Japan Extolled and Decried: Carl Peter Thunberg's Travels in Japan 1775-1776

Citation preview

Japan Extolled and Decried This edition makes available once again Thunberg’s extraordinary writings on Japan, complete with illustrations, a full introduction and annotations. Carl Peter Thunberg, pupil and successor of Linnaeus—one of the great fathers of modern science—spent 19 fascinating months in the notoriously inaccessible Japan in 1775–76. This is his story. Thunberg studied at Uppsala University in Sweden where he was a favourite student of Linnaeus, formulator of modern scientific classification. He determined to travel the world and enlisted as a physician with the Dutch East India Company. He arrived in Japan in the summer of 1775 and stayed nineteen months. Thunberg observed Japan widely, and visited Edo (modern Tokyo), where he became friends with the shogun’s private physician, Katsuragawa Hoshū, a fine scholar but a notorious rake. They maintained a correspondence even after Thunberg had returned to his homeland. Thunberg’s ‘Travels’, written in Swedish, appeared in English in 1795 and until now has never been reprinted. Fully annotated and introduced by Timon Screech. Timon Screech is Reader in the History of Japanese Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, where he has taught since 1991. He is the author of numerous books (in both Japanese and English) on the culture of the Edo period.

Japan Extolled and Decried Carl Peter Thunberg and the Shogun’s Realm, 1775–1796 Annotated and introduced by

Timon Screech

LONDON AND NEW YORK

First published 2005 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006. “ To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/.”

© 2005 Timon Screech All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,without permission in writing from the publishers. The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibiliy or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-02035-9 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-700-71719-6 (Print Edition)

This edition is dedicated to my mother, Anne Reeve.

Contents List of plates in the Introduction

vii

Acknowledgements

x

Editor’s Introduction

1

Author’s General Preface

66 69

PART I Author’s Preface to Part I

70

1 Departure and arrival

72

2 Life in Nagasaki

81

3 Journey to the court in 1776

106

4 Residence in Edo, 1776

136

5 A description of Japan and the Japanese, I

157

PART II Author’s Preface to Part II

172

173

6 A description of Japan and the Japanese, II

174

7 Residence at Dejima previous to my return home

210

Explanation of the plates

Appendices Glossary

217

219

231

Notes

232

Bibliography

276

Index

283

Plates in the Introduction 1

Anon., illustration to Carl Peter Thunberg, Flora Japonica, 1784. Photo: Glenn Ratcliffe; SOAS, University of London

3

2

Anon., Obatake Bunjiemon (publisher), Nagasaki and Surroundings, 1778. Private Collection

9

3

Anon., View of the Bay of Shimonoseki in the Japanese Province of 11 Nagato. Chōfu Museum,Shimonoseki

4

Sutton Nicholls, Soho or King’s Square, 1754. The British Museum

13

5

Per Krafft the Younger, Carl Peter Thunberg at the Age of 65. Photo: Bo Gyllander; Uppsala University Art Museum Collection

15

6

Anon., illustration to Carl Peter Thunberg, Icones plantarum Japonicarum, 1794. The British Library

19

7

Anon., title page to Carl Peter Thunberg (Louis-Mattieu Langlès, trans.), Voyage de C.-P. Thunberg au Japon, 1796. Photo: Glenn Ratcliffe; SOAS, University of London

22

8

Martin Hoffman, Linnaeus in a Lapp Costume, 1737. Linnémuseet, 23 Uppsala

9

Benjamin West, Sir Joseph Banks, c. 1780. Usher Gallery, Lincoln 24

10 Anon., Portrait of Carl Peter Thunberg, c. 1790. Photo: Bertil Nordenstam; whereabouts unknown, formerly Tycho Norlindt Collection (?)

25

11 Page from J. van den Aveels et al., Suecia antiqua et hoderna, Vol.2, Stockholm, undated, 1723 (?). The British Library

30

12 Pehr Hilleström the Elder, Gustaf III Visits the Great Copper Mine 31 at Falun on 20th September, 1788. Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags AB, Falun 13 Tanba Tōkei, illustration to Masuda Kōen, Kodō zuroku, c. 1800. Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library

32

14 Katsushika Hokusai, illustration to Kanwatei Onitake, Wakanran zatsuwa, 1803. Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library

36

15 Katsushika Hokusai, illustration to Kanwatei Onitake, Wakanran zatsuwa, 1803. Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library

37

16 Morishima Chūryō, illustration to his Kōmō zatsuwa, 1787. National Diet Library, Tokyo

39

17 Satake Yoshiatsu (‘Shozan’), page from his sketchbook, Shasei chō, 1778. Senshū Museum of Art, Akita

40

18 Satake Yoshiatsu (‘Shozan’), Landscape with Lake, c. 1775. Senshū Museum of Art, Akita

41

19 Odano Naotake, Shinobazu Pond, c. 1775. Prefectural Museum, Akita

42

20 Anon., illustration to Hiraga Gennai, Butsurui hinshitsu, 1763. National Diet Library, Tokyo

44

21 Hosokawa Shigekata, paintings from his scrapbook, Mōkai kikan, 1760s. Eisei Bunko, Tokyo

45

22 Hosokawa Shigekata, paintings from his scrapbook, Mōkai kikan, 1760s. Eisei Bunko, Tokyo

46

23 Keisai Eisen, page from his Kōgō zatsuwa, 1823. Private Collection

47

24 Anon., illustration to Katsuragawa Hoshū, Hyōmin goran no ki, 1793. National Diet Library, Tokyo

49

25 Odano Naotake (transcribed), from Sugita Genpaku et al. (trans.), Kaitai shinsho, 1774. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

52

26 Anon., illustration to Lorenz Heister, Surgery, 1757. Wellcome Library, London

54

27 François Sesone, Portrait of Lorenz Heister, c. 1750. Wellcome Library, London

55

28 Anon., Shennong, c. 1650. Private Collection

56

29 Katsuragawa Hosan (attrib.), Portrait of Lorenz Heister, c. 1820. Private Collection

58

30 Kondō Shūen, frontispiece to Itō Keisuke (trans.), Taisei honzō meisō, 1829. Private Collection

60

Acknowledgements This book has been made possible through the generosity of several individuals and institutions. The Introduction and much of the text was prepared while I was a visiting scholar at the Department of East Asian Studies, New York University. I would like to thank Harry Harootunian and Keith Vincent for the invitation, and Matthew McKelway and Melanie Trede, all of whom made my stay so interesting and rewarding. The Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures offered financial assistance both at the beginning and end of the project. The staff of Special Collections in the Library of the School of Oriental and African Studies showed much forbearance in the face of my repeated requests. Latin was checked by M.A.Screech, and editorial assistance provided by Nicholas Sikorsky and Lucy Watts. Catharina Blomberg and Bertil Nordenstam were most generous with their advice. As ever, Zoo Murayama has tolerated the process from first to last, and assisted with numerous observations and ideas of his own.

Editor’s Introduction The purpose of this book is to bring to the critical attention of the reader the observations made by Carl Peter Thunberg (1743–1828) on his residence in Japan, in 1775–76, and to set these in their context. To experience that notoriously inaccessible country first-hand was rare, and significant enough for Thunberg to feel compelled to write a full account. On return to his native Sweden, in 1779, in addition to compiling a learned treatise on his specialisation, which was botany, he published a book of travels under the title of Resa uti Europa, Africa, Asia, förrättad åren 1770–1779. He had prefigured this with a twelvepage summary, now known only in a Russian translation of 1787 and a French one of 1789; this was Thunberg’s first essay on his experiences in Japan, and it is given here, with its own introduction, as Appendix 1. Thunberg’s full book, the Swedish Resa, had begun to appear in 1788. It is long and sparcely illustrated. Volumes 1 and 2 took Thunberg to the Dutch East Indies; the third volume, on Japan, appeared in 1791; the set was completed with a fourth volume containing more observations and the home-coming, in 1793. Swedish was not widely read, but translations of the Resa were soon prepared. First came a German version (much abridged) in 1792, then a fuller translation in 1792–94; the latter was read by the great poet Friedrich von Schiller, ‘with unusual interest’.1 An anonymous French translation appeared in 1794, and a second, fuller, though still compacted, French translation came out two years later, in fact twice, once in the original four-volume arrangement, once as two larger volumes; these were annotated and had several supplementary illustrations. An English translation, much more complete, and the basis of the present book, was published in 1793–95, entitled in direct rendition of the Swedish, Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa made during the Years 1770 & 1779. The translator of at least most of this is believed to have been Charles Hopton, a physician and medical writer based in London.2 Thunberg’s books—the botanical treatise and the Resa—were among the foremost sources of knowledge on Japan for Europeans of the Enlightenment age. Those living through the aftermaths of the American and French Revolutions turned to the Resa especially, for Thunberg consciously proposed Japan as an alternative model for a state regime, unlike the monarchies of Europe, and he provided much cultural and political matter, as well as offering a wide range of material related to his scientific interests of botany and agriculture. Thunberg was one of just a few hundred Europeans to witness Japanese life in the early-modern, or Edo Period (1603–1868). He was one of a much tinier handful to construct a compelling narrative of what he saw. He voyaged widely, but Japan was his ultimate goal and only the Japan sections of his Resa—or we may now call it his Travels—are reproduced here. From the beginning, the Japan parts most excited readers. Independent ‘Japan’ editions of the Travels were soon published, and that, I believe, justifies extraction of the Japan sections for reissue here.

Japan extolled and decried

2

Thunberg was not just a lucky traveller. He was a person of acute mind, and far above the level of most European merchant traders—as he was not averse from pointing out. He was of a new generation that saw itself as possessing an entirely changed epistemological vision, that of late-eighteenth-century rationalism. It is of interest that this episteme runs directly into our own. Thunberg had studied with one of the fathers of modern science, Carl Linnaeus, and received from him his doctorate in philosophy, in 1767, and in medicine (in absentia, since he was already travelling) in 1772. He went to Japan to carve out a part of the globe to make his name in, as Linnaeus’s followers were doing across the world, to observe and catalogue its flora and fauna, but also, in his case, fairly uniquely, also its people and customs. Japan in toto was to be subjected to his scrutinising gaze. Thunberg was highly trained for this task, and highly motivated to succeed. Japan could only be accessed by Europeans with the aid of the United (or ‘Dutch’) East India Company, known by its acronym as the VOC. The Dutch had secured exclusive trading rights to the shogun’s realm in the 1630s, and they clung to them jealously, although gains had become slight. Casual visiting of Japan was not accepted, so Thunberg enrolled as a VOC physician, and in that capacity sought passage eastwards, embarking in 1771. He spent some six years outside Europe, though just 19 months of this in Japan. On his return, he wrote his formal Linnaean treatise, as was required to establish his reputation, in Latin, and published it in 1784 as Flora Japonica (Flora of Japan) (see Plate 1). Its preface outlines some of his activities and thoughts about Japan, and it is given here as Appendix 2. Thunberg subtitled the Flora, ‘a supplement to Linnaeus’s Plantarum of 1781’, referring to his teacher’s most fundamental work, Classes plantarum (Plant categories) of three years before. He thus positioned himself in direct line of succession, though Linnaeus had many students, and Thunberg was certainly not at the head of the queue. His strategy worked as he intended, and shortly after the Flora appeared, he succeed to Linnaeus’s chair. While occupying this, he wrote up his second book, on his travels, by then many years in the past. This was a success. The Swedish, German and French version sold well, and the English Travels went rapidly through three printings.

Editor’s introduction

3

Plate 1 Anon., illustration to Carl Peter Thunberg, Flora Japonica, 1784. Photo: Glenn Ratcliffe; SOAS, University of London Though the continental-language editions are still in print, the English, oddly, has been unavailable for over two centuries. It merits restoration for those curious about eighteenth-century Japan, or about the minds of early-modern European travellers, about the histories of botany, medicine and science generally, of Sweden, and of many other fields besides. The latter part of the eighteenth century saw a rash of travel books. And there were some on Japan. The only prior Swedish works were Olof Eriksson Willman’s two short tomes of 125 years before.3 Thunberg never referred to them, preferring, perhaps, to suppress the precedent. There were texts in other European languages, but they could be dismissed as antiquated. Thunberg ignored them too. One crucial forebear, however, weighed heavily, and its existence Thunberg could not gloss over. This was the oeuvre of

Japan extolled and decried

4

Engelbert Kaempfer. Kaempfer had been in Japan in 1690–92, also as a physician to the VOC. He had returned to Europe to write both a learned treatise, Amoenitates exoticae (Exotic delights) on botany, and a book of his experiences, Heutiges Japan (Japan today), just like Thunberg. Kaempfer had never secured a university post, nor membership of a credible academy, but he was relevant to all later study of Japan. Moreover, though German, Kaempfer had close links to Sweden, where one of the top intellectuals of the period, Peter Hoffwenius, had commended him as ‘a young man remarkable for his scholarship and knowledge of medicine’.4 Kaempfer had travelled to Asia as part of an embassy from Karl XI to Sweden, to the Shah of Persia, Sulayman I.5 For Thunberg, this was a precedent to wrestle with—both to fend off and to embrace, as we shall see. Kaempfer had died in 1713, but his publishing record still stood. The Amoenitates had appeared in 1712, to considerable acclaim. Linnaeus succinctly said of it, ‘flora japonica est’ (it is a [definitive] Flora of Japan).6 But Kaempfer’s travel book had been published only posthumously, its manuscript having been rescued from oblivion by Sir Hans Sloane, keeper of the Chelsea Physic Garden, London, later president of the Royal College of Surgeons, and also founder of the British Museum. Having read the Amoenitates, Sloane engaged the physician of George III, then accompanying his monarch on a visit to the royal homeland of Hanover, to investigate the whereabouts of Kaempfer’s German travel manuscript, known to have existed, but feared lost. The archive was found and eventually shipped to London, at a cost of £250 to Sloane, who saw the Heutiges Japan through to publication in 1727, in English translation, under the title of A History of Japan—the contents being no longer quite ‘Japan today’.7 Though its appearance was retarded, Kaempfer’s History had a singular impact across all European intellectual circles. Diderot and Alembert used it for their Encyclopédie (1751–72) and Voltaire praised it;8 at the other end of the scale of scholarly sobriety, Swift plundered it for Gulliver’s Travels.9 The History went through an average of one reprinting every year for the next decade, and translations were made into French (which is how Thunberg would have known the book), in 1729, Dutch, in 1729 and 1732, and finally Kaempfer’s own German (though bowdlerised) in 1777–79—this last, just as Thunberg was sailing back from Japan. Kaempfer was, thus, very much on people’s minds as Thunberg began planning his future path, and while he was writing up his book. Thunberg had taken a copy of Kaempfer to Japan with him, and he referred to it obsessively, mirroring his own experiences in it. We may note that is was probably Thunberg who introduced Kaempfer’s book there, to some consternation when Japanese officials realised how comprehensively they had been analysed from outside, without their even knowing it.10 It was unquestionably to supersede the Amoenitates and the History that Thunberg committed himself to paper. Thunberg’s career In 1761, Carl Peter Thunberg entered Sweden’s oldest and most distinguished seat of learning, the University of Upsala (where Hoffwenius had been rector). The school had been founded in 1476 on the model of the very ancient scholarly centre in Bolognia. The city of Upsala (modern Uppsala, then known in English as Upsal), had once been the capital, but by the mid-eighteenth century it was reduced to some 4,000 inhabitants, plus

