_Harakiri_--NEGOTIATIONS FOR AUDIENCE OF THE MIKADO
AT KIOTO
NEXT day Daté introduced to the Foreign Representatives Sawa Mondô no
Kami, one of the five fugitive court nobles of 1864, who was proceeding
to Nagasaki as governor, together with the _daimiô_ of Omura, who was to
furnish his guard. Sawa wore rather a forbidding expression of
countenance, not to say slightly villainous, but for all that had the
look of a good companion, and a year or two later, when he was minister
for Foreign Affairs, we liked him greatly. Omura Tango no Kami, to give
him his full title, was a weak, sickly looking man, who did not utter a
word during the interview, and seemed even afraid of speaking to a
foreigner. Sawa's son, a dissipated-looking young man, with the white
complexion of a woman, was also present. After the compliments were
over, these three were turned out of the room, and we learnt that the
Bizen affair would be wound up by the decapitation of the responsible
officer. Early that morning the chief had been asking my opinion about
the advisability of granting a reprieve, or rather a mitigation of the
penalty. Mitford learnt from von Brandt that the colleagues knew him to
have leanings that way, and that he was believed to have put forward
Polsbroek, the Dutch Political Agent, to advocate clemency. Mitford and
I had however agreed previously that lenience would be a mistake, and
that was the view I maintained in reply to Sir Harry. Daté and Sawa came
to dinner that evening with the chief, an arrangement which he fancied
he had kept secret from his colleagues, but they knew of it as soon as
the invitation was accepted. Afterwards there was a long conversation
which lasted until midnight, a principal topic being the proposed visit
of the Mikado to Ozaka. Daté said the object of the excursion was to
open the mind of the young sovereign by showing him something of the
outer world, and also a big English man-of-war. Of course, he added, if
the foreign diplomats were there at the time, they might be presented.
Parkes said the Mikado might receive the Diplomatic Body as a whole, but
not each minister separately, his object being to secure priority of
presentation for himself, as he had already written home for new
credentials. Daté suggested that the capital might possibly be moved
from its present position to Ozaka, as it was situated at a spot hemmed
in by mountains, to which all supplies had to be transported by water.
My own belief was that Satsuma and Chôshiû wanted to get the person of
the Mikado into their own hands in order to make him march with the
army, and secondly to have him on the sea-coast in order to be able to
cut and run whenever it might become necessary. This was confirmed by
the fact that the Mikado had issued an order announcing that he was
taking the field in person. In reply to a question as to the fate of the
ex-Tycoon, Daté said it would depend on circumstances, which no one
could foretell. The people of Ozaka, aware of the anti-foreign policy of
the late Mikado and the former political opinions of Chôshiû, supposed
that since the Court and Chôshiû had come into power, foreigners would
be generally obnoxious, not any longer having the Tokugawa power to
defend them; that was the reason of the populace having wrecked the
various legations. Perhaps the Bizen people had been actuated by the
same notions. This last suggestion furnished an additional ground for
our refusing to reduce the capital sentence.
By this time M. Roches had come back to Kôbé, to the great annoyance of
his colleagues, who considered that he had played a trick on them in
leaving his secretary here as Chargé d' Affaires, in order that he might
not be unrepresented, and at the same time playing the part of French
Minister in Yedo.
