Division Section No, X)5309 .T23 >1 4 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/japaninourday00tayl_0 FIRE FISHING IN THE BAY OF YEUO. ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY OF TRAVEL J^VPA]N[ 1 N O K D A Y COMPILEIi ANIi ARUAXGED BY i’.ayaki/taylok NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 743 & 743 Broadway 1881 COPYRIGHT BY CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS ISSl PREFATOET NOTE. rMHE rapid change in tlie policy of the Japanese government, wliicii is now opening tlie Empire to tlie arts and ideas of modern civilization, has been followed by a corresponding increase in onr knowledge of the Japanese institutions and people. The com- pilers object has been to select all that is newest and most interestinof in the works of recent visitors to Ja- O pan, in order to make this volume a tolerably complete gallery of pictures, representing the life and customs of the Japanese at this time. Many strange and pecu- liar features of that life will very soon pass away, and already some of the e.xperiences related by Sir Ruth- erford Alcock and M. Humbert could not be repeated. It is believed, therefore, that the information contained in this volume will be found not only attractive in it- self, but convenient as a standard by which to measure the great changes which science and the mechanic arts will eft'ect in the condition of the Japanese Empire. PEIHGBTOH ,m. FtB lb62 theologic^'^l. COJN TENTS. CHAPTER 1. r4«i EaI.LIF.ST ISTKKCOUKSE WITH JaPAN .... 1 CiLVPTER II. Japanese IIiSTOuy 8 CHAPTER III. The Opening op Japan 20 CHAPTER IV. Alcock’s Ascent op Fdsi-tama 28 CHAPTER V. Alcock’s Ovekland Journey from Nagasaki to Yeoo . 40 CHAPTER VI. M. Humbert’s Voyage from Nagasaki to Yedo . 56 CHAPTER VII. Residence at Yokohama 63 CHAPTER VIII. Excursion to Kamakura .... . • 74 CHAPTER IX. The Highway to Yedo 89 CHAPTER X. Life in Yedo . 9.5 XII CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. PAfll Wai.ks in Vkdo CHAPTER XII. Tub Rksidkxce ok the Tvcooss . . . CHAPTER XllI The Colht a.nd its Revenues *34 CHAPTER XIV. The Citizens’ Quarter ^38 CHAPTER XV. The Bridges of Yedo. — The Police . . . 150 CHAPTER XVI. The Hondjo ... 158 CHAPTER XVII. Japanese Art and Industry ... . . 164 CHAPTER XVIII. The Literature of the Japanese . . . • 1”0 CHAPTER XIX. Recreations and Domestic Customs of the Japanese 180 CHAPTER X.X. S0.JOURN IN THE Harbor 192 CHAPTER XXL Japanese Festivals and Theatres .... 199 CHAPTER XXII Varieties of Japanese Life ... . . 209 CHAPTER XXIII. The Gtmn*sts wk Wrestlers 215 CONTENTS. XIll CHAPTER XXIV. PAGt SCENKS AKOUNl) YeDO CHAPTER XXV. New-year’s Day in Yedo . 2.37 CHAPTER XXVI. The Japanese anu tiieiu Mythology . . . 249 CHAPTER XXVII. The Literary Age of Japan 2.38 CHAPTER XXVIII. Popl'lar Superstitions 2i>6 CHAPTER .XXIX The New Order of Things in Japan . VX LIST OF JLLUSTKATIONS. Fihe Fishing in tiik J5av of Yeuo Fusi-yama Enthance to a Jafanese Tavekn Climbing the Conf, of Fusi-vama Simonoseki Entkancf, to the Harbor of Hiogo Daimios .... Japanese Bf.ttos . Japanese Ladies going to pay a Visit Japanese crossing a Mountain Gorge Japanese Tea House Japanese Pilgrims A Street Scene in .Japan Entrance to the American Legation, Ykdo . Americ.an Legation, Yedo Noon Scene on a Japanese Canal . Little Jugglers in the Streets of Y’edo Japanese Blacksmiths Soldier of the Tycoon A Parricide on the Way to E.tecution A Japanese Stable Japanese Cook . . . _ Japanese Restaurant at Yedo Priest of the Higher Grade A Japanese School Countryman. Winter Costume Citizen of Yedo. Winter Costume PAOt h’rontixpifre. ••10 .36 4.5 46 .50 64 6€ 71 83 91 9.5 . 99 105 . lOS no . 118 1.33 . 138 144 . 146 160 . 170 180 . 183 XVI LllSl OF lUMSTHA llOSS PAQ( Japanese Marriage . 1H4 The Mikado oe Japan .... ... 192 Fete of the Sea-god . 197 New Year’s Festivities . • . .199 Japanese Festival of the Banners ... 2 on Procession of the White Elephant 2ni Japanese Theatre — Scenes before the Curtain . 202 Japanese Theatre — Scenes behind the Certain . . 206 Tortoise Charmer 208 Japanese Wrestlers .215 Japanese Feats at Balancing 248 TRAVELS IN JAPAJS". CHAPTER I. EARI-IEST INTERCOURSE WITH JAPAN. LTHOUGH the history of the Japanese, as an organized and civilized people, extends back be- yond the Christian era, the ancient geographers were ignorant of the very existence of the Empire. Tlie first notice of Japan ever given to the world is found in the travels of Marco Polo, who heard of the coun- try, under the name of Zipangu, at the court of Kublai Khan (in Peking), at the close of the thirteenth cen- tury. This is his brief description : — “ Zipangu is an island in the Eastern Ocean, situate at the distance of about 1,500 miles from the mainland of 3IanJi [Mantchooria ?]. It is of considerable size ; its inhabitants have fair complexions, are well made, and are civilized in their manners. Their reliorion is the worship of idols. They are independent of every foreign power, and governed only by their kings. They have gold in the greatest abundance, its sources being inexhaustible ; but as the king does not allow of its being exported, few merchants visit the country, nor is it frequented by much shipping from other ports. To this circumstance we are to attribute the extraordinary 1 2 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. richness of the sovereign’s palace, according to what we are told by those who have had access to the place. The entire roof is covered with a plating of gold, in the same manner as we cover houses, or more proi)erly churches, with lead. The ceilings of the halls are of the same precious metal ; ir any of the apartments have small tables of pure gold, considerably thick, and the windows also have goltlen ornaments. So vast, indeed, are the riches of the palace, that it is impossible to con- vey an idea of them. In this island there are pearls also in large quantities, of a red color, round in shape and of great size ; equal in value to, or even exceeding, that of the Avhite pearls. It is customary with one part of the inhabitants to bury their dead, and with another part to burn them. The former have a prac- tice of putting one of these pearls into the mouth of the corpse. There are also found there a number of precious stones. “ Of so great celebrity was the wealth of this island, that a desire Avas excited in the breast of the Grand Khan Kublai, now reigning, to make the conquest of it, and to annex it to his dominions.” Japan Avas first really discoA'ered — that is, made knoAvn to Europe from actual obserA'ation — fifty years after the discovery of America. In the year 1542, a Portuguese A^essel, bound for Macao, was driven far out of her course by a tempest, and finally arrived in the harbor of Bungo, on the Japanese island of Kiusiu, the most southerly of the five great islands of the Empire. Although the Japanese, on account of their previous wars with China, were cautious and A’igilant in their intercourse with foreigners, there was no prohibition EARLIEST INTERCOURSE WITH JAPAN. 3 of such intercourse, and the Portuguese were kindly received. The latter took advantage of tlieir accident, and made a treaty witli tlie Prince of Bungo, by vvliich a Portuguese vessel was to be sent every year, for the purposes of commerce. Seven years later, several Jesuit priests, among them the distinguished Francis Xavier, went to Japan, in order to undertake the con- version of the people. They were heartily welcomed, not only in the province of Bungo, but throughout the entire country. The Portuguese were as free to preach as to trade, and for twenty years, or more, both avoca- tions flourished without interruption. In the year 1585, an embassy of seven Japanese Christians visited Rome, and by the end of the century the number of converts was estimated at two hundred thousand. The Portuguese trade, through the ports of Bungo, Firando, and Nagasaki, became so lucrative that Macao rose to be one of the wealthiest cities of the East. In April, 1600, the first Dutch vessel, piloted by an English sailor named William Adams, reached Japan. After some delay and suspicion on the part of the Jap- anese, the Dutch captain was allowed to dispose of his cargo and leave, but Adams was retained, on account of his knowledge of mathematics and shiiibuilding. He was very well treated, but remained a compulsory res- ident of Japan, until his death, twentv vears later. Meanwhile the Dutch had followed up their advantage, and maintained a limited trade through the port of Firando, in spite of the protestations of the Portuguese. The English, also, while Adams was yet living, ob- tained the same jin'dlege, but their commercial inter- course was slight, and was finally discontinued, because it did not prove very profitable. 4 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. Hie persecution of the native Christians by the Jap- anese Government liad already commenced. It ap- pears that tlie Franciscan and Dominican orders had followed in the wake of the Jesuits, and that the jeal- ousy of these three sects, together with their increasing defiance of the Japanese authority, had given rise to frequent and serious troubles. Crosses, shrines, and churches were erected in prohibited j)laces ; religious processions were led through the very streets of Miako, and the hostility of the government needlessly pro- voked in other ways. Once thoroughly aroused, it manifested itself in the most inhuman forms. Never- theless after the massacres of 1612 and 1614, the Por- tuguese continued to import missionaries, in violation of the Imperial order ; whereupon their intercourse with Japan was restricted to the little island of Desima, in the harbor of Nagasaki. The closing episode of this history was brought about by the capture of a Portuguese vessel off the Cape of Good Hope, by the Dutch. Among other things found on board the prize, there were certain treasonable letters to the King of Portugal, written by a native Japanese, who had long been a principal acent of the Portuguese in the countiy, and was a de- vout Catholic. These letters (according to Dutch authority) revealed a plot by which the Portuguese were to unite with tlie Japanese Christians, overturn the old empire and establish a new and Christian dynasty. The Dutch Government immediately dispatched these documents to Japan: it was a welcome opportunity of overthrowing the influence of their hated rivals, and gecuiino for themselves the monopoly of trade. The EARUEST INTERCOURSE WITH JAPAN. 6 evidence on botli sides must be received with caution ; indeed, in tliis wliole history, »ve can only be certain in regard to the results. Tlie Japanese agent denied the autliorship of the letters, wliich the Portuguese also assert to have been Dutch forgeries ; but the former was burned at the stake, and an imperial proclamation was issued (in 1637) decreeing that “■the whole race of the Portuguese, with their mothers, nurses, and whatever belongs to them, shall be banished forever.” The same proclamation set forth that no Japanese ship or boat, or any native of Japan, should henceforth presume to quit the country under pain of forfeiture and death ; that any Japanese returning from a foreign country should be put to death ; that no nobleman or soldier should be suftered to purchase anything of a foreigner ; that any person presuming to bring a letter from abroad, or to return to Japan after he had been banished, should die, with all his family, and that who- ever presumed to intercede for such offenders should be put to death ; that all persons who propagated the doctrines of the Christians or bore that scandalous name, should be seized and imprisoned as felons, — with many other provisions of the same nature. This was the beginning of the exclusive system of Japan, which was maintained for a little more than two hun- dred years. The final persecution and extermination of the Jap- anese Christians followed this decree. The town of Simabara, in which they had taken refuge, was battered down by the aid of Dutch cannon, and a general slaughter followed. This was the end of Catholic Christianity in Japan. But the Dutch, instead of ob- 6 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. tainino; more liberal conditions of trade in return for their services, were obliged to be content with the same limitation of intercourse which had previously been im- posed upon tlie Portuguese. Tliey were restricted to the little island of Desima, six hundred feet in length by two hundred and forty in bieadth, in the harbor of Nagasaki, and thus, just a hundred years after the first discovery of Japan, the isolation of the Empire was established. Kampfer, w'riting at the close of the sev- enteenth century, says, “ In short, by our humble com- plaisance and connivance, we were so far from bringing this proud and jealous nation to any greater confidence, or more intimate friendship, that, on the contrary, their jealousy and mistrust seemed to increase fi’om that time. They both hated and despised us for what we had done. In the year 1641, soon after the total ex- pulsion of the Portuguese and the suppression of Christianity among the natives, we w'ere ordered to quit our comfortable factory at Fii’ando, and to confine ourselves, under a very rigid inspection, to the small islet of Desima, which is more like a prison than a fac- tory. So great w'as the covetousness of the Dutch, and so strong the alluring power of Japanese gold, that, rather than quit the prospect of a trade (indeed most advantageous) they willingly underwent an al- most perpetual imprisonment, for such, in fact, is our residence at Desima, and chose to suffer many hard- ships in a foreign and heathen country, to be remiss in performing divine service on Sundays and solemn fes- tivals, to leave off praying and singing of psalms and all the outer signs of Christianity ; and lastly, patiently and submissively to bear the abusive and injurious be- havior of these proud infidels toward us.” EARLIEST INTERCOURSE WITH JAPAN. 7 Having once accepted the conditions, however, the Dutch continued to observe them. The residence on Desima was burdened with restrictions, some of wliich were positively degrading : the trade was limited to two vessels a year, and the privilege of an annual journey to Yedo was afterwards changed to a journey once in four years. The best reason which can be given for the continuation, by the Japanese govern- ment, of a privilege of such slight commercial im- |)Ortance, must be found in that curiosity which is such an important element in the character of the race. Although determined to isolate themselves from the rest of the world, they were still anxious to know what was going on in other nations ; and when the empire was finally opened to general intercourse, there was already a class of officials sufficiently well in- formed to comprehend the extent and importance of the new relations which the government had assumed. CHAPTER n. JAPANESE HISTORY. AMPFER, Klaproth, and other earlier writers have given outlines of the history of Japan, from such materials as were accessible to them. Like that of China, and other ancient Asiatic nations, the thread of actual events is so blended with fable and fiction that it is no easy matter to separate it : the fur- ther we recede in the past the more confused becomes the narrative, until we finally reach a point where evervthing is uncertain. The most recent of the works on this subject has been compiled Avith the aid of an intelligent Japanese scholar,^ and offers a much clearer and more probable narrative than we find in any of its predecessors. The traditional or fabulous portion of Japanese history extends beyond our era ; but it will only be necessary to note those prominent characters or events, which may be accepted as having a basis of fact. The first of the noted historical personages is Yamato, who is supposed to have lived during the second century. He Avas a famous militaiw chieftain, belong- ing to the imperial family, and achieved the conquest of the eastern and northern portions of the island of I Japan; Being a Sketch of the History, Government, and Officert of the Empire. By Walter Dickson. William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh, 1869 JAPANESE HISTORY. 9 Nipon. He left a son, whose widow, the Empress Jingu, is another famous historical chai-acler. She conquered Corea and made it tributary to Japan, in the third century, suppressed a powerful rel>ellion in Kiusiu, and left a well established empire to her son 0-sin, During the reign of the latter, Chinese letters are said to have been introduced into Japan, and about the same period the Buddhist faith began to displace the older Sinto religion, whicdi consisted chiefly of prayers, without any distinct idea of a Being to whom to pray, except that wdiite paper, or a mirror, was used as a symbol of purity. The Buddhist faith not only included this, but supplied, in addition, the idea of a pure life, and final absorption into the Deity, through self-denial. Hence it spread very rapidly; and its introduction, by way of China, brought with it various Chinese customs, which somewhat modified the Japanese institutions, such as the degrees of rank among government officials. There were other wars with Corea about the middle of the seventh century, and about the same time the northern island of Yeso was brought under subjection to Japan. The capital of the empire, which w'as then divided into eight provinces, some of which were usually in a state of revolt, wjs fixed at Miako, about the year 800. For three oi four cen- turies after this, the history of Japan is that of several of its prominent families, the members of which suc- cessively acquired the imperial power. The principal of them are the Fusiwara, Sungawara, Minnamoto, and Tatchibanna. Their rivalry, of course, gave rise to violent civil wars, during which certain individuals 10 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. acquired ]io\ver and fame, but the condition of the country and peo|)le did nor crj-eatly imjrroAC. There were no serious difficulties, either with Corea or China, after this time ; hut the central power seems to have been based upon no firm and permanent svstem, and thus was in constant danjier of being overthrown. During the twelfth centurv there was a memorable struggle between the IMinnamoto and the Hd or Taira family. In the first great battle the latter obtained the victory, and Kio Mori, its chief, received the go\'- ernment of a prov'ince. He became prime minister, and one of the most energetic and unscrupulous which Japan had ever known. After the death of the em- peror, the latter’s successor, a mere boy, married the daughter of Kio Mori, who was practically the ruler for ten years. He died in 1181, leaving a noble name in Japanese history. After his death, however, the rival family, the Minnamoto, overthrew the He dynasty, and exterminated, as was then supposed, every one who bore the name. In the centre of the island of Kiusiu, there is a high table-land, partly marsh, from twenty to thirty miles in diameter. According to Japanese accounts, tlie interior of this district was utterly unknown, a hundred years ago, when the dis- covery was accidentally made that there were people living in three villages in the midst of this marsh. Further investigations having been made, it was found that these people were the remnants of the H4 family, who had fled thither six hundred years before, and had there isolated themselves, through fear of destruction! They had taught their own fears to their children, and the remote descendants, when found, were over- whelmed with the dread of some terrible jjunishment. JAPANESE ni STORY. 