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THE RISEN SUN 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 BY 
 
 (BARON' SUYEMATSU.ViScovjA,^ V(«lw.U 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 E. P. BUTTON & CO 
 
 1905 
 
 K\ 
 
.St 
 
 butler & tanner, 
 
 The Selwood Printing Works, 
 
 frome, and london. 
 
t 
 
 ^ 
 
 <y^ 
 
 w 
 
 I 
 
 
 Contents 
 
 Preface and Dedication 
 
 S^ 
 
 PAGE 
 
 vii 
 
 93 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 BOOK I 
 
 ANTECEDENT TO THE WAR 
 
 I An Anglo- Japanese View of the Far-Eastern 
 
 Question ....... 3 
 
 II Japan and Russia . , . . . . 15 
 
 III How Russia brought on War, i 898-1900 . . 36 
 
 IV How Russia brought on War, i 901- 1903 . . 64 
 V First Hostilities. Japan and the Commencement 
 
 OF the War ....... 92 
 
 BOOK II 
 A NATION IN TRAINING 
 
 I The Introduction of Western Civilization into 
 
 Japan ..... 
 II Legal Status of Foreigners in Japan 
 
 III Moral Teaching in Japan . 
 
 IV The Japanese Character 
 V The Making of a Soldier in Japan 
 
 VI Woman's Education 
 
 105 
 112 
 119 
 130 
 144 
 15s 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 VII Hara-kiri: Its real Significance . . . 163 
 
 VIII The Police System of Japan . . . .171 
 
 IX The Ethics of Japan . . . . • i77 
 
 X Religions of Japan . . . . . • i95 
 
 XI Arts and Letters . . . . . - 208 
 
 XII The Great Change in Japan .... 239 
 
 XIII His Majesty the Emperor, Ruler and Poet . 248 
 
 BOOK III 
 EXTERNAL RELATIONS 
 
 I Chinese Expansion Historically Reviewed. . 269 
 
 II Japan and France ...... 298 
 
 III Japan and a "War Indemnity . . . .312 
 
 IV Treatment of Prisoners and Wounded by the 
 
 Japanese. . . . . . . . 317 
 
 V An Answer to certain Unfair Charges against 
 
 Japan . . . . . . . . 329 
 
 VI East and West after the War . . . . 336 
 
 Epilogue ........ 342 
 
 Index . . 347 
 
 \i 
 
Preface and Dedication 
 
 I LEFT Japan for Europe on the loth of February, 1904, 
 namely, less than two days after the outbreak of the 
 Russo-Japanese war ; partly for recuperation of my health 
 after a long ailment, and partly in order to do whatever 
 I could in the West for promotion of good-will between 
 the Western nations and my fatherland at this momentous 
 hour of war. 
 
 The day after my departure from Yokohama, on board 
 the lyo-Maru, Nippon- Yushen-Kwaisha steamship, namely 
 February the nth, happened to be one of our three national 
 festive days, and it was celebrated on board the steamer. 
 I made a speech in English on that occasion, which was 
 followed by two more somewhat similar celebrations before 
 we arrived at Victoria, on which I made corresponding 
 speeches. While passing through America I gave my views 
 on the situation to many American interviewers, and my 
 observations were reported in the papers. Since my arrival 
 in Europe I have continued to give my views to numerous 
 interviewers and have made speeches. Most of these views 
 and speeches, though necessarily in curtailed forms, have 
 been reported widely in Continental as well as in English 
 papers — indeed, all over the world. I have also contri- 
 buted, sometimes by request and sometimes voluntarily, 
 many articles and letters both to English and also to 
 Continental Reviews. 
 
 vii 
 
PREFACE AND DEDICATION 
 
 The majority of these articles and letters, together with 
 some of my speeches and addresses which have been written 
 out, have been recently compiled by my secretaries in book 
 form, and this volume is the result. This has been done 
 because there are many friendly persons who take much 
 interest in my writings and who have earnestly recom- 
 mended me to collect them, on the ground that they may 
 be of some use to many people who take interest in the war, 
 and in things Japanese in general. I shall be most grateful 
 if the prediction of these friends should prove to be well 
 founded. 
 
 I have divided the resulting papers roughly into three 
 books. Those in Book I deal with the inception of the 
 situation of crisis in the Far East and the commencement of 
 the war. Those in Book II are more general in character, 
 and endeavour to explain, among other things, that 
 reserve of vital energy in resistance to aggression for 
 which the Japanese nation has been indebted to its tempera- 
 ment and its moral and intellectual training. The papers . 
 in Book III are mainly concerned with ulterior views 
 as to the relations of the Japanese Government with 
 foreign Powers, the question of the indemnity, and other 
 matters of speculation that have arisen in regard to the 
 course which destiny has traced for Japan in the history 
 of Asia. 
 
 . For this arrangement, I am wholly indebted to the valu- 
 able suggestion of Messrs. Archibald Constable. As to the 
 title of the book, too, I have accepted the suggestion from 
 the same source, though somewhat with diffidence. In 
 completing the task of combining several articles, written 
 separately at different times, in book form, some slight alter- 
 ation and revision of the original was thought necessary. 
 That part of the work has been entirely undertaken by 
 
 viii 
 
PREFACE AND DEDICATION 
 
 Messrs. Constable, with my complete approval and satis- 
 faction. 
 
 My sincere thanks for the permission to reprint these 
 articles and addresses are due to the Society of Arts, the 
 Ethological Society, the. Central Asian Society, and to the 
 proprietors and editors of different periodicals, and of the 
 book entitled " Japan by the Japanese," in which the 
 originals appeared. I may mention, among others, the 
 names of the Nineteenth Century and After, the Independent 
 Review, the Fortnightly Review, the Imperial and Asiatic 
 Quarterly Review, La Revue, and the Deutsche Revue. 
 
 I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to six 
 persons, amongst others, and I dedicate this book to them 
 collectively. The first is my teacher in my boyhood, 
 Murakami Bussan, a great poet and scholar well known in 
 Japan, who has been gone from this world now already more 
 than two decades. It was he who instructed me in Oriental 
 learning, in classics and poetry, and gave the main founda- 
 tion in the formation of my character. The second is Dr. 
 Waraker, who took much pains during my stay at Cambridge 
 in teaching me English and Roman laws, as well as the law 
 of nations. It was mainly due to his exertions that I 
 graduated with honours in the second class of the Law tripos. 
 The third is Mr. Ernest Schuster, who taught me the German 
 laws out of a sheer love of legal study. I remember how, 
 day after day, we discussed together the German laws, taking 
 Dernburg and Laband for our chief text books, the important 
 parts of which I had translated into English under his direc- 
 tion, and which we made our points of discussion. The other 
 three are Marquis Ito, Marshal Marquis Yamagata, and 
 Count Inouye, three of our elder statesmen. It was they 
 who entrusted me from time to time with many important 
 
 ix 
 
PREFACE AND DEDICATION 
 
 tasks, political or otherwise, in one way or another, and my 
 present visit to Europe is also mainly due to the suggestion 
 of these eminent men, who, I believe, thought that my stay 
 here at this important phase in the history of our nation 
 could not fail to be productive of some good. 
 
 K. S. 
 Queen Anne's Mansions, London, 
 August, 1905. 
 
 POSTSCRIPT 
 
 Before the printing of the following pages was quite 
 finished, peace has been concluded at Portsmouth (America) 
 between Russia and Japan. This will bring an end not only 
 to the anxiety felt in many ways by the whole world, but 
 also to certain strains and uneasiness caused to the 
 commerce and peaceful relations of many nations. 
 Whatever may be the views about the peace terms, one 
 thing seems certain, that Japan has shown a great moral 
 heroism in the cause of humanity and civilisation. Now 
 that peace is assured, the time seems to have arrived for 
 the world to reflect more calmly than ever upon the origin 
 of one of the greatest wars ever recorded in history ; and 
 upon the ideals and notions, as well as training and aspira- 
 tions, of the Japanese, that one of the belligerent parties 
 which had not, perhaps, been suflficiently known to the world 
 before the war. And above all the time has come to observe 
 how faithfully Japan has maintained her ambition of de- 
 serving the name of a civilized nation, and to reflect how 
 securely we may take her steady progress of the past, and 
 especially during the last ten years, as a guarantee of her 
 continued advance in the future. Time was when she was 
 
PREFACE AND DEDICATION 
 
 looked down upon by many as a petty, infantile, imitative, 
 shallow, bellicose, and aggressive nation. Our sincere hope 
 is that misconceptions of that kind may now be totally 
 dispelled, and that the world may look upon Japan as a 
 country deserving friendship. For all such purposes I 
 hope that this book of mine may be of some service. 
 
 K.. S. 
 
 Paris, 
 
 September i, 1905. 
 
 XI 
 
BOOK I 
 Antecedent to the War 
 
 B 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 AN ANGLO-JAPANESE VIEW OF THE FAR-EASTERN 
 
 QUESTION ^ 
 
 FOR many years to come the war now being waged 
 between Russia and Japan will probably be regarded 
 as pivotal in the history of Eastern Asia and the Pacific. 
 The subject, even as we can envisage it at the present day, 
 is a wide and far-reaching one, and there are already many 
 ways of approaching it. But one of the surest keys to the 
 situation, in my opinion, will ever be found in the Anglo- 
 Japanese alliance ; and it will not be inexpedient, nor will 
 it be thought unbecoming on my part, if I treat it as the 
 keynote of the following attempt at a solution of the Far- 
 Eastern Question. 
 
 Japan is now in alliance with Great Britain ; she may not 
 perhaps be worthy of that alliance, but you may be assured 
 that she is doing and will always do her best to deserve it. 
 Some people might regard the alliance as a mushroom affair 
 and the outcome of mushroom growths. On the contrary, 
 it marks the climax of a gradual process of evolution, the 
 fruit of a tree with a deep-rooted trunk. 
 
 For a long time English policy in the Far East, though 
 subject in the normal course of things to the tidal influence 
 of diplomacy, has had a trend in the direction of which we 
 are speaking, and almost every act of Britain in this sphere 
 has resulted eventually in benefit to Japan. 
 
 It was in 1854, just fifty years ago, that Japan first opened 
 her ports to America, which was soon followed by England, 
 Russia, France, and other Occidental nations, one after the 
 
 1 The substance of a speech delivered at the Constitutional Club 
 on May 5, 1904. 
 
 3 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 other, in the course of a few years. It was in that year, 
 1854, that England, together with France, fought against 
 Russia near home, in the Black Sea, and, as a consequence, 
 the combined fleets of England and France in the Far East 
 chased the Russian fleet and attacked the fortified port of 
 Petropavlovsk on the coast of Kamchatka. In its course 
 you lost your commodore by a most tragical ending of life ; 
 in its course also you once met with a heavy repulse, sustain- 
 ing a loss of two hundred men. At last, with reinforcements, 
 the English captured and demolished the fort, but, taking 
 advantage of fog, the Russian fleet had escaped a month be- 
 fore. The Russian fleet which thus escaped met with grievous 
 shipwreck ; the survivors sought the helping hand of Japan. 
 We did not know what was passing between you and Russia, 
 neither were we concerned in the matter, but from motives 
 of compassion we received these survivors well. We gave 
 them shelter at a secluded place called Hetta, in the province 
 of Idzu ; there they wished to build some new ships, in 
 order to return home. We gave materials, we lent them our 
 ship-builders, our artisans, and they succeeded in building 
 two schooners, on board of which they sailed away from 
 Japan, their departure taking place, if I remember correctly, 
 after the conclusion of peace. 
 
 In 1861 the so-called Tsushima affair took place. Tsu- 
 shima is, as you well know, an island (famous in history 
 henceforth as the scene of Togo's victory over the Baltic 
 fleet) situated in the straits of Korea — a most important 
 strategic point for Japan. In the year in question the 
 Russian fleet suddenly came to that island and landed 
 marines, and occupied part of it, with the evident intention 
 of seizing the island. This was done without any cause or 
 reason whatever, without any prior notice or diplomatic nego- 
 tiations, and in spite of the fact that Russia had entered 
 into friendly intercourse with us by treaty several years 
 previously, and in spite of our giving them a helping hand 
 in their hour of calamity. Remonstrances were of course 
 made by the island authorities, followed by those of the 
 Central Government, but the Russian Foreign Oflice took 
 no heed. It was then and there that the English fleet made 
 its appearance on the scene, and demanded the instant 
 retirement of the Russians, a demand which was obeyed ; 
 and thus the Island of Tsushima was saved to Japan. 
 
 4 
 
THE FAR EASTERN QUESTION 
 
 In 1868 the new regime of the Imperial Government was 
 inaugurated. For some years previous to that Japan was 
 divided into two great parties, one for the Imperial cause, 
 the other for the Shogunate cause. At that time England 
 was represented in Japan by the energetic and sagacious 
 Sir Harry Parkes ; there were also men like Glover, Lowther 
 and Ernest Satow, now Sir Ernest, Britain's present worthy 
 representative in China ; they all followed the lead of Sir 
 Harry Parkes in espousing the Imperial cause in opposition 
 to the strenuous support of the Shogunate cause by a certain 
 foreign Power, headed by the equally energetic and adven- 
 turous representative of that country. Most of these facts are 
 contained in the unwritten pages of the Secret History of 
 Diplomacy, so that they are not much known even in Japan, 
 still less in Europe. But one thing is certain, that England 
 has done much towards the consolidation of our empire. 
 ■ In 1874 we had the so-called Formosa affair, arising from 
 the Formosan aborigines murdering a number of Japanese 
 subjects, which ultimately led to some complication between 
 Japan and China. That complication was amicably settled 
 at last through the good offices tendered by the then British 
 representative in China. 
 
 In 1885 the Port Lazareff — Port Hamilton, affair took 
 place. The affair, as you know, was briefly this : Russia 
 attempted to snatch Port Lazareff from Korea. You, 
 England, entertaining a strong objection to this Russian 
 action, instantaneously occupied Port Hamilton as a counter- 
 check, and thus at last succeeded in compelling Russia to 
 abandon her project. This object effected, which was all 
 you wanted, you naturally gave up occupation of Port 
 Hamilton soon after. This affair did not directly concern 
 Japan herself, but she derived benefit from it all the same. 
 
 In our war with China, during 1894 and 1895, Great Britain 
 maintained her neutrality, and was, on the whole, friendly 
 with Japan. Some say England might have gone a step 
 further at the time of the intervention of the three Powers, 
 but we do not complain of that ; your keeping aloof was 
 sufficient for us. 
 
 During that war was effected the revision of our old 
 treaties with Occidental nations, which placed Japan on an 
 equal footing with other countries, admitting her for the 
 first time into the comity of civilized nations. In this affair 
 
 5 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 it was you, Great Britain, that took the lead and initiative 
 over other Powers. When Port Arthur was occupied by 
 Russia, Great Britain occupied Wei-Hai-Wei. This was 
 intended as nothing else but a counter-check to the Russian 
 aggression, and the lease was expressly made co-existent with 
 Russian occupation. This is itself a striking proof of the 
 opposing interests of Russia and Great Britain. 
 
 Then came the Boxer rising and the march on Peking by 
 the allied forces to the rescue of their several Legations. 
 The history of this is too fresh to reiterate here. It 
 is enough to say that we, the Japanese, spoken of as the 
 pagans, fought side by side with the troops of Western na- 
 tions, especially keeping up the best relations with the British 
 and Americans. It is not for me here to dwell in detail upon 
 what passed in diplomacy in the Far East, or what was done 
 by Russia after the rescue of the various Legations. It 
 will be necessary for me to give you merely a brief resume. 
 
 Russia gave repeatedly to other Powers the pledge that 
 she would relinquish her occupation of Manchuria — an 
 occupation which had been effected by her during the Boxer 
 trouble as a part of the common action of the allied Powers 
 which went to the rescue of Peking, and for which she directly 
 afterwards had received from China, for the trouble she had 
 taken, a compensation to an amount far exceeding its value. 
 At the same time in another direction she had been trying 
 to exact from China humiliating concessions, which were quite 
 contrary to, and irreconcilable with, the pledges given by her 
 to the other nations. From the beginning to the end the 
 chief efforts of diplomacy in the Far East were directed to 
 check the clandestine attempts of Russia, and make her 
 keep her pledge. In this effort England, America, and 
 Japan, stood fast together. Then came the Treaty of 
 Alliance between England and Japan in 1902 — the Man- 
 churian question had not then come to an end, and it was 
 still the pending theme. England was perfectly aware of 
 the fact. Looking back over the long history of more than 
 forty years, looking at what England has done in the Far 
 East in connexion with Japan, as I have related above, 
 I cannot but hold that it has resulted in solid benefit to 
 Japan, and it goes without saying that we feel deeply 
 indebted for the aid thus rendered by the English. 
 
 I do not doubt but that much of this has been done out 
 
 6 
 
THE FAR EASTERN QUESTION 
 
 of kindness, and from a sense of justice ; but was this all ? 
 Was there not also something else behind ? Upon looking 
 at the map you will easily see why England had adopted her 
 policy in the direction described. You have great commer- 
 cial interests in the Far East, no small political ones as 
 well. It is necessary for you to protect those interests. 
 Although only parts of the interests of your great empire 
 lie in the Far East, you could not afford to lose those inter- 
 ests, any more than a man could afford to lose a part of 
 his buildings, which loss might prove detrimental to the 
 whole construction. These interests which you have to 
 protect are identical with those of Japan. Japan has to do 
 exactly the same thing as England in guarding and protect- 
 ing her interest and safety. Such being the case, I venture 
 to say that the Treaty of Alliance between England and 
 Japan is, as I said before, the climax of a long evolution, 
 having for its basis the mutual interests of the two countries. 
 So far, this is a matter of plain fact as concerns the political 
 aspect. There are, however, insinuations abroad to discredit 
 Japan in some quarters — fomented mischievously I fear. 
 
 In the first place, they say that Japan's modern civiliza- 
 tion is only outward, and that there is every possibility of 
 a reaction setting in. Nothing can be farther from the 
 truth than this assertion, I can assure you. We have 
 strenuously striven to civilize our country by assimilating 
 certain European methods and ideas, and we have, I 
 believe, succeeded to some extent. It has cost us many 
 lives and much money. We have eaten Western apples 
 and found them delicious — they are not the apples of 
 the Seladon, and we are not likely to give them up. No ; 
 we are even going to make further improvements, and so 
 keep pace with those nations with whom we have friendly 
 intercourse. Of the material side of civilization which we 
 have adopted I can at once convince you that we shall not 
 be likely to give it up. We have electric light in Japan, as 
 in this room ; you will not doubt when I tell you that we 
 shall never return to oil or wax. We have railways ; do you 
 think we can ever go back to pedestrianism ? Shall we cut 
 the telegraph wire and again employ messengers ? 
 
 With regard to the intellectual parts of civilization, it 
 may not be so easy to convince you, but with us it is exactly 
 the same. The introduction of Western civilization into 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Japan is not limited to the material side only. In laws, 
 in science, in art, and in all the other branches of human 
 activity, we have striven to introduce your ideas — just in 
 the same degree as we have done in material objects. All 
 this we shall never give up : they have already taken deep 
 root in the Japanese mind, and they have already become 
 essential elements in the making of a compact nation. 
 Sometimes people express amazement at the changes made 
 in Japan in so comparatively short a period as thirty or 
 forty years, as though doubting its genuineness. It is 
 true that Japan has effected a great transformation ; but, 
 without in the least entertaining any idea of self-glorifica- 
 tion, I may say that Japan has always had some kind of 
 unique national civilization and conditions of social organiza- 
 tion which, together with a considerable precursory prepar- 
 ation, gave her a special power of adaptability when she 
 came to adopt this new phase of Western enlightenment, 
 and it will be, I venture to say, a fallacy to think that any 
 aborigines or tribes scattered in different parts of the globe 
 could, emulating Japan, raise themselves, in the same way, 
 as she has done at a moment's notice. 
 
 Some comments have also been made about difference 
 of race and religion. Well, the difference of race is a matter 
 we cannot transform except perhaps by gradual inter- 
 mixture. That difference, however, seems to me not very 
 important — not certainly of a kind to preclude the 
 maintenance of friendly relations, so long as other 
 assimilation could be thoroughly effected. I may also say 
 the same thing with regard to religion. Our moral precepts 
 and ethical rules are exactly the same as yours, though some 
 of their points might be more developed in Japan, while 
 some points might be more developed in Western nations. 
 Just let me illustrate this. Where any matters of charity 
 or virtue are concerned, the Japanese entertain the same 
 ideas, and act in the same way, as do their Western brethren. 
 For instance, the organization of the Red Cross Society is 
 working very well in Japan ; its members consist of about 
 one million, and its annual subscriptions amount to about 
 two millions. It is under the direct patronage of the Emperor 
 and Empress ; and of course all this is done irrespective of 
 any religion, Japan being a most tolerant country as regards 
 religion. Perfect freedom of conscience is guaranteed by 
 
 8 
 
THE FAR EASTERN QUESTION 
 
 the Constitution, and not the sHghtest difference is made in 
 the eyes of law on account of rehgion : and in social inter- 
 course it is the same. Here perhaps I might relate an 
 instance : Mr. Kataoka, who died last autumn, was a 
 Protestant, and yet was one of the leaders of the largest 
 political party. He was President of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives for several terms, and he died while still holding 
 that office. There was a hymn which he liked the best, and 
 on his dying bed he asked his friends and relatives to sing 
 it, and he passed away as he listened to it. Even the 
 Salvation Army is parading our streets under the command 
 of its English officers. Nay ! even the Mormons are allowed 
 to preach, under conditions, bien entendu, which bind them 
 not to attempt to proselytize as regards polygamy, which 
 is contrary to our laws. With these facts in view, one might 
 even say that we, as a nation, are almost too tolerant. 
 
 At all events, I am of opinion that if Enghshmen continue 
 to regard us as brothers, we shall get on very well. 
 
 People speak of the Japanese being brave in war, and 
 fighting well. Perhaps it is true ; but we should be sorry 
 if we were considered only as a fighting nation. We aspire 
 to be at least as energetic and as clever in other branches 
 of human activity as in war ; in fact, our endeavour has 
 always been directed to that end. 
 
 Here I might add a few more words. The general tendency 
 in Japan is that the more one is versed in the Western ideas, 
 the more chance one has of becoming a prominent figure 
 in all directions, more especially in politics and official occupa- 
 tions, but also in our army and navy. It amounts to the 
 same thing as saying that the brain, as it were, of Japan, 
 which regulates the wheel and the motion of the empire, 
 is, and will continue to be, animated by the Western modes 
 of thought and reasoning. These Western proclivities will 
 serve to protect Japan from the danger of acting upon 
 some unconsidered impulse and will cause her as a nation 
 to feel her international responsibilities the more. 
 
 Some fear has been entertained that the Japanese 
 soldiers might become restless and unruly after achiev- 
 ing great success over their formidable foe. But of 
 that there is no fear. Our army is founded upon the 
 universal service system ; the soldiers are patriotic and 
 fight gallantly when ordered to advance, but they are 
 
 9 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 not bellicose by nature, rather preferring peace, and, more- 
 over, perfect order and discipline prevail among them. It 
 was just one day after the rupture of diplomatic relations 
 with Russia that I met with General Count Katsura, the 
 Premier of Japan, when he told me that during that long 
 protracted negotiation with Russia not one of our military 
 or naval officers or men had come to him to disturb him 
 with their opinions on diplomacy or politics. This will 
 perhaps give you some idea of what are the characteristics 
 of our army. It appears also that some apprehensions have 
 been entertained lest some kind of amalgamation might 
 be effected between China and Japan which might cause 
 danger to the Western Powers. But I am far from believing 
 this ! China is a very nice country. The Chinese, however, 
 are not a warlike or aggrandising nation. China is and 
 has always been, and will be, a good market for all civilized 
 nations so long as she is left undisturbed and her integrity 
 is respected. The characteristics and notions in general 
 in China and Japan represent such marked differences that 
 it is a matter of impossibility to amalgamate these two 
 nations ; nor does Japan ever entertain such ambitious ideas. 
 All that Japan wishes is to maintain a peaceful, commercial 
 intercourse with China, in common with other civilized 
 nations ; and Japan's policy will always be worked on these 
 lines. I am confident that this policy of Japan is in accord 
 with English ideas, and I do not believe that the direction 
 of English policy differs from ours in any way. This is again 
 satisfactory evidence that British and Japanese interests 
 are identical, and hence the necessity of maintaining a 
 close and cordial relationship, which is the same thing as 
 continuing the actual status of the present alliance. I said 
 in the beginning of my discourse that the present state of 
 things marked the climax of a long evolution ; I might 
 almost say that it is an outcome of English policy in the 
 East, which may be considered as already traditional. 
 In its long course it was sometimes adopted by the Liberal 
 Government and sometimes by the Conservative, which you 
 can easily discover by peeping into the pages of history ; 
 and, besides, I am happy to notice that it is backed by almost 
 all the subjects of the great British Empire. Hence I may 
 affirm that it is your national policy. An alliance of this 
 kind does not involve the thwarting of other nations ; on 
 
 10 
 
THE FAR EASTERN QUESTION 
 
 the contrary, we wish also to keep up friendly relations 
 with them, which I presume is also the intention of Great 
 Britain, and hence the Japanese are not jealous of Great 
 Britain making an entente cordiale with any of these 
 nations. In fact, I do not doubt that among these nations 
 too, even in France or Germany, there is many a heart 
 which is beating in sympathy with Japan at this trying 
 hour of hers. It must be understood, however, that in 
 these friendships all round there must be some difference of 
 degree. Amongst these other nations we desire the best 
 friendship with the United States of America. Almost 
 all the sentiments I have expressed relating to your country 
 are also applicable to the United States, and, besides, there 
 is no difference in the Far East in the interest and policy of 
 England, the United States, and Japan. The Americans 
 have shown their sympathy with Japan at this momentous 
 hour in no less degree than Great Britain. I would fain 
 that America would advance a step farther and enter upon 
 a more concise relationship. I understand that it is the 
 policy of both the English and American Governments 
 that they should keep up a close and friendly relationship, 
 and I also understand this aspiration to be that of the 
 thinking parts of both nations, an aspiration towards which 
 they have already succeeded in converting the vast bulk of 
 their fellow-countrymen. There may, perchance, be some 
 trifling difference of feeling now and then between some 
 few particular individuals ; but if there be such, they are, 
 after all, like little differences of opinion between brothers 
 and sisters or cousins. You cannot permanently or irre- 
 vocably cut the natural bonds of Anglo-Saxon blood. Let 
 then Great Britain and America be closely united, and 
 allow Japan to stand by their side — it will be a sight worth 
 seeing ! Were England, America and Japan, I say, to 
 stand thus together in the Far East, that fact alone could 
 not but be a great bulwark for the preservation of permanent 
 peace and the furtherance of civilization, without in any 
 way prejudicing the equitable rights and interests of other 
 civilized nations. 
 
 I am told, and I also know, that Britishers are difficult to 
 make friends with, but we also know that when once they 
 become friends their friendship is constant and enduring, and 
 so it is with the British nation at large. The present Treaty 
 
 II 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 of Alliance is terminable after five years ; but I would fain 
 it were made perpetual. Nor is this merely for the interests 
 of Japan. Suppose Japan were worsted in the war now 
 waging, and Northern China fell into the hands of a certain 
 other Power, what would be the result ? British interests 
 in the Far East would soon, I fear, be an obsolete ex- 
 pression. Japan has now embarked on a great task. She 
 thoroughly recognizes its magnitude and gravity. She is, 
 however, convinced that she is not fighting merely for 
 personal political aims, but that she is fighting also in the 
 interests of civilization and humanity. She is fighting for 
 her own sake of course, but at the same time she is carrying 
 on the contest at the mandate of England and America, as 
 it were, in the cause of civilization and humanity. And, 
 therefore, from the point of view of justice, humanity, interest 
 and friendship, I earnestly ask you to continue your warm 
 sympathy with Japan. 
 
 12 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 JAPAN AND RUSSIA ^ 
 
 IN the following pages an effort has been made to trace 
 the course of events and negotiations precedent to the 
 outbreak of hostilities in the Far East. The most trust- 
 worthy sources of information have been drawn upon, viz., 
 the Blue Book issued by the British Government, entitled 
 " Correspondence regarding the Russian Occupation of Man- 
 churia and Newchwang"^ and the White JBook concerning 
 " The Negotiations between Japan and Russia, 1903-1904," 
 presented by the Government of Tokio to the Imperial 
 Diet this year. These official records have been supple- 
 mented by references to acknowledged facts in the recent 
 history of the Extreme East, and if the account now given 
 is somewhat lengthy, though compressed as much as possible, 
 the circumstance is to be ascribed to the wide area which, 
 geographically and historically, it was needful that the 
 statement should be made to embrace. 
 
 The anxiety felt in Japan about Russian methods had 
 its origin at least as far back as the eighteenth century, 
 when the encroachments of Russian settlers began in the 
 Kurile Islands, which are Japanese territory, and extend 
 in a prolonged chain from Yeso (now ofhcially termed 
 Hokkaido) to Cape Lopatka. There were frequent intru- 
 sions by Russians early in the last century, moreover, upon 
 Yeso and the neighbouring islands, and Russia seized the 
 opportunity, when the opening of the Empire to foreign 
 intercourse had caused internal dissensions in Japan itself, 
 to take possession of the northern half of Saghalien, an 
 island which up to that time had been regarded as wholly 
 
 1 The Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review, July, 1904. 
 
 2 China, No. 2, 1904. 
 
 13 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Japanese property. In the end, at a later date she suc- 
 ceeded in depriving Japan of the southern half also, and 
 thus acquired for herself possession of the entire island. 
 In 1861 the Russians attempted the annexation of Tsushima, 
 Japan's outpost in the Straits of Korea, having landed 
 men surreptitiously from the cruiser Posadnik and quartered 
 them ashore. This design was, however, frustrated by 
 the vigilance of the British Admiral, Sir James Hope, who, 
 on learning of the Russian descent upon the island, took, 
 together with Mr. Oliphant, Secretary of the British Lega- 
 tion in Japan, such strenuous action as left the intruders 
 no option but to retire from the position which they had 
 illegally taken up. The opportunity presented by China's 
 difficulties with France and Great Britain over events in 
 North China had at this time been seized by Russia to exact 
 from the Peking Government the cession of the entire Eastern 
 littoral of Manchuria down to the Korean frontier, with 
 its bays and harbours, including the site of Vladivostock. 
 In 1885 the Russians attempted to snatch Port Lazareff 
 from Korea, and although that attempt was thwarted 
 by the prompt action of England, Russia's ambitions in 
 respect of her progress southward never ceased to be active. 
 Thus in 1891 she began that gigantic undertaking, the Trans- 
 Siberian Railway, and immediately on the conclusion of 
 the Chino- Japanese war she wrested from China, by succes- 
 sive machinations, concessions and subordinate privileges 
 in connexion with the so-called Eastern Chinese Railway, 
 which spread itself not only across the whole width of 
 Manchuria to Vladivostock, but likewise through its entire 
 length from Harbin to Port Arthur and Dalny. By degrees 
 the Russian interest was made to predominate, and to all 
 intents and purposes the railways in Manchuria were to 
 become part and parcel of Russia's own railway system, 
 administered by her officials. 
 
 Korea, which had for centuries virtually acknowledged 
 the suzerainty of Japan as well as of China, by periodically 
 despatching a tribute-bearing mission to the Japanese 
 capital in the same way that she had sent envoys from 
 Seoul to Peking, began to omit this courtesy, and mistrust- 
 ing the effects of the radical changes introduced into Japan 
 under the new regime, chose to exhibit in other ways an 
 indifference to the preservation of good relations with the 
 
 14 
 
JAPAN AND RUSSIA 
 
 Japanese Empire. The successive Envoys whom Japan 
 sent to Korea were arrogantly treated, and finally, in 1875, 
 a Japanese surveying vessel, the Unyokan, was fired upon. 
 Japan demanded explanations, and eventually a treaty 
 was signed between Japan and Korea in 1876, in which 
 Korea was placed on the footing of an independent State, 
 and certain of her ports were opened to Japanese commerce. 
 Owing to the continued interference, however, of the Chinese 
 in Korean politics, and conflicts having occurred between 
 the soldiers guarding the Japanese Legation and the Koreans, 
 China was remonstrated with, and finally a treaty was 
 negotiated at Tientsin in 1884, whereby a pacific settle- 
 ment was brought about for the time being. In effect, it 
 was China's breaches of this treaty that led to the subse- 
 quent Sino- Japanese war. China's unwillingness to re- 
 linquish the hold upon the peninsular kingdom which she 
 claimed to enjoy by virtue of suzerainty, and her antagonism 
 to Japan's growing influence at Seoul, exerted solely in the 
 interests of beneficial reform, culminated in her taking 
 those hostile measures that brought about the war of 1894- 
 1895. 
 
 In the negotiations for peace which were entered upon 
 at Shimonoseki in the summer of 1895, China ceded the Liao- 
 tung peninsula to Japan. But Russia had long before 
 fixed her gaze upon the fortress of Port Arthur, and with 
 the view of preventing its transfer, together with the terri- 
 tory named, to Japan, she thought fit to address to the 
 Government of Tokio the following remonstrance, with the 
 consent and approval of France and Germany : — 
 
 The Government of his Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias 
 in examining the conditions of peace which Japan has imposed 
 on China, finds that the possession of the peninsula of Liao-tung, 
 claimed by Japan, would be a constant menace to the capital of 
 China, would at the same time render illusory the independence 
 of Korea, and would henceforth be a perpetual obstacle to the 
 permanent peace of the Far East. Consequently, the Government 
 of his Majesty the Emperor would give a new proof of their sincere 
 friendship for the Government of his Majesty the Emperor of 
 Japan by advising them to renounce the definitive possession of 
 the peninsula of Liao-tung. 
 
 Japan, as is well-known, was obliged to yield to the 
 pressure thus exerted by the three Western Powers, and 
 
 15 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 when, in 1897, Germany obtained from China a lease of 
 Kiao-Chau in Shantung, Russia seized the moment to 
 demand from the Peking Government the virtual cession 
 of Port Arthur and Tahen Wan, thereby setting at nought 
 all those objections to the occupancy of this part of the 
 Chinese Empire by another Power to which she had attached 
 such immense weight only a few years previously. Russia's 
 next move was to obtain from the Koreans a lease of 
 Masampho, in Korea, an important harbour directly facing 
 Tsushima, Japan's westernmost outpost. To this the oppo- 
 sition of Japan and Great Britain was successful. Korea 
 merely granted facilities for the establishment of a Russian 
 coaling depot. 
 
 The Boxers' outbreak in China led to the almost universal 
 expression of a desire that Japan should send troops to the 
 rescue of the members of Foreign Legations in Peking, 
 and Japan, ever mindful of the principles of humanity, and 
 anxious to prove her entire sympathy with the sufferers by 
 the Boxers' depredations, at once expressed her readiness 
 to despatch an adequate army. The Peking Relief Expedi- 
 tion was promptly organized, and the forces of Japan took 
 their places in line with those of Occidental nations in a 
 supreme effort to avert the peril which overshadowed all 
 the subjects of foreign Powers then dwelling in the Chinese 
 capital. In this expedition the Japanese troops greatly 
 outnumbered those of any other country. Russia sent 4,000 
 men to Chihli to take part in the march to Peking, but she 
 at the same time sent large bodies of troops into Manchuria 
 on the pretext that there too a general rising was imminent, 
 and threatened the existence of the railway, then in course 
 of construction and nearing completion. Ostensibly the 
 Russians continued to find employment for their troops in 
 Manchuria in the suppression of brigandage, but meanwhile 
 they demanded and received their share of the indemnity paid 
 by China not upon the basis of the contingent which had 
 been sent to join the Peking Relief Force, but upon that 
 of the entire number of men which it was alleged it had 
 been found needful to send into Manchuria as well. The 
 numerical strength was, however, greatly exaggerated, for 
 Russia's share in the indemnity was actually calculated 
 upon the footing of her having provided 170,000 troops, 
 whereas in reality the sum total could not at the very utmost 
 
 16 • 
 
JAPAN AND RUSSIA 
 
 have exceeded 50,000. Even at that time Russia's behaviour 
 in Manchuria had been such as to arouse suspicion, and 
 had become matter for general comment. It is sufficient 
 here to point out that Russia was more than amply repaid 
 by China for such assistance as she could claim to have 
 rendered. 
 
 A passing reference must be made to the Anglo-German 
 Agreement of October, 1900. It was expressly laid down 
 in that document that should any other Power seek to 
 make use of the complications in China to extort advantages 
 calculated to impair the undiminished territorial condition 
 of the Chinese Empire, Germany and Britain would reserve 
 it to themselves to come to an understanding as to the 
 steps to be taken to protect their own interests in China. 
 To this agreement all the Powers adhered in respect of its 
 principles, and Japan actually accepted the position of a 
 signatory. Thus there was a substantial basis for action 
 in the event of China's territorial integrity being assailed ; 
 but, strangely enough, when the Manchurian question 
 reached an acute stage, Germany alone (besides Russia, of 
 course) somewhat abruptly showed a reluctance to admit 
 its application to Manchuria, yet at the same time continued 
 to give a general adhesion to the policy of the other Great 
 Powers in regard to the Chinese Empire. Japan and Great 
 Britain found in this policy a basis, later on, as we shall 
 see, for a formal declaration of alliance in respect of Chinese 
 and Korean affairs. 
 
 On the last day of the year 1900 a memorable despatch 
 was sent by cable to the Times newspaper in London by 
 its correspondent in Peking, which drew the attention of 
 the world to the part Russia was really playing, and which 
 was diametrically opposed to her protestations of an unalter- 
 able desire to act in unison with all the nations concerned 
 in the East. That despatch set forth the terms of an 
 agreement which it was declared had been surreptitiously 
 concluded between China and Russia, whereby Russia 
 consented to the resumption of the civil government of 
 Mukden and the Feng-tien province only on condition 
 that— 
 
 I. The Tartar General Tseng should undertake to protect and 
 pacify the province, and to assist in the construction of the Russian 
 railroad. 
 
 17 g 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 2. That he should treat kindly the Russians who were then and 
 were to remain in military occupation, providing them with lodging 
 and provisions. 
 
 3. That he should disarm and disband the Chinese soldiery, trans- 
 ferring to the Russians all munitions of war in arsenals which they 
 had not already occupied. 
 
 4. That all forts, etc., not needed by the Russians should be 
 dismantled. 
 
 5. That Newchwang (a treaty port) and other places then occu- 
 pied by Russians should only be restored to Chinese civil adminis- 
 tration when the Russian Government might be satisfied that the 
 pacification of the province had actually been accomplished. 
 
 6. That the local Chinese police should maintain law and ordei 
 under the control of the Tartar General. 
 
 7. That there should be a Russian political Resident at Mukden, 
 whom it would be obligatory upon the Tartar general to consult. 
 
 8. That should the local police be anywhere insufficient to cope 
 with an emergency, Russian reinforcements should at once be 
 called for, through the Russian Resident. 
 
 The functions conferred upon the Russian Resident were 
 similar, it will be seen, to those of British Residents in the 
 Native States of India, or of the Russian Resident at Bok- 
 hara. It was, moreover, made clear that this agreement 
 would necessarily be followed by similar agreements relative 
 to the other two provinces of Manchuria — viz., Kirin and 
 He-lung-chiang — and that, inasmuch as Russia had under 
 a pre-existing agreement secured the right to maintain 
 troops in Manchuria for the protection of the " Eastern 
 Chinese Railway," this province of the Chinese Empire 
 would become to all intents and purposes a Russian Pro- 
 tectorate. 
 
 Pressure was then put upon China by Great Britain, 
 Germany, the United States, and Japan, not to commit 
 the stupendous folly of entering upon any separate negotia- 
 tions with Russia or any single Power, and the Emperor 
 of China, on his part, likewise sought the conjoint mediation 
 of these Powers. In the meantime a more trustworthy 
 and even more disquieting draft of the Russian demands 
 came to light. Diplomatic communications were exchanged 
 with great activity between the Powers, chiefly directed 
 against Russia, whilst Russia herself, with her accustomed 
 craftiness, did her utmost to gain her point. At last, 
 however, she had to give way, at all events for the time, 
 and on April 5, 1901, the Government of St. Petersburg, in 
 an official communique on the subject of its policy in China, 
 
 t8 
 
JAPAN AND RUSSIA 
 
 published in the Official Messenger, positively stated that 
 though the course of events in Pechili, and a series of acts 
 of aggression committed by Chinese insurgents on the 
 frontier of Russia, had rendered necessary the occupation 
 of the port of Newchwang and the entry of the Russian 
 troops in Manchuria, these were to be considered temporary 
 measures ; that as soon as order had been permanently 
 restored in Manchuria, and everything possible had been 
 done to safeguard the railway, Russia would not fail to 
 withdraw her troops from the territory of the Chinese 
 Empire on her borders, provided that no obstacle was 
 placed in her way by the action of the other Powers and of 
 China herself. The introduction of this qualifying phrase 
 was due, as was subsequently to be seen, to the sinister 
 intention of withdrawing with one hand the benefits con- 
 ferred by the other, since it would be at any time practicable 
 for Russia to construe this clause as inapplicable by reason 
 of the prolongation of disturbances in Manchuria which the 
 Russian agents might themselves, if they chose, foment. 
 The communique went on to state, with reference to the 
 secret agreement previously alluded to as that which Russia 
 surreptitiously sought to impose upon China, that that 
 agreement was only intended to serve as a starting-point 
 towards the realization of the declared intention of the 
 Russian Government to restore Manchuria to China, it 
 having only been occupied by Russia in consequence of the 
 alarming events of the previous year. Russia complained 
 that, owing to obstacles having been put in the way of the 
 conclusion of this secret agreement, it was impossible for 
 her immediately to take the measures contemplated for the 
 gradual evacuation of Manchuria, but in a closing paragraph 
 the Russian Government announced that, whilst maintaining 
 the then existing temporary form of government in Man- 
 churia with the object of insuring order in the neighbour- 
 hood of the Russian frontier, but remaining unalterably 
 true to its original programme as repeatedly formulated, 
 it would quietly await the further progress of events. 
 
 In April, 1901, a week after the publication in the Official 
 Messenger, Count Lamsdorff personally assured Sir Charles 
 Scott, the representative of Great Britain, that it was 
 entirely an erroneous conclusion that had been reached in 
 some quarters that the Russian Government, by dropping 
 
 19 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 the negotiations for an early evacuation of Manchuria, as 
 indicated above, evinced their intention of occupying that 
 province indefinitely. The Emperor of Russia, said Count 
 Lamsdorff, adhered unswervingly to his intention, so frankly 
 and frequently declared, to withdraw the Russian troops 
 of occupation and restore the province to its former Chinese 
 administration as soon as a normal state of affairs in China 
 and the reinstatement at Peking of the legitimate and 
 independent central Government, capable of maintaining 
 order in the empire, admitted of this being done. Count 
 Lamsdorff volunteered the statement, moreover, that the 
 separate negotiations with China concerning the early evacua- 
 tion of Manchuria had been dropped, and that nothing 
 beyond a programme for the negotiations had ever been 
 discussed. Sir Charles Scott found that his German and 
 American colleagues at St. Petersburg had been by Count 
 Lamsdorff similarly assured. 
 
 Four months later the British Minister in Peking found 
 himself obliged to charge the Russian Government with 
 a breach of faith, in that he had been informed, from a 
 thoroughly trustworthy source, of Russia's resumption 
 of negotiations with China to bring about the signature 
 of a Manchurian agreement. 
 
 The Russians, telegraphed Sir Ernest Satow, denied 
 this ; but the accuracy of the British Minister's report was 
 demonstrated before long, for seven months after the Peking 
 Protocol was signed — viz., on September 7 — a separate 
 agreement was signed between Russia and China on April 8, 
 1902. This agreement was made public in the Official 
 Messenger four days afterwards, and in a Government com- 
 munication preceding the text of the document it was 
 declared in so many words that the Russian Government 
 had assured the Chinese Emperor that Russia had no hostile 
 intentions towards China, whose independence and integ- 
 rity were the foundation of Russian policy in the Far East. 
 Admitting, moreover, that the pacification of China had 
 progressed with notable success, and repeating the assurances 
 that the only object with which Russian troops were sent 
 into the Celestial Empire was the reinstatement of the law- 
 ful Government of China, with which friendly relations had 
 existed from time immemorial, it was announced that the 
 conditions of the recall of the Russian forces from Man- 
 
 20 
 
JAPAN AND RUSSIA 
 
 churia had been embodied in the agreement in question. 
 At first it might be thought that Russia was actuated solely 
 by good faith in regard to her treatment of China, but in 
 reality her ascendancy at the Chinese capital was procured 
 either by bribery or coercion in some form or other, and 
 the officials went in constant fear of the aggressive attitude 
 of the Russian agents and representatives. So much was 
 this the case that whilst the Chinese felt themselves com- 
 pelled to agree to Russia's terms, they often complained to 
 other Powers of the pressure to which they were thus 
 subjected, and constantly appealed for assistance in resisting 
 the Russian demands, which, as a matter of fact, had under- 
 gone much change, to China's advantage, in consequence. 
 
 Under that agreement Russia bound herself within six 
 months from the date of signature (April 8, 1902) to clear 
 the south-western portion of the province of Mukden of 
 Russian troops up to the river Liao-che, and to hand the 
 Shanhai Kwan and Newchwang railway over to China. 
 She further undertook within the next six months to clear 
 the remainder of the province of Mukden and the province 
 of Kirin of Russian troops ; and, finally, within the six 
 months following, to remove the remaining Russian troops 
 from the province of He-Lung-Chiang. 
 
 On the other hand, the Chinese Government bound itself 
 to protect the railways of Manchuria in general by all 
 means in its power, and to secure the safety in Manchuria 
 of Russian subjects and their undertakings. The obliga- 
 tion to afford protection to the Shanhai Kwan and New- 
 chwang railway was laid exclusively upon China, and it was 
 a condition that she should not invite other Powers to 
 participate in its protection, construction, or working. Nor 
 might she embark upon any extension of this railway, nor 
 execute new works in connexion therewith, notwithstand- 
 ing that the line ran wholly through her own territory, 
 without first consulting Russia. Further, she might not 
 increase or diminish the mmiber of her troops in Manchuria 
 without notifying Russia, nor allow any other Powers to 
 occupy the territory evacuated by the Russians. 
 
 Lord Lansdowne, in conversation with M. de Staal, the 
 Russian Ambassador in London, on April 30, referred to 
 this agreement, and explained that in Great Britain there 
 was a disposition to criticise those provisions which Hmited 
 
 21 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 China's right to dispose of her miUtary forces and to con- 
 struct railway extensions within her own territory. But 
 as it was hoped that the evacuation of the province would 
 be completed within the appointed time, and that the 
 agreement would be loyally and considerately interpreted, 
 Lord Lansdowne was indisposed to examine its provisions 
 too microscopically. 
 
 In the Russian Government's communication prefacing 
 the announcement of this agreement of April 8, 1902, it 
 was expressly stated that the only object with which Rus- 
 sian troops were sent into the Celestial Empire was the 
 reinstatement of the lawful Chinese Government and the 
 re-establishment of order, and that as Russia had received 
 China's written guarantee for the maintenance of order, 
 and had been repaid the material expenses to which she 
 was put by her military operations in China, the Russian 
 Government saw no necessity for leaving armed forces 
 within the confines of Manchuria. 
 
 So far Russia appeared to be in earnest, as far as evacua- 
 tion was concerned, and to be acting in good faith, so much 
 so that in October, 1902, Prince Ching informed the British 
 Minister in Peking that the railways outside the Great 
 Wall, as far as the Liao River, had been handed back to 
 China by Russia, and that the south-west portion of Muk- 
 den province, as far as the river named, had been completely 
 evacuated by Russian troops. But Russia still retained in 
 her own hands the administration of the treaty port of 
 Newchwang, the Russian Consul combining with his ordinary 
 duties those of civil administrator, and the Customs dues 
 collected at the port were being paid into the Russo-Chinese 
 Bank. 
 
 Meanwhile, the similarity of the interests of Great Britain 
 and Japan in respect of the Far East had been manifested 
 in so many ways that the desirability of the two countries 
 uniting in a formal agreement was fully recognized, and 
 in January, 1902, the Anglo- Japanese Convention was 
 signed in London. 
 
 April 8, 1903, passed by, and still Newchwang was held 
 by Russia, Admiral Alexeieff making the excuse that Ger- 
 man and English gunboats were at or off the port, and that 
 he wished to obtain a guarantee from China that no foreign 
 force would be permitted to occupy it. Some uneasiness 
 
 22 
 
JAPAN AND RUSSIA 
 
 being felt in London as to Russia's real intentions, Lord 
 Lansdowne received on April 22 Count Beckendorff's 
 assurances that if the retirement from Newchwang had 
 not taken place it was only delayed for some special and 
 sufficient cause. 
 
 Suddenly, as a bolt from the blue, in the latter part of 
 April, 1903, the Russians made seven demands upon the 
 Chinese Government at Peking, as conditions precedent 
 to the evacuation of Manchuria, these demands preventing — 
 
 (a) The opening of any free port or establishment of a con- 
 sulate of any other Power in the evacuated district. 
 
 (b) The employment of other than Russians " in the North." 
 
 The demands also included : 
 
 (c) The retention of the same status at Newchwang as regards 
 administration as during occupation. 
 
 (d) The continued payment of the Customs dues into the Russo- 
 Chinese Bank. 
 
 (e) The control of Newchwang sanitary affairs by Russians. 
 
 (/) The use of Chinese telegraph-poles throughout Manchuria 
 for Russian wires ; and 
 
 (g) A final stipulation that no portion of the three provinces of 
 which Manchuria consists should ever be alienated to any foreign 
 Power. 
 
 The British Government, as also Japan and the other 
 Powers, regarded these demands as quite inadmissible, and 
 the British Charge d' Affaires in Peking was instructed to 
 inform the Chinese Government that they would by Great 
 Britain be resented as an infraction of Article 54 of the 
 Treaty of Tientsin (1858), which stipulated that the British 
 Government and its subjects should be allowed free and 
 equal participation in all privileges, immunities, and advan- 
 tages that might have been or might thereafter be granted 
 by China to the Government or subjects of any other nation. 
 
 The Chinese Government was assured by both Japan 
 and Britain that it would receive similar support in resisting 
 Russia's demands to that accorded to China at the time 
 that the Manchurian Convention was being negotiated. 
 The United States directed their Minister at Peking to urge 
 upon the Chinese Government the advisability of refusing 
 the Russian demands, and telegraphed to the American 
 Ambassador at St. Petersburg to request explanations 
 from the Russian Government. 
 
 23 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Lord Lansdowne, on April 28, telegraphed to Sir Claude 
 Macdonald at Tokio to assure the Japanese Government 
 that Britain was supporting the representations made at 
 St. Petersburg by the United States Government, and 
 that the British Government was desirous of keeping in line 
 with Japan during these negotiations. 
 
 On that day, April 28, 1903, the United States Ambas- 
 sador at St. Petersburg was most positively assured by 
 Count Lamsdorff that no such demands as those referred 
 to had been made by the Russian Government. He was 
 much surprised that Russia should have been suspected in 
 any quarter of not wishing to observe the published con- 
 ditions of evacuation, confirmed as they had been by the 
 solemn assurances of the Tsar. The denial was accepted 
 by the United States Ambassador, who reported to Wash- 
 ington that the Russian Government further declared that 
 there was no intention of seeking exclusive privileges for 
 Russians in Manchuria, or of keeping the subjects or citizens 
 of other Powers out of the advantages there enjoyed by 
 Russians. Machiavellian diplomacy was never more com- 
 pletely illustrated than on this occasion. 
 
 The question of the opening of Antung, Tatungkau, and 
 Mukden, afterwards provided for by commercial treaties 
 between the United States and China, and between Japan 
 and China, was at this time under consideration, and the 
 prohibition contained in the first and second of Russia's 
 conditions, put forward on or about April 20, 1903, was 
 calculated to destroy the effect of the concessions which, in 
 the interest of all nations, the Treaty Commission sitting 
 at Shanghai was on the point of securing. 
 
 Simultaneously a movement of Russian troops was 
 reported in the direction of Feng-whang-cheng and the 
 Yalu River, which led to inquiries being made by Prince 
 Ching, who was told by the Russian Charge d'Affaires at 
 Peking that the movement had been carried out in order to 
 counteract a threatened Japanese movement. On June 17 
 Lord Lansdowne heard that the Chinese Government was 
 being pressed by Russia to consent to the conditions which 
 the Russian Government had endeavoured to attach to 
 the evacuation of Manchuria, and particularly the first and 
 second of the seven clauses, relative to foreign Consuls and 
 the establishment of open ports in the districts to be evacu- 
 
 24 
 
JAPAN AND RUSSIA 
 
 ated. Prince Ching admitted that it was quite true that 
 the Russian Legation at Peking had presented a Note 
 containing quite unacceptable conditions, and which in- 
 fringed China's sovereign rights, but the Chinese Govern- 
 ment had refused to discuss them. 
 
 The Russian denials, made by Count Lamsdorff to the 
 United States Ambassador at St. Petersburg, of any demands 
 embodying the conditions named having been presented to 
 China, and Count Lamsdorff' s expressions of surprise that 
 Russia should be suspected in any quarter of departing 
 from the published and solemn assurances given by the 
 Tsar, created in Tokio the greatest astonishment, not 
 unmingled with amusement, inasmuch as on the very day 
 news was received there of Russian activity at the Yalu, 
 and of coals and ammunition having been conveyed thither 
 in vessels specially chartered by the Russian military 
 authorities. Besides many aggressive measures Russia 
 had begun to take in Korea, a large number of Russians, 
 mostly soldiers, had settled down at Yongampho, ostensibly 
 to establish a station in connexion with the somewhat 
 nebulous right relating to the timber-cutting concession 
 exacted from Korea. Thereupon a proposal had been put 
 forward by the United States and Japan, to which England 
 fully assented, that Yongampho should be opened as a port 
 for the trade of all nations : but Russia had exerted the 
 utmost pressure upon the Koreans to prevent this being 
 accompHshed. This affords ample indication of the real 
 trend of Russian policy in respect of Korea. 
 
 Several fresh demands were made by Russia to China in 
 September, all of which were pregnant with selfishness, 
 including the projects of constructing wharves on the Sungari 
 with military protection, of establishing a separate inspector- 
 ate of customs for Manchuria, prejudicing the treaty rights 
 of England, as well as of establishing new postal stations 
 from Tsitsihar to Blagovestchensk, and the permanent 
 rejection of any creation of foreign settlement at the towns 
 in Manchuria which were to be opened under the new 
 treaties soon to be signed with America and Japan. Japan, 
 England, and America all made vigorous remonstrances 
 with China for no less interest of her own than theirs, and 
 the Chinese Government finally rejected the Russian demands. 
 In the next month the American and Japanese treaties 
 
 25 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 were signed, on the 8th and 9th respectively. Simultane- 
 ously with this the Russians began to re-occupy rapidly the 
 places they had once evacuated, and showed fresh and ever- 
 increasing activity under the most exorbitant pretexts. 
 
 At the end of November Lord Lansdowne further dis- 
 cussed with the Russian Ambassador in London the affairs 
 of Manchuria, and pointed out that it was essential that 
 treaty rights in all parts of the Chinese Empire should 
 be respected, and that British trade should receive equal 
 treatment in those regions. Lord Lansdowne further 
 dwelt upon the deplorable effect produced by the neglect 
 of the Russian Government to fulfil its pledges, and expressed 
 his hope that the Russians were then in a position to fix a 
 date for the evacuation, or at any rate to explain why this 
 was not done. 
 
 On January 8, 1904, Count Beckendorff called upon 
 Lord Lansdowne and made a specific declaration to the 
 effect that Russia had no intention whatever of placing any 
 obstacle in the way of the continued enjoyment by foreign 
 Powers of the rights acquired by them in virtue of the 
 treaties then in force. Lord Lansdowne said that he re- 
 gretted that Russia should have found it impossible to take 
 even a single step in pursuance of the policy which she thus 
 prescribed for herself, and frankly told the Russian Ambassa- 
 dor that in Great Britain people were looking for some 
 concrete evidence of Russia's intention to make good her 
 promises. 
 
 We must now go back to July 28 of the same year (1903) 
 briefly to review the steps taken by the Japanese Govern- 
 ment itself. On that date Baron Komura telegraphed to 
 Mr. Kurino, the Japanese Minister at St. Petersburg, direct- 
 ing him to place before the Russian Government a suggestion 
 that the two Powers should enter upon an examination of 
 the condition of affairs in the Extreme East where their 
 interests met, with a view to a definition of their respective 
 special interests in those regions. The Japanese Government 
 was prepared, on its suggestion meeting with approval, to pre- 
 sent to the Russian Government its views as to the nature 
 and scope of the proposed undertaking. Mr. Kurino was 
 directed to state that Japan's purpose was entirely friendly, 
 but that great importance was attached to the subject. 
 
 In proof of its ardent wish to remove all causes of mis- 
 
 26 
 
JAPAN AND RUSSIA 
 
 understanding, the Japanese Government, only six days 
 later, telegraphed to Mr. Kurino the text of six propositions 
 which it was desired to put forward as the basis of an under- 
 standing between Japan and Russia ; and as everything 
 may be said to have hinged upon the acceptance or non- 
 acceptance of these spontaneous offers of the Japanese 
 Government to negotiate a satisfactory settlement, it is 
 well to give the proposals in detail : 
 
 1. Mutual engagement to respect the independence and terri- 
 torial integrity of the Chinese and Korean Empires, and to maintain 
 the principle of equal opportunity for the commerce and industry 
 of all nations in those countries. 
 
 2. Reciprocal recognition of Japan's preponderating interests in 
 Korea, and Russia's special interests in railway enterprises in Man- 
 churia, and of the right of Japan to take in Korea, and of Russia to 
 take in Manchuria, such measures as may be necessary for the pro- 
 tection of their respective interests as above defined, subject, however 
 to the provisions of Article i of this agreement. 
 
 3. Reciprocal undertaking on the part of Russia and Japan not 
 to impede development of those industrial and commercial activities 
 respectively of Japan in Korea and of Russia in Manchuria which are 
 not inconsistent with the stipulations of Article i of this agreement. 
 Additional engagement on the part of Russia not to impede the 
 eventual extension of the Korean Railway into Southern Manchuria 
 so as to connect with the East China and Shanhaikwan-Newchwang 
 lines. 
 
 4. Reciprocal engagement that in case it is found necessary to 
 send troops by Japan to Korea, or by Russia to Manchuria, for the 
 purpose either of protecting the interests mentioned in Article 2 of 
 this agreement, or of suppressing insurrection or disorder calculated 
 to create international complications, the troops so sent are in no 
 case to exceed the actual number required, and are to be forthwith 
 recalled as soon as their missions are accomplished. 
 
 5 . Recognition on the part of Russia of the exclusive right of Japan 
 to give advice and assistance in the interest of reform and good 
 government in Korea, including necessary military assistance. 
 
 6. This Agreement to supplant all previous arrangements between 
 Japan and Russia respecting Korea. 
 
 Mr. Kurino was directed to say, in presenting these pro- 
 posals, that they were offered in the firm belief that they 
 might serve as a basis upon which to construct a satisfactory 
 arrangement between the two Governments, and that 
 Count Lamsdorff might be assured that any amendment 
 or suggestion that he might find it necessary to offer would 
 receive the immediate and friendly consideration of the 
 Japanese Government. 
 
 27 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 These instructions were sent to Mr. Kurino in the antici- 
 pation that Russia's response to the Note Verbale presented 
 by him six days before would be favourable. On August 5 
 Baron Komura was informed by Mr. Kurino that Count 
 Lamsdorff had been authorized by the Tsar to open negotia- 
 tions, and the Japanese Government, in directing its Minister 
 to present the project in detail, as above quoted, took the 
 opportunity to express its appreciation of the friendly 
 spirit in which the Russian Government. had received the 
 proposal to open negotiations. 
 
 There was a loss of one week, owing to Count Lamsdorff 
 being very much occupied, and unable, it was said, to 
 receive Mr. Kurino ; but on August 12 the project, in 
 English, was duly handed to the Russian Foreign Minister, 
 with a request that he would hasten the matter as much as 
 possible. Twelve days passed, and Mr. Kurino saw Count 
 Lamsdorff again, the delay being then ascribed to the absence 
 of the Emperor at military manoeuvres. A copy of the 
 project had been sent by the Russian Government to 
 Admiral Alexeieff, who was newly made the Viceroy, at 
 Port Arthur, and an effort was made to transfer the nego- 
 tions to Tokio. Japan resisted this, on the plea that the 
 negotiations related to principles rather than to details, 
 and that Mr. Kurino was duly authorized. The point was 
 made by Russia the subject of prolonged discussion ; but in 
 order not to waste more time the Japanese Government 
 consented, on September 9, to have the negotiations trans- 
 ferred to Tokio, trusting that the Russian Minister there 
 would be able to present Russia's counter-proposals without 
 delay, and to proceed immediately with the negotiations. 
 
 After Baron Rosen had visited Port Arthur to confer 
 with Admiral Alexeieff, he handed to Baron Komura at 
 Tokio a memorandum of Russia's counter-proposals, which 
 amounted to an acceptance of Japan's suggestions only as 
 regarded Korea, and completely ignored Japan's interests 
 in Manchuria. Clause 7 was worded, in fact, as follows : — 
 
 7. Recognition by Japan of Manchuria and its littoral as in all 
 respects outside her sphere of interest. 
 
 The Russian counter-proposals resolved themselves, 
 indeed, into a one-sided bargain, by which Russia was ta 
 
 28 
 
JAPAN AND RUSSIA 
 
 have an entirely free hand in Manchuria and yet be allowed 
 to place restrictions on Japan's action in Korea. 
 
 In the ensuing negotiations at Tokio the Japanese Govern- 
 ment objected to the Russian Clause 7, quoted above, and 
 in lieu therefor proposed : — 
 
 7. Engagement on the part of Russia to respect China's sovereignty 
 and territorial integrity in Manchuria, and not to interfere with 
 Japan's commercial freedom in Manchuria. 
 
 8. Recognition by Japan of Russia's special interests in Man- 
 churia, and of the right of Russia to take such measures as may 
 be necessary for the protection of those interests, so long as such 
 measures do not infringe the stipulations of the preceding article. 
 
 9. Mutual engagement not to impede the connexion of the Korean 
 Railway and the East China Railway when those railways shall have 
 been eventually extended to the Yalu. 
 
 On October 22 it was stated by Baron Komura that no 
 agreement could be reached as regards the Russian Clause 
 7, the Russian view being that the question of Manchuria 
 was one that concerned exclusively Russia and China, 
 admitting of no interference on the part of any third Power. 
 Japan, on the other hand, insisted that she possessed in 
 Manchuria her treaty rights and commercial interests, and 
 that she must obtain from Russia a guarantee for the security 
 of those rights and interests, as well as of the independence 
 of Korea, which would be constantly menaced by Russia's 
 definitive occupation of Manchuria. 
 
 It should here be stated that in the course of the pour-" 
 parlers between Baron Rosen and Baron Komura the idea 
 was broached of the establishment of a neutral zone ; and 
 as there then seemed to be no serious impediment to this 
 course, Japan was willing that a strip of territory, measuring 
 fifty kilometres in depth, on either side of the Yalu river 
 should be marked off as neutral ground, which was agreed 
 by Baron Rosen ad referendum. When the counter-pro- 
 posal was received, however, Russia insisted that the neutral 
 zone should wholly be in Korea, south of the Yalu, and 
 should comprise that part of the empire north of the 39th 
 parallel. This meant that more than a third of the Korean 
 Empire, including Port Lazareff and Gensan on the east 
 coast, the large commercial centre of Ping- Yang, and the 
 mining districts — in a word, some of the most valuable and 
 strategical portions of the peninsula — should be neutralized 
 
 29 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 at Russia's will and pleasure. This most outrageous pro- 
 position evoked in Japan a perfect storm of indignation 
 and protest. 
 
 On the last day of October Baron Rosen seems to have 
 found it needful to telegraph to St. Petersburg the full text 
 of Japan's amendments, stating that they went beyond 
 his instructions, and accordingly Mr. Kurino was directed 
 to point out to Count Lamsdorff that, whilst Japan was 
 prepared to admit that the Manchurian question, so far as 
 it did not affect Japanese rights and interests, was purely 
 a Russo-Chinese question, Japan had extensive and impor- 
 tant rights and interests in that region, and that, if Japan 
 were to be called upon to declare Manchuria to be outside 
 her sphere of interest, she was at least entitled to ask for a 
 correlative engagement on the part of Russia not to inter- 
 fere with the commercial and residential rights and immuni- 
 ties belonging to Japan, in virtue of her treaty engagements 
 with China. 
 
 A further delay of a fortnight was caused by Count 
 Lamsdorff's absence from St. Petersburg, and then Mr. 
 Kurino ascertained that it was still the Manchurian question 
 which divided the two parties, Russia always regarding it 
 as one exclusively concerning Russia and China, while 
 Japan, in repudiating any intention of ignoring the special 
 interests which Russia possessed in Manchuria, was, never- 
 theless, resolved that the independence and territorial 
 integrity of China should be respected, and the rights and 
 interests of Japan in that region formally guaranteed. 
 Count Lamsdorff assured Mr. Kurino that Russia's objection 
 related to the form rather than the substance of Japan's 
 proposal, and Mr. Kurino thereupon expressed his sorrow 
 that an understanding could not be reached merely for 
 lack of a suitable formula by which to bring the two Govern- 
 ments to an arrangement, and ardently begged Count 
 Lamsdorff to use his influence to bring about a satisfactory 
 solution according to the principles already admitted by 
 Russia. 
 
 On November 21, Baron Rosen declared himself to be 
 without instructions, and Mr. Kurino was directed to see 
 Count Lamsdorff and urge the importance of expedition. 
 A week passed, during which Count Lamsdorff was supposed 
 to have had audience of the Tsar, and it then appeared^'that 
 
 30 
 
JAPAN AND RUSSIA 
 
 the audience had been postponed owing to the illness of the 
 Empress. Meanwhile Count LamsdorS was understood to 
 be in constant communication with Admiral Alexeieff . On 
 various pretexts the issue of definite instructions to Baron 
 Rosen, in spite of Mr. Kurino's repeated applications, was 
 delayed, and at last, on December 9, it was said that orders 
 had been sent to continue negotiations in Tokio on the 
 basis of counter-proposals originating with Admiral Alexeieff. 
 The nature of these became apparent when Baron Rosen, 
 on December 12, called to see Baron Komura at the Tokio 
 Foreign Office. Manchuria was completely ignored as 
 before, and the proposals were found to have reference 
 solely to Korea. On December 21 Japan asked Russia to 
 reconsider the position, and begged for an early response. 
 
 There was again a waste of time by Russia, and not 
 until January 6 could anything in the nature of a reply be 
 extracted, and then Japan was once more invited to declare 
 Manchuria and its littoral as being outside her sphere of 
 interests. Japan exerted herself in making her last and 
 utmost concession, and, on January 13, virtually agreed 
 to do this, provided Russia engaged herself to respect the 
 territorial integrity of China in Manchuria, and not to 
 impede Japan nor other Powers in the enjoyment of rights 
 and privileges acquired by them under existing treaties 
 with China — Russia to acknowledge, on the other hand, as 
 was only fair, that Korea and its littoral were beyond the 
 Russian sphere of interest. Japan was even willing to 
 recognize Russia as having special interests in Manchuria, 
 and as enjoying the right to take measures necessary for 
 the protection of those interests. At the same time, Japan 
 intimated to Russia that these were the results of " the most 
 careful and serious consideration,'* and were "proposed 
 entirely in a spirit of conciliation," and that she expected 
 them to be received " with the same spirit." Ten days 
 passed, and Mr. Kurino was directed to sound Count Lams- 
 dorff respecting the probable nature of Russia's reply to 
 this note, and when the reply would be delivered. The 
 answer was that there were certain points to which Count 
 Lamsdorff could not agree, but he hoped to send a reply 
 before long. Baron Komura directed Mr. Kurino to urge 
 that the situation admitted of no further delay. At this 
 interview Count Lamsdorff complained, while regretting 
 
 31 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 his inability to say when the answer would be ready, of 
 Japan having sent troops and munitions of war into Korea, 
 which was absolutely untrue. Baron Komura, on hearing 
 of this, promptly instructed Mr. Kurino to give the state- 
 ment an emphatic contradiction, and to inquire at the 
 same time if it were true that Russian troops were being 
 concentrated on the Korean frontier. Count Lamsdorfi 
 accepted the Japanese Government's assurance, and denied 
 that Russian troops were near the Yalu. Count Lamsdorff 
 was further urged to name a date when the reply would be 
 sent, and on January 28 he explained that, though he could 
 not give the exact date, he thought that an answer would 
 be sent on February 2. Mr. Kurino continued to press 
 upon Count Lamsdorff the urgency of the case, adding in 
 so many words that further prolongation of the then existing 
 conditions was " not only undesirable, but rather danger- 
 ous." " All the while the world was loud with rumours," 
 he added, and expressed the hope that Count Lamsdorff 
 would take special steps to have an answer sent at an earlier 
 date than February 2. Count Lamsdorff repeated that 
 he would do his best to send the reply on the date specified. 
 Being directed by Baron Komura, Mr. Kurino once more 
 urged Count Lamsdorff for an early reply in the evening 
 of January 31, when he was told by the Count that it was 
 impossible, and the exact date could not be fixed. Mr. 
 Kurino's report reached Tokio the next day, and the position 
 was gravely considered by the Government. 
 
 In the evening of the 4th, at 8 p.m., Mr. Kurino saw Count 
 Lamsdorff, who told him that the substance of the Russian 
 answer had just been sent to Admiral Alexeieff to be trans- 
 mitted to Baron Rosen. From the hint given Mr. Kurino 
 by the Count, it was plain that there was no material change 
 in the Russian attitude, even if the answer reached Japan 
 in time, but it never did. Mr. Kurino's report about this 
 interview reached Tokio February 5, 5.15 p.m. 
 
 Meanwhile, at Tokio, February 2 came, but no Russian 
 reply arrived, as was expected, and after further patient 
 waiting, on February 5, at 2.15 p.m., Mr. Kurino was 
 directed to address a signed note to Count Lamsdorff in 
 the following terms : — 
 
 The undersigned has the honour, in pursuance of instructions? 
 
 32 
 
JAPAN AND RUSSIA 
 
 from his Government, to address his Excellency the Minister for 
 Foreign Affairs in these words : — — 
 
 The Government of Japan regard the independence and terri- 
 torial integrity of the Empire of Korea as essential to their own repose 
 and safety, and they are consequently unable to view with indiffer- 
 ence any action tending to render the position of Korea insecure. 
 
 The successive rejections by the Imperial Russian Government, 
 by means of inadmissible amendments of Japan's proposals respect- 
 ing Korea, the adoption of which the Imperial Government regarded 
 as indispensable to assure the independence and territorial integrity 
 of the Korean Empire and to safeguard Japan's preponderating 
 interests in the Peninsula, coupled with the successive refusals of the 
 Russian Government to enter into engagements to respect China's 
 territorial integrity in Manchuria, which is seriously menaced by 
 their continued occupation of the province, notwithstanding their 
 treaty engagements with China and their repeated assurances to 
 other Powers possessing interests in those regions, have made it neces- 
 sary for the Japanese Government seriously to consider what 
 measures of self-defence they are called upon to take. 
 
 In the presence of the delays which remain largely unexplained, 
 and naval and military activities which it is difficult to reconcile with 
 entirely pacific aims, the Imperial Government have exercised in 
 the depending negotiations a degree of forbearance which they believe 
 affords abundant proof of their loyal desire to remove from their 
 relations with the Imperial Russian Government every cause for 
 future misunderstanding. But finding in their efforts no prospect 
 of securing an adhesion either to Japan's moderate and unselfish 
 proposals, or to any other proposals likely to establish a firm and 
 enduring peace in the Extreme East, the Imperial Government have 
 no other alternative than to terminate the present futile negotia- 
 tions. 
 
 In adopting that course the Japanese Government reserve to 
 themselves the right to take such independent action as they may 
 deem best to consolidate and defend their menaced position, as well 
 as to protect their established rights and legitimate interests. 
 
 Diplomatic relations were therefore severed, another 
 Note being addressed to the Count as directed by Baron 
 Komura, and Mr. Kurino withdrew from St. Petersburg. 
 Soon after the last instruction was given to Mr. Kurino, 
 on the 5th, [the Japanese fleet was ordered to proceed from 
 Sasebo, its base, to its objectives, and in the night of the 
 8th the war, which was thus forced upon Japan, commenced 
 at Port Arthur. 
 
 In conclusion, it may be mentioned that the Japanese 
 Government, in its genuine desire to avoid hostilities, went 
 so far in the matter of concessions to Russia as directly to 
 run the risk of arousing popular antagonism in Japan itself, 
 and of jeopardizing the respect entertained for the nation 
 
 ^33 D 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 in other lands. Yet all the time Russia, whilst pretending 
 to carry on negotiations which should make towards a 
 lasting peace, was sending to the Orient all the warships 
 she had ready, and brigade upon brigade of troops, in 
 defiance of her promises given to all the Powers of the 
 world. Russia's policy throughout was cynically and out- 
 rageously insincere. Perhaps no more flagrant disregard 
 of public opinion can be imagined than that of which Russia 
 was guilty when, at the very moment when she ought, in 
 fulfilment of her repeated pledges to Japan and the nations 
 at large, to have been proceeding with the evacuation of 
 Manchuria, an Imperial ukase appeared (August 13, 1903) 
 conferring upon Admiral Alexeieff absolutely full powers 
 over the army and navy and all branches of the adminis- 
 tration as the Tsar's Viceroy in the Far East. The whole 
 course of Russia's treatment of these grave matters 
 was marked by a complete disregard of international 
 courtesy and diplomatic usage, inasmuch as though the 
 Government of Tokio endeavoured throughout to carry 
 on its negotiations in the customary way with the Govern- 
 ment of St. Petersburg, the Russian tactics were to introduce 
 on all possible occasions an intermediary in the person of 
 this " Viceroy in the Far East " — tactics which Japan, in 
 her desire for peace, was willing to ignore, notwithstanding 
 the natural resentment felt at their adoption by Russia. 
 
 Russia's insincerity becomes more and more glaring when 
 it is remembered that at the time of the Boxer troubles, 
 Japan being about to send her troops to the relief of the 
 Legations in Peking, Russia, in common with other Powers, 
 expressed her gratification that Japan should do this, and 
 went on to enlarge, in a Note to her representatives abroad, 
 to be handed to the Governments to which they were 
 respectively accredited, on the propriety of making it clear 
 that the accomplishment of the task should not confer 
 upon Japan the right to, an independent solution of matters 
 at Peking, or any other privileges, save, perhaps, to a larger 
 indemnity should the Powers, later on, consider it necessary 
 to demand one. The Note proceeded to enunciate the funda- 
 mental principles, which Russia considered, as having already 
 been accepted by the majority of the Powers, to form the 
 basis of their policy in China ; these principles were the main- 
 tenance of the union between the Powers, the preservation of 
 
 34 
 
JAPAN AND RUSSIA 
 
 the existing system of government in China, the exclusion 
 of anything that might lead to the partition of the Empire, 
 and, finally, the re-establishment by common effort of a 
 legitimate central power, itself capable of securing order 
 and security to the country ; adding also that the firm 
 establishment and strict observance of these principles 
 were, in her opinion, absolutely indispensable to the attain- 
 ment of the chief object — the maintenance of a lasting 
 peace in the Far East. 
 
 Despite all these solemn protestations, as has been amply 
 demonstrated, Russia was ready at the first opportunity to 
 cast all such assurances to the winds. 
 
 35 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR^ 
 THE HISTORY OF SIX YEARS 
 '"' Part I. 1898-1900 
 
 IN this and the ensuing chapter an attempt will be made 
 to furnish a complete history of the course of events 
 which led to the gigantic war now being waged in the Far 
 East. As I shall endeavour to show, it was brought about 
 solely by the action of Russia. I have sought to make my 
 narrative concise, but if it should strike the reader as being 
 here and there a trifle tedious, I must earnestly crave indul- 
 gence for the sake of the important bearing which the events 
 recorded have had, and must continue to have, on the 
 common interest of the civilized world. As regards the 
 thorough accuracy of the statements herein made, I need 
 only explain that they are based throughout upon the 
 numerous State papers of the Powers concerned, and that 
 my facts have one and all been gathered from these incon- 
 testable sources of information. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to reiterate how Russia deprived 
 Japan of her legitimate prize of war, the Liao-Tung Penin- 
 sula, in 1895, and how, after the lapse of only a few years, 
 she appropriated to herself the most important and strategi- 
 cally valuable portion of that peninsula ; nor is it essential 
 that I should relate how, in doing this, Russia outwitted 
 England, and how the British Government was driven to 
 exact from China a lease of Wei-Hai-Wei in consequence 
 as a set-off to Russia's acquisition of Port Arthur and 
 adjacent territory. It will suffice to remember that the 
 lease of Port Arthur to Russia as a naval station was viewed 
 by the British Government, and so declared in its diplomatic 
 correspondence, as a " serious disturbance of and menace 
 
 ^ The Nmeteenth Century and After, September, 1904. 
 
 36 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1898-1900 
 
 to the balance of power in the Gulf of Pechili," and that 
 as regard Wei-Hai-Wei the step taken by England was con- 
 sidered by her as having been forced upon her by the actions 
 of Russia. 
 
 It is also perhaps needless to state that this acquisition 
 of territory at Port Arthur was a direct self-contradiction 
 of the theory that Russia had advanced, less than three 
 years before, when she had urged Japan to give up that 
 region, on the plea that the " possession of the peninsula 
 of Liao-Tung, claimed by Japan, would be a constant 
 menace to the capital of China, would at the same time 
 render illusory the independence of Korea, and would 
 henceforth be a perpetual obstacle to the permanent peace 
 of the Far East." 
 
 The agreement for the cession of the " Kwantung Penin- 
 sula " and Port Arthur was first signed in Peking on 
 March 27, 1898, and was afterwards supplemented by 
 another agreement signed in St. Petersburg on May 7 of the 
 same year.^ On the day that the first agreement was signed 
 the Russian Government suddenly made the following 
 communication to the Powers : — 
 
 In virtue of the Agreement signed on the 15th (27th) March in 
 Peking by the Representatives of Russia and the members of the 
 Tsung-li Yamen, as respective Plenipotentiaries, Port Arthur and 
 Tahen-Wan, as well as the adjoining territory, have been ceded by 
 the Chinese Government for the use of Russia. 
 
 You are instructed to communicate the above to the Government 
 to which you are accredited, and to add that the above-mentioned 
 ports and territory will be occupied without delay by the forces of 
 his Imperial Majesty, our august Monarch, and that the Russian 
 flag, together with the Chinese, will be hoisted in them. 
 
 You can at the same time inform the Minister for Foreign Affairs 
 that Port Talien-Wan will be opened to foreign commerce, and that 
 the ships of all friendly nations will there meet with the most wide 
 hospitality. 
 
 These Agreements provided for the cession of Port Arthur 
 and Talien-Wan, as well as of the adjacent territory, for 
 the use of Russia during a term of twenty-five years, 
 which might be prolonged indefinitely by mutual arrange- 
 ment, and for the construction of branches of railways 
 
 1 A secret treaty was also signed then between Russia and China 
 the aim of which was against Japan, and the newly contemplated 
 Eastern Chinese Railway was to be used for that purpose. 
 
 37 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 to connect the ports with the main Trans-Siberian Railway, 
 No vessels, whether warships or merchantmen, of any 
 nations but Russia and China were to be allowed access to 
 Port Arthur ; no subjects of other Powers were to be granted 
 concessions for their use in the " neutral ground," which 
 included the territory forming part of the Liao-Tung Penin- 
 sula to the north of the portion actually leased to Russia, 
 as far as Kai-chau on the north coast, and the mouth of 
 the Ta-Yang River — i.e. Takushan — on the south coast. 
 No ports on the seacoasts east or west of the neutral ground 
 were to be opened to the trade of other Powers, nor might 
 any road or mining concessions, industrial or mercantile 
 privileges, be granted in the neutral territory without 
 Russia's consent first being obtained. 
 
 It is now an open secret that M. Hanotaux, at that time 
 Foreign Minister of France, advised the Russian Govern- 
 ment not to make Port Arthur a naval station, and that 
 M. Witte, then the Finance Minister of Russia, was some- 
 what of the same opinion ; but even the trifling element 
 of moderation thus counselled went unheeded, and the 
 Russian official organ, at the time that the Peking Agreement 
 was signed, was encouraged, on the other hand, to indulge 
 in the most extravagant utterances. Thus the Novoe 
 Vremya wrote on April 6, 1898, substantially as follows : — 
 
 Russia has the right to carry a line of railway from TaHen-Wan 
 along the western shore of the Liao-Tung peninsula to any point she 
 may choose. The construction of a line to the west is as necessary 
 for us as the construction of one to the east, along the northern shore 
 of the Korean Gulf to the town of Yi-ju on the river Yalu, whence a 
 French company has obtained the right to construct a line to the 
 south on to Seoul. If the Russian Government do not find it neces- 
 sary to acquire the railway from Chemulpho to Seoul, constructed 
 by the American Morse and passing now into Japanese hands, it only 
 shows our conviction that we shall possess our own rail from Manchu- 
 ria to the capital of Korea. Such a line would be most advantageous 
 to Japanese commerce and interests, and the Japanese Government, 
 who are doing all they can to promote their trade, must choose 
 between a risky game of political influence in Korea or the sale of 
 their product in Korea and Manchuria under the Russian flag and 
 protected by Russian bayonets. The construction of a Russian rail- 
 way in Manchuria must at last open the eyes of Japan to the advan- 
 tage of an understanding with Russia, which might save her from a 
 financial crash and be advantageous to her southern population, 
 which is compelled from poverty to emigrate. Let Japan play the 
 commercial, while Russia plays the political role. . . . Common 
 
 38 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1898-1900 
 
 action between Russia and Japan might further hold England back 
 from her risky enterprises in the Gulf of Pechili, which is the 
 natural sphere of Russian influence. England always wants some 
 contribution to her own advantage on every political step forward 
 which Russia makes. If England takes Wei-Hai-Wei, she will see 
 Russia demanding extensions of territory in Central Asia ; the roles 
 will be changed, and Russia will demand a heavy percentage for every 
 English acquisition. Such a step would undoubtedly check the 
 appetites of English politicians. 
 
 Again, the same paper went so far as to declare in the 
 next issue that the treaty of 1895 (Anglo -Russian) ought 
 to be regarded as being no longer in force. 
 
 There was, however, one thing worth noting — that was 
 that, according to the best authority accessible, this agree- 
 ment contained some provisions by which Chinese sover- 
 eignty in the localities indicated was guaranteed, and also 
 that the railway concession therein referred to was " never 
 to be used as a pretext for enroachment on Chinese territory, 
 nor to be allowed to interfere with Chinese authority or 
 interests." 
 
 On June i, 1898, the Russian Charge d" Affaires intimated, 
 in the form of a circular to all his foreign colleagues at the 
 Chinese capital, that by Count Mouravieff' s order " pass- 
 ports were obligatory for Port Arthur and Talien-Wan," 
 which occasioned great controversy, inasmuch as it was 
 wholly inconsistent with the treaty rights of the other 
 Powers for Russia to make such a stipulation ; but she con- 
 trived, on one pretext and another, to evade the issue, and 
 the question was allowed to drag on without a complete 
 settlement being reached. 
 
 The anti-Christian movement in North China, otherwise 
 the Boxer troubles, of 1900 was a great turning-point in 
 Far Eastern affairs. In the presence of this tremendous 
 upheaval the concerns of Port Arthur and Talien-Wan 
 waned almost into insignificance ; and while these grave 
 matters fell into comparative oblivion an excellent oppor- 
 tunity was given to Russia of playing off her tricky diplomacy 
 and selfish efforts at aggrandisement to the detriment of 
 other Powers. True it may be that what she said and did 
 may not always have been intended to deceive ah initio, 
 but the results were the same. The Boxer troubles began 
 in the early part of the year named, and by the beginning 
 of June had assumed an alarming aspect. All the Powers 
 
 39 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 did their best to cope with the emergency, and sent ships 
 and landed marines to the fullest extent available. But 
 from the very nature of the locality, the distance away, and 
 the limited numbers of the forces at command, the measures 
 taken were far from being effective. Japan was the only 
 Power that could efficiently cope with the difficulty, and 
 she was almost universally appealed to by public opinion 
 at large to cast in her lot with the Christian nations against 
 the Boxers by taking the foremost part in the measures 
 designed for their suppression. 
 
 On June 13, therefore, Viscount Aoki, who was then 
 Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, intimated through 
 the British Charge d^ Affaires to the British Government 
 that " if the foreign naval detachments which had actually 
 been landed should be surrounded or otherwise in danger, 
 the Japanese Government would be ready to send at once 
 a considerable force to their relief if her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment concurred in such a course, but that otherwise his 
 Government did not intend to send soldiers," similar intima- 
 tions being given to the representatives at Tokio of other 
 great Powers interested. 
 
 This resolution of the Japanese Government was ascrib- 
 able purely to their consideration of the claims of a common 
 humanity, and beneath it were hidden no political or selfish 
 motives or designs. The prevailing sentiment in Japan 
 was still more plainly set forth in the statement of Mr. 
 Matsui, Japanese Charge d' Affaires in London, to Lord 
 Salisbury on June 25, when it was declared that, for the 
 despatch of a considerable force from Japan, " some assur- 
 ance would be required that there was no objection on the 
 part of other Governments which have interests in the 
 East." Japan's unselfishness was demonstrated, too, in 
 Viscount Aoki's words to the British Charge d' Affaires, 
 when he modestly said that " although Japan had made 
 great progress, she was not yet in a position to take an inde- 
 pendent line of action in so grave a crisis. It was impera- 
 tive for her to work in line with other Powers." 
 
 Japan entered upon the difficult task assigned to her in 
 this spirit, and she acquitted herself, it is believed, thoroughly 
 to the satisfaction of the Western Powers. By Great 
 Britain, at all events, a generous acknowledgment of her 
 services was conveyed in the following telegram, despatched 
 
 40 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1898-1900 
 
 by Lord Salisbury to the British Charge d' Affaires in Tokio 
 on the completion of the operations undertaken for the 
 rescue of the Peking Legations : — 
 
 As her Majesty's Government specially pressed for the action of 
 Japan in sending forces to effect the relief of the Legations, I think 
 you may, without presumption, express to the Minister for Foreign 
 Affairs their earnest admiration of the gallantry and efficiency dis- 
 played by the Japanese forces in the present operations, which 
 contributed to the success of the expedition so very largely. (August 25, 
 1900.) 
 
 But to take up again the thread of our argument. After 
 Japan's indication of her readiness to comply with the 
 desire expressed that she should send troops, diplomatic 
 correspondence took place between the Powers with much 
 expedition, and there was found not one that did not 
 appreciate the expediency of the step to be taken by 
 Japan, though there was already a somewhat sinister tone 
 perceptible in the Russian despatch, sent to Japan about 
 June 28, wherein this passage appeared : — 
 
 We can only highly appreciate the sentiments expressed by Japan 
 in present circumstances, as also her view of Chinese affairs. We 
 have no desire to hinder her liberty of action, particularly after her 
 expression of a firm intention to conform her action to that of the 
 other Powers. 
 
 On July 4 the Marquis of Salisbury telegraphed to Mr. 
 Whitehead, British Charge d' Affaires at Tokio, after repeat- 
 ing Admiral Seymour's alarming telegram, as follows : — 
 
 This telegram indicates a position of extreme gravity. You should 
 communicate at once to Japanese Ministers. Japan is the only 
 Power which can send rapid reinforcements to Tien-tsin. No object- 
 tion has been raised by any European Power to this course. 
 
 Barely two days later, on July 6, the British Govern- 
 ment reiterated its pressing request to Japan, and at the 
 same time offered financial aid, the Marquis of Salisbury 
 telegraphing to Mr. Whitehead thus :— 
 
 Japan is the only Power which can act with any hope of success 
 for the urgent purpose of saving the Legations ; and, if they delay, 
 heavy responsibility must rest with them. We are prepared to 
 furnish any financial assistance which is necessary, in addition to 
 our forces already on the spot. 
 
 With regard to this financial assistance Lord Salisbury 
 
 41 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 explained to Mr. Whitehead that the British Government 
 was prepared to undertake the responsibHty because inter- 
 national negotiations would only result in a fatal expen- 
 diture of time. On the same day Japan signified her inten- 
 tion of despatching as rapidly as possible a considerable 
 force, sufficient, with those troops which she had already 
 sent, to bring her total up to twenty thousand men. But 
 with regard to financial aid, Japan did not, after all, desire 
 it, as she considered that the task that she was then under- 
 taking was a purely voluntary one for the common benefit 
 of humanity, and, moreover, she stood in no immediate 
 need of such assistance. 
 
