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XV.—To sacrifice private interests for the public good is the duty of the subject. When men are selfish there must be ill-will; when ill-will comes, then with it must come iniquity, which will disturb the public welfare. Ill-will is sure to bring about the breaking of wholesome rules and the violation of the laws of the state. It is for this reason that the harmony between superior and inferior spoken of in the first article is so important.
XVI.—To select a convenient season in which to employ men for public work is the rule of good ancient law. Winter is a time of leisure; but during the season between spring and autumn, in which they are employed on their farms and in feeding silk-worms, it is not expedient to take men from their work, or interfere with them in their efforts to supply food and clothing.
XVII.—Important matters should only be settled after due conference with many men. Trifling matters may be decided without conference, because they are not so material in their effects; but weighty matters, on account of their far-reaching consequences, must be discussed with many councillors. It is thus that the right way shall be found and pursued.
FOOTNOTES
1 The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian; translated by Colonel Henry Yule, C.B. Second edition, London, 1875, vol. ii., p. 235.
2 These islands belonged to Russia until 1875, when by a treaty they were ceded to Japan in exchange for the rights of possession which she held in the island of Saghalien.
3 E. M. Satow, Transactions of the Asiatic Society, vol. i., p. 30.
4 This word is not a proper name but a descriptive designation, and must be understood in this way when used by Dr. Griffis in his Mikado's Empire and by Dr. Rein in his two works on Japan. In the successive issues of the Resume Statistique, published by the Statistical Bureau, the term Nippon is used to designate the principal island. This name has the advantage of having been used extensively in foreign books, but its restricted use is contrary to the custom of Japan. After much consideration we have determined to designate the principal island by the term "Main island," which is the translation of the word Hondo.
5 See Satow and Hawes' Handbook, p. 108.
6 See Chamberlain's Things Japanese, second edition, p. 122.
7 One of the most notable of these is that which occurred in 1596 when Hideyoshi was at Fushimi. In 1854 a series of shocks followed by tidal waves occurred on the east coast of the Main island. The town of Shimoda, which had been opened as a port for foreign trade was almost destroyed, and the Russian frigate Diana which was lying there was so injured that she had to be abandoned. In 1855 a severe earthquake occurred at Yedo, which was accompanied by a great fire. About 16,000 dwelling-houses and other buildings are said to have been destroyed, and a large number of lives were lost. Transactions of Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. vi., p. 249.
8 Rein's Japan, p. 44. In Things Japanese second edition, p. 122, Japan is credited with no less than fifty-one active volcanoes.
9 The word gawa (river) takes the form kawa when euphony so requires.
10 Dr. Rein was the first clearly to apprehend and state the influence of the northeast monsoon on the climate of Japan. See Rein's Japan, p. 104.
11 Camellia trees are frequently found from twenty to twenty-five feet high.
12 Chamberlain, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xi., p. 162.
13 These details of the population, area, etc., are taken from the government publication, Resume Statistique de l'Empire du Japon, 1892.
14 In the population of the imperial cities is included that of the suburban districts politically attached to them.
15 Resume Statistique (Government publication), 1892, p. 11.
16 Asiatic Society Transactions, supplement to vol. x., p. 213.
17 Batchelor, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. x., p. 211.
18 Batchelor, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. x., p. 216.
19 Miss Bird's Unbeaten Tracks in Japan, vol. ii., p. 96.
20 Professor E. S. Morse, Memoirs of the University of Tokio, vol. i., part i.
21 Henry von Siebold, Notes on Japanese Archaeology, p. 14.
22 "But I must tell you one thing still concerning that island (Japan) (and 'tis the same with the other Indian Islands), that if the natives take prisoner an enemy who cannot pay a ransom, he who hath the prisoner summons all his friends and relations, and they put the prisoner to death, and then they cook him and eat him, and they say there is no meat in the world so good!"—The Book of Ser Marco Polo, London, 1875, vol. ii., p. 245.
23 Professor Milne, Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. viii., p. 82.
24 Rev. John Batchelor, Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. x., p. 209.
25 Hildreth's Japan, etc., p. 337.
26 Mittheilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft, etc., as reviewed in The Chrisanthemum, May, 1883.
27 Rein's Japan, p. 383.
28 "We know that for all points of detail and for keeping a correct account of time, tradition is worthless."—The History of Rome, by Rev. Thomas Arnold, D.D., 1864, p. 10.
29 For easy access to this valuable Japanese work we are indebted to the translation by Basil Hall Chamberlain, Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. x., Supplement.
30 See Chamberlain's translation of Kojiki, or Records of Ancient Matters, Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. x., Supplement.
31 Satow, "Ancient Japanese Rituals," Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vols. vii. and ix.
32 Satow, Westminster Review, July, 1878.
33 See Appendix I.
34 Bramsen, Japanese Chronological Tables, p. 30.
35 I remember presenting this point to a Japanese scholar in this way, and he answered me that he thought this great age of the Japanese emperors no more wonderful or unreasonable than the ages of the patriarchs in the Bible.
36 "I wished to give these legends at once with the best effect, and at the same time with a perpetual mark, not to be mistaken by the most careless reader,—they are legends and not history."—The History of Rome by Thomas Arnold, D.D., 1864, Preface, p. vii.
37 For the translation of these names, and for the principal events of these myths, we rely upon Mr. Chamberlain's translation of the Kojiki, and his admirable notes and introduction. Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. x., Supplement.
38 This is supposed to have been one of the small islands off the coast of Awaji in the Inland sea.
39 An island about fifty miles long in the Inland sea.
40 This probably means that the sword was ten breadths of the hand in length.
41 The Japanese name of this most venerated goddess is Amaterasu-o-mi-kami.
42 There seemed to have been an old superstition about flaying from the tail toward the head.
43 This is one of the ancient names of the Main island of Japan.
44 The name of this prince of which the translation is here given is usually shortened to Ninigi-no-Mikoto.
45 Nakatomi-no-Muraji is also among these, who was the ancestor of the Fujiwara family that from the reign of the Emperor Tenji attained great political distinction.
46 Dr. Rein in 1875 was shown an old sword on the top of this mountain which is claimed to have been carried on this occasion.—Rein's Japan, p. 214, note.
47 This canonical name was given to him in the reign of the Emperor Kwammu, who commanded Mifune-no-Mikoto to select suitable canonical names for all past emperors, and these have since been used.
48 See Milne's paper on "Pit-Dwellers of Yezo and Kurile Islands," Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. x., p. 187.
49 A large number of songs are handed down in the traditions of this period. They are in the most ancient form of the language and are not easy to translate. We give as a specimen Jimmu's song from Chamberlain's translation of Kojiki, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. x., Supplement, p. 142.
Into the great cave of Osaka people have entered in abundance and are there. Though people have entered in abundance and are there, the children of the augustly powerful warriors will smite and finish them with their mallet-headed swords, their stone-mallet swords: the children of the augustly powerful warriors, with their mallet-headed swords, their stone-mallet swords, would now do well to smite.
50 For example, the organization of a parliament took place in 1890, which in the Japanese reckoning would be 2550 from Jimmu's setting up his capital in Yamato.
