An Interpretation of Japan
THE author of this book spent four years as a teacher of
English in a Japanese High School, and later paid a second visit to Japan, when he met the leading statesmen and indus- trialists. It was during this visit that he became convinced that it was his duty to write a book which would reveal to the . 'West " something of the real nature of the Japanese character and the needs and interests of Japan in relation to the rest of . the world." Like many Englishmen who have lived among the Japanese, Mr. Pickering feels respect and liking for them, and he has described with sympathy certain aspects of their national life.
. lie begins with an account of the now well-known features of the Japanese family system, and he shows how this form
of social organisation influences industrial and political relationships. After a discussion of the educational system, he proceeds to-deal at length with some of the economic prob- lems of Japan. Here he tries to refute the explanations of her industrial progress that are current in Western countries. In particular, he argues that it is unjustifiable to attribute Japan's advance mainly to the existence of " sweated " labour, and he points to the reduction in costs that has recently been achieved by rationalisation. The last- section of the book is concerned with political problems. Mr. Pickering -touches on some of the peculiarities of the Japanese political system, and he traces the events that led to the downfall of the political parties and to the triumph of the militarists in1932. Militaristic influence is said to be declining at present, and there now seems to be more hope for parliamentarianism than there was a year or two ago. Mr. Pickering shows how the internal political situation in Japan has affected Sino-Japanese rela- tionships, and this brings him to a discussion of the events that culminated in the establishment. of Manchukuo. He believes I hat leading Japanese statesmen and many powerful interests are now striving to restrain the ambitions of the extreme militarists and to create friendly relations between their country and China ; but he is sure that there is no serious • body of opinion in Japan today which would contemplate for a moment a solution of the Manchurian problem on the lines proposed by the League Commission. Even Baron Shidehara, who tried so earnestly to obtain a pacific settlement of Japan's differences with China, now believes that the present solution is the only practicable one. It appears, also, that all Japanese, even those with a liberal and international outlook, hold that the return of their country to the League of Nations is unthink-
able, for they regard the League as a mere instrument for preserving the status quo and, as such, incompetent to deal with Far Eastern affairs.
The author has thus tried to cover a wide field ; but, unfortunately, his book is very uneven in quality. No doubt, when he is recording his own experiences, he makes some useful contributions to our knowledge, notably in the last section, . where he informs us of his conversations with Japanese statesmen and soldiers. Further, he has some interesting comments on the Japanese educational system. Like the . reviewer, he was impressed by the democratic character of that system, and he notes, significantly, that what makes it possible for Japanese of all classes to attend the same schools is that the whole population has a high standard of personal cleanliness. This non-existence of an educational cleavage on class lines partly accounts, as the author suggests, for the absence of snobbishness and for the easy intercourse and similarity of manners among people of all classes that constitute one of the most attractive features of Japanese life.
. On the whole, however, Mr. Pickering contributes little that the serious student of Japanese affairs is not able to obtain from other sources. He appears to be ill-equipped, moreover, . for dealing with economic affairs.. In the section on industrial development he shows little knowledge or discrimination ; and where the careful analysis of a complex situation is required, • the subject is often dismissed with a series of metaphors. There are some serious inaccuracies. He supports his view
that currency depreciation has been unduly stressed as a cause of Japan's export development by declaring (p. 120) that " the year 1W2.5, when the yen was at par; was. the year of Japan's most formidable advance." Actually, the yen was heavily depreciated during that year. He states (p. 122) that between 1914 and 1925 Japan's foreign trade quadrupled. This is misleading. if one allows- for the rise in prices, the value of the foreign trade just about doubled (see Moulton's Japan, p. 594). He asserts quite dogmatically that the Japanese method of conducting spinning, weaving and finishing in the same mill—or rather firm—is more economical than the Lancashire system of specialisation. This may be so ; but the superiority remains to be proved, and the presumption is that the integrated system is a sign of the relative im- maturity of the Japanese industry. Until about half .a century ago the integration of spinning and weaving was the rule in Lancashire ; and the development of specialised mills was, in fact, an adjustment of organisation to secure more efficient methods of production. He implies on p. 144 that only the large-scale Japanese industriescompete seriously with foreign manufacturers. Yet one of the striking developments of recent years has been the growth in the exports of the small- scale trades.
It is difficult to place much reliance on the author's judgement when he argues (p. 152) that the movement for shorter hours has made little headway in Japan because the employees " love their work so much that they are prepared to live with it, even to sleep with it." Again, he is apparently unaware of the recent work (now available in English} of Japanese historians ; for he states that it required only the fiat of Emperor Meiji and a few campaigns to abolish a feudal system comparable to that existing in England before the Wars of the Roses. Professor Honjo has lately shown that Japanese feudal society had been disintegrating for many years before the Restoration and that the old rigid distinctions between the classes had long been in process of decay.
Mr. Pickering has an irritating style. We read of Lancashire workers who are " clinging pathetically to the sinking ship of inefficient production," and who " must be provided with lifeboats " (i.e., unemployment benefits or alternative occupa- tions) ; of the " one swallow " that " does not make a sum- mer " ; of " trying to perform Hamlet without the Prince " ; of paternalism "written large" over "the new industrialism" ; of Japanese farmers " who liquidate their debts by realising their female assets" (i.e., sending their daughters into licensed houses) ; and, in one of the author's facetious moments, of " the teaching of that marvellous old Chinese don, Confucius."
G. C. ALLEN
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