Editor’s introduction

5

the students.11 Three days was ample, said tourists and academic visitors, to exhaust its charms.12 But Upsala was Thunberg’s local university, and he naturally went there.13 It was probably not specifically to study with Linnaeus. He enrolled to read the Trivia of theology, philosophy and law. But that same year Linnaeus was made a Knight of the Order of the Pole Star, a significant honour; the next he was raised to the nobility, becoming Carl von Linné. No scientist had been awarded such gongs before, and Linnaeus wore his insignia conspicuously.14 This grandeur would have impressed an 18year-old boy from the Hörle Ironworks. Thunberg’s background was modest: his father had been a bookkeeper at the smelting factory, and his widowed mother was now holding the post down to support her two sons.15 Thunberg became a devoted, though by no means uncritical, student of Linnaeus. In tandem, he studied medicine under Jonas Sidren, professor of anatomy. Thunberg could also bond with the awe-inspiring decorated professor, indeed, he had to, for he was placed in Linnaeus’s tutor group, on grounds of their shared geographical origin, as was usual in Swedish universities. Both men were from the same backward region, Småland. Linnaeus had been educated in the cathedral town of Växjö, where Thunberg’s boyhood tutor was now dean. Linnaeus’s wife was from an ironworks family too. Fascinated by botany and surgery—the linked subjects that made up a medical education—Thunberg switched to this field and passed nearly a decade under Linnaeus’s tutelage, engaging with him in plant categorisations, under the new Binomial System of Nomenclature, still known to all schoolchildren today. No less an institution that the Vatican, which had previously ordered the burning of Linnaeus’s writings, was at this point, under Clement XIV, adopting Linnaean binomes and using them in the papal botanic garden (though a good Calvinist, Linnaeus, who was famously vain, would not have objected to such lofty approbation).16 The Linnaean system had rapidly become the norm in all European royal and scholarly contexts. The first post-doctoral destination for any aspiring north-European of the 1750s was Amsterdam. Although a little tardy in arriving there in 1770, Thunberg was drawn by the Hortus Medicus (physic garden), whose long and impressive history he knew. The ancient beds had been replanted by Linnaeus during his own sojourn in the Republic of the United Provinces (‘Holland’), 40 years before.17 Thunberg was assured a warm welcome. The garden’s commissioner, Ury Tremmink, proved helpful with introductions, and Thunberg met Nicolaas Burman, professor of botany, whose father, Johan, had held the chair before him, and in his youth been a student of Linnaeus. Linnaeus recommended Thunberg to the Burmans as ‘very diligent, intelligent, unassuming, and with a high dedication to research’.18 The pair took him in and were to change Thunberg’s life dramatically, for it was the younger Burman who suggested that Thunberg try a voyage to Japan.19 Thunberg’s stay in Amsterdam was brief. He was really en route to Paris, a city which enjoyed a higher reputation for academic innovation. Linnaeus had been among the first Swedes to go, and he had made friends there who had gone on to become pioneers. He remained close to the great French botanist Antoine de Jussieu, for example. Thunberg arrived in Paris at the end of 1770, and looked up de Jussieu’s brother, Bernard, who had succeeded his sibling to the professorship at the Sorbonne. Linnaeus had regaled his students on how he had dashed to the Hortus Medicus on his first morning in Amsterdam, and with this in mind, Thunberg went hot-foot to both Paris’s hospitals—the Hōtel Dieu

Japan extolled and decried

6

and the Charité—within 24 hours of arrival there.20 This was neither the first nor the only time Thunberg would construct his life (or at least the literary record of it) by reference to admired antecedents. Thunberg was more than proficient in botany, but in Paris he was able to acquire forefront knowledge of anatomy. He collected books and materials, and he purchased an expensive set of surgical tools, which would have an important role in his socialisation in Japan, since he bestowed them on Katsuragawa Hoshū, the son of the shogun’s private physician, Katsuragawa Hochiku, and thereby lubricated his social advancement and access to prized information.21 A considerable advantage of Paris, for Thunberg, was the residence there of the Swedish crown prince, Gustaf (sometimes Gustave in English), fifth-generation descendant of the Karl XI who had dispatched Kaempfer. Gustaf was then polishing his manners with Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. The French court glittered, though in retrospect it was not to last. Several important Swedes were gathered about, most mercurially Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller, the society artist who painted the French queen and was shortly to cross the Atlantic to paint George Washington.22 Thunberg was formally presented to Gustaf.23 After just eight months, he quit the city, not coincidentally, at the moment that Gustaf was recalled, on the death of his father Adolf Fredrik, to become King Gustaf III. For a Swede, the relevance of Paris now drained somewhat. Thunberg felt no need to tarry. Linnaeus had spent three years on his Netherlands-French adventure (espoused wife waiting at home), but Thunberg accomplished the course in half the time. He was a judicious scholar, but the rapid attainment of public recognition also meant much to him. Thunberg returned to Amsterdam. At Nicolaas Burman’s reiterated instigation, he secured his place on a VOC ship. Costs were cancelled by onboard employment as a ship’s doctor, and philanthropic Amsterdam merchants also offered funds for plantbuying, with the quid pro quo that samples be given to the Hortus Medicus and to their private patches, and not to the old rival, Upsala University’s historic Hortus Botanicus.24 Thunberg was to dedicate his Flora to these merchants, and to Tremmink. He sailed out from Amsterdam’s searoad island, the Texel, aboard the Schoonzigt, the day before New Year’s Eve, 1771. Thunberg’s projected travels, as far as Batavia (modern Jakarta, then capital of the Dutch East Indies), were not particularly unusual. Ships sailed thither in three batches annually, at Easter, late summer and over Christmas. Tonnage was large, for the period. The first major stop was the Dutch South-African colony at the Cape. The voyage might have a second major break in Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka). Arrival in the transplanted Dutch city of powdered perruques, canals and gibbets that was Batavia could be expected about five months after leaving Europe. Though technically Dutch, the VOC was internationally minded and unconcerned about the local origins of passengers and staff. A Swedish doctor raised no eyebrows, indeed, there were no less than twenty-one Swedes on the Schoonzigt, including even its captain, Jan Rodecrantz.25 Thunberg spoke no Dutch. He had not been in Amsterdam long enough to learn the lingua franca of the colonised East Indies, and the sole European language spoken (somewhat) in Japan. On arrival at the Cape, in the spring of 1772, he therefore began to learn seriously, eventually staying three full years. He became linguistically adept, and

Editor’s introduction

7

equally usefully, undertook his first practical field research. In 1774, he received 100 rixdollars (the VOC’s accounting currency), sent out by a wealthy banker, Bengt Bergius, brother of the notable physician Peter Jonas Bergius; this was done, Thunberg was told, because ‘you are not paid in the Dutch service as you ought to be.26 There was something of a Swedish national edge to Thunberg’s project, and in fact, to Linnaeanism generally. Thunberg sailed out again in March, 1775, aboard the Loo, arriving in Batavia, without incident, the same May. The Nagasaki leg was more troublesome to orchestrate. Just two ships sailed annually to Japan, leaving Batavia in June and docking some seven weeks later. Their port was Nagasaki, where the VOC had its trading station, or Factory. The shogunate only permitted Dutchmen to come (no other Europeans and certainly no women), but it was sufficient to pretend to be Dutch. For 250 years the Japanese side either did not notice, or pretended not to notice, the presence among them of a wide cross-section of European men, including those from Catholic countries, whose presence was punishable by death. In Batavia, Thunberg applies to go to Japan as resident physician to the Factory, since from hereon, tourists were not permitted. His alternative would be to remain as ship’s doctor, but that would mean being in Japan for no more than the four months that the ships were in port, unloading and reloading, and he might not be allowed ashore, as general crewmen and staff often were not. The Nagasaki Factory physician tended to hold his post for many years. Although life was boring, they stood to make a pretty fortune through private trading, that is, through the sale of personal imports carried on Company ships (a common ruse tolerated by the VOC as necessary for employee morale). For several seasons from 1769 the physician had been Ikarius Kotwijk. The year before, 1774, he had made enough to withdraw, ceding place to C.H.Ferbiskij. The new physician would be expected to remain at least until the late 1770s. This stymied Thunberg. The sensible option seemed to be abandoning Japan and return to Ceylon, which had also not yet been addressed by any Linnaean, but was easily on the VOC route. Then, somehow, while Thunberg was fretting in Batavia, it was decided that Ferbiskij’s contract would be terminated. Probably the Factory chief designate, Arend Feith, who was about to sail out to Nagasaki, liked the idea of a first-rate physician with him, for a change. Feith was one of the longest-standing Japan-hands of the period, and had lived there on and off for a dozen years, heading the Factory for six; he knew the limitations of the routine VOC medical men, whom Thunberg dismissed tartly as little better than farriers (horse-doctors). Feith, now preparing to sail to take up again the post of Factory chief, is an interesting figure in his own right. In him, Thunberg, whose trip to Japan was thus arranged, coincided with a person who knew Japan better than any European alive, and who furthermore had amateur scientific interests of his own. Feith kept a range of items for scientific experimentation and demonstration in his rooms in Nagasaki, most unusually for a merchant of his ilk, including a planetarium, air pump and a static-electricity generator.27 Feith deeply respected Thunberg, though this was not reciprocated, at least in the Travels, where Thunberg allows Feith no more than the walk-on part of a bluff seaman. Unlike the physician, the Factory chief was obliged to change annually, an order put out by the shogunate so as to preclude his putting down roots. Normally, chiefs would just skip a year and come back, hence Feith’s return with Thunberg after a single season passed in Batavia. The post was very lucrative, more so than that of the physician (who,

Japan extolled and decried

8

being stuck in Japan for years, could not refresh his supply of goods). Most chiefs came about five times before bowing out. Feith had been alternating with Daniel Armenault, who, however, had ceded place the previous year to Hendrik Duurkoop, a man who had been coming to Japan for a decade, though in a lower capacity. Duurkoop intended to alternate with Feith until the latter stepped down, and he duly arrived the next August, after Thunberg had been a year in Japan, to switch with Feith. This turned out to be Duurkoop’s first and only incumbency as he died en route to his second. In Batavia, the agreement was that Thunberg would serve as doctor on the larger of the two Japan-bound vessels, and remain as factory physician thereafter. The Stavenisse, with its sister the Bleijenburgh, left in June, bearing Feith, Thunberg, assorted replacement staff, enslaved Indonesians, and valuable cargoes of goods. The Stavenisse arrived safely in August, 1775, but the Bleijenburgh lost its mast and had to divert, resulting in the factory being under-supplied that year, and less than hoped-for exports being taken out. If Thunberg had been on the Bleijenburgh, his books would never have been written. Like any European, Thunberg lived in Nagasaki for most of his stay. The town was home to 50,000 souls, about 20 per cent of whom were Chinese.28 Europeans numbered just a dozen when, come autumn, the two ships (or in this case just one) returned to Batavia; also left behind in the factory was a similar number of enslaved Indonesians. With the departure, the men would have no contact with the outside world until the following summer, unless vague reports came on the Chinese ships which docked intermittently. This did not make for a life of great excitement. Most VOC members took refuge in drink, tobacco, gambling and visiting Nagasaki’s notorious brothel district, the Maruyama, or summoning its indentured denizens to the Factory. Moreover, the Company’s stores and lodgings were not in the city proper, but on an island some metres offshore, that is, in Japanese, on a dejima. The Europeans took this generic word to be a proper noun, romanised it as ‘Dezima’, and gave that toponym to their temporary home.29 The island was properly known as Tsukijima, meaning Man-made Island or Moon Island (depending on the characters used to write it). It had been artificially constructed in the shape of a crescent moon (see Plate 2). Dejima (to romanise it in the modern way), was built in the early seventeenth century for Portuguese traders, but once they had been expelled for one too many Catholic insubordinations, the VOC had taken over the lease, moving from their previous base in 1639. It was not possible for the Europeans to leave Dejima without permission; permission was not always granted. For the Indonesians, it was not possible to leave at all. The entourage would return by the same route, generally arriving back in Nagasaki in mid-June, after which they then had six weeks to prepare for arrival of the incoming ships

Editor’s introduction

9

Plate 2 Anon., Obatake Bunjiemon (publisher), Nagasaki and Surroundings, 1778. Private Collection Nagasaki was ruled directly from Edo (modern Tokyo), the shogunal capital. It was thus part of the shogun’s own lands (the tenryō). Two governors (bugyō) were appointed to administer it, and in the standard manner, they alternated annually. One resided in the shogunal capital and one in Nagasaki itself. The change took place in the autumn, just after the VOC ships left. When Thunberg arrived, the situation was abnormal. In 1774, the long-standing governor Niimi Masashige, then in Edo, had been promoted, but not immediately replaced. The next autumn, Kuwabara Morikazu, in office for just two years, was suddenly dismissed, Feith remarking darkly, ‘we might find out the reason later’— though they never did. A new appointee, Tsuge Masakore, was rushed to Nagasaki to replace Morikazu, who packed his bags and left under a dark but uncertain cloud. It was with Masakore that the VOG had most dealings during Thunberg’s residence in Japan. At the close of 1775, Kuze Hirotami was appointed in Edo, filling the two-year gap, and he came down to Nagasaki to replace Masakore in the autumn of 1776.30 On arrival, the in-coming ships’ companies were not at first permitted to disembark in Nagasaki. The new chief, physician, and everyone else who would stay when the ships left, could only enter the town when the same ships had taken their departing opposite numbers out. Thus, Thunberg lived onboard the Stavenisse for ten whole weeks. Yet as the vessel was moored far from Nagasaki, near the mouth of a winding roadstead, Thunberg was able to slip ashore numerous times to collect specimens. He found China root (Radix sinesis), to the delight of the shogunal authorities, who had previously paid exorbitant sums to import it from the Continent. Samples were dispatched to the Hortus Medicus on the returning Stavenisse. This was a promising start. But once settled in at the

Japan extolled and decried

10

factory, Thunberg was frustrated. He found it hard—often impossible—to leave Dejima, to ‘herborise’, as the phrase was, in the hills around the town. Quite how much collecting he was able to do is moot, as is discussed in Appendix 3. He may have completed only one sortie by the time he left to travel for Edo, in early February. The top three VOC officers had their sequestered conditions in Nagasaki relieved by an annual visit to Edo. At one million people, Edo was possibly the largest city on earth, and a place of fascination to all comers. The officers concerned were the factory chief (kapitan in Japanese), the physician (Oranda geka, ‘Dutch surgeon’), and the secretary, otherwise known as the bookkeeper, or scribe (shoki in Japanese). Feith had already gone twice to Edo, and would go three more times; the secretary, Herman Köhler, had arrived in Japan only shortly after Feith, in 1773, and was making his second trip. Thunberg was a neophyte, but he had good guides. He also had a literary one, as Kaempfer had gone to Edo, twice, in 1691 and 1692. The VOC called this event the ‘court trip’ (hofreis) and considered it ambassadorial. To the shogunate it represented an act of submission by an inferior people (sanpu). With over 1,000km to traverse in either direction, plus a couple of weeks’ residence in Edo, the entire process took up to four months. It provided the best time for Thunberg to gather samples and view the human aspects of Japanese life. Arrangements for the court trip were the same each year. The VOC men, under the direction of a shogunal official (on this occasion Kumaki Kōjirō), accompanied by one senior and one junior translator or, in the text below, ‘interpreter’ (Imamura Sanbei and Nakamura Genjirō), set out with a train of some 200 Japanese minders and porters shortly after the lunar New Year. They went by boat and palanquin as far as the northern tip of Kyushu, then crossed the strait to Shimonoseki, and continued by boat, through the Inland Sea, as far as Sakai. A splendid barge was hired, decked out with flags and steamers, to convey them, their supplies and presents. The barge left Nagasaki ahead of the party and sailed round to Shimonoseki, where the entourage would join it and continue aboard (see Plate 3). At Sakai, the vessel was unloaded and the group took river transport to Osaka; from there they went to the city known to Europeans as Miyako and to the Japanese as Kyō or Keishi (modern Kyoto). After some days of rest in the refined and antique streets of Miyako, they moved on to the newer city of Edo, overland, with scores of packhorses. Thunberg’s account of this journey makes up some fifth of his Travels, and is the most lively part. In the summer of 1776, with Thunberg one year into his stay, Duurkoop brought back the Stavenisse, accompanied by the Zeeduijn. Feith and those who had come to the end of their stints, left in early November. All were taken aback when Thunberg announced his intention to leave with them. In the decades years before him, only one physician had failed to last a plurality of years, and that was Ferbiskij who had no choice.31 Duurkoop clearly expected Thunberg to remain, and was justifiably angry when told he would not do so. The VOG had to shift for the next year with the Stavenisse’s ship’s doctor, Fredrik Hartman, a man of no advanced skills.

