the woman question in japan is at the present moment a matter of much consideration. there seems to be an uneasy feeling in the minds of even the more conservative men that some change in the status of woman is inevitable, if the nation wishes to keep the pace it has set for itself. the japanese women of the past and of the present are exactly suited to the position accorded them in society, and any attempt to alter them without changing their status only results in making square pegs for round holes. if the pegs hereafter are to be cut square, the holes must be enlarged and squared to fit them. the japanese woman stands in no need of alteration unless her place in life is somehow enlarged, nor, on the other hand, can she fill a larger place without additional[372] training. the men of new japan, to whom the opinions and customs of the western world are becoming daily more familiar, while they shrink aghast, in many cases, at the thought that their women may ever become like the forward, self-assertive, half-masculine women of the west, show a growing tendency to dissatisfaction with the smallness and narrowness of the lives of their wives and daughters,—a growing belief that better educated women would make better homes, and that the ideal home of europe and america is the product of a more advanced civilization than that of japan. reluctantly in many cases, but still almost universally, it is admitted that in the interest of the homes and for the sake of future generations, something must be done to carry the women forward into a position more in harmony with what the nation is reaching for in other directions. this desire shows itself in individual efforts to improve by more advanced education daughters of exceptional promise, and in general efforts for the improvement of the condition of women. well-to-do[373] fathers are willing to spend more money on the education of their daughters, to send them abroad, if possible, to complete their studies, or to postpone the time of marriage so that plans for higher education may be carried through. where, ten years ago, the number of women who had been abroad for study might be counted on the fingers of one hand, there are now three or four times that number in tokyo alone. another sign of the times is the fact that husbands going abroad on business or for pleasure are more inclined to take their wives with them, even if it be only for a few months. there are now to be found, in all the larger cities, women who have spent a longer or shorter time in some foreign country, whose minds have been opened and whose horizons have been enlarged by contact with new ideas. all this cannot fail to have its effect, sooner or later, upon the country at large.
the efforts for the improvement of women in general may be grouped into four classes: by legislation, by education, through the press, and by means of societies for mutual improvement.
[374]
of the recent legislation concerning marriage and divorce and its effect on the family, i have spoken in a preceding chapter. the latest statistics show that, while before the new laws were enacted divorces were one to every three marriages, they have now been reduced to one in five. it must be said, however, that the law is still somewhat in advance of public opinion. while the chance of permanence in marriage is better now than it was before the new code came into force, custom is still stronger than the law, and marriage is too often a temporary arrangement. in many cases the wife knows little or nothing of her new rights, and even when she does know, she has seldom the self-assertion to make a stand for them, but meekly submits to the dictates of those whom she is bound by custom, if not by law, to respect and obey without question. but the fact that the laws have actually been improved means, in a country like japan, in which the government is the moulder of public opinion, that the custom will some day conform to the law.
in the matter of property owning,[375] women, under the new code, are fairly independent. as i have already stated, every woman in japan is expected to become a wife, and as a matter of fact, the number of unmarried women is so small that it is hardly necessary to mention them. wives, under japanese law, are divided into two classes: the wife who enters her husband's family, and the wife whose husband becomes a member of her family. in the latter case the wife is the head of the family, is responsible for the debts of the family, and has the right to use and profit by the husband's property. in the former case (and as i have already stated, the great majority of wives enter their husband's families), the husband is responsible, and has, consequently, the right to use and profit by his wife's property. in all cases, unless the husband is physically or mentally unfit, he has the management of his wife's wealth. in case of the husband's disability the woman takes care of her own. a wife may, by application to a court, cause the husband to furnish security for the property that she has intrusted to him; and she may, with her husband's[376] consent, engage in independent business. the property that she thus acquires is her own and not the husband's. any property in the family, the ownership of which is not perfectly established, belongs to the head of the family, whether male or female. we thus see that the law of japan fully recognizes the right of married women to hold property, although only in exceptional cases are they allowed the management of their own holdings. the law also regards the wife, in household matters, as her husband's agent.
in actual practice, it is not uncommon for the wife to manage the entire income of the family, receiving it from her husband and acting as his treasurer. the wife's own earnings are seldom given to the husband, and her position is one of entire independence in the disposal of whatever she adds to the family revenue. but should the wife bring into the family at marriage property which passes into the husband's management, the chances are that, unless a divorce should occur, she will never lay any claim to the principal, or think of it[377] again as her own. while her husband cannot actually dispose of it without her consent, she is pretty certain to give her consent should he ask it, and he may do very nearly anything that he chooses with it. we thus see that the tendency is to give the management of the income, as a part of the management of the household, to the woman, and leave the disposal of the principal, as a part of the outside business, to the care of the man. this system of domestic finance seems not unlike the common practice in thrifty and well-managed homes in america, and shows that a spirit of mutual confidence between husband and wife belongs to japan as to western nations. as the result of my own observation in a number of homes, i should say that the judgment of the wife in money matters is quite as much trusted in japan as in america, and that, in this one respect at least, her place in the home is as responsible a one as that of the western housekeeper. one instance may be cited of a woman whose business ability is so well known as to have a national reputation. [378]by birth a member of a family which is remarkable for its success in all financial undertakings, she has inherited a large share of the family characteristic, and is credited with the personal management of a large bank, as well as other successful business undertakings. her husband's name and not her own appears on the prospectuses and in the newspapers, but unless report is very far astray, she is the business man of the family, and her sound sense and good judgment have built up the fortune which is their common possession.
