Tokugawa shōgunate, because the Dutch shut up in the island of
Deshima, near Nagasaki, sent yearly presents to the _shōgun_.
=Ijin San.= Barbarian; foreigner; or perhaps simply “strange man,” and
so foreigner.
=Iyeyasu.= _B._ 1542, _d._ 1616. The founder of the Tokugawa
shōgunate, which lasted from 1603 to 1868. Iyeyasu was one of the
greatest generals and perhaps the very greatest ruler, Japan has ever
produced. He went to school in the Temple of Rinzaki (p. 17), and the
room where he learnt to write, his ink-slab and other belongings,
are still preserved. Iyeyasu founded Yedo, now Tokyo, making it
his capital. He died at Shizuoka, and was first buried at Kunō-san
(Between Earth and Heaven, p. 36), and afterwards at Nikkō.
=Izanagi= and =Izanami=. The Creator and the Creatress of Japan. It
was during the purification of Izanagi after his descent into Hades in
search of Izanami, a legend which has many points of resemblance with
that of Orpheus, that Amaterasu, the Sun-Goddess, was born.
=Jinricksha= or =Jinriksha=. From the Chinese, _lit._
man-power-vehicle; shortened by Europeans into _’ricksha_, by the
Japanese to _jinriki_, but usually called in Japan by the native word
_kuruma_. A small two-wheeled carriage like a miniature hansom or an
old-fashioned perambulator, drawn by a man.
=Kagura.= Sacred _shintō_ dance, whose origin is supposed to be traced
back to the time when Amaterasu, angry at the insult offered her by
her brother Susa-no-wo, retired to a cavern, thus plunging the world
into darkness. She was at last induced to look out by the sound of
music and dancing, and finally enticed right out by the sight of her
own face in a mirror. The dance performed in front of her cavern is
supposed to be the _Kagura_. (Note the “g” here, as all medial “g’s”
in Japanese have the sound of “ng” as in English “sing.” So Nang-o-ya,
_not_ Na-go-ya. Some dialects, as that of _Satsuma_, say a hard “g.”)
=Kakemono=, _lit._ the hanging-up-thing. A picture painted on either
silk or paper, in either monochrome or colour. It is mounted on
brocade, and has a roller each end. Roughly and quite untechnically,
_kakemono_ can be divided into two classes: those which seek to give
only an impression, and those which are a kind of miniature painting.
=Kana.= _Katakana_ and _Hirakana_, popularly supposed to have been
invented, the first 772 A.D., the second 835 A.D. In reality they
were not inventions, but simplifications of certain common Chinese
ideographs. The _kana_ represent sounds, as does our alphabet,
but they stand for syllables, not letters. They both consist of
forty-seven sounds, which by the addition of dots and other symbols
can be considerably increased.
=Kannon=, written K(w)annon, Sanskrit Avalokites-vara, the Goddess of
Mercy, who contemplates the world and listens to the prayers of the
unhappy. In the opinion of a small minority Kannon belongs to the male
sex.
=Kimono.= The long-sleeved robe of Japan, which has no fastening. It
is merely folded across on the right-hand side (only grave-clothes
are crossed to the left) and kept in place by the folds of the _obi_.
Practically the same shaped kimono is worn by men and women, the
difference consisting principally in pattern and colour. The number of
_kimono_ worn depends entirely on the temperature.
=Kirin.= A fabulous monster answering to our griffin. He degenerates
sometimes into a sort of three-cornered dog, and is said not to
trample on live insects nor to eat live grass.
=Kitsune.= Fox. It is the fox and the badger in Japan who are credited
with supernatural powers. Foxes are able to change themselves into
beautiful young women to the undoing of confiding man. The powers of
the badger may be comic.
=Kojiki=, or “Record of Ancient Matters.” The oldest literary work
of Japan, dating from the year 712 A.D. It is a chronicle partly
mythological, partly historical, of the doings of gods, emperors and
men.
=Kuruma.= _See_ =Jinricksha=. The Japanese term for _jinricksha_.
=Kurumaya.= The man who draws the _kuruma_.
=Manjū.= A flat round cake of rice paste filled with a brown bean-jam.
=Meiji.= Age of Enlightenment or Progress. The name of the years from
1868 onwards. The privilege of appointing year-names is regarded in
the Far East as one of the rights of independent sovereignty, much as
coining money with us. In Japan the length of the year-name period has
been up to now purely arbitrary, not coinciding with the reign of an
emperor as in China.
=Miyajima.= One of the _San-kei_ or “Three Chief Sights” of Japan.
An exceedingly beautiful island in the Inland Sea. It contains a
temple built on piles, which at high tide seems to float on the water.
According to tradition, the first temple was erected about 600 A.D.
=Mma.= The actual pronunciation in the Tokyo district of the word
usually Romanised as _Uma_, horse.
