DYNAMIC JAPAN

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 254, 24 July 1935, Page 8

DYNAMIC JAPAN

Through a Tourist’s Eyes

“APPARENTLY HAPPY RACE”

The importance of tourist, traffic iu Japan, the lives and outlook of the people, and the "alleged Japanese menace” were commented upon yesterday by Major J. 11. Kirk, from firsthand information gained on a recent visjt to that country. He returned to AVellington by the Alarama via Sydney. “So many visitors are entering Japan that the tourist business is one of the principal industries, and well indeed is it directed and managed,” Alajor Kirk said. “In shipping circles I heard that the Nippon Yusen Kaisha Hue has under consideration the establishment of a passenger service with New Zealand.

"The coast line of Japan, particularly that of the Inlaud Sea, is the most beautiful I have seen. Throughout Japan one is impressed—perhaps amazed is the better word —with Hie industry of the agriculturist. In the industrial world women are the principal force so far as labour is concerned; they provide 63 per cent, of the labour used in industry, a fact which probably explains the low cost of production. "Not Merely Imitative.” “It is a mistake to think that the Japanese are merely an imitative people. Certainly they have quickly assimilated Western habits and copied AVestern industries, but they are now interested in research and are showing much originality, as witness the remarkable automatic looms for cotton weaving, whereby one woman can manage 40 looms; internal frosted electric lamps, manufactured in America from a Japanese invention; lead powder for batteries; the photo-telegraphic apparatus bought by England; a piston ring manufacturing machine; and many discoveries on the medical side. AA'hile it cannot be denied that cheap goods are being quickly produced, they are manufacturing also articles of very high quality and securing adequate prices for them.

“No unbiased traveller could truthfully state that Japan’s standard of living is unsatisfying,” Major Kirk continued. “Not only does one fail to see any outward signs of malnutrition, lack of physical energy of a discontented people, but, on the contrary, one is struck by the good physique of all the people and their good health generally; the strength of the labourers, and the smiles, good nature and marked courtesy of an apparently happy race. Athletics are in great vogue, and I believe that future generations will be taller, , Attitude to “Realities.” "At: the root of all this progress is Bushido, Unit ethical standard which inspires all for the country and the Emperor, teaching self-effacement and a Heaven-ordained place for the nation. Japan, witli a strong navy, wellconditioned army and prosperous industries, stands to-day with an outlook that the British Empire once had before the false policies of laissez faire and internationalism affected its vitals. If for no other reason than that, a visit to Japan will tend to bring us back to the realities that lie before us with all their possibilities, and to do a little ancestor worship ourselves. "I do not believe there is at present any such thing as a ‘Japanese menace,’” Major Kirk concluded. “If Australia and New Zealand provide reasonable defences, remain within the British Empire and continue to settle their land there is nothing to fear. Think how Australia and New Zealand have been built during a similar period to the transition in Japan, relatively with a minimum of labour and from unpopulated areas. AVe can give credit to Japan and at the same time fearlessly keep our own confidence.”