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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An Introduction to the History of Japan + +Author: Katsuro Hara + +Release Date: August 24, 2011 [EBook #37186] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY OF JAPAN *** + + + + +Produced by Adrian Mastronardi, Ernest Schaal, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>AN INTRODUCTION TO<br /> +THE HISTORY OF JAPAN</h1> + +<p class="cnobmargin">BY</p> + +<p class="cnotmargin">KATSURO HARA</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="cnobmargin">YAMATO SOCIETY PUBLICATION</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100px;"> +<img src="images/illus-001.jpg" width="100" height="99" alt="Illustration" title="" /> +</div> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="cnobmargin">G. P. Putnam's Sons</p> + +<p class="cnomargins">New York and London</p> + +<p class="cnomargins"><span class="cursive">The Knickerbocker Press</span></p> + +<p class="cnotmargin">1920</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p class="cnobmargin"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1920, By</span></p> + +<p class="cnotmargin">THE YAMATO SOCIETY</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> + +<h2>OBJECTS OF THE YAMATO SOCIETY</h2> + +<p class="indent">The military achievements of Japan in the last +twenty years have done much to make the world +appreciate and acknowledge the intrinsic worth +of the Japanese nation. It is, however, very +doubtful whether the other nations find in us many +other things to admire besides our military excellence. +Some of them, indeed, without fully investigating +their deeper causes, have entertained +serious misgivings as to the probable consequence +of our military successes. The continual occurrence +of anti-Japanese movements in the various +States of America and in the dependencies of +Great Britain and Russia, countries with which +Japan is most intimately connected, has been +chiefly due to this want of knowledge as to the +real state of affairs in Japan, the progress in the +arts of peace, in science, literature, art, law and +economics.</p> + +<p class="indent">Japan has a brilliant civilisation of which we +can justly be proud. In fine art, we have painting, +sculpture, architecture, lacquer-work, metal-carving, +ceramics, etc.,—all of striking quality; in literature, +our poetry, fiction and drama are worthy +of serious study; in music and on the stage our +progress has been along lines which accord with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span> +the development of our distinctive national character, +and is by no means behind that of Europe.</p> + +<p class="indent">Europeans and Americans, however, have +failed as yet to appreciate the essential worth of +Japan's civilisation. Some foreigners, it is true, +speak highly of Japanese fine art, praising Japan +as a country devoted to art; but the works that +they admire are not always essentially characteristic +of Japan, nor are they representative works +of Japanese fine arts. The number of foreigners +aware of the existence of an influential literature +in Japan is extremely limited.</p> + +<p class="indent">For such regrettable ignorance, however, we +can blame no one but ourselves; for we have made +very little effort to promote the appreciation of +our civilisation by other peoples. If Japan, in +her eagerness to learn the best of European civilisation, +continues to disregard the necessity of +making known her own civilisation to peoples +abroad, the world's misconception of Japan will +forever remain undispelled. It is our duty, indeed, +to demonstrate to the world the fact that +Japanese literature and art have foundations not +less deep than those of our Bushido.</p> + +<p class="indent">On the other hand, we must have the broadness +of mind to recognise and correct our faults, +so that we may make ours a civilisation that will +compel the admiration of the world. Whether +or not European civilisation, which we have to +some extent adopted, is really good for the wholesome +development of our nation is a question +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span> +which still awaits our mature consideration. In +order to enjoy unrestricted the future possibilities +of the world, we must look at things not only from +a national, but also, from a world-wide point of +view, abandoning the present Far Eastern exclusiveness +and endeavouring to improve our position +in the family of nations not by military achievements +but by pacific means. This is, indeed, the +surest way to make Japan one of the First Powers +both in name and in reality.</p> + +<p class="indent">To accomplish the above purpose is no doubt +a task of no small magnitude and one which will +require a great deal of time and labour; but as +our conviction is that we should not hesitate because +of difficulties, so we have undertaken the +organisation of this Society to help towards the +attainment of this ideal.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> + +<h2>RULES OF THE YAMATO SOCIETY</h2> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Art. I.</span> The Society has for its object to make +clear the meaning and extent of Japanese culture +in order to reveal the fundamental character of +the nation to the world; and also the introduction +of the best literature and art of foreign countries +to Japan so that a common understanding of +Eastern and Western thought may be promoted.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Art. II.</span> In order to accomplish the object +stated in the foregoing Article the Society shall +carry on the following enterprises:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="indent">1. Publication in foreign languages of works +relating to various branches of Japanese history.</p> + +<p class="indent">2. Translation of Japanese literary works.</p> + +<p class="indent">3. Publication in foreign languages of works +of Japanese literature and art.</p> + +<p class="indent">4. Publication in foreign languages of a periodical +relating to Japanese literature and art.</p> + +<p class="indent">5. Such steps as may be necessary for the introduction +into Japan of the best literature and +art of foreign countries.</p> + +<p class="indent">6. Exchange exhibitions of foreign and Japanese +art objects to be arranged between Japan and +other countries.</p> + +<p class="indent">7. Investigation and application of means +necessary for the maintenance and improvement +of Japanese art.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span> +8. Despatch to foreign countries of qualified +persons for the study and investigation of important +matters relating to or arising out of the purposes +of the Society.</p> + +<p class="indent">9. Investigation and application of means +necessary for the improvement of the customs and +ideals of the Japanese people in general.</p> +</div> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Art. III.</span> A Standing Committee shall be +elected by the members.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Art. IV.</span> The Standing Committee shall have +power to appoint or dismiss a Secretary and +clerks.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Art. V.</span> Candidates for membership of the +Society shall be recommended by the Society.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Art. VI.</span> The expenses of the Society shall be +defrayed out of the revenue derived from the contributions +of members and of persons interested +in the work of the Society, from the sale of publications +and from other miscellaneous sources.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Art. VII.</span> Meetings of the Society shall be +held as occasion may require.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Art. VIII.</span> The Standing Committee of the +Society shall submit to the members once a year +an annual report of the revenue and expenditures, +accomplishments, and condition of the Society.</p> + +<p><i>Members of the Yamato Society</i>:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><span class="smcap">Takuma Dan,</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Baron Toranosuke Furukawa,</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Shigenobu Hirayama</span>, Member of the +House of Peers.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span> +<span class="smcap">Shigezo Imamura</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Junnosuke Inouye</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Yeikichi Kamada</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Baron Hisaya Iwasaki</span>, Partner of the Mitsubishi Goshi Kaisha, Tokyo.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Baron Koyata Iwasaki</span>. Partner of the Mitsubishi Goshi Kaisha, Tokyo.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Chozo Koike</span>, Director of Mr. Kuhara's Head Office, Tokyo.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Fusanosuke Kuhara</span>, President of the Kuhara Mining Co., Tokyo.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Baron Nobuaki Makino</span>, Member of the House of Peers.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Shigemichi Miyoshi</span>, Member of the Mitsubishi Goshi Kaisha, Tokyo.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Baron Kumakichi Nakashima</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Saizaburo Nishiwaki</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Jokichi Takamine</span>, President of the Takamine Laboratory, New York.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Sanae Takata</span>, Member of the House of Peers.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Seiichi Taki</span>, Professor of Art History, Imperial University, Tokyo.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Marquis Yorimichi Tokugawa</span>, Member of the House of Peers.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Yuzo Tsubouchi</span>, former Professor of the Waseda University, Tokyo.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Kazutoshi Uyeda</span>, Dean of Literary College, Imperial University, Tokyo.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Baron Kenjiro Yamakawa</span>, President of Imperial University, Tokyo.</p> +</div> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span> +<i>Members of the Standing Committee</i>:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><span class="smcap">Shigenobu Hirayama.</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Chozo Koike.</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Shigemichi Miyoshi.</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Sanae Takata.</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Seiichi Taki.</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Kazutoshi Uyeda.</span></p> +</div> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2> + +<p class="indent">The principal aim of this work, written at the +request of the Yamato Society as the first of its +projected series of publications, is to furnish a +synopsis, or perhaps rather to give a general +sketch, of the history of Japan. The public to +which it is tendered is not those professional historians +and students of history now abounding in +our country, who are already perplexedly encumbered +with, and engrossed by, a superfluity of +overdetailed materials and a plethora of contradictory +conjectures and hypotheses. In short, the +book is, strictly speaking, intended for those Europeans +and Americans who would like to dip into +the past, as well as peer into the future, of Japan,—Japan, +not as a land of quaint curios and +picturesque paradoxes only worthy to be preserved +intact for a show, but as a land inhabited +by a nation striving hard to improve itself, and +to take a share, however humble, in the common +progress of the civilisation of the world.</p> + +<p class="indent">Having such an aim on the one hand, it becomes +on the other a matter of urgent necessity for +the author to exercise great caution against extolling +bombastically our national merits or falling +into a coarse and futile jingoism. To be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span> +ostentatious proves, after all, some lack of sincerity +and impartiality, and is the very vice which +should be avoided by historians worthy of the +name. In order to guard against such a blunder, +however, and attain as far as possible the aim I +have set before me, I thought it wisest to approximate +the standpoint from which the book was to +be written as nearly as possible to that of a foreigner, +free from our national prejudices and at +the same time intensely sympathetic with our +country. Of course, it can hardly be disputed that +to place oneself unerringly on the standpoint of +another, different widely in thought as well as +in nationality, is an affair very easy to talk of, +but exceedingly difficult to put into practice. I +dare not presume that I have been at all equal to +the task. Still it may be of some use for the +reader to learn beforehand whither my earnest efforts +are directed.</p> + +<p class="indent">There is some truth in the saying that the time +is not yet ripe for a conscientious Japanese scholar +to write a history of our country covering all ages, +ancient and modern, especially if that history is +to be canvassed in a small volume of some three +or four hundred pages. The reason generally alleged +is that too many important questions in the +history of Japan remain yet undecided. It is to +be doubted, however, whether there can be found +any country in the whole world whose historical +problems are all definitely solved. Therefore it +would be folly to wait till the Yellow River becomes +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span> +pellucid, as a Chinese proverb has it. Since +the opening of our country, we have had many +foreign scholars investigating ourselves, our origins +and our history, which in most cases have +been misunderstood and misrepresented. By some +we are overestimated, flattered, caressed, and cajoled. +By others we are undervalued, despised, +and condemned. We are sometimes elevated to +a rank so high that no earthly nation could ever +deserve it, and sometimes we are mercilessly relegated +to a stage of savagery, to get back to which +we should have to forego our cherished long history, +the beginnings of which are lost in the myths +of ages. Such an astonishing oscillation of opinion +as regards the estimation of the merits and +demerits of the Japanese nation and its history is +more than to be endured. Surely the cause of +being undervalued at one time lies in being overestimated +at another, and vice versa. We must +put an end to this oscillation and must be fairly +represented, and in order to avoid misrepresentation +we must portray ourselves as fairly as we +can. We ought not to wait for the appearance +of foreign authors, capable, unprejudiced, and +deeply interested in our country.</p> + +<p class="indent">It seems that there are not a few foreign publicists +who suppose that Japan is not yet sufficiently +advanced in her civilisation to require +long years of study to understand her. This +is why there is such a number of tourist-writers, +who skip over the whole country in a few weeks, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span> +and are presuming enough to make sweeping assertions +about all sorts and conditions of things +Japanese with which they come into touch at +haphazard. Again, there is another class of +writers, who would like to rate the Japanese nation +and its history much higher than the above-mentioned +do, and who know that it is not such a +very easy matter to understand them. Unluckily, +however, they are generally of the opinion that +it is only they, and not the Japanese, who are competent +to take up the task of interpretation, if +those things are to be understood at all. Standing +upon this point of view, they would gladly accept +any kind of materials furnished by the Japanese, +but flatly refuse to listen to any theories or +arguments devised by Japanese scholars, and systematically +repudiate almost all conclusions arrived +at by the latter. Writers of such a type +think that the intellectual capacity of the Japanese +as a nation is not yet so high as to be able to elaborate +logical argumentations. These two sets of +foreign writers mentioned above sometimes praise +us <i>sans phrase</i>, it is true. They are not, however, +with their eulogistic and gracious verdict, the sort +of champions to dispel the misrepresentations and +misunderstandings under which we suffer.</p> + +<p class="indent">Moreover, for Japanese historians, the need +has never been more urgent than now to make +a trial in writing a history of their own country +for the sake of foreign readers. On account of +the Great War, the so-called European Concert, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span> +that is to say, the Areopagus of a few nations, will +be superseded by the Concert of the World. The +post-bellum readjustment and reconstruction, national +as well as international, of countries belligerent +and neutral will be an overwhelming task +such as the nations of the world have never before +undertaken. Perhaps there will follow a +long period of peace, but the feeling of nations +toward one another will in all natural probability +continue sensitive and acute, and will not easily +subside. And in such a nervous and critical age +as that, Japan's position will be an exceedingly +difficult one. Hitherto every move she has made, +every feat she has achieved, has been made an +object of international suspicion, especially in recent +times. Japan, however, cannot help making +progress in the future, whether welcomed by other +nations or not, for where there is no progress, +there is stagnation. Hence arises the imperative +necessity, at the juncture, of an attempt by the +Japanese to explain themselves through telling +their own history, and by so doing procure thorough +understanding of themselves, their character +and characteristics, not only as they now really +are, but as they used to be in the past. That is +the one object which I have pursued in this volume.</p> + +<p class="indent">In preparing this work I acknowledge that I +am greatly indebted to my colleagues in our University +of Kyoto. Warmest thanks are due to +Professor A. H. Sayce of Oxford, who, during +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span> +his sojourn in our ancient metropolis, kindly revised +that part of my manuscript dealing with the +early history of Japan. It is also my greatest +pleasure to acknowledge my gratitude to Mr. +Edward Clarke, B.A. (Cantab.), Professor of +English Language and Literature in this College, +who went to a great deal of trouble in revising my +awkward English through the whole volume.</p> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Katsuro Hara</span></p> + +<p><i>College of Literature,<br /> + Kyoto Imperial University,<br /> + October, 1918.</i><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[Pg xvii]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<p class="indent"> +CHAPTER <span class="ralign">PAGE</span></p> + +<p>I. <span class="smcap">Introduction</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">1</a></span></p> + +<p>II. <span class="smcap">The Races and Climate of Japan</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">21</a></span></p> + +<p>III. <span class="smcap">Japan before the Introduction of<br /> +Buddhism and Chinese Civilisation</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">50</a></span></p> + +<p>IV. <span class="smcap">Growth of the Imperial Power.<br /> +Gradual Centralisation</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">73</a></span></p> + +<p>V. <span class="smcap">Remodeling of the State</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">104</a></span></p> + +<p>VI. <span class="smcap">Culmination of the New Régime;<br /> +Stagnation; Rise of the Military Régime</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">128</a></span></p> + +<p>VII. <span class="smcap">The Military Régime; the Taira and<br /> +the Minamoto. The Shogunate of +Kamakura</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">156</a></span></p> + +<p>VIII. <span class="smcap">The Welding of the Nation. The<br /> +Political Disintegration of the +Country</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">194</a></span></p> + +<p>IX. <span class="smcap">End of Medieval Japan</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">221</a></span></p> + +<p>X. <span class="smcap">The Transition from Medieval to<br /> +Modern Japan</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">252</a></span></p> + +<p>XI. <span class="smcap">The Tokugawa Shogunate,—Its Political<br /> Régime</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">282</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">[Pg xviii]</a></span> +XII. <span class="smcap">Tokugawa Shogunate,—Culture and<br /> +Society</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">315</a></span></p> + +<p>XIII. <span class="smcap">The Restoration of the Meidji</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">355</a></span></p> + +<p>XIV. <span class="smcap">Epilogue</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">382</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Index</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#INDEX">399</a></span></p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<h2>AN INTRODUCTION TO +THE HISTORY OF JAPAN</h2> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<p class="h2">AN INTRODUCTION TO THE<br /> +HISTORY OF JAPAN</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<p class="h2a">INTRODUCTION</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">The</span> history of Japan may be useful to foreigners +in several different ways. If we do not take +into account the serviceableness of detached historical +data or groups of data, that is to say, +when we exclude those cases where the historical +data of Japan are studied not for the sake of +understanding Japan herself, but in behalf of some +other scientific purposes, then it can be said that +Japanese history will serve foreigners in two principal +and distinct ways. Firstly, it will interest +them as the history of one special nation among +many in the world. Secondly, it may be useful +to historical study in general, seeing that it can +be regarded as constituting in itself a microcosm +of miniature of the history of the world manifested +in that of a small nation. The former +point is that which attracts most foreigners by +the strength of novelty, while the latter will be +none the less suggestive to comprehensive and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> +reflective historians. Both points need some explanations. +Let me begin with the first.</p> + +<p class="indent">Japan is a country inhabited by a people differing +remarkably in racial features from those +who now occupy the greater part of Europe. She +remained for a long time shut up against the foreigners +knocking at her gate, and on that account +her history, compared with that of other nations, +presents striking and unique characteristics. Many +ancient manners and customs, some of them +having their origins in ages prehistoric and unintelligible +even to the present Japanese themselves, +are handed down almost unchanged to this day. +On the other hand, the history of Japan is not so +simple as the histories of many semi-civilised countries, +which are generally nothing but incredible +legends and records of chronic disturbances arising +out of some inevitable natural causes. Full +of charming oddities, which might provide sources +of wild speculations, and at the same time not +lacking a certain complexity,—a complexity indispensable +if it is to become an object of interest +and investigation to any scientific historian, the +history of Japan should prove a very fascinating +study. In this it resembles the relation many +rare indigenous flora and fauna bear to foreign +biologists. It should be noticed, however, that +biologists may safely remain constant as regards +their points of view, whatever plant or animal +they happen to study, while historians ought always +to bear in mind that every nation and every +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +age has its own criterion. In the study of Japanese +history the same truth must hold good. It +is a very regrettable fact, however, that many +foreign Japanologists are too fond of neglecting +the Japanese point of view, and would like to apply +the western standard to the things Japanese +they encounter in their researches concerning our +country. Frequently they are rash enough to +criticise before they have a proper understanding +of those things which it is their business to criticise. +Sometimes they get at a truth to which Japanese +scholars have never attained, but they almost +as a rule forget that things Japanese too +should be considered from many sides, as occidental +things should necessarily be, and inflexibly +adhere to that one line of insight which they were +once fortunate enough to seize. Or sometimes +they attack pitilessly those legendary parts of our +history, which are to be found in some school +text-books or are not yet entirely expunged from +some more scholarly works, on account of a national +reluctance to part with those cherished memories +of our forefathers. They blame us as if +no country in the world were chauvinistic except +Japan, and Japan only. Such treatment of Japanese +history, however, will avail them nothing at +all, not to mention that we suffer very much in +our outward relations from it. As chapter II. +and the following, however, are chiefly devoted to +the purpose of showing that the history of Japan +may be interpreted side by side with that of many +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +European nations, I will cease dwelling further on +this topic, and will directly go over to the second +point.</p> + +<p class="indent">To consider Japanese history as a miniature of +the world's history is rather a new assertion, so +that it requires conclusive justification. It is now +generally believed or assumed that every nation +continues to evolve as an individual does, till it +reaches its climax of growth and begins to decay. +Hence many modern historians have successively +tried to extract certain principles by the process +of induction from kindred historical events which +took place in different countries and ages, and +thus to raise the study of history to the rank of a +science in the same sense as that in which the +word is used when we speak of natural phenomena. +It is a great pity, however, that every +historical event is of a very ephemeral nature, +never to be repeated in exactly the same form in +which it once occurred. And if it passes away, +it passes away forever, not to be retarded in the +midst of its course by the will of an investigator. +Often one can contribute with full consciousness +to the happening of an event, or can alter the +course of it, but one cannot undo by any means +the event itself and wash the ground as if nothing +had taken place. Moreover, historical facts are +very difficult to detach from their environment +entirely, however isolated they seem to be, and +on that account they are not fit to be made objects +of laboratory experiments. In a school classroom +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +the pupils are taught to solve an algebraic +equation of a binomial expression by supposing +the value of x and y alternately to be equal to +zero. How much the task of historians would be +lightened, if we could for some time trace the +effect of a certain cause exclusively, setting at +naught other concurrent causes, as if those causes +might be supposed to be standing still for a moment +of observation or hypothetically cancelled +for a necessary time!</p> + +<p class="indent">Strictly speaking, the above device is out of +the question in the case of any historical investigation. +Setting that aside, there is still another +greater difficulty to encounter in the study of history. +Every school-boy knows that there is a fundamental +law in physics, that when a body is set +in motion by a certain impetus, it will move on +continuously in one direction with the same momentum, +so long as it is left uninfluenced by any +other new force. It is true, however, that such +a case exists very rarely even in natural phenomena, +and it would be quite absurd to look for the +like in the domain of history. More than one +cause acts conjointly upon individuals, families, +tribes, or nations, and before those causes cease +to influence, other new causes generally come into +play, so that the influences of the latter are interwoven +with those of the former causes or groups +of causes, and make discrimination between them +exceedingly difficult.</p> + +<p class="indent">Summing up the above, one cannot entirely +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +isolate a country from its surroundings, in order +to see what a country or a nation would be able +to achieve, if untouched by any outward influence, +that is to say, solely out of its own immanent +evolving forces. Next, it is none the less difficult +to observe scientifically the effects of some outward +forces acting on a nation, by warding off +the influx of subsequent influences and thus giving +to the forces in question the full scope and time +to exert their influence. It often happens, however, +that what cannot be done artificially may be +found produced spontaneously, and though we +cannot make experiments, in the strict sense of +the word, while observing historical data, it is +possible that the history of a nation or of an age +may be taken as a case or a phase of an experiment, +if such an experiment could ever be tried +at all. And indeed the history of Japan may be +considered as one of a few such happy cases.</p> + +<p class="indent">Here I need not talk much about the history +of our country anterior to the introduction of the +Chinese civilisation. After the opening of the +regular intercourse between this country and +China in the beginning of the seventh century, +institutions, arts, learning, and even the manners +of every day life continued for a long time to be +brought thence by many official emissaries and +students, and copied faithfully here, though generally +with slight modifications. At that time, +however, there being no country far advanced in +civilisation other than China near us, the Chinese +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +influence, the only exotic one, was allowed to take +sole and full effect. Besides this, that Chinese +civilisation itself was not encouraged to flow in +endlessly. When, with the decay of the T'ang +dynasty and the setting in of the anarchical condition +following it in China, the highly finished +culture attained during that dynasty, perhaps the +most perfect one China had ever seen, began to +degenerate there, the official intercourse between +that country and Japan was interrupted. Of +course, I do not mean to say that even private +and intermittent commercial intercourse was also +suspended at the same time, for the geographical +position of our country toward China does not +allow the former to remain entirely isolated from +the latter. The suspension of the regular intercourse +itself, however, was enough to save Japan +from becoming entangled in the vicissitudes of the +various dynasties following the T'ang, and our +forefathers were left to themselves to make the +best use of, that is to say, to digest, what had already +been brought in abundantly. In the succeeding +period the quiet process of rumination went +on for several centuries. If we look back into the +Japanese history of that time, therefore, we can +ascertain fairly scientifically the effect of a high +civilisation acting on a naïve population not yet +sufficiently organised as a nation, as our country +was at that period, and likewise we can observe +many traits of the old T'ang culture, which is now +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +difficult to trace in China herself. This is our +first experiment in Chinese civilisation.</p> + +<p class="indent">Among the dynasties that followed the fall of +the T'ang, that which longest held the rule was the +Sung, and between China under the latter dynasty +and Japan merchant ships plied now and then. +Some Japanese Buddhist priests followed the +track of their predecessors, and went over to +China to study Buddhism. At the time of the +Yuen dynasty founded by the Mongols, China +sent many Buddhist missionaries successively to +Japan, where religious innovations were in course +of progress. This is our second experiment in +Chinese civilisation. In the first experiment the +religious element was of course not excluded. +The essential characteristic, however, of the culture +of the T'ang dynasty was politico-æsthetical, +and as the result of the introduction of that culture, +Japan became enlightened in general. In +other words, the first experiment may be said to +have been an æsthetical one, while the second is +one apt to be termed a religious one, and by the +blending of the results of the two experiments, we +became a tolerably æsthetic and religious people. +Still there remained much to be wished for in +respect of national unification and social solidarity, +and it is the culture of the Sung dynasty itself +which provided that very need, being politico-ethical +in its essential nature. By the introduction of +that culture the doctrines of the Confucian philosophers, +which were made the means of regulating +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +the social and political organisation of Japan, were +inculcated widely and deeply, and forced into +practice more rigorously than they were in China +herself. This is our third experiment in Chinese +civilisation. And when this experiment was almost +finished, we were faced by the inundation of +western civilisation, which at last made it impossible +for us to continue the process of rumination, +and compelled us to plunge headlong into the +maelstrom of world history.</p> + +<p class="indent">It is rather derogatory to our national pride +to have to aver that we are so deeply indebted to +Chinese civilisation. Yet the facts cannot be denied, +nor the truth falsified. Moreover, we need +not be ashamed that we brought in so much from +China, while we gave very little to the Chinese +in exchange. How could we, who were very late +in commencing a civilised national life, initiate a +new civilisation independent of that of China, +without imitating it? Was not the Chinese civilisation +too far advanced and too overpowering +for the Japanese of that time, the Japanese who +were still at the outset of their evolutionary +march? On the contrary, justice should be done +to the fact, that we not only improved ourselves +by availing ourselves of such a high civilisation, +but withstood it at the same time, being far from +dwindling away as a result of having come into +contact with it, as many uncivilised races have +done in a similar case. No impartial historian +would fail to observe that there is some capacity +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +not borrowed but inborn in the Japanese people, +by force of which they were able to consolidate +themselves as a compact nation, possessing striking +characteristics quite different from those of +China. And it is especially to be noted to the +honour of the Japanese, that the more we helped +ourselves to Chinese culture, the wider became +the divergence between the two countries. Could +such a way of introducing an alien civilisation be +designated a servile imitation? I am far from +trying to embellish every phase of the history of +Japan, whatever its due merit may be, and would +be content if even a few of the wanton calumnies +current vis à vis Japan be set aright by making +her real history understood, which is not very +easy to grasp, but yet not so sterile as it is reputed +to be by some foreign historians.</p> + +<p class="indent">What I want to call attention to next is that +the history of our country is not that monotonous +repetition of a certain kind of historical data, however +peculiar the data in themselves may be. Nay, +the history of Japan is full of varieties in the nature +of its data. The history of Greece is sometimes +stated to be a miniature of the world's history +on account of the richness in variety of the +historical phenomena which occurred there, it being +possible to find there also most of the important +subjects treated in history at large, though +of course on a much reduced scale. In this regard, +too, the history of Japan closely resembles +that of ancient Greece. Our country had been +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +disunited for a long time, each section constituting +itself a political quasi-unit governed by a certain +local semi-independent lord, like the tyrant of +Greek history. Those local potentates, however, +were not so arrogant as not to recognise the hereditary, +political and spiritual sovereignty of the +Emperor. Not only that. They also reluctantly +rejected the hegemony of the Shogunate, though +as a matter of fact this had but a nominal existence. +From this point of view, it might be asserted +that our country never ceased to be a united +one. The bond of unity, however, became very +slack at intervals, so that the very existence of +the unity itself was often in doubt. In our history, +therefore, there were many obstacles to progress, +especially in those lines of progress which +necessarily depend on the close unification of the +whole country. At the same time, however, advantages +are not to be neglected, which might be +considered to result from the dismemberment itself. +Japan had many small centres at some periods. +But it was, to some extent, owing to similar +circumstances that those centres came into +existence, and for that reason there was to be +found much in common in all of them, in respect +of the tone of the culture fostered in the respective +centres. That is a matter of course. Among +those centres, however, there arose naturally +much vying with one another in the promotion of +their progress, and thus the general standard of +civilisation in Japan came to be raised to a not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +inconsiderable height. Moreover, something +like international relations began to grow up between +those units, which contributed largely to the +perfection of the culture within each of them. +This is the same interesting phenomenon, which +we can trace not in the history of Greece only, +but in that of the Holy Roman Empire, nay, even +in the history of Europe itself. The difference is +simply that in Europe the same phenomenon developed +on a grand scale, while it took place in +Japan in a very small compass. No wonder that +as a result of having had a national experience +of the nature stated above, the history of Japan +is rich in varieties of data and deserves the attention +of highly qualified historians. So let me +here submit to a hasty examination a few of the +important items in Japanese history, which even +to European readers, may be of no small interest, +having their parallels in the histories of the +West.</p> + +<p class="indent">The first and the most important item to be +mentioned is feudalism. A famous living French +historian once told me that it was absurd to speak +of Japanese feudalism, since feudalism was a special +historical phenomenon originated by the +Franks, and therefore not to be found outside of +Europe. How is the word "feudalism" rightly to +be defined then? May it not be extended to a +similar system which prevailed in western Europe, +but not under Frankish authority? If it can be +said that feudalism also obtained in the Swabian, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +the Saxonian and the Marcomanian land, surely +it would not be absurd to extend it a bit further +so as to make it cover similar phenomena which +arose in non-European countries, for example in +China and especially in Japan. For centuries in +Europe historians successively tried to solve the +question, What is feudalism? A great number +of hypotheses has been presented. Some of them +held the ground against their antagonists in bitter +scientific controversies, but were soon obliged to +give way to clever newly-started theories, and no +conclusive solution has yet been given to the problem. +The cause of the failure chiefly lies in the +mistaken idea, that feudalism is a kind of systematic +legislation, which originated in the elaboration +of some rules put together by some sagacious +ruler, or in the time-honoured invention of some +very gifted tribe, and starting from this erroneous +supposition some scholars have believed that they +would be able to generalise from those overwhelmingly +chaotic materials, and thereby to establish +certain fundamental principles applicable to the +feudal relation of whichever country they chose. +Far from their assumption being true, however, +feudalism is not an invention of somebody, made +consciously, nor a result of a deliberately devised +enactment. A few general rules may be extracted +perhaps by so-called generalising, but even these +few would be provided with exceptional conditions. +Therefore, the truth we reach at last by +studying the historical sources concerning feudalism +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +is rather the general spirit pervading all kinds +of feudalism, and not any concrete rule applicable +everywhere, as we see in the case of natural sciences. +If the granting of the usufruct of a certain +extent of land in exchange for military service +is the essence of feudalism, it is indisputable that +feudalism existed in Japan too.</p> + +<p class="indent">Feudalism is indeed a necessity, as a Chinese +servant has said in a memorable essay. It is a +necessity which any nation must undergo, if that +nation is to become consolidated. Feudalism is +often described as a backward movement with +respect to the political organisation. Primitive +races, however, cannot be described as having +been either centralised or decentralised, socially +and politically, and the first stage which they +must pass is that of a vague centralisation. In +this stage, superficially observed, it appears as if +the race were centralised at one point, but the +truth is that in so early a stage of civilisation, it +is not probable that more than one prominent +centre would at once be formed conspicuous +enough to attract attention. And even that one +centre itself is formed, not because it is strong +enough to centralise, but because centripetalism +actuates the environment, and no other force is +yet so strong as to compete with it. In early +times, however, the degree of prominency of a +single centre over all others must have been very +slight. As time passes, lesser centres begin to +distinguish themselves, closely following the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +prominent first in strength of centralisation, and +become at last so powerful as to be able to challenge +the hegemony of the first centre. This state +of affairs we generally denote as the age of dismemberment, +as if a true centralisation had been +accomplished in the age preceding. This view is +utterly false. Without the power to centralise, +no political centre can be said to exist really, and +without any strong centre effective centralisation is +not possible. The apparent centralised, that is to +say, unified condition of the ancient empires, is +nothing but a chaotic condition with one bright +point only, and the state of being seemingly dismembered +is in truth a step toward the real unification, +centralisation <i>in partibus</i> paving the way +for centralisation on a larger scale. This phase +in the preparatory process for the unity and consolidation +of a nation is feudalism itself. Feudalism +is a test through which every nation must pass, +if it aspires to become a well organised body at +all. There are some tribes, indeed, which have +never passed through the feudal period in their +history, but that is due to the fact that these tribes +had certain defective traits which hindered them +from undergoing that experience, and on account +of that they have been unable to achieve a sound, +well-proportioned progress in their civilisation, +which must necessarily be accompanied by a well-organised +political centralisation, whether it be +monarchical or democratic. Other nations have +passed, it is true, the test of the feudal régime, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +but very imperfectly, and for that reason have +had great difficulty in amending the defect afterwards.</p> + +<p class="indent">By no means need we lament that we were +under the feudal régime for a considerable time +in our history. On the contrary, I am rejoiced +that we were. Every political development must +go side by side with the corresponding social progress. +The latter, unless sheltered by the former, +lacks stability, while the former, if unaccompanied +by the latter, is not tenable, and will break +down before long and be of no avail. Feudalism +can be compared to a nut-shell, which protects +the kernel till it quietly consummates its maturing +process within. Social progress, of whatever +sort it be, ought to be covered by a political régime +of a certain kind, especially adapted to discharge +the task of protection, and must be allowed +thereby to prosecute its own development +free from disturbing influences. Feudalism is one +of the political régimes indispensable to perform +such a function. Though it seems to be fortunate +for a nation not to tarry too long in the stage of +feudalism, yet it is not desirable for the nation +to emerge out of this stage prematurely.</p> + +<p class="indent">To sum up, in order that a nation may continue +in its healthy progress, it should have feudalism +once in its historical course, and must pass that +test fairly. And as passing a test can be fruitful +only on condition that that test itself be fair, it +becomes necessary as a natural consequence that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +a fair test must be passed fairly. Then how is +it with Japan? It cannot be safely said that we +have passed the test exceedingly well, but at the +same time we can presume that we have not +passed it badly. If someone should say that the +Japanese stayed unnecessarily long in that condition +and have not even yet entirely emerged +from it, he must have forgotten that even the most +civilised countries of Europe could not shake off +the shackles of the feudal system entirely until +very recent times, the first half of the nineteenth +century still retaining an easily perceptible tincture +of it, as we see in the survival of the patrimonial +jurisdiction in some continental states of Europe. +On the other hand foreign observers generally +fail to see that the régime of the Tokugawa Shogunate, +which I shall expatiate upon in a later +chapter, is of a sort quite different from that of +the European feudalism in the middle ages, and +are induced to believe that the Japanese nation +has been quit of the miserable régime for only +fifty years. These views are both totally mistaken. +In our relation to feudalism, we went +through almost the same experience as other civilised +nations did, neither more nor less. Because, +in so far as we speak of the history of any nation +ranging from its beginning till our day, more than +half of it can be held to have been occupied by +feudalism, the history of Japan may also be said +to have in common with other nations more than +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +half of the essential elements which the so-called +history of the world could teach.</p> + +<p class="indent">After having seen that our history is not totally +unlike that of the nations of Europe in its most +essential trait, it is not strange that the history +of Japan should contain many other things, besides +feudalism, which can be reckoned as the +typical items necessary to make up the history +of any civilised nation, that is to say, as the chief +ingredients not to be dispensed with in the world's +history,—viz., various religious movements keeping +pace with the social development at large, economic +evolution conditioning and conditioned by +the changes of other factors constituting civilisation +in general, etc. As the foreign influences can +be traced comparatively distinctly, the history of +Japan can, to a large extent, be subjected to a +scientific analysis. So if we look for the history +of a nation, which is fit to represent the gradual +evolution of national progress in general, Japanese +history must be a select one. It is in this respect +that I said that the history of our country +is a miniature of the world's history. After all +the history of Japan is not so simple and naïve +as to be either an easy topic for amateur historians, +or a suitable theme for ordinary anthropologists, +ethnographers, or philologists, who are not +specially qualified to deal with histories of civilised +times. Those whom I should heartily welcome +as the investigators of the history of our +country, are those historians in Europe and America, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +who, more than amply qualified to write the +history of their own countries, have continued to +disdain extending their field of investigation to +the corners of the world, thought by them not +civilised enough to be worthy of their labour. If +they care to peep into the history of our country, +perhaps the result will not be so barren as to +disappoint them utterly. The greatest misfortune +to our country at the present day is that her +history has been written by very few first-rate +historians of Europe and America, those who +have written upon it being mostly of the second +or third rank. Nay, there are many who cannot +be called historians at all. The best qualifications +they have are that, by some means or other, they +can write a book, or that they were once residents +of Japan, and if they venture to write a history +about a country outside of their own, Japan seems +to them to be the easiest subject, the greater part +of their compatriots being quite ignorant of it.</p> + +<p class="indent">I dwell thus long, however, on the significance +of the history of Japan, not in order to silence +these quasi-historians, nor forcibly to induce the +first-rate foreign historian to study the history of +Japan against his own will. The former attempt +is useless, while the latter may be almost hopeless. +The principal reason for having long dwelt +on the subject, is only to have it understood by +foreigners, that the Japanese nation, which has +such an advanced historical experience in the past, +is not to be considered as one only recently awakened, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +and therefore to be admired, patted, encouraged, +feared and despised in rapid succession. +If once they happen to understand the true +history of Japan, then the fluctuations in their +estimation of us will also cease; then, perhaps, +we shall not be feared, or rather, made an object +of scare any more, as now we are, but at the same +time we shall be happy not to be disliked or rejected.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<p class="h2a">THE RACES AND CLIMATE OF JAPAN</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Which</span> is the more potent factor in building +up the edifice of civilisation, race or climate? +This has been a riddle repeatedly presented to +various scholars of various ages, and has not yet +been completely solved. The immanent force of +the race deeply rooted in the principle of heredity +on the one hand, and the influence of the physical +milieu on the other, have been, are, and will be, +ever the two important factors, coöperating in +engendering any sort of civilisation, yet are they +not always friendly forces, but, in a sense, rivals, +competing for the ascendency. Looking back +into the history of the interminable controversy +as to the position of the two, and taking into consideration +the fact that they are not the only factors +contributing to the progress of civilisation, +it would perhaps seem to be a waste of labour +to try anew to solve the question. If one should +endeavour to explain the respective importance +of the two factors, putting due stress on each at +the same time, he would then be in danger of +falling into a self-contradiction or of begging the +question endlessly; otherwise he must be satisfied +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +with being the sermoniser of quite a commonplace +truism! This is not, however, the place to enter +into a discussion to determine the preponderant +influence of either of the two, a discussion perhaps +fruitful enough, but almost hopeless of arriving +at a final solution. But as in recording the history +of any country one should begin well at the +beginning, I, too, cannot desist from starting with +a description of the race and of the climate, with +their relations to the history, of Japan.</p> + +<p class="indent">Of these two factors, I need not say much about +the first. It is about forty years since meteorological +observations have been regularly and continuously +made in this country and the results +published in periodical reports, so that almost all +requisite data pertaining to the climatology of +Japan are at the disposal of the investigator. +Assuming that the climate of Japan at present, +which can be ascertained, not exhaustively perhaps, +but scientifically enough, is not a widely +different one from what it was in the past, there +is the less need of dwelling upon the topic, so +far as the scope of this book is concerned. I will +content myself, therefore, with treating it very +briefly.</p> + +<p class="indent">Generally speaking, it must be admitted that the +ideal climate for the progress of civilisation must +not be either a very hot or a very cold one; in +other words, it must be a temperate one. At the +same time, it is necessarily true that, for the sake +of fostering a civilisation, the climate should be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +stimulative, that is to say, should be variable, but +not running to such extremes as to impede the +vital activity of the population. When a climate +is constant and has no seasonal change, that climate, +however mild it be, is very enervating, and +not fitted for any strenuous human exertion, physical +or mental, and is therefore adverse to the onward +march of civilisation. Judged by this standard, +the climate of Japan is a good one. If we +put aside all the recently organised or annexed +parts of the Empire, that is to say, Korea, Saghalen, +Formosa, Loochoo, and Hokkaido, the remaining +part, that is to say, the whole of historic +Japan, which includes the three principal islands, +was formerly divided into sixty-six <i>kuni</i> or provinces, +and stretches over a wide range of latitude, +extending from 31°—41.5° N., so that the +difference in temperature at its two extremes is +very considerable. It must be remembered, however, +that the difference is not so great as to necessitate +totally different modes of living. In the +province of Satsuma, for instance, the falling of +snow can often be witnessed, while in Mutsu the +temperature, in the height of summer, frequently +climbs above 90° F. The southern Japanese, +therefore, can settle in the northern provinces +quite comfortably without changing many of their +accustomed habits, and the northerners, on the +other hand, can shift their abode to the island of +Kyushu, with very little modification in their ways +of living. This almost similar way of living +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +throughout the whole of historic Japan, with very +slight local modifications only, is the cause why +the unity of the nation was accomplished comparatively +easily.</p> + +<p class="indent">As to the seasonal changes, they occur somewhat +frequently in Japan, and impart a highly +stimulative quality to her climate. According to +the interesting investigation made by an American +climatologist, for a climate to be stimulative +it is necessary that there should be not only +marked seasonal changes, but also frequent variations +within each of the seasons themselves, and +it is nothing but the storms which induce such important +daily climatic changes. If we may accept +his conclusion, then Japan may rank fairly high +among the countries with the best kind of climate. +For not to speak of the seasonal changes so clearly +definable, in Japan, the cyclonic storms, the main +cause of the daily climatic changes, occur very +frequently. It can be said that no one desires +to have them occur more often on this account. +After all, the climate of Japan would have been +almost an ideal one, if there had been less rain +in the early summer, the long rainy season being +evidently the chief cause of the enervating dampness. +By the way, it should be remarked that +the dampness which is the weakest point of the +climate of Japan, not only in the summer, but +throughout the whole year, is in excess more in +the regions bordering on the Sea of Japan than +in those facing the Pacific Ocean and the Inland +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +Sea. This fact explains the historical phenomenon +that the most momentous events in +Japanese history have taken place not in +the former but in the latter regions. If we +look into the history of Europe, the Inland Sea +of Japan has its counterpart in the Mediterranean, +the Pacific, in the Atlantic, and the +Sea of Japan in the Baltic Sea. Perhaps the +attentive traveller will notice that the same greyish +hue of the sea-surface can be perceived in the +Sea of Japan as in the Baltic Sea, and that very +sombre colour imparts the same gloomy tone to +the atmosphere of the regions bordering on those +two seas. It is true that many mythical legends +of our country have their scenes in the coastal +regions along the Sea of Japan, the so-called +"Back of Japan," and, moreover, in standard of +civilisation, these regions, compared with the +other parts of the Empire, decidedly do not rank +low. That is due, however, not to the influence +of the fair climate prevailing in those parts of +Japan, but to the proximity of the Asiatic continent. +For, as the result of that proximity, there +must have been very intimate relations between +those regions of Japan and the continental tribes +on the opposite shore, some of whom are sometimes +supposed to have had the same origin as +the Japanese. At present the influence of the +climatic drawback in those districts is very evident, +and it will be in the distant future that the +time will arrive when the "Back of Japan" will +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +become more thriving and enlightened than the +other side of Japan facing the Pacific, unless there +should be a sudden upheaval in the progress of +the civilisation, and in the growth of prosperity, +on the opposite continental shore.</p> + +<p class="indent">Between northern and southern Japan, it is +not very easy to distinguish what influence the +climates of the two regions had on their history. +It is certain that northern Japan is inferior to +southern Japan in climatic conditions, if we consider +the impediments put on human activity there, +on account of the intense cold during the winter. +It is doubtful, however, whether the backwardness +of the North in the forward march of civilisation +can be solely attributed to its climatic inferiority. +Even in the depth of winter, the cold +in the northern provinces of Hon-to cannot be +said to be more unbearable and unfit for the +strenuous activity of the inhabitants, than that of +the Scandinavian countries or of northeastern +Germany. The principal cause of the retardation +of progress in northern Japan lies rather in the +fact that it is a comparatively recently exploited +part of the Empire. Since the beginning of historic +times, the Japanese have pushed their settlements +more and more toward the north, so that +the population in those regions has grown denser +and denser. If this process had continued with +the same vigour until today, the northern provinces +might have become far more populous, civilised, +and prosperous, than we see them now. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +Unfortunately for the North, however, just at +the most critical time in its development, the attention +of the nation was compelled to turn from +inner colonisation to foreign relations. Besides, +the subsequent acquisition of new dominions oversea +made the nation still more indifferent to the +exploitation of the less remunerative northern half +of Hon-to. As to the climatic conditions of Hokkaido +and Loochoo, it is needless to say that +they are far different from that of the historic +part of the Empire, and each of them needs special +consideration. They have had, however, +very little to do with the history of Japan. The +same may also be said still more emphatically +about Formosa, Saghalen, and Korea, though the +influence of their climates on the destiny of future +Japan will without doubt be immense; but as these +regions do not come within the purview of my +book, I can, without prejudice, omit further reference +to them.</p> + +<p class="indent">Together with the climate, the race stands forth +as an indispensable factor in the promotion of its +civilisation. Then to what race do the Japanese +belong? Can all the people of Japan be homogeneously +comprised under a single racial appellation, +or must they be treated as an agglomeration +of several different races? Are the Japanese, or +the bulk at least of the Japanese, indigenous or +immigrant? If the Japanese are an immigrant +race, then whence did they originate, and what is +the probable date of their immigration into this +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +country? What race, if not the Japanese, are +the aborigines of these islands? Questions of +this kind, and others of a similar nature have +stood waiting for solution these many years! But +none of them has yet been completely answered, +though attempts have been made not only by a +large number of native investigators, professional +as well as amateur, but also by not a few foreign +philologists and archæologists, who were tolerably +well-versed in things Japanese. Recently +many interesting excavations of ancient tombs and +historical sites have been made, and various remains +pertaining to the old inhabitants of the +islands have been submitted to the speculative +scrutiny of specialists. They have served, however, +rather to lead one to deeper, more obstinate, +scepticism, than to shed light on those doubtful +and tentative answers and indecisive controversies. +It is very much to be regretted that we have no +authentic record of the early immigration into +Japan from the pen of a contemporaneous writer, +so that we could thereby verify the interpretations +assigned to the remains found in the ancient +tombs. This is to be attributed to the lack of +the use of written characters among the aboriginal +people, as well as to the illiteracy of the early +immigrants. If we had as remains of prehistoric +Japan such valuable historic materials as have +been excavated in Europe and Western Asia, we +should have been able to deduce the history of its +early ages with a tolerable degree of certainty +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +from the remains themselves, independently of +any documental evidence. Unfortunately, however, +in this respect also, our prehistoric remains +consist only of a few kinds of earthenware, mostly +with very simple patterns on them, and some +other kinds of primitive utensils of daily use, such +as saddles, bridles, sword-blades, and the like. +Huge tombstones are sometimes found, but they +have no such inscriptions as we see on many +Greek sarcophagi, being provided only with a few +unintelligible, perhaps meaningless, scratches. As +to the primitive Japanese ornaments, very few +historical data can be gathered from them, for +they are generally beads of very simple design, +and of three or four different shapes. It is quite +hopeless to think that we should ever be able to +dig out a single dwelling, not to speak of a whole +palace, village, or town, on any Japanese historical +site, since no stone, brick or other durable material +was ever used in the construction of buildings. +As our stock of reliable, authentic information +concerning our origins is so scanty, it is +at the disposal of any one to manufacture whatever +hypothesis he chooses, however wild a speculation +it be, and sustain it as long as he likes +against any antagonist, not by proving it positively +and convincingly, but by pointing out the impossibility +of the opposing hypothesis, so that the +present state of archæological research in Japan +may be summed up as an intellectual skirmish carried +on by regular as well as by irregular militant +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +scholars. Therefore, in spite of the fact that +Japan now abounds in ethnologists, big and small, +each fashioning some new hypothesis every day, +there can be perceived only a very slow progress +in the solution of the fundamental question, "Who +are the Japanese?" We are almost at a loss to +decide to which assertion we can most agreeably +give our countenance with the least risk of receiving +an immediate setback. So I shall be content +to state here only those hypotheses, which +may be considered comparatively safe, although +they may not rise far above the level of conjecture.</p> + +<p class="indent">The only thing virtually agreed to by all investigators +engaged in ethnological inquiry concerning +Japan, is that the Ainu is the aboriginal race, +and that the Japanese so called belongs to a stock +different from the Ainu. Once for a time there +prevailed a hypothesis that there was a people +settled in this country previous to the coming +of the Ainu, who must be therefore an immigrant +race. It is said that the Ainu called this people +by the name of Koropokkuru. But very little indeed +is known about these supposed autochthons, +except that they were very small in stature, and +that this pigmy race receded and vanished before +the advancing Ainu. The theory had its foundation +only in some Ainu legends, and was not supported +by any archæological remains, which could +be attributed, not to the Ainu, but to a special +pigmy race only. Much reliance, therefore, could +not be placed upon this hypothesis, or rather +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +vague suggestion, and it was speedily dropped. +Still it is not yet decided whether the Ainu is the +real autochthon in Japan or an immigrant from +some quarter outside the Empire. Most of the +Ainologists are rather inclined to the opinion that +the Ainu himself is also an immigrant, though no +other race prior to him had settled in Japan. But +then there arises among scholars another disagreement, +that about the original home of the race. +Some hold the opinion that the Ainu came over +to the Japanese islands from the north or the +northwest, that is, from some coastal region of the +Asiatic continent on the other side of the Sea of +Japan. And there are not a few, too, who not +only trace the origin of the race into the heart +of Asia, but even go so far as to say that the +Ainu came from the same cradle as the Caucasian +race. Some go still further and localise +the origin of the race more minutely, identifying +the race as a branch of the protonordic race, akin +to the modern Scandinavians. On the other hand +there is a certain number of ethnologists, who entertain +the opinion that the Ainu immigrated into +Japan, from the south, and not from the north; +but no specified locality in the south has yet been +designated as the original home of the race. The +last hypothesis seems, however, not to be untenable, +when we consider that in historic times the +Japanese drove the Ainu more and more northward, +till the latter lost entirely its foothold in +Hon-to, and was at last hemmed in within a small +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +area in the island of Hokkaido and the adjacent +islets. From this fact it can be imagined with +some probability that the same direction of expansion +might have been taken by the Ainu also +in prehistoric times. The custom of tattooing, +also, which can be very seldom seen among the +northern Asiatic tribes, suggests to us, though +faintly, the possibility of the existence of a certain +kind of affinity between the Ainu and the inhabitants +of the tropical regions. On the other hand, +if we turn our attention to the outward features +of the Ainu race, and remember that races very +much resembling the Ainu are still lingering on +the northeastern shores of Asia, the immigration +from the northwest becomes not utterly improbable. +Even the supposition that the Ainu belongs +to the Aryan stock cannot be rejected as quite a +worthless speculation, if the paleness of the complexion, +the shape of the skull, and some other +characteristic features be taken into account. In +short, the ethnological uncertainty regarding the +Ainu race is, in all likelihood, one of the principal +causes of the obscurity concerning Japanese +race-origins. Sometime in the future, I have no +doubt, the racial riddle concerning the Ainu will +be cleared from the haze in which it is now +shrouded. Here, however, especially as I am not +now treating of ethnology, I will avoid forming +any hasty conclusion, and leave the question as +it stands.</p> + +<p class="indent">Whether the Ainu be autochthonous or immigrant, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +and whatever be the original home of the +race, if immigrant at all, the hairy people, it is +true, once spread all over these islands, not in +Hon-to only, but even to the southern end of the +island of Kyushu. This can be proved by the +pottery excavated in the provinces of Satsuma +and Ohsumi, and also by several geographical +names in Kyushu, the etymological origin of which +may best be traced to an Ainu source. As a matter +of fact, the Ainu had been gradually driven +northward, and the island of Kyushu wrested +from their hands, before the dawn of the historical +age, leaving perhaps here and there patches of +tribesmen, who were too brave or not speedy +enough to flee before the advancing conquerors. +And those remnants, too, after a faint survival of +some generations, were at last subdued, exterminated, +or swallowed up among the multitudes of +the surrounding victorious race or races. Thus +Shikoku, the island of the four provinces, and +the southwestern part of Hon-to were evacuated +by the Ainu before the end of the prehistoric age. +When the curtain rises on Japanese history, we +find the Ainu fighting hard against the Japanese +in the north of Hon-to.</p> + +<p class="indent">We have here designated the vanquishers of +the Ainu, for the sake of convenience, simply by +the name of Japanese. Were they the Japanese +in the same sense as the word is understood by +us now? Were the vanquishers a homogeneous +people, or a heterogeneous one? If the Japanese +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +were heterogeneous, who were the first comers +among them? Who were the most prominent? +All these are questions very hard to answer +clearly. It is sometimes argued that we had only +one stock of people in Japan besides the Ainu, +and that that stock is the homogeneous Japanese. +This view is not avowed openly by any scholar +worthy of mention, for it is an undeniable fact +that in the historical ages groups of immigrants, +intentional as well as unintentional, happened to +drift into Japan now and then, not only from +Korea and China, but from the southern islands +also, though not in great numbers, and the occurrence +of migrations similar to those in historic +ages cannot be absolutely denied to prehistoric +times. Besides, any one who pays even but cursory +attention to the physical features of the Japanese +can easily discern that, besides those who +might be regarded as of a genuine Korean or Chinese +type, there are many among them who +have a physiognomy quite different from either +the Korean or the Chinese, though one might +be at a loss to tell exactly whether the +tincture of the Malayan, Polynesian, or Melanesian +blood is predominant. In face of +such diversity, too clear to be neglected, none +would be bold enough to assert that the Japanese +has been a homogeneous race from the beginning. +Strangely enough, however, this evidently untenable +conception still lies at the bottom of many +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +historical hypotheses, which will be set right in +the future.</p> + +<p class="indent">If it is most probable that the Japanese is a +heterogeneous race, then what are the elements +which constitute it? The results of the investigation +of many scholars tend to place the home +of the bulk of the forefathers of the so-called +Japanese in the northeast of the Asiatic continent. +Perhaps, from the purely philological point of +view, this assumption may be more approximate +to the truth than any other. The singular position +of the Japanese language in the linguistic system +of the world leaves little room for the hypothesis +that the bulk of the race came from the +south, though it is not at all easy to derive it +from the north. In our language we have very +few words in common with those now prevailing +in the islands which stud the sea to the south of +Japan, or in the southern part of the Asiatic continent. +On the other hand, the language the most +akin to ours is the Korean, though the gap between +it and the Japanese language is far wider +than that between the Korean and the other continental +languages, such as the Mongolian and +the Manchurian. If we take, therefore, linguistic +similarity as the sole test of the existence of +racial affinity, as many scholars are prone implicitly +to do, then the bulk of the Japanese must belong +to a stock which stood at some time very +near to the forefathers of the Koreans, though +not descended from the Koreans themselves. In +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +other words, the Japanese race may be supposed +to have had as its integral part a stock of people, +who might have lived side by side with the ancestors +of the Koreans for a longer time than +with other kindred tribes. And if that be really +so, the Japanese must have separated from the +Koreans long before the end of the prehistoric +ages; otherwise we cannot account for so wide a +divergence of the two languages as we see at +present.</p> + +<p class="indent">It is a very dangerous feat, of course, to determine +any ethnological question solely from a philological +standpoint. For the sake of argument, +however, let us assume for a while the hypothesis +that the main element in the Japanese race came +over from the northern Asiatic continent on the +opposite shore of the Sea of Japan, by way, perhaps, +of the peninsula of Korea and the island of +Tsushima, or across the Sea of Japan. The ethnologists +who adopt this view assume that the +Chinese must be excluded from the above body +of immigrants, the Chinese who were doubtlessly +a far more advanced people even in those ages +than the other neighbouring races, and were destined +to become the most influential benefactors +of Japanese civilisation. If regarded from the +linguistic point of view only, it may be not at all +unnatural thus to exclude the Chinese blood from +the veins of our forefathers. In order to do so, +however, it would be necessary at the same time +to presuppose that the Chinese never came into +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +close contact with the forefathers of the Japanese +while the latter were sojourning on the Asiatic +continent. It is not, of course, impossible to suppose +that the ancestors of the greater part of the +Japanese came over into this country without +touching China anywhere, because they might +have come from eastern Siberia, northern Manchuria, +or some other quarter, narrowly avoiding +coming into contact with the Chinese, though, actually, +it is not a very easy matter to imagine such +a case.</p> + +<p class="indent">Let us, then, drop all idea of the Chinese, and +suppose that that race can be put aside in our +consideration of the prehistoric Japanese without +glaring unnaturalness. Still the question remains +unsettled, whether the bulk of our ancestors from +the continent contained within it the ruling class, +who gave a unity to the heterogeneous population +of this Island Empire. One would say that a certain +stock among many, who had their abode in +northeastern Asia, might have become predominant +over the kindred people of various stocks +settled previously in Japan. And the cause of the +predominance may be supposed to have been a +decided advance in civilisation on the part of the +chosen stock. That is to say, the tribe in question +might have been already in the iron age with +respect to its civilisation, while other tribes were +still lingering in the neolithic age. But in order +to sustain this supposition, it is necessary to premise +another assumption that the predominant +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +stock was comparatively late in coming over to +Japan, and that it had already attained the civilisation +of the iron age before its immigration into +Japan while the other inferior tribes remained at a +standstill in their civilisation after settling in our +country. Such an assertion, however, cannot be +deemed probable without admitting that there +was a considerable interruption of communication +between Japan and the Asiatic continent before +the immigration of the predominant stock. Otherwise +it would be very difficult to entertain the idea +that the civilisation of northeastern Asia could remain +alien to the inhabitants of Japan for so long +a time as to cause a wide difference in language, +manners and customs, and so on, between the peoples +on the two opposite shores of the Sea of +Japan.</p> + +<p class="indent">Besides, to suppose that the forefathers of the +greater portion of the Japanese people were immigrants +from northeastern Asia, is, by itself, +nothing but a hypothesis, supported by a few remains +only, which can be interpreted in more than +one way. To go one step farther, and assume +that the ruling class of the Japanese too came +over from the continental shore of the Sea of Japan +is another matter, too uncertain to be readily +accepted. Whatever degree of probability there +may be in these assertions, there are certain items +in our history to the natural interpretation of +which any solution of all the ethnological problems +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +must conform; and among those items the +following are the most important.</p> + +<p class="indent">The first to be considered is the style of the +Japanese building, especially the style of the +Shinto shrines and of the dancing halls frequently +attached to them. The architectural style of the +ordinary Japanese house has undergone many +successive changes during the long course of its +history, so that its primitive form is now, to a +great extent, lost. For instance, the <i>tatami</i>, a +thick mat, which covers the floor of a Japanese +room and is now one of the most remarkable +characteristics of Japanese household fittings, is +a comparatively modern invention, only planks +having been originally used as the material for +flooring. Buddhistic influences too can be traced +distinctly in a certain turn of construction copied +from China, first in building Buddhistic temples +and then widely adopted in building ordinary +dwelling-houses. In some essential points, however, +there are several traits which cannot be ascribed +either to an imitation of any continental +style or to the result of a gradual adaptation to +the climate. Any one can easily see that the ordinary +Japanese house may be good for summer +and for southern Japan, but not for winter, especially +for the rigid winter of northern Japan. +How did such a style come into being? If it had +been brought from the northeast of the Asiatic +continent by the ancient immigrants from those +quarters, it should have been a style more adapted +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +to the rigid climate of northern Japan, than we +find it is. On the other hand, if it were an outcome +of a natural development on the Japanese +soil, it should have been one more adapted to the +climate, as suitable for the winter as for the summer. +Does it not amount almost to an absurdity, +that the Japanese should still be following this +ancient style of architecture in building their +houses in Manchuria and Saghalen? Why do +they cling to it so tenaciously? One would say, +perhaps, that the architectural form of the ordinary +Japanese house has undergone changes from +various causes, so that one cannot fairly draw +absolutely correct conclusions about the primitive +dwellings of the ancient Japanese from its present +condition. If that be so, let us take the style +of the Shinto buildings into consideration. If it +can be thought, with reason, that the Shinto +building still best retains some of the characteristics +of the primitive Japanese house, then the +thatched roof of a peculiar construction with projecting +beams at both ends of the ridge-pole, together +with a highly elevated floor, the space between +which and the ground serves sometimes as +a cellar, cannot but suggest the existence of a certain +relation between the primitive houses of Japan +and those of the tropical regions lying to the +south of Asia, such as the Dutch East Indian +Archipelago and the Philippine Islands, or the +southeastern coast of the Asiatic continent.</p> + +<p class="indent">The next point not to be neglected is rice as the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +staple food of the Japanese. Everybody knows +that rice is a daily food stuff not only of the Japanese, +but of the Chinese and many other Asiatic +peoples. In the case of the inhabitants of northern +China, however, other kinds of cereals are +eaten as well as rice, as a natural consequence of +the scanty production of the latter in those regions. +And it is worthy of notice that even in southern +China this cereal is eaten not as is customary in our +country. There they eat rice as well as meat, or +rather more meat than rice, while here in Japan +meat and fish are mere ancillary foods, rice being +the chief article of diet. What is the cause of +this difference in the use of rice? Is Japan specially +adapted for the production of this grain? +Southern Japan of course is not unfit for the cultivation +of the plant, viewed from the point of +soil and warm climate only. But even there the +rice crop is very uncertain on account of the September +typhoons, which annually bring new +wrinkles of anxious care on the weatherbeaten +faces of our farmers. So <i>a fortiori</i> rice does not +conform to the climate of northern Japan, where +the frost arrives often very early and the whole +crop is thereby damaged, except a few precocious +varieties. This explains the reason, why there +have been repeated famines in that region, occurring +so frequently that it can be said to be an almost +chronic phenomenon. By the choice of this +uncertain kind of crop as the principal food stuff, +the Japanese have been obliged to acquiesce in a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +comparatively enhanced cost of living, which is +a great drawback to the unfettered activity of +any individual or nation. This is especially true +of recent times, since the growth of the population +has been constantly forging ahead in comparison +with the increase of the annual production of rice. +The tardiness of the progress of civilisation in +Japanese history may, perhaps, be partly attributed +to this fact. Then why did our forefathers +prefer rice to other kinds of cereals, in spite of +the uncertainty of its harvests? Was it really a +choice made in Japan? If the choice was first +made in this country, then the unwisdom of the +choice and of the choosers is now very patent. +On the other hand, to suppose that this choice +was made by our ancestors in northeastern Asia +during their sojourn in those regions is hardly +possible. Moreover, the general use of rice in +Japan has been constantly increasing. In old +times the use of it was not so common among all +classes of the people, though now it can be found +everywhere in Japan. This fact also leads us to +doubt the assumption that the cultivation of rice +was initiated in Japan, or that it was brought by +our ancestors from their supposed continental +home in northeastern Asia.</p> + +<p class="indent">What thirdly claims our attention is the <i>magatama</i>, +a kind of green bead, varying in size. It +is one of the few ornaments peculiar to the ancient +Japanese, though it does not seem probable +that its material was naturally produced in our +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +country. Without doubt our ancestors were very +fond of this kind of bijouterie. It has been excavated +in great numbers from old tombs, +throughout the whole of historic Japan, and the +sepulchral existence of the <i>magatama</i> is now generally +admitted by most Japanologists as an unmistakable +token of a former settlement of the +Japanese. It must, however, be remarked that, +on the Asiatic continent, <i>magatama</i> are found in +southern Korea only, the region which once +formed a part of the Japanese Empire. Surely +it should have been discovered in northern Korea +and on the Siberian coast of the Sea of Japan also, +if our forefathers, inclusive of the ruling class, +came over from northeastern Asia. It is very +curious that nothing of the kind has been discovered +as yet in those supposed original homes of +the Japanese.</p> + +<p class="indent">The last item we must mention here is the +<i>misogi</i>. The <i>misogi</i> is an old religious custom of +lustration by bathing in cold water. In a legend +of our mythical age, there is an account of this +antique ritual performed by two ancestral deities +in a river in Kyushu, and this ritual has come +down to our day, of course with some modifications. +The custom of actually bathing in the +water was afterward superseded by the throwing +of effigies into a river, in the annual ceremony +of praying publicly to deities. In medieval Japan +this usage continued to be practised at a riverside +in the summer; but it is almost extinct nowadays. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +On the other hand, not as a public ceremony, +but as a method of individual self-purification, +this custom of lustration is still practised by +many pious persons. Almost entirely naked, +even in the winter of northern Japan, they pour +on themselves several bucketfuls of cold water, +and thus purify themselves from head to foot, in +order to attest a very special devotion to the +deities to whom they pray. This custom of bathing +with its religious signification is something +that cannot find its likeness anywhere else, either +in northeastern Asia, or in China, or in Korea. +Whence, then, did the ancient Japanese get this +unique custom? Would it not be natural to suppose +the custom of bathing, including its religious +use, to have originated in some quarter of the +torrid regions of the earth than to speak of it as +initiated in the frigid zone?</p> + +<p class="indent">All the four items mentioned above ought by all +means to be interpreted adequately and naturally, +whatever standpoint one may take in solving +ethnological questions concerning the Japanese. +The hypothesis that the bulk of our forefathers +might have been immigrants from northeastern +Asia, is, as already said before, by itself +nothing but an assertion, supported mainly by the +form of certain prehistoric pottery, which may +possibly be interpreted otherwise, perhaps disadvantageously, +too, for the assertion. We may +accept the hypothesis as probable, taking into consideration +the proximity of the supposed home +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +of our ancestors to Japan. But it avails us not +at all in interpreting the points which I have +enumerated above. On the contrary, if we concur +with the supposition that the ruling class, also, +of the Japanese has its original home in the northeastern +part of the Asiatic continent like the bulk +of the race, then the interpretation of the aforesaid +items would become more difficult. It is true +that those who would like to derive the origin +of the Japanese from northeastern Asia, do not +absolutely deny the existence of a certain tropical +element in the final formation of the Japanese +race, but generally they think that the element +must have been very insignificant. They would +never go so far as to look to the element for the +bulk of our forefathers or for the ancestors of +the ruling class. If the tropical element be as insignificant +as they suppose, then we should be +naturally induced to imagine that those customs +alien in their essential nature to the soil and climate +of Japan were imported by those immigrants +from the tropical South who, insignificant, not only +in number, but also in influence, have, notwithstanding, +taken a firm root in the historical and +social life of the Japanese, struggling against the +opposition of overwhelming odds, far more numerous, +civilised, and powerful, an utterly impossible +hypothesis. How then, did such an incongruous +idea with its fatal conclusions come to be +entertained by scholars? Because they have too +great a faith in the power of civilisation, so-called, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +to decide the rise and fall of races in the primitive +age.