 About the middle of the month (July, 1900) Russia sub- 
 mitted to the great Powers, including Japan, notes verbales 
 embodying what she was pleased to term " fundamental 
 principles.'* The date on which these notes reached the 
 Powers was generally July 13, or thereabouts, and the 
 purport was one and the same. In the case of Japan, 
 however, it bore the date July 8, and was handed by 
 the Russian Minister to Viscount Aoki only on the 20th 
 of that month. The English translation of the text given 
 to Lord Salisbury is appended in full, as the subject is of 
 the highest importance : 
 
 On the nth of June our Minister at Tokio informed us that the 
 Japanese Government had declared their readiness, in consideration 
 of the perilous situation at Peking, to send their troops to China, 
 with a view to saving, conjointly with the other States, the represen- 
 tatives of the Powers who were besieged in Peking, and to rescuing 
 the foreigners resident in the Empire, among whom are many Jap- 
 anese subjects. Any co-operation, anything tending to the attain- 
 ment of the object indicated, could only meet with the most 
 sympathetic reception from all the Powers. Moreover, Japan being 
 able, thanks to geographical conditions, by the despatch of a con- 
 siderable contingent to facilitate essentially the task of the interna- 
 tional detachments already at Tien-tsin, we hastened to inform the 
 Cabinet at Tokio that we saw no reason to interfere with their liberty 
 of action in this respect, especially as they have expressed their firm 
 resolution of acting in complete harmony with the other Powers. 
 The decision taken by the Japanese Government, under the above- 
 mentioned conditions, was a very natural one, in consideration of 
 the danger which menaced their representatives at Peking, as well as 
 their numerous subjects resident in China ; but from our point of 
 view the accomplishment of this task could not confer the right to 
 an independent solution of matters at Peking, or other privileges, 
 with the exception, perhaps, of a larger pecuniary indemnity, should 
 the Powers consider it necessary, later on, to demand one. 
 
 42 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1898-1900 
 
 We received almost simultaneously a communication on this 
 subject from the Cabinet of London, which had reference, not to a 
 spontaneous decision on the part of the Cabinet at Tokio to partici- 
 pate in the collective action of the Powers, but to a mission given by 
 Europe to Japan to send considerable forces to China, not only to 
 save the Legations and the foreign subjects, but with a view to the 
 suppression of the insurrectionary movement provoked by the 
 Boxers and the re-establishment of order at Peking and Tien-tsin. 
 
 This way of putting the question might, in our opinion, to a cer- 
 tain extent encroach on the fundamental principles which had already 
 been accepted by the majority of the Powers as the bases of their 
 policy relative to events in China — that is to say, the maintenance 
 of the union between the Powers ; the maintenance of the existing 
 system of government in China ; the exclusion of anything which 
 might lead to the partition of the Empire ; finally, the re-establish- 
 ment by common effort of a legitimate central Power, itself capable 
 of assuring order and security to the country. The firm establish- 
 ment and strict observance of these fundamental principles are, in 
 our opinion, absolutely indispensable to the attainment of the chief 
 object : the maintenance of a lasting peace in the Far East. 
 
 The Imperial Government considers that, in view of the threaten- 
 ing events in China, which concern the vital interests of the Powers, 
 it is urgently necessary to avoid any misunderstanding or omission 
 which might have still more dangerous consequences. 
 
 Broadly speaking, it appears to be true that the " funda- 
 mental principles " enunciated by Russia were the nearest 
 approach to the ideas entertained at that time by the Powers 
 in general, though none of the Powers seem to have been able 
 to shape any clear insight as to the eventualities of the 
 whole affair ; not one of them entertained any thought of 
 partitioning out the Chinese Empire. America had made 
 public her views on this point early that month, and Russia, 
 on being consulted by China, had expressed her willingness, 
 so the Chinese Minister in London assured Lord Salisbury, 
 to guarantee the integrity of the Chinese Empire, though 
 her underlying intentions may, as we now can perceive, 
 have been very different from those on the surface. As 
 to Great Britain, she was from the first, as also were others 
 of the Powers, firmly resolved upon the maintenance of 
 Chinese territorial integrity. 
 
 There were, however, two points in the above-quoted 
 Russian communication that specially invite comment. 
 The first is that the claim which she put forward that her 
 " fundamental principles " had already been accepted by a 
 majority of the Powers was altogether presumptuous and un- 
 
 43 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 warrantable, for there had not then been any formal exchange 
 of views between the Powers on the subject. The second 
 point is that the British suggestion of an invitation to Japan 
 to send troops to China was interpreted by Russia as tending 
 to confer upon Japan some shadowy " special rights " or 
 privileges. On this latter point the statement made by 
 Count Lamsdorff to the German Ambassador, and also 
 to the British, a few days previously, had been much 
 stronger, for he had spoken to the effect that there were 
 grave objections to the giving of a " mandate " for indepen- 
 dent action to any one Power in the face of so grave a crisis. 
 As a matter of fact, there was not the slightest foundation 
 for the insinuation that such a mandate was either sought 
 by Japan or proposed by England ; and the British Govern- 
 ment, at all events, was indisposed to permit this wrongful 
 suggestion to pass unchallenged. A brisk interchange of 
 diplomatic correspondence between the Powers ensued on 
 these two points, and in the end the incident was allowed 
 to drop on Count Lamsdorff giving the following explana- 
 tion as reported by the British Ambassador, viz. : — 
 
 His Excellency (Count Lamsdorff) said that it was his wish to 
 clear the Russian Government at once from the odious and entirely 
 undeserved charge that they had hesitated to accept Japan's assis- 
 tance, and had thereby assumed the grave responsibility of hindering 
 the prompt relief of the Legations. This charge had been insinuated 
 in the Press and other quarters. His Excellency admitted that in 
 the message which I communicated to him no mention had been made 
 of any European mandate to Japan for independent action, and that 
 co-operation was indicated in the arguments used by me, but he said 
 that at Berlin your Lordship's question had been understood to 
 imply an European mandate, and that it was possible to so interpret 
 the words used : " An expedition to restore order at Peking and Tien- 
 tsin, if Japan is willing to undertake the task." Although the mis- 
 understanding had been promptly cleared up, unjust deductions had 
 been drawn by the public Press, and it ought to have been made quite 
 clear by the instructions sent to the Russian Minister at Tokio that 
 all available prompt assistance from Japan, equally with the Powers 
 concerned in meeting the common danger, would be gladly welcomed 
 by Russia. 
 
 As a result of this incident, however, Russia remained even 
 more solemnly pledged than ever to what she had declared 
 to the world and to what she herself termed the " funda- 
 mental principles," and Japan proceeded promptly and 
 whole-heartedly with the work asked of her, in concert with 
 
 44 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1898-1900 
 
 the Occidental Powers. It should be a matter of no slight 
 interest to the reader to discover, as he will presently do, 
 that the propagator and disseminator of these sublime 
 *' fundamental principles " was the first to try to frustrate 
 their useful application, and that it was the Power against 
 which an effort had been made to arouse and foment dis- 
 trust that proved to be honest and patient in the execution 
 of the task which it undertook to perform. 
 
 The siege of the Legations in Peking, and the narrative of 
 the expedition of the combined forces for their rescue, form 
 a history with which every one is now familiar, and there is 
 scarcely any need here to relate how Sir Claude MacDonald 
 was placed in supreme charge of the defences by his colleagues 
 how he gave to Lieutenant- Colonel Shiba, a young Japanese 
 officer, command of a most important point, or how Sir 
 Claude subsequently commended this officer for his skilful 
 dispositions, and as having contested every inch of the 
 ground at the most critical moment, thereby gaining time 
 for the defences to be placed in thorough order, which was 
 one direct cause of the success ultimately achieved, and of 
 the preservation of many lives in a period of unexampled 
 danger ; nor is it needful further to allude to the splendid 
 organization of the international expeditionary forces, and 
 the conspicuous part that the Japanese played therein 
 during the advance to the Chinese capital. Suffice it to 
 say that, as a whole, the march to the succour of the be- 
 leaguered foreign residents, and the final success and triumph 
 over the forces of disorder and fanaticism, were episodes 
 in the world's history and efforts in the cause of humanity 
 which Time will be slow to efface, whilst at the same 
 time the complete concord and sincerity of all the nations 
 engaged in this undertaking — save for the barbarity which 
 was displayed by the Russian troops, as was much com- 
 mented upon at the time, and also save for the one black 
 shadow that at times obtruded itself, as will be shown here- 
 after — were at once unprecedented and beneficent. The 
 malign influence that began to make itself felt was due to 
 Russia's having, even at this early stage, begun to betray 
 something of her innate disposition to play an unworthy 
 part ; for early in July Russian troops had occupied the 
 south bank of the Amur, opposite Blagovestchensk, under 
 the trifling pretence that the Chinese had been guilty of 
 
 45 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 some offence, of which, in reahty, the Russians had been 
 the cause by their own provocative behaviour. They had, 
 moreover, perpetrated that appalhng massacre of the Chinese 
 before which the whole civiHzed world stood aghast. It was 
 on that occasion that — as Count Tolstoi incidentally describes 
 in his recent remarkable letter — thousands of helpless men, 
 women, and children were drowned or slaughtered by the 
 Russians in compliance with the Russian Commander 
 Gribsky's orders, he acting, as he declared, in consonance 
 with Imperial decree. 
 
 Though the contingent which Russia sent to take part 
 in the Peking Expedition was comparatively small, she 
 despatched large numbers — though less than one-third of 
 the number she pretended when she claimed compensation 
 — of her troops into the three provinces of the Chinese 
 Empire comprised under the head of Manchuria. Early 
 in August she occupied the treaty port of Newchwang, 
 hoisted the Russian flag, possessed herself of the Customs 
 department, and began to collect revenue for her own 
 purposes — an intrusion for which there was absolutely no 
 justification — and she at the same time seized the railway 
 between Newchwang and the Great Wall, of which more 
 anon. 
 
 Russia's proceedings in Manchuria continued to be of 
 this high-handed and unscrupulous character, until at last, 
 in September, they had reached the pitch of celebrating a 
 grand feast on the site of the Chinese town of Sakalin, 
 previously burned in July, and which they had renamed 
 Ilinsky, on the south bank of the Amur, in honour of the 
 " relief," as they chose to designate it, of Blagovestchensk. 
 The Novoe Vremya, in a telegram from that place, thus 
 described this indecent and blasphemous function : — 
 
 To-day, on the Chinese bank of the Amur, on the ashes of Sakalin, 
 a solemn thanksgiving service in memory of the relief of this place 
 by the Russian forces, together with the ceremony of re-naming the 
 post lUnsky, was held, in the presence of the authorities, the army, 
 the English officer, Bigham, and a large crowd of people. The High 
 Priest KonoplofE said : '* Now is the Cross raised on that bank of the 
 Amur which yesterday was Chinese. Mouravieff foretold that sooner 
 or later this bank would be ours." In a beautiful speech General 
 Gribsky congratulated the victorious troops. (September 7.) 
 
 Let us now see what Russia was doing all this time in 
 the devious paths of her diplomacy. 
 
 46 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1898-1900 
 
 When, in July, the idea of concentrating the general 
 command of the international forces was mooted on the 
 Continent, an idea which crystallized into the determination 
 to despatch the German general. Count von Waldersee, to 
 China, Russia, referring to the importance of the " ulterior 
 military measures," and expressing herself as averse to 
 the selection of a commander either on account of his 
 seniority of rank among the generals in command, or the 
 greater size of the contingent that he might control, invited 
 the opinion of the interested Powers. The trend of her 
 lurking motive was sufficiently obvious, and any effort on 
 my part to expose it would now be superfluous. When, 
 moreover, further explanations were sought from Count 
 Lamsdorff by Great Britain concerning the " ulterior 
 military measures " that Russia appeared to have in mind, 
 and as to the suggested scope of the authority to be delegated 
 to this generalissimo, the British Ambassador was informed 
 that the field of action of the international forces might in 
 practice be roughly defined as the province of Pechili, 
 and that as regards other parts of China where dangers 
 might equally be present, it was clear that the direction 
 of any necessary military measures would have to be under- 
 taken independently. " For instance, Russia would have 
 to undertake independent military action in the north of 
 China bordering on her own territory and on her railway, 
 and it was to be assumed that other Powers would act 
 similarly in the south and centre of China where their own 
 territorial and special interests were more immediately 
 concerned." 
 
 At a casual glance this proposal seemed to be very fair, but 
 it was not difficult to perceive the specious nature of the 
 arrangement that was veiled by these suggestions. Never- 
 theless, one thing was certain — namely, that if independent 
 action should be taken, no matter in what part of China, 
 it could not but be subject to the restrictions involved in 
 the application of the broad line of policy which Russia 
 had herself enunciated under the head of " fundamental 
 principles," and to which she stood committed in the eyes 
 of all the world. 
 
 On August 14, 1900, the international forces entered 
 Peking, and the Legations were relieved. Eight days 
 later, on the 22nd of the month. Sir Charles Scott, by the 
 
 47 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 direction of Lord Salisbury, inquired of Count Lamsdorff 
 about the affair at Newchwang, concerning which certain 
 information, implying Russian aggression, had reached 
 the British Government on the 20th. Count Lamsdorff 
 at once replied that " any steps taken could only be of a 
 provisional and temporary nature," but at the same time 
 he promised to " inquire what were the real facts of the case." 
 But with what result ? 
 
 On August 28, and during the next few days, identical 
 communications were addressed by Russia to all the inter- 
 ested Powers, and the text of these despatches reads very 
 like an attempt " to kill two birds with one stone." It 
 began with a repetition of the time-honoured declaration 
 that she remained faithful to the " fundamental principles " 
 which she had proposed to the Powers as a basis of common 
 action, and announced her intention strictly to adhere in 
 the future to the programme laid down therein. The 
 despatch went on to state that the occupation of Newchwang 
 and the sending of troops into Manchuria had been forced 
 upon Russia by the progress of events, such as the attack 
 by the rebels on Russian troops at Newchwang and the 
 hostilities begun by the Chinese along the Russian frontier, 
 and had been dictated solely by the absolute necessity of 
 repelling the aggression of the Chinese rebels, and not in 
 any way with interested motives, " which were absolutely 
 foreign to the policy of the Imperial Government." 
 
 Directly the pacification of Manchuria was attained [the communi- 
 cation continued], and the necessary measures had been taken to 
 ensure the security of the railroad, Russia would not fail to with- 
 draw her troops from Chinese territory, provided that such action 
 did not meet with obstacles caused by the proceedings of other 
 Powers. 
 
 The communication then proceeded to state that in 
 occupying Peking the first and most important object — 
 namely, the rescue of the Legations and of the foreigners 
 besieged in Peking— had been attained. The second 
 object — namely, that of rendering assistance to China in 
 the restoration of order and the re-establishment of regular 
 relations with the Powers — had been hindered by the absence 
 of the Chinese Court from Peking. In these circumstances 
 the Russian Government saw no reason for the Legation 
 
 48 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1898-1900 
 
 to remain in Peking, and proposed to withdraw it to Tien- 
 tsin, together with the Russian troops, whose presence in 
 Peking now became useless in view of the decision taken 
 not to exceed the Hmits of the task which, it was alleged, 
 Russia had undertaken at the beginning of the disorders. 
 
 This communication served mainly to augment on all 
 sides the growing suspicion regarding Russia's sincerity of 
 purpose. It was all very well for her to repeat, as she did 
 so often, the avowal of her " fundamental principles," but 
 the vital question was whether or not she honestly intended 
 herself to be bound by them. The phrase " unless she is 
 prevented by the action of other Powers," which was more 
 than once employed, was one to engender a certain amount 
 of distrust. It could receive no other interpretation than, 
 as the sequel proved, that it was an artful provision of a way 
 of escape from the obligations of her pledges, for what other 
 Power could there be disposed to hinder Russia, so long as 
 she should remain faithful to her own promises ? 
 
 As to the proposal to withdraw her Legation as well as 
 her troops — which, by the way, she promptly did, without 
 waiting for the other Powers' concurrence — Peking had only 
 a fortnight or so previously been rescued from a terrible 
 fate, and the views entertained by other Governments were 
 that there was still a great risk to be run in a too speedy 
 evacuation of the Chinese capital ; but Russia held to her 
 own course with great tenacity. Her attitude towards the 
 restoration of the Chinese Government, moreover, was 
 almost inconsistent with the principles to which she osten- 
 tatiously professed, in the earlier part of the communication, 
 to adhere, and in sober truth her behaviour cannot be 
 considered otherwise than as having purposely protracted 
 the unsettled state of things in Central China in order that 
 she might gain time for the establishment of a firm hold upon 
 Manchuria. . ^| 
 
 Diplomatic correspondence was, of course, entered upon 
 with alacrity, and I may here give the essence of the Ameri- 
 can reply to Russia's communication, for it seems to have 
 embodied precisely the sentiments that were^ generally 
 entertained among the Powers. It expressed satisfaction 
 with the reiterated declaration of Russia that she enter- 
 tained no design of territorial aggrandizement at China's 
 expense, and also that assurances were forthcoming about 
 
 49 E 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 the occupancy of Newchang, which Russia had explained 
 was merely incidental to military steps, so that the Russian 
 troops would be withdrawn from the treaty port as soon as 
 order should be re-established. It referred to the important 
 tasks yet remaining, such as the restoration of order, the 
 safety and general peace of China, and the preservation 
 of the Chinese territorial and administrative entity, pro- 
 tection of all rights guaranteed by treaty and international 
 law to friendly Powers, and the safeguard for the world 
 underlying the principle of equal and impartial trade with 
 all parts of the Chinese Empire, and it proceeded to state 
 that these purposes could best be attained by continuing 
 the joint occupation of Peking. Next it laid stress upon 
 the importance of the Powers maintaining their concord, 
 thus indirectly expressing disapproval of Russia's attitude. 
 
 On August 29, just after Russia had sent round the above- 
 mentioned communication to the Powers, Count Lamsdorff, 
 in a long conversation with the British Ambassador, spoke 
 most forcibly of the Russian determination to adhere to 
 the so-called " fundamental principles," and went on to 
 remark that " it had been assumed that Russia was taking 
 advantage of the present crisis to extend her territory 
 and influence at the cost of China by permanently occupying 
 territory on the right bank of the Amur in Manchuria, and 
 at Newchwang, and by seizing control of the Customs and 
 lines of railway in which foreign capital was interested. 
 This was entirely incorrect. Russia had no such intention, 
 and any places which she had been obliged by the attack 
 of Chinese rebels on her frontier to occupy temporarily, 
 she intended, when the status quo ante and order were 
 re-established, to restore to their former position." 
 
 One may well be reminded of Ben Jonson's lines : 
 
 The dignity of truth is lost 
 With much protesting. 
 
 On September 11, Sir Charles Scott announced, by Lord 
 Salisbury's directions, to Count Lamsdorff, that in the 
 opinion of her Majesty's Government the time when it 
 would be expedient to withdraw the British forces from 
 Peking had not arrived. It would appear that about this 
 period public comment grew in intensity with the deepening 
 of the obscurity in which the Russian motives and designs 
 
 50 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1898-1900 
 
 were enshrouded, and it was, we may fairly assume, with a 
 wish to allay this increasing uneasiness that Count Lams- 
 dorff begged Sir Charles Scott to make it clear to the British 
 Government that the different course Russia had decided 
 upon was not in any way to be taken as indicating the 
 slightest intention of separating herself from the general 
 action of the Powers, and that she had chosen that course 
 on her part as she considered it desirable to have her troops 
 as well as her Minister as soon as possible in a position where 
 communication with their Government would be easy and 
 rapid. He also asserted that the Emperor (of Russia) was 
 more firmly determined than ever to continue in loyal co- 
 operation with all the other Powers, and to abide by his 
 agreement with them as to common aim and direction, and 
 the Russian action and aims would be faithfully kept within 
 the limits of the statement made in Count Lamsdorff' s own 
 circular, and, further, that there was nothing more foreign 
 to the Emperor's mind than to entertain the selfish aims 
 or motives for his action with which certain foreign news- 
 papers had credited him. 
 
 When, on September 13, the British Ambassador called 
 the attention of Count Lamsdorff to the report of the cele- 
 bration of the so-called " relief of Blagovestchensk," des- 
 cribed in a preceding page, criticizing it as contrary to the 
 expressed views of Russia, Count Lamsdorff begged the 
 British representative to take no further notice of that 
 action on the part of a military commander, and went 
 on to confirm the assurances of the Russian Government's 
 intention not to make territorial acquisitions in China. He 
 urged in explanation of the proceedings at Blagovestchensk 
 that distances were so great and means of communication 
 so few that it was not easy to keep the authorities in distant 
 parts of the Empire in touch with the views of the Central 
 Government. 
 
 Truly this was explanation a la Russe ! 
 
 While discussions of this kind were taking place in St. 
 Petersburg, more audacious acts were continually being 
 perpetrated in Manchuria itself. On August 17, a code of 
 rules and regulations was published in the Amur Gazette, 
 in the name of Lieut. -General Gribsky, the Military Gover- 
 nor, by which the Manchu territory of the Trans-Zeya, and 
 the territory that had been occupied by the Russian troops 
 
 51 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 on the right bank of the Amur, were proclaimed as having 
 passed into the jurisdiction of the Russian authorities. 
 The Chinese who had quitted the river bank for the Trans- 
 Zeya region were forbidden to return, and their lands were 
 appropriated to the exclusive use of Russian colonists. All 
 private individuals were absolutely forbidden to settle in 
 the former towns of Ai-gun and Sakalin — both on the 
 Manchurian side of the frontier — as also in their vicinity. 
 The re-establishment of these towns was interdicted, and 
 the Chinese buildings which had remained in them unde- 
 molished were to be devoted to the warehousing of military 
 stores and the quartering within their walls of Russian 
 troops. 
 
 Such being the case, it was surely not to be wondered at 
 that in some of the Continental organs it was declared that 
 Russia had annexed the conterminous Manchurian terri- 
 tories. An official denial was published on October i, in 
 the Messager Officiel, to the effect that the report of the 
 annexation was entirely devoid of foundation. It is pos- 
 sible that some of the acts of the military authorities had 
 not obtained the full concurrence of the Foreign Office at 
 St. Petersburg, but the general trend of Russian policy was 
 sufficiently clear, and in the first week of October the whole 
 of Manchuria was in the possession of Russia, including the 
 palace of Mukden and the Ying-Kow terminus of the Shan- 
 haikwan Railway, over which the Russian flag was hoisted, 
 not to speak of most public offices and all telegraph wires 
 and establishments. 
 
 It may be worth remembering that when the Russian 
 troops occupied Newchwang and hoisted the Russian 
 flag at the Customs flagstaff, the consuls of Great Britain, 
 America, and Japan sent a formal notice to the Russian 
 authorities that it was presumed this step had been taken 
 as a temporary measure only, and was due to military 
 exigencies, and that they claimed the reservation of all rights 
 and privileges which their countries enjoyed. Admiral 
 Alexeieff officially replied that the temporary adminis- 
 tration which Russia was about to establish there was in the 
 interests of the foreign residents in general, as well as the 
 Russians, and that the rights and privileges they had enjoyed 
 in the settlement (Ying-Kow) would not be infringed. The 
 administration was established, but it was neither of a 
 
 52 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1898-1900 
 
 temporary character nor dictated by considerations of 
 military expediency. It did not cease until long after even 
 a pretence of its necessity could with decency be put for- 
 ward — in fact, it was never relinquished until the end of 
 July of this year, when military considerations of another 
 kind prompted its hurried evacuation. 
 
 In this connexion it may not be inappropriate to recall 
 briefly some incidents illustrative of Russia's high-handed 
 proceedings concerning the Chinese railway joining Peking 
 with Shanhaikwan and Newchwang. 
 
 On July 8, 1900, the Russians seized this railway at Tein- 
 tsin, and turned out Mr. Claude W. Kinder and his staff. 
 Eight days afterwards, on July 16, at a Council of Admirals 
 convened on board H.B.M.S. Centurion at Taku at the 
 instance of Admiral Alexeieff, it was decided by the majority 
 that the railway between Tongku and Tien-tsin should be 
 managed and guarded by the Russians, who were then in 
 occupation, on condition that it should be given over to 
 the former administration as soon as military circumstances 
 would permit. It should not be forgotten that the construc- 
 tion of the Peking and Newchwang line of railway was chiefly 
 provided for by British capital, and British interests were 
 therefore largely involved — the line is, indeed, with some 
 exceptions, mortgaged to British bondholders — and it is, 
 moreover, a fact that Russia recognized this at the very 
 outset. The British Government, however, expressed to 
 the Russian Government its acquiescence in the above-men- 
 tioned decision of the Council of Admirals on the ground that 
 it was an arrangement resorted to solely in compliance with 
 the demands of military exigency. 
 
 Previously to this the Russians had, on June 18, occupied 
 that part of the foreign settlement in which are situated the 
 railway offices. Thence they removed and shipped to Port 
 Arthur a quantity of tools and appliances that were the 
 property of the railway administration, and, not content 
 with having done this, they broke open the safes, causing 
 the loss of a considerable sum of money, and destroyed the 
 archives. Finally, on the 28th of the month, they set fire 
 to the offices, and the premises were entirely consumed in 
 the flames. 
 
 Russia's next step was to claim the right herself to recon- 
 struct the railroad from Tien-tsin to Peking, declaring that 
 
 53 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 the whole of the Hne had been turned over to her by the 
 above-mentioned Council of Admirals. This was totally 
 at variance with fact, as the minutes of that meeting dis- 
 tinctly proved, for the action of Russia was expressly limited 
 to the section between Tein-tsin and Tongku. To prefer 
 an unjust claim and immediately to act upon it was the 
 normal course of procedure to be expected of the Russians, 
 and accordingly we find that they began forthwith to occupy 
 various points on the route and even to occupy the terminus 
 at Peking the moment that the Chinese capital was entered 
 by the allied relieving forces on August 14. In short, as the 
 British and Chinese Corporation justly complained, the 
 Russian occupation of the northern railway was progressing 
 so rapidly at that time and in such a manner as to give rise 
 to the most serious apprehensions that there was a design to 
 make the line a permanent Russian possession. 
 
 When, on August 30, the British troops occupied Feng-tai 
 railway station, and proceeded, in conjunction with the 
 Japanese, to repair the line between Feng-tai and Yang- 
 tsun, the Russians objected to this being done, and posted 
 a detachment in front of Feng-tai depot. Three weeks 
 afterwards, on September 23, they went so far as to tender 
 a formal protest and request for the withdrawal of the 
 British forces on the ground that the entire line had been 
 handed over to the Russians, the Russian commander 
 assuring the British General, Sir A. Gaselee, that an Imperial 
 (Russian) decree had been received to " construct " the 
 railway to Peking, and that he, the Russian commander, 
 had given orders accordingly. 
 
 The Russian pretensions to a right to the whole line 
 were simply a sham, as already shown. Of course the 
 English officer did not yield to so transparent an artifice. 
 On the contrary, he told the Russian commander that 
 Russia was in the wrong. The dispute waxed warm and 
 the situation became acute, but in the beginning of October 
 Count von Waldersee, who had arrived on the scene shortly 
 before, took the matter up and decided that the construction 
 and control of the railway from Tongku should as far as 
 Yang-tsun be Russian, and from Yang-tsun onwards to 
 Peking the line should be worked by Germany with the 
 assistance of other Powers, and thus curtailed the Russian 
 pretence ; but at the same time he suggested that the section 
 
 54 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1898-1900 
 
 of railway between Tongku and Shanhaikwan should also 
 be handed over to the Russians. The British had good 
 reason to consider this suggestion as unjust. 
 
 As regards the practical repair and working of the line 
 it had by this time become quite clear that the object sought 
 would be more effectively attained by entrusting it to the 
 former administration under Mr. Kinder and his staff, and 
 on October 6 the commanders of the British, American, 
 and Japanese troops suggested this to Count von Walder- 
 see, but without effect. Previously to this, on September 
 30, a British officer with eighteen men had occupied Shan- 
 haikwan Station and there hoisted the British flag. Two 
 days later, on October 2, a numerous body of Russian 
 troops went there, by land and sea, and refused to acknow- 
 ledge any rights hut those of conquest, which they assumed, 
 and laid claim to all the railway from Tongku throughout 
 to Newchwang, solely on these grounds, as being Russian. 
 On October 6 they occupied the Ying-Kow terminus of the 
 Chinese railway and hoisted over it the Russian flag, fifty 
 miles of railway material being simultaneously seized and 
 sent off to Port Arthur. 
 
 At home in England telegraphic reports had reached the 
 Government in quick succession from its diplomatic repre- 
 sentative, general, and admiral, and from many other 
 sources ; and as the acts thus committed by the Russians 
 in the Far East were entirely at variance with the assur- 
 ances which had been given by the Russian Government, 
 and there could be no rights of conquest, the Marquis of 
 Salisbury took up the matter strongly and repeated protests 
 were lodged at the St. Petersburg Foreign Office by the 
 British Embassy at his direction. At the same time the 
 attention of the German Government was also called to 
 the unfairness of Count von Waldersee's decision, he having 
 been led astray, as it seemed, by the exceeding astuteness 
 of the Russians. 
 
 The Russian replies were, as is usual, invidious and incon- 
 sistent all through. But at last the false position which 
 Russia had taken up had to be reHnquished, and she sought 
 to discover a way of escape, which she found in withdrawing 
 her troops from Peking, and subsequently from Tien-tsin, 
 as described in a previous page, and thus, on November 13, 
 Count Lamsdorff was able to assure Sir Charles (then Mr.) 
 
 55 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Hardinge, the British Charge d' Affaires at St. Petersburg, 
 that 
 
 the section from Tongku to Shanhaikwan, on the one hand, and 
 from Tongku to Tien-tsin, on the other, were of special miUtary im- 
 portance to Russia only so long as Russian troops remained to occupy 
 the province of Pechili. On the 30th of October, however, the 
 Russian Emperor ordered a reduction of the troops in Pechili, 
 and on their withdrawal from Peking to Tien-tsin the Yangtsun- 
 Peking section was placed at the disposal of Count von Waldersee. 
 On the retirement of the Russian troops from the Pechili province, 
 the whole line from Yangtsun to Shanhaikwan would also be given 
 over to the Field-Marshal. 
 
 As to the Hne joining Shanhaikwan with Newchwang, 
 Count Lamsdorff indulged in further procrastination on the 
 pretext of the economical and geographical gravity of the 
 problems involved, and declared that its complete restora- 
 tion to its former owners could not take place before all the 
 outlays incurred in the re-establishment and exploitation 
 of the whole line between Peking and Newchwang had been 
 fully repaid to the Russian Government. 
 
 This claim to reimbursement was on the part of Russia 
 wholly unwarranted, because, as was demonstrated on 
 November 23, by Lord Lansdowne, who had succeeded 
 Lord Salisbury in the conduct of Great Britain's foreign 
 affairs, Russia had no right to be placed in a preferential 
 position in regard to the repayment of such outlays, inas- 
 much as all expeditionary expenses, including outlays of 
 this description, were ultimately to be indemnified by China, 
 and, for another thing, Russia was not the only country 
 that had incurred expenditure of this nature, for the Japanese 
 had in reality themselves repaired a considerable length of 
 the line. When the Japanese " railway battalion " began 
 work the Boxers were still in force in the vicinity, and it was 
 necessary to disperse them as they worked, which resulted in 
 the loss of an engineer officer and several non-commissioned 
 officers and men; further expense was incurred owing to 
 the fact that railway materials, being unobtainable on 
 the spot, had to be sent over from home. The British, and 
 to some extent the Germans, were also engaged in similar 
 repair works. Hence diplomatic negotiations were carried 
 on with unabated vigour, but, as Russia is not a country 
 that is at all scrupulous in regard to the introduction of side 
 issues and fresh pretexts for delay when it suits her, it is 
 
 56 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1898-1900 
 
 easy to understand that a long time elapsed before the matter 
 was settled. 
 
 Before the excitement relating to the " Railway Incident " 
 above described had subsided there arose what was termed 
 the " Tien-tsin Incident," which was equally, if not more, 
 serious in its character. 
 
 At the beginning of November, 1900 the Russians seized 
 land on the left bank of the Pei-ho, extending from the 
 railway station as far as Messrs. Meyer's petroleum depot, 
 and planted a number of Russian flags and notice boards at 
 different points, and on the 6th of that month the Russian 
 Acting Consul, M. Poppe, issued a circular to the Consuls 
 of the Powers notifying them that the land in question had 
 become the property of Russia by act of war. Comically 
 enough, the Belgian Consul, in imitation of his Russian 
 colleague, next day issued a notice to the Consular body which 
 began by saying, " In accordance with instructions from his 
 Belgian Majesty's Legation at Peking I have this day occu- 
 pied the territory situated," etc, etc., and going on to describe 
 its exact situation, which was contiguous to the extensive 
 area appropriated by Russia. The Russian circular was one 
 so truly audacious that I give its text in full : — 
 
 His Excellency Lieutenant-General Linevitch, Commander-in 
 Chief of the Russian expeditionary corps in Pechili, instructs me 
 to inform you that, as on the 4th (17th) of June of this year the Im- 
 perial Chinese troops joined the rebels in attacking the foreign con- 
 cessions and the railway station occupied by Russian troops, and as 
 on the loth (23rd) Russian reinforcements relieved these troops, swept 
 the left bank of the Pei-ho from above the railway station to beyond 
 the petroleum depot of Messrs. H. Meyer & Co., and occupied it by 
 right of conquest, having seized it by force of arms and at the cost of 
 Russian blood spilt in order to prevent the Chinese returning there 
 and reopening fire on the Concessions, his Excellency therefore con- 
 siders the whole of this space, from above the railway station to 
 beyond the petroleum depot, as property of the Russian troops from 
 this day (loth (23rd) of June of this year) by act of war. Russian 
 flags have been planted and notices posted on boards placed at many 
 points in this territory, which has been occupied and patrolled under 
 orders of the Russian military authorities. 
 
 Consequently, his Excellency cannot and will not be able to recog- 
 nize any cession, unless with his special authorization, of land 
 included in this territory, of which he has taken full and complete 
 possession. 
 
 It is of course, understood that all proprietary rights, duly regis- 
 tered in the name of foreigners (other than Chinese) before the 4th 
 (17th) of June of this year, will be safeguarded. 
 
 57 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 The land claimed by Russia embraced practically the 
 whole of the left bank of the river opposite the foreign settle- 
 ment, and was a mile and a half in length, by 500 yards 
 wide. In it was comprised a portion belonging to the rail- 
 way administration's property and others belonging to the 
 private property of some British firms, but the Russian 
 flags waved over all. Apart from that, the Russians' con- 
 tention that they had cleared the area by their own troops 
 was one of which the accuracy was most doubtful, for it was 
 a well-known fact that when the Russians were attacked by 
 the Chinese near the railway station, the assistance gallantly 
 rendered by the Japanese troops went very far towards the 
 repulse of the assailants, and, indeed, saved the Russians 
 from being routed. In truth, it is believed that the fighting 
 ability of Russian troops was really measured by the Japan- 
 ese on this occasion. In the battle of June 23 the inter- 
 national forces were collectively engaged on a common foot- 
 ing, the British on that occasion playing a very conspicuous 
 part in effecting a clearance from the quarter in question 
 of the Chinese forces. Commander Cradock, in a memoran- 
 dum specially drawn up for the British authorities, in refuta- 
 tion of the Russian pretensions, went so far, indeed, as to 
 assert that " on the whole of the advance our (the British) 
 left flank touched the river, and the right was well extended 
 towards the railway. No Russian or German troops had 
 anything whatever to do with clearing the left bank of the 
 river." Besides, the Russians enjoyed no special right of 
 conquest, if there ever was such a right conferred upon the 
 participators at large by that campaign, inasmuch as in 
 their occupation of that or any other place the Russians 
 could not but have been executing the tasks assigned to them 
 as part and parcel of that war which was in process of being 
 waged by the international relief forces in common. Again, 
 the Russians, a little later on, systematically removed vast 
 quantities of machinery and stores from the railway works 
 at Tong-Shan to Port Arthur and elsewhere for their own 
 use, and they deprived the Bridge Works Stores at Shan- 
 haikwan of fifty thousand pounds' worth of material, the 
 premises being completely denuded of all portable property 
 The Russians even took away the steam cranes and 
 machinery of every description, having, as an expert's 
 report states, seized " everything they could lay hands on." 
 
 58 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1898-1900 
 
 All these outrageous proceedings were, of course, stoutly 
 challenged not only by the British authorities and the 
 interested individuals in the East, who at every successive 
 stage protested to the Russian authorities, but by the 
 British Government, who time after time briskly remon- 
 strated with the Russian Government. America also 
 contended that forcible appropriation under claim of con- 
 quest was in conflict with the declared purposes of the 
 Powers and disturbed their harmonious action. On Novem- 
 ber 16, the Russian Minister at Peking wrote to the American 
 Minister that if the communication of M. Poppe contained 
 any expressions suggesting any question of acquiring terri- 
 tory by conquest they had been certainly erroneously used 
 by him, and that the object of the Russian military authori- 
 ties had been to prevent the seizure of, and speculation in, 
 land b}/ certain parties within the radius occupied by the 
 Russian troops for military purposes since the preceding 
 June. What a groundless insinuation ! At last, when the 
 Russians were no longer able to sustain their unjust designs 
 they endeavoured, as usual, by their craft and subtleties to 
 provide a loophole for escape. They procured from Li 
 Hung-Chang the cession — made public on January 6, 1901, 
 in a circular from the Acting Russian Consul at Tien-tsin — 
 of a piece of land for a new Russian settlement which was 
 practically identical with the area that they had so audaci- 
 ously invaded. True, the part in which were the private 
 premises of British firms was this time excluded, but in 
 respect of that belonging to the railway administration 
 there was ambiguity ; as a matter of fact, in the Concession 
 Agreement, when it came to light, it was discovered that 
 the exact delineation of the boundary had been left over for 
 future arrangement. 
 
 Although England disdained to challenge the validity 
 of the concession, though she entertained some doubt as 
 to the mode in which it had been obtained, it was palpable 
 that the ground already owned by the railway adminis- 
 tration could not suddenly be wrenched from them in such 
 a fashion, and that in fact the Agreement could not be held 
 to comprise those lands, so there immediately arose upon 
 this point a most serious controversy. 
 
 As to the machinery of all sorts and the stores and materi- 
 als which Russia took away from the railway, they were 
 
 59 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 eventually restored to the rightful owners, the Russians 
 putting forward the extraordinary plea that, as there were 
 no workshops, no stores, and no materials to the north of 
 Shanhaikwan, it would be impossible to work this northern 
 section of the line after the southern section should have 
 been handed over to Count von Waldersee, and that therefore 
 Russia had " borrowed " the plant and stocks in question ; 
 but now that an arrangement was made that the Russians 
 might use the Shanhaikwan workshops for the working 
 of the northern section, they restored the borrowed 
 materials to the parties to whom they belonged. The 
 memorandum of the Russian Government on the subject 
 expressly declared that they had restored everything, but 
 the report of the expert went to show that only a part of 
 the whole was ever disgorged, and that in a very badly 
 damaged and scattered condition. 
 
 Early in 1901 the railway near Tien-tsin was handed 
 over by Count von Waldersee to the British contingent, 
 which thereupon proceeded to construct a siding in the 
 common interest of the international forces, beginning it on 
 March 7, on land which belonged to the railway adminis- 
 tration. The Russians made objection to this on the basis 
 that by the concession derived from Li Hung-Chang the 
 ground belonged to Russia. They also greatly impeded the 
 transfer of certain railway property at Tien-tsin, Tongku, and 
 Shanhaikwan, contrary to the terms of the railway con- 
 vention entered into the preceding month at Count Walder- 
 see's instance. On March 15 the Russians placed sentries 
 on the piece of land where the British were making the siding, 
 in order to prevent the work being continued, and at the 
 same time General Wogack, the Russian general, practically 
 demanded the withdrawal of the British sentries from the 
 ground. Naturally this sort of behaviour quickly brought 
 matters to a crisis, and Russia and Great Britain were on 
 the verge of hostilities, so much so that next day, on March 
 16, the India Office telegraphed to General Gaselee, giving 
 him instructions, and added, " In the meantime do not use 
 force except to repel aggression, and do not eject the Russian 
 sentries." At the same time vigorous, but still conciliatory, 
 protests were lodged by the British Government at St. 
 Petersburg, and in the end an understanding was reached 
 whereby the dispute about proprietary rights was left for 
 
 60 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1898-1900 
 
 future settlement/ and in the interval the British as well 
 as the Russian troops were required to evacuate the plot of 
 land in question. This arrangement was embodied in an 
 Agreement that on March 21 was signed in the presence of 
 Count von Waldersee by General Barrow, representing 
 England, and General Wogack, representing Russia — Count 
 von Waldersee adding his own signature to the document — 
 — whereby it was stipulated that both the Russian and British 
 guards should be simultaneously withdrawn at 5 a.m. the 
 next day. 
 
 The guards were duly withdrawn on both sides, but be- 
 fore the day was out, to the genuine surprise of everybody, 
 save perhaps the Russians themselves, the Russian flags 
 were replanted on the siding itself, and work was recom- 
 menced by the Russian soldiers with such energy that three 
 days later, on March 25, the British military authorities 
 had to telegraph home that " the Russians are working on 
 the disputed ground at Tien-tsin in such a way as to render 
 untenable the British position." Surely there could never 
 be a more flagrant instance of Russian insincerity and 
 duplicity ! Protests were made, of course, by the British 
 Government to that of St. Petersburg, and as a result the 
 Russian flags gradually and grudgingly disappeared from 
 the property, the last of them being displaced on April 4, 
 following. Even while these high-handed proceedings were 
 taking place at Tien-tsin Count Lamsdorff actually " ex- 
 pressed his surprise " — as he termed it — '' at the temporary 
 measures taken by the Russian authorities being regarded as 
 in any way inconsistent with the assurances given that 
 Russia would not make any territorial acquisitions in China." 
 
 Whilst the " Railway Incident " above described was 
 attracting the attention of the Powers concerned, an Agree- 
 ment was signed by Great Britain and Germany, on October 
 16, 1900, in which it was mutually recognized that {a) it 
 was a matter of joint and permanent international interest 
 that all Chinese ports on the rivers and littoral should remain 
 free and open for all nations, and the two Governments under- 
 dertook to uphold the dictum for all Chinese territory, as 
 
 1 The dispute was referred to a joint commission, who called upon 
 Mr. Detring to arbitrate on two points whereon the two commission- 
 ers were not agreed, and the whole matter was recently settled 
 mainly in favour of the British contention. 
 
 61 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 far as they could exercise influence ; (b) the two Govern- 
 ments, on their part, would not make use of existing com- 
 plications to obtain any territorial advantages, and would 
 direct their policy towards maintaining undiminished the 
 territorial conditions of the Chinese Empire ; (c) should 
 another Power make use of that complication to obtain, 
 under any form whatever, such territorial advantages, the 
 two Governments reserved to themselves to come to a 
 preliminary understanding as to the steps to be taken for 
 the protection of their own interests in China ; and (d) 
 other Powers would be invited to accept the principle thus 
 recorded. 
 
 Accordingly the Powers were invited, and Austria- 
 Hungary, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, and America all 
 expressed in due course their acceptance. In the case of 
 Japan she specially asked the contracting Powers what was 
 to be the efiect of expressing acceptance, and having been 
 told that an acceptor would stand in precisely the same 
 position as an original signatory, she forthwith announced 
 her acceptance in due form. It was plain, therefore, that 
 other Powers also which accepted, though they may not 
 have put the question, stood pari passu in the same position 
 as the signatory Powers. 
 
 The best part of the joke, if I may be allowed the 
 expression, lay in the situation in which Russia thus unex- 
 pectedly found herself. When the Agreement was com- 
 municated to her for her acceptance, the British representa- 
 tive in Russia was instructed by the Marquis of Salisbury 
 to state — should any complaint be made of Russia not having 
 previously been consulted — that the Russian Government 
 had given many assurances, but little attention had been 
 paid to the avowed policy of the Russian Government by 
 its officers on the spot, and that this was how England was 
 deterred from making a fuller communication. 
 
 The Russian Government, however, accepted the Agree- 
 ment without wincing, in a communication which, briefly, 
 was as follows : — 
 
 (a) The first part of the Agreement can be favourably entertained 
 by Russia, as this stipulation does not in any way infringe the status 
 quo established in China by existing treaties. 
 
 {b) The second point corresponds all the more with the intentions 
 of Russia, seeing that from the commencement of the present 
 
 62 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1898-1900 
 
 complications she was the first to lay down the maintenance of 
 the integrity of the Chinese Empire as a fundamental principle of 
 her policy. 
 
 (c) As regards the third point, relating to the eventuality of an 
 infringement of this fundamental principle, the Russian Government 
 can only renew the declaration that such an infringement would 
 oblige Russia to modify her attitude according to circumstances. 
 
 When one reflects that, to judge from the then existent 
 situation, there was absolutely no Power but Russia herself 
 that was in any way likely to infringe the fundamental 
 principle which she had enunciated, her lofty acquiescence 
 in and expressed readiness to adhere strictly to the Anglo- 
 German Agreement cannot but give rise to a smile and a 
 chuckle over the manifest intention she thus betrayed of 
 throwing dust in the eyes of Europe and America. 
 
 Russia's reckless and high-handed infractions of solemn 
 pledges and treaties have been in the preceding pages but 
 partially laid bare to the light of day, and unhappily there 
 are still more serious counts in the indictment that must be 
 reserved for the next chapter. As I shall have to show, the 
 tenets upheld by Russian politicians, and particularly as 
 exemplified in their treatment of Far Eastern Questions, 
 are nothing short of a peril to the world at large, for they 
 are of a character which must tend in time to sap the foun- 
 dations of diplomatic intercourse and constitute a permanent 
 menace to the peace of nations. 
 
 63 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR 
 
 THE HISTORY OF SIX YEARS 
 
 Part II. 1901-1903 _ ■ 
 
 THE peace negotiations had now begun to assume 
 concrete form. China had throughout evinced a 
 wiUingness to accede to reasonable demands, and towards 
 the end of August, 1900, Prince Ching and Li Hung-Chang 
 were nominated as her co-plenipotentiaries. Views were 
 actively interchanged between the Powers, and matters 
 had progressed so far that in October the Chinese pleni- 
 potentiaries submitted a Memorandum for the considera- 
 tion of the Diplomatic Corps at Peking. In this, among 
 other things, China acknowledged her fault in laying siege 
 to the Foreign Legations, and promised that it should never 
 occur again ; admitted her liability to pay an adequate 
 indemnity ; and showed a readiness to revise commercial 
 treaties. Eventually, by the combined efforts of the 
 Ministers of the Powers, a joint note was agreed upon and 
 presented to the Chinese Government, toward the latter 
 part of December, embodying twelve demands, fulfilment 
 of which was deemed necessary for the restoration of normal 
 relations between China and the Powers. 
 
 Russia was, of course, a party to all these proceedings, 
 but she secretly cherished the idea of independently making 
 a great stroke herself which was extremely well calculated 
 to thwart and paralyse the concerted policy of the Powers 
 in general in at least one portion of the Celestial Empire. 
 This design crystallized into the so-called Manchurian 
 Agreement. 
 
 The hole-and-corner arrangement which it was sought 
 
 64 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1901-1903 
 
 to carry through was actually entered into at Mukden be- 
 tween a subordinate of Tseng, the Tartar general stationed 
 there — a person with no authority whatever to make such 
 a treaty, as the Chinese Government rightly complained — 
 and a representative of Admiral Alexeieff, to wit, General 
 Korostovitch ; and the purport of it all was first disclosed to 
 an astonished world by a telegram published in the London 
 Times from its correspondent in Peking, dated the last day 
 of 1900. It was an enumeration of conditions which were 
 dictated, as is credibly reported, to the accompaniment 
 of very significant threats from the Russian side, leaving 
 absolutely no alternative for the Chinese but to acquiesce, 
 and only upon compliance with which would Russia consent 
 to allow the Tartar general and the Chinese officials to 
 resume the civil government of Manchuria. 
 
 These new conditions, plus the concessions previously 
 acquired, were tantamount to an annexation of Manchuria. 
 It may be remembered that soon after the Chino- Japan 
 war Russia seized the opportunity and, by successive 
 machinations, partly by threats and partly by gilding the 
 pills in many ways, chiefly at the cost of Japan and England, 
 exacted from China, under the so-called Cassini conven- 
 tion and others, not only a concession of the right of con- 
 structing the Trans-Manchurian railway line, having no 
 other credible object than a military one, right across 
 Manchuria to Vladivostok, which she utilized in substitution 
 of her own Trans-Siberian line, but further a similar right 
 of construction from Harbin down to Port Arthur and 
 Talienwan, and also that of stationing all necessary troops, 
 nominally for the protection of these railways. Add to 
 these the new concessions embodied in the Manchurian 
 convention, and the result is nothing more nor less than a 
 consummation of Russia's long-cherished designs. Hence 
 the next step taken by her was to seek to obtain recognition 
 of the compact by the supreme authority at Peking, and 
 to have it embodied in the form of a recognized treaty, 
 and this demand was forthwith pressed upon the Chinese 
 Government at the capital with all imaginable vehemence 
 and persistency. 
 
 Diplomatic correspondence immediately followed the 
 disclosure of Russia's secret endeavours, and the utmost 
 alacrity was shown by the Governments of America, Britain, 
 
 65 F 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Germany, and Japan in dealing with the question. The 
 Russian Government pretended that the Agreement had 
 no more than a local significance and application, but it 
 was like trying to smother the electric light under a fold 
 of crape, for the real meaning of the compact was always 
 visible. The successive communications and replies that 
 Russia made to the Powers in response to their protests 
 were all alike. Here is one which Count Lamsdorff tele- 
 graphed to M. Iswolsky, then Russian Minister at Tokio : — 
 
 You are authorized to deny most categorically the false reports 
 about a treaty between Russia and China concerning an alleged pro- 
 tectorate in Manchuria. Negotiations which are yet to take place 
 between Russian and Chinese Governments will bear on the manifold 
 questions relating to the installation of Chinese Administration in 
 Manchuria and the establishment in this province of permanent order 
 capable of insuring the tranquillity of our (Russia's) extensive border- 
 land, as well as the construction of the railway, which is the object 
 of a special Russo-Chinese Convention. As to the Agreement signed 
 between the Chief of our (Russian) forces and the Dziandjiem of 
 Mukden, it is but a temporary arrangement laying down rules for 
 the relations between the local authorities and the Russian troops 
 while those are still in Manchuria. The aforesaid false reports are 
 particularly malignant at the present juncture, when the Russian 
 Government is about to hand over Manchuria to China, in harmony 
 with Russia's previous declarations. 
 
 There was, however, another and very pregnant allusion 
 in this telegram, which was handed by M. Iswolsky to Mr. 
 Kato, then Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, but as 
 it bore upon a somewhat different branch of the subject, 
 reference will be made to it later on. 
 
 Here is another, which was sent to the Marquis of Lans- 
 downe by the British Ambassador in St. Petersburg, and, 
 with the full consent and cognisance of the Russian Govern- 
 ment, presented at the time to the British Parliament : — 
 
 Count Lamsdorff said that the Emperor had no intention of depart- 
 ing in any way from the assurances which he had publicly given 
 that Manchuria would be entirely restored to its former condition 
 in the Chinese Empire as soon as circumstances admitted of it. 
 Russia (he added) was in the same position with regard to fix- 
 ing a final date for evacuating Manchuria as the allies found them- 
 selves with regard to the evacuation of Peking and the province 
 of Pechili. When it came to the final and complete evacuation 
 of Manchuria, the Russian Government would be obliged to obtain 
 from the Central Government of China an effective guarantee against 
 
 66 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1901-1903 
 
 the recurrence of the recent attack on the frontier and the destruc- 
 tion of her railway, but had no intention of seeking this guarantee 
 in any acquisition of territory or of any actual or virtual protectorate 
 of Manchuria. . . . Manchuria would be restored to China, when 
 all the temporary measures taken by the Russian military authori- 
 ties would cease, and everything at Newchwang and elsewhere 
 would be replaced in its former position. 
 
 All these asseverations and protestations of Russia were 
 ostensibly genuine, but in reality they little corresponded 
 with her actions. Remonstrances from the aggrieved 
 nations continued, and China was herself by no means 
 inclined to concede the Russian demands. She sought 
 the conjoint mediation between herself and Russia of 
 America, Germany, Great Britain, and Japan. It was at 
 this critical moment that the Emperor of China, ruler of 
 a huge empire with 400,000,000 of inhabitants, made in 
 an Imperial edict the following truly pitiable avowal : — 
 
 Russia proposes an Agreement of twelve articles. We have 
 authorized our plenipotentiary to amend and modify them, so as to 
 preserve our right of sovereignty. The foreign representatives 
 also advise China not to accept them. But in reflecting upon the 
 present situation, though we are grateful for the advice of the foreign 
 representatives, it is impossible for China alone to incur the dis- 
 pleasure -of Russia by remaining firm. This is not only a question 
 for China to study with all possible care in order that it may be 
 solved without any danger to her, but also a question in which 
 the foreign Governments interested should maintain the balance of 
 power. 
 
 Meanwhile the suggestion, or rather complaint, had been 
 made by Count Lamsdorff that garbled versions of the 
 Agreement made at Mukden were being circulated by the 
 Chinese Government in order to create dissension between 
 the Powers, but this was all a farce. The Emperor of 
 China speaks in his solemn edict of the twelve demands 
 of the Russians, and we have here in full the actual docu- 
 ment as translated from the Chinese by no less an authority 
 than Sir Ernest Satow, who succeeded Sir Claude Macdonald 
 in Peking. He stated that the Chinese version had evidently 
 been translated direct from the Russian text, 
 
 (i) The Emperor of Russia, being anxious to give evidence of 
 his friendly feeling towards China, is willing to forget the hostile 
 acts committed in Manchuria, and to hand back the whole of that 
 country to China — its administration to be carried on as heretofore. 
 
 67 
 
""' '~ THE RISEN SUN 
 
 (2) Under Article 6 of the Manchurian Railway Agreement 
 the Administration is authorized to maintain troops for the protec- 
 tion of the line. The country, however, being at present in an 
 unsettled condition, and such troops few in number, a body of 
 soldiers must be retained until the order is restored, and until China 
 shall have carried out the provisions of the last four articles of the 
 present Convention. 
 
 (3) In the event of grave disturbances the Russian garrisons 
 will afford China every assistance in suppressing the same that lies 
 in their power. 
 
 (4) In the recent attacks against Russia, Chinese troops having 
 taken a prominent part, China agrees, pending the completion of 
 the line and its opening to traffic, not to establish an army in those 
 provinces. She will consult with Russia as to the number of troops 
 she may subsequently wish to establish there. The importation 
 of munitions of war into Manchuria is prohibited. 
 
 (5) With a view to safeguarding the interests of the territory in 
 question, China will, on representations being made by Russia, at 
 once deprive of office any military governor or other high officials 
 whose conduct of affairs may prove antagonistic to the maintenance 
 of friendly relations. 
 
 A police force consisting of mounted and unmounted units, may 
 be organized in the interior of Manchuria. Its numbers shall be 
 determined after consultation with Russia, and from its armament 
 artillery shall be excluded. The services of the subjects of any 
 other Power shall not be employed in connexion therewith. 
 
 (6) In conformity with the undertaking given by China at an 
 earlier date, she will not employ the subjects of any other Power 
 in training Chinese soldiers or sailors in North China. 
 
 (7) The neighbouring local authorities will, in the interests of 
 peace and order, draw up new special regulations with reference to 
 the neutral zone (see Agreement of March 27, 1898) treated of in 
 Article 5 of the Agreement relating to the lease of part of the Liao- 
 tung Peninsula. 
 
 China's autonomous rights in the city of Chinchou (Kinchau, 
 near Port Arthur), secured to her by Article 4 of the Special Agree- 
 ment of May 7, 1898, are hereby abrogated. 
 
 (8) China shall not, without the consent of Russia, grant to any 
 other Power, or the subjects thereof, privileges with regard to mines, 
 railroads, or other matters in conterminous (i.e. with Russia) 
 regions, such as Manchuria, Mongolia, and the sections of the new 
 dominion known as Tarbagati, Hi, Kashgar, Yarkand, and Khoten. 
 Nor shall China, without Russia's consent, construct railroads 
 there herself. 
 
 ^ Except as far as Newchwang is concerned, no leases of land shall 
 be granted to the subjects of any other Power. 
 
 (9) China being under obligation to pay Russia's war expenses, 
 and the claims of other Powers, arising out of the recent troubles, 
 the amount of the indemnity presented in the name of Russia, the 
 period within which it will have to be paid, and the security therefor 
 will all be arranged in concert with the other Powers. 
 
 68 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1901-1903 
 
 (10) The compensation to be paid for the destruction of the 
 railway Hnes, for the robbery of property belonging to the railway 
 administration and its employes, as well as claims for delay in carry- 
 ing on the construction of the lines, will form a subject of arrange- 
 ment between China and the Administration. 
 
 (11) The above mentioned claims may, by agreement with the 
 Administration, either in part or in whole, be commuted for other 
 privileges. The grant of such privileges would involve a complete 
 revision of the previous agreement. 
 
 (12) In conformity with the undertaking previously given by 
 China, it is agreed that a line may be constructed for either the 
 trunk line or the branch line [of the Manchurian railway] in the 
 direction of Peking up to the Great Wall, its administration to be 
 governed by the regulations at present in force. 
 
 Although in some respects a Httle difference in the form 
 and scope is to be perceived between this version of the 
 Convention and one which had been telegraphed to the 
 Times by its Peking representative, their purport is sub- 
 stantially the same. In any case, China was bound hand 
 and foot under the heel of Russia, and that, too, contrary 
 to Russia's solemn pledge to maintain concord with other 
 Powers. 
 
 The strenuous opposition of the Powers interested con- 
 tinued, liowever, and at last, in April, 1901, Russia had to 
 abandon the project. On the 5th of that month the Govern- 
 ment of St. Petersburg published an official communique in the 
 Official Messenger, which explained her position at great 
 length, interspersed with the usual protestations to the 
 effect that in every case the course which she had adopted was 
 a temporary measure, and that she meant to withdraw her 
 troops from Manchuria when order had been permanently 
 restored, and everything possible had been done to safeguard 
 the railway, provided that no obstacle was placed in the way 
 by other Powers. The motive of this qualifying phrase will 
 be obvious to my readers. The communique went on to 
 declare that the reported Agreement was only intended to 
 serve as a starting-point towards the realization of the 
 restoration of Manchuria, but owing to obstacles having 
 been put in the way of the conclusion of that Agreement 
 it became impossible for her immediately to take the con- 
 templated measures of evacuation, and that, remaining 
 true to her original programme, she would quietly await the 
 further progress of events. 
 
 Subsequently to the publication of this communique 
 
 69 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 on April 8, M. Iswolsky handed to Mr. Kato at Tokio a 
 note verbale, which, after it had announced Russia's abandon- 
 ment of the project, viz. the Manchurian agreement, on a 
 plea similar to that advanced in the communique^ proceeded 
 thus : — 
 
 Divers information having shown that under the actual circum- 
 stances such an understanding might cause all sorts of difficulties 
 to the neighbouring Empire instead of serving to clearly show the 
 friendly intentions of Russia with regard to the interests of China, 
 Russia would not only not insist, vis-d-vis the Chinese Government, 
 upon the conclusion of this understanding, but even renounce all 
 further negotiations on the subject. 
 
 A similar announcement was, of course, made to the 
 other Powers. Here we have Russia affecting to ride off 
 in dudgeon upon her high horse, whilst retaining in hei 
 own hands that which was the actual object of dispute — 
 viz. the possession of Manchuria. 
 
 I might here perhaps venture to recall to the remembrance 
 of my readers that prior to the middle of January, 1901, 
 Russia, as far as her Foreign Office was concerned, consis- 
 tently held that a state of war did not exist between the 
 Powers and China, but that subsequent to that date she 
 began to insinuate that she had the right to hold Manchuria 
 as a result of conquest. Thus we see that on July 4, 1900, 
 the British Ambassador at St. Petersburg, in a despatch 
 reporting to the Marquis of Salisbury the particulars of an 
 interview with Count Lamsdorff, said : " There was one 
 point on which Count Lamsdorff laid particular stress in his 
 conversation with me, and it was that the European Powers 
 should proceed on the assumption that they were not in a 
 state of war with the constituted Government of China, 
 but with rebels and anarchists." Again, on August 28, 
 1900, Count Lamsdorff said to the British Ambassador : 
 " We have been proceeding ... on the assumption hither- 
 to that we were not in a formal state of war with the recog- 
 nized Government of China, but with a nation in a state 
 of rebellion." On September 27, Count Lamsdorff said to 
 the British Charge d"* Affaires that " his view was that there 
 had never been any rupture of diplomatic relations [between 
 the Powers and China], as had been strikingly proved by 
 the fact that a new German Minister had been appointed." 
 Then came, in January, 1901, a faint suggestion of the 
 
 70 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1901-1903 
 
 ballon d'essai in the next recorded expression of Count 
 Lamsdorff's informal but candid opinion, as telegraphed 
 by the Japanese Minister at St. Petersburg to Mr. Kato 
 at Tokio. The Russian Minister declared that " the Russian 
 occupation of Manchuria being the result of self-defence 
 on the part of Russia against the Chinese aggression upon 
 her frontiers, she would be in perfect right even if she should 
 choose to make the occupation permanent, but in point of 
 fact she entertains no intention of exercising the right of 
 conquest." And in the telegram handed by M. Iswolsky to 
 Mr. Kato — to which previous reference has been made as em- 
 bodying an allusion of much significance — Count Lamsdorff 
 declared that Russia, in harmony with her previous declara- 
 tions, was about to hand over Manchuria to China, " instead 
 of possessing herself by right of conquest of this province 
 [Manchuria], from which came an attack on her boundaries." 
 As to the Russian military authorities, they have, from 
 almost the very moment that opportunities for increased 
 activity in the Far East presented themselves — after the 
 Boxer rising — made pretensions, as we have seen already, 
 to these so- termed rights of conquest, shadowy in the 
 extreme as they must have known such rights to be. 
 
 While, on the one hand, Russia had been giving inter- 
 minable trouble to the Powers by her action in the railway 
 and Tien-tsin incidents, and her intrigues in connexion 
 with the Manchurian Agreement, the real peace negotiations, 
 on the other hand, between China and the Powers, Russia 
 included, had made satisfactory progress, and the final 
 Peking Protocol was signed on September 7, 1901, wherein 
 the Powers declared that the international forces should 
 evacuate Peking itself on September 17, and the province 
 of Pechili five days later, save for certain trifling exceptions 
 provided for in the protocol. The Chinese Court returned 
 from Hsi-An-Fu, to which city it had resorted on the ap- 
 proach of the Allies to Peking, and the old order of things 
 was revived at the Chinese capital in January, 1902. It 
 may be remembered that by this protocol the importation 
 of arms into China was forbidden for two years, with a 
 proviso to the effect that this term might be prolonged if 
 requisite, according to circumstances. In the course of 
 the discussion of the terms of the protocol a sub-committee 
 of the Conference of Ministers of the Powers had proposed 
 
 71 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 that the period of prohibition should be five years. But 
 the American, Belgian, and Japanese delegates held to 
 the opinion that two years, with a proviso, would suffice. 
 This view prevailed, and before the clause was finally 
 embodied in the protocol China had published an Imperial 
 edict in anticipation. The Russian delegate, however, 
 was of opinion that the term should be ten years. This 
 marked divergence of Russia's views from those entertained 
 by other Powers was eminently suggestive, now that we can 
 calmly reflect upon it, of some lurking sinister motive. 
 
 In the meantime Russia was eagerly engaged in an intrigue 
 for the revival of that objectionable Manchurian Agreement 
 which she professed to have abandoned months before. 
 Her diplomacy on this occasion was precisely similar in 
 its base and cynical disregard of all moral obligations to 
 that she had employed decades before in depriving China 
 of the " Maritime Province." The Marquis of Lansdowne 
 was apprised in August, 1901, of the fact that, despite her 
 denial thereof, Russia was seeking to obtain China's signature 
 to a Manchurian Agreement, and a week later it was definitely 
 stated in reliable quarters that as soon as the final Peking 
 Protocol should be signed, Russia's negotiations concerning 
 Manchuria would be recommenced at Peking or St. Peters- 
 burg. The protocol was, as we have seen, signed on 
 September 7, and it is to be presumed that thence- 
 forward Russia was busily occupied with the furtherance 
 of her schemes. 
 
 It was at this juncture that the Anglo- Japanese Agree- 
 ment of alliance took practical shape, and was signed in 
 London on January 30, 1902, it being entered into between 
 Great Britain and Japan solely from a desire to maintain 
 the status quo and general peace in the Extreme East. This 
 Agreement is to remain in full force for five years, and is 
 terminable after the expiration of that period at one year's 
 notice. When, however, one of the Allies happens, in the 
 meantime, to be engaged in war, the alliance shall, ipso 
 facto, continue until peace is concluded. The aims and 
 motives of the Agreement were admirably summed up in 
 an eminently statesmanlike despatch from the Marquis 
 of Lansdowne to Sir Claude Macdonald at Tokio, as is well 
 known to the students of history. 
 
 The publication of this Agreement was followed on 
 
 72 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1901-1903 
 
 March 16 by the issue of a Russo-French Memorandum, 
 being communicated in due course to the Powers concerned. 
 It ran as under : — 
 
 The Allied Governments of Russia and France have received a 
 copy of the Anglo- Japanese Agreement of January 30, 1902, con- 
 cluded with the object of maintaining the status quo and the general 
 peace in the Far East, and preserving the independence of China 
 and Korea, which are to remain open to the commerce and industry 
 of all nations, and have been fully satisfied to find therein affirmed 
 the fundamental principles which they have themselves, on several 
 occasions, declared to form the basis of their policy, and which still 
 remain so. 
 
 The two Governments consider that the observance of these 
 principles is at the same time a guarantee of their special interests 
 in the Far East. Nevertheless, being obliged themselves also to take 
 into consideration the case in which either the aggressive action of 
 third Powers, or the recurrence of disturbances in China, jeopardiz- 
 ing the integrity and free development of that Power, might become 
 a menace to their own interests, the two Allied Governments reserve 
 to themselves the right to consult in that contingency as to the means 
 to be adopted for securing those interests. 
 
 Simultaneously with the issue of this Memorandum was 
 published in the Journal de St. Petersbourg, March 20, an 
 official communique, omitting to consider how and why 
 it came about that an Anglo- Japanese Agreement came 
 to be entered into, and insinuating that two of the eleven 
 Powers (Britain and Japan being meant) which had quite 
 recently signed the Peking Protocol were seeking to sepa- 
 rate themselves from the others, and to place themselves 
 in a " special situation in respect to the Celestial Empire," 
 and after repeating the usual rigmarole about Russia's 
 guiding principles and desire for peace, wound up with the 
 assertion that the French and Russian Governments found 
 it needful to formulate their views owing to " the ever- 
 persistent agitation concerning the Anglo- Japanese Arrange- 
 ment." 
 
 France appears to have felt some sort of reluctance to 
 associate herself with the Russian policy in the Far East, 
 but she was persuaded to do so on account of Russia being 
 most studious in making her believe that the Muscovite 
 Government were sincere as to their intention of evacuation. 
 
 What America thought of these matters was to be seen 
 from Secretary Hay's Memorandum, which, after express- 
 ing America's gratification on finding in both the Anglo- 
 
 73 . 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Japanese Agreement and the Russo-French Memorandum 
 renewed assurances of the concurrence of their views with 
 those held by America in respect of Far Eastern affairs, 
 ended thus : 
 
 With regard to the concluding paragraph of the Russian Mem- 
 orandum, the Government of the tjnited States, while sharing the 
 views therein expressed as to the continuance of the Open Door 
 policy against possible encroachment from whatever quarter, and 
 while equally solicitous for the unfettered development of indepen- 
 dent China, reserves for itself entire liberty of action should circum- 
 stances unexpectedly arise whereby the policy and interests of the 
 United States in China and Korea might be disturbed or impaired. 
 
 This was an indirect way of telling Russia that America 
 was not to be inveigled into any sanction or acceptance of 
 " suitable means " to be devised by her, and it is not diffi- 
 cult to understand how little trust was at that time placed by 
 America in Russian avowals. Indeed, the American people 
 were just then irritated by the friction which had arisen 
 between the Russians and the American consular and 
 naval authorities, as well as the American mercantile 
 community at large, owing to the iniquitous retention by 
 the Russian military authorities of the treaty port of New- 
 chwang and the resultant interference with telegraphic and 
 mail facilities, and obstacles to commerce at large, in con- 
 sequence of which America had several times made repre- 
 sentations to the St. Petersburg Government, to say nothing 
 of the many anxieties concerning graver subjects created 
 by Russia's policy. 
 
 At the very moment when the Russo-French Memorandum 
 was being circulated, Russia was, in point of fact, maturing 
 her second Manchurian Convention, which was as objection- 
 able as the first one. Mr. Conger, the American Minister 
 in Peking, had in December, 1901, reported to Washington 
 that Prince Ching had returned to Peking armed with 
 authority to sign a Manchurian Convention, and also that 
 the British and Japanese Ministers were warning China 
 not to enter into it. He asked for instructions as to 
 the course he should take, giving the substance of the 
 provisions of this proposed Convention which had come to 
 his knowledge. 
 
 Mr. Hay thereupon instructed Mr. Conger to advise 
 Prince Ching that America trusted and expected that no 
 
 74 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1901-1903 
 
 arrangement which would permanently impair the territorial 
 integrity of China, injure the legitimate interests of the 
 United States, or impair the ability of China to meet her 
 international obligations, would be made with any single 
 Power. Prince Ching, in assenting, said he would insist on 
 the Russian evacuation in one year instead of three, that 
 matters concerning Chinese troops should be left to China 
 herself to arrange, and likewise as to guarding the railways 
 or building railway bridges. Russia's claim for expenses 
 in repairing and maintaining the railway would not be 
 paid if it was found that it had been covered by the general 
 indemnity. But Mr. Conger confessed that he had grave 
 doubts regarding the Prince's ability to secure consent to 
 the terms he proposed. 
 
 Mr. Tower, the American Ambassador at St. Petersburg, 
 was then instructed by Mr. Hay to remonstrate with the 
 Russian Government on the ground that by permitting 
 or creating any monopoly by one Power of the trade of the 
 region, China would contravene the provisions of the treaties 
 with other Powers, and such action would infallibly lead 
 to the impairment of Chinese sovereignty, and tend to 
 diminish the ability of China to meet its obligations ; and 
 further that other Powers as well might be expected to 
 seek similar exclusive advantages in different parts of the 
 Chinese Empire. This would be destructive of the policy 
 of equal treatment for all the Powers, and contrary to 
 Russian assurances regarding the preservation of an " open 
 door " in China. Mr. Conger was simultaneously directed 
 to warn the Chinese Government still further. 
 
 The Russian reply to America was handed to Mr. Tower 
 on February 9, and it must be characterized as one of the 
 most remarkable of Russia's many remarkable despatches. 
 After declaring that Russia was fully disposed to remove 
 the causes of anxiety to the American Cabinet, but that it 
 felt bound at the same time to assert that negotiations 
 carried on between two entirely independent States were 
 not subject to be submitted to other Powers, it proceeded 
 thus : — 
 
 There is no thought of attacking the principle of the '* open door," 
 as that principle is understood by the Imperial Government of 
 Russia, and Russia has no intention whatever to change the policy 
 followed by her in that respect up to the present time. 
 
 75 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 If the Russo-Chinese Bank should obtain concessions in China, 
 the agreements of a private character relating to them would not 
 differ from those heretofore concluded by so mg-ny other foreign 
 corporations. But would it not be very strange if the " door " that 
 is " open " to certain nations should be closed to Russia, whose 
 frontier adjoins that of Manchuria, and who has been forced by recent 
 events to send her troops into that province to re-establish order in 
 the plain and common interest of all nations ? It is true that Russia 
 has conquered Manchuria, but she still maintains her firm deter- 
 mination to restore it to China and recall her troops as soon as the 
 conditions of evacuation shall have been agreed upon and the neces- 
 sary steps taken to prevent a fresh outbreak of troubles in the 
 neighbouring territory. 
 
 It is impossible to deny to an independent State the right to grant 
 to others such concessions as it is free to dispose of, and I have every 
 reason to believe that the demands of the Russo-Chinese Bank do 
 not in the least exceed those that have been so often formulated by 
 other foreign companies, and I feel that under the circumstances it 
 would not be easy for the Imperial Government to deny to Russian 
 companies that support which is given by other Governments to com- 
 panies and syndicates of their own nationalities. 
 
 And it concludes by stating that there is not, nor can there 
 be, any question of the contradiction of the assurances 
 which had been given by Russia under the orders of the 
 Emperor. Was it not a scandalous thing that Russia, the 
 promulgator of the so-called " fundamental principles," 
 should have the hardihood to claim for her clandestine 
 negotiations with China that they were no concern of the 
 other Powers ? Was it not positively outrageous that 
 Russia, whose contention it had been that the Powers were 
 not at war with the constituted Government of China, should 
 declare, when it suited her purpose and in a formal State 
 document, that she had a claim on Manchuria by conquest ? 
 It will be remembered that the Powers which took most 
 interest in the affair at this period were Britain, America, 
 and Japan. As to Germany, she seems to have made the 
 best use of the Anglo-German Agreement during the peace 
 negotiations with China, as shown by the report of Mr. 
 Rockhill, the American Commissioner, to his Government, 
 which states that " the position of Germany on the question 
 of the indemnity was most uncompromising," and that 
 " the urgent necessity for Great Britain to maintain her 
 entente with Germany in China was responsible for the 
 numerous concessions that she had made to Germany's 
 insistence on being paid the last cent of her expenses." 
 
 76 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1901-1903 
 
 Germany, however, soon showed herself lukewarm, and in 
 March, 1901, Count von Biilow announced in the Reichstag 
 that her interpretation of the Agreement was that it had 
 no application to Manchuria ! He even went so far, in an 
 attempt to minimise its scope, as to designate it " the 
 Yang-tse Convention " ! — not, however, without evoking 
 much comment and surprise, nay, even some suspicion, in 
 England and elsewhere. Such being the German attitude, 
 the Imperial Chancellor, speaking in the Reichstag on 
 March 3, 1902, in reference to the Anglo- Japanese Agree- 
 ment, remarked quite unconcernedly that no exception 
 could be taken to it by Germany, as it did not in any way 
 interfere with the Anglo-German, Agreement of October 16, 
 1900, with regard to the Yang-tse Valley, or with declarations 
 exchanged by the several Powers with regard to the " open 
 door." 
 
 Russia continued to exert the utmost pressure at Peking, 
 and on April 8, 1902, the Manchurian Convention was 
 signed at Peking by the Russian and Chinese Plenipoten- 
 tiaries. The Journal Officiel of St. Petersburg published 
 the text of it four days later, and this veritably Satanic 
 triumph was crowned by China formally expressing her 
 obligations to the Powers whose counsel she had sought, 
 viz. America, Britain, and Japan. True it was that the 
 terms were perhaps more favourable to China than she 
 would have secured had she been left entirely to the tender 
 mercies of Russia, but they were, in all conscience, onerous 
 and degrading enough. The truth was that China's help- 
 lessness to resist Russian coercion was coupled with an 
 intense anxiety on the part of the Manchu Court to regain 
 possession of that part of the empire which, for dynastic 
 reasons, was most dear to it. The dilemma in which 
 the Chinese Court found itself is well illustrated in a report 
 by Mr. Conger to the American Government, dated January 
 29, in which he states : — 
 
 On the 27th I had a conference with Prince Ching, who informed 
 me, substantially, that he was in a most difficult position. He had 
 used, he said, every effort in his power to come to some agreement 
 with Russia whereby the evacuation of Manchuria might be secured 
 without the great sacrifice on the part of China which Li Hung- 
 Chang had agreed to. He had, he said, secured some very material 
 concessions on the part of Russia, but they would yield no further, 
 and he was convinced, if China held out longer, that they would 
 
 77 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 never again secure terms as lenient ; that the Russians were in full 
 possession of the territory, and their treatment of the Chinese was 
 so aggravating that longer occupation was intolerable ; that they 
 must be got out, and that the only way left for China to accomplish 
 this was to make the best possible terms. The only terms that 
 Russia would consent to was the signing of both the Convention 
 and the Russo-Chinese Bank Agreement. 
 
 Accompanying the text of the Agreement there was 
 published in the Russian official organ an explanatory 
 communication to the effect that, having been " repaid 
 the material expenses to which she was put by her military 
 operations in China," Russia saw no necessity thencefor- 
 ward " for leaving armed forces within the confines of the 
 neighbouring territory," and therefore this Agreement had 
 been made by Imperial will. The stipulations of this 
 Convention are tolerably well known, but they may be 
 briefly stated : — 
 
 The right to exercise authority in Manchuria is to be 
 restored to China, and the Russian troops, within six months 
 after signature — i.e. October 8, 1902 — to be withdrawn 
 from the South- West Province up to the Liao River, and 
 the railways handed over to China. 
 
 [Prince Ching said he thought Newchwang was included, 
 but, as the sequel showed, the Russians thought otherwise.] 
 
 Within the following six months the remainder of the 
 Mukden Province, plus the Kirin Province, to be evacuated 
 and finally, within another six months, to quit Hei-Lung- 
 Chiang ; thus all three provinces were to be restored to the 
 Chinese Empire by, at the latest, October 8, 1903. 
 
 Of course, as a set-off to this magnanimous return of 
 wrongly acquired property, Russia laid a number of restric- 
 tions on China, 
 
 She was limited as to the numbers and disposition of the 
 troops she was to place in Manchuria. 
 
 She was to protect the Russian railways there and the 
 persons employed thereon, in their various undertakings. 
 
 Nor might she invite any Power to participate in pro- 
 tecting, constructing, or working her own railway — viz. 
 that from Shan-hai-Kwan to Newchwang and Hsin-Min- 
 tsun — nor allow any other Power to occupy the territory 
 vacated by the Russians. 
 
 China might neither extend nor reconstruct, nor erect a 
 
 78 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1901-1903 
 
 bridge nor remove the terminus, at Newchwang, without 
 first discussing the matter with the Russian Government. 
 
 Finally, China was to pay Russia's expenses incurred in 
 the working and repair of the Chinese railway in Manchuria, 
 which sums, it was declared, were not included in the total 
 of the previous claim. 
 
 Could any rational being fail to perceive that in these 
 stipulations there were direct infringements of the sove- 
 reignty and integrity of an independent State ? They 
 evoked, indeed, on all sides, the severest criticism. Yet 
 because it was presumed that Russia would keep her word 
 on the essential points — the evacuation by given dates of 
 the three occupied provinces — the Powers were willing, it 
 would seem, to acquiesce. 
 
 I may here remark that the Russian share of the in- 
 demnity included not only the expenses incurred by her in 
 Pechili but also in Manchuria. In whatever way assessed it 
 was altogether exorbitant,^ as compared with the claims of 
 other Powers. Now that Russia insisted on claiming an 
 extra indemnity on account of the railway, the iniquity of it 
 all became the more glaring. 
 
 For some time after this things appeared to be going 
 on tolerably well, though some anxiety was felt in certain 
 quarters as to Russia's sincerity. October 8, 1902, was 
 the day on which the first part of the Russian evacuation 
 was to be completed, and towards the end of that month 
 the Chinese Government was enabled to announce the 
 restoration of the south-west portion of Mukden Province 
 and all the Chinese railways outside the Great Wall, as 
 previously stipulated. Then came the second part of the 
 evacuation — Newchwang included — ^which had to be carried 
 out by April 8, 1903. Not only did the Russians not 
 evacuate Newchwang and other parts of the territory as 
 agreed upon, but signs were perceptible that they had 
 altogether changed their programme. Rumours began to 
 circulate that Russian troops were being moved towards 
 the Korean frontier. On April 17, the British Chargi 
 d' Affaires at Peking telegraphed to Lord Lansdowne : 
 
 1 Russia obtained ;^i7,9oo,ooo on the basis of ;^ioo per combatant, 
 though it was estimated that her actual force never could have 
 exceeded 50,000. The exceptional moderation of Japan's demand 
 was commented on by the British Government, 
 
 79 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 (( 
 
 There is a growing feeling here that either the evacuation 
 will not take place or that Russia is exacting conditions." 
 When inquiry was made about it at St. Petersburg by the 
 Chinese Minister, both Count Lamsdorff and M. de Witte 
 assured him that, as to the movement of troops, neither the 
 Imperial Government nor the Russo-Chinese Bank had 
 any interest whatever in any timber concessions which 
 private individuals might have acquired, and they repu- 
 diated the idea that troops had been sent there to guard 
 these concessions which were said to have been obtained from 
 China and Korea. General Kuropatkin, then War Minister, 
 did not deny, however, that M. Besobrazoff had acquired 
 certain forest rights in Manchuria, and thought it possible 
 that Admiral Alexeieff had " granted " some soldiers to 
 protect these rights. The Chinese Minister, who persisted 
 in his inquiries, was assured that the delay of the second 
 stage of the evacuation was but temporary, and was caused 
 by the presence of foreign ships at Newchwang ; Admiral 
 Alexeieff feared, so he said, that the Chinese might admit 
 some other Power as soon as the Russians had gone away. 
 Count Lamsdorff was nevertheless positive in affirming 
 that the Emperor's commands would be fulfilled. By this 
 time, however, things had begun to assume a very alarming 
 aspect in Peking, for in reality the Russian representative 
 was once more vigorously pressing there his daring new 
 " seven demands," the purport of which could not for long 
 be hidden from the diplomatic circle there, and the British 
 Charge d' Affaires briefly outlined their scope in a telegram 
 on April 23, 1903, to his Government. They comprised : — 
 
 (i) A demand that no portion of the territory restored to China 
 by Russia, especially at Newchwang, should be leased or sold, under 
 any circumstances, to any other Power. 
 
 (2) The system of government actually existing thoughout Mon- 
 golia should not be altered. 
 
 (3) China to engage herself not to open new ports or towns in 
 Manchuria without notice to Russia, nor permit foreign Consuls to 
 reside at such ports or towns. 
 
 (4) Foreigners engaged by China for the administration of any 
 affairs shall exert no authority in the northern provinces, where 
 Russia has predominant interests. 
 
 (5) As long as any telegraph line may exist at Newchwang and 
 Port Arthur, the Newchwang and Peking line must be maintained, 
 as the telegraph at Newchwang and Port Arthur and throughout 
 Shing-King Province is under Russia's control, and its connexion 
 
 80 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1901-1903 
 
 with her line on the Chinese telegraph poles ^ at Newchwang, Port 
 Arthur, and Peking is of the utmost importance. 
 
 (6) After the restoration of Newchwang to China, the Customs 
 receipts shall, as at present, be deposited with the Russo-Chinese Bank. 
 
 (7) No rights which have been acquired in Manchuria by Russian 
 subjects or foreign companies during the Russian occupation to 
 be affected by the evacuation. Quarantine to be established in 
 Newchwang against the spread of epidemics to the northern pro- 
 vinces. Russians only eligible for Commissionership of Customs 
 at ports or the post of Customs Physician, under control of Inspector- 
 General of Maritime Customs. Permanent Sanitary Board under 
 presidency of Customs Tao-tai to be instituted. 
 
 All of these demands were not divulged at first, but what 
 leaked out was bad enough, and diplomatic activity was 
 stimulated to the highest pitch. China herself wished to 
 reject the demands in toto, and at the same time solicited 
 the support of England, America and Japan, which at once 
 was promised. Russia, on the other hand, exerted all her 
 craft and subtlety to gain her ends, but in vain. On April 
 29 the Chinese Government finally intimated its refusal to 
 comply. M. Plangon, the Russian Charge d' Affaires, con- 
 tinued to grumble, and insisted that his Government 
 should be "reassured" that (a) there was no intention of 
 assimilating the administration of Mongolia to that of 
 China proper ; (b) that no cession of territory to a foreign 
 Power in the Liao River region was in contemplation ; and 
 (c) that no foreign consuls were to be appointed in other 
 places in Manchuria, even with China's consent. Prince 
 Ching told M. Plangon point-blank that there had never 
 been any intention of ceding territory — that no alteration 
 of the administrative system of Mongolia was for the 
 present under consideration, and that the extent to which 
 trade might be developed would alone decide the ques- 
 tion of the opening of treaty ports and the appointment 
 of consuls. M. Plangon promised the Prince that this 
 answer, which he insisted was to be given as a note, should 
 be transmitted to the St. Petersburg Government, and he 
 then volunteered to state, with much apparent candour, 
 that the delays of the evacuation had been brought about 
 by the military party in Russia, and that this reply by the 
 Prince would go far to allay anxiety, so that, in his opinion, 
 
 1 Proprietory right in the poles remained to China, at least in 
 theory even at Port Arthur. 
 
 81 G 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Newchwang would shortly be evacuated. As will presently 
 be seen, this proceeding was simply a farce. 
 
 The report of a movement of Russian troops towards the 
 Korean frontier was only too true. Some time previously 
 a timber-cutting concession had been extracted by Russia 
 from China, as regarded the right bank of the Yalu, and 
 from Korea as to the left, nominally on behalf of some 
 private individuals who transferred their rights to M. 
 Besobrazoff. But, as the world came eventually to know, 
 Admiral Alexeieff, certain Grand Dukes, and even the 
 highest personages in the Muscovite Empire, were impli- 
 cated in this transaction. Private and public concerns 
 were thus intermingled, and the movement of Russian 
 troops to the Yalu banks was undoubtedly connected 
 therewith. And though Russia had for decades coveted 
 the Korean peninsula, it was by this means that the affairs 
 of Manchuria and Korea were artfully blended, and the 
 military forces were brought to bear to further the ends 
 both of private avarice and the unscrupulous territorial 
 aggrandisement of Russia. 
 
 As before shown, the time limit for the second stage of 
 the evacuation of Manchuria was April 8, 1903. At Mukden 
 the Russian troops once made a feint of evacuation ; they 
 even actually did withdraw, in part, but the remainder 
 simply marched to the railway station and marched back 
 again to their old quarters, without entraining. At Newch- 
 wang too, they once appeared as though they were preparing 
 for evacuation ; but the aspect of affairs suddenly changed 
 when April 8 arrived, and it was urged in excuse for the 
 troops' retention that the Tao-tai was not present to have 
 the place handed over to him. This was the crowning 
 impudence, for the Russians themselves had the Tao-tai 
 safely in their own hands at Mukden. Simultaneously, 
 M. Plangon was trying hard at Peking to get his demands 
 acceded to ; true, he once told Prince Ching, on the April 29, 
 that the evacuation would probably be proceeded with ; 
 but next day the cloven hoof peeped out, for in returning 
 to the charge with his seven demands M. Plan^on allowed 
 himself to say that if they were not acceded to there would 
 be no evacuation at all I 
 
 From that time Russia's military activity grew apace. 
 At the Yalu the Chunchuses were enlisted by her ostensibly 
 
 82 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1901-1903 
 
 as " forest police " for the timber-cutting district, and coals 
 and munitions of war were brought to Yongampho, at the 
 mouth of the river, in vessels specially chartered, be it 
 observed, by the Russian Military authorities. Here a 
 settlement was quickly formed, to which was given the 
 title of Port Nicholas, and this was used thenceforward in 
 all official documents. 
 
 Parenthetically it may be mentioned that, in accordance 
 with Article 11 of the Peking Protocol, England negotiated 
 with China and concluded a new Anglo-Chinese Commercial 
 Treaty in September of the preceding year, 1902. Then 
 America, and some time afterwards Japan, were likewise 
 in negotiation with China. As, however, the opening of 
 Antung and Mukden was included in the project of the 
 Chino-American Treaty, and of Ta-tung-Kau and Mukden 
 in the Sino- Japanese Treaty, to which also a provision 
 for the concession of a " settlement " was attached, the 
 Russian representative at Peking repeatedly opposed it, 
 at times indirectly, and at others directly ; and as the 
 Chinese Government was anxious first of all to see Man- 
 churia freed from Russian domination, the definite conclusion 
 of the Treaties was put off for a time. While these tricks 
 were being played by Russian agents in the East, at St. 
 Petersburg the most plausible tales were being told as usual 
 to the Powers' representatives. Count Lamsdorff declared 
 solemnly that no demands were being made at Peking, 
 and that China was simply endeavouring by her tortuous 
 diplomacy to sow discord between the Powers. At another 
 time it was that Russia merely sought to obtain guarantees, 
 and that there was no idea of excluding the consuls or 
 obstructing foreign commerce. 
 
