Evening Star Newspaper, February 2, 1930, Page 98

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, 16 FEBRUARY 2, 1930. Keen Interest Aroused in Japan for Coming Festival Here Which Is Expected to Become a Permanent Feature, Appealing to All America and Drawing International Alttention. [ BY WILLIAM RUFUS SCOTT. - APANESE interest in the first annual Cherry Blossom Festival to be held in Washington this Spring is mounting as the event draws nearer and the plans for the festival take more definite form. The press in kio and other cities in Japan already has fommented favorably upon the project and are indications of both official and pri- assistance to the Washington committee, of which Charles W. Darr is honorary chair- fnan and Maj. Gen. Anton Stephan, chairman, within the limits feasible in view of the dis- gance between the two nations. It already has been decided that the festival fwill be held at what is known as the later cherry blossom season in Washington. The general weather conditions are still too variable for any accurate forecast to be made of the date when this season will begin, for if the Winter should continue the irees would glouom earlier than usual. A later Winter, of would retard the season and there is gime yet for anything to happen in the weather, The proposal that the festival here bs fea- Bured by dancers and other artists from Japan & question that has received attention by in charge, with several important factors be taken into account in diplomacy and btherwise, but whether or not such a feature a program calculated to attract Bnany more thousands of visitors to Washington have come hitherto is believed to be as- As the years pass the festival programs expected to be more elaborate. There are, f course, Japanese dancers in the United ‘States who might be available if the long and costly trip from Japan seems to be an obstacle. fl‘m: significance of the cherry blossom season to Japanese is explained authoritatively as being based on the idea that the blossoms bee- foken the arrival of Spring, or the time of Bature’s revival. It is symbolical of plenty and Penewed life. While Japan observes the chry- panthemum season impressively, and the wis~ faria, plum blossom and Autumn foilage sea- #sons, too, it is the cherry blossom season which holds first place in popular esteem. “The Song of the Flowers,” as printed In Sapan, Overseas Travel Magazine, gives a poetic interpretation of the flowering seasons, of which three verses follow: On the cup of life Float chrysanthemum petals o ¢ ?ch a gol .“lden wish quaff to thee pledging Thrice ten (housand years of joy. Wistaria bloom Delight of wall and wind trails Whhmnt‘hymme And vlt.hdulre That our twain youth may be one, Over thee I rain White cherry-blossom showers, Tread them! Thy knight spreads beneath t.hy feet Spotless banners of Japan. Other verses pay tribute to the iris, pine tree, willow, and lotus. No other people in the world are greater nature lovers than the Japanese. For them, therefore, to see the cherry trees, gift to Washirigton in the Taft adminis- tration, become the object of so much public interest here is gratifying. At the time the daughter of Ambassador Matsudaira was leav- ing Washington in 1928 to return to Japan to wed the brother of the Emperor, the photo- graphs taken of the young woman with her father and other members of the family under the cherry trees around the Tidal Basin were printed widely in Japanese newspapers and magazines, It is at Kyoto, in the southern part of the main Japanese island, that the principal cherry blossom For a whole nearby, besides the water, and a profusion of non-flowering trees and other natural adorn- mmuu&mmmm lnd dl with appropmte dances. The stagecraft b modern, with revolving stages, striking electrical effects, and a daintiness in scenery painting that leaves a lasting im- pression. . The rapid movements in American dances are absent from the geisha dance in which slow movements Keen appreciation of the proficlency of the geisha dancers is audiences, When the cherry trees bloom in Tekio. The cherry blossom girl of Japan. Photos by Underwood & Underwood. a lifetime of the girls who make dancing a profession there. In some of the dances in the Kyoto festival, however, there were chorus numbers, and quicksteps nearly up to the speed of American musical shows. For the geisha dancers music is supplied by an orches- tra, sometimes also composed of girls, using mostly stringed instruments which do not have & wide range of melody yet the effects are proclivity of the Japanese comes out charmingly in the serving of tea before the performance. Foreign guests remove their shoes on entering the ante room where tea is served and are supplied with soft sandals which will not cut the attractive matting. Leather or rubber beels on American shoes would be disastrous to the floor coverings. Japanese traditionally remove their shoes on