11 The Minnamoto emperor, Yoritomo, lived at Kama- kura (not far from the present foreign settlement at Kanagawa), where the ruins of his palace are still to be seen. He died in 1199, and is generally regarded bv the Japanese as the greatest hero in their history. Kamakura was the capital for a long time, and even in the time of the Jesuits, when Yedo had succeeded to the distinction, the |)opnlation still numbered 20,000. In the time of Kubhu Klian (about 1281), Japan was summoned to pay tribute to China, and a large military force was sent to enforce the demand. The Japanese chronicles relate that this “ invincible armada ” was scattered by a storm, 30,000 men drowned or slain after reaching the shore, and the ambassadors of Kublai Khan beheaded. The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries are chronicles of civil war, with occasional changes in the relation of the imperial authority to the independent princes ; but all is shifting, unstable, weak, and we find no evidence that the natural resources of the islands were greatly developed during this period. But the last period ol transition in Japanese history (e.xcept that in our own day) was at hand, and destined to be coeval with the earliest intercourse with Europeans. The same year (1542) which witnessed the arrival of the first Portu- guese vessel, gave birth to lyeyas, in some respects the greatest man Jajian ever produced. The native his- torians give the year 1552 as that when Christianity was first introduced at Bungo by foreigners from the south. This is evidently an error, as St. Francis Xa- vier died in 1551, after two years spent as a missionary in Japan. 12 TRA VELS IN JA PAN. “ The period at which this event [tlie introduction of Christianity] took place,” says Mr. Dickson, “ is worthy of note. Japan had been for years torn by rival factions, and by the contests of men intriguing for power. The emperor was powerless, and reduced by poverty and neglect to a position bordering on contempt. The eastern court at Kamakura retained some portions of its former power, and was at least a hot-bed where schemes mijiht be hatched for over- throwing either the power of the court of Miako, or that of some of the neighboring princes. Yedo was almost unknown, except as a village dependency of the castle. The western provinces were under the sway of independent chiefs, while the island of Kiusiu hardly acknowledged the sway of the Mikado. A small begiinnins of commerce with China had been going on for several years past, and was transacted at Ningpo. It was not likely, therefore, that at the first landing upon Tanegasima the country and people of Japan were unknown to the Portuguese buccaneers upon the coast of China. If Mendez Pinto is to be credited, thex'e were eight hundred Portuguese then living near Ningpo under their own laws ; but if his account of the doings of his countrymen in China be correct — and it is in many respects corroborated by concurrent testimony, — the men who sailed about those seas were not exactly the men best suited to spread a healthy commerce, or to propagate correct notions of the Christian religion.” The freedom allowed to the first Jesuit missionaries is partly explained by the distracted condition of the empire at that time. The centx*al power was too ^veak JAPANESE HISTORY. 13 to assert any particular authority, and the rival fac- tions too seriously engaged to notice an innovation, in which they probably saw no danger. It was not until about 1570 that the chief, Nobu Nanga, succeeded in establishing his power, and thus restoring some degree of order. He was joined by lyeyas, still a young man, but already noted for his great administrative abilities. Nobu Nanga first commenced a crusade against the Buddhist priests, who were equally powerful and ar- rogant. He took from them the great castle of Osacca, which had been one of their principal temples, and for a time encouraged the Jesuits for his own purposes. He overthrew the power of many families, and made his will supreme throughout the empire, although he was never the actual ruler. By the year 1582, Nobu Nanga had subjugateu nearly the whole of Japan. He built a splendid tem- ple, placed his own statue therein, and caused divine honors to be paid to it. Returning to Miako imme- diately afterwards, he was suddenly surrounded while attended only by a small guard, and assassinated by the soldiers of a noble whom he had insulted. He was forty-nine years of age at his death. Taikosama, who succeeded to the imperial power, and Iveyas, already governor of eight provinces, were his two generals. The former was a man of low birth and misshapen form, who had risen by his native daring of character and great military talent. lyeyas, who was his supe- rior in talent, and possibly in influence, was one of those men who never undertake to hasten what they feel to be their ultimate destiny. He only resisted Taikosama’s pretensions sufficiently to make himself 14 TRAVELS IN JAPAN properly respected, and then acquiesced in the cun* ninnj emperor’s rule. The rei^n of Taikosama, wliich lasted until 1598, is notable cliiefly for an invasion of Corea, at first suc- cessful, but with no final result, and for his course toward the Christians, both nativ'e and foreign. He at first encouraged the latter, following the policy of his predecessor ; but when the Buddhist temples were burned, the priests assailed, and the new sect showed itself as haughty and intolerant as the old, he began to adopt measures of repression. fhe five Franciscan monks, whom he ordered to be executed at Navas already in existence, and, curiously enough, on a suinnier-house ill the jiarden attached to it there was engraved a stanza, which is now looked upon by the Japanese as a jM'ophecy of coining events, finally accomplished in our day : — “From this window I look upon Fiisi-yama, ^yitll its snow of a tlioiisaml years; To my gate ships will come from the far East, Ten thousand miles." Mr. Dickson says: “Considering the associations which hung around Miako and Narra and Osacca as the capitals, imperial, ecclesiastical, and commercial, of the empire, it might be deemed a great stretch of power and firm confidence in himself and the stability of his .system of <;overnment, that Iveyas should think of removing the seat of the executive to Yedo. He had doubtless pondered long and deeply over the best system of government for the country. He had seen the anarchy which preceded the rise of Nobu Nanga to power ; he had seen the want of system by which the structure of government at that time had crumbled down with the fall of the one man upon whose shoul- ders it had been supported ; he had all the e.xperience since that time to be gained from ruling an extensive territory of his own, combined with what observations he might make upon the system of Taikosama. In the settling of that system, doubtless, he had a large share ; but he went further than Taikosama, and, dis- regarding the old associations connected with Miako, 16 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. he removed the seat of the executive to his own prov- inces and to his own court iii the city of Yedo, in what was considered a remote part of the empire, tlie inhabi- tants of wliich were looked upon as rude and unpol- ished. Tlie city, when lyeyas first took jiossession of the castle, consisted only of one street. It increased very much in size under his care, and throung frame for work requiring strength ; men of strong heart for work requiring courage. Weak men are to be put in poo>‘ places. Every man in his proper place. Tliere are places for weak men and places for fools. Soldiers are to be chosen on these principles, so that with a thousand men in one body, the whole may act together and the empire have peace. Tliis is always to be kept in memory.” lyeyas further records that he has fought ninety bat- tles, and has had eighteen narrow escapes from death, — wherefore he erected eighteen splendid temples, in different parts of the empire. From his niles con- cerning intercourse with foreigners, we quote the fol- lowing passages : — 1 . “ If any representat''^e of a foreign nation comes 2 18 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. to the country, the officers must take care that every- thing is in good order ; tliat horses and horse-furni- ture be good, tlie houses and roads clean. If they are dirty, it can be seen at a glance whether the nation is prosperous or the reverse,” 2. “ If a foreign vessel should be wrecked on the shore of Japan, tlie officers of government are to be immediately informed, and an interpreter is to be sent to ask what they require. Sometimes the officer may be required to be strict and severe, at other times hos- pitable and kind. The vessel is to be watched and no trading allowed.” These laws of Iveyas, and the additional measures ■which he enforced during the eighteen years of his reign, really accomplished the great ends he had in view, — that of establishing his own family in power, and preserving the internal peace of the empire. In the year 1806 a grand national festival was held in Japan, when the nobles and people congratulated the emperor on the remarkable fact — to which there is no parallel in the history of any other nation, — that the empire had enjoyed an unbroken peace for nearly two hundn'd years. During this time the internal resources of the country had been highly developed ; Yedo had grown to be one of the great cities of the ■world ; the isolation of Japan had been scrupulously respected by more civilized nations ; and the restric- tions imposed upon the people had grown, by in- heritance, to be a natural accompaniment of their lives. Except a rebellion of no extent or importance, in 1838, the Japanese annals record nothing of much JAPANESE HISTORY. 19 more interest than fires, earthquakes, or showers of meteoric stones, until the commencement of inter- course with foreign nations, in our day. From this time, the history of Japan will be associated with that of the United States, England, and Russia, in the development of civiliiat.on. CHAPTER HI. THE OPENING OF JAPAN, FTER llie expulsion of tlie Portuguese and the confinement of the Dutch to the little island of Desiina, in the harbor of Nagasaki, no serious attempt was made, for two hundred years, by any great commer- cial nation, to enter into relations with Japan. The Eng- lish, in 1673, applied for permission to trade, but the cajitain of the vessel was immediately asked by the Japanese officials, whether his king had not married the daughter of the Kino; of Portujral ? This infor- mation had been furnished to them by the Dutch, who seem to have constantly made use of their exclusive opportunities to prejudice the Japanese against other European nations. A small embassy, sent from Okhotsk in 1793, by order of the Empress Catherine II. was repelled, though in a courteous manner. Several English vessels made separate attempts to trade, about the same time, with similar results, the Japanese exhibiting the greatest decision and firmness in their policy, yet being careful to avoid ffiviim cause for retaliation. Even in their imprisonment of the Russian Captain Golownin and his men, in 1812 and 1813, they seem to have avoided all wanton harshness. Their conduct, in short, gave rise to a general belief in the great strength of their nation TBE OPENING OF JAPAN. 21 and its defenses, and undoubtedly contributed to post- pone the enforcement of a nearer intercourse, until the progress of steam navigation and the use of lieavier artillery furuished other countries with the means of supporting their representatives by adequate pliysical power. A rather singular attempt was made by the English, in 1808. During the summer of that yeax*, a ship under Dutch coloi's entered the harbor of Nao-asaki. o The Dutch Governor of Desima, M. Doeft', who was expecting the usual ti'adei’, sent one of his suboi'dinates on board. As the latter did not retixrn, the suspicions of M. Doeff and tlie Japanese Governor of Nagasaki wei*e excited, and for a day or two various plans wei’e discussed, of burning the straixge vessel by means of a fii'e-ship, of closing the mouth of the hai’bor by siuk- ing junks filled with stones, etc. But, before any plan could be carried into execution, the ship, which was tlie English frigate Pliceton., hoisted anchor and sailed away, leaving the Japanese governor and his principal officers under the necessity of committing suicide. In the summer of 1813, two vessels, apparently Dutch, arrived at Nagasaki. They wei’e, in fact, dis- patched from Batavia by Sir Stamford Raffles, the English Governor of Java, 'wko sent with them 1\[. Waardenaar, a former Governor of Desima, to I’eplace M. Doeff, who, having been cut off from the world for four years, was entirely ignorant that Java had tempo- rarily passed out of the hands of Holland. Neverthe- less, on learning the facts, he I'efused to comply with the ordei’, or to acknowledge the authority by which his successor was appointed. It was impossible to com- 22 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. pel him; for tlie Jaj)anese authorities would have answered his application by destroying the two Eng- lish vessels. An arrangement was made by which the trade was conducted in the usual manner, the ships being allowed to depart, and M. Doetf retaining pos- session of Desima, for Holland. The cunnin 2 scheme of Sir Stamford Raffles was thus baffled. Captain Gordon, in 1818, and Sir Edward Belcher, in 1845, visited ports in Japan, but were warned off and not allowed any intercourse with the shore. Be- fore the latter date, however, the first American attempt had been made to establish intercourse. In 1831, a Japanese junk was blown out to sea, and after drifting about for a long time, at length went ashore near the mouth of the Columbia River. Kind- ness was shown to the shipwrecked Japanese, and finally they wei’e carried to Macao, whei*e they re- ceived the protection and care' of the American and English residents. It was decided to return them to their home, as a means of attempting communication. Accordingly the ship Morrison was fitted out by the American house of King & Co. for the voyage to Japan, all her armament being remov^ed, to demon- strate her pacific mission. But, on I’eaching the bay of Yedo, the Japanese no sooner ascertained that the vessel was unarmed than they opened fire upon her. She then made a second attempt, in the harbor of Ka- gosima (in the island of Kiusiu), but was driven off by a battery on shore, and forced to return to China with the Japanese exiles. The first expedition was sent by the United States to Japan in 1846. It consisted of the sliip-of-:he- THE OPENING OF JAPAN. 23 line Columbus., and the corvette Vincennes, under command of Commodore Biddle. The expedition re- mained ten days in the bay of Yedo, the ships con- stantly surrounded by four hundred Japanese gnard- boats, filled with soldiers. No one was allowed to land, and the Emperor’s answer to the President’s let- ter consisted of the single sentence : “ No trade can be allowed with any country except Holland.” The visit of the frigate Preble, in 1849, was of a different character. Information had reached the Government of the United States that sixteen Ameri- can seamen, w'ho had been shipwrecked on the Japan- ese coast, were kept as prisoners in the country, and Captain Glynn of the China squadron was sent to Na- gasaki with the Preble to demand their release. On C entering the harbor, a number of large boats attempted to prevent the frigate’s further advance ; but she sailed boldly through them to a good anchorage. The hills around soon swarmed with soldiers, and sixty cannon, in batteries, were trained to bear on the Preble's decks. The tone of the Japanese authorities was haughty and defiant, but Captain Glynn met them with a deter- mined spirit, demanding the immediate release of the prisoners. At the end of two days the latter were sent on board, and the frigate returned to China. Early in 1852, the Government of the United States determined to make a formal application to that of Ja- pan to establish intercourse between the two nations, and to dispatch it by a fleet sufficiently large and well-appointed to insure a proper reception. Twelve vessels, including supply ships, were designated for the service, and C* bornly resisted. CHAPTER rV. AT.COCK S ASCENT OF FUSI-YAMA, "^IIE works of the old travellers, upon which, only -L twenty years ago, we were obliged to depend for our chief knowledge of Japan and the Japanese, are already obsolete. The writings of Kiimpfer, ^lontanus, Thunberg, Titsingh, and more recently of Von Sie- bold, contain much that is valuable, and also much that is true at the present day ; but the reader always prefers, if possible, to see a strange country through the eyes of his contemporaries. Since the opening of Japan many works have appeared, in addition to the multitudes of letters which have been sent from the country to the principal journals of America and Europe. Bv far the most careful and complete is that of i\I. Aim^ Humbert, who was sent as ^linister to Yedo bv the Republic of Switzerland. V^ery interest- ing works, of a special scientific character, have been published by Fortune and Adams, and the two volumes of Sir Rutherford Alcock contain many particulars of the first years of intercourse which are not found else- We propose to select some of the principal episodes of recent travel in the interior of Japan, before giving those illustrations of Japanese life, laws, and manners, which M. Humbert has collected. Sir Rutherford I'USI-YAMA ALCO(.KS ASCENT OF FUSI-YAMA. 29 Alcock’s asct-i:t of the great extinct volcano of Fusi- yama, the sacred mountain of Ja[>an, deserves the first notice. Th is isolated cone, towering high above all the mountains of tlie coast, is the prominent fea- ture of the scenerv on enterinji the bav of Yedo. Its snowy summit first catches the dawn, and it flames in the sky after the beautiful green slioi-es of the bay are dusky in twilight. Tlie journey to the summit is a religious pilgrimage for the men of Japan ; the women accoi'dino; to a singular custom, onlv beiim allowed to ascend it every sixtieth year. There are but two months — July and August — when the mountain is sufficiently free from snow to permit the ascent. The authorities at Yedo made so many attempts to prevent Sir Rutherford from carry- ing out his design, that he was not able to leave before the beginning of September, I860. The journey was not absolutely prohibited, because the foreign ministers at Yedo claimed the right of travelling in the countrv : but every possible pretext was employed, first to dis- courage and then to delay the expedition, — probably in the hope that an early snow-fall might render the mountain inaccessible. After every plea had been ex- hausted, the Japanese accepted the inevitable wdth a good grace, but insisted on sending a large retinue of native officers and servants, including spies. The party consisted of eight Europeans and nearly a hundred Japanese, with thirty horses. For the first fiftv miles the road skirts the shore of the bav, crossing several peninsulas. As far as the town of Yosiwara, it is the Tokaido^ or great high-road, connecting Yedo with the principal cities of Nipon. By this road all 30 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. the southern daimios, or princes, annually travel to and from the court, generally with a retinue of several thousand retainers. Tliey make, each day, from fif- teen to twentv miles, haltino; at certain towns where there are large houses of entertainment built especially to accommodate them and the officers of the Tycoon. These houses are spacious, clean, and empty ; the matti'-d floor supplies at once a seat, a couch, and a table. Wadded counterpanes, and even mosquito nets, can generally be procured by the travellers. “ Immediately after arrival,” says Sir Rutherford, “ the landlord appears in full costume, and prostrating himself with his head to the ground, felicitates himself on the honor of receivincr so distinguished a guest, begs to receive your orders, and that you will be pleased to accept a humble offering at his hands, — generally a little fruit, a few grapes or oranges, occasionally a rope of eggs, that is to say, a row of them, curiously twisted and plaited into a fine rope of straw. Due thanks having been given, he disappears, and you see no more of him or his servants — if, as usually happens, the guests bring their own and do not require help — until the foot is in the stirrup ; when he makes another formal salutation, with parting thanks and good wishes. These details apply to the whole journey ; the house or garden may be a little larger or smaller, the paper on the walls which divide the rooms a little fresher or dingier, but all the essential features are stereotyped, and exactly reproduced from one end of the kingdom to the other.” During the first few days the road lay over a suc- cession ol hills, of no great height, but from which KNTRA.NCE TO A JAPANESE TA'VERN. ALCOCK'S ASCENT OF FUSl-YAMA. 31 fine views were obtained over the cultivated valleys on either side, with a background of mountains to the westward, ainoim which Fnsi-vama soared aloft in lonely grandeur. On the second day the river Saki had to he crossed. Here a body of strong porters is always in attendance, to carry travellers over on their shoulders. As they have a monopoly of the business, it must he lucrative ; but it has its drawbacks, for they are made responsible for the safety of travellers. If any accident happens to the latter, they have nothing left hut to drown with them, for no excuses are taken. The English party paid about four dollars for the trans- fer, wdnch occu])ied half an hour. As this was the first foreign trip so far into the in- terior, it occasioned a great excitement in all the towms along the road. “ As each roadside villajre, and even the larger towms, generally consist of one long and seemingly endless street, the news of our approach spread as rapidly and unerringly as the message of an electric telegraph, turning out the whole population as if by a simultaneous shock ; men, women, and chil- dren — clothed and nude, — dogs, poultry, and cats I I think at Odowara no livincr thing could have been left inside. Such a weaving sea of heads seemed to hai our passage, that I began to congratulate myself that my unknow'n friend, the Daimio, had so courteous).! provided me with an escort. I felt some curiosity as to the mode they would take to open a way througn the dense mass of swaying bodies and e.xcited heads, which looked all the more formidable the nearer we approached. My guides, however, seemed perfectly unembarrassed, and well they might be, — for when 32 THAVELS IN JAPAN. within a few steps of the foremost ranks, there was a wave of the fan and a sino-le word of command issued. ‘ tShitanirio ! ' (kneel down ! ) when, as if by magic, a wide path was opened and every liead dropped ; the body disappearing in some marvelous way behind the less and knees of its owner.’