 But on May 19, on the British Charge d' Affaires paying 
 a call at the Russian Legation in Peking, it being the Tsar's 
 birthday, M. de Plan^on at once " took occasion to speak 
 about the existing state of affairs at Newchwang. He pre- 
 sented that the port could not be held to be included in that 
 part of Manchuria which should have been evacuated during 
 the last month, since it more properly formed part of the 
 section evacuated in October last, and was held by the 
 Russians much as Tien-tsin was formerly held by the 
 Powers." Needless to say, M. de Plangon's visitor was 
 astounded at this proposition. For it had been at Russia's 
 
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THE RISEN SUN 
 
 own instance that Newchwang had been placed outside 
 the sphere which formed the first part of the evacuation 
 provided for in the Agreement. Perfidy could no farther 
 go ! M. Lessar returned to Peking, but there was no change 
 of Russian diplomacy ! And now Russia found it time to 
 shift her ground once more, as the discrepancy between 
 promises and actions had become too pronounced for even 
 her lax notions of diplomatic morality. So Count Bencken- 
 dorff called on the Marquis of Lansdowne in London and 
 assured him that (a) whatever might be the outcome of the 
 pending Russo-Chinese negotiations, Russia had no intention 
 of opposing the gradual opening of some towns in Man- 
 churia as commercial relations might develop, excluding, 
 however, the right to establish " settlements." But (b) this 
 declaration was not to apply to Harbin. That town, being 
 within the limits of the concession for the " Eastern Chinese 
 Railway," said he, was not unrestrictedly subject to China, 
 and the establishment of foreign consuls there must depend 
 on the consent of the Russian Government. Lord Lans- 
 downe frankly told the Russian Ambassador that this was 
 a qualification of Russia's previous assurances, and that 
 the exclusion of Harbin was something quite new. Russia's 
 representative begged that Britain would discourage Chinese 
 opposition to Russia's demands ; but Lord Lansdowne 
 plainly said that England must first be fully informed of 
 the nature of those demands. A few days later Count 
 Lamsdorff, who had been informed of this answer, observed 
 in conversation with the British Charge d' Affaires that this 
 desire for information was natural, but he could not supply 
 it until General Kuropatkin's return from the East, whither 
 he had been on a visit. General Kuropatkin did, in fact, 
 at this time visit the East. He went to Japan by way of 
 Manchuria, ostensibly on a pleasure trip only, but no doubt 
 in reality to form his opinion of her naval and military 
 strength and resources, and on his return westwards he 
 called at Port Arthur, and held the now famous conference 
 with Admiral Alexeieff and M. Besobrazoff. 
 
 On July 29, 1903, the Russian Ambassador in London 
 once more approached Lord Lansdowne, with a view of 
 coming to an understanding with Great Britain, saying 
 that it might be arrived at by Russia's not opposing England 
 in the Yang-tse Valley. To this Lord Lansdowne peremp- 
 
 84 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1901-1903 
 
 torily replied that the British difficulty with Russia lay 
 more in the Manchurian question. As to the Yang-tse Valley, 
 his impression was that by the Anglo-Russian Agreement 
 of 1897 a partial understanding had already been arrived 
 at, and that unless the British Government were more 
 frankly made acquainted with the terms Russia was 
 endeavouring to obtain from China no hope existed of 
 coming to an understanding. 
 
 At this juncture her first approach to Russia, which led 
 to the subsequent negotiations, was made by Japan — ^viz. 
 on July 28, 1903 ; but of this more anon. 
 
 The conference at Port Arthur had had no pacific tendency. 
 On the contrary, whilst the Russian Ambassador was 
 suggesting to Lord Lansdowne an utterly unacceptable 
 modus Vivendi on the one hand, and entering to all appear- 
 ances willingly upon negotiations with Japan on the other, 
 the Russian Government was planning the audacious coup 
 d'etat embodied in the Imperial ukase of August 12 (July 
 30, O.S.), 1903, creating a Russian vice-gerency out of 
 the Amur and K wan-Tung territories. By this the Tsar's 
 representative was invested with full administrative con- 
 trol, the command of both military and naval forces, and 
 supreme power for the maintenance of order and security 
 in " the zone of the Eastern Railway of China," as well as 
 with the duty of providing for the needs of the Russian 
 populations in " the frontier possessions beyond the Imperial 
 lieutenancy." He was also given control of the diplomatic 
 relations of these provinces with neighbouring States. By 
 the same ukase a special committee under the presidency 
 of the Emperor was appointed to control the Viceroy, thus 
 making the office independent of any Ministry or Depart- 
 ment, and Admiral Alexeieff was nominated Viceroy. This, 
 of course, was Russia's defiant intimation to the world 
 that she meant to hold Manchuria in perpetuity. 
 
 Early in the ensuing month of September, 1903, the Russian 
 Minister at Peking made five new demands as conditions 
 of evacuation. Briefly these were that : — 
 
 ( 1 ) Assurances should be given by China that the three provinces 
 should never be ceded to any other Power, nor any scrap of land 
 therein pledged, leased, or disposed of in any way whatever. 
 
 (2) Russia should construct wharves at several points along the 
 Sungari, and should station troops for the protection of the telegraph 
 lines along the river and of the vessels plying thereon. Russia should 
 
 85 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 also establish stations at various points on the roads between Tsitsihar, 
 Mergen, and Blagovestchensk. 
 
 (3) No specially heavy duty to be imposed on goods carried by 
 railway, nor any heavier duties to be levied on goods conveyed into 
 Manchuria by rail from one station to another than on those trans- 
 ported overland or by waterways. 
 
 (4) The branch offices of the Russo-Chinese Bank in various parts 
 of Manchuria to be protected by the troops of the Tartar General 
 of Mukden, the expense of lodging such troops to be defrayed by the 
 Bank. 
 
 (5) Needful sanitary measures, similar to those in Shanghai and 
 Tien-tsin, to be taken by the Chinese authorities in order to prevent 
 the importation of plague through Newchwang ; and within the 
 territories appertaining to the Chinese Eastern Railway, Russia to 
 adopt the necessary measures. Where the Tao-tai has charge of these 
 measures a Russian physician to be appointed, so as to secure due 
 accord between the steps to be taken by the Chinese and Russian 
 authorities respectively. 
 
 The Russian Minister further demanded a prolongation 
 of the period for evacuation, representing to Prince Ching 
 that on these conditions Russia would withdraw her troops 
 from Newchwang and other places within the province of 
 Mukden on October 8, 1903, from the province of Kirin 
 within four months, and from that of Hei-Lung-Chiang 
 within one year. The creation of foreign settlements was 
 still, however, objected to, and there was, according to a 
 report emanating from a source deserving of all confidence, 
 another proposal, designed to overthrow the provisions 
 contained in Article VIII, section 10, of the Mackey Treaty, 
 by the establishment of a separate Inspectorate of Customs 
 for Manchuria, to be presided over and manned exclusively 
 by Russian officials. 
 
 The more one examines these proposals the more one 
 realises the gravity of their purport. Had China accepted 
 them, as Prince Ching observed to Sir Ernest Satow, and 
 Russia had nominally withdrawn, the Russians would 
 still have remained in actual possession, to all intents and 
 purposes, of Manchuria. Prince Ching, however, animated 
 by the assurances of America, Britain, and Japan, on 
 September 25 finally refused the Russian demands, at 
 the same time pointing out that by a solemn convention 
 entered into by plenipotentiaries of both Powers, and rati- 
 fied by their respective Sovereigns, Russia was bound to 
 complete the second stage of the evacuation by April 8, 
 which in reality had already passed, and the third by 
 
 86 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1901-1903 
 
 October 8, 1903. China was willing, he said, to discuss 
 international matters needing settlement as soon as the 
 evacuation had been completed in accord with that con- 
 vention ; and on October 6 the Chinese Government formally 
 requested the Russian Minister to carry out the promised 
 evacuation by the 8th, to which the answer given by him 
 was that unless China accepted the Russian conditions the 
 evacuation was not practicable. 
 
 The new Sino-American Treaty, and also the Chino- 
 Japanese Treaty, were signed, despite Russian opposition, 
 simultaneously with the expiration of the third term of the 
 Manchurian evacuation, and, by virtue of these treaties, 
 Antung, Tatungkau, and Mukden were opened to foreign 
 commerce. China's original wish was to sign these treaties 
 subsequently to the Russian evacuation, so as to give Russia 
 no offence ; but the Russian threat, that unless the new 
 conditions she proposed were accepted, the evacuation 
 would be impracticable, decided the Chinese statesmen to 
 wait no longer. 
 
 The day that the Sino-American Treaty was signed 
 the Russian Minister actually wrote to Prince Ching up- 
 braiding him, and threatening that unless he reconsidered 
 his action Russia would herself carry out the projects con- 
 tained in the five proposals, and from that day forth the 
 military and naval activities of Russia, which had been for 
 more than half a year before incessantly pursued, were 
 redoubled in intensity. Forts were constructed, additional 
 warships were sent out from Europe, more troops were 
 moved to the Korean borders, and in one way and another 
 the Manchurian and Korean affairs were inexplicably blended 
 and everything assumed a most warlike and menacing aspect. 
 
 On October 28 Russian troops occupied the Chinese 
 castle and palace of Mukden, possessed themselves of the 
 public offices and archives, and next day imprisoned the 
 Tartar General. The castle gates were guarded by Russians, 
 the telegraphs seized. The pretext for all this was that a 
 Chunchus bandit, one of those enlisted by Russia for service 
 at the Yalu, had been condemned to death for an offence 
 against Chinese law by the Tao-tai's chief aide-de-camp. 
 The Russians demanded that the latter should himself be 
 beheaded and the Tao-tai dismissed. 
 
 On the Korean side of the Yalu Russian aggression became 
 
 87 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 particularly noticeable. The Government of Seoul was 
 pressed to grant a lease of Yongampho similar to that 
 extorted from China for Port Arthur. Telegraph lines were 
 set up without consulting Korea at all, and, without waiting 
 for an answer about Yongampho, forts were begun. (One 
 of the first completed was reported at the beginning of 
 October, by a military attache sent from the Japanese 
 Legation at Seoul to investigate matters, to be twenty 
 metres in height, with three embrasures for guns.) Koreans 
 having business connexions with Japanese were arrested 
 without cause, timber which the Japanese residents had 
 found floating down the Yalu and had brought to bank for 
 their own use was violently wrested from them on the plea 
 that every fragment belonged of right to the Russian con- 
 cessionnaires, and things had become so unbearable to the 
 Japanese that they were preparing to quit when Mr. Hagi- 
 wara. Secretary of the Japanese Legation at Seoul, was 
 despatched to investigate and report on the condition of 
 affairs in general. The Russians refused to let him land 
 at Yongampho from the steamer, and he was obliged to 
 return with his mission unachieved, though later on the 
 Russian Minister at Seoul acknowledged that his people 
 had been indiscreet. All these high-handed proceedings 
 could have no other object than that of securing the Russian 
 position beforehand, m defiance of international obhgations 
 and solemn pledges, as well as the convention which had 
 existed between Russia and Japan concerning Korea, 
 and with the express purpose of driving Japan to extremities. 
 Both the United States and Japan had strongly advocated 
 the opening of Yongampho to the trade of all nations. The 
 opinion of the British representative at Seoul was similar ; 
 but this course was systematically and strenuously opposed 
 by Russia, who, at the same time, had no scruple in practis- 
 ing all sorts of intrigue with, the unscrupulous section of 
 the Korean officials. 
 
 We now come to the stage of the purely Russo-Japanese 
 negotiations, of which I will in this place merely give the 
 substance in brief outline. 
 
 Japan had always, from time immemorial, possessed 
 large interests in Korea, and it was in the determination to 
 uphold her rights there that she did not hesitate to throw 
 down the gauntlet to the Chinese ten years ago, at a time 
 
 88 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1901-1903 
 
 when China's naval and mihtary strength was considered 
 by many to be far superior to that of Japan. She staked 
 her existence on the result then, and she has done so now 
 for much the same cause, with the additional reason that 
 she has interests in Manchuria likewise which she cannot 
 afford to sacrifice. More than all, the presence of any 
 foreign Power in Manchuria tends to become a constant 
 menace to Korea, and the territorial integrity of the penin- 
 sular kingdom is absolutely indispensable to Japan's safety. 
 Russia's ambitions had for years run counter to this, and 
 thus it was that in Japan there was perpetual anxiety and 
 unrest. When matters in Manchuria and Korea began to 
 assume the unmistakable character which has been described 
 in the foregoing pages, and which was totally at variance 
 with all the pledges Russia had given, not to Japan alone, 
 but to the whole world, and also with the two Agreements 
 which had been arrived at between Russia and Japan some 
 years before concerning Korea, and which were still in 
 actual force, it was high time that Japan paid some attention 
 to her own interests and allowed herself to be actuated by 
 the instinct of self-preservation. She therefore addressed 
 herself to Russia direct, in the early autumn of 1903, 
 and sought to open up negotiations with the aim of bringing 
 about a more desirable condition of things both in Korea 
 and Manchuria, in order that the advantages of a permanent 
 peace might be secured for all. 
 
 Japan was willing from the first to recognize Russia's 
 special interests in Manchuria so far as they had been 
 acquired by legitimate means, but she desired that Russia 
 should keep her word by entering into an international com- 
 pact with Japan to respect the sovereignty and territorial 
 integrity of China in respect of those provinces, as being 
 vital to Japan's special position in Korea, and which, in its 
 turn, was vital to the Japanese Empire's own existence. 
 
 Japan's demands were presented only when the most 
 careful consideration had been given to every phase of the 
 question, and after the interests of other Powers as well as 
 her own had been taken into account. Russia had all 
 along perfectly understood Japan's position, and there was 
 absolutely nothing in the Japanese demands that was new 
 or extravagant. In their extreme moderation they scarcely 
 satisfied the aspirations of the nation, but it was the Govern- 
 
 89 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 merit's aim to avoid any disturbance of the peace of the 
 Far East. Russia had pledged herself, in her various communi- 
 cations at different times to the Powers, to accord practically 
 everything that Japan asked for, but when it came to a 
 request that the Russian avowals should be embodied in 
 an international compact she practically ignored all. After 
 this barefaced avowal it was plain to Japan that Russia 
 would have to be kept up to the mark if the promises that 
 had been given so freely were not to become a dead letter. 
 
 The negotiations were by Russia made to drag on month 
 by month, whilst she was unremitting in her efforts to 
 strengthen her armaments in the Far East by land and sea, 
 until Japan's patience was exhausted and an answer to 
 her final inquiry was requested by a certain day, the only 
 response being a further irritating postponement. 
 
 I have now, I hope, fairly set forth in this and the preceding 
 chapter all that is necessary to show how Russia brought on 
 war. My aim has been to show how she was prolific in self- 
 denying ordinances, but resolute in her practice of ignoring 
 them as soon as they could be supposed to have served 
 her turn ; how her procedure throughout these negotiations 
 had been to bring the traditional diplomacy of Western 
 Europe into discredit, and reduce its international import- 
 ance to the level of a cynical farce ; how while ostentatiously 
 flourishing the olive branch with her left hand she had been 
 slapping the right over pockets that would scarcely contain 
 the plunder derived from the hugging and squeezing man- 
 oeuvres in relation to the dispirited Chinese government 
 which we have in this and the preceding chapter attempted 
 without the least unfairness or exaggeration to describe. 
 And from all this I deduce that the (just concluded) war in the 
 Far East was not in reality a conflict which had arisen merely 
 out of a dispute between the two combatants. It was rather to 
 be ascribed to the general revolt of all the civilized peoples 
 of the earth against the perfidy and insincerity of Russia, 
 who for many years past has sought to outwit and over- 
 reach the other Powers. It was because Japan felt all 
 along that her interests, more than those of any other 
 country, were involved, and because China's helplessness 
 to cope with her own calamity placed her beside the 
 question, that Japan, little as she is, at last resolved that 
 she would take up the cudgels, and was content to do battle 
 
 90 
 
HOW RUSSIA BROUGHT ON WAR, 1901-1903 
 
 with Russia single-handed, in advance of the other nations 
 whose prospects were similarly jeopardized. It cannot be 
 too often pointed out that in so doing Japan risked her 
 very existence as a nation, and this is why we demand so 
 boldly, as I am sure we are entitled to do, the common 
 sympathy of the world at large in our huge undertaking, on 
 which we embarked in the interests of justice and humanity. 
 It is my proud privilege to perceive that, excepting in certain 
 quarters, which have had reasons of their own for the 
 attitude they adopt, this sympathy has from the very 
 beginning been cordially and almost universally extended 
 to us. 
 
 91 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 FIRST HOSTILITIES 
 
 JAPAN AND THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE WAR WITH RUSSIA^ 
 
 I 
 
 AMONG other questions raised by an article from the 
 pen of Sir John Macdonell, in The Nineteenth Century 
 and After for July, 1904, on "The Present War," there is 
 one especially upon which a few observations from a Jap- 
 anese point of view might seem to deserve permanent 
 record in this place. 
 
 Sir John Macdonell appears to think that our attack 
 came to Russia as a surprise, and was therefore unjustifi- 
 able ; and whilst he makes reservations on account of 
 his lack of accurate information concerning the actual 
 state of affairs at the commencement of the war, he pro- 
 ceeds to argue that it was a nice point whether the nego- 
 tiations had or had not, on February 8 or 9 last, reached 
 a stage at which discussion had really been abandoned, and 
 both sides had resolved to accept the arbitrament of battle. 
 Sir John seems to consider that notice should be given to an 
 adversary, before beginning a war, that hostilities have 
 become inevitable. 
 
 I will not say anything about the fact that the first shot 
 was fired by the Russians on the Japanese vessels at Che- 
 mulpho ; nor is it my intention to enter upon any justifica- 
 tion of Japan's course of action on the common theory of 
 international law, or on the basis of the prevailing practice 
 in such cases, of which Russia herself is one of the most signifi- 
 cant examples, — for it could easily be shown, with the aid 
 of nineteenth century precedents, that a formal declaration 
 is not needed to constitute a state of war. On the contrary, 
 I rather appreciate Sir John's contention that no blows 
 
 ^ 'The Nineteenth Century and After,' August 1904. 
 
 92 
 
FIRST HOSTILITIES 
 
 should be struck without adequate warning, or while diplo- 
 matists are still debating the matters in dispute. And it is 
 my desire to prove that Japan, far from taking her enemy 
 unawares, did actually do precisely as Sir John Macdonell 
 is anxious to show she ought to have done, and that, in the 
 sense of his comment on the operations, there was no room 
 for the Russians to be surprised in any degree whatever. 
 
 I will first endeavour to demonstrate the truth of this 
 proposition by recalling the successive stages of those nego- 
 tiations which culminated in hostilities ; but it is unneces- 
 sary to dwell upon the earlier part of the diplomatic corre- 
 spondence, nor is it worth while to enlarge either on the 
 flagrant neglect of Russia to fulfil her own pledges, or on the 
 persistency with which she sought to (the expression may be 
 pardoned, since there is no other term that applies equally 
 well) make a fool of Japan throughout the protracted negoti- 
 ations. It may suffice to point out that, from the very 
 nature of those negotiations, any failure to arrive at a satis- 
 factory understanding was tantamount to an admission 
 that war was inevitable. 
 
 The most acute phase was reached in November, 1903, 
 as was plainly indicated in the telegram despatched on the 
 2ist of that month to Mr. Kurino, the Japanese Minister 
 at St. Petersburg, by Baron Komura, Minister for Foreign 
 Affairs in the Government of Tokio, in which the following 
 passage occurs : — 
 
 Baron Rosen added that he had not yet received any instructions 
 on the subject of thej counter-proposals, consequently you are in- 
 structed to see Count Lamsdorff as soon as possible, and after 
 explaining to him Baron Rosen's statements, as above, you will say 
 that the Japanese Government are anxious to proceed with the negotia- 
 tions with all possible expedition, and you will urge him to exert his 
 influence to secure the early despatch of instructions to Baron Rosen, 
 in order that negotiations may be resumed and concluded without 
 delay. 
 
 This view was, of course, communicated to the Russian 
 Foreign Minister, and after further futile endeavours on 
 Japan's part to elicit an early reply, Baron Komura tele- 
 graphed to Mr. Kurino on December i, 1903, again urging 
 the importance of a speedy solution of the question at issue, 
 in yet more plain-spoken fashion ; and he wound up his 
 despatch thus : — 
 
 93 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 In these circumstances the Japanese Government cannot but 
 regard with grave concern the situation, for which the delays in the 
 negotiations are largely responsible. You are instructed to see Count 
 Lamsdorff as soon as possible, and place the foregoing considerations 
 before him in such form and manner as to make your representations 
 as impressive as possible. You will add that the Japanese Govern- 
 ment believe they are rendering a service to the general interest in 
 thus frankly explaining to the Russian Government the actual state 
 of things. 
 
 When Mr. Kurino made these representations, which 
 could scarcely have been more explicit, to Count Lamsdorff, 
 the Russian Minister said that " he would fully explain the 
 urgency of the matter on the occasion of his audience on the 
 following Tuesday " ; but things in reality were made to 
 drag on, and the Russian preference for the game of diplo- 
 matic seesaw was exemplified to the full, until at last, on 
 December 23, when three whole weeks had been frittered 
 away, Mr. Kurino, reporting to Baron Komura an interview 
 which he had just had with Count Lamsdorff, thus ended 
 his despatch : — 
 
 In conclusion, I stated to him that under the circumstances it 
 might cause serious difficulties, even complications, if we failed to 
 come to an entente, and I hoped he would exercise his best influence 
 so as to enable us to reach the desired end. 
 
 On January 6, 1904, a Russian reply was handed at Tokio 
 by Baron Rosen to Baron Komura, but in substance it 
 amounted to little more than a repetition, save for mere 
 changes of wording, of what had gone before, and the atti- 
 tude of Russia, it was plain, had undergone no sensible 
 alteration. Speaking candidly, there was an end to all 
 hope ; but the Government of Tokio, still willing to exert 
 itself, and even to make some concession, again invited the 
 Russian Government, on January 13, to reconsider the 
 matter, in terms which, though conciliatory enough, con- 
 stituted practically an ultimatum. In the despatch convey- 
 ing this decision to the Russian Government the subjoined 
 phrase occurred : — 
 
 The grounds for these amendments having been frequently and 
 fully explained on previous occasions, the Imperial Government do 
 not think it necessary to repeat the explanations. It is sufficient 
 here to express their earnest hope for reconsideration by the Imperial 
 Russian Government. 
 
 94 
 
FIRST HOSTILITIES 
 
 And again : — 
 
 The above-mentioned amendments being proposed by the Imperial 
 Government entirely in a spirit of conciliation, it is expected that they 
 will be received in the same spirit at the hands of the Imperial 
 Russian Government ; and the Imperial Government further hope 
 for an early reply from the Imperial Russian Government, since 
 further delay in the solution of the question will be extremely dis- 
 advantageous to the two countries. 
 
 Even in the face of such earnest representations of the 
 danger of procrastination Russia still dallied, and on January 
 23 and 26, 1904, Baron Komura successively telegraphed 
 to Mr. Kurino, pressing for a prompt response. In one of 
 the telegrams Mr. Kurino was instructed to seek an inter- 
 view with Count Lamsdorff and state to him, as a direct 
 instruction received from the Japanese Government, that, 
 
 in the opinion of the Imperial Government, a further prolongation 
 of the present state of things being calculated to accentuate the 
 gravity of the situation, it is their earnest hope that they will be 
 honoured with an early reply, and that they wish to know at what 
 time they may expect to receive the reply. 
 
 On January 28 Mr. Kurino reported to Baron Komura 
 his interview with Count Lamsdorff, in which he explains 
 how 
 
 He (Count Lamsdorff) stated that the Grand Duke Alexis and the 
 Minister of Marine are to be received in audience next Monday, and 
 the Minister of War and himself on Tuesday, and he thinks an answer 
 will be sent to Admiral Alexeieff on the latter day. I pointed out 
 the urgent necessity to accelerate the despatch of an answer as much 
 as possible, " because further prolongation of the present condition 
 is not only undesirable, hut rather dangerous.'' I added that all the 
 while the world is loud with rumours, and that I hoped he would 
 take special steps so as to have an answer sent at an earlier date than 
 mentioned. He replied that " he knows the existing condition of 
 things very well, but that the dates of audience being fixed as 
 above mentioned, it is not now possible to change them " ; and he 
 repeated that " he will do his best to send the reply nextj Tuesday, 
 (February 2)." 
 
 Upon this Baron Komura, still anxious beyond measure 
 to avoid the risks attendant upon these indefinite conditions, 
 again telegraphed, on January 30, to Mr. Kurino to see 
 Count Lamsdorff at the earliest opportunity and state to 
 him that ; 
 
 95 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Having reported to your Government that the Russian Govern- 
 ment would probably give a reply on next Tuesday, you have been 
 instructed to say to Count Lamsdorff that, being fully convinced of 
 the serious disadvantage to the two Powers concerned of the further 
 prolongation of the present situation, the Imperial Government 
 hoped that they might be able to receive the reply of the Russian 
 Government earlier than the date mentioned by Count Lamsdorff. As 
 it, however, appears that the receipt of the reply at an earlier date is 
 not possible, the Imperial Government wish to know whether they 
 will be honoured with the reply at the date mentioned by Count 
 Lamsdorff, namely, next Tuesday (February 2), or, if it is not pos- 
 sible, what will be the exact date on which the reply is to be given. 
 
 On the evening of January 31 Mr. Kurino saw Count 
 Lamsdorff, who said that he 
 
 fully appreciated the gravity of the present situation, and was certainly 
 desirous to send an answer as quickly as possible, but that the ques- 
 tion was a very serious one and not lightly to be dealt with. The 
 opinions of the Ministers concerned and of Admiral Alexeieff had to 
 be brought into harmony — hence the delay. As to the date of send- 
 ing an answer, it was not possible for him to give the exact date, as 
 it entirely depended on the decision of the Emperor, though he would 
 not fail to use his efforts to hurry the matter. 
 
 It was not until the fifth day after this interview which 
 Mr. Kurino had with Count Lamsdorff, and the third day 
 after the reply had been once virtually promised to be given, 
 namely, on February 5, 1904, at 2.15 p.m., that Baron 
 Komura telegraphed to Mr. Kurino as follows : — 
 
 Further prolongation of the present situation being inadmissible, 
 the Imperial Government have decided to terminate the pending 
 negotiations and to take such independent action as they may deem 
 necessary to defend their menaced position and to protect their 
 rights and interests. Accordingly, you are instructed to address 
 to Count Lamsdorff, immediately upon receipt of this telegram, a 
 signed Note to the following effect : — 
 
 " The undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipo- 
 tentiary of his Majesty the Emperor of Japan, has the honour, in 
 pursuance of instructions from his Government, to address to his 
 Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs of his Majesty the Em- 
 peror of AH the Russias the following communication : — 
 
 " The Government of H.M. the Emperor of Japan regard the 
 independence and territorial integrity of the Empire of Korea as 
 essential to their own repose and safety, and they are consequently 
 unable to view with indifference any action tending to render the 
 position of Korea insecure. 
 
 " The successive rejections by the Imperial Russian Government, 
 by means of inadmissible amendments, of Japan's proposals respect- 
 
 96 
 
FIRST HOSTILITIES 
 
 ing Korea, the adoption of which the Imperial Government regarded 
 as indispensable to assure the independence and territorial integrity 
 of the Korean Empire and to safeguard Japan's preponderating 
 interests in the peninsula, coupled with the successive refusals of the 
 Imperial Russian Government to enter into engagements to respect 
 China's territorial integrity in Manchuria, which is seriously menaced 
 by their continual occupation of the province, notwithstanding their 
 treaty engagements with China and their repeated assurances to 
 other Powers possessing interests in those regions, have made it 
 necessary for the Imperial Government seriously to consider what 
 measures of self-defence they are called upon to take. 
 
 " In the presence of delays which remain largely unexplained, 
 and naval and military activities which it is difficult to reconcile with 
 entirely pacific aims, the Imperial Government have exercised in the 
 pending negotiations a degree of forbearance which they believe 
 affords abundant proof of their loyal desire to remove from their 
 relations with the Imperial Russian Government every cause for 
 future misunderstanding ; but, finding in their efforts no prospect 
 of securing from the Imperial Russian Government an adhesion either 
 to Japan's moderate and unselfish proposals, or to any other pro- 
 posals likely to establish a firm and enduring peace in the Extreme 
 East, the Imperial Government have no alternative than to terminate 
 the present futile negotiations. 
 
 " In adopting that course the Imperial Government reserve to 
 themselves the right to take such independent action as they may 
 deem best to consolidate and defend their menaced position, as well 
 as to protect their established rights and legitimate interests." 
 
 Simultaneously with the presentation of this note Mr. 
 Kurino was instructed to address Count Lamsdorff in 
 writing to the following effect : — 
 
 The undersigned Envoy Extraordinary, etc., etc., has the honour, 
 in pursuance of instructions from his Government, to acquiant H.E. 
 the Minister for Foreign Affairs, etc., etc., that the Imperial Govern- 
 ment of Japan, having exhausted, without effect, every means of 
 conciliation, with a view to the removal from their relations with 
 the Imperial Russian Government of every cause for future complica- 
 tions, and finding that their just representations and moderate and 
 unselfish proposals in the interest of a firm and lasting peace in the 
 Extreme East are not receiving the consideration which is their due, 
 have resolved to sever their diplomatic relations with the Imperial 
 Russian Government, which for the reason named have ceased to 
 possess any value. 
 
 In further fulfilment of the command of his Government, the under- 
 signed has also the honour to announce to H. E. Count Lamsdorff 
 that it is his intention to take his departure from St. Petersburg, 
 with the staff of the Imperial Legation. 
 
 These Notes were presented to Count Lamsdorff by Mr. 
 Kurino on February 6, at 4 p.m., and on the same day 
 
 97 H 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Baron Komura conveyed a formal intimation to Baron 
 Rosen, in Tokio, in the sense that 
 
 Whereas the Japanese Government had made every effort to 
 arrive at an amicable settlement of the Manchurian question with 
 Russia, the latter had not evinced any disposition to reciprocate 
 this peaceful purpose. Therefore Japan could not continue the 
 diplomatic conferences. She was regretfully compelled to take 
 independent action for the protection of her rights and interests, and 
 she must decline to accept the responsibility of any incidents that 
 might occur in consequence. 
 
 A dispassionate perusal of all the foregoing despatches 
 cannot fail to lead the student of history to the conclusion 
 that repeated warnings were given by Japan in the succes- 
 sive stages of the negotiations, and that the last two des- 
 patches, dated Feburary 5, left absolutely no room for doubt 
 that Japan had finally, though reluctantly, arrived at the 
 conclusion that war was inevitable. The wording is polite, 
 but who can doubt that it was a clear notice of war ? 
 
 I must go farther than this ; and it will, I think, be 
 equally plain when I have finished that not only had Japan 
 made up her mind upon this point, but that Russia by her 
 actions — ^which " speak louder than words '* — conclusively 
 manifested that her intentions were warlike too. First, 
 let me mention that the day on which Count Lamsdorff 
 had led Mr. Kurino to expect that the reply would be ready 
 was Tuesday, February 2. The day on which negotiations 
 were finally broken off was Saturday, February 6. vOn 
 the intervening Thursday the Russian fleet at Port Arthur 
 "suddenly emerged from harbour and steamed out for hours 
 to the south-eastward, ultimately returning to port. For 
 what purpose this cruise was undertaken could not be 
 divined, but it created of necessity intense excitement and 
 anxiety in Japan, where it was interpreted as the prelude 
 to some desperate measure, and the activity of the Russian 
 naval squadron, thus exemplified, is wholly inconsistent 
 with the theory of unpreparedness. It should be remembered 
 that for a long time before this Russia had been pouring 
 regiment after regiment into Manchuria, her Cossacks 
 had invaded Korea, warship after warship had been des- 
 patched from Western waters to reinforce the fleet which 
 she already had in Far Eastern seas, and in her diplomacy 
 
 98 
 
FIRST HOSTILITIES 
 
 she had displayed a persistent arrogance which contrasted 
 strongly with the conciliatory attitude of Japan. 
 
 But this is not all. At the moment when Admiral Togo 
 actually made his attack the Russian ships lay outside the 
 harbour in a perfect battle array, in front of the shore forts 
 and batteries of the fortress, a position that they had taken 
 up on their return from their cruise to the south-eastward. 
 Wherein was the unpreparedness ? If the officers of the 
 Russian ships were caught in an unguarded moment, blame 
 must not be imputed to the Japanese. The cause must 
 rather be sought in a misconception on the part of the 
 Russians of the watchful strategy which the situation de- 
 manded. The facts are, moreover, that the Russian ships 
 had lain under a full head of steam for days off the Port 
 Arthur entrance, had been continually using their search- 
 lights as though they apprehended an attack, the battle- 
 ships had their decks cleared for action, and the instant that 
 the first torpedo was launched the Russians opened fire 
 on the Japanese boats. 
 
 These remarks should alone suffice to show that Russia 
 was not taken by surprise ; but I will show a few well- 
 authenticated figures in addition. Her warlike prepara- 
 tions in the Far East had been going on from the previous 
 April, when she ought by right to have been completing 
 the evacuation of Manchuria in accordance with her solemn 
 pledges. In the remaining months of 1903 she despatched 
 to Far Eastern waters 
 
 Three battleships . . . . 
 One armoured cruiser 
 
 Combined 
 Tonnage. 
 
 . 38,488 
 • 7,727 
 
 Five other cruisers 
 
 . 26,417 
 
 Seven destroyers 
 
 One gunboat .... 
 
 Two mine-laying crafts 
 
 . 2,450 
 
 . . . 1,344 
 
 6,000 
 
 Seven other destroyers were sent by rail to Port Arthur 
 and there put together, and two vessels of the " Volunteer " 
 Fleet were armed and hoisted the Russian naval ensign at 
 Vladivostok. 
 
 On land the increase of the Russian forces was equally 
 marked. The known augmentations, subsequent to the 
 end of June, 1903, were two infantry brigades, two artillery 
 battalions, and a large force of cavalry. The total was 
 
 99 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 continually being increased by troops being sent by train 
 from Russia, up to 40,000, and plans were made for despatch- 
 ing over 200,000 more men. In October a train of fourteen 
 cars was hurriedly sent off, laden with the equipment of a 
 field hospital. 
 
 On January 21 two battalions of infantry and a detach- 
 ment of cavalry were sent from Port Arthur and Dalny to 
 menace the northern frontier of Korea. On January 28 
 Admiral Alexeieff gave to the Russian forces then stationed 
 in the vicinity of the Yalu River orders to prepare for war. 
 Troops were advanced in large numbers at the same time 
 from Liao-Yang towards the Yalu. And on February i 
 the military commandant at Vladivostok formally requested 
 the Japanese Commercial Agent at that port, by order of 
 the Russian Government, to notify Japan that a state of 
 siege might be proclaimed at any moment. This was five 
 days, be it observed, before Japan broke off diplomatic 
 relations. 
 
 Sir John Macdonell says : — 
 
 It [the first torpedoing the Russian vessels] was an attack of surprise. 
 Was it a treacherous and disloyal act ? The question must be put 
 with the knowledge that a nation which is patient may be duped ; 
 that the first blow counts much ; and that under cover of continuing 
 negotiations a country unprepared might deprive another better 
 equipped of its advantages. 
 
 All that I have said above would be sufficient to solve 
 these points of the question. The attack on Port Arthur 
 was not an attack of surprise in the sense of international 
 law. It can be at the most spoken of as an attack of tactical 
 surprise, though it was not also the case. The party who 
 was defeated can complain of it no more than he can com- 
 plain of the defeat of the Yalu or Kinchow. The Russian 
 plan was to deprive Japan of her chance, and either to bluff 
 her off to the end or to fight at the hour of their own choice. 
 Japan was patient enough ; if she were patient longer she 
 would have been completely duped. As a matter of fact, 
 there was some report that the plan of the Russians was to 
 make a sudden raid on Japan on about February 20, and 
 that was not at all improbable. Some Russians say that 
 Russia never meant to go to war, and that the very fact 
 that she was not at all prepared to cope with a little nation 
 like Japan is the best proof of it. This does not follow at 
 
 100 
 
FIRST HOSTILITIES 
 
 all, and nothing is more foreign to the fact than to imagine 
 that Russia was sincerely anxious to maintain peace. In the 
 eyes of the Russians there was no such Japan as they have, 
 or rather the world has, begun to see since the opening of the 
 war. They trusted, no doubt, either to be able to bluff through 
 or to crush us at a blow if necessary. Even in the battle 
 of the Yalu, nay, even in the battle of Kinchow, or Wafangu, 
 they were unable to believe that the Japanese were not after 
 all " yellow monkeys " Only a little time ago an eminent 
 French statesman told me that France understood Japan 
 little, Russia still less ; and that it was the sole cause 
 of the present unfortunate war. " In that respect," he 
 continued, " England was sharper, for she understood the 
 Far East, and, consequently, the changing circumstances 
 of the world, before any other Occidental nation." There 
 is, I believe, a good deal in it. 
 
 lOI 
 
BOOK II 
 A Nation in Training 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 THE INTRODUCTION OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION INTO JAPAN* 
 
 THE Spanish and Portuguese who first entered Japan 
 some three hundred years ago left nothing to mark 
 their stay in the way of civiHzation. It is true they made 
 a large number of Christian converts at the time, and it is 
 said that the art of building castles in Japan owes a great 
 deal to the suggestions of these visitors. But the country 
 soon after became entirely closed to all foreigners. The 
 establishment of a factory by the British East India Com- 
 pany in its early days proved the reverse of successful from 
 a commercial point of view and had to be abandoned. The 
 Dutch alone were allowed periodically to come to the port 
 of Nagasaki, where there was a small settlement at which 
 they were allowed to trade, mainly by exchanging their 
 European goods for the products of Japan. There were, 
 of course, a certain number of interpreters in Nagasaki, but 
 they only learnt to carry on conversation to a degree suffi- 
 cient to permit of the transaction of business between the 
 Dutch and the natives. None of these interpreters studied 
 Dutch with any linguistic method, in fact, they were for- 
 bidden to read and study books ; hence, of course, they 
 could acquire no real insight into European science and 
 knowledge. 
 
 From the early part of the eighteenth century, however, 
 things became very different . Tokugawa Yoshimune became 
 the eighth Shogun of the Tokugawa line in the year 1716. 
 He was a clever, enlightened person, and he took a consider- 
 able interest in matters relating to the West, including the 
 system of Astronomy and the European Calendar. He 
 
 ^ The English original of an article which appeared in the Christmas 
 Number, 1904, of Wiener Tagehlatt. 
 
 105 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 cancelled the prohibition of the importation of Dutch books, 
 though the introduction of books on religion was still for- 
 bidden. From that time the Dutch language gradually 
 came to be studied scientifically and grammatically, though 
 among a very limited circle. There is a book called The 
 Commencement of Studies in Dutch, which lays bare all the 
 difficulties which those who began to study Dutch books 
 met with in getting at the proper meaning of Dutch words. 
 The book was written by one who had surmounted the 
 obstacles, and it therefore is authentic and very interesting. 
 It states that a certain number of them, meeting together 
 from time to time, laboriously plodded through some ele- 
 mentary Dutch books. I remember one incident that was 
 narrated where they had with great difficulty made out the 
 meaning of a certain word X. They found out that the 
 nose was X and the refuse piled in the corners of gardens 
 were X, and hence they concluded that X was an adjective 
 which described the shape of something which was a little 
 elevated. By such a process as this they sought to make 
 out the meaning of words, one after another. The European 
 ideas which first took root in Japan were those appertaining 
 to medical science. The men who first studied the Dutch 
 language were as a consequence medical practitioners. 
 The medical science of Japan was originally based upon the 
 Chinese system, but as time went on the Western system 
 supplanted it, and Dutch methods came into vogue, though 
 only on a comparatively limited scale. There grew to be 
 two systems of medicine practised side by side, one being 
 called the Chinese system (kampo) the other the Dutch 
 system (rampo). Little by little the sphere of the Dutch 
 study extended itself, and a knowledge of that language 
 came to be utilized for other purposes, chiefly in obtaining 
 European intelligence. The next European idea to be 
 introduced into Japan was that of matters military, though 
 natural philosophy was by no means neglected. As is well 
 known, from the latter part of the eighteenth century 
 European ships began to make periodical appearances along 
 the Asiatic sea coast, Japan not being any exception, until 
 at last the tidings of the European invasion of China were 
 brought to Japan. This being a rather alarming state of 
 things, questions regarding the defensive measures of the 
 country came to be discussed among the officials of the 
 
 io6 
 
INTRODUCTION OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION 
 
 Government and the different feudal lords. With this, of 
 course, there arose the desire of knowing more about the 
 military systems of Europeans ; and men who had studied 
 Dutch primarily for medical purposes came to be utilized 
 as translators of those Dutch books which treated of such 
 subjects as the drilling, training or composition of companies 
 or regiments, or even of tactics and strategy. These 
 books were not easily obtainable, nor were translations easy 
 after the books had been procured, but strenuous en- 
 deavours were made to undertake all these matters. 
 This fact will also account for the circumstance that our 
 best soldiers and statesmen of those days were often 
 originally medical students. 
 
 I remember reading in a French work something about 
 the discovery of a book on tactics, translated from the 
 Dutch in the camp of the Chosiu men after the bombard- 
 ment of Shimonoseki, and of the amazement it created. 
 But it was nothing surprising at all that such a volume 
 should have been found. Japan was officially opened to 
 foreign intercourse just about fifty years ago, and people 
 generally think that no European ideas had found their 
 way into Japan before then, so that they are led to express 
 their astonishment at the great change which has been 
 made during the last thirty or forty years. But history, 
 to be exact, must differ a great deal from what people are 
 apt to imagine the facts to have been. It is true that Dutch 
 influence was not very extensive, but it was enough to give 
 the general public of Japan a good start on the road to the 
 introduction of European civilization whenever they came 
 to make up their minds to effect a change. 
 
 I will explain a little further. The headquarters of 
 Dutch study, which was inaugurated in the manner stated 
 above, was in Yedo (now Tokio), the seat of the Govern- 
 ment of the Shogun, far away from the Dutch settlement 
 in Nagasaki. There were, naturally enough, no Dutchmen 
 there to study with, though among those Japanese who 
 were most eager students some may have gone at one time 
 or another to Nagasaki, where they perhaps had the advant- 
 age of meeting here and there with the Dutch interpreters, 
 or, on rare occasions, with even the Dutchmen themselves. 
 I remember that I once personally heard the late Mr. Mitsu- 
 kuri, a Dutch scholar, father of Professor Mitsukuri, who 
 
 107 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 is now teaching in our university, telling about the diffi- 
 culty he met with in learning foreign languages in his 
 youth. In those days steel pens were as valuable to scholars 
 as a jewel might be to a lady. If one such pen were by chance 
 given to a student by some friend who had returned from a 
 visit to Nagasaki he was in those days prone to consider it a 
 handsome present and to treasure it with such tender care 
 that it would be sedulously polished whenever it became 
 rusty, and this process would be repeated over and over again. 
 Mr. Mitsukuri actually did this himself ; he also told me 
 that he had to copy the Dutch Dictionary " zooff." Mr. 
 Mitsukuri of whom I am speaking — mind, there were several 
 Mitsukuris — would be some eighty years of age if he were 
 living now, so the period he spoke of as his youth would be 
 some fifty or sixty years ago. From what he thus told me, 
 we can well imagine how much more difficult things must 
 have been in the days which precede his time by many 
 decades of years. 
 
 I will here mention some of the earlier and more impor- 
 tant circumstances in the history of Japan's approximation 
 to Western ideas. In 1725 some medical materials 
 were manufactured according to the Western method. 
 In 1744 Aoki Bunzo, a scholar and retainer of the 
 Shogun, was ordered to study Dutch, and the next year 
 the Dutch interpreters at Nagasaki were allowed to read 
 and study Dutch books. This was after the lapse of 108 
 years, during which time the interpreters had been for- 
 bidden to read any Western books whatever. In 1757 
 Sugita Gempaku advocated and practised the Western 
 surgical treatment. In 1759 Hiraga Gennai propagated 
 the study of electricity. In 1771 the same Sugita men- 
 tioned above translated from the Dutch The New 
 Treatise on Anatomy. This was the period when a 
 group of medical men devoted themselves to the study 
 of Dutch, as above described. Anatomical practice 
 also commenced from about this period. In 1783 Ran- 
 gaku-Kaitei (the ladder to Dutch study) was written by 
 Otsuki Gentaku. In 1785 the Bankoku-Zusetsu (illus- 
 trated description of the world), and the Komo-Zatsuwa 
 (Miscellaneous talks relating to the Dutch) were published. 
 In 1787 the Kaikoku-Heidan (Discourse on the military 
 necessities of a sea-girt country) was written by Rin-Shihei. 
 
 108 
 
INTRODUCTION OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION 
 
 About this period the art of copper engraving and of oil- 
 painting were introduced by Shiba-Kokan and Denzen, 
 simultaneously but independently. They both acquired 
 these arts at Nagasaki. In 1796 the Dutch Dictionary 
 Harma (?) was translated into the Japanese. The trans- 
 lation of a Dutch medical book with the title of the Naikwa- 
 Senyo by Udagawa Genzui was also published about this 
 period. In the beginning of the nineteenth century the 
 famous map of Japan with the longitudes and latitudes was 
 completed by Ino Chiukei, it having cost him eighteen years' 
 labour, and a " Complete Map of the World " was also 
 published by him. In 1808 the Shogun Government issued 
 an order whereby the official interpreters of Nagasaki were 
 required to study both the Russian and English languages. 
 In 1801 a public office of translation was created by the 
 Shogun Government for the purpose of translating Western 
 documents and books, and Otsuki Gentaku, Baba Sajiuro, 
 and Utugawa Gensin and others were appointed as transla- 
 tors. Here the Dutch scholars began to be valued for 
 something else than their medical professional pursuits. 
 
 After this period the works of the Dutch scholars multi- 
 plied themselves as the appearance of the " black ships " 
 of the West became more frequent, especially with the 
 American advent in the Far East, followed by several Euro- 
 pean Powers in the middle of the nineteenth century, which 
 put the country in a commotion, and Japan came to be 
 divided between two opinions concerning the " opening " 
 thereof. It would be too tedious to give here any further 
 lists of the work done by these famous scholars. Come 
 what might, however, the superiority of Western arms and 
 Western arts of war was recognized on all sides, and hence 
 the Dutch scholars became very useful in translating Dutch 
 books on military matters into Japanese. Notwithstanding 
 all this, it must not be imagined that students of Dutch 
 always enjoyed an enviable position. It was just a little 
 before the American advent that Takano and Koseki, two 
 Dutch scholars, had to commit Hara-kiri in implication 
 with Watanabe Kwasan for their advocacy of the policy 
 of opening the country. Even after that time the Dutch 
 scholars often had very hard times of it, owing to the political 
 animosities aroused. 
 
 Towards the latter part of the Tokugawa regime the 
 
 109 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Japanese themselves began to visit Western countries. In 
 the year i860 a mission was sent to America by the Shogun. 
 It was then that a Japanese man-of-war of the Western 
 type was despatched to San Francisco under the command 
 of Japanese officers, with Kimura as their chief. In 1862 
 some youths, including Katsu (afterwards Count) and 
 Yenomoto (afterwards Viscount) were sent to Holland, 
 partly to superintend the construction of a couple of men- 
 of-war, partly to study naval affairs. In 1863 a number of 
 young students were sent to England by the Shogun. This 
 was followed by the despatch in the next few years of some 
 more of these students to England, France, and Russia. 
 Hayashi (now Viscount Hayashi) and Kikuchi (now Baron) 
 Kikuchi were among those who were thus sent to England. 
 About this time several missions, one after the other, were 
 undertaken to Europe. 
 
 It was not, however, the Shogun Government alone that 
 sent students abroad. Satsuma and Chosiu, two clans 
 which championed the cause of the restoration of the 
 Imperial regime, also sent some. In 1863 five Chosiu 
 students arrived in London. They were the pioneers 
 of ordinary Japanese students who studied abroad. 
 They all distinguished themselves in the service of 
 their country on their return, Ito (Marquis) and Inouye 
 (Count) being the greatest of them. Before their de- 
 parture for England, Ito, Inouye, and most of his com- 
 rades were vehement adherents of the anti-foreign party ; 
 in fact, their entire clan of Chosiu was conspicuously so. 
 But somehow or other they came to think that it was better 
 for them to see the real condition of the West before they 
 went too far, and Mr. Sufu (father of Baron Sufu, the present 
 governor of Kanagawa), who was the most influential states- 
 man of that clan, entertained the same view, which likewise 
 was held by Murata (afterwards Omura, a Dutch scholar, 
 and founder of the Japanese army). It is said that when 
 Sufu decided to send them abroad he said he was going to 
 make a few " living machines " in England for the future 
 service of the country, and there exists a letter written by Ito, 
 on the eve of their departure, in the name of himself and his 
 comrade, stating that " they entreat the government of the 
 clan to pardon them for costing it so much money on their 
 account as they are sure to become good living machines," 
 
 no 
 
INTRODUCTION OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION 
 
 and so they proved themselves. Three more of the Chosiu 
 students were sent to England a little over a year after 
 these five left ; but one of the three returned home from 
 Shanghai for some reason or other and one died in England. 
 In the course of a few years after the Chosiu students were 
 sent abroad, Satsuma also sent a number, most of whom also 
 distinguished themselves afterwards in the service of the 
 country. Among these the names of Sameshima and Mori 
 must be well remembered by many Westerners, as they were 
 at one time and another our Ministers in America, England, 
 and France. Satsuma also sent a mission, independently 
 of the Shogun Government, to the grand Exhibition of 
 1867 held in Paris. 
 
 In those days much progress had been made in learning 
 several Western languages, and also in introducing Western 
 ideas, especially in medicine and in matters pertaining to 
 the army and navy. Amongst the Europeans who did much 
 in promoting learning, the names of Von Siebold and Baudin 
 will ever be remembered. 
 
 It was, however, after the inauguration of the new imperial 
 regime that the whole nation went heart and soul into the 
 adoption of European modes and ideas of enlightenment, 
 although there was still much difficulty in the way. One 
 of the first utterances of the Emperor was his solemn oath 
 to seek wisdom and intelligence from all nations and to cast 
 off old and out-of-date notions of our own. Competent 
 instructors were enlisted from America, Britain, France, 
 and Germany, nay, also from other European states. Our 
 countrymen, officials and students alike, were also des- 
 patched to Western countries to seek whatever good they 
 could gather in those countries, to be utilized for our land. 
 The governments and people of those countries were 
 far from being slack in assisting our country's efforts to 
 advance herself in this direction. And thus Japan began 
 her great work of transforming herself on the basis of Western 
 civilization — a task by no means unarduous. Yet we are 
 now told in many quarters in Europe that we are to be 
 despised because we have been so diligent in following the 
 instruction of our teachers and in seeking to emulate the pro- 
 gress of the Western Powers. Let me ask, in conclusion, 
 is this quite fair ? 
 
 Ill 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 LEGAL STATUS OF FOREIGNERS IN JAPAN/ 
 
 IT is now fifty years since Japan gave up her seclusion 
 from the world and concluded in the course of a few 
 years (i.e. 1854 ^^^ after) treaties of peace and commerce 
 with the Western nations one after another. Up to 1899, 
 however, the foreigners had the privilege of settling in Japan 
 only in a limited sphere within a narrow radius of the five 
 ports which were opened for foreign trade. In those days 
 foreigners had their own jurisdiction ; that is to say, their 
 Consular agents exercised jurisdiction over their respective 
 countrymen by the privilege of the treaties — in other words, 
 all foreigners coming to Japan had extra-territoriality. 
 They had no right, on the other hand, of travelling in the 
 interior beyond a certain compass unless a passport were 
 given by special permission. In the open ports where they 
 had settled they had their own local administration in their 
 own hands. In 1899, when the new revised treaties between 
 the Powers and Japan came into force, all these things 
 changed. Foreigners now may not only travel in any part of 
 Japan they like, but may also reside and do their business 
 anywhere. On the other hand, however, they have no longer 
 extra-territoriality ; the Consular jurisdiction has been 
 given up. They have no longer communal administration 
 of their own ; this also has been given up entirely into the 
 hands of the Japanese authorities. It may under the cir- 
 cumstances be of some interest to examine what is the exact 
 status of the foreigners in Japan. 
 
 Broadly speaking, the status of the foreigners in Japan 
 
 ^ The English original of an article which appeared in the Easter 
 number (1905) of the Wiener Tagehlatt. 
 
 112 
 
FOREIGNERS IN JAPAN 
 
 is almost identical with that which the Westerners have in 
 another country among themselves. The lex loci of Japan 
 governs every person who finds himself in the lands of Japan. 
 Therefore, if any foreigner commits any offence punishable 
 by the law of Japan, he will be arrested, prosecuted, and 
 punished accordingly by the Courts of Japan. Of course 
 he has the right of appeal, etc., exactly as has any Japanese. 
 In civil matters also he has the same rights and obligations 
 as Japanese subjects, except in some special matters of 
 which I will speak presently. This principle is enunciated 
 in the first part of the civil code where an Article is formu- 
 lated, thus : — 
 
 Foreigners enjoy civil rights except in the cases where excep- 
 tional provision is made by law or in treaty. 
 
 The term " civil rights " of course implies civil obligations 
 as well. All foreigners, therefore, may sue, and be sued, 
 in Japanese courts. They may possess or dispose of pro- 
 perty ; they may set up business establishments and sell 
 or buy commercial articles ; they may acquire shares in 
 different companies, and be partners in business. There- 
 fore, roughly speaking, they have all fields of enterprise open 
 to them. The first exception wherein a difference is made 
 between foreigners and Japanese subjects, is that no real 
 ownership of land is allowed to foreigners. This is laid down 
 in the terms of the treaties. They may, however, acquire pos- 
 session of lands on a long lease for any number of years, which 
 practically, therefore, is almost the same as real ownership. 
 Foreigners, as I said before, may form a company in Japan 
 according to the Japanese laws, so long as no real owner- 
 ship of land is acquired, and, moreover, they may be partners 
 in a company possessing real ownership of land if the com- 
 pany be formed in conjunction with Japanese subjects. 
 This has been interpreted in this way in the diplomatic 
 notes attached to the German- Japanese treaty, which hold 
 good, of course, with subjects of any other treaty Powers. 
 In extreme cases it amounts to this, that so long as there be 
 one Japanese subject among them, a company with rights^to 
 acquire the ownership of land may be formed by foreigners. In 
 mining concessions it is expressly provided by law that they 
 can be granted only to Japanese subjects and companies 
 formed according to^ Japanese laws. From this it results 
 
 113 I 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 that no foreign individual may acquire mining concessions, 
 but he may be a partner in a company which works mines ; 
 in other words, foreigners may be partners with Japanese, 
 or may possess shares in a Japanese mining company. 
 There are some banking and shipping companies in which 
 foreigners cannot participate. This is done either directly 
 by law or by the constitution of the company, which is 
 subject to the approval of the Government. This pro- 
 hibition, however, is connected with some special kinds of 
 companies for obvious reasons, and their number is few. 
 Thus in the case of the N.Y. Steamship Company, foreigners 
 may not become partners, because the company is sub- 
 sidized by the Government, and it is not thought wise to 
 subsidize foreign shareholders. In the case of banks, 
 there are a few banks which are under the special protection 
 of the Government. Foreigners cannot profit themselves 
 by becoming participators in them. This kind of exceptoin 
 exists, and with reason, in almost all countries. With 
 regard to private railways, it has been held by the military 
 authorities that it is not desirable to allow foreigners to 
 become shareholders, for military reasons. The danger of 
 foreign influence becoming predominant in such an under- 
 taking was felt to be one that could not with safety be 
 ignored. With these exceptions all foreigners who go to 
 Japan may be regarded as having exactly the same civil 
 rights in every matter as Japanese subjects. 
 
 II 
 
 There are several methods by which foreigners may 
 become Japanese subjects. The first of these methods is, 
 of course, naturalization. The law relating to naturaliz- 
 ation in Japan does not in principle differ much from 
 those prevailing among the Western nations. Any foreigner 
 may naturalize in Japan by permission of the Minister of 
 the Interior. The conditions for doing so are as follows : — 
 
 1. That one has a continuous domicile in Japan for more than five 
 years. 
 
 2. That one is more than twenty years old and has civil capacity 
 according to the law of the native country of the individual in 
 question. 
 
 114 
 
FOREIGNERS IN JAPAN 
 
 3. That one has good morals. 
 
 4. That one has means or abihty to obtain an independent liveli- 
 hood. 
 
 5 . That one has no legal nationality anywhere else, or that, accord- 
 ing to the law of one's own country, one will lose one's former nation- 
 ality the moment he or she acquires the new Japanese nationality. 
 
 The last condition will show that a subject of any nation 
 that does not permit the effacement of his nationality of 
 that country, even though he acquires new nationality, 
 would not be allowed to be naturalized in Japan. The 
 wife of any foreigner cannot be naturalized in Japan unless 
 she does so together with her husband. There are some 
 cases where the first of the five conditions above mentioned 
 may be dispensed with or shortened. For instance, a 
 person whose father or mother was a Japanese subject, or 
 one who was born in Japan, or one whose wife was a Japanese. 
 In the case of a person who has done some distinguished 
 service for Japan, naturalization may be permitted by 
 special permission of the Emperor, irrespective of the con- 
 ditions above mentioned. There are several provisions 
 relating to minor points of naturalization which I omit here 
 because the principle is much the same as those of other 
 countries, as I have said before. 
 
 There are two other means of becoming a Japanese sub- 
 ject, these are by marriage and adoption. A woman who 
 marries a foreigner generally acquires the nationality of 
 her husband and loses her own. This is also the case by 
 our law, but with us there is another peculiar provision. 
 When a man becomes husband of a woman and becomes 
 adopted into her family and assumes the family name of 
 the wife, he is with us technically called " entering husband," 
 i.e., a man who becomes husband by entering into the wife's 
 family. If a foreigner follows this method of marriage, he 
 becomes a Japanese ipso facto. Of course for doing this 
 there are certain conditions before one can get permission 
 for it from the Minister of the Interior. The conditions 
 are two : — 
 
 1, That he has possessed a residence or domicile for more than a 
 year continuously in Japan. 
 
 2. Good morals. 
 
 This kind of marriage may appear rather peculiar to foreign- 
 
 115 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 ers, but in Japan adoption is very common, as it was with 
 the Romans, and it is in one way productive of much good 
 to society. As a matter of fact, the so-called " entering 
 husband " is only one method of adoption. There is another 
 method by which one can become a Japanese, and it is by 
 becoming the adopted child of a Japanese subject. This 
 kind of adoption is more common amongst the Japanese 
 than the former one, that is, the adoption by becoming an 
 " entering husband." The conditions which are imposed 
 upon foreigners on becoming the adopted son or daughter 
 of a Japanese are the same as in the case of the entering 
 husband. There are, as is common in all countries, certain 
 functions from which all naturalized subjects, be it by 
 ordinary naturalization or by adoption or marriage, are pre- 
 cluded as a measure of political caution. These are : — 
 
 1. Ministers of State. 
 
 2. President, Vice-President, as well as members of Privy Council. 
 
 3. Officers of Chokunin rank of the Imperial household. 
 
 4. Ministers plenipotentiary. 
 
 5. Generals and Admirals. 
 
 6. Chief of the Cours de Cassation, of the Audit Board and of 
 the Administrative Court, and 
 
 7. Members of the Diet. 
 
 There are several foreigners who have become Japanese 
 subjects by one or other of these methods. The famous 
 Lafcadio Hearn, among others, was one of these. He became 
 a member of his wife's family and inscribed himself in the 
 Japanese Hat civil as Koizumi Yakumo, Koizumi being 
 his wife's family name. 
 
 m 
 
 Compare the foregoing conditions of the country with 
 those which had existed until fifty years ago for centuries. 
 What a difference ! In those days no foreigners, as I have 
 said before, were allowed to enter the Japanese land. The only 
 exception was that of the Dutch, who were allowed to come 
 and trade with us at the port of Nagasaki, but the space 
 where they were allowed to conduct their trading transactions 
 and build houses to shelter themselves was confined to a 
 
 116 
 
FOREIGNERS IN JAPAN 
 
 small island in the harbour connected with the mainland by 
 a bridge. Some of their representatives were occasionally 
 allowed to visit the capital of the Shogun, the modern 
 Tokio, but very rarely, and this was done only on the occasion 
 of the accession of a new Shogun to the Shogunate. The 
 Chinese were allowed to come to Nagasaki occasionally for 
 the purpose of exchanging goods in a similar manner with 
 the Dutch and other Asiatics ; the Koreans were the only 
 exception ; they paid their official homage in the shape 
 of a special envoy to visit the capital of the Shogun on the 
 accession of a new Shogun. And yet it would be a mistake 
 to suppose that Japanese were always antagonistic to foreign- 
 ers. About three hundred years ago the Portuguese and the 
 Spanish were welcomed in Japan. But the policy of exclu- 
 sion was adopted only because those who had been welcomed 
 abused their privilege, disturbed our peace and order, and even 
 tried to destroy our sovereign rights. There was also a time 
 when the English East India Company had its branch office 
 and factory in the island of Hirado, which was the trading 
 port before Nagasaki was opened ; but these English closed 
 their factory, having found it not lucrative. Before the open- 
 ing of our country fifty years ago, and for some time after, 
 some sort of dislike of foreigners was manifested among 
 certain classes of the Japanese. But that sentiment was 
 due primarily to political reasons. We did not like the way 
 in which the foreigners tried to force us to open our country. 
 We soon found out, however, that it was no use to shut up 
 the country as we had done, and the policy of opening the 
 country which was adopted by the Government of the 
 Shogun, was carried out more thoroughly by the new Im- 
 perial Government under which the country was unified, as 
 every one knows, in 1868. Since then everything European 
 has been studied, valued, and respected. At one time 
 there was even a sort of mania for things European. We 
 have had our civilization in our own way, and we do not 
 under-estimate its merits ; but we also saw that it ought to 
 be revivified with the spirit of the European civilization. 
 We have seen that there was nothing pugnacious in the 
 Europeans, and we have become more cosmopolitan in our 
 notions. We are quite prepared to go hand in hand with 
 the Europeans on the paths of Western civilization so long 
 as the Westerners do not adopt different steps. There are, 
 
 117 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 therefore, many chances for the Europeans to promote more 
 and more the commercial intercourse between Japan and 
 their respective countries, and to extend their ability and 
 intelligence in promoting industrial enterprises as well. 
 In order to discover a good opening each individual, as 
 elsewhere, must depend upon his own ability and pluck, 
 but, speaking generally, there is a good field. Would it not 
 be a great blessing if the day came when the West and the 
 Far East developed to the best of their mutual advantage 
 the commerce and the industry which already exist ? 
 
 Ii8 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 MORAL TEACHING IN JAPAN 
 
 1 
 
 IN another chapter, entitled " The ReHgions of Japan," 
 I shall dwell upon the relative positions of Buddhism, 
 Shintoism, and Confucianism in Japan ; in the present 
 chapter I propose to myself to discover the moral notions 
 which govern the Japanese mind, and how they are incul- 
 cated among the people at large. 
 
 I am acquainted to some extent with the Greek ethics 
 of the Platonic school, and also with the moral teaching 
 of the Gospel. Our moral notions, as it seems to me, do 
 not materially differ from either in essence and purport, 
 though in classification of the different virtues, and in the 
 prominence given to one or other of these virtues above the 
 rest, all these systems in some respect diverge. 
 
 Tenets of morality have been taught in Japan for cen- 
 turies in various ways, and it has ever been a prominent 
 feature of our education that stress should be laid upon this 
 branch of intellectual culture. It developed itself most 
 conspicuously side by side with Bushido during the last 
 three centuries, but it was by no means limited to the 
 military class alone ; for wherever literature was studied 
 these doctrines of morality were ipso facto associated with 
 that study, and, moreover, among illiterate people the teach- 
 ing took the form of popularized lectures, or of most easily 
 read books, while by religious preachers the subject was 
 enlarged upon as constituting a supplementary basis for most 
 ardent exhortation to their followers. The dicta were 
 chiefly founded upon Confucianism, but in such a manner 
 as to conform to our own ideas and characteristics. 
 
 With the inauguration of our own Meiji era, a system of 
 
 ^ The Nineteenth Century and After, February, 1905, 
 
 119 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 universal education was gradually introduced, in which 
 moral teaching formed an important branch of the curri- 
 culum. As time went on, however, some difficulties began 
 to arise through the want of a universal standard of excel- 
 lence on which the attention of the students should become 
 focussed and the endeavour of the teachers concentrated. 
 This need, which was a very real one, arose from the fact 
 that, on one hand, the old books on the subject were too 
 numerous and too diversified in character, and, on the other, 
 new books written by modern writers were not sufficiently 
 authoritative to command the students' reverence. Then, 
 too, as the country was in a state of transition, it was apt 
 to give rise to varied speculative views likely to distract the 
 teachers' thoughts as well as those of restless youths, so 
 that it might end in producing results unfavourable to the 
 purpose in view. In a word, the want of a textual injunction 
 which should authoritatively set forth the fundamental 
 principles and serve as the guiding star, as it were, in edu- 
 cational circles began to be severely felt. This want was 
 supplied by the Emperor himself, whose well-considered 
 initiative is ever most eagerly followed, and his watchful 
 care for their welfare most promptly appreciated by his 
 loyal subjects. This step, taken by the Emperor in 1890, 
 consisted of a special injunction to the nation, commonly 
 called the " Educational Imperial Rescript." The issue 
 of such an injunction was altogether exceptional, and was 
 ascribable to the exceptional nature of the circumstances. 
 After the declaration, in the preliminary part of the rescript, 
 that the notions of loyalty and filiar piety universally en- 
 tertained were based on the traditions left by the Im- 
 perial ancestors and the national characteristics of the 
 Japanese through untold generations, it proceeds : — 
 
 It is our desire that you, our subjects, be filial to your parents, 
 and well-disposed to your brothers and sisters. Let husband and 
 wife dwell harmoniously together ; let friends be mutually trust- 
 worthy. Impose upon yourselves self-restraint and rectitude of 
 behaviour. Extend to the multitude philanthropy. Advance 
 learning and regulate your pursuits, developing the intellectual facul- 
 ties and perfecting the virtuous and useful elements. Further, seek 
 to enhance the public good and enlighten the world by deeds of 
 social benefit. Treasure always the fundamental constitution and 
 respect the national laws. In any emergency exert yourselves in the 
 public service, and exhibit voluntarily your bravery in the cause of 
 
 120 
 
MORAL TEACHING IN JAPAN 
 
 order. And by every means assist and promote the prosperity of 
 the Imperial regime, which is lasting as the heavens and the earth. 
 Thus you will not only be our loyal subjects and good citizens, but 
 will manifest the highest and best traditions of your ancestors. 
 
 This moral precept the Emperor declared in his own name, 
 as well as for his successors, that he would zealously ob- 
 serve in common with his loyal subjects. Throughout all 
 grades of the educational system in Japan this precept forms 
 the fundamental basis of the moral and ethical teachings. 
 As, however, greater stress in this respect is put upon ele- 
 mentary education, I will describe below how it is imparted 
 in the elementary schools. 
 
 These are divided into two grades — the common and the 
 higher elementary schools. In the first article of the Im- 
 perial Ordinance of 1900, relating to elementary schools, 
 which is the one in force at this moment, it being an 
 amended version and summary of previous ordinances, the 
 primary object of these schools is laid down thus : — 
 
 The fundamental object of the elementary schools is to endow 
 the children with the foundation of moral and popular education, 
 and so equip them with ordinary knowledge and attainments neces- 
 sary for their after success in life, paying attention at the same time 
 to their physical development. 
 
 Based upon this article, moral teaching forms a part of 
 the school curriculum, and according to the time-table, 
 as it stands at present, two hours per week during the school 
 terms are devoted solely to this purpose for every class. In 
 the second article of the Departmental Ordinance of the 
 Ministry of Education, which is a direction for carrying 
 into practice the provisions of the Imperial Ordinance, it 
 is provided that : — 
 
 The essential point of moral teaching should be to nourish and 
 develop the virtuous instincts of the children and to lead them to the 
 actual practice of morality, making the precept of the Imperial 
 rescript relating to education its base. 
 
 It then goes on to direct that, at first, matters which are 
 easy and simple to emulate, relating to filial piety, brotherly 
 kindness, friendship, frugality, truthfulness, self-restraint, 
 bravery, and suchlike virtues, should be taught, gradually 
 advancing to the subject of such simple topics as those of 
 
 121 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 one's duties as regards the State and society, and thus ele- 
 vating the sentiments and strengthening the ideas of the 
 young, and fostering in their minds an enterprising and 
 courageous spirit, as well as a due respect for public virtues, 
 coupled with the loftiest admiration of patriotism and 
 loyalty. In teaching all these, illustrations should be given 
 of the wise sayings and commendable doings of exemplary 
 persons, and full use made of maxims and proverbs. In 
 the case of the girls, care should be taken that they be thor- 
 oughly instructed in the womanly virtues. The difference 
 of teaching between the common and higher schools is only 
 in respect of the treatment of the subject, one being more 
 advanced than the other. 
 
 To infuse moral sentiments into the minds of the young 
 is also to be kept in view in teaching other subjects — i.e. 
 in history, geography, science, and even in drawing and 
 singing. Thus, for example, even in the teaching of science, 
 not only may an elementary knowledge of natural objects 
 and phenomena be conveyed, but the training of the mind is 
 expected " to nurture and develop a love of nature." 
 
 On three of the great festival days of Japan — viz. the 
 ist of January, the nth of February, and the birthday of the 
 Emperor — the master and teachers of every school, to- 
 gether with all its scholars, gather in its main hall to cele- 
 brate the occasion, and there the " Imperial Rescript " 
 is read aloud by the master, and an appropriate address 
 is given by him in the way of exposition of its solemn 
 precepts. 
 
 Such, then, are the methods we adopt in the tuition of 
 our children in regard to morality. True it is that religion 
 as such, forms no part of their scholastic training, and that 
 this branch of education is entirely left to the parents. 
 What I have said above, however, will amply show that 
 sufficient care is taken of the rising generation in regard to 
 these matters. Perhaps I may mention here that as far 
 as the common elementary schools are concerned, education 
 is obligatory, exceptions being allowed only for special 
 causes. It may also be mentioned that there is no com- 
 munity in Japan where no elementary scholastic training 
 is provided for. 
 
 School age begins at six. The course of common ele- 
 mentary schools is four years, while that of higher elemen- 
 
 122 
 
MORAL TEACHING IN JAPAN 
 
 tary schools is four years in ordinary cases, and two years in 
 cases where the children are destined to be sent to the middle 
 schools. 
 
 According to the twenty-ninth annual report of the Minister 
 of Education, the statistics of the elementary schools for 
 1901-2 show the following : ^ 
 
 (i) Total number of children under obligation to attend 
 school : — 
 
 Male Female Total 
 
 3,388,273 3,109,216 6,497,489 
 
 (2) Number of the same receiving the prescribed course 
 of instruction : — 
 
 Male Female Total 
 
 3,177,486 2,543,440 5,720,926 
 
 (3) Number of children who were excused from school 
 attendance : — 
 
 Temporary Exemption Permanent Exemption Total 
 
 ^. ■ •^ V ^ ■*■ — -^s. ^ "^ ' % Total of 
 
 Male Female Male Female Male Female Male and Female 
 
 178,131 483^930 32,696 81,846 210,787 565,776 776,563 
 
 (4) Pupils of both sexes receiving instruction per cent, 
 of the school age population : 
 
 Male Female Both sexes 
 
 9378 81 -80 88-05 
 
 From this it will be easily seen that the greatest care that 
 we can possibly take is actually being taken in teaching 
 morality to our boys and girls at large. I may here add 
 that there are many text books based on the Imperial Res- 
 cript, published with sanction of the Minister of Educa- 
 tion for the use of the teachers as well as students, varying 
 in their form and scope according to the requirement of the 
 different grades of students. 
 
 As to the soldiers and sailors who are taken by the univer- 
 sal service system from among the boys thus brought up, 
 further care of them is diligently taken in the same direc- 
 tion. In our military and naval instruction there is one 
 branch which we commonly call the " spiritual education." 
 This is no other than moral teaching. In it also the " Edu- 
 cational Imperial Rescript " plays an important part, but 
 
 ^ These figures do not include Formosa. 
 
 123 
 
THE RISENfSUN 
 
 for this purpose there is another Imperial injunction, com- 
 monly called the " Gunjin (Soldiers and Sailors) Imperial 
 Rescript." It was issued by the Emperor in 1882, when 
 the universal service system was modified and made more 
 thorough, and it is more exhaustive and of older date than 
 the educational rescript. 
 
 After having recounted the chief features of the long his- 
 tory of the military organization of the Empire from its 
 very beginning, it being demonstrated how, in ancient days, 
 all the youths of the Empire served in the Imperial army, 
 and how they were led personally by the Emperor, the 
 Empress, or the princes of the Imperial blood, and how, 
 in the Middle Ages, the military classes gradually came to 
 have a distinct formation, and how all this was reformed at 
 last, the rescript proceeds thus : 
 
 Know that We are the Grand Marshal of you the warriors. We rely 
 upon you as the arms and legs, and you should regard your Sove- 
 reign as your head and neck, and thus only can our mutual sympathy 
 be deepened. Whether or not We shall be able to protect Our 
 State, thereby responding to the blessing of supreme heaven, and 
 deserve and repay the deep benefactions conferred by Our illustrious 
 ancestors, depends upon whether or not you, the warriors, discharge 
 your mission. Should the prestige of our Empire decay, you should 
 share the pain with Us. Should the martial spirit of the Empire 
 be raised and give forth its lustre, We would share the fame with 
 you. If you all cling to your duty, and, becoming of one mind with 
 Us, exert your strength for the protection of the State, the people 
 of our Empire will enjoy everlastingly the happiness of peace, and 
 the glory of Our Empire might even be augmented and become the 
 light of the world. As We entertain so much hope of you. Our 
 warriors. We have some instructions to give you. 
 
 Then the rescript goes on to elucidate these instructions 
 under five headings : (i) That soldiers should make it 
 their function to exert themselves to the utmost of their 
 loyalty and patriotism ; (2) that they should strictly observe 
 decorum ; (3) that they should prize courage and bravery ; 
 
 (4) that they should treasure faith and confidence ; and 
 
 (5) that they should practise frugality. All these headings 
 are followed by full and adequate exposition given to each 
 clause separately, care being enjoined that at the same 
 time none may be led astray by excess of zeal. Thus, for 
 instance, under the heading of courage and bravery it is 
 enjoined that " one who prizes courage and bravery should 
 
 124 
 
MORAL TEACHING IN JAPAN 
 
 be modest and endeavour to win the love and respect of 
 others," and under the heading of faith and confidence the 
 soldier is warned not to make promises carelessly, as one 
 is sometimes apt to prejudice essential duties on account 
 of trifling obligations. Care is also to be taken not to forget 
 the value of gentleness of mind. Thus, under the heading 
 of decorum, it is enjoined that : — 
 
 The superiors should not be arrogant to their inferiors, cases 
 where one has to comport oneself with dignity on account of the 
 nature of public duties being excepted. One should endeavour to 
 deal with all matters carefully, ever mindful of kindness as the 
 fundamental basis of one's actions ; and thus the superior and the 
 inferior, becoming of one mind, may discharge adequately the 
 duties incumbent upon them in regard to Imperial affairs. 
 
 In the concluding paragraph it is enjoined that these five 
 instructions are the very essence of the soldier's life and his 
 rules of conduct, and it goes on to say that " sincerity " is 
 highly prized, audit is earnestly enjoined upon every one to 
 adhere to these precepts with " one sincere mind." 
 
 Officers and rank and file, one and all, are expected to 
 learn this rescript almost by heart. Officers endeavour 
 constantly to imbue the rank and file with its spirit and 
 tone, and the first thing the new recruits have to do is to 
 study it side by side with their technical training. Our 
 soldiers and sailors are all trained in this fashion, and, 
 indeed, the utmost pains are taken in respect thereof. 
 
 Such are, then, the fundamental principles of the moral 
 teaching of Japan in the schools as well as in the barracks. In 
 imparting them, of course, much elucidation and exposition 
 are employed so as to inculcate these sentiments in the minds 
 of the recipients. To effect this the more completely, 
 illustration is obtained from various sources, historical and 
 otherwise, and not merely from Japan, but from other 
 lands. Narratives of the lives of great and good men are 
 freely given for the edification of the scholars, and the highest 
 examples are in this way selected as a basis for the formation 
 of the youthful character. The maxims of the sages are 
 similarly impressed, and every channel whence mental profit 
 is to be derived is laid under contribution for the inculca- 
 tion of every moral virtue. 
 
 To the outsiders who have not grown up in an atmosphere 
 of this kind, it may appear somewhat difficult to comprehend 
 
 125 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 how boys and girls could be thoroughly imbued with moral 
 sentiments without connecting these in some way with reli- 
 gion ; but when they are taught with thoroughness, basing 
 their systematic exposition on the duties of human beings 
 towards one another and to the State, and on the noble 
 tradition of their own community and the characteristic 
 virtues of their forefathers in which they ought to rejoice, 
 and when appeals are made to the honour and pride which 
 one should feel and value, and, above all, to the conscience 
 of individuals, one's thoughts appear to become imbued 
 with the lessons conveyed, and moral notions thus taught 
 seem to become per se a kind of undefined but none the less 
 potent and serviceable religion. This seems approximate 
 to a correct delineation of the feelings of the bulk of the 
 educated classes of Japan — at least, I feel it to be so myself. 
 The cardinal points of Oriental ethics are loyalty and 
 filial piety. Of these two, filial piety takes precedence in 
 China, but greater stress is laid in Japan on loyalty. This 
 is where the difference between Chinese and Japanese ethics 
 is most noticeable. Then, again, in Japan, side by side 
 with loyalty, the doctrine of patriotism is rigidly enforced. 
 When historically examined, the notion of patriotism is of 
 much later development. As a matter of fact no such 
 word finds place in the enumeration of different virtues 
 in the Confucian teaching, and it seems never to have taken 
 any hold of the masses in China. It may be remarked that, 
 as the Chinese nation believed itself to stand so high as to 
 be practically alone, and took no account of other States 
 — a belief which was fostered by the ease with which it 
 was seen to absorb any venturesome peoples who threatened 
 its borders — the spirit of national rivalry, which in great 
 measure gives rise to patriotism, was entirely lacking 
 in ancient China. Moreover, as the Chinese wholly 
 or in the greater part fell in succession under the sway of 
 foreign dynasties, the Liao, Kin, Yuen, and Ching in turn, 
 it obviously was not to the interest or advantage of those 
 dynasties that patriotism should be roused among China's 
 millions. The Chinese were always fond of China as their 
 native land ; they wished to return to it, alive or dead, if 
 they were away ; but this love of country did not prompt 
 them very keenly to take measures to protect it from in- 
 vasion, or to die in its defence, and it was not to the benefit 
 
 126 
 
MORAL TEACHING IN JAPAN 
 
 of the ruling house that any more patriotic spirit than this 
 should take root. The case is very different with Japan, 
 and yet even in Japan the term Ai-koku-Shin (" the mind 
 that loves the country ") is very modem. In former 
 days the equivalent of Ai-koku was Ho-koku — i.e. repaying 
 what one owes to the country ; the idea being that the people, 
 as subjects of the sovereign, owed a duty to the country, 
 and it behoved them to sacrifice themselves in its cause. 
 The term " country " was thus used more in the sense of 
 the State than in the sense of the land. Even in this sense 
 patriotism was not so old an idea — in literature, at least — 
 as loyalty. This was only natural when the country 
 had no exterior concern with the outer world, or, at least, 
 when it was not subjected to external pressure from 
 other countries. But, with the march of time, patriotism 
 has made with us a deep and enduring impression 
 on the minds of the people, together with the most intense 
 realization of loyalty. In this Japan has been most happily 
 situated. Let me explain myself in full, though it may 
 sound somewhat dogmatic. 
 
 In Japan, broadly speaking, the country, the land, the 
 people, the nation, and the State are co-extensive ; they 
 may, therefore, from an ethical point of view, be said to be 
 with us Japanese one and the same thing. Then, on the 
 other hand, the reigning Emperor, the Imperial dynasty, 
 and the State are, sophistic as it may appear, almost synony- 
 mous from the moral point of view, and constitute, in their 
 mutual relationship to one another the most lofty object 
 of all that Japanese people can ever have before them in 
 the secular world, which, therefore, may be regarded as 
 though thereby transformed and spiritualized. There is 
 an absolute community of interest in this tripartite relation- 
 ship, consequently there is no possibility of making any 
 distinction between these inseparable elements in the mind 
 and eye of the Japanese people. Then, too, the reigning 
 Imperial family, and the country traditionally and histori- 
 cally, are most closely bound together, and the Empire, 
 in respect of the sway exercised by that august family, 
 is entirely co-existent with it in regard to both time and 
 space. Hence, in the mind and eye of the Japanese, be it 
 from the point of view of a loyal subject or of a good citizen, 
 all these — i.e. the Emperor, the Imperial dynasty, the State, 
 
 127 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 the country, and the nation — are one and the same thing ; 
 and devotion to the cause of any of these serves, pari passu, 
 its purpose to promote the good of any other. In the 
 Japanese conception, therefore, true patriotism includes 
 love for the Emperor, and true loyalty includes love for 
 the country, and hence patriotism and loyalty may be 
 said to be almost identical as to their relative purport. 
 
 With us, speaking as a member of the community, the 
 State is always put above the individual in the way that 
 Socrates taught the Greeks in his beautiful dialogue con- 
 cerning the duties of a citizen. The doctrine of Liberty has 
 also taken deep root in the mind of the Japanese in recent 
 years, but the idea of individualism is nevertheless regarded 
 as subservient to principles of State, as, I believe, it ever 
 ought to be. 
 
 This attitude of mind arises from the combination of unique 
 conditions with which Japan is favoured. In the first 
 place, the Imperial dynasty has always been the same, and 
 rightly lays claim to a remote antiquity, so that no dynastic 
 predilections involving differences of opinion among the 
 people can ever agitate the public mind. In the second 
 place, so far as our history carries us back — and that is a 
 very long way — the nation has always been compact and 
 united, save for those minor periodical disturbances and in- 
 ternal dissensions that are common to the lot of nations" at 
 large, and no other race has ever intermingled with ours. 
 In the third place, the Japanese people were never scattered 
 abroad beyond the confines of the Empire, and the land of 
 the Empire is the graveyard of all their ancestors as far 
 as history knows ; and in the fourth place, Japan has 
 never suffered any foreign conquest. An attack on a gigan- 
 tic scale was made in the thirteenth century on Japan, as 
 elsewhere, by the Mongols, before whom the whole world 
 once trembled and mostly succumbed. It was the only 
 instance of foreign invasion of Japan worth mentioning ; 
 but we repelled it effectively. 
 
 All this makes the Japanese, from the highest to the 
 lowest, feel an immeasurable pride in their country, though 
 by no means boastfully, and its culmination is the very 
 acme of loyalty and patriotism. Only the other day I 
 accidentally came across an English translation of a war 
 song, entitled " Now is the time," by the late Commander 
 
 128 
 
MORAL TEACHING IN JAPAN 
 
 Takeo Hirose, our naval hero of Port Arthur, which he 
 improvized shortly before he went to his doom. The 
 earlier part of it gives a very good idea of the Japanese 
 conception of loyalty and patriotism in a concrete form, so 
 I quote below the first stanza of it : — 
 
 Boundless like the dome of heaven above. 
 
 Is what we owe to our Emperor ; 
 
 Fathomless as the deep sea below, 
 
 Is what we owe to our country. 
 
 Now is the time to repay what we owe. 
 
 Hirose was just the sort of man who, had he been a Roman 
 warrior, would joyously have sung at the last moment of 
 life the sublime line, however hackneyed it may be : — 
 
 Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. 
 
 Many people outside Japan seem amazed at the valour 
 and fortitude of our soldiers and sailors at the front, 
 testifying, as they do, to the intensity of their loyalty 
 and patriotism. But what I have stated above will, 
 I hope, go a long way in explaining how deeply these 
 notions are engrafted in the mind of the Japanese, 
 and why they can be implicitly trusted to bear good fruit 
 in due season. 
 
 129 K 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE JAPANESE CHARACTER^ 
 
 YOUR Council has cordially invited me to deliver an 
 address before you on the subject of Japanese Charac- 
 ter. I accepted the invitation with a certain feeling of 
 diffidence, fearing that my utterances might sound in your 
 ears like blowing the trumpet of self-praise, or that in 
 another way it might be a mere repetition of what already 
 has been written and spoken by those who are more compe- 
 tent among your own people. As, however, your Council 
 has insisted on hearing something direct from Japanese 
 lips, I now venture to present you with a brief delineation 
 of our national character. We have a saying that " human 
 minds are like their faces," meaning there are no two minds 
 which are exactly alike. This is the case with we Japanese, 
 just as much as it is the case with you Westerners. It must 
 therefore be taken for granted that all I tell you is only a 
 summary or a generalization from facts which are more 
 conspicuous than others. 
 
 In the first place, I must point out that we are not a nation 
 of high imagination : in this respect we differ very much 
 from the Hindoos. You all know that the Indian people 
 have been from the earliest periods of history a race per- 
 meated with the highest forms of imagination ; they have 
 evinced the highest trends of metaphysical ideas, ideas not 
 necessarily always scientific, and hence they have been in 
 many ways carried into all sorts of channels culminating 
 in the very extremes of superstitious fantasy. The conse- 
 quence of this is to be seen in the fact that they have never 
 supplied any dates in recording their history. There have 
 
 ^ An address delivered at the reception specially given in the 
 author's honour on March 29, 1905 by the Ethological Society, 
 London. 
 
 130 
 
THE JAPANESE CHARACTER 
 
 been many historical episodes and vicissitudes in India ; 
 but when it comes to the question of their dates, all students 
 of history are at a loss ; the utmost they can do being to 
 infer the period from some foreign records, especially from 
 those of China. We Japanese have never' had any such 
 high flights of imagination as the Hindoos, and therefore 
 we have never had any such cosmology as the Hindoos, 
 and at the same time we have not been led astray into the 
 misty paths of mythological superstition as the Hindoos 
 have been. There is more resemblance between the Japan- 
 ese and the Chinese than between the Japanese and the 
 Hindoos, inasmuch as Chinese ethics have had great influ- 
 ence in moulding Japanese character, but here again there 
 exists a great difference, in that the Japanese character is 
 largely influenced by our own national tradition, which has 
 made us the richer by its infusion of chivalric spirit. On 
 this point, however, I will not detain you long, as I have 
 spoken more fully regarding it elsewhere. 
 
 We are credited with being, or rather are characterized 
 as, a nation of imitators. People say we imitated China 
 in the days gone by, and that we now imitate Europe in 
 our own days. This is certainly true to a great extent ; 
 but we are not ashamed of it. The spread of civilization 
 is, after all, only an accumulation of imitation. Even in 
 the European civilization of the present day, the fact that 
 it is but little more than merely an accumulation and 
 development of imitation is patent ; for if you take away 
 from it the Greek culture, the Roman jurisprudence, and 
 the Semitic religious notions, how much will there be left 
 behind ? The only difference between our imitation of the 
 Chinese and the European civilization, and your imitation 
 of that of Greece and Rome is that you have expended 
 much time in attaining your object, whereas we Japanese 
 did it in a shorter period, because we could not afford, under 
 the circumstances in which we found ourselves, to lose any 
 time in making our choice. Again, Japan, though an old 
 country, is young compared with China and India. When 
 Japan awoke in the dawn of civilization she already found 
 her neighbour highly advanced in enlightenment. It was 
 of no use for Japan to despise those advantages which she 
 could get by learning from that neighbour. That is why 
 we imitated China to the extent we did. Then again, when 
 
 131 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Japan roused herself from her long seclusion at the moment 
 of the advent of Western enterprise in the Far East, we 
 saw how high Western civilization in its way stood above 
 ours. Well ! you came to the Far East with big ships and 
 big guns and bombarded us. Not liking it, we began 
 imitating you, so as not to be bombarded again. Indeed, 
 it was of no use for us to try and invent anew, by exerting 
 our own brains, all that was comprised in the term Western 
 civilization. So we began to imitate those things European 
 which we perceived to be advantageous in respect of our 
 own progress. Make any further improvement in your 
 civilization, we will continue for ever imitating you. We 
 have a maxim which runs thus : " Take what is long in 
 another and amend with it what is short in yourself" ; that 
 is to say, imitate anything excellent in other people, and 
 thus amend your own shortcomings. We respect that 
 maxim both individually and as a nation, and we do not 
 think the purport of that maxim is ethically bad ; on the 
 contrary, we regard this endeavour after compensation to 
 be one of the best traits of a person or a nation. It does 
 not mean a mere subservient imitation; and if imitation pro- 
 ceeds from lack of discrimination it may easily degenerate 
 into fickleness. We always guard ourselves against falling 
 to that level, but if great caution be taken, then our adher- 
 rence to the maxim above quoted will only result in acts of 
 progress, which will stand out in commendable contrast to 
 what is called strict conservatism. Conservatism is a very 
 good thing in some ways, but when it is carried too far it 
 must mean the complete stagnation of a nation. There 
 is more than one nation Jwhich stands in that condition, 
 the consequence of which must be the decline, if not the 
 extinction, of its own organic existence, especially in these 
 modern days when international competition is so acute. 
 
 We are often told that it is a pity that Japan should 
 have lost her own antique customs and manners and institu- 
 tions to such an extent as she has, whereby she is in danger 
 of ceasing to be one of the artistic objects of the world. It 
 may be true to some extent, but we cannot afford to be 
 deterred from promoting the growth of our own country, 
 along the only path which will enable it to keep pace with 
 the progress of the world, merely for the sake of pleasing 
 the globe-trotters. 
 
