JAPAN.

The extensive and powerful empire of Japan consists of several large islands on the eastern coast of Asia, which extend in a direction north-east and east-northeast, from the 30th to the 41st degrees of north latitude, and from the 129th to the 143d of east longitude. The largest of these islands is called Niphon, which name is also sometimes applied to the whole empire. It is about 700 miles in length, though not more than eighty in breadth, and runs lengthwise from east to west in a winding form. It is separated by a narrow channel full of rocks and islands, several of them uninhabited, from Sikokf, next to it in size, and which is ninety miles long and fifty broad. The third island, Kiusiu, of a square figure, and divided into four provinces, lies between the other two, and is 200 miles long by 140 broad. These islands are surrounded with numerous others, generally small, rocky, and barren; some of them, however, large, rich, and fruitful, and governed by petty princes. There are several other islands which are subject to the authority of Japan, though they form no integral part of the empire. Among these is the large island of Jesso, which has been colonized by the Japanese, and is the most northerly island they have beyond their own empire. The coasts are rocky and mountainous, and they are washed by a tempestuous sea, which, by reason of its shallowness, admits none but small vessels, and even these not without imminent danger, the depth of most of its gulfs and harbours being not yet known, and others that have been sounded being too shallow for ships of any bulk. Several dangerous whirlpools also occur amongst the rocks and shallows, by which vessels are frequently drawn in and dashed to pieces. It is remarked by Kaempfer, in his ample and accurate account of Japan, that nature seems purposely to have designed these islands to be a sort of little world, separate and independent of the rest, by making them difficult of access, and by endowing them plentifully with all that is necessary both for luxury and comfort, and thus enabling them to subsist without any commerce with other nations. The Japanese policy, of rigidly forbidding all intercourse with strangers, which, in other circumstances, might have been difficult, if not impracticable, has been greatly facilitated by these natural advantages of the country.

These islands are in general rugged and irregular in their surface, intersected by ranges of lofty mountains, which are frequently steep and broken into precipices. Some of the mountains rise to a great elevation, as the mountain of Fusi, in the southern part of Niphon, which is considered to be the most elevated, and is covered with perpetual snow. In the northern part of the same island are also extensive and lofty mountains. The narrow valleys between these mountains are generally fertile and well cultivated; but the greater part of the country is rocky and barren, and it is only by the indefatigable care and industry of the natives that it has been rendered productive, and that it yields an abundant supply of food. The great staple of agriculture is rice, of which there are several varieties: the best sort is perfectly white like snow, very nutritive, and when boiled is used at meals instead of bread. A certain sort of bean, of which they make a mealy pap, and use in the dressing of victuals as butter is used in Europe, is held in much esteem. Barley, which they call great corn, is cultivated, though not in great quantities: they use it in the feeding of cattle and horses, whilst others dress their victuals with the flour, or make cakes of it. One sort of barley, which grows in Japan with purple-coloured ears, gives a very pleasing aspect to the fields. Wheat, which is called small corn, is extremely cheap, and is baked into a particular sort of cakes, though it is but little used. Peas, beans, and Indian corn, are cultivated; and almost all the varieties of nutritious grains and pulse. Turnips grow plentifully in the country, and to a large size. Horse-radish, carrots, gourds, melons, cucumbers, parsnips, fennel, and some sorts of lettuce, grow wild; and parsley and other vegetables, which are cultivated by the Dutch, thrive well. There are numerous other plants, which grow in the fields, the woods, and forests, and in marshy grounds, of which the leaves, roots, or the fiowers and fruits, afford sustenance for the common people, and even luxuries for the great.

The Japanese excel in agriculture. Being cut off from all intercourse with other nations, they rely on their own resources; and this, with the extreme populousness of the country, gives a stimulus to cultivation, as well as to every other branch of industry. Not only are the fields and flat country laid out in the cultivation of rice, being seldom converted into pasture, but likewise the hills and mountains [7:12:511]afford corn, rice, peas, pulse, and numerous other edible plants. Every inch of ground is improved to the utmost; and it is mentioned by Kaempfer, that he 'beheld, in his journeys to and from court, hills and mountains, many of them inaccessible to cattle, which would lie wholly neglected in other countries, cultivated to their tops. The law on this subject is strict and severe, enforcing on all the cultivation of the ground as a sacred duty, and punishing the neglect of it by the forfeiture of the land. The flat grounds are ploughed with oxen, the steep and high ones by men; and, where they have the command of water, the rice-grounds are intersected by canals. The rent of the landlord is reckoned at six tenths of the gross produce; and, with the view of accurately estimating the amount, surveyors are appointed, who, before the harvest, compute the probable returns with surprising accuracy, with a view to a just division of the produce.

From the laborious culture to which they are subjected, the Japanese islands abound in a great variety of useful and beautiful trees and plants. Amongst the most curious and finest trees is the varnish tree. It affords a milky juice, with which the inhabitants varnish, or, as we call it, japan, all their dishes and plates of wood, from the emperor to the meanest peasant; for, even at court, services of lackered ware are preferred to those of gold and silver. The mulberry tree grows in most parts of Japan, especially in the northern provinces, where many cities and villages depend almost wholly on the silk manufactures, though the silk which they weave is not the finest, nor equal to the Chinese silk. The tea shrub is one of the most useful plants growing in Japan; it is planted round the borders of rice and corn fields, and in barren places unfit for the culture of other things. All ranks drink of an infusion from this shrub; and it is the custom of the country to present it when friends come to visit, both when they come and when they depart. The common people use the coarser leaves, the young and tender leaves being used by the higher classes. The laurel tree is common in Japan. That which bears red berries resembles the cinnamon tree in shape, and in the figure and substance of its leaves; but the bark wants the peculiar sweetness of the true cinnamon tree, an imperfection which Kaempfer ascribes to the quality of the soil. The camphor tree is found in Japan; and the sansio, the leaves of which are eaten on account of their pleasant aromatic taste. Firs and cypress trees are common in the woods. They are planted in barren and sandy places which will produce nothing else, or along the roads, which makes travelling very pleasant. The wood is used in the construction of houses, ships, and household articles, and the branches for fuel. There arc other hard woods, such as the oak, which is different from the European oak, and of which there are two varieties; and the iron tree, of which houses arc generally built; and others that have a fine grain, and are used for cabinets, chests of drawers, &c. The baraban is common, and is of great use here, as also in India. Fruits in great variety and abundance are found in Japan; figs of different sorts, oranges, lemons, citrons, grapes, chestnuts, walnuts, nuts of different kinds, peaches, apricos, plums, brambleberries, strawberries, raspberries, &c. Cherry trees, aprico trees, and plum trees, are valued for the sake of their flowers, which, under proper culture, become large and luxuriant, and when they are in full blossom form a fine ornament around their temples, in their gardens, and in their walks, the trees being thickly covered with flowers, as with snow.

Japan is distinguished above all other countries for the great variety of beautiful plants and flowers which adorn its fields, hills, woods, and forests, and which, when they are transplanted into gardens, and improved by assiduity and culture, attain to a surprising degree of perfection. They mostly resemble either the rose or the lily. There is a large shrub, called tsubacki, which grows in woods and hedges, of which there are many beautiful varieties, and for which there are about 900 names in the Japanese language. Of the shrub called satsuki, with lily flowers, which is to be met with in the gardens, there are a hundred varieties. Sakanandsio, another shrub with lily flowers, of which there arc only three varieties, is much larger than the former. There are numberless other flowers, some forming the chief ornament of houses and gardens, others of desert and uncultivated places. But of all these flowers, it is observed by Kaempfer,^[1. Vol. i. chap. ix. p. 119. ] that as they exceed those in other countries in the show and exquisite beauty of their colours, they are greatly inferior to them in scent and fragrance. The same is also true of the fruits in Japan, which are far from equalling the pleasant aromatic taste of those which grow in China and other eastern countries.

The country is plentifully supplied with fresh water from the many fountains, lakes, and rivers which are scattered throughout the empire. There is no space in the country for the formation of great or navigable streams; but some of the rivers are so large and rapid, from the mountainous and rocky channels through which they make their way, and from the profuse showers of rain which frequently fall in the upper region.·’, that they are not to be passed without danger, arising from the impetuosity of their currents.

The climate of Japan, though it is upon the whole salubrious, is subject to frequent changes. The country lies without the range of the monsoons and the periodical rains; and accordingly it rains frequently throughout the whole year, but with the greatest profusion in the months of June and July, which are for this reason called the water-months. During the winter the ground is covered with snow, and there are often sharp frosts, whilst in the summer it is intolerably hot. At Nagasaki the thermometer ranges from 98° to 35°. Thunder and lightning are very frequent. Earthquakes are common, and happen so frequently that the inhabitants are familiarizod to those dreadful phenomena when they are not uncommonly violent. Sometimes, however, the earth is shaken with so violent a commotion, which lasts so long, that whole cities are thereby destroyed, and many thousands of the inhabitants buried in the ruins. A great earthquake happened in the year 1586, when the earth yawned, and swallowed up one half of Nagafama, a small town containing 1000 houses; and the sea, violently breaking over its usual boundary, overflowed the rich and populous town called also Nagafama, and drowned all the inhabitants, besides destroying other smaller towns. Another occurred in 1703, by which, and by a great fire which happened at the same time, the whole city of Jedo was destroyed and laid in ashes, and about 200,000 inhabitants perished in the ruins. Some parts of these islands are entirely free from these concussions. Volcanoes are found in different parts of Japan, indicating the presence of those combustible materials which are imprisoned in the bowels of the earth, and which, suddenly bursting forth, and forcing an outlet, occasion earthquakes. Not far from Firando, where the Dutch had their factories before they removed to Nagasaki, lies a small rocky island, which has been burning and trembling for many centuries. Many mountains emit a perpetual flame. From the famous mountain of Fusi, which, Kaempfer observes, is only surpassed in height by the Peak of Teneriffe, but “in shade and beauty hath not its equal,” and which is covered with everlasting snow, a [7:12:512]black stench and smoke is observed to .s⅛ue, the remains of its half-extinguished volcano, which formerly burned with a brighter flame. In many places the soil is burning hot, and is besides so loose and spongy, that it makes a cracking and hollow noise under the foot. Hot and sulphureous springs abound in the vicinity of these burning mountains, and are prescribed as specifics in many complaints.

