Criticism of Japanese

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 38, 8 November 1933, Page 11

Criticism of Japanese

Sir—lt is a pitv that much .newsnaner’ space is being wasted lately in unkind criticisms of Japan and. Japanese We would be far better occupied in con structive criticism of ourselves. Here'are a few lines from Uf<a< Hearn’s writings that speak for them selves Thev give the true cultural viewpoint of life'that the Japanese.. High ami low naturally hold. Can we Britons hon esUy say we measure up to their stand pzl ■ f I have had the personal experience o. living in neighbourly contact with Japan ese peasant farmers, and for kindlier o more courteous neighbours one could no wish. To condemn, in money va “ ies ; Japanese standard of living as ‘low. r.unjust and Wellington, November 6. [The above correspondent has i<>rnarled an excerpt from “Gleanings in Buddha Fields.” which is as follows: “The charm of Japanese life presents us with the ex traordinar.v phenomenon of poverty as an influence in the development of 1 sentiment, or at least as a factor in d iug the direction ami expansmn of th: development. .But for poverty, the ra could not, have discovered, ages ago. th secret of making pleasure the commonest instead of the costliest .of expenencesthe divine art of creating the beautifn. out of nothing! One explanation of tin cheapness is the capacity of. the people t< find in everything n-tural—in landscapes mists, clouds, sunsets—in the sight o birds insects and flowers—a much keenei pleasure than we (the British peoples), as the vividness of their artistic presents tions of visual experiences bears vitness Another explanation is that the national religions find the old-fashioned education have so developed imaginative power tha' it can'be stirred into nn activity of deltgm bv anything, however trifling. 'Me to suggest ’the traditions or- she legends of llm imsl/’l ‘