^fes* ■mm irmff^- HALF-HOURS IN JAPAN NOTABLE 6s. BOOKS. The Waters of Edera. By Ouida (Green Cloth Library). The Rhymer. By Allan McAulav (Green Cloth Library). Shameless Wayne. Bv Halliwell Sut- CLiFFE (Green Cloth Library). Through Fire to Fortune. By Mrs. Alexander (Green Cloth Library). Was it Right to Forgive? By Amelia E. Barr ((jreen Cloth Library). Mr. Thomas Atkins. By Rev. E. J. Hardy, M.A. The Preparation of Ryerson Embury. By A. R. Carnl\n. Sand and Cactus. By Woolcott Beard. The Diary of a Dreamer. By Alice Dew- Smith. The Mystery of Muncraig. By R. J Mum T. FISHER UNWIN, P.\TER\OSTER SQUARE, LONDON, E.G. EVERVIJAV DKESS. HALF-HOURS IN JAPAN REV. HERBERT MOORE, M.A, (sometime s.p.g. missionary in the country) (With over 70 Illustrations and Map) LONDON T. FISHER UN WIN PATERNOSTER SQUARE 1900. BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO. LD., PRINTERS, LONDON AND TONBRIDGE. All Rights Reserved. PREFACE. The idea of writing: this book was sus^s^ested to me by the large number of questions with which I have been assailed since my return to England ; which assured me that many people are interested in Japan, and also showed me the subjects upon which they desire information. I have obtained some information from Miss Bacon's excellent little book, "Japanese Girls and Women," and from various publications of the Japan Society. For some of the illus- trations I have to thank Col. Cotton-Jodrell, M.P. ; several, including that of Mr. Ishii and his family, are from the Rev. J. H. Pettee's pamphlet, " Mr Ishii and his Orphanage." For the rest I owe my thanks to the kindly people of the Land of the Rising Sun, which none can visit without being the richer for many beautiful thoughts and happy memories. April, 1900. H. M. CONTENTS, CHAP. I. GEOGRAPHY II. HISTORY . . . . III. BABIES IV. BOYS AND GIRLS . V. SCHOOL .... VI. FEMININE ACCOMPLISHMENTS VII. MARRIAGE VIII. HOUSES . . . . IX. GARDENS AND CASTLES . X. FOOD ..... PAGE I XI FRUITS AND CONFECTIONS XII. FIRES AND EARTHQUAKES XIII. TRAVELLING IN JAPAN XIV. AN IXN XV. FLOWERS . . . . XVI. BOATS AND SHIPS XVII. HOT SPRINGS XVIII. RELIGIONS IX JAPAN XIX. FUNERAL RITES M 19 28 42 • 53 • 58 66 77 94 • 103 112 122 • 137 . 143 ■ 153 . 162 . 172 viii Contents. CHAP. PAGE XX. DRESS . . . . ... 184 XXI. TEMPLES . . . . . . 199 XXII. MONEY, FLAGS, AND STAMPS . . . . 2l6 XXIII. RICE, TEA, TOBACCO, SILK .... 223 XXIV. FESTIVALS . . . . . . . 230 XXV. STORIES, ETC. . . . . 236 XXVI. CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN . . . . 244 XXVII. THE EMPEROR ...... 250 RESCRIPT . . . . . . . 254 NATIONAL AXTHEM . . . . -255 GLOSSARY . . . . . . ..257 HALF HOURS IN JAPAN CHAPTER I. GEOGRAPHY. The real name of the country we call Japan is Nippon, made up of two words, " Nitsu," mean- Mytlwlogv. . ,, mg 1 he oun, and " Hon," meaning " Beginning,'' or " Origin." In old days, when no man had sailed eastwards and found land, the Japanese watched the Sun rise from the bosom of the broad Pacific Ocean, tip with light the snowy peak of Fujiyama, and then pass over their islands to do his work in the great continent of Asia. They thought that the Ocean was the boundary of the Earth, their country to be the first warmed and lighted J. "^ . B l^ 2 Half Hours in Japan. by the Sun's beams ; and so they called it Nippon, " The Land where the Sun begins," or " The Land of the Rising Sun." You may read in the old histories of Japan how the islands came into existence. Long, long ago all things were in a state of chaos. Little by little the pure elements ascended, and formed the Heavens, while the impure descended, and formed the Earth. One day, as the god Izanagi no Mikoto, with his august spouse Izanami, was standing on a bridge, " the floating heavenly bridge," holding in his hand the jewel-spear of Hea\'en, he thrust it down, and groping about found the Ocean. As he drew it out, the drops of salt water and foam which fell from it hardened, and formed a beautiful island ; this was a middling-sized island nearly in the centre of the group, called " Awaji," " foam-land," in memory of the event. Here Izanagi and Izanami took up their abode, and in due time formed the rest of the archipelago. From them were born children and children's children not a few ; among them the Sun Goddess, and the Sea God, whose daughter was the mother of Jimmu Tenno, the first Emperor of Japan, said to have been born about 700 B.C. Geography. 3 "Is it true?" do you say? No, the Japa- nese know now that it is not true, and that the land of Japan came to be what it is in the same way as any other part of the world. But I am sure you are interested in hearing one of the old stories told in " the childhood of the world." If you look at a map of Japan, you will see that it consists of a number of islands Ivino: in the form of a crescent off the east coast of the mainland of Asia, between longitudes 130^ and 145 East of Greenwich. The four larger islands are called Hondo, Kiushiu, Shikoku, and Yezo, and there are several hundreds of smaller ones, including the Loochoo and Bonin groups. After the war with China the large island of Formosa was ceded to Japan. The red lacquer of which we see so much in Japanese fairs and shops in England mostly comes from the Loochoos ; Formosa produces nearly all the world's supply of camphor. Japan time is nine hours and twenty minutes in front of Greenwich, so that when boys and girls are going to bed in England, their brothers and sisters in Oriental Japan are getting up. You can travel to Japan eastwards or west- B 2 4 Half Hours in Japan. wards. If vou (^"o eastwards, }'{)u pass through the Suez Canal, touching at Port Said, Aden, Colombo, Singapore, and Hong Kong : all, you wili notice, British possessions. The western route crosses the Atlantic, and traverses Canada or America, to Vancouver or San Francisco, on the western shores of the Pacific, where once more we take ship and cross that ocean to Japan. Of course this latter route is the quickest, as trains go faster than ships ; it is possible to reach Yokohama from Liverpool in twenty-six days. If you should go round the world in a straight line from London, you would never reach Japan at all, for Japan is far south of Greenwich ; the capital, Tokyo, being on the same latitude as Jerusalem. So you can understand that though the climate of Japan is not unlike that of Encjland at some Climate. ^ ^ ,^ seasons oi the year, the summer is much hotter. Yet the winter in the Northern Island is colder and of a longer duration than an ordinary English winter ; there are often twenty feet of snow in those parts. The five months from May to September are the hot months, and during these that little pest, the mosquito, lives and thrives ; so you Geography. 