</p> + +<p class="indent">Those who would uphold the assumption of +the northern origin of the Japanese, or at least +of its ruling class, tacitly presuppose that the +northeastern Asiatics of the prehistoric age were +several steps ahead of the contemporary tropical +peoples in the progress of civilisation, or at least +that one of the many tribes of northeastern Asia +was far superior to its neighbours as regards civilisation. +Otherwise they think that a certain stock +of people, which afterwards became the ruling +class in Japan, had attained already the civilisation +of the iron age while they were still on the +continent, so that when they came over to Japan +they would have been far more advanced than +the people who had settled in Japan before them. +Though it is but a conjecture, it is good so far as +it goes. To deduce the domination over alien +races simply from the superiority of the civilisation +must be another thing. Even in modern +times, sheer valour often tells more than superiority +of arms in deciding the fate of battles. This +must have been even more true in early ages. +The empire of Rome was broken asunder by the +semi-civilised Germans. In the East, China was +repeatedly overrun by nomadic tribes far inferior +to the Chinese in civilisation. What is true in +this respect in historic times, must be particularly +true in prehistoric ages. It is too superficial to +think that a tribe in the stage of the iron age +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +must necessarily conquer in fighting against other +tribes knowing and using stone weapons only. In +those ages it is strength, ferocity, courage, which +tell decidedly more in fighting than any weapon. +We need not therefore take much account of the +state of civilisation among different primitive +tribes in determining the origin of the Japanese +race.</p> + +<p class="indent">On the other hand, we are in no wise bound to +minimise the significance of the tropical element, +in number as well as in influence, as regards the +formation of the Japanese people. The remarkable +differences in distance make it very natural +to suppose that the immigrants from the tropical +regions might have been less numerous than those +from the north. Still it is not utterly improbable +that a pretty substantial number of the Southerners +might have come over into Japan, drifted +over not only by the current but by the wind also, +sometimes in groups, sometimes sporadically, and +that they could subdue the inhabitants by force of +martial courage yet unenervated and not by that +of a superior civilisation only. The main difficulty +in establishing this assertion lies in the fact +that it is not quite certain whether they were +really brave and heroic enough to achieve such +a conquest. As to the linguistic consideration +which is the favourite resort of many ethnologists +it can be said that it is not more harmful to the +one hypothesis than it is advantageous to the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +other. It is quite needless to argue that there is +little sign of the existence of any linguistic affinity +between the language of Japan and those of the +tropical lands, except in a few words. This lack +of linguistic affinity, however, can be explained +away, while maintaining the importance of the +ancient immigrants from the South, by considering +that the ancestors of the ruling class, having +been inferior as regards civilisation to the other +stock or stocks of people whom they found already +settled prior to them in Japan, and having +been perhaps inferior in number also, gradually +lost not only their language but many of their +racial characteristics as well. Similar examples +may be found in abundance in the history of +Europe, the Normans in Sicily, and the Goths in +Italy being among the most conspicuous. It is +not impossible to suppose the like process to have +taken place in Japan also.</p> + +<p class="indent">Summing up what is stated above, I cannot but +think that the prehistoric immigrants into our +country from the South were by no means a negligible +factor in constituting the island nation, +though the majority of immigrants might have +come from the nearest continental shores, and in +this majority it is not necessary to exclude the +Chinese element altogether. It seems to me probable +that southern Japan, especially the island +of Kyushu, was inhabited in the prehistoric age +by the Ainu, and by immigrants from the North +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +as well as from the South side by side. But what +was the relative distribution of these agglomerate +races at a certain precise date is now a question +very hard to settle definitely.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<p class="h2a">JAPAN BEFORE THE INTRODUCTION OF BUDDHISM +AND CHINESE CIVILISATION</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Before</span> entering into a description of the early +history of Japan, it may be of some service to +the foreign reader to learn when the authentic +history of Japan begins. Generally it is not an +easy matter to draw a distinct line of demarcation +between the historic and the prehistoric age in +the history of any country, and in order to get +rid of this difficulty, an intermediate age called +the proto-historic was invented by modern scholars, +and has been in vogue up to now. It is true +that, by making use of this term, one aim was +surely attained, but two difficulties were thereby +created in lieu of one dismissed. We were freed, +indeed from the hard task of making a delicate +discrimination between the historic and the prehistoric +age, but at the same time we took up the +burden of distinguishing the proto-historic age +from both the historic and the prehistoric! And +these new difficulties cannot be said to be easier to +meet than the old, so that it may be doubted +whether it was wise to intercalate the proto-historic +age between the two, if the promotion of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +scientific exactitude was the main purpose of such +an intercalation. A polygon, however the number +of its sides be augmented, can never make a +circle in the exact sense. I shall not, therefore, try +to adhere scrupulously to the above-mentioned +threefold division in discharging the task which +I have undertaken.</p> + +<p class="indent">Let me turn then to the line of demarcation between +the historic and the prehistoric age without +troubling myself about the proto-historic. This +line must be drawn by first making clear the signification +of the historic age, and not by defining +the term "prehistoric." What, then is the historic +age? It may be defined as an age, the authentic +history of which can, in a large measure, +be ascertained, or as an age which has an historical +record, contemporary and fairly reliable. It is +to be regretted that we cannot dispense with such +precautionary expressions as 'to a large measure' +and 'fairly', but we cannot avoid retaining them, +and therein lies the true difficulty of making an +exact demarcation. Moreover, an age, the history +of which was regarded at one time as impossible +of being ascertained, often may become +ascertainable as the result of ever-increasing discoveries +of new materials as well as of the new +methods of their deciphering. In other words, +the demarcation, however conscientiously made +at one time, is liable to be shifting, and the reason +for the demarcation gradually changes <i>pari passu</i>. +As the word prehistoric has now begun to be used +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +independently of 'historic', the historic age may +be better defined as an age which has a civilisation +advanced enough to have a record of its own. So +far a country may be said to be in an historic age, +even at an epoch the historical sources of which +are considered not to be extant anywhere, only +if the standard of civilisation be high enough for +that. Unless we adopt this definition, the line +of demarcation may shift more and more into antiquity, +as the result of ever-increasing discoveries +of new materials as well as of the methods of +their interpretation, and the demarcation itself +will become of very little value. So far a country +may be said to be in an historic age, even at an +epoch the historical sources of which are considered +not to be extant anywhere. But how can +we know whether a country has reached a stage +of civilisation advanced enough to have its own +record? It is almost impossible to discover this +point without resorting to authentic historical +sources. And in order that we may so resort, +those sources must be extant. In this way if we +want to make the demarcation full of significance, +we have to beg the question <i>ad infinitum</i>.</p> + +<p class="indent">In the history of Japan, too, what is said above +holds true, and the demarcation, however dexterously +made, will not assist much in the study +of it. Among foreigners, however, the question +how far can we go back with certainty in the history +of Japan, is a very popular topic, and has +been discussed with very keen interest. For the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +sake of elucidation, therefore, I will give a short +account of the early chronicles concerning the history +of our country.</p> + +<p class="indent">Among the old chronicles of Japan there are +two which are especially conspicuous. The one +is the <i>Kojiki</i>, the other the <i>Nihongi</i>. It is generally +admitted that these two chronicles are the +oldest extant and the most substantial of all the +historical sources of ancient Japan. The compilation +of the former was concluded in 712 A.D. +by a savant called Oh-no-Yasumaro, while that +of the latter was undertaken by several royal historiographers, +and finished in 720 A.D. under the +auspices of Prince Toneri. That the compilation +of the two great chronicles took place successively +in the beginning of the eighth century is one of the +symptoms showing the dawning of the national +consciousness of the Japanese, to which I shall +refer in the following chapters. In their characteristics, +these two chronicles differ somewhat +from each other. The materials of the <i>Kojiki</i> +were first made legible and compiled by Hieta-no-Are, +an intelligent courtier in the reign of the +Emperor Temmu, and afterwards revised by the +aforesaid Oh-no-Yasumaro. Considering that +there was only a very short time left at the disposal +of Yasumaro to spend in revising the work +before dedicating it to the Empress Gemmyo, it +can be safely concluded that Yasumaro did not try +to make any great alteration, and the <i>Kojiki</i> remained +for the most part as it had been compiled +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +by Hieta-no-Are. The other chronicle, the <i>Nihongi</i>, +was finished eight years after the <i>Kojiki</i>, +and submitted to the Empress by Prince Toneri, +the president of the historiographical commission. +If we suppose this commission to be a continuation +of what was inaugurated by the royal order +of the Emperor Temmu in the tenth year of his +reign, then the commission may be said to have +taken about forty years in compiling the chronicle. +In some respects the <i>Kojiki</i> may be regarded as +one of the byproducts of the compilation, Hieta-no-Are +being probably one of the assistants of +the commission. The essential difference between +the two chronicles is that the <i>Kojiki</i> was exclusively +compiled from Japanese sources, written +by Japanese as well as by naturalized Koreans, +and retained much of the colloquial form of ancient +Japanese narrated stories, while in the case +of the <i>Nihongi</i> many Chinese historical works +were consulted, and historical events were so arranged +as to conform to what was stated in those +Chinese records. Many <i>bon mots</i>, it is true, were +often borrowed from ancient Chinese classics, and +this ornamented and exaggerated style was often +pursued at the expense of historical truth, and on +that account most of the later historians of our +country give less credit to the <i>Nihongi</i> than to +the <i>Kojiki</i>, though this scepticism about the former +is somewhat undeserved.</p> + +<p class="indent">It is beyond question that the two chronicles +mentioned above are the oldest historical works +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +written in Japan, now extant. They are not, however, +the earliest attempts at historical compilation +in our country. Just a hundred years before +the compilation of the <i>Nihongi</i> was finished, the +Empress Suiko, in the twenty-eighth year of her +reign, that is, in 620 A.D. ordered the Crown +Prince, known as Shôtoku, and Soga-no-Umako, +the most influential minister in her court, to compile +the chronicles of the imperial house, of various +noted families and groups of people, and a +history of the country with its provinces. If these +chronicles had been completed and preserved to +this day, they would have been the oldest we +have. Unfortunately, however, by the premature +death of the Crown Prince, the compilation was +abruptly terminated, and what was partly accomplished +seems to have been kept at the house of +Soga-no-Umako, until it was burnt down by his +son Yemishi, when he was about to be executed +by imperial order in 645 A.D. Fragments of the +archives, it is said, were picked up out of the blazing +fire, but nothing more was ever heard of them. +There is a version now called the <i>Kujiki</i>, and +this has been misrepresented to be that very chronicle, +which, it was feigned, was not really lost, +but offered in an unfinished state to the Empress +the next year after the death of prince Shôtoku. +If this be true, the record which was burnt must +have been one of several copies of the incomplete +chronicle, which, as Euclid would say, is absurd! +It is now generally agreed that the chronicle is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +spurious, though it may contain some citations +from sources originally authentic.</p> + +<p class="indent">Whatever be the criticism on the chronicle <i>Kujiki</i>, +there is no doubting the fact that the work +of compiling a history was initiated in the reign +of the Empress Suiko, and partly put into execution. +Not only that. There might have been +many other chronicles and historical manuscripts +in existence anterior to the compilation of the +<i>Nihongi</i>, and afterwards lost. In the <i>Nihongi</i> +are mentioned the names of the books which were +consulted in the course of compilation. Among +them may be found the names of several sets of +the annals of a peninsular state called Kutara, +various Chinese historical works, and a history +of Japan written by a Korean priest. Some of +the books are not named explicitly, and passages +from them are cited as "from a book" merely, +but we can easily perceive that they were mostly +from Japanese records.</p> + +<p class="indent">So far I have spoken about chronicles which +were compiled of set purpose as a record of the +times and worthy to be called historical works. +As to other kinds of manuscripts, for instance, +various family records and fragmentary documents +of various sorts, there might have been a +considerable number of these, and it is probable +that they were utilized by the compilers of the +<i>Kojiki</i> and of the <i>Nihongi</i>, though the latter mentions +very few of such materials, and the former +is entirely silent concerning its sources. The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +question then arises how this presumably large +number of manuscripts came to be formed. We +have no written character which may be called +truly our own. All forms of the ideographs in +use in our country were borrowed from China, +intact or modified. And in ancient Japan an utter +lack of knowledge of the Chinese characters prevailed +for a long time throughout most classes of +the people. If this were so, by whom were those +documents transcribed? In the reign of the Emperor +Richû, <i>circa</i> 430 A.D., scribes were posted +in each province to prepare archives, a fact which +implies that the emperor and magistrates had +their own scribes already. Who then were appointed +as the scribes? To explain this I must +turn for a while to the history of the Korean +peninsula and its relations with China.</p> + +<p class="indent">Wu-ti, the most enterprising emperor of the +Han dynasty, was the first to push his military +exploration into the Korean peninsula, and from +107 B.C. onward the northern parts of the peninsula +were successively turned into Chinese provinces. +This was the beginning of the infiltration +of Chinese civilisation into those regions. Afterwards +on account of the internal disturbances of +the Chinese empire, her grip on the conquered +provinces became a little loosened, but at the beginning +of the third century A.D. a strong independent +Chinese state constituted itself on the +east of the river Lyao, and Chinese influence +thereby once more extended itself vigorously over +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +the northern half of the peninsula: a new province +was added to the south. In the districts +which had thus become Chinese provinces, not +only were governors sent from China, but a number +of colonists must also have settled there, so +that through them Chinese civilisation continued +to infiltrate more and more, though very slowly, +into the peninsula. This infiltration lasted till the +middle of the fourth century, when the Chinese +provinces in the peninsula were overrun and occupied +by the Kokuri or the Koreans properly +so called, who came from the northeast, and by +this invasion of the barbarians the progress of +civilisation in the peninsula was for a time obstructed. +Still there might have remained a certain +number of the descendants of the older Chinese +colonists, and it is possible that they still +retained some vestige of the civilisation introduced +by their ancestors. The history of the peninsula +at this period may be well pictured by comparing +it to the history of Britain with its lingering +Roman civilisation at the time of the Saxon +conquest. It is just at the end of this period that +Japan came into close contact with the peninsular +peoples.</p> + +<p class="indent">It is almost impossible to ascertain from reliable +sources how far back we can trace our connection +with the peninsula. According to a +chronicle of Shiragi, a state which once existed in +the southeast of the peninsula, one of the Japanese +invasions of that state is dated as early as +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +49 B.C. Since the value of the chronicle as historical +material is very dubious, it is dangerous to +put much faith in this statement at present. We +may, however, venture to assume that in the first +half of the third century A.D. the intercourse +between Japan and Korea became suddenly very +intimate. Japan invaded the peninsula more frequently +than before, and our emissaries were despatched +to the Chinese province established to +the north of it. Nay, not only that, some of them +penetrated into the interior of China proper, as +far as the capital of Wei, and on the way back +seem to have been escorted by a Chinese official +stationed in the peninsular province. Memoirs +by those Chinese who had thus opportunities of +peeping into a corner of our country, were incorporated +by Chen-Shou, a Chinese historian at the +end of the third century, in his general description +of Japan, a chapter in the <i>San-kuo-chih</i>, which +has remained to this day one of the most valuable +sources concerning the early history of our +country. This intercourse between the peninsula +and Japan, sometimes friendly and sometimes +hostile, happened to be accentuated by the expedition +of the Empress Jingu to Shiragi in the +middle of the fourth century. Soon after this expedition, +Chinese civilisation, which had achieved +a considerable progress during the long Han +dynasty, began to flow into Japan, and effected a +remarkable change in both the social and the +political life of our country. For just at this time +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +the two northern states of the peninsula, Korea +or Kokhuri and Kutara, advanced rapidly in +their civilisation, so that a school to teach Chinese +literature was founded in the former, while in +the latter a post was instituted in the royal service +for a man of letters. And Shiragi, another +state in the south-eastern part of the peninsula, +ceased to be a barrier to communication between +those two peninsular states and Japan, as it had +been before the expedition of the Empress.</p> + +<p class="indent">Among the boons conferred by the introduction +of Chinese civilisation through the intermediation +of the peninsular states, that which had had +the most beneficial and enduring effect was the use +of the written character. It cannot be said with +certainty that the Chinese characters were totally +unknown to the Japanese before the aforesaid +expedition of the Empress. On the contrary, +there are several indications from which we can +surmise that they had chances to catch glimpses +of the Chinese ideographs. It is beyond the scope +of probability, however, to suppose that these +ideographic characters were used by the Japanese +themselves at so early a period, in order to commit +to writing whatever might have pleased them +to do so. At the utmost we cannot go further +than to assume that certain immigrants from the +peninsula, some of whom probably came over to +this country before the expedition, as well as their +descendants, might have used the Chinese ideographs. +Among the immigrants some may have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +been of Chinese origin while others were of peninsular +origin, but imbued with Chinese culture. +But even in these cases the use of the characters +must have been limited to recording their own +family chronicles or simple business transactions. +It can be believed, too, that the number of those +who were acquainted with the written characters +at that time was very small even among the immigrants +themselves. It is needless to say that +public affairs were not yet committed to writing. +That up to the time of the expedition the standard +of civilisation in the peninsular states stood +not much higher than that of Japan may also account +for the illiteracy which had continued so +long.</p> + +<p class="indent">Shortly after the Empress Jingu's incursion +into Korea the literary culture of the peninsular +states rose suddenly to a higher standard than +that of our country, and enabled them to send +into Japan men versed in writing and reading +Chinese characters. At the same time their immigration +was encouraged by the Japanese emperors, +and some of the literati were enlisted into +the imperial service. As Japan had at that time +a quasi-caste system, everybody pursuing the profession +which he had inherited from his forefathers, +and people belonging to the same profession +forming a group by themselves, several groups +were thus formed, which made reading and writing +their exclusive profession. Almost all the +scribes appointed in the reign of the Emperor +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +Richû must have belonged to one of the families +in those groups. As a matter of course members +of the imperial family and those belonging +to the aristocracy began in process of time to be +initiated in the elements of Chinese literature; +but still, writing, as a business, continued to be +entrusted to the members of the groups of the +penman's craft, and they, too, rejoiced in monopolising +posts and professions which could not +dispense with writing, as secretaries, councillors, +notaries, and ambassadors to foreign countries, +and the like. Naturally chroniclers and historians +were to be found solely among them, and there +remains little doubt that far the greater part of +the historical manuscripts consulted by the compilers +of the <i>Nihongi</i> were written by those professional +scribes.</p> + +<p class="indent">It is not much to be wondered at that the art +of writing was entrusted to certain groups of +people, while the dominant class in general remained +illiterate. What is most strange is that +such a condition could continue for a very long +time in our country, the learned groups, who had, +in their hands, the key of public and private business, +being subjected to the rule of the illiterate. +Could it not be explained by supposing that the +ruling class of ancient Japan, though destitute of +book education, yet was endowed with natural +abilities, which were more than enough to cope +with the literary culture of that time? If otherwise, +then their prestige should have been easily +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +shaken by the class of literati within a short interval. +It is to be regretted that we have very +few sources to prove positively the ability and +attainments peculiar to the Japanese of that time, +but this long continuance of the illiteracy of the +ruling class may serve as a negative proof, that +at least the ruling class was a gifted people, more +gifted than was to be surmised from their illiteracy.</p> + +<p class="indent">Here the reader would perhaps ask, must the +condition of ancient Japan remain shrouded in +mystery forever? Will it be utterly impossible +to know something positive about it? On the contrary, +however vague, uncertain, and incredible +legends and sources concerning them may be, still +we may extract some positive knowledge from our +scanty and often questionable materials, so as +to obviate the necessity of groping hopelessly in +the dark. That the ancient Japanese were averse +from any kind of pollution, physical as well as +mental, can be unmistakably perceived, evidence +being too prevalent in numerous legends, and it +can also be attested by many manners and customs +preserved until the later ages. This is the +real essence of future Shintoism. About the rite +of the <i>misogi</i>, or bathing, I have already spoken +in the foregoing chapter. Wanting literary education, +they did not know what hypocrisy was, and +were quite ignorant of the art of sophistication. +Being utterly naïve, it was not uncommon that +they erred in judgment. But once aware of their +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +fault, they could not help going to lustrate themselves +and make atonement, in order to get rid of +sin. Warlike and superbly valiant, they were very +far from being vindictive. Traits of cruelty are +hardly to be found in the mythological and legendary +narratives. The ancient Japanese were, we +have good reason to believe, more humorous than +the modern Japanese.</p> + +<p class="indent">The description of Japan in the <i>San-kuo-chih</i> +furnishes many interesting data besides what I +have stated above. We learn from it that our +ancestors were not in the least litigious, and +thieves were rare. Transgressors of the law +were punished with confiscation of wives and +children. In case of the more serious crimes, +not only the criminal but his dependents also were +subjected to severe penalties. Women were noted +for their chastity. Elders were respected, and instances +of longevity sometimes reckoning a +hundred years of age were not rare. Augury was +implicitly believed in, and when people were at +a loss how to decide in public affairs as well as +in private, they used to set fire to the shoulder +bone of a deer, and by the cleavage thereby produced, +divined the will of the deities. When they +had to set out for a long voyage, they accompanied +a man, who took upon himself the whole +responsibility for the safety of the voyage and +the health of all on board, by subjecting himself +to a hard discipline, and leading a very ascetic +life. If any of the crew fell ill, or the tranquillity +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +of the voyage was disturbed, he was called +on to put his life at stake. Periodical markets +used to be opened in several provinces, where commodities +were exchanged. Tribute was paid by +the people in kind. Cattle and horses were rarely +to be seen. Though iron was known in making +weapons, yet arms made of other materials such +as bone, bamboo, flint, and so forth were still +to be found in use here and there.</p> + +<p class="indent">Such was the state of our country as witnessed +by Chinese visitors in the first half of the third +century A.D. Their observations might not have +been very accurate, but they strangely coincide in +general with conclusions which could be drawn +from Japanese sources. The author of the <i>San-kuo-chih</i>, +moreover, says that there was a great +resemblance in manners and customs between +Japan and the island of Hai-nan on the southern +coast of China. This assertion may be highly suggestive +as to the ethnological study of Japan. An +ancient custom of Japan called <i>kugatachi</i>, a kind +of ordeal to prove one's innocence by dipping a +hand into boiling water and taking out some article +therefrom unhurt, is said to have been practised +by the people of Hai-nan too. To believe +hastily, however, in a racial connection between +the Japanese and the inhabitants of Hai-nan is a +very dangerous matter. Another fact that cannot +be overlooked in the Chinese narratives is a +passage concerning the continual warfare in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +Japan, though only a short description of it is +given in them.</p> + +<p class="indent">In the preceding chapter I have spoken about +the heterogeneity of the Japanese as a race. +Among the various racial factors, however, none +was able to keep for a long time its racial independence +and separateness from the bulk of the +Japanese except the Ainu. Other minor factors +were lost in the chaotic concourse of races or +swallowed up in the midst of the most powerful +element. Even the Kumaso, who were once the +strongest element in the island of Kyushu, succumbed +to the arms of the Japanese not long after +the peninsular expedition of the Empress Jingu. +The Ainu, too, intermingled with the dominant +race wherever circumstances were favourable to +such a union. Having been the predecessors of +the Japanese, however, in the order of settling in +this country, and having moreover been the next +most powerful race to it, the Ainu only have been +able to retain their racial entity, though continuously +decreasing in numbers, up to the present +time.</p> + +<p class="indent">In the long history of the antagonism between +the Japanese and the Ainu, which covers more +than a thousand years, the Ainu were on the +whole the losing party, retreating before the +Japanese. Surely, however, they must have made +a stubborn resistance now and then. That they +formerly occupied the island of Kyushu, we know +from the archæological remains. But, from reliable +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +historical records, we cannot know anything +certain about the race, until the time when they +are to be found fighting against the Japanese in +the northern part of Hon-to. Still it is beyond +doubt, that there must have been not a few intervening +phases, and one of the phases, which +is important, coincides with the period when the +visit of the Chinese officials took place.</p> + +<p class="indent">Most of the countries of the world may be +divided into two or more parts, the people of each +of which differ from those of the others in mental +and physical traits. Boundary lines in this case +generally conform to the geographical features +of the land, but not necessarily so always. If we +have to draw lines dividing the island of Hon-to +in accordance with linguistic considerations, it is +more natural to divide it first into two rather than +into three or more parts, and the dividing line here +is not the most conspicuous geographical boundary. +The line begins on the north at a spot near +Nutari, on the Sea of Japan, a little eastward +of the city of Niigata in the province of Yechigo, +and after running vertically southward, on the +whole keeping to the meridian of 139° 1/3 E. +till it reaches the southern boundary of the province, +it turns abruptly to the west along the boundary +between Yechigo and Shinano, which lies +nearly on the latitude 36° 5/6 N.; and then it +runs again toward the south along the western +boundary of the provinces Shinano and Tôtômi, +which is almost identical with the meridian 137° +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +1/2 E. This is of course an average line drawn +from several linguistic considerations, such as +accentuation, dialectic peculiarities and the like, +but at the same time, besides the linguistic differences +there are other kinds noticeable on both +sides of the line. It would not therefore be very +wide of the mark, if we adopt this line as a boundary +dividing Hon-to with regard to the difference +in the standard of the civilisation in general. No +other line drawn on the map of Japan can divide +it in such a way as to make one part so distinctly +different from the other. If the reader will +glance at the map, he can easily see that the line +does not well agree with the geographical features, +especially in those parts running vertically +southward. No insurmountable natural barrier +can be found, particularly on the Pacific coast. +Consequently the best interpretation of the boundary +line must come not from geography, but +from history.</p> + +<p class="indent">Not only in the case of Japan, but in Western +countries too, broad rivers or big mountain chains +do not necessarily form the lines of internal and +external division. The great Balkan range could +not hinder the Bulgarians of East Roumelia from +uniting with their brethren to the north of the +mountain. The Rhine, the most historic river in +the world, has never in reality been made a boundary +between France and Germany which could +last for long, and the antagonism of the two countries, +which has continued for many centuries, is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +the result of the earnest but hardly realisable desire +on both sides to make the river a perpetual +boundary. More than that, even inside Germany +the Rhine joins rather than divides the regions on +both sides of it.</p> + +<p class="indent">Take again for example the boundary between +England and Scotland. If we follow merely the +geographical conditions, we may shift the boundary +line a little northward, or perhaps southward +too, with better or at least equal reason. In +order to account for the present boundary, we +cannot but look back into the history of the district, +from the age of the Picts and Britons downward. +If it had been a dividing line of shorter +duration dating only from the Middle Ages, it +would not have been able to maintain itself so +long, and the differences of not only dialects but +of temperament and various mental characteristics +would not have been so decisive.</p> + +<p class="indent">We have no Picts-wall, no limes in our country, +but the boundary line delineated above divides +Japan into two parts, the one different from the +other in various ways, more remarkably than +could be effected by drawing any other boundary +line elsewhere. Then where lies the reason which +makes the Ainu line so significant? It must be +attributed to the fact that the line stood for +many centuries as a frontier of the Japanese +against the Ainu. In other words, the Ainu must +have made the most stubborn resistance on this +line against the advancing Japanese. Japan had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +to become organised and consolidated in a great +measure, so as to be called a well-defined entity, +before the Japanese could penetrate beyond the +line to the east and north. The exploration of +Northern Japan is the result of this penetration +and of the infiltration of the civilisation which had +come into being in the already compact south. +Thus the difference between the two parts grew +to be a clearly perceptible one. In some respects +it can be well compared to the difference between +Cape Colony and the two states, the Transvaal +and the Orange Free State, which were formed +by the emigrants from the former.</p> + +<p class="indent">The fortress of Nutari had been for a long +time the outpost of the Japanese against the Ainu +on the side of the Sea of Japan. With this fortress +as a pivot the boundary line gradually turned +toward the north, pushed forward by the arms +of the Japanese. The movement must have been +made at a very unequal pace in different ages, and +where the progress was very slow or stopped +short and could not go on for a long time, there +we may draw another boundary line, thus marking +several successive stages. Politically to efface +the significance of these lines was thought to be +necessary for the unification of the Empire by the +Emperors and their ministers in successive ages, +and in that respect more than enough has been +achieved by them. Apart from political considerations, +however, those lines, which mark the +boundaries in successive phases, are almost perceptible +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +to this day. And none of those lines is +so full of meaning as the one which I have emphasised +above. At first sight it would seem +strange that while the fortress of Nutari remained +stationary as an outpost for a very long +time, there cannot be found any corresponding +spot on the Pacific side east of the line. But the +difficulty may be cleared away easily, if one thinks +of the fact that the line was moved on more +swiftly to the right than to the left where the fort +Nutari was situated.</p> + +<p class="indent">In the first half of the third century after +Christ the Japanese were still fighting on the line +against the Ainu. And the time when the Chinese +officials came over to this country falls in the same +period. In the description given in the <i>San-kuo-chih</i> +the names of about thirty provinces under the +suzerainty of the court of Yamato are mentioned, +to identify all of which with modern names is a +very difficult and practically a hopeless task. But +this much is certain, that none of them could have +denoted a province east of the line. Moreover, +we can tell from a passage in the same work that +the war with the Ainu at that time had been a +very serious one for our ancestors, for it is stated +that the course of the war was reported to the +Chinese official stationed in the peninsular province +by the Japanese ambassador despatched +there.</p> + +<p class="indent">Turning to the southwestern part of Japan, it +cannot be said that the whole island of Kyushu +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +was already at the disposal of the Emperor of +that time. In the region which roughly corresponds +with the province of Higo, a tribe called +the Kumaso defied the imperial power, and continued +to do so to an age later than the period +of which I have just spoken. It was perhaps not +earlier than the middle of the fourth century that +their resistance was finally broken. South of the +Kumaso, there lived another tribe called the Haito +in the district afterwards known as the province of +Satsuma. Some of the tribesmen were wont to +serve as warriors in the army of the Emperor +from very early times, especially in the imperial +bodyguard. Still the imperial sway could not +easily be extended to their home. The last insurrection +of the Haito tribe is recorded to have +happened at the end of the seventh century. That +these southern tribes were subdued more easily +than the Ainu on the north, may be attributed to +the fact that their numbers were comparatively +small, and that they might have been more akin +in blood to the important element of the Japanese +race than the Ainu were. +</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<p class="h2a">GROWTH OF THE IMPERIAL POWER. +GRADUAL CENTRALISATION</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">It</span> is a privilege of historians to look back. By +looking back I do not mean judging the past from +the standpoint of the present. Though it is quite +obvious that past things should be valued first by +the standards of the age contemporaneous with +the things to be valued, it would be a great mistake, +if we supposed that the duty of historians +was fulfilled when they could depict the past as it +was seen by its contemporaries. Historians are +by no means bound to adhere to the opinions of +the ancients in judging of what happened in the +past. How a past thing was viewed and valued by +its contemporary is in itself an important historical +fact, which must be subjected to the criticism +of historians. Not only to have a clear idea of the +views held by the people of a certain period as +regards contemporaneous events, a task which is +not hopelessly difficult though not very easy, but +also to know why such and such views happened +to be held by those people at that time, is a duty +far more important and difficult to discharge. +Historians ought, besides, to make clear the absolute +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +value of such views and the effects of them +on the age in question as well as on the period +that followed. However necessary it may be to +be acquainted with the thoughts and beliefs of +former generations, it is not indeed incumbent +upon us to believe blindly what was believed in +the past and to think on the same lines as was +thought by the ancients. Who would not laugh +at our folly, for example, if we should consider +the whale of old times to have been a kind of fish, +simply because the ancients did not know it to be +a species of mammalia, though by such a supposition +we might perhaps be very loyal to the old +beliefs? As the result of investigations over long +years, many things that have been held to be totally +different by ancient peoples have been found +to be similar to one another, nay, sometimes just +the same. On the other hand, there have not +been wanting examples in which essential differences, +though considerable in reality, have been +overlooked or thought to be negligible, and first +discerned only after the researches of hundreds of +years. In uncivilised times, generally speaking, +men were rather quick to observe outward and +superficial distinctions, while very slow to discover +internal and essential variations. There was a +time in the far-off days of yore, both in the East +and in the West, when some people held themselves +to be unique and chosen, and regarded +others, who were apparently not as they were and +spoke languages different from their own, to be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +decidedly inferior in civilisation to themselves, or +to be more akin to beasts than to human beings. +Were the Japanese then at the beginning of their +history different from other peoples at a similar +stage of development, or were they unique from +the first? To give too definite an answer to such +a question is always a mistake. Our forefathers +were certainly different from other peoples in certain +respects, but they had much in common with +others too. To be unique is very interesting to +look at, but it does not follow necessarily that +what is unique is always worthy of admiration. +Uniqueness is an honour to the possessor of that +quality only when he is inimitably excellent on +that account. On the other hand, to possess much +of what is common to many is far from being a +disgrace. Among things which are not unique at +all may be found those which have universal validity, +and are by no means to be despised as commonplace. +Our forefathers had not a few precious +things which were singular to themselves, +but at the same time they had much in common +with outsiders too, and by that possession of common +valuables, the history of Japan may rank +among those of civilised nations, being not only +interesting but also instructive.</p> + +<p class="indent">By the Japanese of later ages it was supposed +that all people outside historic Japan were radically +different from themselves, thus forgetting +that their own ancestors had been of mixed blood. +This proves, by the way, how easily the process +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +of amalgamation and assimilation of different +races was accomplished in ancient Japan. There +was hardly a tinge of racial antipathy among our +forefathers of old. Parallel with the sense of +discrimination against other people, which must +have been founded on the perception of superficial +differences and on that account not deep-rooted, +there prevailed among them an ardent love for +all sorts of things foreign, and they extended a +hearty welcome to all the successive immigrants +into Japan, from whatever quarter of the world +they might come. Far from being maltreated, +these immigrants were not only allowed to pursue +their favourite occupations of livelihood, but +were even entrusted with several important posts +in the government and in the Imperial Household. +Our forefathers did not hesitate, too, to import +sundry foreign, especially Chinese, customs and +institutions, with or without alteration. Such +spontaneous importation readily accomplished, +evidently implies that Japan was considered by +the ancient Japanese to have had much in common +with China, so that the same ways of living might +be followed, and similar legislation might be put +into practice here as well as there. More than +that. Our ancestors naïvely believed themselves +able to see the same effects produced by the same +legislation here as in China, like ignorant farmers, +who sometimes foolishly expect to be able to reap +the same harvests by sowing the same kinds of +seed, forgetting the differences in the nature of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +the soil. So eager were they to transplant everything +foreign into Japan. At the present time, +there are similarly many who think that things +foreign can be planted in this country so as to bear +the same fruit as in their original homes, and who +therefore would try to import as many as possible. +The only difference between them and the +ancient Japanese lies in the fact that their preferences +are for things European instead of things +Chinese. Now-a-days the Japanese are frequently +described as a people who entertain an inveterate +antagonism to foreigners. Can such an opinion +hold ground in the face of the indisputable evidence +of Japan's importation of so many foreign +things, material as well as spiritual?</p> + +<p class="indent">Returning to the point, did Japan become a +country resembling China, as was wished by the +Sinophil Japanese of old times? On the contrary, +the uniqueness, which lay at the foundation of +the political and social life of our country, was +not thereby much impaired. Even now it is clear +to everybody that Japan is not behind any other +country in possessing what is unique. It must +be borne in mind, however, that what the ancient +Japanese thought to be sufficient to distinguish +themselves from other people was not the same +as that which makes the modern Japanese think +their country to be unique. At the same time it +can be said that ancient Japan, while unique in +some respects, was in a similar condition, social +and political, as other countries were at a similar +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +stage of their civilisation. What, then, was the +state of Japan in the beginning of her history? +It is this which I am going to describe.</p> + +<p class="indent">In a foregoing chapter I stated that the Japanese, +whatever ethnological interpretation be given +to them, can hardly be considered as autochthons. +Most probably the greater part of them was descended +from immigrants; in other words, their +forefathers were the conquerors of the land. +What then was the chief occupation of these conquerors? +To this question various answers have +been already given by different historians. Some +hold that agriculture was the main occupation to +which our ancestors looked for a living, while +others maintain that they chiefly depended for +subsistence on more unsettled sorts of occupation, +that is, on hunting or fishing. All that can be +ascertained is that the forefathers of the Japanese +did not lead, at least in this country, a nomadic +life, so that both cattle and horses were rare or +almost unheard of in very ancient times. It is +very probable, too, that in whatever occupation +the original Japanese might have been chiefly engaged, +they must have been also acquainted with +the elements of agriculture at the same time. No +reliable evidence, however, can be found to answer +this question. In this respect the certitude +of the early history of Japan falls far short of +that of the German tribes, which, though not civilised +enough to have left records of their own, +were yet fortunate enough to be described by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +writers of more civilised races, especially by the +Romans. Early Japan seems not to have had as +intimate an intercourse with China as the early +Germans had with Rome, so that we have great +difficulty in ascertaining any details about social +and political conditions as well as the modes of +life of the ancient Japanese, in the same way as +that in which we are acquainted with the early +land-system of the Germans, their methods of +fighting, and so forth. As to the land-system of +early Japan, almost nothing is known about it until +the introduction of the Chinese land-distribution +procedure in the first half of the seventh +century. We cannot ascertain whether there was +anything which might be compared with the early +land-system of the Teutons. The introduction of +the elaborate organisation of the T'ang dynasty +into our country may be interpreted in two ways. +It may be assumed that a land-distribution similar +to that of the Chinese had already existed in +Japan, and that this facilitated the introduction of +the foreign methods, which were of the same +type but more highly developed, or we may deny +the previous existence of any such arrangement in +our country, reasoning from the fact that the +newly introduced foreign system could not take +deep root in our country on account of its incompatibility +with native traditions. What, however, +we can state with some degree of certainty concerning +the early history of Japan, prior to the +introduction of Chinese institutions, is that the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +people, or rather groups of people, figured in the +social system as objects of possession quite as +much as did landed property.</p> + +<p class="indent">The land of Japan, so far as it had been conquered +and explored by our forefathers up to the +Revolution of the Taikwa era in the first half of +the seventh century, consisted of the imperial domains +and the private properties held by subjects +by the same right as that by which the emperor +held his domains. In other words, the relation of +the emperor with his subjects was not through +lands granted to the latter by the former, but +was a personal relation. The idea of vassalage +due to the holding of crown lands seems not to +have been entertained by the early Japanese. +From the point of view of the free rights of the +landholders, ancient Japan resembles early German +society. Only the way which the tenant took +possession of his land can not be ascertained so +definitely as in the case of allod-holding in Europe. +There is no doubt, however, that not only land +but persons also formed the most important +private properties. Needless to say, people who +dwelt on private land were <i>ipso facto</i> the property +of the landowner. Without any regard to land +a seigneur of early Japan could own a certain number +of persons, and in that case the land inhabited +by them naturally became the property of their +master.</p> + +<p class="indent">The Emperor, who was the greatest seigneur +as the owner of vast domains and of a large number +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +of persons, ruled at the same time over many +other seigneurs, the big freeholders of land and +serf. It may be supposed also that there might +have been many minor freemen besides, who were +not rich enough to possess sufficient serfs to cultivate +their grounds for them and, therefore, were +obliged to support themselves by their own toil. +Nothing positive is known, however, about them, +if they ever really existed. The right of a +seigneur over his clients was almost absolute, even +the lives and chattels of his clients being at his +disposal, though the seigneur himself lay under +the jurisdiction of the Emperor. Some of the +seigneurs were men of the same race as the imperial +family, their ancestors having helped in the +conquest of the country. Others were scions of +the imperial family itself. It is very probable, +nevertheless, that no insignificant portion of this +seigneur class was of a blood different from that +of the imperial family, having sprung from the +aboriginal race, or from immigrants other than +the stock to which the imperial family belonged.</p> + +<p class="indent">The extent of the land over which a seigneur +held sway, was in general not very great, so that +it cannot be fairly compared with any modern +Japanese province or <i>kuni</i>. Side by side with +these seigneurs who were lords of their lands, +there was another class of seigneurs, who were +conspicuous, not, strictly speaking, on account of +the land which they <i>de facto</i> possessed, but on +account of their being chieftains of certain groups +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +of people. Some of these groups were formed +by men pursuing the same occupation. Groups +thus formed were those of fletchers, shield-makers, +jewellers, mirror-makers, potters, and so +forth. Performers of religious rites, fighting-men, +and scribes, too, were grouped in this class. +It must be especially noticed that groups of men-at-arms +and of scribes contained a good many +foreign elements, far more distinctly than other +groups. Scribes, though their profession as a +craft was of a higher and more important nature +than others, were, as was explained in the last +chapter, exclusively of foreign blood. On account +of this there was more than one set of such immigrants, +and we had in Japan several groups of +scribes. As to soldiers or men-at-arms, those who +served in the first stage of the conquest of this +country must have been of the same stock as the +conquering race. Later on, however, quite a number +of men who were not properly to be called +Japanese, as, for example, the Ainu and the Haito, +began to be enlisted into the service of the Emperor, +and notwithstanding their difference in +blood from that of the predominant stock, their +fidelity to the Emperor was almost incomparable, +and furnished many subjects for our old martial +poems.</p> + +<p class="indent">All these were groups organised on the basis +of the special professions pursued by the members +of each respective group, although many of +the groups might consist eventually of persons of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +homogeneous blood. Besides these groups there +was another kind based solely on identity of blood, +that is to say, on the principle of racial affinity. +When we examine the circumstances of the formation +of such groups, we generally find that +a body of immigrants at a certain period was +constituted as a group by itself by way of facilitating +the administration. Sometimes several +bodies of immigrants, differing as to the period +of immigration, were formed into one large corps. +In the corps thus formed, there would have naturally +been people of various occupations, connected +only by blood relationship.</p> + +<p class="indent">The third kind of group was quite unique in +the motive of its formation. It was customary +in ancient times in Japan to organise a special +group of people in memory of a certain emperor +or of some noted member of the imperial family. +This happened generally in the case of those personages +who died early and were much lamented +by their nearest relations. Sometimes, however, +a similar group was formed in honour of a living +emperor. As it was natural that groups thus +formed paid little attention to the consanguinity +of their members, it is presumable that they might +have consisted of persons of promiscuous racial +origin. On the other hand, it is also clear that +there could be no necessity for conglomerating +intentionally men of heterogeneous racial origin in +order to effect a mixture of blood between them. +Such a motive is hardly to be considered as compatible +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +with the spirit of the age in which the +scrutinising of genealogies was an important business. +Added to this, the organisation of a group +out of people of different stocks would have incurred +the danger of making its administration +exceedingly difficult. As to the profession pursued +by persons belonging to such a group, any +generalisation is difficult. Some groups might +have been organised mainly from the need of creating +efficient agricultural labour, in order to provide +for the increasing necessity of food stuffs; +in other words, from the need for the exploration +of new lands. Other memorial groups might +have been formed for the sake of providing for +the need of various kinds of manual labour, and +must have contained men of divers handicrafts +and professions, so as to be able to provide for all +the daily necessities of some illustrious personage, +to whom the group was subject. When men of +promiscuous professions formed a group and produced +sundry kinds of commodities, the custom +of bartering must have naturally arisen within it, +but the stage of bartering in a market, periodically +opened at a certain spot, such as is described in +the <i>San-kuo-chih</i>, must have been the result of a +gradual development. Moreover, it would be a +too hasty conclusion to say that such a group was +a self-providing economic community. On the +other hand, to suppose that such a group was a +corporation something like the guilds of medieval +Europe would be absurd. Though the members +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +of a guild suffered greatly under the oppression +of its master, still no relation of vassalage is recognisable +in the system. In old Japan, however, +men grouped in the manner described above belonged +to the chieftain of that group, that is to +say, they were not only his subjects but his property, +to be disposed of at his free will. As to +the groups which pursued a special craft, I do not +deny the existence of the practice of bartering +between them. In a society in the stage of civilisation +of old Japan, no one could exist without +some sort of bartering, and the ruling hand was +not so strong and rigorous as to be able to prohibit +an individual of the group from exchanging +the work of his hands with those of men of neighbouring +groups, even when the lord of the group +wished contrariwise. And it must be kept in mind +that though a member of the group of a special +profession pursued that profession as his daily +business, yet he must have been engaged in agricultural +work also, tilling the ground, presumably +in the midst of which his house stood. Agricultural +products thus raised could perhaps not cover +all the demands of his family for subsistence. +But, on the other hand, that all the victuals they +required were supplied by barter or by distribution +on the part of the chieftain of the respective +group is hardly to be imagined.</p> + +<p class="indent">A group pursuing the same occupation was of +course not the only one allowed to pursue it, nor +was their habitation limited to one special locality. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +In other words, there were many groups which +were engaged in the same occupation, and those +groups had their residence in different provinces. +It is not clear whether all the groups pursuing the +same craft were under the jurisdiction of a common +chieftain. The fact is certain, however, that +many groups engaged in the same craft often +had a common chieftain, notwithstanding their +occupying different localities. The chieftain of a +group was sometimes of the same blood as the +members of the group, as in the case where the +group consisted of homogeneous immigrants. The +chieftains of immigrant craft-groups, the number +of which was very much limited in this country, +belonged to this category. Sometimes, however, +the chieftain of such a craft-group was not of the +same stock as the members of the group under +him, though the latter might be of homogeneous +blood. This was especially the case when a group +was that of arms-bearers composed of Ainu or +Haito. These valiant people were enlisted into +a homogeneous company, but they were put under +the direction of some trustworthy leader, who was +of the same racial origin as the imperial family +or who belonged to a race subjected to the imperial +rule long before. Lastly, in the case where +a group was a memorial institution, it is probable +that the chieftain was nominated by the emperor +without regard to his blood relationship to the +members of the group under him.</p> + +<p class="indent">Summing up what is stated above at length, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +there were two kinds of seigneurs who were immediately +under the sovereignty of the Emperor; +the one was the landlord, and the other was the +group-chieftain. It is a matter of course that the +former was at the same time the chieftain of the +serfs who peopled the land of which he was the +lord, while the latter was the lord <i>de facto</i> of the +land inhabited by himself and his clients, so that +there was virtually very little difference between +them. As regards their rights over the land and +the people under their power it was equally absolute +in both cases. The principal difference was +that the right of the former rested essentially +on his being the lord of the land, and that of the +latter on his being the chieftain of the people. +How did such a difference come into existence?</p> + +<p class="indent">The fact that there were many landlords who +were not of the same stock as the imperial family, +might be regarded as a proof that they were descendants +of the chiefs who held their lands prior +to the coming over of the Japanese, or, more +strictly, before the immigration of the predominant +stock. They acquiesced afterwards in, or +were subjected to, the rule of the Japanese, but +the relation between the Emperor and these landlords +was of a personal nature, and the right of +the latter over their own land remained unchanged. +Later on many members of the imperial +family were sent out to explore new lands at the +expense of the Ainu, and they generally installed +themselves as masters of the land which they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +had conquered. These new landlords assumed, +as was natural, the same power as that which was +possessed by the older landlords mentioned above. +The power of the imperial family was thus extended +into a wider sphere by the increase in the +number of the landlords of the blood royal, but +at the same time the power of the Emperor himself +was in danger of being weakened by the overgrowth +of the branches of the Imperial family.</p> + +<p class="indent">As to the chieftains of groups, they must have +been of later origin than the landlords, for to be +a virtual possessor of land only as the consequence +of being chieftain of the people who happened +to occupy the land shows that the relation +between the people and the land inhabited by +them was the result of some historical development. +Moreover, the grouping of people according +to their handicrafts must be a step far advanced +beyond the pristine crowding together of +people of promiscuous callings. It is also an important +fact which should be taken into consideration +here again that the greater part of the craft-groups +consisted of immigrants. From all these +data we may safely enough assume that the chieftains +who were at first placed at the head of a +certain group of people perhaps came over to this +country simultaneously with the predominant +stock, or came from the same home at a time +not very far distant from that of the migration +of the predominant stock itself, and that they distinguished +themselves by their fidelity to the emperor; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +in short, these chieftains might have been +mostly of the same racial origin as the imperial +family, except in the case of groups formed by +peninsular immigrants of later date. The increasing +organisation of such groups, therefore, must +have led to the aggrandizement of the power of +the imperial family; but there was, of course, the +same fear of a relaxation of the blood-ties between +the emperor and the chieftains akin in blood to +him.</p> + +<p class="indent">Such are the general facts relating to the social +and political life of Japan before the seventh century. +If its development had continued on the +lines described above, the ultimate result would +have been the division of the country among a +large number of petty chieftains, heterogeneous in +blood and in the nature of the power which they +wielded, and with very relaxed ties between themselves +and the emperor. We can observe a similar +state of things even today among several uncivilised +tribes, for example, among the natives of +Formosa and in many South Sea Islands. Japan, +however, was not destined to the same fate. How +then did it come to be consolidated?</p> + +<p class="indent">Centralisation presupposes a centre into which +the surroundings may be centralised. This centre +or nucleus for centralisation may be an individual +or a corporate organism. As regards the latter, +however, in order to become a nucleus of centralisation, +it must be solidly organised, which is +only possible in an advanced stage of civilisation. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +For Japan in the period of which I am speaking, +such a centre could create only a very loose centralisation, +which could be broken asunder very +easily. To have Japan strongly centralised, it +was necessary for her to have an individual, that +is to say the Emperor, as a nucleus of centralisation.</p> + +<p class="indent">We have seen the process by which the predominant +stock of the Japanese grew in power +and influence, as well by exploring new lands and +installing there men of their own stock as lords, +as by organising more and more new groups out +of the immigrants who came over to this country, +and, perhaps, also out of a certain number of +autochthons. Within the predominant stock itself +the imperial family was no doubt the most +influential. Most of the new landlords were recruited +from the members of that family, and +many memorial groups were instituted in their +honour and for their sakes. Stretches of land +which were exploited by these clients and on that +account stood under the rule of the family increased +gradually. Such an estate was called +<i>miyake</i>, which meant a royal granary, a royal +domain. The number of these domains constantly +grew as time went on. Not only in the neighbourhood +of the province of Yamato, in which the +emperors of old time used to have their residence, +but also in several distant provinces new <i>miyake</i> +were organised. It is no wonder that they were +more generally instituted in the western provinces, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +especially in the coastal provinces of the Inland +Sea and in the island of Kyushu rather than in +other directions, because it was natural that the +imperial house, which is said to have had its first +foothold in the west, should have had a stronger +influence in those parts than in provinces close to +lands still retained by the Ainu and not yet occupied +by the Japanese. Still it is a credit to the +power of the imperial house that in the first half +of the seventh century, we can already find such +royal domains in the far eastern provinces of +Suruga and Kôtsuke.</p> + +<p class="indent">The method of increasing the <i>miyake</i> was not +limited to the exploitation only of new ground previously +uncultivated. Some of the chieftains were +loyal enough to present to the emperor a part +of their own dominions or a portion of their clients, +with or without the lands inhabited by them. +Confiscation, too, was a method often resorted to, +when the crimes of some of the landlords, such +as complicity in rebellion, insult to high personages +of the imperial family, and so forth, merited +forfeiture. Sometimes there were penitents who +made presents of their lands or people, in order +either not to lose or to regain the royal favour. In +these sundry ways the imperial family was enabled +to increase its domains to a very large extent, domains +which, it should be noted, were cultivated +mostly by groups of immigrant people, generally +superintended by capable men of the same groups +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +who knew how to read, write and make up the +accounts of the revenue.</p> + +<p class="indent">This increase in number of <i>miyake</i> was in itself +the increase of the wealth of the imperial +family, and the increase of its power at the same +time. It is a matter of course that such growth +of the imperial family contributed largely to the +increase of the imperial power itself, and was +therefore a step toward centralisation. With a +family as centre, however, a strong centralisation +was impossible at a time when there was no definite +regulation concerning the succession. The law +of primogeniture had not yet been enacted. +Princesses were not excluded from the order of +succession. In such an age too strong a centralisation +with the family as its nucleus, if it had +been possible, could only have been a cause of +constant internal feuds. The interests of certain +members of the imperial family might have come +into collision with those of the reigning Emperor, +and indeed such clashes were not rare.</p> + +<p class="indent">Besides this weakness which was like a running +sore in the process of centralisation, there was +another great drawback to the growth of the imperial +power. This was the increase in power +and influence of certain chieftains. At first there +were many chieftains of nearly equal power, and +as none among them was influential enough to lord +it over all the others, it was not very difficult for +the imperial family to avail itself of the rivalry +that prevailed among them and to control them +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +accordingly. Some families among the chieftains, +however, began to grow rich and powerful like +the imperial family itself, while the greater part +of them remained more or less stationary, so +that a wide gap between the selected few and +the rest as regards their influence became perceptible. +Thus five conspicuous families, those +of Ohtomo, Mononobe, Nakatomi, Abe, and +Wani, first emerged from the numerous members +of the chieftain class. The family of the Soga, +which was descended from Takeshiuchi, the minister +of the Empress Jingu, became afterwards +very prominent, so that only two of the former +five, namely, the Ohtomo and the Mononobe, +could cope with it. Among the three which became +prominent in place of the former five, the older +two continued to be engaged exclusively in warlike +business, while the third provided both ministers +and generals. The magnitude of their influence +in the latter half of the fifth century can be +well imagined from the fact that the Emperor +Yûryaku complained on his death bed that his +vassals' private domains had become too extensive.</p> + +<p class="indent">Such was the result which, it was natural to +anticipate, was likely to accompany the growth +of Japan under the rule of a predominant stock. +It could not be said, however, to be very beneficial +to the real consolidation of a coherent Empire. +For a sovereign, even if he had had +strength enough to exercise absolute rule, it must +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +have been far more difficult to govern a few powerful +chieftains than to rule over many of lesser +influence. It is needless to say that such must +have been the case in an age when the relations +of the reigning emperor and of the imperial +family were not well organised in favour of the +former. Many like examples may be cited from +the early history of the Germans, especially from +that of the Merovingian and the Carlovingian +dynasties. Among the few prominent chieftains, +a certain one family, <i>primus inter pares</i>, might +become exceedingly powerful and then overshadow +the rest. In Japan, too, there was not +lacking a majordomo who was growing great at +the cost of the imperial prerogative.</p> + +<p class="indent">This tendency was too apparent not to be perceived +by the sagacious emperors of succeeding +ages. Increasing their material resources, therefore, +was thought by them the best means of +strengthening themselves and of guarding against +the usurpation of their power by ambitious vassals. +Long before the Korean expedition of the +Empress Jingu, accordingly, the increase of the +royal domains was assiduously aimed at. The +Korean expedition itself may be considered as one +of the evidences of the endeavour to develop the +imperial power. For to lead an expedition oversea +necessarily connotes a consolidated empire. +War, however uncivilised the age in which it is +carried on, must be, more than any other undertaking, +a one man business. So we can not err +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +much in supposing that, at the time of the expedition, +the centralisation of the country with the +emperor as its nucleus was already in course of +progress. Without being socially organised and +consolidated, it would have been very hard to +muster a people not yet sufficiently organised in a +political sense. It was enacted just about this +time, that all the royal granaries or domains +which were situated in the province of Yamato, +where successive royal residences had been established, +should be the inalienable property of the +reigning emperor himself, and that even the heir +to the throne should not be allowed to own any +of them. This enactment may be said to have +been the beginning of the separation of the interests +of the reigning emperor himself from those +of the imperial family, and it has a great historical +importance in the sense that the process +of centralisation with an individual, and not a +family, as its centre, was already in course of development.</p> + +<p class="indent">To recapitulate my previous argument, in order +to have a strongly organised Empire, first of all +it was necessary at that time to put an end to the +still growing power of the prominent chieftains, +for the decrease in the number of chieftains only +helped to make the remaining few stronger and +more threatening. Secondly, not the imperial +family but the reigning emperor himself must +be made the nucleus of centralisation. This then +was the necessity of our country and the goal of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +the endeavours of succeeding emperors. What +most accelerated this process of centralisation, +however, was the introduction of Buddhism and +the systematic adoption of Chinese civilisation, +imported, not through the intermediation of the +peninsular states, but directly from China herself. +The former contributed by changing the spirit of +the age, so that innovation could be undertaken +without risking the total dissolution of the not +yet sufficiently consolidated Empire, while the +latter facilitated the organisation of the material +resources already acquired, and paved the way for +their further increase.</p> + +<p class="indent">It is commonly stated that in 552 A.D., the +thirteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Kimmei, +Buddhism was first introduced into Japan, +for that is the date of the first record of Buddhism +in the imperial court. Owing to the researches +of modern historians, however, that date +is no longer accepted as the beginning of Buddhism +in Japan. Buddhism, which is said to have +been first introduced into China in the middle of +the first century after Christ, began to flow into +the Korean peninsula some three hundred years +later. Among the three peninsular states, the +first which received the new religion was Korea +or Kokuri, which was the nearest to China. The +Korean chronicle says that in 364 A.D. Fu-Chien, +a powerful potentate of the Chin dynasty, which +existed in northern China at that time, sent an +ambassador to Korea, accompanied by a Buddhist +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +priest. Twelve years later than Korea, Kutara +received Buddhism from southern China. +Shiragi was the latest of the three to accept the +new religion, for it was not until 527 A.D. that +Buddhism was recognized in that state. Perhaps, +however, the people of Shiragi had been acquainted +with it at an earlier epoch, though it +would not be surprising if this had not been the +case. The geographical position of Shiragi +obliged it for long to be the last state in the peninsula +to receive Chinese civilisation. It is not +the Buddhism of Shiragi, therefore, but that of +Korea and Kutara which had to do with the history +of our country.</p> + +<p class="indent">At that time, in the southern part of the peninsula, +there were many minor semi-independent +communities under the tutelage of Japan. A resident-general +was sent from Japan to whom the +affairs of the protectorate were entrusted. +Though the existence in the peninsula of a region +subject directly to the Emperor of Japan, that +is to say, the extension oversea of the Japanese +dominion, is not certified to by any written evidence, +the history of the early relations between +Japan and the peninsula cannot be adequately explained, +unless we assume that this imperial domain +on the continent was the stronghold of +Japanese influence over the peninsula, around +which the minor states clustered as their centre. +Kutara, which divided the sphere of Japanese influence +from Korea, had been suffering much from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +the encroachment of the Koreans on the north. +To counteract Korea, which allied herself with +the successive dynasties in northern China, Kutara +tried to court the favour of the states which +came successively into existence in southern China. +That Buddhism in Kutara was propagated by +priests from China meridional may account for +the intercourse which grew up between the peninsular +state and the south of China. Still, however +much Kutara might have desired assistance from +that quarter, the distance was too great for it to +have obtained any efficient relief, even if the +southern Chinese had wished to afford it, so that +Kutara was at last compelled to apply for help +to Japan, which was the real master of the land +bordering it on the south. This is the reason why +soon after the expedition of the Empress Jingu, +Kutara initiated a very intimate intercourse with +our country. From that state princes of the blood +were sent as hostages to Japan one after another, +an unruly minister of that state was summoned +to justify himself before an Emperor of Japan, +a topographical survey of Kutara was undertaken +by Japanese officials, and reinforcements were +despatched thither several times from our country. +After all, Japan was not the losing party in +her peninsular relations. The knowledge of the +Chinese classics was the most important boon the +intercourse conferred on our country. Not less +important was the introduction of Buddhism.</p> + +<p class="indent">The doubt, however, remains whether Buddhism, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +which began to flow into Kutara in 376 +A.D., could have remained so long confined in +that state as not to have been introduced into +Japan till 552 A.D., notwithstanding the intimate +relations between the two countries. The worship +of Buddha must have been practised at an +earlier period, most probably in private, by immigrants +from the peninsular state, who had already +imbibed the rudiments of the new religion +in their original home. Moreover, in speaking of +the propagation of Buddhism in Japan, we must +look back into the history of our intercourse with +southern China.</p> + +<p class="indent">In the preceding chapter I mentioned the description +of our country given in the <i>San-kuo-chih</i>. +There we are told that intercourse was carried on +between Japan and northern China through the +Chinese provinces in the peninsula. It was the +two peninsular states arising out of the ruin of +these Chinese provinces which paved the way for +the intercourse of Japan with southern China. +Not only did we obtain through Kutara knowledge +about southern China under the dynasty of +the East Chin, but the first Japanese ambassadors +sent thither at the beginning of the fifth century +could reach their destination only through +the intermediation of Korea or Kokuri, which +furnished our ambassadors with guides. After +that there were frequent goings to and fro of the +people of China and Japan, notwithstanding the +rapidly succeeding changes of dynasty in southern +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +China. It was through the intercourse thus initiated +that several kinds of industry, more especially +weaving, were introduced into Japan +from southern China, and had a very deep and +enduring effect on the history of our country. +There were immigrants, too, from southern China +into Japan, and among them, some were so pious +as to build temples in the districts in which they +settled, and to practise the cult of Buddha, +which they had brought with them from their +homes. Ssuma-Tateng of the Liang dynasty, who +came over to Japan in 522 A.D., is one of the outstanding +examples. Such was the history of Buddhism +in Japan before the memorable thirteenth +year of the Emperor Kimmei. The event which +happened in that year, therefore, has an importance +only on account of the pompous presentation +by Kutara of Buddhist images and sutras to our +imperial court.</p> + +<p class="indent">Who, then, first countenanced, patronised, and +was converted to the newly imported religion? +Naturally the progressives of that age, among +whom the Soga were the foremost. Unlike the +two other conspicuous families of Ohtomo and +Mononobe, who served exclusively as military +lords, the family of Soga supplied not only the +military, but the civil and diplomatic services +also. This naturally gave them very frequent access +to the imported civilisation in contrast to the +simple soldiers, who are generally prone to be +more conservative than civil officials. As the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +chief administrator and chief treasurer, the Soga +family could not dispense with the employment +of secretaries, whose posts were monopolised at +that time by groups of immigrant scribes. In +this way the immigrants from the peninsula, afterwards +reinforced by those coming direct from +southern China, flocked to the palace of the Soga +family, and they worked naturally for the increase +of the power of their patron. In short, +a large number of men, furnished with more literary +education than the ordinary Japanese of the +time, became the clients of the family.</p> + +<p class="indent">Of the two rivals of the Soga family, that +which was the first to decline in power was the +Ohtomo. The next to decay was the family of +the Mononobe. The fall of the rivals of the +Soga must be attributed to the growth of the +latter family, which owed much to the help given +by the immigrants mentioned above. And as the +introducers of Buddhism were to be found among +these immigrants, it was very natural that the +family of Soga should be among the first to be +converted to the new religion. Thus the aggrandisement +of the Soga family, the propagation of +Buddhism which it patronised, and the progress +of civilisation in general went on hand in hand. +In the middle of the sixth century, that is to say, +in the reign of the Emperor Kimmei, Iname was +the head of the Soga family. In his time the +Mononobe family could still hold its own against +him, though at some disadvantage. When, however, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +Umako, the son of Iname, succeeded his +father, he was at last able to overthrow the power +of his antagonist Moriya of the Mononobe, after +defeating and killing him in battle, with the aid +of the prince Shôtoku, who was also a devotee of +the new religion.</p> + +<p class="indent">Thus in the course of several hundred years +the gradual process of centralisation had been +slowly drawing to its goal. In the beginning of +the seventh century at last, the noted families of +old were all eclipsed by the single family of the +Soga, which towered alone in wealth and power +above the others. At the same time instead of +having the imperial house as the nucleus of centralisation, +the Emperor began to tower high +above the other members of his family. He was +the owner of a very vast domain and of a multitude +of people of various classes. He was the +head of the ancestral cult. The sacred emblem of +his divine origin, which had formerly been kept +in the imperial camp, was now removed from the +palace for fear of profanation, and taken to its +present resting-place in the province of Ise. Yet +the removal did more to increase than to lessen +the sanctity of his person. On the other hand, his +authority was in danger of being usurped by the +all-powerful mayor of the palace, the family of +Soga, which had become too strong for the emperor +easily to manage. The times became very +critical. In order to push still further the process +of centralisation which had been going on, and to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +make the empire better consolidated, some decisive +stroke was necessary. And the revolutionary +change was at last accelerated by the overgrown +power of the Soga family, the opening of regular +intercourse with China, and above all the strong +necessity within and without to consolidate the +empire more and more.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<p class="h2a">REMODELING OF THE STATE</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Japan</span> stood on the verge of a crisis, and it +was saved from catastrophe by two causes. First, +by the ceaseless importation of high Chinese civilisation, +which steadily encouraged the political +concentration; secondly, by the necessity of centralisation +so as to push on vigorously the attack +on the still powerful Ainu.</p> + +<p class="indent">As I have mentioned several times before, the +Ainu had been a losing party in the racial struggle +with the Japanese, yet their resistance had been +a very stubborn one, so that at the end of the sixth +century they could still hold their ground against +the Japanese on the southern boundary of the +present provinces of Iwaki and Iwashiro, which +roughly corresponds to latitude 37° N. The northern +part of Japan, therefore, was still in constant +danger of incursions by the hairy race. For a +country in the infant stage of consolidation, as +Japan was at that time, it was by no means an +easy task to ward off the frequent inroads of that +race, and at the same time to continue the process +of the inner organisation of the state. One would +perhaps wonder at my conclusion, starting from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +the consideration that the Ainu scare was not such +a fearful thing as to influence the natural growth +of a state formed by the stronger race. This misconception +arises from the ignorance of the fact +that the famous dictum "delenda est Carthago" +was only pronounced after the first Punic war. +Necessity by itself does not create the desire to +secure what is necessary. The desire to attain any +aim first comes into consciousness when one begins +to feel strong enough to venture to attain it. +When the Ainu was very powerful, the Japanese +had to contend with them mainly in order to secure +a foothold against them. It was none the +less necessary for the Japanese to continue to +struggle with the Ainu, when the former became +strong enough to face the antagonist evenhanded. +Lastly, the time arrived now when it became an +urgent necessity for the Japanese to crush the +Ainu, in order to achieve undisturbed a full political +organisation in the domain within the four +seas. In short, when the Japanese became so +convinced of their might that they could not tolerate +any rival within the principal islands, they +found it even more indispensable to organise themselves +as compactly as possible under one strong +supreme head than ever before.</p> + +<p class="indent">What most facilitated the centralisation under +the imperial rule was of course the imported Chinese +civilisation. To say sooth, several centuries +of the slow infiltration of that high civilisation +had already attained a great deal of influence, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +but it was rather a smuggled, and not a really +legalised importation. Moreover, China herself, +the source from which the civilisation had to +be imported, had been dismembered for a long +time, so that until 581 A.D. the country could +hardly be called a unified state at all. How could +we expect to find in a country where no order +ruled a model suitable to be employed as exemplar +to effect a durable political reform. It is not +strange, therefore, that, notwithstanding the long +years of intercourse between the two countries, +only a very slight change had been thereby occasioned +in our country as regards our political organisation. +Any change which was wrought in +our political sphere by Chinese influence was effected +in a very indirect way, having worked its +way through multifarious social changes caused +by the contact with the high alien civilisation. No +direct political clue could be followed up from +China to this country. To achieve the purpose +of borrowing from China the necessary materials +for the reconstruction of political Japan, we had +to wait longer, that is to say, till the inauguration +of regular intercourse between this country and +China also politically unified and concentrated.