What Japan Thinks (Paperback) | Released: 10 Aug 2019

From the PREFACE.THE articles put together between these covers have been chosen by the editor with a view to presenting what may be called representative opinions of representative Japanese on the foremost questions of the world to-day, such as the Monroe Doctrine and the League of Nations, imperialism and liberalism, democracy and autocracy, militarism and navalism, armament and disarmament, race equality and race discrimination, the "white peril" and the "yellow menace." The Japanese side of the Yap controversy is also fully presented.Of the fourteen articles composing this book all but two are culled from newspapers, magazines, and books published in Japan or China. Most of them were originally written in Japanese for Japanese publications, and were later translated into English for various English publications in the Orient.The value of these articles lies in the fact that they were, with a few exceptions, addressed primarily or exclusively to the Japanese. None of them was prepared especially for this book. They were not written for foreign consumption. Their respective authors had no eye upon the American or European gallery. They show just what the Japanese are talking among themselves on the vital problems of the world and their bearing upon Japan.Some of the views expressed in the following articles may be found unpleasant to sedate readers in America and Europe. The editor has not shrunk from such views, believing that in the end straightforwardness is more conducive to clear understanding than evasive diffidence.In selecting these articles from the mass of current literature in Japan, the editor purposely avoided articles written by "professional" statesmen or diplomats, whose utterances are usually characterized by what the journalistic wit of America gracefully calls "pussyfooting." They are often deliberately superficial or platitudinous, often too subtle or too vague to be of much value as a measure of real public sentiment. The editor has, however, taken an article from the pen of Premier Hara, the "Great Commoner," a second by Marquis Okuma, the "Grand Old Man," and a third by Baron Goto, the "Roosevelt of Japan." Because of their great distinction and widespread reputation, the world is eager to listen to them, whatever they may have to say.From a literary point of view these articles, whether originally written in English or translated from the Japanese, leave much room for improvement. But the editor, conscious of his own limitations, has resisted the temptation to rewrite them. He has, however, taken the liberty of making such emendations as he thought absolutely necessary in order to avoid overtaxing the imagination of the reader. Only to that extent is he responsible for the English of this book. He presents this volume not as a work of literature, but as a symposium of opinions of grave international significance which, due to the vehicle by which they were originally conveyed, have remained more or less unknown to Europe and America.Acknowledgment is due to the editors or publishers of the journals and books, in which these articles originally appeared, for permission to reprint them in the present form.-K. K. Kawakami, New York, May, 1921.