|
"Everything in Japan is to
me a mystery; how it is that a people naturally so
intelligent, ingenious, appreciative, and so capable of
imitating everything they see, should remain so long in
a state of semi barbarism, is perfectly
incomprehensible.”
HC Japan Journal p. 38 |
back to top |
The Western-oriented Commissioner admired Japanese customs, language, religion and
philosophy of life, but often found the culture
incomprehensible.
Capron admired the Ainu—the native
people of Hokkaido—that he encountered and compared them
favorably to his experiences with Native Americans. He
worried about the impact of “civilization.”
Yet, he believed implicitly in the
value of Western culture, in Western-style progress, and the
need to “save” barbaric natives.
| “…Were this present existence
to be the end of all things, we might be inclined to
let them alone, but for a people to live and die
without religion, without a hope for immortality—aye
there is the question.”
Horace Capron Japan Journal |
 |
|
