OVERLAND FROM OZAKA TO YEDO
FOR centuries the interior of Japan had been closed to all Europeans,
with the exception of the head of the Dutch trading factory at Nagasaki,
who used to travel overland to Yedo at fixed intervals to pay his
respects to the Shôgun and carry valuable presents to him and his
ministers. Perhaps the best account of these tribute bearing missions is
to be found in Kaempfer. But in the new treaties a provision had been
inserted giving to the diplomatic representatives of foreign powers the
right of travelling throughout the country, and Sir Rutherford Alcock
had availed himself of this privilege a few years earlier, as he has
recounted in his "Court and Capital of the Tycoon." As a guide to
succeeding travellers it cannot be said that his description of the
journey was of much assistance. But the Japanese are great travellers
themselves, and the booksellers' shops abound in printed itineraries
which furnish the minutest possible information about inns, roads,
distances, ferries, temples, productions, and other particulars which
the tourist requires. Then a fairly good map was easily procurable, not
drawn to scale, but affording every geographical detail that can be of
any real service, and there was a splendid illustrated guidebook to the
Tôkaidô containing all the legendary and historical lore that an
Englishman accustomed to his Murray can desire. There are two great
roads which unite the eastern and western capitals, namely the Nakasendô
or road through the mountains, which, as its name implies, traverses the
central provinces, and the Tôkaidô or road along the sea to the east,
which follows the sea shore wherever practicable. Properly speaking this
is not the original name of the road, but rather of the administrative
division through which it runs, but practically it came to the same
thing. It was the latter which had been chosen for me as the principal
highway in the country, and the best provided with inn accommodation.
Ever since the third Tokugawa Shôgun established the rule that each
_daimiô_ must pass a portion of the year in Yedo, the great highroads
had become important means of internal communication. Posting stations
were established at every few miles for the supply of porters and
baggage ponies, and at each of these were erected one or two official
inns called _hon-jin_ for the use of _daimiôs_ and high functionaries of
government. Around these sprang up a crowd of private inns and houses of
entertainment where the _daimiôs_' retainers and travelling merchants
used to put up. The Tôkaidô was the recognized route for all the
_daimiôs_ west of Kiôto, and of course for those whose territories lay
along it. Then it was the main route for the pilgrims who flocked
annually to the sacred shrines in Isé, and was the means of access to
many other famous temples; so that of all the roads in Japan it was the
most frequented and the most important from every point of view. Who
that collects Japanese colour prints is unacquainted with the numerous
delightful series of views devoted to its illustration, which present
such vivid pictures of Japanese life. One of the most famous of all
native novels is occupied with the adventures of a couple of merry dogs
on their way from Yedo up to Kiôto, and the list of its fifty-three
posting towns was one of the first lessons in reading and writing which
the youth of Japan had to commit to memory. On account of its historical
and legendary associations, to say nothing of its famous scenery, it
occupied something of the same place in the imaginations of the Japanese
that the Rhine formerly did in the minds of English tourists before the
Loreley rock had been tunnelled, and crowds of indifferent travellers
were hastily whirled in a few hours along an iron track on either side
of the great stream which at one time it was the fashion to "do" with
dignity in a carriage and four. Carefully as one may study a map, there
is no way of learning geography comparable to the pedestrian method,
which, by a thousand associations of pleasure, fatigue and weather,
fixes indelibly the minutest topographical facts, and enables the
student of history to understand the vicissitudes of warfare.
Japan being a country where a peculiar political system had taken its
birth from centuries of civil war, the more we saw of its interior
districts, the more likely were we to arrive at a correct understanding
of the problem which at that moment was being attacked by the rival
parties. I do not pretend that any considerations such as these
determined my application to the chief for permission to return to
headquarters by land. Insatiable curiosity as to everything Japanese, a
certain love of adventure, and dislike of life on board of a man-of-war
were the real motives, the last perhaps as strong as any, and probably
many persons would agree with me in preferring to spend a day in walking
from Calais to Dover, if it were practicable, to taking their chance of
rough weather in a steamer, even though it might not last for more than
an hour and ten minutes.
Wirgman and I were by this time so accustomed to living on Japanese food
that we resolved not to burden ourselves with stores of any kind, knives
or forks, finger glasses or table napkins. Ponies were not procurable,
so we bought a couple of secondhand palanquins, called _hikido kago_,
such as were used by public officials, and had them repaired. They cost
the small price of 32 ichibus each, or not £4. The pole was a long piece
of deal, called by euphemism paulownia wood. A cushion of silk damask,
thickly stuffed with raw cotton, was spread on the bottom, and there was
then just room enough to sit in it cross-legged without discomfort. In
front was a small shelf above the window, and underneath a small flap
which served as a table. The sliding doors also had windows, furnished
with a paper slide to exclude cold, and another covered with gauze to
keep out the dust while letting in the air. If it rained, blinds made of
slender strips of bamboo were let down over the windows. The body of the
palanquin could also be enveloped in a covering of black oiled paper, in
which a small aperture was left for the occupant to peep out of, a blind
of the same material being propped up outside; this arrangement was,
however, only resorted to on days of persistent rain. Each of us had a
pair of oblong wicker-work baskets to hold our clothing, called
_riô-gaké_, which were slung at opposite ends of a black pole and
carried by one man over his shoulder. My bedding, which consisted of a
couple of Japanese mattresses covered with white crape and edged with a
broad border of common brocade known as _yamato nishiki_, and one of the
huge stuffed bedgowns called yogi of figured crape with a velvet collar,
with a couple of European pillows, was packed in a wicker box of the
kind called _akéni_, and formed a burden for two men. To each package
was fastened a small deal board on which my name and titles were
inscribed with Indian ink in large Chinese characters. As escort we had
ten picked men belonging to the native legation guard (_betté gumi_),
and a couple of officials belonging to the Japanese Foreign Department
(_gai-koku-gata_) were attached to us, who were instructed to make
arrangements for our accommodation along the road. Last of all, a list
was made out of the places at which we were to take our mid-day meals
and sleep at night, the journey of 320 miles from Fushimi being
calculated to occupy sixteen days.
