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      <author><name reg="Murray, David">David Murray</name></author>
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    <div rend="page-break-before: always">
      <p rend="font-size: xx-large; text-align: center">Japan</p>
      <p rend="font-size: x-large; text-align: center">By</p>
      <p rend="font-size: xx-large; text-align: center">David Murray, Ph.D., LL.D.</p>
      <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Late Advisor to the Japanese Minister of Education</p>
      <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Third Edition</p>
      <p rend="text-align: center">London</p>
      <p rend="text-align: center">T. Fisher Unwin</p>
      <p rend="text-align: center">Paternoster Square</p>
      <p rend="text-align: center">New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons</p>
      <p rend="text-align: center">1896</p>
      <p rend="text-align: center">Copyright by T. Fisher Unwin, 1894</p>
      <p rend="text-align: center">(For Great Britain)</p>
      <p rend="text-align: center">Copyright by G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1894</p>
      <p rend="text-align: center">(For the United States of America</p>
    </div>
    <div rend="page-break-before: always">
      <head>Contents</head>
      <divGen type="toc" />
    </div>

  </front>
<body>

<pb n='iii'/><anchor id='Pgiii'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf'/>
<head>Preface.</head>

<p>
It is the object of this book to trace the story of
Japan from its beginnings to the establishment of
constitutional government. Concerned as this story
is with the period of vague and legendary antiquity
as well as with the disorders of mediæval time and
with centuries of seclusion, it is plain that it is not
an easy task to present a trustworthy and connected
account of the momentous changes through which
the empire has been called to pass. It would be
impossible to state in detail the sources from which
I have derived the material for this work. I place
first and as most important a residence of several
years in Japan, during which I became familiar with
the character of the Japanese people and with the
traditions and events of their history. Most of the
works treating of Japan during and prior to the
period of her seclusion, as well as the more recent
works, I have had occasion to consult. They will be
found referred to in the following pages. Beyond
all others, however, I desire to acknowledge my obligations
<pb n='iv'/><anchor id='Pgiv'/>
to the <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of
Japan</hi>. A list of the contributors to these transactions
would include such names as Satow, Aston,
Chamberlain, McClatchie, Gubbins, Geerts, Milne,
Whitney, Wigmore and others, whose investigations
have made possible a reasonably complete knowledge
of Japan. The <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the German Asiatic
Society</hi> are scarcely less noteworthy than those of
her sister society. To these invaluable sources of
information are to be added Chamberlain's <hi rend='italic'>Things
Japanese</hi>, Rein's <hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>
and the <hi rend='italic'>Industries of Japan</hi>,
Griffis' <hi rend='italic'>Mikado's Empire</hi>,
Mounsey's <hi rend='italic'>Satsuma Rebellion</hi>,
Dening's <hi rend='italic'>Life of Hideyoshi</hi>, the published papers
of Professor E. S. Morse, and the two handbooks
prepared successively by Mr. Satow and Mr. Chamberlain.
</p>

<p>
To friends who have taken an interest in this publication
I owe many thanks for valuable and timely
help: to Dr. J. C. Hepburn, who for so many years
was a resident in Yokohama; to Mr. Benjamin Smith
Lyman of Philadelphia who still retains his interest
in and knowledge of things Japanese; to Mr. Tateno,
the Japanese Minister at Washington, and to the
departments of the Japanese government which
have furnished me material assistance.
</p>

<p>
In the spelling of Japanese words I have followed,
with a few exceptions, the system of the Roman
Alphabet Association (Rōmaji Kai) as given in its
published statement. I have also had constantly at
hand Hepburn's <hi rend='italic'>Dictionary</hi>,
the <hi rend='italic'>Dictionary of Towns
and Roads</hi>, by Dr. W. N. Whitney, and <hi rend='italic'>Murray's
Handbook of Japan</hi>, by B. H. Chamberlain. In
<pb n='v'/><anchor id='Pgv'/>
accordance with these authorities, in the pronunciation
of Japanese words the consonants are to be
taken at their usual English values and the vowels
at their values in Italian or German.
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='smallcaps'>david murray.</hi>
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/frontispiece.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Bell At Kyoto</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

</div>

<pb n='001'/><anchor id='Pg001'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf'/>
<head>Chapter I. The Japanese Archipelago.</head>

<p>
The first knowledge of the Japanese empire was
brought to Europe by Marco Polo after his return
from his travels in China in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1295. He had
been told in China of <q>Chipangu,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The
Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian</hi>; translated by Colonel
Henry Yule, C.B. Second edition, London, 1875, vol. ii., p. 235.</note> an island towards
the east in the high seas, 1500 miles from the
continent; and a very great island it is. The people
are white, civilized, and well favored. They
are idolaters, and are dependent on nobody. And
I can tell you the quantity of gold they have is
endless; for they find it in their own islands.</q> The
name Chipangu is the transliteration of the Chinese
name which modern scholars write Chi-pen-kue, by
which Japan was then known in China. From it
the Japanese derived the name Nippon, and then
prefixed the term Dai (great), making it Dai Nippon,
the name which is now used by them to designate
<pb n='002'/><anchor id='Pg002'/>
their empire. Europeans transformed the Chinese
name into Japan, or Japon, by which the country is
known among them at present.
</p>

<p>
Marco Polo's mention of this island produced a
great impression on the discoverers of the fifteenth
century. In Toscanelli's map, used by Columbus
as the basis of his voyages, <q>Cipango</q> occupies a
prominent place to the east of Asia, with no American
continent between it and Europe. It was the
aim of Columbus, and of many subsequent explorers,
to find a route to this reputedly rich island and to
the eastern shores of Asia.
</p>

<p>
The islands composing the empire of Japan are
situated in the northwestern part of the Pacific
ocean. They are part of the long line of volcanic
islands stretching from the peninsula of Kamtschatka
on the north to Formosa on the south. The direction
in which they lie is northeast and southwest,
and in a general way they are parallel to the
continent.
</p>

<p>
The latitude of the most northern point of Yezo
is 45° 35', and the latitude of the most southern
point of Kyūshū is 31°. The longitude of the most
eastern point of Yezo is 146° 17', and the longitude
of the most western point of Kyūshū is 130° 31'.
The four principal islands therefore extend through
14° 35' of latitude and 15° 46' of longitude.
</p>

<p>
The Kurile islands<note place='foot'>These islands belonged to Russia until 1875,
when by a treaty they were ceded to Japan in exchange for the rights of possession
which she held in the island of Saghalien.</note> extending from Yezo northeast
to the straits separating Kamtschatka from the
island of Shumushu belong also to Japan. This last
<pb n='003'/><anchor id='Pg003'/>
island has a latitude of 51° 5' and a longitude of
157° 10'. In like manner the Ryūkyū islands, lying
in a southwest direction from Kyūshū belong to Japan.
The most distant island has a latitude of 24°
and a longitude of 123° 45'. The whole Japanese
possessions therefore extend through a latitude of
27° 5' and a longitude of 33° 25'.
</p>

<p>
The empire consists of four large islands and not
less than three thousand small ones. Some of these
small islands are large enough to constitute distinct
provinces, but the greater part are too small to have
a separate political existence, and are attached for
administrative purposes to the parts of the large
islands opposite to which they lie. The principal
island is situated between Yezo on the north and
Kyūshū on the south.
</p>

<p>
From Omasaki, the northern extremity at the
Tsugaru straits, to Tōkyō, the capital, the island
runs nearly north and south a distance of about 590
miles, and from Tōkyō to the Shimonoseki straits
the greatest extension of the island is nearly east and
west, a distance of about 540 miles. That is, measuring
in the direction of the greatest extension, the
island is about 1130 miles long. The width of the
island is nowhere greater than two hundred miles
and for much of its length not more than one
hundred miles.
</p>

<p>
Among the Japanese this island has no separate
name.<note place='foot'>E. M. Satow, <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of
the Asiatic Society</hi>, vol. i., p. 30.</note> It is often
called by them Hondo<note place='foot'>This word is not a <emph>proper name</emph>
but a descriptive designation,
and must be understood in this way when used by Dr. Griffis in his
<hi rend='italic'>Mikado's Empire</hi> and by Dr. Rein in his two works on Japan. In
the successive issues of the <hi rend='italic'>Résumé Statistique</hi>, published by the
Statistical Bureau, the term Nippon is used to designate the principal
island. This name has the advantage of having been used extensively
in foreign books, but its restricted use is contrary to the custom
of Japan. After much consideration we have determined to
designate the principal island by the term <q>Main island,</q> which is
the translation of the word <hi rend='italic'>Hondo</hi>.</note> which
<pb n='004'/><anchor id='Pg004'/>
may be translated Main island. By this translated
name the principal island will be designated in these
pages. The term Nippon or more frequently Dai
Nippon (Great Nippon) is used by them to designate
the entire empire, and it is not to be understood as
restricted to the principal island.
</p>

<p>
The second largest island is Yezo, lying northeast
from the Main island and separated from it by the
Tsugaru straits. Its longest line is from Cape
Shiretoko at its northeast extremity to Cape Shira-kami
on Tsugaru straits, about 350 miles; and
from its northern point, Cape Soya on the La Perouse
straits to Yerimosaki, it measures about 270
miles. The centre of the island is an elevated peak,
from which rivers flow in all directions to the ocean.
Hakodate the principal port is situated on Tsugaru
straits and possesses one of the most commodious
harbors of the empire.
</p>

<p>
The third in size of the great islands of Japan is
Kyūshū, a name meaning nine provinces, referring
to the manner in which it was divided in early times.
It lies south from the western extremity of the Main
island. Its greatest extension is from north to
south, being about 200 miles. Its width from east
to west varies from sixty to ninety miles. Its
<pb n='005'/><anchor id='Pg005'/>
temperature and products partake of a tropical
character.
</p>

<p>
To the east of Kyūshū lies Shikoku (meaning four
provinces) which is the fourth of the great islands
of Japan. It is about one half as large as Kyūshū,
which in climate and productions it much resembles.
It is south of the western extension of the Main
island and is nearly parallel to it. Its length is
about 170 miles.
</p>

<p>
In the early history of Japan one of its names
among the natives was Ōyashima, meaning the
Great Eight Islands. The islands included in this
name were: the Main island, Kyūshū, Shikoku,
Awaji, Sado, Tsushima, Oki, and Iki. The large
island of Yezo had not then been conquered and
added to the empire.
</p>

<p>
Awaji is situated in the Inland sea between the
Main island and Shikoku. It is about fifty miles
long and has an area of 218 square miles. Sado is
situated in the Japan sea, off the northwest coast
of the Main island. It is about forty-eight miles
long and has an area of about 335 square miles.
Tsushima lies half-way between Japan and Korea,
and has a length of about forty-six miles, and an
area of about 262 square miles. Oki lies off the
coast of Izumo and has an area of about 130 square
miles. Finally Iki, the smallest of the original
great eight islands, lies west of the northern extremity
of Kyūshū and has an area of fifty square
miles.
</p>

<p>
The Japanese islands are invested on the east
by the Pacific ocean. They are separated from
<pb n='006'/><anchor id='Pg006'/>
the continent by the Okhotsk sea, the Japan sea,
and the Yellow sea. The Kuro Shiwo (black current)
flows from the tropical waters in a northeast
direction, skirting the islands of Japan on their east
coasts, and deflecting its course to the eastward
carries its ameliorating influences to the west coast
of America. It is divided by the projecting southern
extremity of the island of Kyūshū, and a perceptible
portion of it flows on the west coast of the Japanese
islands through the Japan sea and out again into
the Pacific ocean through the Tsugaru and the La
Perouse straits. The effect of the Kuro Shiwo
upon the climate and productions of the lands along
which it flows is not greatly different from that of
the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic ocean, which in
situation, direction, and volume it resembles.
</p>

<p>
The body of water known among foreigners as
the Inland sea, but which the Japanese call Seto-no-Uchi-Umi
(the sea within the straits), is a picturesque
sheet of water situated between the Linschoten
straits on the east and the Shimonoseki straits on
the west. The latter is seven miles long and at its
narrowest part not more than two thousand feet
wide. It separates Kyūshū on the south from the
Main island on the north. The Inland sea is occupied
by an almost countless number of islands, which
bear evidence of volcanic origin, and are covered
with luxuriant vegetation. The lines of steamers
from Shanghai and Nagasaki to the various ports on
the Main island, and numberless smaller craft in
every direction, run through the Inland sea.
</p>

<p>
The principal islands of Japan are interspersed
<pb n='007'/><anchor id='Pg007'/>
with mountains, hills and valleys. Yezo the most
northern of these islands is traversed by two ranges
of mountains; the one being the extension of the
island of Saghalien, the other the extension of the
Kurile islands. These two ranges cross each other
at the centre of the island, and here the greatest
elevation is to be found. The shape given to the
island by these intersecting ranges is that of a four-pointed
star. The rivers in nearly all cases flow
from the centre outward to the sea. There are few
large rivers. The most important is the Ishikari
which empties into Ishikari bay. The valley of
this river is the most rich and fertile part of the
island.
</p>

<p>
The mountain ranges on the Main island extend
usually in the greatest direction of the island. In the
northern and central portions the ranges chiefly run
north and south. In the western extension of this
island the mountain ranges run in nearly an east and
west direction. The ordinary height attained by
these ranges is not great, but there are many volcanic
peaks which rise out of the surrounding mass to a
great elevation. The highest mountain in Japan is
Fuji-san (sometimes called Fuji-yama). It is almost
conical in shape; although one side has been deformed
by a volcanic eruption which occurred in
1707. It stands not far from the coast, and is directly
in view from the steamers entering the bay of
Tōkyō on their way to Yokohama. It is about sixty
miles from Tōkyō in a direct line, and there are
many places in the city from which it can be seen.
Its top is covered with snow during ten months of
<pb n='008'/><anchor id='Pg008'/>
the year, which the heat of August and September
melts away. The height of Fuji-san according to the
measurement of English naval officers is 12,365 feet.<note place='foot'>See
Satow and Hawes' <hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>, p. 108.</note>
</p>

<p>
Next to Fuji-san the mountains most worthy of
notice are Gas-san in Uzen, Mitake in Shinano, the
Nikkō mountains in Shimotsuke, Haku-san in Kaga,
Kirishima-yama in Hyūga, and Asama-yama in
Shinano. Asama-yama is about 8,000 feet high, and
is an active volcano.
</p>

<p>
From time immemorial the Japanese islands have
been affected with earthquakes. Occasionally they
have been severe and destructive, but usually slight
and ineffective. It is said that not less than five
hundred shocks<note place='foot'>See Chamberlain's <hi rend='italic'>Things
Japanese</hi>, second edition, p. 122.</note> occur in Japan each year. The last
severe earthquake was in the autumn of 1891, when
the central part of the Main island, especially in the
neighborhood of Gifu, was destructively disturbed.
During the long history of the empire many notable
cases<note place='foot'>One of the most notable of these is that which occurred in 1596
when Hideyoshi was at Fushimi. In 1854 a series of shocks followed
by tidal waves occurred on the east coast of the Main island.
The town of Shimoda, which had been opened as a port for foreign
trade was almost destroyed, and the Russian frigate <hi rend='italic'>Diana</hi> which
was lying there was so injured that she had to be abandoned. In
1855 a severe earthquake occurred at Yedo, which was accompanied
by a great fire. About 16,000 dwelling-houses and other buildings
are said to have been destroyed, and a large number of lives were
lost. <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of Asiatic Society of Japan</hi>,
vol. vi., p. 249.</note> have occurred. Mr. Hattori-Ichijo in a paper
read before the Asiatic Society of Japan, March, 1878,
has compiled a list of destructive earthquakes, and
has deduced from it some important generalizations.
</p>

<pb n='009'/><anchor id='Pg009'/>

<p>
Closely associated with earthquakes in Japan as
elsewhere are the phenomena of volcanoes. The
whole archipelago bears evidence of volcanic formation.
The long line of islands stretching from
Kamtschatka to Borneo is plainly the product of
continued volcanic action. Dr. Rein<note place='foot'>Rein's
<hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, p. 44. In <hi rend='italic'>Things Japanese</hi>
second edition, p. 122, Japan is credited with no less than fifty-one
active volcanoes.</note> enumerates
eighteen active volcanoes now in existence within
the empire. Fuji-san in all its beauty was no doubt
thrown up as a volcano. The last time it was in
action was in 1707, when in connection with a series
of severe earthquake shocks, an eruption took place
on the south side of the mountain, and its symmetrical
form was destroyed by the production of the
new crater, Hōye-san.
</p>

<p>
Among the mountainous districts many small lakes
are found, a few of which are large enough to be
navigated. In Yezo there are six considerable lakes.
In the Main island the largest lake is Biwa, in the
beautiful mountain region north of Kyōto. It received
its name from its fancied resemblance to the
shape of a musical instrument called a
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>biwa</foreign>. There
is a legend that this lake came into existence in a
single night, when the volcanic mountain Fuji-san
300 miles distant was raised to its present height.
It is about fifty miles long and about twenty miles
broad at its greatest width. It is said to be not less
than 330 feet at its greatest depth. It is navigated
by steamboats and smaller craft. It is situated
about 350 feet above the ocean. Lake Suwa in
Shinano is 2,635 feet above the ocean. Lake Chūzenji
<pb n='010'/><anchor id='Pg010'/>
in the Nikkō mountains is 4,400 feet; and
Hakoné lake near Yokohama is 2,400 feet.
</p>

<p>
Owing to the narrowness of the Main island, there
are no rivers of a large size. Most of them take
their rise in the mountainous regions of the middle
of the islands, and by a more or less circuitous route
find their way to the ocean. The Tone-gawa
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>gawa</foreign>
means river) is the longest and broadest of the
rivers of Japan. It rises in Kōtsuke and flows in an
eastern direction, receiving many tributaries, attains
a breadth of more than a mile, and with a current
much narrowed, empties into the Pacific ocean at
Chōshi point. It is about 170 miles long and is
navigated by boats for a great distance. The
Shinano-gawa, which may be named as second in
size, rises in the province of Shinano, flows in a
northern direction, and empties into the Japan sea
at Ni-igata. The Kiso-gawa also rises in the high
lands of Shinano, and, flowing southward, empties
into Owari bay. The Fuji-kawa<note place='foot'>The word
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>gawa</foreign> (river)
takes the form <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kawa</foreign> when euphony so
requires.</note> takes its rise in
the northern part of the province of Kai, and in its
course skirting the base of Fuji-san on the west,
empties into Suruga bay. It is chiefly notable for
being one of the swiftest streams in Japan and liable
to sudden and great floods.
</p>

<p>
To these rivers may be added the Yodo-gawa,
which is the outlet of Lake Biwa, in the province of
Ōmi, and which flows through Kyōto, and empties
into the Inland sea at Ōsaka. This river is navigable
for flat-bottomed steamboats as far as Kyōto. In
<pb n='011'/><anchor id='Pg011'/>
the islands of Kyūshū and Shikoku there are no
large rivers; but there are many streams which give
to these islands their richness and fertility.
</p>

<p>
The climate of Japan, as might be expected from
its great stretch from north to south, and the varied
circumstances of ocean currents, winds, and mountains,
is very different in the different parts. The
latitude of Tōkyō is 35°, which is not very different
from that of Cyprus in the Mediterranean, or the
city of Raleigh in North Carolina. Besides the
latitude of the islands of Japan, the most noticeable
cause of their climatic condition is the Kuro Shiwo
(black current). This current flows from the tropical
regions near the Philippine islands, impinges on the
southern islands, and is divided by them into two
unequal parts. The greater part skirts the Japanese
islands on their east coast, imparting to them that
warm and moist atmosphere, which is one source of
the fertility of their soil and beauty of their vegetation.
To this important cause must be added another,
which is closely related to it in its effects.
The Japanese islands are in the region of the north-east
monsoon,<note place='foot'>Dr. Rein was the first clearly to apprehend and state the
influence of the northeast monsoon on the climate of Japan. See Rein's
<hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, p. 104.</note> which affects in a marked degree the
climate of all parts over which the winds extend.
The same monsoon blows over the eastern countries
of the continent, but the insular character of Japan
and the proximity of the warm current on both sides
of the islands give to the winds which prevail a
character which they do not possess on the continent.
<pb n='012'/><anchor id='Pg012'/>
During the greater part of September the
northern wind blows, which brings a colder temperature,
condensing the moisture contained in the
atmosphere. This month is therefore generally a
rainy month. Gradually the atmosphere becomes
more dry, and the beautiful autumn and early winter
follow in course.
</p>

<p>
The winter is very different in the different parts.
On the east coast the temperature is very moderate.
Even as far north as Tōkyō the snow rarely falls to
a depth of more than a few inches, and then rapidly
melts away. Ice seldom forms to a thickness, even
on protected waters, to permit skating. In all this
region, however, snow covers the high mountains.
</p>

<p>
On the west coast of the Main island the conditions
are very different. The winds of the continent take
up the moisture of the Japan sea, and carry it to
the west coast, and then, coming in contact with high
ranges of mountains which run down the middle of
the island, impart their moisture in the form of rain
in summer, and snow in winter. These circumstances
produce extraordinary falls of snow on the west
coast. This is particularly true of the provinces of
Kaga, Noto, Etchū, Echigo, and even farther north,
especially in the mountainous regions. In the
northern part of these districts the snow is often as
much as twenty feet deep during the winter months.
The inhabitants are obliged to live in the second
stories of their houses and often find it necessary to
make steps from their houses out to the top of the
snow. One effect of these deep snows is to cover up
with a safe protection the shrubs and tender plants
<pb n='013'/><anchor id='Pg013'/>
which would otherwise be exposed to the chilling
winds of winter. By this means the tea-shrub and
the camellia, which could not withstand the open
winter winds, are protected so as to grow luxuriantly.
</p>

<p>
The southern islands are materially warmer than
the Main island. The tropical current together with
the warm sunshine due to their low latitude, immerses
them in a moist and warm atmosphere.
Their productions are of a sub-tropical character.
Cotton, rice, tobacco, sugar, sweet potatoes, oranges,
yams, and other plants of a warm latitude, flourish
in Kyūshū and Shikoku. The high mountains and
the well watered valleys, the abundance of forest
trees, and wild and luxuriant vegetation,<note place='foot'>Camellia
trees are frequently found from twenty to twenty-five
feet high.</note> give to
these islands an aspect of perennial verdure.
</p>

<p>
The productions of the Main island are, as might
be expected, far more various. In the southern
part, especially that part bordering on the Inland
sea, the productions are to a large extent similar to
those in the southern islands. Rice and cotton are
raised in great abundance. Tea flourishes particularly
in the provinces near Kyōto and also in the
rich valleys of the east coast. Silk-raising is a
principal occupation. Nearly one half in value of
all the exports from Japan is raw and manufactured
silk, and a large part of the remainder is tea. The
principal food raised in nearly all the islands is rice.
The streams of water which abound everywhere
make the irrigation which rice cultivation requires
easy and effective. Besides the rice which is raised
<pb n='014'/><anchor id='Pg014'/>
in paddy land there is also a variety called upland
rice. This grows without irrigation but is inferior
to the principal variety in productiveness. In the
early rituals of the Shintō temples prayers were
always offered for the five cereals. These were
understood to be rice, millet, barley, beans, and
sorghum. All these have been cultivated from early
times, and can be successfully raised in almost all
parts of the islands. Rice cannot, however, be raised
north of the Main island. Millet, barley, and beans
are cultivated everywhere, and are the principal
articles of food among the country population.
Buckwheat is also cultivated in all northern parts.
It is believed to have been introduced from Manchuria
where it is found growing wild.
</p>

<p>
The domestic animals of Japan are by no means
so abundant as in the corresponding parts of the
continent. The horse has existed here from antiquity
but was only used for riding or as a pack-horse, but
never until recently was used for driving. The cow,
owing perhaps to the restrictive influence of the
Buddhist doctrines, was never used for food. Even
milk, butter, and cheese, which from time immemorial
formed such important articles of food throughout
Europe and among the nomadic peoples of Asia,
were never used. Sheep are almost unknown even
to this day, and where they have been introduced
it is only in very recent times and by foreign enterprise.
Goats are sometimes but not commonly
found. On the island of Ōshima,<note place='foot'>Chamberlain,
<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol.
xi., p. 162.</note> off the province
of Izu, they had multiplied to so great an extent
<pb n='015'/><anchor id='Pg015'/>
and were so destructive to vegetation that about
1850 the inhabitants combined to extirpate them.
Swine are found in the Ryūkyū islands, where they
had been brought from China and they are found
only incidentally in other places when introduced by
foreigners. Dogs and cats and barnyard fowl are
found in all the islands.
</p>

<p>
Wild animals are only moderately abundant, as is
natural in a country so thickly inhabited. The black
bear is found frequently in the well-wooded mountains
of Yezo and the northern part of the Main
island. The great bear, called also by the Japanese
the red bear, and which is the same as the grizzly
bear of North America, is also common in the Kurile
islands and in Yezo. The wolf is sometimes found
and the fox is common. The superstitions concerning
the fox are as remarkable as those in the north
of Europe, and have doubtless prevented its destruction.
Deer are found in abundance in almost all
parts of the islands. They are, however, most common
in Yezo where immense herds feed upon the
plentiful herbage.
</p>

<p>
The waters around Japan abound in fish. The
coast is indented by bays and inlets which give
opportunity for fishing. The warm currents flowing
past the islands bring a great variety of fish which
otherwise would not reach these islands. By far the
most common article of food, other than vegetable,
is the fish of various kinds and the shell-fish which
are caught on the coasts and carried inland to almost
all parts.
</p>

<p>
The division of the empire into provinces
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kuni</foreign>)
<pb n='016'/><anchor id='Pg016'/>
was an important step in practical administration,
and it is often referred to in these pages. This division
was first made by the Emperor Seimu <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
131-190, when thirty-two provinces were constituted.
The northern boundary of the empire was indicated
by a line across the Main island from Sendai bay to
a place on the west coast nearly corresponding to
the present situation of Ni-igata. North of this line
was the acknowledged territory of the Ainos, and
even south of it were many tracts which were the
disputed border.
</p>

<p>
The Empress Jingō, after her return from the
expedition against Korea in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 303, introduced
the Korean system of division, by constituting the
home provinces and circuits. After some changes
and subdivisions in subsequent times the apportionment
was settled as follows: <hi rend='italic'>Gokinai</hi> or the five
home provinces, viz. Yamashiro, Yamato, Kawachi,
Izumi, and Settsu; <hi rend='italic'>Tōkaidō</hi>, or eastern sea circuit,
15 provinces; <hi rend='italic'>Tōzandō</hi>, or eastern mountain circuit,
eight provinces; <hi rend='italic'>Sanindō</hi>, or mountain back circuit,
eight provinces; <hi rend='italic'>Sanyōdō</hi>, or mountain front circuit,
eight provinces; and <hi rend='italic'>Saikaidō</hi>, or western sea circuit,
nine provinces; in all sixty-eight provinces. After
the close of the war of restoration in 1868, the large
territories in the north of the Main island represented
by the provinces of Mutsu and Dewa, which had
been conquered from the Ainos, were subdivided
into seven provinces, thus making seventy-three.
Still later the island of Yezo, with which were associated
the Kurile islands, was created a circuit
under the name of <hi rend='italic'>Hok-kaidō</hi>, or north sea circuit,
<pb n='017'/><anchor id='Pg017'/>
having eleven provinces. The number of existing
provinces therefore is eighty-four. In recent times
these eighty-four provinces have for administrative
purposes been consolidated into three imperial cities
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>fu</foreign>), forty-two prefectures
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ken</foreign>), and one territory
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>chō</foreign>). The imperial cities
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>fu</foreign>) are Tōkyō, Ōsaka,
and Kyōto; the one territory (<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>chō</foreign>)
comprises the island of Yezo and the adjacent small islands including
the Kuriles; and the prefectures (<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ken</foreign>) have
been formed from the provinces by combining and
consolidating them in accordance with their convenience
and proximity.
</p>

<p>
There are only a few large cities in Japan, but
very many of a small size.<note place='foot'>These details of the population, area,
etc., are taken from the government publication,
<hi rend='italic'>Résumé Statistique de l'Empire du Japon</hi>, 1892.</note>
Tōkyō,<note place='foot'>In the population of the imperial cities is included
that of the suburban districts politically attached to them.</note> the capital,
contains 1,155,200 inhabitants. Ōsaka, the second
largest city contains 473,541; Kyōto, the old
capital, 289,588; Nagoya, 170,433; Kōbé, 136,968;
and Yokohama, 127,987. These are all the cities
containing as many as 100,000 inhabitants. Besides
these there are four cities which have between
100,000 and 60,000; twelve which have between
60,000 and 40,000, and twelve which have between
40,000 and 30,000. The number of smaller
towns is very great. The division of the country
into <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>daimiates</foreign>,
and the maintenance of a <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>daimyō</foreign>
town in each led to the establishment of many cities
and large villages.
</p>

<pb n='018'/><anchor id='Pg018'/>

<p>
The population of the empire of Japan is to a large
extent massed in cities and villages. Even in the
country, among the farmers, the people are gathered
in settlements with wide spaces of cultivated and
uncultivated land between. This is due in a great
measure to the character of the crops and to the
primitive nature of the cultivation. Rice, which is
the most common crop, requires irrigation for its
successful tillage. This limits the area occupied to
the valleys and to those hillsides where the streams
can be diverted to the rice fields. The area of land
under actual cultivation is about 12,000,000 acres.
It has been estimated that the average amount of
land under cultivation is only three quarters of an
acre for each of those engaged in farming. This
amount seems to us very little and can only be
explained by the character of the cultivation. The
land almost always is made to bear two crops each
year. As soon as one crop is cleared away, and often
even before that, another is planted.
</p>

<p>
According to the census<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Résumé Statistique</hi>
(Government publication), 1892, p. 11.</note> of 1890 the population of
the Japanese empire is as follows:
</p>

<table rend="latextcolumns: 'p{4cm} p{4cm}';
             tblcolumns: 'lw(30) r'">
<row><cell>Kwazoku (nobles)</cell><cell>3,768</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shizoku (<hi rend='italic'>samurai</hi>)</cell><cell>2,008,641</cell></row>
<row><cell>Heimin (common people)</cell><cell>38,441,052</cell></row>
<row><cell>Total</cell><cell>40,453,461</cell></row>
</table>

<p>
The areas of the several large islands and their
dependencies together with their population are
given below:
</p>

<pb n='019'/><anchor id='Pg019'/>

<table rend="latextcolumns: 'p{4cm} p{4cm} p{4cm}';
             tblcolumns: 'lw(30) r r'">
<row><cell></cell><cell>Sq. m.</cell><cell>Population.</cell></row>
<row><cell>Main island and dependencies</cell><cell>87,485</cell>
     <cell>31,052,068</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shikoku and dependencies</cell><cell>7,031</cell><cell>2,879,260</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kyūshū and dependencies</cell><cell>16,841</cell>
     <cell>6,228,419</cell></row>
<row><cell>Yezo and dependencies</cell><cell>36,299</cell><cell>293,714</cell></row>
<row><cell>Totals</cell><cell>147,656</cell><cell>40,453,461</cell></row>
</table>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/shintoists-preacher.png' rend='width: 30%'>
    <head>Shintoists: Preacher</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>
<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/shintoists-dancer.png' rend='width: 30%'>
    <head>Shintoists: Dancer</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>
<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/shintoists-assistant.png' rend='width: 30%'>
    <head>Shintoists: Assistant</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>
<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/shintoists-mirror-dance.png' rend='width: 30%'>
    <head>Shintoists: The Mirror Dance</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

</div>

<pb n='020'/><anchor id='Pg020'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf'/>
<head>Chapter II. The Original And Surviving Races.</head>

<p>
In the present population of Japan there are two
distinct races, the Ainos and the Japanese. Of the
former there is only a small number now remaining
in the island of Yezo. There was also a remnant in
the island of Saghalien, but in 1875, when a treaty
was made with Russia ceding the Japanese claim
to the southern half of Saghalien in exchange for
the Kurile islands, permission was granted for all
Japanese subjects who wished, to remove to the
Japanese island of Yezo. Accordingly among other
Japanese subjects seven hundred and fifty Ainos
removed to the valley of the Ishikari, where they
have continued to reside.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/aino.png' rend='width: 40%'>
    <head>Aino Family</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
The Ainos are probably the original race, who in
early times inhabited the Main island down to the
Hakoné pass and possibly farther to the south.
From Japanese history we learn that the military
forces of the empire were constantly employed to
suppress the disturbances caused by the barbarous
people of the north. The necessity of this forcible
repression, which frequently recurred, was a chief
reason for the formation of a military class in the
<pb n='022'/><anchor id='Pg022'/>
early history of Japan. One of the duties imposed
on Yamato-dake by his imperial father (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 71-130)
was to chastise and subdue the Yemishi. This is the
name by which the barbarous peoples of the north
and east were known among the Japanese. According
to Chamberlain<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>,
supplement to vol. x., p. 213.</note> in his translation of
<hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>, the
Chinese characters with which the Yemishi is written
mean Prawn Barbarians, in allusion to the long
beards which make their faces resemble a prawn's
head. The hairy people now known as Ainos are
almost certainly referred to. The origin of the term
Aino is unknown. By the Japanese it is believed
to be derived from <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>inu</foreign>, meaning a dog,
and to have been bestowed on them in contempt. The name is
not used by the Ainos themselves. In common
with the inhabitants of the Kurile islands and the
Japanese portion of Saghalien they call themselves
Yezo.
</p>

<p>
The present characteristics of the Ainos have led
many to doubt whether they are really the descendants
of the hardy barbarians who so long withstood
the military power of the Japanese. But the effect of
centuries of repression and conquest must be taken
into account. The Ainos have become the peaceable
and inoffensive people which we now find them,
by many generations of cruel and imperious restraint.
That they should have become in this
sequence of events a quiet and submissive people is
not wonderful. The number of Ainos in the island
of Yezo is given in 1880, which is the last census
made of them, as 16,637<note place='foot'>Batchelor, <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society
Transactions</hi>, vol. x., p. 211.</note>; and this number is believed
<pb n='023'/><anchor id='Pg023'/>
to be gradually decreasing. Travellers who
have visited them unite in testifying to their great
amiability and docility. Physically they are a sturdy
and well developed race. The characteristic which
has been noticed in them more than any other is the
abundant growth of hair. The men have a heavy
and bushy head of hair and a full beard which is
allowed to grow down to their chests. Other parts
of the body are also covered with a growth which
far surpasses that of the ordinary races. In the
matter of food, clothing, houses and implements,
they remain in the most primitive condition. In
personal habits they are far less cleanly than their
Japanese neighbors. Travellers<note place='foot'>Batchelor, <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic
Society Transactions</hi>, vol. x., p. 216.</note> who have remained
with them for many weeks assert that in all that
time they never saw them wash either their persons
or their clothes.
</p>

<p>
They practise few arts. The making of pottery
even in its rudest forms is unknown. All vessels in
use are obtained by barter from the Japanese. Occasionally
an old-fashioned Japanese matchlock gun
is found among them, but mainly their hunting is
carried on with bows and arrows. Their fishing is
conducted with the rude apparatus which their ancestors
used. They have no written language, and
even the pictorial writing, which has often been
found among rude people, seems to be utterly unknown
among them. Their religious ideas<note place='foot'>Miss Bird's
<hi rend='italic'>Unbeaten Tracks in Japan</hi>, vol. ii., p. 96.</note> are of
the most vague and incoherent description. The objects
of worship are chiefly inanimate objects such as
rivers, rocks and mountains. They seem to have a
<pb n='024'/><anchor id='Pg024'/>
certain fear of the spirit land. They do not readily
talk about their deceased ancestors. Their places of
burial are concealed, and foreigners rarely obtain
access to them.
</p>

<p>
In their rude superstitions the bear seems to have
a singular part. Whether their traditions concerning
this animal had their origin in some earlier fear
of the bear as a ferocious neighbor it is impossible
to determine. In every community the men capture
each spring a young cub which they bring home.
They entrust it to a woman who feeds it on the milk
from her breast. When it is too old to be further
nursed in this way, it is confined in a bear cage provided
for the purpose. Then in the autumn of the
following year the grand bear festival is held. At
an appointed signal the door of the cage is opened
and the bear, which has been infuriated by hunger
and teasing attacks, rushes out. The assembled
hunters rush upon him with bows and arrows, clubs
and knives, and after an exciting struggle despatch
him. The carcass is cut in pieces and distributed
among the families of the community, who feast
upon it with great delight. Mingled with this rough
and exciting scene is much <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>saké</foreign> drinking.
This is one accomplishment which they have learned from
the Japanese. The men are all confirmed <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>saké</foreign>
drinkers, and both men and women persistent smokers.
Of the meaning and object of this bear feast the
Ainos themselves are ignorant. It goes back to a
period beyond their present traditions. Whether it
has in it an element of bear worship it is impossible
to learn.
</p>

<pb n='025'/><anchor id='Pg025'/>

<p>
The remains of the Stone age which are found in
the northern part of the Main island are usually
attributed to the Ainos. These remains have been
collected and studied both by native scholars and
by foreigners. Among the most important of them
have been the articles found in shell heaps uncovered
in different parts of the empire. The first<note place='foot'>Professor E. S. Morse,
<hi rend='italic'>Memoirs of the University of Tokio</hi>,
vol. i., part i.</note> to which
foreign attention was drawn was that at Ōmori, near
Tōkyō. Since then many others have been opened
and many valuable finds have been reported. The
shell heaps have evidently been used like kitchen-middens
in Europe and elsewhere, as places for
dumping the refuse of shell-fish used for food.
These became places for the throwing of useless
and broken articles used in the household, and thus
have been the means of preserving many of the
implements used in prehistoric times. The most
significant discovery made in these shell heaps was
that at Ōmori, of the bones of human beings artificially
broken in such a way as to indicate that cannibalism
had been prevalent at the time. Whether
this can be assumed as sufficient proof of so grave a
charge has been disputed. It is claimed<note place='foot'>Henry von Siebold,
<hi rend='italic'>Notes on Japanese Archæology</hi>, p. 14.</note> that in at
least seven similar shell heaps no human bones and
no evidences of cannibalism were found. If however
the case is considered as sufficiently proved, it
is clear from this as well as from many other circumstances
that the Ainos of that early day were by no
means the mild and gentle race which we now find
<pb n='026'/><anchor id='Pg026'/>
them. It is interesting to note that Marco Polo<note place='foot'><q>But
I must tell you one thing still concerning that island (Japan)
(and 'tis the same with the other Indian Islands), that if the natives
take prisoner an enemy who cannot pay a ransom, he who hath the
prisoner summons all his friends and relations, and they put the prisoner
to death, and then they cook him and eat him, and they say there
is no meat in the world so good!</q>&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>The Book of Ser Marco
Polo</hi>, London, 1875, vol. ii., p. 245.</note>
mentions cannibalism as one of the customs which
were believed to exist in Japan in his day.
</p>

<p>
Besides the Ainos there is evidence of the existence
of another savage tribe, which at an early date
seems to have been found in many parts of the Main
island, and at a later date in the island of Yezo and
the Kurile islands on the north. They are the so-called
pit-dwellers. In the very earliest writings of
the Japanese we find references to them. They dug
pits in the earth and built over them a roof, and
used these pits or cellars as rooms in which to sleep.
The Japanese conquerors in the central parts of
the Main island had many conflicts with these pit-dwellers.
And in the north and east they as well as
the Ainos were encountered by the military forces
of the empire. They were probably driven north
by the more powerful Ainos and have almost disappeared.
Abundant evidence<note place='foot'>Professor Milne, <hi rend='italic'>Transactions
of the Asiatic Society of Japan</hi>, vol. viii., p. 82.</note> however is found in
the island of Yezo of their previous existence. The
Ainos in their traditions call them Koro-pok-guru,<note place='foot'>Rev. John
Batchelor, <hi rend='italic'>Transactions
of the Asiatic Society of Japan</hi>, vol. x., p. 209.</note>
or hole-men. Among the Japanese they are spoken
of as Ko-bito, or dwarfs. There are said to be still
<pb n='027'/><anchor id='Pg027'/>
in Yezo the remains of villages where these men
lived in earlier times. In the Kurile islands, in the
peninsula of Kamtschatka, and in the southern part
of Saghalien remnants of this primitive people are
met with.
</p>

<p>
Turning now to the Japanese race which extends
from the Kurile islands on the north to the Ryūkyū
islands on the south, we see at once that it is a
mixed race containing widely different elements.
Even after the many centuries during which the
amalgamation has been going on, we recognize still
the varying types to which the individuals tend. In
the south more than in the north, and more among
the ruling classes than in the laboring classes there
are specimens of a delicate, refined appearance, face
oval, eyes oblique, nose slightly Roman, and frame
delicate but well proportioned. Then there is
another type which has been recognized by all observers.
It is found more in the north than the
south and is much more common among the laboring
population than among the higher classes. The
face is broad and the cheek bones prominent. The
nose is flat and the eyes are horizontal. The frame
is robust and muscular, but not so well proportioned
and regular as in the former type. These two
types with many intervening links are found everywhere.
The characteristics are perhaps more marked
among the women than the men. Especially among
the aristocracy the women have been less affected
by weather and exposure and physical exertion than
the men. In the regions about Kyōto and in the
western portions of the Main island the prevalence
<pb n='028'/><anchor id='Pg028'/>
of what may be called the aristocratic type is most
marked. Even in the time of the Dutch trade
with Japan, Kaempfer<note place='foot'>Hildreth's
<hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, etc., p. 337.</note> refers to the women of Saga,
on the south coast of the Inland sea, as <q>handsomer
than in any other Asiatic country.</q> The northern
regions, including the old provinces of Mutsu and
Dewa, show a much larger element of the more
robust type. The men are more muscular and of a
darker complexion. Their faces are broader and
flatter and their hair and beard more abundant.
They show probably the influence of the admixture
with the Aino race, which within historic times inhabited
these provinces.
</p>

<p>
Dr. Baelz, a German scholar who has spent many
years in Japan, has devoted much study to the races
of Japan, and has made elaborate measurements
both of living specimens and skeletons. His conclusions
may be safely followed, as having been reached by adequate
study and by personal investigation.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Mittheilungen
der Deutschen Gesellschaft</hi>, etc., as reviewed in
<hi rend='italic'>The Chrisanthemum</hi>, May, 1883.</note>
Mainly following him therefore we give briefly the
results of the best thought in regard to the ethnography
of the races now inhabiting the Japanese
islands.
</p>

<p>
The Ainos of the present day are the descendants
of the original occupants of northern and central
portions of the Main island. Their share in the
ancestry of the present Japanese people is not great,
but still sensible, and has contributed to the personal
peculiarities which are found in the inhabitants
<pb n='029'/><anchor id='Pg029'/>
of these regions. They probably came originally
from the continent by way of the Kurile islands, or
by the island of Saghalien. They belong to the
northern group of the Mongolians who inhabit the
regions about Kamtschatka and adjacent parts of
Siberia. They have left marks of their occupancy
on the Main island as far south as the Hakoné pass,
in the shell heaps, flint arrow-heads, and remains of
primitive pottery which are still found. These
marks indicate a low degree of civilization, and the
persistence with which they withstood the Japanese
conquerors, and the harshness and contempt with
which they were always treated, have prevented them
from mingling to any great extent with their conquerors
or accepting their culture.
</p>

<p>
The twofold character of the Japanese race as it is
seen at present can best be explained by two extensive
migrations from the continent. The first of
these migrations probably took place from Korea,
whence they landed on the Main island in the province
of Izumo. This will account for the mythological
legends which in the early Japanese accounts
cluster to so great an extent around Izumo. It will
also explain why it was that when Jimmu Tennō
came on his expedition from the island of Kyūshū,
he found on the Main island inhabitants who in all
essential particulars resembled his own forces, and
with whom he formed alliances. This first migration
seems to have belonged to a rougher and more
barbarous tribe of the Mongolian race, and has given
rise to the more robust and muscular element now
found among the people.
</p>

<pb n='030'/><anchor id='Pg030'/>

<p>
The second migration may have come across by
the same route and landed on the island of Kyūshū.
They may have marched across the island or skirted
around its southern cape and spread themselves out
in the province of Hyūga, where in the Japanese
accounts we first find them. This migration probably
occurred long after the first, and came evidently
from a more cultured tribe of the great Mongolian
race. That they came from the same race is evident
from their understanding the same language, and
having habits and methods of government which
were not a surprise to the new-comers, and in which
they readily co-operated. On the contrary, the ruder
tribes at the north of the Main island were spoken of
as Yemishi,&mdash;that is, barbarians, and recognized from
the first as different and inferior.
</p>

<p>
While the natural and easiest route to Japan would
be by way of the peninsula of Korea, and by the
narrow straits about 125 miles in width,&mdash;divided
into two shorter parts by the island Tsushima lying
about half-way between,&mdash;it is possible that this
second migration may have taken place through
Formosa and the Ryūkyū islands. This would perhaps
account better for the Malay element which is
claimed by many to be found in the population of
the southern islands. This is attempted to be accounted
for by the drifting of Malay castaways along
the equatorial current upon the Ryūkyū islands,
whence they spread to the southern islands of Japan.
But the existence of this Malay element is denied
by many observers who have visited the Ryūkyū
islands and aver that among the islanders there is no
<pb n='031'/><anchor id='Pg031'/>
evidence of the existence at any time of a Malay immigration,
that the language is only slightly different
from the Japanese, and in personal appearance they
are as like to the Koreans and Chinese as the Japanese
themselves.
</p>

<p>
Some of the most important measurements which
Dr. Baelz has made of the Japanese races are here
given, converted into English measures for more
ready comprehension.
</p>

<p>
The average height of the males among the
Japanese, as obtained by the measurements of skeletons
verified by measurements of living specimens,
is 5.02 feet, ranging from 4.76 feet to 5.44 feet. The
average height of the females measured was 4.66
feet, ranging from 4.46 feet to 4.92 feet. Referring
to the skulls measured by him he says that relatively
they are large, as is always the case among people
of small size.
</p>

<p>
The measurements of the Ainos by Dr. Scheube
as given by Dr. Rein<note place='foot'>Rein's <hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>,
p. 383.</note> are: average height of males
4.9 feet to 5.2 feet, and of females 4.8 feet to 5.0
feet, which do not differ very greatly from the measurements
of the Japanese as given by Dr. Baelz.
</p>

</div>

<pb n='032'/><anchor id='Pg032'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf'/>
<head>Chapter III. Myths And Legends.</head>

<p>
The art of writing and printing was not introduced
into Japan until <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 284, when it was brought
from China. Up to that time therefore no written
accounts existed or could exist of the early history
of the country. Oral tradition was the only agency
by which a knowledge of the events of that epoch
could be preserved and transmitted. That such a
method of preserving history<note place='foot'><q>We know that for
all points of detail and for keeping a correct
account of time, tradition is worthless.</q>&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>The
History of Rome</hi>, by
Rev. Thomas Arnold, D.D., 1864, p. 10.</note> is uncertain and questionable
no one can doubt. We may expect to find
therefore in the accounts which have come down to
us of those centuries which transpired before written
records were introduced, much that is contradictory
and unintelligible, and much out of which the truth
can be gleaned only by the most painstaking research.
</p>

<p>
The oldest book of Japanese history which has
come down to us is called <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>,<note place='foot'>For easy
access to this valuable Japanese work we are indebted to
the translation by Basil Hall Chamberlain, <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Asiatic
Society of Japan</hi>, vol. x., Supplement.</note> or <hi rend='italic'>Records of
Ancient
<pb n='033'/><anchor id='Pg033'/>
Matters</hi>. This work was undertaken by the
direction of the Emperor Temmu (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 673-686), who
became impressed with the necessity of collecting
the ancient traditions which were still extant, and
preserving them in a permanent record. Before the
work was ended the emperor died, and for twenty-five
years the collected traditions were preserved in
the memory of Hiyeda-no-are. At the end of that
time the Empress Gemmyō superintended its completion,
and it was finally presented to the Court in
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 711. By a comparison of this work with
<hi rend='italic'>Nihongi</hi>, or <hi rend='italic'>Chronicles of Japan</hi>,
which was completed <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 720,
only nine years after the other, we are convinced
that the era of Chinese classicism had not yet fallen
upon the country. The style of the older book is a
purer Japanese, and imparts to us the traditions of
Japanese history uncolored by Chinese philosophical
ideas and classic pedantry which shortly after overwhelmed
Japanese literature. But in many particulars
these two works, almost equally ancient,
supplement and explain each other. The events
given in the two are in most respects the same, the
principal difference being that the <hi rend='italic'>Chronicles</hi> is
much more tinctured with Chinese philosophy, and
the myths concerning the creation especially show
the influence of that dual system which had been
introduced to give a philosophical aspect to the
Japanese cosmogony.
</p>

<p>
The <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi><note place='foot'>See Chamberlain's translation of
<hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>, or <hi rend='italic'>Records of Ancient
Matters</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan</hi>, vol.
x., Supplement.</note> has been translated into English, to
<pb n='034'/><anchor id='Pg034'/>
which have been added a valuable introduction and
notes. The <hi rend='italic'>Nihongi</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Chronicles of Japan</hi>)
has never been translated entire into English, but has been
used by scholars in connection with the <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>.
Among the Japanese it has always been more highly
esteemed than the <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>, perhaps because of its
more learned and classical style.
</p>

<p>
Besides these two historical works the student of
early times finds his chief assistance in the Shintō
rituals<note place='foot'>Satow, <q>Ancient Japanese Rituals,</q>
<hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Asiatic
Society of Japan</hi>, vols. vii. and ix.</note> contained in a
work called <hi rend='italic'>Yengishiki</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Code
of Ceremonial Law</hi>). They have been in part translated
by Mr. Satow, who for many years was the
learned Japanese secretary of the British legation,
and who read two papers on them before the Asiatic
Society of Japan, and afterward prepared an article
on the same subject for the <hi rend='italic'>Westminster
Review</hi>.<note place='foot'>Satow, <hi rend='italic'>Westminster Review</hi>,
July, 1878.</note>
</p>

<p>
It will be apparent from these circumstances that
the knowledge of the earlier events, indeed of all
preceding the ninth century, must be derived from
tradition and cannot claim the same certainty as
when based on contemporaneous documents. Not
only the whole of the so-called divine age, but the
reigns of the emperors from Jimmu to Richū, must
be reckoned as belonging to the traditional period
of Japanese history, and must be sifted and weighed
by the processes of reason.
</p>

<p>
Relying on the narratives of the <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi> and the
<hi rend='italic'>Nihongi</hi>, Japanese scholars have constructed a table
of the emperors which has been accepted by the great
<pb n='035'/><anchor id='Pg035'/>
mass of the readers, both foreign and native. It will
be found in the Appendix.<note place='foot'>See
<ref target='Appendix_I'>Appendix I</ref>.</note> It must be remembered
that the names of these early emperors, their ages at
the time of accession and at the time of death, and
the length of reign, must have all been handed down
by tradition during almost a thousand years. That
errors and uncertainties should have crept in seems
inevitable. Either the names and order of the successive
emperors, or the length of time during which
they reigned would be liable to be misstated. If we
examine the list of emperors<note place='foot'>Bramsen,
<hi rend='italic'>Japanese Chronological Tables</hi>, p.
30.</note> we find that the ages
at death of the first seventeen, beginning with Jimmu
and ending with Nintoku, sum up 1853 years, with
an average of 109 years<note place='foot'>I remember
presenting this point to a Japanese scholar in this
way, and he answered me that he thought this great age of the Japanese
emperors no more wonderful or unreasonable than the ages of
the patriarchs in the Bible.</note> for each. The age of
Jimmu is given as 127 years; of Kōan 137 years, of
Kōrei 128 years, of Keikō 143 years, of Nintoku, the
last, 110 years, etc. Then suddenly the ages of the
emperors from Richū onward drop to 67, 60, 80, 56,
etc., so that the ages of the seventeen emperors, beginning
with Richū, have an average of only 61-½ years.
This reasonable average extends down through the
long series to the present time. It is plain that up
to this time there must have existed a different system
of reckoning the ages than that which pertained
afterwards. Either the original epoch of the Emperor
Jimmu has been rendered more remote and
<pb n='036'/><anchor id='Pg036'/>
the lives of the emperors have been prolonged to fill
up the space, or, if we assume the epoch of Jimmu
to be correct, we must suppose that a number of the
emperors have been dropped from the count.
</p>

<p>
The sudden depression in the ages occurs about the
time of the introduction of writing from China, which
occurred in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 284. Wani, who came from Korea
to Japan bringing continental culture with him, was
appointed tutor to the heir-apparent who became
the Emperor Nintoku. During his and subsequent
reigns a knowledge of Chinese writing gradually
spread, so that the annals of the Imperial court were
kept in regular and stated order. This will account
without difficulty for the sudden change and for the
irregularity of the early chronology.
</p>

<p>
Notwithstanding the almost absolute certainty
of error which exists in the received Japanese chronology,
it is by far more convenient to accept it in
the form it is presented to us, and use it as if it were
true. The early history must be treated as traditional
and only the later period from the beginning
of the fourth century can be accepted as in any
sense historical. Yet the events of the earlier period
which have been preserved for us by oral tradition
are capable with due care and inspection of furnishing
important lessons and disclosing many facts in
regard to the lives and characteristics of the primitive
Japanese.
</p>

<p>
In writing the history of Rome, Dr. Thomas Arnold<note place='foot'><q>I
wished to give these legends at once with the best effect, and
at the same time with a perpetual mark, not to be mistaken by the
most careless reader,&mdash;they are legends and not
history.</q>&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>The
History of Rome</hi> by Thomas Arnold, D.D., 1864, Preface, p. vii.</note>
said that the only way to treat its early history
<pb n='037'/><anchor id='Pg037'/>
was to give the early legends in as nearly the form in
which they had been handed down as possible; that
in this way the spirit of the people would be preserved
and the residuum of truth in them would
become the heritage of the present generation. We
have tried to treat the myths and legends of Japanese
history in this manner, and have given the principal
stories as they are preserved among the Japanese.
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>The Origin of the Celestial Deities.</hi>
</p>

<p>
The scene opens in the plain of high heaven.
When heaven and earth began there were three
deities<note place='foot'>For the translation of these names, and for the principal events
of these myths, we rely upon Mr. Chamberlain's translation of the
<hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>, and his admirable notes and introduction.
<hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan</hi>, vol. x.,
Supplement.</note> in existence, that is:
</p>

<lg>
<l>Master-of-the-August-Centre-of-Heaven,</l>
<l>High-August-Producing-Wondrous-Deity,</l>
<l>Divine-Producing-Wondrous-Deity.</l>
</lg>

<p>
These three came into existence without creation
and afterwards died.
</p>

<p>
Then two other deities were born from a thing
that sprouted up like unto a reed shoot when the
earth, young and like unto floating oil, drifted about
medusa-like, viz.:
</p>

<lg>
<l>Pleasant-Reed-Shoot-Prince-Elder-Deity,</l>
<l>Heavenly-Externally-Standing-Deity.</l>
</lg>

<p>
These two deities likewise came into existence without
creation and afterward died.
</p>

<pb n='038'/><anchor id='Pg038'/>

<p>
The five deities above named are called the
Heavenly Deities.
</p>

<p>
Next were born,
</p>

<lg>
<l>Earthly-Eternally-Standing-Deity,</l>
<l>Luxuriant-Integrating-Master-Deity.</l>
</lg>

<p>
These two deities likewise came into existence
without creation and afterwards died.
</p>

<p>
Next were born,
</p>

<lg>
<l>Mud-Earth-Lord and Mud-Earth-Lady,</l>
<l>Germ-Integrating-Deity and Life-Integrating-Deity,</l>
<l>Elder-of-the-Great-Place and Elder-Lady-of-the-Great-Place,</l>
<l>Perfect-Exterior and Oh-Awful-Lady,</l>
<l>The-Male-who-invites and The-Female-who-invites;</l>
<l>or Izanagi and Izanami.</l>
</lg>

<p>
The two deities named above together with these
five pairs are called the seven divine generations.
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>The Creation of the Japanese Islands.</hi>
</p>

<p>
Then the heavenly deities gave commandment to
Izanagi and Izanami to make, consolidate, and give
birth to this drifting land. For their divine mission
they received a heavenly jewelled spear. With this,
standing on the floating bridge of heaven, they reached
down and stirred the brine and then drew up the spear.
The brine that dripped from the end of the spear was
piled up and became the island of Onogoro<note place='foot'>This is supposed to
have been one of the small islands off the
coast of Awaji in the Inland sea.</note> or Self-Coagulated
Island. Then the pair descended upon
<pb n='039'/><anchor id='Pg039'/>
this island and erected thereon a palace eight
fathoms long. Here they lived and begat successive
islands. The first was the island of Hirugo,
which, as it was a miscarriage, they put in a boat of
bulrushes and let it float away. The second was the
island of Awa, which also is not reckoned among their
offspring. The next was the island of Awaji,<note place='foot'>An island
about fifty miles long in the Inland sea.</note> and
the next the land of Iyo by which is understood the
present island of Shikoku.
</p>

<p>
So in succession they produced the islands of Mitsugo,
near the island of Oki, the island of Tsukushi,
which is now called Kyūshū, the island of Iki, the
island of Tsu, and the island of Sado, and lastly the
Great-Yamato-the-Luxuriant-Island-of-the-Dragon-Fly,
which is supposed to mean the principal island,
named in these pages the Main island. Afterward
they produced Kojima in Kibi, Ōshima, the island
of Adzuki, the island of Hime, the island of Chika,
and the islands of Futago.
</p>

<p>
Thus were finished the labors of this industrious pair
in producing the islands of Japan. Then they turned
to the duty of begetting additional deities, and thirty-five
are named as their descendants. But as their
names do not appear in the record of subsequent
events, we omit them here. Finally the Deity of
Fire was born, and the mother in giving birth to
this child died and departed into hades. Izanagi
was overwhelmed with grief at his wife's death. The
tears which he shed turned into the Crying-Weeping-Female-Deity.
In his madness he drew the ten-grasp<note place='foot'>This probably means
that the sword was ten breadths of the hand
in length.</note>
<pb n='040'/><anchor id='Pg040'/>
sabre with which he was augustly girded, and
cut off the head of the Deity of Fire. Three deities
were born from the blood that stuck to the blade;
three were born from the blood that besprinkled the
sword guard; two were born from the blood which
oozed out through his fingers as they grasped the
hilt; and eight were born from the head and trunk
of the slaughtered deity.
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>Descent into Hades.</hi>
</p>

<p>
Then Izanagi resolved to follow his spouse into
the land of hades. At the gate of the palace of
hades she came out to meet him. After an interview
with him she went back to seek the advice of
the deities of hades. To her impatient husband
she seemed to tarry too long. So he broke off the
end-tooth of the comb stuck in his hair, and kindling
it as a torch he went in. He was appalled by the
dreadful pollution of the place, and by the loathsome
condition of his spouse. He fled from the
scene followed by the furious guards. By guile and
by force, however, he escaped and came again to
the upper regions.
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>Purification of Izanagi.</hi>
</p>

<p>
Then Izanagi, in order to purify himself from the
pollution of hades, came to a small stream on the
island of Tsukushi. So he threw down the august
staff which he carried and it became a deity. He
<pb n='041'/><anchor id='Pg041'/>
took off his girdle and it became a deity. He threw
down his skirt and it became a deity. And he
took off his upper garment and it became a deity.
And from his trousers which he threw down there
was born a deity. Three deities were born from the
bracelet which he took from his left arm, and three
from the bracelet which he took from his right arm.
Thus twelve deities were born from the things which
he took off.
</p>

<p>
Then he found that the waters in the upper reach
were too rapid, and the waters in the lower reach
were too sluggish. So he plunged into the waters of
the middle reach. And as he washed, there were
born successive deities, whose names it is not needful
to mention. But when he washed his left
august eye there was born from it the
Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Deity,<note place='foot'>The Japanese name of this
most venerated goddess is Amaterasu-ō-mi-kami.</note>
or as she is often called the
Sun Goddess.
</p>

<p>
When he washed his right august eye there was
born His-Augustness-Moon-Night-Possessor. Then
when he washed his august nose there was born His-Brave-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness.
Thus fourteen deities were born from his bathing. All
these deities, as well as those before produced, seem
to have come into being in full maturity, and did
not need years of growth to develop their final
powers.
</p>

<p>
Izanagi was greatly delighted with the beauty and
brilliancy of these last three children. He took
from his neck his august necklace and gave it to the
<pb n='042'/><anchor id='Pg042'/>
Sun Goddess, saying, Rule thou in the plains of high
heaven. Then he gave command to the Moon-Night-Possessor,
Rule thou the dominion of the
night.
</p>

<p>
And to His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness he
commanded, Rule thou the plain of the sea.
But His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness did not assume
command of his domain, but cried and wept
till his beard reached the pit of his stomach. Then
Izanagi said to him, How is it that thou dost not
take possession of thy domain, but dost wail and
weep? He replied, I weep because I wish to go to
my mother in hades. Then Izanagi said, If that be
so thou shalt not dwell in this land. So he expelled
him with a divine expulsion (whatever that may
mean).
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>Visit of His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness to the
Heavenly Plains.</hi>
</p>

<p>
Then His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness said, I
will first take leave of my sister who rules in the
plains of heaven. When the Sun Goddess saw her
brother coming she put jewels in her hair and on
her arms, slung two quivers of arrows on her back,
put an elbow pad upon her left arm, and, brandishing
her bow, she went out to meet him. She demanded
of him why he ascended hither. Then he replied
that he had no malicious intentions; that his august
father had expelled him with a divine expulsion,
and that he had come to take leave of her before
departing to the land of hades.
</p>

<pb n='043'/><anchor id='Pg043'/>

<p>
Thereupon she proposed to him a test of his sincerity.
They stood on opposite sides of the tranquil
river of heaven. She begged him to reach her
his mighty sabre. She broke it into three pieces
and crunched the pieces in her mouth, and blew the
fragments away. Her breath and the fragments
which she blew away were turned into three female
deities. Then His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness took
the jewels which she wore in her hair, and the jewels
which she wore in her head-dress, and the jewels
she wore on her left arm, and the jewels she wore on
her right arm, and crunched them and blew them
out, and they were turned into five male deities.
Then the Sun Goddess declared that the three
female deities which were produced from her
brother's sword belonged to him, and the five male
deities which were produced from her own jewels
belonged to her. But His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness
was angry at this decision, and broke down the
fences of her rice fields, and filled up the water
sluices, and defiled her garden. And as she sat with
her maidens in the weaving hall, he broke a hole in
the roof and dropped upon them a piebald horse
which he had flayed with a backward flaying.<note place='foot'>There seemed to
have been an old superstition about flaying
from the tail toward the head.</note>
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>Retirement of the Sun Goddess.</hi>
</p>

<p>
Then the Sun Goddess closed the door of the
cave in which the weaving hall was, and the whole
plain of heaven and the Central-Land-of-Reed-Plains
were darkened, and night prevailed, and portents of
<pb n='044'/><anchor id='Pg044'/>
woe were seen on every hand. Myriads of deities
assembled in the bed of the tranquil river of heaven
and besought the deity Thought-Includer, child of
the High-August-Producing-Wondrous-Deity, the
second of the original trio of deities, to propose a
plan for inducing the Sun Goddess to reappear.
They gathered the cocks of the barn-door fowl and
made them crow; they wrought a metal mirror;
they constructed a string of beautiful jewels; they
performed divination with the shoulder-blade of a
stag; they took a plant of Sakaki and hung on its
branches the strings of jewels, the mirror, and offerings
of peace. Then they caused the rituals to be
recited, and a dance to be danced, and all the assembled
deities laughed aloud. The Sun Goddess heard
these sounds of merriment and was amazed. She
softly opened the door and looked out, and asked
the meaning of all this tumult. They told her it
was because they had found another goddess more
illustrious than she. At the same time they held
before her luminous face the mirror which they had
made. Astonished, she stepped out, and they shut
and fastened the door behind her. And the plain
of heaven and the Central-Land-of-Reed-Plains became
light again.
</p>

<p>
Then the assembled deities took council together,
and caused His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness to be
punished and expelled with a divine expulsion.
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness in Izumo.</hi>
</p>

<p>
So His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness came to the
river Hi in Izumo. And he found there an old
<pb n='045'/><anchor id='Pg045'/>
man and an old woman and a young girl, and they
were weeping. And he asked them why they wept.
And the old man answered. I once had eight
daughters; but every year an eight-forked serpent
comes and devours one of them; and now it is the
time for it to come again. Then the deity said,
Wilt thou give me thy daughter if I save her from
the serpent? And he eagerly promised her. Then
the deity said, Do you brew eight tubs of strong
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>saké</foreign>,
and set each on a platform within an enclosure.
So they brewed and set the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>saké</foreign> according to
his bidding. Then the eight-forked serpent came and
putting a head in each tub drank up all the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>saké</foreign>,
and being intoxicated therewith went to sleep. The
deity then with his sabre hacked the serpent in
pieces, and the blood flowed out and reddened the
river. But when he came to the middle tail his sabre
was broken, and when he searched he found that
within the tail was a great sword which he took out.
And this is the herb-quelling-great-sword.
</p>

<p>
Then His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness built for
himself a palace and dwelt there with his wife, and
made the old man the master of his palace.
</p>

<p>
Here follows a line of legends relating to the
deities of the land of Izumo, which do not concern
particularly our story, except that they show that
Izumo was closely connected with the early migrations
from the continent. It must be remembered
that Izumo lies almost directly opposite to Korea,
and that this would be a natural point to which
the nomadic tribes of Asia would turn in seeking for
new fields in which to settle.
</p>

<pb n='046'/><anchor id='Pg046'/>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>Plans for Pacifying the Land.</hi>
</p>

<p>
Then the heavenly deities consulted together how
they might pacify the lands of Japan. They sent
down one of their number to report on its condition.
But he went no farther than the floating bridge of
heaven, and seeing the violence which prevailed he
returned. Then they sent another; but he made
friends with the insurgent deities and brought back
no report. Again they sent an envoy, who married
the daughter of the insurgent deity, and for eight
years sent back no report. After this they sent a
pheasant down to inquire why a report was not sent.
This bird perched on a cassia tree at the palace gate
of the delinquent envoy, and he hearing its mournful
croaking shot it with an arrow, which flew up
through the ether and landed in the plains of heaven.
The arrow was shot down again and killed the
envoy. Finally two other envoys were sent down,
who landed in Izumo, and after some parley with
the refractory deities of the land received their
adhesion and settled and pacified the land. Then
they returned to the heavenly plains and reported
that peace was established.
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>Descent of the August Grandchild.</hi>
</p>

<p>
The Central-Land-of-Reed-Plains<note place='foot'>This is one of the
ancient names of the Main island of Japan.</note> being now reported
as peaceful, the heavenly deities sent
His-Augustness-Heaven-Plenty-Earth-Plenty-Heaven's-Sun-Height-Prince-Rice-Ear-Ruddy-Plenty,<note place='foot'>The name of this prince of which the translation is here given is
usually shortened to Ninigi-no-Mikoto.</note>
who was
<pb n='047'/><anchor id='Pg047'/>
a grandson of Her-Augustness-the-Sun-Goddess, to
dwell in and rule over it. There were joined to him
in this mission<note place='foot'>Nakatomi-no-Muraji is also among these, who was the
ancestor of the Fujiwara family that from the reign of the Emperor Tenji
attained great political distinction.</note> the Deity-Prince-of-Saruta as his
vanguard and five chiefs of companies. They gave
him also the string of jewels and the mirror with
which the Sun Goddess had been allured from the
cave, and also the herb-quelling-great-sword which
His-Augustness-the-Impetuous-Male-Deity had
taken from the tail of the serpent. And they
charged him saying, Regard this mirror precisely as
if it were our august spirit, and reverence it as if
reverencing us.
</p>

<p>
Then His-Augustness-Heaven's-Prince-Rice-Ear-Ruddy-Plenty,
taking leave of the plains of heaven,
and pushing asunder the heavenly spreading clouds,
descended upon the peak of Takachiho<note place='foot'>Dr. Rein in 1875 was
shown an old sword on the top of this mountain which is
claimed to have been carried on this occasion.&mdash;Rein's
<hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, p. 214, note.</note> in Tsukushi,
a mountain which is still pointed out in the present
island of Kyūshū. And noting that the place was
an exceedingly good country, he built for himself a
palace and dwelt there. And he married a wife who
was the daughter of a deity of the place, who bore
him three sons whom he named Prince Fire-Shine,
Prince Fire-Climax, and Prince Fire-Subside.
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>Princes Fire-Shine and Fire-Subside.</hi>
</p>

<p>
Now Prince Fire-Shine was a notable fisherman
and Prince Fire-Subside was a hunter. And Prince
<pb n='048'/><anchor id='Pg048'/>
Fire-Subside said unto his elder brother, Let us exchange
our occupations and try our luck. And
after some hesitation on the part of the elder
brother the exchange was made. But Prince Fire-Subside
was not successful and lost the fish-hook in
the sea. Then Prince Fire-Shine proposed to his
younger brother to exchange back the implements
which they had used. But the younger brother
said he had had no luck and had lost the hook in
the sea. But Prince Fire-Shine was angry and
demanded his hook. Then Prince Fire-Subside
broke his sword into many fragments and made
them into fish-hooks, which he gave to his brother
in place of the one he had lost. But he would not
receive them. Then he made a thousand fish-hooks
and offered these. But he said, I want my original
hook.
</p>

<p>
And as Prince Fire-Subside was weeping by the
sea shore the Deity Salt-Possessor came to him and
asked him why he wept. He replied, I have exchanged
a fish-hook with my elder brother, and have
lost it, and he will not be satisfied with any compensation
I can make, but demands the original hook.
Then the Deity Salt-Possessor built a boat and set
him in it, and said to him, Sail on in this boat along
this way, and you will come to a palace built of
fishes' scales. It is the palace of the Deity Ocean-Possessor.
There will be a cassia tree by the well
near the palace. Go and sit in the top of that tree,
and the daughter of the Ocean-Possessor will come
to thee and tell thee what to do.
</p>

<p>
So he sailed away in the boat and came to the
<pb n='049'/><anchor id='Pg049'/>
palace of the Ocean-Possessor, and he climbed the
cassia tree and sat there. And the maidens of the
daughter of the Sea Deity came out to draw water,
and saw the beautiful young man sitting in the tree.
Then he asked them for some water. And they
drew water and gave it to him in a jewelled cup.
Without drinking from it he took the jewel from his
neck and put it in his mouth and spat it into the
vessel, and it clung to the vessel. So the maidens
took the vessel and the jewel clinging to it into the
palace to their mistress. And they told her that a
beautiful young man was sitting in the cassia tree
by the well.
</p>

<p>
The Sea Deity then went out himself and recognized
the young man as Prince Fire-Subside. He
brought him into the palace, spread rugs for him to
sit on, and made a banquet for him. He gave him
his daughter in marriage, and he abode there three
years.
</p>

<p>
At last one morning his daughter reported to the
Sea Deity that Prince Fire-Subside, although he had
passed three years without a sigh, yet last night he
had heaved one deep sigh. The Sea Deity asked
him why he sighed. Then Prince Fire-Subside told
him about his difficulty with his brother, and how
he would accept no compensation for his lost fish-hook,
but demanded the return of the original.
Thereupon the Sea Deity summoned together all
the fishes of the sea and asked them if any one of
them had swallowed this hook. And all the fishes
said that the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>tai</foreign>
had complained of something sticking
in its throat, and doubtless that was the lost
<pb n='050'/><anchor id='Pg050'/>
hook. The throat of the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>tai</foreign>
therefore being examined,
the hook was found and given to Prince
Fire-Subside.
</p>

<p>
Then the Sea Deity dismissed him to his own
country, and gave him two jewels, a flow-tide jewel
and an ebb-tide jewel. And he set him on the head
of an immense crocodile and bade the crocodile convey
him carefully and come back and make a report.
And Prince Fire-Subside gave the recovered hook to
his brother. But a spirit of animosity still dwelt in
his heart, and he tried to kill his brother. Then
Prince Fire-Subside threw out the flow-tide jewel,
and the tide came in upon the Prince Fire-Shine and
was about to drown him. And he cried out to his
brother and expressed his repentance. Then Prince
Fire-Subside threw out the ebb-tide jewel and the
tide flowed back and left him safe.
</p>

<p>
Then Prince Fire-Shine bowed his head before his
younger brother, and said, Henceforth I will be thy
guard by day and night, and will faithfully serve
thee.
</p>

<p>
And His-Augustness-Prince-Fire-Subside succeeded
his father and dwelt in the palace of
Takachiho five hundred and eighty years. The
place of his tomb is still shown on Mount Takachiho
in the province of Hyūga of the island of Kyūshū.
And he left as his successor his son, whom the
daughter of the Sea Deity had borne him. And
this son was the father of His-Augustness-Divine-Yamato-Iware-Prince,
who is known to posterity by
his canonical name of Jimmu, the first emperor of
Japan.
</p>

</div>

<pb n='051'/><anchor id='Pg051'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf'/>
<head>Chapter IV. Founding The Empire.</head>

<p>
We have now come to the time when the movements
which resulted in the establishment of the
empire of Japan took place. The events are still
overlaid with myth and legend, which could only
have been transmitted by oral tradition. But they
have to do with characters and places which are tied
to the present by stronger cords than those of the
divine age. What the events really were which are
involved in the myths of the preceding chapter it is
impossible to predicate. That the celestial invasion
of the island of Kyūshū means the coming thither
of a chief and his followers from the continent by
way of Korea seems most reasonable. The inter-mixture
of Izumo with these legends may mean
that another migration of a kindred race took place
to that part of the Main island. The easy access to
both Izumo and Kyūshū from Korea makes these
migrations the natural explanation of the landing
of the Japanese upon these fertile and tempting
islands.
</p>