* After striking the foot of the Hakoni mountains, which rise to a heiglit of six thousand feet above the sea, the road became a broad avenue of smooth gravel, winding through a succession of fertile plains and val- leys, where the millet, buckwheat, and rice gave prom- ise of rich harvests. The famous Hakoni Passes ex- tend for a distance of twenty miles, and are so rough as to be nearly impassable. The travellers were obliged to dismount, while the grooms led the horses over slippery boulders, and up the channels torn by mountain torrents. Tlie heights w'ere covered with forests, princi])ally of pine, inclosing fresh green val- leys, beautifully cultivated, and watered by swift, clear streams. Here the cryptomeria., or Japanese cypress, grows to a height of one hundred and fifty feet, the hydrangea is a wild shrub, and the bamboo is found beside the oak and fir. Nothing can exceed the size, beauty, and variety of the vegetation. After a long ascent, the party reached the little vil- lage of Yomotz, where there are hot saline springs, much frequented by the Japanese. A further journey of four hours through a furious rain brought the trav- ellers to the lake and village of Hakoni. Here there is a government bander, strictly guarded, both to |)re- vent arms from being carried toward the capital, or any wife or female child of the daimios from travel- ALCOCKS ASCENT OF FUSl-YAMA. 33 line: awav from it, — the latter remainincr as liosta£ies while the princes visit their territories. Tlie lake of Hakoni, which is a fine sheet of water, surrounded by hills — apparently the crater of an extinct volcano, — is 6,250 feet above the sea. Beyond this lake there is a second barrier, at the highest point on the road, which then descends through a rich and populous country to the town of Missima, where the travellers passed the night. The next day brought them to Yosiwara, near the head of the deep gulf of Idzu, where they were obliged to leave the Tokaido^ or high-road. A furious tempest detained them at Yosiwara for a day, during which time a messenger arrived from the Superior of the Buddhist monastery at Omio, high up on the side of Fusi-yama, offering the hospitality of his retreat. The next af- ternoon, they paid a short visit of ceremony, reserving a longer stay for the return, and pushed on before night to Mouriyama, the highest inhabited spot on the mountain. By this time, all traces of the storm had vanished. The weather was pronounced favorable for the ascent by the Japanese, and the party started at daybreak, with three priests as guides and several strong moun- tain-men as porters. “■ At first,” says Sir Rutherford, “ our way lay through waving fields of corn, succeeded by a belt of high, rank grass ; but soon we entered the mazes of the wood, which clings round the base and creeps high up the sides of the mountain, clothing the shouMers of the towering peak like the shaggy mane of a lion, with increased majesty. At first we found trees of large growth, — good trunks of the oak, the 3 34 FRAVELS IN JAPAN. pine, and tlie beech, — and came upon many traces of the fnry witli which the typlioon had swept across. Large trees had been broken sliort off, and others uprooted. One of these broken off had been tlirown right across our path, and compelled us either to scramble over or creep under its massive trunk. At Hakimondo we left the horses, and the last trace of permanent habitation or the haunts of men. Soon after the wood became thinner and more stunted in growth, while the beech and birch took the place of the oak and pine. “ We speedily lost all traces of life, vegetable or animal ; a solitary sparrow or two alone flitted occa- sionally across our path. In the winding ascent over the rubble and scorias of the mountain — which alone is seen after ascending about half-way, — little huts or caves, as these resting-places are called, partly dug out and roofed over to give refuge to the pilgrims, ap- peared. There are, I think, eleven from Hakimondo to the summit, and they are generally about a couple of miles asunder. In one of these we took up our quarters for the night, and laid down our rugs, too tired to be very delicate. Nevertheless, the cold and the occupants we found former pilgrims had left, pre- cluded much sleep. Daylight was rather a relief ; and after a cup of hot coffee and a biscuit, we commencerl the upper half of the ascent. The first part, after we left the horses, had occupied about four hours’ steady work, and we reached our sleeping-station a little be- fore sunset, lava and scoriae everywhere around us. The clouds were sailing far below our feet, and a vast pf.norama of hill and plain, bounded by the sea. ALCOCK’S ASCENT OF FUSI-YAMA. 85 stretched far away. We looked down on the si mits of the Hakoni ranoe, being evidently far abov their level, and we could distinctly see the lake lying ‘n one of the hollows. The last half of tlie ascent is by far the most arduous, growing more steep as each station is passed. “ The first ravs of the sun just touched, with a line of light, the broad waters of the Pacific as they wash the coast, when we made our start. Tlie first station seemed very near, and was reached within tlie hour ; but each step now became more difficult. The path, if such may be called the zigzag whicli our guides took, often led directly over fragments of out-jutting rocks, while the loose scorim prevented firm footing, and added much to the fatigue. The air became more rarefied, and perceptibly affected the breathing. At last the thi'-d station was passed, and a strong effort carried us to the fourth, the whole party by this time straggliiig at long intervals. This was now the last between us and the summit. It did not seem so far, until a few figures on the edge of the crater furnished a means of measurement, and they looked painfully diminutive. “ The last stage, more rough and precipitous than all the preceding, had this fartlier disadvantage, that it came after the fatigue of all the others. More than an hour’s toil, with frequent stoppages for breath and rest to aching legs and spine, were needed ; and more than one of our number felt very near the end of his strength before the last step jilaced the happy pilgrim on the topmost stone and enabled him to look down the yawning crater. This is a great oval opening, 36 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. with jagged lips, estimated by Lieutenant Robinson, with such means of measurement as he could command, at about one thousand yards in length, with a mean width of six hundred, and is probably about three hun- dred and fifty yards in depth. Looking down on the other side, which had a northern aspect, there seemed a total absence of vegetation, even on the lower levels, and the rich country we had left was completely hid by a canopy of clouds drifting far below. The esti- mated height of the edge of the crater above the level of the sea was 13,997 feet ; and the hii)ly of the cheapest labor, yet little superfluity is left to those who have to live by the cultivation of the land.” The party arrived at Simonosdki, the town on the Nipon shore of the strait, on the ninth day after leav- ing Nagasaki. At this port they decided to embark for Hiogo, at the farther end of the Shionada, or In- land Sea, instead of taking the rugged land-route along the sea-coast, which it would have required nearly three weeks to traverse. The distance from Simo- nosdki to Hiogo, which is near the large city of Osacca, is about two hundred and fifty miles by water. Simonos4ki is a town of about ten thousand inhabi- tants, extending in one straggling street for a mile and a half along the shore. The dwellings are mostly of wood, but the warehouses for goods are covered with a sort of white cement, or stucco, whicli is said to be fire-proof. Sugar, rice, iron, and oil, are the principal articles which are exported in junks to other parts of Japan. Among the curiosities of the place are two swords, said to have belonged to the Emperor Taiko- sama, and an ancient temple, in which there is a pic- ture, three hundred years old, representing a famous sea-fight of one of the Japanese civil wars. The party embarked in three large native junks, which were taken in tow by the British steamer, and were carried smoothly and slowly along through the 46 TRAVELS ly JAP Ay. Inland Sea, lying at anchor every night. The shores of the surrounding islands are so lofty, that the water, protected from the severe storms and swells of the Pa- cific, resembles rather that of an inland lake. The vil- lages along the shores are mostly poor hshing hamlets, with a barren country around them. The scenery of the voyage, nevertheless, from the height and variety of form of the mountain isles, is very beautiful. At noon on the fourth day, the junks arrived at Hiogo, which is a town of about twenty thousands in- habitants, pleasantly situated along the edge of a sandy shore, with a range of wooded hills and mountains ris- ing with a gentle slope behind. It is the shipping port of the great city of Osacca, which lies upon a river, some thirty miles inland. The harbor of Hiogo (or of Osacca, as it is sometimes called) is one of the best in Japan, hence the opening of this port to foreign commerce, with the condition of free access to the greater city, was a very important concession. Never- theless, on this first visit, the shops were closed and the streets deserted, until the protestations of the ministers forced the Japanese officials to remove the restriction. At Hiogo, other difficulties awaited the party. One of the Governors of Foreign Affairs had been sent from Yedo expi'essly to dissuade the ministers from continuing their journey by land. He declared that the country was in a disturbed state ; that lonins, or bravos, were known to be ranging abroad, and that there was a temporary trouble between the Tycoon ?ind the IMikado. It seemed to the ministers, however, that the main object of the mission was to prevent them from going to Miako, the capital of the Mikado, SKTRANCE to TlfE IIARROH OF HIOOO OVERLAND FROM NAGASAKI TO YEDO. 47 and the ancient capital of Japan ; for, wlien they had offered to give up tin's part of their plan, no serious objection was made to the overland journey to Yedo. From the attacks which were made on the foreign legations, shortly afterwards, it is possible that the ministers actually incurred a greater danger tiian they suspected at the time. The distance from Hiogo to Osacca by land is about thirty miles. Nearly the whole way lies through the slopes and valleys intervening between the sea and the mountain range, trending inland. There are a great many rivers to be crossed ; some ov'er plank britlges almost too fragile for horses ; others in boats, ar. 1 others must be forded. The plain, which is sandy, is devoted to the cultivation of grain, cotton, and l>eans. The city of Osacca is first seen at the distance of a league, with the Tycoon’s castle on a wooded emi- nence, commanding a view of the river. This is the ancient temple which Nobu Nanga took from the Buddhists, and which became the residence of Tai- kosama’s son during the reign of Ivevas. Sir Ruther- ford Alcock gives the following description of his arrival at Osacca : — “ We were nearly an hour in traversing the sub- urbs of this vast city, before we seemed to gain the great thoroughfare, filled to oveidlowing with an im- mense, but very orderly crowd. There was pushing and squeezing, and from time to time a desperate de- scent was made by the police on some luckless wights in the front rank. Blows on the bare head were dealt furiously on all ; but the weapon was a fan, and although in their hands a very effective one, it could 48 TRA VELS IX JAPAN. hardly do much mischief. We came at last to the main river, spanned by a bridge three hundred }’ards long, well anl solidly built, below which there is an island, covered with houses, in the midst of the stream, something like the island of St. Louis in the Seine. Not a trace of hostile feeling was to be seen anywhere, though the curiosity was great to see the foreign min- isters. Hei'e, indeed, as might be noticed at a glance, was a vast population, with whom trade was the chief occupation ; and at every step evidences of the greatest activity were visible. Piled up near the bridge I noticed glazed tiles for drains, and large earthen jars tor coffins — the Japanese being buried as he lives, with his heels tucked up under him in a sitting pos- ture, — an arrangement which has at least the advan- tage of saving space in the cemeteries, still further economized by burning the bodies of the poorer classes, and merely burying their ashes in a jar of small dimensions. The Japanese have some strange super- stitioiAs about either sleeping or being buried with the head to the north. In every sleeping-room at the resting-places, we found the points of the compass marked on the ceiling ; and my Japanese servant would on no account let my bed be made up in any but the right direction.” The travellers were lodged in a large temple, with some pretensions to architectural beauty. The first day they devoted to shopping and the theatre, reserv- ing a second day to be spent in traversing the city by water, as in Venice — by means of the river-arms which divide it, — and in visiting the larger temples and the Tycoon’s castle. They visited some silk shops OVERLAID FROM NAGASAKI TO YEDO. 49 so lar — .- ' "'U * iW^< - ^ t,-.i:n:r n ■. , / . , •rU. ^4ll-^" ■* ■ >^‘l '*» £} » *y-'^, -iif' W'^Nirv.f'- N-i. - U- V - ., * -=■ , ■ OVERLAND FROM NAGASAKI TO YEDO. 61 been selected in advance as the resting-place. Tliej asserted that the houses for travellers were undergoing repair, and the change of programme was accompanied with so much inconvenience to themselves, that the ministers finally agreed to it. But, on reaching Nieno, the following morning, they were surprised to find it a stately, well-built place, the houses all in perfect order, but every door and window hermetically closed, and not a living face to be seen. Even the residence of the Daimio — the same Toda-Idzu-no-Kami, who was one of the first commissioners to meet Commodore Perry at Gori-hama in 1853 — was masked by screens of cotton cloth. It was, Oif course, impossible to obtain from the Japanese any e.xplanation of this extraoi*- diiiarv proceeding ; but it must be attributed to an assertion of defiant independence of the Tycoon’s au- thority, on the part of the Prince of Idzu. This dis- position. on the ]>art of those princes who are hostile to foreign intercourse, to disregard the treaties made by the government, has since been more strikingly illustrated in the case of the Prince of Satsuma, and the punishment which he received from the English forces in consequence. “■ Our way lay for many days,” the author continues, “ through mountain scenery and fertile valleys, the hills generally clothed to the very summit with trees, chiefly of the pine fiimily. The same sandy character of the soil, and the formation of the hills already noticed, con- tinued until we approached within sight of Fusi-yama, when it was exchanged for the dark rich mould which alone is to be seen within a hundred miles of Yedo. On the fourth day we had struck into the ordinary 52 TRA VELS IN JAPAN. route, and had the advantage of the fine sann the Dutch fi-igate Koopman for the Bay of Yedo, by way of the Suonada, or Inner Sea. Tlie course was at first westward, making for the Strait of Specx, between Firando and Kiusiu. The mountain- ous coasts of the latter island, like rocky fortresses, de- fended by lines of breakers, give no indication of the fertility of the interior. Barren and uniidiabited, they seem to repel all who would dare to land upon them. The currents on this part of the coast are so strong and uncertain, that the frigate was compelled to anchor for the night among a crowd of Japanese junks, under the lee of Firando. The ne.xt day, the western coast of Kiusiu was thronged with quantities of fishing-boats and coasting junks. There are good harbors and large maritime towns on this part of the island. The rocks which stud the shores are the resorts of immense numbers of wild geese and ducks, which the Japanese have not yet learned to eat. Domestic fowls, however, are plentiful everywhere, and the common people will always give a hen in exchange for an empty bottle. In the markets of Yedo, the latter article is always in 58 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. demand, and, curiously enough, a double price is will- ingly paid for a bottle which has a brilliant label, nc matter of what kind. The frigate anchored, the second evening, in the Straits of Van der Ca|)ellen, in front of the town of Simonosdki. The water, next morning, was covered with native boats, filled with fishermen, traders, or the families of I’espectable citizens, eager for a nearer view of the strange vessel. But, after a visit from some of the authorities, the voyage was resumed. The day, however, was foggy, and the Japanese pilots on board kept the centre of the strait until they reached the broader waters of the Inner Sea. When the weather became clear, the multitude of islands always in sight, with their constantly changing forms, gave a new interest to the vovasce. Some were arid, of a brown or black tint, shooting up like cones, pyramids, or jag- ged fangs, out of the water ; others were fertile, their sides laboriously wrought into terraces for grain and vegetables, with little villages of farmers and fishermen in the sheltered coves. In entering the basin of Bingo, the lai'ge town of Imabari, on the coast of the island of Sikok, came into view. On a sandy bar, stretching from one of the suburbs, there appeared to be a grand fair, or market, judging from the crowds of people. Beyond the town were fertile plains, swelling into hills in the distance, where mountain-peaks, from three to five thousand feet in height, closed the view. Around Imabari, there were some low battei’ies, from which flags were flying , groups of soldiers stood upon the ramparts. Shortly afterwards, a large Japanese steamer passed the fngate. VOYAGE FROM NAGASAKI TO YEDO. 59 The pilots declared that it belonged to the Prince of Tosa, one of the eighteen Chief Daimios of the em- pire, whose possessions, in the southern part of Sikok, yield him an annual revenue of -$750, 000. He was pei’haps returning home from a conference of the “ feudal party,” making convenient use of the very improvements which he was endeavoring to banish from Japan ! Tlie second night after leaving Simonoseki, was passed in one of those broader basins of the Inner Sea, called the Arimanada. It is almost completely closed, on tlie east, by the large island of Awadsi, whicli shuts out the ocean for a space of