On the 18th May, having exchanged farewell calls with the commissioners
of foreign affairs, we got away from our temple lodging at nine o'clock
in the morning. Willis, who was to join Sir Harry Parkes' party at
Fushimi, accompanied us. We embarked at the Hachikenya wharf on the
river side in a houseboat, the escort and _gai-koku-gata_ in another,
two open boats following with the luggage of the whole party. The stream
was very strong, and our progress was correspondingly slow, but we felt
that we were travelling in a dignified manner, and therefore repressed
our natural impatience. Where the stream was deep enough close in shore,
the boatmen landed, and towed us by a line attached to the top of a mast
fixed in the front of the boat, while the steersman remained at his post
to prevent us from running into the bank. When the towing path changed
to the opposite side, the boatmen came on board and poled across to
resume their labour as before. The river, which winds a good deal, is
enclosed between lofty dykes, so that we had no prospect but the broad
surface of the river itself and the tops of ranges of mountains peering
over the bank. It was a fine day, and we were full of eager
anticipations about the novel scenes we were about to pass through,
every inch of the way being entirely new to us as far as Hakoné, and for
myself the prospect of a fortnight's holiday was especially exhilarating
after the hard work of the past five weeks.
By one o'clock we reached Suido mura, a small village on the right bank
about five miles above Ozaka, and landed to take our lunch. There was
nothing to be had but rice and bean-curd, which did not constitute a
very palatable meal. But _à la guerre comme à la guerre_. We passed a
large number of crowded passenger boats descending the river, and ten
barges laden with bales of rice. At half-past six we stopped at
Hirakata, a somewhat more important place than Suido mura. Here we
landed to dine off soup, fish and rice, the ordinary constituents of a
traveller's meal. The charge for our three selves and three servants was
less than an _ichibu_, and a second _ichibu_ was given as _cha-dai_ or
"tea-money." Noguchi was paymaster, and gave whatever he thought right
under this heading. The charge seemed extraordinarily cheap, which was
explained by a regulation binding innkeepers to supply persons
travelling in an official capacity at one quarter of the rates charged
to ordinary people. We started again by moonlight, and as the night
advanced, a thin mist rose and covered the surface of the broad river,
imparting to the landscape that mysterious, sketchy indistinctness which
is so characteristic of Japan, that none but native artists whose eyes
have been educated to it from their childhood have ever been able to
seize and represent.
The air now became as cold as it had been hot during the day time. We
had blankets fetched from one of the baggage boats, and lay down to
sleep in opposite corners of the boat. At two in the morning I woke and
found that we were lying off the guardhouse on the right bank opposite
to Hashimoto, which was held by troops of Matsudaira Hôki no Kami, a
member of the Tycoon's Council, the other bank being in the charge of
Tôdô, the _daimiô_ of Isé. We had been as far as Yodo, where they turned
us back because our pass had not been viséd here, and we did not reach
Yodo again till four o'clock. It was still dark, the moon having set
during the night. The river is here joined by the Kidzu kawa, and is
divided into several channels by islands lying in its course. We kept
along the right bank, and arrived at Fushimi about six, where we found
Sir Harry on the point of starting for Tsuruga. Here a generous member
of his party gave us a last cigar. Our stock had been completely
exhausted during the long stay in Ozaka, and for the rest of the journey
we had to content ourselves with Japanese tobacco, smoked in tiny whiffs
out of the diminutive native pipes, all inadequate to satisfy a craving
nourished on something stronger. The worst of the Japanese pipe, with
its metal bowl and mouthpiece united by a hard bamboo stem, is the
rapidity with which it gets foul, necessitating cleaning at least once a
day with a slender spill twisted out of tough mulberry-bark paper.
Willis left us here, and joined the chief. Special precautions had been
taken by the government to prevent Sir Harry turning aside to Kiôto,
which it was thought his adventurous disposition might tempt him to
visit.
After breakfast we started in our _kagos_ for the journey overland. A
crowd of _machi-kata_, who were a sort of municipal officers of all
grades, dressed in their Sunday best, escorted us out of the town. Our
road lay for a mile or so between the banks of the Uji-kawa and the low,
fir-clad hills masked by clumps of graceful bamboo, and then leaving the
tea plantations of Uji to the right, we journeyed along a level road
winding through the hills to Oiwaké, where we joined the Tôkaidô. A kind
of stone tramway ran from Kiôto all the way to Otsu, our next
resting-place, for the heavy, broad-wheeled bullock carts, of which we
passed a couple of score laden with rice for the use of the Tycoon's
garrison at the capital. Oiwaké was famous for pipes, counting boards
(_abacus_), and a species of comic prints called _toba-yé_, and lies at
the foot of the hills separating the province of Yamashiro from the
beautiful Biwa Lake. By the roadside we had an opportunity of inspecting
some tea-firing establishments on a small scale, like every other
manufacturing enterprise in those days. The fresh tea leaves were
damped, then spread out on a flat table heated from beneath by fuel
enclosed in a plastered chamber, and twisted by hand. This new tea forms
a delicious and refreshing drink when infused after the Japanese method
for the finer qualities, with lukewarm water. At each establishment
there were not more than two persons at work.
At one o'clock we got to Otsu, and after lunch went to a monastery
called Riô-zen-ji to enjoy the celebrated prospect of the lake, but the
mid-day heat had covered its surface with a dull grey haze, and hid it
entirely from view. We found everything nicely arranged for us at
Takajima-ya, where we rested for the mid-day meal, while the escort and
foreign office men in our train vied in accommodating themselves to our
wishes. From Otsu a level road skirted the lake, and, soon after passing
through Zézé, the "castle town" of Honda Oki no Kami, we got out to
walk. In crossing the great double bridge of Séta we saw a couple of men
in a boat spinning for carp; the shallows here are crowded with traps,
irregular shaped enclosures of reeds planted in the mud, into which the
fish enter when stormy winds agitate the surface of the water and
deprive them of their equanimity. But before reaching Kusatsu, where we
were to put up for the night, we retreated into our kagos, in order not
to be overwhelmed by the crowd, and for the better preservation of our
dignity, which required that we should not be seen on foot. At the
confines of the town we were met by a deputation of the municipal
officers and by the host of the official inn, who escorted us in with
great pomp, keeping back the inquisitive multitude. Our bearers
quickened their pace, not indeed to our satisfaction, for the _kago_,
which is uncomfortable at all times, becomes almost uninhabitable when
the men get out of a walk.
