,illustration                           
,library of ,adelbert ,college          
of                         ,western     
,reserve ,university                    
,gift of the ,publisher                 
,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,japan             
,a ,,lecture                            
,,by                            ,,sir   
,,rabindranath ,,tagore                 
,delivered for the ,students of the     
,private ,colleges               of     
,tokyo and the ,members of the          
,indo-,japanese                         
,association1 at the                    
,keio ,gijuku ,university4              
,,published ,,by ,,the ,,indo-,,japanese
                                        
,,association1 ,,tokyo                  
,,july #b1 #aiaf4                       
,copyrighted in ,u4 ,s4 ,a4          ,i 
am glad to have this opportunity once   
more of speaking to you before ,i  leave
 ,japan4 ,my stay here has been so short
 that one may think ,i have  not earned 
my right to speak to you about anything 

concerning your  country4 ,i feel sure  
that ,i shall be told1 that ,i am       
idealising certain  aspects1 while      
leaving others unnoticed1 and that there
 are chances of  my disillusionment1 if 
,i remain here for long4 ,for ,i have   
known  foreigners1 whose long experience
 has made them doubtful about your      
moral qualifications1--even of your full
 efficiency in modern equipments  of    
progress4    ,but ,i am not going to be 
brow-beaten by the authority of long    
experience1 which is likely to be an    
experience of blindness carried  through
 long years4 ,i have known such         
instances in my own country4 ,the       
mental sense1 by the help of which we   
feel the spirit of a people1 is  like   
the sense of sight1 or of touch1--it is 
a natural gift4 ,it finds  its objects1 
not by analysis1 but by direct          
apprehension4 ,those who have  not this 
vision1 merely see events and facts1 and
 not their inner  association4 ,those   
who have no ear for music1 hear sounds1 

but not the  song4 ,therefore when1 by  
the mere reason of the lengthiness of   
their  suffering1 they threaten to      
establish the fact of the tune to be a  
noise1 one need not be anxious about    
music4 ,very often it is mistakes  that 
require longer time to develop their    
tangles1 while the right  answer comes  
promptly4    ,you ask me how ,i can     
prove1 that ,i am right in my confidence
 that ,i can  see4 ,my answer is1       
because ,i see something which is       
positive4 ,there are  others1 who affirm
 that they see something contrary4 ,it  
only shows1 that  ,i am looking on the  
picture side of the canvas1 and they on 
the blank  side4 ,therefore my short    
view is of more value than their        
prolonged  stare4    ,it is a truism to 
say that shadows accompany light4 ,what 
you feel1 as  the truth of a people1 has
 its numberless contradictions1--just as
 the  roundness of the earth is         
contradicted at every step by its hills 
and  hollows4 ,those who can boast of a 

greater familiarity with your country   
than myself1 can bring before me loads  
of contradictions1 but ,i remain  firm  
upon my vision of a truth1 which does   
not depend upon its  dimension1 but upon
 its vitality4    ,at first1 ,i had my  
doubts4 ,i thought that ,i might not be 
able to see  ,japan1 as she is herself1 
but should have to be content to see the
 ,japan  that takes an acrobatic pride  
in violently appearing as something     
else4  ,on my first arrival in this     
country1 when ,i looked out from the    
balcony  of a house on the hillside1 the
 town of ,kobe1--that huge mass of      
corrugated iron roofs1--appeared to me  
like a dragon1 with glistening  scales1 
basking in the sun1 after having        
devoured a large slice of the  living   
flesh of the earth4 ,this dragon did not
 belong to the mythology  of the past1  
but of the present2 and with its iron   
mask it tried to look  real to the      
children of the age1--real as the       
majestic rocks on the  shore1 as the    

epic rhythm of the sea-waves4 ,anyhow it
 hid ,japan from  my view1 and ,i felt  
myself like the traveller1 whose time is
 short1  waiting for the cloud to be    
lifted to have a sight of the eternal   
snow  on the ,himalayan summit4 ,i asked
 myself1--',will the dense mist of the  
iron age give way for a moment1 and let 
me see what is true and abiding  in this
 land8' ,i was enveloped in a whirlwind 
of reception1 but ,i had my  misgivings 
and thought that this might be a violent
 outbreak of  curiosity1--or that these 
people felt themselves bound to show    
their  appreciation of a man who had won
 renown from ,europe1 thus doing honour 
to the ,west in a vicarious form4       
,but the clouds showed rifts1 and       
glimpses ,i had of ,japan where she is  
true and more human4 ,while travelling  
in a railway train ,i met1 at a  wayside
 station1 some ,buddhist priests and    
devotees4 ,they brought their  basket of
 fruits to me and held their lighted    
incense before my face1  wishing to pay 