Editor’s introduction

11

Plate 3 Anon., View of the Bay of Shimonoseki in the Japanese Province of Nagato. Chōfu Museum, Shimonoseki . Thunberg arrived back in Batavia where he stayed six months. He declined to remain, although pressed to do so (he did, however, name the breadfruit tree he identified after the disappointed Governor of Batavia, Radermacher as Radermachia incisa).32 Thunberg took the Loo to Ceylon, where he remained another six months. He then returned to Holland, arriving, after a short stop at the Cape, still aboard the Loo, in October 1778, sound and well. Many of his plants had been destroyed in a storm, which, most gallingly, had struck the four-vessel flotilla in which the Loo sailed, when almost home, in the English Channel. Thunberg recorded how all his ‘extremely scarce plants’ (including the breadfruit trees) were ‘thrown topsy-tervy and absolutely destroyed’.33 But his notes were intact. Thunberg remained ten weeks in Amsterdam, attending to business and thanking his patrons. Burman offered to put him up, and told Thunberg that ‘being fully aware of your honest and sincere character…you may freely use the things I have, like the library, etc.’ But Thunberg lodged with a Swedish industrial magnate instead.34 The elderly Linnaeus had kindly written to Thunberg, while he was returning, that, ‘I am most anxious to live until you get back…to touch with my own hands the laurels that will crown your brow.’35 This was not to be. Linnaeus died just weeks before he disembarked. Thunberg did not go to Sweden, even though he had learned while at the Cape, through news arriving on a Swedish ship, the Finland, that he had been appointed demonstrator (lecturer) in botany at Upsala.36 He had also received there a letter from the

Japan extolled and decried

12

scientist Bergius begging, ‘for God’s sake don’t think of any further journeys’, and sending him another 300 rixdollars.37 Thunberg took the money, but did not return home. Shortly before his death, Linnaeus had blackmailed the university into giving his chair of botany to his son, also Carl, in exchange for donation of his important 30,000-object herbarium. Carl the younger was, said Bergius the banker, ‘not useful at Upsala’. He was also only two years senior to Thunberg. It looked as though the career Thunberg had been building up to so efficiently was suddenly blocked. He went to London. Linnaeus’s ‘apostles’, as he rather pompously called them, were returning, one by one, from far-flung parts of the world, and writing books entitled ‘Flora xxx’, after the manner of Linnaeus’s epoch-making Flora lapponica (of Lapland), of 1737, which initiated and codified the genre. It was outrageous that the untravelled Carl fils should occupy the Linnaean chair—and very probably do so for decades. Nepotism was rife in academia, but Linnaeus was supposed to represent a new way of working. One forefront ‘apostle’, Daniel Solander, previously intended as husband for Linnaeus’s daughter, broke with Swedish academia over this, and being in London at the time, decided to remain, as librarian to the British Museum;39 Solander made sure no British scientist would assist the bogus Upsala professor.40 Science, in the land that had done so much to foster it, said some, had been killed.41 Anger was nothing mollified when Carl reneged on the agreement, and tried to sell the herbarium, only holding back because the maximum offer he received was 1,000 guineas, which he thought ‘cruel’ to his father’s memory.42 The pull of London for any botanist of the time was Joseph Banks. He had established his credentials on Captain Cook’s first voyage of discovery in 1768–71, assisted by Solander. Banks was, as one admirer put it, ‘the common centre of we discoverers’ (he was also the ‘cruel’ proposer of the 1,000 guineas).43 Banks was de facto director of Kew Gardens, successor institution to the Chelsea Physic Garden, a trustee of the British Museum, and had recently been knighted; in the year of Thunberg’s return to Europe, he was elected President of the Royal Society. Thunberg visited Banks in the luxury mansion he had just acquired in Soho Square (built King Square, renamed c. 1750), an exclusive neighbourhood for the fashionable and educated (see Plate 4). The Swedish ambassador, bathing in Linnaeus’s fame, had lived there, amongst the rich and learned, though was recently moved out; a retired Lord Mayor was a few doors down, and in the next street was Sir Hugh Inglis, Director of the English East India Company (a much bigger concern than the VOC, though as yet without interest in Japan).44 Thunberg referred to Banks’s house as ‘an academy of natural history’; its library, he thought, ‘the completest in the world’.45 Thunberg was amazed at the level of academic purpose he found in London, which went way beyond Upsala, Amsterdam or even Paris. He went so far as to claim, ‘the English spend the day in a much better manner than any other nation I have hitherto seen’—true, perhaps, of life in Soho Square, though far too laudatory for most of the rabble of Georgian Britain.46 An added attraction for Thunberg was Kaempfer. Sloane had deposited his archive in the British Museum, containing the original German of the History, but also many letters, notes and a fine set of botanical drawings, only twenty-eight of which had been published in the Amoenitates, owing to financial constraints.47 Thunberg studied these materials, but pointedly stated they were now ‘almost a hundred years old’.48 Time was ripe for his more up-to-date offerings.

Editor’s introduction

13

Plate 4 Sutton Nicholls, Soho or King’s Square, 1754. The British Museum Thunberg then returned to Sweden. The reason for this is unclear. His insecurity with spoken English would not have helped his enjoyment of London, and the field there was well-populated. He took up his post at Upsala, though it was lowly, and began teaching. In 1781, he was rewarded with nomination to a professorship extraordinarius (supernumerary). He gave his inaugural lecture on Japan, although not its botany, but its coinage. Thunberg had brought back many monetary pieces, and numismatics was an abiding interest. The lecture was published, such showpiece talks were, and thought sufficiently worthy to be translated into Dutch, in 1780, and German, in 1784, though not into English.49 Thunberg was then made overseer of the Hortus Botanicus, though only as an interim measure while Carl was abroad (which he often was, though seldom for study; his much bruited trip to study the flora ‘of America’ came to naught).50 Then, wonderfully for Thunberg and quite unexpectedly, Carl died, in 1783, aged forty-two, with no particular achievements to his name. Linnaeus’s widow soon wrote to Banks that the herbarium was back on the market, any reasonable offer accepted. Banks hoped to persuade George III to buy it for the nation, and the scientifically inclined king might have agreed, but was then incommunicado. Banks appealed to his rich protégé, James Smith, who paid up, and the cargo came over to London, reputedly pursued by a Swedish warship.51 The generous Smith became a scholar of importance, and was knighted, going on to found the Linnaean Society, which, on Banks’s death, took over his old home in Soho Square as its meeting place. 52 For Thunberg in Upsala, though Linnaeus’s herbarium was gone, the real plum of the ordinarius professorship was open. Solander, the main contender, and whom the university would have done anything to woo back, had conveniently died, in 1782. After

Japan extolled and decried

14

a short discussion, the chair was conferred on Thunberg, who moved into the fine house that went with the job, beside the Hortus Botanicus. Many Linnaean travellers lost their notes and samples to wreck, desiccation or ships’ rats. This could render it impossible to present original scholarship once home. More inhibiting still, in a way, was the opposite: having mountainous cuttings and memos that could never be pulled into shape. Even the diligent Solander left his collecting spoils untouched for years.53 Thunberg had an experience midway between the two. Though a number of his specimens were destroyed, this was only when he was all but home, with most of his paperwork done; many of his saved samples then went off to Amsterdam for others to curate. He could just write up. The effect was liberating. The Flora came out briskly, and Thunberg’s name was made. And it appeared not from some small-time Swedish publisher, as Linnaeus’s Flora lapponica had, nor even from the passé ‘Lug. Bat.’ (Leiden) press that produced Linnaeus’s Classes plantarum. An admired house in Leipzig published the book, Thunberg having taken to heart Linnaeus’s injunction that ambitious books must, at all costs, be issued in Germany.54 Thunberg was now spokesperson for Japan across all of northern Europe. He received prestigious offers of employment in Holland and Russia, garnered membership of sixtysix learned societies, and became president of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences.55 He was knighted in 1785, and became known throughout Europe as Chevalier Thunberg. People travelled to see the parts of the collection he had brought back safely from his travels. Since Linnaeus’s herbarium was gone, Thunberg deposited 23,000 plants in a new centre the university erected up for the purpose.56 In the words of an aristocratic French visitor, Count Alphonse Marseilles de Fortia de Plies, who went to Upsala in 1791 with his friend the Marquis Pierre-Marie-Louis de Boisgelin de Kordu (a pair of Revolutionary confidence tricksters gingerly admired in France), Thunberg’s collection was ‘exceedingly curious for the beauty of the specimens collected, and their number’.57 Later, Thunberg removed a portion of the plants and donated them to the Academy of St Petersburg since they had given him an honour.58 As the years went by, he published a total of 92 works (mostly short papers). But Thunberg’s visitors were decreasingly impressed. After meeting him in 1798, the French botanist, Guiseppi Acerbi, remarked, ‘his last productions are very inferior and bear the marks of haste and negligence’, and he dismissed poor Thunberg as having ‘now become a farmer’.59 In the classroom things degenerated too. Fortia said Thunberg had ‘one hundred scholars’ under his tutelage, but as the whole university then numbered just 500, this cannot be accurate. His lectures were increasingly rambling and notoriously illprepared, though his absent manner inspired affection in some students. Edward Clark, visiting from England in the same year as Acerbi, sat in on a lecture; he reported that only six people turned up, all slovenly teenagers, most were seemingly drunk, and the proceedings collapsed into horseplay.60 Carl Adolph Agarth, later a famous botanist, visited in 1809, to find the Hortus Botanicus totally neglected, just four flowerbeds had plants in them, and ‘the green-house’, constructed by Linnaeus in 1742, ‘was not much either’. Three years later, Thomas Thomson found the beds had been co-opted for potato patches and as for the greenhouses, ‘the windows were smashed, the stone floors buckled and cracked, and everything overgrown with weeds’.61 Thunberg had used his lofty reputation to push through completion of a new garden, which partly accounts for the dereliction of the old one. Land had been donated for the

Editor’s introduction

15

purpose as early as 1792, by the king, but work had not gone ahead. The new gardens were finally opened in 1807, with impressive greenhouses, on which Thunberg wrote a short treatise.62 Prestige rather than investigation was the real purpose of this elegant space. The complimentary Fortia himself remarked that the garden served mostly ‘for a public promenade’.63 It is best understood as part of an emerging Swedish hagiography: 1807 was the centenary of Linnaeus’s birth. Following his teacher’s example, Thunberg shoehorned his adopted (people said illegitimate) son into a senior position in the garden.

Plate 5 Peter Krafft the Younger, Carl Peter Thunberg at the Age of 65. Photo: Bo Gyllander; Uppsala University Art Museum Collection In 1815, Thunberg was elevated from knight to knight-commander, the first scientist to be so honoured. He had his portrait, originally commissioned on the opening of the garden, over-painted with a commander’s blue-green silk sash (see Plate 5).64 In 1828, he died at the age of eighty-five, much honoured though with no real successor.65

Japan extolled and decried

16

Thunberg’s Japan studies In Japan, Thunberg’s enquiries were extensive and probing. A Japanese scholar has recently observed that he was rather clever to have accepted that country for his study, because of its ‘enlightenment and culture’.66 It is true that a terrifying number of ‘apostles’ went to disease-ridden, violent places from which they never returned. Pehr Löfling, for example, regarded as Linnaeus’s most brilliant follower and perhaps earmarked as his successor, had gone missing deep in Latin America—and he was not alone.67 Linnaeus waxed poetic on the nobility of the self-sacrificial student, who ‘exposes himself to treacherous Neptune…makes light of the severest trials…tragically stabbed by assassins…loses foothold in a slippery place and dies from the shock of an unlucky fall’.68 But this was not how Thunberg wished to end up (nor what Linnaeus planned for himself). In Japan, Thunberg was able to stake out a place that was both exciting and safely accomplishable, in a short period of time. Moreover, there was an extensive readership already prepared, for since Kaempfer, Japan had been recognised as exciting in terms of politics and society, as well as botany, which was not so for many other parts of the world. While Thunberg was in Amsterdam, pondering on Burman’s suggestion, Linnaeus wrote to him, backtrackingly, ‘this voyage is not as perilous as some people here would have us believe’, and followed with the clinching remark, ‘you now have the chance to make yourself renowned and immortal’.69 Thunberg took ship. The rudiments of the Japanese polity into which the young Swede intruded, in the summer of 1775, should be outlined. The states were in turmoil. The shogun, known in Japanese as the kubō (a term which the Travels retained), was Tokugawa Ieharu, tenth in his line. He was unloved, incompetent and, though 15 years into a 26-year rule, had not mastered his role. A previous Factory chief, Jan Crans, has assessed, Ieharu as ‘a lazy, lustful, stupid man’.70 Shoguns were largely ceremonial, so these deficiencies need not have been crucial, as the 280-odd Japanese states were held together by committees of six senior counsellors (rōjū) and six junior elders (wakadoshiyori); these posts are rendered in Thunberg’s Travels as ‘Ordinary and Extraordinary Privy Counsellors’.71 Under Ieharu, the domination force was the senior rōjū, Tanuma Okitsugu. The court trip previous to Thunberg’s, Okitsugu had sent his secretary to hold discussions in Edo with Armenault and Ferbiskij.72 His interests in Europe are well known and were genuine. Okitsugu had ensconced himself through a policy of opening markets and wealth creation. This won him many supporters, although his reputation has not fared well, and Okitsugu is now a byword for simony and graft. Whatever the merits of his custodianship of the shogun’s political and economic apparatus, a swathe of natural disasters was shaking the delicate balance in violent fashion.73 There was a bewildering profusion of creativity and goods, as Thunberg correctly observed, though he did not see—or did not record—the terrible privations that stretched far across the hinterland. Edo was Japan’s focal point, but a second node was Miyako. The two cities were some 500km apart on an east-west axis. They enjoyed a reasonably concordant and mutually deferential relationship, as homes to either side of the curious bicephalic Japanese monarchy. The shogun was in Edo, while Miyako was home to the ancestor of the figure now known as the emperor of Japan, but then metonymically referred to as the dairi (‘the palace’), which is the name Europeans (including Thunberg) used for him. The dairi certainly had no imperium. He lived on the shogun’s purse, dispensing lore, but lacking