</p> + +<p class="indent">That memorable year came at last. In 607 +A.D. Ono-no-Imoko was despatched as official envoy +to China, which at that time was under the +second emperor of the dynasty of Sui. Even before +this date, however, since the accession of the +Empress Suiko, as the result of the busy intercourse +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +between us and the peninsular states, various +arts and useful sciences of Chinese origin had +been introduced into this country, among which +astronomy, the oldest perhaps of all sciences everywhere +in the world, was the most noteworthy. +Connected with this science, the art of calendar-making +was introduced for the first time into Japan. +It would be a gross mistake, if we thereby +conclude that we had no means of defining the +dates of events prior to this introduction. Although +we could not by ourselves make an independent +calendarial system, yet the Japanese, at +least the naturalised scribes, had already been acquainted +with two chronological methods. The +one was to define a date by counting from the year +of the accession of a reigning emperor. The +other method was that which had prevailed long +since in China, that is to say, to define a date by +counting according to the cyclical order of the +twelve zodiacal signs, interlaced with the cyclical +order of ten attributes, so that to complete one +cycle sixty years were necessary. Some groups +of scribes, perhaps, pursued the former method, +while others favoured the latter. Contradictory +statements and evident repetitions abundantly +found in the <i>Nihongi</i> were thus occasioned by the +existence of historical materials, dated according +to two different chronological systems. For the +compilers of the famous chronicle sometimes mistook +one and the same event found in different +sources and given in two different chronological +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +systems, for two independent events resembling +each other only in certain superficial respects. +Otherwise they misunderstood two entirely distinct +events having the same cyclical designation +in date as a single occurrence, narrated in two +different ways, ignoring the fact that there might +have been two like events which happened at a +chronological distance of sixty years or some multiple +of that cycle of time. Confusion of this +kind was unavoidable in ages where there was +no established method of defining a historical date. +It was a great gain, therefore, that astronomy and +the art of calendar-making chanced to be introduced +in 602 A.D., the tenth year of the reign of +the Empress.</p> + +<p class="indent">Another not less important boon which we received +from China through the peninsular states +was the gradation of official ranks. Anterior to +this period we had something like a hierarchical +system with the emperor as the political and social +supreme, but the system, if it could be called such, +was nothing but a chain of vassalship fastened +very loosely. It was far from a well-ordered +gradation, which is in reality the beginning of +equalisation and could only be effected by a very +strong hand. The dignity of the emperor could +be excellently upheld by having under him gradated +subjects, but the gradation itself did not hinder +those subjects from thinking that they were +equals before the emperor as his subjects. This +gradation came into practice in the year 604 A.D.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +In the same year the famous "Seventeen Articles" +was also promulgated. This was a collection +of moral maxims imparted to all subjects, +especially to administrative officials, as instructions. +The principle pervading the articles unmistakably +betrays that much of it was borrowed +from Chinese moral and political precepts. The +only exception is the second article, which encouraged +the worship of Buddha. It was natural +that such articles should be decreed by Prince Shôtoku, +who was under the tutorship of a Korean +priest and a naturalised peninsular savant.</p> + +<p class="indent">Having so far adopted the elements of Chinese +civilisation secondhand through the peninsular +states, we could savour the taste of refinement +enjoyed by the then highly advanced nation on +the continent, embellish thereby life in the court +and in high circles, and promote not a little our +political centralisation. We were thus put in the +state of one whose thirst becomes much aggravated +after taking a sip of water. At the helm +of the state was a very intelligent personage, +Prince Shôtoku, nephew and son-in-law of the +Empress and heir-presumptive to the throne. It +was natural for him and the progressive minister, +Umako of the Soga, to crave for more of the +Chinese knowledge and enlightenment. The peninsular +states, which were never very far advanced +in civilisation, had transmitted to us all +that they could teach. There was little left in +which those states were in advance of us. Then +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +where should we turn to obtain more learning and +more culture except to China herself?</p> + +<p class="indent">Diplomatic considerations were also an inducement +for us to be drawn towards China more +closely than before. Just at this time we were +gradually losing our ground in the peninsula as +the result of the constant incursions of ascendant +Shiragi into the Japanese protectorate, and of the +perfidious policy of Kutara, which feigned to be +our ally only for the sake of playing a dubious +game against her neighbours, and paid more respect +to China than she did toward Japan. Kokuri +in the north, the strongest of the three peninsular +states and the danger to waning Kutara, was +just, at a critical time, menaced by China under +the quite recently established dynasty of Sui. No +wonder that Japan wished to know more about +China, the country with which we had been already +communicating directly as well as indirectly, +though very sporadically. An envoy to China +was the natural consequence.</p> + +<p class="indent">Yang-ti, the second Emperor of the Sui dynasty +was very ambitious and enterprising. His invasion +of Kokuri, though it collapsed in utter failure, was +conducted on such a grand scale that it reminds us +of the Persian invasion of Greece under Xerxes, +described by Herodotus. This Yang-ti was much +flattered at receiving an envoy from the island +far beyond the sea. Perhaps he rejoiced the more +at finding an ally in the rear of Kokuri, which he +was then intending to invade. So he received the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +Japanese envoy quite cordially, and on the latter's +homeward journey the Emperor ordered a courtier +to escort the envoy to Japan. This escort +was on his return to China accompanied by the +same envoy whom he had escorted hither. Ono-no-Imoko, +who was thus twice sent to China as +envoy, must have seen much of that country, and +probably fetched many articles to delight the eyes +of the Japanese of the higher classes, who were +enraptured with everything foreign. What was +the most important event connected with the second +despatch of the envoy, however, was the +sending abroad with him of students to study +Buddhist tenets and also to receive secular education +in China. They stayed in that country for +a very long while, far longer than those who +have been sent abroad by the Japanese government +in recent years have been accustomed to stay +in Europe and America, so that they lived in +China as if they were real Chinese themselves, +and were deeply imbued with Chinese thoughts +and ideas. Two of the eight students who accompanied +Ono-no-Imoko to China, returned to +this country after a sojourn of more than thirty +years, during which they witnessed a change of +dynasty, and the rise of the T'ang, the dynasty in +which Chinese civilisation reached its apogee. +One of the two students who returned quite a +Chinese to Japan, happened to become a tutor +of a prince who afterwards ascended the throne +as the Emperor Tenchi, the great reformer. By +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +the way, it should be noticed that all of the eight +students despatched were men of Chinese origin +without exception, being naturalised scribes or +their descendants.</p> + +<p class="indent">The peninsular states became rather jealous +of our direct intercourse with China, for they +could not at least help fearing that thenceforth +they would not be able to play off China and Japan +against each other as they had done up to that +time. They, therefore, tried to flatter us by sending +to this country envoys more frequently than +before. It was at one of these ceremonial court +receptions of an envoy from Kokuri, that Soga-no-Iruka, +the son of Yemishi of the Soga and the +grandson of Umako, was killed by the Prince +Naka-no-Ôye, afterwards the Emperor Tenchi, +and by Nakatomi-no-Kamako, afterwards Kamatari. +The father of Iruka soon followed his son's +fate, and with him the main branch of the quondam +all-powerful family of the Soga came to an +end.</p> + +<p class="indent">The fall of the house of the Soga may be ascribed +to several causes. In the first place, it became +an absolute necessity for the growth of the +imperial power to get rid of the too arrogant +Soga ministers, because to bear with them any +longer would have endangered the imperial prestige +itself. Secondly, as soon as the family of +the Soga had ceased to fear its rivals, it began +to be divided within itself by internal strife. +Lastly, a quarrel about the imperial succession +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +brought about the interweaving of the above +two causes. The Prince Naka-no-Ôye, being the +eldest son of the Emperor Jomei, was naturally +one of the candidates to the throne. As his +mother, however, was the Empress Kôkyoku, and +therefore not of the Soga blood, the Prince was +in fear lest he should be put aside from the order +of the succession. Besides, he was very much enraged +at the overbearing attitude of Yemishi and +his son. The Nakatomi family to which Kamatari +belonged was one of the five old illustrious +names, and had been chiefly engaged in religious +affairs. Kamatari deeply deplored the fact that +his family had long been overshadowed by that of +the Soga. Being qualified as a capable statesman, +he foresaw the political danger to which Japan +was exposed at that time. The lateral branches +of the Soga family, actuated perhaps by jealousy +against the main branch, joined the Prince and +Kamatari in annihilating the far too overgrown +power which threatened the imperial prerogative. +Japan thus safely passed this political crisis. The +next task was the thorough reconstruction of the +social and political organisations, and the establishment +of a uniform system throughout the +whole Empire.</p> + +<p class="indent">A series of grand reforms was inaugurated in +the year 645 A.D. in the name of the reigning +Emperor Kôtoku, who was one of the uncles of +the Prince on his mother's side, and ascended the +throne as the result of wise self-denial on the part +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +of the Prince. The first reform was the initiation +of the period name, a custom which, in China, +had been in vogue since the Han dynasty. The +period name which was adopted at first in Japan +in the reign of the Emperor was Tai-Kwa. This +Chinese usage, after it was once introduced into +our country, has been continued until today, +though with a few short interruptions.</p> + +<p class="indent">The next step in the reform was the nomination +of governors for the eastern provinces. Before +this time we had already provincial governors +installed in regions under the direct imperial +sway, that is to say, in provinces where imperial +domains abounded and imperial residences were +located. These provincial governors depended +wholly on the imperial power, and could at any +time be recalled at the Emperor's pleasure. That +such governors were now installed in the far eastern +provinces bordering on the Ainu territory +shows that, as these provinces were newly established +ones, it was easier to enforce the reform +there than in older provinces, in which time-honoured +customs had taken deep root and chieftains +ruled almost absolutely, so that even those radical +reformers hesitated for a moment to try their +hand on them.</p> + +<p class="indent">The change, in the same year, of the imperial +residence to the province of Settsu, near the site +where the great commercial city of Ôsaka now +stands, was also one of the very remarkable +events. Imperial residences of the older times +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +had been shifted here and there according to the +change of the reigning emperor. No one of them, +however, as far back as the time of Jimmu, the +first Emperor, seems to have been located out of +the provinces of Yamato, except the dwelling-place +of the Emperor Nintoku. The removal of +the imperial residence in 645 A.D. to the province +of Settsu, where facilities for foreign intercourse +could be secured, signifies that the imperial house +was turning its gaze toward the west, with eyes +more widely open than before.</p> + +<p class="indent">The second year of the reform began with far +more radical innovations than the first, that is to +say, the abolishment of the group-system and of +the holding of lands by landlords. All the lands +privately held by local lords and all the people +subjected to group-chieftains were decreed to be +henceforth public and free and subject only to +the Emperor. The designation of local lords and +group-chieftains were allowed to be kept by those +who had formerly possessed them, but only as +mere titles. In order to allow this reform to run +smoothly, the Prince Naka-no-Ôye himself set +the example by renouncing, in behalf of the reigning +Emperor, his right over his clients numbering +five hundred twenty four and his private domain +consisting of one hundred eighty-one lots.</p> + +<p class="indent">In lands thus made public, provinces were established, +and governors were appointed. Under +those governors served the former local lords and +group-chieftains as secretaries of various official +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +grades or as district governors, all salaried, paid +in natural products, of course, since no currency +existed at that time. In every province, a census +was ordered to be taken, and arable lands were +distributed according to the number of persons +in a family, with variations with respect to their +ages and sexes. The distribution had to be renewed +after the lapse of a certain number of +years, paralleled to the renewal of the census. +The tax in rice was to be levied commensurate +with the area of the lot of land distributed. Additional +taxes in silk, flax, or cotton were to be +paid both per family and according to the area +of the distributed lot. Corvée was also imposed, +and any one who did not serve in person was +obliged to pay, in rice and textiles for a substitute. +Besides these imposts, there were many circumstantial +regulations concerning the tribute in +horses, equipment of soldiers, use of post-horses, +interment of the dead of various ranks, and so +forth. These laws and regulations taken together +are called the Ohmi laws, from the name of the +province into which the Emperor Tenchi had removed +his residence.</p> + +<p class="indent">For three-score years after the promulgation +of the reform of Taikwa, there were many fluctuations, +sometimes reactionary and sometimes +progressive, and many additions and amendments +were made to the first enactments published. In +general, however, they remained unchanged, and +were at last systematized and codified in the second +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +year of the era of Taïhô, that is to say, in 702 +A.D. This is what the Japanese historians designate +by the name of the Tai-hô Code.</p> + +<p class="indent">After an impartial comparison of this code with +the elaborate legislation of the T'ang dynasty, +one cannot deny that the former was mainly a +minute imitation of the latter. Preambles and +epilogues issued at the time of the first proclamation +were taken from passages of the Chinese +classics, and there are many phrases in the text +itself which plainly betray their Chinese origin. +Many regulations were inserted, not on account +of their necessity in this country, but only because +they were found in the legislation of the T'ang +dynasty.</p> + +<p class="indent">There are of course not a few modifications, +which can be discerned when carefully scrutinised, +and these modifications are generally to be found +in those Chinese laws which were impossible of +introduction into our country without change. +Some of them, having been planned originally in +the largest Empire of the world and in an age +as highly civilised as that of the T'ang, were too +grand in scale, so that they had to be minimised +in order to suit the condition of the island realm. +Others had too much of the racial traits of the +Chinese to be put at once in operation in a country +such as Japan, which on its part had also sundry +peculiarities not to be easily displaced by legislation +originated in an alien soil. This was +especially the case with respect to religious matters. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +Though it is a question whether Shintoism +may be called a religion in the modern scientific +sense, it cannot be disputed that it has a strong +religious element in it. On that account, it had +proved a great obstacle to the propagation of +Buddhism, which was the religion embraced at +first not by the common people but by men belonging +to the upper classes, so that the latter, while +earnestly encouraging the inculcation of Buddhism, +were obliged to show themselves not altogether +indifferent to the old deities. In behalf +of the Shinto cult, special dignitaries were appointed, +the chief of whom played the same part +as the Pontifex Maximus of ancient Rome. Such +an institution is purely Japanese and was not to +be found in the Chinese model. Apart from these +exceptions, however, the reform of the Tai-kwa +era was essentially a Japanese imitation of a Chinese +original.</p> + +<p class="indent">What was the result, then, of the reform undertaken +partly from national necessity, but partly +also from love of imitation? Let me begin with +the bright side first.</p> + +<p class="indent">Whatever be the intrinsic merit of the reform +itself, there is no doubt that the reform came +from necessity. It was absolutely necessary that +Japan, in order to make solid progress, should +be centralised politically. The model which the +reformers selected was the legislation of a +strongly centralised monarchy. In this respect at +least it admirably fitted the necessity of Japan at +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +that time. In the year 659, fifteen years after +the promulgation of the reform, an organised expedition +consisting of a large number of squadrons, +was despatched along the coast of the Sea +of Japan as far north as the island now called by +the name of Hokkaido. In the next year another +expedition was sent across the sea to the continental +coast, perhaps to the region at the mouth +of the Amur. Though the frontier line on the +main island was not pushed forward against the +Ainu so rapidly as the progress along the western +coast, owing to the obstinate resistance of the tribe +on the eastern coast, yet the victory was wholly +on the side of the Japanese. The removal of the +imperial residence by the Emperor Tenchi in the +year 667 to the side of lake Biwa, in the province +of Ohmi, marks an epoch in the progress of the +exploration north-easternward. For the new site, +a little distant from the modern town of Ohtsu, +is more conveniently situated than the former residences, +not only in guarding and pushing the +north-eastern frontier, but in keeping connection +with the navigation on the Sea of Japan. The +inland lake of Biwa, though not large in area, is +one which must be counted as something in a +country as small as Japan. Until quite recent +times, communication between Kyoto, the former +capital, and Hokkaido and the northern provinces +of Hon-to was maintained, not along the eastern +or Pacific shore, but via the Lake and the Sea of +Japan. Even the eastern coast of the province of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +Mutsu seems to have had no direct communication +by sea with the centre of the Empire. In order +to reach there from the capital, men in old times +were obliged to take generally a long roundabout +way along the western coast, pass the Strait of +Tsugaru, and then turn southward along the Pacific +coast. This important highway of the sea +route of old Japan was connected with Kyoto by +the navigation across lake Biwa. The change of +the imperial residence to the neighborhood of +Ohtsu, which is the key of the lake navigation +routes, had no doubt a great historic significance.</p> + +<p class="indent">Another remarkable event which contributed +much to the remodelling of the state was the +total overthrow of the Japanese influence in the +Korean peninsula. About the middle of the sixth +century Mimana was taken by Shiragi, and with +it our prestige in the peninsula suffered a severe +loss. Still for some time there remained to Japan +a shadow of influence in the existence of the state +of Kutara, though the latter was very unreliable +as an ally. That state then began to be hard +pressed by Shiragi and asked for our help. More +than once we sent reinforcements, sometimes numbering +more than twenty thousand soldiers. Arms +and provisions were also freely given. Owing to +the incompetence of the Japanese generals despatched, +however, and the perfidious policy of +Kutara, our assistance proved ineffective. As a +counter to our assistance to Kutara, Shiragi invoked +the aid of the T'ang dynasty, which was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +eager to establish its rule over the peninsula. In +the year 650 Kutara was at last destroyed by the +co-operation of the army of Shiragi and the navy +of the T'ang. Next it was the turn of Kokuri +to be invaded by the T'ang army. A Japanese +army consisting of more than ten thousand men +was sent in order to restore Kutara and to succour +Kokuri. In 663 a great naval battle was +fought between the Chinese squadrons and ours, +ending in the defeat of the latter, for the former, +consisting of 170 ships, far outnumbered the Japanese. +With this defeat our hope of the restoration +of Kutara was finally lost. The remnants +of the royal family of Kutara and of the people +of that state numbering more than three thousand +immigrated into Japan. Kokuri, too, surrendered +soon afterwards to the T'ang in 668, and long +before this Shiragi had become a tributary state +of China. The influence of the T'ang dynasty +prevailed over the whole peninsula.</p> + +<p class="indent">Since this time we were reduced to defending +our interest, not on the Korean peninsula, but by +fortifying the islands of Tsushima and Iki and +the northern coast of Kyushu. There was no +breach of the peace, however, between Japan and +China after the naval battle of the year 663, for +after the downfall of Kutara we had no imperative +necessity to despatch our army abroad, and +therefore no occasion to come into collision with +the Chinese army in the peninsula. China, on +her part, did not wish to make us her enemy. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +The rough sea dividing the two countries made it +a very hazardous task to try to invade us, even +for the emperors of the Great T'ang. A Chinese +general who had the duty of governing the former +dominion of Kutara sent embassies several +times to Japan. At one time an embassy was +accompanied by two thousand soldiers as retinue, +but the purpose was plainly demonstrative. We +also continued to send embassies to China. Peace +was thus restored on our western frontier, though +under conditions somewhat detrimental to our national +honour.</p> + +<p class="indent">The evacuation of the peninsula was a great +respite to our national energy, howsoever it be +regretted. First of all, Japan was not yet a match +for China of the T'ang. Moreover, to keep up +our prestige on the peninsula was too costly a +matter for us, even if we had been able to sustain +it, and by this evacuation we were saved from +squandering the national resources which were +not yet at their full. After all, for Japan at that +time the urgent necessity lay not in geographical +expansion abroad, and affairs on the peninsula +were of far less importance when compared with +driving the Ainu out of Hon-to. Against an enemy +coming from the west, we could defend ourselves +without much difficulty, the rough sea being +a strong bulwark. It is quite another kind of +matter to divide the Hon-to with the Ainu for +long. Japan wanted a geographical expansion +not without, but within.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +The development of political consolidation received +also much benefit from our renunciation +on the west. Our national progress, and therefore +our political concentration, got a great +stimulus in the intercourse with the peninsula. +If we had, however, meddled with peninsular affairs +too long, we would not have been able to +turn our attention exclusively to inner affairs. The +reform laws had just been published, and they +required time to be thoroughly assimilated. Unless +amended and supplemented according to +practical needs, those laws would be mere black +on white, or sources of social confusion. Absolutely +and without question we were in need of +peace, and that peace was obtained by the evacuation. +By this peace the reform legislation could +work at its best possible. If it had not enhanced +the merit of the new legislation, at least it developed +the benefit of the reform to the full, and +prevented much evil which might have arisen if +it had been otherwise.</p> + +<p class="indent">On the other hand, the dark side of the reform +legislation must not be overlooked. In reality +the Chinese civilisation of the T'ang dynasty was +one too highly advanced to be successfully copied +by Japan, a country which was just in its teens, +so to speak, so far as development was concerned. +As a rule, the codification of laws in any country +denotes a stage in the progress of the civilisation +of that country, where it became necessary to turn +back and to systematise what had already been +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +attained. In other words, codification is everywhere +a retrospective action, and before it be +taken up, the civilisation of that particular country +should have reached a stage considered the +highest possible by the people of that period. +Otherwise it can do only harm. When the codification +is far ahead of the civilisation the country +possesses, then that nation will be obliged to take +very hurried steps in order to overtake the stage +where the codification stands. It is during these +headlong marches that the dislocation of the social +and political structure of a state generally +takes place. In short, it may be called a national +precocity, highly dangerous to a healthy development. +The legislation of the T'ang dynasty, in +truth, was even for China of that age too much +enlightened, idealistic, and circumstantial to be +worked with real profit to the state. It was, however, +her own creation, while ours was an imitation. +It would have been a miracle if Japan could +have reaped the full harvest expected by a legislation +nearly as advanced and as elaborate as that +of the T'ang.</p> + +<p class="indent">The above remark is especially true as regards +the military system. The dynasty of the T'ang +was in its beginning a strong military power. Its +military system was not bad, so long as it was +worked by very strong hands. On the whole, +however, the political régime of the dynasty was +not such a one as to favour the keeping up of a +martial spirit. After the subjugation of the uncivilised +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +tribes surrounding the empire, the martial +spirit of the Chinese nation soon relaxed, and +the country fell a prey to the invading barbarians +whom the Chinese were accustomed to despise. +We find in it the exact counterpart of the Roman +Empire destroyed by the Germans. For the +T'ang dynasty, it had been better to conserve the +military spirit a little longer in order to protect +the civilisation which it had brought to its zenith. +With stronger reasons, the need of a martial +spirit ought to have been emphasised for Japan at +that time. The Japanese military ordinance of +the reform was modelled after the Chinese system, +but of course on a smaller scale. The chief +fault, however, was its over-circumstantiality, being +even more circumstantial for Japan of that +time than the original system was for China herself. +Before the reform we had several bands +of professional soldiers, which could be easily +mobilised. That old system had gone. We had +still to fight constantly against the Ainu. Nay, +the warfare on that quarter was taken up with +renewed activity, and we had to educate, to train +the people who were not at all accustomed to +military discipline. Having adopted a system +resembling conscription, we were always in need +of an accurate census. To have an accurate census +taken is a very difficult matter even for a +highly civilised nation. It must have been especially +so for Japan. In the reformed legislation +the census was the basis both for the military +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +service and the land-distribution, taxation +connected with it. The land distribution system, +though there might have been some like element +in the original custom of Japan, was yet on the +whole another Chinese institution imitated, very +circumstantially again. Moreover, though this reform +seems to have been enforced throughout all +the provinces at once, except the southernmost +two, Ohsumi and Satsuma, in most of the provinces +the part of the arable land brought under +the new system must have been very limited. Perhaps +only such land in the neighborhood of each +provincial capital might have been distributed +regularly. Added to that, the growth of the population +and the increase of arable land necessitated +a change in the distribution, and in the said +legislation a redistribution every six years was +provided for that change. In order to carry out +this redistribution regularly and adequately a very +strong government and wise management were +needed. Otherwise either the system would be +frustrated, or there would be no improvement of +land.</p> + +<p class="indent">Considered from the side of the people, the +new legislation was not welcomed in all ways. +New taxes are generally wont to be felt heavier +than the accustomed ones. Besides these fresh +imposts, military service was demanded, which +was quite a novel thing to most of them. In fact, +their burden must have been pretty heavy, for +they could not enjoy a durable peace at all, on +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +account of the interminable warfare against the +Ainu. Many began to lead a roaming life, others +avoided legal registration in order to escape from +taxation and military service. Before long the +fundamental principle of the grand reform collapsed, +and a very expensive governmental system +remained, which, too, gradually became difficult +to be kept up. A change of régime seemed unavoidable.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<p class="h2a">CULMINATION OF THE NEW RÉGIME; STAGNATION; +RISE OF THE MILITARY RÉGIME</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Whatever</span> be the merit or the demerit of the +reform of the Taikwa, it was after all an honour +to the Japanese nation that our ancestors ever +undertook this reform. Not only because they +were able to provide thereby for the needs of the +state of that time, but because they were bold +enough, temerarious almost, to aspire to imitate +the elaborate system of the highly civilised T'ang. +When an uncivilised people comes into contact +with one highly civilised, it is needless to say that +the former is generally induced to imitate the +latter. This imitation is sometimes of a low order, +that is to say, it often verges on mimicry, and +not infrequently results in the dwindling of racial +energy on the part of the imitator. Very seldom +does the imitation go so far as to adopt the political +institutions of the superior. If they, however, +had ventured impetuously to do so, the result +would have been still worse, while in the case +of Japan as the imitator of China, it was quite +otherwise. At first sight, as China of the T'ang +was so incomparably far ahead of Japan of that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +time, it might seem rather foolish of our forefathers +to try straightway to imitate her. Moreover, +on the whole, the imitation ended in a failure +indeed, as should have been expected. But the +original institutions of the T'ang itself proved a +failure in their own home; hence, had the imitation +of those institutions resulted in a success with +us, it would have aroused a great astonishment. +The very fact that our forefathers dared to imitate +China, and did not thereby end in losing +spirit and energy, is in itself a great credit to the +reputation of the Japanese as a nation, for it +testifies that they have been from the first a very +aspiring nation, unwitting how to shirk a difficulty. +If it be an honour to the Germans not to +have withered before the high civilisation of the +Romans, the same glory may be accorded to the +Japanese also.</p> + +<p class="indent">This aspiring spirit of the nation not only made +itself felt in the importation of Chinese legislation, +but also in adopting her arts and literature. +As to arts, it is difficult to ascertain to what degree +of accomplishment our forefathers had already +attained before they came under continental +influence. Most probably it was limited to some +simple designs drawn on household utensils, <i>haniwa</i> +or terracotta-making, and to an orchestra of +rudimentary instruments. In what may be regarded +as literature, there were ballads, some of +which are cited in the <i>Nihongi</i>. Tales of heroic +deeds, however, used to be transmitted from generation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +to generation, not in the form of poetry, +that is, not in epic, but in oral prose narrations. +In this respect the ancient Japanese fell far short +of the Ainu, who had developed a highly epic +talent very early. To summarise, the ancient Japanese +apparently showed very few indications of +excelling other peoples in the same stage of civilisation +as regards arts and literature.</p> + +<p class="indent">In the history of Japanese art, the introduction +of Buddhism is a noteworthy event. For, along +with it, works of Chinese painting and sculpture, +both pertaining mainly to Buddhist worship, were +sent as presents to our imperial court by rulers +of the peninsular states. Not only articles of +virtu, but also artists themselves, were sent over +to this country from the continent, who displayed +their skill in building temples, making images, +decorating shrines with fresco paintings, and so +forth. Instructed by them, some gifted Japanese, +too, became enabled to develop themselves in several +branches of art and artistic industry. Among +the plastic arts, painting was very slow in making +progress, though a few examples of that age which +have remained to this day are very similar in style +to those pictures and frescoes recently excavated +out of the desert in northwestern China, and have +a high historical value, giving us a glimpse of the +T'ang painting. Architecture was perhaps the art +most patronised by the court. We can see it in +the construction of numerous palaces. It is a +well known fact that before the Empress Gemmyo, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +who was one of the daughters of the Emperor +Tenchi and ascended the throne next after +the Emperor Mommu, each successive emperor +established his court at the place he liked, and the +residence of the previous emperor was generally +abandoned by the next-comer. From this fact we +can imagine that all imperial palaces of those +times, if they could be named palaces at all, must +have been very simply built and not very imposing. +The locality, too, where the residence was +established, was hardly apt to be called a metropolitan +city, although it might have served sufficiently +as a political centre of the time. It was +in the third year of the said empress, 710 A.D., +that Nara was first selected as the new capital +which was to be established in permanence, contrary +to the hitherto accepted usage, and in fact +it remained the country's chief city for more than +eighty years. For the first time a plan of the city +was drawn, a plan very much like a checkerboard, +having been modelled after the contemporary +Chinese metropolis. The architectural style of +the new palaces was also an imitation of that +which then prevailed in China. The only difference +was that wood was widely used here instead +of brick, which was already the chief building +material in China. Nobles were encouraged by +the court to build tiled houses in place of thatched. +Tiles began to come into use about that time, and +not for roofing only, but for flooring also, +though the checkerboard plan of the metropolitan +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +city of Nara might never have been realised +in full detail, and though among those palaces +once built very few could escape the frequent fires +and gradual decay, yet judging from those very +few which have fortunately survived to this day, +we may fairly imagine that they must have been +grandiose in proportion to the general condition +of the age. What gives the best clue to the social +life of the higher classes of that time is the famous +imperial treasury, Shô-sô-in, at Nara, now +opened to a few specially honoured persons every +autumn, when the air is very agreeably dry in Japan. +The treasury contains various articles of +daily and ceremonial use bequeathed by the Emperor +Shômu, who was the eldest son of the +Emperor Mommu and died in 749 A.D. after a +reign of twenty-five years. Being so multifarious +in their kinds, and having been wonderfully well +preserved in a wooden storehouse, these imperial +treasures, if taken together with numerous contemporary +documents extant today, enable us to +give a clear and accurate picture of the social life +of that time.</p> + +<p class="indent">As <i>tatami</i> matting was not yet known, and the +houses occupied by men of high circles had their +floors generally tiled, it may be naturally supposed +that the indoor life of that time might have been +nearer to that of the Chinese or the European +than to that of the modern Japanese. Accordingly +their outdoor life, too, must have been far +different from that of the present day. For example, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +modern Japanese are fond of trimming or +arranging flowers, putting two or three twigs into +a small vase or a short bamboo tube, by methods +which, however dainty, are very conventional +after all. What they rejoice in thus is to produce +a distorted semblance in miniature as tiny as possible +of a certain aspect of nature. In the age +of the Nara emperors, on the contrary, large +bunches of flowers must have been used profusely +in decorating rooms and tables, and perhaps to +strew on the ground. A great many flower baskets, +which are kept in the said treasury, and are +of a kind to the use of which the modern Japanese +are not accustomed, prove the above assertion. +Again, while modern Japanese ladies play exclusively +on the <i>koto</i>, a stringed musical instrument +laid flat on the <i>tatami</i> when played, Nara musicians +seem to have played on harps, too, one of +which also is extant in the treasury. Carpets +seem to have been used not only in covering the +floor, but were put down on the ground on occasions +of some ceremonial processions. Hunting, +rowing, and horsemanship were then the most +favourite pastimes of the nobles. Unlike modern +Japanese ladies, women of that time were not behind +men in riding. This one fact will perhaps +suffice to attest the jovial and sprightly character +of the social life of the Nara age.</p> + +<p class="indent">If we turn to the literature of the time, the +progress was remarkable, more easily perceivable +than in any other department. We had now not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +only ballads as before, but short epics also. Such +a change must of course be attributed to the influence +of the Chinese literature assiduously cultivated. +In the year 751 a collection of 120 select +poems in Chinese, composed by the 64 Nara courtiers +since the reign of the Emperor Tenchi, was +compiled and named the <i>Kwai-fû-sô</i>. These +poems are quite Chinese in their diction, rhetoric, +and strain, resembling in every way those by first +rate Chinese poets, and may fairly take rank +among them without betraying any sign of imitation +or pasticcio. If we consider that no kind +of Japanese literature in its own mother tongue +could be committed to writing, save only in Chinese +ideographs, the influence of the Chinese literature, +which flourished so rampantly at that +time in Japan, cannot be estimated too highly. +No wonder that, parallel to the compilation of +the Chinese poems, a collection of Japanese +poems, beginning with that of the Emperor Yûryaku +in the latter half of the fifth century, was +also undertaken. This collection is the celebrated +<i>Man-yô-shû</i>. The long and short poems selected, +however, were not restricted, as in the case of +the <i>Kwai-fû-sô</i>, to those by courtiers only. On +the contrary, it contained many poems sung by +the common people, into which no whit of Chinese +civilisation could have penetrated. The <i>Man-yô-shû</i>, +therefore, is held by Japanese historians to +be a very useful source-book as regards the social +history of the time.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +It is hardly to be denied that some of the Japanese +poems of that age were evidently composed +and committed to writing with the object of being +read and not sung, as almost all modern Japanese +poems are accustomed to be. There were +still many others at the same time which must +have been composed from the first in order only +to be sung. Men of the age, of high as well as +of low rank, were singularly fond of singing, generally +accompanied by dancing. Many pathetic +love stories are told about those gatherings of +singers and dancers, the <i>utagaki</i>, which literally +means the singing hedge or ring. This kind of +gleeful gathering used to take place on a street, +in an open field, or on a hill-top. In one of the +<i>utagaki</i> held in the city of Nara, it is said that +members of the imperial family took part too, +shoulder to shoulder with citizens and denizens +of very modest standing. As to dances of the +time there might have been some styles original +to the Japanese themselves. At the same time +there were to be found many dances of foreign +origin, imported, together with their musical accompaniments, +from China and the peninsular +states. These dances have long ago been entirely +lost in their original homes, so that they can be +witnessed only in our country now. A strange survival +of ancient culture indeed! Of course even +in our country those exotic and antiquated dances +do not conform to the modern taste, and on that +account are not frequently performed. They +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +have been handed down through many generations, +however, by the band of court musicians, +and at present these dances, dating back to the +T'ang dynasty, are performed only at certain archaic +court ceremonies.</p> + +<p class="indent">From what has been stated above, one can well +imagine that, in certain respects, Japan of the +Nara age had much in common with Greece just +about the time of the Persian invasion. In both +it was an age in which a vigorous race reached +the first flourishing stage of civilisation, when the +national energy began to be devoted to æsthetic +pursuits, but was nevertheless not yet enervated +by over-enlightenment. Whatever those Japanese +set their minds on doing, they set about it very +briskly and cheerfully, nor was their enthusiasm +dampened by any fear of probable mishap. Being +naïve, and therefore ignorant of obstacles inevitable +to the progress of a nation, they always +soared higher and higher, full of resplendent +hope. How eager they were to essay at great +things may be conjectured from the size of the +Daibutsu, the colossal statue of Buddha, in the +temple of the Tôdaiji at Nara. The statue, more +than fifty-three feet in height, was finished in 749 +A.D. after several successive failures encountered +and overcome during four years, and is the largest +that was ever made in Japan. That such a great +statue was not only designed, but was executed by +Japanese sculptors, whether their origin be of +immigrant stock or not, should be considered a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +great credit to the enterprising spirit and the artistic +acquirements of the Japanese of that epoch.</p> + +<p class="indent">Such a stride in the national progress, however, +was only attained at the expense of other quarters +not at all insignificant. On the one hand, it is true +that Japan benefited immensely by having had as +her neighbor such a highly civilised country as +China of the T'ang. On the other hand, it should +not be overlooked that it was a great misfortune +to us that we had such an over-shadowingly influential +neighbour. China of that time was a +nation too far in advance of us to encourage us to +venture to compete with her. She left us no choice +but to imitate her. Who can blame the Japanese +of the Nara age if they thought it the most urgent +business to run after China, and try to overtake +her in the same track down which they knew +the Chinese had progressed a long way already? +The glory and splendour of the Chinese civilisation +of the T'ang was too enticing for them to turn +their eyes aside and seek a yet untrodden route. +That they strove simply to imitate and rejoiced +in behaving as though they were real Chinese +should not be a matter for astonishment in the +least. Perhaps it may be said to their credit that +the imitation was exquisite and the resemblance +accurate. One of the brilliant students then sent +abroad remained there for eighteen years, and +after his return to this country he eventually became +a prominent minister of the Japanese government, +notwithstanding his humble origin, a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +promotion very rare in those days. Certain +branches of Chinese literature, many refined ceremonies, +various kinds of Chinese pastimes, many +things Chinese, useful and beneficial to our people, +to be found in Japan even to this day have been +attributed to his importation. Another scholar +who was obliged to stay in China for more than +fifty years, distinguished himself in the literary +circles of the Chinese metropolis, was taken into +the service of a T'ang emperor as a very high +official under a Chinese name, and at last died +there with a life-long yearning for his native +country.</p> + +<p class="indent">Such an imitation, however useful it might have +proved in behalf of our country at large, could not +fail to exact from the nation still young, as Japan +was at that time, a tremendous overexertion of +their mental faculties. Having been strained to +the last extremity of tension, the Japanese became +naturally exceedingly nervous. From a lack of +patience to observe quietly the maturing of the +effect of a stack of laws and regulations already +enacted, they hastily repudiated some of them as +if they were of no use, and replaced them by new +laws quite as confounding as the previous ones, +and thus legislations contradictory in principle +rapidly succeeded one another, none of them having +had time enough to be experimented with exhaustively. +Although along with this rage for +imitation there was a strong countercurrent, very +conservative, which struggled incessantly to preserve +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> +what was original and at the same time +precious, yet to determine which was worthy of +preservation was a matter of bewilderment to the +contemporaries, for they were averse from coming +into any collision with things Chinese to which +they were not at all loth. Excitement and irritation, +the natural result of this topsyturvy state of +things, can best be estimated by the belief in ridiculous +auspices. The discovery of a certain plant +or animal, of rare colour or of unusual shape, generally +caused by deformities, was enthusiastically +welcomed as an augury of a long and peaceful +reign, and was wont to call forth some lengthy +imperial proclamation in praise of the government. +Bounties were munificently distributed to +commemorate the happy occasion, discoverers of +these rarities were amply rewarded, criminals +were released or had the hardships of their servitude +ameliorated. Naturally, many of these auguries +proved vain, and only served as a prop to +sustain the self-conceit of responsible ministers, +or as a means of soothing general discontent, if +such discontent could ever be manifested in those +"good old times." The greatest evil of this fatuous +hankering for sources of self-satisfaction was +the throng of rogues and sycophants thereby produced +who vied with one another in contriving +false or specious rarities and begging imperial +favour for them. Superstitions of this kind would +have suited well enough a people quite uncivilised, +or too civilised to care for rational things. As +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +for the Japanese, a people already on the way +of youthful progress, radiant with hope, belief in +auspices was but an intolerable fetter. If viewed +from this single point, therefore, the régime ought +to have been reformed by any means.</p> + +<p class="indent">Another and still greater evil of the age was +the clashing of interests between the different +classes of people. Chinese civilisation could permeate +only the powerful, the higher classes. +Though the chieftains and lords, who had been +mighty in the former régime, were bereft of their +power by the appropriation of their lands and +people, a new class of nobles soon arose in place +of them, and among the latter the descendants of +Nakatomi-no-Kamatari were the most prominent. +This sagacious minister, of whom I have already +spoken in the foregoing chapters, was rewarded, +in consideration of his meritorious services in the +destruction of the Soga, as well as in the execution +of the most radical reform Japan has ever +known, with the office of the most intimate advisory +minister of the Emperor, and was granted +the honourable family appellation of Fujiwara. +His descendants, who have ramified into innumerable +branches and include more than half of the +court-nobles of the present day, enjoyed ever-increasing +imperial favour generation after generation. +What marked especially the sudden growth +of the family position was the elevation of one +of the grand-daughters of the minister to be the +imperial consort of the Emperor Shômu. For +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +several centuries prior to this, it had been the +custom to choose the empress from the daughters +of the families of the blood imperial. An offspring +of a subject, however high her father's +rank might be, was not recognised as qualified to +that distinction. The privilege, which the Fujiwara +family was now exceptionally honoured +with, meant that only this family should have +hereafter its place next to the imperial, so that +none other would be allowed to vie with it any +more. The Fujiwara became thus associated +with the imperial family more and more closely, +and affairs of state gradually came to be transacted +as if they were the family business of the +Fujiwara. The worst evil of this aggrandisement +was only prevented by the incessant and inveterate +internecine feuds within the clan itself, which +eventually served to put a bridle on the audacity +and ambition of any one of the members.</p> + +<p class="indent">This influential family of the Fujiwara, together +with a few other nobles of different lineage, +including scions of the imperial family, monopolised +almost all the wealth and power in the country. +They kept a great number of slaves in their +households, and held vast tracts of private estates, +too. As to the land, they developed and +cultivated the fields by the hands of their slaves +or leased them for rent. Besides, they turned into +private properties those lands of which they were +legally allowed only the usufruct. By the reform +legislation, the usufruct of a public land was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +granted to one who did much service to the state, +but the duration of the right was limited to his +life or at most to that of his grand-children. +None was permitted to hold the public land as +a hereditary possession without time limit. It +was by the infringement of these regulations that +arbitrary occupation was realised.</p> + +<p class="indent">Another means of the aggrandisement of the +estates of the nobles was a fraudulent practice on +the part of the common people. Those who were +independent landowners or legal leaseholders of +public lands were liable to taxation, as may be +supposed, and as the taxes and imposts of that +time were pretty heavy, those landholders thought +it wiser to alienate the land formally by presenting +it to some influential nobles or some Buddhist +temples, which came to be privileged, or asserted +the right to be exempted from the burden of taxation. +In reality, of course, those people continued +to hold the land as before, and were very glad to +see their burden much alleviated, for the tribute +which they were obliged to pay to the nominal +landlord by the transaction must have been less +than the regular taxes which they owed to the +government. Moreover, by this presentation +they could enter under the protection of those +nobles or temples, which was useful for them in +defying the law, should need arise. The number +of independent landholders thus gradually diminished +by the renunciation of the legal right and +duty on the part of the holders, and consequently +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +the amount of the levied tax grew less and less. +The state, however, could not curtail the necessary +amount of the expenditure on that account. The +dignity of the court had to be upheld higher and +higher, state ceremonies performed regularly, and +the national defence was not to be neglected for +a moment. All these were causes which necessitated +a continual increase of revenue. In order +to fill up the deficit, the burden was transferred, +doubled or trebled, to those who remained longer +honest, so that it soon became quite unbearable +for them also. The hardships borne by the law-abiding +people of that time could be compared to +those of the Huguenots who, faithful to their confession, +were impoverished by the dragonnade. In +this way, more and more people were induced to +give up their independent stand and take shelter +under the shield of mighty protectors. Military +service, too, was another grievance for the common +people. They had to serve in the western +islands against continental invaders, or on the +northern frontier against the Ainu. Not only did +they thereby risk their lives, but sometimes they +were obliged to procure their provisions at their +own cost, for the government could not afford it. +If those people would once renounce their right of +independence and turn voluntary vagabonds, then +they could at once elude the military duty and the +tax. No wonder this was possible since it was +an age in which the national consciousness was +not yet developed enough to teach them implicitly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +that it was their duty to be ready to expose themselves +to any peril for the sake of the state. This +underhand transaction is one exceedingly analogous +to the process in which Frankish allod-holders +gradually turned their lands into fiefs, in order +to escape taxation and at the same time obtain +protection from influential persons. If one +should think that the census, which was ordained +in the reform law to take place periodically, would +prove efficient to check the increase of these outcasts, +it would be a great mistake in forming a +just conception of these ages. Soon after the +enactment of the census law, it ceased to be regularly +executed, and even while the law was observed +with punctuality, the extent to which it was +applied must have been very limited. It was at +such a time that the great statue of Buddha was +completed in the city of Nara, and ten thousand +priests were invited to take part in a grand ceremony +of rejoicing.</p> + +<p class="indent">The palaces and temples in Nara, as well as +the imperial mansions and the abodes of nobles +scattered about the country, seem in a great measure +to have been solidly and magnificently built, +with their roofs covered with tiles as beforementioned. +The nobles who had no permanent residence +in the city, had as their bounden duty to pay +certain duty visits, as it were, to the imperial court, +and learn there how to refine their country life by +adopting the metropolitan ways of living. Some +of the household furniture used by the nobles and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +members of the imperial family was bought in +China. The education of the higher classes enabled +them not only to read and write the literary +Chinese with ease and fluency, but to behave correctly +according to Chinese etiquette, as if they +were themselves genuine Chinese. These are the +bright aspects of the history of the Nara age. +Around the metropolitan city, however, and those +aristocratic abodes in the country, swarmed the +impoverished people, utterly uneducated, receiving +no benefit whatever from the imported Chinese +civilisation. Here one might perhaps ask, +could not Buddhism give them any solace at all? +Not in the least. The shrewd Buddhists, having +seen that Shintoism had been strangely tenacious +in resisting the propagation of their creed notwithstanding +its lack of system and dogma, wisely +invented a clever method to keep a firm hold even +on the conservative mind by identifying the patron +deities of Buddhism with the national gods of our +country. It resembles in some ways the device of +the early Christian missionaries in northern Europe, +who tried to blend Teutonic mythology with +Christian legend. The only difference between +them is that those missionaries did not go so far +as our Buddhist priests did. This device of the +Buddhists was crowned with complete success. +By this identification Buddhism became a religion +which could be embraced without any palpable +contradiction to Shintoism, in other words, with +no risk of injuring the national traditions. Nay, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +it came to be considered that Shintoism was not +only compatible with Buddhism, but also subservient +to its real interests. Thus we find almost +everywhere a Shinto shrine standing within the +same precincts as a Buddhist temple, the Shinto +deity being regarded as the patron of the Buddhist +creed and its place of worship. This strange +combination continued to be looked upon as a matter +of course until the Restoration of Meidji, +when the revival of the imperial prerogative was +accompanied by a reaction against Buddhism, and +the purification of Shintoism from its Buddhistic +admixture was enthusiastically undertaken. On +account of the dubiosity of their religious character, +many finely built temples and images of exquisite +art were ruthlessly demolished, much to +the regret of art connoisseurs.</p> + +<p class="indent">In the year 794, the Emperor Kwammu transferred +his capital to the province of Yamashiro, +and gave it the felicitous appellation of Hei-an, +which means peace and tranquility. The place, +however, has been commonly designated by the +name of Kyoto, which means literally the capital, +and continued henceforth to be the centre of Japan +for more than one thousand years. There might +have been several motives which caused the capital +to be removed from Nara. The valley, in +which the old capital was situated, might have +been too narrow to allow free expansion, or it +might have been found inconveniently situated as +regards communications. Party strife among the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +nobles might have been another reason. At any +rate the choice of the new site cannot be regarded +as a mistake. Kyoto is better connected with +Naniwa, Ôsaka of the present day, than Nara +was at that time. From Kyoto one was able to +reach the port within a few hours, by going down +the river Yodo by boat. There is no natural hindrance +on the way like the mountain chain which +divides the two provinces of Yamato and Settsu. +At the same time, Kyoto is quite near to Ohtsu, +the gate toward the eastern provinces, and those +selfsame provinces were the regions which had +for long been engrossing the attention of far-sighted +contemporary statesmen.</p> + +<p class="indent">The energetic Emperor Kwammu undertook +the conquest of the Ainu with a renewed vigour. +That part of the Ainu country which faced the Sea +of Japan was already made a province before +the accession of that sovereign. In the Emperor's +reign the success of the Japanese arms was carried +far into the Ainu land by the victorious general +Sakanouye-no-Tamuramaro. The boundary +of the province of Mutsu, the region facing the +Pacific, was pushed northward into the middle +of the present province of Rikuchû. Enterprising +Japanese settled in those lands or travelled to and +fro in quest of trade. The Ainu, however, was +not completely subjugated, nor was he easily +driven away out of the main island. Beyond +Shirakawa, the place which had for a long time +been considered the northernmost limit of civilised +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +Japan, numerous hordes of half-domesticated +Ainu continued to reside as before. As the result +of the constant contact with the Japanese, they +were slowly influenced by the civilisation which +the latter had already acquired. They could consolidate +their forces under the leadership of some +valiant chiefs, and frequently dared to rise against +oppressive governors sent from Kyoto. In short, +they proved to be intractable as ever, so that +more than three centuries were still necessary to +put their land in the same status as the ordinary +Japanese province. The interminable wars and +skirmishes waged thenceforth between the two +races were one of the principal causes of the +financial embarrassment of the government at +Kyoto, and finally undermined its power.</p> + +<p class="indent">The imperial family and the nobles lived their +lives at Kyoto, largely as they were wont to do +at the old capital of Nara. The family of the +Fujiwara was ever as ascendant as before. Abundant +court intrigues were now not the outcome +of the antagonism between the different great families, +but of the internal quarrels within the single +family of the Fujiwara, not infrequently intermingled +with disputes concerning the imperial +succession. All the high and lucrative offices were +monopolised by the members of that able and +ambitious family. Most of the empresses of the +successive sovereigns were their daughters. The +regency became the hereditary function of the +family, and they filled the office one after another +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +without any regard to the age or health conditions +of the reigning emperor. It was very rare +indeed for members of families other than the +Fujiwara to be promoted to one of the three great +ministerships. Even scions of the imperial family +had to yield to them in power and position.</p> + +<p class="indent">Their literary attainments were generally high, +being but little inferior to those of the professional +literati, who formed a class of secondary +courtiers, and proceeded generally from the families +of the Sugawara, Kiyowara, and so forth. +Ships with ambassadors, students, and priests +were sent by them to China of the T'ang as before. +For they still burned with an ardent desire +to get more and more knowledge about things +Chinese. Their Sinicomania was carried indeed +to such an excess that the physiognomical type of +the Chinese came to be regarded as the finest +ideal of mankind, and any Japanese who was of +that type was adored as having the ideal features.</p> + +<p class="indent">The despatch of the official ships continued as +in the days of Nara, not at regular intervals, but +generally once during the reign of every Japanese +emperor. The impetuous imitation of Chinese +legislation slackened in fact, for in that respect +we had already borrowed enough. The connection +of our country with China began to take the +form of ordinary international intercourse, with +due reciprocation of courtesies. There remained, +however, some need of keeping pace with the political +changes in China, and we could not make +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +up our minds to refrain altogether from peeping +into the land which we held to be far above our +country in civilisation. The last of such an embassy +was that sent in the year 843. Half a century +afterwards another squadron was ordered to +be despatched, and Sugawara-no-Michizane was +appointed ambassador. But the squadron was +never really sent. For at that time the long +dynasty of the T'ang was just drawing near to its +end, and the civil war of a century's duration was +beginning. There was no more any stable government +in China with which we could communicate. +Moreover, there was danger to be feared +that we might be somehow embroiled in the anarchical +disturbances in the Middle Kingdom. The +ambassador, Michizane himself, was also of the +opinion that little was to be gained by the despatch +of the intended squadron, and dissuaded the government +from sending it.</p> + +<p class="indent">Japan now entered into the stage of the assimilation +of the alien culture already imported in +full. Hitherto we had been too busy to make +discrimination among those things Chinese which +we had engulfed at random. Now we had to +make clear which of them was suited, and how +others were to be modified in order to make them +useful to our country. In short, we had to digest; +or to speak by the book, we had to ruminate +on what we had already taken. After all it must +have been a wise policy to put a stop to the state +of national nervousness caused by the incessant +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +introduction of foreign laws, manners, customs, +things. The infiltration, however superficial it +might have been, left an ineradicable influence owing +to the continual process of several centuries. +The spirit of the culture of the dominant class +became essentially Chinese. Though the saying, +"Japanese spirit and Chinese erudition" was +henceforth fondly spoken of, the Japanese spirit +itself was not yet clearly defined, and did not enter +into the full consciousness of the nation. What +the ruling nobles, who had imbibed the Chinese +spirit already too deeply, could do was only to +discard things which became superannuated and +untenable.</p> + +<p class="indent">The characteristics of the age of rumination +may be discerned in the history of our literature +from the latter half of the ninth century to the +beginning of the eleventh. At first, while literary +works were still being written almost exclusively +in Chinese, we begin to find in their style traces +of Japanisation, becoming more and more marked +as time goes on. Along with works in Chinese, +those in our own language began to appear, +though very sparsely at first. Then gradually +these attempts in the vernacular increased, so that +eventually the end of the tenth century became +the culminating period of the classical Japanese +literature. Religious and scholastic works were +written in Chinese as before. August and ceremonial +documents continued to be composed in +the same language. Chinese poetry was as much +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +in vogue among the courtiers as ever. At the +same time, however, numerous works in Japanese +now appeared in the form of chronicles, diaries, +short stories, novels, satirical sketches, and poems. +What was most remarkable, however, is that the +greater part of those works was written not by +men, but by court ladies. Among the ladies, who +by their wit and literary genius brightened the +court of the Emperor Ichijô, stood at the forefront +Murasaki-shikibu, the author of the <i>Genji-monogatari</i>, +and Sei-Shônagon, the author of +<i>Makura-no-sôshi</i>.</p> + +<p class="indent">That these intelligent and talented court ladies +were versed in Chinese literature can be perceived +in what they wrote in Japanese. In other words, +the culture, essentially Chinese, of the high circles +of society was not monopolised by the men only, +but shared by the women. And these court ladies +were fairly emancipated, and far from being subject +to the caprices of men. It is often argued +that the progress of a country can be measured +rightly by the social status of the women in it. If +that be true, Japan at the beginning of the eleventh +century must have been very highly civilised. +And it was really so in a certain sense. This +civilised Japan, however, was confined to the very +narrow circle in Kyoto, and for that very circle +the Chinese enlightenment penetrated too deep. +The great nobles of the Fujiwara family were too +refined, too effeminate for holders of the helm of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +the state, the young state in which there was still +much to be done vigorously.</p> + +<p class="indent">The Ainu on the north were menacing as ever. +For though they had lost in extent of territory, +they had gained in civilisation. The demand of +the state was for energetic ministers as well as +for valiant warriors. The high-class nobles became +unfitted for both, and especially for the +rough life of the latter. As generals, therefore, +not to speak of officers, were employed men of +comparatively low rank among the courtiers. In +this way military affairs became the hereditary +profession of certain families which happened to +be engaged in them most frequently, and were +at last monopolised by them. As the government, +however, could not and did not care to provide +these generals with a sufficiency of soldiers, provisions, +and armaments, they were obliged to help +themselves to those necessaries, just like the leaders +of the landsknechts in Europe. The intimate +relation of vassalage, not legally recognised of +course, thus arose between those generals and +their private soldiers, and as this condition lasted +for a considerable time, the relationship became +hereditary. Needless to say that such a condition +of affairs was naturally set up in the provinces, +where the Ainu was still powerful enough to raise +frequent disturbances. On account of the fact +that these generals and their relatives were often +appointed to the governorship of distant provinces, +where the influence of the Kyoto government +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +was too weak to check their arbitrary conduct, +the same connection of vassalage was +formed there also between them and the provincials +who were in need of their protection. Not +only did they thus become masters of bands of +strong and warlike people, but they also appropriated +to themselves by sundry means vast tracts +of land, and fattened their purses thereby. That +they did not venture at once to overthrow the +political régime upheld by the nobles of the Fujiwara +family may be accounted for by the time-honoured +prestige of the latter. For a long while +those warriors went even so far as to do homage +to this or that noble of the Fujiwara as his +vassals, and served as tools to this or that party +in court intrigues. The courtiers, who employed +them as their instruments, had no apprehension +that those military men, subservient for the moment +to their needs, would one day turn into rivals, +powerful enough in the long run to overturn +them, and flattered themselves that they would +remain as their cat's-paws forever. An exact +analogy of this in the history of Rome may be +found in the shortsightedness of the senate, which +complacently believed that the Scipios and the +Caesars would for ever remain obedient to their +order. It would be a fatal mistake to think that +a cat's-paw would always remain docile and faithful +to its employer. Especially when it is frequently +used and abused it becomes conscious of +its own usefulness and real strength; and self-assertion +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> +is born. The next step for it must be +the sounding of the strength of its master, then +the desire awakens to take the place of the master, +when it is found that he is not so strong as he +looks to be.</p> + +<p class="indent">Moreover in any country, in whatever condition, +war cannot be carried on without a great +number of participants, while it must be directed +by a single head. War, therefore, tends on the +one hand to create a dictator, and on the other +hand to precipitate the democratisation of a country. +None would be so ignorant for long as to +discharge gladly an imposed duty without enjoying +their right to compensation for service rendered. +The time must come when these military +leaders should supersede the ultracivilised Kyoto +nobles, and hold the reins of government themselves. +The transference of political power from +the higher to the lower stratum was unavoidable. +These generals, howsoever inferior they might be +in rank compared with the court nobles of the +Fujiwara, were still to be classed among the +nobles, and it was yet a very far cry to the time +when the common people could have some share +in the politics of their own country.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<p class="h2a">THE MILITARY RÉGIME; THE TAIRA AND THE +MINAMOTO; THE SHOGUNATE OF KAMAKURA</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">For</span> some time the military class had been rocking +the prestige of the court nobles, and at last +superseded them by overturning their rotten edifice. +It was first by the wars of the so-called +"Nine Years" and "Three Years," both waged +in northern Japan in the latter half of the eleventh +century by Yoriyoshi and Yoshiiye, the famous +generals of the Minamoto family, that the military +class began to grow markedly powerful and +independent. Nearly a century passed, and then +Yoritomo, one of the great-great-grandsons of +Yoshiiye, was able to set up his military government, +the Shogunate, at Kamakura in the province +of Sagami. Previous to the Kamakura Shogunate, +there was an interim between it and the old +régime, the semi-military government of the Taira +family. The family of the Taira sprang, like +that of the Minamoto, from a scion of the imperial +family, and, like the latter, had been engaged +from the first in the craft of war. Of the +two, the Taira first succeeded in courting the favour +of the Fujiwara nobles, and the members of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +the former family were appointed to less dangerous +and more lucrative posts than the Minamoto. +As Japan at that time kept on gravitating toward +the west of Kyoto, it was natural that the influence +of the Taira should have been extended in the +western provinces. Some of the noted warriors +belonging to this clan were now and then charged +with the governorship of the eastern provinces, +and therefore their descendants were widely scattered +in those quarters also. In the east, however, +the influence of the Minamoto family was +paramount, for noted warriors of this family +were more frequently employed than the Taira +in the region against the Ainu. In both of these +families, the moral link between several branches +within the family was very loose, perhaps much +weaker than in the Highland clans in Scotland. +Such dissension should be attributed to the fact +that those who passed under the same family name +of the Minamoto or the Taira became soon too +numerous to present a united front always, whenever +a conflict with the rival family arose. At any +rate the feud between the respective main branches +of the two families was very bitter and inveterate, +covering many generations. Of the two, the Minamoto, +hardened by constant warfare with the +still savage tribes in the north, and trained by the +privations unavoidable in wars, surpassed the +Taira in robustness and bravery. The Taira became, +on the contrary, as the result of close contact +with the courtiers at Kyoto, more refined than +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +the Minamoto. Though alternately employed as +generals in war as well as instruments in intrigues, +the Taira were thought by the Fujiwara +to be more docile, and therefore were more +trusted than the Minamoto. This is why the former +were able to seize possession of the government +earlier than the latter. Kiyomori, the first +and the last of the Taira, who was made the highest +minister of the crown, as if he were himself +one of the Fujiwara nobles, was able to reach +that goal of the ambition of courtiers, by intruding +himself among them, intermingling his sons +and grandsons with the flower of the Fujiwara, +and at last he made one of his daughters the consort +of the Emperor Takakura. His only distinction +as compared with the old nobles was that +his personal character was too rough and soldier-like, +and the means he resorted to were too drastic +and forcible, for the over-refined members of the +Fujiwara. Kiyomori had in his quality too much +of the real statesman to be an idle player in the +pageants and ceremonies of the court, and it is +said that he often committed blunders through his +unseemly deportment as courtier, and became, on +that account, the laughing-stock of the Fujiwara. +Nevertheless he, like the most of the Fujiwara, +could not rid himself of the mistaken idea, that +the statesman and the courtier were the same +thing, so that none could be the one without being +the other. The younger members of the family +were reared up rather as courtiers than as soldiers, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +trained more in playing on musical instruments, +in dancing, and in witty versification of +short poems than in the use of weapons.</p> + +<p class="indent">The most memorable deed achieved by Kiyomori +was the change of the capital from Kyoto +to Fukuwara, a part of the present city of Kobe. +Till then Kyoto had been continuously the capital +of the empire for three and a half centuries. To +remove the centre of the government from that +sacrosanctity must have been a great surprise to +the metropolitans. As to the interpretation of +the motives for this change, historians differ. It +is ascribed by some to Kiyomori's abhorrence of +the conventionalism which obtained in the old +capital, and which was so deeply rooted as not to +be eradicated very easily so long as he stayed +there, or else to his anxious desire to get rid of +the pernicious meddling of the audacious priests +of the temple Yenryakuji, on mount Hiyei, the +source of great annoyance to the government of +Kyoto. By other historians the change is said +to have originated in Kiyomori's farsightedness +in having set his mind on the profit of the trade +with China, the trade from which his family had +already reaped a huge profit, and which could be +carried on more actively by shifting the capital +from Kyoto to the important port of the Inland +Sea. That he earnestly desired the facilitation +of navigation in the Inland Sea need not be +doubted, for the cutting of the strait of Ondo, the +improvement of the harbour of Hyogo, as the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +port of Kobe was called at that time, and many +other works pertaining to the navigation of the +sea were undertaken at his orders. It is not certain, +however, whether any of the above mentioned +motives sufficed alone to induce him to forsake +the historical metropolis. Whatever the +reason the change was a failure. It was very +unpopular in the circle of the Fujiwara nobles, +who longed ardently to return to their old nests, +and baffled by the passive resistance of these +nobles in whatever he tried to do, Kiyomori could +not achieve anything worthy of mention during +the remainder of his life.</p> + +<p class="indent">The brief period of the Taira ascendancy thus +passed away very swiftly. It was since 1156 A.D., +the year in which the war of the Hogen +took place, that the military-men had begun to +discern that they they were strong enough to displace +the Fujiwara nobles. Only three years +after that, the destiny of the two rival families +was for a time decided. The Taira remained on +the field, and the vanquished, that is to say, the +members of the chief branch of the Minamoto, +were either killed or deported, the rest having +been scattered and rendered powerless to resist. +Yoritomo, one of these exiles, was taken into the +custody of an overseer of the province of Idzu, +in the vicinity of which were settled the descendants +of the faithful followers of his forefathers. +When an opportunity came, therefore, he was +able to muster without difficulty those hereditary +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +vassals, and overran, first the eastern provinces, +and then, with the assistance of one of his younger +brothers, Yoshitsune, who had taken refuge with +Hidehira, the hybrid generalissimo of the half +independent province of Mutsu, he drove the +Taira party out of Kyoto, whither the capital +had been transferred again a short time before, +soon after the death of Kiyomori. What remained +to be done was consummated by the tact +and bravery of Yoshitsune. The partisans of the +Taira family fought very valiantly on the coast +of the Inland Sea, but always succumbed in the +end to adverse destiny. In the last battle which +was fought on the sea near the strait of Shimonoseki, +some of the Taira were taken prisoners, +and then decapitated. Many, however, died in +the battle, or drowned themselves, for to be +killed in cold blood by an enemy has ever been +thought the most ignominious fate for a warrior +of Japan. In thus presenting a united front to +the last in adversity, the kernel of the Taira +family, though much enervated by their court life, +proved themselves true sons of the chivalrous +warriors of old Japan. This catastrophe took +place in the year 1185.</p> + +<p class="indent">The flourishing period of the Taira family was +of the short duration of thirty years only. As the +rise of the family was very sudden, its downfall +was equally abrupt. It was like a meteor traversing +a corner of the long history of Japan, leaving, +however, an indelible memory to posterity. The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +peculiar charm of the culture of the age represented +by the elite of the family during its ascendency, +and its chivalrous end, embellish the history +of our country with a number of pathetic +episodes which provided abundant themes for +poems, tales, and dramas of the after-age. The +most famous among this literature is a narration +called the <i>Heike-monogatari</i>, Heike in Chinese +characters meaning "the family of Taira." +Whether the <i>monogatari</i> or tale was first composed +for the purpose of being read or recited is +a question. It is certain, however, that when the +story became widely known, called by the more +simplified name of "the <i>Heike</i>," it was generally +recited as a chant, resembling the melody of Buddhist +hymns, accompanied by the playing the <i>biwa</i>, +a stringed instrument the shape of which has +given its name to the largest lake in Japan. This +recitation is the precursor of the <i>utai</i>, which was +a kind of recitation fashionable in the next age. +The origin of the more modern <i>jôruri</i> recitation +accompanied by the <i>shamisen</i> may be traced to +the <i>Heike</i> also. What pleased the audiences most +in the <i>Heike</i> were the sad vicissitudes of the +family and the gallant chivalry manifested in its +downfall. The former, preaching the uncertainty +of human life, was sufficient to touch the courtiers +with keen pathos, courtiers who had lived out +their time, and having been taught by Buddhism +to look on every thing pessimistically, were glad +to sympathise with whatever was on the wane. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +Differently from them, warriors were also fond of +hearing the rehearsal of the <i>Heike</i> with thrills +piercing the heart, by putting themselves in the +place of some gallant Taira cavalier, who had +fought to the last with undaunted courage and met +his death with calmness more than mortal.</p> + +<p class="indent">It is not only because the Taira family was in +general more refined than the Minamoto, and +gave an impulse to the literature of Japan by its +enlightened chivalry, that the period forms an +important turning-point in the history of the civilisation +of our country. Almost all the essential +traits of our civilisation during the whole military +régime can be said to have been initiated in +this brief Taira epoch. As an inheritor of the +borrowed civilisation, the Taira warriors were +not so much saturated with the alien refinement +as the Fujiwara nobles were, and therefore, when +they came nearer the throne, the aspect of the +court was not a little vulgarised, but instead there +was a freshness in those warriors which was +found wanting among the Fujiwara, already overwrought +and exhausted by too much Chinese civilisation. +This freshness may be considered an +index of the revival of the conservative spirit, +which had been long lurking in the lower strata +of the nation. Conservatism in such a phase +of history is generally on the side of strength and +energy. It is true that Kiyomori, his sons, and +grandsons endeavoured rather to go up the ladder +of the courtiers higher and higher, in order to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +soar 'above the cloud.' In other words, it was +not their first ambition to lead the people in the +lower strata against the higher; they were not +revolutionists at all. But whatever might have +been their real intention, they could not ward off +those followers who had a common interest with +them. There was no doubt that the lower class +of people sympathised with the military-men, +whether they were of the Taira or of the Minamoto +family, far more deeply than with the Fujiwara +nobles. The ascendency, therefore, of the +Taira stirred the long latent spirit of the majority +of the nation, and this re-awakening of the +Japanese, if we may call it so, gave life to every +fibre of the social structure, urging the nation to +energetic movement.</p> + +<p class="indent">The most tangible evidence of this resuscitation +of Japan can be obtained in the sculpture of +the age. The first flourishing period of Japanese +sculpture anterior to this is the era of the Tempyô, +that is to say, during the reign of the +Emperor Shômu. After that the art fell gradually +into decadence, and no period could compete +with the Tempyô era except the Taira age. +The works of Unkei and Tankei, representative +masters who made their names at this time, +though lagging far behind those of Tempyô sculptors +in exquisite softness and serenity, yet surpassed +the latter in vigour and strength. What +they liked to represent most were statues of deities +rather than Buddha himself, and of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +deities they preferred those of martial character. +Comparing them with the Tempyô sculptures, in +which the subject is not so narrowly circumscribed, +we can observe the change of the national +spirit very clearly.