Light on the Japanese Question

I

A FEW months ago two emeritus professors of great universities in the United States visited Japan, at the same time and under much the same circumstances, both being members of ‘missions’ which had gone to study conditions and to assist in furthering friendly relations between the United States and the Land of the Chrysanthemum. On their return, one, an Easterner, stated that within twenty years Japan will become one of the world’s great democracies; and democracy, at least as far as the Orient is concerned, is entirely a Western idea. The other, a Westerner, said emphatically, ‘The two civilizations can never mingle. The Japanese cannot and will not understand our civilization.’

In questions of race, prejudice and a tendency to form conclusions from incomplete data are probably more conspicuous than in almost any other inquiry. This is true even in cases where length of the period of contact between the white and some other race and the presence of a large number of members of the latter make possible accurate deductions from established facts, as, for instance, in the case of the North American negro. In considering the case of Asiatics, where contact is comparatively uncommon and where the history of such contact is of but short duration, the conclusions reached as to the desirability or non-desirability of the races from the other side of the Pacifics have often been determined practically entirely by fear of the economic effect of the presence in large numbers of these people in the United States, rather than by — and often to the entire exclusion of— consideration of their inherent merits or defects, and, more particularly, of their capacity for absorption of American civilizations and ideals, and the consequent disappearance of the low living standards which form the principal basis of apprehension on economic grounds.

This is particularly well illustrated in the extreme West — probably the only part of the Union where dislike of the Oriental has become virulent. Originally directed against the Chinese, this feeling was transferred to the Japanese when these succeeded the former as what is considered a dangerous economic factor. Various steps were taken to exclude the Japanese, a workable solution being apparently found in the ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement,’ and we thus saw, during several decades, the rather anomalous condition wherein the United States on the one hand admitted with great freedom members of various European nations, many of whom were known to possess diverse undesirable traits, while, on the other hand, every possible step was taken to exclude the law-abiding Japanese. The Japanese is industrious, frugal, ambitious, and desirous of developing land where he may establish himself and raise a family, all these being characteristics which are ordinarily considered important desiderata for citizenship; but they have, in his case, been the very points which have militated against him. While every means is employed to induce European immigrants to become American citizens as rapidly as possible, the gain of such citizenship by American-born Japanese is regarded with repugnance and distrust.

This feeling against allowing the Japanese to enjoy the privileges which have been so cordially extended to other nationals, has been given expression in two allegations, one based on purely economic grounds and the other on the belief that he is not, because of racial and national characteristics, capable of absorbing American ideals and standards. Of these the first is the easier to deal with, as data are closer at hand, and the subject is far more tangible than the second point, where circumstances have not often been such as to permit a comprehensive and impartial judgment.

An ideal opportunity for investigation is, however, offered by the Territory of Hawaii, where the various races live side by side in proportions and numbers sufficient to provide excellent conditions for ‘melting-pot’ experimentation, and because an honest attempt has been made there to solve the race-question by blending into one solid American community a heterogeneous mass of people of various races and nationalities. These include Polynesians, Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, and Europeans, — particularly Portuguese and Spaniards, — the leaven being a comparatively small, but decidedly influential, group of Americans. The fact that in Hawaii the color-fine is drawn far less rigidly than in any other community, giving the individual an opportunity to advance almost entirely on his personal merits and capacity, unhampered by race-prejudice, lends to the results of the efforts made in Hawaii a peculiar value. Briefly, if a group of any race or nationality cannot in Hawaii demonstrate its capacity for American citizenship, its case may well be considered hopeless, as there it meets with every opportunity for expressing its potentialities. If, on the other hand, it makes in Hawaii a satisfactory showing, this may be taken as proof that it can develop this capacity elsewhere if fair and proper opportunity be afforded.

The mainland of the United States at present fails to offer favorable conditions for the solution of the question of Japanese capacity for American citizenship, as the Western States, where almost the whole of the Japanese population is found, are, for economic and political reasons, openly hostile to the Japanese, who are forced to herd together, to unite for common protection and promotion of common interests. It is impossible to decide in such circumstances whether they are capable of being assimilated and of intermingling with the rest of the people forming the American nation. The fact that they are at present gregarious in communities of their own, that they have not intermarried with persons of other blood, and have not formed a more integral part of the community life, may indicate that they are incapable of absorption: but, again, it may not — for they have never had a chance to do so.

