was powerful enough to transform the character of the
place, producing a paradise on earth whence lust and crime were
banished. Whatever the actual facts of his life may have been, this is
certainly the representation of his character now held up for honor
and imitation. There are also indications that the ideal military hero
is not, for all the people, the self-assertive type that I have
described above, though this is doubtless the prevalent one. Not long
since I heard the following couplet as to the nature of a true hero:

"Makoto no Ei-yu;
Sono yo, aizen to shite shumpu no gotoshi;
Sono shin, kizen to shite kinseki no gotoshi.

"The true Hero;
In appearance, charming like the spring breeze.
In heart, firm as a rock."

Another phrase that I have run across relating to the ideal man is, "I
atte takakarazu," which means in plain English, "having authority, but
not puffed up." In the presence of these facts, it will not do to
think that the ideal hero of all the Japanese is, or even in olden
times was, only a military hero full of swagger and bluster; in a
military age such would, of necessity, be a popular ideal; but just in
proportion as men rose to higher forms of learning, and character, so
would their ideals be raised.

It is not to be lightly assumed that the spirit of hero-worship is
wholly an evil or a necessarily harmful thing. It has its advantages
and rewards as well as its dangers and evils. The existence of
hero-worship in any land reveals a nature in the people that is
capable of heroic actions. Men appreciate and admire that which in a
measure at least they are, and more that which they aspire to become.
The recent war revealed how the capacity for heroism of a warlike
nature lies latent in every Japanese breast and not in the descendants
of the old military class alone. But it is more encouraging to note
that popular appreciation of moral heroes is growing.

Education and religion are bringing forth modern moral heroes. The
late Dr. Neesima, the founder of the Doshisha, is a hero to many even
outside the Church. Mr. Ishii, the father of Orphan Asylums in Japan,
promises to be another. A people that can rear and admire men of this
character has in it the material of a truly great nation.

The hero-worshiping characteristic of the Japanese depends on two
other traits of their nature. The first is the reality of strong
personalities among them capable of becoming heroes; the