there is only a commercial connection, it must not be forgotten that
Australia is closely identified with the Polynesian races, who in
turn are related to the early Japanese. New Zealand, Australia, New
Caledonia, and New Guinea, as parts of one and the same continent,
which now in many places has disappeared beneath the sea, present an
ethnographic study of unusual importance and interest. In few other
parts of the world is so great an ethnographic variation imposed upon a
single connecting racial family as in the island divisions of the South
Seas--Australasia, Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. It is by the
existence of this underlying relationship that the Indo-Pacific races,
whatever their specific origin, undoubtedly link up two hemispheres
which organically are widely separated. By the abruptly disintegrated
character of existing racial location, however, it is possible to read
the impression made by the Pacific Ocean on the history of the world.
If oceanic influences are represented in other ways to-day, and tribal
migrations in a body are occurrences of the past, the necessities
of the age still make such heavy demands on what is, after all, the
immemorial highway of mankind that the Pacific can still be said to
mould the destinies of races to-day as easily as it has obliterated
them in the past.
[Sidenote: What will Happen To-morrow?]
Turning to Asia, although the Empires of Russia in Siberia and of
China have worked out their destinies independently of the Pacific,
remaining unaffected by it more than all other Eastern states, the
part that the Pacific has played in the development of Asia since the
eighteenth century cannot go unnoticed. Japan, in particular, has
profited by the readiness of communication that the ocean provides to
rise above prejudices which are usually inseparable from an island
people and are pre-eminently to be expected among Asiatics. In China
the absence of any prominent dependence on the sea, either for food
or means of transport, has produced in very sinister form an aversion
against the West. None the less, under pressure from the Occident,
and without regarding the example set by Japan, the Celestial Empire
has permitted much commercial encroachment. Succeeding the galleons
of the buccaneers have come the stately traders of the merchant
princes of Europe and America, and these in turn have given place to
the steamers of industrial trusts, exacting as large a tribute as the
earliest marauders. While the consequences of industrial expansion
among Oriental people have made the Pacific the focus of much restless
energy, Japan, now as great a Power on land as formerly she was, and
is, at sea, has developed an intelligence that has made her pre-eminent
among the trading nations of the East. Undeterred by exertion, unmoved
by expenditure, Japan has displaced the carrying trade of the Pacific
by her fearless invasion of Western markets. Throughout the isles of
the Southern Seas, and up and down the face of the Pacific slope,
the islanders have swarmed, filling the lands of their passage with
unaccustomed energy.
Looking back, then, at the conditions of Asia in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, and comparing them with those existing to-day,
it will be noticed that a wide gulf still separates Japan from China
in the twentieth century as it formerly separated China from the rest
of the Far East. On the one side there is China, now emerging from
revolution; on the other there is Japan, voicing the regeneration of
Asia with raucous tones.
[Sidenote: China Thirty years Hence]
Meanwhile the vast interests of the Occident in the Orient are united
with either power by frequent political intercourse and a traffic which
has given to the Pacific priority of place in the battle for commercial
supremacy. Yet while China is commercially independent of the West,
and Japan dependent upon it, all branches of foreign industry cannot
but view with alarm the increasing aggressiveness of the spirit of
independence now inspiring Asia at the prompting of Japan. Obviously
these signs are the indication of an approaching cleavage between East
and West, which, when fully attained, will bear witness to the complete
severance of the shackles hitherto enthralling Asia to the interests
and purposes of the West. It must not be forgotten that Japan already
has achieved her complete regeneration. Thirty years hence China, no
doubt, will have followed suit, when a federacy of the Far Eastern
Powers may become an accomplished fact. Even at this moment such a
union is possible, and its realisation would impose upon all European
Governments the immediate revision of their Asiatic policies.
At this time such a combination is hampered only by the unwillingness
of China to accept the suggestions of Japan in anything affecting the
policy of Asia, although, in spite of this objection, active reforming
influences are gradually effecting important changes throughout the
Chinese Empire. For the moment, therefore, Japan is content to tread
alone the path she has marked out, encouraging her subjects by example
to exploit Asia for the Asiatics, and to secure recognition of the
doctrine of equality between the white and Asiatic races.
