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UNIVERSITY
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IX.—Noies of a Journey in ike Island of Yezo in 1873 ; and on
the Progress ofJJeography in Japan. By ^ßTCr. Watson.
late Chargé d'Affaires in Japan.
[Beady March 23rd, 1874.]
In the course of last summer I had an opportunity of passing
six weeks in the island of Yezo, the most northerly of the
three chief islands of Japan, and of making a journey of about
300 miles in the interior. As the route I passed over is included
in that of Captain Blakiston, a detailed description of which was
read before this Society in 1872, I should not have thought
of inviting your attention so soon again to Yezo, but for the
marked changes which have occurred in that island, and the
discoveries which have been made there since the date of
Captain Blakiston's journey. To an account of these changes
and discoveries I shall mainly confine my remarks. Yezo,
though one of the three main islands of Japan, is placed on
a different footing from that of all the other portions of the
Mikado's dominions which lie to the south of it. It is con¬
sidered rather to be a colonial possession, and its entire adminis¬
tration is placed in the hands of a distinct office, called the Yezo
Colonization Department, which has its head-quarters at Tokei
or Yedö, and the Chief of which is likewise the Governor-
General of Yezo. Although the island of Yezo may, perhaps,
be somewhat larger than Ireland, the number of its inha¬
bitants, as estimated by the Japanese authorities, does not
exceed 124,000, of which number about 16,000 is assigned to
the Ainos or aboriginal population of Yezo and the islands
adjoining it to the nqjjth. Of these islands, that of Saghalien
has of late years been to some degree colonised by Eussia, as
being to a great extent uninhabited land, although a portion
of that island has been always claimed by Japan and is still
occupied by Japanese. It was probably the colonisation of a
part of Saghalien by a foreign Bower, and the fear of the plea
of non-occupation being likewise set up in favour of the occupa-
Watson'ä Notes of a Journey in the Island of Yezo^ Sfc. 133
tion of a portion of Yezo, which induced the Japanese Govern¬
ment some three years ago to concert an extensive scheme,
with the object of opening up this island and colonising it from
the central and southern districts of Japan, Accordingly the
Japanese representative in the United States was instructed to
enter into engagements with a number of American scientific
ofiScers, who arrived in Japan two years ago and were placed at
the disposal of the Yezo Colonisation Department. The chief
of this mission, General Capron, at once set about the task of
developing the resources of that island. He established at
Yedo three model farms, and took measures for obtaining stock,
seeds, grasses, and plants from America, with the object of their
being introduced into the northern island of Japan.
In the spring of 1872 he and the gentlemen with him pro¬
ceeded to Hakodate and began to explore the island which was
to be the scene of their operations. Previously to their arrival
the Japanese authorities had established the future seat of
government of Yezo at a locality called Saporo, distant about
140 miles from Hakodate, and about 20 from Utarunai, the
nearest port on the Western coast. At this spot a town,
covering about a mile square, has sprung up within the last
three years, and an excellent road has been constructed by
American engineers connecting it with either coast.
The first section of this road extends from Hakodate to Mori,
on Volcano Bay, and is 30 miles in length. There then occurs
a break in the continuity of the roàd, and at Mori one has the
choice of going round the bay to Endermo, some 60 miles, by
the old Japanese mountain-path, or of crossing the bay in a
junk or open boat, or by the steamer which plies twice a month
cither way across. Of the country between Hakodate and Mori
I need not give a detailed description, as I find it has already
been described in the ^Journal' of this Society by Captain
Forbes, e.n. I would only remark that the cuttings which
have been necessitated for the construction of the new road
have afforded much insight into the geological formation of the
region. The country for many miles is overlaid with several
ranges of pumice which has been from time to tipie thrown out
by the overhanging volcano of Homogataki, The relative
tiepth of the layers of pumice affords the means of arriving
approximately at the respective dates of the successive eruptions
of the volcano. At some points of the cutting there are irom
five to six inches of mould above the latest stratum of pumice,
below which again there are some 18 inches of mould, and then
another substratum of pumice.