Hawaii, however, is a country sufficiently small to render a survey comparatively easy, and yet possessing a mixture of racial and national ingredients sufficiently large to produce results on a collective basis. In other words, in Hawaii may be seen a laboratory experiment in racial blending and in the development of rising generations of most variegated parentage toward American ideals and citizenship. This seems to offer the only opportunity to secure reliable data.

The Hawaiian racial experiment began under peculiarly felicitous conditions, which undoubtedly have influenced its entire subsequent history. The Hawaiians, a Polynesian people, not abundantly civilized, although strongly developed along certain lines, had reached the point where they had tired of the arbitrary and often senseless restrictions of their tabu system, and were therefore in a most receptive state when the American missionaries established themselves among them about a century ago. Among these missionaries were several rather remarkable men, products of the best New England civilization of the day, who, partly, no doubt, because the natives were in absolute control, but mainly because of the superior qualities of the Hawaiians, undertook to lead them in the direction of Anglo-Saxon civilization on a basis of racial equality. The natives were extremely receptive, and their honesty, kindliness, generosity, and entire lack of viciousness — though they have certain weaknesses — led to a common community life between the two races, in which the color-line was virtually non-existent. The peculiar circumstance that the missionaries and their descendants, still imbued with the spirit of their fathers, became the secular powers of the land, contributed to the continuance of the relations established in the early days, and this condition has remained practically unchanged; though in late years a large influx of new-comers, especially military forces, unacquainted with the traditions and established point of view in the Islands, has tended to some extent to influence the old, ideal relations.

As the Islands developed industrially, especially with the growth of the sugar plantations, it became necessary to import labor from abroad. The first laborers imported were South Sea Islanders; but as these people have almost entirely disappeared, having been sent home when their contracts expired, they need not be considered here.

Later, the planters went further afield for contract labor, and great numbers of Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, Koreans, Porto Ricans, Spaniards, and Filipinos were imported, in about the order named. The four last mentioned were resorted to only after annexation of Hawaii by the United States caused the application of the Exclusion Act, which prevented further importation of Chinese, while the ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’ which followed put an end to the importation of Japanese laborers.

The Hawaiian Islands have, as a result, a population estimated in the Governor’s report for 1919 as follows:—

HAWAIIAN	22,600
PART HAWAIIAN	16,660
PORTUGUESE	25,000
SPANIARDS	2,400
PORTO RICANS	5,400
OTHER CAUCASIANS	31,000
CHINESE	22,800
JAPANESE	110,000
FILIPINOS	22,000
ALL OTHERS	5 800
TOTAL	263,660

The Other Caucasians ’ are mainly Americans, a large number of whom are connected with military and naval establishments.

Under existing laws, some of the immigrants included in the above tabulation have a right to American citizenship when they possess the usual qualifications therefor; the children of all of them, when born in Hawaii, are legally Americans by birth, quite as much as if they were born in Boston and could trace their descent direct to the Pilgrim Fathers.

The alternative confronting Hawaii, particularly since the Hawaiian-born progeny of Oriental races became sufficiently numerous to point very clearly to the day when it was bound to become a political factor of decided force, was, therefore, either to draw the race-line and suffer each race to develop separately, or to attempt to blend the various ingredients into one harmonious American citizenry. The latter course was chosen, if, indeed, it can be said that any choice was exercised at all; for the development of the problem was so gradual that at no particular time did those in control find themselves confronted with the necessity of providing an immediate solution. It was inevitable that this course should be followed; first, because it was the natural course, after the color-line had been ignored in many years of intercourse with the Hawaiians; second, because it followed the path of least resistance, as the presence of the Asiatics not only did not create any serious economic question, except in isolated cases, but, on the contrary, solved the labor question, which was soluble only through their presence; for, in spite of much theorizing to the contrary, bitter experience has amply demonstrated to the Hawaiian planters that the white man absolutely will not work on the plantations; and third, because, if the races were allowed to develop, each along its own lines, apart from the other constituent parts of the community, an utterly impossible political situation would result within a few years, when the Hawaiian-born Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, and others would naturally form political groups of their own, contending with the Hawaiian white population for control.

Leaving out of the question all ethical, moral, and altruistic considerations, Hawaii had no alternative, and the Islands embarked vigorously and wholeheartedly on their great inter-racial, international mixing experiment. While some other countries have populations as variegated as has Hawaii, no one of them has by force of circumstance been led to try deliberately to melt them together as Hawaii is trying to do: and consequently the world will do well to consider the results of this great human experiment, as it may obtain from them data applicable to the large racial problems which now confront it, and which will become more and more urgent as the populous countries of Asia develop and with increasing insistence demand the right of equality and the right to spread over the earth.