 132 
 
THE JAPANESE CHARACTER 
 
 The whole world now admits that the Japanese are good 
 fighters, that they make good soldiers and sailors, and are 
 brave and dashing in warfare. The question arises whether 
 these qualities are inherent in their nature, that is to say, if 
 the bravery they exhibit emanates from an inborn dis- 
 position inherited from barbaric ancestors, or are due in 
 some degree to long training, animated by the innate ethical 
 sense of the people. I cannot deny that there is some sort 
 of inherent capacity for military achievements in the Japan- 
 ese blood ; but I may say the development and the mainte- 
 nance of martial ardour and prowess are due more to the 
 spiritual training which has been inculcated among the 
 people at large on ethical lines for untold centuries. That 
 the Japanese are brave, dashing, loyal, and patriotic may 
 be granted; but it is altogether wrong to suppose that they, 
 as individuals, are by nature bellicose and pugnacious; on 
 the contrary, they are normally a peace-loving race. They 
 understand what is their duty to their country and to their 
 Emperor, and therefore when they are called out in an 
 emergency to uphold the interests of their land they become 
 fierce fighters, and in that respect they are very different 
 from many other peoples. But at the same time they 
 have a great inclination towards tenderness and compassion. 
 Here is the secret why the Japanese are artistic in their 
 tastes and ideas, as the world knows them to be, and at 
 the same time are also born fighters. 
 
 Now I will speak about the artistic capacity of the Japan- 
 ese. Oriental art differs of course from that of the West 
 in many ways, but no one will deny that Japan is an artistic 
 nation, and artistic tastes prevail throughout the land 
 to a degree far beyond that to which they obtain in other 
 countries. Some people may be puzzled in observing the 
 co-existence of a profound military spirit and artistic tastes 
 side by side ; but if they regard the connexion as I have 
 explained it above there will be no surprise felt. 
 
 Some people ask me what is the extent of the artistic 
 capacity of the Japanese, and I should say that it is very 
 deep and thorough. The Westerners are well acquainted 
 with many small objects of Japanese art such as netsuke 
 or ivory carvings, and in admitting their artistic excellence, 
 such critics are apt to call the Japanese " grand in small 
 things." This is true to some extent, but it is not quite fair. 
 
 133 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 In recent centuries the circumstances of the time compelled 
 our artists to devote their energy and skill more to small 
 objects, but it would be wholly wrong if one were to suppose 
 that the Japanese had no capacity for grand objects. If 
 only one goes back to the relics of the art of the sixth, seventh 
 or eighth centuries of the Christian Era, to see what capaci- 
 ties the Japanese of those days had, one must soon be 
 convinced that the Japanese are not merely fabricators in 
 ivory or metal imitations of small insects or animals. The 
 colossal bronze images of Buddha at Nara and Kamakura 
 are among the best specimens of truly grand artistic creations. 
 This, I think, is admitted by most experts. But in Japan, 
 unlike most nations, artistic tastes are universal, so much so, 
 that they are observable even in the smallest cottages of the 
 farmer or trader. This also is admitted by keen observers 
 of things Japanese. Barbarity and art may be said to be 
 irreconcilable. One who has keen artistic tastes cannot be 
 a brutal savage ; for the higher the artistic development 
 the more refined are the people. Hence we can see here 
 again that Japanese bravery is not of the nature of a mere 
 continuation of the primitive prowess and stubbornness 
 in battle which distinguished our progenitors, but is blended 
 with a compassionate and humanizing spirit which har- 
 monizes with our taste in art. 
 
 People often speculate upon the extent of the intellectual 
 faculty of the Japanese. The development of intellectual 
 faculty, it seems to me, depends a good deal upon heredity 
 as well as on the surrounding atmosphere. The adoption 
 of Western methods on the lines of scientific enlightenment 
 does not in Japan date back very far, and therefore it 
 would be preposterous were I to attempt to give you any 
 definite assurance on this point. I am, however, satisfied 
 with all that has been achieved by my compatriots, and I 
 at least am not despondent for our future. There are 
 many of our students who acquitted themselves creditably 
 alongside their European comrades in the Western institu- 
 tions for scientific study. There are many professors and 
 scientists among us who have made valuable discoveries ; 
 there are many engineers who have accomplished vast 
 engineering undertakings in Japan just as well as any 
 European engineer could have done. Our medical men 
 are just as skilful as their brothers in the profession in other 
 
 134 
 
THE JAPANESE CHARACTER 
 
 countries. Mathematics were the weakest point with the 
 Samurai, because trade-Hke occupations were despised 
 by the gentry class, and consequently arithmetic and 
 mathematics were not much taught. But it does not seem 
 to be the failing point in our intellectual faculty now, 
 because, since the condition of things changed, and those 
 subjects formerly neglected began to be taught in our schools, 
 most of the students have proved themselves to be as 
 capable of assimilating as much knowledge in those branches 
 of study as one could reasonably wish for. 
 
 As to the moral character of the Japanese, the details of 
 Oriental ethics may differ in some ways from those of the 
 West, but our people have always had strict views on the 
 lines of ethics in general. It is therefore a mistake to 
 suppose that people in the Far East lacked ethical principles, 
 as many people formerly imagined to have been the case. 
 The Japanese have as much affection, in other words, 
 attachment to their homes and families, as have other 
 peoples, and they also have passionate emotions. In these 
 matters, however, a great difference between Japan and 
 the West presents itself in regard to their outward manifesta- 
 tions. In Japan affections and emotions are manifested 
 outwardly as little as possible. This arises from the differ- 
 ence not only of mere customs and manners, but from 
 different interpretations of ethical principles. Thus, for 
 instance, in the West members of a family kiss one another 
 before other people without any compunction, all the more 
 so in the case of parents and children. Here in the West 
 the idea of love manifests itself conspicuously, to an extent 
 that we Orientals cannot view as decent, and hence deem 
 quite unnecessary. As a matter of fact, I cannot see any 
 necessity for a man and wife to kiss each other before 
 strangers. In Japan one would never see members of a 
 family kissing one another, not even parents and children. 
 In reading a book, recently published, by Miss McCaul, I 
 came across an amusing passage in which the authoress 
 speaks of her Japanese friend telling her about the kiss 
 imported from abroad, and ever after that calling a kiss in 
 the European style " an imported kiss," but the matter is 
 perfectly true. A father loves his child, but he is expected 
 to be a rigid disciplinarian towards it, and therefore he 
 does not kiss his child lest too much caressing should spoil 
 
 135 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 it. A mother of course is allowed to be more tender to her 
 child than a father, but even she does not go so far as to 
 kiss it. Brothers and sisters do not kiss, neither do men 
 kiss their wives. All this does not signify, however, that 
 we, the Japanese, have less affection for one another than 
 the Westerners. 
 
 There are many things in customs and manners which 
 differ from one another in different countries ; it is therefore 
 necessary not to form hasty conclusions when one may be 
 called upon to pass judgment on other people upon points 
 affecting national characteristics, or on manners and customs 
 in general. To give a few instances : in the East we open 
 our books from right to left, whilst you do it from left to 
 right, and if we happen to do this in the presence of a Wester- 
 ner, one exclaims " You open from the wrong end," but I 
 do not see any right or wrong in the matter ; it is only a 
 difference of method. If we speak about eating food with 
 chopsticks, the Westerners say " How funny," but we do 
 not see anything funny in it. As a matter of fact, using 
 new chopsticks at every meal, or keeping one fixed pair of 
 chopsticks for each particular member of a family, as is 
 the Japanese way, seems to be far cleaner than that knives, 
 forks, and spoons be used indiscriminately by all in the 
 household, because, however they may be cleaned and wiped, 
 the fact remains that the forks or spoons which are put 
 into one's mouth are liable to be used by others in the same 
 way. At restaurants and hotels we often notice lazy waiters 
 bringing to us forks and spoons that have just been used 
 by other persons, merely wiped with a cloth ; and yet those 
 who are accustomed to their own modes of using knives and 
 forks are prone to think that people who use chopsticks are 
 eating their meals in a primitive fashion. 
 
 I will give you another instance. I once quite inadver- 
 tently offended a young lady in an English family where I 
 was staying. She admired an article which I had, so I 
 said " I have no more use for it, so I will give it to you." 
 She said at once, " If you value it and can spare it for me, 
 I will of course accept with pleasure, but not a thing which 
 you have no more use f or . " I was doubtless wrong according 
 to all the Western modes of giving and taking. Here you 
 praise up the thing you are giving, and so show the recipient 
 that you sacrifice it for friendship's sake ; but our idea when 
 
 136 
 
THE JAPANESE CHARACTER 
 
 we say we have no more use for a thing, is to save the friend 
 to whom we give it from experiencing a sense of being 
 under an obhgation to us, the giver. Here again the matter 
 is only one of difference in the mode of manifesting our 
 thoughts ; but because one is not conversant with that 
 different custom, it is hkely to be taken as an offence. How 
 much mischief is done and how much offence is given by 
 not understanding another's ways, not merely in the case 
 of individuals, but in the case of nations ! 
 
 Some say that the Japanese are a laughing nation, that 
 they smile even when they visit a mourner. I say the 
 Japanese know sorrows as much as any other nation : the 
 only difference is that their training and tradition teach 
 them to restrain unnecessary manifestations of sorrow. 
 There is a saying, " He does not show either joy or anger in 
 his face." This peculiarity has always been regarded as a 
 sure sign of a great character, and the same may be said to 
 be the case with every individual, more or less. Great 
 demonstration by shouts or clapping of hands is not indige- 
 nous to the Japanese, it is an " imported " method. Hence 
 foreign onlookers may often observe the majority in a crowd 
 keeping silence, and that only some portion of those assem- 
 bled are shouting or throwing up hats, or clapping hands, 
 as the case may be ; but this does not signify that only 
 those who are imitating the more demonstrative European 
 manner are satisfied with the occasion, and that the others 
 are not, because in this case we may see the native methods 
 and foreign fashions being practised side by side. Such 
 traditions as that above referred to will also account for 
 the somewhat stern and apparently unsociable composure 
 of our Generals and Admirals, for they are mostly men 
 who grew up amidst the reserved atmosphere of the old 
 Samurai class. The teaching of the Bushi, that is the 
 Samurai, was especially rigid in inculcating this kind of 
 discipline, and it is an utter mistake to suppose that such 
 men are heartless. I may tell you a tale about General 
 Nogi, the captor of Port Arthur. Every one knows that he 
 is a stoical and stern warrior, but I have read in the vernacu- 
 lar press that once in the quietude of his camp, while sitting 
 alone, it was observed that he was leaning on his chair with 
 his head in his hands and tears wetting his cheeks. His 
 heart was apparently moved by the noble sacrifice and 
 
 137 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 devotion of so many of those flowers of Japan's youth who 
 were under his command, including his own sons. 
 
 The Japanese, as a rule, are more disposed to be reticent 
 than to push forward. They like cleanliness in everything ; 
 they prefer simplicity to gorgeousness. Here I have to 
 speak of two different currents of thought and taste, which 
 exist in Japan side by side, almost antagonistic to each 
 other, so that many outsiders are often puzzled ; and yet 
 both of them get on well with each other without much 
 concern to the practical working of the community. The 
 best example of this may be illustrated by different kinds 
 of architecture. You will observe on one side some grand 
 and imposing temples belonging to Buddhism, and on the 
 other you may observe very simple and unpretentious and 
 small temples belonging to Shintoism, cleanliness and 
 simplicity being almost the sole objects of the latter. Here 
 we observe that the origin of both of them clearly differs, 
 and the influence of these two origins may be observed in 
 almost all things, but the latter influence is more prominent. 
 This trait is still more observable in art. Nay more ! as a 
 matter of fact, cleanliness and simplicity, or in other words 
 purity and sobriety, may be said to be the very foundation 
 of the Japanese character in everything, both mentally and 
 materially. Many of you, no doubt, have seen fine lacquer 
 work, and will have observed that the inside of a box of 
 that kind of work is often more finely and more costly 
 ornamented than the outside, which proves that even in 
 intrinsically valuable works of art, showiness is considered 
 more fitting to be concealed. I may give another example. 
 If you should be invited by a rich nobleman to his mansion 
 you will see that the front rooms and halls are compara- 
 tively grand, but you may also, if you are a privileged 
 guest, be led to a set of small rooms which are used for the 
 tea ceremony. Here you will observe everything very 
 simple, almost primitive, and apparently of very cheap 
 structure. You will notice that the roof is only thatched, 
 that the pillars are made of unfinished trunks of trees ; you 
 will see balconies constructed of rough bamboos, but you 
 will be surprised when I tell you that this kind of construc- 
 tion often costs many times more than bricks or iron build- 
 ings. It is doubtless true that the original idea of this 
 kind of structure was that it should be simple and cheap 
 
 138 
 
THE JAPANESE CHARACTER 
 
 almost like a sort of primitive building, but when we consider 
 how much more difficult it is for the artisans to join together 
 neatly rough natural trunks than it would be to join ordinary 
 timbers of uniform sizes, or how much more costly it is to 
 get rare trees of natural growth than to obtain ordinary 
 hewn timbers, which are only fit to be varnished, we can 
 understand how the cost mounts up. In this case, therefore, 
 simplicity may not be simplicity in reality, but only studied 
 simplicity. So people who are unaccustomed to see these 
 kinds of things may think it a rather foolish task, and yet 
 the Japanese do not mind being considered fools in under- 
 taking it. 
 
 These notions also prevail in other kinds of social matters. 
 Take for instance the case of native costumes ; it is considered 
 rather good taste to have more costly cloth underneath 
 than the actual outside cloth, because it means an evasion 
 of outside show and display. Then again women, and 
 indeed men too, prefer quiet colours and patterns for their 
 dresses : they do not care for gorgeous and showy costumes, 
 though in the case of young girls some allowance may be 
 made. This holds good also in manners. As I said 
 above, the Japanese are more reticent than pushing, this 
 is more especially the case with ladies. I notice in the 
 West that when in a drawing-room one is asked to sing or play, 
 he or she is readily induced to do so, the idea no doubt being 
 to give pleasure to others in spite of his or her own ineffi- 
 ciency in the matter. But in Japan the case is different ; 
 there one would rather ask to be excused on the plea of 
 " I cannot," even though in reality he or she " can." Per- 
 haps this may be carried too far with the Japanese, but so 
 it is with the generality of them, and therefore in Japanese 
 society you are likely to hear more often " No " than " Yes." 
 
 I will give you yet another illustration. I have in Japan 
 a friend, Mr. Kano by name. He is a small and slender 
 person. Once on board a mail steamer, as Kano was on his way 
 to Europe there was a big and robust Russian. That Russian, 
 thinking very little of my friend, gave himself airs and tried 
 to pick a quarrel with him. Kano kept himself quite calm, 
 exercising great patience and endurance. At last, however, 
 he accepted the challenge of the Russian and proceeded to fight 
 it out. The whole ship was surprised at the idea of a little 
 Jap going to fight the big Russian ! Within a minute, 
 
 139 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 however, after the combat had commenced the Russian had 
 to ask for mercy. The Russian did not know that Kano 
 was a scholar and at the same time a great master of the 
 Jujitsu. A similar story is told about the late Captain 
 Takasaki, son of Baron Takasaki, who was killed during 
 last year in a battle of the present war. In a naval college 
 in America, where he was a cadet, there was a big American 
 who was very offensive and often provoked and insulted 
 Takasaki. The latter for a long time patiently endured 
 the affront, but when it became unendurable he challenged 
 the big American and forced him by a single combat to 
 ask his pardon. There was no difficulty for Takasaki in 
 the matter, as he was a good student of the Jujitsu, being 
 one of the best disciples of Kano, but the American boy 
 did not know it ! The secret of the teaching of the Jujitsu 
 lies in the fact that every pupil is enjoined to use the art 
 only in extreme cases when its use is inevitable. 
 
 Self-restraint and modesty manifest themselves in every 
 phase of social life. In the West it is not rare for a mother 
 to praise her daughter before others, of for a man or wife to 
 do the same for his or her life-partner. It is, no doubt, an 
 outcome of the extraordinary growth of individualism, but 
 the matter is looked upon from a different point of view 
 in Japan. There, we regard our near relatives as though 
 they were a part of ourselves when we speak of them with 
 other people ; hence foreigners would be surprised when they 
 hear that we have such expressions as " My stupid father," 
 " My rustic wife," or " My foolish son," but with us they 
 sound no more strange than when here one calls oneself 
 " Your humble servant." 
 
 This leads me to say something about our family system. 
 With us the sense of duty for mutual assistance by near 
 relatives is felt more keenly than it is in the West. Of 
 course our old family system had some shortcomings, but 
 it had the advantage of promoting good feelings between 
 different members of a family or near relatives. The 
 growth of individualism, of course, has its advantage ; its 
 notions have been introduced into Japan of late to a con- 
 siderable extent, and have been recognized by law. There 
 is, however, a fear of some shocks being inflicted by it on 
 the good parts of our family system. It seems desirable to 
 take some care in the matter. However it may be, I may 
 
 140 
 
THE JAPANESE CHARACTER 
 
 say that in former days this sense of mutual assistance, 
 coupled with the economic condition of the people and the 
 state of the administrations of the community, went a long 
 way in promoting the comfort and happiness of the lower 
 classes. Outsiders sometimes say Japan is so very poor 
 in the way of public charities, such as the establishment of 
 poor-houses, hospitals, etc., but, as a matter of fact, there 
 was formerly scarcely any need of that kind ; in recent years 
 the condition of things has changed and those institutions also 
 came into existence, and I fear that the more time goes on 
 the more they will become necessary. We admit the 
 benefits of the introduction of European civilization ; we 
 admit the necessity of international trades ; but in one 
 respect, that is to say, the separation of rich and poor, 
 we have to recognize that the old distinction is becoming 
 more keen on account of these very facts, and therefore 
 it behoves us to look after the general condition of the 
 people, always kindly, and to promote the charitable 
 instincts of the public at large ; but from what we have 
 noticed we need not fear any lack of a philanthropical 
 disposition in our nature. We had that instinct in former 
 days, only in a different manner. The only necessity we 
 now have is to adapt it to modern requirements, and our 
 people have already shown their capability in many ways. 
 Those who have seen our organization of the Red Cross 
 Society would not be inclined to conclude that the Japanese 
 are incapable of establishing that kind of institution. 
 
 Some people over-praise things Japanese, and even say 
 that Japanese babies do not cry. Our babies cry just as 
 much as your babies ; as a matter of fact, in the case of very 
 young babies, crying is to some extent needful for the 
 development of their lungs ; but I daresay that strict and 
 rigid though our parents are, they cannot in a general 
 sense be accused of being cruel to their children. There 
 is no necessity for creating a society for the prevention of 
 cruelty to children in Japan. Nay, the Japanese cannot be 
 accused of being cruel even to the lower animals, for not 
 to kill living things is one of the ten commandments of 
 Buddhism. That notion was inculcated among the people 
 at large in times gone by, but, apart from this religious 
 doctrine, the nation seems to have become imbued with that 
 idea almost unconsciously. 
 
 141 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 The introduction of cigars and cigarettes has caused 
 some difference in the smoking habits of the Japanese 
 tending towards an augmentation of tobacco consumption. 
 The import of all sorts of Western spirits, formerly unknown, 
 also has caused some slight increase of the drinking habit. 
 But, for all that, the Japanese as a race are neither a drink- 
 ing nor a very great smoking nation. You would scarcely 
 ever meet with a drunkard in the street. The introduction 
 of Western civilization brings with it its disadvantages as 
 well as its advantages ; but this we must put up with, for 
 we cannot expect harmless soda-water to travel alone without 
 its congenial friend — ^whisky ! 
 
 I have already spoken about the introduction of the 
 notions of individualism derived from the West, and this 
 leads me to speak about the influence of Western civilization 
 upon our character and characteristics. It is no doubt 
 exercising a great influence and producing a modification, 
 and I may say that scientific modes of Western thought 
 and reasoning have already made a marked impression 
 on our brain as a nation, but this change is taking place 
 even with regard to customs and manners. Many 
 houses are built after the European style, European clothes 
 are worn by men and women, and to a great extent the 
 mode of living is also undergoing some changes. It is all 
 very well for the Westerners to say what a pity it is that our 
 ladies have cast away their costume. As a matter of fact, 
 ladies do not wear European clothes as much as men do ; 
 but speaking in a general way, the introduction of European 
 customs and manners is also unavoidably an outcome of 
 the changes of the time. We recognize many good points 
 in European customs and manners, including the mode of 
 living ; but apart from that, there are reasons why we should 
 not stick to our old modes entirely. If we were still to 
 fight with swords and spears you would consider us savages 
 and barbarians, but when we kill hundreds and thousands 
 of men by one blow of a bombshell, then you tell us we are 
 civilized. Why should we stick to our old modes even if 
 they were effective and useful ? This holds good with every- 
 thing. If we stick to old modes we remain for ever in the 
 position of some inferior animal in the eyes of the Westerners. 
 You may think that I go too far in saying such things, but 
 you cannot deny that there is some foundation for my 
 
 142 
 
THE JAPANESE CHARACTER 
 
 assertion. Of course I do not say that everything in West- 
 ern customs and manners is excellent. Let us just take 
 the example of leather boots. Is it not a dirty thing to come 
 into a drawing-room or sitting-room with dirty boots ? 
 There is no use for you to conceal from me that the majority 
 of you are suffering from the mere use of boots, I mean 
 most of you, by giving you corns and other pains. The 
 difference between the European modes of leather boots and 
 the squeezing of the Chinese ladies' feet appears only to be 
 a matter of degree, and yet if I came for instance to this 
 room in Japanese fashion I would simply become an object 
 of ridicule, if not of offence. 
 
 Let us hope that some happy medium may be discovered 
 some day or other for the benefit of the people concerned ; 
 and, moreover, as things stand at present we, the Japanese, 
 incur great economical losses in everything. We have to 
 furnish a room to receive foreigners, and another for our 
 compatriots ; we have to carry about, when travelling, a 
 pair of European boots and a pair of Japanese clogs. Our 
 women have to buy ornamental hairpins as well as European 
 brooches ; in fact, we have to possess everything in double 
 sets — foreign and native. I may also add that some differ- 
 ences, though they are not great, in the customs and manners 
 of the Western nations give us trouble very often. If I 
 went to an English wedding in Tokio in my evening dress 
 I should be laughed at ; were I to go to a French or German 
 wedding in the same place without putting on evening dress, 
 they would say that I was rude. If I meet French and 
 English ladies at a party I shall have to take off my gloves 
 hastily when I shake hands with the English lady, and I 
 shall have to put them on again the next moment when I 
 shake hands with the French lady ; and if I did vice versa 
 I would offend both of them. 
 
 143 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE MAKING OF A SOLDIER IN JAPAN ^ 
 
 THE questions that are frequently asked me as to the 
 constitution and working of the army of Japan may 
 be said to revolve in two very small orbits round two main 
 objects of curiosity. How does Japan get her men ? How 
 does she train her officers ? And both questions are three 
 parts answered in a very few words : " Universal Service,'* 
 and a ready acceptance of Napoleon's maxim that in war 
 "the moral is to the physical as three to one." 
 
 I shall endeavour, however, to the best of my ability to 
 answer both questions in a little further detail by explain- 
 ing, in the first place, how it is that we have found universal 
 service so much better suited to our requirements than any 
 other system that we could adopt or desire ; and, secondly, 
 how the Government of Japan has aimed in the course of 
 studies prescribed for those seeking commissions in our 
 army to postpone the acquirement of technical training, 
 invaluable and indispensable though that is fully recognized 
 to be, to the inculcation of loyalty and the soldierly spirit. 
 
 First, then, with respect to Universal Service, upon which 
 subject my views may be regarded as accepted, by common 
 consent, by all the citizens of the Japanese Empire, high 
 and low. 
 
 I. We have found that system superior to our old system, 
 wherein fighting men formed a distinct class and made 
 military duties a sort of profession in their families. At 
 first some people laboured under an apprehension that the 
 troops consisting of men recruited by the universal service 
 
 1 A letter addressed to Lord Newton and printed in The National 
 Service Journal, November, 1904, and a letter addressed to Dr. 
 Maguire, Military expert, and printed in the Westminster Gazette, 
 October, 1904, blended together. 
 
 144 
 
THE MAKING OF A JAPANESE SOLDIER 
 
 system, who would naturally be taken from all classes, 
 might not be so efficient as those consisting of men who 
 belonged to the class just mentioned, and who, therefore, 
 had traditional and natural proclivities for military duties. 
 This apprehension, however, was altogether dispelled by 
 the practical experience gained during the civil war of 1877. 
 This was a campaign in which the Imperial Government 
 troops, organized not long before on purely a universal 
 conscription basis, contended against the regularly trained 
 samurai of Satsuma, the most warlike of all the ancient 
 military clans of Japan. The leader of the insurrection 
 was Saigo Takamori, who as an individual was perhaps 
 the most popular person in the land, on account of the great 
 services which he had previously rendered the Imperial 
 cause. It was a conflict in which I may be permitted to 
 mention that I had the honour of serving my country, 
 though not, strictly speaking, in a military capacity. I 
 was an officer on the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief, my 
 official designation being that of a Secretary to the War 
 Department. We then found that men under the com- 
 pulsory service system were capable of being made far more 
 efficient as a compact body than were the samurai under the 
 older system, wherein the effects of discipline were some- 
 what subservient to individual prowess. Besides, the old 
 system was not equal to the demands of modern military 
 organisation for many other reasons. 
 
 2. We had also some experience (during the latter days 
 of the Tokugawa regime) of the actual working of the 
 voluntary system. But we have found the obligatory 
 system superior to it, on points wherein uniformity is in 
 many respects to be desired above all other considerations. 
 
 3. Compulsory service puts the country to less expense. 
 It would be almost impossible to maintain the number of 
 soldiers on active service and in the reserve with the money 
 we now spend were it not on account of this system. 
 
 4. The system of universal service tends to make every 
 citizen of the land feel his responsibility to the State more 
 keenly — in other words, makes him more loyal and patriotic. 
 This sentiment goes down to the lowest grade, and animates 
 not only the men, but also the women ; for the latter also 
 come to share it with the men who are thus inspired. 
 
 5. The nation becomes more compact by reason of the 
 
 145 l- 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 recruits coming into contact with men hailing from all 
 parts of the country, and with men of all sorts, belonging 
 to different social grades or professions in life, and through 
 realizing that the great common cause of their mission or 
 duty is above the particular interests of localities or classes. 
 
 6. The system does good in regard to physical develop- 
 ment and personal discipline, which latter enables a man 
 to be more punctual and regular in his habits, and more 
 enduring of hardships than he would otherwise be. 
 
 7. Universal service gives to the people at large, as well 
 as the recruits themselves, little chance of looking down upon 
 military occupation as an unelevated profession, which is a 
 great thing for keeping up the general tone of the Army. 
 
 8. The universal service system dispenses with the 
 necessity of employing all sorts of devices to induce men 
 to enlist under the national flag for military service. It also 
 enables the country to obtain, on the whole, more desirable 
 recruits, from its very nature. 
 
 9. Men under the system of personal military service seem 
 to be more animated with a sense of the duties devolving 
 upon each individual than are those under the voluntary 
 system, because the idea of being *' on hire " never enters 
 into their minds. 
 
 10. The troops organized under this system seem to be 
 more amenable to miUtary discipline than those under 
 voluntary systems, inasmuch as the discipline could not be, 
 it was found, so strictly enforced upon the latter as the 
 former. This has been demonstrated unmistakably upon a 
 recent occasion in China (during the occupation), when both 
 kinds of troops were stationed in the same locality. 
 
 11. The system helps the spread of intelligence among 
 the people at large. 
 
 12. The part of our military instruction which we call 
 " spiritual education," to which the greatest attention is 
 paid, and which really is an elevated ethical teaching, imbues 
 the " men " with fine moral sentiments, especially on the 
 lines of patriotism and loyalty, and these sentiments are 
 not only of great use to them while in actual service, but 
 also after they have left the ranks. This branch of military 
 instruction does not seem to exist in other countries in the 
 same way as it does in Japan, but, with us, it cannot fail 
 to be beneficial to the country, for these sentiments are 
 
 I, 
 
THE MAKING OF A JAPANESE SOLDIER 
 
 a .^^^ '> 
 
 carried back to every corner of the land by the " men 
 after a few years' active service. 
 
 13. Universal service makes the spread of the patriotic 
 as well as the martial spirit more feasible in all the schools, 
 because that system makes every boy expectant of becoming 
 a soldier at some time or other. 
 
 14. At one time there was some fear that men returning 
 from barracks to their rustic or urban homes might make 
 themselves arrogant and detestable among their neighbours, 
 and would be more or less unfitted to revert to their original 
 occupations. But this fear proved to be wholly groundless, 
 the more so as years went on, for a very good reason, namely, 
 that the number of men similiarly placed to themselves 
 increased with time, and no one man in particular could 
 venture to rank himself as the only hero. 
 
 15. We do not notice that there is any material detriment 
 in regard to the general economic condition of the country 
 — at all events, in any appreciable degree — arising from 
 universal obligatory service, though we must admit that the 
 labour performed by the men during service is unproduc- 
 tive in character from its very nature. This drawback 
 appears to be fully recompensed by subsequent advantages. 
 
 Such are, then, the chief advantages of the compulsory 
 service system which we have adopted in Japan, and we 
 have never had the least cause for regretting it. At first we 
 experienced some difficulty in adopting it, of course, because 
 its introduction was effected at the time when the old 
 military system retained in great measure its vigour, though 
 the feudal regime had already ceased to exist as a political 
 system. There was also a popular rising of farmers on 
 rather a large scale, which came about in the following 
 way : The phrase " blood tax " was used — perhaps inad- 
 vertently — in the ordinance which first announced the 
 adoption of the system. This phrase was seized upon by a 
 man who was not satisfied with the various changes which 
 were then being made, and he represented to illiterate farmers 
 the meaning of the term " blood tax " as literally implying 
 the squeezing out of one's blood. The incident was alto- 
 gether a ridiculous one, and only proved how easily people 
 are to be led astray by agitators ; but the fact remains that 
 we actually experienced some trouble on this account. 
 Such notions, however, were soon dissipated, and the nation 
 
 147 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 is now heart and soul in favour of conscription ; it is re- 
 garded as the one essential factor in the country's defensive 
 system. If the time should ever arrive when all nations 
 may dispense with armaments in toto, so much the better, 
 of course ; but until that blissful day shall dawn, Japan 
 must stick to the system of universal military service which 
 she has already adopted. 
 
 And now with regard to the second point in answer to 
 the question, How does Japan train her officers ? 
 
 The faculty which it is considered as above all things 
 most important for officers — as, indeed, for all soldiers — • 
 to be equipped with is " soldierly spirit," and therefore the 
 chief object of their education is expected to be the nurtur- 
 ing of this spirit among them. Then, too, each officer is 
 regarded in the sphere of his competency as a commander 
 as well as an instructor, and therefore he is expected to be 
 equipped with both " knowledge " and " capacity." 
 
 EDUCATION 
 
 I Education is the means for advancement of knowledge 
 and capacity. The education of officers, however, is to be 
 gradually advanced according to the position occupied by 
 them, so that the chief under whom an officer works has to 
 give him from time to time an " independent mission " 
 based on the different stages of his career, thereby com- 
 pleting his training step by step. The chief and senior 
 officers of each group are expected to be responsible for 
 the junior officers, and therefore they are expected to be 
 exemplary in their conduct themselves. All officers are 
 also expected to be diligent in their endeavour for the 
 improvement of their own knowledge and capacity. It 
 may here be mentioned, once for all, that much stress is 
 always put upon the so-called " independent missions " 
 (or duties), as being the best and quickest means of cul- 
 tivating an officer's capacity for independent actions, and of 
 sapping the pernicious idea that he is to remain a mere 
 dependent upon some one else's initiative. 
 
 The main responsibility for the education of officers is 
 put upon the shoulders of the chief of the'corps of officers, and 
 the course of_the_education is broadly divided into two 
 
 148 
 
THE MAKING OF A "JAPANESE SOLDIER ] 
 
 branches : (i) Technical Training, which consists oi 
 regimental duties, including those of field manoeuvres ; 
 (2) Scientific Training, which consists of {a) winter works, 
 (b) discourses ; (c) war games, (d) topographical surveys, 
 (e) discourses on the spot, (/) practice in the art of war by 
 the aid of maps. 
 
 SOLDIERLY SPIRIT 
 
 Soldierly spirit is explained in the instructions as con- 
 sisting of (i) loyalty and sincerity, (2) bravery and courage, 
 (3) trustworthiness and truthfulness, (4) respect for duties, 
 (5) exercise of frugality, (6) scrupulous observance of courtesy, 
 and (7) mindfulness of military discipline. With these, 
 too, is joined a due sense of the responsibility devolving 
 upon every individual, as well as the cultivation of pluck 
 in " initiative." A careful consideration of these points 
 is to be kept in view in all military education. 
 
 TECHNICAL TRAINING 
 
 When an officer is newly commissioned he is for the first 
 year given a number of new recruits whom he has to train ; 
 he himself at the same time is expected by so doing to acquire 
 experience in the regimental duties under the superintend- 
 ence of the senior officers, especially the commanding officer 
 of the company to which he belongs. As a matter of fact, 
 the responsibility for training new officers is put upon the 
 shoulders of the chief of each company. Thus the new 
 officer is to do his work under an " independent mission," 
 as the case may be ; but his every act is subject to the 
 criticism and correction of the commanding officer of the 
 company, whilst the latter is expected, besides such 
 crticism and correction, to give further and additional 
 useful suggestions to his newly commissioned pupil. The 
 senior officers submit in turn to the superintendence of 
 their superior according to their rank, but of course in a 
 degree less as their position advances. 
 
 As to field manoeuvres, the commanding officer of a 
 battalion is to order the lieutenants and sub-lieutenants of 
 
 149 
 
THE RISEN SUN . 
 
 his battalion, prior to the last ten days of September in 
 every year, to execute some field manoeuvres with a group 
 of men under his independent command. The commanding 
 officer of a regiment is to give orders to the captains of his 
 regiment in a similar way. The time, the number of men, 
 and other details befitting particular cases are prescribed 
 in detail. With regard to the troops which, from the 
 nature of their composition, cannot practise the field man- 
 oeuvres with opposing forces, they are to be ordered to 
 practise with " independent missions " some of the duties 
 appertaining to their specialities. The manoeuvres and 
 special practices thus executed are to be reported within 
 forty-eight hours by the officers who have charge of them 
 to the commanding officer of the corps of officers (through 
 the commanding officer of the battalion in case of infantry 
 or artillery), with sketches. The meritorious among these 
 reports are forwarded to the commanding officer of the 
 division (in case of infantry to the chief of the brigade). 
 The officer through whom the reports are sent will, when 
 forwarding them to his superior, in every case add his own 
 observations on a part or the whole of each report. 
 
 The very best of these reports are submitted to the per- 
 sonal perusal of the Emperor. These reports, however, are 
 not to be confused with the general reports which are 
 made by the responsible chiefs of the divisions or battalions 
 on these affairs on each occasion. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC TRAINING — {a) WINTER WORKS 
 
 Every captain, lieutenant, and sub-lieutenant of each 
 corps of officers has during the winter season of every year 
 to draft an answer to a question on some subject on either 
 military science or practical military duties. The subject 
 is to be selected and given by the chief of the corps. One 
 for captains, one for lieutenants, and one for sub-lieutenants 
 in case of infantry and artillery ; the subject of lieutenants 
 and sub-lieutenants is given by the chief of the battalion 
 annually on December i, and the answers must be finished 
 and sent in by March i of the next year. In reporting these 
 answers the procedure is the same as in the case of reports 
 of manoeuvres. 
 
 150 
 
THE MAKING OF A JAPANESE SOLDIER 
 
 (b) DISCOURSES 
 
 Discourses are to be given from time to time in each 
 corps of officers by majors, captains, and senior lieutenants 
 on the history of some war, or on some subject of which 
 the lecturer has made a special study, or on his experience 
 when sent on duty or for study, say, to a military school, 
 or to some foreign country, or any such occurrences as these 
 in connexion with himself. The subject of the lecture is 
 either to be set previously by the chief of the corps or to 
 be approved by the latter on the application of the lecturer. 
 
 (c) WAR GAMES 
 
 War games are to be practised frequently by each corps 
 of officers, irrespective of seasons. 
 
 (d) TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEYS 
 
 Topographical surveys are frequently to be executed by 
 captains, lieutenants, and sub-lieutenants, whenever it is 
 practicable in the neighbourhood of each garrison, and under 
 the direction of the chief of the corps. 
 
 (e) DISCOURSES ON THE SPOT 
 
 The chief of every corps of officers is personally to lead 
 out one or other portion, in turn, of the officers under his 
 command to the field, and there appropriate discourses 
 are to be given under his own supervision. 
 
 (/) PRACTICE OF THE ART OF WAR ON MAPS 
 
 The officers of each corps of officers are to hold meetings 
 in their spare hours, under the supervision of the chief of 
 the corps, and practise the art of war by theaid of suitable 
 charts and plans. 
 
 FURTHER REMARKS 
 
 It may not be quite unfitting here to develop my state- 
 ment a little further. I have spoken of the broad division 
 of military education into two branches — Technical and 
 
 151 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Scientific. The term " scientific " must not be taken in 
 its stricter sense, as appertaining to pure science. The 
 original term in the text has the wide significance of " learn- 
 ing " and " knowledge," and includes, as I have shown, 
 matters which relate even to the morality of the troops. 
 That branch of education when spoken of independently 
 is called "spiritual education." Perhaps "mental" or 
 ethical education " is easier to understand, but we call it 
 " spiritual," because that branch of our education is regarded 
 as being expressly devoted to the nourishment of the best 
 and highest spirits among all ranks, which at the same time 
 is ethical, and it lays greater stress on the mental operations 
 than on mere conventionalities. This part of education 
 is regarded in our army as being of superlative importance, 
 and the greatest possible attention is paid thereto. In 
 this part of education the Imperial rescript for soldiers 
 (1882), together with the Imperial educational rescript of 
 1890, plays the most essential part. In this branch of 
 education, moreover, the duty which one owes to the Em- 
 peror and to the country is inculcated as highest of all, and 
 that duty is placed above any other consideration. In it 
 the grand conception of loyalty is made to supersede all 
 other thoughts — of home, of parents, of wife, of children, 
 or of personal aims and interests. As to the education of 
 the rank and file, some matters may be with discretion 
 entrusted to a non-commissioned officer, but the " spiritual 
 education " must be always undertaken by the officers 
 themselves. There are no religious chaplains in our army. 
 I may also mention that with us loyalty and patriotism 
 exactly coincide with each other, and the terms are synony- 
 mous, as it were, in their practical application. 
 
 " STAFF RIDES AND LARGER MANCEUVRES 
 
 I may also add that there are several Staff rides to be 
 practised each at least once a year. Annual autumn field 
 manoeuvres are also carried out on a comparatively large 
 scale within each division, beginning with the manoeuvres 
 of the combined detachments ; next those of the brigades, 
 and finally ending with those of the division ; the first 
 two with opposing forces, and the last with imaginary forces 
 of enemy on the opposing side. The peculiarity of these 
 
 152 
 
(C 
 
 THE MAKING OF A JAPANESE SOLDIER 
 
 manoeuvres is that at a certain stage every officer is given 
 a command one rank higher than that he is properly en- 
 titled to. Again, two or three divisions perform combined 
 manoeuvres every year, and at an interval of a certain 
 number of years there are grand combined manoeuvres of 
 the Army and Navy. 
 
 INSPECTIONS 
 
 I need hardly explain that there are several kinds of 
 inspections," both ordinary and extraordinary, annually 
 performed at the proper season, and regulated by the 
 ordinances relating to the subject. Some of the inspections 
 are undertaken by special inspectors commissioned for the 
 occasion by the Emperor, and others by the chief of a 
 division or a brigade ex-officio. 
 
 EDUCATION PREPARATORY TO RECEIPT OF COMMISSIONS 
 
 So far I have described what an officer has to do after he 
 has received a commission, but my statements do not seem 
 to be complete unless a brief allusion be made to the pre- 
 paratory stage of his education prior to being commissioned 
 — i.e., during the stage of his cadetship. 
 
 Cadets are divided into two classes : (i) Candidates for 
 officers ; (2) quasi-officers. 
 
 There are several schools, both Government and private, 
 in which boys are taught with the special object of becoming 
 cadets. But it is not a necessary condition, in offering 
 himself for cadetship, that one should have been educated 
 in one of these schools, provided he is equipped with certain 
 educational qualifications. All the cadets are at first 
 attached to one or other regiment for a certain period, and 
 have to undergo their training by going the ordinary round 
 of the duties both of the ordinary " men " and non-commis- 
 sioned officers ; subject, however, to some discrimination 
 which is made by the responsible officers between those 
 cadets who have already received a certain amount of military 
 education in the schools above-mentioned and those who 
 have not. During this period all cadets are treated, so far 
 as their regular duties are concerned, exactly like the ordin- 
 ary rank and file or non-commissioned officers, as the case 
 
 153 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 may be, except that they are associated with the officers 
 in other respects, and that special and extra attention is 
 bestowed upon them, calculated to be beneficial to them in 
 their military career. 
 
 After this stage the cadets are sent to the " officers' school." 
 There they are educated in such a way as to make them 
 proficient in everything that appertains to their ultimate 
 rank as commissioned officers. I will not detail the cur- 
 riculum of the schools above-mentioned. Suffice it to say, 
 that the courses prescribed are much on the same lines as 
 those of the education of the officers, with a difference, of 
 course, in degree. They are given both the technical train- 
 ing and the scientific one, including the " spiritual " one, 
 on which so great stress is laid in all the stages of military 
 education. 
 
 The cadets are sent back, after having completed the 
 necessary course in the " officers' school," to their regiments, 
 and they have to gain experience as " quasi-officers " in 
 the duties of officers for at least six months before they are 
 commissioned. 
 
 THE ARMY UNIVERSITY 
 
 There is a military academy which is called " the Army 
 University." Its chief aim is to obtain good staff officers, 
 and therefore promising young officers are drawn from 
 different divisions and educated at this institution. The 
 principal courses of study in this academy are, of course, 
 directed to the acquisition of the theory of tactics, strategy, 
 and cognate subjects connected with the higher branches 
 of military education. 
 
 154 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 woman's education ^ 
 
 THE position of woman in Japan has always been differ- 
 ent, to a significant extent, from that of the same sex 
 in other Asiatic countries. Looking back to the history of 
 Japan over thousands of years, we see many renowned 
 figures of the fair sex. There have been several Empresses, 
 some brave, intelligent, and highly cultured. There have 
 been several heroines fighting side by side with our brave 
 warriors. There have been numerous poetesses, novelists, 
 artists. 
 
 In fact, in the ninth century, when the study of Chinese 
 was in vogue, the culture of our native light literature was 
 mainly in the hands of the other sex. It was then that we 
 had Murasaki Shikibu, the authoress of the great Genji- 
 Monogatari ; Seishonagon, the authoress of the Makura- 
 nO'Soshi ; and many others. In the latter part of the 
 Tokugawa regime there were many women well known 
 for their Chinese culture, such as Kamei Shokin, Hara 
 Saihin, Yema Saiko, Cho-Koran. This period also produced 
 several lady poets, as Rengetsu, Chiyo, Botoni, and others. 
 Examples of patriotic women also abound preceding the 
 restoration of the Imperial regime. 
 
 Women have always enjoyed a large social freedom, 
 though not to the same degree as in modern Western nations ; 
 and thus we have produced from time to time some con- 
 spicuous female figures in history. Even in our own days 
 such examples are not wanting. We see ladies engaged in 
 educational institutions in China and Siam ; one of them 
 is even gone to Mongoria, where she is engaged by a native 
 chief as instructress in his household. 
 
 Women's education, however, has always been a problem. 
 
 ^ From Japan by the Japanese, 
 155 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 From the very nature of the case, it is very difficult to 
 arrive at a satisfactory solution. Still, we realize the im- 
 portance of it as much as do Europeans. Especially have 
 we done so from the time of the inauguration of the new 
 regime. Here I might cite an instance, which is not without 
 interest. In 1871 a number of young girls were sent to 
 America for their education, one, now the wife of Admiral 
 Uriu, whose name is well known in connexion with the 
 present war ; another is the Marchioness Oyama, wife of 
 Marshal Marquis Oyama, head of the General Staff of Japan. 
 
 I am far from speaking confidently of the problem as 
 solved in Japan. I will but give a brief description of its 
 present condition, basing my materials mainly on different 
 official reports. 
 
 In Japan the system of elementary education is most exten- 
 sively carried out. There is no village where a school is not 
 provided at the public expense. Elementary education is 
 compulsory, every child having to be educated, though some 
 relaxation is made under exceptional circumstances. Elemen- 
 tary schools are divided into two grades : ordinary elemen- 
 tary and higher elementary schools. Ordinary elementary are 
 for children of the age of six and upwards, for four years, 
 and that of higher elementary education from the age of 
 nine. In the case of the latter the period of their school 
 education is not uniform, because some may join higher 
 schools after certain years, and some may leave school in 
 the middle of the course. But in case of children who go 
 through the ordinary course the period is four years. 
 
 In these preliminary schools boys and girls are taken in 
 without any distinction, though, for the convenience of 
 teaching, the classes are generally formed separately. Let 
 me now proceed with statistics, taken from the annual 
 reports of the Minister of Education for 1901-02. It relates 
 to Japan proper, including the islands of Yezo and Liuchiu, 
 but not Formosa. 
 
 The number of children in that school year was : Boys, 
 3,876,495 ; girls, 3.590,391 ; tc»tal, 7,466,886. 
 
 Of these, children attending the ordinary elementary 
 schools were : Boys, 1,714,509 ; girls, 1,632,018 ; total, 
 
 3,346,527. 
 
 Those who completed the ordinary elementary course 
 
 were : Boys, 1,462,977 ; girls, 911,422 ; total, 2,374,399. 
 
 156 
 
WOMAN'S EDUCATION 
 
 The total number of children of school age receiving the 
 prescribed course of education was therefore : Boys, 
 3,177,486; girls, 2,543,440; total, 5,720,926. 
 
 The total number of pupils in higher elementary schools 
 was as follows : — 
 
 Those belonging to public schools (including those attached 
 to normal schools) : Boys, 705,238 ; girls, 230,955 ; total 
 
 936,193. 
 
 Those belonging to private schools : Boys, 4,268 ; girls, 
 3>437 5 total, 7,705. Thus, the total number of pupils 
 in the higher course were : Boys, 709,506 ; girls, 234,392 ; 
 total, 943,898. 
 
 The percentage of boys receiving instruction for 1901-02 
 was 9378 of the whole eligible school population. The 
 percentages of girls was 81 '80. 
 
 I may here also mention that in populous towns there 
 are many kindergartens established, and their benefit is 
 so universally admitted that there is a great tendency to 
 increase their number. In these, children, both boys 
 and girls, aged from three years up to the age of admission 
 to ordinary elementary schools are taken. The subjects of 
 training are games, singing, conversation, and handicrafts. 
 
 There were in the year under our consideration 182 public 
 and 72 private kindergartens — a total of 254 ; and the 
 number of infants attending those public kindergartens was : 
 Boys, 10,327 ; girls 8,972 ; total, 19,299. That of the 
 private ones was : Boys, 2,235 ; girls, 2,137 ; total, 4,372. 
 Aggregate total, 23,671. 
 
 After the elementary schools the education of the boys 
 and girls takes separate courses. There are higher schools 
 and ordinary as well as higher normal schools for girls. 
 There are also many private schools for their higher 
 education. 
 
 The relative percentage of the girls attending these 
 schools is much less when compared with that of the boys 
 attending similar schools, partly from the very nature of 
 women's position, and partly on account of insufficient 
 provision for admission of applicants. The courses and 
 methods of their study also are not uniform. It would 
 be tedious to enter upon a minute description of each. 
 But I will try to give the general outline of them. 
 
 First, as to the course of study in the higher schools for 
 
 157 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 women, I quote part of the annual report of the Minister of 
 Education. 
 
 The course of study in the higher schools for women extends over 
 four years, but may be further extended or curtailed by one year, 
 according to local circumstances. In addition to general courses, sup- 
 plementary courses not exceeding two years may be provided for the 
 benefit of those desiring to study such arts as are necessary for 
 women ; special art courses extending over not less than two and 
 not more than four years, may be established in addition to general 
 courses. Special courses of two or three years may also be so insti- 
 tuted, for the benefit of those graduates who are desirous to pursue 
 some special branches of study. 
 
 The quaUfications of appHcants for admission are : age, 
 twelve years and upwards ; possession of attainments at 
 least equivalent to those who have completed the second 
 year's course of higher elementary schools. The number 
 of such schools for the year 1901-2 was : Public, including 
 one connected with higher normal school for women, 61 ; 
 private, 8 ; total, 69 ; and the number of pupils was : 
 Public, 14,975 ; private, 2,240 ; total, 17,215 ; and the 
 number of graduates was : Public, 2,778 ; private, 812 ; 
 total, 3,590. 
 
 The regulations for the courses of instruction relative 
 to higher schools for girls are given thus in the first article 
 of the ordinance of the Educational Department for such 
 schools : — 
 
 The courses of instruction in the higher schools for women 
 should be : Moral precepts, Japanese language, foreign language, 
 history, geography, mathematics, science, drawing, training for 
 domestic affairs, cutting out and sewing, music and gymnastics. 
 
 In cases where the period of school years is shortened foreign 
 languages shall be omitted. 
 
 The foreign language shall be either English or French. 
 
 Foreign languages may be omitted, or may be made an optional 
 course in all cases. 
 
 Music may be omitted for those pupils for whom the art may be 
 deemed difficult. 
 
 Besides the courses enumerated above, pedagogy or handicrafts, 
 or either of them, may be added as an optional course, excepting 
 the cases where the period of school years is shortened." 
 
 There is a college for girls situated in Tokio, and called 
 the Higher Normal School for Women. The object of this 
 college is for training instructors for higher schools for girls 
 
 158 
 
WOMAN'S EDUCATION 
 
 and for prefectural normal schools. The plan of the college 
 is divided into a Literature course, a Science course, and an 
 Art course. The first comprises ethics, pedagogy, Japanese 
 language, Chinese literature, English, history, geography, 
 music, gymnastics. 
 
 The second comprises ethics, pedagogy, English, mathe- 
 matics, physics, chemistry, natural history, music, gym- 
 nastics. 
 
 The third comprises ethics, pedagogy, English, physics, 
 chemistry, domestic management, cutting-out and sewing 
 handiwork, drawings and designs, music, gymnastics. To 
 the Japanese language and Chinese literature is added the 
 practice of penmanship. The course of household manage- 
 ment is divided into two branches, one relating to pure house- 
 hold management, and the other to family education. A 
 post-graduate course, an elective course, a special course, 
 and a training course for kindergarten teachers are insti- 
 tuted as distinct courses of instruction. A higher school 
 for women, an elementary school, and a kindergarten, are 
 also organized in connexion with the chief instruction. 
 The course of study for the main school extends over four 
 years, the post-graduate course extends over two years, the 
 elective course over four years, and the training course for 
 kindergarten conductors over one year, the length of the 
 special course being fixed at each admission of fresh pupils. 
 
 The number of pupils in the year we are speaking of was 
 311, and of graduates 86. One of the instructors of this school 
 was Miss Yasui, who was educated in England ; she has 
 gone to Siam lately by invitation of the Queen of that 
 country, to instruct the women pupils there. A higher 
 women's school is attached to this school. The course of 
 study extends over five years, a year longer than other 
 higher schools for women. 
 
 There is a higher school for girls attached to the college. 
 It is designed to provide the means of studying the general 
 method of women's education, and affords the pupils of the 
 college an opportunity of practical training in women's 
 education. 
 
 The number of pupils in that year was 325, of graduates 
 91. 
 
 An elementary school is also attached to the college. It 
 is also designed to afford the means of studying the methods 
 
 159 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 of general education, and to secure the pupils in the college 
 an opportunity for practical training in teaching children. 
 It is divided into three sections. The first section represents 
 an elementary school in connexion with a higher school for 
 girls, and is provided with ordinary and higher elementary 
 school courses. The second section comprises both ordinary 
 and higher-school courses. The third represents an ordinary 
 elementary school organized as a single-class school. The 
 course of study varies from two to four, according to the 
 sections. 
 
 The number of pupils in ordinary elementary course was 
 323, of whom 80 were boys and 243 girls ; and that of those 
 in higher elementary course was 139, of whom 28 were boys 
 and III girls. 
 
 This gives a total of 462, 108 of whom were boys and 354 
 girls. 
 
 A kindergarten is also attached to the college. 
 
 For the purpose of training v/omen teachers, special 
 normal schools for women are instituted in some provinces, 
 whilst in others a section is provided for women in the 
 ordinary normal school for males. 
 
 There is a school for women under the direct auspices of 
 the Empress. It is under the control of the Minister of the 
 Imperial Household, and not of the Minister of Education. 
 It is called the Peeress's School, and, naturally, the women 
 belonging to the noble families have the right of first en- 
 trance, though the door is not shut against the daughters 
 of other respectable families. Here also a kindergarten is 
 attached. 
 
 There is an Academy of Music in Tokio under the control 
 of the Minister of Education. The course is divided into 
 (i) preparatory, (2) main, (3) post-graduate, (4) normal, and 
 (5) elective. In the Academy both men and women are 
 admitted. 
 
 Besides Japanese teachers, there were five foreign teachers 
 in the school year of 1901-2, — two German, one American, 
 one Russian, one French. 
 
 As to private establishments for female education, the 
 method, style, and origin are so various that it is beyond 
 my power to attempt any clear description of them. I 
 may, however, mention a few types of schools. 
 
 The Tokio Jiogakkwan occupies a unique position. The 
 
 l6o 
 
WOMAN'S EDUCATION 
 
 idea was started by some foreign philanthropists in con- 
 nexion with a foreign philanthropic mission ; it is outside 
 the province of this school to teach religion, but its object 
 is to educate young girls of a respectable class in the Anglo- 
 Saxon attainments. The idea was taken up by several 
 eminent personages, contributions to the fund having been 
 made by both native and foreign patrons. It also receives 
 some special patronage from the Imperial Household. The 
 number of pupils in October, 1903, was 230, according to a 
 recent periodical on female education. 
 
 There is a college for girls in Tokio called the Women's 
 University. The name may be somewhat inappropriate 
 if compared with men's universities, but at any rate it com- 
 prises a vast number of female aspirants. It exceeds 1,000 
 at present, if we include all preparatory courses attached 
 to it. 
 
 There are also various institutions where girls may study 
 medicine, pictorial arts, technical industry, even commerce 
 and agriculture. 
 
 There are not many women physicians practising, but I 
 have seen some notified as passing State examinations. 
 
 There are also many private schools for girls established 
 by foreign missions in Tokio, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, 
 Kobe, Kioto, and many other places. Many of them are 
 doing praiseworthy services for the education of women. 
 
 There are in the city of Tokio 73 schools of all kinds for 
 female education. These include the schools mentioned 
 before, and also among them are included schools for mid- 
 wifery and nursing ; but in a vast majority of them ordinary 
 courses of instruction are given. 
 
 A few words about the occupations of women. Men and 
 women are pretty equally proportioned in Japan, so that 
 the fair sex in Japan has greater chances of being married 
 than in some other countries. When they are married they 
 are mostly contented with looking after their household 
 affairs and making themselves good wives and mothers. 
 But there are a large number of women employed in opera- 
 tive works, such as cotton, silk, and paper mills. As to 
 the public institutions, the number of women employed is not 
 great ; but a considerable number are employed as instruc- 
 tors in schools ; and those who are less fortunate and have 
 fewer attainments are employed to a considerable extent 
 
 161 M 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 in different post and telephone offices and in some branches 
 on the railway. Many private companies of different kinds 
 have begun to employ women clerks as an experiment, and 
 in most cases they have already proved successful. 
 
 It seems that there is good hope for women acquiring a 
 wider field for the display of their talents. 
 
 It might not be quite out of place to add a few words 
 about more or less important institutions organized by 
 ladies. There are some twenty of such in Tokio : the 
 Charity Hospital, under the direct patronage of the Empress, 
 with her Imperial Highness Princess Arisugawa as the 
 Chief of the Council ; the Japanese Ladies' Educational 
 Society, with her Imperial Highness Princess Kanin as 
 President ; the Special Society for Nursing the Sick, under 
 the direct patronage of the Empress, in connexion with the 
 Red Cross Society ; the Japanese Ladies' Sanitary Society, 
 the Ladies' Society for Orphans, the Society for Nursing 
 Infants belonging to female prisoners, and such-like, with 
 eminent ladies as presidents. Most of them are doing their 
 work well. 
 
 A society for female charity handicraft is under the presi- 
 dency of Miss Parker, of England. 
 
 There are many similar institutions in the provinces. 
 
 Proportionately, the mental capacity of Japanese women 
 to men seems to be pretty similar to that which their Western 
 sisters are supposed to bear to the men. We cannot, of 
 course, predict what will be women's place in the social 
 sphere at large in future ; but one thing is certain : the 
 educational system for women has been extended, together 
 with that for men, to a proportion that Japan has never 
 before known. Their emulation and aspiration increase 
 year by year, so that the supply of educational institutions 
 is always far behind the demand. 
 
 162 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 HARA-KIRI : ITS REAL SIGNIFICANCE ^ 
 
 HARA-KIRI ! The word has been before us, of late 
 at every turn. In translating it the English equiva- 
 lent is often given as " disembowelling " — a ghastly term, 
 and, moreover, inappropriate. " Happy despatch " was 
 formerly the phrase employed ; it is, as it seems to me, a far 
 better term, though how that expression originated no one 
 seems to know. The matter itself, to the Western notion, is 
 already not an agreeable one to talk about, but the recent 
 translation of the term makes it worse. It may not be wholly 
 without interest for the reader if I try to explain, though 
 with some diffidence, from the very nature of the subject, the 
 true signification of the act, and at the same time endeavour 
 in some degree to account for the sensitiveness displayed 
 by my own country-people at the misapprehensions produced 
 by a wrong translation. 
 
 Literally, of course, hara-kiri is " belly-cutting," and this 
 is the expression in common use, but kappuku, or more 
 usually seppuku, is the word employed by persons of refine- 
 ment, ^the actual meaning, however, being the same as hara- 
 kiri. Seppuku and kappuku are expressions coined from 
 Chinese. There are vigorous Anglo-Saxon terms in use in 
 Great Britain which people of taste often prefer to replace 
 — at afternoon tea, for example — by something, perhaps 
 equally forcible, derived from the Latin. The instance is 
 similar. 
 
 Seppuku was, in the feudal period, an honourable mode 
 of committing suicide. It was unknown to the Japanese 
 of ancient days, and was a custom which grew with the age 
 of chivalry. With us, in the Far East, to hang oneself is 
 
 ^ The Nineteenth Century and After, December, 1904. 
 
 163 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 looked upon as the most cowardly of all methods of self- 
 destruction, and drowning oneself or taking poison was 
 deemed to be no better. Even to shoot himself was, in a 
 Samurai, regarded as a base and ignoble way of shuffling 
 off this mortal coil ; it was vulgarly spoken of as teppo-bara 
 [h is changed into b for euphony], an abbreviation of teppo- 
 hara-kiri, in other words hara-kiri by means of a gun, though 
 in reality the throat, and not the hara, wdiS the spot usually 
 assailed in this case. 
 
 There was never an instance, so far as can be traced, of 
 seppuku by a female, and the honourable equivalent thereof 
 for a Samurai lady was generally known as jigai (self- 
 destruction) a death by a stab in the throat from her own 
 dirk, a weapon she generally carried in her girdle to 
 be used in time of need. Where a Roman dame would in 
 ancient times have plunged her dagger into her own heart, 
 a Japanese heroine preferred to thrust the weapon into her 
 neck ; and there is no record of either male or female in 
 Japan ending existence in the fashion that is so often de- 
 picted in Western novels, and less frequently, perhaps, in 
 real life. 
 
 Seppuku was not only a mode of self-dispatch, but was 
 prescribed as a form of capital punishment for all of Samurai 
 rank. Beheading, and still more hanging, were forms of 
 execution that might not be employed in cases of offenders 
 of the military classes, whose position, even to the last of 
 their existence, merited respect ; and when, in very extreme 
 cases, the crime of which a Samurai had been convicted 
 was heinous enough to deserve exemplary punishment by 
 condemnation to an ignominious death, the culprit was 
 first stripped of his rank and privileges as one of the Samurai 
 class. No Samurai was ever to be beheaded ; still less to 
 be hanged. 
 
 Naturally under such conditions the act of seppuku came 
 to be invested with much formality, and cases in which the 
 most elaborate etiquette had to be strictly observed were 
 those when a daimio, i.e. a feudal baron, or Samurai of par- 
 ticularly high standing, was called upon by the proper 
 authorities to dispatch himself in this way in expiation of 
 some political offence. A special commissioner was then 
 sent from the proper quarters to witness the due execution 
 of the sentence, and a kai-shaku-nin was chosen to assist 
 
 164 
 
HARA-KIRI 
 
 the principal in ridding himself of the burden of life. This 
 person was selected by the condemned from the circle of his 
 own immediate relatives, friends, or retainers, and the kai- 
 shaku-nin's office was an honourable one, inasmuch as he 
 was thereby privileged to render a last service to his comrade 
 or chief. 
 
 There was always a special apartment or pavilion pre- 
 pared in which the ceremony had to take place ; a particular 
 dress, designed for use only on these melancholy occasions, 
 had to be worn ; and the dagger, or short sword, was invari- 
 ably placed before the seat of the condemned on a clean 
 white tray, raised on legs, termed sambo, which in the 
 ordinary way is a kind of wooden stand used for keeping 
 sacrifices offered to the gods, or for some similar solemn 
 purposes. The actual cutting open of the body was not 
 essential, a trifling incision in a horizontal line 6 or 7 in :hes, 
 or rarely in two lines crossing each other — the more super- 
 ficial the better, as proof of a light and skilful touch — being 
 ordinarily made, followed by a deep cut in the throat. As 
 a rule, however, immediately after making the incision in 
 the abdomen the condemned made a slight movement of 
 his disengaged left hand, and stretched his neck forward, as 
 signs to the kai-shaku-nin to do his office ; perceiving which, 
 the latter, who stood by with his sword ready poised, in- 
 stantly struck off his principal's head. 
 
 In Japan there is no need to speak directly of either hara- 
 kiri or seppuku, as the euphemism ku-sun-go-bu is often 
 employed — literally nine inches and a half, which was the 
 proper length of the dagger to be used on these occasions. 
 The weapon was always wrapped in some sheets of pure 
 white paper, only the extreme point being exposed, and it 
 was correct to hold it, when making an incision, in the right 
 hand, not by the handle, but by the middle of the paper- 
 wrapped blade. How to sit, how to bow to the spectators 
 when about to commence the awful task, how to unfold 
 reverently the part of the clothing which covers the upper 
 part of the body, how to wrap up the dagger, and how to 
 make the requisite signal to the kai-shaku-nin, were all 
 matters on which the utmost nicety was enjoined, and were 
 part of the instruction which every Samurai was obliged to 
 receive from the master of military ceremonies. Hara- 
 kiri, indeed, was to the Samurai a matter involving an ap- 
 
 165 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 palling amount of ceremony. The end of the world-famed, 
 " Forty-seven Ro-nins " was reached by seppuku in the 
 same way ; each died by his own hand. They were given 
 in charge of three daimios, in three separate groups, and on 
 the appointed day each group killed themselves simul- 
 taneously at an appointed hour, but each individual one 
 after another, in specially erected pavilions provided in the 
 gardens of the Yedo residences of the three barons. The tale 
 so often retailed in popular story-books, that they all com- 
 mitted seppuku around the tomb of their avenged lord, is 
 fictitious, though it is true that they all were buried there. 
 
 Perhaps the most notable instance of seppuku was that 
 which took place at Sakai, near Osaka, just after the 
 establishment of the new regime in Japan, when a number 
 of young Samurai, some twenty in all, if I remember 
 rightly, who, not liking the secret surveying of the locality 
 performed by French naval officers and marines, had 
 attacked the French, were ordered by the Government to 
 expiate their offence in this fashion, in the presence of the 
 French Minister, whose rage it was necessary to appease. 
 He begged that the carnage might stop when eleven had 
 thus closed their careers. 
 
 I need scarcely add that this form of punishment has 
 totally disappeared from our laws, with the abandonment 
 of the distinctive privileges of Samurai, and the gradual 
 assimilation of all classes of the Emperor's subjects in re- 
 gard to civil rights and punishments. But, before that stage 
 was reached, the practice had not wholly ceased for some 
 years after the Restoration in 1867, and I well remember 
 that there was a case in 1871, when a nobleman who was 
 indicted for high treason was sentenced to ji-jin — literally 
 self-ending — which was the same thing as seppuku. 
 
 When seppuku was purely a voluntary act the formalities 
 were necessarily much curtailed, and very often the person 
 who thus conceived himself condemned by fate's decree 
 retired to some secluded spot, and there slew himself in 
 orthodox fashion, without making known his intention 
 beforehand, and merely announcing his reasons by letters 
 which he left by his side for all to read. The principle, how- 
 ever, was always the same, and it was the Samurai's main 
 endeavour at the last to observe due decorum and to con- 
 form to the rules in every way that was possible. 
 
 166 
 
HARA-KIRI 
 
 There were numerous instances in which men of truly 
 noble soul chose this manner of death. Watanabe Kwazan 
 was one of them. He was councillor to a small daimio, a 
 genuine patriot, and a pioneer advocate of the opening of 
 Japan to foreign intercourse. As a painter, though an 
 amateur only, he stood very high. In 1850, seeing that 
 through his views on the subject of Western civilization his 
 feudal chieftain was bound to be implicated, and that his 
 own self-extermination would be requisite if his lord was 
 to be preserved from the stigma which then attached to any 
 predilection for Occidental methods, Watanabe hesitated 
 not to commit seppuku, and thereby saved his master from 
 any such imputations. 
 
 Takano Choyei, a sympathiser and active co-operator 
 with Watanabe, being a well-known physician and Dutch 
 scholar, and Koseki Sanyei, who was also a Dutch scholar 
 and assisted Watanabe by translating Dutch books for him, 
 both died by seppuku for the same cause. 
 
 Kuruhara Riozo, father of the present Marquis Kido, 
 who succeeded to the heritage of the house of Kido after 
 the death of his renowned uncle on the maternal side, and 
 received the honour of a marquisate in memory of his rela- 
 tive's splendid services to the nation, was another instance. 
 Kuruhara was a brave Samurai. When Nagai Uta, an 
 officer of high rank of Chosiu province, about 1862, advo- 
 cated the definite opening of the country, Kuruhara sided 
 with him. Circumstances compelled him to show that he 
 had not adopted that view from any base motive, and in 
 the furtherance of this attitude he committed seppuku. 
 When he was stationed with the garrison of Uraga, the 
 guarding of which place was entrusted to the Prince of 
 Chosiu at the time of the American advent to the Far East, 
 the present Marquis I to, then a boy of fourteen, was his 
 subordinate, and when, a few years afterwards, he was 
 despatched to Nagasaki at the head of a group of young 
 Samurai of Chosiu for the purpose of studying the Dutch 
 system of artillery, young I to was one of them. Ito was 
 in those days a special favourite of Kuruhara, and knew 
 him well. Ito was almost the first person to rush into the 
 room when Kuruhara died. I have often heard the marquis 
 talking with admiration of Kuruhara, saying what a fine 
 chivalrous character he possessed, and how nobly and with 
 
 167 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 what studied observance of formality he died. To pre- 
 serve a perfect self-possession at any dread hour is the 
 essence of the Samurai doctrine. By the bye, Nagai, just 
 mentioned above, was himself one of those who committed 
 seppuku. He died thereby at the command of his prince, 
 as a consequence of a political dissension. I may perhaps 
 remark here parenthetically that Japan's adoption of 
 Western civilization was not attained without it costing 
 her much in blood and treasure. 
 
 In former days, sometimes, a man committed hara-kiri by 
 an over-zeal for some cause which he advocated, merely 
 to demonstrate his sincerity. Such earnestness is fine, but 
 the method of exhibiting it has some drawbacks which 
 have led to its being discouraged. Hara-kiri has in these 
 later days gone out of fashion. 
 
 The basis on which seppuku was prescribed as a mode 
 of capital punishment for Samurai was that it was unbecom- 
 ing the dignity and status of one of the warrior rank that 
 he should be subjected under any circumstances to the 
 rough handling of the common executioner, and therefore, 
 when the deed of seppuku was a voluntary one, the root 
 idea was the same, for it was undertaken in order to avoid 
 ignominy, and to prevent the family escutcheon being 
 stained by any act towards which the scornful might after- 
 wards point a finger of derision.^ All that the Samurai 
 
 ^ The idea of the abdomen's being assailed seems to be that it 
 was vaguely regarded as the seat of one's mind. So much so that 
 the term "clear or black abdomen " used to be the signification of 
 a good or bad mind. Scientifically it may not be correct, but then 
 even the most scientific people speak of heart in place of one's 
 thought or feeling. Assailing the abdomen, then, may be taken as 
 an emblem of showing the clearness of one's mind, on the casting 
 off of any pollution thereof. 
 
 In an old Japanese book, however, the following statement 
 appears : — 
 
 " In the Hogen Monogatari it is stated that Tametomo, who was 
 then 28 years old, leaned against the central pillar of the house, cut 
 his abdomen but could not die, so he cut his back-bone and fell 
 forward. Perhaps from that period warriors began to resort to 
 Seppuku as a method of self-extinction, in order to show their 
 bravery. The practice of a lord ordering his retainer to die by that 
 method as a punishment is perhaps an innovation of a much later 
 date." 
 
 Hogeni Monogatari is an antique Japanese book. Hogen was an 
 epoch eight and a half centuries ago, which is the time when our 
 
 168 
 
HARA-KIRI 
 
 might ask of his proud race — Hke Don Csesar de Bazan in 
 Maritana — was " to die . . . and not disgrace its ancient 
 chivalry," and as the chivalric spirit is still, I am glad to 
 think, ardently cherished in Japan, there are occasions, as 
 the readers of " war news " of the day must have discovered, 
 when it yet seems to some to be appropriate to end their 
 days in the fashion of feudal times, though among private 
 individuals this course is now but very rarely resorted to. 
 
 Among the Chinese and Koreans seppuku is unknown. At 
 the capitulation of Wei-hai-Wei, ten years ago, the Chinese 
 Admiral Ting destroyed himself by smoking an immense 
 quantity of opium. He did this, in accordance with Chinese 
 ideas, to save his men from punishment, and in the eyes 
 of his countrymen it was altogether the act of a hero, and 
 so it was. A Japanese, under like conditions, however, would 
 have died, not by poison, but by seppuku. The three Chinese 
 of high rank who had been implicated in the Boxer troubles 
 of 1900, and committed suicide at the command of the Em- 
 peror in consequence of the joint demand of the Powers, died 
 either by taking poison or by hanging. If the event had 
 taken place in former days in Japan, their deaths would 
 have been secured by seppuku. 
 
 Terrible as it unquestionably was to witness, the act of 
 self-sacrifice was so bound up with the revered traditions of 
 our race that it was shorn in great part of the horrors with 
 which it must seem to readers in the twentieth century to 
 have been invested. Exaggerated and loathsome accounts 
 are even to be met with in popular story-books in Japan, 
 scenes in which the victim is depicted as hurling, in a last 
 effort, his intestines at his enemy, who is supposed to have 
 been looking on — a thing in itself quite impossible under 
 ordinary circumstances — and certainly, if it occurred, alto- 
 gether exceptional. The incision usually made, as I have 
 shown, was quite superficial, a mere flesh wound ; and 
 death was due to the injury inflicted in the throat by the 
 suicide's own hand, or to the good offices of the kai-shaku- 
 nin, whose duty as assistant — the idea is perhaps better 
 
 chivalric age begins. Tametomo was a well-known warrior of the 
 Gen family. The above account of his death is perhaps an exaggera- 
 tion, and moreover there is even another story representing him to 
 have escaped to Lou Chou, where he became the father of the founder 
 of the Lou Chou kingdom. 
 
 169 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 conveyed by the term " second " in the case of a duel — it 
 was to remove his principal's head with the utmost expe- 
 dition. Thus to translate hara-kiri as disembowelling, or 
 embowelling, is both ghastly and inaccurate in the impression 
 that it leaves on the mind. 
 
 Suicide in any form is incompatible with Western notions 
 of right and wrong, and it certainly ought not to be encour- 
 aged, and yet there may be conditions, it would seem to us 
 in the East, when it may be wholly or partially excused. 
 
 170 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE POLICE SYSTEM OF JAPAN/ 
 
 IN Japan the police system is essentially a part of the 
 State organization. It has nothing to do with the 
 communal corporations. The police force is organized in 
 each prefecture under a universal regulation of the cen- 
 tral Government, with local option of making some trifling 
 modifications to suit the condition of the locality, such as 
 the average amount of the salary of the policemen and the 
 total numbers of such men. The system in force in the 
 prefecture of Tokio, our capital, which comprises the city 
 of Tokio and some suburban guns (counties), forms an 
 exception. The general control of the police forces belongs 
 to the Minister of the Interior. In his ministry there is 
 a special bureau for management of police affairs, with a 
 director who acts under him. In prefectures the governors 
 have the control of police affairs, each in his prefecture 
 being under the general control of the Minister of the Interior. 
 In each prefectural government there is a division of officials, 
 with a chief, who takes charge of police affairs under the 
 governor. 
 
 The general expenditure of the police force is included 
 in the prefectural budget and defrayed out of the prefectural 
 taxation. But part of it is subsidized by the central Govern- 
 ment, and besides the salaries of the officials and some 
 small specific expenses are also paid by the Treasury. The 
 budget is, of course, submitted to the consideration of the 
 prefectural elective assembly in each prefecture, and thus 
 the local assemblies have a voice in determining the average 
 amount of the salaries of the men, and the number of men 
 employed. The state subsidy is the one-sixth part of the 
 whole expenditure of each perfecture (modified imperial 
 ordinance of 1888) and the number of the men is one for 
 
 ^ Japan by the Japanese 
 171 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 from 300 to 800 of population in cities and one for from 
 1,000 to 2,000 in counties (imperial ordinance of 1896). 
 
 In case of the prefecture of Tokio the system differs from 
 other prefectures in that there is a police-governor, who is 
 also under the general control of the Minister of the Interior, 
 with separate establishment of his office, quite independently 
 of the ordinary governor. Here the police governor and 
 the ordinary governor carry on their function severally, 
 but, of course, they have in many matters to execute their 
 authority conjointly. It resembles very much the system 
 practised in Paris. In Tokio, moreover, the State aid to the 
 expenditure is the four-tenth part, instead of the one-sixth 
 part which is the case with other prefectures. 
 
 In each gun (county) there is a police-station, with a 
 certain number of men allotted to it, under a police official 
 (or rather officer, and hereafter to be called officer). 
 
 Branch stations are often established besides in the rural 
 districts ; generally one particular policeman is allotted to 
 look after the police affairs within a certain compass of the 
 locality and resides therein. There are several classes of the 
 branch stations and sub-branch stations, according to 
 their importance ; but it is scarcely necessary to dwell upon 
 them in this place. 
 
 According to the Government statistics, there were in 
 the year 1901, police officers 2,116, and men 31,833 ; total, 
 33,949, and the ratio of this total as to the whole popu- 
 lation was I to 1,332. 
 
 In the above description Formosa is not included, although 
 the Islands of Yezo and Lou Chou are. But even in Formosa 
 the system does not differ much, except that there is no 
 prefectural assembly. In Lou Chou also there is no prefec- 
 tural assembly, and in that respect Lou Chou is also an 
 exception. 
 
 The function of the police force is pretty much the same 
 as in any other civilized country. Their functions are 
 various, but they may be summed up as being " to keep 
 peace and order " ; nay, not only to keep peace and order, 
 as they are, but also to promote the welfare of the people 
 without being over-officious. Hence they have, among 
 kindred ancillary duties, to look after the sanitary conditions 
 of the people and enforce sanitary regulations As a rule, 
 their actions are expected chiefly to be " preventive " 
 
 172 
 
THE POLICE SYSTEM 
 
 in the first place and " suppressive " in the second place only. 
 There is another duty appertaining to them, namely, the 
 so-called " high police," which means the observation of 
 political movements or intrigues which may be fostered 
 within the Empire. They have also another function, 
 which is that of the " judicial police." This function comes 
 into action when an act which is punishable by law is com- 
 mitted by a person. Here the police force is to be considered 
 as forming part of the official personnel of the law court, and 
 they are expected, as assistants of the court, to search and 
 arrest the offenders. For searching or arresting an offender 
 there are stringent rules for preventing abuses of authority ; 
 but that is a matter to be discussed separately. These 
 various functions are, of course, not devolved upon an indi- 
 vidual police officer. On the contrary, the division or rotation 
 of the tasks is regulated by minute rules and regulations. 
 Fire brigades form a separate organization, apart from the 
 public, but they are also under the control of the police 
 authorities. * 
 
 In the eyes of the law in Japan, policemen, low as their 
 actual rank in the official hierarchy may be, are regarded 
 as "government officials" and not as mere operative 
 employes. As a matter of fact, their social standing 
 is relatively higher than that of their comrades in the 
 Western nations. True, they are incessantly taught to be 
 civil and obliging to all with whom they come in contact, 
 and not to display any official arrogancy; but they are 
 not expected, nor do they feel it their duty, to do some 
 things which appear to me quite common among Western 
 nations. I mean they would not oblige any one by 
 doing a thing which is inconsistent with their dignity, and 
 therefore one would rather offend them if he were to expect 
 some such thing to be done for him, say, by offering them 
 a "tip." For instance, they would not come officiously to 
 one's carriage and open the door if there were not some 
 special reason for them to do so, such as an apprehension 
 of accident. This is a very important point for foreign 
 visitors to Japan to keep always in mind. It is my hope 
 that foreign visitors will not judge our policemen on 
 account of that difference from the Western point of view. 
 I do not in the least mean to say that our system is in any 
 way better. The Western method and habit have their 
 
 173 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 good points. They are very useful and well adapted to 
 the requirements of their countries. I only mean to say 
 that our customs differ in these respects. 
 
 In Japan the police force in its modern shape has been 
 formed only after the abolition of the feudal system, as one 
 may well surmise, though it has gone through much evolu- 
 tion. It was the time when thousands of the young Samurai 
 had lost their employment on that account, and it was 
 chiefly those Samurai who were enrolled in the police force. 
 Their social position and intellectual culture were of a 
 rather higher degree than that of those with whom they had 
 to come in daily contact. That condition has never been 
 lost sight of. Even now, only those who pass a certain 
 special examination prescribed for them are taken, and the 
 examination is not a very easy one. Such being the case, 
 it will not be difficult to understand the cause of the difference 
 which exists between the Western police and those of Japan. 
 Here I will interpose a few words. It is the constant desire 
 of our authorities that the police should be especially civil and 
 obliging to foreign visitors ; but that some unhappy incidents 
 may have occurred without intention cannot be gainsaid. 
 I once read in a newspaper that in a country town a police- 
 man went up to a foreign lady who was watching the Crown 
 Prince and Princess as they passed and requested her to 
 take off her bonnet. In Japan it is the usual custom that 
 men should take off their hats on such occasion : of course 
 our women wear nothing on their heads. The policeman 
 in question had not known the Western custom concerning 
 ladies' bonnets : hence the request to take her headgear 
 off. There was no wrong intention in this matter. At 
 another time I heard of an incident taking place, of a foreign 
 prince (incognito) shooting pigeons in a temple. A 
 policeman, without knowing who he was, and knowing 
 that he himself was doing only his duty, tried to stop him. 
 Both these occurrences were unfortunate, but of course 
 they were promptly explained and the matter ended. It 
 is our hope that foreign visitors will always make certain 
 allowances, remembering that they are in a foreign land and 
 that they will take the trouble of explaining calmly rather 
 than becoming irritated. I may also add that discrimina- 
 tion in treatment, to be accorded to any one according to 
 the social position which one occupies, is a matter of great 
 
 174 
 
THE POLICE SYSTEM 
 
 difficulty in Japan, especially on the part of such persons as 
 policemen. Here, therefore, some allowance must also be 
 made. Apart from the police question, it is needless to 
 say that there are many things which are socially per- 
 missible in one country and not in another. It is desirable 
 for foreign visitors to keep these facts always in mind and 
 make due allowances as the case may require. 
 
 But to return to our subject. Although it is the endeavour 
 of the Japanese authorities to keep up the standard of the 
 police, the tendency of late years has shown the difficulty 
 involved, inasmuch as the remuneration given them is 
 not sufficient either to enlist, or to retain long in the service, 
 men of the same standing as in former days. The monthly 
 salaries were increased to some extent, but they are, after 
 all, small, for they vary from 9 yen to 15 yen (the imperial 
 ordinance of 1897), and this scarcely keeps pace with 
 the general development of the country. The increase of 
 local expenditure, however, prevents any significant augment- 
 ation. There is a system of pension for long services of 
 policemen or for those disabled in the discharge of their 
 duties. There is a regulation of rewards for conspicuous 
 services done by them, and a few other kinds of inducements. 
 But all these are not quite equal to maintain the old standard. 
 
 A few words more. There is in Tokio a college called 
 " Police and Prison College," under the control of the Minis- 
 try of the Interior. It is not a college in the strict sense. It 
 is a place where police and prison officers are trained for 
 the discharge of their special duties, both in theory and 
 practice. Police officers are sent there from the prefectures. 
 Each prefecture selects a certain number of the most promis- 
 ing young officers from amongst the police force for his 
 prefecture. When these police officers go back to their 
 prefecture, they in turn train others at the training station 
 of their several prefectures. This college was instituted in 
 the year when the old treaties with the Western Powers were 
 revised, and has proved most successful. The majority 
 of the teachers were foreigners at first ; but their places are 
 now taken by natives. 
 
 And yet another word. With us there is a system of 
 the so-called " applied-for-policemen." A bank or any 
 commercial firm, or municipal corporation, private school, 
 or even private family of sufficient standing, may apply for 
 
 175 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 the permanent despatch of a number of policemen to their 
 premises, and so estabUsh a kind of privately regulated 
 police-station. These policemen do not differ from their 
 colleagues in any way, except that the expenses pertaining 
 to them are defrayed by the applicants. To make it more 
 clear, there is a fixed sum, which is determined by the 
 governors with the concurrence of the respective prefectural 
 assemblies, to be contributed to the authorities for each of 
 the men applied for. These men are not always identical, 
 but the necessary number of them is always stationed on 
 the same premises and keep watch, which plan has proved 
 both convenient and successful. 
 
 176 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE ETHICS OF JAPAN* 
 
 THERE are three sources of the factors which influ- 
 enced the moulding of the ethical system in Japan, 
 namely Shintoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. The 
 first is the native religion of Japan ; the second is, needless 
 to say, a religion originated in India and introduced to Japan 
 through China and Korea ; and the third is the moral teach- 
 ing of China. As to the relative positions of these three, 
 they are fully explained in the chapter on " The Religions 
 of Japan." They are not antagonistic to one another, 
 as people not living in Japan might imagine, and as would 
 only appear natural to these people from their own notions 
 of religion. Of these three, Buddhism is the most religion- 
 like in the ordinary sense of the term. Shintoism ranks 
 next, but it is very simple and liberal if viewed in the light 
 of a religion. Confucianism comes last ; it is ordinarily 
 classed by Western writers as a religion, but as a matter of 
 fact its religious aspect is very vague, and it is not considered 
 a religion by the Orientals. Perhaps a better term for it 
 would be the Chinese teaching of morality, because moral 
 notions which can be gathered from Chinese study are com- 
 prised in all sorts of Chinese writings, and Confucius, the 
 great sage, is only one of the exponents thereof. Confucius, 
 however, takes a very high place among those exponents, 
 and therefore he came to be revered more than any others 
 by Orientals ; and thus Chinese teaching came to be usually 
 associated with the name of that great sage. I cannot do 
 
 * An address delivered at the Society of Arts, March 8, 1905. 
 
 177 N 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 better than follow this example, and call Chinese teaching 
 by the name of Confucianism. 
 
 Comparing these three systems of teaching with regard 
 to ethics, Confucianism stands out very prominently in its 
 systematic exposition and practical utility. Buddhism, it 
 is said, is very philosophical, and deep in its ideas of the 
 cosmos, and there is no doubt that it is capable of exercising 
 a great influence on the popular notion of a future life, though 
 it does not do so as much in Japan as in some parts of the 
 Asiatic continent. It has, however, very little to say with 
 regard to ethics relative to the actual life of the human being. 
 It says you must not do wrong — it says you must do good 
 — but as to what is good or what is bad it is very vague in 
 its meaning. It suggests rather religious notions than 
 practical ethics, how one should behave in this world towards 
 one's fellow creatures or towards the community or State 
 to which one belongs. It speaks of ten warnings and four 
 benevolences. The ten warnings are : i. Do not kill the 
 living. 2. Do not steal. 3. Do not commit adultery. 
 4. Do not speak wantonly. 5. Do not make sensational 
 exaggerations. 6. Do not calumniate. 7. Do not use a 
 double tongue. 8. Do not be greedy. 9. Do not be angry. 
 10. Do not entertain crooked views. 
 
 The four benevolences which one has to remember are : — 
 I. The father and the mother. 2. The ruler of the land. 
 3. " All beings." 4. The three treasures, i.e. the Buddha, 
 the Laws, and the Priesthood (Order). 
 
 It speaks of compassion and forbearance. It also speaks 
 of eight correct ways : i. Correct views. 2. Correct 
 thoughts. 3. Correct words. 4. Correct conduct. 5. Correct 
 living. 6. Correct ministration, meaning self -reflection 
 and aspirations. 7. Correct conception. 8. Correct media- 
 tion. In their essence, however, all these teachings are 
 mostly of a negative character, and, moreover, I must say 
 that they have more importance from a religious point of 
 view than from an ordinary, and a practical ethical point 
 of view. Therefore I can say that Buddhism has very little 
 to do with the ethics of Japan in the sense of a systematic 
 exposition of them, though in an indirect way it has had 
 some influence on the moral atmosphere of the Japanese, 
 as I shall show later on. 
 
 The Chinese teaching, otherwise called Confucianism, is 
 
 178 
 
THE ETHICS OF JAPAN 
 
 a system of moral teaching founded upon a patriarchal sys- 
 tem of community. It does not, therefore, only speak of 
 the good conduct of an individual, as relating to his fellow- 
 ship with other individuals ; but also from the point of view 
 of the whole system of community as a state. Therefore 
 it speaks of modes of governing and of being governed, as 
 well as of individual relationship between man and man. 
 It does not recognize any difference between sovereignty 
 and ruler, nor does it notice a difference between State and 
 country. In it, the greatest natural bonds of humanity 
 are five, and they are : i. Sovereign and subjects. 2. 
 Father (implying also mother) and child. 3. Husband 
 and wife. 4. Brothers (implying also sisters). 6. Friends. 
 To each of these relationships, the essential duty which is 
 to be borne in mind by each individual is separately attri- 
 buted, and to each of these duties a special term is given to 
 designate its actions from the point of view of a virtuous 
 nature. Besides these five relationships there are two 
 other relationships which have to be added, namely, the 
 relationship between the elder and the younger, not neces- 
 sarily meaning brothers, and also the relationship between 
 master and pupil. The term, " the sovereign and subjects," 
 in Oriental notions, signifies in their bearing a very deep 
 meaning in their mutual relationship. I once heard from 
 a very trustworthy authority that a Western diplomatist, 
 well versed in Oriental affairs, had said that the Oriental 
 idea concerning sovereign and subjects was not, and could 
 not, be thoroughly understood by Occidentals, and I think 
 that remark is not far from the truth. 
 
 The idea of the best virtue that a sovereign can have is 
 " jen," meaning to be as humane as possible to his subjects, 
 detesting oppression, giving the best administration to his 
 country — in a word, to be the best ruler that ever ruled a 
 land. The idea of the best subject is loyalty. The idea of 
 the relation of father and son is filial piety on the part of the 
 child, and strictness on the part of the father, which is 
 modified in the case of the mother towards tenderness, for 
 which there is a special term. The idea which governs the 
 relationship between man and wife is harmony. The older 
 word for this was " distinction," meaning " not to be un- 
 seemly," but the word " harmony " is also used sometimes, 
 and we Japanese prefer it. The idea of that of brothers 
 
 179 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 and sisters is brotherly friendship, for which also a special 
 word exists. The idea of that of friends is trustworthiness. 
 In this way all the five cardinal bonds are dictated by 
 desirable manifestations of sympathetic attentions to one 
 another. But of course more prominence is given to the 
 virtue of a subject, a child, or younger brother, in the case 
 of a sovereign and subjects, or parents and children, and of 
 brothers respectively. Then, again, the elder and the 
 younger in general are expected to respect each other as the 
 case demands, and the relationship between them is to be 
 regulated by a term which is equivalent to the English word 
 " order," that is to say, the younger should not seek to 
 supersede the elder, but to pay respect to him, whilst the 
 elder is expected not to take advantage of the younger but 
 to treat him with kindness. The relationship between 
 master and pupil is also regarded as very important. The 
 pupils are expected to respect their master almost as much 
 as their parents, while the master is expected to treat his 
 pupils with parental kindness ; no businesslike thought is 
 to enter their minds. In the olden times in the East the 
 system of teaching and learning was very different to that 
 which exists in these modern days. The teacher taught 
 his pupils out of the love of imparting his knowledge and 
 virtuous example as well as the doctrinal principles he enter- 
 tained, whilst the pupils were supposed to gather around 
 him out of their admiration for the personality of their 
 master and for the purpose of receiving his instructions and 
 influence for their personal improvement and future use- 
 fulness. Such being the case, it was no wonder that the 
 relationship between a master and his pupil was regarded 
 as of so much importance in ethics. 
 