in the educational system of japan, schools for girls are provided by the government, but no provision for studies more advanced than those of the middle schools for boys is included in the scheme, with the single exception of the higher normal school in tokyo, in which a limited number of young women are trained to take positions as teachers in the ordinary normal schools for girls. to quote from the annual report of the minister of education for the year 1898, the latest to which i have access,[379] "higher female schools are institutions designed to give instruction in such higher subjects of general education as are necessary for females." this shows with considerable completeness the idea that dominates all government and much private effort for the education of women in japan. the schools are to teach simply such subjects as are necessary for females; anything more would be superfluous, possibly dangerous. the thought of women as individuals, with minds and souls to be trained and developed to their highest possibilities, is still somewhat foreign to the mind of the average japanese man. in its stead is the idea that females must be instructed in such subjects as are necessary for a proper understanding of their duties as wives and mothers. but if japan to-day is where england and america were in the first half of the nineteenth century, the country is certainly moving forward, as the statistics in regard to education for the three successive years 1896, 1897, and 1898 show. great efforts are being made to increase the attendance [380]of girls at the common schools, and with gratifying results.[43]
as we advance into the higher schools, the discrepancy in numbers between the two sexes grows greater. in the kindergartens the attendance of girls is nearly equal to that of boys; in the elementary schools there are three boys to two girls; in the higher elementary schools, seven boys to two girls. the boys' middle schools, which are equivalent in grade to the girls' high schools, have fourteen boys taking their courses to every two girls in the high schools. in the apprentice and technical schools, there are fifteen men to every two women. even the normal schools, which in our own country are almost given over to women, in[381] japan have six male students to every female. the "special schools," mainly professional, have, to 11,069 men, 73 women, all enrolled in private schools, and presumably taking medical courses. beyond this point women have no opportunities offered to them. in the higher schools, equivalent to the college and graduate courses given by universities in america, 7,224 young men are given opportunities that women must go abroad to obtain.
these figures are, as i have said, for the year 1898. the year 1901 sees two hopeful movements well begun. one of these is the opening of an institution bearing the title of "female university," endowed and supported by japanese, through the strenuous efforts of mr. jinzo naruse, a prominent christian who has spent some time in america. at its opening, five hundred girls were glad to enter, but of these very few are ready for college work. mr. naruse, however, believes that in time he will be able to enlarge his college department and diminish the preparatory, which is now almost the whole of the school. he has the[382] support and encouragement of many wealthy and influential japanese, among them count okuma, the well-known progressive statesman. on the day of the opening of the school, count okuma, in a speech from the platform, said that the nation would be twice as strong if its women were well educated. this he called "setting up a double standard." he pointed out that turkey, egypt, persia, and china were countries which had tried to get along with a "single standard," and which had fallen conspicuously behind. he called attention to the fact that japan's primitive religion had for its central figure the goddess of light, but that, unfortunately for the well-being of the state, woman had been gradually dethroned and thrust down into a low place. after speaking of the debt that japan owed to china for the civilization and the ethical system that had stood her so long in good stead, the veteran statesman went on to say that society in japan was disfigured by abuses which were beyond any simple remedy. the only effective medicine was to be found in a radical reform of the[383] ideals of family life, and this could only be effected by an improvement in the status of woman,—an improvement which such institutions as the one that day opened would greatly aid in bringing about.
these words from one of the most honored leaders of japanese thought voice the feeling that is prevalent throughout japan in this thirty-fourth year of méiji. that it is actually moving both government and people is shown by the words of mr. kikuchi, minister of education, to the council of provincial governors held in tokyo in june, 1901. in speaking of the progress of education throughout the country, he stated his intention to push forward the work of secondary education for girls, saying that a prefecture which refused to make provision for such education by 1903 might be compelled to do so by the government.
