THE COUNTRY AMERICA OPENED TO CIVILIZATION--JAPAN
Three hundred and fifty years ago there were perhaps a million
Christians in Japan. The great Jesuit missionary, Francis Xavier,
introduced the religion of the Nazarene into Japan in 1849, and it
spread like a prairie fire. But in the course of time the Japanese
leaders turned against the priests and leaders of the new religion and
undertook to obliterate everything Christian from their civilization.
They placed a price upon the head of every Christian. They made what
they called footplates, a plate about the size of a shoe sole with a
picture of Christ upon it. When a person was brought whom they
suspicioned as being a Christian they put this footplate down and
commanded the accused one to stamp it. If this was done freely the
person was allowed freedom, for they said no Christian would step on the
face of Christ. If the accused one refused to do this the horrors of his
torture were so great that death was a release. The writer of these
lines has seen some of those old footplates that have been preserved to
this day.
Stone signboards were placed along the highways of Japan upon which were
written: "So long as the sun shall continue to warm the earth, let no
Christian be so bold as to enter Japan; and let all know that the King
of Spain himself, or the Christian's God, or the great God of all, if he
dare violate this command, shall pay for it with his head." I saw one of
these old signboards on exhibition in a museum in Tokyo. Japan closed
her ports, established a deadline around her domain and allowed no
ships to land, shut out the world and became a hermit nation.
It was the eighth of July, 1853, that a fleet of vessels boldly crossed
the forbidden line and dropped anchor in what is now known as Yokohama
harbor. It was Commodore Perry and the stars and stripes were waving
from the ship masts. At once there was great excitement on shore and
soon boats with men wearing swords were along the ships' sides trying to
explain that they were on forbidden territory.
The men in the small boats were told emphatically that only the highest
official could come on board. One of the men represented that he was
second in rank and when he was allowed to come on board Commodore Perry
refused to see him. After a parley this Japanese officer was made to
understand that the expedition bore a letter from the President of the
United States to the Emperor of Japan and that it could be delivered
only to the officer of the highest rank. When the Japanese officer
produced the notifications warning all ships against entering the port,
the lieutenant refused to receive them.
Returning to the shore the officer came back to the ship in an hour or
two saying that his superior would not receive the letter addressed to
the Emperor; that he doubted that the Emperor would receive the letter
at all. He was instantly informed that if the superior officer did not
come for the letter at once the ships would proceed up the Bay of Yeddo
and deliver the letter without him. Of course this ultimatum created
great excitement and the officer finally asked a stay in the proceedings
until the next day.
During the night signal fires blazed from the mountain tops and bells
sounded the hours. In the next few days the famous letter, which was
incased in a golden box of a thousand dollars value, was delivered.
Nothing very definite was accomplished, however, and the fleet came
home. The next year Commodore Perry returned with a larger fleet,
another letter, and with presents of various kinds. These consisted of
cloth, agricultural implements, firearms and a small locomotive with
cars and a mile of circular track for the miniature train, together with
a telegraph line to go around it.
The interest and curiosity caused by this miniature railway was
wonderful. People walked hundreds of miles to see it. When some of the
dignitaries were told that in the United States of America there were
many large trains in which hundreds of passengers were carried they
could hardly believe it. One of these officials said that if big trains
could carry passengers little ones ought to be able to do so. It was
then arranged for him to take a ride. With his flowing robe he was
assisted to mount one of these little cars like as if it were a donkey.
The whistle was blown, the steam turned on and away he went around the
circle and it created as much excitement as a balloon once did at a
circus in this country.
Finally, it was suggested that a treaty be made between the United
States and Japan. On board the flagship of Commodore Perry was a
minister of the gospel who was consulted and after much discussion a
clause was inserted giving America the right to erect or establish
places of worship in Japan and a promise that Japan would abolish the
practice of trampling on the face of Christ and the cross.
At first our missionaries were restricted to certain localities and
they had a time of it. Less than twenty-five years ago this treaty was
revised and until this was done no Christian missionary could leave
these restricted areas without permission from the Japanese government.
This treaty also gave Japan the right to send their missionaries to the
United States and thus we have a half hundred Buddhist temples on the
Pacific coast at the present time.
On landing at Yokohama, one of the first places I went to visit was the
great bronze idol of Kamakura, which is but eighteen miles from
Yokohama. It is about fifty feet high, and it is called the "Great
Buddha" or "Diabutsa." It is a thousand years old and a horrible looking
affair. I went up into the hollow image which is ninety-seven feet in
diameter. I wanted to scratch the eyes out, for they are said to be made
of solid gold. Years ago there was a temple over this image, so it is
said, but a great tidal wave swept the building away. Now they are
collecting money from tourists to erect another temple, so they say.
They tackle every American for a subscription and strangely enough they
get a lot of money out of them.
