The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-03-11

~ AIGEn1FON BERTRAN milford
spcRErARx 10 b. MS LEGATION
IN JAPAN.
was sent officially to witness ths
execution by Hdra- Kiri (sclf-immo
lation by disembowelling) of TAX
Zcnzaburo, the officer Of the Prince o.
Bissn. 4eitWas who GIVE the ordel
to IRE On the foreign settlement at HI
ogo. As the Hard- Kiri is one of the
Japanese customs which has excited
the greatest curiosity in Europe, al
though, owing tofhe factthat it had
never hitherto been witnessed by for.
eigners, it has seemed little better
than G. fable, / will relate what oe.
2 eured. n ID
The Ceremony, which was ordered
by the Mikado himself, took place al
1910 at night i'm the Temple of Sci.
gukuji, the headquarters of the Sat.
surna troops at Hiogo. A witness
was sent from each of the foreign lie.
cations. We were seven foreigners
in all.
~ by officers Of the Princes of Satsuma
- and ACh0sl.in. Although the cerenlo-
:. ny was to b. conducted in the most
- private manner. fhe casual remarks
@ee~oveFheard in tire streets,
= nd'scsowd lining the principal en-
! TRANCE to The temple, showed that it
was MISTER Of no little interest TO
.. the pnblic..- The courtyard of the
J temple presented most picturesque
sight it was crowded with soldiers
standing about in knots round large
fires, which threw dim, pickering
= light over the heavy caves and quaint
gable-ends of the sacred buildings.
: We were shown into an inner room,
where we were to wait until the pre-
paration for the ceremony was CON-
piet<d I'm the next room to us were
The high japanese officers. After a
long Interval, which seemed doubly
long from the silence which prevailed.
Ito Shunske, the provisional Govern
or of Hiogo, came and took down our
names;And flfdrmed sue that seven
keRShi, sheriffs or Witnesses would
attend CD the part of the japanese.
He and other officer represented the
is 3 ess q sss:'p ~,,h in.
representfve of the Prince of Bizen,
the clan of the condemned man, COM,
pleted ihe number, which was proba-
bly, arranged i'm order to tally with
that of the foreigners. Ito Shudske
further inquired whether we wished
to put any questions to the prisoner.
Il. We repiied in the negative. - ~ >
A further delay then ensued, after
which we were then invited to follow
the Japanese witnesses into the fOnd0
or main hall of the temple, where the
acercmonyswass to be performed. 1t
= was an imposing scene. A large ball
with a high roof supported by dark
pillars OF, wood. From the ceiling
'shmg -profusion of those huge gilt
lamps and ornaments peculiar to Bud
( hist temples. In front of the high
= altar, where. the floor covered with
beautiful white mats, is raised some
three or four inches from the ground,
- was laid a, rug of scarlet felt. Tall
. candles placed at regular intervals
gave out dim, mysterious light, just
sufficient to let all The proceedings be
seen. The seven japanese took their
places on theleft of the raised floor.
the seven foreigners on the right. No
. other person was present,
- After an interval of q few minutes
of anxious suspense, Taxi Zelszaburo,
"a stalwart man thirty-two years Ofage
with noble air, walked into. the fall
attired in his dress Of ceremony, with
the peculiar hempen cloth-wings
. which were worn on great occasions.
Hewas accompanied by kaishaku
and three Off GERS, who wore the zim-
/, bGori or war surcoat with gold-tissue
facings. The word kdishakH it should
be observed, is one to which our word
.erecutioner is no equivalent term.
The Office is that of gentleman in
MANY cases il is performed by kins-
man or friend of the condemned, and
the relation between them is rather
: that ofprincipal and second than that
of victim and -executioner. In this
instance the kaishdku was pupil Of
Taxi Zenzaburo, and was selected by
the friends of the latter from among
their own number for his skill i'm
swordsmanship.
With the kdishdku on his left hand
Taxi Zenzaburo advanced slowly to-
wards the japanese witnesses, and the
: two bowed bsfore them, then. draw
ing near to the foreigners they saluted
us in the same way, perhaps even
with more Difference: ia each case
the salutation was tremendously re-
turned. Slowly, and with great dig
nifty, tine condemned man mounted ON
the raised floor, FRUSTRATED himself
before the high altar twice, and
seated- himself on the felt carpet with
his back to the high altar, the kaisha-
kW crouching on his left hand side.
One of the three attendant officers
then came forward bearing a stand of
the kind used in temples for offerings,
on which, wrapped in paper, lay the
,cdkizdshi, the short sword or dirk of
of the japanese, nine inches and half
i'm length, with point and an edge as
sharp as razor's. This he handed,
prostrating himself, to the condemned
man, who received it reverently. rails
ing it to his head with both hands,
aud placed it ia front of himself.
- After another profound .obeisance.
Taxi Zenzaburo, I'm voice which be-
trayed just as much emotion and hest
tation as might be expected from
man who is making painful confess
sion, but with no sign of fear either
in his face or manner, spoke as fol-
lows: --f--. - $3.50.
i, and 1 alone, unwarrantably gave
the order to fire on the foreigners at
r Kobe, and again as they tried to es-
cape For this crime l disembowel
myself, and 1 beg you who are presen;
to do me the honor of witnessing the
act"
Bowing once more, the speaker al
lowed his upper garments to slip
down to his girdle, and remained ma
kcd 10 the waist Carfully, according
to custom, he tucked his sleeves under
his knees to prevent himself from fall
ing backwards, for noble Japanese
gentleman should die falling forward.
Deliberately. with steady hand, he
took the dirk that lay before him; he
looked at it wistfully, almost affec-
tionatcly for moment he seemed to
collect his thoughts for the last time,