 Apart from these classifications the virtuous attributes 
 of man are spoken of in several other ways. We have first 
 of all " wisdom, humanity, and courage." These three are 
 considered to be the three greatest traits of character to be 
 embodied in one person. Wisdom may not exactly fall 
 under the category of a virtue in its strictest sense, but I 
 suppose we need not be very critical on this point. In this 
 instance humanity, that is " jen " in the Chinese original, 
 may be interpreted as comprising every other virtue besides 
 mere mercifulness. There is^ another catalogue, viz. : 
 " humanity, justice, decorum, wisdom, and faithfulness." 
 
 1 80 
 
THE ETHICS OF JAPAN 
 
 These five are considered essential elements of virtue for 
 regulating a community, and should be observed by each 
 member of it. There is another — " filial piety, brotherly 
 friendship, loyalty, and faithfulness ; " these give guidance 
 to a man in his capacity of a son, a brother, a subject, and 
 a friend. There is yet another — " sympatheticability, 
 goodness, respectfulness, self-restraint, and modesty." 
 These are virtues considered important as regards one's 
 self-control. As to the women, " quietness, modesty, and 
 purity " are considered the ideal traits of their character, 
 besides all those which I have just described above, which 
 are of course applicable to women to an extent^almost equal 
 to men. 
 
 In the West the term love plays an extensive part in 
 governing all the mutual relationships of the kinds enumera- 
 ted above. The essence of Oriental ideas does not differ 
 from it in its purport, but expressed in words the word love 
 does not play so extensive and imperative a part as it does 
 in the West, because in the Confucian doctrine different 
 technical terms are used, as we have already seen, to meet 
 each particular case. The word love is used very sparingly 
 in the Confucian books, and it is used more especially for 
 designating one kind of virtue as, for example, " extensive 
 love " meaning philanthropy in the Western sense or 
 *' charity " in the sense in which it is used in the English 
 New Testament. The word " jen," which ordinarily may 
 be translated as humanity, more resembles the Western 
 word love, because that word " jen " may be interpreted 
 in many ways suitable to the occasion on which it is used, 
 almost in the same way, and in a similar sense, that the 
 word love can be used. But the meaning of that word 
 " jen " is more comprehensive and deeper, because it implies 
 some other meaning than mere attachment. I will not 
 worry you by going into full details of the interpretation 
 of that word, as it is too technical. There is, however, one 
 thing worth noticing about the word love in Chinese. When 
 that word is singled out it is also applicable to many cases, 
 including the relationship above enumerated. Thus it can 
 be used in a very comprehensive manner, and thence there 
 arises a question about the essence of the word. The ques- 
 tion is whether the notion of love is absolute, and conse- 
 quently has no gradation or differentiation in its nature. 
 
 i8i 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 At the time of Mencius, sometime after Confucius, there 
 was a school of philosophers who maintained that there 
 ought not to be any differentiation, but Mencius maintained 
 that that was a fallacy. The word may be the same, but 
 the practice may be differentiated according to the circum- 
 stances. The meaning is that one should love a nearer 
 object more than a distant one, and thus the ethical notion 
 of cosmopolitanism was reconciled with other notions of 
 different virtues — in other words, if one does good to his 
 neighbour more than to a stranger, or if one does more good 
 to his country than to other lands, out of the feeling of love, 
 it is quite justifiable from an ethical point of view, and thus 
 Chinese ethics are made reconcilable with the principles of 
 state. And this is, I think, an important landmark in which 
 Confucianism differs from the features of an ordinary religion, 
 which in its essence is, as a rule, founded upon cosmopolitan- 
 ism, and knows not an artificial boundary of states. 
 
 There is a Chinese maxim which says, " No loyal subject 
 serves two masters, and no virtuous woman sees two men." 
 The cardinal points of the Chinese ethics are loyalty and 
 filial piety ; so that, although all sorts of virtues are incul- 
 cated, greater importance is placed on these two points. 
 In China, learning means studying moral teaching. There 
 are, of course, many subjects for study, but moral notions 
 pervade every branch of literature. It is so, even with 
 history. Chinese histories, as a rule record only events as 
 they occur ; they have no historical or political observa- 
 tions, and any observations made by the writers are written 
 in such a way as to draw attention from a moral standpoint. 
 Their histories, therefore, have very little value in the 
 ordinary sense of history, as the term is employed among 
 Western nations, but the fact remains that they pay much 
 attention to moral lessons. Their expositions of moral 
 teaching are done more in the way of philosophical or 
 scholastic dissertations. The ethics of China, however, 
 were not necessarily identical throughout the long period 
 of her history, extending over several tens of centuries. 
 There were several schools of philosophers besides Confucius, 
 some of whom even went so far as to differ from him in many 
 points ; and also the interpretations of Confucianism differed 
 at different epochs. But the chief feature of his teaching 
 has always remained the same, and all that I have said 
 
 182 
 
THE ETHICS OF JAPAN 
 
 about it above represents fairly the idea of Confucian doc- 
 trine. It is natural that Confucianism should be regarded 
 as a sort of religion, because its followers respect it almost 
 as a believer in religion respects his creed ; moreover, Confuci- 
 anism recognizes in a measure the existence of some supreme 
 power. It speaks of heaven in the sense of a power ; it 
 speaks of the " Commandment of heaven " ; it even speaks of 
 the ' ' supreme emperor, ' ' meaning the supreme being. It also 
 recognizes the immortality of the soul, though in a vague 
 manner, and pays great attention to festivals given in honour 
 of one's ancestors ; to use a common phrase, it worships 
 the ancestors. But the parts of Confucianism which relate 
 to the future of man only form a subordinate element of it, 
 so much so that Confucius himself once said, " I do not yet 
 know the living, how can I know the dead ? " At all events, 
 I, in common with most Orientals, do not regard Confuci- 
 anism as a religion in its ordinary sense. There are of course 
 many customs and matters of etiquette sanctioned by 
 Confucianism, or rather enforced by it, which are absurd or 
 impracticable in the eyes of the Japanese, but there is no 
 necessity for me to dwell upon these shortcomings here. 
 
 Let us now see what is Shintoism. It is essentially indi- 
 genous to the soil of Japan. It may be regarded as religion, 
 and yet if it be a religion it is certainly of a unique kind, 
 having nevertheless much similarity to the ancient cults 
 of the Greeks and the Romans. It has no founder, nor has 
 it any dogmas, in the ordinary sense of a religion. It has 
 grown up with the customs and traditions and general 
 characteristics of the nation. It recognizes the immortality 
 of the soul ; it acknowledges the existence of supernatural 
 powers ; it reverences the ancestral spirits, and therefore 
 it may be called a religion of ancestral worship. In that 
 respect it resembles Confucianism. It concerns itself, how- 
 ever, with temporal affairs far more than with spiritual 
 affairs. In this respect also it very largely resembles Con- 
 fucianism. It has existed in Japan from time immemorial, 
 long before the introduction of Confucianism and Buddhism. 
 
 From an ethical point of view it has more teaching in it than 
 Buddhism, but it is not so elaborate as Confucianism. Never- 
 theless, it has a tight grasp of the Japanese mind. It is 
 supremely content with its simple tenets, so much so that 
 
 183 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 a well-known scholar, who was a devout supporter of it, 
 when speaking of its ethical teaching in comparison with 
 Confucianism, once said that " We do not want so many 
 nomenclatures as Confucianism requires to signify all sorts 
 of virtues and good conduct, and our simple teaching is 
 quite enough to cover all." 
 
 Shintoism is also based upon a patriarchal form of com- 
 munity. Its essential notion of ethics is cleanliness of 
 conscience ; but the idea of cleanliness is applied not only 
 mentally but also physically — hence its tendency to bodily 
 cleanliness as well as other cognate matters. It speaks of 
 good and bad ; it designates bad minds as " black " or 
 " muddy," and good minds as " red " or " clear." Its ideals 
 of conduct are honesty and straightforwardness. It rever- 
 ences its ruler from the very nature of its cult, and a magni- 
 ficent ideal of a subject and a citizen is developed from these 
 simple notions. 
 
 Such are then the three great sources of Japanese ethics. 
 It is like the foam produced by currents of water. The 
 water is the source, but when foam is produced it differs 
 from actual water. So Japanese ethics are produced by 
 the intermingled notions of these agencies, but they are no 
 longer of the same substance as their source. I mean to 
 say that our ethics have formed their shape quite independ- 
 ently of the orthodox or dogmatic parts of any religion, and 
 people regard them as such in the same way as one would ordi- 
 narily regard foam as differing from water. I will now explain 
 how this has been brought about. From about the sixth 
 century of the Christain era Chinese study was introduced 
 into Japan, and almost simultaneously Buddhism was also 
 introduced to our country. The study of Chinese, as I said 
 before, means the study of Chinese ethics, and I may say 
 that Chinese has become almost like our own literature, 
 though we had our vernacular literature co-existing. The 
 study of Chinese, therefore, meant the introduction of Chinese 
 ethical notions, in the same way as the study of Greek or 
 Latin introduced Greek or Roman notions into European 
 countries. This, however, did not mean that it supplanted 
 our own ideas of morality, but it rather supplemented and 
 augmented our notions in so far as it concerned the nomen- 
 clature and classification of different ethical virtues. We 
 did not mean to make ourselves slaves to Chinese notions, 
 
 184 
 
THE ETHICS OF JAPAN 
 
 we rather utilized Confucianism ; and therefore Confucian- 
 ism, as interpreted in Japan, is not the same as Con- 
 fucianism in China. There is a story told of a Japanese 
 professor, who was a deeply read Chinese scholar, and 
 his pupils. The master once asked his pupils, " Suppose 
 China invaded Japan with an army led by Confucius 
 himself as the generalissimo, and assisted by Mencius 
 as his lieutenant ; what would you do ? " The pupils 
 replied, " It would be our bounden duty to take up arms 
 unhesitatingly for our country and beat and crush them to 
 pieces." Thereupon the master smiled and expressed his 
 glad assent. This will show how we interpret Chinese 
 teaching. Then also Buddhism, poor as it is in ethics, has 
 contributed something towards forming our national char- 
 acter, in that it has indirectly assisted in inculcating gentle- 
 ness, and also kindliness to living beings. I may go a step 
 further : Buddhism itself as interpreted in Japan is not the 
 same Buddhism as it was originally. It had to accommodate 
 itself to the requirements of the country. Then also Buddhism 
 in China and Japan is studied in books which are translated 
 into Chinese, and therefore the priests who study their own 
 religion have also to study Chinese, which, I repeat, involves 
 the study of Confucianism, and therefore they are familiar 
 with that teaching. The Japanese priests, therefore, made 
 use of Shintoism and Confucianism in their own teaching 
 on any points where they found their own teaching was 
 deficient, that is to say, that they did so in practical and 
 moral teaching. And, not only that, we notice even the 
 dictum of Buddhism itself is sometimes modified to suit 
 such purposes. I mentioned above four benevolences 
 spoken of in Buddhism as being " the father and the mother," 
 " the ruler of the land," " all beings," and " the three 
 treasures." I do not know whether this is to be found in 
 the Sanscrit original, I think it is not, it sounds more like 
 a Chinese Buddhistic notion. It is still further modified in 
 an old Japanese book as " heaven and earth," " the ruler 
 of the land," " the father and the mother," and all " beings." 
 And thus for " the three treasures " is substituted " heaven 
 and earth." This occurs in a passage which is put into the 
 mouth of a famous Shigemori in a discourse which he made 
 when he severely admonished his father Taira-no Kiyomori, 
 though with filial tenderness, when the latter had behaved 
 
 185 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 badly towards his sovereign the Emperor. The passage is 
 to be found in a famous book written in the middle of the 
 fourteenth century by Kitabatake Chikafusa, who was a 
 court noble, a royalist, and a man with much knowledge 
 of Buddhism. 
 
 Here I have to speak of Bushido. The term, as well as 
 its general purport, has been of late made widely known in 
 this country ; but, as many people wish it, I will say some- 
 thing about it, although it may be only, as we say, " adding 
 legs to the picture of a serpent," I mean it maybe quite an 
 unnecessary addition. Bushi literally means a military 
 gentleman, or in more common English, a military man ; 
 and " do " literally means a road or way, and in its extended 
 significance, a principle, a teaching, or a doctrine. The 
 term for " Bushi " in old refined Japanese is " Mononofu," 
 and the term for " do " is " Michi," therefore the more 
 refined ancient Japanese name for Bushido was Mononofu- 
 no-Michi. The origin of the " Bushi "is as follows : They 
 were originally large or small landlords of the provincial 
 parts of Japan, and had their retainers or vassals. At the 
 time when, in the court of the empire, over-refinement, or 
 rather effeminacy, succeeded enhghtenment, and nobles who 
 usually resided in the capital came to despise military service, 
 those landlords and their retainers began to play military 
 roles under different distinguished leaders. They were 
 more prominent in the eastern parts of the country, called 
 Kwanto, namely, the large plain, in the middle of which 
 modern Tokio is situated. With the march of events, when 
 the governing power fell into the hands of the military 
 leaders, these landlords and their retainers began to form an 
 hereditary class, and the system extended to the whole 
 country ; this is the origin of Daimio and Samurai. I do 
 not say that in the case of later developments of this system 
 all Daimio and Samurai necessarily belonged to the same 
 ancient stock, because at the time when the country went 
 through many stages of war many new men appeared on 
 the scene and enlisted themselves in the ranks of the Samurai, 
 among them the Bushi, several of whom became Daimios 
 themselves by their personal valour and the distinction they 
 attained. But I may say that on the whole the successive 
 stages of the class always inherited and handed down the 
 same sort of sentiments and notions as their predecessors. 
 
 i86 
 
THE ETHICS OF JAPAN 
 
 We may in a measure compare this military class with the 
 country squires in this country, who gradually became 
 barons of the Middle Ages, together with their children and 
 retainers. " Bushido " is no other than the doctrine held 
 and cherished by that class as its code of honour and rule 
 of discipline. In the earliest days of the development of 
 that class, individuals forming it were not cultured or 
 enlightened in the sense of luxurious refinement ; in other 
 words, they were mostly illiterate. But on the other hand 
 they were mostly men with healthy notions of manliness 
 in contrast to those who usually lived in the capital town, 
 where literary and artistic culture under Chinese influence 
 had been attained in a marked degree. The motive and 
 sense of their culture were therefore more like those belonging 
 to primitive Japan, unstained by foreign influences. The 
 families belonging to this class were called in their early 
 days "The houses of the bow and arrow." Needless to say 
 that the early projectile weapons of warfare were the bow 
 and arrow, and they had a place of honour amongst the war- 
 like instruments of those days. Little by little a phrase, 
 " Yumi-ya-no-michi," literally meaning " The ways of the 
 bow and arrow," came into existence, and it was the original 
 name of Bushido. At first, perhaps, the word referred more 
 especially to the proper use of the instrument of war, but 
 it soon came to signify something more. There were many 
 ceremonies and etiquettes which grew up with a warrior's 
 life and military affairs, not only with reference to his com- 
 rades or to his superiors and inferiors, but also with reference 
 to how he should comport himself towards his enemy. 
 At the bottom of all these matters there lay the idea of 
 honour, not merely one's own honour, but also a compas- 
 sionate regard for the honour of the enemy. All these ideas 
 came to be implied in the term " The ways of the bow and 
 arrow." Here we see that special moral sentiments were 
 being awakened among this class. Bushido, however, has 
 no particular dogma or canon, except such as grew from 
 practice, and except those of which we can gather some 
 idea from instructions given by certain leaders or by certain 
 teachers of military ceremonies or science in the way of 
 interpretation of such matters. Here we have an instruction 
 given to his men by Yoritomo, the first Shogun, and there- 
 fore one of the early leaders of the system. The essential 
 
 187 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 points of the instructions are these : i. Practise and mature 
 miHtary arts. 2. Be not guilty of any base or rude conduct. 
 3. Be not cowardly or effeminate in behaviour. 4. Be 
 simple and frugal. 5. The master and servants should 
 mutually respect their indebtedness. 6. Keep a promise. 
 7. Share a common fate by mutual bondage in defiance of 
 death or life. 
 
 We may say that notions such as these were the founda- 
 tions of the ethical parts of Bushido. These will mean when 
 interpreted in ethical terms of the Chinese school : i. Dili- 
 gence in one's profession. 2. Love and loyalty between 
 master and servants. 3. Decorum and propriety. 4. Gal- 
 lantry and bravery. 5. Trustfulness and justice. 6. Sim- 
 plicity and frugality. 7. Contempt of meanness. 
 
 At the bottom of these lay the sense of honour. When 
 speaking of any action as unworthy of a Bushi, the following 
 phrase was customarily used in early days, " It is disgraceful 
 in the presence of the hand of the bow and arrow," as in 
 later days one would say " A disgrace to Bushi," in the same 
 way as you would say in English, "It is unbecoming to a 
 gentleman." The term " Bushi " has in many ways a 
 similar meaning to " gentleman " in English. Bushido, 
 of course, encouraged bravery above all things. In an old 
 book describing the war between Gen and Hei, an account 
 of the bravery of Bushi of Kwanto — namely, the plain above 
 referred to as that where Bushido originated — is put into 
 the mouth of a general of Hei as having been addressed to 
 his generalissimo, who commanded the army of Hei, which 
 was formed of recruits coming from Kioto and its neighbour- 
 hood. The narrative was to this effect : — 
 
 According to the usage of the warriors of the East, the son 
 would not withdraw from the battlefield though his father might die, 
 or the father would not think of retiring though his son might fall. 
 He would advance and advance, and jumping over the dead, would 
 fight regardless of death or life. As to our own men, they are all 
 weakly recruits from the neighbourhood of the capital [where effemi- 
 nacy reigned at the time]. If the father were wounded, the son 
 and all the members of the family would take advantage of this and 
 retire ; if the master were killed, his followers would utilize the 
 chance, and, hand in hand with their brothers, would withdraw and 
 disappear. 
 
 This may be a somewhat exaggerated account, but it will 
 
 188 
 
THE ETHICS OF JAPAN 
 
 show how greatly the original Bushi estimated bravery, in 
 the same way as our men do in these days. 
 
 In addition to these characteristics, some other features 
 which were brought into more prominence are entitled to 
 be singled out, namely, fortitude, generosity, imperturba- 
 bility in the presence of danger or on any unexpected oc- 
 currence, compassionateness, and straightforwardness. This 
 kind of attitude was inculcated even in physical exercises 
 of different modes of fighting, such as fencing, practice with 
 the spear, and jujitsu. There is a verse composed by a 
 Japanese which may be translated thus : — 
 
 Even in the eyes of the warrior 
 
 Whose beard is ten fists long, 
 
 The one thing that softly flows from them 
 
 Is the tear which is due to love. 
 
 This aptly expresses the innate tenderness of heart of a 
 Japanese warrior. There is another verse composed and 
 penned by Commander Takeo Hirose in Chinese just before 
 he went to his doom on the occasion of the second bottling 
 up of Port Arthur, and which, therefore, constituted his 
 last utterance in this world ; translated into English it runs 
 as follows : — 
 
 Would that I could be born seven times 
 And sacrifice my life for my country : 
 Resolved to die, my mind is firm, 
 And again expecting to win success, 
 Smiling I go on board. 
 
 This will show the fortitude and determination of a Bushi 
 at the hour of his exit from this life, and though Hirose was 
 a man of our own day, he may be regarded as one of the 
 best types of an old Bushi. 
 
 Bushi is not foreign to Shintoism ; as a matter of fact, 
 Bushi generally respect Shinto deities, and, moreover, some 
 military ceremonies were performed in the supposed pres- 
 ence of a Shinto god. Bushi openly invoke the god of war 
 without any compunction, but Bushi never have done so 
 in a bigoted way. It was more in the way of reverence paid 
 to a deity of their inherited cult. They were never devotees 
 of Shintoism as a religion. This sort of sentiment of the 
 Japanese is very difficult to explain with clearness, but my 
 meaning is that though they do not despise religion they 
 place more importance on the affairs of the world and on 
 
 189 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 their own exertions in the matters which they undertake. 
 The Samurai do not worship their deity in order that their 
 souls may be safely rescued in the future. I can therefore 
 say that Bushido, as such, has no bearing upon Shintoism. 
 It has its own independent existence, although to the extent 
 I have just referred to it has its connexion with Shintoism. 
 In other words, Shintoism was a cult founded upon our old 
 customs and traditions, and therefore Bushi also shared the 
 sentiments pervading that cult, but we cannot say that 
 Shinto has produced Bushido. 
 
 And again, Bushi do not despise Buddhism ; on the contrary, 
 many of them may revere it, but Bushido, as such, has no 
 connexion with this faith. In documents they often make 
 use of a phrase in a vague way, " By the help of Shin-Butsu," 
 meaning both the Shinto deity and Buddha ; but it does 
 not mean that it has any foundation in Buddhism. If a 
 Bushi were a believer in Buddha he probably would not 
 like to show it. We have a story about Yoritomo, the first 
 head of the Shogunate. When he first started in his youth 
 his campaign against Hei, and hid himself in a mountain 
 nook, having been defeated by his enemy he took out from 
 his queue a small image of Kwanin (Kwannon) which he 
 reverenced, saying, " If my head be taken by the enemy 
 it would not be becoming to the generalissimo of Gen if this 
 image were to be discovered." This will give you an idea 
 of the way in which Buddha was viewed by Bushi. As we 
 all know. Buddhism chiefly speaks of the future world. 
 The idea of the Bushi was that it was an act of cowardice 
 if one merely did good because one wished to be saved in 
 the future world. Their idea was that good should be done 
 for its own sake, and therefore if one believed in Buddha 
 he had a sort of apprehension that he might be considered 
 a coward. Of course history is not wanting in many in- 
 stances of great warriors believing in Buddhism, but in 
 many cases this fact had no great significance as far as their 
 conduct and conscience were concerned. There was, how- 
 ever, one feature in which a certain aspect of Buddhism 
 had a considerable influence in moulding Bushido ; it was 
 the influence of the teaching of the Zen sect. This requires 
 some explanation. In the thesis of Buddhistic teaching 
 there is included the idea of absorbing everything in the 
 universe into oneself ; in other words, mental annihilation of 
 
 190 
 
THE ETHICS OF JAPAN 
 
 all things except oneself. This is done by long and fixed 
 meditation, and at least so far as he himself is concerned, 
 a man can for the moment imagine and realize mentally 
 that he is the only being in the universe, and all other things 
 become nothing. Hence, when he is accustomed to medita- 
 tion of that description, nothing will ever surprise or frighten 
 him. There is a story about Hieuntsang, the famous 
 Chinese Buddhist of the Tan period, who visited India. 
 This priest was once caught by a band of robbers. He sat 
 quietly down and began to meditate in the way described 
 above. The robbers tried to intimidate him by threatening 
 him with drawn swords pushed right into his face ; but the 
 priest took no notice whatever of what they were doing 
 to him, and remained entirely unmoved. The robbers, 
 observing the attitude of the priest, and thinking that he must 
 be an extraordinary personage, all went away and left him 
 alone. This phase of Buddhism was introduced into China, 
 where it became the cult of one separate sect of Buddhism. 
 Bodhi-Dharma, an Indian priest, who visited China, is 
 commonly accepted as the founder of this sect, which prac- 
 tises meditation more than do other sects, but of course 
 meditation is not its only feature. In general we may say 
 it is more philosophical in the sense of regarding the universe 
 in a nihilistic sense. This sect is called Zen, and it has been 
 introduced into Japan also. It was patronized by several 
 eminent Bushi in its earlier stages. Perhaps it was liked 
 by them in that according to its doctrine a man puts aside 
 the idea of reliance upon another, and places himself above 
 everything else, and it was found to have an agreeable re- 
 semblance to the spirit of self-reliance inculcated by Bushido. 
 In the second place, it repels all ideas of luxury and display, 
 and values simplicity and cleanliness ; and in that respect 
 it was found to bear an agreeable resemblance to the frugal 
 and simple life of the Bushi. Thus the Zen came to exercise 
 its influence over the Bushi, but not at all in the sense of 
 believing in future felicity ; quite to the contrary, from 
 the very nature of that sect. This influence of Zen seems 
 to have helped to a great extent the development of some 
 of the characteristics of Bushido, such as imperturbability, 
 stoicism, fortitude, and simplicity and cleanliness of thought 
 or body. Here I may add that many traits of Bushido are 
 no doubt to be found in the European knighthoods of former 
 
 191 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 days, and therefore they are not really new to the Europeans 
 who still remember those traditions. 
 
 The weakest point of Bushido in its earlier stages was its 
 want of literary culture in the way of systematic ethical 
 study : hence it easily happened that a thing one might regard 
 as correct might not be correct in reality when examined 
 from a higher point of view. This difficulty was especially 
 observable when two obligations came into conflict, and 
 one had to be preferred to the other. The Bushi, in the 
 earlier stages, knew more about their duty to their immediate 
 master than to higher ones ; hence their difficulty in dis- 
 criminating their duty to the supreme ruler of the land and 
 that to their immediate head. Of course they knew that 
 the Emperor was the highest personage in the country, 
 but they were unable to find out an ethical solution of the 
 question, and indeed in all matters they wanted more syste- 
 matic enlightenment; 
 
 These wants, however, have been supplied gradually as 
 time went on, especially during the last three centuries. 
 During this period almost unbroken peace reigned in the 
 country. It ceased to have any intercourse with foreign 
 countries except in a limited sense, but internally all branches 
 of art and industry were encouraged and developed side 
 by side. The study of Chinese and of native classics has 
 been carried on in all parts of the land, and it was the Bushi 
 who chiefly devoted themselves to such culture. Bushi or 
 Samurai were retainers, as every one knows, of their lords, 
 and certain pensions were given by their lords to each family, 
 according to their rank, so that they had not to work for 
 their own living. Hence their only duty was to make them- 
 selves physically and mentally fit to fight for their lords in 
 time of necessity, and, in times of peace, to make themselves 
 as much like gentlemen as possible. In other words, physical 
 training and mental enlightenment, together with the refine- 
 ment of their manners and habits, were their sole business 
 — they had no other occupation. For, indeed, any other 
 occupation which partook of the shape of business conducted 
 for profit was forbidden, and was despised among them. 
 Bushido came to be deeply imbued with the principles of 
 Chinese and Japanese classics as they were taught. I have 
 shown above that in the systematic exposition of ethical 
 ideas, Confucianism was the richest of all, and the essential 
 
 192 
 
THE ETHICS OF JAPAN 
 
 part of it was taken by Bushido ; as I have also shown above. 
 There are, however, some defects in the Chinese teaching ; 
 all the unimportant parts, therefore, were cast away, and the 
 important parts were taken into the teaching of Bushido, 
 and even these parts, only in such a way as to suit our 
 national traditions and characteristics. The essential 
 spirit of Shintoism was also resuscitated in Bushido in 
 such a way as to give an impetus to it, but in no orthodox 
 manner. Such then is our Bushido. The Bushi formed 
 the governing class of the Japanese society, and it may 
 be also said to have formed the educated class ; or, 
 in other words, the Bushi may be called the gentry 
 of the country. We can, therefore, say that Bushido was 
 the ethics of Japanese society. In one way it may be said 
 that Bushido, as such, was a monopoly of the military class, 
 but in truth its spirit was not confined to this only ; the 
 literary study of Chinese, as well as of native classics, was 
 not necessarily limited to the military class ; hence the same 
 notions which were imbued in it through these studies were 
 also quietly extending their influence among people at large 
 — amongst whom, I may add, there were many families of 
 old Bushi, or families which were quite equal in their stand- 
 ing to the Bushi class. Moreover, the spirit of Bushido 
 has also been making its influence felt by other people 
 in general. Thus we can see that the nation has been 
 preparing itself for centuries for the promotion of moral 
 ideas of the same kind as those of Bushido. 
 
 The cardinal points of Oriental ethics, as may be expected, 
 are loyalty and filial piety. In China, filial piety takes pre- 
 cedence, but in Japan loyalty stands iirst. There is a poem 
 by Sanetomo, the third Shogun of Kamakura and second 
 son of the first Shogun, which may be translated literally 
 as follows : — 
 
 The sea may dry up. 
 The mountain may burst asunder, 
 But no dupHcity of thought 
 Shall I have to my Sovereign. 
 
 Such is the idea of loyalty which has been taught to the 
 Japanese for centuries. Side by side with loyalty the idea of 
 patriotism — a term which in Japanese is practically identi- 
 cal in its purport with loyalty — was also inculcated, though 
 the development of the last idea was later than the former. 
 
 193 o 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Then also all the other ideas relating to ethics, especially 
 on the lines indicated in Confucianism, were inculcated side 
 by side. With the abolition of the feudal system, some 
 thirty years ago, the structure of Japanese society was 
 totally changed, or rather restored to the condition which 
 preceded the ascendency of the military class in the twelfth 
 century. The question now arises. What is the actual state of 
 ethics in Japan at present ? There is a new element which has 
 been introduced into Japan in recent years : the element of 
 Christian teaching ; in short of Christianity. The Constitution 
 guarantees freedom of conscience, and therefore there is no 
 hindrance to the propagation of the Christian doctrine with its 
 moral teaching, and, as a matter of fact, there are a number of 
 Japanese who have embraced that faith, but they are, after 
 all, a very small minority compared with the number of the 
 whole Japanese population. The essence of Japanese ethics 
 is the same as existed prior to the new epoch, with certain 
 modifications actuated by the new force of the altered con- 
 ditions which, after all, affect only small details. I may 
 say, in a word, that the Japanese ideal ethics form an exten- 
 sion of Bushido among the people at large from the still 
 extant class of Bushi with whom it originated. The sphere 
 of the teaching is extensive, as is necessary from the very 
 nature of the matter, but its essence may be summed up 
 in a comparatively small compass. For this I cannot do 
 better than quote a part of the so-called " Imperial Educa- 
 tional Rescript " given to his people by the present Emperor. 
 It is given in a previous chapter on the " Moral Teaching 
 of Japan," but I will recite it once more : — 
 
 *' It is our desire that you, our subjects, be filial to your parents 
 and well-disposed to your brothers and sisters. Let husband and 
 wife dwell harmoniously together ; let friends be mutually trust- 
 worthy. Impose upon yourselves self-restraint and rectitude of 
 behaviour. Extend to the multitude philanthropy. Advance learn- 
 ing and regulate your pursuits, developing the intellectual faculties, 
 and perfecting the virtuous and useful elements. Further, seek to 
 enhance the public good and enlighten the world by deeds of social 
 benefit. Treasure always the fundamental constitution and respect 
 the national laws. In any emergency exert yourselves in the public 
 service, and exhibit voluntarily your bravery in the cause of order. 
 And by every means assist and promote the prosperity of the Imperial 
 regime, which is lasting as the heavens and the earth. Thus you 
 will not only be our loyal subjects and good citizens, but will manifest 
 the highest and best traditions of your ancestors. 
 
 194 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE RELIGIONS OF JAPAN ^ 
 
 THIS chapter is an attempt to explain the relative posi- 
 tions of Confucianism, Shintoism, and Buddhism 
 in Japan. It is literally a plain explanation of facts as they 
 were and as they are. I have no thought of attaching 
 thereto any arguments, either pro or con, or of instituting 
 comparisons between these and other religions. 
 
 In the Occident an individual has only one faith, or 
 no faith at all, at a time. Every faith is distinct from all 
 others, however closely they may individually approach one 
 another. The Occidentals often try to peer into the inner- 
 most recesses, so to speak, of Oriental faiths,without aban- 
 doning their " one person, one faith " standpoint ; hence 
 the first difficulty they encounter is to establish thoroughly 
 the relative positions, as they deem them to exist, of 
 Shintoism and Buddhism. They also give an undue prom- 
 inence to Confucianism in its religious aspect ; hence the 
 second difficulty in understanding its exact position with re- 
 gard to Shintoism and Buddhism. Let me briefly dispose 
 of these obstacles to enlightenment. 
 
 To begin with, Confucianism is never looked upon in 
 the Far East, at all events not in Japan, as a religion. Con- 
 fucius and his famous followers are no more regarded as the 
 founders or promulgators of a religion than are Socrates, 
 Plato, or Aristotle so esteemed in the West. Confucian 
 precepts of morality pervade every branch of our culture, 
 it is true. But Confucianism is with us only cultivated as 
 tending toward elevation of intelligence and of ethical no- 
 tions, never as a religion. This being the case, both Shin- 
 toism and Buddhism are very good friends with Confucian- 
 
 ^ The Independent Review y December, 1904. 
 
 195 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 ism. As a matter of fact, both Buddhism and Shintoism 
 rely upon Confucianism, to a great extent, so far as practical 
 ethical teachings are concerned ; inasmuch as the latter, 
 defective as it may be, is richer than themselves in that 
 respect. It is true that, during the Tokugawa regime, 
 when Confucianism attained its zenith in Japan, there were 
 some cases of men being buried by special permission of 
 the Government according to the Confucian rites of burial, 
 in evasion of Buddhist rites, on account of the staunch 
 adhesion of the dead persons to Confucianism during life. 
 Even in these cases, it was more on account of the philoso- 
 phical notions imbibed from Confucianism by the deceased, 
 than out of respect for it as a religion, that these rites were 
 observed ; and, besides, such cases were exceedingly few 
 in number, so much so that we could count them on the 
 fingers. There were scholars whose special studies were 
 Chinese, and who made it their profession, as it were, and 
 were therefore called " Jusha " (literati). A number of 
 these scholars were buried according to those rites. The 
 House of the Prince of Mito, and one or two other daimios, 
 used these rites of burial from a similar cause. These 
 were about all. 
 
 As to the relative positions of Shintoism and Buddhism, 
 I can say, broadly speaking, that all Japanese belong to both 
 of them at one and the same time (Christian converts ex- 
 cepted, of course, and they are not alluded to in this paper, 
 for it would only confuse the subject). As a matter of fact, 
 all Japanese, before the restoration of the Imperial regime 
 in 1868, had to belong to both faiths. This must appear 
 to be a somewhat startling proposition for me to advance ; 
 but it was literally so in the days of the Shoguns. 
 
 After the cessation of Spanish and Portuguese missionary 
 labours, some three centuries ago, Christianity was forbidden 
 throughout the Empire, and no other foreign religion was 
 known. Buddhism, though originally foreign, was not 
 regarded as such. In those days every family in Japan 
 had practically to subscribe itself to one or other of the native 
 religious denominations ; there was, in some parts of the 
 land, even a special process periodically gone through in 
 proof that the household had no leanings towards Christi- 
 anity. These religious denominations only meant one or 
 other sect of Buddhism. Shintoism was not included in the 
 
 196 
 
THE RELIGIONS OF JAPAN 
 
 category. But a doubt will arise in the minds of my readers, 
 how it came about in that case that they, the Japanese, also 
 belonged to Shintoism. The explanation was simply that 
 in those days Shintoism was not looked upon as a religion, 
 in the sense in which religion is ordinarily understood in 
 the West. There was, in each communal corporation or 
 section of such, or in a few such corporations or sections in 
 common, as the case might be, one or other Shinto deity, 
 consecrated in a temple and regarded as the guardian god 
 of those portions of the land, somewhat in the same fashion 
 as a country, or part of a country, in the West has a patron 
 saint. The people residing in the district formed a sort of 
 congregation, and supported that temple,quite independently 
 of their connexion with the Buddhistic congregation to 
 which they belonged. The peculiar difference between 
 these two kinds of congregation was, that the Shinto con- 
 gregations owed their formation mainly to considerations 
 of locality, whilst the Buddhist ones were more in the nature 
 of assemblies of individual families, somewhat similiar to 
 the congregations of the West. Besides local Shinto tem- 
 ples, there were many more of them of greater sanctity, 
 such as those at Ise, which were more elevated and more 
 popular, and were places of worship for the people at large. 
 In English, all buildings consecrated to the worship of deities, 
 be they Shinto or Buddhist, are commonly called " temples "; 
 but in Japanese the names are different. One is a tera, 
 the other a miya. There was a sort of division of labour, 
 as it were, between Shintoism and Buddhism. 
 
 Broadly speaking, matters relating to temporal affairs 
 belonged to the sphere of Shintoism, and those relating to 
 spiritual ones belonged to the sphere of Buddhism. The 
 spirit of Shintoism was clean and bright, whilst that of 
 Buddhism was gloomy and dark. Hence, sacred services, 
 which it was fitting should be pathetic in character, were 
 performed by Buddhist priests, and those which were to be 
 cheerful were performed by Shinto ones. The functions of 
 priests were divided on those lines in general ; thus, funeral 
 rites and memorial services for the dead were undertaken 
 by the former, whilst the celebration of happy events was 
 performed by the latter. For instance, when rites of " puri- 
 fication " were performed, as was often done, on the site 
 of some new building, prior to the commencement of the 
 
 197 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 workmen's labours, they would be done by a Shinto priest ; 
 or when a baby was taken out of the house for the first for- 
 mal occasion, it was always to a Shinto temple that it was 
 carried, and there it would be received by a Shinto priest, 
 and an appropriate prayer would be offered by him to the 
 Shinto deity, at the request of those who accompanied 
 the child. One would, in the old days, never have thought 
 of inviting a Buddhist priest to a wedding, though no pre- 
 judice existed against a Shinto priest ; and of late a wedding 
 is even occasionally celebrated in a Shinto temple. Shinto 
 burials were very rare ; they were occasionally heard of in 
 connexion with the families of the hereditary Shinto priests, 
 but, even in those cases, an additional religious service was 
 almost invariably performed by Buddhist priests. Thus 
 we can easily see that there was little conflict of functions 
 between Shintoism and Buddhism. Generally speaking, 
 this state of things continues to this day, though, of course, 
 entire freedom of conscience is guaranteed by the Consti- 
 tution. By-the-by, to join the Buddhistic priesthood was 
 in one sense regarded as giving up all individual pretensions 
 and claims to worldly rights and privileges as a man. So 
 much so, that the old refined Japanese term for the priests 
 was Yo-sute-hito, i.e. men who had abandoned the world. 
 Then, too, the essence of Buddhism has always been con- 
 sidered to consist of being compassionate (or merciful), 
 as may be seen hereafter. Hence, there existed some 
 peculiar customs in the feudal period, leaving some slight 
 traces even now. Thus, to shave off one's hair and pro- 
 fess to join the priesthood was the greatest sign for acknow- 
 ledging one's own fault ; for example, if a beaten chieftain 
 asked for peace, after having his head clean shaven, it was 
 not to be thought of by the conqueror to push the matter 
 to the extreme ; or if a man serving a chieftain committed 
 an offence deserving capital punishment, and a priest, ob- 
 serving that there existed some ground for compassion, that 
 his life should be spared, proceeded to " beg his life " (so 
 it was termed), it was not considered as becoming the chief- 
 tain to refuse it. And, again, some great monasteries used to 
 afford asylums for offenders, somewhat similar to the monas- 
 teries of medieval Europe. It was not considered as be- 
 fitting a great feudal lord to chase an offender after he had 
 taken shelter under the sleeves of venerable priests in a 
 
 198 
 
THE RELIGIONS OF JAPAN 
 
 monastery, say, high up in a secluded nook of a mountain, 
 it being more on account of saving the monks pangs which 
 might otherwise be caused to them whose only ideal was 
 supposed to be compassionateness. No such special con- 
 siderations, however, ever existed with regard to Shintoism. 
 The characteristics of Shintoism were vivacity and manli- 
 ness, whereas those of Buddhism were humility and tran- 
 quillity, though in practice the monks were often far from 
 being so. These are the traits of the two faiths still obser- 
 vable, side by side, in Japanese characters. 
 
 The essence of Shintoism is cleanness of conscience. The 
 commonest prayer of it runs : " Our eyes may see some 
 uncleanness, but let not our mind see things that are not 
 clean. Our ears may hear some uncleanness, but let not 
 our mind hear things that are not clean," and so forth. 
 Shintoism has no particular dogma ! It has no sacred books, 
 except some perhaps on ancient history, and about two dozen 
 texts in the form of set prayers, if these may be called 
 sacred writings at all ! It is a poor creed in the ordinary 
 sense of a religion ; but it holds Japanese minds in a powerful 
 grasp sublimely contented with its simple tenets. There 
 is an old Japanese poem attributed to Sugawara Michizane, 
 who, by-the-by, is deified by the name of Temmangu, 
 which says : "So long as a man's mind is in accord with 
 the way of truthfulness, the gods will guard him though he 
 may not pray." This is about correct as a delineation of 
 the Shinto faith. It worships heavenly deities as well as 
 some deified spirits of human beings, but more in the sense 
 of reverence and thanksgiving for the good they have done 
 and given to posterity, than as channels for obtaining new 
 benefits. Hence it has no compunction in worshipping one 
 deity one day and another the next day, or even simultane- 
 ously. If any individual worshipper goes further, it is 
 more with the hope of " driving off " some evil spirit which 
 might induce him to do wrong or visit him with some evil, 
 than to implore the deity to bestow on him some extra boon 
 — as a matter of fact, the commonest form of prayer offered 
 in Shinto rites is called Harai, i.e. " driving off," meaning, 
 to make one free, both physically and mentally, from any 
 pollution caused by any sin he might have committed, or 
 by any evil inflicted by a malignant spirit. And, more- 
 over, the nature of Shintoism is not intolerant so long as 
 
 199 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 its sphere is not encroached upon ; but, at the same time, 
 it is indigenous to Japanese minds, and therefore is not 
 easily to be taken away. 
 
 The early Buddhist priests knew this well ; hence, not 
 only did they not try to oppose it, but they sought to in- 
 corporate it in, or at least to induce it to fraternize, as it 
 were, with, their own creed. Some of them went so far as 
 to represent Shinto deities as being incarnations of Buddha 
 or Bodhisattva, basing this proposition on a theory called 
 Honji-Suijaku ("origin and manifestation") derived from 
 an original Buddhistic theory of Dualism. Nay, more ; 
 there existed several large temples where both Shinto and 
 Buddhist priests ministered together, with a certain demar- 
 cation of their functions, of course. And this was called 
 " Dual Shintoism." 
 
 It was only after the restoration of the Imperial regime 
 that any appreciable amount of friction manifested itself 
 between Shintoism and Buddhism. It may be remem- 
 bered that Shintoism had so small share in the work of 
 the restoration, from the very nature of the movement, 
 whilst Buddhism did almost nothing in that direction, 
 except that there were many Buddhist priests who took 
 part in it from their individual proclivities. In the early 
 years of Meiji, there prevailed two great currents of thought : 
 Fukko, i.e., return to ancient, and I shin, i.e., thorough 
 innovation (or rather, renovation). Though apparently 
 opposed to each other, they were both, and in equal degrees, 
 motive powers of the new regime. How they worked 
 together I have shown in the chapter on '*The Great 
 Change." Shintoism moved with the Fw^^o current. Many 
 who were originally Shinto priests or adherents, being 
 possessed of knowledge^and ability, occupied high positions 
 of State. Their notions acquired corresponding ascendency 
 over Buddhism. In their eyes, Buddhism was, after all, of 
 foreign origin. It formed no part of the purest ancient in- 
 stitutions of the Imperial regime. Hence, Buddhism came 
 to be somewhat despised. Princes and nobles who had 
 held high religious positions under it returned to their lay- 
 manship. Government allowances were stopped, and, 
 many more heavy blows having fallen upon it, much of 
 its power was lost. It was then that " Dual Shintoism " 
 was abolished, and a distinct separation between Shintoism 
 
 200 
 
THE RELIGIONS OF JAPAN _ 
 
 and Buddhism was enforced in all things. It was then, 
 too, that there arose many families which entirely severed 
 their connexion with Buddhism, and came to use Shinto 
 rites in their funerals and memorial services of the dead. 
 The tide, however, ceased long ago to ebb, and, in its re- 
 flux, matters have in this respect returned to pretty much 
 the same position as in the olden days, except that Budd- 
 hism has not recovered all its former vigour, and that many 
 funerals are now performed according to the Shinto rites, 
 though the number of these is exceedingly small in com- 
 parison with the whole population. 
 
 So far I have spoken of Shintoism as though it were a 
 compact creed ; but now I have to describe it a little further 
 in detail. I said above that it was not regarded in former 
 days in the light of a religion. It was a national institu- 
 tion of unique form, having sprung up from traditions 
 of time immemorial. It had no founder, no propagator, 
 except that many books were written upon it in the 
 way of commentary by eminent scholars, in compara- 
 tively recent periods of the Tokugawa regime. It was 
 only about two decades ago that the idea of attributing 
 to it a religious character struck some interested 
 people as having been necessitated by the tendencies of 
 the age. Shintoism, however, is not even now regarded 
 wholly as a religion ; only part of it is esteemed a religion. 
 This is a fine distinction, almost unintelligible, perhaps, 
 to outsiders ; but it is nevertheless true. The communal 
 temples, as well as all the larger and higher temples, with 
 their priests, are regarded quite apart from religion as the 
 term is employed in the Occident. They still constitute a 
 national institution, of a character that is unique. But 
 there are many voluntary congregations which are called 
 Kiokwai, i.e. teaching associations (not to be confounded 
 with the communal congregations referred to in a preceding 
 page) ; and these congregations have their ministers, to 
 whom the title of preachers (kioshi) is given. Such a con- 
 gregation generally has a connexion with some large popu- 
 lar temple, but is not directly concerned therein. These 
 congregations form that part of Shintoism which is to be 
 regarded as a religion. The expounding of the creed, or 
 the performance of funeral rites, is undertaken by the priests 
 belonging to the congregations ; though in the lowest grade 
 
 201 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 of temples the priests attached thereto are permitted, as 
 a temporary measure, to act in both capacities. I might 
 perhaps hken the difference to that which exists between 
 a corps of troops with its staff officers, and a club of officers 
 with its secretaries, the former being the temple with its 
 ministers, and the latter being the congregation with its 
 preachers ; the one being more official in character and the 
 other more voluntary. But observe ; even those who belong to 
 one or other of these congregations are also mostly Buddhists 
 at the same time. There is no State religion in its ordinary 
 Western sense ; but, as far as the public Shinto temples 
 and their priests (non-religious part) are concerned, their 
 proper superintendence and control form, in a great 
 measure, part of the business of State — in fact, all such 
 priests are commissioned by the State, those in the more 
 important posts by the central authorities, and the others 
 by provincial authorities. In the case of Ise, more especial 
 attentions are paid by the State. The whole nation is 
 quite satisfied with these matters as they stand ; and he 
 would be a very bold person who, in Japan, would venture 
 to find fault openly with this arrangement. 
 
 I may parenthetically remark here, that the term " priests,'* 
 when applied to Shinto ministers, is not quite in accord with 
 our ideas and feelings, though it is rather difficult to convey 
 to Western minds why it is so. I have, however, applied 
 the same term to both Buddhist and Shinto ministers, for 
 fear of confusing the threads of my statement were I to 
 employ more distinctive terms — though the separation is 
 to the Japanese mind very clearly marked. 
 
 Let me here add a brief sketch of Japanese Buddhism as 
 generally reflected in the minds of the common people. Budd- 
 hism is a religion capable of philosophical interpretations, 
 or, rather, founded upon philosophy ; and there are many 
 sects of it in Japan, each drawing fine distinctions in relation 
 to its creed. But are these philosophical phases or finei dis- 
 tinctions of each creed conveyed to the minds of, let us say, 
 aged rustics or children ? I must answer No ! In the 
 Buddhism as reflected to them, there is an eternal soul in 
 every individual. There are paradise and hell. There 
 is a future life for every individual. All this is much in ac- 
 cord which the religions of the Occident. Jigoku goku- 
 raku are hell and paradise. When we speak of them con- 
 
 202 
 
THE RELIGIONS OF JAPAN 
 
 jointly we always say jigoku first, perhaps because it is 
 more euphonic, as we interpose no conjunction between 
 two terms in such cases. Jigoku literally means " dungeons 
 in earth." It suggests the idea of its being down below. The 
 literal meaning of gokuraku is " the supreme pleasure," 
 and is an abbreviation of gokurakujodo, meaning " the pure 
 land of supreme pleasure." There is a very common phrase ; 
 Ojo anrakkoku, meaning : "Go and be born in the easy, 
 pleasant country " — in other words, be born in heaven. 
 Ojo ("go and be born ") alone, is an abbreviation very 
 commonly used in ordinary parlance to convey the same 
 sense. Here is another : Saiho Mida no jo do, i.e. " The 
 pure land in the west where Amitabha dwells." There is 
 a popular saying : Gosho wo negoo, which means : " Pray 
 for the after-life," and another : Gosho daijint, meaning : 
 " In such a way as though the after-life is everything," 
 used in connexion with some action which one undertakes 
 most seriously. Gosho (" after-life ") is a common Buddhistic 
 phrase. 
 
 All these expressions indicate that there is an elysium, 
 and that it is somewhere in the Western sky ; also that 
 there is an inferno, and that we may go or be born some- 
 where in those places after our death. But what part of us 
 does do so ? Surely not our physical part ! Philosophy 
 explains the doctrines of transmigration by the theory of 
 Karma, basing its manifestations on" cause " and " effect." 
 It admits some difference existing between the theories of the 
 " greater vehicle " and the " lesser vehicle " ; and it alludes, 
 by way of explanation, to all sorts of intricate propositions, 
 such as " being and non-being," " finite and infinite," "rela- 
 tive and absolute," and so forth. It does not, on the other 
 hand, speak about the immortality of the soul ; the reason 
 of this being that, from the point of view of imperishability, 
 the physical parts of a " being " are no less immortal than 
 the soul, inasmuch as they never descend to complete anni- 
 hilation ; but, from the point of view of perishability, the 
 soul of a " being " is no less mortal than the physical parts 
 of it, inasmuch as the " the new existence " of a soul some- 
 where else is not the same existence that it had been before. 
 No such philosophy, however, is intelligible to the minds of the 
 common folk. If we can go anywhere at all after our death, 
 it must be our spirit that migrates, i.e. the soul. The common 
 
 203 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 folks have no ear for the philosophical interpretation of the 
 " after-life," in the philosophilcal sense of the Karmatic 
 theory. When the theory of " cause and effect " is taught 
 the common folk generally understand it as implying that, 
 *' cause and effect " mean the process precipitating the sal- 
 vation or non-salvation of the soul ; it is the shortest 
 way to understand. These are the only popular and com- 
 mon-sense interpretations. The popular Buddhistic notion 
 of one's future life in the halcyon fields up above is most 
 commonly represented as sitting and enjoying one's self 
 on a lotus flower in the heavenly lake. The only picture 
 one can form in the imagination of such enjoyment would 
 be eternal existence in a concrete form — a human form, in 
 fact — minus the mortal part which one possesses in the 
 present existence ; and thus it could not be, in popular 
 imagination, anything other than an existence appertaining 
 to the soul. Moreover, in the pictures of purgatory which 
 are periodically exhibited in many Buddhist temples, the 
 sufferers are represented as still possessing human shapes. 
 Philosophy tells us that Nirvana is the last stage, and is 
 merely an abnegation of self, implying therein much philo- 
 sophical meaning ; but in the picture which is called the 
 Nirvana of Shaky amuni, and which is also exhibited in many 
 Buddhist temples on the anniversary of the great sage, com- 
 mon folks can only see him lying on his death-bed, and can 
 only imagine his spirit ascending to the best place in heaven. 
 Such are the illustrations of a future life of Buddhism as 
 reflected in the popular mind. These impressions are not, 
 however, drawn from their own imagination only, but are 
 in fact to be derived from the representations of their 
 preachers, for whom the more abstruse philosophy would 
 fail to answer their purposes, even were it to be propounded, 
 inasmuch as it would leave no more impression on the 
 popular imagination, than would a professor reciting the early 
 Greek philosophy on the idea of ever-recurring permutation 
 or ever-identical sameness of all things in the universe. 
 As a matter of fact, in Japan, the newer the creed the less 
 philosophical is the dogma. 
 
 Shintoism also has some notions of the future world ; 
 but they are vague, and certainly not so picturesque as those 
 of Buddhism. It firmly believes in the immortality of the 
 soul, but it puts more stress on temporal affairs than spiritual 
 
 204 
 
THE RELIGIONS OF JAPAN 
 
 ones. In the philosophical conclusions reached by some 
 Shintoists with regard to the soul, it seems to be regarded as 
 a manifestation of a particle of that great spirit which 
 pervades the universe — shall I say a sort of Pantheism, 
 in this respect ? — and that, after one's death, it returns to 
 or becomes amalgamated with, as it were, the original 
 essence, capable, nevertheless, of still being individualized, 
 so far as it is concerned with the faith of those who venerate 
 the reminiscences of its former mundane possessor, whilst cer- 
 tain chastisements are meted out hereafter to the soul which 
 is not free from pollution on account of crooked conduct in 
 this world. As to the people at large, however, they assign 
 the domain of the future to Buddhism as explained before ; 
 and in their minds, if there were a future world at all, there 
 could not be several such, existing separately for different 
 creeds, so it would not matter under what name or by which 
 route they travelled thither. 
 
 With regard to the ethical side of Buddhism, jihininniku 
 (" compassion and forbearance ") seem to constitute its prin- 
 cipal component part. For general guidance the following 
 maxims are laid down : — 
 
 Do not do anything that is bad ; 
 
 Do all that is good ; 
 
 Cleanse thine own heart ; 
 
 This is the teaching of all Buddhas. 
 But then this is only an abstract idea. For the convenience 
 of teaching, goodness and badness are divided into two 
 kinds, spiritual and temporal. But as to the practical ethics, 
 which are the same thing as the exposition of the temporal 
 goodness and badness just referred to, Buddhism can 
 endure no comparison with Confucianism, in the point of sys- 
 tematic exposition ; so, on this point, Japanese Buddhism 
 freely calls Confucianism to its aid and that, too, in the manner 
 interpreted by Bushido ; and even the spirit of Shintoism 
 is silently utilized in the same way. It goes without saying, 
 as may be gathered from what I have said in the preceding 
 pages, that Shintoism also makes free use of Confucianism in 
 the same respect as does Japannese Buddhism, though of 
 course it is Confucianism in its Japanified form. 
 
 I may mention here that, apart from religious teachings, 
 the Confucian system of ethics was spread in many ways in 
 former days among the people at large in popularized forms, 
 
 205 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 though in recent years the system of moral teaching has 
 been placed on a much firmer and wider basis, through the 
 institution of universal education. 
 
 But now suppose the question were put to the Japanese 
 educated classes in general with regard to a religion : " Do 
 you believe ? " It would be rather difficult to get a satis- 
 factory answer. They are mostly imbued with the influence 
 of Bushido (a term now so well known) which, on its broad 
 lines, is by no means confined to the Samurai class alone, 
 supported silently by the doctrine of a clean conscience 
 of Shintoism, and of an elevated culture of practical 
 ethics of Confucianism. They consider that " he who 
 does what is good for its own sake, and not for fear of 
 anything exterior," is the most courageous man ; and 
 to be courageous is the most important feature of Bushido. 
 The probability is that, were a Japanese gentleman a 
 devout adherent of any particular form of religion, he 
 would rather conceal it than make a display of it. And yet 
 they are most tolerant to all religions. Many a painter has 
 painted the world-renowned Fuji-yama from all sides ; 
 but the main feature is always alike, whatever may be the 
 foreground the painter may have chosen. So, too, to 
 thoughtful people in Japan, the essence of all religions, taken 
 in the abstract, appears to be pretty much the same — at least, 
 it would generally seem to be so regarded ; and they do not 
 trouble themselves much with outward forms. And, there- 
 fore, if a countryman of mine were to chance, for instance, 
 to be present at the funeral of a dead friend, where the rites 
 performed were not those of the religion to which he might 
 belong, he would still go through the requisite formality 
 incumbent on a mourner all the same, just as do those who 
 belong to that religion ; for here his first thought would be 
 to pay a last tribute to the memory of his dead friend, 
 and he would not consider himself as being a humbug, 
 or as doing something against his own conscience, in view 
 of the fact that the ceremony could, after all, be regarded as 
 no more than a mere form of testifying his sincerity, and 
 it would be, he would consider, a matter of bad taste if he 
 were openly to differ from others present on such a solemn 
 occasion. 
 
 By way of summing up this chapter, I may perhaps offer 
 one general observation. Shintoism is essentially a creed 
 
 206 
 
THE RELIGIONS OF JAPAN 
 
 founded upon reverence of ancestors, conjointly with a love 
 of the " fatherland," and likewise of the exalted personage 
 who mirrors the best traditions of our common ancestors 
 and exercises the wisest control over our land ; hence loyalty 
 and patriotism are the most important features of the creed, 
 as regards its outward manifestations. All foreign creeds, 
 be they Confucianism or Buddhism, when once transplanted 
 to the soil of Japan, become gradually imbued with the 
 spirit which animates Shintoism. Thus, Confucianism in 
 Japan is not the Confucianism of China. The great Chinese 
 teaching, with all its wealth of fine maxims and sayings, is 
 made full use of ; but it is Japanified. In Japan it has been re- 
 vivified, as it were, and breathes a new atmosphere, wherein 
 it is strengthened and purified, until it is nationalized and 
 becomes identified with all our notions of loyalty and 
 patriotism, to the degree that it seems almost to assume con- 
 crete form. The case is the same with regard to Buddhism. 
 It is no longer the Buddhism of China, still less that of India. 
 It is Japanified. It is imbued with a spirit similar to that 
 infused into Confucianism ; though perhaps there may be 
 a little difference in degree, owing to the very fact that 
 Buddhism is a religion, whereas Confucianism is not. The 
 processes by which these metamorphoses have been brought 
 about should constitute, it seems to me, a matter worthy 
 of inquiry and analysis, and should by no means be allowed 
 to escape the attention of those who take an interest in things 
 Japanese. 
 
 207 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 ARTS AND LETTERS^ 
 
 I AM often told by the Europeans I meet how amazing 
 it is that Japan should have made such rapid progress 
 in so short a time as thirty or forty years since her adoption 
 of. European civilization. Some even go as far as to say 
 that it is all the more amazing inasmuch as Japan must have 
 been in a state of semi-barbarism before that time. They 
 say this with no other wish than that of emphasizing their 
 appreciation of the reality and the rapidity of our recent 
 progress. Of course we recognize our great indebtedness 
 to the Western nations, and we frankly avow that our 
 present forward movement along the path of civilization 
 is mainly based upon the European methods of thought 
 and reasoning. But at the same time it is desirable 
 to point out how inconceivable and impossible a great and 
 successful transformation of this kind would be, unless 
 the nation that attempted it had solid antecedents and a 
 sound basis of ancient discipline and culture to work upon. 
 Japan has had thoughts and feelings of her own for many 
 centuries ; and without some acute perception of that mind 
 and sentiment it would seem almost impossible to understand 
 what Japan is. Hence the amazement to which I have 
 referred. But that amazement will diminish its extension 
 as the knowledge of the mind and ideals of Japan increases. 
 The heart and brain of a nation are chiefly manifested and 
 are conspicuously traceable in the objects of art and liter- 
 ature which it produces. Now I ask your attention in this 
 chapter for some of Japan's products in this sphere. 
 
 ^ Japan by the Japanese. 
 208 
 
ARTS AND LETTERS 
 
 The subject of Japanese art is so wide and complicated 
 that it is a matter of absolute impossibility to deal with it 
 in a short chapter or so. In what I am going to say, there- 
 fore, I would merely endeavour to delineate the general out- 
 line of the history of our arts and our notions about them. 
 
 The Nara period, which corresponds to the eighth century, 
 was one of the great, if notthe greatest, epochsof Japanese Art. 
 Nara was our Imperial capital in the days before the primacy 
 of Kioto ; the remnants of the art of this period, including 
 many fine productions of previous centuries, are to be seen 
 to this day mostly in the prefecture of Nara. The highest 
 excellence of the arts attained at this period is to be found 
 in the images, both in bronze and wood, and also in the 
 dried lacquers ; the pictorial art was also excellent, and is 
 seen at its best side by side with architectural design. There 
 are many Buddhistic temples of olden time now remain- 
 ing, and many images of bronze or wood, apart from those 
 in the Imperial Museum, are to be seen standing in such 
 temples. Nara and its suburban districts make up a 
 locality which is one of exceptional interest to foreign 
 visitors. 
 
 I would not for a moment dare to place the art pro- 
 ducts of Japan of this period on a level with those of the 
 Greeks, but it is most flattering to us that wherever our 
 sculpture of this era is spoken of by foreigners some 
 references are made to the plastic art of the Greeks, and 
 some kinds of comparison are made so as to draw a very 
 close resemblance between them. Dr. Anderson, speaking 
 of this period in his Pictorial Arts of Japan, sums it up 
 thus : — 
 
 Whatever be the credibiUty of the majority of the early records, 
 it is certain that the level reached by the Japanese in the sculpture 
 of metals, upwards of a thousand years ago, was remarkably high, and 
 many of the products of this period of art culture demonstrate a 
 breadth of conception and a courage of effort that could only emanate 
 from an intellectual and energetic race ; but unfortunately the sub- 
 sequent errors have contributed little to increase the fame won by 
 the authorship of the great bronzes that adorned the ancient capital 
 of Nara. 
 
 This colossal bronze Buddha of Nara is well worth 
 
 20Q p 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 seeing by any connoisseur. It is true that its head is 
 not good; it is a comparatively new head, affixed has- 
 tily and by not very competent workmen to replace 
 an ancient one lost by fire caused by war ; but from the 
 artistic ensemble it is assumed by competent native ex- 
 perts that the head must have been equally good, if not 
 even more excellent than that of the great Buddha of Ka- 
 makura, which was a product of the latter part of the 
 twelfth century. As to this latter big Buddha, all connois- 
 seurs of the West agree in placing it in a very high position 
 among the art treasures of the world. I may here only 
 give an extract from The Ornamental Art of Japan, quoted 
 from a French expert, who winds up thus : — 
 
 A people who could thus embody the most illusive of meta- 
 physical mysteries must have had an exceedingly lofty conception 
 of the capacities of art." 
 
 After Nara we come to the Heian period. Heian is the 
 same place as the modern Kioto. From after the Nara 
 period down to the beginning of the present Imperial regime 
 it remained the Imperial capital for eleven centuries ; but 
 what we speak of as the Heian period is generally taken to 
 include the first four of these centuries only. Art flourished, 
 together with general culture, to a very high degree in these 
 centuries, but somewhat in a different way from that of the 
 Nara epoch. In the Nara period we have seen that the 
 arts achieved a very high standard, but such art was al- 
 ways subordinated and made subservient to religion. Art 
 does not seem to have played its part independently as 
 such, hence the individuality of an artist did not achieve 
 a fully distinctive mark. If a picture was painted it was 
 generally a religious subject, and it was used for religious 
 objects, not as a product of an artist for the sake of as- 
 sociating his name with it and admiring his representation 
 of the subject as a picture. But in the Heian period 
 things seem to have changed to a significant degree, especi- 
 ally in pictorial art, which came to be admired as such, 
 while individuality in artists became more and more 
 marked in public estimation. It was then that artists such 
 as Kanaoka and Nobuzane appeared. Pictures founded 
 upon scenes in narratives or actual landscape came to be 
 generally appreciated. On the whole, the arts of the 
 
 210 
 
ARTS AND LETTERS 
 
 Heian period seem to have become more extensive and 
 less profound. To show in what sort of relationship 
 pictorial art and society stood towards each other, 
 there is a very good illustration in the famous Genji 
 Monogatari contained in a chapter under the title of " Ye- 
 awase," which means " pairings of pictures." At that 
 period there was a very common practice of so-called " uta- 
 awase," which means " pairings of poems." It was done 
 in this way. Ladies and gentlemen who were versed in 
 composing poems were told off to meet at an appointed place 
 at an appointed time, when successive competitions would 
 be held by pairs formed by one on the left and one on the 
 right, each fproducing his or her poem and submitting it 
 to the umpire, who would judge which of them was the 
 better, and when one pair was finished the next pair con- 
 tinued the contest, and so on. The pairing of the pictures 
 was no doubt conceived in imitation of the pairing of 
 poems. The pairing of pictures seems to be rather quaint 
 in its conception, but it will give us a very good idea of the 
 society of the time. I give below a full quotation of the 
 passage describing it from my own translation of the 
 Genji Monogatari : — 
 
 The Emperor was very fond of pictures, and painted with con- 
 siderable abiHty. Lady Plum, too, as it happened, possessed the 
 same taste as the Emperor, and used often to amuse herself by 
 painting. If, therefore, he liked ordinary courtiers who exhibited 
 a taste for painting, it was no matter of surprise that he liked to see 
 the delicate hands of the lady occupied in carefully laying on colours. 
 This similarity of taste gradually drew his attention to her, and 
 led to frequent visits to the " Plum-chamber." When Gon-Chiunagon 
 was informed of these circumstances, he took the matter into his own 
 hands. He himself determined to excite a spirit of rivalry. He 
 contrived means to counteract the influence of painting, and commis- 
 sioned several famous artists of the time to execute some elaborate 
 pictures. Most of these were subjects taken from old romances, as 
 he conceived that these were always more attractive than mere 
 fanciful pictures. He also caused to be painted a representation 
 of every month in the year, which would be likely, he thought, 
 to interest the Emperor. When these pictures were finished he took 
 them to Court, and submitted them to the Emperor's inspection ; 
 but he would not agree that he should take any of them to the Plum- 
 chamber ; and they were all deposited in the chamber of his daughter. 
 
 Genji, when he heard of this, said of his brother-in-law, "He is 
 young ; he never could be behind others." He was, however, unable 
 to pass the matter over unnoticed." He told the Emperor that he 
 would present him with some old pictures, and returning to his 
 
 211 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 mansion at Nijio he opened his picture cabinet, where numbers of 
 old and new pictures were kept. From these, with the assistance of 
 Violet, he made a selection of the best. But such pictures as illus- 
 tration of the " long regrets," or representation of *'0-Shio-Kun,' ' were 
 reserved, because the terminations of these stories were not happy 
 ones. He also took out of his cabinet the sketches which he had 
 made while in Suma and Akashi, and showed them for the first time 
 to Violet, who was a little angry at his not having shown them to her 
 sooner. 
 
 It was about the tenth of February, and the face of nature began 
 to smile at the approach of spring, making the hearts and tempers of 
 people more calm and cheerful ; besides, it was just the time when 
 the Court was unoccupied with the keeping of any festival. There 
 could be no better opportunity than this for such an exhibition of 
 pictures to attract the attention of people enjoying leisure. Genji, 
 therefore, sent his collection of pictures to the palace in behalf of 
 the lady of the Plum-chamber. 
 
 This soon created a sensation in the palace. Most of the pictures 
 that were in the possession of the lady of the Plum-chamber were from 
 old romances, and the pictures themselves were of ancient date, 
 being rare, while those of Kokiden were more modern subjects and 
 by living artists. Thus each of them had their special merits, so 
 that it became difficult to say which were the more excellent. Talk- 
 ing of these pictures became quite a fashionable(subject of conversa- 
 tion of the courtiers of the day. The Imperial mother happened to 
 be at Court, and when she saw these pictures and heard different per- 
 sons at Court discussing their relative merits, she suggested that 
 they should divide themselves into two parties, right and left, and 
 regularly to give their judgment. This was accordingly done. Hei 
 Naishi-no-suke, Jijiu-no-Naishi and Shioshio-no-Meifu took the left, 
 on the side of the lady of the Plum-chamber ; while Daini-no- 
 Naishi-no-suke, Chiujio-no-Meifu, and Hioye-no-Meif u took the right, 
 on the side of the Kokiden. 
 
 The first picture selected was the illustration of the " Bamboo 
 Hewer," by the left, as it was the most appropriate to come 
 first for the discussion of its merits, as being the parent of 
 romance. To compete with this that of ''Toshikage, " from 
 "The Hollow Wood," was selected by the right. The left now 
 stated their case, saying " The Bamboo — indeed, its story, too 
 — may be an old and commonly known thing, but the maiden 
 Kakuya, in keeping her purity unsullied in this world, is highly admir- 
 able ; besides, it was an occurrence that belongs to a pre-historical 
 period. No ordinary woman would ever be equal to her, and so this 
 picture has an excellence." Thereupon the right argued in opposition 
 to this, saying, " The sky, where the maiden Kakuya has gone up, 
 may indeed be high ; but it is beyond human reach, so we may put 
 it aside. When she made her appearance in this world she was, after 
 all, a creature of bamboo ; and, indeed, we may consider her even 
 lower than ourselves. It may also be true that she threw a bright 
 radiance over the inside of a cottage, but she never shone in the 
 august society of a palace. Abe-no-oshi's spending millions of money 
 
 212 
 
ARTS AND LETTERS 
 
 in order to get the so-called fire-proof rat, which, when obtained, 
 was consumed in the flames in a moment, is simply ridiculous. 
 Prince Kuramochi's pretended jewel branch was simply a delusion. 
 Besides, this picture is by Koshe-no-omi, with notes by Tsurayuki. 
 They are not very uncommon. The paper is Kamiya, only covered 
 with Chinese satin. The outer cover is reddish purple, and the centre 
 stick is purple Ajedarah. These are very common ornaments. 
 Now Toshikage, though he had undergone a severe trial from the 
 raging storm, and had been carried to a strange country, arrived at 
 length at the country to which he was originally dispatched, and 
 from there returned to his native land, having achieved his object, 
 and having made his ability recognized both at home and abroad. 
 This pictiire is the life of that man, and it represents many scenes, 
 not only of his country but of foreign ones, which cannot fail to be 
 interesting. We therefore dare to place this one above the other 
 in merit. 
 
 The ground of this picture was thick white tinted paper, the outer 
 cover was green, and the centre stick jade. The picture was by 
 Tsunenori, and the writing by Michikaje. It was in the highest 
 possible taste of the period. 
 
 The left made no more protestation against the right. 
 
 " Next, the romance of Ishe by the left, and that of Shio Sammi 
 by the right, were brought into competition. Here again the relative 
 merit was very difficult to be decided at once. That of the right had 
 apparently more charms than that of the other, since it beautifully 
 represented the society of a more recent period. 
 
 Hei-naishi, of the left, therefore said : — 
 
 "If leaving the depths of Ishe's night-sea, 
 
 We follow the fancies of new-fashioned dreams. 
 All the beauty and skill of the ancients will be 
 
 Swept away by the current of art's modern streams. 
 
 Who would run down the fame of Narihira for the sake of the 
 pretentious humbug of our own days ?" 
 
 Then Daini-no-Naishi-no-suke, of the right, replied : — 
 
 "The noble mind that soars on high. 
 Beyond the star-bespangled sky ; 
 Looks down with ease on depths that lie 
 A thousand fathoms 'neath his eye." 
 
 Upon this the Empress Mother interceded. She said that 
 the exalted nobility of Lord Hioye may not, indeed, be passed over 
 without notice, yet the name of Narihira could not altogether be 
 eclipsed by his. 
 
 Though too well known to all may be 
 The lovely shore of Ishe's sea ; 
 
 Its aged fisher's honoured name, 
 A tribute of respect may claim. 
 213 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 There were several more rolls to be exhibited, and the rival 
 protestations on both sides became very warm, so that one roll 
 occasioned considerable discussion. 
 
 While this was going on Genji arrived on the scene. He sug- 
 gested to them that if there was any competition at all it should 
 be decided on a specially appointed day, in a more solemn manner, 
 in the presence of the Emperor. This suggestion having been 
 adopted, the discussion came to an end. 
 
 The day for this purpose was fixed. The ex-Emperor, who 
 had been informed of this, presented several pictures to the lady 
 of the Plum-chamber. They were mostly illustrations of Court 
 festivals, on which there were explanatory remarks written by the 
 Emperor Yengi. Besides these, there was one which had been 
 expressly executed at his own order by Kimmochi. This was an 
 illustration of the ceremony which took place at his palace on the 
 departure of the lady for Ishe, some time back, when she had gone 
 there as the Saigu. It was also probable that some of his pictures 
 came into the possession of her rival, the Lady Kokiden, through 
 his mother (as the mother of the former was a sister of the latter). 
 
 When the day arrived every arrangement was made in the 
 large saloon at the rear of the palace, where the Imperial seat was 
 placed at the top. The Court ladies of both parties — those of the 
 lady of the Plum-chamber, and those of the lady of Kokiden — were 
 ranged respectively left and right, the left, or those of the lady of 
 the Plum-chamber, facing southwards, and those of the right, north- 
 wards. All the courtiers also took the places allotted to them. 
 Here the pictures were brought. The box, containing those of the 
 left, was of purple Azedurah, The stand on which the box was 
 placed was of saffron, and over this was thrown a cover of Chinese 
 brocade with a mauve ground. The seat underneath was of Chinese 
 coloured silk. Six young girls brought all this in, and arranged 
 it all in order. Their kazami (outer dress) was of red and cherry 
 colour, with tunics of wistaria lining (light purple outside, and 
 light green within). 
 
 The box which contained the pictures of the right was of " Jin " 
 wood, the stand of light coloured " Jin," the cover of Corean silk 
 with a green ground. The legs of the stand, which were trellised 
 round with a silken cord, showed modern and artistic taste. The 
 kazami of the young girls was of willow lining (white outside and 
 green within), and their tunics were of Kerria japonica lining (or 
 yellow outside and light red within). Both Genji and Gon-Chiu- 
 nagon were present, by the Emperor's special invitation, as also 
 the Prince Lord-Lieutenant of Chickshi, who loved pictures above 
 all things, and he was consequently chosen umpire for this day's 
 competition. Many of the pictures were highly admirable, and 
 it was most difficult to make any preference between them. For 
 instance, if there was produced by one party a roll of "The Season," 
 which was the masterpiece of some old master, on selected subjects, 
 there was produced also, by the other party, a roll of sketches on 
 paper, which were scarcely inferior to, and more ornamented with 
 flourishing than, the ancient works, in spite of the necessary limita- 
 
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ARTS AND LETTERS 
 
 tion of space which generally makes the wide expanse of scenery 
 almost too difficult to express. Thus the disputes on both sides 
 were very warm 
 
 Meanwhile the Imperial Mother (the Princess Wistaria) also 
 came into the saloon, pushing aside the sliding screen of the break- 
 fast chamber. The criticisms still continued, in which Genji made, 
 now and then, suggestive remarks. Before all was finished the shades 
 of evening began to fall on them. There remained, on the right, 
 one more roll, when the roll of Suma was produced on the left. 
 It made Gon-Chiunagon slightly embarrassed. The last roll of 
 the right was, of course, a selected one, but it had several disad- 
 vantages in comparison with that of "Suma." The sketches on 
 this roll — illustrations of different bays and shores — had been 
 done by Genji with great pains and much expenditure of time. 
 They were most skilfully executed, and carried away the minds 
 of the spectators to the actual spots. On them illustrative re- 
 marks were written sometimes in the shape of a diary, occasionally 
 mingled with poetical effusions in style both grave and easy. These 
 made a great impression on the Emperor, and on every one present ; 
 and finally, owing to this roll, the left was decided to have won 
 the victory. 
 
 In the famous Makura-no-soshi we see the following, as 
 quoted by Mr. Aston : — 
 
 On the sliding doors of the northern front of the Mikado's 
 private apartments there are painted fearful pictures of creatures 
 that live in the wild ocean, some with long arms, others with long 
 legs. When the doors of the ante-chamber are open we can always 
 see them. 
 
 This will show that pictorial art was made use of for the 
 chamber decorations. The notions as to what a picture 
 should be that were entertained by the gentry of this epoch 
 are well illustrated by the following extract from the Genji 
 Monogatari. It is contained in a chapter where different 
 kinds of female characters are discussed, and therefore it 
 is only discussed incidentally, but it will give a fair idea, 
 and so I give the extract in full ; — 
 
 Again, therefore, he took up the conversation, and said, " Call 
 to your mind affairs in general,-and judge of them. Is it not always 
 true that reality and sincerity are to be preferred to merely artificial 
 excellence ? Artisans, for instance, make different sorts of articles, 
 as their talents serve them. Some of them are keen and expert, 
 and cleverly manufacture objects of temporary fashion, which 
 have no fixed or traditional style, and which are only intended to 
 strike the momentary fancy. These, however, are not the true 
 artisans. The real excellence of the true artisan is tested by those 
 who make, without defects or sensational peculiarities, articles to 
 
 215 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 decorate, we will say, some particular building, in conformity with 
 correct taste and high aesthetic principles. Look for another in- 
 stance at the eminence which has been attained by several of the 
 artists of the Imperial College of Painting. Take the case of 
 draughtsmen in black ink. Pictures, indeed, such as those of 
 Mount Horai, which has never been beheld by mortal eye, or of 
 some raging monstrous fish in a rough sea, or of some wild animal 
 of some far-off country, or of the im.aginary face of the demon, are 
 often drawn with such striking vividness that people are startled 
 at the sight of them. These pictures, however, are neither real 
 nor true. On the other hand, ordinary scenery of familiar moun- 
 tains, of calm streams of water, and of dwellings just before our 
 eyes, may be sketched with an irregularity so charming, and with 
 such excellent skill, as almost to rival Nature. In pictures such as 
 these, the perspective of gentle mountain slopes, and sequestered 
 nooks surrounded by leafy trees, are drawn with such admirable 
 fidelity to Nature that they carry the spectator in imagination to 
 something beyond them. These are the pictures in which is mostly 
 evinced the spirit and effectiveness of the superior hand of a master ; 
 and in these an inferior artist would only show dulness and in- 
 efficiency. 
 
 " Similar observations are applicable to handwriting. Some 
 people boldly dash away with great freedom and endless flourishes, 
 and appear to the first glance to be elegant and skilful. But that 
 which is written with scrupulous neatness, in accordance with the 
 true rules of penmanship, constitutes a very different handwriting 
 from the above. If perchance the upstrokes and downstrokes do 
 not, at first sight, appear to be fully formed, yet when we take it 
 up and critically compare it with writing in which dashes and 
 flourishes predominate, we shall at once see how much more of 
 real and sterling merit it possesses. 
 
 " Such, then, is the nature of the case in painting, in penmanship, 
 and in the arts generally. And how much more then are those 
 women undeserving of our admiration, who, though they are rich 
 in outward and in fashionable display, attempting to dazzle our 
 eyes, are yet lacking in the solid foundations of reality, fidelity 
 and truth. Do not, my friends, consider me going too far, but let 
 me proceed to illustrate these observations by my own experience." 
 
 It must not, however, be understood that art in religious 
 subjects had disappeared ; on the contrary, there are many 
 pictures of this kind, produced at this epoch, still in existence 
 in many temples, and most of them are of highest merit. 
 From the latter part of the twelfth century Kioto had lost 
 its importance, because from that time the actual ruling 
 power of the country had left the hands of the Imperial 
 Government and been transfered to the Shogunate Govern- 
 ment. From this time down to about the middle of 
 the fourteenth century Kamakura became the seat of the 
 
 216 
 
ARTS AND LETTERS 
 
 Shogun Government. This interval was called the Kama- 
 kura period ; there were many conditions in this period 
 which were adverse to any progress in the field of art : you 
 may even say it sowed some decadence, and yet there were 
 many beautiful productions, both graphic and glyptic. The 
 Diabutsu, or bronze Buddha, of Kamakura, referred to 
 above, was itself a product of the earliest part of the 
 thirteenth century. It is such a masterpiece of its kind 
 that it will go a good way towards showing what artistic 
 workmanship existed at that time in Japan. 
 
 I may interpose just a few words here. Development 
 in the arts was not necessarily limited to Kioto only ; previ- 
 ous to the Kamakura period there existed a centre of refine- 
 ment in the northern part of Japan, namely, in the province 
 of Osiu. There, a great feudal lord had established the seat 
 of his Government, which was in several repects constructed 
 in imitation of Kioto, and from what remains there to this day 
 in the way of objects of art we can judge very well in what 
 a flourishing state that feudal capital must have been 
 before it was crushed by the invading forces of Yoritomo 
 the first Shogun. 
 
 After the Kamakura period the Ashikaga period ensues 
 and lasts for about two and a half centuries. During this 
 time the chief seat of the Shogun Governments was in 
 Kioto, side by side with the Imperial court, though there 
 was also a kind of branch Shogunate in Kamakura. In 
 the early part of this period the country was not yet ripe 
 for general progress in art, but from the beginning of the 
 fifteenth century most of the Shogun of the period 
 showed a strong leaning towards the patronage of artistic 
 talent, especially in pictures, many of them being artists 
 of no mean ability themselves. It was then that Japan 
 produced many eminent artists, such as Cho-densu, Siubun, 
 Sessiu, Siugetsu, Sotan, Masanobu, Motonobu, Sesson, and 
 many others, whose masterpieces we are proud to show to 
 other nations to day, and whose names are immortal in 
 our annals. Their styles indeed are not identical, but, 
 taken as a whole, they were akin to one another, and 
 differed from their predecessors to a very conspicuous ex- 
 tent. It was founded more upon the best artistic ideals 
 formed among the Thang and Sung dynasties of China. They 
 had no rivals among the contemporary Chinese artists. 
 
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THE RISEN SUN 
 
 It is said that when Sessiu went to China to study the 
 arts, he lamented that there was no master to study with. 
 The arts of the Nara period and the early part of the 
 Heian period were distingushed by an excellent sobriety in 
 regard to religious feeling ; they were the very embodiment 
 of the period. The traditions of such a school could never 
 be resuscitated again, any more than those of Raphael and 
 Angelo can be revived in Europe. For the same reason 
 Siubun and Sessiu could not follow exactly in the footsteps 
 of their predecessors of those early periods to which we have 
 referred ; but in their own way they stood very high, and 
 the kinds of pictures they produced are those which are most 
 admired and appreciated by the native Japanese of later 
 years, inasmuch as they embrace high conceptions in their 
 productions independently of any direct subserviency to 
 religion. 
 
 At the end of the Ashikaga period, and before the 
 Tokugawa period, is interposed the short Oda-Toyotomi 
 period. Shortly before this period the country was in a 
 state of turmoil caused by the internal dissensions of dif- 
 ferent chieftains, who were eventually pacified by the 
 efforts of Oda, while the feuds were finally extinguished 
 by Toyotomi Hideyashi. The latter, who is known as 
 Taikosama by foreigners, and spoken of as the Japanese 
 Napoleon, was also a great reviver of our arts. By his 
 patronage it was that Japan produced Yeitoku andSanraku, 
 whose boldness of design was unsurpassed even by the 
 best of Ashikaga artists. The castle of Fushimi, built 
 by Taikosama, where the genius of these artists was 
 engaged, and where the architectural arts were also evinced 
 to a remarkably high degree, was pulled down some time 
 after the death of this great hero ; but fragments of the 
 internal decorations are still to be found in different places ; 
 those who have seen them are in the best position to ap- 
 preciate how, without degenerating into conventional de- 
 corative forms, pictorial art may best be utilized for decora- 
 tion. 
 
 After the Oda-Toyotomi came in the Tokugawa era, 
 which lasted over two hundred and seventy years, until 
 our own time. The greater part of this period enjoyed 
 perfect peace, and though hampered by the further develop- 
 ment of the feudal system, the nation witnessed more 
 
 218 
 
ARTS AND LETTERS 
 
 prosperity than at any other period, and different branches 
 of art made significant progress. As is stated in the last 
 sentence of Dr. Anderson's remark quoted above, the 
 grandeur of the Nara period has never been revived, nor had 
 we during this period any such master hands as Siubun 
 or Sessiu, but, speaking generally, there is no doubt that 
 all branches of art have made great progress, in dimension 
 if not in depth. The lacquer works and development 
 of fine coloured porcelains was no doubt the monopoly of 
 this period. True it is that the lacquer works existed 
 from very remote periods, and those of the Higashiyama 
 period (or section of the Ashikaga period when Sessiu, 
 Sotan and Motonobu flourished) were excellent, especially 
 from an antique and aesthetic point of view. But the full 
 extension and development of lacquer art falls into this 
 epoch. As to porcelains, they commenced their most charac- 
 teristic development essentially under this period, their 
 growth being comparatively a matter of recent date. 
 ' Popular ' pictures of the Ukiyoye school and those of the 
 artisan style are also entirely the new growth of this 
 period. 
 
 I must here interpose some explanations. Old styles of 
 pictures, especially Kano and Tosa, had spread their in- 
 fluence very widely among the gentle classes. Eminent 
 painters were far from rare during this age, among whom 
 we may just mention Tannu as the greatest ; but, speaking 
 generally, their styles became more stiff and conventional, 
 they failed to arouse popular feeling with their novelty or 
 audacity, and, besides this, they were not within easy reach 
 of the common street people. Hence out of the tendency 
 to revolt from the hackneyed old style, as well as owing 
 to the vulgar demands of common people, arose the new 
 style of these Ukiyoye and ' artisan ' schools. The artists of 
 these schools lacked refinement in themselves, belonging 
 generally to the vulgar classes, whereas the artists of the 
 older schools generally belonged to the gentle class, often 
 holding the rank of Samurai, under the patronage of some 
 feudal lord. Such being the case, these new schools are 
 far from representing the genuine ideals of the Japanese 
 cultured classes. There are, however, some individuals 
 of consummate genius amongst them, Hokusai being 
 the greatest ; and in their way they exhibited excellent 
 
 219 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 points, especially in their manipulation of colours and their 
 aptitude for hitting on new ideas taken from daily life. The 
 credit is due to the European critics rather than to our- 
 selves that their merits have been accorded a much higher 
 place than formerly. It is a fact that the cultured Japanese 
 never can be induced to appreciate these schools in quite 
 the same degree as the Western critics do. Korin and 
 his school form an entirely different category in our art. 
 The pictures of this school are grotesque at first sight, and 
 their merits can be discerned only by those who have the 
 peculiar type of observing mind enabling them to appreciate 
 the subtlety of a hidden craft. I think great credit is 
 owing to the European experts who have discovered the 
 merits of this school with the same eye which had been 
 wont to rivet itself on the two schools of vulgar origin just 
 described. 
 
 It is superfluous here to dwell upon the different phases 
 of pictorial art during this period, but I must not neglect 
 to make passing allusions to the Chikudan and Bunchio 
 schools, academic rather than popular in their character and 
 influence. I must also mention Kokwan and Denzen, who 
 introduced independently about the same time a semi- 
 European fashion of pictures and copper engravings at the 
 end of the eighteenth century. 
 
 We are now in the Meiji era, which has lasted already 
 thirty-eight years. The commencement of this era was 
 marked by the destruction of everything old. There was a 
 time when fine antique temples were pulled down, precious 
 pictures of some thousand years or more were thrown into 
 the dust, and good gold lacquer works were burned in order 
 that the gold might be taken out of the ashes. Every- 
 thing must be renovated and founded upon European 
 ideas. It is sad when we look back upon it from the present 
 time, but it was the inevitable outcome of the spirit of the 
 time. I know several of the best artists of the day, having 
 nothing to occupy them, proceeded to take lessons in 
 the modes of European drawing, and they often engaged 
 themselves as draughtsmen in the engineering offices of 
 some public department. But things could not remain in 
 such a state for long. Without sacrificing our emulation 
 of things European, whether material or intellectual, we 
 have found time to retrace our steps on the aesthetic side 
 
 220 
 
ARTS AND LETTERS 
 
 and have betaken ourselves again to the art of old Japan ; this 
 was also due, to a great extent, to the Western advisers and 
 patrons, to whom we must express our gratitude. We 
 have now succeeded to a considerable extent in reviving 
 our old arts, not only in pictures and sculptures, but also 
 in many branches of semi-industrial and semi-artistic 
 objects. Great encouragement has of course been given 
 by foreign patronage, but greater pains have likewise been 
 taken by the natives, and no small encouragement is given 
 by the Emperor and Empress themselves. Of course, in 
 some branches the industrial arts themselves have under- 
 gone transformation. At the present day, for instance, 
 there is no great demand for the products of the armourer. 
 The manufacture of helmets is similarly under a cloud. We 
 are now in a transitory state in every branch of art ; we 
 have not yet been able to speak of the grandeur of the 
 Meiji era ; but, on the whole, I am of opinion that im- 
 provement is perceptible in every branch, and I feel quite 
 confident that if more encouragement, especially from 
 abroad, be given to our artists, they will show themselves 
 capable of initiating a memorable epoch. Some foreigners 
 speak of some kind of deterioration of art objects ; I 
 daresay there is, but if so, it must be excused on the 
 ground that art conditions with us are in such a transi- 
 tional state : nor can our foreign patrons themselves escape 
 from participation in the responsibility. Let me explain 
 this a little more fully. Lacquer work artists can make just 
 as good high-class lacquer work as those of 200 years ago, 
 provided that they are given time and corresponding re- 
 muneration and the proper expenses for the materials. 
 But the modern purchaser has no idea of such a thing. He 
 endeavours to pick up curiosities at a low rate, and is suc- 
 cessful when the necessities of some ancient family compel 
 them to put their art treasures in the market. In all 
 modern work he is apt to trace pernicious Western influence. 
 However delicate the finish he expects only to give a low price. 
 
 The reluctance of modern buyers to give commissions (as 
 the old feudal lord invariably did), and their suspicion of all 
 highly priced modern work, is thus tending to drive really 
 superior workmanship out of the market. 
 
