Japanese Memories | Page 2

trees, with their dark foliage and deep shade, through which fairy gleams of light play between the branches.
When the Daimyos passed along the roads the route was cleared and no human being was permitted to show himself. These feudal lords were considered too great for mortal eyes to behold, and if by chance anyone met a Daimyo's procession, it was expected that he would immediately conceal himself behind the trees or bushes on pain of a prompt order of " Off with his head! " In every house along the road the doors and windows had all to be closed. The wives of the Daimyos resided mostly in Tokio, by the Shogun's orders, being kept there more or less as hostages.
Gradually the rule of the Shogun became quite unbearable. He had taken complete control of the Government, and never consulted the Emperor; he had collected an enormous military circle round him in Tokio, and by various large payments had induced merchants and men of all professions and crafts to settle there. His influence appears to have spread to the Samurai, who also by degrees got entire control over the Daimyos, since the latter, living in complete seclusion, took scarcely any exercise and were rarely seen or spoken to. Consequently they became physically and mentally weakened, until they were quite unfit to rule and unable to think or act for themselves. In spite of the power the Samurai exercised they still did obeisance to their lord, and always prostrated themselves in his presence. But they forced him to say and do all they demanded, and held his purse so tightly that he did not even know the extent of his wealth and possessions. They gave gifts in his name without his knowledge, except when the time came for him to be thanked. They built and enlarged his houses, and managed his affairs so completely that he himself became in the course of time merely a figure-head. As the Japanese idea of true dignity and greatness is a stoical endurance of pain and sorrow with no outward show of feelings, the Daimyo's face had under all circumstances to be entirely expressionless.
It is with the Province of Satsuma, in the South, that my reminiscences are chiefly concerned. This was one of the most important of the Provinces, whose Daimyo is said to have been formerly the richest and most powerful of all the barons; the ratio of his vassals among the population having been calculated at twentyfive per cent, as against five per cent, of the other Provinces. The inhabitants of Satsuma are fighting men of a typical seafaring kind, exceptionally strong in physique, who may be compared with an English type such as Charles Kingsley graphically described in " Westward Ho! " and other novels. " Rough diamonds " in plenty are to be found among them, besides an endless array of brilliant leaders and commanders in both Services. Among the soldiers I may mention the great Commander-in-Chief, Oyama, Nozu, Kiroki, etc.; and among naval men, the famous Togo (the Nelson of Japan), and countless well-known Admirals and Commanders. There is, in fact, an old saying among the men of Satsuma that if Japan were valued at one hundred pounds their Province would have to be estimated at half that price. So that, historically speaking, the Province is exceptionally interesting one of its most notable personalities having been the Daimyo Tokahiro Shimadzu, ancestor of Prince Tadashige and his brothers.
It was in Kagoshima, the capital of Satsuma, that the first service held by missionaries in Japan took place in the sixteenth century. But the Jesuits who had settled in the country, and more particularly in the South, became so powerful that the men of Satsuma began to resent their influence; and in consequence the door was gradually closed to all foreigners, Japan isolated herself, and for many years no Englishman could enter Satsuma, so prejudiced had the clan become against outside interference.
Long afterwards, however, the men of Satsuma encountered the English under very painful circumstances.
In 1863 Japan was in a ferment of unrest. The tyranny of the Shogun was becoming unendurable, and the clans of Satsuma and Choshu (an adjacent Province) conceived the notion of getting rid of the Shogun and investing the Emperor with full authority. This was reported to the Shogun and his adherents, and a large gathering of Daimyos was convened to take counsel on this matter.
At the height of the excitement the Duke of Satsuma's procession was passing along the road that led to Tokio, when a party of English people, including a missionary, Mr. Richardson, unwittingly crossed the path of the Daimyo and his retainers. They knew nothing of the ancient law by which the people were expected to clear the way and to conceal themselves. The Daimyo'