The Bennington Evening Banner

No music in the Japanese.
As a People They Are Not Moved by
Melodious Sounds.

There is no music in Japan except
that made by the birds, the wind, the
running streams and the roaring
waterfalls, says a writer in the Milwaukee
Sentinel. The people have
no music in them, they do not sing
or even whistle, or play any musical
instrument worthy of the name. They
are not moved by the "concord of
sweet sounds." They have a few rude
instruments, but the sounds they give
forth are harsh, inharmonious and altogether
unmusical. There is a dinner
band at the Grand hotel, Yokohama,
and there was a brass band at the
imperial garden party, the only bands
I have heard in all Japan. Even at the
geisha dances, the most popular in
Japan, the music is primitive and discordant.
And the dances are worse
than the music. It is not in any
sense dancing as we know it, it is
simply a series of posturings, accompanied
by the flirting fans, flags, or
handkerchiefs, but lacking the motion
and inspiration that thrills and fascinates
in the merry mazes of the cotillon
and the waltz. The religious
dances are slow, dignified and impressive,
but have none of the life and
intoxication that gives interest and
charm to the participant or beholder