MAGAZINESENGLISH LANGUAGE MAGAZINES

THE XXth CENTURY308,their poetic sentiment and by their wonderfuldescriptions of nature. In the first story, forinstance, which gives the book its name, onecan see the color of a tree and a single bladeof grass in the atmosphere of a country townfacing the Japan Sea. The somewhat falteringstyle of the stories is intentional as part ofthe poetic sentiment of the author. Another ofthe stories, "Bo·shun" (Late Spring), describesthe lllind and psychology of a man recuperat·ing alone at a hot spring away from hisfamily. While he is recovering from mentalexhaustion, he is at the same time overcomingthe mental anguish he suffered while involvedin an ideological movement. There seems tobe something in common between this storyand the works of the German author HermannHesse in the relationship between the landscapeand the depths of the hero". suffering.

"A'iB'ltru-Ritotachi" (People Who Love) byKosel Kawabata is a volume of ,nine shortstories. Almost all of them are about women,one of them describing a girl's vague longingfor marriage, while another shows the joysand sorrows of a married woman. While the

SciC/lC{'

What continual disturbances this planet ofours has to put up with I No, we don't meanwars. Those are merely a man-made additionto the number of disasters with which natureprovicles us at certain intervals. We meanearthquakes, in connection with an article by·Chuji Tsuboi on "Seismology in Japan" inConlcmpomry Japan (February). Written asit is in one of the world's notorious earth­quake zones, i.e. Japan, the article containssome interesting data. The fact that Japanhas so often had to announce earthquake dis­asters to the world, apparently more thanother countries, is easily explained by theauthor, who points out that the density ofpopulation naturally makes for greater loss oflife and property whenever and wherever thequakes occur as compared with other lesspopulated zones. With n view to fighting theresignation often found in people living inearthquake zones, modern seismologists, mak­ing a clear distinction between earthquakesand earthquake disasters, have set out to erasethe latter expression from the vocabulary.The disaster that overtook Tok)'o and Yoko­hama in 1923 did much to intensify and evenrevolutionize seismological work in Japan.

Experiments are now being carried out bythree different systems. The Central Meteoro­logical Observatory collects data concerninggeographical distribution, time distribution,~ode of occurrence, and velocity of propaga­tIOn of the seismic wave. The SeismologicalResearch Institute, by the second system,studies chiefly the deformations and the tilt

author'. previous works seem to ban beeawritten out of an oftllflow of feeU.... tbiabook is a proof that hill style baa become IIlONpolished, more tempered, like a fine blade.His insight into the psychology of WOIIUlIl is blplacell as illuminating as a flash of IiPtDblc.

The most attractive of these nine stories is"Hokuro-no-Tegami" (Letter of a Mole). Itaheroine hiS a mole on the baclt of bar DeCkwhich she haa been in the habit of fiJIceriIICsince she was a child. She peraista in thistrick even after she is married, althoqh herhusband often repro'es her for it. The authorskilfully shows how the Ufe of the WOIlWlhinges, in a W8J, on this mole. aDd howmother-love, love for ber own body, ud loveof her busbaJld center around It. '1'blI fa •fint time we find in oJapa...... Ut..atunl 80delicate a deecriptlon of haman 10ft _from so unueual an 1..

The anthor'_ -"Ie nideatb ......maturity, and with thia maturitr an abMdspiritual light aeema to shiue tIlroqh ....works.-T. N.

of the earth's crust. gravity, and terrestrialmagnetism. The third sYlltem is that car­ried on by all the Imperial unlveraiti81in the country, to every one of which a geG­logical or geophysical institute is attached.The present aim of the combined efforts ofthese three systems is the prediction of earth­quakes and the working out of a formulato build earthquake-proof houses, roads. andbridges.

R. Dailey, S. J., author of "God In Nature"in the Catholic Roview (February), takes usinto the reslm of zoology. He tells us thestory of the Sitaris, a tiny insect whosewonderful metamorphosis be~rs witncss tothe guidinc force of a higher intellect inNature. The Sitaris leaves ita egg in Septem­ber and goes without food for seven months,after which it suddenly begins to feel ayearnine for one particular kind of honey.So it attacnes itself to the back of oneparticular kind of bee that goes to the riChtplaces. The bee flies fast, and ita back isslippery, but that doesn't daunt the SitaristIt haa some glue ready in its body and withits aid gets itself properly fixed. For thefirst three weeks it always uses a male beefor a II clipper," Then it transfers to afemale bee to get into a honey cell. Oncethere, the Sitsris leaves the back of the betat exactly the right instant and slips intothe lake of honey, safely perched on the bes'segg. Now for the first meal of ita life: theegg. Then, floating on the broken shell, theSitaris transforms its tiny body into a sonof pontoon in order not to drown in the labof honey, and develops a bresthing apparatua

