JAPAN TODAY

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 112, 7 November 1935, Page 10

JAPAN TODAY

THE NATION'S LIFE

WESTERN INFLUENCE

A MILITARY PEOPLE

Most people who have not visited "1 i Japan, and even those who have paid nil a brief visit to the country, had an en- be! tirely wrong impression of the stand- lie ard of Japanese life, Mr. F. Durrer, a iss Swiss merchant who has resided in Mi Japan during the last four years, and trs has known something of the country ! for over ten years, told a "Post" reporter when he was asked to comment j< r on the Japanese people. Mr. Durrer !g v lived in China for eleven years, and lan then took up his residence in Yoko-ljl^ hama, where he is constantly in touch with Japanese business people and Japanese life. He is on his first visit to New Zealand, and states that he is in love with the Dominion already. It had to be admitted;' said Mr. Durrer, that a European would be very badly off if asked to lead the life of a Japanese worker, but, looked at from the Japanese point of view, the worker was well off. The Japanese had always been used to a comparatively simple life, and was able to secure as many of the comforts of life as any European worker could hope for. The Japanese had changed rapidly through Western influence, but the Westernisation was mainly on the surface, and when the Japanese removed his Western clothes he was wholly Japanese. DEVELOPMENT OF SPORT. Western influence was most notice--1 able in the development of manly sports in Japan, the young Japanese being just as keenly interested in football, tennis, and swimming as his • Western cousin, and having as many ! opportunities to take part in sports. Many of the Japanese also adopted '■ Western clothing for business, but in 1 almost every instance they returned to 1 the kimono in their homes, and in putting on their national dress they became wholly Japanese. The Japanese had been blamed for ! producing large quantities of poor- ; quality goods, but they were not al- [ together to blame for that. Probably ' because of. the depression people in other countries had wanted cheap goods, and the Japanese manufacturers ' had been- asked to produce at, the ' lowest possible cost. They had done as requested, with the result that the pur- " chasers had received what they paid ■ for and no more, and were dissatisfied. ■ The Japanese were quite capable of producing good-quality articles, but they could not do so at very low prices, and the Western buyers would have to I realise that. l POLICE AND MILITARY. - The police . and military played • a t prominent part in the everyday life of t Japan, Mr. Durrer said, both having wide powers. The police kept exceed--1 ingly strict control of the populace, t and could arrest offenders on charges ■- that would be operated on by sum- * mons in New Zealand. Large votes 3 were made every year for defence purit poses, and consequently the army and ■- navy had a big say in political affairs. s They did not bear the same relation '• to the Government as was the case in s Europe, but acted independently to a 3 certain extent. In his opinion Japanese r expansion in Northern China was not !- yet over, and the Chinese were to soirie . extent responsible for the way the i Japanese were taking control of their g affairs. ■ . ■ vg Although the Japanese workers in a the cities were fairly well off, said Mr. ;, Durrer, the same could not be said of i- the farmers. They had been unfotunft ate during recent years with -earthi- quakes, floods, and fires, and praci- tically every man on the land was in d the hands of the banks. Their mort- >• gage liabilities were so great that many of them could not produce enough to >t pay their interest bills let alone live it in comfort. As a result the practice of c farmers selling their daughters to become geisha girls still continued. '" THE JAPANESE OUTLOOK. 'o To the Western mind the sale of a o member of one's own family was un- ! d thinkable, Mr. Durrer said, but the , s Japanese could not be condemned out of hand for doing it. It had to be realised that the Japanese outlook was entirely different from that of the European, and, while no European : could condone the sale of geisha girls ' or think of it without revulsion, an understanding of the Japanese mind revealed the: Japanese attitude as-un-moral rather than immoral. Japan was not a motor-producing country, Mr. Durrer said, although thousands of motor-cycles were built and used. In comparison with the population the number of motor-cars >k in the country was comparatively small c" and they were almost wholly of foreign !a origin. A small Japanese car was at built, but it was not particularly poa* pular as it was almost as dear as the a" American cars. Ordinary bicycles were produced in large numbers and l(* sold very cheaply, but they did not ;n wear for long. He had purchased a ot bicycle for one of his children for ut about twenty-five shillings, and, al;t" though it was" perfectly equipped and le looked well made, it was worn out in s about a year. ns FOREIGNERS IN JAPAN. Ie His experience in Japan had shown is- that the Japanese welcomed foreigners n- and worked in complete harmony with Dn them, Mr. Durrer said, but he was doubtful as to how the vast majority at of the people would treat foreigners if it Japan went to war with a foreign >n Power. He was in China when the id Japanese invaded Manchuria, and es gathered the impression that the averfic age Japanese did not distinguish betie tween the people of different foreign in- countries—all people from outside vy countries were simply foreigners to ng them. However, at the present time :h- there were a large number of he foreigners in Japan, and they all lived of in perfect harmony with the busy ri- Japanese. ds Mr. Durrer left for Auckland this afternoon and will sail from there on he his return to Japan next week.