Foreign Influence in Japan.--Progress of the People.--Traveling
Inland.--Fertility of the Soil.--Grand Temples and Shrines at
Nikko.--The Left-Handed Artist.--Japanese Art--City of Kobe.--Kioto
and its Temples.--Idol Worship.--Native Amusements.--Morals in
Japan.--Lake Biwa.--Osaka on a Gala Day.--The Inland Sea.--Island
of Pappenburg.--The Tarpeian Rock of Japan.--Nagasaki.--Girls
Coaling a Ship.--National Products.
Realizing the obtuseness of the Japanese in all matters relating to
religion, it seems strange that the national government permits our
missionaries, and those from other Christian countries, such free scope,
even employing them to educate classes in English, formed of the young
men of the country. Some writers have lately spoken of an organized
persecution of Christians as existing in Japan to-day. This we cannot
absolutely controvert, but it was a subject of inquiry with us in
different sections of the country, and an entirely different conclusion
was the result of all we could learn. There can be no doubt that an
inclination to conform to the American model in government and habits of
life is rapidly growing in Japan. Every returning youth who has been
educated in the United States, or even in Europe, where many are sent
for the purpose, becomes on his return an active agent to this end.
It is especially observed that these youths come back wearing the
American costume, and they continue to do so, rather priding themselves
upon it as a mark of self-respect and distinction. A very earnest
desire to acquire the English language is evinced by the middling
classes especially in the sea-ports. Yet it is an open question with not
a few intelligent people of Yokohama, where we heard the subject freely
discussed, whether foreign commerce and foreign intercourse, all things
considered, have been of any real advantage thus far to Japan. Trade has
broken in upon the quiet habits of a people who were living in great
simplicity, and has excited desires and artificial wants heretofore
unknown to them. It has made the cost of living much greater, and a
spirit of unrest universal, without elevating or improving the people to
any appreciable extent. All this in a certain degree is undoubtedly
true. At present the common classes are satisfied with the most moderate
compensation for their services, and living, lodging, and transportation
are cheap enough. As the Japanese become better acquainted with foreign
taste and extravagance they will undoubtedly become contaminated and
grow extortionate.
A pleasant excursion of a hundred miles inland, with Nikko as the
objective point, enabled us to get some idea of posting with Japanese
ponies, which are the most nervous and vicious little creatures of their
species upon the face of the globe. One little rogue required six men to
harness him, and then was dragged forward by his mate for a long
distance. The driver, however, finally got the animal into a run, and
kept him at that pace until the close of the stage, and another change
took place. The fact is, a horse, on the dead run, has not much time to
be vicious, but is obliged to go straight ahead by the simple force of
circumstances.
Two thirds of the national road between Tokio and Nikko is lined on
either side by large and ancient cedars, so thickly set that both body
and roots, in many instances, have mingled and become one. These trees,
completely overarching the narrow road, form a welcome shade, and are
also very ornamental, with their straight shafts and thick foliage. The
first half of the distance to Nikko is perfectly level, in fact one vast
rice field. The journey was divided by stopping at Utsonomiga, where we
passed the night in a native tea-house. Our sleeping arrangements were
very simple. A Japanese bed consists of a thin cotton mattress spread
upon the floor, and a similar article with big sleeves for the arms,
which forms the covering. The pillow is a block of wood, for which the
experienced traveler usually substitutes his valise. There is not much
privacy afforded by the paper screens which divide the several
apartments, and which prove to be no obstacle to conversation, if one
desires a colloquy with his neighbor. Our night-lamp was a floating
wick, in a cup of cocoanut oil, placed in a square paper lantern on
legs. The morning toilet was made at a basin of water in the open
court-yard. There are no chairs, tables, or wash-stands, unless you
improvise them. However, we had a very good night's rest, and started
off bright and early in the morning for Nikko.
One is impressed with the manifest fertility of the soil and the high
cultivation it receives at the hands of the farmers; and this must be
characteristic of a country which, as is shown by government statistics,
with but eleven millions of acres under cultivation, feeds and clothes
thirty-five millions of people; besides there are twenty-five million
pounds of tea, three million pounds of raw silk, and thirty-five
million pounds of rice exported annually. The population must constantly
be on the increase. All along this finely shaded road neat farm-houses
were to be seen, but no domestic cattle. Rows of tea-houses were
frequently in sight, extending occasionally into a village or town of
considerable dimensions, and filled with an active population. The
tea-houses, as well as the shops and dwelling-houses, were all open,
exposing each domestic arrangement to the public. The floors of these
country houses are slightly raised from the ground, say one step, and
covered with neat straw carpeting, upon which the family and visitors
"squat" and take their refreshments.