It did not cause us, that is Mitford and myself, much surprise when in
the afternoon of the next day Godai and Itô came to ask for the life of
Taki Zenzaburô, the retainer of Hiki Tatéwaki, who had been condemned to
perform _harakiri_ as the penalty for ordering his soldiers to fire on
foreigners. A long discussion took place between the foreign ministers
which lasted for nearly three hours, in which Sir Harry voted for
clemency, but the majority were for the sentence being carried out. It
was half-past eight o'clock in the evening when Godai and Itô were
called back into the room and told in a few words that there was no way
but to let the law take its course. So we started at nine o'clock,
Mitford and myself, with a single representative of each of the other
legations. We were guided to the Buddhist temple of Sei-fuku-ji at
Hiôgo, arriving there at a quarter to ten. Strong guards were posted in
the courtyard and in the ante-chambers. We were shown into a room, where
we had to squat on the matted floor for about three-quarters of an hour;
during this interval we were asked whether we had any questions to put
to the condemned man, and also for a list of our names. At half-past ten
we were conducted into the principal hall of the temple, and asked to
sit down on the right hand side of the dais in front of the altar. Then
the seven Japanese witnesses, Itô, Nakashima Sakutarô, two Satsuma
captains of infantry, two Chôshiû captains, and a Bizen _o-metsuké_ took
their places. After we had sat quietly thus for about ten minutes
footsteps were heard approaching along the verandah. The condemned man,
a tall Japanese of gentleman-like bearing and aspect, entered on the
left side, accompanied by his _kai-shaku_ or best men, and followed by
two others, apparently holding the same office. Taki was dressed in blue
_kami-shimo_ of hempen cloth; the _kai-shaku_ wore war surcoats
(_jimbaori_). Coming before the Japanese witnesses they prostrated
themselves, the bow being returned, and then the same ceremony was
exchanged with us. Then the condemned man was led to a red sheet of
felt-cloth laid on the dais before the altar; on this he squatted, after
performing two bows, one at a distance, the other close to the altar.
With the calmest deliberation he took his seat on the red felt, choosing
the position which would afford him the greatest convenience for falling
forward. A man dressed in black with a light grey hempen mantle then
brought in the dirk wrapped in paper on a small unpainted wooden stand,
and with a bow placed it in front of him. He took it up in both hands,
raised it to his forehead and laid it down again with a bow. This is the
ordinary Japanese gesture of thankful reception of a gift. Then in a
distinct voice, very much broken, not by fear or emotion, but as it
seemed reluctance to acknowledge an act of which he was
ashamed--declared that he alone was the person who on the fourth of
February had outrageously at Kôbé ordered fire to be opened on
foreigners as they were trying to escape, that for having committed this
offence he was going to rip up his bowels, and requested all present to
be witnesses. He next divested himself of his upper garments by
withdrawing his arms from the sleeves, the long ends of which he tucked
under his legs to prevent his body from falling backward. The body was
thus quite naked to below the navel. He then took the dirk in his right
hand, grasping it just close to the point, and after stroking down the
front of his chest and belly inserted the point as far down as possible
and drew it across to the right side, the position of his clothes still
fastened by the girth preventing our seeing the wound. Having done this
he with great deliberation bent his body forward, throwing the head back
so as to render the neck a fair object for the sword. The one
_kai-shaku_ who had accompanied him round the two rows of witnesses to
make his bows to them, had been crouching on his left hand a little
behind him with drawn sword poised in the air from the moment the
operation commenced. He now sprang up suddenly and delivered a blow the
sound of which was like thunder. The head dropped down on to the matted
floor, and the body lurching forward fell prostrate over it, the blood
from the arteries pouring out and forming a pool. When the blood vessels
had spent themselves all was over. The little wooden stand and the dirk
were removed. Itô came forward with a bow, asking had we been witnesses;
we replied that we had. He was followed by Nakashima, who also made a
bow. A few minutes elapsed, and we were asked were we ready to leave. We
rose and went out, passing in front of the corpse and through the
Japanese witnesses. It was twelve o'clock when we got back to the
consulate, where we found Sir Harry waiting up to receive our report.
The newspaper reports which reached England of this execution, and of
the subsequent execution by _harakiri_ of eleven Tosa men at Sakai gave
a very distorted view of the facts. Charles Rickerby who was the owner
and editor of "The Japan Times" of Yokohama was responsible for the
attempts to mislead public opinion in both instances. He invented an
account of the proceedings witnessed by Mitford and myself which was
entirely false, and wound up by saying that it was disgraceful for
Christians to have attended the execution, and that he hoped the
Japanese, if they took revenge for this "judicial murder" would
assassinate gentlemen of the foreign Legations rather than anyone else.
