Working Women of Japan Part 4

Not long since an army division was located in the vicinity of Wakayama, a city of considerable importance, not far from Osaka, in which there have never been any prost.i.tute houses. This led to the suggestion that it would be well to open there a regular prost.i.tute quarter. The matter was keenly discussed and the proposition carried through the city council and authorized by all the lower officials, but when it came finally before the prefectural governor for signature, it was vetoed, and the veto message is worthy of preservation and careful consideration by those who are interested in these matters.

The governor says in his message: "I was early convinced that the establishment of licensed quarters in the city was harmful to the public interest. It has been a subject of discussion in Wakayama now for many years, and I have investigated the question thoroughly from the standpoint of public morals, health, and economics, at places with and without licensed quarters, and find that the existence of such inst.i.tutions is distinctly harmful. The standard of morals is lowered, the public health impaired, disease made rampant, the young are sent into wrong channels, homes are broken up, and extravagance is encouraged. The state of affairs in Shingu, in this prefecture of Wakayama, where licensed houses have been established, clearly shows that the existence of such places is extremely harmful to public interest. The majority representation to the authorities urged the establishment of licensed quarters on the ground that the quarters would promote the prosperity of that section of the city in which they were situated. It is true they may benefit a section of the city in one way, but the benefit so obtained would be offset by many other evils. The military authorities are strongly opposed to the establishment of licensed quarters, and their views are very reasonable. For these reasons I have decided to refuse permission for the establishment of licensed quarters in Wakayama city."[7]

[7] As translated by the _j.a.pan Chronicle_, May 13, 1911.

In pa.s.sing, it is worthy of record that the prefecture of Joshu has for over thirty years, by ceaseless vigilance, prevented government sanction of prost.i.tution. Repeatedly has the battle been fought and repeatedly have the anti-brothel forces won. In this respect Joshu stands alone among the forty-eight prefectures of the j.a.panese empire.

As ill.u.s.trating the low moral ideals prevailing among a certain cla.s.s of men, Professor Abe of Waseda University, in a recent brothel-abolition speech, told of a certain politician who, though a fast liver, was praised because he never debauched the wives and daughters of his friends, but always confined himself to those women whose services he fully paid for in hard cash! Colonel Yamamuro, the highest j.a.panese officer in the Salvation Army, on the same evening, speaking of the low moral ideals of the cla.s.ses from which prost.i.tutes are drawn, said that in connection with the Salvation Army he had had opportunity to know of twelve hundred girls who had been aided in the two rescue homes of the Army. Of these twelve hundred about one half had been prost.i.tutes. The reasons given by them for leaving were various, such as ill health, cruelty, lovers, but not one said she left the business because it was wrong. The evidence is full and convincing that a considerable section of the j.a.panese people do not regard loose s.e.xual relations as particularly immoral.

In regard to the statistics of prost.i.tutes, the figures given by Mr.

Murphy are probably the most accurate available, and are substantially official. Between 1887 and 1897 the number of prost.i.tutes increased from 27,559 to 47,055, reaching their maximum in 1899, when there were 52,410. Then, following up the work of Mr. Murphy and the Salvation Army, came the "cessation movement," reducing the number to 40,195 in 1901, and the following year to 38,676. Since that date the number has grown. In two years four thousand fresh girls were bought up, and a thousand more the following year. The latest statistics are those for 1906, when the number of prost.i.tutes was reported as 44,542. It is safe to say that at the present time the number is near, if it has not pa.s.sed, the fifty thousand mark.

It would be natural to suppose that recruits for the geisha and shogi occupations would be found largely among the poorest farmers, but both my outdoor man and also my cook a.s.sert that such is not the fact.

"Farmers would never sell their daughters for such vile purposes, however poor they might become. Parents who do such things are only the degenerate creatures who live in cities," is the scornful remark of my gardener. My cook a.s.serts the same thing, and adds that farmers'

daughters have not the genteel features and figures nor the light complexion essential to girls seeking such occupations. Other investigations confirm these a.s.sertions. The great cities of Nagoya and Niigata, and indeed the whole of Echigo, are famous for the supply of girls they send to the brothels of Tokyo. A poor man with several daughters has a pretty good investment, and rejoices more at the birth of a girl than of a boy, because it means an early and definite income.