The people in the places through which we passed were a little curious
at our appearance, but offered no real annoyance. Many were engaged in
mechanical pursuits, but were working after what appeared a most awkward
fashion, their tools being simple and of little variety; while as to
machinery wherewith to facilitate hand-labor, the Japanese seem to have
no more idea of it than does a South Sea Islander. Many of the people
make the raising of silk-worms and silk winding a source of livelihood.
In the rear of some houses were seen little mulberry orchards, and
spread out by the roadside, upon mats, were thousands of cocoons in the
warm sunshine. Women were frequently seen outside the houses spinning
the silk and winding the thread. Though silk raising is so large and
important an industry in Japan, the winding of the material is still
performed in the most laborious and primitive manner. Grain was being
winnowed, as we drove along, by the simple process of passing it from
hand to hand, this being done by the women, who also separated the rice
from the stalks, drawing it by the handful through fixed upright wooden
teeth, placed close together. Nothing could be more primitive.
We had read of Japanese intemperance in the use of saki, a spirit
distilled from rice; but during the time we were in the country, one
person only was seen under the influence of intoxication, and who was
observed on the road during this trip inland. Intemperance cannot be
common among the populace, or it would be more obvious. One may see more
drunkenness among the common people of American cities in ten minutes
than in ten weeks in Japan. Grapes are raised to some extent, but no
wine is made from them, or at least not in any large quantity.
The city of Nikko is at present a place of not more than five hundred
houses, all of which are located upon one broad thoroughfare, thatched
with rice straw, and built of the frailest material. We were told that
about a century ago a hundred thousand people dwelt here, but a fire
swept their homes away in a single night, leaving only ashes to mark the
spot. There is no foundation or cellar to a Japanese dwelling. The
temples in this vicinity are isolated from the dwellings, a river
running between, and are wonderful in architecture, size, and
costliness. They are many hundred years of age, and contain, among other
curious ornaments, statues of grotesque shapes in bronze, of priceless
value, mammoth bronze figures of birds of the stork species, etc.,
life-like in character, and of exquisite finish. There are also many
emblems and idols in gold, silver, and gilded wood. Some of the bronzes
are known to be over a thousand years old, and we were assured that
none of such valuable composition has been used for centuries. All
ancient Japanese bronze has in it a large percentage of gold and silver.
Before the door, just over the entrance to these temples, there is
fastened a gong, and above it hangs a metallic hammer, depending from
which is a rope. When a priest, or native of the people, comes hither to
pray, he pulls the rope vigorously, and thus produces a series of
strokes upon the gong that might wake the dead. This is to call the
attention of the Deity, and lead him to give ear to the petition about
to be offered! Enormous bells of exquisite purity of sound, hung a few
feet from the ground in the area before the temples, are rung at stated
periods by the use of a battering ram of wood, suspended near them,
causing the huge monsters to give out soft, muffled, though deep and
far-reaching notes, that float off among the mountain passes, and come
back again from Echo's lips, with startling distinctness. Several
priests, clad in long, yellow robes, were seen actively employed,
chanting, praying, and performing inexplicable ceremonies. One had a lot
of little pine chips by his side, and was busy in alternately feeding a
small fire upon a stone slab and beating a tom-tom. This, as our guide
informed us, was to propitiate the god of fire, and to avert all
possible catastrophes from that much dreaded source. When we passed out
of the grounds, some hours later, this priest was still busy with his
chips and the noisy tom-tom, though there was no audience present except
our little party.
Before another shrine, not far away, was a dancing priestess, clothed in
a fantastic manner, the only woman devotee whom we chanced to see in
Japan. She held out a lacquered salver for money, presumedly for
religious purposes, and on receiving the same she commenced a series of
gyrations worthy of the whirling dervishes of Cairo. It was impossible
not to recall De Foe's couplet as applied to this witch-like creature:--
"God never had a house of prayer
But Satan had a chapel there."
If she had been young and pretty one might have endured the farce, but
the woman was positively hideous, old, and wrinkled. Another priest,
hard by, was seen to be writing prayers upon bits of paper, in
anticipation of future demand, suited to all sorts of cases; and to be
sold to visiting penitents, who would pin or paste them up in the
temples as already described, and where the gods could peruse them at
their leisure. The wood-carvings, representing vines, flowers, birds,
and beasts, which formed a part of the elaborate ornamentation of the
temples, could not be surpassed in Europe or America, and were as fresh
and bright as though but just finished by the artist.
