d often wondered
how such unruly, self-willed children as grow up under Japanese
training, or its lack, finally become such respectable members of
society. She concluded that instead of being punished out of their
misbehaviors they were laughed out of them. The children are
constantly told that if they do so and so they will be laughed at--a
terrible thing.

The fear of ridicule has thus an important sociological function in
maintaining ethical standards. Its power may be judged by the fact
that in ancient times when a samurai gave his note to return a
borrowed sum, the only guarantee affixed was the permission to be
laughed at in public in case of failure. The Japanese young man who is
making a typewritten copy of these pages for me says that, when still
young, he heard an address to children which he still remembers. The
speaker asked what the most fearful thing in the world was. Many
replies were given by the children--"snakes," "wild beasts,"
"fathers," "gods," "ghosts," "demons," "Satan," "hell," etc. These
were admitted to be fearful, but the speaker told the children that
one other thing was to be more feared than all else, namely, "to be
laughed at." This speech, with its vivid illustrations, made a lasting
impression on the mind of the boy, and on reading what I had written
he realized how powerful a motive fear of ridicule had been in his own
life; also how large a part it plays in the moral education of the
young in Japan.

Naturally enough this fear of being laughed at leads to careful and
minute observation of the clothing, manners, and speech of one's
associates, and prompt conformity to them, through imitation. The
sensitiveness of Japanese students to each new environment is thus
easily understood. And this sensitiveness to environment has its
advantages as well as its disadvantages. I have already referred to
the help it gives to the establishment of individual conformity to
ethical standards. The phenomenal success of many reforms in Japan may
easily be traced to the national sensitiveness to foreign criticism.
Many instances of this will be given in the course of this work, but
two may well be mentioned at this point. According to the older
customs there was great, if not perfect, freedom as to the use of
clothing by the people. The apparent indifference shown by them in the
matter of nudity led foreigners to call the nation uncivilized. This
criticism has always been a galling one, and not without