5 see residents and tra\'ellers in Japan have one annoyance which we do not have to face in England. There is the wet season, too, in June, when it rains ahiiost continuously for six weeks, and the air is laden with hot mois- ture, as the temperature is generally over 80° in the shade, and you feel as if you were living in a fern-house. People have to be very care- ful of their clothes at this time of the year, for if they leave them in their wardrobes without taking them out to be aired, thev will find them covered with spots of white mildew, while boots get green with mould. And so where would you rather live ? In England, with her rainy days and her fogs, and her smoky air, and her sharp, cheering frosts ; or in Japan, with her wonderful clear blue sky, her fixed time for rain, her great summer heat, and her wet season ? CHAPTER II. HISTORY. So far as we know, St. Francis Xavier, the great Roman Catholic missionary, was the first foreigner to land in Japan, in the m2.wL.year 1549. His preaching was not successful, and he returned much disappointed ; but other missionaries, chiefly Jesuit, Dominican, and Franciscan monks, followed, who toiled with such success that, in spite of considerable opposition, there were in thirty years' time as many as 150,000 Christians, chiefly in the Southern Island. During these years full many had shed their blood for Christ, and the infant Church so watered seemed to have a great future before it. Yet a few more years sufficed utterly to stamp out all visible signs that the Gospel had ever been heard in Japan, and seemed to have extinguished all hope that it ever would be heard in the future. How did this come about ? Partly owing History. 7 to the disagreements among the representa- tives of the three orders of missionaries, between whom the most jealous rivahy existed, strengthening the opposition such as every missionary must expect on the part of the people of the country ; the Jesuits were expelled in 1587, not to the regret, apparently, of the Dominicans and Franciscans. But the comparatively moderate spirit of persecution would not have succeeded in entirely extir- pating Christianity had it not been for the following circumstances. At that time the ruler of Japan, as now, was the Emperor, whose centre of government was Kvoto, the "Western Capital" — such History. . ' . r i 11 IS the meanmg oi the word— who claimed descent from Jimmu Tenno, the first Emperor, in unbroken line through 2,500 years. The country was divided into provinces, each with its governor, called Daimio, and its chief town, near which was placed the castle in which the Daimio lived, with his faithful Samurai, or knights wearing two swords, and his soldiers : drawing a revenue paid in rice from those he governed. There was also an official called the Shogun, or Commander-in- Chief, appointed whenever the necessities of 8 Half Hours in Japan. the times might seem to require it. But, as often has happened in history, he who held the power of the sword was hkely to covet also the power of government, and two or more of these great Daimios were frequently found to be rivals for the position of Shogun. This was the state of the case at the end of the sixteenth century. One Daimio now thought he saw his way to success. He declared that he was a Christian, and that if he were Shogun he would espouse the cause of Christianity, not only by stopping opposition and persecution, but by actively working for its spread. He even sent an embassy to Europe, placing him- self and his province under the protection of the Pope, probably in the hope, that Spanish or Portuguese soldiers would be sent to his assistance. The Christians rallied round him, but, alas ! " He who takes the sword shall perish with the sword," and in a series of battles the}^ were defeated, and driven Massacre i r i i a of the farther and farther south. A great Christians. ^^^^^^ ^^ iought in the year 1638 in the Southern Island, close to Nagasaki, in which 37,000 Christians were killed or driven over the cliffs into the sea. The cliffs of the little island on which they made their last History. g stand are pointed out to the traveller leaving Nagasaki harbour ; and, by a curious coin- cidence, they are of a deep blood-red. The successful Daimio, lyeyasu, of the noble family of Tokugawa, had, thirty years before this, after a decisive victory over another of his rivals, assumed the title of Shogun, and, with the title, power such as none other had ever before dared to assume in Japan. The Emperor continued to reside in Kyoto, but the Imperial government was taken out of his hands ; it was the Shogun who ruled the country, establishing himself in Yedo, the city now called Tokyo. Against Christianity he adopted the severest measures : notices were posted upon wooden boards all over the country, offering rewards for the discovery of a foreign missionarv, a native teacher, and an ^'ohlbil^: ordinary Christian respectively. Fur- ther, no Japanese might leave the country, and no foreigner might enter it ; the only foreigners allowed to land being the mem- bers of the Dutch trading factory at Nagasaki, who declared that they were not Christians, but Dutchmen, and who were required each year to trample on the crucifix in the presence of officials. And so for 250 years Japan was like lo Half Hours in Japan. a sealed cabinet : years of the utmost value to ,^^^, the country, for the Tokugawa Sho- country guns were liberal patrons of the arts and of learning, andthe Japanese were able to develop their own gifts on their own lines, without any admixture from abroad. We see the results to-day in the wonderful art products of the country, and in the character of the people. It was this very patronage of learning which prepared the way for the great change which came at last. For the text-books of the schools were the writings of Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher, who died about 480 years b.c. This writer laid great emphasis „ ^ . . on five duties : duties to Emperor, Lonjiicianism. ^ _ ^ ' to Daimio, to Parents, to Teacher, and to Friend. With the first of these duties continually impressed upon them, it seemed to many thoughtful men to be a strange thing, that the Emperor should be residing with but a semblance of power in Kyoto, while the real governor of the country was the usurping Shogun. It must be added that the other Daimios, who were required each year to reside for a certain time in Yedo, to show their fealty to the Shogun, were far from content with such a position of subservience ; and so it will History. ii be seen that people and princes alike were ready for the great change, whenever circum- stances should arise which should make it possible. It came in 1854. Commodore Perry, after an unsuccessful attempt in the previous vear, arrived v/ith a strong American fleet, and persuaded the Shogun to con- clude a treatv with him, bv which foreigners were allowed to reside in certain parts of Japan. At once violent criticism was aroused. There was the constitutional party, the product of the schools, crying, " By what right has the Shogun concluded such a treaty ? " And there was the conservative party, which objected to the intro- duction