Our guide told us that the carvings of these temples were executed by a
man whose facility was considered miraculous, and whose whole life was
devoted to this object. He was known as the Left-Handed Artist, having
but partial use of the right hand, and being also a dwarf. It seems,
according to the legend, that, while this artist was working at the
ornamentation of the temples at Nikko, he saw and fell in love with a
very beautiful Japanese girl resident in the city; but she would have
nothing to do with him on account of his deformity of person. In vain
was his genius, in vain his tender pleadings; she was inflexible, so
that at last, quite heartbroken, the poor sculptor went back to Tokio,
his native place, where he carved an image of his beloved in wood,
life-size, which, when finished, was so perfect and beautiful that the
gods endowed it with life, and the sculptor lived with it as his wife in
the enjoyment of mutual love all the rest of his life. A classic fable
of similar import will occur to the reader. Is there anything new under
the sun?
The temples, shrines, and tombs of Nikko, in such perfect preservation,
are to the writer's mind the most remarkable in the world. Their
complete isolation, far away from any populous neighborhood; the solemn
silence which surrounds them at all times, shaded by a grove of lofty
cedars surpassed only in size and height by the giants of the Yosemite,
all tend to make them singularly impressive. The approach to the site is
by a wide flight of many stone steps, black and moss-grown with the
rains and dews of centuries, forming a grand example of ancient masonry,
the large, uniform granite blocks so laid and bonded that, after resting
there for ages, a knife-blade could not be introduced between the
joints. On careful examination it appeared that no composition either of
cement or mortar had ever been employed in this masonry, the builders
confining themselves to proper foundation and perfect matching together
of the stones. At Tokio, the Shiba temple, curious, strange, and
interesting as it was, lost effect by the neighborhood of the busy
throng always at hand. To enter the Shiba temple was like visiting a
grand museum of specialties, while these lonely Nikko shrines at once
command the visitor's half unwilling reverence.
Our tea-house at Nikko was a duplicate of that at Utsonomiga. In the
garden was the usual ornamentation so much affected by the people here,
consisting of rockeries, little mounds of bamboo or dwarf pines,
together with small plots of flowering shrubs, and little ponds of gold
and silver fish. These fishes attracted notice as being quite different
from any with which we were acquainted. They were a small species, not
more than three inches long, and generally smaller than that; but they
were supplied with a double complement of tail, and had large protruding
eyes like a King Charles spaniel, and pug noses like a fashionable bull
pup. They were ludicrous little fellows, so curious withal, that at
great trouble and care a few were brought home by one of our party; not
all of those selected, however, survived the exigencies of the long
journey.
On this posting trip, both going to and coming from Nikko, we observed
upon the road, in the several villages and posting stations, many
curious things. Women seemed to perform the most of the out-door work,
ditching and laboring in the rice swamps, with infants lashed to their
backs. When they were met taking articles to market, upon the little
country ponies, they rode astride, man fashion. Hens were seen with hair
in place of feathers, hens as small as domestic pigeons, hens with
plumes on their heads like militia captains, and hens with bare crowns
like shaven priests. There were also green pigeons and speckled crows,
tame as domestic fowls, among which was seen that anomaly, a white crow.
At the tea-house where we stopped for the night, our passports,
specially granted, were taken by the local officials and returned to us
in the morning. The passport was rather a curious document, and
disclaimed all responsibility on the part of the Mikado and his
government should the holder be murdered by the way, from whatever
cause. In short, we were permitted to travel inland, but at our own
peril. It is still looked upon by many as somewhat risky to travel away
from the populous centres, but we met with no special trouble.
The natives upon the route were inclined to be a little curious as to
the ladies' bonnets and dresses, nor were they quite satisfied without
using some familiarity about the gentlemen's attire; but they seemed to
be of a soft and pliant mould, easily managed by exercising a little
finesse. It was curious to observe how entirely opposite to our own
methods were many of theirs. At the post stations the horses were placed
and tied in their stalls with their heads to the passage-way, and their
tails where we place their heads. Thus they are fed and kept. In place
of iron shoes the Japanese pony is shod with close-braided rice straw.