the other hopeful educational effort to which i have alluded is a school started on a small scale, but with a high standard, by a japanese woman whose name is almost as well known in america as in japan, as an educator of great ability[384] and earnestness of purpose. after many years of work as a teacher in the peeresses' school, a place of great honor from the japanese standpoint, she has resigned her position to carry out a long-cherished plan. with the pecuniary aid of friends in america, she has founded a school for the preparation of young women who have finished the courses heretofore open to them, and who wish to become teachers of english in the government schools. the examinations for such positions have always been open to women, but, because of the difficulty in securing proper preparation, there are few who pass them. since its opening in september, 1900, the school has been crowded with promising pupils, and the small accommodations with which it began, although already once enlarged, are stretched to the uttermost. the girls come from the government high schools and from the mission schools, and the course offered to them of three years of study in english literature, composition, translation, and methods of teaching has proved a strong attraction. in recognition, perhaps, of this effort on behalf of[385] her countrywomen, certainly, of her position at the head of her profession, this same woman has this year been appointed on the examining committee for the government english examinations, an honor never before given to one of her sex,—in itself a sign of the change in thought that the last few years have wrought.
there can be no doubt that the education of women is moving forward, pushed by the leading men of the country and aided by the earnest work of the women themselves. it is still far behind the education offered to men, and the ideal of most of its promoters is limited to the purely utilitarian; but as long as it moves forward and not backward, and as long as the years of work show an increased number of women fitted to meet the changing conditions of the time, we do well to approve rather than criticise, remembering that the problem is an exceedingly intricate one, and one of which even the best-instructed foreigner can see only a small part of the difficulty.
the year 1901 sees the printing-press[386] almost as much of a power in japan as in the western world, and it is interesting to notice that among the innumerable newspapers and magazines now published in the country there are some twenty or more devoted exclusively to the interests of women. to be sure, these women's magazines do not undertake to furnish the loftiest intellectual pabulum, the best of them covering, perhaps, the same range of subjects that is included in "woman's journals" in the united states. they devote themselves largely to lectures on morals and manners, and instruction as to how best to perform the duties of the home. these magazines are for the most part written and edited by men, many of them very young men, and serve to show rather what men desire that women should think and do, than to give any insight into the minds of the women themselves. with a combined circulation of perhaps 40,000, they enter many homes, and do something, at least, toward the general enlightening and quickening of the feminine mind that is so noticeable in the japan of to-day. in regard to the general [387]reading of japanese women who have had the new education, my own observation leads me to believe that they keep themselves well informed of what is going on in their own country, and of the outside world so far as it affects their own country; but that their interest in the world at large is less than that of american women, and only in exceptional cases do they care much for the sayings or doings of foreigners. in this respect they differ widely from the men, whose minds are reaching continually for new things to graft upon the old civilization.
in the whole list of publications on the woman question, nothing has ever come out in japan that compares for outspokenness and radical sentiments with a book published within a year or two by mr. fukuzawa, the most influential teacher that japan has seen in this era of enlightenment. it is in two parts, the first an attack, conducted with much skill and humor, upon kaibara's "great learning of woman," a book which for nearly four hundred years has been supposed to contain all that a woman should[388] know. the last part of mr. fukuzawa's work is a constructive essay upon the "new great learning of woman." so revolutionary are the sentiments expressed in the book that many japanese men hesitate about allowing their wives and daughters to read it, and in at least one modern christian school it has been ruled out from the school library as too advanced for the reading of the girls. a brief survey of the sentiments and ideas thus boldly set forth will show how far is the attitude of the japanese from that of the american public on the woman question. we find in mr. fukuzawa's book the lofty ideal that belongs to the most advanced modern thought, but its promulgation as a practical working ideal in japan was of the nature of a thunderclap. among less tolerant races, men have been lynched, or burned at the stake, for slighter departures from the average code of thought and morals.
mr. fukuzawa starts out with the proposition that women are quite equal to men, and should hold equal position and influence. although he allows that woman's work in the world is quite distinct [389]from that of man, he holds that it is as important, and that she should have the same property-holding privileges and rights. the greatest stress is laid on the point that the same moral obligation for purity of life rests on the husband as on the wife. he goes into the details of the unhappiness resulting from concubinage, putting the duty of the husband in this respect as equal to that of the wife to preserve her chastity, and as this is, next to obedience, the virtue of virtues for a japanese wife, his argument is as strong as it could well be made. he insists that women should demand as a right from their husbands and families the same privileges and opportunities that men have in society.
such sentiments are a matter of course in america, and they have been held by a few advanced thinkers in japan, but no one hitherto has dared in so vigorous and positive a way, and with arguments that come so near home, to try to break the chain of custom that holds women down as inferior beings. kaibara says that if a woman finds her husband doing wrong, she should gently plead with him, choosing [390]a time when he is most inclined to listen. if he refuses, she should not insist on his hearing her, but wait until he is willing to listen, and though she may try two or three times, she should never anger or irritate him. fukuzawa says that if this applies to the woman, it should also to the man,—that is to say, if a man finds his wife unfaithful, he is to wait for an opportunity when she is in good humor before he remonstrates with her. fukuzawa also throws new light on the duty of husbands and fathers to their wives and children in another respect. he says that no man should let the sole responsibility for the happiness of the home fall upon his wife; that a man is responsible for the peace of the home as well as the woman. this view of the matter is entirely new in japan, as the responsibility for an unhappy home is laid as a matter of course upon the wife. the duty of a wife to her parents-in-law is also treated after the same revolutionary manner. is it to be wondered at that many men fear the influence of such a book upon their gentle, submissive wives? in this connection it[391] is interesting, however, to note that at a recent shinto wedding, after the religious ceremony, which in itself marks a great step forward in the japanese ideal of marriage, the priest who united the couple presented to the bride a copy each of the kaibara and fukuzawa books, perhaps with a view to letting her take her choice between the old style and the new, perhaps that she might instruct her husband out of the fukuzawa book while she put in practice herself the time-honored precepts of kaibara.