The last eruption of the volcano is said to have occurred
eighteen years since, and therefore it may be inferred, assuming
134 Watson'ä Notes of a Journey in the Island of Yezo^ Sfc.
the correctness of this date, that there was a previous eruption-
about sixty years before. From this it will be perceived that
Yezo enjoys no exemption from the volcanic influences which
make themselves so often and so markedly felt in other regions
of Japan.
Opposite to the village of Mori, on the further side of Vol¬
cano Bay (which is about 20 miles in breadth), is situated the
admirable harbour of Edomo, or Endermo, or Moraran, one of
the finest natural harbours which could be anywhere met with.
From the entrance to the innermost point is a distance of about
7 miles, and in the middle of the entrance is a small island^
which, were it fortified, would completely command the ap¬
proach to the harbour. As Èndermo possesses such manifest
natural advantages, and is, moreever, situated on the mainland
of Yezo (Hakodate being on a tongue), it seems somewhat sin¬
gular that the Japanese Government, in framing their scheme
for opening up the island, should have overlooked the facilities
which would be afforded towards the realisation of that scheme,
by transferring to Endermo the seat of the loc^l government,
which is now at Hakodate, and by opening the former port to
foreign commerce. Endermo is equally accessible with Hako-
♦ date from Yedo and Yokohama, and were shipping to go there
direct a manifest economy would,be effected to persons engaged
in trading transactions, in the saving of the 30 miles of land-
passage from Hakodate to Mori, and in avoiding the conveyance
of goods across Volcano Bay. These considerations are so
manifest that, should Yezo ever become settled to any con¬
siderable extent, Endermo must of necessity supersede Hako¬
date. At Endermo the road to Saporo recommences, and
continues to that place, first along the coast for 45 miles, and
then in an almost direct line through the forest which covers
the hills for a similar distance. The entire distance lies through
a region clothed with the richest vegetation, the neighbouring
hills being covered with splendid forests, containing trees of the
most serviceable varieties—the oak, maple, walnut, birch, and
pine being prominent amongst them, whilst the geniality of the
climate is attested by the presence of the magnolia and other
trees, natives of southern or tropical countries. This contrast
of trees forms, indeed, one of the most marked features in.
Japanese scenery. Everyone who has passed through the
Inland Sea must have been struck by the unusual combination
of pines and cedars on the one hand, with palm-trees and
bamboos on the other. To the right of the first half of this
' road from Endermo, and lying between it and the Pacific Ocean,,
are a number of the Ainos' villages, all more or less counter¬
parts of each other. The houses or huts, which are covered
«
Watson's Notes of a Journey in the Island of Yezo^ 13^
over with straw on the walls as well as on the roofs, are ranged
round a square, on one side of which there is a large »'oil-
pressing house, from which thé dried fish is taken to be exposed
in the adjoining square when the oil has been extracted. The '
fish (sardines), after having been dried in the sun, is exported
to serve as manure. An Aino village is almost invariably built
on the sea-shore, and in each village there is an elevated look¬
out post, perched on strong poles, from which the approach of a
shoal of fish may be discerned. There is also another lower
look-out in the village, from which warning may be given of
the approach of bears. Each Aino hut has but one outer door
and no windows, but there is a hole in the roof to admit of the
escape of smoke. The hut is divided into two compartments,
the inner being larger than the outer one, and being piled
round with fuel, dried fish, and utensils fur cooking, &c. The
Ainos' food is fish, roots, and venison. There is in each hut a
loom, and on the whole the interior presents more appearance
of comfort than one would expect from the rough appearance of
the Ainos themselves. The women carry the children strapped
on their backs, the front of the strap passing over the mother's
forehead. The women wear their hair cut short at the back
of the neck, and their upper and lower lips are tattooed and
stained in imitation of moustaches. The married women do not
%
adopt the Japanese married women's custom of blackening the
teeth. The Ainos have a very peculiar mode of equitation,
balancing themselves on the horse's bare back, their legs dan¬
gling on a level with his neck. They are well-grown men, with
good features, and an immense quantity of coarse black hair
covering nearly all parts of the person. The men wear coats
of bark. ....
