〔Japan〕Kuriyagawa Hakuson

ON THE STUDY OF ENGLISH
——Address given at the Interscholastic English Meetingheld on October 4th，1919，under the joint auspices of the Osaka Higher Commercial School and the Osaka Asahi Shimbun.

〔Japan〕Kuriyagawa Hakuson

Mr.Chairman，Ladies and Gentlemen：

I esteem it a favour to have been asked to speak before such a large and earnest audience as I see before me this evening，in a foreign language in which all of you are so deeply interested and which I have been studying from my childhood and teaching for many years.On an occasion like this it is hardly necessary to dwell on the desirability of encouraging young students in the study of English as one of the most important means of promoting the commercial or economic relations between Japan and our friendly English-speaking nations on both sides of the Ateantic，as was already mentioned in the advertisement of this meeting.But from a purely idealistic or literary point of view I should avail myself of this opportunity of calling your attention to some of the reasons for the importance we attach to the study of the English language in this country.For about a week I have been so ill that I have not been able to prepare any properly systematized lecture；what I am going to give is just a few disconnected remarks which happened to flash through my head when I was invited to give talk here.

Everything human in the world，after having risen from necessity of circumstances，has undergone further changes and modifications to meet the need of the people of successive generations.The development of the national language is no exception to the rule.English is the language of the people of democracy and liberty，who have enjoyed freedom of speech more than any other nations of the world and developed their language so as to meet this necessity of their inner life.The Anglo-Saxons，after untiring efforts lasting many centuries，have made their mother-tongue par excellence the language for oration，most splendid in the world.In striking contrast with this，the Japanese language has no oratorical literature worthy of the name in its long history covering more than a score of centuries.Having lain under the despotism of the feudal government，our ancestors entirely neglected to improve our language in that direction.

As I wrote a few years ago in the Asahi Shimbun，spoken Japanese of today still remains a language not of publicity，but of privacy，good only for a nambypamby chat in a boudoir or a tête-a-tête of old-fashioned politicians in a four-mat-andhalf conclave.It has，indeed，delicacy and beauty of nuance as well as flowing smoothness of sound，not at all comparable with the“hissing”of English；but it has no such splendid power and lucidity as we find in modern English when it is spoken before a great audience.

Read or hear the speeches given by the Japanese politicians of the present day，and compare them with those of Premier Lloyd-George or President Wilson，Mr.Bryan or even other and lesser stars of oratory in England or America，and you will realize how poor and feeble are the speeches delivered by the Japanese speakers，not only in their contents but also in their expression or the formal elements of their speech.This is no doubt partly due to the fact that the Japanese language is very flaccid and weak as a language for public speaking，having been the tongue of a people who have enjoyed no freedom of speech under a hideous absolutism for many centuries，and who even today try to keep their lips sealed up as far as possible，believing in the old silly saying“From the mouth comes that which is evil，”Kuchi wa wazawai no mon，which is only a one-sided truth. Shall we be satisfied with the present condition of our mother-tongue when we are so rapidly becoming democratized？

Language study is not merely a matter of the vocal organs，as some advocates of the so-called“practical”.English in this country are very apt to believe，but it must be the study of the real spirit or of the ideals of the people who speak the language.Study English elocution and you will be able to appreciate to the full the true spirit of a“Nation subtle and sinewy to discourse”which has enjoyed for long“the liberty to know，to utter，and to argue freely according to conscience，”as the great author of the Areopagitica，John Milton，wrote nearly three hundred years ago.

I venture to say it is one of the most serious duties of the present generation to inspire with a new spirit or genius the Japanese language，the greatest treasure we are proud to have inherited from our fathers，and to leave it to posterity enlivened and enriched with new foreign elements of eloquence，that we may have our Burke and our Webster in future Japanese literature，just as our remote ancestors modified and remoulded our beloved tongue by introducing new elements from the classical Chinese language and literature，whose influence gave rise to the elegant letters of the subsequent ages.

Now there is another point to which I should like to call your attention in this connection.The thorough study of any foreign language naturally leads to the study of and liking for its literature，which is absolutely necessary for the understanding and appreciation of the peoples’real life，spiritual as well as material.I think I can safely assert that nothing can give a clearer perspective of the inner life of a nation than its literature.It was the late John Morley who said that literature is an expression of the best thought of the people，but I should say，going a step further，that literature is the truest and sincerest expression of the ideals of a nation.Politicians may sometimes be timeservers，merchants and businessmen may do any thing to meet their practical purposes，but poets are always themselves，or true to themselves，because they must be sincere before everything in order to be great poets；no insincere man can write true poetry.

When I think of the truth of the famous saying，Tout comprentdre，c’est tout pardonner，——To understand everything is to pardon everythingand when I recall many occasions of international friction in history，which，in the majority of cases，were caused by the mere lack of mutual understanding，I must here emphatically call your atten-tion to the great importance of studying literature for promoting a friendly international relation.

Study the inner life of a people，and you will begin to thoroughly like them.I do not know any American or European who has studied Japanese literature，and yet does not like the people who has produced it.I do not know any Japanese who has studied Milton，Shelley and Browning，or Whittier，Emerson and Whitman that does not admire the great ideals of the English-speaking peoples.

