and sisters, there is no
reason for fearing foreigners. Treat them as equals and act
uprightly in all your dealings with them. Be neither servile nor
arrogant.

(6) Beware of combining against the foreigner and disliking him
because he is a foreigner; men are to be judged by their conduct
and not by their nationality.

(7) As intercourse with foreigners becomes closer and extends over
a series of years, there is danger that many Japanese may become
enamored of their ways and customs and forsake the good old customs
of their forefathers. Against this danger you must be on your
guard.

(8) Taking off your hat is the proper way to salute a foreigner.
The bending of the body low is not be commended.

(9) When you see a foreigner be sure and cover up naked parts of
the body.

(10) Hold in high regard the worship of ancestors and treat your
relations with warm cordiality, but do not regard a person as your
enemy because he or she is a Christian.

(11) In going through the world you will often find a knowledge of
a foreign tongue absolutely essential.

(12) Beware of selling your souls to foreigners and becoming their
slaves. Sell them no houses or lands.

(13) Aim at not being beaten in your competition with foreigners.
Remember that loyalty and filial piety are our most precious
national treasures and do nothing to violate them.

Many of the above rules are excellent in tone. Number 7, however,
which hails from Osaka, is somewhat narrow and prejudiced. The
injunction not to sell houses to foreigners is, as the _Jiji
Shimpo_ points out, absurd and mischievous.[H]

The sensitiveness of the people also works to the advantage of the
nation in the social unity which it helps to secure. Indeed I cannot
escape the conviction that the striking unity of the Japanese is
largely due to this characteristic. It tends to make their mental and
emotional activities synchronous. It retards reform for a season, to
be sure, but later it accelerates it. It makes it difficult for
individuals to break away from their surroundings and start out on new
lines. It leads to a general progress while it tends to hinder
individual progress. It tends to draw back into the general current of
national life those individuals who, under exceptional conditions, may
have succeeded in breaking away from it