The origin of the Aino race, which, like other wild races, is
said to be fast disappearing, is a disputed question. Japanese
records prove them to have at one time inhabited districts as
far southwards as Yedo, and they are known to have even
recently existed in considerable numbers in the province of
Sendai; but now they are confined to Yezo, Saghalien, and
the Kurile Islands. M. Goskavitch, formerly Eussian Consul-
General at Hakodate, the Abbé Mermet, and M. Sindau, have
devoted much attention to this subject, but the absence of any
Aino written language reduces its investigation almost to con¬
jecture. They are a remarkably strong race and are indi¬
vidually very courageous, though collectively in abject terror
of the Japanese. Their language is mellifluous, and their
manners are gentle towards strangers, abject to Japanese officials.
Though formerly oppressed, they have been better treated since
the revolution of 1808. They worship the sun and the idea of
136 Watson's Notes of a Journey in the Island of Yezo, Sçc,
a Japanese power which means merely force : they likewise
adore their ancestors. They have no idea of computation, and
refer dates to certain events, such as the catching of a whale or
the advent of a great shoal of fish.
The Ainos have not escaped the attention of the Japanese
Government, in their efforts towards the reconstruction of all
things throughout the empire. The scheme as affecting the
Ainos is said to provide that they shall be civilised by Japanese
wives. There is in the Yezo Colonisation Department a school
at which 50 Japanese girls (daughters of officials) are being
educated at the public expense by Dutch instructresses. These
girls are, I was told at the school, destined to be the wives of
Ainos. This is—supposing the scheme to be carried out—as
if a number of girls were to be taken from a London ladies'
school, and sent to be married to Gaelic-speaking Celts of
Connemara. It is to be regretted that up to the present time
no foreigner should have undertaken the task of mastering the
Ainos' language, but it may be hoped that ere long one or
other of our Japanese scholars will turn his attention to a study
which could not fail to throw much light on the comparative
• philology of that region of the world.
The road from Endermo to Saporo leads over several con¬
siderable streams, \at which one may have excellent fly-fishing,
and some idea of the amount of game which sportsmen would
find in Yezo may be gathered from the fact that 30,000 pairs of
deers' horns are each year exported from Hakodate. From the
point at which the road leaves the sea-coast it leads, through
continuous vegetation, to Saporo, the traveller at one time
passing through miles clothed with lily-of-the-valley, and at
another through fields of wild roses in bloom. The town of
Saporo, being built entirely of wood, presents a much more
finished appearance than a town of such recent date could pre¬
sent under other circumstances. It is coimected by a small
canal with the Ishikari Eiver, which is 15 miles distant-
The main industry now apparent in Saporo is the preparation
of wood, two steam sawmills being constantly in operation under
American superintendence. The forests of Yezo constitute one
of the chief sources of the wealth which might be obtained from
the island. It is estimated that, by a total outlay on setting
up machinery of about 5Ü00Z., there might be prepared daily
in these forests a quantity of timber worth ^out 250Z., or
78,OOOZ. worth in the working year of 312 days, less the cost of
working tlie machinery for ten hours daily; and the above
figures might be doubled were the machinery worked by two
relays of men in the twenty-four hours. According to the esti¬
mates which result from inquiries instituted by General Capron,
Watson's Notes of a Journey in the Island of Yezo^ 8çc, 137
one average acre of Yezo forest may contain about 42,500 feet
of planking. It will thus be seen that a grant, say of lOOO acres,
would afford the elements of very considerable profits; and
when it is considered that these profits extend over an area
perhaps equivalent nearly to that of Ireland, it will be seen
what an extensive resource the Japanese G-overnment possess
at their command in the forests of Yezo alone. I may add
that, whilst this source of wealth continues undeveloped, timber
of qualities similar to that found in Yezo is being each year
imported into .Japan from Oregon, and' elsewhere in the United
States, over a distance of between 5000 and 6000 miles. Timber,
of qualities which might be procured in Yezo, is likewise being
constantly brought from the United States to Hong-kong.
