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358 Pages·2009·6.32 MB·English

by  David Murray

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Title: Japan
Author: David Murray
Release Date: August 25, 2009 [Ebook 29798]
Language: English
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
JAPAN***
Japan
By
David Murray, Ph.D., LL.D.
Late Advisorto the JapaneseMinister ofEducation
Third Edition
London
T. Fisher Unwin
Paternoster Square
NewYork: G.P.Putnam'sSons
1896
CopyrightbyT.FisherUnwin,1894
(For Great Britain)
CopyrightbyG.P.Putnam'sSons,1894
(FortheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Contents
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
ChapterI.TheJapaneseArchipelago. . . . . . . . . . . . 5
ChapterII.TheOriginalAndSurvivingRaces. . . . . . . 21
ChapterIII.MythsAndLegends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
ChapterIV.FoundingTheEmpire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
ChapterV.NativeCultureAndContinentalInfluences. . . 68
ChapterVI.TheMiddleAgesOfJapan. . . . . . . . . . . 96
ChapterVII.EmperorAndShMgun. . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
ChapterVIII.FromTheAshikagaShMgunsToTheDeath
OfNobunaga. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
ChapterIX.ToyotomiHideyoshi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
ChapterX.TheFoundingOfTheTokugawaShMgunate. . 181
ChapterXI.ChristianityInTheSeventeenthCentury. . . . 193
ChapterXII.FeudalismInJapan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
ChapterXIII.CommodorePerryAndWhatFollowed. . . . 245
ChapterXIV.RevolutionaryPreludes. . . . . . . . . . . . 265
ChapterXV.TheRestoredEmpire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
AppendixI.ListOfEmperors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
AppendixII.ListOfYearPeriods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
AppendixIII.ListOfShMguns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
AppendixIV.LawsOfShMtokuTaishi. . . . . . . . . . . 331
Footnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

