progress than many a Western nation, because she is also so conscious of defects.  A large section of the nation has a passion for progress.  It wishes to learn of the good that foreign lands have attained, and to apply the knowledge in such wise as shall fit most advantageously into the national life.  Although Japan is conceited, her conceit is not without reason, nor is it to be attributed to her inherent race nature.  It is manifestly due to her history and social order past and present.

XIII

PATRIOTISM—­APOTHEOSIS—­COURAGE

No word is so dear to the patriotic Japanese as the one that leaps to his lips when his country is assailed or maligned, “Yamato-Damashii.”  In prosaic English this means “Japan Soul.”  But the native word has a flavor and a host of associations that render it the most pleasing his tongue can utter.  “Yamato” is the classic name for that part of Japan where the divinely honored Emperor, Jimmu Tenno, the founder of the dynasty and the Empire, first established his court and throne.  “Damashii” refers to the soul, and especially to the noble qualities of the soul, which, in Japan of yore, were synonymous with bravery, the characteristic of the samurai.  If, therefore, you wish to stir in the native breast the deepest feelings of patriotism and courage, you need but to call upon his “Yamato-Damashii.”

There has been a revival in the use of this word during the last decade.  The old Japan-Spirit has been appealed to, and the watchword of the anti-foreign reaction has been “Japan for the Japanese.”  Among English-speaking and English-reading Japanese there has been a tendency to give this term a meaning deeper and broader than the historic usage, or even than the current usage, will bear.  One Japanese writer, for instance, defines the term as meaning, “a spirit of loyalty to country, conscience, and ideal.”  An American writer comes more nearly to the current usage in the definition of it as “the aggressive and invincible spirit of Japan.”  That there is such a spirit no one can doubt who has the slightest acquaintance with her past or present history.

Concerning the recent rise of patriotism I have spoken elsewhere, perhaps at sufficient length.  Nor is it needful to present extensive evidence for the statement that the Japanese have this feeling of patriotism in a marked degree.  One or two rather interesting items may, however, find their place here.

The recent war with China was the occasion of focusing patriotism and fanning it into flame.  Almost every town street, and house, throughout the Empire, was brilliantly decked with lanterns and flags, not on a single occasion only, but continuously.  Each reported victory, however small, sent a thrill of delight throughout the nation.  Month after month this was kept up.  In traveling through the land one would not have fancied that war was in progress, but rather, that a long-continued festival was being observed.