<p>
Without settling the difficult ethnographical questions
which are involved in this problem, we propose
<pb n='052'/><anchor id='Pg052'/>
to follow the Kyūshū invaders into the Main island.
We will note the slow and laborious steps by which
they proceeded to establish a government, which
through many changes and emergencies continues
to this day.
</p>

<p>
The Prince, whom we will continue to call Jimmu,<note place='foot'>This canonical name
was given to him in the reign of the
Emperor Kwammu, who commanded Mifune-no-Mikoto to select
suitable canonical names for all past emperors, and these have since
been used.</note>
had an elder brother, Prince Itsu-se, who seems, however,
to have been less active and energetic than the
younger. At least, even from the first it is Prince
Jimmu who is represented as taking the initiative in
the movements which were now begun. The two
brothers consulted together and resolved to conduct
an expedition towards the east. It will be remembered
that their grandfather had established his
palace on Mount Takachiho, which is one of the two
highest peaks in Kyūshū, situated in the province
of Hyūga, nearly in the middle of the southern
extension of the island of Kyūshū. It was from
this place that the two brothers started on their expedition.
It was no doubt such an expedition as
the Norse Vikings of a later day often led into the
islands of their neighbors. They had with them a
force composed of the descendants of the invaders
who had come with their grandfather from the continent.
They marched first through the country
called Toyo, which was a luxuriant and fertile region
on the northeast part of the island. Thence
they marched to the palace of Wokada, situated in
<pb n='053'/><anchor id='Pg053'/>
a district of the island of Tsukushi, lying on the
northwest coast facing Tsushima and the peninsula
of Korea, and bordering on the straits of the Inland
sea. Here they remained a year and probably
built the boats by which they crossed the Inland sea.
</p>

<p>
From Tsukushi they crossed to the province of
Aki in the Main island on the coast of the Inland
sea, where it is said they remained seven years.
The progress seems like that of the hordes of the
Goths in the early ages of European history. It
was not merely a military expedition, but a migration
of a tribe with all its belongings, women and
children, old men and old women, and household
and agricultural effects. The military band under
Prince Jimmu and his brother formed the vanguard
and protection of the tribe. During their seven
years' sojourn in Aki they were compelled to resort
to agriculture as well as fishing for their support.
</p>

<p>
Then they skirted along the north coast of the
Inland sea to Takashima in the province of Kibi.
Thence they crept with their awkward boats eastward
among the luxuriant islands. They met a
native of the coast out in his boat fishing and engaged
his services as a guide. He conducted them
to Naniwa, which now bears the name of Ōsaka,
where they encountered the swift tides and rough
sea which navigators still meet in this place. Finally
they landed at a point which we cannot recognize,
but which must have been in the neighborhood of
Ōsaka at the mouth of the Yodo river.
</p>

<p>
Here their conflicts with the natives began. The
whole region seems to have been occupied by tribes
<pb n='054'/><anchor id='Pg054'/>
not unlike their own, who had probably come thither
from the settlements in Izumo. The first to dispute
their progress was Prince Nagasuné (Long Legs),
of Tomi, who raised an army and resisted the landing
of the invaders. It was in the battle that ensued
at this place that Prince Itsu-se, the elder brother,
received a wound in his hand from an arrow shot by
Prince Nagasuné. The reason given reveals a curious
superstition which seems to have prevailed from
this early time. The Japanese prince on receiving
the wound exclaims, <q>It is not right for me, an
august child of the Sun Goddess, to fight facing the
sun. It is for this reason that I am stricken by the
wretched villain's hurtful hand.</q> Prince Itsu-se, after
a few days, died from the effects of the wound. He
is buried on mount Kama in the province of Kii.
</p>

<p>
It is needless to recount all the legends which
cluster around this invasion of the central provinces
of Japan; about the wild boar which came out of
the mountains near Kumano, before which Prince
Jimmu and all his warriors fell down in a faint;
about the miraculous sword which was sent down
from the heavenly plains to aid him in subduing the
Central-Land-of-Reed-Plains; about a crow eight feet
long which was sent to guide him in his expedition,
and about the deities with tails who in several
places were encountered. To our conception they
seem meaningless, and do not in any measure contribute
to the progress of the story. They bear
evidence of a later invention, and do not belong
legitimately to the narrative.
</p>

<p>
At Uda, on the east coast of the Yamato peninsula,
<pb n='055'/><anchor id='Pg055'/>
there lived two brothers named Ukashi. The
elder brother undertook to deceive Prince Jimmu,
and set a trap in which to capture and slay him.
But the younger brother revealed the plot, whereupon
the followers of Prince Jimmu compelled the
traitor to retreat into his own trap, where they killed
him. The younger brother was honored and rewarded
by Jimmu, and appears afterward among
the hereditary princes of the country.
</p>

<p>
Again, as he was making his progress through the
country Prince Jimmu came upon a company of the
savages known as pit-dwellers,<note place='foot'>See Milne's paper on <q>Pit-Dwellers
of Yezo and Kurile Islands,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Asiatic Society
of Japan</hi>, vol. x., p. 187.</note> whom the <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>
calls earth-spiders, and describes them as having
tails. There appear to have existed at this period
remnants of these tribes as far south as the 35th
parallel. At a later period they were driven out by
the Ainos, and nothing but some of their relics now
exists, even in Yezo. The peculiarity by which they
were known was, that they lived in a sort of pit dug
out of the earth in the sides of the mountains, over
which they built a roof of limbs and grass. In the
present case there were eighty of the warriors of
this tribe. Prince Jimmu made a banquet for them
in one of their pits and assigned an equal number of
his own men to act as attendants. Each of these
attendants was girded with a sword. Then from a
post outside he sang a song,<note place='foot'><p>A large number of
songs are handed down in the traditions of this
period. They are in the most ancient form of the language and are
not easy to translate. We give as a specimen Jimmu's song from
Chamberlain's translation of <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>,
<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>,
vol. x., Supplement, p. 142.
</p>
<p>
Into the great cave of Ōsaka people have
entered in abundance and are there.
Though people have entered in abundance
and are there, the children of the augustly
powerful warriors will smite and finish them
with their mallet-headed swords, their
stone-mallet swords: the children of the
augustly powerful warriors, with their
mallet-headed swords, their stone-mallet
swords, would now do well to
smite.
</p></note> and at a given signal
<pb n='056'/><anchor id='Pg056'/>
in this song the eighty attendants fell upon the
eighty earth-spiders and slew them all.
</p>

<p>
Thus having subdued all opposing forces and
brought the country into subjection, Prince Jimmu
established himself in a palace built for him at Kashiwara
in the province of Yamato. This is usually
regarded by Japanese historians as the beginning of
the empire, and the present era<note place='foot'>For example, the organization
of a parliament took place in 1890,
which in the Japanese reckoning would be 2550 from Jimmu's setting
up his capital in Yamato.</note> is reckoned from
this establishment of a capital in Yamato. From
the record of the length of the reigns of the several
emperors contained in the <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>,
and the <hi rend='italic'>Nihongi</hi>,
and later books, the date of the accession of the
Emperor Jimmu is fixed at 660 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi> We have given
elsewhere<note place='foot'>See p. <ref target='Pg032'>32</ref>.</note>
our reason for believing the record of
the early reigns of doubtful authenticity. Nevertheless,
as it is impossible to propose a definite
change, it is better to use the accepted scheme with
its admitted defects.
</p>

<pb n='057'/><anchor id='Pg057'/>

<p>
The Emperor Jimmu after his accession continued
to reign seventy-five years and, according to the
<hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>, died at the age of one hundred and thirty-seven.
The <hi rend='italic'>Nihongi</hi>, however, gives his age at
death as one hundred and twenty-seven, and this
has been adopted by the government in its published
chronology.<note place='foot'>See list of emperors, <ref target='Appendix_I'>Appendix
I</ref>.</note> His burial place is said to be on the
northern side of mount Unebi in the province of
Yamato. It is just to assign to the Emperor Jimmu
the exalted place which the Japanese claim for him
in their history. That he was a prince of high enterprise
is evident from his adventurous expedition
from the home of his family into the barbarous and
unknown regions of the Main island. He accomplished
its conquest with less slaughter and cruelty
than the customs of the times seemed to justify.
He made it his policy to effect terms with the native
princes and seek their co-operation in his government.
He extended his sway so that it covered Anato, now
known as Nagato, and Izumo on the west, and
reached probably to Owari on the east. All this
time he had held a firm hand on the island from
which he had come, so that few if any outbreaks
occurred among its restless Turanian or native inhabitants.
</p>

<p>
The Emperor Jimmu was succeeded by his third
son, known by his canonical name as the Emperor
Suizei. The reigning emperor, it seems, exercised
the right to select the son who should succeed him.
This was not always the oldest son, but from the
time he was chosen he was known as <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>taishi</foreign>,
which is
<pb n='058'/><anchor id='Pg058'/>
nearly equivalent to the English term crown prince.
The Emperor Suizei, it is said, occupied a palace at
Takaoka, in Kazuraki, in the province of Yamato.
This palace was not far from that occupied by his
father, yet it was not the same. And in the reigns
of the successive sovereigns down to <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 709, when
the capital was for a time established at Nara, we
observe it as a most singular circumstance that each
new emperor resided in a new palace. In the first
place, the palace spoken of in these early times was
probably a very simple structure. Mr. Satow, in his
paper<note place='foot'>Satow, <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Asiatic Society
of Japan</hi>, vol. ii. p. 113.</note> on the temples at Isé, gives an account of the
form and construction of the prehistoric Japanese
house. The Shintō temple in its pure form is probably
a survival of the original palace. Before the
introduction of edge-tools of iron and boring implements
or nails, the building must have been
constructed in a very primitive fashion. It will be
understood that stone or brick were never used.
Wood was the only material for the frame. The
roof was thatched with rushes or rice straw. The
pure Shintō temples of modern times are built with
the utmost simplicity and plainness. Although
the occasion for adhering to primitive methods has
long since passed away, yet the buildings are conformed
to the styles of structure necessary before
the introduction of modern tools and appliances.
To build a new palace therefore for a new emperor
involved by no means such an outlay of time and
work as might be imagined.
</p>

<pb n='059'/><anchor id='Pg059'/>

<p>
It is not improbable that when a young man was
chosen crown prince he had an establishment of his
own assigned to him, and this became his palace
which he occupied when he became emperor. When
a man died, and especially when an emperor died, it
was an ancient custom to abandon his abode. It
became unclean by the presence in it of a dead body,
and therefore was no longer used.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/shinto-temple.png' rend='width: 60%'>
    <head>Shinto Temple</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
Nothing is narrated of the immediate successors
of the Emperor Jimmu of importance to this story.
<pb n='060'/><anchor id='Pg060'/>
The accounts contained in either of the oldest histories
relate merely to the genealogies of the several
sovereigns.
</p>

<p>
The Emperor Suizei was, as we have seen, the
third son of Jimmu and reigned thirty-two years,
dying at the age of eighty-four.<note place='foot'>We follow in these figures the
chronology which has been authorized
by the government. <ref target='Appendix_I'>Appendix I</ref>.</note>
</p>

<p>
The third emperor was Annei, the only son of the
Emperor Suizei. He reigned thirty-seven years and
died at the age of fifty-seven.
</p>

<p>
The fourth emperor was Itoku, the oldest son of
the Emperor Annei. He reigned thirty-three years
and died at the age of seventy-seven.
</p>

<p>
The fifth emperor was Kōshō, the oldest son of
the Emperor Itoku. He reigned eighty-two years
and died at the age of one hundred and fourteen
years.
</p>

<p>
The sixth emperor was Kōan, the oldest son of
the Emperor Kōshō. He reigned one hundred and
one years and died at the age of one hundred and
thirty-seven.
</p>

<p>
The seventh emperor was Kōrei, the second son
of the Emperor Kōan. He reigned seventy-five
years and died at the age of one hundred and twenty-eight.
</p>

<p>
The eighth emperor was Kōgen, the oldest son of
the Emperor Kōrei. He reigned fifty-six years and
died at the age of one hundred and sixteen.
</p>

<p>
The ninth emperor was Kaikwa, a younger son
of the Emperor Kōgen. He reigned fifty-nine years
and died at the age of one hundred and eleven.
</p>

<pb n='061'/><anchor id='Pg061'/>

<p>
The tenth emperor was Sūjin, a younger son
of the Emperor Kaikwa. He reigned sixty-seven
years and died at the age of one hundred and nineteen.
It is narrated that during his reign a pestilence
broke out which was so severe that the country
was almost depopulated. The emperor was greatly
disturbed by this calamity, and there appeared to
him in the night a divine vision. The Great Deity,
the Great Master of Things, appeared and revealed
to him, that if he would cause him to be appropriately
worshipped the pestilence would cease. The
worship was accordingly ordained and executed, and
the pestilence forthwith abated.
</p>

<p>
In this reign expeditions were also sent into the
northwestern and northeastern districts of the Main
island to repress the disturbances which had arisen.
The reports from these expeditions were in each
case favorable, and the whole empire was in a condition
of quiet and prosperity, such as had not before
existed. Taxes were for the first time levied on the
proceeds of the chase and on the handiwork of the
women. Reservoirs for the collection of water, used
in the irrigation of the rice crops, were constructed
in the imperial provinces, and encouragement was
everywhere given to the growing industries of the
country.
</p>

<p>
The Emperor Sūjin was succeeded by his younger
son who is known as the eleventh emperor under the
name of Suinin. He is said to have reigned ninety-nine
years, and to have died at the age of one
hundred and forty-one.
</p>

<p>
A conspiracy came near ending the life of this
<pb n='062'/><anchor id='Pg062'/>
emperor. A brother of the empress was ambitious
to attain supreme authority. He approached his
sister with the subtle question, Which is dearer to
thee, thine elder brother or thy husband? She replied,
My elder brother is dearer. Then he said,
If I be truly the dearer to thee, let me and thee rule
the empire. And he gave her a finely tempered
dagger and said to her, Slay the emperor with this
in his sleep. So the emperor, unconscious of danger,
was sleeping one day with his head on the lap of the
empress. And she, thinking the time had come,
was about to strike him with the dagger. But her
courage failed her, and tears fell from her eyes on
the face of the sleeping emperor. He started up,
awakened by the falling tears, and said to her, I
have had a strange dream. A violent shower came
up from the direction of Saho and suddenly wet my
face. And a small damask-colored snake coiled
itself around my neck. What can such a dream
betoken? Then the empress, conscience-stricken,
confessed the conspiracy with her brother.
</p>

<p>
The emperor, knowing that no time was to be lost,
immediately collected a force of troops and marched
against his brother-in-law. He had entrenched himself
behind palisades of timber and awaited the
emperor's attack. The empress, hesitating between
her brother and her husband, had made her escape
to her brother's palace. At this terrible juncture
she was delivered of a child. She brought the child
to the palisades in sight of the emperor, and cried
out to him to take it under his care. He was deeply
moved by her appeal to him and forthwith planned
<pb n='063'/><anchor id='Pg063'/>
to rescue both the child and its mother. He chose
from among his warriors a band of the bravest and
most cunning, and commanded them, saying, When
ye go to take the child, be sure that ye seize also the
mother.
</p>

<p>
But she, fearing that the soldiers would try to
snatch her when they came for the child, shaved off
her hair and covered her head with the loose hair as
if it were still adhering. And she made the jewel-strings
around her neck and arms rotten, and she
rendered her garments, by which they might catch
hold of her, tender by soaking them in <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>saké</foreign>.
When the soldiers came to her she gave them the
child and fled. Then they seized her by the hair
and it came away in their hands; and they clutched
at the jewel-strings and they broke; and then they
grasped her garments, but they had been rendered
tender and gave way in their hands. So she escaped
from them and fled. Then they went back to the
emperor and reported that they had been unable to
capture the mother, but they had brought the babe.
The emperor was angry at what the soldiers told
him. He was angry at the jewellers who had made
the rotten jewel-strings and deprived them of their
lands. He called to the empress through the burning
palisades around the palace&mdash;for the soldiers
had set fire to the palace&mdash;saying, A child's
name must be given by its mother; what shall be
the name of this child? And she answered, Let it
be called Prince Homu-chiwake. And again he
called: How shall he be reared? She replied, Take
for him a foster-mother and bathing woman who
<pb n='064'/><anchor id='Pg064'/>
shall care for him. Then he asked again, saying:
Who shall loosen the small, fresh pendant which you
have tied upon him? And she gave directions concerning
this also. Then the emperor paused no
longer, but slew the rebellious prince in his burning
palace, and the empress perished with her wicked
brother.
</p>

<p>
Following this is a long legend concerning this
child which was dumb from its birth, and how he
was sent to worship at the temple of the deities of
Izumo, and how he miraculously attained the power
of speech and was brought back to his father.
</p>

<p>
It was during the reign of this emperor also that
Tajima-mori was sent to China to fetch specimens
of the orange-tree for introduction into Japan. He
returned with them, but when he reached the capital
the emperor was dead. The messenger was shocked
and brought the specimens of the orange-tree to the
burial place of the emperor, where he died from grief.
</p>

<p>
Up to this time it seems to have been the cruel
custom to bury with the deceased members of the
imperial family, and perhaps with others of high
rank, the living retainers and horses who had been
in their service. It is said that when the emperor's
younger brother died (<hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi> 2) they buried along with
him his living retainers, placing them upright in a
circle around him and leaving their heads uncovered.
Night and day were heard the agonizing cries of
these thus left to die of starvation. The emperor
was greatly moved and resolved that this terrible
custom should be abolished. Four years later the
empress herself died, and the emperor called together
<pb n='065'/><anchor id='Pg065'/>
his counsellors to propose some plan by which this
practice of living sacrifices could be avoided. Thereupon
one of his counsellors, Nomi-no-Sukuné, advanced
and begged the emperor to listen to a scheme
which he had to present. He suggested that, instead
of burying the living retainers with their master or
mistress, clay images of men and women and horses
be set up in a circle around the burial place. The
plan pleased the emperor vastly, and images were at
once made and buried around the dead empress.
As a mark of his high appreciation Nomi-no-Sukuné
was appointed chief of the clay-workers guild.
</p>

<p>
It appears probable that this cruel usage of burying
living retainers with their dead master was not
entirely ended by this substitution of clay images.
As late as <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 646 the emperor found it necessary
to prescribe regulations for funerals and to forbid
the burial of living retainers. Mr. Satow<note place='foot'>E. M. Satow,
<q>Ancient Sepulchral Mounds in Kaudzuke,</q>
<hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan</hi>, vol.
viii., pp. 11, 330.</note> has given
a most interesting account of this edict which pertains
not only to the practice of burial of retainers,
but also to the size of vaults and mounds and the
number of laborers who might be employed in preparing
the structure.
</p>

<p>
The images used as a substitute for living retainers
were called <hi rend='italic'>Tsuchio Ningio</hi> (clay images). They
have been found in many parts of the country, especially
in the home provinces where the burial of the
imperial families and the connected nobility took
place. This burying of images seems to have died
out about <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 700. Its discontinuance probably
<pb n='066'/><anchor id='Pg066'/>
was owing to the growing prevalence of Buddhism
which discountenanced a custom founded on a religion
anterior to it.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/buried-images.png' rend='width: 60%'>
    <head>Buried Images</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
The Emperor Suinin was succeeded by his younger
son Keikō who became the twelfth emperor. He
reigned fifty-nine years, and died at the age of one
hundred and forty-three. His son, Prince O-usu,
who afterward was known as Yamato-dake, is represented
as pursuing a most daring and romantic
career. The myths concerning him are among the
most picturesque in Japanese history.
</p>

<p>
The first adventure narrated of him was regarding
his elder brother. His father asked him, Why does
not thy elder brother make his appearance at the
imperial banquets? Do thou see after this and
teach him his duty.
</p>

<p>
A few days after his father said again to him,
Why dost not thy brother attend to his duty?
Hast thou not warned him as I bade thee?
</p>

<p>
The young prince replied that he had taken that
trouble. Then his father said, How didst thou
take the trouble to warn him? And the prince
coolly told him that he had slain him and thrown
his carcass away.
</p>

<p>
The emperor was alarmed at the coolness and
ferocity of his son, and bethought how he might
employ him advantageously. Now there were at
Kumaso in Kyūshū two brothers, fierce and rebellious
bandits, who paid small respect to the imperial
wishes. The emperor conceived that it would be a
fitting achievement for his fearless son to put an
end to these reckless outlaws. So Yamato-dake borrowed
<pb n='068'/><anchor id='Pg068'/>
from his aunt her female apparel, and hiding
a sword in the bosom of his dress, he sought out the
two outlaws in their hiding-place. They were about
to celebrate the occupancy of a new cave which they
had fitted up for themselves. They had invited a
goodly number of their neighbors, and especially
of the female sex. Prince Yamato-dake, who was
young and fresh-looking, put on his female disguise
and let down his hair which was still long. He
sauntered about the cave and went in where the two
outlaws were amusing themselves with their female
visitors. They were surprised and delighted to see
this new and beautiful face. They seated her between
them and did their best to entertain her.
</p>

<p>
Suddenly, when the outlaws were off their guard,
he drew his sword from his bosom and slew the elder
brother. The younger rushed out of the door of the
cave, the prince close at his heels. With one hand
he clutched him by the back and with the other
thrust him through with his sword. As he fell he
begged the prince to pause a moment and not to
withdraw his sword from his fatal wound.
</p>

<p>
Then the outlaw said, Who art thou? And he
told him and for what purpose he had come.
</p>

<p>
The outlaw said, There were in the west none so
brave as we two brothers. From this time forward
it shall be right to praise thee as the August Child
Yamato-dake (the bravest in Yamato).
</p>

<p>
As soon as he had said this, the prince <q>ripped
him up like a ripe melon.</q><note place='foot'>Chamberlain's translation of
<hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>,&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Asiatic
Society of Japan</hi>, vol. x., Supplement, p. 208.</note>
</p>

<pb n='069'/><anchor id='Pg069'/>

<p>
Then after he had subdued and pacified the rebellious
princes of the districts about the straits of
Shimonoseki he returned to the emperor and made
his report.
</p>

<p>
Following this account of Yamato-dake's adventures
in the West, there are given the interesting traditions
concerning his expedition to the East, and his
encounters with the Ainos, who inhabited the northern
part of the island. That there was a basis of
fact to these traditions there cannot be a doubt. Yet
the events have such an air of fable and poetry that
it is impossible to separate the fact from the legend.
As we have done in previous instances, we give the
stories in their essential entirety, leaving to scholars
hereafter the task of winnowing the grains of fact
out of the chaff which the imagination of the race
has left for us.
</p>

<p>
Prince Yamato-dake took on his expedition to the
East the Prince Mi-suki-tomo-mimi-take. The emperor
gave him these instructions: <q>Subdue and
pacify the savage deities, and likewise the unsubmissive
people of the twelve roads<note place='foot'>The roads or circuits here spoken of refer
to the roads constructed by the government along contiguous provinces and used for the
passage of troops and other government purposes. These circuits
have continued in use down to the present time.</note> of the East.</q>
</p>

<p>
Prince Yamato-dake first visited the temple of the
Sun Goddess in Isé, where he worshipped at the
shrine of his great ancestress. He must have had a
presentiment that he never would return alive from
this expedition. His aunt Yamato-hime,<note place='foot'><p>Yamato-hime or
Yamato-princess had been appointed high priestess of the temples in Isé, and in that
capacity had charge of the imperial
regalia which were deposited there. She is a very celebrated
person in Japanese legendary story and is said to have lived several
hundred years.
</p>
<p>
See Chamberlain's translation of <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>, p. 183, note 7;
<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol. x., Supplement.</p></note>
who was
<pb n='070'/><anchor id='Pg070'/>
the priestess of this temple, gave him on his departure
the sword<note place='foot'>See p. <ref target='Pg045'>45</ref>.</note>
which the Impetuous-Male-Deity
discovered in the tail of the snake which he slew in
Izumo. She also gave him a bag which he was not
to open until he found himself in pressing difficulty.
</p>

<p>
He came to the land of Owari, and appears there
to have been smitten by the charms of the Princess
Miyazu. And, planning to wed her on his way back,
he plighted to her his troth and went on. Then he
came to the province of Sagami, where he met the
chief of the land. But he deceived him and said that
in the midst of a vast moor there is a lagoon where
lives a deity. Yamato-dake went over the moor to
find the deity. Whereupon the chief set fire to the
grass, expecting to see him consumed. But Yamato-dake
seeing his danger, and being assured that the
time of pressing difficulty had come, opened the
bag which his aunt, Yamato-hime, had given him.
There he found a fire drill,<note place='foot'>See Satow's paper on the use
of the fire drill in Japan, <hi rend='italic'>Transactions
of Asiatic Society of Japan</hi>, vol. vii., p. 223.</note> with which a fire could
be struck. He cut away the grass around him with
the sword which had been given him, and then set
fire to the moor. When he was safe from the fire
he sought out and slew the traitorous chief and all
the chiefs who were associated with him.
</p>

<pb n='071'/><anchor id='Pg071'/>

<p>
From Sagami he undertook to cross in a boat the
waters of Yedo bay to Kazusa opposite. But the
sea was rough and they were on the point of being
overwhelmed and drowned. Then his wife, the
Princess Oto-Tachibana, who accompanied him on
this expedition, threw out mats from the boat, and
saying, <q>I will enter the sea instead of the prince;
you must finish the task on which you are sent,</q> she
sprang from the boat and sat down on the mats<note place='foot'>It is
one of the favorite subjects of Japanese art to represent the
Princess Oto-Tachibana sitting upon a pile of mats and the boat with
her husband sailing off in the quieted waters.</note> she
had thrown out. Immediately the waves were
quiet and the boat sailed on in safety. And the
comb of the princess was washed ashore, and the
people built for it a sacred mausoleum in which it
was kept.
</p>

<p>
Then Prince Yamato-dake penetrated the regions
occupied by the Ainos<note place='foot'>The name by which these
savage tribes were designated was
Yemishi; the name however is written in Chinese characters which
signify Prawn-Barbarians; in allusion to their heavy beards which
gave them the appearance of prawns. See p. <ref target='Pg022'>22</ref>.</note>
and subdued them. Having
accomplished this principal object of his undertaking,
he returned by way of the Usui pass
opposite to mount Fuji. As he stood in this lofty
position and looked out on the sea where his wife
had sacrificed herself for his safety, he cried out:
<q>Azuma ha ya!</q> (O my wife!) Azuma is a name
often used in poetry for the part of Japan north of
this pass. But whether this myth was invented to
explain the name, or the name was derived from the
incident, it is impossible to determine.
</p>

<pb n='072'/><anchor id='Pg072'/>

<p>
Then Prince Yomato-dake went into the high
lands of Shinano and after he had settled the disturbances
which existed there, he came back to
Owari where he had left the Princess Miyazu. In
one of his excursions into the rebellious regions he
was stricken with a fatal illness. In his enfeebled
condition he struggled on, almost unable to walk.
He made his way towards Isé. At Ōtsu, a village
on the coast of Owari bay, he recovered the sword
which he had left on his way to the East. In his
painful journey he sat down under a pine tree. The
spirit of poesy even in his pain came upon him and
he sang this little poem<note place='foot'>See Chamberlain's translation of
<hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>,&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>,
vol. x., Supplement, p. 218.</note> in praise of the pine tree:
</p>

<quote rend='display'>
<lg>
<l>O mine elder brother, the single pine tree</l>
<l>That art on cape Ōtsu, which directly faces Owari!</l>
<l>If thou single pine tree! wert a person,</l>
<l>I would gird my sword upon thee,</l>
<l>I would clothe thee with my garments,&mdash;</l>
<l>O mine elder brother, the single pine tree!</l>
</lg>
</quote>

<p>
He went on a little farther to Nobono and his
sickness became more serious. And there in the
open fields he felt that his end had come. He sent
the spoils of his expedition to the temple of his great
ancestress, the Sun Goddess. He sent his faithful
companion Prince Kibi-no-Takehito to the emperor
to carry his last message. It was: <q>I have chastised
the eastern barbarians according to your imperial
order with the help of the gods and with your
imperial influence. I hoped to return in triumph
<pb n='073'/><anchor id='Pg073'/>
with my weapons wrapped in white. But I have been
seized with a mortal disease, and I cannot recover.
I am lying in the sweet open fields. I do not care
for my life. I only regret that I cannot live to
appear before thee and make my report of my
expedition.</q>
</p>

<p>
And he died in the thirty-second year of his age.
And they buried him there and built a mausoleum
over his remains. The emperor lamented the death
of his gallant and immortal son, and made an imperial
progress into the regions which he had conquered
and pacified.
</p>

<p>
The successor to the Emperor Keikō was known
by the canonical name of Seimu. He was the
thirteenth emperor, and was the grandson of his
predecessor, having been a son of the hero Yamato-dake
who was the crown prince until his death. The
Emperor Seimu reigned fifty-nine years and died at
the age of one hundred and eight. Nothing noteworthy
is narrated of his reign.
</p>

<p>
His successor, the fourteenth emperor, was Chūai,
his eldest son. He reigned only eight years and
died at the age of fifty-two. It is remarkable that
his capital was in the island of Kyūshū and not in
the Main island, like his predecessors from the time
of the Emperor Jimmu. This removal was probably
due to the preparations which had already begun
for the invasion of Korea. The island of Kyūshū
is most favorably situated for the preparation and
sailing of such an expedition. The wife of this
emperor was Jingō-Kōgō, who was a much more
forcible and energetic character than her husband.
</p>

<pb n='074'/><anchor id='Pg074'/>

<p>
She is one of the heroines around whom much tradition
has gathered, and her successful invasion of
Korea is an event which the Japanese writers and
artists are never tired of representing. The legend&mdash;for
undoubtedly much of the story is legendary&mdash;is
essentially as follows:
</p>

<p>
The emperor was busy in Kyūshū in reducing to
subjection the tribes of the Kumaso who inhabited
the southern portion of the island. Up to this time
these restless tribes had given much trouble to the
empire and expeditions were constantly needed to
keep them in order. They were unquestionably of
a kindred race with the Japanese who accompanied
the Emperor Jimmu into the Main island. The
empress, afterward known as Jingō-Kōgō and the
faithful prime-minister Take-no-uchi<note place='foot'>He is chiefly
notable to foreigners because he is said to have
lived through the reigns of three emperors and to have reached the
age of three hundred years.</note> were at their
temporary palace at Kashihi. The empress in an interview
on the campaign became divinely possessed.
And she spoke to the emperor in the name of the
deity that possessed her saying, <q>There is a land at
the westward, and in that land there is abundance of
various treasures dazzling to the eye, from gold and
silver downwards. I will now bestow this land upon
thee.</q>
</p>

<p>
Then the emperor replied, <q>If you ascend to a
high place and look westward, no country is to be
seen; there is only the great sea.</q> And he pushed
away the lute upon which he was playing and said,
<q>They are lying deities which have spoken to you.</q>
<pb n='075'/><anchor id='Pg075'/>
Then the deity was very angry and spoke again
through the empress. <q>This empire is not a land
over which thou art fit to rule. Go thou the one
road.</q>
</p>

<p>
The prime-minister Take-no-uchi then said to the
emperor, <q>I am filled with awe, my heavenly sovereign,
at this fearful message. I pray thee continue
playing thy august lute.</q> Then he played softly;
and gradually the sound died away and all was still.
And they took a light and looking in his face, behold
he was dead.
</p>

<p>
The empress and the prime-minister Take-no-uchi
concealed for the time the death of the emperor, and
she herself proceeded to carry out the plan for the
invasion of Korea. With indefatigable energy she
gathered her forces and equipped a fleet for the
descent upon Korea. She set out from Wani in
Kyūshū in the tenth month of the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 202.
Even the fish of the sea were her allies, for with one
accord they bore the ship in which she sailed across
the intervening straits on their backs.
</p>

<p>
The coming of the Japanese was a complete surprise
to the people of Korea. At this time the
peninsula now known to us as Korea and to the
Japanese as Chōsen, was divided into three kingdoms,
Kōrai, Shiraki, and Kudara. The fleet of
Jingō-Kōgō landed in the kingdom of Shiraki. The
king was so completely unprepared for this incursion
that he at once offered his subjection and proposed
to become a tributary kingdom. The proposition
was accepted. The kings of Kōrai and Kudara
made similar proposals which also were accepted.
<pb n='076'/><anchor id='Pg076'/>
Each was to make an immediate contribution to the
empress, and annually thereafter to send tribute to
the capital of Japan. Thus they became the three
tributary countries (<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>sankan</foreign>) dependent on
Japan. Although this invasion of a foreign country without
cause or provocation must be pronounced indefensible,
yet it is not unlikely that the subject kingdoms
were quite as safe and free under the distant and
little intermeddlesome dominion of the Japanese
empire, as they had been in the past or were likely
to be in the future from their troublesome neighbors,
China and the restless Mongolian tribes. To Japan
the connection with the continent was of momentous
value. It opened up a natural and easy way for
the influx of those continental influences which were
to be of so great service in their future history.
</p>

<p>
The empress, having within three years completely
accomplished the object of her expedition, returned
with her fleet to Kyūshū. She brought back with
her hostages from the conquered kingdoms, to ensure
their fulfilment of the promises they had made.
She had learned many lessons of government which
she was not slow to introduce into her administration
at home. Soon after reaching Kyūshū she was
delivered of the son of whom she was pregnant at
the time of the death of the emperor, and who afterwards
became the Emperor Ōjin.
</p>

<p>
The object which she and her faithful prime-minister
had in concealing the death of the emperor
was accomplished. They now made the fact public,
and proclaimed her own son as her successor. Two
older sons of Chūai by another empress were unwilling
<pb n='077'/><anchor id='Pg077'/>
to submit to the rule of a younger brother.
But the Empress Jingō, who had now become a
national idol by her Korean expedition, soon put
down the conspiracy of these princes and reigned
till the end of her life and left a quiet succession to
her son.
</p>

<p>
She is said to have reigned as empress-regent<note place='foot'>She is not included in
the government list of emperors, and is
given in Appendix I. as empress-regent.</note> sixty-eight
years, and to have died at the age of one
hundred.
</p>

<p>
Her son became the fifteenth emperor and is
known by the canonical name of Ōjin. He commenced
his reign in the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 270, and reigned
forty years and died at the age of one hundred and
ten. But the beginning of his reign is reckoned
in the government list from the death of his
father. The Emperor Ōjin is widely worshipped as
Hachiman the god of war, although he is by no
means noted as a warrior. The explanation of this
curious circumstance is found in the fact that his
mother was pregnant with him during her famous
invasion of Korea, and her heroism and success are
attributed to the martial character of her unborn son.
</p>

<p>
The good fruits of the Korean conquest particularly
showed themselves in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 284, when the king
of Kudara sent his usual tribute to the emperor of
Japan. The ambassador for that year was Ajiki, a
learned man who was familiar with Chinese literature.
At the request of the emperor he gave the
young prince, who afterwards became the Emperor
Nintoku, lessons in the Chinese language and literature.
<pb n='078'/><anchor id='Pg078'/>
The year following the king of Kudara seeing
how much his efforts to furnish Chinese learning
were appreciated, sent an eminent Chinese scholar,
Wani, who took with him the <hi rend='italic'>Confucian Analects</hi> and
the <hi rend='italic'>Thousand Character Essay</hi>, two noted Chinese
classics and presented them to the emperor. The
prince continued his studies under Wani and became
a very learned man.
</p>

<p>
The emperor had three sons between whom he
wished to divide his authority, wishing however to
establish his youngest son as the crown prince and
his successor. He summoned them before him and
put this question to the elder, <q>Which should be
preferred, a younger son or an older?</q> Then the
elder son replied that he thought the older son
should be preferred. But the emperor turned to the
second son and asked him the same question. He
replied that as the older son was more grown and
less of a care, he thought the younger son would be
more of a favorite. The emperor was pleased with
this reply because it coincided with his own sentiment.
He created his youngest son, Prince Waka-iratsu,
the crown prince and ordered his second son,
Prince Osasagi, to assist him. He gave the charge
of the mountains, rivers, forests, fields, etc. to his
eldest son.
</p>

<p>
So when the Emperor Ōjin died <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 310, the
younger son urged his brother to accept the imperial
power; but he declined, saying: <q>How can I disobey
the commands of my father?</q> The oldest of the
three brothers, learning of the controversy, undertook
to secure the authority for himself by a plot.
The conspiracy was, however, soon put down and
<pb n='079'/><anchor id='Pg079'/>
the elder brother slain. The friendly dispute between
the two other brothers lasted three years
and was finally ended by the younger committing
suicide, and thus devolving the imperial office on
his remaining brother. This brother was the noted
Emperor Nintoku. He began his reign in the year
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 313, and died
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 399 in the one hundred and
tenth year of his age. He was a most careful and
considerate ruler. By observing his subjects he
was convinced that they were overburdened and
impoverished with the taxes which the government
collected from them. So he announced by an imperial
decree that for three years all taxes should
be remitted. Even the sums which were necessary
to keep the palace in repair and to provide his court
with suitable clothing were not collected. And the
palace grew shabby, and its roof leaked, and he himself
went about in coarse and cheap garments. And
the farmers came to him and begged that they might
contribute to his wants. But he refused, and suffered
three years to pass. In the meantime the
country revived, and the farmers being relieved from
the burdens which they had so long borne entered
on a long period of encouraging prosperity. He
surveyed the land from a high outlook, and saw the
curling smoke and the fertile fields and rejoiced.
Then he gave commands, and the taxes were renewed,
and the people paid them willingly, and they
in their gratitude called Nintoku the Sage Emperor.
</p>

<p>
It was in the reign of the Emperor Nintoku that
the noted prime-minister Prince Take-no-uchi is said
to have died. He had served six emperors, viz.:
Keikō, Seimu, Chūai, Jingō-Kōgō, Ōjin, and Nintoku.
<pb n='080'/><anchor id='Pg080'/>
His age<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>Kokushian</hi>, compiled under the
Department of Education.
<hi rend='italic'>Ad Locum</hi>.</note> is given variously from two hundred and
eighty-two to three hundred and eighty, in different
books, one of which is a Chinese work and one a
Korean. It will be remembered that he was the
chief adviser of the warlike Empress Jingō in her
invasion of Korea, and took an active part in the
events which followed that expedition. That there
was such a figure in Japanese history there can be
little doubt, but that much of his life and the great
age to which he lived are like many of the stories of
the characters in the midst of which he lived, legendary
and mythical, no one can question.
</p>

<p>
It was in this reign also that we have it stated
that historiographers were sent out to the provinces
and directed to make record of all important events
and forward them to the court.
</p>

<p>
We have now reached a point in Japanese history
where the accounts compiled by the historians of the
times have written records on which to rely. The
legendary and marvellous stories which have been
the bulk of the preceding history may now be replaced
by the soberer narrations which writing has
preserved for us. It will be seen that the lives<note place='foot'>See
<ref target='Appendix_I'>Appendix I</ref>.</note> of
the emperors now drop from the astonishing age
which in previous years they attained to a very
moderate and reasonable length. In the subsequent
chapters will be found the sober and chastened
story to which Japanese history is henceforth
reduced.
</p>

</div>

<pb n='081'/><anchor id='Pg081'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf'/>
<head>Chapter V. Native Culture And Continental Influences.</head>

<p>
Before going on to the meagre story which is
supplied to us by the early years of Japanese history,
it will be well to glean from the myths and legends
which tradition has preserved the lessons which they
contain. Although we may be unable to concede
the truth of these traditions in their entirety, and
believe in the celestial origin of the race and the
wonders of the divine age, we may be able to obtain
from them many important facts regarding the
habits and manner of life of the early Japanese.
</p>

<p>
We have often referred to the admirable work
Mr. Chamberlain has done in his translation of the
<hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>, and in the scholarly notes he has added.
But in our present enquiries we must give him
still greater credit for the important lessons which
he has drawn from the myths and legends of the
<hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi> in his learned introduction. No writer at the
present day can afford to dispense with the deductions
which he has been able to draw from the oldest
writings of the Japanese, and from the traditions of
an older date which these writings have preserved.
<pb n='082'/><anchor id='Pg082'/>
Relying therefore chiefly on this learned
introduction,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the
Asiatic Society of Japan</hi>, vol. x., Supplement.</note>
we propose to enumerate in a summary manner
the particulars concerning the early Japanese life.
</p>

<p>
In the first place the government of the early
Japanese was of the tribal order. The emperor was
the chieftain of an expedition which came from the
island of Kyūshū and established a government by
conquest. The chiefs of the various localities were
reduced to subjection and became tributary to the
emperor, or were replaced by new chiefs appointed
by the emperor. The government was therefore
essentially feudal in its characteristics. The emperor
depended for the consideration of his plans
and for their execution upon officers who were attached
to his court. There were guilds composed
of those who manufactured various articles, or who
were employed to execute special plans. Thus we
have guilds of clay image makers, guilds of ladies
attendant on the emperor, guilds of butlers, guilds
of cooks, guilds of guards, etc. To each of these
there was a captain who became by appointment
hereditary chief. We have no mention of money for
the payment of services rendered. The taxes were
probably paid in kind. And all transactions as far
as they are mentioned at all seem to have been of
the nature of barter.
</p>

<p>
The religious notions of the prehistoric Japanese
were founded on the myths relating to their ancestor.
Notwithstanding the vast number of deities
who came into existence according to tradition,
most of them vanish as soon as they are named and
<pb n='083'/><anchor id='Pg083'/>
are no more heard of. Even deities like Izanagi and
Izanami, who are represented as taking so important
a part in events, are not perpetuated as objects of
worship in Japanese history, and have no temples
erected to their memory and no service prescribed
or maintained in their honor. The most important
deity in the Pantheon of the Japanese was Amaterasu-ō-mi-kami,
who is also called in Chinese characters
Tensho Daijin or the Sun Goddess. She appears
not only in the myths concerning the origin of the
Japanese race, but as the grandmother of the divine
prince Hiko-ho-no-ni-nigi, who first came down to
rule the Japanese empire. In the Shintō temples at
Isé the principal deity worshipped at Gekū is Uké-moche-no-Kami,
and the secondary deities Ninigi-no-Mikoto,
who came down to found the Japanese
empire and was the grandmother of the Emperor
Jimmu, and two others. At the Naikū the principal
deity is Amaterasu-ō-mi-kami (from heaven shining
great deity), also called the Sun Goddess, and two
secondary deities. The temples at Isé, especially
those that are dedicated to the Sun Goddess, are the
most highly regarded of any in Japan. Other
temples of considerable popularity are situated in
other parts of the empire. Thus there are Shintō
temples in Kyūshū and in Izumo, which are old
parts of Japan settled long before Buddhism was
introduced.
</p>

<p>
The Shintō religion must be regarded as the primitive
religion of the Japanese people. It prevailed
among them long before Buddhism was propagated
by priests from Korea. It differs from all known
<pb n='084'/><anchor id='Pg084'/>
systems of religion, in having no body of dogma by
which its adherents are held together. The greatest
advocate of Shintoism, Moto-ori, a writer of the 18th
century, admits that it has no moral code. He asserts
that <q>morals<note place='foot'>E. M. Satow,
<hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan</hi>,
vol. ii., p. 135.</note> were invented by the Chinese
because they were an immoral people, but in Japan
there was no necessity for any system of morals, as
every Japanese acted rightly if he only consulted his
own heart.</q>
</p>

<p>
Reference is frequently made in the early stories
to divination, or the process of obtaining the will of
the gods by indirection. The oldest method of divination
was by using the shoulder-blade of a deer. It
was scraped entirely free from flesh, and then placed
over a fire made from cherry wood. The divine will
was determined by the cracks caused by the fire in
the bone. A later method of divination was by
using the shell of a tortoise in the same way as the
shoulder-blade of the deer was used. They had
superstitions about fighting with the back to the
sun; about using only one light in the house at once;
about breaking off the teeth of a comb in the night-time;
about the destination of the first arrow shot in
battle, etc.
</p>

<p>
The superstition of impurity being attached to the
mother at the birth of a child, and to the house and
those associated with it in which a death occurred, is
often mentioned. A mother, when about to be delivered,
was required to retire alone into a separate
dwelling or hut without windows. This cruel custom
<pb n='085'/><anchor id='Pg085'/>
has prevailed in the island of Hachijō<note place='foot'>E. M. Satow,
<hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan</hi>,
vol. vi., p. 435.</note> down
almost to the present time. A custom prevailed,
also, of abandoning the dwelling in which a death
had occurred. The dead body was removed to a
mourning hut, where amid sobs and weeping the
mourners continued to hold a carousal, feasting upon
the food provided for the dead. This abandonment
of the house occupied by the living may explain the
custom, so often referred to, of each new emperor
occupying a different palace from that of his predecessor.
We have already referred to the dreadful
custom which prevailed until the reign of the Emperor
Suinin, of burying living retainers around the
sepulchre of their dead master. The custom was
replaced by burying clay images of servants and
animals around the tomb, and this continued till
about <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 700.
</p>

<p>
There is no evidence that children received any
kind of education other than a training in the use of
arms and implements. The art of writing was
brought over from Korea in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 284. Up to this
time there is nothing to show that the Japanese possessed
any means of recording the events which occurred.
No books existed, and reading and writing
were unknown. The language spoken by the people
was an ancient form of that which now prevails. The
earliest examples of this language are found in the
songs preserved in the <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>
and <hi rend='italic'>Nihongi</hi>. As in
every language, the earliest preserved specimens are
poetry, so in Japanese the fragments which have
<pb n='086'/><anchor id='Pg086'/>
been remembered and brought down to us, are
scraps of songs. The origin of this language is, like
the origin of the race, impossible at present to verify.
It seems plain that the race came from the continent
by way of Korea. If this is to be taken as the origin
of the race, then the language which developed into
the Japanese came from the northern tribes of China
and of Siberia.
</p>

<p>
There is no indication of the method by which the
early Japanese reckoned time. The sun in the daytime
and the cocks by night, must have given them
their division of hours. The year made itself apparent
by the changes of temperature. It was not,
however, till the introduction of calendars from
China that anything like an accurate system of estimating
and recording time was introduced.
</p>

<p>
The food of the primitive Japanese was much
more largely animal than it became in later times.
To the early Japanese there was no restriction in the
use of animal food, such as the Buddhists introduced.
Fish and shell-fish have always been, and doubtless
from the first were, principal articles of food. The
five grains, so called, are often referred to, and are
specially mentioned in the Shintō rituals, whose origin
goes back to prehistoric times. These grains<note place='foot'>Satow, <q>Ancient
Japanese Rituals,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>,
vol. vii., p. 423.</note>
are rice, millet, barley, and two kinds of beans. Silkworms
and their food plant, the mulberry, are likewise
spoken of. The only kind of drink referred to
is <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>saké</foreign>. It will be remembered that in the myth
concerning the Impetuous Male Deity in Izumo,
<pb n='087'/><anchor id='Pg087'/>
the old man and old woman were directed to prepare
eight tubs of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>saké</foreign>,
by drinking which the eight-headed
serpent was intoxicated. In the traditional
history of the emperors, they are represented as
drinking <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>saké</foreign>, sometimes even to intoxication.
And in the rituals recited when offerings are made to their
deities, the jars of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>saké</foreign> are enumerated among
the things offered. The Japanese writers claim that
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>saké</foreign>
was a native discovery, but there is a well supported
belief that in very early times they borrowed the art
of manufacturing it from the Chinese. There is at
least a difficulty in believing that this liquor should
have been invented independently in the two countries.
Chopsticks are mentioned in early Japanese
times, and clay vessels for food, and cups for drinking
made of oak leaves. On the whole, the conclusions
to be drawn from the earliest traditions concerning
the Japanese lead us to regard them as having
attained a material degree of civilization in all
matters pertaining to food and drink. Yet it cannot
be regarded as other than strange that milk, cheese
and butter are nowhere mentioned, and had never
been used.
</p>

<p>
In the matter of clothing we have little except
hints to guide us in forming inferences. The rituals
enumerate<note place='foot'>E. M. Satow, <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic
Society Transactions</hi>, vol. vii., p. 109.</note> <q>bright cloth, soft cloth, and
coarse cloth.</q> Mr. Satow remarks<note place='foot'>Ditto, p. 119.</note>
on this enumeration
that <q>in the earliest ages the materials used were
the bark of the paper-mulberry (<foreign rend='italic'>broussonetia papyrifera</foreign>),
wistaria tendrils and hemp, but when the
<pb n='088'/><anchor id='Pg088'/>
silkworm was introduced the finer fabric naturally
took the place of the humbler in the offerings to the
gods.</q> The paper-mulberry which is now used for
making paper, was in early times twisted into a
thread and woven into a very serviceable cloth.
Cotton<note place='foot'>Cotton is said to have been brought to Japan from India in the
reign of the Emperor Kwammu, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 800. T. B. Poate,
<hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan</hi>, vol. iv.,
p. 146.</note> which now furnishes so large a part of the
clothing of the people is nowhere mentioned. The
skins of animals were doubtless used as clothing before
the introduction of Buddhism made the killing
of animals uncommon. In the legend of the purification
of Izanagi<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of
Japan</hi>, vol. x., Supplement,
pp. 39 and 40.</note> we read of a girdle, of a skirt, of
an upper garment, of trousers, and of a hat. What
the shapes of these garments were we cannot tell,
but the number of different garments indicates a considerable
development in the ideas of clothing. In
the same myth, and in many other places, mention
is made of the bracelets which Izanagi wore on the
left and right arm. And when he wished to show
his pleasure in the daughter who had been produced
in washing his left eye, he invested her with his necklace
taken from his own neck. Jewelry seems in
these prehistoric times to have been more commonly
worn than in modern historical times. The
jewels<note place='foot'>Henry von Siebold, <hi rend='italic'>Japanese Archæology</hi>,
Yokohama, 1879, p. 16. The diagram in the text is from this work on Archæology,
and shows the variety of jewels in use in prehistoric times.</note>
used were the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>magatama</foreign> and
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kudatama</foreign>
which have been found in the ancient burial places.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/magatama-kudatama.png' rend='width: 60%'>
    <head>Magatama and Kudatama.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<pb n='090'/><anchor id='Pg090'/>

<p>
Rings have also been found which are believed to
date back to prehistoric times. From the clay
images which have come down to us it is now ascertained
that the rings were worn as ornaments to
the ears and never as rings to the fingers. These
rings are of copper or bronze, plated with gold or
silver. Combs and mirrors are spoken of, but how
the metal mirrors are made we do not know.
</p>

<p>
The only indications of the character of the
houses<note place='foot'>For the so called cave dwellings see p.
<ref target='Pg068'>68</ref>.</note> used by the early Japanese are found in the
traditions respecting the primitive Shintō temples.
The early methods of building were perpetuated in
these temples, and in the eighteenth century a very
persistent effort was made for the revival of pure
Shintō. Under the influence of this movement
the temples at Isé and elsewhere were purified
from the contaminations which had been introduced
by Buddhism. After the close of the war which
resulted in the restoration of the emperor to his
proper authority in 1868 a small temple in the most
severe Shintō style was built at Kudan, one of the
picturesque heights of Yedo, in memory of the soldiers
who perished in the conflict. From a careful
examination of all that can illustrate the houses
of the early Japanese, we infer that they were of
extreme simplicity. Stone was never used. The
structures were entirely of wood. Even the palaces
of the emperors were what we would call merely
huts. Four upright posts sunk in the ground formed
the corners. At the half-way intervals between
these posts, were planted four other posts; those at
<pb n='091'/><anchor id='Pg091'/>
the gable ends were high enough to sustain the
ridge pole. On the other sides on the top of the
posts were laid two plates. Abutting on these plates
and crossing each other at the ridge pole stood the
rafters, which sustained the thatched roof. In the
absence of nails and pins, the timbers were fastened
together by the tough tendrils of climbing plants.
A hole in the gable end permitted the escape of the
smoke from the fire built on the ground floor.
Around the sides of the interior stood a raised couch
on which the occupants sat by day and slept at
night. The other parts of the floor were uncovered
and consisted only of earth. They used mats made
from the skins of animals or from rushes, on which
they sat and slept. The doors of their dwellings
were fastened by means of iron hooks, and swung
on hinges unlike the modern Japanese door which
always is made to slide.
</p>

<p>
The agricultural plants spoken of are numerous
but leave unmentioned many of the plants of first
importance. Tea, now so extensively cultivated, is
nowhere spoken of. Tobacco was a late importation
and came in with the Portuguese in the sixteenth
century. Cotton was not introduced, as we have already
said, until the beginning of the ninth century.
Potatoes, including both the sweet potato and the
white potato, are unmentioned. The orange came
to Japan according to the received tradition at the
close of the reign of the Emperor Suinin (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
29-70).
</p>

<p>
Very little is said of the implements used by the
primitive Japanese. Metal of any kind was almost
<pb n='092'/><anchor id='Pg092'/>
unknown. We read of swords and fish-hooks, but
these are the only implements referred to which
seem to have been made of metal. Pots and cups of
earthenware were used. The axes which they must
have used to cut down the trees for building and
for fuel must have been of stone, or sometimes of
deer's horn. Archæologists both native and foreign
have brought to light many ancient implements of
the Stone age. An interesting and detailed account
of these discoveries will be found in the work on
<hi rend='italic'>Japanese Archæology</hi> by Henry Von Siebold, Yokohoma,
1879.
</p>

<p>
The arms used by the warriors were spears, bows
and arrows, and swords. Numerous arrow heads
have been found which bear a striking likeness to
those found in Europe and America. Spear heads
of flint have also been found. That the people were
emerging from the Stone age is shown by the swords
made of metal which they are represented as habitually
using. They also seem to have had a small
sword or dagger, as in the myth of the traitorous
plot entered into by the empress and her brother
against the Emperor Suinin. Castles in the modern
sense are not referred to, although the same word
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>shiro</foreign> is used to represent the stockades with
which they protected themselves. The castles of modern
times, such as those at Kumamoto, Owari, and Yedo,
are without doubt the outgrowth of the primitive
stockade, and the same name has continued to be
applied in all the successive changes.
</p>

<p>
Few domestic animals are mentioned. The horse
is spoken of as an animal for riding, but not for
<pb n='093'/><anchor id='Pg093'/>
driving. The same thing may be said of the use of
horses in Japan even until modern times. The domestic
fowl is referred to in the myth of the disappearance
of the Sun Goddess. Dogs are mentioned
in the later parts of the traditional period, but not
cats. The cow and the products of the cow are not
referred to. To these domestic animals may be
added the cormorant,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society
Transactions</hi>, vol. v., p. 110.</note> which was used for fishing, in
the same way that it is used in the eastern parts of
China and to a small extent in the waters of Owari
and Mino at the present time. The wild animals of
that day were the deer, the bear, the boar, the hare,
etc. These animals were hunted for their flesh and
for their skins.
</p>

<p>
The islands of Japan being largely interspersed
with water much of the travel even from the earliest
time was performed in boats. The expedition of
Jimmu from the island of Kyūshū was in part conducted
in the boats which the colony had constructed
for the purpose. Whether these boats were of the
form now used in Japan it is impossible to determine.
It is probable however that the present form of boat
is an evolution of the primitive boat, which was used
by the prehistoric Japanese and which was a part of
the equipment with which their ancestors came over
from Korea to the islands of Japan. Travel on land
was principally on foot, although as we have said the
horse was used at this early day for riding. No
wheeled vehicle is mentioned. The bullock cart used
in later times was restricted to the use of the imperial
household, and probably was introduced by the
<pb n='094'/><anchor id='Pg094'/>
Buddhists. There were government roads constructed
from the home provinces in different directions to
those more distant. It is said that this scheme
was more fully carried out after the return of the
Empress Jingō from her conquest of Korea.
</p>

<p>
Let us now turn from these evidences of native
culture to the events of Japanese history which have
to do with the introduction of the civilization from
the continent. For three thousand years before the
Christian era China has been looked upon as one of
the cultured nations of the earth. No written language
has ever been or is now understood by so many
people as the Chinese. The Chinese were a civilized
people centuries before the Japanese had, even according
to their own uncertain legends, emerged into
the light as an empire. If we accept the opinion
which seems most reasonable, that the Japanese came
over to the Japanese islands from the continent by
way of Korea, and belong to the Mongol tribes of
central Asia, then we must assume that the Japanese
were closely related to a large section of the Chinese.
They have been from the beginning of their history
a receptive people. They have stood ready to welcome
the good things which were offered to them,
coming from whatever direction. They accepted
eagerly the Chinese written language and the philosophy
with which it came charged. They accepted
Buddhism with its priesthood and dogma and ritual,
and permitted it to crowd their native religion until
it became a pitiful minority. They have in recent
times accepted with a hearty impetuosity the civilization
of western nations, and are absorbing it as
<pb n='095'/><anchor id='Pg095'/>
rapidly as the habits and thoughts of a people can
take in so important a change.
</p>

<p>
We have already referred to the first introduction<note place='foot'>See p.
<ref target='Pg032'>32</ref>.</note>
of Chinese literature into Japan. It took place in
the reign of the Emperor Ōjin <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 284. The ambassador
who brought the tribute from Korea that year
was Ajiki who was familiar with the Chinese literature.
He gave lessons in Chinese to the crown
prince. The next year the king of Korea sent out
an eminent scholar named Wani,<note place='foot'>In the <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>
it is said that the king of Kudara sent with Wani
the <hi rend='italic'>Confucian Analects</hi> in ten volumes and
the <hi rend='italic'>Thousand Character
Essay</hi> in one volume. It conflicts seriously with the chronology of
this period to learn, as both Mr. Satow and Mr. Chamberlain have
pointed out, that the <hi rend='italic'>Thousand Character Essay</hi> was not written
until two centuries after the date assigned to the advent of Wani.</note> who continued
to give instruction to the crown prince. From this time
a knowledge of Chinese gradually spread and scholars
were attached to the government to make a written
record of the events which took place. Historiographers
were sent out during the reign of the
Emperor Hanzei, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 404, who were directed to make
a record of all important events and forward them to
the court. These steps soon began to show themselves
in the absence of the wonderful and legendary
from the narrative of events. Beginning with the
reign of the Emperor Richū the ages of the emperors
which before his time had been of such a
marvellous length now drop to a reasonable and
moderate period.
</p>

<p>
The nineteenth emperor was Inkyō, the fourth
son of the Emperor Nintoku. He was of an amiable
<pb n='096'/><anchor id='Pg096'/>
and philanthropic temperament, and accepted the
position of emperor with great reluctance. His
health was delicate, and he feared to take upon himself
such a responsibility. In the meantime there
was an interregnum, and the court officials were
anxious to have him enter upon the duties of emperor.
At last he consented and became emperor
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 412. It was during his reign that confusion
arose concerning the family names, or rather, that
the confusion which had been long growing now had
its settlement. Family names had been a matter of
growth, and many persons claimed the right to use
a certain name who were in no wise entitled to it.
The emperor took a singular and effectual method
to settle the troublesome and personal questions
that arose. He summoned all those who claimed to
belong to any family whose claim was disputed to
appear at Amakashi and show that they were entitled
to the names they claimed. He placed jars of
boiling water and required each one to plunge his
hand in the water. He who was injured by the hot
water was pronounced a deceiver, and he who came
off unhurt was pronounced as entitled to the name.
The emperor took occasion to settle the questions
concerning names, and put the matter on a more
stable basis. And as the art of writing now began
to be more common among the people mistakes in
regard to names did not again seriously recur.
</p>

<p>
The emperor's ill-health was the occasion for the
introduction of another of the civilizing arts of the
continent. When the annual tribute from Korea
was sent it so chanced that the ambassador who
<pb n='097'/><anchor id='Pg097'/>
came with it was a person versed in the medical art.
If we estimate this man's science or skill by that of
the Chinese practitioner of a later day, we should
certainly not place a very high value on it. It is
narrated, however, that he cured the imperial invalid,
and by this means gained great credit for his
profession, and added another to the obligations
which Japan owed to the continent.
</p>

<p>
After the death of the Emperor Inkyō there was
a quarrel about the succession between his two sons,
Prince Kinashi-no-Karu and Prince Anaho-no-Ōji.
The courtiers all favored the latter, who was the
younger brother, and he surrounded his elder
brother in the house of Monobe-no-Ōmai. Seeing
no way of escape he committed suicide.<note place='foot'>The
<hi rend='italic'>Kojiki's</hi> statement is that the elder brother was banished to
Iyo.</note> The
younger brother then became the twentieth emperor,
who is known under the canonical name of
Ankō. He had another difficulty growing out of
social complications. He wanted to make the
younger sister of Okusaka-no-Ōji, who was the
brother of the preceding Emperor Inkyō, the wife
of Ōhatsuse-no-Ōji, his own younger brother, who
afterwards became the Emperor Yuriyaku. He sent
as a messenger the court official, Ne-no-Ōmi, to ask
the consent of her elder brother, who gladly gave it,
and as a token of his gratitude for this high honor
he sent a rich necklace. Ne-no-Ōmi, overcome with
covetousness, kept the necklace for himself, and reported
to the emperor that Okusaka-no-Ōji refused
his consent. The emperor was very angry, and sent
<pb n='098'/><anchor id='Pg098'/>
a detachment of troops against the supposed offender.
They surrounded the house and put him to
death. His chief attendants, knowing his innocence,
committed suicide by the side of their dead master.
The emperor then completed his design of taking
the sister of Okusaka-no-Ōji as the wife of the Prince
Ōhatsuse-no-Ōji, and he also took his widow and
promoted her to be his empress.
</p>

<p>
Out of these circumstances arose serious troubles.
His new empress had a young son by her first husband
named Mayuwa-no-Ō, said to have been only
seven years old. With his mother he was an inmate
of the palace, and was probably a spoiled and wayward
boy. The emperor was afraid lest this boy,
when he came to understand who had been the
cause of the death of his father, would undertake to
revenge himself. He talked with the empress about
his fears and explained his apprehensions. The boy
accidentally heard the conversation, and was probably
stimulated thereby to do the very thing which
the emperor feared. Creeping stealthily into the
room where the emperor lay asleep he stabbed him
and then fled, taking refuge in the house of the
Grandee Tsubura. The emperor was fifty-six years
of age at the time of his death. This tragical event
produced a great excitement. The younger brother
of the emperor, Ōhatsuse, amazed and angry because
his two older brothers were not, as he thought,
sufficiently enraged by the murder of the emperor,
killed them both. Then he attacked the Grandee
Tsubura and the boy Mayuwa in their refuge. Seeing
no way of escape Tsubura, at the request of the
boy, first slew him and then killed himself.
</p>

<pb n='099'/><anchor id='Pg099'/>

<p>
Subsequently Ōhatsuse, who seemed to have been
of a violent disposition, murdered Ichinobe-no-Oshiha,
son of the seventeenth emperor, Richū. His
two sons, then merely boys, Ōke and Woke (literally
big basket and little basket), hearing of this catastrophe
escaped into the province of Harima where they
worked as cow-herds. Ōhatsuse was crowned as the
twenty-first emperor and is known by the canonical
name of Yūriyaku Tennō.
</p>

<p>
In the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 470 an ambassador came from Go
in China and by order of the emperor was entertained
by the Grandee Ne-no-Ōmi. A court official, Toneri,
was directed to see that this duty was suitably performed.
Now Ne-no-Ōmi, it will be remembered,
was the grandee who, on a former occasion, was sent
by the Emperor Ankō to solicit the hand of the
Princess Hatahi-no-Ōji for the present emperor, who
was then the crown prince. In order to entertain
the Chinese ambassador with becoming magnificence,
Ne-no-Ōmi robed himself in a gorgeous manner and
among other things put on the rich necklace which
he had stolen. Toneri reported to the emperor the
superb entertainment which Ne-no-Ōmi had accorded
to the Chinese ambassador, and especially the necklace
which he wore. The emperor innocently asked
that Ne-no-Ōmi should appear before him in order
that he might see his superb dress. The empress,
who was with her husband when Ne-no-Ōmi came in,
recognized the necklace which had been sent by her
brother to the late emperor. The theft was charged
and Ne-no-Ōmi compelled to confess. The emperor
proclaimed the innocence of Okusaka-no-Ōji and his
great regret at the mistaken punishments.
</p>

<pb n='100'/><anchor id='Pg100'/>

<p>
There are many traditions current in Japanese early
history concerning this emperor. In one he is represented
in his imperial journeys to have seen a house
belonging to Lord Shiki built with a raised roof like
that of the imperial palace. He was greatly enraged
that any subject should dare to take such a liberty,
and sent his attendants to burn the house down. The
poor frightened lord hastened to the emperor and
humbly apologized for his stupidity. And he presented
to the emperor in token of his humble submission
a white dog clothed with cloth and led by a
string. So he was forgiven and his house was spared.
</p>

<p>
In another legend he is said to have come upon a
beautiful girl by the river side washing clothes. He
stopped and conferred with her, and said to her,
<q>Do not thou marry a husband, I will send for thee.</q>
With this he returned to the palace and forgot about
his promise. But the poor girl did not forget. Year
after year passed, till at last after eighty years of
waiting she was a very old woman. Then she
thought, <q>My face and form are lean and withered,
there is no longer any hope. Nevertheless, if I do not
show the Heavenly Sovereign how truly I have
waited, my disappointment will be unbearable.</q> And
so with such gifts as she could afford she presented
herself before the emperor. He wondering at her and
her gifts asked her, <q>What old woman art thou, and
why art thou come hither?</q> She replied, <q>Having
in such and such a month and such and such a year
received the Heavenly Sovereign's commands, I have
been reverently awaiting the great command until
this day, and eighty years have passed by. Now, my
<pb n='101'/><anchor id='Pg101'/>
appearance is decrepit and there is no longer any
hope. Nevertheless, I have come forth in order to
show and declare my faithfulness.</q> Thereupon the
Heavenly Sovereign, greatly agitated, exclaimed, <q>I
had quite forgotten my command; and thou meanwhile,
ever faithfully awaiting my commands, hast
vainly let pass by the years of thy prime. It is too
pitiful.</q> He sent her back to her home with such
consolation as rich gifts could impart.
</p>

<p>
We give one more of the legends which cling to
the name of this emperor.
</p>

<p>
He was making an imperial progress to the moor
of Akizu for the purpose of hunting. And as he
sat down to rest a horse-fly bit his august arm. But
immediately a dragon-fly came and seized the horse-fly
and flew away. Thereupon he composed an
august song as follows:
</p>

<quote rend='display'>
Who is it tells in the great presence that
game is lying on the peak of Womuro, at
Mi-Yeshinu? Our Great Lord who tranquilly
carries on the government, being
seated on the throne to await the game, a
horse-fly alights on and stings the fleshy
part of his arm fully clad in a sleeve of
white stuff, and a dragon-fly quickly eats
up the horse-fly. That it might properly
bear its name, the land of Yamato was
called the Island of the Dragon-Fly.<note place='foot'>The name, <q>Island
of the Dragon-Fly</q> had already been given
to the Main island by Jimmu Tenno.</note>
</quote>

<p>
After a long reign Yūriyaku is said in <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi> to have
died at the age of one hundred and twenty-four.
</p>

<pb n='102'/><anchor id='Pg102'/>

<p>
The son of the Emperor Yūriyaku, Prince Shiraka,
succeeded him. He is known in history as the
Emperor Seinei. He lived only five years after his
accession and left no descendant to fill the throne.
Search was accordingly made for some one of imperial
blood who might become emperor. It will be
remembered that the Emperor Yūriyaku, before his
accession, had murdered Prince Ichinobe-no-Oshiwa,
son of the eighteenth emperor, and that his two
sons, then young boys, Princes Ōke and Woke, made
their escape into the province of Harima. A new
governor of this province had just arrived and was
in attendance at the festivities in honor of the opening
of a new cave<note place='foot'>In these early days a
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>muro</foreign> or excavation of the earth, roofed with
timber, was often used as a residence. See p. <ref target='Pg068'>68</ref>.</note>
by a citizen of the place. As
usual there was feasting, and drinking, and dancing.
The two young men Ōke and Woke, who occupied
menial positions in this household, were called upon
to dance. After some hesitation they each in succession
danced and sang some of the songs which
they had learned in their boyhood.<note place='foot'>In this story the
princes are represented as boys, but as they fled
on the murder of their father by the Emperor Yūriyaku before his
accession, this must have been at least twenty-eight years before; so
that they could not have been less than forty years of age.
</note> The new governor
recognized these songs to be such as were
taught at the court, and on enquiring found the
young men to be grandsons of the Emperor Richū.
He brought them to the palace and presented them
to their aunt Queen Ii-Toyo. After a friendly contest
between the two brothers, the younger one,
Prince Woke, became the twenty-third emperor
<pb n='103'/><anchor id='Pg103'/>
under the canonical name of Kenzō. His reign was
a very short one, only eight years according to the
<hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi> and three years according
to the <hi rend='italic'>Nihongi</hi>. The
only incident of consequence recorded of him is that
he sought out the burial place of his father, who had
been murdered by the Emperor Yūriyaku, and transferred
his remains to a fitting mausoleum. He also
contemplated the desecration of the mausoleum of
the murderer as a mark of his vengeance, but was
dissuaded by his brother from the undertaking.
</p>

<p>
He died without children and was succeeded by
his elder brother Prince Ōke who became <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 488
the twenty-fourth emperor under the canonical name
of Ninken.
</p>

<p>
Concerning the emperor and several of his successors
there is little of interest to record. The
twenty-fifth emperor, Muretsu (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 499), who was a
son of the emperor Ninken, was chiefly notable for
his cruelty. Some of the acts recorded of him can
only be equalled by those of the degenerate occupants
of the imperial throne of Rome in its worst
days. He reigned eleven years and died without
children. The twenty-sixth emperor was Keitai
Tennō, who was the fifth descendant from Ōjin
Tennō. The only noticeable events in his reign
were an expedition to Korea to settle difficulties
which had then intervened, and an expedition to
Chikushi, the northern part of Kyūshū, to repress
tumults which had arisen. The next emperors were
Ankan Tennō and Senkuwa Tennō, whose reigns
were uneventful.
</p>

<p>
The twenty-ninth emperor was Kimmei Tennō,
<pb n='104'/><anchor id='Pg104'/>
(<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 540-571), who was the son of Keitai Tennō.
He reigned thirty-two years and died at the age of
sixty-three. It was during his reign, in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 552,
that an ambassador from Kudara, one of the three
provinces of Korea, presented to the emperor an
image of Shaka, and also Buddhist books explaining
the doctrine. He commended highly the new
religion, and the emperor was deeply impressed with
its novelties. This seems the more probable because
up to this time Japan looked upon China and Korea
as leaders in civilization, and therefore was disposed
to regard what had obtained a footing there as worthy
of acceptance.
</p>

<p>
The prime-minister Soga-no-Iname favored the
new religion, and urged that the image of Shaka
which had been brought over should be duly set up
and worshipped. But the ministers Monobe-no-Okoshi
and Kumako opposed the proposition, saying,
<q>Our country has its own gods; and they
perhaps will be angry with us if we pay our devotions
to a foreign god.</q>
</p>

<p>
But the emperor settled the matter by saying,
<q>Let Iname try it.</q> He gave the idol to Iname
with the directions that he should set it up and pray
to it. Accordingly Iname took the image of Shaka
and established it in a house of his own, which he
created a temple, and worshipped it.
</p>

<p>
But shortly after this an epidemic broke out in
the country, and Okoshi and Kumako declared that
it was due to the strange god which had been received
from the western barbarians, and besought
the emperor to have it thrown away. The image
<pb n='105'/><anchor id='Pg105'/>
therefore by the emperor's command was thrown
into the sea near Naniwa,<note place='foot'>After the triumph of Buddhism a temple
called Tennoji was erected near this place in honor of this image, which was miraculously
rescued from the sea and is still preserved at this temple.</note> and the temple in
which it had been erected was destroyed. This was the
first movement towards the introduction of Buddhism.
</p>

<p>
In the reign of the thirtieth emperor, Bitatsu
Tennō, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 572, who was the son of Kimmei Tennō,
Kudara again made a contribution of Buddhist emblems,
viz.: books of Buddhist doctrine; a priest of
Ritsu sect; a priest; a nun; a diviner; an image
maker; and a Buddhist temple carpenter. These
were all housed in the temple of Owake-no-O at Naniwa.
Seven years after this two Japanese ambassadors
who had been sent to Kudara brought back
with them several Buddhist images of stone, which
the Daijin Umako obtained as his possession. He
built several Buddhist temples in which he placed
the images and other precious relics which he had
secured. He also built a pagoda and houses in
which the priests and nuns resided. When Umako
was sick he asked from the emperor that he might
avail himself of the Buddhist ritual. The emperor
gave him this privilege, but commanded him to
restrict it to himself.
</p>

<p>
The Emperor Bitatsu died <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 585 at the age of
forty-eight. His successor was Emperor Yōmei the
thirty-first in order from the Emperor Jimmu. He
was by his mother a descendant of the Soga family
and his first wife was also a daughter of the prime-minister,
<pb n='106'/><anchor id='Pg106'/>
the Noble Iname who was also of the Soga
family. The bitter hostility between the members
of the court who favored Buddhism and those who
opposed it continued. The leader of the former
party was Umako now the prime-minister, while the
opponents of Buddhism were led by Moriya. One
of the occasions when their hostility broke out was
when the emperor was taken sick and he wished to
try the effect of the Buddhist Sampō, that is, the
three precious elements of Buddhism, Buddha, the
rites of Buddhism, and the Buddhist priests. Moriya
and his party advised against this conformity to
Buddhism, but Umako supported him in his wishes
and introduced a Buddhist priest into the palace to
attend upon the emperor. In spite of all this effort,
however, the emperor died, having reigned only
three years.
</p>

<p>
The death of the emperor was the signal for the
breaking out of serious disturbances. Moriya the
champion of the old religion was killed and his
party overpowered. From this time Buddhism may
be said to have triumphed in Japan. The thirty-second
emperor, Sujun, was crowned <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 588. He
was the son of the Emperor Kimmei, and at the
time of his accession was sixty-nine years of age.
The communication with Korea continued, and more
and more of the Buddhist culture was introduced.
Umako, who now had undisputed sway in the
government, sent out to Korea persons to study the
Buddhist faith, and consecrated many priests and
nuns and erected temples for the new worship.
</p>

