of the West. They are shorter of stature and lighter of weight than Europeans or Americans. The upper part of their bodies is developed perhaps as fully as our own; but the lower limbs have been so cramped by sitting on the floor for centuries that they are shorter and weaker. Their habits of life and their vegetable diet have combined to make of them a physically weak people. They age earlier than the races of the Occident.
In color they do not differ much from the American Indians or the half-breeds of the South. There are two types of facial expression: the old samurai or noble classes have a long, narrow face, sharp nose, high, narrow forehead, and oblique eyes; the lower classes have fat, round, pudding faces, with broad mouths and flat noses. These two types are distinguished readily on the streets, and rank can be judged by them.
The Japanese are a cheerful race. The cares of life seem lightly to weigh upon them. On the surface they appear always smiling and happy. They are very fond of gay scenes and bright colors. Politeness is a national characteristic. Etiquette has been carried to such an extent as to have largely degenerated into empty forms.
Mentally they are bright and intelligent, receiving and apprehending instruction readily. The students are equally as diligent and earnest as are those in the academies and colleges of America, though physically they are not so able to endure prolonged study. They have great thirst for knowledge, and study for the sake of learning itself; hence the various devices for evading study so common in the schools at home are almost unknown. The intensity of this thirst for knowledge on the part of the young is remarkable. Hundreds of young men over all Japan are struggling for an education against very great odds. Many are now educated abroad, and these take their stand in our best colleges and universities along with the brightest of our own students. When their course is completed they are able to carry on all kinds of learned scientific investigations independently of their teachers. Witness what they have done in seismology, botany, and medicine. These facts indicate that the Japanese are an intellectual race.
In order rightly to appreciate the national character we must remember that the idea of personality is developed here only partially. This is strikingly evident in the structure of the language, which consists of nouns and verbs almost exclusively. Distinctions of person and number are generally ignored, and true pronouns are entirely wanting. From ancient times men have been considered, not as individuals, but en masse. The family has been exalted above the individual, who is hardly considered to have an existence apart from it. Thus, in ancient times, as among Occidental races also, if one member of a family came under the censure of the government, all were censured. When one member was put to death, all were executed. As the family, and not the individual, was the unit with which the laws dealt, the family became the subject of prime consideration. To perpetuate the family line came to be considered a very essential thing, and in order thereto the system of concubinage was introduced. It is proper to state that in regard to this exaltation of the family over the individual Japan is now in a transition period, and that the individual is becoming more and more important in the eyes of the law.
A marked characteristic of the Japanese is their strong patriotism. There is no more patriotic people on the face of the earth. It is said that the name of the emperor, whispered over the heads of an excited mob, will calm it as readily as oil poured on troubled waters. In the recent war with China there were many more volunteers for active service than could be sent to the front. I have seen old men lament, with tears in their eyes, that they could no longer serve their country as soldiers, even to the death if need be. This principle of loyalty is the strongest motive power in Japan to-day. It supersedes all others. A man's duty to his family, even to his parents, is nothing when compared with his duty to his country; and Japanese history abounds in pathetic stories of men, women, and even children, who have counted all other duties as naught and have willingly sacrificed their lives for their country.
Patriotism here amounts to a passion—I had almost said a fanaticism. From earliest infancy it is instilled into the minds of the children, and there is not one of the little ones in whose heart his country has not the first place. A native writer has expressed the sentiments of every Japanese thus: "My native land! everywhere and always the first affections of my heart and the first labor of my hands shall be thine alone."
This patriotism is not always held intelligently. The masses of the people have very mistaken ideas as to what patriotism is. I meet not a few who believe that love for Japan necessitates a hatred of all other countries, and that no man can be loyal and at the same time admire and praise foreign lands. Fortunately, the class whose nationalism is so unenlightened is not an influential one; otherwise patriotism itself would check the growth and development of the country. As it is, the strong nationalistic feeling serves to prevent a too indiscriminate adoption of Western institutions and to preserve the good elements of old Japan.