of foreigners, foreign manufactures, and foreign customs. Civil war broke out, which ended in the Emperor himself declaring his conviction that such a change was good for his country, and placing himself at the head of the party of progress. Thousands of Japanese were sent abroad to study law, science, com- merce, mechanics, medicine, and all that the Western World could teach them. The Emperor left his retirement at Kyoto, and took up his residence at the old palace of the Shoguns at Yedo, the name of the city being changed to 12 Half Hours in Japan. Tokyo (Eastern Capital) in memory of the event. In a proclamation to his subjects he promised a constitutional government, and the present era of Meiji (" enlightened government ") was inaugurated. And the Shogun ? He and all the other Daimios willingly laid down their power, their castles, their revenues, at the feet of the Emperor, and became as private citizens. The representative of the Tokugawas recently had audience of the Emperor, at which the utmost expressions of courtesy were used on both sides, and, on that of the Tokugawa, of loyalty as well. Who can fail to predict a prosperous future for a nation whose leading men have made such sacrifices, whose people have made such an effort, in the name of loyalty and obedience to the highest teaching thev possessed ? CHAPTER III. BABIES. In all civilised countries the entrance of a little child into the world is an occasion of great gladness, and the advent of a baby in Oriental Japan diflers but little from that of the small stranger in Occidental England. Perhaps it is true to say that the birth of a son occasions more gladness than that of a daughter, but a child of either sex finds a welcome, and in this respect Japan is far above and very difterent to her neighbour, China. On the occasion of a birth it is customary to send a messenger with the good news to the houses of relations and friends. The b^rtMa' baby then receives many presents in the form of toys, pieces of "chirimen " {i.e., Japanese crepe) and silk for dresses. Sometimes with these presents boxes ot eggs and dried fish (called " Katsuobushi ") are sent for good luck. These presents are daintily tied up in white paper and tri-coloured string, 14 Half Hours in Japaji. with a peculiarly-folded piece of paper attached (called "Noshi") in which a morsel of dried fish is inserted. As soon as the mother is able to walk, the little baby is taken to the Shinto temple, gorgeously dressed, and with many little charms and offerings tied into its wide sash. A near relative chooses the name, often an uncle or aunt, or even a grandparent : or several names are written on small pieces of paper, which are all given to the officiating priest, who throws them into the air, and the name on the piece which first alights name^ On the floor is the one chosen. There is no such thing as a family name : girls are generally called after flowers or things gentle or beautiful, as "Take" (bamboo), " Yuki " (snow), and boys after some heroic virtue or brave animal. The ceremony depends on the wealth of the parents. Sometimes many Shinto priests are present ; on other occasions I have seen the mother present her child alone, and the cere- mony has consisted of the ringing of a bell, and clapping the hands, the baby being strapped on to the mother's back, and not carried in a nurse's arms. On the thirtieth day the parents send A JAPANESE BABY Babies. 17 presents, in the form of square lacquer boxes filled with red rice, to all who have sent presents or congratulations to their child. The rice of Japanese " mochi " cakes, un- pounded, is used for this festive red rice, which is coloured with the juice of a red bean, and called " sekihan." Together with this " seki- han," salt mixed with " goma " seeds is sent. The boxes must be returned unwashed : it would be a serious breach of etiquette to do otherwise. The boxes are arranged on pretty gold lacquer trays, and covered over with a piece of crepe, called a "fukusa." Babies in Japan have not such a luxurious mode of locomotion as babies in England. You do not see elaborate mail carts with locoinotion. Splendid rubber tyres, although you may see a few antiquated tricycle perambulators. Until babies can walk they are carried on their mother's or nurse's back, even from the tender ae^e of a few weeks. But the fortunate babies born in the royal house- hold or among the ranks of the nobility are never carried in this way ; they always rest in nurses' arms. The formal dress and gravity of the little children is highly amusing. The shape J. c 1 8 Half Hours in Japan. of their dress is the same as that of their parents. Babies are not tumbled about on a nurse's knee, and made to put their little arms throu^^h so many sleeve holes, and have so many Baby's c^^rings tied, as European and Ameri- can babies have to do, but they are dressed in softly padded straight, wide-sleeved garments made after the same pattern as the grown-up " kimono." All the garments are the same in shape, and are fitted one inside the other before they are put on ; then they are laid on the floor and baby is put into them. A sash secures the dress in its place round the body. CHAPTER IV. BOYS AND GIRLS. Japan has been called the Paradise of Children. I have seen it asserted that in that country they never cry, and that in the tovvns every other shop is a toy shop. My own experience is that Japanese children crv just as much or as little as those of other countries ; and that the proportion of toy shops is much the same as in England. Tokyo has its Lowther Arcade — a long paved street leading up to the great temples of Asakusa, the visitors to which naturally want to take back something pretty for the little ones at home. But elsewhere one does not see so very many toy shops, except at the temple festivals, when booths are set up in great numbers for the sgile of cheap playthings of various sorts. You will see that nearly all Japanese boys have very stiff, stand-up-straight kmd of hair. This is because one of the first visits a baby C 2 20 Half Hours in Japan. pays is to the barber's shop ; he sits quite still in his nurse's or mother's arms, while the barber shaves his tiny head quite bare. In the case of a girl, however, he only shaves a piece on the very top of the head, about three inches across, leaving the fringe which you have seen reproduced in Japanese dolls. Hence the boys when they are a little older, seem to have heads like blacking brushes ; the girls like mops. It is not a bad arrangement, for very often the poor little things get some painful skin com- plaint, owing to feeding difficulties ; it is much more easy to keep a bare poll clean. Boys and girls each have their own games. The boys play " onigoto" (" goblins") a good deal. The " goblin" is our old friend Games, the " blind man." Sometimes two boys are blindfolded, one of them having a couple of stones in his hands. He knocks the stones together, and then dodges out of the wav, if he can, of the other, who rushes to the spot where he heard the clash of the stones. Sometimes two blindfolded boys will fence with swords made of rolled up paper. Then there is the game of "touch" and " cross touch," and a kind of " bait the bear." The bear is tied by a rope to a post, and the Boys and Girls. 