Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/343

 THE JAPANESE AS PEERS OF WESTERN PEOPLES 327

take the trouble to examine its entire culture. Let the reader test the following survey of Japanese traits for this astonishing thesis : while the Japanese stand on the same general plane of culture as the peoples of Europe and North America, they are distinct rivals with them for pre-eminence on that plane, by reason of the number of points wherein they are demonstrably supreme. Should this thesis prove true, it follows, of course, that no "yellow peril" can come from the Japanese; nor, since they now enjoy leadership of the Far Orient, is it likely that any can come from Korea or China. To be sure, should the entire Mongolian race rise to the plane already reached by the Japanese, the Indo-Keltic race would then have rivals for both material and mental supremacy such as it had never met before ; but that would be no peril, except to our follies and foibles, and these we really ought to be willing to part with. Rivalry in culture can only increase our own culture, provided always that we are willing to learn in turn from rivals, although these be of the yellow race. But it is time for our survey, which need not here touch more than what Hokusai, the great Japanese artist, called " the vital points."

As physical basis for his culture, the Japanese owns a body which makes up in agility what it lacks in size. Japanese closely resemble the famous Ghoorkas of India. They have the same admirable balance of bone and muscle, and the same lightness of movement and power of endurance. 1 This vigor, with a related healthiness, the Japanese owe to various causes. When only a month old, the baby is taken to some Shinto shrine, where it receives a name, is devoted to the uji-gami, or family deity, and, the next day, is strapped upon the back of mother, elder brother, or sister, whom it automatically clasps with arms and legs, so as frequently to acquire bowlegs, but always muscles of a fiber resembling that of wild animals, because both have exercise from early life onward. This outdoor life, with its fresh air and sun- shine, reduces infant mortality below that of other peoples, so

1 Here plainly is the physical basis for those recent military achievements that elicited from Colonel Gadke, a German military expert, the astonishing ver- dict that the Japanese infantry is now the best in the world.