At last we turned round a corner, and passing through a black gate,
before the posts of which were two neatly piled-up heaps of sand,
flanked by buckets of water, were set down in the wide porch of the
official inn. It was one of the most beautifully decorated buildings of
its kind that I have ever seen. That implies woodwork of the finest
grain, plaster of the least obtrusive shades of colour, sliding doors
papered with an artistic pattern touched up with gold leaf and framed
with shining black lacquered wood, and hard thick mats of the palest
straw edged with stencilled cotton cloth. In the principal room, only
twelve feet square, raised six inches above the rest of the house, lay
two thick mats forming a sort of bed-place, where the distinguished
traveller was expected to squat without moving. The baggage was
deposited in the corridor which ran round two sides of the apartment.
There was no view from the windows, which looked out on a small
courtyard enclosed by a sulky-looking, black wooden fence. Etiquette
prescribed that a great man should neither see nor be seen. Our host
came in with a small present, and bowed his forehead to the sill. After
a few minutes he returned to give thanks in the same humble manner for
the gift of two _ichibus_ which he had received as _cha-dai_. We went in
turn to the hot bath, where a modest, not to say prim, young damsel
asked whether she might have the honour of washing our "august" back,
but not being trained from our youth up to be waited on by lovely
females during our ablutions, we declined her assistance.
At dinner time we ordered a dish of fish and a bottle of _saké_, which
had to be several times replenished before the artist had had enough.
The people of the inn were astonished to find that we could eat rice,
having been taught to believe that the food of Europeans consisted
exclusively of beef and pork. When we went to bed, soft silk mattresses
in plenty were spread on the floor, and the chambermaid placed within
the mosquito net a fire-box with a bit of red-hot charcoal neatly
embedded in white ashes for a last smoke, and a pot of freshly-infused
tea. _O yasumi nasai_, be pleased to take your august rest, was the end
of the first day.
In Japan travellers are in the habit of making an early start. A native
usually rises before day, makes a hasty toilet by scrubbing his teeth
with a handful of salt from a basket hanging over the kitchen sink,
washes his hands and face without soap, swallows a hasty breakfast, and
is on the road as soon as the sun is up, or even earlier. His principal
object is to arrive at the town where he is going to pass the night at
as early an hour as possible, in order to secure a good room and the
first turn at the hot bath, there being only one tub and one water for
the whole of the guests. In some out of the way places this is not even
changed every day, and I remember on one occasion to have found the bath
absolutely green with age and odorous in proportion. We were not
expected to do as the vulgar herd, and did not get away much before
half-past seven. Our average rate of going was about three miles an
hour, and the day's journey not over twenty miles, but there were so
many interruptions that we rarely reached our evening's destination
before six o'clock.
First and foremost there was the mid-day meal (_o hiru yasumi_), which
consumed at least an hour, and then our exalted rank required that we
should stop to rest (_o ko-yasumi_) at least once in the morning and
once again in the afternoon. Then we stopped again at every point of
view to drink tea, and to taste every dish of cakes or other comestibles
of which centuries of wayfarers had been in the habit of partaking
before us. Thus on the third day we stopped at Mmé-no-ki to take tea at
a house commanding a fine view of the legendary mountain Mukadé yama
(Centipede's Mount), and again for half-an-hour at Ishibé, where a big
board was stuck up outside inscribed with "the little resting-place of
the interpreter (the officer) of England." We lunched sumptuously at
Minakuchi on fish, soup and rice, and so got through an hour and a
quarter. At Ono, celebrated for pheasants' meat preserved in _miso_
paste, we again drank tea, which was served out by pretty girls who made
a great pretence of bashfulness. Wirgman's costume, consisting of wide
blue cotton trousers, a loose yellow pongee jacket, no collar, and a
conical hat of grey felt, gave rise to a grave discussion as to whether
he was really an European, or only a Chinaman after all. At Mayéno, a
centre of tea production, we stopped for another half-hour to taste
several sorts of leaf at a tea-dealer's shop. This was a great act of
condescension on the part of such distinguished personages, but we made
up for this derogation from our dignity by having our purchases paid for
by Noguchi, the real Japanese swell being supposed to know nothing about
money, not even theoretically. The dealer declared that unless the leaf
is picked and fired by virgins, it will not be drinkable, but I fear he
was humbugging the innocent foreigner.
Many of the houses bore a notice-paper inscribed with Chinese characters
meaning "Economy in all things," a laconic sentence which was
interpreted to signify that the occupants had forsworn social
entertainments and other unnecessary sources of expenditure. Wirgman
made himself very popular by the sketches he threw off and gave away to
the innkeepers, sometimes of ourselves as we appeared on the road, or of
a bit of local scenery, or perhaps a pretty girl, whose bashful pride on
discovering that her features had been perpetuated on paper was a
pleasant sight to contemplate. It usually took some time before the
waiting maids overcame what seemed to us to be their excessive modesty,
but it was explained to us that women were not usually permitted to
approach the dais-room, as noble swells had their own men-servants to
attend on them. We regretted the exigencies of our lofty position, and
pitied the _daimiôs_ who have always to be correct and proper--in
public. Another consequence of our supposed high rank was that in many
towns the people knelt down by the side of the street as we passed
along, being invited to assume that posture by the municipal officers
who preceded us beadle-fashion, crying out _Shitaniro, shitaniro_
("down, down"). This honour used in those days to be rendered to every
_daimiô_, no matter whether travelling in his own dominions or those of
another nobleman, and also to the high officials of the Shôgun's
government, as, for example, the governor of Kanagawa, to the great
indignation of the European residents. The only reported instance of a
foreigner ever submitting to this indignity was that of Mr Eugene van
Reed, who is said to have fallen in with the train of Shimadzu Saburô on
the day fatal to poor Richardson, and to have then and there conformed
to the native custom. The practice had its origin, perhaps, in the
necessity of protecting the nobles from sudden attack, combined with the
rule of Japanese etiquette which considers that a standing posture
implies disrespect. This latter fact was forcibly impressed on me at
Fuchiû, where I went to visit the public school for the sons of
_samurai_. Having taken off my shoes and laid my hat on the floor at the
entrance, I was escorted into a room where about thirty youngsters were
squatting on the floor, with Chinese books before them which they were
learning to repeat by rote from the mouths of older and more advanced
pupils, under the superintendence of half-a-dozen professors. I bowed
and remained standing, but to my surprise no one acknowledged my salute;
I had in my ignorance of propriety assumed what to the Japanese appeared
an attitude of disrespect, and it was only on being admonished by one of
the escort that I discovered my error, which being at once repaired, the
professors returned my bow, made in proper form with head to the ground.
