WHILE at Yuzawa last summer, one of our mission stations in the northern part of Japan, I received an invitation from the principal of a large girls' school to address the pupils.
Upon reaching the school at the appointed time, I was received very cordially by the principal, and taken to the reception room, where the usual ocha and cakes were served; and one by one, the different teachers dropped in to be presented before the talk. Then I was taken into the assembly hall, and found, to my surprise, that though the notice had been short, all the teachers, the president of the educational board, and some of the leading men of the city were present.
There were over four hundred girls seated upon the mat floor, in perfect line and order. As we came before them, at a word from a teacher, they gave, with military precision, the Japanese salutation, a bow with the face to the floor. It was an interesting and never-to-be-forgotten sight, possible only in Japan.
The school work was entirely suspended for an hour, and the time was given to me to talk upon any subject I might choose. By means of a large map of the world, I took them upon a trip around the world, the route our party took from Japan to Washington in 1913, to attend our World Conference. We spent a good share of the time in the Holy Land, thus setting Christianity, and many of the incidents of our Lord's life, before the young ladies and officials of a Buddhist school without arousing their prejudice.
They all listened with evident interest and pleasure; and at the conclusion of the talk, the young ladies gave me hearty applause in the American style. The officials of the school gave us a cordial invitation to come again. The principal and a number of the teachers afterwards attended my Bible studies.