homage to a man who had come from the   
land of ,buddha4 ,the  dignified        
serenity of their bearing1 the          
simplicity of their  devoutness1 seemed 
to fill the atmosphere of the busy      
railway station  with a golden light of 
peace4 ,their language of silence       
drowned the  noisy effusion of the      
newspapers4 ,i felt that ,i saw         
something which was  at the root of     
,japan's greatness4 ,and1 since then1 ,i
 have had other  opportunities of       
reaching the heart of the people2 and ,i
 have come to  the conclusion1 that the 
welcome which flowed towards me1 with   
such  outburst of sincerity1 was owing  
to the fact that ,japan felt the        
nearness of ,india to herself1 and      
realised that her own heart has room  to
 expand beyond her boundaries and the   
boundaries of the modern time4    ,i    
have travelled in many countries and    
have met with men of all classes1  but  
never in my travels did ,i feel the     
presence of the human so  distinctly as 

in this land4 ,in other great countries1
 signs of man's  power loomed large1 and
 ,i saw vast organisations which showed 
efficiency  in all their features4      
,there1 display and extravagance1 in    
dress1 in  furniture1 in costly         
entertainments1 are startling4 ,they    
seem to push  you back into a corner1   
like a poor intruder at a feast2 they   
are apt  to make you envious1 or take   
your breath away with amazement4 ,there1
 you  do not feel man as supreme2 you   
are hurled against the stupendousness of
  things that alienates4 ,but1 in       
,japan1 it is not the display of power1 
or  wealth1 that is the predominating   
element4 ,you see everywhere emblems of 
love and admiration1 and not mostly of  
ambition and greed4 ,you see a  people1 
whose heart has come out and scattered  
itself in profusion in  its commonest   
utensils of everyday life in its social 
institutions1 in  its manners1 that are 
carefully perfect1 and in its dealings  
with things  that are not only deft1 but

 graceful in every movement4    ,what   
has impressed me most in this country is
 the conviction that you  have realised 
nature's secrets1 not by methods of     
analytical knowledge1  but by sympathy4 
,you have known her language of lines   
and music of  colours1 the symmetry in  
her irregularities1 and the cadence in  
her  freedom of movements2 you have seen
 how she leads her immense crowds of    
things yet avoids all frictions2 how the
 very conflicts in her  creations break 
out in dance and music2 how her         
exuberance has the  aspect of the       
fullness of self-abandonment1 and not a 
mere dissipation  of display4 ,you have 
discovered that nature reserves her     
power in forms  of beauty2 and it is    
this beauty which1 like a mother1       
nourishes all the  giant forces at her  
breast1 keeping them in active vigour1  
yet in  repose4 ,you have known that    
energies of nature save themselves from 
wearing out by the rhythm of a perfect  
grace1 and that she with the  tenderness

 of her curved lines takes away fatigue 
from the world's  muscles4 ,i have felt 
that you have been able to assimilate   
these secrets  into your life1 and the  
truth which lies in the beauty of all   
things has  passed into your souls4 ,a  
mere knowledge of things can be had in a
 short  enough time1 but their spirit   
can only be acquired by centuries of    
training and self-control4 ,dominating  
nature from outside is a much  simpler  
thing than making her your own in love's
 delight1 which is a  work of true      
genius4 ,your race has shown that       
genius1 not by  acquirements1 but by    
creations2 not by display of things1 but
 by  manifestation of its own inner     
being4 ,this creative power there is in 
all nations1 and it is ever active in   
getting hold of men's natures and       
giving them a form according to its     
ideals4 ,but here1 in ,japan1 it seems  
to have achieved its success1 and deeply
 sunk into the minds of all men1  and   
permeated their muscles and nerves4     

,your instincts have become true1  your 
senses keen1 and your hands have        
acquired natural skill4 ,the genius  of 
,europe has given her people the power  
of organisation1 which has  specially   
made itself manifest in politics and    
commerce and in  coordinating scientific
 knowledge4 ,the genius of ,japan has   
given you the  vision of beauty in      
nature and the power of realising it in 
your life4  ,and1 because of this fact1 
the power of organisation has come so   
easily  to your help when you needed it4
 ,for the rhythm of beauty is the inner 
spirit1 whose outer body is             
organisation4    ,all particular        
civilisation is the interpretation of   
particular human  experience4 ,europe   
seems to have felt emphatically the     
conflict of  things in the universe1    
which can only be brought under control 
by  conquest4 ,therefore she is ever    
ready for fight1 and the best portion of
  her attention is occupied in          
organising forces4 ,but ,japan has felt1

 in  her world1 the touch of some       
presence1 which has evoked in her soul a
  feeling of reverent adoration4 ,she   
does not boast of her mastery of        
nature1 but to her she brings1 with     
infinite care and joy1 her offerings  of
 love4 ,her relationship with the world 
is the deeper relationship of  heart4   
,this spiritual bond of love she has    
established with the hills of  her      
country1 with the sea and the streams1  
with the forests in all their  flowery  
moods and varied physiognomy of         
branches2 she has taken into her  heart 
all the rustling whispers and sighing of
 the woodlands and sobbing  of the      
waves2 the sun and the moon she has     
studied in all the  modulations of their
 lights and shades1 and she is glad to  
close her  shops to greet the seasons in
 her orchards and gardens and           
cornfields4  ,this opening of the heart 
to the soul of the world is not confined
 to a  section of your privileged       
classes1 it is not the forced product of

