Bodily death
is nothing, for Nogi still lives among us as a spirit. He labours with
a stronger influence. Many hearts were purified by his sacrifice. One
of Nogi's reasons for suicide was no doubt that he might be able to
follow his beloved Emperor, but his intention was also to warn many
vicious or unpatriotic people. Some politicians and rich people say
they are patriotic, but they are animated by selfish motives and
desires. Nogi's suicide was due to his loving his fellow-countrymen
sincerely. Surely he was acting after the manner of Christ. Nogi
crucified himself for the people in order to atone in a measure for
their sins and to lead them to a better way of life."

I heard from my friends something of Nogi's demeanour. The old general
was a familiar figure in Tokyo. In the street cars--those were the
days when they were not over-crowded--he was always seen standing. His
admirers used to say that his face "beamed with beneficence." But
Nogi, though he loved to be within reach of the Emperor and did his
part as head of the Peers' School, liked nothing better than to get
away to the country. He was originally a peasant and he still
possessed a _cho_ of upland holding. He was glad to work on it with
the digging mattock of the farmer.

FOOTNOTES:

[36] Son-God-of-the-Spirit-of-the-Province.

[37] It was a tiny squid. There are seventy sorts of cuttlefish and
octopuses in Japanese waters. Value of dried cuttlefish in 1917, 4
million yen.

[38] The hands are laid flat on the ground with finger-tips meeting
and the forehead touches the hands.

[39] See Chapter XX.

[40] The root grows to about the size of a big apple. It may be seen
in the shops in white dried sections. A stiff greyish jelly made from
it is eaten with rice. It is also eaten as _oden_ or _dengaku_.

[41] See Appendix IV.

[42] See Appendix XX.

[43] See Appendix V.

[44] The truth is being learnt by the younger generation.

[45] For crime statistics, see Appendix VI.

[46] _Harakiri_ (_seppuku_ is the polite word) still happens. Just
before writing this note I read of the captain of the first company of
the Japanese garrison in a Korean town having committed _seppuku_
because of a sense of responsibility for the irregularities of
subordinates. But of 7,239 suicides of men in 1916 only 308 were by
cold steel. Of 4,558 cases of women suicides 140 were by steel.

CHAPTER VII

OF "DEVIL-GON" AND YOSOGI

The consciousness of a commo