JAPAN--HER HISTORY AND PROGRESS.
As for the islands themselves, they are largely of volcanic origin,
and a number of smoking peaks still give evidence of the mighty
convulsions which piled up these masses of masonry. Asosan mountain,
on the island of Kyushu, has the largest crater in the world.
Japan is the home of the earthquake. The Japanese Year Book of 1905
is authority for the statement that Japan was visited by 17,750
earthquakes during the thirteen years ending 1887--an average of
more than thirteen hundred a year, or three and a half each day. It
is needless to say that a large majority of these were so trivial
as to be unnoticed, except by those in charge of the delicate
instrument which registers them.
If the average is as great at this time, there have been more than
seventy-five since we landed, but we have not been aware of them.
The severe shocks have come at periods averaging two and a half
years, and the really disastrous ones have been something like fifty
years apart. The country about Tokyo is most subject to earthquakes,
the last severe one being in 1894. According to an ancient legend,
Japan rests upon the back of a large fish and the earthquakes are
caused by the moving of the fish. There is a Seismological society
in Japan which has published a sixteen-volume work giving all
that is scientifically known of the cause and recurrence of these
disturbances.
Of the origin of the Japanese themselves nothing certain is known.
The best authorities say that they came from the continent in an
early Mongol invasion, while others believe that they came from the
islands which stretch to the south. One writer announces the theory
that they are the lost Israelites. It is quite certain that when
the first Japanese landed on the islands they found an earlier race
in possession. Some seventeen thousand of these, called Ainus, now
occupy the northern extremity of the empire--an indication that the
migration was from the southwest. The Ainus have remained distinct;
where they have intermarried with the Japanese, the half breeds have
died out in the second or third generation. They are a hairy race
and in physical characteristics quite different from the Japanese.
Their religion is a sort of nature worship, and it is their custom
to say a simple grace before eating.
[Illustration: THE GUEST OF GOV. CHIKAMI AT KAGOSHIMA]
The remoteness of the settlement of Japan is shown by the fact that
the reigning family, which claims descent from the gods, has held
undisputed sway for twenty-five hundred years, although the record
of the first thousand years is so dependent upon verbal tradition
that the official history cannot be verified. As concubinage has
been practiced from time immemorial, the heir, the oldest son, has
not always been born of the empress.
Soon after the beginning of the Christian era the influence of China
and Korea began to be felt in Japan, the written characters of the
language being quite like the Chinese. Koreans and Japanese do not
agree as to the influence which the former have had upon the latter.
A very intelligent Korean informs me that his is the mother country
and that Japan was settled from Korea, but the Japanese do not take
kindly to this theory.
The feudal system, of which I shall speak more at length in another
article, was early established in Japan, and society was divided
into well defined classes. First came the members of the royal
family and those admitted to the circle by favor; next, the Shogun
(of whom more will be heard under the subject of government) and his
relatives.
Next in rank were the daimios, or lords, of varying degrees of
importance. Each daimio had a large number of retainers, who were
called samurai, and below these were a still larger number of
peasants who tilled the soil and did the manual labor. Some of the
early pictures show the gorgeous dress of the daimios and portray
the elaborate ceremony employed on state occasions.
The samurai were the warriors and had no other occupation than
to defend their lords in the struggles between the clans. They
corresponded to the knights in Europe during the days of chivalry,
except that there were no romantic adventures over women--woman
holding until recently a very subordinate place as compared with
"her lord and master."
The samurai were given an annual allowance for their subsistence,
and felt that toil was far beneath their dignity. They wore
lacquered armor and costly helmets and carried two swords--a long
one for the enemy and a short one for themselves.
It was with this short sword that the famous hara-kiri was
committed. This ancient form of suicide by disembowelment was
considered an highly honorable death and has been practiced until
within a generation. General Saigo, one of the great men of Japan
and one of its popular heroes, was the last man of prominence to
terminate his life in this way. He was one of the leaders in the
movement to restore to the emperor the authority which the shoguns
had usurped and was for a while close to the throne. In 1874,
however, he organized an army for the invasion of Korea, and coming
into conflict with the forces of the empire, which were called
out to prevent the invasion, he was defeated. In his humiliation
he committed hara-kiri. A few years ago the title of Marquis was
conferred upon him by a posthumous decree and is now enjoyed by
his eldest son. One of his sons is the present mayor of Kyoto and
another a colonel in the Imperial Guard. A bronze monument of heroic
size, the gift of admiring friends, has recently been placed in the
principal park in Tokyo.
