^ m l ' ■IMiMi GIFT OF HORACE W. CARPENTER i% ^j\ _, j , j < & & THE LAND OF THE MORNING THE LAND OF THE MORNING I , , o o AN ACCOUNT OF JAPAN AND ITS PEOPLE, BASED ON A FOUR YEARS' RESIDENCE IN THAT COUNTRY Enclirtung labels into tlje Remotest ^arts of tj)c Interior BY WILLIAM GRAY DIXON, M.A., FORMERLY ONE OF THE PROFESSORS IN THE IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, TOKIYO WITH ILLUSTRATIONS DRAWN ON WOOD BY J. BAYNE, AND A MAP EDINBURGH JAMES GEMMELL, u and 15 GEORGE IV. BRIDGE 1882 \^All rights reserved ] Q> , < < . ■ < i CRAW KG RD AND m'cABE, PRINTERS, I 5 QUEEN STREET, EDINBURGH TO THE Present ant jFormer & t u to e n t g OF THE KOBU-DAI-GAKKO, TOKIYO, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. £ 4 iP *) 1 1 PREFACE Interesting, and in some respects unique, as were my experiences during my four years' residence in Japan, I should not have ventured to base upon them an account of that country and its people, had various circumstances not convinced me that an endeavour to do so might prove useful and not unacceptable to the public. Certain it is that when, in January 1880, I gazed upon the receding shores of Japan from the deck of a homeward bound steamer, there was no idea further from my mind than the possibility of my writing a book on the scenes which I was leaving. It was true that I had seen much of Japan and of the Japanese, and that not only when discharging my professional duties in the capital, but also when travelling among the mountains of the interior, and visiting regions far removed from the gateways of West- ern civilization. I could not be blind to the fact that there had been granted to me fuller opportunities of studying the country and its people than fell to the lot even of most of my fellow-residents. But I did not on that account dream of writing a book. The more I had learned of the ancient civil- ization around me, the more sensible had I become of my own ignorance of it. To write a treatise on such a great subject was evidently a work from which any but the ablest Japanese scholar ought to shrink. After reaching home, I went through the experience, not uncommon in circumstances such as mine, of being asked by various friends to publish a book on the country and people which I had just left, and of which I was only too glad to speak. To such requests, however, I turned a deaf ear, until I became convinced that the state of knowledge, or rather vi Preface. ignorance, of Japan which prevailed in this country justified the publication of such information as I was able to give. Even in the most highly educated circles the most extra- ordinarily erroneous notions seem to be current about the island empire of the Pacific. Nor is it only popular impres- sions that are at fault. Many, if not most, of the text-books of geography used in our best schools contain statements about Japan which can only make those who know anything of that country stare with astonishment ; and the same may be said of at least one of our best appreciated gazetteers. A Guide Round the World, published this very year, states, as pointed out by a writer in The Jaftcm Gazette, that the correct name of Osaka is Kioto, and that it is the Mikado's present capital — an error exactly similar to that of one who should say that the correct name of Glasgow is Edinburgh, and that it is the capital of the United Kingdom ! And this is but one mistake out of a multitude. Matters are more serious still, when similar errors are set forth in books speci- ally written on Japan. And instances of this kind might be quoted, not merely from books published several years ago, when accurate knowledge of the country was less attainable than it is now, but from at least one book published as re- cently as last year, a book which forms one of a series of popular handbooks professing to give clear and accurate ideas as to the actual conditions of the different countries of the world. In thus referring to the widely prevalent errors about Japan, and the perpetuation of these in works which the public naturally accept as trustworthy, I do not of course mean to say that no valuable books on Japan have appeared in this country. Far from it. But there can be no doubt that, in spite of the existence of such works, false impressions continue to be maintained and promulgated. Recognising that there really was some need for a trust- worthy account of Japan and the Japanese, and that more particularly in the form of a moderate-sized volume at a moderate price, it became a question with me whether I Preface. vii should not do my best to satisfy this need, even although in so doing I should inevitably fall short of my ideal as to what a book on Japan should be. The result was, that I set myself to record what seemed to me the most noteworthy of my experiences in Japan, supplementing these with the most recent and reliable information I could obtain on all the more important aspects of the country. And as I was constantly receiving communications from Japan, in the form of newspapers, government reports, etc., until the very time of sending my MS. to press, the reader may rest assured of this at least, that the information contained in the following pages is up to date. I have not given nearly a complete record of my Japan experiences. My notes of travel have been very much curtailed. Whole tours have been omitted, such as that from Tokiyo across the Hida-Shinano range to the Hokuro- kudo, thence down lake Biwa to Kiyoto, Osaka, and Kobe, through the famous Inland Sea to Nagasaki, and into the interior of Kiushiii, and that along the rocky shores of Idzu to Shimoda ; and the records of those tours which I have actually described are at some points necessarily discursive. My travels through the country extended, exclusive of sea- voyages, to between 2000 and 3000 miles, and, inclusive of sea-voyages, to nearly 4000 miles; so that a detailed account of them would alone have been enough to fill a large volume. I have therefore confined myself to a few selections. These, however, include notes on parts of the empire now for the first time described in this country, parts indeed which, until my visit to them, had never been traversed by a foreigner. Frequently in the body of the work have I had to acknow- ledge obligations to other writers, more especially to contri- butors to the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan and the columns of The Japan Mail; and further acknow- ledgments might have been made, but for my unwillingness to burden the book with references. Here let me express my indebtedness to Sir E. J. Reed's recent work on Japan viii Preface. for many of the historical facts recorded in Chapters II. and III., as well as for the quotations from Mr Hyde Clarke and Captain Brinkley given in Chapter I. The illustrations are all original, having been copied either from photographs, or from Japanese paintings, or from sketches of my own. The map, having been compiled a year or two ago, when our information on the geography of Japan was less complete than that which I am able to give in these pages, makes a few important omissions, more especially of the names of mountains, and elsewhere I have referred to its somewhat loose mode of transliteration ; but such blemishes are more than atoned for by its general fulness and accuracy. With these few explanations, let me leave the various chapters to speak for themselves. They have been some- what hurriedly written under the pressure of other duties, and I am sensible of their defects all the more deeply that the bright years of my residence in the ' Land of the Rising Sun' have inspired me with an intense appreciation of the subject of which they treat. If they do anything to arouse interest in the island empire of the Pacific among my fellow- islanders of the Atlantic, any labour which has been expended upon them shall have been amply rewarded. I cannot conclude without expressing how sensible I feel of the kindness shown me when in Japan by gentlemen con- nected with H.I.M. Government, students, and others, kind- ness which has resulted in friendships certain to be cherished by me throughout my life as among the greatest honours of which I have ever been, or ever hope to be, deemed worthy. WILLIAM GRAY DIXON Edinburgh, December, 1881. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE. Situation and Extent of Japan — Mountains — Plains — Rivers — Lakes — Harbours — Soil — Extent of Agriculture — Great Forest Area — Painstaking Tillage — Various Agricultural Products — Mineral Resources — Luxuriant Flora — Fauna — Variety of Climate — Black Stream — Severe Winter — Moist Heat — Charming Autumn — Rainfall — Typhoons — Earthquakes — Population — Physical Aspect of the People — Their Origin — Their Language, Pages 1-33 CHAPTER II. OLD JAPAN. Long Isolation of Japan — Japanese Imperial Dynasty the oldest in the World — Jimmu Tenno — Mikado descended from Sun- goddess — Seclusion of Mikado — Conquest of Korea by Empress Jingo — Assimilation of Korean Civilization — Rise of Houses of Taira and Minamoto — Usurping Mayors of the Palace — Yo- shitsune — Shogun Yoritomo founds Kamakura — Dual Govern- ment — Kusunoki and the Mikado's Dream — An Asiatic Armada — The Ashikaga Shoguns — Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Iyeyasu — Appearance of Portuguese Traders and Priests — Distracted State of the Country — Hideyoshi overruns Korea — Tokugawa Iyeyasu selects the City of Yedo as the Centre of his Feudal Government — Full Development of Dual Administration — Contents. Nobunaga at first favours Christianity — Story of Arrival of Padre Organtin — Spread of Christianity — Persecution by Hideyoshi — Decree of Iyeyasu against Christianity — Dire Persecution — Adoption of Policy of Isolation — Iyeyasu's Motives — Proofs that it was no unreasonable Prejudice against Things Foreign that isolated Japan — Shogun Hidetada's Mission to Europe — The Name of Christ deemed Accursed — Public Notifications against * The Wicked Sect ' — The Legacy of Iyeyasu — Japanese and European Feudalism — The Family the Basis of Japanese Life — Clans — The Shogun, Daimiyos, Samurai, and Heimin — Walled Towns — Shogun's Attitude of Homage to the Mikado — Maxims of Government — Progress in the Arts of Peace — Heroic Zeal for Foreign Learning, .... Pages 34-81 CHAPTER III. NEW JAPAN. Arrival of U.S. Squadron under Commodore Perry — Consternation of Shogun and People — A Hot Debate — Treaty Signed — South- ern Clans eager for Downfall of Shogun — Mikado refuses to Indorse the Treaty — A Decade of Intrigue and Assassination — Distraction of Shogun's Government — Dissensions at Imperial Court — Resignation of Shogun — Short but Severe Civil War — The Restoration — Political and Social Revolution — Okubo's Memorial — Court transferred to Yedo, now called Tokiyo or Tokei — Alteration in Mikado's Mode of Life — Complete Over- throw of Feudalism — The Daimiyos resign their Fiefs to the Mikado — Commutation of Pensions of ex-Daimiyos and ex- Samurai — A Japanese Cincinnatus — Satsuma Rebellion — Re- formed Government — Popular Assemblies — Extract from H.E. Okuma's Report on the Reforms of the last Thirteen Years — Address by H. E. .Sano at Close of National Exhibition of 1881 — The Japanese naturally an Assimilative People — Present Financial Condition of Japan — Japan not ' played out ' — Agi- tation for Revision of Treaties — Spirited Foreign Policy — Christianity necessary for National Welfare, . Pages 82-130 Contents. x CHAPTER IV. TOKIYO AND ITS INSTITUTIONS. General Bearings of the City — The Castle — Picturesqueness of the Moats — Fukiage Park — A Summer-house — Landscape Garden — View of the City from the Castle — Feudal Mansions — Curious Regulations — Iconoclasm — Officials of New Japan — Soldiers — Police — Tendency to Over-government — Prisons — Humane Treatment — Industry — Government Offices — Tobacco - smoking — Characteristics of Japanese Officials — Slavish Literalism — An Illustration of this from Old Japan — Immiscibility — Imperial College of Engineering — Imperial University — College for Ladies — Public Libraries — Learned Societies — Kudan and its View — Temple of Shokonsha — Imperial Shinto Celebration — Medley of Old and New — Railways — Street Scenes — Aspect of the People — Geniality — Politeness — Variety of Costume — Taste- fulness — Medley of Europe and Asia — Western Articles for Sale — Street Signs in Various Languages — Trade Marks — Curious Specimens of English — Newspapers — Quotations from Kinji Hioron — Waggonettes — Jin-riki-shas and J 'zn-ri&i-s/ia -men — Endurance — Good Humour — Instances of Obligingness — Im- portunity — Regularity of Streets — Houses — Sign-boards — Shops for the Sale of Native Goods — A Bargain — Curious Form of Acuteness — Canals — Merchants — Learning how to Cheat — Post Office — The River — Asakusa with its Shrines and its Fair, Pages 131-239 CHAPTER V. FIRST EXPERIENCES OF TOKIYO LIFE. First View of the Mountains of Japan — In Yokohama Harbour — On the Bluff — General Description of Yokohama — Its Trade — Chinamen's Signs — At the Imperial College of Engineering, Tokiyo — The ' Boy ' — Japanese Servants — Engagement of a xii Contents. 'Boy' — Furniture of a Foreigner's Drawing-room — View from Verandah — Kane — Our Cook Takenosuke — A Betto—k Ride through the City— Visits— Evening at Kaga Yashiki— The Streets by Night— Moonlight on the Castle Moat— Multiform Culture of Foreign Community — Long Distances — Talk at Foreigners' Dinner Tables — Constant Fluctuation of Foreign Community — Auctions — An Amusing Auctioneer — Eclectic Fur- nishing — Rambles— Atago Yama— Graveyard— Shiba— Elabo- rate Etiquette — Impudent Crows — Photograph Shops — Sunday Services — The Curio-man — Plausibility — Sagacity — Our Ser- vants—A Religious Fair— Sale of Plants— An Earthquake— The Glories of Autumn — Ride into the Country — Ikegami — Oji— Fuji seen by Moonlight — A Christmas Tour Projected — Dissuasions of Friends — Visit to a Provision Store — Tra- velling Baskets — Passports, .... Pages 240-295 CHAPTER VI. A CHRISTMAS TOUR ROUND FUJI-SAN. The Koshiu-kaido— Peasants' Cottages— A Yadoya — Discomforts of Squatting — A Japanese Meal — Tsuun Kuwaisha, or Transport Office — Coolies' and Pack-horses' Standard Loads — Take- nosuke's Importance — Inquisitiveness and Politeness — Stone Fascines — A Foreigner's Safety in Japan — A Nesan — Respect for Government and for Learning — Our Beds — The Makura, or Japanese Pillow — Pass of Kobotoke — A Tea-gift — Pack-horses — A Sorry Plight — Picturesque Valleys — Fuji-san — A Water- wheel — 'Monkey Bridge'— A Fellow-traveller — Polite Children — A Moonlight Walk — A Hospitable Reception — Intense Cold — A Sublime Morning — A Gift — Persistent Curiosity — Ride through a Forest — Unstable Equilibrium — The Sacred Mountain by Moonlight — A Gipsy-like Scene — ' Peke" 1 — Our Pack-horse bolts — Silver Rope Falls — A Painful Ride — Cruelty — Generosity — Sunrise — Last Night of 1876 — New Year Cake — Ride in a Kago — Snow — Severe Cold — Natural Hot Springs — The Tokaido — Festivities, . Pages 295-354 Contents. xiii CHAPTER VII. JAPANESE STUDENTS. Proverbial Devotion to Study — Preparing for the Entrance Examina- tion — The Entrance Examination — At Lecture — Attentiveness — Good Humour — Acuteness— Decorum — Perplexing Questions — Disproportional Development of Memory — Extracts from Essays — Long Sick List — Neglect of Physical Exercise — Over- work — Affected Indifference to Matters purely Japanese — Patriot- ism — Narrow Intellectualism — Sense of Honour — Quiet Courtesy — Imitativeness — Minds Clear rather than Deep — Academic Honours gained Abroad — Originality not wanting — Quick De- velopment and Rapid Decay — Self-conceit — Gratitude — A Tombstone at Uyeno — A Memorial Painting — Extracts from Letters — The Future of Japan Hopeful, . Pages 355-380 CHAPTER VIII. SOME PUBLIC CELEBRATIONS. Visit to the College of Government Ministers — H.E. Iwakura — Inci- dents in his History — H.I.H. Prince Higashi-Fushimi — General Otori — A Collation— A Droll Official — Opening of the College by H.I M. the Mikado — Great Preparations — His Majesty's Appearance — Presentation — This contrasted with similar Cere- monies in Kampfer's Time — Changes in Court Ceremonial accom- panied by no Diminution of Loyalty — H. I.M. the Kogo and her Ladies-in-Waiting — A Graduation — Jollity — Illumination at Uy eno — Japanese and European Music — Ancient Dances at the Imperial Academy of Music — Assassination of H.E. Okubo, Minister of the Interior — A State Funeral — A Dirge — Story of Okubo and the Kariyasu Tunnel — Entertainment to General Grant— The Rising Sun and the Stars and Stripes— Fete Champetre at Uyeno — Lavish Hospitality — Brilliant Festivities — Fireworks — Dinner to Professor Nordenskjold — Changes in Ladies' Etiquette, Pages 381-431 xiv Contents. CHAPTER IX. LIGHT AND SHADE. The Japanese essentially a Pleasure-loving People — The Theatre — Stage Furniture — Extravagant Acting — Origin of Dramatic Performances — Story of Ichikawa Danjuro — Japanese Honesty — Hot Baths — Dr Baelz's View of their Healthfulness — Profes- sional Musicians — A Daimiyo's Musical Party — Tea-drinking — Games of Various Kinds — Family Life — New Year Festivities — Kites — Feast of Dolls — Feast of Flags — Illumination of the River — Snow Men — Outdoor Games — Love of Nature — Plum and Peach Blossoms — Cherry Blossoms at Uyeno and Mukojima — Verses — Kameido and its Wistarias — Irises — Ode to the Lotus Flower — Chrysanthemum Tableaux — Autumn — The Elixir of Life — Licentiousness — Female Virtue — Polite Untruthfulness — Fickleness — Improvidence — Kindliness — Tastefulness — Art — The Slums of Tokiyo — Delusive Gloss — Disease — Death-rate — A Fire — Firemen — A Scene of Consternation — 'Burnt Out' — Christian Benevolence — Incendiarism — Woman's Status not Satisfactory — The Stepmother — A Sad Tale — Love Songs — Sick- ness and Death — A Bright-minded Philosopher — ' The Mountain of Death ' — A Dirge — Proverbs, . . . Pages 432-501 CHAPTER X. SHINTOISM AND BUDDHISM. ' Two Prevailing Religions in Japan — Pure Shinto considered by Mr Satow a Natural Religion in a very Early Stage of Development — Ancient Literature— A good State Machine — Recent Govern- ment Patronage — Shiba Temple burned— Celestial and Terres- trial Kami — Deification of Heroes — A Moral Code not needed in Japan !— Pilgrimages— The Mecca of Shinto— Pious Dogs- Rapid Progress of Buddhism — Its Influence at Court— Striking Analogies between Buddhism and Romanism — Buddhism still the Popular Religion — Missionary Zeal — Its Past History Bril- liant— Thirty-five Sects— The Hokke Sect— Ranters— The Shin Contents. x v Sect — ' A Brief Account of Shinshiii ' — Approximation to Chris- tianity — Justification by Faith — Rev. Dr Gordon's Reasons for not considering Shinshiii Buddhism a pure Theism such as is taught in the Old Testament — Religious Munificence — Fanati- cism — A Railway Project — Religious Indifference — Scepticism — Shintoism and Buddhism doomed, . . Pages 502-520 CHAPTER XL PILGRIMAGES. Pilgrims — Their Appearance and Arrangements — A Pilgrimage to Fuji-san — On the Way — At a Rest-house — In a Yadoya — Cere- monial Ablutions — On the Sacred Mountain — Stations — 'A Pure Heart ' — Worshipping the Rising Sun — The Shadow of the Mountain — Sanctification of Raiment — Bay of Kawatsu — Influence of Fuji-san — Superstitious Guides — A Devil — Compul- sory Worship — Climbing Seasons — Nikko — Its Solemnity- Superb Avenues — A Semi-circle of Mountains — Shabby Coaches — Limping Steeds — A Stoppage— Unequally Yoked — A Wild Zig-zag — Broad Gauge — Corporal Punishment — An Express Diligence — A Sacred Bridge — Pagoda — Temple of Toshogii — Dazzling Splendour — Magnificent Architecture in Wood — Royal Gifts — Brilliant, yet Tasteful, Colouring — Alto-relievo Carving — Shinto Ministers and Buddhist Monks — Tombs of Iyeyasu and Iyemitsu — A Typical Fall — Curios — A Land of Streams — Pass of Chiuzenji — A High Waterfall — Chiuzenji Lake — Yumoto Lake — Sulphuretted Hydrogen — Shirane-yama — Prospected Railway — A Break-down, .... Pages 520-543 CHAPTER XII. FROM THE EASTERN TO THE WESTERN CAPITAL. Three Highways— 'Paradise of Babies' — Unconventional Attire— Kofu— A Full Yadoya — Lack of Privacy— Picturesque Glimpses —Discomfort— Fructiculture— Silk Factory— Normal School— A Japanese Dinner— Health-drinking— Whale — Hospitality — An Enlightened Governor— Old School Courtesy— Shimo-no- suwa— Salutation from the Bath— An Effective Waterproof— xvi Contents. A Comely Peasant Girl — Female Labour — Transcendent Beauty — Swiss-like Villages — Frugal and Industrious Peasantry — Pil- grims — PoliteChildren — Water — A Siesta — Our Costume — Hot Bath — Monotonous Fare — Bare Necessaries of Life — Rice- culture — Discomforts of Travel — 'Cocoa Nuts' — A Fair Com- panion — Officialism under Difficulties — A Funereal Hill — Rival Hostesses — Obsequiousness — City of Nagoya — Castle — Normal School — Hospital — Porcelain Manufacture — Shrine of the Sacred Sword — 'Was she Very Pretty?' — Banko Ware — Itinerary, Pages 544-578 CHAPTER XIII. THREE CLASSIC CITIES. Kiyoto : — The most Fascinating City in Japan — Its Situation and General Appearance — Striking Lights and Shades — Strangely Contradictory Traits of Character — Tasteful Houses and Cos- tumes — Imperial Palace — Marvels of Art — Garden — Ancient Trees — Translation of an old Poem — Many Beautiful and Historical Resorts — Temples of Nishi Honguwanji — Spacious Hall — Exquisite Carving — A Service — Resemblance to Roman- ism — A Sermon — Abbot's Palace — Old Pavilion and Garden — Monastery of Chion-in — A Peaceful Retreat — Musical Passage — Immense Bell — Singing and Dancing Girls — The City as seen by Moonlight from Maruyama — ' Unless you want me to become a Buddhist, let us away from this '—Educational Institutions — Industries. Osaka : — Founded by Jimmu Tenno — Of old the Capital — Imperial Self-sacrifice — Castle — Immense Stones — Imperial Mint — Commerce — Wealth. Nara : — A Lovelorn Maiden — Deer Park — Daibutsu — Ancient Pine — Dolls — The Capital in the Eighth Century A.D. — Spirit of Old Japan — Poem — Buddhist Prayer Meeting — Garrulous Nesans — Peaceful Evening — Love Song. Hiyei-zan, . . Pages 579-612 CHAPTER XIV. MOUNTAIN AND FLOOD. The Vast Solitudes of Hida— Savage Grandeur— Benighted— Japa- nese Alps — Geological Formation of Hida-Shinano Range — Contents. xvii View from Yatsu-ga-dake — Suggestion of the Yosemite Valley — An Arcadian Scene — Wild Flowers — Larks — Silkworms — Mos- quitoes — Thunder-storm— A Perilous Ascent — An Unexpected Chasm — Bewilderment — Two Namesakes — Our Pack-horse falls into a Valley — A Sacred Portal — Exaggerated Report — Hornets — Sequestered Glens — Out of the World — Lack of Curiosity — Mistaken for Japanese Officials — Ludicrous Surprise — Primi- tive Quarters — Miraculous Plums — An Inquisitive Schoolmaster — High Roofs — Snowed up — Our Foot-gear — Stemming the Current — Our 'Boy' and his Watch — A Natural Cathedral — Primitive Night-quarters — A Scramble — Warning — Blooming Prairie — The Murodo of Haku-san — View from Haku-san — Comfort and Hospitality — The Hokurokudo — 'Ticklish Work' — 'The Devil's Castle'— A Workshop of Nature— A Basket Ferry — A Primitive Hydropathic — An Unconventional Meet- ing — Solfataras on Tate-yama — Marvellous View — Forced Marches, Pages 613-658 CHAPTER XV. CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN. Japan the first to welcome the Rays of the first Easter Morn — Xavier — Golden Opportunity for the Church — Representatives of leading Churches of Christendom — Spread of Christianity — Prospects of Protestantism more hopeful than those of Roman- ism — Toleration — Materialism — Contempt for Religion — Fickle- ness — Success of Christianity beginning to dispel the prevalent Indifference — Buddhist Opposition — Presentation to the King of Hawaii — Low Moral Tone of Foreign Community — Unreason- able Opposition — Good Feeling among Missionaries — Spread of Christianity outside the Ordinary Channels — Tokiyo Christian Association — Atheistic Lectures — Students' Bible Class — Series of Christian Lectures — Influence of Christian Family Life — Meetings on a Nobleman's Domain — Possibilities of Good open to Christian Laymen — Sunday Christian Lectures in a College —Sunrise— The Withered Lotus— A Layman's Influence at Kanazawa— The Land of the Rising Sun, . Pages 659-689 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Map of Japan, .... Within the Imperial Precincts, Kiyoto, On the Inner Moat, Yedo Castle, E. Side, Chinese Ideograms, . . . Garden at Hotta Yashiki, Tokiyo, A Jin-riki-sha, .... ' A Happy New Year,' Buddhist Priests at a Tomb, Mount Fuji and Kawaguchi Lake, Japanese Boats, A His Excellency Okubo Toshimitsu, A Japanese Lady, Tea-drinking Utensils and Plum Branch, Tea-drinking, .... Daibutsu (' Great Buddha') at Kamakura, Mount Fuji as seen from Yenoshima, . A Rainy Day. .... Buddhist Monastery overlooking Lake Biwa, Peasants at Work, A Our Night-quarters in the Ojira-kawa Valley, Bridge across the Tedori-gawa, The Summit of Tate-yama with Yari-ga-take in the Facing PAGE i >> 38 89 . 130 Facing 143 • 205 . 223 . 267 Facing 327 • 354 . 408 . 430 . 446 • 471 • 509 • 527 • 558 . 577 604 • 635 . 644 Distance, 655 NOTE ON THE SYSTEM ADOPTED IN THE TRANSLITERATION OF JAPANESE WORDS. The system which I have followed in transliterating Japanese words is that adopted by Dr Hepburn in his J apanese- English and English-J apanese Dictionary, and may be roughly stated thus, — The vowels have their Italian, and the consonants, for the most part, their English sounds ; or, more particularly : — a has the sound of a in father, but is shorter. e „ „ a in same, but is shorter. i „ „ ee in meet, o ., „ o in no, but is shorter. u „ „ oo 1 in foot. i and u are sometimes almost inaudible. Thus Tokiyo, yashiki,Iyeyasu, and Asakusa, are pronounced almost as if spelt respectively Tofcyo, yastiki, Iyeyas', and Asattsa. To guard against mispronunciation, I have occasionally, in such circum- stances, written these vowels as i and u. But, as a rule, a vowel is to be understood to be short, unless it is marked with a circumflex. The Japanese are very careful in discriminating between long and short vowels, and I have endeavoured to be accurate in this matter. Through an oversight of my own, the word shiu (province), occurring in such proper names as Honshiii, Kiushiu, has, in the earlier part of the book, been printed without the circumflex. 1 N.B. — Not that of u in union. xx Note. When two vowels come together, each retains its own sound ; thus : — ae is pronounced almost as the English word eye, ai „ as eye. an „ as ou in out. ei „ almost as ay in say. g is always hard, being pronounced either like g in go, or, when in the middle of a word, like ng in ringer. This ng sound is characteristic of the Tokiyo dialect, and is not heard in the southern parts of the empire. ch is always soft, as in church. n, when final, has its French sound, as in mon. The other consonants have either exactly or nearly their English sounds. y is often all but, if not altogether, inaudible, as in Uyeno and Yenoshima, which we might spell respectively Ueno (Oo-ay-no) and Enoshima. In the case of double consonants, both must be sounded ; thus, anuria = am-ma, Nippon = Nip-pon. Note. — The spelling of the names marked in the map does not in every case conform to the above system of translitera- tion, there being still traces of the loose system prevalent when the map was first compiled. « * , ■* r o ** J^ >■ >JV 1,1 "A, ^J V"- iliima 'shimSt ISO 132 134 Long. East 136 138 140 1+2 144 38 :/.. . i . 