Carpenters, in using the fore-plane, draw it towards them instead of
pushing it from them. It is the same in using the saw, the teeth of
which are set accordingly. So the tailor sews from him, not towards his
body, and holds his thread with his toes. They have no chimneys to the
houses, the smoke finding its way out at the doors and windows, though
brasiers are used instead of fireplaces, and in hot weather are placed
outside the dwelling for cooking purposes. The men shave their heads
just where the Chinese do not, making a bald spot on the top; and so we
might go on specifying peculiarities, showing that the Japanese are our
antipodes not only geographically but also in manners and customs.
As regards Japanese art, of which every one has seen such laughable
specimens, it must yet be admitted that there is a certain artistic
element extant among the people; otherwise we should not have the
thousand and one beautifully finished articles which are produced by
them, exhibiting exquisite finish and perfection of detail. Of
perspective they have no idea whatever; half-tones and the play of light
and shade they do not understand; there is no distinction of distances.
Their figures are good, delicately executed, and their choice of colors
admirable. In profile work or bas-relief they get on very well, where
there is no perspective required, but in grouping they pile houses on
the sea and mountains on the housetops. At caricature they greatly
excel, indeed they scarcely attempt to represent the human face and
figure in any other light. In place of entertaining any idea of what is
lovely in our species, they look only at the human face and form from
the ludicrous side, and this they render by giving it ideal ugliness, or
by exaggerating the grosser characteristics. The Japanese artist knowing
nothing of anatomy as a science, in its connection with art, nor even
attempting the simplest principle of foreshortening, we can only fairly
judge as to his success in what he practices. It will be curious to
watch the progress of the Japanese, and see their first attempts in
perspective drawing. So intelligent and imitative a race will not fail
to acquire this simple principle of art and nature; the only mystery
seems to be how it has so long escaped them.
Architecture can hardly be said to exist in Japan, though we have used
the term. The houses of the prince and the cobbler are the same,
consisting of a one-story building composed of a few upright posts,
perhaps of bamboo, and a heavy thatched roof. The outer walls are mere
sliding doors or shutters, while the interior is divided by screens or
sliding partitions. The man of means uses finer material and polished
wood, with better painted screens: that is all. Prince and peasant use
rice-paper in place of glass, and a portable brasier to warm the hands
and feet and to cook with; there are no fireplaces in the country,
except in European houses. The pagodas and temples at Nikko and
elsewhere are of the typical Chinese stamp, and as far as architectural
design is concerned are all alike, and all built of wood. When speaking
of the fine and durable masonry, reference was had to the lofty
inclosing walls, causeways, and steps which lead up to the broad ground
and tombs at Nikko.
We took passage from Yokohama for Kobe in the English mail steamship
Sumatra, of the P. and O. line, which, after two days' pleasant voyage,
landed us at the northern entrance to the Inland Sea of Japan. Kobe is
of some commercial importance, quite Europeanized, but of very little
interest to the traveler, gaining its business as the sea-port for the
imperial city of Osaka, with which it is connected by the river Yedo.
After looking about us here for a day, visiting some lofty and pretty
falls in the neighborhood, and some curious Buddhist shrines in a grove
back of the town, the cars were taken for Kioto, sixty miles inland,
where we arrived in the afternoon and found a good native public house,
the Masuyama Hotel, situated on a hill-side completely overlooking the
town. Here we had beds, wash-stands, chairs, and the ordinary comforts
of civilization. Kioto has a population of over three hundred thousand,
and, as we were told, once numbered two million of inhabitants, which
one can easily credit, since it was in the past the political capital of
the country and sole residence of the emperors; but now the Mikado lives
permanently at Tokio.
Kioto is called the City of Temples, and we certainly visited so many
that only a confused memory of them in the aggregate is retained. They
were by no means equal in grandeur, ornamentation, architecture, or age
to those of Nikko, Kamakura, or Tokio. More religious pretentiousness
was obvious here,--more people were congregated before the images,
engaged in acts of devotion. It might be added, if there was any
chastening influence in the ceremonies, they were more needed at Kioto
than at any other place, perhaps, in the whole country, judging from
only too obvious circumstances. The Japanese character presents as much
unlikeness to the Oriental as to the European type, and is comparable
only to itself. In nothing is this more apparent than in the fact that a
people who are so intelligent, who can reason calmly and cogently on
nearly any other subject, should be so obtuse in religious matters. A
Japanese believes the little caricature in ivory or wood, which has
perhaps been manufactured under his own eye, or even by his own hands,
is sacred, and will address his prayers to it with a solemn conviction
of its powers to respond. Than this idolatry cannot further go. His most
revered gods are effigies of renowned warriors and successful generals.