51 See p. 32.
52 See list of emperors, Appendix I.
53 Satow, Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. ii. p. 113.
54 We follow in these figures the chronology which has been authorized by the government. Appendix I.
55 E. M. Satow, "Ancient Sepulchral Mounds in Kaudzuke," Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. viii., pp. 11, 330.
56 Chamberlain's translation of Kojiki,—Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. x., Supplement, p. 208.
57 The roads or circuits here spoken of refer to the roads constructed by the government along contiguous provinces and used for the passage of troops and other government purposes. These circuits have continued in use down to the present time.
58 Yamato-hime or Yamato-princess had been appointed high priestess of the temples in Ise, and in that capacity had charge of the imperial regalia which were deposited there. She is a very celebrated person in Japanese legendary story and is said to have lived several hundred years.
See Chamberlain's translation of Kojiki, p. 183, note 7; Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. x., Supplement.
59 See p. 45.
60 See Satow's paper on the use of the fire drill in Japan, Transactions of Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. vii., p. 223.
61 It is one of the favorite subjects of Japanese art to represent the Princess Oto-Tachibana sitting upon a pile of mats and the boat with her husband sailing off in the quieted waters.
62 The name by which these savage tribes were designated was Yemishi; the name however is written in Chinese characters which signify Prawn-Barbarians; in allusion to their heavy beards which gave them the appearance of prawns. See p. 22.
63 See Chamberlain's translation of Kojiki,—Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. x., Supplement, p. 218.
64 He is chiefly notable to foreigners because he is said to have lived through the reigns of three emperors and to have reached the age of three hundred years.
65 She is not included in the government list of emperors, and is given in Appendix I. as empress-regent.
66 See Kokushian, compiled under the Department of Education. Ad Locum.
67 See Appendix I.
68 Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. x., Supplement.
69 E. M. Satow, Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. ii., p. 135.
70 E. M. Satow, Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. vi., p. 435.
71 Satow, "Ancient Japanese Rituals," Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vii., p. 423.
72 E. M. Satow, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vii., p. 109.
73 Ditto, p. 119.
74 Cotton is said to have been brought to Japan from India in the reign of the Emperor Kwammu, A.D. 800. T. B. Poate, Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. iv., p. 146.
75 Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. x., Supplement, pp. 39 and 40.
76 Henry von Siebold, Japanese Archaeology, Yokohama, 1879, p. 16. The diagram in the text is from this work on Archaeology, and shows the variety of jewels in use in prehistoric times.
77 For the so called cave dwellings see p. 68.
78 Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. v., p. 110.
79 See p. 32.
80 In the Kojiki it is said that the king of Kudara sent with Wani the Confucian Analects in ten volumes and the Thousand Character Essay in one volume. It conflicts seriously with the chronology of this period to learn, as both Mr. Satow and Mr. Chamberlain have pointed out, that the Thousand Character Essay was not written until two centuries after the date assigned to the advent of Wani.
81 The Kojiki's statement is that the elder brother was banished to Iyo.
82 The name, "Island of the Dragon-Fly" had already been given to the Main island by Jimmu Tenno.
83 In these early days a muro or excavation of the earth, roofed with timber, was often used as a residence. See p. 68.
84 In this story the princes are represented as boys, but as they fled on the murder of their father by the Emperor Yuriyaku before his accession, this must have been at least twenty-eight years before; so that they could not have been less than forty years of age.
85 After the triumph of Buddhism a temple called Tennoji was erected near this place in honor of this image, which was miraculously rescued from the sea and is still preserved at this temple.
86 See the laws which he compiled and published as found in the 12th volume of Dai Nihon Shi, Appendix IV.
87 This must mean that improved methods of silk culture were introduced, for we have seen that this art was already known to the Japanese.
88 Bramsen's Japanese Chronological Tables, Tokio, 1880, p. 18.
89 The author is indebted to the valuable paper read before the Asiatic Society of Japan by Willis Norton Whitney, M.D., for much of the information concerning medicine in Japan.—Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xii., part iv., p. 329.
90 For an enumeration of these boards and the officers and duties of each, see Walter Dickson's Japan, p. 72.
91 See a note by Mr. Satow in Adams' History of Japan, London, vol. i., p. 24.
92 Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. iii., part i.
93 Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. x., Supplement.
94 The Kojiki has been translated into English by Professor B. H. Chamberlain, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. x., Supplement.
95 See Mori Arinori's introduction to Education in Japan, New York, 1873, p. 17.
96 See a paper on "Abdication and Adoption," by Mr. Shigeno An-Eki, translated by Mr. Walter Dening, in Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xv., p. 72.
97 His predecessor died A.D. 661, and there was an interregnum during which Tenji was regent till A.D. 668, when he was made emperor.
98 See p. 47, note.
99 Quoted in Henry von Siebold's Japanese Archaeology, Yokohama 1879, p. 8.
100 See p. 58.
101 Satow and Hawes' Handbook of Japan, London, 1884.
102 For ten years preceding 794 the capital was a wanderer.
103 See the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. viii., p. 88. The inscription is in part as follows:
Castle of Taga, Distant from the capital, Ri 1500 Distant from the frontier of Yezo, Ri 120 Distant from Hitachi, Ri 412 Distant from Shimotsuke, Ri 274 Distant from Makkatsu, Ri 3000.
104 Education in Japan, New York, 1873, p. 17.
105 See p. 47.
106 These instances are taken from the paper on abdication and adoption, by Shigeno An-eki, as translated by Mr. Walter Dening, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xv., p. 74.
107 See Chamberlain's Things Japanese, under the article on abdication. Yokohama, 1892.
108 See p. 66 et seq.
109 At the time that Dickson collected his statistics of the families of the court, two of the Sugawara family were teachers of the young emperor. Six families of kuges count their descent from the Sugawara. Dickson's Japan, London, 1869, p. 59.
110 See chapter on "Education in the Early Ages," by Otsuki Sinji, in Japanese Education, New York, 1876, p. 64.
111 While I write these lines there is hanging before me a kakemono representing Sugawara Michizane, which it has been proposed to hang in every public school under the care of the Department of Education, as an emblem of the true scholarly temperament.
112 See p. 132.
113 See Satow and Hawes' Handbook, p. 383.
114 He was born in A.D. 1146 and therefore was twelve years older than Yoshitsune.
115 Doves are not eaten by the Minamoto to this day, owing, it is said, to this miraculous interposition in behalf of Yoritomo.
116 About A.D. 1618 Hakone was created a barrier to separate the eastern from the central provinces. Persons were not allowed to go through this barrier without a passport.
117 In A.D. 1286, more than a century after his death, a monument was erected to Kiyomori in Hyogo which still exists. Satow and Hawes' Handbook, p. 338.
118 The title of shogun is said to have been created by the Emperor Sujin, who divided the empire into four military divisions, each commanded by a shogun or general. When Yoshinaka assumed control in Kyoto at the time of his victory he was appointed sei-i-shogun (barbarian compelling general). Subsequently Yoritomo secured the supreme military authority and having resigned the civil offices held by him he was appointed by imperial edict sei-i-tai-shogun or great barbarian compelling general.