Only a few years ago a young Japanese committed suicide in this way
in order to emphasize his protest against the encroachments of the
Russians, but a strong sentiment is developing against hara-kiri,
and it will soon take its place among other obsolete customs.
The samurai represented the intellectual as well as the military
strength of the nation. The daimios have furnished few of the men of
prominence in modern Japan, nearly all of the leaders in government,
education, literature and the professions having come from the
samurai class. Now, however, that all social distinctions have been
removed and the schools opened to the children of all, the old lines
between the classes cannot so easily be traced.
The merchant class has always been looked down upon in Japan. In
the social scale the members of this class were not only lower
than the samurai, but lower than the tillers of the soil. It was
probably because of the contempt in which they were held that so
low a standard of integrity existed among them--at least this
is the explanation usually given. Even now Japanese, as well as
foreigners, complain that the merchants impose upon their customers,
but here also a change is taking place and a new order of things
being inaugurated. There are in every city merchants of honor and
responsibility who are redeeming trade from the stigma which it so
long bore. Still, unless the stranger knows with whom he is dealing,
it is well to have a Japanese advisor, for we found by experience
that the price named to foreigners was sometimes considerably above
the regular price.
For centuries Japan lived an isolated life and developed herself
according to her own ideas. Of her native religion, Shintoism,
of the introduction of Buddhism and of the first Christian
missionaries, I shall speak in a later article. She repelled an
attack of the Mongols which might have been disastrous to her but
for the fact that a timely storm destroyed the invading fleet, much
as the Spanish Armada was destroyed. She has from time to time
attempted the invasion of Korea, the last attempt being made about
three hundred years ago. A little later the Shogun, Iemitsu, alarmed
by the spread of the Christian religion, introduced by Catholic
missionaries from Spain and Portugal, shut the country up, and for
two and a half centuries no foreigner was admitted and no citizen of
Japan was permitted to go abroad.
[Illustration: JAPANESE LADY IN AMERICAN DRESS.]
To more surely keep his people at home the Shogun prohibited the
building of any but small sailing vessels. It is almost incredible
that so large a group of people could have enjoyed the civilization
which existed here and still concealed themselves so completely from
the outside world and remained so ignorant of the mighty movements
in Europe and America. In 1853 Commodore Perry arrived with an
American fleet and a treaty was finally entered into which opened
the country to foreign intercourse. Japan was ripe for the change.
While there was at first an anti-foreign sentiment which affected
domestic politics and at one time resulted in an attack upon a
foreign fleet, the assimilation of western civilization was rapid
and constant. Young men began to go abroad, foreign teachers were
sent for and the Japanese people began to manifest a wonderful
aptitude for the adaptation of foreign ideas to local conditions.
The army and navy were reconstructed upon the European models and a
public school system largely like our own was established.
[Illustration: A JAPANESE MAIDEN.]
In most countries reforms have come up from the masses through more
or less prolonged seasons of agitation, but in Japan the higher
classes have been the leaders and have extended increasing social
and governmental advantages to the whole people without a struggle.
In every department of thought there has been progress, and in
every line of work there have been leaders whose ambitions and
ideals have been high and noble.
To illustrate the change that has taken place, Count Okuma cites
the case of the famous military genius, the present Marshal
Yamagata. When a very young man Yamagata was a spearman in the
army organized by the daimios of Choshu to attack the foreign
ships at the Shimonoseki Straits. He was so ignorant of modern
warfare that he was confident of the ability of the Japanese to
defeat the foreigners with spears. He thought that the Europeans
and Americans would be at the mercy of the natives as soon as they
landed. His surprise may be imagined when leaden missiles mowed
down his comrades long before the spears could be brought into use.
But this young man who attempted in 1864 to measure spear against
rifle, betook himself to the study of the military methods of the
foreigners, and in the recent war with Russia he has been chief of
the general staff of the Japanese army--an army which in equipment,
in preparation, and in provision for sick and wounded, as well as in
its exploits upon the battlefield, has astonished the world. Count
Okuma said that the progress made in the army and in the navy was
paralleled by the progress made in other directions.
While there are here abundant preparations for war, there is a
prevalent desire for peace. Notwithstanding Japan has a most
efficient army and navy, and notwithstanding the natural exultation
over their success at arms, the Japanese as I have met them are
strongly inclined toward peace. Several times in introducing me the
presiding officer has referred in terms of generous appreciation to
the action of our president in bringing about the recent treaty of
peace. The wars against China and Russia have been regarded by the
people as defensive wars and it will be remembered that the civil
war of 1874 was simply a suppression by the government of an attempt
to invade Korea. General Saigo raised his army for the purpose of
conquering Korea, but the government met the insurrectionists with
an army large enough to completely overwhelm the forces of the
famous general.
