JAPAN AND HER PEOPLE.
The eyes of the world are on Japan. No other nation has ever made
such progress in the same length of time, and at no time in her
history has Japan enjoyed greater prestige than she enjoys just
now; and, it may be added, at no time has she had to face greater
problems than those which now confront her.
We were fortunate in the time of our arrival. Baron Komura, the
returning peace commissioner, returned two days later; the naval
review celebrating the new Anglo-Japanese alliance took place in
Yokohama harbor a week afterward, and this was followed next day by
the reception of Admiral Togo at Tokyo. These were important events
and they gave a visitor an extraordinary opportunity to see the
people en masse. In this article I shall deal in a general way with
Japan and her people, leaving for future articles her history, her
government, her politics, her industries, her art, her education and
her religions.
The term Japan is a collective title applied to four large islands,
that is, Honshiu, Kyushu, Shikoku, Hokkaido and about six hundred
smaller ones. Formosa and the islands immediately adjoining it are
not generally included, although since the Chinese war they belong
to Japan.
Japan extends in the shape of a crescent, curving toward the
northeast, from fifty north latitude and one hundred and fifty-six
east longitude to twenty-one degrees north latitude and one hundred
and nineteen east longitude. The area is a little less than one
hundred and sixty thousand square miles, more than half of which
is on the island of Honshiu. The coast line is broken by numerous
bays furnishing commodious harbors, the most important of which are
at Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Nagasaki, Kagoshima and Hakodate. The
islands are so mountainous that only about one-twelfth the area is
capable of cultivation. Although Formosa has a mountain, Mt. Niitaka
(sometimes called Mt. Morrison) which is two thousand feet higher,
Fujiyama is the highest mountain in Japan proper. It reaches a
height of 12,365 feet.
[Illustration: A PICTURESQUE VIEW.]
Fuji (Yama is the Japanese word for mountain) is called the Sacred
Mountain and is an object of veneration among the Japanese. And
well it may be, for it is doubtful if there is on earth a more
symmetrical mountain approaching it in height. Rising in the shape
of a perfect cone, with its summit crowned with snow throughout
nearly the entire year and visible from sea level, it is one of the
most sublime of all the works of nature. Mt. Ranier, as they say at
Seattle, or Tacoma, as it is called in the city of that name, and
Popocatapetl, near Mexico's capital, are the nearest approach to
Fuji, so far as the writer's observation goes. Pictures of Fuji are
to be found on everything; they are painted on silk, embroidered on
screens, worked on velvet, carved in wood and wrought in bronze and
stone. We saw it from Lake Hakone, a beautiful sheet of water some
three thousand feet above the ocean. The foot hills which surround
the lake seem to open at one point in order to give a more extended
view of the sloping sides of this sleeping giant.
And speaking of Hakone, it is one of the beauty spots of Japan.
On an island in this lake is the summer home of the crown prince.
Hakone is reached by a six-mile ride from Miyanoshita, a picturesque
little village some sixty miles west of Yokohama. There are here
hot springs and all the delights of a mountain retreat. One of the
best modern hotels in Japan, the Fujiya, is located here, and one of
its earliest guests was General Grant when he made his famous tour
around the world. The road from the hotel to Hakone leads by foaming
mountain streams, through closely cultivated valleys and over a
range from which the coast line can be seen.
Nikko, about a hundred miles north of Tokyo, and Nara about thirty
miles from Kyoto, are also noted for their natural scenery, but as
these places are even more renowned because of the temples located
there they will be described later. The inland sea which separates
the larger islands of Japan, and is itself studded with smaller
islands, adds interest to the travel from port to port. Many of
these islands are inhabited, and the tiny fields which perch upon
their sides give evidence of an ever present thrift. Some of the
islands are barren peaks jutting a few hundred feet above the waves,
while some are so small as to look like hay stacks in a submerged
meadow.
