The Imperial Decree on Education and Morals, given by the Japanese emperor in 1890, is discussed.
Let's look at these.
Be filial to your parents. In other words, try to be good sons and daughters. Nothing wrong with that.
Be affectionate to your brothers. In other words, treat people nicely.
Be harmonious as husbands and wives and faithful as friends. Again, something that is very good.
Conduct yourself with propriety and carefulness. In other words, behave yourselves.
Extend generosity and benevolence to your neighbors. (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”)
Attend to your studies faithfully and practice diligently your respective callings. Education in Japan was very important then and it still is. The Japanese do not have a 40% drop-out rate like the U.S., and, even though they do have problems with bullying, their violence rate in the schools is much lower than the U.S.'s.
Cultivate our intellects and elevate your morals. How can anyone possibly argue with that?
Advance public benefits and promote the general social welfare.
Always render strict obedience to the constitution and laws of the land.
Display personal courage and public spirit in the interest of your country whenever required.
I don't think you could find a better code of ethics if you tried. The Japanese were definitely “civilized,” and by using these standards as a basis for comparison, they were (and are) more civilized that the U.S.
The author writes about how well the Japanese soldiers treated POWs in their war with Russia. Unfortunately, this changed horribly during the World War II when the Japanese soldiers committed numerous atrocities against POWs.
The Japanese emperor gave some money to a Christian hospital in Tokyo.
The author takes the stand that Japan has more to fear from the U.S. than the U.S. has to fear from Japan.
The argument is continued.
Someone who examined the anti-Japanese newspaper articles concludes that many are just plain lies. This type of thing damages the relationship between the two countries.
A member of the U.S. Congress holds that there is a “criminal conspiracy” to cause a war between the U.S. and Japan.
An example of a complete fabrication by the newspapers to stir anti-Japanese feeling.
Another, even wilder, lie presented by a newspaper.
The lie is elaborated upon, and another one is discussed.
When the lies were exposed, the papers generally ignored the exposure.
More lies, including one that there were 200,000 Japanese soldiers in Mexico ready to attack the U.S. (If you're going to tell a lie, tell a whopper must have been the reasoning behind this)
The lie is examined and, of course, found utterly untrue.
Actually, there were 70,000 Japanese troops in California, all disguised as farmers, workers, merchants, and civilians. Sure.
All of the stories had been shown to be untrue.
Something which, unfortunately, did not turn out to be true.
Never say never.
The author writes that if the Japanese did capture any West Coast cities, it would arouse the rest of the nation and the Japanese would be taught a severe lesson. It would be a matter of the chain of supply; the U.S. could move troops and materials easily within its border, but Japanese troops on American soil would be at the end of a very long, and vulnerable, chain of supply.
The Japanese would be defeated.
Some of the anti-Japanese bills introduced into the California legislature. The fifth one is quit interesting: “Bills prohibiting Japanese from employing white women in any form of service.” Talk about racial prejudice.
More anti-Japanese bills, including one that would prohibit them from using “power engines.” Huh?
The author lays a lot of the blame directly at the feet of the trade unions. It was the unions that really opposed the Japanese tremendously. “The immigrants are taking our jobs.” Sound familiar?
Another Japanese writes about how they feel about the anti-Japanese discrimination in the U.S.
The author begins to point out some of the bad consequences of the anti-Japanese discrimination.
He continues.
It's wrong, he says, for one state to do things that reflect negatively on the other states.
The author's wrong on this one. The Japanese did want and did take the Philippines.
An eerie glimpse into the future, saying that the Japanese could only take the islands if they first “sink our fleet,” which is pretty close to what happened.
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