Editor’s introduction

17

funds. The incumbent was Hidehito, known to history, like all dairi, by his posthumous name, Go-Momozono. He had held office for five years and would last another three, dying in 1779, aged twenty-two (the family was distinctly enervated and most died young). To Europeans at the time, it was the shogun who was the ‘emperor of Japan’ (or the keijzer to the Dutch); the dairi was not unsensibly explained as a kind of pope. The shogun kept the dairi in check through a plenipotentiary in Miyako, known as the shoshidai, or to the Europeans, rather, perversely, as the Lord Chief Justice of Japan; during Thunberg’s stay, the shoshidai was the long-standing Doi Toshisato (though he would shortly retire). If the dairi had a small court, the shogun’s was vast. Owing allegiance to the Tokugawa were the rulers of the states, the daimyo, or regional lords (Thunberg’s ‘princes’). The shogun himself controlled only some third of the archipelago, but including all major cities, not just Nagasaki, but Edo, Miyako, Osaka and Sakai. These the Europeans called the ‘Five Royal Cities’. The daimyo had to spend one year in their provincial capital, and one in Edo, making for huge and splendid retinues, as Thunberg reported. If the reader today is likely to be more interested in Thunberg’s observations on these and related matters, than on botany, it should be recalled that, though fairly copiously given, cultural commentary was secondary to him. Thunberg’s priority was plants. Many episodes could be recounted to demonstrate this hierarchy of interests. Once, when he met the abbot of a leading shogunal temple in Nagasaki—an amazing privilege—he wrote, ‘it afforded me far less pleasure than the shrubs I met with in the vicinity of his church’.74 Again, when he came across a dealer in shell-encrusted lacquerware boxes— beautiful things and much admired—he prized the shells off, destroying the box, but adding to his sample collection. Natural history was Thunberg’s craft, but also his public persona. He had come to Japan for its flora above all else, and though he wanted to be known as the one who had fully assessed its society too, that was presented by him as an incidental accomplishment. In career terms, the Travels, lagged behind the Flora, as it did in date of publication. Thunberg’s residence in Japan was short. But getting there had been time-consuming, and he had ‘wasted’ three years at the Cape. That region was demarcated as the territory of another student of Linnaeus, Anders Sparrman, who had run up his flag there just four days before Thunberg arrived.75 Sparrman would join Cook’s second voyage when it passed through the Cape shortly after Thunberg had left for Batavia, and thereby achieve celebrity status. This caused problems as Thunberg actually knew the Cape far better than he knew Japan. Thunberg eventually published on the Cape, but delayed, as he felt precluded until Sparrman was written out. Note that Thunberg’s research partner in southern Africa, the Scot, Francis Masson, not being a Linnaean, felt under no constraint, and he published the account of their joint trips, in 1776, though it is brief.76 Sparrman’s Resa til Goda Hopps-Udden had been a hit, and a second such book was hardly needed from Thunberg, not least as Sparrman’s Resa was put into German, French, Dutch and English (three editions, also translated by Charles Hopton, as A Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope)—all before Thunberg had even published the first volume of his own Resa.77 Sparrman was not an author to challenge, for he was equally respected for his scholarship and for his engaging writing style.78 His was probably the most read Swedish travel book of all time, both in the original and in the translations.79 Sparrman had his

Japan extolled and decried

18

critics too, and his scholarship was denounced as charlatanism by some.80 But he had certainly made it to the top, and by the time Thunberg returned to Sweden, he was keeper of the king’s collection. Thunberg’s Cape botanies, coming later, did fill lacunae in Sparrman’s work (Sparrman was more interested in fauna than flora), but in the travel writings, the parts of Thunberg’s Resa that overlapped with Sparrman’s were unflatteringly viewed. Hopton felt forced to note in his Translator’s Preface that where Thunberg went over ‘the same ground as Professor Sparman [sic]’, he offering no match for ‘his lively and wellinformed countryman’s entertaining descriptions of that country’.81 The French edition referred to Thunberg’s book as ‘a follow-up’ (servant de suite) to the voyage of Dr Sparmann [sic]’.82 Though few could spell his name, all agreed that Sparrman had ‘done’ South Africa.83 Other Linnaeans had ‘done’ Java and so much else that Thunberg saw.84 Japan was his scoop. He had the last smile, perhaps, when his aptly named sparring partner went mad and betook himself to Senegal to build a Swedenborgian ‘Republic of God’.85 But having deferred to Sparrman at the Cape, he expected others to do the same for him in Japan. It was only after his own books were (eventually) out that Thunberg encouraged others to get involved. The VOC had gone bankrupt in 1799, although Dutch traders still occupied the Nagasaki Factory. Thunberg wrote to Banks to urge him to argue in London for initiation of Anglo-Japanese trade.86 This eventuality it might have proved possible to negotiate, but it would result in a rush of botanists, to Thunberg’s benefit only if he could be their mentor, as Kaempfer, in spirit, had been to him. The rise of Napoleon put paid to any such British aspirations. Thunberg turned his career to Japan and those who read his Travels concurred that the information on that country was absolutely worth having. Publishing the Travels Oddly, after the little coin book and the Flora, Thunberg only wrote twice more on Japan academically, both mere pamphlets (one on moxbustion, one on the Japanese language).87 After the Flora and securing the chair, he ceased to be a swift writer across the board. In 1785, Peter Jonas Bergius suggested he not feel inhibited by Sparrman, and asked plaintively, ‘when shall we see your Flora capensis?’88 Thunberg’s short Prodromus plantarum capensium (Preliminary essay on Cape plants) did begin to appear in 1794, but it was not finished until 1805, and his full Flora capensis not until 1813—rejected by the chosen Berlin publisher and produced in Upsala.89 The Cape was problematic, but in other areas too Thunberg wrote rather little. The four book-length publications on his CV are actually collections of students’ essays.90 As for the Travels, Thunberg’s journeying had begun in 1770, but the first volume did not appear until almost twenty years later. The surging early energy stands in contrast to what came later. The Japan volume, which is what most people were waiting to read, seemed to be coming no nearer, and Banks, who had surely deferred to Thunberg at first, took it upon himself to publish a selection of Kaempfer’s sketches from the British Museum, surely as a way of sparking Thunberg into action.91 Banks was delicate enough not to sell the book, but only hand it to friends and savants ‘known to the literary world’; Lord Macartney, then bound for China as first British ambassador, received a copy.92 But the implied reprimand to Thunberg could not

Editor’s introduction

19

be missed. Perhaps feeling his space encroached upon, Thunberg at once dashed the Japan volume of the Travels to press. The following year he put out a publication on a Japan-related subject that no-one but he could claim knowledge of, Observationes in linquam japonicam (Observations on the Japanese language).93 He then began a riposte to Banks’s Kaempfer picture-book, producing one made from his own sketches, published in 1794, Icones plantarum japonicarum (Pictures of Japanese plants) (see Plate 6). He sent a copy to Banks, who donated it on to the British Museum.94 This was followed by a set of plants sketches, Icones

Plate 6 Anon., illustration to Carl Peter Thunberg, Icones plantarum japonicarum, 1794. The British Library plantarum japonicarum thunbergii, although the sketches were not actually by Thunberg, and it never found a publisher.95

Japan extolled and decried

20

The travelogue did appear, and Thunberg could be sure that when it did so, it would be read. He had three volumes largely in diary form, and a fourth as a set of mini-essays, half on Japan, half on Java and Ceylon (note, the Cape does not figure). The breakdown is as follows: Volume 1 sees Thunberg’s departure from Sweden and journey, via Denmark, to Holland and France; it appeared in 1788. Volume 2 takes Thunberg to the Cape and thence Batavia; it appeared a year later. Volume 3 covers the voyage to, residence in, and departure from Japan, it was published in 1791. Volume 4 had not been envisaged from the outset, but was added in response to readers’ requests, so its preface states; it appeared in 1793. Hopton wrote it was ‘much more interesting’ than the previous volumes, and Thunberg, in his Author’s Preface, noted that it was a ‘happiness’ to produce the extra volume.96 But the fourth volume introduced trying repetitions, and doubles one heading (hence the two sections entitled ‘Description of Japan and the Japanese’ below), although it also closed the narrative with a rapid account of the journey home, otherwise missing. The present edition consists of all Volume 3, in Part 1, and the relevant parts of Volume 4, in Part 2. Perhaps intending the volumes as a reference work as much as a literary one, Thunberg provided a very complete index. This was unusual for the period, and it was cut from the translations. A new index is included here to assist navigation by modern readers. Subheadings are also added throughout, although the Resa and its translations only used them in the latter part of Volume 3 and in Volume 4. Thunberg’s style is sometimes prolix. One of the best contemporary scholars of the Linnaean movement calls it ‘ponderous’, and a phrase from it is quoted to this day in Sweden as an example of how not to write well—‘water is the element that makes sea journeys both outside and inside the Netherlands so nimble and comfortable’.97 Acerbi, who probably read the Travels in the French, wrote Thunberg’s ‘trifling observations seem to keep pace with the inequality and incorrectness his style’.98 Had the German translation that Schiller enjoyed not been abridged, his relish might have been less. Hopton was constrained to apologise to English readers that some sections were ‘absolutely uninteresting’.99 Louis-Mattieu Langlès, a young scholar of Persian (later famous in the field), was thrashing his way through the text to produce a French translation when he came across the German abridgement, which determined him to adopt a similar stance. Langlès noted acidly, ‘M.Thunberg’s busy schedule left him no time to give order to his work’, and Langlès demanded the title of editor not translator.100 The book, thus, had its faults. Yet there is plenty of substance to Thunberg’s observations, and a deal to learn from them. There is levity and humour too. This edition excises only a couple of sections for being excessively tedious (where it does so this is clearly identified in the Notes). When J.W.Spalding read Thunberg, at sea with Commodore Perry sailing to ‘open’ Japan, while admitting the tomes were hefty, he thought tackling them worth the effort, for though they ‘might well deter the stoutest’, they would ‘well repay the indudtrious search of the inquirer’.101 That Thunberg was read on the US vessel whose mission it was to change the course of Japanese history, is relevant. From the first, readers concurred that whatever the organisational or stylistic shortcomings of the Travels, and however much Sparrman was better on the Cape, the Japan sections shone in a way that could not be gainsaid. These were, indeed, the parts to which Thunberg gave the most attention, and on which he based his subsequent career. In the preface, he apologised for adding to the heap of travel writings, ‘more ridiculous [than…] useful’ and openly denounced how ‘every traveller

Editor’s introduction

21

thinks himself under an obligation to turn author’. But there was next to nothing on Japan. Looking over the Swedish in 1789, when only Volumes 1 and 2 were out, Hopton rejected the idea of making a translation, as he found the writing ‘very uninteresting’. But he came around as soon as Volume 3, on Japan, appeared.102 Hopton stated, ‘what most of all enhances the merits of the following sheets is his description of Japan’; the English publishers reenforced this by issuing a ‘Japan only’ edition, consisting of just Volume 3.103 The two German translations were respectively subtitled travels ‘primarily’ (vorzüglich) and ‘most importantly’ (hauptsächlich) in Japan; the first French translations copied this, but worked the gloss into the main title, so that the first, anonymous edition came out as Voyages en Europe, Afrique et en Asie, principalement au Japon, while Langlès’s version was briskly Voyage de C.P.Thunberg au Japon, Langlès asserting, ‘Japan was the real goal of M.Thunberg’s travels’, and his publisher adding a frontispiece plate (the only edition to have one) showing the author with his book lying before him, even more crisply called ‘Voyage au Japon’; the Latin for ‘of the Cape’ and ‘of Java’ are secondarily included to the sides, and around the author winds a Thunbergia alata, a species of black-eyed Susan that Thunberg hadnamed after himself (see Plate 7).104 It was Thunberg’s aim to record impartially and with a scrutinising gaze, and in this he largely succeeded. Hopton conceded that if Thunberg did not exactly write with ‘the greatest elegance or precision’, he certainly had ‘the strictest regard for truth’.105 This has given the Travels lasting value. In the absence of any parallel accounts of Japan, its prime claim to importance is its assessment of that country. Many of Thunberg’s remarks were on objectivised matters, like weather or distance. He liked lists of types and groups, as of husbandry and agriculture. In parts the book reads as pure information. When it came to social comment, he operated in similar vein. For example, in Japan, Thunberg was intrigued that surnames came before given names, as this was exactly as in Linnaean botany, where the generic name precedes the specific. This, to him, converted the Japanese into samples, readable with scientific clarity. Though he ‘extolled’ and ‘decried’, Thunberg never belittled or patronised. He was determined to maintain a line between himself and the matter of inquiry, such that Japan was not the metaphor for something else, but was to be represented objectively, as it was. But Thunberg also had an agenda. This book is also about his triumphs in taking modern thought to Japan. He summarised, ‘the Japanese nation shows sense and steadiness in all its undertakings, so far as the light of science, by whose brighter rays it has not yet had the good fortune to be illuminated, can ever guide it’. Japan might have ‘enlightenment and culture’, but was in need of science’s ‘brighter rays’, that is, those of the European Enlightenment. Unlike Löfling, Solander or Sparrman, Thunberg would not just observe, he would also teach, and his book tells the reader how.

Japan extolled and decried

22

Plate 7 Anon., title page to Carl Peter Thunberg (Louis-Mattieu Langlès,

Editor’s introduction

23

trans.), Voyage de C.-P.Thunberg au Japon, 1796. Photo: Glenn Ratcliffe; SOAS, University of London Unlike many travellers, Thunberg never sought to confect himself as a Japanese. The egregious moment of kimono-donning was yet to sweep Europe, but Linnaeus had been happy to commission a portrait of himself in an approximation of Lapp costume (see Plate 8). Even Banks had been painted (expensively, by Benjamin West) in a South Sea Island cloak (see Plate 9). Thunberg did not do this. Although in later life he laid on a fancy-dress Asiatic frolic to amuse the crown prince passing through Upsala, in his younger days he kept what belonged separately, separate.106 Thunberg

Plate 8 Martin Hoffman, Linnaeus in a Lapp Costume, 1737. Linnémuseet, Uppsala

Japan extolled and decried

24

Plate 9 Benjamin West, Sir Joseph Banks, Usher Gallery, Lincoln deemed evaluations better when they came from without than from within. The only portrait of him in his travelling days shows Thunberg as a poised European scholar, pointing to the ship that will carry him out, and also home again, with papers and seedlings that will allow him to write his books of botanical and travel marvels (see Plate 10).107 Thunberg strove also to give his comments a moral edge. He was the clinician who diagnosed, but then prescribed. He spent long hours instructing people in what he felt were the more advanced ways of Europe, and that he was sure would ameliorate their lives, and which sometimes did. The Linnaean system was supposed to offer universal classifications, and Thunberg conveyed this notion into ethics. His was the universalism of the French and American revolutions. He spoke in the modern language of liberty, which, as all know, also had its blindnesses. On the issue of slavery, which surrounded Thunberg from his first arrival in the Cape until his return home, he was as benighted as any Founding Father. Thunberg did not keep a slave, it is true, but this was for economic reasons, and he was ready to ‘borrow’ someone else’s, and managed to drive the man to

Editor’s introduction

25

abscond (turning the Nagasaki factory upside-down for five full days).108 Thunberg noted the Japanese hated the institution, but he was no abolitionist himself (though Sparrman was109). But though he did not, and cannot be expected

Plate 10 Anon., Portrait of Carl Peter Thunberg, c. 1790. Photo: Bertil Nordenstam; whereabouts unknown, formerly Tycho Norlindt Collection (?) to have seen everything, his position was also far from totally Eurocentric. He held that Europe had generally applicable theories, which must be implanted across the world, but that it was not necessarily superior in cultural practice. The gaze of empirical science had strong colourations, but Thunberg deplored the rapacious venality of European elites, just as he lauded the legality and modesty of Japan rulership.