Japan abounds in mineral wealth; in all the metals, besides various useful minerals. Gold is found in several provinces of the empire, and is smelted from its own ore. It is gathered from the sands of several of the rivers, and is also found combined with copper. The richest mine, which also yields the finest gold, is situated in one of the northern provinces in the great island of Niphon; and here also is a very rich gold sand, which the prince of the district causes to be washed for his own benefit. Next to these the gold mines of Surunga are esteemed the richest; and here gold is found in all the copper that is dug up. There are other mines, affording ore which is productive, and would repay the labour of working; but some of them are filled with water, and the uninstructed natives know of no process for drawing it off. Silver is found in different parts, particularly at Kattami, in one of the northern provinces; but it is not so abundant as gold. The metal which is most important to the trade of Japan, and is also most abundant, is copper. There are very rich copper mines in different provinces of the empire; in Surunga, Atsingo, and Kijno-kuni. The copper found in the mines of the latter place is the finest, most malleable, and fittest for work, of any in the world; and in some cases, as already mentioned, it contains a considerable quantity of gold, in the refining of which the Japanese have greatly improved. All the copper is brought to Saccai, one of the five imperial towns, where it is refined and cast into small cylinders. These are packed up in square boxes, and sold at a high price to the Dutch, copper being one of the staple articles of export from Japan. There is besides a coarser sort of copper, which can be bought at a lower price than the other, being much inferior in quality and appearance. Brass is very scarce in Japan, and brings a much higher price than copper. A small quantity of tin is found, but so exceedingly white and fine that it is almost equal to silver. This metal, however, is little used in the country. Iron is found in very large quantities on the confines of three provinces. It is refined on the spot, and is cast into cylinders two spans in length. It is fully as dear as copper; and household articles, hooks, and cramp-irons in buildings or in ships, which in other countries are made of iron, are in Japan made of copper or brass. In dressing their victuals they use a particular sort of kettles or pans, made of a composition of iron. The art of making this composition has been lost, so that the old articles of this sort bring a high price.

Of mineral substances, sulphur is found in great abundance. It is dug up in a neighbouring island, which, from the great plenty it affords of this substance, is called Sulphur Island. This island was formerly considered as inaccessible, by reason of the thick smoke which was observed continually to arise from it. But this fear having been overcome, its produce now yields a revenue to the prince of Satzuma, of about twenty chests of silver per annum. Coal abounds in the northern and several other provinces. Salt is made of sea-water; and it does not appear that they have any mineral salt. Agates of several sorts, some of them extremely fine, of a bluish colour not unlike sapphires, as also cornelians and jaspers, are brought from the northern extremities of the great province of Osju, opposite to the country of Jedo. Naphtha is found in one of the rivers, and is taken up where the water has little or no run, by the natives, who burn it in lamps instead of oil. Some ambergris is obtained upon the coasts of Satzuma, and of the Riuku islands. It is found chiefly in the intestines of a whale which is caught frequently on the Japanese coasts or floating on the surface of the sea, being torn up from the bottom by the violence of the waves. Pearls are found throughout almost the whole circuit of the island, in oysters and several other kinds of shell-fish; and every one is at liberty to fish for them. The largest and finest pearls are found in a small sort of oyster, called akoja, which is not unlike the Persian pearl shell, about a hand broad, exceedingly thin and brittle, and shining on the outside, but within of a whitish colour, and glittering like mother-of-pearl. All sorts of submarine plants, shrubs, corals, stones, mushrooms, sea-fans, corallines, fuci, algae, and the like, as also shells of all kinds, are found plentifully in the Japanese seas, and nowise inferior in beauty to those found about Amboyna and the Spice Islands. These are, however, very little valued by the inhabitants.

Japan does not abound in animals, either wild or tame. This may be accounted for from the extent of cultivation, which leaves little room, and no great cover, for the wild animals; and the tame animals, not being used as food by the inhabitants, are not multiplied beyond the necessary uses for which they are designed. The horse serves for purposes of state, for riding, for carriage, and for ploughing. The breed is small; but some of them are not inferior in shape, swiftness, and dexterity to the Persian breed. A certain breed of little horses is very much esteemed. Oxen and cows are only used in ploughing and carriage. The people care nothing for milk or butter, which are not used as articles of food. They make use of a sort of large buffaloes, of an extraordinary size, with hunches on their backs like camels, for carriage and transport of goods. Of asses, mules, camels, and elephants, they know nothing. Sheep and goats were formerly kept at Firando by the Dutch and Portuguese, and might be bred in the country to great advantage if the natives were permitted to eat their flesh, or knew how to manage or manufacture their wool. They have few swine, and these few are brought from China, and bred for the use of the Chinese, who make an annual resort to these islands, and amongst whom they are in great demand. It is mentioned by Kaempfer, that whilst he was in Japan, dogs had multiplied in an extraordinary degree, owing to the partiality of the reigning emperor for that animal, in consequence of his being born in the sign of the dog. Greyhounds and spaniels are not known. The wild animals are deer, bears, wild boars, hares, foxes (which the natives hold in abhorrence, supposing them to be animated by demons), monkeys, wild dogs, a small animal called itutz, of a reddish colour, another called tin, both living in houses, and lodging themselves under the roofs, and so tame that they may be ranked amongst the domestic animals. The whole country swarms with rats and mice; the former animal is frequently tamed, and taught to perform several tricks for the amusement of the inhabitants.

All the varieties of the feathered race are met with in these islands. The falcon species are found in great numbers in the northern provinces, and are kept more for state than sport. Ravens, cranes, herons, wild geese, ducks, pheasants, wood-cocks, wild pigeons, storks, snipes, sparrows, swallows, larks, nightingales, &c. are common. The crane is protected by the particular order of the emperor, and can only be shot by his express commands, and for his own especial use. There is a singular species of duck, which is distinguished by the most surprising beauty of plumage. The pheasants are also of uncommon beauty. Neither the common European crow nor the parrot is to be met with in Japan. Snakes are seen, some of them of an enormous size; and insects are numerous and troublesome, especially the white ant, which is known for its de-structive[7:12:513] qualities; also scorpions and other noxious reptiles.

The Japanese have invented, or borrowed from their neighbours the Chinese, a great many fictitious animals, which are either allegorical or connected with their mythology. The kirin is a winged quadruped of incredible swiftness, with two horns standing before the breast; its good nature and holiness are such that it takes care, even in walking, not to trample on any the least plant, nor to injure the most inconsiderable worm or insect. Besides this animal there are other chimerical creatures of the quadruped kind, to which the Japanese ascribe various imaginary qualities. Of these the dragon is the most remarkable, and the chronicles and histories of their gods and heroes abound in fabulous stories of this animal, which is also employed in the armorial bearings of the emperor. Foo is a beautiful large bird of paradise, somewhat resembling the phoenix of the ancients. It dwells in the higher regions of the air, and never descends, as the Japanese believe, to honour the earth with its blessed presence, except at the birth of an emperor, or at that of some such distinguished personage.

All our knowledge of the Japanese government and • laws is derived from Kaempfer and Thunberg, who accompanied the Dutch in their annual commercial visit to these islands, the one in the year 1690, and the other in 1775. The account of Kaempfer is exceedingly full and accurate, and its accuracy is attested by Dr Ainslie, one of the British commissioners, who, in 1810, when the island of Java was in possession of the British, had been sent by Sir S. Raffles to accompany the Dutch ships on their annual visit to Japan. They were, however, strangers, ignorant of the language, and hence were but imperfectly qualified to describe with accuracy the political institutions of this state. Throughout all Asia pure despotism is the prevailing form of government, and to this Japan forms no exception; but, according to the accounts of Kaempfer and Thunbcrg, it is subjected to the double rule of a spiritual and a political sovereign, the respective limits of whose jurisdiction and duties do not appear to be very distinctly marked. Kubo is the name of the secular, and Dairi of the ecclesiastical emperor. To the latter are paid almost divine honours; but the real power of the state appears to be vested in his political competitor. The power of the sovereign is supreme; it is restrained by no positive law, though, as in all despotic countries, it may be tacitly modified by custom and immemorial usage. The emperor, according to Kaempfer, inherits, along with the crown, an absolute and unlimited power over all his subjects, from the meanest peasant to princes of the highest rank. As in all the eastern countries, where the art of government is in its infancy, the country is divided into large tracts of land, which are again subdivided into sixty-eight considerable provinces, and these again into 604 smaller districts or counties. The provinces are ruled by governors or princes appointed by the emperor. These governors are amenable, for the exercise of their delegated authority, to the supreme head of the empire, who may dismiss or banish them, and even inflict on them capital punishment. They are entitled to the revenues of their provinces, with which they maintain their rank and state, besides a military force for the maintenance of order, and out of which they also keep the roads in repair, and carry on all other necessary improvements. They are also bound to repair once in the year to the court, with all due splendour, and a great retinue, and to bring with them considerable presents, and, according to the jealous maxims of despotic countries, to leave their families constantly at the court as hostages for their allegiance. The residence of these princes is mostly in the large and maritime towns, or those situated on rivers; which are surrounded by walls and ditches, the prince’s castle standing most frequently at the extremity of the town, defended by strong gates and high towers.