<p>
But everything did not move smoothly. Umako,
<pb n='107'/><anchor id='Pg107'/>
with all his zeal and enthusiasm for Buddhism, was
suspected of personal ambition, and was looked
upon with distrust. A plot to assassinate the
emperor was planned by Umako, which terminated
his life, after a reign of only four years, in the
seventy-third year of his age.
</p>

<p>
The thirty-third sovereign was the Empress
Suiko, who was the sister of the Emperor Yōmei.
Her coronation took place <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 593. Her reign was
chiefly remarkable for the active influence of
Umaydo-no-Ōji (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 572-622), who was the second
son of the Emperor Yōmei, and who was made
crown prince under the empress, and aided her in
the administration of the political affairs of the
government. This prince is better known by his
posthumous title of Shōtoku Taishi (great teacher
of the divine virtue), and is held in great reverence
as the principal founder and promoter of
Buddhism in Japan. His name has been linked
with many legends, which are still current after the
lapse of fourteen hundred years. It is said that as
soon as he was born he was able to speak, and was
in all respects a very clever boy. His memory was
wonderfully acute. He had Napoleon the Great's
talent of attending to several things at the same
time. He could hear the appeals of eight persons
at once, and give to each a proper answer. From
this circumstance he sometimes went by the name
of Yatsumimi-no-Ōji, that is, Prince of Eight Ears.
</p>

<p>
The prince threw the whole influence of the government
in favor of Buddhism. Many temples were
built in different central districts for the convenience
<pb n='108'/><anchor id='Pg108'/>
of the new religion. Under his influence the officers
of the government rivalled each other in founding
temples and maintaining them at their own expense.
He took as his teacher a priest who had recently
come from Korea, and from him for the first time
learned the five Buddhist commandments:
</p>

<list type='simple'>
<item>1. Against stealing.</item>
<item>2. Against lying.</item>
<item>3. Against intemperance.</item>
<item>4. Against murder.</item>
<item>5. Against adultery.</item>
</list>

<p>
He gave command to an artificer in copper to
make large images of Buddha for each of the officers
in the government. The king of Koma in Korea
hearing of this great undertaking sent a contribution
of three hundred <foreign rend='italic'>ryō</foreign> of gold. The images were
finished in due time and an imposing religious ceremonial
was held in honor of the event. Many of the
principal temples of Buddhism in different parts of
Japan take their origin from the time of Shōtoku
Taishi, and no single character in history is so intimately
connected with the development of Buddhism.
</p>

<p>
It was not only as a religious reformer, however,
that he deserves to be remembered. He was a
a most painstaking and enlightened ruler. He
studiously gathered from the Chinese the elements
and methods of government and adapted them to
his own country.<note place='foot'>See the laws which he
compiled and published as found in the
12th volume of <hi rend='italic'>Dai Nihon Shi</hi>,
<ref target='Appendix_IV'>Appendix IV</ref>.</note>
From his time the study of
<pb n='109'/><anchor id='Pg109'/>
Chinese literature became the essential culture of
the active minds of Japan.
</p>

<p>
Shōtoku Taishi died <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 622, having been the
principal officer of the government for twenty-nine
years.
</p>

<p>
The impulse which Shōtoku had given to Buddhism
did not subside. In the year following his
death officers were appointed to govern the growing
religious communities, called Sosho and Sozu, which
in dignity and power corresponded to archbishops
and bishops in Christian nomenclature. The first
archbishop was Kwankin, a priest from Kudara, and
the first bishop was Tokuseki of Kurabe. These
officials examined every priest and nun and made a
register of them. A census of Buddhism is also
given which belongs to this same period. According
to this there were forty-six Buddhist temples
and 1385 priests and nuns.
</p>

<p>
In the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 626,
Soga-no-Umako the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>daijin</foreign>
and a life-long friend and promoter of Buddhism
died, and two years later the Empress Suiko died.
So nearly all the prominent participants in the events
which had taken place since the first entrance of
Buddhism into Japan, had disappeared. In the
meantime a religion had taken possession of a field
in which it was destined to exert a wide influence and
undergo a national development.
</p>

<p>
Along with this religion had come a literature and
a culture, which when absorbed into the life of this
people gave them the permanent characteristics which
we now recognize as the Japanese civilization. The
freer and more frequent intercourse with China and
<pb n='110'/><anchor id='Pg110'/>
Korea brought with it not only a knowledge of
books and writing, but many improvements in arts
and many new arts and agricultural industries.
When the forces of the Empress Jingō returned
from Korea they brought with them persons skilled
in many industrial occupations. It is a tradition
that a descendant of the Kan dynasty in China had
fled to Korea on the fall of that dynasty, and in the
twentieth year of the Emperor Ōjin (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 290) had
migrated to Japan with a colony who were familiar
with weaving and sewing. In the thirty-seventh
year of the same emperor an officer was sent to
China to obtain more weavers and sewers. The
cultivation of the mulberry tree and the breeding of
silk-worms<note place='foot'>This must mean that improved methods of silk culture were
introduced, for we have seen that this art was already known to
the Japanese.</note> was introduced from China in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
457, and in order to encourage this industry the
empress herself engaged in it. At this early period
this important industry was begun, or at least received
an impulse which has been continued down
to the present time.
</p>

<p>
With these industrial arts came in rapid succession
the elements of a higher civilization. Books on
almanac-making, astronomy, geography and divination
were brought to Japan from Korea and China.
The Chinese calendar<note place='foot'>Bramsen's <hi rend='italic'>Japanese
Chronological Tables</hi>, Tokio, 1880, p. 18.</note> was first used in the reign of
the Empress Suiko under the regency of Shōtoku
Taishi. This almanac was based on the lunar
periods and the civil year began with the new moon
<pb n='111'/><anchor id='Pg111'/>
occurring about the beginning of February. But as
the length of the civil year is not an exact multiple
of the number of days contained in a lunation, the
twelve lunar months used by the Chinese and
Japanese will be about eleven days shorter than the
solar year. Hence to prevent the discrepancy from
increasing and throwing the seasons entirely out of
their place in the calendar, an intercalary month
was inserted nearly every third year. It was inserted
not at the end of the year but whenever the discrepancy
had reached the number of days in a lunation.
The month thus inserted was called by the
same name as the preceding with an explanatory
prefix. From this period therefore the dates of
Japanese events may be relied upon with some
degree of certainty. For events occurring before
this period, a knowledge of which must have been
transmitted by oral tradition, the dates assigned to
them in the <hi rend='italic'>Nihongi</hi> must have been computed by
counting back to the supposed time according to the
calendar in use at the time of the writing.
</p>

<p>
The astronomy and geography introduced into
Japan along with almanac-making in the fifth century
were without question very primitive sciences.
At this time even in Europe the knowledge of these
sciences was not advanced beyond the imperfect
notions of the Greeks. It was not until the sixteenth
century, when the discoveries of the Portuguese
and the Spaniards and the English had
revealed the shape and the divisions of the earth,
and the Jesuits had carried this knowledge to China
and Japan, that anything like a correct astronomy
<pb n='112'/><anchor id='Pg112'/>
or geography was possible. By divination, which is
mentioned as one of the sciences brought over from
Korea, was meant the determination of future events
or of lucky or unlucky conditions.
</p>

<p>
The most important civilizing force introduced
from China at this period was the formal institutions
of education. Although the first establishment of a
school dates from the reign of the Emperor Tenji
(<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 668-671), yet it was not till the reign of the
Emperor Mommu (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 697-707) that the university
was regularly organized. Branch schools were also
established in the several provinces. In the university
there were departments for Chinese literature,
for medicine, for astronomy and almanac-making, and
for astrology. Under the first head were included
the art of writing the Chinese characters, the practice
of composition, the study of the Chinese classics, and
the reading of books of Chinese history. In like
manner the training of the students in medicine
chiefly consisted in making them familiar with the
methods which prevailed in China. The properties
of medicinal plants, the variations of the pulse in
health and disease and in the changing seasons, and
the anatomy of the human body were the chief
subjects of study. The human cadaver was never
dissected, but a knowledge of anatomy was obtained
from diagrams which were wholly hypothetical. In
early times medical officers were appointed to experiment
with medicines upon monkeys, and also to
dissect the bodies of monkeys. From these dissections,
as well as from the printed diagrams of Chinese
books the imperfect knowledge which they had
reached was derived. It was not till 1771 that
<pb n='113'/><anchor id='Pg113'/>
Sugita Genpaku<note place='foot'>The author is indebted to the valuable paper read
before the Asiatic Society of Japan by Willis Norton Whitney, M.D., for much
of the information concerning medicine in Japan.&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society
Transactions</hi>, vol. xii., part iv., p. 329.</note> and several other Japanese
scholars had an opportunity to dissect the body of a criminal,
and by personal observation found the utter falsity
of the Chinese diagrams on which they had hitherto
relied, and the correctness of the Dutch books, which
they had, contrary to the laws of the country, learned
to read.
</p>

<p>
The great reverence felt for Chinese culture led to
the introduction at an early date of the Chinese system
of official rank. The system remained in force
down to the restoration in 1868. The officers were
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>Daijō-daijin</foreign> (Prime-Minister),
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>Sa-daijin</foreign> (Minister of
the Left), <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>U-daijin</foreign> (Minister of the Right),
together with eight boards,<note place='foot'>For an enumeration of these boards and the
officers and duties of each, see Walter Dickson's <hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, p.
72.</note> charged with the various duties
of administration. These boards were divided into
sections, and the various departments of the government
were respectively performed by them. In this
way the administration became thoroughly bureaucratic,
in imitation of the Chinese empire, to which
the Japanese at this time looked up with the most
complete reverence.
</p>

<p>
In addition to these official boards, six official
ranks were also introduced from China. These ranks
were designated, first, virtue; second, humanity;
third, propriety; fourth, truth; fifth, righteousness,
and sixth, wisdom. Each of these ranks<note place='foot'>See a note by Mr. Satow
in Adams' <hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>, London,
vol. i., p. 24.</note> was divided
<pb n='114'/><anchor id='Pg114'/>
into two orders termed respectively the Greater and
the Lesser. Thus there were twelve distinctions in
this system. It was introduced in the reign of the
Empress Suiko, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 604, and is generally attributed
to the Regent Shōtoku, who was a great admirer of
the continental civilization. It existed in this form
until the time of the Emperor Kōtoku, when, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
649, it was extended to nineteen distinctions. These
were not given to the individual in recognition of
talent, but to families to be by them transmitted to
their posterity as hereditary rank.
</p>

<p>
For many years during this period of active
intercourse with China and Korea, Dazaifu, situated
on the west coast of Kyūshū, north of the present
situation of Nagasaki, was the recognized port where
strangers were received. This city was the seat of a
vice-royalty, having control over the nine provinces
of Kyūshū. The office of vice-governor was considered
a place of honorable banishment to which
distinguished men who were distasteful at court
could be sent.
</p>

<p>
These continental influences continued for many
years and indeed have never ceased. There has
always existed a class of scholars who looked upon
Chinese learning as the supreme pinnacle to which
the human mind could attain. This was especially
true of the admirers of Confucius and Confucianism.
Although it was not until a much later period that
the culture of a Chinese philosophy attained its highest
mark, yet even in the early arrangement of the
studies in the university we see the wide influence
which the writings of the Chinese classics exerted.
</p>

<pb n='115'/><anchor id='Pg115'/>

<p>
We close this chapter with an event which evinced
the advance which Japanese civilization had made,
and aided greatly in promoting this advance in the
subsequent centuries. This event was the publication
of the <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi> (Record of Ancient Things) and
the <hi rend='italic'>Nihongi</hi> (Chronicles of Japan). A book still
older than these is said to have been composed in
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 620, but it
perished in a fire in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 645, although
a fragment is said to have been rescued. The circumstances
attending the preparation of the <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>
are given by Mr. Satow in his paper<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Asiatic
Society Transactions</hi>, vol. iii., part i.</note> on the <q>Revival of Pure
Shintō,</q> and also by Mr. Chamberlain<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Asiatic
Society Transactions</hi>, vol. x., Supplement.</note> in
his introduction to the translation. The Emperor
Temmu had resolved to take measures to preserve
the true traditions from oblivion. He had the
records carefully examined and compiled. Then
these collated traditions were one by one committed
to one of the household officers, Hiyeda-no-Are, who
had a marvellously retentive memory. Before the
work of compilation was finished the emperor died;
but the Empress Gemmyō, who after an interval succeeded
him, carried it on to its completion in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
712. By her direction the traditions were taken
down from Are's dictation in the form in which we
now have them. It is by no means a pleasing or
attractive work, even in the opinion of the Japanese.
It is bald and archaic in its form and composition.
It is, however, notable as being freer from the admixture
of Chinese learning, and therefore a better
index of the native culture of the race than the
<pb n='116'/><anchor id='Pg116'/>
works which followed it.<note place='foot'>The <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>
has been translated into English by Professor B. H.
Chamberlain, <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol. x.,
Supplement.</note> Much of it consists of
mere genealogies of the emperors and naked statements
of leading events, but there are besides this
many legends and poems which bear evidence of
having been handed down in essentially their present
form. As an authority for the chronology of the early
events it is, of course, of small value. It is evident
that where a narrative of events has been carried
through many centuries by tradition alone, without
written records to check or assist it, no dependence
can be placed on the chronology of the events, further
than, perhaps, on the order of sequence.
</p>

<p>
Only eight years after the publication of the
<hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi>, a second
work termed <hi rend='italic'>Nihongi</hi> or Chronicles
of Japan was issued. It was prepared by imperial
command and appeared in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 720 in the reign of
the Empress Genshō. It differs from the older book
in being composed in the Chinese idiom, and in
being much more tinctured with the ideas of Chinese
philosophy. These two works, so nearly contemporaneous,
both of them composed in so great a
degree of the legendary elements of Japanese history,
must be looked upon as marking a distinct
epoch in the story of Japan.
</p>

</div>

<pb n='117'/><anchor id='Pg117'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf'/>
<head>Chapter VI. The Middle Ages Of Japan.</head>

<p>
The theory of the Japanese government during
the greater part of its long career has been that of
an absolute monarchy. The emperor was supposed
to hold in his hands the supreme authority, and to
dispose, as he saw fit, of honors and emoluments,
offices and administrative duties. There was no
fundamental law of succession, by which the order
of accession to the throne was regulated. The
reigning emperor usually selected during his lifetime
some one of his sons, or, if he had no sons, some
other prince of the imperial family, who became the
crown prince during the life of the emperor, and on
his death succeeded to the throne.<note place='foot'>See Mori Arinori's
introduction to <hi rend='italic'>Education in Japan</hi>, New
York, 1873, p. 17.</note> The selection
was usually made with the concurrence of the officers
of the court, and very often must be credited
entirely to the preference of these officers. Sometimes
the emperor died before the appointment of a
crown prince had taken place. In this case the
selection lay in the hands of the court officers, and
many cases are recorded in the history of the empire
<pb n='118'/><anchor id='Pg118'/>
where serious disturbances arose between the
partisans of different aspirants to the throne. These
disturbances usually account for the <foreign rend='italic'>interregna</foreign> which
are so often found between the reigns of successive
sovereigns.
</p>

<p>
To the freedom which has prevailed, not only in
the imperial house but also in all the families of the
empire, in regard to the rights of succession, must
be attributed the long and unbroken line which the
imperial house of Japan is able to show. That a
line of sovereigns should continue from the time of
Jimmu down to the present without break by reason
of the failure of children, is of course impossible.
But the difficulty disappears when it is remembered,
that in case of the failure of a son to succeed, the
father provided for the want by adopting as his son
some prince of the imperial family, and appointing
him as his heir. With this principle of adoption
must be mentioned the practice of abdication<note place='foot'>See a paper on
<q>Abdication and Adoption,</q> by Mr. Shigeno
An-Eki, translated by Mr. Walter Dening, in
<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>,
vol. xv., p. 72.</note> which
produced a marked and constantly recurring influence
in the history of Japan. Especially was this
the case in the middle ages of Japanese history.
The practice spread from the imperial house downwards
into all departments of Japanese life. Although
the principle of abdication and adoption was probably
brought from China and was adopted by the
Japanese as a mark of superior culture, yet these
practices were carried to a much greater extent in
Japan than was ever thought of in their original
<pb n='119'/><anchor id='Pg119'/>
home. We shall see in the story of Japanese times
the amazing and ludicrous extent to which the abdication
of reigning sovereigns was carried. We shall
witness even the great and sagacious Ieyasu himself,
after holding the office of shōgun for only two years,
retiring in favor of his son Hidetada, and yet from
his retirement practically exercising the authority of
the office for many years.
</p>

<p>
In <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 668 the Emperor Tenji<note place='foot'>His
predecessor died <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 661, and there was an
<emph>interregnum</emph> during which Tenji was regent till
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 668, when he was made
emperor.</note> began a brief
reign of three years. As he had been regent during
the two preceding reigns, and chiefly managed the
administration, very little change occurred after his
accession to power. His reign is mainly remarkable
for the first appearance in a prominent position of
the Fujiwara family. The emperor appointed his
counsellor Nakatomi-no-Kamatari as <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>nai-daijin</foreign>
(private minister), an office next in rank after
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>sa-daijin</foreign>,
and which was created at this time. Nakatomi,
was authorized to assume the family name of
Fujiwara, meaning wistaria-field. The ancestor of
this family, Nakatomi-no-Muraji,<note place='foot'>See p. <ref target='Pg047'>47</ref>,
note.</note> was fabled to
have come down from the celestial plains to the
island of Kyūshū. The family therefore ranks with
that of the emperor as the oldest and most honored
in the empire. From the time of its establishment
down to the present it has enjoyed many honors and
privileges, and has played a very distinguished part
in the history of the country. This family first became
<pb n='120'/><anchor id='Pg120'/>
prominent during the reign of the Emperor
Kōtoku. The Soga family from the times of the
first introduction of Buddhism had grown to be the
most powerful and influential in the empire. Umako
had held the position of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>daijin</foreign> and his son
Yemishi became <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>daijin</foreign> after his father's
death. Yemishi presumed upon his promotion to this high office and
put on the airs of hereditary rank. He built castles
for himself and son and organized guards for their
defence. His son Iruka became <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>daijin</foreign> after his
father's death and conducted himself with even
greater arrogance. At last his conduct became intolerable
and he was assassinated <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 645. The
chief actor in this plot was Nakatomi-no-Kamatari,
who was at this time on intimate terms with the
prince who afterwards became the Emperor Tenji.
</p>

<p>
Further experiences, this time disastrous, with
Korea were encountered during this reign. A
Japanese garrison had been maintained in Kudara,
the western division of Korea. But at this time the
people of Shiraki with help from China attacked this
garrison and compelled it to retreat to Japan. Along
with the Japanese came many of the Koreans who
had been friendly with them, and who carried with
them, like the Huguenots when driven from France,
a knowledge of many arts and a culture which were
eagerly welcomed by the rising Japanese empire.
They were colonized in convenient quarters in different
provinces, and as an encouragement freed from
taxation for a time. Their influence upon the
opening civilization of Japan cannot be overlooked
or neglected in our estimate of the forces which conspired
<pb n='121'/><anchor id='Pg121'/>
to produce the final result. In the book of
Japanese annals called <hi rend='italic'>Nihon Shoki</hi> there is a
statement<note place='foot'>Quoted in Henry von Siebold's
<hi rend='italic'>Japanese Archæology</hi>, Yokohama
1879, p. 8.</note>
that in the fifth month of the second year of
<hi rend='italic'>Reiki</hi> (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 717) 1799 Koreans were
collected together in the province of Musashi and formed the
district of <q>Koma-gōri</q> or Korean district. Again
in the third year of <hi rend='italic'>Tempyō Hoji</hi> (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
760) forty inhabitants
of Shinra (a kingdom of Korea) and thirty-four
priests and priestesses came to Japan and
founded the <q>Shinra-gōri,</q> or Korean district.
These events occurred not long after the time we
are now considering and show that the Korean
colonization still continued and that the influence of
the arts and culture which the colonists introduced
was marked and important.
</p>

<p>
Few events are noted during the reigns which succeeded.
The following are the most worthy of mention.
The Emperor Temmu (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 673-686) added several
new degrees of rank to those already established.
He also favored the Buddhist religion by making its
services obligatory, and by forbidding the eating of
flesh. Silver was first discovered in Tsushima <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
674, which was followed twenty years later by the
manufacture of the first silver money. Copper was
discovered in Musashi in the reign of the Empress
Gemmyō (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 708-715) and the making of copper
money came into vogue. Before that time the
copper money in use was obtained from Korea and
China. Gold coin is said to have been first issued
under the Emperor Junnin (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 759-765). An
<pb n='122'/><anchor id='Pg122'/>
observatory was established for the inspection of the
stars in connection with the new department of
astrology. The cultivation of the lacquer tree and
the mulberry and the raising of silk-worms were still
further encouraged and extended. Cremation was
first practised about <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 700 in the case of a Buddhist
priest who left directions that his body should be
burned. Since that time cremation has been employed
for the disposal of the dead by the Shin (or
Monto) sect, and is now authorized but not made
obligatory by the government. The progress made
by Buddhism is shown by the census of temples
which was made in the reign of the Empress Jito
(<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 690-702) and which gave the number as 545.
The publication of the <hi rend='italic'>Kojiki</hi> in
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 712, and of the
<hi rend='italic'>Nihongi</hi> eight years later, has already been referred
to at the close of the preceding chapter. These
works are still looked upon as the foundations of
Japanese literature and the highest authorities of
Japanese history.
</p>

<p>
In the reign of the Empress Gemmyō (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 710)
the imperial residence was fixed at Nara. Up to
this time the custom<note place='foot'>See p. <ref target='Pg058'>58</ref>.</note>
derived from antiquity had
prevailed of changing the residence on the accession
of each new emperor. But the court continued at
Nara for a period of seventy-five years running
through seven reigns; and in consequence Nara has
always been looked upon with peculiar reverence,
and is the seat of several of the most notable
Buddhist and Shintō temples<note place='foot'>Satow and Hawes'
<hi rend='italic'>Handbook of Japan</hi>, London, 1884.</note> and structures. It is
<pb n='123'/><anchor id='Pg123'/>
here that Kasuga-no-miya was founded in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 767
and dedicated to the honor of the ancestor of the
Fujiwara family. Here also is Tō-dai-ji a Buddhist
temple famed for containing the bronze statue of
Great Buddha. This colossal idol was constructed
in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 736 under the Emperor Shōmu, during the
time that the imperial court resided at Nara. The
height of the image is fifty-three feet, being seven feet
higher than the Daibutsu at Kamakura. The temple
was built over the image and in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1180 was destroyed
by a fire which melted the head of the image. This
was replaced. The temple was burned again <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
1567, from which time the image has remained as
the Japanese say <q>a wet god.</q>
</p>

<p>
In <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 794<note place='foot'>For ten years
preceding 794 the capital was a wanderer.</note> during the reign of the Emperor
Kwammu (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 782-806) the capital was removed to
Kyōto on the banks of the Kamogawa. The situation
and the environs are lovely, and justify the
affectionate reverence with which it has ever been
regarded. Here were built the palaces and offices
for the emperor and his court. It was officially
called Miyako, that is, residence of the sovereign. It
continued to be occupied as the capital until <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
1868, when the court was moved to Tōkyō. At
this time the name of the city was changed to Saikyō,
which means western capital, in distinction from
Tōkyō, which means eastern capital.
</p>

<p>
The Emishi in the northern part of the Main
island continued to give much trouble to the government.
During the reign of the Emperor Shōmu
(<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 724-756) Fujiwara-no-Umakai was sent against
these restless neighbors and succeeded in reducing
<pb n='124'/><anchor id='Pg124'/>
them to subjection, which lasted longer than usual.
A fort was built to keep them in subjection, called
the castle of Taga. There is still standing a stone
monument at Taga, between Sendai and Matsushima,
on which is an inscription which has been
translated by Mr. Aston,<note place='foot'><p>See the <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of
the Asiatic Society of Japan</hi>, vol. viii.,
p. 88. The inscription is in part as follows:
</p>
<p>
Castle of Taga,<lb/>
Distant from the capital, Ri 1500<lb/>
Distant from the frontier of Yezo, Ri 120<lb/>
Distant from Hitachi, Ri 412<lb/>
Distant from Shimotsuke, Ri 274<lb/>
Distant from Makkatsu, Ri 3000.
</p></note> of the British legation.
The inscription gives the date of its first construction,
which corresponds to <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 724, and of its
restoration, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 762. Mr. Aston points out that the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ri</foreign> here mentioned is
not the present Japanese <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ri</foreign>
equivalent to miles 2.44, but the ancient <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ri</foreign>
which is somewhat less than half a mile. This makes it
evident that the part of the Main island north of a
point near Sendai was at this time denominated
Yezo, and was occupied by the barbarous tribes who
then as now called themselves Yezo.
</p>

<p>
The employment of a Fujiwara in this expedition
was probably purely perfunctory. So far as we
know, this family, which had by this time risen to a
position of great influence, was in no respect military,
and the appointment of Umakai as chief of the
forces sent against the Ainos was due to the political
prominence of his family. For many centuries the
relations of the Fujiwara family to the imperial
house was most intimate. Indeed the late Viscount
Mori,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Education in Japan</hi>, New York, 1873,
p. 17.</note> in his introduction to <hi rend='italic'>Education in Japan</hi>,
<pb n='125'/><anchor id='Pg125'/>
speaks of this relation as a <q>proprietorship.</q> <q>The
throne for a time became virtually the property of
one family, who exclusively controlled it.</q> This
family was that of Fujiwara,<note place='foot'>See p.
<ref target='Pg047'>47</ref>.</note> to which reference has
already been made. The founder of this house,
Kamatari, was a man of great talent and administrative
ability, and his immediate successors were
worthy of their ancestor's fame, and in succession
filled the office of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>daijin.</foreign> In this way the
office came to be regarded as hereditary in the Fujiwara
family. The office of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kuambaku</foreign>, also from about
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 880, became hereditary in the Fujiwara house.
Owing to the great age and prominence of the
family, it became customary to marry the emperors
and princes of the imperial house to ladies taken
from it, so that after a time the mothers and wives
of the princes of the imperial house were without
exception descendants of the Fujiwara, and the
offices of the court were in the hands of this family.
In this condition of things the abdication of emperors,
before they had reigned long enough to learn
the duties of their position, became the common
practice. This vicious custom was encouraged by
the Fujiwara, because it placed greater authority
in their hands, and left them to conduct the administration
without troublesome interference. The
Emperor Seiwa (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 859-880) commenced to reign
when he was nine years of age, and abdicated when
he was twenty-six.<note place='foot'>These instances are taken from the paper on
abdication and adoption, by Shigeno An-eki, as translated by Mr. Walter Dening,
<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol. xv., p. 74.</note>
Shujaku (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 931-952) became
<pb n='126'/><anchor id='Pg126'/>
emperor when he was eight years of age and abdicated
at the age of twenty-three. Toba became
emperor (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1108) at five years of age, and resigned
at the age of twenty. Rokujō was made emperor
(<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1166) at the age of two and resigned at the
age of four. Takakura, who succeeded Rokujō
(<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1169), was eight years of age and abdicated at
the age of nineteen. It often happened that there
were living at the same time several retired emperors,
besides the actual emperor.<note place='foot'>See Chamberlain's <hi rend='italic'>Things
Japanese</hi>, under the article on abdication.
Yokohama, 1892.</note> Thus, in the period
when Ichijō began his reign at the age of seven
(<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 987), there were three retired emperors still
living, viz.: Reizei, who began to reign (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 968) at
eighteen, and retired at twenty; Enyū, who began
to reign (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 970) at eleven, and retired at twenty-six;
Kwazan, who began to reign (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 985) at
seventeen, and retired at nineteen. At a period
somewhat later than the one now under consideration,
during the reign of Go-Nijō, who had just been
made emperor (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1301) at seventeen, and who
retired at nineteen, there were four retired emperors
living. When the emperors retired they often went
into a Buddhist monastery, taking the title of
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hō-ō</foreign>
or <emph>cloistered emperor</emph>. From this sacred seclusion
they continued many times to wield the powers of
government.
</p>

<p>
The object of this abdication was twofold. The
sovereigns themselves often became restless and dissatisfied
in the constrained attitude which they were
compelled to maintain. If they were in the least
<pb n='127'/><anchor id='Pg127'/>
ambitious to meet the requirements of their elevated
position and realized in any degree the legitimate
claims which their country had upon them, their
natural efforts to take part in the administration
were promptly checked, and they were reminded
that it was unbecoming and unfitting for the descendants
of the gods to mingle in ordinary earthly affairs.
In this way it often fell out that the ablest of the
emperors retired from the actual position of reigning
emperor in order to free themselves from the restraints
of etiquette and from the burden of <foreign rend='italic'>ennui</foreign>
which held them captive. They assumed the dignity
of retired emperors, and often from their retirement
wielded a greater influence and exerted a far more
active part in the administration of affairs than they
ever had been able to do when upon the imperial
throne.
</p>

<p>
Besides this motive which affected the occupants
of the throne, there was a corresponding one which
led the officers of the court to encourage and perhaps
sometimes to compel the emperors to abdicate.
These administrative officers, into whose hands the
management of the government had fallen, were desirous
to retain their authority, and therefore whenever
an emperor exhibited signs of independence, or
any disposition to think or act for himself, they
contrived means to have him retire and leave in his
place some inexperienced boy who could be more
easily controlled.
</p>

<p>
In this kind of supervising statesmanship the
Fujiwara family became, and for centuries remained,
supreme experts. For a period of four hundred
<pb n='128'/><anchor id='Pg128'/>
years, from <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 645 to 1050, they monopolized
nearly all the important offices in the government.
The wives and concubines of the feeble emperors
were all taken from its inexhaustible <emph>repertoire</emph>. The
men of the family, among whom were always some
of administrative ability, found it a task of no great
difficulty to rule the emperor who was supposed to
be divinely inspired to rule the empire, especially
when he was usually a boy whose mother, wife, and
court favorites were all supplied from the Fujiwara
family. This kind of life and environment could
not fail to produce on the successive emperors a
sadly demoralizing effect. They were brought up
in an enervating atmosphere and their whole life
was spent in arts and employments which, instead
of developing in them a spirit of independence and
a high ambition and ability to govern well the empire
committed to them, led them to devote themselves
to pleasures, and to leave to others less
fortunate the duty of administering the affairs of
government.
</p>

<p>
The same circumstances which demoralized the
occupants of the imperial throne served in a certain
though less degree to enervate and enfeeble the
Fujiwara family. Although they sometimes appointed
one of their number the commander of an expedition
against the Emishi, or to put down fresh revolts
in the island of Kyūshū, yet his duties were purely
honorary. He usually remained at home and sent
one or more of the active military chieftains to lead
the forces against the enemy in the field. If the
expedition was successful, however, the honorary
<pb n='129'/><anchor id='Pg129'/>
commander did not forget to have himself duly
promoted, and rewarded with additional lands and
income.
</p>

<p>
Other families besides the Fujiwara, rose in these
long and weary centuries to prominence, and seemed
on the point of disputing the security of their position.
Thus the Tachibana in the eighth century attained
high honors and distinction. It was an old
family, and even as far back as the legend of Yamato-dake<note place='foot'>See
p. <ref target='Pg066'>66</ref> <hi rend='italic'>et seq.</hi></note>
we find that a princess of the Tachibana
family was his wife, who sacrificed herself in the bay
of Yedo to appease the turbulent waters. It was
Maroyé, a member of the Tachibana family and a
favorite of the Emperor Shōmu (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 724-756), who
compiled the collection of ancient Japanese poetry
called Man-yōshū or collection of Myriad Leaves.
</p>

<p>
Another family which attained prominence was
the Sugawara. It originated in the province of
Kawachi. The most noted representative of this
family was Sugawara Michizané, who was first conspicuous
as the teacher of the young prince who
afterward became the Emperor Uda (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 888-898).
He was a brilliant scholar in Chinese, which was
then the learned language of the East. Even down
to modern times his family has been devoted to
learning. The Sugawara<note place='foot'>At the time that
Dickson collected his statistics of the families
of the court, two of the Sugawara family were teachers of the young
emperor. Six families of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kuges</foreign>
count their descent from the Sugawara. Dickson's
<hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, London, 1869, p. 59.</note> and Ōye families both
had adopted literature as their hereditary profession,
and the government made them an allowance for
<pb n='130'/><anchor id='Pg130'/>
the expenses<note place='foot'>See chapter on <q>Education in the Early Ages,</q>
by Otsuki Sinji, in <hi rend='italic'>Japanese Education</hi>, New York, 1876,
p. 64.</note> of those who might be pursuing their
studies in the national university. The influence of
Michizané over the emperor was marked and salutary.
Under his wise tutelage Uda showed so much
independence that the Fujiwara <hi rend='italic'>Kwambaku</hi> found
means to lead him to abdicate in favor of his son,
who became the sixtieth emperor, and is known
under the historic name of Daigo. Michizané became
the counsellor and was created <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>nai-daijin</foreign> under
the new emperor, who at the time of his accession
was only fourteen years old. But the <hi rend='italic'>Kwambaku</hi>
Tokihira determined to free himself from the adverse
influence of this wise and honest counsellor.
So he had him sent in a kind of honorable banishment
to Dazaifu, the seat of the vice-royalty of the
island of Kyūshū. It is said that he died here in
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 903. There was a great re-action in regard to
him after his death, and he was canonized under the
name of Tenjin<note place='foot'>While I write these
lines there is hanging before me a <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kakemono</foreign>
representing Sugawara Michizané, which it has been proposed to hang
in every public school under the care of the Department of Education,
as an emblem of the true scholarly temperament.</note> (Heavenly god), and is held sacred
as the patron saint of men of letters and of students.
The twenty-fifth day of each month is kept as a
holiday in schools, sacred to Tenjin-Sama, and the
twenty-fifth of June as an annual <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>matsuri</foreign>.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/michizane.png' rend='width: 40%'>
    <head>Michizane.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
But the families which finally displaced the Fujiwara
from their position of supremacy were what
were technically called the military families. The
separation of officers into civil and military was
<pb n='132'/><anchor id='Pg132'/>
made under the reforms introduced from China.
The Fujiwara in the main restricted themselves to
civil duties. Wherever it was necessary to send
military expeditions against the barbarians of the
north, or rebels in Kyūshū, or into the disaffected
districts of Korea, commanders were selected from
families devoted to military service. The Taira
family was of this class. Hei is the Chinese equivalent
of the Japanese name Taira, and is more often
used in the literature of the times. The Taira
family sprang from the Emperor Kwammu (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
782-806) through one of his concubines. The great-grandson
of Kwammu, Takamochi, received permission
to adopt the name of Taira, and thus became
the founder of the family. They were the military
vassals of the crown for many generations.
</p>

<p>
A little later than the Taira arose another family,
the Minamoto, whose equivalent Chinese name was
Gen. It sprang from the Emperor Seiwa (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 859-880).
His son Tadazumi became minister of war.
Tadazumi had two sons, who were granted the
family name of Minamoto; the descendants of one
of them, Tsunemoto, being created military vassals.
</p>

<p>
The almost constant wars in which the empire
was engaged led to the extension of the military
class. From the time now under discussion the
military class came to be looked upon as a distinct
and separate part of the population. It was composed
of those who in the time of war showed an
aptitude for arms, and who were most serviceable
in the campaigns which they undertook. Gradually
they became distinct from the agricultural peasantry,
<pb n='133'/><anchor id='Pg133'/>
and by education and training came to look upon
arms as their legitimate profession. They naturally
attached themselves to the military commanders
who led them in their various expeditions, and thus
were in time regarded as the standing troops of the
empire. This growth of a military class, whose
commanders were restless and ambitious, gradually
undermined the authority which the Fujiwara up to
the tenth century had almost unrestrictedly exercised.
The employment of commanders from the
military families raised in them an ambition to share
in the powers of government. The struggles which
ensued, first between the Fujiwara and Taira, and
then between the Taira and Minamoto, continued to
keep the country embroiled for more than a century.
The suffering and desolation resulting from these
weary internecine wars can only be paralleled by
such conflicts as that between the White and Red
Roses in England, or the Thirty Years' War in Germany.
Of these struggles it will be possible to give
only an outline.
</p>

<p>
It has already been mentioned that the Taira
family sprang from the Emperor Kwammu,<note place='foot'>See p.
<ref target='Pg132'>132</ref>.</note> whose
great-grandson, Takamochi received permission to
take Taira as his family name. The Emperor
Shirakawa tired of the arrogance of the Fujiwara in
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1087 retired into a cloister, and from this
seclusion continued to exercise a controlling influence
in the conduct of affairs. Tadamori a descendant
of Taira-no-Takamochi was a favorite in his court,
and even had a <emph>liaison</emph> with one of his concubines.
</p>

<pb n='134'/><anchor id='Pg134'/>

<p>
The ex-emperor complaisantly informed the courtier
that if the child to be born proved to be a daughter
he himself would adopt it, but if a son then it should
belong to Tadamori. Accordingly the child being a
son was a Taira, and rose to great eminence as Taira-no-Kiyomori.
Tadamori acquired for himself great
credit by his successful expedition against Korean
pirates who had cruised along the eastern coasts of
Japan. In the troubles which subsequently arose
in reference to the succession the Taira took an important
part. The Emperor Toba, who succeeded to
the throne in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1108 at the age of six, abdicated
in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1123 at the age of twenty-six. Both his father,
the ex-Emperor Horikawa, and his grandfather, the
ex-Emperor Shirakawa, were still living in retirement.
He was succeeded by his son the Emperor Shutoku
in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1124, then six years old, who after reigning
seventeen years abdicated. He had a son but was
succeeded <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1142 by his brother Konoye who was
four years of age. This mature youth reigned
thirteen years and died without abdicating. On his
death-bed he adopted as the crown prince his brother
Go-Shirakawa, thus displacing the lineal heir. The
succession was now bitterly disputed. The Minamoto
chiefly espoused the cause of the displaced
heir, while Kiyomori and the Taira together with
Minamoto-no-Yoshitomo supported Go-Shirakawa.
In a battle fought <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1156 Kyomori won the
victory. This victory raised him to a pinnacle of
power. He began a career of nepotism and patronage
which was not inferior to that of the Fujiwara.
The ex-Emperor Shutoku and his son were banished
<pb n='135'/><anchor id='Pg135'/>
to the province of Sanuki where it is said that
Shutoku died of starvation. Tametomo a member
of the Minamoto clan who was famed for his great
strength and for his skill in archery was sent as an
exile to the island of Hachijō, southeast of the promontory
of Izu. From this island he escaped, and it
is a tradition that he made his way to the Ryūkyū
islands where he rose to prominence and became the
ancestor of the kings of these islands.
</p>

<p>
Yoshitomo of the Minamoto clan, who had sided
with Kiyomori in the recent dynastic conflict was a
brother of the Tametomo just mentioned. He was
greatly offended by the violent use which Kiyomori
made of the power which had come into his hands.
With all the Minamoto and Fujiwara he conspired
to overthrow the victorious and arrogant Taira. But
Kiyomori suspecting the plans of his enemies took
measures to counteract them and suddenly fell upon
them in the city of Kyōto. Yoshitomo was obliged
to save himself by fleeing to Owari, where he was
assassinated by the agents of Kiyomori. The death
of the head of the Minamoto only made the tyrant
more determined to crush all opposition. Even the
ex-Emperor Go-Shirakawa, who was a son-in-law of
Kiyomori, but who showed some signs of disapproval,
was sent into exile. Several of the sons of Yoshitomo
were put to death; but Yoritomo then a boy of
thirteen was saved by the interference of the mother-in-law
of Kiyomori, and was sent into exile in the
province of Izu, and put into the safe-keeping of two
faithful Taira men, one of whom Hōjō Tokimasa
will be heard of hereafter.
</p>

<pb n='136'/><anchor id='Pg136'/>

<p>
Besides the four sons of Yoshitomo by his wife,
he had also three sons by a concubine named Tokiwa.
She was a woman of great beauty, and for that
reason as well as because she was the mother of the
romantic hero Yoshitsuné, she has often been chosen
by Japanese artists as the subject of their pictures.
Tokiwa and her three children, of whom Yoshitsuné
was then an infant at the breast, fled at the breaking
out of the storm upon Yoshitomo and the Minamoto
clan. They are often represented as wandering
through a storm of snow, Yoshitsuné being carried
as an infant on the back of his mother, and the
other two little ones pattering along with unequal
steps at her side. In this forlorn condition they
were met by one of the Taira soldiers, who took pity
on them and gave them shelter. From him they
learned that Kiyomori had taken the mother of Tokiwa
prisoner, and held her in confinement, knowing
that this would surely bring back to him the fair
fugitive and her children. In the Chinese teachings
of that day, in which Tokiwa had been educated,
the duty of a child to its mother was paramount to
that of a mother to her child. So Tokiwa felt that
it was unquestionably her duty to go back at once
to the capital and surrender herself in order to procure
the release of her mother. But her maternal
heart rebelled when she remembered that her babes
would surely be sacrificed by this devotion. Her
woman's wit devised a scheme which might possibly
furnish a way between these terrible alternatives.
She determined to surrender herself and her children
to Kiyomori, and depend upon her beauty to save
<pb n='137'/><anchor id='Pg137'/>
them from the fate which had been pronounced
upon all the Minamoto. So with her little flock she
went back and gave herself up to the implacable
tyrant. Softened by her beauty and urged by a
number of his courtiers, he set her mother at liberty
in exchange for her becoming his concubine, and
distributed her children in separate monasteries.
The chief interest follows the youngest boy, Yoshitsuné,
who was sent to the monastery at Kurama
Yama<note place='foot'>See Satow and Hawes' <hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>, p.
383.</note> near Kyōto. Here he grew up a vigorous
and active youth, more devoted to woodcraft,
archery, and fencing than to the studies and devotions
of the monastery. At sixteen years of age he
was urged by the priests to become a monk and to
spend the rest of his days in praying for the soul of
his father. But he refused, and shortly after he
escaped from the monastery in company with a
merchant who was about to visit the northern provinces.
Yoshitsuné reached Mutsu, where he entered
the service of Fujiwara-no-Hidehira, then governor
of the province. Here he spent several years devoting
himself to the military duties which chiefly
pertained to the government of that rough and barbarous
province. He developed into the gallant
and accomplished soldier who played a principal
part in the wars which followed, and became the
national hero around whose name have clustered the
choicest traditions of his country.
</p>

<p>
Meanwhile, as we have seen, Yoritomo,<note place='foot'>He was born in
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1146 and therefore was twelve years older
than Yoshitsuné.</note> the oldest
<pb n='138'/><anchor id='Pg138'/>
son of Yoshitomo, and by inheritance the head of
the Minamoto clan, had been banished to Izu and
committed to the care of two faithful Taira adherents.
Yoritomo married Masago, the daughter of
Hōjō Tokimasa, one of these, and found means to
induce Tokimasa to join him in his plans to overthrow
the tyrant Kiyomori, who now ruled the
empire with relentless severity. Even the retired
emperor joined in this conspiracy and wrote letters
to Yoritomo urging him to lead in the attempt to
put down the Taira. Yoritomo summoned the
scattered members of the Minamoto clan and all the
disaffected elements of every kind to his assistance.
It does not seem that this summons was responded
to with the alacrity which was hoped for. The inexperience
of Yoritomo and the power and resources
of him against whom they were called upon to array
themselves, led the scattered enemies of Kiyomori
to hesitate to join so hopeless a cause. The rendezvous
of the Minamoto was at Ishibashi Yama, and it
is said that only three hundred men gathered at the
call. They were followed and attacked by a greatly
superior force, and utterly routed. It is a tradition
that Yoritomo and six friends, who had escaped
from the slaughter of this battle, hid themselves in
the hollow of an immense tree. Their pursuers, in
searching for them, sent one of their number to
examine this tree. He was secretly a friend of the
Minamoto, and when he discovered the fugitives he
told them to remain, and announced to those who
sent him that the tree was empty. He even inserted
his spear into the hollow and turned it about to
<pb n='139'/><anchor id='Pg139'/>
show that there was nothing there. When he did
this two doves<note place='foot'>Doves are not eaten by the Minamoto to this day, owing,
it is said, to this miraculous interposition in behalf of Yoritomo.</note>
flew out, and the artful soldier
reported that spiders' webs were in the mouth of the
opening.
</p>

<p>
Yoritomo now fled to the promontory of Awa,
east of what became known afterward as Yedo bay.
He sent messages in every direction summoning the
enemies of Kiyomori to join him. His brother
Yoshitsuné gathered what forces he could from the
north and marched to the region which was to become
famous as the site of Kamakura. He was
joined by others of his clan and soon felt himself in
such a position as to assume the aggressive. He
fixed upon Kamakura as his headquarters about <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
1180, and as his power increased it grew to be a
great city. It was difficult of access from Kyōto and
by fortifying the pass of Hakoné,<note place='foot'>About <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
1618 Hakoné was created a barrier to separate the
eastern from the central provinces. Persons were not allowed to go
through this barrier without a passport.</note> where the mountainous
regions of Shinano come down to the eastern
coast not far from Fujisan, it was rendered safe from
attacks coming from the south.
</p>

<p>
While these notes of preparation were being
sounded Kiyomori, who as <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>daijō-daijin</foreign> had ruled
the empire for many years, died <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1181, at the
age of sixty-four. He was fully aware of the portentous
clouds which were gathering around his
family. On his death-bed he is said to have warned
them of the danger arising from the plans of Yoritomo.
<pb n='140'/><anchor id='Pg140'/>
According to the <hi rend='italic'>Nihon-Gwaishi</hi>, he said,
<q>My regret is only that I am dying, and have not
yet seen the head of Yoritomo of the Minamoto.
After my decease do not make offerings to Buddha
on my behalf nor read sacred books. Only cut off
the head of Yoritomo of the Minamoto and hang it
on my tomb.</q>
</p>

<p>
The death of Kiyomori<note place='foot'>In <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1286,
more than a century after his death, a monument
was erected to Kiyomori in Hyōgo which still exists. Satow and
Hawes' <hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>, p. 338.</note> hastened the triumph of
Yoritomo. Munemori the son of Kiyomori became
the head of the Taira clan, and continued the contest.
But Yoritomo's combinations speedily reduced
the country to his power. Yoshitsuné with his army
from the north was at Kamakura; Yoshinaka, a
cousin of Yoritomo, was in command of an army
gathered in the highlands of Shinano; while Yoritomo
himself led the forces collected in Awa, Kazusa
and Musashi. The point to which all the armies
were directed was the capital where the Taira were
still in full control. Yoshinaka was the first to come
in collision with the forces of the capital. Munemori
had sent out an army to oppose Yoshinaka who was
swiftly approaching along the Nakasendō. The
Taira army was completely defeated and Yoshinaka
marched victoriously into the capital. Munemori
with the reigning emperor Antoku, then only a child
six years of age, and all the imperial court crossed
the Inland sea to Sanuki, the northern province of
the island of Shikoku. The two retired emperors
Go-Shirakawa, and Takakura who sympathized with
<pb n='141'/><anchor id='Pg141'/>
the revolutionary movements of Yoritomo, remained
behind and welcomed Yoshinaka to the capital.
The retirement of the emperor from the palace was
taken as his abdication, and his younger brother,
Go-Toba, then seven years old, was proclaimed emperor.
</p>

<p>
Yoshinaka, puffed up by his rapid success, and
disregarding the paramount position of Yoritomo,
assumed the superintendence of the government and
had himself appointed
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>sei-i-shōgun</foreign>,<note place='foot'><p>The title
of shōgun is said to have been created by the Emperor
Sujin, who divided the empire into four military divisions, each
commanded by a shōgun or general. When Yoshinaka assumed
control in Kyōto at the time of his victory he was appointed
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>sei-i-shōgun</foreign>
(barbarian compelling general). Subsequently Yoritomo
secured the supreme military authority and having resigned the civil
offices held by him he was appointed by imperial edict
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>sei-i-tai-shōgun</foreign>
or great barbarian compelling general.
</p>
<p>
See G. Appert's <hi rend='italic'>Ancien Japon</hi>, vol. iii., p. 84; also Satow's note
to Adams' <hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>, vol. i., p. 42.
</p></note> which was the
highest military title then bestowed upon a subject.
He even went so far as to antagonize Yoritomo and
undertook to pluck the fruits of the military movements
which had brought about this revolution of
the government.
</p>

<p>
Yoritomo at once despatched Yoshitsuné at the
head of his army to Kyōto to put down this most
unexpected and unnatural defection. He met
Yoshinaka's army near lake Biwa and inflicted upon
it a severe defeat. Overwhelmed with shame and
knowing that he deserved no consideration at the
hands of his outraged relatives, Yoshinaka committed
suicide. Yoshitsuné then followed the fugitive
court. He destroyed the Taira palace at Hyōgo,
<pb n='142'/><anchor id='Pg142'/>
and then crossed over to Sanuki, whither the court
had fled. Alarmed by the swift vengeance which
was pursuing them, Munemori together with the
emperor and his mother and all the court hastily
embarked for what they hoped might be an asylum
in the island of Kyūshū. They were pursued by
the Minamoto army in the junks which had brought
them to Sanuki. They were overtaken at Dan-no-ura
not far from the village of Shimonoseki, in the
narrow straits at the western extremity of the Inland
sea. The naval battle which here took place is the
most famous in the annals of the Japanese empire.
According to the <hi rend='italic'>Nihon-Gwaishi</hi> the Taira fleet consisted
of five hundred junks, and the Minamoto of
seven hundred. The vessels of the Taira were encumbered
by many women and children of the
escaping families, which put them at a great disadvantage.
The young emperor, with his mother and
grandmother, were also the precious freight of this
fugitive fleet. Of course, at this early date the
vessels which contended were unlike the monstrous
men-of-war which now make naval warfare so stupendous
a game. They were not even to be compared
with the vessels which made up the Spanish
Armada in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1588, or the ships in which the
gallant British sailors repulsed them. Cannon were
no part of their armament. The men fought with
bows and arrows, and with spears and swords. It
was, however, a terrible hand-to-hand fight between
men who felt that their all was at stake. Story-tellers
draw from this battle some of their most lurid
narratives, and artists have depicted it with realistic
<pb n='143'/><anchor id='Pg143'/>
horrors. The grandmother of the emperor, the
widow of Kiyomori, seeing that escape was impossible,
took the boy emperor in her arms, and in spite
of the remonstrances of her daughter, who was the
boy's mother, she plunged into the sea, and both
were drowned.
</p>

<p>
The great mass of the Taira perished in this battle,
but a remnant escaped to the island of Kyūshū and
hid themselves in the inaccessible valleys of the
province of Higo. Here they have been recognized
in recent times, and it is claimed that they still show
the surly aversion to strangers which is an inheritance
derived from the necessity under which they
long rested to hide themselves from the vengeance
which pursued them.<note place='foot'>Adams, in his <hi rend='italic'>History of
Japan</hi>, vol. i., p. 37, gives a quaint
quotation from <hi rend='italic'>Nihon-Gwaishi</hi> as follows: <q>The crimes of the
Heishi against the imperial family were atoned for by their services,
and heaven therefore would not cut off their posterity. And this
probably was right.</q></note>
</p>

<p>
This battle was decisive in the question of supremacy
between the Taira and Minamoto clans. The
same policy of extermination which Kiyomori had
pursued against the Minamoto was now remorselessly
enforced by the Minamoto against the Taira.
The prisoners who were taken in the battle were
executed to the last man. Munemori was taken
prisoner and decapitated. Whenever a Taira man,
woman, or child was found, death was the inevitable
penalty inflicted. Yoritomo stationed his father-in-law
Hōjō Tokimasa at Kyōto to search out and
eradicate his enemies as well as to supervise the
affairs of the government.
</p>

<pb n='144'/><anchor id='Pg144'/>

<p>
It will be remembered that Go-Toba, a mere
child (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1186) only seven years of age, had been
put on the throne, in the place of the fugitive Antoku.
Now that the latter had perished at Dan-no-ura,
there could be no question about the legitimacy
and regularity of Go-Toba's accession. The retired
Emperor Go-Shirakawa, who had been a friend and
promoter of the schemes of Yoritomo, was still alive,
and rendered important aid in the re-organization of
the government.
</p>

<p>
The darkest blot upon the character of Yoritomo
is his treatment of his youngest brother Yoshitsuné.
It was he who had by his generalship and gallantry
brought these terrible wars to a triumphant conclusion.
He had crushed in the decisive battle of
Dan-no-ura the last of the enemies of Yoritomo.
With his victorious troops he marched northward,
and with prisoners and captured standards was on
his way to lay them at the feet of his now triumphant
brother at Kamakura. But the demon of jealousy
had taken possession of Yoritomo. He resented
the success and fame of his more winning and heroic
brother. He sent orders to him not to enter Kamakura,
and to give up his trophies of battle at Koshigoye
near to Enoshima. Here at the monastery of
Mampukuji is still kept the draft of the touching
letter<note place='foot'>See Satow and Hawes' <hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>, p.
57.</note> which he sent to his brother, protesting his
loyalty and denying the charges of ambition and
self-seeking which had been made against him. But
all this availed nothing. Yoshitsuné returned to
Kyōto and, in fear of bodily harm from the machinations
<pb n='145'/><anchor id='Pg145'/>
of his brother, made his escape with his faithful
servant Benkei,<note place='foot'>There are almost as many legends current concerning
Benkei as his master. Their first encounter was upon the Gojō bridge in Kyōto,
where Benkei prowled for the purpose of robbing passengers. Yoshitsuné,
then only a youth of sixteen years, displayed so much agility
and swordsmanship that the veteran robber yielded to him, and ever
after followed him as his faithful body servant. The <hi rend='italic'>Japanese Fairy
World</hi>, by W. E. Griffis, contains the legend of Benkei stealing a
huge bell five feet high from the monastery at Miidera, and carrying
it on his shoulders to Hiyēsan (see p. 93). When Yoshitsuné was
compelled to flee from the vengeance of his brother, he came with
Benkei, both disguised as begging priests, to a guarded barrier.
The custodians refused them passage, but Benkei, who was cunning
as well as strong, pulled out from his bosom a roll of blank paper
and pretended to read a commission from the abbot of Hōkōji, in
Kyōto, authorizing the two travellers to collect funds throughout the
country for casting a great bell for their temple. The custodians
were deeply impressed with this holy message and allowed the
travellers to pass without further question.</note> into his old asylum with his friend
Fujiwara Hidehira the governor of Mutsu. Shortly
after his arrival, however, Hidehira died, and his son
Yasuhira abjectly connived at his assassination<note place='foot'><p>There
are many legends, existing among the Ainos, of Yoshitsuné
having lived among them and taught them improved arts of hunting
and fishing. There is a wooden image of him at the village of Upper
Piratori, which is saluted (not worshipped) in token of honor to his
memory. Rev. John Batchelor, who has lived as a missionary among
the Ainos many years, is of the opinion that this reverence is largely
due to a desire on the part of the Ainos to conciliate their Japanese
masters. It has seemed not unreasonable to suppose that the traditions
concerning Yoshitsuné among the Ainos have been carried from
the Main island by the retreating tribes, and that Yoshitsuné never
lived with them in Yezo, but was only familiar with them in the wild
regions of Mutsu and Dewa.
</p>
<p>
See paper by Rev. J. Batchelor, <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>,
vol. xvi., part 1, p. 20.</p></note>
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1189, with a view to secure Yoritomo's favor.
<pb n='146'/><anchor id='Pg146'/>
He was at the time of his death only thirty years of
age. He has lived down to the present time in the
admiring affection of a warlike and heroic people.
Although Yoritomo is looked upon as perhaps their
greatest hero, yet their admiration is always coupled
with a <emph>proviso</emph> concerning his cruel treatment of his
brother.
</p>

<p>
In order not to rest under the imputation of having
encouraged this assassination, Yoritomo marched at
the head of a strong force and inflicted punishment
upon Yasuhira for having done what he himself desired
but dared not directly authorize.
</p>

<p>
The way was now clear for Yoritomo to establish
a system of government which should secure to him
and his family the fruits of his long contest. In
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1190, he went up to the capital to pay his respects
to the Emperor Go-Toba as well as to the
veteran retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa. The latter
was now in his sixty-sixth year, and had held his
place through five successive reigns, and was now
the friend and patron of the new government. He
died, however, only two years later. Yoritomo knew
the effect produced by a magnificent display, and
therefore made his progress to the capital with all
the pomp and circumstance which he could command.
The festivities were kept up for a month,
and the court and its surroundings were deeply impressed
with a sense of the power and irresistible
authority of the head of the Minamoto clan.
</p>

<p>
Yoritomo did not, however, choose to establish
himself at Kyōto amid the atmosphere of effeminacy
which surrounded the court. After his official visit,
<pb n='147'/><anchor id='Pg147'/>
during which every honor and rank which could be
bestowed by the emperor were showered upon his
head and all his family and friends, he returned to
his own chosen seat at Kamakura. Here he busied
himself in perfecting a system which, while it would
perpetuate his own power, would also build up a firm
national government.
</p>

<p>
His first step, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1184, was to establish a council
at which affairs of state were discussed, and which
furnished a medium through which the administration
might be conducted. The president of this
council was Ōye-no-Hiromoto.<note place='foot'>Ōye-no-Hiromoto was a powerful adherent
of Yoritomo, and was a member of his administrative council. He was the ancestor of
the Mōri family, who afterward became famous as the daimyōs of
Chōshū.</note> Its jurisdiction pertained
at first to the Kwantō&mdash;that is, to the part of
the country east of the Hakoné barrier. This region
was more completely under the control of the
Minamoto, and therefore could be more easily and
surely submitted to administrative methods. He
also established a criminal tribunal to take cognizance
of robberies and other crimes which, during
the lawless and violent disturbances in the country,
had largely prevailed.
</p>

<p>
But the step, which was destined to produce the
most far-reaching results, consisted in his obtaining
from the emperor the appointment of five of his own
family as governors of provinces, promising on his
part to supervise their actions and to be responsible
for the due performance of their duty. Up to this
time the governors and vice-governors of provinces
<pb n='148'/><anchor id='Pg148'/>
had always been appointed from civil life and were
taken from the families surrounding the imperial
court. He also was authorized to send into each
province a military man, who was to reside there, to
aid the governor in military affairs. Naturally, the
military man, being the more active, gradually absorbed
much of the power formerly exercised by
the governor. These military men were under the
authority of Yoritomo and formed the beginning of
that feudal system which was destined to prevail so
long in Japan. He also received from the court,
shortly after his visit to Kyōto, the title of
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>sei-i-tai-shōgun</foreign>,
which was the highest military title which
had ever been bestowed on a subject. This is the
title which, down to <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1868, was borne by the
real rulers of Japan. The possession of the power
implied by this title enabled Yoritomo to introduce
responsible government into the almost ungoverned
districts of the empire, and to give to Japan for the
first time in many centuries a semblance of peace.
</p>

<p>
There were also many minor matters of administration
which Yoritomo, in the few remaining years
of his life, put in order. He obtained from the
emperor permission to levy a tax on the agricultural
products of the country, from which he defrayed the
expenses of the military government. He established
tribunals for the hearing and determining of
causes, and thus secured justice in the ordinary
affairs of life. He forbade the priests and monks
in the great Buddhist monasteries, who had become
powerful and arrogant, to bear arms, or to harbor
those bearing arms.
</p>

<pb n='149'/><anchor id='Pg149'/>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/yoritomo.png' rend='width: 60%'>
    <head>Yoritomo.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
In all these administrative reforms Yoritomo was
careful always to secure the assent and authority of
the imperial court.<note place='foot'>We owe to Kaempfer, perhaps, the erroneous notion
which has been repeated by subsequent writers that there was both an ecclesiastical
and a temporal emperor. This was never true. There has
been only one emperor, who, in the Japanese theory, was the direct
descendant of divine ancestors and who has always been the supreme
authority. From the time of Yoritomo, however, the administration
was in the hand of an hereditary shōgun who always received the
commission of the emperor for the performance of his duties. See
Kaempfer's <hi rend='italic'>Histoire de l'Empire du Japon</hi>, vol.
i., p. 182.</note> In no case did he assume or
<pb n='150'/><anchor id='Pg150'/>
exercise independent authority. In this way was
introduced at this time that system of dual government
which continued until the resignation of
the Tokugawa Shōgun in 1868. After his first visit
to Kyōto, in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1190, Yoritomo devoted the remaining
years of his life to the confirmation of his
power and the encouragement of the arts of peace.
In <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1195 he made a second magnificent visit to
Kyōto and remained four months. It is because of
these peaceful results, which followed the long internecine
struggles, that the Japanese regard Yoritomo
as one of their most eminent and notable men.
Under the influence of his court Kamakura grew to
be a great city and far outranked even Kyōto in
power and activity, though not in size.
</p>

<p>
In the autumn of the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1198, when returning
from the inspection of a new bridge over the
Sagami river, he had a fall from his horse which
seriously injured him. He died from the effects of
this fall in the early part of the following year, in
the fifty-third year of his age. He had wielded the
unlimited military power for the last fifteen years.
His death was almost as much of an epoch in the
history of Japan as his life had been. We shall see
in the chapters which follow the deplorable results
of that system of effeminacy and nepotism, of abdication
and regency, which Yoritomo had to resist,
and which, had he lived twenty years more, his
country might have escaped.
</p>

</div>

<pb n='151'/><anchor id='Pg151'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter VII. Emperor And Shogun.'/>
<head>Chapter VII. Emperor And Shōgun.</head>

<p>
The death of Yoritomo brought into prominence
the very same system which had been the bane of
the imperial house during many centuries. His son
and the hereditary successor to his position and power
was Yoriiye, then eighteen years of age. He was
the son of Masago, and therefore the grandson of
Hōjō Tokimasa, who had been Yoritomo's chief
friend and adviser. He was an idle, vicious boy,
and evinced no aptitude to carry on the work of his
father. In this wayward career he was not checked
by his grandfather, and is even said to have been
encouraged to pursue a life of pleasure and gayety,
while the earnest work of the government was transacted
by others. Tokimasa assumed the duties of
president of the Council as well as guardian of
Yoriiye, and in these capacities conducted the administration
entirely according to his own will. The
appointments of position and rank which the father
had received from the emperor were in like manner
bestowed upon the son. He was made head of the
military administrators stationed in the several
provinces, and he also received the military title of
<pb n='152'/><anchor id='Pg152'/>
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>sei-i-tai-shōgun</foreign>,
to which Yoritomo had been appointed.
But these appointments were only honorary,
and the duties pertaining to them were all
performed by the guardian of the young man.
</p>

<p>
In the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1203, that is in the fourth year
succeeding Yoritomo's death, Yoriiye was taken
sick, and was unable to fulfil his duties even in the
feeble manner which was customary. His mother
consulted with Tokimasa, and they agreed that
Yoriiye should abdicate and surrender the headship
of the military administration to his brother Semman,
who was twelve years of age, and his son Ichiman.
Yoriiye seems to have resisted these suggestions,
and even resorted to force to free himself from the
influence of the Hōjō. But Tokimasa was too
powerful to be so easily dispensed with. Yoriiye
was compelled to yield, and he retired to a monastery
and gave up his offices. Not content with this
living retirement, Tokimasa contrived to have him
assassinated. Semman, his brother, was appointed
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>sei-i-tai-shōgun</foreign>,
and his name changed to Sanetomo.
But Sanetomo did not long enjoy his promotion,
because his nephew, the son of his murdered predecessor,
deemed him responsible for his father's
murder, and took occasion to assassinate him. Then
in turn the nephew was put to death for this crime,
and thus by the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1219 the last of the
descendants of the great Yoritomo had perished. In
the meantime Tokimasa had, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1205, retired to a
Buddhist monastery in his sixty-eighth year, and in
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1216, when he was seventy-eight, he died. The
court at Kamakura was now prepared to go on in
<pb n='153'/><anchor id='Pg153'/>
its career of effeminacy after the pattern of that at
Kyōto.
</p>

<p>
Mesago, the widow of Yoritomo and daughter of
Tokimasa, although she too had taken refuge in a
Buddhist nunnery, continued to exercise a ruling
control in the affairs of the government. She
solicited from the court at Kyōto the appointment
of Yoritsuné, a boy of the Fujiwara family, only two
years old, as <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>sei-i-tai-shōgun</foreign>
in the place of the murdered
Sanetomo. The petition was granted, and
this child was entrusted to the care of the Hōjō,
who, as regents<note place='foot'>The Japanese term is
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>Shikken</foreign>,
which is usually translated <emph>regent</emph>.</note>
of the shōgun, exercised with unlimited
sway the authority of this great office. The
situation of affairs in Japan at this time was deplorable.
Go-Toba and Tsuchi-mikado were both living
in retirement as ex-emperors. Juntoku was the
reigning emperor, who was under the influence and
tutelage of the ex-Emperor Go-Toba. Fretting
under the arrogance of the Hōjō, Go-Toba undertook
to resist their claims. But Yoshitoku, the
Hōjō regent at this time, quickly brought the Kyōto
court to terms by the use of his military power.
The ex-Emperor Go-Toba was compelled to become
a monk, and was exiled to the island of Oki.
The Emperor Juntoku was forced to abdicate, and
was banished to Sado, and a grandson of the former
Emperor Takakura placed on the throne. Even the
ex-Emperor Tsuchi-mikado, who had not taken any
part in the conspiracy, was sent off to the island of
Shikoku. The lands that had belonged to the
implicated nobles were confiscated and distributed
<pb n='154'/><anchor id='Pg154'/>
by Yoshitoku among his own adherents. The power
of the Hōjō family was thus raised to its supreme
point. They ruled both at Kyōto and Kamakura
with resistless authority. They exercised at both
places this authority without demanding or receiving
the appointment to any of the high positions
which they might have claimed. They were only
the regents of young and immature shōguns, who
were the appointees of a court which had at its head
an emperor without power or influence, and which
was controlled by the creatures of their own designation.
This lamentable state of things lasted for
many years. The shōguns during all this time were
children sent from Kyōto, sons of emperors or
connections of the royal family. The Hōjō ruled
them as well as the country. Whenever it seemed
best, they relentlessly deposed them, and set up
others in their places. In <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1289 the Regent
Sadatoki, it is said, became irritated with one of
these semi-royal shōguns, named Koreyasu, and in
order to show his contempt for him, had him put in
a <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>nori-mono</foreign><note place='foot'>A
travelling palanquin.</note> with his heels upward, and sent him
under guard to Kyōto. Some of the Hōjō regents,
however, were men of character and efficiency.
Yasutoki, for instance, who became regent in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
1225, was a man of notable executive ability, taking
Yoritomo as his model. Besides being a soldier of
tried capacity, he was a true friend of the farmer in
his seasons of famine and trial, and a promoter of
legal reforms and of the arts, which found a congenial
home among the Japanese.
</p>

<pb n='155'/><anchor id='Pg155'/>

<p>
But this condition of affairs could not last always.
The very same influences which put the real
power into the hands of the regents were at work
to render them unfit to continue to wield it. Abdication
and effeminacy were gradually dragging down
the Hōjō family to the same level as that of the
shōguns and emperors. In <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1256 Tokiyori, then
only thirty years old, resigned the regency in favor
of his son Tokimune, who was only six years. He
himself retired to a monastery, from which he
travelled as a visiting monk throughout the country.
In the meantime his son was under the care of a
tutor, Nagatoki, who, of course, was one of the Hōjō
family. Thus it had come about that a tutor now
controlled the regent; who was supposed to control
the shōgun; who was supposed to be the vassal of
the emperor; who in turn was generally a child
under the control of a corrupt and venal court.
Truly government in Japan had sunk to its lowest
point, and it was time for heroic remedies!
</p>

<p>
Occasionally, in the midst of this corruption and
inefficiency, an event occurs which stirs up the national
enthusiasm and makes us feel that there is
still left an element of heroism which will ultimately
redeem the nation from impending ruin. Such was
the Mongolian invasion of Japan in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1281. According
to accounts given by Marco Polo, who evidently
narrates the exaggerated gossip of the Chinese
court,<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>Travels of Marco Polo</hi>,
second edition, London, 1875, vol.
ii., p. 240.</note> Kublai Khan had at this time conquered the
Sung dynasty in China and reigned with unexampled
<pb n='156'/><anchor id='Pg156'/>
magnificence. He had heard of the wealth of Japan
and deemed it an easy matter to add this island empire
to his immense dominions. His first step was
to despatch an embassy to the Japanese court to demand
the subjection of the country to his authority.
This embassy was referred to Kamakura, whence it
was indignantly dismissed. Finally he sent an invading
force in a large number of Chinese and
Korean vessels who took possession of Tsushima, an
island belonging to Japan and lying midway between
Korea and Japan. Trusting to the effects of this
success a new embassy was sent, which was brought
before the Hōjō regent at Kamakura. The spot on
the seashore is still pointed out where these imperious
ambassadors were put to death, and thus a denial
which could not be misunderstood was given to
the demands of the Grand Khan. A great invading
force, which the Japanese put at a hundred thousand
men, was immediately sent in more than three hundred
vessels, who landed upon the island of Kyūshū.
This army was met and defeated<note place='foot'>In the year
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1890 two pictures were brought to light which
represent the events of this memorable battle. They are believed to
have been painted about <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1294 by Naganori and Nagatoki,
painters of the Tosa school. They have been in the family of one of
the captains in the Japanese army of that day, and while the figures
of the men and horses are not well drawn the pictures in other respects
have great historical value. Alongside of the scenes represented,
legends are written in explanation. It is said that these
valuable historical pictures are likely to come into the Household
Department and thus be more carefully preserved than they are likely
to be in a private house.&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>Japan Weekly Mail</hi>,
1890, p. 581.</note> by Tokimune, and,
a timely typhoon coming to their aid, the fleet of vessels
was completely destroyed. Thus the only serious
<pb n='157'/><anchor id='Pg157'/>
attempt at the invasion of Japan which has ever
been made was completely frustrated.
</p>

<p>
But notwithstanding this heroic episode the affairs
of Japan remained in the same deplorable condition.
As a rule children continued to occupy the imperial
throne and to abdicate whenever their Hōjō masters
deemed it best. Children of the imperial house or
of the family of Fujiwara were sent to Kamakura to
become shōguns. And now at last the Hōjō regency
had by successive steps come down to the same level,
and children were made regents, whose actions and
conduct were controlled by their inferiors.
</p>

<p>
In the midst of this state of things, which continued
till <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1318, Go-Daigo became emperor.
Contrary to the ordinary usage, he was a man thirty-one
years old, in the full maturity of his powers.
He was by no means free from the vices to which
his surroundings inevitably tended. He was fond
of the gayety and pomp which the court had always
cultivated. But he realized the depth of the degradation
to which the present condition of affairs had
dragged his country. A famine brought great suffering
upon the people, and the efforts which the emperor
made to assist them added to his popularity,
and revealed to him the reverence in which the imperial
throne was held. His son Moriyoshi, as early
as <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1307, was implicated in plans against the
Hōjō, which they discovered, and in consequence
compelled Go-Daigo to order his retirement into a
monastery. Later Go-Daigo undertook to make a
stand against the arrogance and intolerance of the
Hōjō and induced the Buddhist monks to join him
<pb n='158'/><anchor id='Pg158'/>
in fortifying Kasagi in the province of Yamato. But
this effort of the emperor was fruitless. Kasagi was
attacked and destroyed and the emperor taken prisoner.
As a punishment for his attempt he was sent
as an exile to the island of Oki. The Hōjō Regent
Takatoki put Go-Kōgen on the throne as emperor.
But Go-Daigo from his exile continued his exertions
against the Hōjō, and assistance came to him from
unexpected quarters. He effected his escape from
the island and, having raised an army, marched upon
Kyōto. Kusunoki Masashigé, who had given his aid
to the emperor on former occasions, now exerted
himself to good purpose. He is held in admiring
remembrance to this day by his grateful country as
the model of patriotic devotion, to whom his emperor
was dearer than his life. Another character
who stands out prominently in this trying time was
Nitta Yoshisada. He was a descendant of Yoshiiye,
who, for his achievements against the Emishi, had
received the popular title of Hachiman-tarō. Nitta
was a commander in the army of the Hōjō, which
had been sent against Kusunoki Masashigé. But at
the last moment he refused to fight against the army
of the emperor and retired with his troops and went
over to the side of Masashigé. He returned to his
own province of Kōtsuke and raised an army to fight
against the Hōjō. With this force he marched at
once against Kamakura through the province of
Sagami. His route lay along the beach. But at
Inamura-ga-saki the high ground, which is impassable
for troops, juts out so far into the water that Nitta
was unable to lead them past the promontory.
<pb n='159'/><anchor id='Pg159'/>
Alone he clambered up the mountain path and
looked out upon the sea that lay in his way. He
was bitterly disappointed that he could not bring his
force in time to share in the attack upon the hateful
Hōjō capital. He prayed to the Sea-god to withdraw
the sea and allow him to pass with his troops.
Then he flung his sword into the waves in token of
his earnestness and of the dire necessity in which he
found himself. Thereupon the tide retreated and
left a space of a mile and a half, along which Nitta<note place='foot'>For
a description of this locality, which is justly famed in Japanese
annals, see Satow and Hawes' <hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>, p. 56.</note>
marched upon Kamakura.
</p>

<p>
The attack was spirited and was made from three
directions simultaneously. It was resisted with determined
valor on the part of the Hōjō. The city
was finally set on fire by Nitta, and in a few hours
was reduced to ashes. Thus the power and the
arrogant tyranny of the Hōjō family were sealed. It
had lasted from the death of Yoritomo, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1199, to
the destruction of Kamakura, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1333, in all one
hundred and thirty-four years. It was a rough and
tempestuous time and the Hōjō have left a name in
their country of unexampled cruelty and rapacity.
The most unpardonable crime of which they were
guilty was that of raising their sacrilegious hands
against the emperor and making war against the imperial
standard. For this they must rest under the
charge of treason, and no merits however great or
commanding can ever excuse them in the eyes of
their patriotic countrymen.
</p>

