ancestors. The thoughtful observer is pleased to know that there is a strong reaction setting in against foreign dress among the women. Many are returning to their national garb, which is comfortable, suited to the climate and their manner of life, and far more beautiful and picturesque than French or German gowns. During a year's stay in Japan I did not see a half dozen Japanese women who looked well in European costume. Moreover, when they drop their own garments they are all at sea with regard to color, and some of their combinations are enough to drive one wild.

The Peeresses' School, established in Tokio for the daughters of the nobles, is under the charge of the imperial household. This school and the stand taken by the empress have been the most potent influences in changing the condition of women of the better class. Many of the teachers were educated at Vassar, and, naturally, after a prolonged stay in America, they returned with changed views with regard to the condition of their country women.

The empress, who is well educated in the literature of her own country, has been surrounded by good advisers, who have inculcated in her a desire to emulate the feminine rulers of other countries in deeds of kindness and charity. She is very generous and liberal, giving to hospitals, schools, fairs, and bazaars so lavishly that were it not for the "comptroller of the currency" her quarterly allowance would be gone in a week, and there would be nothing left with which to clothe herself.

The fundamental principle in the education of all Japanese women, from the highest to the lowest, is obedience. Through childhood, wifehood, motherhood, until she attains the position of mother-in-law, must she obey her elder brothers and sisters, her father and mother, her husband and husband's mother.

The Japanese girl leaves her own family, and in reality becomes a daughter of the house into which she marries. Her position is often not particularly pleasant, but years of habit make her life bearable, while she looks forward with longing eyes to the time when she herself shall be in a position to be obeyed. The mother-in-law is an autocrat so far as the wives of her sons are concerned. To her is rendered the most implicit obedience; the young daughter-in-law may not pay or receive a visit without asking permission, neither may she correct her own children contrary to the wishes of the grandmother.

Old age is honored, and filial piety is the greatest of virtues. To such an extent is this carried that a man will sacrifice his wife, his children, to the wishes of his father or mother. Not long ago the papers told the story of a man who killed his wife, chopped up her liver, and fed it to his mother, in the hope that it would cure her of some malady which he feared was fatal. He and his wife had lived pleasantly together, never having had any trouble or disagree.

ment, but he thought it no crime, much less a great sacrifice, to take her life that he might prolong that of his mother. He could get another wife, but never another mother!

The ancient custom of blackening the teeth of married women, which at a still earlier date was followed by married men as well, is becoming obsolete. Most of those seen now are elderly women who still cling to the habits of their youth. Originally the object in thus disfiguring themselves and ruining their teeth-for they use a solution of iron to color them -was to make them so unattractive that no man save their husband would be drawn to them. Queer logic! If it drove other men away, why shouldn't it disenchant the husband?

The Japanese women all go once a week to the hairdresser's to have their long black locks arranged. They use great quantities of cil, and stiffen the hair with a bandoline made from the shavings of a species of japonica tree; it is dressed in long loops arranged something like a double bowknot; it is slick and smooth and shiny, and in hot weather sends out a very disagreeable odor.

They are so much given to the use of cosmetics that one writer says they "look like Twelfth Night queens done in pastry and white lead." On festival days the faces and necks of little children are covered with a coat of whitewash of some sort, with a daub of red paint stuck in the middle of the under lip. They use all these things boldly, without the slightest attempt to hide them or the idea that they are deceiving anyone.

The housekeeping of Japanese women is planned on very simple lines. Ordinarily they use few varieties of food, and these plainly cooked; when any number of guests are invited to dine, the entire meal is sent in from a restaurant, with servants to serve it. Each person has a small table to himself, upon which are placed the different courses, for they never eat but one thing at a time.

Their beds are simply thick wadded comfortables spread upon the floor, with one or more of the same kind for covering; their pillows are wooden or china blocks slightly curved at the top; into this block they lay their necks so as not to disturb their elaborate coiffures; in this manner they manage to keep the hair looking very well for several days, usually a week or more.

Cupboards and closets with sliding screens are built into each house for the purpose of holding the futons, or beds. These are quickly rolled up in the morning and put away; the sliding screens, which usually inclose three sides of a house, are opened in a trice, and the whole place thoroughly aired in a few minutes. At one end of the inevitable veranda is an earthen, stone, or iron bowl filled with water, where the family in turn perform their ablutions.