If the full significance of this movement is not yet discernible,
there is enough evidence to show that the problem will rank among the
greatest that the politics of the twentieth century can disclose. Not
only one part of the civilised globe will be affected by the rise of
a dominant Asia, for the whole world will be confronted equally with
the necessity of resisting whatever indications may appear. If it is
difficult to devise an arrangement short of total exclusion that does
not admit an annual influx of a large number of Japanese, Chinese,
Korean, or Indian immigrants into the lands affected by this invasion,
it is at least tolerably certain that if the existing flow of Asiatics
across the Pacific to America and Australasia continues unabated for
a further decade, the areas now menaced will be inhabited by a white
minority.
[Sidenote: Problem of the Century]
It appears evident that the continuation of the Far East under existing
conditions is doubtful, if not impossible, in view of the awakening
of Asia and the visible prejudices that Western democracy entertains
against the Asiatic. Yet if the clash of conflicting interests
ultimately precipitates a struggle between the two great racial
divisions of the world, there can be no doubt that the moral teachings
of humanity will be discredited.
ANGUS HAMILTON
+---------------------------------------------------+
| GREAT DATES IN THE HISTORY OF JAPAN |
+------+--------------------------------------------+
|=B.C.=| =To 500 A.D.= |
| =660=| Supposed foundation of the Japanese |
| | Empire by Jimmu |
| | |
|=A.D.=| |
| =3=| Emperor Suinin flourished. Abolition |
| | of the practice of burying retainers |
| | alive on the master’s death |
| =59=| Reputed Korean immigration |
| =125=| Legendary hero Yamato Daké |
| | flourished |
| =202=| Reputed conquests in Korea by Empress |
| | Jingō Kōgō |
| =397=| Probable introduction of Chinese |
| | civilisation, through Korea |
| | |
| | =500-1000= |
| =552=| Introduction of Buddhism |
| =645=| The Taikwa Laws of Kōtōku |
| =675=| Encouragement of Buddhism by Temmu |
| =689=| The Laws reduced to a written code |
| =750=| Development of the Samurai class |
| =782=| Emperor Kwammu |
| =800=| Fusion of Shintō with Buddhism by |
| | Kōbō Daishi |
| =889=| High offices become hereditary in the |
| | Fujiwara family |
| | |
| | =1000-1500= |
|=1155=| Wars of the Taira and Minamoto |
| | clans |
|=1186=| Victory of the Minamoto |
|=1192=| The Minamoto Shogunate established |
| | Japanese feudal system |
|=1220=| Supremacy of the Hōjō family |
|=1275=| Attempt of Kublai Khan to invade |
| | Japan |
|=1281=| Destruction of the Chinese (Mongol) |
| | Armada |
|=1333=| Ashikaga revolt and overthrow of the |
| | Hōjō |
|=1337=|Rival Mikados of the North and South |
| | for fifty-five years |
| | |
| | =1500-1800= |
|=1543=| First appearance of Europeans |
| | (Portuguese) in Japan |
|=1549=| Francis Xavier attempts to introduce |
| | Christianity |
|=1574=| Overthrow of Ashikaga by Nobunaga |
|=1581=| Rapid development of Christianity |
|=1582=| Death of Nobunaga. Supremacy of his |
| | general Hideyoshi (Taikō Sama) |
|=1583=| Envoys sent from feudal lords to the |
| | Pope |
|=1592=| Hideyoshi’s invasion of Korea |
|=1598=| Death of Hideyoshi. Accession to |
| | power of Iyeyasu |
|=1606=| Prohibition of Christianity |
|=1615=| Restoration of Minamoto Shōgunate |
|=1617=| Foreign trade limited to two ports |
|=1621=| Japanese prohibited from foreign travel |
|=1624=| Decree of expulsion against all foreigners |
| | except Dutch and Chinese |
|=1637=| Peasant and Christian revolt |
|=1641=| Dutch and Chinese restricted to Nagasaki |
