GIRL BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS I WAS leaving the beautiful summer home of a member of the wealthiest family in Japan, where the host, his wife, his sister, a woman missionary (an American exotic that blooms fragrantly and beautifully in the Orient), the president of the Woman's University, and myself, had been discussing the nature and progress and possibilities of the new higher education for women that has swept over Japan like a prairie fire. Meditating upon the enthusiastic and idealistic words of one of the group, herself a great philanthropist, patroness of advanced education, and practical business woman, I came upon a scene which formed a sharp contrast to the one I had left. At the very gate of the estate, grubbing with her bare hands in a potato-patch, beneath the pitiless summer sun, was a young woman, on whose bent back hung a baby, with its little head bobbing at every motion of the mother. That represented the lot of many of the women of Old Japan. The craze for education that has filled to overcrowding every girls' school in the land, with thousands still clamoring outside for admission, will result in taking that young woman and myriads of her sisters out of the potato-patches and the rice-fields, and from beneath the cruel loads such as no able-bodied American man would attempt to carry. Education will entirely change woman's place in the society of this new member of the family of nations. Without losing the gentle grace of the lady of Old Japan, she will yet acquire the self-reliance, independence, liberty, and democracy of her American sister. Already education is leveling caste barriers; the daughter of a jinrikisha man now sits side by side in a certain higher school with the daughter of a governor. When the prejudice against the education of women fell in Japan, a dozen years ago, it went down with a crash. Theretofore "polite accomplishments had constituted the education of a Japanese lady; her humbler sister was not educated at all. A woman had no right except such as her husband or father chose to bestow. In her case marriage was the end, and it was truly a lottery, for she had no voice whatever in the selection of a husband, and if, for any reason, this strange man, thus suddenly made the guardian and circumference of her life, did not fancy her, she was cast back upon her family, divorced and shamed. Already many of the educated young women of the Empire are refusing so to be treated; they claim a voice in the choice of their husbands, and certain rights in the home. Some even put aside marriage altogether and give themselves to the service of their sisters, as teachers, physicians, and nurses. Not that the freedom of the West has come to this demure and smiling maiden. A certain prominent school was the scene of quite a breeze lately because a new American teacher wanted to introduce the study of "Romeo and Juliet " in the English literature classes. "Scandalous !" said the Japanese teachers, and they had their way; for balconies and serenades and kisses (I blush even to write about such things while I sit in a Japanese dwelling !) have no part in the thought or experience of the Japanese woman. How utterly different are the-views of Japan and America concerning "the grand passion "-well, there is no such thing as "the grand passion" in the Japanese conception. I heard an American traveler, in addressing a Japanese normal school, allude to the public school teacher as "the American sweetheart." The interpreter had no word with which to translate the phrase, because the character and the word alike do not exist in Japan; so he quoted it bodily, since the expression was unintel Entrance into school life has been like a voyage to the happy isles for the quiet little Japanese girls. Education has opened up a new world, socially as well as intellectually. It would not be easy to find anywhese happier companies of young women than the Japanese girl students. The smiling faces and merry disposition of the young women of the Island Empire have always been famous. On the school campus and in the dormitories this has developed a depth and ligible in Japanese. In passing, it is worthy of mention that all Japanese students, male and female, above a certain grade are obliged to study English, and it is the bête noire of modern education. It is said that the girls more. readily master this perplexing tongue than their brothers. I once heard a Tokyo college professor say that this is because women have less brains than men, language study being a purely imitative, monkey-like art. To every one's amazement, a Japanese man arose and roundly dissented, vigorously championing woman's cause. Thus has Japan advanced. expansion unknown before. Quite understandable were the tears of a girl whom I saw come to take leave of her teachers and school, as she was about to be married. Among themselves the students have jolly times. As yet, the college yells and college songs have not penetrated to this land, and surreptitious midnight feasts are unknown. These docile, ceremonious little ladies never think of breaking over rules, although their brothers do not hesitate to go on "strike" against an unpopular teacher. The formality of the relations between teacher and