As for being ashamed of having been present at a _harakiri_ on the
ground that it was a disgusting exhibition, I was proud to feel that I
had not shrunk from witnessing a punishment which I did my best to bring
about. It was no disgusting exhibition, but a most decent and decorous
ceremony, and far more respectable than what our own countrymen were in
the habit of producing for the entertainment of the public in the front
of Newgate prison. The countrymen of this Bizen man told us that they
considered the sentence a just and beneficial one. As regards the case
of the Tosa men at Sakai, no punishment was ever more righteously
inflicted. These Japanese massacred a boat's crew of inoffensive and
unarmed men, who were never alleged to have given the slightest
provocation. Twenty were condemned to death, and one could only regret
that Captain du Petit Thouars judged it necessary to stop the execution
when eleven had suffered, for the twenty were all equally guilty, and
requiring a life for life of the eleven Frenchmen looked more like
revenge than justice.
A few days afterwards all the ministers returned to Ozaka. We went over
on board H.M.S. "Ocean," Captain Stanhope. She was an iron-clad, of 4000
tons, carrying 26 muzzle-loading rifled guns of the Woolwich pattern,
enough to blow any vessel on the station into tiny fragments. With us
went Daté and Polsbroek, and the transport "Adventure" conveyed our
baggage. Our former temporary residence having been destroyed by fire,
we were accommodated at temples in Naka-dera-machi, and were fortunate
enough to light upon some of the furniture stolen by the mob after we
decamped in January. The townspeople recognized us as "the foreigners
who ran away the other day," but they were very civil, and did not shout
after us as they rudely did in the last days of the ex-Tycoon's
occupation of the city. From Yedo we heard reports that the feeling
among Tokugawa people was that he should be compelled to perform
_harakiri_ and that his principal advisers should be beheaded, in order
to appease the imperialists. It was difficult not to feel a certain
degree of sympathy for him, mingled with resentment, for he had let us
believe he would fight at Ozaka, while he had made up his mind to beat a
retreat. If he had told us the truth we could have remained there
tranquilly, for we were well assured of the friendliness of Satsuma and
Chôshiû.
The "Ocean's" steam launch landed us at the foreign settlement, and we
marched through the city with our guard of the 2/ix to our new quarters.
There had been a great deal of talk about the Mikado being brought down
to Ozaka to see some steamers and to meet the foreign ministers, but I
hoped this would not happen. If we were to have an audience of His
Majesty, we ought to have it at Kiôto, otherwise the ceremony would lose
half its significance. In the afternoon Iyo no Kami and Komatsu paid
friendly visits to Sir Harry. It was evident that we were in a fair way
to regain the diplomatic ascendancy of which we had been deprived by the
recall of Sir Rutherford Alcock in 1864. When Daté and Higashi-Kuzé
called next day on the foreign representatives they came to us last of
all, which was convenient. Sir Harry spoke to them about the proposed
audience of the Mikado. They acknowledged the advantages that would
result from its taking place at Kiôto instead of at Ozaka, but were
evidently not prepared to promise that immediately. The American,
Prussian and Italian Representatives had told Daté that they wished to
leave in three days' time, thus causing some amount of consternation in
the minds of the Japanese, who desired to keep them for the audience,
while they fully appreciated what the chief told them, namely that the
three Representatives who wanted to get away would not stop for an
audience which was to be merely incidental to the Mikado's visit to some
Japanese steamers. It would be unsuitable to the dignity of the
Representatives to be presented to His Majesty while at Ozaka on a visit
made ostensibly for a different purpose. I myself greatly hoped that the
way in which the chief had put the matter would induce the Japanese to
invite the ministers at once to Kiôto. That would be the consummation of
the imperialist theory and scheme. Von Brandt had said privately that he
would not accept even if asked, but publicly had said he would, while
the American Minister was apparently of the same way of thinking. Sir
Harry had proposed that the Mikado should receive the whole Diplomatic
Body together, on one day, and not accord separate audiences until they
could present credentials, and this suggestion had been readily adopted.