one feature of the times in tokyo, that is perhaps worthy of passing notice, is the tendency of women to form themselves into societies and clubs for the attainment of some common object. of these women's clubs, the greater proportion are perhaps educational, the members meeting once a month or once a fortnight to listen to a lecture upon some subject that helps to keep them up with the times. there is also a patriotic society, that concerns itself with raising money for sending supplies to soldiers in the field, or for widows and orphans of[392] soldiers, or to help along some other patriotic enterprise. there are societies, too, for general benevolence, or to help in carrying on the work of some one institution. a glance at the membership lists of these associations shows that the motive power is, in almost all cases, the same group of earnest, educated women, who are, in this way and in countless others, doing their utmost to broaden the horizons of their countrywomen, and lead them out into a larger life. this is probably true in the other cities in which a movement of women into clubs and societies is noticeable.
it is when the active women of the new way of thinking, whose lives and thoughts are devoted to work and endeavor rather than to the passive submission and self-abnegation of the old days, find themselves suddenly placed among the surroundings of thirty years ago, that the change of conditions becomes most evident. i cannot think of a better way to illustrate this than to tell the story of one of my japanese friends and her visit to her husband's relatives in a distant provincial city. the lady[393] who told me the story is a stirring, capable young matron, educated after the modern ways, who has spent most of her happy married life of some fifteen or sixteen years entirely in tokyo, except for a visit of a year to america. she bears a closer resemblance to many kind-hearted, strong, energetic young american women than to the old-time japanese lady portrayed in these pages. she rises every morning at five, attends to every detail of her housekeeping, watches carefully and with educated common sense over her family of young children, believes in good food, fresh air, and exercise, for boys and girls alike, and is a helpful friend and good neighbor, filling to the full the position of work and influence in which she is placed. her husband is a successful business man, whom frequent journeys across the pacific have made thoroughly cosmopolitan, and their children are accustomed to a freedom from conventional restraints and a healthful diet and regimen such as old japan never knew.
last year the plan of spending the summer with the husband's relatives,[394] which had been long projected, was actually carried out, and the whole family migrated to the provincial city from which the husband had sprung. the aged mother, a gentlewoman of the old type, was delighted to meet and entertain her daughter-in-law and grandchildren, and did her best, with all old-fashioned courtesy, to make the visit a pleasant one. the house was clean and spacious, the mats soft and white, the bows of the lowest, the voices and speech the politest that japan could furnish, but the healthy, restless children found the conventional restraints irksome, and the old-fashioned diet of rice and pickles, with hardly a variation from morning till night and from week to week, was quite different from the bountiful table to which they had been accustomed. the younger woman could not criticise her mother-in-law's arrangements, neither could she bear to see her children growing thin and pale before her eyes. she consulted her husband, who, in accordance with the antique ideas of propriety, was served his meals at a different time and in a different room from his wife and[395] family. to his food his mother had always added various delicacies which her old-time spartan spirit would not allow her to set before her daughter-in-law and grandchildren. it would have been quite contrary to her ideas of rank and etiquette for her to make any modification of her ordinary fare for them. as the son was already supplying the funds for carrying on his mother's establishment, it occurred to him that he might increase her allowance on the plea that her summer expenses must be heavy with so large an addition to her household. but the old lady was sure that nothing more was necessary, and would not think of burdening her son with any larger expenses, and could not be induced to accept the offered increase.
another effort was made to get along upon the meagre fare, but the youngest boy fell ill and had to be taken to a hospital, and the mother decided that something must be done if all the family did not wish to follow him. the happy thought occurred to her of buying something that would be an addition to their scanty menu, and giving it as a present[396] to her mother-in-law. now a present in japan can never be refused, so it seemed to the younger woman that she must have found a way of escape from her difficulties. of course, the present was accepted with many thanks and expressions of unworthiness, and when the meal-hour arrived, each member of the family found an infinitesimal quantity of the delicacy in a small plate at his side. but as soon as the meal was over, the dear old lady, who had by strict economy managed to leave the greater part of the gift untouched, sent out to all the neighbors presents from what had been intended to feed the hungry children at home. the experiment was tried again and again, but always with the same result. no present could be kept for family use alone. of everything but the barest necessaries, the greater part must be sent out in gifts to others.