African fetich is no blinder than such baseless adoration performed by
an intelligent people. Some of the indigenous animals, such as foxes,
badgers, and snakes, are protected with superstitious reverence, if not
absolutely worshiped. At Tokio we saw ponies that were held sacred,
dedicated in some way to the use of the church, kept in idleness, and
reverenced by both priests and people, being fed on the fat of the land,
like sacred bulls at Benares.
At the Kioto temples it was observable that fully a score of priests
were kept busy writing brief prayers upon slips of paper at the
solicitation of devotees, doubtless suited to their supposed
necessities. These scraps the recipients pressed to their lips,
foreheads, and breasts, then pinned or pasted them up in the temples
among thousands of similar offerings. One of these temples, we were told
by our guide, contained over thirty thousand idols, and as far as a
casual glance could take in the confused mass of them ranged close to
each other, the aggregate number may be correct. These idols were three
feet high, representing some approach to the human figure, each
possessing many arms and hands. They were carved from solid blocks of
wood, and very heavily gilded, presenting a most gaudy and toy-like
appearance. While we stood within this temple some women came in,
prostrated themselves before the glittering toys for a few moments, and
then passed out, making room for others; but we saw no men at devotion
in this temple of many thousand idols.
The streets of Kioto were thronged with mountebanks, peep-shows,
performing acrobats, and conjurers. Sleek and pampered priests in yellow
robes were met at every turn, a class who exercise a certain influence
over the people through their superstition, but who command no personal
respect. We were told that they are a profligate set, like too many of
their class elsewhere, and enjoyed a certain immunity from the laws.
Before the temples was seen in one or two instances a theatrical
performance in progress, which seemed rather incongruous, but upon
inquiry this was found to be designed to appease the special gods of the
temple,--to entertain and amuse them! so that they would grant favors to
the people. The exhibition consisted of dancing and posturing by
professionals of both sexes, accompanied by the noise of tom-toms,
whistles, gongs, bells, and fifes. There was no attempt at time or
harmony, as far as could be discovered, the end and aim being apparently
to make all the noise possible.
Amusements are not lacking at Kioto, as there are numerous theatres
where farce, tragedy, and comedy are duly represented after the crude
fashion of the country. These theatres open at early morning and the
play lasts until midnight, with the briefest intermissions. The
spectators bring their food with them; so that eating, drinking, and
smoking are going on all the while during the performance. At some of
these theatres women only perform, at others only men, but in no
instance do the two sexes mingle in these public exhibitions. The
mechanical arrangements are of the most primitive character, such as
would not satisfy children in America, but the pantomime is very good.
As to speaking characters, they are very seldom attempted. The price of
admission is about five cents of our currency, and from six hundred to a
thousand persons often gather at these theatres. Music (it is called by
that name) and posturing fill up the intervals. To an American observer
the whole exhibition seems cruder than a Comanche wardance.
Singing and posturing girls are here let out in groups, as in other
Japanese cities, to entertain foreigners or natives at their meals; but
the performances and the purpose are highly objectionable, morality in
this latitude being much like that of the average European capitals,
that is, at a very low ebb, as viewed from our stand-point. There are
also public exhibitions of acrobats in wrestling, fencing, and the like,
while others are devoted entirely to sleight-of-hand tricks, very good
of their kind.
The porcelain manufactories of Kioto were found interesting,--everything
being done, however, by the patient and slow process of hand labor, with
the crudest of tools. The same remark applies to the silk manufactories,
where the weaving is performed in a laborious manner, each small
hand-loom requiring two persons to operate it. The goods thus produced
are really fine, but could not be sold in the present markets of the
world except that Japanese labor is held at starvation prices. The
average pay of the weavers is less than thirty cents per day, and the
boy helpers, who work the shuttles, receive but twelve. The various
manufactories of paper here and elsewhere in the country form one of its
most extended industries, the basis of the material being the bark of
certain trees; indeed, one is on this account designated as the
paper-tree, and, being a species of the mulberry, it serves a double
purpose,--its leaves feeding the little insect which is so important a
factor in Japanese products. It must not be supposed that the large
amount of paper which is produced indicates its consumption for printing
purposes: the demand for that species of the article is very limited,
but the general uses to which the manufactured paper are put in Japan is
infinite. A very superior grade of oil paper is manufactured which is
suitable even for clothing, and is so used. It has been mentioned how
universally a certain grade is used in place of glass; paper is also
employed for partitions of rooms in place of lath and plaster; for fans,
an immense amount is required; also, for cases and boxes, for twine,
letter-bags, purses, umbrellas, and many other articles.