</p> + +<p class="indent">In painting also, the most important progress +of the age is the change in subjects of this art, +or rather the increase in varieties of subjects to +be painted. Before this time what the artists generally +liked to paint were the images of Buddha, +Buddhist deities, scenes in Buddhist history, and +portraits of celebrated priests. Landscapes were +put on canvas, too, though not so frequently as +those subjects pertaining to Buddhism. Since then +portraits, not only of priests, but also of laymen, +such as courtiers and generals, have been treated +by our painters. Some masterpieces of the new +portraiture, by the brush of Takanobu, are extant +to this day. This development of portrait-painting +may be interpreted as a symptom of the newly-budding +individualism on the nation. As to scroll +paintings, formerly we had pictures of consecutive +scenes in Buddhist history painted in that +manner, but scenes from secular history or genre +pictures were rare. From this time onward we +have scrolls of a character not purely religious, +though Buddhist stories are still used as subjects +for painting as before. Moreover, in earlier +scrolls the best attention was paid to painting +Buddha or deities, and not to delineating the +auxiliaries, such as landscapes, buildings, worshipping +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +multitudes of various professions, and so +forth, while in the new kinds of scrolls more stress +was laid on depicting those auxiliaries rather than +the pious personages themselves. Battle scenes in +the provinces of Mutsu and Dewa, or those between +the Taira and the Minamoto in the streets +of Kyoto, were also painted on scrolls. Another +and quite novel kind extant of the scroll pictures +of this age is the satirical delineation of the manners +and customs of the time by the brush of the +painter-priest Toba-sôjô. In the famous scroll +certain animals familiar to the daily life, such +as foxes, rabbits, frogs, and so forth are depicted +allegorically, each suggesting certain notorious +personages of various callings in the contemporary +society.</p> + +<p class="indent">As to literature, a difference similar in nature +to those characteristics of the literature of the preceding +age can be observed very distinctly. In +the former period, though the essence of the literature +in Japanese was profoundly influenced by +the Chinese spirit, Chinese vocabularies and +phrases rarely entered into sentences without being +translated into Japanese. That is to say, the +Japanese literature remained pure as to language, +and went on side by side with the literature in +Chinese. Now the combination of the two kinds +began to take form. Chinese words, phrases, and +several rhetorical figures began to be poured into +the midst of sentences, the structure remaining +Japanese as before, so that those sentences may +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +be considered as forming a kind of hybrid +Chinese, with words juxtaposed in a Japanese +style, and connected by Japanese participles. This +change resulted in making a great many Japanese +words obsolete, and it has since become necessary +for the Japanese constantly to resort to the +Chinese vocabulary in writing as well as in speaking. +The growth of Japanese as an independent +language was thus regrettably retarded. At the +same time Japanese literature reaped an immense +benefit from this adoption of the Chinese vocabulary, +for by it we became enabled to express our +thoughts concisely, forcibly, and when necessary +in a very highflown style, things not utterly impossible +but exceedingly difficult for Japanese pure +in form. The use of Chinese ideographs thus increased +from generation to generation, until now +it has become too late to try to eradicate them. +All that which the Japanese nation has achieved +in the past, its history, nay, its whole civilisation, +has been handed to us, recorded in the language, +which is woven of Chinese vocabularies and +Japanese syntax, and denoted by symbols which +are nothing but Chinese ideographs and their abbreviations, +the Kana. A movement to supersede +the Chinese ideographs by the exclusive use of +the <i>kana</i>, which are very simple abbreviations of +those ideographs, was initiated at the beginning +of the Meidji era, but was dropped soon afterwards. +Another radical movement to substitute +the Roman alphabet for the Chinese ideographs +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +and the <i>kana</i> in writing Japanese, was started +nearly at the same time, and still continues to +have a certain number of zealous advocates. The +success of such a movement, however, depends on +the value of the civilisation already acquired by the +Japanese. If that amounts to nothing, and can +be cast aside without any regret, in other words, +if the history of Japan counts for nothing for the +present and the future of the country, then the +movement would have some chance of success; +otherwise the attainment of the object is a dream +of the millenium.</p> + +<p class="indent">The manifestation of the new spirit of the new +age in the sphere of religion is not less remarkable +than in that of art or of literature. Since +its introduction into our country, Buddhism had +been very singular in its position as regards the +social life of the nation. Though the imperial +family and the higher nobles earnestly embraced +the new creed, and worshipped the "gods of the +barbarians," this acceptance of Buddhism cannot +be called a conversion, because their religious +thoughts were never engrossed by it. They continued +to pay a very sincere respect to the old +deities of Japan as before, while they were adoring +Buddha enthusiastically. Shintoism was, if +not a religion, something very much like a religion, +more than anything else. So long as Shintoism +remained as influential as of yore, the Japanese +could not be said to have been converted to +Buddhism. The Buddhist priests, having perceived +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +this, tried not to supersede but to incorporate +Shintoism into their own creed, as I have +explained before, and succeeded in it, but could +not erase the independence of Shintoism entirely +out of the spiritual life of the Japanese. It cannot +be doubted that Buddhism was made secure +as regards its position in Japan by this incorporation, +but in general it gained not much. Assimilation, +generally speaking, has as its object, to destroy +the independent existence of the things to be +assimilated, and at the same time the assimilator +must run the risk of causing a condition of heterogeneity +on account of the addition of the new element. +Buddhism could not destroy the independent +existence of Shintoism, and the former became +heterogeneous by the assimilation of the latter, so +that the <i>raison d'être</i> of Buddhism in Japan was +very much weakened by the assimilation. The +lower strata of the nation were very slow in being +penetrated by Buddhism, notwithstanding the +munificent encouragement afforded to it by the +government, for example, by appointing preachers +not only in the neighbourhood of the capital, but in +distant provinces also, or by ordering the erection +of one temple in each province at the expense +of the government. The common people +were in need of salvation indeed, but from the +Buddhism which was nationalised, they could not +expect to obtain what they were unable to find in +Shintoism.</p> + +<p class="indent">In short, Buddhism, by its transformation and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +nationalisation, lost universality, its strongest +point, and was rendered quite powerless, that is +to say, blunted in the edge. Buddhism as a religious +philosophy remained of course intact, but +the cunning device of priests to make it conformable +to our country went too far, and resulted only +in weakening its efficiency as a practical religion. +There were still to be found some numbers of +priests who pursued their study in the intricate +philosophy of Buddhism, in cloisters, in the depths +of some forest or mountain recesses, but they were +almost powerless to act upon society in general. +The mass of the people looked on Buddhism only +as the worship of an aggregation of deities, not +much different from common objects of superstition, +or simply as a kind of show very pleasant +to see and to enjoy. They were too busy to care +for meditation, and too ignorant to venture on +philosophising.</p> + +<p class="indent">Religion as a show! Seemingly what an astounding +blasphemy even to entertain such an +idea! No foreign reader, however, would be +shocked at it, who knows that religious plays +made the beginning of the modern stage of +Europe, and that in villages in the Alpine valleys +there may be found some survivals of them even +now. Not only that, the services of the Roman +Catholic and of the Greek Orthodox Church contain +even to this day not a few theatrical elements. +An appeal of this nature to the audience has always +the effect of making the religion poetical, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +and therefore was the method chiefly resorted to +by the Church in the Middle Ages throughout all +Christendom. The method employed by the +Buddhists in our country was just the same. They +instituted various ceremonies and processions, +each apportioned to a certain definite day of a +certain season, and these religious shows served +to captivate the minds of the spectators.</p> + +<p class="indent">Here, however, the difference should be noticed +between Christianity and Buddhism. The former +as a rule is the religion which finds its foothold +first among the lower classes of the people, +while the latter, in Japan at least, began its +propaganda with the upper circles of the nation, +and then proceeded downwards. Though the +courtiers could frequently enjoy the gorgeous +spectacles carried out by priests clad in rich robes +of variegated colours amid heavenly music, such +scenes could be witnessed only in and about the +metropolis, and were moreover too costly and +aristocratic to be enjoyed by the common people. +The masses were not only debarred from the salvation +of their souls, but from the sight of the +pageants, the best pastime which an age devoid +of a theatre could afford. Yet those masses were +a necessary ingredient of society in Japan, by no +means to be neglected. Though very slowly, their +eyes were opening, and they were beginning to +claim their due. How could this demand, not +sufficiently conscious to the claimants themselves, +be provided for? Solely by Buddhism, which +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +should have been by whatever means reformed.</p> + +<p class="indent">Shintoism, though it has had a very tenacious +grip on the national spirit of the Japanese, is +deficient in certain particulars, and cannot be +called a religion in the strict sense, so that it was +difficult for it to march with the ever-advancing +civilisation of our country. If there was a need, +therefore, for something which could not be obtained +outside of religion, it was to be sought elsewhere +than in Shintoism, that is to say, in Buddhism, +which was then the only cult in Japan +worthy to be called a religion. To seek from +it anything new, which it could not give in the +state it had been, means that it ought to have been +reformed. It is true that there had been repeated +attempts, since the beginning of the tenth +century, to make Buddhism accessible and intelligible +to all classes of the people, and this kind +of movement had become especially active at the +end of the eleventh century. What was common +to all of these movements was the endeavor to +teach the merit of the <i>nem-butsu</i>, that is to say, +the belief that anybody who would invoke the help +of Buddha by calling repeatedly the name of +Amita, one of the manifestations of Buddha, +would be assured of the blissful after-life, and +that the oftener the invocation was made the surer +was the response. Most elaborate among them +was an organisation of a religious community resembling +in its character a joint-stock company. A +member of this community was required to contribute +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> +to the accumulation of the blessing by repeating +its invocation a certain number of times, +like a shareholder of a company paying for his +share. This community is in a great measure +analogous to those societies of Europe in the +later Middle Ages, which tried to accumulate the +virtues of the Ave Maria sung by their members. +The most striking characteristic of this community +was that it extolled its own unique merit which lay +in having as its members all the Buddhist deities, +whose celestial <i>nem-butsu</i> would be sure to augment +the dividends of the earthly shareholders!</p> + +<p class="indent">To organise such a community was not to undermine +the traditional edifice of Buddhism in +Japan, but to support it, just as those mendicant +orders, Benedictine, Augustine, Franciscan, Dominican, +and so forth, were formed but in behalf +of the Church of Rome. The intention of those +who emphasised the <i>nem-butsu</i> was very far from +that of becoming the harbingers of the reform +movement of the following generations, though +the latter aimed at nearly the same thing as the +early promoters of the <i>nem-butsu</i> did. Yeshin, +a priest in the temple of Yenryakuji, became the +precursor of Hônen, who was born more than +one hundred years after the death of his forerunner. +The former would not and could not become +a reformer, though he was highly adored +by the latter for his saintliness, who styled himself +the only expounder of the former. The latter, +too, was very modest and never ventured to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +proclaim himself a reformer. Hônen was one +of the meekest Buddhists in Japan. Yet he was +forced against his will to become the founder of +the Jôdo sect, which has continued influential to +this day. All the religious reformers of the Kamakura +period ran in his wake.</p> + +<p class="indent">Religion, art, and literature were all thus transforming +themselves almost at the same time, and +that very time coincided exactly with the moment +in which the most important change in the political +sphere was taking place. Such a coincidence +in the development of the various factors of civilisation +cannot be lightly overlooked as a mere +chance happening. Surely it must have been actuated +by a common impulse, which was nothing +but the urgent demand of the <i>Zeitgeist</i>. The +régime matured by the Fujiwara nobles at Kyoto +had already come to a standstill. Japan had to be +pushed on by any means whatever. It is this +necessity which allowed the Taira to get the upper +hand of the Fujiwara. The rise of this soldier-family +cannot be attributed merely to the +merit of its representative members. But its fall +owed much to their incompetency in not having +become conscious of their position in the history +of Japan. No sooner had they grasped the reins +of the government, than they began to tread the +path which their predecessors had trod, the path +leading only to the stumbling-block. Too quickly +they were transforming themselves into pseudo-courtiers. +"The mummy-seekers were about to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +be turned into mummies," as a Japanese proverb +has it. It was just at this juncture, the last +phase of the transformation of the Taira warriors, +that they were overturned by the Minamoto. +In short, the course on which the Taira +steered was against the current of the age. If +the family had remained in power longer than it +actually did, then the just budded spirit of the +new age would have dwindled away, and to Japan +might have fallen the same lot as befell to other +oriental monarchies. For our country it was fortunate +that the Taira were no longer able to stay +at the helm of the state.</p> + +<p class="indent">Minamoto-no-Yoritomo preferred, at the establishment +of his Shogunate, a course quite different +from that of the Taira. Having been brought +up during his boyhood at Kyoto, and being therefore +acquainted with the realities of the metropolitan +modes of life, he might have been, perhaps, +averse to the Sybaritism of the court. +If, on the other hand, he had been inclined to follow +in the footsteps of the Taira, he was not in +a position to behave as he would have liked, for +it was not by any exertion of his own that he was +exalted to the virtual dictatorship of the military +government. The Minamoto and the Taira who +had settled in the eastern provinces, in spite of the +difference of their families, had been accustomed +to the same condition of living, and they fought +often under the same banner against the Ainu. +Though quarrels were not lacking among them, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +they could not help feeling the warmth of the +fraternity of arms toward one another. These +"rough riders" had gradually become refined by +the education imparted by country priests; <i>terakoya</i>, +the "hut in a temple," was the sole substitute +for the elementary school at that time. They +had, too, occasion to come into contact with the +civilised life of the metropolis, for it was their +duty to stay there by turns, sometimes for years, +as guards of the capital and of the imperial residence. +Intelligent warriors among them took to +the city life and mastered some of the accomplishments +highly prized by courtiers. Most of them, +however, looked with scornful smile upon the degenerate +courtiers, like the Germans in the Eternal +City looking with disgust on the decadent state +of Imperial Rome. When Yoritomo entered into +their company as an exile from Kyoto, these warriors +were very glad to receive him, for he was +descended from the family of the generals whom +their forefathers had served hereditarily, and +whose names they still revered. With this exile +as their leader, they rose united against the Taira, +the traditional enemy of the family to which he +belonged. After the success of their arms they +had no desire to have their chief turned into a +pseudo-courtier after the example of the Taira +soldiers. Kamakura was therefore chosen as the +seat of the military government. This was in the +year 1183.</p> + +<p class="indent">In truth, Kamakura cannot be said to be a place +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +strategically impregnable even in those early +times. It is too narrow to become the capital of +Japan, being closely hemmed in by a chain of +hills. Though situated on the sea, its bay is too +shallow, not fit for mooring even a small wooden +bark. The reason why the place happened to be +chosen must be sought, therefore, not in its geographical +position, but in that the town was +planted nearly in the centre of the region inhabited +by the supporters of Yoritomo. That it +was also the location of the Shinto shrine, Hachiman +of Tsurugaoka, might have had not a little +weight in influencing the choice, because it was +in this shrine that Yoshiiye, the forefather of +Yoritomo and the adored demigod of the warriors +of Japan, performed the ceremony of the +attainment of his full manhood.</p> + +<p class="indent">The military government, the Shogunate, set +up at Kamakura, was in its nature of quite a different +type from that of the Taira at Kyoto. Before +entering into details, it is necessary, however, +to say something about the change in the signification +of government. When the Fujiwara became +the real masters of Japan, they tried at first +to govern wisely and sincerely. But as time +passed their energy and determination gradually +relaxed. Their growing wealth obtained by encroachment +on public lands tended to mould them +as a profligate and indolent folk, so that they +became at last wholly unfitted for any serious state +affairs. Moreover, from the lack of any event +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +which would have necessitated united action of all +the family, a condition which might have been +exceedingly difficult to attain even if they had +wished it, on account of the multiplication of +branches, never-ceasing internal feuds which +helped only to weaken the prestige of the family +as a whole were perpetually arising. It was at +this juncture that the Emperor Go-Sanjô tried to +recover the reins once lost to the hands of his +ancestors. The task which he left unfinished was +achieved by his son and successor, the Emperor +Shirakawa. When the power was restored to the +emperor, however, it was not in the same condition +as when lost. The state business decreased +in scope and significance, all that was left being +merely the disposal of not very numerous manor +lands, which had been left untouched by the +greedy Fujiwara, and the policing of the capital. +The Emperor Shirakawa did not deem it necessary +as reigning Emperor to pay regular attention +to them. He abdicated, therefore, in favour of +his son, and from his retired position he managed +the so-called state affairs. As the result of +such an assumption of power, the position of the +reigning emperor became very problematic, and +irresponsibility prevailed everywhere. The imperial +family thus regained some of its historical +prestige, and succeeded in curbing the arrogance +of the Fujiwara. The latter, however, continued +very rich and powerful, though not so politically +mighty as before. For a short while the Taira +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +achieved its object in partially supplanting the influence +of the Fujiwara, but it could not perceptibly +weaken the latter. The downfall of the +Taira showed clearly that in such a state of the +country mere names and titles meant practically +nothing, and that the military power supported +by material resources was the thing most worth +coveting. The Taira started on this line, but +soon collapsed by abandoning it. How could a +shrewd politician like Yoritomo be expected to +imitate the blunder of his opponent?</p> + +<p class="indent">The Shogunate set up by Yoritomo at Kamakura +was not of the sort which could appropriately +be called a regularly organised government. +It was modelled after the organisation of a family-business +office, which was common to all the +noble families of high rank. There were several +functionaries in the Shogunate, but they had the +character rather of private servants than of state +officials. The Shogun's secretaries, body-guards, +butlers and so forth served under him not on account +of any official regulation connecting them +publicly with him, but only as his retainers, and +were designated by the name of the <i>go-kenin</i>, +which means "the men of the august household." +To sum up, the Shogunate was established not +for the state but for the family business. Yoritomo +had never pretended to take possession of +the government of Japan. The fact that at the +beginning of the Shogunate its jurisdiction did not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +extend over the whole of the empire testifies to +the same.</p> + +<p class="indent">In the foregoing chapters I have spoken about +the encroachment on public lands by the Fujiwara +nobles. The private farms which were called the +<i>shô-yen</i> and resembled in their character the manors +or great landed estates in England, increased +year by year, so that they extended at last to all +the distant provinces of the country. Some emperors +were resolute enough to try to put a stop +to the growth of this onerous infringement of the +public property, but the orders issued by them had +very little effect. As to the management of these +farms, they were not administered directly by +those nobles who owned them, and it was not uncommon +for many manors lying far apart from +one another to belong to the same owner. The +proprietors, therefore, generally stationed some +of their domestic servants in those manors to act +as caretakers, or confided the management to men +who were the original reclaimers of those manors +or their descendants, from whom the nobles had +received the lands as a donation. By this assumption +of the duty of management, these servants of +these nobles arrogated to themselves the right to +govern and command the people living upon the +estates, without any appointment from the government +itself. It cannot be disputed that it was +a kind of usurpation not allowable in the regular +state of any organised country. The provincial +governors of that time, however, were impotent +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +to put a bridle on those impudent managers, for +most of the governors appointed stayed in Kyoto +to enjoy the pleasure of city life, and left the business +of the province to be administered by their +lieutenants. Moreover, some of the manors were +evidently exempted from the intervention of the +provincial officials by a special order. In other +words, most of the manors were communities +which were to a great degree autonomous, each +under the jurisdiction of a half independent manager, +and that manager again standing in a subordinate +position to his patron, who resided generally +at Kyoto. So far I have spoken only of the manors +belonging to the nobles of the higher class, including +members of the imperial family. Other +manors possessed by Shinto shrines and Buddhist +temples were also under a régime not much different +from those of the nobles. The Taira, too, +at the zenith of their family power, had a great +number of such estates and the sons of Kiyomori +fought against the Minamoto with forces recruited +from the tenants of those manors.</p> + +<p class="indent">When Yoritomo overcame the Taira, he confiscated +all the manors which had formerly been +possessed by that family, and appointed one of his +retainers to each of these appropriated manors as +<i>djito</i>, which literally means a chief of the land. +The duty of these <i>djito</i> was to collect for their +lord Shogun a certain amount of rice, proportional +to the area of the rice fields belonging to the estate. +This reserved rice was destined to be used +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +as provision for soldiers, and was in reality the income +of the <i>djito</i>, for he was himself the very soldier +who would use that rice as provision. Besides +the collection of rice, he had to keep in order the +manor to which he had been appointed as chief, +that is to say, the police of the manor was in +his hands. Once appointed, a <i>djito</i> could make +his office hereditary, though for this the sanction +of the Shogunate was necessary. Yoritomo appointed +also a military governor to each of the +provinces. The authority of this governor, +called the <i>shugo</i>, extended over all the retainers +of the Shogun in that province, including the +<i>djito</i>. It should be noticed, however, that the +<i>shugo</i> was as a rule a warrior, who held the +office of <i>djito</i> at the same time, in or out of that +province.</p> + +<p class="indent">As to the manors which were owned by Kyoto +nobles, shrines, and temples, and therefore not at +the disposal of the Shogun, no <i>djito</i> was appointed +to them. Though the disputes about the boundaries, +right of inheritance, and various other questions +concerning the estates were decided by the +legal councillors of the Shogunate, jurisdiction +was restricted to those cases in which some retainer +of the Shogun was a party. Otherwise, +the right of decision was denied by the Shogun. +The Shogun never claimed any right over the land +which did not stand expressly under his jurisdiction. +From this it can be inferred that he did +not pretend to take over the civil government of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> +the whole of Japan. By the foundation of the +Shogunate, however, Yoritomo became a very +powerful military chief, sanctioned by the Emperor +with the conferment of the title of "generalissimo +to chastise the Ainu", and at need he +was able to mobilise a large number of soldiers, +by giving orders to <i>djito</i> through the <i>shugo</i> of the +provinces. None was able to compete with him +in military strength, and the business of the civil +government had necessarily to fall into the hands +of him who was the strongest in material force.</p> + +<p class="indent">If such an anomalous state, as we see in the beginning +of the Shogunate, had continued very +long, the Shogunate would never have become the +regular government of the country, and the dismemberment +of Japan might have been the ultimate +result. But fortunately for the future of +our country, it did not remain as it was first established. +Those managers of manors not belonging +to the Shogun, seeing that they could be +better protected from above by turning themselves +into retainers of the Shogun, volunteered +for his service. Nobles, shrines, and temples possessing +these manors complained of course about +the enlistment of the manor-managers into the +Shogunate service. For by the transformation +of the managers, those manors <i>ipso facto</i> came +under the military jurisdiction of Kamakura. As +those owners, however, could not prevent the +transformation, and as the income from those estates +did not decrease in any great measure by the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +extension of the jurisdiction of the Shogun over +them, they had nothing to do, but tacitly to acquiesce +in the new conditions. The number of +retainers thus increased rapidly, and with it the +Shogunate's sphere of jurisdiction grew wider and +wider, till at last it covered the greater part of the +Empire. The Shogunate was then no more a +mere business office of a family, but the government +<i>de facto</i> recognised by the whole nation. +This process was consummated in the middle of +the first half of the thirteenth century.</p> + +<p class="indent">It would be a mistake to suppose that such a +momentous change was effected without any disturbance. +The Kyoto nobles, who were unable at +first to see the political importance of the establishment +of the Shogunate in an insignificant provincial +village, were gradually awakened to the +real loss which they would surely suffer by it, and +longed to recover the reins, which they had once +forgotten to keep and guard. Besides, there were +many malcontent warriors both within and without +the Shogunate. For after the death of Yoritomo, +though the title of Shogun was inherited +by his two sons, one after the other, the real +power of the Shogunate fell into the hands of his +wife's relations, the family of Hôjô. Warriors +of other families were excluded from a share in +the military government, and they, dissatisfied on +that account, wished for some change in order +to overthrow the Hôjô. Needless to say that +outside of the Shogunate ambitious men were not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +lacking, who desired to set up another Shogunate +in place of that at Kamakura, if they could. All +these discontented soldiery allied themselves with +the Kyoto nobles, and caused the civil war of +Jôkyu to ensue between them and the Shogunate +represented by the Hôjô family. The war ended +in the defeat of the former, and the Shogunate +emerged out of the war far stronger than before.</p> + +<p class="indent">Thirteen years after the war, the first compilation +of laws of the Shogunate was undertaken by +Yasutoki Hôjô. It is called "the compiled laws +of the Jôyei," Jôyei being the name of the era +in which the compilation was issued. This compilation +was not so much a work of elaborate systematisation, +nor an imitation of foreign laws, as +was the reform legislation of the Taïhô. Rather +it should be called a collection of abstracts of +particular law cases decided by the judicial staff +of the Shogunate. It is therefore an outcome of +necessitated experiences like English "case-law", +and had not the character of statute laws or provisions +deduced from a certain fundamental legal +principle in anticipation of all probable occurrences. +The object of the compilation is clearly +stated in the epilogue written by Yasutoki himself. +According to this, it was far from the motive +of the compilers to displace the old system of +legislation by the promulgation of the new one. +Old laws became a dead letter, without being +formally abrogated, while the new code was issued +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +only for the practical benefit of the people in +charge of various businesses.</p> + +<p class="indent">Whatever might have been the real motive of +Yasutoki and his legal councillors, the very act +of the compilation cannot in itself fail to betray +the consciousness on the part of the Shogunate +that it had already a sufficiency of test cases decided +to supply models for the decision of most +of the disputes that might be brought before them +in the future. Or we might say that the Hôjô +became confirmed in their belief that the Shogunate +was now so firmly established as not to be +easily shaken at its foundation, and that they +could henceforth command in the name of a regular +government without any fear of serious disturbances. +Certainly their victory in the civil +war must have rid them of any apprehension of +danger from the side of Kyoto.</p> + +<p class="indent">This compilation was issued in the year 1232, +that is to say, about fifty years after the founding +of the Kamakura Shogunate. Thus we can see +that this half-century had wrought an important +change in the history of Japan. During this time +the military régime was enabled to strike a firm +root deep into the national life of the Japanese. +The family of the Minamoto soon became extinct +by the death of the second son of Yoritomo, and +scions of a Fujiwara noble and then some of +the imperial princes were brought from Kyoto one +after another as the successors to the Shogunate. +Yet they were all but tools in the capable hands of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +the Hôjô family, which remained the real master +of the military government of Kamakura. In +course of time, the Hôjô also fell, but other military +families successively arose to power, and the +military régime was kept up by them in Japan +until the middle of the nineteenth century. It is +true that those changes in the headship and in +the location of the Shogunate caused as a matter +of fact corresponding changes in the nature of +the respective military régime. The Shogunate +of the Ashikaga family was of a different sort +from that of Kamakura, while that of the Tokugawa +at Yedo was again of another type than the +Ashikaga's at Kyoto. Throughout all these different +Shogunates, however, certain common +characteristics prevailed, so that a wide gap may +be discerned between them as a whole and the +government of the Fujiwara courtiers. And +those characters indeed have their origin all in +this first half century of the Kamakura Shogunate.</p> + +<p class="indent">What most distinguished the military régime +from the preceding government was its being +pragmatic and unconventional. It was not on +account of noble lineage alone, that Yoritomo was +able to establish his Shogunate. He owed a great +deal to the willing assistance of the warriors scattered +in the eastern provinces, who claimed descent +from some illustrious personages in our history, +but in fact had forefathers of modest living +for many generations, and had maintained very +intimate relations with the common people. The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +Shogunate was bound by this reason not to neglect +the interests of those who had thus contributed +to its establishment. Moreover, in order to be +able to raise a strong army at any time when +necessary, the Shogunate was obliged to take +minute care of the welfare of the retainers and +of the people at large, for the faithfulness of the +former and popularity among the latter counted +more than other things as props of the régime. +The contrast is remarkable when we compare it +to the government by the Fujiwara nobles, who +made an elaborate legislation, professing to govern +uprightly and leniently, and to be beneficial +even to the lowest stratum of the people, yet in +reality caring very little for the felicity of the +governed, looking on them always with contempt, +though this lack of sympathy might be attributed +more to some old racial relation than to the morality +of those nobles. After all, the government +of the Shogun, being regulated by a few decrees +and guided by practical common sense, operated +far better than the Fujiwara's. Where formalism +had reigned, reality began now to prevail. +The spirit of the age was about to be emancipated +from convention. Japan was regenerated.</p> + +<p class="indent">It was this regeneration of Japan, which kept +up and nourished what was initiated in the Taira +period. But for the Kamakura Shogunate, however, +those germs of the new era might have been +blasted forever. One thread of the continuous +development from the Taira to the Minamoto +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +period may be clearly discerned in the sphere of +religion. In 1212 died Hônen, the reformer of +Buddhism, of whom I have already spoken in the +preceding chapter, but before his death his teachings +had gathered a great many adherents around +him, and the sect of the Jôdo became independent +of that of the Tendai. It was from this +Jôdo sect that the Shinshû or the "orthodox" +Jôdo, now one of the most influential Buddhist +sects in Japan, sprang up, and became independent +also. Shinran, the founder of the latter sect, +is said to have been one of the disciples of Hônen, +and the tenets of his sect, initiated by Shinran himself +and supplemented by his successors, bear +striking resemblance to the reform tenets of +Luther in laying stress on faith and in denouncing +reliance on the merit of good works in order to +arrive at salvation. That the priests belonging to +this sect have avowedly led a matrimonial life, +a custom which was unique to this sect among Japanese +Buddhists, is another point of resemblance +to Lutheranism. In other respects, for example, +in preaching the doctrine of predestination, it can +be considered as analogous to Calvinism also.</p> + +<p class="indent">Another important sect, which branched off +from the Tendai, is that of the followers of +Nichiren. His sect is called the Hokke, or +Nichiren, after the name of the founder himself, +and the sect still contains a vast number of devotees. +It is the most militant sect of Buddhism +in Japan, and that militancy might be traced to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +the personality of Nichiren, the founder, who was +the most energetic and aggressive priest Japanese +Buddhism has ever produced. He, too, never +claimed to have founded a new sect, and insisted +that his doctrine was simply a resuscitated Tendai +tenet. We can easily see, however, that in its +pervading tendency it approached other reformed +sects of the same age rather than the old or +orthodox Tendai. Nichiren died in the year +1282, so that his most flourishing period falls in +the middle of the thirteenth century.</p> + +<p class="indent">One more sect I cannot pass without commenting +on is the Zen sect. Its founder in Japan is +Yôsai, whose time coincided with that of Hônen. +Twice he went over to China, which had been +for more than two hundred years under the +sovereignty of the Sung dynasty, and studied there +the doctrine of the Zen sect, which was then +prevailing in that country. After his return +from abroad, he began to preach first at Hakata, +which had long continued the most thriving port +for the trade with China. Afterwards he removed +to Kyoto and thence to Kamakura, making +enthusiasts everywhere, especially among the +warriors. Like all other new sects, the teaching +of Yôsai was not entirely a novelty, being a development +of one of the many elements which +constituted old Buddhism. The specialty of the +sect was, instead of arriving at salvation by belief +in some supernatural being outside and above +one's self, to encourage meditation and introspection +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +and its general character tended to be mystic, +intuitive, and individualistic. Strong self-reliance +and resolute determination, qualities indispensable +to warriors, were the natural and necessary outcome +of this teaching. It was largely patronised by +the Shogunate and the Hôjô on that account. +Though Yôsai became the founder of the sect, +neither he himself nor his teaching could hardly be +called sectarian. To establish an hierarchical +community or to organise a systematised doctrine +was beyond his purpose, but the result of his +preaching was precisely to bring both into being.</p> + +<p class="indent">Not only the characteristics of these new sects, +but the manner of their propagation deserves +close attention. Some of them were started in the +eastern provinces, and gradually extended their +missionary activity toward the west, that is to say, +in the direction which is contrary to that of the +extension of civilisation in former times. Others, +though started in the west or at Kyoto, concentrated +their efforts in the eastern provinces with +Kamakura as centre of propagation. In short, +all the reformed sects turned their attention +rather to the eastern than to the western provinces. +This preference of the east to the west +originated in the circumstance that the less civilised +east gave to those missioners a greater prospect +of enlisting new adherents, than western Japan, +which would of a surety be slow to follow +their new teachings, having been already won over +by the older cults. It might, however, be added +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> +that the preachers of the new doctrines saw, or +rather overvalued, the importance of the new political +centre as the nucleus of a fresh civilisation +which might rapidly develop.</p> + +<p class="indent">To say sooth, the field of activity of those untiring +priests was not restricted to those eastern +provinces, which are denoted by the general appellation +of "Kwanto", but was extended into the +far northern provinces of Mutsu and Dewa. +This region at the extremity of Honto was long +ago created as provinces, but had lagged far +behind the rest of Japan in respect of civilisation. +A considerable number of the Ainu were still +lingering in the northern part of the two provinces. +Fujiwara-no-Hidehira, the generalissimo +of the region, who harboured Yoshitsune, the +younger brother and victim of Yoritomo, is said +to have been of Ainu blood. His sphere of influence +reached Shirakawa on the south, which +was considered at that time the boundary between +civilised and barbarous Japan. The time had +arrived, however, when this barrier was at last +to be done away with. When a quarrel arose +between the two brothers, Yoritomo and Yoshitsune, +after the annihilation of the Taira, and the +latter sought refuge with Hidehira, Yoritomo +thought of marching into Mutsu. This expedition +was undertaken in the year 1189, after the +death of Hidehira. His sons were easily defeated. +The land taken from them was distributed +by Yoritomo among his soldiers, who followed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +him from the Kwanto and fought under +his banner. The vast region, by coming thus under +the military authority of the Kamakura Shogunate, +was for the first time, taken into Japan +proper. It was on account of this extension of +political Japan over the whole of Honto, that the +new sects had a chance to penetrate into those +provinces.</p> + +<p class="indent">We have seen that religion was the first and +the most forcible exponent of the new age. If +the Shogunate of Kamakura had remained in +power longer than it did, other factors of the +new civilisation might have developed quite afresh +around the Shogunate. Art and literature of another +type than that which flourished at Kyoto +might have blossomed forth. The time was, however, +not yet ripe for the total regeneration of +Japan. The conventionalism of the Kyoto civilisation +more and more influenced the Shogunate, +which was still too young and had nothing solid of +its own civilisation capable of resisting the infiltration +of the old. Besides, several difficulties +which lay in the way of the Shogunate coöperated +in bringing about its fall in the year of 1332. +Japan had to go on in a half regenerated state for +some time.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<p class="h2a">THE WELDING OF THE NATION +THE POLITICAL DISINTEGRATION OF THE COUNTRY</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">A</span> war with a foreign power or powers is generally +a very efficient factor in history, conducing +to the unification of a nation, especially when that +nation is composed of more than one race. The +German Empire, which was consolidated mainly +by virtue of the wars of 1864, 1866, and 1870-1871, +is one of the most exemplary instances. +Japan, being surrounded by sea on all sides, has +had more advantages than any continental country +in moulding into one all the racial elements which +happened to find their way into the insular pale. +These are the very same advantages which Great +Britain has enjoyed in Europe. We should have +been able, perhaps, without any coercion from +without, to become a solid nation by the sole operation +of geographical causes. If we had been +left, however, to the mercy of influences of those +kinds only, then we might have been obliged +to wait for long years in order to see the nation +welded, for in respect of the complexity of racial +composition, Japan cannot be said to be inferior +to any national state in either hemisphere. To facilitate +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> +the national consolidation, therefore, the +force acting from without was most welcome for +us.</p> + +<p class="indent">Of wars serviceable to such an end, however, +there had been very scanty chances offered to us. +Though the wars against the Ainu had continued +much longer than is apt to be imagined by modern +Japanese, and had made their influence felt in +bringing about the consolidation of the Japanese +as a nation, the spasmodic insurrections of the +aborigines were but flickerings of cinders about +to die out. For several centuries the Ainu had +been a race destined only to wane irrevocably +more and more, so that no serious danger was to +be feared from that quarter. Outside of the Ainu, +no other foreign people dared for a long time to +invade us on so large a scale as to cause any serious +damage.</p> + +<p class="indent">As regards China, the dynasty of the Sung, +which began to reign over the empire in the year +960, had been constantly harassed by the incursions +of various northern tribes. After an existence +of a century and a half, the greater portion +of northern China was bereft of the dynasty by +the Chin, a state founded by a Tartar tribe called +the Churche. The Chin, however, was in turn +overthrown in the year 1234 by the Mongols, another +nomadic tribe, which rose in the rear of the +latter state. Within a half century from that, the +Chinese dynasty of the Sung, which had been long +gasping in the south, drew its last breath under +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +pressure of the same Mongols that founded the +Empire of the Yuan.</p> + +<p class="indent">From China, therefore, in the state it had been, +we had nothing to fear. As to the Korean peninsula, +which had come under the influence of +China at the time of the T'ang dynasty, the state +founded there by the inhabitants was enabled now +to breathe freely on account of the anarchical +condition of the suzerain state. Though Kokuri +and Kutara had, in spite of our assistance, been +both destroyed by the army of the T'ang, Shiragi, +which had been left unmolested by the T'ang as +a half independent ally, conquered the greater +part of the peninsula, and the people of that state +frequently pillaged our western coasts. This +Shiragi surrendered at the beginning of the tenth +century to Korea, a new state which arose in the +north of the peninsula. The relations of the new +Korea with our country were on the whole very +peaceful, except for some interruptions caused +by the incursions of the pirates from that country +on our coast at the end of the same century.</p> + +<p class="indent">Besides the Koreans, there were many tribes +inhabiting the north and the east of Korea and +along the coast of the Sea of Japan, which made +themselves independent of China one after the +other, though all the states founded by them had +but an ephemeral existence. Some of those minor +states kept up a very cordial intercourse with our +country, while others acted in a contrary way. +Among the latter may be counted the pirates from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +Toi, that is to say, from the region of a Churche +tribe, though the real home of this throng of sea-thieves +has not yet been identified with any exactness, +pirates who devastated the island of Iki +and the northern coast of Kyushu with a fleet consisting +of more than fifty ships. This took place +in the year 1019, and the repulse of this piratical +attack was the last military exploit of the Fujiwara +nobles.</p> + +<p class="indent">After that complete tranquillity reigned in our +western quarter for more than two centuries and +a half until the first Mongolian invasion of 1274. +Hitherto, to repel the inroads of pirates, the +forces which could be set in motion in the western +provinces only, had proved to be more than sufficient +for the purpose. Against the first Mongolian +invasion also, the retainers of the Shogun +in the western provinces only were mobilised as +usual by command from Kamakura. The battle +scenes of the war were described by one of the +warriors who took part in it, and painted by a +contemporary master on a scroll, which has come +down in good preservation to our day, and now +forms one of the imperial treasures to be handed +on to prosperity. The expeditionary fleet of the +Yuan consisted of more than nine hundred ships, +with 15,000 Mongols and Chinese and 8,000 Koreans +on board, besides 6,700 of the crews, so +that it was too overwhelming in numbers even for +our valiant soldiers to fight against with some +hope of victory. It was not by the valour of our +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> +soldiers alone, therefore, that the invasion was +frustrated. The elements, the turbulent wind and +wave, did virtually more than mere human efforts +could have achieved in destroying the formidable +enemy's ships.</p> + +<p class="indent">Irritated at this failure of the first expedition, +Khubilai, the Emperor of Yuan, immediately ordered +the preparation of another expedition on +a far larger scale. The second invasion of Japan +was undertaken at last in the 1281, after an interval +of seven years. This time the invading +forces far outnumbered those of the first expedition, +totalling more than one hundred thousand in +all. On the other hand, the forces which the +Shogunate could raise in the western provinces +only proved this time plainly inadequate. Seeing +this, Tokimune Hôjô, who was the virtual master +of the Shogunate, mobilised the retainers in the +eastern provinces too, and sent them to the battlefield +in Kyushu. A fierce battle was fought on +the shore near Hakata. Our soldiers made a desperate +effort to prevent the landing of the enemy's +troops, contending inch by inch against fearful +odds, so that the Mongols could not complete +their disembarkment, before a hurricane suddenly +arose that swept away at least two-thirds of their +men and ships. A lasting check was thus put upon +the expansion of the triumphant Mongols on the +east, just forty years after the battle of Liegnitz +in Silesia had been fought successfully by the +Teutonic nobles on the west against the same foe.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +Though the frustration of the two Mongolian +attempts upon our country should rather be attributed +to the intervention of elemental forces +which worked at very propitious opportunities, +than to the bravery of our warriors, it cannot +be disputed that they fought to their utmost, so +that it would be derogatory to the military +honour of our forefathers, if we supposed that +nothing worth mentioning was achieved by them +at all. In any case, the annihilation of the Mongolian +fleet by us is an historical feat which might +be considered together with the defeat of the +Invincible Armada by the English three centuries +later. In both countries the memorable victory +was due to the dauntless courage of the warriors +engaged in the battle, and the firm attitude of the +person who stood then at the helm of the state. +In Japan, Tokimune did not lend his ears to the +milder counsels of the shrewder diplomatists at +the court of Kyoto.</p> + +<p class="indent">What is more noteworthy, however, than anything +else in this war was not the bravery of our +forefathers, but the fact that men recruited from +the eastern as well as from the western provinces +of the empire fought for the first time side by side +against the foreign invaders. Such a coöperation +of the people from all quarters of Japan in defence +of the country was not a sight which could +have been witnessed before the establishment of +the military régime, for until that time the unification +of the Empire had not extended to the northern +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +extremity of Honto, and for ninety years +after the inauguration of the Shogunate at Kamakura, +there had been no occasion for our warriors +to try their fortune in arms against any +foreign enemy. Now the Japanese were induced +for the first time to feel the necessity for national +solidarity, only because enterprising Khubilai +dared to attack the island empire, which would +have done no harm to him if he had left it unmolested, +and would have added very little to +his already overgrown empire, if he had succeeded +in his adventurous expedition. It may be perhaps +exaggerating a little to call this war a national +undertaking on our part when we consider +the small number of men engaged in it. The retainers +of the Shogunate, however, who were the +representatives of the Japanese of that time, all +hurried to the northern coast of Kyushu, even +from the remotest part of the empire, in order to +defend their country against their common foe. +The peculiar custom of intimidating children to +stop their crying, by reminding them of the Mongolian +invasion, an obsolescent custom which has +existed even in the northernmost region of Honto, +shows how thoroughly and deeply the Mongol +scare shook the whole empire, and left its indelible +impress on the nation as a whole. The first +beat of the pulse of a national enthusiasm has +thus become audible.</p> + +<p class="indent">If this feeling of national solidarity had gone +deep into the consciousness of the people, and had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +continued steadily increasing without relaxation, +then it might have done considerable good in facilitating +the wholesome organisation of our national +state. Viewed from this point, it must be considered +rather a misfortune to our country that +the terrible enemy was too easily put to rout. +The pressure once removed, men no more +troubled themselves about the need for solidarity. +Nay, the war itself sowed the seeds of discontent +among the warriors engaged, on account of the incapacity +of the Shogunate to recompense them +amply for their services. Already after the civil +war of the Jôkyu era, the military government of +Kamakura had been reduced to a straitened condition, +for what it could get by the confiscation of +the properties of the vanquished proved insufficient +to provide the rewards for the faithful +followers of the Shogunate. In the war with the +Mongols, there was no enemy within the country +from whom land could be confiscated. Nevertheless +those warriors had to be rewarded with +grants of land only, which the Shogunate could +find nowhere. If the private moral bond, which +had linked the retainers with the Shogun at the +time of Yoritomo, could long continue in the state +it had been, the Shogunate could have sometimes +expected from them service without recompense. +The military government, with the Hôjô family +as its real master, however, could not likewise exact +gratuitous service from them. The relation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +between the Shogunate and its retainers became +too public and formal for this.</p> + +<p class="indent">Those who were appointed as <i>djito</i> by Yoritomo +at the beginning of the Shogunate had all +been retainers of the Minamoto family from the +first. Though they discharged the duties of military +police within their respective manors as if +they were public officials, yet their private character +far outweighed their public semblance. As +the Shogunate gradually took the form of a regular +government, this private and personal bond +between the Shogun and his retainers grew +weaker, and the public character of the <i>djito</i> began +to predominate. This was especially the +case after the virtual management of the Shogunate +fell into the hands of the Hôjô family. +It is true that those retainers still called themselves +the <i>go-kenin</i>, or the domestics of the Shogun +of Kamakura. The later Shogun, however, +sprung from the Fujiwara family or of blood imperial, +and could not demand the same obedience +which Yoritomo had found easy to obtain from +his hereditary vassals. In effect, the Shogunate +reserved to the end the right of giving sanction +as regards the inheritance of the office of <i>djito</i>, +but the exercise of the reserved right was generally +nominal. A <i>djito</i> could appoint as his successor +either his wife or any of his children, or +could divide his official tenure among many +inheritors. No Salic law and no law of primogeniture +yet existed in Japan of the Kamakura +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +period, so that, besides many <i>djito</i> who were incapable +of discharging the military duties in person +on account of sex or age, there were to be +found eventually a great number of <i>djito</i>, whose +official tenure covered a very small patch of ricefield, +so small that it was too narrow to exercise +any jurisdiction within it! Moreover, men of +utterly unwarlike professions like priests, and corporations +such as Shinto shrines and Buddhist +temples, were also entitled to succeed to the inheritance +of the office of <i>djito</i>, if only it were bequeathed +to them by a lawful will. In these cases, +where the rightful <i>djito</i> could not officiate in person, +a lieutenant, private in character, used to be +appointed. Those lieutenants, however, not being +publicly responsible to the Shogun, behaved +very arbitrarily. That was a breach severely felt +in the military system of the Shogunate.</p> + +<p class="indent">The worst evil of all was that the Shogunate, +which should have been an office for household +affairs and the camp of the Shogun, was gradually +turned into a princely court. Those warriors +who did valiant service under Yoritomo in establishing +the Shogunate had been in a great +measure illiterate, so that only with great difficulty +could the Shogun find a secretary among his retainers. +As the organisation of the military government +approached completion, the need of a +literary education on the part of the warriors increased +accordingly. Such an education, the +source of which, however, was not to be sought +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +at that time out of Kyoto, could hardly be introduced +into Kamakura without being accompanied +by other elements of the metropolitan +civilisation represented by the Fujiwara nobles. +The installation of a scion of the Fujiwara and +of princes of the blood imperial into the Shogunate +facilitated the permeation of the Kyoto culture, +which by its nature was too refined to suit +congenially men of military profession. The bodyguard +of the Shogun began to be chosen from +warriors whose demeanor was the most courtier-like, +and one of the accomplishments necessary +was the ability to compose short poems. Such a +condition of the Shogunate could not fail to +estrange those retainers who did not live habitually +in Kamakura, and were, therefore, not yet +tainted with the effeminacy of a courtier's life. +The main support, on whom the Shogun should +have been able to depend in time of stress, became +thus unreliable. At this juncture an Ainu insurrection, +which was the last recorded in our history, +broke out in the year 1322, and continued +till the downfall of the Kamakura Shogunate. It +was by this insurrection that the tottering edifice +of the military government was finally shaken, instantly +leading to its catastrophe.</p> + +<p class="indent">The force which gave the finishing stroke to the +Shogun's power and prestige came, as had long +been expected, from Kyoto. Inversely as the +warriors of Kamakura had been turned to pseudo-courtiers, +the court-nobles of Kyoto had become +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +tainted by the militaristic temperament of the +Kamakura warriors. The training in archery, the +dog-shooting in an enclosure, which was considered +a specially good training for a real battle, +and many other martial pastimes became the +fashion among the Kyoto nobles, as it had been +among warriors. After their defeat in the civil +war of the Jôkyu, they felt more keenly than before +the magnitude of their power lost to Kamakura, +and became the more discontented. Moreover, +from the four corners of the empire the +malcontents against the Hôjô family flocked to +Kyoto, and persuaded the already disaffected +courtiers, to attempt the restoration of the real +command of the government to themselves. The +Shogunate, having been apprised of the plot, tried +to suppress it in time by force, but was unable to +strike at the root of the evil, for the recalcitrants +rose against the Hôjô one after another. On the +other hand, those retainers who would have willingly +died for a Shogun of the Minamoto family +did not like to stake their lives on behalf of the +Hôjô. Kamakura was at last taken by a handful +of warriors from the neighbouring provinces led +by a chieftain of one of the branch families of the +Minamoto. The last of the Hôjô committed suicide, +and with the downfall of the family, the +Shogunate of Kamakura broke down. This happened +in the year 1334. The real power of the +state was restored to Kyoto in the name of the +Emperor Go-Daigo.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +The courtiers of Kyoto rejoiced in the thought +that they could now conduct themselves as the +true masters of Japan, but they were instantly +disillusioned. Those warriors who had assisted +them in the restoration of their former power, +would not allow the courtiers to have the lion's +share of the booty. Supported by a multitude of +such dissatisfied soldiery, Takauji Ashikaga, another +scion of the Minamoto, made himself the +real master of the situation, and was appointed +Shogun. Though once defeated by the army of +his opponents at Kyoto, he was soon enabled to +raise a large host in the western provinces, where, +since the Mongolian invasion, the majority of the +warriors thirsted for the change more than in +other provinces, and he captured the metropolis. +His opponents, however, continued their resistance +in various parts of the empire. The courtiers, +too, were divided into two parties, and the +majority sided with the stronger, that is to say, +with the Ashikaga family. At the same time the +imperial family was divided into two. Thus the +civil war, which strongly resembled the War of +the Roses, ensued and raged all over the provinces +for about fifty-six years, until the two parties were +reconciled at last in the year 1392. In this way +the whole of the empire came again under one +military régime, and for about two centuries, the +family of the Ashikaga continued at the head of +the new Shogunate.</p> + +<p class="indent">The new Shogunate was established at Kyoto, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +instead of Kamakura, which became now the seat +of a lieutenancy, administered by a branch of the +Ashikaga, and therefore reduced in political importance. +This change of the seat of the military +government is a matter of great moment in the +history of our country. One of the several reasons +which may be assigned for the change, was +that the supporters of the Ashikaga were not +limited to the warriors of the eastern provinces, +as they had been with the Kamakura Shogunate. +Takauji owed his ultimate success rather to the +soldiers from the western provinces, so that Kyoto +suited far better as the centre of his new military +régime than Kamakura.</p> + +<p class="indent">Another reason which the Ashikaga Shogunate +had in view in changing its seat, was that a great +apprehension which had been entertained by +the former Shogunate, would thereby cease. One +of the anxieties which had harassed the government +of Kamakura constantly had been the fear +that it might one day be overthrown by attack +from Kyoto. To provide against the danger a +resident lieutenant,—afterwards increased to two,—a +member of the family of Hôjô, was stationed +at Kyoto. The function of these lieutenants was +to look out for the interests of the Shogunate at +Kyoto, and at the same time to superintend the retainers +in the western provinces. Besides, being +two in number, these lieutenants watched each +other closely, so that it was impossible for either +of them to try to make himself independent of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +Kamakura. This system worked excellently for +a time, but was ultimately unable to save the declining +Shogunate. By shifting the seat of the +military government to Kyoto itself, this anxiety +might now be removed.</p> + +<p class="indent">The greatest profit, however, which accrued to +the Shogunate by the change of its government +seat, was that one could facilitate the achievement +of the political concentration of the empire, by +making it coincide with the centre of civilisation. +If the Shogunate of Kamakura could keep, with +its political power, its original fresh spirit, which +had remained latent during the long régime of the +courtiers and begun suddenly to develop itself +along with the establishment of the military government, +the result would have been not only the +prolonging of the duration of the Shogunate, but +the full blossoming of a healthy and unenervated +culture, and Kamakura might have become the political +as well as the cultural centre of the empire. +The history of our country, however, was not destined +to run in that way. The time-honoured +civilisation, which had been nurtured at Kyoto +since many centuries, was, though of exotic origin, +in itself a highly finished one. Notwithstanding +its effeminacy, it had its own peculiar charm, which +ranked in perfection far above the naïve culture +of Kamakura, the latter being too rough and new, +however refreshing. Those Buddhist priests who +had once hoped to make Kamakura the centre of +their new religious movement, found at last that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +unless they secured a firm foothold in the old +metropolis, nothing permanent could be attained. +The missionary campaign of the various reformed +sects had been undertaken with renewed vigour at +Kyoto since the end of the thirteenth century. In +other words, the enervation of the Kamakura +Shogunate disappointed those torch-bearers of the +new civilisation, who might perhaps have expected +too much from the political power of the military +government established there. Thus the Shogunate +of Kamakura had lost its <i>raison d'être</i>, +before other factors of civilisation, such as art +and literature, had time to develop themselves +there independent of those of Kyoto, so as to suit +the new spirit of the new age, that is to say, before +the Shogunate could accomplish its cultural mission +in the history of Japan. The culture of Kyoto +proved itself to be omnipotent as ever.</p> + +<p class="indent">Regarded in this manner, the return of the governmental +seat to Kyoto had a great advantage. +The new Shogunate, having located its centre in +the same historical place where the classical civilisation +of Japan had had its cradle also, its military +and political organisation could work hand +in hand with the social and cultural movement. +The prestige of the Shogun was bedecked with a +brighter halo than when Kamakura had been the +seat of his government. The change, however, +was accompanied with invidious results, ruinous +not only to the Shogunate, but to the political integrity +of the country at large.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +After having experienced the vicissitudes of a +long civil war, the courtiers became convinced that +they could not overthrow by any means the military +régime, which had already taken deep root +in the social structure of our country. So they +began to think that it was wiser for them to make +use of that military power than to try any abortive +attempts against it. They heaped, therefore, +on the successive Shoguns of the Ashikaga family +titles of high-sounding honour, much higher than +those with which the Shoguns of Kamakura had +been invested. In the imperial palace, too, special +deference was paid to the Shogun. Such a rise +in the court-rank of the Shogun induced his retainers +to vie with one another in obtaining some +official rank of distinction in the courtiers' hierarchical +scale. Those who belonged to the higher +classes among them, though they were mostly the +<i>shugo</i> or military governors of one or more provinces, +used to spend a greater part of their time +at Kyoto, on account of holding some civil office +in the government of the Shogun, and lived in a +very aristocratic way, which was easy and indolent, +that is to say, not much different from that of +the courtiers. There were many social meetings, +in which both courtiers and warriors participated +together, and the object of these meetings mostly +consisted in enjoying various kinds of literary pastimes, +among which the commonest was a trick in +versification called <i>renga</i>, that is to say, the composing +by turns of a line of an unfinished poem, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +which should form a sequence to the preceding +and at the same time become the prologue to the +next. Through manifold channels of this and the +like kinds of amusements, a very intimate relation +between the two classes was cemented. The +refinement of the courtiers' circle, though somewhat +vulgarised compared with that of the previous +period, freely penetrated into the families of +the rough soldiery. Marriages between members +of the two classes also took place frequently, +by which the courtiers gained materially, while +the soldiers could thereby assuage the uneasiness +of their parvenu-consciousness. A new social life +thus sprang up.</p> + +<p class="indent">Among the two parties, which were reconciled +in this way, that which profited the more by it, +was of course the courtiers. Although the income +from their manors, to which they were entitled +as proprietors <i>de jure</i>, might have become +less in comparison with that of the age anterior +to the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate, +yet they were now relieved of all the troubles +which might have beset them had they remained +holding the real power of the state. Having relinquished +their political ambitions and shifted all +the cares of the state and military affairs upon the +shoulders of the Shogunate, they became utterly +irresponsible, could breathe freely and enjoy their +idle hours not in the least disturbed. On the other +hand, the militarists, having found that it was no +longer necessary to circumscribe the privileges of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +the courtiers still more narrowly than before, forgot +that ultimately their interests must necessarily +collide in principle with those of the latter. What +were contradictory at bottom seemed to them practically +reconcilable. The Shogunate thought that +it was its duty to uphold the interests of the courtiers +by its military power, a task which was soon +found to be impossible. On account of the weakness +of the central government, disorder ruled in +Kyoto and in the provinces as well, and paved the +way for the political disintegration of the whole +empire. To explain the political phenomena I +must turn for a while to the relations between the +<i>shugo</i>, the military governors of provinces, and +the <i>djito</i> under their protection.</p> + +<p class="indent">In the time of the Kamakura Shogunate, as +aforesaid, each province had a military governor, +called the <i>shugo</i>, appointed by the Shogun. The +<i>shugo</i>, himself a <i>djito</i>, and a very influential one +of that class, served as an intermediate commander +in transmitting to the <i>djito</i> under him the military +instructions which he had received from +Kamakura. He was, therefore, nothing else but a +marshal of all the <i>djito</i> within that province. +There existed no relation of vassalage between +him and the <i>djito</i> under his military jurisdiction. +The latter remained to the end the direct vassals +of the Shogunate at Kamakura, and only as regards +the military organisation were subordinated +to the <i>shugo</i>. The office of the <i>shugo</i> was not the +hereditary possession of any family, so that the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +Shogun could nominate any <i>djito</i> to be <i>shugo</i> of +any province at his pleasure, without fear of disturbing +thereby the personal relation between him +and his retainers in that province. In some respects +this relation resembled that of the English +king and the barons, who swore, besides their +oath of fealty to a higher noble as their liege lord, +direct allegiance to their king. As long as the +line of Yoritomo, therefore, continued as hereditary +Shogun, the Shogunate could depend on the +fidelity of those <i>djito</i>, who were but the household +vassals of the Minamoto family, and by this +personal tie keep the political unity of the country +infrangible.</p> + +<p class="indent">After the extinction of the Minamoto family, +the Shogun who succeeded one after another had +no hereditary nor personal relations with those +<i>djito</i>, and could claim no more than the official +prestige of the Shogun allowed them to do. As +to the Hôjô family, though the real power of the +Shogunate was in its hands, originally it was no +higher in rank than the <i>djito</i>, and could not, in +its own name, command obedience from any of +the Shogun's retainers. There is some similarity +between the organisation of the time of the Kamakura +Shogunate in this second phase and the +"Kreis" institution of the German empire in the +fifteenth century, which was initiated with the object +of political concentration by Maximilian I., +whose real power lay in his being a duke of Austria, +and not Emperor of Germany. However +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +admirable as an organisation, such a political status +was undoubtedly untenable. No wonder that +the military régime of Kamakura gradually collapsed.</p> + +<p class="indent">The relation of <i>shugo</i> and <i>djito</i> in the time of +the Ashikaga was quite of a different sort from +that in the former Shogunate. The office of <i>shugo</i> +became now the hereditary possession of certain +privileged families, which constituted a body of +higher warriors, towering above the common +<i>djito</i>. The <i>shugo</i> stood in the position of protector +to all the <i>djito</i> of the province he governed, +and those <i>djito</i> who stood under a <i>shugo</i> were +designated his "hikwan" or protégés. The relation +of vassalage arose thus between the <i>shugo</i> and +the <i>djito</i> in the same province, a legal status which +had not existed in the Kamakura period. The +direct relation between the common <i>djito</i> and the +Shogun, which was the main spring of the political +régime of the Kamakura era, was now cut off. +No doubt the <i>shugo</i> in the Ashikaga period had +in their provinces, besides their suzerainty over +the <i>djito</i>, the tenure of certain tracts of land, as in +the days of Kamakura. The great difference between +them, however, was that in the Kamakura +era a retainer of the Shogun was first installed as a +<i>djito</i> of a manor, and then appointed <i>shugo</i>, while +in the Ashikaga age the land which the <i>shugo</i> held +directly was his demesne as <i>shugo</i> and not the land +held as a retainer of the Shogun at Kyoto, independent +of his office of <i>shugo</i>. To sum up, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +<i>shugo</i> of the Ashikaga period was not a mere office, +as in the days of Kamakura, but a legal status +of the warriors ranking next to the Shogun. As +the result of such an organisation each province +or group of provinces under a <i>shugo</i> became a +political entity, while it had been but a military +entity in the Kamakura era. If the Shogun at +Kyoto, therefore, had been strong enough to enforce +his will over all the <i>shugo</i> of the provinces, +then the political unity of the country at large +could safely continue in the hands of the Ashikaga.</p> + +<p class="indent">The Shogunate of the Ashikaga, however, had +not been originally so formulated as to enable it +to impose implicit obedience on all the higher +military officials of the <i>shugo</i> class. For this family, +though a branch of the Minamoto, had nothing +in its history that could attract, as Yoritomo +did, a vast number of willing warriors to serve +under its banner. That Takauji was promoted +to the headship of the second military government +was largely due to the assistance of the warriors +from various parts of the empire who were +not personally related to his family, but were disaffected +at seeing the power of the courtiers restored, +neither was it by any means to be attributed +to his personal capacity, which was rather +mediocre both as general and as statesman. This +origin of the Ashikaga family, therefore, made it +difficult from the first for the Shogun of the line +to curb the arrogance of his influential generals. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +Insurrection against the Shogunate followed one +after another, so that no year passed without some +small disturbance somewhere.</p> + +<p class="indent">This state culminated in the civil war begun in +the Ohnin era, that is to say, in 1467. The war +had its origin in the quarrel about the succession +to the Shogunate between the son and the adopted +son, in reality the younger brother, of the Shogun +Yoshimasa. This family question of the Ashikaga +became mixed up with other quarrels about +the succession in two of the influential military +families, Shiba and Hatakeyama. Other <i>shugo</i> +of various provinces sided with this or that party, +brought their liege-men to Kyoto, and turned the +streets of the metropolis into a battle-field. Thus +the most desultory civil war in our history was +waged under the eyes of the Emperor and of the +Shogun, neither of whom had any power to stop +it. After the burning, plundering, and killing, +carried on most ruthlessly for nine years, the +street-fighting in Kyoto ceased, leaving almost no +trace of the historical city of yore. The scenes +of anarchy were then transferred to the provinces, +and it took many years before the whole country +became pacified. Nay, complete peace was not +restored till the fall of the Ashikaga Shogunate +itself. Such was one phase of the political disintegration +of the age, and its result was that Japan +was torn asunder into a number of semi-independent +bodies, each with a <i>shugo</i> at its head.</p> + +<p class="indent">If the process of the political decomposition of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +the state had been limited to what is described +above, then peace might have reigned at least +within each of those bodies. Unfortunately, however, +for the welfare of the people, none of these +<i>shugo</i> was strong enough to keep order even within +his own sphere of military jurisdiction. Most +of them had lost their military character, having +become accustomed to life in the capital, as stated +above, and they left the care of their respective +provinces in the hands of their protégés, men +who soon made themselves independent of their +patrons, so that there arose a number of minor +political bodies in the jurisdiction of each <i>shugo</i>. +Again these protégés, that is to say, the heads of +the minor political bodies, were put down in turn +by their vassals, and so forth. Moreover, some +of these minor bodies were further divided into +still smaller bodies, while others became aggrandised +by annexation by the stronger of neighboring +weaker ones. In this way Japan fell into a +state of chaos, being an agglomeration of political +bodies of various sizes, with masters ever changing, +and with frontiers constantly shifting without +any reference to the former administrative +boundaries. This second phase completed the total +disintegration of the empire.</p> + +<p class="indent">The last of the Shoguns who tried to stem this +irresistible tendency to disintegration was Yoshihisa, +the son of Yoshimasa. His succession to his +father, as has already been described, was the +cause of the civil war of the Ohnin era, for which, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +however, he was not responsible in the least, being +only eight years old when he was invested +with the Shogunate in the year 1473. He grew +up, however, to be the most typical Shogun of +all the Ashikaga. Though born in the highest of +the military families, he had as his mother a +daughter of a court-noble, and was educated in +his boyhood by Kanera Ichijô, one of the most +learned courtiers of the time. When Yoshihisa +reached manhood, therefore, he was a courtier +clad in military garments. He thought and acted +as if he were a high Fujiwara noble, and even +had his household managed by a courtier. +Through this confidant, the proprietors <i>de jure</i> of +manors, that is to say, courtiers, shrines, and temples, +clung to the young Shogun, and pressed him +to coerce, on their behalf, those arbitrary <i>shugo</i> +and minor captains who dared impudently to appropriate +the whole of the revenue from those +manors to themselves, so that the share due to +these proprietors <i>de jure</i> had been kept in arrears +for many years. The Shogun was easily +persuaded, and Takayori Sasaki, the <i>shugo</i> of the +province of Ohmi, was first chosen as the object +of chastisement, for his province was the nearest +to Kyoto and abounded in those manors belonging +to the courtiers and the like. It was in the +year 1487 that Yoshihisa in person led a punitive +expedition into Ohmi, crossed lake Biwa, and +pitched his camp on its eastern shore. Contemporary +chronicles unanimously describe in vivid +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +colours how the gallant and refined young prince, +clad in bright military costume, marched out of +Kyoto surrounded by a bizarre host of warriors +and courtiers. The latter group, however, did +not count for aught in warfare, while the former +followed the Shogun only halfheartedly. It was +especially so with those <i>shugo</i> who were of the +same caste and of the same status as the attacked, +and therefore did not like to see him crushed in +the interest of the <i>de jure</i> but fainéant proprietors. +The victory of the army of the Shogun was +hopeless from the first. After staying two years +in camp Yoshihisa died without being able to see +his enemy vanquished. One of his cousins, who +succeeded to the Shogunate, renewed the expedition, +and at last ousted the disobedient <i>shugo</i> from +his province, but the proprietors <i>de jure</i> of the +manors could not regain their lost rights, what +was due to them having been usurped by other +new pretenders, not less arbitrary than their +predecessors.</p> + +<p class="indent">The expedition of Yoshihisa was an epoch-making +event in the history of our country. To +support by military power the courtiers, whose +cup had already begun to run over and whose interests +could not be always consistent with the +welfare of the Shogunate, was evidently a quixotic +attempt. Still it cannot be disputed that +Yoshihisa fought at least for an ideal, however +unrealisable it might have been. He reminds us +of the scions of the Hohenstaufen who fought in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +Italy for the imperial ideal traditional in their +family. The failure of the expedition into Ohmi +meant the utter impossibility of the restoration of +the courtiers' prestige and the approach of the total +disappearance of the manorial system from the +islands of Japan. This is a mighty economical +change for the empire, the importance of which +could not be overvalued. The old régime initiated +by the reform of the Taikwa was going down +to its grave, and new Japan was beginning to +dawn side by side with the momentous political +disintegration of the country. We see, indeed, +simultaneous with this political and economical +change, the transformation of various factors of +civilisation, preparing themselves for the coming +age. The first turning of the wheel of history, +however, depended on the political regeneration +of the country by a master-hand.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<p class="h2a">END OF MEDIAEVAL JAPAN</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">In</span> order to see a nation consolidated, it is necessary +not only to have a nucleus serving as a +centre, towards which the whole nation might +converge, but to have at the same time the centralising +power of that nucleus strengthened sufficiently +to hold the nation solid and compact. +Moreover, the constituent parts of that nation +ought to have the capacity to respond to the action +emanating from that common centre or nucleus +towards those parts, and facilitate the reciprocal +relation between the centralising and the +centralised. More than that. There must be +formed strong links between those component +parts themselves towards one another. For if +each part be linked only to a common centre and +estranged from other parts, then there is a great +danger of the breaking asunder of the whole, +however strong the centralising force of that nucleus +might be, and in case of the debilitation of +that sole centre, there might remain no other +force alive to keep the constituent parts compactly +together. To impart, however, the consolidating +force to those component parts, they should be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> +instituted each as a separate organism. In other +words, unless those parts constitute themselves +each in an organic social and political body, provided +with the power of acting within and without, +they cannot form any close connection among +themselves and with the central nucleus; and to +be provided with such a power, or to become an +organism, each part, too, must have in its turn +its own nucleus, around which the rest of that +part might converge. To speak summarily, for +a strong centralisation there must be, besides one +nucleus, or nucleus of the first order, a certain +number of nuclei of the second or minor order, +and sometimes there must be nuclei of the third +and lower orders.</p> + +<p class="indent">It might be deduced from what is said above +that without a sufficient number of local centres, +that is to say, without the existence of well-developed +minor political organisms, the political +centre, however powerful it might be, would not +be able to hold a country together, lacking cohesion +between those constituent parts. Japan had +long been in such a disorderly state which continued +until the middle of the Ashikaga period, +that is to say, the middle of the fifteenth century. +The political influence of Kamakura, though independent +of Kyoto, was of very short duration, +and Kyoto had continued on the whole as the +sole political and social centre. If there had been +in the provinces a place worthy to be called a city, +besides Kamakura, it could only be sought in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +Hakata on the northern coast of Kyushu. Other +places were hardly to be termed cities, being but +little more than sites of periodical fairs at the +utmost. The growth of the cities of Sakai and +Yamaguchi is of rather later origin, dating from +the middle of the Ashikaga age. The Emperor, +the Shogun, and one metropolitan city had dominated +the whole of the country for a long time, +so that, superficially observed, Japan could be said +to have been superbly centralised, and therefore +excellently unified. In reality, however, the prestige +of the Emperor declined, as well as the military +power of the Shogunate, and Kyoto, the site +of the imperial court and of the military government, +lost the political influence it once had possessed. +After all, nothing was found influential +enough in the earlier Ashikaga age to serve by +itself as a means of solidifying the nation, while +there had not yet been formed those minor +provincial centres around which communities of +lesser magnitude might crystallise. Manors, +which were the remnants of the former ages, were +of course a kind of agricultural communities, and +could be considered as social and economical units, +but they were politically dependent on their proprietors +living in Kyoto or somewhere else outside +of those manors, and in cultural respects +most of the manors counted almost for nothing. +All Japan was thus thrown into a state of chaos, +when the military power of the Ashikaga Shogunate +was reduced to impotence.