'mix C. ***£ 'ty.- Stl ki % Omae&ls C^o stadia. >fiaco■s6iIIla^£' _R£1 83 » vicli 138 140 142 14+ W &A K. Jokn ston. Ediuiurgli I; London 1 ' • THE LAND OF THE MORNING. CHAPTER I. THE COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE. Situation and Extent of Japan — Mountains — Plains — Rivers — Lakes — Harbours — Soil — Extent of Agriculture — Great Forest Area — Painstaking Tillage — Various Agricultural Products — Mineral Resources — Luxuriant Flora — Fauna — Variety of Climate — Black Stream — Severe Winter — Moist Heat — Charming Autumn — Rainfall — Typhoons — Earthquakes — Population — Physical Aspect of the People — Their Origin — Their Language. In looking at a map of Asia, one cannot but notice a somewhat crescent-shaped 1 group of islands lying off the eastern coast, its southern extremity coming comparatively near the mainland at the promontory of Korea, and its northern almost linked to Siberia by the long ridge of Saghalin on the north, and the stepping-stones of the Kurile islands on the north- east. This is Nihon or Nippon {i.e. ' Land of the Rising Sun '), or Dai {i.e. ' Great ') Nihon or Nippon, 1 One name of Japan is Seiteishiu ('Dragon-fly Land'), from a supposed resemblance in its form to that insect. A . *r r ( , ■ ' « < • ( • I 1 2 Z$£ Country and its People. or, as we call it, Japan. 1 This main group consists of four large islands, viz., Honshiu (often incorrectly named Nippon), Kiushiu, Shikoku, and Yezo, and several thousand smaller ones, and extends from 31 to 45 30' N. lat. Of the four principal islands, Honshiu is much the largest, and, being regarded as the mainland, is seldom designated by the Japanese with any special name. It is in shape an irregular crescent convex towards the south-west. From its western point, Kiushiu (' Nine Provinces ') runs south, being separated from it by the straits of Shimonoseki, barely a mile broad ; and within the angle thus formed by Kiushiu and the western horn of Honshiu, lies the still smaller island of Shikoku (' Four Provinces '). Between Kiushiu and Shikoku on the south, and Honshiu on the north, is the Seto Uchi, the famous Inland Sea of Japan. The northern point of Honshiu comes within ten miles of the handle of Yezo, to adopt the simile which likens the form of that island to a gridiron. Yezo's northern shore terminates in a western and an eastern point ; the former of which almost touches the island of Saghalin, and the latter the first link of the Kurile chain. These are the limits of Japan proper ; but the empire of Japan includes, in addition, the Kurile 1 The word Japan would seem to be a corruption of the name given to the country by the Chinese. Extent of the Empire. 3 isles, ceded by Russia a few years ago in return for Saghalin, the Riu Kiu or Liu Kiu ('Loo Choo ') islands, the most remote of which are 500 miles south of Kiushiu, and the more slender island chain which runs south-east from Yedo bay, and termi- nates in the Bonin islands, 500 miles distant. It extends, therefore, from 24 to 50 40' N. lat, and from 124 to 1 5 6° 38' E. long. On the north it almost touches the Asiatic continent at Kamtchatka, and on the south it comes very near Chinese territory at Formosa, while the island of Tsushima, about 55 miles off the north-west corner of Kiushiu, is within 25 miles of Korea. From Nagasaki in Kiushiu to Shanghai in China, is by steam a two days' voyage, and the 5000 miles of ocean between Yokohama and San Francisco have been accom- plished in less than fourteen days. The total area is estimated at 148,700 square miles, or at fully one- fifth larger than that of the United Kingdom. Japan is one of the most mountainous countries in the world. Its plains and valleys, with their foliage surpassing in richness that of any other extra-tropical region, its Arcadian hill-slopes and forest-clad heights, its alpine peaks towering in weird grandeur above torrent-dinned ravines, its lines of foam-fringed headlands, with a thousand other charms, give it a claim to be considered one of the fairest portions of the earth. Beginning at 4 The Country and its People. the north, we find in Yezo two mountain chains, one coming from Saghalin and passing down the west coast, and the other coming from Kamtchatka and the Kuriles and meeting the first. These contain no fewer than eight active volcanoes. The chain from Saghalin is continued down the centre of northern Honshiu, where its principal peaks are Iwate-san or Ganju-san (7000 feet), Chokai-san (6800), and Guwassan (6100). Further south, the Nikko range rises in Shirane-yama to a height of 8 500 feet, and in Nantai-zan to 8195. South-west of this are the active volcano of Asama-yama (8260), and the long ridge of Yatsu-ga-dake (9000), while about 45 miles south of the latter the mountain systems of the empire culminate in the matchless cone of Fuji-san, rising 12,365 feet from the shore of the Pacific. Westward of Asama-yama, there is an- other chain running parallel with the Sea of Japan ; this culminates in the extinct, or dormant, volcanoes of Tate-yama (9500) and Haku-san (8600). Near Tate-yama, a still loftier chain branches off from this southward into the heart of the empire, dividing the province of Hida from that of Shinano, as the other divides Hida from Yetchiu and Kaga. The principal peaks of this chain are Yari-ga-take (10,300), Nori- kura (9800), and Ontake-san (10,000). It is in and around the province of Hida that the perfection of Japanese alpine scenery is to be found. The Tate- Mountain Chains. 5 yama and Haku-san range continues, though at much less elevation, through the western arm of Honshiu to the straits of Shimonoseki. The range on the eastern frontier of Hida also loses in height as it continues southward, but rises into impressive peaks in the south of Honshiu and in Shikoku. Kiushiu likewise abounds in mountains, several of which are active volcanoes ; the highest are Aso- take and Kirishima-yama (5000). We may think of Japan, therefore, as a land in which mountain-top answers to mountain-top, and hill-top to hill-top, throughout its length and breadth. There are, however, many considerable plains. Perhaps the largest of these is that of Musashi, the province in which Tokiyo is situated. This stretches from the capital in at least one direction for quite 70 miles without any considerable elevation. It is not so vast, however, but that on an ordinarily clear day its gentle undulations appear bordered by a wall of blue mountains. Many of the plains are extremely flat, looking like green lakes closed in by hills. Their surface does not, as in our own country, rise in gradually increasing undulations to the border- ing uplands, but remains level up to the very bases of the foot-hills. This configuration is perhaps ex- aggerated by the levelling of the ground for rice- culture, an operation which also shows itself in the extensive terracing of the hillsides and valleys. Tier 6 The Country and its People. beyond tier the wooded foot-hills rise, with possibly a blue snow-streaked ridge behind them. The narrowness of the empire (it is less than 200 miles at the widest part) does not afford much room for large rivers. Innumerable streams there are, but they are mostly short and extremely rapid. Far from being to any extent navigable, many of them cause frequent inundations, as they sweep down to the sea swollen with the winter's snows or with the rains at the opening or close of the hot season. Sometimes the bed of a comparatively short river is near its mouth more than two miles in width. For the greater part of the year a channel of fifty yards' breadth may suffice ; but, when there is a flood, every inch of this great space is required. There are, however, exceptions in the case of streams which flow into the wider plains and have therefore a longer and quieter route to the sea. For example, the Tone-gawa, which reaches the sea near Tokiyo, after traversing a great part of the plain of Musashi, is navigable by steam for 30 miles. The following are a few of the principal rivers, with their lengths : — The Chikuma-gawa, or Shinano-gawa, 180 miles, rising on the borders of Musashi and Shinano, flowing between Asama-yama and Yatsu-ga-dake into the plain of Yechigo, and reaching the Sea of Japan at the open port of Niigata ; the Tone-gawa, 170 miles, above referred to ; the Kitakami-gawa, Rivers and Lakes. 7 rising in the north of Honshiu and flowing southward for 140 miles into the Pacific at the bay of Sendai ; the Ishikari-gawa, 1 30 miles, in the west of Yezo ; the Tenriu-gawa, 120 miles, rising comparatively near the Chikuma-gawa, but on the opposite side of the Shinano watershed, and therefore finding its way to the Pacific; the Kiso-gawa, 115 miles, rising on Norikura, on the borders of Shinano and Hida, and also flowing into the Pacific, reaching that ocean near the great city of Nagoya. It is unnecessary to mention more. We shall yet have occasion to remark on the extreme picturesqueness of many of the rivers of Japan. The lakes of Japan are less numerous than might have been expected, and most of them are small. The largest is lake Biwa, 50 miles in length, 269 feet deep, and 190 square miles in area, a magni- ficent sheet of water, approaching at its southern shore within 30 miles of the Inland Sea, and at its northern within 13 of the Sea of Japan. According to a Japanese legend, the basin of this lake sank on the same night as that on which the sacred cone of Fuji-san arose. It is called Biwa, from its resemblance in shape to a lyre (Japanese biwa). Other lakes are those of Inawashiro, towards the north of Honshiu, Chiuzenji, about 65 miles southward of this, among the heights of Nikko, Suwa in Shinano, Hakone near Fuji-san, etc., etc. ; 8 The Country and its People. but none of these is in area comparable to lake Biwa, unless it be Inawashiro, which is about one- fourth the size of that lake. The coast line of Japan, like the interior, presents most romantic features. The traveller who has sailed round the world cannot but admit, whenever he comes within sight of these shores, that more beautiful he has never set eyes upon. But the harbours are few and mostly inferior. Altogether v.there are fifty-six harbours and trading-ports. Most of them are on the southern and eastern coasts. The coast washed by the Sea of Japan has no port at all favourably situated. Niigata harbour is utterly unsatisfactory on account of the sandbanks at its bar. The gulf of Tsuruga is well protected, but the entrance to it is dangerous. Perhaps the port on this coast most likely to flourish is that of Mikuni, about 50 miles north of Tsuruga, and fully 200 south-west of Niigata. There is here a con- siderable estuary, and the merchants of the place have lately been showing praiseworthy energy in the construction of breakwaters. Among the best harbours on the oceanward shores are those of Nagasaki, a hill-encircled ' loch ' of great beauty, Kobe on the Inland Sea, Miya near Nagoya, Yoko- hama in the bay of Yedo, and Hakodate in the south of Yezo. We now turn to the soil of Japan. Of rocks the Extent of Agriculture. 9 most prevalent are said to be the trachytic and phonolitic groups, together with hornblendic granite and a syenite ; felsites and quartz porphyries come next in importance ; stratified rocks are repre- sented by an extensive series of highly silicious metamorphosed shales ; and basalts are rare. The volcanic formation of the country is everywhere evidenced either by mountains in actual eruption or by solfataras, or by the sulphurous springs which well up from hundreds of the valleys, or by the still too frequent earthquake shocks. Very misleading statements have been made as to both the extent and the lucrativeness of agriculture in Japan. For instance, it used to be said that the mountains of Japan were cultivated to their summits. This was a pardonable error when, through the policy of isolation adopted by the Japanese Government, foreigners were not free to travel more than a few miles from certain treaty ports, in the neighbourhood of which the land was under thorough cultivation ; but how wide it is from the truth will appear from the fact, that of the 28! million cho (one ckd=2'4$07 acres) of land in Japan, less than 4^ million are cultivated. Of the re- mainder far the greater part is covered with forests. It is true that the plains are cultivated with extra- ordinary care, and that among the lower hills every spot to which water can be brought is terraced for io The Coin i try and its People. rice-culture ; but there are great mountain tracts which have scarcely been brought under the sway of man and of these, as well as of the drier slopes above and around the paddy-fields, much is capable of cul- tivation. Then the luxuriant verdure of the country — the most luxuriant outside the tropics — is apt to give a mistaken notion as to the fertility of the soil. We see everywhere a magnificent flora. The plains are in summer adorned with every variety of green, from that of the young rice to that of the veteran pine. The valleys luxuriate in an overwhelming mass of foliage, and mountain-slopes, for thousands of feet, are clad with an unbroken mantle of trees. Nevertheless, it is true that the soil of Japan is not naturally fertile. It is mostly either volcanic or derived from igneous rocks ; in some places, as in the great productive plain of Musashi, it is directly drawn from volcanic tufa and ash. The extra- ordinary profusion of plants growing in a state of nature is due to the climate more than to the soil ; besides, it should be noticed that these consist very largely of coniferous trees and other evergreens, plants which least of all tend to draw upon the soil's resources. Then the productiveness of the culti- vated land is largely due to careful manuring. This and the climate together make it possible for the Japanese farmer to gather two crops off one field in the same year. ' A new field,' says a Japanese Agricultural Prodticts. 1 1 proverb, 'gives but a small crop,' — a saying which strikingly shows that the Japanese themselves have little faith in the natural fertility of their soil. ' The Japanese farmer,' says Professor Kinch, of the Im- perial College of Agriculture, Tokiyo, a gentle- man to whom I am indebted for most of the information given in this paragraph, — ' the Japanese farmer treats his soil as a vehicle in which to grow crops, and does not appear to regard it as a bank from which to draw continual supplies of crops ; thus he manures every crop, and he applies the manure to the crop and not to the land.' Nowhere is there more neat and painstaking tillage than in Japan. All the sewage of the towns and villages is utilized as manure. Of the 4J million did under cultivation, 2\ million consist of paddy-fields, which yield on an average about thirty bushels of clean rice per acre. Among the other agricultural pro- ducts are wheat, barley, rye, maize, buckwheat, millet, peas, field and haricot beans, potatoes, vetches, tares, lupins, soy beans, ground nuts, daikon (raphanus sativus), turnips, carrots, beets, mangolds, cucumbers, egg-plants, tea, tobacco, cotton, hemp, indigo, lotus-roots, onions, leeks, etc. The total produce of rice per annum, is about 170,000,000 bushels, thatof wheat, 35,000,000 bushels, and of barley, 55,000,000 bushels. With all the beauty of their well-tilled fields, 12 The Country and its People. Japanese farms lack that softness which is so cha- racteristic of the pasturages of England. The rear- ing of flocks and herds has no place in the farmers' work, and there is therefore no cultivated meadow- land. Grassy slopes there are among the hills, which at a distance may look park-like ; but unless they be in the higher altitudes, where the vegetation is more like our own, a nearer view will show the grass to be long and coarse. Then it is hardly necessary to add, that the grass, as would seem to happen everywhere in the temperate zone out of Britain, becomes brown in winter. The mineral resources of Japan are undoubtedly great ; but various circumstances have prevented their due development. The methods of working which were until comparatively lately in vogue, were crude and unremunerative, and even now there are many mines which, although worked on foreign principles, yield little or no profit, chiefly on account of their imperfect communication with centres of trade. Far up among the mountains, the roads leading to them are often wretched bridle-paths, accessible only to pack-horses, by which transporta- tion is both slow and expensive. The present Government, however, have their attention turned to the improvement of roads. The recent outlay for costly machinery, and the heavy expenses incurred in sinking shafts, constructing furnaces, etc., have Luxuriant Flora. 13 also tended to consume any revenue derivable from the Government mines. Gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, sulphur, coal, basalt, felspar, greenstones, gran- ites red and grey, marble, rock-crystal, agate, car- nelian, amber, scoriae and pumice-stone, talc, alum, etc., etc., are found in greater or less quantities. Coal- beds extend from Nagasaki to Yezo. The supply of sulphur is almost inexhaustible, and of wonderful purity. The island of Sado, near Niigata, yields the largest supply of gold, and the principal coal-mine is in the island of Takashima, off the harbour of Nagasaki. Reference has already been made to the luxuri- ance of Japanese vegetation. The flora consists so largely of evergreens, of which there are 150 varie- ties, that even in the depth of winter the face of the country is well covered with foliage. Among the most characteristic trees are various pines, the cryptomeria Japonica, sometimes attaining a height of 150 feet, the evergreen oak, firs of different kinds, the bamboo, which, with its feathery groves, adds a semi-tropical aspect to the plains, the cedar, yew, camphor-tree, ash, salisbttria adiantifolia, magnolia, paulownia, persimmon, boxwood, holly, chestnut, elm, beech, maple, alder, willow, birch, mulberry, pear, cherry, plum, peach, myrtle, orange, etc., etc. The great variety in the altitude of the land gives a corresponding variety of vegetation. Thus, while 14 The Country and its People. in the plains the flora of the temperate zone is diversified by partially developed representatives of the tropics, such as the palm, banana, etc. ; in the higher mountains there are found plants character- istic of Northern Asia, of Canada, of the Polar regions, and of some of the Alpine ranges. There are said to be no fewer than 1699 species of dicoty- ledonous, with a proportionate number of monocoty- ledonus plants. The wild flowers which delight the eye, especially in the upland regions, are very numerous ; and in the cities the art of gardening is carried to a perfection that is unsurpassed. In fragrant flowers Japan is not so rich as our own country ; but England cannot compare with it for flowering shrubs. The plum, the peach, the cherry, the camellia (in all of which the bloom pre- cedes the leaf), the azalea, the wistaria Sinensis, the peony, the iris, the lotus, the chrysanthemum, etc., in their different seasons, gratify the eye with their perfection of bloom. Little attention is paid to the fruit, so long as the full bloom of the flower can be realized. Then the infinite shades of colour with which autumn decks the Japanese landscape, from the green just becoming sere, to the deep purple and vermilion of the maple and the brilliant yellow of the iclio {salisbnria adiantifolia), are un- rivalled except perhaps in North America. The indigenous fruits of the country are mostly poor . Fauna. 1 5 The best of them are the grape, the melon, the orange, the kaki, a kind of persimmon until recently peculiar to Japan, the peach, the loquat, the fig, and the pear. Increased attention is now, however, being paid to fructiculture, and in some of the principal cities an excellent variety of fruit can be obtained. The fauna is not so abundant as the flora. Foxes, badgers, wild boars, monkeys, bears, wolves, deer, ante- lopes, squirrels, hares, and rabbits, are more or less prevalent. Horses and oxen are used as beasts of burden. As with us, the farm-yards are enlivened with barn-door fowls. The dogs are mostly of the one fox-like breed, and are poor-spirited animals, making a great noise at the approach of a stranger, but taking care all the time to increase their distance from him. There are domestic cats very similar to our own. In Honshiu there have been found thirteen species of snakes, but only one of these, the mamnshi or tri- gonocephaly Blomhoffii, is deadly. It has been usual for writers on Japan to speak of the country as containing few birds, and these few not remarkable for either beauty or song. To a certain extent this is true of the immediate neighbourhood of the foreign settlements, but it is quite a mistake to suppose that the wilder parts of the country are deficient in birds. Messrs Blakiston and Pryer enumerate no fewer than 325 species, of which 180 1 6 The Country and its People. also occur in China, and about ioo in Great Britain. In a hurried visit to Fuji-san, one of these gentle- men obtained forty-four species, besides observing a number of others. Among these were three species of thrushes and two of flycatchers, all good song- sters ; and he could not but remark how delightful was the chorus of birds in the early morning. In the higher altitudes, especially in the mountain ranges around Hida, I have myself often been charmed with the notes of the lark, the cuckoo, and the ugiiisu, or Japanese nightingale. Wildfowl are very plentiful, and at certain seasons may be seen in thousands on the castle-moats in the very heart of the city of Tokiyo. There are myriads of crows, and hawks are also numerous. Among the specially characteristic birds are two species of pheasants peculiar to the country, the brilliant mandarin duck, the falcated teal, and the. Japanese ibis. Insects are extremely abundant, at times painfully so. On the plains in summer the air is constantly filled with the ear-piercing trill of the cicada, which there supplies the too frequent lack of bird-singing. As the empire stretches through so many degrees of latitude, its various parts differ widely in climatic conditions. In the Riu Kiu and Bonin islands the climate is almost tropical, and in the Kuriles quite arctic. But here, as elsewhere, it will The Kuro Shiwo. 17 be better to leave such extremes out of considera- tion, and confine our attention to Japan proper. In Japan, as in our own islands, we find a more moderate climate than in the corresponding lati- tudes of the adjoining continent. This is due not only to its insular position, and to its containing a shallow inland sea, but also and chiefly to the warm waters of the Kuro Shiwo, or Black Stream, which originating, like our own Gulf Stream, in an equa- torial current, is, partly by the rotation of the earth, and partly by the coast-formation of south-eastern Asia, caused to flow northward towards the Riu Kiu islands ; here a small branch passes by the west coast of Kiushiu into the Sea of Japan, but the main volume flows along the southern and eastern shores of Japan, which it bathes, until meet- ing a reverse arctic current (the Oya Shiwo) off the north of Honshiu, it has its course turned towards America. As a carrier of warm water from the tropics towards the poles, the Kuro Shiwo has been reckoned three times as great as the Gulf Stream. Its average width is about 100 miles, its velocity three miles an hour, and its tempera ture from 3 to 4 Fahr. above that of the sur- rounding ocean. As its waters almost exclusively wash the eastern shores of the empire, its influence is felt not only in the climate of Japan as compared with that of the mainland, but in the climate of the B 1 8 The Country and its People. eastern side of Japan as compared with that of the western. While Japan is thus favoured beyond the countries of the Asiatic mainland which lie within the same parallels of latitude, its climate is more severe than that of European regions within the same parallels, as will appear from the following figures. Tokiyo (Yedo) lies in lat. 35 43' N., and is therefore in much the same latitude as Gib- raltar ; but, while the average annual temperature of Gibraltar is 63-1° Fahr., that of Tokiyo is only 577 . The greater severity of the Japanese climate will be still more apparent from a consideration of the extremes in Tokiyo, where, while in summer the mercury may rise to 96 , in winter it sometimes falls as low as 16-2°. Nagasaki, in lat. 32 44/ N., has a winter extreme of 23*2° ; at Niigata, on the west coast, in lat. 37 55' N., the annual extremes are 95 ° and 15*8°, and at Hakodate, in lat. 41 46' N., 84 and 2°. There is no part of the empire in which snow does not fall. In Tokiyo it seldom lies more than six inches deep, but on the opposite coast it often reaches a depth of three or four feet at the sea level, while among the upper valleys of Kaga eighteen to twenty feet are common. Niigata has on an average thirty-two days of snowfall every year, and the frost there is sometimes so severe that the ice on the Shinano-gawa is thick enough to Variety of Climate. 19 allow a cart and horse to cross it. Hakodate has still colder winters. Even at Tdkiyo there were, in the winter of 1880-81, thirty days on which it was possible to have skating, and two gentlemen passing one December morning along the eastern shore of Yedo bay, observed that the sea was frozen out from the shore for a distance of fifty yards. It should be mentioned, however, that in Japan, as in Europe and America, the winter of 1880-81 was unusually severe, and moreover, that the inner portions of Yedo bay are extremely shal- low. Still, facts like these show how very far Japan is from having the tropical climate which many in our country seem to attribute to it. The winter's cold is very much mitigated during the day by the influence of the sun, which is both more powerful and less frequently obscured than in England. Thus, while the castle-moats in T6kiy6 are often in the morning covered with a coating of ice, by midday this has generally disappeared in all but the most sheltered places. Scarcely a winter passes, how- ever, without frost of sufficient intensity and con- tinuance to render skating possible on pieces of water either naturally or artificially screened from the sun's rays. The hottest season is from the middle of July to the middle or end of September. For several weeks before and after this period rain is plentiful, some- 20 The Country and its People. times falling in torrents for five or six days in suc- cession. At such times the climate cannot be called healthy : outside, perpendicular lines of rain steadily pouring down ; inside, a musty smell, — books, boots, clothes, etc., covered with green mould, — everything more or less damp, — oneself lying down or walking about in a bath of perspiration, and feeling enervated or worse. In the warm months, the vapours carried by the south-west monsoons coming into contact with colder masses of air, become condensed into clouds or mist, and the atmosphere, although pro- bably not dense, is yet often hazy. In the cooler months, on the other hand, the northerly winds, coming over the mountain ranges of the interior, are dry and transparent. These remarks, however, apply to the east rather than to the west coast. Spring and autumn are delightful seasons, more especially the latter, when days of almost unbroken sunshine and invigorating air may continue for weeks and even months. During the last three months of my residence in Tokiyo, from the middle of October to the middle of January, there were only five days on which rain fell. Day after day overarched the land- scape with an Italian sky, into which rose, sixty miles off, the matchless cone of Fuji-san, sparkling in a mantle of virgin snow. Even the nights were so clear that, when the moon was at its full, the sacred mountain was visible by its light. And the Rainfall. 