On the 7th March an important conference was held between the Foreign
Representatives and high Japanese functionaries, Daté, Higashi-Kuzé,
Daigo Dainagon a court noble appointed governor of Ozaka, and _karôs_ of
Owari, Echizen, Satsuma, Chôshiû, Tosa, Geishiû, Hizen, Higo and Inshiû,
practically all the great territorial nobles of the west. It is a
remarkable fact that the princes of Echizen, Bizen and Inshiû, now
ranged among the enemies of the Tokugawa, were descended from the
founder of that house. The conference took place in the vast hall of the
Buddhist temple of Nishi Hongwanji. After the Japanese Ministers had
expressed their good wishes for the extension of friendly intercourse
between Japan and foreign countries, and declared that the _daimiôs_
there represented heartily supported the foreign policy of the Mikado,
discussions arose about the ministers going up to Kiôto for an audience
of the Mikado, about exchange of foreign coin for Japanese and the sale
of land in the foreign settlements at Ozaka and Hiôgo (Kôbé). We were
told that letters were expected from Kiôto in a day or two fixing a date
for the audience, so that the ministers could go up one day, see the
Mikado on the next, and come down again, thus being absent only three
days from Ozaka. M. Roches was of course deadly opposed to accepting any
such arrangement. Van Valkenburg the American, von Brandt and de la Tour
the Italian seemed unwilling to commit themselves too deeply with the
imperialists. The chief tried hard to conceal his determination to
accept the invitation in any case, while Polsbroek put on an appearance
of indifference. Roches attempted to get an unconditional refusal
conveyed to the Japanese Ministers, but was unsuccessful thanks to the
watch I kept over his interpreter Shiwoda, and finally the decision was
left to depend on the contents of the letters expected from Kiôto.
Yamanouchi Yôdô, the older Prince of Tosa, was reported to be very ill
at Kiôto, and the services of Willis were asked for on his behalf. This
request was readily acceded to by the chief, and Willis started the same
evening accompanied by Mitford.
My personal relations with the Awa clan had long been of an intimate
character, and it was therefore no surprise when Hayamidzu Sukéyomon,
formerly Awa agent at Yedo and now at Ozaka, came to call on me on March
8, bringing a present of silk for Major Crossman in return for the
treatises on artillery which the latter had sent to Awa no Kami. It was
with great regret that I learnt from him of the death of that friendly
and hospitable old gentleman on January 30th. His son and successor, who
had been kept at home till the period of mourning expired, was now
expected at Ozaka on his way to Kiôto. Hayamidzu brought a budget of
Yedo news which mostly proved afterwards to be little better than mere
gossip, such as that Itakura was reported to have committed suicide by
_harakiri_ because the other ministers of state differed from him in
opinion; that the _fudai daimiôs_ and _hatamoto_ talked of compelling
Keiki to disembowel himself; of cutting off the heads of Aidzu and
Kuwana in order that those two families might escape destruction. He had
not heard of Keiki being allowed to retire into private life (_in-kio_),
and thought it absurd to suggest such a step under existing
circumstances. His conduct had been too shabby for him to become
entitled to such consideration. On the 7th February Hori Kura no Kami,
one of the second council, had performed _harakiri_, after having vainly
endeavoured to persuade Keiki to take that step, and offering to
accompany him in the act. All Yedo applauded Kura no Kami and said Keiki
ought to follow his example. The _Baku-fu_, said my friend, had no
desire to fight. The Awa clan was now supporting the Mikado and was
taking part in the expedition to subjugate Tokugawa, and would like to
make a declaration to the foreign representatives such as was made by
the other clans on the previous day.
In the afternoon I went to Daté to inquire whether he had any news from
Kiôto about the invitation of the ministers. He said they would be asked
to start on the 11th, but the date of the audience not having been
fixed, the invitations could not be sent out. I advised him to go at
once to invite each of the ministers and to say that the day after their
arrival in Kiôto would be appointed for the audience, because he and
Higashi-Kuzé had written asking for that arrangement to be made, and
therefore no doubt existed that it would eventually be done. So off he
started, beginning with the French Minister, who kept him to dinner, but
declined going to Kiôto until he could perceive actual evidence of the
Mikado's supremacy. He was answered that even were the _Baku-fu_ to be
restored with all its original powers, the Mikado being undoubtedly the
sovereign of Japan, and the Shôgun only his vicegerent, no offence could
possibly be given by being received in audience by the former. From him
Daté went to the Italian, Prussian, American and Dutch Representatives.
The first three refused on the ground of pressing business at Yokohama,
but the last said he would act in the same way as the British Minister.
And when Iyo no Kami came to our chief, he accepted the invitation.