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> +This chaotic period of Japanese history has +been generally considered as the retrogressive age +of our civilisation, quite in the same sense in which +the medieval age in European history has come +to be designated as the Dark Ages. It is a great +mistake, however, to stigmatise the Ashikaga period +as having witnessed no progress in any cultural +factor, just as it has been a fatal misconception +of early European historians to think that +medieval Europe was indeed dark in every cultural +respect. Though the classicism of the former +ages might seem a civilisation of a far higher +stage when compared with the vulgarised culture +of the later, or so-called Dark Age, yet the vulgarisation +should not be necessarily branded as a +backward movement of civilisation. The vulgarisation +at least accompanies a wider propagation, +a deeper permeation, and the better adaptation +to the real social condition of the time, and +should not be looked down upon as an absolutely +decadent process. In the seemingly anarchical +period of the early Ashikaga, Japan had been undergoing, +in sooth, an important change in social +and cultural respects. Nay, even politically a +change of mighty consequence was in course of +evolution. Having reached an extreme state of +disorder, a germ of fresh order was gradually +forming itself out of necessity. That the <i>shugo</i> +of this period held sway over a district far more +extensive than the land held by any of the <i>shugo</i> +of the Kamakura period, is in a sense a remarkable +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +political progress. Yamana, one of the most +powerful of the Ashikaga <i>shugo</i>, is said to have +possessed about one-sixth of the whole of Japan, +and on that account was called Lord One-sixth. +Such great feudatories were never possible in the +Kamakura period. Most of these grand lords, +though living mainly in Kyoto, as was stated in +the previous chapter, had their provincial residences, +which, too, were not so unpretentious as +those of the <i>djito</i> of the Kamakura. Each lord +maintained princely state, and around his court, +a thriving social life must have grown up, making +the beginning of the modern Japanese provincial +towns. The governmental sites of the <i>daimyo</i> or +feudatories of the Tokugawa period generally +find the origin of their urban development in these +residences of the <i>shugo</i> of the Ashikaga period.</p> + +<p class="indent">The trade with China was another cause of the +growth of modern Japanese cities, especially of +those which are situated by the sea, such as Sakai, +Osaka, Nagasaki, and this development of the +maritime commercial cities led naturally to the +general advancement of the humanistic culture of +our country. Our intercourse with China, the +fountain-head of the culture of the East, though +it had been suspended between the governments +since the end of the ninth century, had never been +abandoned entirely, and merchant ships had continued +to ply between the two countries almost +without interruption. During the Kamakura +Shogunate too, we have reason to suppose that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> +this steady intercourse livened into considerable +activity and bustling profitable to both sides, +China, at that epoch of our history, being governed +by the Sung and the Yuan dynasties successively. +Sanetomo, the second son of Yoritomo +and the third Shogun in Kamakura, was said to +have built a ship in order to cross over to that +country. The port then trading with China was +Hakata, and the privileged ships, which were limited +in number, must have been under the care +and protection of the Shogunate. Those ships +carried on board not only commodities of exchange, +but passengers also, who were mostly +priests. Some of the ships even appear to have +been sent solely for trade in behalf of certain +Buddhist temples. In this we see again the singular +coincidence between the histories of Europe +and of Japan. The Levantine trade of the Italian +cities in the age of the Crusades counted among +its participators many churches and priests also. +It is needless to say that those Japanese priests, +who went abroad accompanying adventurous +merchants and came back loaded with profound +religious knowledge, did at the same time conspicuous +service in promoting the general culture +of our country. What was most remarkable, however, +was that there were not a few Chinese Buddhists, +who came over to this country and settled +here. Their main purpose was of course to propagate +the doctrine of the Zen sect, which had got +the upper hand in China at that time. They were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> +cordially welcomed by the Shogunate, and later +by the Imperial Court too, and were installed in +the noted temples of Kamakura and Kyoto as +chief priests, and besides their religious activities, +these learned men contributed much toward +the introduction of contemporary Chinese civilisation +in general, in no less degree than did the +Japanese priests. Among the various departments +of knowledge which these priests imparted +to the warriors and courtiers, one of the most +important was instruction in the pure Chinese +classics and in secular literature. There are still +extant in our country not a small number of rare +books printed in the Sung and the Yuan dynasty +and imported hither at that time, and these manifest +how rich in variety were the books then introduced +to Japan. The founding of the famous +library at Kanazawa near Kamakura, by a learned +member of the Hôjô family in a time not far distant +from that of the Mongolian invasion, may +perhaps be attributed to the influence of some of +these priests.</p> + +<p class="indent">Without doubt the invasion of the Mongolian +host put a momentary stop to this mutual intercourse. +It seems, however, that the trade with +China was revived soon after the war, and continued +down to the time of the Ashikaga, without +being interrupted materially even by the long +civil war. Far from cessation or interruption, the +official intercourse between the two states which +had been broken off for some years was during +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> +this civil war restored to its former amicable condition. +It was while the internecine strife was +raging over the whole of the island Empire, that +a change of dynasty took place in China. The +Mongols were driven away to their original abode +in the desert, and in their place reigned in China +the new dynasty of the Ming, founded by a general +of Chinese blood. This founder of the Ming +sent an embassy to Japan to announce the inauguration +of his line and to secure the coast of his +empire from inroads and pillage by Japanese pirates, +who, since several centuries, had been ravaging +the Korean and then the Chinese coast, and +became especially rampant during the civil war, +being let loose by the unexampled lawless state +of our country. The ambassador of the Chinese +emperor, however, could not at once reach Kyoto, +which was his destination. For at that time in +Kyushu ruled an imperial prince who was a scion +of the branch antagonistic to that which reigned +in the metropolis supported by the Ashikaga, and +the prince-governor, as he was then the master +of the historic trading port of Hakata, intercepted +the Chinese ambassador on his way, received +him, and sent him back. This happened in the +year 1369. Seven years afterwards this very +prince sent an envoy to the Chinese government, +perhaps with the object of obtaining some material +assistance from beyond the sea, in order to +make himself strong enough to overpower his +enemy in Japan, the Ashikaga party. As the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +sender was a prince of the blood imperial, the envoy +sent by him seems to have been regarded as +if he were the representative of the real government +of Japan, and the intercourse between the +two countries thus began to take official form +again. When the civil war ended in the ultimate +victory of the Ashikaga party and the annihilation +of all its opponents, this international relation initiated +by the prince of Kyushu was taken up by +Yoshimitsu, the third Shogun of the Ashikaga, +who sent an embassy to the Chinese government of +the Ming in the year 1401. After this we see successive +exchanges of embassies between the Chinese +government and our Ashikaga Shogunate, the +latter vouchsafing the orderliness of our trading +people on the Chinese coast and promising to +bridle the piratical activities of our adventurers, +and the former giving in return munificent presents +to the Shogunate. At that time what our forefathers +suffered most from was the scarcity of coins, +for although the beginning of the coinage in our +country is so old that it has been lost in the remotest +past, yet for a long period not enough care was +exercised to provide the country with sufficient +money in coins of different denominations to +cover the necessities of the growing industries. +No wonder that the presents of copper coins by +the emperors of the Ming were gladly received +by the Shogunate, and this Chinese money, together +with that obtained by sale of our commodities, +was in wide circulation throughout Japan, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> +many of them having remained to this day, and +served as auxiliary coins. Among other things +of Chinese provenance earnestly coveted by us, +perhaps the most desired were books. Besides +these two articles, copper coins and books, many +rarities and useful commodities must have been +imported by these ships, which carried the envoys +on board, and rendered a not insignificant service +in altering for the better the general ways of living +of the people of our country.</p> + +<p class="indent">The chief emporium of the trade with China +in the early Ashikaga period was of course Hakata +in Kyushu as before. As the family of the +Ôuchi, however, held the strait of Shimonoseki, +the gateway of the Inland Sea, and as Hakata itself +came afterwards under the rule of the same +family, the Chinese trade had been for a long +time controlled or rather monopolised by this +lord of the province of Nagato. The prosperity +of the inland city of Yamaguchi, the residential +seat of the Ôuchi family, is to be ascribed also to +the same circumstance. Moreover, the growth +of the port of Sakai in the easternmost recess of +the Inland Sea owes its origin to the fact that +the city was once under the lordship of the same +Ôuchi, and a close historical connection was thereby +created between it and the port of Shimonoseki. +It was by the co-operation of many other +political causes, however, that the centre of the +foreign trade was shifted from Hakata to Sakai, +and when intercourse with western nations was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> +opened, it was the latter and not the former, +which became the staple market of import and +export.</p> + +<p class="indent">The growth of the Japanese cities, actuated by +the political and commercial conditions of the +country as stated above, is a phenomenon which +had much to do with the progress of our civilization +in general. Notwithstanding the manifold +drawbacks necessarily accompanying urban life, +cities have been, since very ancient times, one of +the most potent agents in the history of the East +as well as of the West, in raising the general +standard of culture to a high level. Rural life, +whatever sonorous praise be chanted for it, would +not have been able by itself to elevate the standard +of manners and behaviour much above a blunt +rustic naïveté. In this respect we can observe a +remarkable difference between the Ashikaga and +the preceding ages, a difference quite similar in +nature to that which existed between the eleventh +and the twelfth centuries in the history of Europe. +The sudden increase, in Japan, of printed books +in number and variety shows it more than clearly.</p> + +<p class="indent">The history of printing in Japan goes back to +the middle of the eighth century, but at the beginning +the matter printed was limited to detached +leaflets. What was printed the earliest in the +form of a book and is still extant, bears the date +of 1088. After that, however, very few books +had been printed for a long time. Moreover, +those few were exclusively religious. It was in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> +the year 1247 that one of the commentaries on +the <i>Lun-yü</i>, the famous work of the teachings +of Confucius, was put into a reprint, after the +model of a contemporary Chinese edition, that is +to say, of the Sung age. That this non-religious +or non-Buddhist work was first edited in Japan +in the middle of the Kamakura period, proves the +enlargement of the circle of readers in Chinese +classics by the participation of the warrior-class. +Such editing of secular Chinese works, however, +was discontinued for three-quarters of a century, +and was not resumed until 1322, only ten years +before the outbreak of the long civil war. The +book printed at the latter date was after one of +the Chinese editions of the <i>Shu-king</i>, another piece +of Confucian literature. This was followed by +the reprinting of many other non-religious Chinese +works. The civil war too astonishes us not +only in that it did not hinder the continuance of +the reprints of useful Chinese originals, but also +in that the number of books reprinted has suddenly +increased in general since this period. +Among the books issued during the war, a commentary +on the <i>Lun-yü</i>, of a text different from +that above mentioned, and said to have been made +at Sakai, was the most remarkable. The edition +was dated 1364, and reprinted again and again +in several places. In this case the place where +the printing was first undertaken demands also +our attention. Hitherto almost all the books had +been published in Kyoto, except some tomes of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> +Buddhist literature, which occasionally had been +edited in the convents at Nara or Kôya. But now +printing began to be undertaken not only in these +historical and sacred places, but in purely commercial +cities of quite recent growth, as Sakai. +It is said that about this time several kinds of +books of Chinese literature were edited in the +city of Hakata, and that it was a naturalised Chinese +who had started the undertaking there. +Another tradition tells us that two Chinese block-engravers +came and settled at Hakata, and +engaged in their professional business, which contributed +much to the increase of reprinted books. +Shortly after the civil war, in the beginning of the +fifteenth century, books were printed in other +places more remotely situated in the provinces, +such as Yamaguchi and Ashikaga. The last-named +was the cradle of the Shogunate House +of the Ashikaga, and there just at this time a college +was founded, or according to some, restored, +by Norizane Uyesugi, one of the most influential +retainers of the Shogunate in eastern Japan. +Thus, in the latter half of the fifteenth century, +the reprinting of Chinese classics became a fashion +throughout the empire. In addition to the +ever-increasing number of books reprinted at Kyoto +and Sakai, we find now those printed at places +as far remote as Kagoshima in the west. In the +east there seems to have lived in the neighborhood +of Odawara, a new political centre, at least +one engraver, engaged in block-cutting for books. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +Summing up what has been stated above, the increase +of the number of book-editing localities +meant the increase of minor cultural centres in +the provinces, that is to say, the wider diffusion +of civilisation in the empire.</p> + +<p class="indent">Another important fact to be specially noticed +is that the varieties of books reprinted became +gradually multifarious. Though those books +printed in the Ashikaga age were mostly reproductions +of Chinese works, and very few purely +Japanese books were edited until the end of the +age, yet those Chinese works themselves, which +were reprinted, became more and more diversified +in kind. Not only Buddhist and Confucian classics, +and works of purely literary character, +especially poetical works and books on versification, +but several medical works also were reprinted +and issued in the later Ashikaga age. The +study of medicine had been revived since the civil +war by the intercourse with China, and soon after +the war, some Japanese students went abroad to +learn the science there. The reprinting of medical +books, therefore, was to be considered as a +token of the growing necessity for medical students +ever increasing in our country, and the beginning +of the revival of scientific education.</p> + +<p class="indent">As to the works of Japanese authors which +were put into print, the first publication seems to +have been that of religious treatise in Chinese +by the priest Hônen, printed at the beginning of +the Kamakura period, and the work was many +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> +times reprinted afterwards. Another work by the +same priest, which was written in Japanese, was +issued at the end of the same period. During the +civil war numerous works, mostly in Chinese, by +the Japanese Zen priests were published, among +which the history of Buddhism in Japan, entitled +the <i>Genkô-shakusho</i>, was the most noteworthy, +and was therefore reprinted over and over again. +A chronological table of the history of Japan, +and two editions of the Jôyei Laws were subsequently +printed. A text-book for children, to +train them in the use of Chinese ideographs, was +first printed at the close of the Ashikaga period, +and the demand for the appearance of such a book +proves that the education of children began to +arouse the general attention.</p> + +<p class="indent">From what is said above, we can safely conclude +that during the course of the Ashikaga period, +the level of civilisation of our country had +been raised in a marked degree, and that at the +same time there arose one after another numerous +cultural centres in the provinces, which were in +their main features nothing but Kyoto on a small +scale, but nevertheless contributed not the least +to the betterment of national civilisation in general +owing to their common rivalry. One would +perhaps entertain some doubt as to the veracity +of the assertion, that in an age such as of the +Ashikaga, when political anarchy was in full play, +so remarkable an advancement had been steadily +achieved by our forefathers. If he would, however, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> +look at the history of the Italian renaissance, +then he would not be at a loss to see that +political disorder does not necessarily thwart the +progress of civilisation, but on the contrary often +stimulates it.</p> + +<p class="indent">The territories owned by great feudatories or +<i>daimyo</i> in the Ashikaga age were by no means +compact entities definitely bounded. Their frontiers +constantly shifted to and fro according to +frequently recurring waxings and wanings in +strength of this or that <i>daimyo</i>, and these fluctuations +depended, in their turn, on the results sometimes +of petty skirmishes and sometimes of political +intrigues, so that an unwavering steadiness +was the least thing to be expected at that time. +This politically unsettled condition of Japan, however, +was in a certain sense a boon to our country, +for it took away all the hindrances which lay +in the way of internal communication, and paved +the path to the ultimate political unity of the +empire. I do not say of course that travelling +at that time was quite safe from any kind of +molestation, but the main obstacles to communication +were rather of a social than of a political +nature. In other words, they were of kinds which +could not be got rid of in a like stage of civilisation, +even if Japan had been politically not dismembered, +and adventurous merchants did not +shrink from facing such difficulties. No need to +speak of those piratical traders, who went out +from the western islands and the coastal regions +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +of the Inland Sea on their devastating errands +to the Korean and the Chinese coasts. The less +warlike merchants ventured to trade with the +Ainu, who had retired into the island of Hokkaidô, +and had not been heard of since the beginning +of the Ashikaga period.</p> + +<p class="indent">Among the itinerants travelling a long distance +may be counted the professional literati also, +the experts in the art of composing the <i>renga</i>, the +short Japanese poems. They went about throughout +the provinces, visiting feudal lords in their +castles, teaching them the literary pastimes, thus +imparting their first lesson in æsthetic education +to those who had never tasted it. Courtiers, too, +weakminded as they were, travelled great distances, +to call on some rich bourgeois or powerful +<i>daimyo</i>, who were thinking of becoming their +munificent patrons, and taught them, besides the +afore-said art of composing Japanese poems, the +sport of kicking leather balls and other leisurely +pastimes which had been the favourites among +the courtiers in Kyoto, and received in return a +generous hospitality and fees for the lessons which +they gave. Buddhist priests were the third set +of busy travellers of the time. Missionary activities +had not much relaxed since the Kamakura +period, though no influential sect had been started +in this age. Every nook and corner of the island +empire had received the footprints of these religious +itinerants, and some of the more enterprising +priests even crossed the sea to the island +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> +of what is now Hokkaidô in order to preach to +the Ainu dwelling there. Pilgrims to the shrines +of Ise, where the ancestress of the Imperial line +was enshrined, may also be counted among the +busy interprovincial travellers.</p> + +<p class="indent">All these wanderers served not only to transmit +to distant provincial towns the culture engendered +and nourished in the metropolis, but also +to make the intercourse between the minor cultural +centres more intimate than before, so as to +spread a civilisation of a uniform standard and +nature throughout the whole of the empire. Japan +was thus for the first time unified in her civilisation +in order to prepare herself for a solid political +unification.</p> + +<p class="indent">Let me repeat that Japan of the Ashikaga age +had within herself no constant political boundaries +nor any other artificial barriers to impede the +people of one province nor of the territory of one +<i>daimyo</i> from going to another province or the +territory of another <i>daimyo</i>, and this, in a great +measure, facilitated communications between the +inhabitants of different provinces. The fact that +the college at Ashikaga in eastern Japan was, +notwithstanding its insufficient accommodation, +thronged with pupils from various parts of the +country, even from a province so far off from +Kyoto as Satsuma, proves that bad roads and +poor means of conveyance did not obstruct the +Japanese of that time from traversing great distances +in order to get a liberal education, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> +such activity and lively traffic would naturally +tend to the formation of big emporiums here and +there within the empire. Unfortunately the geographical +features of our country did not allow +it to see a great number of such large commercial +cities formed within it, as the Hanseatic towns +had been formed in medieval Germany, although +we find very close resemblances between Germany +of the twelfth and of the thirteenth century and +Japan under the Ashikaga régime as regards their +political conditions. The only one of the Japanese +cities which had ever attained such a height of +prosperity as to be fairly matched with the free +cities of the Hansa was Sakai in the province +of Idzumi.</p> + +<p class="indent">The city of Sakai, as its name, which means +in the Japanese tongue "the Boundary," denotes, +was situated just on the boundary line of the two +adjoining provinces Settsu and Idzumi, and at the +quondam estuary of the river Yamato. The frontier-line, +however, and the course of the river, +were afterwards changed, so that the city is now +entirely included within the province of Idzumi, +and there is no river running near the city. The +fact that it was once a border town shows that it +could never have been the seat of the provincial +government. Neither had it ever been the residence +of any powerful feudal lord during the +whole military régime. Moreover, nature has +bestowed no special favour on the city. The bay +of Sakai is very widely open, affording no protection +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +against the west wind. In addition to +that, it has been very shallow since old times. +Even in an undeveloped stage of ship-building, +the port was unfit for the mooring of vessels of a +size as large as the junks trading with China were +at that time, so that they had to be equipped +somewhere else in a neighbouring harbour, and +then brought and anchored far off from the shore +in the bay of Sakai. The only geographical advantage +of the port lay in the fact that the shortest +sea-route to the island of Shikoku started +thence. The first impulse to the development of +the city seems to have been given during the civil +war, for it was the nearest access to the sea for +one of the parties which had its stronghold in +the mountainous region of the province of Yamato, +adjacent to Idzumi. At the end of the war, +the port came, as before stated, under the rule +of the family of Ôuchi, and from Ôuchi it passed +into the hands of the family of Hosokawa, also +one of the chief vassals of the Ashikaga Shogunate, +holding the north-eastern part of the island +of Shikoku, and Sakai serving the family always +as the landing-place of its followers, when they +were on their way to Kyoto, to pay their respects +to the Shogun or to fight there for their own interests. +On account of this usefulness the harbour-city +of Sakai had been granted privileges +by the hereditary chief of the Hosokawa, as a +recompense for the assistance given by the merchants +of the city, and those same privileges, in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +extent, amounted to almost as much as the municipal +freedom enjoyed by the free cities of Europe. +The administration of the city was in the hands +of a few wealthy merchants, and was rarely interfered +with by its feudal lord. Among the merchants +there were ten, at first, who monopolised +the municipal government, each of them being +very rich as the proprietors of certain storehouses +on the beach, the rents of which paid them a good +income. In the later Ashikaga age, however, we +hear the names of the thirty-six municipal councillors +of Sakai. This increase in the number +might perhaps have been the result of the growth +in opulence of the citizens. In short, though the +city had been under the oligarchical rule of the +wealthy merchants of the city, like Venice and +Florence in medieval Italy, yet it was none the +less autonomous, which is quite an exceptional +case in the whole course of the history of our +country.</p> + +<p class="indent">The golden age of the city of Sakai dates from +the year 1476 or thereabouts, when a squadron +trading with China first sailed out from the harbour. +Until that time all the vessels plying between +this country and China used to set out from +Hakata or from Hyogo, which is nearly the same +thing as Kobe. Although the adventurous merchants +of Sakai carried their trade before this +time as far as the islands of Loo-choo, and often +participated in the Chinese trade also, yet no +vessel had ever started from there for China till +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> +then. That Sakai became at this date a chief +trading port dealing with China might presumably +have been owing to the intercession of its hereditary +lord Hosokawa, but the determining cause +of this assumption of such an honourable position +among the commercial cities of Japan must have +been the indisputable superiority of the material +strength of the city. Many of the higher vassals +of the Shogunate borrowed money from the merchants +of Sakai in order to equip their soldiers. +Nay, even the Shogunate itself had often to mortgage +its landed estates to the merchants of the city +in order to save its treasury from running short. +The wealth of the citizens enabled them to fortify +their city very strongly, by surrounding it with a +deep moat, and to enlist into their service a great +number of knights-errant, who abounded in Japan +at that time. These, together with the consciousness +of indispensable assistance rendered to the +Shogunate, to various great feudatories and condottieri, +emboldened the citizens to defy the otherwise +formidable military powers, and those warriors, +on the other hand, who owed much to the +pecuniary aid of the Sakai merchants, could but +treat the latter with great consideration, which +was unwonted at that time. Although the citizens +of Sakai were not entirely free from the +sufferings of the war, for they had often to quarter +soldiers in their houses, yet no battle was allowed +to be fought within the city, notwithstanding +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +that a most sanguinary war was raging all +around in the empire.</p> + +<p class="indent">It was natural, therefore, that, after the civil +war of the Ohnin era, Sakai should be considered +safer to live in than Kyoto. Sakai became the +asylum for the civilisation of Japan, to save it +from utter destruction. Poets, painters, musicians, +and singers, who had found living in the +turbulent metropolis intolerably hard, sought +shelter in Sakai, and there occupied themselves +quietly with their own professions. Various handicrafts, +such as lacquering, porcelain-making, and +weaving were all started there with enormous +success. Especially as to the weaving, it is said +that this industry, which had once flourished and +been afterwards abandoned in Kyoto on account +of the political disturbances there, was not only +continued at Sakai, but also improved by the Chinese +weavers, who repaired to the city and taught +the natives the art of making various costly textiles +of Chinese invention. In some respects the +textiles of the Nishijin, now one of the specialties +of Kyoto, may be said to be the continuation of +the Sakai looms.</p> + +<p class="indent">Another kind of industry, which developed in +the city in the later Ashikaga period, was the +manufacture of fire-arms. Immediately after the +introduction of fire-arms by a Portuguese in the +year 1541, a merchant of Sakai happened to learn +the art of making guns somewhere or other in +Kyushu, and after his return to the city he began +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +to practise there the business he had learnt. Sakai +thus became the origin of the propagation, in +central and eastern Japan, of the use of the new +arm.</p> + +<p class="indent">From what has been described above, the +reader would easily understand that the intellectual +level of the citizens of Sakai stood much +higher than that of the average Japanese of that +time. Wit and pleasantry were the accomplishments +highly prized there, so that the city produced +out of its inhabitants a large number of +versatile diplomatists, story-tellers, and buffoons. +As their economic conditions were very easy, the +social life of the city was polished, enlightened, +and even luxurious. The manufacture of saké, +the Japanese favourite drink made from rice, +was highly developed in the city, and the fame of +the Sakai-tub was renowned the country round. +To protect the brewers, the Shogunate issued an +order forbidding the importation of saké into the +city. The tea-ceremony and the flower-trimming, +two fashionable pastimes already in vogue at that +time, were eagerly practised here by wealthy +merchants. Many famous experts in this sort of +amusement were found among the inhabitants of +the city, and they were generally connoisseurs +highly skilled in the fine arts, as Sen-no-Rikyû, +for example. Various curios, native and foreign, +were bought and sold there at exorbitant high +prices.</p> + +<p class="indent">The prosperous condition of the city induced +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +many Buddhists, especially the priests of the +Jôdo-shinshû, the most active sect of Japanese +Buddhism at that time, to try their propaganda +in the city. They had numerous temples built, +and by lending to the merchants their influence at +the Shogun's court obtained from it the privilege +of trading with China, thus making common cause +with the citizens of that port. The earlier Christian +missionaries, too, endeavoured to make this +city the centre of their movement. It was indeed +at the end of the year 1550, that Francis Xavier, +who was not only the greatest missionary whom +Japan has ever received from the West, but also +one of the greatest men in the world too, arrived +at the city from Yamaguchi on his way to Kyoto. +Though he could achieve nothing noteworthy during +his short stay here, on account of illness, yet +by him the first seed of Christianity was sown in +the central regions of the empire, and ten years +later the first Christian hymn was sung in the +church founded in the city.</p> + +<p class="indent">The civilisation of the city of Sakai represented +that of the whole empire in the later Ashikaga +age, manifested in its most glaring colours. The +essential character of the civilisation was not aristocratic, +but bourgeois. The lower strata of the +people still had nothing to do with it. It is true +that we can recognise already at this period +the beginning of the proletariat movement. +The frequent disturbances raised by apaches in +the streets of Kyoto and the insurrections of agricultural +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +workers in the provinces, remind us of +the Peasants' War in the time of the Reformation +in Europe. Their demands as well as their +connection with the religious agitation of the time +closely resembled those of the followers of Goetz +von Berlichingen. They could not, however, secure +any permanent result by their insurrections, +so that the character of the civilisation remained +essentially bourgeois, not having suffered any +marked change from those disturbances.</p> + +<p class="indent">The civilisation of the bourgeois cannot but be +individualistic, and its main difference from that +of the aristocracy lies also herein. It has been so +in Europe, and it could not have been otherwise +in our country. The fact that individualism got +the upper hand in the Ashikaga age may be +proved by a phenomenon in the history of Japanese +art. Portrait-painting had made some progress +already in the Kamakura period, as was +stated in the foregoing chapter. The artistic development +in this branch of painting made it independent +of religious pictures. The portrait-paintings +of the age, however, even those executed +by such eminent masters as Takanobu and Nobuzane, +are only images of the typical courtier or +warrior, not to mention the stiffness of the style. +Very little of the individuality of the persons represented +was manifested in them. The scroll-paintings, +to which the attention of most of the +artists of the age was directed, contained pictures +of many persons, but to depict scenes was the chief +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +aim of scroll-paintings, so that no serious pains +were taken in the delineation of individuals. That +portrait-painting remained thus long in an undeveloped +stage cannot be explained away simply +by the tardiness of the progress of arts in general. +The chief cause must be attributed to the +fact that the contemporary civilisation was lacking +in individualistic elements. Unless there is a +rise of the individualistic spirit in a certain measure, +no real progress in portraiture can be expected.</p> + +<p class="indent">In the Ashikaga period, a large number of +scroll-paintings had been produced as before, but +they were mostly inferior in quality to those of +the preceding age. On the other hand, we notice +a vast improvement in the portrait-painting of this +period. It may be due to some extent to the influence +of the Zen sect, the sect which prevailed +among the upper class of that time, for its creed +is said to be strongly individualistic. Mainly, +however, it must have come from the general +spirit of the age, which, though it could not be +said to have been free from the influence of the +same sect, was induced to become individualistic +more by social and economical reasons than by +religious ones. By painters of the schools of Tosa +and Kano were painted numerous portraits of +eminent personages, such as the Shogun, courtiers, +great feudatories, priests, especially of the +Zen sect, literati, artists, experts in tea-ceremony, +and so forth. Their pictures were generally +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +made after death by order of the near relatives, +friends, vassals or disciples of the deceased, to +be a memorial of the person whom they adored or +revered. Not a small number of those paintings +are extant to this day, showing vividly the characteristics +of those illustrious figures in Japanese +history.</p> + +<p class="indent">The political anarchy combined with the individualistic +tendency of the age could not fail to +lead to the moral dissolution of the people. To +the same effect, too, the literature of the time, +which was a revival of that of the Fujiwara period, +contributed. The classical authors of Japanese +literature at the height of the Fujiwara period +were now perused, commented upon, and +elucidated with devouring eagerness, the most +adored among them being Murasaki-Shikibu, +whose famous novel, <i>Genji-monogatari</i>, was regarded +mystically and held to be almost divine. +The nature of this literature was for the most part +realistic, or rather sentimental, verging sometimes +on sensuality. It was, however, clad in the +exquisitely refined costume of beautiful diction and +choice turns of phrase, borrowed or metamorphosed +from the inexhaustible stores of Chinese +literature. As to the revived form of literature +in the Ashikaga period, the difference between +it and that of the old time was so remarkable, that +it could not be overlooked. Vulgarisation usurping +the place of refinement, and coarse sensuality +reigning rampant was the outcome of the cultivation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> +of the classical literature. The moral tone +of the stories and novels produced in this decadent +age unmistakably reflects how low was the +ebb of the sense of decency of that period, fostered +by the naturalistic tendency manifested in +the Fujiwara classics.</p> + +<p class="indent">These depict the dark side of the age, but in +order not to be one-sided in my judgment, let me +tell also about its bright side. The culture of the +Ashikaga had from the beginning a trend to grow +more and more humanistic as it approached the +end of the period. One more aspect in the history +of Japanese painting proves it to the full. +Landscapes and still-life pictures, which had been +formerly painted only as the accessories of religious +images or as the background in the scroll +paintings, before which the main subjects, that is +to say, the personages in stories were made to +play, began now to form by themselves each a +special independent group of subjects for painting. +This shows that the people of the time had +already entered a cultural stage able to enjoy the +arts for art's sake. Many pictures of such a kind +by the brush of noted Chinese masters were imported +into our country, and several clever Japanese +artists also painted after them. Some of our +artists, like Sesshû, went over to China to study +the art of painting there. The differentiation of +the school of Kano from the older Tosa was another +result of this development. Most of these +pictures were executed in the form of <i>kakemono</i>, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +or hanging pictures, so called from their being +hung in a special niche of a drawing room or a +study. Screens, or <i>byobu</i>, mounted with pictures, +became also a fashion. In general, the furnishing +of a house was now a matter of a certain educated +taste, and various systems were devised and formulated +by accomplished experts.</p> + +<p class="indent">The delicacy of the æsthetic sense in indoor-life +was moreover enhanced by the laborious etiquette +of fashionable tea-parties held by aristocrats +and bourgeois alike. The tea-plant itself +is said to have been introduced from China into +our country in the reign of the Emperor Saga, +that is to say, at the beginning of the ninth century. +Its use, however, as the daily beverage was +of a far later date. Yôsai, the founder of the +Zen sect in Japan, wrote in the early Kamakura +period a commendation on tea as the healthiest +drink of all. Still, for a long while after him, tea +seems to have been used exclusively by Buddhists +as a tonic. It was in the Ashikaga age that tea +came first into general use among the well-to-do +classes of the people. As the production of it +was, however, not so abundant as now, it was not +used daily as at present, but occasionally, with an +etiquette conducted with exquisitely refined taste, +both hosts and guests rivalling one another in displaying +their artistic acquirements by delivering +extempore speeches in criticism of the various articles +of art exhibited, or in amusing themselves +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +with mystic dialogues of the Zen creed, or the +lively exchange of witty repartees.</p> + +<p class="indent">After all, the tendency of the culture of the +later Ashikaga period was in the main humanistic. +There was no political authority so firmly +constituted, nor were conventional morals of the +time so rigorous, as to be able to put an effective +check on any liberal thinker, nor to intervene +in the daily life of the people. Thought and +action in Japan has never been more free than +in that age. That Christianity could find innumerable +converts from one end of the empire to +the other within half a century after its introduction, +may be accounted for by supposing that the +ground for it had been prepared long before by +this exceedingly humanistic culture. In this respect +we see the dawn of modern Japan already +in the later Ashikaga age. What a striking similarity +to the Italian renaissance! Japan was now +in the throes of travail—the time for a new birth +was fast approaching. Conditions on the whole +were favourable. All that was wanted for this +were the moral regeneration of the people and +the political reconstruction of the Empire.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<p class="h2a">THE TRANSITION FROM MEDIAEVAL TO MODERN +JAPAN</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Anarchy</span> engendered peace at least. At the +end of the Ashikaga Shogunate the minor territorial +lords, who had sprung up out of the impotency +of the Shogun, were swallowed up one +after another by the more powerful ones. The +rights of manorial holders, that is to say, of court-nobles, +shrines, and temples, over estates legally +their own, though long since fallen into a condition +of semi-desuetude, were active, sensitive, yet +powerful enough in the middle of the period to +withstand the attempted encroachments of those +territorial lords, who were <i>de jure</i> only managers +of the estates entrusted to their care; but those +rights began in course of time to lose their enforcing +power, and were finally set at naught by the +all-powerful military magnates. The link between +the estates and their proprietors was thus +virtually cut off, and each territory, which was in +truth an agglomeration of several estates, came +to stand as one body under the rule of a military +lord, without any reservation to his right. In +other words, each territory became a domain of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +a lord pure and simple, and it may be best explained +by imagining a quasi-sovereign state in +Europe formed by joining together a certain number +of ecclesiastical domains, the lands of which +were contiguous. It is true that the size of such +territories varied, ranging from one so big as +to contain several provinces down to petty ones +comprising only a few villages; their boundaries, +too, shifted from time to time. Notwithstanding +this diversity in size and the inconstancy of the +frontier-lines, these territories were similar to one +another in their main nature, no more complicated +by intricate manorial systems. If, therefore, +there appeared at once some irresistible necessity +for national unification or some great historical +figure, whose ability was equal to the task of +achieving the work, Japan could now be made a +solid national state far more easily than at any +earlier period.</p> + +<p class="indent">Besides this facilitation of the political unity, +what most contributed to the settling of the general +order was the resuscitation of the moral sense +of the nation. The highly advanced Chinese civilisation +introduced into our country at a time when +it was comparatively naïve, had an effect which +could not be termed exactly in all respects wholesome. +The morals of the people, whose mode +of life was simplicity itself, not having yet tasted +the sumptuousness of civilised life, excelled those +of higher civilised nations in veracity, soberness, +and courage. Lacking, however, in the firm consciousness +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> +which must accompany any virtue of +a standard worthy of sincere admiration, these +attributes of the ancient Japanese, though laudable +in themselves, could have no high intrinsic +value, and were inadequate to stem the enervating +influence of the elegantly developed alien civilisation +introduced later on into the country. The +ethical ties, which are indispensable at any time +for maintaining the social order in a healthy condition, +were gradually reduced to a state of utter +dissolution in the later or over-refined stage of +the Fujiwara period, especially among the upper +classes. With the attainment of political power by +the warrior class in the formation of the Kamakura +Shogunate, there shimmered once some hope +of the reawakening of the moral spirit, for fidelity +and gratitude, which were the cardinal virtues of +the Kamakura warriors, were efficient factors in +refreshing and invigorating a society which had +once fallen into a despicable languor and demoralisation. +The ascendency of these bracing forces, +however, was but transitory. This disappointment +came not only from the shortness of the +duration of the genuine military régime at Kamakura, +but also from another reason not less probable. +The admirable virtues of the warriors +were the natural outcome of the peculiar private +circumstances created in the fighting bodies of the +time, and were on that account essentially domestic +in their nature. As long as these warriors remained, +therefore, mere professional fighters and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> +tools in the hands of court nobles, the moral +ties binding leaders and followers as well as the +<i>esprit de corps</i> among these followers themselves +had very slight chance of coming into contact with +politics. In short, the majority of these warriors +were not acquainted with public life at all, so +that they were at a loss how to behave themselves +as public men when, as the real masters of the +country, they found themselves obliged to deal +with political affairs. Public affairs are generally +prone to induce men even of high probity to +put undue importance upon the attainment of end, +rather than to make them scrupulous about the +means of arriving at that end; and if the moral +sense of the people is not developed enough to +guard against this injurious infection of private +life from the meddling with public affairs, then +their inborn and yet untried virtues may often +fail to assert themselves against the influence of +the depravity which can find its way more easily +into public than into private life. Such was the +case with the warriors of the Kamakura age. +Through their ascendency the martial spirit of the +nation, which had languished somewhat under the +rule of the Fujiwara nobles, was once more revived, +but their descendants at the end of that +Shogunate could not be so brave and simple-hearted +as their forefathers were. The extinction +of the Minamoto family, too, relieved these warriors +of their duty as hereditary liegemen of the +Shogun, for henceforth both the Shogun, who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +was now of a different family from that of the +Minamoto, and the Hôjô, the real master of the +Shogunate, were to them superiors only in official +relations. This disappearance of the object +on which the fidelity of the warriors used to concentrate, +made fidelity itself an empty virtue. At +least among the circle of warriors in the age in +which fidelity was everything and all other virtues +were but ancillary to it, this loss must have been +a great drawback to the improvement of the +morality of the nation. The demoralisation of +the influential class had thus set in since the latter +part of the Kamakura age. No wonder that during +the civil war which ensued many of the prominent +warriors changed sides very frequently, almost +without any hesitation, obeying only the dictates +and suggestions of their private interests. +That this civil war, which ended without any decisive +battle being fought, could drag on for +nearly a century, may be best understood by taking +this recklessness of the participants into consideration. +The inconsistency in their attitude or +the want of fidelity towards those to whom they +ought to be faithful was not restricted to their +transactions in public affairs only, but extended +also to the recesses of their family life. Parents +could no more confide in their own children, nor +husband in his wife, and masters had always to +be on guard against betrayal by their servants. +After the civil war there were many periods of +intermittent peace in the first half of the Ashikaga +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> +régime, but that was not a result of the +firm and strong government of the Shogun. They +were rather lulls after storms, brought about by +the weariness felt after a long anarchy.</p> + +<p class="indent">The culmination of this deplorable condition +of national demoralisation falls to the epoch of +the next civil war, that is to say, of the Ohnin era. +It is in this period that we witness a great development +of the spy system and of the usage of +taking hostages as a security against breach of +faith. Even such means, however, proved often +inefficient to guard against the unexpected treachery +of supposed intimate friends, or a sudden attack +from the rear by trusted neighbours. Desertion, +though not recommended as a laudable action, +was nevertheless not considered a detestable +infamy, especially when it was carried out anterior +to the pitching of the camps against the +enemy, and deserters or betrayers were generally +welcomed and loaded with munificent rewards by +their new masters. Was it possible that such a +ruthless state could continue for long without any +counteraction? If any one had once betrayed his +first master for the sake of selfish interests, could +he claim after that to be a sort of person able +to enjoy the implicit confidence of his second master? +Examples of repeated breaches of faith +abound in the history of the time. It was from +the general unreliableness caused by such habitual +acts of treachery, that the practice of giving quarter +to deserters and facile surrenderers began +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> +gradually to diminish. And the result was that +the danger of being killed after having surrendered +or capitulated became a cause to induce +those warriors, who would otherwise have easily +given up their master's cause, to remain true to +him to the end. This is one of the reasons why, +after so long a domination of this miserable demoralisation, +we begin frequently to come upon +those beautiful episodes which showed the solidarity +of clans admirably maintained and the utter +loyalty of vassals to their lord, fighting to the +death under his banner. The process, however, +of ameliorating the morals of the nation should +not begin from the relation of master and servant, +but slowly start from within families. One could +not refrain from feeling the imperative necessity +of trustworthy mutual dependence among members +connected by ties of blood, amidst the dreary +environs in which no hearty confidence could be +put in any one with safety. That the <i>Hsiao-king</i>, +a Chinese moral book treating of the merits of +filial piety, was widely read in educated circles of +the time, and that several editions of the same +book have been published since the middle of the +Ashikaga period, show how great a stress was +put on the encouragement of domestic duties. +With the family, made a compact body, as the +starting point, the reorganisation of social and +national morals was thus set on foot. The growth +of the tendency of liegemen to share the same fate +as their lord is to be looked upon as a kind of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> +extension of this family solidarity, as it came not +from the consideration of the mere relation between +a master and his servants, but rather from +that of the hereditary transmittal of such a relation +on both sides, just as it was at the beginning +of the Kamakura Shogunate. There was no +doubt therefore that the smaller the size of the +territory of a lord, the easier the consummation +of the process of its compact consolidation, which +was necessarily cemented by a close mutual attachment +between the lord of that territory and +his dependents within and without his family. +Not only that. If that territory was small and +weak, and in constant danger of being destroyed +or annexed by powerful neighbours, then the same +process of consolidation was effected very swiftly. +The territory in the province of Mikawa, which +was owned by the family of the Tokugawa, was +one of many such instances. This territory was +so small in size, that it did not cover more than +a half of the province, and moreover it was surrounded +by the domains belonging to the two +powerful families of Oda and Imagawa on the +west and east, so that the small estate of the +Tokugawa family was constantly harassed by +them, and maintained as a protectorate now by +the one and then by the other of the two. On +that account nowhere else was there a stronger +demand for a close affinity between a territorial +lord and his men, than in this domain of the Tokugawa's. +Consequently we see there not only +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +an early progress in territorial consolidation, but +along with it the resuscitation of an acute moral +sense, especially in the direction necessary and +compatible to the maintenance and development +of a military state.</p> + +<p class="indent">The reawakening of the high moral sense in +the nation and the formation of compact self-constituted +territories, virtually independent but +amply liable to the influence of unifying forces, +were the phenomena in the latter half of the +Ashikaga period. That the country was slow in +becoming nationalised and unified must be attributed +to the insufficiency of that reawakening and +the insolidity of those quasi-independent territories. +The general culture of the time, which +was humanistic in nature, was powerless for the +moment to facilitate this movement which was +national and moral at the same time. Humanistic +as it was, it was able to pervade the provinces, +and gave to Japan a uniform colour of culture. +That was already, indeed, a stride forward on +the way to national unification. Nay, it may be +said that the impulse to that very unification was +given by that very culture. Generally, however, +the humanistic culture of any form has no particular +state of things as its practical goal, and +therefore cannot necessarily lead to an improvement +in the morals of any particular nation, nor +does it always stimulate the desire for the national +unification of a certain country. On the +contrary, it often counteracts these movements, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> +and seemingly contributes toward accelerating the +demoralisation and dismemberment of a nation, +for individualism and selfishness get often the +upper hand when such a culture becomes ascendant. +The fruit which the Renaissance of the Quattrocento +bore to Italians was just of this sort, and +the direct influence which the humanistic culture +of the later Ashikaga produced on Japan was +not very much different from that. The culture, +which had spread widely all over Japan, rather +tended to loosen moral ties, and at least diminished +the social stability. Persons, of a character +morally most depraved, such as traitors, murderers, +and so forth, were not infrequently men +of high culture. Most of the rebellious servants +of the Ashikaga Shogun were said to have been +highly-accomplished literati. Some of them were +addicted to the perusal of the sensational novels +produced in the golden age of classical literature +in Japan, such as the <i>Ise-</i> and the <i>Genji-monogatari</i>, +and others were composers of short poems +fashionable in those days, rejoicing at their own +display of flighty wit, while not a few of them +were liberal patronisers of the contemporary art, +especially of painting. What a striking parallelism +to those Popes and their nephews, in the time +of the Renaissance, whose patronising of arts is +as renowned as their atrocious vices!</p> + +<p class="indent">If the culture inborn or borrowed from China +was unable to save the country from a moral and +political crisis, what was the fruit borne by the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> +seeds of the new exotic culture, that is to say, of +Christianity, sown just at this juncture? I will +not dilate here on the relation between religion +and morality in general. Suffice it to say that religious +people are not always virtuous. Bigots +are generally men of perverse character, and +mostly vicious. This is a truism. It has been +so with Buddhism and many other religions. Why +should it be otherwise only in the case of Christianity? +As regards the general culture of our +country, the introduction of Christianity is a very +important historical fact, the influence of which +can by no means be overlooked. Though the +secular culture which was introduced into Japan +as the accessory of the Christian propaganda was +of a very limited nature, and though the free acceptance +of it was cut short soon after its circulation, +yet this new element of civilisation brought +over by the missionaries was much more than a +drop in the ocean. However difficult it be to perceive +the traces of the Western culture in the +spirit of the age which was to follow, it cannot be +denied that it left, after all, some indelible mark +on our national history. That it had spread within +a few decades all over the contemporary Japan, +from the extreme south to the furthest north, +should also not be left out of sight. Thenceforth +the Fables of Æsop have not ceased to be told +in the lamplit hours in the nurseries of Japan. +We see Japan, after the first introduction of +Christianity, painted in a somewhat different +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> +colour, though the difference of tincture may be +said to be extremely slight. The knowledge at +least that there were outside of China, many +people in the far West, civilised enough to teach +us in several branches of science and art, opened +the eyes of the island nation to a wider field of +vision, and began to alter the views which we had +entertained about things Chinese. Previously, for +anything to become authoritative, it had been +enough if the Chinese origin of that thing could +be assured. The overshadowing influence which +China had wielded over Japan at the time of the +Fujiwara régime was revived in different form in +the middle Ashikaga period, the former being +China of the T'ang, while the latter that of the +Sung, Yuan, and Ming. In short, China had long +continued as a too brilliant guiding star to the +Japanese mind, Korea, by the way, having been +regarded only as one of the intermediaries between +the "flowery" Empire and our country. +It would be, of course, a hasty judgment to conclude +that the introduction of Christianity instantly +let the scales fall from the eyes of the +Japanese as regards China, and aroused thereby +a fervent national enthusiasm of the people, but +at least it was a strong impetus to the awakening +of the national consciousness, and led indirectly to +the political unification of the country. In this +respect the introduction of the new religion had a +salutary effect on our history.</p> + +<p class="indent">As to the betterment of the individual morals +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> +of the contemporary Japanese, however, the influence +of Christianity cannot be said to have been +wholesome in all ways. It probably did as much +mischief as good during its brief prosperity. Any +cult, which may be styled a universal religion, +contains a strong tincture of individualism in its +doctrines, and any creed of which individualism +is a main factor often easily tends to encourage, +against its original purpose, the pursuit of selfish +objects. In this respect even Christianity can offer +no exception. What, then, could it preach, +at the end of the Ashikaga régime, to the Japanese +who were already individualistic enough without +the new teaching of the western religion, besides +the intensifying of that individualism to +make it still more strong and prevalent? Moreover, +the very moral doctrine of the Christianity +introduced by Francis Xavier and his successors +was nothing but the moral of the Jesuits of the +sixteenth century, who maintained the unscrupulous +teaching that the end justified the means, +the moral principle which has been universally adjudged +in Europe to be a very dangerous and +obnoxious doctrine. Could it have been otherwise +only in our country as an exceptional case? +But if these missionaries had all been men of truly +noble and upright character, they should have +been able perhaps to raise the standard of our +national morals by personal contact with the +Japanese, notwithstanding the moral tenets of +their religion. Unfortunately, however, most of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> +them were of debased character, with the exception +of St. Francis Xavier and a few others. We +need not doubt the ardent desire of these missionaries +to save the "souls" of the Japanese, and thus +to recover in the East what they had lost in the +West. But by whatever motive their pious undertakings +may have been prompted, their religious +enthusiasm and their dauntless courage do not +confute the charge of dishonesty. That the +majority of them were grossest liars is evident +from their reports addressed to their superiors in +Europe, in which the numbers of converts and +martyrs in this country were misrepresented and +ridiculously exaggerated, in order bombastically +to manifest their undue merits, exaggeration +which could not be attributed to a lack of precise +knowledge about those matters. What could we +expect from men of such knavish characters as +regards the moral regeneration of the contemporary +Japanese?</p> + +<p class="indent">As these missionaries, however, were at least +cunning, if not intelligent in a good sense, it would +not have been impossible for them to achieve +something in the domain of the moral education +of the nation, if they could only have understood +the real state of Japan of that time. On the +contrary, their comprehension of our country and +of our forefathers was far wide of the mark. +Most of them had expected to find in Japan an +El Dorado inhabited by primitive folks of a very +low grade of intelligence, where they could play +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> +their parts gloriously as missionaries by preaching +the Gospel in the wilderness. They had not +dreamt that the culture possessed by the Japanese +of that time, though for the most part borrowed +from China, was superior to that of some still uncivilised +parts of Europe, for the difference in the +form of civilisation deceived them in their judgment +of the value of Eastern culture. When they +set their feet on Japanese soil, therefore, they +soon discovered that they had been grossly mistaken, +and then running to the opposite extreme +they fell into the error of overestimation. Yet +they did not stop at this. This first misconception +on the part of the missionaries about Japan left +in them an ineradicable prejudice. They became +very niggards in seeing things Japanese in an impartial +light, and constituted themselves consciously +or unconsciously fault-finders of the +people, and unfortunately the Japan of that time +furnished them with much material to corroborate +their low opinion. The result was that while on +the one hand the Japanese were praised far above +their real value, they were stigmatised equally +far below their real merits. Regrettable as it was +for Japan to have received such reprehensible +people as pioneers of Western civilisation, it was +also pitiable that Christianity, which had been fervently +embraced by a large number of Japanese, +was once rooted out chiefly on account of the incredible +folly of these missionaries, who fermented +trouble and embroiled themselves in numberless +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> +intrigues, which were quite useless and +unnecessary as regards the cause of Christianity. +It would, in good sooth, have been absurd to hope +to have the morality of the people improved by +the personal influence of such reckless adventurers.</p> + +<p class="indent">Japan was ready to be transformed into a solid +national state, and at the same time to emerge +from a chaotic medieval condition to enter the +modern status. The cultural milieu, however, +though it might have been ripe for change, must +have found it difficult to get transformed by itself, +and wanted an infusion of some new element +to create an opportunity for the change. A new +element did come in, but it proved to be unable to +effect any wholesome alteration, so that in order +to create that opportunity the only possible and +promising way was to resort first to the political +unification of the country, and thus to start from +the political and so to reach social and individual +regeneration. And for that political unification +the right man was not long wanting. We find him +first in Nobunaga Oda, then in Hideyoshi Toyotomi, +and lastly in Iyeyasu Tokugawa.</p> + +<p class="indent">The first task was naturally to break down the +authority of numerous traditions and conventions +which had kept the nation in fetters for a long +time. This task was an appropriate one for such +a hero as Nobunaga, who was imperious and intrepid +enough to brave every difficulty coming in +his way. He was born in a family which had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> +been of the following of the house of Shiba, one +of the branches of the Ashikaga, and had continued +as the hereditary administrator of Owari, +a province which formed part of the domain of its +suzerain lord. When the power of the house of +Shiba decayed, the Oda family asserted its virtual +independence in the very province in which it +had been the vicegerent of its lord, and it was +after this assertion of independence that our hero +was born. Strictly speaking, therefore, his right +as a territorial lord was founded on an act of +usurpation, that is to say, Nobunaga's claim as +the owner of the province had no footing in the +old system of the Ashikaga, so that he was destined +by his birth to become a creator of the new +age, and not the upholder of the ancient régime. +The province over which he held sway has been +called one of the richest provinces in Japan, and +was not far from Kyoto, which was, as often +stated before, still by far the most influential +among the political and cultural centres of the +empire. He and his vassals, therefore, had more +opportunities than most of the territorial lords +and their vassals living in remote provinces, of +getting sundry knowledge useful to make his territory +greater and stronger. In the year 1560 +he defeated and killed his powerful enemy on the +east, Yoshimoto Imagawa, the lord of the two +provinces, Tôtômi and Suruga. This was his first +acquisition of new territory. Four years after, +the province of Mino, lying to the north of Owari, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +came into his possession. In 1568 he marched his +army into Kyoto to avenge the death of the +Shogun Yoshiteru, and installed his brother, who +was the last of the Ashikaga line, as the new +Shogun. Then one territory after another was +added to his dominion, so that the Shogun was +at last eclipsed in power and influence by Oda, +without ever having renounced his hereditary +rights. Nobunaga's dominion reached from the +Sea of Japan to the Pacific shore, when he met +at the height of his career of conquest a premature +death by the hand of a traitor.</p> + +<p class="indent">It is not, however, on account of the magnitude +of the territories which he annexed, that Nobunaga +figures in the history of Japan, for the land +conquered by dint of his arms did not cover more +than one-third of the island of Honto. His real +historical importance lies not there, but in that +he destroyed the old Japan and made himself the +harbinger of the new age, though the honour +of being creator of modern Japan must be assigned +rather to Hideyoshi, his successor. Since +the beginning of our history, the Japanese have +always been very reluctant, in the cultural respect, +to give up what they have possessed from the first, +while they have been very eager and keen to take +in the new exotic elements which seemed agreeable +or useful to them. In other words, the +Japanese have been simultaneously conservative +and progressive, and immoderately so in both +ways. The result of such a conservation and assimilation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> +operating at the same time was that the +country has gradually become a depository of a +huge mass of things Japanese and Chinese, no +matter whether they were desirable or not. If +any exotic matter or custom once found its way +into this country, it was preserved with tender +care and never-relaxing tenacity, as if it were some +treasure found or made at home and would prove +a credit to our country. In this way we could +save from destruction and demolition a great +many historical remains, material as well as spiritual, +not only of Japanese but also of Chinese origins. +There may still be found in our country +many things, the histories of which show that they +had once their beginnings in China indeed, but +the traces of their origins have long been entirely +lost there. Needless to say that the religious rites +and other traditions of our forefathers in remotest +antiquity have been carefully handed down +to us. This assiduity for preserving on the part +of the Japanese can best be realised by the existence +to this day of very old wooden buildings, +some of which, in their dates of erection, go back +to more than twelve hundred years ago. Besides +this conservative propensity of the nation, the +history of our country has also been very favourable +to the effort of preserving. We have had +no chronic change of dynasties as in China, nor +have we experienced any violent revolution, shaking +the whole structure of the country, as the +French people had. Though our history has not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> +lacked in civil wars and political convulsions, +their destructive force has been comparatively +feeble, and one Imperial house has continued to +reign here from the mythic Age of the Gods! +With this permanent sovereign family as the <i>point +d'appui</i>, it has been easier in Japan than in any +other country to preserve things historic. Things +thus preserved, however, have not all been worthy +of such care. As we have been obliged to march +constantly with hurried steps in our course of +civilisation, little time has been left to us to pause +and discriminate what was good for preservation +from what was not. We have betaken ourselves +occasionally to the process of rumination, but it +did not render us much assistance. Not only rubbish +has not been rejected, as it should have +been, but the things which proved of good service +at one time and subsequently wore out, have been +hoarded over-numerously. Think of this immense +quantity of the slag, the detritus, of the +civilisations of various countries in various ages +all dumped into the limited area of our small +empire! No people, however vigorous and progressive +they may have been, would have been +able to go on briskly with such a heavy burden on +their backs. The worst evils were to be recognised +in the sphere of religious belief and in the +transactions of daily official business. Red tape, +home-made and that of China of all dynasties, +taken in haphazard and fastened together, +formed the guiding-lines of the so-called "administrative +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +business" in the time of the court-nobles' +régime. The prestige of these conventionalities +was so powerful that even after the installation +of the Shogunate, that is to say, after the establishment +of the government which really meant to +govern, the administration, promising to be far +more effective than that of the Fujiwara's, had +to be varnished with this conventionalism. Kiyomori, +the first of the warriors to become the political +head of the country, failed, because he was +ignorant of this red-tapism. The Shogunate initiated +by Yoritomo tried at first to keep itself aloof +from this influence, but could succeed only for a +short duration. The second Shogunate, the Ashikaga, +had been overrun almost from its inception +by the red tape of the courtiers' régime, as well +as by the routine newly started in Kamakura. The +humanistic culture, which glimmered during the +latter part of this Shogunate, was by its nature +able to find its place only where conventionalism +did not reign, but it soon began to give way and be +conventionalised also. Until this red-tapism was +destroyed, there could have been no possibility of +the modernisation of Japan.</p> + +<p class="indent">Superstitions of all sorts, when fixed in their +forms and launched on the stream of time to float +down to posterity with authority undiminished by +age, make the worst kind of convention. We had +a great mass of conventions of this type in our +country. Various superstitions, from the primitive +forms of worship, such as fetichism, totemism, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> +and so forth, to the highest forms of idolatry, +survived notwithstanding the introduction of Buddhism. +Buddhism, too, has produced various sects +which were rather to be called coarse superstitions. +Taoism was also introduced together with the +general Chinese culture. Not to mention that +Shintoism, which was by its original nature hardly +to be called a religion, but only a system or body +of rites inseparable from the history of our +country, became blended with the Buddhist elements +and was preached as a religion of a hybrid +character. Thus a concourse of different superstitions +of all ages had their common field of +action in the spirit of the people, so that it has +became exceedingly difficult to tell exactly to what +kind of faith this or that Japanese belonged; in +other words, one was divided against one's self. +To put it in the best light, religiously the Japanese +were divided into a large number of different religious +groups. Religion is generally spoken of +in Europe as one of the characteristics of a nation. +If it is insufficient to serve as an associating +link of a nation, at least the difference in religious +belief can draw a line of marked distinction between +different nations, and thus the embracing +of the same religion becomes indirectly a strong +uniting force in a nation. Such a co-existence of +heterogeneous forms of religious beliefs painted +the confessional map of Japan in too many variegated +colours, a condition which was directly opposed +to the process of national unification, of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> +which our country had been placed in urgent need +for a very long time. In short, it was hard for +us to expect from the religious side anything helpful +in our national affairs.</p> + +<p class="indent">Moreover, the religious spirit of the nation +reached its climax in this later Ashikaga period. +Except in the age of the introduction of Buddhism +and the beginning of the Kamakura era, +enthusiasm for salvation has never, in all the +course of Japanese history, been stronger than in +this period. We witness now several religious +corporations, the most remarkable of which were +those formed by two violent and influential sects +of Japanese Buddhism, Jôdo-shinshû or Ikkô-shû +and Nichiren-shû or Hokke-shû. The followers +of the latter, though said to be the most aggressive +sectarians in our country, were not so numerous +as the former, and were put under control +by Nobunaga with no great difficulty. The former, +however, was by far the mightier, constituting +an exclusive society by itself, and its adherents +spread especially over the provinces of +central Japan, that is to say, wherever the arms +of Nobunaga were triumphant. It presented +therefore a great hindrance to the uniform administration +of his domains.</p> + +<p class="indent">Other Buddhist bodies, which had been not less +formidable, not because their creed had numerous +fervent adherents, but because they had an invisible +historical prestige originating in very old +times, were the monks of the temples and monasteries +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> +on Mount Hiyei, belonging to the Tendai +sect, and of those clustered on Mount Kôya, of +the Shingon sect. These two sects had long +ceased active propaganda, but the temples had +been revered by the Imperial house, and none had +ever dared to put a check upon the arrogance of +the priests and monks residing in them. As they +had received rich donations in land from the +court and from devotees, they had been able to +live a luxurious life, and very few of them gave +themselves up to religious works. Most of them +behaved as if they were soldiers by profession, +and were always ready to fight, not only in defence +of the interests of the corporations to which they +belonged, but also as auxiliaries of neighbouring +territorial lords, when their aid was called for. +Such had been the practice since the end of Fujiwara +régime. The more their soldierly character +predominated, the more their religious colouring +decreased, and in the period of which I am speaking +now, they were rather territorial powers than +religious bodies. If we seek for their counterpart +in the history of Europe, the republic founded by +order of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia would +fairly correspond to them, rather than ordinary +bishoprics or archbishoprics. For the unification, +therefore, they were also obstacles which could +not be suffered to remain as they had been.</p> + +<p class="indent">In order to achieve the national unification and +to effect the modernisation of the country, it was +necessary to dispense with all the red tape, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> +time-honoured superstitions and all other encumbrances +lying in the way. It was not, however, +an easy task to do away with all these things, for +they had been held sacrosanct, so that to set them +at defiance was but to brave the public opinion of +the time. And none had been courageous enough +to raise his hand against them, until Nobunaga +decided to rid himself of all these feeble but +tenacious shackles.</p> + +<p class="indent">In the year 1571 Nobunaga attacked Mount +Hiyei, for the turbulent shavelings of the mountain +had sided with his enemies in the war of +the preceding year, and burned down the Temple +Yenryakuji to the ground. The emblem of the +glory of Buddhism in Japan, which had stood for +more than seven centuries, was thus turned to +ashes. The next blow was struck at the recalcitrant +priests of the temple of Negoro, belonging +to the same sect as Kôya and situated near it. +As for the Ikkô-sectarians with the Hongwanji +as centre, the arms of Nobunaga were not so successful +against them as against the other two +temples, so that in the end he was compelled to +conclude an armistice with them, but he was able +in great measure to curtail their overbearing +power. Of all these feats of arms, the burning +of the temples on Mount Hiyei most dumbfounded +Nobunaga's contemporaries, for the hallowed +institution, held in the highest esteem rivalling +even the prestige of the Imperial family, was +thus prostrated in the dust, unable to rise up again +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> +to its former grandeur. It is much lamented by +later historians that in the conflagration of the +temple an immense number of invaluable documents, +chronicles and other kinds of historical +records was swept away forever, and they calumniated +our hero on this account rather severely. +It is true that if those materials had existed to +this day, the history of our country would have +been much more lucid and easy to comprehend +than it is now, and if Nobunaga could have saved +those papers first, and then burnt the temple, he +would have acted far more wisely than he did, +and have earned less censure from posterity. But +history is not made for the sake of historians, and +we need not much lament about losses which there +was little possibility of avoiding. A nation ought +to feel more grateful to a great man for giving +her a promising future, than for preserving +merely some souvenirs of the past. The bell announcing +the dawn of modern Japan was rung +by nobody but Nobunaga himself by this demolition +of a decrepit institution.</p> + +<p class="indent">It was not only those proud priests that defied +Nobunaga and thereby suffered a heavy calamity, +but the flourishing city of Sakai met the same fate. +As the city had been accustomed to despise the +military force of the condottieri, who abounded +in the provinces neighbouring Kyoto and were +easily to be bribed by money to change sides, it +misunderstood the new rising power of Nobunaga, +and dared to defy him. The insolence of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> +the citizens of this wealthy town irritated Nobunaga +and was punished by him severely. The +defence works of the city were razed to the +ground, and the city was placed under the control +of a mayor appointed by him. The only city in +Japan which promised to grow an autonomous +political body thus succumbed to the new unifying +force.</p> + +<p class="indent">Nobunaga was born, however, not to be a mere +insensate destroyer of ancient Japan. He seems +also to have been gifted with the ability of reconstruction, +an ability which was not meagre in him +at all. That his special attention was directed to +the improvement of the means of communication +shows that he considered the work of organisation +and consolidation to be as important as gaining +a victory. The countenance which he gave +to the Christian missionaries might have been the +result of his repugnance at the degradation or intractability +of the Buddhists in Japan. Could it +not be imagined, however, that he was prone, in +religious affairs as well as in other things, to seek +the yet untried means thoroughly to renovate +Japan? It is much to be regretted that he did +not live long enough to see his aims attained. +When he died, his destructive task had not +reached its end, and his constructive work had +barely begun. It was he, however, who indicated +that Japan was a country which could be truly +unified, and that what had come to be preserved +and revered blindly should not all necessarily be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> +so; and the grand task of building up the new +Japan, initiated by him, was transferred to his +successor, Hideyoshi.</p> + +<p class="indent">It was in 1582 that Nobunaga died in Kyoto, +and in the quarrel which ensued after his death +among his Diadochi, Hideyoshi remained as the +final successor. The year after, Ôsaka was chosen +as the place of his residence. He was of very low +origin, so that he had even less footing in the conventional +old régime than his master Nobunaga, +and therefore was more fitted to become the creator +of the new Japan. He continued the course +of conquest begun by Nobunaga, and annexed the +whole of historic Japan within eight years from +his accession to the political power. The most +noteworthy item in his internal administration was +the land survey which he ordered to be undertaken +parallel to the progress of his arms. The +great estates of Japan were one after another +subjected to a uniform measurement, and thus +was fashioned the standard of new taxation. This +land-survey began in 1590 and continued till the +death of Hideyoshi. The proportion of the tax +levied to the area of the taxable land must still +have varied in different localities, but the mode of +taxation was now simplified thereby to a great +extent, for the old systems, each of which was +peculiar to an individual estate, were henceforth +mostly abrogated. The manorial system of old +Japan was entirely swept away.</p> + +<p class="indent">The unity of the nation under Hideyoshi, that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> +is to say, Japan at the disposal of a single person, +an illuminated despot, might have been really the +result of the long process of unification gradually +accentuated, but it may also be considered as one +of the causes which brought about a still stronger +national consciousness. The expulsion of the foreign +missionaries and the prohibition of the Christian +propaganda did not constitute a religious persecution +in its strict sense. That Hideyoshi was +no enthusiastic Buddhist should be accepted as a +negative proof of it. Most probably he had no +religious aversion against Christianity, but the intermeddling +of those missionaries in the politics +of our country infuriated him, for the demand for +the solid unification of the nation, embodied in +him, was against such an encroachment. The persecution, +which crowned many adventurers with +the honour of martyrdom, is to be imputed to the +lack of prudence on the part of those missionaries.</p> + +<p class="indent">As to the motive of the Korean invasion undertaken +by Hideyoshi, various interpretations have +been put forth by various historians. Some explain +it as mere love of adventure and fame. +Others attribute it to the necessity of keeping malcontent +warriors engaged abroad, in order to keep +the country pacific. As Hideyoshi himself died +while the expedition was still in progress, giving +neither explanation nor hint of his real motive, it +is very difficult for us to fathom his innermost +thought. It would not be altogether a mistaken +idea, however, if we consider it as an outcome of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> +his unifying aspiration carried a few steps farther +outside the empire.</p> + +<p class="indent">When we consider his brilliant career from its +beginning, the amount of work which he accomplished +greatly exceeded what we could expect +from a single ordinary mortal. He performed +his share of the construction of new Japan admirably. +As to the organisation of what Hideyoshi +had roughly put together, it was reserved +for the prudent intelligence of Iyeyasu to accomplish.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<p class="h2a">THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE,—ITS POLITICAL +RÉGIME</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">The</span> spirit of the coming age was loudly heralded +by Nobunaga. Most of the hindrances +which had persistently obstructed the national +progress for a long while were cleared away at +his peremptory call. Then out of the quarry +opened by him the stones for the new pieces of +sculpture were hewn out by his successor Hideyoshi. +The blocks, however, which were only +rough-cut by the latter, were left unfinished, awaiting +the final touch of wise and prudent Iyeyasu. +The Shogunate which he set up at Yedo, now +Tokyo, in the province of Musashi, continued for +more than two centuries and a half. Not only +was it the longest in duration among our Shogunates, +but it exceeded most of the European dynasties +in the number of years which it covered, being +a little longer than the reign of the Bourbons in +France, including that of the branch of Orleans +and of the Restoration. During this long régime +of the single house of the Tokugawa, Japan had +been able to prepare herself slowly to attain the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> +stage on which all the world witnesses her now +standing.