at last the husband and wife put their heads together to decide on some course of action that, without hurting the feelings of the older lady, would secure sufficient nourishment for the children, and forthwith began a series of all-day picnics [397]to the noted places in the vicinity,—picnics that included always a good meal at some well-kept restaurant before the return to the old-fashioned fare of the grandmother's house. in this way the summer was passed without further illness, though the poor mother on her return to tokyo spent several weeks in bed,—what with starvation and worry and the effort to bear heroically, and with a smiling face, the hard life and scanty fare that were the life and fare of most of japan only a few years ago.
in the changes that the past few years have wrought, perhaps nothing is more striking than the new openings for work that japan now offers to women. the growth of the public school system has made a demand for women as teachers that is steadily increasing. although in the normal schools the proportion of women to men is still only one to six, and while teaching, even in the primary schools, is not yet mainly in feminine hands as it is with us, there is still a good showing of women employed as teachers. from the figures of the school report of 1898, we find over 10,000[398] women as teachers and assistants in the public and private schools. the profession of nursing, too, which ten years ago was just opening, has already drawn many women into its ranks. in the red cross hospitals alone there are this year nearly a thousand nurses taking the course, and a thousand graduates scattered throughout the country hold themselves ready to answer the call of the society in the time of need, in the mean time practicing their profession wherever they may chance to be. the quality of the red cross graduates has been tested now in two wars, and they show the soldierly virtues of their nation, as well as the more womanly qualities of tenderness and gentleness; and a self-respect that has kept them pure and free from stain in the midst of severe temptation. it is impossible for me to gather statistics of the work done by other institutions for the training of nurses, but the figures given above may, i think, be doubled with absolute safety in making an estimate of the total number of nurses trained and in training throughout the empire.
[399]
the growth of commerce and industry has greatly increased the demand for feminine labor outside the home. in the old days the two most important industries of the country, tea and silk, were mainly carried on by women in their homes, but the use of modern machinery is rapidly taking the weaving industries out of the homes and making factory hands of the women and children.[44]
one of the most noticeable effects of this new demand for female labor is the extreme scarcity of servants. although wages are nearly double what they were ten years ago, it is extremely difficult for japanese housekeepers now to find servants to replace the old ones as they drop out of the ranks, and the women who apply for positions are apt to be far inferior to those who came to the same[400] families to do the same work ten years ago.
in other ways, too, women are learning to fill new places in the world. the telephone, which now connects towns and cities and villages in japan, employs girls in large numbers. in the printing-offices we find women at work, not as compositors, but as compositors' assistants, darting from case to case about the room and selecting for the compositor the ideographs that he needs in his work. inasmuch as a small printing-office cannot get along with less than four thousand characters, and as larger ones may have several times that number, the need of quick-witted and quick-footed assistants to each compositor may be easily recognized. as the schools turn out each year more girls fitted by education to do this kind of work, and as the number of newspapers and other printed matter is continually on the increase, the demand for and supply of this special variety of labor are likely to increase proportionately for some time to come.
a few women are now making their way as reporters on the daily papers, a[401] few more are engaged in literary work. one of the best of modern japanese novelists was a woman, but she died several years ago at so early an age that her work was a promise rather than a fulfillment. artists, too, there are, who are making names for themselves, as well as a living, in a country where art is so common that success in that line means hard work and special talent. a few young women support themselves by stenography, a few more as clerks and secretaries in business offices. until a writing-machine has been invented that will write four thousand characters, there will not be much demand for typewriter girls in japan outside of the treaty ports, where a few are now employed. the japanese government has found, as uncle sam discovered some time ago, that for the counting of paper money women's fingers are more deft than those of men, and it consequently gives employment to a few women in that work. one railroad has recently begun to employ women as ticket-sellers, and three medical schools have already graduated some women physicians,[402] though it is still doubtful whether there is any great opening for them in the country. these are some of the ways in which women now find themselves able to gain a little more independence of life. the whole matter is so new that no statistics are available that will show the exact extent of the demand for labor in these directions, but from my own observation i am inclined to think that there is little change in the employments of women except in the neighborhood of the larger cities, and that the new occupations as yet have a very slight effect upon the conditions in this country at large.
it is not possible to understand the actual progress made in japan in improving the condition of women, without some consideration of the effect that christian thought and christian lives have had on the thought and lives of the modern japanese. if japanese women are ever to be raised to the measure of opportunity accorded to women in christian countries, it can only be through the growth of christianity in their own country, and for that reason a study of that[403] growth is pertinent to a study of their condition.
