"JAPAN CASTS ASIDE ORIENTAL CHARACTER FOR OCCIDENTAL STANDARDS"--YONE NOGUCHI

"Japan looks at the world today through Western eyes," claims Yone Noguchi, Japanese poet and professor of English Literature at the University of Tokio. Perhaps the best known of Oriental poets, Noguchi has taken the place of Lofcadio Hearn in bringing into closer touch the civilizations of the East and West. He is one of the few foreigners to adopt English as the language for his poetry, and all his work shows an ability to handle English as no other non-English poet save Tagore has done.

"Japan can no longer be considered as an isolated island; the war has so shortened distances that Japan has been forced, willingly or unwillingly, to adopt the standards and viewpoint of the Western world. We today face the same problems that are occupying the rest of the nations. With the acceptance of Western civilization and its benefits we, too, of course, have had to accept the burdens which follow it as a natural consequence.

Japan Has Her Labor Troubles, Too.

"We have much the same labor difficulties as exist, in this country. The workingman is everywhere in the world dissatisfied with his lot. The difference in Japan is that we are seeking for a more humane solution of the problem than has been arrived at elsewhere. Here you have attempted to settle it from the materialistic standpoint alone, while in Japan our effort is to make the capitalist look at the labor question from the human standpoint. There must be a compromise between the two contending forces which will satisfy both and give neither an overwhelming advantage over the other.

"Socialism is little heard of in the Orient, and it is for this reason alone that we now have cause to fear Russia. Japan harbors no hatred for the Russian people, but we cannot help instinctively fearing Bolshevism, lest it sweep away the age-old morality on which Japan has been built. I do not conceive of Bolshevism as being entirely bad--the fault is that the ignorant mind takes too literally anything new and striking. When affairs in Russia have settled down we shall be able to judge as to the faults and merits of the system that has been adopted. Today there is no unified Russian mind or opinion, and we can only judge from the fragmentary and contradictory reports that have reached us.

Desires League of Nations and Shantung.

"Japan is much concerned with the problems of the world, and favors the adoption of the Leage of Nations as a possible step towards the ultimate elimination of war Anything which can be done that will help to bring permanent peace is worth while. That the Shantung question should have arisen, Japan regrets, but it was with difficulty that we won Shantung from Germany, and the prevailing opinion is that we should keep it. We must be repaid in some measure for the sacrifices that we have made.

"More than all else, however, I want to impress upon the American people that the United States has nothing to fear from Japan. It is nonsensical to consider the possibility of a war between Japan and this country. The two nations have much in common and each nation has much to learn from the other. Accordingly, the East and the West must get together.

Newspapers Spread Misinformation.

The cause of the United States' dislike of Japan is, I suppose, the misinformation that your newspapers have spread broadcast about Japan. Before there is a better relationship between the two countries America must be brought to a correct understanding of my country. Journalism in this country is shackled; your press is controlled by special interests, with the exception of a few independent newspapers which dare to say what they please. Editors seek to cater to the public and never to educate it. With such an arrangement there is certain to be much misrepresentation, and Japan feels that she has never been shown to the American people in a true light.

"Your educational system is the marvel of the world. The American university is far superior to anything we have in Japan, and for that reason we are trying to model our institutions on the same plan as yours. Here you have plenty of money to house your students and to give them adequate facilities for study, such as libraries and lecture rooms, but in Japan we have always been greatly handicapped. When Japan attains the heights in education that America has reached, then we shall feel that we have truly learned perhaps the greatest lesson that you have to teach us.