thirty miles, between Sikok and Nipon. This island was the fabled residence of the earlier gods, the cradle of the national my- thology of the Japanese. The lowlands at its north ern extremity are covered with a superb vegetation > toward the south it rises gradually into hills, still beau- tifully cultivated, and is finally crowned by a moun- tain range. The steamers which ti’averse the Inner Sea, gen- erally take the northern passage, between Awadsi and Nipon, partly in order to touch at Hiogo, and partly because the southern passage, between Awadsi and Sikok, is considered dangerous for ves.sels of deep draught. The captain of the frigate, nevertheless, de- termined to try the latter. Leaving Awadsi on the If ft, he steered down the narrowing strait, betfveen finely cultivated shores, bordered with rocky islets, crowned with pine-trees. The water in front presented the appearance of a bar of breakers ; yet the weather was calm, and the open ocean, in the distance, did not 60 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. show a speck of foam. It was evident that the agita- tion of the water was occasioned solely by the violence of conflicting cniTcnts. Millions of sea-birds filled the air, drifting around the rocks like clouds, or dashing down to the sea with continual cries. There were many fishing-boats in the calmer channels between the islands, or the coves of the shores, but none of them ventured into the raging flood which filled the strait. The breadth of the main channel was estimated at eight hundred yards, with a length of nearly two miles. After passing safely through, the frigate entered a broad strait beyond, where the swells of the Pacific were already felt. The Inner Sea was left behind, and in leaving it, M. Humbert says, after expatiating on the beauty of its scenery : “ However, setting aside the question of the picturesque, which, I grant, is not the essential element of our relations with the extreme East, I hope that, sooner or later, there will be formed in Ja])an a chain of Western colonies, peaceably devel- oping the natural and commercial resources of that ad- mirable country, along a line indicated by Yokohama, Hiogo, Simonoseki, and Nagasaki. They would be united by regular steam communication. The steam- ships of America, as well as those of China, would nourish the relations of both worlds with the great archipelago of the Pacific. Europeans, weary of a tropical climate, or of the burdens of business in China, would then come to seek a pure and bracing air, and a season of repose, on the shores of the Japanese Medi- terranean. How many families established in China, how many European women with their children, would VOYAGE FROM NAGASAKI TO YEDO. 61 be liappv to exchange the trying summer months for a refuge wortliy the most beautiful regions of Italy, and yet so near their present residence ! ” After having doubled the cape of Idsoumo, the southern promontory of Nipon, the frigate took ad- vantage of the Kuro-siioo^ or Asiatic gulf stream, which flows northward |)ast the eastern shores of Ja- pan, at the rate of thirty-five to forty miles per day. Its maximum temperature there is about 8o°. It is the same warm current which carries fog and rain to Alaska, and, according to some modern geographers, opens a practicable route, through Behring’s Straits, to the North Pole. After a day of tranquil navigation they made, at sunrise, the promontory of Id/u. in a bight of which is the town of Simoda, one of the ])orts opened to American vessels in 1854. After the great earthquake, the following year, in wliich the Russian frigate Diana was dashed to pieces, and which so changed the harbor as to injure its value for com- merce, Simoda was given up, and the more important town of Kanagawa, near Yedo, substituted for it, in the American treaty of 1858. When the outer bay of Sagami had been passed, and the frigate entered the broad strait of Uraga, which opens into the Bay of Yedo, ^I. Humbert thus recalls the memorable event of ten years before : “ On the chart which they have made of the Bay of Yedo, the Americans have con>ecrated the souvenirs of their glorious enterprise by a series of denomina- tions of places, which the geographers and navio;ators have already ratified. In front of the town of Uraga is Reception Bay, and heyond it, the bar which forms 62 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. Cape Kainisaki is Rubicon Point; the bight which opens on the left is Susquehanna Bay ; above its liin])id waters rise Perry Island., and Webster Island ; on the right, from tlie other shore, extends Cape Saratoga ; and this side of Yokohama Mississippi Bay stretclies to tlie end of Treaty Point. It is thus that on tliese waters and along these shores of one of the most charming countries of the world, unknown until our day, the names of the New World and of our cos- mopolitan age are wedded to the names of more than twenty centuries of the Empire of the Rising Sun.” As they passed up the bay, the solitary cone of Fusi-yama came out in all its snowy splendor ; then, doublino; Treaty Point, the harbor of Yokohama sud- denly opened, with its foreign shipping, its white foreio-n houses, and consular residences, with the fla^s of their res])ective nations. And not quite ten years had elapsed, since the first foreign vessels had ever ploughed those waters — since Commodore Perry, coming after the failures of two centuries, knocked loudly at the door of the great empire, and it was opened to him 1 CHAPTER VII. RESIDENCE AT YOKOHAMA. 1\/r HUMBERT first took up his residence in the liouse of the Dutch Consul-wneral, in the Japanese quarter of Yokohama, which is there known under tlie name of Benten. Tlie liouse was huilt bv the Japanese, and was an attempt to combine native and European ideas, in its architecture and arrange- ment. It w’as a parallelogram, partly of brick and partly of wood, with a spacious veranda on the east- ern, western, and northern sides. All the occupied rooms opened upon this veranda by double glass doors, w’hich took the place of windows. The greater part of the main edifice was used for store-rooms, baths, stables, and the residence of the native servants, of whom there were a large number. In the rear there was a garden, surrounded with palisades, and with a porter’s lodge. The porter was a respectable, married Japanese, who exercised a sort of patriarchal authority over the other domestics. His lodge, where there were always a tea-machine, a little furnace, pipes and tobacco, was the rendezvous of a crowd of native idlers and gos- sips ; but his services, nevertheless, were ahvays ren- dered punctually and correctly. He was not only required to keep a general watch, to open or close the 64 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. doors which he liad in charge, biit also to sound the hours of day and night hy striking with a mallet upon a gong, and to announce in the same wav the char- acter of tlie visitor — one stroke signifving a mer- chant or plain citizen, two strokes an officer, or inter- preter, three a consul or Japanese governor, and four a minister or admiral. He was also res|)onsible for the night-watch, which must visit every part of the build- ing half honrlv durino- the nicdit. Along the southern palisade were the stables and laundry, and opposite to them the residences of the bettos, or grooms. Every horse in Jajian has his separate betto, who always accompanies him when ridden out, running in advance or at the side of the horseman. These robust fellows form, in Japan, a corporation or guild, which has its own separate govermnent, the chief officer of which enjoys the right of wearing a sword. They are of medium stature, but strong and well proportioned. Their lives are spent in a state of almost complete nnditv ; though they generally wear sandals, a loin-cloth, and a short jacket when accompanying their masters abroad. M. Humbert had as valet a little Japanese boy, by the name of To. He was a fellow of quick intelli- gence, but with an air of gravity and prudence much beyond his years. “ It was from Td,” says the min- ister, “ that I took my first Japanese lesson. He gave me the key to conversation in three words, and the philosophical character of the method he employed will at once be ajtpreciated. The operations of the mind resolve themselves into three forms — doubt, negation »nd affirmation. As soon as one knows how to expre.ss RESIDENCE AT YOKOnAMA. 65 tliese tliree operations, the rest is only a matter of the Vocabniarv, — a charcpino- of the memory with a cer- tain number of the usual words. Thus we will com- mence with doubt, and say in Japanese, Arimaska ? which siifuifies, ‘ Is there ? ’ Then we pass to ne ’O' occupying all the space comprised between the suburb of Sinagawa on the south, the bay on the east, the outer moat of the Tycoon’s castle on the north, and the fields of the province of Mousasi, on the west. All these southern quarters of Yedo ai'e essentially ple- beian. They even contain a large agricultural popula- tion, occupied with the cultivation of kitchen-gardens, rice-fields, and all the arable lands which the habita- tions have not yet cov'ered. The latter are a multitude of miserable dwellings, tenanted by fishers, laborers, mechanics, retail merchants, officers of the lowest rank, and the proprietors of the commonest eating-houses. “ A few seignorial residences interrupt the uniform- ity of the wooden buildings by the monotonous lines of their long, whitewashed walls. The temples and LIFE IN YEDO. 21 dwellings of the bonzes are scattered everywhere, ex- cept in the two bay-quarters ; Takanawa, alone, has more than thirty of them. But the devotional spirit must have emigrated to the northern part of the city ; for tlie government has conveniently selected all the buildings necessary for the reception of embassies and the residence of foreign legations, from among the teni])les of the southern quarter. “ Since 1858, the embassies which the Tycoon has received have generally reached his capital by sea. One must not suppose, however, that such an event is marked by discharges of artillery, or any other impos- ing features ; if the foreign representatives desired the like, it is doubtful whether they could succeed. They are forced to pass from one deception to another. “In the first place, the voyage fron^. Yokohama to Yedo suffices to banish all preconceived ideas of the approach to a sea-port which has nearly two millions of inhabitants. The distance is about fifteen nautical miles. One would expect to pass through an uninter- rupted fleet of junks going to, or coming from, the great city, on its only maritime highway ; but there is no such fleet. After leaving the anchorao-e at Kana- gawa, the bay is almost deserted, and even the fishing- boats do not appear until after passing the sand-bars of Kawasaki. In Japan, there is almost a complete ab- sence of commerce by sea. A few junks are engaged in the coasting trade in the bay of Yedo, but they scarcely pass the limits of the first line of customs: they stop at Usaga, whence their cargoes are sent to the capital on pack-horses. The Tokaido and other high roads of secondary importance, are the main 98 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. arteries which supply Yedo, and tliey appear all the more animated from their contrast with the aban- doned watery ways. “ No unwalled city presents a more inhospitable appearance than Yedo, when seen from the bay. It resembles an immense park, the entrance to which is prohibited. The richly wooded hills are dotted with chalets and old temples with enormous roofs ; at their feet extend long streets of wooden houses and some buildings with white walls ; but along the whole great extent of the arc of shore, from Sinao;awa to tlie land- ing-place, nothing can be distinguished which answers to our notions of quays, port, or embarkation. Every- where there are walls, boarded inclosures, palisades ; no jetties, steps, or anything whatever which seems to invite a landing. Even the place of entrance to the city is concealed behind a palisade of large piles, and consists only of a few old planks laid on supports, and connecting with a terrace in front of the custom- house. “ Here the officials of the Japanese government wel- come the representatives of foreign nations, and beg them to accept the services of the guard of honor which the Tycoon has appointed for their protection. These formalities over, the principal personages of the two nations mount their horses or palanquins, and the procession, properly organized, issues from its prison by the gate opening on the Tokaido. After marching for fifteen or twenty minutes between two crowds of the curious of both sexes, gathered from the shops, the tea-houses, and the baths of the neighborhood, in a neglige which is doubtless very picturesque but AMERICAN LECATION, YEDO. LIFE IN YEDO. 99 which does not add to the dignity of tlie spectacle, the hills of Takanawa are ascended, the procession enters the solitary alleys of this cloistered region, and soon reaches the threshold of the other privileged prison which bears the name of ‘ Lecation.’ “ The structures of the temples of Tjoodji, seat of the Dutch Legation, had been put at my disposal by the representative of Holland, in Japan. As they were then unoccupied, they served as a residence to tlie members of the Swiss Legation, not only for excursions to the capital, but also for a prolonged sojourn there. If the peace of His Tycoonal Majesty’s Government had not been so gravely troubled thereby, I should have willingly passed several of the summer months in the Tjoodji. The little deserted temple is sur- rounded, on all sides, with other sacred places which are almost equally solitary, and there the quiet of the country may be enjoyed, in proximity to the animation of the great streets of the city. “ The principal facade of the formerly sacred build- ings is half concealed behind clumps of evergreen trees. On approaching the portico, I found it occupied by a group of Japanese officers. One of them saluted me in Dutch, announcing that he had been charged by his gcvernment to offer me his services as interpreter ; he then j)resented to me the captain of the guard, who, he informed me, was one of the aids-de-camp of the Tycoon. The latter had established himself in one of the ancient sanctuaries opening on the portico, and declared that he should pass his nights there. “ At one of the extremities of the mass of buildinjcs, we established the kitchen and a little studio for the use 100 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. of the skillful photographer Beato, who had recently arrived in Yokohama from India and China ; and w'e reserved a long gallery for the exposition of such objects of art and industry as mij^ht be brought to us for exam- illation. The other extremity, which formed a semi- circular inclosure in the rear of the temple, contained three adjoining rooms : the salon, my bedroom, and the dining-room, all three surrounded by an open gal- lery. This was the quietest and most agreeable por- tion of the bonzerie. A. pond, bordered with iris and water-lilies, occupied the centre of the inclosure ; it was fed by a spring which issued from a neighbor- ing grotto, draped with climbing plants. Beside this grotto, in a niche, surrounded with foliage, there was an ancient idol of sandstone, with its own little altar still remaininfr. A rustic bridge across the brook led to a path which wound among the trees and the rocks up to the highest palisades of the inclosure. There, under a shelter of pines and laurels, was a rock-hewn place of rest, whence the eye overlooked the gar- dens and buildings of the Tjoodji, and the forts and anchorage in the distance. “ At the hour of sunset, this little picture was full of beauty. The sky and the bay wei-e enlivened by the richest colors ; the foliage of the hills gleamed in a sudden illumination, and the pond below was tinted with purple. Then the shadows invaded the verdant inclosure and by degrees mounted to the summits of the trees which surrounded it. The birds from the strand came in great numbers to roost there. Soon the tufted tops of the foliage were darkly cut against the silvery sky, and the pond reflected, like a mirror, the tremblina: rays of die stars. LIFE IN YEDO. 101 “ Then the nicht-fjuard becran to visit, in silence, all the hidden nooks and corners of the j)lace. A sentinel, furnished with a lantei-n of colored paper, was posted at interv'als. The Japanese guards squatted down quietly, with these lantei'iis at tlieir feet. One was at the angle of the portico of the salon ; another at the resting-place on the heiglit ; a third, near the bridge over the brook ; others, again, behind the temple, at the door of my bedroom, and near the din- ing-room. The patrols were promptly made. When they approached, the sentinels rose and cried ‘ Dale- da?' The reply was the pass-word for the night. The captain of the guard gave it to me regularly in writing, in Japanese and Dutch. “ The spectacle of this military array followed me even to my bed. Across the paper screens of my rooms I could see the lanterns of the sentinels shining in the garden and on the portico ; and that, which ought to have given me the highest sense of security, was, that no obstacle intervened between my guards and myself, for all our doors were movable and quite free of locks. With the exception of the Toodji, I cannot speak, from experience, of the interiors of the foreign legations. At the time of my visit they were closed, the members of the diplomatic corps having retired to Yokohama. I have reason to believe that, with some slight varia- tions, they offer to their hosts conditions of life very analogous to those which I have here outlined. “ The most ancient of the foreign residences at Yedo is that of Akabane, situated in the quarter of that name. The Japanese government designed it, in 1858, for a caravanserai of all ambassadors. They were there 102 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. furnished with quarters, without furniture, or any otlier comforts than matting and tlie native screens. One after tlie other, M. Donker-Curtius (Holland), Admiral Poutiatine (Russia), Baron Gros (France), and Count Eulenburg (Prussia), lodged there. Since 1861, however, the Akaban^ has not been occupied. The American Legation occupies the sanctuary of Djemfkousi, in the vicinity. When 1 visited it, there remained only the temple, the belfry, and some out- houses. All the rest of the structures had been leveled to the earth by a fire, accompanied with works of de- molition and salvage, the efficacy of which I could appreciate from the circumstance that the books saved from the flames had been tlirown into the tank for preservation ! “ The Tosendji, the seat of the British Legation, is the most beautiful and spacious of all the foreign residences. This ancient sanctuary, the property of Prince Shendai, w’as put at the disposition of Lord Elgin, by the government of the Tycoon, in 1858. It is more than half a mile to the southward of the Tjoodji, and is bordered by hills, adorned with avenues and groves, where the bamboo, the palm, the azalea, the weeping willow, and the chestnut, are grouped with pines from fifty to one hundred feet in height. But there is scarcely a nook of this charming residence which does not recall some gloomy memory. The foot of the flag-staff has been dyed by the blood of the Japanese interpreter Denkoushki ; the steps of the portico, the court-yard, the temple, the first story of the legation, became, in the nocturnal attack of July 8, 1861, the scene of g fi-ightful struggle, which left LIFE IN YEDO. 103 five dead and eighteen wounded on the field ; and finally, on the verandah, toward the garden, a year later, two English marines fell, after having mortally wounded one of their assassins. “ The diplomatic agents of the powers which have concluded treaties with Japan have not remained in- active, one may well believe, in view of the situation thus created for them in Yedo. After maturely delib- erating upon the course which they should take, they exacted and obtained from the Tycoon the concession of a locality where it would be possible to unite the forces of all the legations, to put them in a state of defense, and secure their communications with the vessels of war at the anchorage. “ There was then, at the southern extremity of the quarter of Takanawa, a very spacious public garden called Goten-yama, on a cluster of hills