Establishment of Feudalism and Duarchy—The Shōgunate and the
Throne—Early Foreign Relations—Christian Persecution and Closure of
Country.
The fortunes of the first line of Kamakura Shōguns, so called from the
seat of government being at that place, gave no indication of the
permanence of duarchy, though it may have encouraged belief in the truth
of the Japanese proverb that great men have no heirs. Neither of
Yoritomo’s sons who succeeded him as Shōgun showing any capacity for
government, the direction of affairs fell into the hands of members of
the Hōjō family, who, by a further extension of the principle of ruling
by proxy, were content to allow others to figure as Shōguns, while they
held the real power with the title of regents (_Shikken_). Some of these
puppet Shōguns were chosen from the Fujiwara family, which had governed
the country for more than three centuries. Others were scions of the
Imperial House. This connection of the Shōgunate with the Imperial
dynasty, though only temporary, is a point to be noted, since under
other circumstances it would suggest a devolution rather than a
usurpation of sovereign rights.
It was in the thirteenth century, during the rule of the Hōjō regent
Tokimuné, that the Mongol invasions took place. The reigning Mikado was
a youth of nineteen; the Shōgun an infant of four. The six centuries
which had elapsed since the Great Reform had witnessed notable changes
in the countries which were Japan’s nearest neighbours. In China the
Mongol dynasty was established. In Korea the four states into which the
peninsula had originally been divided had disappeared one after the
other. In their place was a new kingdom, then called for the first time
by its modern name. The new kingdom did not retain its independence
long. It was attacked and overthrown by the armies of Kublai Khan, the
third Mongol Emperor. By the middle of the thirteenth century the King
of Korea had acknowledged the suzerainty of China. Kublai Khan then
turned his attention to Japan.
It was customary in those times for congratulatory missions to be sent
by one country to another when a new dynasty was established or a new
reign began, the presents exchanged on these occasions being usually
termed gifts by the country offering them, and tribute by that which
received them. The relations between Japan and the new Kingdom of Korea
had been on the whole friendly, though disturbed from time to time by
the piratical forays which seem to have been of frequent occurrence. But
after Korea had lost her independence she was obliged to throw in her
lot with China. When, therefore, in 1268, Kublai Khan sent an envoy to
Japan to ask why since the beginning of his reign no congratulatory
mission had reached Peking from the Japanese Court, the messenger
naturally went by way of Korea, and was escorted by a suite of Koreans.
The ports in the province of Chikuzen, on the north of Kiūshiū, the
southernmost of the Japanese islands, were the places through which
communications between Japan and the mainland were then carried on; and
it was at Dazaifu in that province, the centre of local administration,
that the envoy delivered his letter. This was in effect a demand for
tribute, and the Regent’s refusal even to answer the communication was
met by the despatch in the summer of 1275 of a Mongol force, accompanied
by a Korean contingent. Having first occupied the islands of Tsushima
and Iki, which form convenient stepping-stones between Korea and Japan,
the invaders landed in Kiūshiū in the north-west of the province already
mentioned. After a few days’ fighting they were forced to re-embark. In
their retreat they encountered a violent storm, and only the shattered
remnants of the Armada returned to tell the tale. A second invasion, six
years later, planned on a far larger scale, and supported, as before, by
Korean auxiliaries, met with a similar fate. On this occasion severer
fighting occurred. The positions captured at the place of landing in the
province of Hizen were held by the invaders for some weeks. Thence,
however, they could make no headway. When they at length withdrew in
disorder a violent storm again came to the aid of the defenders and
overwhelmed the hostile fleets. The preparations begun by Kublai Khan
for a third invasion were abandoned at his death a few years later. From
that time Japan was left undisturbed.
The circumstances attending the fall of the Hōjō regents in 1333, and
their replacement by the Ashikaga line of Shōguns, are noteworthy for
the light they throw on the state of the country, and the unstable and,
indeed, ludicrous conditions under which the government was carried on.
It seemed for a moment as if the authority of the Court was about to be
revived. But with the overthrow of the regents the movement in this
direction stopped. The military class was naturally reluctant to
surrender the power which had come into its hands; the position of the
Mikado was also weakened by a dispute regarding his rights to the
Throne. He had just returned from banishment, and had been at once
reinstated as Emperor. But during his absence another Emperor had been
placed on the Throne, and there were those who thought the latter had a
right to remain. In the previous century it had been arranged, in
accordance with the will of a deceased Emperor, that the Throne should
be occupied alternately by descendants of the senior and junior branches
of the Imperial House. This rule had been followed in filling the
vacancy caused by the banishment of the previous Mikado, and the branch
of the Imperial House which suffered by his reinstatement refused to
accept the decision. Each claimant to the Throne found partizans amongst
the feudal chieftains. Thus were formed two rival Courts, the Northern
and the Southern, which disputed the Crown for nearly sixty years. The
contest ended in the triumph in 1393 of the Northern Court. Having the
support of the powerful Ashikaga family, it had early in the course of
the struggle asserted its superiority, the Ashikaga leader becoming
Shōgun in 1338.