The ecclesiastical was at first the only ruler that governed the kingdom. But his generals, to whom he was obliged to confide the command of his armies, gradually usurped the real power, leaving to the high priest only the empty splendour of the throne. Syn Mu, the founder of the monarchy, flourished 660 years before the Christian era. He improved both the government and the laws of the country. The emperors of his race were usually denominated Dairi; and a hundred and nineteen Dairis have ascended the throne in succession from that period down to the year 1775, when Thunberg resided in Japan. For more than 250 years the authority of the Dairi, the old and lawful potentate of the country, has been confined chiefly to ecclesiastical matters, though he is still held in the same veneration as ever. His person is considered as too sacred to be exposed to the air and the rays of the sun, and still less to the view of any human creature, and he is consequently confined within doors; and when he goes out of his palace, he is generally carried on men’s shoulders, that he may not come in contact with the earth. His person is accounted so sacred, that his hair, nails, and beard, are never suffered to be cleansed or cut by daylight, an opportunity being taken to perform these operations when he ⅛ asleep. He never eats twice from the same plate, nor uses any vessel a second time. They are invariably broken to pieces, lest they should fall into unhallowed hands. The right of bestowing titles of honour is to this day vested in the person of the ecclesiastical emperor, and is a source of revenue. Even Kubo, the name of the political emperor, is honoured by the titles which he receives from this sovereign pontiff of Japan. Those who have spiritual titles are distinguished, both at court and in the churches, by a particular dress, conformable to their rank and dignity. So august and holy is Dairi considered, that Kubo, though possessing the real power, is bound, either in person or by his ambassador, to pay him an annual visit, and to bring presents in acknowledgment of his title to rule in the state. At the court of Dairi literature is cultivated. It is the only university in the country where students are maintained and instructed. Poetry, history, and mathematics are here cultivated; and music is a favourite study, especially with the fair sex. Here it is that all almanacs are compiled. The secular emperor derives his revenues from a tax on the produce of the land. These have been estimated, though on no very certain data, to amount to a sum equal to L.28,000,000. But this is probably a gross exaggeration. The military force is estimated at about 100,000 foot and 20,000 horse, whilst the different governors of provinces maintain each a large force within his respective territory. There seems little occasion for so large an establishment of troops, as Japan, being separated from all other countries by a stormy sea, is in no danger of attack from ambitious neighbours. The descendants of Genghis Khan, who conquered China, also invaded Japan with a great army; but they were completely repulsed by the valour of the inhabitants. Since this period the Japanese have been engaged in war with the Coreans, but with little effect. The domestic peace of the country has, however, been occasionally interrupted by the rebellion of the provincial governors, or by a disputed succession.

The law s, as among all the half-civilized states of Asia, are implacable and severe. Death is the appointed punishment for almost every crime, sometimes by decapitation in prison, and, for higher offences, by impaling on the cross. Fines they consider as unequal and unjust, because they are less severe on the rich than on the poor; and from this absurd notion they confound in one common punishment all the different shades of crime. Where a [7:12:514]murder is committed in a town or in the open street, not only the criminal, but his relations and dependents, and even neighbours or spectators, according as they have been more or less cognisant of the crime, or have not interfered to prevent it, are rendered amenable to justice. The master of a house is in like manner held responsible for his domestics, and parents for their children; and this cruel and bloody spirit pervades the whole system of their criminal justice. If one man draws his sword on another, it is a capital offence; and smuggling of all kinds is invariably punished with death, buyers and sellers being involved in the same penalty. Some offences are punished by perpetual banishment and confiscation of goods. Every criminal has a fair trial before the proper tribunal, and by a careful examination of witnesses. The prisons are gloomy and horrid abodes; they contain an apartment for trial by torture, another for private executions, a kitchen, a dining-room, and a bath. The towns are subjected to a very strict police, in which the same rigour prevails as in the administration of justice; and the consequence is, that, through the influence of terror, the most exact order prevails, each petty delinquent still incurring the penalty of death. Four officers are appointed in every town, of which number one presides every year. A commissioner is besides appointed for every street, who keeps an account of deaths, births, and marriages, and makes his report to the head officer. He has the power of casting offenders into prison, and of even putting them in irons; and he employes spies, who bring them accurate intelligence of all that takes place.

There are two leading religious sects in Japan, namely, the Sintos and the Budsdos; though there are numerous other sectaries who hold the most opposite tenets, and yet live together in the greatest harmony. The religion of the Sintos is the more ancient of the two, and seems to be a system of polytheism, which, along with one Supreme Being, acknowledges a crowd of inferior deities, and often of deified heroes, who are supposed to exercise dominion over the earth, the water, the air, and over particular districts, and to have the power of making men either happy or miserable. They believe in a state of future rewards and punishments. The souls of the virtuous, according to their creed, dwell immediately under heaven; whilst those of the wicked are doomed to wander on the earth for a certain period, in expiation of their sins. The chief points of the Sinto religion are inward purity of heart, abstinence from whatever makes a man impure, and a diligent observance of solemn holidays, and of pilgrimages to holy places at certain seasons of the year. They abstain from animal food, and from the uncleanness of a dead body, and are loath to shed blood. Their system of divinity, according to Kaempfer, is such a tissue of monstrous and absurd fables, that their priests are ashamed of it, even in the presence of their own adherents. Their notions of the creation of the world resemble the wild extravagances of the Hindus. Kaempfer heard a sermon by one of their priests, which he describes as a confused composition of ridiculous stories and fables about their gods and spirits. The devils, they imagine, reside in the bodies of foxes; and this animal is accordingly held in general abhorrence by them. They have churches, in which they attend for worship on stated holidays. In these temples they have no visible idols, nor any image to represent the Supreme Being. But in the centre is generally placed a large polished mirror of cast metal, the purpose of which is to impress on those who worship, that as the mirror reflects a faithful image of their person, so the secret faults and impurities of the heart lie open to the all-searching eyes of the immortal gods. They never approach those temples unless they are perfectly clean; and accordingly they wash themselves with water, and, putting on their best apparel, they bow respectfully to the ground, preferring their prayers, and presenting their offerings. Kubo, the emperor, belongs to this sect, and is bound to pay a visit every year, either in person or by his ambassador, to one of their temples, and to make presents of great value, which is accounted the essence of piety by the priests of Japan, as by all other priests in every age and country. The doctrine of Budsdo, identical with Buddha, whose votaries are spread over the East, was brought from Continental India into China, and thence introduced into Corea and Japan, and, being mixed with the existing doctrines and practices of Sinto, gave rise to the most monstrous superstitions. The Japanese follow Buddha’s doctrine of the immortality of the souls of men and of beasts, of a future state of rewards and punishments, and of the transmigration of the souls of men into animals. The churches of all the different sects are adorned with alleys of cypress trees, and handsome gates; and most of them have a separate chamber for their idol, where he is exhibited sitting on an altar surrounded with incense, flowers, and other decorations. The churches are open every day, but there are festival days throughout the empire, which are more especially appropriated to religious worship by both Sintos and Budsdos. These are the first and last days of every month, the new moon, and the first day of the year, which last is spent in eating and drinking, visiting the temples, and making merry. There is, besides these priests, a holy order of men called Jammabos, or Monks of the Mountain, devoted to religious exercises and holy contemplation; and an order of blind monks, who are dispersed all over the empire. Religious vows are frequently made by devotees; and in this, as in many other points, the Japanese superstition resembles that of Hindustan and other eastern countries. It is related of one of these persons by Thunberg, that having made a vow never to make use of shoes, he actually accompanied the Dutch embassy to the imperial court, walking on his bare feet, though it was the depth of winter. Kaempfer also mentions, that sometimes persons are met with in the streets running about quite naked, according to vows which they have made to visit in that state certain temples, provided they obtain by the mercy of the gods deliverance from some fatal distemper they themselves or their relatives have been subject to, or from other great misfortunes with which they are threatened. Multitudes of religious beggars, with their heads shaved, also crowd the streets; and to this tribe belong a singular religious order of young girls, who., if they be handsome and agreeable, easily obtain the privilege of begging in the habit of nuns. They watch particularly people of fashion, and accost them by singing a rural song; and if they prove liberal, they will accompany them for hours. Their voice, gestures, and apparent behaviour, are neither too bold nor daring; but free, comely, and seemingly modest. Kaempfer, however, intimates his idea of their true character, under whatever specious appearances it may be disguised. Nunneries have been established in the country upwards of a thousand years. Besides these idolatrous devotees, there is a sect of philosophers, who deride the popular worship, and merely inculcate the duty of leading a holy and virtuous life, and the belief of one great first cause, the divine author of all things.