  exotic culture1 but it belongs to all 
your men and women of all  conditions4  
,this experience of your soul1 in       
meeting a personality in  the heart of  
the world1 has been embodied in your    
civilisation4 ,it is  civilisation of   
human relationship4 ,your duty towards  
your state has  naturally assumed the   
character of filial duty1 your nation   
becoming one  family with your ,emperor 
as its head4 ,your national unity has   
not been  evolved from the comradeship  
of arms for defensive and offensive     
purposes1 or from partnership in raiding
 adventures1 dividing among each  member
 the danger and spoils of robbery4 ,it  
is not an outcome of the  necessity of  
organisation for some ulterior purpose1 
but it is an  extension of the family   
and the obligations of the heart in a   
wide field  of space and time4 ,the     
ideal of maitri is at the bottom of your
  culture1--maitri with men and maitri  
with ,nature4 ,and the true  expression 
of this love is in the language of      

beauty1 which is so  abundantly         
universal in this land4 ,this is the    
reason why a stranger1  like myself1    
instead of feeling envy or humiliation  
before these  manifestations of beauty1 
these creations of love1 feels a        
readiness to  participate in the joy and
 glory of such revealment of the human  
heart4    ,and this has made me all the 
more apprehensive of the change1 which  
threatens ,japanese civilisation1 as    
something like a menace to one's own    
person4 ,for the huge heterogeneity of  
the modern age1 whose only common  bond 
is usefulness1 is nowhere so pitifully  
exposed against the dignity  and hidden 
power of reticent beauty1 as in ,japan4 
,but the danger lies in this1 that      
organised ugliness storms the mind and  
carries the day by its mass1 by its     
aggressive persistence1 by its power  of
 mockery directed against the deeper    
sentiments of heart4 ,its harsh         
obtrusiveness makes it forcibly visible 
to us1 overcoming our  senses1--and we  

bring to its altar sacrifices1 as does a
 savage to the  fetish which appears    
powerful because of its hideousness4    
,therefore its  rivalry to things that  
are modest and profound and have the    
subtle  delicacy of life is to be       
dreaded4    ,i am quite sure that there 
are men in your nation1 who are not in  
sympathy with your national ideals2     
whose object is to gain1 and not to     
grow4 ,they are loud in their boast1    
that they have modernised ,japan4       
,while ,i agree with them so far as to  
say1 that the spirit of the race  should
 harmonise with the spirit of the time1 
,i must warn them that  modernising is a
 mere affectation of modernism1 just as 
affectation of  poesy is poetising4 ,it 
is nothing but mimicry1 only affectation
 is  louder than the original1 and it is
 too literal4 ,one must bear in mind1   
that those who have the true modern     
spirit need not modernise1 just as      
those who are truly brave are not       
braggarts4 ,modernism is not in the     

dress of the ,europeans2 or in the      
hideous structures1 where their         
children are interned when they take    
their lessons2 or in the square  houses 
with flat straight wall-surfaces1       
pierced with parallel lines of  windows1
 where these people are caged in their  
lifetime2 certainly  modernism is not in
 their ladies' bonnets1 carrying on them
 loads of  incongruities4 ,these are not
 modern1 but merely ,european4 ,true    
modernism is freedom of mind1 not       
slavery of taste4 ,it is independence   
of thought and action1 not tutelage     
under ,european schoolmasters4 ,it is   
science1 but not its wrong application  
in life1--a mere imitation of our       
science teachers who reduce it into a   
superstition absurdly invoking its  aid 
for all impossible purposes4            
,science1 when it oversteps its limits  
and occupies the whole region of  life1 
has its fascination4 ,it looks so       
powerful because of its                 
superficiality1--as does a hippopotamus 

which is very little else but  physical4
 ,science speaks of the struggle for    
existence1 but forgets that  man's      
existence is not merely of the surface4 
,man truly exists in the  ideal of      
perfection1 whose depth and height are  
not yet measured4 ,life  based upon     
science is attractive to some men1      
because it has all the  characteristics 
of sport2 it feigns seriousness1 but is 
not profound4  ,when you go a-hunting1  
the less pity you have the better2 for  
your one  object is to chase the game   
and kill it1 to feel that you are the   
greater animal1 that your method of     
destruction is thorough and  scientific4
 ,because1 therefore1 a sportsman is    
only a superficial  man1--his fullness  
of humanity not being there to hamper   
him1--he is  successful in killing      
innocent life and is happy4 ,and the    
life of  science is that superficial    
life4 ,it pursues success with skill and
  thoroughness1 and takes no account of 
the higher nature of man4 ,but even     

