YOKOHAMA.
_Heavily plunged the breaking wave,_
_And foam flew up the lea,_
_Morning and evening the drifted snow_
_Fell into the dark grey sea._
_Tuesday, January 30th_.--When we awoke from our slumbers this
morning, it was very cold and dark, and we heard noises of a strange
kind. On going on deck to ascertain the cause of this state of things,
we discovered that the sky-lights and portholes were all covered and
blocked up with snow, and that the water froze as it came out of the
hose, forming a sheet of ice on the deck. Masses of snow and ice were
falling from the rigging, and everything betokened that our welcome to
Japan would not be a warm one.
[Illustration: Fujiyama, Japan]
After breakfast we had many visitors, and received letters from Sir
Harry and Lady Parkes, inviting us to go up to Yeddo to-morrow for a
long day, to settle our future plans.
Having landed, we went with the Consul to the native town, to see the
curio shops, which are a speciality of the place. The inhabitants are
wonderfully clever at making all sorts of curiosities, and the
manufactories of so-called 'antique bronzes' and 'old china' are two
of the most wonderful sights in Yokohama. The way in which they
scrape, crack, chip, mend, and colour the various articles, cover them
with dust, partially clean them, and imitate the marks and signatures
of celebrated makers, is more creditable to their ingenuity than to
their honesty. Still, there are a good many genuine old relics from
the temples, and from the large houses of the reduced Daimios, to be
picked up, if you go the right way to work, though the supply is
limited. Dealers are plentiful, and travellers, especially from
America, are increasing in numbers. When we first made acquaintance
with the shops we thought they seemed full of beautiful things, but
even one day's shopping, in the company of experienced people, has
educated our taste and taught us a great deal; though we have still
much to learn. There are very respectable-looking lacquer cabinets
ranging in price from 5_s_. to 20_l_. But they are only made for the
foreign market. No such things exist in a Japanese home. A really good
bit of old lacquer (the best is generally made into the form of a
small box, a portable medicine-chest, or a chow-chow box) is worth
from 20_l_. to 200_l_. We saw one box, about three inches square,
which was valued at 45_l_.; and a collection of really good lacquer
would be costly and difficult to procure even here. The best specimens
I have ever seen are at Lady Alcock's; but they are all either royal
or princely presents, not to be bought with money. The tests of good
lacquer are its exquisite finish, its satiny, oily feel, and the
impossibility of making any impression on it with your thumb-nail. It
is practically indestructible, and will wear for ever. All the poor as
well as the rich people here use it, and have used it for centuries,
instead of china and glass, for cups, saucers, dishes, bowls, which
would need to be often washed in the hottest of water. It is said that
the modern Japanese have lost the art of lacquer making; and as an
illustration I was told that many beautiful articles of lacquer, old
and new, had been sent from this country to the Vienna Exhibition in
1873, but the price put on them was so exorbitant that few were sold,
and nearly all had to be sent back to Japan. Just as the ship with
these things on board reached the Gulf of Yeddo, she struck on a rock
and sank in shallow water. A month or two ago a successful attempt was
made to raise her, and to recover the cargo, when it was found that
the new lacquer had been reduced to a state of pulp, while the old was
not in the least damaged. I tell you the tale as it was told to me.
After a long day's shopping, we went to dine, in real Japanese
fashion, at a Japanese tea-house. The establishment was kept by a very
pleasant woman, who received us at the door, and who herself removed
our exceedingly dirty boots before allowing us to step on to her clean
mats. This was all very well, as far as it went; but she might as well
have supplied us with some substitute for the objectionable articles,
for it was a bitterly cold night, and the highly polished wood
passages and steep staircase felt very cold to our shoeless feet. The
apartment we were shown into was so exact a type of a room in any
Japanese house, that I may as well describe it once for all. The
woodwork of the roof and the framework of the screens were all made of
a handsome dark polished wood, not unlike walnut. The exterior walls
under the verandah, as well as the partitions between the other rooms,
were simply wooden lattice-work screens, covered with white paper, and
sliding in grooves; so that you could walk in or out at any part of
the wall you chose, and it was, in like manner, impossible to say
whence the next comer would make his appearance. Doors and windows
are, by this arrangement, rendered unnecessary, and do not exist. You
open a little bit of your wall if you want to look out, and a bigger
bit if you want to step out. The floor was covered with several
thicknesses of very fine mats, each about six feet long by three
broad, deliciously soft to walk upon. All mats in Japan are of the
same size, and everything connected with house-building is measured by
this standard. Once you have prepared your foundations and woodwork of
the dimensions of so many mats, it is the easiest thing in the world
to go to a shop and buy a house, ready made, which you can then set up
and furnish in the scanty Japanese fashion in a couple of days.