pupils would astonish breezy The Japanese school-girl wears a costume all her own. It may be seen in every village in the Empire, but most commonly on the streets of Tokyo, which is now the greatest student center in the world. Even the smallest girls attending the government primary schools wear it. This uniform has as its distinguishing feature a dark red or purple hakama, or skirt, worn outside the regulation kimono. The latter is always of quiet colors, the gay gowns being worn only by little children and dancing-girls. The popular idea in the West that the Japanese dress in bright colors arises from wooden pillow, gives way in the case of students to the simple American pompadour, which does not take hours to arrange, as does the former fashion. This modern coiffure is coming into vogue among all classes of women. The school-girls wear wooden clogs, or geta, held in place by a thong passing between the great toe and the second toe. Short stockings, called tabi, with a compartment for the great toe, complete the footwear. Clogs, sandals, or shoes are never worn indoors, with the result that Japanese homes and schools are the cleanest in the world. The geta-boxes are even more necessary at the entrance to a school than are hat-racks in America. Of course the girls do not wear hats. The student carries her books, as all hand packages in Japan are carried, wrapped up in a furoshiki, which is a large square of colored cloth. education to a Japanese girl in a higher school will seem ridiculously small to Americans, averaging, as it does, six or seven dollars a month for tuition, board, lodging, books, and incidentals. Despite the newness of most of the girls' schools, they are surprisingly well Dormitory life for the Japanese girl is equipped. Their apparatus is extensive, the "simple life" indeed. When a visitor is shown into one of the small, low-ceiled rooms which two or more girls occupy, he sees nothing but the mats, each six feet by three feet, which constitute the floor, and a small table about ten inches high and three feet square, holding books and inkstone and brush. Perhaps on the walls are a few unframed American pictures. That is all-no bed, no chairs, no bureau, no mirrors. The problem of housekeeping is here reduced to a minimum. Slide open the wall at one end of the room, however, and a closet will be disclosed containing the girls' few articles of raiment (styles do not change in Japan so far as a Westerner can see, though the initiated declare otherwise) and the thick quilts, or futons, which, with a small round hard pillow for each girl, constitute the bedding. More than this the girls do not know nor desire nor need. They sit on the floor, sleep on the floor, and eat from low tables or trays placed on the floor. Some of the school dining-rooms now use chairs, for a reason which will presently be explained. The principal articles of diet are rice and fish, eaten, of course, with chop-sticks. Each girl has her chop-stick box, as an American would have a napkin ring. Adjoining the kitchen is the lavatory, with its rows of individual basins and towels. Near by is the big tub where the girls, a dozen at a time, enjoy the daily hot bath which is a national institution. The expense of an Especially well equipped is the Wo man's University at Tokyo, which, although only seven years old, yet. has an enrollment of twelve hundred students. This most progressive of Japanese educational institutions for women boasts branches to be found in few women's colleges elsewhere A SCHOOL-GIRL CHARADE gardening and chicken-raising, for in- the visitors from America upon current topics was quite typical of New Japan. The phenomenal growth of this largest institution of its kind in Japan is due largely to the fact that the most eminent men and women in the Empire are its supporters, the Empress herself having made a personal gift toward its establishment. The oldest schools for girls, and probably the most thorough, are those established by missionaries. Some of these are thirty years old, and they have furnished many or most of the teachers for the newer government schools. They are to be found in all sections of the country, and their teachers are noble representatives of America's best. The course of study which the Japanese student must pursue is different in important particulars from that known to the American girl. She gets no Greek or Latin, having instead to study Chinese, with its countless ideographs. These are more interesting to talk about than to study. Thus, as ungallant male students inform you with a chuckle, the character which represents a house with one woman in it means peace, the same character with two women in it means discord! Japanese history and literature, general history, mathematics, including the difficult abacus or counting-slate, physiology, geography, philosophy, psychology, ethics, zoology, botany, physics, domestic science, sewing, drawing, music, and gymnastics, all belong in the ordinary curriculum. In addition, the girls must learn the polite accomplishments which characterize a Japanese lady. There is a prescribed rule for every detail of social intercourse. The caller is greeted with three profound bows and certain complimentary formulas. The guest returns |