ABSTRACT
T o glory in their pride and to set up barriers of superiority to others, to be prejudiced against other people and suspicious of them, these are not characteristics of the
people of Yamato. Possessed by nature of broad sympathies and benevolent dispositions they practise humility, and avoiding senseless pride, succour the weak, fearless of the powerful. This is the true nature of the people of Yamato, this is the flesh and bone of their character handed down from the ancestors. These are among the special virtues which distinguish them. With innate self-denial and true courtesy, observing well the virtues of charity and philanthropy, they repudiate neither foreigner nor barbarian, they cherish the orphan and succour the friendless, they are kind to strangers and friendly to neighbours, they welcome arrivals and speed the parting guest. With these characteristics the nature of the people of Yamato overflows. Abroad these virtues result in the formation of fast friendships with other nations. At home they redound to the renown of the Empire and enrich the ever-growing splendour of the Emblem of the Rising Sun, which floats for ever over this lonely Island Empire of eastern Asia.