All over Japan one is impressed with the patient industry of the
people. If the Hollanders have reclaimed the ocean's bed, the people
of Japan have encroached upon the mountains. They have broadened the
valleys and terraced the hill sides. Often the diminutive fields
are held in place by stone walls, while the different levels are
furnished with an abundance of water from the short but numerous
rivers.
The climate is very much diversified, ranging from almost tropical
heat in Formosa to arctic cold in the northern islands; thus
Japan can produce almost every kind of food. Her population in
1903 was estimated at nearly forty-seven millions, an increase of
about thirteen and a half millions since 1873. While Tokyo has a
population of about one and a half millions, Osaka a population of
nearly a million, Kyoto three hundred and fifty thousand, Yokohama
three hundred thousand, and Kobe and Nagoya about the same, and
there are several other large cities of less size, still a large
majority of the population is rural and the farming communities
have a decided preponderance in the federal congress, or diet. The
population, however, is increasing more rapidly in the cities than
in the country.
The stature of the Japanese is below that of the citizens of the
United States and northern Europe. The average height of the men
in the army is about five feet two inches, and the average weight
between a hundred and twenty and a hundred and thirty pounds. It
looks like burlesque opera to see, as one does occasionally, two or
three little Japanese soldiers guarding a group of big burly Russian
prisoners.
The opinion is quite general that the habit which the Japanese form
from infancy of sitting on the floor with their feet under them,
tends to shorten the lower limbs. In all the schools the children
are now required to sit upon benches and whether from this cause
or some other, the average height of the males, as shown by yearly
medical examination, is gradually increasing. Although undersize,
the people are sturdy and muscular and have the appearance of robust
health. In color they display all shades of brown, from a very light
to a very dark. While the oblique eye is common, it is by no means
universal.
The conveyance which is most popular is the jinrikisha, a narrow
seated, two wheeled top buggy with shafts, joined with a cross piece
at the end. These are drawn by "rikisha men" of whom there are
several hundred thousand in the empire. The 'rikisha was invented
by a Methodist missionary some thirty years ago and at once sprang
into popularity. When the passenger is much above average weight, or
when the journey is over a hilly road, a pusher is employed and in
extraordinary cases two pushers. It is astonishing what speed these
men can make. One of the governors informed me that 'rikisha men
sometimes cover seventy-five miles of level road in a day. They will
take up a slow trot and travel for several miles without a break.
We had occasion to go to a village fifteen miles from Kagoshima and
crossed a low mountain range of perhaps two thousand feet. The trip
each way occupied about four hours; each 'rikisha had two pushers
and the men had three hours rest at noon. They felt so fresh at
the end of the trip that they came an hour later to take us to a
dinner engagement. In the mountainous regions the chair and kago
take the place of the 'rikisha. The chair rests on two bamboo poles
and is carried by four men; the kago is suspended from one pole,
like a swinging hammock, and is carried by two. Of the two, the
chair is much the more comfortable for the tourist. The basha is a
small one-horse omnibus which will hold four or six small people;
it is used as a sort of stage between villages. A large part of the
hauling of merchandise is done by men, horses being rarely seen.
In fact, in some of the cities there are more oxen than horses, and
many of them wear straw sandals to protect their hoofs from the hard
pavement. The lighter burdens are carried in buckets or baskets,
suspended from the ends of a pole and balanced upon the shoulder.
[Illustration: THE JINRIKISHA AT MIYANOSHITA THE CHAIR]
In the country the demand for land is so great that most of the
roads are too narrow for any other vehicle than a hand cart. The
highways connecting the cities and principal towns, however, are of
good width, are substantially constructed and well drained, and have
massive stone bridges spanning the streams.