<p>
The restoration of Go-Daigo to the imperial throne,
<pb n='160'/><anchor id='Pg160'/>
under so popular an uprising, seemed to betoken a
return to the old and simple system of Japanese government.
The intervention of a shōgun between
the emperor and his people, which had lasted from
the time of Yoritomo, was contrary to the precedents
which had prevailed from the Emperor Jimmu down
to that time. It was the hope and wish of the best
friends of the government at this time to go back
to the original precedents and govern the country
directly from Kyōto with the power and authority
derived from the emperor. But the emperor was
not equal to so radical a change from the methods
which had prevailed for more than a century. He
gave great offence by the manner in which he distributed
the forfeited fiefs among those who had
aided his restoration. To Ashikaga Taka-uji he
awarded by far the greatest prize, while to Kusunoki
and Nitta, who had in the popular estimation
done much more for him, he allotted comparatively
small rewards. Among the soldiers, who in the long
civil wars had lost the ability to devote themselves
to peaceful industries, this disappointment was most
conspicuous. They had expected to be rewarded
with lands and subordinate places, which would enable
them to live in that feudal comfort to which
they deemed their exertions had entitled them.
</p>

<p>
At this time a feud broke out between Ashikaga
Taka-uji and Nitta. The former had accused Nitta
of unfaithfulness to his emperor and Nitta was able
to disprove the charge. He received the imperial
commission to punish Ashikaga and marched with
his army upon him in the province of Tōtōmi. In
<pb n='161'/><anchor id='Pg161'/>
the battles (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1336) which ensued, the forces of
Ashikaga were completely victorious. The emperor
and his court were obliged to flee from Kyōto and
took up their residence in a Buddhist temple at
Yoshino in the mountainous district south of Kyōto.
This was the same monastery where Yoshitsuné and
Benkei had taken refuge previous to their escape
into Mutsu. Almost every tree and every rock in
the picturesque grounds of this romantic spot<note place='foot'>See Chamberlain's
<hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>, 1891, p. 337.</note>
bear some evidence of the one or other of these
memorable refugees. The southern dynasty lasted
in all fifty-seven years, down to <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1374, and
although it was compelled to starve out a miserable
existence in exile from the capital, it is yet looked
upon by historians as the legitimate branch; while
the northern dynasty, which enjoyed the luxury of a
palace and of the capital, is condemned as illegitimate.
</p>

<p>
This period of exile witnessed many notable events
in the bloody history of the country. Ashikaga
Taka-uji was of course the ruling spirit while he lived.
He proclaimed that Go-Daigo had forfeited the
throne and put Kōmyō Tennō, a brother of Kōgen
Tennō upon it in his stead. The insignia of the imperial
power were in the possession of Go-Daigo, but
Kōmyō, being supported by the battalions of Ashikaga,
cared little for these empty baubles. The
bloody sequence of affairs brought with it the death of
the heroic Kusunoki Masashige. He with Nitta and
other patriots had undertaken to support Go-Daigo.
It is said that contrary to his military judgment he
attacked the forces of Ashikaga, which were vastly
<pb n='162'/><anchor id='Pg162'/>
superior in number. The battle took place <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1336,
on the Minato-gawa, near the present site of Hyōgo.
The Ashikaga forces had cut off Kusunoki with a
small band of devoted followers from the main army.
Seeing that his situation was hopeless and that his
brave troops must be destroyed, with one hundred
and fifty men&mdash;all that were left of his little army&mdash;he
retired to a farmer's house near by and there
they all committed
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign>.<note place='foot'>Quite an
animated and interesting controversy took place a few
years ago with reference to this suicide of Kusunoki. Popular
opinion strongly justifies the act and rewards with its highest approval
the memory of the patriot. But Mr. Fukuzawa, one of the most
radical of the public men of to-day and an active and trenchant
writer, condemned the act as indefensible and cowardly.</note> Kusunoki Masashige,
when about to commit suicide, said to his son Masatsura:
<q>For the sake of keeping yourself out of
danger's way or of reaping some temporal advantage,
on no account are you to submit to Taka-uji.
By so doing you would bring reproach on our name.
While there is a man left who belongs to us let our
flag be hoisted over the battlements of Mount Konzo,
as a sign that we are still ready to fight in the emperor's
cause.</q>
</p>

<p>
A little later than this, in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1338, the great
companion and friend of Kusunoki, Nitta Yoshisada,
came to his end. He had undertaken to
promote the cause of the Emperor Go-Daigo in the
northwestern provinces by co-operating with Fuji-wara-no-Yoritomo.
Nitta with about fifty followers
was unexpectedly attacked by Ashikaga Tadatsune,
with three thousand men near Fukui in the province
of Echizen. There was no way of escape with his
<pb n='163'/><anchor id='Pg163'/>
little troop. In this condition he was urged to
secure his personal safety. But he refused to survive
his comrades. Then he rode with his brave
company upon the enemy until his horse was disabled
and he himself was pierced in the eye with an
arrow. He drew out the arrow with his own hand,
and then, in order that his body might not be
identified, with his sword cut off his own head, at
least so it is said! Each member of his troop
followed this grewsome example, and it was only
after examining the bodies of these headless corpses
and the finding upon one a commission from the
Emperor Go-Daigo, that the remains of the heroic
Nitta were recognized. The head was sent to
Kyōto and there exposed by the Ashikaga commander,
and the body was buried near the place
where the tragic death occurred.<note place='foot'>Mr. Griffis says
that when he resided in Fukui in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1871&mdash;more
than five hundred years after the event,&mdash;he saw the grave of the
heroic Nitta almost daily strewed with flowers.&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>The
Mikado's Empire</hi>, 1876, p. 190.</note>
</p>

<p>
The Ashikaga family had now the uninterrupted
control of affairs. They resided at Kyōto and inherited
in succession the office of shōgun. Taka-uji,
the founder of the Ashikaga shōgunate, and who had
held the office from <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
1334, died in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1358,
when about fifty-three years old. He was succeeded
by his son Yoshinori who was shōgun from <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1359
to <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1367. Having retired he was succeeded by
his grandson Yoshimitsu who in turn retired in favor
of his son Yoshimotsu. By this time the precedents
of abdication and effeminacy began to tell upon the
<pb n='164'/><anchor id='Pg164'/>
Ashikaga successors, and like all the preceding ruling
families it gradually sank into the usual insignificance.
Some of the Ashikaga shōguns, however,
were men of uncommon ability and their services to
their country deserve to be gratefully remembered.
A number of them were men of culture and evinced
their love of elegance and refinement by the palaces
which they built in Kyōto. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
was shōgun from <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1368 to 1393, and at the latter
date retired in favor of his young son Yoshimotsu,
but lived in official retirement in Kyōto till <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
1409. He built the palace now known as the Buddhist
monastery Kinkakuji.<note place='foot'>Satow and Hawes'
<hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>, p. 356.</note> Its name is derived
from <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kinkaku</foreign> (golden pavilion) which Yoshimitsu
erected. The whole palace was bequeathed by him
to the Zen sect of Buddhists and is still one of the
sights best worth seeing in Kyōto.
</p>

<p>
Yoshimitsu has been visited by much obloquy because
he accepted from the Chinese government the
title of King of Japan, and pledged himself to the
payment of one thousand ounces of gold as a yearly
tribute. It is said in explanation of this tribute that
it was to compensate for damages done by Japanese
pirates to Chinese shipping. But it was probably
negotiated for the purpose of securing an ambitious
title on the one hand and on the other making a
troublesome neighbor a tributary kingdom.
</p>

<p>
Another building which takes its origin from
the Ashikaga is the Tō-ji-in. It was founded by
Ashikaga Taka-uji and contains carved and lacquered
wooden figures of the Ashikaga shōguns which
<pb n='165'/><anchor id='Pg165'/>
are believed in most cases to be contemporary
portraits.<note place='foot'>It is an evidence of the feeling which still exists towards
the Ashikaga shōguns that in 1863 these figures were taken from the
Tō-ji-in and beheaded and the heads pilloried in the dry bed of
the Kamogawa, at the spot where it is customary to expose the heads
of the worst criminals. Several of the men who were guilty of this
outrage were captured and were put into the hands of various
daimyōs by whom they were kept as prisoners.&mdash;Satow and Hawes'
<hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>, p. 357.</note>
</p>

<p>
Another of the notable Ashikaga shōguns was
Yoshimasa, who held the office from <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1443-1473.
He retired at the latter date, and lived as retired
shōgun until <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1490. In this interval of seclusion
he cultivated the arts, and posed as the patron of
literature and painting. That curious custom called
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>cha-no-yu</foreign>, or tea
ceremonies,<note place='foot'>See the full account of
tea ceremonies in Chamberlain's <hi rend='italic'>Things
Japanese</hi>, 1892, p. 404.</note> is usually adjudged to
him as its originator, but it is most probable that he
only adopted and refined it until it became the fashionable
craze which has come down to modern times.
These ceremonies and his other modes of amusement
were conducted in a palace which he had built
called <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>gin-kaku</foreign> (silver pavilion). Yoshimasa
left this palace to the monks of Shō-koku-ji, with directions
that it should be converted into a monastery,
and in that capacity it still serves at the present
time.
</p>

<p>
The period of the two imperial dynasties lasted
until <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1392, when a proposition was made by the
Shōgun Yoshimitsu to the then reigning emperor
of the south, that the rivalry should be healed. It
was agreed that Go-Kameyama of the southern dynasty
<pb n='166'/><anchor id='Pg166'/>
should come to Kyōto and surrender the insignia
to Go-Komatsu, the ruling emperor of the
northern dynasty. This was duly accomplished,
and Go-Kameyama, having handed over the insignia
to Go-Komatsu, took the position of retired emperor.
Thus the long rivalry between the northern and
southern dynasties was ended, and Go-Komatsu
stands as the ninety-ninth in the official list of emperors.
In that list, however, none of the other
emperors<note place='foot'><p>The official list of
emperors will be found in Appendix I. The
names of the northern which are not included in this list are as
follows:
</p>
<p>
<hi rend='smallcaps'>Date of Accession.</hi>
</p>
<p>
Kōmiō, 1996 years from Jimmu, 1336 <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi><lb/>
Shukō, 2009 years from Jimmu, 1349 <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi><lb/>
Go-Kōgen, 2012 years from Jimmu, 1352 <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi><lb/>
Go-Enyū, 2032 years from Jimmu, 1372 <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi><lb/>
Go-Komatsu, 2043 years from Jimmu, 1383 <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
</p></note> of the northern dynasty appear, they
being regarded as pretenders, and in no case entitled
to the dignity of divine rulers of Japan.
</p>

<p>
This settlement of dynastic difficulties and the
unrestricted ascendancy of the Ashikaga shōguns
gave the country a little interval of peace. The
condition of the peasantry at this time was most
deplorable. The continual wars between neighboring
lords and with the shōguns had kept in the field
armies of military men, who were forced to subsist
on contributions exacted from the tillers of the soil.
The farmers everywhere were kept in a state of uncertainty,
and had little encouragement to cultivate
<pb n='167'/><anchor id='Pg167'/>
crops which were almost sure to fall into the hands
of others.
</p>

<p>
On the coasts of Kyūshū and other islands facing
towards the continent piracy also sprang up and
flourished apace. It was indeed an era of piracy
all over the world. The Portuguese, Spanish, and
Dutch traders of this period were almost always
ready to turn an honest penny by seizing an unfortunate
vessel under the pretence that it was a pirate.
The whole coast of China, according to the accounts
of Pinto, swarmed with both European and Asiatic
craft, which were either traders or pirates, according
to circumstances. Under this state of things, and
with the pressure of lawlessness and want behind
them, it was not surprising that the inhabitants of
the western coasts of Japan should turn to a piratical
life.
</p>

<p>
Knowing the Japanese only since centuries of enforced
isolation had made them unaccustomed to
creep beyond their own shores, we can scarcely conceive
of their hardihood and venturesomeness during
and subsequent to this active period. Mr. Satow<note place='foot'>See
<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol. xiii., p. 139.</note>
has gathered a most interesting series of facts pertaining
to the intercourse between Japan and Siam,
beginning at a period as early as that now under review.
Not only did this intercourse consist in sending
vessels laden with chattels for traffic, but a colony
of Japanese and a contingent of Japanese troops
formed part of the assistance which Japan furnished
to her southern neighbor.
</p>

<p>
While these signs of activity were apparent on the
<pb n='168'/><anchor id='Pg168'/>
coast, the provinces in the interior were alive with
political unrest. Particularly the principal daimyōs,
who had never since the days of Yoritomo felt a
master's power over them, took the present occasion
to extend their dominions over their neighbors.
For centuries the conflicts among them were almost
unending. It is needless to undertake to disentangle
the story of their wars. These daimyōs were a far
more distinct and pressing reality than the harmless
emperor, or even than the far-removed shōgun.
While their ceaseless civil wars rendered the condition
of the country so uncertain and so unsettled,
yet the authority of the local rulers tended to preserve
peace and dispense a rude kind of justice
among their own subjects. Thus while in many
parts of Japan poverty and desolation had eaten up
everything, and lawlessness and robbery had put an
end to industry, yet there were some favored parts
of the islands where the strong hand of the daimyōs
preserved for their people the opportunities of life,
and kept alive the chances of industry.<note place='foot'>It is
said that in this disastrous time the poverty of the country
was so great that when, in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1500, Go-Tsuchimikado died at
his palace in Kyōto, the corpse was kept for forty days because the means
for the usual funeral expenses could not be had. M. von Brandt as
quoted in Rein's <hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, p. 261.</note>
</p>

</div>

<pb n='169'/><anchor id='Pg169'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter VIII. From The Ashikaga Shoguns To The Death
Of Nobunaga.'/>
<head>Chapter VIII. From The Ashikaga Shōguns To The Death
Of Nobunaga.</head>

<p>
In almost the worst period of the Ashikaga anarchy,
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1542, the Portuguese made their first appearance
in Japan. Galvano, who had been governor
of the Moluccas, gives an account of this first visit,
when three fugitives from a Portuguese vessel in a
Chinese junk were driven upon the islands of southern
Japan. Concerning the doings<note place='foot'>Mr. W. A. Woolley,
in a paper read before the Asiatic Society of
Japan, gives an account derived from Japanese sources as follows:
<q>Amongst those who landed on this occasion was one of the
<hi rend='italic'>Literati</hi> of China, who acted as interpreter between the
foreigners and the chief of the island Hyōbu-no-jō Tokitada. [Since both the Chinese
and Japanese used the same ideographic characters, they could understand
each other's writing but not speech.] In reply to questions the
interpreter is represented as having described his friends the foreigners
as being ignorant of etiquette and characters, of the use of wine
cups and chop sticks, and as being, in fact, little better than the
beasts of the field. The chief of the foreigners taught Tokitada the
use of firearms, and upon leaving presented him with three guns
and ammunition, which were forwarded to Shimazu Yoshihisa, and
through him to the shōgun.</q>&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic
Society Transactions</hi>, vol. ix., p. 128.</note> of these fugitives
we have no account in any foreign narratives.
</p>

<pb n='170'/><anchor id='Pg170'/>

<p>
But Fernam Mendez Pinto,<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>Adventures
of Mendez Pinto</hi>, done into English by Henry
Cogan, London, 1891, pp. 259 etc.</note> in his travels, etc., gives
a detailed narrative of the visit which he and his
companions made a few years later in a ship with a
Chinese captain and merchandise. The exact year
cannot be ascertained from Pinto's narrative, but
Hildreth<note place='foot'>Hildreth's <hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>,
etc., 1855, p. 27, note.</note> assumes that it could not have been earlier
than <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1545. Pinto landed on Tane-ga-shima,
an island south of the extreme southern point of the
island of Kyūshū. They were received with great
cordiality by the prince, who evinced the utmost
curiosity concerning the Portuguese who were on
this ship. Pinto naïvely confesses that <q>we rendered
him answers as might rather fit his humor
than agree with the truth, ... that so we might
not derogate from the great opinion he had conceived
of our country.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Adventures
of Mendez Pinto</hi>, p. 281.</note>
</p>

<p>
As a return for some of the kindnesses which the
prince showed them, the Portuguese gave him a
<foreign rend='italic'>harquebuse</foreign>, and explained to him the method of
making powder. The present seems to have been
most acceptable, and Pinto declares the armorers
commenced at once to make imitations of it, <q>so
that before their departure (which was five months
and a half after) there were six hundred of them
made in the country.</q> And a few years later he
was assured that there were above thirty thousand
in the city of Fucheo,<note place='foot'>This is the name
by which Pinto calls this city (see <hi rend='italic'>Adventures of
Mendez Pinto</hi>, London, 1891, p. 265); the real name, however, at
this time was Fumai, and is now Ōita.</note> the capital of Bungo, and
<pb n='171'/><anchor id='Pg171'/>
above three hundred thousand in the whole province.
And so they have increased from this one <foreign rend='italic'>harquebuse</foreign>
which they gave to the prince of Tane-ga-shima,
until every hamlet and city in the empire in a short
time were supplied with them.<note place='foot'>The author himself
saw in Japan in 1874 the native hunters using
an old-fashioned matchlock, in which the powder was fired by a slow
burning match, which was brought down to the powder by a trigger.
This kind of firearm, which was in use in Europe in the fifteenth
century, was taken to Japan by the Portuguese, and continued to be
used there until the re-organization of the army introduced the modern
form of gun.</note>
</p>

<p>
A short time after their reception at Tane-ga-shima
the Prince of Bungo, who was a relative of
the Prince of Tane-ga-shima, sent for one of the
Portuguese, and Pinto, by his own consent, was
selected as being of a <q>more lively humor.</q> He
was received with great consideration, and proved
himself of vast service in curing the prince of gout,
with which he was affected. His success in this cure
gave him immense repute, and he was initiated into
all the gayeties and sports of the prince's court. In
particular he amused and interested them all by
firing the matchlock which he had brought with
him. A son of the prince of about sixteen or seventeen
years of age was infatuated with this sport, and
one day, unknown to Pinto, he undertook to load
and fire the matchlock, as he had seen the foreigner
do. An explosion occurred, by which the young
prince was much injured, and owing to this Pinto
came near being put to death for having wrought
this disaster. But the young prince had more sense
than the attendants, and at his request Pinto was
given a chance to bind up the wounds and take care
<pb n='172'/><anchor id='Pg172'/>
of him. The result was that the young prince
quickly recovered, and the fame of this cure was
spread everywhere. <q>So that,</q> says Pinto, <q>after
this sort I received in recompense of this my cure
above fifteen hundred ducats that I carried with me
from this place.</q>
</p>

<p>
Pinto made a second visit to Japan in the interests
of trade in 1547, which was attended by a circumstance
which had far-reaching results. In critical
circumstances they were called upon to take off two
fugitives who appealed to them from the shore. A
company of men on horseback demanded the return
of the fugitives, but without answer they pulled off
to the ship and took them aboard. The principal of
these two fugitives<note place='foot'>In the accounts
given by the biographers of Xavier, it is said that
there were two companions of Anjiro who in the subsequent baptism
received the names of John and Anthony.</note> was Anjiro, whom the Jesuits
usually name Anger, and his companion was his servant.
They were taken in the Portuguese vessel to
Malacca, where Pinto met Father Francis Xavier,
who had just arrived upon his mission to the East.
Xavier became intensely interested in these Japanese
fugitives, and took them to Goa, then the principal
seat of Jesuit learning and the seat of an archbishopric
in the East Indies. Here both the Japanese
became converts and were baptized, Anjiro
receiving the name of Paulo de Santa Fé<note place='foot'>This was
the name of the seminary in Goa where Anjiro had
been educated.</note> (Paul of
the Holy Faith), and his companion the name of
John. They learned to speak and write the Portuguese
language, and were instructed in the elements
<pb n='173'/><anchor id='Pg173'/>
of the Christian religion. With these efficient helps
Xavier was ready to enter Japan and commence the
evangelization on which his heart had long been set.
</p>

<p>
At last arrangements were made with a Chinese
vessel, which according to Pinto's account was a
piratical craft, to convey Xavier and his companions
to Japan. They arrived at Kagoshima, the capital
of the province of Satsuma, August 15, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1549.
Besides Xavier and his Japanese companions there
were Cosme de Torres, a priest, and Jean Ferdinand,
a brother of the Society of Jesus. They were cordially
received by the Prince of Satsuma, and after
a little, permission was given them to preach the
Christian religion in the city of Kagoshima. The
family and relatives of Anjiro, who lived in Kagoshima,
were converted and became the first fruits of
the mission. In the letters which Xavier wrote
home about this time we have his early impressions
concerning the Japanese. The princess took great
interest in the subjects discussed by Anjiro, and was
especially struck with a picture of the Madonna and
child which he showed her. She asked to have the
heads of the Christian faith put in writing in order
that she might study them. For this reason a creed
and a catechism were prepared and translated into
the Japanese language, for the use of the princess
and other enquirers. In one of his early letters he
says: <q>I really think that among barbarous nations
there can be none that has more natural goodness
than Japan.</q><note place='foot'>See Coleridge's <hi rend='italic'>Life
and Letters of St. Francis Xavier</hi>, London,
1872, p. 237.</note> In the same letter he says: <q>They
<pb n='174'/><anchor id='Pg174'/>
are wonderfully inclined to see all that is good and
honest and have an eagerness to learn.</q> Xavier, in
letter 79, narrates his meeting with the Buddhist
priest whom he calls Ningh-Sit, which name he says
means Heart of Truth. This priest was eighty
years old, and in the conversation expressed great
surprise that Xavier should have come all the way
from Portugal to preach to the Japanese.
</p>

<p>
The biographers of Xavier have given us the fullest
details of his life and works. That he was a
man of the most fervent piety as well as the most
conspicuous ability, is apparent from the energy and
success with which he conducted his short but brilliant
mission. Both in their accounts of him, as well
as in the papal bull announcing his canonization, the
claim is distinctly set forth of his possession of
miraculous power. He is represented as having
raised a Japanese girl from the dead; as possessing
the gift of tongues, that is, as being able to speak in
fluent Japanese, although he had not learned the
language; as having given an answer which when
heard was a satisfactory reply to the most various
and different questions,<note place='foot'>Bouhour's
<hi rend='italic'>Life of Xavier</hi>, p. 274.</note> such as, <q>the immortality of
the soul, the motions of the heavens, the eclipses of
the sun and moon, the colors of the rainbow, sin
and grace, heaven and hell.</q>
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/xavier.png' rend='width: 60%'>
    <head>St. Francis Xavier.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
Yet it must be stated that Xavier himself does
not claim these miraculous powers. Indeed among
the letters published by Father Horace Tursellini
is one in which he thus speaks of himself: <q>God
grant that as soon as possible we may learn the
<pb n='176'/><anchor id='Pg176'/>
language of Japan in order to make known the
divine mysteries; then we shall zealously prosecute
our Christian work. For they speak and discourse
much about us, but we are silent, ignorant of the
language of the country. At present we are become
a child again to learn the elements of the language.</q>
</p>

<p>
The desire for trade with the Portuguese seems
to have been a principal reason for the ready reception
of the missionaries. And when the Portuguese
merchant ships resorted to Hirado, an island
off the west coast of Kyūshū, instead of the less
accessible Kagoshima, the Prince of Kagoshima
turned against the missionaries and forbade them
from preaching and proselyting. From Kagoshima
Xavier went to Hirado, where he was received with
a salvo of artillery from a Portuguese vessel then at
anchor there. Here he made a short stay, preaching
the gospel as usual and with the approval of the
prince establishing a church. Leaving Kosmé de
Torres at Hirado and taking with him Fernandez
and the two Japanese assistants he touched at
Hakata, famous as the place where the Mongol invaders
were repulsed. Then he crossed over to the
Main island and travelling by land along the
Sanyōdō he entered Yamaguchi in the province of
Nagato. His humble and forlorn appearance did
not produce a favorable impression on the people of
this city and he was driven out with obloquy. He
set out for Kyōto with a party of Japanese merchants,
and as it was winter and Xavier had to carry;
on his back a box containing the vestments and
vessels for the celebration of mass, the journey
<pb n='177'/><anchor id='Pg177'/>
was trying and difficult. He arrived at Kyōto <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
1550 in the midst of great political troubles. A fire
had destroyed a great part of what had been once a
beautiful and luxurious city. Many of the principal
citizens had abandoned it and taken up their residence
with local princes in the provinces. Xavier
could obtain a hearing neither from the emperor
nor from the Ashikaga shōguns, who maintained a
representative in the capital at this time. He
preached in the street as he could obtain opportunity.
But the atmosphere was everywhere unfavorable,
and he resolved to abandon the field for
the present. Accordingly he went back to Bungo,
whence he sailed for China November 20, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1551,
with the purpose of establishing a mission. He had
spent two years and three months in Japan and
left an impression which has never been effaced.
He died on his way, at the little island of Sancian,
December 2, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1552, aged forty-six. His body
was carried to Malacca and afterward to Goa, where
it was buried in the archiepiscopal cathedral.<note place='foot'>In the
<hi rend='italic'>Life of St. Francis Xavier</hi> by Bartholi and Maffei the
following circumstance is given: <q>It seems that a rat had invaded
the sanctuary and gnawed the ornaments of the altar. The sacristan
appealed to the saint thus: <q>Father Francis! people say that you
passed from this life in the vicinity of China; that you were a saint,
that your body still remains entire and incorrupt at Goa. Now here
am I your sacristan; and I ask is it consistent with your honor that a
rat should have the audacity to gnaw the ornaments of your altar? I
demand his death at your hand.</q> On opening the door of the sanctuary
the next morning the sacristan found the culprit quite dead.</q></note>
</p>

<p>
The departure and death of Xavier did not interrupt
the work of the mission in Japan. Kosmé de
Torres was left in charge and additional helpers,
<pb n='178'/><anchor id='Pg178'/>
both priests and lay brothers, were sent to prosecute
what had been so conspicuously begun. The political
disturbances in Yamaguchi for a time interfered
with the labors of the missionaries there. Bungo
was the principal province where their encouragement
had made their success most conspicuous.
The prince had not indeed been baptized but he
had permitted the fathers to preach and he had
allowed converts to adopt the new religion, so that
the work had assumed a promising appearance.
The Prince of Ōmura became a convert and by his
zeal in the destruction of idols and other extreme
measures aroused the hostility of the Buddhist
priesthood. In Kyōto the progress of the work encountered
many vicissitudes. The political troubles
arising out of the contests between Mōri of Chōshū
and the rival house interfered with the propagation
of Christianity both in Yamaguchi and Kyōto.
Mōri himself, the most powerful prince of his time
and who once held the control in ten provinces, was
hostile to the Christians. By his influence the work
in Kyōto was temporarily abandoned and the fathers
resorted to Sakai, a seaport town not far from
Ōsaka, where a branch mission was established.
</p>

<p>
It was in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1573 that Nagasaki became distinctively
a Christian city. At that time the Portuguese
were seeking various ports in which they
could conduct a profitable trade, and they found
that Nagasaki possessed a harbor in which their
largest ships could ride at anchor. The merchants
and Portuguese fathers therefore proposed to the
Prince of Ōmura, in whose territory the port of
<pb n='179'/><anchor id='Pg179'/>
Nagasaki was situated, to grant to them the town
with jurisdiction over it. The prince at first refused,
but finally by the intervention of the Prince of
Arima the arrangement was made.<note place='foot'>See Woolley, <q>Historical
Notes on Nagasaki</q>, <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society
Transactions</hi>, vol. ix., p. 129.</note> The transference
to Nagasaki of the foreign trade at this early
day made it a very prosperous place. The Prince
of Ōmura had the town laid out in appropriate
streets, and Christian churches were built often on
the sites of Buddhist temples which were torn down
to give place for them. It is said that in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1567
<q>there was hardly a person who was not a Christian.</q>
</p>

<p>
We shall have occasion often in the subsequent
narrative to refer to the progress of Christianity in
the empire. In the meantime we must trace the
career of Nobunaga, who exerted a powerful effect
on the affairs of his country and particularly upon
the condition of both Buddhism and Christianity.
He must be regarded always as one of the great men
of Japan who at an opportune moment intervened
to rescue its affairs from anarchy. He prepared the
way for Hideyoshi and he, in turn, made it possible
for Ieyasu to establish a peace which lasted without
serious interruption for two hundred and fifty years.
</p>

<p>
Ota Nobunaga was descended from the Taira family
through Ota Chikazane, a great-grandson of Taira
Kiyomori. The father of Chikazane had perished
in the wars between the Taira and Minamoto
families, and his mother had married as her second
husband the chief man in the village of Tsuda in the
province of Ōmi. The step-child was adopted by
<pb n='180'/><anchor id='Pg180'/>
a Shintō priest of the village of Ota in the province
of Echizen, and received the name of Ota Chikazane.
When he grew up, he became a Shintō priest and
married and became the father of a line of priests.
One of this succession was Ota Nobuhide, who seems
to have reverted from the priestly character back to
the warlike habits of his ancestors. In the general
scramble for land, which characterized that period,
Nobuhide acquired by force of arms considerable
possessions in the province of Owari, which at his
death in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1549 he left to his son Ota Nobunaga.
This son grew up to be a man of large stature, but
slender and delicate in frame. He was brave beyond
the usual reckless bravery of his countrymen. He was
by character and training fitted for command, and
in the multifarious career of his busy life, in expeditions,
battles, and sieges, he showed himself the consummate
general. Like many other men of genius
he was not equally as skilful in civil as military affairs.
He was ambitious to reduce the disorders of his
country, and he was able to see in a great measure
the success of his schemes. But he failed in leaving
when he died any security for the preservation and
continuance of that peace and unity which he had
conquered.
</p>

<p>
At the time Nobunaga became prominent, the
Emperor Go-Nara had died and Ōgimachi in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
1560 had just succeeded to the throne as the one
hundred and fifth emperor. Ashikaga Yoshifusa had
become shōgun in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1547 as a boy eleven years
old, and was at this time a young man, who as usual
devoted himself to pleasure while the affairs of government
were conducted by others. Both emperor
<pb n='181'/><anchor id='Pg181'/>
and shōgun were almost powerless in the empire, the
real power being held by the local princes. In many
cases they had largely increased their holdings by
conquest, and were almost entirely independent of
the central authority. For more than a century this
independence had been growing, and at the time of
Nobunaga there was little pretence of deferring to
the shōgun in any matter growing out of the relations
of one prince to the other, and none at all in
reference to the internal government of the territories
within their jurisdiction. The principal local
rulers at this time were the following: Imagaya
Yoshimoto controlled the three provinces of Suruga,
Tōtōmi, and Mikawa; Hōjō Ujiyasu from the town
of Odowara ruled the Kwanto, including the provinces
of Sagami, Musashi, Awa, Kazusa, Shimosa,
Hitachi, Kōtsuke, and Shimotsuke; Takeda Shingen
ruled the province of Kai and the greater part of
the mountainous province of Shinano; Uesugi
Kenshin held under his control the northwestern
provinces of Echizen, Echigo, Etchū, and Noto;
Mōri Motonari after a severe contest had obtained
control of almost all the sixteen provinces
which composed the Chūgoku or central
country; the island of Kyūshū had been the
scene of frequent civil wars and was now divided between
the houses of Shimazu of Satsuma, Ōtomo
of Bungo, and Ryōzoji of Hizen; and finally the
island of Shikoku was under the control of Chōsokabe
Motochika.<note place='foot'>For these facts concerning Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, and the
condition of the country during their times, the author is largely
indebted to the <hi rend='italic'>Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi</hi>, by Walter Dening,
Tokio, 1890.</note> Besides these principal rulers,
<pb n='182'/><anchor id='Pg182'/>
there were many smaller holders who occupied fiefs
subordinate to the great lords, and paid for their
protection and their suzerainty in tribute and military
service. In the letters of the Jesuit missionaries
of this period the great lords are denominated <emph>kings</emph>,
but neither according to the theory of the Japanese
government, nor the actual condition of these rulers
can the name be considered appropriate. The term
daimyō<note place='foot'>The word <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>daimyō</foreign> means
<hi rend='italic'>great name</hi>, and was used in reference
to the ownership of land; <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>shomyō</foreign> means
<hi rend='italic'>small name</hi>, and was at first
employed to indicate the small land-owner. But the word never
obtained currency, the small land-owner always preferring to call
himself a daimyō. See Chamberlain's <hi rend='italic'>Things Japanese</hi>,
p. 84.</note> came into its full and modern use only
when Ieyasu reorganized and consolidated the
feudal system of the empire. But even at the period
of Nobunaga the name was employed to indicate
the owners of land. We prefer to continue down to
the time of the Tokugawa shōguns the use of the
terms <hi rend='italic'>prince</hi> and
<hi rend='italic'>principality</hi> for the semi-independent
rulers and their territories.
</p>

<p>
The holdings which Ota Nobunaga inherited from
his father consisted only of four small properties in
the province of Owari. Acting according to the
fashion of the times he gradually extended his
authority, until by <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1559 we find him supreme in
Owari with his chief castle at Kiyosu near to the city
of Nagoya. His leading retainers and generals were
Shibata Genroku and Sakuma Yemon, to whom
must be added Hideyoshi,<note place='foot'>The element
of comedy shows itself from the beginning in
Hideyoshi's character when he adopted the calabash, in which he had
carried water, as his symbol of victory. He added a new one for
each victory, and at last adopted a bunch of calabashes for his coat-of-arms.
Afterwards he had this constructed of gold, which was
carried as the emblem of his triumphant career.</note> who gradually and
<pb n='183'/><anchor id='Pg183'/>
rapidly rose from obscurity to be the main reliance
of his prince. Nobunaga was a skilful general, and
whenever an interval occurred in his expeditions
against his hostile neighbors he employed the time
in carefully drilling his troops, and preparing them
for their next movements. He found in Hideyoshi
an incomparable strategist, whose plans, artifices,
and intrigues were original and effective, and were
worth more to his master than thousands of troops.
</p>

<p>
It was not difficult in those days to find excuses
to invade neighboring domains, and hence we find
Nobunaga, as soon as he had made himself master
of Owari, on one pretext or another making himself
also master of the provinces of Mino, Ōmi, and
Isé. Before this was accomplished, however, we
see plain indications both on the part of Nobunaga
and his retainers that the ultimate aim in view was
the subjugation of the whole country, and the establishment
of a government like that of Yoritomo.
</p>

<p>
At this time (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1567) the affairs of the Ashikaga
shōguns, who ruled in the name of the emperor,
were in a state of great confusion. Yoshiteru, the
shōgun, had been assassinated by one of his retainers,
Miyoshi Yoshitsugu. The younger brother of
Yoshiteru was Yoshiaki, who desired to succeed, but
this did not comport with the designs of the assassins.
Accordingly after making several unsuccessful applications
for military aid he finally applied to Nobunaga.
This was exactly the kind of alliance that
<pb n='184'/><anchor id='Pg184'/>
Nobunaga wanted to justify his schemes of national
conquest. With his own candidate in the office of
shōgun, he could proceed without impediment to
reduce all the princes of the empire to his supreme
authority. He therefore undertook to see Yoshiaki
established as shōgun, and for this purpose marched
a large army into Kyōto. Yoshiaki was installed as
shōgun in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1568, and at his suggestion the
emperor conferred on Nobunaga the title of Fuku-shōgun<note place='foot'>See Dening's
<hi rend='italic'>Life of Hideyoshi</hi>, p. 207.</note>
or vice-shōgun. This was Nobunaga's first
dealings with the imperial capital, and the presence
of his large army created a panic among the inactive
and peaceful citizens.
</p>

<p>
He appointed Hideyoshi as commander-in-chief
of the army at the capital, who with a sagacity and
energy that belonged to his character set himself to
inspire confidence and to overcome the prejudice
which everywhere prevailed against the new order
of things. Kyōto had suffered so much from fires
and warlike attacks, and still more by poverty and
neglect, that it was now in a lamentable condition.
To have somebody, therefore, with the power and
spirit to accomplish his ends, undertake to repair
some of the wastes, and put in order what had long
run to ruin, was an unexpected and agreeable surprise.
The palaces of the emperor and the shōgun
were repaired and made suitable as habitations for
the heads of the nation. Streets and bridges,
temples and grounds were everywhere put in order.
Kyōto for the first time in many centuries had the
benefit of a good and strong government.
</p>

<pb n='185'/><anchor id='Pg185'/>

<p>
It was the custom to celebrate the establishment
of a new year-period with popular rejoicings. The
period called Genki was begun in December <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
1570 by the Emperor Ōgimachi. Nobunaga brought
to Kyōto on this occasion a very large army in
order to impress on the minds of the nation his
overwhelming military power. He intended, moreover,
to march his forces, as soon as this celebration
was over, against Prince Asakura Yoshikage of the
province of Echizen, who had not yet submitted
himself to Nobunaga's authority, and who had not
given in his adhesion to the new shōgun. Taking
with him Hideyoshi and all the troops that could be
spared from Kyōto, Nobunaga marched north into
the domains of Yoshikage. He was aided in his
resistance by Asai Nagamasa, the governor of the
castle of Itami in the province of Ōmi. An attempt
had been made by Nobunaga to conciliate Nagamasa
by giving him his sister in marriage. But
Nagamasa was still cool, and now at this critical
time he turned to help Nobunaga's enemy. The
unexpected combination came very near causing
Nobunaga a disastrous defeat. At an important
battle which was fought in this short campaign, we
see together the three most noted men of their
time, Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu. The last
of the three was only a few years younger than
Hideyoshi, and had already shown indications of the
clear and steady character of which he afterward gave
such indubitable proof. The result was the defeat
of Nobunaga's enemies and his victorious return to
the castle of Gifu in the province of Mino.
</p>

<pb n='186'/><anchor id='Pg186'/>

<p>
But his way was not yet quite free from obstacles.
Asakura Yoshikage and Asai Nagamasa although
defeated were not crushed, and made various efforts
to regain the advantage over Nobunaga. The most
noted of these was when Nobunaga was absent from
Kyōto with troops quelling a disturbance in Ōsaka,
Asakura and Asai took advantage of the opportunity
and marched a strong force upon the city.
They had proceeded as far as Hiei-zan on the borders
of Lake Biwa. This mountain was then occupied by
an immense Buddhist monastery called Enriaku-ji
from the year-period when it was established. It
was said, that at this time there were as many as
three thousand buildings belonging to the monastery.
The monks of this establishment were exceedingly
independent, and were so numerous and
powerful that they were able to exact whatever concessions
they desired from the government at Kyōto,
from which they were only a few miles distant.
They disliked Nobunaga and his powerful government
with which they dared not take their usual
liberties. Accordingly they made common cause
with Asakura and Asai and furnished them with
shelter and supplies on their march to Kyōto. But
Nobunaga met them before they reached Kyōto,
and so hemmed them in that they were glad to sue
for peace and get back to their own provinces as well
as they could. But on the ill-fated monastery Nobunaga
in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1571 visited a terrible revenge. He
burned their buildings, and what monks survived the
slaughter he drove into banishment. The monastery
was partially restored subsequently by Ieyasu, but it
<pb n='187'/><anchor id='Pg187'/>
was restricted to one hundred and twenty-five buildings
and never afterwards was a political power in
the country.
</p>

<p>
During these years of Nobunaga's supremacy, the
Jesuit fathers had been pushing forward their work
of proselyting and had met with marvellous success.
The action of the Buddhist priests in siding with his
enemies and the consequent aversion with which he
regarded them, led Nobunaga to favor the establishment
of Christian churches. In the letters of the
fathers at this period frequent references are made
to Nobunaga and of his favorable attitude toward
Christianity and their hope that he would finally become
a convert. But it is plain that the fathers did
not comprehend fully the cause for the enmity of
Nobunaga to the Buddhist monks, and his political
reasons for showing favor to the Christian fathers.
He remained as long as he lived friendly to the
Christian church, but made no progress towards an
avowal of his faith. Under his patronage a church
was built in Kyōto, and another at Azuchi on Lake
Biwa, where he built for himself a beautiful castle
and residence. By this patronage and the zeal of
the fathers the Christian church rose to its greatest
prosperity<note place='foot'>In Chamberlain's
<hi rend='italic'>Things Japanese</hi> the estimate is given that at
this most prosperous time the number of Japanese professing Christianity
was not less than six hundred thousand, p. 297.</note>
during the closing years of Nobunaga's
life. In the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1582 a mission was sent to the
pope, consisting of representatives from the Christian
princes of Bungo, Arima, and Ōmura. This
mission consisted of two young Christian princes
about sixteen years of age, accompanied by two
<pb n='188'/><anchor id='Pg188'/>
counsellors who were of more mature years, and by
Father Valignani, a Portuguese Jesuit, and by Father
Diego de Mesquita as their preceptor and interpreter.
They visited the capitals of Portugal and
Spain, which at this time were combined under the
crown of Philip II. of Spain, and were received at
both with the most impressive magnificence. They
afterward visited Rome and were met by the body-guard
of the pope and escorted into the city by a
long cavalcade of Roman nobles. They were lodged
in the house of the Jesuits, whence they were conducted
by an immense procession to the Vatican.
The Japanese ambassadors rode in this procession
on horseback dressed in their richest native costume.
They each presented to the pope the letter<note place='foot'>See the
letter which the ambassador from the Prince of Bungo
presented on this occasion. Hildredth's <hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>,
etc., p. 89.</note> which
they had brought from their prince, to which the
reply of the pope was read. The presents which
they had brought were also delivered, and after a
series of most magnificent entertainments, and after
they had been decorated as Knights of the Gilded
Spears, they took their departure. In the meantime
Pope Gregory XIII., who had received them, a few
days later suddenly died <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1585. His successor
was Pope Sixtus V., who was equally attentive to
the ambassadors, and who dismissed them with
briefs addressed to their several princes.
</p>

<p>
Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki, whom Nobunaga had
been instrumental in installing, became restive in
the subordinate part which he was permitted to play.
He sought out the princes who still resisted Nobunaga's
<pb n='189'/><anchor id='Pg189'/>
supremacy and communicated with them in
reference to combining against him. He even went
so far as to fortify some of the castles near Kyōto.
Nobunaga took strenuous measures against Yoshiaki,
and in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1573 deposed him. He was the last of
the Ashikaga shōguns, and with him came to an end
a dynasty which had continued from Taka-uji in
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1335 for two hundred and thirty-eight years.
</p>

<p>
Nobunaga assumed the duties which had hitherto
been performed by the shōgun, that is he issued
orders and made war and formed alliances in the
name of the emperor. But he never took the name
of shōgun<note place='foot'>In the First Part
(1873) of <hi rend='italic'>Mittheilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft
für Natur und Völkerkunde Ostasiens</hi>, p. 15, the times of
Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, etc., are termed <q>die zeit der usurpatoren,</q>
the time of the usurpers. But Nobunaga and Hideyoshi were no
more usurpers than the Tokugawas, who succeeded them by force of
arms.</note> or presumed to act in a capacity which
from the time of Yoritomo had always been filled by
a member of the Minamoto family, while he was a
member of the Taira family. Whether this was the
cause of his unwillingness to call himself by this title
to which he might legitimately have aspired we can
only conjecture. Of one thing we may be sure, that
he was disinclined to arouse the enmity of the ambitious
princes of the empire, whose co-operation he
still needed to establish his power on an enduring
basis, by assuming a position which centuries of
usage had appropriated to another family. The
emperor bestowed upon him the title of
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>nai-daijin</foreign>,
which at this time however was a purely honorary
designation and carried no power with it.
</p>

<pb n='190'/><anchor id='Pg190'/>

<p>
The Prince of Chōsū was one of the most powerful
of those who had not yet submitted to the supremacy
of Nobunaga. The present prince was
Mōri Terumoto, the grandson of the Mōri Motonari
who by conquest had made himself master of a
large part of the central provinces. Nobunaga despatched
Hideyoshi with the best equipped army
that at that time had ever been fitted out in Japan,
to subdue the provinces lying to the west of Kyōto.
He did not overrate the ability of the general to
whom he entrusted this task. They set out in the
early part of the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1578. Their first movement
was against the strongholds of the province of
Harima, which he reduced. We for the first time
find mention in this campaign of Kuroda<note place='foot'>Mr. Satow
with rare literary insight has identified this Kuroda
with the Condera Combiendono of the Jesuit fathers. <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society
Transactions</hi>, vol. vii., p. 151.</note> Yoshitaka,
who in the invasion of Korea was a notable figure.
His services to Hideyoshi at this time were
most signal. The campaign lasted about five years
and added five provinces to Nobunaga's dominions.
Then after a visit to Kyōto he continued his conquests,
never meeting with a defeat. The most
remarkable achievement was the capture of the
castle of Takamatsu, in the province of Sanuki.
This castle was built with one side protected by the
Kōbe-gawa and two lakes lying on the other sides, so
that it was impossible to approach it by land with a
large force. Hideyoshi, with the genius for strategy
which marked his character, saw that the only way
to capture the fort was to drown it out with water.
<pb n='191'/><anchor id='Pg191'/>
He then set his troops to dam up the river below
the fortress. Gradually this was accomplished and
as the water rose the occupants of the castle became
more uncomfortable. Hideyoshi understanding his
master's character feared to accomplish this important
and critical exploit without Nobunaga's knowledge.
He therefore wrote asking him to come without delay
to his assistance. Nobunaga set out with a group
of generals, among whom was Akechi Mitsuhide,
with the troops under their command. They started
from Azuchi on Lake Biwa, which was occupied as
Nobunaga's headquarters. They were to proceed
to the besieged fort by the shortest route. Nobunaga
with a small escort went by way of Kyōto, expecting
soon to follow them. He took up his
temporary abode in the temple of Honnōji. It was
observed that Akechi with his troops took a different
route from the others and marched towards Kyōto.
When spoken to about his purpose he exclaimed,
<q>My enemy is in the Honnōji.</q> He explained to
his captains his purpose and promised them unlimited
plunder if they assisted him. He led his troops
to Kyōto and directly to the Honnōji. Nobunaga
hearing the noise looked out and at once saw who
were the traitors. He defended himself for a time,
but soon saw that he was hopelessly surrounded and
cut off from help. He retired to an inner room of
the temple, set it on fire, and then calmly committed
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign>. His body was buried in the burning
and falling ruins. His death occurred in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1582.
</p>

<p>
Thus ended the career of one of Japan's great
men. He had shown the possibility of uniting the
<pb n='192'/><anchor id='Pg192'/>
provinces of Japan under one strong government.
He had given to Kyōto and the provinces lying
east and north of it a period of peace and quiet
under which great progress had been made in agriculture,
the arts and in literature. He was a warrior
and not a statesman, and for this reason less was
done than might have been in confirming and solidifying
the reforms which his conquest had made
possible. Personally he was quick-tempered and
overbearing, and often gave offence to those who
were not able to see through his rough exterior to
the true and generous heart which lay beneath. The
cause of the plot against him was probably the consequence
of a familiarity with which he sometimes
treated his military subordinates. It is said that on
one occasion in his palace when he had grown
somewhat over-festive he took the head of his general
Akechi<note place='foot'>See Shiga's
<hi rend='italic'>History of Nations</hi>, Tōkyō, 1888, p.
128.</note> under his arm and with his fan played
a tune upon it, using it like a drum. Akechi was
mortally offended and never forgave the humiliating
joke. His treason, which resulted in Nobunaga's
death, was the final outcome of this bit of thoughtless
horse-play.
</p>

</div>

<pb n='193'/><anchor id='Pg193'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf'/>
<head>Chapter IX. Toyotomi Hideyoshi.</head>

<p>
The death of Nobunaga in the forty-ninth year
of his age left the country in a critical condition.
Sakuma and Shibata had been his active retainers
and generals for many years, and they had the most
bitter and envious hatred toward Hideyoshi, whom
they had seen advance steadily up to and past them
in the march of military preferment. It was to
Hideyoshi that the country looked to take up the
work which Nobunaga's death had interrupted.
Akechi began to realize when too late that he must
reckon with him for his terrible crime. He appointed
two of his lieutenants to assassinate Hideyoshi
on his way back to the capital. He sent word to
Mōri Terumoto, who was trying to raise the siege
of the castle of Takamatsu, concerning Nobunaga's
death, hoping that this tragedy would encourage
Terumoto to complete his designs.
</p>

<p>
In the meantime the news had reached Hideyoshi.
Terumoto had heard of the starting of Nobunaga
with additional troops, and had determined to
make peace with Hideyoshi. He had sent messengers
with a proposition for peace. The measures
<pb n='194'/><anchor id='Pg194'/>
for taking the castle had succeeded and it was surrendered.
In this state of things Hideyoshi<note place='foot'>Dening's
<hi rend='italic'>Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi</hi>, p. 274.</note> pursued
a course which was characteristic of him. He
sent word to Terumoto that Nobunaga was now
dead and that therefore his proposition for peace
might, if he wished, be withdrawn. You must decide,
he said, whether you will make peace or not; it is
immaterial whether I fight or conclude a treaty of
peace. To such a message there could be only one
answer. Peace was at once concluded and Hideyoshi
started for Kyōto to deal with the traitors.
</p>

<p>
The attempt to assassinate Hideyoshi on his
journey came very near being successful. He was
in such eagerness to reach his destination that he
hurried on without regard to his army which accompanied
him. A small body-guard kept up as
well as they could with their impatient chief. At
Nishinomiya in this journey Hideyoshi, when in
advance of his body-guard, was attacked by a band
of the assassins. His only way of escape was by a
narrow road between rice fields, leading to a small
temple. When he had traversed part of this lane
he dismounted, turning his horse around along the
way he had come, and stabbed him in the hind leg.
Mad with pain, he galloped back with disastrous
effect upon the band which was following him.
Meanwhile Hideyoshi hurried to the temple. Here
the priests were all in a big common bath-tub, taking
their bath. Hastily telling them who he was,
and begging their protection, he stripped off his
clothes and plunged in among the naked priests.
<pb n='195'/><anchor id='Pg195'/>
When the assassins arrived, they could find nothing
but a bath-tub full of priests, whom they soon left
in search of the fugitive. As they disappeared, the
anxious body-guard arrived, and were astonished
and amused to find their chief clad in the garb of a
priest and refreshed after his hurried journey with a
luxurious bath.<note place='foot'>See Dening's
<hi rend='italic'>Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi</hi>, p. 278.</note>
</p>

<p>
Hideyoshi, as soon as he arrived at Kyōto, issued
an invitation to all the princes to join him in punishing
those who had brought about the death of Nobunaga.
A battle was fought at Yodo, not far from
Kyōto, which resulted in the complete defeat of
Akechi. He escaped, however, from this battle, but
on his way to his own castle he was recognized by a
peasant and wounded with a bamboo spear. Seeing
now that all hope was gone, he committed
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign>,
and thus ended his inglorious career. His head was
exposed in front of Honnōji, the temple where
Nobunaga perished.
</p>

<p>
As might have been expected, this premature
death of Nobunaga&mdash;for he was only forty-nine
years old&mdash;created an intense excitement. The
idea of heredity had so fixed a place in men's minds,
that the only thought of Nobunaga's friends and retainers
was to put forward in his place some one
who should be his heir. There were living two sons,
both by concubines, viz. Nobuo and Nobutaka, and
a grandson, Sambōshi, still a child, who was a son of
his son Nobutada, now deceased. Each of these
representatives had supporters among the powerful
retainers of the dead prince. It may be assumed
<pb n='196'/><anchor id='Pg196'/>
that each was supported not because of the rightful
claim which he had to the estates and the power
which the dead prince had left behind him, but
solely because the supporters of the successful heir
would be entrusted with special authority, and endowed
with conquered provinces. It is sufficient to
explain here that Hideyoshi supported the candidacy
of the grandson, Sambōshi, probably with no higher
motive nor more disinterested purpose than the
others. After a noisy and hot debate it was finally
agreed that the grandson should be installed as successor,
and Hideyoshi undertook to be his guardian.
He had a large army at Kyōto, and with this he felt
strong enough to carry things with a high hand.
He appointed a funeral ceremony to be held in honor
of Nobunaga, to which all the princes were invited,
and he posted his troops in such a way as to command
every avenue of approach. He claimed for
himself, as guardian of the child Sambōshi, precedence
of all the princes and generals. So at the
funeral service, with the child Sambōshi in his arms,
he proceeded in advance of all others to pay
memorial honors to the dead. He supported this
action with such an overwhelming display of military
force that his enemies were afraid to show any
resistance.
</p>

<p>
The disappointed princes retired to their provinces
and hoped that by some fortuitous circumstances
they might still be able to circumvent the plans of
Hideyoshi. He saw well that he must meet the opposition
which would be concentrated on him by activity
and force. As a general not one of his enemies
<pb n='197'/><anchor id='Pg197'/>
could compare with him in fertility of resources, in
decisiveness of action, and in command of military
strength. His first contest was with his old comrade
in arms Shibata Katsuie, who had served with
him under Nobunaga, and who was intensely jealous
of Hideyoshi's rapid rise in military rank and territorial
authority. Shibata had championed the cause of
Nobutaka in the contest as to the successor of Nobunaga.
He had command of troops in Echizen, and
Nobutaka was governor of the castle of Gifu in the
province of Mino. The campaign was a short and
decisive one. The battle was fought at Shigutake
and resulted in the complete defeat of Shibata and
his allies. It is notable that in this battle artillery
were used and played a conspicuous part. Shibata
after his overthrow committed <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign>.
Nobutaka having escaped also put an end to himself.
Thus the active enemies of Hideyoshi in the north
and west were overcome and the forfeited territory
made use of to reward his friends.
</p>

<p>
His next contest was with the adherents of Nobuo,
the other son of Nobunaga. This was made memorable
by the assistance which Ieyasu rendered to
Nobuo. Hideyoshi's army, himself not being
present, was defeated. Ieyasu being satisfied with
this victory and knowing that he could not ultimately
triumph now made peace with Hideyoshi.
The island of Shikoku, which was under the control
of Chōsokabe Motochika was reduced to subjection
in a brief campaign and the chiefs compelled to do
duty to Hideyoshi as their head.
</p>

<p>
It seems that at this time Hideyoshi was ambitious
<pb n='198'/><anchor id='Pg198'/>
to attain official appointment which would
legitimately descend to his children and make him
the founder of a new line of shōguns. He applied
to the ex-shōgun Yoshiaki, whom Nobunaga had deposed<note place='foot'>See
p. <ref target='Pg189'>189</ref>.</note>
and who was now living in retirement, intimating
that it would be to his interest to adopt
him as his son so that he could be appointed by the
emperor as shōgun. But Yoshiaki declined to comply
with this suggestion on account of Hideyoshi's
humble origin. In place of this appointment, however,
he was installed <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1585 by the Emperor
Ōgimachi as <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>Kuambaku</foreign>, which is higher in rank
than any other office in the gift of the imperial
court. Hitherto this title had been borne exclusively
by members of the Fujiwara family, and it
must have been a severe blow to their aristocratic
pride to have a humble plebeian who had risen
solely by his own talents thus elevated by imperial
appointment to this dignified position. He also
received at this time the name of Toyotomi<note place='foot'>His
original name was Nakamura Hyoshi, the family taking its
name from the village where he was born. Then at his induction to
manhood <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1553 his name was changed to Tokichi Takayoshi. At
another turn in his career he became Kinoshita Tokichi Takayoshi.
In the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1562 he received permission to use the name
Hideyoshi instead of Tokichi, and <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1575 his name was again
changed to Hashiba, which the Jesuit fathers wrote Faxiba.</note> by
which he was afterward called, and in recognition of
his successful conquest of much territory he received
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1575 the honorary title of Chikuzen-no-kami.
</p>

<p>
There were a few years from about <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1583&mdash;with
an important exception which will be given
<pb n='199'/><anchor id='Pg199'/>
below&mdash;when peace reigned in all the territories of
Japan, and when Hideyoshi devoted himself wisely
and patiently to the settlement of the feudal condition
of the country. It was at this time he began
building his great castle at Ōsaka which occupied
about two years. Workmen were drawn from almost
all parts of Japan, and a portion of it is said to have
been finer and more massive than had ever been
seen in Japan. This magnificent work<note place='foot'>See Satow
and Hawes' <hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>, p. 341.</note> survived its
capture by Ieyasu in 1614 and remained undisturbed
down to the wars of the restoration in 1868, when it
was burned by the Tokugawa troops at the time
they were about to evacuate it.
</p>

<p>
The exception to which reference is made above
was the important campaign which Hideyoshi was
called upon to conduct in the island of Kyūshū
against the Satsuma clan.<note place='foot'>The facts
here related concerning this most interesting episode in
the life of Hideyoshi are chiefly taken from a paper furnished by Mr.
J. H. Gubbins to the <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society
Transactions</hi>, vol. viii., p. 92.</note> The distance at which
Kyūshū lay from the centre of imperial operations,
the mountainous and inaccessible character of a
great part of the territory, made it no easy matter
to deal with the refractory inhabitants of this island.
The Satsuma clan even at that early day had a reputation
for bravery and dash which made them feared
by all their neighbors. The prince of Satsuma at
this time was Shimazu Yoshihisa, a member of the
same family who held the daimiate until the abolition
of the feudal system. It is a tradition that the
first of this family was a son of Yoritomo, who in
<pb n='200'/><anchor id='Pg200'/>
the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1193 was appointed governor of Satsuma.
Like all the feudal princes of the period, the
prince of Satsuma was ambitious to extend his dominion
as far as possible. Hyūga, Bungo, Higo,
and Hizen were either wholly or in part subject to
his authority, so that by the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1585 it was
the boast of the prince that eight provinces acknowledged
him as lord.<note place='foot'>The Emperor Ōgimachi
retired from the throne <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1586, and
was succeeded by Go-Yojō, then sixteen years old. It shows of how
small account the emperors had become, that this change in the head
of the nation is scarcely mentioned in the histories of the time.</note>
</p>

<p>
It was in this critical period that Hideyoshi was
appealed to for help by the threatened provinces.
He first sent a special envoy to Kagoshima, who was
directed to summon the prince to Kyōto to submit
himself to the emperor and seek investiture from
him for the territories which he held. Shimazu
received this message with scorn, tore up the letter
and trampled it under his feet, and declared that to
a man of mean extraction like Hideyoshi he would
never yield allegiance. Both parties recognized the
necessity of deciding this question by the arbitrament
of war.
</p>

<p>
Hideyoshi called upon thirty-seven provinces to
furnish troops for this expedition. It is said that
150,000 men were assembled at Ōsaka ready to be
transported into Kyūshū. The vanguard, consisting
of 60,000 men under Hidenaga, the brother of
Hideyoshi, set sail January 7, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1587. Troops
from the western provinces joined these, so that this
advanced army numbered not less than 90,000 men.
</p>

<pb n='201'/><anchor id='Pg201'/>

<p>
In due time, January 22d, Hideyoshi himself, with
his main army, consisting of 130,000 men, left Ōsaka,
marching by land to Shimonoseki, and from this
point crossing over to Kyūshū. The Satsuma armies
were in all cases far outnumbered, and step by step
were compelled to retreat upon Kagoshima. Hideyoshi
had by means of spies<note place='foot'>The spies and
guides employed by Hideyoshi were priests of the
Shin sect of Buddhists, who after the fall of Kagoshima were discovered
and crucified. A decree was also issued that every inhabitant of
Satsuma who was connected with this sect must renounce his creed.
To this day there exists among the people of Satsuma a general hostility
to the Buddhists which can be traced to this trying episode.
See <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol. viii.,
p. 143.</note> acquired a complete
knowledge of the difficult country through which
his armies must march before reaching Kagoshima.
After much fighting the Satsuma troops were at last
driven into the castle of Kagoshima, and it only
remained for Hideyoshi to capture this stronghold
in order to end in the most brilliant manner his
undertaking.
</p>

<p>
It was at this juncture that Hideyoshi made one
of these surprising and clever movements which
stamp him as a man of consummate genius. Instead
of capturing the fortress and dividing up the
territory among his deserving generals, as was expected,
he restored to the Shimazu family its original
buildings, viz., the provinces of Satsuma and
Ōsumi and half the province of Hyūga, only imposing
as a condition that the present reigning
prince should retire in favor of his son, and that he
should hold his fief as a grant from the emperor.
Thus ended one of the most memorable of the
<pb n='202'/><anchor id='Pg202'/>
campaigns which Hideyoshi had up to this time
undertaken, and with this also closed a series of
events which exerted a permanent influence on the
history of Japan.
</p>

<p>
It will be desirable at this point to trace the incidents
which had transpired in connection with the
Jesuit fathers. It will be remembered that the work
of the fathers<note place='foot'>See p. <ref target='Pg178'>178</ref>.</note>
was much interfered with by the
political troubles which preceded the advent of Nobunaga.
Owing to their taking sides with his
enemies he was very much incensed against the
Buddhist priests and visited his indignation upon
them in a drastic measure.<note place='foot'>See p.
<ref target='Pg186'>186</ref>.</note> His desire to humiliate
the Buddhist priests probably led him to assume
a favorable attitude towards the Christian fathers.
As long therefore as Nobunaga lived, churches were
protected and the work of proselyting went on.
Even after the death of Nobunaga in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1582 nothing
occurred for some time to interfere with the
spread of Christianity. Hideyoshi was too much
occupied with political and military affairs to give
much attention to the circumstances concerning
religion. Indeed the opinion of Mr. Dening<note place='foot'>See Dening's
<hi rend='italic'>Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi</hi>, pp. 148, 344.</note> in his
<hi rend='italic'>Life of Hideyoshi</hi> is no doubt true, that he was in no
respect of a religious temperament. Even the superstitions
of his own country were treated with scant
courtesy by this great master of men.
</p>

<p>
Gregory XIII. seeing what progress the Jesuits
were making, and realizing how fatal to success any
conflict between rival brotherhoods would be, issued
<pb n='203'/><anchor id='Pg203'/>
a brief in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1585, that no religious teachers except
Jesuits should be allowed in Japan. This regulation
was exceedingly distasteful to both the Dominicans
and the Franciscans, especially after the visit of the
Japanese embassy to Lisbon, Madrid, and Rome
had directed the attention of the whole religious
world to the triumphs which the Jesuits were making
in Japan. Envy against the Portuguese merchants
for their monopoly of the Japanese trade had also
its place in stirring up the Spaniards at Manila to
seek an entrance to the island empire. The opposition
with which Christianity had met was represented
as due to the character and behavior of the
missioners. In view of these circumstances the
Spanish governor of Manila sent a letter to Hideyoshi,
asking for permission to open trade with
some of the ports of Japan. Four Franciscans attached
themselves to the bearer of this letter and in
this way were introduced into the interior of Japan.
Among the valuable presents sent to Hideyoshi by
the governor of Manila was a fine Spanish horse<note place='foot'>When
Father Valignani came to Japan in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1577 it is said
that he brought as one of his presents a beautiful Arabian horse. It
is not improbable that some of the improved breeds, now seen in
the southern provinces, owe their origin to these valuable horses
sent over as presents.</note>
with all its equipments. These Franciscans who
came in this indirect way were permitted to establish
themselves in Kyōto and Nagasaki. They were
at once met by the protest of the Jesuits who urged
that the brief of the pope excluded them. But these
wily Franciscans replied that they had entered
Japan as ambassadors and not as religious fathers,
<pb n='204'/><anchor id='Pg204'/>
and that now when they were in Japan the brief of
the pope did not require them to leave.
</p>

<p>
A very bitter state of feeling from the first therefore
manifested itself between the Jesuits and Franciscans.
The latter claimed that the opposition they
met with was due to the plots and intrigues of the
Jesuits, and they openly avowed that the Jesuit
fathers through cowardice failed to exert themselves
in the fulfilment of their religious duties, and in a
craven spirit submitted to restrictions on their
liberty to preach. Hideyoshi's suspicion was aroused
against the foreigners about this time, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1587, by
the gossip of a Portuguese sea-captain which had
been reported to him. This report represented the
captain as saying: <q>The king, my master, begins
by sending priests who win over the people;
and when this is done he despatches his troops
to join the native Christians, and the conquest
is easy and complete.</q><note place='foot'>See Chamberlain's
<hi rend='italic'>Things Japanese</hi>, 1892, p. 298, note. According
to Charlevoix this indiscreet speech was made by a Spanish
captain. See Gubbin's paper, <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol.
vi., part ii., p. 16.</note> This plan seemed
so exactly to agree with experiences in China,
India, and the East Indies, that Hideyoshi resolved
to make it impossible in Japan. He therefore
issued an edict in the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1587 commanding
all foreign religious teachers on pain of death to
depart from Japan in twenty days. This edict,
however, gave leave to Portuguese merchants <q>to
traffic and reside in our ports till further order; but
withal we do hereby strictly forbid them, on pain of
<pb n='205'/><anchor id='Pg205'/>
having both their ships and merchandises confiscated,
to bring over with them any foreign
religious.</q><note place='foot'>For the
text of this edict see Dickson's <hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, p. 172.</note>
</p>

<p>
In consequence of this edict, in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1593 six
Franciscans and three Jesuits were arrested in
Ōsaka and Kyōto and taken to Nagasaki, and there
burnt. This was the first case of the execution of
Christians by the order of the government. To
explain the transportation of these missionaries to
Nagasaki and their execution there, it should be
stated that in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1586, at the close of the Satsuma
campaign, Nagasaki had been taken from the prince
of Ōmura and made a government city, to be controlled
by a governor appointed immediately from
Kyōto. Shortly after this, in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1590, on account
of its superior harbor, it was fixed upon as the only
port at which foreign vessels would be admitted.
</p>

<p>
There was still one refractory element in his
dominions which it was necessary to deal with.
Hōjō Ujimasa maintained a hostile attitude at
Odawara. He was determined once for all to
reduce this rebellious chief and the others who
might be influenced by his example. It is unnecessary
to give the details of this short but decisive
undertaking. Only one incident deserves to be
given as illustrative of the character of Hideyoshi.
In sending troops to the field of action it was necessary
that a large number of horses should cross the
sea of Enshū,<note place='foot'>See Satow and Hawes'
<hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>, 2d ed., p. 72.</note>
which was usually very rough at that
time of year. The boatmen, as is usual, were very
<pb n='206'/><anchor id='Pg206'/>
superstitious, and had a decided aversion to transporting
the horses in their boats; averring that the
god of the sea Ryūgū had a special dislike for
horses. Hideyoshi sent for the boatmen and told
them that he had undertaken this expedition at the
command of the emperor, and that the god of the
sea was too polite to interfere in anything pertaining
to the transportation of troops for such a purpose.
He said however that he would make it all
right by writing a letter to Ryūgū, instructing him
to insure the safe passage of the ships. This was
done, and a letter addressed <q>Mr. Ryūgū</q> was
thrown into the sea. The boatmen were satisfied,
and the horses were taken over without difficulty.<note place='foot'>See Dening's
<hi rend='italic'>Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi</hi>, p. 405.</note>
</p>

<p>
With the fall of Odawara the whole of the
Kwantō, comprising the provinces of Sagami,
Musashi, Kōtsuke, Shimotsuke, Hitachi, Shimōsa,
Kazusa, and Awa came into the possession of
Hideyoshi. During the progress of the siege, it is
said that he and Ieyasu were standing in a watch
tower which they had built on the heights above
the castle of Odawara. Hideyoshi pointed to the
great plain before them and said<note place='foot'>See Adams'
<hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>, vol. i., p. 66.</note>: <q>Before many
days I will have conquered all this, and I propose to
give it into your keeping.</q>
</p>

<p>
Ieyasu thanked him warmly and said: <q>That
were indeed great luck.</q>
</p>

<p>
Hideyoshi added: <q>Wilt thou reside here at
Odawara as the Hōjō have done up to this time?</q>
</p>

<p>
Ieyasu answered: <q>Aye, my lord, that I will.</q>
</p>

<pb n='207'/><anchor id='Pg207'/>

<p>
<q>That will not do,</q> said Hideyoshi. <q>I see on
the map that there is a place called Yedo about
twenty <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ri</foreign> eastward from us. It is a position
far better than this, and that will be the place for thee
to live.</q>
</p>

<p>
Ieyasu bowed low and replied: <q>I will with
reverence obey your lordship's directions.</q>
</p>

<p>
In accordance with this conversation after the
fall of Odawara, Ieyasu was endowed with the
provinces of the Kwantō and took up his residence
at Yedo. This is the first important appearance of
Yedo in the general history of Japan. It had however
an earlier history, when in the fifteenth century
it appears as a fishing village called <hi rend='italic'>Ye-do</hi>, that is
<hi rend='italic'>door of the bay</hi>. Near this fishing village Ōta
Dōkwan, a feudal baron, built himself in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1456
a castle. With the advent of Ieyasu, Yedo became
a place of first importance, a rank which it still
holds. The object of Hideyoshi in thus entrusting
this great heritage to Ieyasu seems to have been to
secure him by the chains of gratitude to himself and
his family. Already Ieyasu was connected by marriage
with Hideyoshi, his wife being Hideyoshi's
sister. By making him lord of an immense and
powerful country he hoped to secure him in perpetual
loyalty to himself and his heirs.
</p>

<p>
In order that he might be free from the cares
and responsibilities of the government at home,
Hideyoshi retired from the position of
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kwambaku</foreign>
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1591 and took the title of
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>Taikō</foreign>. By this title
he came to be generally known in Japanese history,
Taikō Sama, or my lord Taikō, being the form by
<pb n='208'/><anchor id='Pg208'/>
which he was commonly spoken of. His nephew
and heir Hidetsugu was at this time promoted to
the title of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kwambaku</foreign>, and was ostensibly at
the head of the government. The Jesuit fathers speak
of him as mild and amiable, and as at one time a
hopeful student of the Christian religion. They
note however a strange characteristic in him, that
he was fond of cruelty and that when criminals
were to be put to death he sought the privilege of
cutting them into pieces and trying cruel experiments
upon their suffering bodies.
</p>

<p>
In <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1592 Taikō Sama had by one of his wives
a son, whom he named Hideyori. Over this new-born
heir, whom, however, many suspect of not
being Taikō Sama's son, he made great rejoicing
throughout the empire. He required his nephew to
adopt this new-born son as his heir, although he had
several sons of his own. The result of this action
was a feeling of hostility between the uncle and
nephew. Hidetsugu applied to Mōri, the chief of
Chōsū, to aid him in the conflict with his uncle.
But Mōri was too wary to enter upon such a contest
with the veteran general. Instead of helping
Hidetsugu, he revealed to Taikō Sama the traitorous
proposition of his nephew. Hidetsugu was thereupon
stripped of his office and sent as an exile to
the monastery of Kōya-san in the province of Kii.
A year later he was commanded with his attendants
to commit <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign>; and with an unusual
exhibition of cruelty, his counsellors, wives, and children
were likewise put to death.
</p>

<p>
Hideyoshi had for a long time contemplated the
<pb n='209'/><anchor id='Pg209'/>
invasion of Korea and ultimately of China. In a
conversation with Nobunaga when he was about to
set out on his conquest of the western provinces he
is represented as saying<note place='foot'>See Dening's
<hi rend='italic'>Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi</hi>, p.
263.</note>: <q>I hope to bring the
whole of Chūgoku into subjection to us. When
that is accomplished I will go on to Kyūshū and
take the whole of it. When Kyūshū is ours, if you
will grant me the revenue of that island for one
year, I will prepare ships of war, and purchase provisions,
and go over and take Korea. Korea I shall
ask you to bestow on me as a reward for my services,
and to enable me to make still further conquests;
for with Korean troops, aided by your illustrious
influence, I intend to bring the whole of China
under my sway. When that is effected, the three
countries [China, Korea, and Japan] will be one. I
shall do it all as easily as a man rolls up a piece of
matting and carries it under his arm.</q> He had already
carried out part of this plan; he had brought
the whole of Chūgoku and of the island of Kyūshū
under his rule. It remained for him to effect the
conquest of Korea and China in order to complete
his ambitious project.
</p>

<p>
For this purpose he needed ships on a large scale,
for the transportation of troops and for keeping
them supplied with necessary provisions. From the
foreign merchants, who traded at his ports, he hoped
to obtain ships larger and stronger than were built
in his own dominions. It was a great disappointment
to him when he found this impossible, and
that the merchants, whom he had favored, were unwilling
<pb n='210'/><anchor id='Pg210'/>
to put their ships at his disposal. It is
claimed by the Jesuit fathers that this disappointment
was the chief reason for the want of favor with
which Hideyoshi regarded them during the last
years of his life. It is also advanced as one reason
for his entering on the invasion of Korea, that he
might thus employ in distant and dangerous expeditions
some of the Christian princes whose fidelity to
himself and loyalty to the emperor he thought he
had reason to doubt. He was ambitious, so they
said, to rival in his own person the reputation of the
Emperor Ōjin, who rose in popular estimation to
the rank of Hachiman, the god of war, and who is
worshipped in many temples, because, while he was
still unborn, his mother led a hostile and successful
expedition into this same Korea.
</p>

<p>
The immediate pretext<note place='foot'>We are
indebted to Mr. W. G. Aston for a full and clear account
of Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea, which he had derived not only
from Japanese books and documents, but from Korean sources
which, until his researches, were inaccessible. See <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society
Transactions</hi>, vol. vi., p. 227; ix., pp. 87, 213.</note> for a war was the fact
that for many years the embassies which it had been
the custom to send from Korea to Japan with gifts
and acknowledgments had been discontinued. In
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1582 he sent an envoy to remonstrate, who was
unsuccessful. Subsequently he sent the prince of
Tsushima, who had maintained at Fusan, a port of
Korea, a station for trade, to continue negotiations.
After some delay and the concession of important
conditions the prince had the satisfaction, in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
1590, of accompanying an embassy which the government
of Korea sent to Hideyoshi. They arrived
<pb n='211'/><anchor id='Pg211'/>
at Kyōto at the time when Hideyoshi was absent
on his campaign against Hōjō Ujimasa at Odawara.
He allowed them to await his return, and even when
he had resumed his residence at the capital he
showed no eagerness to give them an audience. On
the pretence that the hall of audience needed repairs,
he kept them waiting many months before he
gave orders for their reception. It seemed that he
was trying to humiliate them in revenge for their
dilatoriness in coming to him. It is not impossible
that he had already made up his mind to conduct
an expedition in any event into Korea and China,
and the disrespect with which he treated the embassy
was with the deliberate intention of widening the
breach already existing.
</p>