The women sleep either in the same kimonos they wear during the day or other colored ones; this cus

tom, and the absence of all bed and table linen, as well as underlinen, reduces the laundry work to the smallest degree. They wash their cotton kimonos, and always in cold water. They seldom wash a gar ment whole, but rip the breadths apart and dry them on boards set up in the sun. This does not necessitate as much labor as one might suppose, for they sew their seams with very coarse cotton, and with stitches the length of our basting stitches, so that the garments are easily and quickly put together again.

Were it not for the fact that they bathe once and sometimes twice and three times a day, it would seem a filthy custom to wear colored clothes so long as they do without washing. But they keep their homes and their bodies immaculately clean; in fact, the neatness of the Japanese would put the Dutch to shame.-The Outlook.

A Defense of Japanese Faiths.

BY K. M. HIRAI, OF JAPAN.

My object is to explain the widely misunderstood esoteric view of the Japanese people, that the world at large may comprehend them and understand that they are not worshipers of idols.

As many Japanese worship before shrines, temples, and images, they are supposed by outsiders to be idolaters. The addresses (not prayers) commonly uttered when worshiping are not petitions for favors from the Almighty, and the true meaning of them is well understood even by the most vulgar and ignorant person.

First of all, the address of Shinto, "Harai tamai, kiyome tamai," meaning to clear away the impurity from the mind so that it may coincide with the truth, well shows the above fact. Next, in the shrine of Shinto there is generally no image or idol, but a gohei or nusa, a piece of regularly cut white paper, dependent on a wand as the figure. This is placed in the interior of the shrine, and represents the truth, the clean and unicolored, or noncolored paper, regularly cut, being the symbol of the purity and immutability of universal reason or truth, while the many turns or overlappings of the small pieces hanging down from the precedent ones represent the perpetual changes and revolutions of the phenomena of the universe. The worshipers believe that in the shrine they can correct their immoral characters by comparing them with the criterion symbol of the truth. There is also a round mirror lifted before the sanctuary of the shrine, suggesting the idea that the worshipers must clear their minds, just as before the mirror they adjust their garments.

I might explain in greater detail the Shinto religion; but I fear that it would weary the reader, so I will proceed to give an idea of the views of our people on Buddhism.

As this religion was introduced through China and Korea from India, it seems very reasonable to sup

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pose that the Japanese have the same idea of it as the people of those countries. But really it is not so, for a subject is viewed according to the mental plane of the investigator, and the Japanese interpret in the Japanese way. At present there are a dozen sects of this religion in Japan, but they have one common vein of thought, the only difference being in the exoteric tenets and rituals.

Some Buddhist temples have images, while others have none, but they are not regarded as sacred. In the case where an image is used it is important to understand the attitude of the worshiper toward it. Let me illustrate by the image Amida-butsu, which word is the Japanized form of the original Sanskrit or Pali. This literally means Buddh or Truth of an eternal life, but not Gautama. Here I am obliged to expound the meaning of the word "Buddh," for the Western nations understand it generally as Gautama himself. It has a triple meaning: First, truth or reason, or cause and effect; second, the human consciousness of it; third, the one who is conscious or has the potential consciousness of it.

Thus far we understand that all the beings in the universe are Buddh; that is, actually or potentially conscious of universal reason or truth which governs them, which, having neither beginning nor end, is therefore eternal life. The image of Amida-butsu is only the symbol of this eternal universal truth.

Although in Japan there are two so-called religions, the Shinto and Buddhist, yet both are intimate and tolerant; and but very few people believe only one of them; generally a person believes both, at the same time accepting also the doctrine of Confucius.

From this fact it may be inferred that the Japanese people are not idolaters, but that they are truth seekers, from whatever kind of religion or doctrine. I maintain the opinion that if early Christianity, which was introduced into my country several hundred years ago, had not been the primordial cause of rebellion among the people, or at least if the early Christians had not combined with the revolters against the government, the Japanese people would not look upon this religion with the prejudice of hereditary horror, and it might now be tolerated and accepted equally with other beliefs.

From the general point of view all so-called religions of the world may be synthetized; and again not only the religions, but all sciences and philosophies. The present conflict in the religious arena is purely about exoteric questions; and when the true definition of religion is settled the existing opposition will subside. Although one person believes in an imaginary God, or deified idol, and another in natural reason, the true nature of either of these is a mystery, and can never be understood by any logical method. It is accepted as such, without being comprehended; that is, à priori belief in an unknown entityEntitism," if I may use the term, which no science

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and philosophy can conquer, for it is the starting point of all science and religion. This entitism I call synthetic religion, in which I include all religions, sciences, philosophies.