Japan extolled and decried

26

Thunberg’s Sweden: opera, tea and copper Despite the existence of Linnaeus and some other luminaries in its university towns, Sweden was a largely agricultural nation, impoverished by war, and not highly educated. Mary Wollstonecraft, travelling in Sweden after writing her Vindication of the Rights of Woman, was appalled at the ignorance she encountered there, with the small-minded snobbery.110 King Gustaf was trying to remedy this, and bring Stockholm up to the level of Paris, and to this end, within months of returning from France, he organised a palace putsch, funded by Louis XVI, radically centralising power in the throne.111 The nobles were infuriated, but the lives of the peasantry were greatly ameliorated. Torture was abolished, ‘Jews, Turks and blackamores’ permitted to enter the country, and penalties for homosexuality were reduced. Great expense was made on culture and beautification. When Thunberg returned in 1779, the country was eight years into Gustaf s twentyyear reign. Thunberg was called to an audience with the man he had met in Paris so long before, and talked to him about Japan.113 The kings of Sweden (like other monarchs of the period) had their Chinese Pavilion of porcelain, and also, since its donation by the Dutch in 1616, the Swedish crown had probably the finest piece of Japanese lacquer in Europe (a coffer kept in Gripsholm Castle, Gustaf’s mini-Fontainebleau).114 But Gustaf, described as ‘completely international in outlook’, thirsted not just for exotica and trinkets, but for a new political mould.115 Thunberg would have outlined to him the shogun’s educational and disciplinary dispensations and the workings of country and court. Gustaf was radical. He would soon be the first monarch to recognise the independence of the American colonies (in thanks for which Benjamin Franklin’s son was sent to Stockholm as ambassador116), and despite his closeness to Louis, he was also the first king to recognise Revolutionary France.117 The improvements of the Gustavian era, though, did not run deep. The unparalleled progress of his reign has also been termed a 20-year masquerade.118 Stockholm became the stage-set for classic enlightened despotism, which could not, in the end, lead a whole nation on and, as so often, dropped the adjective to become just despotic. In 1787, Gustaf launched a misguided war on Russia, squandering recent dividends of peace and entangling the country for three years. In 1792, he was assassinated by disgruntled nobles in Stockholm’s magnificent opera house—the master-piece of Carl Frederik Adelcrantz, built to be the symbol of Gustaf’s rising city. With neat circularity, the murder was made into an opera. 119 After the assassination, in stepped Prince Gustaf Adolf, as Gustaf IV Adolf. Some doubted he was actually the son of Gustaf III, whose queen, it was noised, had been forced to look elsewhere to produce an heir.120 In any case, Gustaf Adolf was not bright, and still a child to boot. If the Gustavian era had been one of spectacle, a ‘cloud of dullness’ now descended over the regency of Gustaf Adolf’s uncle, the ‘lazy, uninterested’ Prince Karl. The king came of age in 1796, but his reign is defined as ‘a disaster’.121 He closed the opera house, but with nothing to define his orientation instead, he was soon deposed. Prince Karl came back in 1809, first as regent, then as Karl XIII. The nobility could take no more. They invited one of Napoleon’s generals, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, to come to Stockholm and rule as King Karl Johan, which he did. This unusual dynastic leap was ratified by the parliament, notwithstanding the added oddity of

Editor’s introduction

27

Bernadotte’s having recently commanded the Danish army’s French detachments in an attack on Sweden. Thunberg returned to an age of splendour and hope, but this simply evaporated. Fiscal troubles in the state were added to political ones, and these may have provided further incentives for his writing. Thunberg had a clear programme in the more discursive parts of the Travels. He devoted considerable attention to two Swedish perennials pertinent to Japan, and great hopes for Sweden of national solvency: tea and metallurgy. The story of tea in eighteenth-century Europe, and its position as one of the greatest trading goods, is too well known to need extensive rehearsal here. But the Swedish dimension is less often discussed. The Swedish East India Company, though a ‘johnnycome-lately’ of the Asian trading world, was by no means a negligible outfit. It had been founded in 1731 by London and Edinburgh merchants, using capital from Amsterdam, with the aim of circumventing the monopolies of the English and Dutch Companies. Tea was uniquely relevant to its concerns. Having obtained its monopoly for China only, commodities from other countries were ruled out, and the cargo of Swedish ships was all Chinese. Typically, they sailed home with 88 per cent tea and 12 per cent porcelain.122 The Swedish East India Company was, in essence, a tea company. By this alone it was able to offer dividends of 300 per cent.123 Adam Smith remarked in the Wealth of Nations (published while Thunberg was in Japan), on the prevalence in Scotland and England of tea from Sweden, necessarily smuggled.124 The British government reduced tea tax to discourage this, and in the Netherlands all tea imported other than by the VOC was outlawed.125 These strategies ultimately combined to pull the rug from under the Swedes, whose Company liquidated, though not before the VOC had gone bust, thanks to the vagaries of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780–88) and the French invasion of the Netherlands (1795).126 The Swedes not only traded tea, they drank it, the more so as coffee was banned, in a restriction not attempted elsewhere in Europe. When Wollstonecraft arrived at the Swedish Company’s base in Göteborg (or Gothenburg), she noted how coffee could not be consumed ‘under penalty’, whereas ‘tea and cakes, raw salmon &c’ were served ‘on every occasion’; she also acutely noted that the richest men in town were Scots.127 Thunberg would have studied the qualities of Camellia sinensis with his teacher, for Linnaeus had worked on tea and was aware that it represented an economic as well as a botanical grail. He had calculated that 100 barrels of gold per annum passed from Europe to Asia to buy the dried leaves. If tea could only be made to grow nearer home it would yield immense financial rewards and fame, he said, ‘higher than that of Alexander the Great’.128 Banks, thinking the same, recommended experimentation at the Botanic Garden in Calcutta; the British Board of Trade began concerted efforts to grow tea in various colonies, and ultimately were successful in Darjeeling and Assam.129 But Linnaeus was more ambitious: he had deftly managed to produce silk in Upsala which, though not very good, encouraged the concept of import substitution.130 He boldly proposed the growing of tea in Sweden itself. Ten tea seeds came into his possession in 1760, and he was delighted. His joy was alloyed by their coming from London, sent by Solander, who wrote they were few ‘because all the others were to be sent to the English colonies in North America’, where, however, they died.131 Linnaeus’s seeds did too. Three years later, amazingly, he obtained two live tea bushes, imported by the Swedish Company directly. He planted them in the university greenhouse, and officially named

Japan extolled and decried

28

the plant Ekebergia, in homage to Captain Carl Gustaf Ekeberg who had brought them from China.132 Ekeberg had made countless trips to Canton and become an amateur scholar and admirer of Linnaeus; he was later elected to the Royal Academy, made a chevalier, and authored his own Resa. In 1765, Linnaeus published a Potus theae (The tea drink). The young Sparrman, a relative of Ekeberg, was dispatched to cut his teeth in China, and he stayed two years. Linnaeus’s tea plants grew well, suspiciously so in fact, until it emerged they were not Camellia sinensis at all, but the common camellia. Linnaeus never got over this ‘treachery of the Chinese’—though they were merely protecting their legitimate interests.135 Right up to his death, he continued to request tea plants from students going to China, of whom there was a steady stream, for the Swedish Company was required by law to convey botanists to ports along its routes free of charge (few Linnaeans could be as possessive of their turf as Thunberg). Only the latest contraptions could transport live tea bushes all the way to Europe. However, the fact that tea had been taken from China to Japan, in the ninth century, and grew there well, proved that however elusive, it had mobility. Banks pointed out that although ‘at present it is universally allowed that Chinese [tea] trees are superior in flavour’, Japanese tea had not actually been tasted and so might be as good. Kaempfer had included a long ‘Theae japonensis’ in the Amoenitates, noting that Japanese tea was excellent.137 The contents of this section were translated and made into a twenty-page Appendix to the History of Japan, entitled ‘A History of the Tea Plant’, in which all could read Kaempfer’s claim that tea’s ‘great virtues can never be sufficiently commended’.138 The Appendix was well-illustrated, with both Kaempfer’s original sketches and with an image culled from a Japanese book acquired by Sloane with the Kaempfer archive (perhaps the first Japanese botanical picture to be introduced to Western science).139 Sloane’s Swiss librarian, Johnan Scheuchzer, dragooned into putting the entire book into English (not even his native language), valorised the plant further, for where Kaempfer referred to tea as, despite all its benefits, ‘an unslightly bush’, Scheuchzer deleted the modifier.140 Although Thunberg did not say so, being the first to successfully transplant tea to Europe might have been his motivation for going to Japan. While Thunberg was away, Linnaeus continued his experiments. But tea would not grow in Sweden. Fortunately, a rumour about a bush budding in Berlin turned out to be groundless, as did the one about the Russian court consuming St Petersburg coffee, or the saffron crocuses sprouting at Cambridge University.141 It was all disinformation. But serious economics were at stake. Linnaeus eventually compromised with what he called ‘Lapp tea’, not tea at all but a concoction made by steeping a local shadow growth, christened by him Linnaea borealis (‘Linnaeus of the forest’). The name is telling: Linnaeus called this particular plant after himself, because, as he added in the gloss to its entry in his early Criterea botanica (Botanical criteria), it was ‘low, insignificant, forgotten, flowering for short times; it is named after Linnaeus who resembles it’— somewhat off given Linnaeus’s fabled pride.142 But the point was to associate himself personally with Swedish-grown (surrogate) tea. Actually and conversely, we may add that Linnaeus was himself named after a plant, the lime (lind in Swedish, or indeed, linden in English), his father having taken the cognomen from a tree growing on the family plot. The Latin for ‘lime’ is actually tilia, so Linnaeus’s uncle, evidently a stickler, took that for his surname instead, becoming ‘Tiliander’, but when Linnaeus was ennobled, he had both lime and linnaea incorporated into his coat-of-arms, the former as

Editor’s introduction

29

part of his bearings, and the latter invoked by the tag, qui bene latuit bene vixit (who hides well, lives well).143 Linnaeus was on a quest with a dimension to it that was deeply integral to him. But Lapp tea was pretty undrinkable, and even the young Carl called it ‘rather repulsive’. 144 Support for the logic of import substitution waned while Thunberg was gone. Adam Smith pointed out that with greenhouses, grapes could grow in Scotland—so why not tea in Sweden?—but, he went on, attempting to do so was irrational since in the end, to import the product was cheaper.145 If Thunberg had taken any notes germane to the growing of tea in Sweden, or if he had tried to bring back Japanese tea plants, no word of this survives into the Travels. By the 1790s, it was clear that its transplanting to Europe would never work. Thunberg did, however, repeatedly cite Japanese cultivation and drinking of the plant, noting tea’s beneficial effects, and roundly condemning his VOC colleagues for passing over it in favour of the bottle. But he was content to leave tea as an import, only urging the Swedes to drink it for its beneficial effects, speaking now not as an entrepreneur, but as a doctor. With metal Thunberg was on surer ground—literally, as iron ore and copper were everywhere under the Swedish soil, awaiting extraction. The wars that ravaged the North in the eighteenth century both necessitated and improved processing. Metallurgy was a popular academic subject in Sweden, which it was not elsewhere in Europe, and the universities, including Upsala, produced many excellent metallurgists and engineers. The greatest name in the applied field was Christopher Polhem, who invented a hydraulic machine for extracting ore from mines, power-shears for metal-cutting, and sundry other devices. There was a Cabinet of Machines in Stockholm where visitors could admire models of his ingenuity.146 Both George I of England and Peter the Great of Russia tried to poach Polhem for their own use, but he loyally remained. He was raised to the nobility—long before Linnaeus, who was the first scientist elevated, but engineers were different.147 There was also Swedenborg, whose late mysticism that ensnared Sparrman, has obscured his lifetime of serious metallurgical study. The main site of extraction, called the Stora Kopparberg (great copper mountain), was at Falun (see Plate 11). It supplied most of Europe’s needs in the seventeenth century. Swedish metals were exported widely, and were probably first taken to Japan in 1643.148 Gustaf visited Falun to show support in 1788, using the occasion for a candlelit signing ceremony and an elegantly incongruous subterranean banquet, both events depicted by Pehr Hilleström the Elder (see Plate 12).149 He wished to open a route for sales in the New World, and Louis helped by giving the French colony of St Bartholomew, renaming its port Gustavia. The Delaware River region had been the Swedish beachhead a century before, and even been briefly named Nya Sverige, but it had been lost, first to England, then to the nascent United States, and another was badly needed.150

Japan extolled and decried

30

Plate 11 Page from J.van den Aveels et al., Suecia antiqua et hoderna, Vol. 2, Stockholm, undated, 1723 (?). The British Library It was expected that Linnaeus’s ‘apostles’ should take an interest in mines as well as plants. Pehr Osbeck, the first student to go to China, was given a list of things to inquire into, prominently including zinc and alloy smelting.151 Thunberg, for his part, made a point of visiting Japan’s central copper monopoly (dōza), in Osaka, and he witnessed a smelting demonstration, specially laid on for the VOG team (see Plate 13). This was not an annual event, although European trips to the monopoly were not infrequent, and had first taken place as far back as 1684.152 Thunberg meticulously observed, and recorded, the Japanese way of making copper bars, and he brought home samples of the stages of operation, and intricate articles made of copper.153 It is a pity that while in Edo Thunberg did not meet Hiraga Gennai, one of Japan’s top mining experts. Why the two did not encounter each other is unsure, for Gennai had met other VOC delegations, and been quite familiar with the earlier chief, Jan Crans.154 Perhaps Gennai was too hard at work perfecting the static-electricity generator he would reveal to enormous acclaim in Edo the precise month that Thunberg left Japan.155

Editor’s introduction

31

Plate 12 Pehr Hilleström the Elder, Gustaff III Visits the Great Copper Mine at Falun on 20th September, 1788. Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags AB, Falun

Japan extolled and decried

32

Plate 13 Tanba Tōkei, illustration to Masuda Kōen, Kodō zuroku, c. 1800. Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library Copper was not only Sweden’s main export, but also Japan’s. Removing large quantities was the reason the VOC came to Nagasaki. Annually, 22,000 piculs (almost 11,000 tonnes) were shipped out (assuming both scheduled ships arrived). In 1775, Feith was engaged in delicate negotiations to have the allocation confirmed at that level, after threats the previous year of a reduction, to punish the Dutch for smuggling in European finished goods.156 As seen, only one ship docked in 1775, but in 1776, two came, so the full complement was loaded (minus one picul, which fell into the sea and had to be written off as the Japanese refused to replace it).157 Thunberg says the combined cargo was 6,750 copper bars; Feith gives this in monetary terms, as almost fl 400,000. Production at Falun peaked after Thunberg’s return, but then alarmingly dropped back.158 When he was writing, prospects looked bleak. How to keep copper in robust production was as crucial a national concern as how to provide the impoverished population with a cheap and health-giving drink.