 As to our pictures, I must add a few words more. The 
 European oil paintings, and water colours too, are studied 
 
 221 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 in Japan. There are many artists engaged in this direction, 
 but hitherto we have not been able to produce great artists. 
 It must be of our native pictures, therefore, that I shall 
 speak. The style of our pictures differs from European 
 oil paintings, as every one knows ; it has a greater affinity 
 with that of the water colour, where painting in colours is 
 concerned. The chief stress we lay upon pictures is the 
 force of the brush and the effect of impression. I do not 
 say that the oil painting overlooks or ignores this im- 
 portant point, but there seems to exist a marked differ- 
 ence in manipulation between our pictures and the oil 
 paintings, for in the case of the Japanese a little failure or 
 mistake will show itself more readily than in the case of the 
 oil, as there is no possibility in our case of correcting any 
 trifling mistake when it is once committed. Then, again, 
 our aim is directed more to impression than to the minute- 
 ness of depicting, so that our pictures are not generally so 
 thoroughly and finely done as the oil pictures, except, indeed, 
 in cases of ancient religious pictures. Hence there are great 
 defects in anatomy and perspective when the subject requires 
 correct drawing. The sculptures and pictures of Nara and 
 Heian were advanced in the direction of anatomy to an 
 admirable degree, and it is a matter of great regret that the 
 later art has become more and more deficient in this 
 respect. In matters of geometrical proportion, or rather 
 perspective, our pictures are greatly deficient. These defects 
 are of course to be remedied. It would be silly to re- 
 tain such defects because they belong to our old style. 
 
 During the past twenty-five years all sorts of art exhibi- 
 tions — pictures of course being the chief form of exhibit — 
 have been held in Tokio ; in provincial centres, too, exhi- 
 bitions have multiplied year after year. There are also 
 several associations, the object of which is connected with 
 the encouragement of art in one way or another. At the 
 exhibitions the merits of the objects exhibited are submit- 
 ted to the judgment of the experts, and appropriate 
 prizes are awarded. Such exhibitions are opened at the 
 best time or season of the year, spring or autumn. They 
 are organized much in the same style as those of 
 Paris or London. The method of exhibition undoubtedly 
 shows a material advance since the days of the 
 quaint competitive " pairing " of the Heian Court referred 
 
 222 
 
ARTS AND LETTERS 
 
 to above. The objects exhibited are generally for sale; 
 they are all genuine, and their prices are affixed ; as a rule 
 the prices are anything but high. In the case of pictures, 
 they are quite insignificant when compared with the 
 prices asked in the Western Salons. Of course our pictures, 
 in the case of the native paintings, do not take so much time 
 and pains as European oil paintings ; and this is the reason 
 why they are not so dear. The prices vary from £i to £3 
 for those by ordinary painters : there may be some that are 
 even cheaper, but good enough to look at. Pictures by 
 first-rate artists are dearer; but even these rarely exceed 
 £15. I occupy the position of president to one of these 
 associations, and I often find difficulty in giving efficient en- 
 couragement to the artists from the fact of purchasers not 
 being found in sufficient numbers at the exhibitions. At the 
 same time the artistic tastes of our people at large, and 
 consequently the demand for art objects, has wonderfully 
 increased of recent years. In small towns and villages 
 people who were once contented with paper-mounted or 
 printed ' ukiyo ' pictures have become anxious to possess 
 pictures of a much higher standard. 
 
 II 
 
 ON THE STYLE OF JAPANESE GARDENS ^ 
 
 Although this may not be deemed a proper place to speak 
 of the art of making gardens in Japan, I cannot refrain from 
 just touching on the subject, because our art in making gar- 
 dens has much similarity to that of landscape painting, and 
 has much of real art in it. Even on the smallest scale a garden 
 in Japan is laid out in such a way as to represent a picturesque 
 view as depicted in pictures. Hence mimic hills, natural 
 rocks, and, where it is permissible, miniature tarns or cas- 
 cades, are designed. We can say it is based upon the prin- 
 ciple of fine art ; but in the case of European gardens, it 
 seems to me that the original ideas were derived from the 
 old " commons," and their later developments have been 
 based more upon the principle of industrial art ; to wit, 
 
 ^ The Outlook, October, 1904. 
 223 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 there are fountains, but in the shape of mechanical apparatus, 
 and not in the shape of natural springs ; there are hewn 
 stones, iron rails, iron bridges, and, if there is any water at 
 all, it is mostly in the shape of a round or square 
 tank. When the Occidentals plant flowers, they make the 
 beds invariably in the shape of a square, or triangle, as 
 geometrically as though designing a carpet. They seem 
 to have no idea of finding regularity in irregularity, or, rather, 
 harmony in differentiation. In towns in Japan there are 
 numerous stone shops where natural stones are sold ; but 
 no such places exist in any part of Europe. Of course 
 there is one drawback to our gardens, i.e., they are more 
 ornamental than useful. This is a drawback which must 
 be modified, and it is already being modified in many cases ; 
 but, on the other hand, European gardens seem to lack 
 artistic elements to altogether too great an extent. It is 
 almost incomprehensible to me that, in the case of Europeans, 
 who are addicted to hanging in their rooms landscape pictures, 
 and who are so fond of travelling in mountainous regions, 
 running after beautiful scenes and views of landscape of 
 different types, it should never have entered their minds to 
 apply to their gardens the same ideas. In this respect I 
 can venture, without any diffidence, to say that Japan is 
 above any nation in the world, and foreigners would be 
 much benefited if they would begin to appreciate our style 
 of gardening. I am glad to see that there are several 
 Westerners in different countries who have already begun 
 to do so. 
 
 At the meeting of the British Association at Cambridge, 
 in 1904, Mr. Douglas Freshfield delivered an admir- 
 able lecture on " Mountains and Mankind." On the 
 question of the love of mountains, Mr. Freshfield tells 
 us that it is a healthy, primitive, and almost universal 
 instinct. The belief that it is a taste, or some would say a 
 mania, of advanced civilization is erroneous, an error arising 
 from the adoption of too narrowa time-limit for investigation, 
 by comparing the nineteenth century, not with the preceding 
 ages, but with the eighteenth, and also from taking too nar- 
 row a space-limit, hardly casting one's eyes beyond Western 
 Europe. The eighteenth century, Mr. Freshfield continues, 
 was an age of formality. It was the age of palladian porti- 
 coes, of interminable avenues, of formal gardens and formal 
 
 224 
 
ARTS AND LETTERS 
 
 style in art, in literature, and in dress, Mountains, which 
 were essentially romantic and Gothic, were naturally dis- 
 tasteful to it. Herein lies the clue by which to trace the 
 original cause why Western gardens differ so essentially 
 from ours — the Japanese. The gardens of Versailles and 
 St. Cloud, which were striking examples of formality, were 
 made at this period, and there can be no wonder that that 
 style has exercised so vast an influence on the art of garden- 
 ing in Europe. 
 
 The literature of the eighteenth century, Mr. Freshfield 
 further insists, was the product of a practical common-sense 
 epoch, which looked on all waste places — heath like Hind- 
 head or hills like the Highlands — as blemishes in the scheme 
 of the universe. Intellectual life was concentrated in 
 cities and courts — it despised the country. Here, then, 
 was the reason why there never occurred to the minds of 
 the higher classes of the West the idea of introducing to the 
 proximity of their dwellings imitations of the wild and 
 rugged beauty of mountains or valleys. 
 
 In those days, moreover, books were written by dwellers 
 in towns which had not grown into large cities, and whose 
 denizens therefore had not experienced the longing to 
 escape from their homes into purer air that people have 
 nowadays. They frankly abused even the Alps. Few 
 people, if any, included in their programme of sum- 
 mer enjoyments mere sight-seeing among mountains and 
 valleys. Naturally enough in those days few people 
 penetrated into the heart of that paradise of the world, 
 Switzerland, even for scientific explorations, still less 
 for pleasure trips. The Alpine Club was founded in England 
 in 1857. It was only a little time prior to that date, it 
 would seem, that Switzerland grew to be the resort of the 
 summer tourist. The eagerness of the scenery-hunter for 
 other mountain regions has also grown in a similar manner 
 from comparatively recent and small beginnings, and with 
 a similarly rapid progress. Most of the visitors simply go 
 there for pastime, and some, though perhaps an inconsider- 
 able number, go there on scientific investigation bent, with 
 a leaning toward pastime. They are contented with seeing 
 the places as they are, and at the most with committing 
 their impressions to writing. They have not yet reached 
 the stage of being moved by the idea of reproducing in 
 
 225 Q 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 their dwelling-houses and immediate surroundings the 
 impressions they receive, or of giving to them any material 
 shape. Here is, then, the cause why the modern Westerners, 
 who are fond of landscape-hunting, have not been actuated 
 by the same predilection in their gardening as the Far 
 Easterners. It is not because they not do appreciate the 
 loveliness of a landscape, but because they have not yet 
 had sufficient time to get rid of the formal notions of the 
 eighteenth century, and to revive adequately their natural 
 and instinctive love of mountain scenery in their gardening. 
 As to a fondness for mountainous regions, the Occidentals, 
 especially the English, have advanced their taste in that, 
 direction far beyond the Orientals, so much so, indeed, that, 
 as all know, lives are annually sacrificed and ascents made 
 of so adventurous a nature as to appear almost foolhardy in 
 the eyes of other nations. Mr. Freshfield points out that 
 the love of mountains and the desire to climb them are 
 distinct tastes, and that though they are often united their 
 union is accidental, not essential. With us, the Japanese, I 
 may say that it is our aesthetic perception which entitles 
 us to a place among the mountain-lovers, for though we 
 universally revel in the sight of our peaks and ranges from 
 a distance, we are but poor climbers. Mr. Freshfield, pass- 
 ingly complimenting the Japanese, calling them " a race 
 destined apparently to play a great part in the world's 
 history," reminds us that the Japanese were from antiquity 
 mountain-lovers. Fuji-Yama to the Japanese is (as is 
 Ararat to the Armenians) a national symbol ; its ascent is 
 constantly made by bands of pilgrims ; it is depicted in 
 every aspect. This is all very true. Fuji-Yama is very 
 dear to us — ^we love it. Herr Moss^ a German jurist, who 
 was staying in Japan, told me more than once that there 
 were innumerable beautiful things in Japan, but Fuji- 
 Yama was the only one thing which he could call " sublime," 
 and he adored it no less than do the Japanese. The vast 
 majority of the pilgrims whom Mr. Freshfield speaks of, 
 however, are climbers in the real sense of making a pilgrimage 
 on account of a certain religious sentiment, Fuji-Yama 
 being considered a sacred mountain, and a sort of volun- 
 tary congregation being formed to proceed thither, often 
 from a great distance, not from any love of the mountain 
 itself, as a natural object, nor from any motive of scientific 
 
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 investigation. By the bye, there were of old a few sacred 
 places which females were forbidden to approach, and Fuji- 
 yama was one of them. Lady Parkes, who climbed the 
 mountain, in 1865, to the best of my memory, in company 
 with her husband, Sir Harry Parkes, then British Minister 
 to Japan, was the first female who ever ascended it, although 
 it is noteworthy that it is consecrated by the enshrinement 
 on its summit of a Shinto goddess, and also that it is addition- 
 ally beautiful in the popular imagination from an association 
 with the tale of the " Shining Damsel," the heroine of the 
 " Bamboo Hewer," one of the oldest Japanese works of 
 fiction, written in the early part of the tenth century. 
 
 In regard to these matters, however, opinions are vastly 
 changed in Japan. Many more people now climb mountains 
 than in former days. It is especially so with the youths of 
 the new generation. Great numbers of students may be 
 met at any time during the summer vacation trotting about 
 in mountainous regions for pleasure and recreation, as well 
 as for scientific investigation. Although the Japanese are 
 not, or at least, as I have already said, have not hitherto 
 been, distinguished as ardent climbers, their taste for natural 
 scenery, even among the lowest classes, is evinced in many 
 ways, as all visitors to our country must have observed, 
 and especially is this shown in the Japanese method of 
 gardening, 
 
 To return to the subject of European gardens, the nearest 
 approach which I have seen to our Far Eastern ideals is to 
 be found in the park of the Buttes Chaumont, in Paris, which 
 is very little known to ordinary visitors ; nay, even to the 
 French themselves. It is a garden made of an old quarry, 
 and the cliffs therein formed, supplemented by some arti- 
 ficial stones, have been shaped into a pleasing imitation of 
 some Alpine scenery. The Central Park of New York 
 affords, perhaps, another instance. I cannot say much 
 about it, as the day I visited it was a very foggy one, and I 
 could see but very little of anything. In the part I saw, 
 however, there were several natural rocks — literally, having 
 been there ab initio — suggestive of a natural wilder- 
 ness in an entirely natural valley. Only the other day, 
 when I was on a short visit in the North of England, I was 
 taken by an acquaintance of mine the round of his vast 
 gardens,. All sorts of flowers had been planted in them, 
 
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THE RISEN SUN 
 
 and bloomed on every side ; they were very beautiful, of 
 course ; but when I reached a particular spot I felt inclined 
 to give way to regrets, for there before me lay an old 
 disused quarry, with an abundance of stones in their natural 
 state, as yet unt rimmed. The spot could be turned very 
 easily, if entrusted]to a Japanese gardener, and not necessarily 
 a skilled one, into an ideal rock-garden, with moss-grown 
 crags and tumbling cascades, suggestive of the best bits of 
 rugged Alpine landscape. But, as it was, the spot was 
 over-planted with all sorts of shrubs and evergreens, and 
 the rocks were entirely hidden from view and wasted ! 
 
 I remember that I once had at Tokio a casual talk on the 
 subject of gardening with Sir Claude Macdonald, the British 
 Minister. He observed that the reason why Western 
 horticulture lacked the realistic landscape elements was 
 probably that the Western designers of gardens had no 
 natural scenery on a small scale near at hand which might 
 serve them as a model by which their imitative imagination 
 might be inspired. There may be something in this ; but it 
 does not seem to explain all. Now that fashions are chang- 
 ing so rapidly, I should not be in the least surprised if we 
 were to see, before many decades pass by, big mossy rocks 
 drawn into the gardens of the English aristocracy by teams 
 of huge English dray-horses, and skilfully placed in position 
 by gardeners with an eye to natural effect. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The Japanese attainments in literature are for the most 
 part inferior to those in art. In art we can talk with a 
 certain amount of confidence with people of any nation, 
 though not always on equal terms, but in literature our 
 confidence in ourselves fails to a significant extent when 
 we come to talk with the people of the Western civilized 
 nations. We have, however, a sufficient stock of literature 
 accumulated through centuries of years amply to show our 
 minds and sentiments as a nation. 
 
 An article by the late Sir Edwin Arnold, published in an 
 issue of the Daily Telegraph a few days after his death begins 
 thus : — 
 
 The time will come when Japan — safe, famous, and glad with 
 the promise of peaceful years to follow, and to reward this present 
 
 228 
 
ARTS AND LETTERS 
 
 period of life-and-death conflict — will engage once again the attrac- 
 tion of the Western nations on the side of her artistic and intellectual 
 gifts. Already in this part of the globe, persons of culture have 
 become well aware how high and subtle is her artistic genius ; and 
 by and by it will be discovered that there are real treasures to be 
 found in her literature. Moreover, England, beyond any other 
 European country, is likely to be attracted to this branch, at present 
 naturally neglected, of what may be called the spiritual side of 
 Japanese life. 
 
 I, as a Japanese, cannot pretend to guarantee this saying of 
 Sir Edwin Arnold as being perfectly correct, but at all events 
 a great deal seems to be contained in it. We have seen in 
 a foregoing section of this chapter that our arts were in a 
 state of great advancement in the Nara period. But in 
 literature we have nothing worth reading left except our 
 poetry. We have Manyoshiu (million leaves), a book which 
 is a collection of poems dating from some time previous to 
 the Nara period down to the early part of the Heian period. 
 The collection seems to have begun at the end of the Nara 
 period but to have been finished by a great poet who lived 
 in the Heian period, and hence the incorporation of some 
 poems of the latter period. 
 
 From this book we can fairly judge that the art of poetry 
 has never again attained to that pitch by any subsequent 
 generation throughout the whole of our history. The scale 
 of our poetry is small on the whole, although our poetry 
 of the Nara period contains a good deal worth reading. 
 
 Speaking of the poetry of this period Mr. Aston writes 
 thus : — 
 
 While the eighth century has left us little or no prose literature 
 of importance, it was emphatically the golden age of poetry. Japan 
 had now outgrown the artless effusions described in a preceding 
 chapter, and during this period produced a body of verse of an 
 excellence which has never since been surpassed. The reader who 
 expects to find this poetry of a nation just emerging from the bar- 
 baric stage of culture characterized by rude, untutored vigour, will 
 be surprised to learn that, on the contrary, it is distinguished by 
 polish rather than power. It is delicate in sentiment and refined 
 in language, and displays exquisite skill of phrase, with a careful 
 adherence to certain canons of composition of its own. 
 
 This I think will be a sufficient survey of the subject. 
 
 We come next to the Heian period. Here we see that 
 culture has greatly developed. All kinds of books were written 
 
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THE RISEN SUN 
 
 — histories, books of law and ceremony, travels, diaries, 
 memoirs, romances, books of ' ana ' and novels. The study of 
 Chinese was much in vogue at the time, and many of these 
 books are written in Chinese. Our native literature had 
 also sprung up and made a wonderful progress, and it was 
 then that our native classical books came into existence. 
 They are written entirely in the pure phonetic alphabet, 
 almost entirely consisting of vernacular words. True it is 
 that the writers had not yet devised a mode of dividing 
 one word from another, so that readers may see at once 
 every word separate ; but this was similarly the case with 
 the ancient Greeks. Neither did they know how to make 
 use of the signs, such as the full-stop, the comma, and the 
 exclamation stop, etc., so as to make reading easy, and at 
 the same time to give the reader some kind of sense and idea 
 beyond the words themselves. Had the native literature of 
 the time been kept up, and had such improvements been 
 made, Japan would have had by this time the credit of a 
 considerable native literature, in addition to the great boon 
 of having a good system of writing differing from the cum- 
 brous form that is still in use. 
 
 The light literature, that is to say, romances, novels, and 
 such like, of the Heian period are written in the native 
 classical style. They are mostly by female hands. As 
 the study of Chinese was thought to be more masculine 
 and useful, and, generally a higher attainment, most men 
 seem to have gone in that direction, and the task of culti- 
 vating the native style was left in the hands of the ladies. 
 Genji Monogatari and Makura - no - Soshi are generally 
 considered the best of the kind, though they differ in style 
 and purport.^ 
 
 Since the Imperial Government of Kioto lost its grasp 
 of the administration, and the ruling power was transferred 
 to the military governments, that is, since the Kamakura 
 period, literary culture has shown a great decadence. The 
 monks of the Buddhist temples became almost the sole 
 repositories of book knowledge, as was the case to a certain 
 extent in the mediaeval age of Europe. There was a time 
 when much knowledge in the wa)/ of learning was considered, 
 in the case of knights and other gentry, to be a hindrance to 
 
 ^ For specimen extracts, see Japan by the Japanese^ 1904, 539-541. 
 
 230 
 
ARTS AND LETTERS 
 
 the maintenance of manliness, and therefore not much 
 valued. It was under the Tokugawa period that a great re- 
 vival of literary culture took place and expanded itself to a 
 degree unknown before. I may here state that previously to 
 that period Japanese literature had scarcely any philosophy. 
 Of histories there were many, but they were more in the 
 nature of chronicles or annals, and did not aspire to any 
 philosophical generalization. In the Tokugawa period litera- 
 ture, and the study of books, spread itself in all directions, 
 and philosophical dissertations formed no small part of the 
 new growth. Works of fiction, too, made their appearance in 
 astonishing numbers ; but I think it would be better for me 
 to describe this progress in a more historical manner, even 
 though only a bare outline can be attempted. 
 
 After the establishment of the Tokugawa Government at 
 " Yedo," now Tokio, the country enjoyed a long spell of peace 
 extending over two hundred and seventy years. During 
 that time both art and literature made great progress. 
 Schools were established, not only in Yedo, but at almost 
 every seat of the provincial governments of the feudal 
 lords, besides many private schools, which were established 
 by scholars on their own account. In these schools the 
 young Samurai were taught ; and many of the Samurai 
 themselves, whose business and inclination in former days 
 was nothing but fighting, began to study books. A learned 
 class thus sprang up whose business it was to study, to read, 
 to write, and to teach. These were msimly Japanese scholars, 
 in Chinese, their work being to expound the Confucian doc- 
 trine; they were called the "Ziusha," and commanded the 
 high respect of society. In the beginning of the period they 
 were classed with priests or physicians, but as time went 
 on a little, it was thought that this classification was not suffi- 
 cient for them. They must be regarded as something 
 higher ; they were accordingly given comparatively high 
 places among the Samurai, and their occupations were not 
 considered as professions. This was, of course, where the 
 teachers were engaged in the official schools ; but a similar 
 kind of respect was also accorded to the masters of private 
 schools. It was these learned people who wrote vast numbers 
 of books on different subjects, more especially based upon 
 the Chinese ideas of the classical period, but mostly in such 
 a way as to make them more adaptable to the Japanese 
 
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THE RISEN SUN 
 
 conditions, and also to make many scholastic improvements. 
 These ideas, blended together with the chivalric code of 
 honour of the native growth, went a long way in forming 
 the moral aspects of the Japanese character. There was 
 another movement which took place at this period side by 
 side with the movement in the direction of Chinese study. It 
 was the revival of the study of ancient Japanese literature 
 and the resuscitation of the master spirits of the Imperial 
 regime preceding the introduction of the feudal system. 
 This has also gone a long way toward forming the national 
 character of the Japanese side by side with those influences 
 described above. Scholars belonging to this school have 
 also written many books, more especially on the interpre- 
 tation of the ancient vernacular language and the exposi- 
 tion of native classical literature. 
 
 These were, then, the more serious and elevated sides of our 
 literature of the period, but there was also a popular side 
 — I mean the works of fiction, including romances, dramas, 
 and novels. In discussing this part of our literature I must, 
 in the first place, speak of the "No." The No, together with 
 its accompaniments of the " Kiogen," is not a growth of this 
 period ; it first began during the latter parts of the Ashikaga 
 period, it then passed through the Oda-Toyotomi period, 
 and was kept up with lively interest down to the period 
 we are speaking of ; nay, even to our own days. The No, 
 as literature, is a collection of dramatic poems, and in its 
 action is a kind of drama. When both recitation and 
 action are combined it is something like an opera on a 
 very limited scale. The written parts are sung by the 
 people acting, there are principal and secondary characters, 
 and a large chorus. I once saw a Greek play acted by the 
 undergraduates at Cambridge in imitation of the ancient 
 Greeks (I have also read some Greek dramas), and I noticed 
 some similarity between them and our No, though, of 
 course, the scale of our No is only miniature compared 
 with that of the Greeks. The text-book of the No is called 
 " Yokioku " or " Utai," and is called No only when it is 
 represented on the stage by action. Yokioku is studied 
 and sung by its admirers even without action. It has been 
 long popular with the upper classes, and of late years its prac- 
 tice has been revived among the gentry extensively. The plot 
 and actions are not complicated, but they are refined, and 
 
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ARTS AND LETTERS 
 
 some passages are superb, though not classical. Its tone is 
 elegant and elevated and, therefore, fit to be associated 
 with the upper classes ; hence, No was performed even 
 on great occasions at the Courts of the Shogun. 
 
 The word Kiogen literally means " mad utterances," and 
 when acted it is a comical play on a small scale. The 
 Kiogen is a collection of dialogues, and therefore, as liter- 
 ature, has no poetical element. There are several hundreds 
 of these pieces, and their merits are to be sought in the con- 
 densed form of their comical elements. They are never 
 sung, they are only adapted for action, and are commonly 
 played after a No drama, though occasionally a Kiogen 
 alone is acted without the No ; a good deal of credit may, 
 however, be allowed to them. They often represent great 
 feudal lords in the leading role, and the plot is so arranged 
 that the feudal lord is made a fool of by the other char- 
 acters. They were acted in the period when the feudal 
 discipline was most rigid, and yet this fool-making was 
 acquiesced in. This will show how cunningly the comical 
 parts were displayed, so that the very feudal lords them- 
 selves before whom they were played could not get 
 offended. 
 
 The works of fiction of this period have taken root in a 
 somewhat similar manner to the popular school of paintings 
 (Ukiyoye) which took their root in opposition to the pictures 
 of the older and more conventional style. They were truly 
 things for the people, and not for the aristocracy. The 
 serious side of our literature in this period was almost a 
 monopoly of the higher classes. The common people had no 
 access to or liking for it, except those who had been favoured 
 with better opportunities or higher aspirations than their 
 neighbours. And yet they began to feel a kind of longing 
 for some novelty, and this was utilized by a number of clever 
 popular writers. The readers were of the inferior class, 
 and the writers were men of the same class, were at least 
 hommes declasses, or pretended to be so by using some 
 fictitious name. Generally speaking, therefore, much vul- 
 garity is perceptible in this class of literature. Nevertheless 
 there is merit to be found in these books. Their plots and 
 situations are, in many cases, so good that they touch our 
 feelings deeply. 
 
 Speaking of Bakin, who may be considered the greatest 
 
 233 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 heroic romance writer of the period, a critic says, as translated 
 and quoted by Mr. Aston :— 
 
 In short, Bakin comprises in himself the best points of many- 
 men. We see in him numerous resemblances to Shakespeare. It 
 is not only women and children, tradespeople and pCcisants, who 
 admire him. Even educated gentlemen are frequently moved to 
 tears or laughter, or made to gnash their teeth and strain their arms 
 (with rage) by his writings. 
 
 Perhaps I may here give, with advantage, a rough classi- 
 fication of these works. There are historical romances, 
 comical romances and novels : the latter are called by us 
 Ninjio-bon (book of human nature), and their plots are 
 principally concerned with love affairs. Female characters 
 in these novels generally do not belong to a very select 
 type or class, so that they are often repugnant to the more 
 refined taste of modern times. Such types recur much as 
 the courtesans and parasites do in Latin comedy, but they 
 are often very cleverly drawn. From the literary point of 
 view, moreover, we can discover considerable merit in many 
 of these works of fiction, inasmuch as many of them (among 
 them the so-called Kusazoshi) were written in the pure 
 phonetic alphabet and colloquial Japanese. Historical 
 romances of the Bakin school generally contain Chinese 
 letters in their lines to a surprising degree ; and, therefore, 
 from the point of view of the nationalization of our written 
 language they do not appear to merit much consideration 
 at our hands. With regard to those that are written in the 
 pure phonetic alphabet, on the other hand, the writers 
 have succeeded to a very creditable degree in reviving 
 the mode of writing peculiar to the old days of the classical 
 literature of the Heian period after it had been totally 
 disused for so many centuries. For those, therefore, who 
 wish to remodel our written language on the same lines as 
 the spoken language, these works certainly deserve to be 
 taken into greater consideration. 
 
 There is one more important kind of literature which 
 deserves our attention ; it is the popular drama. 
 
 In speaking of dramas it is necessary to speak first of the 
 books relating to them. There are numerous books under 
 the categorical name of the Joruri-hon or Gidayu-hon. 
 These are books containing not only the dialogue but also 
 some of the descriptive parts of the stories themselves. 
 
 234 
 
ARTS AND LETTERS 
 
 They are written like a novel, only with more dialogue than 
 description, but, of course, in a shorter form, and in such 
 euphonic diction as may be sung. At the same time they 
 are also adaptable to the stage with actors and acting.. 
 They were originally written for marionette theatres ; 
 experienced vocalists singing them at the corner of the pro- 
 scenium, while the marionettes were being worked with 
 realistic effect on the stage concurrently with the singing. 
 They could also be sung without the marionettes, and, 
 therefore, the singing of them is widely studied and practised 
 by men and women of the higher classes. They can, 
 moreover, with a little modification, be adapted to the 
 ordinary stage. Ordinary theatres grew up in this period, 
 but at a little later time than the marionette theatres. 
 Dialogue plays were written for these theatres by regular 
 playwrights attached to them : their literary merit was for 
 the most part insignificant. 
 
 Many foreigners have imagined that there were no 
 actresses in Japan ; but this is an erroneous opinion. At 
 the beginning of theatrical performances, some three 
 hundred years ago, there were actors and actresses 
 playing together, but this practice was prohibited a little 
 later for some reason. In later times also there were 
 many actresses, though fewer in number than actors,' and 
 these actresses formed their own companies on the stage 
 and played the parts of men, while male actors similarly 
 formed independent companies. Men (not necessarily 
 youths) played female parts, and women portrayed men, 
 both with admirable success. This state of things obtains 
 to this day. Occasionally actresses act in the company of 
 the actors, but it is very rare, and in exceptional cases. 
 The tendency, however, is in the direction of more fusion 
 between the male and female companies of players. 
 
 The stage, both marionette and ordinary, was originally 
 intended for common people, and, unlike the No, the 
 popular stage has never been patronized by the upper 
 classes. It was only at a very recent date that even 
 great actors began to attain their position in society. 
 Much vulgarity was permitted to appear on the stage in 
 former days, both marionette and ordinary, and the 
 Joruri-bon themselves are not free from this defect ; 
 but when we make a good selection from the numerous 
 
 235 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 books of this kind we find that there are many parts which 
 exhibit high Hterary merits, and parts that may be sung 
 by men and women of the highest classes without hesi- 
 tation, before any audience. My wife herself is a fairly good 
 singer of ' Joruri' songs. She was first recommended by a 
 medical specialist of high reputation to make frequent use of 
 her voice for the sake of her health, and this kind of singing 
 was selected for her. 
 
 Speaking generally, however, I admit that vulgarity 
 exists in many of them still, as I said before ; but here I must 
 make a remark which will be most astonishing to the Western 
 readers. I wish to say that these play-books, this popular 
 drama, and the heroic tales contained in these historical 
 works of fiction, together with the Gundan (particular mode 
 of telling heroic stories) have had a great share in making 
 the Japan of to-day. The gallantry of our sailors in trying 
 to bottle up the entrance of Port Arthur, and of the soldiers 
 who fought the battle of the Yalu, Kinchau, Nanshan and 
 Mukden, owes a good deal of its force to the influence 
 exercised by these fictions upon the popular element of the 
 Mikado's subjects. Of course I do not ignore the fact that 
 the vast influence of the serious parts of our education 
 and traditions also would have made them extremely loyal 
 and patriotic to their country and to their Emperor ; but, 
 for all that, the influence exercised by the dramatic per- 
 formances, dramatic literature, and the romantic stories 
 of heroes and heroines can by no means be overlooked. 
 
 For this there is reason ; in Japan, the idea of the " en- 
 couragement of what is good, and the chastisement of what 
 is bad," has always been kept in view in works of fiction, 
 and more conspicuously still in dramatic books and plays. 
 I know very well that there is some opposition to this idea. 
 People in England and France say that works of fiction 
 should be viewed exclusively as art products ; hence, so long 
 as the real nature and character is depicted there is an end 
 to the function of these works. I do not pretend in any 
 way to challenge this argument, but I simply state that it 
 was not so regarded in Japan ; consequently, with us, some 
 kind of reward or chastisement is generally meted out to the 
 fictitious characters introduced upon the scene ; and these 
 representations, whether in books or on the stage, are carried 
 to such a pitch of illusion as to leave a very profound 
 
 236 
 
ARTS AND LETTERS 
 
 impression on the minds of the readers or of the audience. 
 Whatever the other remaining parts may be, these parts 
 are always left in and remain uppermost upon the mind of 
 the reader or the theatre-goer. The prominent effect or 
 impression thus produced is generally a great loyalty, such 
 as a loyal servant would feel and express for his master ; 
 or a great fortitude and perseverance which a man may 
 exhibit for the sake of justice and righteousness; or the 
 severe suffering he may undergo for the sake of a dear 
 friend ; or the devotion of parents with self-sacrifice ; or the 
 great suffering, and it may be self-sacrifice, of a wife for 
 her husband, or of a mother for her son in enabling him 
 to fulfil his duty as a true subject of his lord, or as a true 
 friend of a comrade, or a fellow-citizen for whose sake he 
 has to do something. I have myself undergone many 
 times the experience of shedding tears when reading works 
 of fiction, or when listening to the singing of dramatic songs, 
 or while witnessing dramatic performances. This peculiarity 
 seems to be wanting on the Western stage. I remember once 
 in London, years ago, my eyes becoming moist with tears 
 when I saw a character on the stage, who was being taken 
 away as a prisoner, putting out his arms and shaking hands 
 with the man who was his dear friend, but who ought to 
 have been suspected, if I remember rightly, as being the 
 cause of his being taken prisoner, and who told him that 
 he would never suspect and never forsake him ; but that 
 was a solitary experience. 
 
 If I say anything about Shakespeare, I fear I should at 
 once be considered to be overstepping my proper boundary ; 
 but I must say that even Shakespeare's plays, some of 
 which I have read or seen played upon the stage, have 
 never given me such impressions. Whenever we come 
 to the Western stage we appreciate the stage decorations, 
 we admire the splendid movements and shapely figures 
 of the actors and actresses, and, so far as we can under- 
 stand it, the striking elegance and powerful delivery of the 
 dialogue ; and we enjoy ourselves as much as could be 
 hoped, but on coming home we find nothing left in our 
 brain which might serve as an incentive or a watchword 
 in our future career. Such, then, seems to be the difference 
 between our dramatic works and those of the Western 
 nations. If ever the good parts of our dramatic works 
 
 237 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 be appreciated by the Westerners we shall feel highly 
 flattered. 
 
 I must now leave off speaking of the Tokugawa period 
 and must deal with the Meiji era, in which we are now living. 
 The infusion of European ideas has made all our things very 
 different, and literature is also making a new move ; I 
 cannot enter upon the subject in this place ; I can merely 
 state a very few facts. Works of fiction have been and are 
 being written a good deal. We have not yet produced any 
 great genius such as the geniuses produced in the Tokugawa 
 period, but in some ways we have made improvements. 
 Writers of works of fiction in the Tokugawa period 
 had no great enlightenment in themselves, as I have de- 
 scribed above. Modern writers are mostly men of proper 
 training and regular education ; many of them are graduates 
 of the university, and many of them have a fair knowledge of 
 Western literature. If only the public would give more 
 encouragement to them to continue their toil, I have every 
 confidence that they would succeed. But, alas, this is not 
 the case. I may also say that although theatrical plays 
 are also written by the young men of the present generation, 
 they have not, hitherto, met with much success. Such 
 works as Chiushingura (Forty-Seven Ronin or loyalists) or 
 Sendaihagi (Lespedeza bicolor of Sendai), written in the 
 Tokugawa period, have at present found no rivals in the 
 modern literature of Japan. 
 
 238 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE GREAT CHANGE IN JAPAN ^ 
 
 OF late people have shown a strong disposition to learn 
 something of the cause and effect of that great 
 change which took place in Japan some three decades ago. 
 The following pages are an attempt to give to such persons 
 the keys by which they may open the mystic shrine in 
 which that history is hidden from the eyes of casual 
 observers. 
 
 There are in all seven keys, in the shape of terms which 
 it is most important to master, and which must first be 
 thoroughly understood if one really desires to gain access 
 to the shrine. These are : (i) Kinno, (2) Sabaku, (3) 
 Sakoku, (4) Kaiko, (5) Kobu-gattai, (6) Fukko, (7) Ishin. 
 These represent in reality the seven currents of thought, 
 so to speak, which for a considerable time prevailed in 
 Japan, and in the fusion of these currents, after the number- 
 less checks and impediments that were ascribable to the 
 political vicissitudes of the age, we have the Japan of 
 to-day. Amongst these currents the first five more especi- 
 ally prevailed before 1868, which was the year of the restora- 
 tion of the Imperial regime, and the last two after that 
 year. 
 
 Now, "Kinno" means "fulfilling one's duty to the 
 Emperor " ; " Sabaku " means " supporting the Bakufu, 
 i.e., the government of the Shogun, who was the military 
 head of the house of Tokugawa. As a matter of fact, the 
 original signification of Bakufu was " the headquarters of 
 a generalissimo." The simple signification of Shogun is 
 " a leader of an army " — a general ; but in the case under 
 our consideration " generalissimo " is perhaps the more 
 appropriate title, because in this case " Shogun " was but 
 
 ^ Fortnightly Review, November, 1904. 
 239 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 an abbreviation of Tai-Shogun, which is the precise equiva- 
 lent of " generaHssimo." The nearest terms we can give 
 in English, therefore, to " Kinno " and " Sabaku " would 
 be Imperialism and Militarism. They were the main 
 opposing currents which had animated the Japanese, heart 
 and soul, for some fifteen years prior to 1868, and had been 
 productive of manifestations, often in a most acute form, 
 though their origin and growth were of more remote date. 
 In other words, the question at issue wasto decide which of 
 two — the Imperial Court at Kioto or the Government of 
 the Shogun at Yedo (now Tokio) — should gain the ascen- 
 dency and govern the country. It was in reality a vital 
 question, having its roots deep down in the very founda- 
 tions of the organization of Japan. Concurrently with 
 these two modes of thought there existed two others, 
 which were likewise in opposition to one another, namely, 
 " Sakoku," which meant " closing the country," and 
 " Kaiko," which implied " opening the ports to foreign 
 trade." The former was sometimes called " Sako," which 
 meant closing the ports, being, of course, the same thing, 
 as " closing the country," and in this form it was often 
 coupled with " Joi," i.e., expelling the barbarians, or 
 " Joi," alone, was often used in place of " Sakoku." " Kai- 
 ko " was sometimes called " Kaikoku," which means 
 " opening the country," in contradistinction to " Sakoku." 
 Let us term them in English " anti-opening " and " pro- 
 opening." These two issues had to be definitely decided, 
 one way or the other, with regard to Japan's external 
 attitude. 
 
 The relative positions of these four currents constitute 
 the most interesting, and yet, to outsiders, most puzzling 
 features of that period of Japan's history. Broadly 
 speaking, Militarism and the pro-opening propagandism 
 were usually ranged on one side in antagonism to Im- 
 perialism and the anti-opening propagandism, but they were 
 not necessarily so throughout. It was the Shogun's Govern- 
 ment that had to deal with foreign Powers, and which 
 acceded to their demands as respects opening the country 
 to foreign trade. It felt, no doubt, that a greater and 
 more immediate responsibility, in regard to emergencies 
 which might arise, would be incurred |int refusing these 
 demands, and therefore yielded to external pressure. It 
 
 240 
 
THE GREAT CHANGE 
 
 naturally followed that those who favoured Militarism 
 were also generally to be found on the side of the pro- 
 opening propagandists. It did not, however, follow that 
 because one supported the existing system of Militarism, 
 as a domestic policy, he should also advocate opening the 
 country ; as a matter of fact, there were many among 
 the adherents of the Shogunate who did not like the idea 
 of seeing the country thrown open under humiliating 
 conditions, under the menace, as it were, of foreign bayonets. 
 On the other hand, the Imperial Court at Kioto was from 
 time immemorial considered almost sacred, and it was 
 natural enough, in those days, that the Court, with its 
 nobles, should take a certain pride in its seclusion and in 
 the country being free from any foreign interference, and 
 thus its avowed desire was to keep foreigners at a distance. 
 Hence the supporters of the Imperial cause generally 
 espoused the anti-opening propaganda. But it did not 
 necessarily follow, among Imperialists at large, that, be- 
 cause a man longed to see the Imperial authority resusci- 
 tated and the country consolidated, he should close his 
 eyes to the advantages which might accrue from foreign 
 intercourse, nor that he should blind himself to the dangers 
 which might arise from an attempt to stem the irresistible 
 tide that was setting in, as exemplified in the advent of 
 foreign fleets. 
 
 There was another current, which went by the denomi- 
 nation of "Kobugattai," which implied an intimate relation- 
 ship and harmonious understanding between the Court 
 and the Shogunate, " Kobu " signifying the Court and 
 Shogunate, and " gattai " signifying a perfect unity, as 
 it were. We might call this propaganda the " harmonism." 
 The idea of this propaganda was that it would be better 
 for the country could some cordial understanding be 
 established between the Court and the Shogunate, and 
 that efforts should be directed toward the maintenance 
 of the country's position as to exterior concerns. The 
 views of the harmonists on this latter point were mainly 
 in favour of maintaining amicable intercourse with foreign 
 Powers, though this did not necessarily and absolutely 
 follow. Harmonism, however, did not, after all, amount 
 to much more than a sort of opportunism — a mere patching- 
 up of matters in conformity with temporary expediencies, 
 
 241 R 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 so that this current of opinion did not exercise so great an 
 influence on the nation's future as did some others. 
 
 Such was the admixture of the currents of thought at 
 a time when the culmination to be finally attained was a 
 matter of vital importance. It was no wonder, then, that 
 the country was in a great commotion, and that the turmoil 
 cost it innumerable lives and much money. There were 
 several risings of impatient patriots against the authorities 
 at Yedo, attacks on foreigners, and bombardments of 
 foreign ships, with counter-bombardments by the foreign 
 squadrons of our seaside towns, and desperate battles 
 between the Imperialists and the Militarists. There were, 
 moreover, many self-contradictory acts, irreconcilible 
 in themselves save to those whose studies have led them 
 thoroughly to appreciate the unique conditions due to the 
 then existing commixture of interests. No one at the 
 time could predict the ultimate outcome of all this, of 
 course, but the only solution of the problem lay in a unifica- 
 tion of the Imperialistic and the pro-opening propaganda. 
 It was beyond doubt that the country needed to be consoli- 
 dated and made as powerful as possible in order to sustain 
 its independence against exterior pressures, and, for the 
 realisation of this end, Imperialism was the only com- 
 mendable propaganda. But Imperialism in union with 
 the anti-opening propaganda was neither practical nor 
 feasible. It must be reconciled with the pro-opening 
 propaganda, which, as we have seen, was then ranged on 
 the side of Militarism. There arose at this crisis, I am 
 thankful to say, men amongst the Imperialists who began 
 to perceive this paramount necessity ; neither was there 
 lacking a similar element among the supporters of the 
 Shogunate. But on this some further explanation is 
 necessary. 
 
 First, as to the relative position of the Emperor and 
 Shogun. In the early days it was usual for foreigners to 
 speak of the former as the spiritual head of Japan, and of 
 the latter as the temporal head. This was not correct 
 according to our notions, as is now tolerably well known. 
 The Emperor was all in all — the real Sovereign of the 
 country. He was always the fountain of honour ; and 
 only the administrative authority was entrusted to the hands 
 of the Shogun. This fact was at all times fully recognized 
 
 2^2 
 
THE GREAT CHANGE 
 
 by the followers of the Shogunate themselves. Hence, even 
 among the staunchest adherents of the Shogun, to wrest the 
 sovereignty of the country from the Emperor, and confer 
 it upon the person of the Shogun, was out of the question, 
 even though the object in view was nothing less than the con- 
 solidating of the country against foreign intrusions. They 
 dare not contemplate such a sacrilegious crime, and the 
 only thing they desired was the continuation and strength- 
 ening of the administrative power of the Shogun. The 
 advocacy of the resuscitation of the Imperial authority, 
 moreover, had been growing for many decades, irrespective 
 of foreign concerns, and the growth of that notion meant a 
 proportionate diminution of the authority of the Shogunate 
 Government. As a matter of fact, the last Shogun, Reiki 
 himself, who exercised great influence even before he became 
 Shogun, was a person who had the keenest possible sense 
 of loyalty to the Imperial Court. He was a scion of the 
 Mito branch of the Tokugawa family, and it is a well- 
 known fact that the house of the Prince of Mito, though 
 descended from lyeyasu, the first Shogun of the Tokugawa 
 line, was most loyal to the Court, and had been one of the 
 most influential instruments in the revival of the 
 Imperial cause. Young Reiki, at the age of eleven, 
 succeeded the house of Hitotsubashi, another branch of 
 the Tokugawa family. There were six among numerous 
 branches of the Tokugawa family who enjoyed the privi- 
 lege of supplying a successor in case of default of a direct 
 heir to the reigning line of Shoguns ; Hitotsubashi was 
 one of the six, and Mito was another. At the age of 
 eighteen Reiki was one day deeply impressed — I have 
 it on the very best authority — by his father's injunc- 
 tion to the following effect : " You may," said the old 
 Prince of Mito to his son, " one day chance to be the Shogun. 
 You have, however, to bear one thing in your mind, and 
 it is this : should any crisis ever occur in which the in- 
 terests of the Imperial Court and those of the Yedo Govern- 
 ment arrive at such a pitch that they cannot co-exist, you 
 must pay primary attention to those of the Imperial Court. 
 It is the only way to fulfil your duty to the Emperor, and 
 thus only will you be acting in keeping with the best 
 traditions of our family." Reiki's thoughts were ever 
 alive to this teaching of his father, who was in his way a 
 
 243 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 great man and a most conspicuous figure in the history of 
 his time. Keiki is often condemned by casual observers 
 as having been lacking in decision and courage in his latter 
 days, but here is the clue of his actions, and it should go a 
 long way to dispose of that accusation. Napoleon III 
 burnt his fingers in the latter days of the Tokugawa 
 regime, when he directed his thoughts to Far Eastern 
 politics on the assumption that the relative positions 
 of Japanese Imperialism and Militarism were something 
 like those of the Imperialism and Royalism of his own 
 country, i.e., a rivalry of two factions that were on an 
 equal footing. 
 
 As to foreign relations, the Government^of the Shogun, 
 being no longer able to resist the exterior pressure, signed 
 treaties before they could get the Imperial sanction, on 
 the excuse that it was within the competency of the Sho- 
 gun's authority by virtue of the administrative powers 
 entrusted to him by the Emperor. In the eyes of the 
 Japanese at large, especially in those of the Imperialists, 
 his functions were not so regarded. In their view the 
 Shogun's act constituted a usurpation of the Imperial 
 prerogative, and, consequently, it was not viewed as a 
 final and irrevocable arrangement. It is remarkable to 
 notice that even the Shogun's officials, who negotiated 
 these treaties, must have felt some delicacy in regard to 
 this matter, for the title of these treaties had at the top 
 an extra word in the Japanese text — Kari= temporary or 
 provisional. I do not remember how it was in the Western 
 text. And again, in the stipulation about the privilege 
 of despatching a Resident Minister, the representative 
 who was to be despatched by Japan was described as 
 " a functionary who deals with political matters," and 
 those who were to be despatched by foreign States to Japan 
 were mentioned simply by phonetic transliteration as 
 *' Diplomatic Agent." Of course both the nomenclature 
 and the function of different classes of diplomatic agents 
 were unknown then in Japan, but it is curious to see one 
 and the same thing differently expressed. The draughts- 
 men of these documents had evidently no other reason for 
 so doing than that of evading all possible criticism. I 
 may also mention here two other matters in connexion 
 with this subject. One is the term Tai-kun, the literal 
 
 244 
 
THE GREAT CHANGE 
 
 meaning of which is " great lord." Foreigners thought it 
 was the proper title of the " temporal head " of Japan. 
 But, as a matter of fact, it was no title at all. It was a 
 nomenclature invented by the partisans of the Shogunate 
 Government purposely to obscure the exact position of the 
 Shogun, although the device was not quite novel, inasmuch 
 as the same term seems to have been at times used in the 
 diplomatic correspondence of the Government of the 
 Shogun with Korea. The other term was the appellation 
 of " his Majesty " used by foreigners to designate the 
 Shogun. It was Sir Harry Parkes, the British Minister, 
 who first perceived the absurdity of it, and substituted, in 
 official documents, " his Highness " for it. All foreigners 
 were under the delusion that they had done everything 
 correctly and effectually when they had completed their 
 dealings with the officials of the Shogun. Let matters 
 be as they were, however, there was one thing which was 
 certain, and that was that the doctrine of the anti-opening 
 propagandists was not feasible, hence the necessity of 
 combining Imperialism and the pro-opening propaganda 
 in one channel, in opposition to the other three currents 
 of Militarism, the Anti-opening propaganda and Harmon- 
 ism. It was no easy matter. If a Britisher could perceive 
 how difficult it would be, at this moment, were he to be 
 asked to take the " Free Trade " doctrine from the Liberals, 
 and the " Imperialism " from the Unionists, and, amal- 
 gamating them as one, reorganize the British administrative 
 and fiscal polity altogether, then he could realize how 
 much more difficult it must have been for the Japanese 
 of those days to effect the combination and unification 
 above described. Somehow or other things were brought 
 about, and with the inauguration of the new regime, in 
 1867, the country was consolidated under the central 
 Imperial Government, and simultaneously, foreign rela- 
 tions were firmly and definitely placed on the basis of 
 the pro-opening policy, and of national progress. Thus 
 was ushered in the Meiji era. And, moreover, in the course 
 of four years, as the sequel of this great reformation, the 
 feudal system was totally abolished by the combined efforts 
 of the whole nation, until at last the consummation of the 
 work was reached by the establishment of a constitutional 
 form of government — a remarkable history, at least so 
 
 245 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 regarded by outsiders, and one which it is needless for 
 me to expatiate upon in this article. 
 
 I must not, however, close without explaining the two 
 remaining terms, " Fukko," and " Ishin." They repre- 
 sented the two great currents of thought that more especi- 
 ally manifested themselves in the early part of the Meiji 
 era. " Fukko " means " a return to the ancient," i.e., 
 restoration, and " Ishin " means " thorough innovation." 
 The terms themselves represent two totally opposing 
 ideas, but they were very commonly used conjointly in 
 almost a similar manner as bread and butter or milk and 
 sugar are employed in combination ; and, as a matter of 
 fact, they were both equally the motive power of the new 
 regime in attaining its vital aims. The idea of " Fukko " 
 was akin to Imperialism, and that of " Ishin " to the doctrine 
 of pro-opening. For the furtherance of the Imperial 
 cause it was necessary to encourage the reproduction of 
 the ancient spirit, because the full realization of the idea 
 of centralizing the governing organization, including the 
 abolition of feudalism, and the unification of army and 
 navy as well as all other public institutions — could only 
 be .thoroughly accomplished by an appeal to the ancient 
 Imperial regime. For the adoption of a progressive policy, 
 on the other hand, on the basis of Western enlightenment, 
 it was necessary to encourage the idea of innovation, the 
 reason of which needs no explanation. But both of these 
 currents of thought were apt to be misused, and to run to 
 extremes. One was apt to endeavour to revive matters 
 and notions which were totally obsolete and impracticable, 
 nay, even harmful, and to despise things which were com- 
 paratively new, i.e., things which were not as old as the 
 ancient Imperial regime ; whilst the other was apt to 
 despise everything old, no matter how precious it was 
 from the national point of view, and to endeavour to 
 supplant it by something new, no matter how impracticable 
 or premature, nay, even obnoxious, it might be in other 
 respects. The real Japan seemed at one time as though 
 it were to be ground to powder between these two mill- 
 stones. It required regulating in the same fashion that 
 an experienced engineer harmonizes negative and positive 
 forces, and regulates the proper motive power of an electric 
 car. The task was not an easy one, but we have done 
 
 246 
 
THE GREAT CHANGE 
 
 pretty well so far, and the outcome is the Japan of to-day. 
 There remain, however, many more difficulties to be over- 
 come, though we are doing our best to surmount them. 
 The reform we have so far accomplished, we are told, is a 
 cause of displeasure to some Occidentals, but our effort 
 is sincere. We demand that in the face of Supreme 
 Heaven justice shall be done, and that our little merits, as 
 well as our great demerits, shall be fairly recognized. 
 
 247 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR : RULER AND POET 
 
 I 
 
 MIKADO is the title generally given by foreigners to 
 our Emperor, and without doubt it is a Japanese 
 term, but in Japan as a title of his Imperial Majesty the 
 word is not commonly used. He is called ordinarily Tenno 
 Heika, " Tenno " being the Japanese equivalent of Emperor, 
 and " Heika " of the English phrase " his Majesty." The 
 title employed in State papers to designate the ruler of the 
 country is Kwotei, which also signifies Emperor. The 
 personal name of his Majesty is Mutsuhito. 
 
 There is one circumstance here which may strike foreigners 
 as strange, and that is that the Emperor has no family name 
 as European monarchs have, such as Romanoff, Hapsburg, 
 or HohenzoUern. This arises from the fact that the family 
 to which he belongs has reigned over the country of Japan 
 from time immemorial — that is to say, from a date before 
 any distinctive names of families became necessary. It 
 must not be forgotten that in Europe, as well as in Japan, 
 family names are comparatively modern, and mark the post- 
 tribal period of national evolution. 
 
 The Emperor of Japan came to the throne thirty-eight 
 years ago, or, to put it more precisely on February 13, 1867. 
 It was at the time when the old regime of the dual Govern- 
 ment was abolished. Every one probably knows that the 
 present Japanese era, which dates back from 1867, is known 
 as the Meiji era, which means the era of enlightened adminis- 
 tration. " Meiji " is the name given to all the years of the 
 Emperor's reign, the fourth year of his reign, for example, 
 being known as Meiji IV, and the same holds good of any 
 other year. In a word, as every one knows, the Mejii era is the 
 
 248 
 
HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR 
 
 period in which the new Imperial regime and the progressive 
 administration on the Hnes of Western enhghtenment have 
 been inaugurated, so that the Emperor's reign is exactly 
 co-extensive with this new and noteworthy phase of Japanese 
 history. 
 
 His father, the late Emperor, expired amid conditions 
 of profound disturbance throughout the country ; and the 
 present Emperor was but a youth of sixteen when he suc- 
 ceeded to the throne, two circumstances which merit to be 
 carefully considered, as they are of great importance in 
 their bearing on the moulding of his Majesty's character. 
 For example, the Emperor has even known what it is to be 
 under fire. I mean that before his accession to the throne 
 a desperate battle was fought in Kioto, round about the 
 Imperial palace, so that bullets were flying in all directions 
 over the palace buildings. From such a fact as this it is to be 
 correctly inferred that the Emperor is not a prince who has 
 been brought up on easy purple velvet, and thence succeeded 
 quietly and serenely to the throne. 
 
 His Majesty has been singularly fortunate in the training 
 which he received for his great position. In his youth 
 he was entrusted to the care of the private family of a Court 
 noble, with the expressed wish that he should be brought 
 up hardily, rather than delicately ; that he was not to be 
 pampered or unduly humoured in any way. Of course he 
 is not, as far as the scions of the Imperial House of Japan 
 are concerned, exceptional in the manner of his bringing up. 
 He is not a solitary instance of strict discipline during boy- 
 hood for our princes, as it has been a common practice in 
 the past of our Imperial family, and continues to be so at 
 the present day. The idea is, of course, that our young 
 princes are thus saved from all danger of being spoiled. 
 
 As far as I am in a position to express an opinion, I think 
 that the Emperor has a determined character, while being 
 nevertheless both affable and amiable. He has a very clear 
 mind, and is extremely studious and hard working. Con- 
 sequently he is well informed on all topics. 
 
 At the time of his accession to the throne he had many 
 able statesmen and advisers around his person. Among 
 them there were two Court nobles whom he considered his 
 fathers and teachers — Prince Sanjio and Prince Iwakura, 
 the latter of whom visited Europe and America as Am- 
 
 249 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 bassador thirty-four years ago. Prince Sanjio died some 
 sixteen years since, and Prince Iwakura about eight years 
 previously. Under the guidance of these two great statesmen, 
 assisted by several other able men of action and affairs, who 
 had risen from obscurity during the turmoil of the revolution, 
 but who were all imbued with the enlightened ideas of the 
 West, his Imperial Majesty became thoroughly saturated 
 with the fundamental principles of government on sound 
 lines. In other words, his reign has been entirely enlightened 
 by the ideal of governing the country by liberal and 
 progressive measures. Thus he has developed the system of 
 government in Japan from theoretical absolutism to con- 
 stitutional government, by gradual and sometimes almost 
 imperceptible stages. 
 
 It is not my province here to enumerate all the benevolent 
 measures and reforms which have affected every branch of 
 the national life, as they in themselves afford ample material 
 for a large historical work extending into many volumes. 
 I can say, however, that the Emperor is our ideal of a con- 
 stitutional monarch. He is not weak-minded or weak of 
 will, as I have already indicated above, but neither is he 
 prone to insist on having his own way at all costs, or to en- 
 deavour to override the opinions of others, for he knows 
 how to reconcile the demands of public opinion with the 
 exigencies of the State. At the same time, he is not sub- 
 servient to popular clamour or other pressure when in his 
 view concession to either would not be in the best interests 
 of the country. He devotes, it is perhaps needless to add, 
 the most absorbed attention to every branch of State 
 affairs. 
 
 During the day, from early in the morning till late in the 
 afternoon, he sits always in an apartment called the study 
 (gakumonjo), where he attends to all public business. He 
 is acquainted, too, in detail with the affairs of the different 
 departments, more especially with those concerned with 
 the army and navy. It happens sometimes, so it is said, 
 that a Minister newly appointed to his post is baffled by the 
 questions which the Emperor puts to him, questions showing 
 a minute knowledge of the details of departmental work. 
 He does not simply give his sanction to a document, an 
 Imperial ordinance, without reading it ; but after carefully 
 perusing it, he may say, " What does this mean ? Is not 
 
 250 
 
HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR 
 
 this clause of the ordinance in conflict with that of such and 
 such an enactment ? " — his Majesty having a very accurate 
 remembrance of the enactment to which he refers, so that 
 a Minister may feel that he is a mere smatterer in the pres- 
 ence of one who is a specialist of a very high order. 
 
 Most newspapers of the country find their way into the 
 precincts of the Court, and are carefully read. The Emperor 
 himself, so it is said, personally peruses several of them, so 
 that there is little fear of any event happening outside which 
 does not come to his knowledge ; but he does not allow 
 himself to be alarmed or misled by mere sensational clamour. 
 Nor would unfounded accusations or rumours in the public 
 Press, affecting persons in whom his Imperial Majesty 
 reposes confidence, in any degree influence him. It is 
 asserted that he sometimes astonishes the officials of the 
 State with his far-reaching knowledge of things transpiring, 
 or of events occurring among his people. It goes also with- 
 out saying that he takes the keenest interest in all that is 
 happening in all the great countries of the world ; and his sole 
 desire seems to be to derive lessons from civilized nations 
 in order that the State he rules may equally make progress 
 on the lines of enlightenment. 
 
 According to our military and naval organization the 
 Emperor is the generalissimo. He is not only regarded as 
 the head of the army and navy by virtue of his sove- 
 reignty — that is to say, as a merely nominal head — but he 
 is the real leader. Hence in that respect he is styled 
 Daigensui, the supreme generalissimo. Therefore, in this 
 regard, his Majesty considers himself as though he were 
 actually a commissioned general, and takes most seriously 
 his mission as military head of the State. During many 
 centuries, when the Imperial Court lost its administrative 
 authority and the military government of the Shogun was 
 in the ascendant, the Imperial Court was, as every one 
 knows, in seclusion. The Emperor had nothing to do with 
 military affairs above other things ; but under the ancient 
 Imperial regime, before the rise of the Shogunate, matters 
 were different. In those days many instances may be 
 found when troops were led by the Emperor in person, 
 often, indeed, by the Empress, to say nothing of the princes 
 of the royal blood. One of the greatest achievements of 
 the new regime was the consolidation and reform of the 
 
 251 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 military system of the Empire, and the return to the ancient 
 state of things. 
 
 Whenever there are any field manoeuvres upon an 
 exceptional scale in Japan, his Majesty personally takes 
 part in them. He will follow or watch the movements of 
 his troops for hours — in fact, all day long, and for several 
 days, on horseback, or from some convenient eminence. 
 Even when it is raining, he will do so without resorting to 
 shelter of any kind. When I was Minister of the Interior, 
 and had occasion to be in attendance on the Emperor, I 
 personally saw his Majesty act in the way I have just 
 described. 
 
 The Emperor is very fond of horses, and is one of the best 
 riders in the Empire. One of his favourite relaxations, some 
 years ago, was to invite large parties, consisting not only 
 of military men but of civilians, to the Imperial gardens 
 and see them practise horsemanship. His idea, however, in 
 doing this was not merely to provide amusement for himself 
 and others, but to encourage his subjects to take a keener 
 interest in horses and horsemanship, and thus to assist the 
 progress of horse-breeding in Japan. There is not much 
 horse-racing in Japan. One race-meeting, which is the 
 best of all, takes place at Negishi, in the suburbs of Yoko- 
 hama, much interest being taken in this meeting by foreign 
 residents. His Majesty patronises it, and often favours it 
 with his presence, though he does this chiefly from his 
 interest in horse-breeding and horsemanship. 
 
 His Majesty does not indulge in games of any sort, but 
 he is a great poet, and his chief pastime is the composition 
 of poems. Ordinarily, Japanese poems are very short ; 
 but it would astonish any one when he hears that his Majesty 
 composes on an average four or five of these poems every day. 
 Consequently, his poems are already voluminous. He is 
 very quick in the work of composition, and his work is 
 considered by experts to be very excellent. 
 
 I may add that the composition of poems has always 
 been regarded in Japan as one of the accomplishments of the 
 Imperial family, of the Court, and of the nobility. The 
 poems thus composed by the Emperor are not made public 
 property, excepting in the case of a limited number of them 
 which have been composed for special public occasions ; 
 but, of course, now and then one or other of the Imperial 
 
 252 
 
HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR 
 
 compositions finds its way to publicity. There is one, I 
 remember, running thus : — 
 
 " Inishiye no 
 Fumi miru tabini 
 Omoo Kana 
 Onoga osamuru 
 Kuni wa ikanito ? " 
 
 It is quite impossible to convey in English the full poetical 
 sense and delicate shades of feeling expressed in these lines, 
 but the meaning is as follows : — 
 
 " Whenever I open 
 The ancient Books 
 The one thing I ponder is, 
 How goes it with the people I rule ? " 
 
 In the second part of this chapter I give a number of 
 examples of his work as a poet, and the solicitude shown in 
 those verses for the welfare of the people of which collec- 
 tively he is the symbol, cannot but tend to intensify the 
 attachment of the people to the Imperial person, and that 
 attachment I must strongly assert is profound. This fact 
 has been made sufficiently manifest during the course of 
 the recently-concluded struggle with Russia. I may add 
 that in Japan love of the State and devotion to its rulers 
 are inseparable. With us loyalty means patriotism, and 
 patriotism means loyalty. 
 
 Knowing what human nature is all the world over, I cannot, 
 of course, say that our Emperor has not likes and dislikes 
 where individuals are concerned ; but it is a fact significant 
 of much as regards his character that we never have any 
 sign that these sentiments influence his Majesty's actions. If 
 the exigencies of the State demand it, he does not allow his 
 personal prepossessions for or against a man to influence 
 him either in the selection or rejection of a statesman as his 
 adviser and Minister. In a word, he comprehends perfectly 
 the role of a constitutional monarch. There is no favourit- 
 ism of men or women which he permits to influence him 
 in the conduct of affairs of State. Such a thing is absolutely 
 foreign to his Court ; and the attitude of his Majesty on this 
 subject is so well understood that no one, however highly 
 placed in his regard, or however pleasing to him for personal 
 
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THE RISEN SUN 
 
 reasons, would dare to make that personal relationship a 
 ground for meddling in national affairs. 
 
 At the same time his Majesty is very ready to recognize 
 services rendered to the State. I have alluded already to 
 the great work done for Japan by the Princes Sanjio and 
 Iwakura. Just before the death of each of them, when his 
 Majesty was informed of the precarious state of his valued 
 adviser, he paid him a visit on his dying bed, thus indirectly 
 bidding the statesman in each case an eternal farewell. 
 This may not seem to Europeans a striking line of action ; 
 but such incidents, as far as Japanese custom in the past is 
 concerned, have occurred very rarely indeed. 
 
 Again, Saigo the elder was a great warrior and statesman, 
 who did very great service in the restoration of the Imperial 
 regime, and he died as the chief of the insurgents of the 
 Satsumo revolution. He was to all intents and purposes a re- 
 volutionary in outward seeming and appearance ; but the fact 
 is known that that trouble was rather of the nature of a 
 civil conflict caused by the peculiar circumstances of the 
 time. There is no question of the sincerity of Saigo's 
 loyalty. The step he had taken was a mistaken one. The 
 Emperor's magnanimity of mind was shown, however, in 
 recognizing this fact, and taking account of the error of 
 judgment. He pardoned Saigo the elder, together with 
 many other political offenders, at the time of the promulga- 
 tion of the Constitution ; and some years later his Majesty 
 gave the title of marquis to the son of Saigo in recognition 
 of his father's services which had been rendered to the 
 Imperial cause in those earlier days before he became a 
 revolutionary. 
 
 The last Shogun, Keiki, was, a few years ago, created a 
 prince — a title equivalent to that of Duke in England. 
 Now, at the time of the overthrow of the Shogun Govern- 
 ment, lyesato, heir to the House of Tokugawa — not Reiki's 
 son — -Tokugawa was the family name of the Shogun — was 
 made a peer, and subsequently created a prince. Keiki 
 was a retired member of the Tokugawa family. He had 
 been on the side of the troops of the Shogunate, which 
 opposed the Imperial forces. It came, however, to the 
 Emperor's knowledge that Keiki had personally an intense 
 feeling of loyalty, which had saved him from going to ex- 
 tremes in his hostility to the restoration of the Imperial 
 
 254 
 
HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR 
 
 authority. Such facts having been brought to the con- 
 sideration of the Emperor, Keiki was created a peer, in 
 spite of the circumstance that lyesato, the heir of the 
 Tokugawa family, was already a prince. Thus two 
 princely houses have come into existence whose family 
 origin is rooted in the old Shogunate. All this vividly 
 illustrates the large-minded views which his Majesty takes 
 of political affairs. I may here mention that Prince lyesato 
 Tokugawa, mentioned above, and who was first created a 
 prince, is now President of the House of Peers of Japan. He 
 was a student in England a little over twenty years ago, 
 living in a very quiet style ; I do not doubt that there 
 are several Englishmen who still recollect him. He is 
 fulfilling his duty as a nobleman under our Imperial regime, 
 and diligently discharging his functions, not only as president 
 of the House of Peers, but also as the Chief of the Central 
 Association of the Nobles, an association, however, which is 
 not political. He is, perhaps, one of the most loyal subjects 
 of his Majesty the Emperor. Thus we can easily see that 
 there is not the slightest unpleasant remembrance or shadow 
 of vindictive sentiment remaining over in Japan as a con- 
 sequence of the abolition of the old political system. 
 
 The faith of his Majesty is Shintoism, as is only natural 
 to him ; but he is most tolerant in matters of conscience, so 
 far as his subjects are concerned. As regards religion 
 generally, he has guaranteed perfect freedom of conscience 
 by the Constitution which he promulgated gratuitously ; 
 and, as every one knows, it was under very different cir- 
 cumstances that the Constitutions of most countries were 
 promulgated. 
 
 I have spoken of the intense interest taken by the Em- 
 peror in his army and navy, but of personal ambition for 
 military achievement it is a happy circumstance that he 
 has none whatever. He has not the slightest wish to 
 make conquests or invade any other country, nor to enter 
 on any needless conflict with other nations. He has no dis- 
 position to advertise himself by any ostentatious action 
 having its base in a spirit of monarchical egotism. 
 
 He gives great encouragement, though not in a lavish 
 manner, to all branches of art, and periodical exhibitions 
 are held by different art associations in the capital and 
 elsewhere. These exhibitions his Majesty and the Empress 
 
 255 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 occasionally favour with visits ; and almost regularly some 
 members of the Imperial Household are sent to purchase a 
 number of the objects exhibited, not so much with any 
 desire of making a large collection of these works of art as 
 of stimulating and encouraging the artistic aspirations of 
 his Majesty's subjects. His Majesty has grounds specially 
 reserved for shooting game and netting ducks. He is fond 
 of those things, but does not often indulge in them personally. 
 He sends Court officials to do so. Some specially privileged 
 persons — diplomatists, for instance — are often invited or 
 permitted to join the party. They may cook and eat as 
 much of the game on the spot as they can, and, by connivance, 
 the persons invited may carry home a little for their families. 
 As a rule, the game is taken to the palace and submitted 
 to the Imperial inspection. After that, it is often dis- 
 tributed in the form of Imperial gifts among the high 
 personages of the Court and State, 
 
 The cherry and chrysanthemum are two national flowers 
 of Japan. In connexion with them his Majesty has insti- 
 tuted two annual social gatherings in the form of garden- 
 parties — Kwan-wo-kwai (" Gathering for viewing cherry- 
 blossoms "), and Kwan-kikU'kwan (" Gathering for view- 
 ing chrysanthemums ") — ^in spring and autumn, in the 
 Imperial gardens of Hama and Akasaka respectively. 
 Thousands of persons of position, both men and women, 
 are invited to them ; and the Emperor, Empress, and 
 other personages of the Court and State are present. 
 The Corps Diplomatique are, of course, among the principal 
 guests. The times when these parties are given are the 
 best seasons for foreigners to visit Japan ; and, moreover, 
 persons enjoying sufficient social status in their own countries 
 may be presented to their Majesties by the Ministers- 
 Resident of their nationalities, so that large numbers of 
 Europeans and Americans pay their visits to Japan annually 
 in the cherry and chrysanthemum seasons. 
 
 I may in conclusion add a word about two private museums 
 constructed in the gardens of the Imperial Palace in recent 
 years entirely upon his Majesty's initiation and design. 
 In them rare trophies, brought back from China as a result 
 of the Sino- Japanese war and of the expedition to Pekin, 
 are deposited. But besides these objects there are others 
 which illustrate the bravery and devotion of our soldiers in 
 
 256 
 
HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR 
 
 battle — for example, regimental flags which have been 
 riddled with bullets, and the portraits of officers and others 
 who have nobly sacrificed themselves for their country. 
 
 These museums have been built more with a view to 
 preserve the memory of these soldiers and sailors, and the 
 hard work they had undergone, than as monuments of 
 triumph and national glory. They are not open to the 
 public ; but Government servants, officers of the army 
 and navy, or students of colleges are allowed to visit them, 
 by express permission. 
 
 11^ 
 
 Few persons, indeed, can claim to have access to the 
 innermost thoughts of |the exalted personage who reigns in 
 Japan at this momentous hour of her history. Fortunately 
 for his people, the Emperor is a poet. Nothing so vividly 
 reveals one's inner mind as poetical effusion. In Japan, it is 
 true, the Imperial essays in this branch are but seldom made 
 public. Nevertheless, some of those short poems that his 
 Majesty had composed since the outbreak of the present war 
 have found their way from time to time, into the columns of 
 the vernacular Press, and these have enabled readers to 
 comprehend in a measure the thoughts which fill the Imperial 
 mind and inspire his Majesty's heart. 
 
 Japanese poems are often very short, but they have a 
 profound depth of meaning. As Japanese pictures often 
 delineate the depth of nature by a branch of a bamboo or one 
 or two blossoms of a plant, so do Japanese poems try to 
 speak out the bottom of one's heart in a few lines, leaving 
 many accessory ideas to be imagined by the reader's mind. 
 In the following pages I have printed some sixteen of the 
 Emperor's effusions, with my own very imperfect transla- 
 tions of them into English. It is most difficult to convey in 
 English form the nicety of diction and depth of feeling 
 
 1 The second portion of this chapter first appeared in The Nine- 
 teenth Century and After, April, 1905, under the title " The Heart of 
 the Mikado." 
 
 257 S 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 which distinguish Japanese poetry, and my translation is 
 but a mere outhne of the meaning — httle more than a prose 
 rendering, devoid of anything approaching the rhyme or 
 rhythm — of the original. Had I sought the help of some one 
 skilled in English poetry I might have evolved something 
 that would have better pleased the Occidental ear, but the 
 product would have been, in a way, artificial, and the crispness 
 of expression which gives a charm to the Japanese version 
 would have been obliterated. I have therefore ventured to 
 follow my own plan, ineffective as I know it to be, adher- 
 ing as closely as I could to the Imperial text, in the hope 
 that it may win some favour by its simplicity and fidelity to 
 the model. 
 
 It should perhaps be explained that poems of this class 
 must consist, as a rule, of thirty-one syllables, neither more 
 nor less, and the poet is therefore given no freedom as to the 
 length of his work. Moreover, the syllables must be arranged 
 in a given order — viz., in the first line, five ; second, seven ; 
 third, five ; fourth and fifth, seven each — total, thirty-one. 
 Hence these are termed thirty-one syllable poems. (The 
 terminal n, which was originally a contraction of mu and is 
 pronounced distinctly, is regarded as one syllable.) 
 
 I 
 
 Yomo no umi 
 
 Mina harakara to 
 
 Omoo yo ni 
 
 Nado ! nami-kaze no 
 
 Tachi-sawaguran. 
 
 {Translation) 
 
 Whereas I deem this as an age 
 
 Wherein the " four seas " in brotherhood are bound. 
 
 How is it that the fierce winds rage, 
 
 And dash and spread the waves around ? 
 
 The " four seas " is a poetical expression signifying the 
 whole world. There is a Chinese phrase — " The four seas 
 in brotherhood." His Majesty sees that, despite the doctrine 
 of universal brotherhood, the peace of the world is liable to 
 sudden derangement by capricious rulers, and conveys a 
 censure on those who for vanity or greed disturb the harmony 
 of nations. 
 
 258 
 
 ^ 
 
HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR 
 
 2 
 
 Kora wa mina 
 Ikusa no niwa ni 
 Idehatete 
 Okina ya hitori 
 Yamada moruran. 
 
 (Translation) 
 I suppose all sons to the front are gone, 
 To do their duty all under arms. 
 And their old sire at home alone 
 Guards and watches their lonely farms. 
 
 Here we have the evidence of the sovereign's sympathy 
 with a rustic household. The younger men have gone to fight 
 for the country ; their aged sire keeps watch alone over their 
 humble possessions. The allusion betrays the infinite 
 tenderness of the Emperor for those who put duty to country 
 and ruler before everything. 
 
 3 
 
 Yume samete 
 
 Mazu koso omoye ■' ':< 
 
 Ikusa-bito 
 
 Mukaishi kata no 
 
 Tayori ikani to. 
 
 (Translation) 
 Each time from sleep I awake, 
 One thought comes up at once to me. 
 How matters go there, where is gone 
 So many a warrior for my sake. 
 
 This perfectly expresses the Imperial solicitude for the 
 troops at the front, fighting for their revered sovereign. 
 
 4 
 Chibaya furu 
 Kami no kokoro ni 
 Kanooran 
 
 Waga kuni-tami no 
 Tsukusu makoto wa. 
 
 (Translation) 
 The Power above, so stern and just. 
 Gladly approves, as I dare think, 
 The sweet sincereness of my people, 
 So earnest their devoir to do. 
 
 259 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Thus does his Majesty show his appreciation of his people's 
 loyalty and patriotism. 
 
 5 
 Kuni no tame 
 Ada nasu ada wo 
 Kujiku tomo 
 Itsukushimu beki 
 Koto na wasure so. 
 
 (Translation) 
 Hard as thou strikest, for thy land, 
 The ruthless foe that bars our path. 
 Forget not, at the hour of need 
 The mercy's way the heart dictates. 
 
 This embodies the Emperor's ideas of humanity in war. 
 
 6 
 Ikusa-bito 
 Ikanaru nobe ni 
 Akasuran 
 
 Ka no koye shigeku 
 Nareru kono yo wo. 
 
 {Translation) 
 The night it is far spent. 
 The insects keep a glowing hum, 
 In what unsheltered places now 
 My soldiers do they spend their night ? 
 
 In the oppressive atmosphere of the summer night the 
 Emperor's thoughts are for his wearied soldiers bivouacked 
 on some battle plain. 
 
 7 
 Matsuri-goto 
 Idete kiku ma wa 
 Kaku bakari 
 Atsuki hi nari to 
 Omowazarishi wo. 
 
 (Translation) 
 This day, when deep in things of state. 
 The things that I am bound to do. 
 Little did it occur to me 
 How very hot the day had grown. 
 
 This is an Imperial effusion on a summer day after he had 
 attended State affairs. We may gather from it how, in his 
 
 260 
 
HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR 
 
 eagerness to fulfil his duties, his Majesty becomes oblivious 
 of the summer's burdensome heat. The idea may be quite 
 Oriental, and yet we can perceive a delicate poetical feeling 
 out of a simple matter of fact which in an ordinary sense 
 would have no poetry in it. 
 
 8 
 Tsuwamono no 
 Kokoro to tomo ni 
 Noru koma mo 
 Tsukaruru shirade 
 lya susumuran. 
 
 {Translation) 
 In strictest bond, we may be sure, 
 With his undaunted rider's mind. 
 The soldier's steed still charges on 
 And knows not or fatigue or fear. 
 
 A graceful recognition of the sympathy existing between 
 horse and rider. 
 
 9 
 
 Kuni no tame 
 Taoreshi hito wo 
 Oshimu ni mo 
 Omoo wa oya no 
 Kokoro nari keri. 
 
 {Translation) 
 Even as I silently lament 
 For those who for their country fall, 
 I stop, and can but ask myself, 
 What do their fathers and mothers feel ? 
 
 Another example of the Emperor's tender solicitude for 
 his people. 
 
 lO 
 
 Hashi-i shite 
 Tsuki miru hodo mo 
 Tatakai no 
 Niwa no arisama 
 Omoi yari tsutsu. 
 
 {Translation) 
 Even while seated in my balcony, 
 I gaze at Luna shining bright, 
 My thoughts carry me far away 
 To the scene where battles rage. 
 261 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 This shows that even while his Majesty, sitting casually at 
 the front of a balcony amid the most peaceful surroundings, 
 gazes at the moon, he cannot forget that his troops are waging 
 warfare for the country, and he cannot fail contemplatively to 
 imagine the state of the battlefield. Perhaps his men may be 
 advancing against the enemy's impregnable forts, or perhaps 
 the moon's light may be pathetically reflecting on those men 
 who might have fallen in the field, or perhaps ambulance 
 companies may be conveying the sick and wounded, or the 
 troops may be innocently and joyously gazing at the moon 
 from an eminence which they have just captured. All 
 these scenes are suggestive of the Imperial imagination ; and 
 these are to be imagined by the reader. 
 
 II 
 
 Kuni wo omoo 
 Michi ni futatsu wa 
 .- Nakari keri 
 
 Ikusa no niwa ni 
 Tatsu mo tatanu mo ! 
 
 {Translation) 
 Some may stand on the battlefield. 
 And some — God wot — may stay at home, 
 But all the souls that love their land 
 Are all the same where'er they be. 
 
 A man may be a patriot though not called on to serve his 
 coimtryin the field ; and thus his Majesty expresses herein 
 his apppreciation of the patriotic feeling of his people at 
 large. 
 
 12 
 
 Masurao ni " 
 Hata wo sazukete 
 Omoo kana 
 Hinomoto no na wo 
 Kagayakasu beku ! 
 
 {Translation) 
 When from my trusting hand the flag 
 Is given unto my faithful men 
 My heart mounts high ; the rising sun 
 Will surely bring it fame and light. 
 
 This is an effusion when, or immediately after, his Majesty 
 has given a military banner, regimental or otherwise to the 
 
 262 
 
HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR 
 
 officers of the Imperial army. The fact that the emblem of 
 our flag is the rising sun suggested to his Majesty that the 
 fame of the " Land of the Rising Sun " might shine as brightly 
 as the rising sun itself through the brave and indomitable 
 actions of the men going to the front under that flag. 
 
 13 
 Shizuka ni mo 
 Yo wa osamarite 
 Yorokobi no 
 Sakazuki agen 
 Toki zo mataruru ! 
 
 (Translation) 
 
 O for that time when joys of peace 
 Shall fill again a peaceful world ! 
 Then shall I lift the wine cup high, 
 O for that time, I long for it ! 
 
 This is an Imperial effusion over a wine-cup. It was 
 inevitable that Japan should engage in the present war, but 
 the Emperor is a sincere advocate of peace. A monarch 
 may describe himself to be such, not being so in practice, but 
 the Emperor of Japan is very different. He does not care to 
 wage war for simple purposes of aggression, or at least from 
 wanton motives. He is anxious to see the peace of the world 
 at large restored in the due course of events, when the " four 
 seas," as he says elsewhere, may be truly bound in brother- 
 hood. 
 
 14 
 
 Tsuwamono no 
 
 Kate mo magusa mo 
 
 Hakoburan 
 
 Ushi mo ikusa no 
 
 Michi ni tsukayete ! 
 
 (Translation) 
 
 Food for my men 
 
 And fodder for their steeds ; 
 
 In carrying ungrudgingly 
 
 Even the oxen in warfare serve. 
 
 The Emperor here realizes that the humblest play their 
 part, even the oxen, in the service of the State. 
 
 263 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 15 
 
 Kuni no tame 
 Furuishi fude no 
 Inochi-ge no 
 Ato koso nokore 
 Yorozu yo made ni ! 
 
 {Translation) 
 The traces left by " life-hairs " of pens 
 That were handled by patriotic hands 
 Shall endure for thousands and thousands of years, 
 Remembered and admired ever afresh. 
 
 This refers to the Japanese brush-pens. " Inochi-ge," 
 literally, " life-hairs," is the name given to the point of the 
 brush that forms the Japanese pen. There are many writings 
 left by patriots from the time gone by, and also during the 
 present war countless effusions, poetical or otherwise, have 
 been left by soldiers and sailors who fell on the field. It is 
 not plain from the wording what are the kinds of writing 
 referred to by the Emperor, but the allusion seem to apply 
 in general to all writings of the kind. 
 
 16 
 Inishiye no 
 Fumi miru tabi ni 
 Omoo kana 
 Ono ga osamuru 
 Kuni wa ikani to ! 
 
 {Translation) 
 Whenever I open 
 The ancient Books, 
 The one thing I ponder is, 
 How goes it with the people I rule ? 
 
 The last poem is one composed by his Majesty years ago. 
 It aptly conveys an idea of his career as a true sovereign. 
 If a book speaks of any prosperous Administration full of 
 instruction, it can, of course, be an important guidance for 
 a sovereign to follow the example. If, on the other hand, it 
 speaks of a bad Government or the misery of a people caused 
 by any negligence of the ruler, it can give a negative lesson to 
 a sovereign, whose duty it is to look after the welfare of his 
 subjects. And so the Emperor thinks of the people he 
 rules whenever he peruses any books of the time gone by ; and 
 thus he gives the bent of his thoughts in these lines. 
 
 264 
 
HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR 
 
 Here, then, we get some outline of the process of 
 thought in the Emperor's soul. In writing this I have not 
 the least idea of glorifying my sovereign. All that I purport 
 to show is that he is as benign and humane as any monarch 
 can be, though at the same time he is equal to the task of 
 vindicating the right of the country so far as it is necessary. 
 I may also add that the sentiments expressed in these Im- 
 perial verses pervade the hearts of the great majority of 
 the Japanese people ; and yet our opponents constantly 
 accuse us of being in some sort unworthy of sharing the 
 civilization of the Western nations, and even go so far as to 
 stigmatize us as being '' savage'* and " wild" — as has been 
 done quite recently by no less a person than Count Tolstoy, 
 the son of the eminent Russian noble and philanthropist. 
 Whether or not such accusations are mere ignorant cal- 
 umnies I leave to my readers to judge. 
 
 265 
 
BOOK III 
 Some External Relations 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 CHINESE EXPANSION HISTORICALLY REVIEWED^ 
 
 I 
 
 General Survey 
 
 LOOKING at a map of the world, one will at once see 
 how vast is the Chinese Empire. There was a time 
 when it was even more vast than at present. The expansion 
 of China is an important subject in history, but its limit was 
 reached long ago. How that expansion was brought about 
 and how that limit was reached is a matter which it might 
 interest many of us to know. 
 
 I will not go back to the remotest periods, or seek to make 
 any ethnological investigations as to the races that originally 
 occupied the regions which have come under the sovereignty 
 of China, or which, at least, have been included in the sphere 
 of her influence ; for were we to do so, we might find there 
 was a time when both Mongolians and Chinese belonged to 
 the same race ; or, if we were to go farther back still, it might 
 appear that both these and many other peoples living quite 
 outside Chinese influence originally belonged to the same 
 stock. But these connexions are too remote and obscure^ 
 and have no important bearing on the proposition I am about 
 to make. It is sufficient for my purpose to trace the growth 
 of the Chinese Empire within the limits of the records which 
 we possess — chiefly in the literature of China itself — and that, 
 too, of a very appreciable antiquity. 
 
 It is a well-known fact that China is one of the most 
 ancient countries of the world. The Chow dynasty ruled 
 in the period when we begin to find reliable records, and 
 
 1 A paper read at the Central Asian Society January ii, 1905- 
 
 269 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 the beginning of that dynasty dates back twelve centuries 
 B.C. The period preceding that d5masty had been a very 
 long one, but of it we have no reliable records. It is mainly 
 regarded as the legendary state of Chinese history ; and yet 
 there are some records relating to twenty-three centuries 
 B.C. There is good foundation, moreover, for believing those 
 documents to be genuine records, from the mathematical 
 calculations made by many experts in such matters, relating 
 to astronomical events recorded in those documents, and 
 which all go to confirm their accuracy. 
 
 In studying the old documents and history of China, the 
 heart of China in the earliest period is seen to have been 
 located somewhere far up the river Hoang-ho. Those who 
 have studied the evolution of the alphabet tell us that the 
 Hoang-ho is one of three remarkable rivers on the banks of 
 which the three original systems of recording impressions 
 were invented — the Egyptian writing on the Nile, the Cunei- 
 form beside the streams of Mesopotamia, and the Chinese on 
 the Hoang-ho — and that the hundreds of existing systems of 
 writing now in use are really derivatives of these three, 
 however varied and modified they may be. 
 
 The area of the original centre of China was very limited, 
 but its sphere of influence and activity gradually spread, 
 generation after generation, as its civilization developed and 
 extended to the surrounding regions. This extension was 
 carried on with but little intermission through successive 
 centuries, until at last a vast Empire, more or less compact, 
 had arisen from the agglomeration. The one peculiarity 
 of this extension is that, roughly speaking, it has not been 
 the result of aggressive conquest. China has always been 
 on the defensive, and it is the surrounding peoples who have 
 always assumed the offensive against her. The conquests 
 China has made have in reality been the effect of the influence 
 of her civilization. Neighbouring peoples came and attacked 
 China, but they soon were amalgamated with the Chinese 
 through the influence of the latter 's civilization, and then 
 became sinicized. There was always a marked difference 
 of degree between the civilization of the inhabitants of the 
 centre of China and that of her neighbours, so that the 
 moment the latter came in contact with the Chinese they 
 discovered their inferiority, and whatever sort of primitive 
 civilization they might have had amongst themselves was 
 
 270 
 
CHINESE EXPANSION 
 
 soon eclipsed by the higher Chinese civihzation, and they 
 became Chinese. 
 
 The fact that China has no proper and permanent name 
 for herself, except the names of the successive dynasties, 
 goes a long way to explain this state of things. Such terms 
 as the " Central Flowery Land," or the " Middle Land," are 
 no more than mere fanciful appellations, and the very term 
 China is only a name by which she came to be called by out- 
 siders. There is some resemblance between the romani- 
 zation of Europe and the sinization of Eastern Asia, but the 
 nature of the process, as well as the ultimate results achieved, 
 was very different. 
 
 We know that in Tibet letters were imported only early 
 in the seventh century a.d. In Mongolia letters were intro- 
 duced only in the middle of the thirteenth century a.d., and 
 in Manchuria several centuries afterwards. All this marks 
 the great difference that existed in the degree of civilization 
 between these peoples and the Chinese, who a long, long time 
 before had possessed a very advanced literature of their own. 
 Broadly speaking, the modern China Proper is that part of 
 the Empire which is bounded by the Great Wall in the north, 
 and excludes Central Asia and Tibet on the west and Cochin 
 China on the south. But for many centuries in the Chinese 
 history this so-called China Proper was not one compact 
 nation, because even in the time of the Chow dynasty neither 
 the part which surrounds Peking on the north, nor the regions 
 around Kansu, nor, above all, the regions which are situated 
 south of the Yang-tse river, nor even some zones on the left 
 bank of that river, were strictly regarded as China Proper. 
 They were then included in the general category of the " land 
 of the barbarians." All the characters in Chinese represent- 
 ing them in generic form are to be translated as "barbarians," 
 and the Chinese themselves also understood them in that 
 sense from very early, if not actually from the earliest times. 
 
 Originally those characters had probably a less pronounced 
 meaning. Perhaps they meant people outside their own civili- 
 zation, or perhaps some of the characters only represented 
 the names of the tribes. Even if this was so, the fact that 
 the people living in those regions were not to be regarded as 
 belonging to the same community as the Chinese is most plain 
 from ancient records. Nevertheless, in those surrounding 
 regions there arose several compact communities, which after- 
 
 271 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 wards became kingdoms, though no recognition of their 
 status as kingdoms was ever made by China. For instance, 
 toward the latter part of the Chow dynasty there arose on the 
 banks of the Yang-tse a large community called " Chu." It 
 was to all intents and purposes a kingdom, and, as a matter 
 of fact, the chief of that community was called a King among 
 his own people, though the word " King " did not necessarily 
 mean an independent Sovereign of an independent State. 
 But that chief was only styled a Baron by the Court of 
 Chow, " Baron " being the lowest of five classes of titles by 
 which the heads of different principalities were privileged 
 to be called. 
 