The natural development of its forests is perhaps the most
obvious, but it is by no means the sole, source of the wealth
which might be produced in Yezo. I travelled for some short
«distance up the Ishikari Eiver, and then proceeded down the
river to its mouth, where I had an opportunity of seeing the
establishments there, connected with the salmon and other
fisheries. Salmon and other fish are caught in the rivers and
on the coasts of Yezo in enormous abundance. Salmon is there
so cheap as scarcely to have a price, according to our idea of
the word ; and I was told by an English merchant of Hakodate
that, were the fisheries of Yezo open to foreign enterprise, tins
of prepared salmon, which would now sell in.London for about
9d., might be placed in London for about per tin. As it is,
the fisheries of Yezo, as at present managed on behalf of the
Japanese Government, although they even now supply a great
portion of the revenue derived from the island, afford but a
very small proportion of tlie revenue which under better manage¬
ment ought to be extracted from them. The revenue system
adopted is that the Government receive one fish in so many,
and, in order to ensure that the Government should receive its
due proportion of fish, there is employed at the fisheries a host
of Government officials. As one of the American officers ex¬
pressed it to. me, in answer to my inquiries, " Sir, there's an
official for every fish caught."
In addition to its forests and fisheries, Yezo possesses a
source of future wealth in its mineral productions. I had an
opportunity of travelling on the Ishikari River with Mr. Lyman,
the geologist of General Capron's Mission, and who was formerly
employed by the Government of India in surveying the Pun-
jaub in search of petroleum. He informed me that he had
found in different parts of Yezo traces of silver and lead, man¬
ganese, iron-pyrites, iron-sand, copper, zinc, rock-oil, and gyp¬
sum, as well as sulphur in abundance. By far the most
138 Watson's Notes of a Journey in the Island of Yezo^ 8çc. '
important mineral production of Yezo, howaver, consists in its
fields of coal. As the mines of Iwanai have been described by
Captain Blakiston, I need not go over the same ground, Mr.
Lyman, at the time I met him (in July last), seemed to think
it probable that these coal-fields might be found to contain^
perhaps, 3,000,000 tons in each layer, there being six transverse
layers. I was'also informed, subsequently to my leaving Yezo,
that Mr. Lyman had lately discovered vast fields of coal on or
near the Ishikari Kiver. The Yezo coal, though not of the
finest description, is perfectly serviceable for steaming purposes,
and were these coal-fields thrown open to the general markets
of the world, there can be little doubt that, from their accessible
situation, their produce would be in great request, and would, '
whilst affording large returns to Japan, greatly cheapen the
price of coal on Eastern seas.
It may naturally be asked why, if such be the resources of
Yezo, are they not turned to immediate practical account? I
shall endeavour to explain the political conditions which over¬
rule the commercial interests of the island. Yezo is, in
common with the rest of Japan, a closed land to all foreigners
beyond what are known as the Treaty Limits, that is to say,
beyond a distance of 30 miles from Hakodate, which is the
only open port in Yezo ; so that, until the restriction on the free
admission of foreigners into the interior be removed, foreign
independent enterprise and capital must alike be excluded from
everywhere but the one open port—a state of things which is the
more to be regretted on account of the existingTmanagement of
the island. It would be easy to cite numerous instances which
came under my own observation, as well as many more which
were repeated to me, showing how money may be thrown away ;
but one instance will serve as a sample of many. The Japanese
administrators in Yezo, with other branches of the foreign
civilisation which they have adopted, have not overlooked the
custom of giving out contracts to persons who may have the
pieans of making themselves believed in by men in power. It is
on this hypothesis alone that I can explain the existence of four
admirable breakwaters which I saw : one at Mori, on Volcano
Bay ; and three near the mouth of the Ishikari River. The
one at Mori, which I paced, is 500 yards in length, and is said
to have cost the Government 80,000 dollars, yet at the extreme
end of this pier the depth of water is only 7 feet, so that not
even a junk, far less a steamer, can, even in the most favour¬
able state of the tide, be brought alongside it to be loaded.