II

The most potent factor militating against the success of the Hawaiian experiment was, and is still to a great extent, the tendency to group members of each race and nationality by themselves. Thus the big plantations have Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Filipino camps, each of which is, in fact, a small Japan, China, Spain, and so forth. Here the language of the home country is heard, almost to the exclusion of English. Newspapers are published in these various languages, and private schools, attended by the children before and after the sessions of the public schools, especially in the case of the Japanese, also tend to retard the process of Americanization.

It is generally admitted that the most important step toward Americanization of the child of alien parentage is to get him to speak and think in English; and as a consequence, the greater share of the burden falls on the public schools. In these schools the absence of racial or national lines is remarkable. Children of various races mingle, with the most perfect unconsciousness of racial differences. The common language — English — and common loyalty to the American flag, which is strongly emphasized throughout the curriculum, weld them into an organic school community, the influence whereof will be felt, and is already being seen, when they graduate into adult life.

Thus, the situation as it now stands represents the efforts of the public schools to form growing generations into a common American whole, in spite of the difficulties offered by camp community life, diversity of religions, and language schools, the last factor being important chiefly in the case of the Japanese.

In view of the prominence which the Japanese question has recently assumed, it may be well to give particular attention to the phase of the Hawaiian experiment which involves that people, bringing the other races and nationalities into the discussion mainly for purposes of comparison. Briefly, to how great a degree has the Japanese in Hawaii shown himself to be assimilable, mentally, morally, and politically?

Hawaii’s experience has shown that the Japanese, educated in the public schools, eagerly grasps American ideals and standards. The language handicap is rapidly being removed. Where formerly the great task of the public schools was to compel the Japanese to speak English, teachers in Japanese languageschools have often complained to me that they had difficulty in making their pupils refrain from speaking English while on their premises. It must be remembered that the Japanese child is compelled by law to attend the public schools, and that he attends the Japanese language-schools in addition. However, he goes to the latter mainly because he is compelled to do so by his parents, who are, in their turn, often persuaded by priests of their own temples and shrines.

Japanese children at play, outside the school, employ English as often as not. They have a tendency to feel that knowledge of English and absorption of Western civilization place them on a plane higher than that occupied by their parents, and to pity the ‘poor old Japanese’ who lacks these advantages. These children regard their American civilization as superior to that of Japan, as is but natural in view of the advantages which they see that it gives them. Intense desire for knowledge, which is an outstanding trait, assists them greatly; a child of six pursues his studies with the intensity of an American youth working his way through college; and the constant struggle of the public schools is, not to compel the Japanese to attend, but to keep out youngsters below school-age who resort to all manner of subterfuge in order to gain entrance. This characteristic largely overcomes the handicap of language which confronts the Japanese pupils, especially during their early years of school; and when they reach the upper grades, they often excel to such a degree that principals occasionally find themselves faced by the perplexing situation of having the valedictorians all Japanese — perplexing because it is obviously desirable to have such honors distributed more or less evenly among the different races.

That the task of the public schools would be easier if the language-schools did not exist is indubitable, although the contention that learning two languages is too great a burden on the children is, of course, absurd, childhood being the ideal state for absorption of foreign tongues. Furthermore, the languageschools in Hawaii have demonstrated the fallacy of the accusation that they are hotbeds of ‘Japanism’ and ‘Mikadoism ’; and a federal survey of Hawaiian schools made in the spring of 1920 reported to this effect, though recommending, for other reasons, that they be done away with. They will, however, disappear within a few years, as it is certain that the children following the present school generation will never be sent to them by their parents, who have become convinced of the superior usefulness of American education. This is admitted by the Buddhist priests, who conduct the majority of the language-schools, — which are maintained largely for the purpose of teaching the Japanese language, history, geography, and so forth, — but who have shown a remarkable willingness to adopt suggestions which may lead their pupils toward American citizenship. Thus, when, some years ago, I suggested to the Japanese consul-general in Hawaii that their textbooks be revised so as to include American rather than Japanese subject-matter, this course was immediately followed; and while the Japanese characters, of course, were retained, the Stars and Stripes supplanted the illustration of the Sunrise Flag, George Washington replaced some Japanese national hero, and while many Japanese fables and stories remain, they are well mixed with good American matter. The fact that, when the change was opposed by some oldfashioned parents and other reactionaries, the consul-general held a series of meetings at which he explained the benefits to be derived and the importance of absorption by the children of American ideals, illustrates the attitude of the Japanese government, of which more will be said later.