On one side of the room was a slightly raised daïs, about four inches
from the floor. This was the seat of honour. On it had been placed a
stool, a little bronze ornament, and a china vase, with a branch of
cherry-blossom and a few flag-leaves gracefully arranged. On the wall
behind hung pictures, which are changed every month, according to the
season of the year. There was no other furniture of any sort in the
room. Four nice-looking Japanese girls brought us thick cotton quilts
to sit upon, and braziers full of burning charcoal, to warm ourselves
by. In the centre of the group another brazier was placed, protected
by a square wooden grating, and over the whole they laid a large silk
eider-down quilt, to retain the heat. This is the way in which all the
rooms, even bedrooms, are warmed in Japan, and the result is that
fires are of very frequent occurrence. The brazier is kicked over by
some restless or careless person, and in a moment the whole place is
in a blaze.
Presently the eider down and brazier were removed, and our dinner was
brought in. A little lacquer table, about six inches high, on which
were arranged a pair of chop-sticks, a basin of soup, a bowl for
rice, a _saki_ cup, and a basin of hot water, was placed before each
person, whilst the four Japanese maidens sat in our midst, with fires
to keep the _saki_ hot, and to light the tiny pipes with which they
were provided, and from which they wished us to take a whiff after
each dish. _Saki_ is a sort of spirit, distilled from rice, always
drunk hot, out of small cups. In this state it is not disagreeable,
but we found it exceedingly nasty when cold.
Everything was well cooked and served, though the ingredients of some
of the dishes, as will be seen from the following bill of fare, were
rather strange to our ideas. Still they were all eatable, and most of
them really palatable.
_Soup_.
_Shrimps and Seaweed_.
_Prawns, Egg Omelette, and Preserved Grapes_.
_Fried Fish, Spinach, Young Rushes, and Young Ginger_.
_Raw Fish, Mustard and Cress, Horseradish, and Soy_.
_Thick Soup, of Eggs, Fish, Mushrooms, and Spinach; Grilled Fish_.
_Fried Chicken, and Bamboo Shoots_.
_Turnip Tops and Root Pickled_.
_Rice ad libitum in a large bowl_.
_Hot Saki, Pipes and Tea_.
The meal concluded with an enormous lacquer box of rice, from which
all our bowls were filled, the rice being thence conveyed to our
mouths by means of chop-sticks. We managed very well with these
substitutes for spoons and forks, the knack of using which, to a
certain extent, is soon acquired. The long intervals between the
dishes were beguiled with songs, music, and dancing, performed by
professional singing and dancing girls. The music was somewhat harsh
and monotonous; but the songs sounded harmonious, and the dancing was
graceful, though it was rather posturing than dancing, great use being
made of the fan and the long trailing skirts. The girls, who were
pretty, wore peculiar dresses to indicate their calling, and seemed of
an entirely different stamp from the quiet, simply dressed waitresses
whom we found so attentive to our wants. Still they all looked cheery,
light-hearted, simple creatures, and appeared to enjoy immensely the
little childish games they played amongst themselves between whiles.
After dinner we had some real Japanese tea, tasting exactly like a
little hot water poured on very fragrant new-mown hay. Then, after a
brief visit to the kitchen, which, though small, was beautifully
clean, we received our boots, and were bowed out by our pleasant
hostess and her attentive handmaidens.
On our return we had considerable difficulty in procuring a boat, our
own boats being all ashore under repair. It was a beautiful moonlight
night, but bitterly cold. The harbour being so full of shipping, our
boatmen were at first puzzled how to find the yacht, till we pointed
to the lights in the deck-house--always a good beacon at night in a
crowded harbour.