2 1 first of my four autumns in Japan was almost as fine. The second and third, however, were less settled. Indeed, in Japan as in England, the sea- sons vary considerably in different years. In a single day there are sometimes remarkable fluctua- tions in temperature. The 13th of May, 1877, was an extraordinary example of this : at 9 A.M. the thermometer indicated 8i° Fahr., at 10 A.M. 85 , at 3 P.M. 62 , and at 9 P.M. 49 ! In most parts of the country the period of vegetation lasts from the middle of March or the beginning of April until the beginning or middle of October. By the end of October the deciduous trees have shed their leaves ; but the warm sun, developing the buds of such evergreens as the camellia, makes it possible, a few months later, to see flowers and snow on the same branch. Rain may fall in any month of the year, but it is most plentiful immediately before and after the hot season. The yearly mean rainfall has been estimated at 7 1 '5 inches at Nagasaki, 587 at Tokiyo, and 57'2 at Hakodate. This is considerably greater than that of Great Britain, which I find set down as from 25 to 28 inches in places where hills do not interfere, and from 45 to 65 in such mountainous districts as Wales and the Western Highlands. The difference must be due to the generally greater violence of the Japanese showers ; for, there can be no doubt, 22 The Country and its People. that Japan is favoured with many more rainless days than are bestowed upon England. The pre- valent winds are north and west in winter, and south and east in summer. The violent revolving storms called typhoons are liable to occur in June, July, or September. Thunder-storms are neither common nor violent, and autumn fogs are equally rare. There are few places in the empire that are not more or less subject to earthquakes. During my re- sidence in Tokiyo many slight shocks occurred every year ; but none did any considerable damage, if we except one which overturned a chimney in Yoko- hama. Mr Hattori, in an able paper on ' Destruc- tive Earthquakes in Japan,' calculates that during the last fourteen centuries there has been on an average one destructive earthquake every ten years. The most recent serious convlusion occurred in 1855. In that year the Russian frigate 'Diana' was, while lying in the harbour of Shimoda, spun round forty- three times in thirty minutes, and finally wrecked ; and in Yedo 15,890 buildings were destroyed. In reference to this latter fact, however, I would have the reader remember the fragility of most Japanese houses, as well as their susceptibility to fire, which doubtless was the immediate cause of most of the destruction. There are still standing in Tokiyo many buildings, and these of but moderate strength, Population. 2 3 which have survived uninjured the great earthquake of 1855. The climate of Japan agrees very well with most Europeans, and the country has already come to be regarded as a sanatorium for the inhabitants of Hong Kong and Shanghai. The moisture of the early summer is apt to be enervating, and in the autumn and winter precautions have to be taken against chills ; but the climate is, in the main, re- markably healthy, at least for Asia. To compare Japan as to climate with England, the former has a hotter summer, but a clearer and drier winter; a heavier rainfall, but fewer rainy days ; a spring com- parable to that of England, and an autumn far sur- passing anything England can show, at least at the same season and for the same length of time ; in short, a climate which, if barely so healthy, has the advantage of being more thoroughly enjoyable. The Japanese empire has a population of more than thirty-four million souls. These are spead over nine great circuits, including eighty-five provinces ; or, to adopt the more recent division for administra- tive purposes, over three fu, or cities, and thirty-six ken, or prefectures. The fu are Tokiyo, or Tokei (formerly called Yedo), the modern capital, with a population of about 1,000,000 ; Kiyoto, or Miyako, the ancient capital (290,000) ; and 6saka (400,000) a great seat of commerce. Nagoya (1 14,000) comes 24 The Country and its People, fourth, and Kanazawa fifth, in respect to population ; and among other important towns are, beginning at the south, Kagoshima (87,000), Kumamoto (44,000), and Nagasaki, all three in Kiushiu ; Kochi in Shikoku ; and Hiroshima, Shidzuoka, Fukui, Niigata, Sendai, etc., etc., in the main island. The island of Yezo (generally called by the present government Hok- kaido), although larger than Ireland, has a popula- tion of only 21 1,304; its principal towns are Hakodate and Sapporo, the latter a recently created centre of administration for the whole island, which is under a special state department of colonization. The ports open to foreign trade are Yokohama (substituted for Kanagawa), Kobe (Hiyogo), Nagasaki, Tokiyo, A Osaka, Hakodate, and Niigata. If we except the 12,000 Ainos of Yezo, a hairy race supposed to be a remnant of the aborigines of the country, the population of Japan proper consists of a thoroughly homogeneous people. In appear- ance, language, mode of life, and national traditions, the Japanese are one. There are, of course, very considerable variations of dialect, but not greater than may even yet be found in England ; and it is true that the semi-independence enjoyed under the feudal system by the different provinces has deve- loped in each clan traditions more or less distinctive, while the inhabitants of widely separate districts may differ somewhat in physique ; still, in all essential Appearance of the People. 2 5 points the race is one. Everywhere there is preva- lent the same Mongolian cast of countenance : the face oval, the cheek-bones prominent, the eyes dark, often oblique, and always narrow; the nose flattish ; the lips usually somewhat heavy ; the hair dark, and generally straight; the complexion sallow. The eyes very often look as if their owner had been born blind, and two narrow slits had afterwards been cut to admit the light,— an impression caused by their narrowness, and by the disappearance of the eye- lash within the folds of the eyelid. Oblique eyes are most prevalent among the aristocracy, and are by the Japanese considered a mark of beauty; they are often accompanied by clearer-cut features than prevail among the masses, the bridge of the nose being narrow and well elevated. Sometimes, indeed, there are seen faces of almost a Jewish type. Among the masses, however, heavy flattish features prevail. The forehead is usually of good height. The com- plexion varies from the almost Caucasian fairness of some of the more beautiful ladies, to the brown with which the sun has tanned the skins of out-door labourers. The average stature is considerably below that of our own race, although occasionally, espe- cially among the labouring class, one may see men approaching, or, more rarely, even reaching six feet. The men of certain provinces, particularly Satsuma in Kiushiu, excel in height and strength. As a rule, 26 The Cotmtry and its People, it is among the peasantry that we see the best phy- sical development ; the middle and upper classes are too often slight, narrow-chested, and pale. 1 Many of the younger women are strikingly pretty, their features not seldom sharp and well-formed, and their complexion almost, if not quite, comparable to that of their European sisters ; while the sparkling black eyes, even of those whose noses are a little too flat and lips somewhat heavy, are always attractive. Their beauty seems soon to leave them, however, for the older matrons have generally a more or less shrivelled appearance, which is certainly not improved by the hideous custom, not yet universally discarded, of shaving off the eyebrows and blackening the teeth. Their practice of deferring the weaning of their child- ren often until these have reached the age of seven or eight, is no doubt the principal cause of this de- terioration. It cannot be said that the women of the peasantry are remarkable for beauty. Passing through remote rural districts, I have often been struck with the preponderance of flat features and ungainly figures ; but, on entering a town, I have seldom failed to see many as pretty as their country sisters were plain. Among the men, as among the 1 Some scientists have sought to account for the small bones of the Japanese by the deficiency of ash and lime in their diet. When a Japanese breaks a bone, the process of healing is said to be excep- tionally slow. Origin of the People. 2 7 women, though perhaps not to the same extent, the younger have, as a rule, more claims to good looks than the older. The children of both sexes are very attractive, with their happy sparkling eyes, quick intelligence, frankness, and instinctive politeness. Indeed, nothing is more apparent among the people generally than their air of good humour. Young and old, high and low, plain and good-looking, alike win the heart with their matchless courtesy and their inborn kindliness. But the character of the people will, I hope, be more fully revealed in succeeding pages. Much obscurity still hangs over the origin of the Japanese people. Various writers have attempted to identify them with the Malays, the Chinese, the Tartars, and even the ten lost tribes of Israel. There can be no doubt that they are an utterly distinct race from the Chinese ; their language and traditions conclusively declare this. With the Koreans and Mandschurians they would appear to have more affinity, but even here the resemblance is not striking. That they are so far related to all of these races of the adjoining mainland in being with them members of the great Turanian stock, seems undoubted. The original seat of the Tu- ranians Mr Hyde Clarke would find in High Africa, in regions as healthy as those of High Asia, from which the Aryan migrations are held to have 28 The Country and its People. proceeded. The Japanese civilization is therefore to be traced to the same source as the earliest civili- zations of which we have any record, viz., those of Egypt and Babylonia, civilizations which were founded by a white Turano- African race, and after- wards supplanted in the West by the Aryans. Mr Hyde Clarke supposes that the Japanese islands were at first occupied by the migrations of the short races. 'These were subjected by a subsequent mi- gration of the white Turano- Africans, who married with the native women. This would produce a mixed race, differing again from the races of shorter aborigines. Thus the new dominating Japanese race would maintain and propagate their dialect of the language and their sect of the religion, and, being in more favourable conditions, would displace the pure natives. When the Pacific route to America was closed by the weakness of the Turano- Africans, and the rising of cannibals and other savages, the Japanese would be isolated on their east. On their west, the Turano-African dynasties in China and Korea fell, and were replaced by natives, the same kind or series of events taking place as in Egypt, and again in Peru and Mexico. Japan was isolated from the other states, and in time various ethnological, mythological, and poli- tical conditions were established, making the dis- tinctions successively more marked.' Language. 29 The only language which bears at all a close resemblance to Japanese is the Liu-kiuan (' Loo- chooan '), and this is considered to be merely an offshoot from it. It is to be noted, however, that the languages of the Turanian family do not present the same close affinity in words and grammar as do those of the Aryan family. Mr. Hyde Clarke points out, e.g., that Magyar and Turkish have little community of words. In Japanese, Mr W. G. Aston, author of grammars of the written and spoken languages of Japan, finds all the characteristics of the Turanian family. It is agglutinative, i.e., it maintains the roots in their integrity, thus differing, on the one hand, from the monosyllabic Chinese, and on the other from such languages as the Aryan, wherein a process of dis- integration has reduced many roots to mere in- flexional marks ; it has no formative prefixes, is poor in conjunctions, and copious in the use of participles ; lastly, every word which serves to de- fine another word invariably precedes it, — thus the adjective precedes the noun, the adverb the verb, the objective case the verb, and the word governed by a preposition, the preposition. While the Japanese language is thus of quite a different type from the Chinese, it has been greatly enriched by the adoption of Chinese roots, in a manner exactly parallel to that in which English 3 the acquisition of their language would have been a much easier matter than it is, both for themselves, and still more so for foreigners. But they have imported the Chinese ideograms wholesale, and a false affectation of learning has given the preference to such characters. It is only in novels, children's books, and publications for the illiterate, that the kana is at all extensively used, and even then the frequent occurrence of homonyms generally makes it necessary to introduce a con- siderable number of the complicated ideograms. While, therefore, the introduction of the philo- sophical and scientific terms of the Chinese has increased the richness and expressiveness of the language, the adoption of the innumerable and complicated hieroglyphics which the Chinese have invented to represent these terms has greatly encumbered it. It would, indeed, be difficult to imagine a greater barrier to true learning than this cumbrous system of orthography. Captain Brink- ley, R.A., a gentleman who has entered deeply into the study of the language, says : — ' Some twelve or thirteen thousand characters in all must be stored away in the memory beyond the reach of time, and the necessity of revision, before a Japanese can take his first untrammelled step in pursuit of science. ... It may easily be imagined how little the reflective, and how largely the mechanical, 32 The Coimtry and its People. faculty was developed by this process, and indeed it has been always found that the Japanese student's acquisition of western science is not a little impeded by too minute efforts of memory, and such a bigoted worship of formula and rule, that originality and self-reliance cease to be serviceable items in his intellectual repertoire? A distinction must be made between the spoken and the written dialects. In all languages there is, of course, a considerable difference in style between everyday speech and what is written in books ; but in Japan this extends to such important distinctions in gram- matical construction, that one might understand the colloquial thoroughly, and yet find great, if not insuperable, difficulty in construing a sentence composed in the written style. The present tendency among the learned seems to be rather towards the use, both in conversation and in writing, of words of Chinese origin (among which, for one thing, it is possible to get precise equivalents for the terms employed in Western science), than towards that of words indigenous to their own more melodious native tongue, even in cases when an equally suitable word might be obtained from either source. ' The native Japanese language,' remarks Dr Hepburn, in the introduction to his Dictionary, 'seems to be spoken with greater purity by the women than by any other class.' ' The Criticism of the Language. 33 Japanese language ' — again to quote Captain Brink- ley — ' is by no means deficient in terseness or power of expression. . . . The want of a relative pronoun occasionally produces involved and some- what clumsy constructions, and the liberality of the nation's moral code is marked by a paucity, or at times complete absence, of terms expressing the subtler distinctions of western metaphysics ; but, on the whole, if only the terrible blemish of its complex caligraphy were removed, there is no reason why the language should not rank with the most euphonic, and not the least complete, of our European tongues.' CHAPTER II. OLD JAPAN. Long Isolation of Japan — Japanese Imperial Dynasty the oldest in the World — Jimmu Tenno — Mikado descended from Sun- goddess — Seclusion of Mikado — Conquest of Korea by Empress Jingo — Assimilation of Korean Civilization — Rise of Houses of Taira and Minamoto — Usurping Mayors of the Palace — Yo- shitsune — Shogun Yoritomo founds Kamakura — Dual Govern- ment — Kusunoki and the Mikado's Dream — An Asiatic Armada The Ashikaga Shoguns — Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Iyeyasu — Appearance of Portuguese Traders and Priests — Distracted State of the Country — Hideyoshi overruns Korea — Tokugavva Iyeyasu selects the City of Yedo as the Centre of his Feudal Government — Full Development of Dual Administration — Nobunaga at first favours Christianity — Story of Arrival of Padre Organtin — Spread of Christianity — Persecution by Hideyoshi — Decree of Iyeyasu against Christianity — Dire Persecution — Adoption of Policy of Isolation — Iyeyasu's Motives — Proofs that it was no unreasonable Prejudice against Things Foreign that isolated Japan — Shogun Hidetada's Mission to Europe — The Name of Christ deemed Accursed — Public Notifications against * The Wicked Sect ' — The Legacy of Iyeyasu — Japanese and European Feudalism — The Family the Basis of Japanese Life — Clans — The Shogun, Daimiyos, Samurai, and Heimin — Walled Towns — Shogun's Attitude of Homage to the Mikado — Maxims of Government — Progress in the Arts of Peace — Heroic Zeal for Foreign Learning. In this and the following chapter I purpose to take a glance at Japanese history. It can only be a glance, for the scope of this volume does not admit The Oldest Dynasty {71 the World. 35 of minute historical details. All that can be attempted is to indicate very briefly the phases through which the nation has passed in its long life of twenty-five centuries. Until the twelfth century of our era, Europe did not know even of the existence of Japan ; and the reports which were then brought by Marco Polo, who had learned of the island empire of ' Chipangu ' from the Chinese, were as vague as they were betwitching. The successes of the Jesuit missionaries led by Xavier, and the commercial intercourse established by the Portu- guese in the latter half of the sixteenth century, and by the Dutch somewhat later, promised to disclose the mysteries of the far Pacific empire ; but within a few generations these were more hope- lessly than ever sealed against foreign intrusion. A quarter of a century ago, the door was again opened, at first very slightly, afterwards more fully ; but even yet, the great mass of the people of our own country have far from a right conception of the ancient civilization which has for ages prevailed in these Pacific islands. The Japanese claim that their imperial dynasty is the oldest in the world. Two thousand five hundred and forty-one years ago (in 660 B.C.) the sacred histories (the Kojiki and Nihongi), published respectively in 711 and 720 A.D., relate 6 Old Japan. that Jimmu Tenno 1 commenced to reign as the first Mikado 2 or Emperor of Japan. Far back as this date leads us into the mists of antiquity, the birth, the accession, and death of this national hero are still annually celebrated, when one may see flags flying from both public and private buildings, and hear the reverberations of a royal salute. H.I.M. Mutsuhito reigns as the one hundred and twenty-second member of this dynasty. In the beginning there existed, according to one interpretation of the somewhat perplexing Shinto mythology, chaos, which contained the germs of all things. From this was evolved a race of heavenly beings termed celestial kami, of whom Izanagi, a male, and Izanami, a female, were the last indi- viduals. Other authorities on Shinto maintain that infinite space, and not chaos, existed in the be- ginning, others again that in the beginning there was one god. However, all agree as to the appear- ance on the scene of Izanagi and Izanami, and it is with these we are here concerned ; for by their union were produced the islands of Japan, and among their children were Amaterasu, the sun-goddess, and her younger brother, Susanoo, afterwards appointed god of the sea. On account of her 1 Tenno is the posthumous title corresponding to Tenshi Sama or Mikado. 2 Or Tenshi Sama, i.e., ' Son of Heaven.' The Mikado of Divine Descent. ^1 bright beauty, Amaterasu was made queen of the sun, and had given to her a share in the govern- ment of the earth. To Ninigi-no-mikoto, her grand- son, she afterwards consigned absolute rule over the earth, sending him down by the floating bridge of heaven upon the summit of Kirishima-yama, in Kiushiu. Ninigi-no-mikoto took with him the three Japanese regalia, viz., the sacred mirror, now in one of the Shinto shrines of Ise, the sword, now treasured in the temple of Atsuta, near Nagoya, and the ball of rock-crystal {inagatamd) y in the possession of the Emperor. On the accomplishment of the descent, the sun and the earth receded from one another, and communication by means of the float- ing bridge ceased. Jimmu Tenno, the first historic emperor of Japan, was the great-grandson of Ninigi- no-mikoto. According to the indigenous religion of Japan, therefore, a religion which is even now patronized by the State, the Mikados are directly descended from the sun-goddess, the principal Shinto divinity. Hav- ing received from her the three sacred treasures, they are invested with authority to rule over Japan as long as the sun and moon shall endure. Their minds are in perfect harmony with hers ; therefore they cannot err, and must receive implicit obedience. Such is the traditional theory as to the position of the Japanese emperors, a theory which was advanced 3% Old Japan. in its most elaborate form as recently as last cen- tury by Motoori, a writer on Shinto, but which of late years has, no doubt, been much modified or even utterly discarded by the more enlightened among the people. Even yet, however, it is far from having been abandoned by the masses. The Mikados being thus regarded as semi- divinities, it is not surprising that the very excess .of veneration shown them tended more and more to weaken their actual power. They were too sacred to be brought much into contact with ordinary mortals, too sacred even to have their divine coun- tenances looked upon by any but by a select few. Latterly it was only the nobles immediately around him that ever saw the Mikado's face. Others might be admitted to the imperial presence ; but it was only to get a glimpse from behind a curtain of a portion of the imperial form, less or more according to their rank. When the Mikado went out into the grounds of his palace in Kiyoto, matting was spread for him to walk upon ; when he left the palace precincts, he was borne in a norimono (sedan- chair), the blinds of which were carefully drawn down. The populace prostrated themselves as the procession passed, but none of them ever saw the imperial form. In short, the Mikados ultimately became virtual prisoners. Theoretically gifted with all political knowledge and power, they were less o H a s. u w « a. < w a h £ feo ft °0 I Conquest of Korea. 39 the masters of their own actions than many of the humblest of their subjects. Although nominally the repositories of all authority, they had practically no share in the management of the national affairs. The isolation in which it was deemed proper that they should be kept, both prevented them from acquiring the knowledge requisite for governing, and, even had that knowledge been obtained, gave no opportunity for its manifestation. Of course, many centuries elapsed before the theory of the divine descent found its full expres- sion in the powerless isolation of the Mikados. In the early days of the nation's history, it was the members of the imperial house who had the prin- cipal share in the government of the country. In the first century A.D., Yamato-dake, son of the emperor Keiko, reduced most of the Ainos of the north to submission. The empress Jingo conquered Korea in the third century, and her son, the emperor Ojin, became known and worshipped as Hachiman, the god of war. Ojin was also a man of literary tastes, and it is said that it was during his reign that Japan began to profit from the learning of the Koreans, who introduced the study of the Chinese language, and, indeed, the art of writing itself. During the immediately succeeding centuries, vari- ous emperors and empresses were eminent for their zeal in encouraging the arts of peace. Architects, 40 Old Japan. painters, physicians, musicians, dancers, chrono- logists, artisans, and fortune-tellers were brought over from Korea to instruct the people. Along with learning there also came the Buddhist religion. In the eighth century, during the greater part of which the capital of the country was the city of Nara, about thirty miles from Kiyoto, Japan had, largely under the government of empresses, reached a most creditable stage of progress in the arts of peace. Near the close of the eighth century, the emperor Kuwammu took up his residence at Kiyoto, which, until 1868, remained the capital of the country, and is even now dignified with the name of Saikiyo or Saikei, i.e., Western Capital. Here he built a palace very unlike the simple dwellings in which his predecessors had been content to live. It had a dozen gates, and around it was reared a city with 1200 streets. The palace he named Heianjo, i.e., the Castle of Peace ; but for years it proved the very centre of the feuds which soon began to dis- tract the country. This did not happen, however, until some centuries after the death of Kuwammu. But even before his time there were not wanting indications that the control of affairs was destined to slip into the hands of certain powerful families at the imperial court. The first family to rise into eminence was that The Red and White Flags. 