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Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=).
A JOURNAL FROM JAPAN
[Illustration: Yours very truly,
M. C. Stopes.]
A JOURNAL FROM JAPAN
A Daily Record of Life as Seen by a Scientist
by
MARIE C. STOPES
D.Sc., Ph.D., F.L.S.
London
Blackie & Son, Limited, 50 Old Bailey, E.C.
Glasgow and Bombay
1910
TO JAPAN
Land that mused while the world was striving!
Land that dreamed while the nations fought!
Truth with thy dreamers had forgathered,
Peace, in thine isles enclosed, had taught
Her secret laws of Beauty to thy sons.
Then men spent hours beneath the cherry trees,
Or watched the pointed Iris pierce the ground.
They cultivated Wisdom on their knees
And regulated life in ways profound.
Then thy fair daughters ministered to men,
Subduing and subdued their graceful form.
Dreamland of Beauty, girt by glowing seas!
Thou didst appear unfitted for the storm
That broke upon thee from the lowering West.
Yet thou hast risen and conquered.
Thou dost stand, armed as a modern People
In the front rank--and yet I say, alas!
Who could have wished, in waking thou shouldst spurn
The wondrous rightness of thy sheltered past?
To be as others are thou seem’st to yearn,
And for mere useful ugliness dost cast
For ever from thee beauties unsurpassed.
True, thou hast beaten them on their own ground,
The Goths and Vandals whom as foes were found,
Yet I would rather see thee still apart
Than soiling thy traditions in the mart.
Wouldst thou not weep if thy sweet cherry tree
Dropped its light blooms to bear the hard rice grains?
O cherry flower of lands! I weep to see
Thy falling blooms. The whole World’s loss, thy “gains.”
PREFACE
This daily journal was written primarily because I well knew that time
would force the swiftly passing incidents and impressions to blur
each other in my memory. Then want of leisure tempted me to send the
journal home to friends in place of letters, and the two or three for
whom I originally intended it widened the circle by handing it on to
many others, until it has, in a way, become public property. Several of
those who have read it have asked me to publish it in book form, and
although I vowed that I would not add to the already excessive number
of books written on Japan, I have decided to publish this just because
it was _not_ written with a view to publication. It is this which gives
it any claim to attention, and guarantees its veracity. To preserve
its character I have stayed my hand where it has often been tempted to
change or revise statements which may sometimes seem too hard in the
softening light of distance.
Days about which there is no entry were filled with work on my fossils
at the University. Many evenings were spent with friends at dinners or
dances. Reference to these things has been deleted, for neither the
solid work nor the social gaiety is likely to interest any one now.
Personalities (alas, not always irrelevant!) have been eliminated of
necessity, but I have not attempted to give the text any literary form
which it did not originally possess. The words are exactly those jotted
down at the time and place that they profess to be, and therefore
mirror, as no rewritten phrases could, the direct impression that that
time and place made on me. Japan is changing swiftly, and I saw things
from a point of view that differs somewhat from any recorded, so that
perhaps these daily impressions may have an interest for those who
cannot visit Japan, and in the future for those who prefer facts to
fair sounding generalisations and beautifully elaborated theories.
MARIE C. STOPES.
HAMPSTEAD, _July 1909_.
LIST OF PLATES
PAGE
PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR _Frontispiece_
MY POLICEMAN IN HIS PRIVATE DRESS 12
COOKING THE BREAKFAST FISH ROUND THE CAMP FIRE 16
THE SHALLOWS OF THE RIVER, SHOWING THE ROUNDED
NODULES WHICH CONTAIN THE FOSSILS I WAS SEEKING 20
THE PINE TREE TIED UP FOR THE WINTER 82
A LARGE AND INTERESTED AUDIENCE OF SCHOOL CHILDREN
WATCHED OUR PROCEEDINGS AT MERA 122
THE COAST ROAD ALONG WHICH WE WALKED ROUND
BOSHU 126
THE BOTANICAL GARDENS IN WINTER DRESS. A GROUP
OF CYCADS PROTECTED AGAINST THE SNOW 254
INTRODUCTION
A purely scientific interest in coal mines and the fossils they
often contain led me to desire to go to Japan, for purely scientific
purposes. My naturally roving instincts warmly supported the scheme,
and my love of the East gave the prospect the warmth and colour which
only personal delight can lend to any place. The generous interest and
help of the Royal Society in my scientific projects made this long and
expensive journey possible. The influence of this learned body with our
Government and with that of Japan secured me every help and courtesy
during my stay in the country, without which no result would have been
obtainable. The scientific results, which most fortunately seem to be
justifying the expedition, are being published in suitable places;
there is no technical science in this journal. It is a record of some
of the human experiences through which a scientist goes in search of
facts lying beyond everyday human experience.
After the first month in the country, during which it was impossible
to travel, as I did, in the wilds without an interpreter, I made it
my business to learn enough of the spoken language to go about alone.