See G. Appert's Ancien Japon, vol. iii., p. 84; also Satow's note to Adams' History of Japan, vol. i., p. 42.
119 Adams, in his History of Japan, vol. i., p. 37, gives a quaint quotation from Nihon-Gwaishi as follows: "The crimes of the Heishi against the imperial family were atoned for by their services, and heaven therefore would not cut off their posterity. And this probably was right."
120 See Satow and Hawes' Handbook, p. 57.
121 There are almost as many legends current concerning Benkei as his master. Their first encounter was upon the Gojo bridge in Kyoto, where Benkei prowled for the purpose of robbing passengers. Yoshitsune, then only a youth of sixteen years, displayed so much agility and swordsmanship that the veteran robber yielded to him, and ever after followed him as his faithful body servant. The Japanese Fairy World, by W. E. Griffis, contains the legend of Benkei stealing a huge bell five feet high from the monastery at Miidera, and carrying it on his shoulders to Hiyesan (see p. 93). When Yoshitsune was compelled to flee from the vengeance of his brother, he came with Benkei, both disguised as begging priests, to a guarded barrier. The custodians refused them passage, but Benkei, who was cunning as well as strong, pulled out from his bosom a roll of blank paper and pretended to read a commission from the abbot of Hokoji, in Kyoto, authorizing the two travellers to collect funds throughout the country for casting a great bell for their temple. The custodians were deeply impressed with this holy message and allowed the travellers to pass without further question.
122 There are many legends, existing among the Ainos, of Yoshitsune having lived among them and taught them improved arts of hunting and fishing. There is a wooden image of him at the village of Upper Piratori, which is saluted (not worshipped) in token of honor to his memory. Rev. John Batchelor, who has lived as a missionary among the Ainos many years, is of the opinion that this reverence is largely due to a desire on the part of the Ainos to conciliate their Japanese masters. It has seemed not unreasonable to suppose that the traditions concerning Yoshitsune among the Ainos have been carried from the Main island by the retreating tribes, and that Yoshitsune never lived with them in Yezo, but was only familiar with them in the wild regions of Mutsu and Dewa.
See paper by Rev. J. Batchelor, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xvi., part 1, p. 20.
123 Oye-no-Hiromoto was a powerful adherent of Yoritomo, and was a member of his administrative council. He was the ancestor of the Mori family, who afterward became famous as the daimyos of Choshu.
124 We owe to Kaempfer, perhaps, the erroneous notion which has been repeated by subsequent writers that there was both an ecclesiastical and a temporal emperor. This was never true. There has been only one emperor, who, in the Japanese theory, was the direct descendant of divine ancestors and who has always been the supreme authority. From the time of Yoritomo, however, the administration was in the hand of an hereditary shogun who always received the commission of the emperor for the performance of his duties. See Kaempfer's Histoire de l'Empire du Japon, vol. i., p. 182.
125 The Japanese term is Shikken, which is usually translated regent.
126 A travelling palanquin.
127 See Travels of Marco Polo, second edition, London, 1875, vol. ii., p. 240.
128 In the year A.D. 1890 two pictures were brought to light which represent the events of this memorable battle. They are believed to have been painted about A.D. 1294 by Naganori and Nagatoki, painters of the Tosa school. They have been in the family of one of the captains in the Japanese army of that day, and while the figures of the men and horses are not well drawn the pictures in other respects have great historical value. Alongside of the scenes represented, legends are written in explanation. It is said that these valuable historical pictures are likely to come into the Household Department and thus be more carefully preserved than they are likely to be in a private house.—Japan Weekly Mail, 1890, p. 581.
129 For a description of this locality, which is justly famed in Japanese annals, see Satow and Hawes' Handbook, p. 56.
130 See Chamberlain's Handbook, 1891, p. 337.
131 Quite an animated and interesting controversy took place a few years ago with reference to this suicide of Kusunoki. Popular opinion strongly justifies the act and rewards with its highest approval the memory of the patriot. But Mr. Fukuzawa, one of the most radical of the public men of to-day and an active and trenchant writer, condemned the act as indefensible and cowardly.
132 Mr. Griffis says that when he resided in Fukui in A.D. 1871—more than five hundred years after the event,—he saw the grave of the heroic Nitta almost daily strewed with flowers.—The Mikado's Empire, 1876, p. 190.
133 Satow and Hawes' Handbook, p. 356.
134 It is an evidence of the feeling which still exists towards the Ashikaga shoguns that in 1863 these figures were taken from the To-ji-in and beheaded and the heads pilloried in the dry bed of the Kamogawa, at the spot where it is customary to expose the heads of the worst criminals. Several of the men who were guilty of this outrage were captured and were put into the hands of various daimyos by whom they were kept as prisoners.—Satow and Hawes' Handbook, p. 357.
135 See the full account of tea ceremonies in Chamberlain's Things Japanese, 1892, p. 404.
136 The official list of emperors will be found in Appendix I. The names of the northern which are not included in this list are as follows:
DATE OF ACCESSION.
Komio, 1996 years from Jimmu, 1336 A.D. Shuko, 2009 years from Jimmu, 1349 A.D. Go-Kogen, 2012 years from Jimmu, 1352 A.D. Go-Enyu, 2032 years from Jimmu, 1372 A.D. Go-Komatsu, 2043 years from Jimmu, 1383 A.D.
137 See Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xiii., p. 139.
138 It is said that in this disastrous time the poverty of the country was so great that when, in A.D. 1500, Go-Tsuchimikado died at his palace in Kyoto, the corpse was kept for forty days because the means for the usual funeral expenses could not be had. M. von Brandt as quoted in Rein's Japan, p. 261.
139 Mr. W. A. Woolley, in a paper read before the Asiatic Society of Japan, gives an account derived from Japanese sources as follows: "Amongst those who landed on this occasion was one of the Literati of China, who acted as interpreter between the foreigners and the chief of the island Hyobu-no-jo Tokitada. [Since both the Chinese and Japanese used the same ideographic characters, they could understand each other's writing but not speech.] In reply to questions the interpreter is represented as having described his friends the foreigners as being ignorant of etiquette and characters, of the use of wine cups and chop sticks, and as being, in fact, little better than the beasts of the field. The chief of the foreigners taught Tokitada the use of firearms, and upon leaving presented him with three guns and ammunition, which were forwarded to Shimazu Yoshihisa, and through him to the shogun."—Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. ix., p. 128.
140 See Adventures of Mendez Pinto, done into English by Henry Cogan, London, 1891, pp. 259 etc.
141 Hildreth's Japan, etc., 1855, p. 27, note.
142 Adventures of Mendez Pinto, p. 281.
143 This is the name by which Pinto calls this city (see Adventures of Mendez Pinto, London, 1891, p. 265); the real name, however, at this time was Fumai, and is now Oita.
144 The author himself saw in Japan in 1874 the native hunters using an old-fashioned matchlock, in which the powder was fired by a slow burning match, which was brought down to the powder by a trigger. This kind of firearm, which was in use in Europe in the fifteenth century, was taken to Japan by the Portuguese, and continued to be used there until the re-organization of the army introduced the modern form of gun.
