people towards Japan and Japanese, and they look upon the idea of war between Japan and the United States as ridiculous.
Restrictions upon Japanese emigrants to the United States and to Australia are irritating to the Japanese, because it is a discrimination against them as belonging to the “yellow” race, whereas it has been their ambition to raise themselves above the level of the Eastern nations to an equality with the Western nations, although they cannot change the colour of their skin. When a Japanese even of the highest rank and standing has to obtain a permit from an American immigrant officer before he can enter American territory, is it not natural that he and his countrymen should resent this discrimination as an indignity? But they have too much good sense to think or even dream of going to war upon such a matter; on the contrary, the Japanese government agreed in 1908 to limit the number of emigrants in order to avoid complications.
It may be repeated that it has ever been the ambition of the Japanese people to take rank with the Great Powers of the world, and to have a voice in the council of nations; they demand that they shall not be discriminated against because of the colour of their skin, but that they shall rather be judged by their deeds. With this aim, they have made great efforts: where charges brought against them have any foundation in fact, they have endeavoured to make reforms; where they are false or due to misunderstandings they have tried to live them down, trusting to time for their vindication. They are willing to be judged by the intelligent and impartial world: a fair field and no favour is what they claim, and think they have a right to claim, from the world. (K.)
Bibliography.—The latest edition of von Wemckstern’s Bibliography of the Japanese Empire contains the names of all important books and publications relating to Japan, which have now become very numerous. A general reference must suffice here to Captain F. Brinkley’s Japan (12 vols., 1904); the works of B. H. Chamberlain, Things Japanese (5th ed., 1905, &c.); W. G. Aston, Hist. of Jap. Literature, &c., and Lafcadio Hearn, Japan: an Interpretation (1904), &c., as the European authors with intimate knowledge of the country who have done most to give accurate and illuminating expression to its development. See also Fifty Years of New Japan, an encyclopaedic account of the national development in all its aspects, compiled by Count Shigenobu Okuma (2 vols., 1907, 1908; Eng. ed. by Marcus B. Huish, 1909).
JAPANNING, the art of coating surfaces of metal, wood, &c., with a variety of varnishes, which are dried and hardened on in stoves or hot chambers. These drying processes constitute the main distinguishing features of the art. The trade owes its name to the fact that it is an imitation of the famous lacquering of Japan (see Japan: Art), which, however, is prepared with entirely different materials and processes, and is in all respects much more brilliant, durable and beautiful than any ordinary japan work. Japanning is done in clear transparent varnishes, in black and in body colours; but black japan is the most characteristic and common style of work. The varnish for black japan consists essentially of pure natural asphaltum with a proportion of gum animé dissolved in linseed oil and thinned with turpentine. In thin layers such a japan has a rich dark brown colour; it only shows a brilliant black in thicker coatings. For fine work, which has to be smoothed and polished, several coats of black are applied in succession, each being separately dried in the stove at a heat which may rise to about 300° F. Body colours consist of a basis of transparent varnish mixed with the special mineral paints of the desired colours or with bronze powders. The transparent varnish used by japanners is a copal varnish which contains less drying oil and more turpentine than is contained in ordinary painters’ oil varnish. Japanning produces a brilliant polished surface which is much more durable and less easily affected by heat, moisture or other influences than any ordinary painted and varnished work. It may be regarded as a process intermediate between ordinary painting and enamelling. It is very extensively applied in the finishing of ordinary iron-mongery goods and domestic iron-work, deed boxes, clock dials and papier-mâché articles. The process is also applied to blocks of slate for making imitation of black and other marbles for chimneypieces, &c., and in a modified form is employed for preparing enamelled, japan or patent leather.
JAPHETH (יֶפֶת), in the Bible, the youngest son of Noah[1] according to the Priestly Code (c. 450 B.C.); but in the earlier tradition[2] the second son, also the “father” of one of the three groups into which the nations of the world are divided.[3] In Gen. ix. 27, Noah pronounces the following blessing on Japheth—
“God enlarge (Heb. yapht) Japheth (Heb. yepheth),
And let him dwell in the tents of Shem;
And let Canaan be his servant.”
This is probably an ancient oracle independent alike of the flood story and the genealogical scheme in Gen. x. Shem is probably Israel; Canaan, of course, the Canaanites; by analogy, Japheth should be some third element of the population of Palestine—the Philistines or the Phoenicians have been suggested. The sense of the second line is doubtful, it may be “let God dwell” or “let Japheth dwell”; on the latter view Japheth appears to be in friendly alliance with Shem. The words might mean that Japheth was an intruding invader, but this is not consonant with the tone of the oracle. Possibly Japheth is only present in Gen. ix. 20-27 through corruption of the text, Japheth may be an accidental repetition of yapht “may he enlarge,” misread as a proper name.
In Gen. x. Japheth is the northern and western division of the nations; being perhaps used as a convenient title under which to group the more remote peoples who were not thought of as standing in ethnic or political connexion with Israel or Egypt. Thus of his descendants, Gomer, Magog,[4] Tubal, Meshech, Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah are peoples who are located with more or less certainty in N.E. Asia Minor, Armenia and the lands to the N.E. of the Black Sea; Javan is the Ionians, used loosely for the seafaring peoples of the West, including Tarshish (Tartessus in Spain), Kittim (Cyprus), Rodanim[5] (Rhodes). There is no certain identification of Tiras and Elishah.
The similarity of the name Japheth to the Titan Iapetos of Greek mythology is probably a mere accident. A place Japheth is mentioned in Judith ii. 25, but it is quite unknown.
In addition to commentaries and dictionary articles, see E. Meyer, Die Israeliten und ihre Nachbarstämme, pp. 219 sqq. (W. H. Be.)
JAR, a vessel of simple form, made of earthenware, glass, &c.,
with a spoutless mouth, and usually without handles. The
word came into English through Fr. jarre or Span, jarra, from
Arab, jarrah, the earthenware vessel of Eastern countries, used
to contain water, oil, wine, &c. The simple electrical condenser
known as a Leyden Jar (q.v.) was so called because of the early
experiments made in the science of electricity at Leiden. In the
sense of a harsh vibrating sound, a sudden shock or vibrating
movement, hence dissension, quarrel or petty strife, “jar” is
onomatopoeic in origin; it is also seen in the name of the bird
night-jar (also known as the goat-sucker). In the expression
“on the jar” or “ajar,” of a door or window partly open, the
word is another form of chare or char, meaning turn or turning,
which survives in charwoman, one who works at a turn, a job
and chore, a job, spell of work.
JARGON, in its earliest use a term applied to the chirping and twittering of birds, but since the 15th century mainly confined to any language, spoken or written, which is either unintelligible to the user or to the hearer. It is particularly applied by uninstructed hearers or readers to the language full of technical terminology used by scientific, philosophic and other writers. The word is O. Fr., and Cotgrave defines it as “gibridge (gibberish), fustian language.” It is cognate with Span. gerigonza, and Ital. gergo, gergone, and probably related to the onomatopoeic O. Fr. jargouiller, to chatter. The root is probably seen in Lat. garrire, to chatter.
- ↑ Gen. v. 32, vi. 10, vii. 13, x. 1; cf. 1 Chron. i. 4.
- ↑ Gen. ix. 27, x. 2, J. c. 850–750 B.C. In ix. 18 Ham is an editorial addition.
- ↑ Gen. x. 1–5; cf. 1 Chron. i. 5–7. For the significance of the genealogies in Gen. x. see Ham.
- ↑ See Gomer, Gog.
- ↑ So we should read with 1 Chron. i. 7 (LXX.) for Dodanim.