I found at one time in Matsuyama that all the girls of sixteen to eighteen years of age in a certain poor quarter had, in the course of one year, been sold off to the brothels. About that time a man came to me with a pitiful story of poverty; he had five children, but unfortunately they were all boys; had they been girls, he said, he might have sold some of them and so not have needed to ask my aid!

The word used in connection with both geisha and prost.i.tutes is perfectly frank; no effort is made to conceal by terms the nature of the transaction. The girls are "bought" and "sold." They employ the same words as those used in buying and selling animals, food, clothing--anything. Their purchase and sale is a regular business in which men and women openly engage, traveling the country over in search of girls, and conducting them in small groups to the keepers of brothels, who pay so much a head. And this takes place in civilized j.a.pan! Moreover, in spite of the fact that girls may thus be bought, it is true that they are also occasionally stolen. I have known of a pitiful instance where the girl, a member of a respectable family, was boxed and shipped on a steamer as freight, to elude the police, and taken to Siam. In five years she has succeeded in getting one letter to her home, but the parents dare not put the matter into the hands of j.a.panese officials, as that would make the situation hopeless.

But Occidentals may not forget how terrible a scourge is commercialized vice in civilized and so-called "Christian" Europe, and who has not heard of the "white slavery" of America, with its stealing of girls and young women for purposes of prost.i.tution? The inst.i.tution of comparisons between nations and individuals is alike odious,--but unavoidable. A fair comparison would seem to be that, whereas in the West the moral sense of a large proportion of the people is very strongly against the social evil and seeks to abolish it, in j.a.pan the moral sense of the ma.s.s of the population acquiesces in the situation, so that the government and a vast majority of the influential people of the land unite to make the business safe, legal, and remunerative; and that, while in Occidental Christian lands no girl can voluntarily enter this sphere of life without being conscious of its shame and immorality, many of the girls of j.a.pan may have no adequate knowledge of these inevitable consequences until their fate has been sealed.

CHAPTER XII

AMELIORATIVE EFFORTS

The reader will desire to know what, if any, have been the efforts to ameliorate the evils described in preceding pages. They are of two kinds: first, governmental in origin, general in scope, legal and educative in method; and second, private in origin, both general and specific in scope, personal, educative, ethical, and religious in method.

The general educational policy of the government is not to be regarded as a philanthropic or ameliorative effort to meet the conditions already described. This policy however does have a powerful elevating influence on the lives and character of the entire people. As we have seen, over ninety-seven per cent. of the girls of school age are in attendance, according to the reports. Though we allow a discount on these figures (and some may perhaps be necessary), we can still say that, if the present policy of six years of compulsory education is carried out, the rising generation of boys and girls will be able to read fairly well the daily paper and simple books. To millions of women this means the opening of doors of knowledge and opportunity which in ages past have been closed to them.

The government has also been the chief initiative force in all recent movements to improve the economic and industrial conditions of the people. Railroads in j.a.pan owe their existence to the government, as also do many forms of modern industry. Agriculture and fruit and stock raising owe much to the government, which has imported Western seed, Western fruit trees, and new breeds of horses and cattle. All these efforts have done much to improve the economic conditions, thus elevating the scale of living. People eat better food and more of it, live in better houses, and wear better clothes than they did fifty or more years ago, and--an important item--they pay less taxes in proportion to their income. A general uplifting process is modifying their life and thought, and this is profoundly affecting j.a.pan's working cla.s.ses, and, of course, her women.

In regard to the specific evils introduced by Western industrialism, we have already seen how the government has sought to remedy the difficulties, so far as laws can go, but hitherto its efforts have largely been thwarted by capitalists.

Among the notable efforts of the government to promote wise social reform movements have been the large gatherings, at considerable government expense, of leaders of philanthropic and benevolent inst.i.tutions for instruction in the most recent and approved sociological principles. Competent specialists from all over the country have been employed to instruct these leaders, and thus the whole country is given the benefit of the special knowledge of the few. The government has also, during the past four years, distributed some forty thousand yen annually among those eleemosynary inst.i.tutions which it regards as models of efficiency.