<p>
Mr. Aston has given us an account of the reception
which was finally accorded to the ambassadors,
drawn from Korean sources, and which shows that
they were entertained in a very unceremonious fashion.
They were surprised to find that in Japan this
man whom they had been led to look upon as a
sovereign was only a subject. They presented a
letter from the king of Korea conveying his congratulations
and enumerating the gifts<note place='foot'>The peculiarly
Eastern form of expression is noticeable in announcing
these presents: <q>You will find enclosed a list of some of
the poor productions of our country, which we beg you will refrain
from laughing at immoderately.</q></note> he had sent.
These enumerated gifts consisted of horses, falcons,
saddles, harness, cloth of various kinds, skins, ginseng,
etc. These were articles which the Japanese
of an earlier age had prized very highly and for the
more artistic production of some of which the Koreans
<pb n='212'/><anchor id='Pg212'/>
had rendered material assistance. Hideyoshi
suggested that the embassy should return to their
own country at once without waiting for an answer
to their letter. This they were unwilling to do. So
they waited at Sakai whence they were to sail,
till the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kwambaku</foreign>
was pleased to send them a message
for their king. It was so arrogant in tone that
they had to beg for its modification several times
before they dared to carry it home. The letter
plainly announced his intention to invade China and
called upon the Koreans to aid him in this purpose.
</p>

<p>
The ambassadors went home with the conviction
that it was Hideyoshi's intention to invade their
country. At their instigation the government made
what preparations it could, by repairing fortresses,
and collecting troops, arms, and provisions. The
country was a poor country, and had had the good
fortune or the misfortune to remain at peace for
two hundred years. The arts of war had been forgotten.
They had no generals who could cope with
the practised soldiers of Japan. Firearms which
had been introduced into the military equipments of
Japanese armies were almost unknown in Korea. It
is true that they had been taken under the protection
of China and could call upon her for aid. But
China was distant and slow, and Korea might be
destroyed before her slumbering energies could be
aroused.
</p>

<p>
The preparations which Hideyoshi made, as was
his custom, were thorough and extensive. Each
prince in Kyūshū, as being nearest to the seat of
war, was required to furnish a quota of troops in
<pb n='213'/><anchor id='Pg213'/>
proportion to his revenues. Each prince in Shikoku
and in the Main island, in like manner, was to provide
troops proportionate to his revenue and his
proximity to the seat of war. Princes whose territories
bordered on the sea were to furnish junks and
boats, and men to handle them. The force which
was thus assembled at Nagoya, now called Karatsu,
in Hizen was estimated at 300,000 men, of whom
130,000 were to be immediately despatched. Hideyoshi
did not personally lead this force. It was
under the command of two generals who were independent
of each other, but were ordered to co-operate.
One of these generals was Konishi Yukinaga
Settsu-no-kami, whom the Jesuit fathers refer
to under the name of Don Austin. From an humble
position in life he had risen to high and responsible
rank in the army. Under the influence of Takeyama,
a Christian prince, whom the Jesuit fathers call Justo
Ucondono, he had been converted to Christianity.
Hideyoshi, as has been pointed out, was desirous of
securing the help of the Christian princes in
Kyūshū, and therefore appointed a Christian as one
of the generals-in-chief. Under him were sent the
contingents from Bungo, Ōmura, Arima, and other
provinces where the Christian element was predominant.
This division of the invading army may
therefore be looked upon as representing the Christian
population of the empire. The other general-in-chief
was Katō Kiyomasa,<note place='foot'>He became one
of the most famous heroes of Japan, and is worshipped
under the name of Seishōkō, at a shrine connected with the
temple of Hommonji at Ikegami. Satow and Hawes' <hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>,
p. 30.</note> who had been
<pb n='214'/><anchor id='Pg214'/>
associated with Hideyoshi ever since the times of
Nobunaga. He was the son of a blacksmith and in
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1563 he became one of Hideyoshi's retainers.
He was a man of unusual size and of great personal
bravery. He commanded an army collected mainly
from the northern and eastern provinces, which comprised
the experienced veterans of Hideyoshi's earlier
campaigns. He is usually spoken of as inimical to
the Christians, but this enmity probably grew up
along with the ill-feeling between the two armies in
Korea.
</p>

<p>
Konishi's division arrived in Korea April 13, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
1592, and captured the small town of Fusan,
which had been the port at which the Japanese had
for generations maintained a trading post. After
the arrival of Katō the two divisions marched towards
the capital, reducing without difficulty the
castles that lay in their way. The greatest terror
prevailed among the inhabitants, and the court, with
King Riyen at its head, resolved to flee into the
province bordering on China. The armies reached
the capital and then set out northward. The dissensions
between the commanders had by this time
reached such a point that they determined to separate.
Katō traversed the northeastern provinces
and in his course captured many Koreans of rank.
</p>

<p>
Konishi marched to the north and found the king
at Pingshang on the borders of the river Taitong-Kiang.
Here he was joined by Kuroda Noritaka,
whom the Jesuit fathers named Condera<note place='foot'>See Mr. Satow's
identification of this name. <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society
Transactions</hi>, vol. vii., p. 151.</note> Combiendono,
<pb n='215'/><anchor id='Pg215'/>
and by Yoshitoshi the prince of Tsushima,
who had marched with their forces by a different
route. An effort at negotiations at this point met
with no success. The king continued his flight
northward to Ichiu, a fortified town on the borders
of China. After he left a sharp contest took place
between the besiegers and defenders, which resulted
in the abandonment of the town and its capture by
the Japanese. The stores of grain which had been
collected by the Koreans were captured with the
town.
</p>

<p>
Konishi was anxious to conduct further military
operations in connection with the Japanese vessels
which had been lying all this time at Fusan.
Directions were accordingly sent to have the junks
sent round to the western coast. The Koreans
picked up courage to show fight with their vessels,
which seemed to have been of a superior construction
to those of their enemies. They allured the
Japanese boats out to sea and then turned upon
them suddenly and treated them so roughly that
they were glad to get back to the protection of the
harbor and to give up the purpose of cruising along
the western coast. The result of this little success
encouraged the Koreans so much that it may be said
to have been a turning point in the invasion.
</p>

<p>
In the meantime the piteous appeals of the
Koreans to China had produced some effect. A
small army of five thousand men, which was raised
in the adjoining province of Laotung, was sent to
their aid. This insufficient force rashly undertook
to attack the Japanese in Pingshang. But they
<pb n='216'/><anchor id='Pg216'/>
led the invaders into the town, and then so
thoroughly routed them that the escaped remnants
made their way back to Laotung. This experience
led the Chinese officials to see that if they wished
to help the Koreans at all they must despatch a
stronger force. This they set to work at once to
do. They endeavored to gain some time by pretending
to enter upon negotiations for an armistice.
During the autumn months of <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1592 the
Japanese troops were almost idle. And they were
very much taken by surprise when near the end of
the year the Chinese army, forty thousand strong,
besides Koreans, made its appearance on the scene.
The Japanese commander had no time to call for
help, and before he realized the imminency of the
danger Pingshang was attacked. Being far outnumbered
Konishi deemed it prudent to make his escape
from the beleaguered town, and to save his army by
a retreat, which was a painful and inglorious one.
</p>

<p>
The other division of the Japanese army under
Katō, who had occupied the west coast, found its
position untenable with a superior Chinese army
threatening it. It also was compelled to retreat
towards the south. But the veteran army of Katō
was not content to yield all that it had gained without
a struggle. A bloody engagement followed
near Pachiung, in which the Chinese and Korean
army suffered a significant defeat. The Chinese army
then retired to Pingshang, and Katō was not in a
condition to follow it over the impassable winter
roads and with deficient supplies. The Japanese
troops had suffered an experience such as never befell
<pb n='217'/><anchor id='Pg217'/>
them under the redoubtable leadership of Hideyoshi.
And the Chinese had had enough of the terrible
two-handed swords which the Japanese soldier
could wield so effectively.<note place='foot'>See Mr. Aston's paper,
<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol. ix., p. 90.</note>
</p>

<p>
The chief obstacle to peace was the mutual distrust
with which each of the three parties regarded
the others. Korea hated the Japanese with a perfect
and justifiable hatred; she also feared and
despised the pompous and pretentious pride of
China. But in the negotiations which ensued the
country which had suffered most had least to say.
It remained for the two greater powers to come to
some agreement which should be satisfactory to
them; and whether Korea were satisfied or not was
of secondary moment.
</p>

<p>
The Japanese envoy proceeded to Peking and is
said to have negotiated peace on these conditions:
That the emperor of China should grant to Hideyoshi
the honor of investiture, that the Japanese
troops should all leave Korea, and that Japan should
engage never to invade Korea again. There was
some jangling about the withdrawal of the Japanese
soldiers but at last this matter was arranged.
</p>

<p>
An embassy was sent by the Chinese government
to Japan to carry out the ceremony of investiture.
They arrived in the autumn of the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1596.
Taikō Sama made elaborate preparations for their
reception. Some fears were felt as to how Taikō
Sama would regard this proposition of investiture
when he came to understand it. The Buddhist
priest, who was to translate the Chinese document
<pb n='218'/><anchor id='Pg218'/>
into Japanese<note place='foot'>A Japanese scholar
could read such a document in the ideographic
Chinese characters without translation; but Taikō Sama was not a
scholar and therefore was not aware of the purport of the document
until it was translated to him.</note> for the benefit of Taikō Sama, was
urged to make some modification in the wording to
conciliate his ambition. But he was too honest to
depart from the true rendering. He read to Taikō
Sama and the assembled court a letter from the
Chinese emperor granting him investiture as king
of Japan, and announced having sent by the ambassadors
the robe and the golden seal pertaining
to the office.
</p>

<p>
Taikō Sama listened with amazement,<note place='foot'>See Mr. Aston's
description of this humiliating scene as given in
<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol. ix.,
p. 217; also Dening's <hi rend='italic'>Life of
Toyotomi Hideyoshi</hi>, p. 360.</note> as he for
the first time realized that the Emperor of China by
this document had undertaken to invest him as king
of Japan instead of (<q>Ming emperor</q>). He was in
an uncontrollable rage. He tore off the robe which
he had put on. He snatched the document from
the reader and tore it into shreds, exclaiming:
<q>Since I have the whole of this country in my
grasp, did I wish to become its emperor I could do
so without the consent of the barbarians.</q> He was
with difficulty restrained from taking the life of
the Japanese ambassador who had negotiated the
treaty. He sent word to the Chinese envoys who
had brought the robe and seal to begone back to
their country and to tell their emperor that he would
send troops to slaughter them like cattle. Both
Korea and China knew that a new invasion would
<pb n='219'/><anchor id='Pg219'/>
surely result from this disappointment. Katō and
Konishi the Japanese generals in the previous campaign
and who had gone home during the interval
were ordered back to take command of the old
troops and of fresh recruits which were to be sent.
They busied themselves with repairing the fortifications
which had been left in possession of the
Japanese garrisons.
</p>

<p>
The disgraced and frightened Chinese ambassadors
made their way back to Peking. They were
ashamed to present themselves without showing
something in return for the gifts they had carried to
Taikō Sama. They purchased some velvets and
scarlet cloth, which they represented as the presents
which had been sent. They pretended that Taikō
Sama was much pleased with the investiture, and
that his invasion of Korea was due to the fact that
the Korean government had interfered to prevent
the free and kindly intercourse between China and
Japan. The cloth and velvet, however, were at once
recognized as European productions and not derived
from Japan. So the ambassadors were charged
with deceit and at last confessed.
</p>

<p>
The Japanese army was reinforced, it is said, with
130,000 fresh troops. Supplies, however, were difficult
to obtain, and the movements were much hindered.
A small Chinese army of 5,000 men arrived
at the end of the year <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1597 to aid the Koreans.
An attack on the Japanese ships at Fusan was made
by the Korean navy, but it was without difficulty
repelled and most of the attacking ships destroyed.
After some material advantages, which, however,
<pb n='220'/><anchor id='Pg220'/>
were not decisive, the Japanese troops were forced
to return to Fusan for the winter. The principal
engagement was at Yöl-san, a strong position, accessible
both by sea and land. It was garrisoned by
troops of Katō's division, who were brave and determined.
The army composed of Chinese and
Koreans, under the Chinese commander-in-chief
Hsing-chieh, laid siege to this fortress, and succeeded
in cutting off all its communications. But
Kuroda and Hachisuka came to Katō's assistance,
and compelled the Chinese general to raise the siege
and retreat to Söul, the Korean capital. It was in
one of the battles fought during the summer of
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1598, that 38,700 heads of Chinese and Korean
soldiers are said to have been taken. The heads
were buried in a mound after the ears and noses
had been cut off. These grewsome relics of savage
warfare were pickled in tubs and sent home to
Kyōto, where they were deposited in a mound in
the grounds of the temple of Daibutsu, and over
them a monument erected which is marked
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>mimi-zuka</foreign>
or ear-mound. There the mound and monument
can be seen to this day.<note place='foot'>See Satow and Hawes'
<hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>, p. 369.</note>
</p>

<p>
The death of Taikō Sama occurred on the day
equivalent to the 18th of September, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1598, and
on his death-bed he seems to have been troubled
with the thought of the veteran warriors who were
uselessly wearing out their lives in Korea. In his
last moments he opened his eyes and exclaimed
earnestly: <q>Let not the spirits of the hundred
thousand troops I have sent to Korea become disembodied
<pb n='221'/><anchor id='Pg221'/>
in a foreign land.</q><note place='foot'>See Dening's
<hi rend='italic'>Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi</hi>, p. 380.</note> Ieyasu, on whom
devolved the military responsibility after the Taikō's
death, and who had never sympathized with his
wishes and aims regarding Korea, did not delay the
complete withdrawal of the troops which still remained
in Korea.
</p>

<p>
Thus ended a chapter in the history of Japan,
on which her best friends can look back with
neither pride nor satisfaction. This war was begun
without any sufficient provocation, and its results
did nothing to advance the glory of Japan or
its soldiers. The great soldier who planned it and
pushed it on with relentless energy gained nothing
from it except vexation. Much of the time during
which the war lasted he sat in his temporary palace
at Nagoya in Hizen, waiting eagerly for news from
his armies. Instead of tidings of victories and
triumphs and rich conquests, he was obliged too
often to hear of the dissensions of his generals, the
starving and miseries of his soldiers, and the curses
and hatred of a ruined and unhappy country. All
that he had to show for his expenditure of men and
money were several <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>saké</foreign> tubs of pickled ears
and noses with which to form a mound in the temple of
Daibutsu, and the recollection of an investiture by
the emperor of China, which could only bring to
him pain and humiliation.
</p>

<p>
The only beneficial results to Japan that can be
traced to all this was the introduction into different
provinces of some of the skilled artisans of Korea.
The prince of Satsuma, Shimazu Yoshihiro, in
<pb n='222'/><anchor id='Pg222'/>
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1598, brought home with him when he returned
from the Korean war seventeen families of
Korean potters,<note place='foot'>See Mr. Satow's paper entitled
<q>The Korean Potters in Satsuma,</q>
<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol. vi., p. 193; also as referred
to in Mr. Satow's paper, Mr. Ninagawa's <hi rend='italic'>Notice Historique et
Descriptive sur les Arts et Industries Japonais</hi>, part v., Tōkyō,
1877.</note> who were settled in his province.
They have lived there ever since, and in many ways
still retain the marks of their nationality. It is to
them that Satsuma <foreign rend='italic'>faïence</foreign> owes its exquisite beauty
and its world-wide reputation.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/hideyoshi.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Hideyoshi.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
When the Taikō realized that his recovery was
impossible he tried to arrange the affairs of the empire
in such a way as to secure a continuation of the
power in his son Hideyori, who was at that time
only five years old. For this purpose he appointed
a council consisting of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Maeda
Toshi-ie, Mōri Terumoto, Ukita Hide-ei and Uesugi
Kagekatsu, of which Ieyasu was the president and
chief. These were to constitute a regency during
his son's minority. He also appointed a board of
associates, who were called middle councillors, and
a board of military officers called
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>bugyo</foreign>. He called
all these councillors and military officers into his
presence before he died, and made them swear
allegiance to his successor Hideyori. There seems
to have been among them a suspicion of the fidelity
of Ieyasu, for the Taikō is represented as saying to
two of his friends: <q>You need not be anxious
about Ieyasu. He will not rebel against my house.<note place='foot'><q>In point
of fact, however, making Ongoschio (Ieyasu) regent was
placing a goat in charge of a kitchen garden.</q>&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>Warenius</hi>,
p. 20.</note>
Cultivate friendship with him.</q> Thus in his sixty-second
year died (September, 1598) the greatest
<pb n='223'/><anchor id='Pg223'/>
soldier, if not the greatest man, whom Japan has
produced. That he rose from obscurity solely by
his own talents, is a more conspicuous merit in
Japan than in most other countries. Family and
heredity have always counted for so much in this
land of the gods, that few instances have occurred
in which men of humble birth have risen to eminence.
That one such in spite of his low birth, in
spite of personal infirmities, in spite of the opposition
and envy of contemporaries, had risen to so
high a position in the empire, has been a source of
<pb n='224'/><anchor id='Pg224'/>
pride and encouragement to thousands of his countrymen.
</p>

<p>
The Taikō was buried close to the Daibutsu
temple, which he himself had built to shelter the
colossal figure of Buddha, constructed in imitation
of the Daibutsu which Yoritomo had built at Kamakura.
The figure was to be one hundred and
sixty feet in height, and the workmen had it nearly
finished when a terrible earthquake in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1596
shook down the building. In the following year the
temple was rebuilt, and the image was completed
up to the neck. The workmen were preparing to
cast the head, when a fire broke out in the scaffolding
and again destroyed the temple, and also the
image. It was one of the schemes of Ieyasu, so it
is said, to induce the young Hideyori to exhaust his
resources upon such expensive projects, and thus
render him incapable of resisting any serious movement
against himself. He therefore suggested to
the boy and his mother that this temple and image,
which Hideyoshi had begun, should not fail of erection.
They therefore resumed the construction,
and carried it on with great lavishness. It took
until <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1614 to complete the work, and when it
was about to be consecrated with imposing ceremonies,
Ieyasu, who by this time was supreme in the
empire, suddenly forbade the progress of the ceremony.
He affected to be offended by the inscription
which had been put on the bell,<note place='foot'>See Satow and Hawes'
<hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>, p. 368.</note> but the real
reason was probably his desire to find some pretext
by which he could put a quarrel upon the adherents
of Hideyori.
</p>

</div>

<pb n='225'/><anchor id='Pg225'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter X. The Founding Of The Tokugawa Shogunate.'/>
<head>Chapter X. The Founding Of The Tokugawa Shōgunate.</head>

<p>
Among all the friends and retainers of Hideyoshi
the most prominent and able was Tokugawa Ieyasu.
He was six years younger than Hideyoshi, and
therefore in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1598, when the Taikō died, he was
fifty-six years old. He was born at the village of
Matsudaira in the province of Mikawa <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1542.
His family counted its descent from Minamoto
Yoshi-ie, who in the eleventh century had by his
military prowess in the wars against the Ainos
earned the heroic name of Hachiman-Tarō. Therefore
he was, as custom and tradition now for a long
time had required for those holding the office of
shōgun, a descendant from the Minamoto family.<note place='foot'>See the
pedigree of Ieyasu as given in <hi rend='italic'>Mittheilungen der Deutschen
Gesellschaft</hi>, etc., Heft i., p. 19.</note>
The name Tokugawa, which Ieyasu rendered famous,
was derived from a village in the province of
Shimotsuke, where his ancestors had lived. His first
experiences in war were under Nobunaga, side by
side with Hideyoshi. He proved himself not only a
capable soldier, prudent and painstaking, but also a
good administrator in times of peace. Hideyoshi
<pb n='226'/><anchor id='Pg226'/>
had such confidence in him, and so much doubt
about the wisdom of requiring the guardians to wait
until his son, a mere child five years old, had grown
up to years of responsibility, that he is represented
as having said to Ieyasu: <q>I foresee that there will
be great wars after my decease; I know too that
there is no one but you who can keep the country
quiet. I therefore bequeath the whole country to
you, and trust you will expend all your strength in
governing it. My son Hideyori is still young. I
beg you will look after him. When he is grown up,
I leave it to you to decide whether he will be my
successor or not.</q><note place='foot'>See Dening's
<hi rend='italic'>Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi</hi>, p. 377.</note>
</p>

<p>
As soon as the Taikō was dead, and the attempt
was made to set in motion the machinery he had
designed for governing the country, troubles began
to manifest themselves. The princes whom he had
appointed as members of his governing boards, began
immediately to quarrel among themselves. On
Ieyasu devolved the duty of regulating the affairs of
the government. For this purpose he resided at
Fushimi, which is a suburb of Kyōto. His most
active opponent was Ishida Mitsunari, who had been
appointed one of the five <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>bugyō</foreign>,
or governors, under the Taikō's arrangement. They grew jealous of
Ieyasu, because, under the existing order of things,
the governors were of very minor importance.
Mitsunari had acquired his influence with the Taikō,
not through military achievements, but by intrigue
and flattery. He was cordially detested by such
disinterested friends as Katō Kiyomasa and others.
</p>

<pb n='227'/><anchor id='Pg227'/>

<p>
The ground on which the opposition to Ieyasu was
based was that he was not faithfully performing his
duty, as he had promised to the dying Taikō, towards
his child and heir. It is not improbable that even
at this early day it was seen that Ieyasu proposed
to disregard the pretensions of the youthful son of
Hideyoshi, in the same way that he in his day had
disregarded the claims of the heir of Nobunaga.
The rough and warlike times, and the restless and
ambitious manners of the feudal lords of these
times, made it impossible to entrust the country to
the hands of a child.
</p>

<p>
Under this strained relation, the members of the
regency divided into two parties. Speaking broadly,
it was again a contest between the north and the
south of Japan. Ieyasu's association had been from
the beginning with the Kwantō, and now more than
ever his power was centred about Yedo. Mitsunari
on the contrary had leagued himself with the princes
of Chōsū and Satsuma, and with others of minor
importance, all more or less representative of the
southern half of the empire. The Christians chiefly
sided with Hideyori and his adherents. Mitsunari
himself was a Christian convert, and the Jesuit
fathers explain that his position and that of the
other Christian leaders were due to their conscientious
desire to fulfil their oath of fidelity to Hideyori.
That Ieyasu should have been derelict in such a
solemn duty was a sufficient cause for their opposition
to him.
</p>

<p>
Events now rushed rapidly to a culmination. One
of the most powerful of the princes allied against
<pb n='228'/><anchor id='Pg228'/>
Ieyasu was Uesugi Kagekatsu, the lord of Echigo
and Aizu. He had retired to Aizu after having
solemnly made a covenant<note place='foot'>This covenant
is said to have been signed with blood in accordance
with a custom still occasionally prevalent, in which a drop of
blood is drawn from the middle finger and sealed by pressing it with
the thumb nail. Rein's <hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, p. 297,
note.</note> with the others engaged
in the plot to take measures against Ieyasu. He
was summoned to Kyōto to pay his respects to the
emperor, but on some trivial excuse he declined to
come. Ieyasu now saw that nothing but war would
settle the disputes which had arisen. He repaired
to Yedo and to Shimotsuké, and made preparations
for the conflict which he saw impending.
</p>

<p>
In the meantime the members of the league were
busy. Mitsunari sent an urgent circular to all the
feudal princes, charging Ieyasu with certain misdeeds
and crimes, the chief of which was that instead
of guarding the inheritance of the Taikō for his
son, he was with the blackest guilt endeavoring to
seize it for himself. A formidable army was gathered
at Ōsaka consisting of 128,000 men.<note place='foot'>See Dening's
<hi rend='italic'>Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi</hi>, p. 397.</note> Made up
as it was from different provinces and officered by
its provincial leaders, it lacked that element of unity
and accord which is so essential to an army. The
first movement was against the castle of Fushimi,
which was the centre from which Ieyasu governed
the country. After a short siege it fell and then, it
is said, was accidentally burned to the ground.
</p>

<p>
The news of the attack upon Fushimi was brought
to Ieyasu in Shimotsuké, and a council of his friends
and retainers was held to determine what steps must
<pb n='229'/><anchor id='Pg229'/>
be taken to meet the emergency. It was urged that
the time had come when Ieyasu should meet his
enemies, and settle by battle the questions which
had risen between them. It was determined that
all the scattered troops should be gathered together,
and that they should march to Fushimi prepared to
encounter the enemy in battle at whatever point
they should meet them. The eldest son of Ieyasu,
Hideyasu, was put in charge of Yedo and entrusted
with the care of the surrounding provinces. This
was an important trust, because the powerful prince
Uesugi lay to the north of him and would seize the
first opportunity to attack him. To Fukushima was
given the command of the vanguard. The principal
army was divided into two parts, one of which was
to march along the Tōkaidō under the command of
Ieyasu himself, the other was placed under the
charge of Ieyasu's second son Hidetada, and was to
take the route along the Nakasendō. The whole
army consisted of 75,000 men, a number much
smaller than the army of the league, but which had
the advantage of being controlled by one mastering
and experienced commander.
</p>

<p>
The armies met at Sekigahara,<note place='foot'>This place
receives its name from a barrier that was erected in
the ninth century to control the travel towards the capital. Its meaning
is, <q>Plain of the Barrier.</q> See Chamberlain's <hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>,
p. 268.</note> a little village on
the Nakasendō, October, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1600. One place on
the neighboring hill is still pointed out whence
Ieyasu witnessed the battle and issued his orders.
Both sides fought with determined bravery, and the
battle lasted the whole day. Cannon and other
<pb n='230'/><anchor id='Pg230'/>
firearms were to some extent made use of, but the
old-fashioned weapons, the sword and the spear,
were the terrible means by which the victory was
decided. For a long time the battle raged without
either party obtaining a decisive advantage. Notwithstanding
his inferiority in numbers Ieyasu was
completely victorious. The carnage was dreadful.
The number of the confederate army said to have
been killed was 40,000.<note place='foot'>See Dening's
<hi rend='italic'>Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi</hi>, p. 399.</note>
This seems like an impossible
exaggeration, and the Japanese annalists are,
like those of other nations, given to heightened
statements. But that the loss of life on both sides
was very great there can be no doubt.
</p>

<p>
Two ghastly mounds called Kubi-zuka, or head
piles, are still shown where the heads of the decapitated
confederates were buried. This battle must
always stand with that at Dan-no-ura between the
Minamoto and Taira families, as one of the decisive
battles in the history of Japan. By it was settled
the fate of the country for two hundred and fifty
years.
</p>

<p>
It was fortunate that the victor in this battle was
a man who knew how to secure the advantages to be
derived from a victory. It is said that at the close
of this battle when he saw success perching on his
banners, he repeated to those around him the old
Japanese proverb: <q>After victory tighten the strings
of your helmet.</q><note place='foot'>This proverb
is quoted as having been used by Hideyoshi when
remonstrating with Nobunaga about following up his victory over
Imagawa Yoshimoto. See Dening's <hi rend='italic'>Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi</hi>,
p. 156.</note> The division of Hidetada joined
<pb n='231'/><anchor id='Pg231'/>
him after the battle, and he promptly followed up
his victory by seizing the castles on his way and taking
possession of Kyōto and Ōsaka. The feudal
princes who had stood aloof or opposed him nearly
all came forward and submitted themselves to his
authority. Uesugi and Satake in the north, who
had been among his most active opponents, at once
presented themselves to Hideyasu at Yedo and
made their submission. Mōri, the powerful lord of
the western provinces, who had been most active in
the confederation against him, sent congratulations
on his victory, but they were coldly received. Finally
he was pardoned, being however deprived of
six out of his eight provinces. He was suffered to
retain of all his rich inheritance only Suō and
Nagato. Several of the leaders were captured,
among whom were Mitsunari, Konishi, and Ōtani,
who being Christians deemed it unworthy their faith
to commit <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign>. They were carried to Kyōto
where they were beheaded and their heads exposed
in the dry bed of the Kamo-gawa.
</p>

<p>
The work of reducing to order the island of
Kyūshū was entrusted to the veteran generals Katō
Kiyomasa and Kuroda Yoshitaka. The former
undertook the reduction of Hizen, and the latter
that of Bungo, Buzen, and Chikuzen. The house of
Shimazu, although it had taken sides against Ieyasu
in the great contest, duly made its submission and
was treated with great consideration. The whole of
the territory assigned to it by Hideyoshi after the
war of <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1586 was restored to it, namely, the
whole of the provinces of Satsuma and Ōsumi, and
<pb n='232'/><anchor id='Pg232'/>
one half of the province of Hyūga. To Katō
Kiyomasa<note place='foot'>Kiyomasa was a bitter enemy of the Christians, owing no doubt
to the rivalry and antagonism which had sprung up with Konishi, who
was a Christian, in the Korean war. He is termed Toronosqui by
the Jesuit fathers from a personal name Toronosuke which he bore in
his youth, and he is characterized as
<q><foreign rend='italic'>vir ter execrandus</foreign>,</q> on account
of his persecution of the Christians in his province. Perhaps on account
of this fierce opposition he was greatly admired by the Buddhists,
and is worshipped under the name of Seishōkō by the Nichiren
sect at a shrine in the temple of Hommonji at Ikegami. Another
monument to his memory is the Castle of Kumamoto, which he built
and which still stands as one of the best existing specimens of the
feudal castles of Japan. As an evidence of its substantial character,
in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1877, under the command of General Tani, it withstood
the siege of the Satsuma rebels and gave the government time to bring
troops to crush the rebellion.</note> was given the province of Higo, which
had, after the Korean war, been assigned to Konishi
in recognition of his services, but which was now
taken from his family because he had been one of
Ieyasu's active opponents. The Kuroda family received
as its inheritance a portion of the province of
Chikuzen with its capital at Fukuoka, which it held
until the abolition of feudal tenures in 1871.
</p>

<p>
Ieyasu was a peaceful and moderate character,
and in the settlement of the disturbances which had
marked his advent to power, he is notable for having
pursued a course of great kindness and consideration.
With the exception of the cases already mentioned
there were no executions for political offences. It
was his desire and ambition to establish a system of
government which should be continuous and not
liable, like those of Nobunaga and Taikō Sama,
to be overturned at the death of him who had
founded it. By the gift of Taikō Sama he had
<pb n='233'/><anchor id='Pg233'/>
already in his possession a large part of the Kwantō.
And by the result of the war which had ended at
Sekigahara, he had come into possession of a great
number of other fiefs, with which he could reward
those who had been faithful to him. It was the difficult
and delicate part of his work to distribute
judiciously among his supporters and retainers the
confiscated estates. To realize how completely the
feudal system as reformed by Ieyasu was bound to
him and constituted to support and perpetuate his
family, it is only necessary to examine such a list of
the daimyōs<note place='foot'>The plural of this word is here and elsewhere used in its
English form, although no such plural is found in Japanese.</note>
as is given in Appert's <hi rend='italic'>Ancien
Japon</hi>.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ancien Japon</hi>,
par G. Appert, Tōkyō, 1888, vol. ii.</note>
Out of the two hundred and sixty-three daimyōs
there enumerated, one hundred and fifty-eight are
either vassals or branches of the Tokugawa family.
But while he thus carefully provided the supports
for his own family, he spared many of the old and
well-rooted houses, which had incorporated themselves
into the history of the country. He built his
structure on the old and tried foundation stones.
With far-sighted statesmanship he recognized that
every new form of government, to be permanent,
must be a development from that which precedes it,
and must include within itself whatever is lasting in
the nature of its forerunner.
</p>

<p>
The dual form of government had for many centuries
existed in Japan, and the customs and habits
of thinking, and the modes of administering justice
and of controlling the conduct of men had become
adapted to this system. It was therefore natural
<pb n='234'/><anchor id='Pg234'/>
that Ieyasu should turn his attention to reforming
and perfecting such a form of government. A
scheme of this kind seemed best adapted to a country
in which there existed on the one hand an
emperor of divine origin, honored of all men, but
who by long neglect had become unfit to govern,
and in whom was lodged only the source of honor;
and on the other hand an executive department on
which devolved the practical duty of governing,
organizing, maintaining, and defending. Though he
was compelled to look back through centuries of
misrule, and through long periods of war and usurpation,
he could see straight to Yoritomo, the first
of the shōguns, and could trace from him a clear
descent in the Minamoto family. To this task,
therefore, he set himself: to maintain the empire in
all its heaven-descended purity and to create a line
of hereditary shōguns who should constitute its
executive department.
</p>

<p>
In pursuance of this plan, he sent his son Hidetada
to the emperor to make a full report of everything
that had been done in the settlement of the affairs
of the country. The emperor was graciously pleased
to approve his acts and to bestow upon him, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>
1603, the hereditary title of Sei-i-tai-shōgun. This
was the title borne by Yoritomo when he was the
real ruler of the country. Since that time there
had been a long line of shōguns, the last of whom
was Ashikaga Yoshiaki, whom Nobunaga deposed
in 1573, and who had died 1597. With this new
appointment began a line of Tokugawa shōguns
that ended only with the restoration in 1868.
</p>

<pb n='235'/><anchor id='Pg235'/>

<p>
Ieyasu's most radical change in the system of
government consisted in the establishment of the
seat of his executive department at Yedo. Since
<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 794 Kyōto had been the capital where successive
emperors had reigned, and where Nobunaga and
Hideyoshi exercised executive control. Kamakura
had been the seat of Yoritomo and his successors.
But Ieyasu saw advantages in establishing himself
in a new field, to which the traditions of idleness
and effeminacy had not attached themselves, and
where the associations of his own warlike career
would act as a stimulus to his contemporaries and
successors. He remained at Fushimi until necessary
repairs could be made to the Castle of Yedo<note place='foot'>A full
account of the Castle of Yedo will be found in a paper by
Mr. J. R. H. McClatchie in the <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol.
vi., part 1, p. 119.</note> and
the roads between it and the capital put in order.
The place which henceforth was to be the principal
capital of the country first comes into notice, as we
have before mentioned, as a castle built by Ōta Dōkwan
in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1456. He had been placed here by the
authorities of Kamakura to watch the movements of
the restless princes of the north. Recognizing the
strength and convenience of the high grounds on
the border of Yedo bay, he built a castle which,
through many transformations and enlargements,
finally developed into the great feudal capital of the
Tokugawa shōguns. It was here that Ieyasu, after
the fall of Odawara, by the advice of Hideyoshi,<note place='foot'>See
p. <ref target='Pg207'>207</ref>.</note>
established himself for the government of the provinces
of the Kwantō which had been given to him.
</p>

<pb n='236'/><anchor id='Pg236'/>

<p>
And it was without doubt this earlier experience
which led him to select Yedo as the centre of
his feudal government. The reputation which this
eastern region bore for roughness and want of culture,
as compared with the capital of the emperor at
Kyōto, seemed to him an advantage rather than an
objection. He could here build up a system of
government free from the faults and weaknesses
which had become inseparable from the old seats of
power. After the repairs and enlargements had
been completed he took up his residence there.
Besides this castle, Ieyasu had for his private residence,
especially after his retirement from the
shōgunate, an establishment at Sumpu, now called
Shizuoka. Here he was visited by English and
Dutch envoys in reference to the terms of allowing
trade, and here, after the manner of his country, he
maintained his hold upon the administration of
affairs, notwithstanding his formal retirement.
</p>

<p>
A continued source of disquietude and danger to
the empire, or at least to the plans of Ieyasu for a
dynasty of Tokugawa shōguns, lay in Hideyori, the
son and heir of Taikō Sama. He was born in 1592,
and was therefore at this time, 1614, in his twenty-third
year. As long as he lived he would be naturally
and inevitably the centre to which all the
disaffected elements of the country would gravitate.
The failure of Ieyasu to support the cause of his
old master's son would always prove a source of
weakness to him, especially in a country where
fidelity to parents and superiors was held in such
high esteem. He determined, therefore, to bring to
<pb n='237'/><anchor id='Pg237'/>
a conclusion these threatening troubles which had so
long been hanging over him. Accordingly, on the
ground that Hideyori was plotting with his enemies
against the peace of the state, he set out from
Sumpu, where he was then residing as retired
shōgun, with an army of seventy thousand men.
Hideyori and his mother had for a long time resided
at the castle of Ōsaka, and against this Ieyasu
directed his large army. It was bravely and skilfully
defended, and without the help of artillery,
which at this early day was rarely used in sieges, a
long time elapsed before any decided advantage was
gained. At last the defenders were tempted beyond
the protection of their fortifications, and a battle
was fought June 3, 1615. It is described by the
Jesuit fathers, two of whom witnessed it, as being
sanguinary beyond the example of the bloody
battles of the Japanese civil wars. It resulted in
the complete overthrow of Hideyori's adherents,
and the destruction of the castle by fire. Both
Hideyori and his mother were said to have perished
in the conflagration. Reports were current that
they had, however, escaped and taken refuge in
some friendly locality. But no trace of them was
ever found, and it was taken for granted that this
was the end of Hideyori and his party.
</p>

<p>
Before ending this chapter, which is designed to
record the establishment of the Tokugawa shōguns,
reference should be made to the settlement of the
questions left in dispute by Taikō Sama respecting
Korea. There remained after the war, with all its
attendant atrocities and sufferings, a feeling of intense
<pb n='238'/><anchor id='Pg238'/>
bitterness towards the Japanese on the part
both of the Koreans and Chinese. The absence of
any sufficient cause for the invasion, and the avowed
purpose of Taikō Sama to extend his conquests to
China had awakened against him and his armies a
hatred which generations could not wipe out. Soon
after the recall of the Japanese troops which followed
the death of Taikō Sama, Ieyasu opened
negotiations with Korea through the daimyō of
Tsushima. He caused the government to be informed
that any friendly overtures on its part would
be received in a like spirit. The king of Korea
accordingly despatched an embassy with an autograph
letter, addressed to the <q>King of Japan.</q> A
translation of this letter will be found in Mr. Aston's
last paper<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>,
vol. xi., p. 124.</note> on Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea.
Among other things it says: <q>The sovereign and
subjects of this country were profoundly grieved,
and felt that they could not live under the same
heaven with your country.... However your
country has now reformed the errors of the past
dynasty and practises the former friendly relations.
If this be so, is it not a blessing to the people of
both countries? We have therefore sent you the
present embassy in token of friendship. The enclosed
paper contains a list of some poor productions
of our country. Be pleased to understand
this.</q> This letter was dated in the year 1607. A
friendly answer was returned to it, and from this
time it may be understood that the relations between
the two countries were placed on a satisfactory
<pb n='239'/><anchor id='Pg239'/>
basis. These steps were taken on the part of
Korea with the knowledge and approval of China,
which now claimed to hold a protectorate over the
peninsula of Korea. The same negotiations therefore
which resulted in peaceful relations with Korea
brought about a condition of amity with China
which was not disturbed until very recent times.
</p>

<p>
The ruinous effects of this invasion, however,
were never overcome in Korea itself. Her cities
had been destroyed, her industries blotted out, and
her fertile fields rendered desolate. Once she had
been the fruitful tree from which Japan was glad to
gather her arts and civilization, but now she was
only a branchless trunk which the fires of war had
charred and left standing.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/crest.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Tokugawa Crest.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

</div>

<pb n='240'/><anchor id='Pg240'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf'/>
<head>Chapter XI. Christianity In The Seventeenth Century.</head>

<p>
To the readers of the story of Japan the most
interesting episode is that of the introduction and
subsequent extirpation of Christianity. We have
therefore given an account of the first arrival of the
Jesuit missionaries with the sainted Xavier at their
head, and we have seen their labors crowned with a
very wide success. During the times of Nobunaga
and Hideyoshi the question had assumed something
of a political aspect. In several of the provinces of
Kyūshū the princes had become converts and had
freely used their influence, and sometimes their
authority, to extend Christianity among their subjects.
In Kyōto and Yamaguchi, in Ōsaka and
Sakai, as well as in Kyūshū, the Jesuit fathers had
founded flourishing churches and exerted a wide
influence. They had established colleges where the
candidates for the church could be educated and
trained. They had organized hospitals and asylums
at Nagasaki and elsewhere, where those needing aid
could be received and treated.
</p>

<p>
It is true that the progress of the work had met
<pb n='241'/><anchor id='Pg241'/>
with a severe setback in <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1587, when Taikō
Sama issued an edict expelling all foreign religious
teachers from Japan. In pursuance of this edict
nine foreigners who had evaded expulsion were
burnt at Nagasaki. The reason for this decisive
action on the part of Taikō Sama is usually attributed
to the suspicion which had been awakened in
him by the loose and unguarded talk of a Portuguese
sea captain.<note place='foot'>See p.
<ref target='Pg204'>204</ref>.</note> But other causes undoubtedly contributed
to produce in him this intolerant frame of
mind. Indeed, the idea of toleration as applied to
religious belief had not yet been admitted even in
Europe. At this very time Philip II., who had
united in his own person the kingdoms of Spain and
Portugal, was endeavoring to compel, by force of
arms, the Netherlands to accept his religious belief,
and was engaged throughout all his immense dominions
in the task of reducing men's minds to a hideous
uniformity.
</p>

<p>
Even in several of the provinces of Japan where
the Jesuits had attained the ascendancy, the most
forcible measures had been taken by the Christian
princes to compel all their subjects to follow their
own example and adopt the Christian faith. Takeyama,
whom the Jesuit fathers designate as Justo
Ucondono, carried out in his territory at Akashi a
system of bitter persecution. He gave his subjects
the option of becoming Christians or leaving his
territory. Konishi Yukinaga, who received part of
the province of Higo as his fief after the Korean
war enforced with great persistency the acceptance
<pb n='242'/><anchor id='Pg242'/>
of the Christian faith, and robbed the Buddhist
priests of their temples and their lands. The princes
of Ōmura and Arima, and to a certain extent the
princes of Bungo, followed the advice of the Jesuit
fathers in using their authority to advance the cause
of Christianity. The fathers could scarcely complain
of having the system of intolerance practised upon
them, which, when circumstances were favorable,
they had advised to be applied to their opponents.
It was this impossibility of securing peace and harmony,
and the suspicion of the territorial ambition
of Spain and Portugal, which drove Taikō Sama to
the conclusion that the foreign religious teachers
and the faith which they had so successfully propagated,
were a source of imminent danger to his
country. To him it was purely a political question.
He had no deep religious impressions which had led
him to prefer the precepts of the old Japanese faith
to those of Christianity. These systems could not
apparently live together, and it seemed to him the
safest and most sensible way to extinguish the
weaker and most dangerous before it became too
strong. Hence he began that policy of repression
and expulsion which his successor reluctantly took up.
</p>

<p>
During the first years of Ieyasu's supremacy the
Christians were not disturbed. He was too much
occupied with the establishment of the new executive
department which he had planned. In 1606
the Portuguese resident bishop, Father Louis Cerqueria,
was received by Ieyasu at Kyōto. The fathers
speak of this audience with great hopefulness, and
<pb n='243'/><anchor id='Pg243'/>
did not seem to be aware that the court which most
of the Christian princes were at that time paying to
Hideyori was likely to prejudice Ieyasu against
them. Again in 1607 Ieyasu, who was then at Kofu
in the province of Kai awaiting the completion of
his castle at Yedo, expressed a desire to see the
Provincial. Accordingly when he waited on Ieyasu
he was received very cordially. The Christian fathers
were much encouraged by these indications of the
favor of Ieyasu. But whatever they may have been,
they cannot be interpreted as showing any intention
on his part to promote their religious proselytism.
Even in the very midst of these assumed favors he
issued in 1606 what may be called a warning proclamation,<note place='foot'>See
Dickson's <hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, p. 227.</note>
announcing that he had learned with pain
that, contrary to Taikō Sama's edict, many had
embraced the Christian religion. He warned all
officers of his court to see that the edict was strictly
enforced. He declared that it was for the good of
the state that none should embrace the new doctrine;
and that such as had already done so must
change immediately.
</p>

<p>
This proclamation of Ieyasu did not, however,
prevent the Catholics at Nagasaki from celebrating
in a gorgeous manner the beatification<note place='foot'>His beatification
was decreed by the pope in 1609, and his canonization
in 1622.</note> of Ignatius
Loyola, the founder and first General of the Society
of Jesus. The bishop officiated in pontifical robes,
and the members of the society, together with the
Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians, made a
<pb n='244'/><anchor id='Pg244'/>
solemn procession through the city. This celebration
was in distinct contravention of the orders
which had been issued against such public displays.
It was made more emphatic by being also held on
the same day in the province of Arima, whose
daimyō was an ardent advocate of the Christian
doctrine. These open and determined infractions
of the directions of the government provoked Ieyasu
to take severe measures. He began by punishing
some of the native Christians connected with his
own court, who were charged with bribery and
intrigue in behalf of the daimyō of Arima. A
number of these accused Christians were banished
and their estates confiscated.
</p>

<p>
In the meantime both the English and Dutch
had appeared on the scene, as will be more fully
detailed in the next chapter. Their object was
solely trade, and as the Portuguese monopoly
hitherto had been mainly secured by the Jesuit
fathers, it was natural for the new-comers to represent
the motive of these fathers in an unfavorable
and suspicious light. <q>Indeed,</q> as Hildreth<note place='foot'>Hildreth's
<hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, etc., p. 176.</note> says,
<q>they had only to confirm the truth of what the
Portuguese and Spanish said of each other to excite
in the minds of the Japanese rulers the gravest distrust
as to the designs of the priests of both nations.</q><note place='foot'>The
Jesuit historians relate with malicious satisfaction how one
of the Spanish friars, in a dispute with one of Adams' shipwrecked
company, to sustain the authority of the church appealed to the
miraculous power which its priests still possessed. And when the
Hollander challenged an exhibition of such power, the missionary
undertook to walk on the surface of the sea. A day was appointed.
The Spaniard prepared himself by confession, prayer, and fasting.
A great crowd of the Japanese assembled to see the miracle, and the
friar, after a confident exhortation to the multitude, stepped, crucifix
in hand, into the water. But he was soon floundering over his head,
and was only saved from drowning by some boats sent to his
assistance.&mdash;Hildreth's <hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, etc., p. 140.
</note>
</p>

<pb n='245'/><anchor id='Pg245'/>

<p>
Whether it is true as charged that the minds of the
Japanese rulers had been poisoned against the
Jesuit fathers by misrepresentation and falsehood,
it may be impossible to determine definitely; but
it is fair to infer that the cruel and intolerant policy
of the Spanish and Portuguese would be fully set
forth and the danger to the Japanese empire from
the machinations of the foreign religious teachers
held up in the worst light.
</p>

<p>
During the latter years of Ieyasu's life, after he
had settled the affairs of the empire and put the
shōgunate upon a permanent basis, we see growing
evidence of his prejudice against Christianity. That
he had such prejudice in a very pronounced form is
clear from his reference to the <q>false and corrupt
school</q> in chapter xxxi. of the <hi rend='italic'>Legacy</hi>. And he
had inherited from Taikō Sama the conviction that the
spread of this foreign faith was a menace to the peace
of the empire. The instructions<note place='foot'><p><q>This
will seem to you less strange, if you consider how the
Apostle St. Paul commands us to obey even secular superiors and
gentiles as Christ himself, from whom all well-ordered authority is
derived: for thus he writes to the Ephesians (vii. 5): <q>be obedient to
them that are your temporal lords according to the flesh, with fear
and trembling in the simplicity of your heart, as to Christ; not
seeming to the eye, as it were pleasing men, but as the servants of
Christ doing the will of God from the heart, with a good will seeming
as to the Lord and not to men.</q></q>
</p>
<p>
The above is an extract from an Epistle of St. Ignatius, the 26th
of March, 1553, which is still regarded as authoritative and is read
every month to each of the houses. It was supplied to me by Dr.
Carl Meyer and verified by Rev. D. H. Buel, S. J. of St. Francis
Xavier's College, New York City. Dr. Meyer has also pointed out
that the Second General Congregation, 1565, severely forbids any
Jesuit to act as confessor or theologian to a prince longer than one or
two years, and gives the minutest instructions to prevent a priest
from interfering in any way with political and secular affairs in such
a position.
</p></note> which were issued
<pb n='246'/><anchor id='Pg246'/>
to the members of the Society of Jesus, however,
forbade any father to meddle in secular affairs or to
interfere in any way with the political concerns of
the government in which they were laboring. That
there were occasional instances of the disregard of
this regulation by the enthusiastic members of the
order may be supposed, but it will be unjust and
unfounded to attribute to this society a settled
policy of interference in the affairs of the nations
where they were employed as missionaries.
</p>

<p>
Ieyasu, evidently having made up his mind that
for the safety of the empire Christianity must be
extirpated, in 1614 issued an edict<note place='foot'>This edict of
Ieyasu is given by Mr. Satow in his contributions
to the debate on Mr. Gubbins' <hi rend='italic'>Review of the Introduction of
Christianity into China and Japan</hi>. Fifteen rules to guide the Buddhist
priests in guaranteeing the orthodoxy of their parishioners are also
given.&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>,
vol. vi., part i., p. 46.</note> that the members
of all religious orders, whether European or
Japanese, should be sent out of the country; that
the churches which had been erected in various
localities should be pulled down, and that the native
adherents of the faith should be compelled to renounce
it. In part execution of this edict all the
members of the Society of Jesus, native and foreign,
<pb n='247'/><anchor id='Pg247'/>
were ordered to be sent to Nagasaki. Native
Christians were sent to Tsugaru, the northern extremity
of the Main island. Takeyama, who had
already been banished by Taikō Sama to the province
of Kaga, was ordered to leave the country. He
was sent in a Chinese ship to Manila, where he soon
after died. In order to repress any disturbance that
might arise from the execution of this edict, ten
thousand troops were sent to Kyūshū, where the
converts were much the most numerous, and where
the daimyōs in many cases either openly protected
or indirectly favored the new faith.
</p>

<p>
In accordance with this edict, as many as three
hundred persons are said to have been shipped from
Japan October 25, 1614. All the resident Jesuits
were included in this number, excepting eighteen
fathers and nine brothers, who concealed themselves
and thus escaped the search. Following this deportation
of converts the most persistent efforts
continued to be made to force the native Christians
to renounce their faith. The accounts given, both
by the foreign and by the Japanese writers, of the
persecutions which now broke upon the heads of the
Christians are beyond description horrible. A special
service was established by the government which
was called the Christian Enquiry,<note place='foot'>See Gubbins' paper,
<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol. vi., part
i., p. 35.</note> the object of
which was to search out Christians in every quarter
and drive them to a renunciation of their faith.
Both the foreign priests who had remained in the
country in spite of the edict and the native converts
<pb n='248'/><anchor id='Pg248'/>
were hunted down and punished with the most
appalling tortures. Rewards were offered for information
involving Christians of every position and
rank, even of parents against their children and of
children against their parents. At what time this
practice began it is difficult to say, but that rewards
were used at an early period is evident from the
re-issue of an edict in 1655, in which it is stated<note place='foot'>See Mr. Satow's
contributions to the debate on Mr. Gubbins'
paper, <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>,
vol. vi., part i., p. 51.</note>
that formerly a reward of 200 pieces of silver was
paid for denouncing a father (<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>bateren</foreign>)
and 100 for denouncing a brother (<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>iruman</foreign>);
but from this time the rewards should be: for denouncing a father,
300 pieces; a brother, 200 pieces; and a catechist,
50 pieces. In 1711 this tariff was raised, for denouncing
a father to 500 pieces, a brother to 300
pieces, and a catechist to 100 pieces; also for denouncing
a person who, having recanted, returned
to the faith, 300 pieces. These edicts against Christianity
were displayed on the edict-boards as late as
the year 1868.
</p>

<p>
The persecution began in its worst form about
1616. This was the year in which Ieyasu died, but
his son and successor carried out the terrible programme
with heartless thoroughness. It has never
been surpassed for cruelty and brutality on the part
of the persecutors, or for courage and constancy on
the part of those who suffered. The letters of the
Jesuit fathers are full of descriptions of the shocking
trials to which the Christians were subjected. The
tortures inflicted are almost beyond belief. Mr.
<pb n='249'/><anchor id='Pg249'/>
Gubbins, in the paper<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society
Transactions</hi>, vol. vi., part 1, p. 35.</note> to which reference has already
been made, says: <q>We read of Christians being
executed in a barbarous manner in sight of each
other, of their being hurled from the tops of precipices,
of their being buried alive, of their being torn
asunder by oxen, of their being tied up in rice-bags,
which were heaped up together, and of the pile thus
formed being set on fire. Others were tortured
before death by the insertion of sharp spikes under
the nails of their hands and feet, while some poor
wretches by a refinement of horrid cruelty were shut
up in cages and there left to starve with food before
their eyes. Let it not be supposed that we have
drawn on the Jesuit accounts solely for this information.
An examination of the Japanese records will
show that the case is not overstated.</q><note place='foot'>See chapter xi.
of a <hi rend='italic'>Description of the Kingdom of Japan and
Siam</hi>, by Bernhard Warenius, M.D., Cambridge, Printing-House of
John Hayes, Printer to the University, <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1673.
The volume is in Latin, which, as well as a translation of the same in manuscript,
has been furnished to me by Mr. Benjamin Smith Lyman, of Philadelphia.
Warenius was a Lutheran, and need not be suspected of
being prejudiced in favor of the Jesuits. See also <hi rend='italic'>History of the
Martyrs of Japan</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Prague</hi>, 1675, by Mathia Tanner,
containing many engravings of the horrible scenes, such as burnings, crucifixions, and
suspensions in the pit, etc.; also <hi rend='italic'>Histoire des Vingt-six Martyrs du
Japon, Crucifié à Nagasaqui le 5 Février, 1597</hi>, par D. Bouix,
Paris, 1862.</note>
</p>

<p>
The region around Nagasaki was most fully impregnated
with the new doctrine, and it was here
that the persecution was by far the most severe.
This was now an imperial city, governed directly by
officers from the government of Yedo. The governor
<pb n='250'/><anchor id='Pg250'/>
is called Kanwaytsdo by Warenius, relying on
Caron and Guysbert, but I have been unable to
identify him by his true Japanese name. Beginning
from 1616 there was a continuous succession of persecutions.
In 1622 one hundred and thirty men,
women, and children were put to death, among
whom were two Spanish priests, and Spinola an
Italian. The next year one hundred more were put
to death. The heroism of these martyrs awakened
the greatest enthusiasm among the Christians. In
the darkness of the night following the execution
many of them crept to the place where their friends
had been burnt and tenderly plucked some charred
fragments of their bodies, which they carried away
and cherished as precious relics. To prevent the
recurrence of such practices the officers directed
that the bodies of those burnt should be completely
consumed and the ashes thrown into the sea. Guysbert
in his account mentions that among those executed
at Hirado was a man who had been in the
employ of the Dutch factory and his wife. They
had two little boys whom the factor offered to take
and have brought up by the Dutch. But the parents
declined, saying that they preferred to have the boys
die with them. A plan was devised by which the
heads of households were required to certify that
none of their families were Christians, and that no
priests or converts were harbored by them.
</p>

<p>
All this terrible exercise of power and the constantly
recurring scenes of suffering were more than
the governor could endure, and so we find him at
last complaining that he could not sleep and that his
<pb n='251'/><anchor id='Pg251'/>
health was impaired. At his earnest petition he was
relieved and a new governor appointed in 1626. He
signalized his entrance upon his duties by condemning
thirteen Christians to be burnt, viz.: Bishop
Franciscus Parquerus, a Portuguese, seventy years
old; Balthazar de Tores, a Dominican, fifty-seven
years old, together with five Portuguese and five
Japanese laymen. When it came to the crisis the
five Portuguese renounced their faith and escaped
death. On the twelfth of July nine more were executed,
five by burning and four by beheading. On
the twenty-ninth of July a priest was caught and
executed who had concealed himself in a camp of
lepers, and who had hoped in that way to escape
detection.
</p>

<p>
The governor exerted himself to bring about recantations
on the part of those who had professed
themselves Christians. He promised special favors
to such as would renounce their faith, and in many
cases went far beyond promises to secure the result.
He set a day when all the apostates dressed in their
best clothes should present themselves at his office.
Fifteen hundred appeared on this occasion, and were
treated with the greatest kindness and consideration.
But the officers began to see that putting Christians
to death would not prevent others from embracing
the same doctrine. There grew up such an
enthusiasm among the faithful that they sought
rather than avoided the crown of martyrdom. As
Guysbert points out, the knowledge of the Christian
religion possessed by these converts must have been
exceedingly small; they knew the Lord's prayer
<pb n='252'/><anchor id='Pg252'/>
and the <hi rend='italic'>Ave Maria</hi>, and a few other prayers of the
Church, but they had not the Scriptures to read,
and many of them could not have read them even
if they had been translated into their own language.
And yet these humble and ignorant people withstood
death, and tortures far worse than death, with
a heroism worthy of all praise.
</p>

<p>
On the eighth of February, 1627, twelve persons
were captured in a hiding-place about a mile from
Nagasaki; they were first branded with a hot iron
on the forehead, and then on each cheek; then because
they would not recant they were burnt to
death. Subsequently forty more were captured,
among whom were a father and mother with their
three young children. The children were frightened
at the dreadful preparations, and would have recanted,
but their parents refused to permit them to
take advantage of the offers of clemency. After
the branding and beating, those who were not yet
driven to recant were sent off to the boiling springs
of Onsen in Arima. Here they were tortured by
having the boiling water of the springs poured upon
them, and by being compelled to breathe the suffocating
sulphurous air which these springs emitted.
</p>

<p>
On the fourteenth of the following May, nine
martyrs suffered all the torments which could be
contrived and finally were drowned. August seventeenth
five Christians were burnt and eighteen
otherwise put to death, of whom one was a Franciscan
monk and the rest were natives. October
twenty-sixth three Japanese magnates who had
joined Hideyori against Ieyasu were discovered to
<pb n='253'/><anchor id='Pg253'/>
be Christians, and were shipped off to Macao. In
the following year, 1628, it is said that three hundred
and forty-eight persons were tortured for their
faith, including torture by the boiling springs, beating
with clubs, and burning. It had been reduced
to such a science that when they saw a subject
becoming weak and likely to die, they suspended
their torments until he revived. Whenever a priest
was captured in any household the whole family by
whom he had been concealed were put to death.
</p>

<p>
Another new governor was sent to Nagasaki on
the 27th of July, 1629. He came with the high
purpose of rooting out every vestige of Christianity.
He set about his work in the most systematic
manner. Nagasaki, it must be understood, is
laid out in streets which can be closed up by gates.
Each street had its head man, and every five houses
in each street were under the special charge of a
separate overseer. These overseers were responsible
as to what occurred and who were concealed in each
of the houses under his charge. The gates were
all closed at night and opened again in the morning.
</p>

<p>
The governor went through these streets house
by house, and examined every person in every
house. If the occupants were not Christians, or if
they renounced their Christianity, they were allowed
to go undisturbed; but if any one persisted
in the new doctrine he was sent off to be tortured
by hot water at the boiling springs. This torture
was now improved by requiring the victim to have
his back slit open and the boiling water poured
directly on the raw flesh. He used the most monstrous
<pb n='254'/><anchor id='Pg254'/>
means to force the people to renounce their
faith. He compelled naked women to go through
the streets on their hands and knees, and many
recanted rather than suffer such an ordeal. Other
cases are recorded too horrible to be related,
and which only the ingenuity of hell could have
devised. That any should have persisted after such
inhuman persecutions seems to be almost beyond
belief. Guysbert says that in 1626 Nagasaki had
forty thousand Christians, and in 1629 not one was
left who acknowledged himself a believer. The
governor was proud that he had virtually exterminated
Christianity.
</p>

<p>
But the extermination had not yet been attained.
The severity of the measures adopted in Nagasaki
had indeed driven many into the surrounding provinces,
so that every place of shelter was full. They
awaited in terror the time when they too should be
summoned to torture and death. Usually they had
not long to wait, for the service of the Christian
Enquiry was active and diligent. New refinements
of cruelty were constantly invented and applied.
The last and one of the most effectual is denominated
by the foreign historians of these scenes the
<hi rend='italic'>Torment of the Fosse</hi>. Mathia Tanner, S. J., in his
<hi rend='italic'>History of the Martyrs of Japan</hi>, published in Prague,
1675, gives minute accounts of many martyrdoms.
His descriptions are illustrated by sickening engravings
of the tortures inflicted. Among these he
gives one illustrating the suspension of a martyr in
a pit on the 16th of August, 1633. The victim is
swathed in a covering which confines all parts of the
<pb n='255'/><anchor id='Pg255'/>
body except one hand with which he can make
the signal of recantation. A post is planted by the
side of the pit, with an arm projecting out over it.
The martyr is then drawn up by a rope fastened to
the feet and run over the arm of the post. He is
then lowered into the pit to a depth of five or six
feet and there suffered to hang. The suffering was
excruciating. Blood exuded from the mouth and
nose, and the sense of pressure on the brain was
fearful. Yet with all this suffering the victim usually
lived eight or nine days. Few could endure this
torture, and it proved a most effectual method of
bringing about recantations. Guysbert says that
he had many friendly conversations with those
who had experienced the torture of the <hi rend='italic'>Fosse</hi>.
They solemnly assured him <q>that neither the pain
caused by burning with fire, nor that caused by any
other kind of torture, deserves to be compared with
the agony produced in this way.</q> Not being able
longer to endure the suffering, they had recanted
and been set free. Yet it is told as a miraculous
triumph of faith that a young girl was submitted to
this torture, and lived fifteen days without recanting
and at last died.
</p>

<p>
It is surely not unnatural that human nature
should succumb to such torments. Even the well
seasoned nerves of the Jesuit fathers were not always
able to endure to the end. The enemies of
the Jesuits delight in narrating the apostasy of Father
Christopher Ferreyra, seventy years old, a Portuguese
missionary and the provincial of the order.
He was captured in Nagasaki, 1633, and was tortured
<pb n='256'/><anchor id='Pg256'/>
by suspension in the <hi rend='italic'>Fosse</hi>. After five hours he gave
the signal of recantation and was released. He was
kept for some time in prison and compelled to give
information concerning the members of his order in
Japan. He was set at liberty and forced to marry,
assuming the Japanese dress and a Japanese name.
There was a report set on foot by the Jesuits that in
his old age when on his death-bed he recovered his
courage and declared himself a Christian, whereupon
he was immediately carried off by the Japanese
officers to the torture of the <hi rend='italic'>Fosse</hi>, where he perished
a penitent martyr.
</p>

<p>
It was at this time that the method of trial called
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>E-fumi</foreign>,<note place='foot'>See Woolley's
<q>Historical Notes on Nagasaki,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society
Transactions</hi>, vol. ix., part 2, p. 134; also Mr. Satow's contributions
to the discussion of Mr. Gubbins' paper, <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society
Transactions</hi>, vol. vi., part 2, p. 52. Specimens of the metal plates are in the
Uyeno Museum of Tōkyō.</note> or trampling on the cross, was instituted.
At first pictures on paper were used, then slabs of
wood were substituted as more durable, and finally
in the year 1660 an engraver of Nagasaki, named
Yusa, cast bronze plates from the metal obtained by
despoiling the altars of the churches. These plates
were about five inches long and four inches wide
and one inch thick, and had on them a figure of
Christ on the cross. We take from the French edition
of Kæmpfer's <hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi><note place='foot'>See Kæmpfer's
<hi rend='italic'>Histoire de l'Empire de Japon</hi>,
tome i., p. 287.</note> an account of
what he calls <q>this detestable solemnity.</q> It was
conducted by an officer called the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kirishitan bugyō</foreign>,
or Christian inquisitor, and began on the second day
of the first month. In Nagasaki it was commenced
<pb n='257'/><anchor id='Pg257'/>
at two different places at once, and was carried on
from house to house until the whole city was finished.
The officers of each street were required to
be present. The metal plate on which was a figure
of the Saviour upon the cross was laid upon the
floor. Then the head of the house, his family, and
servants of both sexes, old and young, and any
lodgers that might be in the house, were called into
the room. The secretary of the inquisitor thereupon
made a list of the household and called upon
them one by one to set their feet on the plate.
Even young children not able to walk were carried
by their mothers and made to step on the images
with their feet. Then the head of the family put
his seal to the list as a certificate to be laid before
the governor that the inquisition had been performed
in his house. If any refused thus to trample on the
cross they were at once turned over to the proper
officers to be tortured as the cases required.
</p>

<p>
This same method of trial was used in the provinces
about Nagasaki, the governor lending to the
officers the plate which they might use.
</p>

<p>
Without following the entire series of events
which resulted in the extirpation of Christianity, it
will be sufficient to give a brief narrative of the
closing act in this fearful tragedy. It is just, however,
to explain that the Shimabara rebellion was
not due to the Christians alone, but that other causes
contributed to and perhaps originated it. In view,
however, of the cruel persecutions to which the
Christians were subjected, it is not surprising that
they should have been driven to engage in such a
<pb n='258'/><anchor id='Pg258'/>
rebellion as that in Arima.<note place='foot'>In the narrative
which we give of this insurrection we have relied
chiefly upon the accounts of Mr. Gubbins in his <q>Review of the
Introduction of Christianity,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic
Society Transactions</hi>, vol. vi.,
part 1, p. 36; of Mr. Woolley in his <q>Historical Notes on Nagasaki,</q>
<hi rend='italic'>do.</hi>, vol. ix., part 2, p. 140; and on
Dr. Geerts' paper on the <q>Arima
Rebellion and the Conduct of Koeckebacker,</q>
<hi rend='italic'>do.</hi>, vol. xi., p. 51. Mr.
Gubbins and Mr. Woolley had access to Japanese authorities, and we
have in their papers been enabled to see this bloody episode for the
first time from a Japanese standpoint. Dr. Geerts has rendered
an invaluable service in giving us translations of letters written by
Koeckebacker, the head of the Dutch factory during the events,
which show us how this insurrection was regarded by the Dutch East
India Company.</note> The wonder rather is
that they were not often and in many places impelled
to take up arms against the inhumanities of their
rulers. The explanation of this absence of resistance
will be found in the scattered condition of the
Christian communities. Nowhere, unless it might
be in Nagasaki, was the number of converts collected
in one place at all considerable. They were
everywhere overawed by the organized power of the
government, and the experience of those who joined
in this Arima insurrection did not encourage a repetition
of its horrors.
</p>

<p>
The beginning of the revolt is traced to the misgovernment
of the daimyō of Arima. The original
daimyō had been transferred by the shōgun to
another province, and when he removed from Arima
he left nearly all his old retainers behind him. The
newly instituted daimyō, on the contrary, who came
to occupy the vacated province brought with him a
full complement of his own followers. To make
room for these new retainers the old ones were displaced
<pb n='259'/><anchor id='Pg259'/>
placed from their dwellings and holdings, and compelled
to become farmers or to take up any other
occupation which they could find. Like the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>
of other parts of Japan who had been unaccustomed
to any calling except that of arms, these displaced
retainers proved very unsuccessful farmers, and were
of course very much dissatisfied with the new course
of things. The daimyō was a cruel and inconsiderate
man, who made small account of the hardships and
complaints of the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>
farmers. The taxes were
made heavier than they could pay, and when they
failed to bring in the required amount of rice, he
ordered them to be dressed in straw rain-coats which
were tied around their neck and arms. Their hands
were fastened behind their backs, and in this helpless
condition the rain-coats were set on fire. Many
were fatally burned, and some to escape the burning
threw themselves into the water and were drowned.
</p>

<p>
This senseless cruelty awakened an intense feeling
of hatred against the daimyō. And when his son
who succeeded him was disposed to continue the
same tyrannical policy, the farmers rose in insurrection
against their lord. The peasants of the island
of Amakusa, which lies directly opposite to the province
of Arima, also joined in this rising, owing to
their discontent against the daimyō of Karatsu.
</p>

<p>
The Christians, who had so long groaned under the
persecutions of their rulers, seized this opportunity
to rise, and joined the farmers. They declared that
the time had now come for them to avenge the
innocent blood of Christians and priests who had
perished throughout the empire. The rising of the
<pb n='260'/><anchor id='Pg260'/>
Christians began at the village of Oyei in Amakusa,
October, 1637. The excitement was intense, and in
a few days it is said that eight thousand three hundred
men and one thousand women were assembled
at this village. They chose as their chief Shirō
Tokisada, the son of the head man of the village of
Hara, who proposed to march immediately upon
Nagasaki and open negotiations with foreign nations,
and if possible obtain from them the help of troops.
He was an enthusiast and without experience in war.
The leading spirit in the insurrection seems to have
been a <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>rônin</foreign><note place='foot'>A
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>rônin</foreign> was
a retainer who had given up the service of his feudal
master, and for the time being was his own master.</note> named Ashizuka, who recommended
that the insurgents should cross over to Shimabara.
But Shirō and his enthusiastic followers resolved to
attack the castle of Tomioka situated on the north-west
coast of Amakusa. They were, however, unable
to make any impression upon it, and were obliged
to withdraw. Ashizuka and a few followers succeeded
in breaking into the castle of Shimabara and
seizing the arms and ammunition and provisions
which were stored there. The government rice
stores were seized both on the mainland and on the
island of Amakusa. All the insurgents, including
men, women, and children, then gathered into a
deserted castle at Hara, which was capable of holding
40,000 to 50,000 persons. It was supposed to be
impregnable, and was put in order and provisioned
for a long siege. The number gathered here is
estimated by the Japanese writers at 40,200, but
this number without doubt is an exaggeration.
</p>

<pb n='261'/><anchor id='Pg261'/>

<p>
The local rulers finding themselves unable to cope
with the rebellion, and seeing its proportions swelling
every day, appealed to Yedo for help. The
shōgun at this time was Iemitsu, the son of the
preceding shōgun, and grandson of Ieyasu. He possessed
many of the good qualities of his grandfather,
and is looked upon, with the exception of Ieyasu, as
the greatest of the Tokugawa line. He had imbibed
all the prejudices of his predecessors against foreigners
and against the religion of the foreigners.
He feared that this rebellion was begun at their
instigation, and would be carried on with their encouragement
and help. He prepared therefore for a
sharp and desperate struggle, which he was determined
should be carried out to the bitter end.
</p>

<p>
Itakura Naizen was sent down as commander-in-chief,
and given full powers. Under his direction
the siege of the castle, in which the rebels were
gathered, was commenced on the 31st of December,
1637. The daimyōs of Kyūshū, on the demand
of the government, sent additional troops,
so that the besieging army amounted to 160,000
men. Yet with all this force, urged on by an ambition
to end this rebellion, no serious effect had yet
been produced on the castle. The attacks which
had been made had produced no breach in its walls.
We have no information concerning the progress of
affairs among the inmates. It must be remembered
that a part of the rebels were
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> farmers, who
were inured to arms, and who knew perfectly that
neither consideration nor mercy would be shown
them or their families in case the castle were taken.
<pb n='262'/><anchor id='Pg262'/>
The remainder of the besieged force were the Christian
insurgents, who had been driven to this rebellion
by their cruel persecution. Nothing could be worse
than what they had already endured, and they had
no expectation that if they were beaten in this contest
any pity would be shown to them. Despair
made the attitude of both divisions of the rebels
one of determined resistance, and their obstinacy
led the besiegers to put forth every effort.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/yacht1.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Pleasure Yacht.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>
<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/yacht2.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Pleasure Yacht.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>
<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/merchant.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Merchant Vessel.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
One step which they took in this matter led to
much discussion and to the widening of the breach
between the Dutch and the Portuguese. On the
11th of January, 1638, the besiegers applied to
the Dutch at Hirado for a supply of gunpowder,
which request was complied with, and at the same
time an apology was tendered that no larger quantity
could be sent. Again, on the 15th of February
a request for cannon to be used in the
siege was received, and the guns were sent. Mr.
Koeckebacker says: <q>We gave the largest and most
uniform guns in our possession.</q><note place='foot'>See Dr.
Geerts' paper, <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol. xi., p.
75.</note> Finally, on the
19th of February, Mr. Koeckebacker was asked to
send one of the Dutch ships<note place='foot'>The ships
in use at this time among the Japanese were far less
seaworthy than those of European nations. The accompanying
figures given by Charlevoix, although probably somewhat fanciful,
show the impractical character of the vessels of that time.</note> then at Hirado to
the assistance of the besiegers. The <hi rend='italic'>de Ryp</hi> was
accordingly sent, and Mr. Koeckebacker himself accompanied
her. The guns which had been first sent
were mounted as a land battery, and the guns of the
<pb n='264'/><anchor id='Pg264'/>
<hi rend='italic'>de Ryp</hi> from her anchorage in the bay were trained
on the castle. It was a new experience for the Japanese
to see cannon used in the siege of a castle, but
the effect was much less than had been expected.
No practicable breach was made, and the final result
seemed as far off as ever. <q>During the fifteen days
from the 24th of February to the 12th of March,
there were thrown into the camp of the enemy
four hundred and twenty-six cannon balls from the
twenty guns of the ship <hi rend='italic'>de Ryp</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>See Dr.
Geerts' paper, <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol. xi.,
p. 111.</note>
</p>

