f both are wise men or both foolish men their argument is probably a vicious circle.

For this reason, if

your opponent grows angry, you had better be all the more cautious lest you too should be in error.
Although you might think you are quite right, it is wiser to comply with the other man."112 Out of this
attitude emerged the spirit of tolerance, which will be discussed in the next section. A debate once arose
whether or not this tendency to benevolence is inherent in the Japanese people or came afterwards as a
famous Buddhist scholar had indicated that there is no god of love in Shintoism. His criticism created a
sensation among the Shintoists. They presented some counter-evidence, which seemed far from
convincing. A general impression is that the spirit of benevolence was introduced into Japan probably
with the advent of Buddhism and exerted a renovating influence upon the mental attitude of the
Japanese. And without further speculation it may be asserted that there exists a certain element of
humanism in the thinking of the common man in Japan. The love of human beings seems to be closely
tied up with the love of the beauty of nature, which is as old as humanity itself. The Spirit of Tolerance
The Japanese are said to be distinguished for their spirit of tolerance since ancient times. Although there
must have been instances of interracial conflicts in prehistoric Japan, there exists no archeological
evidence that there were any very violent armed conflicts. According to the classical records also, the
Japanese generally treated conquered peoples tolerantly. There are many tales of war, but there is no
evidence that conquered peoples were made into slaves in toto. Even prisoners were not treated as
slaves in the Western sense of the word. Although there remains some doubt as to whether or not there
existed a slave-economy in ancient Japan, the percentage of slave-servants was very small in the whole
population. It Previous Released By -TSJ5J- Next Previous Released By -TSJ5J- Next Page 384 may be
safely concluded, therefore, that slave labor was never used on a large scale. Such a social condition
gives rise to the tendency to stress harmony among the members of a society rather than dominance
based on power. This is not to deny entirely the presence of the power relationship in Japanese society
since ancient times. The social restrictions and pressures upon the individual might have been indeed
stronger in Japan than in many other countries. Nevertheless in the consciousness of each individual
Japanese, the spirit of conciliation and tolerance is pre-eminent. Ancient Japanese society had a system
of government by religious ritual in which the sense of harmony of the community pervaded the whole
climate of social consciousness. Whereas Jehovah is the God of Jealousy, of Revenge, and of Justice, as
well as of Mercy and Compassion, it is noteworthy that among the gods and goddesses worshipped in
the ancient Japanese festivities, harmony and love pervade the atmosphere. The gods and goddesses
called one another their "loving" ones. They are said to have "got drunk with wine and fallen asleep," or
"played together for eight days and for eight nights." The spirit of tolerance of the Japanese made it
impossible to cultivate deep hatred even toward sinners. In Japan there existed hardly any cruel
punishments. Since crucifixion appeared for the first time in Japanese history during the Sengoku period
or Age of Civil Wars, it was presumably started after the advent of Christianity and suggested by it.
Burning at the stake seems to have been practiced during the reign of Emperor Yuryaku * (457–479), but
it disappeared afterwards, to be revived occasionally during the modern period.113 In the medieval
West, condemnation of heretics to burning at the stake was sanctioned by church authorities. This never
happened in Japan. During the Heian period (794–1185), capital punishment was not practiced for more
than three hundred years until the War of Hogen* (1156) took place.114 Although this may be
attributed to the influence of Buddhism, there has hardly been any period in any other country marked
by the absence of the death penalty. For the Japanese, full of the spirit of tolerance, eternal damnation
is absolutely inconceivable. A Catholic priest, who forsook Christianity under the persecution of the
Tokugawa Government, condemned the idea of eternal damnation preached in Christianity. He said,
regarding reward and punishment in the other world, if God be the Lord of Benevolence, he ought to
condemn Himself rather than condemn and punish His creatures for their sins. Among the doctrines of
Christianity the idea of eternal damnation was especially hard for the Japanese to comprehend. M.
Anezaki commenting on this point, says that this is t