A Fantasy of Far Japan; Or, Summer Dream Dialogues

by Kencho Suematsu

—'Pretty much, but not exactly. You see Japan proper has a range of mountains, which divides the country into two parts, one side facing the Pacific Ocean and the other the Sea of Japan. The former is more bright and cheerful, and conversely the latter is less bright and less cheerful. Perhaps, owing to that disadvantage in climate, the Japan Sea side is less advanced in all respects. Then, again, the development of Japan seems to have proceeded from west to east, beginning at the north-western part of Kiusiu, thence along both sides of the Inland Sea, thence along the Pacific Ocean on toward the Plain of Kwanto, where Tokio is situated. All travellers can discern this very easily by the general development of these regions in comparison with other parts of the country.'

—'Is the summer so hot as to be unbearable?' asked another.

—'I would not say "unbearable," but, of course, it would be far more comfortable if one went to good summer resorts. There are many places in Japan suitable for spending the summer, and are visited by a large number of Occidentals, not only from all parts of Japan, but also from most of the open ports of the neighbouring countries. For instance, Karuizawa, where I have a small villa, is over three thousand feet above sea level, and there nearly one thousand foreigners spend the summer every year. Apropos to Karuizawa, I may tell you en passant an incident which occurred there a few years ago. Early one morning I discovered two foreigners had got into a corner of my garden and were cutting down branches of my favourite trees; they were not very refined, and evidently belonged to some irregular mission. On my asking for an explanation, they told me the branches were for the decoration of the house of God. They did not know to apologise, but appeared to assume that they could do anything in the name of their mission. I had to explain to them that they were doing what they ought not to, and that if they did the same thing in the grounds of less tolerant people, trouble might ensue. I then formally gave them the branches already cut down, in order to exonerate them from any possible infraction of the Ten Commandments. I mention this incident in order that other people engaged in similar missions might take it as a warning. But to return to my subject: well-to-do Japanese also resort to the mountains or to the seaside places for their summer holidays. For the people in general, however, spring and autumn are the best seasons of the year. It is then that countless groups of men and women indulge in innocent picnic parties to see all sorts of flowers and tinted leaves, and to visit places of interest, with which the country abounds; indeed, some of the people who are more æsthetic and poetic often travel great distances simply for those objects. The fire-flies also are a sight in many parts of Japan.'

—'I have read some accounts of those excursions,' said one, 'and their fondness for hanging down from the branches of trees their quaint but simple and innocent effusions of poetic thought, written on slips of paper.'

—'But what are the general pastimes of the Japanese gentry at home?' asked another. 'Are they fond of open-air sports as the English are?'

—'No, I am sorry to say they are not. In England, more than elsewhere, all sorts of open-air sports have been invented and played, perhaps owing to the condition of the climate. Mr. Balfour, the Prime Minister, as everybody knows, is a great golfer. Professor Balfour, his brother, was a great cricketer. His premature death years ago, by an accident on the Alps, was lamented very deeply by the scientific world; and I, for one, grieved much, for he was very kind to me when I went up to Cambridge, and smoothed my way considerably for the University study. With us, however, outdoor sports have always been considered childish, and the rude sports of children have never been improved to suit grown-up men. In recent years, of course, Western open-air sports, such as base-ball or lawn tennis, are played by students very widely (at this moment some Japanese teams of base-ball players have gone to America to play against the Americans). But older people seldom indulge in that kind of sport. Billiards also is only of modern introduction.'

—'But surely you must have some kind of pastimes?'

—'Well, we have some, but before entering on that subject I will say a word about a letter written by an American on kindred subjects. It caught my eye accidentally in the Japan Times. It is rather interesting and, therefore, I will recite it to you verbatim. The heading of it is "Japan is a queer country."

'Such was the heading of an article in one of our American papers of recent date. As an example of the country being "queer" the writer stated among other things that "old men in Japan fly kites and spin tops, while children look on." Now, I for one have been in Japan a good while and have seen many flying kites and spinning tops. Yet I have never had the fortune of seeing the picture described above. It is easy to conceive how the kind-hearted Ojiisan might show his little grandson how to fly a kite or to spin a top while the little fellow looked on, but that is in no way peculiar to Japan. The same thing might be seen in almost any country.

