Japan Part 8

CHAPTER VII. EMPEROR AND SHOGUN.

The death of Yoritomo brought into prominence the very same system which had been the bane of the imperial house during many centuries. His son and the hereditary successor to his position and power was Yoriiye, then eighteen years of age. He was the son of Masago, and therefore the grandson of Hojo Tokimasa, who had been Yoritomo's chief friend and adviser. He was an idle, vicious boy, and evinced no apt.i.tude to carry on the work of his father. In this wayward career he was not checked by his grandfather, and is even said to have been encouraged to pursue a life of pleasure and gayety, while the earnest work of the government was transacted by others. Tokimasa a.s.sumed the duties of president of the Council as well as guardian of Yoriiye, and in these capacities conducted the administration entirely according to his own will. The appointments of position and rank which the father had received from the emperor were in like manner bestowed upon the son. He was made head of the military administrators stationed in the several provinces, and he also received the military t.i.tle of _sei-i-tai-shogun_, to which Yoritomo had been appointed. But these appointments were only honorary, and the duties pertaining to them were all performed by the guardian of the young man.

In the year A.D. 1203, that is in the fourth year succeeding Yoritomo's death, Yoriiye was taken sick, and was unable to fulfil his duties even in the feeble manner which was customary. His mother consulted with Tokimasa, and they agreed that Yoriiye should abdicate and surrender the heads.h.i.+p of the military administration to his brother Semman, who was twelve years of age, and his son Ichiman. Yoriiye seems to have resisted these suggestions, and even resorted to force to free himself from the influence of the Hojo. But Tokimasa was too powerful to be so easily dispensed with.

Yoriiye was compelled to yield, and he retired to a monastery and gave up his offices. Not content with this living retirement, Tokimasa contrived to have him a.s.sa.s.sinated. Semman, his brother, was appointed _sei-i-tai-shogun_, and his name changed to Sanetomo. But Sanetomo did not long enjoy his promotion, because his nephew, the son of his murdered predecessor, deemed him responsible for his father's murder, and took occasion to a.s.sa.s.sinate him. Then in turn the nephew was put to death for this crime, and thus by the year A.D. 1219 the last of the descendants of the great Yoritomo had perished. In the meantime Tokimasa had, A.D. 1205, retired to a Buddhist monastery in his sixty-eighth year, and in A.D.

1216, when he was seventy-eight, he died. The court at Kamakura was now prepared to go on in its career of effeminacy after the pattern of that at Kyoto.

Mesago, the widow of Yoritomo and daughter of Tokimasa, although she too had taken refuge in a Buddhist nunnery, continued to exercise a ruling control in the affairs of the government. She solicited from the court at Kyoto the appointment of Yoritsune, a boy of the Fujiwara family, only two years old, as _sei-i-tai-shogun_ in the place of the murdered Sanetomo.

The pet.i.tion was granted, and this child was entrusted to the care of the Hojo, who, as regents(125) of the shogun, exercised with unlimited sway the authority of this great office. The situation of affairs in j.a.pan at this time was deplorable. Go-Toba and Tsuchi-mikado were both living in retirement as ex-emperors. Juntoku was the reigning emperor, who was under the influence and tutelage of the ex-Emperor Go-Toba. Fretting under the arrogance of the Hojo, Go-Toba undertook to resist their claims. But Yos.h.i.+toku, the Hojo regent at this time, quickly brought the Kyoto court to terms by the use of his military power. The ex-Emperor Go-Toba was compelled to become a monk, and was exiled to the island of Oki. The Emperor Juntoku was forced to abdicate, and was banished to Sado, and a grandson of the former Emperor Takakura placed on the throne. Even the ex-Emperor Tsuchi-mikado, who had not taken any part in the conspiracy, was sent off to the island of s.h.i.+koku. The lands that had belonged to the implicated n.o.bles were confiscated and distributed by Yos.h.i.+toku among his own adherents. The power of the Hojo family was thus raised to its supreme point. They ruled both at Kyoto and Kamakura with resistless authority.