Respect for parents and teachers is one of the most prominent elements in the national character. The first principle of Confucian ethics, as taught in China, is reverence and obedience to parents; and although in Japan this has been subordinated to the principle of loyalty, it is still a prominent factor in the national life. The proper attitude of children toward parents, and pupils toward teachers, is not one of love, but one of absolute obedience and reverence. It is said here that true love can come only from a superior to an inferior, while the proper feeling of inferiors toward their superiors is one of reverence. This relation of superior and inferior is carried into every phase of society, and on it depends much of the family and national life. The principle of obedience is almost the only moral teaching given to the girls, and when they are grown up their moral ideas cluster round this one point. In olden times parents had absolute control over their children and could dispose of them as they saw fit, even killing them if they so desired. But now the parent's control over the child is limited by law. Children are expected to yield implicit, unquestioning obedience to their parents, and Japanese children are usually more virtuous in this respect than the children of Americans.
As a result of this fundamental principle of obedience, inculcated from childhood, has grown the universal respect for authority found in Japan. Whatever the government does the common people do not question. Even petty officials are respected and obeyed in a manner surprising to us independently thinking people of the West. No matter how disagreeable and unjust an act on the part of the authorities may be, it is usually accepted meekly with the comment, "There is no help for it."
The counterpart of this reverence and unquestioning obedience to authority is a feeling of meekness and dependence. The government is depended upon for much more than is the government in the United States. It is expected to inaugurate all great commercial and industrial enterprises. Thus the building of railroads, the construction of telegraphs, and other great works have had to be executed by the government. In recent years this spirit is changing somewhat, and private corporations are beginning to inaugurate great enterprises. But in general it may be said that the national character is lacking in independence and decision.
Love of the beautiful is a prominent and highly developed Japanese trait. Their ideals of beauty differ much from Western ideals, and many things that they pronounce beautiful would not be so judged in the Occident. Most Americans at first cannot appreciate Japanese art, landscape scenery, or flowers; but a short residence here and an acquaintance with native life and scenes soon bring one to appreciate them. The esthetic faculty is much more highly developed than in America. It is possessed by all classes. The gardens of the rich are laid out with especial care, and no money or pains are spared to make them beautiful. I have seen day-laborers stand and gaze for a long time at a beautiful sunset, or go into raptures over a dwarfed cherry-bush just putting forth its tiny buds. Men who have worked in the fields all day, until they are exhausted, on their return home in the evening will stop by the wayside to pluck some beautiful shrub or flower and carry it back with them. Go into the room of a school-boy and you will almost invariably find his table brightened by a pretty bouquet of flowers. When the cherries are in bloom the whole population leaves off work and turns out to enjoy them. Japan is a beauteous land, and no people are more capable of appreciating her beauty than her own.
The Japanese are open-minded and receptive of truth, from whatever quarter it may come. Were this not true it would have been impossible for her to have become what she is to-day. When Buddhism was first brought to Japan it was seen to possess elements of religious power that Shinto did not have, and the people by and by accepted it. When Confucianism was introduced its moral teachings were seen to be lofty and inspiring, and it was given a warm welcome. When Christianity first came many of the daimios took especial pains to examine into it to see if it were likely to benefit their country, with the full intention of accepting it. How many of them did accept it is told in another chapter. The present attitude of opposition is the result of prejudice, instilled in part by past experience with Christianity, and in part by the misrepresentation of its enemies; it is not the result of natural intolerance. The readiness with which Western learning of all kinds has been adopted, and the patient hearing and investigation native scholars give to all new theories of science and knowledge, clearly show that their mind is an open and receptive one. A native professor has expressed this characteristic in these words: "The Japanese as a race are open-hearted, with a mind free from prejudice and open to conviction." But that it is as receptive of prejudice and misrepresentation as of truth and knowledge is evidenced by its present attitude toward Christianity.