=Mmé.= The actual pronunciation in the Tokyo district of the word
usually Romanised as _Umé_.
=Musmé= or =Musumé=. Daughter; girl; and so, waiting-girl.
=Namu-myōho-rengekyō.= Sanskrit, _lit._ “O! the Scripture of the Lotus
of the Wonderful Law.”
=Nēsan=. _lit._ elder sister miss. Used as a half-polite,
half-familiar address to girls; and so, waiting-girl.
=Nichiren.= _B._ 1222, _d._ 1282, at Ikkégami, where some of his
bones remain as relics. He entered the priesthood at the early age of
twelve, when he adopted the name of Nichiren, or “Lotus of the Sun.”
He miraculously learned the whole of the 100 volumes of the Buddhist
canon in one night. He fiercely attacked all the already existing
Buddhist sects, a thing unheard of in Japanese ecclesiastical history;
was twice banished, and once condemned to death, on which occasion
the executioner’s sword refused to perform its function. His crest is
the orange blossom.
=O= and =Go=. Polite prefixes usually translated as “honourable” or
“august.”
=O Bā San=, _lit._ honourable grandmother Mrs.
=Obi.= A long sash usually of wadded brocade, which is folded several
times round the waist and tied behind. The _obi_ is the most expensive
part of a woman’s dress, and exceptional ones of richest brocade
stiffened with gold thread can cost as much as £50 or more; such _obi_
are handed down in families as heirlooms.
=O hachi=, _lit._ honourable pot. Tub in which cooked rice is kept.
=Persimmon.= A fruit the size of an apple which can be round and
reddish, or orange and pear-shaped. Called in Japanese _kaki_.
=Ricksha.= _See_ =Jinricksha=.
=Rin.= 10 _rin_ make 1 _sen_, or one farthing.
=Ronin=, _lit._ wave-man. _Samurai_ without a feudal lord. He might
be described as a _samurai_ out of work either through fault or
misfortune.
=Saké.= An intoxicating drink obtained from fermented rice, containing
11 to 14 per cent. of alcohol. It is generally drunk warm and tastes
something like sherry.
=Samisen.= A square three-stringed lute with a long handle, played
with a plectrum; the commonest and most popular of the musical
instruments of Japan. Its notes are very tinny. In Tokyo usually
called _shamisen_.
=Sampan.= A small flat-bottomed boat, rowed by a man standing in the
stern.
=Samurai.= Derived from the verb _samurau_, to be on guard. A term
used in the early Middle Ages of the soldiers of the Mikado’s palace,
then applied to the entire warrior class. The _samurai_ were “the
gentry” of Japan, the _daimyō_ corresponding to the peers. In Old
Japan all gentlemen were soldiers and all soldiers gentlemen. Since
the Restoration, when their incomes were commuted for a lump sum, the
_samurai_ have had to earn their own livelihood. They are now the
officers, professors, schoolmasters, policemen, officials, practically
the whole governing class of Japan.
=San.= Contraction of _sama_. A title such as our Mr., but used for
both sexes and all ages.
=Semmi.= Cicada. Japan grows innumerable _semmi_ of many kinds. A
favourite amusement of boys is to catch them and keep them in small
cages of green net.
=Sen.= ¼_d._ 100 _sen_ make 1 _yen_.
=Shappo.= From the French _chapeau_. The modern name for the modern
“foreign” hat. Old Japan knew no hats.
=Shintō=, _lit._ the way of the gods. This, the native religion of
Japan, is a combination of ancestor-and nature-worship. Its priesthood
is not a caste, nor even a separate profession. Up to the time of the
revival of Shintōism, due to the Restoration of power to the Mikado,
everybody was born with _Shintō_ and buried with Buddhist rites. The
whole Japanese nation is supposed to be descended from the lesser
_Shintō_ deities, while the Emperor is the direct descendant of
Amaterasu.
=Shōgun=, _lit._ generalissimo. A title first used in 813 A.D., and
continued down to 1868. In the twelfth century the _shōgun_ Yoritomo
first contrived to become the effective ruler of the land; thus
originating the dual control of Japan, the temporal power belonging
to the _shōgun_, the spiritual to the Emperor. Yoritomo was succeeded
by various dynasties of _shōgun_ until Iyeyasu founded the Tokugawa
shōgunate in 1600.
=Shoji.= The sliding wall of a house, like an immense lattice window
whose leadings are wood and whose panes are rice-paper, _Shōji_ are
semi-transparent, and divide the room from the outer world. The walls
which divide one room from another are called _karakami_ or _fusumi_,
and are of opaque paper. They slide in grooves and can be entirely
removed when required.