41 of Fujiwara, a member of which it was that got Kuwammu placed on the throne. For centuries the Fujiwaras controlled the civil affairs of the empire. So oppressive did their power become, that the emperor Go-Sanjo resolved to resist it, and being a man of intelligence and energy, he did so successfully. Shirakawa, his successor, followed the same policy, but while withstanding the Fuji- waras, he yielded too much to the Buddhist priest- hood, who in his reign began, with strange incon- sistency, to practice warfare, often to the danger of the capital. But a more important factor in bringing about the reduction of the Mikado's power, and the estab- lishment of that dual system of government which was destined to be so characteristic of Japan, was the rise into power of the rival houses of Taira and Minamoto, otherwise called respectively Hei and Gen. With their feuds commences an entirely new era in the history of the country, an era replete with tales alike of bloodshed, intrigue, and chivalry. We see the growth of a feudal system at least as elaborate as that of Europe, and, strangely enough, assuming almost identical forms, and that during the same period. Witness the history of France from the tenth to the fifteenth century. It has been well pointed out, that this interesting fact affords a proof that feudalism is nowhere the result of any 42 Old Japan. legislator's institution, but the natural growth of certain circumstances in which a nation is placed. The respective founders of the Taira and Mina- moto families were Taira 1 Takamochi and Mina- moto Tsunemoto, two warriors of the tenth century. Their descendants were for generations military- vassals of the Mikado, and were severally dis- tinguished by red and white flags, colours which, it has been pointed out, suggest the red and white oses of the rival English houses of Lancaster and York, and the Japanese feud would seem to have occasioned as much bloodshed as the English one. For years the two houses served the emperors faithfully ; but even before any quarrel had arisen between them, the popularity of the head of the Minamoto clan with the soldiers over whom he had been placed, so alarmed the emperor Toba (1108-1 124 A.D.) that he issued an edict forbidding the Samurai (military class) of any of the provinces from constituting themselves retainers either of the Minamoto or of the Taira. It was in the year 11 56 that the feud between the two houses broke out, and it arose in this way. At the accession of Go-Shirakawa to the throne in that year, there were living two ex-emperors who would seem to have voluntarily abdicated. One 1 Observe that the Japanese place the family name before the individual name. Usurping Mayor of the Palace. 43 of them, however, Shutoku, was averse to the accession of Go-Shirakawa, being himself anxious to resume the imperial power. The cause of Shutoku was espoused by Tameyoshi, the head of the Minamoto house, while among the supporters of Go-Shirakawa was Kiyomori of the house of Taira. In the conflict which followed, Go-Shirakawa was successful, and immediately thereafter we find Taira Kiyomori appointed Daijo-Daijin, or prime minis- ter, with practically all political power in his own hands. On the abdication, within a few years, of Go-Shirakawa, Kiyomori was able to put whatever member of the imperial house he willed upon the throne; and being himself allied by marriage to the imperial family, he at length saw the accession of his own grandson, a mere babe. Thus, to use a term connected with European feudalism, this mayor of the palace virtually, though not nominally, usurped the imperial functions. The emperor had the name of power, but Kiyomori had the reality. 1 But this state of matters was not destined to last long. The Minamotos were far from being finally 1 It has been pointed out that a similar state of things prevailed in Europe with the descendants of Clovis, when Karl Martel first exercised the functions of a Mayor of the Palace. But the dual system was then abolished after an existence of only two generations ; in 1752 Pope Zacharias decided that he who possessed the power should also bear the title of king, and Martel's son Pepin was raised to the throne.— See Hallam's Middle Ages. 44 Old Japan. quieted. The story of the revival of their power is a romantic one, but we cannot dwell upon it. It was in the battle of Heiji that Kiyomori seemed at length to have quelled his rivals. Yoshitomo, the head of the Minamoto clan, was slain in the fight, but his beautiful wife Tokiwa succeeded in escaping with her three little sons. Tokiwa's mother, however, was arrested, and this roused the daughter to make an appeal to Kiyomori for pardon. She did so, presenting herself and children to the con- queror, upon whom her beauty so wrought that he granted her petition. He made her his concubine, and, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his re- tainers, also spared the children, who were sent to a monastery, there to be trained for the priesthood. Two of these children became famous in the history of Japan. The eldest was Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura dynasty of Shoguns, and the babe at the mother's breast was Yoshitsune, one of the flowers of Japanese chivalry, a hero whose name even yet awakens the enthusiasm of the youth of Japan, and who so impressed the Ainos of the north, whom he had been sent to subdue, that to this day he is worshipped as their chief god. A Japanese has even lately written a book, in which he seeks to identify Yoshitsune with Genghis Khan. It is unnecessary to dwell on the circumstances which brought Yoritomo and Yoshitsune into note, Dual Administration. 45 how the two brothers raised the men of the eastern provinces, and after a temporary check at the pass of Hakone, near Fuji-san, succeeded in utterly rout- ing the Taira forces in a dreadful battle, half by land and half by sea, at the straits of Shimonoseki. Suffice it to say that, Yoshitsune having been slain through the treachery of his brother Yoritomo, that warrior was left without a rival. He received from the emperor the highest title which could be con- ferred upon him, that of Sei-i-tai-Shogun, 1 literally 1 Barbarian-subjugating Great General,' and thus appointed generalissimo of all the imperial forces, he looked about for a city which he might make the centre of his power. This he found in Kama- kura, about fifteen miles westward of the site of the modern Yokohama. Thus, before the close of the twelfth century, was founded a system of dual government, which lasted with little change until the year 1868. The Mikado reigned in Kiyoto, with his authority undis- puted ; but the Shogun, in his eastern city, had really all the public business of the country in his own hands. It was he who appointed governors over the different provinces, and was the real master of the country ; but every act was done in the name of the emperor, whose nominal power thus remained intact. Yoritomo virtually founded an independent 1 Generally contracted to Shog7cn. 46 Old Japan. dynasty at Kamakura ; but it was not destined to be a lasting one. His son Yoriye succeeded him in 1 199, but was shortly afterwards deposed and as- sassinated ; and the power, although not the title, of Shogun passed to the family of Yoritomo's wife, viz., that of Hdjo, different members of which swayed the state for more than a century. There is an incident connected with the fall of the Hojo house, which I cannot forbear relating. The emperor Go-Daigo had fled from Kiyoto to Kasagi-yama, on learning that Hojo Takatoki was advancing to the capital with the intention of dethroning him. While here in great trouble of mind, he dreamed a dream, in which he saw two boys beckoning him to sit upon a throne which they had made under a great knsimoki, or camphor-tree, on the south side of the palace. Awaking, he interpreted the dream as meaning that a man of the name of Kusunoki was to help his cause. Ac- cordingly he summoned the priests, and asked if they knew of any warrior who bore this name, whereupon one of them immediately answered, • There is one named Kusunoki Masashige, who, for having quelled the robbers, was made Hioyenojo.' 'That is the man,' replied the emperor, and Ma- sashige was at once called to Kasagi. ' I commit to you,' said the emperor, ' the duty of overthrowing the rebels.' And Kusunoki replied, ' The time will The Mikado s Dream. 47 come when there shall be no rebel who has not been overthrown. The eastern soldiers are very brave, but they are wanting in intelligence ; as to bravery we cannot equal them, though we raise the armies of the sixty provinces ; but as to intellectual re- sources I have stratagems to practise upon them. But victory and defeat are the common incidents of war, and, therefore, though one may suffer defeat in the beginning, we must not change our minds, or slacken in our undertaking. As long as your majesty knows that I am still living, your majesty need not trouble yourself about the matter.' It is not sur- prising that Kusunoki Masashige is to this day regarded by the youth of Japan as the noblest cha- racter in the history of their country, for his deeds proved in perfect harmony with his words. But we do not dwell on the heroic deeds of Ku- sunoki, or on those of Nitta Yoshisada, his scarcely less famous comrade, to whom is ascribed the miracle of having made the sea retire before him as he advanced on Kamakura round the headland that protects that city on the south. The domin- ation of the Hojos came to an end, but it was only to be succeeded by another, that of the Ashikaga Shoguns, who held the reins of power from the middle of the fourteenth to past the middle of the sixteenth century. The period of the Hojo rule was not one of 48 Old Japan. constant strife, as considerable attention was then given to the advancement of education. In the last quarter of the thirteenth century, however, the country was invaded by the Mongol Tartars, who had overthrown the reigning dynasty of China and reduced all the surrounding states to subjection. But the Asiatic Armada was no more successful than was destined to be that of European Spain. The invaders were repelled with great loss. It was by foul means that Ashikaga Takaiiji, one of the generals who overthrew the Hojos, ob- tained the dignity of Shogun, and the period of more than two centuries during which his descend- ants held sway at Kamakura was characterized by treachery, bloodshed, and almost perpetual intestine warfare. We gladly pass over these centuries to the more important era of the three great generals, Ota Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, otherwise Taiko Sama, and Tokugawa Iyeyasu, the founder of the most permanent dynasty of Shoguns. When these three great men appeared, the country was in a most critical state. The later Ashikaga Shoguns had become as powerless as the Mikado himself, in the management of affairs. The empire had no true unity. Practically independent chieftains (daimiyo) ruled their own provinces as they willed ; and the more ambitious and powerful did not hesitate to make war upon neighbouring Lordly Monks, 49 clans. There were on all sides struggles for pre- eminence, in which the fittest survived, annexing to their own territories those of the weaker clans which they had subdued, And among all the chieftains of the empire, it was Nobunaga, Hide- yoshi, and Iyeyasu, who by their prowess rose to the highest eminence. Nor was it merely rival clans that were disturb- ing the country. The Buddhist clergy had acquired immense political influence, which they were far from scrupulous in using. Their monasteries were in many cases castles, from which, themselves living amid every kind of luxury, they tyrannized over the sur- rounding country. The history of these often reads strikingly like that of the corresponding institutions in Europe during the Middle Ages. Indeed, the hierarchical, as well as the feudal, developments of Japan and Europe have been wonderfully alike. Then a further distraction was the appearance in the country of Portuguese traders and priests. It was in 1 542 that the first foreign vessels arrived, and seven years later three Portuguese Jesuits, Xavier, Torres, and Fernandez, landed at Kagoshima, in the south-west of Kiushiu. It was no simple problem, therefore, that the statesmen of this period had to solve. There could be no satisfactory prosperity without the pacification of the empire by the quelling of the feuds which were D 50 Old Japan. constantly raging among the clans and religious orders ; and then there was the question of dealing with the demands of foreign traders, and the alarm- ingly rapid spread of a new religion. Nobunaga first rose into note. He was the here- ditary Daimiyo of Owari, the province of which the great city of Nagoya is the capital. By a great victory in 1560, over one Imagawa Yoshimoto, he became ruler of the three additional provinces of Suruga, Totomi, and Mikawa ; and his fame at length became so great, that the Emperor committed to him the task of tranquillizing the country. He deposed a usurp- ing Shogun, and gave that dignity to Ashikaga Yoshiaki ; but the latter proving treacherous, was in 1 573 deprived of the dignity, and thus came an end to the domination of the Ashikagas. Nobunaga was now the most powerful man in the country, and was virtually discharging the duties of Shogun imme- diately under the Emperor : but this title he never obtained ; for his services he was named Udajin, i.e., * Great Minister of the Right.' Hideyoshi, who, after the assassination of Nobu- naga, became virtual lord of the empire, was a most remarkable man. The son of a poor peasant, he attracted the notice of Nobunaga when serving that general as his betto, or groom. Encouraged by his master, he became a soldier, and rapidly rose in power, until he shared with Iyeyasu the honour of yapan and Korea. 51 rivalling Nobunaga in military fame. Having, in conjunction with Nobunaga and Iyeyasu, reduced all the Japanese clans to subjection, he looked abroad for some foreign power to subdue. There is a story of his sitting in front of a hillside temple near Kiy6to, and there meditating the conquest of Korea, which had been the ambition of his life. Since the first century B.C., Japan had had relations with Korea. We have seen how it was from Korea that it received Chinese learning and the arts of civilization, and Koreans swelled the number of Mongol Tartars who invaded Japan in 128 1. On the other hand, Korea was more than once overrun by Japanese armies, even partly governed by Japanese officials, and on differ- ent occasions had to pay tribute to Japan in token of submission. Japanese pirates, too, were for 600 years as much the terror of the Chinese and Korean coasts as were the Danes and Norsemen of the shores of the North Sea. It so happened, that for some years before Hideyoshi's accession to power, the embassies which from the fourteenth century the Koreans had been accustomed to send to Japan, had been discontinued. The ambitious general was thus afforded a pretext for disturbing the friendly rela- tions with Korea, by the despatch of an ambassador to complain of this neglect. The behaviour of this ambassador only too clearly reflected the swagger of his overbearing lord, and the consequence was an 52 Old Japan. invasion of Korea, which was completely overrun by Hideyoshi's forces, while it was only by the death of Hideyoshi that the Japanese army was prevented from marching against the capital of China. This expedition was altogether unjustifiable, and brought no advantage to any one. It is interesting, as giving us an insight into the character of this extraordinary man. He seems to have been intoxicated with his elevation from the lowest origin to a position of lord- ship over the feudatory chiefs of his country. His arrogance was astounding ; and in his communications with Korea he did not hesitate to assume titles con- sistent only with imperial rank. On account of his ignoble origin, he was ineligible for the title of Shogun. This, however, he strove to obtain, giving it out that he was of the Taira house. It was refused ; but fearing to provoke him too much, the Emperor conferred upon him the only less dignified title of Kampaku, at the same time giving him the family name of Toyotomi. After the deaths of Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Iyeyasu was left the virtual ruler of Japan. At first he governed the country as Regent in place of Hideyori, the son whom Hideyoshi had nominated as his successor; but his increasing popularity awoke the jealousy both of the partisans of Hideyori and of those of Nobunaga's family. These combined to overthrow him, and the consequence was the great Yedo comes into Note. 53 battle of Sekigahara, fought in 1600, in which Iye- yasu came off completely victorious. Three years later, in 1603, — a date which singularly enough coin- cides with that of the union of the English and Scot- tish crowns, 1 — he was appointed by the Emperor Shogun, a dignity which, being of the house of Minamoto, he was entitled to bear. Like Yoritomo, he resolved to select a city as the centre of his power; and that which seemed to him most suitable was, not Kamakura, which ere this had lost much of its glory, but the little castle-town of Yedo, about thirty-five miles farther north. Here he and his successors swayed the destinies of Japan from 1603 until the Restoration in 1868. Hitherto we have seen two readily distinguish- able periods in the history of Japan, — (1) the period during which the Mikados were the actual as well as the nominal rulers of the empire ; and (2) the period, fairly reached on Yoritomo's appointment to the Shogunate, during which the imperial power more and more passed into the hands of usurping mayors of the palace, and the country was kept in an almost constant ferment with the feuds of rival noble families which coveted this honour. Successively the power (although not always the title) of Shogun had been 1 A still more curious coincidence is, that tobacco was about this time introduced into Japan, and that Iyeyasu, like James I., was a strong opponent of tobacco-smoking ! 54 Old Japan. held by members of the Minamoto, Hojo, Ashikaga, Ota, and Toyotomi families. With Iyeyasu we pass into a third period, — like the second in that the dual system of feudal government still prevailed, but unlike it in that it was a period of peace. Much strife had accompanied the erection of the fabric of feudalism, but it now stood complete. To the genius of Iyeyasu is due this consolidation of the feudal system of his country. Under the Tokugawa dynasty (so to call it) which he founded, that dual adminis- tration to which events had for centuries been tend- ing, and which hitherto had only partially been realized, found its full development. The Mikado in Kiyoto, and the Daimiyos in their different pro- vinces, alike ceased to protest. Within certain limits they had the regulation of their own affairs ; the Mikado was ever recognised as the source of all authority, and the Daimiyos, in their own provinces, were petty kings ; but it was the Shogun in Yedo who undisputed — at least in practice, whatever some of the more powerful Daimiyos may have said — swayed the destinies of the empire. Before further considering the system of govern- ment which Iyeyasu bequeathed to his country, let us note the policy which he and his predecessors, Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, adopted towards the foreigners who, as missionaries or merchants, had found their way to Japan. A Jesuit in Kiyoto. 55 It was in 1 542, as we have seen, that Portuguese trading vessels first visited Japan. The exchange of commodities seems to have been allowed to go on quietly, without any opposition on the part either of Japanese merchants or of the government. The successes of the Jesuit missionaries soon, however, attracted the attention of the authorities. Mr J. H. Gubbins, in his ' Review of the Introduction of Christianity into China and Japan,' to which I am indebted for most of my information on this subject, translates an interesting extract from a work en- titled ' Saikoku Kirishitan Bateren Jitsu Roku? i.e., ' True Record of Christian Padres in Kiushiu,' which, after giving a minute description of the ap- pearance and dress of Organtin, a Jesuit missionary who had appeared in Kiyoto, continues as follows: — ' He was asked his name, and why he had come to Japan; and replied, that he was the Padre Organtin, and had come to spread his religion. He was told that he could not be allowed at once to spread his religion, but would be informed later on. Nobunaga accordingly took counsel with his retainers as to whether he should allow Christianity to be preached or not One of these strongly advised him not to do so, on the ground that there were already enough religions in the country. But Nobunaga replied, that Buddhism had been introduced from abroad, and had done good in the country, and he therefore did not 56 Old Japan. see why Christianity should not be granted a trial. Organtin was consequently allowed to erect a church, and to send for others of his order, who when they came were found to be like him in appearance. Their plan of action was to tend the sick, and so prepare the way for the reception of Christianity, and then to convert every one, and make the thirty-six provinces of Japan subject to Portugal.' In this last clause we have an explana- tion of the policy which the Japanese government ultimately adopted towards Christianity and all foreign innovations. Under the patronage of Nobunaga, Christianity made considerable progress in Kiyoto, while in various parts of Kiushiu, especially Bungd, the Daimiyo of which had become a convert, and in Yamaguchi, the capital of the province of Choshiu, its influence rapidly increased. During the first few years of Hideyoshi's administration, there was a strong Christian party in the country. In 1585, the missionary star! was reinforced, not at all to the satisfaction of the Jesuits, by the arrival of four Spanish Franciscan monks, who accompanied an ambassador from the Governor of the Philippines. Latterly Nobunaga had somewhat repented of the favour he had shown to the new religion, though his death occurred before his dissatisfaction had ma- nifested itself in any act of repression. Hideyoshi Persecution of Christia,7ts. 57 had never been well disposed to Christianity, but other matters prevented him from at once meddling with the policy of his predecessors. His first con- cern was to secure his position, and his pre- eminence was not so universally palatable that he could afford to offend the professors of a religion among whom were two of his own generals, the governor of Osaka, and many other officers of state and influential nobles. But in 1588 he ventured to issue an edict, commanding the missionaries to as- semble at Hirado, an island off the west coast of Kiushiu, and prepare to leave Japan. The mission- aries obeyed ; but as the edict was not enforced, they again returned to their work of evangelization, placing themselves under the direction of the differ- ent Christian nobles. A year, however, before his death in 1594, Hideyoshi's spirit of persecution found vent in the burning at Nagasaki of six Fran- ciscians and three Jesuits, who had by his orders been arrested in Kiyoto and Osaka. Iyeyasu was as much opposed to Christianity as Hideyoshi, and his hatred of the new religion was intensified by his partiality for Buddhism. As soon as his military campaigns were over, he issued a decree of expulsion against the missionaries. This was in 1600 ; but the decree was not at once carried into effect. The date of the first arrival in Japan of Dutch merchants was 1600. They settled in the 58 Old Japan. island of Hirado. In the following year embassies arrived from the Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese ; and in 1613 Saris obtained permission to found an English factory at Hirado. In 1614 the decree of Iyeyasu was put in force. A dire persecution com- menced in all the provinces in which Christians were to be found, which means in all but eight provinces of the empire and against a community numbering 2,000,000 souls. The 200 missionaries were given an opportunity of embarking from Naga- saki ; several, who chose to conceal themselves in the country, were ultimately discovered and put to death. The persecution continued for years after the death of Iyeyasu, reaching its culmination in the tragedy of Shimabara (1637), when 30,000 Christians who had there revolted were massacred, many of them being hurled into the sea from the top of the island-rock of Takaboko-shima (by the Dutch named Pappenberg) in the harbour of Nagasaki. The outcome of the whole was a policy of the most thorough isolation on the part of the rulers of Japan. Iyemitsu, the grandson of Iyeyasu, and after him the ablest of the Tokugawa Shoguns, carried this out so fully that for two and a half centuries Japan was all but dead to the rest of the world. It was under him that there took place the dreadful persecution which was partly the cause and partly the effect of the revolt at Shimabara. Policy of Isolation. 59 The favourable policy adopted by Iyeyasu in re- gard to foreign trade was completely reversed. No foreigners were allowed to set foot on the soil of Japan except Chinese and a few Dutch merchants, the latter of whom were confined to Deshima, a piece of made land in the harbour of Nagasaki, and were required every year to send a repre- sentative to Yedo to do homage to the Shogun. Any European vessel approaching the coast was at once to be referred to Nagasaki, whence it was to be sent home. The whole crew of any junk in which a missionary should reach Japanese shores were to be put to death, and death was likewise the penalty incurred by any Japanese who should seek to leave his country. The better to remove all temptations to go abroad, it was decreed that no ships should be constructed above a certain size, and with other than the open sterns of coasting-vessels. Iyeyasu's decree of 1614 is such a characteristic document, and throws so much light on the motives which actuated the rulers of Japan in their repres- sion of foreign intercourse, that I am tempted to quote it at length : — 'PROCLAMATION OF IYEYASU. 1 ' The Positive Principle is the father, the Nega- tive Principle the mother, by whom man is 1 The translation is that of Mr Ernest Satow. 60 Old Japan. begotten, and with his birth the Three Powers are complete. ' Japan, from the commencement, was the country of the gods. The unfathomableness of the Positive and Negative Principles is called god ; and who shall refuse reverence and honour to the essence of all that is Holy and Spiritual ? Man owes his existence entirely to the workings of the Positive and Negative ; in his five members, and in the six sources of perception, in his uprising and sitting down, in moving and in being still, he is not inde- pendent of god for a single moment. The divinity is sought for elsewhere ; everywhere man is pro- vided with a divinity, and contains a complete divinity within himself. This is the form which divinity takes. 