</p> + +<p class="indent">The history of Japan under this Shogunate +shows that throughout the whole epoch our country +had not yet been entirely stripped of her medieval +garments, but it is absurd at the same time +to designate the period as essentially not modern. +For long years we have been on our forward +march, always dragging along with us the ever-accumulating +residue of the civilisation of the +past. If any one, however, should venture to +judge us by the enormous heaps of these souvenirs +of a by-gone civilisation overburdening us, and +should say that the Japanese had been standing +still these two centuries and a half, then he would +be entirely mistaken. The overestimation of Japan +of the Meidji era by a great many foreigners +is, though seconded by not a few Japanese, a fault +which had its origin in this misapprehension about +our country under the Tokugawa régime. The +attention of these observers was engrossed, when +they took their first views of the land and people, +by those things which seemed to them strange +and curious, being quite different from what they +themselves possessed at home, or which were +thought by them anachronistic, on account of having +been abandoned by them long ago, though once +they had them also in their own countries. As +regards what they had been accustomed to at +home, they took very little notice of it in Japan, +and considered the existence of such things in our +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> +country as a matter of course, if they happened +to come across them. Most of them came over +to Japan, prepossessed already by their expectations +of finding here a unique country, and were +thus unconsciously led, after their view of the country +itself, to depict it in a very quaint light, as +something entirely different from anything they +had ever experienced anywhere; an error which +even the most studious and acute observer, such +as Engelhardt Kaempfer, was not able to escape. +No need to mention the rest, especially those missionaries +who wished to extol their own merits at +the expense of the Japanese. We are still suffering +from misconceptions about our country on +the part of Europeans,—misconceptions which are +the legacy of the misrepresentation of Japan by +those early observers. By no means, however, +do I presume to try to exhibit Japan only in her +brightest colours. Far from it, and what I ask +foreign readers not to forget is that the history +of Japan under the Tokugawa Shogunate, the +period which was essentially modern, should not +be superficially judged by its abundance of feudal +trammels fondly described by contemporary Europeans. +In this chapter, I shall first make manifest +which were the things medieval retained in +the time of the Tokugawa, and then treat about +the essential character of the age which should be +called all but modern.</p> + +<p class="indent">In the foregoing chapter I spoke about some +resemblances between our later Ashikaga period +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> +and the Italian renaissance of the Quattrocento. +In the successive phases which followed in the +East and in the West, there might be found some +other similarities. History, however, has not +been ordained to run in streams exactly parallel +to one another in all countries, and to be a counterpart +of the age of the Reformation, the epochs +of the Oda and the Toyotomi are not more appropriate +than the age of the Kamakura Shogunate. +A style in Japanese art, prevalent during +and after the régime of Hideyoshi and called "the +Momoyama" by recent connoisseurs had a striking +resemblance to the Empire style, which followed +the Rococo in Europe, and in some respects +indeed the later Ashikaga period of our history +might be likened to Europe of the eighteenth century, +without gross inappropriateness, while at +other points it might be compared to the Renaissance +with equal fairness. It would be very +stupid, however, to surmise that Japan in the +Tokugawa period attained to a culture which in +its general aspect belonged almost to the same +stage as that prevailing in Europe in the early +nineteenth century. Art, though an important +cultural factor, cannot be made the sole criterion +of the civilisation of any nation or people. It is +quite indisputable that Japan under the Tokugawa +Shogunate had many things about which we +could not boast.</p> + +<p class="indent">So long as war is a calamity unavoidable in this +world, it is folly to expect in any country that the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> +cruelty of men to men will entirely cease. But +if the intensity of cruelty in warfare be taken as +being in inverse ratio to the progress of civilisation, +as it generally used to be, then the Tokugawa +period evidently should not be lauded as an +age of great enlightenment. Until the end of the +Shogunate of this house it had been the custom +for a warrior on the battlefield to cut off the head +of the antagonist whom he had slain. Though +we have had no such demoralising sort of warfare +in our history as that carried on by mercenary +troops in medieval Europe, where defeated warriors +were taken prisoners in order to obtain from +them as rich ransoms as they could afford to pay, +in other words, though the nature of warfare in +Japan was far more serious in general than in the +West, it was on that account far more dangerous +for the combatants engaged. It was the custom +in any battle to reward that warrior who first decapitated +an enemy's head as generously as one +who was the first over the wall in an attack on +a fortress. Moreover, during the ceremony in +celebration of a victory on a battlefield, all those +enemy heads were collected and brought for the +inspection of the commanding general of the victorious +army. Such a custom in warfare, however +efficient it might have been in stimulating the martial +courage of warriors, cannot be regarded as +praiseworthy in any civilised country, even where +war is considered as the highest occupation of +the people.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> +The Japanese manner of suicide called <i>hara-kiri</i> +or <i>seppuku</i>, a custom of world-wide celebrity, +is another thing which is well to be commented on +here. If any foreigner should suppose that <i>seppuku</i> +has been very frequently committed in the +same manner as we see it practised on the stage, +he would be greatly misled in appreciating the +true national character of the Japanese. On the +contrary, <i>seppuku</i> has not been a matter of everyday +occurrence, having taken place far less frequently +than one hears now-a-days about railway +accidents. Moreover, when it was performed, it +was carried out in decent ways, if we may use the +word decent here, and not in the grotesque mode +displayed on the Japanese stage, accompanied by +sardonic laughter, with bowels exposed after cutting +the belly crosswise. The reason why the +Japanese warrior resorted to <i>seppuku</i> in committing +suicide was not to kill himself in a methodically +cruel manner, but to die an honourable and +manly death by his own hand. For such methods +of committing suicide, as taking poison, drowning, +strangling oneself, and the like, were considered +very ignoble, and especially unworthy of warriors. +Even to die by merely cutting one's throat was +held to be rather effeminate. The fear of the +protraction of the death agony was looked on as +a token of cowardice, and therefore to be able to +kill one's self in the most sober and circumstantial +manner, and at the same time to do it with every +consideration of others, was thought to be one of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> +the requisite qualifications of a brave warrior in +an emergency. In short, for a suicide to be honourable, +it had to be proved that it was not the +result of insanity. Thus we can see that not the +spirit of cruelty but martial honour was the motive +of committing <i>seppuku</i>, and it would be unfair +to stigmatise the Japanese as a cruel people +because of the practice. Still I am far from wishing +to vindicate this custom in all its aspects. The +fact that this method of killing one's self continued +during the whole of the Tokugawa régime as a +penalty, without loss of honour, for capital crimes +of the <i>samurai</i> show that the humane culture of +the age left much to be wished for.</p> + +<p class="indent">Class distinction was another dark spot on the +culture of the age. All sorts of people outside +the fighting class were roughly classified into three +bodies, that is to say, peasants, artisans, and merchants, +and were held in utter subjection, as classes +made simply to be governed. But the often-quoted +tradition that warriors of that time had as +their privilege the right to kill any of the commonalty +at their sweet will and pleasure, without +the risk of incurring the slightest punishment +thereby, is erroneous, having no foundation in +real historical fact. Those warriors who had +committed a homicide were without prejudice +called upon to justify their act before the proper +authority. If they failed to prove that they were +the provoked and injured party, they were sure to +have severe penalties inflicted on them. On the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> +whole, however, the common people in the Tokugawa +age were looked down upon by warriors as +inferiors in reasoning and understanding, and +therefore as disqualified to participate in public +affairs, social as well as political. That their intellectual +defects must have been due to their neglected +education was a matter clean put out of +mind. As regards the respective professions of +the above-mentioned three classes of plebeians, +agriculture was thought to be the most honourable, +on account of producing the staple food-material, +so that warriors, especially of the lower classes, +did not disdain to engage in tilling the lands allotted +to them or in exploring new arable lands. The +peasants themselves, however, were not so greatly +esteemed on account of their engaging in a profession +which was held honourable. Handicrafts +in general and artisans employed in them had not +been held particularly respectable by themselves, +but as the profession was productive, it was recognised +as indispensable, despised by no means. +Moreover, many artistic geniuses, who had come +out of the innumerable multitudes of artisans of +various trades, have been held in very high regard +in our country, where the people have the reputation +of being one of the most artistic in the world; +and those articles of rare talent unwittingly raised +the esteem of the crafts in which they were engaged. +That which was most despised as a profession +was the business of merchants in all lines, +for to gain by buying and selling was thought +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> +from times past to be a transaction approaching +almost to chicanery, and therefore by no means +to be encouraged from the standpoint of national +and martial morals. Pedlars and small shop-keepers +were therefore simply held in contempt. +Great merchants, however, though not much esteemed +on account of their profession, were generally +treated with due consideration in virtue of +their amassed wealth. Only too frequently had +the Shogunate, as well as various <i>daimyo</i>, been +obliged to stoop to court the goodwill of rich +merchants in order to get money from them.</p> + +<p class="indent">The methods of taxation were very arbitrary, +and the person and the rights of property of individuals +were not very highly respected at that +time, the common people under the Shogunate +being often subjected to hard and brutal treatment, +their persons maltreated and injured and +their properties confiscated on various trifling pretences. +Though the way to petition was not absolutely +debarred to them, it was made very irksome +and perilous for plebeians to sue and obtain +a hearing for their manifold complaints. On the +other hand, as they were not recognised as a part +of the nation to be necessarily consulted, and as +the <i>vox populi</i> was not heeded in the management +of public affairs, their education was not regarded +as an indispensable duty of the government. No +serious endeavour had ever been made to improve +the common people intellectually, nor to raise their +standard of living. If a number of them showed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> +themselves able to behave like gentle folk, as if +they had been warriors by birth and, therefore, +well-educated, they were rewarded as men of extraordinary +merits such as could not be reasonably +expected of them.</p> + +<p class="indent">The status of the political organisation of the +country during the Tokugawa régime was also +what ought to be called medieval, if we draw our +conclusions from the materials ranged on the +darker side only. The country had been divided +into parcels, large and small, numbering in all +a little less than three hundred, each with a territorial +lord or a <i>daimyo</i> as its quasi-independent +autocratic ruler. The frontier line dividing adjacent +territories belonging to different <i>daimyo</i> +used to be guarded very vigilantly on both sides, +and passage, both in and out, was minutely scrutinised. +For that purpose numerous barrier-gates +were set up along and within the boundary. Any +land bounded by such frontiers, and conferred on +a <i>daimyo</i> by the Shogunate as his hereditary possession, +was by its nature a self-constituted state, +the political system prevailing within which having +been modelled after that of the Shogunate itself. +At the same time the territory of a <i>daimyo</i> was +economically a self-providing, self-sufficient body. +To become in such wise independent at least was +the ideal of the <i>daimyo</i> possessing the territory +or of the territorial statesmen under him. In +other words, the territory of a <i>daimyo</i> was an entity, +political and economical. In each territory +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> +certain kinds of produce from those confines had +been strictly prohibited by regulation to be exported +beyond the frontier, for fear that there +might sometimes occur a scarcity of those commodities +for the use of the inhabitants of the territory, +or lest other territories should imitate the +cultivation of like kinds of produce, so that the +value of their own commodities might decrease +thereby. In case of a famine, that is to say, of +the failure of rice crops in a territory, a phenomenon +which has by no means been of rare occurrence +in our country, the export of cereals used +to be forbidden in most of the neighboring territories, +even when they had a "bumper crop." +Such an internal embargo testifies that not only +had Japan been closed against foreigners, but +within herself each territory cared only for its +own welfare, adhering to a mercantilist principle, +as if it stood quite secluded from the rest of the +country. Very little of the cohesion necessary to +an integral state could be perceived in Japan of +that time.</p> + +<p class="indent">Such was the condition of Japan under the +Tokugawa Shogunate presented to the eyes of, +and easily noticed by, the foreign observers, who +visited our country at the beginning and the middle +of the period. Nay, many of the foreigners +who wrote about our land and people seem to +have shared nearly the same views as above. In +truth, however, many important factors of the +Japanese history of this epoch have been omitted +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> +by them, and the idea they could form of Japan +from the one-sided and scanty material at their +disposal was only a very incomplete image of +modern Japanese civilisation. I shall, therefore, +try to give a general survey of the political and +social condition of our country from the beginning +of the seventeenth century down to the Revolution +of the Meidji, and then shall treat in brief +about the civilisation of the age.</p> + +<p class="indent">The Shogunate of the house of the Tokugawa +was not an entirely new invention. It was a partial +recognition of the old régime which Iyeyasu +had inherited from Hideyoshi, as far as the territorial +lords were concerned, who were installed +or recognised anterior to the advent of Iyeyasu +to power. Though a great many of the former +feudatories, especially those who had been faithful +to the House of the Toyotomi to the last, +had been killed or deprived of their possessions +after the decisive battle of Sekigahara, not a few +of them survived, counting among them the most +powerful of the <i>daimyo</i>, the House of Mayeta, +who was the master of Kaga and two other +provinces on the Sea of Japan. The lords of +this kind had formerly been the equals of the +Tokugawa, when the latter was standing under +the protection of Hideyoshi, and it was difficult +for the new Shogunate, in a country where the +Emperor has ever been the paramount sovereign, +to make those lords formally swear the oath of +fealty to itself. The nature of the sovereignty, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> +therefore, of the Tokugawa over the feudatories +aforesaid was only that of <i>primus inter pares</i>. +The <i>daimyo</i> who stood in this relation to the +Shogunate were called <i>tozama</i>.</p> + +<p class="indent">The rest of the <i>daimyo</i>, together with the bodyguard +of the Shogun, the so-called "eighty thousand" +with their habitual residence at Yedo, made +up the hereditary retainers or <i>fudai</i>. The non-domestic +<i>daimyo</i> had nothing to do with the Shogun's +central government, all the posts of which, +from such high functionaries as the <i>rôchû</i> or elders, +who were none other than the cabinet ministers +of the Shogunate, down to such petty officials +as scribes and watchmen, had been all filled +with domestics of various grades. As far as these +domestics or direct retainers of the Shogunate +were concerned, the military régime of the Tokugawa +can be held to have been a revived form +of that of Kamakura. In the former, however, +the disparity in power and wealth between the +upper and the lower domestics of the Shogun was +far more remarkable than it had been among the +retainers of the latter, that is to say, the <i>djito</i>. +The term "go-kenin," held to be honourable in the +time of Kamakura, became, in the Tokugawa +period, a designation of the lowest order of the +direct vassals of the Shogun. A certain number +belonging to the upper class of the <i>fudai</i> or domestics +of the Tokugawa Shogunate were made +<i>daimyo</i>, and placed on the same footing as feudatories +of historical lineage, the former equals of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> +the Tokugawa, and formed with them henceforth +the highest military nobility of the country. The +remainder of the domestics, who were not raised to +the rank of <i>daimyo</i>, were comprised under the +name of <i>hatamoto</i>, which means "under the standard," +that is to say, the Body-guard of the Shogun. +Among the members of this body there +were indeed numerous scales of gradation. The +lowest of them had to lead a very miserable and +straitened life in some obscure corners of the city +of Yedo, while the best of them stood as regards +income very near to minor <i>daimyo</i>, and were often +more influential. Their political status, however, +notwithstanding manifold differences in rank +among them, was all the same, all being equally, +direct vassals of the Shogunate, and having no +regular warriors or <i>samurai</i> as their own vassals. +They, therefore, belonged to the lowest grade of +the privileged classes in the military hierarchy, +and in this respect there was no cardinal difference +between them and the common <i>samurai</i> who were +vassals of ordinary <i>daimyo</i>. That they were, +however, the immediate subjects of the Shogun, +and that they did not owe fealty to any <i>daimyo</i>, +who was in reality subordinate at least to the Shogun, +if not his vassal in name, placed them in a +status like that of the knights immediate of the +Holy Roman Empire or of the mediatised princes +of recent Germany; in short, above the status +of ordinary <i>samurai</i> attached to an ordinary +<i>daimyo</i>. Strictly speaking, between these two +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> +there interposed another group of <i>samurai</i>. They +were the vassals of the three <i>daimyo</i> of extraordinary +distinction, of Nagoya in the province of +Owari, of Wakayama in the province of Kii, and +of Mito in the province of Hitachi. All these +three being of the lateral branches of the Tokugawa, +were held in specially high regard, and put +at the topmost of all the other <i>daimyo</i>, so that +their vassals considered themselves to be quasi-<i>hatamoto</i> +and therefore above the "common" or +"garden" <i>samurai</i>.</p> + +<p class="indent">The <i>daimyo</i> acted as virtual potentates in territories +granted to them, and held a court and +a government there, both modelled largely after +the household and the government of the Shogun +at Yedo. The better part of the <i>daimyo</i> resided +in castles built imposingly after the architectural +style of the fortresses in Europe at that +time, the technic having perhaps been introduced +along with Christianity, and they led a life far +more easy and elegant, though more regular, than +the <i>shugo</i> of the Ashikaga age. It has been ascribed, +by the way, to the rare sagacity of Iyeyasu +as a politician, that the territories of the two +kinds of <i>daimyo</i>, <i>tozama</i> and <i>fudai</i>, were so +adroitly juxtaposed, that the latter were able to +keep watch over the former's attitude toward the +Shogunate.</p> + +<p class="indent">The <i>daimyo</i> were ranked according to the officially +estimated amount of rice to be produced in +the territory of each. In the time of Kamakura, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> +the renumeration of the <i>djito</i> was counted by +the area of ricefields in the manor entrusted to his +care. By and by, the land which was the source +of the renumeration for a <i>djito</i> came to be partitioned +among his numerous descendants, and +some of the portions allotted became so small, +that it was but ridiculous to think of exercising +the jurisdiction of military police over them. +Area of land began to cease thus to be the standard +of valuation of the income of a <i>djito</i>, when +the office of <i>djito</i> meant only the emolument accompanying +it, and no longer carried with it the +responsibility incumbent on it at its first establishment. +The ultimate result of such a change +was that the quantity or the price of rice produced +began to be adopted gradually as the standard +of valuation of the income of territorial lords, +and for a while the two standards were in use +together till the end of the Ashikaga age. Moreover, +infrequently part of the income of a <i>shugo</i> +was reckoned by the quantity of rice, while another +part of the income of the same <i>shugo</i> was +assessed by the sale-price of the rice cultivated. +This promiscuous way of valuation, however, +caused great irregularity and confusion. For, +added to the disagreement about the real quantity +of rice produced and the amount registered to +be produced, the price of the cereal itself had +been so ceaselessly fluctuating according to the +inconstant condition of crops, that there was no +such thing as a regular standard price of rice +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> +invariably applicable to any year and to any locality. +Nevertheless, in an age when no uniform +system of currency was established and to accept +any coin at its face value was an impossible matter, +in other words, when it was difficult to represent +the price of rice in any sort of coin then +in use, to make a standard of value, not of the +actual amount of rice but of its unceasingly vacillating +price, could not but cause a great deal of +inconvenience and confusion. We can easily see +from the above that the quantity of rice was by +far the surer means of bargaining than the money, +which was not only indeterminate in value but insufficient +to boot. Hideyoshi, therefore, put a +stop to the use of the method of indicating the +income of a territorial lord by its valuation in +money, and decreed that henceforth only the yearly +estimated yield of rice, counted by the <i>koku</i> as +a unit, should be adopted as the means of denoting +the revenue of a territory, a <i>koku</i> roughly +corresponding to five bushels in English measure. +The land-survey, which he undertook on a grand +scale throughout the whole empire, had as its +main purpose to measure the area of land classed +as rice-fields in the territories of the <i>daimyo</i>, according +to the units newly decreed, and to make +the estimate of the amount of rice said to be produced +commensurate as nearly as possible with the +average crop realisable. Withal, the inequality +of the standard of estimate in different localities +was rectified by this assessment of Hideyoshi's.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> +This method of estimating the income of a +<i>daimyo</i> had come into general use since the beginning +of the Tokugawa Shogunate. As there +was then no system in our country of gradating +the <i>daimyo</i> by titles, such as dukes, counts, and so +forth, the estimated annual yield of rice in +<i>koku</i> was used as the sole means of determining +the rank of the lords of the various +territories in the long queue of the Tokugawa +<i>daimyo</i>, with the exception of a very few who had +been placed in a comparatively high rank on account +of their specially noble lineage or the unique +position of their families in the national history, +though most of the nobles belonging to the latter +class were classed as an intervening group. The +minimum number of <i>koku</i> assigned to a <i>daimyo</i> +was ten thousand. As regards the maximum number +of <i>koku</i>, there was no legal limit. One who +stood, however, highest in order was the above-mentioned +House of Mayeta, the lord of Kaga +etc., whose domain was assessed at more than a +million <i>koku</i>. About three hundred <i>daimyo</i>, who +were ranged between the two extremes, were divided +into three orders. All those worth more +than two hundred thousand <i>koku</i> formed a class +of the <i>daimyo</i> major, and those worth less than +one hundred thousand were comprised in a group +of the <i>daimyo</i> minor, while the rest, that is to +say, those between one and two hundred thousand +formed the middle corps.</p> + +<p class="indent">In the Shogun's court, a seat was assigned to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> +each <i>daimyo</i> in a specified room, according to the +class to which he belonged. One could, therefore, +easily tell the rank of a <i>daimyo</i> by the name +of the room in which he had to wait when he +attended on the Shogun. All <i>daimyo</i>, almost +without exception, had to move in and out at fixed +intervals between his territory, where his castle +or camp stood, and Yedo, where he kept, or, to +say more correctly, was granted by the Shogun, +residences, generally more than two in number. +The interval allowed to a <i>daimyo</i> for remaining +in his territory varied according to the distance +of that territory from Yedo, being the shorter +and oftener for the nearer. He was obliged to +leave his wife and children constantly in one of +his residences at Yedo, as hostages for his fidelity +to the Shogun. As to the vassals or <i>samurai</i> of +a <i>daimyo</i>, there were also two sorts. By far the +greater part of the <i>samurai</i> belonging to a <i>daimyo</i> +had their dwellings in their master's territory, generally +in the vicinity of his castle. These <i>samurai</i> +were the main support of their lord, and had +to accompany him by turns in his official tour to +Yedo and back. The rest of the <i>samurai</i> under +the same lord, a band which formed the small +minority, lived constantly in Yedo, each family in +a compartment of the accessory buildings surrounding +the lord's residence like a colony. These +were as a rule men who were enlisted into the +service of a <i>daimyo</i> more for the sake of making +a gallant show at his official and social functions +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> +at Yedo, than for the sake of strengthening his +fighting forces. It was natural that men accustomed +to the polished life of the military capital +were thought better qualified to fulfil such functions +than the rustic <i>samurai</i> fresh from his territories +who were good only for fighting and other +serious kinds of business. While a <i>daimyo</i> was +absent in his territory, a <i>samurai</i> of his, belonging +to this metropolitan group, was entrusted +with the care of his residences and their occupants +in Yedo, and also with the duty of receiving +orders from the Shogunate or of transacting inter-territorial +business with representatives of other +<i>daimyo</i> at Yedo. The meetings held by these representatives +of the <i>daimyo</i> were said to be one +of the most fashionable gatherings in Yedo. That +the doyen of such functionaries had a certain prestige +over others, was very similar to the usage +among the diplomatic corps in Europe.</p> + +<p class="indent">The <i>samurai</i> who had their abode in their +lord's territory, however, represented the real +strength of a <i>daimyo</i>, and were the soul and body +of the whole military régime. The number of +<i>samurai</i> in a territory differed according to the +rank and the resources of a <i>daimyo</i>. Some of +the powerful nobles counted more than ten thousand +regular <i>samurai</i> under them, while minor +ones could maintain only a few hundred as necessary +retainers. In the latter case almost all of +the <i>samurai</i> had their dwellings clustering around +the castle or camp of their lord. If there were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> +any <i>samurai</i> who lived outside of the residential +town, they led an agricultural rather than a soldierly +life. The relation of vassalage in such a +territory was simple, for under the <i>samurai</i> consisting +of a single order there was no swords-wearer +serving them. In the territory of the powerful +<i>daimyo</i>, however, especially in those of the +big <i>daimyo</i> in Kyushu and the northern part of +Honto, comprising an area of two or more average +provinces in Middle Japan, the relation of +vassalage was very complicated, sometimes forming +a feudalism of the second order. That is to +say, the most influential <i>samurai</i> under those +<i>daimyo</i> had also their own small territory granted +by their lord, just as the latter had his granted or +recognised by the Shogunate, and held several +hundred swords-wearers, non-commissioned <i>samurai</i>, +in their service. It was not rare that some +of these magnates surpassed in income many +minor independent <i>daimyo</i>, and had in their hands +the destiny of a greater number of people, for +their emolument rose often to twenty or thirty +thousand <i>koku</i>. Their rank in the military régime, +however, was indisputably lower than that +of the smallest of <i>daimyo</i>, on account of their +being only indirectly subordinate to the Shogun.</p> + +<p class="indent">In all territories throughout the whole country, +the emolument of the <i>samurai</i> was granted in +the form of land, or of rice from the granaries +of the <i>daimyo</i>, or paid in cash. Sometimes we +see a combination of two or three of these forms +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> +given to one <i>samurai</i>. Besides this pay a patch +of ground was allotted to each <i>samurai</i> as his +homestead, and a part of that ground used to be +cultivated to produce vegetables for family consumption. +In whatever form a <i>samurai</i> might +receive his stipend, it was officially denoted by +the number of <i>koku</i>, registered as his nominal income, +and that very number determined his position +in the list of vassals of a <i>daimyo</i>, unless +he came from an extraordinarily distinguished +lineage. As regards the maximum and the minimum +number of <i>koku</i> given to <i>samurai</i>, there was +no uniform standard applicable to all of the territories. +Such powerful <i>daimyo</i> as Mayeta in +Kaga, Shimatsu in Satsuma, and Date in Mutsu +owned many vassal-<i>samurai</i> who were so puissant +as to be fairly comparable to small <i>daimyo</i>, +while in the territories of the latter, a <i>samurai</i> of +pretty high position in his small territorial circle +received an allowance of <i>koku</i> so scant that one +of the lowest rank, if he were a regular <i>samurai</i>, +would disdain to receive in big territories. Generally +speaking, however, one hundred <i>koku</i> was +considered to be an average standard, applicable +to <i>samurai</i> under any <i>daimyo</i>, to distinguish those +of the respectable or official class from those of +the non-commissioned or subaltern class. Only +the <i>samurai</i> above this standard could keep servants +bearing two swords, long and short, as a +<i>samurai</i> himself did. Not only all officers in time +of war, but all high civil functionaries in the territorial +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> +government of a <i>daimyo</i> were taken from +this body of orthodox <i>samurai</i>. The <i>samurai</i> below +this level could keep a servant wearing only +one sword, the shorter, and they had to serve +their lord as officials of the inferior class, such as +scribes, cashiers, butlers, etc.</p> + +<p class="indent">The lowest in the scale of the military régime +was the group of <i>ashigaru</i>, that is to say, of the +light infantry. Those who belonged to this group, +though wearers of two swords, were not counted +as of the corps of <i>samurai</i>. Being legally vassals +of a <i>daimyo</i>, they had yet very rare chances of +serving him directly, and often they enlisted into +the household service of a higher <i>samurai</i>. Between +the <i>ashigaru</i> and the regular <i>samurai</i>, there +was another intermediate group of two-sworded +men, called <i>kachi</i>, which means warriors-on-foot. +In feudal times all warriors, if of <i>samurai</i> rank, +were presumed to be cavaliers, though in reality +most of them had not even a stable, and skill in +horsemanship was not rigorously required from +the <i>samurai</i> of the lower class. The name <i>kachi</i>, +given to those who in rank came next to the <i>samurai</i>, +implied that this intermediate group of quasi-<i>samurai</i> +was not allowed to ride on horse-back. +This group was, however, much nearer to the +<i>samurai</i> than to the <i>ashigaru</i> group.</p> + +<p class="indent">So far I have given a rough sketch of the gradations +in the military régime in the territory of a +<i>daimyo</i>. It should be here noticed that, besides +the classes above stated, there were many other +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> +minor groups below the regular <i>samurai</i>, and +that there were also diverse heterogeneities of +system in the territories of different <i>daimyo</i>. +Needless to say that the gradations and kinds of +<i>hatamoto</i>, who were <i>samurai</i> serving directly under +the Shogun, were far more multifarious and +complex than those of the <i>samurai</i> under a +<i>daimyo</i>. There is no doubt, however, that the +apex of the whole military régime was the Shogun +himself, while at its foundation were the +sundry <i>samurai</i> who numbered perhaps nearly +half a million families in all.</p> + +<p class="indent">All the lands of Japan were not allotted exhaustively +to the <i>daimyo</i> by the Shogunate. On +the contrary, immense territories in various parts +of the empire, amounting to four millions of <i>koku</i>, +were reserved to the Shogun himself. Important +sea-ports, such as Nagasaki, Sakai, and Niigata, +rich mines like those in the province of Iwami +and in the island of Sado, the vast forest of Kiso +in the province of Shinano, and so forth, were +kept in the hands of the Shogunate, out of economical +as well as political reasons. With the +income from all these agricultural and industrial +resources, the Shogunate defrayed all the governmental +charges and the expenses of national defence, +as well as the enormous civil list of the +Shogun himself, who maintained a very luxurious +court. The stipend for the lower class of <i>hatamoto</i>, +who had no land allotted to them, was paid +also with the rice raised in the Shogun's domain +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> +or bought with his money and stored in Yedo. +As to the fiscal system and the direct domain of a +<i>daimyo</i> in his territory, it is needless to say that +everywhere the imitation of that of the Shogun +prevailed, conducted only on a smaller scale.</p> + +<p class="indent">The relation of the Shogunate to the Emperor +at Kyoto was on the whole but a continuation of +the same status as in the time of Hideyoshi. Since +the Fujiwara period state affairs had ceased to be +conducted personally by the Emperor himself. +The regent, who was at first, and ought to have +been ever after, appointed during the minority or +the illness of an Emperor, became identical with +the highest ministerial post, and lost its extra-ordinary +character. It is true that some of the +able emperors, dissatisfied with such a state of +things, tried to take the reins of government into +their own hands again, and some succeeded for +a while in the recovery of their political power, +so far as their relations with the Fujiwara family +were concerned. What they could recover, however, +was not all of the prestige which had slipped +out of the hands of their predecessors. For on +account of the lassitude of the Fujiwara court-nobles, +the power which they had once arrogated +to themselves passed into the possession of the +newly arisen warrior class, and what those emperors +could recover was only a part of what still +remained in the hands of the Fujiwara. The +Emperor Go-Daigo was the last who tried desperately +to resume the imperial prerogative once +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> +wrested from the Kamakura Shogunate, and he +succeeded in his endeavour. He could not, however, +prevent the advent to power of the new +Shogunate of the Ashikaga. After that, through +the most turbulent age in the history of Japan, +which continued to the time of Hideyoshi, the +imperial household could sustain itself only +meagrely on the scanty income from a few estates. +But however lacking in power and material +resource the Emperor might have been, he still +continued to be the source and fountain of honour +as ever, and everybody clearly knew that he was, +being held divine, indisputably higher than the +Shogun, who was obliged to obey if the Emperor +chose to command. What was to be regretted +was that no Emperor had been strong enough to +command. The saying "le roi régne, mais il ne +gouverne pas" has never been accepted in our +country as the constitutional principle. That the +imperial prestige was never totally lost even in +the depths of the turmoil of war may be proved +by the fact that the Emperor often interceded in +struggles between various <i>daimyo</i>, who waged +weary and acrimonious wars against one another. +The political situation of the Emperor, however, +had been unsettled for a long while, only because +the situation had remained for long not urgent +enough to require to be made instantly clear. If +it had had to be solved at once, without doubt it +must have been solved in favour of the Emperor. +Especially after the civil war of the Ohnin era, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> +to restore the nominal power, of which the Shogun +of the Ashikaga family was in possession, +would have added nothing substantial to the real +power of the then Emperor, for the Shogunate +of that time was but a scapegoat in the hands of +impudent and adventurous warriors. Even the +prestige of the Emperor and the Shogun combined +would not have sufficed to achieve anything +momentous at that period, when the country +had been so torn asunder as not to be easily +united and pacified. What was most needed in +Japan of that time was a fresh, strong, energetic +military dictator.</p> + +<p class="indent">Nobunaga, who came soon after the Ashikaga, +was endued, at the height of his power, with a +civil title belonging to the régime of court-nobles, +and had not, until his untimely death, been invested +by the Emperor with the Shogunate. Having +sprung from a warrior family which had been +originally subservient to one of the retainers of +the Shogunate, he would perhaps have been loth +himself to be looked on as an usurper even after +he had ceased to assist the Shogun, who survived +him. Moreover, during his whole life, it was impossible +for him to become the virtual master of +the whole of Japan. It was Hideyoshi, his vassal +and successor, who succeeded at last in the unification +of long-disturbed Japan by dint of arms. He, +however, was also not invested with the Shogunate. +It is said that he would have liked, indeed, +to become one, but was dissuaded from it, having +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> +been reminded that he did not belong to either +the Minamoto or the Taira, the two renowned +warrior-families which were historically thought +to be the only ones qualified to provide the generalissimo, +the Shogun. After his death and the +subsequent defeat of the partisans of his family +in the decisive battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Iyeyasu +Tokugawa, who gave himself out as the descendant +of Minamoto-no-Yoshiiye, succeeded to +the power as Shogun in 1603. With this political +change the Emperor had really very little to do, +except to give recognition to the <i>fait accompli</i>. +The selection of Yedo by Iyeyasu as the site +of the new Shogunate created a political situation +like that of Kamakura by Yoritomo. It is even +said that Iyeyasu himself in organising the new +military régime made the system of the Kamakura +Shogunate his model.</p> + +<p class="indent">By the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, +no marked change occurred in the Emperor's +position as supreme sovereign of the country +as ever, but the Shogunate conducted the state +business as the regent entrusted with the whole +care of the island Empire, so that the government +at Yedo had no occasion to refer to the +court at Kyoto to obtain the imperial sanction. +In this respect the Shogunate of Yedo was decidedly +more independent of the Imperial Court +than had been the Kamakura Shogunate. Kyoto, +however, continued as before to be the fountainhead +of all honour. All the honours and titles +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> +of the <i>daimyo</i> were conferred in the name of the +reigning Emperor, though through the intermediary +of the Shogunate. The appellations of +these distinctions were also the same as those +given to court-nobles, only being comparatively +low in the case of the former, if we take the real +influence of the <i>daimyo</i> into consideration. For +the emoluments of court-nobles in the time of the +Tokugawa were generally very small, and the +highest of them could only match materially with +the middle class of the <i>hatamoto</i> or the high class +vassals of some powerful <i>daimyo</i>. All the manorial +estates which the court-nobles had retained +until the middle of the Ashikaga period had since +been occupied by warriors paramount in the respective +regions, and they changed their master +several times during the anarchical disorders at +the end of the period, so that restitution became +utterly impossible. The total amount which the +Shogunate at Yedo had to pay to the court-nobles +as annual honoraria was about eighty thousand +<i>koku</i>.</p> + +<p class="indent">The Imperial Household had a civil list amounting +at first to one hundred thousand <i>koku</i>, which +was more than three times what it had been at +the time of the Ashikaga. A little later it was +increased to three hundred thousand <i>koku</i>, and +the sum remained stationary at that figure for +more than half a century. Then an annual subsidy +in cash between thirty and forty thousand +<i>ryô</i> was added. The Empress had to be provided +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> +for separately. When there was an ex-Emperor +or Crown Prince, then he also was entitled to a +separate allowance from Yedo. If we include, +therefore, the emolument paid to the court-nobles, +and estimate them all together by the number of +<i>koku</i>, the Shogunate had to pay to Kyoto an annual +sum of between four and five hundred thousand. +Extraordinary expenditures, such as the +rebuilding of the imperial palace, were also part +of the burden of the Shogunate. On the whole, +the financial condition of the court at Kyoto was +somewhat more straitened than that of the most +powerful <i>daimyo</i>.</p> + +<p class="indent">With his income as stated the Emperor maintained +his court, and performed historical ceremonies, +each prescribed for a certain day of a +certain season. He did not need to trouble himself +about state affairs, for all such matters had +been delegated <i>de facto</i> to the Shogunate, or +rather the Shogun behaved himself as if he were +the sole agent of the Emperor. To have direct +communication with the Emperor had been forbidden +to all <i>daimyo</i>. The Shogun, on his part, +entrusted everything concerning local affairs to the +<i>daimyo</i>. As to the judicial procedure, that of +the Shogunate was taken as the model by all +<i>daimyo</i>. There still prevailed a great many peculiarities +in each particular territory in the ways +of legislation and its enforcement, so that Japan +of that time presented a most motley aspect as +regards legal matters, like France under the ancient +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> +régime. The power of the <i>daimyo</i> to impose +taxes and raise contributions was restricted +by no explicit law, and therefore had been exercised +rather arbitrarily. When in financial stress, +he could freely make applications, approaching to +commands, to some of his well-to-do subjects, +whatever the cause of his pecuniary embarrassment +might be. Besides he could coin money, if +its use were limited to his own territory. No need +to say that notes were also abundantly issued by +his treasurer for circulation within his territory +as substitutes for the legal tender. In time of +peace the <i>samurai</i> under a <i>daimyo</i> served their +lord in his territorial government as civil officials. +They, however, being warriors by nature, had +to be constantly trained in military arts, with various +weapons, among which swords and spears +were preferred as the most practical. Archery +had not been abandoned entirely, and the bow +and arrow was still held to be the emblem of the +noble calling of warriors, but this sort of weapon +had never been used on battle-fields since the beginning +of the Tokugawa period, so that the art +had become on the whole ceremonial. The use +of fire-arms introduced at the end of the Ashikaga +epoch became rapidly general all over the +country. Gunners were employed, as archers formerly +had been, in opening a battle, and then +made way for the attack of the infantry. Shooting +was considered in the Tokugawa period to be +more practical than archery, but as there was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> +little space for showing personal bravery In the +practice of this art, it was not highly encouraged +among the <i>samurai</i>. Though fighting on horseback +had not been prevalent on the battle-field +since the middle Ashikaga, commanders at least +continued to ride, so that horsemanship was a +requisite art of the <i>samurai</i> in the Tokugawa age, +especially among its higher grades. It should be +here well noticed the <i>jûjutsu</i>, which is now very +celebrated all over the world as a military art +originated and cultivated by the Japanese, did not +much attract the attention of the orthodox Tokugawa +warriors, for it was thought to be an art +useful in arresting culprits, and therefore good +only for lower <i>samurai</i> or those below them in +rank, who were generally in charge of the police +business in all territories.</p> + +<p class="indent">With such military accomplishments, the <i>samurai</i> +of the period were to serve their territorial +master in time of war as leaders and fighters, for +it was still the age in which all warriors were expected +to display a personal bravery, parallel to +their ability to lead and command troops, as in +medieval Europe. As there had been neither external +nor civil war, however, for more than two +centuries since the semi-religious insurrection at +Shimabara in Kyushu was subdued in the year +1638, war was prepared for only as an imaginary +possibility, and not as a probable emergency. The +<i>samurai</i> of all territories, therefore, though said +to be on a constant war footing, were not trained +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> +as they should have been. We see indeed the division +of them into fighting groups and the appointment +of a leader for each group in times of +peace. But there was no manœuvring nor any +training of a like kind in tactical movements. The +only military exercise approaching it was the hunting +of wild game or the sham hunting which ended +in cruelly sacrificing dogs, and even these sports +were not practised frequently. That those pieces +of Japanese armour, which foreigners can now +see in many museums in Europe and America, had +been long found to be a sort of thing rather inconvenient +to wear in this country, yet had nevertheless +continued to be a furniture indispensable +to every household of <i>samurai</i> and to be embellished +with an exquisite workmanship, proves how +academically war had been regarded in those far-off +days. It can be easily gathered from the above +statement that the <i>samurai</i> of the time were more +civil functionaries than fighting men. Their real +status, however, being warriors and not civilians, +they were constantly subjected to martial law. +They had to serve their master always with all +their might, holding themselves responsible with +their lives, as if they were on the battlefield facing +the enemy. Many examples may be cited from +the history of the age of <i>samurai</i> suicides, committed +on account of some misdemeanour or the +mismanagement of the civil administration confided +to him. In effect, an armed peace reigned +throughout the Empire.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<p class="h2a">TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE, CULTURE AND SOCIETY</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">In</span> the previous chapter I have dwelt on the +military and political organisation of the time +of the Tokugawa Shogunate somewhat more fully +than was appropriate for a book of such small +compass as this. What was then the civilisation, +which had been supported and sheltered by this +organisation and régime? That must be told subsequently.</p> + +<p class="indent">As the well-planned military régime of the Shogunate +can be said to have been based on the assumption +that war was a far-distant possibility, +an imaginary danger, and as at the same time the +Shogunate had watched jealously not to stir up +<i>daimyo</i> and <i>samurai</i> to so warlike a pitch of self-confidence +that they would believe themselves able +to cope with the Shogun, there had lain the chief +difficulty of sustaining the martial spirit of the +nation in full strength, that is to say, of continuing +the military régime as it had been at first. +There were of course several gradations in the +intensity of the fighting spirit of the people in +different localities of the country. In both extremities +of the Empire, in the south of Kyushu +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> +and in the north of Honto, where civilisation was +rather at a low ebb, the martial spirit had continued +not much abated since the time of the Ashikaga. +On both sides of the boundary of two such +adjoining territories, a difference of dialect was +clearly perceivable, and an acute hostile feeling +against each other prevailed. People were not +allowed to marry their neighbors beyond the frontier, +and this rule was strictly applied to all members +of the warrior-class. In brief, they were +always staring each other in the face, as if ready +to fight at any time. As to the greater part of +the Empire, however, including the territories +situated between the two extremities, that is to +say, in those regions of the country where the +people were more enlightened, no such animosity +between the peoples of neighboring <i>daimyo</i> was +to be noticed. There marriages had been contracted +freely between the subjects of different +lords, a relationship which could only arise from +the assumption that most probably there would +occur no war between the two <i>daimyo</i>, and there +would be no fear of such marriages becoming an +awkward connection. Adjoining territories maintaining +such intimate relations, being connected +by the personalities of the inhabitants, should be +considered not as quasi-independent states ranged +side by side and in dangerous rivalry, verging almost +on belligerency, but as neighboring governmental +departments in the same well-centralised +state. It may be gathered from these data that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> +the more enlightened and by far the greater part +of the Japanese nation were so peace-loving, that +they organised all their ways of living on the assumption +of a permanent peace. And that absolute +peace had verily continued for more than +two centuries in a country said to have been dominated +by an absolute military régime, more than +testifies how averse is the Japanese nation from +wanton warfare. Foreigners should ponder this +irrefutable fact in the history of Japan, a fact +which can not elsewhere be found in abundance +even in the history of European and American +states, before they calumniate our nation as the +most bellicose and dangerous in the world.</p> + +<p class="indent">Without doubt Japan under the Tokugawa +Shogunate was a country governed by a military +régime, feudalistic in form, but in truth peace +brooded over the land, the utmost peace which +could be expected from any military régime. As +tranquillity had continued so long, our civilisation +had been able meanwhile to make a wonderful +progress. If war can be eulogised with some +justice to be a stimulating and compulsive factor +of civilisation, with no less certainty peace may +be complimented as a factor, the most efficient, in +fostering the same. In the preceding chapters I +have spoken of the propagation of culture +throughout the country, notwithstanding its anarchical +condition, and of that very culture, which +was in the main humanistic. This humanistic culture +had now its successor in a civilisation higher +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> +in form and in quality. That the progress was +apparently retarded for a while on account of +wars, which rapidly succeeded one after another +at the end of the Ashikaga, was a phenomenon +that was only temporary. How could a few +patches of straw floating on the surface stop the +forward movement of a strong undercurrent, however +slowly the stream might run? Mingled with +the clash and clang of arms, an exquisite music +embodying the ever advancing civilisation of our +country had been heard; though at first very +faintly audible, it grew louder and louder till it +became sonorous enough to make the whole nation +vibrate when the clamorous battle-cry of the +warriors had subsided. In short, Japan had been +steadily advancing, and it was indeed those warriors +themselves who carried the torch of civilisation +farther and farther onward. Many historians +ascribed it solely to the individual exertion +of Iyeyasu, that learning had been revived since +the beginning of the seventeenth century. Seeing, +however, that those <i>samurai</i> who fought with and +under him had rarely been noted for the excellence +of their literary acquirements, it can hardly be +supposed that he had been deeply interested in +promoting learning and culture among his entourage. +Neither did he himself leave any trace +of his having received a higher degree of liberal +education than the average generals of his times. +It is too notorious a fact to doubt that he earnestly +encouraged learning and ordered many books to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> +be reprinted. Yet it is also clear that his encouragement +was very efficient, mainly because his position +as the sole military and political master of +Japan enabled him to figure as a patron of the +arts. The fact that before his authority as a +military dictator became incontestably established, +the reprint of various books had been going on +almost without intermission, and that the two +Emperors Go-Yôzei and Go-Midzunowo and also +Kanetsugu Naoye, a warrior who had grown up +in the remote province of Yechigo, were among +the most ardent patrons of learning by the encouragement +they gave to the reprinting of standard +works, testifies that Iyeyasu did not stand +alone in encouraging liberal education. After all, +it should be fairly said that the first Shogun of the +Tokugawa did only what ought to have been done +by him, or what the nation had a right to expect +from a person in a position such as his. In 1593, +that is to say, five years before the death of Hideyoshi, +the Emperor Go-Yôzei ordered the so-called +old text of the <i>Hsiao-king</i> to be reprinted +in wooden type. This was the first book in our +country printed with movable type, so far as can +be said with certainty. As to the types themselves +which the Emperor resorted to in his scholastic +undertaking, we have reason to suppose that +they had been seized in Korea as a prize of war +and brought to this country by the expeditionary +troops which Hideyoshi had sent thither in the +previous year. Korea had been looked upon +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> +through the Ashikaga period by the Japanese as +a country more advanced in culture than Japan +in those days. We read in our history about the +repeated applications addressed by the Ashikaga +Shogunate to the Korean government, not only +for the donation of a complete set of the Buddhist +Tripitaka reprinted in that country, but also the +blocks themselves used in that reprinting. To the +latter of these two requests, the peninsular government +flatly declined to accede. To the former, +however, they acquiesced as many times as +they could manage, so that we see now here and +there volumes of the sutras which had been sent +as presents by the Korean government before the +seventeenth century. The method of printing +with movable types had been introduced into Korea +of course from China, and types made of +wood as well as of clay had long been in use there. +It seems to have been those wooden types which +our warriors fetched home, and the fact that such +vehicles of learning had been taken as a war-prize +by these soldiers indicates that they were +not totally indifferent to the cultivation of letters.</p> + +<p class="indent">In 1597, four years after the reprinting of the +afore-said <i>Hsiao-king</i>, the same Emperor ordered +again many other books to be reprinted. +Among those then thus reproduced were not only +several books of Confucian classical literature and +other Chinese works, literary as well as medical, +but some Japanese books, such as the first volume +of the <i>Nihongi</i> and a work on Japanese political +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> +institutions written by Chikafusa Kitabatake, a +court-noble in the time of the Emperor Go-Daigo, +who was noted for his unwavering fidelity to the +Emperor and for his education, being the author +of the celebrated history called <i>Jingô-shôtôki</i>. +Many of these books seem to have been re-issued +within the same year, which was one year previous +to the death of Hideyoshi, and the types used this +time were made in our country after the Korean +models. Most probably the types captured in +Korea as prizes did not long suffice to satiate the +increasing desire of the Emperor, aroused by his +deep interest in books.</p> + +<p class="indent">The next step in the improvement of Japanese +printing followed the same course as it had in +Europe, that is to say, the use of metallic types. +The first attempt in this improved method was +made by the aforesaid Kanetsugu Naoye, head +of the vassals of the house of Uyesugi, who was +at that time lord of Yonezawa. The book which +Naoye ordered to be reprinted was the celebrated +Chinese literary glossary called the <i>Wen-hsüan</i>, +which literally means selected literary pieces, in +verse as well as in prose. This reprint was put +into execution at Fushimi in the year 1606, which +was the fourth year of the Shogunate of Iyeyasu, +and the metallic material then used in casting the +types was copper. With him as the precursor, +several patrons of learning followed in his wake. +Among the most noted of them were Iyeyasu himself +and the Emperor Go-Midsunowo. This Emperor, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> +who was the son and successor of the Emperor +Go-Yôzei, imitated his father in encouraging +the reproduction of books with type, not of +wood but of copper as Naoye had done. The +book printed under the imperial auspices in 1621 +was the fifteen volumes of a Chinese lexicon after +the block print issued in China of the Sung dynasty. +Prior, however, to the undertaking of the +Emperor, Iyeyasu, as ex-Shogun, ordered reprints +to be made with copper types at his residential +town of Sumpu, now called Shidzuoka, in the +province of Suruga. The books reprinted there +in 1615 and 1616 were the index of the complete +series of the Buddhist Tripitaka and the Extracts +from Various Chinese Classics. Besides these, it +should be mentioned in his honour as a patron of +learning, that he ordered more than one hundred +thousand pieces of wooden types to be manufactured +for the reprinting of various useful +books. From 1599, the year before the decisive +battle of Sekigahara, until the end of his Shogunate, +Iyeyasu's agent at Fushimi carried on the +printing of books with movable wooden types +without any cessation. Among the books reprinted +there were the <i>Adzuma-kagami</i>, the record +of the earlier Kamakura Shogunate, a Chinese +political miscellany written at the beginning of the +T'ang dynasty, and some old Chinese strategical +works.</p> + +<p class="indent">Not only such illustrious personages as the +above-mentioned Emperors, Shogun, and eminent +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> +warriors, but men of mediocre means or of unpretentious +rank, such as <i>samurai</i>, priests, literati +and merchants, also vied with one another in publishing +new and old books of Japan as well as of +China, by the method of woodblocks or of movable +types. Among wealthy merchants the most +renowned at that time as the Mecaenas of arts +and learning was Yoichi Suminokura. He was +born of a rich family living in a suburb of Kyoto, +and was himself an enterprising merchant. Moreover, +his accomplishments in the Chinese classics +and in Japanese versification were far ahead of +the average literati of the time, and his skill in +calligraphy has been said to be almost incomparable. +Out of the immense fortune which he had +amassed by trading with continental countries as +far as Tonkin and Cochin-China, he spent great +sums freely in publishing books, the greater part +of which were works famous in Japanese literature. +It is said that more than twenty sorts of +books were issued by him alone, counting in all +several hundred volumes.</p> + +<p class="indent">What most attracts our attention in his undertakings, +however, is the fact that all of these books +were printed, not in the movable type then in +vogue, but in the wood-block style of old. The +new method of printing with type, though introduced +several years back and assiduously encouraged +by many influential persons, had not been +able to demonstrate its advantages to the full. In +each edition, whoever might have been the publisher, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> +the number of copies issued had generally +not exceeded two hundred, and that the number +was so small shows at the same time the narrowness +of the reading circle of that age. It proves +also that Japan was not yet in any urgent need +of seeing books suddenly multiplied by the busy +use of movable types. Moreover, many inconveniences, +not known in the typography of the +West, manifested themselves in the adoption of +the new method in a country like the Japan of +that time, where Chinese ideographs had been +used almost exclusively as the necessary vehicle +for expressing thought. We had to provide a +great variety of fonts of types, each type-face representing +a special ideograph, so that a far larger +and more varied assortment of fonts was required +than in the case where an alphabet is in use, not +to mention that the total number of types had to +be enormously augmented out of the necessity of +having numerous multiples of the same type. To +print sundry accessories alongside Chinese texts, +in order to make them easily legible for Japanese +students, was another difficulty which was found +almost insuperable in the adoption of movable +types. The desire of some editors to insert illustrations +could not also be fulfilled easily, if the +text was to be printed in type, for setting the +blocks together with type was considered a very +irksome business at a time when printing in type +was still in its infancy. They would rather have +preferred the single use of wood-blocks to using +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> +them together with types. Lastly, as regards +those literary works by Japanese authors which +Suminokura had fondly put into print, that is to +say, in cases where the editor's chief care was the +reproduction in facsimile of the manuscript originally +executed in fine calligraphic style, movable +types entirely failed to serve the purpose. All +these disadvantages conspired indeed to frustrate +the development of the printing in type, so that +the new method was set aside soon after its introduction +until the end of the Shogunate. It is +certain, however, that the introduction of the use +of types in printing, though to a very limited extent, +contributed none the less to the general progress +of civilisation in Japan, in multiplying books +and in stimulating the thirst for knowledge on +the part of the general public.</p> + +<p class="indent">There is no doubt whatever that, in the number +of books published in Japan, the beginning of the +seventeenth century far surpassed the end of the +sixteenth. Bookstores, where books were sold, +bought, edited, and published, were now to be +found in Kyoto and Yedo, and their business became +lucrative enough to be continued as an independent +calling. Here the question must naturally +arise, how were those multiplied books distributed? +There were, besides the priests, especially +those belonging to the Zen sect, not a few +professional literati, who pursued learning as their +chief business. Secretaries in the chancellories +of the Shogun and of various <i>daimyo</i> had been +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> +generally recruited from that class. Their number, +however, had remained comparatively insignificant +for a long time during the earlier part of +the Shogunate, and they had been classified rather +into an exclusive society, which included physicians +and Buddhist priests. They had been treated as +servants engaged in reading and writing, and not +respected as advisers nor revered as leaders of the +spirit of the age. However noble might be the +profession in which they were engaged, still they +were mere professional men, considered good to +serve and not apt to lead. The increase in number +of such men of letters, it is true, was the +cause and the effect of the rise of the cultural +level of the country, for it clearly denoted that +Japan had begun to appreciate learning more +highly than before and hence to demand more of +these learned men. But that increase must have +naturally stopped short, unless the learning which +they taught was imbibed by the people at large +and made itself a necessary ingredient of the national +life, that is to say, unless the general public +had gained thereby more of enlightenment.</p> + +<p class="indent">For such a continual progress Japan was quite +ready. Within half a century, our country had +been transformed from an anarchical country of +interminable wars to a peaceful land, a land which +was non-militaristic to the utmost, though under +one of the most elaborate military régimes. That +it had been "shut up" against foreign intercourse +was, in its main motive, not to ward off the infiltration +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> +of Western civilisation in general, but +only to achieve a peaceful national progress undisturbed +by any intervention of scheming foreign +missionaries. The Shogun, who ought to have +continued as a military dictator, had been turned +into a potentate who cared the least for military +matters, though here lurked the danger of losing +his <i>raison d'être</i> against the Emperor at Kyoto. +The "wisest fool" in Japan was Tsunayoshi, the +fifth Shogun of the Tokugawa, who not only +founded a college and a shrine for the spirit of +Confucius at Yushima in Yedo, the site where +now the Educational Museum stands, but was +very fond of playing the savant, and himself delivered +lectures commenting on Confucian texts +before the assembled <i>daimyo</i> in duty bound to +listen to him. With a Shogun like him at the +head of the government, it should by no means +be wondered at that the cultivation of Chinese +literature, which formed the greater part of the +learning of the time, came into vogue among all +of those belonging to the military régime, the +<i>daimyo</i> and the <i>samurai</i> of various sorts and +grades. Moreover, the <i>samurai</i> of the age themselves, +though they professed to be warriors as +ever in their essential character, and their training +in military exercises had never really significantly +relaxed, had ceased to be fighting men by +profession as of yore, on account of the long-continued +tranquillity. Notwithstanding the fact +that the reason they had been honoured and respected +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> +by the common people was mainly because +they were serving the country through their master, +the <i>daimyo</i>, at the possible hazard of their +lives, they had been obliged gradually not to rely +on their martial valour only, but to mould their +character and improve their ability, so as to befit +themselves to become capable officials, administrators, +nay, even statesmen in their own territory +and well-bred gentlemen in private life, so as to +furnish models to the common people by their +personal examples. As they had read Chinese +works mainly for this purpose, the kinds of books +read were naturally limited, the most preferred +being those pertaining to morals and politics, that +is to say, Confucian literature and the histories +of various Chinese dynasties, all of which were +pragmatic enough. Their literary culture, therefore, +tended to become rigid, narrow, and utilitarian, +though very serious in intention. At first +sight it must seem a very paradoxical matter that +the learning which had been essentially humanistic +in the Ashikaga period should have taken so +utilitarian a tendency in the age directly following +it. If we, however, once think of the Italian Renaissance +metamorphosed into the German Reformation, +when it got northward over the Alps, we +need not be much embarrassed to understand the +seemingly abrupt transition in our country.</p> + +<p class="indent">It should also be noted that utilitarian studies +had not formed the whole of the literary culture +of the Tokugawa age. Since the very beginning +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> +of the Shogunate down to its fall the humanistic +studies handed down by the preceding age had +never been entirely swept away from the land. The +utilitarian studies above cited had been almost +exclusively pursued by those <i>samurai</i> standing directly +under the Shogun or under the powerful +<i>daimyo</i> whose territories were big enough to be +administered as quasi-independent states, and +whose governments were on such a scale as to +need high statesmanship in order to be well managed. +In other words, those who had devoted +themselves to the study of the serious sorts of +literature had been generally men to whom some +opportunities might have been given for allowing +them to put into practice what they had learned +from books. If these larger territories were to +be compared with Prussia and other kingdoms +and middle states in the German Confederation, +the small states in the same political body would +make good counterparts of the petty territories +of minor <i>daimyo</i> in Japan. As to those <i>samurai</i> +serving the minor <i>daimyo</i>, it had been difficult to +make them interested in the perusal of Chinese +political works, for their sphere of action was +not wide enough to require the territorial affairs +being conducted according to high and delicate +policies emanating from a profound political principle. +In this respect they had much in common +with their colleagues residing in the domains directly +belonging to the Shogunate. As the governor-in-chief +and his principal assistants in each +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> +domain had not been taken from the residents +of each district, but despatched thither from Yedo, +the <i>samurai</i> attached to the locality were merely +employed to serve the government of their own +district as low-class officials, so that they had +little or no hand even in local politics. Some of +these <i>samurai</i> were landed proprietors, who, being +rich and having little serious business to demand +their attention, had ample means and time +to dip into books, which could hardly have been +of the kind causing self-constraint, for their first +motive in reading was only for the sake of distraction. +The landed gentry, under the <i>samurai</i> +in rank, though wealthier, and generally in charge +of village affairs and in control of lesser farmers +and peasants, were also found numerously in the +domains. They too were the sort of people to +be classified in the same category as the <i>samurai</i> +of the domains. The <i>samurai</i> and gentry gathered +in and around second-rate towns in large +territories belonging to powerful <i>daimyo</i> may be +included also in the same group. It may be, however, +premature to suppose that only books belonging +to light literature were welcomed by those +who resided in districts where the military régime +had the least hold. Serious works, such as +ethical treatises, for instance, which abound in +Chinese literature, were also read there, but rather +for the purpose of occupying themselves with +metaphysical speculations about moral questions, +than in order to regulate their own conduct, private +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> +or public, according to the principles taught +in them. In short, their thirst for knowledge was +purely for the sake of enjoying an intellectual +pleasure thereby, and therefore had been quite +humanistic. It was here that the true inheritors +of the culture of the later Ashikaga were to be +sought, and not in places where the influence of +the regular <i>samurai</i> was paramount. Needless +to say, the centre of this humanistic culture was +Kyoto, whose significance as the political capital +had already been lost, while Yedo represented at +its best the culture of the <i>samurai</i>. The Chinese +books preferred by these humanistic dilettanti +were those pertaining to rhetoric and poetry. +They were greatly addicted to practising these +branches of literature. Art for art's sake also +found a better patron among such people than +in the courts of the Shogun and of influential +<i>daimyo</i>, where art had rather an applied meaning, +represented in ornamental things such as +screen and wall paintings down to the miniature-art +of the <i>tsuba</i> and the <i>netsuke</i>. Wandering +poets, rhetoricians, calligraphers, and artists of +various crafts were wont to be far better harboured +in districts where the humanistic culture +prevailed, than in Yedo or in the residential towns +of powerful <i>daimyo</i>, where politics and discipline +were all-important. The most significant difference +between the two sorts of culture was manifested +in a special branch of art, that of painting. +In the military circles, the painting of the Kano +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> +school was preferred, which was rather rigid in +style and had some tincture of the taste highly +prized by the Zen-sect priests. On the other hand, +what was in vogue among the non-military circles +was the so-called "Bunjin-gwa," or paintings of +the school of "literati-painters," which were introduced +at the beginning of the Tokugawa period +from China, and were characterised by the mellowness +of tone prevailing in them and also by a +lack of the professional flavour.</p> + +<p class="indent">Besides these two distinct cultural circles, there +arose a third group of people, who entered the +cultured arena in the latter half of the seventeenth +century. I mean the bourgeois class in +several large cities. After the decline of the trade +of the historic city of Sakai, brought about by +the hard blow struck at the root of the political +power of her haughty merchants by Nobunaga, +and caused also by the growth of a rival in the +great commercial city of Ôsaka founded by Hideyoshi +quite near it, the refined humanistic culture +cherished by the citizens of Sakai vanished with +its prosperity. After that, it took a considerable +while to witness the revival of the cultural influence +of the bourgeois class in Japan. The tranquillity, +however, which the Tokugawa Shogunate +had brought on our country, did not fail to cause +such a revival, though not again in Sakai, yet at +least in the two greatest commercial centres of +the empire. The one was Yedo on the east, and +the other Ôsaka on the west. Of these two cities, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> +in affluence Ôsaka, on account of its geographical +advantages, was several steps ahead of Yedo. +Not only was it near Kyoto, the centre of the humanistic +culture as ever, but its remoteness from +Yedo had induced its merchants to become more +independent than those in the Shogun's own city +of the influence of the strong military régime. +The culture fostered in the city, therefore, was +nearer to that of the non-military circles than that +of Yedo. Nay, Ôsaka went still further, even +by a great many steps, than Yedo. It was here +that Monzayemon Chikamatsu, the first and the +greatest dramatist Japan has ever produced, demonstrated +his peerless talent at the end of the +seventeenth century, and here was also one of +the cradles of the modern Japanese theatre. +Yedo, however, could not remain long alien to +this fresh cultural current initiated in Kyoto and +Ôsaka. On account of its growing prosperity +brought on by the constant comings in and out of +hundreds of <i>daimyo</i> and their numerous retinues, +the newly started political capital was soon enabled +to rival the senior city of Ôsaka in the liveliness +of its urban social life, and in some respects +surpassed that of Kyoto. The plutocrats of Ôsaka +had also a very close relation with the military régime. +This relation, however, consisted in lending +large sums of money to various <i>daimyo</i>, many +of whom had their warehouses there to deposit +therein the produce of their territory, used as +pledges for getting advances of money from those +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> +merchants, and on that account their pay-masters +with their staffs were stationed there to enable +them to transact the customary financial business. +On the other hand, the merchants of Yedo generally +profited by providing, as purveyors and contractors, +necessary commodities to the Shogunate +and to the <i>daimyo</i>, and therefore depended more +closely on the military régime, though some of +them also advanced money as did the merchants of +Ôsaka. It is said that the richest bourgeois of +Yedo, who had amassed immense sums of money at +the beginning of the nineteenth century were those +who had advanced their moneys at a very high +rate of interest to a great many needy <i>hatamoto</i>, +who were obliged to garnishee to those merchants +their allowances in rice from the Shogunate at +fixed intervals, in order to steer securely through +stretches of low water or through the straits of +Hard-Times in their household economy. On the +whole, however, we see a great difference in that +the merchants of Yedo were the patronised party +in their relations with the warrior-class, while +those of Ôsaka were mostly creditors and the +military men their debtors. But whatever might +have been their difference in general character +from the merchants of Ôsaka, the commercial +aristocrats of Yedo, induced by their opulence to +live a leisurely and very luxurious life, could not +fail to become gradually patrons of the bourgeois +arts and literature, merely tinged by a little more +of the martial element than those of Ôsaka.</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> +Three cultural currents thus ran parallel to one +another in the history of the modern civilisation +of our country, that of the orthodox <i>samurai</i> with +its centre in Yedo, that of court-nobles and county-gentry +flowing from Kyoto as its source, and +lastly that of the commercial class with its stronghold +in Ôsaka. If these three currents had remained +irrelative to one another to the last; if, +in other words, they had continued for long to +belong specially to one of the three distinct and +exclusive groups of the nation, then the historic +revolution of the Meidji era would not have been +effected, and Japan might be in a state but half +medieval and half modern. Fortunately, class +distinction in our country was not, at that time, +so rigid as to hamper absolutely the amalgamation +of different classes, and a certain type of +culture, which had for a time been but a speciality +of one particular class, soon ceased to be so, and +was extended to the other classes, and the process +necessarily led to the fusion of all the cultures of +different types. As one of the causes which hastened +such an amalgamation must be mentioned +the intermarriage of people of different classes.</p> + +<p class="indent">At the time when Chinese legislation was first +implanted in Japanese soil, there were still minute +restrictions concerning interclass-marriages in the +Statutes of the Taïhô. Though mésalliances +were not forbidden by any explicit law, the offspring +of such marriages between freemen and +slaves were to follow in class the parent of inferior +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> +rank. It is evident, therefore, that such an +alliance was stigmatised and severely checked. +As to the intermarriages between different classes +of freemen, there had been no such restraint, even +with respect to the status of their children. That +the custom, however, of choosing the empress +from members of the Imperial family only, to the +exclusion of all vassal families, became gradually +confirmed, and that the same custom continued intact +until the beginning of the eighth century, +shows how such mésalliances had been discouraged +in the ancient days of our history. The +crowning of a daughter of the Fujiwara as the +consort of the Emperor Shômu was the first violation +of the long-kept traditional usage regarding +the Imperial marriage; and since that time marriages +had become very irregular, not only among +the members of the Imperial family, but also +among the courtiers. The social status of a father +was considered sufficient by itself to determine +that of his children. No legal scrutiny was +thought necessary as to what kind of a woman +their mother was, though it was self-evident that +the higher the social position of the family from +which she sprang, the more the children she gave +birth to would be honoured. The establishment +of the military régime could effect but very slight +change in this domain of social usage, until the beginning +of the Tokugawa Shogunate. It must be +attributed to this neglect of the maternal lineage +in the consideration of pedigrees, that in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> +most genealogical records of Japan the names of +wives, mothers, and daughters are generally +omitted, notwithstanding that we are able to +trace the names of the male ancestors, sometimes +for more than ten centuries backward with tolerable +certainty and exactitude.</p> + +<p class="indent">The establishment of the Shogunate by the Tokugawa +could not affect to any great extent the +social position of women in general, for in that +domain radical alterations were not to be expected +from the age in which militarism was all-powerful. +There was one thing, however, which was worthy +of special notice, concerning the new usage of +marriage among the <i>daimyo</i>. As to the right of +inheriting their territories, the preference, it is +true, had been on the side of the offspring of a +legal marriage, for it could not have been otherwise +in a society in which the right of primogeniture +had been just established for the sake +of maintaining the order intact. Yet there existed +no rigorous rule through the whole history +of the Shogunate, which might be said to have +aimed at discouraging mésalliances, and the natural +sons of the <i>daimyo</i> were by no means deprived +of their right of inheritance on account of +the mean origin of their mother. The Shogunate, +however, interfered in the marriages of the <i>daimyo</i>, +and all of them were obliged to take unto +themselves consorts from families of equal rank, +that is to say, the legal wife of a <i>daimyo</i> had to +be a daughter or sister of another <i>daimyo</i>, one of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> +his equals. Some of the higher <i>daimyo</i>, especially +those of the blood of Tokugawa, often married +daughters of court-nobles, for the purpose of +keeping the latter in close relation with the Shogunate. +In the military peerage list of the time +the wife of every ruling <i>daimyo</i> had her place +together with the heir, alongside of her husband, +though even in this case her name used to be +omitted, while that of the heir was given. In +spite of the fact, therefore, that the intermarriage +of the people of different territories had often +been prohibited by territorial laws, those <i>daimyo</i> +themselves who were desirous of enforcing those +laws were obliged to find their legal wives outside +of their territory, in other words, to contract +an interterritorial marriage. Such a marriage +within the circle of the <i>daimyo</i> had of course very +little to do with the territorial politics of the +<i>daimyo</i> concerned, for most of the ladies chosen +as brides were those who had been brought up in +their father's residence at Yedo, and after their +marriage they had to remain in the same city as +hostages to the Shogunate, and not allowed to +leave it for their territory. Moreover, as the +marriage of the <i>daimyo</i> received the close supervision +of the Shogunate, they could have borne +very little, if any, political meaning of a sort +which might be attached to the intermarriages of +different royal families in Europe. Culturally +speaking, however, such a marriage had the effect +of levelling the ways of living of various <i>daimyo</i>, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> +and making them similar to one another. The +bride was usually accompanied into her husband's +family by maids, the daughters of her father's +vassals, and she was often escorted by a few +<i>samurai</i>. These <i>samurai</i> as well as the maids +often took service under the <i>daimyo</i>, the husband +of the bride, and remained in the train of their +lord, after the death of the lady whom they had +to serve personally. The number of the <i>samurai</i> +who changed masters in this manner, was not +naturally large, but they contributed none the less +toward the diminishing of the differences in the +social life of the various territories.</p> + +<p class="indent">Generally, however, it was found very difficult +for any <i>samurai</i> to leave his master for the purpose +of enlisting in the service of some other +<i>daimyo</i>. As the <i>samurai</i> had been bound to their +lord the <i>daimyo</i>, not only publicly as his officials +and warriors, but privately as his domestics, they +were not allowed to emigrate freely from their +lord's territory. Nevertheless, the legal status of +the <i>samurai</i> versus the <i>daimyo</i> had never been the +relation of slave and master. No <i>daimyo</i> had +absolute control over the person of his <i>samurai</i>, +in other words, his sway was far from what might +have been called full proprietorship. Against injustice +on the part of a <i>daimyo</i>, his <i>samurai</i> had +the actual right of appealing to the Shogunate at +the risk of suffering a heavy penalty for his affronting +his lord by so doing. It was also possible +to alienate himself from the service of his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> +master by giving sufficient reasons for it. If +he had no reason to do so, then he could abscond, +and the extradition of such a deserter was hardly +ever rigorously pressed. And if such a vagrant +<i>samurai</i> or <i>rônin</i> was found to be a capable warrior +or a man of talent in some other line, he +could find a position very easily under the <i>daimyo</i> +of his adopted territory. In such and like ways +the <i>samurai</i> of the Tokugawa period made interterritorial +migration more freely than we imagine.