145 In the accounts given by the biographers of Xavier, it is said that there were two companions of Anjiro who in the subsequent baptism received the names of John and Anthony.
146 This was the name of the seminary in Goa where Anjiro had been educated.
147 See Coleridge's Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, London, 1872, p. 237.
148 Bouhour's Life of Xavier, p. 274.
149 In the Life of St. Francis Xavier by Bartholi and Maffei the following circumstance is given: "It seems that a rat had invaded the sanctuary and gnawed the ornaments of the altar. The sacristan appealed to the saint thus: 'Father Francis! people say that you passed from this life in the vicinity of China; that you were a saint, that your body still remains entire and incorrupt at Goa. Now here am I your sacristan; and I ask is it consistent with your honor that a rat should have the audacity to gnaw the ornaments of your altar? I demand his death at your hand.' On opening the door of the sanctuary the next morning the sacristan found the culprit quite dead."
150 See Woolley, "Historical Notes on Nagasaki", Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. ix., p. 129.
151 For these facts concerning Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, and the condition of the country during their times, the author is largely indebted to the Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, by Walter Dening, Tokio, 1890.
152 The word daimyo means great name, and was used in reference to the ownership of land; shomyo means small name, and was at first employed to indicate the small land-owner. But the word never obtained currency, the small land-owner always preferring to call himself a daimyo. See Chamberlain's Things Japanese, p. 84.
153 The element of comedy shows itself from the beginning in Hideyoshi's character when he adopted the calabash, in which he had carried water, as his symbol of victory. He added a new one for each victory, and at last adopted a bunch of calabashes for his coat-of-arms. Afterwards he had this constructed of gold, which was carried as the emblem of his triumphant career.
154 See Dening's Life of Hideyoshi, p. 207.
155 In Chamberlain's Things Japanese the estimate is given that at this most prosperous time the number of Japanese professing Christianity was not less than six hundred thousand, p. 297.
156 See the letter which the ambassador from the Prince of Bungo presented on this occasion. Hildredth's Japan, etc., p. 89.
157 In the First Part (1873) of Mittheilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft fuer Natur und Voelkerkunde Ostasiens, p. 15, the times of Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, etc., are termed "die zeit der usurpatoren," the time of the usurpers. But Nobunaga and Hideyoshi were no more usurpers than the Tokugawas, who succeeded them by force of arms.
158 Mr. Satow with rare literary insight has identified this Kuroda with the Condera Combiendono of the Jesuit fathers. Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vii., p. 151.
159 See Shiga's History of Nations, Tokyo, 1888, p. 128.
160 Dening's Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, p. 274.
161 See Dening's Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, p. 278.
162 See p. 189.
163 His original name was Nakamura Hyoshi, the family taking its name from the village where he was born. Then at his induction to manhood A.D. 1553 his name was changed to Tokichi Takayoshi. At another turn in his career he became Kinoshita Tokichi Takayoshi. In the year A.D. 1562 he received permission to use the name Hideyoshi instead of Tokichi, and A.D. 1575 his name was again changed to Hashiba, which the Jesuit fathers wrote Faxiba.
164 See Satow and Hawes' Handbook, p. 341.
165 The facts here related concerning this most interesting episode in the life of Hideyoshi are chiefly taken from a paper furnished by Mr. J. H. Gubbins to the Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. viii., p. 92.
166 The Emperor Ogimachi retired from the throne A.D. 1586, and was succeeded by Go-Yojo, then sixteen years old. It shows of how small account the emperors had become, that this change in the head of the nation is scarcely mentioned in the histories of the time.
167 The spies and guides employed by Hideyoshi were priests of the Shin sect of Buddhists, who after the fall of Kagoshima were discovered and crucified. A decree was also issued that every inhabitant of Satsuma who was connected with this sect must renounce his creed. To this day there exists among the people of Satsuma a general hostility to the Buddhists which can be traced to this trying episode. See Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. viii., p. 143.
168 See p. 178.
169 See p. 186.
170 See Dening's Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, pp. 148, 344.
171 When Father Valignani came to Japan in A.D. 1577 it is said that he brought as one of his presents a beautiful Arabian horse. It is not improbable that some of the improved breeds, now seen in the southern provinces, owe their origin to these valuable horses sent over as presents.
172 See Chamberlain's Things Japanese, 1892, p. 298, note. According to Charlevoix this indiscreet speech was made by a Spanish captain. See Gubbin's paper, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vi., part ii., p. 16.
173 For the text of this edict see Dickson's Japan, p. 172.
174 See Satow and Hawes' Handbook, 2d ed., p. 72.
175 See Dening's Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, p. 405.
176 See Adams' History of Japan, vol. i., p. 66.
177 See Dening's Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, p. 263.
178 We are indebted to Mr. W. G. Aston for a full and clear account of Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea, which he had derived not only from Japanese books and documents, but from Korean sources which, until his researches, were inaccessible. See Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vi., p. 227; ix., pp. 87, 213.
179 The peculiarly Eastern form of expression is noticeable in announcing these presents: "You will find enclosed a list of some of the poor productions of our country, which we beg you will refrain from laughing at immoderately."
180 He became one of the most famous heroes of Japan, and is worshipped under the name of Seishoko, at a shrine connected with the temple of Hommonji at Ikegami. Satow and Hawes' Handbook, p. 30.
181 See Mr. Satow's identification of this name. Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vii., p. 151.
182 See Mr. Aston's paper, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. ix., p. 90.
183 A Japanese scholar could read such a document in the ideographic Chinese characters without translation; but Taiko Sama was not a scholar and therefore was not aware of the purport of the document until it was translated to him.
184 See Mr. Aston's description of this humiliating scene as given in Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. ix., p. 217; also Dening's Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, p. 360.
185 See Satow and Hawes' Handbook, p. 369.
186 See Dening's Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, p. 380.
187 See Mr. Satow's paper entitled "The Korean Potters in Satsuma," Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vi., p. 193; also as referred to in Mr. Satow's paper, Mr. Ninagawa's Notice Historique et Descriptive sur les Arts et Industries Japonais, part v., Tokyo, 1877.
188 "In point of fact, however, making Ongoschio (Ieyasu) regent was placing a goat in charge of a kitchen garden."—Warenius, p. 20.
189 See Satow and Hawes' Handbook, p. 368.
190 See the pedigree of Ieyasu as given in Mittheilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft, etc., Heft i., p. 19.
191 See Dening's Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, p. 377.
192 This covenant is said to have been signed with blood in accordance with a custom still occasionally prevalent, in which a drop of blood is drawn from the middle finger and sealed by pressing it with the thumb nail. Rein's Japan, p. 297, note.
193 See Dening's Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, p. 397.
194 This place receives its name from a barrier that was erected in the ninth century to control the travel towards the capital. Its meaning is, "Plain of the Barrier." See Chamberlain's Handbook, p. 268.
195 See Dening's Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, p. 399.
196 This proverb is quoted as having been used by Hideyoshi when remonstrating with Nobunaga about following up his victory over Imagawa Yoshimoto. See Dening's Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, p. 156.