This synthetic idea has been understood in Japan for centuries, as the historical facts show. When Buddhism was first introduced into Japan, 552 A. D., the imperial prince, known as Shootoku Taishi, was the ardent adherent of this religion, and by his influence it rapidly advanced; but this prince was not a limited Buddhist, for he encouraged Shintoism at the same time, and the first compilation of our mythology was accomplished by him.

Religious antagonists, who insist upon their own truths and oppose others, may be compared to persons who, viewing a circular flat substance from different situations, pronounce it round or oval or even straight, according to the point of view. Each conception is correct, and to recognize that fact is synthetical, the complete understanding, the attainment of Nirvana, which we call Satori, or Hotoke in Japanese.

In the modern progress of the human mind those different schools of science and philosophy which used to dispute with one another are now tending to decrease their heedless valor and opposition, and are striving to cancel their sectarian differences and to take up the common points in which they coincide. Religion, formerly the most intolerant of them all shows the same tendency. The most prominent proof of this is the Religious Parliament, which will convene at the Chicago World's Fair this year, when the representatives from all the historical religions in the world will assemble and sit in intimate consultation without any distinction or opposition. The time is not far distant when Syntheticism or Japanism is to be realized. Already we behold the rosy glow of the morning of the new era; and as the glorious sun of truth advances in his march toward the zenith of blue heaven, and high noon approaches, all mankind, basking in his warmth, shall be strengthened and renewed.-Review of the Churches.

Buddhism in Japan.

BY REV. W. LOOMIS, YOKOHAMA.

THE Buddhist religion was first introduced into Japan from China in the year 522. In the year 552 the king of one of the Korean provinces sent a golden image of Buddha and some of the sacred books as a present to the sovereign of Japan. The same king afterward sent other books, and also teachers, a nun, a monk, and an image maker.

Owing to the breaking out of a pestilence some time after, the Buddhist religion was for a time suppressed. But it afterward gained in favor, and the Emperor Kotoku Tanno (who reigned from 645 to 654) was a sincere adherent of that faith. During his reign a native monk was sent to China, where he

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received instruction in the practice of contemplation. On his return he made known a new form of doctrine, and is said to have dug wells, established ferries, and built bridges in many parts of Japan. At a much later period the construction of bridges was considered a work of merit, entitling the builder to a hope of paradise.

The Emperor Temmu Tenno issued an edict that every house should possess a Buddhist shrine and be provided with certain sacred books.

In the year 737 there was an epidemic of smallpox, which was previously unknown in Japan. In consequence of this the reigning sovereign decreed that in each province there should be erected a large monastery.

In the beginning of the ninth century the famous Buddhist priest Kobo Daiahi compounded out of Buddhism, Confucianism, and the Shinto doctrines a system of religion called Riobu Shinto, of which the most prominent characteristic was the theory that the Shinto deities were nothing more than transmigrations of Buddhist divinities. In this way Buddhism was rendered popular to such an extent that erelong it obtained complete ascendency.

Buddhism continued to be the state religion until the time of the Tokugawa dynasty, when it was supplanted in the minds of the educated classes by the Chinese philosophy. It has continued, however, to a large extent its popularity among the common people, and during the Tokugawa dynasty many grants were made from the public treasury to famous Buddhist temples. After the restoration of the mikado in 1868 these grants were withdrawn, and Buddhism has been virtually disestablished since 1874.

According to a statement made by one of the most distinguished Buddhist scholars Buddhism teaches that all things, both abstract and concrete, are produced and destroyed by certain causes and combinations of circumstances; and that the state of our present life has its cause in what we have done in our previous existence; and our present actions will become the causes of our state of existence in the future life. All men and other sentient beings have an interminable existence; dying in one form and being reborn in another. If, therefore, men wish to escape from a miserable state of transmigration they must cut off the causes, which are the passions, such as anger, covetousness, etc.

The principal object of Buddhism is to enable men to obtain salvation from misery according to the doctrine of "extinction of passion." This doctrine is the cause of salvation, and salvation is the effect of this doctrine.

"This salvation we call Nirvana, which means eternal happiness, and is the state of Buddha. It is very difficult to cut off all the passions, but Buddhism professes to teach many ways of obtaining this object.

