JAPAN’S DOUBLE LIFE

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19457, 22 December 1934, Page 13 (Supplement)

JAPAN’S DOUBLE LIFE

CURIOUS MIXTURE : OCCIDENTAL AND ORIENTAL.

(Demaree Bess in Christian Science Monitor.)

NO ORIENTAL PEOPLE have accepted Western civilisation so eagerly as the Japanese. During the last 70 years the Japanese have welcomed Western influence in every phase of their life, just as they welcomed Chinese influence centuries ago. But at tlie same time the Japanese have clung to their own “ pre-Western ’-’ mode of life, and to-day, as a result, they lead a “double existence" which often, startles visitors. One may say that a struggle between Oriental and Occidental modes and habits has been going on in Japan for more than half a century. At first, Western influence was sternly resisted, as it has been in China. Then it was suddenly accepted so completely that the old life threatened to disappear entirely. Finally there was a revulsion against too enthusiastic an acceptance of Western ways.. And now, to-day, a compromise between West and East has been effected, which seems likely to be permanent. Tlie Japanese have definitely decided that for them a “double existence ” is best. It is unjust to say, as some observers do, that the Japanese Imitate Everything and Originate Nothing. It is more correct to say that the Japanese adapt for •themselves everything in every type of civilisation which appeals to them as suitable for Japan. The mingling of Eastern and Western ways which is so apparent Japanese life to-day may eventually create a more “liver able ” existence than one purely Occidental or purely Oriental. A striking example of the judicious mixture of Japanese and Western modes is provided in the musical revues which' are so popular in Japan to-day. These are something entirely new; when the writer last lived in Japan, in 1927, they did not exist. They probably date from a visit to Japan of Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn with their.group of American dancers, which occurred In 1926. , These dancers, were immensely popular In Japan. Miss St. Denis and Mr Shawn were interested In Japanese dances, and cordially exchanged ideas with Japanese artists. Very soon after their visit, schools for “ Denishawn ” dancers' sprung up in several cities. The first Japanese attempts were amusing. Of course they co/ald not develop American-style dancers overnight. But as in other things, they were not easily discouraged. Bad as the first professional dancers in Western style proved to be, the Japanese public liked them. Shrewd producers sensed the profits likely to accrue from development of really good Japanese dancers after Western models. After two years of training, the Takaradzuka Girls Opera Company was formed, with 50 girls who were moderately skilful in the “ new ” dances, even by Western standards. The Japanese have their own traditional stage dancers, who undergo rigid training and must have an immense amount of innate talent to be successful. These Dances are Appealing Even to Visitors who do not understand them. To the Japanese their appeal still is irresistible. ! The best of suclv dancers are still confined to the kabuki stage, which .presents pure Japanese drama and dancing. 4s it has finally evolved, the Japanese musical revue combines Western-style and Japanese dancing, and this type of entertainment is more popular to-day than any other. Two companies, numbering more than 100 each, present new revues constantly in Tokio, Osaka, ,ap4 the other large cities. Japanese girls .now offer “ American dances of which American producers would not he ashamed. The same girls also present pure Japanese kabuki dances well , enough to please exacting Japanese audiences. The revues are held together by plots which are a curious mixture of kabuki drama and Occidental musical comedy. The music sometimes is Western and sometimes Japanese classical refrains. These revues illustrate the difficulties of Japan s “ double existence.” The training which the performers must undergo is more severe than any in the West. Ihey are ambitious to excel not only in Occidental dances hut in their native odori, so Hint they must undergo simultaneously two rigid courses of training. The, progress they have made in a brief period is amazing. The Same Eagerness to Excel in Occidental & Oriental Mediums is apparent among Japanese artists. The annual autumn art exhibition lias separate sections for Western oil paintings and for watercolours in Japanese style, .based upon Chinese models. Artists often present pictures for both sections. Some of them even have two studios: one for oils which they paint as Western artists do on canvases standing erect; the other for Japanese watercolours, which are sketched seated upon the soft straw-mats ora Japanese house, while the artist crouches over his paper block, supporting himself upon his left hand as 'he paints Wit Vas\ed S one artist if he did not find it difficult to work In two such different mediums. He smilingly replied that it was a relief to turn from his Japanese sketches, before which he often seated himself for hours, to stand and walk about before his canvases. One type of work is