<p>
In the meantime the Japanese officers began to
feel that it was not a dignified proceeding to call
upon a foreign nation to help them to put down a
local rebellion. Even the insurgents had shot an
arrow into the imperial camp to which a letter was
attached, deriding them for calling for assistance
when there were so many courageous soldiers in
Japan. Whatever may have been the cause, the
Dutch received notice on the 12th of March that
their ship was no longer required, and accordingly
they returned to Hirado. The castle was taken by
assault on the 12th of April, 1638, after a siege
which had lasted one hundred and two days, and
about seven months from the breaking out of the
rebellion. By special orders from Yedo the insurgents
captured in the castle were to the last man,
woman, and child put to death.<note place='foot'><p>Mr. Koeckebacker
says: <q>The rebels counted in all, young and
old, as it was said, about forty thousand. They were all killed except
one of the four principal leaders, being an artist who formerly used
to gain his livelihood by making idols. This man was kept alive and
sent to Yedo.</q>&mdash;Dr. Geerts' paper,
<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol.
xi., part 1, p. 107.
</p>
<p>
There is a tradition that a number of the prisoners who were
captured at this castle were hurled down from the rocks of the island
now called Papenberg in Nagasaki harbor. But Dr. Geerts ridicules
this notion and says: <q>A little local knowledge would show it to be
impossible to throw people from the rocks on Papenberg into the sea,
as the rocks are by no means steep bluffs, but possess an inclined
shape and a shore. A little knowledge of the Dutch language would
further show that the name Papenberg means <q>mountain of the priest,</q>
in allusion to the shape of a Roman Catholic priest's cap or
bonnet.</q>&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic
Society Transactions</hi>, vol. xi., part 1, p. 115.</p></note> The father of
<pb n='265'/><anchor id='Pg265'/>
Shirō, the young leader, was crucified, and Shirō
himself was decapitated, and his head exposed for
seven days on the great pier at Nagasaki. The
daimyō, whose misgovernment had brought on this
rebellion in Amakusa, was stripped of most of his
territories, and he was so intensely hated in what
remained to him that he committed <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign>.
The daimyō of Arima, whose misconduct and neglect
had driven the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> farmers into their fatal
rising, was also permitted to take his own life.
</p>

<p>
The help, which the Dutch rendered in this siege,
exposed them to much vituperation. Naturally, the
Jesuit historians have taken a very unfavorable view
of the Dutch share in this sad transaction. Dr.
Geerts in his defence of the Dutch argues: <q>Koeckebacker
did no more than any one else of any nationality
would probably have done in the same difficult
position.... His endeavor was to preserve
from decline or destruction the interests intrusted to
him, and this was done at the smallest possible
price.... Moreover, the letters of Koeckebacker
clearly show that the Japanese government
<pb n='266'/><anchor id='Pg266'/>
did not ask the aid of the Dutch in the persecution
of Christians, as has often been asserted by foreign
authors, who have not taken the trouble to inform
themselves thoroughly on the subject, but they requested
the guns and the aid of the Dutch vessel for
the purpose of subduing rebellious subjects....
There could be no valid reason for Koeckebacker to
refuse the pressing request for aid, and consequently
he agreed to give assistance, as every wise man
would have done in his place.... Koeckebacker
did not take part in the general massacre which followed
on the 11th of April, when the fortress of the
rebels was taken by the imperial troops, as he left
with his ship for Hirado on the 12th of March, leaving
the guns behind in Arima. Had it been in his
power to prevent such a general massacre after the
fortress had been taken, and the rebels were prisoners,
he would no doubt have done so.</q><note place='foot'>See
Dr. Geerts' paper, <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol. xi.,
part 1, pp. 110 and 111.</note>
</p>

<p>
This frightful termination to the rebellion, followed
as it was by severe and persistent measures
against Christians everywhere, was apparently the
death-blow to the church in the empire. No further
efforts were made, either by the daimyōs of provinces
or by the heads of the church, to make open headway
against the determined efforts of the government.
Whatever was done was in secret, and every
means was tried on the part of those who still clung
to the Christian belief, and especially of those who
were still daring enough to try to minister to them,
to conceal their locality and their identity.<note place='foot'>A Japanese
writer thus sums up the result of the effort to introduce
Christianity into his country: <q>After nearly a hundred years of
Christianity and foreign intercourse, the only apparent results of this
contact with another religion and civilization were the adoption of
gunpowder and firearms as weapons, the use of tobacco and the habit
of smoking, the making of sponge-cake, the naturalization into the
language of a few foreign words, and the introduction of new and
strange forms of disease.</q>&mdash;Shigetaka Shiga's
<hi rend='italic'>History of Nations</hi>,
Tōkyō, 1888. The words introduced into the language from the
Portuguese, except several derived from Christianity, are as follows:
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>tabako</foreign>, tobacco;
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>pan</foreign> (<foreign rend='italic'>pāo</foreign>),
bread; <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kasutera</foreign> (from Castilla), sponge-cake;
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>tanto</foreign>, much;
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kappa</foreign> (<foreign rend='italic'>capa</foreign>),
a waterproof; <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kappu</foreign>
(<foreign rend='italic'>copa</foreign>), a cup or wine glass;
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>birōdo</foreign>
(<foreign rend='italic'>vellendo</foreign>), velvet;
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>biidoro</foreign>
(<foreign rend='italic'>vidro</foreign>), glass.&mdash;Rein's
<hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, p. 312.</note>
</p>

<pb n='267'/><anchor id='Pg267'/>

<p>
The history of Christianity in Japan from this
time downward was that of a scattered and dismembered
remnant struggling for existence. A long line
of edicts reaching to modern times was directed
against <q>the corrupt sect,</q> repeating again and
again the directions for its suppression. The
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kirishitan
bugyō</foreign>, or Christian inquisitor, had his office
in Yedo, and under him was a numerous and active
corps of assistants. Inouye Chikugo-no-Kami for a
long time held this position. A place is still pointed
out called <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>Karishitan Zaka</foreign>, or Christian
Valley, where once stood the house in which were confined
a number of the foreign priests. Here may be seen
the grave of Father Chiara, who had under torture
abjured his faith, and remained a prisoner for forty
years, dying 1685.<note place='foot'>See Mr. Satow's
contributions to the discussion of Mr. Gubbins' paper,
<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol. vi., part 1, p. 61; also Satow
and Hawes' <hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>, p. 22; also Griffis'
<hi rend='italic'>Mikado's Empire</hi>, p. 262;
and Professor Dixon's paper on the Christian Valley, <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society
Transactions</hi>, vol. xvi., p. 207.</note> Professor Dixon says that <q>there
are two bamboo tubes inserted in sockets in front of
the tomb, which I have never found empty, but
always full of flowers in bloom. No one knows who
<pb n='268'/><anchor id='Pg268'/>
offer these flowers, but they must be descendants of
the Doshin Christians, or believers in Christianity, or
worshippers of Koshin.</q> Here also was confined
Father Baptiste Sidotti, a Sicilian Jesuit who ventured
to enter Japan in 1707 with the purpose of resuming
the work of the Jesuits which the persecution
had interrupted.
</p>

<p>
And yet with all this vigilance and severity on the
part of the government, what was the amazement of
the Christian world to learn that the old faith still
survived! In the villages around Nagasaki there
were discovered in 1865,<note place='foot'>See Chamberlain's
<hi rend='italic'>Things Japanese</hi>, 1892, p. 300.</note> not only words and symbols
which had been preserved in the language, but
even communities where had been kept alive for
more than two centuries the worship bequeathed to
them by their ancestors. We shall have occasion
hereafter to refer to this interesting memento of the
Christianity of the seventeenth century.
</p>

</div>

<pb n='269'/><anchor id='Pg269'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf'/>
<head>Chapter XII. Feudalism In Japan.</head>

<p>
Ieyasu was not only a general of eminent abilities,
who had from his youth been accustomed to
the responsibility and management of great campaigns,
but he was a statesman who knew how to
secure the advantage to be obtained from victories
and conquests. After the decisive battle of Sekigahara,
when the control of the empire became fixed
in his hands, we hear little more of him as a general,
excepting in the battle at Ōsaka, when the fortunes
of Hideyori were finally and definitely settled.
The common conception of Ieyasu is not that of
a great commander like Hideyoshi, but rather of an
organizer and law-maker, who out of confused and
dismembered provinces and principalities of the empire
constructed a firm and abiding state.<note place='foot'>See
<hi rend='italic'>Legacy of Ieyasu</hi>, cap. xv.</note> After
his settlement of the dissensions at home, and his
admirable adjustment of the outstanding difficulties
with Korea and China, which we have already traced,
we shall find Ieyasu principally engaged in framing
a government which should be suited to the peculiar
<pb n='270'/><anchor id='Pg270'/>
wants and founded on the historical antecedents of
the country.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/ieyasu.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Ieyasu.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
There was one characteristic of Ieyasu which has
not received sufficient attention. Although not a
great scholar in any sense, even in the age in which
he lived, he was more familiar than most men of
affairs of his day with the Chinese classical writings,
and was in the more leisurely periods of his life a
noted patron of learned men. The Chinese classics
were said to have been brought to Japan at an early
period, even before the first introduction of Buddhism.
But the period was too early and the condition
of the country too rude to make the reading
and study of the philosophical and political writings
of Confucius and Mencius an essential part of the
<pb n='271'/><anchor id='Pg271'/>
education of the people. The culture which Buddhism
brought with it, accompanied with a knowledge
of the writing and reading of the Chinese letters,
was all that obtained any currency during the disturbed
and warlike ages of Japanese history. But
when peace was at last established by the supremacy
of Ieyasu, and the active Japanese intellect had
some other employment than fighting, then learning
took a great start. And as the only idea which
the Japanese possessed of learning was that which
prevailed in China and was imbedded in the Chinese
writings, they naturally turned to them for thought
and systematic training.
</p>

<p>
Fortunately Ieyasu was a man who appreciated
at its full value the effect of learning on the character
of his people. He caused the Confucian classics<note place='foot'>The
<hi rend='italic'>Confucian</hi> classics consist of the Four Books, viz.:
<hi rend='italic'>The Great Learning</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Doctrine of the
Mean</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Confucian Analects</hi>, and
<hi rend='italic'>The Sayings of Mencius</hi>; and the Five Canons,
viz.: <hi rend='italic'>The Book of Changes</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Book of
Poetry</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Book of History</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Canon of
Rites</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>Spring and Autumn</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Annals
of the State of Lu</hi>, by Confucius).
Chamberlain's <hi rend='italic'>Things Japanese</hi>, 1892, p. 92.</note>
to be printed at a press which he patronized in
Fushimi, and this was said to be the first time these
works had ever been printed in Japan. He gathered
scholars about him at Fushimi, at Yedo, and after
his retirement at Shizuoka (Sumpu). He favored
education and encouraged the daimyōs to establish
schools where the children of their retainers could
be taught not only military accomplishments but
the elements of a good education. The Chinese
classics were made the essentials of such an education,
and the chief duty of a school was to teach the
<pb n='272'/><anchor id='Pg272'/>
pupils to read and write and understand the works
which their venerable and learned neighbor had
furnished them.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/mixing-ink.png' rend='width: 60%'>
    <head>Mixing Ink For Writing.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
Unfortunately this movement in behalf of learning
was hampered by the impracticable nature of
the Chinese written language. Instead of a few
characters representing sounds, like European alphabets,
it consists of thousands of symbols, each representing
an idea. The pupil must therefore spend
years in learning to make, and know and read the
mere signs of language. And in the modern necessities
<pb n='274'/><anchor id='Pg274'/>
of printing,<note place='foot'>An accurate and amusing account of the printing of a modern
newspaper in Japan is given in Mr. Henry Norman's <hi rend='italic'>Real Japan</hi>, p,
43 <hi rend='italic'>et seq.</hi></note> the compositor must handle not
less than 4,000 or 5,000 Chinese characters, besides
the Japanese <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kana</foreign> and other needful marks. The
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kana</foreign> here mentioned were the result of a
promising effort which was made to simplify the Chinese
written language by expressing it in symbols representing
sounds. Forty-seven <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kana</foreign> letters&mdash;by
repetition extended to fifty&mdash;each representing a syllable,
are used to express Japanese words.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/letters.png' rend='width: 80%'>
    <head>Styles Of Letters: (Chinese Proverb: Hiroku koriwo aisuruwo jintoyu. To
love universally is true humility.) 1. Kaisho (book letters). 2. Ditto. 3. Gyosho
(script letters). 4. Ditto. 5. Hirasaua (Japanese script).</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/syllabary.png' rend='width: 80%'>
    <head>Japanese Syllabary.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
The castle of Yedo was reconstructed and enlarged
after the battle of Sekigahara, while Ieyasu continued
<pb n='275'/><anchor id='Pg275'/>
to reside at Fushimi. The Jesuit fathers,
who accompanied the Father Provincial on his visit
to Ieyasu, assert that 300,000 men were employed in
this work. Very much of the ground where the
present city of Tōkyō now stands, was then, according
to old maps, covered with water. In excavating
the moat which surrounds the castle, and the canals
connecting this moat with the Sumida-gawa, immense
quantities of earth were obtained, which were used
to fill up lagoons and to reclaim from the shallow
bay portions which have now become solid land.
This work of building the castle and fitting the city
for the residence of a great population, was carried
on by many of the successors of Ieyasu. The third
shōgun, Iemitsu, the grandson of Ieyasu, made great
improvements both to the castle and the city, so that
the population and position of Yedo in no long time
placed it as the chief city of the empire.<note place='foot'>For a
history of the city of Yedo, and reference to the disasters
to which it has been subject from fires, earthquakes, and pestilences,
see Satow and Hawes' <hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>, p. 6. See also <q>The Castle of
Yedo,</q> by T. R. H. McClatchie, <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>,
vol. vi., part 1, and <q>The Feudal Mansions of Yedo,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic
Society Transactions</hi>, vol. vii., part 3.</note>
</p>

<p>
The task to which Ieyasu devoted himself during
the years of his residence at Yedo was that of consolidating
and settling the feudal system of the
empire. The daimyōs had for centuries been so
accustomed to conduct themselves independently,
and to govern each his own province in his own way,
that they might be expected to resent any efforts
to restrict their action. Fortunately Ieyasu was a
mild and temperate man, who, while he could act
<pb n='276'/><anchor id='Pg276'/>
with firmness, was most considerate of the feelings
and motives of others. After the decisive victory of
Sekigahara he readily and cordially made terms with
his enemies, and did not show himself rapacious in
exacting from them undue penalties for their hostility.
To the daimyō of Satsuma, as we have already
seen, he restored the entire territory which Taikō
Sama had given him. The daimyō of Chōshū was
allowed to keep two of the provinces out of the ten
which he had acquired by conquest, yet these two
made him still one of the richest and most powerful
princes in the empire. With others he dealt in the
same liberal spirit, so that out of the old proud
daimyōs whom he spared and permitted to continue
in their holdings, he created for himself a body of
fast friends.
</p>

<p>
But it must be remembered that the end Ieyasu
had in view was to establish a system which should
continue loyal to his successors, and to a line of
successors who should be of his own family. Hence
out of the confiscated territories, and out of those
which were in part vacated as a fine on the former
holders, and out of those which had become vacant
by natural causes, he carved many fiefs with which
he endowed members of his own family and those
retainers who were closely affiliated with him. He
had twelve children,<note place='foot'>See Dickson's
<hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, p. 294.</note> nine sons and three daughters.
The daughters were married to three daimyōs. The
oldest of his sons, Nobuyasu, had died at an early
age. His second son, Hideyasu, had been adopted
by Taikō Sama, and to him Ieyasu gave the province
<pb n='277'/><anchor id='Pg277'/>
of Echizen as his fief. The third son, Hidetada,
who shared with his father the command of the
forces at the battle Sekigahara, had married a
daughter of Taikō Sama, and succeeded his father
as shōgun. On his youngest three sons he bestowed
the rich provinces of Owari, Kii, and Mito, and constituted
the families to which they gave rise as the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>Go-san-ké</foreign>,
or the three honorable families. In case
of a failure in the direct line, the heir to the shōgunate
was to be chosen from one of these families.
</p>

<p>
Without undertaking to give a detailed account of
the feudal system as modified and established by
Ieyasu, it will be sufficient to give the classes of
daimyōs as they continued to exist under the Tokugawa
shōgunate.<note place='foot'>Those who desire a fuller explanation of this complicated and
difficult matter are referred to Dr. Yoshida's <hi rend='italic'>Staatsverfassung und
Lehnwesen von Japan</hi>, Hague, 1890, and to the paper on <q>The Feudal
System in Japan,</q> by J. H. Gubbins, Esq., <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society
Transactions</hi>, vol. xv., part 2; also to the introduction by Professor Wigmore,
<hi rend='italic'>do.</hi>, vol. xx., Supplement, p. 25.</note> It must be understood that
feudalism existed in Japan before the time of
Ieyasu. It can be traced to the period when Yoritomo
obtained from the emperor permission to send
into each province a <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>shiugo</foreign>
who should be a military man, and should act as protector of the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kokushū</foreign> or
governor, who was always a civilian appointed by
the emperor. These military protectors were provided
with troops, for the pay of whom Yoritomo
got permission from the emperor to levy a tax.
Being active men, and having troops under their
command, they gradually absorbed the entire authority,
and probably in most cases displaced the
<pb n='278'/><anchor id='Pg278'/>
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kokushū</foreign>,
who only represented the powerless government
at Kyōto. Under the disturbed times
which followed the fall of the house of Yoritomo
these <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>shiugo</foreign>
became the hereditary military governors
of the provinces, and usurped not only the
functions but the name of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kokushū</foreign>. They became
a class of feudal barons who, during the interval
when no central authority controlled them, governed
each one his own province on his own responsibility.
Even after the establishment of a central authority,
and continuously down to the abolition of feudalism,
the government of the people was in the hands of
the daimyō of each province. The assessment of
taxes, the construction of roads and bridges, the
maintenance of education, the punishment of crime,
the collection of debts, the enforcement of contracts,
and indeed the whole circle of what was denominated
law were in the hands of the local government.
In truth, in Japan as in other feudal countries there
was scarcely such a thing as law in existence. The
customs that prevailed, the common-sense decisions
of a magistrate, the final determinations of the daimyō,
were authoritative in every community. And
in all these each province was in a great degree a
law unto itself.
</p>

<p>
The classes of daimyōs as arranged and established
by Ieyasu were not altered by his successors, although
the number included under each class was
liable to minor changes. Before Ieyasu's time there
were three classes of daimyōs, viz.: eighteen
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kokushū</foreign>,
who may be termed lords of provinces, thirty-two
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ryōshu</foreign> or lords of smaller districts, and two
<pb n='279'/><anchor id='Pg279'/>
hundred and twelve <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>jōshu</foreign>
or lords of castles, that is
two hundred and sixty-two in all. The distinction
between the first two was one of rank, but the third
differed from the others in the fact that the assessment
in each case was less than 100,000
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kōku</foreign> of rice. The
number of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kokushū</foreign> daimiates was increased by
the addition of Kii and Owari, to which Ieyasu appointed
two of his sons as daimyōs. A third son he appointed
daimyō of Mito, which was already of the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kokushū</foreign>
rank. He vacated this place by compelling the previous
holder to accept in place of it another daimiate
of equivalent value.
</p>

<p>
Ieyasu divided all daimyōs into two distinct
classes, the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>fudai</foreign> and the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>tozama</foreign>. The term
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>fudai</foreign>
was used to designate those who were considered
the vassals of the Tokugawa family. The <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>tozama</foreign>
daimyōs were those who were considered as equal to
the vassals of the Tokugawa family, but who were
not in fact vassals. Of the former there were
originally one hundred and seventy-seven, and of the
latter eighty-six.<note place='foot'>In the <hi rend='italic'>Legacy of Ieyasu</hi>
will be found the following statement:
<q>The <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>fudai</foreign> are those
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> who followed me and proffered me
their fealty before the overthrow of the castle of Ōsaka in the province
of Sesshū. The <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>tozama</foreign> are those
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> who returned and submitted
to me after its downfall, of whom there were eighty-six.</q>&mdash;See
<hi rend='italic'>Legacy of Ieyasu</hi>, cap. vii.</note>
Twenty-one of the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>fudai</foreign> daimyōs
were relatives of the shōgun's family, of whom three,
as has been stated, were the <q>honorable families.</q>
All the others, numbering eighteen, bore the name
of Matsudaira, one of the family names of Ieyasu,
derived from a small village in the province of
<pb n='280'/><anchor id='Pg280'/>
Mikawa, where Ieyasu was born. This was allowed
to them as a special honor.
</p>

<p>
We give here the classification of the daimyōs as
enumerated by M. Appert<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ancien Japon</hi>,
vol. ii.</note> in his list for the epoch
about 1850:
</p>

<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{5cm} p{1cm}';
             tblcolumns: 'lw(60) r'">
<row><cell>1. Go-san-ké (three honorable families)</cell><cell>3</cell></row>
<row><cell>2. Fudai daimyōs (vassals of Tokugawa family)</cell><cell>137</cell></row>
<row><cell>3. Tozama daimyōs (equal to vassals)</cell><cell>99</cell></row>
<row><cell>4. Kamon (all the other branches of Tokugawa family)</cell>
     <cell>18</cell></row>
<row><cell>5.  Daimyōs, not classified</cell><cell>6</cell></row>
<row><cell>Total</cell><cell>263</cell></row>
</table>

<p>
The five leading <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>tozama</foreign> daimyōs were Kaga,
Sendai, Aizu, Chōshū, and Satsuma, and although
they ranked after the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>go-san-ké</foreign>, they had some
superior advantages. They were classed as
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kyakubun</foreign>,
or guests, and whenever they paid a visit to the
capital of the shōgun, they were met by envoys and
conducted to their residences.
</p>

<p>
Besides these daimyōs of different classes, Ieyasu
established an inferior kind of feudal nobility, which
was termed <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hatamoto</foreign>.
This means literally <hi rend='italic'>under
the flag</hi>. They had small holdings assigned to them,
and their income varied very greatly. Mr. Gubbins,
in his paper, puts the number at about 2,000. It
was the custom to employ the members of this
minor class of aristocracy very largely in filling the
official positions in the shōgun's government. Indeed,
<pb n='281'/><anchor id='Pg281'/>
it was held as a common maxim, that the
offices should be filled by poor men rather than by
rich.<note place='foot'>Dickson's <hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, p. 303.</note>
The <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>gokenin</foreign>, numbering about 5,000, were
still another class who were inferior to the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hatamoto</foreign>.
They had small incomes, and were mostly employed
in subordinate positions. Beneath these again stood
the ordinary fighting men, or common
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>, who
were the retainers of the daimyōs and of the shōgun.
They were the descendants of the soldiers of the
time of Yoritomo, who appointed <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>shiugo</foreign> to
reside with a company of troops in each province, for the
purpose of keeping the peace. They had already
grown to claim a great superiority over the common
people, and Ieyasu encouraged them in this feeling
of superciliousness. The people were divided into
four classes, arranged in the following order:
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>, farmers, artisans, and merchants. And
in his <hi rend='italic'>Legacy</hi> Ieyasu thus expresses himself<note place='foot'>See
<hi rend='italic'>Legacy of Ieyasu</hi>, cap. xiv.</note>: <q>The
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> are masters of the four classes.
Farmers, artisans, and merchants may not behave in a rude
manner towards <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> ... and a
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> is
not to be interfered with in cutting down a fellow
who has behaved to him in a manner other than is
expected.</q> Again he says<note place='foot'>See
<hi rend='italic'>Legacy of Ieyasu</hi>, cap. xxxvii.</note>: <q>A girded sword is
the living soul of a <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>.</q>
</p>

<p>
The authority coming from so high and so revered
a source did not grow less during the centuries of
feudalism which followed. The <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> did not
fail to use all the privileges which were allowed them
<pb n='282'/><anchor id='Pg282'/>
by Ieyasu's testamentary law. Especially in the
large cities where great numbers of them were gathered,
and where idleness led them into endless evil
practices, the arrogance and overbearing pride of the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>
made them an intolerable nuisance. Nevertheless
it must be allowed that nearly all that was
good, and high-minded, and scholarly in Japan was
to be found among the ranks of the feudal retainers.
It is to them that the credit must be given of
the great changes and improvements which have
been initiated since Japan was opened up to foreigners.
They were the students who went out into
the world to learn what western science had to teach
them. They have been pioneers in a return to a
central authority and to the experiment of a representative
government, and to the principles of
freedom and toleration to which the country is
committed. To them Japan owes its ancient as
well as its modern system of education. Its old
stores of literature, it is true, are not due to them,
but surely all its modern development in newspapers,
magazines, history, political science, and legal and
commercial codes, is to be traced to the adaptability
and energy of the old <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> class.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/sword-maker.png' rend='width: 80%'>
    <head>Sword-Maker.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
The <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> had the privilege of carrying two
swords; the principal one (<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>katana</foreign>) was about
four feet long, nearly straight, but slightly curved toward
the point, the blade thick and ground to a keen
though blunt edge. It was carried in a scabbard
thrust through the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>obi</foreign>
or belt on the left side, with the edge uppermost.
Besides the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>katana</foreign>
the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>
carried also a short sword about nine and a half
<pb n='284'/><anchor id='Pg284'/>
inches long, called <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>wakizashi</foreign>. The blade of the
sword was fastened to the hilt by a pin of wood
and could be readily detached. On the part of the
blade inserted in the hilt, the maker's name was always
inscribed, and it was a special matter of pride
when he was one of the famous sword-smiths of
Japan. The most noted makers were Munechika,
Masamune, Yoshimitsu, and Muramasa, who ranged
from the tenth down through the fourteenth century.
The quality of the Japanese sword has been
a matter of national pride, and the feats which have
been accomplished by it seem almost beyond belief.
To cleave at one blow three human bodies laid one
upon another; to cut through a pile of copper coins
without nicking the edge, were common tests which
were often tried.<note place='foot'>For the general
history of the sword, see Mitford's <hi rend='italic'>Tales of Old
Japan</hi>, vol. i., p. 70; T. R. H. McClatchie's, The sword of Japan,
<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>, vol. vi., p. 55;
Chamberlain's <hi rend='italic'>Things Japanese</hi>, 1892, p. 396.
For the mode of manufacture, see Rein's
<hi rend='italic'>Industries of Japan</hi>, p. 430; and especially for the artistic
decoration of swords, see Satow and Hawes' <hi rend='italic'>Hand-book</hi>, p.
114.</note>
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/sword.png' rend='width: 80%'>
    <head>Sword, Spears, And Matchlock.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
It was an essential part of the education of a
young <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> that he should be trained
thoroughly in martial exercises. The latter part of every school
day was given up to this kind of physical training.
He was taught to ride a horse, to shoot with the
bow, to handle the spear, and especially to be skilled
in the etiquette and use of the sword.<note place='foot'>I have been told by a young
Satsuma <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> that when he was a
boy it was a test of skill with the sword, to set a chop-stick (which
was about six inches long) on its end and before it could fall over to
draw a sword from its scabbard and cut it in two.</note> They went
<pb n='286'/><anchor id='Pg286'/>
through again and again the tragic details of the
commission of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign>, and had it impressed
on their youthful imaginations with such force and
vividness, that when the time for its actual enactment
came they were able
to meet the bloody reality
without a tremor and with
perfect composure.<note place='foot'>For an account of
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign> see the <q>Story of the Forty-Seven
Ronins</q> in Mitford's <hi rend='italic'>Tales of Old Japan</hi>, vol. i., p. 1.</note>
</p>

<p>
The foundation of the relations
between the feudal
chiefs and their retainers lay
in the doctrine of Confucius.
The principles which he lays
down fitted in admirably to
the ideas which the historical
system of Japanese feudalism
had made familiar.
They inculcated absolute
submission of the son to
the father, of the wife to her
husband, and of the servant
to his master, and in these
respects Japanese feudalism
was a willing and zealous
disciple. On these lines Ieyasu constructed his plans
of government, and his successors enthusiastically
followed in his footsteps.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/daibutsu.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Daibutsu At Kamakura.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
In religious belief the nation by the time of Ieyasu
was largely Buddhistic. Through ten centuries and
<pb n='288'/><anchor id='Pg288'/>
a half the active propagation of this faith had been
going on, until now by far the greater number of the
population were Buddhists. In his <hi rend='italic'>Legacy</hi> Ieyasu
expresses a desire to tolerate all religious sects except
the Christian. He says: <q>High and low alike
may follow their own inclinations with respect to religious
tenets which have obtained down to the present
time, except as regards the false and corrupt
school (Christianity). Religious disputes have ever
proved the bane and misfortune of the empire, and
should determinedly be put a stop to.</q><note place='foot'>See
<hi rend='italic'>Legacy of Ieyasu</hi>, cap. xxxi.</note>
</p>

<p>
While he was therefore tolerant towards all the
different sects of Buddhism and towards the old
Shintō faith of the country, he particularly patronized
the Jōdo sect to which his ancestors had been
attached, and to which he charges his posterity to
remain faithful.<note place='foot'>See
<hi rend='italic'>Legacy of Ieyasu</hi>, cap. xxviii.</note>
In the archives of the Buddhist
temple Zōjōji at Shiba in Tōkyō was preserved
an account written by the head priest of the time,
how Ieyasu, in 1590, visited the temple and took it
under his patronage, saying,<note place='foot'>T. R. H. McClatchie,
<q>The Castle of Yedo,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society
Transactions</hi>, vol. vi., part 1, p. 131.</note> <q>For a general to be
without an ancestral temple of his own is as though
he were forgetful of the fact that he must die....
I have now come to beg of you to let me make this
my ancestral temple here.</q> So that from the time
of Ieyasu the Jōdo was the authorized sect to which
the court of the shōguns was especially attached,
and to this is to be attributed the fact that its
<pb n='290'/><anchor id='Pg290'/>
temples and monasteries in Tōkyō have always been
of the most majestic and gorgeous character.<note place='foot'><p>As
illustrative of Buddhism at its greatest splendor we give here the
figures of the great bronze image of Buddha at Kamakura, and of the
great bell at the temple of Daibutsu in Kyōto.
[Transcriber's Note: This bell is shown as the Frontispiece to the book.]
The former was
erected about <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1252 after plans initiated by Yoritomo
before his death. The statue in its sitting posture is nearly fifty feet in height.
It is constructed of separate plates of bronze brazed together. Formerly
it was enclosed in a temple, but this was twice destroyed by
tidal waves, and since its last destruction in 1494 it has not been rebuilt.
</p>
<p>
The bell given in the illustration is that at the temple of Daibutsu,
the inscription on which is said to have offended Ieyasu. It is nearly
fourteen feet in height and nine feet in diameter. Its weight is more
than sixty-three tons.&mdash;See Satow and Hawes' <hi rend='italic'>Handbook</hi>, p.
368.</p></note>
</p>

<p>
Ieyasu did not long hold the office of shōgun,
which the emperor had conferred upon him in 1603.
It is not easy to understand why a man, who was
only sixty-three years of age and who was still in
vigorous health, should wish to throw off the responsibilities
of office and retire to private life. We
must remember, however, that it was the custom of
his country, consecrated by the usage of the imperial
house and of the shōguns and regents who had
preceded him. Morever, though he surrendered to
his son the title of shōgun, he retained in his own
hands a large part of the power which he had hitherto
exercised.
</p>

<p>
It may be supposed that he was anxious to establish
the succession of the shōgunate unquestionably
in his own family. For this purpose he deemed it
wise to initiate a successor while he still had the influence
and the power to compel the acquiescence of
the feudal lords of the empire. Acting upon these
<pb n='291'/><anchor id='Pg291'/>
considerations Ieyasu, in 1605, retired in favor of his
third son Hidetada. He received from the emperor
the title of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>sei-i-tai-shōgun</foreign>,
which his father had held.
Ieyasu took up his residence at Sumpu<note place='foot'>In the
account given by Don Rodrigo de Vivero, the late governor
of Manila, of a visit made in 1608 by him in behalf of Spanish trade,
Yedo is described as a city of seven hundred thousand inhabitants, and
Sumpu, which he calls Suruga, where the emperor (as he denominates
Ieyasu) lived, is estimated to contain from five to six hundred thousand
inhabitants. He was so pleased with the country through which
he travelled that he declares, <q>if he could have prevailed upon himself
to renounce his God and his king he should have preferred that
country to his own.</q>&mdash;See Hildreth's
<hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, etc., pp. 145, 147.</note> (now
Shizuoka), which was situated on Suruga bay, one
hundred and fourteen miles from the shōgun's capital.
Here he maintained a court and practically in
all important matters governed the country. He
was free, however, from the petty details of the administration,
and devoted himself as an amateur to a
literary life, to the collection and printing of books,
and to the encouragement and patronage of literary
men, in which he delighted.
</p>

<p>
In the meantime important events had been taking
place which had great influence on the history
of Japan. The contest between the Spanish on the
one hand, and the Dutch and English on the other,
was not confined to the Atlantic, but broke out in
the Pacific, where the Portuguese and Spaniards had
so long been predominant. A preliminary to the
opening of trade with the Dutch were the arrival of
William Adams and his extraordinary experiences
in Japan. As we learn from his own letters,<note place='foot'>These
letters were written from Japan between 1611 and 1617.
They were printed in part in Purchas' <hi rend='italic'>Pilgrimes</hi>, and are included
in the publications of the Hackluyt Society. From the latter source
they were printed in pamphlet form by the <hi rend='italic'>Japan Gazette</hi> at
Yokohama, 1879. It is from this last source these references are taken.</note> he was
<pb n='292'/><anchor id='Pg292'/>
born near Rochester in England, 1574, and when
twelve years old was apprenticed to Nicholas Diggins
as a pilot. With him he served for twelve
years, then took service as pilot major of a fleet of
five sail, which was about to be despatched by the
<q>Indish Companie</q> to take part in the trade of the
East Indies. This fleet had a rough time, and with
fevers and scurvy and want of food a great part of
the crews of the five vessels died. They sailed by
the way of the straits of Magellan, then northward
past Chili, and westward across the broad Pacific.
Two of the ships turned back at the straits and
returned to Holland. A third vessel was captured
by the Spaniards, and the pinnace of a fourth was
seized by eight men, and run into some island on their
way, supposed to be one of the Sandwich Islands, and
there wrecked, and the eight men probably eaten.
The two vessels still remaining were the <hi rend='italic'>Hope</hi> and
the <hi rend='italic'>Charity</hi>. The former of these was never more
heard of. The sole remaining vessel was the <hi rend='italic'>Charity</hi>,
of which Jaques Maihore was the master, and William
Adams was the pilot. Sickness, especially the
scurvy, which was the frightful scourge on board the
vessels of that day, had reduced the crew, so that
only four were able to walk, of whom Adams was
one, and four more could creep on their knees.
</p>

<p>
In this condition they reached, on the eleventh
of April, 1600, the northeastern coast of the island
of Kyūshū, landing in the province of Bungo, whose
<pb n='293'/><anchor id='Pg293'/>
prince in earlier days had been the friend and patron
of the Portuguese Jesuits. They were kindly received,
the governor of the district furnishing a
guard to protect their property&mdash;too late however
for the preservation of much of it&mdash;and a house in
which the sick could be cared for. In a few days a
Portuguese Jesuit and other Portuguese arrived
from Nagasaki, through whom the Dutch could
communicate with the natives. The national and
religious animosity between the strangers and their
interpreters could not fail, however, to manifest
itself. The Portuguese tried to create the impression
that the refugees were pirates and unworthy of
protection and help.
</p>

<p>
In accordance with the usual custom, word was
immediately sent to Ieyasu (whom Adams calls the
emperor), who at this time was at the castle of
Ōsaka. He sent boats to Bungo, by which Adams
and one of the crew were conveyed to his castle.
Adams gives an interesting account of his reception,
of the questions asked concerning his country, and
its relations to the Spanish and Portuguese. He
took occasion to explain, that the object of the
Dutch in entering the East was purely that of trade,
that they had in their own country many commodities
which they would be glad to exchange for the
products of the eastern nations.
</p>

<p>
After this interview Adams was kept thirty-nine
days in prison, expecting to suffer the punishment
of crucifixion, which he understood was the common
mode of disposing of such characters. He found
afterwards that the Portuguese had been using means
<pb n='294'/><anchor id='Pg294'/>
to poison the mind of Ieyasu by representing them
as dangerous characters, and recommending that all
the refugees should be put to death as a warning to
others. But he tells us<note place='foot'>First letter
of Adams in pamphlet edition. Yokohama, 1878,
p. 8.</note> that Ieyasu answered them,
that <q>we as yet had done to him nor to none of his
lands any harm or dammage [and it was] against
Reason and Justice to put us to death. If our
countreys had warres the one with the other, that
was no cause that he should put us to death.</q>
</p>

<p>
While Adams was thus kept in prison, the <hi rend='italic'>Charity</hi>
had been brought to Sakai, near to Ōsaka. Finally
he was set at liberty, and suffered to revisit his ship,
where he found the captain and remnant of the
crew. The goods and clothing on board had been
stolen by the natives, which Ieyasu tried to recover
for them. But everything had been so scattered
that it was impossible to regain it, <q>savinge 50,000
Rs in reddy money was commanded to be geven
us</q> [as compensation]. After this settlement they
were ordered to sail with their ship to the <q>land of
Quanto and neere to the citie Eddo,</q> whither
Ieyasu was about to proceed by land. Here they
had a mutiny among their men, which ended in the
entire disbanding of the crew, and the dividing up
among them the money which they had received for
their goods. Each man was left to shift for himself.
The captain got permission to sail in a Japanese
junk to Patan, where he hoped to meet Dutch
vessels.
</p>

<p>
Adams himself was kept about the shōgun's court,
<pb n='295'/><anchor id='Pg295'/>
and was made useful in various ways. His first
achievement was to build a vessel of about eighteen
tons burthen, which gained him great favor, in
which he made several short voyages. Then in 1609,
by command of the shōgun, he built another ship of
one hundred and twenty tons burthen, which also
was a successful venture. For it so happened that
the governor of Manila was on his way to Nova
Spania<note place='foot'>This name, Nova
Spania or New Spain, was first given to the
peninsula of Yucatan, and was afterward extended to the territory of
Mexico conquered by Cortez. Finally it was given to all the Spanish
provinces extending on the Pacific coast from Panama to Van Couver's
island. Acapulco was the principal harbor on the Pacific coast.&mdash;See
Prescott's <hi rend='italic'>Conquest of Mexico</hi>.</note>
in a large ship of one thousand tons burthen,
and was wrecked on the east coast of Japan, in the
province of Shimosa. The governor and those of
his comrades who were saved from the shipwreck
were sent on to Acapulco in the ship which Adams
had just built. In the year following, the governor,
in recognition of their kindness to him, sent back to
the Japanese government a much larger vessel as a
present, the original being sent to and retained at
Manila.
</p>

<p>
Adams was a straightforward, honest fellow, and
commended himself to Ieyasu by usefulness not
only in such matters as building ships, but in furnishing
information concerning foreign affairs, which
at this time were pressing on the government. In
order to render him more content, Ieyasu gave him
a small holding at Hemi, near the present town of
Yokosuka, a few hours' sail from Yedo. He himself
speaks of this property as <q>a living like unto a lordship
<pb n='296'/><anchor id='Pg296'/>
in England, with eighty or ninety husbandmen,
that be as my slaves or servants.</q><note place='foot'>Captain Cocks
in his <q>Diary,</q> contained in Purchas' <hi rend='italic'>Pilgrimes</hi>,
part 1, book iv., gives an account of a visit he made to Yedo in 1616,
on the business of the English trade, at which time he visited Adams'
seat, which he calls <q>Phebe,</q> doubtless mistaking the sound of the
real name <q>Meni.</q>&mdash;See Chamberlain's
<hi rend='italic'>Things Japanese</hi>, 1892,
p. 15.</note> He probably
also had a residence in Yedo, for there is to this day
a street called <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>An-jin-chō</foreign>,
or Pilot Street, near Nihonbashi,
which is popularly believed to have been the
street in which Adams lived. He himself says that
he was known among the Japanese as <q>An-gin
Sama,</q> or Mr. Pilot. To console himself for the loss
of his wife and children left in England, he married
a Japanese wife, who, with several children, is mentioned
by Captain Cocks in the visit above referred
to. Notwithstanding his frequent endeavors to get
back to England, he was never able to return, but
after much important service both to the Dutch and
English, to which we shall refer below, he died May
6, 1620.<note place='foot'>His place of burial was identified in 1872 by Mr. James Walter
of Yokohama on a beautiful hill near Yokosuka, where both he and
his Japanese wife lie buried. His will, which was deposited in the
archives of the East India Company in London, divided his estate
equally between his Japanese and English families. His Japanese
landed estate was probably inherited by his Japanese son. His
personal estate is stated at about five hundred pounds sterling.&mdash;See
<hi rend='italic'>Letters of William Adams</hi>, p. 39.</note>
</p>

<p>
The first appearance of the Dutch after Adams'
shipwreck, as above described, was in 1609, when
the <hi rend='italic'>Red Lion</hi> and the
yacht <hi rend='italic'>Griffon</hi> arrived at Hirado.
They were well received by the daimyō, and
<pb n='297'/><anchor id='Pg297'/>
a deputation was sent to Yedo to visit the shōgun.
Adams, in his second letter, speaks of their being
<q>received in great friendship, making conditions
with the emperor (shōgun) yearly to send a ship or
two.</q> They were given a letter addressed to the
<q>King of Holland,</q> with which they went back,
arriving home July, 1610. This letter, among other
things, promises, <q>that they (your subjects), in all
places, countries, and islands under mine obedience,
may traffic and build homes serviceable and needful
for their trade and merchandises, where they may
trade without any hindrance at their pleasure, as
well in time to come as for the present, so that no
man shall do them any wrong. And I will maintain
and defend them as mine own subjects.</q><note place='foot'>Hildreth's
<hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, etc., p. 142, quoted from Purchas, vol. i., p.
406.</note>
</p>

<p>
In accordance with this agreement the first vessel
to arrive was a small yacht in July, 1611. A deputation
from this vessel also went to visit the shōgun
and the retired shōgun. It so chanced that a Portuguese
party had preceded them by a few days.
These deputations met at the court of Ieyasu. By
the assistance of Adams, who was ready to do a
favor to his old friends, the Dutch were kindly welcomed
by the ex-shōgun's court, and in spite of the
hostility, or perhaps aided by the hostility, of the
Portuguese, they received from him a patent for
continued trade. As given in Kaempfer in translation
it is as follows:
</p>

<p>
<q rend='pre'>All Dutch ships that come into my empire of
Japan, whatever place or port they may put into,
<pb n='298'/><anchor id='Pg298'/>
we do hereby expressly command all and every one
of our subjects not to molest the same in any way,
nor to be a hindrance to them; but, on the contrary,
to show them all manner of help, favor and assistance.
Every one shall beware to maintain the friendship,
in assurance of which we have been pleased to
give our imperial word to these people; and every
one shall take care that our commands and promises
be inviolably kept.</q>
</p>

<p>
<q>Dated (in Japanese equivalent to) August 30,
1611.</q><note place='foot'>Hildreth's <hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, etc., p.
157.</note>
</p>

<p>
This was the authority on which the Dutch trade
in Japan began, and under which, with many changes
and vicissitudes, it continued to the time when the
country was opened by treaty to foreign nations.
</p>

<p>
The effort made by English merchants to open a
trade with the Japanese was made only a little after
this time. Indeed, it is said that the report brought
back by the Dutch in the <hi rend='italic'>Red Lion</hi> concerning
Adams' presence and influence in Japan, gave the
impulse which started an expedition under Captain
John Saris in January, 1611. Saris was an old
adventurer in the East, and therefore fitted to
encounter the varied experiences of his proposed
trip. He carried a letter from James I., then king
of England, to Ieyasu the retired shōgun. At Bantam
on his way he found that Adams' first letter,<note place='foot'>See
<hi rend='italic'>Letters of William Adams</hi>, No. 1.</note>
contained in the collection of his letters, and dated
October 22, 1611, had just been received by the
<pb n='299'/><anchor id='Pg299'/>
English merchants. It encouraged Saris to push on
in his expedition. He arrived at Hirado, June, 1613,
where the daimyō welcomed him and immediately
sent off a special messenger to the shōgun's court to
summon Adams to their aid. He came at once, and
by his advice Captain Saris with a party set out to
pay his respects to the retired shōgun. He gives an
interesting account<note place='foot'>See Purchas'
<hi rend='italic'>Pilgrimes</hi>, part 1, book iv.</note>
of this journey and visit, which
resulted in a charter of privileges<note place='foot'>These privileges are
given in full by Hildreth, p. 169, taken
from Purchas.</note> for the London
East India Company to trade in any port of the
empire. Having arranged to his great satisfaction
this important matter he returned to Hirado, where
he established a factory to serve as the basis for
future English trade. In this, however, he encountered
no little opposition from the Dutch traders,
who had a factory in the same place. For while
these enterprising nations, who had been allies in the
days of the Armada, could combine very readily in
opposition to the Spanish and Portuguese, it was
not easy for either of them to look on complacently
while the other secured for itself superior advantages
in the matter of trade. Captain Saris tried to come
to some agreement with his rivals, so that the prices
of commodities might be kept up, but he was compelled
to see the Dutch factory, in order to crowd
him out of the field, putting the goods which they
had for sale at prices which were ruinous to both.
Having established matters, however, on as satisfactory
a footing as he could arrange, and having left
<pb n='300'/><anchor id='Pg300'/>
his comrade, Captain Cocks, in charge of the English
factory, he sailed for home.
</p>

<p>
The subsequent events in the history of English
trade with Japan may as well be traced here. The
relations of the English and Dutch in the East grew
steadily more inimical. Perhaps this was due to the
increasing rivalry in trade and navigation which
prevailed between them at home. In 1617 the
London East India Company fitted out an expedition
of five large vessels. This fleet arrived in the
East in the summer of the following year. After
much hostile skirmishing in which the Dutch obtained
the permanent advantage, and the English
commander was about to retire, word was brought
to them from Europe that a peace had been arranged
between the two countries. The English and Dutch
vessels accordingly sailed to Japan, where they took
a hand at trade; because in those days ships always
were sent to the East prepared either to fight or
trade as the case required. But this amicable arrangement
did not last many years. The massacre
at the Spice Islands in 1623, for which Cromwell
afterward exacted an indemnity, ended all attempts
at co-operation in the East. Soon after this the
English company withdrew entirely from the Japanese
trade, having lost in the effort forty thousand
pounds. The Dutch were thus left without a rival,
and we shall see on what conditions and at what
sacrifices they continued to maintain their monopoly.
</p>

<p>
During the period of Ieyasu's retirement, which
lasted from 1605 until his death in 1616, he devoted
<pb n='301'/><anchor id='Pg301'/>
himself, as we have seen, to the consolidation of his
family dynasty and to such literary occupations as
his leisure allowed. He was a patron of the art derived
from Korea, which then was popular in Japan,
of printing with movable types.<note place='foot'>Mr. Satow has
collected many facts concerning the history of
printing in Japan, and among others has shown that printing with
movable type in Korea was used as early as 1317, that is one hundred
and twenty-six years before the date of the first printed book in
Europe.&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>,
vol. x., p. 63.</note> This art fell into
disuse afterwards, but during Ieyasu's retirement in
Sumpu he interested himself in printing with blocks
as well as by the new method. When he died he
was engaged in seeing through the press an edition
of an important Chinese work.
</p>

<p>
He left behind him a document, called the <hi rend='italic'>Legacy
of Ieyasu</hi>, which to those desirous of studying the
character and motives of the founder of the Tokugawa
dynasty possesses a supreme interest. Some
doubt has been thrown by Japanese critics on the
authenticity of this composition. It has been asserted
that it was not the work of Ieyasu and therefore
not worthy of the reverence in which it has been
held. But whether the <hi rend='italic'>Legacy</hi><note place='foot'>A translation
of this document was made by Mr. J. F. Lowder
and published in Yokohama in 1874. We are indebted to W. E.
Grigsby, Esq., formerly professor of law in the University of Tōkyō,
for a valuable paper on the <hi rend='italic'>Legacy of Ieyasu</hi> in which a
careful analysis is given and a comparison of its details is made with the provisions
for the regulation of early communities elsewhere.&mdash;See <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic
Society Transactions</hi>, vol. iii., part 2, p. 131.</note> was originally composed
by him or approved and sanctioned by him,
matters little for our purpose. It dates from the
time of the founding of the Tokugawa shōgunate,
<pb n='302'/><anchor id='Pg302'/>
and has been an unimpeachable authority during all
its history. One of the singular features in the disposition
of the <hi rend='italic'>Legacy</hi>, to which Professor Grigsby
directs attention, was the secrecy in which it was
kept. The original was preserved in Kyōto and
was never seen, while an authenticated copy was
kept at the shōgun's court in Yedo, and once a year
was open to the inspection of all above a certain
rank. To us it seems unaccountable that a body of
so-called laws, by which the conduct of men was to
be guided, should be kept secret from them. But
it must be remembered that in those days there
were no such things as laws in the sense we now
understand the term. There were magistrates who
heard causes and complaints, but their decisions
were based not on laws which had been enacted by
the government, but upon prevailing custom and
upon the innate sense of justice which was assumed
to be present in the mind of every man. Whatever
laws or rules therefore were in existence were not
for the information of the people, but for the guidance
of the magistrates.
</p>

<p>
The <hi rend='italic'>Legacy of Ieyasu</hi> consists of one hundred
chapters, arranged without any attempt at logical
order. Each chapter treats of a single, separate
subject, and is usually of a very moderate length.
As Professor Grigsby has pointed out: <q>Sixteen
chapters consist of moral maxims and reflections;
fifty-five are connected with politics and administrations;
twenty-two refer to legal matters, and in
seven Ieyasu relates episodes of his own personal
history.</q> The moral maxims are quoted chiefly
<pb n='303'/><anchor id='Pg303'/>
from the works of the Chinese sages, Confucius and
Mencius. While the collection on the whole has a
military aspect, and plainly encourages and promotes
the well-being of a military class, yet we see
in it the mild and peaceful nature of Ieyasu. The
fifteenth chapter says: <q>In my youth my sole aim
was to conquer and subjugate inimical provinces and
to take revenge on the enemies of my ancestors.
Yuyō teaches, however, that <q>to assist the people is
to give peace to the empire,</q> and since I have come
to understand that the precept is founded on sound
principle, I have undeviatingly followed it. Let my
posterity hold fast this principle. Any one turning
his back upon it is no descendant of mine. The
people are the foundation of the empire.</q>
</p>

<p>
His estimate of the social relations is given in the
forty-sixth chapter, in which he says: <q>The married
state is the great relation of mankind. One should
not live alone after sixteen years of age, but should
procure a mediator and perform the ceremony of
matrimonial alliance. The same kindred, however,
may not intermarry. A family of good descent
should be chosen to marry into; for when a line of
descendants is prolonged, the foreheads of ancestors
expand. All mankind recognize marriage as the first
law of nature.</q>
</p>

<p>
The old custom of servants and retainers following
their masters to death, and committing suicide
in order to accompany them, is referred to in the
seventy-fifth chapter.<note place='foot'>Ieyasu may have
had in mind a shocking example of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>junshi</foreign>
(dying with the master) which occurred in his own family. Tadayoshi,
his fifth son, to whom had been assigned an estate in Owari, died
young, and five of his retainers, in order to follow their master, committed
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign> in accordance with the old feudal
custom. This is believed to have been almost the last instance of the kind, and must
have touched Ieyasu very closely.&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>Mikado's Empire</hi>, by W. E.
Griffis, D.D., p. 272.</note> It is not improbable that
<pb n='304'/><anchor id='Pg304'/>
some exhibition of this custom occasionally was
seen in the days of Ieyasu, for he very sternly condemns
it thus: <q>Although it is undoubtedly an ancient
custom for a vassal to follow his lord to death,
there is not the slightest reason in the practice....
These practices are strictly forbidden, more especially
to primary retainers, and also to secondary
retainers even to the lowest. He is the opposite of
a faithful servant who disregards this prohibition;
his posterity shall be impoverished by the confiscation
of his property, as a warning to those who disobey
the laws.</q><note place='foot'>Notwithstanding this
positive prohibition left by Ieyasu, occasionally
the strength of the old feudal habit was too great for the more
merciful spirit. It is said when the third shōgun of the Tokugawa
family (Iemitsu) died, two of the daimyōs, Hotta of Sakura and
Abe of Bingo, committed <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign>.
Hotta's sword, still stained with blood, is retained in the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kura</foreign> of the daimiate at
<hi rend='italic'>Tōkyō</hi>, and on
the anniversary of the event is shown to the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>, who appear on
the occasion in full dress.</note>
</p>

<p>
It is not necessary to follow in detail the line of
Tokugawa shōguns. Few of them impressed themselves
in any marked manner on the history of their
country. Iemitsu, the third shōgun, who was a
grandson of Ieyasu, was a man of great ability, and
left many marks of his talents upon the empire.
Under his administration the capital made great
advances. He bound the daimyōs to his house by
<pb n='305'/><anchor id='Pg305'/>
requiring them to maintain residences in Yedo under
the surveillance of the government. His mausoleum
is placed with that of his grandfather amid the
august glories of Nikkō. Tsunayoshi (1681-1709)
during his incumbency was more than usually interested
in the peaceful prosperity of his country, and
is gratefully remembered for his patronage of education
and letters. But on the whole they were content
to fill the office of shōgun in a perfunctory
manner, and to leave to subordinates the duty of
governing.
</p>

<p>
Japan reached the acme of her ancient greatness
during the Tokugawa dynasty. The arts which
have given her such a deservedly high rank attained
their greatest perfection. Keramics and lacquer,
which are her most exquisite arts, achieved a degree
of excellence to which we can now only look back
with hopeless admiration. Metal-work, as shown in
the manufacture of bronze and in the forging and
mounting of swords, was scarcely less notable. The
still higher art of painting, which came to Japan
from China, rose during the Tokugawa period to the
rank which it still holds in the estimation of the
artistic world.
</p>

<p>
The best evidence, however, of the civilization of
a people is found in their social condition. To learn
the true culture of a nation it is necessary to study
their education and literature, their laws and system
of government, and their morals and religion. In
some of these particulars it is still difficult to obtain
an adequate knowledge of Japan. But gradually
they are being revealed to us. The laws and legal
<pb n='306'/><anchor id='Pg306'/>
precedents<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>,
vol. xx., Supplement, in which
Prof. J. H. Wigmore has undertaken to publish the material discovered
by him, with a valuable introduction on the <q>Administrative
and Commercial Institutions of Old Japan.</q></note> which prevailed during the Tokugawa
period have been unearthed from the archives of the
Department of Justice and are being published in
the <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Asiatic Society</hi>.
</p>

<p>
The medical and scientific advancement of Japan
in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was not
co-ordinate with her progress in the arts. They
were hampered with the old Chinese notions about
a male principle and a female principle which were
conceived to prevail in nature, and with the five
elements to which the human organs were supposed
to correspond. Fortunately nature has ways of
healing diseases in spite of theories and drugs. To
this benign principle must be assigned the fact that
the human race has survived the surgery and medicaments
of mediæval Europe as well as mediæval
China and Japan. In one particular the medical
art of Japan seems to have been differently, perhaps
better, conducted than in Europe. It is narrated by
the Japanese annalists,<note place='foot'>See Whitney's
<q>Notes on Medical Progress in Japan,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic
Society Transactions</hi>, vol. xii., part 4, p. 276.</note> that if a physican made a
mistake in his prescription or in his directions for
taking the medicine he was punished by three years'
imprisonment and a heavy fine; and if there should
be any impurity in the medicine prescribed or any
mistake in the preparation, sixty lashes were inflicted
besides a heavy fine.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/oban.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Oban. Gold Coin, 1727.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
Three peculiar modes of medical practice deserve
<pb n='308'/><anchor id='Pg308'/>
notice. The first was acupuncture, which consisted
in inserting a thin needle through the skin into the
muscles beneath. A second was the cauterization
by <hi rend='italic'>moxa</hi><note place='foot'>See a description
of this process in Kaempfer's <hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>,
and also in Whitney's <q>Medical Progress,</q>
<hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Society Transactions</hi>,
vol. xii., part 4, p. 289.</note>
(Japanese <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>mogusa</foreign>). This was effected by
placing over the spot a small conical wad of the
fibrous blossoms of mugwort (<foreign rend='italic'>Artemisia vulgaris
latifolia</foreign>). The cone was kindled at the top and
slowly burned till it was consumed. A painful
blister was produced on the spot, which was believed
to have a wholesome effect in the case of
many complaints. A third mode of treatment is the
practice of <hi rend='italic'>massage</hi>
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>amma</foreign>), which western nations
have borrowed, and which in Japan it has long been
the exclusive privilege of the blind to apply.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/cauterizing.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Cauterizing With Moxa.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
Many of the improved notions of western medicine
were introduced by the Dutch, and this accounts for
the unprecedentedly rapid advance which this science
has made since the opening of the country.
</p>

</div>

<pb n='309'/><anchor id='Pg309'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf'/>
<head>Chapter XIII. Commodore Perry And What Followed.</head>

<p>
The most potent cause which led to the breaking
down of the Tokugawa Shōgunate, was the attitude
which the empire had assumed toward foreign
nations. There were other causes which co-operated
with this, but none which were capable of such far-reaching
and revolutionary effects. We have seen
that this attitude was due to the fears entertained
concerning the designs of the Portuguese and the
Spanish. These fears may have been unfounded,
but they were none the less real and operative.
Such fears may have been stimulated by the Dutch,
who had no reason to deal tenderly with the fanatical
enemies of the independence and religion of their
country. The spirit of trade with large profits was
at the bottom of the great enterprises which were
sent out from Europe to the East and West Indies
during the seventeenth century.
</p>

<p>
The rivalry between the Dutch and Portuguese resulted
in the banishment of the latter, and the establishment
of the Dutch at Nagasaki in 1640. They
occupied the little artificial island of Deshima, about
three acres in extent, where were erected their houses,
<pb n='310'/><anchor id='Pg310'/>
their offices and stores, and where for more than two
hundred years their trade was conducted. And this,
together with a like limited arrangement with the
Chinese, was the sole foreign intercourse allowed
with Japan.
</p>

<p>
It is plain now that this seclusion was a great mistake.
It would have been of inestimable value to
this enterprising and progressive people, to have
kept in the race for improvement with the other
nations of the world. They would not at this late
day be compelled, under a dreadful strain of resources,
to provide themselves with the modern
appliances of civilization. Long since they would
have tried the experiments with which they are now
engaged, and would have found a way through the
intricacies of politics to a free and stable government.
To Ieyasu and his successors the way of safety
seemed to be, to shut themselves up and sternly
deny admittance to the outside world, while they
continued to work out their destiny in their own
way.
</p>

<p>
With whatever shortcomings the Dutch are to be
charged in their intercourse with Japan, the world
owes a great debt of gratitude to them for what they
accomplished. Whatever was known concerning
Japanese history and civilization down to the times
of Commodore Perry, came chiefly from the Dutch.
And not less than the debt of the rest of the world
is that of Japan herself. Although the influence of
the government was always exerted against the
admission of foreign ideas, not a few of the seeds of
western civilization were by them planted in a fertile
<pb n='311'/><anchor id='Pg311'/>
soil and bore abundant fruit. To Kaempfer
and Baron von Siebold particularly we must always
look for our knowledge of the Japan of the days of
its seclusion. Many efforts were made at successive
times to open intercourse by the representatives of
different nations. The Russians were the most persistent,
and their attempts did not cease until the
imprisonment of Captain Galowin in 1811. In comparatively
recent times numerous essays were made
resulting in disappointment. The American brig
<hi rend='italic'>Morrison</hi> in 1837, the British
surveying ship <hi rend='italic'>Saramang</hi>
in 1845, Captain Cooper in 1845, Commodore Biddle
in 1848, Admiral Cecille in 1848, Commander Glynn
in 1849, and Commander Matheson in the same year,
all made efforts to communicate with the government,
but were rebuffed. It is plain that affairs were
rapidly verging towards a point when the isolation of
Japan must be given up.
</p>

<p>
Several causes contributed to the creation of a
special interest in the United States of America,
concerning the opening of negotiations with Japan.
One of these was the magnitude to which the whale
fishery had attained, and the large financial investments<note place='foot'>See
Griffis' <hi rend='italic'>Life of Matthew Calbraith Perry</hi>, p. 296.</note>
held in this industry by American citizens.
A second cause was the opening of China to foreign
trade as a result of the opium war. But the most
active cause was the discovery of gold in California
in 1848, and the consequent development of that
state as a centre of trade. It was an early scheme
to run a line of steamers from San Francisco to the
newly opened ports of China. To Hongkong the
<pb n='312'/><anchor id='Pg312'/>
distance is about 6,149 nautical miles, and if a steamer
is to traverse the whole distance without a break,
she must carry an enormous load of coal. The only
remedy lay in establishing a coaling station on the
Japanese islands, and this could only be effected
when Japan abandoned her policy of seclusion and
entered with a free heart into the comity of nations.
</p>

<p>
The interest of the government and people of the
United States at last eventuated in the expedition
under Commodore Matthew C. Perry. He had for
a long time been convinced of the importance and
feasibility of such an undertaking, and when he was
summoned to take charge of it he made the most
thorough preparation for his task.
</p>

<p>
At his suggestion the government procured all
available books, maps, and charts, and he made himself
master of every conceivable detail. From manufacturing
establishments he secured models of railways,
telegraphic lines, and other interesting industrial
equipments. He realized the necessity of taking
with him such a naval force that its appearance in
Japanese waters would produce a profound impression
upon the government. And knowing that all
his predecessors, who had sought access by way of
Nagasaki, had been repelled, he resolved to avoid
it and its Portuguese and Dutch traditions and venture
boldly into the bay of Yedo.
</p>

<p>
As soon as it was known that a diplomatic expedition
was to be despatched to Japan under the command
of Commodore Perry he was deluged with
applications, both from England and America, to be
permitted to join it.
</p>

<pb n='313'/><anchor id='Pg313'/>

<p>
But Perry resolutely declined all these enterprising
offers. In his long career as a naval officer he had
seen the danger of admitting on board men-of-war
persons who were not under the authority of the
commander. From such dangers he meant to be
free. He therefore refused to take on board the
ships of his squadron any but regularly accredited
officers and men over whom he exercised legitimate
control. He even made it a rule that if any of the
officers kept diaries during the progress of the expedition,
they should be the property of the Navy
Department and could not be published without its
permission and authority.
</p>

<p>
Commodore Perry carried with him a friendly
letter from the President of the United States to the
Emperor of Japan,<note place='foot'>The term emperor
was employed in this letter in accordance
with the usage of the Jesuit Fathers, the Dutch writers, and William
Adams, all of whom designated the shōgun as emperor, although this
term could be properly applied only to the Tennō at Kyōto.</note>
who is therein addressed as
<q>Great and Good Friend.</q> The letter pointed out
the contiguity of the two countries and the importance
of their friendship and commercial intercourse;
it announced that Commodore Perry had been sent
to give assurance of the friendly sentiment of the
President, and to arrange for privileges of trade, for
the care of shipwrecked sailors, and for the appointment
of a convenient port where coal and other
supplies might be obtained by the vessels of the
United States.
</p>

<p>
After some provoking delays and disappointments
the expedition sailed from Norfolk on the 24th of
<pb n='314'/><anchor id='Pg314'/>
November, 1852,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Official Narrative of the Japan
Expedition</hi>, vol. i., p. 80.</note> proceeding by the way of the
cape of Good Hope to the China sea. There taking
on board Dr. S. Wells Williams as interpreter, and
visiting several ports in China, the Bonin islands,
and the Ryūkyū islands, they sailed to Japan. The
squadron, led by the <hi rend='italic'>Susquehanna</hi> and followed by
the <hi rend='italic'>Mississippi</hi>, the
<hi rend='italic'>Plymouth</hi>, and the <hi rend='italic'>Saratoga</hi>,
entered Yedo bay, July 8, 1853.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Official
Narrative of the Japan Expedition</hi>, vol. i., p. 231.</note>
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/perry.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Commodore M. C. Perry.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
The Japanese government had been warned of the
preparation and coming of this expedition by the
Dutch. Eager to maintain their position with the
government the King of the Netherlands addressed
to the Shōgun a letter in 1844 suggesting the relaxation
of the laws excluding foreign nations from
trade. But in the following year he received an
answer declining to make any changes.
</p>

<p>
With all the warning, however, which the government
had received and the preparations which had
been made for the momentous occasion, the appearance
of the squadron at the entrance of Yedo bay
was an intense surprise. Two large steam frigates&mdash;the
<hi rend='italic'>Susquehanna</hi> and the
<hi rend='italic'>Mississippi</hi>&mdash;and two
sloops-of-war&mdash;the <hi rend='italic'>Plymouth</hi>
and the <hi rend='italic'>Saratoga</hi>,&mdash;although
much inferior to the squadron promised,
composed such an array as had never before made
its appearance in Yedo bay. As they plowed through
the peaceful waters, in full view of the white-capped
peak of Fuji-yama, every height and vantage ground
along the shore seemed alive with troops and with
<pb n='316'/><anchor id='Pg316'/>
wondering and alarmed inhabitants. The vessels
came to anchor off the village of Uraga, which is not
far from the present site of the dockyards at Yokosuka.
</p>

<p>
The account<note place='foot'>See the
<hi rend='italic'>Official Narrative of the Japan Expedition</hi>, vol i., p. 233
<hi rend='italic'>et seq</hi>; also Griffis'
<hi rend='italic'>Life of M. C. Perry</hi>, p. 314
<hi rend='italic'>et seq</hi>; also Bayard
Taylor's <hi rend='italic'>India, China, and Japan</hi>, 1855, p. 411
<hi rend='italic'>et seq</hi>.</note> of the preliminary negotiations conducted
by Commodore Perry with the officers of the
government is interesting, as showing the efforts made
by them to send him to Nagasaki, and his absolute refusal
to go thither or conduct his business through
the Dutch or Chinese. When there seemed no other
way, consent was given to receive, through an officer
of adequate rank, the letter from the President of the
United States to the Emperor of Japan. When he
had formally delivered this letter, he took his departure
with an intimation that he would return at
a future day and receive the answer.<note place='foot'>I have
received from Mr. F. S. Conover, who was a member of
the Japan expedition as lieutenant of the navy, many interesting
details of experiences in Yedo which I have incorporated in my
account.</note>
</p>

<p>
There can be no doubt that the display of force
which Commodore Perry took care to make in all
his transactions with the Japanese officials at the
same time that he was careful to convey assurances
of his friendly purposes and objects, produced a
deep impression on the government with which he
had to deal. It is useless to deny that it was on
this display of force that Commodore Perry largely
relied for the success of his expedition. That he
was prepared to use force had it been necessary we
<pb n='317'/><anchor id='Pg317'/>
may feel sure.<note place='foot'><q>The question of
landing by force was left to be decided by the
development of succeeding events; it was of course the very last
measure to be resorted to, and the last that was to be desired; but
in order to be prepared for the worst, the Commodore caused the
ships constantly to be kept in perfect readiness, and the crews to be
drilled as thoroughly as they are in the time of active
war.</q>&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>Japan Expedition</hi>, vol. i.,
p. 235.</note> But the instructions of his government
and his own sense of international justice
bound him to exhaust every peaceful resource before
resorting to measures of coercion.
</p>

<p>
The government of the shōgun was greatly troubled
by this responsibility so suddenly laid upon it. They
knew not what would be the result of their refusal
to enter upon negotiations when Perry returned.
The seclusion in which they had kept themselves so
long had cut them off from a knowledge of the relations
in which the nations of the world stood to each
other. Notwithstanding Commodore Perry's protestations
of friendliness, they were afraid of his great
ships and their powerful armaments. Should they,
as they might easily do, make their way up the bay
till they were within gunshot of the capital, what
resistance could the government show, or how could
it prevent them from battering down the castle and
all the daimyōs' residences.
</p>

<p>
The sentiment of loyalty to the emperor and opposition
to the shōgun, which had been growing up
so insidiously and had now become really formidable,
was a source of the greatest perplexity to the Yedo
government. Should they proceed with their negotiations
and make a treaty with the Americans, this
anti-shōgun sentiment was ready to manifest itself
<pb n='318'/><anchor id='Pg318'/>
against them with terrible effect. If they refused to
negotiate, then they must be ready to meet the invaders
of their soil with their miserable obsolete
armor and with hearts that two hundred years of
peace had rendered more obsolete than their armor.
</p>

<p>
The first thing to be done was to consult the daimyōs
and learn to what extent they could rely on
their co-operation. The daimyō of Mito,<note place='foot'>See the
<hi rend='italic'>Kinsé Shiriaku</hi>, a history of Japan from 1853 to 1869,
translated by E. M. Satow, Yokohama, 1876.</note> a descendant
of the famous Mitsukuni, seemed to have inherited
one at least of the opinions of his ancestor.
He advocated the observance of a greater reverence
for the emperor at Kyōto, and criticised the assumption
of imperial powers by the shōgun. At the
same time he was an ardent foreign-hater, and in
1841 had been placed in confinement because he had
melted down the bells of the Buddhist temples of
his domains, and cast cannon for their protection.
But now he was pardoned and appointed to take
measures for the defence of the country. On the
15th of July&mdash;the American squadron was still in
the bay, for it left on the 17th&mdash;the daimyō of Mito
sent in to the government a memorial<note place='foot'>See Nitobe's
<hi rend='italic'>Intercourse between the United States and Japan</hi>,
p. 39.</note> setting forth
his decisive views on the subject. He gave ten
reasons against a treaty and in favor of war. We
give them here in Mr. Nitobe's translation:
</p>

<p>
<q rend='pre'>1. The annals of our history speak of the exploits
of the great, who planted our banners on alien
soil; but never was the clash of foreign arms heard
<pb n='319'/><anchor id='Pg319'/>
within the precincts of our holy ground. Let not
our generation be the first to see the disgrace of a
barbarian army treading on the land where our
fathers rest.</q>
</p>

<p>
<q rend='pre'>2. Notwithstanding the strict interdiction of
Christianity, there are those guilty of the heinous
crime of professing the doctrines of this evil sect.
If now America be once admitted into our favor,
the rise of this faith is a matter of certainty.</q>
</p>

<p>
<q rend='pre'>3. What! Trade our gold, silver, copper, iron,
and sundry useful materials for wool, glass, and
similar trashy little articles! Even the limited barter
of the Dutch factory ought to have been stopped.</q>
</p>

<p>
<q rend='pre'>4. Many a time recently have Russia and other
countries solicited trade with us; but they were refused.
If once America is permitted the privilege,
what excuse is there for not extending the same to
other nations?</q>
</p>

<p>
<q rend='pre'>5. The policy of the barbarians is first to enter
a country for trade, then to introduce their religion,
and afterward to stir up strife and contention. Be
guided by the experience of our forefathers two centuries
back; despise not the teachings of the Chinese
Opium War.</q>
</p>

<p>
<q rend='pre'>6. The Dutch scholars say that our people should
cross the ocean, go to other countries and engage
in active trade. This is all very desirable, provided
they be as brave and strong as were their ancestors
in olden time; but at present the long-continued
peace has incapacitated them for any such activity.</q>
</p>

<p>
<q rend='pre'>7. The necessity of caution against the ships
now lying in the harbor (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, Perry's squadron) has
<pb n='320'/><anchor id='Pg320'/>
brought the valiant <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>
to the capital from distant
quarters. Is it wise to disappoint them?</q>
</p>

<p>
<q rend='pre'>8. Not only the naval defence of Nagasaki but
all things relating to foreign affairs have been entrusted
to the two clans of Kuroda and Nabeshima.
To hold any conference with a foreign power outside
of the port of Nagasaki&mdash;as has been done this
time at Uraga&mdash;is to encroach upon their rights and
trust. These powerful families will not thankfully
accept an intrusion into their vested authority.</q>
</p>

<p>
<q rend='pre'>9. The haughty demeanor of the barbarians now
at anchorage has provoked even the illiterate populace.
Should nothing be done to show that the
government shares the indignation of the people,
they will lose all fear and respect for it.</q>
</p>

<p>
<q>10. Peace and prosperity of long duration have
enervated the spirit, rusted the armor, and blunted
the swords of our men. Dulled to ease, when shall
they be aroused? Is not the present the most auspicious
moment to quicken their sinews of war?</q>
</p>

<p>
The government sent to all the daimyōs copies of
the American letter to the shōgun, and asked for
their opinions concerning the course to be pursued.
Many answers were immediately received. They
almost unanimously declared against the opening
of the country. Some advocated the alternative
suggested in the letter itself, to open the
country temporarily and try the experiment for
three years, or five years, or ten years. In the
meantime the defences of the country and new
and improved arms and armaments could be perfected.
The government did indeed busy itself
<pb n='321'/><anchor id='Pg321'/>
during Perry's absence in hurrying forward defensive
preparations. The line of forts which still are visible
in the shallow water of the bay opposite Shinagawa,
the southern suburb of the capital, were hastily constructed.
Bells from monasteries and metal articles
of luxury were melted down and cast into cannon.
Lessons were given and became quickly fashionable
in the use of European small-arms and artillery.
The military class from the various clans flocked to
Yedo and Kyōto in large numbers, expecting to be
called upon to defend their country against the
impudent intrusion of the barbarians.
</p>

<p>
During this busy time of perplexity and preparation
the Shōgun Ieyoshi,&mdash;the twelfth of the
Tokugawa dynasty&mdash;died August 25, 1853. His son
Iesada succeeded him as the thirteenth shōgun.
The death of the reigning shōgun did not produce
any marked effect upon the policy of the government.
Long before this time the custom of abdication,
and the habits of luxury and effeminacy in
which the family of the shōgun was reared, had
dragged the house down to the usual impotent level.
The government was conducted by a system of
bureaucracy which relieved the titular shōguns from
all responsibility and allowed them to live in profitless
voluptuousness. So that one died and another
reigned in his stead without causing more than a
ripple upon the surface of current events.
</p>

<p>
Shortly after the departure of the American
squadron from Yedo bay, the Russian Admiral Pontiatine
appeared in the harbor of Nagasaki, and
made application for a national agreement to open
<pb n='322'/><anchor id='Pg322'/>
ports for trade, to adjust the boundary line between
the two nations across the island of Saghalien, and
to live in neighborly intimacy. English vessels
were also in Chinese waters watching the Russians,
and the war, usually called the Crimean war, actually
broke out in the spring of 1854. A visit from these
vessels might therefore be expected at any time.
</p>