Many critics have pronounced the Japanese a very speculative people, but it is doubtful if this is true. By nature, I think, they are more inclined to be practical than speculative. Abstract metaphysical and theological ideas have little charm for them.
But there is a large element in Japan that simulates a taste for philosophical study. Philosophy and metaphysics are regarded by them as the profoundest of all branches of learning, and in order to be thought learned they profess great interest in these studies. Not only are the highly metaphysical philosophies of the East studied, but the various systems of the West are looked into likewise. Many of the people are capable of appreciating these philosophies, too; but they do it for a purpose.
Japanese character is lacking in steadfastness and fixedness of purpose. Huge enterprises will be begun with great enthusiasm, only to be abandoned in a short while. There is not that steadfastness and fixedness which lays out far-reaching plans, extending years into the future, and which adheres to these plans until their purpose is accomplished. On the contrary, they are vacillating and changeful, as is shown by their migratory disposition. This want of steadfastness is even evinced by many ministerial candidates. It is a frequent occurrence for young men to enter the mission schools with the firm intention of becoming evangelists, and, by the time their academic course is finished, to change their mind and go into some other calling. Some of those who have become evangelists are restless and vacillating, and after they have been located in one place for a few years like to be transferred to another. The "stick-to-it-iveness" of the Anglo-Saxon is largely wanting. But we must not speak too dogmatically upon this point, for the Japanese government has shown itself capable of laying out far-reaching plans, and of adhering to its original purpose until it is successfully accomplished.
Inconsistency is another trait of the Japanese mind, which often turns square about and takes positions exactly opposed to its avowed principles, realizing no inconsistency in doing so. This is well illustrated in the political life of the people. In theory the emperor, as the divine head of the nation, cannot go wrong, and whatever he does is necessarily right. It is the duty of every subject unquestioningly to obey the will of the emperor. To this all Japanese will readily agree, but in practice the people are often found arraigned against the government, which has the emperor for its head. Lines of policy which the emperor himself has mapped out and pursued for years are often bitterly opposed; and yet the people are all unconscious of this, and resent very much any insinuation that they are opposing his will.
Another evidence of inconsistency is seen in their opposition to Christianity. The usual objection that is made against our faith is that it is a Western religion, and there are thousands of people who oppose it solely on this ground. But, even while opposing the Western religion, they are daily using all kinds of Western institutions gladly. All manner of material things are received from abroad with pleasure, and are considered none the worse for their foreign origin, the line being drawn at religion.
Japanese character is largely wanting in originality. The people have originated almost nothing, having accepted nearly everything at the hands of others. In ancient times Japan had Korea for a teacher; afterward she studied under China; now she is at school to Europe and America. Her medieval civilization was accepted bodily from Asia, just as her modern is from Europe. No important inventions have been made. Even the little jinrikisha, which is the universal means of locomotion, and which, I believe, is found nowhere else except in certain Chinese ports, is said to have been first made by an American missionary for the comfort and convenience of his invalid wife. It should be said, however, that some claim the native origin of the jinrikisha, and contend that its inventor lived in Kyoto.
But while the Japanese are not originators, they are excellent imitators. The ability to imitate well is a power not to be despised. This, when coupled with assimilation, is a very fruitful source of progress, as the Japan of to-day witnesses. The ease and facility with which Japan has imitated the West and assimilated her institutions, applying them to new and changed conditions, is marvelous. Given a model, the people can make anything, no matter how diminutive or complicated. Even the American dude is most successfully imitated.
The Japanese do not slavishly follow their models, but are able to change, modify, and develop them at will. Given the general idea, they can easily construct the rest. Thus in the adoption of Western institutions they have in some cases actually improved upon their models. Especially is this true of the postal and telegraph systems, which, though copied after our own, are in many respects superior. They are not blind followers of their teachers, but often start out on independent exploration and investigation. Such powers of imitation are second only to those of invention, and have made Japan what she is to-day.