Furthermore, opportunity for the higher education of women, first given on a wide scale during the past decade, while not yet affecting working women to any appreciable extent, cannot fail to do so as time pa.s.ses, for it proclaims the intrinsic ability of woman and gives her a standing of intellectual equality with man, in sharp contrast to the humiliating position a.s.signed to her by popular Buddhism, which has taught that women must be reborn as men before they can be saved. Indeed, they are born women because of their sins. A j.a.panese proverb has it that one must never trust a woman, even if she has borne you seven children! This long-believed doctrine as to the inherent incapacity and essential depravity of woman has no doubt been a powerful cause of her social degradation. Under the present system of general education, however, these doctrines and beliefs will soon be completely overthrown, thus making room for and producing great changes in the social and industrial conditions of all women.

But the government is not the sole worker for the social amelioration of industrial conditions. Through private effort forces are being introduced which are more potent than any the government knows or can control. I refer to the gospel of Jesus Christ. This has already introduced such a leaven into j.a.panese society that nothing can now prevent its transforming the whole ma.s.s in time.

Should the entire foreign body of 624 Protestant and 371 Roman Catholic missionaries be withdrawn from j.a.pan, there would still remain (January, 1914) 728 ordained and 713 unordained j.a.panese Protestant pastors and trained evangelists, and 331 Bible women. Among the 815 organized churches, 182 are wholly self-supporting. In addition to the 90,000 Protestant communicants, 67,000 Roman Catholic people, and 32,000 Greek Christians among the j.a.panese, it is estimated by Christian pastors that there are many hundreds of thousands of the people who are conducting their lives according to the principles and with the spirit of Jesus.

Furthermore, a careful study of modern j.a.panese civilization shows that the Christian conception of man as having intrinsic and inherent worth has been embodied in the const.i.tution and laws of the land and is being put into wide practise. The rights of children, women, and inferiors and the duties of parents, husbands, and superiors are new notes in j.a.pan, and are sounding forth a richer music than has ever before been heard in the Orient.

Of course there are still discordant notes, as we have seen when considering the subject of the buying and selling of geisha and prost.i.tutes; but so there are even in so-called Christian lands.

Nevertheless, the conception of the value of the individual and of his rights is inspiring a hope among the lowly and hitherto downtrodden and oppressed sections of the nation which cannot be extinguished, and will in due time powerfully transform the traditional civilization, giving to woman a place of equality along with man in the estimation of all.

The general education of girls, and especially their higher education, is signal proof of a wide acceptance of Christian conceptions. According to the _Resume Statistique_ (1914), there were, in 1911-12, 250 girls'

high schools, public and private, whose pupils numbered 64,809. In addition, the number of women in normal schools preparing to become elementary school-teachers was 8,271, and in the higher normal schools, 570. The number of female teachers is reported at 42,739. These girls'

high and normal schools, through the ability they give their graduates to converse with men on a basis of intellectual equality in regard to topics of current interest while retaining their modesty and personal character, are so transforming the reticent habits and unsocial customs of j.a.panese ladies that ere long scant room will be left for the old-time geisha.

The change Christianity is silently bringing to the home life of j.a.pan, adding to its sweetness, purity, and conscious unity, and contributing a mighty uplift to both head and heart, few as yet have either eyes to see or ears to hear. The influence already exerted by Christian ideas and ideals on the traditional conceptions of j.a.pan in regard to home life, marriage, childhood, the poor and lowly, the orphan, the blind, the leper, and the diseased generally,--in a word on the value of the individual and his inalienable, G.o.d-given rights,--is so widespread and so beneficent that it receives little specific comment and no opposition.

There were no doubt in old j.a.pan certain influences predisposing many to the new ideals and practises introduced from the West. It is difficult, perhaps impossible, at this stage in j.a.pan's development to reckon accurately how much of j.a.pan's new life is due to new factors introduced from Christendom, and how much to ideals already operative in the feudal system. No one can doubt, however, that Christian ideals have been the most important factors in the West to give woman her present status. Nor can we doubt that Christian ideals and practises are playing an important role in the modern emanc.i.p.ation of women in j.a.pan.

