Japan Part 27

59.

276 Prince Hotta was at this time president of the Council of State (_Gorojiu_) and had charge of this first audience. I have seen in the possession of his descendant, the present occupant of the beautiful family _yas.h.i.+ki_ in Tokyo, the original of the memorandum showing the arrangement of the rooms through which Mr. Harris was to pa.s.s, and the position where he was to stand during the delivery of his congratulatory remarks.

277 In a despatch to the Secretary of State, dated November 25, 1856, Mr. Harris explains the condition of the negotiations in reference to a commercial treaty. He narrates his interview at Hongkong with Sir John Bowring, who told him that he was empowered to negotiate a commercial treaty. Mr. Harris shrewdly observes: "I shall call their (the j.a.panese government's) attention to the fact that by making a treaty with me they would save the point of honor that must arise from their apparently yielding to the force that backs the plenipotentiary and not to the justice of their demands."

278 Although Kanagawa was made an open port for trade by these treaties, the adjoining village of Yokohama was found practically better suited for the purpose. The very proximity of Kanagawa to the _Tokaido_, which led foreigners to prefer it when the treaties were made, proved to be an objection in the disordered times that followed. On this account Yokohama rapidly rose to the importance which it still holds.

279 The word means Curtain Government, in reference to the curtain with which the camp of a general was surrounded. The term is equivalent to Military Government, and is used to designate the shogun's as distinguished from the emperor's court.

280 See _The Life of Ii Naosuke_, by s.h.i.+mada Saburo, Tokyo, 1888; also the _Const.i.tutional Development of j.a.pan_, by Toyokichi Iyenaga, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 1891, p. 15.

281 Mr. Heusken who had gone to j.a.pan with Mr. Townsend Harris in 1858 was a Hollander by birth. The Dutch language at that time was almost the only medium through which communication could be had with the j.a.panese. A native interpreter turned the sentiment into Dutch, and then a person who understood both Dutch and English translated it into the latter tongue. This circuitous system of interpretation was, however, soon remedied by native scholars learning English, and by English and American scholars learning j.a.panese.

282 See _American Diplomatic Correspondence_, November 27, 1861.

283 A full account of this affair may be found in Alc.o.c.k's _Capital of the Tyc.o.o.n_, and in the _Life of Laurence Oliphant_.

284 A translation of this paper cited from the correspondence presented to Parliament is given in Adams' _History of j.a.pan_, vol. i., p.

138.

285 See Adams' _History of j.a.pan_, vol. i., p. 139.

286 In Mr. Satow's translation of _Kinse s.h.i.+riaku_ (p. 18) it is said that the _bakufu_ ordered the house of Mito to arrest the men who had broken into the English temple residence, but they made their escape into Os.h.i.+u and Dewa.

287 See the account of the negotiations of this emba.s.sy with Earl Russell in Adams' _History of j.a.pan_, vol. i., p. 177 _et seq._

288 One of the officials navely told the American minister when speaking of the reception of the emba.s.sy in the United States: "We did not believe you when you told us of the friendly feeling of your country for us; but we now see that all you said was true."

289 The daimyo was really his own son who had been adopted by his brother, the former daimyo, and who on the death of his brother had succeeded him as daimyo. s.h.i.+mazu Saburo was therefore legally the uncle of his own son.

290 Dr. J. C. Hepburn, a resident in Kanagawa at this time, attended to the wounded men at the U. S. Consulate. In a letter to me after reading the above account, he says that, "it was the common report at the time that Richardson did ride into Satsuma's train and that he (Satsuma) said, 'Kill him.' It was the general belief that Richardson brought the whole catastrophe on himself."

291 In addition to Teras.h.i.+ma there were in the company Mori Arinori, Yos.h.i.+da Kiyonari, Hatakeyama Yos.h.i.+nari, and others. They became deeply imbued with the spirit of western inst.i.tutions and with the principles of const.i.tutional liberty and toleration. Their influence upon the new career of their country was marked and salutary.

Through the agency of Mr. Laurence Oliphant a part of them became misled with the delusions of Thomas Lake Harris, and with him removed to Brocton on the sh.o.r.es of Lake Erie, U. S. where they resided for a time as members of the Brotherhood of the New Life.

They had as a.s.sociates in this singular community Lady Oliphant and her distinguished son, and like them were called upon to perform the ordinary menial employments connected with the community.

292 It should be stated here that a despatch to the British envoy from Earl Russell arrived just after the sailing of the expedition in which he says: "That Her Majesty's government positively enjoin you not to undertake any military operation whatever in the interior of j.a.pan; and they would indeed regret the adoption of any measures of hostility against the j.a.panese government or princes, even though limited to naval operations, unless absolutely required by self-defence." Had this order arrived in time, it is probable that the expedition would not have sailed.-_Correspondence Respecting Affairs in j.a.pan_, 1875, No. 1, p. 45.