Speaking of heathen temples brings to mind a large one that I visited in
Tokyo. It is dedicated to a fox. The people used to believe, some of
them do yet, that when one dies his spirit enters the form of some
animal. A man is afraid to throw a rock at a dog for fear he will hit
his old grandfather--he doesn't know but that his grandfather's spirit
entered that particular dog. So they dedicate their temples to these
lower animals and often take better care of animals than poor people.
In this Tokyo temple mentioned there is a great image in one end of the
building and below it a money chest nearly as large as a trunk the lid
of which is like a hopper. Of course it takes money to keep up the
temple and the followers of Buddha come here to worship. They always pay
before they pray. A lot of us pray and then don't pay. Fortune tellers
are nearly always in heathen temples. The gambling instinct abounds. The
people too often undertake to deceive their gods by making promises that
they will do so and so if successful when they never intend to fulfill
the promises. It makes one's heart ache to see people bow down before
these lifeless idols. Most of these temples are hotbeds of immorality as
many of the treacherous priests have neither principle nor conscience.
One night I went to a real Japanese hotel. Of course, in a great city
like Tokyo, there are plenty of English or European hotels, but in this
case I went for the experience. Before entering we had to take off our
shoes. No person enters a real Japanese house with shoes on. However,
they wear clogs that can be kicked off at the door. Entering a small
vestibule of the hotel a servant bowed, seated us, took off our shoes,
put them up like checking one's grip, brought slippers and assisted in
putting them on, then invited us in. The proprietor bowed and began to
apologize. The Japanese always apologize. A friend was with me and the
landlord said that he was very sorry that he had no rooms good enough
for such dignified guests to sleep in, but he would give us his best.
Bidding us follow him he led the way upstairs. I simply could not keep
the slippers on my feet so took them off and carried them, one in each
hand. At the top of the stairway a door slid open and a Japanese lady
began laughing. I expect she is telling yet about a foreigner who once
came to the hotel who thought slippers were to wear on his hands. On
reaching the rooms, amidst profuse apologies, he named the price which
was double the amount named on the printed card. When my friend called
his attention to his published prices he said: "Yes, but I will make you
fine gentlemen a discount," and proceeded to discount the price to that
named on his card.
The city of Tokyo is a little world in itself. It contains nearly three
million people. It covers more than twenty-eight square miles of
territory. Its streets are generally narrow and in much of the city
there is practically no sewer system. The refuse and night soil is all
saved and sold for fertilizer. If a fire should get well started it
looks like a great portion of the city would go up in smoke for most of
the houses are of flimsy material and would burn like haystacks.
They have no system of numbering houses and to hunt for some certain one
is like hunting for a needle in a haymow. Like in all cities the people
are pleasure loving and the parks and shows are well attended. In the
very heart of the city is a square mile of territory given entirely up
to the lowest form of evil. It is undoubtedly one of the most wicked
spots on the globe.
One must not judge the Japanese people or even the people of Tokyo by
this standard, however, for no people ever made such tremendous strides
as have the Japanese nation since the days of Commodore Perry. The great
Imperial University of Tokyo makes one think of Yale or Harvard. The
buildings are modern and the campus beautiful and well kept. Passing
through these grounds a friend pointed out the most noted buildings.
Entering them I found the most modern and up-to-date equipment. One
large building is devoted exclusively to the study of earthquakes. The
Japanese know more about earthquakes than any other people.
The students are taught how to erect buildings earthquakeproof. The most
powerful seismographs in the world are in this university. I saw a
record of the San Francisco earthquake that was made by these
instruments--just when it started, when it was at the worst, length of
time it lasted and all about it. Here in this building is a picture of a
place where, during an earthquake, the ground was opened and a lot of
people had fallen perhaps a hundred feet down. The photograph was
evidently taken just as the ground was closing and the people below were
waving good-bye to those above as they were going to their death.
Japan has been called the land of flowers and cherry blossoms or The
Flowery Kingdom. It is one of the most interesting countries on the
globe to visit. While shut away to themselves these people developed a
civilization of their own which is far superior, in most respects, to
that of other oriental peoples. Their experience with Christianity,
corrupt though it was, no doubt gave them the start. The entire area of
Japan is but little larger than California and most of it is very
mountainous and yet so wonderful are they in the development of
agriculture that nearly sixty million people live upon the products of
their soil.
The Japanese people think a lot of America for they recognize the fact
that to America they owe more than to any other nation. Their friendship
for us is real too, if one can judge anything by mingling with the
people. All this talk about Japan attacking America is too ridiculous
to think seriously about, even though we have not treated them as we
should in all cases. If you were in Tokyo today you would see the stars
and stripes just below their own flag, and you would see more American
flags than of all other nations combined, barring of course, their own.