21 other bovs bully him, trying to keep beyond the reach of the bear, who of course cannot get further than the length of the rope, while 22 J^^^lf Hours in Japan. they can come as near as they Hke to the post. In all schools there is military drilL For in Japan every one may be called upon to serve in the army — they have the system of con- scription — so they are taught to stand at ease and march as soon as possible. Out of school they will have mock drill in the streets, ending in sham fights and military reviews. During the war one could not see a piece of unoccupied ground in Tokyo, without a " ragged squad " exercising upon it. Bigger boys wrestle a good deal. You catch your opponent where you can and as you please, and have to get his hand to the ground. Japanese wrestling is a very complicated affair; there are over a hundred different grips, and I do not know how many difterent ways of falling so as not to hurt yourself. Fencing is another form of exercise ; the head is covered wdth a strong wire helmet, the body with a coat chiefly made of bamboo, and the fencing stick held in both hands. Of late years base ball has come into fashion in the large schools, and some of the students are very good players in- deed. Golf links are impossible in that country of rice fields, and neither cricket nor football Boys and Girls. 23 seem to interest young Japan, but rowing and tennis have been taken up to a certain extent, and the small bodies and wiry frames of the Japanese make them excellent at gymnastics. Turning to the girls — their games are of course much more quiet. They are very seldom to be seen nursing dolls ; the dolls are kept for the March show. Battledore and shuttlecock (both made of wood) is a favourite amusement. Two girls will play together, skil- fullv returnino^ the cock from one to the other. They are very fond of balls, tossing and catching two or three at the same time, or bouncing them against the ground with strokes of the hand. There is a game like knucklebones played with small bags of beans ; and such frivolities as "keeping shop." The girls seem to grow serious very early. They have to nurse their little brothers and sisters, if they have any ; they have to learn to play the " koto " and the "samisen," sewing and ceremonial tea- making ; they have to begin house-keeping usually very much earlier than our girls, for they marry very young. You will often see a mysterious transaction going on among young people, when they are 24 Half Hours in Japan. playing a game in which EngHsh boys would cry " Bags first," " second ! " and so on. Two boys, say, have to decide which shall be first goblin. " One, two, three ! " they cry, and each darts out a hand, in one of three posi- tions. The fist may be clenched, to resemble a stone; or the hand may be open, to stand for paper ; or the first and second fingers pressed together may be separated from the third and fourth like scissors. Scissors will cut paper, not stone ; paper will wrap up stone. If A offers scissors, B stone, B wins ; but if B has paper, A wins, and so on. This chapter would not be complete without an account of the March and May festivals — the girls' and boys' months respectivelv. Dulls. In March all the dolls are brought out, some of them hundreds of years old, handed down from mother to daughter through many generations. There will be dolls to represent the Emperor and Empress, dolls in Court dress, dolls in ordinary dress of the last century and of this year (though perhaps owing to this very custom fashions in Japan scarcely change at all), all arranged in groups one above the other upon a series of shelves, in the place of honour by the main pillar of the room, to be Boys and Girls. 25 found in every Japanese house. For a month the dollies are shown with pride to friends and relations, and then back they all go into the big boxes until next year. This dolls' festival is called the " Hina matsuri." In May, if you stand on a hill looking down on a town, you will see a number of curious long paper objects streaming in the wind, one above the other, to the number of four or live, from poles set up at the gables of the houses. These are paper carp, with wide mouths kept open by a ring of metal, from which a string passes to fasten them to the pole. Into the mouth of the carp the wind rushes. The carp. ^ ^ ■ ^^^ ^ ^ passes through his swelling body, and out at his tail, swaying him about in graceful folds as it rises and falls, but holding him usually almost in a horizontal position. Thus he always seems to be struggling against the wind to reach the pole. Now, wherever you see these carp waving over a house, you know that the master of the house has a son, and every Japanese boy knows what they mean. For there is a picture by a celebrated artist, reproductions of which you constantly see, of a carp making his way up stream against a furious torrent. 26 Half Hours in Japan. The water rushes down, threatening to carry the fish with it ; but the carp is a plucky fish, and pounds away with his tail, undaunted, until at last he reaches the smooth water above the rapids. Like him, the boy will one day have to fight his way through the furious waters of life ; difficulties of all sorts will threaten to overwhelm him, but, like the carp struggling against the stream, he is to learn never to give in, but to fight his way manfully until he reaches the goal he has set before him. One thing more. You read (p. lo) how the Third Confucian virtue, firmly impressed upon the very hearts of the people during obedience ^hosc 250 ycars of isolation, was that of obedience to parents. I wish that all Christian children kept the Fifth Command- ment as well as Japanese children obey this command of Confucius ! There is no such thing as a w^orkhouse in Japan. For when a man is growing old, he retires from his busi- ness, which he hands over to his son. Did he not bring him into the world ? Did he not tend him during his infancy, feed him, clothe him, educate him ? Now it is the son's turn to take care of the father ; and the son is Boys and Girls. 