REVIEW OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAGAZINES

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sticking out over the surface. When all thehoney is consumed the Sitaris spins itselfinto a cocoon and goes to sleep for ninemonths, then to emerge as a perfect specimenof ita kind and to die after a few days.How did all this come to pass! The Sitarianever saw its parents, was never shown howto do anything.

The Press and a Term

"The seed of Western culture was plantedin Chinese soil much earlier than in Japan,but the seed planted in Japanese soil buddedand bore fruit scores of years before the onein China. Not only that, but by harmoniouslyblending Western civilization with her own,Japan succeeded in cultivating a new varietyof civilization. Such an accomplishment ac­counts for the leadership which she has ac­quired among the countries of East Asia. Inthe printing and publishing fields of culture,with which this article is chiefly concerned,these characteristic differences between theJapanese and Chinese nations are well re­flected."

Thus Keishu Sanetow in "Japan's Influenceon Chinese Printing" in Contc1nporary Japan(Io'ebruary). We learn from this essay thatthe art of printing was known to the Chineseas early as the year 593 A.D., yet there seemsto have been no notable attempt at improve­ment. It took Western inventiveness and theprogress of material civilization to bring thisart to its present stage of perfection. West­ern.style printing was introduced into Chinain 1 07 but was carried on exclusively by for­eigners till Japan took up the new techniquein 1851. After overcoming initial difficulties, .such as manufacturing Japanese types inWestern style, development was quick, and soonJapanese type foundries started producingChinese types as well as Japanese, for the Chi­nese had not yet learnt to make their own. Themanufacture of printing machines in Japanwas the next step.

Towards the end of the last century Chinaawakened to the fact that in Japan she had aguide to modern development close at hand.Chinese students went to Japan in increasingnumbers and returned with translations ofJapanese literature as well as printing machines.However, the better-class Chinese publicationswere still being printed in Japan. The out­ward appearance of the books was. of course,influenced too. It is a curious fact that whileWcsterners printing in China did their book­binding after the fashion of old Chinesemodels, it was the Japanese who introducedinto China the more economical Westernmethod of putting out books.

"Why 'State'!" is an etymological study byThomas Baty in the same number of Contem­porary Japan. The writer points to the factthat the word "state" seems to be less popularin everyday speech than "country" or "nation,"which may be due to its tendency of convey­ing the idea of magnificence and usually being

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identified with government. In the languageof international law the word means "self­determining unit of international relations."The word itself is traced back to the Sanskritroot "sthana," ligni!ying physical "standing"and metaphorical "stability." This, however,is merely speculation and cannot be proved.At any rate, even if the word be traced backonly to the Latin "status," we have to admita great change in its meaning, a change, as amatter of fact, for which literature offers usno explanation. It is assumed by ChancellorDowdall that from first denoting "the settledcondition of a person" it came to mean"position," then "high position" and "power,"and eventually "government," the latter mean­ing being connected with the word "state" forthe first time by Macchiavelli. Politicaldevelopments in the follOWing two centuriesseem to have promoted the growing habit ofidentifying government with subjects whentalking about the state, until finally the actualterritory came to constitute the main clementin the significance of the word.

South Sea·,

The February 2 copy of the Voice of NewChina contains a survey of the resources ofthe South Sea Islands. Its two headlines are"Treasure House of East Asia Opened," and"South Seas to Provide Every Item for EastAsia Self-Sufficiency." To begin with agri­cultural products, it is stated that of thetotal world supply the South Seas produce97% of all rubber, 95% of coconut, and 92%of quinine, while in the case of Manila hempand jute they hold a monopoly. Ore depositsare plentiful and, as the mining industry inthose parts is still very young, much may beexpected from the future. As regards tin,60% of the world's production is mined there.Next in importance are tungsten and lead.As for maritime products, the fishing in­dustry is highly developed, the multitude ofislands offering ideal bases. Fish abound inthese waters, and pearls are found only here.An important item is timber, of which thereis abundant wealth in the dense jungles,covering 70% of all the areas in question.Only Australia and New Zealand form anexception, where timber has to be imported.The crowning advantage of all is the cheap­ness of transport, every place being accessiblefrom the sea or, at least, never at a greatdistance from a port. with the exception, ofcourse, of Australia again and some of thelarger islands.