The Anglo-Japanese alliance is everywhere defended as a guarantee of
peace. I met yesterday a Japanese of some local prominence who has
issued a plea for universal peace. He proposes the establishment of
an international peace society and in earnest language sets forth
the horrors of war and the material, as well as the moral, arguments
in favor of peace.
Upon no element of Japanese society has the rising sun of a higher
civilization shed its rays more benignantly than upon woman. The
position of the mother was an honored one when she became the head
of the family, but while the children cared for both parents with
a generous filial devotion, the wife and daughter were under the
almost absolute power of the husband and father. Marriages were
arranged by the parents and the young people were allowed to see
each other after the match was agreed upon. Theoretically, each
had a right to protest if dissatisfied, but practically the girl's
protest amounted to nothing.
The wife was not only the servant of the husband, but might also
be the servant of the mother-in-law--the mother-in-law joke being
here on the daughter-in-law instead of the son-in-law. The fact that
the husband was permitted to keep as many concubines as he desired
still further lowered the status of woman. The daughters were often
sold into prostitution to relieve the indebtedness of the father,
and while this custom is on the decline, there are still thousands
of Japanese girls whose virtue is made a matter of merchandise in
accordance with this ancient custom. There is recorded among the
decisions of Ooka, sometimes called the Japanese Solomon, who lived
three centuries ago, a case in which the release of a young woman
from a house of ill-fame was the central feature. The report of the
judge's decree shows a discriminating mind as well as devotion to
justice. Incidentally, the record reveals the fact that there were
Shylocks in those days who loaned on short time at high rates and
exacted the pound of flesh. In this case, the usurer compelled the
sale of the daughter in extinguishment of a debt of fifteen yen,
which by rapidly accumulating interest, had reached the, to them,
enormous sum of thirty-five yen (or $17.50). The righteous judge
confiscated the house of the extortioner and with the proceeds
redeemed the woman. By the aid of the missionaries, under the
leadership of Rev. Murphy, of Nagoya, legislation has been secured
making it unlawful for a girl to be retained in one of these houses
against her will, and many have already been rescued. As the
taking of a concubine is a matter of record it is possible for the
newspapers to acquaint themselves with the domestic relations of
prominent men, and some of the papers have assisted in creating a
public opinion against concubines. This custom is certain to give
way before the advance of western ideas.
One of the foremost leaders in the elevation of woman was Yukichi
Fukuzawa, one of the greatest, as well as one of the most
influential, of the men who have appeared in Japan. He was a
journalist, an educator, an orator and a philosopher. He refused
to accept any titles or decorations and was called "The Great
Commoner." He founded a college, the Keio-Gijuku, to which many of
the public men trace their ideals and their interest in national and
social problems. He delivered the first public speech made in Japan
for, strange as it may seem, the habit of public speaking does not
reach farther back than twenty-three years. Until constitutional
government was formed there was no place for the forum. Shortly
before his death, Mr. Fukuzawa reduced his philosophy to the form
of a code of morals which has made a profound impression upon
the thought of his country. He presented "independence and self
respect," as he defined them, as the "cardinal tenet of personal
morals and living." He insisted upon the care of the body, the
training of the mind and the cultivation of the moral nature. He was
one of the first to raise his voice against hara-kiri and in his
code of morals he says: "To complete the natural span of life is to
discharge a duty incumbent on man. Therefore, any person who, be
the cause what it may or the circumstances what they may, deprives
himself by violence of his own life, must be said to be guilty of an
act inexcusable and cowardly, as well as mean, and entirely opposed
to the principle of independence and self respect."
[Illustration: MR. YUKICHI FUKAZAWA, JR.]
Concerning woman his code of morals says: "The custom of regarding
women as the inferiors of men is a vicious relic of barbarism. Men
and women of any enlightened country must treat and love each other
on a basis of equality, so that each may develop his or her own
independence and self respect."
When this great man died in 1901 his widow was in receipt of letters
from many women expressing their appreciation of his labors in
behalf of the women of Japan. Some of these are reproduced in a
life of Mr. Fukuzawa, recently issued, and show the deep gratitude
which the women feel toward him. It is also interesting to know
that Mr. Fukuzawa believed in the dignity of labor and taught that
each person should be "an independent worker beside being his own
breadwinner." While he taught patriotism, he also taught that the
people of all nations "are brethren" and that "no discrimination
should be made in dealing with them."