The Dairi is the spiritual head of the Sinto religion; and since the retrenchment of his power the secular emperor has granted for the maintenance of his state and dignity the whole revenue arising from the city of Miaco and the adjacent districts. He has likewise an allowance from the imperial treasury 7 , besides immense sums which he derives from his privilege of conferring titles of honour. But these allowances are not nearly so great as when the Dairi possessed the secular as well as theeccle∙
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siastical power, and they fall short of the necessary expenses of his court. Hence many of his retainers are compelled to work at menial employments to procure a livelihood; and Kaempfer describes his court as being only remarkable for its splendid poverty.

The public revenue is derived, as far as we can gather from the necessarily imperfect accounts of those who have visited Japan, from a land-tax, and a tax on houses. The land is rated according to its produce, consisting for the most part of rice. The arable land is divided into three classes, according to its fertility; and the public tax amounts to more than one half, or even to two thirds of the produce. The land belongs to the crown, whose rights or claims none dare dispute; and unless the farmer cultivate it with care and attention, it is taken from him. In the towns each proprietor of a house is assessed in proportion to the breadth of his house towards the street, besides presents which are exacted from him by the civil officers, and taxes for the support of the temples and idols. The land-tax is collected by the receivergeneral.

The national character of the Japanese, as described by Kaempfer, Thunberg, and others, has been corroborated by Dr Ainslie, who, by order of Sir Stamford Raffles, accompanied the Dutch in their annual visit to these islands in 1812. He describes them as a nervous, vigorous people, assimilated by their bodily and mental powers much nearer to Europeans than to Asiatics. The traits of a vigorous intellect are displayed in the greater progress they have made in the sciences and in the arts, which are carried to a much higher degree of perfection among them than among the Chinese, with whom they are frequently confounded, but to whom they consider it as a great disgrace to be compared; and the only occasion in which Dr Ainslie saw a Japanese surprised into a passion, and, relinquishing his habitual politeness, lay his hand on his sword, was on an unguarded comparison being made between the two nations. Thunberg represents the Japanese as frugal, ingenious, sober, just, and friendly; yet distrustful, superstitious, proud, and implacable in their resentments; never forgiving an injury, but carefully concealing their hatred, and patiently waiting the favourable moment for striking their victim to the heart. This deep-rooted malignity is a common feature in the character of all barbarous nations; and hence the feuds that we hear of among them are handed down from generation to generation. This spirit of revenge arises from pride, and that lofty sense of honour by which the Japanese are distinguished. Thunberg, in depicting the character of this singular people, appears to ascribe to them qualities which are scarcely consistent with their state of improvement. He speaks of a love of liberty, not that liberty, he adds, which degenerates into licentiousness, as being the passion of the Japanese, who nevertheless enjoy no freedom, but are subjected to cruel laws and to the caprice of a tyrant, at whose mercy they hold both their lives and properties. The love of freedom can scarcely exist in a community so degraded; it can only flourish amongst a refined people, guarded by equal laws against the violence of power. Ceremonious manners, another feature of a comparatively rude and ignorant people, are much cultivated by the Japanese. In courtesy and submission to their superiors, few can be compared to them. Inferiors are accustomed to bow to the class above them, lowly and reverently; a consequence, probably, of severe laws, and of the habitual bondage in which the lower classes are held by their superiors. But the intercourse between equals in rank is also encumbered with a variety of troublesome cere monies; a sure mark that true refinement has made little progress, seeing that, as mankind gradually improve, they insensibly relinquish these impediments to social intercourse, as inconvenient and absurd. The Japanese are extremely curious and inquisitive concerning the manners and habits of strangers; they are continually asking the Dutch for information, and wearying them with questions. It is related by Thunberg, that during the audience they had of the emperor, they were surveyed from head to foot by privy councillors and others, the higher officers of the state. Their hats, swords, clothes, buttons, lace, watches, and other articles of dress, were duly examined; and they were requested to write in the presence of the courtiers, that they might see the European characters and mode of writing. They are of friendly dispositions, of frugal and industrious habits, and honest in their dealings. Highway robberies are unknown, and thefts are seldom heard of, which perhaps may be partly ascribed to the severity and unrelenting vengeance of their laws. Dr Ainslie agrees with former writers in his representation of the Japanese as exhibiting an apparent coldness, like the stillness of the Spanish character, i ' eager of novelty, and warm in their attachments, open to strangers, and, bating the restrictions of their political institutions, a people who seemed inclined to throw themselves into the hands of any nation of superior intelligence. They have at the same time a great contempt and disregard of everything below their own standard of morals and habits, as instanced in the case of the Chinese.” Nor, according to Dr Ainslie, is that uniformity observable amongst them which prevails amongst the Chinese, where the heavy hand of the government may be said to have broken down all individuality, and left one Chinese the counterpart of another. Unlike the Chinese, also, and unlike all other eastern nations, women are not immured at home; they go abroad like the ladies in Europe, and mix freely in society. Whilst Dr Ainslie resided at Nagasaki with the Dutch, frequent invitations and entertainments were given; and at one of these entertainments a Japanese lady from the court of Jedois represented to have done the honours of the table with “an elegance and address that would have graced a Parisian.”^[2. Pft of Sir Stamford Baffles, p. 182, 4toedit. chap. vii. ] In many important points they appear to have heen misrepresented by the Dutch, for their own interested purposes. That their illiberality in religious matters, and their hatred and intolerance of Christianity, have been greatly exaggerated, is fully proved by the mission of Dr Ainslie. The story told of the annual ceremony of trampling on the crucifix as a test of their abhorrence of the Christian faith, was derided as a fable when it was mentioned to the priesthood. The Japanese were formerly adventurous navigators; they served as mercenaries throughout all Polynesia, and traded with all nations. They undertook voyages in their own vessels to Corea, China, Java, Formosa, and other places. They have since adopted an entirely different policy, andhaverigidlyforbiddenall intercourse with other nations; and being in this manner confined within the limits of their own territory, their voyages are all along the coast, in trading vessels of different sizes, and in fishing smacks. The art of navigation has accordingly declined; and though they are provided with a mariner’s compass, they seldom venture to lose sight of land. The natives are prohibited, on pain of death, from leaving their country, or from encouraging the visits of foreigners. The reasons of state which have induced the government to act upon these illiberal maxims are not well understood. Certain it is that the people do not participate in this jealousy of foreigners; they would willingly trade with them, and on all occasions evince the most frank and social[7:12:516] dispositions. There is every reason to believe that this aversion of the Japanese government to all intercourse with strangers has been aggravated by the interested misrepresentations of the Dutch, anxious to monopolize the lucrative trade of Japan, and to banish all competition, by instilling into the rulers of the country a jealousy and a dread of all other Europeans. The ill treatment experienced by the mission from Russia in 1814, under Count Kreusenstern, is ascribed to the exclusive influence of the Dutch factory, who continued to “rain upon them,” says Dr Ainslie, “through the medium of an interested and avaricious factor, who dreaded competition, every possible ignominy which can be supposed to have flowed from the despotism of Japan.” They were lodged in a warehouse, which was pointed out to Dr Ainslie, who observes, that as “the rats were let out, the count and his suite were let in, where they remained for six long months, with scarce room to turn, the mark of obloquy to the Japanese, and the laughing-stock to the European factory.” So deep an impression did the degrading treatment of the Russian embassy, and their meanness in submitting to it, make on the Japanese, that the chief officer asked the English commissioner if he would condescend to play the part of the Russian count; and, answering his own question, said, “No, I trust not.” The insolence of the semi-barbarous nations of the East, such as the Japanese and the Chinese, which naturally leads them to trample on their European visitors, is best opposed by a spirited conduct, which inspires respect. Mean submissions, far from conciliating, only provoke fresh aggressions; as has been often proved in the intercourse of the Europeans with both Japan and China.

The Japanese are a proud, a brave, and a warlike people. Their arms consist of bows and arrows, scimitars, and guns. Their bows are very large, and their arrows long; and in discharging them the troops always drop down on one knee. Guns are not their usual weapons; and Thunberg mentions, that during all the time he was in Japan he never saw one discharged. They have cannon, but these are only fired every seven years; and so inexpert are the gunners, that they provide themselves with a long pole, and stand with averted eyes when they are firing off the gun. The scimitar, which is constantly worn by every one but the peasants, is their trusty weapon; it is a yard in length, of an incomparably good temper, and far surpassing the Spanish blades, which are so much renowned in Europe. With this weapon a Japanese will cleave his adversary asunder at a blow. In sciences and the useful arts the Japanese are far behind the Europeans. They study astronomy, but are unable, without the aid of the Chinese and Dutch almanacs, to compute a perfect calendar. They have made little or no progress in natural philosophy and chemistry, and even the scanty knowledge which they have acquired is borrowed from Europe. They appear to have studied botany and zoology with more success; and they have extensive works on these sciences, in which all the indigenous plants and animals are described, and exhibited in well-coloured plates. They have studied surveying, and possess maps of their own country, and of its towns, which are sufficiently accurate in topography, but without the divisions of longitude or latitude. When Dr Ainslie was at Nagasaki, a large detachment of officers of rank had just arrived, with a numerous and splendid retinue, who had been four years engaged in making a practical survey of every part of the empire and its dependent isles. “The survey,” says Dr Ainslic, “appeared to be conducted on a scientific plan, to be most minute and accurate in its execution, and to have for its object a regular geographical and statistical survey of the country.”^[3. See Life υf Sir Stumford liaÿlcs, p. 184. ]

Nor are their literary acquirements inconsiderable. They study the history of their own country, and their annals are said to be more authentic than those of most other eastern nations. They have also translated several European works, and appear to be familiar with the account which Kaempfer gives of Japan, as they observed to the English commissioner, Dr Ainslie, that he was the very apostle of their faith, from whose works they knew even their own country. They have a college for interpreters, who study foreign languages; and it is an extraordinary fact, that, notwithstanding the determination of the empire not to enter into foreign commerce, an edict of the emperor has been issued, enjoining on the college of interpreters the study of the English language; and it has accordingly been cultivated with success by the younger members of the college, who are extremely anxious in their inquiries after English books. Amongst other works in the English, they showed to Golownin, Benyowsky’s Conspiracy and Escape from Kamtschatka; an Account of the Expedition of the Russians and English to Holland in 1799; and a Geographical Description of the Russian Empire. The art of printing has long been known amongst the Japanese. They have also some knowledge of engraving; but in the art of drawing they are greatly inferior to Europeans. Poetry is employed by them chiefly to perpetuate the memory of their gods and heroes; and though music is held in high estimation amongst them, they have neither brought their musical instruments to any degree of perfection, nor do they understand musical science or harmony.