The largest lake in Japan is that of Biwa, a very fine sheet of water,
nearly fifty miles long, but rather narrow, probably not exceeding an
average width of more than ten miles. It is situated about eight miles
from Kioto, and thither we went in jinrikishas. It was anciently the
summer resort of the Mikados, and is a very beautiful lake, abounding in
fish, a most important matter to the neighborhood, as rice and fish are
the chief diet in Japan. There are many pleasure-houses, so-called,
along its banks, where the visitor is entertained with fish fresh from
the water, cooked in a great variety of ways. On the north and west side
the lake is hemmed in, like a Scotch loch, by lofty hills, but on the
other sides by pleasant, highly cultivated lands, slightly undulating,
and ornamented with pretty little hamlets, and tea-houses for visitors
who sail upon the lake for pleasure. Our jinrikisha men took us there in
less than an hour and a half, but as the road rises towards Kioto we
were fully two hours in returning. On this occasion women harnessed
tandem, with men, to some jinrikishas were met, and they trotted off
quite as easily at a pony gait as did the men, but it is gratifying to
say that it was the only time we saw women so employed.
We returned to Kobe by way of Osaka, a city nearly as large as Kioto,
and much more of a business and manufacturing centre. The national mint
is located here, with some other large government works. The ancient
fort overlooking the town is of great interest, and is still fortified,
affording barracks for a couple of regiments of the regular army. It is
a remarkably substantial structure; many of the stones of which it is
composed are so large that it is a wonder how they could ever have been
transported intact from the quarry. Osaka has rivers and canals running
through it much like Amsterdam, though not so numerous, and has been
appropriately called the Venice of Japan. It is not Europeanized like
Kobe or Yokohama; it is purely Japanese in all respects, and possesses a
considerable commerce. The day of our arrival was a festal one, being
consecrated to the god of the waters; wherefore large boats gayly decked
with flags and party-colored streamers, containing crowds of gayly
dressed men in harlequin style, were rowing in long processions through
the water-ways of the city and under the many high-arched bridges. On
the decks of the boats the people were dancing and singing (howling), to
the notes of an indescribable instrument, which could give a Scotch
bag-pipe liberal odds and then surpass it in its most hideous
discordance. Music is not a strong point with the Chinese or Japanese;
if they have any actual melody in their compositions, no foreign ear can
detect it. At one of the public performances at Kobe it seemed that the
notes were produced by a file and rusty saw.
We embarked at Kobe November 26th, on the Japanese steamship Nugata
Maru, officered by Europeans, but manned by natives, bound for Nagasaki,
near the southernmost point of Japan, and to reach which we sailed the
whole length of the famous and beautiful Inland Sea. It was a most
enchanting voyage of two days and two nights, among innumerable islands
and grotesquely formed hills, which were covered with foliage and
verdure to the very water's edge. Many of these islands were inhabited,
and cultivated on their abrupt sides in terraces, like vineyards on the
Rhine, displaying great care and taste. The aspect of the conical
islands, bluffs, headlands, and inlets recalled the St. Lawrence River
in Canada, presenting narrow and winding passages, losing themselves in
creeks and bays after a most curious fashion, while little brown hamlets
here and there fringed the coast line. At night, the scene changing
constantly was enhanced in beauty by the clearness of the atmosphere and
the brightness of the moon. We slept scarcely at all on board the Nugata
Maru; it seemed almost sacrilege to miss an hour of the beautiful flying
panorama which was being so silently spread before our vision.
The sea was one sheet of rippling silver; the stars, partially eclipsed
by the moon, "silver empress of the night," were nevertheless bright and
sparkling with diamond lustre. All was still, for though we eagerly
watched, we rarely spoke; silence became eloquent on such an occasion.
Now and then the deep, hoarse voice of the captain from the forecastle
of the steamer floated aft: "Port your helm," "Starbord," "Steady." In
this intricate navigation the captain leaves the bridge to the officer
of the watch, and temporarily takes the post of the forward lookout. Now
we run close in under some towering headland, now sheer off from a green
isle so near that none but an experienced pilot would dare to hug the
shore so closely. At many points the sea seemed to be completely
land-locked, like the Lakes of Killarney, framed in by lofty hills. Too
much had not been promised us in this special voyage through the Inland
Sea. For once, fruition was confirmation. We could have sailed on and
on, over those still, deep waters and among those fairy-like isles, for
weeks unwearied, and when at last we anchored in the snug harbor of
Nagasaki the voyage had been only too brief.