I also tried to come as close as possible to the Japanese people,
although when I look back on my attempts I see how often my impatience
with what seemed needless delay, with an unknown code of honour,
and with trifling inconveniences in non-essentials, must have acted
as a hindrance to free communication with a people so profoundly
patient. Yet in many ways I had wonderful opportunities of touching
the living reality in the Japanese; opportunities so exceptional that
it is to my lasting shame that my stock of patience and sympathy was
not always equal to them. It is hard when one is young, and chances
to be hungry and tired, to realise that it is not of one’s momentary
comforts one has to think, but of the vastly greater and deeper
purpose that accidentally brought weariness in its train. It is true
that from an ordinary standpoint there are many things in Japan which
are exasperating to a Westerner, but that was no excuse for me. Let
me quote in illustration a small incident that I have ever since
regretted. On page 43 you will find the account of my involuntary visit
to the courteous principal of a College when I was really bound for a
coal mine. This gentleman asked me to give a lecture to his young men,
and I refused. It is true that I was really anxious to go directly to
that mine, that it would upset my plans if I were to be at all delayed,
and that at the moment the disturbance of those plans seemed a serious
matter. But, nevertheless, I was the first European woman that many
of the people there had seen, and the first scientific woman that any
of them had seen or heard of. Their curiosity and interest about me
was as natural as my curiosity and interest about their coal mine,
but I gratified my own curiosity and not theirs. They may well be led
to conclude from the only example in their experience that European
scientists are in a hurry, and are selfish and lacking in personal
sympathy. It would be practically impossible for them to realise how
many other claims had been made on that hasty young scientist who
visited them, they would only feel that in place of the human interest
and understanding which might have been shown, there was a blank wall
of refusal. I tried to explain that Science is a hard taskmaster, but
what good are explanations?
In my deep desire to understand, and come in close touch with the
Japanese, I was handicapped, as every European must be, by our national
traditions. In England we read that clever book _Bushido_, and feel
that the old codes of honour among the Japanese are not so far from our
own but that they can be bridged by a little sympathy. Before living
in Japan one cannot realise that that book, like other volumes written
by Japanese with a knowledge of our traditions, is a translation of
their traditions in the terms of ours. The most faithful translation
can never catch quite the spirit of the original. Hence in Japan I had
to unlearn what I thought I knew before, as well as to try to learn the
truth. To help me in this I had the real friendship of several noble
Japanese. My work, too, gave me many opportunities, for it brought me
into touch with a large number of people of many different types, from
the peasants in the wilds to the higher officials in Tokio. Added to
these was the fact that I was a woman. Therefore I saw the Japanese
at their best, and with the men of science there was possible an
unadulterated, delightful friendship for which no European man coming
to Japan could get quite the counterpart; for there are no Japanese
women scientists. And although many literary and other people hold
scientists up to scorn in their relation to daily life, it is in truth
only from them that one can get an all-satisfying comradeship and
comprehension. There is further a quality in a pure and intellectual
friendship which comes to it only when the friends are man and woman,
a quality not necessarily better than, but different from other
friendships, and one which reveals much of the individual character and
the national character of those who form the tie. The man and woman who
are true friends give each other of their very best. As the first woman
scientist from the West to work in the University with the Japanese men
of science, I should have been wanting indeed if there did not come to
me much that in the end seemed to reveal some of the very life-secrets
of the nation.
With generalisations, with conclusions, however, this journal does not
have to do. It merely pictures something of the people and the country
of Japan, registering the impressions immediately, before the distance
of even a week distorted them with atmospheric effects, and in this way
it seems to hold the balance of impartiality by recording the _pros_
and the _cons_ as they predominated from day to day. This probably
gives a truer account of Japan than could be obtained by segregating
out the data and cementing them together with words not written on the
spot.
Japan makes one love her and hate her from day to day, from hour to
hour. She is like April weather with its sun and rain, like her own
ever-changing mountain. No account of her could be true that kept for
many pages together the same feeling towards her.
A JOURNAL FROM JAPAN
NOTE.--Initials in italics refer to Japanese people, and in
ordinary capitals to Westerners.
=August 6, 1907.=--We lost a good deal of the wonderful Inland Sea
at night, and there is no moon, but all this morning we have seen
fairy-like islands. I was up at five, and saw the morning sun lighting
the mists. Scattered all over the sea are green islands and little
cliffs, sometimes with a single tree on them, perched in just the most
effectively pretty attitude. These beautiful lands must have been made
on the seventh day, when God was resting and dreaming of Paradise.
=August 10.=--I am much surprised to find how like Venice Tokio is,
with its numerous waterways. This hotel is on a very tiny island with
six bridges, which connect it with the numerous other islands which
seem to compose a large part of Tokio--there are waterways, lakes,
docks, or rivers everywhere. It takes more than half an hour’s rickshaw
drive to get to the Embassy, where I called this morning. At first I
was a little disappointed in the streets, pretty and quaint though
they were, but when we came to the broad roads outside the moats of
the Imperial Palace, I found far more of beauty and wonder than I had
expected. Roads, grey sloping walls, green banks running up from the
green water which shadowed the great trunks of fantastic trees--the
heart of the city, and no sign of its life. In the grey sloping walls
was a silent strength and majesty, in the beautiful trees a fantastic
charm; the whole being one of the most impressive views I have ever
seen in a city--a sight that brought tears to one’s eyes.