Although the Japanese in general are grave in their demeanour and manners, yet they frequently indulge in sports, festivities, and theatrical amusements. They have stated religious festivals, sometimes in honour of a particular god, which they celebrate not merely with devotional exercises, such as sermons and prayers, but with games, processions, public dances, and dramatic representations. These last are of the lowest description, consisting of exhibitions calculated rather to terrify than to entertain the audience. Artificial contortions of the body, and uncouth and extravagant dresses, seem to make up the whole amusement on these occasions. The story is generally some heroic exploit, or some adventure of their idols and heroes, composed in verse, and accompanied with music; diversified with low juggling tricks, which appear to be well adapted to the capacity of the audience. There are no decorations or machinery, nor any thing in these exhibitions which can put them on a level with the theatrical amusements of Europe. Weddings and funerals are celebrated with great pomp and many ceremonies, though the ceremony by which the married pair are united is short and simple. The bridegroom and bride advance together to an altar erected for the purpose, each holding a torch; and whilst the priest recites a form of prayer, the bride lights her torch from a burning lamp, and holds it to the bridegroom, who lights his torch from hers; upon which the guests congratulate the new married couple. Their manners are far from being pure. Many of the women live for a time with Europeans and others, receiving the wages of prostitution; and afterwards, in the full knowledge of their character, they are well married. The Japanese either bury their dead in the earth, or burn the body to ashes. The latter method is not so common as formerly, but is still practised by persons of distinction.

Public schools are established, in which children are instructed[7:12:517] in reading and writing, and are educated without chastisement or blows.

In many arts and manufactures they have made great progress, and some they have brought to such perfection as even to surpass those of Europe. They excel in the manufacture of copper, iron, and steel, of which the temper of their swords affords the best proof; and their silk and cotton manufactures are greatly superior to those of the other eastern countries. Their lackering of wood, especially the ancient workmanship in this line, and which derives its name from their country, surpasses every attempt at imitation by any other nation. Their lackered ware consists of the finest sort of firs and cedars, which they cover with the very best varnish, prepared from the Thus vernix, a tree that grows abundantly in many parts of the country. This varnish, which oozes out from the tree on its being wounded, is of so transparent a nature that every vein of the wood may be distinctly seen through it. In general a dark ground is spread under it, which causes it to reflect like a looking-glass; or it is mixed with some darker substance, and sometimes with gold leaf ground very fine, and is embellished with gold and silver flowers, and figures laid on upon the varnish. All articles made of wood, drawers, chests, boxes, scimitars, fans, tea-cups, and soup-dishes, the posts of their doors and windows, and most articles of household furniture, are covered with this varnish. They are acquainted with the art of making glass, coloured as well as uncoloured; they also grind glass for telescopes, for which purpose they purchase mirror-glass of the Dutch. Paper of all sorts is manufactured abundantly in the country, both for writing and printing, as well as for tapestry; and all coarser qualities for the packing of goods. It is prepared from the bark of a species of mulberry tree, which, by an ingenious process, is reduced to the consistence of a fine pulp, from which the sheets of paper are obtained. Japanese porcelain or china ware is manufactured out of a whitish fat clay, which is found there in great plenty. This clay requires a great deal of kneading, washing, and cleaning, before it acquires that degree of transparency which is the perfection of china ware; and the manufacture is altogether so laborious and troublesome, as to have given rise to the saying, “that human bones are an ingredient of China ware.”

The temperature of the Japanese islands is in general salubrious. The most common diseases are colic, occasioned by the immoderate use of rice beer, which occasions violent pains, and often leaves behind it swellings in different parts of the body, and is especially productive of the hydrocele; red and watery eyes, occasioned amongst the poorer classes by the smoke in their confined apartments; and indurated glands, which frequently turn to cancers, dysenteries, small pox, measles, rheumatism, gout, pleurisy, water in the head, and certain eruptions on the skin. The physicians have no great knowledge of medicine, and their remedies consist generally of decoctions, diuretic or sudorific. Some profess only medicine, others the cure of internal disorders; and others, again, practise surgery, though they have no knowledge of anatomy. There is a class of persons for puncturing with needles, or for burning with a powder made from the dried leaves of a particular tree called moxa, which, being laid on the body, is set on fire, and burns the skin, leaving a sc⅛r behind it. Those who perform the operation of puncturing with needles may be heard in the evening patrolling the streets, and making a tender of their services with great noise and vociferation. The burning with moxa and puncturing with needles are supposed to be efficacious both for the prevention and cure of diseases; and they are resorted to by all classes, by rich and poor, old and young, especially m cases of pleurisy', gout, rheumatism, and toothach.

The Japanese, in selecting their food, range over the whole of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, using not only what is wholesome and nutritive, but some articles also which are poisonous, though, by their mode of preparation, they contrive to render these not only harmless, but useful. Their meat is always cut into small pieces, thoroughly boiled and stewed, and mixed with agreeable sauces. They sit at meals on soft floor mats, with a small square table before each guest; and the meat is served up in the neatest vessels, either of porcelain or japanned wood, furnished with a lid. The servant who attends kneels down as he places the dishes on the table and takes them away after dinner. They drink the soup out of the cup in which it is served; and they eat the solid parts of the meat with two lackered pegs, which they hold so dexterously between the fingers of the right hand, that they can with the greatest nicety take up the smallest grain of rice, these pegs serving them as both fork and spoon. The company, before beginning to eat, salute each other with a low bow; and the ladies, says Thunberg, eat separately from the men, though this scarcely' agrees with Dr Ainslie’s account of the lady whom he commends for doing the honours of the table at an entertainment where he was present, with all the grace of a Parisian. Tea and rice beer are the only liquors used by the Japanese. Wines or distilled liquors are never seen amongst them; and they can hardly be persuaded to taste them, even when they are offered by the Dutch. Their only inebriating drink is sacki, which, being warmed in a common tea-kettle, is poured out into flat tea-cups made of lackered wood, and is in this manner drunk quite warm. Tea is drunk at all times of the day.

The dwelling-houses of the Japanese, whether public or private, are by no means to be compared to those in Europe, either for size or magnificence, being commonly low, generally consisting of one story, and built of wood, owing to the danger of earthquakes. Their apartments are small, but uncommonly neat and clean, and for the most part carefully and curiously furnished; the windows, doors, posts, and passages, are finely painted and varnished; and the ceilings neatly covered with gilt or silver-coloured paper, and embellished with flowers. They have few partition walls to divide the rooms from one another; but instead of these they use folding screens made of coloured or gilt paper, laid into wooden frames, which they can put on or remove at pleasure; and by this means they enlarge their rooms or make them narrower as best suits their fancyor convenience. These houses are built of cedar wood, of which there is great abundance in the country. The castles of the Japanese nobility are built either on great rivers or upon hills and rising grounds, and occupy a large space, consisting of three different fortresses or enclosures, which either cover or defend, or, if possible, encompass one another. Every enclosure is surrounded by a deep ditch, kept clean, and a thick strong wall built of stone or earth, with strong gates. The towns are mostly populous and well built; and the streets run straight forward, crossing at right angles. They have no fortifications. The two chief gates are shut every night. The villages along the highways are but thinly inhabited. The houses of the country people and husbandmen are small and poor, consisting of four low walls, covered with a thatched or shingled roof. “They have,” says Kaempfer, “many children and great poverty, and yet, with some small provision of rice, plants, and roots, they live content and happy.” The temples dedicated to Buddha, or to other foreign idols, are far superior to all other buildings, for their great height, curious roots, and numberless other beautiful ornaments. They are built of the best cedars and firs, and adorned with carved images of their idols. A fine altar stands in the middle of the [7:12:518]temple, with one or more gilt idols on it, and a beautiful candlestick with sweet-scented candles burning before it. The best situations in the country are chosen for these temples; those which afford a fine view of the adjacent country, or are in the vicinity of a spring, a rivulet of clear water, or a wood with pleasant walks.

