THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN I. Origin of the Japanese.-1. The difference between two types found among the Japanese people has been described by Dr. Griffis as follows: "Among the upper classes, the fine, long, oval face, with prominent, well-chiselled features, deep-sunken eye-sockets, oblique eyes, long, drooping eyelids, elevated and arched eyebrows, high and narrow forehead, rounded nose, budlike mouth, pointed chin, small hands and feet, contrast strikingly with the round, flattened face, less oblique eyes almost level with the face, and straight noses, expanded and upturned at the roots. The former type prevails among the higher classes-the nobility and gentry; the latter among the agricultural and laboring classes." 2. These types probably represent two streams of immigration. People from Northern Asia may have crossed over from Korea or have entered by way of Saghalien, which is separated from Siberia by a channel only five miles wide that is sometimes left dry by the wind and is frozen over in winter. Some students of the problem' suppose that Southern Japan was peopled by persons who came from the Malay Archipelago. They point to the fact that the Black Stream sometimes brings to Japan shipwrecked sailors who have drifted in their boats from the south. It is thought that these southern immigrants conquered those who had entered from the north, and that in the course of time the races blended so as to form the Japanese people. Other writers oppose the theory of a Malayan immigration. While recognizing that there were two races, they claim that both were Mongolian and probably came by way of Korea or China. II. The Ainu.-Whatever may be the truth concerning these two sets of immigrants, they probably found the islands already occupied by other people whose origin is unknown. These were the Ainu, or Aino, whom the newcomers gradually forced back into Yezo, where they long maintained independence and their purity of race. A remnant numbering about 17,000 still survives, but they are subject to the Japanese. The Ainu "are the hairiest race in the whole world, their luxuriantly thick black beards and hairy limbs giving them an appearance which contrasts strangely with the smoothness of their Japanese lords and masters. They are of a sturdy build, and distinguished by a flattening of certain bones of the arm and leg-the tibia and humerus-which has been observed nowhere else except in the remains of some of the cave-men of Europe. The women tattoo mustaches on their upper lips and geometrical patterns on their hands. Both sexes are of a mild and amiable disposition, but are terribly addicted to drunkenness. They are filthily dirty, the practice of bathing being altogether unknown. Their religion is a simple nature-worship. The sun, wind, ocean, bear, etc., are deified and whittled sticks are set up in their honor. The bear, though worshipped. is also sacrificed and eaten with solemnities that form the most original and picturesque features of Ainu life." (Chamberlain, "Things Japanese.") III. Possible Relation between the Japanese and the American Indians.-The Japanese are thought by some to have been the progenitors of the North American Indians and the Mexicans. In some respects the physical characteristics are similar, and it is easy to see that the Black Stream might have borne shipwrecked people across the Pacific. Indeed, it is said that between 1782 and 1876, forty-seven Japanese junks are known to have been cast upon the American coast. IV. Physical Characteristics of the Japanese. The average height of Japanese men is about the same as that of European women. The low stature is largely due to shortness of the lower limbs, and, when seated, they do not seem so diminutive as when standing. They are of light weight. With the exception of the professional wrestlers, who look like mountains of fat, very few portly persons are to be seen. The upper and middle classes appear to be physically weak; but the peasantry have great powers of endurance, even the women carrying heavy burdens upon their heads. V. Mental Characteristics.-1. The Japanese are keenly intelligent. Most of the men and a considerable proportion of the women are able to read books written in a simple style. Even the peasants are interested to know what is going on in the world, their questions and remarks showing much shrewdness and quickness of perception. 2. The people are cheerful and good-natured. They take life in a light-hearted way. With a smile, or sometimes with a laugh, the Japanese will tell of some terrible disaster or bereavement; yet one who understands the people knows that a heavy heart often lies beneath the cheerful exterior, and that a sympathetic word may lead to a flood of tears. It is often hard to tell whether the laugh that accompanies the narration of bad news comes from nervousness or from the person's feeling that he ought not to let his own sorrow annoy another. 3. It is often said that the Japanese are imitative, but do not have inventive power. The correctness of this assertion may be doubted. It is true that Japan in former times copied what it received from China, and more recently it has adopted or imitated what has come from the West. Yet the copying has not been servile. If an object is placed before a Chinaman and a Japanese with directions to make something like it, the former will produce what can hardly be distinguished from the model. The Japanese, on the other hand, will introduce some ideas of his own. If he understands the use of the article, the change will probably be an improvement. Where there is a chance for variation he does not like to make two things alike. Here we see what is at least allied to a capacity for invention. Tell a country blacksmith or an ordinary mechanic that an instrument is desired for a certain use, and if he once grasps the idea he will show a surprising ability to make something that will serve the desired end. 4. Japanese often lack steadfastness of purpose. They do not like to begin with small things and make them grow to something great. New enterprises must be started with grand opening exercises and great enthusiasrn, |