I afterwards found it necessary to adopt Japanese manners, as far as was
compatible with a certain stiff-jointedness that forbade my sitting on
my heels for more than a very limited period, but could never resist the
uneasy feeling that while I was pressing my forehead on the mats, the
man opposite might perhaps be taking advantage of the opportunity to
inflict a slight on the "barbarian" by sitting bolt upright. In fact,
Japanese themselves were not exempt from a similar uncertainty, and they
might sometimes be detected, whilst performing the obeisance, in the act
of squinting sideways to ascertain whether the person they were saluting
lowered his head simultaneously and to the same level.
Whenever we passed through a town of any importance, the population
turned out _en masse_, eager to convert the occasion into a holiday. At
Kaméyama, for instance, which is a _daimiô's_ castle town, the streets
were thronged with _samurai_ and their children in gala dress,
presenting a gay appearance; some of the young girls were extremely
pretty, in spite of the quantity of white powder with which fashion
condemned them to bedaub their faces.
Some odd methods of locomotion were practised in this part of the
country, such as children riding in nets of coarse cord suspended from
opposite ends of a pole carried by a man on his shoulder, women riding
in pairs on packhorses, and in the flat plain between Séki and Kuwana in
small open omnibuses, not unlike the costermonger's carts in which fruit
is hawked about the streets of London, but drawn by a man instead of a
donkey; perhaps half-a-dozen grown-up persons in one of these small
vehicles, the precursors of the jinrikisha which came into vogue in
1869. Wirgman, who was too careless of his dignity (for he was
travelling not as an artist, but in the quality of a _yakunin_ or
government official), insisted in getting into one of these, and rode
all the way from Tomida to Kuwana, a distance of at least five miles,
for three tempôes, say 2-1/2d. At a tea-house at Komuki we were
presented by our host with some teapots of very inferior Banko ware;
this is the famous unglazed pottery moulded by hand, and showing all
over its surface, both inside and outside, the marks of finger tips.
On the 22nd we reached Kuwana, a large town belonging to one of the
principal hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa family. Here an enormous
concourse of people had collected to see us make our entry, and we had
some difficulty in making our way through the crush, until suddenly the
procession turned aside through a gateway under a tower, and traversed
the outer enceinte of the castle, finally arriving at the official inn
on the shore of the bay. Dealers in Banko ware, curious stones from Mino
and fans from Nagoya came flocking in, and the evening was passed in
bargaining.
The stage from Kuwana to Miya is by sea, across the head of the bay of
Owari. Nowadays (1887) people perform the journey by steamer, but in
1867 we had to content ourselves with a rather dirty boat, roofed in
with planks. We left at half-past seven and arrived at the termination
of our voyage a little after eleven, but as the distance is estimated at
seven ri or 17-1/2 miles, we were precluded from going further that day.
I proposed, therefore, to devote the afternoon to visiting Nagoya, of
which Miya is little more than a suburb.
It boasts a castle founded by Nobunaga towards the end of the sixteenth
century. It is famous throughout Japan for two huge golden dolphins
which surmount the donjon tower, and is one of the finest extant
specimens of that sort of architecture. But the foreign department
officials had no instructions to let us deviate from the high road, and
did not venture to take on themselves the responsibility for making
other arrangements. They promised, of course, to see the governor of the
town, and ask him to get permission which they represented was required
before they could take us into the castle town of a great noble like the
Prince of Owari, but it was all fudge. Shopkeepers flocked in laden with
fans, metal work, lacquered porcelain and crape, with which we occupied
the interval till an answer should be received from the authorities at
Nagoya. A report of Wirgman's skill with the brush having spread, he was
overwhelmed with quantities of Chinese paper and fans which, our host
said, had been brought by the leading inhabitants who desired specimens
of his art, and I wrote mottoes to his productions. The _saké_ bottle
furnished us with the necessary inspiration. But we found out at last
that the fans thus decorated were being sold outside at an _ichibu_ a
piece, and refused to be imposed on any further.
In the evening we had in some singing and dancing girls, and having got
ourselves up in native costume, invited the two foreign office clerks
and some of our escort to join the party. One or two of the latter
became so merry that they could not resist a temptation to perform
buffoon dancing, and Sano, the biggest and most good-humoured, gave
imitations of famous actors. We did not get rid of our guests until nine
o'clock, by which time they had taken a good quantity of _saké_ on
board.
In passing through Arimatsu on the following day, famous for cotton
_shibori_, dyed in the same way as the Indian _bandhana_, we called at
the shop where the heads of the Dutch factory at Nagasaki had been in
the habit of stopping from time immemorial on the occasion of their
annual journeys to Yedo, and were shown a ledger containing records of
the purchases made by them year after year. It was a matter of
obligation to follow this time-honoured example, and we selected some
pieces of the stuff, which oddly enough is called by the name not of the
place where it is made, but by that of the last post-town, Narumi.