the past ten years in japan have been discouraging to the missionaries in many ways, and it is not unusual to hear from the less hopeful of them the statement that their work has been at a standstill, or even going backward, during that time. the statistics of missionary effort show a steady, though slight, increase in the number of professing christians, but if the sum total of the results of missionary effort were the number of converts made, it might, perhaps, be doubtful whether the money spent on missions in japan might not be better turned to other purposes. there are now in japan, of christians of all sects, protestant, and roman and greek catholic, 121,000, or about one half of one per cent. of the total population of the country; but the influence of these christians as leaders of thought is out of all proportion to their number. christian men are found in the diet, in the army and navy, in the universities and colleges, and in the newspaper offices, in a proportion far beyond their ratio to the total population, [404]exerting their influence in many ways for the uplifting of the nation to loftier moral ideals. the proportion of christian men and women in the government schools with which i have been connected is rather surprising. in the higher normal school, training young women to go out into the whole country as teachers, the proportion of professing christians upon the teaching staff is striking; and in the peeresses' school, which is as conservative and anti-foreign as any educational institution in japan, there are five professing christians among the thirty-five teachers. while, on the one hand, the japanese christians are not all models of all the virtues, while there is with many of them a tendency to modify their christianity so as to accommodate a considerable amount of worldly wisdom, it is true, on the other hand, that the most active workers in the cause of philanthropy are men who have accepted the christian faith, and who are striving in all earnestness to model their lives after the life of jesus of nazareth. the christian church in japan to-day has its heroes and its back-sliders, [405]and has between these two extremes a rank and file of every-day, commonplace men and women, who amidst frequent failures and in the midst of many temptations are making the name of christian stand for a certain kind of life and a certain standard of virtue quite above and beyond the lives and standards of their countrymen. it is largely because of them that a christian public opinion is growing up among non-christian japanese. men to-day who have no special leanings toward christianity shake their heads over vices and sins which a few years ago were not even thought of as wrong. there is a great deal of talk about the growth of moral depravity in the country, but as a matter of fact, the standards of virtue have never been so high since japan was opened as they are to-day: it is only that christian thought has held up a mirror to an un-christian society, in which it views all too clearly its own defects. there is, to my mind, no more hopeful sign of the times than the growing discouragement over the present condition of morals. when there is added to this[406] a steadily increasing respect for the honesty and strength of character of christian men and women, it must mean that a great and lasting impression has been made. to-day banks, business offices, and other places requiring trustworthy clerks and employees, prefer, other things being equal, christian young men, for it is generally known that they are more worthy of confidence than the majority of applicants for such places.
one instance of this increased moral sensitiveness may be cited in the recent successful efforts to limit the power of the brothel-keepers over their victims and virtual slaves, the joro or licensed prostitutes. as i have stated in a previous chapter, the women who carry on this business in japan are, many of them, unwilling victims of a system which allows parents to sell their children to a life of shame; and they enter upon that life so young that they can hardly be regarded as morally responsible for their condition. even after the actual sale of girls was forbidden by an imperial ordinance in 1872, the purchase price was called a loan to the parents of the girl,[407] and subsequent loans for clothing entered upon the books of the establishment kept the unfortunates so continually in debt to their masters that they could never escape from the bondage in which they were held except through death, or by purchase by some infatuated admirer. public opinion, while it indulged in some sentimental pity for the hard lot of the joro, did little or nothing to aid any one who desired to help them, regarding the profession as a necessary one, and caring not at all for the injustice to which the girls were subjected. ten or twelve years ago, a movement started by some prominent japanese christians against the joroya fell flat for want of a public opinion behind it. speeches on the subject were hissed down by audiences of young men, and nothing could be done to help even the most innocent and unhappy of the girls to a better life. in the new code, perhaps as an effect of this movement, a new law provided that the joro might leave her calling by giving notice to the police. a police regulation, however, forbade any girl to cease her employment, or to[408] leave the house in which she was kept, unless her official notice of cessation was countersigned by the keeper of the joroya, so that by her own effort she could not free herself.
in the year 1900, one of these girls in a provincial city appealed to an american missionary for help in getting her liberty. through his aid, and that of his japanese helpers, her case came before the court, which decided that the contract under which she was held was opposed to the public welfare and good morals, and that the keeper must affix his seal to her notice without regard to her debt. although the local police refused to act in the matter, and although the missionary and his helpers were subjected to personal violence by the employees of the joroya, an appeal to the authorities at tokyo resulted in an enforcement of the court's decision, and the girl was freed.