<p>
Commodore Perry during the interval between
his two visits to Japan sailed to the ports of China
where the Taiping rebellion was then in action. The
confusion and insecurity occasioned by this uprising
rendered the presence of the squadron most acceptable
to the American merchants.
</p>

<p>
On the 13th of February, 1854, he made his appearance
a second time in Yedo bay with a fleet of
seven ships, viz., three steam frigates and four sloops-of-war.
Three additional vessels were to join, and
did join, the fleet in Yedo bay. So that when the
fleet was all mustered there were ten fully armed
vessels, comprising such an array as had never before
appeared in Japanese waters.
</p>

<p>
After some haggling about the place where the
negotiations should be conducted, it was finally settled
that the place of meeting should be at Kanagawa,
near the village (now the city) of Yokohama.
Here after much deliberation and discussion, proposals
and amendments, banquets and presents, a
treaty was agreed upon. The signing and exchange
took place on the 31st of March, 1854. It was immediately
sent to Washington for ratification.
</p>

<p>
As this was the first formal treaty<note place='foot'>See
<hi rend='italic'>Treaties and Conventions between Japan and Other Powers</hi>,
p. 735.</note> made with
<pb n='323'/><anchor id='Pg323'/>
any western country we give a synopsis of its provisions.
</p>

<p>
Art. I. Peace and amity to exist between the
two countries.
</p>

<p>
Art. II. The port of Shimoda to be opened immediately
and the port of Hakodate to be opened
in one year, and American ships to be supplied with
necessary provisions in them.
</p>

<p>
Art. III. Shipwrecked persons of either nation to
be cared for, and expenses to be refunded.
</p>

<p>
Art. IV. Shipwrecked and other persons not to
be imprisoned but to be amenable to just laws.
</p>

<p>
Art. V. Americans at Shimoda and Hakodate
not to be subject to confinement; free to go about
within defined limits.
</p>

<p>
Art. VI. Further deliberation to be held between
the parties to settle concerning trade and
matters requiring to be arranged.
</p>

<p>
Art. VII. Trade in open ports to be subject to
such regulations as the Japanese government shall
establish.
</p>

<p>
Art. VIII. Wood, water, provisions, coal, etc.,
to be procured only through appointed Japanese
officers.
</p>

<p>
Art. IX. If at any future day privileges in addition
to those here enumerated are granted to any
other nation, the same to be allowed to Americans.
</p>

<p>
Art. X. Ships of the United States not to resort
to other ports than Shimoda and Hakodate except
in stress of weather.
</p>

<p>
Art. XI. Consuls or agents of the United States
to reside at Shimoda.
</p>

<pb n='324'/><anchor id='Pg324'/>

<p>
Art. XII. The ratification of this treaty to be
exchanged within eighteen months.
</p>

<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/>

<p>
As might have been expected, as soon as this
treaty with the United States had been signed there
was a rush of other nations to obtain similar terms.
Admiral Sir John Sterling, acting in behalf of the
government of Great Britain, negotiated a treaty
which was signed at Nagasaki on the 15th of October,
1854. Admiral Pontiatine negotiated a similar
treaty for Russia, which was signed at Shimoda on
the 7th of February, 1855. A treaty with the
Netherlands was signed on the 30th of January,
1856.
</p>

<p>
None of these were in any general sense commercial
treaties, providing for trade and making regulations
by which it might be conducted. They were
rather preliminary conventions, making arrangements
for vessels to obtain necessary provisions, and stipulating
for the protection of those suffering shipwreck,
and for vessels driven under stress of weather to take
shelter in the harbors of Japan. They each provided
for admission to two ports: The American treaty to
Shimoda and Hakodate; the English treaty to
Nagasaki and Hakodate; the Russian treaty to
Shimoda and Hakodate.
</p>

<p>
All these treaties contained what is called <q>the
most favored nation clause,</q> so that where the
privileges granted to any one nation were in excess
of those granted previously to others, these privileges
were also without further negotiation extended to
the nations that had already made treaties.
</p>

<pb n='325'/><anchor id='Pg325'/>

<p>
These dealings with foreign nations produced the
most intense excitement throughout the empire.
The old sentiment of hostility to foreign intercourse
showed itself in unmistakable intensity. The song of
the Black Ship, by which term the vessels of foreign
nations were designated, was heard everywhere. Two
distinct parties came into existence called the <hi rend='italic'>Jo-i</hi>
party, who wished to expel the barbarians; and the
<hi rend='italic'>Kai-koku</hi> party, who were in favor of opening the
country.<note place='foot'>See the <hi rend='italic'>Constitutional
Development of Japan</hi>, by Toyokichi
Iyenaga, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins Press, 1891, p. 12.</note>
The members of the latter party were
principally connected with the shōgun's government,
and had become impressed with the folly of trying
to resist the pressure of the outside world. The <hi rend='italic'>Jo-i</hi>
party was made up of the conservative elements in
the country, who clung to the old traditions of
Japan that had matured during the two centuries of
the Tokugawa rule. Besides these conservatives
there was also a party who nourished a traditional
dislike to the Tokugawa family, and was glad to see
it involved in difficulties which were sure to bring
down upon it the vengeance of the nation. These
were chiefly found among the southwestern daimiates
such as Satsuma, Chōshū, Hizen, and Tosa. The
daimyō of Mito<note place='foot'>See p. <ref target='Pg279'>279</ref>.</note>
although connected with the
shōgun's family was bitterly hostile to the policy of
holding any friendly relations with foreigners. He
was therefore regarded as the head of the <hi rend='italic'>Jo-i</hi> party,
and many of the disaffected <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>
rallied about him as their champion and leader.
</p>

<pb n='326'/><anchor id='Pg326'/>

<p>
It was charged against the shōgun that in making
treaties with foreign nations he had transcended the
powers<note place='foot'>See selections from a pamphlet by a German resident at Yokohama
given in Mossman's <hi rend='italic'>New Japan</hi>, pp. 142, 143, and quoted in
Nitobe's <hi rend='italic'>Intercourse between the United States and Japan</hi>. <q>The
reason the Tycoon breaks his promise is because he cannot keep it,
and the reason he cannot keep it, is because he had no right to
give it.</q></note> that rightly belonged to him. He was not
the sovereign of Japan and never had been. He
was only the chief executive under the emperor,
and was not even next in rank to the emperor. It
was impossible, therefore, that treaties made by
the shōgun and not ratified by his sovereign
should be regarded by the Japanese as legitimate
and binding.
</p>

<p>
The question of the legality of the treaties which
the shōgun had made was an important one, and interested
not only the Japanese themselves but the
foreigners whose privileges under these treaties were
at stake. There is no doubt that Commodore Perry
as well as all the subsequent negotiators, believed
that in making treaties with the shōgun they were
dealing with a competent authority. The precedents
occurring in the history of Japan seemed all to bear
in this direction. The Portuguese and the Spanish
had dealt with the shōgun and never with the emperor.
The Dutch had received from Ieyasu the
privileges of trade and had ever since continued
under the shōgun's protection. Captain Saris in his
negotiations in 1614 received written assurances of
protection and privileges of trade from the shōgun.
</p>

<pb n='327'/><anchor id='Pg327'/>

<p>
It was because the shōgun's power had become
weakened, and there had grown up an active sentiment
against him, that the question in reference to
his legitimate authority arose. <q>Had the treaty</q>
(with Perry) <q>been concluded when the power of
Yedo was at its former height, it is probable that no
questions would have been asked.</q><note place='foot'>See Nitobe's
<hi rend='italic'>Intercourse between the United States and Japan</hi>,
p. 59.</note>
</p>

<p>
According to the terms of the treaty made with
the United States it was provided that a consul
should be appointed <q>to reside at Shimoda at any
time after the expiration of eighteen months from
the signing the treaty.</q> In execution of this provision
the United States government sent out
Townsend Harris, who arrived in August, 1856.
After some hesitation he was allowed to take up his
residence at Shimoda. He was a man of great
patience and tact, and gradually urged his way into
the confidence of the government. He became the
counsellor and educator of the officials in everything
pertaining to foreign affairs. He was received
December 7, 1857, by the shōgun with the ceremony
due to his new rank of plenipotentiary which he
had then received.<note place='foot'>Prince Hotta was
at this time president of the Council of State
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>Gorōjiu</foreign>) and had charge of this first
audience. I have seen in the possession of his descendant, the present occupant of the
beautiful family <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>yashiki</foreign> in Tōkyō, the
original of the memorandum showing
the arrangement of the rooms through which Mr. Harris was to pass,
and the position where he was to stand during the delivery of his
congratulatory remarks.</note> In a despatch, dated July 8,
1858, he tells of a severe illness which he had suffered;
<pb n='328'/><anchor id='Pg328'/>
how the shōgun sent two physicians to attend
him, and when a bulletin was sent to Yedo that his
case was hopeless, the physicians <q>received peremptory
orders to cure me, and if I died they would
themselves be in peril.</q>
</p>

<p>
The principal effort of Mr. Harris was the negotiation
of a commercial treaty which should make provision
for the maintenance of trade in specified ports
of Japan. The treaties already made by Japan with
foreign nations only provided for furnishing vessels
with needed supplies, and for the protection of vessels
driven by stress of weather and of persons shipwrecked
on the Japanese islands. It remained to
agree upon terms, which should be mutually advantageous,
for the regular opening of the ports for
trade and for the residence at these ports of the
merchants engaged in trade.
</p>

<p>
The excitement occasioned by the steps already
taken rendered the shōgun's government exceedingly
reluctant to proceed further in this direction. It
was only after much persuasion, and with a desire
to avoid appearing to yield to the appearance of
force<note place='foot'>In a despatch to the Secretary of State, dated November 25,
1856, Mr. Harris explains the condition of the negotiations in reference
to a commercial treaty. He narrates his interview at Hongkong
with Sir John Bowring, who told him that he was empowered to
negotiate a commercial treaty. Mr. Harris shrewdly observes: <q>I
shall call their (the Japanese government's) attention to the fact that
by making a treaty with me they would save the point of honor that
must arise from their apparently yielding to the force that backs the
plenipotentiary and not to the justice of their demands.</q></note>
with which the English were about to urge
the negotiation of a commercial treaty, that at last,
<pb n='329'/><anchor id='Pg329'/>
on the 17th of June, 1857, a treaty <q>for the purpose
of further regulating the intercourse of American
citizens within the empire of Japan</q> was duly concluded.
The port of Nagasaki was to be opened in
addition to those already stipulated. American citizens
were to be permitted to reside at Shimoda and
Hakodate for the purpose of supplying the wants
of the vessels which visited there.
</p>

<p>
This does not seem to have been adequate, for
only about a year later a further treaty, revoking
that of June, 1857, was arranged. It was signed at
Yedo on the 29th of July, 1858. Equivalent treaties
were negotiated by other nations, and it is under the
terms of these that the intercourse between Japan
and the nations of Europe and America is still conducted.
They provided for the opening of the ports
of Ni-igata and Hyōgo, and for the closing of
Shimoda, which had been found unsuitable, and the
opening in its place of Kanagawa.<note place='foot'>Although
Kanagawa was made an open port for trade by these
treaties, the adjoining village of Yokohama was found practically
better suited for the purpose. The very proximity of Kanagawa to the
<hi rend='italic'>Tōkaidō</hi>, which led foreigners to prefer
it when the treaties were made,
proved to be an objection in the disordered times that followed. On
this account Yokohama rapidly rose to the importance which it still
holds.</note> They fixed dates
for the opening of the cities of Yedo and Ōsaka, and
provided for the setting apart of suitable concessions
in each of them for residence and trade. They provided
that all cases of litigation in which foreigners
were defendants should be tried in the consular court
of the nation to which the defendant belonged, and all
cases in which Japanese citizens were defendants
<pb n='330'/><anchor id='Pg330'/>
should be tried in Japanese courts. They fixed the
limits within which foreigners at any of the treaty
ports could travel, but permitted the diplomatic
agent of any nation to travel without limitation.
They prohibited the importation of opium. Commercial
regulations were attached to the treaties and
made a part of them, which directed that a duty of
five <hi rend='italic'>per centum</hi> should be paid on all goods imported
into Japan for sale, except that on intoxicating
liquors a duty of thirty-five <hi rend='italic'>per centum</hi> should be
exacted. All articles of Japanese production exported
were to pay a duty of five <hi rend='italic'>per centum</hi>, except
gold and silver coin and copper in bars. These trade
regulations stipulated that five years after the opening
of Kanagawa the export and import duties should
be subject to revision at the desire of either party.
The treaties themselves provide that on and after
1872 either of the contracting parties may demand a
revision of the same upon giving one year's notice
of its desire.
</p>

<p>
These stipulations in reference to a revision of the
treaties, and especially of the tariff of duties to be
paid on imported goods, have been a source of great
anxiety and concern to the Japanese government.
The small duty of five <hi rend='italic'>per centum</hi>, which it has been
permitted to collect on the goods imported, is scarcely
more than enough to maintain the machinery of
collection. And while the initiative is given to it to
ask for a revision of the treaties, it has never yet
been able to obtain the consent of the principal
nations concerned to any change in the original hard
terms.
</p>

<pb n='331'/><anchor id='Pg331'/>

<p>
Another provision in the treaties which has been
the occasion of endless debate is that which requires
all foreigners to remain under the jurisdiction of the
consuls of their respective countries. It is claimed
on the part of the Japanese that this provision,
which was reasonable when the treaties were first
made, is no longer just or necessary. The laws have
been so far perfected, their judges and officers have
been so educated, and the machinery of their courts
have been so far conformed to European practice
that it is no longer reasonable that foreigners residing
in Japan should be under other than Japanese jurisdiction.
It is earnestly to be hoped that these
sources of irritation between Japan and the treaty
powers may speedily be removed, and that the
efforts of this progressive race to fall into line in
the march of civilization may be appreciated and
encouraged.
</p>

<p>
Any one who reads the diplomatic correspondence
covering this period will see how serious were the
troubles with which the country was called upon to
deal. He will realize also how almost impossible it
was for the diplomatic representatives of the western
powers to comprehend the difficulties of the situation
or know how to conduct the affairs of their legations
with justice and consideration.
</p>

<p>
A succession of murders and outrages occurred,
which awakened the fears of the foreign residents.
It is plain enough now that this state of things was
not so much due to the want of effort on the part of
the government to carry out its agreements with
foreign nations, as to the bitter and irreconcilable
<pb n='332'/><anchor id='Pg332'/>
party hatred which had sprung up in consequence of
these efforts. The feudal organization of the government,
by which the first allegiance was due to
the daimyō, rendered the condition of things more
demoralized. It was an old feudal custom, whenever
the retainers of a daimyō wished to avenge any
act without committing their lord, they withdrew
from his service and became <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ronins</foreign>. Most of
the outrages which occurred during the years intervening
between the formation of the treaties and the restoration
were committed by these masterless men.
Responsibility for them was disclaimed by the daimyōs,
and the government of Yedo was unable to extend
its control over these wandering swash-bucklers.
There was no course for the foreign ministers to
pursue but to hold the shōgun's government responsible
for the protection of foreigners and foreign
trade. This government, which was called the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>bakufu</foreign>,<note place='foot'>The
word means Curtain Government, in reference to the curtain
with which the camp of a general was surrounded. The term is
equivalent to Military Government, and is used to designate the
shōgun's as distinguished from the emperor's court.</note>
had made the treaties with the foreign
powers, as many claimed, without having adequate
authority, and had thus assumed to be supreme in
matters of foreign intercourse. It was natural
therefore that the representatives of the treaty
powers should look to the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>bakufu</foreign> for the
security of those who had come hither under the sanction of
these treaties.
</p>

<p>
It was in consequence a bloody time through
<pb n='333'/><anchor id='Pg333'/>
which the country was called to pass. The prime
minister and the head of the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>bakufu</foreign> party was
Ii Kamon-no-kami,<note place='foot'>See
<hi rend='italic'>The Life of Ii Naosuke</hi>, by Shimada Saburo, Tōkyō, 1888;
also the <hi rend='italic'>Constitutional Development of Japan</hi>, by Toyokichi
Iyenaga, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 1891, p. 15.</note>
the daimyō of Hikoné in the province
of Mino. On account of the youth of the
shōgun he was created regent. He was a man of
great resolution and unscrupulous in the measures
by which he attempted to carry out the policy to
which he was committed. By his enemies he was
called the <q>swaggering prime minister
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>bakko genro</foreign>).</q>
Assured that the foreign treaties could not be abrogated
without dangerous collisions with foreign
nations, he sought to crush the opposition which
assailed them. The daimyō of Mito, who had been
the head of the anti-foreign party at Yedo, he compelled
to resign and confined him to his private
palace in his province. Numerous other persons who
had busied themselves with interfering with his
schemes and in promoting opposition in Kyōto, he
also imprisoned.
</p>

<p>
Suddenly on the 23d of March, 1860, Ii Kamon-no-kami
was assassinated as he was being carried in
his <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>norimono</foreign>
from his <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>yashiki</foreign> outside the Sakurada
gate to the palace of the shōgun.
</p>

<p>
The assassins were eighteen <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ronins</foreign> of the
province of Mito, who wished to avenge the imprisonment of
their prince. They carried the head of the murdered
regent to the Mito castle, and after exhibiting it to
the gloating eyes of the prince, exposed it upon a
pike at the principal gate.
</p>

<pb n='334'/><anchor id='Pg334'/>

<p>
The death of the regent was an irreparable blow
to the government. There was no one who could
take his place and assume his <hi rend='italic'>rôle</hi>. His loss must
be reckoned as one of the principal events which
marked the decadence of the shōgun's power.
</p>

</div>

<pb n='335'/><anchor id='Pg335'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf'/>
<head>Chapter XIV. Revolutionary Preludes.</head>

<p>
The outrages which now succeeded each other
with terrible frequency were not confined to the
native members of the opposing parties. Foreigners,
who were so essentially the cause of the political
disturbances in Japan, were particularly exposed to
attacks. On the 14th of January, 1861, Mr. Heusken,
the secretary and interpreter of the American
legation, when riding home at night from the Prussian
legation in Yedo, was attacked by armed
assassins and mortally wounded. The object of this
murder is supposed to have been the desire of one
of the ministers of foreign affairs to take revenge on
Mr. Heusken,<note place='foot'>Mr. Heusken who had gone to Japan with Mr. Townsend Harris
in 1858 was a Hollander by birth. The Dutch language at that time
was almost the only medium through which communication could be
had with the Japanese. A native interpreter turned the sentiment
into Dutch, and then a person who understood both Dutch and English
translated it into the latter tongue. This circuitous system of interpretation
was, however, soon remedied by native scholars learning
English, and by English and American scholars learning Japanese.</note>
for his activity in promoting foreign
intercourse.
</p>

<p>
The weakness and the fears of the government
<pb n='336'/><anchor id='Pg336'/>
were shown by the warning, which they sent to the
foreign ministers to avoid attending the funeral of
Mr. Heusken, lest further outrages might be committed.
They did attend, however, and no disturbances
occurred. It only remains to mention that
Mr. Harris subsequently made an arrangement with
the government for the payment of an indemnity<note place='foot'>See
<hi rend='italic'>American Diplomatic Correspondence</hi>,
November 27, 1861.</note>
of $10,000 to the mother of Mr. Heusken, who was
then living at Amsterdam in Holland.
</p>

<p>
The next circumstance which awakened universal
attention was an attack made on the British legation,
on the night of the 5th of July, 1861. At this time
the British minister occupied as a legation the buildings
of the temple Tozenji, situated at Takanawa in
the city of Yedo. It was guarded by a company of
Japanese troops, to whom the government had entrusted
its protection. Mr. Alcock had just returned
by an overland journey from Nagasaki, and with a
number of other Englishmen was domiciled in the
legation. The attacking party consisted of fourteen
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ronins</foreign> belonging to the Mito clan, who had
banded themselves together to take vengeance on the <q>accursed
foreigners.</q> Several of the guards were
killed, and Mr. Oliphant,<note place='foot'>A full
account of this affair may be found in Alcock's <hi rend='italic'>Capital of
the Tycoon</hi>, and in the <hi rend='italic'>Life of Laurence
Oliphant</hi>.</note> the secretary of legation,
and Mr. Morrison, H. B. M's consul at Nagasaki,
were severely wounded. On one of the party who
was captured was found a paper,<note place='foot'>A translation
of this paper cited from the correspondence presented
to Parliament is given in Adams' <hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>, vol. i.,
p. 138.</note> which set forth
<pb n='337'/><anchor id='Pg337'/>
the object of the attack and the names of the fourteen
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ronins</foreign> who had conspired for its
accomplishment.
</p>

<p>
That the government regarded such outrages with
alarm is certain. They took the earliest opportunity
to express their distress that the legation under their
protection had thus been invaded. They assured
Mr. Alcock with the most pitiable sincerity that
<q>they had no power of preventing such attacks upon
the legation, nor of providing against a renewal of
the same with a greater certainty of success.</q> <q>They
could not,</q> they said, <q>guarantee any of the representatives
against these attempts at assassination, to
which all foreigners in Japan were liable, whether in
their houses or in the public thoroughfares.</q><note place='foot'>See Adams'
<hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>, vol. i., p. 139.</note> They
pretended to punish, and yet were afraid openly to
punish the persons engaged in this attack.<note place='foot'>In Mr. Satow's
translation of <hi rend='italic'>Kinsé Shiriaku</hi> (p. 18) it is said
that the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>bakufu</foreign> ordered the house of
Mito to arrest the men who had
broken into the English temple residence, but they made their escape
into Ōshiu and Dewa.</note> They
promised to do what they could for the protection
of the foreign representatives; but their measures
necessarily consisted in making the legations a kind
of prison where the occupants were confined and
protected.
</p>

<p>
And yet, with all these assurances of danger, the
foreign representatives seem to have been singularly
ignorant of the real difficulties with which the government
had to deal. This was due, no doubt, to
the want of candor on the part of the Japanese officials
in not explaining frankly and fully to them the
<pb n='338'/><anchor id='Pg338'/>
political complications which existed between the
governments of Yedo and Kyōto. They represented
a widespread discontent to have grown up since the
negotiation of the treaties, owing to the increased
price of provisions, the derangement of the currency,
and the danger of famine. In view of these pressing
difficulties they asked for the postponement of the
time fixed by the treaties for opening a port on the
western coast and Hyōgo on the Inland sea, and for
the establishment of definite concessions in the cities
of Yedo and Ōsaka. These modifications of the
treaties were finally accepted, and it was arranged
that the opening of the ports named above should
be postponed for a period of five years from the first
of January, 1863.
</p>

<p>
This postponement of the opening of the ports
was the chief reason for sending to foreign countries
their first embassy. This set out from Yokohama
in January, 1862, and visited the United States, then
England, and the other treaty powers. They were
everywhere received with the utmost kindness and
distinction. The immediate object of their mission
was, as we have seen, accomplished. The opening
of additional ports was deferred on condition that
in those already opened the obstacles which had
been put in the way of trade should be removed.
</p>

<p>
But, besides the attainment of this end, the visit
of the embassy to foreign capitals and countries
produced a salutary influence both on the foreigners
whom they met and on the influential personages
of which it consisted. The former learned to their
surprise that they had a cultivated, intelligent, and
<pb n='339'/><anchor id='Pg339'/>
clever race to deal with, whose diplomatists,<note place='foot'>See the
account of the negotiations of this embassy with Earl
Russell in Adams' <hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>, vol. i., p. 177
<hi rend='italic'>et seq.</hi></note> although
inexperienced in European politics, were
not unqualified to enter the courts of western
capitals. But the revelation to the Japanese envoys
was still greater and more surprising. For the first
time they saw the terrible armaments of western
powers, and realized the futility of attempting to
make armed resistance to their measures. But they
encountered on every hand not hatred and aversion,
but the warmest interest and kindness,<note place='foot'>One of
the officials naïvely told the American minister when
speaking of the reception of the embassy in the United States:
<q>We did not believe you when you told us of the friendly feeling of
your country for us; but we now see that all you said was true.</q></note> and a desire
to render them every courtesy. Instead of barbarians,
as they had been taught to regard all
foreigners, they found everywhere warm-hearted and
intelligent friends who were anxious to see their
country treated with justice and consideration.
</p>

<p>
On the 26th of June, 1862, a year after the first,
a second attack was made upon the British legation.
Lieutenant-Colonel Neale was at this time <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>chargé
d'affaires</foreign>, and had just removed from Yokohama
and resumed the occupancy of the temple of Tozenji.
The government took the precaution to
establish guards, who daily and nightly made their
rounds to protect the buildings. Besides this there
was a guard detailed from the British fleet to render
the legation more secure. The officials persisted
in claiming that only one person, Itō Gumpei, was
engaged in the attack, and that it was a matter of
<pb n='340'/><anchor id='Pg340'/>
private revenge for an insult which one of the English
guards had put upon him. Two of these guards
were killed in the attack, and Itō Gumpei the assassin
escaped to his own house, where he was permitted
to commit <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign>. There was probably no
plot on the part of those whose duty it was to protect
the legation. But the uncertainty which hung
over the affair, and the repetition of the violence of
the preceding year led Colonel Neale to abandon
his residence at Yedo and return to Yokohama. An
indemnity of £10,000 was demanded and finally
paid for the families of the two members of the
guard who had been murdered.
</p>

<p>
In the meantime the relations between the courts
at Kyōto and Yedo had become more and more
strained. The efforts at reconciliation, such as the
marriage between the young shōgun and the sister
of the emperor in 1861, produced no permanent effect.
The disease was too deep-seated and serious
to be affected by such palliations. Shimazu Saburō,
the uncle<note place='foot'>The daimyō was really his own son who had been adopted by his
brother, the former daimyō, and who on the death of his brother had
succeeded him as daimyō. Shimazu Saburō was therefore legally
the uncle of his own son.</note> and guardian of the young daimyō of
Satsuma, came in 1862 to Kyōto with the avowed
purpose of advising the emperor in this emergency.
He was accompanied by a formidable body of
Satsuma troops, and on these he relied to have his
advice followed.
</p>

<p>
On his way thither he had been joined by a body
of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ronins</foreign>
who were contemplating the accomplishment
of some enterprise which should be notable in
<pb n='341'/><anchor id='Pg341'/>
the expulsion of foreigners. They imagined that
the powerful head of the Satsuma clan would be a
suitable leader for such an enterprise. They approached
him therefore and humbly petitioned to
be received under his standard. Not quite satisfied
to have such a band of reckless ruffians under his
command, he, however, scarcely dared to refuse
their petition. He therefore permitted them to
join his escort and march with him to Kyōto.
</p>

<p>
The emperor's court, although bitterly hostile to
the liberal policy which prevailed at Yedo, were
alarmed by the desperate allies which Shimazu was
bringing with him. He presented their memorial to
the emperor, and favored their wishes to use all the
force of the country to dislodge the hated foreigner
from its soil. Other powerful daimyōs were collected
at the same time at the imperial capital, and
its peaceful suburbs resounded with the clank of
warlike preparations. The most notable of these
was the daimyō of Chōshū, who at this time was
joined with the Satsuma chief in the measures
against the shōgun's government.
</p>

<p>
Shimazu continued his journey to Yedo in the
summer of 1862, where he endeavored to impress on
the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>bakufu</foreign> the necessity of taking measures to
pacify the country. It is safe to say that his suggestions
were coldly received, and he was made to
feel that he was in an enemy's camp. It is said that
the shōgun refused to receive him personally, but
referred him, for any business which he had to present,
to the council. It is certain, therefore, when
he left Yedo in September, 1862, with his train and
<pb n='342'/><anchor id='Pg342'/>
escort, he was in no amiable frame of mind. And it
was in this condition of irritation that he became
the chief actor in an event which was the saddest
of all the collisions between the Japanese and the
foreigners.
</p>

<p>
The Satsuma train left Yedo on the morning of
the 14th of September by way of the <hi rend='italic'>Tōkaidō</hi>, which
runs through Kawasaki and skirts the village of
Kanagawa. It consisted of a semi-military procession
of guards on foot and on horseback, of
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>norimonos</foreign>,
in which the prince and his high military and
civil attendants were carried, of led-horses for them
to ride when they desired, and of a long straggling
continuation of pack-horses and men carrying the
luggage of the train. It was said to contain not less
than eight hundred <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> in attendance on
their master.
</p>

<p>
The etiquette of the road for such trains was well
settled in feudal Japan. The right of way was
always accorded to the daimyō, and all unmilitary
persons or parties were required to stand at the side
of the road while the train was passing, to dismount
if on horseback, and to bow to the daimyō's
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>norimono</foreign>
as it was carried past. It may be supposed that the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> in attendance upon the incensed Shimazu
were in no humor to have these rules trifled with,
and especially would not deal very tenderly with
any foreigners who might fall in their way.
</p>

<p>
On the afternoon of the day on which the Satsuma
train left Yedo, a small riding party left Yokohama
for the village of Kawasaki, on a visit to the temple
at that place. It consisted of one lady and three
<pb n='343'/><anchor id='Pg343'/>
gentlemen, one of whom was Mr. Charles L. Richardson,
who had for many years been a merchant at
Shanghai, but who was visiting Japan previous to
his return to England. A few miles north of the
village of Kanagawa they encountered the head of
the train, and for some distance passed successive
parts of it. They were either ignorant of the etiquette
which required them to withdraw during the
passage of such a cavalcade, or underrated the danger
of disregarding it.
</p>

<p>
Presently they came upon the troop which had
special charge of the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>norimono</foreign> in which the prince
was carried. It was surrounded by a formidable
body of retainers, armed with swords and spears.
The reckless riders paid little heed to their scowling
looks, and rode carelessly on, sometimes even threading
their way through the interstices of the straggling
train. When they were nearly opposite to
the prince's <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>norimono</foreign>, which they were about
to pass without dismounting or saluting, they were so
alarmed by the evidences of danger that one of the
gentlemen called out to Mr. Richardson who was
riding ahead, <q>Don't go on, we can turn into a side
road.</q> The other also exclaimed, <q>For God's sake
let us have no row.</q> Richardson, who was foolhardy
and ignorant of those with whom he had to deal,
answered, <q>Let me alone, I have lived fourteen
years in China and know how to manage these people.</q>
Suddenly a soldier from the centre of the procession
rushed upon them with a heavy two-handed sword
and struck Richardson a fatal blow on his side under
the left arm. Both the other gentlemen were also
<pb n='344'/><anchor id='Pg344'/>
severely wounded, and the lady had her bonnet
knocked off by a blow aimed at her, but escaped unhurt.
They all started at full speed towards home,
riding over the Japanese guards who undertook to
interfere. All except Richardson reached Kanagawa
without further hurt; he after riding a few rods fell
from his horse and died from the effect of his
terrible wound.<note place='foot'>Dr. J. C. Hepburn, a resident in Kanagawa at this
time, attended to the wounded men at the U. S. Consulate. In a letter to me after
reading the above account, he says that, <q>it was the common report
at the time that Richardson did ride into Satsuma's train and that he
(Satsuma) said, <q>Kill him.</q> It was the general belief that Richardson
brought the whole catastrophe on himself.</q></note>
</p>

<p>
The excitement in the town was intense. There
was a proposition to organize immediately a force
and pursue after the train, in order to capture the
murderer and the Satsuma chief. It was with no
small effort and with the almost unanimous sentiment
of the foreign community against him, that
Colonel Neale, the British <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>chargé d'affaires</foreign>,
restrained them from an act which would have brought
quick vengeance upon the town and involved Great
Britain in a war with Japan. A demand was made
upon the government for the capture and punishment
of the assassin of Mr. Richardson, and for the
payment of an indemnity of £100,000, by the
shōgun's government and an additional sum by
the daimyō of Satsuma.
</p>

<p>
Neither the surrender of the assassin nor the payment
of this indemnity was willingly undertaken by
Satsuma. It ended therefore in Admiral Kuper
being despatched with a squadron of seven vessels to
<pb n='345'/><anchor id='Pg345'/>
Kagoshima in order to enforce on the recalcitrant
daimyō the terms agreed upon with the government
at Yedo. He arrived on the 11th of August, 1863,
and was received with frowning batteries and a
terrible typhoon of wind and rain. Negotiation
failed to effect a settlement and the naval force was
called upon to play its part. Three valuable new
steamers, which the daimyō had recently purchased,
were captured and burned. The batteries which
lined the shore were dismantled by the guns of the
ships. The city of Kagoshima, said to have had at
this time a population of 180,000 and to have been
one of the most prosperous towns in Japan, was
almost completely destroyed by fire. After this
drastic lesson the money demanded was paid, but
the murderer of Richardson was not and probably
could not be surrendered, and never has been publicly
known.
</p>

<p>
The most important result which followed this
severe experience was its moral effect on the Satsuma
leaders. They had become convinced that western
skill and western equipments of war were not to be
encountered by the antiquated methods of Japan.
To contend with the foreigner on anything like
equal terms it would be necessary to acquire his
culture and dexterity, and avail themselves of his
ships and armaments. It was not long after this
therefore, that the first company of Japanese students<note place='foot'>In
addition to Terashima there were in the company Mori Arinori,
Yoshida Kiyonari, Hatakeyama Yoshinari, and others. They became
deeply imbued with the spirit of western institutions and with the
principles of constitutional liberty and toleration. Their influence
upon the new career of their country was marked and salutary.
Through the agency of Mr. Laurence Oliphant a part of them became
misled with the delusions of Thomas Lake Harris, and with him removed
to Brocton on the shores of Lake Erie, U. S. where they resided
for a time as members of the Brotherhood of the New Life. They had
as associates in this singular community Lady Oliphant and her distinguished
son, and like them were called upon to perform the ordinary
menial employments connected with the community.</note>
<pb n='346'/><anchor id='Pg346'/>
were sent to London under the late Count Terashima
by the daimyō of Satsuma, and the purchase of
cannon and ships of war was authorized.
</p>

<p>
In the meantime another collision still more serious
had occurred with the treaty powers. The daimyō
of Chōshū had, as we have seen, taken sides with the
court of Kyōto against the more liberal policy of the
shōgun's government. He had placed men-of-war
as guards and had erected batteries within his territory
on the shores of the Shimonoseki straits through
which ships usually passed on their way to and from
the western ports. It is claimed, and is not improbable,
that he was encouraged by the Kyōto
statesmen to attack foreign ships on their way
through these narrow straits, in order to embroil the
Yedo government with the treaty powers.
</p>

<p>
Accordingly on the 25th of June, 1863 the <hi rend='italic'>Pembroke</hi>,
a small American merchant steamer on her
way from Yokohama to Nagasaki was fired upon by
two men-of-war belonging to the daimyō of Chōshū.
She was not hit or hurt and escaped through the
Bungo channel without injury. Shortly afterwards,
on the 8th of July, the French gunboat <hi rend='italic'>Kienchang</hi>
while at anchor in the straits, was also fired
upon and severely injured. And lastly the Dutch
<pb n='347'/><anchor id='Pg347'/>
ship-of-war <hi rend='italic'>Medusa</hi>, in spite of a warning from the
<hi rend='italic'>Kienchang</hi>, undertook to pass the straits and was
fired upon by the ships and batteries of the daimyō
of Chōshū, to which she responded with decisive
effect.
</p>

<p>
News of these hostile acts was brought immediately
to Yokohama. The U. S. Steamship <hi rend='italic'>Wyoming</hi>
was lying there, and was at once despatched to
avenge the insult to the American flag. She arrived
at Shimonoseki on July 16th, and in a conflict with
ships and batteries sunk a brig and exploded the
boiler of a steamer. On the 20th inst. the French
frigate <hi rend='italic'>Semiramis</hi>
and the gunboat <hi rend='italic'>Tancrede</hi> under
the command of Admiral Juares arrived to exact
vengeance for the attack on the <hi rend='italic'>Kienchang</hi>. One of
the batteries was silenced, and a force of two hundred
and fifty men were landed who destroyed what
remained.
</p>

<p>
These acts of signal vengeance were followed by
negotiations for damages. The shōgun's government
disavowed the actions of their rebellious
subordinate; but this did not free them from
responsibility for the injuries which he had inflicted.
The American minister secured the payment of
twelve thousand dollars for alleged losses by the
<hi rend='italic'>Pembroke</hi>, although as we have seen the vessel got
off without any damage. Negotiations in regard to
freeing the Inland sea from obstructions dragged
along for almost a year. The <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>bakufu</foreign> promised to
take measures to reduce to a peaceful attitude the
daimyō of Chōshū whose territories bordered on the
narrow straits of Shimonoseki. But the growing
<pb n='348'/><anchor id='Pg348'/>
political disturbances of the nation and the impoverishment
of the shōgun's treasury made it impossible
to carry out its pacific designs.
</p>

<p>
Finally an expedition was organized by the treaty
powers to visit Shimonoseki, in order to destroy
whatever might be in existence there. It consisted
of nine British<note place='foot'>It should be stated here that a despatch to the
British envoy from Earl Russell arrived just after the sailing of the expedition in which
he says: <q>That Her Majesty's government positively enjoin you
not to undertake any military operation whatever in the interior of
Japan; and they would indeed regret the adoption of any measures
of hostility against the Japanese government or princes, even though
limited to naval operations, unless absolutely required by self-defence.</q>
Had this order arrived in time, it is probable that the expedition
would not have sailed.&mdash;<hi rend='italic'>Correspondence Respecting Affairs in
Japan</hi>, 1875, No. 1, p. 45.</note> ships-of-war, four Dutch, three
French, and one steamer, chartered for the occasion
to represent the United States.<note place='foot'>It will
be remembered that the United States at this time had
occasion to use all her ships-of-war at home in the civil war that was
raging.</note> It sailed from
Yokohama on the 28th and 29th of August, 1864.
The attack was made from the 5th to the 8th of
September. The daimyō, finding it useless to contend
against such overwhelming odds, gave in his
absolute submission.
</p>

<p>
After the return of the expedition the representatives
of the allied powers held a conference with the
Japanese ministers of foreign affairs with reference
to the final settlement of this unfortunate business.
A convention<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>Treaties
and Conventions between the Empire of Japan and
Other Powers</hi>, p. 318.</note> was entered into between the interested
parties, dated the 22d of October, 1864, by
<pb n='349'/><anchor id='Pg349'/>
which an indemnity of three million dollars was to
be paid by Japan to the four powers for damages
and for expenses entailed by the operations against
the daimyō of Chōshū. This sum was to be paid in
instalments of half a million dollars each. The
four powers agreed among themselves as to the division
of this indemnity: That France, the Netherlands,
and the United States, in consideration of the
actual attacks made on their shipping, were to receive
each one hundred and forty thousand dollars,
and that the remaining sum should be divided
equally between the four powers.
</p>

<p>
It has always been felt that the exaction of this
large indemnity was a harsh if not an unwarrantable
proceeding. The government of Yedo had disavowed
and apologized for the conduct of the rebellious
daimyō, and promised, if time were allowed, to
reduce him to subjection. Of the powers which
were allied in the expedition, Great Britain had
suffered no damage, and the United States had already
received an indemnity for the injuries and
expenses of the vessel fired upon. To insist, therefore,
upon the government not only paying for the
damage inflicted, but for the expense of an unnecessarily
large and costly expedition to suppress the
rebellious subordinate, which was sent contrary to
the express protest of the responsible government,
seems too much like that overbearing diplomacy
with which western nations have conducted their
intercourse in the East.<note place='foot'>The only
additional circumstance that deserves mention in this
connection is that in response to a widely expressed public sentiment
the Congress of the United States in 1883 refunded to Japan
$785,000.87, her share in this indemnity.&mdash;See
<hi rend='italic'>Treaties and Conventions
between the Empire of Japan and Other Powers</hi>, p. 320.</note>
The promised sum, however,
<pb n='350'/><anchor id='Pg350'/>
was at last, after much financial distress, all
paid, and the painful episode was ended.
</p>

<p>
One undesigned benefit resulted from the Shimonoseki
expedition. Just as the bombardment of
Kagoshima had taught the daimyō of Satsuma the
folly of resisting western armaments, so now the
daimyō of Chōshū had learned by an expensive experience
the same bitter lesson. For the future
these two powerful clans might therefore be counted
on, not only to oppose the moribund government of
Yedo, but to withstand the folly of trying to expel
the foreigners who by treaty with an unauthorized
agent had been admitted into the country. The
Chōshū leaders had also taken advantage of their
experiences in this conflict with foreigners to put
their troops on a better basis as regards arms and
organization. For the first time the privilege of the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>
to do all the fighting, was disregarded, and
a division<note place='foot'>See translation of
<hi rend='italic'>Kinsé Shiriaku</hi>, Yokohama, 1876, p.
59.</note> of troops was formed from the common
people, which was armed with foreign muskets and
drilled in the western tactics. They went by the
name of <q>irregular troops</q>
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kiheitai</foreign>), and played
no small part in rendering nugatory the efforts of
the shōgun to <q>chastise</q> the daimyō of Chōshū in
1865 and 1866.
</p>

<p>
Another noteworthy military event deserves mention
here. Colonel Neale had applied to his government
for a military guard to protect British interests
<pb n='351'/><anchor id='Pg351'/>
at Yokohama. Two companies of the 20th regiment
were sent from Hongkong, and with the consent of
the Japanese government took up their residence in
1864 at barracks in the foreign settlement. They
were afterwards joined by a French contingent,
and for many years they were a familiar sight,
and gave a sense of security to the nervous
residents.
</p>

<p>
While these serious collisions were taking place
between Japan and the foreign powers, there was an
increasing and irreconcilable animosity developed
between the Kyōto and Yedo governments. The
ostensible reason, which was put forward on all occasions,
was the difference of opinion upon the question
of the foreign treaties and foreign intercourse.
The Yedo government had by the force of circumstances
become practically familiar with the views of
the representatives of foreign nations, and had been
convinced that the task of expelling foreigners and
returning again to the ancient policy of seclusion
was far beyond the power of Japan. On the contrary,
the court of the emperor was a hot-bed
of anti-foreign sentiment in which all the ancient
prejudices of the empire naturally flourished, and
where the feudal princes who were jealous of the
shōgun found a ready element in which to foment
difficulties.
</p>

<p>
Two important games were in progress. Yedo
was the field on which one of these was to be decided,
and the players were the representatives of
the treaty powers on the one side, and the shōgun's
government on the other. Victory had already been
<pb n='352'/><anchor id='Pg352'/>
virtually declared in favor of an open country and
foreign intercourse. The other game was being
played at Kyōto between the shōgun's friends and
his enemies. The stake was a momentous one,
namely, to determine whether the present dual
government was to continue and who was hereafter
to wield the destinies of the empire.
</p>

<p>
The government of the shōgun had long been
convinced that it was necessary to make the best
of the presence of foreigners in the country
and that it was vain to make further exertions for
their expulsion. But a vast number of the feudal
retainers of the daimyōs were still bitterly hostile,
and took frequent occasion to commit outrages, for
which the government was held responsible. Besides
the cases which have been already mentioned,
a new legation which the British government had
built in Gotenyama, a site which the Japanese government
had set apart in Yedo for foreign legations,
was burned to the ground in 1863. In the same
year the temple buildings in Yedo which the
United States had leased for a legation were burned.
Twice the shōgun's castle in Yedo had been destroyed
by fire. A murderous attack was made
upon British subjects in Nagasaki; Lieutenant de
Cannes of the French troops was assassinated in
1864; and in the same year Major Baldwin and
Lieutenant Bird, two British officers, were murdered
at Kamakura.
</p>

<p>
These repeated outrages seriously disturbed the
Yedo government, and led to several attempts to
curtail the privileges which by the treaties were
<pb n='353'/><anchor id='Pg353'/>
secured to foreigners. The last proposition of the
kind which was made was one conveyed to the
French government by an embassy sent out in 1864.
They presented a request to have the port of Kanagawa
closed up and trade to be confined to Hakodate
and Nagasaki. They received no encouragement,
however, and returned with their eyes <q>opened by
the high state of material and moral prosperity
which surrounded them,</q> and reported the complete
failure of their attempts at persuasion. <q>The
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>bakufu</foreign> reprimanded them for having disgraced
their functions, and, reducing their incomes, forced
them to retire into private life.</q><note place='foot'>See
translation of <hi rend='italic'>Kinsé Shiriaku</hi>, Yokohama, p. 50.</note>
</p>

<p>
It is necessary now to trace the course of events
at Kyōto. According to the theory of the government
of Japan the emperor was the supreme and
unlimited ruler and the shōgun was his executive.
The maintenance of the emperor and his court was
a function of the shōgun, and hence it was almost
always possible for him to compel the emperor to
pursue any policy which he might desire.
</p>

<p>
At the time now under review Kōmei, the father
of the present emperor, occupied the imperial throne.
He had succeeded to this dignity in 1847 at the age
of eighteen, and he died in 1866 at the age of thirty-seven.
The shōgun was Iemochi, who in 1858 had
been chosen from the family of Kii, because of the
failure of an heir in the regular line. At the time
of his election he was a boy of twelve years of age,
and was placed under the guardianship of the prime
minister Ii Kamon-no-kami. After the assassination
<pb n='354'/><anchor id='Pg354'/>
of the prime minister in 1861, Hitotsubashi
Gyōbukyō, a son of the daimyō of Mito, was appointed
guardian, and served in this capacity until
the shōgun's death.
</p>

<p>
Around the court of the emperor were gathered
many discordant elements. The party of the shōgun
was always represented, and the daimyō of
Aizu, its ardent friend and champion, had the honorable
distinction of guarding the imperial palace. By
invitation many other daimyōs were at Kyōto with
retinues of officers and attendants, and with guards
of troops. The southern and western daimyōs were
present in imposing numbers, and although they did
not always agree among themselves, they were in
harmony in the general purpose to discredit the
government at Yedo and to promote the imperial
authority.
</p>

<p>
The expulsion of foreigners was the common subject
of discussion and agitation. Although again
and again it had been assured that it was impossible
to dislodge the treaty powers from their position in
the country, the court still continued to direct its
efforts to this object. For the first time in two hundred
and thirty years,<note place='foot'>See translation
of <hi rend='italic'>Kinsé Shiraku</hi>, Yokohama, p. 24.</note>
when Iemitsu went up to the
imperial court, the Shōgun Iemochi visited Kyōto in
1863 in order to consult about the affairs of the
country. In accordance with the precedent set by
Iemitsu, the shōgun distributed on this occasion
rich presents to the emperor and the officers of his
court. He also scattered among the townspeople
his largesses, until <q>the whole populace, moistened in
<pb n='355'/><anchor id='Pg355'/>
the bath of his mercy and goodness, were greatly
pleased and gratified.</q><note place='foot'>See citation
in Adams' <hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>, vol. i., p. 260.</note>
</p>

<p>
Conferences<note place='foot'>Toyokichi Iyenaga,
Ph.D., in his pamphlet on the <hi rend='italic'>Constitutional
Development of Japan</hi>, p. 17, traces the evolution of the present
parliamentary institutions to the conferences which were held at this
and subsequent times.</note> were held between the daimyōs who
were present in Kyōto and the officials of the court,
and in spite of the objections and remonstrances of
the Yedo official, an imperial edict was issued and
entrusted to the shōgun for execution, to expel from
the country the hated foreigners. This edict was
notified to the representatives of the treaty powers
by the Yedo officials. They seemed, however, to
regard their duty fully done when this notice was
given. No serious steps were ever taken to carry
out these expulsive measures, unless the obstruction
of navigation of the Shimonoseki straits by the daimyō
of Chōshū be regarded of this character.
</p>

<p>
In 1863 a plot was alleged to have been formed by
the Chōshū men to seize the emperor and carry him
off to their own territory. The object aimed at by
this plot was of course to get the court out of the
hands of the shōgun's friends, and surround it by
influences favorable to the plans of the southern
daimyōs. The court, however, became alarmed by
the reports in circulation, and steps were taken to
forbid the Chōshū troops, who guarded Sakaimachi
gate, access to the grounds of the imperial palace.
Offended by this action they retired to their own
territory. Seven of the most prominent court
<pb n='356'/><anchor id='Pg356'/>
nobles (<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kuges</foreign>)<note place='foot'>Among
these was Sanjō Saneyoshi, who afterwards for many
years was the prime minister of the restored government.</note>
who sympathized with Chōshū in his
aims and purposes accompanied them, and were
thereupon deprived of their rank and revenue.
</p>

<p>
The departure of the Chōshū clansmen and the
triumph of the shōgun's party seemed to have put
an end to the anti-foreign policy. The emperor and
his court had been forced to the conclusion that the
effort to expel the treaty powers was far beyond the
powers of Japan, even if it were united and its exertions
directed from one centre. From this time
may be estimated to begin a new phase in the contest
which was to end in the restoration of the original
form of government.
</p>

<p>
The territory of Chōshū had become the rendezvous
for all the disaffected elements of the empire.
The daimyō was looked upon as the patriotic
leader of the country, and <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ronins</foreign> from all
parts hastened to enroll themselves under his banner. In
the summer of 1864 the Chōshū forces, to the
number of several thousand, composed not only of
the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>
of the province, but also of the disaffected
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ronins</foreign> who had gathered there, and of the
<q>irregular troops,</q> <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kiheitai</foreign>,
which had been organized,
started to re-enter Kyōto in order to regain the
position they had previously occupied. The contest
which followed has been described with lurid distinctness
by native annalists. They were encountered
by Hitotsubashi in command of the troops of
Aizu, Echizen, Hikoné, and other loyal clans. After
a battle which lasted several days, and which raged
<pb n='357'/><anchor id='Pg357'/>
chiefly about the imperial palace, the Chōshū troops
were completely defeated and forced to retire. It
gives us an idea of the terrible earnestness of these
Japanese warriors to read how a little remnant of
the Chōshū troops took refuge on Tennōzan; and
when they heard their pursuers approaching, how
seventeen of them committed
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign><note place='foot'>See Adams'
<hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>, vol. i., p. 431.</note>; and lest
<pb n='358'/><anchor id='Pg358'/>
their heads should be recognized and their names
disgraced, how they had thrown themselves into the
flames of a temple which they had set on fire.
Three of the company who had performed the
friendly act of decapitation for their comrades had
escaped by mountain roads and made their way
back to Chōshū.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/takeyoshi.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Kido Takeyoshi.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
The usual concomitant of fighting in a town had
followed, and a great part of Kyōto had been destroyed
by fire.<note place='foot'>The annalist from whom Adams quotes gives the number of
houses burned as 27,000. Adams' <hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>,
vol. i., p. 434.</note> The Satsuma troops had taken an
important part in this repulse of Chōshū. They had
intervened at a very critical moment, and had captured
a considerable number of Chōshū prisoners.
But they had treated them with great consideration,
and subsequently had even sent them home with
presents, so that the Chōshū men felt they really
had friends instead of enemies in the warlike southern
clan. It is in this battle we catch the first
glimpse of the Chōshū leader, Kido Takeyoshi, then
known as Katsura Kogorō.<note place='foot'>See the Genji Yumé Monogatari and Satow's
note in Adams' <hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>, vol. i.,
p. 407.</note> He must have been
about thirty-four years of age, and already gave
promise of the talents which made him one of the
most conspicuous and influential statesmen of the
restoration.
</p>

<p>
In 1865 Sir Harry Parkes arrived in Japan as the
envoy plenipotentiary of the British government.
He had resided in China from boyhood, and had
been especially conspicuous in the war between
<pb n='359'/><anchor id='Pg359'/>
China and Great Britain in 1860. His career in
Japan continued until 1883, when he was promoted
to the court of Peking. He had the good fortune to
be the representative of his country during the most
momentous years of modern Japanese history, and
in many of the most important events he exerted an
influence which was decisive.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/tomomi.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Udaijin Iwakura Tomomi.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
The troubles in Chōshū were finally brought to a
close. The efforts of the shōgun, although conducted
<pb n='360'/><anchor id='Pg360'/>
at great expense, were unavailing. Satsuma,
when summoned to render aid in crushing the rebellious
prince, declined to join in the campaign.
Through the efforts of Saigō Kichinoske,<note place='foot'>This
distinguished soldier is better known under the name of
Saigō Takamori. He was originally an ardent anti-foreign partisan,
and through this sentiment became an advocate of a restoration of
the emperor. His services in this revolutionary movement were rewarded
by a pension granted and accepted by the emperor's express
command.&mdash;See Mounsey's <hi rend='italic'>Satsuma Rebellion</hi>, London,
p. 22.</note> a treaty of
amity was effected between the two clans. The kind
treatment of the Chōshū prisoners in the attack on
Kyōto was remembered, and the help and alliance
of the powerful Kyūshū clan were eagerly accepted.
Peace was negotiated between the shōgun and the
rebels. Thus the Chōshū episode was ended, with
no credit to the shōgun's party, but with a distinct
gain to the cause of the imperial restoration.<note place='foot'>In this
reconciliation of the Satsuma and Chōshū clans the court
noble, Iwakura Tomomi, took a prominent part, and after the restoration
was complete he became one of the principal officers in the
new government, holding the office of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>Udaijin</foreign>
until his death. He is best known to foreigners as the head of an embassy which visited
western countries in 1872-3.</note>
</p>

<p>
It had long been recognized that the treaties
which had been made by the foreign powers would
possess a greatly increased influence on the Japanese
people if they could have the sanction of the emperor.
The shōgun Iemochi had been summoned to
Kyōto by the emperor to consult upon the concerns
of the nation, and was occupying his castle at Ōsaka.
The representatives of the foreign powers thereupon
concluded that it would be a timely movement to
proceed with their naval armaments to Hyōgo, and
<pb n='361'/><anchor id='Pg361'/>
wait upon the shōgun at Ōsaka, with the purpose of
urging him to obtain the imperial approval of the
treaties. This was accordingly done, and an impressive
display of the allied fleets was made at the
town, which has since been opened to foreign
trade.
</p>

<p>
The shōgun was both young and irresolute, and
personally had neither weight nor influence. But
his guardian, Hitotsubashi, was a man of mature
years and judgment. He recognized the importance
of obtaining the approval of the emperor to the
foreign treaties, and of thus ending the long and
ruinous agitation which prevailed in the country.
</p>

<p>
A memorial<note place='foot'>See this memorial as given in Adams'
<hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>, vol. ii., p. 24.</note>
was presented to the emperor in the
name of the shōgun, setting forth the embarrassment
under which the administration of the country had
been conducted on account of the supposed opposition
of the emperor to the treaties, and begging him
to relieve them by signifying his sanction; and assuring
him that if this is not given, the foreign
representatives who are at Hyōgo will proceed to
the capital and demand it at his hands.
</p>

<p>
It ended in the sanction of the treaties being
signified October 23, 1865, by the following laconic
decree<note place='foot'>See Adams' <hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>,
vol. ii., p. 24.</note> addressed to the shōgun: <q>The imperial
consent is given to the treaties, and you will therefore
undertake the necessary arrangements therewith.</q>
</p>

<p>
During this critical time the Shōgun Iemochi died
September 19, 1866, at his castle in Ōsaka at the
<pb n='362'/><anchor id='Pg362'/>
age of eighteen. He had been chosen in 1858, in
the absence of a regular heir, by the determined
influence of Ii Kamon-no-kami, who was then all-powerful
at Yedo. He was too young to have any
predominating influence upon affairs. Until the
assassination of the prime minister Ii Kamon-no-kami
in 1861 the boy shōgun had been under his
guardianship. Since then that duty had been devolved
upon Hitotsubashi, a son of the diamyō of
Mito, who had been himself strongly pressed for the
office of shōgun, but who was alleged to be too
mature and resolute a character for the prime
minister's purposes. As guardian, Hitotsubashi had
taken an active part in the effort to obtain the sanction
of the treaties, and the final success of this
important step must in a great measure be attributed
to him.
</p>

<p>
After the death of Iemochi without direct heirs,
the office of shōgun was offered to Hitotsubashi as
a representative of Mito, one of the <q>honorable
families</q> from whom a shōgun was to be chosen in
case of a failure of direct heirs. It is said that he
accepted the office with great reluctance, knowing
the troubles which would surely await him who assumed
it. He assented only on the command of
the emperor and the assurance of support from
many of the diamyōs. He has thus the distinction
of becoming the last of the long line of Tokugawa
shōguns, under the name of Tokugawa Yoshinobu.<note place='foot'>See Adams'
<hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>, vol. ii., p. 37.</note>
</p>

<p>
A few months after the death of Iemochi, on the
3d of February, 1867, Emperor Kōmei also died
<pb n='363'/><anchor id='Pg363'/>
from an attack of small-pox. He is said to have
been strongly prejudiced against foreigners and
foreign intercourse, and it was claimed at the time
of his death, that when he sanctioned the foreign
treaties the divine nature left him to fall a prey to
the ravages of ordinary disease. His son Mutsuhito,
then in his fifteenth year, succeeded him and is now
the reigning emperor, the one hundred and twenty-first
of his line.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/emperor.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>The Reigning Emperor.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<pb n='364'/><anchor id='Pg364'/>

<p>
It was thought that the death of an emperor of
strong prejudices and of a mature age would
naturally favor a more complete control by the
new shōgun. It was not to be anticipated that an
emperor, still only a youth, would pursue the same
policy as his father, and undertake to assume a
real and active part in the government of his
country. But the shōgun and his friends underrated
the influences which were gathered at Kyōto,
and which now went far beyond an anti-foreign sentiment
and were chiefly concerned with schemes for
restoring the imperial power and unifying the form
of government.
</p>

<p>
The daimyō of Tosa, who was a man of liberal
sentiments and of great penetration, addressed a
letter to the shōgun in October, 1867, in which he
frankly says: <q>The cause [of our trouble] lies in the
fact that the administration proceeds from two centres,
causing the empire's eyes and ears to be turned
in two different directions. The march of events
has brought about a revolution, and the old system
can no longer be persevered in. You should restore
the governing power into the hands of the sovereign
and so lay a foundation on which Japan may take
its stand as the equal of other countries.</q><note place='foot'>Translation of
<hi rend='italic'>Kinsé Shiriaku</hi>, Yokohama, p. 30.</note>
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/imperial-crests.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Imperial Crests.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
The shōgun being deeply impressed with the wisdom
of this advice drew up a document addressed
to his vassals, asking their opinion of the advisability
of his resignation. Among other things he says:
<q>It appears to me that the laws cannot be maintained
in face of the daily extension of our foreign
<pb n='365'/><anchor id='Pg365'/>
relations, unless the government be conducted by
one head, and I propose therefore to surrender the
whole governing power into the hands of the imperial
court. This is the best I can do for the
interests of the empire.</q><note place='foot'>Translation of
<hi rend='italic'>Kinsé Shiraku</hi>, Yokohama, p. 80.</note> According to this
announced
<pb n='366'/><anchor id='Pg366'/>
resolution, on the 19th of November, 1867,
the shōgun resigned into the hands of the emperor
his authority. This surrender was accepted, and thus
a dynasty which had lasted from 1603 came to an
end. That this surrender might be declined and the
power still continue to be held by the Tokugawa,
was perhaps the hope and wish of the last shōgun.
But it was not to be. The powerful clans who for
years had labored for the destruction of the Tokugawa
primacy were ready to undertake the responsibility
of a new government. And although the
change was not to be effected without a struggle,
yet from this point may be counted to begin the
new period of the restoration.
</p>

</div>

<pb n='367'/><anchor id='Pg367'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf'/>
<head>Chapter XV. The Restored Empire.</head>

<p>
The resignation of the shōgun was accepted by
the emperor, on the understanding that a conference
of the daimyōs was to be called and its opinion
taken in reference to the subsequent conduct of
affairs. In the meantime the ex-shōgun, under the
command of the emperor, was to continue the administration,
particularly of those interests which
concerned the foreign powers. But the allied western
daimyōs feared the effect of leaving the administration
in the hands of their enemies. The possession
of the person of the emperor was always reckoned
an important advantage. Especially was this
the case when the emperor was only a boy, whose
influence in the affairs of the government could
have little weight. They resolved, therefore, to
take measures which would definitely ensure the
termination of the shōgun's power, and secure for
themselves the result for which they had been so
long laboring.
</p>

<p>
On January 3, 1868, by a so-called order of the
emperor,<note place='foot'>See translation of
<hi rend='italic'>Kinsé Shiriaku</hi>, Yokohama, p. 82.</note>
but really by the agreement of the allied
<pb n='368'/><anchor id='Pg368'/>
daimyōs, the troops of the Aizu clan, who were in
charge of the palace gates, were dismissed from their
duty, and their place assumed by troops of the clans
of Satsuma, Tosa, Aki, Owari, and Echizen. The
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kugés</foreign>
who surrounded the court and who were favorable
to the Tokugawa party were discharged and
forbidden to enter its precincts. The vacant places
were filled by adherents of the new order of things.
The offices of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kwambaku</foreign>
and <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>shōgun</foreign> were by imperial
edict abolished. A provisional plan of administration
was adopted and persons of adequate rank
appointed to conduct the several departments. <q>A
decree was issued announcing that the government
of the country was henceforth solely in the hands
of the imperial court.</q><note place='foot'>See translation of
<hi rend='italic'>Kinsé Shiriaku</hi>, Yokohama, p. 82.</note>
</p>

<p>
One of the first acts of the new government was
to recall the daimyō of Chōshū, who had been expelled
from Kyōto, in 1863, and to invite back the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kugés</foreign>
who had been exiled and deprived of their
revenues and honors. The sentence of confiscation
which had been pronounced upon them was abrogated
and they were restored to their former privileges.
One of them, Sanjo Saneyoshi, as prime
minister spent the remainder of his life in reviving
the ancient and original form of government. The
Chōshū troops who had been driven out of the capital
in 1863, were recalled and given a share with the
loyal clans in guarding the palace of the emperor.
</p>

<p>
This powerful clan,<note place='foot'>With that talent for
nicknaming which the Japanese exhibit, the
leading party in the new government was called
<hi rend='italic'>Sat-chō-to</hi>; derived
from the first syllables of the clans, Satsuma, Chōshū, and
Tosa.</note> which had suffered such a
<pb n='369'/><anchor id='Pg369'/>
varied experience, was destined to take and maintain
a leading position in the future development of
the restored empire.
</p>

<p>
The Aizu and other clans which had been devoted
friends of the Tokugawa shōguns were especially
outraged by this conciliatory spirit shown to the
Chōshū troops. They claimed that this clan by
resisting the imperial commands had merited the
opprobrious title of rebels (<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>chōtoki</foreign>),
and were no longer fit for the association of loyal clans. But the
Chōshū daimyō had been restored to the favor of his
emperor, and moreover was allied with the clans
whose power was paramount at Kyōto, so that the
disapprobation of the Tokugawa adherents had little
terror for him.
</p>

<p>
At the suggestion of his friends the shōgun retired
to his castle at Ōsaka, and the troops attached
to his cause also retreated and gathered under his
standard. The situation of affairs was for a time
uncertain. The shōgun had resigned, and his resignation
had been accepted, but he had been asked
by the emperor to continue his administration. Subsequently,
under the pressure of the allied clans, the
emperor had abolished the shōgunate and entrusted
the administration to a provisional government.
This last action the friends of the ex-shōgun resented
as the doings of revolutionists. It is believed
that he himself was averse to further conflict. Any
step which he might take in the vindication of his
rights must involve war with the allied clans, and he
was not a man of war.
</p>

<p>
While these critical events were taking place, the
<pb n='370'/><anchor id='Pg370'/>
representatives of foreign powers came down from
Yedo to Hyōgo with an impressive array of men-of-war.
By invitation of the ex-shōgun they visited
him at Ōsaka. In reply to the representatives he
made an address,<note place='foot'>See Adams'
<hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>, vol. ii., p. 84.</note>
complaining of the arbitrary conduct
of those who now had possession of the imperial
person, and notifying them that he was willing
and able to protect their rights under the treaties,
and asking them to await the action of a conference
to be summoned. In consequence of the conflict
which was now imminent, the representatives of the
treaty powers issued a notice to their citizens that
neutrality must be maintained under all circumstances,
and arms and ammunition must not be sold
to either party.
</p>

<p>
The first armed conflict between the two parties
took place during the closing days of January, 1868.
Two of the allied daimyōs, Owari and Echizen, were
sent to Ōsaka to confer with the ex-shōgun, in the
hope that some terms might be agreed upon, by
which further difficulty could be avoided. They were
both Tokugawa daimyōs, Owari belonging to one of
the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>go-sanké</foreign>
families, and Echizen being a descendant
of Ieyasu's son. They offered to the ex-shōgun
an honorable appointment, and if he would come to
Kyōto they assured him a ready audience before the
emperor. He promised to obey the emperor's command
and visit the capital.
</p>

<p>
After the envoys had gone his friends raised suspicions
in his mind concerning his personal safety.
The daimyōs of Aizu and Kuwana offered to accompany
<pb n='371'/><anchor id='Pg371'/>
him in case he determined to go. They organized,
therefore, a force of about 10,000 men with
which they proposed to escort him. He must have
known that a formidable military escort like this
would precipitate a conflict. However, he set out.
The news of the preparations of the ex-shōgun was
brought to Kyōto, and aroused a determination to
resist his invasion of the capital. He had been
invited to the palace by the emperor, but he was to
come as a peaceful visitor. If he had determined to
come with a guard composed of the enemies of the
empire he must be resisted.
</p>

<p>
Troops of the Satsuma and Chōshū clans were,
therefore, posted to intercept the march of the ex-shōgun's
escort. It is believed that they numbered
about 1,500<note place='foot'>The numbers here
given, of 10,000 troops in the rebel army and
1,500 in the imperial army, are much less than those claimed by the
Japanese authorities, but Mr. Satow who had means of ascertaining
the truth gives the numbers as stated in the text. See Adams'
<hi rend='italic'>History of Japan</hi>, vol. ii., p. 99, note.</note>
men. The fighting took place on the
roads leading from Ōsaka to Kyōto, and lasted
during the 28th, 29th, and 30th of January. It
ended in the complete defeat of the rebel army,
although it so far outnumbered its adversaries.
</p>

<p>
The ex-shōgun being thus disappointed in his
plan to enter the capital with a commanding force
retired to his castle at Ōsaka, from which he proceeded
on a steam corvette to Yedo.<note place='foot'>An incident
connected with this return illustrates both the times
and customs of the country. Hori Kura-no-kami, a prominent retainer
of the ex-shōgun, besought his master to commit
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign> as the only
way in which his own honor and the dignity of the Tokugawa clan
could be preserved. He offered to join him in this tragic ceremony,
but the ex-shōgun declined to end his life in this way. Thereupon
the devoted retainer retired and in the presence of his own friends
himself committed <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign>.</note>
The castle at
<pb n='372'/><anchor id='Pg372'/>
Ōsaka was burnt, and the defeated troops made
their way by land to the same rendezvous. The
antipathy existing between the Satsuma clan and
the Tokugawa adherents showed itself in a very pronounced
manner in Yedo. The Satsuma <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>yashiki</foreign>,
which was occupied by troops of that clan and by
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ronins</foreign>
favorable to them was surrounded by Tokugawa
troops and burnt. Collisions between the
two parties were of constant occurrence, which continued
until the arrival of the imperial troops restored
order. In Hyōgo too, which with Ōsaka was opened
to foreign trade on the first of January, 1868, there
were difficulties between the foreigners and anti-foreign
element in the population. But these
troubles rapidly disappeared, because the new government
took pains at once to make it plain that the
treaties with foreign powers were to be kept, and
outrages committed against those who were in
the country under these treaties were not to be
tolerated.
</p>

<p>
On February 8, 1868, the emperor sent to the
foreign representatives a request that they communicate
to their governments the fact that hereafter the
administration of both internal and external affairs
would be conducted by him, and that officers would
be appointed to conduct the business which may
arise under the foreign treaties.
</p>

<p>
In token of the sincerity of this communication
an invitation was conveyed to the representatives of
<pb n='373'/><anchor id='Pg373'/>
the powers then at Hyōgo to present themselves
before the emperor on March 23d. The significance
of this event can scarcely now be conceived. Never
before in the history of the empire had its divine
head deigned to admit to his presence the despised
foreigner, or put himself on an equality with the
sovereign of the foreigner. The event created in the
ancient capital the utmost excitement. The French
and Dutch ministers had each in turn been conducted
to the palace and had been received in
audience. No serious incident had occurred. But
during the progress of Sir Harry Parkes,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>American
Diplomatic Correspondence</hi>, April 3, 1868.</note> the British
representative, from his lodgings to the palace, two
fanatical <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>
rushed upon his escort, and before
they could be overpowered wounded nine of them.
One of the would-be assassins was killed and the
other was captured after being desperately wounded.
The party returned at once to the lodgings of the
envoy who fortunately was uninjured.
</p>

<p>
The court, by whose invitation the ministers had
undertaken to present themselves before the emperor,
was overwhelmed with mortification. High
officers at once waited upon Sir Harry and tendered
their sympathy and profound regret. After making
every reparation in their power, arrangements were
made to hold the audience on the day following that
originally appointed. It was held accordingly without
further incident. Warned by this alarming
occurrence, the government issued an edict, that as
the treaties had now been sanctioned by the emperor,
the protection of foreigners was henceforth
<pb n='374'/><anchor id='Pg374'/>
his particular care; that if therefore any
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>
were to be guilty of an outrage against them, he
should be degraded from his rank, and denied the
honorable privilege of committing
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign>; he
should suffer the punishment of a common criminal
and have his head exposed in token of dishonor.
Miyeda Shigeru, the surviving culprit, was thus
punished.
</p>

<p>
The scene of the brief contest was now shifted to
the east. The ex-shōgun seemed to vacillate between
a complete surrender of his power and a provisional
retention of it until the will of the nation
could be taken by a conference of the daimyōs. On
the arrival of the imperial forces in Yedo the final
terms of his future treatment were announced to the
ex-shōgun: That he retire to Mito, and there live in
seclusion; that the castle in Yedo be evacuated;
and that the vessels and armaments now in the possession
of the ex-shōgun be surrendered. These
terms were accepted, and he took up his residence
in his ancestral province of Mito. Subsequently he
was permitted to remove to the castle of Sumpu at
Shizuoka. With him the dynasty of Tokugawa
shōguns vanishes from history.
</p>

<p>
His adherents, however, still continued to resist
the imperial forces. For months the Aizu troops
hovered about Yedo, and at last came to blows with
the imperial troops at the grounds of the Uyeno
temple on July 4, 1868. It was a hard-fought battle,
and was at last decided by an Armstrong gun in the
hands of the Hizen troops. The fine old temple was
destroyed, and the rebel forces withdrew to the north.
</p>

<pb n='375'/><anchor id='Pg375'/>

<p>
Further complications arose&mdash;fighting at Utsunomiya,
etc.,&mdash;but at last they were ended by the surrender
of the castle of Wakamatsu, where the daimyō
of Aizu had made a stand. With generous fortitude
he took the blame upon himself and submitted to
the clemency of his sovereign.
</p>

<p>
It is only necessary now in order to bring to a
close the account of this short military contest, to
refer to the movements of the fleet lying at Shinagawa.
It will be remembered that by the terms
accepted by the ex-shōgun these vessels were to be
surrendered to the imperial forces. There were
seven of them, mounting in all eighty-three guns.
They were under the command of Enomoto Izumi-no-kami,
who had learned in Holland the science of
naval war. He did not approve of his master surrendering
these muniments of war. On the morning
of the day when the vessels were to be delivered
over to the imperial commander, they had disappeared
from their anchorage. In the night
Enomoto had got up steam, crept out through Yedo
bay, and sailed northward to more friendly climes.
The imperial fleet followed, and after some manœuvring
at Sendai proceeded to Hakodate. Here the
warlike operations between the rebels and the
imperial troops lasted till July, 1869. Finally, the
leaders, Enomoto and Matsudaira Tarō, seeing that
it was hopeless to contend longer against a constantly
increasing enemy, offered to commit <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign>,
in order that their followers might be saved by a
surrender. Their unselfish purpose was not, however,
permitted. Then it was determined that the
<pb n='376'/><anchor id='Pg376'/>
two leaders should give themselves up to the besiegers,
to save the rest. This was done. The prisoners
were sent to Yedo, and their gallant conduct and
heroic devotion to the cause of their prince were so
keenly appreciated that they were all pardoned.
</p>

<p>
While these events were transpiring in the east
and north, the work of establishing a system of administration
was proceeded with at Kyōto.
</p>

<p>
A constitution was drawn up, detailing the various
departments of the government, and the duties of
the officers in each. These departments were:
1. Of supreme administration; 2. of the Shintō
religion; 3. of home affairs; 4. of foreign affairs;
5. of war; 6. of finance; 7. of judicial affairs; 8. of
legislative affairs. This scheme underwent several
changes, and for a long time was regarded as only
tentative.
</p>

<p>
The ablest men in the movements which were
now in progress were afraid of the traditions of
indulgence and effeminacy which attached to the
court at Kyōto. In order to restore the government
to a true and self-respecting basis, it seemed necessary
to cut loose from the centuries of seclusion in
which the emperor had remained, and enter upon
the work of governing the empire as a serious and
solemn task. It was in this spirit that Ōkubo
Toshimichi of Satsuma, one of the ablest of the
statesmen of the new era, made in 1868 a novel and
startling proposition. It was in a memorial<note place='foot'>An English
translation of this memorial will be found in Black's
<hi rend='italic'>New Japan</hi>, vol. ii., p. 84. It shows what prejudices the
statesmen of that day had to overcome. See also <hi rend='italic'>American Diplomatic
Correspondence</hi>, 1868, p. 727.</note> addressed
<pb n='377'/><anchor id='Pg377'/>
by him to the emperor. He proposed that
the emperor should abandon the traditions which
had grown up respecting his person and his court,
and rule his empire with personal supervision. To
do this successfully, he recommended that the capital
be transferred from the place of its degrading superstitions
to a new home. He suggested that Ōsaka
be the place selected.
</p>