Noguchi and the two foreign department officials did the bargaining,
while Wirgman and I looked on and smoked in dignified silence as if we
were utterly unconcerned about the prices. The owner of the shop was a
distinguished person, evidently invested with a municipal function, in
consequence of which he was allowed to have a few stands of matchlocks
in his hall. Many of the houses were of more substantial construction
than usual, thus testifying to the prosperity conferred by the local
manufacture.
At Chiriû the landlord of the inn where we lunched came privately to
Noguchi and asked him for four _ichibus_ as "tea money," on the ground
that Sir R. Alcock had given that sum in 1861, but his request was
refused, and he was forced to content himself with what we had paid
elsewhere, namely, half an _ichibu_. I always left such questions to his
discretion, and have no doubt that he acted rightly. In the afternoon
when the train stopped as usual to give the palanquin bearers a rest,
the people of the _tatéba_, or half-way tea-house, presented us with
buckwheat vermicelli, for which, as they assured us, the place was
reputed famous. It was, however, inferior to what I have eaten in other
places. Wirgman's fame having preceded him, paper, brushes and ink were
brought, and he executed a masterpiece representing us eating vermicelli
and drinking _saké_ from a gourd which he had been careful to get
replenished at Miya.
The bridge over the Yahagi-gawa being broken down, we crossed the river
in a ferry boat, and were met at the entrance of the town by municipal
officers and constables, the latter being furnished by the local
_daimiô_, whose function was to walk at the head of the procession and
to cry "Down, down." Down went the whole crowd of spectators, including
men of the two-sworded class, all the more willingly perhaps because
that was the only way they had of bringing their eyes to a level with
the windows of our palanquins. For etiquette demanded that we should
always ride in entering and quitting a town, the vulgar practice of
proceeding on foot being allowable only in the more countryfied portions
of the highroad.
The following day opened with what promised to be persistent rain, and
we had to be fastened up in our palanquins with the oiled paper covering
thrown over us; through a small opening we could just manage to see a
few yards to right and left. All day long we ploughed our way onwards
along the almost level road, which in places was flooded nearly six
inches deep. At Arai there was then a guardhouse close to the shore of
the Hamana Bay, where all travellers had to alight from their palanquins
and walk through, taking off their hats and shoes in order to show
respect while submitting to a searching examination. Over the _saké_ on
the preceding evening there had been a good deal of chaff about our
being obliged to subject ourselves to this rule, which was said to admit
of no exceptions. I was inwardly resolved not to submit, and was much
relieved when the time came to find that the warden was satisfied with
the _kago_ door being opened about half-way as we were carried past;
this slight concession had been arranged overnight by the foreign
department officers, in order that the letter of the rule enforcing
inspection might be observed, and we were quite contented, as the door
was opened by a third party, so that our dignity as Europeans was duly
saved by our not having to alight.
Some years ago a series of dykes and bridges exceeding a mile in length
was thrown across the shallowest part of the bay. We had, however, to
embark in boats so small that they would not hold more than a single
_kago_. The spits which run out towards each other at the mouth gave the
bay the appearance of a landlocked lake, until we got half-way across
and the breakers became visible; nevertheless the sea at the point where
we crossed was as smooth as a mirror. Two miles on the western side of
Hamamatsu we were met by some retainers of Inouyé Kawachi no Kami, the
local _daimiô_, wearing black hats as flat as a pancake, who, being
himself a member of the Tycoon's Council, had no doubt given special
orders regarding our reception, and at the entrance of the town they
were joined by more. The procession was now formed in the following
order. Two _machi-kata_, in green mantles with one in brown between
them, marched a long way ahead to clear the street, followed by a couple
of aldermen (_shuku-yakunin_) in single file on each side of the road,
and a couple of _seishi_ or heralds, whose fierce demeanour was
delightful to behold, who roared out _shitaniro, shitaniro_, and warned
some young _samurai_ who displayed a disposition to approach too close
that they must keep at a respectful distance. Then followed our _kagos_,
with one of the native escort (_betté-gumi_) walking on each side. Then
a constable (_dôshin_) carrying a spear, and behind him the rest of the
escort, servants and baggage.
On arriving at the inn, we received visits from the head merchants, and
were told that we were to be specially cared for, by orders of the
_daimiô_, some of whose retainers kept watch and ward in the kitchen
throughout the night, this being very spacious and situated in the front
of the house. In leaving on the following day the procession was
arranged in the same way, and as we passed the castle gates a high
official stationed there handed his card to one of the _betté-gumi_ to
present to me. At the end of the town the escort was changed, and we
were placed again in charge of the four black-hatted _seishi_, who did
not leave us until we arrived at the boundary of Inouye's, the
_daimiô's_, territory.
After the rain of the day before yesterday the country looked especially
beautiful; ripe fields of barley behind the rows of tall pine trees that
lined the road stretched right away to the foot of the nearer hills,
behind which rose range after range in the blue distance. We met
yesterday and to-day soldiers of the 3rd regiment of the Tycoon's
drilled troops marching to Kiôto to support the new policy of the head
of the government, and perhaps to defend him against an armed
confederation of the leading _daimiôs_ of the west.
As soon as the local escort had turned back we descended from our
palanquins to pursue our way on foot to the Tenriû-gawa, which we
crossed by means of ferry boats. The river here is very wide and the
current swift, and except during freshets is divided into two branches
by a sandbank which occupies the middle of the stream. Wirgman had
stopped behind to sketch, and I waited with one of the foreign office
officials, who confided to me that we should probably meet a "barbáre"
on the road. By this I understood the _rei-hei-shi_, a high official of
the Mikado's court who was returning from a mission to the tomb of
Iyéyasu at Nikkô. He was of higher rank than any Japanese _daimiô_, and
everyone on meeting him had to get out of his palanquin and go down on
his knees. My informant hoped we should manage to avoid him, and I hoped
so too. The rest of the party having at last come up, we proceeded by a
short cut through the fields, which saved us a couple of miles walking.