science cannot tow humanity against     
truth and be successful2 and those      
whose minds are crude enough to plan    
their lives upon the supposition1  that 
man is merely a hunter and his paradise 
the paradise of sportsman1  will be     
rudely awakened in the midst of their   
trophies of skeletons and  skulls4 ,for 
man's struggle for existence is to exist
 in the fullness of  his nature1--not by
 curtailing all that is best in him and 
dwarfing his  existence itself1 but by  
accepting all the responsibilities of   
his  spiritual life1 even through death 
and defeat4    ,i do not for a moment   
suggest1 that ,japan should be unmindful
 of  acquiring modern weapons of        
self-protection4 ,but this should never 
be  allowed to go beyond her instinct of
 self-preservation4 ,she must know  that
 the real power is not in the weapons   
themselves1 but in the man  who wields  
those weapons2 and when he1 in his      
eagerness for power1  multiplies his    
weapons at the cost of his own soul1    

then it is he who is  in even greater   
danger than his enemies4    ,things that
 are living are so easily hurt2         
therefore they require  protection4 ,in 
nature1 life protects itself within in  
coverings1 which  are built with life's 
own material4 ,therefore they are in    
harmony with  life's growth1 or else    
when the time comes they easily give way
 and are  forgotten4 ,the living man has
 his true protection in his spiritual   
ideals1 which have their vital          
connection with his life and grow with  
his growth4 ,but1 unfortunately1 all his
 armour is not living1--some of  it is  
made of steel1 inert and mechanical4    
,therefore1 while making use  of it1 man
 has to be careful to protect himself   
from its tyranny4 ,if he  is weak enough
 to grow smaller to fit himself to his  
covering1 then it  becomes a process of 
gradual suicide by shrinkage of the     
soul4 ,and ,japan  must have a firm     
faith in the moral law of existence to  
be able to  assert to herself1 that the 

,western nations are following that path
 of  suicide1 where they are smothering 
their humanity under the immense  weight
 of organisations in order to keep      
themselves in power and hold  others in 
subjection4    ,therefore ,i cannot     
think that the imitation of the outward 
aspects of  the ,west1 which is becoming
 more and more evident in modern ,japan1
 is  essential to her strength or       
stability4 ,it is burdening her true    
nature  and causing weakness1 which will
 be felt more deeply as time goes on4   
,the habits1 which are being formed by  
the modern ,japanese from their         
boyhood1--the habits of the ,western    
life1 the habits of the alien           
culture1--will prove1 one day1 a serious
 obstacle to the understanding  of their
 own true nature4 ,and then1 if the     
children of ,japan forget  their past1  
if they stand as barriers1 choking the  
stream that flows  from the mountain    
peak of their ancient history1 their    
future will be  deprived of the water of

 life that has made her culture so      
fertile with  richness of beauty and    
strength4    ,what is still more        
dangerous for ,japan is1 not this       
imitation of the  outer features of the 
,west1 but the acceptance of the motive 
force of  the ,western civilisation as  
her own4 ,her social ideals are already 
showing signs of defeat at the hands of 
politics1 and her modern  tendency seems
 to incline towards political gambling  
in which the  players stake their souls 
to win their game4 ,i can see her motto1
 taken  from science1 ,survival of the  
,fittest1 writ large at the entrance of 
her present-day history--the motto whose
 meaning is1 ,help yourself1 and  never 
heed what it costs to others2 the motto 
of the blind man1 who  only believes in 
what he can touch1 because he cannot    
see4 ,but those who  can see1 know that 
men are so closely knit1 that when you  
strike others  the blow comes back to   
yourself4 ,the moral law1 which is the  
greatest  discovery of man1 is the      

discovery of this wonderful truth1 that 
man  becomes all the truer1 the more he 
realises himself in others4 ,this  truth
 has not only a subjective value1 but is
 manifested in every  department of our 
life4 ,and nations1 who sedulously      
cultivate moral  blindness as the cult  
of patriotism1 will end their existence 
in a  sudden and violent death4 ,in past
 ages we had foreign invasions1 there   
had been cruelty and bloodshed1         
intrigues of jealousy and avarice1 but  
they never touched the soul of the      
people deeply2 for the people1 as a     
body1 never participated in these games4
 ,they were merely the outcome of       
individual ambitions4 ,the people       
themselves1 being free from the         
responsibilities of the baser and more  
heinous side of those adventures1  had  
all the advantage of the heroic and the 
human disciplines derived  from them4   
,this developed their unflinching       
loyalty1 their single-minded  devotion  
to the obligations of honour1 their     

power of complete  self-surrender and   
fearless acceptance of death and danger4
 ,therefore  the ideals1 whose seats    
were in the hearts of the people1 would 
not  undergo any serious change owing to
 the policies adopted by the kings or   
generals4 ,but now1 where the spirit of 
the ,western civilisation  prevails1 the
 whole people is being taught from      
boyhood1 to foster  hatreds and         
ambitions by all kinds of means1--by the
 manufacture of  half-truths and        
untruths in history1 by persistent      
misrepresentation  of other races and   
the culture of unfavourable sentiments  
towards them1  by setting up memorials  
of events1 very often false1 which for  
the sake  of humanity should be speedily
 forgotten1 thus continually brewing    
evil  menace towards neighbours and     
nations other than their own4 ,this is  
poisoning the very fountain-head of     
humanity4 ,it is discrediting the       
ideals1 which were born of the lives of 
men1 who were our greatest and  best4   

