Page:Japan by the Japanese (1904).djvu/6



The St. James’s Gazette.—“Mr. Stead’s work is quite unlike any other contribution to our knowledge of the Japanese and their country. It is unique in a design which has been carried out most excellently. Let us say at once that ‘Japan by the Japanese’ is indispensable to all who would learn what Japan has done in the past, what she is now doing, and what she seeks to do in the future. Mr. Stead has gone to Japan and interviewed the statesmen who have made Japan’s history these last forty years and ruled the people: the soldiers and sailors whose skill and bravery have helped to raise her to a leading place in the world; the bankers, merchants, agriculturists, teachers, industrial leaders, professors, officials of all sorts, journalists, lawyers, diplomatists—all, in fact, who could give him real, unimpeachable information. From them he has obtained an authoritative account of the national activity in all its manifestations. His volume is at once a history, a cyclopædia, and an expression of opinion on the position in Japan by those most competent to give it—an autobiography of a nation. Mr. Stead is to be warmly congratulated on his work; it must take rank as the chief authority on its subject.”

The Daily Telegraph.—‘‘The chief value of the volume is that it has been compiled by Japanese writers, including some of the most distinguished of living Japanese. The book will take its place at once among the standard works of reference relating to Japan this admirable and most timely volume.”

The Daily News.—“Mr. Alfred Stead is to be congratulated upon the production of this volume—the most noteworthy volume, perhaps, that has ever been issued from the newer Japan.”

The Morning Post.—“We are confident that we have now presented to us the Japan we have longed to hear about—the real Japan which cast off the shackles of feudalism thirty-seven years ago, and has never once looked back.”

The Globe.—“Every single subject, and the list of them is encyclopædic, is dealt with by a master of his craft, and the fact that the work has been dedicated to the Emperor of Japan is a sufficient guarantee that it contains an authoritative setting forth of the Japanese case. As it stands it is a work which must be kept for constant reference on the shelves of those who take an intelligent interest in our ally in the Far East, for among all the many works upon Japan it is the only one which can claim to be written from cover to cover by those possessing actual and personal knowledge of the subject.”

The World.—Every page of the book is of great value we heartily commend it to the study of all who wish to know how Japan is working out the proud destiny which has so wonderfully exalted her among the nations.”

The Pall Mall Gazette.—“The result is a handsome volume of 700 pages, well divided up, well indexed, accessible at every point, and replete with the minutest information. The chapters on the forces, the constitution, the diplomacy and foreign policy, the literature, press, and education of Japan are excellent.”

The Westminster—“We have now for the first time, thanks to the labours of Mr. Alfred Stead, an elaborate and exhaustive work on ‘Japan’ by Japanese writers. This work is both a book of reference and a book to read. It contains all the facts compiled in each department by the highest authorities, and it supplies a running comment on the history, social institutions, politics, art, literature, and religion of Japan. It would be impossible to find any handbook about any country which has the same degree of authority.”

The Speaker.—“Mr. Alfred Stead is to be congratulated on having compiled the most authoritative and instructive book upon Japan that has yet appeared in English.”