so different from the other, he said, that change was itself recreation. The combination of East and West is apparent in every phase of Japanese life. It extends into the field of sports, in which, all Japanese youngsters are encouraged •to participate. There are 12,000 contestants from all parts of the empire in the annual autumn athletic meet at Tokio. The games include not only baseball, Occidental track meets, hockey and basketball, but also Japanese wrestling, jiu-jitsu, and fencing. Baseball Is immensely popular in Japan, and 80,000 persons crowd stadiums in which the annual championship games are held. One may see Japanese youngsters playing 'baseball on vacant lots or in the streets, as American youngsters do. The writer once saw two small boys “ playing catch,” while each was carrying a sleeping baby on his hack. The babies and -the boys seemed to he equally content. * But great crowds also attend the annual wrestling matches, which are so slow and so ceremonious that they make little appeal to Western visitors. In spite of the popularity of Western sports, which grows each year, the Japanese retain a love for- the sports which were popular before Western sports were known. Food Plays Its Part In Japan’s “ Double Life.” The Japanese housewife of to-day must learn to cook not only Japanese, but Western style dishes. Rice is still the staple diet, cooked in the old manner. But the ordinary family is beginning to like occasional foreign-style dishes to vary its diet, and cooking schools, Western sty le, are largely patronised. In Tokio and other 'large cities restaurants serving only* foreign food are increasingly popular. The double existence,” however, makes work doubly difficult for Japanese kitchens, whether they are located on Japanese ships, in restaurants, inns, or homes. Some Japanese like Western food, some like Japanese, and some like a combination. Steamers, dining cars and inns, as well as housewives, endeavour meet the double demands. Japan’s “ double life,” however, is restricted largely to the cities and industrial centre's. Ilu'mble workers in •the cotton mills wear a Western style dress, because it is cheaper and more convenient. Office workers, even among the most poorly paid, have two sets of clothes, one for work and the other for the home, one Occidental, ,the other Japanese. But the farmers and flsherfolk, who compose more than half of the total population, have need only for one kjnd of clothing, and cannot afford Occidental garments. At work and at home they wear the same sort of clothing as did their ancestors. In the cities, almost every family, and every member of the family, lives the modern “double life.” The school children have westernised uniforms but usually when they come home change into more comfortable kimonos. The father goes to tlie office in Western dress, tout also looks forward to tlie kimono awaiting him at home. The mother, unless she too works in an office, usually retains her kimono at all times. But the. daughter, at school or at work, more often than not assumes Occidental garments. * In architecture, as in all things, the Japanese readily adapt themselves to Occidental or purely Japanese styles, or sometimes combine the two. It has ■ Beoome Largely a Matter of Convenience. The new government buildings of Tokio are almost entirely Western. The banks and office buildings are purely Occidental. The homes are sometimes Japanese, sometimes Western, according lo individual taste. More and mote the two types of architecture are combined in homes, with at least one room in pure Western style, and the rest of the house in Japanese style. . For a time, it appeared likely that the Japanese might evolve a new architecture combining East and West. The Kabuki-za Theatre in Tokio is an example of what can be done with this combination. Outwardly the building is pure Japanese, with its carefully curving roofs and dipping cornices. But when one gets inside, one might be in a New York theatre. The interior is purely Occidental. Judging by present tendencies, however, the'effort to combine architectures has been abandoned. Except in residences, the newer buildings are all one or all the other. The House of Parliament which commands a view of all Tokio from its liill-top is a purely Occidental building. All new government offices are of this type. But not far away, in its spacious Japanese gardens, stands the Imperial Palace in which the Emperor resides with his family. Here There is no Trace of Western Influence. The Imperial family wear Western clothing on certain, occasions, but at home they live in Old Japan. Another palace, built for the Emperor in imitation of that at Versailles! stands unoccupied. Tli6 lionie of the Emperor, which so much impresses every visitor to Tokio, remains as a symbol of Japanese determination not to be swept too far into a westernised world. More and more each year there Is a tendency to cling to what is best of Old Japan.