at this juncture the salvation army, which has a valiant contingent in tokyo, and which was actually spoiling for a good fight with the world, the flesh, and the devil, in any form, took up the cause[409] of the oppressed joro. a special edition of the "war cry" containing appeals to the girls to leave their lives of shame, and offering aid to any one who might apply to the army, was published and hawked through the yoshiwara. when the keepers and their employees found out what the strangely costumed news-venders were about, they charged down upon them, and after a street fight, drove them out of the quarter. thus the war began, but the tokyo police took up the matter, the tokyo press joined hands with the salvationists, and in the end the whole country was stirred to aid in the attack. in return, the brothel-keepers and their employees, feeling that the profits of their business were at stake, made it extremely warm for any salvationists or newspaper reporters who dared set foot in the disreputable quarters, and in their zeal sometimes made mistakes and drove out their would-be patrons. the office of one newspaper was wrecked by sympathetic roughs, and it took a squad of fifty or sixty police to escort army officers when they had occasion to visit any of the houses to secure[410] the release of a girl. no lives were lost, though some hard knocks were received, and the work was kept up with unabated noise on both sides, until every girl held in unwilling bondage knew how she might escape and to whom she could go for aid.
during the month of september, 1900, as a direct result of the attacks of and upon the army, the number of visitors to these houses in tokyo was decreased by about 2,000 a night. on october 2, a government ordinance was issued that at one stroke removed all obstacles in the way of a girl's securing her freedom at any moment when she wanted to leave the business. the new regulations made the descent to avernus as difficult as possible, and the return to the upper world a mere step. in tokyo alone, in the first four months after the promulgation of this order, 1,100 out of the 6,335 girls who were licensed as prostitutes left the houses in which they were employed, most of them returning to their homes and families, and as many as applied being cared for in the rescue home of the salvation army. the places thus[411] vacated are not easy to fill, because the keepers will not advance money to the parents of a girl, now that they can no longer hold her as security for the debt. in consequence, too, of the revelations of the evils of the system, the business has fallen off alarmingly. thus many of the houses have been obliged to close, owing to lack of custom and to inability to pay the heavy taxes.
we have here the story of a successful attack on a system which has existed in japan for three hundred years, by a christian agency acting with the support of so strong a public opinion that police and government have felt bound to obey its behests. there has been no more striking example of the effect of christian thought upon public sentiment in any country than this crusade against the brothels in japan. when we remember that ten years ago it was not possible for a speaker to attack the institution before an audience of students without being silenced by hisses, it is interesting to note that this year, the students of that same school greeted with applause and respectful attention an address on this very subject.
[412]
it seems to me rather striking that in the year 1900 fifty thousand copies of the bible were sold in japan—more than of any other book. although the present translation is regarded as far from perfect, and much of it is unintelligible to the average japanese without instruction, whether directly or indirectly, by mission workers, it is still sought after and read for the sake of its literature, and because of the reputation that has been gained for it throughout the country. there are few missionaries of any experience in japan who cannot tell stories of men coming to them from country villages, who, through the reading of a copy of the bible in some way fallen into their hands, have been brought by the beauty and nobility of the parts that they could understand to seek additional explanation from some teacher or preacher. one case that is amusing, but at the same time striking, i have heard vouched for from a number of sources:—
two thieves, one night, broke into the dormitory of a girls' school in search of booty, and by chance awakened two of[413] the girls. as they sat up in their beds, wondering what was best to do under the circumstances, one zealous damsel reached for the bible in which she had been reading before she went to sleep, and handed it to one of the thieves, saying, "if you read this book, you will not want to steal any more." the other girl followed her companion's example and gave her bible to the other thief. that was all, so far as the girls knew, and it was some years before the sequel came to light.
there is one place in japan to which released convicts who are trying to get back to respectability again drift from all parts of the empire. it is a prisoners' home in tokyo, where one man, aided by his capable and devoted wife, receives into his own family and gives aid and succor to hundreds of society's outcasts. to this place came one day an ex-convict who told a remarkable story of his conversion, and of his desire to lead a new life. he had received a bible from a little girl one night in a house that he was robbing, but was too full of professional engagements at the time to follow her[414] advice and read it. later, however, as he was resting from his labors in the enforced seclusion of a prison, he began to read, and spelled out enough to make up his mind that he did not want to steal any more. accordingly, as soon as his term was ended, he made his way to the prisoners' refuge, and by the aid of its founder and head, and his good wife, settled down to steady habits of industry. later, when the prison look had worn off from his face and the prison gait from his walk, he returned to his family and friends, where he is now a respectable member of the society upon which he formerly preyed.
there are other stories showing as deep impressions made on men of culture and respectability, not so striking and amusing as this one, but meaning as much, or even more, for the future of japan. such things are hardly possible in christian countries to-day, for there is little or no novelty in the message that the old book brings to us; but to the japanese mind the thoughts are absolutely new in many ways, and the reading alone will often change the whole life, because it lifts up the nature to a higher set of ideals.