_Wednesday, January 31st_. We left the yacht soon after eight o'clock,
and started by the 9.34 a.m. train for the city formerly called Yeddo,
but latterly, since the Mikado has resided there, Tokio, or eastern
capital of Japan. The ground was covered with snow, and there were
several degrees of frost, but the sun felt hot, and all the people
were sunning themselves in the doorways or wide verandahs of their
houses.
Yokohama has been so completely Europeanised, that it was not until we
had left it that we caught our first glimpse of Japanese life; and the
whole landscape and the many villages looked very like a set of living
fans or tea-trays, though somehow the snow did not seem to harmonise
with it.
We crossed several rivers, and reached Tokio in about an hour, when we
at once emerged into the midst of a clattering, chattering crowd,
amongst whom there did not seem to be a single European. The
reverberation, under the glass roof of the station, of the hundreds of
pairs of wooden clogs, pattering along, was something extraordinary.
Giving up our tickets, and following the stream, we found ourselves
surrounded by a still more animated scene, outside the station. We
were just deliberating what to do next, when a smart little Japanese,
with a mail-bag over his shoulder, stepped forward and said something
about Sir Harry Parkes. He then popped us all into several double and
treble-manned _jinrikishas_, and started off himself ahead at a
tremendous pace, shouting and clearing the way for us.
Tokio is a genuinely Japanese town. Not a single foreigner resides
within its limits, with the exception of the foreign Ministers. There
is no hotel nor any place of the kind to stay at; so that, unless you
have friends at any of the Legations, you must return to Yokohama the
same day, which makes a visit rather a fatiguing affair.[16]
[Footnote 16: I have since heard that there are two hotels at Tokio,
such as they are.]
Our first halting-place was at the Temple of Shiba, not far from the
station, where most of the Tycoons have been buried. It is a large
enclosure, many acres in extent, in the centre of the city, with walls
overgrown with creepers, and shadowed by evergreen trees, amid whose
branches rooks caw, ravens croak, and pigeons coo, as undisturbedly as
if in the midst of the deepest woodland solitude. I had no idea there
was anything so beautiful in Japanese architecture as this temple. The
primary idea in the architecture of Japan is evidently that of a tent
among trees. The lines of the high, overhanging, richly decorated
roofs, with pointed gable ends, are not straight, but delicately
curved, like the suspended cloth of a tent. In the same way, the
pillars have neither capital nor base, but seem to run through the
building perpendicularly, without beginning or end. The principal
temple was burnt down a few years ago; but there are many smaller ones
remaining, built in exactly the same style, and all the tombs are
perfect. Some people say the bodies are enclosed in coffins, filled
with vermilion, but I need hardly say we had no opportunity of
ascertaining the correctness of this statement. We entered several of
the temples, which are perfect marvels of carving, gilding, painting,
and lacquer work. Their style of decoration may be somewhat barbaric;
but what a study they would form for an artist! Outside, where no
colour is used, the overhanging roofs and the walls are carved with a
depth and boldness, and yet a delicacy, I have seldom seen equalled;
the doors and railings being of massive bronze, brought from the
Corea. Within, a dim religious light illumines and harmonises a
dazzling mass of lacquer, gold, and painting. It is the grandest
burial-place imaginable; too good for the long line of men who have
tyrannised over Japan and its lawful sovereigns for so many centuries
past.
The streets of Tokio were crowded with a motley throng up to the very
gates of the citadel, where, within the first moat, stand all the
_yashgis_, or residences of the Daimios. Each _yashgi_ is surrounded
by a blank wall, loopholed, and with a tower at each of the four
corners. Within this outer wall is the court of the retainers, all of
them 'two-sworded' men; then comes a second wall, also loopholed,
inside which dwell distant relations of the Daimio; and then again a
third enclosure, guarding the Daimio himself, with his immediate
belongings. After crossing the third moat we reached the Mikado's
gardens and palace, the public offices, and the residences of the
foreign Ministers, all of which were formerly occupied by the Tycoon,
or Shogun, and his ministers. On the waters of the inner moat were
thousands of wild ducks and geese. Nobody is allowed to harm them, and
the birds seem to be perfectly aware of this fact, for they disport
themselves with the greatest confidence.