Editor’s introduction

33

Thunberg and syphilis Tea and metal were shared Swedish—Japanese concerns, but there was another. Thunberg’s real importance in the history of Japan relates to his introduction of a new cure for syphilis. Again, he would have learned of this from his teacher, for in the 1750s, before being awarded his professorship, Linnaeus had run a venereal practice in Stockholm, from which he had moved on to be physician to the navy.159 The Swedish East India Company was remarkably free of syphilis, but not, it seems, the navy, nor Sweden more widely.160 Fortia said Stockholm was, ‘in a word…as corrupt as a city can be’.161 Linnaeus declared venereal diseases so rife that ‘almost all the young men in our fatherland have been miserably affected’.162 He was speaking of gonorrhoea, but the two were not formally distinguished until 1767, when Frederick Balfour, in Edinburgh, defined them separately.163 Linnaeus’s treatments of a range of illnesses acquired, as he euphemistically put it, ‘in castris Veneris’ (in the camp of Venus) allowed him to amass a large fortune, which eased his subsequent studies.164 Since the early eighteenth century, syphilis had been treated using mercury, in a system known as salivation. Thunberg noticed with interest that the Japanese also had ‘some knowledge’ of this, although when it was transmitted is unsure. In Europe, salivation had been improved with the discovery by Gerard van Swieten, in Holland, that mercury could be injected into the blood as a sublimate, dissolved in water and alcohol. Somewhat tangentially we may observe that van Swieten was soon to be known in Japan, as his celebrated therapy handbook, Commentaria in Boerhaave aphorismos (Commentary on [Hermann] Boerhaave’s aphorisms), of 1760, was imported.165 Thunberg reported the Japanese doctors were ‘totally ignorant’ of van Swieten’s ‘sure, but dangerous, method’, and so, once introduced there, it became associated with him. Thunberg had prudently brought a large amount of corrosive sublimate with him, and he was able to cure many sufferers. A third treatment existed, using arsenic. This represented another major step, and for medicine generally, as it was the first time a specific drug was designed to combat a specific infection (the second being the better known application of quinine to treat malaria).166 Arsenic was advanced as a cure by a friend of Solander in London, John Hunter, though this was seemingly unknown to Thunberg.167 On arrival in Japan, Thunberg first taught van Swieten’s treatment to Yoshio Kōsaku, an intellectual powerhouse who became his closest Japanese friend.168 In exchange, Kōsaku supplied all manner of information and objects, including most of the coins in Thunberg’s collection. The patriarch of a family of hereditary translators, Kōsaku was one of the best-informed people of his day on matters pertaining to Europe. He also ran a medical school. He was over fifty when he met Thunberg, and had been finally nominated to a senior translatorship, just before Thunberg arrived. He was a 169 wellknown and respected figure until the end of the century.169 That Kōsaku should have been concerned with venereal diseases, and syphilis in particular, is not odd. Nagasaki was riddled with it. A Japanese contemporary asserted that European sailors were frightened to be sent there, for fear of infection.170 Syphilis was not confined to Japan’s international port, for the great Edo physician, Sugita Genpaku, claimed that 70–80 per cent of his patients came because of it.171 Thunberg commented on the prevalence of the disease throughout Japan, and how he was

Japan extolled and decried

34

repeatedly asked about it (other urgent queries related to boils and phimoses, or unretractably tight foreskins, the cure for this latter was known as the ‘Dutch thread’, oranda-ito). More particularly, Thunberg was shocked by the absence of an available and modern curative method. Japanese doctors were not without treatments, but all were imported, whether mercury for salivation and or China root and guaiacum for holistic cures, and so expensive, and, to Thunberg, these were also backward.172 As we have seen, Thunberg discovered China root near Nagasaki, which brought its price down, but this still was not as reliable a cure as van Swieten. Coincidentally, while Thunberg was in Japan, an important treatise on syphilis was published by Tachibana Shōken, Shukushō shoji mikkan (Secret mirror for the treatment of the ‘black disease’), but though seminal, it was highly academic and of little benefit to the afflicted. Kōsaku was overwhelmed with obligation, for not only because he was a conscientious medical man, but because his initial monopoly of van Sweiten’s method made him rich. He only published his information (with much else derived from Thunberg) in 1800, under the title of Kōmō hijiki (A record of Dutch secrets), perhaps because Sugita Genpaku’s pupil, Ōtsuki Gentaku, then employed as physician to Date Shigemura, daimyo of Sendai (and later a shogunal advisor on Western affairs), had recently put out an uncompromisingly named Taisei baishōhō (On the European treatment of syphilis). Kōsaku also published an undated Kōmō-ryū kōyaku (Dutch medicine), co-authored with his son, which had a section on syphilis, and there is record of a third book, now untraceable, entitled Tsunberugu kōden (Thunberg’s oral teaching), which would no doubt have included a discussion of the ailment.173 In Edo, Thunberg taught the cure to others. Kōsaku was not selected to accompany the court trip that year (perhaps because he was still acquainting himself with his new post of senior translator), so Thunberg was out of his grip for the duration of the journey. The selected translator, Imamura Sanbei, was not involved with medicine. The shogunal capital far exceeded Nagasaki in scale and danger, and its brothel district was the talk of the entire land, referred to by harsh wits as ‘the village of the falling noses’ (hanachirusato), in a grotesque pun on the homophonous ‘village of the falling blossoms’ that appears in the classic Genji monogatari (Tale of Genji) of c. 1100.174 In Edo, Thunberg’s tutees were Nakagawa Jun’an and Katsuragawa Hoshū. Both were young, but already heard of in medical circles as people of supreme talent. Since 1764, Jun’an had been a minor shogunal physician; two years later he would be promoted to body physician (oku-i) to Sakai Tadatsura, daimyo of Obama, for whom Genpaku already worked. Hoshū was just nineteen and a shogunal medical attendant (heyazumi), but as his family had virtually monopolised high-level Western medicine at the shogunal court since 1674, when his ancestor, Katsuragawa Kunimichi, had chanced to meet Willem ten Rhijne (the first university-trained European physician to come with the VOC).175 The Kunimichi/ten Rhijne encounter was a watershed in the history of science, for it introduced surgical anatomy to Japan and, reversely, acupuncture to Europe; though van Rhijne never returned to Europe, his book, De acupunctura (On acupuncture), published in 1678, was celebrated; Kaempfer said it was ‘prolix and accurate’, and Frederik III of Prussia eagerly bought ten Rhijne’s Japanese medical sketches to display and study them.176 By 1775, when Thunberg arrived in Edo, Hoshū’s father, Hochiku, was a shogunal body physician (of which there were sixteen), and Hoshū was duly promoted to that grade the next year.177 It was to Hoshū that Thunberg gave his French surgical set.

Editor’s introduction

35

Thanks to offering a new cure for a horrid disease, Thunberg’s name lingered in Japan for at least a generation after his departure. In 1803, he was fictionalised in a comic novel, by Maeno Manshichi, writing under the pen name, Onitake.178 The book was illustrated by none other than Hokusai. Onitake’s story hinges on a Nagasaki prostitute who suffers the unwelcome advances of two foreign clients, one Chinese, one Dutch. The three figure on the title page (see Plate 14). The names are fabricated for humour’s sake, as ‘Chin Rinten’, something like ‘dumb smart-arse down on the bottom’, for the Chinese, and ‘Sunperupei’, which can be unpacked as our Swedish doctor: in Japan they called him ‘Tsunberugu’; su easily elides into tsu, while ‘p’ and ‘b’ are written identically in the native script. Thus, Sunperupei and Tsunberugu are very close. The final—gu is transformed into—pei, meaning a fart, which is characteristic of Onitake’s style, not intended to insult Thunberg so much as to underscore the playful silliness of the whole work. The would-be Chinese lover dispenses sage-lore and communes with nature, while the European, aided by his enslaved Indonesian, performs unnecessary acts of surgery and assorted mechanical feats (see Plate 15). Although syphilis is not mentioned—hardly in keeping with the light-hearted vein of Onitake’s book—the subject was rarely far from the author’s mind as Onitake was in an advanced state of syphilis himself. He had taken his pen name, literally ‘spook warrior’, from his resultant disfigurements. Onitake was probably on friendly terms with Hoshū, and certainly with Hoshū’s brother, Katsuragawa Hosai, better known as Morishima Chūryō. The title of Onitake’s work is a tongue-incheek rewording of that of Chūryō’s most widely read publication, Kōmō zatsuwa (European miscellany), a serious compendium on European life, in which the real Thunberg appears, as we shall see.179 Thunberg and the shogunal doctors In the spring of 1776, when Feith, Thunberg and Köhler arrived in Edo, there was tension in the air. Ieharu, the shogun, was planning a progress to his ancestral graves at Nikkō, a temple complex some three days north of the city. No such event had occurred for almost fifty years, mostly because they were nightmares for protocol and had to be extraordinarily lavish. Thunberg provides important information not found elsewhere on the arrangements and financing. The semi-panicked state of much of the bureaucracy worked in his favour, for the VOC seems to have been less closely watched than normal that year.

Japan extolled and decried

36

Plate 14 Katsushika Hokusai, illustration to Kanwatei Onitake, Wakanran zatsuwa, 1803. Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library

Editor’s introduction

37

Plate 15 Katsushika Hokusai, illustration to Kanwatei Onitake, Wakanran zatsuwa, 1803. Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library The Europeans always stayed in the same hostel, called the Nagasaki House (Nagasaki-ya), run by a hereditary functionary named (as was the norm in Edo), from his business premesis, Nagasaki-ya, with the given name of Genzaemon.180 The Nagasaki House was accessibly in Edo’s centre, and if Hiraga Gennai was regrettably not among the visitors, Thunberg recorded meeting numerous other people, of both samurai and merchant class. The street outside was unfailingly crowded with rubber-neckers who lacked credentials (or connections) to get in, but who were consumed with interest. Word went out that a special ‘Dutch surgeon’, beyond the average, was in town that spring, and the road in front of the Nagasaki House was congested. The venerable and now unjustly forgotten Okada Yūsen did most of the talking at first. But Jun’an and Hoshū were more frequent visitors, the two young doctors also seizing on the opportunity to meet a European of genuine stature. Thunberg gives considerable space to their encounters, and, moreover, as Jun’an was fluent in Dutch—or as fluent as Thunberg was—they could communicate without intermediaries. Thunberg noted the men were ‘inexpressibly insinuating and fond of learning’, and Hoshū was later to reciprocate of Thunberg, ‘I have got to know some thirty or forty Westerners [saijin] in my time, but have never known his equal in complete dedication to the pursuit of knowledge’.181 Hoshū and his brother, Chūryō, are pivotal figures. They spanned the academic and the broader urban culture of the period. Hoshū was more than a young egghead, and was designated one of Edo’s great high livers (daitsū), and lionised for his wit and looks as much for his precocious medical successes. Chūryō published uproarious novellas (kibyōshi) as well as serious books, and in his ribbald, fictionalist persona, he succeeded to the mantle of Hiraga Gennai, also as widely known for his comic skills as for his

Japan extolled and decried

38

metallurgy. Hoshū, Chūryō and Gennai are fine exemplars of the unfettered Edo intellectual of the liberal decades either side of Thunberg’s visit. Soon the world changed. In 1786, Hoshū lost his post by over-playing his hand in Edo’s demi-monde ‘floating world’ (ukiyo). Chūryō’s Kōmō zatsuwa came out the following year, probably intended to emphasise the sobriety of his and his brother’s agenda; the next year again, Chūryō published the first ever Dutch-Japanese conversational dictionary, a masterpiece of lexicographical rigour.182 But all this was insufficient and he was forced to enter the services of the strict new shogunal chief minister, Matsudaira Sadanobu (a far cry from the lax Tanuma Okitsugu), and the age that Thunberg had seen, which was liberal for all its economic woes, came to a definite end.183 Thunberg maintained nostalgic contact with Hoshū and Jun’an after his departure from Japan. He noted in the Travels that they exchanged ‘small acceptable presents’ with each other. One set has left a wake of information that may be outlined.184 A letter survives from Jun’an, written in Dutch and dated in the Western calendar to 7 March, 1778, thanking Thunberg for ‘four bottled animals’. In return, he said, he was dispatching some seeds (could they have been tea?) and a Japanese medical chest.185 No thank-you letter survives from Hoshū, but it is clear that, for equality’s sake, Thunberg gave him a similar present, for Chūryō mentions a bottle given to his brother in the Kōmō zatsuwa, and illustrated it in the only picture he undertook himself (the others he farmed out to a commercial artist) (see Plate 16). The bottle is labelled ‘darāka’, and the text informs, In the primitive tongue [Dutch], dragons are called darāka; there are many in the Cape, located in the South Seas. Sizes vary, but they can reach 3–4 jō [9–12m] in length. Many years ago a primitive [European] person named Thunberg sent a baby one to my brother, and it looks as illustrated here. From head to tail it is 1 shaku 5 sun [45cm].186 Since the Japanese language lacks singular and plural, it cannot be said whether Hoshū received just the one animal illustrated by Chūryō, or four, like Jun’an, nor is it clear if Jun’an had four separate bottles or four animals sharing a bottle or bottles. There is no further information on this, and Jun’an fades from the picture. But Hoshū’s sample(s) seem to have done the rounds, perhaps because he himself was so gregarious and in his brother he had a voluble gauleiter. Long before 1786, when Chūryō published the bottle, it was seen and sketched by Sataki Yoshiatsu, daimyo of Akita (see Plate 17). Akita was the centre of copper production, Japan’s own Stora Kopparberg, but was suffering a dwindling output. In 1773, Gennai had been called in to experiment with mine pumping technologies, and though the copper output did not increase, Yoshiatsu was enthused by Gennai, and became a student of ‘Dutch-style painting’ (ranga), under the atelier name ‘Shozan’ (see Plate 18). He went on to sponsor what is today known as the Akita Ranga School, the foremost protagonist of which was Odano Naotake (see Plate 19). The movement was sadly curtailed by the untimely deaths of Yoshiatsu, in 1780, and Naotake, in 1785; Gennai, the catalyst, had died in 1779. Yoshiatsu’s sketch is inscribed,

Editor’s introduction

39

Plate 16 Morishima Chūryō, illustration to his Kōmō zatsuwa, 1787. National Diet Library, Tokyo

Japan extolled and decried

40

Plate 17 Satake Yoshiatsu (‘Shozan’), page from his sketchbook, Shasei chō, 1778. Senshū Museum of Art, Akita Dragon: in the Japanese pronunciation, tatsu; in the primitive tongue, darāka. Many are to be found in Rimia [Africa].

Editor’s introduction

41

Plate 18 Satake Yoshiatsu (‘Shozan’), Landscape with Lake, c. 1775. Senshū Museum of Art, Akita In the Third Month of the year of the Snake and the Boar, that is, the 8th year of An’ei [1779], the Dutch brought this one to the Eastern Metropolis [Edo]. It is stored in preservative liquid kept in glass, and can last a thousand years or more without putrefying. The Shogunal Physician Katsuragawa Hoshū has established the above to be correct. If the date is correct, Jun’an received his presents first and Hoshū the year after, Thunberg perhaps respecting the age differentials and gifting the elder doctor first. Either year indicates that the objects were sent from abroad, not given while Thunberg was in Japan, and the months indicate they would have been taken from Nagasaki to Edo on the court trips, having arrived the summers before. To take Jun’an’s first, in August 1777, the Zeeduijn docked, this time together with the Roodenrijs, bringing Feith back as chief. The court trip was earlier than usual, and next spring Feith was in Edo from 20 March to 6 April; a new secretary was present, Albertus Domberg, as Köhler had been promoted; there was still no proper physician in the aftermath of Thunberg’s premature departure (the system did not return to balance until 1780187), and so the third member was merely an assistant physician, Ertman Poehr. However, these dates are still too late for

Japan extolled and decried

42

Plate 19 Odano Naotake, Shinobazu Pond, c. 1775. Prefectural Museum, Akita Jun’an’s letter, dated 7 March; on that day, Feith’s diary has them relaxing in Miyako. It must therefore be that the bottle was sent up ahead, and passed to Jun’an before the VOC arrival. It was predicted that counters in Edo would be constrained that year, owing to the Nagasaki House having burned down and temporary accommodations being used. It is likely that Feith did not expect much in the way of face-to-face meetings with Jun’an. His diary records only a single visit in Edo by ‘shogunal physicians’.188 The next summer, 1778, Hoshū’s bottle(s) would have come. The Roodenrijs came with the Huis te Spijk, and they docked in August. This time there were problems in Nagasaki, for the in-coming chief, Duurkoop, had died at sea; Feith was required to stay on, and so led the court trip again, with secretary Hendrik Romberg (later to be another long-durational chief) and assistant physician Ernst von Becksteijn; the men were in Edo 8–28 April. The Nagasaki House had been rebuilt, but intercourse was strained for another reason. The shogun’s intended heir, Iemoto, died while the VOC were in the city, or actually, he was killed, and the Dutch were unwittingly complicit. Ieharu had for many years been requesting a Persian horse, which the VOC found nearly impossible to bring because he was so particular about its markings. The Roodenrijs had finally brought it, and Feith handed it over, with all ceremony, in the spring of 1779.189 Iemoto took it out for a gallop, fell off and met his end. The shogun killed many in his agony and fury, for beloved Iemoto, then eighteen, was his only son.190 The Dutch kept their heads down. Feith pulled the braiding from his costume to simulate mourning dress, which earned him praise (Chūryō mentions this in Kōmō zatsuwa), but the shogun, in high coller, did not