They exercised at both places this authority without demanding or receiving the appointment to any of the high positions which they might have claimed. They were only the regents of young and immature shoguns, who were the appointees of a court which had at its head an emperor without power or influence, and which was controlled by the creatures of their own designation. This lamentable state of things lasted for many years. The shoguns during all this time were children sent from Kyoto, sons of emperors or connections of the royal family. The Hojo ruled them as well as the country. Whenever it seemed best, they relentlessly deposed them, and set up others in their places. In A.D. 1289 the Regent Sadatoki, it is said, became irritated with one of these semi-royal shoguns, named Koreyasu, and in order to show his contempt for him, had him put in a _nori-mono_(126) with his heels upward, and sent him under guard to Kyoto.

Some of the Hojo regents, however, were men of character and efficiency.

Yasutoki, for instance, who became regent in A.D. 1225, was a man of notable executive ability, taking Yoritomo as his model. Besides being a soldier of tried capacity, he was a true friend of the farmer in his seasons of famine and trial, and a promoter of legal reforms and of the arts, which found a congenial home among the j.a.panese.

But this condition of affairs could not last always. The very same influences which put the real power into the hands of the regents were at work to render them unfit to continue to wield it. Abdication and effeminacy were gradually dragging down the Hojo family to the same level as that of the shoguns and emperors. In A.D. 1256 Tokiyori, then only thirty years old, resigned the regency in favor of his son Tokimune, who was only six years. He himself retired to a monastery, from which he travelled as a visiting monk throughout the country. In the meantime his son was under the care of a tutor, Nagatoki, who, of course, was one of the Hojo family. Thus it had come about that a tutor now controlled the regent; who was supposed to control the shogun; who was supposed to be the va.s.sal of the emperor; who in turn was generally a child under the control of a corrupt and venal court. Truly government in j.a.pan had sunk to its lowest point, and it was time for heroic remedies!

Occasionally, in the midst of this corruption and inefficiency, an event occurs which stirs up the national enthusiasm and makes us feel that there is still left an element of heroism which will ultimately redeem the nation from impending ruin. Such was the Mongolian invasion of j.a.pan in A.D. 1281. According to accounts given by Marco Polo, who evidently narrates the exaggerated gossip of the Chinese court,(127) Kublai Khan had at this time conquered the Sung dynasty in China and reigned with unexampled magnificence. He had heard of the wealth of j.a.pan and deemed it an easy matter to add this island empire to his immense dominions. His first step was to despatch an emba.s.sy to the j.a.panese court to demand the subjection of the country to his authority. This emba.s.sy was referred to Kamakura, whence it was indignantly dismissed. Finally he sent an invading force in a large number of Chinese and Korean vessels who took possession of Tsus.h.i.+ma, an island belonging to j.a.pan and lying midway between Korea and j.a.pan. Trusting to the effects of this success a new emba.s.sy was sent, which was brought before the Hojo regent at Kamakura. The spot on the seash.o.r.e is still pointed out where these imperious amba.s.sadors were put to death, and thus a denial which could not be misunderstood was given to the demands of the Grand Khan. A great invading force, which the j.a.panese put at a hundred thousand men, was immediately sent in more than three hundred vessels, who landed upon the island of Kyushu. This army was met and defeated(128) by Tokimune, and, a timely typhoon coming to their aid, the fleet of vessels was completely destroyed. Thus the only serious attempt at the invasion of j.a.pan which has ever been made was completely frustrated.

But notwithstanding this heroic episode the affairs of j.a.pan remained in the same deplorable condition. As a rule children continued to occupy the imperial throne and to abdicate whenever their Hojo masters deemed it best. Children of the imperial house or of the family of Fujiwara were sent to Kamakura to become shoguns. And now at last the Hojo regency had by successive steps come down to the same level, and children were made regents, whose actions and conduct were controlled by their inferiors.