We got to Mitsuké, where we were to lunch, some time before noon. The
streets were crowded with pretty girls, who had turned out to see the
foreigners. Our host, who had put on his robes of ceremony, made his
appearance, bowing low and bearing a gift of dried white-bait fry, which
when toasted and dipped in soy is very palatable. Handsome Turkish
carpets had been spread in the bedroom. Two charming little boys about
ten years of age, with perfect manners, were told off to wait on us.
The _rei-hei-shi_ was of course the principal topic of discussion. He
had not yet passed, and our followers were full of anxiety. Noguchi said
that all Japanese of rank, down to the lowest two-sworded man, got out
of his way, because his followers were in the habit of extorting money
on the pretext that the proper amount of respect had not been paid to
the great man. I was quite ready to follow the example of the Japanese
in avoiding if possible the chance of an encounter. We were told that
the _rei-hei-shi_, whose rank by this time had been much diminished in
the mouths of our informants, was to stop the night at Fukuroi, the very
next town, only four miles further, so we hurried away hoping to get to
our own destination early in the afternoon. Two miles over the
tableland, then zig-zag down a beautiful hill covered with pine trees,
then two more over the rice field flat to Fukuroi, where we changed the
palanquin and baggage porters and hastened on without stopping.
To-day, the 27th of May, the peasants were cutting barley and planting
out the young rice. I did the six miles more to Kakégawa in two hours,
including the last stoppage, which was considered very quick going. A
young Satsuma man who was on his way to Nagasaki called at our inn and
gave me an account of the _rei-hei-shi_ and the doings of his retainers,
for whom he professed the greatest contempt. He said they were wretched
citizens of Kiôto hired for the occasion, and dressed in a little brief
authority. At Shinagawa, the last suburb of Yedo, they had seized
eighteen people and fined them for exhibiting a want of respect towards
the Mikado's messenger. It was rumoured that he would pass through about
six o'clock, and spend the night at Fukuroi. Six o'clock came, but no
_rei-hei-shi_; we passed the evening in expectation, and went to bed;
still no _rei-hei-shi_.
Wirgman and I slept in separate rooms, Noguchi in a third, and all the
escort but one were quartered at another house a little way off. At a
quarter past one I was roused from sleep by a Japanese saying to me:
"Mr. Satow, Mr. Satow, get your sword; they've come." My sword was an
old cavalry sabre, not good for much but to make a show. I got up and
groped my way through the black darkness to the sword-stand in the
alcove and got the weapon. The Japanese led me by the hand, and we stood
together in a corner of the next room, wondering what was going to
happen. He said: "I wish the escort would come." Meanwhile violent
noises were heard, as if of people breaking in. Bewildered by the
darkness, I imagined them to be coming from the little garden at the
back, on to which my bedroom looked. We remained still and breathless.
In three minutes all was silent again, and I heard a voice cry "Mr.
Satow." It was Noguchi, who appeared with a light, and reported that the
enemy had fled. Wirgman and my chancery servant Yokichi were nowhere to
be found. The Japanese who had woke me proved to be Matsushita, the
youngest of the escort. We proceeded then towards Noguchi's room; the
wooden door opposite was lying on the floor, where the assailants had
broken in. As we stood in the passage, others of the escort came in, all
dressed in fighting mantles, with drawn swords in their hands and
wearing iron forehead pieces. Seeing my scarlet sleeping trousers, they
begged me either to hide myself or take them off, but the danger being
past, I only laughed at them. Two of them went in search of Wirgman, and
found him in an alley leading to the back of the house; they narrowly
escaped being shot.
We began to feel cooler, and Noguchi narrated what had happened. He
heard the noise of the front door being broken down, jumped up, tied his
girdle, and stood in the doorway of his room, a sword in the right hand,
a revolver in the left. Some men approached and asked for the
"barbarians," to which he replied that if they would only come in, he
would give the "barbarians" to them. They took fright at his attitude
and determined tone, and fled. Altogether there were, he thought, about
a dozen, two armed with long swords, the rest with short ones. On
looking about, we discovered that the mosquito nets in the room diagonal
to Wirgman's had been cut to pieces, the occupants having escaped. It
was lucky for us that we had put out the lamps before going to bed, so
that the assailants could not find their way.
Wirgman explained that on being awakened by the noise of people breaking
down the doors and shouting for the "barbarians," he followed the people
of the house, who took to their heels. A lantern that had been dropped
by one of the "ruffians" led to the conclusion that they belonged to the
_rei-hei-shi_'s suite. No one was hurt, except one of the assailants,
who in the hurry-scurry of running away was accidentally wounded by a
companion. After everyone had related his own experiences, I retired to
bed, while Wirgman called for _saké_ and sliced raw fish, with which he
and the escort regaled themselves until daylight.
On getting up in the morning my first step was to send for the two
foreign office officials, and endeavour to obtain redress through them.
The escort, who had not appeared on the scene till the danger was past,
were now very anxious to distinguish themselves by some act of valour. I
told the officials, with the full support of the escort, that they
should either get the guilty men delivered up to me, or that I would go
with my escort and take them by force. This was the attitude maintained
until mid-day. I verily believe that if I had given the signal, the
escort would have attacked the _rei-hei-shi's_ lodgings. At last the
official came back and said that the _rei-hei-shi's_ people refused to
give the men up to me; as an alternative they proposed to obtain a
written apology, coupled with a promise to punish the assailants on
their reaching Kiôto. To this I expressed my willingness to assent, in
the hope that we should be able to pursue our journey before night set
in. But the negotiations lingered, and this was not to be. So we sent
for some musicians, and invited the two officials and the escort to a
banquet. Wirgman and one of the escort entertained the company with
dancing. Another of the escort got very drunk, and begged me to take him
into my personal service on the same terms as Noguchi. We heard that the
townspeople were delighted at the _rei-hei-sh_i and his blackguards
being so bothered by a couple of foreigners. No Mikado's messenger was
ever before stopped on his road and talked to in our imperious manner.
Four or five of the escort, when full of _saké_, started up the street
in their fighting mantles and created great alarm in the minds of the
_rei-hei-shi's_ retainers, who, thinking they were to be attacked in
earnest, begged for a guard from the _daimiô_ of the town. The captain
of the escort and two others in particular behaved in a delightfully
swaggering manner. But in spite of all this, nothing was settled, and we
had to stop a second night.