The English Embassy is a nice red brick house, built in the centre of
a garden, so as to be as secure as possible from fire or attack. After
a most pleasant luncheon we looked over the nucleus of a second
collection which Lady Parkes is beginning to form. Her former
beautiful collection was burnt a few years ago, a most disheartening
misfortune, especially as the opportunities for obtaining really old
and good things in Japan are diminishing day by day.
A little later we started in great force, some in carriages and some
on horseback, attended by running grooms, to see something more of the
city. These men think nothing of running by the side of a horse and
carriage some forty miles a day. They form a distinct class, and when
working on their own account wear little clothing. When in the service
of private individuals they are dressed in tight-fitting dark-blue
garments, with short capes, fastened to their arms, and large hats.
Just outside the Embassy we passed two of the finest of the still
existing _yashgis_, the larger one being used as the Home Office, the
other as the Foreign Office.
There is always a festival going on in some part of Tokio. To-day
there had been a great wrestling-match, and we met all the people
coming away. Such crowds of _jinrikiskas_, full of gaily dressed and
painted women and children, with their hair plastered into all sorts
of inconceivable shapes, and decorated with artificial flowers and
glittering pins! We met six of the wrestlers themselves, riding in
_jinrikishas_--big men, prodigiously fat, and not at all, according to
our ideas, in fighting or wrestling condition. One of their
_jinrikisha_ men stumbled and fell, just as they passed us, and the
wrestler shot out, head over heels, and lay, a helpless ball of fat,
in the middle of the road, till somebody came and picked him up. He
was not in the least hurt, and, as soon as he was set on his feet
again, began to belabour the poor _jinrikisha_ man most unmercifully.
After a long and delightful drive we arrived at the station just in
time to catch the train.
The return journey to Yokohama, in the omnibus-like railway carriages,
was very cold, and the _jinrikisha_ drive to the Grand Hotel colder
still; but a roaring fire and a capital dinner soon warmed and
comforted us.
After dinner we looked over a fine collection of photographs of
Japanese scenery and costumes, and then returned to the yacht in the
house-boat belonging to the hotel, which was prettily decorated with
bright-coloured lanterns, and which afforded welcome shelter from the
biting wind.
_Thursday, February 1st_.--Careful arrangements have been made for our
excursion to the Island of Inoshima, to see the great figure of
Daibutz. By eight o'clock we had landed, and packed ourselves into a
funny little shaky carriage, drawn by four horses. We drove quickly
through the town, past the station, along the Tokaido, or imperial
road, running from one end of the Island of Niphon to the other, and
on which so many foreigners have been murdered even within the last
ten years. Now, however, it is perfectly safe. The houses are one
story high, and their walls are made of the screens I have already
described. These screens were all thrown back, to admit the morning
air, cold as it was. We could consequently see all that was going on
within, in the sitting-room in front, and even in the bedrooms and
kitchen. At the back of the house there was invariably a little garden
to be seen, with a miniature rockery, a tree, and a lake; possibly
also a bridge and a temple. Even in the gardens of the poorest houses
an attempt at something of the sort had been made. The domestic
occupations of the inhabitants being conducted in this public manner,
a very good idea might be obtained, even at the end of a few miles'
drive, of how the lower class of Japanese wash and dress themselves
and their children, how very elaborate the process of hair-dressing
is, to say nothing of a bird's-eye view of the ground-plan of the
houses, the method of cooking food, &c.
As we emerged into the open country the landscape became very pretty,
and the numerous villages, nestling in the valleys at the foot of the
various small hills, had a most picturesque appearance. At a
stone-quarry that we passed, on the side of a mountain, there were
about seventy men at work, without any clothing, though the
thermometer was far below freezing point. The Japanese are a sensitive
nation, and finding that foreigners were astonished and shocked at the
habits of the people, in going about without clothes, and in bathing
in public and at their house doors, they passed a law prohibiting
these customs in towns. In the country, however, the more primitive
customs are still in force, and every dwelling has its half-open
bath-house, whilst the people do as they like in the matter of
clothing.