There are excellent roads throughout Japan, so broad and large, that two companies, however numerous, can pass each other with ease. The country is divided into seven large provinces, every one of which is bounded by a highway; and all the smaller provinces into which the country has been subdivided are in like manner bounded by highways, which all lead into the greater, as a common centre, and unite at Jedo, the capital of the kingdom and the residence of the emperor. These highways are divided into measured miles, so that a traveller, in whatever part of the empire he may be, can ascertain at a glance his exact distance from the imperial residence. Bridges aro laid over all the large rivers after they emerge into the plains; but they have no means of crossing the mountainous streams, which roll with too rapid a current to admit the building of arches, except by fording them. They have not the art of throwing across a bridge from bank to bank, or of even constructing rope bridges, which is the ‘common resource in such cases in all mountainous countries, in the South American Andes, and amongst the Himalaya Mountains. The number of travellers on the roads, according to Kaempfer, is scarcely credible, owing chiefly, as he supposes, to the populousness of the country, and to the frequent journeys undertaken by the natives. The princes and lords, who are bound to go once a year to pay their court to the emperor, commonly travel with great pomp and magnificence, and with a train which fills up the road for some days, consisting, for the first order of princes, of twenty thousand men; of ten thousand for one of the second order; and thus diminishing according to the quality or revenues of the nobles. This retinue is made up of numerous troops of forerunners, harbingers, clerks, cooks, and other inferior officers, whose duty it is to provide lodgings and victuals for the approaching train. The prince’s heavy baggage follows, suitably attended, and carried in small trunks packed on horses, each bearing a banner with the coat of arms and name of the possessor. Then follow the chief officers and noblemen attending the prince, with pikes, scimitars, bows and arrows, umbrellas, palanquins, led horses, and other marks of grandeur. The prince himself is carried in a palanquin by six or eight men clad in rich liveries, sixteen pages, who are persons of the first rank, and richly clad, walking before, and others by his side; whilst the rear of the procession is brought up by numerous domestics, grooms, footmen, pike-bearers, all in liveries, and by numbers of led horses. The whole train are clad in black silk; and they march in order, in profound silence, without any noise except what is occasioned by the trampling of horses and men. On the other hand, the etiquette is, that the pike-bearers, and the carriers of the palanquin, have their clothes tucked up above the waist; and thus their naked bodies are exposed to view, with only a small piece of cloth for the sake of decency. What appears still more odd and whimsical to a European is, that the pages, pikebearers, umbrella and hat-bearers, chest-bearers, and footmen, affect a strange mimic march or dance when they pass through any remarkable town or borough, or by the train of another prince or lord. Every step they make they draw one foot up behind them as high as their back, and stretch out the arm on the opposite side as far as they can, “putting themselves in such a posture,” says Kaempfer, “as if they had a mind to swim through the air.” The roads are besides crowded with numerous travellers, with pilgrims going on their annual visit to some holy temple, and with multitudes of beggars, in which character, indeed, many of the pilgrims travel. There are on all the roads idols of stone erected in honour of their gods, and other monstrous images and idols which occur on the highways in several places, at the turning in of sideways, near bridges, convents, temples, and other buildings. Coarse figures of these idols are also printed on entire or half sheets of paper, and pasted upon the gates of cities and villages, on wooden posts near bridges, and in other places on the highway most exposed to the traveller’s view. But strangers arc not expected to pay these idols any sort of homage. The Japanese are, contrary to the representations given of them, tolerant and liberal in matters of religion. The mission which was sent to Japan by Sir Stamford Raffles, and which Dr Ainslie accompanied, experienced this liberality in a manner that they by no means expected from the representations previously made to them. The English commissioner visited the great temple on the hills of Nagasaki, and was received with marked regard by the venerable patriarch, who entertained him sumptuously. On showing him round the courts of the temple, one of the English officers present, as mentioned by Dr Ainslie, heedlessly exclaimed in surprise, “Jesus Christus.” The patriarch turning half round with a placid smile, bowed significantly, as if intimating that he was perfectly aware of the difference of their respective creeds; and they parted mutual friends, with a hearty shake of the hands.

For the accommodation of travellers, there is in all the chief villages and hamlets a post-house belonging to the lord of the place, where are procured horses, porters, footmen, or whatever else may be wanting for their journey, at settled prices. Travellers of all ranks and qualities resort to these post-houses, which lie at about one and a half to four miles distance from each other. They appear to have no carriages, but either travel on foot or on horseback, or along the coast by sea. At these post-houses messengers are walking day and night, in order to carry the letters, edicts, and proclamations of the emperor and the princes of the empire, which they convey from one post-house to another with all speed. Two messengers are always employed on these occasions, that in case any accident should befal the one, the other may forward the despatches, which are kept in a varnished box bearing the arms of the emperor, to the next stage; and all travellers, and even princes of the empire and their retinues, must retire out of the way in order to give a free passage to these messengers.

The Japanese are represented as a vigorous people, both in their bodily and mental habits. They are well made, active, free, and easy in their motions. The men are of the middling size, and in general not very corpulent. They are, says Thunberg, of a yellowish colour all over, sometimes bordering on brown, and sometimes inclining to white. The labouring classes, who, in summer, when they are at work, lay bare the upper part of their bodies, are sun-burnt, and consequently brown. Their features are masculine and perfectly European, with the exception of the small lengthened Tartar eye, which almost universally prevails, and is the only feature of resemblance between them and the Chinese. Dr Ainslie gives rather a different account of their complexion from Thunberg. He represents them as perfectly fair, and indeed blooming; though this seems to apply chiefly to the women, who, he says, are equally fair with Europeans, and have the bloom of health more generally prevalent amongst them than is usually found in Europe. Thunberg also mentions that ladies of distinction, who seldom go out in the open air without being covered, are perfectly white. Their eyes are generally dark-brown, or rather black; and the deep furrow which the eyelids form in the great angle of the eye discriminates the Japanese [7:12:519]from other nations. They have generally large heads and short necks, with black, thick, and shining hair, from the oil which they put upon it. Their noses are rather thick and short, though by no means flat.

The dress of the Japanese is a complete uniform, from the monarch down to the lowest of his subjects; it is the same in both sexes, and has been unchanged for the space of more than two thousand years. It consists everywhere of long and wide gowns, one or more of which is worn by all ranks. The dress of the poor is distinguished from that of the rich only in the materials being made of cotton instead of the finest silken stuffs, which are frequently flowered, and sometimes interwoven with figures in gold. They reach down to the feet, and are frequently worn by women of quality with a train. Travellers, soldiers, and labouring people, either tuck them up, or wear them so short that they only reach to the knees. These gowns are fastened about the waist with a belt, which is of such a length as to go twice round the body with a large knot and rose, which is worn by the married women before, and.by the single behind. To this belt the men fasten their sabre, fan, tobacco-pipe and pouch, and medicinebox. The gowns are rounded off about the neck; they are open before, and display the bare bosom. The sleeves are ill shaped and wùde, and sewed together in front so as to form a bag at the bottom, in which they put their hands in cold weather, or use it as a pocket to hold their papers and other things. They wear, besides, breeches, which are more like a petticot than breeches, being sewed between the legs, and left open at the sides for about two thirds of their length. There is, besides, a dress of ceremony, which is worn on the outside, over the gowns. It consists of two pieces; the undermost the above-described breeches, which are generally made of a blue stuff, printed with white flowers; the uppermost is a frock, not unlike a half gown. Besides silk and cotton, they use a kind of linen, which is manufactured from a certain species of nettles. The silk worn by the richer classes far exceeds in tenuity and fineness the silks either of India or Europe. The shoes are the most indifferent part of the Japanese dress.

Of the population of Japan no accurate account has ever been obtained, and all our information on this subject is merely conjectural. Every spot is cultivated even to the mountain tops; and all Europeans who have ever visited Japan concur in representing it as extensively populous. On these grounds, and taking into account also the area of the country, it is supposed that the population cannot be less than fifteen or twenty millions. Sir Stamford Raffles’ estimate, from the accounts brought to him by Dr Ainslie, is twenty-five millions.

It was from the Portuguese that the nations of Europe received the earliest accounts of the Japanese islands. The mariners of Portugal first adventured on the Indian Ocean in the year 1497, and they long carried on a lucrative commerce in the ports of the East. The conquest of Goa by Albuquerque, in the year 1510, laid the foundation of their future power; and from that time they pursued with success their conquests and discoveries in the East, and carried on an extensive trade. In 1542 one of their ships was forced by a storm on the yet unknown islands of Japan; and afterwards a ship, richly freighted, sailed every two years for one of their ports. In 1549, a young Japanese, who had fled to Goa, and there embraced the Christian faith and was baptized, held out to the Portuguese the most sanguine prospects of gain from a trade to Japan, and even gave hopes to the Jesuits of converting the people to the Christian faith. These pious fathers were not slow to profit by the hints of their new proselyte; and, with a view to a permanent establishment in Japan, the young Japanese was sent back to his own country on board a Portuguese ship, accompanied by several of the Jesuits, and by St Francis Xavier, the head of the mission. At that time no restraint was imposed on the intercourse of the Japanese with foreign states; the Portuguese were therefore allowed to trade with whatever parts of the empire they thought fit, and were much caressed by several of the princes, and invited to settle within their territories. The princes and nobles of the country vied with each other to obtain the favour of the strangers, and a most lucrative trade was carried on in European and Indian commodities, such as raw-silk, fine silk stuffs, drugs, wines, medicines, and a great variety of other productions, both natural and artificial, which were exchanged for gold and other produce or manufactures of the country. By this traffic the merchants were enriched, and in a few years carried off a large amount of treasure, though not perhaps three hundred tons of gold every year, as Kaempfer says, with a boldness of assertion not very consistent with his usual caution and accuracy. The Jesuit missionaries on their part were not idle. They laboured diligently in their vocation, and they commended the doctrines of the gospel by their modest and virtuous life, and by their disinterested benevolence to the sick and the poor; whilst the pomp and majesty of the Catholic service arrested the attention and affected the senses of the Japanese. The first difficulties being surmounted, converts began to flow from all quarters; and many of the princes and nobles, being converted to the new doctrines, were baptized, and agreed to send an embassy to Pope Gregory XIII. with letters and presents, assuring him of their devotion to the Christian faith. In this manner the Portuguese prospered in all their concerns, both spiritual and temporal; and fresh supplies of missionaries and merchants from Manilla, Macao, and Goa, daily flocked to this profitable mart of religion as well as of trade. But the fair prospect was at last overcast by the darkest clouds of bigotry and persecution; the Christian faith, which had been so successfully planted and propagated, was rooted up and completely extirpated; and, instead of the free intercourse formerly allowed with all nations, commerce was placed under the most severe restraints, and was finally restricted to one part, that of Nagasaki, and to two nations, the Chinese and the Dutch.