197 Kiyomasa was a bitter enemy of the Christians, owing no doubt to the rivalry and antagonism which had sprung up with Konishi, who was a Christian, in the Korean war. He is termed Toronosqui by the Jesuit fathers from a personal name Toronosuke which he bore in his youth, and he is characterized as "vir ter execrandus," on account of his persecution of the Christians in his province. Perhaps on account of this fierce opposition he was greatly admired by the Buddhists, and is worshipped under the name of Seishoko by the Nichiren sect at a shrine in the temple of Hommonji at Ikegami. Another monument to his memory is the Castle of Kumamoto, which he built and which still stands as one of the best existing specimens of the feudal castles of Japan. As an evidence of its substantial character, in A.D. 1877, under the command of General Tani, it withstood the siege of the Satsuma rebels and gave the government time to bring troops to crush the rebellion.
198 The plural of this word is here and elsewhere used in its English form, although no such plural is found in Japanese.
199 Ancien Japon, par G. Appert, Tokyo, 1888, vol. ii.
200 A full account of the Castle of Yedo will be found in a paper by Mr. J. R. H. McClatchie in the Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vi., part 1, p. 119.
201 See p. 207.
202 Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xi., p. 124.
203 See p. 204.
204 See Dickson's Japan, p. 227.
205 His beatification was decreed by the pope in 1609, and his canonization in 1622.
206 Hildreth's Japan, etc., p. 176.
207 The Jesuit historians relate with malicious satisfaction how one of the Spanish friars, in a dispute with one of Adams' shipwrecked company, to sustain the authority of the church appealed to the miraculous power which its priests still possessed. And when the Hollander challenged an exhibition of such power, the missionary undertook to walk on the surface of the sea. A day was appointed. The Spaniard prepared himself by confession, prayer, and fasting. A great crowd of the Japanese assembled to see the miracle, and the friar, after a confident exhortation to the multitude, stepped, crucifix in hand, into the water. But he was soon floundering over his head, and was only saved from drowning by some boats sent to his assistance.—Hildreth's Japan, etc., p. 140.
208 "This will seem to you less strange, if you consider how the Apostle St. Paul commands us to obey even secular superiors and gentiles as Christ himself, from whom all well-ordered authority is derived: for thus he writes to the Ephesians (vii. 5): 'be obedient to them that are your temporal lords according to the flesh, with fear and trembling in the simplicity of your heart, as to Christ; not seeming to the eye, as it were pleasing men, but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart, with a good will seeming as to the Lord and not to men.' "
The above is an extract from an Epistle of St. Ignatius, the 26th of March, 1553, which is still regarded as authoritative and is read every month to each of the houses. It was supplied to me by Dr. Carl Meyer and verified by Rev. D. H. Buel, S. J. of St. Francis Xavier's College, New York City. Dr. Meyer has also pointed out that the Second General Congregation, 1565, severely forbids any Jesuit to act as confessor or theologian to a prince longer than one or two years, and gives the minutest instructions to prevent a priest from interfering in any way with political and secular affairs in such a position.
209 This edict of Ieyasu is given by Mr. Satow in his contributions to the debate on Mr. Gubbins' Review of the Introduction of Christianity into China and Japan. Fifteen rules to guide the Buddhist priests in guaranteeing the orthodoxy of their parishioners are also given.—Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vi., part i., p. 46.
210 See Gubbins' paper, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vi., part i., p. 35.
211 See Mr. Satow's contributions to the debate on Mr. Gubbins' paper, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vi., part i., p. 51.
212 Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vi., part 1, p. 35.
213 See chapter xi. of a Description of the Kingdom of Japan and Siam, by Bernhard Warenius, M.D., Cambridge, Printing-House of John Hayes, Printer to the University, A.D. 1673. The volume is in Latin, which, as well as a translation of the same in manuscript, has been furnished to me by Mr. Benjamin Smith Lyman, of Philadelphia. Warenius was a Lutheran, and need not be suspected of being prejudiced in favor of the Jesuits. See also History of the Martyrs of Japan, Prague, 1675, by Mathia Tanner, containing many engravings of the horrible scenes, such as burnings, crucifixions, and suspensions in the pit, etc.; also Histoire des Vingt-six Martyrs du Japon, Crucifie a Nagasaqui le 5 Fevrier, 1597, par D. Bouix, Paris, 1862.
214 See Woolley's "Historical Notes on Nagasaki," Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. ix., part 2, p. 134; also Mr. Satow's contributions to the discussion of Mr. Gubbins' paper, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vi., part 2, p. 52. Specimens of the metal plates are in the Uyeno Museum of Tokyo.
215 See Kaempfer's Histoire de l'Empire de Japon, tome i., p. 287.
216 In the narrative which we give of this insurrection we have relied chiefly upon the accounts of Mr. Gubbins in his "Review of the Introduction of Christianity," Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vi., part 1, p. 36; of Mr. Woolley in his "Historical Notes on Nagasaki," do., vol. ix., part 2, p. 140; and on Dr. Geerts' paper on the "Arima Rebellion and the Conduct of Koeckebacker," do., vol. xi., p. 51. Mr. Gubbins and Mr. Woolley had access to Japanese authorities, and we have in their papers been enabled to see this bloody episode for the first time from a Japanese standpoint. Dr. Geerts has rendered an invaluable service in giving us translations of letters written by Koeckebacker, the head of the Dutch factory during the events, which show us how this insurrection was regarded by the Dutch East India Company.
217 A ronin was a retainer who had given up the service of his feudal master, and for the time being was his own master.
218 See Dr. Geerts' paper, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xi., p. 75.
219 The ships in use at this time among the Japanese were far less seaworthy than those of European nations. The accompanying figures given by Charlevoix, although probably somewhat fanciful, show the impractical character of the vessels of that time.
220 See Dr. Geerts' paper, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xi., p. 111.
221 Mr. Koeckebacker says: "The rebels counted in all, young and old, as it was said, about forty thousand. They were all killed except one of the four principal leaders, being an artist who formerly used to gain his livelihood by making idols. This man was kept alive and sent to Yedo."—Dr. Geerts' paper, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xi., part 1, p. 107.
There is a tradition that a number of the prisoners who were captured at this castle were hurled down from the rocks of the island now called Papenberg in Nagasaki harbor. But Dr. Geerts ridicules this notion and says: "A little local knowledge would show it to be impossible to throw people from the rocks on Papenberg into the sea, as the rocks are by no means steep bluffs, but possess an inclined shape and a shore. A little knowledge of the Dutch language would further show that the name Papenberg means 'mountain of the priest,' in allusion to the shape of a Roman Catholic priest's cap or bonnet."—Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xi., part 1, p. 115.
222 See Dr. Geerts' paper, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xi., part 1, pp. 110 and 111.
223 A Japanese writer thus sums up the result of the effort to introduce Christianity into his country: "After nearly a hundred years of Christianity and foreign intercourse, the only apparent results of this contact with another religion and civilization were the adoption of gunpowder and firearms as weapons, the use of tobacco and the habit of smoking, the making of sponge-cake, the naturalization into the language of a few foreign words, and the introduction of new and strange forms of disease."—Shigetaka Shiga's History of Nations, Tokyo, 1888. The words introduced into the language from the Portuguese, except several derived from Christianity, are as follows: tabako, tobacco; pan (pao), bread; kasutera (from Castilla), sponge-cake; tanto, much; kappa (capa), a waterproof; kappu (copa), a cup or wine glass; birodo (vellendo), velvet; biidoro (vidro), glass.—Rein's Japan, p. 312.