27 perfectly willing to do so. In the same way the mother hands over her housekeeping duties to her daughter or daughter-in-law. And so in nearly every Japanese house you will find an old man or an old woman peace- fully living on, with no duties and no cares, save that of guarding the house in the absence of its master and mistress — the old gentleman smoking his pipe by the side of the "hibachi," or reading his newspaper on the sunny verandah ; the old lady keeping the charcoal fire bright and playing with the children, till the}' pass away into the great unknown. No foreicjn enemv has ever landed on the shores of Japan ; and there are those who think that in this wav Almi2:htv God has ful- filled His promise to those who honour their father and mother, and made their days long in the land He has ijiven them. CHAPTER V. SCHOOL. "The whining schoolboy, with his satchel, Creeping like snail unwillingly to school." Did English schoolboys whine in Shake- speare's day ? And did they object to going to school ? I do not believe they did. They do not do so now, and Japanese boys and girls trot off to school by nine o'clock every morn- ing as cheerfully as boys and girls in England. Greatly indeed are the schools changed from what they were in old times. Then the teacher would give the best vears of /// his life to the instruction of one pupil, old days. Qj, perhaps half-a-dozen at most ; and they paid him very much more deference than they did money. Respect for teachers was one of the five great virtues taught by Confucius, and recognized by all classes. Once the Daimio of Osaka, well nigh the greatest man in Japan at the time, thought to do honour to a celebrated teacher whose School, 2g home was not far away. He reached the gatewa}' of the humble dwelling where the learned man lived, and demanded admission. To his astonishment he was denied admit- tance. " Tell his Excellency," the teacher had instructed his servant to say, "that I am with my pupil in the middle of a lesson, and cannot see him until it is finished." And the Daimio, with his knights and his men-at-arms, humbly waited without until the lesson was done, and the teacher could come out to receive him. It was character, not learning — wdiat his boys were, not what they knew — which such men made their aim. But with the opening of the country in the sixties, a new demand for learning arose. ^cJwois ^^^^il^ the West had been advancing in the in practical knowledge of all sorts, present day. , -r^ , i i , i the bast had been asleep ; and now that Japan was about to take her place among the nations of the world, her people must be mentally equipped if she wished to contend with them on equal terms. Accordingly, one of the first signs of " Meiji," the " era of enlightenment," was the establishment of Uni- versities, Higher Grade Schools, and Public or Common Schools, in town and countrv alike. 30 Half Hours in Jap an. You do not see noble piles of buildings like our Eton or Charterhouse, or even our village or board schools ; with few exceptions all are built of wood and painted white, picked out with slate colour. Let us pay a visit to a common school, where the children of the THE OKAYAMA ORPHANAGE SCHOOL. working classes are taught for a fee of about fifteenpence a month or less. The play- ground is generallv extensive, for it is ^Xr ^^^ed by the top classes, when school is over, for drill ; not only march- ing, wheeling, and so on, but exercises with dumb bells and manoeuvres with wooden rifles are practised every day. In the porch is a box resembling a long bookcase, on the shelves of f- M i^ 9F 1 1 una -^ ■^ -M ^ -^ ^^ (we call it "Chinese" or "Indian" ink), a little pot vessel containing water, and a flat rubbing-stone, on which he pours a little of the water, and then rubs his ink. For a pen he uses a brush with a fine point ; his paper is not smooth, but rough D 2 A HAPPY NEW YEAR. 36 Half Hours in Japan. and porous. The teacher writes a character on the blackboard, and the pupils copy it, and write it over and over again, paying exact attention to the kind of stroke used in each of its parts (there are about twenty ways of making a stroke), until it is well fixed in the memory. So to learn to read and write is a matter of years, though it is wonderful how retentive the memory of a Japanese child is. Some pupils of mine learnt the Greek alpha- bet at a single lesson. But arithmetic is very plain sailing indeed. None of your pounds, shill- ings, and pence, your Troy weight and Avoir- dupois ! The Japanese most wisely adopted the metric system, and everything is done by tens — ten " rin " in a " sen " (cent), a yen" (silver SCHOOL-CHILDREN. sen m a arithmetic hundred dollar, worth just half of the American dollar), and so on. What is that great frame, from top to bottom of which run wires, covered with large wooden buttons, hanging up three ? A CALCULATIuX u.X THE buROBAN. School, 39 That is a '^ soroban," and every child in the class has one — a thinglike the abacus you some- times see in an English school. There are no calculations to be done in the head : it is all done with the fingers. " Add together 365 and 4007 ; " the little hands raise the top of the soroban, so that all the beads run to the bottom, and then the little fingers rattle up to the top again enough to represent 365, then three of the end row come down, and one goes up on the fourth, four go up on the fifth, and the thing is done. When you go into the shops presently, you will see sorobans in every one : and when you have bought your thirty-two shaku of crepe at 47 sen a shaku, the man will shake up and manipulate his beads, and tell you the amount long before you have calculated the cost in your own head. This class of big boys and three biggish girls is having an English lesson. Here ^^^ is something you can understand. English But the pronunciation is odd : very lessor.. 1 1 / , A • • oaa. 'A worm was praymg m the garden, and the rittle duck raughed." There is no "1" in Japanese, and curiously no " r " in Chinese. So a Japanese talks of 40 Half Hours in Japan. "praying" when he means "playing," a Chinaman the other way about. And when they translate the sentence they have read, the friend who is with you. and knows Japanese, will tell you the translation is so very literal that it often means nothing. But they do not mind, and some day they will be good English scholars. Nearly all Japanese children are taught English letters ; few do not know at least the numerals. So much for the "three R's." Then there are accomplishments, chiefly for the girls : playing the "koto" or " samisen," flower arranging, tea making. These are taught by a special teacher, and so is sewing, which is generally the afternoon lesson in a girl's school. When the students pass out of the common school the girls mostly go home and help in the house until they are married, though there are now higher schools for such young ladies as wish for further education. The boys go to one of the higher grade schools, and eventually to one of the three universities, or to a " special school " for commerce, law, medicine or science, until they develop into the polished young gentlemen, speaking and reading School. 41 English without difficulty, and with a wide acquaintance with very many branches of learn- ing, of whom Japan has good reason to be proud. »]. PENS, INK, AND PAPER. CHAPTER VI. FEMININE ACCOMPLISHMENTS. When a girl leaves school, or just before, she receives lessons in etiquette and flower arranging. Japanese etiquette is of a very complicated kind, and includes such things as the correct way of saluting guests, rising from or Etiquette. .'