[iii]
Preface.
It is the object of this book to trace the story of Japan from
itsbeginningstotheestablishmentofconstitutionalgovernment.
Concernedasthisstoryiswiththeperiodofvagueandlegendary
antiquityaswellaswiththedisordersofmediævaltimeandwith
centuries of seclusion, it is plain that it is not an easy task to
present a trustworthy and connected account of the momentous
changes through which the empire has been called to pass. It
would be impossible to state in detail the sources from which I
havederivedthematerialforthiswork. Iplacefirstandasmost
important a residence of several years in Japan, during which I
became familiar with the character of the Japanese people and
withthetraditionsandeventsoftheirhistory.Mostoftheworks
treatingofJapanduringandpriortotheperiodofherseclusion,
aswellasthemorerecentworks,Ihavehadoccasiontoconsult.
They will be found referred to in the following pages. Beyond
[iv] all others, however, I desire to acknowledge my obligations
to the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan. A list of
the contributors to these transactions would include such names
as Satow, Aston, Chamberlain, McClatchie, Gubbins, Geerts,
Milne,Whitney,Wigmoreandothers,whoseinvestigationshave
made possible a reasonably complete knowledge of Japan. The
Transactions of the German Asiatic Society are scarcely less
noteworthy than those of her sister society. To these invaluable
sources of information are to be added Chamberlain's Things
Japanese, Rein's Japan and the Industries of Japan, Griffis'
Mikado's Empire, Mounsey's Satsuma Rebellion, Dening's Life
ofHideyoshi,thepublishedpapersofProfessorE.S.Morse,and
thetwohandbookspreparedsuccessivelybyMr.SatowandMr.
Chamberlain.
Preface. 3
To friends who have taken an interest in this publication I
owe many thanks for valuable and timely help: to Dr. J. C.
Hepburn, who for so many years was a resident in Yokohama;
to Mr. Benjamin Smith Lyman of Philadelphia who still retains
hisinterestinandknowledgeofthingsJapanese;toMr. Tateno,
the Japanese Minister at Washington, and to the departments
of the Japanese government which have furnished me material
assistance.
In the spelling of Japanese words I have followed, with a
few exceptions, the system of the Roman Alphabet Association
(RMmaji Kai) as given in its published statement. I have also
had constantly at hand Hepburn's Dictionary, the Dictionary
of Towns and Roads, by Dr. W. N. Whitney, and Murray's
HandbookofJapan,byB.H.Chamberlain. In accordancewith [v]
these authorities, in the pronunciation of Japanese words the
consonants are to be taken at their usual English values and the
vowelsattheirvaluesinItalianorGerman.
DAVIDMURRAY.
BellAtKyoto
4 Japan
[001]
Chapter I. The Japanese
Archipelago.
The first knowledge of the Japanese empire was brought to
Europe by Marco Polo after his return from his travels in China
inA.D.1295.HehadbeentoldinChinaof“Chipangu,1 anisland
towardstheeastinthehighseas,1500milesfromthecontinent;
andaverygreatislanditis. Thepeoplearewhite,civilized,and
well favored. They are idolaters, and are dependent on nobody.
And I can tell you the quantity of gold they have is endless;
for they find it in their own islands.” The name Chipangu is the
transliterationoftheChinesenamewhichmodernscholarswrite
Chi-pen-kue, by which Japan was then known in China. From
it the Japanese derived the name Nippon, and then prefixed the
term Dai (great), making it Dai Nippon, the name which is now
usedbythemtodesignate theirempire. Europeanstransformed [002]
the Chinese name into Japan, or Japon, by which the country is
knownamongthematpresent.
Marco Polo's mention of this island produced a great
impression on the discoverers of the fifteenth century. In
Toscanelli'smap,usedbyColumbusasthebasisofhisvoyages,
“Cipango” occupies a prominent place to the east of Asia, with
noAmericancontinentbetweenitandEurope. Itwastheaimof
Columbus, and of many subsequent explorers, to find a route to
thisreputedlyrichislandandtotheeasternshoresofAsia.
The islands composing the empire of Japan are situated in
the northwestern part of the Pacific ocean. They are part of the
long line of volcanic islands stretching from the peninsula of
1The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian; translated by Colonel Henry
Yule,C.B.Secondedition,London,1875,vol.ii.,p.235.
6 Japan
KamtschatkaonthenorthtoFormosaonthesouth.Thedirection
in which they lie is northeast and southwest, and in a general
waytheyareparalleltothecontinent.
ThelatitudeofthemostnorthernpointofYezois45°35',and
the latitude of the most southern point of Kykshk is 31°. The
longitude of the most eastern point of Yezo is 146° 17', and the
longitude of the most western point of Kykshk is 130° 31'. The
fourprincipalislandsthereforeextendthrough14°35'oflatitude
and15°46'oflongitude.
The Kurile islands2 extending from Yezo northeast to the
straits separating Kamtschatka from the island of Shumushu
[003] belong also to Japan. This last island has a latitude of 51° 5'
and a longitude of 157° 10'. In like manner the Rykkyk islands,
lyinginasouthwestdirectionfromKykshkbelongtoJapan.The
most distant island has a latitude of 24° and a longitude of 123°
45'. The wholeJapanese possessionstherefore extendthrougha
latitudeof27°5'andalongitudeof33°25'.
The empire consists of four large islands and not less than
threethousandsmallones.Someofthesesmallislandsarelarge
enoughtoconstitutedistinctprovinces,butthegreaterpartaretoo
small to have a separate political existence, and are attached for
administrativepurposestothepartsofthelargeislandsopposite
to which they lie. The principal island is situated between Yezo
onthenorthandKykshkonthesouth.
From Omasaki, the northern extremity at the Tsugaru straits,
to TMkyM, the capital, the island runs nearly north and south a
distanceofabout590miles,andfromTMkyMtotheShimonoseki
straitsthegreatestextensionoftheislandisnearlyeastandwest,
adistanceofabout540miles.Thatis,measuringinthedirection
ofthegreatestextension,theislandisabout1130mileslong.The
2These islands belonged to Russia until 1875, when by a treaty they were
cededtoJapaninexchangefortherightsofpossessionwhichsheheldinthe
islandofSaghalien.