</p> + +<p class="indent">If, concluding from the limited sphere of freedom +of the <i>samurai</i> in regard to change of domicile, +one should suppose that farmers, merchants, +and craftsmen were much more restricted in their +moving about inter-territorially, he would be +grossly deceived. The <i>samurai</i> was <i>de facto</i> +linked almost inseparably to their lord the <i>daimyo</i>, +for the link had been firmly cemented, +though not by any formal oath of fealty uttered +by the <i>samurai</i>, as was the custom in European +countries, but by the hereditary relation between +his family and that of his master. It became especially +so when profound peace settled on Japan +during the middle of the Tokugawa period, and +if any <i>daimyo</i> had given his <i>samurai</i> the freest +choice to leave his territory, very few of them +would have availed themselves of their freedom, +for by doing so they would have had to part with +a great many things which they had long cherished +in their hearts. On the whole, the <i>samurai</i> were +attached to their <i>daimyo</i> and not to the soil on +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> +which they had settled, so that when their master +was removed to some new territory by the order +of the Shogunate, most of the <i>samurai</i> used to +follow their lord and serve him in the new locality. +The dialectic peculiarities, which have +been vanishing in Japan very rapidly these years, +show still a trace of these <i>samurai</i> migrations. If +any foreigner should remark a considerable difference +in dialect between some provincial town +and its suburbs, it shows that the family of the +<i>daimyo</i> who was the last to lord it over the territory, +was one transplanted there together with +the attendant train of <i>samurai</i> by order of the +Shogunate in a time not so very remote.</p> + +<p class="indent">Quite contrary to <i>samurai</i> usage, those people +below them in rank held with the <i>daimyo</i> of the +territory in which they lived a relationship which +was purely public in character. Socially they were +treated as men beneath the <i>samurai</i>, and they +themselves were content to be treated as such. +As a class, however, they had no personal relations +with the <i>daimyo</i>, unless through the <i>samurai</i>, +to whom the usufruct of the land which they +cultivated had been allotted by the <i>daimyo</i>. In +other words, their duty to their territorial lord +was nothing but that which they owed as a people +governed to a governor who chanced to rule hereditarily +over the territory, but might at any time +be displaced by somebody else at the pleasure of +the Shogunate. Fidelity on their part to the +<i>daimyo</i>, therefore, was no personal obligation, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> +nor the result of a reciprocal contract, but only +a product of a long history, if any example of +such virtue were exhibited. They had no need +to follow their <i>daimyo</i> as his <i>samurai</i> used to do, +whithersoever he might be transferred. On the +contrary, all of them remained as a rule in the +old territory, in which they continued for long +years to pursue their business, and welcomed the +newly-appointed <i>daimyo</i>. In this respect they +might be said to have been much more fixed to +the territory than the <i>samurai</i>. At the same time, +as their relations with the <i>daimyo</i> were not very +close, their movements were not so vigilantly +watched as those of the <i>samurai</i>, and during the +Tokugawa period, there went on incessant goings +and comings of the lower order in and out of various +territories, though very insignificant in character +and therefore apparently unnoticed. Summarily +speaking, the boundary of the territories +of the <i>daimyo</i> was of no practical value in restricting +the population within its geographical +pale, in spite of the fact that all <i>daimyo</i>, without +exception, exercised their right of scrutinising +the ingress and egress of travellers at certain +fixed barriers on the boundary line. Viewed from +the standpoint of the internal migration of people +of all classes, Japan was far from being an agglomeration +of isolated territories. No wonder +that the contemporary culture, springing up from +whichever of the three possible sources, could not +remain secluded within the confines of particular +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> +localities, but gradually permeated the country in +every direction, and became one.</p> + +<p class="indent">Not only inter-territorially, but also in each +of the territories themselves, no sort of culture +could hold itself for long as the exclusive property +of a certain class. In our history, it is true, +we had retained a class-system for a very long +time, even after the revolution of the Meidji era, +and all men had not been equal before the law until +very recent times. Nay, to this day we see +still some harmless relics of that system in certain +regulations preferential to the aristocracy. Regarded +as a whole, however, the class-system in +Japan has never approached the caste-system of +some other countries. If there had been anything +like that in our country, it was the distinction of +the ordinary people, or we might say, people of +the Japanese <i>pur sang</i>, from those whose blood +was thought to be polluted. Marriage with the +latter set of people had been scrupulously avoided +on the part of the former. This antipathy entertained +by the majority of the nation against +the minority was nearly of the same nature as +the anti-Semitic feeling in Europe. The coincidence +between the two went so far that in Japan +tanners, executioners, and so forth were considered +as men of occupations exclusive to the people of +polluted blood, just as similar trades in Europe +had been relegated to the Jews of the Middle +Ages. From the fact that in the newly explored +part of the empire, such as the northern part of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> +Honto, the settlements of the so-called people +of polluted blood are very few, and therefore the +feeling against them there is not so acute as it is +in the central or most historic part of the empire, +we may safely conclude that such a feeling +had its origin in some racial difference and dates +from the immemorial past. It is very strange that +in Japan, where the population is unquestionably +of mixed blood, such an antipathy against a certain +set of people should have continued stubbornly +even to the present day. On the other +hand, we have sufficient grounds for believing that, +in the course of our history, not a few people of +the pure blood have been classed with the impure +on account of some criminal action, or they +mingled with the latter from some predilection, +out of their own free will.</p> + +<p class="indent">As to the people who were not stigmatised as +impure of blood, it is very difficult to draw a +boundary line distinct enough to divide them +clearly according to their blood relationship. +During the anarchical period of our history from +the later Ashikaga to the beginning of the Tokugawa +Shogunate, there took place a violent convulsion +of the social strata, as the result of the +disorder which reigned everywhere. Many +talented plebeians had lucky chances to enlist as +<i>samurai</i> in the service of some <i>daimyo</i>, while +many of the scions of noted warrior families +transformed themselves into plebeians, from disgust +at their calling of men-slaughterers or from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> +disappointment in their ambitions as warriors. +In the time which followed, that is to say, when +social order was reëstablished, such a transmutation +became exceedingly difficult, as might be supposed. +Yet even since then it is not altogether +a matter of sheer impossibility. Plebeians of +rare merit, especially those who were skilled in +certain branches of art and learning, were able to +find their way upward without much difficulty. +The word "<i>samurai</i>" which had meant a "warrior +attending" came to denote a social rank above the +plebeians, so that it could include those who pursued +a profession which was far from being militaristic, +such as men of letters, physicians, painters, +<i>nô</i>-dancers and the like in the retinue of the +<i>daimyo</i>. Many territorial bourgeois, too, transformed +themselves into <i>samurai</i> by contributing +large sums of money to the treasury of their lord, +or by purchasing the rank from some poor inheritors +of <i>samurai</i> blood who were reduced to extreme +penury, so as to be no more able to serve +their <i>daimyo</i> as honourable warriors.</p> + +<p class="indent">Examples of <i>samurai</i> promoted to the <i>daimiate</i> +are not numerous since the re-establishment of +peace and the social order under the dictatorship +of the Tokugawa, for it had become for everybody +very difficult to distinguish himself highly +by merits other than military, so as to justify sufficiently +such a sudden promotion. Still at the beginning +of the Tokugawa Shogunate there were +many vacant territories, caused by the confiscation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> +of the territories of recalcitrant <i>daimyo</i>. Many +families also lost their hereditary lands on account +of the extinction of the male line, for the +Shogunate did not at first recognise inheritance +through an adopted son, a restriction which was +later abrogated. Besides, the <i>daimyo</i> in general +became wiser and more docile in order not to +lose their estates on account of any misdemeanour +toward the Shogun. As the result of such changes +the later Shogun rarely had vacancies at his disposal +by which he could create the new <i>daimyo</i>. +If the Shogun had wished to promote somebody +in spite of the lack of a vacant lordship, he had +to part with a portion of his own domain, but +this alienation of land from the Shogun could not +be repeated too often without damage to the material +resources of the Shogunate. Nevertheless, +examples have not been wanting now and then, +examples in which not only <i>samurai</i> but even +plebeians also were promoted to the rank of <i>daimyo</i>, +some of them owing to their due merits, or +to the blood-relationship with the wives or the +natural mother of some Shogun, others by courting +the favour of their master. In short, the intruding +upwards into the <i>daimyo</i> class was not a +matter absolutely impossible for the people in the +lower strata.</p> + +<p class="indent">Inversely the descent to the lower social status +was much easier than the ascent to the higher rank +in any scale. Nay, for various reasons many persons +had been obliged to climb down from their +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> +original high position in society to a lower status. +As the law of primogeniture grew rigorous in its +enforcements on the <i>daimyo</i> and the <i>samurai</i>, the +greater part of the scions belonging to these +classes could only fully enjoy the privilege of the +society in which they were born during childhood, +unless extinction of the main line took place. +Descendants of <i>daimyo</i> generally gravitated to +<i>samurai</i> rank, and those of <i>samurai</i> had to turn +themselves into plebeians, in so far as they did +not merit to be called to service as independent +<i>samurai</i>. Thus the sliding down of classes was +necessitated by the law of succession. Could any +line of social demarcation be drawn according to +the difference of classes in the face of such shiftings +upwards and downwards? If it was a difficult +matter, then we cannot expect to find any sort +of culture monopolised by a certain class to the +last. In whichever stratum of society it might +have originated, it was sure to penetrate sooner +or later into the other classes, and at last the +whole people of a territory absorbed a similar +and uniform culture. No sort of territorial barriers +or social cleavage proved efficient enough +to impede the inter-penetration of any cultural +movement.</p> + +<p class="indent">This amalgamation of cultures different in their +origins had been accelerated by the introduction +of European civilisation. Though the free intercourse +of the Japanese with Europeans had been +cut short in the third decade of the seventeenth +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> +century by the ordinances of the Shogunate, the +country had never been absolutely closed against +foreigners. No Japanese had been allowed to +go abroad for any purpose whatever, but we continued +to trade in the specially prescribed port +of Nagasaki, not only with Chinese but also with +Dutch merchants, though in very restricted forms. +Thus while the Japanese had been struggling to +mould the new national culture out of promiscuous +elements which had existed from aforetime, they +had been receiving the Western civilisation, not +<i>en masse</i> but drop by drop, so that we had no +need this time of the process of rumination in +digesting the introduced exotic culture, as we had +done as regards Chinese civilisation. The rigorous +exclusion, carried to the utmost, of all Christian +literature, whatever its relation to our religious +tenets might have been, naturally induced +men in authority to resort to the safest methods, +that is to say, to restrict the kinds of books to be +imported to the narrowest scope, and to limit +their number to the smallest possible minimum. +Accordingly, in the first half of the Tokugawa +Shogunate, very few useful books were imported +into our country, and the nation had, therefore, a +very scanty opportunity of getting knowledge +through books about things European. Yet the +commodities which these Dutchmen brought to +Deshima to be exchanged there or to be presented +to the Shogun at Yedo, gave the Japanese who +came in contact with them some idea about the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> +modes of life in Europe. Moreover, after the +encouragement assiduously given to the study of +things European by the Shogun Yoshimune, whose +rule covered the greater part of the first half of +the eighteenth century, the process of infiltration +of Western culture through the narrow door of +Nagasaki had become suddenly accelerated. As +the encouragement had been induced by the material +necessities of the nation, the study of that +time about things European was naturally limited +to those sciences which were indispensable to the +daily life of the people and at the same time far +from being spiritual, like astronomy, medicine, +botany, and so forth. Would it be possible, however, +to ward off successfully the spiritual side of +a culture, while taking in the material side of the +same with avidity, as if the two parts had not been +interwoven inseparably as a single entity? Those +branches of Western knowledge, which we did +not welcome in the least, but which were none the +less useful, as history, and political as well as +military sciences became gradually known to the +Japanese, though very fragmentarily and slowly. +That the diplomatists of the Shogunate had been +able to conclude with the foreign powers, which +forced our doors to be opened to them against +our will, treaties which, though evidently detrimental +to our national honour, were the largest +concessions we could obtain from them at that +time, shows that they had not been entirely ignorant +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> +of the condition of the parties with which +they had to treat.</p> + +<p class="indent">Probably there are foreign readers who may +entertain some doubt about the lack of the religious +element in the Western civilisation which +thus flowed into our country from the first half +of the eighteenth century. They may well consider, +however, the change of religious temperament +both in Japan and in European countries, besides +the strictest prohibition rigorously exercised +by the Japanese authorities. The Thirty +Years War, the beginning of which falls in the +fourteenth year of the Shogunate of Hidetada, +the son and successor of Iyeyasu, is said generally +to be the last religious war in Europe fought seriously. +But it cannot be denied that in the latter +part of the long war, more political than religious +elements predominated, and the age which followed +the most desolatory war was characterised +by its religious toleration. Could the Dutchmen, +who were the only people privileged to trade with +us, have been expected to set as their first aim the +propagation of the Christianity of their Reformed +Church rather than material gain by their commerce, +as the Portuguese, Spaniards, and Italians +are said to have done as regards their Catholicism +at the end of the Ashikaga period?</p> + +<p class="indent">Japan had also changed religiously in the same +direction. The end of the Ashikaga period had +witnessed many wars which may be called religious, +very rare examples since the time of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> +first introduction of Buddhism. Sectarians of +Shinshû or Ikkôshû and of Nichirenshû often +fought against one another. Some of them dared +also to fight against powerful feudatories, and +harassed them. Thus Japan was about to experience +a struggle between the spiritual and the +temporal powers, as Europe did in the Middle +Ages. Nobunaga, therefore, gave countenance to +Christian missionaries with a view to curbing the +arrogance of Buddhist sectaries by the inroad of +the new exotic religion. When the latter, however, +proved not less dangerous to the political +authority, it was interdicted by Hideyoshi. After +all, the persecution of the Christians in Japan was +not of religious nature, as in Europe, but essentially +political. This explains why persecution +could extirpate the seeds of Christianity sown so +full of hope in Japan, in spite of its general failure +in European countries.</p> + +<p class="indent">The failure of the Christian propaganda, however, +was at the same time the signal of the downfall +of the influence of Buddhist sectaries in +Japan. Iyeyasu, who had the most bitter experience +of the resistance of Ikkô-votaries in his +own province, had but to pursue the same religious +policy as his predecessor, against Buddhism +as well as Christianity. He ordered the personal +morals of Buddhist priests to be rigorously supervised, +and inflicted the severest punishment on +those who violated the law of celibacy. It was +natural, therefore, that secular preachers of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> +Ikkôshû or Shinshû, who made it their rule to lead +a matrimonial life, should not have been held in +so high a regard as the regular priests of other +Buddhist sects, and on that account they had to +recruit their believers chiefly among people in the +lower strata of society. As to other sects besides +the Shinshû, he showed no preference for any one +of them, and he often called himself a believer +in Buddhism of the Syaka Sect, which meant that +he was no sectarian, for there actually existed no +such sect in Japan. Such a broad tolerance, however, +in religious matters is next door to indifferentism, +and paved the way for the dwindling of +the religious spirit in the ages to follow, at least +in the prominent part of the nation.</p> + +<p class="indent">Another factor which strengthened the spirit +of toleration, or let me say, undermined the religious +spirit of the people, was the Confucian +philosophy expounded by Chutse, a celebrated +savant of the Sung dynasty. This doctrine, which +had been accepted by the court-philosophers of +the Shogunate as the only orthodox one, was rationalistic +to the extreme, so that it struck a heavy +blow to many cherished superstitions and destroyed +in a remarkable manner the influence +which Buddhism had exercised over the mind of +the people since many centuries, just like the +rationalism of the eighteenth century in Europe, +which ruined the authority of the Church and superstition. +Yet among the educated society of the +age, that is to say, the <i>samurai</i> class, the worship +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> +of Buddhist deities continued as before, superficially +without any marked change, only because +parents had worshipped them and taught their +children to do likewise. That they had not been +men strictly to be called Buddhist is evident from +the fact that most of them had worshipped in +Shinto shrines with almost the same devotion as +they did in Buddhist temples. It cannot be denied +that in their view of human life there was a preponderating +Buddhist element, but as it had +been since very long ago that our civilisation had +become imbued with Buddhism, the Japanese of the +Tokugawa period were not conscious of what part +of the national culture they specially owed to +the Indian religion. In short, religion in the Tokugawa +age did not teach what to worship, but +what to revere, and toward the latter part of the +period we had less necessity to have more of a +different religion. How could Christianity force +her way into our country in the state such as it +was, unless by the endeavour of fanatics? And +the Dutch merchants of the eighteenth century +were not religious fanatics at all. Through such +agents, drops of the secular element in European +civilisation were thrown on the cultural soil of +Japan, which had been already secularised much +earlier than most of the countries in the West. +No spiritual consternation had been aroused, +therefore, in the cultural world of our country +by the intrusion of exotic factors, which only +tended to augment the longing for the higher +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> +material improvement of the people, by never +satiating the desire for it. It is by this stimulus +indeed that civilisation, which is prone to become +stationary in an isolated country like Japan, escaped +the danger of stagnation, and the process +of moulding and remoulding the ever new national +culture out of the element which she had +possessed and that which she had added to her +stock since time immemorial, went on silently under +cover of the long armed peace, and at last +brought forth the Revolution of the Meidji.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<p class="h2a">THE RESTORATION OF THE MEIDJI</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">The</span> great political change which took place in +the year 1867-1868 is generally called the Restoration, +in the sense that the imperial power was +restored by this event. In truth, however, the +prerogative of the Emperor has never been formally +usurped, and none has dared impudently to +declare that he had assumed the power in His +Majesty's stead. All the virtual potentates, court-nobles +as well as Shogun, who, each in his day, +held unlimited sway over the whole country, had +been accustomed to style themselves modestly +vicegerents of the Emperor. On the other hand, +the change was more than a mere restoration, for +never in the course of our national history had the +resplendent grandeur of the Imperiality reached +the height in which it now actually stands. In this +respect the Restoration of the Meidji can by no +means be taken in the same sense as the two +Restorations famous in European history, that of +the Stuarts in 1660 and of the Bourbons in 1814. +Renovation, perhaps, would be a more adequate +term to be used here than Restoration, to designate +this epoch-making event in our history. We +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> +have reconstructed new Japan from the old materials, +the origins of some of which are lost in remotest +antiquity.</p> + +<p class="indent">If, however, we should consider the range and +intensity of the momentous change which was +caused by the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate, +it is rather a revolution than a renovation. +Just the same kind of disjunction which can be +perceived in the transition of France from its ancient +régime to the Revolution may also be noticed +in the Japanese history of the transition +period, which divides the pre-Meidji régime from +the present status. The difference is that we accomplished +in five years a counterpart, though on +a much smaller scale, of what they took in France +nearly a generation to conclude; a difference which +may be accounted for by the absence in our +country of many circumstances which helped to +make the French Revolution really a great historical +event. That those circumstances were +lacking in our history, however, is by no means +the fault of our nation. No impartial foreign +historian would grudge a few words of praise +to the Japanese who achieved the historic thorough +transformation of national life with little +or no bloodshed, when they think of the tremendous +difficulties which Bismarck had to encounter +in his grand task of forming the new +German empire, and which even he himself could +not overcome entirely.</p> + +<p class="indent">Then how did this momentous change happen +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span> +to be achieved by the Japanese? It appeared a +wonder even to the eyes of many contemporary +Japanese. It surprises us, therefore, to say the +least, that many foreigners not well-versed in +Japanese history, however intelligent and otherwise +qualified, should have believed almost without +exception that the island nation had something +miraculous in its immanent capacity, which +had remained latent so long only from lack of +opportunity to manifest itself. But to the contemplative +mind, equipped at the same time with +sufficient knowledge of the historical development +of our country, there was nothing magical in the +national achievement of the Japanese in the latter +half of the nineteenth century, though it cannot +be denied that the close contact with the +modern civilisation of Europe at this juncture +gave the most suitable opportunity to the people +to try their ability nurtured by the long centuries +of their history, and served efficiently to quicken +the steps of national progress to a pace far more +speedy than any we had ever marched before.</p> + +<p class="indent">In other words, our national progress of these +fifty years, whether it might be apt to be termed +hurried steps or strides, was a thing organized by +slow degrees during the long tranquil rule of the +Tokugawa. As to the advancement of the general +culture anterior to the Revolution of the +Meidji, I have already touched on that in the +previous chapter. Here I will limit myself to +recapitulating the growth of the nationalistic +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> +spirit among the people, which bore as its fruit +that memorable change in the political and cultural +sphere of our country.</p> + +<p class="indent">The tranquillity restored to the country by the +powerful dictatorship of Hideyoshi and Iyeyasu, +and the multiplication of books, Japanese as well +as Chinese, reprinted in blocks or in type, remarkably +enlarged the reading circle among the people. +The liberal education of warriors had been earnestly +encouraged by the Shogunate, mainly for the +purpose of creating intelligent and law-abiding +gentlemen out of rough and adventurous fighters. +A great many of the <i>daimyo</i> followed the example +of the Shogunate by founding one or more schools +in their own territories for the education of their +own <i>samurai</i>, and in these schools moral and political +lessons were given, besides training in military +arts. The <i>samurai</i> were taught to read and +understand Chinese classics, with the purely pragmatic +purpose of enabling them to follow the inexhaustible +precepts preached by the Chinese +philosophers of various ages, and at the same +time to qualify them to govern the people according +to the political theories of Confucius, when +they were put in some responsible positions in the +territorial government of their lord. The text-books +used in this curriculum of education had +been, of course, Chinese literature of the sort +which might be called political miscellanies, that +is to say, those works pertaining to morals, politics, +and history. This trio was to Chinese philosophers +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> +only the three different forms of the +manifestation of one and the same principle, for +to them politics was an enlarged application of +that very principle, which when applied to personal +matters made private morals, and history +was only another name for the politics of the +past, as many European historians still also believe. +Their Japanese pupils, however, took up +any one of the trio they fancied, and interlaced +it with the national tradition, each according to +his own taste. The metaphysical element of the +Chinese moral philosophy of the Sung dynasty, the +time in which Chinese philosophy reached its high +flourishing scholastic stage, was thus mingled with +Shintoism.</p> + +<p class="indent">Up to that time we had Shintoism imbued with +Buddhism. Now having repudiated the Indian +elements out of it, we introduced in their stead +the Confucian philosophy. As the philosophy +introduced was that expounded by Chutse, who +was an intense rigorist, the Shintoism resulting +from this mixture was rather narrow and chauvinistic, +though fervent enough to inspire people of +education. One of the most conspicuous founders +of this kind of new national cult was Ansai Yamazaki, +who was born in 1619. On account of his +hair-splitting doctrines, tolerating none which deviated +the least from his, his disciples were always +in very bitter controversy with one another, +each asserting himself as the only true successor +of his master, and dissension followed after dissension. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> +Many of them were so pigheaded as +to make it a rule not to serve publicly in any official +capacity under the Shogun nor the <i>daimyo</i>, +and exerted themselves strenuously to spread +their propaganda among the intelligent classes of +the people.</p> + +<p class="indent">Fuel was added to the flame of the national spirit +already in a blaze by the assiduous study of the +ancient literature of our country. The old Japanese +literature studied and imitated during the Ashikaga +period had not gone back farther than the +Tempyô era. If we except some novels produced +in the prime of the courtiers' régime, such as the +<i>Genji-monogatari</i>, the literary works of old Japan +highly prized by the courtiers and enlightened +warriors of the Ashikaga were limited to the anthologies +of short Japanese poems by various +poets, the oldest of which was called the <i>Kokin-shû</i>, +said to have been compiled in 905 A.D. under +Imperial auspices. The <i>Mannyô-shû</i>, which is +another collection of Japanese poems, older than +those gathered into the <i>Kokin-shû</i>, and to which +I referred in my former chapter as the oldest collection +of all of that kind in Japan, though not +entirely abandoned, could not cope with the latter +in popularity, being considered as too much out +of date. A few of the commentaries or interpretations +of trivial topics sung or celebrated in the +poems in the <i>Kokin-shû</i> had become matters of +great importance in the art of Japanese versification, +and had been handed from one master +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span> +to a favourite disciple as an esoteric literary secret +not to be lightly divulged to the <i>hoi polloi</i>. +The resuscitated national spirit of the early Tokugawa +period, however, induced men of the +literary circles of the time no longer to be contented +with such trivialities, and stimulated them +to push their researches backward into the literature +still more ancient, that is to say, to launch +themselves upon the difficult task of interpreting +those more archaic poems contained in the <i>Mannyô-shû</i>. +The foremost of these philologists was +a priest by the name of Keichû, born in 1640 in +the vicinity of Ôsaka. His celebrated work, the +Commentaries on the Poems of the <i>Mannyô-shû</i>, +is said to be the first standard hoisted in the +philological study of old Japan by Japanese, a +study the inauguration of which almost corresponded +in time with the establishment of durable +peace by the Tokugawa Shogunate. A succession +of savants followed in his wake, and the +most noted among them were Mabuchi Kamo and +his disciple Norinaga Motoöri. It was the latter +of the two who brought the study of Japanese antiquities +to its highest point in the Tokugawa age.</p> + +<p class="indent">The time of Motoöri covers the whole of the +latter half of the eighteenth century, for he was +born in 1730 and died in 1801 in the province of +Ise. Before him the scope of researches into old +Japan had been limited to the literary products +of our ancient poets and novelists. Though the +<i>Nihongi</i> had been talked of by the scholars of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span> +Ashikaga period and an edition reprinted before +the advent of the house of Tokugawa, that part +of the work which had been most widely read and +commented on was its first volume, treating about +the age of the gods and the mythical beginning +of the Empire. In other words, the book had been +prized not as an important historical work, but +as a sacred book of Shintoism. It was Motoöri +himself who first studied ancient Japan, not only +from the Shintoistic point of view, but also philologically +and historically. Classical literature, +which became the object of his indefatigable research, +was not restricted to books of mythology, +but included also the ritual book of "norito," +several collections of poems, and historical works. +First of all, however, he concentrated his efforts +upon the study of the old chronicle, <i>Kojiki</i>. He +was of the opinion that the <i>Kojiki</i> was more reliable +as a historical source than the <i>Nihongi</i>, as +it might, according to him, be easily judged from +its archaic phraseology and syntax, in contrast to +the latter, the historical veracity of which must +have been surely impaired by its adoption of the +Chinese rhetoric. He made the most minute, critical +study of the text of the <i>Kojiki</i>, phrase by +phrase, and word by word. The famous <i>Kojiki-den</i>, +or "The Commentaries on the <i>Kojiki</i>," is the +choicest fruit of his life-long study. In it the history, +religion, manners, customs, in short, all the +items concerning the civilisation of ancient Japan +are expounded from the text of the chronicle itself, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> +frequently corroborated by what is stated +in other authentic sources. He had always in +view, and laid great stress on the fact, that Japan +had possessed from her beginning what was to +be called her own, purely and entirely Japanese, +quite apart from the culture which she introduced +afterwards from abroad. It was to this unique +and naïve state of things in primeval Japan taken +as a whole that he applied the term Shintoism. +According to him, therefore, naturalness, purity +and veracity were the cardinal virtues to be taught +in Shintoism, from which he thought not only Indian, +but Chinese elements also should be eradicated. +Thus Shintoism was stripped of its religious +apparel, with which it had been invested +during the long course of our history, and by his +endeavours it approached again its original status +as a simple moral cult with primitive rituals; but +at the same time it gained immensely in strength, +for it now found its main support in the nationality +deeply rooted in the daily life of the ancient +Japanese. By him the Japanese were reminded +of their national beginning.</p> + +<p class="indent">This philological study of ancient Japan owed +much, in its early stage, to the stimulus given by +the growth of historiography in the seventeenth +century. This study of and the endeavour to write +down the national history came of course from the +political necessity of the time. As early as the +fourth decade of the seventeenth century, the +Shogunate is said to have ordered its court literati +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> +to compile the history of our country from the +earliest times, but it was suspended afterwards +for a while. A little posterior to this, a memorable +historiographical institute was initiated by +Mitsukuni Tokugawa, one of the grandsons of +Iyeyasu and lord of Mito. For the first time in +our country, the collection of historical materials +was undertaken on a grand scale. Collectors +were despatched to many provinces where a rich +harvest was expected. Kyoto and its vicinity were +ransacked with special attention. The material +thus rummaged and collected, varying from those +of authentic kinds such as memoirs of ancient +courtiers and court-ladies, chronicles kept in shrines +and temples, and documents concerning the transactions +of numberless manorial estates, down to +less reliable sorts of materials such as stories, +legends, tales, novels, and various other writings +current in successive ages, had been criticised in +their texts with tolerable scientific conscientiousness. +The <i>Dai-Nihon-shi</i>, or "The History of +Great Japan," which is the result of the coöperation +of the historians of the Mito school engaged +in researches under the auspices of Mitsukuni and +his successors, consists of two hundred and thirty +one volumes, and has taken two centuries and a +half for its completion, the last volume having +been published in 1906. In its form the grand +history is an imitation of the <i>Shih-chi</i> by Ssuma-chien +of the Han dynasty, the whole system being +divided into the three sections of the annals +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> +of the emperors, biographers of noted personages, +and miscellanies, with various tables. It is +by no means a complete history of Japan, for it +comes down only to 1392, the year in which the +two rival houses of the Imperial family were +united and put an end to the long civil war. +Moreover, it was only in the middle of the nineteenth +century, that the first two sections were put +into print, though as manuscripts those parts had +been finished much earlier. It is not, therefore, +on account of the publication of the history, but +of the researches themselves and their by-products, +that the historiography of the Mito school +greatly influenced the rise of the nationalistic +spirit of the Japanese. The long arduous labours +of these historians were consummated in expounding +the doctrine that the Japanese nation had +something unique in its civilisation which was +worthy to be guarded carefully and fostered, and +that the only bond which could unite the nation +spiritually was fidelity towards its common centre, +the Emperor, whose family had continued to reign +over the country since time immemorial. The history +is often criticised as being too pragmatic, +narrow, and subjective, therefore not scientific. +If we consider, however, that even in those countries +in the West where the study of history is +boasted of as having reached a high stage of scientific +investigation, most of the historians, if not +the histories they have written, have been also +decidedly pragmatic, so that few of them can be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span> +called perfectly objective, then we should not +much blame the historians and the history of the +Mito school. That the school was entirely free +from any sort of superstition must also be mentioned +as one of its chief merits. This may be +attributed to the rationalistic influence of the +doctrine of Chutse, and the fact that the history +was written in orthodox Chinese shows how these +historiographers were imbued with Chinese ideas. +It might be said, however, to their credit that the +task was first undertaken in an age in which the +literary language of our country had not yet become +entirely independent of Chinese, and that, +notwithstanding the adoption of that language, in +committing the result of their researches to writing +they had never fallen into the self-deception +which might come from sinicomania. Since the +inception of this ever-memorable historiographical +undertaking, the town of Mito had continued +to be the hearth of nationalism and patriotism, +and thinkers devoted to these ideas had been +very glad to make their pilgrimage from all parts +of Japan to the centre of the pure Japanese culture, +and to converse with these historians of the +noted institution. It was indeed the early groups +of these historians who first stirred up the nationalistic +spirit in the later seventeenth century, and +their successors it was who accelerated and most +strongly reinforced the national movement just +before the Revolution. No school of learning in +Japan had even been so powerful and effective as +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span> +that of Mito in influencing and leading the spirit +of the nation.</p> + +<p class="indent">The torch, however, which had succeeded in +giving blissful light to illumine the whole nation, +burned at last the torch-bearer himself with its +blazing flame. Not to mention that the finances +of the territorial lord had been miserably drained +by this undertaking, which is said to have swallowed +up about one-third of the whole revenue +of the territory, and therefore proved too heavy +a burden for the small income of the lord. Narrow-mindedness, +which is the necessary consequence +of rigorism, tended to nurture an implacable +party spirit among the <i>samurai</i> of the territory +educated in this principle. Internal strife +thus ensued which implicated not only the whole +<i>samurai</i> but people of all classes. In short, the +territory was divided against itself. Both parties +appealed to arms at last, and fought against each +other, until both had to lie down quite exhausted. +So the culture which the historians and the <i>samurai</i> +of Mito raised to a high pitch proved to be +disastrous to their own welfare, yet the good +which it did to the country at large should remain +as a glory to those who sacrificed themselves for +what they regarded as their ideal.</p> + +<p class="indent">We see now that several forces had coöperated +in accomplishing the final unity and consolidation +of the nation. In giving the finishing +touch, however, to the task of many centuries, the +enigmatic relations between the Emperor and the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> +Shogun had necessarily to be cleared. Though +the Shogunate had continued to transact the state +affairs as if he had been the sole regent of the +Emperor, the legal status of the former had never +been created by any ordinance issued by the latter. +No emperor had ever formally confided his political +prerogative to the Shogun. The basis on +which the jurisdictional power of the Shogun had +rested was nothing but the <i>fait accompli</i> connived +at and acquiesced in by the Emperor. If the prestige +of the Emperor, therefore, which had once +fallen into decadence, should be revived, the position +of the Shogun was sure to become untenable. +The historians of the Mito school tried +their best to make the Emperor the nucleus of the +national consolidation. Their political theory had +been strongly influenced by the legitimism entertained +by the historians of the Sung dynasty, and +this principle of legitimacy, when applied to the +history of Japan, must have led only to the conclusion +that the only legitimate and therefore +actual sovereign of the country could be none +other than the Emperor himself. Needless to +say, such an argument was injurious to the political +interests of the Shogunate, so that it seems +very strange that the theory had been upheld and +loudly heralded by these historians who were +under the protection of the lord of Mito, the descendant +of a scion of Iyeyasu. It was not, of +course, the intention of the hereditary lords of +Mito and their historians to undermine the structure +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span> +of the Shogunate from its foundation. Having +been, however, too sharp and fervent in their +argument, they had been unable to rein themselves +in, before the interests of the Shogunate were +thereby jeopardised, and as a logical consequence +they brought unconsciously to a terrible catastrophe +the whole edifice of the military régime, +in which alone they could find a reason for +their existence.</p> + +<p class="indent">The spirit of the nation had thus been under the +increasing notion that the coexistence of the sovereign +Emperor with the omnipotent Shogunate +would be ultimately impossible, and such a trend +of thought had been highly welcomed in those +parts of Japan where militarism had the least +hold. So far, however, it had been the more logical +pursuance of a political ideal, and if no opportunity +had presented itself to these idealists +to put their theory into execution, it would have +remained for long the idle vapouring of romantic +and irresponsible politicians. That Japan was +saved from this inaction, and that the virile movement +in favour of the revival of the imperial +prestige was at last undertaken, must be attributed +to the shock and stimulus which came from without, +that is to say, to the coercion on the part of +the Western nations to open to them our country, +which had been so long secluded from the rest +of the world.</p> + +<p class="indent">Since the so-called "closing of the country" the +Japanese had enjoyed a peaceful national life, undisturbed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> +for more than one century and a half, +and during this period of long tranquillity Japan +had been able to prepare herself for the hardships +which she was about to encounter, by replenishing +her national culture and transforming it so as to +be able to take in as much of the Western civilisation +as she was in need of, without fear of +thereby endangering her own national existence. +But at the end of the eighteenth century the insistent +knocking of foreigners at the door began +to be heard, first at the back-door of the Island +Empire. It was only the Russians who, having +already annexed the vast tract of Siberia, were +now ready to make a jump forward, and loitered +on the northern coast of our Hokkaidô, called +the island of Yezo at that time. This was the +beginning of new national troubles. It was not, +however, the same kind of foreign troubles as +those which we had tried and succeeded in getting +rid of in the early days of the Shogunate. There +was no fear now of suffering from the religious +intrigues of foreign missionaries. The danger, +if there were any, was purely of a political nature.</p> + +<p class="indent">Needless to say, the nation had had no voice +in determining the Shogunate's policy of "shutting +up the country", and had not understood well +the merit or demerit of the policy itself, but having +been accustomed for a long time to the isolated +national existence, and puffed up not a little +into self-conceit by the growth of the nationalistic +spirit, they were unconsciously induced to believe +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> +that the status they were in must be the only normal +condition of the country. The people at +large, though relieved of the overdue influence of +China, yet had a very scanty knowledge of the condition +in which Europe and America were at that +time, and did not wish, in the least, to be deranged +by the intrusion, however well-meant, of any foreigner +into their quiet abode, in spite of the utter +impossibility of continuing such a national life +<i>ad infinitum</i> in the face of the changed circumstances +of the world, caused by the eastward expansion +of various European nations, and by the +rise of a new power on the American continent, +the power which had just acquired access to the +shore of the Pacific. Those who were then at +the helm of state, that is to say, the statesmen +of the Shogunate, shared nearly the same opinion +with the nation at large. Not only for the national +welfare, but in the interests of the Shogunate +itself, they thought it best to keep up the +<i>status quo</i> as long as possible. Unfortunately, the +foreigners who now knocked at our doors were +not unarmed like those who had come two centuries +before, neither were they so humble and +docile as the Dutchmen at Deshima were accustomed +to be. In order to keep them off in spite +of their importunate wish to the contrary, we +had to provide for emergencies. So the Shogunate +tried to make military preparations, to +defend the country in case of necessity and drive +away the intruders by force of arms. The more, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> +however, the Shogunate tried to arm the nation +against the foreigners, the more difficult it found +the task it had in view. As the result of the long +enjoyment of peace, the people had become inured +to ease and luxury, and had lost much +of their martial spirit, of which they had been exceedingly +proud as their characteristic attribute. +Moreover, the country having been parcelled out +into nearly three hundred territories, it was very +hard for the Shogunate to mobilise the warriors +of the whole empire at its sole command. On the +other hand, the material progress of the Western +nations, achieved during the time of our seclusion, +had been really astonishing. The difficulty +of coping with them now became far greater for +us than it had been at the end of the sixteenth +century. Notwithstanding these overwhelming +difficulties, the Shogunate persisted in its endeavour +to strengthen the national defences. The +martial spirit of the nation was gradually reawakened, +but new internal difficulties were created +by thus mobilising the nation, divided as it +was into motley groups. The martial spirit which +the Shogunate aroused was turned against itself, +and the Shogunate proved unable to steer through +the crisis at last.</p> + +<p class="indent">At first the opinion of the educated class of the +nation was conflicting, but a few were eager to +see the necessary overthrow of the régime of the +Shogun. The great part gradually concurred in +denouncing the incapacity of the Shogunate to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span> +fulfil by itself the task which it was called upon +to accomplish. Still many were in favour of supporting +the Shogunate in order to enable it to +carry through its traditional policy of seclusion. +Some advocated even the closer union of the Shogunate +with the Imperial court, which was now +beginning to become again the influential political +centre of the nation in opposition to the power at +Yedo, so that there might have been a fear of the +two powers coming into collision. The conclusion, +however, of the treaty with the United States in +1858, and subsequently with other powers, bitterly +disappointed these sincere friends of the Shogunate +and emboldened its adversaries. Hitherto +those who had diametrically opposed the Shogunate +were men who had never been in any position +politically responsible. In other words, they were +doctrinaires, and not men of action, so that there +could be no serious danger to the Shogunate so +long as they contented themselves only with arguing +about national affairs in highflown language. +But the disappointment which the Shogunate gave +to its friends, turned them into sympathisers with +the radical opponents. The danger was thus +shifted from foreign relations to the serious internal +question, whether the Shogunate should be +allowed to exist any longer or not. Those who +wished for the revival of the imperial prestige +or the overthrow of the existing régime, whatever +form the revolution might take, wielded as their +forcible weapon to attack the Shogunate the denunciation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span> +that the sacred Land of the Gods had +been opened to the sacrilegious tread of hairy barbarians, +and their slogan was so persuasive that +it led the imperial court at Kyoto to issue an order +urging the Shogunate to repudiate the already +concluded treaties and to return to the time-honoured +seclusion policy, a task of utter impossibility. +To this august command from Kyoto, the +Shogunate could but respond very obsequiously, +being intimidated somewhat by the loud clamour +of these conservative patriots. Or it may be said +that the military government succumbed to the +combined force of the court-nobles and the territorial +politicians. The marriage of the fourteenth +Shogun to one of the sisters of the Emperor +Kômei, in the year 1861, though concluded +for the sake of the rapprochement of the Imperial +court and the Shogunate, did not prove so serviceable +in saving the tottering edifice of the Tokugawa +régime as had been expected. Finding that +the power and the resources of the Shogunate +were inadequate to perform the duty which it had +pledged itself to accomplish, Yoshihisa Tokugawa, +the fifteenth and last of the Shogun, resigned +all the power he had, political as well as +military, into the hands of the Emperor Meidji, +who had just succeeded his father the Emperor +Kômei. This happened in November of the year +1867. A little previous to this the proposition +of the Shogunate to open the port of Hyogo, now +Kobe, to foreign trade was agreed to by the Emperor, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span> +a fact which proves how difficult it was to +maintain the out-of-date seclusion-policy. From +this it can be seen that the Shogunate of the Tokugawa +fell, after the lapse of two hundred sixty +four years from its beginning, not from lack of +foresight on the part of their statesmen, but solely +from loss of prestige.</p> + +<p class="indent">The prestige of the Shogunate was lost, simply +because the system, such as it was, had become +anachronistic in the face of the altered conditions +of the country, which had been steadily progressing +during these centuries. In other words, the +Tokugawa Shogunate had been undermining itself +for a long time by having courageously undertaken +the honourable task which it was destined +to perform in our national history, and it +collapsed just in time when it had accomplished +its mission. The fall of the Shogunate, therefore, +must be said to have taken place very opportunely. +The overthrow of the Shogunate, however, did +not mean the mere downfall of the House of the +Tokugawa; but it was the final collapse of the +military régime, which had actually ruled Japan +for nearly seven centuries, and the demolition of +such a grand and elaborate historical edifice as +the Shogunate could not be expected to be carried +out without a catastrophe. That catastrophe +came in the form of a civil war, which raged over +the country for more than a year.</p> + +<p class="indent">After the resignation of the last of the Shogun, +the new government was instantly set up at Kyoto, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span> +at the head of which an imperial prince was +placed, who had to control all the state business +in the name of the Emperor. The councillors under +him were chosen not only from court-nobles, +but also from the able <i>samurai</i> who belonged to +the party antagonistic to the Shogunate. This +exasperated the partisans of the last Shogunate. +Though the ex-Shogun had renounced his hereditary +rights as the actual ruler of Japan, he still +remained a <i>daimyo</i> even after his resignation, and +as a <i>daimyo</i> he was the most powerful of all, for +he had a far greater number of the <i>samurai</i> under +him in his <i>hatamoto</i> than any other of his colleagues. +Besides, he had many sympathisers +among the <i>daimyo</i>. These vassals and friends of +the ex-Shogun were discontented at the turn which +the course of events had taken, and wished at least +to rescue him from a further decrease of his influence. +Induced at last by these followers to try +his fortune, the ex-Shogun asked for an imperial +audience, which was refused. Then he attempted +to force his entrance into the city of Kyoto, escorted +by his own guards and the forces of the +friendly <i>daimyo</i>, and was met by the Imperialist +army, composed of the forces of the lords of Satsuma, +Nagato, Tosa, Hizen, and other <i>daimyo</i>, +the greater part of whom had their territories in +the western provinces of Japan. At the end of +January, 1868, the two opposing armies came +into collision at Fushimi and Toba, villages in +the southern suburb of the old metropolis, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span> +the forces of the ex-Shogun gave way. Yoshihisa +hurriedly retreated to Ôsaka with his staff, and +thence by sea to Yedo, whither the imperial army +pursued him by the land-route.</p> + +<p class="indent">At Yedo some of the vassals of the Tokugawa +could not make up their minds to submit complacently +to the unavoidable lot of their suzerain and +of themselves, and insisted on making their last +stand against the approaching Imperialists by defending +the city. But the wiser counsel prevailed, +and the castle was surrendered to the Imperialists +without bloodshed at the end of April. A handful +of desperate <i>samurai</i>, who fortified themselves +in the precincts of the Temple of Uyeno, the site +of the present metropolitan park, was easily subdued +by the Imperialists. The ex-Shogun, who +had been interned at Mito on account of his having +fought against the Imperialists, was released +soon afterwards. By an Imperial grace, a member +of a lateral branch of the Tokugawa was ordered +to succeed the ex-Shogun as <i>daimyo</i>, and +made the hereditary lord of Suruga. The first +phase of the Revolution thus came to an end.</p> + +<p class="indent">The country, however, which had once been set +astir could not be pacified so easily. The next +to be chastised was the lord of Aidzu, a <i>daimyo</i> +who, remaining faithful to the Shogunate to the +last, fought desperately in the battle of Fushimi +and Toba, and retired to his territory in northern +Japan after his defeat. Though he found supporters +among the <i>daimyo</i> of the neighboring territories, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span> +the forces of the Imperialists were in the +meanwhile immensely reinforced, for the <i>daimyo</i> +of middle Japan, who had hitherto been neutral, +now joined their colleagues of the south. The +war began anew in the middle of June in the northern +part of Honto. The combined forces of the +northern <i>daimyo</i> had to fight against fearful odds, +and were successively defeated. The castle of +Aidzu was closely invested, and capitulated at +the beginning of November. The supporters of +the lord of Aidzu also surrendered one after another +to the Imperialists. It was soon after this +that the adoption of the name of Meidji, as the +designation of the opening era, was promulgated +at Kyoto.</p> + +<p class="indent">The last chivalrous feat in behalf of the Shogun +was performed by the fleet which belonged +to the former Shogunate. Before the Revolution +the Shogunate had kept a fleet consisting of eight +ships, commanded by Admiral Yenomoto, who +had received his naval education in Holland. This +was the only navy worthy of its name in Japan at +that time. After the capitulation of Yedo the +Imperial Government ordered half of the men-of-war +belonging to the fleet to be given up to +itself, allowing the rest to be kept in the hands +of the Tokugawa. The admiral was, however, +too sorrowful to part with his ships, so that a little +before the capitulation of Aidzu, he sailed out +with all his fleet from the harbour of Yedo, and +occupied Hakodate, a port at the southern end +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span> +of the island of Yezo. But the forces he was able +to land were no match for the victorious Imperialists, +who became now quite free in all other quarters. +The harbour of Hakodate was soon blockaded, +and the Pentagon Fortress was besieged +and taken. In June of the following year the +whole island of Yezo was subdued, and the new +name of Hokkaidô was given to it.</p> + +<p class="indent">With the surrender of Hakodate the military +history of the Revolution of the Meidji came to +its close, but the political transformation was not +yet consummated. What was already accomplished +concerned only the elimination of the +Shogun from the political system of the country +and the establishment of the direct rule of the +Emperor over the <i>daimyo</i>. The latter, not reduced +in number and undiminished in extent of +territories, except a few who had forfeited the +whole or a part of their territories by their resistance +to the imperial order, still continued to hold +their hereditary rights over their land and people +as in the time of the Tokugawa. In short, the national +question had only been partially solved, and +there remained much to be done before the attainment +of the final goal, the complete reconstruction +of the whole empire. Various important +changes necessary for it were put into practice +during the next four years.</p> + +<p class="indent">In the year 1868, the city of Yedo changed its +name to Tokyo, which means the eastern capital, +and was made henceforth the constant residence +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span> +of the Emperor instead of Kyoto. This was the +beginning of the new era. In July 1869, the feudal +rights of the <i>daimyo</i> over their territories and +people were abolished, after the voluntary renunciation +of their privileges on the part of the latter, +who now became hereditary governors salaried +according to the income of each respective territory. +If the Revolution had stopped short at this, +then the prestige of the territorial lords might +have still remained almost intact, for they still +resided in the same territories which they had +owned as <i>daimyo</i>, and they had still under them +standing forces, consisting of their former <i>samurai</i>. +The juridical transformation of what they +owned as their private property into objects of +their public jurisdiction was a change of too delicate +a nature to manifest to the multitude of the +people a political aspect totally different from that +of the time of the Shogunate. It needed three +years more to sweep away all these feudal shackles. +In August of the year 1871 the division of +the empire into territories was replaced by the +division into prefectures, which were far less in +number than the territories of the <i>daimyo</i>, the +jurisdiction of the hereditary governors was suspended, +and to each of the prefectures a new governor +was appointed. The allowances of the +<i>samurai</i>, which had still been hereditary, were +also suspended, and their compensation was rendered +in form of a bond, with gradations according +to their former income. The new decimal +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span> +monetary system was adopted. The Gregorian +calendar was adopted. The military service which +had been the exclusive calling of the <i>samurai</i> class +was now extended to people of all classes. The +conscription system was introduced after the examples +of the Western countries, and this reform +naturally led to the loss of the privileges of the +<i>samurai</i>. All people were now made equal before +the law. Japan was at last clothed in quite modern +attire.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<p class="h2a">EPILOGUE</p> + +<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Japan</span> of the past fifty years since the Revolution +of the Meidji may be said to have been in +a transition period, although we do not know +when nor how she will settle down after all. As +a transition period in the history of any country +is generally its most eventful epoch, so our last +half century has been the busiest time the nation +has ever experienced. Not only that. We were +ushered into the wide world, just at the time when +the world itself began to have its busiest time also. +The opening of the country at such a juncture +may be compared to a man in deep slumber, who +is aroused suddenly in the dazzling daylight of +noon. Moreover, Japan has had another and +not less important business to attend to, that is +to say, she had to trim herself, and complete her +internal reconstruction, a task which may not +perhaps come to its completion for a long time +to come. Excitation must be the natural outcome +to anybody placed in such a position. Japan has +over-worked indeed, and is yet working very hard. +She has achieved not a little already, and is still +struggling to achieve more. If we would try to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> +describe the history of Japan during these fifty +years, we should have more to tell than the history +of the preceding twenty centuries. That is +not, however, possible in the scope of this small +volume. Another reason why we need not expatiate +on this period of our national history is +because it is comparatively better known to foreigners +than the history of old Japan, though we +are not sure that it is not really misunderstood. +The root, however, of the misapprehension of +Japan of the Meidji era lies deep in the misapprehension +of the history of her past, for one +who can understand rightly Japan of the past, +may not err much in comprehending Japan of the +present. I will not, therefore, describe in detail +the contemporary history of Japan, but will content +myself by giving merely a cursory view of it.</p> + +<p class="indent">It was none but the <i>samurai</i>, the mainstay of +feudal Japan, who brought about the momentous +change of the Meidji, and it was the <i>samurai</i> of +the lower class, who acted the chief part in the +Revolution. The savants, however they might +have proved useful in fanning the nationalistic +spirit among the people, were after all not men +of action. Only the <i>samurai</i>, when permeated +with this spirit, could effect such a grand political +change. There may be no doubt that the <i>samurai</i> +undertook the task for the sake of the national +welfare, and most of all not to restore the +already rotten régime which had once existed before +the advent of the Kamakura Shogunate. But +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> +this evident truth was known neither to the court-nobles, +who dreamt only of seeing their past glory +recovered, nor to those idealists of ultra-conservative +trend, who sincerely believed that the history +of nearly twelve centuries might be simply +ignored and the golden days of the Nara period +be called back into life once more. The latter +strongly urged the personal government of the +Emperor and the restoration of the worship of +the national gods to its ancient glory, while the +former strove to recover the reins of government +into their own hands. It was the result of their +compromise, that the political organisation of the +Taïhô era was formally revived, though with not +a few indispensable modifications. Think of the +statute of eleven hundred seventy years before +recalled to reality again, and of a country, governed +by a such a petrified statute, entering the +concourse of the nations of the world in the nineteenth +century. How comical it would have been +if such a retrogression had been allowed to proceed +even for a generation? The first to be disappointed +were the court-nobles. The expectation +of the ultra-conservatives was also far from +being fulfilled. The country was in urgent need +of a new legislation conformable to the new state +of things, and the restored statute was soon found +to be utterly inadequate to serve the purpose. The +quixotic movement of the bigoted Shintoists to +persecute Buddhism, which led to the lamentable +demolition of many Buddhist sculptures and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span> +buildings of high artistic merit, was to subside +as soon as it was started, for it was now the age +of complete religious toleration, which was extended +even to Christianity soon afterwards.</p> + +<p class="indent">The most extravagant expectation of the ultra-conservatives +was thus frustrated, but the conservative +spirit in the nation, which was by no +means to be swept away at all found its devotees +among the class of the <i>samurai</i>. Though they +were the real makers of the Revolution, yet the +loss of their privileges and material interests +which it entailed, touched them sorely. A very +small fraction of them served the new government +as officials and soldiers of high and low +rank, and could enjoy life much more comfortably +than they did in the pre-Meidji days. The greater +part of the <i>samurai</i>, however, were obliged to +betake themselves to some of the callings which +they were accustomed to look down upon with +disdain, for if they did not work, the compensation +which they received from the government +did not suffice to sustain them for long. Some of +them preferred to become farmers, and those who +persisted in that line generally fared well. Many +others turned themselves into merchants, and +mostly failed; being accustomed to the simplicities +of the life and the code of soldiers, and utterly +unversed in the complexities of the code +commercial, and the trickeries of the life merchants; +and the small capital obtained by selling +their compensation-bonds was soon squandered. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span> +What wonder if they began to regret and whine +for better days of the past? Discontentment became +rampant among them; but the inducement +to its disruption was provided by the diplomatic +tension with Korea.</p> + +<p class="indent">I have no space here to dwell upon the intricate +history of the differences between Korea and +our country in the later seventies of the nineteenth +century. Suffice it to say that the militaristic +party in and out of the government favoured the +war with Korea, while the opposing party was +against it, considering it injurious to sound national +progress, especially at a time when it was +an immediate necessity for the welfare of the +country to devote all its resources to internal reconstruction. +The war party with Takamori +Saigô at its head seceded from the government. +Saigô had been a great figure since the Revolution, +as the representative <i>samurai</i> of the Satsuma, +and had a great many worshippers, so that +even after his retirement his influence over the +territory of Satsuma was immense. At last he +was forced by his adorers, whose ill-feeling against +the government now knew no bounds, to take up +arms in order to purge the government, which +seemed to them too effeminate and too radical. +Not only the warlike and conservative <i>samurai</i> +of Satsuma, but all the <i>samurai</i> in the other provinces +of Kyushû, who sympathised with them, rose +up and joined them. Siege was laid by them to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span> +the castle of Kumamoto, the site of régimental +barracks.</p> + +<p class="indent">So far they had been successful, but owing to +insufficiency of ammunition and provisions, they +could not force their way much farther. Moreover, +the Imperial Army recently organised, recruited +mostly from the common people by the +conscription system, proved very efficient, owing +to the use of Snider rifles, although at first the +new soldiers had been despised by the insurgents +on account of their low origin. The siege of +Kumamoto was at last raised; the remnant of the +defeated forces of Saigô retired to a valley near +the town of Kagoshima; Saigô committed suicide; +and the civil war ended in the victory of the government +in September 1877, seven months after +its outburst.</p> + +<p class="indent">This civil war is an epoch-making event in the +history of the Meidji era, in the sense that it was +a death blow to the last and powerful remnant +force of feudalism, the influence of the <i>samurai</i>. +Though the <i>samurai</i>-soldiers who fought on the +side of Saigô were very few in number compared +with the host of the <i>samurai</i> within the whole +empire, and though not a few <i>samurai</i>-soldiers +fought also on the opposite side, still it was clear +that the insurgents represented the interests of +the <i>samurai</i> as a class better than the governmental +army, and the defeat of the former had, +on the prestige of the class, an effect quite similar +to that which was produced in Europe of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span> +later Middle Ages by the use of firearms and +the organisation of the standing army, and significantly +reduced the traditional influence of +knights on horseback. It is for this reason that +the democratisation of the nation markedly set +in after the civil war, and with it the territorial +particularism, which had been weakened by the +Revolution, has been rapidly dying away. Political +parties of various shades began to be +formed. The works of Montesquieu and Rousseau +were translated into Japanese, and widely +read with avidity. The cry for a representative +government became a national demand. Against +the hesitating government riots were raised here +and there. To sum up the history of the second +decade of the Meidji era, we see that it strikingly +resembles French history in the first half +of the nineteenth century. The rise of the influence +of the new-born bourgeois class in modern +Japan may be said to have dated from this +epoch. Europeanisation in manners and customs +became more and more striking year by year.</p> + +<p class="indent">What is unique in our modern history is that, +parallel with the growth of the democratic tendency +in the nation, the imperial prestige effected +a remarkable increase. This seemingly contradictory +phenomenon may be explained easily by +considering how our present notion of fidelity to +the Emperor has evolved. The divine authority +of the Emperor did not suffer any remarkable +change after his personal régime ceased, though +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span> +his political prestige had been eclipsed by the +assumption of power by the Fujiwara nobles. +Even after the establishment of the Shogunate, +nobody in Japan had ever thought it possible that +the Emperor could be placed in rank equal to +or under a Shogun or any other sort of dictator, +however virtually powerful he might have been. +Through all political vicissitudes the Emperor +has remained always the noblest personage in +Japan, and in this sense he has been the focus +toward which the heart of the whole nation turned.</p> + +<p class="indent">The relation of the Emperor to the people at +large, during these periods of eclipse, was indirect. +Between them intervened the Shogun and +the <i>daimyo</i> as actual immediate rulers, so that +fidelity to the Emperor had been spoken of only +academically, and their fidelity, in a concrete sense, +had been solely centered in their immediate master, +who reciprocated it by the protection he extended +directly over them. Thus fidelity on the +one hand and protection on the other hand had +been conditioned by each other, and because the +bond was naturally an essential link of the military +régime, it was strengthened by its being +handed down from generation to generation. In +short, the fidelity of the Japanese may be said to +be a product of the military régime, and owes its +growth to the hereditary relation of vassalage. +As all the ideals and virtues cherished among the +<i>samurai</i> class used to be considered by plebeians +as worthy of imitation, if practicable in their own +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span> +circles, fidelity was also understood by them in the +same sense as among the military circles, that is +to say, as a soldierly virtue in a subordinate toward +his superior. So it grew to be more disciplinary, +self-sacrificing and devotional, than in the +times before the military régime. This condition +of the national morals had continued to the +end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, with occasional +relaxations, of course. But now that the Shogunate +and the <i>daimyo</i> were eliminated from the political +system, the foci toward which the fidelity +of the people had been turned ceased to exist, and +the fidelity remained, as it were, to be a cherished +virtue of the nation though without a goal. It +sought for a new focus, looked up one stage +higher than the Shogun, and was glad to make the +Emperor the object of its fervent devotion. Soon +it developed almost into a passion, because the +nation became more and more conscious of the +necessity of a well-centred national consolidation, +and it could find nowhere else a centre more fit +for it than the Emperor. His prestige could increase +in this way <i>pari passu</i> with the growth of +the democratic spirit in the nation. It is not, +therefore, a mere traditional preponderance, but +an authority having its foundation in modern civilisation.</p> + +<p class="indent">It cannot be denied, however, that history +clothes our imperial house with special grandeur, +which might not be sought in the case of any royal +family newly come to power, and if conservatism +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span> +would have a firm stand in Japan, it must be the +conservatism which sprang from this historical +relation of the people to the Emperor. This explains +the sudden rise of the conservative spirit, +which at once changed the aspect of the country +at the end of the second decade of the Meidji era. +It happened just at the time when the current of +Europeanisation was at its height and the realisation +of the hope of the progressives, the promulgation +of the Constitution and the inauguration +of representative government, drew very near.</p> + +<p class="indent">In February 1889 the Constitution long craved +for was at last granted, and by virtue of it the +first Imperial Diet was opened the next year. +This adoption of the representative system of government +by Japan used to be often cited as a rare +example of the wonderful progress of a nation +not European, and all our subsequent national +achievements have been ascribed by foreigners to +this radical change of constitution. Every good +and every evil, however, which the system is said +to possess, has been fully manifested in this country. +We have since been continually endeavouring +to train and accustom ourselves to the new +régime, but our experience in modern party government +is still very meagre, and it will take a +long time to see all classes of the people appropriately +interested in national politics, which is +a requisite condition to reaping the benefit of constitutional +government to the utmost. At present +we have no reason to regret, on the contrary much +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span> +reason to rejoice at, the introduction of the system.</p> + +<p class="indent">After the constitution came many organic laws, +the civil and penal code, and so forth, in order +of proclamation. This completion of the apparatus +necessary to the existence of the modern state +improved in no small measure the position of our +country in the eyes of attentive foreigners. What, +however, contributed most of all to the abrogation +of the rights of extraterritoriality enjoyed by foreigners +on Japanese soil, the object of bitter complaint +and pining on the part of patriots, was the +victory won by our army in the war against China.</p> + +<p class="indent">Before the outbreak of the Sinico-Japanese +war, China had long been regarded not only by +Western nations, but by the Japanese themselves, +as far above our country in national strength, not +to speak of the superiority of wealth as well as of +civilisation in general. Though the victory of +the expeditionary troops sent by Hideyoshi over +the Chinese reinforcements despatched by the +Emperor of the Ming to succour the invaded Koreans +was sufficient to wipe off the military humiliation +which our army had suffered on the peninsula +nine hundred years before, and had much to +do in enhancing the national self-confidence against +the Chinese, the renewed imitation of her civilisation +during the Tokugawa Shogunate turned the +scale again in favour of China even to the eyes +of the Japanese intelligents, and we had been constantly +overawed by the influence of the big continental +neighbour. So that the formal annexation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span> +of the Loochoo Islands in the first decade +of the Meidji era against the opposing Chinese +claim was considered to be a great diplomatic victory +of the new government. The failure of the +French expedition added also to the credit of the +unfathomable force of the Celestial Empire. The +grand Chinese fleet which visited our ports in the +year previous to the war was thought to be more +than our match, and made us feel a little disquieted. +Contrary to our anticipation, however, battle +after battle ended in our victory in the war +of 1894-1895, and Korea was freed from Chinese +hegemony by the treaty of Shimonoseki.</p> + +<p class="indent">Though some of the important articles of the +same treaty were made useless by the intervention +of the three Western powers, the war proved on +the whole very beneficial to our country. The +growth of the consciousness of the national +strength emboldened the people to develop their +activity in all directions. Several new industries +began to flourish. The national wealth increased +remarkably so as to enable the government to +adopt a monometallic currency in gold. Education, +high as well as low, was encouraged by the +increase of various new schools and by the +strengthening of their staffs. We laboured very +hard for the ten following years, and then the +Russo-Japanese war took place.</p> + +<p class="indent">It was indeed fortunate that we could win after +all in the war in which we put our national destiny +at stake. Not only in this war with Russia, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span> +but in that with China a decade before, we had +been by no means sure of victory, when we decided +to enter into them. It is such a war generally +that proves salutary to the victorious party, when, +after having been fought with difficulty, it ends +in a way better than had been anticipated. It +was so in the war of 1894-1895, and was not +otherwise in that waged ten years later. These +military successes, needless to say, increased still +more the splendour of the imperial prerogative +already magnificently revived. At the same time +they countenanced the growth of conservatism. +The impetus, however, which these wars gave to +the general activity of the nation necessitated the +people betaking themselves to the study and imitation +of Western civilisation. And this Europeanisation, +direct or through America, tended to +make the nation more and more progressive. +Thus conservatism in recent Japan has been +marching hand in hand with liberalism, nay, even +with radicalism, each alternately outweighing the +other. This is why present Japan has appeared +to be lacking in stability, especially in the eyes of +foreign observers.</p> + +<p class="indent">The years immediately succeeding the Russo-Japanese +war formed the culminating period of +the glorious era of Meidji, and also a turning-point +of the national history. Up to that time +foreign nations had been lavishing their kindness +in the education of the novice nation, who seemed +to them to be yet in her teens on account of having +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span> +just entered into the concert of the world as +a passive hearer. They did not know what would +become of Japan, brought up and instructed in +this way. In military affairs the English were +our first masters, then came the French and the +German. In the navy, the Dutch followed by the +English were our instructors. In the sphere of +legislation, the first advisers were the French, to +whom the Germans succeeded. The latter also +taught us their science of medicine, which to +study in Japan the German language has become +the first requisite. Besides what has been enumerated +above, knowledge of all branches of industries, +arts, and sciences has been introduced into +our country in the highly advanced stage of the +brilliant century. Who would have dreamt, however, +of the victory of the Japanese over the Russians +in January of 1904? In the war, it is true, +a great many foreigners sympathised with the +cause of the Japanese, simply because all bystanders +are unconsciously wont to take the side +of the weaker. The fall of Port Arthur and the +annihilation of the Russian navy on the Sea of +Japan were beyond all expectation. They now +began to think that they might be also taken unawares +by us, as they thought the Russians were, +forgetting that they had ignored to study the Japanese. +They rather repented that they had underestimated +the real Japanese unduly, and thereby +they have fallen into the error of overestimation. +We do not think that a sheer victory on a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span> +battlefield can in any case be taken as a measure +of the progress of civilisation in the victor. Moreover, +in what field could we have been able to +beat any European nation except in battle, if we +could beat her at all? Almost all of our cultural +factors we have borrowed from foreign countries, +and therefore they are of later introduction, so +that they could not be easily brought by our imitation, +however adroit it might be, to a stage +nearly so high as they had reached in their original +homes. But as to the art of fighting only, we +have come to practise it since the old times, and +during the successive Shogunates it had been the +calling most honoured and followed by us at the +expense of other acquirements. In short, it was +the speciality of old Japan, so that our success in +arms could not testify to the sudden jump in other +branches of our civilisation. Those foreigners, +however, who had been accustomed to judge us +from afar, looked only at the scientific and mechanical +side of modern war, of which we had +availed ourselves, and surmised that if we could +stand excellently the test in this department, we +must certainly have surpassed what they had expected +of us in all respects. This surmise, which +they felt not very agreeably, they flatly imputed +to our dissimulation and feigning, and branded +them as our national vices, instead of attributing +the miscalculation to their self-deception and ignorance +as regards things Japanese. On the contrary, +we have had never the least intention to deceive +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span> +any foreigner in the estimation of the merit +of what we have achieved. Would it not be ridiculously +absurd to assume the existence of such a +tendency in any living nation in the world?</p> + +<p class="indent">We have been thus overestimated and at the +same time begun to be somewhat disliked by those +short-sighted observers in foreign countries after +our successful war with Russia. The pet nation of +the whole world of yesterday was turned suddenly +into the most suspected and dangerous +nation of to-day! There have been many missionaries +who had personal experience of our country, +owing to their residence here for years, professing +that they have tried their utmost to plead +our cause. Unfortunately, their defence of us +has not availed much, for a great part of them +are used to depict us as a nation still evolving. +Evolving they say, for our recent national progress +is too evident a fact to be refuted, and they +wish to ascribe it to their fruitful endeavours. +Evolving, they say repeatedly, for they are fain +to show that there is still remaining in Japan a +wide field reserved for them to work, lest their +<i>raison d'être</i> in this country should otherwise be +lost forever. In fact, we are now far enough +advanced as a nation as not to require the tutelage +of the missionaries of recent times.</p> + +<p class="indent">I regret that we have among us a certain number +of typical braggarts, who unfortunately +abound in every country, and their shameless +bluffing has often caused astonishment to unprejudiced +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span> +observers in foreign countries. Nevertheless, +we as a nation are neither far better nor far +worse than any other in the world. To remain +as a petrified state, with plenty of well-preserved +relics of all ages, is what we cannot bear for our +country. We know well that a nation which produces +sight-seers must be incomparably happier +and more praiseworthy than that which furnishes +quaint objects for show to please those sight-seers. +If there be any other nation that wishes to make +its home a peepshow for others, let it do so. That +is not our business. What we aspire to earnestly +as our national ideal is to make our country able +to stand shoulder to shoulder with the senior +Western nations in contributing to the advance +and welfare of world civilisation. We shall proceed +toward this goal, however fluctuating foreign +opinion about us may be for years or ages to come.