commanding the Tokaido, the anchorage and the battervof Odaiwa. It was agreed that this [dace oft’ei’ed all the desirable advantages, and, without further delay, the axe was laid to the orchards of blossoming peach trees and the groves of cedars, where the citizens of Yedo were wont to come with their families, to contemplate the view of the bay, to take their tea, drink their saK, and enjoy the musical or saltatory performances of the beauties of the neighborhood. When all had been well destroyed, graded, leveled ; when the new Britannic Legation displaying its imposing facade, its elegant galleries, and its immense roofs, had given to the nobles and peasants of Yedo a foretaste of the magnificence which the future quarter of the Ministers of the West promised to their city, all at once, on a 104 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. fine winter night, the anchorage was made splendid by an immense bonfire kindled on the Goten-yama. As soon as it had been completed, the first European palace erected in the capital of the Tycoon burned from top to bottom. The others remain, either as foundations only or as plans on paper, and the repre- sentatives of the powers friendly to Japan still reside at Yokohama ” [in 1868]. NOON SCENE ON A JAPANESE CANAL. CHAPTER XI. WALKS IN YEDO. **rriHROUGH tlie southern suburbs, wliich stretched -L toward the country, to the southwest of our residence, we discovered but one respectable and well kept road, — that which led to the principal temple of Megouro. Nearly all the Europeans who have lived in Yedo know iMengourou, as this antique sanctuary and the graceful tea-houses around it are vulgarly called. A little beyond, a hill cut into the shape of Fusi-yama attracts, at certain seasons of the year, es- pecially at the time when the orchards blossom, a crowd of native ju’omenaders, belonging to the lower classes of Yedo society. “ The dwellings of the petite noblesse, that is, the subalterns in the Tycoon’s service, are scattered in great numbers through the district, and there are also two race-courses for the exercises of the officers in horse- manship. In this neighborhood, however, we found neither palaces nor large temples. Two other adjoin- ing quarters exhibited a few rustic dwellings of the bonzes, and some ancient monuments shaded by great cedar trees ; but we were impatient to discover the most interesting parts of the city, and finally deter- mined to examine the northern districts. After hav- ing carefully traced out a route on the excellent Japan 106 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. ese map of Yedo, we announced to our yakounins, one fine dav, that we were ffoinor to make an excursion on foot in the direction of the Castle. “This information did not especially please them; for creatlv as thev delight in escorting their foreign hosts on horseback, and in trotting with them rapidly through the long streets of the capital, it is equally dis- agreeable to them to take part in pedestrian excursions during which their vigilance is constantly racked by the curiosity of the Occidentals. “Two of the officials of the Legation, who had gained the good graces of the principal officers of the guard, hit upon the idea of furnishing them with a subject of distraction, for the route. They persuaded them to profit by the occasion, and learn to keep step in walking. All the yakounins, one after the other, set themselves to work, to follow conscientiously the recommendation and example of their instructors. The citizens of Yedo stopped to observe the unusual movement, and even the officers could not refrain from occasionally looking down and watching their feet. Sometimes, even, delicately lifting their broad silk petticoat-pantaloons, they presented a superb array of naked calves, blue cotton socks, and straw sandals. “ As our march was further prolonged, their head- dresses, also, suffered an ingenious modification. The yakounins took off their heavy lacquered hats, and sus- j)ended them at their girdles like bucklers ; after which, seizing a fan, which they always carry behind the neck, under the collar of their jacket, they converted it into a visor by thrusting the end under the knob of hair which surmounts their shaven foreheads. The tableau WALKS IN YEDO. 107 would not be complete, if I did not add that we our- selv'es, in I’eijard to costume, were very nearly in har- mony with our surroundings. Yedo is perhaps the only city of the world where the European succeeds in liberating himself from the despotism of fashion. It is impossible to resist the example of such an immense population, which, except at court and during solemn festivals, knows no other rule in relation to garments, but that of dressing as one pleases and undressing at will, leaving to o!ie’s neighbor the fullest liberty of doing the same thing. “ Thus the appearance of our party, which would have occasioned a mob in any densely po|inlated part of Europe, did not cause the least sensation in the cap- ital of the Tycoon. People looked at us, of course, with a very legitimate curiosity ; but fingers were only occasionally pointed at our cigars or at the reyolvers in our belts. From morninji until night, the losv streets and quays of Takanawa are crowded with people. The stable population of the quarter seemed to me to have no other industrv except to raise, in one manner or another, a light tribute from those arriving and depart- inor. Here, tobacco is cut and sold ; there, rice is hulled and made into biscuits ; everywhere saki is sold, tea, dried fish, water-melons, an infinite variety of cheap fruits and other comestibles, spread on tables in the open air, or under sheds and on the shelves of in- numerable restaurants. In all directions, coolies, boat- men, and bearers of cargoe^offer their services. In some lateral streets, stalls may be hired for pack-horses, and stables for the buffaloes which bring to market the 108 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. products of the surrounding country. They are liar- nessed to small rustic carts, the only wheeled vehicles which one meets in Yedo. “ The singers, the dancers, the wandering jugglers who come to try their success in the capital, make their first appearance at the doors of the tea-houses of Taka- nawa. Amono; the sino-ers there are those who form a privileged class, but subjected to a certain supervision by the police. They may be known by their large flat hats, thrown back from the temples ; they always go in pairs, or in fours when two dancers accompany the two singers. “ The favorite jugglers at the Japanese street-cor- ners are young boys, who, before commencing their tricks, conceal their heads in large hoods, surmounted by a tuft of cock’s feathers and a small scarlet mask representing the muzzle of a dog. These poor children, in bending and curving themselves, one u])on the other, to the monotonous sound of the tambourine of their conductor, present the appearance of a really grotesque and fantastic struo-gle between two animals, with mon- strous heads and human limbs. “ In the deafening sounds of all these diversions in the spaces filled by the public, there was frequently mixed the noise of the cymbals and bells of the mendi- cant brotherho'od. I saw, for the first time, some whose heads were not tonsured, and inquired what the order was to which they belonged. Our interpreter answered that they were laymen, simple citizens of Yedo, making a business^f devotion. Although they were all similarly clad in white, in token of mourning or penitence, those who canned a bell, a long stick, LITTLE JUUULEUS IN THE STUEET3 OF YEDO WALKS IN YEDO. 109 some books in a basket, and wore a large white hat with a picture of Fusi-yama on tlie side, were return- ing from a pilgrimage to the holy mountain, made by ])ublic. cliarity ; while the others, with a cymbal at the girdle, an immense black and yellow hat, and a heavy box on the bac-k, were probably small ruined merchants, who liad become colporteurs and exhibitors of idols, in the ])ay of some monastery. “ On the heights above the landing-place, a long street leaves the Tokaido, cuts obliquely through the chain of hills where the legations are situated, and traverses in a straight line, from south to north, the northern part of Takanawa. We followed this street to the end, and passed, successively, through three very distinct zones of the social life of Yedo. The first, with its motley crowd of people living in the open air, I have already described. “ Behind our monastic hills we found a population entirely sedentary, occupied, within their dwellings, in various manual labors. The work-shops were an- nounced, at a distance, by significant signs, — some- times a board cut in the form of a sandal, sometimes, an enormous umbrella of waxed paper, spread open like an awning, over the shop ; or a quantity of straw hats of all sizes, dangling from the peak of the roof down to the door. We see, in passing, the armorers and polishers, busy in mounting coats of mail, iron war-finis, and sabres. An old artisan, naked, crouched on a mat, pulls the bellows of the forge with his left heel, and at the same time hammers ivith his right hand the iron bar wdiich his left hand holds on the an- vil. His son, also naked, takes the iron bars with the 110 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. tongs and passes them to his father, as they become red-liot. Little bv little the road which we are following becomes deserted. We enter the vast solitude of a collection of seignorial residences. On our right ex- tend the magnificent shades of the park of the Prince of Satsouma ; on our left the wall of inclosure of a palace of the Prince of Arima. When we had turned the northwestern angle of this wall, we found our- selves before the principal front of the building, oppo- site to which there was a plantation of trees, bathed by the waters of a limpifl river which separates the quar- ter of Takanawa from that of Atakosta. “ Mr. Beato set to work to procure a photograph of this peaceful picture, when two officers of the prince hastily approached him, and insisted that he should de- sist from the operation. M. Metman begged them to go first and ascertain the commands of their master. The officers went to deliver the message ; returning in a few minutes, they declared that the prince absolutely refused to permit that any view whatever of his palace should be taken. Beato bowed respectfully, and or- dered the porters to carry away the instrument. The officers withdrew, satisfied, without suspecting that the artist had had time to take two negatives during their brief absence. “ The yakounins of our escort, impassive witnesses of the scene, were unanimous in applauding the suc- cess of the stratagem. But when the artist announced his intention of also taking, in the neighborhood, a photograjdi of the cemetery of the Tycoons, it became their tuim to oppose a resistance to the plan, which no 1 . JAPANESE BLACKSlIITIXa WALKS IN YEDO. Ill arguments could bend. We were even obliged to give up the idea of entering the sepulchral grounds, although we could very distinctly see the high red pagoda and the sombre clumps of cypress. We crossed a river by an arched bridge, not far from the place where the American secretary, Heusken, was murdered ; and, leaving on our right some houses uhich a recent great conflagration had spared, we passed an open space, with a field for archery on one side, and on the other the walls behind which rise the groves and temple-roofs of Soiosti, the great monastery which has the honor of receiving the Tycoons in their last earthly dwelling. They rest there under the com- bined })rotection of the two religions of the empire. Biuldhism, it is true, enjoys a supremacy in this place, and possesses more than seventy sacred edifices ; but the ancient gods, Hatchirnan, Benten, Inari, have each their chapels, and there is a grand temple dedicated to the worship of the Kamis. “In this direction is the Tycoon’s place of embark- ation, in the island of Amagoten, which forms a regu- lar parallelogram, and is reached by two bridges, pro- hibited to the jniblic. I have made the circuit of the island in the consular boat : the walls of inclosure, the steps, the pavilions of the landing-place, the over- shadowing masses of verdure, are admirable in their grand simplicity. The great trees which line both sides of the river shelter its deep, pure waters under their dense roofs of foliage. The ministers of France, Holland, England, and America, made a combined ertbrt to obtain from the Japanese government the cession of the island, for the purpose of establishing 112 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. their legations there ; but they did not succeed, be- cause the execution of the plan would have exacted the use of the whole island, while the government was only willing to abandon a very small part of it. “ We continued our journey northwards. On the left fourteen small adjacent temples, those of Saisoostji, extend along the foot of the hills of Atagosa-yama, separated by a large brook from the highway. Each of these temples has its special bridge, its gateway, its little level of turf, inclosed by chapels and the dwell- ings of the bonzes ; while, in the rear, may be distin- guished the chapel of ablutions, the sacred grove, and the roofs of the sanctuary. The sixth, however, is an exception to the others. When we have crossed the threshold, we see before us a gi’eat paved court-yard, in the midst of which stands a majestic altar of granite. Then, after passing through the sacred gate, we find ourselves face to fiice with two candelabra placed at the foot of an esplanade, reached by a staircase ; then there is a second, bordered by huge trees, the branches of which interlace like the arches of a Gothic cathe- dral. Throualace face the military quarter. The principal j)arts of the dwelling and the verandah open upon an interior court and the garden, which has always a pond surrounded with fresh foliage. Such is the silent inviolate asylum, where the haughty daimio withdraws in the bosom of his family during the six months of the year which the laws of the Empire oblige him to spend at the capital. “ We could only estimate the conditions under which the Japanese nobility reside in Yedo from what we caught in this bird’s-eye view. No European has WALKS IN YEDO. 115 ever crossed tlie tliresliold of their residences. The ministers of the Tycoon liave never admitted into their own dwellinofs any foreiffn ambassador. “ Tlie panorama from Atagosa-yama only disclosed to us about one fourtli part of the great capital. To- wards the north, our view was obstructed by the walls surroundinrj the castle of the Tycoon. We therefore resolved to devote another day to the quarters in that direction, which form with the castle itself, the central part of Yedo. The walls appeared to us as two con- centric circles, drawn by the blue lines of broad canals, communicating with each other and with the bay by means of numerous arms. We carried out the plan in a walk of four hours, during which there unfolded before our steps, like the windings of a mysterious laby- rinth of stone, the ramparts, the towers, ami the pal- aces within which the power of the Tycoons has found a shelter for more than two hundred years. “ It is an imposing spectacle, but it leaves a chilly impression on the mind. The political order of things instituted in Japan by the usurper lyeyas vaguely re- calls the regime of the Venetian Republic under the rule of the Council of Ten. If it has not the same grandeur, it possesses at least the same terrors, — the sombre majesty of the Chief of State, the impenetrable mystery of his government, the concealed and contiji- uous action of a system of espionage officially arranged in all branches of the administration, and drawing after it, in the shadow, proscriptions, assassinations, secret executions. “ But we must not further extend the compai’ison with Venice. In Yedo one seeks in vain, over all the 116 TRA VELS IN JAPAN. vast extent of the glacis of the castle, some monument which deserves to be mentioned beside the marv'elous edifices of the Place of San Marco or the Riva de’ Schiavoni. Artistic taste is completely wanting at tlie court of the Tycoons. It is left to the people, with poetry, religion, social life, with all superfluous things which only embarrass the movement of the political machine. From one end to the other of the adminis- trative hierarchy, each official being flanked by a se- cretly appointed controller, the talents of the employes are exhausted in learning how to do nothing, and say nothing, which might furnish material for damaging reports. As to their private life, it is concealed, like that of the Japanese nobles, behind the walls of their domestic fortresses. While the streets inhabited by the common people, with all their dwellings open to the public view, are constantly animated with crowds of comers and goers of all ages and both sexes, in the aristocratic quarters one sees neither women nor chil- dren, unless in glimpses, through the grating of the windows, in the houses of the retainers. “ There are thus in Yedo two coexisting forms of society, one of which, armed and endowed with privi- leges, lives as if imprisoned in a vast citadel ; and the other, disarmed, subject to the domination of the former, apparently enjoys all the advantages of liberty. But in reality a rod of iron is laid upon the people of Yedo. Out of five heads of families, one is always established bv the government as an authority over the other four. The iniquitous laws punish a whole family, a district even, for the crime of one of the members. Neither the property nor the lives of the citizens are guarded WALKS IN YEDO. 117 by any legal protection. The extortions and the brutal acts of the two-sworded class remain for the most part unpunished. But the burglier turns for compensation to the charms which liis good city offers him. If tlie rule of the Tycoons sometimes appears hard to him, he remembers that the Mikados have not always been good-natured, — that one of them, in ancient times, loved to display his skill as an archer in bringing down with his shafts the peasants whom he forced to climb trees as game. “ In countries fashioned by despotism, it is an em- barrassing thing for the poor people to ascertain the proper limits of their patience. In a republic they be- come exacting, because the government opens to them the prospect of a continuous social amelioration, because every republican government falls short of the task im- posed upon it by its own nature. But under the rule of individual will, on the contrary, the despot gets credit for not doing all the evil in his power. A Jap- anese emperor, who was born under the constellation of the Dog, ordered that all dogs should be respected as .sacred animals, that they must not be killed, and must receive honorable sepulture when they died. A subject, whose dog had died, set to work to bury the body properly upon one of the sepulchral mounds. While on the wav, and weary with the weight of the dead dog, he ventured to say to a neighbor that the Emperor’s order seemed ridiculous to him. ‘ Beware how yon complain,’ the neighbor rejJied ; ‘ our Em- peror might just as well have been born under the sign of the Horse.’ The first great line of defense of the castle is sur- O H8 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. rounded with water, except on the western side, where it communicates with the adjoining quarter of the city by the parade-ground belonging to the Tvcoon. Ten arched wooden bridges are tlirown acioss tlie broad moats: a strong detachment of the Tycoon's troops oc- cupied the guard -house attaclied to the one wliich we crossed. The common soldiers are mountaineers of Akoni, who are allowed to return to their homes after a service of two or three years. Their uniform of blue cotton consists of close fitting pantaloons, and a shirt something like that of the Garibaldians. They wear cotton socks, and leathern sandals, and a large sabre with a lacquered scabbard is thrust through the girdle. The cartridge-box and bayonet are worn suspended on the right side. A pointed hat of lacquered paper com- pletes their accoutrement, but they only put it on when mounting guard, or in going to drill. “ As to the muskets used in the Japanese army, al- though they all have percussion locks, they vary in calibre and construction. I saw four different kinds in the workshop of the barracks of Benten, where a yakounin introduced me. He showed me a Dutch model, then an arm of an inferior quality, from a work- shop in Yedo, then an American musket, and finally a Mini4 rifle, the use of which a young officer was then teaching to a squad of soldiers in the court-yard. I noticed that the latter gave the words of command in Dutch. He held a ramrod in his right hand, and the grace of his movements, as well as the sweetness of Ills voice, made him resemble, at a little distance, a dancing-master directing the steps of his pupils with a fiddle-bow. WALKS IK YEDO 119 “ Notwithstanding their prompt intelligence of the great j)rogress in the art of war realized by the West- ern nations, the Japanese have not yet been able to abolish the heavy military apparel of their feudal times. The helmet, the coat of mail, the halberd, the two-handed sword are still employed in their reviews and criind manoeuvres. Bodies of archers still flank infantry columns equipped in the European manner, and chevaliers worthy of the times of the Crusades make their appearance in the dust of artillery trains. “ All the young officers are daily exercised, from an early age, in face-to-face combats, with the lance and two-handed sword, the rapier and the knife. The quarter which we traversed possessed two race-courses and several buildings destined for exercises in equita- tion and fencing. We saw the masters passintr, accom- panied by their pupils and followed by servants who bore lances and sabres of wood, as well as gloves, masks, and breast-plates, such as are used in the fencing-halls of the German universities. The jous- ters, still hot from their encounters, had thrown their silk mantles over one shoulder, and opened their close jackets upon the breast. Thus relieved, they walked along at their ease, silent and dignified, as is the marir ner of gentlemen. “ I was several times present at the fencing-matches of the yakounins. The champions salute each other befoi'e the attack : sometimes he who is on the defen- sive drops one knee upon the earth, in order the better to cross weapons and to parry with more force the blows of his adversary. Each pass is accompanied with theatrical poses and expressive gestures ; each 120 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. blow provokes passionate exclamations from one or the other ; then the judges intervene and emphatically pronounce their verdict, until finally a cup of tea ap- pears as the interlude. There is even a variety of fencing for the Japanese ladies. Their arm is a lance with a curved blade, something like that of the Polish scythemen. They hold it with the point directed to- w’ard the earth, and wield it according to rule in a series of attitudes, poses, and cadenced movements, which would furnish charming subjects for a ballet. I was not allowed to see much of this graceful display, which I happened to get sight of in passing before a half-open court-yard. My 3 'akounins closed the gate, assuring me that the customs of the countiy do not allow witnesses to see these feminine feats of arms. “ 111 their weapons the Japanese nobles exhibit the greatest luxury, and take the most pride. Especially their sabres, the temper of which is unrivaled, are gen- erally enriched, at tlie hilt and on the scabbard, with metal ornaments, graven and cut with great skill. But the principal value of their arms consists in their an- tiquity and celebrity. Each sword in the old families of the daimios, has its history and traditions, the glory of which is measured by the blood which it has shed. A new sword must not long remain virgin in the hands of him who bu\’s it ; until an occasion is offered for baptizing it in human blood, the young brave who be- comes its ow'ner tries its quality on living animals, or, better still, on the corpses of criminals. When the executioner delivers to him the body, in accordance with higher authority, he fastens it to a cross, or upon trestles, in the court of his d'velling, and sets to work WALKS IN YEDO. 121 to cut, slash, and piei’ce, until lie has acquired enough strength and skill to divide two bodies, one laid upon the other, at a single blow. “ We may easily imagine the aversion which these Japanese gentlemen, for whom the sabre is at once an emblem of their value and of their titles of nobility, feel for the fire-arms of the Western nations. The Tycoon formerly sent some of the young yakounins to Nagasaki, to learn the musketry drill from the Dutch officers there ; but when they returned to the capital and were distributed among the barracks in order to drill the new Japanese infantry, their former comrades cried ‘ Treason !’ and assailed them with arms in their hands. Nevertheless, the sabre is surely destined to become obsolete. In spite of the traditional prestige with which the privileged caste endeavors to surround it, in spite of the contempt which they affect for the military innovations of a crovemment which thev hate, the democratic weapon, the musket, is introduced into Japan, and with it, undoubtedly, a social revolution, which is already predicted in tlie instinctive but fruit- less resistance of the repi*esentatives of the feudal spirit. “ The conduct of their chiefs will of itself tend to precipitate the catastrophe. Conspiracies and political assassinations increase at Yedo with a frightful rapidity. It appears to be settled that not only several Ministers of State, but two successive Tycoons, have perished by a violent death since the opening of Japan. The same fate overtook the G-otairo, or Regent, tutor of the young sovereign who died in 1866. His palace is seated on a hill in the southern part of the quarter of 122 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. Sakourada, fronting the broad moats and high walls of the inner circuit of the castle, and overlooking on the east and south, grand squares of streets formed by more than fifty seignorial I’esidences. In this princely neigliborliood, on the 24th of March, 1860, at eleven o’clock in the morning, the Regent, with an escort of four or five hundred men, was assailed by a band of seventeen lonins (bravos), on the spacious highway skirtinof tlie moat. There was sanjiuinarv fichtins on both sides ; twenty soldiei's of the escort fell at their posts ; five conspirators were slain, two disemboweled themselves, four were made prisoners, and the others escaped, among them the chief, carrying the Regent’s head in his mantle. Rumor added that the head was ex])osed in the provincial town where resides the Prince of Mito, the instigator of the conspiracy, then even at Miako, before the battlements of the Mikado, and finally that it was found in the Regent’s own garden, where it had been thrown by night over the walls.” CHAPTER XII. THE RESIDE>'CE OF THE TYCOONS. “ "PJ Y following the road which skirts the terraces of the Regent’s palace, we finally reach a plateau on the northeastern side of the castle, the most ele- vated point being nearly on a level with the top of the interior glacis of the latter. The residence of the Tycoon appears to us to be seated on the south- western extremity of the long chain of hills and pla- teaus which constitute the southern, western, and northern quarters of the capital. “ The undulating outlines of Yedo, from the south- ern side, present the image of a vast amphitheatre, the grades of which descend toward the bay. Hollows formed by the windings of three rivers may be traced through it, in the distance, the southernmost between Sinagawa and Takanawa ; the second, between the latter quarter and those of Asabon and Atakosta ; the nearest and most considerable between Atakosta and Sakourada, the same which fills the moats of the castle and the navigable canals of the commercial city, between the castle and the sea. Toward the east we see no summits ; the city extends in a contin- uous plain to the gi'eat river Ogawa, beyond which the populous quarters of Hindjo are gradually lost in the mists of the horizon. All that part of Yedo 124 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. to the eastward of the castle was entirely unknown to us, and, far as the view extended, W3 could not dis- cover its end. “ The immensity of the Japanese capital produces a strange impression. The imagination, as well as the vision, is fatigued in hovering over that boundless agglomeration of human dwellings, all of which, great or little, are marked by the same stamp of uniformity. Each one of our old European cities has its distinctive physiognomy, strongly indicated by the monuments of different ages, and uniting to grand artistic effects the austere charm of ancient memories. But at Yedo, all things are of the same epoch, and in the same style ; everything rests on a single fact, on a single political circumstance, — the foundation of the dynasty of the Tycoons.. Yedo is a wholly modern city, which seems to be waiting for its historv and its monuments. “ Even the residence of the Tycoon, viewed from a distance, offers nothing remarkable except its dimen- sions, its vast circuit of teri’aces, supported by enor- mous walls of granite, its parks of magnificent shade, and its moats resembling quiet lakes, where flocks of aquatic birds freely sport in the water. That which chieflv strikes the senses, within the inclosures, is the grand scale to which everything is conformed : walls, avenues of trees, canals, portals, guard-houses, and dwellings of the retainers. The exquisite neatness of the squares and avenues, the profound silence which reigns around the buildings, the noble simplicity of these constructions of cedar upon marble basements, — all combine to produce a solemn effect, and to pro- voke those impressions of majesty, mystery, and fear, THE RESIDENCE OF THE TYCOONS. 125 wliich despotism needs in order to support its pres- tige. “ Here, as in the Japanese temples, one cannot but admire the simplicity of the means employed by the native architects, in realizing their boldest conceptions. They always borrow the most effective of their re- sources directly from nature. The Tycoon’s hall of audience possesses neither columns, nor statues, nor furniture of any kind. It consists of a succession of vast and very lofty chambers, separated one from the other by movable screens, which reach to the ceiling. They are so disposed as to give an effect of perspective, like the side-scenes of a theatre, and the end of the vista opens upon broad lawns and avenues of trees. “ The Tycoon’s throne is a sort of dais, raised several steps, and supported against the wall which faces the principal entrance. The resident delegates of the Court of the Mikado, the Ministers of State, and the members of the Representative Council of the Daimios, have their seats on his right or left. Through the whole extent of the hall, as far as the eye can reach, the high court officials, the princes of feudal provinces, the lords of cities, castles, districts of the country, and the chiefs of the military aristocracy, are ranged by hundreds — or at the grand receptions, by thousands — in the places assigned to them by their rank in the hierarchy. No sound is heard in this im- mense crowd ; each one is without arms, and bare- footed, his feet concealed in the folds of immense drag- ging trousers. The daimios are recognized by their high-pointed caps and their long mantles of brocade, ornamented, on the sleeves, with the family coat-of- 126 TRAVELS IN JAP AIT. arms The officers of the Tocoon wear an over-Jresa of silken gauze, spi'cacllng out on the shoulders like two large wings. “ The assembly, divided into distinct groups, awah the arrival of the Tycoon, crouched in silence on the thick bamboo matting which covers the floor. Then they prostrate themselves before the sovereign as soon as he appears, and until, seated on his throne, he has ordered his ministers to receive communications from the audience. Each orator or reporter prostrates him- self anew on approaching the throne, and when com- manded to speak. The costume of the Tycoon is com- posed of a robe of brocade with long sleeves, bound around the waist with silken cords, and large puffed trousers which cover his velvet boots. He wears on the top of his head a pointed hat of gold, which somewhat resembles the Doge’s bonnet. What more splendid, or more majestic decoration could he give to his audience-hall, than this living gallery of the glories of Japan, this august assembly of princes, lords, and high officials, personifying the wealth and power of the Empire ? “ This picture, which the Tycoon sees with so much pi’ide, is the chai’acteristic work of lyeyas. It belongs to him especially, for it is not a continuation of the work of Taikosama. The latter was the last Siogoon : lyeyas was the true founder of the dynasty of the Tg~ coons. It is true, however, that he never received such a designation ; his illustrious name in the Japan- ese annals is Gonghensama. As to the title of Tycoon, its origin is modern, dating only from 1850. At this time, in one of the conferences of Commodore Perry THE RESIDENCE OF THE TYCOONS. 127 with the representatives of the Japanese government at Yokohama, the American ambassador, wishing to designate in the treaty tlie political chief of the empire, and finding it difiicnlt to clioose between the titles, Siogoon, Koiihosaina, and others which the Mikados had conferred on their temporal lieutenants, the inter- preter Hvashi proj)osed to adopt a uniform style, ex- pressed hv the two Chinese signs Tai-Kouh, signifying ‘ Great Chief, ’ which was agreed upon by both sides. Since then, although the Japanese government has more than once expressed dissatisfaction with this inno- vation, it has been retained in all the international treaties, and has even become popular throughout the country. “ Before visiting the commercial city, and in order to finish with the official grandeurs of the ca])ital, we must devote a few words to what is called the Daimio-kodzi., or Avenue of Princes. It stretches to the east and northeast of the Tycoon’s palace, communicating with the quarter of SouJ*ouga by five bridges, furnished with armed gateways. But it was not permitted to us to cross any of these. One was reserved for the Ty- coon, another for Stotsbashi, and so on, until we reached a sixth, by which we were finally allowed to cross into the jmvileged zone. “ Here there are at least thirty heraldic palaces, and a great number of public edifices in the same style of architecture, such as the official residence of Stotsbashi ; the office of the Prime IMinister ; of the Governor of the Cit3% a personage whose influence with the ruler equals that of a favorite minister ; of the Tycoon’s architect, the man who occupies the next most enviable 128 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. position at court; the hall of justice, with its gloomy dependencies, prisons, torture-rooms, and place of se- cret executions ; finally the houses of the fire-brigade, store-houses of rice and bamboo matting for the castle. All this mass of residences and buildings for the use of the political administration of Ja])an has a stamp of simplicity and severity which is found in no other country. Within its limits, w-e must add, there are neither dwellings of citizens or of subordinate officials, temples, monasteries, tea-houses, theatres, or schools. “ The circuit which we were obliged to make, in or- der to enter the Daimio-kodzi, enabled us to see one of the largest military schools of the capital, although we did not succeed in entering the rooms devoted to study. We were allowed to see the fencing- halls ; the riding- school, a vast oblong space, open to the skv% sanded and surrounded with a turfed bank ; the stables, pre- senting the appearance of a long, low shed, with only a plank wall beside the mangers, where the horses were fed with chopped rice-straw ; and finally the parade-ground, which was spacious enough to furnish practice for a battery of cannon, and which was often used for artillery maneuvi'es and target practice. These military schools are not regarded with much favor by the feudal aristocracy ; but they are frequented as well by the sons of princes of the blood and the high officials of the empire as by those of the lower orders of the nobility, whose rank dates only from the favor of former Tycoons. “ One of the most remarkable departments of the University of Yedo is the college of interpreters. The numerous students who frequent it have the rank of THE RESIDENCE OF THE TYCOONS. 129 officei-s and carry the two sabres. All are obliged to learn Dutch, which is the language of' diplomatic rela- tions, that in which the affairs of the Japanese goveni- ment are arranged with foreign ])owers. After having acquired it, some add the English language ; others Russian, others French, Portuguese, German, Danish, and even Italian, since Italy has also concluded a treaty with Japan, under the patronage of France. Thus, each one of the languages spoken by the contracting nations is represented at Yedo. “ Moriyama Yenoski was formerly the interpreter ap])ointed to be present at all negotiations concerning the adoption or revision of international conventions. When I made his acquaintance, it appeared evident to me that he had been advanced in rank. He had occu- pied a confidential position with the Japanese embas- sies which visited the United States and Europe. I only saw him on two occasions, and then less as inter- preter than as confidential assistant of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. “ Other interpreters have the special diaty of select- ing, translating, and annotating the newspapers which the court of the Tycoon receives directly from Europe, as well as the new scientific or literary works presented by the legations. All such publications are carefully preserved in the Imperial Library. By degrees mate- rials are drawn from them for Japanese works, more or less extensive, \vritten for the classes of civil and mil- itary officers, to whom they may be of service, or even for the public in general. We find already fragments of Humboldt’s ‘ Cosmos,’ an abridgment of Hufeland’j ‘ Makrobiotik, a translation of Stielier’s Atlas, and of 9 130 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. Maury’s work on ‘ Ocean Currents.’ During tlie entire duration of the civil war in the United States, there was published in Yedo, at irregular intervals, a narra- tion of events, accompanied with engravings on wood, copied from the American illustrated papers. “ We are far from being able to sound the myste- ries of this Venice of the extreme East, and it must be difficult, even for the Japanese, to form a correct idea of it. But no one in Yedo is ignorant that the gloomy prisons in the Daimio-kodzi, the outside of which only we see, contain their torture-chambers, their dungeons, their places for secret executions. “ In Japan, the simple repression of common offenses is marked with ferocity, from beginning to end: the bloodhound of the police falls upon an accused person like a vulture on his prey. The bamhoo is the neces- sary accompaniment of the examinations ; the indict- ment is presented at length to the prisoner, and if he does not reply as the judge desires a rain of blows falls upon his shoulders. Woe to him, if he be suspected of lying, or of screening himself by denials ! In such a case he is made to kneel upon j)ieces of hard wood, and in this position stone weights are piled upon his thighs until the blood gushes from the skin. “ In the eyes of a Japanese judge, the accused is al- ways held to be guilty. The tribunal desires victims, and the police agents are its purveyors. Twenty to tliirty prisoners are brought into the hall of justice at the same time ; all wear the same costume, — a large mantle of blue cotton, and no other article of dress. As they are not allowed to shave or comb their hair, a few days are enough to give them the appearance of THE RESIDENCE OF THE TYCOONS. 