p. 3 | Editorial Letter by William Warren Prescott

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 14, 1907

Editorial Letter

By William Warren Prescott

Jottings from the Editor’s Note-Book on a Trip Around the World

I FULLY intended to continue these letters more regularly, but I have covered so much ground in so short a time, besides holding a general meeting in Japan, that I have had little time for writing. I will now, however, take up the thread of my narrative where I left it in my last letter and will try to give at least an outline of my experiences until the present time.

Our ship anchored in the harbor of Yokohama early on the morning of December 25 and at the first opportunity Brethren Field, Burden, and Okohira came on board to greet us and to assist us in landing. We were certainly very glad to meet these brethren, and they gave us a hearty welcome to Japan. It took but a short time to get ashore and to pass customs and we were soon on the train en route to Tokyo, about eighteen miles north of Yokohama. Of course we could but be interested in the many novel sights which met our eyes on every side as we were thus introduced to life in the far East, and we found it both pleasant and instructive to have with us those whose acquaintance with the country enabled them to give reliable

answers to our many questions.

At Tokyo I was kindly entertained by Brother and Sister Field, and I greatly enjoyed their whole-hearted hospitality. Sister Scharffenberg found a pleasant home with Brother Burden, and Sister Harriman returned to the ship the same evening to continue her journey to Kobe where she was to connect with the sanitarium.

As one’s movements in this part of the world depend wholly upon the boat service, my first attention was given to finding when I could sail from Japan to North China via Korea, so as to make the necessary appointments and arrange our plan of work in Japan. As the result of our investigations I found that I could have only two weeks in Japan and one week in Korea, as there is no frequent service in the winter, and the next sailing would be too late. We accordingly planned to begin our general meeting for Japan as early as possible the following week, and immediately sent out the notice to that effect. The meeting had already been appointed, and it was only necessary to make the time a little earlier.

The next day after my arrival was spent in looking about in Tokyo. This is the present capital of Japan and a city of more than a million people. In this place the East and the West have met and are mingling, and the result is an interesting and sometimes an almost grotesque mixture of the new and the old. In some places the large modern buildings built in Western style adjoin the one-story Japanese shops with their tile roofs; the electric cars and the jin-rikishas compete with each other for the local traffic, while both foreigners and Japanese ride bicycles, and an occasional motor-cycle and even an automobile chug through the streets. The combinations of dress are equally unique; the most of the Japanese follow the national style of dress with the loose flowing garments and the wooden clogs, but an increasing number are adopting the foreign style, while a few attempt to combine the two. Some of the men dress in excellent taste, and on New-year’s day at Kobe I saw a Japanese in faultless full dress including a tall hat. Sometimes, however, the garments of the East and the West are ridiculously combined, as when a boy, bareheaded and in Japanese costume, adorns his feet with a pair of bright tan shoes, or a man wears his cuffs outside his coat sleeves and his hat on wrong. But these things are the mere accidents of a great transition, the slight incongruities which attend a remarkable awakening and the entrance upon a new national existence.

There are some fine large parks in Tokyo which afford much pleasure to the Japanese who are great lovers of the beautiful in nature.

The Imperial Castle occupies a large area within the city limits, but these grounds are inaccessible to visitors except by permission of the proper authorities. On every hand may be seen the temples and the other external indications of heathenism. I visited some of the temples, and for the first time, saw the devotees of Shintoism and Buddhism bowing before the images and mumbling their useless prayers. Such scenes greatly strengthened my desire to contribute something toward the spread of the gospel message among those in darkness. The one thing which Japan needs more than anything else is the pure gospel of Christ, the coming Saviour.

I took one day to visit Yokohama, the leading coast port of Japan. It contains less than one fourth as many inhabitants as Tokyo, but the proportion of foreigners is much larger and it is a busy center of trade. The general appearance of the city and the street scenes are much the same as at Tokyo.

There are many missionaries of the various denominations located in Tokyo and Yokohama, and a Christian church was no unusual sight. It is still a debatable question, however, just how far genuine Christianity has entered into Japanese life, and to what extent the outward form has been adopted as a part of the advanced civilization of the Western world. There is certainly the greatest danger lest the gospel should be looked upon simply as one of the steps toward national greatness and be received from a desire to be like the so-called Christian nations.

On the Sabbath I spoke to the church at Tokyo with the help of Brother Okohira as interpreter. It was a new experience to hear those rescued from heathenism sing “My faith looks up to thee, thou Lamb of Calvary,” and “From Greenland’s icy mountains,” and it was a privilege to talk to them of the gospel of the true God and the original Sabbath. They manifested the deepest interest as I told them of the progress of this message in all lands and of our desire to hasten the work throughout the world and thus prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. Truly this third angel’s message unites into one body with a common purpose all who truly receive it, of whatever race or nationality. The accidents of color, language, and dress do not prevent the fellowship of believing hearts. As we sang in closing “God be with you till we meet again” I could but indulge the hope that in the great gathering “at Jesus’ feet” we who met together for this once only might unite our voices in a common language, singing the song of Moses and the Lamb.

W. W. P.