224 See Mr. Satow's contributions to the discussion of Mr. Gubbins' paper, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vi., part 1, p. 61; also Satow and Hawes' Handbook, p. 22; also Griffis' Mikado's Empire, p. 262; and Professor Dixon's paper on the Christian Valley, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xvi., p. 207.
225 See Chamberlain's Things Japanese, 1892, p. 300.
226 See Legacy of Ieyasu, cap. xv.
227 The Confucian classics consist of the Four Books, viz.: The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Confucian Analects, and The Sayings of Mencius; and the Five Canons, viz.: The Book of Changes, The Book of Poetry, The Book of History, The Canon of Rites, and Spring and Autumn (Annals of the State of Lu, by Confucius). Chamberlain's Things Japanese, 1892, p. 92.
228 An accurate and amusing account of the printing of a modern newspaper in Japan is given in Mr. Henry Norman's Real Japan, p, 43 et seq.
229 For a history of the city of Yedo, and reference to the disasters to which it has been subject from fires, earthquakes, and pestilences, see Satow and Hawes' Handbook, p. 6. See also "The Castle of Yedo," by T. R. H. McClatchie, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vi., part 1, and "The Feudal Mansions of Yedo," Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vii., part 3.
230 See Dickson's Japan, p. 294.
231 Those who desire a fuller explanation of this complicated and difficult matter are referred to Dr. Yoshida's Staatsverfassung und Lehnwesen von Japan, Hague, 1890, and to the paper on "The Feudal System in Japan," by J. H. Gubbins, Esq., Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xv., part 2; also to the introduction by Professor Wigmore, do., vol. xx., Supplement, p. 25.
232 In the Legacy of Ieyasu will be found the following statement: "The fudai are those samurai who followed me and proffered me their fealty before the overthrow of the castle of Osaka in the province of Sesshu. The tozama are those samurai who returned and submitted to me after its downfall, of whom there were eighty-six."—See Legacy of Ieyasu, cap. vii.
233 Ancien Japon, vol. ii.
234 Dickson's Japan, p. 303.
235 See Legacy of Ieyasu, cap. xiv.
236 See Legacy of Ieyasu, cap. xxxvii.
237 For the general history of the sword, see Mitford's Tales of Old Japan, vol. i., p. 70; T. R. H. McClatchie's, The sword of Japan, Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vi., p. 55; Chamberlain's Things Japanese, 1892, p. 396. For the mode of manufacture, see Rein's Industries of Japan, p. 430; and especially for the artistic decoration of swords, see Satow and Hawes' Hand-book, p. 114.
238 I have been told by a young Satsuma samurai that when he was a boy it was a test of skill with the sword, to set a chop-stick (which was about six inches long) on its end and before it could fall over to draw a sword from its scabbard and cut it in two.
239 For an account of hara-kiri see the "Story of the Forty-Seven Ronins" in Mitford's Tales of Old Japan, vol. i., p. 1.
240 See Legacy of Ieyasu, cap. xxxi.
241 See Legacy of Ieyasu, cap. xxviii.
242 T. R. H. McClatchie, "The Castle of Yedo," Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. vi., part 1, p. 131.
243 As illustrative of Buddhism at its greatest splendor we give here the figures of the great bronze image of Buddha at Kamakura, and of the great bell at the temple of Daibutsu in Kyoto. [Transcriber's Note: This bell is shown as the Frontispiece to the book.] The former was erected about A.D. 1252 after plans initiated by Yoritomo before his death. The statue in its sitting posture is nearly fifty feet in height. It is constructed of separate plates of bronze brazed together. Formerly it was enclosed in a temple, but this was twice destroyed by tidal waves, and since its last destruction in 1494 it has not been rebuilt.
The bell given in the illustration is that at the temple of Daibutsu, the inscription on which is said to have offended Ieyasu. It is nearly fourteen feet in height and nine feet in diameter. Its weight is more than sixty-three tons.—See Satow and Hawes' Handbook, p. 368.
244 In the account given by Don Rodrigo de Vivero, the late governor of Manila, of a visit made in 1608 by him in behalf of Spanish trade, Yedo is described as a city of seven hundred thousand inhabitants, and Sumpu, which he calls Suruga, where the emperor (as he denominates Ieyasu) lived, is estimated to contain from five to six hundred thousand inhabitants. He was so pleased with the country through which he travelled that he declares, "if he could have prevailed upon himself to renounce his God and his king he should have preferred that country to his own."—See Hildreth's Japan, etc., pp. 145, 147.
245 These letters were written from Japan between 1611 and 1617. They were printed in part in Purchas' Pilgrimes, and are included in the publications of the Hackluyt Society. From the latter source they were printed in pamphlet form by the Japan Gazette at Yokohama, 1879. It is from this last source these references are taken.
246 First letter of Adams in pamphlet edition. Yokohama, 1878, p. 8.
247 This name, Nova Spania or New Spain, was first given to the peninsula of Yucatan, and was afterward extended to the territory of Mexico conquered by Cortez. Finally it was given to all the Spanish provinces extending on the Pacific coast from Panama to Van Couver's island. Acapulco was the principal harbor on the Pacific coast.—See Prescott's Conquest of Mexico.
248 Captain Cocks in his "Diary," contained in Purchas' Pilgrimes, part 1, book iv., gives an account of a visit he made to Yedo in 1616, on the business of the English trade, at which time he visited Adams' seat, which he calls "Phebe," doubtless mistaking the sound of the real name "Meni."—See Chamberlain's Things Japanese, 1892, p. 15.
249 His place of burial was identified in 1872 by Mr. James Walter of Yokohama on a beautiful hill near Yokosuka, where both he and his Japanese wife lie buried. His will, which was deposited in the archives of the East India Company in London, divided his estate equally between his Japanese and English families. His Japanese landed estate was probably inherited by his Japanese son. His personal estate is stated at about five hundred pounds sterling.—See Letters of William Adams, p. 39.
250 Hildreth's Japan, etc., p. 142, quoted from Purchas, vol. i., p. 406.
251 Hildreth's Japan, etc., p. 157.
252 See Letters of William Adams, No. 1.
253 See Purchas' Pilgrimes, part 1, book iv.
254 These privileges are given in full by Hildreth, p. 169, taken from Purchas.
255 Mr. Satow has collected many facts concerning the history of printing in Japan, and among others has shown that printing with movable type in Korea was used as early as 1317, that is one hundred and twenty-six years before the date of the first printed book in Europe.—Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. x., p. 63.
256 A translation of this document was made by Mr. J. F. Lowder and published in Yokohama in 1874. We are indebted to W. E. Grigsby, Esq., formerly professor of law in the University of Tokyo, for a valuable paper on the Legacy of Ieyasu in which a careful analysis is given and a comparison of its details is made with the provisions for the regulation of early communities elsewhere.—See Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. iii., part 2, p. 131.