For all practical purposes the pier might as well have been
constructed in the interior of the country. The three piers on
the Ishikari River afford even a more striking example of mis-
Watson 5 Notes of a Journey in the Island of Yezo^ 139
management, to say the least. Near the mouth of the river
in question there is on one side of the stream a depth of from
70 to 80 feet of water, whilst at the other side the depth for
some distance from the shore does not exceed from 7 to 10 feet,
yet the piers are on the shallow side of the stream. The re¬
strictive policy of the Japanese Government with regard to
foreigners—which is applicable to Yezo as to the rest of Japan
—is not now, at any rate, dictated by any antipathy to foreigners,
but solely by the reluctance of the Japanese Government to
extend beyond its present limits the extra-territorial jurisdic-
. tion which treaty powers exercise over their respective subjects
or citizens throughout the dominions of the Mikado. The
Japanese Government has announced its willingness to admit
foreigners freely into all parts of Japan on the sole condition
that, whilst beyond the present treaty limits, they are to be
subject to Japanese jurisdiction ; but this condition the Treaty
Powers have not accepted. It may reasonably be hoped, how¬
ever, that ere long some compromise will be arrived at which,,
while it will save the susceptibilities of the Japanese Govern¬
ment, will at the same time afford the Treaty Powers a suffi¬
cient guarantee for the full protection of the persons and pro¬
perty of their respective subjects throughout the interior of
Japan. Whenever the period arrives that shall see Yezo opened
to foreign colonisation, I should imagine that its excellent
climate and great resources would attract to it a fair share of
European immigration. Its climate, though considered by the
Japanese to be too rigorous, is admitted by Europeans to be
excellent. Throughout the month of June last, and up to the
4th of July, I was glad to sit over a fire even at noon, and to
sleep under a thick quilt at night. The Japanese are so averse
to subjecting themselves to what ^they call the rigour of the
Yezo winter, that many thousands of fishermen, labourers, and
others, who come to Yezo from other islands for the summer
months, quit it for their homes on the approach of winter ; but
winter, in an island which produces rice, hemp, and maize,
would scarcely seem formidable to Europeans.
The entire island of Yezo is now being surveyed under the
direction of Mr. Wasson, one of General Capron's officers. I
visited his field establishment at Yubutz, and he informed me
that he hoped that by the end of the present year (1874) his
operations would be so far advanced as to admit of his laying
down accurately the more prominent points of Yezo, and framing
for the first time a correct outline map of the island. His
labours will, no doubt, in due time be appreciated by this Society.
I returned from Saporo, or rather from the mouth of the
Ishikari Kiver, to Hakodate by the western coast, passing several
\
140 Watson*5 Notes of a Journey in the Island of Yezo^
considerable ports, in one of which, Utamnai, I counted 102
junks. The coast for a great distance is faced .with abrupt
rocky cliffs, and nothing could be more delightful than the
scenery. The road above the cliffs winds over undulating
grassy ground, the forest being everywhere visible at a short
distance in the interior, and the villages are so numerous as to
make it difficult to believe that the Japanese authorities do not
greatly under-estimate the population of the island. I pre¬
sume that the explanation of the low figure at which it is
stated is, that the inhabitants of these villages quit them for
the adjoining island on the approach of winter, and are not
included in the census of Yezo.
The coast of the island of Yezo has within the last three
years been surveyed by Captain St. John, of Her Majesty's ship
Sylvia, The western coast of Yezo, and more particularly the
neighbourhood of Matsumai, has an interest of its own, as
liaving been the scene of the captivity and wanderings of Cap¬
tain Golownin, of the Russian navy, whose narrative of his
captivity in Japan during the years 1811, 1812, 1813, affords,
I think, in a greater degree than almost any other work a com¬
prehensive insight into the manners of the Japanese and into
their former governmental system. The work of Captain
Golownin is uniques of its kind, owing to the very peculiar cir-
oumstances under which it was written, in affording information
drawn at first hand, and not by hearsay, of Japanese manners
and customs. Captain Golownin, whilst on a surveying cruise
in the Northern Japanese waters, was treacherously taken
prisoner by the Governor of Kunashier, on account of some
depredations which had previously been committed on Japanese
soil by another Russian naval officer. Captain Golownin and
the three officers who had been seized along with him were
detained for twenty-six months at various places in captivity,
and it is most surprising that, under the very strict and con¬
stant surveillance to which he was subjected, he should have
found the means of registering the notes forming the basis of
his highly-interesting narrative. It affords alike an evidence
«of the amiability inherent in the Japanese character and of the
candid disposition of Captain Golownin in that, notwithstand¬
ing the treacherous circumstances which attended his capture,
he should express himself in terms of so much admiration of
the Japanese and of their institutions.