In this connection it is interesting to readthe article .. Communications in the SouthSeas" by Dr. Toshio Narazaki. It is reprintedin the Far Eaaurn Review (February) fromthe Bulleti11 of the South Seas Association.Traffic on land is considered first, and theNetherlands East Indies and French Indo­China are credited with posseasing some goodroads and railways, while in Thailand water­ways seem to enjoy greater favor. The

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Malayan railway system is said to be excel­lent, having, moreover, a close competitor inthe bus lines which ply the well-constructedroads. Air services in all these countrieswere developing satisfactorily prior to theoutbreak of the present war. Communica­tions between the islands and Japan mustrely on shipping and air transportation, theformer being the more important so far. Asregards the future, Dr. Narazaki finds thatthe building of roads and railways on thevarious islands is necessary, as well as anincrease and extension of shipping and airlines in the East Asia sphere.

Current HeadlhzesAsiana (March) reports from Chungking that

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek is said to haveagreed to a division of Burma into a Chineseand an Anglo-Indian defense zone and to beplanning the opening of new ports in the Bayof Bengal to make up for the loss of Ran­goon. As this would require the construction

JAPANESE

New Hor'izons

Out went the European war and everythingEuropean and in came the war of Greater EastAsia, as far as February magazines are con·cerned. J. Ishikawa, in the Jikyoku Zusshi,strikes the keynote. For ten years he has readand reread Hitler's My Struggle from cover tocover; this book had become father and motherto him, but now he has made up his mind togive up even so dear a companion in order toget ready for Japan's own struggle. Says he:"This book has been my guide and I have triedto explain this friend to my country, but nowI am going to forget all about it as quickly aspossible, because Japan must have her own•My Struggle.'''

However, it is interesting to see how rel­atively little space the magazines give tonarratives of actual fighting. One would ex­pect to find accounts everywhere of "How wetook this" and "When we landed there," butthis is not the case. Most of the articles dealwith the conditions prevailing in the countriesof the South Pacific and the proper means todevelop them or to win their allegiance. Evencomments on the important political andeconomic work done in Japan proper are keptmore or less in the background.

"Ichi-Oku Ikka"

The Japanese have always turned to goodaccount the wondrous ability of the Chinesecharacters to form impressive slogans. Justnow the great word is -ft-~ lchi-Okt' lkka("Hundred millions made one," meaning Great­er East Asia), or -ft-.a Ichi-Oku lsshin("Hundred millions - one heart"). The deedfollowing the word is the abolition of thepolitical parties in Japan and their substitu-

of roads, in order to establish connectionswith Chungking, the chances are that time, orrather the lack of it, will be against theGeneralissimo.

Reports from Burma in the same issue ofAsialla paint a gloomy picture. Japanesebombing raids have sent the population ofLower Burma fleeing to the remote upper dis­tricts of the country. The British have in­censed the people with their "scorched earth"policy, going so far as to burn rice-storagehouses. Chungking troops detailed for thedefense of Burma are becoming dissatisfiedwith their wages, being now in a position tocompare their lot with that of the Britishsoldier. The fact that British military authori­ties seized supplies destined for Chungkinghardly improved matters. Nor will the de­tention of prominent Burmese leaders serve asa calming agent. But things happen fastthese days, and the people of Burma will prob­ably know their fate before the month isout.-G.

MAGAZINES

tion by a movement intended to unite theentire nation. It was necessary, however, tofind out to what extent the Western idea of aone-party system could be applied to an empirein the East. The history of the Yol...usankai(short for Taisei Yokusankai, Imperial RuleAssistance Association) founded by PrinceKonoye shows that it cannot have beeneasy to find a solution to suit Japan.H. Isa writes in the Nippon Hyoron: "SinceGeneral Ando was entrusted with the reformof the Yokusankai, we have not heard over­much of the results and are looking forwardto the present session of the Diet for enlighten­ment. This is now the third reform of theYokusankai, which has thereby become a gov­ernment Ol'gan for national propaganda andleadership, practically ceasing to be a politicalparty. Therefore the question arises, whethersuch restrictive reshaping of a political move·ment which has so far served as an outlet forpolitical demands is fruitful for the accom­plishment of the Asiatic war. This war cer­tainly represents the sum of the populardemands, and it is equally true that the nationmust be led and guided, but on the other handthe war cannot be accomplished without theexistence of a movement embodying the greatJapanese idea, and such a movement must beborn."