'Japan is called the land of Buddha, and not without reason. It is written : — " This is the country where the divine brightness reappears ; this is the native land of the Sun." The Lotus of the Law says : " The power by which Buddhas save the world, resides in their perfect omniscience, whereby they make happy all living beings, wherefore they make manifest immeasurable divine power." This is a golden saying, a miraculous passage. God and Buddha differ in name, but their meaning is one, just as if the two halves of a tally be placed together. The priests and laymen of antiquity, by The Edict of Iyeyasu. 6 1 the divine aid, sailed over the ocean, and visited the far-off land of China in search of the law of Buddha, and the doctrines of the principles of benevolence ; unweariedly they bore hither the esoteric and exoteric books. Since that time the doctrine has been handed down from teacher to teacher in unbroken succession, and the glory of the Buddhist Law has been far greater than in other lands. This exemplifies the truth that "the Law of Buddha gradually travels eastwards." ' But the Kirishitan band have come to Japan, not only sending their merchant vessels to ex- change commodities, but also longing to dis- seminate an evil law, to overthrow right doctrine, so that they may change the government of the country, and obtain possession of the land. This is the germ of great disaster, and must be crushed. ' Japan is the country of gods and of Buddha ; it honours god and reveres Buddha. The principles of benevolence and right-doing are held to be of prime importance, and the law of good and evil is so ascertained, that if there be any offenders, they are liable, according to the gravity of their crime, to the five punishments of branding, nose-slitting, cutting off the feet, castration, and death. In the Book of Etiquette it is said : " The degrees of mourning are many, and the appropriate dresses 62 Old Japan. are five. Crimes are many, and the appropriate punishments are five." If there be one suspected of crime, let the gods bear witness. By oath shall be determined the offence and its punishment, and the distinction between guilty and innocent shall not err by a hair's breadth. Criminals of every degree are detested by Buddha, god, the trinity of precious ones, mankind, Heaven, and all living things. The overflowings of accumulated wicked- ness shall not escape; whether by crucifixion or burning in the furnace, punishment shall be meted out, for this is the way of encouraging the good and chastising the evil. Though one may desire to keep down evil, it accumulates with ease ; though one desire to advance in good, it is difficult to hold by ; and thus a watch must be kept. In the present life it must be so, and in the next, not even all the Buddhas past, present, and to come, can save from the reproaches of the King of Hell, nor can the successive generations of our ancestors succour us. Fear and tremble ! ' The faction of the Bateren 1 rebel against this dispensation ; they disbelieve in the way of the gods, and blaspheme the true Law, violate right doing and injure the good. If they see a con- demned fellow, they run to him with joy, bow to him, and do him reverence. This they say is the 1 i. e. , Padre?, The Edict of Iyeyasu. 63 essence of their belief. If this is not an evil Law, what is it ? They truly are the enemies of the gods and of Buddha. If this be not speedily pro- hibited, the safety of the state will assuredly here- after be imperilled ; and if those who are charged with ordering its affairs do not put a stop to the evil, they will expose themselves to Heaven's rebuke. 1 These must be instantly swept out, so that not an inch of soil remains to them in Japan on which to plant their feet ; and if they refuse to obey this command, they shall suffer the penalty. We have been blessed by the commission of Heaven to be lord in Japan, and we have wielded power over this realm for years past. Abroad we have manifested the perfection of the Five Cardinal Virtues, while at home we have returned to the doctrine of the scriptures. For these reasons the country prospers, the people enjoy peace. The scripture says : " If the present life be peaceful and tranquil, there will be a good place in that to come." Kung-fu-tze 1 also has said : " Body, hair, and skin we have received from our father and mother ; not to injure them is the beginning of filial piety." To preserve one's body is to revere god. Quickly cast out the evil Law, and spread our true Law more and more ; for the way of the gods and the Law 1 Confucius. 64 Old Japan. of Buddha to prosper in spite of the degeneracy of these latter days is a mark of a good ruler. Let Heaven and the Four Seas hear this and obey.' The edict was accompanied by a set of fifteen rules intended to guide the priests in testing the orthodoxy of their parishioners ; of these the two following are perhaps the most interesting : — ' Because the Kirishitan law teaches that those who despise death can pass through fire without being burnt, or be plunged into water without being drowned, and that those who die by shedding their own blood are saved ; the law of the Empire is most strict. Therefore you must examine such as make light of death.' ' Kirishitan, the Hidden-sect, and the Fujiu-fuze, are three branches of one sect. The god whom they adore is called Godzu-Kirishitan-Teidzu-butsu; and Teidzu calls himself Daiusu (Deus ?). By the help of this god, if they look in a mirror, they see the face of a god, but if they have changed their religion, they appear as dogs. This is a mirror of the evil law. Those who once look at it believe profoundly in Godzu-Kirishitan-Teidzu-butsu, and regard Japan as a land of demons. But as it is the country of the gods, which tries sects, they appear to keep to the temple of their (Buddhist) sect, mix with other people, and in their hearts Partiality for Buddhism. 65 they neither receive nor give (Fujiu-fuze), and have no connection with the temple of their (Buddhist) sect. These must therefore be examined.' In the above, Iyeyasu's partiality for the Bud- dhist faith is very evident. Was it then the opposi- tion of the Buddhists, that led to the persecution of the Christians and the consequent sealing of the country? No doubt, to a certain extent. The missionaries would seem to have behaved very badly towards the Buddhist priests, calling them devils, and overthrowing their images and temples. The Daimiyo of Bungo, who has been already noticed as one of the most influential Christian converts, is said to have at one time, during war, destroyed a magnificent temple with a colossal statue, and burned 3000 monasteries. People were sometimes even threatened with expulsion from their homes unless they would instantly adopt the new religion. The opposition of the Buddhists, therefore, was only natural, and no doubt was one factor in bringing about the edict against Chris- tianity. But, on the other hand, there is to be taken into account the religious toleration which had always been characteristic of Japan. Buddhism itself was an exotic, and Nobunaga was expressing a thoroughly Japanese sentiment when he said that he did not see why Christianity should not be granted a trial as well as Buddhism. Religious E 66 Old Jaban. persecution was unknown in Japan before the ad- vent of the Jesuit missionaries. 1 No, there can be no doubt that it was fear of foreign conquest that inspired the policy of Iyeyasu and his successors. The independence of the country seemed to be imperilled, and this must be main- tained at any cost. In the Japanese mind there is no such inborn antipathy to innovation as is so characteristic of the Chinese. Far otherwise. No- velty is even a recommendation, and the national tendency is perhaps as excessively towards the new as that of the Chinese is against it. In the light of this fact, the revolution of 1868 becomes intelligible ; the barriers being removed, the national inquisitiveness got free vent. But equally strong with this trait is the love of independence. The Japanese nation have never, in all the long centuries of their existence, been conquered ; of this they are proud, and each generation is determined to transmit the national independence intact. 2 It was the patriotism of Iyeyasu that was aroused, 1 In saying this, I do not forget the warfare which Nobunaga and others waged upon many of the Buddhist monasteries, for it was their assumption of political power that brought the monks into trouble, and there was no persecution of individual Buddhist believers as such. 2 On one occasion the Emperor of China sent to the Emperor of Japan a message couched in characteristically arrogant terms : these the latter cleverly resented by thus prefacing his reply, 'From the Son of Heaven where the sun rises to the Son of Heaven where it sets.' Openness to Conviction. 67 and all other considerations than the mainten- ance of his country's integrity had to go to the wall. Many facts might be advanced to show that it was no unreasonable prejudice against things foreign that shut Japan out from the rest of the world. In the first place, we have the immemorial attitude of the nation towards the neighbouring states of China and Korea ; it was from them that Japan received her philosophy, her system of orthography, the more popular of her religions, and indeed most of the arts of civilization. We even read of Japanese adventurers reaching Siam, and of one of these becoming Regent of that kingdom and son-in-law of its king. Then proof is afforded by certain acts of Iyeyasu during the earlier years of his administra- tion — his sending for the Dutch captains who were reported to have arrived near Osaka, and in the light of their information conceiving the idea of establishing commercial relations with the countries of the West, his giving audience likewise to certain English captains, and authorising them to trade, at the same time giving them a letter to their sove- reign, his sending a Japanese ship to visit the Spanish possessions in America, etc. But nothing could more strikingly show how the Japanese rulers were really open to conviction, than the conduct of Hidetada, Iyeyasu's son and successor, in sending 68 Old Japan. one Ibi Masayoshi to Europe to study the Roman Catholic religion. This was after the death of his father, and consequently after the promulgation of the edict of 1614. It seems as if he had been most anxious, if possible, to allow free intercourse with foreign nations. Bad reports had been circulated as to the principles, practice, and motives of the Christian missionaries : these might be mistaken ; at any rate, one more effort should be made to get at the truth. So Ibi was sent to investigate Christi- anity on its own ground. At the end of several years he returned, and was immediately summoned to the Shogun's palace to give his report. For a whole day and night, we are told, Hidetada listened attentively; and when some of his courtiers ventured to hint that he might thus injure his health, he replied : ' You speak of my fatigue, gentlemen, but what is that in comparison with the fatigues, nay the troubles, the privations, and the dangers which Ibi Masayoshi has not shrunk from undergoing in order faithfully to fulfil his mission?' Ibi's report was not satisfactory to the Shogun, and his father's policy was confirmed. The real cause of Japan's exclusiveness was a fear that free intercourse with the outside world might lead her into subjection to some foreign power. But what power ? Some have thought that it was the Pope that was dreaded. The Jesuits, Fear of Foreign Conqtiest. 69 say they, acquired such a hold upon the country, that they at length ventured to assert the temporal supremacy of the Pope, and by precept and example, to excite their converts to set the laws of their country at defiance. This view, although very plausible, would seem not to be borne out by facts. On the other hand, we have evidence that the Dutch and English traders did all in their power to preju- dice the rulers of Japan against the Spaniards and Portuguese, whether missionaries or merchants. The Dutch are even accused of having forged a letter which purported to be written by the Portuguese Bishop at Nagasaki to the Viceroy at Goa, and from which it appeared that the Spaniards and Portuguese, in sending missionaries to Japan, were preparing the way for the annexation of that country to their own dominions. When these re- presentations were confirmed by the stories of renegade converts, it is hardly surprising that the Japanese rulers felt themselves called upon to adopt measures of repression. And we cannot but admire the vigour with which these measures were carried out, however much we may deplore their adoption. Thus for two and a half centuries was foreign light shut out from Japan. The name of Christ was deemed accursed. It called up the ideas of sorcery, sedition, and all that was prejudicial to the purity jo Old Japan, of home and the peace of society. On the public notice-boards, which stood at all places of concourse throughout the empire, superscribed with prohi- bitions against the crimes that disturb society was one tablet which startled the beholder more than any other ; it was that directed against 1 the wicked sect,' and its burden was somewhat as follows : — ' Although the Kirishitan sect has been re- peatedly prohibited, yet at every change of ruler it is right to issue a decree that rigid scrutiny may be made without cessation. Of course every sus- picious person must be informed against. ' Formerly 200 pieces of silver were given to one who denounced a father (Bateren), and 100 pieces to him who denounced a brother (Iruman). Hence- forward the following rewards will be given : — ' To the denouncer of a Father . . 500 pieces of silver. „ Brother . . 300 ,, ,, ,, Catechist or of a mem- ber of the sect . 100 ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, of One who, after apos- tatizing from Christi- anity, has been re- perverted . 300 ,, „ 1 If concealment be practised, and the fact be discovered through some other channel, the other members of the offender's company-of-five will be The Family the Basis of Society. ji considered guilty of an offence. This is therefore notified.' 1 Such notifications were still to be seen in every village up to the year 1868. We turn now to Iyeyasu's internal policy. This is embodied in The Legacy of Iyeyasu, a treatise which, professing to have been written by the law- giver himself, throws much light on the nature of Japanese feudalism. For the most part, it is a selection of laws that had been long in force, but it is original in so far as it contains maxims of government for the guidance of Iyeyasu's succes- sors. With the help of an English barrister, 2 who has made a study of this work, let us examine some of its points of interest. Then, as now, the basis of Japanese life was the family. The head of the family, like the Roman Paterfamilias, had absolute control over the persons and property of his children ; but his liabilities were in keeping with his rights, for he was responsible for all the ill-doings of any of his family. But the family was often not natural, but artificial ; persons whom we should exclude were admitted to it, and others whom we should invariably admit might be excluded. This arose through the constant practice of adoption on the one hand and emancipation on ' Mr Satow's translation. 2 Mr W. E. Grigsby, in the Transactions of the A. S. J. j2 Old Japan. the other. A man with no male heirs adopted a member of another family, who was thus brought into exactly the same legal position that a natural son would have filled, except that, if his adopted father had a daughter, he was required to marry her. For this practice of adoption there were two reasons, one religious and the other political ; the ancestral sacrifices had to be maintained from gene- ration to generation, and, unless a vassal left a male heir, his land escheated to his lord. Again, the practice of emancipation, or the dismissal of a son from the family, afforded the father relief from the responsibility of having within his home circle any irredeemably bad character. Marriage was not a contract between the parties or a religious institution ; it was a handing over of the bride from her own family to that of her husband. The filial relation was of more account than the con- jugal. A man did not, as in Christian countries, ' leave father and mother, and cleave unto his wife.' Both the person and property of the wife passed under the control of her husband, subject to reference to a council of family relations. A man was expected to marry at the age of sixteen, and a woman at thirteen. So much for the internal aspect of the Japanese family. But each family was connected with other families, claiming to be descended from the same Elaborate Fetidatzsm. 73 ancestors ; and thus about fifty great clans were formed, of which the principal were the Gen, To, Hei, and Kitsu. To certain clans certain dignities were confined ; thus the Shogunate was the property of the Gen clan, and it was because they did not belong to this clan that neither the Hojo rulers, nor Nobu- naga, nor Hideyoshi, bore the title, although they wielded the power, of Shogun. In this condition of society there was much that was analogous to that which existed in ancient Greece and Italy. But the peculiar point about the Japanese civilization was this, that on the family as basis a superstructure of feudalism was reared. In Europe, feudalism supplanted the earlier form of society in which the family was the unit ; in Japan, the one was superimposed upon the other. And incongruous as this combination may appear, it existed with a feudalism which was perhaps the most elaborate the world has seen. At the head of Japanese feudalism stood the Shogun ; next to him came the Daimiyos, chief vassals possessing a revenue exceeding 10,000 koku (1 kokuz=$'i$ bushels), of whom there were 245: the Daimiyos farmed their lands, in return for mili- tary service, to their Samurai, or vassals ; and in the larger daimiates the Samurai sublet their land on the same conditions. The Shogun, himself only primus inter pares among the Daimiyos, had two 74 Old Japan. special classes of vassals attached to his person, called respectively Hatamoto and Gokenin, on whom he chiefly depended for service about his person in time of war. Military service was due from every one who held land ; whenever, through age or sickness, a vassal became incapable of rendering this, he was required to abdicate in favour of his son, and if he had no son, his lands were forfeited ; hence, as before mentioned, the importance of the custom of adop- tion. Each Daimiyo lived with his Samurai in a walled town, while the agriculturists, the artisans, and the merchants lived outside, — the two last imme- diately below the wall, and the agriculturists in various parts of the daimiate. To this arrangement Mr Grigsby finds a parallel in the relative position of the patricians and plebeians in the early Latin communities, the former occupying the arx, or hill, and the latter the low ground beneath it. In Western Europe, on the other hand, it was the barons and their retainers who lived in the country, and the commons who occupied the walled towns, within the protection of which they had free scope for the de- velopment of commerce. Each daimiate was com- plete in itself, and its lord had, within its limits, absolute authority, thus realizing, Mr Grigsby says, the idea of independence which the Greek states strove in vain to accomplish. In spite, however, of these clear lines of separation between different clans Maxims of Government. 75 and different classes, a caste system never existed in Japan. 1 We now come to the maxims of government which Iyeyasu bequeathed to his successors. To- wards the Mikado the Shogun was to maintain an attitude of reverential homage, doing everything to strengthen his theoretical supremacy; and due re- spect was also to be shown to the Mikado's relatives, and to the Kuge, or old court aristocracy. This policy was unlike that of some of the former Shoguns, notably the Ashikagas, who had sometimes treated the Mikado with contempt. By the earlier Toku- gawas it was strictly followed ; we even read of Iyemitsu doing homage to his own sister on her ac- cession to the imperial throne : but ultimately the Tokugawa Shoguns got into the habit of ignoring the Mikado ; and a glaring instance of this in the negotiations with foreigners, furnished a pretext to the party which desired the overthrow of the Sho- gunate, and thus helped to hasten that event. As to their superiors, so to their inferiors, the Shoguns were enjoined to behave with courtesy and consider- ation, avoiding all tyranny, and making the promo- tion of peace the chief end of their rule. ' To assist 1 It is true that there was a class of persons called Yeta, said to be descendants of Korean prisoners, who followed the occupation of leather-dressers or buriers of dead animals, and who were not allowed even to enter the houses of others than members of their own class. J 6 Old Jaban. the people/ says Iyeyasu, ' is to give peace to the empire.' Another recommendation was, that the places of government of the lesser Daimiyos should be frequently changed, — ostensibly for the preven- tion of misgovernment, but really that none of them might acquire local influence. This was easily en- forced in the case of the less powerful nobles, many of whom were of the Tokugawa house, and owed their position to Iyeyasu ; but with powerful chief- tains like those of Satsuma, Choshiu, and Tosa, it was vain to attempt such a supervision ; and this, as we shall see, proved the fatally weak point of the Toku- gawa regime, for it was the clans of Satsuma, Choshiu, and Tosa, that had the chief share in bringing about its overthrow in 1868. Iyemitsu carried out the feudal policy even further than his grandfather. By him the Daimiyos were required to reside alternately in Yedo and in their own provinces. Outside the castle of Yedo they had to appear before him and reswear allegiance, writing their signatures to the compact in their own blood. Iyetsuna, his son, acted still more oppressively, by issuing a decree that, even when absent from Yedo, the Daimiyos should leave their families behind them as hostages. Thus were the Daimiyos gradually reduced from a position of equality with the Shogun to one of vassalage. In the Legacy no clear distinction is made be- tween law and morality ; he who obeys the laws Features of Iyeyasus Code. 7 7 is virtuous, he who disobeys is vicious. Again, as life within each daimiate was regulated by custom, there is no place in the code for substantive law, which bulks so largely in our statute-books, — the law of contracts, the law of personal property, of will, commercial, and maritime law ; on the other hand, much attention is paid to criminal law relating to the status of persons and of classes, to etiquette and ceremonial, to tables of rank and precedence, to political administration and govern- ment. A third feature of Iyeyasu's code is the provision which it makes for the exercise of private vengeance ; a man was allowed a certain period in which, on giving due notice, he might avenge an injury done to his father or his lord. Lastly, this code was to be kept secret from all but the chief councillors of state ; although written, it was not to be promulgated. As in more primitive com- munities, where writing is unknown, custom was to have absolute sway. ' The magistrates/ says Iyeyasu, ' are reflectors of the mode of government;' theirs it is not to make but to interpret the law. Under the strong rule of the Tokugawa Shoguns, the long-distracted Japanese empire at length en- joyed two and a half centuries of peace and pros- perity. The innate love of art, literature, and education which almost constant warfare had pre- vented from duly developing among the people had yS Old Jaban. now an opportunity of producing- fruit. And as it had shown itself in former intervals of rest, so was it now. Under the patronage of Iyeyasu was com- posed the Dai Nihon Shi, the first detailed history of Japan. Tsunayoshi, his successor (1681-1709), founded at Seido, Yedo, a Confucian university, and was such an enthusiast for literature that he used to assemble the princes and high officials about him and expound to them passages from the Chinese classics. Yoshimune, another Shogun, was much interested in astronomy and other branches of science. He did much to improve agriculture, and during his administration rice became so cheap that he earned the title of Kome-Shogun, or ' Rice- Shogun.' Legal matters also engaged his atten- tion ; he undid Iyeyasu's policy, in so far as to publish a revised criminal code, and the adminis- tration of the law he took pains to improve, for- bidding the use of torture, except in cases where there was flagrant proof of guilt. He built an astronomical observatory at Kanda, Yedo, estab- lished at his court a professorship of Chinese litera- ture, and caused texts from the Chinese ethics to be distributed throughout the schools of the city, there to be used by the pupils as copies. Iyenori (Shogun from 1787 to 1838) threw the classes of the Confucian university open to the public. 1 Everybody,' says one writer, ' from the nobility Peace and Prosperity. jg down to the masses of the people, began to ap- preciate literary studies.' Maritime commerce within the limits of the four seas was encouraged by the Shogun's government, regular services of junks being established between the principal ports. Nor must we forget that to the Tokugawas is due the foundation 1 of the great city of Yedo, with its vast fortifications and its triumphs of art in the shrines of Shiba and Uyeno. It was at this period, too, that the matchless shrines of Nikko were reared in memory of the greatness of Iyeyasu and Iyemitsu. But throughout all this period of peace and progress the light of the outer world was excluded. The people made the best use of the light they had, but after all it was but dim. The learning by rote of thousands of Chinese characters, and the acqui- sition of skill in the composition of Chinese and Japanese verse, were little worthy to be the highest literary attainments possible to the most aspiring of the youth of Japan. In the domain of art there was more that was inviting. But scientific know- ledge was tantalizingly meagre, and that little was overlaid with Chinese absurdities. When we con- sider that the isolation of the country was due to no spirit of exclusiveness in the national character, 1 It had existed before the time of Iyeyasu, but as a place of little importance. 