Then just as I was passing, a few regiments of soldiers crossed from
one great gate into another--regiments with none of the new smartness
of ours. All their clothes were travel-stained and dusty, the reserve
boots packed on their backs were patched, their swords clean, but not
with the cleanness of the new metal. The two leaders of each company
had instruments like wide bugles, and one by one they answered each
other with a few notes up and down the line--only one sounding at once,
and apparently at haphazard, but together giving a weird chant as the
sun-scorched men went forward. Again that pull at the heart-strings
that Japan knows so well how to give.
The Embassy lies quite near the palace enclosure. I found Mr. L----
(representative of the Ambassador) away, of course, as in August no
one remains here who can go. His subordinate, however, got a series of
blue letters out referring to my case, and put me on my way. Apparently
they have taken a lot of trouble, and I shall find things very smooth
sailing in one way, but already I find the under-currents are swift and
difficult to steer through.
In the afternoon I went to the Botanical Gardens and Institute, of
which I cannot speak fully yet. The first impression, however, must be
recorded. The gardens are beautiful. The part with the little lakes
and streams, distant views and wistaria arbours, more beautiful than
anything of the kind I have yet seen. Some of the Gymnosperm trees are
also very fine indeed. Parts of the garden are allowed to run wild, and
there is a want of gardeners--the old story. The low, wooden-built,
picturesque Institute, with palms growing almost into its windows, can
show London and Manchester a good deal. A wonderful lot of special
apparatus and conveniences are there. At first I was most struck by
this “primitive” place possessing a large aetherising apparatus for
hastening germination in seeds, two chambers with double blackened
doors, etc., for the breeding of fungi, a special oven-room with a
variety of furnaces and ovens--in fact, several pieces of apparatus the
usual Botanical Department lacks.
When returning in the rickshaw at night (it is an hour’s drive to the
hotel) the pretty Japanese lanterns decorated the dark streets. Our
festival arrangements are here the daily custom. Alas, that there are
now several red and white brick abominations of buildings in this
low-built, grey wooden town. These brick buildings are quite new; but
some of the older Europeanised buildings are beautiful, for example,
the Japan Bank is dignified and graceful, of grey stone, set in
brilliant green gardens.
=August 11.=--I had an exciting time going about Tokio; of course
I could (and did until to-day) go in a rickshaw, but then one is
simply a parcel of goods to be delivered. To-day I sallied forth to a
place three miles away, and to get there had to take three different
tram-cars and walk a mile through little twisting streets. I took a
map and got there without losing myself once until within a hundred
yards of the place; then my guardian angel (in the shape of Professor
_F----_) turned up and rescued me, though as I had planned this
expedition without his knowledge, and spoken of it to no one, it was
nothing short of a miracle. Tokio is enormous, for its two millions
or so live in single-storied houses, and there are many parks and
gardens, so that it is very easy to get thoroughly lost, and no one of
the common people can speak English. In the afternoon I got one of my
desires, and saw a real Japanese house. It was perfectly exquisite in
snowy white, soft straw colour, and grey--I took the shoes from off my
feet. It belonged to the widow of an officer killed in the war and her
daughter; and as a most exceptional favour I am to be allowed to take
part of the house and live with them as a kind of lodger. I could sing
for joy. My rooms, of course, are small, but exquisite as a sea-shell;
I shall live as nearly as possible in true Japanese style. The house is
on rising ground, fifteen minutes from the Botanical Gardens, in a part
that is almost country, near a great Buddhist Temple; the air fresh and
inspiring after that on the flats down here in Tsukiji.
=August 12.=--Glorious weather. I conveyed my luggage to my house and
found that boxes look detestably out of place in such a dwelling, and
appear more unutterably hideous than ever.
In the afternoon I had tea in the big summer-house in the Botanical
Gardens. The room is really a good-sized lecture hall, only flat and
open after Japanese style; the three side walls had their screens taken
out, and so we looked on to the lakes and streams of the landscape
garden. At tea there was quite a party. Professor _M----_ most kind
and jolly--also several of the younger botanists, and the Director of
the Geological Survey, representing both himself and the Minister of
Agriculture and Commerce, within whose jurisdiction I come.
The _Stimmung_ is strange and fascinating, and quite indescribable.
Professor _M----_ is in Japanese dress; real Japanese tea (totally
unlike our tea) and real Japanese cakes, also as unlike cakes as
possible. One is a kind of jelly, made of seaweed, and is very nice. I
had my first lesson in eating with chop-sticks, and have “graduated.”
I had dinner with Dr. _M----_ and Professor _F----_, and then returned
for my first night in a true Japanese house. It is a myth that the
daughter of the house can speak English, and so I have to speak
Japanese! They all kneel on the matting and touch the floor with their
hands and foreheads, and I do a half-hearted imitation of the courtesy.
