er they would have sent young men abroad to
study Sanskrit and history with a view to a better understanding of
their own scriptures, or whether they would not rather have relied on
less radical methods of quickening the religious life within their body.
Certain it is that Buddhism, which upon its introduction into Japan
actually lowered the status of women, is now making a bid for public
favor by holding meetings and founding societies especially for women,
and is doing its best to increase their self-respect and the respect in
which they are held by society.

An interesting story which throws some light upon the new influence that
is at work among the Buddhists came to me not long ago through a
Japanese friend. There were two brothers living in a poor little village
on the northern coast of Japan, who were joint heirs to a small piece of
property. As the land was not enough for the support of two families,
the elder brother, a gentle, thoughtful youth, gave up all title to his
share of the inheritance and entered a Buddhist monastery. In the quiet
of this retreat, amid the beautiful surroundings, the daily services,
the chanting of priests, and the mellow booming of the great monastery
bell, his thoughts went out to the poor and the sinful among his own
people. He began to feel that a life which seeks merely spiritual uplift
for itself is not the highest life, and that only as spiritual gain is
shared with others is it real and lasting. Forthwith he began a life of
helpfulness to the poor about him,--of teaching and preaching and good
deeds that won him many humble friends. Within the monastery, however,
his work was not approved. His ideas and actions were not in harmony
with the teachings of the sect. He was first disciplined and then
expelled, and found his way back at last, penniless, to his native
village.

Now, in northern Japan the winters are long and hard, and the most
industrious of farmers and fisher-folk can wring only a bare subsistence
from the conditions of their toil. It is from these villages, perhaps,
more than from any other sources, that the girls are obtained to supply
the _j[=o]roya_ of the great cities. At any rate, in this particular
village, the only hope that any girl possessed of escaping from the hard
home toil was by the sale of her person, and the thought of seeing the
great cities, of wearing beautiful dresses, of being admired and petted,
and perhaps at last of marrying some rich lover