Those who criticize missionaries as forcing the Christian religion upon unwilling peoples know not whereof they speak. The Christian faith would make no progress whatever in j.a.pan were it not found by j.a.panese themselves to be enn.o.bling and satisfying. It is welcomed because it brings hope and peace and power to those who were hopeless and restless and powerless.

But he is very shortsighted who thinks that the main forces Christianizing j.a.pan are wielded by the foreign missionary. The missionary doubtless is an essential agent, but of far more importance is the work of j.a.panese Christians themselves; and in addition to these is the general though vague influence exerted by Western civilization as a whole, and particularly by the English language and literature. In that important work, _Fifty Years of New j.a.pan_, are many remarkable chapters, but especially noteworthy are those ent.i.tled "Social Changes of New j.a.pan," and "Influence of the West upon j.a.pan," from the pens of competent, wide-awake j.a.panese scholars.

Consider what Professor Nitobe says: "The greatest influence of the West is, after all, the spiritual.... Christianity has influenced the thought and lives of many individuals in j.a.pan, and will influence many more, eventually affecting the nation through the altered view-point and personnel of the citizen and the administrator. The character-changing power of the religion of Jesus I believe to be only just now making itself appreciably evident in our midst." Somewhat further on, referring to the English language, he writes: "The effect of the acquisition of the English tongue on the mental habits--I had almost said on the unconscious cerebrations of our people--is incalculable.... The moral influence of some of its simple text-books used in our schools cannot be overrated.... They have been instrumental in opening new vistas of thought and vast domains of enterprise and interest to young minds."

No student of j.a.pan's new life, resulting from the influence of Western and Christian ideas and ideals, should fail to familiarize himself with the eighth issue (1910) of _The Christian Movement in j.a.pan_, which gives a series of remarkable addresses delivered by j.a.panese and foreigners at the semicentennial celebration of the beginning of Protestant missions in j.a.pan. Especial attention should be paid to the section treating of the "Influence of Christianity on j.a.panese Thought and Life."

It will be obvious to any thoughtful person that changes so wide and deep, affecting all the fundamental conceptions of life, of manhood and womanhood, of the state, of law and justice, of right and duty, are not confined to those whose privilege it is to study Western books and acquire the higher education. In ten thousand ways the whole national life is being transformed, slowly it may be and silently, yet surely and steadily. And the benefits are accruing to the most lowly and least educated no less than to those at the top. All the working women of j.a.pan have already received in some degree, and in the future will more and more receive, the blessings and the uplift which are coming to the nation through its contact with the Christian conceptions and standards embedded in Western civilization and literature.

A volume--nay, many volumes--would be needed to tell in detail the story of how the Christian message has been and is being conveyed to the people of j.a.pan. We should make known the story of Joseph Hardy Neesima, of the k.u.mamoto Band, of Dr. Clark and Dr. Hepburn, of Young Men's Christian a.s.sociation teachers of English in government schools, of faithful, self-sacrificing pastors, evangelists, Bible women, and missionaries. We should recount the deeds of heroic lay Christians in all the walks of life, and above all in their homes, too often hostile, commending their new-found faith by their new spirit and life. We should tell of the work of Christian teachers of ethics in the prisons, and the remarkable results secured. We should relate the experiences of those who have struggled for the rights of prost.i.tutes, of Salvation Army officers, of matrons of reform homes, of managers of ex-convicts' homes, of founders of orphan asylums, of supporters of private charity hospitals. We should tell the story of the scores of Christian inst.i.tutions the central aim of which is to express in concrete life the Christian's faith and hope and love.

But in addition to the narrative of direct Christian work, full heed should be given to the evidences of the wide acceptance by the nation of the best Christian ideals in matters of philanthropy. To meet the needs of the famine sufferers in north j.a.pan during the winter and spring of 1914, and of those who were deprived of their all by the terrific volcanic explosion of the island of Sakurajima in January, 1914, more than a million yen ($500,000) of private gifts flowed into the hands of the relieving committees. For the earthquake sufferers the Diet voted 622,883 yen ($311,441).