This great revolution originated in various causes. The great prosperity of the Portuguese appears to have filled' them with insolence and pride; the priests and others no longer walked on foot, but, being carried about in stately chairs, mimicked in this and other matters the pomp of the pope and cardinals at Rome; whilst the Japanese priests, and others who profited by the prevailing religion, were displeased at the alterations which had been introduced, being fearful of the injurious consequences to their interest, and contrived to instil into the emperor a jealousy of the new sect. It is related of one of the Portuguese priests, that having met on the road one of the counsellors of state, the haughty prelate would not allow his chair to stop, according to the fashion of the country, in order to pay respects to the great man, but commanded his men to pass on without even showing him common marks of civility. This neglect inspired the nobleman with an unconquerable hatred of the Portuguese; and, in an interview with the emperor, he gave such an odious picture of the insolence, pride, and vanity of the whole nation, as raised the emperor’s, indignation to the highest pitch. In 1586 a proclamation was issued by the emperor, forbidding any of his subjects, under pain of death, to embrace the Christian religion; and the same year began the persecution, which is the most sanguinary every recorded in any age or country. Several converts were executed for disobeying the imperial commands; and, [7:12:520]according to the letters of the Jesuits, more than twenty thousand persons suffered death in the year 1590. Still the converts increased, for in 1591 and 1592, after all the churches had been shut up, twelve thousand new converts were made. In 1597 a new persecution was raised against the Christians, and twenty-six persons, including Jesuits, and several of the Franciscan fathers, were executed on the cross. It happened that the crown was about this period usurped by an adventurer of the name of Ijejas, whose doubtful title conspired with his fears and jealousy of the Christians to render him a cruel persecutor. He issued a proclamation, strictly forbidding the Portuguese missionaries any longer to preach the Christian faith; and directing all the governors, princes, and lords in the several provinces of the empire, to induce their subjects, either by force or persuasion, to renounce the Christian and adopt their former faith. The monks and priests already in the country were banished, and the Portuguese were strictly forbidden to bring any more of them to Japan. These orders, however, were not at first rigidly enforced. The Jesuits could not be persuaded to quit a country where their labours had been so successful in gaining both wealth and proselytes; and fresh supplies of ecclesiasties were still brought from the Portuguese settlements. But the rashness of the Francisean friars, who were ambassadors at the imperial court, and who insisted on openly preaching in the streets of Miaeo, and built a chapel, in direct opposition to the edict that had been published, hastened the total ruin of the Portuguese interests in Japan. Many were also disgusted by their ambition and covetousness, when they saw that these spiritual fathers aimed fully as much at the possession of money and lands as the salvation of souls. From all these various causes a dreadful persecution was commenced against the Christians, who were put to death without mercy wherever they were found. This persecution lasted forty years, and, after the cruel butehery of thousands, ended at last in the total extirpation of the Christian faith, the ruin of the trade, and the final expulsion of the Portuguese and Castillians from Japan. It was long before this last severe measure was resolved on, as the Japanese, however intolerant in matters of religion, were still anxious to obtain the commodities of Europe; and they appointed the island of Desima, in the harbour of Nagasaki, as the residence of the Portuguese merchants. But the Dutch, who some time prior to the year 1600 had extended their navigation to these seas, were now the zealous competitors of the Portuguese and Spaniards for the eastern trade; and the two nations being at this time at war, were not scrupulous in using the most unworthy arts to supplant each other in the good opinion of the Japanese. It is asserted by Kaempfer that the Portuguese invented the most malicious stories in order to blacken the character of the Dutch, representing them as rebels and pirates, and altogether unworthy of trust. The Dutch on their part resorted to the same artifices, and with some suceβss. It is stated, that in a Portuguese ship which was taken by the Dutch, they found letters to the king of Portugal, written by one Captain Moro, a Japanese by birth, and a Christian proselyte, containing the scheme of a conspiracy for overthrowing the existing government. The Dutch were not slow to profit by this precious discovery. They immediately communicated the letters to the Japanese authorities. Captain Moro was arrested, and, notwithstanding the most earnest protestations of innocence, was burned alive. In proof of the Portuguese treason, intercepted letters were shown, disclosing, as was alleged, the whole plot against the emperor’s life and throne; the want the conspirators stood in of ships and soldiers, which were expected from Portugal; the names of the Japanese princes concerned in the conspiracy; and various other particulars, which were received as convincing evidence of this extensive treason. On this discovery the edict was forthwith issued, in 1637, forbidding, on pain of death, all intercourse with foreigners; prohibiting, under severe penalties, the propagation of the Christian religion, and the purchase of any article by a native of Japan from a stranger; banishing all the Portuguese to Macao and shutting out forever all other nations from the Japanese islands.

The Portuguese and Spaniards still lingered, in hopes of mitigation of this severe decree; but the Japanese court, being assured by the Dutch that they would supply them with European goods, proceeded to a rigorous execution of the edict, and from this period the trade of Japan has been entirely confined to the Dutch. An attempt to renew the trade, by sending an embassy from Macao, entirely failed, the ship being seized, and the crew executed, with the exception of twelve, who were sent back to their countrymen with an account of this tragical result, but who perished on their way home. It appears to have been chiefly by the intrigues of the Dutch that this great revolution was brought about. The persecutions to which the Portuguese were exposed might naturally enough have engaged them in plots against the Japanese government; but the whole story rests on the evidence of the Dutch, the rivals of the Portuguese, whom they were anxious to ruin, without much scrupling at the means of attaining their end; and in revealing the plot which produced an edict for the extirpation of the Christian faith, and the massaere and banishment of thousands of Europeans, it is plain that they were actuated by the basest motives.

By the ruin and expulsion of the Castillians and Portuguese from Japan, the Dutch acquired the monopoly of the trade, which they were so intent on securing that they cultivated the favour of the Japanese monarch by the most servile and criminal compliances. Their conduct was indeed most degrading. They made presents to the imperial court, of all the rare animals they could collect from the most remote quarters of the world; and they complied with all the commands of the emperor, however despotic or unjust. They were obliged, in 1638, to abolish their factory on the island of Firando, for no other reason but because it was built of hewn stones, and finer than the other buildings of the country, and because the Christian era was engraved on the front; and the part which they aeted in the massaere of the Japanese Christians at Siina-bara leaves a deep stain on the national character, proving as it does that the love of gain had extinguished every sentiment of humanity in the breasts of these traders. The Japanese Christians, by the unparalleled cruelties and torments to which they were exposed, were driven to despair; and they had retired, to the number of forty thousand, to a fortified place in the neighbourhood of Simabara, where they were resolved to defend themselves to the last extremity. The emperor requested the aid of the Dutch in the siege of this last stronghold, in the massaere of these Christians, and in the utter extirpation of the Christian name in Japan. This aid was at once afforded. A Dutch vessel of war was sent to batter the town, and a breach was made in the defences of these unfortunate refugees, through which their enemies entered and perpetrated a massacre unparalleled for enormity even in the blood-stained annals of the East. Aeeording to the information received by Dr Ainslie from the Japanese, they were prompted to this massacre by European intrigue; and the alacrity of the Dutch in lending their aid, joined to their hatred of the Portuguese, concurs to fix on them a deep share in this shocking atroeity. But they were far from recommending themselves to the Japanese by their treacherous conduct. “By this submissive readiness,” says Kaempfer, “ to assist the emperor in the execution of his designs with regard to the final destruction of Christianity in his dominions, [7:12:521]’ tis true indeed that we stood our ground so’far as to maintain ourselves in the country, and to be permitted to carry on our trade, although the court had then some thoughts of a total exclusion of all foreigners whatever. But many generous and noble persons, at court and in the empire, judged quite otherwise of our conduct, and not too favourably for the credit we had thereby endeavoured to gain. It seemed to them inconsistent with reason that the Dutch should ever be expected to be sincerely faithful to a foreign monarch, and one, too, whom they looked upon as a heathen prince, whilst they showed so much forwardness to assist him in the destruction of a people with whom they otherwise agreed in the most essential parts of their faith, as the Japanese had been informed by the Portuguese and Manilhese fathers, and to sacrifice to their own worldly interest those who followed Christ the very same way, and entered the kingdom of heaven through the same gate; expressions which I have often heard the natives make use of when the conversation happened to turn upon this subject. In short, our humble, complaisant, and obliging conduct notwithstanding, we were so far from bringing this proud and jealous nation to any greater confidence, or more intimate friendship, that, on the contrary, their jealousy and mistrust seemed to increase in proportion to the many convincing proofs of sincerity and faithfulness we gave them; and that the better we deserved of them, the more they seemed to hate and despise us, till at last, in the year 1641, soon after the total expulsion of the Portuguese, orders were sent us to quit our old factory at Firando, to exchange the protection of a good and indulgent prince for the severe and strict government of Nagasaki, and under a very narrow inspection to confine ourselves within that small island, I should rather say prison, which was built for the Portuguese.” In this island or prison, 600 feet long by 240 broad, the Dutch continue to carry on their trade, where they are guarded like thieves or pirates, and placed under the most degrading restrictions. Kaempfer gives a minute account of the guards that are placed over them, of the vigilance with which they are watched, of the daily musters that are made to see that none is amissing, of the extraordinary precautions employed to prevent the introduction of contraband goods, and of the sure penalty of death that follows the violation of the law. He gives an account of the punishment of two men, Japanese, who were detected with camphor concealed about their persons, which they had purchased from the Dutch, and who for this crime had their heads struck off by the common executioner; a deputy from the Dutch establishment being expected to attend at the execution, and to witness, for the instruction of himself and his companions, this wholesome example of severity. On one occasion, also, he relates that a Dutch sailor had thrown himself over board, and that when he did not appear at the daily muster the Japanese were all in despair, being terrified that it might be a Roman Catholic priest, and that he might have escaped into the country. “All the officers,” he observes, “ran about scratching their heads, and behaving themselves as if they had lost their senses; and some of the soldiers in the guard-ships were already preparing to rip open their bellies, before superior orders could compel them to answer for their carelessness and neglect of their duty.” It was not till the man’s body was got up from the bottom of the sea that this alarm began to subside.

