Applause Is Not Enough

Like every other literate country, Japan has a problem in teachers' substandard pay. Writing in Keizai Shincho, one of Tokyo's academic journals, Economics Professor Hiroshi Sato of Hitotsubashi University explains something about the special woes of Japan's teachers, and a lot more about himself.

"In days gone by," recalls clean-shaven Professor Sato, "a [Japanese] professor wore a fine mustache, carried a cane, and commuted directly from the geisha house to the classroom in a jinricksha . . . Now, after 31 years of teaching. I return home with a monthly salary of 36,150 yen [$100]. I give the envelope to my wife . . . Usually, this sort of conversation ensues:

"Mrs. Sato: Is it true that your friend Mr. H. (managing director of a business firm) receives a bonus of 1,500,000 yen [$4,155]?

"Myself (with grim patience): Is that so? I wonder. But then, money is not everything in life . . ."

Among the "other things," says Professor Sato, are "plentiful holidays" ... strange phenomenon that "scholars are not usually baldheaded, like company directors." Also, there is "the moment when the professor leaves the platform amidst a storm of applause from his students for his fine lecture . . ."

But not even a Japanese professor can live by applause alone. Mrs. Sato, her husband complains, "cannot afford a high-class beauty shop, and my son must quench his desire for a high-class camera. As for myself, I was once accosted by the madame of a certain bar. She said: '. . . Why do you not come to see me, my dear teacher?'" Professor Sato's answer remains his secret, but his conclusion is edifying. "Professors are not made of wood, but are human beings with blood in their veins. Naturally, they are inclined to put their heads into a cabaret once in a while. And even if they don't ... it is desirable that they should be at least rich enough to do so . . ."

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