An ethical code like Japan's，which requires such extreme repayment of obligations and such drastic renunciations，might consistently have branded personal desire as an e-vil to be rooted out from the human breast。This is the classical Buddhist doctrine and it is therefore doubly surprising that the Japanese is so hospitable to the pleasures of the live senses。In spite of the fact that Japan is one of the great Buddhist nations of the world，her ethics at this point contrast sharply with the teachings of Gautama Buddha and of the holy books of Buddhism。The Japanese do not condemn self-gratification。They are not Puritans。They consider physical pleasures good and worthy of cultivation。They are sought and valued。Nevertheless，they have to be kept in their place。They must not intrude upon the serious affairs of life。
One of the best loved minor pleasures of the body in Japan is the hot bath。For the poorest rice farmer and the meanest servant，just as much as for the rich aristocrat，the daily soak in superlatively heated water is a part of the routine of every late afternoon。The commonest tub is a wooden barrel with a charcoal fire under it to keep the water heated to 110 degrees Fahrenheit and over。People wash and rinse themselves all over before they get into the tub and then give themselves over to their enjoyment of the warmth and relaxation of soaking。They sit in the bath with their knees drawn up in fetal position，the water up to their chins。They value the daily bath for cleanliness'sake as Americans do，but they add to this value a fine art of passive indulgence which is hard to duplicate in the bathing habits of the rest of the world。The older one is，they say，the more it grows on one。
There are all sorts of ways of minimizing the cost and trouble of providing these baths，but baths they must have。In the cities and towns there are great public baths like swimming pool where one may go and soak and visit with one's chance neighbor in the water。In the farm villages several women will take turns preparing the bath in the yard-it is no part of Japanese modesty to avoid the public gaze while bathing-and their families will use it in turn。Always any family even in fine homes go into the family tub in strict succession：the guest，the grandfather，the father，the eldest son and so on down to the lowest servant of the family。They come out lobster-red，and the family gathers together to enjoy the most relaxed hour of the day before the evening meal。
Just as the hot bath is so keenly appreciated a pleasure，so“hardening oneself”traditionally included the most excessive routine of cold douches。That called for going out before dawn to sit under waterfalls of cold mountain streams。Even pouring freezing water over oneself on winter nights in their unheated Japanese houses is no slight austeri-ty。
Sleeping is another favored indulgence。It is one of the most accomplished arts of the Japanese。They sleep with complete relaxation，in any position，and under circum-stances we regard as sheer impossibilities。This has surprised many Western students of the Japanese。Americans make insomnia almost a synonym for psychic tenseness，and according to our standards there are high tensions in the Japanese character。But they make child's play of good sleeping。They go to bed early，too，and it is hard to find an-other Oriental nation that does that。The villagers，all asleep shortly after nightfall，are not following our maxim of storing up energy for the morrow for they do not have that kind of calculus。One Westerner，who knew them well，wrote：“When one goes to Ja-pan one must cease to believe that it is a bounden duty to prepare for work tomorrow by sleep and rest tonight。One is to consider sleep apart from questions of recuperation，rest and recreation。”It should stand，just as a proposal to work should，too，“on its own legs，having no reference to any known fact of life or death。”Americans are used to rating sleeping as something one does to keep up one's strength and the first thought of most of us when we wake up in the morning is to calculate how many hours we slept that night。The length of our slumbers tells us how much energy and efficiency we will have that day。The Japanese sleep for other reasons。They like sleeping and when the coast is clear they gladly go to sleep。
By the same token they are ruthless in sacrificing sleep。A student preparing for ex-aminations works night and day，uncurbed by any notion that sleep would equip him better for the test。In Army training，sleep is simply something to sacrifice to discipline。
Eating，like warmth and sleeping，is both a relaxation freely enjoyed as pleasure，and a discipline imposed for hardening。As a ritual of leisure the Japanese indulge in endless course meals at which one teaspoonful of food is brought in at a time and the food is praised as much for its looks as for its flavor。But otherwise discipline is stressed。“Quick eating，quick defecating，those together make one of the highest Japa-nese virtues，”Eckstein quotes a Japanese villager as saying。“Eating is not regarded as an act of any importance……Eating is necessary to sustain life，therefore it should be as brief a business as possible。Children，especially boys，are not as in Europe，urged to eat slowly but are encouraged to eat as quickly as possible”。
According to Japanese ideas，involuntary deprivation of food is an especially good test of how“hardened”one is。Like foregoing warmth and sleeping，so，too，being with-out food is a chance to demonstrate that one can“take it，”and，like the samurai，“hold a toothpick between one's teeth。”If one meets this test when one goes without food，one's strength is raised by one's victory of the spirit，not lowered by the lack of calories and vitamins。The Japanese do not recognize the one-to-one correspondence which Americans postulate between body nourishment and body strength。Therefore，Radio Tokyo could tell people in mid shelters during the war that calisthenics would make hungry people strong and vigorous again。
Romantic love is another“human feeling”which the Japanese cultivate。It is thor-oughly at home in Japan，no matter how much it runs counter to their forms of marriage and their obligations to the family。Their novels are full of it，and，as in French litera-ture，the principals are already married。Double love-suicides are favorite themes in reading and conversation。The tenth-century Tale of Genji is as elaborate a novel of ro-mantic love as any great novel any country in the world has ever produced，and tales of the loves of the lords and the samurai of the feudal period are of this same romantic sort。It is a chief theme of their contemporary novels。The contrast with Chinese literature is very great。The Chinese save themselves a great deal of trouble by underplaying roman-tic love and erotic pleasures，and their family life has consequently a remarkably even tenor。
Americans can，of course，understand the Japanese better than they can the Chi-nese on this score but this understanding nevertheless goes only a little way。We have many taboos on erotic pleasure which the Japanese do not have。It is an area about which they are not moralistic and we are。Sex，like any other“human feeling，”they re-gard as thoroughly good in its minor place in life。There is nothing evil about“human feelings”and therefore no need to be moralistic about sex pleasures。They still comment upon the fact that Americans and British consider pornographic some of their cherished books of pictures and see the Yoshiwara-the district of geisha girls and prostitutes-in such a lurid light。The Japanese，even during early years of Western contact，were very sensitive about this foreign criticism and passed laws to bring their practices more nearly into conformity with Western standards。But no legal regulations have been able to bridge the cultural differences。