LIFE IN JAPAN

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 June 1936, Page 11

LIFE IN JAPAN

DESCRIBED BY AUSTRALIAN

SYDNEY, June 1

Mr. D. Fletcher-Jones,of Melbourne, returned from the East by the Neptuna yesterday. His trip was primarily to investigate the work at present being carried on in Japan by Dr. Toyohoki Kagawa, the evangelist, who visited Australia, last year. Mr. Fletcher-Jones met the doctor when he was in Melbourne, and was so interested in his work that he decided to make the trip to Japan. “I have travelled all over Japan, third class, in the cheapest way possible,” said Mr. Fletcher-Jones yesterday. “My object was to live as the poorer Japanese did, and to see . the people as they really are. For three weeks 1 lived exclusively on their meals —raw fish, seaweed, kelp, bamboo shoots, soup, and rice. As a result of my investigations I have a profound sympathy for the humble Japanese. It seems that in Japan power is in the hands of a few people. In the extreme north, the peasants give up to GO per cent, of their crops to their landlords.”

Mr Fletcher-Jones said that Dr Kagawa was working to teach the people co-operation. He had opened banks, pawn-shops, insurance offices, and rural gospel schools, which were conducted with the object of teaching co-operation. "In one bank of Kagawa's I saw a labourer pay in five sen, which is equal to about three-farthings in our money," said Mr Fletcher-Jones. “The girl behind the counter filled in his book, and thanked him courteously. I asked permission to look at his book and found that he had in his account 87 yen, and the largest sum he had paid •in at any time was five 'sen. Kagawa is training the poor to become self-dependent, and to take prde in themselves.” Mr Fletcher-Jones said that unemployment was dealt with in a very interesting way. The labourers were split into groups of 50. Every day they worked they put five sen into a fund, to which was added five sen by the Government, and five sen by the municipality. This money was distributed among the unemployed of the group, the amount they received becoming smaller on a sliding scale each day they were unemployed. Mr Fletcher-Jones said that it was the primitive culture and love of nature which gave the poorer people of Japan the incentive to keep going. They had their official viewing times to inspect the cherry-blossom and the chrysanthemums, and thejy all possessed an amazing love of flowers and nature generally.