The clothing of the men presents an interesting variety. In official
circles the European and American dress prevails. The silk hat and
Prince Albert coat are in evidence at all day functions, and the
dress suit at evening parties. The western style of dress is also
worn by many business men, professional men and soldiers, and by
students after they reach the middle school, which corresponds to
our high school. The change is taking place more rapidly among the
young than among the adults and is more marked in the city than in
the country. In one of the primary schools in Kyoto, I noticed that
more than half of the children gave evidence of the transition in
dress. The change is also more noticeable in the seaport cities than
in the interior. At Kyoto, an inland city, the audience wore the
native dress and all were seated on mats on the floor, while the
next night at Osaka, a seaport, all sat on chairs and nearly all
wore the American dress. At the Osaka meeting some forty Japanese
young ladies from the Congregational college sang "My Country 'Tis
of Thee" in English.
The shopkeepers and clerks generally wear the native clothing, which
consists of a divided skirt and a short kimono held in place by a
sash. The laboring men wear loose knee breeches and a shirt in warm
weather; in cold weather they wear tight fitting breeches that reach
to the ankles and a loose coat. In the country the summer clothing
is even more scanty. I saw a number of men working in the field
with nothing on but a cloth about the loins, and it was early in
November, when I found a light overcoat comfortable.
A pipe in a wooden case and a tobacco pouch are often carried in the
belt or sash, for smoking is almost universal among both men and
women.
Considerable latitude is allowed in footwear. The leather shoe has
kept pace with the coat and vest, but where the native dress is
worn, the sandal is almost always used. Among the well-to-do the
foot is encased in a short sock made of white cotton cloth, which
is kept scrupulously clean. The sock has a separate division for
the great toe, the sandal being held upon the foot by a cord which
runs between the first and second toes and, dividing, fastens on
each side of the sandal. These sandals are of wood and rest upon two
blocks an inch or more high, the front one sloping toward the toe.
The sandal hangs loosely upon the foot and drags upon the pavement
with each step. The noise made by a crowd at a railroad station
rises above the roar of the train. In muddy weather a higher sandal
is used which raises the feet three or four inches from the ground,
and the wearers stalk about as if on stilts. The day laborers wear
a cheaper sandal made of woven rope or straw. The footwear above
described comes down from time immemorial, but there is coming
into use among the 'rikisha men a modern kind of footwear which
is a compromise between the new and the old. It is a dark cloth,
low-topped gaiter with a rubber sole and no heel. These have the
separate pocket for the great toe. The sandals are left at the door.
At public meetings in Japanese halls the same custom is followed,
the sandals being checked at the door as hats and wraps are in our
country. On approaching a meeting place the speaker can form some
estimate of the size of the audience by the size of the piles of
sandals on the outside. After taking cold twice, I procured a pair
of felt slippers and carried them with me, and the other members of
the family did likewise.
[Illustration: A JAPANESE FAMILY.]
The women still retain the primitive dress. About 1884 an attempt
was made by the ladies of the court to adopt the European dress
and quite a number of women in official circles purchased gowns
in London, Paris and the United States, in spite of the protests
of their sisters abroad. (Mrs. Cleveland joined in a written
remonstrance which was sent from the United States.) But the spell
was broken in a very few months and the women outside of the court
circles returned to the simpler and more becoming native garb. It is
not necessary to enter into details regarding the female toilet, as
the magazines have made the world familiar with the wide sleeved,
loose fitting kimono with its convenient pockets. The children wear
bright colors, but the adults adopt more quiet shades.
The shape of the garment never changes, but the color does. This
season grey has been the correct shade. Feminine pride shows
itself in the obi, a broad sash or belt tied in a very stiff and
incomprehensible bow at the back. The material used for the obi is
often bright in color and of rich and expensive brocades. A wooden
disc is often concealed within the bow of the obi to keep it in
shape and also to brace the back. Two neck cloths are usually worn,
folded inside the kimono to protect the bare throat. These harmonize
with the obi in color and give a dainty finish to the costume. As
the kimono is quite narrow in the skirt, the women take very short
steps. This short step, coupled with the dragging of the sandals,
makes the women's gait quite unlike the free stride of the American
woman. In the middle and higher schools the girls wear a pleated
skirt over the kimono. These are uniform for each school and wine
color is the shade now prevailing. The men and women of the same
class wear practically the same kind of shoes.