Having now concluded my remarks on the island of Yezo, I
will submit a few observations on the subject of geographical
progress in the empire of Japan in general. The Japanese
^Government are fully alive to the utility of having the whole
Watson'5 Notes of a Journey in the Island of Yezo^ 141
of the Mikado's dominions accurately surveyed by duly qualified
scientific ofiScers, and for this purpose they last year sent to
England their chief surveyor, Mr. Macvean, who was instructed
to engage the necessary officers and to procure the requisite^
instruments. How far Mr. Macvean may have proceeded in his
arrangements I have no means of knowing, as he had not re¬
turned to Japan at the date of my departure in December last.
Previously to his leaving Yedo he had been engaged in pre¬
paring a survey of that city, which work in his absence is now
being carried on by the subordinate English officers of the same
department.'
1 have already mentioned that the coasts of Yezo have been
surveyed by Her Majesty's ship Sylvia, and I should add that
other portions of the Japanese waters, more particularly of the
Inland Sea, have likewise been surveyed by British or French
surveying vessels. As the Japanese Government have recently
engaged the services of Commander Dpuglas, e.n., with forty-
one other officers, petty-officers, and seamen of the Eoyal Navy,^
as instructors in the Naval College at Yedo, and have esta¬
blished at that place a hydrographical department, it may be
hoped that, ere long, the Japanese will be perfectly compe¬
tent themselves to undertake the survey of such portions of
their coasts as may not have already been accurately laid down
on charts.
Apart from scientific geographical explorations properly so
called, there has of late years been in Japan an immense pro¬
gress in general acquaintance on the part of foreigners with all
regions of the country. Although the rule as originally framed
is still in operation, by which no foreigners, with the exception
of ministers and their suites, are permitted to travel in any
part of Japan outside the Treaty limits, yet, owing to a variety
of circumstances, foreigners of one or other nationality have
in fact visited nearly every province of the Mikado's dominions.
Her Majesty's first minister in Japan, Sir Kutherford Alcock,
whose valuable notes of travel throughout a very large portion
of the country are included in the ^ Journal ' of this Society,,
was the pioneer amongst modern explorers of that empire.
Her Majesty's present minister. Sir Harry Parkes, has likewise
travelled across the country, and visited all the most important
localities in it. The late minister of the United States, Mr.
De Long, travelled from a point on the main island opposite to-
Hakodate, overland to Yedo, a distance of some 500 miles.
In August 1867, Messrs. Mitford and Satow travelled across
country from Nanao, a harbour of the Prince of Kaga, on the
western coast, to Osaka, on the eastern. They passed through
the rich provinces of Kaga, Echizen—famous for silk and
142 Watson'ä Notes of a Journey in the Island of Yezo^
I
cutlery, the province of Ii Kamon no Kami, and the country
about Kioto. ïbis journey was performed without any escort,
these gentlemen throwing themselves on the hospitality of the
Daimios through whose dominions they passed, written receipts
for their persons being required and delivered at each frontier
post.
Probably no one has travelled more in the interior of Japan
than Dr. Willis, formerly physician to her Majesty's Legation,
and whose journeys have always been undertaken from motives
of charity. In the years 1868-69, he made a journey under
peculiarly difficult circumstances, in the depth of winter, in
order to attend the wounded troops at Wakamatsu, the capital
•of the rebel Prince of Aidzu, in the north of the main island,
which was then being besieged by the imperial troops. Amongst
the foremost Japanese travellers should be named Mr. Aston
and Mr. Wirgman.