The late Emperor, shortly before his death, was so moved by the medical needs of the poor that he contributed a fund of a million yen for the systematic undertaking of medical work in all parts of j.a.pan. This started a movement among the wealthy which has resulted in the establishment of a Medical Relief a.s.sociation (Saiseikwai), having a fund of $5,000,000 already paid in and pledges for $8,000,000 more.

Men of wealth in j.a.pan are following the example set by the best Christian life in the West. In recent years several large gifts have been made for education. At the close of 1913 one of the most wealthy and always generous families of j.a.pan, Sumitomo of Osaka, announced their decision to establish an industrial school for the poor, at an expense of $200,000. And in the same year Mr. O'Hara, one of the wealthiest and most philanthropic men of Okayama, announced his plan of opening a high-grade agricultural school for poor boys of that prefecture. The amount of the gift is not stated, but in addition to the large sum needed for buildings and equipment, he donates as permanent endowment some 250 acres of rice land whose value, roughly estimated, may be about $50,000.

There are in j.a.pan of all denominations and religions the following inst.i.tutions for the uplift and regeneration of the downtrodden and for the help of the poor:

Orphan asylums.......................... 100 Rescue work............................. 92 Dispensaries............................ 45 Reformatories........................... 47 Homes for ex-prisoners.................. 37 Homes for old people.................... 22 Poor farms.............................. 11 ____ 354

Of these inst.i.tutions, the compiler of the statistics states that for one Shinto and three Buddhist, there are five Christian inst.i.tutions.

The leaders and inspirers in all the forms of philanthropic work are Christians, as from the nature of the case might be expected.

"In the matter of Christian Social Service," writes A. D. Hail, in the _j.a.pan Evangelist_,[8] "the Federated Missions have been represented by two Committees whose fields of endeavor are quite distinct. The one is the excellent Eleemosynary Committee. It deals with the delinquents, defectives, and dependents of society....

[8] January, 1915.

"The Industrial Welfare Committee seeks to Christianize the industrial cla.s.ses, and to encourage the development of dealing upon Christian principles with the complicated questions growing out of the relations of capital and labor. By the industrial cla.s.ses we mean the non-capitalistic laborers and bread-winners. It includes men, women, and many thousands of children. They do not own the machinery they handle, and have no voice in the control of the industries with which they are connected. Being without any say in the control of factories, machines, and raw material, they can be discharged at any moment by employers for reasons satisfactory alone to themselves. Their bodies, their minds, and oftentime their morals, become subservient to foremen and managers. The unskilled laborers in particular have no margin of either wages or time for wholesome recreations, for accidents, old age, widowhood, and unemployment. Besides these there is another large cla.s.s in j.a.pan, of small traders who rent their shops and eke out earnings by the sweating process, or by renting rooms for doubtful purposes. To these are to be added fishermen who do not own tackle, tenant farmers and their employees, and the main body of school-teachers; also an army engaged in transportation, together with postal clerks, postmen, and others. Incidental to this are the districts of large cities and mining camps, where there are congested populations of unskilled laborers subjected to diseases occasioned by bad drainage, inadequate housing, and all the consequent evils. As these do not earn sufficient wages to ent.i.tle them to vote, they have no voice whatever in the betterment of their surroundings....

"There is a growing tendency toward the fixedness of a gulf between laborers and their employers, so much so that j.a.pan's great danger in this direction is that she may fail to realize that she has a labor problem on hand, and one that can be solved here, as elsewhere, only on the basis of Christian principles of common fair dealing."

In spite, however, of abundant evidence that Christian ethical and philanthropic ideals are receiving wide acceptance in j.a.pan, far wider than would be suggested by the statistics of membership in the Christian churches, it is also true that the evils of Occidental industrialism and materialism are sweeping in like a flood.

Turning now from general statements as to the ethico-industrial conditions of the working women of j.a.pan, in the next chapter I give the story of a single inst.i.tution.