It has been for years the prophetic declaration of missionaries in the east that the first nation to extend full liberty of conscience in religion would be the dominant power of Asia. That Japan has fulfilled this condition is not more remarkable than are her rapid strides to political power since that country opened its doors to Christianity. That Japan is sincere in its treatment of an alien religion is attested by the fact that native Christian chaplains accompany her armies in their marches against China, and these are representative men of the Methodist, Congregational, and Presbyterian churches in Japan. There is no doubt that the whole Christian element in Japan, foreign and native, has been loyal to the country and in thorough sympathy with the aggressive movement made by Japan. The sympathy between Corea and Japan has been greatly strengthened by the active support rendered Presbyterian missionaries in Corea by the whole Christian body in Japan. The work of Mr. Johnson, a Presbyterian missionary in Corea, made him an adviser of the king, and this assisted in leading the latter rather towards Japan than towards China. The corner stone of Japan’s position to-day is religious toleration. All that the Christian missionaries have asked in Asia is equal privilege with other religions, and these they have had in Japan. History is only repeating itself, and the results of religious toleration in Europe centuries ago are being duplicated in Asia in 1895.
The student of Asiatic life, on coming to Japan, is cheered and pleased on contrasting the position of women in Japan with that in other countries. He sees them treated with respect and consideration far above that observed in other quarters of the Orient. They are allowed greater freedom, and hence have more dignity and self-confidence. The daughters are better educated and the national annals will show probably as large a number of illustrious women as those of any other country in Asia. In these last days of enlightenment public and private schools for girls are being opened and attended. Furthermore, some of the leaders of new Japan, braving public scandal, and learning to bestow that measure of honor upon their wives which they see is enthusiastically awarded by foreigners to theirs, and are not ashamed to be seen in public with them. No women excel the Japanese in that innate love of beauty, order, neatness, household adornment and management, and the amenities of dress and etiquette as prescribed by their own standard. In maternal affection, tenderness, anxiety, patience, and long suffering, the Japanese mothers need fear no comparison with those in other climes. As educators of their children, the Japanese women are peers to the mothers of any civilization in the care and minuteness of their training, and their affectionate tenderness and self-sacrificing devotion within the limits of their knowledge. The Japanese maiden is bright, intelligent, interesting, modest, ladylike, and self-reliant. What the American girl is in Europe the Japanese maiden is among Asiatics.
So far our attention has been devoted exclusively to the Japanese proper, that is, to those people inhabiting Hondo and the other islands to the south of it. But a few words remain to be said about a people, who, while forming part of the empire of Japan, yet differ essentially from the great majority of the population. They are the Ainos, or the original inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago, now only to be found in the island of Yesso. These people are decreasing in numbers year by year, and will soon be named with those extinct races of whom it is only known that they have once existed. The Ainos, however, have had their day of glory. In olden times, several centuries before our era, they were masters of all the north part of the island of Hondo, and their power equalled that of the Japanese; but little by little their influence diminished, and they were driven before the Japanese, and finally confined to the island of Yesso. There the Japanese pursued them and a long war ensued, but finally reduced them to complete submission about the fourteenth century. Since then the state of servitude in which their conquerors have held them has been such as to stifle even the instinct of progress within them, so that in the nineteenth century they offer the image of a people hardly past its first infancy.
GROUP OF AINOS.
The origin of the Ainos is unknown. They themselves are perfectly ignorant of their own history, and they have no written documents existing which could throw light upon their past. It is most probable that they originally came from the far interior of the Asiatic continent, for they bear not the slightest resemblance to any of their neighbors in the tribes scattered along the eastern coasts of the north of Asia. The Ainos are generally small, thick-set, and awkwardly formed; they have wide foreheads and black eyes, not sloping; their skin is fair but sunburnt. Their distinguishing feature is their hairiness, and they never dress their heads or trim their beards. The little children have a bright, intelligent look, which, however, gradually wears away as they grow older. The dwellings are of the simplest construction, and only contain a few implements for hunting and fishing, and some cooking utensils. They are built in small groups or hamlets, never containing more than a hundred individuals. They are a gentle, kindly, hospitable, and even timid people. Fishing is their chief occupation, and hunting is another profitable pursuit. There is no sign of agriculture, nor is any breed of cattle to be found among these people. Dogs are utilized to draw their sledges in winter. Their organization is quite patriarchal. They have neither king, princes nor lords, but in every hamlet the affairs of the community are vested in the hands of the oldest and most influential member. Although the intelligence of the Ainos is very little developed, they evince great aptitude for knowledge and eagerly seize every opportunity for acquainting themselves with Japanese laws and customs.
RATS AS RICE MERCHANTS.—From a Japanese Album.
The London Times, in 1859, predicted that “The Chinaman would still be navigating the canals of his country in the crazy old junks of his ancestors when the Japanese was skimming along his rivers in high pressure steamers, or flying across the country behind a locomotive.” The railway is now in fact stretching its iron tracks in every direction over the islands; the telegraph spreads its web all over the country; street car lines are in every city; the printing press rattles merrily in every moderate sized country town; and the Japanese who have always read much, now read ten times more than they ever did before. Technical education of the higher kind is telling upon the people, and many works are now undertaken from which the authorities would have shrunk a few years ago as being impossible for them to grapple with. Original investigation in many lines has been pursued, and particularly in the study of earthquake phenomena has Japan given to the world results of extreme value. The influence of the modern scientific spirit is immense and ever growing. Western influence in its better nature is constantly on the increase. It appears to-day as if Japan were to be the civilizing influence in the east of Asia.