. ^i n • j sittmg on the floor, openmg and shutting of the sliding doors, and such like things. Every movement of a woman in Japan is marked by the characteristic grace of the country, and the long, low bow which accompanies " Sayonara " (" Good-bye ") is admired and spoken of all over the world. The Japanese maiden owes her graceful movements to her etiquette lessons. Our own schoolgirl is quite an awkward tom-boy by the side of her Japanese sister, but then we are always so busy in England, and one finds at the end of the nineteenth century Feminine Acconiplislinients. 45 that there is more and more need for hurrv and bustle if one is to win in the race for the good things of this world. It is not so in Japan, though there, too, people are beginning to find that ten hours a week is too much time to be given to the acquirement of graceful movements. Flower arranging is one of the fine arts : the aim is to make the flowers in the vase look as if thev were growing, so afransTng. ^^^1 the branch is bent and clipped, and the buds and blossoms are so arranged as to simulate the shrub or tree from which it has been cut. Branches of fir and pine, bamboo and flowering plum, are specially favourite objects. Stones, holders cut from bamboo stems, and many other con- trivances are generally necessarv to hold the branches and stalks in position, but the vase, when finished, is always simple yet elegant, and far more beautiful than the old-fashioned crowded bouquet of all colours and all kinds of flowers, which was considered correct in our grandmother's days. The vases used are either of bronze or china, and they are placed on a small stand in the " takuma " of the dwelling room. 46 Half Hours in Japan. Another accomplishment which girls learn before their education is considered "finished " is that of the ceremonial tea making^. In a lars^e house there is grenerallv a room set apart for this observance alone, while in some cases a separate small house is uamaking. ^uilt in the .crrounds, consisting of the one room, something like an English summer-house. It was my privilege to see the ceremony more than once, and in the case of a nobleman's daughter it was exceedingly well performed. Ceremonial tea-making ("0 Cha no yu") is different from the ordinary serving of tea for refreshment, which is made from the leaf dried in the sun. For O Cha no yu the tea is ground into a fine powder, and the cakes are of a special kind, eaten not with the tea, but after the ceremony. This consists in the preparation of single cups of tea, and nearly two hours is required to bring about the great result, so some idea can be formed of the innumerable details involved. First, as to the guests. The number of their bows on entering, or on sitting down, or in passing the cup, and acknowledging any little act of the hostess, are all prescribed by Feminine Accomplishments/ 47 rule. The hostess, on her part, follows an equally strict etiquette, and in the number of steps she takes in approaching the little fire upon which water for the precious liquid is heated ; in the number of pieces of charcoal she places on it, and in their arrangement ; m the number of motions needed to suitably brush and dust the kettle and tongs, lay down the dipper, &c., she never fails in the smallest particular, nor in the absolute absence of hurry in performing the minutest detail, so necessary to a perfect observance of the tea ceremony. Four distinct stages are observed : a. The arrival of the guests, and prepara- tion of the brazier ; b. the making of the tea ; c. the partaking of it by the guests ; d. and the admiration by the guests of each implement w^hich " contributes to so delightful a feast," to quote a Japanese expression. The room is empty except for the charcoal brazier, which, in a room specially appointed for the purpose, is sunk into the floor, and a tiny table, a few inches high, to hold. the cups. 48 Half Hours in Japan. The kettle is boiled with much solemnity, but at the crucial moment its contents are tempered with several spoonfuls of cold water ! No teapot is used, but the fine, green, powdered tea is placed in a bowl, hot water is poured upon it from the kettle with a dipper, and the whole is stirred up with a little bamboo whisk until it foams. There is a prescribed mode for receiving the bowl of tea, and each bowl must be emptied with three sips. Tea is made for each guest in turn, in the same bowl. A special set of utensils is used, all of ancient and simple design ; so, too, the charcoal used on the brazier is of a special kind. When all have partaken, the guests politely inspect the utensils, which will very possibly be hundreds of years old, and express admira- tion of their quaintness and antiquity. This ceremony was devised by Hideyoshi, a famous general in Japan, during a war over which men's minds were much agitated. He ordered its strict observance before every meeting of his officers, "to calm the spirits and prevent undue haste in an\- important decision." Girls of the upper and middle classes learn 1 • .._ i^»^"°l ^^^ ::m J. Feminine Acconihlisluncnts. 51 to play the " koto," while those of the lower classes mostly learn the " samisen." instruments, ^he " koto " IS a long horizontal instrument with a sounding board, about five feet long, upon which are stretched strins^s supported bv ivorv brido:es. It IS played by means 01 i\'ory nnger tips. The player sits before the instrument on the floor in the ordinary posture, and when she touches the strings she often sings a soft accompaniment. The " samisen " is a kind of banjo, and is often played during theatrical performances and recitations. It gives forth dull " Siuniscn.'' and monotonous tones. 1 he teach- ing of these two musical instruments is largely in the hands of blind men and women. The Japanese scale has thirteen notes, and some people think that Japan borrowed the Western method of tuning ; but a " koto " was used bv a native musician called Yatsuhashi one hundred and twenty years before Sebastian Bach wrote his celebrated fugues. We have printed the Japanese National Anthem at the end of this hook. If you play it over you will see how diflerent Japanese music, even when adapted to European instruments, E 2 52 Half Hours in Japan. is from our own. They, on their part, do not easily understand our methods. A friend of mine once heard a hvmn i^iven out in a church. There was no harmonium, and the Japanese clergyman did not know the tune, nor did the people know which tune he intended — but they all sang, and sang lustily, and the effect was what you may imagine. -^^ m 3 • .f- "' WORK-BOX. CHAPTER VII. MARRIAGE. Every girl in Japan is expected to marry, so when she attains to the age of sixteen or thereabouts a suitable husband is sought for her by her parents or a friend of the family. The friend is often a professional match- maker, who