It crushes my frocks, but otherwise does me no harm to be polite. The
matting on the floor is delightful, so springy to walk on as well as
pleasing to the eye.
My _futons_ (soft, thick quilt-like mats) are beauties--silk and
velvet--and I feel ashamed to lie on them. The mosquito curtains are
nearly as big as the room, and make a high, four-square tent when
erected, but everything is put away in the day, and no sign of sleeping
remains; hence everything gets aired and there is no possibility of
dust collecting under beds. In many of the household arrangements we
are far behind the Japanese. They have reduced simplicity to a fine
art. The bath, where one sits upright instead of lying down, is most
comfortable; but of course mine was too hot after a short time in
it, as the fire is inside it, and I had to rush out and get help--in
Japanese!
At night the stillness was absolute, but the strangeness of the day
kept sleep away.
=August 13.=--If things go on at this rate, my Journal must cease to
record anything but bald facts. I visited the Imperial University,
a series of buildings scattered among landscape gardens and little
patches of wood, covering many acres. I saw the specimens of all kinds
in the Geological Museum from Hokkaido preparatory to going there, and
after that I was taken to lunch in another open house in the midst
of the University grounds, looking down on a lake called the Goten.
Afterwards I was allowed to examine further specimens, and then went
to a tea-party at Professor _F----’s_ house--a gem of a house, with
three little distinct gardens. We had the most wonderful dishes of
quaintly decorated rice and seaweed, fish, and cakes. I am glad to
say chop-sticks are now mastered. This afternoon’s visit deserves a
chapter instead of a paragraph. I dined alone in the same restaurant as
with the party last night, the food European, but all else Japanese.
On my way home I bargained in the shops for some trifles and succeeded
in buying them. As I passed the great temple near my house and looked
across the grove of trees toward it, I saw the wonderful Fujii mountain
standing out against a sky of crimson and gold, with a crescent moon
riding near--a view never to be forgotten.
One of the events of the day was a long newspaper interview, and when I
returned at 8 o’clock there was another reporter most politely waiting
for another interview--a nice, polite, pretty boy, who sat on the
floor and bowed and wrote down my honourable views on Japanese houses,
people, and customs, and on other things in general. It appears, that
though I have not been aware of it, the papers have published endless
“facts” about me--perhaps it is as well they are in Japanese characters
and therefore a sealed book to me. I have protested my little best
against the erection of hideous red brick buildings in this sweet city,
a desecration which I see beginning, and I hope they will take it to
heart, and forbid their erection.
=August 14.=--Some of the Professors kindly took me to visit the
Principal of the University in solemn state; he was most gracious, and
(through an interpreter) said most ridiculously flattering things.
According to him only one “specialist” lady has visited Japan before,
and she was elderly. Therefore they all marvel at me, as though I
were some curious kind of butterfly! We then visited the Director of
the Imperial Geological Survey. The Director is _most_ kind, as is
also the chief Inspector of Mines, and they put every facility in
my way. The Director gave me all the information he could and the
largest geological map of the district, which is very small, only about
one-hundredth part of the scale I am accustomed to do geological work
with, so that things will be difficult. The Government here has kindly
written to the Governor of Hokkaido and to the owners of the Mines, so
that I should fare as well as possible. The Director of the Survey gave
me an enormous, delightfully cooked, but curious lunch--beginning with
cold roast beef and salad, going to hot fish, and then three kinds of
meats, and ice-cream! They showed me the Survey Museum; the specimens
are just being shifted to a fine new building, but some were arranged,
and a few cases had been specially laid out for me. I feel quite
ashamed that they take so much trouble for me.
Tea at Professor _M----’s_ private house, which is even more
fascinating than Professor _F----’s_, with a beautiful green garden all
round it. He has brought several pictures and many things back from
England, and speaks as though he had enjoyed his visit very much. Both
Japanese and English tea were served, one after the other, as well
as cakes and fruit, which a daintily-dressed maid knelt beside us to
prepare.
=August 15.=--I spent the day at Enoshima, an island about two hours’
journey from Tokio. It is perfectly exquisite. The island is connected
with the mainland by a very long narrow bridge of rickety planks, over
the mile of sand which may be covered by the tide, or may be dry,
according as the sand drifts year by year. The little island is very
steeply hilly and well-wooded, and is laid out in long flights of
stone steps up and down the hills, leading to the numerous temples and
shrines. It is a sacred island, sacred to the goddess of Luck (and a
few others), and except for bazaars, where wonderful shells are sold,
and the houses for the pilgrims to rest in, there is almost nothing
but temples and shrines on the island. At every turn of the pathway
something quaint or pretty meets the eye, while the views out to sea,
across to the mainland and other islands, are magnificent. Going across
the bridge homeward the wind was so strong that we were nearly blown
off it several times, but the waves were grand, and a heavy rainstorm
added to the effect.
=August 16.=--A day of many final preparations for what is going to be
an arduous time in Hokkaido.
=August 17.=--Before starting for the northern wilds I received the
last pieces of advice and information at the station from the Director
of the Survey, Professor _M----_, Professor _F----_, Dr. _Ye----_, and
others, who all saw me off, and I am now alone and really started.