'Again the writer says, "Japanese writers use paint brushes, not pens, and write from bottom to top," in which he has gotten his ideas more topsy-turvy than the Land of Topsyturvydom itself. And further, "in Japan there are no lawyers, and Japanese doctors never make any charges." Comment is unnecessary.

'These are only specimens of much that has for years flooded our Western newspapers about Japan. Not a great while ago I saw an article in which it was said that Japanese babies never cried, and if a dog barked at night he was taken off next day and killed. It is high time that Western people were beginning to have a few sane thoughts about Japan, and stop speaking of it as "an Oriental puzzle, a nation of recluses, a land of fabulous wealth, of universal licentiousness, or of Edenic purity, the fastness of a treacherous and fickle crew, a Paradise of guileless children, a Utopia of artists and poets." Japan has some superficial oddities, but what country is there that has not? To be a bit humorous, if people wish to say ludicrous things about Japan, it may not be so bad, but to put such things out as sober truth makes a false impression and does the people an injustice.

'Imagine a Japanese going to America, for example, and writing back something like this: "America is a queer country. The people clothe themselves with the hair and skins of animals. They fasten their clothing on by means of little knobs hung in holes; the women go about with the arms and upper part of the body nude. Owing to the peculiar make of their shoes, they all walk on tiptoe. The people eat dead pigs, and drink a white, thick fluid called chichi, which they squeeze out of the body of a large animal. When eating they stick long iron instruments in their mouths. When moving about they are obliged constantly to set one foot out in front in order to keep from falling on their noses. Sometimes when there is a company of them together they open their mouths very wide at each other, utter loud, inarticulate cries, and jump about in a very curious manner, shaking from head to foot."

'Now what would the Japanese people think of such a story, and what kind of impression would they get of the American people? But this is a fair specimen of the style in which many have written about this country. We cannot quite speak of it as lying, yet it amounts to the same in that it deceives and makes a false impression. The people of Japan are much the same as the world at large.

'And finally, what is true of the customs of Japan is also true of the Japanese language. A Westerner, for instance, will poke fun at the expression, "For the first time, I hang upon your honourable eyes," and perhaps with the next breath say, "I knew him as soon as I laid eyes on him." Literally speaking it is hard to tell which is the more "okashii" (ridiculous), to hang upon the honourable eyes of another, or to lay your eyes on somebody else. Or which is worse, to "stick" to the end of the street in going to your business, or to "stick to it" when you get there? All languages must be explained and understood in the light of their idiomatic use and meaning, otherwise they become idiotic, and in this the Japanese language is no exception.

'There is one point in that letter to which I must take exception, as is remarked in the editorial notes, too, but otherwise I quite concur with the writer. The matter I refer to is that of the kites. On that point neither the writer of the original article nor the writer of the letter hit the mark. As a general rule, of course, kites or tops are played with by children as in the West, but there is one particular method of flying special kites which is indulged in by grown-up men. It is done in Nagasaki. The kites are made in a particular shape so that a slight pull or loosening of the line makes a rapid movement, and if one pulls when the kite is not in the right position it falls to the ground with lightning-like rapidity. It requires great skill to manage, and therefore cannot be done by mere boys. Those kites are well known by the name of Nagasaki kites. In that town people fly them in a certain season of the year, making the kites fight one against the other high up in the air. The method is as follows: A certain portion of the line is gummed over with a mixture containing fine particles of glass, so that it would cut another line which might come in contact with it. A skilful flier manages his kite in such a way that his line will cut the line of others without hurting his own, and, therefore, during the competition all the kites are making rapid movements to and fro high up in the air. In recent years Nagasaki men, a large number of whom are residents in Tokio, have instituted a display of kite-flying of their method. The performance takes place on a certain day in spring in a suburban park of the capital.