LIFE IN DOMINION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21926, 9 October 1934, Page 10

LIFE IN DOMINION

u TOO MUCH ENJOYMENT" JAPANESE STUDENT'S VIEWS • ————— Interesting impressions of New Zealand have been formed by Mr. Isamu Kawase, a young Japanese student, who is visiting Auckland on the eve of his return to Japan. Mr. Kawase has spent the last sTear5 T ear at Massey Agricultural College, and prior to that he was for two years at Canterbury Agricultural Lincoln. In Japan he was an economics student at Keio University, Tokio. Agriculture in Japan consisted almost entirely of the cultivation of rice and other similar crops, Mr. Kawase said. Before he came to New Zealand he had never thought of the cultivation of grasslands, but ho had found the science most interesting. He hoped to be able to find some use for his knowledge in Japan, although the country was so densely populated that there was really no room for pastoral pursuits. However, the waste lands in the neighbourhood of the mountains might offer some limited scope. "Some of you in New Zealand are worrying about sheep farming in Manchukuo," Mr. Kawase said. "The land is low and wet and there are extremes of climate and I do not think that wool from Manchukuo will ever compete with yours." On one aspect of New Zealand life Mr. Kawase was refreshingly frank. "You eat too much mutton .and little vegetables," ho said. "This may be one of the reasons why you have such heavy forwards in your All Blacks, but it may l>e a reason also why you have very few artists, musicians:, philosophers or writers. New Zealanders have really too much enjoyment and fun and your life is too easy. You have no time lo think." Mr. Kawase traced interesting connections between his own people and tlio Maoris. There were over 60 Maori words, he said, which were exactly similar in pronunciation and meaning to Japanese words. Over 20 Maori place names might also be found in Japan, while the "maru" in the names of Japanese ships was undoubtedly of Maori origin. On his return to Japan, Mr. Kawase hopes to publish the results of his researches in this direction.