In the midst of this state of things, which continued till A.D. 1318, Go-Daigo became emperor. Contrary to the ordinary usage, he was a man thirty-one years old, in the full maturity of his powers. He was by no means free from the vices to which his surroundings inevitably tended. He was fond of the gayety and pomp which the court had always cultivated. But he realized the depth of the degradation to which the present condition of affairs had dragged his country. A famine brought great suffering upon the people, and the efforts which the emperor made to a.s.sist them added to his popularity, and revealed to him the reverence in which the imperial throne was held. His son Moriyos.h.i.+, as early as A.D. 1307, was implicated in plans against the Hojo, which they discovered, and in consequence compelled Go-Daigo to order his retirement into a monastery. Later Go-Daigo undertook to make a stand against the arrogance and intolerance of the Hojo and induced the Buddhist monks to join him in fortifying Kasagi in the province of Yamato. But this effort of the emperor was fruitless. Kasagi was attacked and destroyed and the emperor taken prisoner. As a punishment for his attempt he was sent as an exile to the island of Oki. The Hojo Regent Takatoki put Go-Kogen on the throne as emperor. But Go-Daigo from his exile continued his exertions against the Hojo, and a.s.sistance came to him from unexpected quarters. He effected his escape from the island and, having raised an army, marched upon Kyoto.

Kusunoki Masas.h.i.+ge, who had given his aid to the emperor on former occasions, now exerted himself to good purpose. He is held in admiring remembrance to this day by his grateful country as the model of patriotic devotion, to whom his emperor was dearer than his life. Another character who stands out prominently in this trying time was Nitta Yos.h.i.+sada. He was a descendant of Yos.h.i.+ye, who, for his achievements against the Emis.h.i.+, had received the popular t.i.tle of Hachiman-taro. Nitta was a commander in the army of the Hojo, which had been sent against Kusunoki Masas.h.i.+ge. But at the last moment he refused to fight against the army of the emperor and retired with his troops and went over to the side of Masas.h.i.+ge. He returned to his own province of Kotsuke and raised an army to fight against the Hojo. With this force he marched at once against Kamakura through the province of Sagami. His route lay along the beach. But at Inamura-ga-saki the high ground, which is impa.s.sable for troops, juts out so far into the water that Nitta was unable to lead them past the promontory. Alone he clambered up the mountain path and looked out upon the sea that lay in his way. He was bitterly disappointed that he could not bring his force in time to share in the attack upon the hateful Hojo capital. He prayed to the Sea-G.o.d to withdraw the sea and allow him to pa.s.s with his troops. Then he flung his sword into the waves in token of his earnestness and of the dire necessity in which he found himself.

Thereupon the tide retreated and left a s.p.a.ce of a mile and a half, along which Nitta(129) marched upon Kamakura.

The attack was spirited and was made from three directions simultaneously.

It was resisted with determined valor on the part of the Hojo. The city was finally set on fire by Nitta, and in a few hours was reduced to ashes.

Thus the power and the arrogant tyranny of the Hojo family were sealed. It had lasted from the death of Yoritomo, A.D. 1199, to the destruction of Kamakura, A.D. 1333, in all one hundred and thirty-four years. It was a rough and tempestuous time and the Hojo have left a name in their country of unexampled cruelty and rapacity. The most unpardonable crime of which they were guilty was that of raising their sacrilegious hands against the emperor and making war against the imperial standard. For this they must rest under the charge of treason, and no merits however great or commanding can ever excuse them in the eyes of their patriotic countrymen.

The restoration of Go-Daigo to the imperial throne, under so popular an uprising, seemed to betoken a return to the old and simple system of j.a.panese government. The intervention of a shogun between the emperor and his people, which had lasted from the time of Yoritomo, was contrary to the precedents which had prevailed from the Emperor Jimmu down to that time. It was the hope and wish of the best friends of the government at this time to go back to the original precedents and govern the country directly from Kyoto with the power and authority derived from the emperor.

But the emperor was not equal to so radical a change from the methods which had prevailed for more than a century. He gave great offence by the manner in which he distributed the forfeited fiefs among those who had aided his restoration. To As.h.i.+kaga Taka-uji he awarded by far the greatest prize, while to Kusunoki and Nitta, who had in the popular estimation done much more for him, he allotted comparatively small rewards. Among the soldiers, who in the long civil wars had lost the ability to devote themselves to peaceful industries, this disappointment was most conspicuous. They had expected to be rewarded with lands and subordinate places, which would enable them to live in that feudal comfort to which they deemed their exertions had ent.i.tled them.

