Yōken Setsu (On Western Dogs)

Phillip Franz von Siebold, some types of Japanese dogs (ca. 1823-30)

    Western dogs are the best of animals and often do what people cannot.  Let me explain.  Japanese dogs only help in hunting, and scare away burglars at night.  However, Western dogs save people from drowning, and rescue travelers buried under heavy snow in cold countries.  People use them to pull sleds and deliver letters.  I have not room to enumerate their virtues.  How much superior, then, are Western dogs to Japanese dogs!  The virtues of Western dogs are truly great. [1]



  [1]  This charming, enlightening  text is the earliest surviving piece of prose written by the Japanese poet, novelist, journalist and essayist, Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902).   Shiki wrote this essay, Yōken Setsu (On Western Dogs) as a thirteen-year old public school student.  We are fortunate that Shiki took his writing seriously from an early age and collected copies of his work, sometimes publishing them along with the poetry and prose of friends in small magazines they created.

 

John Emms, St. Bernards to the rescue, ca. 1913