After stopping twice on the road, to drink the inevitable tea, we
changed from our carriage to _jinrikishas_, each drawn and pushed by
four strong men, bowling along at a merry pace. The sun was very warm
in the sheltered valleys, and the abundance of evergreens of all kinds
quite deluded one into the belief that it was summer time, especially
as camellias grew like forest trees, covered with red and white bloom,
amidst a dense tangle of bamboos and half-hardy palms. There were many
strange things upside down to be seen on efther hand--horses and cows
with bells on their tails instead of on their necks, the quadrupeds
well clothed, their masters without a scrap of covering, tailors
sewing from them instead of to them, a carpenter reversing the action
of his saw and plane. It looked just as if they had originally learned
the various processes in 'Alice's Looking-glass World' in some former
stage of their existence.
We had not long left the town before our men began to undress each
other; for their clothes were so tight that it required no
inconsiderable effort to remove them. Some of them were beautifully
tattooed. My wheeler had the root of a tree depicted on one foot, from
which sprang the trunk and branches, spreading gradually, until on his
back and chest they bore fruit and flowers, amongst which birds were
perched. On his other leg was a large stork, supposed, I imagine, to
be standing under the shadow of the same tree. Another man had human
figures tattooed all over him, in various attitudes.
[Illustration: A Drag across the Sand in a Jinrikisha.]
In less than an hour we reached the narrow strip of land which at low
water connects the island or peninsula of Inoshima with the mainland.
This isthmus was covered with natives gathering shells and seaweed,
casting their nets, and pushing off or dragging up their boats; whilst
an island rose fresh and green from the sea, with a background of
snowy mountains, stretching across the bay, above which Fujiyama
towered grandly. This name signifies 'not two, but one mountain,' the
Japanese thinking it impossible that there can be another like it in
the world. The lovely little island is called Inoshima, and is conical
in shape and covered with evergreens and Buddhist temples, with a few
small fishing villages scattered on its shores. We walked right across
it in about an hour; so you may imagine it is not very large. The sea
teems with curiously shaped fish and beautiful shells. The staple food
of the inhabitants seems to be those lovely 'Venus's ears,' [17] as
they are called--a flattish univalve, about as big as your hand, with
a row of holes along the edge, and a lining of brilliant black
mother-of-pearl. These were lying about in heaps mixed with white
mother-of-pearl shells, as big as your two fists, and shaped like a
snail-shell.
[Footnote 17: Haliotis.]
[Illustration: Inoshima by a Japanese Artist.]
Our _jinrikisha_ men deposited us at the bottom of the main street of
the principal village, to enter which we passed through a simple
square arch of a temple. The street was steep and dirty, and consisted
principally of shell-fish and seaweed shops.
An old priest took us in hand, and, providing us with stout sticks,
marched us up to the top of the hill to see various temples, and
splendid views in many directions. The camellias and evergreens on the
hillside made a lovely framework for each little picture, as we turned
and twisted along the narrow path. I know not how many steps on the
other side of the island had to be descended before the sea-beach was
reached. Here is a cavern stretching 500 feet straight below
high-water mark, with a shrine to Benton Sama, the Lucina of Japan;
and having been provided with candles, we proceeded a few hundred feet
through another cave, running at right angles to the first.
As it would have been a long steep walk back, and I was very tired, we
called to one of the numerous fishing boats near the shore, and were
quickly conveyed round to our original starting place. Before we said
good-bye, one of the old priests implored to be allowed to dive into
the water for half-a-dollar. His request was complied with, and he
caught the coin most successfully.
[Illustration: A Boatman]
We lunched at a tea-house, our meal consisting of fish of all kinds,
deliciously cooked, and served, fresh from the fire, in a style worthy
of Greenwich; and as we had taken the precaution to bring some bread
and wine with us, we were independent of the usual rice and _saki_.
[Illustration: Our Luncheon Bill.]