[415]
as a direct effect of christian thought upon the thought of the japanese nation, it is interesting to notice the change in meaning of one word. in the teachings of confucius the highest virtue is benevolence, rendered into japanese by the word jin; in the teachings of buddhism the highest virtue is mercy, or jishi. when the christian missionaries first came to japan, there was no term in the language that covered the thought of love as it is taught by christ. for lack of anything better, the word ai, which indicated the love of a superior for an inferior, was made to do duty for the greater thought; and now the old word ai, throughout the length and breadth of japan, is accepted and understood in its new meaning, a continual witness to the effect of christianity upon the national mind. is this a little thing in the education of a race that has shown in the past so great a capacity for living up to its ideals?
one more direct effect of christian teaching upon japanese society is the great quickening of philanthropic and benevolent effort. scattered throughout[416] the country are benevolent or educational societies, orphanages, hospitals, free kindergartens, reform schools, and other evidences of a desire on the part of the more fortunate to help the unfortunate by some means or other; and if you study into the history of any of these efforts, you will usually find that some japanese christian, or some man who has come home impressed with the philanthropies of christian countries, has started the scheme, and has created a society, and a public opinion behind the society, which carries on the work. even in the government institutions there is no difficulty in tracing the influence of christians and christianity. the red cross society, with its seven thousand members, and its hospitals in every prefecture of the empire, bears the sign of christendom upon all its property and employees. it seems to me quite safe to say that but for the christian influences of the past forty years, there would be very little altruistic work done in japan to-day; but by means of the christians and their teachings, the latest and best thought of the world is working its way[417] out in practical service for humanity in japan, and this service is ascribed by enlightened buddhist and shinto believers alike to the spirit of christianity, which will not let the fortunate rest while their less fortunate brothers are in want or sin.
no one who studies the religious question in japan at all can fail to notice the extraordinary revivifying of buddhism for what it feels to be a life and death struggle with an alien faith. the disestablishment of the buddhist church by the government at the time of the restoration must be credited with its share of the awakening process; for the priests, finding their own support and that of the temples dependent upon the voluntary contributions of worshipers, were forced to bestir themselves as they had not done since the old missionary days, when they were working for a foothold in the country. but without the competition of christianity, it is extremely doubtful whether their efforts would have been turned so largely along educational and philanthropic lines, whether the standard of intelligence among the priesthood[418] would have been so quickly raised, whether they would have sent young men abroad to study sanskrit and history with a view to a better understanding of their own scriptures, or whether they would not rather have relied on less radical methods of quickening the religious life within their body. certain it is that buddhism, which upon its introduction into japan actually lowered the status of women, is now making a bid for public favor by holding meetings and founding societies especially for women, and is doing its best to increase their self-respect and the respect in which they are held by society.
an interesting story which throws some light upon the new influence that is at work among the buddhists came to me not long ago through a japanese friend. there were two brothers living in a poor little village on the northern coast of japan, who were joint heirs to a small piece of property. as the land was not enough for the support of two families, the elder brother, a gentle, thoughtful youth, gave up all title to his share of the inheritance and entered a buddhist[419] monastery. in the quiet of this retreat, amid the beautiful surroundings, the daily services, the chanting of priests, and the mellow booming of the great monastery bell, his thoughts went out to the poor and the sinful among his own people. he began to feel that a life which seeks merely spiritual uplift for itself is not the highest life, and that only as spiritual gain is shared with others is it real and lasting. forthwith he began a life of helpfulness to the poor about him,—of teaching and preaching and good deeds that won him many humble friends. within the monastery, however, his work was not approved. his ideas and actions were not in harmony with the teachings of the sect. he was first disciplined and then expelled, and found his way back at last, penniless, to his native village.
now, in northern japan the winters are long and hard, and the most industrious of farmers and fisher-folk can wring only a bare subsistence from the conditions of their toil. it is from these villages, perhaps, more than from any other sources, that the girls are obtained to[420] supply the joroya of the great cities. at any rate, in this particular village, the only hope that any girl possessed of escaping from the hard home toil was by the sale of her person, and the thought of seeing the great cities, of wearing beautiful dresses, of being admired and petted, and perhaps at last of marrying some rich lover and becoming a great lady, was a tempting bait to these poor peasant girls. to this young man, whose soul had been awakened to a new sensitiveness during his absence, the full horror of the conditions that could so warp and dwarf the souls of women appealed as it had never done before. he must do something to help them, but what to do his previous experience did not help him to know. he sought for aid and sympathy in his native place, among his friends and co-religionists; but the state of affairs was too old and too familiar to excite interest, and at last he worked his way to the capital, feeling that somewhere in that great city he would find light on the question that perplexed him. it was a mere question of ways and means—how to begin a work which he[421] felt driven from within to do. in tokyo, as he inquired among his friends, he was told that christians knew all about the kind of work that he wished to begin, that he must go to them and study their methods, if he would help the people of his native village. so the devout young buddhist, who had found in his own faith the divine impulse, turned to the study of what christians had done and were doing for the unfortunate. the story is not finished yet. we cannot tell whether in the end it will result in another addition to the ranks of the japanese christians, or whether it will aid in the quickening that has come to buddhism, but, whatever way it ends, it shows in a concrete example what christianity is now doing for japan, and especially for the women of the country.