The rule of the Ashikaga Shōguns lasted until the middle of the
sixteenth century, though for several years before it ended the control
of affairs was exercised by others in their name. During this period,
which was favourable to the growth of art and literature, the seat of
government kept changing from Kamakura to the Capital and back again.
The former city shared the fate of the dynasty, and after its
destruction was never rebuilt.
A break then occurred in the sequence of Shōguns. The chief power passed
into the hands of two military leaders, Nobunaga and Hidéyoshi, neither
of whom founded a dynasty or bore the title of Shōgun. By their efforts
the country was gradually freed from the anarchy which had ensued during
the last years of Ashikaga administration. Though here and there
throughout the country there remained districts whose feudal lords
insisted on settling their quarrels themselves, a more stable condition
of things was introduced, and the work of the founder of the next and
last line of Shōguns was greatly facilitated.
Europe had long before heard of Japan through the writings of the
Venetian traveller, Marco Polo, who had visited the Court of Kublai Khan
and there learned the failure of the Mongol invasions. It was not,
however, till the middle of the sixteenth century, during the ascendancy
of the first of the two military leaders above mentioned, that
intercourse with European countries was established. The Portuguese were
the first to come, and for this reason. Portugal was then at the height
of her greatness as a maritime power; and by the Bulls of Pope Alexander
VI, which divided the new lands discovered in Asia and America between
her and Spain, those in Asia had fallen to her share. Some uncertainty
exists as to the exact date at which the new Western intercourse began,
and as to the identity of the first arrivals. Most authorities, however,
agree in thinking that the first European discoverers of Japan were
three Portuguese adventurers who, in the course of a voyage from Siam to
China in the summer or autumn of 1542, were driven by a storm on the
coast of Tanégashima, a small island lying midway between the southern
point of the province of Satsuma and Loochoo. The adventurers who landed
were successful in disposing of the cargo of their vessel, destined
originally for Chinese ports. Their knowledge of firearms made a
favourable impression, and the beginnings were thus laid of a trade with
the Portuguese possessions and settlements in the East and with the
mother country in Europe. Of greater interest and importance, however,
than this early trade is the fact that to Portuguese enterprise
Christianity owed its first introduction into Japan.
Seven years after the arrival of these involuntary traders, who had
spread the news of the strange country they had discovered, one of the
numerous Portuguese trading vessels which were thus attracted to Japan
landed at Kagoshima, the capital of the Satsuma province, three
missionaries—Xavier, Torres and Fernandez. Thenceforth, until the
closing of the country to all but the Chinese and Dutch, it was the
propagation of the Christian faith, not the progress of trade, which was
the important factor in Japan’s foreign relations.
The coming of the first missionaries took place at a time when the
widespread disorder which marked the closing years of the Ashikaga
administration was at its height. Though Nobunaga was rapidly acquiring
for himself a commanding position, the nation had not yet felt the full
weight of the hand which twenty years later was to take the first steps
towards the pacification of the country. The confusion of affairs
assisted the spread of the new religion, the opposition offered by some
of the leading daimiōs, such as the princes of Satsuma and Chōshiū,
being counterbalanced by the eagerness of others to profit by the
foreign trade which came with the missionaries; while Buddhist hostility
lost much of its sting after the power of the militant priesthood had
been crippled by Nobunaga.
The latter’s successor, Hidéyoshi, whom the Japanese regard as their
greatest military genius, shared neither his sympathy with Christianity
nor his dislike of Buddhism. To matters of religion he seemed to be
indifferent, his one aim being apparently to make himself master of
Japan. In a series of campaigns conducted in different parts of the
country he overcame the resistance of one feudal chief after another,
the last to submit to his authority being the Daimiō of Satsuma. His
ascendancy deprived Christianity of the advantage it had previously
derived from the unsettled condition of the country. His aim
accomplished, Hidéyoshi changed his attitude suddenly, and in 1587
issued an edict against Christianity. As a result of this edict the
missionaries were expelled from the Capital and the Christian church
there was pulled down. Though the Christian persecution dates from that
time, it was not prosecuted at first with much energy. Doubtless
Hidéyoshi was aware of the connection between Christianity and foreign
trade, and in his desire to profit by the latter was content not to push
matters to extremities. There may also be some truth in the suggestion
of the joint authors of _A History of Japan_ (1542–61) that he was
unwilling to incur the resentment of the numerous daimiōs in the south
of Japan who had welcomed the new religion. Be this as it may, the
initial stages of the persecution did not apparently affect missionary
activity very seriously. We do not hear of any falling off in the number
of converts, which is said to have attained about this time a total
little short of a million.