The life in this train is different from anything I have yet seen in
trains, yet very comfortable, with dining-car where they cook beside
you what you order. Near me was sitting a smart man, cultured-looking,
and extremely well-dressed in perfect English style. Thus he remained
for an hour; then, the heat being great, he took off his coat, then
his waistcoat, and finally came to his shirt alone! Then he pulled
over him a loose kimono and removed every stitch but that, finally
winding a soft silk sash round his waist and sitting down, all without
removing his gold-rimmed glasses or turning a hair! The transformation
was extraordinary, and during the whole ridiculous scene, acted within
two feet of me, he was so utterly unconscious and dignified, and so
many others in the long car did the same, that I began to wonder if we
aren’t a little super-prudish in England. During the night that man
was most thoughtful and kind to me, insisting on my using his rug, and
finally doing an act of service that called for such unselfishness that
I am sure we underrate the innate courtesy of Japanese men to women;
and he was, of course, a perfect stranger.
The scenery nearly all the way is simply glorious. These hackneyed
words are totally unfit for use in describing this fairy-like land;
one would choose to pick words freshly coined, beaten out of pure gold
of love by an artist, words as fresh as the greenness of this earth’s
garment, and as dainty as its feathery decorations of bamboos. Words,
in fact, which do not exist are the only ones fit to use about the
country of Japan.
The bamboo is so different from what I had imagined it, and is, in
fact, more like a graceful and unusually symmetrical birch tree than
anything else! These pretty trees (for one must look on each sprout as
a tree) grow in groves, but many of them stand singly, or scattered in
small numbers among the pines, with which they make a contrast similar
to that we sometimes see in England where birch and pine grow together.
Among the low wood, and through the hedges, stand numbers of our tall
white “Madonna lilies,” with even larger flowers than our best ones,
and a few red tiger-lilies; while in the ponds, though it is late, are
still blooming the huge white flowers of the lotus. The white lilies
are particularly wonderful--I have seen thousands to-day.
=August 18.=--I arrived at Aomori early this morning, and lost much
temper because I had to lose much time in getting on to the ship.
The language, of course, was partly the difficulty, but the natives
are excruciatingly slow to move. After _three hours_ of talking and
arguing and going over things again and again, at last I reached the
steamer--a very good little ship with nice state-rooms and saloons;
of course _very_ small. The state-rooms have three berths, and I find
my two companions are men. It was a shock at first, but they seemed
so surprised at my being surprised, that I thought again that we have
too much of the trail of the serpent about our customs. I slept in the
train with men near me, why not in the steamer? It is only for one
night.
=August 19.=--At Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido, I was met by
Professor _My----_ and Professor _Y----_; both very kind. They brought
me to Mrs. B----, an English missionary lady, who is kindly putting
me up. Her husband is away; he is the renowned authority on the Aino
race, and they have adopted an Aino girl as their daughter. Professors
_My----_ and _Y----_ are kindly making inquiries about my trip inland,
and we are to call on the Governor to-morrow.
The most striking thing about Japanese travelling is the care they take
of the railway carriages. Every two hours the floors were washed down.
At night the guard came along and put every one’s boots and shoes or
sandals perfectly tidy and symmetrical in front of them as they slept.
My boots, with their long legs, caused him much trouble, as they would
not remain in a tidy position, the legs flopping first on one side and
then on the other as he tried to make them stand up.
There are now torrents of rain, so that I have seen little of Sapporo
yet, beyond the fact that its pretty green streets melt into the
country whilst still being in the town, and that their vista is closed
by green wooded hills. If this fearful rain continues my start must be
delayed.
=August 20.=--It is still raining; as they have not had any for weeks,
I fear it may last some time, and as I have to work _in_ the rivers
any way, it will be rather serious. Otherwise I am very content to
remain here for a while. This morning we went to call on the Governor
in state. He is old, and not at all like a typical Japanese, for he
is large and stout, and looks very German. He had studied in Germany
in the ’seventies and still spoke some German. All his Cabinet came
in, one after the other, and were introduced, and the process was very
solemn and awe-inspiring. They insisted on giving me two whole
sets of maps of Hokkaido, though I only needed the sheets of quite a
small district. Also the Governor insists that as well as Professor
_Y----_ (who is to be interpreter), _as well_ as an official from the
Department of Agriculture and Commerce, _as well_ as several coolies, I
must have a policeman to escort me to the mountains. I besought him not
to force him on me, but it is an honour they delight to give me, and
I had to submit. Too much zeal and too much kindness are as difficult
to contend with as too little. We then called on the Department of
Agriculture and Commerce, and there were more formalities and more
talk--when I shall get to the actual hammering of rocks I can’t
imagine. They showed me the College of Agriculture in the afternoon, a
huge campus with well-fitted departments scattered over it. It is to be
converted into a University on the 11th of next month.
With the help of Professor _Y----_ this evening I made a variety of
purchases, among them the cloth leggings and curious _tabi_ or stiff
socks, with a special place for the big toe, which we shall use with
straw sandals in the mountains.