It should not be forgotten that these schools perform an important function by assisting in the production of a class of young American citizens, capable of speaking both English and Japanese, who may be of invaluable service in the great work of bringing the United States and Japan closer together, commercially, politically, and otherwise. The crying need of Americans capable of speaking Japanese is keenly felt in commercial and diplomatic circles, and will be felt even more as intercourse between the two nations expands. The question of the moral capacity of the Japanese for American citizenship involves to some extent the point whether morals different from ours are of necessity bad; but, as a matter of fact, the belief that the morals of Japan differ greatly from those of the United States is largely unfounded. Japanese frequently say, ‘Our girls — at least, in some classes — may be rather free before marriage, but after marriage they are very strict. American girls are very strict before marriage, but after that—!’ Such sweeping statements are, of course, without value in themselves; but they are cited as a suggestion that, if the Japanese have such an idea of our morals, it is likely that the ideas of Americans in regard to Japan are equally unreliable. The Japanese youth is singularly clean from pornographic and similar tendencies — undoubtedly more so than our own, as with them sexual matters are not enveloped in mystery, but are regarded like any other phase of natural life. The point is partly proved by the entire absence, on walls and similar places in Japan, of the crude indecencies by which our youths so often express a prurient state of mind. The average white child is in less danger of moral contamination in association with Japanese than is the Japanese child in association with whites; and the chief difference in adult life is that the Japanese does more or less openly that which with us is done under cover. During the five years I was in charge of the public schools of Hawaii, I had a rather exceptional opportunity to observe the morals of a large body of teachers, including whites, Hawaiians, Japanese, and Chinese, with the result that I was forced to the conclusion that, when persons of similar classes live under similar conditions, those of alien races do not suffer in comparison, in point of morals, with the whites. How deep does Americanization of Hawaiian-born American citizens of Japanese parentage go? This question was largely answered by the response made by them during the war, when they eagerly sought to enlist, and when the number of those who waived exemption was, I believe, greater than that of citizens of American parentage. Would they fight against Japan? I will quote the answer of one of the most brilliant of Japan’s younger diplomats, who has lived for many years in the United States and is exceedingly familiar with conditions there.

‘American citizens of Japanese parentage would, in the extreme case of war, fight for the United States against Japan, and I, for one, would respect them if they did and would despise them if, being American citizens, they should be traitors to their country by serving Japan as spies or otherwise; and this would be the general feeling in Japan. This point of view of ours is probably particularly strongly founded because we are not very far removed from the times of feudalism, and because of the custom of adoption which is so great a feature of Japanese life. Thus, not many years ago, when Japan was divided into clans, a man from one clan, if adopted into another, would unhesitatingly fight for his lord by adoption, even against his clansmen by birth, if necessary, and history records many such cases. This spirit and point of view are probably not well understood in America, but they have undoubtedly a tremendous influence on the way in which Japanese regard their allegiance to their new country.'

When to this is added the fact that young Americans of Japanese ancestry continually contrast their own superiority, attained by absorption of American education, ideals, and standards, with the condition of their parents, who possess no such advantages, and the further fact that their interests and entire future lie in America, there can be little doubt that, while there may be exceptions, the American citizens of Japanese birth are and will be loyal.

III

One great argument against Japanese immigration is that the Japanese do not intermarry with other races. This is well founded so far as it concerns the past, as marriages between whites and Japanese have been so few as to be negligible. Whether the same condition will obtain in the future is an unanswerable question. That intermarriage has not been common is easily explainable, as everything has militated against it. The Japanese have been herded into communities by themselves. The white girl who married a Japanese would in many cases be ostracized by her former associates; and, on the other hand, the Japanese immigrant has seldom been in a financial position that would allow him to marry a white girl, as such a marriage would involve considerable expense because of her higher, or at least different, standards of living. As the great majority of Japanese in America are laborers, these remarks apply only to that class.