F. Sumida writes on the same problems inthe Jikyoku Zas8hi: "The one-party systemis now a world-wide phenomenon and is neededhere for strengthening the body social, whilemany parties are a symptom of the democrat­ism indulged in by the anti-Axis countries.Accordingly the Yokusankai was created as apublic corporation, but the old liberal electionlaws are still applicable to the coming elec­tions, which invites criticism. If the Tohokaiand other political organizations are allowed

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to eke out a living outside the Diet and tocanvass their own candidates, we cannot justyet speak of the total unification of all polit­ical groups."

Mother of RevolutionsSun Yat-sen called Chinese merchants re­

siding in the countries of the South Pacific"Mother of the Revolution," and they probablyknow why. In building up Greater East AsiaJapan attaches special importance to this activeand wealthy class, as T. Hayashi points outin the Jilcyokl,L Z48Shi: .. The Ka-Kyo orChinese merchants number nearly sevenmillion in Thailand, Malaya, and the Nether­lands Indies alone, and their experience andcapacity is such that Japan must make use ofthem. It is acknowledged by lending Englishpublications that their contribution towardsmaking Malaya what it is is very grent, andco-operation between some of them and Japa­nese business has already begun in Malaya.In Malaya alone they run IIIore than a thousandschools, and the teachers form an importantclass; they have hitherto inspired countlesspeople with anti-Japanese ideas and must bewon over first of all."

The Gentle WayThe same ideas of benevolence are applied

by T. Arai in the JikyoklL Joho to all thepeoples of the South Pacific: "These peoplesare easier to rule than the Chinese becausethey possess less national consciousness; forinstance, the Filipinos look up to such amongthem as have Chinese or European blood, asis the case with the President and the Vice­President of the Philippines. It is essentialfor the Japanese not to interfere in the lifeand customs of the various populations. Forthem religion, art, and music are of vitalimportance. For el'ample, the population ofManila is wont to visit the Church of HighHill every Sunday, so it would be good not tointerfere. Love for Japan's peculiar civilizationmust grow spontaneously. Fortunately all thesouthern nations look up to Japan's as arelated but superior civilization which theywill gladly assimilate. However, Japan mustdisplay her might by every means, just as theEnglish, Dutch, and Americans have ruled formany a year by showing their power andespecially their sea power. Above all youthmust be won over to Japan. Young southernAsiatics must be invited to Japan to beeducated there, and Olympic Games and othermeets must be intensified on an Asiatic scale."

Divided lnsulindeG. Hirano, in an exhaustive study of the

social structure of the Netherlands Indies inthe Chllokoron, comes to the conclusion thatthe Indies, being caste-ridden, are a houseprofonndly divided against itself. Apart fromthe Arabs, there are three social groups firmlyfixed in their respective social, religious, andeconomic traditions, namely, the whites, theChinese, and the Indonesians. Japan will have

to reckon with this division of labor, but itis her task to unite the Indies by exercisingauthority, which is not the same as violence.Another task will be the conversion of "mollo­cultures" (rubber etc.), which were called intobeing by the world market, into an economyactuated by its own laws and demands as wellas those of Greater East Asia.

Climate and the JapaneseWar is raging over the greater part of

East Asia. Open the newspaper and you aresure to find pictures of Japanese soldiersadvancing under the scorching equatorial sunand through swamp and pathless forests, orof troops almost hidden under heavy fursfighting their way through the snow-coveredmountains and plains of northern Asia. Andall of them look as if they had never feltbetter in their lives. How are they able tostand these extremes of climate? Not onlyforeigners but many a Japanese will ask thisquestion.

Bunge, Slmn;u publishes an essay byProfessor T. Araki of the Kyoto ImperialUniversity entitled "The Natural Features ofJapan and the Japanese People." Its veryfirst lines give the answer to our question:.. I believe that there is no country as rich inclimatic changes as Japan." The islands ofJapan stretch from the cold regions ofSakhalin down to the South Seas. Her shoresare washed by the vast Pacific Ocean, butalso by the smooth and friendly Inland Sea.There are high, snow-covered mountains anddeep valleys bordering on fertile, rice-producingplains. We find a striking contrast betweennorthern and southern Japan, and travelingfrom one part of the country to anothel' wesometimes feel as if we were entering aforeign country.