=August 21.=--We started very early this morning and reached Yubari
(headquarters of a coal mine) about 3 P.M., the scenery by
the way being beautiful but not very striking. The valleys show how
recently they had been cleared of forest, by the numerous stumps
still left standing through the cultivated fields. The hills all clad
with untouched, impenetrable virgin forest. Yubari is a “big” town,
almost entirely consisting of the 4000 to 5000 workers in the coal
mines. We put up at the Club-house of the coal mine. I have one room,
which serves also as dining- and drawing-room; my party, including
the policeman (mercifully in plain clothes), has the other. There
were visits from the Head of the coal mine and others, and more talk,
and we got some information which will be valuable if it proves to be
reliable. Geology is peculiarly difficult here, however, as the ground
is so covered with forest and thick undergrowth that uncertainty is
inevitable about many things.
=August 22.=--We began the day at 5, and the regular escort is now
raised to 10, with temporary additions between every stage! I have
given up protesting that so many people require quantities of food,
which will have to be carried, and would now look on 100 without
a murmur. Life in the Club-house last night was not without its
interest. I couldn’t get to bed for constant visits and interviews from
officials; the last gentleman came after I had prepared for bed, and I
conversed with him in my night-gown (which, mercifully, was long and
rather like a tea-gown), but he never turned a hair--coming in on me
before I could put on a dressing-gown. The maids are all excessively
sweet and polite, but they slide open the partitions noiselessly, with
no warning, and catch me unawares.
We went a short distance farther by rail and then changed into very
small coal-trucks, which run on a small track to the coal mine of
Ōyubari, which has been recently opened. The vegetation of the clearing
through which the track was laid was very striking. The dominant plant
was _Sasa_, a species something like a bamboo, which reaches 3 feet
to 6 feet in height, and grows over everything, and forms a dense
undergrowth all through the forests also. Sub-dominant plants were
_Vitis_, a very luxuriant specimen with huge tendrils, and an extremely
prickly shrub that caught one round the feet. A noticeable plant was
a very large _Viburnum_, which has a liane-like habit and clambers up
high trees. At the end of the track lies a group of houses for the
people who are beginning to work the mine, the little wooden dwellings
surrounded by the limitless, untouched forest, and standing on its
very visible remains in the clearing. More bowing, kindness, and talk,
the Manager giving me for my absolute use and sole habitation his very
own house, where things are surprisingly pretty and comfortable. As I
am the first foreigner many of the work-people have seen, a certain
amount of staring was done, though they are by no means so rude as some
travellers would have us believe.
We went through the forest and up the river prospecting, and found
scrambling along the steep banks of friable shale by no means easy; but
the escort assists me greatly, and one of them carries me on his back
on the frequent occasions when it is necessary to cross the river. The
only use the policeman has been so far, was to lend his sword to cut
chop-sticks, which had been forgotten, and of course we had no knives
and forks with us at all, for I have learnt to get on very comfortably
without.
=August 23.=--A long day going up-stream collecting nodules, which are
very big and very hard to break. The scenery up the rivers, with the
magnificent forests, is very fine. It is a curious sensation to be in
the midst of this boundless forest and see peak after peak densely
clad by trees which no man has touched. Trouble with the coolies--a
traveller hasn’t all his time to gaze at Nature.
=August 24.=--Really it is hard work to carry tents and everything
along these rivers. Often I alone find it difficult to go, and I have
nothing to carry--except my fan and my hammer, both of which are in
constant use. Sometimes it would be impossible to go where we have been
with boots, the straw sandals give such a clinging grasp that we are
able to get a foothold on a steep rock which in boots it would be mad
to attempt.
Fortunately the river into which one would be precipitated is seldom
deep enough to be dangerous. The day’s scientific results are solid,
but not thrilling. Tents are a luxury, but I would rather sleep out
under the stars. With all these coolies and people I am not allowed
to do my own cooking, but I most fervently wish I might. The food is
rendered needlessly trying by their attempts at European cooking--but
they mean so well! They even carried a chicken for my consumption, but
will only cook it for ten minutes, so it is as hard as the stones we
are hunting for.
=August 25.=--This morning the whole party got up very early and went
off fishing in the river. Line fishing being slow, they used dynamite,
which is against the law of the land. However, it was suggested by
our policeman that the method should be used, and _he_ provided the
dynamite! As he was the only representative of the law within miles,
our consciences were clear. They chose a deep still part of the river,
the dynamite exploded with foam, and many dead fish floated up, which
the coolies plunged into the water to obtain. Our breakfast trout were
very fresh, and tasted delicious after being roasted on sticks over
the camp-fire. The camp is on a tiny island mid-stream, and with the
white tent, and the shelter of boughs for the coolies, is extremely
picturesque. On the bank opposite, luxuriant trees and ferns hang over
the clear water; if I were only here unofficially I should be perfectly
happy. It is a curious feeling being the leader of an expedition
and being fussed after so much, and determining whether a dozen men
shall go up-stream or down, sleep here or walk on farther. We are
returning to the little coal mine settlement of Ōyubari to-night, after
collecting a good many specimens.