293 It will be remembered that the United States at this time had occasion to use all her s.h.i.+ps-of-war at home in the civil war that was raging.

294 See _Treaties and Conventions between the Empire of j.a.pan and Other Powers_, p. 318.

295 The only additional circ.u.mstance that deserves mention in this connection is that in response to a widely expressed public sentiment the Congress of the United States in 1883 refunded to j.a.pan $785,000.87, her share in this indemnity.-See _Treaties and Conventions between the Empire of j.a.pan and Other Powers_, p. 320.

296 See translation of _Kinse s.h.i.+riaku_, Yokohama, 1876, p. 59.

297 See translation of _Kinse s.h.i.+riaku_, Yokohama, p. 50.

298 See translation of _Kinse s.h.i.+raku_, Yokohama, p. 24.

299 See citation in Adams' _History of j.a.pan_, vol. i., p. 260.

300 Toyokichi Iyenaga, Ph.D., in his pamphlet on the _Const.i.tutional Development of j.a.pan_, p. 17, traces the evolution of the present parliamentary inst.i.tutions to the conferences which were held at this and subsequent times.

301 Among these was Sanjo Saneyos.h.i.+, who afterwards for many years was the prime minister of the restored government.

302 See Adams' _History of j.a.pan_, vol. i., p. 431.

303 The annalist from whom Adams quotes gives the number of houses burned as 27,000. Adams' _History of j.a.pan_, vol. i., p. 434.

304 See the Genji Yume Monogatari and Satow's note in Adams' _History of j.a.pan_, vol. i., p. 407.

305 This distinguished soldier is better known under the name of Saigo Takamori. He was originally an ardent anti-foreign partisan, and through this sentiment became an advocate of a restoration of the emperor. His services in this revolutionary movement were rewarded by a pension granted and accepted by the emperor's express command.-See Mounsey's _Satsuma Rebellion_, London, p. 22.

306 In this reconciliation of the Satsuma and Choshu clans the court n.o.ble, Iwakura Tomomi, took a prominent part, and after the restoration was complete he became one of the princ.i.p.al officers in the new government, holding the office of _Udaijin_ until his death.

He is best known to foreigners as the head of an emba.s.sy which visited western countries in 1872-3.

307 See this memorial as given in Adams' _History of j.a.pan_, vol. ii., p. 24.

308 See Adams' _History of j.a.pan_, vol. ii., p. 24.

309 See Adams' _History of j.a.pan_, vol. ii., p. 37.

310 Translation of _Kinse s.h.i.+riaku_, Yokohama, p. 30.

311 Translation of _Kinse s.h.i.+raku_, Yokohama, p. 80.

312 See translation of _Kinse s.h.i.+riaku_, Yokohama, p. 82.

313 See translation of _Kinse s.h.i.+riaku_, Yokohama, p. 82.

314 With that talent for nicknaming which the j.a.panese exhibit, the leading party in the new government was called _Sat-cho-to_; derived from the first syllables of the clans, Satsuma, Choshu, and Tosa.

315 See Adams' _History of j.a.pan_, vol. ii., p. 84.

316 The numbers here given, of 10,000 troops in the rebel army and 1,500 in the imperial army, are much less than those claimed by the j.a.panese authorities, but Mr. Satow who had means of ascertaining the truth gives the numbers as stated in the text. See Adams'

_History of j.a.pan_, vol. ii., p. 99, note.

317 An incident connected with this return ill.u.s.trates both the times and customs of the country. Hori Kura-no-kami, a prominent retainer of the ex-shogun, besought his master to commit _hara-kiri_ as the only way in which his own honor and the dignity of the Tokugawa clan could be preserved. He offered to join him in this tragic ceremony, but the ex-shogun declined to end his life in this way. Thereupon the devoted retainer retired and in the presence of his own friends himself committed _hara-kiri_.

_ 318 American Diplomatic Correspondence_, April 3, 1868.

319 An English translation of this memorial will be found in Black's _New j.a.pan_, vol. ii., p. 84. It shows what prejudices the statesmen of that day had to overcome. See also _American Diplomatic Correspondence_, 1868, p. 727.

320 See _Kinse s.h.i.+riaku_, Yokohama, p. 116.

321 See _Kinse s.h.i.+riaku_, Yokohama, p. 125. Also _American Diplomatic Correspondence_, March 14, 1871.

322 This house was one of the five regent families (_go-sekke_) all of the Fujiwara clan, from whom the _kwambaku_, _daijo-daijin_, or _sessho_, the highest officers under the emperor, were always filled and from which the emperors selected their wives.-d.i.c.kson's _j.a.pan_, p. 52.