vements in Japan," published by the _Japan Chronicle_, 1921, for an
account of what is happening in this direction.]

[Footnote 55: _The Times_ of February 7, 1922, contains a telegram from
its correspondent in Tokyo, _a propos_ of the funeral of Prince
Yamagata, Chief of the Genro, to the following effect:--

"To-day a voice was heard in the Diet in opposition to the grant of
expenses for the State funeral of Prince Yamagata. The resolution, which
was introduced by the member for Osaka constituency, who is regarded as
the spokesman of the so-called Parliamentary Labour Party founded last
year, states that the Chief of the Genro (Elder Statesmen) did not
render true service to the State, and, although the recipient of the
highest dignities, was an enemy of mankind and suppressor of democratic
institutions. The outcome was a foregone conclusion, but the fact that
the introducer could obtain the necessary support to table the
resolution formally was not the least interesting feature of the
incident."]

CHAPTER VII

JAPAN AND CHINA BEFORE 1914

Before going into the detail of Japan's policy towards China, it is
necessary to put the reader on his guard against the habit of thinking
of the "Yellow Races," as though China and Japan formed some kind of
unity. There are, of course, reasons which, at first sight, would lead
one to suppose that China and Japan could be taken in one group in
comparison with the races of Europe and of Africa. To begin with, the
Chinese and Japanese are both yellow, which points to ethnic affinities;
but the political and cultural importance of ethnic affinities is very
small. The Japanese assert that the hairy Ainus, who are low in the
scale of barbarians, are a white race akin to ourselves. I never saw a
hairy Ainu, and I suspect the Japanese of malice in urging us to admit
the Ainus as poor relations; but even if they really are of Aryan
descent, that does not prove that they have anything of the slightest
importance in common with us as compared to what the Japanese and
Chinese have in common with us. Similarity of culture is infinitely more
important than a common racial origin.

It is true that Japanese culture, until the Restoration, was derived
from China. To this day, Japanese script is practically the same as
Chinese, and Buddhism, which is still the religion of the people, is of
the sort derived originally from China. Loyalty and filial piety, which
are the foundations of J