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h2> + +<p class="center">A</p> + +<p>Abe, family, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></p> + +<p>Aborigines, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></p> + +<p>Adoption, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></p> + +<p>Adzumakagami, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></p> + +<p>Agriculture, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></p> + +<p>Aidzu, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Ainu, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>ff., <a href="#Page_66">66</a>f., <a href="#Page_70">70</a>ff., <a href="#Page_82">82</a>ff., <a href="#Page_86">86</a>ff., <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>ff., <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>ff.,<br /> +<a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>ff., <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Alienation of land, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></p> + +<p>Allod-holders, Frankish, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></p> + +<p>Alphabet, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></p> + +<p>Amalgamation of cultures, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>. <i>See</i> Assimilation of cultures</p> + +<p>America, <a href="#Page_371">371</a> ff., <a href="#Page_394">394</a></p> + +<p>Amita, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></p> + +<p>Amusements, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></p> + +<p>Ancient régime, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></p> + +<p>Annals, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></p> + +<p>Ansai, Yamazaki, <a href="#Page_359">359</a></p> + +<p>Anti-Semitism, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></p> + +<p>Apaches, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></p> + +<p>Archæology, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></p> + +<p>Archery, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></p> + +<p>Architecture, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>ff., <a href="#Page_296">296</a></p> + +<p>Aristocracy, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></p> + +<p>Armour, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Art, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>ff., <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a></p> + +<p>Artisans, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Æsop, Fables of, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></p> + +<p>Ashigaru, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></p> + +<p>Ashikaga, age of, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>ff., <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>ff., <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>ff.,<br /> +<a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>ff., <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>ff., <a href="#Page_296">296</a>ff., <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Ashikaga, family, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>ff., <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>ff., <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>ff., <a href="#Page_307">307</a></p> + +<p>Ashikaga Shogunate, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>ff., <a href="#Page_215">215</a>ff., <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>ff., <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></p> + +<p>Ashikaga, town, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></p> + +<p>Assessment, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></p> + +<p>Assimilation of cultures, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>. <i>See</i> Amalgamation of cultures</p> + +<p>Astronomy, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>ff., <a href="#Page_349">349</a></p> + +<p>Augury, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></p> + +<p>Auspices, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></p> + +<p>Austria, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></p> + +<p>Ave Maria, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></p> + +<p class="center">B</p> + +<p>Balkan, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></p> + +<p>Ballad, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></p> + +<p>Ball, kicking of, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></p> + +<p>Barons, English, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></p> + +<p>Barriers, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a></p> + +<p>Bartering, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Biographies, <a href="#Page_365">365</a></p> + +<p>Bismarck, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></p> + +<p>Biwa, instrument, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></p> + +<p>Biwa, Lake, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Block-engraver, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Blood-ties, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></p> + +<p>Body-guard, of Shogun, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>ff. <i>See</i> Hatamoto</p> + +<p>Books, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>ff., <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></p> + +<p>Bookstores, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></p> + +<p>Botany, <a href="#Page_349">349</a><br /> +</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"> +<a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span> +Bourbons, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></p> + +<p>Bourgeois, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></p> + +<p>Brewers, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></p> + +<p>Bricks, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></p> + +<p>Britons, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></p> + +<p>Buddhism, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>ff., <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>ff., <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>ff., <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>ff., <a href="#Page_351">351</a>ff, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></p> + +<p>Buffoons, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></p> + +<p>Buffoons, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>ff., <a href="#Page_351">351</a>ff., <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></p> + +<p>Bulgarians, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></p> + +<p>Bunjingwa, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></p> + +<p>Byôbu, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></p> + +<p class="center">C</p> + +<p>Cæsars, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></p> + +<p>Calendar, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Calligraphy, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></p> + +<p>Calvinism, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></p> + +<p>Cape Colony, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></p> + +<p>Carlovingians, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></p> + +<p>Carpets, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></p> + +<p>Caste-system, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></p> + +<p>Castles, feudal, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></p> + +<p>Catholic, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></p> + +<p>Cattle, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></p> + +<p>Cavalry, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></p> + +<p>Celibacy, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></p> + +<p>Census, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>ff., <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></p> + +<p>Centralisation, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>ff., <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>ff., <a href="#Page_221">221</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Chaotic period of Japanese history, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></p> + +<p>Chen-Shou, Chinese historian, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></p> + +<p>Chikafusa, Kitabatake, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></p> + +<p>China, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>ff., <a href="#Page_228">228</a>ff., <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>ff., <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></p> + +<p>Chinese, people, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></p> + +<p>Chinese art, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></p> + +<p>Chinese Buddhists, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></p> + +<p>Chinese civilisation <a href="#Page_6">6</a>ff., <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>ff., <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a></p> + +<p>Chinese colonists, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></p> + +<p>Chinese language, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>ff., <a href="#Page_166">166</a>ff., <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a></p> + +<p>Chinese literature, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>ff., <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>ff., <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></p> + +<p>Chinese philosophy, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></p> + +<p>Chivalry, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></p> + +<p>Christianity, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>ff., <a href="#Page_262">262</a>ff., <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></p> + +<p>Chronicles, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>ff., <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></p> + +<p>Chronology, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Church, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></p> + +<p>Churche, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Chu-tse, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a></p> + +<p>Cities, growth of, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></p> + +<p>Civil Code, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></p> + +<p>Civil war, between two branches of Imperial family, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>ff., <a href="#Page_355">355</a></p> + +<p>Class-system, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>ff., <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></p> + +<p>Classicism, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></p> + +<p>Clay, types made of, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></p> + +<p>Clients, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>ff., <a href="#Page_115">115</a></p> + +<p>Climate, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Cochin China, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></p> + +<p>Codification, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></p> + +<p>Coins, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>ff., <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></p> + +<p>Common people, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>. <i>See</i> Plebeians</p> + +<p>Communication, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></p> + +<p>Community, religious, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></p> + +<p>Community, self-providing, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></p> + +<p>Compensation-bonds, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></p> + +<p>Condottieri, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></p> + +<p>Confiscation, <a href="#Page_345">345</a></p> + +<p>Confucius, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>ff., <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Connoisseurs, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></p> + +<p>Conscription, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></p> + +<p>Conservatism, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></p> + +<p>Constitution, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Convent, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></p> + +<p>Conventionalism, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></p> + +<p>Corporations, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br /></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"> +<a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span> +Corvée, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></p> + +<p>Court-ladies, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></p> + +<p>Court-musicians, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></p> + +<p>Court-nobles, Courtiers, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>ff., <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>ff., <a href="#Page_210">210</a>ff., <a href="#Page_215">215</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_218">218</a>ff., <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>ff., <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>f.,<br /> +<a href="#Page_383">383</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Court-philosophers, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></p> + +<p>Craft-groups. <i>See</i> Groups</p> + +<p>Crafts-men, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></p> + +<p>Crown prince, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></p> + +<p>Crusades, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></p> + +<p>Culture, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></p> + +<p>Curios, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></p> + +<p>Currency, system of, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>. <i>See</i> Monetary system and Coins</p> + +<p>Cycle, chronological, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>ff.</p> + +<p class="center">D</p> + +<p>Daibutsu, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></p> + +<p>Daimyo, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>ff., <a href="#Page_290">290</a>ff., <a href="#Page_293">293</a>ff., <a href="#Page_299">299</a>ff., <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>ff., <a href="#Page_315">315</a>ff.,<br /> +<a href="#Page_325">325</a>ff., <a href="#Page_331">331</a>ff., <a href="#Page_337">337</a>ff., <a href="#Page_358">358</a>ff., <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Dai-Nihon-shi, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></p> + +<p>Dancing, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></p> + +<p>Dark Ages, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></p> + +<p>Date, family, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></p> + +<p>Deities, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></p> + +<p>Democratisation, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>ff., <a href="#Page_390">390</a></p> + +<p>Deshima, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a></p> + +<p>Diadochi, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></p> + +<p>Dialect, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></p> + +<p>Diplomatists, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></p> + +<p>Disintegration of the Empire, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></p> + +<p>Dismemberment, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>f</p> + +<p>Dissimulation, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></p> + +<p>District-governors, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></p> + +<p>Djitô, <a href="#Page_181">181</a> ff., <a href="#Page_202">202</a>ff., <a href="#Page_212">212</a>ff., <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></p> + +<p>Doctrinaires, <a href="#Page_373">373</a></p> + +<p>Documents, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></p> + +<p>Dog-shooting, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>ff., <a href="#Page_314">314</a></p> + +<p>Domains, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>ff., <a href="#Page_90">90</a>ff., <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></p> + +<p>Domicile, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></p> + +<p>Dramatist, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></p> + +<p>Dutchmen, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>f., <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></p> + +<p class="center">E</p> + +<p>Earthenware, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></p> + +<p>East Chin dynasty of China, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></p> + +<p>East Roumelia, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></p> + +<p>Education, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>ff., <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Educational Museum, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></p> + +<p>Eighty Thousand, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>. <i>See</i> Hatamoto</p> + +<p>Elders, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></p> + +<p>El Dorado, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></p> + +<p>Embargo, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></p> + +<p>Emperor, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>ff., <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>ff., <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>ff., <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Empire style, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></p> + +<p>Empress, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></p> + +<p>England, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></p> + +<p>Englishmen, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a></p> + +<p>Epic, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></p> + +<p>Etiquette, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Europe, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>ff.</p> + +<p>European civilisation, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a></p> + +<p>European history, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></p> + +<p>Europeanisation, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></p> + +<p>Europeans, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></p> + +<p>Excavation in northern China, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></p> + +<p>Executioners, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></p> + +<p>Ex-Emperor, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></p> + +<p>Extradition, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></p> + +<p>Extra-territoriality, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>ff.</p> + +<p class="center">F</p> + +<p>Facsimile, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></p> + +<p>Family life, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Farmers, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>. <i>See</i> Peasants</p> + +<p>Fetichism, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></p> + +<p>Feudalism, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>ff., <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a><br /></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"> +<a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span> +Feudal Japan, <a href="#Page_383">383</a></p> + +<p>Feudatories, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>ff., <a href="#Page_351">351</a></p> + +<p>Fighting, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Fire-arms, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></p> + +<p>Fiscal-system, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></p> + +<p>Florence, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></p> + +<p>Flower-trimming, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>ff., <a href="#Page_244">244</a></p> + +<p>Foreign relations, Foreigners, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a></p> + +<p>Forest, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></p> + +<p>Formosa, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></p> + +<p>Fortress, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></p> + +<p>France, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></p> + +<p>Freeholders of land, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></p> + +<p>Freemen, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></p> + +<p>French, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></p> + +<p>French Revolution, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></p> + +<p>Fu-Chien, Chinese potentate, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></p> + +<p>Fudai, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>ff., <a href="#Page_296">296</a></p> + +<p>Fujiwara, age of, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>ff., <a href="#Page_163">163</a>ff., <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>ff., <a href="#Page_186">186</a>ff., <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>ff.,<br /> +<a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></p> + +<p>Fujiwara, family, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>ff., <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>ff., <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></p> + +<p>Fukuwara, Settsu, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>. <i>See</i> Kobe</p> + +<p>Fushimi, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>ff., <a href="#Page_376">376</a>ff.</p> + +<p class="center">G</p> + +<p>Gemmyô, Empress, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Genealogical records, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></p> + +<p>Generalissimo, to chastise the Ainu, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></p> + +<p>Genji-monogatari, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></p> + +<p>Genkô-shakusho, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></p> + +<p>Gentlemen, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></p> + +<p>Gentry, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></p> + +<p>German Confederation, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></p> + +<p>German Empire, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></p> + +<p>German Language, <a href="#Page_395">395</a></p> + +<p>Germans, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a></p> + +<p>Germany, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></p> + +<p>Go-Daigo, Emperor, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></p> + +<p>Goetz von Berlichingen, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></p> + +<p>Go-Kenin, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></p> + +<p>Go-Midzunowo, Emperor, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></p> + +<p>Go-Sanjô, Emperor, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></p> + +<p>Government, signification of, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></p> + +<p>Go-Yôzei, Emperor, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Great Britain, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></p> + +<p>Great Japan, History of, <a href="#Page_365">365</a></p> + +<p>Greece, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>f., <a href="#Page_136">136</a></p> + +<p>Gregorian Calendar, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></p> + +<p>Groups, system of, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>ff., <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></p> + +<p>Guild, of Medieval Europe, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></p> + +<p>Guns, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></p> + +<p class="center">H</p> + +<p>Hachiman, of Tsurugaoka, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></p> + +<p>Hai-nan, island, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></p> + +<p>Haito, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></p> + +<p>Hakata, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>ff., <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></p> + +<p>Hakodate, <a href="#Page_378">378</a></p> + +<p>Haniwa, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></p> + +<p>Hanseatic towns, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></p> + +<p>Harakiri, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Harps, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></p> + +<p>Hatamoto, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>ff., <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a></p> + +<p>Hei-an, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>. <i>See</i> Kyoto</p> + +<p>Heike, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>. <i>See</i> Taira</p> + +<p>Heike-monogatari, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></p> + +<p>Hidehira, Fujiwara, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></p> + +<p>Hidetada, Tokugawa, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></p> + +<p>Hideyoshi, Toyotomi, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>ff., <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>ff., <a href="#Page_298">298</a>ff., <a href="#Page_306">306</a>ff.,<br /> +<a href="#Page_319">319</a>ff., <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></p> + +<p>Hieta-no-Are, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>f.</p> + +<p>Highlanders, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></p> + +<p>Higo, province, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></p> + +<p>Hikwan, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>. <i>See</i> Protégés</p> + +<p>Historiography, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>f.</p> + +<p>History, as science, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>ff., <a href="#Page_73">73</a><br /> +</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"> +<a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span> +History, study of, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Hitachi, province, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></p> + +<p>Hiyei, Mount, Monasteries, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>. <i>See</i> Yenryakuji</p> + +<p>Hizen, province, <a href="#Page_376">376</a></p> + +<p>Hogen, era, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></p> + +<p>Hohenstaufen, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></p> + +<p>Hôjô, family, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>ff., <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>ff., <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></p> + +<p>Hokke, Buddhist sect, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>. <i>See</i> Nichiren-shû</p> + +<p>Hokkaidô, Island, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>ff., <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>ff., <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a></p> + +<p>Holland, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>. <i>See</i> Dutchmen</p> + +<p>Holy Roman Empire, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></p> + +<p>Homestead, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></p> + +<p>Homicide, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></p> + +<p>Hôhen, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>ff., <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></p> + +<p>Hongwanji, Temple, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></p> + +<p>Hontô, Main Island, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>ff., <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>ff., <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a></p> + +<p>Horsemanship, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></p> + +<p>Horses, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></p> + +<p>Hosokawa, family, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Hostages, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></p> + +<p>Hsiao-king, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Humanism, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>ff., <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>ff., <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></p> + +<p>Hunting, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></p> + +<p>Hyogo, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>. <i>See</i> Kobe</p> + +<p class="center">I</p> + +<p>Ideographs, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></p> + +<p>Idolatry, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></p> + +<p>Idzu, province, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></p> + +<p>Idzumi, province, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Iki, island and province, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></p> + +<p>Ikkô-shû, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>. <i>See</i> Jôdo-shinshû</p> + +<p>Illiteracy, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Illustrations, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></p> + +<p>Imagawa, family, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></p> + +<p>Imitation, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Immigrants, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Immunity, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></p> + +<p>Imperial court, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></p> + +<p>Imperial Diet, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></p> + +<p>Imperial family, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>ff., <a href="#Page_90">90</a>ff., <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></p> + +<p>Imperial household, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Imperial power, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></p> + +<p>Imperial residences, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></p> + +<p>Imperialists, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Impurity of blood, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>. <i>See</i> Pollution</p> + +<p>Iname, Soga, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></p> + +<p>Indifferentism, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></p> + +<p>Individualism, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>ff, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></p> + +<p>Indoor-life, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></p> + +<p>Infantry, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></p> + +<p>Inland Sea, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>ff., <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Invincible Armada, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></p> + +<p>Iron age, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Iruka, Soga, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></p> + +<p>Ise, province and Shrines, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Ise-monogatari, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></p> + +<p>Italian cities, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></p> + +<p>Italians, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></p> + +<p>Italy, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></p> + +<p>Iwaki, province, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></p> + +<p>Iwami, province, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></p> + +<p>Iwashiro, province, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></p> + +<p>Iyeyasu, Tokugawa, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>ff., <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>ff., <a href="#Page_321">321</a>ff., <a href="#Page_350">350</a>ff.,<br /> +<a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a></p> + +<p class="center">J</p> + +<p>Japan, climate of, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Japan, historic, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>ff., <a href="#Page_75">75</a></p> + +<p>Japan, Northern, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>ff., <a href="#Page_70">70</a></p> + +<p>Japan, Sea of, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></p> + +<p>Japan, Southern, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Japanese, people, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>ff., <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>ff., <a href="#Page_164">164</a></p> + +<p>Japanese architecture, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Japanese art, <a href="#Page_130">130</a><br /></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"> +<a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span> +Japanese authors, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></p> + +<p>Japanese history, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>ff., <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>f., <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></p> + +<p>Japanese language, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></p> + +<p>Japanese literature, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>ff., <a href="#Page_133">133</a>ff., <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>ff., <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Jesuits, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Jews, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></p> + +<p>Jimmu, Emperor, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></p> + +<p>Jingô-shôtôki, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></p> + +<p>Jingu-kôgô, Empress, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>ff., <a href="#Page_93">93</a>ff., <a href="#Page_98">98</a></p> + +<p>Jôdo-shinshû, Buddhist sect, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>. <i>See</i> Ikkô-shû</p> + +<p>Jôdo-shû, Buddhist sect, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></p> + +<p>Jôkyu, era, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></p> + +<p>Jomei, Emperor, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></p> + +<p>Jôruri, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></p> + +<p>Jôyei, era and Laws, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></p> + +<p>Jûjutsu, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>ff.</p> + +<p class="center">K</p> + +<p>Kachi, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></p> + +<p>Kaempfer, Engelhardt, <a href="#Page_284">284</a></p> + +<p>Kaga, province, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></p> + +<p>Kagoshima, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></p> + +<p>Kakemono, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></p> + +<p>Kamako, Nakatomi. <i>See</i> Kamatari</p> + +<p>Kamakura, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>ff., <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>ff., <a href="#Page_225">225</a>ff., <a href="#Page_272">272</a></p> + +<p>Kamakura, period, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>ff., <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>ff.,<br /> +<a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a></p> + +<p>Kamakura Shogunate, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>ff., <a href="#Page_182">182</a>ff., <a href="#Page_186">186</a>ff., <a href="#Page_193">193</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_197">197</a>ff., <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>ff., <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a></p> + +<p>Kamatari, Nakatomi, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>ff., <a href="#Page_140">140</a>. <i>See</i> Fujiwara</p> + +<p>Kana, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></p> + +<p>Kanazawa, Musashi, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></p> + +<p>Kanera, Ichijô, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></p> + +<p>Kanetsugu, Naoye, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></p> + +<p>Kano school of painters, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></p> + +<p>Keichû, priest, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></p> + +<p>Khubilai, Mongol Khan, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></p> + +<p>Kimmei, Emperor, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></p> + +<p>Kiso, forest of, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></p> + +<p>Kiyomori, Taira, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>ff., <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></p> + +<p>Kiyowara, family, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></p> + +<p>Knights, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></p> + +<p>Knights-errant, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></p> + +<p>Knights-immediate, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></p> + +<p>Kobe, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a></p> + +<p>Kojiki, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>f., <a href="#Page_362">362</a></p> + +<p>Kojiki-den, <a href="#Page_362">362</a></p> + +<p>Kokinshû, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></p> + +<p>Koku, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>ff., <a href="#Page_302">302</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Kokuri, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>. <i>See</i> Korea</p> + +<p>Kôkyoku, Empress, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></p> + +<p>Kômei, Emperor, <a href="#Page_374">374</a></p> + +<p>Korea, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>ff., <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>ff., <a href="#Page_386">386</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Koreans, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></p> + +<p>Koropokkuru, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></p> + +<p>Koto, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></p> + +<p>Kôtoku, Emperor, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></p> + +<p>Kôtsuke, province, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></p> + +<p>Kôya, Mount and Monasteries, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Kreis-institution, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></p> + +<p>Kugatachi, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></p> + +<p>Kujiki, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Kumamoto, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Kumaso, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></p> + +<p>Kuni, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></p> + +<p>Kutara, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>ff., <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>ff. <i>See</i> Korea</p> + +<p>Kwai-fu-sô, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></p> + +<p>Kwammu, Emperor, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Kwantô, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></p> + +<p>Kyoto, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>ff., <a href="#Page_146">146</a>ff., <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>ff., <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>ff., <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>ff., <a href="#Page_222">222</a>ff., <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>ff., <a href="#Page_232">232</a>ff., <a href="#Page_235">235</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span> +<a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>ff., <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>ff., <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_376">376</a>ff., <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a></p> + +<p>Kyushu, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>ff., <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a></p> + +<p class="center">L</p> + +<p>Labour, agricultural, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></p> + +<p>Labour, manual, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></p> + +<p>Lacquering, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></p> + +<p>Land-appropriation, by warriors, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></p> + +<p>Land-distribution, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>ff., <a href="#Page_125">125</a></p> + +<p>Landholders, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>ff., <a href="#Page_141">141</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Landlords, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>ff., <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></p> + +<p>Lands, confiscation of, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></p> + +<p>Lands, Crown, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></p> + +<p>Lands, granted by Emperors, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></p> + +<p>Lands, new exploration of, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Lands, private, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></p> + +<p>Landscapes, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></p> + +<p>Land-survey, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></p> + +<p>Land-tenure, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></p> + +<p>Learning, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>ff., <a href="#Page_345">345</a></p> + +<p>Leaseholders, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></p> + +<p>Legislation, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></p> + +<p>Legisimism, <a href="#Page_367">367</a></p> + +<p>Levantine trade, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></p> + +<p>Library, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>. <i>See</i> Kanazawa</p> + +<p>Liegnitz, battle of, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></p> + +<p>Lieutenant, of Shogun at Kyoto, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></p> + +<p>Lieutenant, of djitô, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></p> + +<p>Limes, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></p> + +<p>Lineage, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></p> + +<p>Literati, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a></p> + +<p>Longevity, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></p> + +<p>Loo-choo, islands, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>ff., <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></p> + +<p>Lung-yü, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Lutheranism, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></p> + +<p>Lyang, dynasty in China, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></p> + +<p>Lyao, river, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></p> + +<p class="center">M</p> + +<p>Mabuchi, Kamo, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></p> + +<p>Magatama, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>f.</p> + +<p>Majordomo, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></p> + +<p>Makura-no-sôshi, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></p> + +<p>Mannyô-shû, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>f.</p> + +<p>Manors, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>ff., <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>ff., <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>ff., <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a></p> + +<p>Manuscripts, historical, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></p> + +<p>Market, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></p> + +<p>Marriage, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>ff., <a href="#Page_343">343</a></p> + +<p>Maximilian I., Emperor of Germany, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></p> + +<p>Mayeta, family, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></p> + +<p>Mediatised princes of Germany, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></p> + +<p>Medicine, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></p> + +<p>Meidji, Emperor, <a href="#Page_374">374</a></p> + +<p>Meidji, era, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>f., <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>ff., <a href="#Page_387">387</a></p> + +<p>Meidji, Restoration of, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>ff., <a href="#Page_382">382</a>ff., <a href="#Page_385">385</a>ff., <a href="#Page_391">391</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></p> + +<p>Mercantilism, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></p> + +<p>Mercenary, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></p> + +<p>Merchants, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>ff., <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>ff., <a href="#Page_333">333</a>ff., <a href="#Page_340">340</a></p> + +<p>Merovingians, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></p> + +<p>Mésalliance, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Metallic types, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>. <i>See</i> Types</p> + +<p>Middle Ages, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></p> + +<p>Migration, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Mikawa, province, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></p> + +<p>Militarism, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></p> + +<p>Military affairs, <a href="#Page_395">395</a></p> + +<p>Military class, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>. <i>See</i> Warrior</p> + +<p>Military régime, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>ff., <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>ff., <a href="#Page_389">389</a></p> + +<p>Military sciences, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></p> + +<p>Military service, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></p> + +<p>Military system, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>ff., <a href="#Page_203">203</a></p> + +<p>Mimana, a Korean state, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></p> + +<p>Minamoto, family, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>ff., <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"> +<a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span> +Mines, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></p> + +<p>Ming, dynasty in China, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></p> + +<p>Mino, province, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></p> + +<p>Misapprehension, <a href="#Page_383">383</a></p> + +<p>Misogi, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>f., <a href="#Page_63">63</a></p> + +<p>Missionaries, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>ff., <a href="#Page_278">278</a>ff., <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Mito, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>ff., <a href="#Page_377">377</a></p> + +<p>Mitsukuni, Tokugawa, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></p> + +<p>Miyake, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Modernisation, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Mommu, Emperor, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Momoyama, style of art, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></p> + +<p>Monetary system, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>. <i>See</i> Currency</p> + +<p>Mongols, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>ff., <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>ff., <a href="#Page_381">381</a></p> + +<p>Monometallic system, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></p> + +<p>Mononobe, family, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Monzayemon, Chikamatsu, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></p> + +<p>Morals, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>ff., <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a></p> + +<p>Moriya, Mononobe, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></p> + +<p>Movable types, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>ff., <a href="#Page_323">323</a>ff. <i>See</i> Types</p> + +<p>Municipal councillors of Sakai, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></p> + +<p>Municipal freedom, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></p> + +<p>Murasaki-shikibu, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></p> + +<p>Mushashi, province, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></p> + +<p>Musicians, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></p> + +<p>Mutsu, province, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></p> + +<p>Myths, <a href="#Page_362">362</a></p> + +<p class="center">N</p> + +<p>Nagasaki, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>f.</p> + +<p>Nagato, province, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a></p> + +<p>Nagoya, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></p> + +<p>Naïveté, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></p> + +<p>Naka-no-Oye, Prince. <i>See</i> Tenchi, Emperor</p> + +<p>Nakatomi, family, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>. <i>See</i> Fujiwara</p> + +<p>Naniwa, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>. <i>See</i> Osaka</p> + +<p>Nara, age of, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>ff., <a href="#Page_135">135</a>ff., <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></p> + +<p>Nara, town, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></p> + +<p>National consciousness, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></p> + +<p>National gods, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>. <i>See</i> Deities</p> + +<p>Naturalism, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></p> + +<p>Navigation, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></p> + +<p>Navy, <a href="#Page_395">395</a></p> + +<p>Negoro, Temple of, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></p> + +<p>Nembutsu, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Netsuke, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></p> + +<p>Nichiren, priest, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></p> + +<p>Nichiren-shû, Buddhist sect, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>. <i>See</i> Hokke</p> + +<p>Nihongi, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>ff., <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>f.</p> + +<p>Niigata, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></p> + +<p>Nine Years, War of, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></p> + +<p>Nintoku, Emperor, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></p> + +<p>Nishijin, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></p> + +<p>Nobility, military, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></p> + +<p>Nobles, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>ff., <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>ff., <a href="#Page_183">183</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Nobunaga, Oda, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>ff., <a href="#Page_274">274</a>ff., <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></p> + +<p>Nobuzane, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></p> + +<p>Nô-dancers, <a href="#Page_345">345</a></p> + +<p>Norinaga, Motoöri, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>f.</p> + +<p>Norito, <a href="#Page_362">362</a></p> + +<p>Norizane, Uyesugi, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></p> + +<p>Normans, in Sicily, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></p> + +<p>Notes, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></p> + +<p>Novelists, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></p> + +<p>Novels, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></p> + +<p>Nutari, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></p> + +<p class="center">O</p> + +<p>Occupations of ancient Japanese, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></p> + +<p>Oda, family, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>ff., <a href="#Page_285">285</a></p> + +<p>Odawara, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></p> + +<p>Officers, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></p> + +<p>Officials, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>ff., <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>ff., <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></p> + +<p>Ohmi, province, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a><br /></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"> +<a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span> +Ohmi Laws, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></p> + +<p>Ohnin, era and civil war of, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>ff., <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></p> + +<p>Oh-no-Yasumaro, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></p> + +<p>Ohsumi, province, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></p> + +<p>Ohtomo, family, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></p> + +<p>Ohtsu, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>ff., <a href="#Page_147">147</a></p> + +<p>Ondo, strait of, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></p> + +<p>One-six, Lord, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></p> + +<p>On-no-Imoko, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Orders, mendicant, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></p> + +<p>Organic laws, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></p> + +<p>Orleans, family, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></p> + +<p>Ornaments, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></p> + +<p>Orthodox, Greek Church, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></p> + +<p>Osaka, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>ff., <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a></p> + +<p>Ôuchi, family, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>ff., <a href="#Page_240">240</a></p> + +<p>Outdoor-life in Nara age, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></p> + +<p>Overestimation, <a href="#Page_395">395</a></p> + +<p>Owari, province, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></p> + +<p class="center">P</p> + +<p>Pacific, Ocean, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Painters, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a></p> + +<p>Painting, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></p> + +<p>Pastimes, literary, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></p> + +<p>Peasants, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>ff. <i>See</i> Farmers</p> + +<p>Peasants' War, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></p> + +<p>Pedigrees, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></p> + +<p>Pedlers, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></p> + +<p>Peerage list, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></p> + +<p>Penal code, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></p> + +<p>Peninsular states, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></p> + +<p>Period-name, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></p> + +<p>Philologists, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>f.</p> + +<p>Physicians, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>.</p> + +<p>Picts, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></p> + +<p>Picts' Wall, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></p> + +<p>Pilgrims to Ise Shrines, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Pirates, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>ff., <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></p> + +<p>Plays, religious, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></p> + +<p>Plebeians, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>ff., <a href="#Page_344">344</a>ff., <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></p> + +<p>Plutocrats, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></p> + +<p>Poems, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Poetry, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></p> + +<p>Poets, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></p> + +<p>Political development, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></p> + +<p>Political parties, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></p> + +<p>Politics, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>f.</p> + +<p>Pollution, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>f., <a href="#Page_343">343</a></p> + +<p>Population, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></p> + +<p>Porcelain-making, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></p> + +<p>Port Arthur, <a href="#Page_395">395</a></p> + +<p>Portrait-painting, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Portuguese, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></p> + +<p>Pottery, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></p> + +<p>Preachers, Buddhist, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></p> + +<p>Predominant stock of Japanese, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>ff., <a href="#Page_93">93</a></p> + +<p>Prefectures, <a href="#Page_380">380</a></p> + +<p>Prehistoric, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Pre-Meidji régime, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></p> + +<p>Prerogative, imperial, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></p> + +<p>Preservation, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></p> + +<p>Priests, Buddhist, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></p> + +<p>Primogeniture, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></p> + +<p>Printing, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Privilege, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></p> + +<p>Proletariat, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></p> + +<p>Protégés, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></p> + +<p>Proto-historic, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></p> + +<p>Provinces, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></p> + +<p>Provincial governors, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></p> + +<p>Prussia, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></p> + +<p>Publication, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></p> + +<p>Public land, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Publishers, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></p> + +<p>Purchase-system, <a href="#Page_345">345</a></p> + +<p class="center">Q</p> + +<p>Quattrocento, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></p> + +<p class="center">R</p> + +<p>Race, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>ff., <a href="#Page_81">81</a></p> + +<p>Rainy season, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></p> + +<p>Ransoms, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></p> + +<p>Rationalism, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a><br /></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"> +<a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span> +Reading circle, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></p> + +<p>Realistic, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></p> + +<p>Recitation, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></p> + +<p>Red tape, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></p> + +<p>Reformation, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></p> + +<p>Reformed Church, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></p> + +<p>Reforms, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></p> + +<p>Regency, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></p> + +<p>Religion, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Religious community, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></p> + +<p>Religious movements, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></p> + +<p>Religious pictures, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></p> + +<p>Renaissance, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>ff., <a href="#Page_328">328</a></p> + +<p>Renga, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></p> + +<p>Representative government, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></p> + +<p>Reprinting of books, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Restoration of Bourbons, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></p> + +<p>Restoration of Meidji, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></p> + +<p>Restoration of Stuarts, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></p> + +<p>Retainers, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>ff., <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>ff., <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>ff., <a href="#Page_301">301</a></p> + +<p>Revenue, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></p> + +<p>Rhetoric, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></p> + +<p>Rhine, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></p> + +<p>Rice, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>ff., <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Richû, Emperor, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></p> + +<p>Rigorism, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>f.</p> + +<p>Rikuchû province, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></p> + +<p>Rôchû, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></p> + +<p>Rococo, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></p> + +<p>Roman Empire, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></p> + +<p>Roses, War of, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></p> + +<p>Rousseau, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></p> + +<p>Rowing, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></p> + +<p>Rumination, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></p> + +<p>Russians, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></p> + +<p>Russo-Japanese War, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>ff.</p> + +<p class="center">S</p> + +<p>Sado, island and province, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></p> + +<p>Saga, Emperor, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></p> + +<p>Saghalien, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></p> + +<p>Sakai, city, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>ff., <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Sakanouye-no-Tamuramaro, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></p> + +<p>Sake, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></p> + +<p>Salic law, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></p> + +<p>Samurai, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>ff., <a href="#Page_312">312</a>ff., <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>ff., <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>ff., <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></p> + +<p>Sanetomo, Minamoto, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></p> + +<p>San-kuo-chi, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>ff., <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></p> + +<p>Satsuma, province, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a></p> + +<p>Schools, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></p> + +<p>Scipios, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></p> + +<p>Scotland, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></p> + +<p>Screens, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>. <i>See</i> Byôbu</p> + +<p>Scribes, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>f., <a href="#Page_82">82</a></p> + +<p>Scroll-paintings, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></p> + +<p>Sculptures, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>ff., <a href="#Page_384">384</a></p> + +<p>Seasonal changes, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Secretaries, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></p> + +<p>Seigneur, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>ff., <a href="#Page_87">87</a></p> + +<p>Sei-shônagon, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></p> + +<p>Sekigahara, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></p> + +<p>Semi-independent lords, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></p> + +<p>Sen-no-Rikqû, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></p> + +<p>Sentimentalism, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></p> + +<p>Seppuku, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Sesshû, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></p> + +<p>Settsu, province, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></p> + +<p>Seventeen Articles, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></p> + +<p>Shamisen, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></p> + +<p>Shiba, family, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></p> + +<p>Shi-chi, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></p> + +<p>Shikoku, island, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></p> + +<p>Shimabara, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></p> + +<p>Shimatsu, family, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></p> + +<p>Shimonoseki, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>ff., <a href="#Page_393">393</a></p> + +<p>Shinano, province, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></p> + +<p>Shingon, Buddhist sect, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></p> + +<p>Shinran, priest, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></p> + +<p>Shin-shû, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>f. <i>See</i> Ikkôshu and Jôdo-shinshû</p> + +<p>Shintoism, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>ff., <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>ff., <a href="#Page_145">145</a>ff., <a href="#Page_168">168</a>ff., <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_262">262</a>f., <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></p> + +<p>Ship-building, <a href="#Page_240">240</a><br /></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"> +<a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span> +Shiragi, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>f., <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>ff., <a href="#Page_196">196</a></p> + +<p>Shirakawa, Emperor, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></p> + +<p>Shirakawa, town in Mutsu, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></p> + +<p>Shogun, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>ff., <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>ff., <a href="#Page_209">209</a>ff., <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>ff., <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>ff.,<br /> +<a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>ff., <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>ff., <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_368">368</a>ff., <a href="#Page_372">372</a>f., <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></p> + +<p>Shogunate, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></p> + +<p>Shômu, Emperor, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></p> + +<p>Shooting, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></p> + +<p>Shop-keepers, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></p> + +<p>Shôsôin, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></p> + +<p>Shôtoku, Crown Prince, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></p> + +<p>Shôyen, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>. <i>See</i> Manors</p> + +<p>Shrines, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>. <i>See</i> Shintoism</p> + +<p>Shugo, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>ff., <a href="#Page_216">216</a>ff., <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Shu-king, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></p> + +<p>Siberia, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></p> + +<p>Silesia, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></p> + +<p>Singers, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></p> + +<p>Singing, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></p> + +<p>Sinico-Japanese War, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Sinico-mania, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a></p> + +<p>Slavery, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></p> + +<p>Snider, rifle, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></p> + +<p>Social progress, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></p> + +<p>Soga, family, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>ff., <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></p> + +<p>Soga-no-Umako, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></p> + +<p>Soga-no-Yemishi, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></p> + +<p>Solidarity, national, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Southern China, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Southern Korea, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></p> + +<p>Spaniards, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></p> + +<p>Spy-system, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></p> + +<p>Ssuma-Chien, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></p> + +<p>Ssuma-Tateng, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></p> + +<p>Still-life, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></p> + +<p>Stories, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></p> + +<p>Storms, cyclonic, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></p> + +<p>Story-tellers, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></p> + +<p>Stuarts, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></p> + +<p>Students sent to China, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>ff., <a href="#Page_138">138</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Succession, law of, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Sugawara, family, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></p> + +<p>Sugawara-no-Michizane, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></p> + +<p>Sui, dynasty in China, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></p> + +<p>Suicide, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>ff., <a href="#Page_314">314</a></p> + +<p>Suiko, Empress, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>f., <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></p> + +<p>Sumpu, Shidzuoka, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></p> + +<p>Sung, dynasty in China, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>ff., <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>ff., <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a></p> + +<p>Superstitions, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a></p> + +<p>Suruga, province, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a></p> + +<p class="center">T</p> + +<p>Taïhô, era and Statutes of, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></p> + +<p>Taïkwa, era and reforms of, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>ff., <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></p> + +<p>Taira, family, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>ff., <a href="#Page_163">163</a>ff., <a href="#Page_174">174</a>ff., <a href="#Page_181">181</a>ff., <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></p> + +<p>Takakura, Emperor, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></p> + +<p>Takamori, Saigô, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Takanobu, painter, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></p> + +<p>Takauji, Ashikaga, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>ff., <a href="#Page_215">215</a></p> + +<p>Takayori, Sasaki, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></p> + +<p>Takeshi-uchi, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></p> + +<p>Tang, dynasty in China, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>ff., <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>ff., <a href="#Page_128">128</a>ff., <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_149">149</a>ff., <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></p> + +<p>Tankei sculptor, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></p> + +<p>Tanners, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></p> + +<p>Taoism, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></p> + +<p>Tatami, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Taxes, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>ff., <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></p> + +<p>Tea-ceremony, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></p> + +<p>Temmu, Emperor, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>f.</p> + +<p>Temples, Buddhist, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a></p> + +<p>Tempyô, era, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>ff., <a href="#Page_360">360</a></p> + +<p>Tenchi, Emperor, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>ff., <a href="#Page_115">115</a>ff., <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br /></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"> +<a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span> +Tendai, Buddhist sect, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></p> + +<p>Terakoya, elementary school, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></p> + +<p>Territories, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>ff., <a href="#Page_259">259</a>ff., <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>ff., <a href="#Page_300">300</a>ff., <a href="#Page_305">305</a>ff., <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_337">337</a>ff., <a href="#Page_341">341</a>ff., <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a></p> + +<p>Teutonic nobles, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></p> + +<p>Teutonic Order of Knights, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></p> + +<p>Teutons, land-system of, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></p> + +<p>Text-book, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></p> + +<p>Textiles, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></p> + +<p>Theatre, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></p> + +<p>Thirty Years' War, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></p> + +<p>Three Years, War of, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></p> + +<p>Tiles, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></p> + +<p>Toba, village, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>f.</p> + +<p>Toba-sôjô, painter-priest, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></p> + +<p>Tôdaiji, Temple, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></p> + +<p>Toi, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></p> + +<p>Tokimune, Hôjô, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Tokugawa, family, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>ff., <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>f.,<br /> +<a href="#Page_377">377</a></p> + +<p>Tokugawa, age of, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>ff., <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_353">353</a>f., <a href="#Page_361">361</a>ff., <a href="#Page_379">379</a></p> + +<p>Tokugawa Shogunate, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>ff., <a href="#Page_290">290</a>ff., <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>ff.,<br /> +<a href="#Page_309">309</a>ff., <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>ff., <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>ff., <a href="#Page_34">34</a>i, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>ff., <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>ff., <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></p> + +<p>Tokyo, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a></p> + +<p>Toleration, religious, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>f., <a href="#Page_385">385</a></p> + +<p>Tombs, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></p> + +<p>Toneri, prince, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>f.</p> + +<p>Tonkin, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></p> + +<p>Tosa, school of painters, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></p> + +<p>Totemism, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></p> + +<p>Tôtômi, province, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></p> + +<p>Towns, provincial, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></p> + +<p>Toyotomi, family, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></p> + +<p>Tozama, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></p> + +<p>Travelling, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a></p> + +<p>Tripitaka, Buddhist, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></p> + +<p>Tsuba, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></p> + +<p>Tsugaru, strait of, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></p> + +<p>Tsunayoshi, Tokugawa, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></p> + +<p>Tsushima, island and province, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></p> + +<p>Types, in printing, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>ff., <a href="#Page_322">322</a>ff. <i>See</i> Clay-types, Metallic<br /> +types, and Movable types</p> + +<p>Typhoon, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></p> + +<p class="center">U</p> + +<p>Ultra-conservatism, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Umako, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>. <i>See</i> Soga-no-Umako</p> + +<p>Unification, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>ff., <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>ff., <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a></p> + +<p>Uniqueness of the Japanese, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></p> + +<p>United States, <a href="#Page_373">373</a></p> + +<p>Unkei, sculptor, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></p> + +<p>Usufruct of land, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></p> + +<p>Utagaki, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></p> + +<p>Utai, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></p> + +<p>Utilitarianism, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Uyeno, in Toyko, <a href="#Page_377">377</a></p> + +<p>Uyesugi, family, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></p> + +<p class="center">V</p> + +<p>Vassalage, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>ff., <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></p> + +<p>Versification, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></p> + +<p>Village, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></p> + +<p>Vulgarisation, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></p> + +<p class="center">W</p> + +<p>Wakayama, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></p> + +<p>Wani, family, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></p> + +<p>War, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></p> + +<p>Warehouse, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></p> + +<p>Warfare, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Warriors, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>ff., <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>ff., <a href="#Page_289">289</a>ff., <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>ff.,<br /> +<a href="#Page_312">312</a>ff., <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a><br /></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"> +<a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span> +Weapons, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></p> + +<p>Weavers, Chinese, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></p> + +<p>Weaving, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></p> + +<p>Wei, dynasty in China, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></p> + +<p>Wen-hsüan, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></p> + +<p>West, civilisation of the, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></p> + +<p>Women, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></p> + +<p>Wood-block printing, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Wood-types, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></p> + +<p>Written characters, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></p> + +<p>Wu-ti, Emperor of China, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></p> + +<p class="center">X</p> + +<p>Xavier, Francis, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></p> + +<p class="center">Y</p> + +<p>Yamaguchi, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></p> + +<p>Yamana, family, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></p> + +<p>Yamashiro, province, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></p> + +<p>Yamato, province, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></p> + +<p>Yamato, river, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></p> + +<p>Yang-ti, Emperor of China, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></p> + +<p>Yasumaro. <i>See</i> Oh-no-Yasumaro</p> + +<p>Yasutoki, Hôjô, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Yechigo, province, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></p> + +<p>Yedo, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>ff., <a href="#Page_300">300</a>ff., <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>ff., <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>ff., <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>f. <i>See</i> Tokyo</p> + +<p>Yemishi, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>ff. <i>See</i> Soga-no-Yemishi</p> + +<p>Yenomoto, Admiral, <a href="#Page_378">378</a></p> + +<p>Yenryakuji, Temple on Mount Hiyei, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></p> + +<p>Yeshin, priest, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Yezo, island of, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>. <i>See</i> Hokkaido</p> + +<p>Yodo, river, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></p> + +<p>Yoichi, Suminokura, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></p> + +<p>Yonezawa, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></p> + +<p>Yoritomo, Minamoto, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>ff., <a href="#Page_179">179</a>ff., <a href="#Page_181">181</a>ff., <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>ff., <a href="#Page_192">192</a>,<br /> +<a href="#Page_201">201</a>ff., <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></p> + +<p>Yoriyoshi, Minamoto, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></p> + +<p>Yôsai, priest, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></p> + +<p>Yoshihisa, Ashikaga, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Yoshihisa, Tokugawa, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Yoshiiye, Minamoto, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></p> + +<p>Yoshimasa, Ashikaga, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>ff.</p> + +<p>Yoshimitsu, Ashikaga, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></p> + +<p>Yoshimoto, Imagawa, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></p> + +<p>Yoshimune, Tokugawa, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></p> + +<p>Yoshiteru, Ashikaga, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></p> + +<p>Yoshitsune, Minamoto, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></p> + +<p>Yuan, Mongol dynasty in China, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>ff., <a href="#Page_226">226</a>ff., <a href="#Page_263">263</a></p> + +<p>Yûryaku, Emperor, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></p> + +<p>Yushima, in Tokyo, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></p> + +<p class="center">Z</p> + +<p>Zen, Buddhist sect, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></p> + +<p>Zen priests, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></p> + +<p>Zodiacal signs, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<div class="tnote"> + +<p class="h2a">Transcriber's Notes:</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="indent">Throughout the document, the romanization of Japanese words was in a +form dissimilar to that used today. For instance, the era immediately +prior to the Showa era was called the Meidji era rather than the +Meiji era. No attempt was made to modernize the romanization used.</p> + +<p class="indent">Also, throughout the document there was inconsistent hyphenation of +Japanese words. No attempt was made to make the hyphenation consistent, +inasmuch as the notion of hyphenation is absent in the Japanese +language.</p> + +<p class="indent">Errors in punctuations, spelling, and inconsistent hyphenation were not +corrected unless otherwise noted below:</p> + +<p class="indent">On page vii, "foreging" was replaced with "foregoing".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page xvii, a period was added after "<span class="smcap">Growth of the Imperial Power</span>".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 16, "political devolopment" was replaced with "political +development".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 24, "necesasry" was replaced with "necessary".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 25, "later" was replaced with "latter".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 29, "archaeological" was replaced with "archæological".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 70, "necesary" was replaced with "necessary".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 81, "his his" was replaced with "his".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 92, "inucleus" was replaced with "nucleus".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 94, "dimplomatic" was replaced with "diplomatic".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 102, "succeded" was replaced with "succeeded".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 103, "conslidated" was replaced with "consolidated".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 131, "hough" was replaced with "though".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 134, "peneterated" was replaced with "penetrated".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 139, "selfsatisfaction" was replaced with "self-satisfaction".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 159, "verisification" was replaced with "versification".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 159, "sarcosanctity" was replaced with "sacrosanctity".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 168, "succees" was replaced with "success".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 169, "neghbourhood" was replaced with "neighbourhood".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 170, "comformable" was replaced with "conformable".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 179, a period was placed after "government".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 182, "maner" was replaced with "manor".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 183, "jurisriction" was replaced with "jurisdiction".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 190, "conincided" was replaced with "coincided".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 192, "annihiliation" was replaced with "annihilation".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 194, "the war of" was replaced with "the wars of".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 195, "aboriginies" was replaced with "aborigines".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 201, "warrors" was replaced with "warriors".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 222, "an an" was replaced with "in an".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 225, "Ashikaga shugo" was replaced with "Ashikaga <i>_shugo_</i>".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 227, "contemparary" was replaced with "contemporary".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 228, "ambasdor" was replaced with "ambassador".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 231, "civilisaion" was replaced with "civilization".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 238, "Hokkaido" was replaced with "Hokkaidô".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 244, "eagerely" was replaced with "eagerly".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 253, "irresistable" was replaced with "irresistible".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 270, "extotic" was replaced with "exotic".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 272, "iniated" was replaced with "initiated".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 272, "undiminised" was replaced with "undiminished".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 280, "unfication" was replaced with "unification".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 282, "roughcut" was replaced with "rough-cut".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 286, "combattants" was replaced with "combatants".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 289, "alotted" was replaced with "allotted".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 300, "terrtory" was replaced with "territory".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 305, "was reserved" was replaced with "were reserved".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 330, "catagory" was replaced with "category".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 331, "dillettanti" was replaced with "dilettanti."</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 331, "signifiance" was replaced with "significance".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 337, "diamyo" was replaced with "daimyo".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 339, "diamyo" was replaced with "daimyo".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 341, "unsufruct" was replaced with "usufruct".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 342, "whithersover" was replaced with "whithersoever".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 345, "reëtablished" was replaced with "reëstablished".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 346, "demain" was replaced with "domain".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 352, "Shinsû" was replaced with "Shinshû".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 360, "diamyo" was replaced with "daimyo".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 371, "quite" was replaced with "quiet".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 378, "diamyo" was replaced with "daimyo".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 379, "pracice" was replaced with "practice".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 389, "though" was replaced with "thought".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 389, "miliary" was replaced with "military".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 393, "Meirji" was replaced with "Meidji".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 400, "60f." was replaced with "60ff.".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 403, "67f." was replaced with "67ff.".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 403, "46f." was replaced with "46ff.".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 403, in the entry for Hsiao-king, the final comma was removed.</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 405, "289ff,." was replaced with "289ff.,".</p> + +<p class="indent">On page 411, "See" was replaced with "<i>See</i>".</p> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Introduction to the History of Japan, by +Katsuro Hara + 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