,it is holding up gigantic selfishness  
as the one universal  religion for all  
nations of the world4 ,we can take      
anything else from  the hands of        
science1 but not this elixir of moral   
death4 ,never think  for a moment1 that 
the hurts you inflict upon other races  
will not  infect you1 and the enmities  
you sow around your homes will be a wall
 of  protection to you for all time to  
come4 ,to imbue the minds of a whole    
people with an abnormal vanity of its   
own superiority1 to teach it to  take   
pride in its moral callousness and      
ill-begotten wealth1 to  perpetuate     
humiliation of defeated nations by      
exhibiting trophies won  from war1 and  
using these in schools in order to breed
 in children's  minds contempt for      
others1 is imitating the ,west where she
 has a  festering sore1 whose swelling  
is a swelling of disease eating into its
  vitality4    ,our food crops1 which   
are necessary for our sustenance1 are   
products of  centuries of selection and 

care4 ,but the vegetation1 which we have
 not  to transform into our lives1 does 
not require the patient thoughts of     
generations4 ,it is not easy to get rid 
of weeds2 but it is easy1 by  process of
 neglect1 to ruin your food crops and   
let them revert to their  primitive     
state of wildness4 ,likewise the        
culture1 which has so kindly  adapted   
itself to your soil1--so intimate with  
life1 so human1--not only  needed       
tilling and weeding in past ages1 but   
still needs anxious work  and watching4 
,what is merely modern1--as science and 
methods of  organisation1--can be       
transplanted2 but what is vitally human 
has fibres  so delicate1 and roots so   
numerous and far reaching1 that it dies 
when  moved from its soil4 ,therefore ,i
 am afraid of the rude pressure of the  
political ideals of the ,west upon your 
own4 ,in political civilisation1  the   
state is an abstraction and relationship
 of men utilitarian4 ,because  it has no
 roots in sentiments1 it is so          

dangerously easy to handle4 ,half  a    
century has been enough for you to      
master this machine2 and there are  men 
among you1 whose fondness for it exceeds
 their love for the living  ideals which
 were born with the birth of your nation
 and nursed in your  centuries4 ,it is  
like a child1 who1 in the excitement of 
his play1  imagines he likes his        
playthings better than his mother4      
,where man is at his greatest1 he is    
unconscious4 ,your civilisation1  whose 
mainspring is the bond of human         
relationship1 has been nourished  in the
 depth of a healthy life beyond reach of
 prying self-analysis4 ,but  a mere     
political relationship is all conscious2
 it is an eruptive  inflammation of     
aggressiveness4 ,it has forcibly burst  
upon your notice4  ,and the time has    
come1 when you have to be roused into   
full  consciousness of the truth by     
which you live1 so that you may not be  
taken unawares4 ,the past has been      
,god's gift to you2 about the present1  

you must make your own choice4    ,so   
the questions you have to put to        
yourselves are these1--,have we read    
the world wrong1 and based our relation 
to it upon an ignorance of human        
nature8 ,is the instinct of the ,west   
right1 where she builds her national    
welfare behind the barricade of a       
universal distrust of humanity8    ,you 
must have detected a strong accent of   
fear1 whenever the ,west has  discussed 
the possibility of the rise of an       
,eastern race4 ,the reason of  it is    
this1 that the power1 by whose help she 
thrives1 is an evil power2  so long as  
it is held on her own side she can be   
safe1 while the rest of  the world      
trembles4 ,the vital ambition of the    
present civilisation of  ,europe is to  
have the exclusive possession of the    
devil4 ,all her  armaments and diplomacy
 are directed upon this one object4 ,but
 these  costly rituals for invocation of
 the evil spirit lead through a path of 
prosperity to the brink of cataclysm4   