131 filthy creatures, for whom one would feel a sentiment of contempt or disgust. They sleep crouched upon the flag-stones with which the prison is paved ; yet those who are able to pay may obtain from the jailer one or more mats and a wadded covering. Rice is their only food. The most absolute silence is imposed upon them, and this rule is only broken when one of tlieir number has been condemned to death, and the soldiers come to carry him away. His companions are then allowed to utter, together and with all the strength of their voices, one long, despairing cry ; after which the silence be- comes more horrible than ever. “ The punishments provided by Japanese law are only imprisonment accompanied with corporeal inflic- tions, or death. Banishment is reserved for the gran- dees of the empire, or the bonzes, who are relegated, ac- cording to their rank, to one or the other outer islands. It is said that they spend the time of their exile in weaving silk stuffs. As to imprisonment, it is never of long duration, unless before the trial. The sentence generally adds a few weeks or months, as I have seen at Yokohama, where the valet of a European was con- demned to a seclusion of three months for stealing. He was shut up with other malefactors in a high cell, — four whitewashed walls surmounted with a grating of heavy beams, — and received daily for his nourish- ment a bowl of rice and a tempo (about three cents), in exchange for which the jailer furnished him with a little fruit or vegetables. “ The theft of a less sum than forty itzibus (about twenty dollars), is punished by branding. In place of a hot iron, the Japanese make use of a lancet, with 132 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. wliicli they effect an incision of a certain form on the left arm, and make it indelible with powder. The prisoner thrusts his arm through a hole in the wall, and a surgeon in the next room performs tlie operation. The branding, in the case of a hardened criminal, may be repeated twenty-four times, but the last marks are then made upon the forehead, and every branding after the third is accompanied with a flogging. “ Every culprit who falls into the hands of justice after having been marked twenty-four times, or who commits a theft of greater amount than forty itzibus, is condemned to death. Ordinarily they wait until there are three or four to be executed, and the sentences are then carried into effect in the court-yard of the prison, with no other witnesses than the officers of justice. Each culprit is led into their presence, his eyes band- aged, and his kirimon thrown back upon his shoulders. He is made to kneel ; four assistants, two on each side, grasp his hands and feet, and his head falls at a single stroke of the executioner’s sword. It is then washed and exposed with the others in one of the market- places of the city, for twenty-four hours. The body is immediately stripped and washed, and put into a sti*aw sack to be delivered, with the others, to the gentlemen who wish to practice their noble art as swordsmen. “ Only flagrant criminals, such as incendiaries and assassins, are executed in public. The former are given to the flames ; the latter, where there is no aggravating circumstance, are beheaded. I might have seen in Yedo, the crucifixion of two parricides, for I received one morning from TO, a paper con- taining an account of their crime and their approach- ing execution. THE RESIDENCE OF THE TYCOONS. 133 “ He had bought it from a colporteur who was cry- ing his copies through the streets, as in the most civil- ized and Cliristian cities. “ As in Eui’ope, the ceremonies of public executions are said to be for the purpose of making a salutary im- pi’ession on the masses. The condemned is placed on horseback, bound to a high wooden saddle, and always has a rosarv suspended to his neck. At the head of the ]>rocession the officers of justice direct the atten- tion of the peo})le to a large placard, borne by coolies, which relates in emphatic terms the circumstances of the crime. “ In all despotic States, the yoke of power always weiglis most heavily on the bourgeoisie., — the class of untitled and unj)rivileged citizens. In Japan, this class is not yet formed, and only exists in reality in the Ty- coon’s cities, which are : Miako, Yedo, Hiogo, Osaka, Sakai, Nagasaki, and Hakodadi, to which maybe added the new ports of Yokohama and Niagata. This very recent class of Japanese society bears in its breast the germs of the great future which seems to be marked out for the Japan of our day. Nevertheless, they do not yet exercise any civic right, and the lowest of the hattamottos, or small nobles, disdains to ally himself with the best family of the capital. “ The same spirit, fatal to progress, foreign to true civilization, hostile to humanity, reigns in the proud seats of the aristocracy and the government. The Tycoons have never been able to comprehend that the only real basis of their power, and the surest source of the prosperity of their empire, is found in this very class of simple citizens, which they have always crushed »s in an iron cage.” O CHAPTER XIII. THE COURT AND ITS REVENUES. -SIRO, as the castle is properly called, situated very nearly in the centre of Yedo, is a sort of citadel, about five miles in circuit. It contains within it the palace of the Tycoon, of the presumptive heir, and of the principal members of the reigning family ; but not in that circumstance alone consists its true grandeur. Even in despotic countries, the surround- ings of a dynasty constitute its splendor. To appre- ciate the Tycoonal power — at least as it has been, — we must have a correct idea of the court Avhich sustains it. The following statistics are partly drawn from the annual reports publislied in Yedo and partly from Dutch soui’ces. The historic accounts of the families, or bio- graphical sketches of the most important personages, cannot be given, since the materials have not yet been collected. The estimate of the revenues, or annual salaries of the principal functionaries of the govennnent, how^ever, is taken from the official reports of the government and may be fully relied on. All salaries belonging to public employment in Japan, are paid in, or at least calculated according to, products, — that is, kokoiis, or sacks of rice, each of which has a weight of about one hundred English pounds, and a value of about $3.25. THE COURT AND ITS REVENUES. 135 Tlie following table, therefore, very nearly repre- sents the revenues of the Japanese court: — 1. The first dignitary of the court is the Regent, or Gotairo, whose office is hereditary in the house of Kamon-no-Kami. The annual revenue of this office is $1,080,000. 2. The second is the representative of the Tycoon at the court of the Mikado. Annual salary, $320,000, 3. d'he Council of Daiinios, composed of eighteen representatives of the eighteen great feudal lords, each of whom receives annually from $100,000 to $240,000. 4. The members of the Council of State, or Coun- cil of Ministers, five in number. They are generally officials belonging to the secondarv nobilltv, and of small property. Each receives about $170,000, 6. The second Council of State, or Administrative Council, with five to thirteen members, heads of the various departments of government, each from $40,000 to $160,000. 6. The Adjutant-general and Grand Messenger of the State, a prince of the second or third class, $140,000. 7. Aids-de-camp in ordinary service, sixteen in num- ber, from $6,000 to $16,000. 8. Ambassadors to the feudal lords, from whom are chosen the members of the embassies sent to Europe aud America, twenty in number, from $3,200 to $ 10 , 000 . 9. Princes charged with the militarv defense of the domains of the Tycoon, twenty to thirty feudal lords of the second and third class. Their salaries (which oblige them to furnish a certain number of 136 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. men, who are at the disposal of the government) vary from $50,000 to $280,000. 10. Princes with various inilitaiy commands, twenty- five in number, averaging $58,000. 11. Princes, commanding fortresses of the Tycoon, twelve in number, with from $9,500 to $32,000. 12. Princes attached to embassies, etc., four to eight, from $6,000 to $20,000. 13. Princes appointed to superintend the chief police arrangements, especially the administration of the tem- ])les, four, from $140,000 to $200,000. 14. Chamberlains, twelve to twenty, $20,000. . 15. Chancellors of State, five, $10,000. 16. Governors of Yedo, two, $10,000. 17. Governors of the Treasury, four, $5,000. 18. Governor of Public Woi’ks, architect and en- gineer, $5,000. 19. Governors of the Navy, two, $8,000. 20. Heralds of arms, three, $14,000 to $26,000. 21. Commanders of body-guards, four, $16,000. 22. Generals ; one hundred to one hundred and twenty, from $1,200 to $24,000. 23. Ins]>ector General of the Armories, $16,000. 24. Gov'ernors of cities, etc., twenty, $2,800 to $ 6 , 000 . In this estimate the hundreds, nay, the thousands of subordinate officials who complete the administra- tion of the Tycoon’s government are not included. The salaries which hav'e been designated amount to very near $24,000,000 annually, and $30,000,000 would probably not be an over-estimate for the entire expense which the Japanese government entoils upon the people. THE COURT AND ITS REVENUES. 137 Soto-siro is the general term which comprises the quarters surrounriing the castle. Their limits are the outer circle of moats, the canals which communicate with the Ogawa, and the great river itself, on the east. In its entire extent, the Soto-siro has a circumference of a little less than ten miles. It embraces both the quarters of the nobility and the commercial j)art of the city on the right bank of the Ogawa River. The part appropriated by the nobility is divided irto four districts : that called Sakourada is almost entirely taken up by the mansions of the princes. There are no burghers’ dwellings except along the main highway which traverses it. Here, in this more elevated re- gion, are the residences of the families related to the Tycoon, the three branches of Ksiou, Owari, and Mito. The Regent’s palace is distinguished by its grand di- mensions, and its picturesque situation, beside the sec- ond moat. More than a hundred palaces of the first, second, and third class cover the plain behind the temple of Sanno, in these quarters, and in several others, gen- erally formed by large square tracts, surrounded by broad sanded avenues. CHAPTER XIV. THE citizens’ QUARTER. •* TT was not long,” says M. Humbert, “ before I received a first warning. Tlie government deigned to inform me tliat our extensive excursions through the ca|)ital might result in danger to our- selves. Tliere was no further time to lose, for they were evidently |)reparing obstacles to our movements. I calculated that w'e had already traversed about one third of the thirty districts into wdiich the city is di- vided ; a new, and perhaps a final field of exploration must be immediately selected from the remainder. “ It seemed to me that the greatest number of ob- jects of interest, were included within a circle having the chief bridge of tlie city for its central point. The latter could be speedily reached, either on horseback by the Tokaiao, or in a boat, taking advantage of the tide ; and it was but a short distance further to the populous quarters of the commercial city, on the right bank of the Ogawa, or to the industrial city of Hondjo, on the left bank. “ I had already made out a programme of our expe- ditions, when an amusing adventure occm’red, which encouraged me in my plans, and at the same time showed me their true value. Two attaches of the Prussian Legation at Yokohama came to visit M. Met- A JAPANESE STAPLE. THE CITIZENS’ QUARTER. 139 man, and as tliey wished to procure both the Alma- nac of the Mikado’s Court, and the official Annual of the Tycoon’s government, the latter gentleman accompanied them to the shop of a bookseller in the city. I begged him to purchase for me at the same time, any literary curiosities or specimens of natiye art whicli might fall into his hands. “ When the gentlemen, together with their yakou- nins, were installed in the bookstore, the owner at once furnished them with the ‘ Almanac of Miako,’ which was on hand. He stated that the ‘ Yedo An- nual ’ was also to be had, and, pushing aside a screen, entered the next room. One of the yakounins accom- panied him ; presently the two returned, the bookseller stammering out that he had no ‘ Annuals ’ to sell. ‘ Well,’ said one of the Prussian secretaries, ‘ send to another shop for them ; we will wait here.’ There- upon there was a moyement among the yakounins, consultations in the street, and prolonged absence of the bookseller. During this time the three strangers lighted their cigars, and asked an employe of the es- tiiblishment to bring them boxes to .sit upon, and to place before them all tlie illustrated works in the shop. When the owner returned, he bowed to the ground, and sished out : ‘ The “ Annual ” cannot be had in the neiffiiborhood, and it is now too late to send to the castle.’ “ ‘ What of that ? ’ was the reply. ‘ Send your boy for it ! For our part, we are going to haye our dinner brought here ; we shall not leaye you until we haye the “ Annual.” ’ “ M. Metman thereupon wrote a note, which he sent 140 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. to the steward of the Legation by one of the men of the escort. Tlie bookseller also gave a commission to one of his employes, and the review of illustrated works was continued until the arrival of four coolies, carrying at the extremity of their bamboo poles, the lacquered boxes and wicker baskets containing the din- ner. “ The meal was spread upon the matting; the yakou- nins and the bookseller were invited to take part in it, but they politely declined. Nevertheless, when the sound of champagne corks began to be heard, they drew nearer, and the foaming glasses soon cii’culated around the shop. ‘ Have you anything more to show us by wa}’’ of dessert ? ’ asked M. Metman. “ The bookseller answered : ‘ You already know the contents of my shop. I have nothing more to show except some drawings, sketches on detached sheets, made by two artists of Yedo, lately deceased. It is all which they have left to their families, who have given me the useless legacy for a small supply of rice. Here ai’e still the old sheets on which they tried their pencils. If you like the sketches, take the package along with the books you have bought.’ “ M. Metman called the coolies, and ordered them to fill their baskets with the dishes, the packages of books and drawings ; but to leave the bottles and the remainder of the dinner for the yakounins and the peo- ple of the house. Then, turning to the bookseller, ne said : ‘ Will it be necessary, do you think, to order cur mattresses and quilts, in order to pass the night here ? Now is the time to send for them by the coolies.’ “ A general hilarity succeeded this question ; then THE CITIZENS' QUARTER. 141 there were whisperings and goings to and fro, between the sliop and tlie street, vvdiere an increasing crowd uf curious spectators endeavored to find out what strange drama was beino enacted. At last the owner and his employe reappeared, bearing some volumes under their arms. He bowed again, and placed in the hands cf th" strangers, evidently with the consent of the yakou- nins, two perfectly authentic copies of the official ‘An- nual of Yedo. “ I passed the night in examining the precious col- lection. It was composed of thirty illustrated works and a quantity of sheets, loose or sewed together. Here were old encyclo])aedias, eniiched with plates which seemed to have issued from the German work- shops of the Middle Ages ; there, albums of sketches in India ink, reproduced on wood, or collections of stories and popular scenes, illustrated with pictures in two tints, produced by a process unknown to us. Numerous paintings on silk and rice paper represented the bridges, the markets, the theatres, all the places of meeting, and all the types of the laboring classes and the burgher society of Y^edo. But nothing of all these equaled in importance the posthumous work of the two poor unknown artists, for the latter revealed to me both the favorite subjects and the style of the modern school of Jaj)anese painters. These sketches, inspired by the scenes of the streets and public gardens, were a veritable treasure for the study of the people of Yedo. These dusty and spotted bundles, wherein I found a hundred and two finished pictures and a hun- dred and thirty rough sketches, devoted exclusively to the classes which live outside of the Castle, the aristo- 142 TRAVELS /xV JAPAN. cratic quarters, the barracks and tlie monasteries, were a mine to be wmrked ! Such a collection was for me the surest guide, the most faithful interj)reter which I could have consulted, before plunging into the laby- rinth of streets, quays, and canals which thread the masses of the dwellings of the hourgeoise population, on both sides of the river. “ The district of Nipon-bassi, or the Bi-idge of Nipon, which is the heart of the city, coTitains in a space of four square kilometres, five longitudinal, and twenty- two cross streets, cuttino; the former at rif>;ht anorles, and forming seventy-eight blocks of houses, each being almost the exact model of the other. Navigable canals surround this long parallelogram on the four sides, and fifteen bridtres give it communication with the other parts of the city. Although they have a character so completely homogeneous, these quarters of the city do not leave that impression of fastidious monotony which the mansions belonging to the court or the feudal nobil- ity rarely fail to produce. The houses of the citizens, not less than the palaces, do not vary from the type of architecture which is appropriate to them : they are simple constructions of wood, but two stories in height, the upper one bordered by a gallery looking upon the street, with a low I'oof covered with slate-colored tiles, and having plaster ornaments at the extremities of the ridge-pole. But if the frame be the same, the pictures which it incloses are delightful in their variety, unex- pectedness, and picturesque originality. “ Here at the entrance of a street of Nipon-bassi, there is a barber’s shop, where three citizens, in the simplest apparel, come to make their moiming toilette. THE CITIZENS’ QUARTER. 143 S<;ated on stools, they gravely hold up with the .eft hand the lacquered dish which receives tne spoils of the razor or scissors. The artists, on their side, relieved of evervthino; which mav restrict the freedom ot their movements, bend to the right or left of their custom- ers’ lieads, which they traverse with hand or instru- ment, like ancient sculptors modeling caryatides. “ A few steps further, we find a shoemaker’s shop. It bristles with wooden hooks, from which hang innu- merable pairs of straw sandals. The owner, squatted on his counter, reminds me of one of those native idols, to which the pilgrims make offerings of shoes. Per- sons of both se.xes stop in front of him, e.xamine the sandals or try them on, exchange some friendly words with him, and lay the proper price at his feet without disturbing him. “ Then follow shops for the sale of sea-weed, several varieties of which are cooked and eaten by the people. There is also, in Yedo, an enormous consumption of shell-fish. Oysters are abundant and fleshy, but not very delicate ; the Japanese have no other way of open- ing them e.xcept to break the upper shell with a stone. At Uraga a large species of oyster is dried and ex- ported to all parts of the empire ; the trade therein is said to be a royalty of the Tycoon. “ The show of the seed-stores of Yedo is very at- tractive. The quantity and infinite variety of the prod- ucts offered, the diversity of their forms and colors, the art with which they are arrancred on the shelves, all combine to attract the attention ; but we are filled with surprise and admiration on perceiving that each one of the packages already enveloped in paper, each 141 TRAVELS IN Ja.PAN. one of tlie cones ready for sale, bears, with the name of tlie seed, a sketch in colors of the plant itself. The illustration is often a little masterpiece, which seems to hav£ been stolen from some charmino; floral album. We soon discover the artist and his studio, — that is, some vouno; workman of the establishment, stretched at full length upon mats sprinkled with flowers and sheets of paper, and in this singular attitude making every touch of his brush produce the true effect. “ As we a|iproach the central bridge of the district the crowd increases, and on both sides of the street the shops give place to popular restaurants, to pastry-shops of rice and millet, and the sale of tea and hot saki. Here w'e are in the neighborhood of the great fish mar- ket. The canal is covered with boats, which land fresh sea-fish and the product of the rivers, the fish of the polar currents and those of the equatorial stream, tor- toises of the bay of Nipon, defonned polypi, and fan- tastic Crustacea. Siebold counted, in this market- place, seventy different varieties of fish, crabs, and mollusks, and twenty-six kinds of mussels and other shell-fish. “ The stalls, roughly erected near the landing-place, are besieged by jmrveyors who come to purchase at the auctions. Amid the tumultuous throngs vigorous arms are seen lifting the heavy baskets and emptying them into the lacquered boxes of the coolies ; from time to time the crowd gives way to let two coolies pass, carry- • ing a porpoise, a dolphin, or a shark, suspended by cords to a bamboo across their shoulders. The Japan- ese boil the flesh of these animah ; they even salt down the blubber of whales. JAPANESE TOOK. THE CITIZENS' QUARTER. 