The moment the Dutch vessels are seen steering for the harbour by the spy-guards with their glasses, the system of vigilance begins. The ship is boarded by three persons from the Dutch factory, and the public interpreter, and the deputies from the governor, demand forthwith the list of the cargo and crew, also the letters on board, which are carried to Nagasaki, where they arc examined by the governors. On entering the harbour, two guard-boats, with a number of soldiers on board, are placed on each side of her, and continued in their position, the guards being regularly changed till her departure. All arms, namely, guns, cutlasses, swords, and also the ship’s stock of gunpowder, are given into the custody of the proper officers. The persons and trunks of the sailors are all searched with the utmost strictness, also every corner of the vessel; and the different packages arc rigidly examined. All the approaches to the island in which the Dutch are settled are strictly guarded, both day and night, by officers appointed for the purpose. There is a company or corporation of interpreters, amounting to one hundred and sixty, who also do the duty of spies; and during the time of the annual sale the vigilance of all these functionaries is redoubled. Those who come to trade with the Dutch must submit to a strict search of their persons before they are admitted within the gates leading to their residence. No letters can either be sent or received unless they are previously entered in a register book, and a copy left with the governors.

The Chinese, who are admitted to trade along with the Dutch, are subjected to similar restrictions. They formerly carried on a free intercourse with Japan; but it was intimated to the Japanese that the Jesuits, after their expulsion from the country, had experienced a most friendly reception in China, and it was discovered that several of their books had been brought over by the Chinese and privately sold. This, together with the vast influx of the Chinese into Japan, raised the jealousy of the emperor and the court, and the Chinese were finally laid under the same restraints as the Dutch.

The goods chiefly imported into Japan are raw silk from China, all sorts of silk and woollen stuffs, coarse cotton stuffs, woollen cloth from Europe, hides raw and tanned, sugar, coffee, spices of all kinds, quicksilver, cinnabar, saffron, lead, saltpetre, borax, musk, gums, coral, amber, various articles of glass, and iron, lead, tin. The returns are chiefly made in copper, and along with it camphor, lackered ware, painted paper, and other articles of comparatively little moment. The trade of the Dutch and the Chinese with Japan was formerly very extensive. From the year 1611 to the year 1671 the speculations of the former were unrestricted, and their profits were enormous. According to the account of Kaempfer, the Dutch gradually fell into discredit with the Japanese; their commerce was curtailed, they were subjected to ignominious treatment, their profits were diminished, and the trade is now confined to two annual ships, which sail from the port of Batavia. The Chinese send annually ten junks to the port of Nagasaki, the only port which is open to foreigners.

In 1814, when the island of Java was in possession of the British, Sir Stamford Raffles, the governor, distinguished on all occasions by his enlightened zeal for the interests of science and of social improvement, was deeply impressed with the importance ι of opening a commercial intercourse with the Japanese, and of acquiring for Britain a participation in the trade hitherto monopolised by the Dutch. The Japanese islands, containing, according to his estimate, about twenty-five millions of inhabitants, who require woollens, hardware, iron manufactures, and glass, besides many other articles, might, he justly conceived, afford a very extensive market for British goods. With this view, when the time arrived for the annual visit of the Dutch to Japan, he joined two other gentlemen in the mission, one of whom was Dr Ainslic, for the purpose of obtaining accurate information respecting the Japanese, and the Dutch establishment in Japan. He confirms all the previous accounts that had been received of the narrow and exclusive policy of the government, in consequence of which few op [7:12:522]portunities were afforded of a free communication with the natives. The commissioners, however, who were sent to Japan by Sir Stamford Raffles, state that the character of the Japanese had been greatly misrepresented by the Dutch for their own selfish purposes, and through fear of being interfered with by any other of the European states. So far from being a bigoted and intolerant race, as they are represented, they appeared to be remarkable for frankness of manner and disposition, for intelligence and the spirit of inquiry; and, in regard to religion or superstitious prejudices, to be perfectly inoffensive. The British commissioners were strongly of opinion that the commercial restrictions did not so much arise from the limitations or from the laws of the Japanese, as from the constitution of the Dutch factory. It is the interest of the resident and other functionaries to narrow the trade, that they may secure a larger profit for themselves; and, living at a distance from control, with a limited salary, they are compelled to scramble for every petty advantage to themselves, to the neglect of the general interests and prosperity of trade. From the degraded state of the Dutch factory, and the corruptions which prevail, the national character of this commercial people is lowered in the eyes of the Japanese, at whose hands they endure every species of humiliation. They prostrate themselves not only to the emperor, but also to the inferior chiefs, for which they are despised by the Japanese, as well as for all the other mean compliances which they submit to, rather than run the risk of sacrificing the trade. It was indeed intimated by the Japanese interpreters to Dr Ainslie, that the Dutch were the secret instigators of the massacre of the Christians at Simabara, and it is certain that they lent their active aid in that bloody transaction. The English commissioners were most courteously received in Japan; the people evinced the most earnest desire to communicate with them; their presents were even graciously received by the emperor; and, from this auspicious commencement, the most favourable hopes were entertained of a closer and more friendly intercourse with this singular people. But the surrender of Java to the Dutch put an end to all these expectations of extended trade; and the intercourse with Japan has since been continued on its former footing, all competitors having beep, as heretofore, rigidly excluded.

Various attempts have been made by the Russians to open an intercourse with these islands, from their establishments along the eastern coast of Asia. But all friendly overtures with a view to a commercial intercourse have been decidedly rejected. In 1792 a deputation arrived from Japan at Okhotzk, requesting,the aid of the Russians to extricate some unfortunate Japanese who had been thrown upon the desolate island of Oonalaska. The Russians were extremely ready in lending their aid in the cause of humanity, and the Japanese expressed the utmost gratitude for the services which they rendered them. The opportunity was deemed favourable for renewing the offer of commercial intercourse, and Captain Laxmann was sent, by orders of the empress, to that part of the coast of Jesso or Matsmai which is occupied by the Japanese. He was kindly received, and loaded with presents; but all commercial intercourse was steadily rejected. In 1814 Count Krensenstern, despatched to Japan on a similar errand, met with no better success. He was peremptorily told, by orders of the emperor, that his subjects traded only with the Dutch and the Chinese; and from the moment that he and his attendants arrived, they were exposed, as has already been related, to every possible ignominy, through the influence of the Dutch factory, jealous of competition; and they were finally requested to return to their own country, as they valued their lives, and never to come back. Since this time Captain Golownin, who was enticed on shore and detained in a severe captivity by the Japanese, reports that they are extremely jealous of the ascendency both of the Russians and of the English in the East, from the establishments of the Russians along the northern, and of the English along the southern coasts of Asia. These jealousies, there is every reason to suppose, are fostered by the Dutch, who alone have access to the Japanese, and who have even persuaded them that the Europeans are intent on adding Japan to the other extensive conquests which they have acquired in the East. At present, therefore, there is no prospect of any change in the exclusive policy of this singular people. They are even more rigid in their maxims of exclusion than the Chinese, who, through the free port of Canton, trade indiscriminately with all nations. But the Japanese confine the privilege of commerce to one port and to two nations, who either cannot or do not find it their interest to supply them with foreign produce to the extent which would be required if the existing restrictions were abolished. The cession of Java to the Dutch at the peace of 1814 is deeply to be regretted on this account, that it closed the door against all further communication of the British with Japan, and for ever frustrated the judicious and enlightened plans of Sir Stamford Raffles for promoting a free intercourse and a more extended trade with these islands. (r ∙)