Next to the obi, the hair receives the greatest attention and it
is certainly arranged with elaborate care. The process is so
complicated that a hair dresser is employed once or twice a week and
beetle's oil is used in many instances to make the hair smooth and
glossy. At night the Japanese women place a very hard, round cushion
under the neck in order to keep the hair from becoming disarranged.
The stores now have on sale air pillows, which are more comfortable
than the wooden ones formerly used. The vexing question of millinery
is settled by dispensing with hats entirely. Among the poorer
classes the hat is seldom used by the men.
More interesting in appearance than either the men or women are the
children--and I may add that there is no evidence of race suicide
in Japan. They are to be seen everywhere, and a good natured lot
they are. The babies are carried on the back of the mother or an
older child, and it is not unusual to see the baby fast asleep while
the bearer goes about her work. Of the tens of thousands of babies
we have seen, scarcely a half dozen have been crying. The younger
children sometimes have the lower part of the head shaved, leaving
a cap of long hair on the crown of the head. Occasionally a spot is
shaved in the center of this cap. After seeing the children on the
streets, one can better appreciate the Japanese dolls, which look so
strange to American children.
Cleanliness is the passion of the Japanese. The daily bath is a
matter of routine, and among the middle classes there are probably
more who go above this average than below. It is said that in the
city of Tokyo there are over eleven hundred public baths, and it
is estimated that five hundred thousand baths are taken daily at
these places. The usual charge is one and a quarter cents (in our
money) for adults and one cent for children. One enthusiastic
admirer of Japan declares that a Japanese boy, coming unexpectedly
into the possession of a few cents, will be more apt to spend it on
a bath than on something to eat or drink. The private houses have
baths wherever the owners can afford them. The bath tub is made
like a barrel--sometimes of stone, but more often of wood--and is
sunk below the level of the floor. The favorite temperature is one
hundred and ten degrees, and in the winter time the bath tub often
takes the place of a stove. In fact, at the hot springs people
have been known to remain in the bath for days at a time. I do not
vouch for the statement, but Mr. Basil H. Chamberlain in his book
entitled "Things Japanese," says that when he was at one of these
hot springs "the caretaker of the establishment, a hale old man of
eighty, used to stay in the bath during the entire winter." Until
recently the men and women bathed promiscuously in the public
baths; occasionally, but not always, a string separated the bathers.
Now different apartments must be provided.
The Japanese are a very polite people. They have often been
likened to the French in this respect--the French done in bronze,
so to speak. They bow very low, and in exchanging salutations and
farewells sometimes bow several times. When the parties are seated
on the floor, they rise to the knees and bow the head to the floor.
Servants, when they bring food to those who are seated on the floor,
drop upon their knees and, bowing, present the tray.
In speaking of the people I desire to emphasize one conclusion that
has been drawn from my observations here, viz., that I have never
seen a more quiet, orderly or self-restrained people. I have visited
all of the larger cities and several of the smaller ones, in all
parts of the islands; have mingled in the crowds that assembled
at Tokyo and at Yokohama at the time of the reception to Togo and
during the naval review; have ridden through the streets in day time
and at night; and have walked when the entire street was a mass of
humanity. I have not seen one drunken native or witnessed a fight
or altercation of any kind. This is the more remarkable when it is
remembered that these have been gala days when the entire population
turned out to display its patriotism and to enjoy a vacation.
The Japanese house deserves a somewhat extended description. It is
built of wood, is one story in height, unpainted and has a thatched
or a tile roof. The thatched roof is cheaper, but far less durable.