145 “ Towanl tlie middle of the dav, diiriiis the liot sea- son, the streets of Yedo become deserted; tlie shores of the canals are lined with empty boats, fastened to the j)iles. No clamor, no noise comes np from the dspths of the great city. If we still distinguish, here and there, either a traveller or a couple of pilgrims, hurrying along to reach their midday i*esting-place, they walk in silence, with bowed heads and eyes fatigued with the glare of the road. The rays of the sun make broad luminous zones, whereon are drawn the outlines of the shadows which fall from broad roofs upon the flag-stones of the pavements, or from centen- ary trees upon the turf of the gardens. “ The population of the streets and canals is with- drawn within the hostelries or private dwellings, where, in the remote basement rooms, they enjoy the principal meal of the day, and then give two or three hours to sleep. In pursuing our route from street to street, along the shaded sidewalks, the eve looks throucrh the openings between the screens, detects the household interiors, and catches glimpses of picturesque groups of men, women, and children, squatted around their simple dinner. “ The table-cloth, made of woven straw, is spread upon the floor matting. In the centre is placed a great bowl of lacquered wood, containing rice, which is the basis of food with all classes of Japanese society. The usual manner of preparing it, is to place it in a small keg of very light wood, which is then dropped into a kettle of boiling water. Each guest attacks the com- mon supply, taking as much rice as will fill and heap a large porcelain bowl, which he sets to his lips, eating 10 146 TRA VELS IN JAPAN. without tlie use of cliop-sticks until the supply is nearly exhausted, when he adds to the rice some pieces of fish, crabs, or fowls, taken from the dish appropriated to animal food. Tlie meats are seasoned willi sea-salt, pepper, and soy, a very pungent sauce produced by the fermentation of a variety of black beans. Soft or hard eggs, cooked vegetables, such as turnips, carrots, sweet potatoes, pickles made of sliced bamboo sprouts, and a salad made of the bulbous roots of the lotus, complete the bill of fare of an ordinary Japanese dinner. “ Tea and saki are necessary accompaniments, both being generally taken hot and without sugar. I have never examined the beautiful utensils of a Japanese meal, — their bowls, cups, saucers, boxes, wooden plates, their porcelain urns, cups, and flagons, their tea-pots of glazed porous earthenware ; and I have never watched the guests at the table, with the grace of their move- ments and the dexterity of their small and elegant hands, without fancying them to be a company of large children, playing at housekeeping, and eating for amuse- ment rather than to satisfy their appetites. The dis- eases resulting from excess at the table or an unwhole- some diet are generally unknown ; but the immoderate use of their national drink, frequently gives rise to se- rious disorders. I myself saw more than one case of delirium tremens. “Notwithstanding the ease with which Yedo micrht b'j su])plied with excellent water, the peojde are almost entirely dependent on cisterns. From this cause, and the recklessness with which they eat unripe fruit, the cholera and dysentery make great ravages among them. Their pojjular hygiene prescribes I’ttle except hot baths. JAPANESE RESTAURANT AT YEDO. THE CITIZENS' QUARTEB. 147 which they take every day. This passion for cleanli- ness, the salubrity of their climate, the excellent char- acter of their aliment, ought to make the Japanese the most healthy and robust people in the world. Never- theless, there are few races more afflicted with all sorts of cutaneous affections, and certain forms of chronic and incurable disease, the cause of which cannot cei'tainly be found in the natural conditions of their lives. There are a great many physicians in Japan, and especially at Yedo. Those attached to the court of the Tvcoon belong to the class of small nobles, w'earing two sabres, shaving the head, and possessing a rank more or less elevated, according to their offlcial stand- ing. The first, limited in number, comprises the i)hy- sicians attached to the house of the sovereign, who have no practice outside of the palace. The fees which they receive, in money or supplies, represent an annual income of from three to four thousand dollars. Those of the second category are the officers of health, at- tached to the army in time of war, who receive a salary of about two thousand dollars. When they are not in service, they occasionally practice in private families. The members of both classes are appointed by the government. “ As there are no examinations required for the prac- tice of medicine, each one adopts the profession at wdll and practices according to his own method. Some re- tain the routine of the native quacks ; others treat their patients according to the rules of Chinese medical art ; others, again, acquire a smattering of European ideas, tlxrough the Dutch. The wish of the people is to have 148 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. plenty of physicians in case of need, and to be dosed according to tliree systems at once, rather than a sin- gle good one. “The Japanese doctors are easily recognized by tiieir severe air, their measured gait, and several curi- ous peculiarities, which they appear to adopt purposely, according to their fancy. I have seen them with the head shaven like a priest, with long locks rounded at the neck, or even with a flowing beard. In this ma:i- ner they acquire a general consideration among the people, and are often, especially in the houses of the aristocracy, paid rather by external forms of respect than by dollars. Such, indeed, are the conditions of life in most families, that, toward the end of the year, after having met all the indispensable expenses, includ- ing family festivals, the theatre, baths, priests, and ex- cursions of pleasui'e, there remains very little for the doctor. Nevertheless, the latter philosophically accepts tlie situation. He often exhibits a genuine disinterest- edness, and a zeal in the exercise of his profession, which presumes a passion for science ; and it is not too much to say that the Japanese physicians will probably be among; the first to contribute to tbp nrogress of civ- ilization in their country. “ The Dutch physicians, within the past fifteen years, have successfully introduced vaccination at Nagasaki, and the use of anatomical models into the medical .school at Mikado. In September, 1859, Doctor Van Meerdervort, having obtained the necessary authority from the Tycoon, assembled forty-five Japanese phy- sicians on a promontory of the harbor of Nagasaki, and from eight in the morning until sunset dissected the THE CITIZENS’ QUARTER. 149 body of a culprit who had been executed. 1 ere was considerable excitement among the people, )ut the governor allayed it by issuing the following ] oclama- tion : ‘ Considering that the body of the n ilefactor has been of service to medical science, an I conse- quently to the public good, tlie government un lertakes to provide, within twenty-four hours, honorabl . burial for the remains of the criminal, with the coo ration of the ministers of religion.’ ” CHAPTER XV. THE BRIDGES OF YEDO. THE POLICE. F all the great cities of the world, Yedo seems to me the most favored by nature, in regard to situation, climate, richness of vegetation, and abund- ance of runnino; water. It is seated at the mouth of two rivers, one of which washes the eastern side of the Hondjo, and the other, traversing from north to south the most populous quarters of the city, separates the Hondjo from the latter and from the two suburbs of Asaksa. “ Basins with locks, ponds, moats, a complete net- work of navigable canals, connect the natural courses of the rivers, and carry to the heart of the city proper, as well as to all parts of the Hondjo, the movements of commerce and life throughout the immense capital. “ Amono; the numerous canals which radiate from the moats of the castle, the most important is that which is spanned by the famous Bridge of Nipon. From the summit of this bridge, which is a high arch, the most picturesque view of Yedo may be obtained. Looking toward the south, w'e see on the horizon the white pyramid of Fusi-yama ; on the right the city is domi- nated by the terraces, parks, and square towers of the residence of the Tycoon. In the same direction, as far as its junction with the moats of the castle, the THE BRIDGES OF YEDO. 151 canal of Nipon-bassi is lined, on both sides, with store- houses of silk, cotton, rice, and saki. To tlie left, beyond tlie fish-market, the view is lost amoiifr the streets and canals leadino; toward the 0 icinity of the great bridges. “ The comparative tranquillity of this region beyond the river and the facility with which concessions of 160 TRAVELS IN JAPAN. large tracts of ground are there obtained, seems to have favored the establishment of numerous monaster- ies, some of which possess large temples. There are forty of these sacred edifices, two of which are devoted to the ancient national worship, another, more than two hundred feet in length, to the Buddhist faith, and another dedicated to the Five Hundred Genii. One of the monasteries is celebrated for engaging, twice a year, all tlie cliief wrestlers of Yedo, who give a series of public performances, — a pious speculation, which never foils to attract to the great lawn in front of the monastery an enormous crowd, made up of all classes of society. Thus, each temple or monastery has its own form of advertisement, and is distinguished by some singularity, — such as the avenue of statues of pigs, each nobly installed on a pedestal of granite, which we find on approaching one of the temples. Public opinion appears to accept without difficulty whatever device may be pleasing to the bonzes, with- out regard to its character. “ A certain number of families of the old nobility have made of the Hondjo a sort of Faubourg St. Ger- main, where they live in a profound retirement, far from the noises of the city and protected from contact with the world of the court, and the officers of the gov- ernment. There, the walls of the Castle no longer offend the eyes of the fierce daimio. From the sum- mits of the bridges arched over the canals, the grand alleys of trees around the Tycoon’s residence, seen over the innumerable roofs of the merchant city, resem- ble the peaceful shades of some distant park, blended with the hills around the base of Fusi-yama. I*niE3T OF THE HIGHER GRADE. THE HONDJO. 161 “ There are many workshops of sculpture in the Honcljo. I liave never seen the artists working in mar- ble, although there are quarries of it in the mountains of the interior. The pedestals of idols are made of granite, the candelabra of the sacred places, tombs, statuettes, Buddhist saints, and holy foxes, of a very fine sandstone. Tlie wood-carvers make domestic al- tars of ricli network, elegant caskets, elephants’ heads, and monstrous chimeras for the roofs of temples, wood- work and mosaics representing cranes, geese, bats, mythologic animals, the moon half veiled by a cloud, branches of cedars, pines, bamboos, and palms. The idols, frecpiently of gigantic size, which are made in the workshoj)s of Yedo, are generally surrounded by an aureole gilded and painted in lively colors : the guardians of heaven, for examjde, in vermilion, and others in indigo. Several interesting branches of industry are con- nected with that of the ebony-carvers. The frame- work of movable presses or screens is required to be ornamented with large drawings in India ink, executed by a few strokes of the pencil, or groups of trees and flowers of brilliant colors, or paintings of birds selected for the brilliance of their plumage. All this is done by hand, in the workshops. The embroidresses furnish for the fire-screens and curtains exquisite works, where the silk, under the patient labor of the needle, repro- duces, according to the choice of subjects, the lustrous texture of leaves, the velvet down of birds, the tufted fur of animals, or the shining scales of fishes. Then the braiders of silk floss add to the luxury of the wood u 162 • TRAVELS IN JAPAN. work a decoration of garlands and knots of various colors, surmounted by grou]>s of flowers and birds. “The ohi, a girdle which is worn by all adult Japanese women, married or single, with the exception of the ladies of princely families, is the article of feminine costume which presents the most variety, according to the taste or fancy of individuals. Sometimes it is very simple, sometimes remarkable for the richness of the stu.Tor the splendor of the embroideries. It is gener- ally broad enough to serve at the same time as girdle and corset. It is wound around the body like a band- age, and fastened at the back by interlacing the ends so as to produce a large, flat furbelow, falling on the hips, or floating with a graceful negligence. A widow, who has determined not to marry again, knots the obi in front, and the same arrangement is adopted for female corpses. “ It is not an easy thing to penetrate into the Japanese workshops, especially under the surveillance of a squad of yakounins. In spite of the promises of the latter, I was not able to see either the process of coloring, or the manufacture of rich silk stuffs, or of paper. On the other hand, I have always found both the wholesale and retail shops accessible even to the rear chamber, where one sliould never refuse to penetrate ; for the Japanese merchant takes no trouble to display his stock. He prefers to keep his best goods in reserve, as if to giv^e his purchasers the satisfaction of discov- erinor them. In order to form a tolerable idea of the richness, the variety, and the artistic merit of Japanese industry, we must not otily traverse the commercial streets frequented by the natives, but also imitate the THE UOXDJO. 163 latter in returnincr dav bv dav to the same merchant, until we have explored every corner of his shop. This is tlie more necessary, since there is no general bazaar, each magazine or shop having its specialty. “ Certain foims of industiy are as yet but little devel- oped, among others saddlery, which will be discouraged as long as a religious prejudice exists against tanners and curriers. Tliis circumstance renders Japan tribu- tary to foreign countries, especially since the Tycoon and the princes rival each other in zeal for the reform of the cavalry and artillery. They import leather from England, and saddles and harness from Holland and France. Nevertheless, I noticed in Yedo a sreat va- riety of articles, of leather, tawed skins and shagreen, such as trunks and travelling satchels, portfolios, money bags, tobacco-pouches, and hunting-gloves, all of native manufacture."’ CHAPTER XVn. JAPANESE ART AND INDUSTRY. ^X^^HATEVER may be tlie variety of industrial * ' j)i oduots displayed in tlie shops of the commer- cial city, there is one feature which characterizes all of them, one common stamp which denotes their place amoncT the works of the far East, and I venture to call it, without fear of contradiction, good taste. “ The artisan of Yedo is a veritable artist. If we ex- cept the conventional style to which he still feels him- self compelled to submit, in his representations of the human figure, if we overlook the insufficiency of his knowledge of the rules of perspective, we shall have only praise left for him in all other respects. His works are distinguished from those of Miako by the simplicity of his forms, the severity of the lines, the so- briety of the decorations, and the exquisite feeling for nature which he exhibits in all subjects of ornamenta- tion drawn from the vegetable or animal kingdom. These are his favorite subjects ; flowers and birds have the power of ins])iring him with compositions which are charming in their truth, grace, and harmony. In re- gard to perfection of execution, the works produced in both capitals are equally admii'able. “ Let us pause before a magazine of objects of art and industry, among the curious of both sexes and of JAPA^^ESE ART AND INDUSTRY. 165 all ages, who never cease to gather together under the covered galieiy where the stores are displayed. They contemplate with a naive admiration tlie great aquaria of blue or wliite porcelain, where red fish float in the limpid water over beds of shells. In the centre, three or four selected plants combine in a picturesque group the beauty of their colors and the graceful outlines of their leaves and flowers. Nothing of these combina- tions is ever left to chance : every day the gardener’s hand directs the work of nature, keeps it within limits, and ooverns the growth. “ What is still more remarkable, the Japanese fancy never runs into those aberrations wdiich in China and elsewhere, outrage Nature by cutting trees into geo- metrical figures, or training slirubs into the shapes of animals. The taste of the Japanese in their popular arts, remaining independent of the conventional influ- ences of their two courts, has all the freshness of a nat- urally expanding civilization. Therefore, it is still characterized by a certain puerility : witness the truly childish passion of all classes of society for enormous flowers and dwarf trees. I have seen aquaria, not much larger than ordinary, where they succeeded in uniting the features of a complete landscape, - - a lake, islands, rocks, a cabin . on the shore, and hills with real woods on their summits, of living bamboos and cedars in min- iature. They even sometimes add liliputian figures, coming and going, by means of a spring wliich is ■w’ound up. , “This sort of childishness is found in a multitude of the details of Japanese life. Sometimes a porcelain junk is .set before a dinner party : it is taken to j)ieces 166 TBAVELS IN JAPAN. and proves to be a unique and complete tea-set. Often, part of the repast is served in cups so minute, and porce- lain so fine, liglit, and transparent, that one hardly dares to touch it. There are cups, called egg-shells, so delicate that they must be protected by a fine en- velope of bamboo netting. “ The saloons are adorned with bird and butterfly cages, crowned with vases of flowers, whence depend climbing jilants which cause the birds to appear as if nestling in verdure. Under the paper lanterns sus- pended from the ceilings of the verandas, there are often bells of colored glass, the long, slender clapper of metal supported by a silk thread, or slip of colored or gilded paper. At the least movement of the breeze these bands of paper move, the metallic tongues swing and touch the glass bells, and their vibrations make a vague melody, like the sound of an .lEolian harp. “ I saw at Yedo some attempts at painting on glass, and some works in enamel, which exhibited good in- tentions rather than skill. I might mention, however, amonor the native curiosities which are truly original, those little balls of stone, pierced, cut in facets and covered with enameled arabesques, which strangers buy for necklaces. The art of gilding is still but par- tially developed. The narratives cf the old Dutch em- bassies seem to have greatly exaggerated the richness of decoration of the palaces and furniture of the Mikado and the Tycoon. The luxury of the Japanese has an artistic rather than a sumptuous character. The pride of the old princes of the empire is in the antiquity of their arms or fiirniture. Nothing has more value in their eyes than an assorted service of old porcelain, JAPANESE ART AND INDUSTRY. 167 naturally cracked, or vases of ancient bronze, heavy, black and polished as marble. “ Yedo is the city where metals are worked to the greatest extent. The bronze establishments of the citv are amon