On the following morning on getting up, I was told that matters were
nearly arranged, that the men who had attacked our lodgings were to be
left behind in the custody of the _daimiô_, the people at the castle
giving a receipt on his behalf. The morning wore on without the desired
document making its appearance, and I feared they would slip through my
fingers altogether. I got tired of waiting and went to sleep, from which
I was awakened by one of the foreign office officials, who had been
acting as go-between, bringing me a certified copy, signed by the
governor of the town, of a written undertaking given by a leading
retainer of the _rei-hei-shi_ to remain there with three of the
assailants. Another copy was given to him, and he started at once for
Ozaka with it, accompanied by one of the escort. I was now asked whether
I would permit the _rei-hei-shi_ to depart, to which I gave my assent.
We saw him and his retinue pass the inn; there were two large
palanquins, half-a-dozen smaller ones, and about fifty ruffianly-looking
fellows in green coats. We had thus remained on the field of victory. As
soon as the _rei-hei-shi_ was clear of the place, we started in the
opposite direction about three o'clock in the afternoon. The _daimiô's_
people offered to give us a body of men to escort us out of the town,
but I replied that my escort was sufficient to ensure our safety. A
guard of honour was drawn up in front of the inn as we left, and eight
policemen accompanied us to the exit of the town.
Ultimately, some months later, these men and three others implicated in
the affair were brought to Yedo and put on their trial. Two were
condemned to death, and four more to transportation to an island. Sir
Harry wanted me to be present at the execution of these two men, but I
persuaded him to send some one else instead. To look on at the execution
of men who have tried to take one's life would have borne an appearance
of revengefulness, which one would not have liked. But I think that
under the circumstances of those times the punishment was rightly
inflicted.
Our next stage was to Nissaka, a pretty little town lying in a basin of
hills. Beyond rose a steep ascent, which we climbed not without fatigue,
to find ourselves on the top of a tableland running away to the sea on
our right, while on the left hills rose ever higher and higher above the
road, being cultivated up to their summits in tiny level plots cut out
of their sides. At the highest point of the road we rested at a
tea-house, where a kind of soft rice cake, bedaubed with a substance
resembling extract of malt, was served to us by a diminutive girl.
Though fifteen years of age, and consequently nearly full grown, she did
not measure four feet in height.
On the further side of the tableland lay Kanaya, the next post-town, and
beyond that the Oi-gawa, which had to be crossed before we could gain
our stopping place for the night. A hundred naked porters hurried
forward to carry our palanquins and baggage to the other bank. For
ourselves there were a sort of square stretcher, carried on the
shoulders of twelve men for greater safety, who made a point of plunging
into the deepest part of the torrent to give us a greater idea of the
difficulties they had to contend with. For the idea then entertained by
every Japanese was that the force of the stream was too great for a boat
to live in it, and that a bridge was impossible. As it has since been
successfully bridged, the probability is that this belief was purposely
inculcated on the people on the principle of _divide et impera_, and
what more effectual means of division could be found than a river which
was not to be passed but by taking off your clothes and running the risk
of drowning in it while effecting the passage, to say nothing of the
inconvenience of emerging half-naked on the other side; that is to say,
unless you could pay to be carried.
Following the economical practice we had observed all along of limiting
our tips to the smallest respectable sum, we threw a _bu_ to the men,
who clamoured loudly for its division, the share of each being somewhat
over 2/3 of a penny. We did not get to the inn till eight o'clock. Our
host was particularly polite, and thanked us profoundly for doing him
the honour of stopping at his humble abode. We were still under the
influence of the excitement produced by our recent adventures, so _saké_
and fish were ordered in, and the liveliest of the escort were bidden to
the feast. Some one distinguished himself by adding a new verse to the
popular ballad then in vogue, expressive of our contempt for the
"turnip-top" coated retainers of the _rei-hei-shi_, which was sung over
and over again to the accompaniment of a lute played by an exceedingly
ugly red faced damsel who waited on us.
The next day brought us to the large town of Fuchiû, formerly the
residence of Iyéyasu after his retirement from the active government of
the state early in the seventeenth century, and since re-christened
Shidzuoka. It is an important centre of the tea and paper trades, and at
the time we passed through was the seat of one of the principal
universities of Japan, but greatly fallen from its ancient grandeur. On
our way we had to taste various local delicacies, among which was a
horribly tenacious kind of gruel, resembling bird-lime in appearance,
made from the powdered root of the Dioscorea japonica, a species of wild
potato. We found the streets so full of spectators that it became
necessary to get into our palanquins to avoid the crush of curious
sightseers. The town is also noted for a variety of articles of cabinet
work and lacquered ware of the ordinary sort, and the room next to our
apartment had been converted into a kind of bazaar in expectation of our
arrival. The articles were of the class common enough at Yokohama, and
not much cheaper; in fact the prices were such as befitted the supposed
exalted rank of the travellers. In those days in Japan it was a well
observed doctrine that "noblesse oblige" in the matter of payments.
Next morning when we rose at six, we got a beautiful view of Fuji, the
"Peerless One," springing from the ground as it seemed almost behind the
inn, and lifting its beautiful head into the pale blue sky, above
horizontal wreaths and stretches of cloud. After breakfast we paid a
visit to the "university," where we found about thirty youngsters seated
on the floor in one room, with copies of some Chinese classic before
them, learning to read by rote from the mouths of older and more
advanced pupils. This instruction was given for about two hours each
morning, and six times a month explanations of the text were imparted by
professors. The headmaster, who was from the Confucian College at Yedo,
used to be changed annually. And this, with the addition of learning to
write with a brush, constituted the education of a young Japanese in the
olden time. The system was one that cultivated the memory, but failed
altogether to appeal to the reasoning faculties. Of course all this has
long ago disappeared, and it is possible that this system of instruction
is as obsolete in Japan as the dodo.