At this time a feud broke out between As.h.i.+kaga Taka-uji and Nitta. The former had accused Nitta of unfaithfulness to his emperor and Nitta was able to disprove the charge. He received the imperial commission to punish As.h.i.+kaga and marched with his army upon him in the province of Totomi. In the battles (A.D. 1336) which ensued, the forces of As.h.i.+kaga were completely victorious. The emperor and his court were obliged to flee from Kyoto and took up their residence in a Buddhist temple at Yos.h.i.+no in the mountainous district south of Kyoto. This was the same monastery where Yos.h.i.+tsune and Benkei had taken refuge previous to their escape into Mutsu. Almost every tree and every rock in the picturesque grounds of this romantic spot(130) bear some evidence of the one or other of these memorable refugees. The southern dynasty lasted in all fifty-seven years, down to A.D. 1374, and although it was compelled to starve out a miserable existence in exile from the capital, it is yet looked upon by historians as the legitimate branch; while the northern dynasty, which enjoyed the luxury of a palace and of the capital, is condemned as illegitimate.

This period of exile witnessed many notable events in the b.l.o.o.d.y history of the country. As.h.i.+kaga Taka-uji was of course the ruling spirit while he lived. He proclaimed that Go-Daigo had forfeited the throne and put Komyo Tenno, a brother of Kogen Tenno upon it in his stead. The insignia of the imperial power were in the possession of Go-Daigo, but Komyo, being supported by the battalions of As.h.i.+kaga, cared little for these empty baubles. The b.l.o.o.d.y sequence of affairs brought with it the death of the heroic Kusunoki Masas.h.i.+ge. He with Nitta and other patriots had undertaken to support Go-Daigo. It is said that contrary to his military judgment he attacked the forces of As.h.i.+kaga, which were vastly superior in number. The battle took place A.D. 1336, on the Minato-gawa, near the present site of Hyogo. The As.h.i.+kaga forces had cut off Kusunoki with a small band of devoted followers from the main army. Seeing that his situation was hopeless and that his brave troops must be destroyed, with one hundred and fifty men-all that were left of his little army-he retired to a farmer's house near by and there they all committed _hara-kiri_.(131) Kusunoki Masas.h.i.+ge, when about to commit suicide, said to his son Masatsura: "For the sake of keeping yourself out of danger's way or of reaping some temporal advantage, on no account are you to submit to Taka-uji. By so doing you would bring reproach on our name. While there is a man left who belongs to us let our flag be hoisted over the battlements of Mount Konzo, as a sign that we are still ready to fight in the emperor's cause."

A little later than this, in A.D. 1338, the great companion and friend of Kusunoki, Nitta Yos.h.i.+sada, came to his end. He had undertaken to promote the cause of the Emperor Go-Daigo in the northwestern provinces by co-operating with Fuji-wara-no-Yoritomo. Nitta with about fifty followers was unexpectedly attacked by As.h.i.+kaga Tadatsune, with three thousand men near f.u.kui in the province of Echizen. There was no way of escape with his little troop. In this condition he was urged to secure his personal safety. But he refused to survive his comrades. Then he rode with his brave company upon the enemy until his horse was disabled and he himself was pierced in the eye with an arrow. He drew out the arrow with his own hand, and then, in order that his body might not be identified, with his sword cut off his own head, at least so it is said! Each member of his troop followed this grewsome example, and it was only after examining the bodies of these headless corpses and the finding upon one a commission from the Emperor Go-Daigo, that the remains of the heroic Nitta were recognized. The head was sent to Kyoto and there exposed by the As.h.i.+kaga commander, and the body was buried near the place where the tragic death occurred.(132)

The As.h.i.+kaga family had now the uninterrupted control of affairs. They resided at Kyoto and inherited in succession the office of shogun.