257 Ieyasu may have had in mind a shocking example of junshi (dying with the master) which occurred in his own family. Tadayoshi, his fifth son, to whom had been assigned an estate in Owari, died young, and five of his retainers, in order to follow their master, committed hara-kiri in accordance with the old feudal custom. This is believed to have been almost the last instance of the kind, and must have touched Ieyasu very closely.—Mikado's Empire, by W. E. Griffis, D.D., p. 272.
258 Notwithstanding this positive prohibition left by Ieyasu, occasionally the strength of the old feudal habit was too great for the more merciful spirit. It is said when the third shogun of the Tokugawa family (Iemitsu) died, two of the daimyos, Hotta of Sakura and Abe of Bingo, committed hara-kiri. Hotta's sword, still stained with blood, is retained in the kura of the daimiate at Tokyo, and on the anniversary of the event is shown to the samurai, who appear on the occasion in full dress.
259 See Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xx., Supplement, in which Prof. J. H. Wigmore has undertaken to publish the material discovered by him, with a valuable introduction on the "Administrative and Commercial Institutions of Old Japan."
260 See Whitney's "Notes on Medical Progress in Japan," Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xii., part 4, p. 276.
261 See a description of this process in Kaempfer's History of Japan, and also in Whitney's "Medical Progress," Asiatic Society Transactions, vol. xii., part 4, p. 289.
262 See Griffis' Life of Matthew Calbraith Perry, p. 296.
263 The term emperor was employed in this letter in accordance with the usage of the Jesuit Fathers, the Dutch writers, and William Adams, all of whom designated the shogun as emperor, although this term could be properly applied only to the Tenno at Kyoto.
264 Official Narrative of the Japan Expedition, vol. i., p. 80.
265 Official Narrative of the Japan Expedition, vol. i., p. 231.
266 See the Official Narrative of the Japan Expedition, vol i., p. 233 et seq; also Griffis' Life of M. C. Perry, p. 314 et seq; also Bayard Taylor's India, China, and Japan, 1855, p. 411 et seq.
267 I have received from Mr. F. S. Conover, who was a member of the Japan expedition as lieutenant of the navy, many interesting details of experiences in Yedo which I have incorporated in my account.
268 "The question of landing by force was left to be decided by the development of succeeding events; it was of course the very last measure to be resorted to, and the last that was to be desired; but in order to be prepared for the worst, the Commodore caused the ships constantly to be kept in perfect readiness, and the crews to be drilled as thoroughly as they are in the time of active war."—Japan Expedition, vol. i., p. 235.
269 See the Kinse Shiriaku, a history of Japan from 1853 to 1869, translated by E. M. Satow, Yokohama, 1876.
270 See Nitobe's Intercourse between the United States and Japan, p. 39.
271 See Treaties and Conventions between Japan and Other Powers, p. 735.
272 See the Constitutional Development of Japan, by Toyokichi Iyenaga, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins Press, 1891, p. 12.
273 See p. 279.
274 See selections from a pamphlet by a German resident at Yokohama given in Mossman's New Japan, pp. 142, 143, and quoted in Nitobe's Intercourse between the United States and Japan. "The reason the Tycoon breaks his promise is because he cannot keep it, and the reason he cannot keep it, is because he had no right to give it."
275 See Nitobe's Intercourse between the United States and Japan, p. 59.
276 Prince Hotta was at this time president of the Council of State (Gorojiu) and had charge of this first audience. I have seen in the possession of his descendant, the present occupant of the beautiful family yashiki in Tokyo, the original of the memorandum showing the arrangement of the rooms through which Mr. Harris was to pass, and the position where he was to stand during the delivery of his congratulatory remarks.
277 In a despatch to the Secretary of State, dated November 25, 1856, Mr. Harris explains the condition of the negotiations in reference to a commercial treaty. He narrates his interview at Hongkong with Sir John Bowring, who told him that he was empowered to negotiate a commercial treaty. Mr. Harris shrewdly observes: "I shall call their (the Japanese government's) attention to the fact that by making a treaty with me they would save the point of honor that must arise from their apparently yielding to the force that backs the plenipotentiary and not to the justice of their demands."
278 Although Kanagawa was made an open port for trade by these treaties, the adjoining village of Yokohama was found practically better suited for the purpose. The very proximity of Kanagawa to the Tokaido, which led foreigners to prefer it when the treaties were made, proved to be an objection in the disordered times that followed. On this account Yokohama rapidly rose to the importance which it still holds.
279 The word means Curtain Government, in reference to the curtain with which the camp of a general was surrounded. The term is equivalent to Military Government, and is used to designate the shogun's as distinguished from the emperor's court.
280 See The Life of Ii Naosuke, by Shimada Saburo, Tokyo, 1888; also the Constitutional Development of Japan, by Toyokichi Iyenaga, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 1891, p. 15.
281 Mr. Heusken who had gone to Japan with Mr. Townsend Harris in 1858 was a Hollander by birth. The Dutch language at that time was almost the only medium through which communication could be had with the Japanese. A native interpreter turned the sentiment into Dutch, and then a person who understood both Dutch and English translated it into the latter tongue. This circuitous system of interpretation was, however, soon remedied by native scholars learning English, and by English and American scholars learning Japanese.
282 See American Diplomatic Correspondence, November 27, 1861.
283 A full account of this affair may be found in Alcock's Capital of the Tycoon, and in the Life of Laurence Oliphant.
284 A translation of this paper cited from the correspondence presented to Parliament is given in Adams' History of Japan, vol. i., p. 138.
285 See Adams' History of Japan, vol. i., p. 139.
286 In Mr. Satow's translation of Kinse Shiriaku (p. 18) it is said that the bakufu ordered the house of Mito to arrest the men who had broken into the English temple residence, but they made their escape into Oshiu and Dewa.
287 See the account of the negotiations of this embassy with Earl Russell in Adams' History of Japan, vol. i., p. 177 et seq.
288 One of the officials naively told the American minister when speaking of the reception of the embassy in the United States: "We did not believe you when you told us of the friendly feeling of your country for us; but we now see that all you said was true."
289 The daimyo was really his own son who had been adopted by his brother, the former daimyo, and who on the death of his brother had succeeded him as daimyo. Shimazu Saburo was therefore legally the uncle of his own son.
290 Dr. J. C. Hepburn, a resident in Kanagawa at this time, attended to the wounded men at the U. S. Consulate. In a letter to me after reading the above account, he says that, "it was the common report at the time that Richardson did ride into Satsuma's train and that he (Satsuma) said, 'Kill him.' It was the general belief that Richardson brought the whole catastrophe on himself."
291 In addition to Terashima there were in the company Mori Arinori, Yoshida Kiyonari, Hatakeyama Yoshinari, and others. They became deeply imbued with the spirit of western institutions and with the principles of constitutional liberty and toleration. Their influence upon the new career of their country was marked and salutary. Through the agency of Mr. Laurence Oliphant a part of them became misled with the delusions of Thomas Lake Harris, and with him removed to Brocton on the shores of Lake Erie, U. S. where they resided for a time as members of the Brotherhood of the New Life. They had as associates in this singular community Lady Oliphant and her distinguished son, and like them were called upon to perform the ordinary menial employments connected with the community.