The great mountain having at last appeared on our horizon, we were to
have its company for nearly every step of the rest of the journey. Near
Ejiri we caught a delicious view of the summit appearing over the lower
mountains on the left hand. At one o'clock we reached Okitsu, where we
were to lunch. The inn stood close to the sea shore, and possessed an
upper room commanding a magnificent view, in favour of which we
abandoned the dignified glories of the _jô-dan_ or dais. On the left the
blue promontory of Idzu stretched away far into the ocean until it
became almost invisible in the haze; on the right hand the low hills of
Kunô-zan terminating in a low spit of sand covered with irregular growth
of pine trees, the famous Miyo no Matsubara of the Japanese poets. From
the back window we had a glimpse of the snowy peak of Fuji peeping over
the tops of the intervening hills, and by craning our necks out sideways
the double-topped head of the Futagoyama near Hakoné.
On leaving this spot, which we did with reluctance, we followed the base
of the cliffs for two or three miles along the shore, when suddenly we
turned a corner and Fuji came full in view; in front, the base of the
great mountain was hidden by the low range which runs down into the sea
near Kambara, and a white cloud encircled its middle. Wirgman sat down
to make a sketch, from which he painted a picture which is still in my
possession. Next we reached Kurazawa, famous for Venus-ear (_awabi_) and
_sazai_, a big whorl with a curious spiral operculum. Of course we
rested here awhile to eat of the local dish, washed down with repeated
cups of _saké_, in which the guard joined us. Since the affair of
Kakégawa we had become great friends, as men usually do who have shared
the same perils. The road followed the sea-shore here to Kambara, and
would be one of the most picturesque in Japan, but for the dirty
uninteresting fishing villages which line nearly the whole of its
length.
Next morning we were astir early, and crossing the low intervening
hills, reached the banks of the Fuji kawa at eight o'clock. Extensive
preparations had been made at the official hotel for our reception, mats
laid down to the entrance and red blankets spread on the floor of the
dais. At the urgent entreaty of the innkeeper we turned in for a few
minutes, and discovered that Wirgman was an ancient acquaintance of our
host, having seen him when he travelled overland from Nagasaki to Yedo
in 1861 in the suite of Sir Rutherford Alcock. We were shown into the
best room with much ceremony, and when we had taken our seats on the
floor, piled-up boxes (_jû-bako_) were brought in full of chestnut meal
cakes, the speciality of the village, with a bit of pickled radish on
the top. Other "famous things" sold here are ink stones, bits of crystal
with green streaks in them supposed by the common people to be grass,
also agates. We crossed in a boat the narrow turbulent Fuji kawa,
running between wide beds of shingle. Nowadays you cross in the train.
We then had a view of Fuji almost rising out of the sea and drawing its
skirts up gradually behind it, curious but not so beautiful as when it
is partly concealed by lesser summits which afford a standard of
comparison. It looks in fact more like an exaggerated molehill than
anything else.
We met on the road two little boys of twelve and fourteen years of age,
who, having begged their way as pilgrims all the way from Yedo to the
sacred temples of Isé and of Kompira in Sanuki, were now on their way
home, carrying slung across their backs huge packages of temple charms
done up in oiled paper. The road was terribly sandy and hot, and passing
for the most part between the bamboo fences of cottagers' gardens, was
the reverse of picturesque.
We had intended to sleep at Hakoné, but owing to delays for sketching,
to say nothing of a huge feast of broiled eels and _saké_ at
Kashiwabara, did not manage to get beyond Mishima, at the western foot
of the hills.
Next morning we started at half-past six to ascend the pass which climbs
the range of mountains by an excellent road paved with huge stones after
the manner of the Via Appia where it leaves Rome at the Forum, and lined
with huge pine trees and cryptomerias. At a tiny hamlet more than
halfway up some hunters came to present us with eggs, according to
immemorial custom. Three hours brought us to Hakoné, the little mountain
village standing on the southern border of the lake, surrounded by steep
grassy hills. The warmth of the day tempted me to take a bath in the
lake, which at first was strenuously opposed by the foreign official
with us. It appeared that no boats were allowed on the lake, nor was any
one permitted to swim in it, lest he should take the opportunity of
swimming round at the back of the barrier gate, and so avoid the
necessity of showing his passport. With considerable trouble I persuaded
the objector to withdraw his opposition, by representing that my
natatory powers were altogether insufficient for the purpose.
After a couple of hours spent in this charming spot, which nowadays has
become a fashionable summer retreat of foreigners residing at Yokohama,
we resumed our journey down the eastern side of the pass, already
described in a previous chapter, and got to our inn at Odawara by five,
little dreaming of what lay before me.
A letter from Sir Harry Parkes was at once delivered to me urging me to
hasten my return, as there were important negotiations on foot. On
conferring with the leader of the escort, I learnt that by starting at
once and travelling post-haste through the night, I might get to Yedo
next morning. Eight porters in relays of four would be able to carry the
palanquin at the rate of about four miles an hour. So the men were
ordered without delay. The Japanese on these occasions, to save
themselves from being too severely shaken, wind a broad piece of cotton
cloth tightly round the waist, and tie another piece round the temples.
A third is suspended from the ceiling of the palanquin, to which the
traveller clings with might and main. I had to adopt this arrangement,
and in addition stuffed my palanquin full of bedding and pillows.
Noguchi and two of the escort accompanied me to negotiate the changes of
coolies at the various posting stations on the way, and by seven o'clock
we were in motion. The porters maintained a constant crying "eeya-oy,"
"eeya-oy," in order to keep step with each other and render the swinging
of the palanquin less unendurable. To sleep was impossible, as this
noise continued all night. When the day broke we had done twenty-six
miles, which was slower than I had expected. So we urged on the fresh
men we got here, and accomplished the remaining twenty-two miles by ten
o'clock. From sitting cross-legged so many hours I was almost unable to
stand upright when I got to the Legation. And the vexatious part of it
all was that the important conference, which I had hurried to be present
at, turned out to be a mere complimentary visit of a crowd of officials
for whom anyone could easily have interpreted.