A sad interest attaches to the small but lofty island of Pappenburg,
which stands like a sentinel guarding the entrance to the harbor of
Nagasaki. It is the Tarpeian Rock of the far East. During the
persecution of the Christians in the seventeenth century, the steep
cliff, which forms the seaward side of the island, was an execution
point, and from here men and women who declined to abjure their faith
were cast headlong on to the sea-washed rocks far below. The present
verdure and beauty which so characterize the spot are in strong contrast
with the sad history of the place; nor could we gaze upon its
precipitous side, as we steamed slowly by, without a shudder at the
tragedies once enacted there.
Nagasaki was found to be a thrifty commercial city of about a hundred
thousand inhabitants, with a fine harbor, the entrance being as narrow
as that of Havana; but once inside, the combined fleets of the world
might find good anchorage under the shallow of the lofty hills which
surround its deep, clear waters. The extreme length of the harbor must
be about four miles, by two in width. Tall, dark pines and a verdant
undergrowth mark the deep ravines and sloping hill-sides, upon which
European dwellings may be seen overlooking the bay, interspersed with a
few Buddhist temples. During a delightful afternoon stroll and climb
among these hills, we came upon many wild flowers, shaded by oaks and
camphor-trees of great size and beautiful foliage, with occasional
specimens of the Japan wax-tree. Still farther up, the hills were
covered with dark, moss-crowned grave-stones, bearing curious characters
and marking the sleeping-place of by-gone generations, the unbroken
quiet of this city of the dead, contrasting with the hum of feverish
life that came up from the busy town.
Nagasaki is quaint even for a Japanese city, its clean, broad streets
ornamented by growing palms, pomegranates, and bamboo-trees, while each
shop is a little museum in itself. Like Osaka, it is thoroughly Japanese
in its appearance, as well as in the manners and customs of its thrifty
inhabitants. Here, and throughout the entire country, one feels
impressed with the evident peace, plenty, and content. As to the
products of this locality, they are mostly figured porcelain,
embroidered silks, japaned goods, ebony and shell finely carved and
manufactured into ornaments. Every little low house has a shop in front,
and is, as usual, quite open to the street; but small as these houses
are, room is nearly always found in the rear or side for a little
flower-garden, fifteen or twenty feet square, where dwarf trees flourish
amid little hillocks of turf, and ferns, and small tubs of gold fish.
Azaleas, laurels, and tiny clumps of bamboos are the most common plants
to be seen.
This indicates a pure and simple taste in the people, yet there is a
system of social debasement throughout Japan, which was here so obvious
that it cannot be passed without notice. It is no worse, perhaps, than
in Vienna or Paris, where the law affords it certain sanction; but when
realized in connection with the quiet, peaceful aspect of Japanese
domestic life, the contrast renders the system more repulsive than it
appears elsewhere. The young women in these public establishments are
really slaves, as much as Circassian girls sold into Turkish harems, or
at Moorish Tangier. In Japan they are also sold, while yet children, by
their parents, for this purpose, and for a period of ten years. At the
close of their term such women are not considered disgraced, and are
eligible for marriage, frequently being sought by desirable husbands,
and rearing respectable families. The Japanese are not immaculate, and
primitive innocence does not exist among them. Virtue in women before
marriage is held rather lightly, but afterwards they must be spotless,
otherwise the penalty is death.
As regards the flora of Japan we learned some interesting facts. Though
the country is densely populated for its number of square miles, the
forest area is four times more extensive than that portion brought under
cultivation. Botanists declare its vegetation to be the richest, as well
as the most varied, of any portion of the globe. The cultivation of the
soil is skillfully and thoroughly systematized, the greatest possible
results being obtained from a given area. This is partly due to a system
of thorough enrichment, applied in the form of liquid manure, and
entirely by hand. Its flora is spontaneous and magnificent, repaying the
least attention by a development and profuseness of yield that is
surprising. Next in importance to the product of rice, which is the
staple food of the people, comes that of the mulberry and tea-plants,
one species of the former not only feeding the silk-worm, but also, as
has been mentioned, affording the fibre of which paper is made, as well
as cordage and dress material. In usefulness the bamboo is most
remarkable, growing to a height of fifty or sixty feet, and entering
into the construction of house-frames, screens, mats, pipes, and sails.
The umbrella-pine grows to a height of a hundred feet, with dense
foliage, and the cedars reach two hundred feet, with a girth of twenty,
which is, however, far exceeded by the noble camphor-trees. The camphor
of commerce is extracted from the stem and roots, cut into small pieces,
by a simple process of decoction.