,the furies of terror1 which the  ,west 
has let loose upon ,god's world1 come   
back to threaten herself and  goad her  
into preparations of more and more      
frightfulness2 this gives  her no rest  
and makes her forget all else but the   
perils that she  causes to others1 and  
incurs herself4 ,to the worship of this 
devil of  politics she sacrifices other 
countries as victims4 ,she feeds upon   
their  dead flesh and grows fat upon it1
 so long as the carcasses remain        
fresh1--but they are sure to rot at     
last1 and the dead will take their      
revenge1 by spreading pollution far and 
wide and poisoning the vitality  of the 
feeder4 ,japan had all her wealth of    
humanity1 her harmony of  heroism and   
beauty1 her depth of self-control and   
richness of  self-expression2 yet the   
,western nations felt no respect for    
her1 till  she proved that the          
bloodhounds of ,satan are not only bred 
in the  kennels of ,europe1 but can also
 be domesticated in ,japan and fed with 

man's miseries4 ,they admit ,japan's    
equality with themselves1 only when     
they know that ,japan also possesses the
 key to open the floodgate of  hell-fire
 upon the fair earth1 whenever she      
chooses1 and can dance1 in  their own   
measure1 the devil dance of pillage1    
murder1 and ravishment of  innocent     
women1 while the world goes to ruin4 ,we
 know that1 in the early  stage of man's
 moral immaturity1 he only feels        
reverence for the god  whose malevolence
 he dreads4 ,but is this the ideal of   
man which we can  look up to with pride8
 ,after centuries of civilisation       
nations fearing  each other like the    
prowling wild beasts of the night time2 
shutting  their doors of hospitality2   
combining only for purpose of aggression
 or  defence2 hiding in their holes     
their trade secrets1 state secrets1     
secrets of their armaments2 making peace
 offerings to the barking dogs  of each 
other with the meat which does not      
belong to them2 holding down  fallen    

races struggling to stand upon their    
feet2 counting their safety  only upon  
the feebleness of the rest of humanity2 
with their right hands  dispensing      
religion to weaker peoples1 while       
robbing them with their  left1--is there
 anything in this to make us envious8   
,are we to bend our  knees to the spirit
 of this civilisation1 which is sowing  
broadcast over  all the world seeds of  
fear1 greed1 suspicion1 unashamed lies  
of its  diplomacy1 and unctuous lies of 
its profession of peace and good-will   
and universal brotherhood of ,man8 ,can 
we have no doubt in our minds1  when we 
rush to the ,western market to buy this 
foreign product in  exchange for our own
 inheritance8 ,i am aware how difficult 
it is to know  one's self2 and the man1 
who is intoxicated1 furiously denies his
  drunkenness2 yet the ,west herself is 
anxiously thinking of her problems  and 
trying experiments4 ,but she is like a  
glutton1 who has not the heart  to give 
up his intemperance in eating1 and      

fondly clings to the hope  that he can  
cure his nightmares of indigestion by   
medicine4 ,europe is  not ready to give 
up her political inhumanity1 with all   
the baser  passions of man attendant    
upon it2 she believes only in           
modification of  systems1 and not in    
change of heart4    ,we are willing to  
buy their machine-made systems1 not with
 our hearts1  but with our brains4 ,we  
shall try them and build sheds for them1
 but not  enshrine them in our homes1 or
 temples4 ,there are races1 who worship 
the  animals they kill2 we can buy meat 
from them1 when we are hungry1 but  not 
the worship which goes with the killing4
 ,we must not vitiate our  children's   
minds with the superstition1 that       
business is business1 war  is war1      
politics is politics4 ,we must know that
 man's business has to be  more than    
mere business1 and so have to be his war
 and politics4 ,you had  your own       
industry in ,japan2 how scrupulously    
honest and true it was1 you  can see by 

its products1--by their grace and       
strength1 their  conscientiousness in   
details1 where they can hardly be       
observed4 ,but the  tidal wave of       
falsehood has swept over your land from 
that part of the  world1 where business 
is business1 and honesty is followed in 
it merely  as the best policy4 ,have you
 never felt shame1 when you see the     
trade  advertisements1 not only         
plastering the whole town with lies and 
exaggerations1 but invading the green   
fields1 where the peasants do  their    
honest labour1 and the hill-tops1 which 
greet the first pure light  of the      
morning8 ,it is so easy to dull our     
sense of honour and delicacy  of mind   
with constant abrasion1 while falsehoods
 stalk abroad with proud  steps in the  
name of trade1 politics and patriotism1 
that any protest  against their         
perpetual intrusion into our lives is   
considered to be  sentimentalism1       
unworthy of true manliness4    ,and it  
has come to pass1 that the children of  

those heroes1 who would  keep their word
 at the point of death1 who would       
disdain to cheat men  for vulgar profit1
 who even in their fight would much     
rather court  defeat than be            
dishonourable1 have become energetic in 
dealing with  falsehoods and do not feel
 humiliated by gaining advantage from   
them4  ,and this has been effected by   
the charm of the word 'modern4' ,but if 
undiluted utility be modern1 beauty is  
of all ages2 if mean selfishness  be    
modern1 the human ideals are no new     
inventions4 ,and we must know for       
certain1 that however modern may be the 
proficiency1 which clips and  cripples  
man for the sake of methods and         
machines1 it will never live to  be old4
    ,when ,japan is in imminent peril of
 neglecting to realise where she is     
great1 it is the duty of a foreigner    
like myself to remind her1 that she  has
 given rise to a civilisation which is  
perfect in its form1 and has  evolved a 
sense of sight which clearly sees truth 