The journeys of Mr. Adams are included in the records of
this Society, and two gentlemen of her Majesty's Legation,
Messrs. Lawrence and Satow, have been the first Europeans to
travel over and describe the mountain-road (the Nakasendo)
between Yedo and Kioto, the southern capital; the Tokaido^'
or sea-coast road between the two capitals, having been pre¬
viously explored. Mr. Lawrence's description of the Nakasendo
route is likewise in the possession of this Society.
The most famous mountains of the country have been, one
after the other, ascended by our countrymen : the peak, second
in fame to Fuzi Yama alone having been last year climbed and
measured by Mr. Lawrence. The resiilts of many of these
expeditions are now chronicled in the ' Journal of the Asiatic
Society of Japan,' which Society was founded about twenty
months ago, and their comparison will no doubt in due time
lead to the furtherance of the knowledge of the geography of
the country. The Japanese Government have in their employ¬
ment a very considerable number of foreigners, and an excep¬
tion is made in the case of these gentlemen to the rule which
prohibits foreigners in general from travelling in the interior
of the country. The result is that a large amount of scientific
and general information has been acquired through them re¬
specting the interior of Japan. A survey, for instance, has
been made of the line of country lying between Osaka and
Kioto, and of that between Lake Bewa and Tsuruga, on the
western coast, and likewise an inspection by Mr. Boyle, c.s.i.,
the chief engineer, of the route from Kioto to Yedo ; all of
these being with a view to the construction of railways between
these places, respectively. From what I have said, I think it
may be inferred, that-even should the present policy of con-
Watson'5 Notes of a Journey in the Island of Yezo^ 8fc. 143
ining foreigners in general within the Treaty limits be persisted
in, there are fair grounds for hoping that ere long the scientific
world will be in possession of tn® fullest geographical informa¬
tion of the Islands of Japan—an empire which so recent a
writer as Dean Swift coupled with the visionary regions of
Lilliput and Brobdingnag. There can be no doubt, however,
that geographical discovery in Japan would be greatly accele¬
rated were the country freely thrown open to foreign travellers,
. and the date at which it will be so is, I think I may say, merely
a question of a few months more or less.
Meanwhile, such foreigners as may have the privilege of tra¬
velling in any part of the interior of the country meet with the
utmost possible cordiality and good-will. All obstruction in
the way of the circulation of foreigners throughout the country
proceeds from the Government, and by no means from the
Japanese people. The state of things which I 'describe with
reference to the mutual relations between Japanese and
foreigners, is so opposite to that which notoriously existed
between them but a very few years ago, that persons whose
experience of Japan may not be of so recènt a date as my own,
may have some difficulty in realising that my description is not
over-coloured. ^
Facts, however, speak for themselves, and from one or two
which I may mention, I think you will draw but one conclusion.
When I arrived at Yedo, in May 1872,, I found at Her Majesty's
Legation a Japanese mounted escort for our protection, of forty-
three men ; and wherever any of us went, on foot or on horse¬
back, in the city of Yedo, or within a distance of many miles
around it, we could never, unless when in-doors, escape the
surveillance of these guards, whose liyes, had anything happened
to us, would have been forfeit for ours.
Being convinced that the anti-foreign feeling which had called
for such measures of precaution in the case of members of a
foreign Legation had almost entirely passed aw^ay, I readily met
the Japanese Government in a proposal that these guards
should be withdrawn; and within two months of my arrival
at Yedo they were so. From that time onwards I was in the
habit of going about Yedo in all directions, at any hour from
dawn till midnight, having no person whatsoever with me,
excepting a groom to hold my horse or to carry a lantern, if at
night. I slept, in summer, in a room with windows and doors
open. I never carried a stick or whip for defence, and never
once had my revolver loaded.