Some of the temples and palaces have a roof constructed like a
thatched roof in which the bark of the arbor vitæ is used in place
of grass or straw. These roofs are often a foot thick and are quite
imposing. In cities most buildings are roofed with tile of a pattern
which has been used for hundreds of years. Shingles are sometimes
used on newer structures, but they are not nearly so large as our
shingles, and instead of being fastened with nails, are held in
place by wire. On the business streets the houses are generally two
stories, the merchant living above the store. The public buildings
are now being constructed of brick and stone and modeled after
the buildings of America and Europe. But returning to the native
architecture--the house is really little more than a frame, for the
dividing walls are sliding screens, and, except in cold weather, the
outside walls are taken out during the day. The rooms open into each
other, the hallway extending around the outside instead of going
through the center. Frail sliding partitions covered with paper
separate the rooms from the hall, glass being almost unknown. The
floor is covered with a heavy matting two inches thick, and as these
mats are of uniform size, six feet by three, the rooms are made to
fit the mats, twelve feet square being the common size. As the walls
of the room are not stationary, there is no place for the hanging
of pictures, although the sliding walls are often richly decorated.
Such pictures as the house contains are painted on silk or paper and
are rolled up when not on exhibition. At one end of the room used
for company, there is generally a raised platform upon which a pot
of flowers or other ornament is placed, and above this there are one
or two shelves, the upper one being inclosed in sliding doors. There
are no bedsteads, the beds being made upon the floor and rolled up
during the day. There are no tables or chairs. There is usually a
diminutive desk about a foot high upon which writing material is
placed. The writing is done with a brush and the writing case or box
containing the brush, ink, etc., has furnished the lacquer industry
with one of the most popular articles for ornamentation. The people
sit upon cushions upon the floor and their meals are served upon
trays.
Japanese food is so different from American food that it takes the
visitor some time to acquire a fondness for it, more time than the
tourist usually has at his disposal. With the masses rice is the
staple article of diet, and it is the most palatable native dish
that the foreigner finds here. The white rice raised in Japan is
superior in quality to some of the rice raised in China, and the
farmers are often compelled to sell good rice and buy the poorer
quality. Millet, which is even cheaper, is used as a substitute for
rice.
As might be expected in a seagirt land, fish, lobster, crab, shrimp,
etc., take the place of meat, the fish being often served raw.
As a matter of fact, it is sometimes brought to the table alive
and carved in the presence of the guests. Sweet potatoes, pickled
radishes, mushrooms, sea weed, barley and fruit give variety to the
diet. The radishes are white and enormous in size. I saw some which
were two feet long and two and a half inches in diameter. Another
variety is conical in form and six or eight inches in diameter. I
heard of a kind of turnip which grows so large that two of them make
a load for the small Japanese horses. The chicken is found quite
generally throughout the country, but is small like the fighting
breeds or the Leghorns. Ducks, also, are plentiful. Milk is seldom
used except in case of sickness, and butter is almost unknown among
the masses.
But the subject of food led me away from the house. No description
would be complete which did not mention the little gate through
which the tiny door yard is entered; the low doorway upon which the
foreigner constantly bumps his head, and the little garden at the
rear of the house with its fish pond, its miniature mountains, its
climbing vines and fragrant flowers. The dwarf trees are cultivated
here, and they are a delight to the eye; gnarled and knotted pines
two feet high and thirty or forty years old are not uncommon. Little
maple trees are seen here fifty years old and looking all of their
age, but only twelve inches in height. We saw a collection of these
dwarf trees, several hundred in number, and one could almost imagine
himself transported to the home of the brownies. Some of these
trees bear fruit ludicrously large for the size of the tree. The
houses are heated by charcoal fires in open urns or braziers, but an
American would not be satisfied with the amount of heat supplied.
These braziers are moved about the room as convenience requires and
supply heat for the inevitable tea.
[Illustration: DWARF MAPLE TREE, FIFTY YEARS OLD]
But I have reached the limit of this article and must defer until
the next description of the Japanese customs as we found them in the
homes which we were privileged to visit.