in beauty and beauty  in truth4 ,she has
 achieved something1 which is positive  
and complete4  ,it is easier for a      
stranger to know what it is in her1     
which is truly  valuable for all        
mankind1--what is there1 which only she1
 of all other  races1 has produced from 
her inner life and not from her mere    
power of  adaptability4 ,japan must be  
reminded1 that it is her sense of the   
rhythm  of life and of all things1 her  
genius for simplicity1 her love for     
cleanliness1 her definiteness of thought
 and action1 her cheerful  fortitude1   
her immense reserve of force in         
self-control1 her  sensitiveness to her 
code of honour and defiance of death1   
which have  given her the power to      
resist the cyclonic storm of            
exploitation that  has sprung from the  
shores of ,europe circling round and    
round the world4  ,all these qualities  
are the outcome of a civilisation1 whose
 foundation  is in the spiritual ideals 
of life4 ,such a civilisation has the   

gift of  immortality2 for it does not   
offend against the laws of creation and 
is  not assailed by all the forces of   
nature4 ,i feel it is an impiety to be  
indifferent to its protection from the  
incursion of vulgarity of power4    ,but
 while trying to free our minds from the
 arrogant claims of ,europe  and to help
 ourselves out of the quicksands of our 
infatuation1 we may  go to the other    
extreme and blind ourselves with a      
wholesale suspicion  of the ,west4 ,the 
reaction of disillusionment is just as  
unreal as the  first shock of illusion4 
,we must try to come to that normal     
state of  mind1 by which we can clearly 
discern our own danger and avoid it1    
without being unjust towards the source 
of that danger4 ,there is always  the   
natural temptation in us of wishing to  
pay back ,europe in her own  coin1 and  
return contempt for contempt and evil   
for evil4 ,but that again  would be to  
imitate ,europe in one of her worst     
features which comes out  in her        

behaviour to people whom she describes  
as yellow or red1 brown or  black4 ,and 
this is a point on which we in the ,east
 have to acknowledge  our guilt and own 
that our sin has been as great1 if not  
greater1 when  we insulted humanity by  
treating with utter disdain and cruelty 
men who  belonged to a particular creed1
 colour or caste4 ,it is really because 
we  are afraid of our own weakness1     
which allows itself to be overcome by   
the sight of power1 that we try to      
substitute for it another weakness      
which makes itself blind to the glories 
of the ,west4 ,when we truly know  the  
,europe which is great and good1 we can 
effectively save ourselves  from the    
,europe which is mean and grasping4 ,it 
is easy to be unfair in  one's judgment 
when one is faced with human            
miseries1--and pessimism is  the result 
of building theories while the mind is  
suffering4 ,to despair  of humanity is  
only possible1 if we lose faith in the  
power which brings  to it strength1 when

 its defeat is greatest1 and calls out  
new life from  the depth of its         
destruction4 ,we must admit that there  
is a living soul  in the ,west which is 
struggling unobserved against the       
hugeness of the  organisations under    
which men1 women and children are being 
crushed1 and  whose mechanical          
necessities are ignoring laws that are  
spiritual and  human1--the soul whose   
sensibilities refuse to be dulled       
completely by  dangerous habits of      
heedlessness in dealings with races for 
whom it  lacks natural sympathy4 ,the   
,west could never have risen to the     
eminence  she has reached1 if her       
strength were merely the strength of the
  brute1 or of the machine4 ,the divine 
in her heart is suffering from the      
injuries inflicted by her hands upon the
 world1--and from this pain of  her     
higher nature flows the secret balm     
which will bring healing to  those      
injuries4 ,time after time she has      
fought against herself and has  undone  

the chains1 which with her own hands she
 had fastened round  helpless limbs2 and
 though she forced poison down the      
throat of a great  nation at the point  
of sword for gain of money1 she herself 
woke up to  withdraw from it1 to wash   
her hands clean again4 ,this shows      
hidden  springs of humanity in spots    
which look dead and barren4 ,it proves  
that  the deeper truth in her nature1   
which can survive such career of cruel  
cowardliness1 is not greed1 but         
reverence for unselfish ideals4 ,it     
would  be altogether unjust1 both to us 
and to ,europe1 to say that she has     
fascinated the modern ,eastern mind by  
the mere exhibition of her power4       
,through the smoke of cannons and dust  
of markets the light of her moral       
nature has shone bright1 and she has    
brought to us the ideal of  ethical     
freedom1 whose foundation lies deeper   
than social conventions  and whose      
province of activity is world-wide4     
,the ,east has instinctively felt1 even 