 The Chow djmasty arose, according to the ordinary 
 chronicles, in the latter part of the twelfth century B.C., 
 and came to an end in the middle of the third century B.C. 
 Under the Chow dynasty many principalities came into 
 existence, both within and without what was then the heart 
 of China. The authority of the Central Government appears 
 not to have been thoroughly exercised ; but from the fact 
 that such principalities existed, the political system of the 
 Empire may be called a feudal system, though the system 
 cannot be said to have been identical with that which existed 
 in Europe. 
 
 There are many documentary records to show that the 
 original Chow dynasty had much trouble in its earlier years 
 from barbarians on its western borders, localities which" are 
 situated within the boundaries of modern China Proper. The 
 dynasty was exterminated by these barbarians in the 
 earlier part of the eighth century B.C., the last Emperor of its 
 line having been murdered by them. The Eastern Chow suc- 
 ceeded, but the Imperial authority was significantly on the 
 wane. The whole period of the Eastern Chow dynasty is 
 divided into two, the earlier part being called the " Spring 
 and Autumn Period," because that period corresponds 
 roughly with the period which is covered by the chronicle of 
 the " Spring and Autumn " (Chun-chu), edited by Con- 
 fucius ; and the latter part is called the " Fighting States 
 Period ": (Chan-kue), because it was a time when China was 
 split up between different States, and fighting was continually 
 going on between them. 
 
 From the point of view of intellectual cultivation, the 
 latter part of the " Spring and Autumn Period " and the 
 
 272 
 
CHINESE EXPANSION 
 
 *' Fighting States Period " are the most brilHant epochs of 
 Chinese history, because, as we see, in those days all sorts 
 of mental activity were manifested in China. Not only 
 from the scholastic and philosophical point of view, but 
 also from a military point of view, that period gave to China 
 guiding principles for the benefit of all posterity. During 
 the fighting period the various minor principalities became 
 swallowed up by the mightier ones, until at last China was 
 unified under Chin. The Eastern Chow, which had had 
 an existence only in name for centuries had been totally 
 extinguished some thirty years before. It is to be noticed 
 that Chin and Chu themselves had been regarded in former 
 times as barbarians, but their power obtained supreme recog- 
 nition during the "Spring and Autumn Period," as well as 
 in the " Fighting States Period." 
 
 Roughly speaking, the unification of the Empire under 
 the Chin dynasty comprised the modern China Proper. 
 The Chin dynasty was a powerful one, and its founder was 
 one of the strongest rulers of China. It is even presumed 
 that the name " China," which has come to denote the 
 Empire of China, was first derived from the name of this 
 dynasty. Its founder abolished the feudal system, and 
 divided the Empire into districts, which were governed by 
 State deputies, and not by hereditary princes. Yet, strong 
 as this dynasty was, it was gravely harassed by the invasions 
 of the barbarians from the north. It was then that the 
 great General Mung-tien was dispatched with 300,000 men 
 to fight the northern barbarians, and constructed defensive 
 works to repel their advance, which resulted in that signal 
 wonder of the world, the Great Wall of China. Even that 
 powerful dynasty never thought of extending its dominions 
 toward the north ; its only object was to prevent outsiders 
 from coming south. The Chin dynasty, which its founder 
 hoped to maintain for many generations — inasmuch as he 
 called himself Chin-huang-ti, meaning the first Emperor, and 
 decreed that all his successors should be known by their 
 cardinal numbers in due rotation — came to an end soon 
 after his death ; and one of the chief causes of this was the 
 exhaustion of the power of the Empire and the discontent of 
 the people at large on account of the tremendous sacrifices 
 and labour involved in the building of the famous Great 
 Wall. 
 
 273 T 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Under the Han dynasty that followed — i.e. from the 
 end of the third century B.C. until the third century a.d. — 
 the history of China, though containing some brilliant records 
 of internal development is mainly the story of continual 
 struggles against the northern barbarians — great expeditions 
 and often great reverses and humiliations. We read of a great 
 emperor himself being besieged by them, and only escaping 
 from being made a prisoner by enormous bribery. Whole 
 armies suffered defeat, and, with their generals, were taken 
 prisoners. Imperial messengers were kept in detention, 
 and there is a sad story of a Court lady, described as a prin- 
 cess, being surrendered in marriage to a barbarian chieftain. 
 Giving treasure in the shape of bribes, or handing over a 
 princess in marriage, were methods of pacifying the bar- 
 barians which grew very common in all the later periods. 
 
 The northern barbarians whom I have described above 
 were chiefly those called " Hung-nu " by the Chinese and 
 " Huns " by Western writers. Their detailed history is 
 not known, but we may presume that they were not much 
 advanced in civilization, though, compared with the modern 
 natives living in the same locality, they had more courage, 
 more organization, and somewhat more cohesive forces. 
 They did not necessarily belong to one community. Some- 
 times there were many tribes co-existing, and sometimes one 
 of them absorbed all, or nearly all, the others. We also find 
 it recorded that they presently became, after having once 
 amalgamated, divided into two sections, called the South 
 and the North Huns. From about the middle of the Han 
 dynasty, they appear to have turned their chief activity 
 towards the west, and gradually to have made their way, 
 some to India and some to lands still farther westward. 
 From the fact that the Great Wall extended from Liautung 
 Bay far away towards Central Asia, it seems certain that the 
 Huns of those days occupied a very wide space of territory 
 north and west of China. 
 
 After having passed through the troubled period of the 
 so-called Three States epoch, China was once more unified 
 under the Chin dynasty, but a large zone within the Great 
 Wall passed into the hands of the northern intruders in its 
 earlier years. This was followed by the rising of several new 
 States, one after another, in the north and north-western 
 parts of China, most of them being of barbarian origin. Chin 
 
 274 
 
CHINESE EXPANSION 
 
 at last fell under their pressure, and was followed by the 
 period known as the " Period of the South and North 
 Dynasties," the latter, which were mostly of barbarian origin, 
 being preponderant. 
 
 The North and South dynasties were unified under the 
 Sui dynasty towards the end of the sixth century a.d. It 
 is about this time that the barbarians known as the Tuku- 
 Hun (a tribe in Kokonor) seem to have begun giving trouble 
 to China, for we find a princess was given in marriage by 
 the Sui Emperor to their chief, and later on during the same 
 dynasty several raids are recorded to have been made by 
 them. They appear to have occupied the borderland of 
 modern Tibet ; some think they were the same, or part of 
 the same, people who were known a little later by the name 
 of Tufan, who were no other than the modern Tibetans. 
 There was trouble also with the northern barbarians, called 
 Tu-Chueh (Turks), as well as with Korea, with which country 
 I shall deal separately. The Sui dynasty was followed by 
 the T'ang dynasty in the beginning of the seventh century 
 T'ang was one of the most brilliant dynasties of China, 
 especially as regards the earlier part of it, the second Emperor 
 being truly a great monarch. Under him China shone with 
 a great lustre, and yet even this dynasty was not free from 
 much serious trouble at the hands of the barbarians. On 
 the north the same Tu-Chueh made several raids during the 
 reign of the first Emperor, and they were repeated in the 
 reign of the second Emperor. It was only by the strenuous 
 efforts of the second Emperor that victory was in some 
 measure achieved. At first a temporary peace was bought 
 by the humiliating method of giving a princess in marriage to 
 the chief of the barbarians, as well as much treasure. On 
 the west also the Tufans gave much trouble ; so did also 
 the Wuigur, a neighbouring tribe of the Tufans. The 
 locality of the Tufans' habitation in those days was in the 
 main the same as modern Tibet; perhaps it may have extended 
 somewhat more towards the Chinese boundary. Great 
 Sovereign as the second Emperor undoubtedly was, and 
 brilliant and prosperous as China had at that time become 
 under the new dynasty, even he at last thought it best to 
 make peace with the invaders. > The Tibet of those days 
 was ruled as a kingdom, the name of its Chief or King 
 being Sron-btsan-sgampo. He seems to have been a shrewd 
 
 275 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 and able man. To him the Emperor gave a princess to wed, 
 and in allying him to his house concluded a peace. 
 
 The T'ang dynasty, as we have seen, had much trouble 
 in the west, but it had still more on the north-west and north. 
 The barbarians thence made repeated and sanguinary raids. 
 The earlier of these hordes were designated the Tu-Chueh, 
 but the later ones were known by the name of Kit tan. 
 Both of them were probably offshoots of the Huns. It 
 seems that the Tu-Chueh grew in strength as the earlier 
 Huns migrated westwards, and then the Kittan appear in 
 turn to have eclipsed them. We see it recorded during this 
 time that well-known Chinese generals were dispatched to 
 fight these barbarians, and also that a statesman of high 
 repute was dispatched as Imperial Ambassador to make 
 peace, only to be detained and murdered. 
 
 After the T'ang dynasty came the Period of the Five 
 Dynasties, during the first part of the tenth century. Three 
 out of these five dynasties were of barbarian origin, they 
 having been founded by men who sprang from some regions 
 outside the Great Wall, though they seem to have been 
 already much sinicized. It was at this time that Kittan, 
 which had arisen in Manchuria, rapidly grew into a mighty 
 Power. As a matter of fact, Cathay, by which the Westerners 
 of the Middle Ages called China, or Kitaiski, by which the 
 Russians do the same, seems to have been no other than a 
 corruption of Kittan. Its Chief adopted the title of 
 Emperor, and called the dynasty the Great Liau, the Liau 
 being the same as the Chinese character for Liau, 
 in Liautung. It rose in power rapidly, and before the Period 
 of the Five Dynasties came to an end it had expanded right 
 up to the Great Wall, and, moreover, a large portion within 
 the Great Wall had been ceded to it by one of the Five 
 Dynasties. The last of the Five Dynasties was succeeded 
 by the Sung dynasty, which commenced a little after the 
 middle of the tenth century and ended in the early part 
 of the twelfth century a.d. 
 
 During the Sung dynasty the Kittan — i.e., Liau -grew 
 stronger, and became a source of constant uneasiness and 
 danger to China. The dominion of Liau extended from 
 the north to well inside the Great Wall, comprising the 
 regions belonging to modern Pechihli, or even more. It 
 was to all intents and purposes a well-organized empire. 
 
 276 
 
CHINESE EXPANSION 
 
 It lasted over one hundred years, having had ten emperors 
 in succession. Side by side with it there arose another 
 mighty power, called the Kin, from the shores of the Japan 
 sea. It fought hard against the Liau, and it at last destroyed 
 them in the earlier part of the twelfth century, and then 
 having made itself master of the territories occupied by 
 the Liau, it fought against China. In a short time it 
 overran the northern part of China ; the last two Emperors 
 of Sung were taken prisoners in quick succession, and both 
 were carried into the interior of Manchuria, and kept in 
 custody in a castle called Wukuocheng, where they ulti- 
 mately died. Thus the Sung dynasty came to an end. 
 
 Yet another empire, with the name of Hia, had arisen 
 in the region adjoining the western part of the Great Wall, 
 also giving much trouble to the Sung dynasty, whilst the 
 Cochins raided in the south. On the fall of the Sung dynasty, 
 the Southern Sung dynasty established itself in the south 
 of China. But Kin had become a great Chinese power. 
 It was no longer a northern barbarian State. In many 
 senses it may be said to have become a real Chinese dynasty. 
 But even while Kin was contesting in China Proper with the 
 Southern Sung dynasty, there arose behind Kin yet another 
 Power in the north from the banks of the Onon, in the modern 
 Transbaikal province of Russia, which was no other than the 
 mighty Mongolian Empire, under the leadership of the great 
 Genghiskhan. Thus the Kin had an enemy both in the front 
 and in the rear — the decaying but still active Chinese dynasty 
 in its front, and the Mongolians at its back. Kin was finally 
 destroyed by the Mongolians in 1234, having lasted 180 years, 
 with ten emperors in succession. It now became a struggle 
 between the Mongolians and the Southern Sung dynasty. 
 Towards the latter part of the thirteenth century the Southern 
 Sung dynasty was finally destroyed by the Mongolians, who 
 at last came to govern the whole of China under Kublaikhan, 
 grandson of Genghiskhan, and the dynasty was named 
 Yuen. 
 
 The Yuen dynasty lasted until a little after the middle 
 of the fourteenth century. Whilst their relatives and old 
 compatriots were still doing great things in other direc- 
 tions, the Mongolians, who had established the Yuen dynasty 
 in China, adapted themselves to the ways of China, and 
 adopted all Chinese institutions as their own, except that 
 
 277 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 they introduced the Lamaism of Tibet, not only into Mon- 
 goHa, but also into China, which did more harm than good 
 to the Imperial cause. Powerful as the dynasty was at 
 first, it failed to become a firmly consolidated empire, and 
 in the earlier part of the fourteenth century much discontent 
 manifested itself among the people, and the Empire fell 
 again upon evil days, until at last its place was taken by 
 the Ming dynasty, a little before the middle of the fourteenth 
 century. The Ming dynasty reigned in China until the 
 middle of the seventeenth century, after which the prestige 
 of their rule was only maintained by Kokusenya 
 (Coxinga), a loyal subject of the Ming dynasty and half 
 Japanese, who established a kingdom in Formosa, 
 still paying allegiance to the memory of the late Ming 
 dynasty, and setting the new Tartar dynasty for some time 
 at defiance. The Ming dynasty was a weak one, and it 
 suffered all along the eastern coasts from a succession of 
 so-called Japanese attacks, though they were in no sense 
 authorized Japanese forces that ravaged the Chinese shores ; 
 but they were very powerful, and it seems that many 
 Chinese subjects joined them. The blow inflicted on the 
 Ming dynasty was a dangerous one ; so also was the invasion 
 of Korea by the Japanese troops of Hideyoshi, as the Mings 
 cast in their lot with Korea. Above all, there arose the 
 Tartar dynasty of Manchuria. This Tartar dynasty originated 
 somewhere in Manchuria at a place called Odoli, and grew 
 in power in the same fashion as the Liau and Kin had done. 
 Having made repeated attacks on China, it at last destroyed 
 the Ming dynasty, and subjugated the whole of China under 
 its yoke ; it is the present ruling dynasty of China, and the 
 name of this dynasty is Tsing. 
 
 I may here mention that the Liau made Peking its chief 
 capital, and so did the Kin. The Ming dynasty, which was 
 a proper Chinese dynasty hailing from the south, also kept its 
 Court mostly at Peking, though Nanking was also its capital. 
 The present dynasty, as every one knows, removed its 
 capital from Manchuria to Peking, and thus Peking, al- 
 though situated in a region which in ancient times was only 
 a barbarian country, has become the great centre of China, 
 and one of the largest capitals of the world ; and I need not 
 say that the present dynasty has entirely adopted the Chinese 
 notions of civilization and all Chinese institutions, though 
 
 278 
 
CHINESE EXPANSION 
 
 some precautions are taken to maintain Manchnrian influence 
 in every public department. This was only natural, because 
 the degree of Tartar civilization seems to have been very 
 low, and one thing is certain — namely, that through amal- 
 gamation with China the Tartar nation has almost lost its 
 distinctive existence. 
 
 On the western side, towards Central Asia and Tibet, 
 Chinese influence was gradually extended, especially under 
 the Mongolian djmasty, and later on under the Tartar 
 dynasty. On the south, Tonking, Annam, Siam, and 
 Burmah, also came to be influenced by China, more especially 
 under the Mongolian and the Tartar dynasties. But in 
 all these places China's influence has been of a loose nature, 
 and not permanent or preponderant. The limit of her 
 expansion was reached long ago, and for some time past it 
 has been decidedly and rapidly waning, as I shall here- 
 after show. 
 
 II 
 
 KOREAN PENINSULA AND MANCHURIA 
 
 I WOULD now invite your attention to the Korean 
 peninsula, the Liautung peninsula, Manchuria, and Siberia. 
 Amongst these territories the Korean peninsula seems at 
 one time to have attained in its civilization a degree far 
 superior to other regions in the northern as well as western 
 and southern boundaries of China. 
 
 The Korean peninsula has formed for centuries a compact 
 kingdom, having a well-defined boundary on the north, in 
 the same shape as it has now ; but one must not think that 
 it has always been so. The first mention made in Chinese 
 history of the peninsula is at the beginning of the Chow 
 dynasty — i.e., the eleventh century B.C., when it was known 
 by the name of Chowsen. The first emperor of that d5masty 
 is reported to have sent Kitsu, a wise man and an uncle of 
 the last emperor of the preceding dynasty, to that region, 
 and empowered him to rule it as king. His descendants 
 continued to exercise the same prerogatives down to the 
 
 279 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 beginning of the second century B.C., when the Ki family 
 is reported to have been put an end to, and another Chowsen 
 kingdom was estabUshed. 
 
 It is impossible to define the exact area of the region 
 which was comprised within the compass of Chowsen, either 
 in its earlier stage or in the later one, but the most trust- 
 worthy views are that it extended on the north far into the 
 interior towards the Liau river, or that it was gradually 
 extended so far, and that at one time it included the modern 
 Yingkow. And this seems the more likely to be true, inas- 
 much as the heads of Kau-ku-li some time later received 
 from China on one or two occasions the title of Prince of 
 Liautung. But on the south it does not appear to have 
 reached much beyond the Tatung river, on which the 
 modern Pingyang is situated. According to the Korean 
 account, Kitsu established his capital at Pingyang. The 
 Koreans credit Kitsu with having initiated everything in the 
 direction of civilization, and revere him accordingly. His 
 tomb is to be seen in Pingyang, and it is still reverently 
 preserved by the Koreans. That tomb, however, is said 
 to have been discovered after much research by the founder 
 of a later Korean dynasty — namely, Kau-li — at the begin- 
 ning of the twelfth century A.D. We cannot, therefore, 
 state how far the early history is exact, but there is no ground 
 to doubt its general accuracy. The second Chowsen king- 
 dom was destroyed by China at the end of the second century 
 B.C., in the reign of the fifth and very able Emperor of the 
 Han dynasty. In the meantime, in the southern part of 
 the peninsula several kingdoms came into existence. In 
 the north, where was situated the former Chowsen kingdom, 
 another kingdom sprang into prominence, named Kau-ku-li. 
 There were many vicissitudes among the southern kingdoms, 
 but they were generally three in number. 
 
 With all these kingdoms, more especially the southern 
 ones, Japan had frequent connexion in the early centuries 
 of the Christian era, and the intercourse became much 
 more extended and its effects multiplied in the sixth and 
 seventh centuries. It would be idle for me here to recite 
 the whole history of our relationship with these kingdoms, 
 but I may sum it up by saying that Japan's historical 
 interest in Korea is of very ancient date. At one time 
 intruders from the Korean peninsula infested Kiushiu, 
 
 280 
 
CHINESE EXPANSION 
 
 and the Japanese delivered vigorous counter-attacks on the 
 peninsula in order to repress them at their bases, and so 
 secure permanent peace. Again, at one time Japan de- 
 rived her civilization from China chiefly through Korea, 
 as the Japanese went there and their people came to Japan 
 for purposes of study and the acquisition of learning. There 
 was, it is important to note, a period when one or other of 
 these kingdoms was directly under Japanese rule, Japan 
 having her government estabhshments on the continent for 
 the purpose. 
 
 At the beginning of the seventh century a.d. some com- 
 plications arose between the Sui dynasty of China and 
 Kau-ku-li, and the former sent expeditions against the latter ; 
 the Chinese emperor once commanded in person, but the 
 expedition proved an entire failure. 
 
 Toward the latter part of the reign of the great second 
 emperor of the T'ang dynasty of China another expedition 
 against Kau-ku-li was undertaken by China, the origin of 
 which is reported to have been that one of the southern 
 kingdoms was menaced by Kau-ku-li and asked China's 
 help. That expedition also did not prove successful, but 
 in the reign of the next emperor Kau-ku-li was destroyed 
 by the combined effort of China and one of the southern 
 kingdoms above mentioned. Kau-ku-li changed its capital 
 several times, but Pingyang and Kiu-lien-cheng were in 
 their turn the two principal seats of government. 
 
 In the beginning of the tenth century a.d. another king- 
 dom, called Kau-li, arose on the old ruins of Kau-ku-li. 
 This is the origin of the name Korea, by which the peninsular 
 kingdom came to be known to the nations of the West. The 
 Chinese characters which represent Kau-li and the Kau and li 
 of Kau-ku-li are identical ; hence they are often confused even 
 in Oriental books, but the terms are quite distinct from one 
 another, although Kau-li might possibly have been taken 
 in the first place from Kau-ku-H. The whole Korean 
 peninsula was unified by Kau-li in the earlier part of the 
 tenth century a.d. 
 
 The kingdom of Kau-li came to an end towards the end 
 of the fourteenth century, and was replaced by another 
 which revived in itself the ancient name of Chowsen. This 
 latter is the present reigning family of Korea. It seems 
 that the region north of the Yalu was lost to Korea in the latter 
 
 281 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 days of Kau-ku-li, when that kingdom came to an end, and 
 its territory was divided between Shinlo and China. Korea 
 has never regained it ; on the contrary, she always had on 
 the north to struggle from time to time with powerful oppo- 
 nents who arose in the regions of Manchuria, and to these 
 in the end she had necessarily to submit. 
 
 As to the general relationship between China Proper and 
 the Korean peninsula, it seems that the latter had usually 
 a leaning towards the former, excepting in regard to her 
 close connexion with Japan. It was only natural that this 
 should be so, because Korea's civilization was also derived 
 from China, and that, too, as I said before, in even a greater 
 degree than other regions that were close to China ; hence 
 they felt a natural deference to China. 
 
 Nevertheless, Korea had occasional troubles with China, 
 and this was especially the case with its northern part — i.e. 
 the kingdom of Kau-ku-li. These troubles, however, cannot 
 be attributed to any agressive ambition of the Chinese, for 
 their causes and circumstances as a rule proved the exact 
 opposite. At the worst, the decision of China in each case 
 was arrived at more for the sake of restoring her damaged 
 prestige than with any idea of accomplishing territorial 
 expansion. 
 
 As to the regions farther to the north — that is to say, 
 modern Manchuria and the maritime provinces of Siberia — 
 we do not know much about them ; but, as I have shown 
 already, the Huns seem to have been living there in the 
 Chin and Han dynasties, and were even then a very strong 
 combination. But the exact boundaries which they had 
 under their sway are not known, except that their dominion 
 seems to have extended from Manchuria far to the west. 
 The parts of the region surrounding Yingkow and Liau- 
 yang from time to time belonged to China, but no permanent 
 hold was maintained. 
 
 In the north (in the regions of the modern maritime pro- 
 vinces and Harbin) there were two great hordes of Machieh. 
 The southern one of these is said to have gradually extended 
 far into Southern Manchuria. In the beginning of the 
 eighth century we see there was a principality called Pohai ; 
 that principality is said to have been identical with the 
 Southern Machieh. The name is very often mentioned in 
 Japanese history, Japan having now and then had some deal- 
 
 282 
 
CHINESE EXPANSION 
 
 ings with it. The modern Liautung Bay is sometimes 
 called Pohai Bay, and this would imply that the principality 
 had extended to the coast of that bay. It seems to have 
 formed a regular State, but it also, after the lapse of some 
 centuries, disappeared into oblivion. 
 
 There was another State, which was sometimes known as 
 Shushen, sometimes Nuchen, and sometimes Nuchih. It 
 was probably situated in or near the part of Siberia which 
 is called the Maritime Province. This State afterwards 
 actually developed into the Kin dynasty of China. We see 
 in history several other names having some connexion with 
 these regions — that is to say, modern Manchuria and the 
 maritime province of Siberia — but it is almost impossible 
 to make accurate statements about them. It appears that 
 in many cases one and the same region belonged in succession 
 to different tribal associations, some of which gradually 
 became very powerful forces, as we have already seen in 
 such cases as those of Liau and Kin. We must also note 
 that not only did the inhabitants of these regions come into 
 close contact with the Chinese, but they also had much 
 fighting amongst themselves, as well as against some of the 
 Powers which properly belonged to the Korean peninsula. 
 
 On the whole, however, I can safely say that China has 
 never had any secure hold of Korea, even in recent centuries. 
 True it is that China claimed a sort of suzerainty over Korea, 
 but on the part of Korea there was as much respect and 
 deference paid by her to her eastern neighbour as was paid 
 to China, and in a manner that was almost identical. Then, 
 what has taken place within the last few decades is known 
 to every one. As to Manchuria, apart from dynastic reasons, 
 that country has remained one of the weakest links in the 
 Chinese Empire, as I shall presently be able to demonstrate, 
 so that in this direction also the potentiality of China's 
 expansion long ago reached its uttermost limit. 
 
 283 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 III 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 I HAVE now given the essential points of Chinese expan- 
 sion. What I have said will, I hope, be sufficient to give 
 a fair idea of the subject under our consideration. We 
 have seen that the rough outline of modern China Proper 
 was formed very early. Within these limits there are, of 
 course, some difierences of degree in the way of civilization. 
 Progress was slower on the west and south-western sides 
 than elsewhere ; in fact, on the south-western side traces 
 of the earlier barbarian tribes are very clearly recognizable 
 even to this day. 
 
 But, roughly speaking, China Proper has become a huge 
 nation. It is true that, owing to the fact that the distance 
 from one end of the country to the other is so vast, the 
 inhabitants do not orally understand each other (except 
 those who speak the Mandarin tongue) ; but their written 
 language is the same, and their thoughts, ideas, customs, 
 and manners have all become almost identical. It must 
 not, however, be imagined that this was so from the begin- 
 ning, because, as I have shown already, the ancient China 
 Proper was but a very small portion of the modern China 
 Proper. It has grown to its present dimensions chiefly by 
 the influence of its civilization. Then, again, outside China 
 Proper we have already seen that on the south the Maday 
 peninsula came to share to some extent the Chinese influ- 
 ence ; and this was the case also on the west as far as Tibet 
 (the region bordering Tibet having actually come under the 
 Chinese rule), as well as throughout the greater part of 
 Central Asia. Of course, these regions in turn have given 
 trouble to China, but they ultimately had to bow their heads 
 to China's superior civilization. But it was the north that 
 at all times gave China the greatest anxiety — a region whence 
 the disturbing elements of Eastern Asia have always sprung 
 up. That there is the Great Wall on the northern side, whilst 
 there is no such thing on the south or west, is a fact more 
 eloquent than words. China would have been more than 
 satisfied to make that Great Wall the outermost limit of her 
 
 284 
 
CHINESE EXPANSION 
 
 northern dominions, but the peoples outside of it were of 
 another mind. 
 
 We all know that the large domains of Mongolia and Man- 
 churia are now supposed to form part of the Chinese Empire. 
 Considerable parts of Siberia also at one time belonged to 
 her, until she was deprived of them at quite a recent date 
 by her great northern neighbour. These regions, however, 
 were added to China, oddly enough, by those very people, 
 who, having resolved to war with their peaceable neighbour, 
 set out on an errand of conquest. In that errand they 
 succeeded, but the conquerors did not convert the country 
 they conquered to their own ideas, minds, customs, manners, 
 or institutions ; on the contrary, they were themselves 
 converted by the conquered country, and, having imbibed 
 Chinese ideas, it was they who extended the influence of the 
 conquered country into their own original homes. The 
 very fact that, whenever a barbarian State acquired some 
 power in China, it adopted a Chinese name for its dynasty, 
 even before it subdued China, explains much. There is a 
 notable exception to this rule — namely, in regard to the 
 custom of shaving the head, which was a Tartar custom, and 
 which it was considered necessary, it seems, for political 
 reasons, to enforce upon the conquered in the very beginning 
 of the present Tartar dynasty. 
 
 In general, China's neighbours set out, in fact, to annex 
 China, and it ended in their being themselves annexed, and 
 to a great degree absorbed. 
 
 There are, it seems to me, three principal systems of 
 civilization : the Western — i.e. the European — the Indian, 
 and the Chinese. From the scholastic point of view, the 
 Egyptian civilization should be counted as a fourth ; but it 
 was so remote and unique in character, and came to an end 
 at comparatively so early an age in the world's history, 
 that I need not concern myself with it in discussing my 
 present theme. 
 
 Western civilization may, it appears to me, be regarded 
 as a development of the Greek civilization, tempered by 
 Semitic religious notions. With regard to this last system 
 of civilization, scholars are prone to trace its descent from 
 something much farther back — some will even discern a 
 direct derivation from India — but it is a matter involving 
 too much detail for consideration here, and there is no neces- 
 
 285 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 sity for me to enter upon it. And this Western system 
 of civilization progressed almost entirely westward, until a 
 new start was made towards the east within only very recent 
 times. 
 
 We may therefore say that there were only two systems 
 of civilization in the whole of Asia — that is to say, the Indian 
 civilization in India and the Chinese civilization in the Far 
 East. Indian civilization made no expansion toward the 
 Far East beyond its own boundary, except in respect of 
 Buddhism. Chinese civilization was paramount in that 
 part of Asia which faced the Pacific Ocean. It was there- 
 fore natural that all the tribes and peoples dwelling round 
 the centre of that Chinese civilization should have bowed to 
 China as their elder sister, and ultimately have been fused 
 into one nation with her. Even in the outer regions, where 
 small States rose and fell from time to time, it was to have 
 been expected that there should also be found a readiness 
 to pay her much respect as the mistress of that civilization, 
 much in the same way that different European States for 
 many centuries reverenced Rome. Even Japan cannot 
 claim to have been any exception to the rule, for she likewise 
 was in the habit, in ancient times, of setting high store by 
 Chinese civilization. There was, however, one marked 
 difference which existed between Japan and the other smaller 
 States bordering China on the Asiatic Continent : Japan 
 did not scruple to avail herself of the opportunity of intro- 
 ducing Chinese civilization, but she always endeavoured 
 to maintain her own individuality, partly because her people 
 always were possessed of distinctive characteristics, and 
 partly, perhaps, because she was able, from her insular 
 position, to escape actual contact with Chinese political 
 ascendency. We read in an ancient chronicle that when a 
 letter not altogether courteous was sent to the Emperor of 
 Japan by the Emperor of China, the Emperor of Japan wrote 
 an answer commencing with these words : " The Emperor 
 of the land where the sun rises addresses himself to the 
 Emperor of the land where the sun sets." 
 
 It is recorded in a Chinese history that in the reign of the 
 great second Emperor of T'ang an envoy was sent to Japan, 
 where some dispute arose concerning matters of ceremony 
 between him and the Court of Japan, as the consequence 
 of which the envoy was obliged to return to China without 
 
 286 
 
CHINESE EXPANSION 
 
 delivering the Imperial message he had been commissioned to 
 deliver. This appears to have been due to the fact that the 
 Chinese envoy wanted to act as though he was a messenger 
 from a superior Power to a subordinate State — a thing which 
 Japan would never have consented to. We have a phrase 
 which is very common — " The Chinese intelligence and the 
 Japanese soul." This phrase is attributed to Sugawara 
 Michizane, a great scholar and statesman of the tenth 
 century, who is deified. When he was ordered by the 
 Emperor to go to China, he begged to be excused on the 
 ground that it was not becoming in Japan to be too slavish 
 to China by imitating her in everything. He maintained that 
 the intelligence which was obtainable by studying Chinese 
 was important and beneficial, but that it was also neces- 
 sary to keep the old soul of Japan intact. During the T'ang 
 dynasty of China — that is to say, in the reign of Hsuan-tsung 
 — the envoys of Japan, of Tufan (Tibet), of Shinlo (the then 
 most important of the Korean kingdoms), and of the Tajiks 
 (Persian), happened to arrive in the capital almost simultane- 
 ously. There were also numerous other envoys and their 
 suites, from different foreign lands, present at the time. 
 On the occasion of a formal audience, which was then given 
 for the purpose of receiving congratulations for the New 
 Year, the first and second seats to the right of the throne 
 were allotted to the envoys of Tufan and Japan respectively, 
 and the first and second seats to the left to the other two 
 envoys. To this arrangement the Japanese envoy objected, 
 and it was at once modified, the first and second to the 
 right being allotted to Tufan and Shinlo respectively, and 
 the first and second to the left to Japan and the Tajiks 
 respectively (the left from the centre is regarded by the 
 Japanese as higher than the right, because it is the right 
 when faced from the front). And again, when the Mongolian 
 Emperor sent his envoys inviting Japan to submit to him, 
 and persisted in seeking to obtain a definite answer from 
 Japan, the Japanese statesman who was responsible for the 
 negotiation, becoming impatient with the repeated insolence 
 of the envoys — barbarous as the act may appear — ordered 
 them to be beheaded. We also see it recorded in history 
 of an earlier date that when Japan used to send envoys 
 and students to China, the composure and dignity of those 
 envoys were objects of admiration to the Chinese Court, so 
 
 2^^ 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 much so that Japan came to be called by them " Kuntsu- 
 kuo " (the country of gentlemen). All these incidents will 
 show, in outline, what sort of position Japan always occupied 
 with regard to China. 
 
 A close examination of the nature and characteristics 
 and growth of Chinese civilization shows that it achieved 
 vast expansion ; but long before the advent of Western 
 civilization in the East the limits of that expansion had 
 been reached. On the North the Monoglian regions were 
 incorporated with, or rather annexed to, the Chinese Empire ; 
 but the influence of Chinese civilization beyond the Great 
 Wall was always very feeble. It may be said that its limit 
 was practically marked by the Great Wall. Towards Central 
 Asia also it was very weak. And, moreover, the natives of 
 Mongolia, Manchuria, and Central Asia are no longer those 
 of ancient times. They have not a spark of the fire and 
 energy of the time gone by left in them On the contrary, 
 they are perpetually hampered by the superstitious influ- 
 ences which have grown up with, and are nurtured by, 
 Lamaism. If there are any Mongolians or Tartars who are 
 still formidable, they are those who now belong to the 
 Russian community — a fact too often overlooked by the 
 ordinary public. 
 
 I have already alluded to the introduction of Lamaism 
 into these regions by the Mongolians of a former period. It 
 appears that at the time of Genghiskhan some steps had 
 already been taken. Kublaikhan, at a later date, made a 
 great priest of Tibet his teacher. That priest invented for 
 him the Mongolian alphabet, founded upon Indian letters, 
 and by its aid a large number of the Buddhist Sutras were 
 translated by Kublai's order into the Mongolian language 
 by that priest and several of his compatriots and coad- 
 jutors. The work, which was a tremendous undertaking, 
 was accomplished in the succeeding reign. When the Tartar 
 dynasty was established in China, it too favoured Lamaism, 
 and the course taken with reference thereto by the Mon- 
 golian dynasty was adopted by it also. Venerable priests 
 were sent for from Tibet ; Manchurian alphabets were 
 elaborated on the basis of Indian characters, and the trans- 
 lation of a huge number of the Buddhist sacred books was 
 forthwith resolved upon. Besides all this, the Lama priests, 
 were, under both dynasties, the favoured recipients of much 
 
 288 
 
CHINESE EXPANSION 
 
 patronage and distinction. From all this one can easily 
 imagine what an immense influence Lamaism exerted in 
 those regions. I can say with certainty the influence thus 
 exercised sufficed to govern the mental faculties of the 
 natives of those regions in a way that even Chinese civiliza- 
 tion had never been able to do. Thus, on the one hand, 
 while the modem Mongols and Manchus do not retain the old 
 dash and spirit that distinguished them in former times, on 
 the other, they have not been able to attain to the full 
 height of Chinese civilization, the result being their 
 thorough degeneration. 
 
 In Manchuria the original Tartars that still remain are 
 only a minority of the inhabitants, the rest being chiefly 
 immigrants from Shantung. A large proportion of the 
 original Tartars have in one way or other penetrated into 
 China Proper, and have there become sinicized, so that the 
 present Manchuria is no longer the Manchuria of former 
 days ; even the Tartar language itself is said to be almost 
 disappearing. One might have expected the Chinese, who 
 have taken up their abode in Manchuria, to inherit some of 
 the better qualities of the original Tartar inhabitants, but 
 this hardly seems to be the case. Some people say that 
 they do not even come up to the standard of their com- 
 patriots in other parts of the Chinese Empire. In a word, I 
 can say that there is now little or no probability of any 
 powerful people arising, as was the case centuries ago, out 
 of these regions of Mongolia and Manchuria. 
 
 Towards Tibet the influence of Chinese civilization is 
 blocked by the Tibetan State, where Indian influence under 
 somewhat transformed conditions is crystallized and para- 
 mount, and that influence is stronger than that of China. 
 If we look a little farther south, it is blocked by the Hima- 
 layas, and, still farther south, towards the Malay peninsula, 
 it is held in check by Siam and Annam, not to say Burma, in 
 all of which the Indian elements preponderate over those of 
 China. Even Tonking has never been truly sinicized. Then, 
 as to the internal condition of China, civilization arrived at a 
 state of complete stagnation many centuries since. No 
 statesman dares to embark on innovations, for if he were 
 to do so his fall would be assured. Take, for example, the 
 case of Wang-An-Shi, of the Sung dynasty. Great as he was as 
 a statesman and scholar, he totally failed when he attempted 
 
 289 u 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 a radical change in the administrative and economical 
 system, and his character is always painted in the blackest 
 colour in consequence, not of his failure, but of his attempt. 
 Moreover, the empire is big enough ; the Chinese have no 
 desire, nor do they perceive any necessity to extend it farther. 
 It has never entered their minds to create any colonial 
 possessions outside their own empire. Such things have 
 ever been totally at variance with their ideas. The Chinese, 
 especially the southern ones, are as a rule sagacious in 
 commerce, and large numbers of them have gone abroad 
 in recent years. This is due mainly to the fact that they 
 have had little field for enterprise at home in political and 
 kindred matters, so that they have come to exert their best 
 faculties for pecuniary gain. Hence those who go abroad do 
 so only for personal and material advantages, and the fact 
 that they go abroad, even if they do so in large numbers, 
 has no political significance. 
 
 The highest ideal of government entertained by the 
 Chinese has always been Jen-Cheng, which may be trans- 
 lated as " merciful and humane administration." Theore- 
 tically, the Emperor is an autocrat, but when he becomes 
 excessively oppressive and tyrannical the population rises 
 against him to put an end to his dynasty, setting up a new 
 one in its place. This has become a recognized principle, 
 and has been morally justified through thousands of years. 
 The natural consequence of it has been to cause individual 
 subjects to contribute their private means as little as possible 
 to the State ; hence they have the greatest abhorrence of 
 heavy taxes, for whatsoever causes they may be levied, and in 
 China there is actually almost no system of taxation as a 
 national institution, though all sorts of devices are used 
 by the provincial officials to raise certain sums for contribu- 
 tion to the central Government as required by them. Hence 
 the central Government has very little means with which to 
 undertake any enterprising works on a grand scale. This is 
 also one of several causes why the thought never occurs 
 to the Chinese to organize any colonial possessions. True 
 it is that several grand public works, such as the construc- 
 tion of the Great Wall and of canals, were undertaken by 
 energetic rulers, but they were done chiefly by forced con- 
 tribution of labour, and were generally unpopular, so much 
 so, indeed, that the verdict of Chinese history is generally 
 
 290 
 
CHINESE EXPANSION 
 
 rather unfavourable than favourable to those rulers who 
 conceived and accomplished costly works of avowedly public 
 utility. 
 
 The mass of the Chinese are not patriotic in a political 
 sense, and in any given part of the empire but little concern 
 is felt about the calamities that may befall other parts of the 
 empire, even in the shape of armed aggression from outside. 
 Their common interests are few, and the immense dis- 
 tances militate against solidarity of feeling. Moreover, 
 China has always regarded herself as placed above all 
 surrounding countries, and her notions of mankind, as inter- 
 preted by her own traditions and ancient teachings, have 
 prevented her people from entertaining any feeling of 
 healthy rivalry with outsiders. Her feeling with regard to 
 dwellers beyond her borders was that it was better to placate 
 them by conciliatory methods than to combat them by sheer 
 force. This has been China's cosmopolitan policy, always 
 kept in view by her rulers and expounded by her moralists. 
 
 There is a Chinese phrase to this effect : " No two suns 
 in the heavens, and no two emperors on the earth." This 
 simply means, however, that there ought not to be two 
 supreme rulers in China. The Chinese mind never took 
 into account the possibility of there being any rulers in other 
 and remote regions of the world. Hence in China, although 
 the country was split up into several States from time to time 
 through the weakening of the reigning dynasty and the 
 rising of new leaders in different parts of the empire, such 
 conditions as these were always considered to be merely 
 temporary and quite abnormal. People always expected that 
 order would be restored sooner or later under the regime 
 of one emperor. This being so, even a foreign dynasty, 
 when it had once conquered the empire, was the real and 
 true master of the country, to whom the allegiance of the 
 whole empire was due. Here, again, we may perceive that 
 there can exist in China no pure and simple patriotism. It 
 is, however, to be borne in mind that the brotherhood or 
 common interests of the Chinese population, loose and luke- 
 warm as these ties perhaps are, are nevertheless so wide and 
 in a measure so deep that it is difficult to separate altogether 
 the different parts from one another — I mean to such an 
 extent as obtains in Europe, where so many different and 
 independent States co-exist side by side. 
 
 291 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 The Chinese are a nation, despite all their faults. I might 
 compare the Chinese nation with a mass of raw cotton. It 
 is not solid, but its different particles have their mutual 
 cohesive power, and form a more or less compact substance. 
 It can exert no damaging force against any other substance, 
 from the very nature of its yielding disposition, yet it is best 
 to leave it compact as it is, because it is more useful in that 
 form, and, figuratively speaking, it will rest quite satisfied and 
 content if left to itself in that way. 
 
 The limitation of Chinese expansion has become more 
 marked since the advent of Western civilization in the Far 
 East. China is surrounded by this new force on all sides, 
 and her attitude is constantly one of defence. A little time 
 ago I read in an American review an article written by a 
 Chinese diplomatist. He made a remark somewhat in the 
 following words : — 
 
 Our motto is, " Do not do unto others what you would not have 
 others do unto you," but your motto is, " Do unto others as you would 
 have others do unto you " ; in other words, we are negative, but you 
 are positive. In consequence of this your people often force other 
 people to do what you yourself like without inquiring whether those 
 other people want it to be done or not. It therefore often results 
 in your doing things against the wish of other people, and often with 
 mischievous results. 
 
 This seems to be about the correct description of the 
 feeling of the Chinese as against the rest of the world. China 
 has her moral notions, which are by no means lacking in 
 refinement. It is well for outsiders not to despise the Chinese 
 too much, or, rather, it is desirable that they should be treated 
 with proper consideration. If they are so treated they will 
 always prove themselves to be a good nation with which to 
 maintain peaceable and beneficial intercourse. 
 
 Of late there has been much talk about the Yellow Peril, 
 or the possibility of a Pan- Asiatic combination ; this appears 
 to me, as I have said so often elsewhere, nothing more than a 
 senseless and mischievous agitation. How can China rise up 
 alone, and become a source of peril in this form to the rest of 
 mankind ? From what I have said in this paper it will be 
 plainly seen that it is a matter of the greatest improbability. 
 It is therefore in this respect all the more desirable that the 
 mass of Chinese cotton be left alone. We have a proverb 
 saying, " Even a small insect has a soul," and another saying, 
 
 2Q2 
 
CHINESE EXPANSION 
 
 "A rat in despair might bite a cat." These proverbs mean 
 that too much persecution should not be inflicted even upon 
 weak objects. Therefore I can say that even such peaceful 
 people as the Chinese should not be treated without due 
 consideration for their feelings. 
 
 As I have shown already, China has not been and is not 
 of her own seeking an aggressive nation. It is not only 
 so with the ruling classes — in other words, with those who 
 conquered China and became sinicized — but with the nation 
 itself at large, which has been imbued with the same spirit 
 and the same ideas throughout all time, so that they have 
 become its distinguishing and permanent attributes. The 
 very basic principle of Chinese civilization is essentially 
 pacific. 
 
 Looking back through the whole course of history, the 
 Chinese rulers who dispatched well-organized counter- 
 expeditions into the lands of the enemy were, as a rule, 
 able and renowned emperors, such as the first and fifth 
 emperors of the Han dynasty, the second emperor of the 
 T'ang dynasty, and the first and second emperors of the Sui 
 dynasty ; but nevertheless they almost invariably failed in 
 their enterprise, often suffering very serious defeats. 
 
 Hence distant expeditions came to be universally regarded 
 by the Chinese as a curse to the empire. There is in Chinese 
 a well-known phrase, which might be translated as the 
 " degradation or disgrace of militarism." That phrase con- 
 sists of only two words in Chinese, and represents the stigma 
 which all rulers have for several tens of centuries been most 
 afraid of incurring, as well as the warning which councillors 
 of the Empire came most commonly to employ in advising 
 their masters. Even when an expedition against Korea 
 was mooted by the great second Emperor of T'ang, at the 
 zenith of his splendid career, the voices of his councillors were 
 one and all against it. 
 
 In literature, also, almost all the sentiments which have 
 survived about China's warfare with barbarians in the form 
 of poetry merely echo the misery and hardships entailed, 
 and but seldom is there any glorification of war. The 
 examples of the expeditions of earlier rulers are not to be 
 esteemed subjects of emulation for later sovereigns. And 
 yet if they are steadily driven into the position of a chased 
 rat, it is not possible to guarantee that even these men of 
 
 293 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 peace may not in the end betray some sort of resentment. 
 I may, for instance, be allowed to say here that Europeans 
 cannot be regarded as entirely free from responsibility for the 
 trouble which culminated in the Boxer rising some years ago. 
 
 Then, again, there are some who accuse Japan as the pro- 
 bable organizer of the Pan- Asiatic peril. Peace-loving as the 
 Japanese also are, the characteristics, notions, and feelings 
 of the Japanese and Chinese are so different that there is no 
 possibility of their complete amalgamation in one common 
 cause ; and what is true with regard to the Chinese holds 
 even more true with regard to other Asiatic peoples. 
 
 Japan aspires, moreover, to elevate herself to the same 
 plane and to press onward in the same path of civilization 
 as the countries of the West. Even in e very-day matters 
 one likes to choose good company, so as not to estrange one's 
 best friends. Can any one imagine that Japan would like 
 to organize a Pan-Asiatic agitation of her own seeking, in 
 which she must take so many different peoples of Asia into 
 her confidence and company — people with whom she has 
 no joint interests or any community of thought and feeling ? 
 And what of the risks Japan would wantonly incur were she 
 to dare to attempt such an enterprise in the face of the most 
 powerful nations of the earth ? Furthermore, the condi- 
 tions of existence throughout the whole world are totally 
 changed from the time when Genghis Khan or Timur (Tamer- 
 lane) performed their extraordinary exploits. 
 
 Let us view the matter from another standpoint, and I 
 trust I shall be excused if I allow myself to be extremely 
 candid. In Europe and on its borders there are many 
 States, some of them well advanced, some rather backward. 
 Would it be practicable for all these States to form themselves 
 into one compact body in organized offensive combination 
 against an outside Power, say America ? I venture to 
 assert that, even with the intelligence and ability of the 
 advanced nations of Europe such a union of interests and 
 strength would be quite impossible. How, then, could 
 it be expected for one moment that the various peoples of 
 the East, with their varying degrees of intelligence, their con- 
 flicting interests, and their old-standing feuds and jealousies, 
 could ever have cohesion enough to range themselves under 
 one banner against the powers of the Occident ? And if they 
 could do so, is it to be imagined that Japan would enter 
 
 294 
 
CHINESE EXPANSION 
 
 upon so quixotic an enterprise as to place herself at the head 
 of so unmanageable a mob ? At the very first onset of a 
 Western military force, the untrained masses would take 
 to flight, and Japan would find herself alone, to bear the 
 consequences of her folly. In Japan we have profited by 
 our military studies to the extent that we comprehend the 
 value of a thoroughly homogeneous force. Could any 
 conceivable agglomeration of Asiatic troops be termed a 
 homogeneous body,and could such an agglomeration be made, 
 by any means known to man, into a compact force fit to asso- 
 ciate with a highly trained and thoroughly experienced army 
 such as Japan now possesses, even were she prepared to sacri- 
 fice everything for the very dubious privilege of placing herself 
 at their head ? Turn we for an instant to India. There we 
 have an example of a vast population immeasurably more 
 numerous than the white element which rules it, yet split up 
 into so many States and sects and castes that combination 
 always has been and must be completely out of the question. 
 Has any one seriously supposed that England has to fear a 
 peril there, such as might be conceivable were union among 
 the many divided peoples at all possible ? What is the history 
 of the one attempt to overthrow British rule? That of its utter 
 failure owing to lack of combined effort ; of a mutiny of 
 a comparatively small number of troops checked by the 
 fidelity of other regiments who refused to assist in the rising, 
 owing to personal and tribal difference and caste prejudices. 
 Is it not notorious that these Indian races have not only 
 no cohesion but downright antagonism, notwithstanding that 
 they are alike subjects of a conquering nation ? Is there any 
 likelihood of these Indian natives and other Asiatic peoples 
 being organized into a compact and united force, as some 
 mischievous writers suggest ? If this argument can fairly 
 be applied as regards organization into an effective fighting 
 force of the Asiatic peoples, how much stronger does it be- 
 come when the matter is considered in a political sense ! 
 The peoples of the East are, some of them, politically inde- 
 pendent ; others are under the sway of one or other European 
 Power. To combine them in a single undertaking would 
 be a task utterly impracticable and unpromising. Japan has 
 already cast in her lot with the Occident, and in the eyes of 
 many Asiatics it is to be remembered the Japanese are no 
 less " Yang-Kwai " (foreign devils) than the Occidentals. 
 
 295 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 In addition, and with the same candour as before, let me say 
 that Japan has herself chiefly to consider. While she does 
 not for one instant wish it to be thought that she looks 
 down with contempt upon other Oriental nations — which 
 she does not — they, for reasons of their own, have not chosen 
 to accompany her along the path of progress, and actually 
 regard her as something of an apostate. Can she by any 
 stretch of the imagination, be suspected of a willingness to 
 permit her own future to be jeopardized by pausmg in her own 
 advance in order to join them in what she fully realizes could 
 only be an enterprise foredoomed to disastrous failure ? 
 Moreover, no Occidentals need imagine that Japan would 
 particular^ welcome the creation of a strong Power on the 
 Continent of Asia in close proximity to her own shores. 
 To me it seems that the charge of organizing a Pan- Asiatic 
 League which is now and then brought against Japan, if 
 taken seriously, would only be to subject her to utterly unjust 
 persecution, quite unworthy of the civilized nations of the 
 world. It would be like turning round upon an apt pupil 
 whom one had one's self trained and encouraged and brought 
 to the world's notice — rather against its own original in- 
 clinations and wishes — and that on the mere ground that the 
 pupil belonged to a different set from one's own, and had 
 grown a trifle more quickly and become more robust than 
 one had expected when one first took him by the hand and 
 led him forth into new paths. 
 
 Japan took up the cudgels in the present war with Russia, 
 as I have elsewhere shown, and as it is by this time, I hope, 
 perfectly understood, with no other motive than the defence 
 of her own interests. Whenever it may come to a con- 
 clusion she will, as heretofore, seek to establish peace on a 
 sure and sound foundation, having no objects in view that 
 are not consistent with a pacific policy. She has sought 
 throughout, and will continue to seek in the future, the 
 benefits which accrue from this line of action, and it is in 
 pursuance of these principles that she has endeavoured to 
 associate herself with the aims and objects of Western 
 nations. Her people cannot, if they would, change the tint 
 of their skins, and if, after all her efforts, she is to be 
 ostracized merely on the score of colour, she will be obliged 
 to regard it as harsh treatment, far exceeding anything 
 that she had a right to expect from the chivalry and en- 
 
 296 
 
CHINESE EXPANSION 
 
 lightenment of the nations of the Occident. At all events, 
 I cannot imagine what material advantage those Occidental 
 Powers who profess to be friendly with Japan can achieve 
 by driving her to desperation by means of those ungenerous 
 and, let me say, unmanly accusations. When this war ends, we 
 shall devote ourselves to the arts of peace ; and I may add 
 that we can hardly expect that, no matter in what form 
 the present contest may terminate, circumstances will permit 
 of our embarking upon hostilities in other directions. I 
 can positively declare, in the name of Japan, that when this 
 struggle reaches its conclusion she will honestly and faith- 
 fully pursue a policy of peace. 
 
 297 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 JAPAN AND FRANCE 
 
 S 
 
 OME time ago I had the pleasure of writing to an eminent 
 French statesman a letter as follows : — 
 
 Japan has neither design nor ambition to pick a quarrel with 
 France, still less to take possession of Indo-China. Those utter- 
 ances of the deputies and many similar comments about my country 
 remind me of a Japanese proverb which says : " Make an uncrying 
 baby cry." The constant accusations of numerous writers and 
 speakers seem, I am sorry to say, to have almost an appearance of 
 being calculated to provoke us. But let me ask if this is their real 
 meaning. 
 
 The first thing your countrymen have to perceive is the great 
 difference which exists both historically and geographically between 
 Korea and Indo-China as to their relative positions to my country. 
 Japan's interests in Korea are paramount, both historically and 
 geographically as well as commercially, but this is far from being 
 the case with Indo-China. Besides, we recognize the desirability 
 of preserving amicable relationship with France for many reasons, 
 one of which is our recognition of the services which she rendered to 
 us in the past in imbuing us with Western progressive ideas. And, 
 moreover, Japan is a nation which is essentially pacific and 
 instinctively avoids conflict with any other country ; in other words, 
 Japan will never wage a war without being most unwarrantably 
 provoked. Nay more ! Japan has to betake herself to internal 
 amelioration and progress, so as to make herself worthy of an enlight- 
 ened country — a work which is quite enough to pre-occupy herself 
 at home for a long time, if for no other reason, so long as ever she 
 can avoid external complications. 
 
 Even if France is determined purposely to irritate Japan, my 
 country will not be easily led astray. But, a fortiori, if France is not 
 
 ^ The English original of an article printed in La Revue, February, 
 1905. 
 
 298 
 
JAPAN AND FRANCE 
 
 so determined, then all the irritating accusations appear to me to be 
 extremely unhappy ; they would benefit neither France nor Japan. 
 
 Amongst the hostile criticisms, I have often noticed those which 
 have been reported as to have emanated from the French Military 
 Attache in St. Petersburg, and published in several journals. I may 
 assure you that such criticisms as his give us much pain in con- 
 sideration of his rank and position. 
 
 If I am too outspoken, I must only beg you to excuse it, as I 
 do so from my sincere desire that amicable relationship between my 
 country and yours may not be disturbed by any possible misunder- 
 standing — a sentiment which is not mine alone but is shared with 
 me by all the Japanese at large. 
 
 This is the gist of my views as regards the relationship 
 between France and my country. I still continue to enter- 
 tain the same views, and have no reason to alter them. I 
 will, however, try to elucidate these views more fully, and 
 I shall be highly pleased if what I write has any effect in 
 promoting good-will between the two nations. 
 
 II 
 
 Before proceeding with the main point, however, I must, 
 as we say, " cross over the nearer bridge," which has been 
 put in my way by a recent incident, though it must have 
 been made by this time quite clear in the mind of the public 
 that the incident was entirely a false bogey ; I mean the 
 publication in a French paper of the so-called confidential 
 document alleged to have been addressed by Baron Kodama 
 to Count Katsura. I have obtained, from curiosity, a copy 
 of the French journal containing the document,^ and have 
 read it through. It is certainly very well got up as far as 
 length and superficial appearance are concerned, but to 
 thoughtful persons, especially to the Japanese, the fact 
 that it is a mischievous fabrication and deliberate falsehood 
 is perfectly apparent at a glance ; in other words, the cloven 
 hoof is too manifest to deceive anyone for a moment. As a 
 document, its diction, its phraseology, its style, and its 
 notions and ideas are totally at variance with Japanese 
 diplomacy, — not to allude to the grotesqueness of its whole 
 
 ^ The Echo de Paris 
 299 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 purport. Without entering upon the argumentative parts, 
 I will here point out some technical errors which entirely 
 disprove its authoritative character. To begin with, the 
 alleged document is dated " Kelung 2nd mois de la 33rd annee 
 du Meiji." That year corresponds with 1900 a.d. At that time 
 General Count Katsura, to whom the document is addressed 
 as " President du Conseil des Ministres,"was only a Viscount , 
 and was himself Minister of War, and not President of the 
 " Conseil des Ministres." Then, again, Baron Kodarna had 
 never been Minister of War, either at that time or previously. 
 How, then, can this fact be reconciled with the statement in 
 the document in which these words are found later on, 
 " Mes titres d'ancien Ministre de la guerre et de conseiller 
 particulier " ? Again, how can the phrase in the alleged 
 document " Nos Allies Anglais," the alliance having been 
 only concluded in 1902, be made to fit in with the date 
 " Kelung 33 Meiji " ? Besides, whatever can " conseiller 
 particulier " mean ? There is no such office as this in Japan. 
 Then, again, in the footnote attached to the document as 
 published in the journal, a period in the 33rd year of Meiji is 
 given as " the spring of 1902." Now, supposing this latter 
 year was correct, and the 33rd year of Meiji was a misprint 
 for 35th year of Meiji, how can it be reconciled with a phrase 
 where that year of Meiji plus another eight years is spoken 
 of as the 41st year of Meiji ? Supposing, however, this 
 again was some sort of misprint, there are other facts which 
 are quite irreconcilable. Baron Kodama was appointed 
 Minister of War, in December of 1900 a.d., in addition to 
 his ofhce of Governor-General of Formosa, which he was 
 then holding, and continued to serve in both capacities 
 until April, 1902, when he was released from his Minis- 
 tership of War, still retaining his office of the Govern- 
 orship of Formosa. How then can he describe him- 
 self as a former (ancien) Minister of War in February 
 of that year ? The document, moreover, purports to 
 have been despatched from Kelung in Formosa ; but he 
 was at that time staying in Tokio and not in Formosa. The 
 Japanese Diet was in session just at the time. That session 
 was opened on November 22, I90i,and closed on February 
 23, 1902, and he had naturally, as a Minister, and as the 
 Governor-General, to attend the Diet in Tokio. Then 
 again the allegation that the document was despatched 
 
 300 
 
JAPAN AND FRANCE 
 
 from Kelung is absurd. Kelung is only a seaport, where no 
 Government office is established. But even supposing that 
 Baron Kodama had happened to be there, and that he 
 dispatched the document therefrom, how can one reconcile 
 this theory with the phrase which occurs in the course of the 
 document, in which are found these words " L'incapacite 
 pretendue des representants de Sa Majeste a Kelung " ? 
 It comes to the same thing as saying Russia is represented 
 by her Ambassador in France at Calais instead of Paris. 
 Then, again, the alleged document speaks about " six bat- 
 taillons indigene ou meme nos trois brigades mixtes." 
 Where do such things exist ? No doubt in the French 
 colonies such a system exists, and I daresay it may be 
 adopted in Formosa also in the course of time ; but most 
 positively no such things existed in Formosa either in 1900 
 or in 1902. Then, again, the document speaks of " Wai-Wou- 
 Pou de Pekin " for Chinese Foreign Office, but no such office 
 had existed before July, 1902, when it was established for 
 the first time in the place of the Tung-li Yamen, which was 
 then abolished. Moreover, in that session of the Japanese 
 Diet the seiyukai party stood in direct opposition to the 
 Cabinet of which Baron Kodama was a member as Minister 
 of War, whilst two others, Kensei-honto and Kokuminfo 
 (Teikokuto) leaned more towards the Government. How 
 then can he make such a statement as the following : 
 " Je suis etonne qu'entre ces deux partis extremes mes amis 
 Seiyukai ne fassent pas entendu un language plus raison- 
 able " ? The notion of interpreting " Genro " as Conseil de 
 FEmpire, and to speak of it in the manner as shown in the 
 document, is most inexact. The proposition, in the docu- 
 ment, of making Fokien the base of the Japanese army for 
 land attacks on Cochin-China shows a total ignorance of 
 geography. Baron Kodama is one of the most intelligent 
 statesmen of Japan, apart from his proper profession as a 
 soldier. If a person like Kodama were such a fool as to 
 dilate on such an absurd idea as is displayed in the alleged 
 document there would never have been the Japan of to-day. 
 Some time ago an eminent French statesman told me, as 
 already mentioned elsewhere, that France understood 
 Japan little and Russia still less, and that it was the 
 sole cause of the present war. The fact that a French 
 journal of good standing propagates such an idea as it 
 
 301 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 does, based on such alleged documents, with the evident 
 intention of stirring up the good citizens of France and of 
 inciting all other civilized nations against Japan tends to 
 warrant me in believing what was told me by that statesman. 
 
 Ill 
 
 No sensible French people will believe, I am confident, in 
 the authenticity of the alleged document and its purport. 
 But there seem still to be many French readers who enter- 
 tain some sort of apprehension that Japan might have 
 designs upon their colony in Indo-China. I would there- 
 fore state the exact views which we, the Japanese, hold. 
 In a word, there is no such intention on the part of Japan 
 whatever. Korea and Indo-China, as I have quite recently 
 said, are on a very different footing in their relative posi- 
 tions with regard to Japan. In Korea we have immense 
 interests in many ways, and cannot for a moment allow any 
 foreign Power to predominate in that peninsula. But we 
 have no such interests in Indo-China. Above all, the ques- 
 tion of Indo-China is one which was decided long ago. We 
 have no intention of questioning a fait accompli, or interfer- 
 ing with any status quo, but the case is very different with the 
 Korean peninsula, as well as with Manchuria. Geographi- 
 cally speaking, the Korean peninsula constitutes territory 
 of which predominance of foreign influence has vital inter- 
 ests for Japan, and concerns her very existence. Imagine 
 if any foreign Power predominated in it, — how could that 
 fact be anything but a constant menace to Japan ? His- 
 torically, Japan has had a very long connexion with the 
 peninsula. 
 
 It is not necessary for me to enter into any details ; suffice 
 it to say that there was a time when intruders attacked 
 Japan from that peninsula ; and we were obliged on the 
 other hand to attack them at their bases in the peninsula, 
 in order that we might secure permanent peace. There was 
 a time when one or more of several kingdoms which existed 
 in that peninsula were our tributaries. There was a time 
 when we had our government establishments set up therein 
 
 302 
 
JAPAN AND FRANCE 
 
 in order to rule the country. There was again a time 
 when we despatched our troops to the help of one or other 
 of these kingdoms against some neighbour or outsider who 
 threatened its very existence. The fact is that that penin- 
 sula had great importance for Japan in the numberless 
 vicissitudes recorded in the history of successive centuries. 
 Even at a time when Japan shut her door against all foreigners 
 except the Dutch and Chinese we still had our diplomatic 
 intercourse with the Korean kingdom, which periodically 
 paid its homage and respect to our Government ; we still 
 had a trade with it ; our people even had settlements in 
 Korea, enjoying extra-territoriality, and carrying on trade 
 between the two countries ; and in our own days, since the 
 new regime was instituted, the interest of Japan in the well 
 being and good government of Korea has multiplied enor- 
 mously. There is no necessity for me to describe these 
 matters in detail, but the very fact that we staked our 
 existence ten years ago against China, who was considered 
 then a mighty Power, will go a long way towards explaining 
 them ; and, moreover, the fact that we had all along 
 tried to come to an understanding with Russia, and, as a 
 matter of fact, did reach such understanding once or twice, 
 in official compacts, before the war, evinces how great was 
 the anxiety felt in Japan concerning that neighbouring 
 peninsula. 
 
 IV 
 
 The case of Indo-China — Annam and Tongkin — is very 
 different from that of the Korean peninsula. Geographi- 
 cally speaking, it is far away from Japan, and its shape and 
 position is very different from the Korean peninsula. It has 
 no strategical value for Japan. Historically speaking, it is 
 true that about 300 years ago there was carried on a certain 
 amount of trade between Japan, Annam, and Cambodia ; 
 but even that small trade came to an end with the policy 
 of exclusion adopted by Japan soon after that period. In 
 a word, French Indo-China was included in Japan in the 
 category of those foreign lands to or from which neither 
 trade would be allowed nor the coming and going of people 
 
 303 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 permitted. It has even been said that some Japanese who 
 were residing in those regions were not allowed to land in 
 Japan when they returned home, and had to go back again 
 to die there — this was done on account of a decree that no 
 Japanese should ever go to any foreign lands nor would he be 
 allowed to return if he did so. There is no such long history 
 of intercourse between Indo-China and Japan as there is 
 between Japan and the Korean peninsula — there is no 
 community of thought or feeling between the Japanese and 
 the Indo-Chinese. With regard to the Koreans, there was 
 a time when we derived Chinese civilization chiefly through 
 Korea, but nothing of the sort happened in the case of Indo- 
 China. In the history of the ^Chinese Empire Indo-China 
 has usually been regarded as a place remote from its own 
 proper boundaries and afflicted continually with pestilence, 
 so that it was not a fit place for the Chinese to reside in : 
 how much less then for the Japanese ! And consequently 
 the locality has never seriously entered into the minds of the 
 Chinese, much less the Japanese, who only within very 
 recent years have begun to carry on any appreciable 
 trade with it. The chief item of this trade is rice, 
 imported into Japan. On account of Japan's buying this 
 rice some French people imagine that Japan covets the 
 territory of Indo-China, a thing to our minds downright 
 ridiculous. I will therefore, in the first place, give some 
 account of the commercial relations subsisting between 
 Japan and Indo-China. 
 
 V 
 
 The volume of trade between Japan and French Indo- 
 China is very small. Taking the average of the last five 
 years, the total amount is 6,846,000 yen, that is to say, only 
 1*3 per cent, of the whole commerce of Japan. Of this total 
 of 6,846,000 yen, 156,000 yen-worth are exported from 
 Japan and 6,690,000 yen-worth imported from Indo- 
 China into Japan. Looking round the lands which are near 
 Japan, the percentage of the commerce between Japan and 
 these lands is as follows : — 
 
 304 
 
JAPAN AND FRANCE 
 
 China 
 British India 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 36*5 
 . 24-4 
 
 Hong-Kong. 
 Korea 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 187 
 . 8-4 
 
 Siberia 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 3-8 
 
 French-India 
 
 
 
 
 
 3*1 
 
 Dutch India 
 
 
 
 
 
 2-6 
 
 PhiUppine Islands 
 Siam 
 
 « 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 1-8 
 7 
 
 Total 
 
 100 
 
 Of the trade between Japan and French India 90 per cent, 
 of its whole volume is taken up with the supply of rice from 
 the latter to Japan, and therefore rice as an item may be 
 considered as having paramount significance ; besides, rice 
 is the principal food of the Japanese, hence the idea of some 
 Frenchmen alluded to above, but it is a totally groundless 
 impression. In the first place, I will show by a Table the 
 amount of the production of native rice of Japan as well as 
 the comparison of the exports of Japanese rice and the 
 imports of foreign rice. Japan not only imports but also 
 exports this cereal. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Home Production. 
 
 Import. 
 
 Export. 
 
 
 Koku. 
 
 Koku. 
 
 Koku. 
 
 1894 
 
 41,859,047 
 
 1,321,851 
 
 610,052 
 
 1895 
 
 39,960,798 
 
 674,141 
 
 719,324 
 
 1896 
 
 36,240,351 
 
 744,801 
 
 756,803 
 
 1897 
 
 33^039,293 
 
 2,520,558 
 
 517,678 
 
 1898 
 
 47,387,666 
 
 4,678,501 
 
 420,047 
 
 1899 
 
 39,698,258 
 
 660,237 
 
 871,534 
 
 1900 
 
 41,466,734 
 
 914,792 
 
 253,563 
 
 19OI 
 
 46,914,943 
 
 1,244,775 
 
 520,617 
 
 1902 
 
 36,944,625 
 
 1,803,629 
 
 507,695 
 
 1903 
 
 47,713,166 
 
 4,864,962 
 
 328,974 
 
 Average 
 
 41,127,488 
 
 1,942,824 
 
 551,629 
 
 (Koku=nearly five English bushels.) 
 
 From this Table one can see that the import of foreign rice 
 into Japan varies according to the harvest for the year, and 
 whether Japanese native crops are good or not. But on the 
 average of ten years the export of Japanese rice amounts to 
 1*4 per cent, of the whole native products, and imports of 
 foreign rice to only 47 per cent, of the native products. 
 
 305 X 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 Thus we import foreign rice on an average of 3*3 percent, of 
 the native products — a very small percentage indeed. Let 
 us see now what regions there are for supplying rice to Japan. 
 The following is the Table :— 
 
 Year. 
 
 British 
 India. 
 
 Korea. 
 
 French 
 India. 
 
 ^China. 
 
 Siam. 
 
 Total. 
 
 1894 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 69 
 
 9 
 
 7 
 
 100 
 
 1895 
 
 9 
 
 20 
 
 65 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 TOO 
 
 1896 
 
 I 
 
 50 
 
 22 
 
 24 
 
 3 
 
 100 
 
 1897 
 
 4 
 
 28 
 
 41 
 
 22 
 
 5 
 
 100 
 
 1898 
 
 24 
 
 6 
 
 53 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 100 
 
 1899 
 
 3 
 
 29 
 
 56 
 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 100 
 
 1900 
 
 II 
 
 52 
 
 30 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 100 
 
 19OI 
 
 7 
 
 51 
 
 27 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 100 
 
 1902 
 
 43 
 
 22 
 
 26 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 100 
 
 1903 
 
 S3 
 
 9 
 
 27 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 100 
 
 1904 
 
 64 
 
 2 
 
 25 
 
 I 
 
 8 
 
 100 
 
 From this Table one can see that British India, Korea, and 
 French Indo-China are the chief places that supply rice to 
 Japan. The proportion of imports from these countries 
 varies according to the year, but, roughly speaking, ten years 
 ago the French supply was more than half, but in recent 
 times it has decreased gradually to a quarter, whereas the 
 imports from British India have gradually increased to- 
 gether with the general advancement of the trades between 
 Japan and that country, and it now takes the place which 
 French Indo-China formerly occupied : Korea, again, when 
 the crops are good, supplies half the Japanese wants. The 
 reason why we export as well as import the rice is this : 
 the quality of Japanese rice is far better than the rice of 
 other regions, and consequently fetches a better price in 
 foreign markets. And conversely, as the quality of the 
 rice of those other regions, especially that of French India, 
 is always far inferior, and only fit for needy families, the 
 price is far lower than that of our own, and as a natural 
 result of economical operations, both exports and im- 
 ports of the same commodity take place concurrently. 
 Hence it follows the genuine requirement in the way of 
 imported rice is far less than it appears at first sight. Thus 
 we see that the amount which we paid for the rice im- 
 ported from French India from 1894 to 1903 was 72,600,000 
 
 306 
 
JAPAN AND FRANCE 
 
 yen, whilst during the same period the price we obtained by 
 the exportation of our native rice was 65,200,000 yen. 
 Besides, although rice is the principal food of the Japanese, 
 and although rice forms the principal portion of the food- 
 stuffs imported, a large quantity of other edible substances is 
 brought into Japan from foreign lands as progress is made 
 in economical matters and as results of economical opera- 
 tions. According to the latest statistics obtainable, the 
 imports of edibles are as follows : — 
 
 Year. 
 
 Rice. 
 
 Wheat, Beans, Peas, 
 Flour of Wheat. 
 
 19OI 
 1902 
 1903 
 
 Yen. 
 
 11,878,958 
 17,750,816 
 51,960,272 
 
 8,759,089 
 
 9,73i»834 
 
 23,459,512 
 
 These edible commodities besides rice are imported chiefly 
 from China, British India, and the United States, and one 
 can see that although rice is the most important item on the 
 list it forms only a part of the annual imports of food- 
 stuffs. Besides, of late years rice cultivation in the United 
 States has become an important industry. According to an 
 official report of the British Commercial Agent in America, 
 during the fiscal year 1898-99, the production of rice in 
 that country was 250,280,221 lb., and the land under rice 
 cultivation was 342,218 acres, and it was calculated that the 
 yield of rice of 1904 would be about 470,000,000 lb., the area 
 of land planted with rice being 643,400 acres. America 
 will soon be able to export her rice, so that if France does 
 not like our buying her rice we shall have no difficulty in 
 obtaining from America, as we do from British India and 
 elsewhere. 
 
 VI 
 
 From the foregoing statements it will be seen that the trade 
 between Japan and French Indo-China is not so material 
 as one might easily be led to suppose. Surely it is not 
 worth while for Japan to trouble her head with it so much 
 
 307 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 as other people seem to think she does. Besides, there are 
 many things to be thought of in this connexion. In the 
 first place, we must see what is our commercial relation with 
 France itself . According to the latest statistics, our imports 
 from France are 5,107,913 yen, while our exports to France 
 are 34,279,115 yen. This will show that France is a good 
 customer. The chief item of our export to France is silk 
 of all kinds. It is a matter of course that France does not 
 consume all our exports in her own homes, because she 
 exports them again to other countries in altered shapes. 
 But the fact that France takes them from us is unalterable. 
 This commercial relation is very beneficial to us. We have 
 to maintain and to promote if possible the existing condition 
 of things, and to ensure that it continues without interrup- 
 tion, if we can. In order to do so it is necessary, let me say, 
 that we should keep on friendly terms with France. This 
 is the commercial point of view. But there are many other 
 and cogent reasons why we should maintain friendship with 
 France. France is a country far advanced in her enlighten- 
 ment. We know how to respect her, and, as a matter of 
 fact, we have derived already much benefit from her acquaint- 
 ance. We must learn more from her ; we know that 
 France is a rich and thrifty nation ; we know that France 
 can do great things if she likes ; we know that it is a most 
 foolish thing to estrange her sympathy, to say nothing of 
 making her a bitter enemy. All these considerations impel 
 us to behave as well as possible towards France, even if for 
 no other reasons. Why, then, should we covet her possessions 
 in the East ? Supposing for a moment that all these con- 
 siderations need be not taken heed of, and supposing we can 
 make war and take possession of French India easily : even 
 under these circumstances a far-off expedition is not an 
 easy matter. It costs much money, and even after conquest 
 much expense would be entailed. Japan does not care to 
 embark upon such business without seriously thinking of 
 the result : in other words, such an undertaking would not 
 pay Japan. This becomes all the more apparent when we 
 have taken everything into consideration. Above all, our 
 conscience, our moral sentiment and ethical teaching, and 
 long-standing national tradition do not allow us wantonly to 
 covet other people's property without possessing a shadow 
 of just or rightful claim. If we had any thought concern - 
 
 308 
 
JAPAN AND FRANCE 
 
 ing French India it would take the form of encouragement 
 and promotion of peaceful commercial intercourse, which 
 may be beneficial both to France and to our country. 
 
 VII 
 
 Such is the case on Japan's side. We have therefore 
 done nothing to hurt the susceptibilities of France. Still 
 less have we done any injury to France. But how is the 
 case regarded by France, especially since the beginning of 
 the war ? All that I can say is that many of the French, 
 and especially some of their public men and publicists, have 
 been extremely unkind to Japan. In their eyes the Japanese 
 are a doomed nation ; in their eyes Japan can never be 
 allowed to share the blessings of enlightenment and civili- 
 zation. If I am speaking too candidly I must ask the 
 French public to excuse me with their accustomed mag- 
 nanimity and allow me to appeal to their chivalry. I can 
 quite understand in what position France stands with 
 regard to Russia ; but what these people say and write 
 is not, as it appears to me, incumbent upon them in their 
 situation as Russian allies. I almost think some of them 
 are going to the extent that they are forgetting the interest 
 of their own nation in their over-zeal for one particular 
 country. Let me candidly ask them a question : Can 
 they honestly and conscientiously mean to hold up Russia 
 as a model nation, superior to Japan in the form of govern- 
 ment, in the administration both spiritual and temporal, 
 and, above all, in the idea and practice of moral sentiments, 
 and thus subject Japan to contempt and condemnation ? 
 I do not find any fault with their being in alliance with 
 Russia, but that does not give them the right to abuse and 
 condemn another nation and another power, which their 
 country ostensibly regards as friendly. 
 
 The alliance of France with Russia, I presume, is based 
 upon considerations of European politics ; but does this give 
 them any right to abuse another friendly nation by virtue 
 of that alliance to such an extent that justice and righteous- 
 ness are put out of consideration ? What sin has Japan 
 committed in the eyes of France ? What crime has Japan per- 
 
 309 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 petrated against France ? Should there be any such, Japan 
 will be very glad to be told of it and to be asked to rectify 
 it. But as far as we are concerned, we cannot think of any 
 such offence that we have committed or perpetrated. The 
 scare of the " yellow peril " appears to me to be quite un- 
 worthy of a civilized nation like France. Does France mean, 
 together with Russia, to crush Japan by coups de main ? 
 In that case there would be some reason for adopting that 
 sort of attitude, though it would appear to be most unjust. 
 But, if not, what mso;^ d'etre is there for adopting the atti- 
 tude which now prevails ? If my words are too harsh I must 
 once more apologize, but I cannot be otherwise than candid, 
 and often a better understanding is arrived at from being 
 candid than otherwise. The obvious intention in institut- 
 ing the yellow peril scare is to stir up the whole civilized 
 world against Japan. It is a hard thing for us to think 
 about. Then, again, relating to France herself, they speak 
 about our wanton designs upon their position in the East, 
 and thus try to discredit Japan in the face of the whole 
 world. Do they mean to drive us to desperation ? Sup- 
 pose they really had some apprehensions about their Indo- 
 China, there are many means of ascertaining if they had any 
 real foundation without simply trying to irritate us. I wish 
 just to pause for a moment and think about what would be 
 the result if Japan and France became antagonistic nations, 
 full of animosity toward each other. And suppose France 
 had to arm to the teeth in Annam and Tongkin, and on 
 Japan's side also she had to make corresponding prepara- 
 tions ; what waste of money there would be, and what good 
 result could be derived from it all ? I remember a long 
 time ago, when Tongkin was taken by France, how M. Jules 
 Ferry was constantly attacked by his own countrymen in 
 the Chamber of Deputies. The time has changed very much 
 since then, and France can enjoy the full benefit of her 
 possession of Indo-China with peace and order. Japan 
 never intends to disturb it, unless France makes it out to be 
 so by her own fantastic imagination. Is it not now already 
 time that French politicians and publicists changed their 
 attitude a little and allowed Japan to realize her fond expecta- 
 tion of making herself a good friend of France ? France 
 can do so without violating her obligation as an ally of 
 Russia. Especially will this be the case when the present 
 
 310 
 
JAPAN AND FRANCE 
 
 war comes to an end in one way or another. There are, I 
 think, several means which could be utilized for the benefit 
 of both countries and could be made a testimony of mutual 
 friendship. But suppose we both of us have that inclina- 
 tion, it is desirable that more consideration be shown by 
 the French politicians and writers henceforward in matters 
 concerning Japan. I must earnestly say that the present 
 attitude of some of the French journals and of public men 
 is hardly calculated to promote that cause. I may mention 
 one instance ; I have often noticed that a correspondent 
 of a certain well-known Parisian journal, who is enjoying 
 the hospitality of Japan, is sending and having published 
 articles which are far more than an ordinary correspondence, 
 for they amount to nothing less than bullying abuse of 
 Japan and an endeavour to bring her into contempt before 
 the world. Japan has sufficient forbearance ; she does 
 not venture to present him with a passport : but such a 
 thing as he is doing is not productive of any good to any 
 country whatever. I can quite understand in one way that 
 to recognize a parvenu as something like an equal is a very 
 difficult matter to those who regard themselves as far above 
 others ; that sentiment is natural enough ; but when the 
 time comes that it is necessary, one's duty, from the point 
 of view of common justice, is to adapt oneself to circum- 
 stances. It is all the more so in a case when, although 
 that parvenu may be in one sense a parvenu, in another 
 sense he is not so, in that he has a good pedigree and is 
 essentially a gentleman. In the case of Japan we do not 
 blame the Europeans that they regard us as parvenus. 
 Yet on our part we never try to put on airs. What we 
 have been doing and are still doing is to ask for some 
 thought and consideration from those people whom we 
 regard as our pioneers in many ways, and this request 
 might be granted to us above all others by the French, 
 who were, and are still, I think, known as a chivalrous 
 people. 
 
 311 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 JAPAN AND A WAR INDEMNITY^ 
 
 THE canon of the Japanese Bushido is that one should 
 not unsheath one's sword unless in case of absolute 
 necessity, nor should restore it to the sheath unless one is 
 totally overcome or has secured equitable satisfaction for 
 one's cause. This is also our ideal in international inter- 
 course. 
 
 The sword of Japan is drawn : therefore it would be a 
 mistake for her adversary or for any outsiders if they were 
 to think that that sword would be lightly restored to its 
 original sheath. With us the aim for which we have un- 
 sheathed our swords is scarcely attained as yet. We are not 
 aggressive or greedy, but our aim must be attained. We 
 want a peace which will secure a tranquillity in the Far East 
 at least for a generation or two. The antagonists of Japan 
 attribute to her all sorts of future ideas of ascendancy. But 
 that Japan has no such ambition as is suggested by her 
 antagonists, must be thoroughly understood by the whole 
 world by this time. For all that, however, we must be 
 allowed to obtain the satisfaction to which justice entitles 
 us. It is scarcely time for Japan as yet to formulate any 
 definite terms of peace. The task before her is doubtless 
 a gigantic one ; and therefore, favourably as events have 
 gone so far for us, successfully as our campaign has been 
 carried on up to this time, and confident as we are of the 
 future, it would be preposterous for Japan to formulate the 
 definite terms of peace, because one might be accused of 
 skinning a bear before it was shot. We have, however, an 
 outline of our idea. 
 
 The world should know that in the present war Japan 
 
 * The Outlook, April 8, 1905. 
 312 
 
JAPAN AND A WAR INDEMNITY 
 
 staked her very existence, whereas with her adversary i^ ^s 
 a mere war of caprice. Therefore, in the case of Japan's 
 defeat, it is quite plain from the very nature of the matter 
 that the penalty she would have to pay would be very heavy. 
 As a matter of fact, it would affect her very existence. Why, 
 then, in the case of the defeat of her adversary, should 
 Russia not be made responsible for its results in equitable 
 accordance with the nature of the affair ? I believe, there- 
 fore, that in the case of our adversary asking for peace the 
 satisfaction which she will have to make to Japan should 
 include the making good of the material loss of Japan — in 
 other words, an indemnity. Our adversary has wantonly 
 caused us to incur that loss, and it is only fair that she should 
 make good that loss, should she be inclined to come to 
 terms. Has not our adversary exacted enormous indemni- 
 ties from the countries who asked peace of her after the 
 wars which she had carried on with them ? Some say that 
 the objection to an indemnity in the present case is on the 
 ground that the present war is carried on in a neutral land, 
 and therefore there is no question of indemnity to be raised. 
 This contention seems to be absurd. The fact that hitherto 
 the present war has been waged in a neutral land has been 
 a unique instance in history. The combatants had to spend 
 their blood and treasure just as much as if the war was 
 carried on in the territory belonging to one or other of them. 
 The question of the justice of taking or giving an indemnity 
 can in no way be determined by the fact that the war is 
 carried on in a neutral country. Suppose a war between 
 two nations be fought on an open sea between the fleets of 
 two nations, and one of them had to ask peace of the other, 
 the question of indemnity would be only decided by the 
 merits and circumstances of the matter and not by the fact 
 that the battle had taken place on the open sea, which does 
 not belong to either of them. The present case of the war 
 being carried on in a neutral country must be viewed from 
 the same standpoint. Some people also say that Russia 
 cannot pay the indemnity, and therefore it should be for- 
 given. I cannot agree with this argument. Our adversary 
 can pay if she chooses. Is she not spending enormous 
 sums of money in carrying on war ? Does she not profess 
 that she has enormous reserves in her National Bank ? 
 Does she not say that she will patch up the peace only 
 
 313 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 temporarily, as though it were a kind of armistice, and re- 
 organize her army and navy so that she will be in a position 
 to wage a war of revenge ? Besides, if she stops the war 
 and raises the money for the works of peace, including the 
 indemnity, she will not be destitute of the means of obtaining 
 the necessary money. Have not the Powers in concert 
 forced China to pay her indemnity on account of the Boxer 
 rising, in which Russia herself claimed payment out of all 
 proper proportion ? 
 
 I have noticed that on the part of the "man in the 
 street," as you say, there has been a misconception 
 of the situation. He has frequently imagined that 
 Japan is willing to come to terms anyhow if only 
 peace could be patched up. This kind of misconcep- 
 tion must be put aside. I often personally experience a 
 sort of chagrin upon being told by outsiders who advocate 
 peace in such a way, that we are only anxious to get some 
 kind of peace. As a matter of principle, of course, we value 
 peace just as much as any one else, but when we come to 
 the question of the present contest it is most unfortunate 
 that people should entertain this kind of misconception 
 about us. Some even tell us that it is fearful that so many 
 human beings should be slaughtered. They say that for 
 humanity's sake an armistice should be concluded with a 
 view to negotiating peace, and even practical publicists 
 speak of similar propositions. We cannot think in the same 
 way ; such propositions can give advantage only to our 
 adversaries. Moreover, one must perceive what progress 
 our military and naval forces are making. If our adversary 
 is not prepared to give us satisfaction, we must be allowed 
 to carry on our plan. It is all very well to speak of human- 
 ity, but no injustice must be perpetuated in the name of 
 humanity. If a proposition which arises out of the 
 question of humanity gives more advantage to one than 
 another of the contending parties, it cannot be justice. 
 
 I notice even at this moment some sort of psychological 
 instability prevailing in some quarters of Europe. The 
 public at large seem to have gauged the relative value of 
 Russia and Japan, they have seen on which side justice lies, 
 they have weighed the merits and demerits of both nations, 
 they are glad that the large bubble which has been causing 
 nightmare to many people for so long a time has been 
 
 314 
 
JAPAN AND A WAR INDEMNITY 
 
 pricked. They have seen the justice of not judging the 
 cause of Japan from any racial or dogmatic point of view ; 
 they have seen that it was of no use to suppress Japan's 
 aspirations by the combined force of the Western Powers. 
 And yet there seems to be floating in the air some sort of 
 compassion for our adversary. I do not, of course, grudge 
 any compassion that is shown to her — we Japanese are 
 capable of compassion in all matters ; but compassion, if 
 not exercised properly, will fall out of the sphere of justice. 
 When a dwarf and a giant fight each other the dwarf will 
 expect to get satisfaction in the case of his victory, just as 
 much as the giant will expect the same from the dwarf — 
 even if the dwarf is not entitled to a greater satisfaction if we 
 consider the matter from the point of equity. How much 
 more would it be unjust if one were to tell the dwarf that he 
 must be subjected to a great penalty in the case of his defeat, 
 because he had accepted the challenge of the giant — that 
 he must be satisfied with very little compensation in the case 
 of his victory, because the '* face " of the giant was bigger 
 than his and therefore a greater compassion must be shown 
 to the giant in the case of his defeat. I almost think the 
 sentiment in some quarters out of Japan has some resem- 
 blance to this illustration. So many people speak of the 
 prestige, dignity and " face " of our adversary, but it is 
 curious that they do not speak so much about the prestige, 
 dignity and " face " of Japan, and it is the case, even with 
 those who highly recognize the justice on the side of 
 Japan. This I deem an inconsistency, arising out of some 
 psychological instability. It is, I think, already time that 
 the people labouring under this confusion of ideas should 
 make up their mind to choose and decide which way to go. 
 I am most anxious to ask the outsiders of this class calmly 
 to reflect what would have been the result if Japan were 
 worsted in actual conflict. Have they not heard that it was 
 openly said in the capital of our adversary that she would 
 exact an enormous indemnity from Japan so as to incapa- 
 citate her for many generations to come, and that she would 
 annex some important parts of Japan of considerable extent ? 
 Did they not say they would even demand a cession of 
 Kiusiu, in which case Oyama, Nozu, Kuroki, Oku, Togo, 
 Kamimura, Kawamura, Ogawa, Komura, Yamamoto, 
 Kaneko, including myself, all of us would be foreigners in our 
 
 315 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 own country, as Garibaldi lamented in the Italian Chamber ? 
 Were not generous and high generals talking about dictating 
 terms in our capital of Tokio ? Do they think that Russia 
 would have forgone her claim of indemnity because the war 
 was carried on in a neutral country ? Do they think that 
 Russia would have had much mercy and compassion for 
 her defeated foe ? I can only think that Japan would have 
 fared very badly should she have been beaten. We are 
 far from assuming any attitude such as would have been 
 assumed by our adversary, as I can imagine, in the case of 
 our defeat. But we believe that justice ought to be done 
 to us, and that no mere sentiment shall be allowed to decide 
 the merits of the case. 
 
 Some people say that Japan might be induced to forgo 
 her claim of indemnity provided England and America gave 
 her a good assurance for future security of peace. We 
 appreciate, of course, the general sentiments of England and 
 America ; we attach high value to the Anglo- Japanese 
 alliance ; we are anxious to maintain the best friendship 
 with these two countries more particularly than with other 
 countries. We should, however, be very sorry if we were 
 to be told that we should forgo on account of that friendship 
 any claim which we deem justice entitles us to demand. 
 