Editor’s introduction

43

give the VOC their annual audience.191 This year too Feith recorded just one visit by ‘shogunal physicians’, on 18 April, but as this concords with the third lunar month stated on Yoshiatsu’s sketch, it could have been the moment that Hoshū’s dragon was presented.192 If Jun’an’s bottles arrived in Nagasaki in summer 1777, they would have been sent from Batavia, where Thunberg stayed from January to early July. Jun’an’s thank-you letter was penned after Thunberg was gone, and he was then at sea, sailing from Ceylon to the Cape. The next summer, when Hoshū’s bottle(s) arrived, Thunberg was some months back in Europe, although not for long enough to have dispatched the bottle from Amsterdam or London. Since Chūryō specifies dragons are found in the Cape, it is likely that Thunberg obtained, packed and sent the gift from there. Thunberg stayed in South Africa for just over a fortnight on his return. The Travels mentions a couple of matters of importance, such as Thunberg’s chance meeting with the famous Scottish natural historian, William Patterson (whom, however, Thunberg, says was English, and ‘in fact, a gardener’), but nothing relevant to the bottle is given.193 As Thunberg re-boarded the Loo for Amsterdam, the bottle(s) surely would have gone in the other direction, to Batavia, to be conveyed to Nagasaki. Sending preserved samples to and fro was a pastime for eighteenth-century scholars. Thunberg was consciously integrating Jun’an and Hoshū into a communitas that already spanned most European countries. Solander, in London, sent John Hunter some pickled electric eels, at which the doctor ‘danced a jig…they are so complete and well preserved’.194 Sweden was not able to generate such items, since in 1772 a law restricting the distillation of alcohol had rendered the pickling of samples impracticable; Linnaeus fretted over this. The king’s cabinet, managed by Sparrman, had ‘a great number of animals preserved in spirits of wine’, but visitors were embarrassed by the thinness of Upsala university’s collection.195 More speculatively minded members of the VOC picked up bottled samples along the way, and had them in Japan. Someone had installed a decorative set on the mantelpiece of the Factory’s main room, to be seen by all. A scholar from northern Japan, Nagakubo Sekisui, was received on Dejima in 1746, by the chief, Jan de Win, and he wrote that the samples ‘looked as if they were swimming’.196 An illustration datable to some fifty years later shows the room (which had been rebuilt in the interim) with bottles still in place.197 These seem to have been part of the VOC’s permanent interior furniture. But bottles made good presents and might be handed out to, or indeed demanded by, Japanese people. As early as 1697, an enforced gift had occurred when the chief, Hendrik Dijkson, had received a note from Niwa Nagamori, governor of Nagasaki, asking for ‘animals pickled in spirits’, which Nagamori desired to have ‘to impress the Lord of Sickuseen’, that

Japan extolled and decried

44

Plate 20 Anon., illustration to Hiraga Gennai, Butsurui hinshitsu, 1763. National Diet Library, Tokyo is, the daimyo of Fukuoka, Kuroda Tsunemasa.198 In 1721, chief Roelof Diodati had been similarly coerced by Matsura Atsunobu, daimyo of Hirado, who demanded three samples; Diodati replied this was unwelcome as VOC wanted to keep them, ‘to satisfy the curiosity of his fellow countrymen’. However, although ‘we could hardly bare to part with them’, he sent them along, ‘since it was a request from the prince’.199 In 1763, Gennai published two imported European bottled samples in his magnum opus on natural history, Butsurui hinshitsu (Varieties of matter) (see Plate 20). Hosokawa Shigekata, daimyo of Kumamoto, was known for his natural-history studies. Among his many sketchbooks are four images of bottled fauna. The first is dated to the sixth month of 1759, suggesting it may have come to Edo on that spring’s court visit, led by Johannes Reynouts, with Cornelis Borstelman as physician and Nicolaas Marchant as secretary (see Plate 21). However, since Kumamoto was near Nagasaki, the bottles may have gone to him directly, rather than being carried to Edo for presentation. The next two sketches are undated, and cannot be further traced. The fourth is inscribed as ‘brought by the Dutch in the third month of the 3rd year of An’ei’, which points to its coming on the court trip of 1774 (see Plate 22). That year, the chief and secretary were as per Thunberg’s trip of two years later—Feith and Köhler; for some reason no physician attended,

Editor’s introduction

45

Plate 21 Hosokawa Shigekata, paintings from his scrapbook, Môkai kikan, 1760s. Eisei Bunko, Tokyo and the third member was also a secretary, Dirk Vinkemulde. Feith made an intriguing entry in his log just after arrival in Edo that spring: under 6 April (which fell within the third lunar month), he wrote, ‘a high-ranking anonymous official paid us a visit incognito with his daughter and a physician’. Could this have been the science-loving Shigekata coming for discussions and to pick up the bottle he had previously ordered? The doctor would have been his body physician; Shigekata had six daughters.200 The next-door state to Kumamoto was Kagoshima, and the powerful daimyo of that region, Shimazu Shigehide, perhaps learning from Shigekata, decided on getting some bottles for himself.201 In 1770, Shigehide made a request to the chief, Olphert Elias, that two bottled caimans (he was specific) be brought for him as a special private import (eis).202 Such an order could take a long time to fulfil, especially if the items were not available in Batavia. Shigehide perhaps had no great hopes of receiving his samples in 1771 when Feith arrived as chief. In 1772, Armenault was back, also without bottles. Evidently the request had to be forwarded on, to the Cape or even to Europe. Shigehide contented himself with reminding Armenault that he was waiting. In 1773, Feith arrived, similarly bottleless, though since Shigekata’s fourth bottle of the sketch would have been imported that summer, perhaps he underhandedly commandeered the item that was destined for Shigekata. Next season, though, Armenault finally came back with the pickled caimans, and probably passed them over the next spring in Edo. What happened after this is unknown. The obsession with preserved samples went so far as to be open to ridicule. Swift, in his satire of 1704, A Tale of a Tub, told of a botanist who invented a ‘universal pickle’ able to preserve anything ‘as well as an insect in amber’, and who went about bottling whole houses, even towns.203

Japan extolled and decried

46

Plate 22 Hosokawa Shigekata, paintings from his scrapbook, Mōkai kikan, 1760s. Eisei Bunko, Tokyo In Japan too, the mania for these murky samples found its parodists. The writer Santō Kyōden proposed that irate fathers might try bottling their sons, to be stared at by the rest of the family as object lessons.204 The artist Keisai Eisen dreamt up the idea of a pickled penis (perhaps with a nod at the quite different genital-preserving practices of Chinese eunuchs); this Eisen discussed, with illustration, in an erotic manual Kōgō zatsuwa (Sexual miscellany library) (see Plate 23). The book’s title is clearly a pun on Chūryō’s by-then classic European compendium, Kōmō zatauwa, and the image is thus a direct reference to Thunberg’s present to Hoshū. It is labelled ‘Dragon’ (darōka), a garbling of Chūryō's inscription, and, in a second pun, we read it is also known as a ‘male dragon’ (yōryū), which was slang for a large member; the preservative liquid is now said to be ‘sexual juices’ (insai), and with a well-worn joke, the provenance slides from Holland (oranda koku) to ‘red-light district’ (oiranda koku).

Editor’s introduction

47

Plate 23 Keisai Eisen, page from his Kōgō zatsuwa, 1823. Private Collection Thunberg and the Russians Thunberg may have been forgotten, but his name was restored to circulation, at least in privileged shogunal circles, in 1793, through a most extraordinary concatenation of events. In 1783, a rice ship under the command of Daikoku-ya Kōdayū, had floundered, drifted northwards, and finally come aground on a desolate northern island. Kōdayū and four surviving crewmen constructed a raft, and got themselves to Kamchatka, from where they trekked to Irkutsk, arriving in 1789.205 It so happened that a professor of natural science from the St Petersburg Academy, Eric (or Kiril) Laxman, on a field trip in the Siberian region, was then lodging in the same town. Laxman met the castaways and took them to Moscow and St Petersburg, where they had diverse experiences of a remarkable kind, and were received by Catherine the Great. Elements in the Russian court were

Japan extolled and decried

48

anxious to open trade with the shogunate, although there was also an opposition camp, including Catherine herself, who remarked, ‘let anyone who so wishes trade there, but not I’.206 But the pro-Japan faction, which now included Laxman, saw the castaways as a means of forcing the issue. They organised a trade-cum-repatriation mission for Kōdayū and the two sailors who agreed to go (two other survivors had converted to Christianity and knew return meant certain death), and the entourage progressed from St Petersburg back to Irkutsk, laden with presents. Laxman was a Finn, but Finland was part of Sweden (in 1809 it became part of Russia)—hence the name of the ship that Thunberg crossed at the Cape. Laxman had read Thunberg, and recalling the mention of the keenness of Jun’an and Hoshū, Laxman sent letters and samples to be given to the two doctors whose names he knew. Laxman’s son, Adam Kirilovich, a naval lieutenant, was then in Irkutsk, and he was given charge of the final, maritime part of the expedition.207 They boarded the Ekaterina, arriving at the northern Japanese city of Matsumae in summer 1793, exactly a decade after the castaways had gone adrift. The startled local officials at once sent runners to Edo, and the shogunate dispatched a team under Murakami Daigaku, whom Adam Laxman received onboard, giving him the letters and samples, and, as presents for the shogun, two large mirrors and two thermometers.208 Matsumae was not an open port, so the Ekaterina was told to sail to Nagasaki, which it did, one of the castaways dying in the process. At Nagasaki, Kōdayū and his sole remaining fellow, Isokichi, disembarked and were taken to Edo, where they had an audience with Ienari, the new shogun, a distant cousin to Ieharu hurriedly adopted to replace the horse-fallen Iemoto. He desired to see the returnees, and it was decided that they should be accompanied into his presence by Hoshū—who by coincidence had published a book on Russia (culled from Dutch sources) just months before, and who was, of course, implicated through Laxman’s gifts.209 Jun’an would have been of insufficient status to appear before the shogun, but anyway, he had died in 1784. Hoshū was still in his down-graded post, so he was reinstated as shogunal body physician.210 He was instructed to write up a memorandum of the event, and the resulting Hyōmin goran no ki (Record of the august inspection of the castaways), though not printed, (as standard with works touching on affairs of state) was allowed to circulate in manuscript (see Plate 24). Hoshū wisely donated Laxman’s samples to Ienari, and a new shogunal botanical garden (yakusō-en) was created for them, beside Edo’s castle gate; this was placed under the charge of Shibue Chōhaku, another shogunal body physician, but one who had not blotted his copybook. Isokichi was rusticated to his home region, but with a kind of poetic justice, Kōdayū was incarcerated inside the garden, for he knew too much for the regime’s comfort, and led a party of double-law breakers, offending once by going abroad and once by returning again. He remained there until his death, coincidentally in the same year as Thunberg’s. It was surely for this reason that the next year, 1795, the VOC chief in Nagasaki, Gijbert Hemmij, was quizzed about Thunberg by the translator Kafuku Yasujirō, acting on instructions from the authorities. Hemmij wrote in the official log on 11 July, ‘on behalf of the governor [Takao Nobutomi], Yasujirō asked me where the physician Thunberg, who had served here in 1776, was born, in which country he resided at present, and what post he

Editor’s introduction

49

Plate 24 Anon., illustration to Katsuragawa Hoshū, Hyōmin goran no ki, 1793. National Diet Library, Tokyo had. He asked for the replies in writing.’ Hemmij had no idea, but scouring the records came up with the fact that, ‘according to the muster roll’, he was born in Sweden, and ‘rumour has it that he is now a professor of botany. Where he is at present Hemmij does not know for sure’. Yasujirō took this to Nobutomi for forwarding to Edo. Hoshū rewrote the clipped memorandum into a more accessible book, under the title of Hokusa bunryaku (Abbreviated comments on a northern raft). It became a best-seller, although, again, only in manuscript. Hoshū modestly omitted mention of himself in the repatriation saga, but his brother, Chūryō, retraced the sequence of chances, though somewhat garbled and truncated, in an undated commonplace book entitled Hōgukago (The wastepaper basket). Chūryō stated, During the An’ei period [1772–80] a European physician called Thunberg came to Kyoto [sic]. He was originally from a country neighbouring on Russia, called Sweden. Striving to compile a book on natural history (bussan), he came as far as our land. While he was staying at the inn run by Nagasaki-ya Genzaemon, my brother Hoshū hōgen [an honorary title awarded in 1783], and the physician of Jakushū [Obama], Nakagawa Junzō [sic], formed a master-pupil relationship with him. He never came again [N.B. most physicians stayed for years and came to Edo many times], but travelled on to other places. A pupil of his [sic], residing in Russia, met Kō[dayū], and asked him whether he knew anything of my brother, and of Junzō.211

Japan extolled and decried

50

Whether Thunberg ever heard of all the above is not known. He would be elected to the St Petersburg Academy in 1801, and in thanks, as seen above, donate plants to it. This is the last documented connection between Thunberg and his Japanese friends—although Hoshū still treasured his bottled dragon(s), which, Chūryō said, were ‘the most prized possession(s) of our house’.212 Thunberg and surgery One other aspect of Thunberg’s activities in Japan must be addressed. The Japanese always called the VOG physician the ‘surgeon’ (geka), often because that is what he was (ships’ doctors were essentially barber-surgeons). But also it was realised that surgery was the branch of medicine in which the European and Sino-Japanese traditions most strikingly diverged. Thunberg was aware of this too. He felt he had much to teach about surgery, but was not off Dejima long enough to do so, nor could he establish a surgical practice. Thunberg took a backseat in this to a previous European doctor who had created a veritable school, and whose name was celebrated throughout the Edo Period, Caspar Schambergen. Schambergen had overlapped with the Swede, Olof Eriksson Willman, and like him had experienced an unprecedented nine-month stay in Edo, in the early 1650s.213 This extended timespan in the shogunal capital allowed considerable imparting of information, in both directions, and at a high level. Though not trained to a degree that would command attention in Europe (he was no Kaempfer, Thunberg, nor even ten Rhijne), Schambergen predated them all and so his presence was noticed. His interpreter, Inomata Denbei, wrote what he had been told into a book, which circulated (in manuscript), under the titles of Kasupam-ryū isho (A testament of Caspar’s method) and Oranda-ryū geka-sho (The book of Dutch surgery).214 Thunberg would assuredly have heard of ‘Caspar’ and his method. He does not mention them. It is correct to surmise that Thunberg preferred not to draw attention to the priority of that mediocre, unpublished ‘farrier’, who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. When constructing the book of his travels, Thunberg made himself the conduit for the arrival of Western surgery and its theoretical base, anatomy. Even Kaempfer is not allowed to figure in this capacity. Thunberg wrote of Japanese doctors, ‘they have no knowledge of anatomy’. Over the years, few first-rate doctors had arrived in Japan, to be sure, but many important books had come. Gertainly Hoshū, Jun’an and their colleagues knew of Thomas and Caspar Bartholin, Steven Blankaart, Ambroise Paré, Jean Palfyn and more—constituting a good survey of the crucial eighteenth-century anatomical texts.215 Actually, a great leap forward in Japanese anatomy had occurred just two years before Thunberg’s arrival, and been the achievement of none other than his closest friends— Hoshū, Jun’an and, slightly peripherally, Kōsaku. Thunberg filtered this out too, thereby removing evidence of perhaps the most salient moment in the history of the transmission to Japan of early-modern Western surgical and anatomical medicine. The story needs to be told. Jun’an and Hoshū had laboured for years on a translation to be entitled Kaitai shinsho (New anatomical atlas), working under the supervision Sugita Genpaku. This was finally completed in 1773. That spring, Genpaku took it to the Nagasaki House while the VOC