Another national peculiarity is the slight value placed upon human life. The idea that the family, and not the individual, is of supreme importance, and the Buddhistic teaching that life itself is the greatest of all evils, are responsible for this. To pour out one's blood upon the battle-field for one's lord has from of old been considered a privilege. Death has not that terror that it has in the West, and the people are not afraid to die. Hence suicides are of very frequent occurrence, and to take one's own life is, under certain circumstances, considered a meritorious act. Under the old régime a member of the samurai or warrior classes could not be executed like a common man, but after condemnation was left to take his own life.
About seven thousand suicides occur in Japan each year. The slightest reasons will induce a man to take his own life. Statistics show that the proportion of suicides varies with the success or failure of the rice crop. If sustenance is cheap, people live; if it is dear, they rid themselves of the burden of life. The number of suicides also varies much with the season of the year, showing that such little matters as heat and discomfort will outweigh the value put upon life.
A young girl recently came to Saga from Kagoshima as a household servant She did not like her new home, and asked her mistress to send her back to her birthplace. The mistress refused, and the next morning the poor girl was found dead in the yard, having hanged herself during the night—all, forsooth, because she could not go home. So low is the value placed upon life here! Human life is valued highly in the West solely because of Christian teaching; outside of Christendom it is cheap.
It has been charged upon the Japanese that they are wanting in gratitude, or, at least, that their gratitude lasts only so long as they are looking for favors. This is but partially true. Ever since I came to Japan I have been teaching a few boys English at odd hours, and they have really embarrassed me by the number of their presents. On the other hand, I have helped young men with money at school, who were at first grateful apparently, and would come to my home to perform various small services in return, but by and by would object to doing the least service, even while living on my charity.
In past years Japan has in various capacities employed a great number of Americans and Europeans, and has usually rendered them a very adequate return for their services. In addition to the stipulated salary, she has often given them costly presents. But recently a good deal of complaint has been made by foreign employees to the effect that, after they have given the best years of their lives to the service of Japan, they have been summarily dismissed, without previous notice and without thanks.
Evidences of ingratitude are very numerous in the native church. The missionary who has left home, friends, and country for the sake of these people, and who labors for them with all the powers God has given him, is often not rewarded by that gratitude and kindness on the part of his converts which he reasonably expects. Frequently he takes young men from the humbler walks of life, provides both their food and clothing, gives them six or eight years' instruction in well-equipped schools, supports them liberally as evangelists, only to have them rise up against him, oppose him in his work, and pronounce him an ignoramus. In many parts of the native church there is a strong anti-missionary spirit, and the feeling of gratitude which these churches should have for their founders, organizers, and supporters is wanting. From such facts as these we are forced to conclude that the feeling of gratitude is not very strong.
Much has been said in regard to the commercial honor and integrity of the Japanese. Our first American minister to Japan, Townsend Harris, pronounced them "the greatest liars upon the face of the earth." A foreign employee in a government school, when asked concerning the native character, replied in two words—deceit and conceit. The numerous exceptions to upright dealing in mercantile circles seem to justify these judgments. Native merchants are unreliable in such matters as punctuality, veracity, and the keeping of contracts. They will do all in their power to avoid the fulfilment of a contract which would entail a loss. The artisan class is even more unreliable in these respects than are the merchants.
To offset this, it should be said that, while the people are frequently unreliable in private matters, in public affairs and in all governmental relations they are honest and fair-dealing. Public office is seldom perverted for private ends, and the national conscience would quickly call to account any official who would enrich himself at the public expense. In this respect Japan is in striking contrast with the other nations of the East, and, alas! with many of those of the West as well.
I have not endeavored to give an exhaustive statement of the national characteristics of the Japanese people, but have simply tried to give enough to help my readers to an appreciation of the native character. I have endeavored to be strictly truthful and at the same time to do justice to the race. While fully recognizing the failings of the Japanese, we must also recognize the great improvement of the national character in recent years, and must remember that they are in many respects laboring at a great disadvantage, and deserve, not hatred and contempt, but our warmest sympathy and love.