Letters from China and Japan

								

mother-of-pearl inlay. Otherwise nothing but the room with gorgeous blue
and gold chrysanthemums alternating on the paneled ceiling and five silk
cushions scattered around for us to sit on, and a single one at the end
of the room for him. In about five minutes another screen door opened
and he appeared in a gorgeous but simple flowing robe, copper colored.
Then tea and sponge cake--meantime the talk fest had begun. Incidentally
I should remark that the bowing and kneeling of the servants looks much
more natural and less servile when you see people seated on the floor,
and the servants have to kneel to hand them anything. His personality is
that of a scholarly type, rather ascetic, not over refined, but not in
the least sleek like some of our Hindu swamis, and very charming. When
we left he thanked us for coming and expressed his great satisfaction
that he had made some friends. His talk was largely moral but with a
high metaphysical flavor, somewhat elusive, and reminding one of Royce.
Well it was an experience worth having, as he is reputed the most
learned and representative Buddhist in Japan, and as I have remarked
before, seeing is quite different from reading. He was more modern than
Royce in one respect; he said God is the moral ideal in man and as man
develops the divine principle does also. We saw the big fifty-foot
bronze statue of Buddha, in some respects the most celebrated single
thing in Japan and again one you have to see. It is as impressive as a
cathedral.
We have been to a dinner party since I began this. Our host seems to be
a universal genius--a member of the house of peers, an authority on
education, an orchid fancier, a painter and I don't know what. There
were over twenty at table, and our health was drunk in champagne with a
little speech, and two members of the cabinet were there. The Countess
is the mother of eight children, and looks about thirty and very pretty
for thirty. Three or four of the little girls were about before and
after dinner, and, like several of the little girls of the new
generation, are as spontaneous and natural as you would wish. Acquired
characteristics are certainly hereditary in Japan, for even the most
lively and spontaneous children are civilized. Whatever else you think
about the Japanese they are about the most highly civilized people on
earth, perhaps overcultivated. I asked Mamma when these girls would
undergo the clammifying process and have all their life taken out of
them, and she said never for these girls.
President Naruse died this morning; as he had cancer, it was fortunate
he did not linger longer. He was one of the most remarkable men in
Japan. Two days before he died the Empress sent him a present of five
thousand dollars for his school--a very great tribute and one which will
help the cause of woman's education. Speaking of this family where we
dined, you can judge of the high aristocracy of our hosts of the evening