makes it his business to introduce young people to one another. This third person is called the "go-between," or "Nakadachi." If all is agreeable the day is fixed. The weddmg ceremony, such as it is, takes place in the evening, and the bride leaves her parents' house in the afternoon, to repair to the bridegroom's for the ceremony. Some- times the bridegroom comes to the house of the bride, in the case of his adoption as a son, or if the bride is the only child of her parents. She is preceded by more or less furniture, and boxes of clothes, carried on poles by coolies wearing a special uniform. She 54 Half Hours in Japan. generally takes a writing-table and materials, which consist of rolls of porous paper iu^Z%^ for letters, packets of long thin envelopes, and a rubbing-stone and Indian ink enclosed in a square lacquer box. In her luir^ras^e is also a chest of drawers, called a "tansu," and lacquer tables for meals, with complete sets of dishes and cups, and chopsticks, and a large stock of dresses and sashes. As the fashion does not change in Japan, a bride can take to her husband's house enough clothes to serve a lifetime. Everv woman, except perhaps in Court circles, knows how to sew, and makes not only her own clothes, but those of her children and husband as well. Gn'ls are taught how to sew when quite young, and most of the time out of school is spent in making or re-making a "kimono," which is the name given to the long, loose, outer robe worn in the country. A w^orkbox is always seen when sewing is in progress, and it has small drawers in it for thread and scissors, and a long foot measure fitted in at the back. There is a regulation length for the stitches, which are carefully measured. But to return to the wedding ceremony. Marriage. 55 The cevemonv This itself is strictly private, no one being present except the bride and her parents, the bridegroom and his parents, the go-between — " Xaka- dachi ' ' — and a servant, whose business it is to pass the " cup." "Sakazuke" then takes place, which is the drinking of " sake" (the native spirit) from a twin-spouted cup. There are three cups, one arranged above the other, and the bride and bridegroom drink each alternately. Then this is repeated between bride and bridegroom, and parents, and go- between respectively, nine times. Fortunately for the happy pair the cup is very small ! The go-be- tween then proceeds to sing a song, specially composed for the occasion. (The Japanese A WEDDING CAKE. 56 Half Hours in Japan. are very original, and easily compose songs and orations.) When this is over the many invited guests, who in the meanwhile have been quietly sitting in an adjoining room, are invited to enter, and great merriment prevails till late in the night. Wedding cakes are eaten at this gathering, made of rice-flour and sugar, stamped out in the shape of a stork and tortoise, emblematic of long life and felicity. Accompanying these cakes are sugar flowers, beautifully made and deli- cately coloured to imitate nearly every flower of which Japan is proud. You often see most perfect representations of the peony, narcissus, maple leaf, azalea, chrysanthemum, camelia, and even fir cones. These cakes are done up in thin wooden boxes and sent round to all relatives and friends, in much the same way as the custom prevails in England. There is no " going away " for bride and bridegroom like the English honeymoon tour, but the bride at once receives callers the home ^^^ settles down in her new home. Here her time is occupied with work in the house, and attentions to her husband's comfort. Various duties fall to her lot : she entertains friends, receives and returns Marriage. 57 presents (which is a much-observed custom in Japan), superintends her servants in the pohsh- ing of the verandah boards, and gives directions for the provisioning of the house. This is a most important duty for the housewife in Japan, for there are rigid rules of hospitahty, and friends often call unexpectedly, and if they have travelled far stay a whole day, if not longer, and the lady of the house must always have things in readiness. CHAPTER VIII. HOUSES. Almost every house in Japan is built of wood ; brick and stone would not stand the continuous earthquake shocks. They are very easily erected, and cost \^ e r }' little ; the first partto be con- structed is the framew^ork of the roof. A recently ar- rived mission- ary was once preaching the sermon which was part of his examination in the language. " Brethren," he said, "in a flower garden you do not look for fruit before the seed is sown ; in building a house you do not begin with the roof. Similarly," &c., &c. But the congre- A STREET, Houses. 59 gation stared : for the roof is just the part with which the Japanese builder does begin. When it is ready the framework is hfted bodily, and supported on the beams of the future house. Of course there are houses and houses, the cottages of the poor and the mansions of the rich ; but the main features are the same. Every house, larofe and small, has the tatamied A HOUSE DOOR. floor, raised about two feet above the ground, on which you stand as you enter; the shoji, or sliding paper walls ; the tokuma, or main beam in the corner of the best room. "Tatami" are mats of rice straw, about two- and-a-half inchesthick, the upper surface closely woven, the packing: held tio:ht bv threads passmg through and through it. They are always made six feet long and 6o Half Hours in Japan. three feet wide ; the square of six feet formed bv two " tatami " placed side by side is called a " tsubo," and is the standard used in measuring land. " A room of eight mats," " of five and a half mats," &c., gives a Japanese a clear idea of its dimensions. Before entering a house, if you wear boots, you sit down, on the edge of the raised tatami — covered floor — and take them cttmncc. ^^5 if you Wear " geta " you slip your feet out of them, for the floor is to a Japanese both chair and table and bed ; it would be as unreasonable to walk on it with dirty shoes as to trample on a white tablecloth or bed-spread. But you must not do this until you have cried " Moshi, moshi " {" I say "), or " Go men nasai " ('* I beg your pardon ") when the master of the house, his wife, or servant, pushes back the " shoji," receives and returns your salutation of " Kon- nichi wa " (" iVs for to-day "), and begs you C' O hairi ") to come in. You step in, in your stockings or " tabi," and follow. A flat cushion stufl*ed with wool, about two- and-a-half feet square, is laid on the ground at a convenient distance from the " hibachi," and on this you kneel, sit on your heels, and Houses. 