As at San Francisco, there is an abundance of birds hovering constantly
about the harbor of Nagasaki, not sea-gulls, but a brown fishing-hawk,
which here seems to take the place of the gull, swooping down upon its
finny prey after the same fashion, and uttering a wild, shrill cry when
doing so. Another peculiarity about this feathery fisherman is that he
affects the rigging of ships lying at anchor, and roosts in the shrouds
or on the spars, which a sea-gull or other ocean bird is rarely known to
do. This harbor, in its sheltered character, resembles a Swiss or Scotch
lake, many of its peculiarities being identical with them. The hills
spring from the very water's edge, and the pine is the prevailing tree;
the principal difference being an inclination here to more tropical
verdure than in the localities referred to. The bay is nearly
land-locked, and while a pretty heavy gale may be blowing just outside,
the surface of the harbor would be scarcely ruffled.
The ship took in coal here after a style quite Japanese. Large flat
boats came alongside, each laden with many tons of coal from a native
mine near at hand; and a broad port-hole being opened near the ship's
coal bunks, a line of Japanese girls and boys, each not more than twelve
or thirteen years of age, was formed upon a gangway reaching from the
bunks down the ship's side to the coal barge. Along this line of girls
and boys were rapidly passed baskets of coal, which might weigh from
sixty to eighty pounds each, so fast as to form one continuous stream of
the article discharging on board. The empty baskets were passed back
into the coaling barge by a line of younger girls at another port-hole,
being refilled by a third gang in the boat. The line of full coal
baskets would not be broken once in an hour, until the barge was emptied
and another hauled alongside to be similarly discharged. It was
remarkable how quickly the ship took on board her necessary supply of
fuel in this manner, and how steadily those young begrimed children
worked all day. The local agent told us they were paid for the ten or
twelve hours' work fifteen cents each. Their boiled rice and dried fish
would cost them four or five cents for the day, and so they would be
able to save ten cents. Clothing does not enter into cost when it is not
worn, and these little imps were as nearly naked as was possible. They
stopped work for about twenty-five minutes at meridian, and were served
each with a bowl of rice and fish, which they dispatched with
chopsticks, then drank a lacquered bowl of hot tea.
An extremely interesting month had been passed in the country which we
were now about to leave behind us, and should have been glad to tarry
longer in, but our arrangements, to a certain extent, were imperative,
and so we prepared to sail southward, through the long reach of the
China Sea. Some reflections, the result of our late experience, were
forced upon us at this juncture, relative to the people whose brief
acquaintance we had made.
The natural intelligence of the Japanese has no superior among any race,
however much it may be perverted, or have lain dormant for want of
stimulus. There is evidence sufficient of this in the fact that the
young men of Japan, who are sent to this country for educational
purposes, so frequently win academic prizes and honors over our native
scholars. This, too, notwithstanding the disadvantages under which a
foreigner must be placed. Instances of the brightness of their natural
intelligence have been so numerous in our colleges and educational
institutions as to cause public remark. It is therefore safe to say that
the mental capacity of the Japanese youth is certainly equal to those of
our own in the same class of society. No sooner have they been fairly
introduced to American and European civilization than they have taken a
stride, of four or five centuries at a single leap, from feudalism in
its most ultra form to constitutional government. When an American
squadron opened the port of Yokohama, in 1853, to the commerce of the
world, it also opened that hermetically sealed land to the introduction
of progressive ideas; and though, unfortunately, the elements of
civilization which are most readily assimilated are not always the most
beneficial, still, the result, taken as a whole, has been worthy of the
admiration of the world at large.
When we speak of the progress of the Japanese as a nation, we must not
forget that the national records of the country date from nearly seven
hundred years before the time of Christ on earth, and that a regular
succession of Mikados, in lineal descent from the founders of their
dynasty and race, has since that remote date been carefully preserved.
Taking the Western Powers as a model, the Japanese have not failed to
emulate them in nearly all the prominent features of civilization,
promptly furnishing themselves with rifled cannon and torpedo boats,
with newspapers and a national debt. As we have remarked, the army and
civil officers have long since adopted the American costume. The
railroad and the telegraph, too much of an innovation for the more
pretentious Chinese, are quite domesticated in Japan. But still it is
really to be hoped that the progressive spirit, so apparent in the
policy of the Mikado and his advisers, may not quite obliterate all
traces of the antique and picturesque customs of a country so peculiar
and original.