KISSING NOW POPULAR IN JAPAN

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22658, 8 June 1948, Page 8

KISSING NOW POPULAR IN JAPAN

LONDON, May 12.

Kissing, introduced into Japan by the Occupation troops, has apparently come to stay, and is now one pf the most popular pastimes in Nippon. It wasn’t always so. Until recently it was forbidden as immoral. Rodin’s famous sculpture ‘‘The Kiss,” which appeared in Japan during an exhibition of European art in 1924, was adjudged indecent and was placed behind a bamboo screen. Japan is not the only country which has objected to kissing. It is estimated that one-third of the world’s population do not kiss. The Chinese, Malayans, Eskimos and most of the aboriginal tribes find kissing distasteful and immoral. Some native tribes think that blowing in one another’s ears is more fun; others rub noses. Although the kiss of respect dates back to very early times, the romantic kiss is comparatively a innovation even in the Western world. It seems that the practice did not become really fashionable until the Middle Ages. . , , In later centuries, kissing had its ups and downs, but even today, in some parts of America, kissing in public is still illegal because of an ancient law which has never been repealedNot long ago, in the United States, an elderly spinster saw a man kiss his wife in a public conveyance. She ‘‘laid information” against the couple. Before the judge she declared with indignation that not only did_ the man kiss his wife, but also put his arm around her waist while committing the offence. The court found that there was still on the statute book a 17th century law against kissing in public, arid the husband was fined five dollars for his unseemlv opridiict