'"You remember the story of George Washington and the cherry tree?" said Baron Suyematsu, with a smile, to our representative. "Well, that is very often told to the children in the Japanese schools."
'The distinguished Japanese statesman, who is at present in London, was explaining how the moral virtues, and especially patriotism and bravery in battle, are not merely considered desirable things in Japan, but are actively propagated in the schools and in the army. For, as Mr. Lyttelton, the Colonial Secretary, remarked to an audience last week, they teach patriotism in Japan.
'"You see, there is no religious teaching in the public schools in Japan," said Baron Suyematsu; "but the teaching of morality occupies an important place in the curriculum. From the Western point of view it may seem difficult to teach morality without connecting it with religion, but we do it!"
'This patriotic bravery, as one of the virtues, comes into the code. The teaching is based upon the Confucian ethics, and the "cleanness of conscience" which is the essence of Shintoism, the national religion of Japan.
'THE CODE OF HONOUR.
'"Then there is Bushido," said the baron, "which may be called the code of honour of Japanese knighthood. This Bushido had a tight grasp of the military class, which consisted of the retainers of feudal lords, who had not to work for their daily bread. These retainers were not rich, but they had something to live upon, and frugality was one of their virtues. Their only business was to do their duty to their lords, which meant in time of war to fight for them. But as for more than two centuries and a half the country had been at peace, and as the military class had no fields of ordinary occupation, they naturally gave their energies to intellectual pursuits side by side with military training. In a word, their business was to make themselves as much gentlemen as possible. Thus grew up a code of honour which was primarily founded upon military duty alone, but which later on was extended to the acquirement of gentlemanly conduct, and then to be a true gentleman, and loyal to their lords.
'"After the opening of our country to other nations, there was a time when we seemed to lose the guiding influence of our old morals, for Confucianism lost its influence to some extent, and intercourse with strangers gave some shock to our old morality, and led our people to imagine that freedom from restraint and obligation was the characteristic of European ideals.
'"It was at this juncture that the emperor issued an edict defining our ideal of morality. In accordance with his edict, the curriculum of the schools includes the teaching of morality, and the moral virtues are explained and expatiated upon in lectures and discourses. The teachers introduce sayings and maxims of great men of all nations.
'WASHINGTON AND SELF-HELP.
'"As I have told you, the story of George Washington is often quoted. Smiles's Self-Help is often used, and I have no doubt Nelson's signal at Trafalgar. The principal examples are naturally the great heroes of our own country who served the emperor and Japan. In that way both boys and girls are imbued with the moral virtues, among which loyalty and patriotism are prominent.
'"But this teaching is not limited to the schools. It is carried on in the barracks in the form of what we call 'spiritual education.' The aim is to make men capable of appreciating their duties as soldiers. This barrack teaching is in accordance with an edict issued by the emperor when universal military service was introduced, and it is based upon the moral virtues. We have no chaplains. The teaching is undertaken by the officers themselves as part of their regular duty, and they deliver exhortations in the barrack-rooms.
'"But you must know that, man for man, Europeans recognise that Japanese are superior to Russians, and I am not surprised that that is said. In Japan education is universal, and there is scarcely a soldier who cannot read and write, or who has not had some kind of education. For that reason they ought to be intellectually superior to the Russians. And as we have universal service, all sorts of people are found in the ranks, without distinction of social position or vocation. In the barracks you find the son of a nobleman and the son of a coolie, and there is no aloofness between them. That makes the company so efficient.
'MILITARY TRAINING FOR BOYS.
'"In the schools we not only have the national flag, but the boys are drilled in military manner. If the municipality can afford it, real arms are used in the higher grade schools. In the peers' school and many others they have regular firing manœuvres.
'"It is not generally known, I suppose, that I was once an English volunteer?" said Baron Suyematsu, with a laugh at the recollection. "That was when I was at Cambridge. I joined the University Rifles."
'As to Chinese soldiers, the baron said that the moral teaching of the Japanese army constituted one of the great differences between them. Then he pointed out that in China soldiers are rightly looked down upon, for they are recruited only from the worst classes, and respectable men will not enter the ranks.
'Baron Suyematsu does not approve of the efforts of the Christian missionaries to discourage the national custom of committing suicide rather than be captured in battle, for he thinks the effect would be to lower the soldiers' high ideal of patriotism and courage.
'"There is all the difference," he said, "between wanton suicide and voluntarily sacrificing one's life for the honour of the nation. Our ideal is to die for one's country rather than bring upon her the disgrace of being taken by the enemy. What can be nobler than that? It is the same as being killed by the enemy. And the missionaries are trying to teach our soldiers that it is wrong. It is a great pity."'
—'But that only covers one phase, the method of your education,' said one.
—'True, but it covers a good deal!' I said. 'Do you think I can write a big book on Japan at a moment's notice?'
—'Well, I will leave you alone then,' said he.
—'Every one of the Russian soldiers who returned wounded from the battlefield, when asked the cause of their defeat, said that the Russians were defeated because the Japanese soldiers were great scholars compared to themselves. I have it on good authority,' interposed another.
—'Perhaps it looked like that to them,' I answered.
VII
Some talk on superstition—A remark on earrings—Japanese troops after the war; no fear of Chauvinism—Generals and officers—How the system of the hereditary military service was abolished and the new system was introduced—Its history—Japan after the war—Views given to the American press—Mr. Seppings-Wright and his views on the Japanese character—The Japanese navy and its history—Origin of the shipbuilding yards—The difficulty of a thorough reform in China and Russia—How Japan managed to bring about the consummation of the great reform—The feudal system was a great help—Explanation of the Japanese feudal system and the clans—The re-shuffling of the feudatories under the Tokugawa régime—Difference of grandeur of the feudatories—Exceptional formation of the Satsuma clan—Financial system of the Shogunate—-Finance of the Imperial Government at the beginning of the Great Change—How the affairs of the governments of the feudatories were wound up—The old system of taxation—Thorough reform—The old notion of land tenure
I found myself once more in a very incongruous group of people whom I had met on various occasions. I noticed a number of them engaged in a lively conversation.