|=1694=| Development of trade-guilds |
|=1792=| Russian squadron visits Japanese coast |
+------+--------------------------------------------+
| | |
| | =1800-1867= |
|=1804=| Russia attempts unsuccessfully to open |
| | relations with Japan |
|=1818=| Captain Gordon at Yedo Bay |
|=1844=| Holland makes proposals for extension |
| | of trade |
|=1848=| Visit of American and French warships |
| | to Japanese waters |
|=1853=| Commodore Perry in Yedo Bay |
|=1854=| First Japanese Treaty with a Western |
| | Power (U.S.A.) in March. First Treaty |
| | with Great Britain in October |
|=1855=| Russian Treaty |
|=1856=| Dutch Treaty |
|=1859=| Readmission of Christian missionaries |
|=1861=| Attack on British Legation |
|=1862=| Murder of Mr. Richardson |
| | Japanese Embassy to the Treaty Powers |
|=1863=| Bombardment of Kago-shima by British |
|=1864=| Bombardment of Shimonoseki by |
| | international squadron |
| | Contest and reconciliation of the two |
| | great clans (Sats-cho) |
|=1866=| Kei-ki, last Shōgun |
| | New Conventions with Western Powers |
|=1867= Accession of Mutsu-hito as Mikado |
| | Appointment of Europeans: French |
| | military and British naval instructors |
| | Resignation of Shōgun Kei-ki |
| | |
| | =1868-1907= |
|=1868=| Restoration of imperial power |
|=1869=| The Emperor takes up residence at |
| | Yedo, re-named Tokio. Emperor’s |
| | “charter” oath |
| | The Daimiyo surrender feudal rights |
|=1871=| Feudalism abolished |
|=1872=| Establishment of religious toleration |
|=1873=| Adoption of Gregorian Calendar |
| | Universal Military Service |
|=1874=| Saga rebellion. Formosan expedition |
|=1875=| Saghalin exchanged for Kuriles |
|=1876=| Korean Treaty |
|=1877=| Revolt and death of Saigo |
|=1879=| Annexation of Riu-Kiu Islands |
|=1889=| Promulgation of the Constitution. |
| | Establishment of local self-government. |
| | Anti-foreign reaction |
|=1890=| First Imperial Parliament. New civil |
| | and commercial codes |
|=1894=| War with China |
|=1895=| Victory over China. Formosa annexed |
|=1897=| Revised customs tariff. Gold standard. |
| | Freedom of Press and public meetings |
|=1899=| New Treaties on terms of equality. |
| | Opening of the whole country |
|=1900=| Expedition against Boxers in China |
|=1902=| Anglo-Japanese agreement |
|=1904=| War with Russia |
|=1905=| Victory over Russia. Japan obtains |
| | Port Arthur, S. Saghalin, control of |
| | S. Manchuria, and protectorate of |
| | Korea |
| | Anglo-Japanese alliance |
|=1907=| Franco-Japanese Agreement |
| | Russo-Japanese Convention |
|=1910=| Korea annexed |
|=1911=| Anglo-Japanese Agreement |
+------+--------------------------------------------+
[Illustration: JAPAN]
THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE
BY ARTHUR DIOSY
THE EMPIRE OF THE EASTERN SEAS
[Sidenote: Length and Breadth of Great Japan]
Asia’s furthest outpost towards the vast waters of the Pacific Ocean,
a long, narrow chain of rocky, volcanic islands, extends north-east to
south-west along the eastern coast of the mainland, separated from it
by the Sea of Japan and the China Seas. A glance at the map shows this
long string of more than three thousand islands and islets, stretching
from 51°5′, the latitude of Shumo-shu, the most northern of the Kurile
group of islands, down to 21°48′, the latitude of the South Cape of
Formosa, a total length of nearly thirty degrees. Its component parts
extend from 157°10′ east longitude, at Shumo-shu, as far westwards as
119°20′, the position of the extreme western islets of the Pescadores,
or Hokoto, archipelago, a distance of nearly thirty-eight degrees, the
total breadth of the Empire of Dai Nippon--Great Japan.