However, the condition described applies equally to white immigrants under similar circumstances, as to whose qualifications for American citizenship not the slightest question is raised. A good example is afforded by the Portuguese, who have been brought to Hawaii in large numbers. Placed, like the Japanese, in camps by themselves, they formed ‘little Portugals’ in various places. Some of them, who have lived in the Islands for more than thirty years, have been found — in the courts, for instance — to be unable to speak or understand English; and until very recent years, intermarriage with other nationalities has been exceedingly rare.

Whether intermarriage between Japanese and whites, speaking generally, would be desirable at present is highly questionable. To those who on general principles oppose all racial intermarriage, may be pointed out the exceptionally fine results of the blending of Hawaiians and Chinese. The offspring of such unions are, almost without exception, superior in every way to the pure product of either race, as they inherit the best qualities of each. The mixture of Hawaiians and whites is ordinarily said to be less successful, and the general results lend color to this contention. This is due, however, not to any inherent physical or psychological condition, but to circumstances of environment. Where the CaucasianHawaiian union is composed of elements of the better class, the results are quite as good as those of unmixed marriages, proving that, by and large, environment is much more important than heredity in racial intermarriages.

The Hawaiians, being first on the ground, mingled freely with all races with which they came in contact. The other races, except the white, being hampered by the conditions inevitable with immigrants, mingled to a far less degree. Chinese men, however, married freely with Hawaiians, thus showing themselves to be more easily absorbable racially than the Japanese, who have not intermarried; but, for that matter, neither have the Portuguese. The fact that the Chinese were brought to Hawaii before the arrival of the Japanese and Portuguese offers a partial, but not a complete, explanation.

Neither Chinese nor Japanese have intermarried with whites as yet, except in a few cases. This may be explained by camp conditions, which prevent contact with Caucasians on the part of the immigrant; also by differences of language, and, principally, of course, by the social gap separating the immigrant laborer from the ruling-class white. Whether intermarriage will follow when the barrier of language is swept away, as is now being done, and when the Oriental works himself up to a position of financial and social equality with the whites, and consequently mingles more freely with them, remains to be seen. If this occurs, it will begin, as is nearly always the case, with marriages of Oriental girls with white men, partly because the feeling against the white man who marries outside of his race is less strong than that against the white girl who does so. The tendency on the part of Hawaiianborn Oriental girls to seek Caucasian husbands is already visible, expressions of such desire on their part being not uncommon, owing largely to the circumstance that their American education leads them to prefer the position of equality given the wife of a Caucasian to the far more restricted status conferred by marriage with an Oriental. This tendency is not unknown even in the Orient, and advertisements have appeared in newspapers in Japan and China wherein daughters of the land expressed a desire to marry white men.

It is thus plain that, while the past offers no evidence that the Oriental, particularly the Japanese, is assimilable through intermarriage, it offers no evidence that he is not, and the question can be answered only by the future. While the time for such marriages is not ripe, for financial and other reasons, it is rapidly becoming so. A prominent member of the Foreign Office staff in Tokyo said to me, —

' Contact of Japanese with the Western world is still so new that conditions are not generally favorable to racial intermarriages; for though we are all of the same human stock, we must have separated soon after Adam’s day. Such marriages may begin well enough when love and passion rule; but when the different points of view of the parties, and sentiments having their roots in long-dead generations and likely to produce unfavorable results, begin to gain prominence, I do not think that the time is ripe for such marriages.’

These remarks apply, however, to marriages between whites and Japanese who have been educated in Japan, and they therefore lose much of their force when applied to Japanese brought up according to American ideas. It is interesting to note that the official quoted agrees with several other Japanese of world-wide experience, that in cases of marriage between Caucasian women and Japanese men, those with women of Continental Europe, as French and Germans, have been, and are more likely to be successful than those with Anglo-Saxons, as the latter demand a freedom of personal expression and an independence not required in nearly so great a degree by their continental sisters, who in this respect conform more to Japanese standards.