8o Old Japan. that indeed it was the result of a policy that, so to speak, actually went against the grain of the people, how many restless spirits must there have been during these long years who kept longing for more light. Fortunately there was one little chink at Deshima, in the harbour of Nagasaki, and of this some of the more earnest were able to take advan- tage. Instances can be recorded — and there must be many more of which w r e can know nothing — of Japanese students displaying the truest heroism in surmounting the difficulties that lay in the way of their learning foreign science. Mr K. Mitsukuri, in the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, relates a most impressive instance of this kind : In the year 1771, a young physician of Yedo, named Sugita, succeeded in obtaining a Dutch book on anatomy. Of the Dutch language he could neither read nor understand a word ; but the illustrations interested him, more especially as he noticed that they represented the human organism to be very different from what the Japanese professors of anatomy taught re- garding it. He conceived an intense longing to test whether the Dutch or the Japanese theory was correct. An opportunity at length occurred. He was invited to a dissection in the execu- tion grounds of Kozukappara, Yedo. Thither, on the appointed day, he eagerly betook himself, Heroic Zeal for Learning. 81 along with two friends, Mayeda, who also had a copy of the Dutch book, and Nakagawa ; and the result of the investigation was, of course, the thorough con- firmation of the Dutch theory. The three friends were overjoyed, and at once formed a determination to master the foreign language. But how were they to proceed ? They had no dictionary, and could ob- tain no teacher. Fortunately, however, through inter- course with the Dutch merchants who periodically came from Nagasaki to pay their respects to the Shogun, Mayeda had learned the alphabet and about a hundred words. The three met regularly in Mayeda's house, and with his small stock of words, and the help of the illustrations, they labori- ously spelt their way through the volume, until, at the end of four years, Sugita had a Japanese work on anatomy ready for publication. This he issued, though at the risk of imprisonment ; and he had the satisfaction of not only seeing his book tolerated, but of succeeding in presenting a copy to the Shogun, who afterwards honoured him with an audience. How there came at length an unsettled dawn, and after the clouds of this had cleared, a dazzling inpouring of the light, will appear in the next chapter. CHAPTER III. NEW JAPAN. Arrival of U. S. Squadron under Commodore Perry — Consternation of Shogun and People — A Hot Debate — Treaty Signed — South- ern Clans eager for Downfall of Shogun — Mikado refuses to Indorse the Treaty — A Decade of Intrigue and Assassination — Distraction of Shogun's Government — Dissensions at Imperial Court — Resignation of Shogun — Short but Severe Civil War — The Restoration — Political and Social Revolution — Okubo's Memorial — Court transferred to Yedo, now called Tokiyo or Tokei — Alteration in Mikado's Mode of Life — Complete Over- throw of Feudalism — The Daimiyos resign their Fiefs to the Mikado — Commutation of Pensions of ex-Daimiyos and ex- Samurai — A Japanese Cincinnatus — Satsuma Rebellion — Re- formed Government — Popular Assemblies — Extract from H. E. Okuma's Report on the Reforms of the last Thirteen Years — Address by H. E. Sano at Close of National Exhibition of 1 88 1 — The Japanese naturally an Assimilative People — Present Financial Condition of Japan — Japan not ' played out ' — Agi- tation for Revision of Treaties — Spirited Foreign Policj — Christianity necessary for National Welfare. On the 7th of July, 1853, Japan was startled out of her slumber by the appearance off Uraga, in the bay of Yedo, of a squadron of four American war- ships under the command of Commodore Perry. Mr Adams, in his History of Japan, gives a graphic description, from native accounts, of the consternation into which the Shogun and his minis- ters were thrown. Consternation in Yedo. 83 ' The Shogun Iyeyoshi, on receiving information by a messenger despatched with all speed by the governor on the spot, was exceedingly troubled, and summoned all the officials to a council. At first the affair seemed so sudden and so formidable, that they were too alarmed to open their mouths, but in the end orders were issued to all the great clans to keep strict watch at various points on the shore, as it was possible that the barbarian vessels might proceed to commit acts of violence. A learned Chinese scholar was sent to Uraga, had an interview with the American Envoy, and returned with the letter (of the American President), which expressed the desire of the United States to estab- lish friendship and intercourse with Japan. There- upon the Shogun was greatly distressed, and again summoned a council. He also asked the opinion of the Daimiyos. The assembled officials were exceedingly disturbed, and nearly broke their hearts over consultations which lasted all day and all night. The nobles and retired nobles of Yedo were informed they were at liberty to state any ideas they might have on the subject, and although they all gave their opinions, the diversity of propositions was so great that no decision was arrived at.' Then the citizens of Yedo and the surrounding villages were in great tumult, fearing that there would be a war, for which the country, by long disuse, was 84 New Japan. totally unprepared, and while some began to run hither and thither in search of arms, others carried off their furniture and valuables to a distance. Meanwhile, the Envoy was impatiently demanding an answer. At length a temporizing policy was adopted ; the Envoy was informed, that in a matter of so much importance, a decision could not be at once reached, and that, if he now left, he would on his return get a definite answer. No wonder there was commotion. The nine- teenth century had come suddenly into contact with the fourteenth. The spirit of commerce and the spirit of feudalism, two great but conflicting forces that have in their turn moved society, met in their full development, and there could not but be a convulsion. We are hardly surprised to hear that the Shogun died before Commodore Perry's return, or that during the next few years the land was harassed by earthquakes and pesti- lence. Perry's second appearance was in February, 1854. A hot debate took place in the Shogun's council as to the answer that should be given. The following was the advice of the old Daimiyo of Mito, 1 the head of one of the three families which, forming the 1 He had shortly before been confined to his secondary palace in Yedo, for having melted all the Buddhist bells in his district into cannon ! Conflicting Opinions. 85 Tokugawa clan, furnished the occupants of the Shogunate : 'At first,' he said, 'they will give us philosophical instruments, machinery, and other curiosities ; will take ignorant people in ; and trade being their chief object, they will manage bit by bit to impoverish the country ; after which they will treat us just as they like — perhaps behave with the greatest rudeness and insult us, and end by swallow- ing up Japan. If we do not drive them away now, we shall never have another opportunity. If we now resort to a dilatory method of proceeding, we shall regret it afterwards when it will be of no use.' Others gave contrary advice, saying, ' If we try to drive them away, they will immediately commence hostilities, and then we shall be obliged to fight. If we once get into a dispute, we shall have an enemy to fight who will not be easily disposed of. He does not care how long he will have to spend over it, but he will come with several myriads of men-of- war and surround our shores completely ; however large a number of ships we might destroy, he is so accustomed to that sort of thing, that he would not care in the least. In time, the country would be put to an immense expense, and the people plunged in misery. Rather than allow this, as we are not the equals of foreigners in the mechanical arts, let us have intercourse with foreign countries, learn their drill and tactics, and, when we have made the 86 New Japan. nation as united as one family, we shall be able to go abroad and give lands in foreign countries to those who have distinguished themselves in battle! 1 The latter view carried, and a treaty with the United States was signed on the 31st March, 1854. Now, be it observed, that the Shogun did this without the sanction of the Mikado, whom indeed he had never yet consulted on the matter, and that he subscribed himself Tai Kun ('Tycoon'), i.e., Great Ruler, a title to which he had no right, and which, if it meant anything at all, involved an assumption of the authority of supreme ruler in the empire. This was the view naturally taken by Perry, and by the ambassadors from European countries who, a few years later, obtained treaties with Japan. They were under the impression that they were dealing with the Emperor ; and hearing of the existence of another potentate living in an inland city sur- rounded with a halo of national veneration, they conceived the plausible but erroneous theory, that the Tycoon was the temporal sovereign and this mysterious Mikado the spiritual sovereign of the country. They little dreamt that the so- called Tycoon was no sovereign at all, and that 1 A Japanese friend, now holding a high position in the diplo- matic service of his country, once acknowledged to the writer, that it was with some such idea as that italicised in the above sentence, that he first left Japan to study in America. The Shogun in a Quandary. 87 consequently the treaties which he signed had no legal validity. The Shogun could ill afford thus to lay himself open to a charge of treason. We have seen how from the first there was a certain class of Daimiyos who had never heartily submitted to the Tokugawa administration. These men found themselves unable to withstand the power of Iyeyasu and his im- mediate successors, but still even Iyeyasu himself could not see his way to control them as he did the lesser Daimiyos nearer Yedo. The principal clans which thus submitted to the Tokugawa regime under protest against what they considered a usurpation, an encroachment on the authority of the Mikado, whom alone they recognized as the divinely appointed ruler of Japan, were those of Satsuma, in the south of Kiushiu, Choshiu, se- parated from Kiushiu by the straits of Shimono- seki, and Tosa, in Shikoku. From the first, I say, these clans protested ; but, as the years of peace gradually cast their spell over the nation, making the people forgetful of war, and transforming the descendants of Iyeyasu into luxurious faineants much liker impotent Mikados than successors of the energetic soldier and lawgiver, their hopes more and more rose that an opportunity would be given them to overthrow the Shogunate and bring about the unification of the empire in the hands of the 88 New Japan. Mikado. Their time had now come. The Shogun was enervated, and he had so far forgotten himself as to open the country to foreign trade without the sanction of the Son of Heaven. It was this illegal act of the Shogun's that led to all the confusion, violence, and disaster of the next few years, and ultimately, in 1868, to the complete overthrow of his own power and the restoration of the Mikado to his rightful position as actual, as well as nominal, ruler of the empire. The Tokugawa regime was, at the time of Perry's mission, declining from internal causes, and pressure from without precipitated the end. Fearing the consequences of the illegal act into which he had been driven, the Shogun lost no time in sending messengers to Kiyoto to inform the Mikado of what had happened, and seek his sanction to the policy adopted. It was pled in excuse for the Shogun's conduct, that affairs had reached such a condition that he was driven to sign the treaty, and an earnest hope was expressed that a good under- standing would be come to on the subject. The Emperor, in great agitation, summoned a council of princes of the blood, Kuges, and others, and it is said that much violent language was used. The decision was unanimous against the Shogun's action ; the messengers were informed that no sanction could be given to the treaty. The next important step was not taken until u Q t/i u !/) < a m, U •J -s H ■*; "S" < £ u & o ■S o w > 5 ^ « H 5; < s o g « td •z 2 >-" w s h 2 O 6 Lord Elgin s Mission. 89 July, 1858, when Lord Elgin arrived with proposi- tions on the part of Great Britain for a treaty of amity and commerce. He was unaccompanied by any armed force, and brought a steam-yacht as a present from Queen Victoria to the Tycoon of Japan. A few months later, treaties were entered into with all the leading powers of Europe. But, if there was a political lull between 1854 and 1858, the poor Japanese had distractions of a very different kind. From a violent earthquake and consequent con- flagration, 104,000 of the inhabitants of Yedo are said to have lost their lives. A terrific storm swept away 100,000 more, and in a visitation of cholera 30,000 persons perished in Yedo alone. Moreover, just when the treaties were being signed, the Shogun Iyesada died, ' as if,' says Sir R. Alcock, ' a further victim was required for immolation on the altar of the outraged gods of Japan.' The political tempest that had been brewing now fairly burst. For the next ten years there was so much anarchy, intrigue, and bloodshed, that Japan became in Europe quite a byword for treachery and assassination. Defenceless foreigners were cut down in the streets of Yedo and Yoko- hama, and even in the Legations. Twice was the British Legation attacked, on one of the occasions being even taken by storm and held for a time by a band of free-lances. No foreigner's life was safe. 90 New Japan, Even when out on the most trivial errand, every foreign resident was accompanied by an armed escort furnished by the Shogun's government. The writer remembers being told by a member of the British diplomatic mission who went through part of this critical period how, for a time, it was almost impossible for him to get a night's sleep, through mental anxiety, irritated by the monotonous pacing of the guards outside, and the distracting repetition of the watchword, ' All's well' The effect on the mind of another member of the Legation staff was, that he went mad and committed suicide. It is needless to give an account of all the different assassinations, successful or attempted, which dark- ened this period. The Secretary to the American Legation was cut down near Shiba, Yedo, when returning from the Prussian Legation with an armed escort ; a Japanese interpreter attached to the British Legation was fatally stabbed in broad day- light while standing at the Legation flag-staff; one of the guard at the same Legation murdered two Englishmen in the garden, and then committed suicide ; an Englishman (Mr Richardson) was cut down on the highway between Yokohama and Yedo by certain retainers of the Daimiyo of Sa- tsuma, whose procession he had unwittingly crossed on horseback, etc., etc. Now, what was the leading motive that inspired Bitter Party Feeling. 91 all these acts of violence ? It is not a satisfactory answer to say hatred of foreigners. This was, no doubt, more or less involved, but the true explana- tion is to be found in the hostility of the Mikado's partisans to the Shogun's government All pos- sible means were taken to thwart the Shogun and bring him into complications with the ambassadors at his court. Every attack on a foreigner brought fresh trouble upon the Yedo government, and hastened its collapse. It is to the state of poli- tical parties at this epoch in Japanese his- tory, and not to mere ill-will against foreigners, that this policy of intrigue and assassination must be ascribed. It would take too long to discuss all the com- plications of this period, to inquire, e.g., how far, when the Japanese government failed to arrest and execute the murderer of Mr Richardson, the British were justified in demanding an indemnity of 500,000 dollars from the Shogun and 125,000 dollars from the Daimiyo of Satsuma, and in enforcing their demands with a threatened bombardment of Yedo and an actual bombardment of Kagoshima, or to inquire into the shelling of the Daimiyo of Choshiu's batteries at Shimonoseki in turn by the Americans, French, Dutch, and British, the men of Choshiu having fired upon some Dutch, French, and American vessels that had entered the Straits against the 92 New Japan. prohibition of the Japanese. 1 Such stern measures doubtless appeared to the foreign ambassadors necessary to prevent the expulsion, or even the utter extermination, of foreigners. Whether their policy was mistaken or not, certain it is that they can have had no adequate conception of the diffi- culties with which the Shogun had to contend. The position of that ruler was one of such distraction as might well evoke for him the pity of every dis- interested onlooker. Take, for example, the quan- dary into which the Shimonoseki affair brought him. At the very time when he was sending envoys to reprimand the Choshiu clan for firing on foreign vessels without orders, the Mikado's court at Kiyoto were issuing a proclamation to the clans, remons- trating with some of them for ' putting their hands in their pockets and looking on quietly when the barbarian ships had been attacked,' and asserting that it was 'the duty of all the clans to try to achieve the work with all possible speed.' Do as he would, he could not. escape trouble ; on the one side were the Mikado's partisans, ever growing in power and in determination to crush him, and on the other were the equally irresistible foreigners with their impatient demands and their alarming threats. He was as helpless as a man between a wall of rock and an advancing tide. 1 3,ooo,ooo dollars were moreover exacted as an indemnity. Dissension at the Imperial Court. 93 The internal difficulties of the country were in- creased by dissensions which broke out in the im- perial court. The clans of Satsuma and Choshiu had been summoned to Kiyoto to preserve order. For some reason or other the former were relieved of this duty, or rather privilege, and it therefore devolved exclusively upon the Choshiu men. Taking advantage of their position, the Choshiu men per- suaded the Mikado to undertake a progress to the province of Yamato, there to proclaim his intention of taking the field against foreigners ; but this pro- posal roused the jealousy of the other clans at the imperial court, as they feared that the men of Choshiu were planning to obtain possession of the Mikado's person, and thus acquire preeminence. 1 The intended progress was abandoned, and the men of Choshiu, accompanied by Sanjo (afterwards Prime Minister of the reformed government), and six other nobles who had supported them, were banished from Kiyoto. The ill-feeling thus occasioned between Choshiu and Satsuma was fomented by an unfortunate incident which occurred at Shimonoseki early in 1864. The former clan recklessly fired upon a vessel which, being of European build, they mistook for a foreign one, 1 The Mikado's authority remains from age to age undisputed. The most ambitious politicians would never think of usurping his pre- rogatives. Their highest aim is to rule in his name, and this they can do only when they have, or at least seem to have, his countenance. 94 New Japan. but which really belonged to Satsuma. Thus Cho- shiu was in disfavour both with the Shogun and with the Mikado, and in this year we have the strange spectacle of these two rulers leaguing their forces together for its punishment. On the 20th August, 1864, the Choshiu men advanced upon Kiyoto, but were repulsed with much slaughter, only, however, after the greater part of the city had been destroyed by fire. The rebellion was not at once quelled ; in- deed, the Choshiu Samurai were proving themselves more than a match for the troops which the Shogun had sent against them, when at length the imperial court ordered the fighting to be abandoned. 1 Simultaneously with the Choshiu rebellion, too, the Shogun had to meet an insurrection by the Daimiyo of Mito, in the east. His troubles, no doubt, A hastened his death, which took place at Osaka in September, 1866, shortly before the war against Choshiu terminated. Then there succeeded Keiki, the last of the Shoguns. It should be noted, however, that before this the Mikado's sanction had been obtained to the foreign treaties. In November, 1865, British, French, and 1 Some time before this, a reconciliation had been effected between the clans of Satsuma and Choshiu, chiefly through the instrumentality of Saigo Takamori, the brave and gifted general who afterwards be- came Commander-in-Chief of H.I. M. forces under the reformed government, but who latterly had the ill fate to fall as the leader of the Satsuma insurgents of 1877. Resignation of the Shogun. 95 Dutch squadrons came to anchor off Hiyogo (of which the foreign settlement of Kobe is now a suburb), and sent letters to Kiyoto demanding the imperial consent. The nearness of such an armed force was too great an argument to be withstood, and the demand was granted. Little more than a year after his accession to the dignity of the Shogunate, Keiki resigned. In doing so, he proved himself capable of duly appreciating the national situation. Now that foreigners had been admitted, it was more necessary than ever that the government should be strong, and this, it was seen, was impossible without the abolition of the old dual system. The Daimiyo of Tosa had thus written to Keiki : ' You should restore the governing power into the hands of the sovereign, and so lay a founda- tion on which Japan may take its stand as the equal of all other countries. This is the most imperative duty of the present moment' And Keiki, as we have seen, had the good sense to take this advice. His resignation was sent in to the Mikado 1 on the 19th of November, 1867. But the end was not yet. On the day when the Shogunate was abolished, 3d January, 1868, the forces friendly to the Tokugawas were dismissed from Kiyoto, and the guardianship of the imperial palace 1 The youthful Mutsuhito, who had succeeded his father Komei on February 3d, 1867. 96 New Japan. was committed to the clans of Satsuma, Tosa, and Geishiu (or Aki). This measure gave Keiki great offence, and, availing himself of a former order of the court, which directed him to continue the conduct of affairs, he marched, with his retainers and friends, to Osaka, and sent a request to the Mikado that all Satsuma men who had any share in the government should be dismissed. To this the court would not consent, and Keiki marched against Kiyoto with a force of 30,000, his object being to remove from the Mikado his bad counsellors. 1 A desperate engage- ment took place at Fushimi, the southern suburb of Kiyoto, in which the victory was with the loyalists. But this was only the beginning of a short but sharp civil war, of which the principal fighting was in the region between Yedo and Nikko. Even after Keiki had made submission, some of his partisans con- tinued hostilities, taking a final stand in the extreme north of the empire ; but at length the last shot was fired. The Restoration was now complete. Proclama- tion was made ' to sovereigns of all foreign nations and to their subjects, that permission had been granted to the Shogun Yoshinobu 2 to return the 1 This was the very reason given by Saigo when he raised his rebel army in 1877. 2 Or Keiki. He now lives, as a private gentleman, in his ances- tral city of Shidzuoka. The Restoration. 97 governing power in accordance with his own request ;' and the manifesto continued : ' Henceforward we shall exercise supreme authority, both in the internal and external affairs of the country. Consequently the title of Emperor should be substituted for that of Tycoon, which has been hitherto employed in the treaties.' Appended were the seal of Dai Nippon, and the signature Mutsuhito, this being the first occasion in Japanese history on which the name of an emperor had appeared during his lifetime. With the triumph of the imperial party one might have expected a return to the old policy of isolation. There can be no doubt that when the Satsuma, Choshiu, and other southern clans com- menced their agitation for the abolition of the Sho- gunate, their ideas with regard to foreign intercourse were decidedly retrogressive. But, after all, as has before been noted, the leading motive which inspired them was dissatisfaction with the semi-imperial po- sition occupied by the upstart Tokugawas ; to this their opposition to foreigners was quite secondary. It so happened that the Tokugawa Shoguns got in- volved with foreigners, and it was so much the worse for the foreigners, as witness the assassinations of the decade preceding 1868. To go deeper, what was at the bottom of this desire for the overthrow of the Shogunate ? Doubtless their patriotism. What they had at heart was the highest welfare of their country, G 98 New Japan. and this they believed impossible without its unifi- cation. Their primary motive, then, being patriotism, we need not be surprised that they were willing to entertain the notion that perhaps, after all, the pro- sperity of their country might best be ensured by the adoption of a policy of free foreign intercourse. This idea more and more commended itself, until it became a conviction ; and when they got into power, they astonished the world by the thoroughness with which they broke loose from the old traditions, and entered upon a policy of enlightened reformation. To the political and social revolution which accom- panied the Restoration of the Mikado in 1868, there has been no parallel in the history of mankind. We read that one of the first acts of the Mikado after the Restoration was to assemble the Kuges and Daimiyos, and make oath before them ' that a deli- berative assembly should be formed, and all measures be decided on by public opinion ; that impartiality and justice should form the basis of his action ; and that intellect and learning should be sought for throughout the world, in order to establish the found- ations of the empire.' In the midsummer of 1868, the Mikado, recog- nising Yedo as really the centre of the nation's life, made it the capital of the empire, and transferred his court thither ; but the name Yedo being distaste- ful on account of its associations with the Shogunate, Ye do becomes Tokiyo. 