 316 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE TREATMENT OF PRISONERS AND WOUNDED BY THE 
 
 JAPANESE ^ 
 
 I HAVE just discovered in a newly published volume 
 entitled The Russo-Japanese War, by Mr. T. Cowen, a 
 reproduction of a sketch by a Japanese artist made on the 
 spot after the battle of the Yalu, in which a Japanese soldier 
 is seen stooping down to place a bunch of wild flowers on a 
 Russian soldier's grave — one of several at that spot — 
 while another Japanese soldier stands by with his hand to 
 his cap, giving the salute to his departed foe. Such an 
 incident speaks volumes for the generous spirit towards his 
 enemy which is at all times manifested by the soldier of 
 Japan. As, however, it seems just now to be an object of 
 interest to not a few people to know how the Japanese 
 treat Russian prisoners and wounded, I will make in the 
 following pages an attempt to give a succinct account there- 
 of. The Government Regulations speak for themselves, 
 and it is only necessary to state that they are carried out 
 to the letter. But I have supplemented them with brief 
 explanatory remarks of my own, touching their application 
 in practice, in refutation of certain calumnious statements 
 that have been put into circulation. Not only have all 
 the injunctions of the Geneva and Hague Conferences been 
 complied with, but Japanese military law was sufficient of 
 itself, apart from the Convention's rules, to secure humane 
 treatment. And, moreover, " Bushido," the code of honour 
 for Japanese Knighthood, enjoins upon all the most com- 
 passionate behaviour towards a fallen or surrendered enemy. 
 On February 14, 1904, within a week of the outbreak 
 of hostilities, the Japanese Government issued regulations, 
 under Imperial ordinance, for " Treatment of Prisoners," 
 and a " Prisoners' Intelligence Board " was established 
 seven daj^s later, also by Imperial command. Supple- 
 
 1 The English original of an article printed in La Revue (Paris), 
 December, 1904. ^j 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 mentary regulations were issued by the War Department, 
 in both cases, later in February and in May. 
 
 The Intelligence Board was thus constituted : — 
 
 The Chief of the Board to be of General's or Colonel's rank. 
 
 His subordinates shall be drawn from among military as 
 well as naval officers, and he shall have civilian clerks also, 
 as required. 
 
 The Chief to be under the supervision of the Minister for 
 War. 
 
 The business to be transacted by the Board shall include: — 
 
 a. Investigating circumstances of detention or removal of prison- 
 ers, reception into hospital, or decease, of any one of them, and 
 the compilation of proper records concerning each. 
 
 b. Correspondence with regard to condition of prisoners. 
 
 c. Due attention to delivery or dispatch of money or other articles 
 sent to or by the prisoners. 
 
 d. Retention in safe custody of the testaments or other articles 
 or money left by prisoners who die, and for the subsequent dispatch 
 of this property to the families or relatives of the dead. 
 
 e. Whenever information is acquired by army or naval authorities 
 concerning a fallen enemy, or any property of those killed in battle, 
 or who otherwise die, is recovered, the course pursued is to be similar 
 to that followed in the case of a prisoner. 
 
 /. The Board has authority to obtain from the naval, military, or 
 hospital authorities, or any other kindred institution, all needful 
 information that they may possess in order to enable the Board to 
 perform its allotted functions. 
 
 Minute directions are likewise given for the rendering of 
 reports, by the several authorities above named, to the 
 Prisoners' Intelligence Board, upon all necessary matters 
 in which the condition or welfare of the prisoners may be 
 in any way concerned. 
 
 The regulations regarding the treatment of prisoners are 
 very lengthy, and it is only necessary to refer to their salient 
 features : — - 
 
 a. The prisoners of war shall be treated with humane consider- 
 ation : no insult or cruelty shall be perpetrated upon them. 
 
 h. They shall be dealt with in careful conformity to their rank 
 and position. 
 
 c. Save where imposed by military discipline, they shall not be 
 subjected to physical restraint. 
 
 d. They shall enjoy freedom of conscience, and in virtue thereof 
 shall be at full liberty to attend the religious services of their 
 own Faith, so long as in doing so they do not infringe the require- 
 ments of military discipline. 
 
 318 
 
TREATMENT OF WOUNDED AND PRISONERS 
 
 Should a prisoner be insubordinate he naturally must be 
 subjected to disciplinary measures, according to the circum- 
 stances of his ofience, and so also must a prisoner who 
 attempts to escape, or who may actually for a time contrive 
 to get away and is retaken, but no criminal punishment 
 shall be inflicted on account of such escape. 
 
 Offences of prisoners are dealt with and punished in con- 
 formity with the established rules of the Military Court. 
 
 The subjoined resume of the Regulations are indicative 
 of the care with which the rules have been framed to agree 
 with the spirit of the injunctions a, b, c, and d quoted above. 
 
 1 . Arms, ammunition, and all articles of warlike character carried 
 by the prisoners shall be confiscated, but other articles shall either 
 be kept in safe custody on behalf of the prisoners or left with them 
 to carry on their own persons as expediency may dictate. 
 
 2. Prisoners of officers' rank may be allowed to carry their swords, 
 or even any other weapons, according to circumstances, but in the 
 case of firearms, the powder and bullets used in them shall be re- 
 moved for safety's sake. 
 
 3. The Commander of an Army Corps, or of a Division, may 
 arrange with the enemy for the transfer of sick or wounded prison- 
 ers, or for their exchange, or he may discharge prisoners on parole 
 of not again taking part in the present war. 
 
 4. Prisoners who may be possessed of officers' rank shall be trans- 
 ported to their place of internment separately from the common 
 soldiers. 
 
 5. Prisoners captured by the Navy shall be handed over to the 
 Army Authorities. (This regulation was introduced, no doubt, 
 to save the trouble and expenses of caring for them separately, under 
 a distinct organization.) 
 
 6. The Army Authorities shall provide suitable places for the 
 internment of prisoners ; soldiers' barracks, temples, or other con- 
 venient buildings are to be used for this purpose. 
 
 7. Prisoners shall be suitably allotted to different rooms, not 
 huddled together indiscriminately, a certain number to each apart- 
 ment as may be convenient, and the rank and position of the prison- 
 ers shall be taken into consideration when thus allotting their 
 quarters. Each room shall appoint from among its inmates one 
 person to be their chief, who shall be responsible for peace and good 
 order among them, and shall be spokesman for his fellow-prisoners. 
 
 8. Prisoners may purchase with their own money any articles 
 that they may fancy or that may add to their comfort — subject, of 
 course, to the approval of the Superintending Officer. 
 
 9. Prisoners may receive or send telegrams or letters, subject, of 
 course, to the approval of the Superintending Officer, but no cypher 
 or suspicious communication of any sort can be permitted to pass. 
 
 10. The postal matter sent to or from prisoners is free of charge, 
 in accordance with the postal convention rules. 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 11. Any articles or money retained for safe custody by the authori- 
 ties shall be returned to the prisoners on their discharge. 
 
 12. Any articles or money belonging to a prisoner who may die 
 shall be forwarded to the Prisoners' Intelligence Board. Perishable 
 goods shall be sold and the value in money so recovered shall be 
 transmitted to the Board, to be dealt with in due course. 
 
 13. The testaments found on prisoners who die shall be treated in 
 precisely the same manner as those found on Japanese soldiers, and 
 are to be sent to the Prisoners' Intelligence Board. 
 
 14. The custody of prisoners may, by a special provision, be dele- 
 gated to a legally established philanthropic association. (This is no 
 other than the Red Cross Society of Japan.) 
 
 15. For each pair of prisoners having officers' rank, one common 
 soldier shall be selected from among the prisoners to serve in the 
 capacity of personal attendant. 
 
 ir' 16. Prisoners of officers' rank may be permitted to take an out- 
 door stroll regularly on their making solemn promise not to run away 
 or to transgress the disciplinary rules. Common soldiers also may 
 be given this degree of liberty provided that no difficulty is experi- 
 enced in keeping them in order in consequence thereof. 
 
 17. The burial of dead prisoners is to be conducted with due mili- 
 tary honours, according to the rank and position of the deceased. 
 They shall be interred in one part of our military cemeteries, or a 
 special plot of land shall be allotted for this purpose, according to 
 circumstances. 
 
 18. The mode of burial shall, as a rule, be that adopted in the 
 ordinary interment of a corpse. (Note— The qualifying phrase, 
 " as a rule," here inserted appears to indicate that whereas under 
 some conditions— such as when medical precautions demand special 
 treatment, in cases of infectious disease, — Japanese law requires 
 that the bodies of persons who thus die shall be cremated, a similar 
 rule shall apply to the corpses of prisoners of war.) 
 
 Besides these, minute provision is made in the Regulations 
 as regards the food and clothing of prisoners, for their beds 
 and dressing tables, for medical attendance, and travelling ex- 
 penses, and for funeral expenses in the event of their decease. 
 
 As to the work to be done by prisoners, it was fore- 
 shadowed in the Regulations first issued for their treatment 
 that separate regulations might be issued if it became 
 necessary to do so, and accordingly they were promulgated 
 on September 16, 1904. Under these rules suitable 
 work may be apportioned to the prisoners, but those of 
 officers' rank may not be set to labour save at their own 
 express desire. In any case the tasks allotted are never to 
 be such as would be derogatory to the dignity or social 
 status of the prisoners in their own land. 
 
 A fixed tariff, according to which the prisoners are to be 
 
 320 
 
TREATMENT OF WOUNDED AND PRISONERS 
 
 remunerated for the work they execute, is appended to the 
 Regulations. 
 
 The moneys thus earned are in every instance appropriated 
 to the benefit of the earners, partly to the purchase of extra 
 comforts during detention, and the remainder held in trust 
 for him against the day of his release, when it will be made 
 over to him intact. 
 
 Such are the benevolent desires of the legislature, and 
 they are most carefully carried into effect, both in the 
 spirit and in the letter. 
 
 In the early days of the war, Matsuyama in the island of 
 Shikoku was the place where prisoners were interned, but 
 as their numbers increased, Himeji and Marugame were 
 added, and quite recently Fukuchiyama became the fourth 
 of these depots. Himeji is the chief town of the district of 
 Harima in Central Niphon, and Marugame, like Matsuyama, 
 is in Shikoku, close to the shores of the Inland Sea. Fuku- 
 chiyama is a town in the prefecture of Kioto. All the 
 places chosen have a record for salubrity of climate. 
 
 On September 17, 1904, a detailed account of the 
 prisoners then at Matsuyama, as given in a Japanese news- 
 paper, showed that there were present in the several build- 
 ings :— 
 
 
 Officers. 
 
 N.C.O.s 
 
 Ordinary 
 Soldiers. 
 
 Total. 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 Matsuyama Public Hall 
 
 41 
 
 3 
 
 33 
 
 77 
 
 Barracks 
 
 
 26 
 
 51 
 
 428 
 
 505 
 
 Temple A. . . . 
 
 
 
 
 II 
 
 89 
 
 100 
 
 B. . . 
 
 
 
 
 II 
 
 103 
 
 . 114 
 
 c. . . 
 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 104 
 
 121 
 
 D. . . 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 3 
 
 116 
 
 119 
 
 Kwan-jein-sha 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 33 
 
 199 
 
 232 
 
 Private Building . 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 I 
 
 14 
 
 33 
 
 II 
 
 85 
 
 130 
 
 1,086 
 
 1,301 
 
 Healthy prisoners . . . 
 
 59 
 
 59 
 
 689 
 
 827 
 
 Sick or wounded .... 
 
 26 
 
 51 
 
 397 
 
 474 
 
 
 85 
 
 130 
 
 1,086 
 
 1,301 
 
 + 25 
 
 
 
 
 1,326 
 
 321 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 The additional 25 prisoners are explained as belonging 
 to the medical or sanitary corps. 
 
 In a vernacular newspaper report dated September 19, 
 it was explained that at Matsuyama, owing to the 
 increasing numbers of the prisoners, it had been arranged 
 to intern only the officers and the sick and wounded. The 
 men were to be sent to Marugame and Himeji, but the limit 
 of the Marugame accommodation being quickly reached, 
 for there was only room for three hundred, and that of 
 Himeji being limited to nine hundred, whereof no fewer 
 than eight hundred and ninety-seven were already allotted 
 to that depot, it had become necessary at once to select a 
 fourth place, and the choice had fallen upon Fukuchiyama. 
 There it was calculated that space could be found for nine 
 hundred in all, so that in the natural order of things, as the 
 campaign progresses, unless arrangements should be made 
 for a speedy exchange, Japan will be called on to add per- 
 ceptibly to the list of places at which internments can be 
 effected with due regard to the health and well-being of the 
 prisoners. 
 
 According to the figures given in a London journal of 
 November 13, the total number of prisoners, including 
 all depots, were 2,200, of whom 80 were officers. This total 
 seems to have been arrived at after deducting some soldiers 
 who, having recovered from their wounds, but who were 
 regarded as incapacitated by their injuries from further 
 taking part in the present war, have, according to Japanese 
 newspapers, been released on parole. This has been done 
 in consonance with a special provision of the Regulations 
 for treatment of prisoners.^ 
 
 A vernacular journal dated September 17, 1904, gives an 
 account of the attempts made at times by the prisoners to 
 escape, though they can have but the most vague notions 
 of where they would find themselves even were they to 
 succeed. These efforts are prompted by a childish desire 
 to regain their personal liberty at all hazards, in the hope 
 of reaching their own homes in Russia. They seem to over- 
 look the fact that Shikoku is an island. Of course such 
 vain attempts are confined to prisoners below officers' rank, 
 
 * Since this article was written the number of prisoners has risen 
 to some 100,000, and the places of internment increased in propor- 
 tion. 
 
 322 
 
TREATMENT OF WOUNDED AND PRISONERS 
 
 and the little conspiracies in which they engage are almost 
 infantile in their simplicity. The prisoners of officers' rank, 
 thereupon recognizing in the first place the futility of such 
 attempts to get away, and the bad effect that they might 
 produce on the minds of other prisoners — and apprehensive 
 also that such behaviour would convey a wrong impression 
 to their Japanese captors of the general disposition of the 
 prisoners as a body — begged not long since that the depot 
 authorities would take precautionary steps to prevent these 
 attempts being made. 
 
 As a matter of fact, the childish behaviour of the Russian 
 soldiers has been often described in the Japanese journals. 
 While the Russian sailor shows much fortitude under 
 surgical operations, for example, the soldier will wince, and 
 actually scream with the pain. One case in particular may 
 be mentioned in proof of their infantile ideas. When 
 Liaoyang was fought, one prisoner, on hearing of the Russian 
 defeat, at first rejoiced, because, as he said, the Russian 
 Government was a bad Government, but afterwards cried 
 because " after the war there would be no Russia at all '* 
 for him to go home to ! 
 
 The other day I read a telegraphic despatch to a London 
 journal wherein it was announced that an Urgency Edict 
 had been promulgated, applicable to cases of conspiracy on 
 the part of the prisoners to escape. Of course I have not 
 yet seen the text of the edict, but I judge from the des- 
 cription given that its issue must have been necessitated 
 on account of repeated attempts of escape. 
 
 Turn we now to another phase of the subject, and we 
 shall see how the sick or wounded are treated in the field, 
 and how, after a battle, those who may be lying helpless 
 and in need of succour, friends and foes alike, are gathered 
 in by the Japanese ambulance corps. I shall not enlarge 
 on this topic, because I think that the efficiency of this 
 branch of the service is known to the world at large. 
 But I would like to add that on May 30, 1904, an- 
 other Regulation appeared in regard to the " clearing " 
 of a battlefield immediately after an engagement, and the 
 burial, with due respect, of the dead. The rule applies 
 to the treatment of the fallen both of the Russian 
 army and our own, and the only distinction made is 
 that, whereas in a general way the corpses of our own 
 
 323 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 soldiers are cremated, the ashes being sent home to the 
 relatives, or temporarily interred according to circumstances, 
 the bodies of those who have fought against us are given 
 ordinary burial in the earth, lest, I presume, by any chance 
 we should offend the religious scruples of those who may 
 be opposed to cremation. Occasionally only it may happen 
 that for medical reasons cremation becomes absolutely essen- 
 tial. 
 
 After a battle, " clearing " companies are at once told 
 off to the duty of bringing in the wounded, friend or foe, 
 and carrying them to the nearest surgical station or field 
 hospital. The dead are brought to convenient spots, though 
 care is taken to avoid an unseemly mingling of the bodies, 
 and it is expressly enjoined on all that the dead shall be 
 reverently handled, friend and foe alike, though deposited 
 apart to avoid confusion, and all respect shown to the 
 apparent rank of the deceased, to whichever side he may 
 have belonged ; for he shed his blood in his country's cause, 
 and earthly animosities vanish with the passage beyond the 
 veil. 
 
 So far as it is practicable or possible to do so, the name, 
 rank, office, and regiment to which he belonged is ascer- 
 tained and recorded for reference in the case of every dead 
 soldier, friend or foe, and all bodies are respectfully covered 
 by suitable matting or other coverings. 
 
 The places chosen for interment of the dead are to be at 
 a distance from highroads, towns, villages, or camps — well 
 away from watercourses or wells, on elevated sites, or on 
 slopes where the soil is dry. 
 
 Officers are buried in separate graves : the common 
 soldiers may be separately interred, or in numbers not 
 exceeding fifty in one grave, as circumstances may permit, 
 dependent upon the exigencies of the campaign. It is 
 enjoined that the excavations must be deep, never less than 
 one metre between the surface and the body laid, and that 
 straw or boughs of trees or shrubs shall be plentifully strewn 
 beneath, and lime, coke, or some such substances placed 
 above, mounds being raised over all with the soil extracted 
 in digging the grave. A suitably inscribed pillar, or other 
 mark, is planted by the tomb. 
 
 According to the rank and position of the dead, the inter- 
 ment shall be attended as far as may be feasible with due 
 
 324 
 
TREATMENT OF WOUNDED AND PRISONERS 
 
 honour, and whenever priests are available they shall be 
 invited to perform religious rites at the graveside. This 
 applies to ministers of the Christian faith, should they be 
 at hand, and to both Russian and Japanese dead. 
 
 Anything belonging to the dead — excepting firearms, 
 horses, maps, or military books and documents — shall be 
 sent to the Prisoners' Intelligence Board, with full descrip- 
 tions of the original owners. 
 
 It has been made the subject of special and almost sur- 
 prised comment in an English journal that the French 
 Embassy in St. Petersburg should have been able to report 
 that large numbers of packages are regularly being received 
 from Japan enclosing articles found on the bodies of Russian 
 officers who have been slain in battle. Trifling sums of one 
 or two roubles have thus been forwarded, not to mention 
 ikons and much jewellery. A Mukden despatch, received 
 by Renter's Special Service, dated November 14, quotes 
 the Vestnik, the only Russian newspaper possessing 
 official sanction and published in the theatre of war, as 
 bearing striking testimony to the scrupulous care of the 
 Japanese for the relics and effects of the Russian dead found 
 on the battlefield, and to the anxiety shown in sending such 
 things to St. Petersburg. The journal praises this be- 
 haviour, and declares that General Kuropatkin has recom- 
 mended that a similar practice should be observed towards 
 the Japanese dead. 
 
 " Loot," it was remarked, " does not enter into the 
 Japanese plan of campaign." But in reality this circum- 
 stance should in no way be regarded as matter for surprise, 
 since it is not only a dastardly act to rob the dead of their 
 valuables, and a disgrace to the military profession, no 
 matter to what country the culprits may belong ; but those 
 who might be disposed so to degrade themselves are warned 
 by the Military Criminal Code, in the details of which the 
 rank and file are carefully instructed in time of peace, that 
 such unworthy acts, and also any cruel treatment of a 
 wounded enemy or prisoner, or any insult to a dead foe, 
 constitute crimes which deserve, and will infallibly receive, 
 the severest punishment. 
 
 In the Japanese field-hospitals wounded enemies when 
 brought in are treated with precisely the same promptitude, 
 cared for in exactly the same way, and shown in every 
 
 325 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 respect a tender kindness equal to that meted out to our own 
 sufferers. The doctors attend to the cases in regular 
 sequence, without regard to the nationality of the patient, 
 as has been reported by the correspondents of many Euro- 
 pean and American journals. In fact, the humane con- 
 sideration shown to their foes by the Japanese is so widely 
 known and appreciated that it seems almost superfluous 
 to cite instances as attested by European correspondents, 
 for Russians have themselves joined in vouching for the 
 accuracy of these assurances. 
 
 It is somewhat painful to be obliged to reverse the picture 
 and show what is on the other side in regard to the character 
 of the common Russian soldier, and I shall therefore content 
 myself with giving a brief note or two to prove that a high 
 standard of honour cannot be said to prevail among them. 
 In a recent issue of a Japanese paper, the fact was com- 
 mented upon that Russian sailors who had been made 
 prisoners had begged that their captors would not insist on 
 their sharing the same quarters as the Russian soldiers who 
 were also captives. The explanation of this dislike to be 
 mingled with their fellow-countrymen was that the Russian 
 sailor considers the soldier very much beneath himself in 
 respect of discipline and personal habits, so much so that it 
 is impossible for them to associate on equal terms. It strikes 
 one as being very much a case of " the pot calling the kettle 
 black," but their wishes have been acceded to, lest disorder 
 should result. The other anecdote, the substantial accuracy 
 of which there is no reason to doubt, comes from the battle- 
 field itself, where two Russian soldiers were, by a truly 
 remarkable combination of circumstances, killed by a single 
 bullet. One was in the act of robbing the other ! The hand 
 of the thief was in the pocket of his wounded and prostrate 
 comrade, his fingers grasping a coin, when death came to 
 them both. It is inconceivable that a Japanese trooper 
 would seek to rob the wounded, dead, or dying, still less his 
 fellow-countryman. 
 
 Within the present month a Russian medical officer. Dr. 
 Matureef, who was captured by the Japanese, has related 
 his experiences, and they fully bear out my contention. He 
 had lost his way, and so fell into the hands of the outpost 
 guards. Having questioned him on various points, the 
 Staff Adjutant told the Doctor that by the rules of the Inter- 
 
 326 
 
TREATMENT OF WOUNDED AND PRISONERS 
 
 national Convention he was free, and he was quartered for 
 the night at the building occupied by the Chief of Gen- 
 darmes, given good food, and well looked after. Four days 
 afterwards he was escorted by two cavalrymen towards the 
 outposts of the Russian vanguard, the Japanese doctor of 
 the Cavalry Staff thoughtfully providing him, as he explains 
 in detail, with chicken, biscuits, lemonade, and cigarettes. 
 When across the river separating the two armies Doctor 
 Matureef was given a passport, and a compass was presented 
 to him, so that he should have no difficulty in rejoining the 
 Russian forces, which he succeeded in doing next day. 
 
 The Japanese soldier, it has been said, makes war as 
 becomes a gentleman. It may not be quite fitting for me 
 to express an opinion, but I venture nevertheless to say 
 that the commendation thus bestowed is not ill-deserved. 
 And this brings me to the narration of a rather amusing 
 incident. A Russian prisoner was being conducted by a 
 young Japanese soldier to the Japanese camp, and was agree- 
 ably surprised to find the Japanese so kind to him. In order 
 to show his appreciation the prisoner suddenly embraced 
 his captor and sought to kiss him. But the Japanese 
 trooper had had no experience of this kind of salutation, 
 and accordingly, fancying that the Russian intended to bite 
 him, he administered a severe thump on the back, and 
 thenceforward led his captive at arm's length. Presently, 
 on arriving at the camp, the Japanese reported the matter 
 to his superior officer, and the whole affair was then ex- 
 plained on both sides, to the great hilarity of friends and foe. 
 Comical as was the incident, it serves to illustrate the temper 
 of our soldiers, and their liberal treatment of an enemy who 
 may be at their mercy. 
 
 The truth is that Japanese soldiers are taught to be 
 humane, for every Japanese child is brought up to believe 
 in kindness to animals, and warned that he must never be 
 cruel to any living thing. The injunction dates back to the 
 days when the Buddhist faith held greater sway, for in those 
 days when Buddhism was at the zenith of its influence in 
 Japan, even Imperial decrees were often issued forbidding 
 wanton Sessho, i.e. killing the living. This sentiment 
 seems to have been engrafted in the minds of the Japanese 
 in general, and the fact is so often noticed by the Western 
 writers who visited Japan. But the reluctance to take ad- 
 
 327 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 vantage of, or show disrespect to a fallen or wounded foe 
 comes also from yet another source, for in Bushido, or 
 principles of Japanese Knighthood, of which something has 
 been said already, compassion for a beaten or surrendered 
 foe forms one of the most conspicuous features, and the 
 influence of Bushido has never been more exemplified, 
 perhaps, than in these modern days of scientific slaughter. 
 
 328 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 AN ANSWER TO CERTAIN UNFAIR CHARGES AGAINST JAPAN ^ 
 
 I AM in receipt, from a Press-cutting office, of an article 
 entitled " Question de Droit International," which 
 appeared in the French periodical Revue Russ (March 24, 
 1904), and have read it through with much interest. 
 
 It is asserted as an utterance of a no less eminent jurist 
 than M. Edouard Clunet, who was recently charged with 
 defending the French interest relating to the Venezuelan 
 question before the International Tribunal at The Hague. 
 The arguments of the article, however, appear to me in 
 many respects to be not exactly to the point, and are 
 almost like logic based on false premisses — so much so, 
 that I almost think that M. Clunet's purport must have 
 suffered much twisting to suit the Russian convenience. 
 I therefore beg to be allowed to offer some answer to it, 
 not from the point of view of the politician, but as a jurist. 
 
 The first question the article deals with is : " Whether 
 or not Japan had the right of attacking by surprise the 
 Russian squadrons at Port Arthur without a preliminary 
 declaration of war." 
 
 M. Clunet admits that there is much controversy among 
 the writers on International law on the necessity of a 
 declaration of war preceding its commencement. He 
 also speaks of the great difference existing upon this point 
 between the Continental writers and those of Anglo-Saxon 
 communities. For me, however, there is no necessity of 
 resorting to the Anglo-Saxon views, because, as I believe, 
 I can just as well refute M. Clunet's argument, by follow- 
 ing the same continental line of argument as M. Clunet 
 himself. I may also mention that M. Clunet, whilst he 
 
 ^ The English original of an article printed in Le Memorial Diplo- 
 matique, April, 1904. 
 
 329 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 adduces some facts as precedents in favour of his views, 
 ignores the contrary precedents which are so numerous, 
 Russia herself not being any exception to them. 
 
 As a matter of fact, according to a report compiled in 
 the intelligence branch of the Quartermaster-General's 
 Department of England, less than ten instances have 
 occurred during 171 years (from 1700 to 1870) where 
 declarations of war have been issued prior to hostilities, 
 whilst 107 cases are recorded in which hostilities have been 
 commenced without such declaration of war. But these 
 historical precedents I will also dispense with. And, more- 
 over, the first shot of the present war between Japan and 
 Russia was fired by a Russian gunboat at Chemulpo. But 
 that fact, too, I will not touch. I will simply proceed to 
 deal with M. Clunet's discourse. 
 
 M. Clunet says that even those writers who do not 
 regard a preliminary declaration as an absolute necessity 
 maintain, with exception of the English, the obligation of, 
 to use his phrase, " une mise en demeure expresse." 
 
 Here he recites, as an example, the precedent of the 
 Franco-German War of 1870. He says : — 
 
 " On that occasion a note was handed to the Prussian Foreign 
 Minister by the French Charge d' Affaires in BerUn terminating in the 
 words : " En consequence le Gouvernement fran9ais se considere 
 des a present en etat de guerre avec la Prusse." 
 
 Was not exactly the same thing done by the Japanese 
 Government before the commencement of the present 
 war ? True it is that the Japanese did not say : " Now 
 and henceforward we are enemies," but she did say — 
 setting forth her reasons for the step fully — that henceforth 
 she must feel free to take " independent action " as she 
 may deem best for the maintenance of her interests. The 
 difference is only a matter of degree of politeness. But, to 
 M. Clunet, I would say, Japan has been always taught by 
 her Occidental masters that nothing could be too polite 
 in diplomacy. And, besides, when the Japanese note 
 of January 13 was given to Russia it was clearly made 
 known to the latter that it was the maximum concession 
 Japan could make, and subsequently it was made clear 
 that Japan expected to get Russia's answer at latest in 
 the course of the first two days of February. It was 
 
 330 
 
AN ANSWER TO CERTAIN UNFAIR CHARGES 
 
 virtually an ultimatum which M. Clunet speaks of. He 
 says that a simple rupture of diplomatic relations does 
 not amount to " une mise en demeure." He gives 
 two reasons for this assertion, which are to the effect : 
 first, that a rupture of diplomatic relations does not neces- 
 sarily prevent its revival ; secondly, that it is not suf- 
 ficient to make the adversary know the exact satisfac- 
 tion the other party wishes to have. This argument 
 may hold good in many cases, but is it, I ask M. Clunet, 
 applicable to the case we have before us ? In other words, 
 was the rupture of diplomatic relations between Russia 
 and Japan such a mere rupture as that M. Clunet speaks of ? 
 Russia, besides those fleets and army which she already 
 had in the Far East, had been sending out warship after 
 warship, pouring in her men, regiment after regiment, to the 
 Far East. Everything tended to show in an unmistakable 
 way that a war was deemed to be imminent, not to speak 
 of the persistent arrogancy displayed in her diplomacy 
 throughout, despite the most moderate attitude maintained 
 by Japan, whose concessions actually went so far that they 
 were recently characterized by the Times of London as 
 " exceedingly near a surrender." Whether it was for the 
 purpose of intimidating Japan, or that war was really there 
 and then intended, we do not know ; but one thing is certain, 
 that Russia cannot plead that she was unprepared or that 
 she was taken by surprise. I may here mention an incident 
 in point. The Russian fleet at Port Arthur left the Port 
 and steamed out south-eastward just two days after the 
 days on which we understood that we were to get Russia's 
 final reply and two days before the actual rupture of dip- 
 lomacy took place. It was most certainly a warlike 
 demonstration. When intelligence to that effect reached 
 Japan, it caused most intense anxiety to large numbers of 
 Japanese, who were speculating on its destination. It might 
 be intended to attack some important point of our islands. 
 It might be escorting Russian army transports, or it might 
 be covering the flanks of the advancing troops of Russia 
 into Korea. The final rupture of diplomacy took place 
 amidst all these uncertainties. Previously to that, Japan 
 had repeated her protests against being trifled with by her 
 adversary throughout the whole course of the negotia- 
 tions, and she had expected that her note, which she had 
 
 331 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 given Russia on January 13, might at least be treated in 
 earnest. But it was not treated so, and thereupon the very 
 last note, i.e. an intimation of Japan's last decision as to 
 " the independent action," was given to the Russian Govern- 
 ment through the Japanese Minister in St. Petersburg as 
 well as the Russian minister in Tokio on February 6. It 
 was only after that that our fleets were ordered to proceed 
 to their objective points. They might have encountered 
 the Russian squadrons proceeding south-eastward, as many 
 thought. The Russian squadrons, however, had returned 
 to Port Arthur, the Variag and the Corietz having been 
 left in Chemulpo as before. The ships which went back to 
 Port Arthur lay in perfect battle array outside the entrance 
 of the port in front of the batteries on the shore at the moment 
 of the commencement of fighting. We do not know for 
 what purpose the Russian squadrons once left Port Arthur 
 and returned there again, but the fact is as above described. 
 Can any one say under these circumstances that Russia 
 was unprepared, or that she was taken by surprise ? True it 
 is the officers might have been unprepared at the moment, 
 but that should be looked upon as an " unguarded moment." 
 If so, it must be accounted a matter of negligence on the part 
 of her commanders or a proof of their misconception of the 
 strategy which the situation demanded. Some say that 
 the Russian officers were on land for the purpose of cele- 
 brating the birthday of their admiral. It may be true, but 
 Japan cannot be made responsible for that. M. Clunet 
 says : — 
 
 It was very regrettable that Japan, after she had attached so 
 much value to the rules and customs of modern international law, 
 after she had adhered to the Declaration of Paris in 1856, relating to 
 the laws of maritime warfare and also to the Convention of Geneva, 
 and after having participated in the works of the international 
 Conference at Hague, July 1899, should have behaved in such a 
 manner as she did on the night of February 8, and 9 last." 
 
 I must say in reply that Japan respects the Declaration 
 of Paris and Convention of Geneva ; she is earnest in her 
 desire for promoting the work of the international tribunal 
 of the Hague ; she strives to be behind none in adhering to 
 all the essential points of modern international law. I am 
 glad to see that M. Clunet largely recognizes this fact, but 
 
 332 
 
AN ANSWER TO CERTAIN UNFAIR CHARGES 
 
 sorry to hear him say that the Japanese, in spite of it all, 
 are still guided by principles of sudden aggression, based 
 solely on the justification of a tension of diplomatic relations ; 
 for it is not a fact. Japan acted, he continues, in the same 
 manner as in her war with China in 1894, when one of 
 her cruisers sunk an English ship the Kowsching, chartered 
 by China, before any declaration of war was made or any 
 ultimatum was sent. 
 
 Here again the fact differs considerably from what he has 
 set forth. The fact relating to the Kowsching was as follows. 
 She was conveying some Chinese troops to Korea for the 
 purpose of augmenting those forces that were there already. 
 She was escorted by a number of Chinese warships. Our 
 fleet met them off the Korean coast, and there a battle ensued 
 in which the Kowsching was sunk, and several Chinese war- 
 vessels were sunk or damaged. It was not the sinking of a 
 single merchantman by cruisers, as is so often wantonly 
 done by Russia. At that time, too, the first shots were 
 fired at our vessels by the Chinese, and, moreover, a few 
 days before that a note of warning had already been given 
 by the Japanese Government to the Chinese Govern- 
 ment to the effect that the dispatch of any more troops 
 for the purpose of augmenting the army already sent 
 to Korea would be deemed by the government of 
 Japan as a casus belli. The Kowsching was engaged in 
 a task which was precisely identical with that which was 
 alluded to in that warning. Technically speaking, the 
 warning of Japan fully justified the sinking of the Kows- 
 ching and that was enough. But Japan did not base her justi- 
 fication on that ground alone. It was I who, representing the 
 Government, went down to Sasebo, where the captives and 
 a captured ship were brought, with all haste from Tokio, 
 and made a thorough investigation of the affair. I took 
 full statements from the foreign captives, who were officers 
 of the Kowsching. I was quite satisfied that there was 
 nothing wrong on the part of our fleet. We had full ground 
 for justification without taking into account the fact 
 of our warning having previously been given to our 
 adversary. I settled everything, and sent the foreign cap- 
 tives to Nagasaki and set them free. I wrote a full report 
 of the affair without mentioning a word about previous 
 warning, as I thought that part of our justification might 
 
 333 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 well be used by the Minister for Foreign Affairs if needed. 
 That report was made public,and it was subsequently inserted 
 in several books written in foreign languages, French and 
 English, and I believe, from the fact that M. Clunet knows 
 so much about books written by the Japanese on that sub- 
 ject that he must have seen it. It seems, therefore, very 
 unfair on the part of M. Clunet to quote the case of the 
 Kowsching in the way he does, placing Japan in such an 
 unfavourable light. M. Clunet finishes this part of his argu- 
 ment in these words : — 
 
 lis (les Russes) savaient qu'en cas de desaccord manifeste, 
 le Japon se reservait d'estimer sans mot dire, qu'il etait en etat 
 de guerre et qu'il jugeait legitime de recourir a la violence sans 
 autre forme de procds. 
 
 This is really too harsh an accusation to have emanated from 
 such an eminent jurist as M. Clunet, he having, in truth, no 
 facts to sustain it. It is the more to be regretted that he is 
 reported to have brought this accusation after he had seen 
 the official reply of the Government of Japan to the Russian 
 charges. 
 
 The next point discussed by M. Clunet is whether or not 
 Japan is justified in disembarking her troops on Korean terri- 
 tory. On this point I have not much to say, because M. 
 Clunet makes it clear that the right of neutrality is a right 
 given to a neutral country itself, not to the belligerents. 
 Korea is inclined to side with Japan. The disembarkation 
 of the Japanese troops was effected with her full consent, 
 and she has even become Japan's open ally. There is no- 
 thing left for Russia to complain of. I only wish to add a 
 few words to the effect that in the present case of war, from 
 the very nature of the difference between Russia and Japan, 
 and also of the situation of Korea, she, Korea, occupies a 
 position materially different from that of a third Power, in 
 ordinary cases of war ; but on this point I need not go any 
 further because the very fact of her becoming Japan's ally, 
 as M. Clunet says, settles everything. 
 
 The third point discussed in the article is whether or not 
 Japan has the right of establishing a prize court by herself. 
 On this point I have no desire to refute what M. Clunet 
 says ; on the contrary, I welcome it. He says that not only 
 has Japan the right, but that she is even bound to establish 
 
 334 
 
AN ANSWER TO CERTAIN UNFAIR CHARGES 
 
 her prize court. He goes farther, and says that the organiza- 
 tion of the Japanese prize court is, at least in theory, superior 
 to that of his own country, on the ground that, while a 
 French prize court is purely administrative, the majority 
 of the members of the Japanese prize court consists of 
 judicial functionaries. It is not my business to speak about 
 the French prize court, but I appreciate M. Clunet's fairness 
 on this point. 
 
 The fourth point discussed in the article is, whether or 
 not Japan has any right to embarrass Russian warships in 
 Korean ports or territorial waters. On this point also M. 
 Clunet applies his theory of the right of neutrality as in the 
 preceding case and with such exactness that I have not a 
 particle of wish to refute him. He says : — 
 
 La neutralite et ses regies sont etablies ici dans I'int^rdt du 
 neutre et non dans I'inter^t du bellig^rant. 
 
 If Korea had remained a neutral, Russia would have had 
 no right to complain of us ; still less so, a fortiori^ has she 
 this right, when Korea has become Japan's ally. 
 
 The last point discussed in the article is whether or not 
 Japan was justified in expelling the Russian Minister from 
 Korea. M. Clunet says that no belligerent has a right to 
 expel a representative of his adversary who is accredited to 
 a third state from the latter's territory, [and he assumes 
 that " Japan, under the circumstances, has committed an 
 abuse of power and a violation of international law." An 
 accusation like this might be made were there any facts to 
 sustain it. But no such thing has been done by Japan. 
 The Russian Charge d' Affaires himself wished on his own 
 account to withdraw with his suite from the capital of Korea, 
 and this intention was communicated to the Japanese 
 Minister in Korea, upon which an escort was furnished for 
 him, in accordance with his desire, to Chemulpo. This fact is 
 most plainly set forth in the reply of the Japanese Govern- 
 ment, of which M. Clunet ought to have had full knowledge. 
 
 335 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 EAST AND WEST AFTER THE WAR ^ 
 
 IMMEDIATELY the question of peace between the 
 warring parties in the Far East is seriously mooted, 
 and long before the Treaty of Peace is actually signed, the 
 question of the future relationship between East and West 
 leaps into a new and suggestive prominence. A normal 
 state or equilibrium of international relationship will have 
 to be settled, and when that is accomplished, how will 
 affairs as between East and West be likely to stand ? 
 
 In the first place, I am confident that the day will come 
 when the Yellow Peril cry will be viewed, out and out, as hav- 
 ing been merely a passing fantasy. There can be no Yellow 
 Peril in the form of a military expedition, that is to say, an 
 attack by the Asiatics, combined under the leadership of 
 one or another of the Asiatic Powers, upon the Western 
 nations. This I can state positively from the very nature 
 of the Eastern civilization, from the characteristics of the 
 Chinese, the effacement of the ancient martial spirit amongst 
 the Tartar and Mongolian races, and also from the aspira- 
 tions of the Japanese on the lines of Western civilization. 
 And, moreover, the condition of the world has changed very 
 greatly from the time when great nomadic leaders were able 
 to carry on distant expeditions. All these points I hope 
 I have fully elucidated in my chapter on " Chinese Expansion 
 historically reviewed." China will be as peaceful a nation 
 as she has been hitherto ; Japan will be doing her best in 
 advancing her civilization which will tend more and more to 
 assimilate her with the West. It is possible China might 
 introduce some reform into her military system, but it would 
 only be for her self-protection, and would amount to nothing 
 
 ^ Deutsche Revue, May 1905, written in the form of a letter. 
 
AFTER THE WAR 
 
 more than the poHcing of her own land. China will not pick 
 a quarrel with any other nations. She knows that she 
 wants no expansion of her territory ; she needs no colony. 
 If she were to engage herself in any foreign enterprise with 
 a political view, she would emerge from it in only a worse 
 condition than she was before. Japan might give advice 
 to China in some matters which would be beneficial for the 
 development of her industry and commerce, or even in 
 regard to some of her public institutions, but Japan knows 
 well the nature and characteristics of the Chinese, so that she 
 can judge where to stop. If Japan were too officious in 
 such matters, she would only meet with resistance on the 
 part of the Chinese in one way or other, and thus she would 
 be viewed rather in an unfavourable light than a favourable 
 one. The case would somewhat resemble that of a man 
 meddling with the domestic affairs of his neighbour. This 
 will show that there is no fear of a Yellow Peril in the way of 
 a military attack, but these same people might say, could 
 you guarantee that Japan would not develop in her industry 
 and commerce. This, of course, I cannot guarantee. Then 
 they would say there would be an economic Yellow Peril ; 
 in other words, Japanese industry and commerce would 
 destroy the markets of the West in the East. I wish Japan 
 had such potentiahty, but, alas, it would take many, many 
 centuries before Japan could present even the semblance of 
 such manufacturing prosperity as this. It is true the 
 foreign commerce of Japan has made very rapid progress 
 during the last twenty or thirty years, and we have confi- 
 dence that it will increase to some extent in future, though 
 not perhaps in the same ratio as hitherto. But what is, 
 after all, Japan's economical capacity when compared with 
 that of the great nations of the West ? The volume of the 
 total commerce of Japan represents in reality but a very 
 small percentage of theirs. It would take Japan a long 
 time to reach the same plane, but supposing that Japan 
 really had some sort of potentiality in the matter, why need 
 it make outsiders cry out about the Yellow Peril ? Has 
 not any nation or any individual the right, I may say the 
 duty, of ameliorating their livelihood as much as possible, 
 so long as the process is carried on by peaceful and orderly 
 methods ? What is the use of the Westerners talking about 
 Christian morality, and where is the justice of the Occiden- 
 
 337 ^ 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 tals speaking of their civilization and enlightenment, if they 
 think that the peaceful and orderly amelioration of the con- 
 dition of an individual or a nation is to be censured as a 
 matter of misconduct and wickedness ? The time has, I 
 think, gone by when one can talk in such a way as that. It 
 seems to me that a thing which is wrong for a part is also 
 wrong for the whole, so that anything wrong for an individual 
 is also wrong for a nation. We the Easterners cannot uphold 
 the theory that there can be no morality in international 
 intercourse. In the East also more than twenty centuries 
 ago there was a school of philosophy which supported a 
 theory in politics almost identical with Machiavelism. That 
 theory, however, was altogether demolished in the East 
 soon after it was propagated, and we still believe in the neces- 
 sity of morality in state-dealings as much as in individual 
 dealings. Some may think it foolish, perhaps, but, if so, we 
 are satisfied with being foolish in such matters. 
 
 As a matter of fact, however, I believe that after this 
 war, commerce between the Far East and the West will 
 make further progress. The West is beginning to under- 
 stand the Far East better, and conversely the Far East 
 is also beginning to understand the West better ; and this 
 cannot but tend to make the mutual relationship closer and 
 closer. With it naturally commerce will also increase. 
 Besides, if the Orientals are allowed in the Far East to 
 develop their industry, they will acquire more purchasing 
 power, the result of which will of course be an increase of 
 trade. Some Westerners appear to think that all the 
 articles which they export to the Far East at present may 
 in the future be manufactured out there. This I consider 
 to be a mere chimera. The world is wide enough for all. 
 The Far East cannot set up its factories in such rapid fashion 
 as to crowd out the West from its markets in such a short 
 time as seems to be anticipated. Besides, human demands 
 change from time to time ; new materials can be made to 
 supply new demands. Then, also, it is economically true 
 that some goods may be manufactured or produced in some 
 particular country cheaper or better than others, and thus 
 there is always plenty of room for exporting the goods of 
 one country to another because the things, produced or 
 made where they can be produced or made cheaper or better, 
 or can only be obtainable in one particular country on account 
 
 . 338 
 
AFTER THE WAR 
 
 of the providential will of nature, can always find their way 
 into other countries where they are not obtainable so cheaply 
 or so good or could never be produced. Then again, it is 
 needless to state that human beings are swayed by various 
 caprices : in many instances they like to possess things 
 made in a foreign country, even when the same things could 
 be made as well or better in their own land. The American 
 ladies like to get French drapery, the consequence is that 
 American-made drapery is often sent to France and re-im- 
 ported to America after merely having been re-labelled there. 
 I ask again, does not Germany fabricate a great quantity of 
 Oriental goods, especially Japanese, and sell them in England 
 and elsewhere ? This will demonstrate the tendency toward 
 a liking for foreign goods, and therefore while it continues 
 the genuine ones will as a matter of fact always be in demand. 
 My first conviction is that Occidental goods will always find 
 their way into the Far East in one way or other, and con- 
 versely, though not perhaps to the same extent. Oriental 
 goods also will find their way to the West, in the future just 
 as much as they have done in the times gone by, only in a 
 greater proportion. There may be some rise and fall 
 observable in particular branches of commerce, but taken 
 as a whole there would be no diminution. Nay ! we may even 
 look for an augmentation. 
 
 Some people fear that complications might arise between 
 the Occidentals and Orientals on account of differences of 
 race and religion. I have, however, very little fear on this 
 score. The Orientals by nature have very little liking or 
 dislike on the score of racial differences or resemblance. 
 The very nature of their ethical training makes them in- 
 different to those matters. It is especially the case with the 
 Japanese. Of course they dislike arrogancy and resent in- 
 justice, but, so long as their pride or susceptibility be not 
 violated, they are most friendly with other peoples. Be- 
 sides, we know how to respect, the Occidentals : and the 
 more we feel our responsibility, the more this will be the case. 
 Rightly or wrongly, Japan is spoken of as having become a 
 great nation. On this account Japan feels more responsi- 
 bility, and she will ever try to keep up her good relation- 
 ship with the Occidentals, and in doing so will seek to traverse, 
 more and more, the same paths of civilization. Consequently, 
 there need be very little fear of Japan hating the Occidentals. 
 
 339 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 China cannot but follow in Japan's footsteps, so far as she 
 is able to do so. The question of the difference of religion 
 is to be disposed of in the same way. The Orientals have 
 very little prejudice against any religion. They will never 
 show any animosity to Occidentals on account of religious 
 differences. Therefore, so long as the Occidentals do not 
 affect to despise the Orientals on account of racial or religious 
 differences, there will be no complications. The responsi- 
 bility in these matters falls on the shoulders of the Wester- 
 ners. It behoves Occidentals not to despise the Orientals 
 too much as an inferior race, nor to make any misrepresen- 
 tation based on the assumption of their own religion differing 
 from what it ought to be, nor to inflict injustice in the name 
 of religion. If these courtesies are observed, the East and 
 the West can get on very well together. 
 
 I must, however, say one thing, if you wish me to be 
 candid, and it is as follows : — 
 
 Rightly or wrongly, the true aspect of Oriental civilization, 
 whatever^value it may possess, seems to have become better 
 known to the West. After this war the West may to some 
 extent have to change its estimation of the East. The 
 Occidentals can no longer be justified if they continue to 
 regard themselves as the only privileged peoples under 
 Heaven, and imagine that they may do anything against 
 the Orientals which they could not do amongst themselves 
 against one another. It must be regarded as a matter of 
 iniquity if they still strive to exact from the East without 
 giving anything in return, as they used to do in the times gone 
 by. They would, I consider, find it more advantageous, and 
 it certainly would be more equitable, that they should respect 
 the integrity of China and put aside any lurking intention 
 they may have of cutting her in pieces, because in doing so 
 there are many dangers and risks which they profess a 
 desire to avoid. People going out to the East would be wise 
 to give up the old habit of giving themselves too many airs. 
 Our antagonists in the war did their best to persuade all 
 the Western nations that they ought all to combine in crush- 
 ing a poor small country like Japan, on the ground chiefly 
 that their religions were akin, and had a similar designation. 
 But the religions of the West are not necessarily identical ; 
 and besides deeds are more important than words. The 
 ethical notions of the Japanese may be defective in many 
 
 340 
 
AFTER THE WAR 
 
 ways, but in many things the Japanese practice more strictly 
 conforms to the rules which it behoves any one belonging to 
 any religion to obey. This fact, we are glad to say, seems 
 to have been recognized by many impartial people in 
 the Occidental nations, so that I think Russia has utterly 
 failed in her attempt to excite popular animosity against 
 my country on account of a difference of rehgion. This 
 fact, I think, is also to be taken into consideration in future 
 by the world at large. It is, as it seems to us, a most cruel 
 thing to inculcate hatred of us in the minds of the people at 
 large, especially amongst the school-age population of any 
 nation. Our earnest desire is that any such method, if it 
 exists, should be discarded, and that a good friendship should 
 be upheld between East and West on just and equitable 
 lines. If things were done in this way Japan would be only too 
 glad to follow any examples that she might discover worth 
 following, and then there would be no conflict between the Far 
 East and the West to disturb the tranquillity and prosperity 
 of the whole world- — a harmony which must be deemed to 
 be in accordance with the will of the divine Power above. 
 My statement may be open to many a criticism ; if so, 
 criticize or condemn as you like ; — but these are my convic- 
 tions, founded upon my own candid and I hope impartial 
 views of the future, — and my only desire is that they may 
 be of some service in promoting and cementing the utmost 
 goodwill between my country and yours. 
 
 341 
 
Epilogue' 
 
 ADMIRAL TOGO signalled to his fleets :-— 
 
 The destiny of our Empire depends upon this action ; you are 
 all expected to do your utmost. 
 
 Under such auspices was the battle of Tsushima, one of 
 the most momentous sea battles in history, fought and won. 
 One of its consequences is that the position of Japan as one of 
 the Powers has been made secure. It seems that I may now 
 make this communication to you as you wish, containing as 
 it does an appeal to the Western public at large to reflect 
 calmly upon the proper estimation in which the Japanese 
 deserve to be held. We Japanese have suffered countless 
 calumnies at the hands of Western public men and writers. 
 We have endeavoured to some extent to refute them, yet 
 some persons* persist in propagating the same calumnies 
 as they have done hitherto. The most significant example 
 of this is an article which has just appeared in the Deutsche 
 Revue (June 1905) from the pen of a writer alleged to be a 
 French diplomatist. The whole of its contents reproduce 
 the familiar Yellow Peril cry, and in my view, a worn-out, 
 exploded argument. It speaks of we Japanese as barbarians 
 and savages. The way it expounds such a view is amusing. 
 To me it appears that the very fact that the Russians and 
 their partisans are so arrogant, and at the same time so in- 
 competent to form an estimate of other nations, is the key 
 which discloses the causes whereby they are suffering so 
 many difficulties both abroad and at home. 
 
 The article says the Japanese have no self-respect to lose, 
 and therefore, like the Jesuits, do not hesitate in adopting 
 
 * Originally a letter to and published in the Courrier Europe dni 
 
 342 
 
EPILOGUE 
 
 any means they find to hand, so long as they serve to attain 
 their object. I should like to ask the author if he has not made 
 a mistake in the substantive and put the Japanese instead 
 of some other people, for instance, the Russians ; for the 
 whole world has now become familiar with the fact that the 
 various epithets which the Russians and their partisans 
 have been pleased to bestow upon the Japanese since the 
 outbreak of the war, are far more appropriate if applied to 
 our opponents. At all events I should like to know the 
 exact definition of the terms barbarians and savages, and 
 to examine them in relation to certain known facts about 
 the Russians and Japanese. I have already seen many 
 comparisons of this kind made by impartial observers. If 
 the Russians or their partisans hope to take in the world 
 by such mischievous calumny as this, their diplomacy is, I 
 think, too hackneyed and obsolete. I can excuse the Russians 
 in a measure for adopting such steps, but it surprises me 
 when I see a Frenchman (if he really is a Frenchman who 
 writes this article), who calls himself a diplomat, degrade 
 himself by putting forth such an article as this. 
 
 Not long ago, Sir F. Treves, who had been to Japan and 
 to the very seat of the war, speaking on a public occasion, 
 wherein he paid a very high tribute to the surgical art of 
 Japan, said in the course of his speech that 
 
 British troops entered into a war with many determinations. 
 One, was to have lo per cent. sick. It was what they were accus- 
 tomed to, and they got it. Now the Japanese were quite content 
 with I per cent, sick, and they got it. I am perfectly confident that 
 not many years hence we shall find in Japan one of the most remark- 
 able schools of surgery that the world has ever seen. You will under- 
 stand why. There is the infinite patience of the people ; their 
 infinite tenderness — a kinder, a more sympathetic people do not 
 exist — and then, " nerves " as known in this country is, so far as I 
 am aware, an untranslatable term in the Japanese language. 
 
 On the same occasion Lord Redesdale said : — 
 
 The valour of the army and navy of Japan has been phenomenal, 
 but perhaps what has been more noteworthy is the way in which they 
 have treated their enemy. Every soldier and sailor of the Mikado 
 has proved himself a Bayard, 
 
 About the same time the Times of London published a 
 long letter from its correspondent in Tokio comparing the 
 
 343 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 characteristics of the Japanese and Russian troops. I quote 
 here a part of it : — 
 
 To grand courage the Japanese have added refined chivalry. 
 They have almost succeeded in investing the barbarism of battle 
 with the attributes of civilization. Onlookers hard to convince 
 that any good thing could come out of the East have sought to dis- 
 count Japan's merits by accusing her of playing to the gallery. An 
 impossible, incredible feat. Half a million of soldiers cannot be 
 converted at a moment's notice into a theatrical troupe ; cannot be 
 inspired with the skill of consummate actors. Wherever the Japan- 
 ese armies have passed or sojourned they have left behind them an 
 unspotted reputation. Not one accusation has been preferred 
 against them of pillage, of rapine, of cruelty, or of insobriety. To- 
 wards the wounded they have been full of merciful helpfulness ; 
 towards prisoners they have been kindly comrades. In the heart 
 of hundreds of thousands of men taken from every rank in life 
 materials for such displays cannot be artificially manufactured. 
 
 In a leading article of the same paper of the same day, a 
 remark is made as follows : — 
 
 There is the foolish notion, surviving all that we have seen during 
 the war, that the Japanese, not being a Christian nation, cannot 
 possess what some Russian writer loftily describes as " certain 
 fundamental principles of morality and justice " upon which the 
 West plumes itself. If Christianity has any connexion with the 
 teaching of its Founder, the Japanese might well claim to be the 
 best Christians of us all. 
 
 I do not make these quotations for the purpose of self- 
 glorification, but merely as serving to show how utterly one- 
 sided are the views expressed by the writer in the Deutsche 
 Revue, 
 
 The writer also speaks of the Mongolian raids of the time 
 gone by. Well ; there is no fear of such raids coming from 
 the Far East, as I have had on several occasions to show 
 in my writings and addresses. Should there be, however, 
 any such fear, is not Russia the very country which has been 
 constantly practising the same sort of thing for many cen- 
 turies, and is still bent upon doing so ? Are not the Mongo- 
 lian and Tartar elements of the population predominant in 
 the Russian communities rather than any other nations ? 
 Is not the very locality where the great Mongolian leader, 
 Genghis, arose, i.e. the banks of the river Onon, situated in 
 a Russian province ? 
 
 On the whole, it is a mean and miserable policy on the part 
 
 344 
 
EPILOGUE 
 
 of the Russians and their partisans to try to arouse the sus- 
 picions of different Powers against Japan by such means as 
 those adopted by the writer of the article to which I refer. 
 Only a little time ago a similar calumny was published in 
 America by some Russian agents. The American answer, 
 the summary of which was telegraphed to London, was 
 very short and to the point, and it ran thus : " So long as 
 Japan does not imitate Russian diplomacy, American 
 sympathy for Japan will never diminish one iota." 
 
 We have not the least idea of giving ourselves airs, nor 
 do we like to run down our opponents, especially at a time 
 when they are suffering from repeated defeat ; it is merely on 
 account of the large amount of prejudice which exists against 
 us that I cannot help making a protest of this kind. 
 
 In the natural course of events it is necessary that friendly 
 intercourse should be established between the East and the 
 West. Nevertheless, so long as this absurd kind of prejudice 
 exists, it is impossible that any such friendship should be 
 established. To me it seems that it is already time that 
 the Western people, especially our adversaries and their 
 partisans, should put away such prejudices. We have 
 always recognized the superiority of the Western nations, in 
 respect of modern, and especially mechanical civilization, 
 and we regard them as our teachers and seniors, but this 
 does not, for all that, mean that the Japanese have hitherto 
 been such barbarians or savages as the writer asserts. Even 
 before we began our intercourse with the Western nations, 
 we had our own civilization. True it is that the style of 
 that civilization was different from that of the West, but 
 it cannot on that account be held in contempt. As a matter 
 of fact, we are not really parvenus. We have changed styles 
 and modes of our own and adopted^those of the Western 
 countries in many ways; but if the Occidentals say, 
 because the old civilization of the Far East was different 
 in kind, that therefore the people who owned its sway were 
 barbarous and savage, they are much mistaken. 
 
 We Japanese have arts, for instance, which are very 
 different from those of Europe, but they are very old. Artis- 
 tic taste also is widely spread among the Japanese. Can any 
 one affirm that Japanese arts are barbarous and savage ? 
 Can any nation possessing that kind of art and artistic taste 
 permeating every rank of society, be barbarous and savage ? 
 
 345 
 
THE RISEN SUN 
 
 In the West, I admit, there are a vast number of people who 
 are very rich. There are also a vast number of big buildings, 
 but do they necessarily imply that European society is 
 perfect ? One can see easily enough that the majority of 
 Western people have a very small share indeed in whatever 
 enjoyment is to be derived from inhabiting these big build- 
 ings. Some families, of course, live in large houses, but many 
 only live in flats or small houses, without good accom- 
 modation or a bit of ground attached to them. Are people 
 in that way necessarily happier and more prosperous than 
 those who live in houses which are smaller but cleaner, 
 and which mostly belong to their occupants, with grounds 
 as well ? Are there not in the West a vast number of 
 families who are far more miserable than any among the 
 Japanese ? It is commonly assumed that the moral notions 
 of the West are far superior to those of an Eastern people ; 
 but is this literally true, I ask. Are there not a vast number 
 of people whose morality is detestable, especially in the 
 eastern parts of Europe ? I do not like to enlarge any 
 more in this strain. We are quite prepared to regard 
 Western nations as being our superiors, but we are obliged 
 now and then to make this kind of protest when calumnies 
 are made against us by Occidental critics who seem able so 
 strangely and signally to ignore the conditions by which 
 they themselves are actually surrounded. 
 
 346 
 
Index 
 
 Abe-no-oshi, 212 
 
 Akasaka, 256 
 
 Akashi, 212 
 
 Ai-gun, 52 
 
 Alexeieff, Admiral, 22, 28, 31, 33, 
 52, 53, 65, 80, 82, 84, 85, 95, 
 100 
 
 Alexis, Grand Duke, 95 
 
 Alpine Club, the, 225 
 
 Alps, the, 225 
 
 America, United States of, 3, 
 III, 207, 249, 294, 316, 339, 
 345 ; relations with Great 
 Britain and Japan, 6, 11, 12, 
 309 ; her policy in China, 1 8- 
 25 and 43-88 
 
 Amur, the, 45, 46, 50, 52, 85 
 
 Amur Gazette, the, 51 
 
 Anderson, Dr., 209, 219 
 
 Angelo, 218 
 
 Anglo'- Chinese Commercial 
 
 Treaty, the, 83 
 
 Anglo-German Agreement, the, 
 17, 61,63, 76 
 
 Anglo- Japanese Agreement, the, 
 
 72, 7?,, 77 
 Anglo- Japanese Alliance, the, 3, 
 
 6, 7» 316 
 Anglo- Japanese Convention, the, 
 
 22 
 Anglo-Russian Agreement, the, 
 
 85 
 Annam, 279, 289, 303, 310 
 Antung, 24, 83, ^7 
 Aoki, Viscount, 40 
 Aoki Bunzo, 108 
 Ararat, Mount, 226 
 Aristotle, 195 
 Arisugawa, Princess, 162 
 Armenians, the, 226 
 
 Arnold, Sir Edwin, 229 
 Ashikaga, 217, 218 
 Aston, Mr., 215, 229, 234 
 Austria-Hungary, 62 
 
 Baba Sajiuro, 109 
 Bakin, 233, 234 
 Bakufu, 239 
 Bankoku-Zusetsu, 108 
 Barrow, General, 61 
 Baudin, M., in 
 Beckendorff, Count, 23, 26 
 Belgium, 57, 72 
 Benkendorff, Count, 84 
 BerHn, 44, 330 
 Besobrazoff, M., 80, 82, 84 
 Bigham, 46 
 Black Sea, the, 4 
 Blagovestchensk, 25, 45, 46, 51 
 
 85 
 Bodhi-Dharma, 191 
 Bodhisattva, 200 
 Bokhara, Russian Resident at, 
 
 18 
 Boxer rising, the, 6, 16, 34, 39, 
 
 43, 56, 71, 294, 314 
 Britain, See Great Britain 
 British Association, the, 224 
 British East India Company, 
 
 the, 105, 117 
 Buddha, 134, 190, 200 ; Buddha 
 
 of Kamakura, the, 210, 217 ; 
 
 Buddha of Vara, the, 209, 
 
 210 
 Buddhism, 119, 138, 141, 177- 
 
 207, 286, 327 
 Billow, Count von, yy 
 Bunchio, 220 
 Burmah, 179, 289 
 
 347 
 
INDEX 
 
 Bushi, 137, 186, 189-193 
 Bushido, 119, 186-193, 206, 312, 
 
 317. 325 
 Buttes Chaumont, the, 227 
 
 Calais, 301 
 
 Cambodia, 303 
 
 Cambridge, 224, 232 
 
 Cassini Convention, the, 65 
 
 Cathay, 276 
 
 Celestial Empire, the, 20 
 
 Central Asian Society, the, 269 
 
 Centurion, H.M.S., 53 
 
 Chan-kue, 272 
 
 Charity Hospital, the, 162 
 
 Chemulpo, 38, 92, 330, 332, 335 
 
 Chickshi, Lord Lieutenant of, 
 214 
 
 Chihli, 16 
 
 Chikudan, 220 
 
 China, 10 ;(relationswith Japan), 
 13-91 ; (Great Powers in), 131, 
 146, 177, 191, 193, 217, 269- 
 297 ; (expansion of), 303-3 1 1 ; 
 (Franco- Japanese relations in), 
 
 32,3, 337, 346 
 Chinchow, 68 
 
 Chin dynasty, the, 273, 274, 282 
 Ching dynasty, the, 126 
 Ching, Prince, 22, 24, 64, 74, 77, 
 
 78,81,82,86,87 
 Chin-huang-ti, 273 
 Chiujio-no-Meifu, 212 
 Chino-American Treaty, the, Zt, 
 Chino-Japanese Treaty, the, 2,7 
 Chino- Japanese War, the, 5, 14, 
 
 65,256 
 Chiushingura, 238 
 Cho-densu, 217 
 Cho-Koran, 155 
 Chokunin, the, 116 
 Chosiu, 107, no. III, 167 
 Chow dynasty, the,*267, 271, 272, 
 
 279 
 Chowsen, 279, 280, 281 
 Christianity, 194, 196, 325 ; era 
 
 of, 134, 184 
 Chu, 272 
 
 Chunchu, 272 - 
 
 Chunchuses, the, 82 
 
 Clunet, M. Edouard, 329, 330, 
 
 331, 332, 334, 335 
 
 Cochin China, 271, 301 
 
 Commencement of Studies in 
 Dutch, the, 106 
 
 Confucianism, 119, 177-207 
 
 Confucius, 177, 272 
 
 Conger, Mr., 74, 75,77 
 
 Convention of Greece, the, 332 
 
 Corietz, the, 332 
 
 Correspondence regarding the 
 Russian occupation of Man- 
 churia and Newchang, 1 3 
 
 Courrier Europeen, the, 342 
 
 Co wen, Mr., 317 
 
 Coxinga, 278 
 
 Cradock, Commander, 38 
 
 Daigensui, 251 
 
 Daily Telegraph, the, 228 
 
 Daini-no-Naishi-nb-suke, 12, 213 
 
 Dalny, 14, 100 
 
 De Bazan, Don Caesar, 169 
 
 De Staal, M., 21 " 
 
 Declaration of Paris, 332 
 
 Deutsche Revue, the, 336, 342, 
 
 344 
 Denzen, 109 
 Detring, Mr., 61 
 De Witte, M., 80 
 Dual Shintoism, 200 
 Dutch, the, 105 
 Dziandjiem of Mukden, the, 66 
 
 East Chinese Railway, the, 14, 
 
 27, 29, S7, 84, 85, 8'6 
 East India Company, the, 105, 
 
 117 
 Echo de Paris, the, 299 
 Educational Imperial Rescript, 
 
 the, 120 
 Emperor of Japan, the, 239, 242, 
 
 243, 248, 265 
 England, See Great Britain 
 Entente Cordiale, the, 1 1 
 Ethological Society, the, 130 
 
 Feng-tai, 54 
 Feng-tien, 17 
 Feng-whang-cheng, 24 
 Ferry, M. Jules, 310 
 
 348 
 
INDEX 
 
 Fokien, 30 
 
 Formosa, 123W, 156, 172, 248, 
 
 300, 301, ; insurrection in, 5 
 Fortnightly Review, the, 239 
 France, 3, 14, 62, 7^,, no, 236, 
 
 339 ; relations with Japan, 11, 
 
 298-311 
 Franco-German War, the, 330 
 Freshfield, Mr. Douglas, 224, 
 
 225, 226 
 Fuji-Yama, 206, 226, 227 
 Fukko, 200, 239, 246 
 Fushimi, Castle of, 218 
 Fukuchiyama, 321, 322 
 
 Garibaldi, 316 
 
 Gaselee, General Sir A., 60, 321 
 
 Gen family, the, i6gn, 188, 190 
 
 Geneva Conference, the, 317 
 
 Genghis khan, 277, 288, 294, 344 
 
 Genji, 211, 212, 214 
 
 Genji Monogatari, 155, 211, 215, 
 
 230 
 Gennai, Hiraga, 108 
 Gensan, 29 
 German- Japanese Treaty, the, 
 
 113 
 Germany, 11, 56, 61, 62, 66, 67, 
 
 76, 77, III ; policy in China, 
 
 16-22 passim 
 Gidayu-bon, 234 
 Glover, Mr., 5 
 
 Gon-Chiunagon, 211, 214, 215 
 Great Britain, 81, 85, no, 184, 
 
 236, 316; relations with Japan, 
 
 1-12 ; policy in China, 14-91, 
 
 passim 
 Great Liau, the, 276 
 Great Wall of China, the, 22, 46, 
 
 79, 271, 273, 274, 284, 290 
 Greece, 131 
 Greeks, the, 128 
 Gribsky, Lieutenant General, 46, 
 
 Gundan, the, 236 
 Gunjai Imperial Rescript, the, 
 124 
 
 Hagiwara, Mr., 88 
 Hague, The, 329 
 
 Hague Conference, the, 317, 332 
 
 Hama, 256 
 
 Han dynasty, the, 274, 282, 293 
 
 Hanotaux, M., '^^ 
 
 Harai, 199 
 
 Hara-Kiri, 109, 163, 165, 168, 
 
 170 
 Hara Saihin, 155 
 Harbin, 14, 65, 84, 282 
 Hardinge, Sir Charles, 55 
 Harima, 321 
 Harma, the, 109 
 Hay, Secretary, 73, 74 
 Hayashi, Viscount, no 
 Hearn, Lafcadio, 116 
 Hei, 188, 190 
 Hei Naishi-no-suke, 212 
 Hei-Lung-Chiang, 18, 21, 78, 'S>6 
 Heian, 210, 213, 229, 230, 234 
 Hei-naishi, 213 
 Hetta, 4 
 
 Hia, empire of, 277 
 Hideyoshi, 278 
 Hieuntsang, 191 
 Higashiyama, 219 
 Highlands, the, 225 
 Himalayas, the, 289 
 Himeji, 321, 322 
 Hindhead, 225 
 Hindoos, the, 130, 131 
 Hioye, Lord, 213 
 Hioye-no-Meifu, 212 
 Hirado, 117 
 Hitotsubashi, 243 
 Hogen Monogatari, the, i68w 
 Hokkaido, 13 
 Ho-koka, 127 
 Hokusai, 219 
 Hong-Kong, 305 
 Hope, Sir James, 14 
 Horai, Mount, 216 
 Hsi-An-Fu, 71 
 Hsin-Mintsun, 7^, 
 Hsuan-tsung, 287 
 Hung-nu, 274 
 Huns, the, 274, 286, 282 
 
 Idzm, 4 
 lU, 68 
 Ilinsky, 46 
 
 349 
 
INDEX 
 
 Imperial Asiatic and Quarterly 
 
 Review, the, 13 
 Imperial Educational Rescript, 
 
 the, 194 
 Independent Review, the, ig$n 
 India, 131, 177, 191, 286, 295; 
 
 British, 305, 306, 307 ; British 
 
 residents in native states of, 
 
 18 ; Dutch, 305 ; French 
 
 305, 306, 307, 309. 
 Indo-China, Franco- Japanese 
 
 policy in, 298-3 1 1 
 Ino-Chiukei, 109 
 Inouye, Count, no 
 Ise, the, 202 
 Ishe, 213, 214 
 Ishin, 200, 239, 246 
 Iswolsky, 66, 70, 71 
 Italy, 62 
 
 Ito, Marquis, no, 167 
 Iwakura, Prince, 249, 250, 254 
 lyesato, 254, 255 
 lyeyasu, 243 
 
 Japan, passim 
 
 Japan by the Japanese, 17 iw, 
 
 2oSn 
 Japanese Diet, the, 300, 301 
 Jen Cheng, 290 
 Jesuits, the, 342 
 Jigoku, 302 
 Jijiu-no-Naishi, 212 
 Joi, 240 
 
 Jonson, Ben, 50 
 Joruri-bon, the, 234, 235, 236 
 Journal de St, Petersbourg, the, 
 
 73 
 Journal Official, the, yy 
 Jusha, the, 196 
 
 Kai-chau, 38 
 
 Kaiko, 239, 240 
 
 Kaikoku, 240 
 
 Kaikoku-Heidan, 108 
 
 Kaiku-li, 282 
 
 Kakuya, 212 
 
 Kamakura, 134, 193, 216, 217, 
 
 236 
 Kamei Shokin, 1 5 5 
 Kamimura, 315 
 Kan-h, 28 
 
 Kau-li dynasty of Korea, the, 280 
 
 Kana, Mr., no 
 
 Kanagawa, no 
 
 Kanaoka, 210 
 
 Kaneko, 315 
 
 Kanin, Princess, 162 
 
 Kano, 219 
 
 Kansu, 271 
 
 Kari, 244 
 
 Karma, 203 
 
 Kashgar, 68 
 
 Kataoka, Mr., 9 
 
 Kato, Mr., 66, 70, 71 
 
 Katsu, Count, no 
 
 Katsura, General Count, 10, 299, 
 
 300 
 Kau-ku-li, 280, 281 
 Kawamura, 315 
 Keiki, 243, 244, 254, 255 
 Kelung, 300, 301 
 Khotea, 68 
 Ki family, the, 280 
 Kiao-Chau, 16 
 Kido, Marquis, 167 
 Kikuchi, Baron, no 
 Kimmochi, 214 
 Kimura, no 
 Kin, dynasty, the, 136, 277, 278, 
 
 283 
 Kinchau, 68 ; battle of, 236 
 Kinchow, 100, 1 01 
 Kinder, Mr. Claude W., 53, 55 
 Kinno, 239, 250 
 Kiogen, 232, 233 
 Kiokwai, the, 201 
 Kioto, 161, 188, 209, 210, 216, 
 
 217, 230, 240, 241, 248, 321 
 Kirin, Province of, 18, 21, 78, 86 
 Kitabatake Chikafusa, 186 
 Kitaiski, 276 
 Kitsu, 279, 280 
 Kittar dynasty, the, 276 
 Kiu-lien-cheng, 281 
 Kiushiu, 280, 315 
 Kobe, 161 
 Kobu, 241 
 
 Kobu-gattai, 239, 241 
 Kodama, Baron, 299, 300, 301 
 Koizumi Yakumo, 116 
 Kokiden, 212 
 Kokiden, Lady, 214 
 
 350 
 
INDEX 
 
 Kokonor, 275 
 
 Kokusenya, 278 
 
 Kokwan, 220 
 
 Komo-Zatsuwa, 108 
 
 Komura, Baron, 26-33, 93-9^' 
 
 315 
 Konoploff, High Priest, 46 
 
 Korea, 5 ; Japanese policy in, 
 14-35, 36-101, 177, 245, 275, 
 278, 279-283, 293, 298, 302- 
 306, 331, 333-335 
 
 Korin, 220 
 
 Korostovitch, General, 6$ 
 
 Koseki, Sanyei, 109, 167 
 
 Koshe-no-omi, 213 
 
 Kowsching, the, 333, 334 
 
 Kublaikhan, 277, 288 
 
 Kur.amochi, Prince, 213 
 
 Kurile Islands, the, 13 
 
 Kurino, Mr., 26-33, 93-9^ 
 
 Kuroki, General, 315 
 
 Kuropatkin, 80, 84, 325 
 
 Kuruhara Rioza, 167 
 
 Kusazoshi, 234 
 
 Kwan Tung territory, the, 85 
 
 Kwanin, 190 
 
 Kwannon, 190 
 
 Kwanto, 186, 188 
 
 Kwanting Peninsula, the, T,y, 3Z, 
 
 39 
 Kwotei, 248 
 
 La Revue, 2gSn, 317W 
 Lamaism, 278, 288, 289 
 Lamsdorff, Count, 19, 25-32, 44- 
 
 71, 80, Ss, 84, 93-98 
 Lansdowne, Marquis of, 21, 23, 
 
 24, 26, 56, 66, 72, 79, 89, 85 
 Le Memorial Diplomatique, 329 
 Lespedeza, 238 
 Lessar, M., 84 
 Liao dynasty, the, 126 
 Liao River, the, 78, 81 
 Liao-che, 21 
 Liaotung peninsula, the, 15, 36, 
 
 37,68 
 Liaoyang, 300, 323, 282 
 Lian, 283 
 
 Liau dynasty, the, 276, 277, 278 
 Liau River,, the, 276, 280, 283 
 Liautung, 276 
 
 Liautung Bay, 283 
 
 Liautung peninsula, the, 279 
 
 Li-Hung-Chang, 59, 60, 64, 77 
 
 Linevitch, 57 
 
 Liuchiu, 156 
 
 London, 72, 130, 222, 237, 322, 
 
 3^3, 343 
 Lopatka, Cape, 1 3 
 Louchou, 172, 179 
 Lowther, 5 
 
 MacCaul, Mrs., 135 
 
 Macdonald, Sir Claude, 24, 45, 
 
 6y, 72, 228 
 Macdonnell, Sir John, 92, 93, 100 
 Machich, 282 
 Mackey Treaty, the, 86 
 Maguire, Dr., 144W 
 Makura-no-soshi, 215, 230 
 Makurano-soshi, 155, 230 
 Malay peninsula, the, 289 
 Manchu territory, the, 51 
 Manchuria, passim ; Manchuria 
 
 Agreement, the, 64, 72 ; Man- 
 
 churian Convention, the, 72, 
 
 74 ; Manchurian Railway 
 
 Agreement, the, 68 
 Manyoshiu, 229 
 Maritana, 169 
 Marugame, 321, 324 
 Masampho, 16 
 Masanoba, 217 
 Matsiu, Mr., 40 
 Matsuyama, 321, 322 
 Matureef, Dr., 326 
 Meiji, the, 119; era of, 200, 220, 
 
 221, 238, 245, 246, 248, 300 
 Mencius, 185 
 Mergen, 85 
 Mesopotamia, 270 
 Messager Officiel, the, 52 
 Meyer, Messrs., 57 
 Michi-kaje, 213 
 Mikado, the, 248, 343 
 Military Education, 148 
 Ming dynasty, the, 278 
 Mito, Prince of, 343 
 Mitsukuri, Mr., 107, 108 
 Mitsukuri, Professor, 107 
 Mongolia, 68, 80, 81, 271, 277, 
 
 278, 285, 288, 289 
 
 351 
 
INDEX 
 
 Mongols, the, 128 
 
 Mongoria, 155 
 
 Mononofu, 186 
 
 Mononofuno-michi, 186 
 
 Mormons in Japan, 9 
 
 Morse, 38 
 
 Motonobu, 217, 219 
 
 " Mountains and Mankind," 224 
 
 Mouravieff, Count, 39, 46 
 
 Mukden, 17, 18, 21, 22, 24, 52, 
 
 65, 67, 82, 83, 86, 87, 325 ; 
 
 battle of, 236 ; province of, 
 
 y^, 79 ; Russian Resident at, 
 
 18 
 Mung-tien, 273 
 Murasaki Shikibu, 155 
 Murata, no 
 Mutsuhito, Emperor of Japan, 
 
 248 
 
 Nagai Uta, 167, 168 
 
 Nagasaki, 105, 107, 108, 109, 
 
 116, 117, 167, 333 
 Nagoya, 161 
 Niakwa-Senyo, the, 109 
 Nanking, 278 
 Nanshan, battle of, 236 
 Napoleon I, 144, 218 
 Napoleon III, 244 
 Nara, 209, 210, 218, 222, 229 
 Narihira, 213 
 National Service Journal, the, 
 
 144W 
 Negishi, 252 
 Negotiations between Japan and 
 
 Russia, 1903-1904, the, 13 
 Newchwang, 18, 21, 22, 23, 46- 
 
 2>6 passim 
 New Testament, the, 181 
 New Treatise on Anatomy, the, 
 
 108 
 New York, Central Park of, 227 
 New York Steamship Company, 
 
 the, 114 
 Newton, Lord, 144W 
 Nijio, 212 
 Nile, the, 270 
 Nineteenth Century and After, 
 
 The, g2n, iign, i6^n, 257^ 
 Ninjio-bon, 234 
 Niphon, 321 
 
 Nirvana, 204 
 
 Nirvana of Shakyamune, the, 204 
 
 No, the, 232, 233 
 
 Nobuzane, 210 
 
 Nogi, General, 137 
 
 Novoye Vremya, the, 38, 46 
 
 Nozu, 318 
 
 Nuchen, 283 
 
 Nuchih, 283 
 
 Oda, 218 
 
 Oda Toyotomi, 218, 232 
 
 Odoh, 278 
 
 Official Messenger, the, 19, 69 
 
 Ogawa, 315 
 
 Oku, 315 
 
 Oliphant, Mr., 14 
 
 Onon, the, 277, 344 
 
 Ornamental Art of Japan, The, 
 
 210 
 Osaka, 166 
 Osako, 161 
 O-shio-Kun, 212 
 Otsuki Gentaku, 108, 109 
 Outlook, The, 223^, 312W 
 Oyama, Marchioness, 156 
 Oyama, Marshal Marquis, 156, 
 
 315 
 
 Paris, III, 222, 227, 301, 317W 
 
 Parker, Miss, 162 
 
 Parkes, Lady, 227 
 
 Parkes, Sir Harry, 5, 227, 245 
 
 Pechili, Gulf of, ■^j, 39 
 
 Pechili, province of, 19, 2>7^ 39» 
 
 47, 56, 57,71,79,276 
 Peiho, the, 57 
 Peking, 6, 25, 34, 2>7y 42-85 
 
 passim, 256, 271, 278 
 Peking Agreement, the, 38 
 Peking Protocol, the, 20, 71, 72, 
 
 83 
 Peking Relief Expedition, the, 
 
 16, 46 
 Persians, the, 287 
 Petropavlosk, capture of, 4 
 Philippine Islands, the, 305 
 Pictorial Arts of Japan, the, 209 
 Pingyang, 29, 280, 281 
 Plan9on, M., 81, 82, 83 
 Plato, 195 
 
 352 
 
INDEX 
 
 Platonic School, the, 119 
 
 Plum, Lady, 211 
 
 Pohai, 282 
 
 Pohai Bay, 283 
 
 Police and Prison College, the, 
 
 Poppe, M., 57, 59 
 
 Posadnik, the, 14 
 
 Port Arthur, 6, 14, 16, 28, 36-39, 
 53. 55. 58, 65, 68, 80, 81, 85, 
 99, 100, 129, 189, 236, 329, 
 
 331. 332 
 Port Hamilton, v. Port Lazareff. 
 Port Lazareff, 5, 14, 29 
 Port Nicholas, 83 
 Portuguese, the, 105 
 
 Rangaku-Kaitei, 108 
 
 Raphael, 218 
 
 Red Cross Society of Japan, the, 
 
 8, 320 
 Redesdale, Lord, 343 
 Reichstag, the, 77 
 Revue Russ, the, 329 
 Rin-Shihei, 108 
 Rockhill, Mr., y6 
 Rome, 131, 286 
 Ronins, the, 166, 238 
 Rosen, Baron, 28-31, 93, 98 
 Russia, no, 253, 277, 296, 301, 
 
 303^ 309, 310. 313. 314. 323. 
 330-33^ ; policy in China, 
 13-101 passim ; relations with 
 Great Britain and Japan, ^-y 
 
 Russo-Chinese Bank, the, 23, y6, 
 78, 80, 86 
 
 Russo-Chinese Convention, the, 
 66 
 
 Russo-French Memorandum, the 
 
 73.74 
 Russo-Japanese War, The, 317 
 
 Sabaku, 239, 240 
 Saghalien, 13 
 Saigo, 254 
 
 Saigo Takamori, 145 
 St. Cloud, 225 
 
 St. Petersburg, 20, 24, 26, 29, 
 30. 33^ 37, 52, 56, 60, 66, 69, 
 70, 72, 74, 77, 81, 83, 93, 299, 
 
 325. 332 
 Sakai, 166 
 Sakalin, 46, 52 
 Sako, 240 
 Sakoku, 239, 240 
 Salisbury, Marquis of, 40-43, 
 
 48,55,62,70 
 Salvation Army in Japan, the, 9 
 Sameshima, in 
 Samurai, the, 135, 136, 164-166, 
 
 168, 170, 186, 192, 231 
 San Francisco, no 
 Sanetomo, 193 
 Sanjio, Prince, 249, 250, 254 
 Sanraku, 218 
 Sasebo, 33^333 
 Satow, Sir Ernest, 5, 67, 186 
 Satsuma, no, in, 145 
 Satsumo revolution, the, 254 
 Scott, Sir Charles, 19, 47, 50, 51 
 Seishonagon, 155 
 Seladon, apples of the, 57 
 Semitic religious notions, the, 
 
 131 
 Sendaihagi, 238 
 Sendai, 238 
 Seoul, 14, 15, 38, 88 
 Sessiu, 217, 218, 219 
 Sesson, 217 
 Seymour, Admiral, 41 
 Shakespeare, 234, 237 
 Shanghai, 86 
 Shanhai-Kwan, 21. 27, 55, 56, 
 
 58, 60, 78 
 Shanhai-Kwan Railway, the, 52, 
 
 53 
 Shantung, 16 
 
 Shiba-Kokan, 109 
 
 Shiba, Lieutenant Colonel, 45 
 
 Shigemosi, 185 
 
 Shikoku, 231, 322 
 
 Shimonoseki, 15, 107 
 
 Shin Butsu, 190 
 
 Shing King Province, the, 80 
 
 Shinto, 282, 287 
 
 Shintoism, 119, 138, 177-207, 
 
 255 
 Shio Sammi, 213 
 
 353 
 
 A A 
 
INDEX 
 
 Shioshio-no-Meifu, 212 
 
 Shogun, the, 5, 105, 107- no, 
 
 117, 187, 193, 217, 239, 240, 
 
 242-245, 251, 254 
 Shushen, 283 
 
 Siam, 159, 279, 287, 305, 306 
 Siberia, 279, 282, 283, 285, 305 
 Siebold, Herr Von, in 
 Sin dynasty of China, the, 275, 
 
 281, 293 
 Sino-American Treaty, the, 87 
 Sine- Japanese Treaty, the, 83 
 Siubun, 217-219 
 Singe tsu, 217 
 
 Society of Arts, the, 177^ 
 Socrates, 128, 195 
 Sotan, 217, 219 
 South West Province of China, 
 
 the, 7^ 
 Spanish, the, 105 
 Sron-btsan-Sgampo, 275 
 Sufu, Baron, no 
 Sufu, Mr., no 
 
 Sugawara Michizane, 199, 287 
 Sugita Gempaku, 108 
 Suma, 212, 215 
 Sung dynasty, the, 217, 276, 277, 
 
 289 
 Sungari, the, 85 
 Switzerland, 225 
 
 Ta-Yang River, the, 38 
 
 Tai-Shogun, the, 240 
 
 Taikosama, 218 
 
 Taira-no Kiyomori, 185 
 
 Tajiks, the, 287 
 
 Takano, 109 
 
 Takano Choyei, 167 
 
 Takasaki, Baron, 140 
 
 Takasahi, Captain, 140 
 
 Takeo Hirose, 129, 189 
 
 Takushan, 2>^ 
 
 Talien Wan, 16, 2)7 -^ 39 
 
 Tamerlane, 294 
 
 Tametomo, i6Sn, i6gn 
 
 Tan period, the, 191 
 
 T'ang dynasty, the, 275, 276, 281, 
 
 286, 287, 293 
 Tannu, 219 
 Taotai, 8, 82, 86, 87 
 Tarbagati, 68 
 
 Tartar dynasty of Manchuria, 
 the, 278 
 
 Tatung River, the, 280 
 
 Tatungkan, 24, 83, 8y 
 
 Temmagu, 199 
 
 Tenno Heika, 248 
 
 Thang dynasty, the, 217 
 
 Tibet, 271, 275, 278, 279, 287, 
 288, 289 
 
 Tientsin, 15, 46-61 passim, 171, 
 83,86 
 
 Times, the, 17, 69, 331, 343 
 
 Timur, 294 
 
 Ting, Admiral, 169 
 
 Togo, Admiral, 4. 99. 3I5' 342 
 
 Tokio, 24, 25, 28, 32, 40, 42-44, 
 66, 70-72, 94, 107, n7, 143, 
 158, 160-162, 171, 172, 175, 
 222, 228, 231, 240, 300, 316, 
 
 332, 2,Z?>, 343 
 Tokio Jio-gakkwan, the, 160 
 Tokugawa family, the, 109, 145, 
 
 155, 196, 218, 231, 238, 239, 
 
 243' 254 
 Tokugawa Yoshimune, 105 
 Tolstoi, Count, 46, 265 
 Tongkin, 305, 310 
 Tongking, 279, 289 
 Tongku, s?)^ 54. 5^, 60 
 Tong-shan, 58 
 Tosa, 219 
 Toshikag^, 213 
 Tower, Mr., 75 
 Toyotomi Hideyashi, 218 
 Trans-Manchurian Railway, the, 
 
 65 
 Trans-Siberian Railway, the, 14, 
 
 38,65 
 
 Trans-Zeya, the, 51,52 
 
 Treves, Sir Frederick, 343 
 
 Tsar of Russia, the, 25, 28, 30, 
 
 34, 83 
 Tseng, General, 17, 65 
 Tsing dynasty, the, 278 
 Tsitsihar, 25, 85 
 Tsunenori, 213 
 Tsung-li Yamen, 2)7 
 Tsurayuki, 213 
 Tsushima, 14 ; battle of, 342 ; 
 
 seizure of, 4 
 Tu-Chueh, the, 275, 276 
 
 354 
 
 EC 1 6^943 
 
INDEX 
 
 Tufans, 275, 287 
 Tuku-Hun, the, 275 
 
 Udagawa Genzai, 109 
 Ukikoye, 219, 233 
 Unyokan, the, 15 
 Uraga, 167 
 Uriu, Admiral, 156 
 Utagawa Gensin, 109 
 Utai, 232 
 
 Variag, the, 332 
 Versailles, 225 
 Vesfnik, the, 325 
 Vladivostock, 14, 65, 99, 100 
 
 Wafangu, loi 
 
 Waldersee, Count von, 47, 54, 
 
 55. 60, 61 
 Wang-An-Shi, 289 
 Washington, 21, 74 
 Watanabe Kwazan, 109, 167 
 Wei-Hai-Wei, 6, 36, 37, 39, 69 
 Westminstev Gazette, the, 144W 
 Whitehead, Mr., 41, 42 
 Wieney Tagehlatt, the, lo^n, ii2n 
 Wistaria, Princess, 215 
 Witte, M., 38 
 Wogack, General, 60, 61 
 
 Yalu River, the, 24, 25, 28, 29, 
 
 38 ; battle of, 236, 317 
 Yamamoto, 315 
 
 " Yang-tse Convention," the, 77 
 Yang-tse River, the, 77, 271, 272 
 Yang-tse Valley, the, 84 
 Yang-tsun, 54, 56 
 Yarkand, 68 
 Yasui, Miss, 159 
 Yeawase, 211 
 
 Yedo (Tokio), 107, 231, 240, 241 
 Yeitoku, 218 
 
 Yellow Peril, the, 292, 336-338 
 Yema Saiko, 155 
 Yengi, Emperor, 214 
 Yenomoto, Viscount, no 
 Yeso, 13 
 Yezo, 156, 172 
 Yi-ju, 38 
 
 Ying-Kow, 52, 55, 280, 282 
 Yokioku, 232 
 Yokohama, 161, 252 
 Yongampho, 25, 82, 88 
 Yoritomo, 187, 190, 217 
 Yo-sute-bito, 198 
 Yuen dynasty, the, 126, 277 
 Yumi-ya-no-michi, 187 
 
 Zen, the, 190, 191 
 Ziusha, 231 
 
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