Characteristic of Japan is the fact that thelife of the people is closely interwoven withnature. Cullure, philosophy, artistic taste:everything reveals its influence. Manifoldclimatic and geographical conditions havebeen the cause of the adaptability we find inthe Japanese of today. This enables themphysically and mentally to advance into anypart of the world without fear of failure.There are many Japanese who can endure thegreat cold of the north, but there is anequally large number able to stand the broil·iog sun of southern countries. Only the factthat Japan is an example in small of theworld's climates can explain this physicaladaptability.

But the author thinks also of the future. Inhis opinion the burning heat of the south andthe bitter cold of the north are in the longrun harmful to cultural development. Japanesesettling in those countries would soon losetheir energy and the capacity for adaptingthemselves so characteristic of their race.(The same opinion was expressed by .Mr. Jno,Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, whenhe said on February 6 that a southward

312 THE XXth CENTURY

emigration was not encouraged by the gov­ernment.) The author proposes, therefore,that all young Japanese in foreign countriesreturn to Japan, the cradle of their ancestors,at least for a few years. During thia periodthey would ...have a Japanese education, and,penetrated !:iy the Japanese spirit, they wouldbe sufficiently braced up to guarantee theirtaking an active part in the shaping of theworld's future.

Mr. Araki's attitude is characteristic in sofar as it provo!! that the Japanese expansionis not a sudden outburst but a well-consideredplan which takes into account every detail anddoes not hesitate to think a few centuriesahead.

W hat is the Orie I&t ?

Japan has started her big drive to establisha "New Order" in the East. But when wesay "East" what do we really mean? S.Okazaki has written an article on this ques­tion in K(tiZQ. We may take this word in itswider sense, when it would signify "Asia." Inits narrower sense it represents the south­eastern part of the continent, or all thosecountries which are under the influence ofthe monsoon. This division is also approvedof in Europe, as is shown in GeographicUniverselle by Vidal de la Blache, who dividesthe geography of Asia into two parts: "AsicOccidentale" and ,.Asie des Moussons."

The "Orient" in which Japan is interestedis, therefore, all that p,u·t of Asia under theinfluence of the monsoon. Culturally andgeographically this region, although vaded,forms II. whole.

The author divides eastern Asia into twoparts: China and India, th~ two cultural centersof Asia. Indo-China and the southern parts ofthe continent are only an interm_diate regionwhere Chinese and Indian influence have met.

The geography and history of eastern Asiaare the keys to an understanding of thisimportant part of the world. Understanding,however, must be the foundation of anyresearch. In this respect much has alreadybeen achieved by the Western nations, saysthe author, but "there is still an enormous

amount of work left which has to be done byJapanese."

An Unusual StudyThe Japanese people may be called the most

studious in the world. Since the beginningof the war all this eager desire for learning,this thirst for knowledge, has concentrateditself on Asia. Nowadays we meet people inthe streetcar reading a Siamese grammar orstudying Malay. No wonder, therefore, thatmagazines are crammed with information onall kinds of topics connected with Asia. Butafter reading several hundred pages oneconomy, history, culture, and geography eventhe Japanese reader looks for some easilydigestible stuff, and this is probably why theserious Kaizo has published an amusing articleby K. Ishiyama on "W.C.'s in Asia."

"When you are tramping through Asia youare sure to meet with all kinds of toilets.There are those which are so dirty that youcan only admiringly say "Great Scott!"(Japanese: Ko're wa, KQ1'e waf) j there arethose big and impos ing ones j tho!!c which areso pitifully small that you could take themin one hand; and those which attack yournose. There is no end to dear memories."The author has spent many years travelingall over Asia and has lived in practicallyevery country. Living means eating, andeating means - digestion! The writer speakstherefore liS an expert. He gives us a reallyscientific description of those necessary insti­tutions in southern Asia, their dimensions andmaterials, and we begin to view Asiatic prob­lems from a different angle. But when Mr.Ishiyama begins to relate his experiences inthe paper-hating, water-loving countries ofwestern Asia which he calls the "regions ofthe water-bottle," we cannot but agree withhim when ho says:

"With the exception of Japan, the countriesof the Co-Prosperity Sphere are, seen fromthe W.C.-culture point of view, still verymuch behind the times. Even the rising'country of Thai does not yet know the screen.She is still at the stage of making a hole inthe middle of a wooden plank." And theauthor draws the conclusion that there is stillmuch cultural work to be done on thecontinent.-P.