through her aversion1 that she has  a   
great deal to learn from ,europe1 not   
merely about the materials of  power1   
but about its inner source1 which is of 
mind and of the moral  nature of man4   
,europe has been teaching us the higher 
obligations of  public good above those 
of the family and the clan1 and the     
sacredness  of law1 which makes society 
independent of individual caprice1      
secures  for it continuity of progress1 
and guarantees justice to all men of all
  positions in life4 ,above all things  
,europe has held high before our  minds 
the banner of liberty1 through centuries
 of martyrdom and  achievement1--liberty
 of conscience1 liberty of thought and  
action1  liberty in the ideals of art   
and literature4 ,and because ,europe has
 won  our deep respect1 she has become  
so dangerous for us where she is        
turbulently weak and false1--dangerous  
like poison when it is served  along    
with our best food4 ,there is one safety
 for us upon which we  hope we may      

count1 and that is1 that we can claim   
,europe herself1 as our  ally1 in our   
resistance to her temptations and to her
 violent  encroachments2 for she has    
ever carried her own standard of        
perfection1  by which we can measure her
 falls and gauge her degrees of failure1
 by  which we can call her before her   
own tribunal and put her to shame1--the 
shame which is the sign of the true     
pride of nobleness4    ,but our fear is1
 that the poison may be more powerful   
than the food1 and  what is strength in 
her to-day may not be the sign of       
health1 but the  contrary2 for it may be
 temporarily caused by the upsetting of 
the  balance of life4 ,our fear is that 
evil has a fateful fascination1 when  it
 assumes dimensions which are           
colossal1--and though at last1 it is    
sure to lose its centre of gravity1 by  
its abnormal disproportion1 the         
mischief which it creates before its    
fall may be beyond reparation4          
,therefore ,i ask you to have the       

strength of faith and clarity of mind to
  know for certain1 that the lumbering  
structure of modern progress1  riveted  
by the iron bolts of efficiency1 which  
runs upon the wheels of  ambition1      
cannot hold together for long4          
,collisions are certain to  occur2 for  
it has to travel upon organised lines1  
it is too heavy to  choose its own      
course freely2 and once it is off the   
rails1 its endless  train of vehicles is
 dislocated4 ,a day will come1 when it  
will fall in a  heap of ruin and cause  
serious obstruction to the traffic of   
the world4  ,do we not see signs of this
 even now8 ,does not the voice come to  
us1  through the din of war1 the shrieks
 of hatred1 the wailings of despair1    
through the churning up of the          
unspeakable filth which has been        
accumulating for ages in the bottom of  
this civilisation1--the voice  which    
cries to our soul1 that the tower of    
national selfishness1 which  goes by the
 name of patriotism1 which has raised   

its banner of treason  against heaven1  
must totter and fall with a crash1      
weighed down by its  own bulk1 its flag 
kissing the dust1 its light             
extinguished8 ,my  brothers1 when the   
red light of conflagration sends up its 
crackle of  laughter to the stars1 keep 
your faith upon those stars and not upon
 the  fire of destruction4 ,for when    
this conflagration consumes itself and  
dies down1 leaving its memorial in      
ashes1 the eternal light will again     
shine in the ,east1--the ,east which has
 been the birth-place of the  morning   
sun of man's history4 ,and who knows if 
that day has not already  dawned1 and   
the sun not risen1 in the ,easternmost  
horizon of ,asia8 ,and ,i  offer1 as did
 my ancestor rishis1 my salutation to   
that sunrise of the  ,east1 which is    
destined once again to illumine the     
whole world4    ,i know my voice is too 
feeble to raise itself above the uproar 
of this  bustling time1 and it is easy  
for any street urchin to fling against  

me  the epithet of 'unpractical4' ,it   
will stick to my coat-tail1 never to be 
washed away1 effectively excluding me   
from the consideration of all           
respectable persons4 ,i know what a risk
 one runs from the vigorously  athletic 
crowds to be styled an idealist in these
 days1 when thrones  have lost their    
dignity and prophets have become an     
anachronism1 when  the sound that drowns
 all voices is the noise of the         
market-place4 ,yet  when1 one day1      
standing on the outskirts of ,yokohama  
town1 bristling  with its display of    
modern miscellanies1 ,i watched the     
sunset in your  southern sea1 and saw   
its peace and majesty among your        
pine-clad  hills1--with the great       
,fujiyama growing faint against the     
golden  horizon1 like a god overcome    
with his own radiance1--the music of    
eternity welled up through the evening  
silence1 and ,i felt that the sky  and  
the earth and the lyrics of the dawn and
 the dayfall are with the  poets and    

idealists1 and not with the marketsmen  
robustly contemptuous  of all           
sentiments1--that1 after the            
forgetfulness of his own divinity1  man 
will remember again that heaven is      
always in touch with his world1  which  
can never be abandoned for good to the  
hounding wolves of the  modern era1     
scenting human blood and howling to the 
skies4                                  
,transcriber ,notes3    ,on page #aa1   
sacrificesstet was replaced with        
sacrifices4    ,on page #bj1 imitaing   
was replaced with imitating1 and its    
vitality1 was replaced with its         
vitality44