For nearly half a century the Jesuits had the field of missionary
enterprise in Japan to themselves. To this fact was largely due the
spread of the new religion. In 1591, however, the state of things was
altered by the arrival of members of other religious orders, who came in
the train of a Spanish ambassador from the Philippines. This
intrusion—which later on received the formal sanction of the Pope—was
resented by the Jesuits; and the position of the Christian Church,
already weakened by persecution, was not improved by the quarrels which
soon broke out between them and the new-comers. What would have been the
outcome of this change in the situation, if Hidéyoshi’s attention had
not been directed elsewhere, it is impossible to say. At this moment,
however, his ambition found a new outlet. Supreme now at home, he
conceived the idea of gaining fresh glory by conquests abroad. With this
object, he embarked on an invasion of Korea, intending ultimately to
extend his operations to China. His pretext, it is said, for invading
the neighbouring peninsula, like that of Kublai Khan in the case of
Japan, was that Korea had refused or neglected to send the usual
periodical missions. According to another, and perhaps more correct
account, he demanded that Korea should assist him in the invasion of
China in the same way as she had two centuries before aided the Mongols
in their invasion of Japan, a request which, it is said, was scornfully
refused.
The Korean campaign, in the course of which a Christian daimiō—Konishi,
the owner of an extensive fief in the province of Higo—greatly
distinguished himself, began in the spring of 1592, the last land
engagement being fought in the autumn of 1598. The war thus lasted
nearly seven years. The preparations made by Hidéyoshi were on an
extensive scale. The army of invasion numbered, if the statistics of
that time can be trusted, nearly 200,000 fighting men. As reinforcements
were sent from time to time from Japan, the number of troops employed
from first to last in the course of the war must have reached a very
high total. Hidéyoshi did not lead his army in person, but directed the
general plan of operations from Japan. The Japanese were at first
successful on land everywhere, though at sea they met with some serious
reverses. The Koreans were driven out of their capital, and the invaders
overran more than half of the country. Then, however, the Emperor of
China intervened in the struggle. Chinese armies entered Korea, and the
tide of victory turned against Japan. The retreat of the invaders
towards the coast was followed by overtures of peace, which resulted in
the suspension of hostilities in 1594. But the negotiations, in which
China took a leading part, broke down, and three years later a second
Japanese army landed in Korea. On this occasion the Japanese forces met
with more stubborn resistance. Chinese armies again came to the help of
Korea, and when Hidéyoshi died in 1598 the Japanese Government was only
too willing to make peace. The results of the war for Korea were
disastrous. The complete devastation wrought wherever the Japanese
armies had penetrated left traces which have never been entirely
effaced. Nor did Japan come out of the struggle with any profit. When
the final accounts were balanced all she had to show for her lavish
expenditure in lives and money was the establishment in Japan of a
colony of Korean potters, who were the first to make the well-known
Satsuma faience, and the doubtful privilege of keeping a small trading
post at the southern end of the Korean peninsula.
For some years after the Korean war had been brought to an end by the
death of Hidéyoshi the position of the Christian Church showed little
change. It was not until 1614, by which time a new line of Shōguns was
ruling the country, that rigorous measures were adopted against the new
religion. The edict which then appeared ordered the immediate expulsion
of all missionaries, and its issue was followed by a fierce outbreak of
persecution in all parts of Japan where converts or missionaries were to
be found.
Evidence of the contradictory state of things then existing is furnished
by the fact that in that very year an Embassy to the Pope and to the
King of Spain was sent by the Japanese Daimiō of Sendai, whose fief was
in the north-east of Japan.
Meanwhile, in 1609, Dutch traders had established themselves in the
island of Hirado, where they were joined four years later by English
traders representing the East India Company. The latter had not the
resources necessary for so distant an undertaking, nor was the English
navy strong enough to support the Company’s enterprise against the
Dutch, who were then wresting from the Portuguese the supremacy in
Eastern waters. At the end of ten years, therefore, the trading station
was abandoned.
The Christian persecution continued with varying intensity for more than
twenty years, culminating in the insurrection of Shimabara in 1638. With
the bloody suppression of that rising, due as much to local
misgovernment as to religious causes, the curtain falls on the early
history of Christianity in Japan. Two years earlier, in 1636, an edict
issued by the third Shōgun, Iyémitsu, forbade all Japanese to go abroad,
reduced the tonnage of native vessels so as to render them unfit for
ocean voyages, and closed the country to all foreigners except the
Chinese and Dutch. The Portuguese were chiefly affected by this measure,
for the English had abandoned their trading enterprise in Hirado in
1623, and in the following year the rupture of relations with Spain had
put an end to the residence of Spanish subjects, thus justifying
Xavier’s warning that the King of Spain should be careful how he
interfered with Japan, in case he burnt his fingers. The Dutch owed
their escape from expulsion to the fact that the Japanese did not regard
them as being Christians at all, because of their openly expressed
hostility to the form of Christianity professed by the missionaries. In
neither case was the lot of the two favoured nationalities at all
enviable. In 1641 the Dutch were removed from Hirado and interned in
Déshima, an artificial island quarter of the town of Nagasaki; and some
fifty years later the Chinese, who had traded at that port in
comparative liberty from a date which is uncertain, were confined in an
enclosure close to the Dutch settlement. Here, paying dearly as State
prisoners for the commercial privileges they enjoyed, these traders
carried on a precarious and gradually dwindling commerce until Japan was
opened for the second time to foreign intercourse in the middle of the
nineteenth century.