In order that this assertion of the importance of studying literature for perfect international understanding may not be looked upon as a mere dreamer’s phantasy，let me cite in this connection a few remarkable facts from recent diplomatic history.In England it was a remarkable feature in the literary world for the twenty years preceding the outbreak of the Great War that Continental literature was freely introduced to her reading public.It was in this period that hundreds and hundreds of critical works and translations of the modern literature of France，Russia，Italy，Spain and Scandinavia appeared in English.You know that the English people in the age of Queen Victoria was well-known as a people who，with their traditional complacency，cared least for the language and literature outside their own；but from about the beginning of the present century，they began eagerly to read the literature of Continental Europe.When we find this new literary tendency in England exactly coinciding with King Edward’s breaking away from the traditional diplomatic policy of socalled“glorious isolation”，to initiate his policy of entente cordiale，who can deny the close relation between the appreciation of literature and the friendly diplomatic relations which culminated in the triple entente at the beginning of the Great War？During the wartime a prominent English journal went so for as to suggest a new term，the“literary alliance”，which means nothing other than the perfect mutual understanding of two nations by each studying the other’s literature.Mr. Edmund Gosse，one of the greatest living writers，used the term literary entente to designate the close alliance of England and France.

Again，in this connection，you will be reminded of the friendly relations between France and Russia before the war，a connection which was founded not only on the closely-related financial circumstances of the two countries，but on their mutual understanding through literature.In the latter part of the Nineteenth Century，you know，Russian literature was introduced into France by such an eminent diplomat-author as the Vicomte de Vogue，followed by many others，and it was very widely read by French readers.On the other hand，it is no exaggeration to say that the genius of Russian literature in the last century was practically developed by the powerful influence of such French authors as Flaubert，Maupassant and Zola.

I do not wish to bore you any longer by enumerating a long list of such examples，as I suppose every reader of diplomatic history will find a great many similar instances even more convincing and more conclusive than those which I have pointed out.

Now let me mention by way of illustration some mistaken ideas of the moral life of the Japanese people，very common which will be easily corrected or eradicated among the English speaking peoples，by their reading of Japanese literature.It is a common belief in England and America that Bushido is still governing the inner life of the New Japan.It is very true that Bushido remains even in the present time as a sentiment among the older people of this country，but if they make any study of contemporary Japanese literature，which is the truest portrayal of the modernized Japan，they will easily find that Bushido is nothing more than a bit of out-of-date bric-abrac in the eyes of the younger generation who have been educated on entirely different principles.

Anothermisconception，verycommoninEngland and America，is that the Japanese are a bellicose and aggressive people.To correct this mistaken idea，nothing is better than to recommend them the reading of the best Japanese dramas，novels and poetry of the age of the Tokugawa，which were nothing other than the outcome of the absolute peace enjoyed by the Japanese people for three hundred years.The study of Tokugawa literature will fully convince the English-speaking public that no nation can produce such literature that did not enjoy a three-century-long stretch of absolute peace.This stretch of absolute peace lasting three hundred years has no parallel in the history of any nation in the world，and will they still think any warlike people can truly enjoy such a long period of utter quiet to create‘things of beauty’？

To return to my subject.It is true that English literature is studied in this country and is not such a sealed treasury as Japanese literature is to the English reading public；but if you make it the sole end of your study of English merely to the skillful in the thrust and parry of every day conversation or to be good at commercial correspondence，entirely neglecting the study of literature，the perfect mutual understanding between us and the Englishspeaking nations will be beyond our reasonable expectation for ever.In order to understand the real Britain or the real America，you need not go far across the ocean to visit London or New York or Chicago，but stay here and read in the cozy corner of your study or by the fireside some of the best and greatest works of British or American authors. Read Chaucer and Milton，read Ruskin and Carlyle，read Emerson and Hawthorne，and you will find that the Anglo-Saxon is no nation of‘shopkeepers’，that there is the forcible undercurrent of idealism running through their materialistic civilization，and you will get the correct idea of what is their true spirit of democracy and liberty，what is the foundation of their moral life，and what does the present Anglo-Saxon superiority in the world consist in.This kind of study may appear to some of you very unpractical；but please remember that nothing can be more practical than the unpractical in all matters concerning our moral and intellectual life.

【About the author】Kuriyagawa Hakuson was born in Kyoto.He graduated from Tokyo Imperial University，where he had studied under Koizumi Yakumo and Natsume Sōseki，and later became a professor at Kumamoto University and Kyoto Imperial University.He lectured on 19th century Westernliterature，andcriticizedtraditional Japanese writing on naturalism and romanticism. His writings include：Kindai bungaku jikko（“Ten Aspects of Modern Literature”，1912），Zoge no to o dete（“Leave the Ivory Tower!”，1920）and Kindai no ren-aikan（“Modern Views on Love”，1922）.He was killed by a tsunami，which swept away his cottage near the beach in Kamakura，Kanagawa prefecture，duringtheGreat Kanto Earthquake of 1923.