6 1 Hihachi placing your hands together on the mat in front of you, bend down until your forehead touches them, then resuming your previous sitting posture. The " hihachi " is a box filled with sand or ashes, in the middle of which some char- coal is kept burning. It admits, of course, of all sorts of elaboration, both in material and construction, and the charcoal used varies much in value and excellence, the best being made from cherry wood. Very • rarely does the hihachi give off any fumes : and even these are not poisonous. I have often slept in a room containing one or more, with no ill effects. A poor French cabman tried one in his cab, to keep his fare warm ; but he had not Japanese charcoal, and the result of his very first experiment was a funeral. To sit on one's heels for long: too:ether is trying to a foreigner, but it is the ordinarv Sitting posture for a Japanese, unless he is posture, '^vearing trousers ; for his foot and leg, as he sits, form a straight line from THE HIBACHI. 62 Half Hours in Japan. the toe to the knee, and there is no strain on the muscles ol the instep. It is an exceedingly convenient posture for a large gathering of people : an audience of ti\'e hun- dred persons would occupy not half the space of the chairs necessary for the same in Europe. But it can scarcely he doubted that it is to this that the short stature ot the Japanese is due ; it is in the legs, not in the body, that they seem to be ill-developed. While the master or mistress is making you a cup of tea, you have time to look around you. On the side of the room which faces the open air, the wall consists chiefly of " shoji " ; on that opening into the next room, of "fusuma." But these slide in grooves to allow of entrance and exit. A " shoji " consists of a framework of wood, about Ave feet six bv three, " Shoji.'' 1-11 1 • • - 1 ' latticed by thm strips of the same kind of wood running parallel with the sides, the spaces between the lattices being about five inches by four. Upon this, very thin white paper is smoothly pasted, which freely admits the light, and, it must be admitted, to a great extent, the cold air : while the best carpentry in the world cannot make the frames and grooves to fit exactly, so as to be draught- Houses. 63 proof. But outside the " shoji," on the other side of the verandah, if there is one, a series of wooden shutters shde in similar grooves for use at night or windy weather. " Fusuma " are verv much hke " shoji," except that nistead oi the lattice work and thin paper there is one sheet of thick paper on which pictures are painted, or great savings and sentiments of wise men are daintily written in black. And now look at the corner of the room. About six feet from one end of the house wall (invariably covered with white or -to^onouiar ^^^^^^ piaster) there is a wooden pillar, standing some eighteen inches into the room ; between this and the other wall there is a step of wood, about six inches high. The kind of wood varies with the wealth of the owner, the most beautifully grained woods procurable being used, often at very heavy cost, for this purpose. In the middle of this step there will be a vase, again as beautiful as means will allow, containing liowers, a branch of blossom, or leaves ; and on the wall above this, a hanging picture ("kakemono"), fre- quently, though not invariably, of some religious subject. This pillar conveys our 64 Half Hours in Jap an " Englishman's house is his castle " idea : at the family conclave the master of the house sits beneath it, at a social function it is the post of honour. To give a description of the rest of the furniture does not take long, for there ^ , is none unless it be a box contain- ihc inodel , of mg a few books, a picture or two — neatness. ^^^^,^, ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^,^^^ ^^^^^^ illustrated paper, in foreign frames, and terribly out of keeping with the rest of the room — hung above the "fusuma," and possibly a quaint stone or chased vase of bronze. The Japanese do not make their rooms like museums, to harbour dust, and form a continual occasion of saying, " Don't touch " to the children, and " The cat broke it " to the mistress : they bring out their pretty things when they are wanted, but put them awav in the go-down when they are not. We shall see a go-down (" kura ") if we accept the invitation to come and see the garden. We need not look at the other rooms, for they are much the same as that in which we had our tea and talked to our hosts, though not so fresh and new-looking. You will see a little furniture in them : a chest of drawers, of light wood, strengthened at the corners with black iron angle pieces, and in two divisions. Houses. 65 so that in case of fire you can pick up the two parts one after the other and carr}' them out ; a huge chest, which contained the trousseau of the mistress when she first came as a bride ; the musical instruments played by the ladies of the household, and the low table at which the master of the house sits to read or do accounts. You will read about the kitchen in another chapter. ! 1 J. CHAPTER IX. GARDENS AND CASTLES. A Japanese gardener aims at producing form rather than colour, though he will, if possible, so arrange his shrubs and trees that one at least shall be in flower, or in brilliant leaf, all the year round. If you will look at the chapter on Flowers you will see that this is quite possible. In describing a Japanese housC; I promised to show you a " Kura," or store-house, when you went to see the garden. It is at the end or the back of the house, with very thick walls and a door of mud, so that if the house should catch fire, the kura, containing all the valuables, escapes uninjured. After a fire, the kuras may be seen proudly standing up among the charred ruins of the houses, none the worse except for being a little browner, and if a rearrangement of streets is considered advisable, they are raised on beams, and moved upon rollers to their new site. F 2 Gardens and Castles. 69 To turn now to the o^arden itself. A lars^e garden will be sure to contain an artificial pool, with a quaint stone bridge across it, and stepping-stones leading up to the bridge. The surface of the water will be almost hidden by lotus or water-lily leaves, and a carp or gold-fish will now and then raise his head above it. A lawn of smooth turf has no beauty to a Japanese eye; but beside the pond there will be a pine tree reaching its long branches so far over the water that but for a support or two they would certainly break oft', and on the other side, if there be not naturally a slope, the ground will be made to rise irregularly, the better to allow the various trees to reveal their graceful shapes. Sometimes there will be a representation of Fuji, or of some well-known group of moun- tains and valleys. In any case, the whole will present to a Japanese some symbolic or allusive meaning, which you or I cannot appre- ciate ; though even foreigners are conscious of a sense of restfulness as they sit enjoving the beauties of the garden. There are no long lines of scarlet geraniums, red daisies, blue lobelia, and so on — no flower-beds with the fresh soil exposed to view ; green is the pre- vailing colour, save for some majestic camellia 70 Half Hours in Japan. or ma^^nolia standin^^