99 was abolished, and the city renamed Tokiyo, or Tokei, i.e., 4 Eastern Capital.' At the same time, the ancient capital, Kiyoto, received the new name of Saikiyo, or Saikei, 1 i.e., ' Western Capital' The original proposer of this important step is said to have been the councillor of state Okubo, one of the greatest names connected with the Restor- ation. In a memorial which he submitted to the Mikado occurs the following remarkable passage : — ' Since the middle ages our Emperor has lived behind a screen, and has never trodden the earth. Nothine of what went on outside his screen ever penetrated to his sacred ear ; the imperial residence was profoundly secluded and naturally unlike the outer world. No more than a few court nobles were allowed to approach the throne, a practice most opposed to the principles of heaven. Although it is the first duty of man to respect his superior, if 1 This custom of renaming cities would seem to have been bor- rowed from China, where there is one city that has borne nine differ- ent names, conferred by as many different dynasties which have in succession held it. Tokiyo and Saikiyo are often more shortly, but, as the author thinks, less correctly, spelt Tokio and Saikio. In the case of the eastern city, the new has entirely supplanted the old name ; but Kiyoto is still the more popular name of the ancient capital. With regard to the forms Tokiyo and Tokei, the former appears to have taken greater hold on the people, while the latter is considered by some the more scholarly. Kiyo and kei are synonymous Chinese roots, the latter of which is said to have been introduced from China along with the Confucian philosophy, and the former to have arrived when Buddhism came in contact with the national life. ioo New Japan. he reveres that superior too highly, he neglects his duty, while a breach is created between the sove- reign and his subjects, who are unable to convey their wants to him. This vicious practice has been common in all ages. But now let pompous etiquette be done away with, and simplicity become our first object. Kiyoto is in an out-of-the-way position, and is unfit to be the seat of government.' Okubo's advice has been thoroughly adopted. The meanest of his subjects may now look upon the 'Dragon's visage,' as he drives about the streets of the capital, and there are no signs of diminished loyalty to his person, because he has shown himself to be a man like other men, and not a divinity, into whose dazzling presence it would be death for the profane to enter. The mode of life of the imperial court has been more and more assimilated to that pre- valent in Europe ; only this year an advance was made in this direction by the appointment to the Bureau of Ceremonies, in the Imperial Household Department, of a gentleman just returned from England, whose duty is to be the gradual alteration of the present court ceremonial until it conforms with that of Western countries. For the creation of a central administration, however, more was necessary than the abolition of the Shoeunate and the establishment of the Mikado's authority. The great fabric of feudalism still 1 , The Daimiyos suppress themselves. 101 remained intact. Within his own territory each Daimiyo was practically an independent sovereign, taxing his subjects as he thought fit, often issuing his own currency, and sometimes even granting passports, so as to control intercourse with neigh- bouring provinces. Here was a formidable barrier to the consolidation of the empire. But the reformers had the courage and the tact necessary to remove it. The first step towards the above revolution was taken in 1869, when the Daimiyos of Satsuma, Choshiu, Hizen, and Tosa, addressed a memorial to the Mikado, requesting his authorization for the re- signation of their fiefs into his hands. Other nobles followed their example, and the consequence was the acceptance by the Mikado of control over the land and revenues of the different provinces, the names of the clans, however, being still preserved, and the Daimiyos allowed to remain over them as Chi Hanji, or Governors of Clans, each with one-tenth of the former assessment 1 of his territory as rental. 1 Mr A. H. Mounsey, in his work on The Satsuma Rebellion, shows that 'assessment' and ' revenue' must not be taken as synony- mous terms. ' To show how far this was from being the case, ' he says, 1 it is only necessary to instance a province where the assessment was 36,000 kohi. The amount of taxes, i.e. revenue, raised in this pro- vince was only 16,000 koku. Of this sum 8000 koku were appropri- ated to the payment of the pensions and allowances of the retainers of the clan, 4000 were applied to administrative purposes, and merely the remaining 4000 came into the lord's hands for the maintenance of himself and his family. If there happened to be a bad harvest, all 102 New Japan. By this arrangement, the evil of too suddenly ter- minating the relation between the clans and their lords was sought to be avoided. But it was only temporary; in 1871 the clan system was totally abolished, and the country (exclusive of Yezo, which w T as treated as a colony) redivided for ad- ministrative purposes into three fu, sixty 1 ken or prefectures, and one Jian, viz., the tributary kingdom of Riii Kin. Over each fn was placed a ckiji, or governor, and over each ken a kenrei or prefect, these officers being chosen irrespectively of heredi- tary rank or clan connexion. But the payment of the hereditary pensions and allowances of the ex- Daimiyos and ex-Samurai, proved such a drain upon the national resources, that in 1876 the re- formed government found it necessary to adopt the somewhat hazardous measure of compulsorily con- verting them into capital sums. The rate of com- mutation varied from five years' purchase, in the case of the largest pensions, to fourteen years' in that of the smallest. The number of the these quota were naturally diminished. Now, under the new system, the Daimiyo of this province was to receive one-tenth of the assess- ment, i.e. 3000 koku annually, regularly paid, and subject to no reductions ; and as he was to be freed from all claims on his purse on the part of his clansmen, and could in future spend the whole of his income for his own exclusive and private use, it is doubtful whether he was a loser at all in a pecuniary sense. 1 Since reduced to thirty- five, while Riu Kiu is now a ken (that of Okinawa), making a total of thirty-six. Influence of the Samurai. 10 -1 pensioners with whom they had thus to deal was 318,428. The act of the Daimiyos in thus suppressing themselves, looks at first sight like a grand act of self-sacrifice, and one for which it seems difficult to account, as we are not much accustomed to see ordinary men, not to speak of landed proprietors, manifesting such disinterestedness for the patriotic object of advancing their country's good. But the explanation lies in this, that the vast majority of Diamiyos had come to be, in relation to their own dominions, very much what the Mikado was in relation to the whole empire — mere faineants. Their territories were governed by the more able and energetic of their retainers, and it was a number of these men that had most influence in bringing about the restoration of the Mikado's authority. Intense patriots, they saw that the advancement of their country could not be realized without its unification ; and, at the same time, they cannot but have preferred the wider scope for their talents which service immediately under the Mikado would give them. From being ministers of their provincial governments, they aspired to be ministers of the imperial government. They were successful ; and their lords, who had all along been accustomed to yield to their advice, quite cheerfully acquiesced, when asked, for the good of the empire, to give up 104 New Japan. their fiefs to the Mikado. One result of this is, that while most of the ex-Daimiyos have retired into private life, the country is now governed almost exclusively by ex-Samurai. Such sweeping changes were not to be accom- plished without rousing opposition and even rebellion. The government incurred much risk in interfering with the ancient privileges of the Samurai. The position of this class under the old regime had fostered in them both pride and improvidence ; and such of them as had spent their means and found themselves ignorant of all the ways of gaining a liveli- hood, were likely to prove dangerous to the peace of the state. 1 It is not surprising, therefore, that several rebellions had to be put down during the years immediately succeeding 1868. But these were of a mild type compared with that which in 1877 shook the government to its foundations. Into the causes of the Satsuma re- bellion we cannot enter. Its leader, Saigd Taka- mori, was one of the most powerful members of the reformed government until 1873, when, with one or two of his colleagues, he resigned, being dissatisfied 1 That the Samurai did not give more trouble, was due to the fact that the government offices were filled with thousands of them, posts in many cases being made for the men rather than men found for the posts. Others obtained employment in the national banks, which were established on the security of the government bonds held by them. A Japanese Cincinnatus. 105 that the government would not go to war with Korea. A veritable Cincinnatus, he seems to have won the hearts of all classes around him by the Spartan simplicity of his life and the affability of his manner, and there was none more able or more willing to come to the front when duty to his country called him. It is a thousand pities that such a genuine patriot should have sacrificed himself through a mistaken notion of duty. Ambition to maintain and extend the military fame of his country seems to have blinded him to all other more practical considerations. The policy of Okubo and the rest of the majority in the cabinet, with its regard for peace and material prosperity, was in his eyes unworthy of the warlike traditions of old Japan. Luxury, he thought, was threatening to eat away the life of the nation. There is a story to the effect that after his withdrawal from Tokiyo to his native city of Kagoshima, he was shown a photograph of the European villa erected in the capital by his great rival and fellow-clansman Okubo, the sight of which filled him with indigna- tion at the degeneracy of the rulers of Japan who could give way to such luxuriousness. But we can- not follow out the story of this famous rebellion— how Saigo established a 'private school' at Kagoshima for the training of young Shizoku in military tactics, how the reports of the policy of the government 106 New Japan. more and more dissatisfied him, until a rumour that Okubo 1 had sent policemen to Kagoshima to as- sassinate him, precipitated the storm that had been brewing, and how it was only after eight months of hard fighting, during which victory swayed from one side to another, and the death of Saigo and his leading generals, when surrounded at last like rats in a trap, and the expenditure of over 40,000,000 yen, which the state could ill afford, that the much tried government were able freely to draw breath again. 2 The following are the main features of the re- formed government of Japan: — The Mikado is an absolute sovereign. He administers his affairs through the Daijo-kuwan, or Supreme Council, con- sisting of the Premier, the Vice-Premier, and a number of other Councillors, who formerly were the heads of the great Department of State, but have now been relieved of their connexion with these. The Daijo-kuwan is the cabinet, or actual govern- ment. 3 Below this, the Genro-in, a Senate or Le- 1 This report was not supported by satisfactory evidence, although the Kagoshima authorities extorted a so-called confession from the policemen. Okubo was too noble to be guilty of such an act. 2 The people of Satsuma believe that Saigo's spirit has taken up its abode in the planet Mars, and that his figure may be there seen when that star is in the ascendant. 3 With the exception of the Premiers, who are ex-Kuges, most, if not all, of the members of the Cabinet are ex-Samurai. In the case of one of the most powerful of them, it is doubtful whether he has not sprung from the commonalty, and the same may be said of at least one of the heads of departments. The Reformed Government. 107 gislative Council of men under the presidency of an Imperial Prince, has the power of elaborating the laws determined upon by the Supreme Council, but cannot initiate any legislative measure without its consent. The Genro-in corresponds somewhat to our House of Lords, but its functions are more restricted. The chief Department of State are these : — Foreign Affairs, Finance, War, Marine, Education, Public Works, Agriculture and Com- merce, Justice, Colonization of Yezo, Imperial Household, and the Interior. The division of the empire into Fu and Ken has been already referred to. The governors of these are responsible to the Minister of the Interior. A few years ago, an as- sembly of provincial governors was instituted, but it meets but seldom, and is purely consultative. An agitation on the part of a large section of the people in favour of the establishment, in fulfilment of the oath made by the Mikado at the Restoration, of a popular representative assembly, has led to the institution of provincial assemblies composed of officers elected by the people, but the functions of these are at present very limited. The voting is by ballot ; the qualifications for membership are an age of not less than twenty-five years, a three years' residence in the electoral district, and the payment of a land-tax within that district of at least £2. Electors must be males of not less than twenty 108 New Japan. years, whose names are on the register, and who pay a land-tax of £i. These provincial assemblies are to meet for not more than a month in March of each year, to deal with all questions of local taxa- tion, subject to the control of the Minister of the Interior, and, if they see fit, may also petition the central government on any matter of local interest. A sanitary board is also elected by the inhabitants of each town or village. In February, 1 88 1, there were established local assemblies for waterworks and engineering, and a few months later, boards and assemblies for the discussion of agricultural and commercial matters. Still more recently, the Minister of Education has issued a notification providing for the formation (optional) of educational boards in every Fu and Ken, as well as in every division or district. First steps have thus been taken towards the adoption of representative institutions. The government are, no doubt, dis- creet in proceeding with due caution in this matter, although in the present oligarchical system of ad- ministration there is a want of elasticity which might lead to serious consequences. So long as a Minister is in favour with the Mikado, — and this means so long as he belongs to the leading party in the government, — he may retain his position, no matter how distasteful he may have become to the people ; and there is thus created a temptation to adopt Thorough Reformation. 1 09 assassination, an extreme measure from which a Japanese patriot will not shrink, even in face of the certainty of forfeiting his life. Reforms have extended to every part of the body politic. The old system of law has been supplanted by a system based on the Code Napoleon. Torture, which in the old days was resorted to for the extor- tion of confession, without which no condemnation could be carried into effect, has been abolished, the list of crimes punishable by death has been greatly curtailed, and corporal punishment almost altogether set aside. A new army has been formed, chiefly under the training of a mission of French officers. By a law of conscription, all males between the ages of seventeen and forty are liable to military service for three years with the colours, two years in the first, and two years in the second, division of the reserve, and the rest of their period of liability in the militia. In time of peace the present army consists of 35,560 men, and in time of war of 50,230. There is a most efficient police force. A navy has been organized on the pattern of that of Great Britain, and now consists of twenty-five ships. At Yokosuka, a few miles south of Yokohama, there is an excellent naval arsenal with dry docks, and at Nagasaki there are likewise considerable naval appliances. The Japanese attach much importance to this branch of the govern- ment service. Looking at the situation of their island 1 1 o New Japan, empire off the coast of Asia, they compare it with that of the British islands off the European coast, and cherish the aspiration of becoming the British of the East. But it is unnecessary to recount all the reforms of the last thirteen years. More detailed reference will be made to some of these in the sequel. Mean- while I cannot do better than make the follow- ing quotation from the recently published pamphlet of H. E. Okuma, Member of the Supreme Council of State, and ex-Minister of Finance, entitled A Survey of Financial Policy during Thirteen Years (1868-18S0):— ' At the time of the Restoration there was no such thing as a telegraph in operation, and for expresses the only avail- able means were men or horses ; but immediately after that event the government set to work to construct telegraphs, and the nation speedily awaking to its advantages, the total dis- tance connected by telegraphs was increased by 1880 to 1600 ri (4000 English miles). All the most important towns in the country are now able to communicate with each other in- stantaneously. In 1879 we joined the International Telegraph Convention, and telegraphic communication with all parts of the world has since become an easy matter. Compared with the state of things ten years ago, when the ignorant people cut down the telegraph poles and severed the wires, we seem rather to have made a century's advance. ' Previous to the. Restoration, with the exception of the posts sent by the Daimiyos from their residences at the capital to their territories, there was no regularly established post for the general public and private convenience. Letters had to be sent by any opportunity that occurred, and a single letter Thirteen Years Progress. 1 1 1 cost over 25 sen 1 for a distance of 150 ri. But since the Re- storation, the government for the first time established a general postal service, and in 1879 the length of postal lines was 15,700 ri (nearly 40,000 English miles), and a letter can at any time be sent for two sen to any part of the country. In 1874 we entered the International Postal Convention, and have thus obtained great facilities for communicating with foreign countries. ' It was also this government that, after the Restoration, for the first time constructed railways, and connected the chief open ports with the cities in their immediate neighbourhood. In 1879 over 30 ri (75 English miles) of railway were opened, and further extensions have already been undertaken, while many of the people have come to recognize the conveniences they afford. ' Although there were lights upon the most important headlands previous to the Restoration, their construction was extremely primitive, and their illuminating power extended but a short distance. Their number, also, was small. But since the Restoration, European and American models have been taken, and thirty-five additional lighthouses have been constructed, besides buoys and beacons, to say nothing of the numerous harbour improvements carried out. ' Japanese vessels of native build are inferior to those of European build in the facilities they afford for navigation. In 1 87 1, four years after the Restoration, the number of ships of foreign build was no more than 74; but the government encouraged their construction, and by 1878 they reached 377. The government has two shipbuilding yards, one yard for the repair of ships ; besides which there is one yard for the con- struction of ships of the foreign model, aided by government, and two or three private establishments of the same character. 1 Or cents. I yen (= I dollar or 4 shillings approximately) = 100 sen = 1000 rin = 10,000 mon. The paper yen was, in June, 1881, at a discount of 63 per cent, below the gold or silver yen, of which the above is the value. 1 1 2 New Japan. The number of vessels of native build in 1876 was 450,000, and in 1878 had reached 460,000. ' From the time preceding the Restoration until 1875, the coasting trade was entirely in the hands of foreigners, and Japanese had to travel by foreign mail-steamers. But in the latter year, by the aid of the government, a mail ship com- pany was formed, and the coasting trade fell into the hands of our own people. This company now runs lines of steamers to Hong Kong and other Chinese ports, and is daily extending its business. ' Before the Restoration, the employment of wheeled vehicles was extremely limited ; but after that event their use was widely developed, and the number of carts, etc., has in- creased year by year. In 1875, the number that paid the tax was 220,000, and in 1878, 340,000. 1 Since the Revolution the use of steamers has daily in- creased, and the inland sea, the lakes, and larger rivers, are now constantly navigated by small steamers employed in the carrying trade. 'As regards foreign trade, in 1869 the total amount of imports and exports (1868 being a year of war, we take the figures for 1869) was 33,68o,ooo_y^«, and in 1879, 64, 120,000 yen. Imports had grown from 20,780,000 yen to 36,290,000^//, and exports from 12,909,000)^/2 to 27,830,000 yen; in the one case showing an advance from 2 to 3^, in the other from 2 to 5. 1 In education, up to the Restoration the schools supported by the Daimiyos, and private schools, were few in number ; but since that epoch the educational system has been vastly improved, with a resulting increase in the number of schools. In 1878, of High, Middle, and Primary Schools, there were altogether 27,600, with 68,000 teachers and 2,319,000 pupils. ' Before the Restoration no progress had been made with the colonization of the Hokkaido; but since that event that duty has been entrusted to a Commission endowed with abso- lute powers, and the productions now exhibit a daily growing tendency to develop ; postal communication has been estab- lished, fisheries and agriculture are encouraged, the number National Exhibitions. 1 1 3 of immigrants has annually increased, and native merchants from the mainland, gradually appreciating the advantages, are extending their trade with the island.' It may be well to call attention here also to the National Exhibitions which have been held since the Restoration. The first of these took place in 1877, and the second in 188 1. The extent of the buildings connected with the latter may be imagined, when it is said that to examine the Exhibition thoroughly necessitated a walk of nine miles. The following is a translation of the address delivered by H. E. Sano, Minister of Finance, before H.I.M. the Mikado, at the close of the Exhibition of 188 1 : — I, Sano Tsunetami, servant of your Majesty and president of the Exhibition, respectfully present to your Majesty my report of the examination of the articles exhibited. I recall the fact that in the International Exhibition of Vienna, in Austria, our government was represented, but in those days our people manifested no anxiety to exhibit their manu- factures. But after that, when Exhibitions were held in America, France, and Australia, our people, who had learned the value of such institutions, exhibited great anxiety to com- pete ; and the result of this has been that the people have advanced in knowledge, improved their businesses, and extended operations in trade. The first National Exhibition was held in the tenth year of Meiji (1877), and this year the second Exhibition has been inaugurated and proved to be a national success. This has all been done through the benevolence of your Majesty. I, Tsunetami, give all praise to your Majesty's excellent virtues. Now, in the present Exhibition there have been ninety thousand different kinds of articles exhibited, and the total number of exhibits are three hundred thousand. The fine H 1 1 4 New Japan. and the coarse were mixed together, but ninety-three examiners have taken fifty-two days to sort them. This has been a difficult task ; but by steady perseverance the examiners have satisfactorily accomplished their task, and succeeded in separating the superior from the inferior, and now the grand ceremony of distribution of prizes takes place. I desire to mention the results of our examination in detail, and what our hopes of future improvement are. ist Division. — Mining operations in the country were examined chiefly for the benefit of the people. The quality of the article produced, its consumption, and the present state of the mines, were taken into consideration. Of the metals the greatest improvement is manifest in copper, and hopes are entertained that greater attention will be paid to the production of this article in future. In gold and silver there has been but little change, and the amount obtained now is not so great as anticipated. Various kinds of coal have been exhibited, also numerous specimens of iron ore, of which there are large quantities available in the country, but the production of this article has not advanced much, and it will be some years hence before there is any material improvement in the manufacture of iron. Various kinds of stones suitable for building and other purposes have also been exhibited. Indeed, the empire is rich in metals and beautiful stones, but they are not much developed, because the mines worked are limited in number, and facilities for extending operations are not great. 2nd Division. Manufactured Articles. — These exhibits are chiefly necessary for clothing and domestic purposes ; therefore attention has been paid by the examiners to their usefulness, quality, value, and demand. In the manufacture of scientific instruments and glass, improvement has been made since the last Exhibition, but not so much as could be desired. Perhaps the articles are mostly manufactured by hand ; hence the production is very limited and the cost necessarily high, which is the fruitful cause of much incon- venience. Moreover, it is apparent that the manufacturers The Exhibition of 1881. 115 pay more attention to outside embellishments than to making the article substantial and useful. 3d Division. Fine Arts. — The principal points specially noticed by the examiners of fine art exhibits were their design, colouring, and general beauty, irrespective of intrinsic value. Some improvement has taken place in the carving of precious stones, embroidery, and in writing, but there is no improvement to note in the manufacture of earthen, copper, and lacquer wares. Perhaps it is justifiable to term the fine arts the civilized ornaments of society, and it is unjust to consider that they are simply useless extravagances, for they are necessary for the refinement and happiness of the people. The designs of our fine art works have always been remark- ably good and much esteemed by foreigners. But of late years the artisans have adopted new designs inferior to those formerly in use, and thus many of the fine arts of the present day are inferior to the ancient. It is very necessary that our artists should return to the designs they have cast aside, and produce articles of such exquisite beauty as were formerly produced. 4th Division. — In examining the machinery, the judges have paid attention to the construction, action, durability, and number produced. The number of exhibits in this department has been small, and there is nothing deserving of our notice. However, as machines have been but re- cently introduced into the country, we have selected for awards those showing some originality in their construction, even though not by any means perfect, as it is very necessary that the manufacture of machinery be encouraged. No doubt the reasons why this group is not particularly praise- worthy are, that the art of making machinery is not very well known, and that the people have insufficient capital. It is, therefore, necessary that the manufacture of machinery should be encouraged as much as possible, and a patent law made to protect new inventions. 