"Amita Buddha always exercises his boundless

mercy upon all creatures, and shows a great desire to help and influence all people who rely on him to complete all merits and be reborn into paradise (Nirvana)."

The following creed was written by the chief priest of the Shinshiu sect, which is the largest and most influential of all the various sects in Japan:

'Rejecting all religious austerities and other action, giving up all idea of self-power, rely upon Amita Buddha with the whole heart for salvation in the future life, which is the most important thing; believing that at the moment of putting our faith in Amita Buddha our salvation is settled. From that moment invocation in his name is observed as an expression of gratitude and thankfulness for Buddha's mercy. Moreover, being thankful for the reception of this doctrine from the founder and succeeding chief priests, whose teachings were so benevolent, and as welcome as light in a dark night, we must always keep the laws which are fixed for our duty during our whole life."

According to the doctrines of Buddha man can work out his own salvation, and in this point, as in many others, there is but little difference between Buddhism and Confucianism. Buddha was like Confucius, not a redeemer, but merely a philosopher and a mirror of virtue.

There is no question but what the influence of Buddhism has been beneficial to the country and to a greater or less degree a stimulus to a better and virtuous life. Dr. Rein says in regard to it: Think as lightly as we may of the gross idolatry which is seen in its later and degenerate forms we shall be obliged to admit that the rapidity and the enthusiasm with which Shaka's doctrines spread themselves over eastern Asia speak sufficiently for their importance. They have undisputably exerted a civilizing power unequaled by any other in eastern Asia, and spread a mild and peaceful tone of thought among the great masses of the people. The Japanese in particular are indebted to Buddhism for their present civilization and culture, their great susceptibility to the beauties of nature, and the high perfection of several branches of industry.

According to the five chief commandments a Buddhist must not kill any living creature, nor steal, nor indulge in lust, nor lie, nor partake of spirituous liquors. It also teaches to avoid hypocrisy, anger, pride, envy, greed, cruelty, etc. There is also no lack of exhortations to love of parents and children, to gratitude, moderation in happiness, patience in misfortune, and calmness of soul in all situations of life.

1. Socially, Buddhism teaches the depreciation of caste and of property.

2. Dogmatically, it is a system of atheism, which deifies man and moral ideas.

3. Morally, Buddhism is the doctrine of the vanity and instability of all earthly good, of the migration of souls, and of final absorption in Nirvana.

"The three main features of Buddhism are therefore: (1) Atheism, or rather the deification of men and ideas in a polytheistic form of worship; (2) the doctrine of transmigration of soul, with which is involved the abolition of caste, and upon which rests the efficacy of Buddhist morality; (3) the doctrine of salvation from sin and crime and the attainment to Nirvana by our own strength."

Nirvana is described by one of the Buddhist authors as the desirable end of the soul; after it has triumphed over matter and free from all passions, enters into the consecrated space, where it loses the consciousness of existence, yet is by no means reduced to nothingness. One writer has expressed it in these words: "As the dewdrop disappears in the shining sea at the rising of the sun, so the saints pass into Nirvana."

The greater part of the Buddhists hold to the doctrine which emanated from Cashmere, that there is a paradise in the far West, to which another Buddha, called Amitabba, leads all the faithful. There they will find eternal happiness in the presence of Amitabba, with the loveliest gardens, flowers, water, birds, etc.

ing to a holy God was connected with the infraction of the moral law. Nor did a Buddhist avoid harming others out of any true regard for life. The chief motive for preserving the life of others was that by so doing he could secure continued life for himself, and his motive for avoiding anger was that it was incompatible with that equanimity which ought to characterize every wise man who aimed at the extinction of his own personality.

"The grand difference between the morality of Buddhism and the morality of Christianity is not in the letter of their precepts, but in the principle and motive power brought to bear in their application. Buddhism says, 'Be righteous for the sake of getting rid of all life in yourselves.' Christianity says, 'Be righteous through the power of God's gift of eternal life in his Son.' In a word Buddhism founds its morality on self; Christianity founds its morality on Christ."

But the Buddhism of to-day is not the force that it has been in the past. The revolution of 1868 affected not only the political condition of the country, but the religious history as well. After the reduction of the former revenues of the old feudal lords and their vassals efforts were directed in like manner against many Buddhist temples and monasteries, and their allowance was either discontinued or greatly diminished. In every place where Buddhist idols had supplanted the old Shinto worship the images were removed and the former insignia and service restored.