entering. Exct?rlortheexpennolbrlnung;me company, with much bulky scenery, from Japan to the United States, it is probable that a company such as performs in Kyoto might be brought to America by some American the- atrical producer. Once here it seems likely that the tour would be highly successful, Illustrating the regard that Japanese have for the cherry tree is the reverent attitude toward one in particular in Maruyama Park in Kyoto. It is said to be hundreds of years ol and is surrounded by an iron fence, while it is much larger than any now in Washington, Cherry trees may be seen at the homes of the lowly as well as in the gardens of the great, or in formal settings. One of the most beaue tiful settings in Tokio is an avenue in a ceme= tery where the cherry trees arch over the road- way. Around the temples there are usually cherry trees. For a number of years the importation of cherry trees from Japan has been banned be- cause it was found that certain tree pests were coming to the United States in that way, but American nurseries now produce the trees and other cities than Washington are extending their cherry tree settings for the charm they give and doubtless also with a view to the same kind of a festival attraction that Washington now is preparing for this Spring. Beautiful decorative effects, with lanterns and other typically Japanese adornments, will be available for the festival here, especially for the night programs. It is believed by the committee planning for the event that not only, the city, and nearby Virginia and mryllnd. but the country as a whole, though particularly the Atlantic seaboard, will find the festival an added reason for visiting Washington. The early cherry blossom season, around the Tidal Basin, while not emphasized by a fes- tival as in the late cherry blossom season, will continue to draw thousands of visitors, the committee holds. il : Your Personality Health: Continued from Fifteenth Page whole long life and succeeded in every chosem line, despite every handicap life could offer him except a dull or stunted mind, “His friends say he managed to accomplish #0 much because he never permitted his afflic- tions to depress him, nor suggest to those he met that he felt his lot a piteous one.” ONES attitude toward the daily events of life may be more crippling than a distorted and helpless body. Attitude has become of ine creasing significance in the past few decades, due to the flux and flow of our civilization. Flexibility in the individual is imperative now. Too many are still thinking horse, al- though riding in high-powered cars. We be- come like the bear which had for 10 years paced back and forth in the cramped confines of a circus wagon. When moved to the zoo- logical gardens where he had a half acre to walk in, he still paced back and forth in a 10-foot space. Willlam B. Stout, designer of the Ford mono- plane, emphasizes this when he comments, “Now, in one year of time, more facts are dis- covered and put to work than dliring the entire lifetime of your father’s and mine. This means that in one year of your life today, if you would be successful, you must do more think- ing than your father had to do in his whole lifetime and more thinking than his ancestors had to do in centuries. “It means that if you belleve a year from to- day what you believe today, the world has out- This was not the attitude of those ministers who preached against the first steam locomotive as an agent of the devil, or of the venerable lady brought up in a city of horse cars who complained after the electric trolley was intro= duced that she could feel the electricity in her spine when she rode in them. It is likely that invention and commerce will make more changes in the world in the next 10 years than they have in the last 25. It is also likely that in consequence the stress and strain on personalities will increase propor- tionately. This will not affect a fortunate few who have the stamina, but is likely to affect hundreds of thousands adversely, as hundreds of thousands have already been affected, T has been mentioned that women find theme selves more often thwarted than men. The person from about age 12 to 18 is also more severely affected. Dr. L. S. Hollingworth has this to say about it: “Modern civilization is peculiarly baflling to the adolescent . . . he has peculiar problems of habit-revision; and a change of habit is always likely to be accompanied by depression.” And how can we tell when we as adults have passed safely through this period of adolescent emotional and personality instability? ‘There are a few well established rules: First, we should be capable of varying degrees of emotional response. We should not get com= pletely angry. When we pound our finger we should not yell as loudly as we can, but have & more moderate emotional display, if any. Emctional displays are natural and nothing to be ashamed or afraid of, if moderate, (Copyright, 1030.)