newspaper 'İctihad' in July 1911 about the visit to Istanbul
of Count Nogi Maresuke, the Japanese hero of the long,
bloody siege of Port Arthur in the Japan-Russia War of
1904-1905.
Herewith, some of Cevdet's interesting observations://
Nogi click here for his biography.
Siege of Port Arthur click here for background.
Count Noki Maresuke
On the day following the departure from Port Arthur by Moscow
General Stoessel, and with the port completely in Japanese hands,
the hero Nogi declared that "I can now allow my heart to grieve
over the loss of my sons." (during the siege).
In other words, these men (Japanese soldiers) can rule over their
emotions even to the point of stifling the pain of losing their own
sons. It strikes me that they have the same high moral character and
legendary traditions as the ancient Romans and Spartans. Where
else in history do we see such greatness and majesty mixed with
modesty?
I spoke yesterday with Bereketullah, of the Indian ulema (Moslem
clergy) who is currently in Istanbul. He has been in Tokyo for some
time (after being exiled from British India in 1906) and publishes
an English-language newspaper there. The information Bereketullah
gave me about the simple lives of the great statesmen there was
quite amazing and exemplary. He said that Nogi, for example,
went to a Japanese village for a rest and lived there no differently
that the rest of the villagers, despite his fame.
Bereketullah
//Ed. note: it is not clear whether Berektullah came
to Istanbul together with Nogi, who had been
researching Islam and who had discussions with Said
Nursi, a prominent Moslem scholar, while he was in
Istanbul, as well.//
Similarly, Admiral Togo, "the Nelson of the East", would not accept
a monetary gift from the Japanese government and today he is
serving as a teacher. The Japanese behave like the limbs of one
body, rather than as individuals. A Hungarian playwright has written
a dramatic play named "Japanese in Europe" about their illustrious
character. This play was staged last year for four or five months in
Berlin and was quite popular, markedly increasing admiration for
Japanese moral character.
Since our last revolution ('Meşrutiyet' - restoration of constitutional
government in Turkey in 1908), I have talked about the need and the
benefit of establishing relations with Japan. Given that we have even
made capitulations to Greece and Iran, I reiterate that the time has
come to establish an embassy in Japan and accept their consuls here.
General Pertev Bey, who accompanied the Japanese Army during the
war, agrees with me on this.
General Pertev Demirhan's book about
his observations during the Japan-Russia
War of 1904-1905.
//Ed. note: another admirer of Nogi was Mustafa
Kemal Atatürk. In 1914, while serving as an
attaché at the embassy in Sofia, Atatürk wrote to
a friend in Salonica about his admiration for Nogi,
who committed suicide in 1912 so he would not
out-live the Emperor, who had just died.//
The Japanese scientists and doctors have joined with their European
counterparts. For example, Doctor Sahachiro Hata worked with the
German doctor Paul Erlich to recently discover the new '606'
medicine (a.k.a. arsphenome or salvarsan for treatment of syphilis.)
And Doctor Kitasato (Shibasaburo) discovered the microbe that
causes plague.
Port Arthur, named for Lt. William Arthur, whose ship
'Algerine' was the first to enter the harbor as part of a British
expedition in 1860, is at far left-center. It is now known as
Lüshunkou district of Dalian, China.
'Algerine' was the first to enter the harbor as part of a British
expedition in 1860, is at far left-center. It is now known as
Lüshunkou district of Dalian, China.
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