The enormous length of the island empire, the configuration of which is
likened by the Japanese to the slender body of a dragon-fly, provides
a great variety of climate, from the Arctic rigour of the Kurile
Islands and the Siberian climate, with its long and terrible winter
and its short but fierce summer, obtaining in the larger northern
islands, to the sweltering, steamy heat of Formosa, the tropic of
Cancer passing through that island and through the Pescadores. These
extreme temperatures apart--and they prevail only at the ends of the
empire--Japan possesses a temperate climate, similar to that of the
northern shores of the Mediterranean, but colder in winter and much
damper, the excessive humidity causing both heat and cold to be very
trying, though never dangerous. The rainfall is especially heavy in
June and in September, but no month is entirely without rain. The
hottest period of the year is called dō-yō, corresponding to our
“dog-days,” and follows the rainy season of June and early July.
[Sidenote: What Japan Owes to its Position]
Japan owes its great humidity, the consequent fertility of such parts
of its surface as are cultivable--about 84·3 per cent. of the whole
area of Japan proper is too rocky to yield food for man--and the
luxuriant verdure that clothes the lower slopes of its wooded hills, to
its insular position, and, chiefly, to two great factors, a current and
a wind. The great warm current known as the Kuro-shio, the Black Brine,
or Black Tide, flowing from the tropical region between the Philippines
and Formosa, raises the temperature of the east coast, and, where it is
in part deflected by contact with the southern coast of Kiū-shū, also
of the west coast, acting in the same beneficent manner as the Gulf
Stream of the Atlantic. The wind that affects the Japanese climate
most strongly is the north-east monsoon, tempered by the action of the
dark, warm, ocean current.
[Illustration:
Keystone View Co.
A GLIMPSE OF THE INLAND SEA, THE LOVELIEST SHEET OF WATER IN JAPAN
Studded with hundreds of islands, every part of the Inland Sea of
Japan, stretching 240 miles in length, and widening once to 40
miles, offers an enchanting prospect. The islands occur often in
clusters, giving the appearance of lakes.
]
The geographical position of Japan has had great influence on the
history of its people, and clearly indicates the supremely important
part the empire is destined to play in the future development of the
Far East. Its insular character has preserved it from invasion--it is
the proud and legitimate boast of the Japanese that no foe has, within
historical times, trodden Japanese soil for more than a few hours--and
whilst it rendered possible the seclusion in which the nation lived for
more than two centuries, developing, undisturbed, a high civilisation
of its own, the basis of many of the qualities displayed by the
Japanese in our day, it has been, in recent times, the cause of Japan’s
real might in the world--her sea-power, naval and commercial.
The map shows the four principal islands of Japan Proper: HON-SHŪ,
or Hon-dō--“Principal Circuit,” the largest island of Japan,
commonly called Nippon, really the name of the whole empire, meaning
“Sun-origin,” equivalent to Sunrise Land; KIŪ-SHŪ, or Nine Provinces;
SHI-KOKU, or Four States; and the great northern island of YEZO, the
second in size, officially termed Hok-kai-dō--“North Sea Circuit.”
The four islands extend, opposite the mainland, from the coast
of the Russian Maritime Province, on the north-west, down to the
southern extremity of the Korean peninsula, on the south-west. North
of Yezo, facing the mouth of the great River Amur, the long, narrow
island of Saghalin--Karafuto, in Japanese--belongs partly to Russia,
partly to Japan, its southern districts, up to the fiftieth degree
of latitude, being ceded to the victors by Article IX. of the Treaty
of Portsmouth (1905). Separating these islands, important channels
afford communication between the Sea of Japan and the Pacific. The
Gulf of Tartary divides Saghalin from the mainland, whilst the Strait
of La Pérouse, or Strait of Tsugaru, separates the island from Yezo.