Taka-uji, the founder of the As.h.i.+kaga shogunate, and who had held the office from A.D. 1334, died in A.D. 1358, when about fifty-three years old. He was succeeded by his son Yos.h.i.+nori who was shogun from A.D. 1359 to A.D. 1367. Having retired he was succeeded by his grandson Yos.h.i.+mitsu who in turn retired in favor of his son Yos.h.i.+motsu. By this time the precedents of abdication and effeminacy began to tell upon the As.h.i.+kaga successors, and like all the preceding ruling families it gradually sank into the usual insignificance. Some of the As.h.i.+kaga shoguns, however, were men of uncommon ability and their services to their country deserve to be gratefully remembered. A number of them were men of culture and evinced their love of elegance and refinement by the palaces which they built in Kyoto. As.h.i.+kaga Yos.h.i.+mitsu was shogun from A.D. 1368 to 1393, and at the latter date retired in favor of his young son Yos.h.i.+motsu, but lived in official retirement in Kyoto till A.D. 1409. He built the palace now known as the Buddhist monastery Kinkakuji.(133) Its name is derived from _kinkaku_ (golden pavilion) which Yos.h.i.+mitsu erected. The whole palace was bequeathed by him to the Zen sect of Buddhists and is still one of the sights best worth seeing in Kyoto.

Yos.h.i.+mitsu has been visited by much obloquy because he accepted from the Chinese government the t.i.tle of King of j.a.pan, and pledged himself to the payment of one thousand ounces of gold as a yearly tribute. It is said in explanation of this tribute that it was to compensate for damages done by j.a.panese pirates to Chinese s.h.i.+pping. But it was probably negotiated for the purpose of securing an ambitious t.i.tle on the one hand and on the other making a troublesome neighbor a tributary kingdom.

Another building which takes its origin from the As.h.i.+kaga is the To-ji-in.

It was founded by As.h.i.+kaga Taka-uji and contains carved and lacquered wooden figures of the As.h.i.+kaga shoguns which are believed in most cases to be contemporary portraits.(134)

Another of the notable As.h.i.+kaga shoguns was Yos.h.i.+masa, who held the office from A.D. 1443-1473. He retired at the latter date, and lived as retired shogun until A.D. 1490. In this interval of seclusion he cultivated the arts, and posed as the patron of literature and painting. That curious custom called _cha-no-yu_, or tea ceremonies,(135) is usually adjudged to him as its originator, but it is most probable that he only adopted and refined it until it became the fas.h.i.+onable craze which has come down to modern times. These ceremonies and his other modes of amus.e.m.e.nt were conducted in a palace which he had built called _gin-kaku_ (silver pavilion). Yos.h.i.+masa left this palace to the monks of Sho-koku-ji, with directions that it should be converted into a monastery, and in that capacity it still serves at the present time.

The period of the two imperial dynasties lasted until A.D. 1392, when a proposition was made by the Shogun Yos.h.i.+mitsu to the then reigning emperor of the south, that the rivalry should be healed. It was agreed that Go-Kameyama of the southern dynasty should come to Kyoto and surrender the insignia to Go-Komatsu, the ruling emperor of the northern dynasty. This was duly accomplished, and Go-Kameyama, having handed over the insignia to Go-Komatsu, took the position of retired emperor. Thus the long rivalry between the northern and southern dynasties was ended, and Go-Komatsu stands as the ninety-ninth in the official list of emperors. In that list, however, none of the other emperors(136) of the northern dynasty appear, they being regarded as pretenders, and in no case ent.i.tled to the dignity of divine rulers of j.a.pan.

This settlement of dynastic difficulties and the unrestricted ascendancy of the As.h.i.+kaga shoguns gave the country a little interval of peace. The condition of the peasantry at this time was most deplorable. The continual wars between neighboring lords and with the shoguns had kept in the field armies of military men, who were forced to subsist on contributions exacted from the tillers of the soil. The farmers everywhere were kept in a state of uncertainty, and had little encouragement to cultivate crops which were almost sure to fall into the hands of others.

On the coasts of Kyushu and other islands facing towards the continent piracy also sprang up and flourished apace. It was indeed an era of piracy all over the world. The Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch traders of this period were almost always ready to turn an honest penny by seizing an unfortunate vessel under the pretence that it was a pirate. The whole coast of China, according to the accounts of Pinto, swarmed with both European and Asiatic craft, which were either traders or pirates, according to circ.u.mstances. Under this state of things, and with the pressure of lawlessness and want behind them, it was not surprising that the inhabitants of the western coasts of j.a.pan should turn to a piratical life.