The various objections mentioned have, however, frequently been made in order to strengthen the principal reason for opposition, namely, the fear of economic competition. This does not seem to be particularly well founded so far as present conditions are concerned, under which the Japanese, in more or less inferior occupations, generally perform tasks that the American-born will not touch. The possibilities of the future, however, offer better material for argument, as it is certain that young Japanese with American education will not be content with the humble occupations of their parents, but will try ambitiously to fill the higher positions in life for which their higher qualifications fit them. But there is small likelihood that such competition will become more dangerous than that offered by any other class of immigrant stock, even despite the well-known lower-standardof-living argument. The old-fashioned Japanese laborer did, and does without doubt, maintain life on a wage on which a white man would starve; but as his earning power grows, his spending propensity increases. Furthermore, products of the Orient, which formerly, because of their cheapness, enabled him to live at much less cost than the white, have increased in price to such an extent that this advantage has largely disappeared. Twenty years ago, Japanese laborers in Hawaii often saved one half of their monthly wage of $13.50. To-day men earning many times as much save little or nothing. Even in Japan the low living standard is disappearing as a result of the country’s war-prosperity. Before we get through with the interminable discussion as to how to combat the Oriental low-living-standard menace, the cause of the argument will have disappeared.

IV

No discussion of the Japanese immigration question would be complete without reference to the attitude of the Japanese themselves toward it, — and particularly that of the government,

— especially since their insistence on the right to free immigration has — quite naturally, it must be admitted

— given rise to the mistaken belief that Japan, with an ever-increasing population crowding her small area, is eager to send her surplus millions to our shores. As a matter of fact, Japan does not desire large emigration of her people to distant countries, but, with the pride that is her predominant national characteristic, she resents having her citizens discriminated against, and no amount of argument that such discrimination is economic, not racial, will satisfy her.

‘Why try to deceive us with such a flimsy subterfuge?’ says the Japanese. ‘The Mexican has a low standard of living. He works in California for wages lower than those paid Japanese. He is therefore more of an economic menace than we are; yet he is not excluded. Be fair, and admit that race-prejudice is your reason. Then we have a solid basis for argument.’

The Japanese desire American-born Japanese to become American citizens, for they wish to demonstrate to the world their capacity for Western civilization. But, while they resent exclusion, or anything savoring thereof, as tending to lower Japan’s standing in the family of nations, the Japanese government, even though the laborers prefer the greater opportunities offered by the United States and similar countries, will do all in its power, for very good reasons, to turn the tide of emigration westward, and not eastward. The reasons are simple and convincing. They are set forth tersely by the Foreign Office official already quoted.

‘Japan is too densely populated,’ he says. ‘Ordinary statistics showing population per square mile are misleading, as Japan’s area is largely mountainous and a large part of it has, therefore, no economic value. We must look to the proportion of population in the arable area alone. Japan may, however, be able to look after her population, even in spite of its growth, by changing from an agricultural to an industrial country. Thus the solution of the problem of relieving the density of the population may be postponed, at least for some time; but what we must have, and what we will fight for, if necessary, is access to the world’s great raw-material supplies for consumption by our factories.

‘Japan is interested in keeping her man-power concentrated. Only thus can she remain strong; and the government for that reason favors, not emigration to the United States, Canada, or Australia, but having Japanese settle in Korea and Manchuria. It is true that this is not so popular with our emigrating classes, and that, by relying on individual emigration, we shall not make much headway. But by the promotion of settlement in groups, we shall make more progress, and gradually, as the number of Japanese in Korea and Manchuria increases, the problem will become simpler.’

A few weeks ago I had an opportunity to ask Premier Hara, who for more than two years has guided the Japanese ship of state with a firm hand, what he thought of the Japanese capacity for American citizenship.

‘When I was abroad ten years ago, I visited Canada and the United States and saw many Japanese communities there, ’ said Mr. Hara. ‘ I observed that the Japanese were rather proud of assimilating Western ideas and institutions, instead of retaining their own habits of thought and customs.

‘To the superficial observer it may seem that they wish to cling to their own habits and ideas, as there are many schools where the Japanese language is taught, and newspapers are published in that language. This has led some superficial observers to remark that Japanese abroad wish to retain their own nationality; but they are, in fact, very proud of being Americanized.’

‘ Japanese generally regard Americanization of Japanese born in America as the rational thing,’ said one of Japan’s foremost publicists in answer to the same question. ‘Of course, some chauvinists still oppose it and are inclined to look upon those Japanese who hold American citizenship as faithless to Japan; but this feeling has been disappearing rapidly in recent years.’

As matters now stand, the United States gives offense where friendship is sought, and the purely local situation in a relatively small section of the country is being allowed to affect the friendly relations of the United States and Japan, which are so necessary for peaceful and prosperous development of our increasing and promising commerce in the Far East. For this reason the Japanese question has grown from a purely Western matter to be one which concerns the entire nation, and one which should be carefully considered by every American citizen.