The Straits of Korea, between that empire, now under the protectorate
of Japan, and the main island, Hon-shū, or Nippon, are the way of
communication joining the Sea of Japan and the eastern part of the
China Sea, the straits being divided into three channels by the island
of Iki and by those of Tsu-shima, a name rendered for ever glorious
by Togo’s great victory on May 27th, 1905. The various straits are
sufficiently narrow to be easily closed to an enemy by Japan’s splendid
fleet.
[Illustration:
Keystone View Co.
A CRATER WITH EIGHTY VILLAGES, IN WHICH TWENTY THOUSAND PEOPLE LIVE
Twenty thousand people live in eighty villages in the outer crater
of Aso-san, probably the largest crater on earth, competing, says
Professor Milne, with some of the great craters of the moon. The
crater of Aso-san is from 10 to 14 miles across, and its wall is
everywhere 2,000 feet high, the highest peak being Taka-dake, 5,630
feet.
]
Although Japan has remained immune from invasion throughout historical
time, its proximity to the mainland, and especially to the Korean
peninsula, led, in prehistoric ages, to its receiving from the
continent an influx of immigrants who gradually conquered the
insular natives, and whose descendants probably form the main stock
of the present Japanese race. It was this proximity that brought the
civilisation of China into Japan, in the first instance through Korea;
the same route was followed by another mighty invasion of foreign
thought, the introduction of Buddhism.
[Illustration:
Keystone View Co.
HAKONÉ LAKE AND THE GATEWAY TO THE INARI TEMPLE IN KIŌTO
Hakoné Lake, the top picture, is a delightful summer resort. The
bottom picture, the avenue of Torii (portals), forming the entrance
to a Shintō Temple at Kiōto, is a wonderful sight. There are over
400 Torii, arranged in two colonnades.
]
[Illustration:
Keystone View Co.
A GLIMPSE OF THE BUSY NAGOYA CANAL AND OF THE PARK AT KUMAMOTO
Nagoya is one of the great manufacturing cities of Japan, and a
busy canal links the city with the port of Yokkaichi. The park of
Suizenji, in Kumamoto, is a beautiful example of Japanese landscape
gardening.
]
No country has been better fashioned by Nature for the acquirement
of sea-power than the Island Empire of the Rising Sun. Its enormous
extent of coast-line, with countless indentations, especially numerous
on the south-eastern coasts of Hon-shū, Shi-koku, and Kiū-shū, its
many excellent harbours, naturally fortified by reason of the narrow
entrances to the gulfs in which they are situated--for example:
Nagasaki, in Kiū-shū, the naval stations at Sasebo, in the same island,
Kure, in the Inland Sea, and Yoko-suka, near Tōkio Bay--and, above all,
the excellence of its seafaring population, supply the elements that
give Japan the mastery in Far Eastern waters.
[Sidenote: Seafaring Qualities of Japanese]
In the thousands of hamlets nestling in the bays, large and small,
and creeks of the Japanese islands, dwells a hardy race of fishermen,
inured to peril and fatigue, men of brawny strength and indomitable
pluck, frugal and enduring, as fine material for the manning of
warships and trading craft as the world has ever known. The persistence
of those seafaring qualities which the Japanese owe chiefly to the
natural advantages of their island home--partly, no doubt, to a
strain of the blood of Malay sea-rovers, perhaps also of Polynesian
canoe-men--is a remarkable phenomenon. In olden times they were
bold seafarers, roaming as far as the Philippines and the coast of
Indo-China. The waters of Formosa and of Siam were the scene of their
piratical exploits, for, like all nations destined to be great at sea,
they passed through a period when the spirit of adventure, as much as
the lust for spoil, made them into daring sea-robbers.
