on, chiefly under Christian auspices, in very poor districts in large cities. During the early years of New Japan female education was almost entirely in the hands of the Christian missionaries, who alone seemed to realize the necessity of a better education and training for the future mothers of the nation. But thinking Japanese have come to realize, with Count Ōkuma, that all countries which have attempted "to work with the male sex as the single standard" have "fallen signally behind in the march of progress"; and that "Japan by raising woman to her proper place should provide herself with a double standard.” Thus it has come about that educational privileges for girls and young ladies are increasing. Law schools, medical schools, theological seminaries, and other professional schools are numerous; on these lines private enterprise is very active, because the public institutions are inadequate. There used to be a great dearth of good private institutions of learning, and this lack was partly due to the fact that private enterprise in this direction received little encouragement, and public spirit was lacking on the part of those who might have assisted in this way. But recently both the advantages of private schools and the opportunities thus afforded to men of means have come to be appreciated. In this connection a few words should be written concerning mission schools, which will also be con sidered in the chapter on Christianity. In spite of limitations both from within and from without, these institutions, having their "ups and downs," nevertheless maintained themselves and have won popular favor against a strong prejudice. They have always insisted upon a high mental and moral standard, and have without doubt aroused the public schools to raise their standards and ideals. Whatever may be said for or against mission schools as evangelizing agencies, it is generally acknowledged that, as educational institutions, they have been models of correct pedagogical principles and exemplars of high morality. It is also interesting to note that, after a period during which the Japanese thought that they could teach foreign languages as well as foreigners, there is an increasing demand for foreign instructors. Within the past two years several young men from America have been engaged as teachers of English in middle schools; and such opportunities are increasing. Moreover, a larger number of students than ever are annually sent abroad by the government, or go abroad at their own expense, to finish their education. Thus narrow prejudices are dissipated and minds are broadened. Another means for improving the educational system of Japan is to be found in teachers' associations, educational societies, and summer institutes. The first two are local; the last are national. The educational societies are for the purpose of increasing the general interest in education in the different locali ties; the teachers' associations are, as in America, for the improvement of methods of instruction; and the summer institutes are for the same purpose on a broader scale. What was written about private schools may be repeated concerning libraries. No Japanese Carnegie has yet appeared; only a few men, like Mr. Ōhashi, of Tōkyō, and Baron Kodama, Governor-General of Formosa, have endowed libraries as memorials. The largest public library is the Imperial Library1 in Tōkyō, with over 400,000 volumes, of which more than 50,000 volumes are in European languages. It is in the domain of science that the Japanese have achieved, perhaps, their greatest intellectual successes. Their work in original investigation is always painstaking, and in many cases it has attained an international reputation. The names of Dr. Kitasato, associated with the famous Dr. Koch in his researches, and Dr. Aoyama, the hero of the pest in China, are well known; and now comes Dr. Ishigami, who claims to have discovered the germ of smallpox. The chief defects in the Japanese educational system are on three lines: dependence on Chinese ideographs, vague instruction in ethics, and encouragement of cramming. The removal of these hindrances to progress is engaging the attention of thoughtful educators, but is a slow and gradual process. 1 This has recently secured the famous Max Müller Library. BIBLIOGRAPHY. "The Wee Ones of Japan" (Mrs. Bramhall), pp. 97-108; "A Japanese Boy" (Shigemi); "Japanese Girls and Women" and "A Japanese Interior" (Miss Bacon), all give interesting accounts of school life in both Old and New Japan. The Department of Education issues annually in English, for free distribution on application, a "Report," which contains the latest statistics and other information. "The Educational Conquest of the Far East" (Lewis) is an excellent discussion of educational conditions and problems of the day in China and Japan. CHAPTER XVI ESTHETIC JAPAN OUTLINE OF TOPICS: Japan's debt to art. æsthetic ideals. - Chinese origin of Japanese key-note. Considered a form of poetry. -- Wide diffusion of art.—Painting the Characteristics. · Color prints. - Sculpture. - Keramics. - Metal work. - Cloisonné. Lacquer. Embroidery. — Music. - Poetry. - Dancing. - Drama. Tea ceremonies. - Flower arrangement. — Landscape gardening. — Unity of the arts. - Bibliography. T has been said with a great deal of truth that no other country in the world owes so much to its art as Japan. As Huish puts it, “Japan would never have attracted the extraordinary notice which she so rapidly did had it not been for her art. . . . Her art manufactures have penetrated the length and breadth of the world." Yet it is a curious fact, to which Chamberlain calls attention, that the Japanese have "no genuinely native word" for either art or nature. The expression "fine art" is commonly represented by the word bi-jutsu, a Chinese compound meaning literally "beauty-craft." So intimately are æsthetic ideals bound up with the whole course of Japanese life and modes of thought, that art is not, as in the Western world, a mere sporadic efflorescence, but the inevitable expression of the spirit of the Eastern civilization, and needing there |