=Susa-no-wo=, _lit._ the Impetuous Male Deity, was born from the nose
of the creator Izanagi. It was owing to the insult which he offered
his sister Amaterasu by breaking a hole in the roof of the hall of
heaven where she sat weaving with her celestial maidens, and dropping
down into it “a heavenly piebald horse flayed with a backward flaying”
that the Sun-Goddess retired to the cavern and left the world in
darkness. Susa-no-wo was the ancestor of the rulers of Izumo, who
finally gave up their throne to the descendants of the Sun-Goddess,
accepting a spiritual for an earthly homage. Susa-no-wo is sometimes
considered as the God of the Moon, sometimes as the God of the Sea.
=Suzuki Tetsutarō.= The family name in Japan always comes first, the
“Christian” name after, as Smith John. Suzuki is one of the commonest
of Japanese surnames of _samurai_ rank, Hayashi running it very
close. Tetsutarō, _lit._ own eldest son.
=Tabi.= Half-boots fastening up on the inner, not the outer, side, as
with us. They are made of cotton, and the sole is a soft sock. There
is a separate compartment for the big toe. _Tabi_ are of either dark
blue or white cotton; white is for house and street wear; dark blue
for hard work or walking, and mostly worn by the lower classes.
=Tenshisama.= Chinese term meaning Son of Heaven, from _ten_, heaven.
_Sama_ is the longer and more courteous form of _san_. The Emperor is
also called _Tennō_, Heavenly Emperor, or _Shujō_, the Supreme Master;
all Chinese terms. The word Mikado is very rarely used by the Japanese
except in poetry or on great occasions.
=Tōfu.= A white bean-curd, looking like cream cheese. A favourite food
of the coolie.
=Tokonoma.= A raised alcove. Probably it was originally that part of a
room raised above the level of the earth floor, on which people slept.
=Tokugawa.= The family name of Iyeyasu and so of the shōgunate founded
by him. The last _shōgun_, who abdicated in 1868, is still living.
=Tokyo.= The modern name for Yedo, meaning the Eastern Capital.
=Torī.= A gateway without a gate formed of two perpendicular and two
horizontal beams, which at first stood in front of every _shintō_
temple. When the Buddhists adopted it they turned up the ends in a
glorious curve, and used it for affixing tablets. Popular etymology
derives it from _tori_, fowl, and _i_ (_iru_), dwelling, regarding
it as a perch for the sacred birds. It probably came from Northern
India, where similar gateways called _turan_ are found outside
burial-grounds. _Cf._ Luchuan _turi_.
=Uchi=, _lit._ inside; and so, house.
=Uguisu.= A small brown bird, the _cettria cantans_, with a simple but
exquisite song.
=Urashima.= The Rip Van Winkle of Japanese folk-lore. He married the
Sea King’s daughter. After a short honeymoon he came back to visit his
parents. But the oldest inhabitant of the village could only dimly
remember the family tombstones in the graveyard. Thinking he was the
victim of an illusion, Urashima rashly opened a box the Sea Princess
had given him. Instantly a grey smoke went up to heaven, and Urashima
changed from a stalwart youth to an old man, sank down on the seashore
and died. He was a thousand years old.
=Yedo.= The original name of Tokyo, given it by its founder Iyeyasu.
=Yashiki.= The house or enclosure of a noble or honourable person.
=Yen.= The Japanese money unit, worth 2_s._ ½_d._
=Waraji.= A straw sandal fastening securely with strings of straw. The
straw turns up slightly round the back of the heel. _Waraji_ are for
travelling.
=Zashki.= The room; parlour; the sitting-room of a house.
For much of the information contained in these notes I am indebted to
the works of Prof. B. H. Chamberlain.
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TRANSCRIBERS’ NOTES
The Publisher’s Advertisement Page has been moved from the front to the
end of the text.
Different spellings of the same word have been standardized.
In this text version, the following marking were used to indicate the
original text styles: _italic_ and =bold=.
Text originally printed in small caps has been converted to uppercase
letters.
The following typos and omissions have been changed in the text:
Page 39: missing “b” added to: _blue hose, with brown weather-beaten
faces_
Page 63: missing period added to: _and there was nothing else._
Page 115: “proscribed” changed to “prescribed”: _already bent to the
prescribed curves for me_
Page 122: “ackowledged” changed to “acknowledged”: _dramatic instinct
is acknowledged to be far below_
Page 125: “possibilites” changed to “possibilities”: _more
possibilities than a rice-field_
Page 140: duplicate “in” removed from: _are washed in the softest of
bark brown_
Page 151: “th” changed to “the”: _the position of the person serving_
Page 167: comma changed to period: _as the boys, lantern in hand,
plunged downward._
Page 209: “capitials” changed to “capitals”: _stating in printed Roman
capitals that_
Page 230: “ust” changed to “us”: _but he never told us why._
Page 230: “nor” changed to “not”: _that we could not read the Chinese_
Page 266: missing period added to: _Skoshi mo arimasen._
Page 295: missing period added to: _1542, d. 1616. The founder of the
Tokugawa_
Page 300: missing period added to: _meaning the Eastern Capital._