A WONDERFUL PEOPLE.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 47, 24 February 1923, Page 7

A WONDERFUL PEOPLE.

CHARM OF THE JAPANESE, KIHCATKIN AND Ml'SlC, (By 'lV.eitniph. Special :o " s: - l! ' ' CHRISTCHURCH. this day. Mr Kric A. Bell, well known in Christchurch tun-U-al circles, who ha< i>een engaged in educational work in Japan for" twelve months, is back hereon three months' holiday. Kngli.h. he says, is a i-ompuNorv Mii.jcct in every school in Tokvn. and the average boy of fourteen speaks Kngli-h taitly lluently. It is a pleasure to tend, the children. They go to work very .rimi-h. and every child s ambition i. to graduate from the middle school lo the university in Tokyo. which is crowded. In Keio Tniversity. which is only one of many,, over 50,000 students are enrolled. "No punishment is allowed in Japanese schools. There is absolute obedience and wonderful orderliness. Children who*do not wish to learn- -and there are very few of them in Japanstay away from school.'' In Tokyo students have great chances of acquiring knowledge of music and the theatrical art. as the best artists from Europe visit tlie city. The appreciation of the Japanese for high-class music is marvellous. In Tokyo there are three academies of music, one of them being much bigger than the Sydney Conservatorium. Thousands take up instrumental music, and many of the students have remarkably tine voices. Jazz music has no hold whatever among the Japanese: it is only the foreign element that keeps it alive in the country. : Mr. Bell has brought back with him some interesting music by eminent Japanese compo.-ers. National dances are not neglected: they are produced in theatres on a lavish scale, with 'magnificent dressing and wonderful staging and scenery. Dancing usually interprets historical legend, and the music is played on odd Oriental instruments. "Wherever the Japanese are left to themselves they are the finest race one would wish to meet." said Mr. Bell. '"They are scrupulously honest and hospitable, and their friendliness to England is very marked. The recent visit of the Prince of Wales has done much to cement the friendship between the two nations.'' Originally Mr. Bell went to Japan for a holiday, hut the charm of the country was jrreat. and he stayed on.