Knowing the j.a.panese only since centuries of enforced isolation had made them unaccustomed to creep beyond their own sh.o.r.es, we can scarcely conceive of their hardihood and venturesomeness during and subsequent to this active period. Mr. Satow(137) has gathered a most interesting series of facts pertaining to the intercourse between j.a.pan and Siam, beginning at a period as early as that now under review. Not only did this intercourse consist in sending vessels laden with chattels for traffic, but a colony of j.a.panese and a contingent of j.a.panese troops formed part of the a.s.sistance which j.a.pan furnished to her southern neighbor.

While these signs of activity were apparent on the coast, the provinces in the interior were alive with political unrest. Particularly the princ.i.p.al daimyos, who had never since the days of Yoritomo felt a master's power over them, took the present occasion to extend their dominions over their neighbors. For centuries the conflicts among them were almost unending. It is needless to undertake to disentangle the story of their wars. These daimyos were a far more distinct and pressing reality than the harmless emperor, or even than the far-removed shogun. While their ceaseless civil wars rendered the condition of the country so uncertain and so unsettled, yet the authority of the local rulers tended to preserve peace and dispense a rude kind of justice among their own subjects. Thus while in many parts of j.a.pan poverty and desolation had eaten up everything, and lawlessness and robbery had put an end to industry, yet there were some favored parts of the islands where the strong hand of the daimyos preserved for their people the opportunities of life, and kept alive the chances of industry.(138)

CHAPTER VIII. FROM THE As.h.i.+KAGA SHOGUNS TO THE DEATH OF n.o.bUNAGA.

In almost the worst period of the As.h.i.+kaga anarchy, A.D. 1542, the Portuguese made their first appearance in j.a.pan. Galvano, who had been governor of the Moluccas, gives an account of this first visit, when three fugitives from a Portuguese vessel in a Chinese junk were driven upon the islands of southern j.a.pan. Concerning the doings(139) of these fugitives we have no account in any foreign narratives.

But Fernam Mendez Pinto,(140) in his travels, etc., gives a detailed narrative of the visit which he and his companions made a few years later in a s.h.i.+p with a Chinese captain and merchandise. The exact year cannot be ascertained from Pinto's narrative, but Hildreth(141) a.s.sumes that it could not have been earlier than A.D. 1545. Pinto landed on Tane-ga-s.h.i.+ma, an island south of the extreme southern point of the island of Kyushu.

They were received with great cordiality by the prince, who evinced the utmost curiosity concerning the Portuguese who were on this s.h.i.+p. Pinto navely confesses that "we rendered him answers as might rather fit his humor than agree with the truth, ... that so we might not derogate from the great opinion he had conceived of our country."(142)

As a return for some of the kindnesses which the prince showed them, the Portuguese gave him a _harquebuse_, and explained to him the method of making powder. The present seems to have been most acceptable, and Pinto declares the armorers commenced at once to make imitations of it, "so that before their departure (which was five months and a half after) there were six hundred of them made in the country." And a few years later he was a.s.sured that there were above thirty thousand in the city of Fucheo,(143) the capital of Bungo, and above three hundred thousand in the whole province. And so they have increased from this one _harquebuse_ which they gave to the prince of Tane-ga-s.h.i.+ma, until every hamlet and city in the empire in a short time were supplied with them.(144)

A short time after their reception at Tane-ga-s.h.i.+ma the Prince of Bungo, who was a relative of the Prince of Tane-ga-s.h.i.+ma, sent for one of the Portuguese, and Pinto, by his own consent, was selected as being of a "more lively humor." He was received with great consideration, and proved himself of vast service in curing the prince of gout, with which he was affected. His success in this cure gave him immense repute, and he was initiated into all the gayeties and sports of the prince's court. In particular he amused and interested them all by firing the matchlock which he had brought with him. A son of the prince of about sixteen or seventeen years of age was infatuated with this sport, and one day, unknown to Pinto, he undertook to load and fire the matchlock, as he had seen the foreigner do. An explosion occurred, by which the young prince was much injured, and owing to this Pinto came near being put to death for having wrought this disaster. But the young prince had more sense than the attendants, and at his request Pinto was given a chance to bind up the wounds and take care of him. The result was that the young prince quickly recovered, and the fame of this cure was spread everywhere. "So that,"

says Pinto, "after this sort I received in recompense of this my cure above fifteen hundred ducats that I carried with me from this place."