I have visited all of the seven Treaty ports, viz. : Yedo,
Yokohama, Hiogo, Osaka, Nagasaki, Niigata, and Hakodate;
and have further visited the southern capital, Kioto, and like-
«
r
144 Watson'ä Notes of a Journey in the Island of Yezo, ^c.
wise made a journey to the Tombs of the Tycoons at Nikko, in
addition to excursions in the neighbourhood of Yedo, and I may
say that in no country in the world in which I have travelled—
in Asia, Europe, or America—have I, wherever I went, been
received with such unmistakable and invariable welcome; whilst
I never, under any circumstances, was subjected to a single
unpleasant look or word.
Nor is this experience my own alone. I had ample oppor¬
tunities whilst in Japan of conversing with, or hearing from, or
of, such foreigners as were permitted to travel in the interior of
the country ; and so far as I know, the experience of one and
all, during the last two years, entirely coincided with my own.
Nor, I apprehend, is it in the least degree probable that the
present existing feeling of cordiality towards foreigners is of a
transient or ephemeral character. Such a supposition may be
at once rebutted by a reference to the statistical fact that
there are now under instruction some 430,000 Japanese on
the Western system of education, wliilst the number of youths
who are receiving instruction on the formerly adopted Chinese
system number only some 300 in the entire city of Yedo.
The rising generation are being taught to sit on chairs, to
write at benches, thoroughly to understand English, and to
master the various branches of Western education.
Such being the case, it may, I think, fairly be assumed that
the interior of Japan will not long remain a region into which
foreigners are forbidden to enter. Many persons seem to con¬
sider that the progress of new ideas and the adoption of Western
customs amongst the Japanese has been so unprecedentedly
rapid, that it therefore cannot be lasting ; but, whilst it must
be admitted that the history of the world furnishes no parallel
to the recent civil revolution in Japan, it should, I think, be at
the same time allowed that it would be contrary to the lessons
of history to expect that an empire, which has adopted such
institutions as those which Japan now possesses under a central
government, should revert to the feudal system.
For my own part, in so far as I may be capable of forming an
opinion, I entertain no apprehension whatsoever regarding the
stability of the present order of things in Japan. However
rapid may have been the progress onwards, that progress has
been continuous. Although the manners and customs, the laws
and institutions, of an ancient people, may not be changed
in a year, or in a decade, there has still, since the adoption of
Western civilisation was decided on, been a continuous advance
towards the goal in view ; and popular sentiment seems to go
hand-in-hand with the progressive statesmen of the country,—
with one instance of which feeling I may bring this paper to a
Lovett'ä Narrative of a Visit to the Kur-i-Kkwajah, 145
conclusion. As is well known, it has during many centuries
been the custom that Japanese nobles and gentlemen should,
whilst beyond the precincts of their houses, carry on their
persons the two swords which were the badges of their rank.
This custom, indeed, on the part of these privileged classes, had
become so ingrained in the ideas of the entire inhabitants, that
the Government, at a very recent period, expressed tliemselves
as believing, that were any order to be issued which should
prohibit the carrying of swords, such an order might cause a
. revolution. Accordingly no order on the subject was issued,
but the compromise was subsequently tried of issuing a Govern¬
ment notification to the effect that for the future the nobles
and ihQ^Smiurai need not, unlefes by their own preference,'
continue to wear their swords.
The result was that in an almost inconceivably short space of
time the usage of wearing swords was abandoned, and it is now
almost as unusual to meet in Yedo a Japanese wearing the old
two swords, as it is to meet a gentleman in London attired in
the Highland costume. Indeed, last year when the senior
Prince of Satsuma, who is at the head of the small anti-foreign
party in Japan, visited Yedo, with a large retinue of followers,
their now almost obsolete custom of carrying swords afforded so
constant a source of ridicule, as these Satsuma men passed
through the streets, that they soon found it convenient to
keep within doors. Their Prince, though still preserving his
antipathy to the intruders from the West, has established, at
Kagoshima, a medical school for the instruction of Japanese
youths by two foreign doctors, engaged by the Prince of Sat¬
suma; thus showing that even the head of the anti-foreign party
himself recognises the fact that, however unwelcome to the
ex-Daimos, of which he is the representative, the new order of
things in Japan must be accepted as being inevitable.