The emperor sent him, just before his death, fifty thousand yen as a
recognition of his eminent services, but he immediately turned the
sum over to the Keio-Gijuku.
The Jiji Shimpo, the newspaper established by Mr. Fukuzawa, is still
conducted by one of his sons, with whom we had the pleasure of
dining. Another son is an instructor in the Keio-Gijuku.
Newspaper development has kept pace with the development in other
directions. Tokyo, the capital, has sixteen daily papers with
sufficient circulation to make them known as large papers. Besides
these, there are magazines, periodicals and papers published in
English. The Kokumin Shimbun is known as the government organ
while most of the others are regarded as independent. The Tokyo
Times is an excellent paper published in English. There is a
weekly publication called the Economist, with a circulation of
five thousand, which deals with commercial, financial and economic
questions. Yokohama has papers published in both languages and the
same is true of the other large seaport towns.
All the cities are supplied with daily papers published in Japanese.
At Kagoshima, a city of about fifty thousand, situated at the
southern extremity of Kyushu Island, I found a prosperous daily
paper called the Kagoshima Shimbun. (Shimbun means daily newspaper.)
It has a circulation of nine thousand six hundred, six thousand
being in the city.
At Osaka I noticed a building elaborately decorated. In front were
large flags on bamboo poles and smaller flags strung on cords,
while Japanese lanterns were present in profusion. As none of the
buildings around were decorated, I inquired and found that the
decorated building was the office of the Osaka Asahi News and that
the paper was celebrating the withdrawal of the governmental order
which for two weeks had suspended its publication. The issue for
that day contained a large sized picture of the Goddess of Liberty.
When rioting occurred at Tokyo just after the treaty of peace with
Russia, an order was issued authorizing the arbitrary suspension of
any newspaper containing utterances deemed incendiary. Under this
order the Asahi News received notice to suspend publication until
permission was granted to resume. The withdrawal of the notice was
duly celebrated and the paper announced that its readers, rather
than the paper, had reason to complain of the suspension. This paper
has the largest circulation of any in Japan, about two hundred
thousand, and the order suspending it has been the subject of much
editorial criticism.
[Illustration: SUMITKA HASEBA--JAPANESE STATESMAN.]
Besides the newspapers which are conducted as business propositions,
there are papers supported by associations formed for the
propagation of various reforms. For instance, a paper called Romaji
is published monthly at Tokyo--Japanese words being spelled with
Roman letters, in the place of the present Japanese characters. A
society was formed some twenty years ago for the purpose of urging
this reform and a paper advocating it was published for three years,
but finally suspended from lack of support. This fall the Romaji was
established and hopes for a better fate. While this reform would be
very acceptable to foreigners who are trying to learn the language,
the movement does not seem to have gathered much momentum.
In one of the leading papers, the Hocho Shimbun, Mr. Gensai Murai, a
novelist of distinction, published a continued story running daily
through six years. It is not yet completed, having been suspended
during the war. In this story the writer presents a large amount of
information on national, political, economic and social questions,
at the same time putting in enough fiction to sustain the interest.
Progress along some other lines will be treated under special heads.
I find that there is some tendency here to resent the statement that
Japan has borrowed largely from other nations. Some native writers
insist that New Japan is but the natural development of Old Japan.
There is a measure of truth in this, because there is no growth
except from a living germ; and yet it can not be denied that Japan
has appropriated to her own great advantage many foreign ideas, and
it is not to her discredit that she has done so. Both individuals
and nations borrow; imitation, not originality, is the rule. It will
humble the pride of anyone to attempt to separate that which he has
learned from others from that which he can claim as his own by right
of discovery.
Steam is the same to-day that it was ages ago, and yet millions
watched it escaping from the kettle with no thought of its latent
power. One man showed mankind the use to which it could be put
and all the rest profited by the idea. Shall we refuse to ride
upon the railroad or cross the waters in an ocean greyhound for
fear of employing the conception of another? Electricity is not a
new agency. The lightnings have illumined the sky from the dawn
of creation, and the people saw in them only cause for fear. A
few decades ago one man thought out a method by which it could be
imprisoned in a wire, and now widely separated lands are united by
telegraph lines, while cables traverse the ocean's bed. Shall we
refuse to read the news that the current carries or reject a message
from home because we must employ an idea which sprang from another's
brain? He is stupid who rejects truth, no matter from what source
it comes; that nation is blind which does not welcome light from
anywhere and everywhere. It is to the glory, not to the shame, of
the land of the Rising Sun that her people have been quick to obey
the injunction, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."