292 It should be stated here that a despatch to the British envoy from Earl Russell arrived just after the sailing of the expedition in which he says: "That Her Majesty's government positively enjoin you not to undertake any military operation whatever in the interior of Japan; and they would indeed regret the adoption of any measures of hostility against the Japanese government or princes, even though limited to naval operations, unless absolutely required by self-defence." Had this order arrived in time, it is probable that the expedition would not have sailed.—Correspondence Respecting Affairs in Japan, 1875, No. 1, p. 45.
293 It will be remembered that the United States at this time had occasion to use all her ships-of-war at home in the civil war that was raging.
294 See Treaties and Conventions between the Empire of Japan and Other Powers, p. 318.
295 The only additional circumstance that deserves mention in this connection is that in response to a widely expressed public sentiment the Congress of the United States in 1883 refunded to Japan $785,000.87, her share in this indemnity.—See Treaties and Conventions between the Empire of Japan and Other Powers, p. 320.
296 See translation of Kinse Shiriaku, Yokohama, 1876, p. 59.
297 See translation of Kinse Shiriaku, Yokohama, p. 50.
298 See translation of Kinse Shiraku, Yokohama, p. 24.
299 See citation in Adams' History of Japan, vol. i., p. 260.
300 Toyokichi Iyenaga, Ph.D., in his pamphlet on the Constitutional Development of Japan, p. 17, traces the evolution of the present parliamentary institutions to the conferences which were held at this and subsequent times.
301 Among these was Sanjo Saneyoshi, who afterwards for many years was the prime minister of the restored government.
302 See Adams' History of Japan, vol. i., p. 431.
303 The annalist from whom Adams quotes gives the number of houses burned as 27,000. Adams' History of Japan, vol. i., p. 434.
304 See the Genji Yume Monogatari and Satow's note in Adams' History of Japan, vol. i., p. 407.
305 This distinguished soldier is better known under the name of Saigo Takamori. He was originally an ardent anti-foreign partisan, and through this sentiment became an advocate of a restoration of the emperor. His services in this revolutionary movement were rewarded by a pension granted and accepted by the emperor's express command.—See Mounsey's Satsuma Rebellion, London, p. 22.
306 In this reconciliation of the Satsuma and Choshu clans the court noble, Iwakura Tomomi, took a prominent part, and after the restoration was complete he became one of the principal officers in the new government, holding the office of Udaijin until his death. He is best known to foreigners as the head of an embassy which visited western countries in 1872-3.
307 See this memorial as given in Adams' History of Japan, vol. ii., p. 24.
308 See Adams' History of Japan, vol. ii., p. 24.
309 See Adams' History of Japan, vol. ii., p. 37.
310 Translation of Kinse Shiriaku, Yokohama, p. 30.
311 Translation of Kinse Shiraku, Yokohama, p. 80.
312 See translation of Kinse Shiriaku, Yokohama, p. 82.
313 See translation of Kinse Shiriaku, Yokohama, p. 82.
314 With that talent for nicknaming which the Japanese exhibit, the leading party in the new government was called Sat-cho-to; derived from the first syllables of the clans, Satsuma, Choshu, and Tosa.
315 See Adams' History of Japan, vol. ii., p. 84.
316 The numbers here given, of 10,000 troops in the rebel army and 1,500 in the imperial army, are much less than those claimed by the Japanese authorities, but Mr. Satow who had means of ascertaining the truth gives the numbers as stated in the text. See Adams' History of Japan, vol. ii., p. 99, note.
317 An incident connected with this return illustrates both the times and customs of the country. Hori Kura-no-kami, a prominent retainer of the ex-shogun, besought his master to commit hara-kiri as the only way in which his own honor and the dignity of the Tokugawa clan could be preserved. He offered to join him in this tragic ceremony, but the ex-shogun declined to end his life in this way. Thereupon the devoted retainer retired and in the presence of his own friends himself committed hara-kiri.
318 American Diplomatic Correspondence, April 3, 1868.
319 An English translation of this memorial will be found in Black's New Japan, vol. ii., p. 84. It shows what prejudices the statesmen of that day had to overcome. See also American Diplomatic Correspondence, 1868, p. 727.
320 See Kinse Shiriaku, Yokohama, p. 116.
321 See Kinse Shiriaku, Yokohama, p. 125. Also American Diplomatic Correspondence, March 14, 1871.
322 This house was one of the five regent families (go-sekke) all of the Fujiwara clan, from whom the kwambaku, daijo-daijin, or sessho, the highest officers under the emperor, were always filled and from which the emperors selected their wives.—Dickson's Japan, p. 52.
323 See Chamberlain's Things Japanese, 1892, p. 300.
324 Adams' History of Japan, vol. ii., p. 126. American Diplomatic Correspondence, May 30, 1868.
325 Iyenaga's Constitutional Development of Japan, p. 33.
326 See the despatch of Sir Harry Parkes, British State Papers, Japan, 1870.
327 See Iyenaga's Constitutional Development of Japan, p. 35.
328 See British State Papers, 1870, Japan.
329 A translation of this memorial will be found in the British State Papers, 1870, Japan; also cited in Adams' History of Japan, vol. ii., p. 181.
330 See an analysis of the daimyos who joined in this memorial in British State Papers, 1870, Japan.
331 See British State Papers, 1870, Japan.
332 See Prince Azuki's Memorial.
333 See Kido's Original Memorial.
334 See Mounsey's Satsuma Rebellion, pp. 247, 248.
335 Treaties and Conventions between Japan and Other Powers, Tokyo, 1864, p. 646.
336 Treaties and Conventions between Japan and Other Powers, Tokyo, 1884, p. 171.
337 This castle was built by Kato Kiyomasa after his return from the Korean war. It still stands, being one of the most notable castles of Japan.
338 See p. 47.
339 See p. 380.
340 This able document was prepared by Count Ito Hirobumi. An official translation was published at Yokohama in 1889.
341 In the official list Jingo is not reckoned, and the time of her reign is counted with that of her son and successor.
342 From Japanese Chronological Tables, by William Bramsen, 1880.
The system of counting from year-periods (nengo) was introduced from China. These periods of Japanese history do not correspond to the reigns of the emperors. A new one was chosen whenever it was deemed necessary to commemorate an auspicious or ward off a malign event. By a notification issued in 1872 it was announced that hereafter the year-period should be changed but once during the reign of an emperor. The current period, Meiji (Enlightened Peace), will therefore continue during the reign of the present emperor.
The numbers in the second column of this table indicate the years as counted from the founding of the empire by Jimmu Tenno. According to the official chronology this occurred B.C. 660.
343 Translated from the chronology of the shoguns in Mittheilungen der deutschen Gesellschaft fur Natur und Volkerkunde Ostasiens, Heft 3, 1873.
344 The translation of these laws of Shotoku Taishi was furnished by Mr. Tsuji Shinji, late vice-minister of state for education, and by Mr. Matsumoto Kumpei.
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