<p>
If the emperor's court had been under the same
influences as had governed it in past years, such a
proposition would have been received with horror.
Perhaps even the bold proposer would have been
deemed fit for the ceremony of
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign>. But the
men who surrounded the emperor belonged to a
different school, and the emperor himself, although
he was still an inexperienced youth, had already begun
to breathe the freer air of a new life. The proposition
was welcomed, and led to the great change
which followed. After discussion and consideration
it was determined that the emperor should make his
residence not in Ōsaka, which would have been a
great and impressive change, but in Yedo, where for
two hundred and fifty years the family of Ieyasu
had wielded the destinies of the empire. By this
change more than any other was emphasized the
fact that hereafter the executive as well as the ultimate
power was to be found in the same imperial
hands.
</p>

<p>
Acting on these principles the emperor followed
his victorious army and, November 26, 1869, arrived
at Yedo and took up his residence in the castle.
Reports were made to him of the complete settlement
<pb n='378'/><anchor id='Pg378'/>
of all difficulties in the north and the establishment
of peace. In token of his arrival the name of
Yedo had been changed to Tōkyō<note place='foot'>See
<hi rend='italic'>Kinsé Shiriaku</hi>, Yokohama, p. 116.</note> (eastern capital),
by which name it has since been known. As a compensation
to the disappointed and disheartened citizens
of Kyōto, their city received the corresponding
designation of Saikyō (western capital). The year-period,
which from January, 1865, had borne the
name of Keiō, had been changed to <hi rend='italic'>Meiji</hi><note place='foot'>See
<hi rend='italic'>Kinsé Shiriaku</hi>, Yokohama, p. 125. Also <hi rend='italic'>American
Diplomatic Correspondence</hi>, March 14, 1871.</note> (Enlightened
Peace), and was fixed to begin from
January, 1868. Heretofore the year-periods had
been changed whenever it seemed desirable to mark
a fortunate epoch. But by the edict establishing the
<hi rend='italic'>Meiji</hi> year-period, it was settled that hereafter an
emperor was to make but one change in the year-period
during his reign.
</p>

<p>
The emperor returned to the western capital during
the spring of 1869 for a brief visit. The usual
etiquette of mourning for his father required his
presence at the imperial tomb. He also availed himself
of this visit to wed the present empress, who was
a princess of the house of Ichijō,<note place='foot'>This house
was one of the five regent families
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>go-sekké</foreign>) all of
the Fujiwara clan, from whom the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kwambaku</foreign>,
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>daijō-daijin</foreign>, or
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>sesshō</foreign>, the highest officers under
the emperor, were always filled and from which the emperors selected their
wives.&mdash;Dickson's <hi rend='italic'>Japan</hi>, p. 52.</note> one of the ancient
families descended from the Fujiwara. He came
back again in April, but there was so much opposition
on the part of the inhabitants of the ancient
<pb n='379'/><anchor id='Pg379'/>
capital to the complete loss of their emperor, that it
was deemed most prudent for the newly married
empress to remain behind. She did not set out for
Tōkyō to join her husband until the November following,
where she arrived without incident.
</p>

<p>
A surprising reminiscence of the Christianity which
was supposed to have been extinguished in the seventeenth
century came to light in 1865. Several Christian
communities in the neighborhood of Nagasaki<note place='foot'>See Chamberlain's
<hi rend='italic'>Things Japanese</hi>, 1892, p. 300.</note>
were discovered, who had preserved their faith for
more than two hundred years. Without priests,
without teachers, almost without any printed instruction,
they had kept alive by tradition through
successive generations a knowledge of the religion
which their ancestors had professed. These communities
had no doubt maintained a discreet quiet as
to the tenets of their belief. They had a traditional
fear of the persecution to which their fathers had
been subjected and sought by silence to remain undisturbed.
It was the rejoicing at their discovery
which directed the attention of the government to
the fire which had been so long smouldering.
</p>

<p>
A new edict of the imperial government, displayed
upon the public edict-boards in 1868, first called the
notice of the foreign representatives to the measures
which were being taken.<note place='foot'>Adams' <hi rend='italic'>History of
Japan</hi>, vol. ii., p. 126. <hi rend='italic'>American Diplomatic
Correspondence</hi>, May 30, 1868.</note> It was as follows: <q>The
evil sect called Christian is strictly prohibited. Suspicious
persons should be reported to the proper
officers, and rewards will be given.</q> Nearly all the
<pb n='380'/><anchor id='Pg380'/>
ministers of foreign powers remonstrated against
this proclamation, as throwing discredit on the religions
of their countries. The Japanese officials
defended the punishment of Christians by alleging
the national prejudice against them, which had come
from the preceding centuries. They argued that the
question was one of purely domestic concern, of
which foreign nations could have no adequate
knowledge, and in which they had no right to
interfere.
</p>

<p>
The Christians chiefly lived in Urakami, a village
near Nagasaki. They were said to number about
four thousand. Orders were sent by the government
from Tōkyō in June, 1868, that all the families
who would not recant should be deported and
put in the charge of daimyōs in different provinces.
Only a small part of the Christians were thus exiled.
The government probably dealt with greater leniency
because they found the treaty powers so deeply interested.
Subsequently the measures taken against
the native Christians were withdrawn. In March,
1872, those who had been dispersed among the
daimyōs were granted permission to return to their
homes, and persecution for religious belief was ended
forever.
</p>

<p>
On April 17, 1869, before his court and an assembly
of daimyōs, the emperor took what has been called
the charter oath<note place='foot'>Iyenaga's
<hi rend='italic'>Constitutional Development of Japan</hi>, p.
33.</note> in five articles, in substance, as
follows:
</p>

<p>
1. A deliberative assembly shall be formed, and all
measures decided by public opinion.
</p>

<pb n='381'/><anchor id='Pg381'/>

<p>
2. The principles of social and political economics
should be diligently studied by both the superior
and inferior classes of our people.
</p>

<p>
3. Every one in the community shall be assisted
to persevere in carrying out his will for all good
purposes.
</p>

<p>
4. All the absurd usages of former times should
be disregarded, and the impartiality and justice displayed
in the workings of nature be adopted as the
basis of action.
</p>

<p>
5. Wisdom and ability should be sought after in
all quarters of the world for the purpose of firmly
establishing the foundations of the empire.
</p>

<p>
The promise in the first article to establish a deliberative
assembly was watched with the greatest
solicitude. And when during the same year the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kogisho</foreign><note place='foot'>See the
despatch of Sir Harry Parkes, <hi rend='italic'>British State Papers</hi>,
Japan, 1870.</note> (parliament) was called together, great hopes
were entertained of its usefulness. It was composed
of persons representing each of the daimiates, who
were chosen for the position by the daimyōs. It was
a quiet peaceful debating society,<note place='foot'>See Iyenaga's
<hi rend='italic'>Constitutional Development of Japan</hi>, p. 35.</note> whose function
was to give advice to the imperial government.
</p>

<p>
That it was a thoroughly conservative body is
apparent from the result of its discussion upon
several of the traditional customs of Japan. On the
proposition to recommend the abolition of the privilege
of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>hara-kiri</foreign> the vote stood: Ayes 3, noes 200,
and not voting 6. On the proposition to abolish
the wearing of swords, which was introduced and
<pb n='382'/><anchor id='Pg382'/>
advocated by Mori Arinori, the final vote was
unanimously against it in a house of 213.<note place='foot'>See
<hi rend='italic'>British State Papers</hi>, 1870, Japan.</note> After a
short and uneventful career the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kogisho</foreign> was dissolved
in the autumn of the same year in which it was
summoned. It had been a step, but not a very
important step, in the direction of parliamentary
government.
</p>

<p>
We must now give an account of the most remarkable
event in the modern history of Japan.
We refer to the termination of feudalism by the
voluntary surrender of their feudal rights on the
part of the daimyōs. This action was a logical consequence
of the restoration of the executive power
into the hands of the emperor. It was felt by the
statesmen of this period that in order to secure a
government which could grapple successfully with
the many questions which would press upon it,
there must be a centralization of the powers which
were now distributed among the powerful daimyōs
of the empire. To bring this about by force was
impossible. To discover among the princes a willingness
to give up their hereditary privileges and
come down to the position of a powerless aristocracy
was something for which we have hitherto looked
in vain.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/arinori.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Mori Arinori.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
Doubtless the <foreign rend='italic'>fainéant</foreign> condition of nearly all the
daimyōs at this time made the accomplishment of
this event more easy. With only a few exceptions,
the hereditary princes of the provinces had come to
be merely the formal chiefs of their daimiates. The
real power was in the hands of the energetic and
<pb n='383'/><anchor id='Pg383'/>
capable <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>, who were employed to manage
the affairs. They saw that any scheme for transferring
the political authority of the daimyōs to the central
government would render more important their services.
They would become not merely the formal
administrative functionaries, but the real officers to
whom responsible duties and trusts would be confided.
Some of this class of subordinates had already
<pb n='384'/><anchor id='Pg384'/>
in the new imperial government tasted the savoriness
of this kind of service, and they were ready to carry
out a plan which seemed to have patriotism and
practicability in its favor.
</p>

<p>
The most notable circumstance in this series of
events was the presentation to the emperor of an
elaborate memorial signed by the daimyōs of Chōshū,
Satsuma, Tosa, Hizen, Kaga, and others, offering
him the lists of their possessions and men. This
memorial<note place='foot'>A translation of
this memorial will be found in the <hi rend='italic'>British State
Papers</hi>, 1870, Japan; also cited in Adams' <hi rend='italic'>History
of Japan</hi>, vol. ii., p. 181.</note> appeared in the official gazette March 5,
1869. Its preparation is attributed to Kido Takayoshi,
and bears supreme evidence to his learning
and statesmanship. With lofty eloquence the memorial
exclaims: <q>The place where we live is the
emperor's land, and the food which we eat is grown
by the emperor's men. How can we make it our
own? We now reverently offer up the lists of our
possessions and men, with the prayer that the emperor
will take good measures for rewarding those to
whom reward is due and taking from those to whom
punishment is due. Let the imperial orders be
issued for altering and remodelling the territories of
the various classes.... This is now the most
urgent duty of the emperor, as it is that of his
servants and children.</q>
</p>

<p>
The example thus set by the most powerful and
influential daimyōs was followed rapidly by others.
Two hundred and forty-one<note place='foot'>See an
analysis of the daimyōs who joined in this memorial in
<hi rend='italic'>British State Papers</hi>, 1870, Japan.</note> of the daimyōs united
<pb n='385'/><anchor id='Pg385'/>
in asking the emperor to take back their hereditary
territories. And in the end only a small number
remained who had not so petitioned. Prince Azuki
in his memorial says: <q>1. Let them restore the
territories which they have received from the emperor
and return to a constitutional and undivided
country. 2. Let them abandon their titles and
under the name of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kwazoku</foreign> (persons of honor)
receive such properties as may serve for their wants.
3. Let the officers of the clans abandoning that
title, call themselves officers of the emperor, receiving
property equal to that which they have hitherto
held.</q>
</p>

<p>
In response to these memorials a decree<note place='foot'>See
<hi rend='italic'>British State Papers</hi>, 1870, Japan.</note> was
issued by the emperor August 7, 1869, announcing
the abolition of the daimiates, and the restoration of
their revenues to the imperial treasury. It was also
decreed that the ranks of court nobles
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kugés</foreign>) and of
daimyōs be abolished and the single rank of
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kwazoku</foreign>
be substituted.
</p>

<p>
Thus at one stroke the whole institution of feudalism
which had flourished from the time of Yoritomo
was cut away. The government made provision
for the administration by creating prefectures
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ken</foreign>)
to take the place of daimiates. This was done in
1871. At first the daimyōs were appointed governors
of the prefectures. But it was soon found that
these hereditary princes were as a class utterly unfit
for the chief executive offices of their old provinces.
Hence, one by one other competent persons were
appointed to vacancies, until it came to be understood
<pb n='386'/><anchor id='Pg386'/>
that competence and fitness were to be the
requisite qualifications for such appointments.
</p>

<p>
The financial questions involved in the suppression
of the feudal system were serious and difficult.
When the daimyōs surrendered their fiefs, they did
so with the understanding that they themselves
should <q>receive such properties as may serve their
wants,</q><note place='foot'>See Prince Azuki's
<hi rend='italic'>Memorial</hi>.</note> and that the emperor should take <q>measures
for rewarding those to whom reward is due.</q><note place='foot'>See Kido's Original
<hi rend='italic'>Memorial</hi>.</note>
It was decided that each ex-daimyō, and each of the
suzerains that were dependent on him, should receive
one tenth of the amount of their income from their
fiefs. The ex-daimyōs received this amount free of
any claims upon them for the support of the non-productive
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>, who formed the standing armies
of each clan. The central government assumed all
the payments to the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>
for services of whatever
kind. This heavy charge of the government
was met by borrowing $165,000,000,<note place='foot'>See Mounsey's
<hi rend='italic'>Satsuma Rebellion</hi>, pp. 247, 248.</note> which was
added to the national debt. With this sum they
undertook to capitalize the pensions, which was
finally accomplished by a compulsory enactment.
Each claimant received from the government interest-bearing
bonds for the amount of his income reckoned
at from five to fourteen years' purchase according
to its sum. Thus to the great relief of the country
the matter of pensions was disposed of.
</p>

<p>
To many of the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> this summary settlement
had unfortunate results. The lump sums which
<pb n='387'/><anchor id='Pg387'/>
they received were often soon consumed, and they
were left penniless and helpless. The traditions
under which they had been trained led them to look
down upon labor and trade with disdain, and rendered
them unfit to enter successfully on the careers
of modern life. In many cases worry and disappointment,
and in others poverty and want, have
been the sequels which have closely followed the
poor and obsolete <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai.</foreign>
</p>

<p>
Several minor but noteworthy steps in reform
were taken. The ancient disqualifications of the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>eta</foreign> and
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>heimin</foreign> were removed in 1871, and these
pariahs placed on the same legal footing as the rest
of the population. The first railway in Japan was
opened between Yokohama and Tōkyō in 1872.
The European calendar, so far as it regarded the
beginning of the year and the beginning of the
months, was adopted in 1873. The year was still
counted from Jimmu Tennō, 1873 of the Christian
era corresponding to 2533 of the Japanese era, and
also by the <hi rend='italic'>Meiji</hi> year-period, the commencement of
which was from 1868.
</p>

<p>
Several international events deserve notice here.
A number of Ryūkyū islanders (vassals of Japan)
had been shipwrecked on Formosa and some killed
by the semi-savage inhabitants. To punish this
cruelty, and to insure a more humane treatment in
the future, the Japanese government sent an expedition
under General Saigō Tsugumichi. They made
short work of the inhuman tribes and enforced upon
them the lesson of civility. China, who claimed a
sovereignty over this island, acknowledged the service
<pb n='388'/><anchor id='Pg388'/>
Japan had rendered, and agreed to pay an indemnity
for the expenses of the expedition.
</p>

<p>
The long-pending dispute between Russia and
Japan concerning the boundary in Saghalien was
settled in 1875 by a treaty<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Treaties
and Conventions between Japan and Other Powers</hi>,
Tōkyō, 1864, p. 646.</note> which exchanged the
Japanese claims in Saghalien for the Kurile islands
(Chishima).
</p>

<p>
An unexpected attack by the Koreans upon a Japanese
steamer asking coal and provisions awakened
an intense excitement in Japan. An expedition
after the pattern of Commodore Perry's, under the
command of General Kuroda Kiyotaka, was despatched
in January, 1876, to come to an understanding
with the Koreans. The negotiations were
entirely successful, and a treaty<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Treaties
and Conventions between Japan and Other Powers</hi>,
Tōkyō, 1884, p. 171.</note> of amity and commerce
was concluded, and thus another of the
secluded kingdoms of the East had been brought
into the comity of nations. Then outbreaks of this
kind in Saga, in Higo, in Akizuki, and in Chōshū
occurred, but they were all put down without difficulty
or delay. The promptness with which the
government dealt with these factions boded no good
to the reactionary movements that were ready to
break out in other places.
</p>

<p>
Although the Satsuma clan had taken the most
prominent part in the destruction of the shōgunate
and in the restoration of an imperial government,
there was in it a greater amount of conservatism and
opposition to modern innovations than was to be
<pb n='389'/><anchor id='Pg389'/>
found elsewhere. Indeed, the clan had split into
two distinct parties, the one aiding in all the reforms
and changes which the government was attempting
to carry out, the other holding resolutely to the old
feudal traditions which they saw endangered by the
present attitude of the emperor's counsellors. The
latter party had for its leaders Shimazu Saburō and
Saigō Takamori, both of whom had played conspicuous
parts in the recent history of their country.
The government had tried to conciliate these two
influential men and to secure their co-operation in
the administration. But both had retired from
Tōkyō, and declined longer to share the responsibility
of a course which they could not approve.
</p>

<p>
Saigō, who was the idol of the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>, after
his retirement established near Kagoshima a military
school, where the young men of that class were
drilled in the duties of the army. Branch schools
on the same model were also carried on in several
other places in the province. In all it was said that
not less than 20,000 young
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign> were receiving a
training in these dangerous schools. They were
filled with the most violent antipathy to the government
and were with difficulty restrained, even by
their leaders, from outbreaks in sympathy with the
uprisings which elsewhere were taking place.
</p>

<p>
The government was naturally solicitous concerning
these collections of inflammable material. A
collision with the students over the removal of some
stores of arms and ammunition, revealed their readiness
to break into rebellion. It is not improbable
that designing conspirators took advantage of the
<pb n='390'/><anchor id='Pg390'/>
open and chivalric character of Saigō to push him
into the initiation of hostilities. Admiral Kawamura,
himself a Satsuma man and a connection of Saigō, was
sent down to hold an interview with him and if possible
to make a peaceful settlement. But the interview
was declined. The rebellious elements were
at once gathered together, and Saigō, at the head
of a force of 14,000 men, started about the middle of
February, 1877, on his march up the west coast
of Kyūshū, on his way to Tōkyō. The conspirators
estimated that a force of 30,000 troops could be
counted on to take part in the expedition.
</p>

<p>
The first impediment in their march was the castle
of Kumamoto,<note place='foot'>This castle
was built by Katō Kiyomasa after his return from the
Korean war. It still stands, being one of the most notable castles of
Japan.</note> where the government had a garrison
of 2,000 to 3,000 men under General Tani. Saigō
determined to reduce it before making further progress.
He spent several weeks in this vain attempt.
This was a precious delay for the government, which
it spent in organizing and sending forward troops
for opposing the advance of the rebels. All available
forces were collected and put in motion to the
seat of war. Prince Arisugawa-no-miya was appointed
commander-in-chief and established his headquarters
at Fukuoka.
</p>

<p>
The equipment of troops at the seat of government
was under the supervision of General Saigō
Tsugumichi, a younger brother of the rebel leader.
Loyal as he was to his emperor, it was a painful
task for him to organize war against his brother.
<pb n='391'/><anchor id='Pg391'/>
With native delicacy he left to others the duty of
fighting on the field, and confined himself to the less
conspicuous part of gathering and sending troops as
they were needed.
</p>

<p>
The rebels had besieged Kumamoto and had already
reduced it to great straits. But the imperial
forces came in time to its relief. There was desperate
fighting, but at last the besiegers were compelled
to withdraw.
</p>

<p>
They retreated toward the east coast with the
apparent purpose of seeking a way to the north by
Hyūga and Bungo. Promptly they were followed
and confined to a defensive attitude. The most
desperate battles were fought in this part of the
campaign. Though disappointed and outnumbered,
the rebels fought with consummate bravery. They
were almost in the shadow of the mountains where
their celestial ancestor was fabled to have descended
upon the Japanese islands.<note place='foot'>See p.
<ref target='Pg047'>47</ref>.</note> Their last stand was at
Nobeoka in the northeast corner of Hyūga. Their
leaders realized that to continue the contest would
only cause unnecessary and hopeless slaughter.
</p>

<p>
Under these circumstances Saigō saw that to end
the fighting and save his followers he must leave
them. Accordingly with about two hundred of
those who were personally devoted to him, he broke
through the imperial line and escaped to Kagoshima.
The army, finding they were forsaken, surrendered,
August 19, 1877. Saigō, with his little band, entrenched
himself on the summit of the hill Shiroyama
overlooking Kagoshima. Here he was surrounded
<pb n='392'/><anchor id='Pg392'/>
by the imperial forces and bombarded night and
day. The veteran leader was at last wounded in the
thigh, and seeing that all hope of escape was gone,
he requested one of his lieutenants to perform for
him the friendly office of severing his head from his
body. After the capture of the stronghold, the
bodies of Saigō and his comrades were discovered.
Admiral Kawamura himself with tender hands
washed the bloody head of his dead friend, and saw
that the bodies of all were decently buried. Thus,
on September 24, 1877, the last and most serious of
the attempts which have been made to disturb the
empire in its new career came to an end.
</p>

<p>
There was, however, one mournful sequel to this
rebellion. Ōkubo Toshimichi, a statesman and
patriot of the purest type, had from the beginning
resisted the reactionary movements of his clan. At
the time of the rebellion he was minister of Home
Affairs and put forth all his exertions to suppress it.
A baseless slander that he had sent to Satsuma hired
assassins to take Saigō's life, had been used by the
reckless conspirators to force the rebel leader to an
outbreak. This was believed by many of the
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>samurai</foreign>,
not only in Satsuma but in other provinces. On
May 14, 1878, Tōkyō was startled by the news that
Ōkubo, while driving through a secluded spot in
the old castle grounds, on his way to the emperor's
palace, had been murdered. The assassins were from
the province of Kaga, and gave as the reason for
their crime their desire to avenge the death of Saigō.
Japan could ill afford to spare at this time her most
clear-headed statesman and her noblest and most
unflinching patriot.
</p>

<pb n='393'/><anchor id='Pg393'/>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/okubo.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Okubo Toshimichi.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
What followed these important events must be
told in a summary manner. There was a powerful
and growing party in the empire, who looked forward
to a modification of the absolute form of
government to which they had returned in 1868.
This party was particularly aggressive in the province
of Tosa. They recalled to themselves and
others the solemn pledge which the emperor had
<pb n='394'/><anchor id='Pg394'/>
given to his people in his charter oath,<note place='foot'>See
p. <ref target='Pg380'>380</ref>.</note> when he
announced that <q>a deliberative assembly shall be
formed, and all measures decided by public opinion.</q>
</p>

<p>
The ruling minds in the government feared that
the people were too inexperienced and too unaccustomed
to deciding and acting for themselves to be
entrusted with the grave duty of constitutional government.
As a preparation for so important a step
local assemblies were authorized and established in
1878. Matters referring to the government of each
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>fu</foreign> and
<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>ken</foreign> were to be discussed, and to a certain
extent decided in these assemblies. It was believed
that the experience gained in such bodies would go
far towards preparing men for service in an imperial
legislative body. The expectations founded on these
local assemblies were realized and in a fair degree
they continued to fulfil their purpose.
</p>

<p>
In further pursuance of the plan of constitutional
government, the emperor, on February 11, 1889, at
his palace, promulgated a constitution<note place='foot'>This able
document was prepared by Count Itō Hirobumi. An
official translation was published at Yokohama in 1889.</note> for his people.
In the presence of his cabinet and court he
took a solemn oath to govern under its limitations
and powers. This constitution contains seven chapters
consisting of one hundred and eleven articles:
Chapter I. The Emperor; II. Rights and Duties of
Subjects; III. The Imperial Diet; IV. The Ministers
of State and Privy Council; V. The Judicature;
VI. Finance; VII. Supplementary Rules.
The emperor also announced that the imperial diet
<pb n='396'/><anchor id='Pg396'/>
would be convoked in the twenty-third year of
<hi rend='italic'>Meiji</hi> (1890), and that the constitution would go
into effect at the date of its assembling.
</p>

<p rend='text-align: center'>
  <figure url='images/ito.png' rend='width: 50%'>
    <head>Ito Hirobumi.</head>
    <figDesc>Illustration</figDesc>
  </figure>
</p>

<p>
It would seem that no great advance can be
secured in Japan without the sacrifice of a valuable
life. As Ii Kamon-no-kami was murdered in
1860, and as Ōkubo fell by the assassin's hand at the
close of the Satsuma rebellion, so now on the very
day when the emperor was to promulgate this liberal
constitution, Viscount Mori Arinori fell a victim to
the fanatical hatred of one who looked with distrust
upon the progress which his country was making.
No one could look, or did look, on this progress with
more interest than Mori. He had so long and so
earnestly advocated a liberal and tolerant policy in
the councils of his country, and had been a leader in
all that was high and noble, that we cannot regard,
except with profound regret, his untimely death.
</p>

</div>

<pb n='397'/><anchor id='Pg397'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf'/>
<anchor id='Appendix_I'/>
<head>Appendix I. List Of Emperors.</head>

<p>
(The list here printed is the official list issued by the government,
and has been revised by Mr. Tateno, the Japanese Minister at
Washington.)
</p>

<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{4cm} p{1cm} p{1cm} p{1cm} p{1cm}';
             tblcolumns: 'lw(30) rw(10) rw(10) rw(10)'">
<row><cell>Name.</cell><cell>Date of Access.</cell><cell>Date of Death.</cell>
     <cell>Age at Death.</cell></row>
<row><cell>1. Jimmu</cell><cell>660 B.C.</cell><cell>585 B.C.</cell><cell>127</cell></row>
<row><cell>2. Suizei</cell><cell>581</cell><cell>549</cell><cell>84</cell></row>
<row><cell>3. Annei</cell><cell>548</cell><cell>511</cell><cell>57</cell></row>
<row><cell>4. Itoku</cell><cell>510</cell><cell>477</cell><cell>77</cell></row>
<row><cell>5. Kōshō</cell><cell>475</cell><cell>393</cell><cell>114</cell></row>
<row><cell>6. Kōan</cell><cell>392</cell><cell>291</cell><cell>137</cell></row>
<row><cell>7. Kōrei</cell><cell>290</cell><cell>215</cell><cell>128</cell></row>
<row><cell>8. Kōgen</cell><cell>214</cell><cell>158</cell><cell>116</cell></row>
<row><cell>9. Kaikwa</cell><cell>157</cell><cell>98</cell><cell>111</cell></row>
<row><cell>10. Sūjin</cell><cell>97</cell><cell>30 A.D.</cell><cell>119</cell></row>
<row><cell>11. Suinin</cell><cell>29 A.D.</cell><cell>70</cell><cell>141</cell></row>
<row><cell>12. Keikō</cell><cell>71</cell><cell>130</cell><cell>143</cell></row>
<row><cell>13. Seimu</cell><cell>131</cell><cell>190</cell><cell>108</cell></row>
<row><cell>14. Chūai</cell><cell>192</cell><cell>200</cell><cell>52</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jingō (Empress Regent)<note place='foot'>In the
official list Jingō is not reckoned, and the time of her reign
is counted with that of her son and successor.</note></cell><cell>201</cell>
   <cell>269</cell><cell>100</cell></row>
<row><cell>15. Ōjin</cell><cell>270</cell><cell>310</cell><cell>110</cell></row>
<row><cell>16. Nintoku</cell><cell>313</cell><cell>399</cell><cell>110</cell></row>
<pb n='398'/><anchor id='Pg398'/>
<row><cell>17. Richū</cell><cell>400</cell><cell>405</cell><cell>67</cell></row>
<row><cell>18. Hanzei</cell><cell>406</cell><cell>411</cell><cell>60</cell></row>
<row><cell>19. Inkyō</cell><cell>412</cell><cell>453</cell><cell>80</cell></row>
<row><cell>20. Ankō</cell><cell>454</cell><cell>456</cell><cell>56</cell></row>
<row><cell>21. Yūriyaku</cell><cell>457</cell><cell>479</cell>
     <cell>&mdash;&mdash;</cell></row>
<row><cell>22. Seinei</cell><cell>480</cell><cell>484</cell><cell>41</cell></row>
<row><cell>23. Kenzō</cell><cell>485</cell><cell>487</cell>
     <cell>&mdash;&mdash;</cell></row>
<row><cell>24. Ninken</cell><cell>488</cell><cell>498</cell><cell>50</cell></row>
<row><cell>25. Muretsu</cell><cell>499</cell><cell>506</cell><cell>18</cell></row>
<row><cell>26. Keitai</cell><cell>507</cell><cell>531</cell><cell>82</cell></row>
<row><cell>27. Ankan</cell><cell>534</cell><cell>535</cell><cell>70</cell></row>
<row><cell>28. Senkwa</cell><cell>536</cell><cell>539</cell><cell>73</cell></row>
<row><cell>29. Kimmei</cell><cell>540</cell><cell>571</cell><cell>63</cell></row>
<row><cell>30. Bidatsu</cell><cell>572</cell><cell>585</cell><cell>48</cell></row>
<row><cell>31. Yōmei</cell><cell>586</cell><cell>587</cell><cell>69</cell></row>
<row><cell>32. Sujun</cell><cell>588</cell><cell>592</cell><cell>73</cell></row>
<row><cell>33. Suiko (Empress)</cell><cell>593</cell><cell>628</cell>
     <cell>75</cell></row>
<row><cell>34. Jomei</cell><cell>629</cell><cell>641</cell><cell>49</cell></row>
<row><cell>35. Kōkyoku (Empress)</cell><cell>642</cell><cell>&mdash;&mdash;</cell>
     <cell>&mdash;&mdash;</cell></row>
<row><cell>36. Kōtoku</cell><cell>645</cell><cell>654</cell><cell>59</cell></row>
<row><cell>37. Saimei (re-accession of
Kōkyoku</cell><cell>655</cell><cell>661</cell><cell>68</cell></row>
<row><cell>38. Tenji</cell><cell>668</cell><cell>671</cell><cell>58</cell></row>
<row><cell>39. Kōbun</cell><cell>672</cell><cell>672</cell><cell>25</cell></row>
<row><cell>40. Temmu</cell><cell>673</cell><cell>686</cell><cell>65</cell></row>
<row><cell>41. Jitō (Empress)</cell><cell>690</cell><cell>702</cell><cell>58</cell></row>
<row><cell>42. Mommu</cell><cell>697</cell><cell>707</cell><cell>25</cell></row>
<row><cell>43. Gemmyō (Empress)</cell><cell>708</cell><cell>721</cell>
     <cell>61</cell></row>
<row><cell>44. Genshō (Empress)</cell><cell>715</cell><cell>748</cell>
     <cell>69</cell></row>
<row><cell>45. Shōmu</cell><cell>724</cell><cell>756</cell><cell>56</cell></row>
<row><cell>46. Kōken (Empress)</cell><cell>749</cell><cell>&mdash;&mdash;</cell>
      <cell>&mdash;&mdash;</cell></row>
<row><cell>47. Junnin</cell><cell>759</cell><cell>765</cell><cell>33</cell></row>
<pb n='399'/><anchor id='Pg399'/>
<row><cell>48. Kōken (re-enthroned)</cell><cell>765</cell><cell>770</cell>
     <cell>53</cell></row>
<row><cell>49. Kōnin</cell><cell>770</cell><cell>781</cell><cell>73</cell></row>
<row><cell>50. Kwammu</cell><cell>782</cell><cell>806</cell><cell>70</cell></row>
<row><cell>51. Heijō</cell><cell>806</cell><cell>824</cell><cell>51</cell></row>
<row><cell>52. Saga</cell><cell>810</cell><cell>842</cell><cell>57</cell></row>
<row><cell>53. Ninna</cell><cell>824</cell><cell>840</cell><cell>55</cell></row>
<row><cell>54. Nimmyō</cell><cell>834</cell><cell>850</cell><cell>41</cell></row>
<row><cell>55. Montoku</cell><cell>851</cell><cell>858</cell><cell>32</cell></row>
<row><cell>56. Seiwa</cell><cell>859</cell><cell>880</cell><cell>31</cell></row>
<row><cell>57. Yōzei</cell><cell>877</cell><cell>949</cell><cell>82</cell></row>
<row><cell>58. Kōko</cell><cell>885</cell><cell>887</cell><cell>58</cell></row>
<row><cell>59. Uda</cell><cell>888</cell><cell>931</cell><cell>65</cell></row>
<row><cell>60. Daigo</cell><cell>898</cell><cell>930</cell><cell>46</cell></row>
<row><cell>61. Shujaku</cell><cell>931</cell><cell>952</cell><cell>30</cell></row>
<row><cell>62. Muragami</cell><cell>947</cell><cell>967</cell><cell>42</cell></row>
<row><cell>63. Reizei</cell><cell>968</cell><cell>1011</cell><cell>62</cell></row>
<row><cell>64. Enyū</cell><cell>970</cell><cell>991</cell><cell>33</cell></row>
<row><cell>65. Kwazan</cell><cell>985</cell><cell>1008</cell><cell>41</cell></row>
<row><cell>66. Ichiyō</cell><cell>987</cell><cell>1011</cell><cell>32</cell></row>
<row><cell>67. Sanjō</cell><cell>1012</cell><cell>1017</cell><cell>42</cell></row>
<row><cell>68. Go-Ichijō</cell><cell>1017</cell><cell>1028</cell><cell>29</cell></row>
<row><cell>69. Go-Shujaku</cell><cell>1037</cell><cell>1045</cell><cell>37</cell></row>
<row><cell>70. Go-Reizei</cell><cell>1047</cell><cell>1068</cell><cell>44</cell></row>
<row><cell>71. Go-Sanjō</cell><cell>1069</cell><cell>1073</cell><cell>40</cell></row>
<row><cell>72. Shirakawa</cell><cell>1073</cell><cell>1129</cell><cell>77</cell></row>
<row><cell>73. Horikawa</cell><cell>1087</cell><cell>1107</cell><cell>29</cell></row>
<row><cell>74. Toba</cell><cell>1108</cell><cell>1156</cell><cell>54</cell></row>
<row><cell>75. Shutoku</cell><cell>1124</cell><cell>1164</cell><cell>46</cell></row>
<row><cell>76. Konoye</cell><cell>1142</cell><cell>1155</cell><cell>17</cell></row>
<row><cell>77. Go-Shirakawa</cell><cell>1156</cell><cell>1192</cell><cell>66</cell></row>
<row><cell>78. Nijō</cell><cell>1159</cell><cell>1165</cell><cell>23</cell></row>
<row><cell>79. Rokujō</cell><cell>1166</cell><cell>1176</cell><cell>13</cell></row>
<pb n='400'/><anchor id='Pg400'/>
<row><cell>80. Takakura</cell><cell>1169</cell><cell>1181</cell><cell>21</cell></row>
<row><cell>81. Antoku</cell><cell>1181</cell><cell>1185</cell><cell>15</cell></row>
<row><cell>82. Go-Toba</cell><cell>1186</cell><cell>1239</cell><cell>60</cell></row>
<row><cell>83. Tsuchi-mikado</cell><cell>1199</cell><cell>1231</cell><cell>37</cell></row>
<row><cell>84. Juntoku</cell><cell>1211</cell><cell>1242</cell><cell>46</cell></row>
<row><cell>85. Chūkyō</cell><cell>1222</cell><cell>1234</cell><cell>17</cell></row>
<row><cell>86. Go-Horikawa</cell><cell>1221</cell><cell>1234</cell><cell>23</cell></row>
<row><cell>87. Yojō</cell><cell>1232</cell><cell>1242</cell><cell>12</cell></row>
<row><cell>88. Go-Saga</cell><cell>1242</cell><cell>1272</cell><cell>53</cell></row>
<row><cell>89. Go Fukakusa</cell><cell>1246</cell><cell>1304</cell><cell>62</cell></row>
<row><cell>90. Kameyama</cell><cell>1259</cell><cell>1305</cell><cell>57</cell></row>
<row><cell>91. Go-Uda</cell><cell>1274</cell><cell>1324</cell><cell>58</cell></row>
<row><cell>92. Fushimi</cell><cell>1288</cell><cell>1317</cell><cell>53</cell></row>
<row><cell>93. Go-Fushimi</cell><cell>1298</cell><cell>1336</cell><cell>49</cell></row>
<row><cell>94. Go-Nijyō</cell><cell>1301</cell><cell>1308</cell><cell>24</cell></row>
<row><cell>95. Hanazono</cell><cell>1308</cell><cell>1348</cell><cell>52</cell></row>
<row><cell>96. Go-Daigo</cell><cell>1318</cell><cell>1339</cell><cell>52</cell></row>
<row><cell>97. Go-Murakami</cell><cell>1339</cell><cell>1368</cell><cell>41</cell></row>
<row><cell>98. Go-Kameyama</cell><cell>1373</cell><cell>1424</cell><cell>78</cell></row>
<row><cell>99. Go-Komatsu</cell><cell>1382</cell><cell>1433</cell><cell>57</cell></row>
<row><cell>100. Shōkō</cell><cell>1414</cell><cell>1428</cell><cell>28</cell></row>
<row><cell>101. Go-Hanazono</cell><cell>1429</cell><cell>1470</cell><cell>52</cell></row>
<row><cell>102. Go-Tsuchi-mikado</cell><cell>1465</cell><cell>1500</cell>
     <cell>59</cell></row>
<row><cell>103. Go-Kashiwabara</cell><cell>1521</cell><cell>1526</cell>
     <cell>63</cell></row>
<row><cell>104. Go-Nara</cell><cell>1536</cell><cell>1557</cell><cell>62</cell></row>
<row><cell>105. Ōgimachi</cell><cell>1560</cell><cell>1593</cell><cell>77</cell></row>
<row><cell>106. Go-Yojō</cell><cell>1586</cell><cell>1617</cell><cell>47</cell></row>
<row><cell>107. Go-Mizuo</cell><cell>1611</cell><cell>1680</cell><cell>85</cell></row>
<row><cell>108. Myōshō (Empress)</cell><cell>1630</cell><cell>1696</cell>
     <cell>74</cell></row>
<row><cell>109. Go-Kōmyō</cell><cell>1643</cell><cell>1654</cell><cell>22</cell></row>
<row><cell>110. Go-Nishio</cell><cell>1656</cell><cell>1685</cell><cell>49</cell></row>
<row><cell>111. Reigen</cell><cell>1663</cell><cell>1732</cell><cell>79</cell></row>
<pb n='401'/><anchor id='Pg401'/>
<row><cell>112. Higashiyama</cell><cell>1687</cell><cell>1709</cell><cell>35</cell></row>
<row><cell>113. Naka-mikado</cell><cell>1710</cell><cell>1737</cell><cell>37</cell></row>
<row><cell>114. Sakuramachi</cell><cell>1720</cell><cell>1750</cell><cell>31</cell></row>
<row><cell>115. Momozono</cell><cell>1747</cell><cell>1762</cell><cell>22</cell></row>
<row><cell>116. Go-Sakuramachi (Empress)</cell><cell>1763</cell><cell>1813</cell>
     <cell>74</cell></row>
<row><cell>117. Go-Momozono</cell><cell>1771</cell><cell>1779</cell><cell>22</cell></row>
<row><cell>118. Kōkaku</cell><cell>1780</cell><cell>1840</cell><cell>70</cell></row>
<row><cell>119. Jinkō</cell><cell>1817</cell><cell>1846</cell><cell>47</cell></row>
<row><cell>120. Kōmei</cell><cell>1847</cell><cell>1867</cell><cell>37</cell></row>
<row><cell>121. Mutsuhito (reigning emperor)</cell><cell>1868</cell><cell></cell>
     <cell></cell></row>
</table>

</div>

<pb n='402'/><anchor id='Pg402'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf'/>
<head>Appendix II. List Of Year Periods.<note place='foot'><p>From
<hi rend='italic'>Japanese Chronological Tables</hi>, by William Bramsen, 1880.
</p>
<p>
The system of counting from year-periods
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>nengō</foreign>) was introduced
from China. These periods of Japanese history do not correspond
to the reigns of the emperors. A new one was chosen whenever it
was deemed necessary to commemorate an auspicious or ward off a
malign event. By a notification issued in 1872 it was announced
that hereafter the year-period should be changed but once during the
reign of an emperor. The current period, <hi rend='italic'>Meiji</hi> (Enlightened Peace),
will therefore continue during the reign of the present emperor.
</p>
<p>
The numbers in the second column of this table indicate the years
as counted from the founding of the empire by Jimmu Tennō.
According to the official chronology this occurred <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi>
660.</p></note></head>

<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{4cm} p{1cm} p{1cm} p{1cm}';
             tblcolumns: 'lw(20) r r'">
<row><cell>Name.</cell><cell>Japanese Era.</cell><cell>Christian Era.</cell></row>
<row><cell>Taikwa</cell><cell>1305</cell><cell>645</cell></row>
<row><cell>Hakuchi</cell><cell>1310</cell><cell>650</cell></row>
<row><cell>Saimei</cell><cell>1315</cell><cell>655</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tenji</cell><cell>1322</cell><cell>662</cell></row>
<row><cell>Sujaku</cell><cell>1332</cell><cell>672</cell></row>
<row><cell>Hakuhō</cell><cell>1333</cell><cell>673</cell></row>
<row><cell>Suchō</cell><cell>1346</cell><cell>686</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jitō</cell><cell>1347</cell><cell>687</cell></row>
<row><cell>Momm</cell><cell>1357</cell><cell>697</cell></row>
<row><cell>Daihō</cell><cell>1361</cell><cell>701</cell></row>
<row><cell>Keiun</cell><cell>1364</cell><cell>704</cell></row>
<row><cell>Wadō</cell><cell>1368</cell><cell>708</cell></row>
<row><cell>Reiki</cell><cell>1375</cell><cell>715</cell></row>
<pb n='403'/><anchor id='Pg403'/>
<row><cell>Yōrō</cell><cell>1377</cell><cell>717</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jinki</cell><cell>1384</cell><cell>724</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tembiō</cell><cell>1389</cell><cell>729</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tembiō shōhō</cell><cell>1409</cell><cell>749</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tembiō hōji</cell><cell>1417</cell><cell>757</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tembiō jingo</cell><cell>1425</cell><cell>765</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jingo keiun</cell><cell>1427</cell><cell>767</cell></row>
<row><cell>Hōki</cell><cell>1430</cell><cell>770</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tenō</cell><cell>1441</cell><cell>781</cell></row>
<row><cell>Enriaku</cell><cell>1442</cell><cell>782</cell></row>
<row><cell>Daidō</cell><cell>1466</cell><cell>806</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kōnin</cell><cell>1470</cell><cell>810</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tenchō</cell><cell>1484</cell><cell>824</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jōwa</cell><cell>1494</cell><cell>834</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kajō</cell><cell>1508</cell><cell>848</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ninju</cell><cell>1511</cell><cell>851</cell></row>
<row><cell>Saikō</cell><cell>1514</cell><cell>854</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tenan</cell><cell>1517</cell><cell>857</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jōgwan</cell><cell>1519</cell><cell>859</cell></row>
<row><cell>Gwangiō</cell><cell>1537</cell><cell>877</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ninna</cell><cell>1545</cell><cell>885</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kwampei</cell><cell>1549</cell><cell>889</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shōtai</cell><cell>1558</cell><cell>898</cell></row>
<row><cell>Engi</cell><cell>1561</cell><cell>901</cell></row>
<row><cell>Enchō</cell><cell>1583</cell><cell>923</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jōhei</cell><cell>1591</cell><cell>931</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tengiō</cell><cell>1598</cell><cell>938</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tenriaku</cell><cell>1607</cell><cell>947</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tentoku</cell><cell>1617</cell><cell>957</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ōwa</cell><cell>1621</cell><cell>961</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kōhō</cell><cell>1624</cell><cell>964</cell></row>
<row><cell>Anna</cell><cell>1628</cell><cell>968</cell></row>
<pb n='404'/><anchor id='Pg404'/>
<row><cell>Tenroku</cell><cell>1630</cell><cell>970</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ten-en</cell><cell>1633</cell><cell>973</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jōgen</cell><cell>1636</cell><cell>976</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tengen</cell><cell>1638</cell><cell>978</cell></row>
<row><cell>Eikwan</cell><cell>1643</cell><cell>983</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kwanna</cell><cell>1645</cell><cell>985</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ei-en</cell><cell>1647</cell><cell>987</cell></row>
<row><cell>Eiso</cell><cell>1649</cell><cell>989</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shōriaku</cell><cell>1650</cell><cell>990</cell></row>
<row><cell>Chōtoku</cell><cell>1655</cell><cell>995</cell></row>
<row><cell>Chōhō</cell><cell>1659</cell><cell>999</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kwankō</cell><cell>1664</cell><cell>1004</cell></row>
<row><cell>Chōwa</cell><cell>1672</cell><cell>1012</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kwannin</cell><cell>1677</cell><cell>1017</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ji-an</cell><cell>1681</cell><cell>1021</cell></row>
<row><cell>Manju</cell><cell>1684</cell><cell>1024</cell></row>
<row><cell>Chōgen</cell><cell>1688</cell><cell>1028</cell></row>
<row><cell>Chōriaku</cell><cell>1697</cell><cell>1037</cell></row>
<row><cell>Chōkiū</cell><cell>1700</cell><cell>1040</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kwantoku</cell><cell>1704</cell><cell>1044</cell></row>
<row><cell>Eijō</cell><cell>1706</cell><cell>1046</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tengi</cell><cell>1713</cell><cell>1053</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kōhei</cell><cell>1718</cell><cell>1058</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jiriaku</cell><cell>1725</cell><cell>1065</cell></row>
<row><cell>Enkiū</cell><cell>1729</cell><cell>1069</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jōhō</cell><cell>1734</cell><cell>1074</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jōriaku</cell><cell>1737</cell><cell>1077</cell></row>
<row><cell>Eihō</cell><cell>1741</cell><cell>1081</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ōtoku</cell><cell>1744</cell><cell>1084</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kwanji</cell><cell>1747</cell><cell>1087</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kahō</cell><cell>1754</cell><cell>1094</cell></row>
<row><cell>Eichō</cell><cell>1756</cell><cell>1096</cell></row>
<pb n='405'/><anchor id='Pg405'/>
<row><cell>Jōtoku</cell><cell>1757</cell><cell>1097</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kowa</cell><cell>1759</cell><cell>1099</cell></row>
<row><cell>Chōji</cell><cell>1764</cell><cell>1104</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kajō</cell><cell>1766</cell><cell>1106</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tennin</cell><cell>1768</cell><cell>1108</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tenei</cell><cell>1770</cell><cell>1110</cell></row>
<row><cell>Eikiū</cell><cell>1773</cell><cell>1113</cell></row>
<row><cell>Genei</cell><cell>1778</cell><cell>1118</cell></row>
<row><cell>Hō-an</cell><cell>1780</cell><cell>1120</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tenji</cell><cell>1784</cell><cell>1124</cell></row>
<row><cell>Daiji</cell><cell>1786</cell><cell>1126</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tenjō</cell><cell>1791</cell><cell>1131</cell></row>
<row><cell>Chōjō</cell><cell>1792</cell><cell>1132</cell></row>
<row><cell>Hō-en</cell><cell>1795</cell><cell>1135</cell></row>
<row><cell>Eiji</cell><cell>1801</cell><cell>1141</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kōji</cell><cell>1802</cell><cell>1142</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tenyō</cell><cell>1804</cell><cell>1144</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kiū-an</cell><cell>1805</cell><cell>1145</cell></row>
<row><cell>Nimbiō</cell><cell>1811</cell><cell>1151</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kiūju</cell><cell>1814</cell><cell>1154</cell></row>
<row><cell>Hōgen</cell><cell>1816</cell><cell>1156</cell></row>
<row><cell>Heiji</cell><cell>1819</cell><cell>1159</cell></row>
<row><cell>Eiriaku</cell><cell>1820</cell><cell>1160</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ōhō</cell><cell>1821</cell><cell>1161</cell></row>
<row><cell>Chōkwan</cell><cell>1823</cell><cell>1163</cell></row>
<row><cell>Eiman</cell><cell>1825</cell><cell>1165</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ninan</cell><cell>1826</cell><cell>1166</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ka-ō</cell><cell>1829</cell><cell>1169</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jō-an</cell><cell>1831</cell><cell>1171</cell></row>
<row><cell>Angen</cell><cell>1835</cell><cell>1175</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jishō</cell><cell>1837</cell><cell>1177</cell></row>
<row><cell>Yōwa</cell><cell>1841</cell><cell>1181</cell></row>
<pb n='406'/><anchor id='Pg406'/>
<row><cell>Ju-ei</cell><cell>1842</cell><cell>1182</cell></row>
<row><cell>Genriaku</cell><cell>1844</cell><cell>1184</cell></row>
<row><cell>Bunji</cell><cell>1845</cell><cell>1185</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kenkiū</cell><cell>1850</cell><cell>1190</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shōji</cell><cell>1859</cell><cell>1199</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kennin</cell><cell>1861</cell><cell>1201</cell></row>
<row><cell>Genkiū</cell><cell>1864</cell><cell>1204</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kenei</cell><cell>1866</cell><cell>1206</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jōgen</cell><cell>1867</cell><cell>1207</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kenriaku</cell><cell>1871</cell><cell>1211</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kempō</cell><cell>1873</cell><cell>1213</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jōkiū</cell><cell>1879</cell><cell>1219</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jō-ō</cell><cell>1882</cell><cell>1222</cell></row>
<row><cell>Gennin</cell><cell>1884</cell><cell>1224</cell></row>
<row><cell>Karoku</cell><cell>1885</cell><cell>1225</cell></row>
<row><cell>Antei</cell><cell>1887</cell><cell>1227</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kwangi</cell><cell>1889</cell><cell>1229</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jō-ei</cell><cell>1892</cell><cell>1232</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tempuku</cell><cell>1893</cell><cell>1233</cell></row>
<row><cell>Bunriaku</cell><cell>1894</cell><cell>1234</cell></row>
<row><cell>Katei</cell><cell>1895</cell><cell>1235</cell></row>
<row><cell>Riakunin</cell><cell>1898</cell><cell>1238</cell></row>
<row><cell>En-ō</cell><cell>1899</cell><cell>1239</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ninji</cell><cell>1900</cell><cell>1240</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kwangen</cell><cell>1903</cell><cell>1243</cell></row>
<row><cell>Hōji</cell><cell>1907</cell><cell>1247</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kenchō</cell><cell>1909</cell><cell>1249</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kōgen</cell><cell>1916</cell><cell>1256</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shōka</cell><cell>1917</cell><cell>1257</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shōgen</cell><cell>1919</cell><cell>1259</cell></row>
<row><cell>Bunō</cell><cell>1920</cell><cell>1260</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kōchō</cell><cell>1921</cell><cell>1261</cell></row>
<pb n='407'/><anchor id='Pg407'/>
<row><cell>Bunei</cell><cell>1924</cell><cell>1264</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kenji</cell><cell>1935</cell><cell>1275</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kōan</cell><cell>1938</cell><cell>1278</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shō-ō</cell><cell>1948</cell><cell>1288</cell></row>
<row><cell>Einin</cell><cell>1953</cell><cell>1293</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shōan</cell><cell>1959</cell><cell>1299</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kengen</cell><cell>1962</cell><cell>1302</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kagen</cell><cell>1963</cell><cell>1303</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tokuji</cell><cell>1966</cell><cell>1306</cell></row>
<row><cell>Enkiō</cell><cell>1968</cell><cell>1308</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ōchō</cell><cell>1971</cell><cell>1311</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shōwa</cell><cell>1972</cell><cell>1312</cell></row>
<row><cell>Bumpō</cell><cell>1977</cell><cell>1317</cell></row>
<row><cell>Gen-ō</cell><cell>1979</cell><cell>1319</cell></row>
<row><cell>Genkō</cell><cell>1981</cell><cell>1321</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shōchū</cell><cell>1984</cell><cell>1324</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kariaku</cell><cell>1986</cell><cell>1326</cell></row>
<row><cell>Gentoku</cell><cell>1989</cell><cell>1329</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shōkiō</cell><cell>1992</cell><cell>1331</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kemmu</cell><cell>1994</cell><cell>1334</cell></row>
<row><cell>Engen</cell><cell>1996</cell><cell>1336</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kōkoku</cell><cell>1999</cell><cell>1339</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shōhei</cell><cell>2006</cell><cell>1346</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kentoku</cell><cell>2030</cell><cell>1370</cell></row>
<row><cell>Bunchū</cell><cell>2032</cell><cell>1372</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tenju</cell><cell>2035</cell><cell>1375</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kōwa</cell><cell>2041</cell><cell>1381</cell></row>
<row><cell>Genchū</cell><cell>2044</cell><cell>1384</cell></row>
<row><cell>Meitoku</cell><cell>2050</cell><cell>1390</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ō-ei</cell><cell>2054</cell><cell>1394</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shōchō</cell><cell>2088</cell><cell>1428</cell></row>
<row><cell>Eikiō</cell><cell>2089</cell><cell>1429</cell></row>
<pb n='408'/><anchor id='Pg408'/>
<row><cell>Kakitsu</cell><cell>2101</cell><cell>1441</cell></row>
<row><cell>Bunan</cell><cell>2104</cell><cell>1444</cell></row>
<row><cell>Hōtoku</cell><cell>2109</cell><cell>1449</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kōtoku</cell><cell>2112</cell><cell>1452</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kōshō</cell><cell>2115</cell><cell>1455</cell></row>
<row><cell>Chōroku</cell><cell>2117</cell><cell>1457</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kwanshō</cell><cell>2120</cell><cell>1460</cell></row>
<row><cell>Bunshō</cell><cell>2126</cell><cell>1466</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ōnin</cell><cell>2127</cell><cell>1467</cell></row>
<row><cell>Bummei</cell><cell>2129</cell><cell>1469</cell></row>
<row><cell>Chōkō</cell><cell>2147</cell><cell>1487</cell></row>
<row><cell>Entoku</cell><cell>2149</cell><cell>1489</cell></row>
<row><cell>Mei-ō</cell><cell>2152</cell><cell>1492</cell></row>
<row><cell>Bunki</cell><cell>2161</cell><cell>1501</cell></row>
<row><cell>Eishō</cell><cell>2164</cell><cell>1504</cell></row>
<row><cell>Dai-ei</cell><cell>2181</cell><cell>1521</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kōroku</cell><cell>2188</cell><cell>1528</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tembun</cell><cell>2192</cell><cell>1532</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kōji</cell><cell>2215</cell><cell>1555</cell></row>
<row><cell>Eiroku</cell><cell>2218</cell><cell>1558</cell></row>
<row><cell>Genki</cell><cell>2230</cell><cell>1570</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tenshō</cell><cell>2233</cell><cell>1573</cell></row>
<row><cell>Bunroku</cell><cell>2252</cell><cell>1592</cell></row>
<row><cell>Keichō</cell><cell>2256</cell><cell>1596</cell></row>
<row><cell>Genna</cell><cell>2275</cell><cell>1615</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kwanei</cell><cell>2284</cell><cell>1624</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shōhō</cell><cell>2304</cell><cell>1644</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kei-an</cell><cell>2308</cell><cell>1648</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jō-ō</cell><cell>2312</cell><cell>1652</cell></row>
<row><cell>Meireki</cell><cell>2315</cell><cell>1655</cell></row>
<row><cell>Manji</cell><cell>2318</cell><cell>1658</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kwambun</cell><cell>2321</cell><cell>1661</cell></row>
<pb n='409'/><anchor id='Pg409'/>
<row><cell>Empō</cell><cell>2333</cell><cell>1673</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tenna</cell><cell>2341</cell><cell>1681</cell></row>
<row><cell>Jōkiō</cell><cell>2344</cell><cell>1684</cell></row>
<row><cell>Genroku</cell><cell>2348</cell><cell>1688</cell></row>
<row><cell>Hō-ei</cell><cell>2364</cell><cell>1704</cell></row>
<row><cell>Shōtoku</cell><cell>2371</cell><cell>1711</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kiōhō</cell><cell>2376</cell><cell>1716</cell></row>
<row><cell>Gembun</cell><cell>2396</cell><cell>1736</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kwampō</cell><cell>2401</cell><cell>1741</cell></row>
<row><cell>Enkiō</cell><cell>2404</cell><cell>1744</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kwanen</cell><cell>2408</cell><cell>1748</cell></row>
<row><cell>Hōreki</cell><cell>2411</cell><cell>1751</cell></row>
<row><cell>Meiwa</cell><cell>2424</cell><cell>1764</cell></row>
<row><cell>Anei</cell><cell>2432</cell><cell>1772</cell></row>
<row><cell>Temmei</cell><cell>2441</cell><cell>1781</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kwansei</cell><cell>2449</cell><cell>1789</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kiōwa</cell><cell>2461</cell><cell>1801</cell></row>
<row><cell>Bunkwa</cell><cell>2464</cell><cell>1804</cell></row>
<row><cell>Bunsei</cell><cell>2478</cell><cell>1818</cell></row>
<row><cell>Tempō</cell><cell>2490</cell><cell>1830</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kōkwa</cell><cell>2504</cell><cell>1844</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ka-ei</cell><cell>2508</cell><cell>1848</cell></row>
<row><cell>Ansei</cell><cell>2514</cell><cell>1854</cell></row>
<row><cell>Manen</cell><cell>2520</cell><cell>1860</cell></row>
<row><cell>Bunkiū</cell><cell>2521</cell><cell>1861</cell></row>
<row><cell>Genji</cell><cell>2524</cell><cell>1864</cell></row>
<row><cell>Kei-ō</cell><cell>2525</cell><cell>1865</cell></row>
<row><cell>Meiji</cell><cell>2528</cell><cell>1868</cell></row>
</table>

</div>

<pb n='410'/><anchor id='Pg410'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf' level1='Appendix III. List Of Shoguns.'/>
<head>Appendix III. List Of Shōguns.<note place='foot'>Translated from
the chronology of the shōguns in <hi rend='italic'>Mittheilungen
der deutschen Gesellschaft fur Natur und Volkerkunde Ostasiens</hi>,
Heft 3, 1873.</note></head>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>I.&mdash;The Dynasty of Minamoto. 1186-1219.</hi>
</p>

<p>
1. Minamoto Yoritomo, 1186-1199, died; received his
appointment as shōgun in 1192.
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='smallcaps'>Note.</hi>&mdash;In this as in the later cases, the dates will be
cited which correspond to the attainment of power and its
general recognition, but which do not, in many cases,
correspond to the grant of the title, which frequently was
much later.
</p>

<p>
2. Minamoto Yori-iye, 1199-1203, son of the preceding,
first deposed by his grandfather, Hōjō Tokimasa, and
banished to Izu, there was murdered in 1204.
</p>

<p>
3. Minamoto Sanetomo, 1203-1219, eleven years old,
brother of the preceding, murdered by his nephew Kokio,
the son of Yori-iye.
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>The Time of the Shadow Shōguns. 1220-1338.</hi>
</p>

<p>
The shōguns of this period, taken partly from the
Fujiwara family, partly from the princes of the imperial
house, were mostly children, and in every instance the
weak agents of the Hōjō family, whose chiefs, as regents
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>shiken</foreign>),
had the power in their hands, although the
<pb n='411'/><anchor id='Pg411'/>
nominal bearers of the same were likewise principally
only children.
</p>

<p>
4. Fujiwara Yoritsune, 1220-1243, nine years old,
dethroned by Hōjō Tsunetoki, died 1256.
</p>

<p>
5. Fujiwara Yoritsugu, 1244-1251, son of the preceding,
seven years old, deposed by H. Tokeyori, died
1256.
</p>

<p>
6. Munetaka Shino, 1252-1265, eleven, according to
others thirteen, years old, deposed by H. Tokimune, died
1274.
</p>

<p>
7. Koreyasu Shino, 1266-1289, son of the preceding,
three years old, deposed by H. Sadatoki, died 1325
(1326?).
</p>

<p>
8. Hisa-akira Shino, or, as he was called, Kumei Shino,
1289-1307, sixteen years old, deposed by H. Sadatoki,
died 1328.
</p>

<p>
9. Morikuni Shino, 1308-1333, son of the preceding,
seven years old, dethroned by Nitsuda Yoshisada, died
in the same year.
</p>

<p>
10. Moriyoshi Shino, 1333-1334, son of the reigning
Emperor Go-Daigo, dethroned by Taka-uji, murdered,
in 1335, by Minamoto Nao-yoshi.
</p>

<p>
11. Nari-Yoshi Shino, 1334-1338, dethroned and murdered
by Taka-uji.
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>II.&mdash;The Regents of the Hōjō Family.</hi>
</p>

<p>
Hōjō Tokimasa, died 1215, did not have the title of
regent (<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>shiken</foreign>).
</p>

<p>
Hōjō Yoshitoki, 1205-1224, from 1205 regent
(<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>shiken</foreign>),
murdered.
</p>

<p>
Hōjō Yasutoki, 1225-1242, died.
</p>

<p>
Hōjō Tsunetoki, 1243-1246, grandson of the preceding,
retired in favor of his younger brother, Tokiyori, and
died thirty-three years old.
</p>

<pb n='412'/><anchor id='Pg412'/>

<p>
Hōjō Tokiyori, 1246-1256, retired in favor of his son,
Tokimune, and died 1263, thirty-seven years old.
</p>

<p>
Hōjō Tokimune, 1257-1284, seven years old, under
the guardianship of H. Nagatoki and H. Masamura, died.
</p>

<p>
Hōjō Sadatoki, 1284-1300, adopted son of the preceding,
retired in favor of Morotoki, the grandson of Tokiyori,
but continued to exercise a potent influence over
the regency, died 1311.
</p>

<p>
Hōjō Morotoki, 1300-1311, died.
</p>

<p>
Hōjō Takatoki, 1312-1326, the son of Sadatoki, nine
years old, under the guardianship of Hirotoki and Mune-nobu,
retired in favor of his younger brother, Yasuye,
who likewise soon withdrew.
</p>

<p>
Until the fall of the Hōjō family Takatoki really conducted
the regency, although others held the title. After
the taking of Kamakura by Nitta Yoshisada in 1333, he
killed himself.
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>III.&mdash;The Dynasty of Ashikaga. 1334-1573.</hi>
</p>

<p>
12. Ashikaga Taka-uji, 1334-1358, died fifty-three
years old.
</p>

<p>
13. Ashikaga Yoshimori, 1359-1367, retired in favor
of his son Yoshimitsu, died 1408, fifty-one years old.
</p>

<p>
14. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, 1368-1393, retired in favor
of his son, Yoshimochi, at the age of thirty-seven years,
died 1409.
</p>

<p>
15. Ashikaga Yoshimochi, 1394-1422, retired in favor
of his son, Yoshikatsu.
</p>

<p>
16. Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, 1423-1425, died nineteen
years old. Ashikaga Yoshimochi, 1425-1428, the fifteenth
shōgun, took the power again, and died forty-three years
old.
</p>

<p>
17. Ashikaga Yoshinobu, 1428-1441, murdered by Akamatsu
<pb n='413'/><anchor id='Pg413'/>
Mitsusuke, forty-eight years old. From 1429
called Yoshinori.
</p>

<p>
18. Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, 1441-1443, son of the preceding,
eight years old, died.
</p>

<p>
19. Ashikaga Yoshinari, called Yoshimasa, 1443-1473,
brother of the preceding, eight years old, retired, and
died in 1490.
</p>

<p>
20. Ashikaga Yoshinao, 1473-1489, died twenty-five
years old; from 1488, called Yoshihiro.
</p>

<p>
21. Ashikaga Yoshimura, 1490-1493, nephew of Yoshimasa,
twenty-five years old, taken prisoner and dethroned
by Hosokawa Motomoto.
</p>

<p>
22. Ashikaga Yoshimitsi, 1493-1508, had to flee, died
1511; from 1449 called Yoshitaku, and from 1502
Yoshisumi; Yoshitada, 1508-1521, is Yoshimura, who
from the year 1501 bore the name, and since that time
was the shōgun of the enemy at war with Yoshisumi,
had to flee, was deposed, and died, 1523.
</p>

<p>
23. Ashikaga Yoshinaru, 1521-1546, son of Yoshisumi,
retired in favor of his son, Yoshifushi, died 1550, forty
years old.
</p>

<p>
24. Ashikaga Yoshifushi, 1547-1565, eleven years old,
killed himself in his palace, having been confined there
by the rebels.
</p>

<p>
25. Ashikaga Yoshigi-ei or Yoshinaga, 1568 died, important
as opposition shōgun.
</p>

<p>
26. Ashikaga Yoshi-aki, 1568-1573, deposed by Nobunaga,
died 1597.
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>IV.&mdash;The Time of the Usurpation. 1573-1603.</hi>
</p>

<p>
27. Taira-no-Nobunaga, 1573-1582, killed himself,
having been forced to do so by Akechi Mitsuhide.
</p>

<p>
Akechi Mitsuhide, who usurped the title of shōgun,
ruled only twelve days, and fell conquered by Hideyoshi
<pb n='414'/><anchor id='Pg414'/>
28. Samboshi, 1582-1586, grandson of Nobunaga.
</p>

<p>
29. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, 1586-1598, was never shōgun,
but kwambaku; (on his retirement called Taikō-sama).
</p>

<p>
30. Hidetsugu, 1591-1595, nephew of the preceding,
killed himself, was also kwambaku.
</p>

<p>
31. Hideyori, 1600-1615, son of Hideyoshi, killed himself,
conquered by Ieyasu. According to other accounts,
he escaped and fled to Satsuma; was Naifu (Minister of
the Interior) from 1603.
</p>

<p>
<hi rend='italic'>V.&mdash;The Dynasty of the Tokugawa. 1603-1868.</hi>
</p>

<p>
32. Ieyasu, 1603-1605, died 1616; 1603 appointed
shōgun (posthumous title Gongensama). The shōguns of
this dynasty frequently retired, as soon as their successors
grew up, but in spite of this fact they continued to
lead the regency.
</p>

<p>
33. Hidetada, 1605-1623, died 1632, son of the preceding.
</p>

<p>
34. Iemitsu, 1623-1651, died 1652, son of the preceding.
</p>

<p>
35. Ietsuna, 1651-1680, died, son of the preceding.
</p>

<p>
36. Tsunayoshi, 1681-1709, son of Iemitsu, killed by
his wife.
</p>

<p>
37. Ienobu, 1709-1712, grandson of Iemitsu, died.
</p>

<p>
38. Ietsugu (Ietsubo according to Klaproth), 1713-1715,
died, son of the preceding.
</p>

<p>
39. Yoshimune, 1716-1745, retired, died 1751, formerly
fifth Prince of Kii.
</p>

<p>
40. Ieshige, 1745-1760 (according to others 1761 or
1762), son of the preceding, died.
</p>

<p>
41. Ieharu, 1760-1786, son of the preceding, died.
</p>

<p>
42. Ienari, 1787-1836, died 1841, son of the preceding.
</p>

<p>
43. Ieyoshi, 1837-1852, son of the preceding.
</p>

<pb n='415'/><anchor id='Pg415'/>

<p>
44. Iesada, 1853-1857, son of the preceding.
</p>

<p>
45. Iemochi, 1858-1866, died, formerly thirteenth
Prince of Kii.
</p>

<p>
46. Yoshihisa (Yoshinobu according to Adams, vol. ii.
p. 37), 1867-1868, son of the Prince of Mito, Nari-akira,
adopted by the Prince of Hitotsubashi, retired at the fall
of shōgunate in 1867.
</p>

</div>

<pb n='416'/><anchor id='Pg416'/>

<div rend='page-break-before: always'>
<index index='toc'/>
<index index='pdf' level1='Appendix IV. Laws Of Shotoku Taishi.'/>
<anchor id='Appendix_IV'/>
<head>Appendix IV. Laws Of Shōtoku Taishi.<note place='foot'>The translation
of these laws of Shōtoku Taishi was furnished
by Mr. Tsuji Shinji, late vice-minister of state for education, and by
Mr. Matsumoto Kumpei.</note></head>

<p>
[From <hi rend='italic'>Dai Nihonshi</hi>, vol. xii., folio 28 to 31.]
</p>

<p>
I.&mdash;Harmony shall be esteemed and obedience shall
be held in regard. Because dissensions prevail, therefore
men are often unfaithful to their prince and disobedient
to their fathers. Let adjoining districts be left in peace,
thus harmony between superior and inferior shall be cultivated
and co-operation in matters of state shall be promoted,
and thus the right reason of all things may be
reached and the right thing accomplished.
</p>

<p>
II.&mdash;Let bountiful honor be always paid to the three
precious elements of Buddhism, that is, to its priests, its
ritual, and its founder. It is the highest religion in the
universe, and all people in all generations must pay becoming
reverence to its doctrines. Do not harshly censure
men's wickedness but teach them faithfully until they
yield obedience. Unless men rely upon Buddhism there
is no way to convert them from the wrong to the right.
</p>

<p>
III.&mdash;To the commands of the Emperor men must be
duly obedient. The prince must be looked upon as the
heaven and his subjects as the earth. The earth contains
all things and the heaven stretches over it. The
<pb n='417'/><anchor id='Pg417'/>
four seasons pass orderly along and the spirit of the
universe is harmonious. If the earth were to cover the
heaven the effect would be distraction. Hence the prince
must command and the subject obey; superiors must
act and inferiors yield. Men ought therefore to pay due
heed to the orders of the Emperor; if not they will
bring ruin on themselves.
</p>

<p>
IV.&mdash;Politeness must be the chief rule of conduct for
all officers and their colleagues in the court. The first
principle governing subjects must be politeness. When
superiors are not polite then inferiors will not keep in
the right; when inferiors are not polite their conduct
degenerates into crime. When both prince and subjects
are polite, then social order is never disturbed and
the state is kept in a condition of tranquillity.
</p>

<p>
V.&mdash;Covetousness and rapacity must be expelled from
the hearts of officers, and they must adjudicate with just
discrimination in all suits that come before them. Even
in a single day there are thousands of such suits, and in
the course of years how great must be the accumulation!
If the suit is won through bribery, then the poor man
can obtain no justice but only the rich. The poor man
will have no sure place of dependence, and subjects will
be driven to abandon their duty.
</p>

<p>
VI.&mdash;To punish vice and to encourage virtue is the
rule in good ancient law. The virtuous man must therefore
be promoted, and the vicious man must be surely
punished. The man who is untruthful is a powerful instrument
to endanger the state and a keen weapon to
destroy the nation. The flatterer loves to tell the faults
of the inferior to the superior, and also to disclose the
errors of the superior to the inferior. Such men are alike
unfaithful to the prince and unfriendly to fellow citizens,
and in the end fail not to stir up social disorder.
</p>

<pb n='418'/><anchor id='Pg418'/>

<p>
VII.&mdash;The duty of men in the government must be
assigned according to their capacity. When intelligent
men take service the applause of the people follows, but
when bad men are in office calamities ensue. If wise
officers are put on duty the matters of state are well
managed, and the community is free from danger and
prosperity prevails. Therefore in ancient times the wise
king never selected the office for the man, but always
selected the man to suit the office.
</p>

<p>
VIII.&mdash;Too often officers and their colleagues come
early to their offices and retire soon; so that the public
work accomplished in a single day is small. It is incumbent
on them to devote sufficient time to their tasks; if
not, then the work of the government cannot be done.
</p>

<p>
IX.&mdash;Everything must be faithfully done, because
fidelity is the origin of justice. The distinction between
good and bad, between success and failure, depends on
fidelity. When both prince and subjects are faithful
then there are no duties which cannot be accomplished,
but when both are unfaithful nothing can be done.
</p>

<p>
X.&mdash;Give up all thoughts of indignation and be not
angered with others on account of a disagreement of
opinion. Each one may have a different point of view
and may therefore come to a different conclusion. If
the one side be right then the other must be wrong, or
the cases may be just reversed. It would be unjust to
set down one man as surely wise and another as positively
stupid; because men cannot attain perfection in their
characters. It is impossible to decide either side to be
perfectly right or perfectly wrong. While you are angry
with another who has a different view from you, you cannot
be sure lest you be in the wrong. Therefore though
you may think yourself in the right, it is safer to follow
the opinions of the many.
</p>

<pb n='419'/><anchor id='Pg419'/>

<p>
XI.&mdash;Let merit and demerit be carefully considered,
and let rewards and punishments be meted out accordingly.
In times past this has often failed to be justly
done. It is incumbent on all who are entrusted with the
direction of public affairs and on all officers of the government
to look carefully after the distribution of
rewards and punishments.
</p>

<p>
XII.&mdash;Governors of provinces and their deputies must
be careful not to impose too heavy duties on their subjects.
One state never has more than one prince, and in
like manner the subjects cannot have more than one
master. The prince is the head of all his dominions and
of all his subjects. The officers of government are also
the subjects of the prince; and there is no reason why
they should dare to lay undue burdens upon others who
are subjects of the same prince.
</p>

<p>
XIII.&mdash;Each officer of the government has his appointed
duty. Sometimes officers complain of the stagnation
of business, which, however, is caused by their
own absence from their appointed duties. They must
not make a pretence of the performance of their duties,
and by their neglect interrupt public affairs.
</p>

<p>
XIV.&mdash;Subjects and officers must not be jealous
of each other. If one person is envious of another,
the second is sure to be envious of the first. Thus
the evils of jealousy never end. If men shall envy
each other on account of their talent and wisdom, no
single wise man would ever be obtained for government
service through a thousand years. What a noble method
of governing a state would that be which expelled from
its service all wise men!
</p>

<p>
XV.&mdash;To sacrifice private interests for the public good
is the duty of the subject. When men are selfish there
must be ill-will; when ill-will comes, then with it must
<pb n='420'/><anchor id='Pg420'/>
come iniquity, which will disturb the public welfare. Ill-will
is sure to bring about the breaking of wholesome
rules and the violation of the laws of the state. It is
for this reason that the harmony between superior and
inferior spoken of in the first article is so important.
</p>

<p>
XVI.&mdash;To select a convenient season in which to employ
men for public work is the rule of good ancient
law. Winter is a time of leisure; but during the season
between spring and autumn, in which they are employed
on their farms and in feeding silk-worms, it is not expedient
to take men from their work, or interfere with
them in their efforts to supply food and clothing.
</p>

<p>
XVII.&mdash;Important matters should only be settled after
due conference with many men. Trifling matters may be
decided without conference, because they are not so material
in their effects; but weighty matters, on account of
their far-reaching consequences, must be discussed with
many councillors. It is thus that the right way shall be
found and pursued.
</p>

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