The Spirit of Japan 1916 is a speech by Rabindranath Tagore. Published after he received the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature The Spirit of Japan is a powerful lecture on Japanese culture in relation to the modernizing forces of the West. Delivered at the Keio Gijuku University in Tokyo The Spirit of Japan is a testament to Tagores gifts as an artist and intellectual. True modernism is freedom of mind not slavery of taste. It is independence of thought and action not tutelage under European schoolmasters. It is science but not its wrong application in lifea mere imitation of our science teachers who reduce it into a superstition absurdly invoking its aid for all impossible purposes. Invigorated by a tour of Japan Rabindranath Tagore reflects on a culture which to his mind has realized natures secrets not by methods of analytical knowledge but by sympathy. Before he returns to his native country he makes sure to warn the gathering of Japanese students who have come to hear him speak of the dangers of modernization and the encroachment of European values. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript this edition of Rabindranath Tagores The Spirit of Japan is a classic of Indian literature reimagined for modern readers.