After this we proceeded on our way towards the Daibutz, or Great
Buddha, situated within the limits of what was once the large city of
Kama-kura, now only a collection of small hamlets. As all Japanese
cities are built of wood, it is not wonderful that they should in time
entirely disappear, and leave no trace behind them. But there still
remain some of the columns of the temple which once existed in the
gardens surrounding the idol. Now he is quite alone; and for centuries
has this grand old figure sat, exposed to the elements, serenely
smiling on the varying scene beneath him. The figure is of bronze, and
is supposed to have been cast about the year 1250 or 1260.
It is some 50 ft. high, with golden eyes and a silver spiral horn on
the forehead. It is possible to sit or stand on the thumb, and within
the hollow body an altar is erected, at which the priests officiate.
Sitting there, amidst a grove of enormous cryptomerias and bamboos,
there is an air of ineffable silent strength about that solitary
figure, which affords a clue to the tenacity with which the poorer
classes cling to Buddhism. The very calmness of these figures must be
more suggestive of relief and repose to the poor weary worshippers
than the glitter of the looking-glass and crystal ball to be found in
the Shintoo temples. The looking-glass is intended to remind believers
that the Supreme Being can see their innermost thoughts as clearly as
they can perceive their own reflection; while the crystal ball is an
emblem of purity. Great store is set by the latter, especially if of
large size and without flaw; but to my mind the imperfect ones are the
best, as they refract the light and do not look so much like glass.
In another village close by--also part of the ancient Kama-kura--there
is a fine temple, dedicated to the God of War; but we were pressed
for time, and hurried back to the little carriages. The homeward drive
was long and cold; but the Tokaido looked very pretty lighted up,
the shadows of the inmates being plainly visible on the paper
walls, reminding one of a scene in a pantomime. On our way down a
very steep hill we met the men carrying a _cango_. It is a most
uncomfortable-looking basket-work contrivance, in which it is
impossible to sit or lie with ease. These _cangoes_ used formerly to
be the ordinary conveyance of Japan, but they are now replaced by the
_jinrikishas_, and they are seldom met with, except in the mountains
or in out-of-the-way places.
_Friday, February 2nd_.--I was called at five o'clock, and at
half-past six Mabelle and I started for the market. It was blowing a
gale, and our four oarsmen found it as much as they could do to reach
the shore. The Shanghai mail-boat was just in, and I pitied the poor
passengers, who were in all the misery of being turned out into the
cold of the early morning, with the spray breaking over them as they
sat in the small boats.
The market at Yokohama is one of the sights of the place. There were
large quantities of birds and game of all kinds--pheasants with tails
six feet long, of a rare copper-coloured variety, ducks, pigeons,
small birds, hares, deer, rabbits. The fish-market was well supplied,
especially with cuttle-fish. They are not inviting-looking, but are
considered a delicacy here. A real octopus, in a basket, with its
hideous body in the centre, and its eight arms, covered with suckers,
arranged in the form of a star, is worth from a dollar to a dollar and
a half, according to its size. I was not tempted, however, to make any
purchases.
From the market we went to one or two small shops in back streets, and
thence over the bluffs, in the teeth of a bitterly cold wind, to a
nursery garden, to examine the results of the Japanese art of dwarfing
and distorting trees. Some of the specimens were very curious and some
beautiful, but most were simply hideous. We saw tiny old gnarled
fruit-trees, covered with blossom, and Scotch firs and other forest
trees, eight inches high, besides diminutive ferns and creepers.
It being now half-past nine o'clock, we went to the hotel to meet the
rest of the party for breakfast, and at one o'clock we returned to the
yacht. At half-past one Lady Parkes and several other friends from
Tokio came on board to luncheon. They told of three disastrous fires
that had taken place in Tokio yesterday, by which the Home Office--one
of the finest old Tartar _yashgis_--and several smaller edifices had
been destroyed.
After the departure of our guests we paid another visit to the shore,
and saw the foxhounds. They are a nice pack, and have good kennels
outside the foreign settlement. They were out this morning at 6.30,
but unfortunately we did not know of it. There are plenty of foxes,
and some very fair country not far from here; so they expect to have
good sport.
We weighed anchor at 8.30 p.m. and proceeded under steam. At 11.30,
when off Touraya-saki, we set some of the head canvas. It was a cold
night, with sleet and snow, though it was not blowing as hard as
during the day.