Pinto made a second visit to j.a.pan in the interests of trade in 1547, which was attended by a circ.u.mstance which had far-reaching results. In critical circ.u.mstances they were called upon to take off two fugitives who appealed to them from the sh.o.r.e. A company of men on horseback demanded the return of the fugitives, but without answer they pulled off to the s.h.i.+p and took them aboard. The princ.i.p.al of these two fugitives(145) was Anjiro, whom the Jesuits usually name Anger, and his companion was his servant. They were taken in the Portuguese vessel to Malacca, where Pinto met Father Francis Xavier, who had just arrived upon his mission to the East. Xavier became intensely interested in these j.a.panese fugitives, and took them to Goa, then the princ.i.p.al seat of Jesuit learning and the seat of an archbishopric in the East Indies. Here both the j.a.panese became converts and were baptized, Anjiro receiving the name of Paulo de Santa Fe(146) (Paul of the Holy Faith), and his companion the name of John. They learned to speak and write the Portuguese language, and were instructed in the elements of the Christian religion. With these efficient helps Xavier was ready to enter j.a.pan and commence the evangelization on which his heart had long been set.

At last arrangements were made with a Chinese vessel, which according to Pinto's account was a piratical craft, to convey Xavier and his companions to j.a.pan. They arrived at Kagos.h.i.+ma, the capital of the province of Satsuma, August 15, A.D. 1549. Besides Xavier and his j.a.panese companions there were Cosme de Torres, a priest, and Jean Ferdinand, a brother of the Society of Jesus. They were cordially received by the Prince of Satsuma, and after a little, permission was given them to preach the Christian religion in the city of Kagos.h.i.+ma. The family and relatives of Anjiro, who lived in Kagos.h.i.+ma, were converted and became the first fruits of the mission. In the letters which Xavier wrote home about this time we have his early impressions concerning the j.a.panese. The princess took great interest in the subjects discussed by Anjiro, and was especially struck with a picture of the Madonna and child which he showed her. She asked to have the heads of the Christian faith put in writing in order that she might study them. For this reason a creed and a catechism were prepared and translated into the j.a.panese language, for the use of the princess and other enquirers. In one of his early letters he says: "I really think that among barbarous nations there can be none that has more natural goodness than j.a.pan."(147) In the same letter he says: "They are wonderfully inclined to see all that is good and honest and have an eagerness to learn." Xavier, in letter 79, narrates his meeting with the Buddhist priest whom he calls Ningh-Sit, which name he says means Heart of Truth.

This priest was eighty years old, and in the conversation expressed great surprise that Xavier should have come all the way from Portugal to preach to the j.a.panese.

The biographers of Xavier have given us the fullest details of his life and works. That he was a man of the most fervent piety as well as the most conspicuous ability, is apparent from the energy and success with which he conducted his short but brilliant mission. Both in their accounts of him, as well as in the papal bull announcing his canonization, the claim is distinctly set forth of his possession of miraculous power. He is represented as having raised a j.a.panese girl from the dead; as possessing the gift of tongues, that is, as being able to speak in fluent j.a.panese, although he had not learned the language; as having given an answer which when heard was a satisfactory reply to the most various and different questions,(148) such as, "the immortality of the soul, the motions of the heavens, the eclipses of the sun and moon, the colors of the rainbow, sin and grace, heaven and h.e.l.l."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

St. Francis Xavier.

Yet it must be stated that Xavier himself does not claim these miraculous powers. Indeed among the letters published by Father Horace Tursellini is one in which he thus speaks of himself: "G.o.d grant that as soon as possible we may learn the language of j.a.pan in order to make known the divine mysteries; then we shall zealously prosecute our Christian work.