[Illustration: COOKING THE BREAKFAST FISH ROUND THE CAMP FIRE]
=August 26.=--We went into the Ōyubari mine. One of its seams is 22
feet thick. There are quite simple workings, and no fossils. We then
returned along the track in trucks to meet the train for Yubari, where
I examined the rubbish tip of the mines, without much success. The
policeman never leaves me, and scrambles up and down the stones after
me with an extremely amused smile. The whole expedition causes him
considerable trouble, but also it is a source of many future jokes
and stories, for him as well as for me. To-day he was dressed in
the dignified flowing robes of grey and black silk worn by Japanese
gentlemen (policemen are of a much higher class here than with us), and
he looked far too beautiful to mess about the coal. (He is pictured in
the photograph which faces p. 12.)
[Illustration: MY POLICEMAN IN HIS PRIVATE DRESS]
=August 27.=--Mining and river work.
=August 28.=--We came to Poronai, which is often called Horonai, as no
Japanese name begins with P, and the word being Aino it is softened in
this way. The distance traversed was really very small, but mountains
and other things interfered, so that it took a long time to get here.
I went down the coal mine, which is very interesting. I proved to
be a source of intense excitement to the natives, who crowded round
in tiers, and formed a sea of faces with _round_ staring eyes. The
policemen frequently drove them off in a friendly way.
=August 29.=--Rather a sad day. Mr. _Y----_, my trusty and well-beloved
friend, was called away by telegram to Hakodate, where a fearful fire
has practically swept the town away, destroying more than fourteen
thousand buildings, and among them all the property of his parents
and other relatives. To look at the outer man, with his long arms and
legs sticking out beyond a white suit, 6 inches too small in every
direction, with several patches on his knees, and his hideous tie
sticking straight out in front of him as he walks through the streets
of the capital of Hokkaido, no one could imagine him to be a Professor.
After a glance at his quaint eyes, twinkling in his comical face
above his spectacles, one might suspect him of having a character,
but after travelling with him as I have done for these two weeks,
under very unusual circumstances, it is easy to recognise and admire
his exceptional character. He is one of the small dozen of men whom I
really like and respect. Now he is gone, and I must wrestle with an
escort which cannot speak as much English as I can Japanese, which
latter is next to nothing. The complexities of life are bad enough when
one travels with a policeman, a land-surveyor, a special courier and
correspondent, an interpreter, a local guide, and half a dozen coolies,
all in one’s private train! But when the interpreter is the one to
be snatched away, they are rather worse. Without him we went a stiff
journey to-day, over a track 6 inches wide, through the mountains. The
_sasa_ grows solidly over the whole land, usually shoulder high, but
often over my head, and the path is only on the ground, and is usually
quite invisible--one’s feet feel it, but one’s eyes cannot see it. A
hatefully prickly shrub and thick tangles of vine complicate matters
further. And an English botanist before my start said that Japanese
vegetation was like English! This endless _sasa_ and forest goes on
for miles, broken only by the streams. Down some of the streams we
walked, where blue hydrangeas and passion-flowers bend over the water,
and where little crayfish live in thousands. It poured with rain after
mid-day, and we were glad to discover a seam of coal cropping out in
the stream, and make a huge roasting fire. Coming back through the
_sasa_ in that rain was like walking in a river up to one’s neck.
=August 30.=--We all came on the few miles to Ikushimbets. As regards
food the tide has turned indeed, and I am literally stuffed with good
things, till I feel ashamed that I have not an infinite capacity for
containing them; yet this is the tiniest hamlet, existing only because
of the coal mine. We entered the mine in the afternoon; it has very
unusual workings, as the beds are practically vertical, and is most
interesting. How true was Lady Cicely Wainflete’s estimate of an
escort! One of my “protectors” took fright in the mine, and had to be
gently led by the hand and soothed with soft words, while I was left to
come alone down the slope while the sensation lasted.
=August 31.=--Another wet day. We worked up the river collecting. It
is rougher than Yubari river. The coolies manage to make roaring fires
even in the pouring rain. One of the escort is splendid, and does
nearly everything, including carrying me across the deep parts of the
river, which is really a coolie’s work. It is only a pity he can’t
speak English.
In the rain the coolies wear very effective coats made of straw, which
make them look like the most veritable hairy Ainos; for the straw
stands out all round for about 2 feet, and sheds the rain splendidly.
=September 1.=--This morning was by far the most difficult time we have
had. The recent heavy rains have swollen the rivers, and as we depend
entirely on the river bed for our track, it is serious. The water is
also muddy instead of clear, and there are very deep pools into which
it is easy to slip, so that every crossing is rather risky, and we
have to cross innumerable times. This river is much worse than Yubari,
being deeper, and often at the deep parts, where it is impossible to
go in the water, the rocks are steep or overhanging on either side.