5th Division.— Husbandry is the most important industry in this country, and for ages the Emperors of this empire have encouraged the people to learn the best system of agriculture. 1 1 6 New Japan, Judgment has been passed on the exhibits in this department, attention being paid by the judges to the quality of the article, the method of its cultivation, its value, and the amount con- sumed ; and it has been ascertained that the quality of the cereals is exceptionally good, and not to be surpassed by any country in the world. The northern provinces have been suc- cessful in the cultivation of waste lands and in pasturage. Great improvements have been made of late in the manufacture of silk and tea, and the direct exportation to foreign countries of these articles has commenced. But tea is not keeping pace with silk. Products of the sea are exported to China in large quantities, and the trade in these commodities is in- creasing. We have found that improvement has been made in the manufacture of sugar and in the spinning of cotton yarn, while we find that no improvement has taken place in the system of agriculture, which is the same as it was in ancient times ; therefore we consider that improvement in the system of working should be encouraged. Timber is not only valuable for fuel and building purposes, but it directs the courses of rivers and influences the weather. Yet the people recklessly cut down the trees, until now a scarcity of wood is apparent, and we find that very few people cultivate new trees. From this it is evident that some measures should be taken to prevent the indiscriminate destruction of forests. 6th Division. Horticulture. — In this branch there are no improvements to note. In conclusion we have to say, that the number of articles exhibited at the present Exhibition is double the number exhibited at the first Exhibition, and they are shown in better order. But we hope that the people will endeavour to reduce the cost of produce by lessening the labour bestowed upon it, and at the same time create facilities for transportation, widen the field of business, supply the wants of their countrymen, increase their articles of export, and, lastly, do all they can to promote the wealth of the country. The above statement is simply an outline of what has been done by the examiners ; and we venture to say that the Room for Expansion. 1 1 7 encouragement of the national industries is of paramount importance, the results of which we hope to see at the third and fourth Exhibitions. This Exhibition was founded for the express purpose of comparing the qualities of domestic articles with each other. But if articles of foreign manufacture are permitted to com- pete, great advantage will be gained by comparing them with our own goods, which will assist in laying the foundation of our national wealth more firmly, and in carrying out your Majesty's desire to benefit the people. I, Tsunetami, in presenting your Majesty with the result of our examination, humbly express a hope that great improve- ments will result from the holding of this Exhibition. Thus has Japan, which before was a byword for conservatism, come to be associated with the most sweeping changes the world has seen. And yet it is needless to say that there has been no miraculous conversion of the national character. The genius of the Japanese people is to-day as it was centuries ago. What was wanted was room for expansion, and now that this has in the course of the world's events been granted, the latent force has manifested itself in a way that was little anticipated. We have a parallel in the history of the Jewish race. So long as the law of Moses was rigidly observed, and therefore no encouragement given to intercourse with the surrounding nations, the children of Israel were the last people on the earth to have their name associated with commerce ; but after their dispersion, when scrupulous adherence to their law yielded to the necessities of their situation, they n8 New Japan. gave evidence of an aptitude for trade such as no other race has ever surpassed. Nor are we without parallel instances in the history of the Japanese themselves. Centuries ago there was just as great a rage for things Chinese as there now is for things European. Their orthography, philosophy, art, science, system of education, the greater part of their religion, etc., etc., were borrowed from China, either directly or through Korea. Chinese and Korean professors were engaged by the imperial government, just as European and American pro- fessors are engaged now. The Chinese language, although utterly alien to that of Japan, imparted to it thousands of roots, influencing it as Latin has influenced our own English, and as no doubt English is destined, to a more or less extent, to influence Japanese. Indeed, nothing can be more evident than that the Japanese have all along been an acquisitive and imitative people. It was a strange irony of history to represent them to the world as obstinate conservatives. They really carry their love of novelty to excess. Having the faculty of imitation so strongly developed, they may natur- ally be charged with a want of originality. But against this is to be noted the fact, that they have generally given their own impress to that which they have borrowed. Much as Japanese civilization owed to that of China, the type in the one country National Finances. t 1 9 was always widely different from that in the other. Take any city of old Japan, for example, and com- pare it with a Chinese city like Canton ; and it is hardly too much to say, that the aspects of the two differ as widely as does the aspect of either from that of a European city. The Japanese are assimi- lators rather than mere imitators. But I must not close this chapter without a reference to the present condition of the national finances. It has been well said that finance is the first shoal on which governments brought into power by a revolution are apt to strand. Refer- ence has already been made to the heavy drain which the imperial treasury had to undergo in the settlement of the hereditary pensions and allow- ances of the ex-Daimiyos and ex-Samurai. Before this, large expenses had been incurred through the war of the Restoration ; later came the Formosan expedition and the complications with China, the rebellions of Yeto and Mayebara, and, severest of all, the Satsuma rebellion. Then large sums had to be expended in the carrying out of the various reforms, as in the purchase of foreign machinery, the establishment of educational and other institu- tions, the payment of the many foreigners employed in the government service, etc., etc. Charges like these might well be sufficient to justify a fear of national bankruptcy. And during the last few years 120 New yap an. there have been many indications that the finances are not in the most flourishing state. From time to time the government has found it necessary to retrench. In the rearrangement of state depart- ments, the reduction of their staffs and of their annual grants from the treasury, the dismissal of foreigners whose services it seemed possible to dis- pense with, and even the abandonment of useful projects, the government have shown themselves debarred, by lack of funds, from continuing their work on the scale originally contemplated. A bad sign has been the extensive issue of an irredeemable paper currency, which, at one time at a slight premium over gold, has since actually fallen (on one occasion) to a discount of over 80 per cent. And at the present moment the foreign staffs of some of the Tokiyo institutions are so reduced as seriously to interfere with their prosperity. From A H.E. Okuma's pamphlet already quoted, I have gathered the following statistics : — In 1878-79, the revenue was 61,860,000 yen, and the expenditure 59,610,000 jj^/z, giving a surplus of 2,250,000 yen. In 1879-80, the whole amount of taxation was 54,550,000 yen, yielded by forty-nine 1 varieties of taxes, of which the land-tax furnished as much as 41,900,000 yen, or nearly eight-tenths 1 Under the old regime there were at least 700 or 800 varieties of taxes. Government Assets. 1 2 1 of the whole. In June of 1880, the paper money in circulation amounted to 108,680,000 yen, of which 85,770,000 yen were directly issued by the govern- ment; at the same period the amount of unredeemed liabilities was 249,360,0007^2 (being 238,350,0007^/2 of a domestic debt, and 11,010,000 yen of a for- eign debt), which, added to the above 108,680,0007^2 of paper currency, made in June, 1880, a total national debt of 358,040,000 yen. It is calculated that out of the annual revenue alone the whole of the national liabilities can be paid off in twenty- eight years from 1878, and that apart from this, the government assets would, if a fair price were put upon them, easily suffice to redeem the national debt. The following is given as a rough list of these assets : — Government Forests (excluding the Hokkaido) 4,672 Square Ri. „ Building Lands 19 do. „ Agricultural Lands 2 do. „ Prairie Lands 126 do. „ Trees 2,226,650,000 „ Shipbuilding Yards ... 3 „ Arms Factories and Powder Mills 5 „ Ships 51 „ Factories 52 „ Lighthouses 35 „ Telegraph 3,658 Ri. „ Railways 30 do. „ Mines 10 do. 122 New Japan. The Hokkaido, having an area of 5860 square rz, of which only ten are cultivated or built upon, and a population of only 211,304 persons, which, however, is being yearly increased by the arrival of immigrants. His Excellency thus concludes his report : — \ I am convinced that if we reflect upon the facts, we shall not fail to admit that considering that the government has broken down the prejudices of centuries, abolished the Shogunate, resumed the fiefs of the Daimiyos, released the military class from its hereditary functions, commuted their pensions, organized the army and navy, reformed the laws and institutions, and accomplished the numerous other results to which I have briefly alluded, all in the space of thirteen years, the financial condition which I have described in the foregoing pages is not a bad result after all.' A few days ago there reached the writer's ears the echo of a remark to the effect that Japan was played out, that the tide of her progress was on the ebb, that she was destined to fall back into the oblivion from which she lately emerged. The man who uttered such a sentiment can hardly have lived in the country which he is criticizing. Played out Japan may be in so far as there is concerned the possibility of her furnishing to foreign merchants exorbitant profits, 1 such as — not always, it is be- lieved, by the fairest means — fell into their hands in the ' champagne times ' a few years ago ; but, as one of the national powers which are working for the advancement of the human race, she is far from 1 It is said that when the country was first opened, some of the foreign merchants were unscrupulous enough to take advantage of the ignorance of the people, by buying gold for its weight in silver. Retrogression not desired. 123 being played out. Such backsliding can never be. There are no indications of any widespread desire for it, and, even if there were the desire, there would not be the power to carry the desire into effect. The more the recent reforms are studied in the light of the nation's history, the stronger must be the conviction that they give promise of permanency. Enough has already been said to show that they are in thorough accord with the national spirit of assimilativeness, which, although long dormant, has more than once before strikingly manifested itself. And, what is more, some of the most important of them are essentially but returns to the old system which prevailed before the usurpation of the Shoguns and the imposition of feudalism. Witness the pre- sent conditions of land-tenure, which are practically a revival of the conditions on which land was held, ages ago, under the Mikados. It would be a mistake, therefore, to expect to find a prevalent de- sire for retrogression. But, as before said, even did such a desire exist, its realization would be im- possible. Japan has now, partly through foreign pressure and partly through the exercise of her own free will, been enrolled as a member of the great family of nations, she has shown herself well worthy of membership, and she is too thoroughly committed to her course, as well as too far-sighted, to think of turning back. Japan is still the Land of the Rising 124 New Japan. Sun, notwithstanding any clouds of financial de- pression which may be crossing her sky. In their adoption of foreign customs, the rulers of Japan have not always shown due discrimination. To do so was hardly possible in the dazzlement pro- duced by the sudden influx of light. The brilliancy of the nineteenth century flashing upon eyes accus- tomed to the glimmer of the fourteenth ! No wonder that some indiscretion resulted ; the marvel is that the mistakes were not both more numerous and more seri- ous. A period has now begun when, with their eyes better accustomed to Western light, the people may make steady progress, an important step in which will be to atone for the excesses of their first enthusiasm. During the past few years there has been a grow- ing agitation in Japan for the revision of the foreign treaties. When it is remembered that these were extorted from the nation at the cannon's mouth, and were, consequently, somewhat one-sided, there need be no surprise at the earnestness with which many of the most progressive of the people plead for their reconsideration. One motive is a desire to secure for Japan more control over her customs' tariff, with the view of adopting a system of protection as a cure for the present financial depression ; but the leading motive is dissatisfaction with the extra-territoriality clauses, which declare European and American resi- dents amenable to their own, and not to the Japanese, Revision of the Foreign Treaties. 125 courts of law. That a Japanese who commits an offence in England should be tried and condemned by an English magistrate, while an Englishman act- in the same way in Japan cannot be brought before a Japanese magistrate, but is tried in an English court on Japanese soil, involves a partiality which to the Japanese spirit of independence is far from palatable. 1 Now, at the time when the treaties were formed, it would have been altogether impolitic for the Western powers to have left their subjects at the mercy of such a crude system of law as then existed in Japan — a system which sanctioned torture, and involved principles utterly repugnant to the genius of Christendom. But since then the legal code of Japan has been entirely remodelled, and, as it exists on paper, is in most respects probably as satisfactory as any to be found in Europe. In answer, however, to any one who on this fact bases his claim for the abolition of the offensive clauses, it may be urged that the written law is one thing, and the law as ad- ministered another ; and that, even if it be granted that the new legal code is unobjectionable, still the magistrates of Japan have not yet had time to 1 To take an instance of the disadvantage at which these clauses place the Japanese government. At the time of the Satsuma rebel- lion, the leading English newspaper in Yokohama systematically supported the rebels and derided the government ; and yet the latter had no means of seeking redress for the calumnies levelled at them, except by becoming plaintiffs in a British court sitting within their own territory, 126 New Japan. acquire due experience in its administration. Indeed, in a matter of this kind, it seems impossible for a Christian nation to treat as its equal a nation which has not yet been leavened with the high moral ideas that Christianity alone can impart. Were the extra-territoriahty clauses" expunged from the treaties, there is every reason to believe that the Japanese rulers, on their part, would remove most, if not all, of the present restrictions to foreign residence. There are only seven ports altogether in which foreigners are freely permitted to reside, 1 and it is only in certain parts even of these that they are allowed to hold property or carry on business, while passports are required for travel in all parts of the interior except limited districts around these ports. 2 For the development of the national resources, the opening up of the country to foreign capital would, if prudently gone about, be of incalculable advantage. At present, the great mineral wealth of the empire is bringing the nation but little benefit, and there are vast tracts of uncultivated land which, if thrown open to foreign enterprise, might bring much increase of revenue. One can pardon the Japanese for hesitat- 1 Foreigners in the employment of the Japanese government, or of Japanese citizens, are excepted; they are, however, on the same foot- ing with their countrymen in respect to everything but residence. 2 The treaty limits for Yokohama have a radius of about thirty miles. Tokiyo is within these, and has no treaty limits of its own, so that some of its eastern suburbs are barely within the limits. Spirited Foreign Policy. 127 ing to give free ingress to wealthier and more power- ful races, which have not always impressed them as being remarkable for courtesy or scrupulosity. But, if accomplished with discretion, the free admission of foreign capital would undoubtedly tend greatly to promote the welfare of the empire. Space will not permit more than a reference to the spirited foreign policy which Japan has fol- lowed during the last decade, notwithstanding the reforms which were then engaging her attention ; how she has made her way into Korea, much as Westerns made their way into Japan, obtaining con- cession to trade at three open ports; how in 1874 she sent an expedition to Formosa to chastise the natives for the massacre of the crews of certain Riu-kiuan and Japanese junks, and afterwards exacted from the Chinese government, which had refused redress, an indemnity of 500,000 taels ; and how in 1879 she annexed the Riu Kiu islands, bringing their king to Tokiyo, there to live as a Kuwazoku, and reducing the islands to the position of a Ken, all in spite of the warlike threats of China. There is one element which is absolutely indis- pensable to Japan's prosperity, and yet one which is nevertheless ignored by her rulers and too little regarded even by her foreign well-wishers, and that, I need hardly say, is Christianity. Without the influence of pure Christianity, the nation can never 128 New Japan. permanently prosper. Unaccompanied by this, material prosperity may be only so much additional power for evil. One cannot but sympathize with high-minded Japanese patriots, who, while not op- posed to foreign intercourse within certain limits, yet regard with alarm and misgiving the only too apparent demoralization of their countrymen in the open ports, where the influence of Western civiliza- tion is most felt. The following sentiments were expressed by a learned Japanese gentleman at the time of Commo- dore Perry's visit in 1853 : — ' The ways of heaven are great. It nourishes all things in the universe. Even among the dark countries who dwell by the icy sea, there is not an individual who is not a child of heaven and earth — not one who is not made to love his fellows, and be friendly with them. On this account the sages embraced all men with a common benevolence, with- out distinction of one from another. The principles for mu- tual intercourse, all over the globe, are the same — propriety, complaisance, good faith, and righteousness. By the observ- ance of these a noble harmony is diffused, and the heart of heaven and earth is abundantly displayed. ' If, on the contrary, commerce is conducted merely with a view to gain, quarrels and litigations will spring from it, and it will prove a curse instead of a blessing. Against such a result my ancestors were profoundly anxious. Looking thus at the subject, the one topic of intercourse, it is the means by which the people exchange the commodities which they have abundantly for those which they have not, and one nation succours the distress of another; its propriety is plainly indicated by Providence, and peace, harmony, and good feel- ing are its results. Responsibility of Foreign Residents. 129 * Yet if gain — gain— be what is sought for by it, it will only develop the lusts and angry passions of men, and there will be a melancholy termination to what may be begun under good auspices. It is but a hair's- breadth which separates those different results; for give selfishness the reins, and righteousness is instantly merged in the desire of gain. . . . God, by His spiritual pervasion, however, sees with a parent's heart how His children impose on and strive with one another. Must He not be grieved ? Must he not He moved to pity ?' Thus wrote this ' benighted heathen,' before he had had an opportunity of being enlightened by the ' Christian' merchants who were shortly to astonish his countrymen by their unselfish devotion to the high principles of their religion. To which shall we look for the brighter reflexion of ' the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world,' to the overreaching ' Christian ' or to the 'heathen' patriot ? A serious responsibility rests upon the foreign residents in Japan, in coming before these only too impressible people as the representatives of Christendom. And does it not behove all the powers who have received Japan into the great family of nations as their youngest sister, to take heed that she be not ignorant of the secret of their civilization ? Railways, and telegraphs, and factories, and steamships, and even colleges — what are they ? Only so much power ; and it is purity that Japan most needs. Their own power could never have come to them but through Christian purity; and unless it is I 130 New Japan, to be a curse, power must come to Japan through the same channel. Says the good knight Sir Galahad : — * My strength is as the strength of ten, Because my heart is pure.' •\\Y\ Chinese ideograms representing To-sho-git, the name of the Temple of Iyeyasu at Nikko Situation of Tokiyo. CHAPTER IV. TOKIYO AND ITS INSTITUTIONS. General Bearings of the City— The Castle— Picturesqueness of the Moats— Fukiage Park— A Summer-house — Landscape Garden —View of the City from the Castle— Feudal Mansions— Icono- clasm— Officials of New Japan— Soldiers — Police — Prisons- Government Offices— Characteristics of Japanese Officials — Slavish Literalism— An Illustration of this from Old Japan- Imperial College of Engineering— Imperial University— College for Ladies— Influence of Woman in Japanese History— Char- acteristics of Japanese Ladies — Public Libraries— Kudan and its View— Temple of Shokonsha— Imperial Shinto Celebration — Medley of Old and New— Railways — Street Scenes— Aspect of the People— Medley of Europe and Asia— Western Articles for Sale— Street Signs in Various Languages— Trade Marks— Curi- ous Specimens of English — Newspapers — Quotation from Rinji Hioron — Waggonettes— Jin-riki-sha s and Jin-riki-sha- men— Regularity of Streets— Houses— Sign-boards— Shops for the Sale of Native Goods— A Bargain— Canals— Merchants- Post Office— The River— Asakusa with its Shrines and its Fair. THE city of Tokiyo, now the capital of the empire of Nihon, or Nippon, lies near the head of a shallow gulf on the eastern coast, and about midway between the southern and northern limits, of the largest of the chain of islands that form the empire. Parts of its eastern and southern borders are washed by the sea ; but in all other directions a great fertile and well- wooded plain stretches to a barrier of blue mountains 132 Tokiyo and its Institutions. beyond and above the most westerly of which rises the peerless cone of Fuji-san, 1 12,365 feet above the sea-level, and sixty miles from the city as the crow flies. This magnificent mountain can be seen from almost every part of Tokiyo, and the house which is without a view of it is considered unlucky. During three-fourths of the year it is covered with a mantle of snow, and, as it glistens in the sunlight amid a setting of brilliant blue sky, meets the city passenger at every turn, coming upon his spirit like a benediction. The site of the city is not flat without relief. Especially in its northern and western districts there are many little eminences, all covered with thick foliage and more or less abrupt ; but the eastward and most densely populated part is a dead level, cut north and south by the Sumida river, and intersected in all directions by canals. To one approaching it from the outside, therefore, the city is not imposing ; but from many of the rising grounds within its limits, extensive views may be obtained of the vast array of houses spread over the plain, in some places compact together, but in others freely padded with trees and shrubbery, so much so, indeed, at the edges, that it is impossible to say where town ends and country 1 More generally known to foreigners as Fuji-yama. Both yama and san mean ' mountain ' ; but the latter, being of Chinese etymology, is correctly used with Fuji, which is also from the Chinese. Fuji- yama is never heard among the Japanese themselves. General Bearings of the City. 133 begins. The suburban character of the greater part of the city, the prevalent lowness of its buildings, and, most of all, the wide extent of the castle grounds in its centre, give it an area which is said to exceed that of London, although its population is not above 1,000,000. The ancient castle of Yedo is the nucleus of Tokiyd. Its picturesque wooded grounds, which cover many square miles, are surrounded by what, for the sake of clearness, we may regard as two moats, an inner and an outer, although there is really, exclusive of numerous little branches, only one moat, of spiral form. The inner moat surrounds the castle proper, and is not less than three miles in circum- ference. Between this and the outer moat, which must have a circumference of not less than six miles, is the ground occupied by the yashiki, or city man- sions formerly inhabited by the feudal nobility at- tendant at the court of the Shogun. The space within the outer moat may, therefore, be regarded as the official quarter. Surrounding this, but situated for the most part to the south and east of it, is the business part of the city, which is traversed, from Shinagawa on the south-east to Uyeno on the north, by a main street at least seven miles in length. From this main thoroughfare numerous branches lead north-eastward to Asakusa, or more directly eastward into the wide and densely peopled district of Honjo on the left 134 Tokiyo and its Institutions. bank of the river. Within a few hundred yards, how- ever, of many of the business centres may be found considerable tracts of cultivated ground or wood- land, such as, — the domain of Hamagoten,or the shore palace of the Shogun ; Shiba, with its groves and shrines ; the gardens of the Kaitakushi, or Coloniza- tion Department ; the park of Uyeno, etc. ; not to va