Page:A handbook of modern Japan (IA handbookofmodern01clem).pdf/83

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PEOPLE, HOUSES, FOOD, DRESS
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doubt that modern education and conditions of life show a gradual improvement in this respect.

The average Japanese, compared with the average European or American, has a lower stature[1] with a long body and short legs. A good authority states that "the average stature of Japanese men is about the same as the average stature of European women"; and that "the [Japanese] women are proportionately smaller." Some one has wittily called the Japanese "the diamond edition of humanity."

The Japanese also weigh much less than Europeans. The average weight of young men of twenty years of age in Europe is about 144 pounds, while the average weight of the strongest young men of the suburban districts of Tōkyō was only about 121 pounds; which gives the European an advantage of 23 pounds.

The Japanese are very quick to learn. Their minds are strong in observation, perception, and memory, and weak in logic and abstraction. As born lovers of nature, they have well-trained powers of observation and perception, so that their minds turn readily to scientific pursuits. And as the ancient Japanese system of education followed Chinese models, the power of memorizing by rote has been strongly developed, so that the Japanese mind has little difficulty in becoming a storehouse of historical and other facts. But, as the powers of reasoning and abstraction have not been well trained, the

  1. ↑ Dr. Baelz estimates the average stature at about 5 feet.
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