But, with the closing of Japan to foreign intercourse--save on a
strictly limited scale--early in the seventeenth century, came the
enactment of laws devised to prevent the Japanese from visiting foreign
parts; the tonnage and build of ships were fixed by these decrees in
such a manner that only fishing and coasting trips were thenceforward
possible. This prohibition lasted for two centuries and a half; yet, on
its removal, the germ of the seafaring qualities, supposed to have died
out, was found to have been only in a state of suspended animation; it
revived with surprising rapidity. In less than a quarter of a century
it produced a naval _personnel_ capable of manning a highly efficient
fleet of thirty-three sea-going fighting-ships; in ten years more the
amazed world recognised Japan’s Navy as the triumphant victor in the
greatest battle since Trafalgar, and coupled Admiral Togo’s name with
that of Nelson.
[Sidenote: The Sea as Japan’s Friend]
The sea has, indeed, ever been Japan’s friend; to this day it supports
a large number of the population, and, in a sense, it may be said to
keep the whole nation alive, as the fish that teem in Japanese waters
supply a considerable part of the people’s food. Every marine product
available as nutriment is utilised, even seaweed of various kinds
being largely used as food. Fishing seems to have been practised from
the earliest times; it is probably in recognition of its antiquity
and national importance that the Japanese of our day still affix to
any gift a strip of dried seaweed, passed through a piece of paper
peculiarly folded, the idea they thus symbolise being, it is said:
“This is but a trumpery present, but it comes from a cheerful giver; be
pleased to take it as it is meant. Remember our forefathers were poor
fisherfolk; this strip of seaweed is to remind you that poverty is no
crime.”
[Sidenote: Japan’s Beautiful Scenery]
There are many other customs connected with the harvest of the sea, and
innumerable legends and folk-tales wherein the chief part is played by
some marine spirit or by a visitor--deity or mortal--to the mysterious
realms of the deep. And deep it is, for, off the eastern coast of
Northern Japan, the sea-bed falls abruptly to a depression--the
famous Tuscarora Deep, called after the United States warship of that
name--of 4,655 fathoms, nearly 28,000 ft., or more than five miles,
probably the deepest sea-bed in the world. The encircling sea forms
an important part of most of the beautiful pictures the scenery of
Japan offers to the delighted eye. Whether the waves dash tumultuously
against the precipitous rocks of the south-eastern side of the main
islands, especially of Shi-koku and Kiū-shū; whether the waters dance
in the sunshine in the countless bays and creeks of those coasts
where the frequency of the shelter afforded to fishing-craft led to
an earlier and more dense settlement than on the north-west coast of
Hon-shū; whether the far-famed Inland Sea shines like a mirror under
the moonbeams, or the Sea of Japan tosses its grey billows or spreads a
sullen expanse under the pall of fog caused by the meeting of warm and
cold currents--in all its moods the ocean forms part of nearly all the
grandest scenery of Japan.
[Illustration: SCENES IN JAPAN AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE
There is at least one shock of earthquake every day in Japan; there
are 500 shocks in a year. As late as 1891 an earthquake wrecked two
populous towns and destroyed two smaller ones. These photographs
show the havoc of such earthquakes.
]
[Illustration: YOKOHAMA: THE TOWN AND HARBOUR IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE
GREAT CHANGE]
[Illustration: OLD TŌKIO: THE CITY OF YEDO, SEAT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF
THE SHŌGUNS FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS
The “Japan Bridge,” one of the striking features of the capital of
Old Japan, was regarded as the centre of the empire, and from it
all distances were measured.
]
The “Three Views,” known to every Japanese man, woman and child,
for they are portrayed in countless pictorial representations, are
sea-scapes. The 808 islets of Matsu-shima, with the thousand trees from
which the group derives its name of Pine Islands, are the glory of the
province of Sen-dai, in Northern Hon-shū; the hoary tori-i, or gateway,
of the great Shin-tō temple at the sacred island of Miya-jima,
or Itsuku-shima--so holy that no birth nor death may take place on
the island, and no dog is allowed there--stands firmly amidst the
very waves of the Inland Sea; Ama-no Hashidaté, the “Sacred Bridge,”
stretches its slender two-mile length of sandy spit, only 190 ft.
broad--crowned, all along, with an avenue of pine-trees--into the blue
waters of the gulf of Miya-zu, in the Sea of Japan.