Mercifully, even the apparently crumbling shale is not treacherous. At
last the escort made me realise its value; without a couple of them to
put their feet to make steps, or to give a hand round corners, I could
not have got along at all. Also in crossing a river we were so many
and all kept hands, and so there was no real danger. How the loaded
coolies could manage I cannot imagine. It was only the feeling that as
I was the leader I daren’t show fright, that kept me going over some
of those places. However, we were well rewarded, for the fossils I got
that afternoon were the best obtained so far, and after several hours’
brilliant sunshine the water perceptibly lessened. (The photograph
opposite shows the round nodules which I was collecting in the river.)
[Illustration: THE SHALLOWS OF THE RIVER, SHOWING THE ROUNDED NODULES
WHICH CONTAIN THE FOSSILS I WAS SEEKING]
=September 2.=--We came on to Itashinai--a distance which should have
taken one hour, but really took four and a half. In the lower part of
the valleys where cultivation has begun there are many little houses
scattered--houses made entirely of straw! Rice straw is put to all
imaginable uses: sandals, ropes, walls, roofs, cushions, coats, bags,
and many other things are made of it. Of these things the walls are the
least effective, and afford but a miserable shelter for the people in
the straw houses. In the fields where countless tree-stumps still stand
up through the crops, millet, beans, and maize are principally grown.
There are also small patches of leeks, carrots, potatoes, “egg plants,”
and herbs. There are no formal gardens, and flowers are few, except
for a large-flowered convolvulus and red tiger-lilies. The forest and
_sasa_ come right down to the edge of the cultivated patches, and in it
one could be lost in five minutes.
I spent the afternoon and evening trying to obtain information, and
the difficulties, not only of language, are immense. Every question
must be asked in at least half a dozen different ways, and an average
conclusion drawn; it requires more than the patience of Job.
=September 3.=--Coal-mining from early morning; the engineer of the
mines is very intelligent and speaks English, and I found some good
specimens, so the day was successful. With some of the other people I
have been driven to despair. The land-surveyor distracted me the other
day. After we had been walking for about four hours steadily up-stream,
I wished to find the exact spot where we were on the map, and, among
other data, asked him how far he thought we had come (a matter of 6
or 7 miles). “Oh,” he said, with pride, “nearly 500 feet!” I always
ask for all distances several times, in miles and Japanese _ri_ which
I can make out; but they like to show off by telling me in _feet_, and
nothing is so difficult to obtain as the answer to the question asked.
=September 4.=--Sapporo once more. A day of official calls, bowing,
compliments and formalities. They asked me to lecture to the women’s
Aikoku-fujin-kai: the request of the Governor can hardly be refused
after all he has done, so it had to be. The lecture was held in the
large hall of the Government House, the body of the hall filled with
women, the galleries with men; the Governor acting as chairman and
giving an immensely lengthy introductory speech, of which I could
only guess the drift from words here and there,--Professor _My_----
following on with another. It is easy to speak in an interpreted
address, because there is so much time to think between the paragraphs;
but I am sure it has not the same effect on an audience as the direct
address. Some, of course, understood my English. Before the lecture
there was a reception, and I was regaled with tea and cakes and left to
the tender mercies of the ladies, and men who can only speak Japanese;
later, however, the Governor’s German was available, and so it was all
right, and we were quite cheerful till the interpreter arrived with a
solemn face and a black suit.
The Japanese audience does not clap or make any sound,[1] but bows
low at the beginning and end of the speeches, and when I began, “Your
Excellency,” the Governor got up out of his chair and bowed. All the
ladies were in native costume, I was glad to see (how I detest the
semi-European clothes of the streets!), and some were in beautiful
taste, but, curiously enough, of all the 300 I alone had embroidery
on my dress, in the land where we imagine embroidery is rife! I have
already found that the “Jap” things we see so much of in England are
in small relation to the real Japanese things, but are chiefly “export
articles,” which is a Japanese term of reproach.
[1] This does not hold for Westernised places like Tokio, as I
afterwards discovered, where the European method of clapping is much in
vogue.
After reaching home, in about an hour, a courteous secretary followed,
bringing with him all the cakes which I had not eaten at the reception.
Alas, that etiquette demanded that I should return the pretty red
lacquer trays they came in!
=September 5.=--I spent the morning seeing the Museum (pathetic) and
the Botanical Gardens (most interesting) of Sapporo. Mr. B---- took
me out in the afternoon, and we had a long and delightful talk--even
though he is a missionary! I received a most valuable and magnificent
present from the people to whom I lectured last night. Apparently the
lecture pleased them--for of course no well-bred Japanese will tell one
to one’s face that he is pleased or otherwise with anything one does.
Mr. _Y----_ came to supper and we were all very merry.
=September 6.=--Another present! The Inspector of Mines “fears I shall
not be able to get good food when I leave Sapporo” and brings me a
dozen tins of the best meats! chicken, beef, and all kinds of things. I
often wonder why people say that the Japanese are not sincere in their
kindness.
I saw a most interesting method of laying a foundation of a native
building--two dozen women pulling on a fan of ropes, and singing in a
weird way, half drawing and twisting between each pull. A couple of men
directed the heavy pounder which they raised in this way, and let it
fall with a crash to stamp down the earth.