In the Introduction to the story of the Forty-seven Rônins, I have
said almost as much as is needful by way of preface to my stories.
Those of my readers who are most capable of pointing out the many
shortcomings and faults of my work, will also be the most indulgent
towards me; for any one who has been in Japan, and studied Japanese,
knows the great difficulties by which the learner is beset.
For the illustrations, at least, I feel that I need make no apology.
Drawn, in the first instance, by one Ôdaké, an artist in my employ,
they were cut on wood by a famous wood-engraver at Yedo, and are
therefore genuine specimens of Japanese art. Messrs. Dalziel, on
examining the wood blocks, pointed out to me, as an interesting fact,
that the lines are cut with the grain of the wood, after the manner of
Albert Dürer and some of the old German masters,--a process which has
been abandoned by modern European wood-engravers.
It will be noticed that very little allusion is made in these Tales to
the Emperor and his Court. Although I searched diligently, I was able
to find no story in which they played a conspicuous part.
Another class to which no allusion is made is that of the Gôshi. The
Gôshi are a kind of yeomen, or bonnet-lairds, as they would be called
over the border, living on their own land, and owning no allegiance to
any feudal lord. Their rank is inferior to that of the Samurai, or men
of the military class, between whom and the peasantry they hold a
middle place. Like the Samurai, they wear two swords, and are in many
cases prosperous and wealthy men claiming a descent more ancient than
that of many of the feudal Princes. A large number of them are
enrolled among the Emperor's body-guard; and these have played a
conspicuous part in the recent political changes in Japan, as the most
conservative and anti-foreign element in the nation.
With these exceptions, I think that all classes are fairly
represented in my stories.
The feudal system has passed away like a dissolving view before the
eyes of those who have lived in Japan during the last few years. But
when they arrived there it was in full force, and there is not an
incident narrated in the following pages, however strange it may
appear to Europeans, for the possibility and probability of which
those most competent to judge will not vouch. Nor, as many a recent
event can prove, have heroism, chivalry, and devotion gone out of the
land altogether. We may deplore and inveigh against the Yamato
Damashi, or Spirit of Old Japan, which still breathes in the soul of
the Samurai, but we cannot withhold our admiration from the
self-sacrifices which men will still make for the love of their
country.
The first two of the Tales have already appeared in the _Fortnightly
Review,_ and two of the Sermons, with a portion of the Appendix on the
subject of the Hara-Kiri, in the pages of the _Cornhill Magazine_. I
have to thank the editors of those periodicals for permission to
reprint them here.