For they speak and discourse much about us, but we are silent, ignorant of the language of the country. At present we are become a child again to learn the elements of the language."

The desire for trade with the Portuguese seems to have been a princ.i.p.al reason for the ready reception of the missionaries. And when the Portuguese merchant s.h.i.+ps resorted to Hirado, an island off the west coast of Kyushu, instead of the less accessible Kagos.h.i.+ma, the Prince of Kagos.h.i.+ma turned against the missionaries and forbade them from preaching and proselyting. From Kagos.h.i.+ma Xavier went to Hirado, where he was received with a salvo of artillery from a Portuguese vessel then at anchor there. Here he made a short stay, preaching the gospel as usual and with the approval of the prince establis.h.i.+ng a church. Leaving Kosme de Torres at Hirado and taking with him Fernandez and the two j.a.panese a.s.sistants he touched at Hakata, famous as the place where the Mongol invaders were repulsed. Then he crossed over to the Main island and travelling by land along the Sanyodo he entered Yamaguchi in the province of Nagato. His humble and forlorn appearance did not produce a favorable impression on the people of this city and he was driven out with obloquy. He set out for Kyoto with a party of j.a.panese merchants, and as it was winter and Xavier had to carry; on his back a box containing the vestments and vessels for the celebration of ma.s.s, the journey was trying and difficult. He arrived at Kyoto A.D. 1550 in the midst of great political troubles. A fire had destroyed a great part of what had been once a beautiful and luxurious city. Many of the princ.i.p.al citizens had abandoned it and taken up their residence with local princes in the provinces. Xavier could obtain a hearing neither from the emperor nor from the As.h.i.+kaga shoguns, who maintained a representative in the capital at this time. He preached in the street as he could obtain opportunity. But the atmosphere was everywhere unfavorable, and he resolved to abandon the field for the present. Accordingly he went back to Bungo, whence he sailed for China November 20, A.D. 1551, with the purpose of establis.h.i.+ng a mission. He had spent two years and three months in j.a.pan and left an impression which has never been effaced. He died on his way, at the little island of Sancian, December 2, A.D. 1552, aged forty-six. His body was carried to Malacca and afterward to Goa, where it was buried in the archiepiscopal cathedral.(149)

The departure and death of Xavier did not interrupt the work of the mission in j.a.pan. Kosme de Torres was left in charge and additional helpers, both priests and lay brothers, were sent to prosecute what had been so conspicuously begun. The political disturbances in Yamaguchi for a time interfered with the labors of the missionaries there. Bungo was the princ.i.p.al province where their encouragement had made their success most conspicuous. The prince had not indeed been baptized but he had permitted the fathers to preach and he had allowed converts to adopt the new religion, so that the work had a.s.sumed a promising appearance. The Prince of Omura became a convert and by his zeal in the destruction of idols and other extreme measures aroused the hostility of the Buddhist priesthood.

In Kyoto the progress of the work encountered many vicissitudes. The political troubles arising out of the contests between Mori of Choshu and the rival house interfered with the propagation of Christianity both in Yamaguchi and Kyoto. Mori himself, the most powerful prince of his time and who once held the control in ten provinces, was hostile to the Christians. By his influence the work in Kyoto was temporarily abandoned and the fathers resorted to Sakai, a seaport town not far from Osaka, where a branch mission was established.

It was in A.D. 1573 that Nagasaki became distinctively a Christian city.

At that time the Portuguese were seeking various ports in which they could conduct a profitable trade, and they found that Nagasaki possessed a harbor in which their largest s.h.i.+ps could ride at anchor. The merchants and Portuguese fathers therefore proposed to the Prince of Omura, in whose territory the port of Nagasaki was situated, to grant to them the town with jurisdiction over it. The prince at first refused, but finally by the intervention of the Prince of Arima the arrangement was made.(150) The transference to Nagasaki of the foreign trade at this early day made it a very prosperous place. The Prince of Omura had the town laid out in appropriate streets, and Christian churches were built often on the sites of Buddhist temples which were torn down to give place for them. It is said that in A.D. 1567 "there was hardly a person who was not a Christian."