Editor’s introduction

51

group was there, and although there is no record of his showing it to them, he is unlikely to have gone for any other purpose. The court trip members were, as seen above, Armenault as chief, the long-standing Ikarius Kotwijk as physician, and Jan Schuts as secretary. Armenault’s log states that they met ‘Japanese nobles, physicians, astronomers and students’ several times.216 At the Nagasaki House, Genpaku ran into Maeno Ryōtaku, who was a celebrated Europeanist and body physician to Okudaira Masaka, daimyo of Nakatsu. Genpaku and Ryōtaku had not previously met, though they knew each other by repute.217 Gentaku gave Ryōtaku the manuscript for comments, and presumably got some. After testing the waters some months later with a five-page printed (not manuscript) flier, entitled Kaitai ryakuzu (Brief anatomical illustrations), the Kaitai shinsho was published, early in 1774. Kōsaku, whom Ryōtaku had met during a year-long stay in Nagasaki in 1770 and whom Genpaku knew from the translator’s trips to Edo, was asked to write the preface. The date was highly symbolic: 1774 marked the centenary of Kunimichi’s pregnant encounter with ten Rhijne. This collective effort, so studiously ignored by Thunberg, was not an original monograph, but a translation. It derived from the Anatomische tabellen (Anatomical plates) of Johannes Kulm (or Kulmus), a physician from Breslau, who had published in 1725, in Danzig (modern Gdansk), the city where Kaempfer had received much of his medical education.218 No-one in Japan knew German, but the treatise was available in Gerard Dicten’s Dutch rendition of 1734, entitled Ontleedkundige tafelen (Anatomical plates), and as with most European books, the VOC brought Dutch versions wherever possible. But the Japanese team referred to the text as ‘tāheru anatomia’ suggesting they were aware of the original German text.219 It so happened that Ryōtaku had obtained a copy of the same book four years earlier, while in Nagasaki, and so knew of the work. When Genpaku showed him the manuscript he was impressed, as he had not realised the translation project was underway.220 Genpaku’s team had great expectations for their work, and they accordingly translated the Dutch not into Japanese, but into pseudo-Chinese (kanbun), as scholarly convention required. To call the Kaitai shinsho a translation, though, scarcely does justice to the level of invention. The doctors had to construct an entire vocabulary for what they were laying before the reader. Since the shogunate had taken no action against the flier, they boldly had the book itself printed. Many copies exist, suggesting wide circulation and repeated printings. An updated edition was issued in 1798.221

Japan extolled and decried

52

Plate 25 Odano Naotake (transcribed), from Sugita Genpaku et al. (trans.), Kaitai shinsho, 1774. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Editor’s introduction

53

Kulm’s book was illustrated, and a companion volume of painstakingly produced woodblock pictures, transcribed from the original copperplates, was compiled for the Kaitai shinsho too, mostly derived from Kulm, but supplemented with figures from major European sources (see Plate 25). The flier also had illustrations, undertaken by Kumaya Genshō, but they were of poor quality. For the book proper, a more qualified master was sought, and the pictures were the triumph of Odano Naotake, later the pillar of Akita Western-style painting.222 Gennai had met him in Akita on his mine-consulting trip of 1773, at the same time he had converted the daimyo, Satake Yoshiatsu, to Western representation, and Gennai had been able to persuade Yoshiatsu to release the young samurai (already a good painter) to go to Edo to undertake the transcriptions.223 Armenault, Schuts, and more especially the physician, Kotwijk, may or may not have seen the pre-publication manuscript in Edo in 1773. As noted, no physician who could have seen the recently published book came on the court trip of 1774. In 1775, Ferbiskij made his only trip to Edo, again with Armenault and Schuts. The Dutch log records three meetings with ‘shogunal doctors’ that spring, including one with their students.224 It could be that the Kaitai shinsho was shown and discussed at that time. Then, in 1776, came Thunberg. It is inconceivable that Jun’an and Hoshū would not have shown him the fruits of their recent endeavour. They probably gave him a copy, for de luxe presentation volumes had been prepared for handing to people of consequence.225 If Thunberg did receive a copy, he did not bring it home. The Kaitai shinsho remained unknown in Europe, though it would have caused a sensation. But it would also have compromised Thunberg. He could hardly cede place to its author, Johannes Kulm any more than to Schambergen, for though superior to a ship’s doctor, Kulm was an undistinguished person, and his Anatomische tabellen from which most of the Japanese altas was taken, largely ignored in European seats of learning; before the Sino-Japanese version, it was translated into no language other than Dutch. The Parisian circles that were frequented by Thunberg dismissed the book as being, ‘poorly executed…inaccurate…yesterday’s practice’.226 Thunberg’s only option was to ignore the prize accomplishment of those he called his ‘beloved pupils’. Of the many Western books known to this fraternity of ‘new European surgical doctors’ (shin kōmō geka-i), as they identified themselves, one had special relevance for them, and, indeed, for Thunberg. This was Lorenz Heister’s Chirurgie (Surgery), of 1718. Again it was known in Japan in Dutch, the translation by Heister’s distinguished follower, Hendrik Ulhoorn, under the title of Heelkundige onderwijzingen (Medical instructions) (see Plate 26).227 Heister was the most crucial author to the emergence of Japanese anatomical study

Japan extolled and decried

54

Plate 26 Anon., illustration to Lorenz Heister, Surgery, 1757. Wellcome Library, London . Genpaku possessed a copy of the text, as well as one of Heister’s other important work, Compendium medicinae practicae (Compendium of practical medicine), of 1743. Genpaku claimed he had been finally convinced of the advantages of Western medicine by a chance encounter with the Chirurgie, and looking back in 1816, he wrote, ‘although unable to read it line-by-line…when I saw the precision of the pictures, I felt as if my mind had been suddenly opened.’228 He borrowed the book, ‘in order to make copies of the illustrations’. Gentaku then bartered twenty kegs of good sake for his own copy. Thunberg mentioned the existence of the Chirurgie in Japan, though just once and in passing. But he did not note that Heister had attained iconic status, with the book’s frontispiece portrait endlessly replicated in Japan, as it had been in Europe (see Plate 27).229 Heister’s likeness hung in the consulting rooms of Western-style doctors, just as Sino-Japanese practitioners hung portraits of Shennong, the legendary founder of Chinese medicine (see Plate 28). But Thunberg did not say so. The best extant portrait of Heister was painted by Hoshū’s grandson, Katsuragawa Hosan, who used the name Jan Potanius (surely an error for potamius or river (gawa), the second character of his name; the first, katsura, means laurel) (see Plate 29).230 In 1820, a physician named Koshimura Tokki published a set of twenty of Heister’s figures, including the frontispiece portrait, and then in 1825, Genpaku had his student, Ōtsuki Gentaku, translate the 1,000-page Dutch Chirurgie, finally permitting the contents to become generally known.231 Heister was hugely admired in Europe too. Though a German, he had trained in the Netherlands, where he has been hailed as a ‘new Boerhaave’;

Editor’s introduction

55

Plate 27 Francois Sesone, Portrait of Lorenz Heister, c. 1750 derived from frontispiece to chirurgie. Wellcome Library, London he had gone on to become chief physician to the Dutch Navy before taking London by storm, and being appointed professor of medicine and botany at Helmstedt, by George III (in his capacity of Duke of Brunswick).232 Heister was arguably the top physician of Europe. His book was the first comprehensive vernacular surgical text, and it remained in use until the end of the eighteenth century.233 It went through seven German printings, three Latin (into which Heister had it translated ‘for the sake of foreigners’234), ten English, three Dutch; it was also translated into Spanish, French and Italian. A second edition was produced in 1724, including a brief discussion of the medicine of Japan and China, ‘such clever nations’, which noted ten Rhijne’s work on acupuncture (this section was retained in all later editions and translations).235 In 1776, while Thunberg was abroad, a grand new third edition appeared, though posthumously. Here was a scholar to be reckoned with. But an added trouble for Thunberg was that Heister had been one of

Japan extolled and decried

56

Linnaeus’s sternest critics, and over whose attacks Linnaeus had been deeply concerned.236 Thunberg gives Heister minimal space. He includes him, but seeks to better him too, at least insofar as standing in Japan went. When it came to

Plate 28 Anon., Shennong, c. 1650. Private Collection prestige, Thunberg fought his corner hard. His travel book was one gun in his fusillade of attack. Thunberg included many anecdotes in support of his medical achievements in Japan. One such is his claim that immediately on arrival he cured many sailors of serious fevers; Feith puts this in his log too, but the other way round, noting what large numbers died, and he even lists their names, giving fully 5 per cent of the crew.237 More interestingly, Thunberg recorded that in Edo, he treated a high-ranking personage, ‘without doubt one of the imperial princesses’, and that thanks to his ministrations, she was ‘quickly restored to health’. This story grew in the telling, for as Hopton was debating whether or not to translate the Swedish Travels into English, he was encouraged

Editor’s introduction

57

by being fed the information that Thunberg had ‘cured the emperor of a disorder for which he had found no relief among the Asiatic physicians’.238 Thunberg was not necessarily the root of this inflation, but he did not contradict it. It was an accomplishment to warm the heart of any Enlightenment philosophe bent on aiding noble but unformed primitives. Thunberg recorded how, when asked to treat the lady, he was not allowed to see her, which made diagnosis difficult. It had recently become normal for a European doctor to examine a patient himself, as it had remained normal for a Japanese doctor (unless he was of a commensurate rank) not to do so. But Thunberg, when he placed himself in this cross-cultural light was aware that this requirement of meeting the patient was Heister’s innovation, and that until then distance-curing had been quite acceptable in Europe too.239 The later editions of the Chirurgie—the ones that Thunberg would have known—included a frontispiece depiction of Heister in his trademark pose at the bedside.240 The story of the treatment and restoration to health of the lady may, of course, be true. But it is peculiar that Feith does not record it, as he surely would, for such an achievement would result in gifts to the Company, if not in annual perquisites. It is likely that Thunberg inserts the narrative to overshoot Heister, and the narrative of Kaempfer too. Kaempfer had written how he had been approached by another dignitary, though a lesser one, the governor of Osaka, Katō Yasukata. This governor came because of ‘a particular distemper one of his family members had labour’d under, for then already ten years’, unfortunately, ‘in a private part of his body’.241 The genital allusion may have inclined Thunberg to turn his patient into a nubile princess and, moreover, to profess a cure for her, which Kaempfer did not claim he had been able to effect. If truth were to be told, the first really successful treatment of a Japanese potentate by a VOC physician had occurred when Hendrik Obe (almost certainly the first American in Japan), had cured one of the shogun’s chief counsellors of scabies, in 1685. Obe’s cure was a coup for the Company and was most certainly written into the official log, by the then chief, Hendrick van Buitenhem.242 This occured shortly before Kaempfer arrived, and he no doubt heard the story from van Buitenhem, who was then on his third stint as chief, and whom Kaempfer praised as ‘well-vers’d in the customs and language of Japan’.243 An added point of interest is that scabies was an affliction that greatly interested Linnaeus, and which has been termed the ‘paradigm’ of his medical thinking.244 Thunberg may not have known all this, but even if he did, why refer to an ailment so base, and why let no-name colonials take the credit?

Japan extolled and decried

58

Plate 29 Katsuragawa Hosan (attrib.), Portrait of Lorenz Heister, c. 1820. Private Collection

Editor’s introduction

59

Postscript In 1807, Genpaku, composed an autobiographical work, Yasō dokugen (An aged rustic’s soliloquy). As part of the memories of his life, he recapitulated the Laxman story, but jumbled it, confusing the Finn with the Swede, and having Thunberg be head of a surgical school ‘in their new capital’, or St Petersburg.245 1807 is the last Japanese reference to him. Thunberg faded in the recollections of even those who knew him best. Jun’an was long dead; Hoshū died in 1809. In 1816, Genpaku, aged 85, completed a canonical history of Westernising scholarship in Japan, Rangaku kotohajime (The origins of Dutch studies). He dilated on Kulm, the Kaitai shinsho project, his leadership of it, and he found plenty of space to mention Heister and even Jan Crans. But Thunberg is not found. The reason for this passing over is uncertain, but it seems a nice (if unintended) revenge for Thunberg’s suppression of Genpaku and his circle’s own most salient intellectual triumph. None but second-grade physicians worked at the factory for several decades after Thunberg. None attempted to record his life, nor did any form friendships that have left a mark; none had any impact on Japanese (much less European) medical or botanical research. The collapse of the VOC made sailings from Batavia to Nagasaki less frequent and lowered staff quality. In 1808, the British attempted to seize Dejima, with some legal justification but with gross discourtesy to the Dutch and to the town.246 They soon withdrew, but in 1813 tried again, this time more diplomatically, though equally unsuccessfully, in a mission arranged by Stamford Raffles.247 The Dutch dug in, and the British gave up. In 1826, Nicholaas Burman’s son, the third generation, also Nicholaas, wrote to Thunberg that, ‘since the time you were there, not a single botanist has penetrated Japan’.248 This was how Thunberg liked it. But the young Nicholaas was wrong. In 1823, a new scholar-physician had arrived, Philipp Franz von Siebold. Like Kaempfer and Schambergen (and Heister), he was German. Siebold had completed his training at Würtzburg University, one of Europe’s prime medical schools. He has entered Japanese lore as third in the triumvirate of significant scholars on Dejima. He also saw things this way, and set up a memorial to his forebears, positioning himself as culminating successor to Kaempfer and Thunberg—ignoring, like Thunberg, Schambergen and ten Rhijne.249 Siebold remained in Japan for five years, more than twice as long as Kaempfer and three times as long as Thunberg. He was able to botanise extensively, and even open a private academy. The court trip had ceased to be annual, but Siebold went to Edo once, in 1826, and there he met an aspiring scholar, Itō Keisuke, who became his close follower. Keisuke moved to Nagasaki to be with Siebold, and when he ultimately returned to his home of Nagoya, Siebold gave him his copy of Thunberg’s Flora. The young man translated it, publishing his efforts in 1829, under the title of Taisei honzō meiso (European botanic treatise).250 Keisuke included a portrait of Thunberg, taken from the only source available, the frontispiece to the French translation of the Travels (though how and why that book was in Japan is unknown) (see Plate 30). The portrait was produced for him by the artist Kondō Shūen, and is remarkable as an early example of Japanese copperplate etching. Siebold left Japan some months after Keisuke’s publication and probably without hearing of it, for Nagoya was far from Nagasaki.251 Thunberg would never know of it

Japan extolled and decried

60

either for he had died the previous year, 1828. In 1835, back in Germany, Siebold and a junior colleague, Joseph Zuccarini, published their own Flora japonica, consigning Thunberg’s tome to obsolescence.

Plate 30 Kondō Shūen, frontispiece to Itō Keisuke (trans.), Taisei honzō meisō, 1829. Private Collection

Editor’s introduction

61

Publishing history and conventions of this edition The history of Thunberg’s text, and its translations, is complex. The original, Resa uti Europa, Africa Asia, förrättad åren 1770–1779, was published in four volumes at Upsala in 1788–93. It is not to be found in many libraries outside Sweden, although the copy formerly owned by Banks (probably given by Thunberg) is now in the British Library. For those who wish to consult the Swedish outside of rare book collections, an edition of 1951 exists, edited by Erik Lindström. More recently, a convenient facsimile of Volume 3 and the first part of Volume 4 (i.e. the Japan sections, as per the present edition), has appeared as C.P.Thunberg: Resa til och uti Kejsaredömet Japan åren 1776 och 1776 (Stockholm, 1980). Both are, however, unannotated. A French translation of Thunberg’s letter on Japan, which pre-dates the full Travels entitled Relation d’un voyage au Japon de M.Thunberg, appeared in 1789, said to be translated from the English, in which Thunberg, though, could not have written it; no English or Swedish versions are known. This appears as one of three appendixes to a novel by the pseudonymous Brytophend (aka F. le Breton), entitled Roman historique, philosophique et politique; the other two appendixes are also travel essays, George Bogle’s on Tibet, and one Miller’s on Sumatra. The places of publication are jocularly given as ‘Pékin (Beijing) and Paris’. This letter is translated below as Appendix 1, with its own Introduction. The earliest translations of the Travels were into German. The first, not remotely complete, by Kurt Sprengel, was published in Berlin, as a single volume, in 1792 under the title of Reise in Afrika und Asien; the pre-Cape sections were deleted. This came out as Volume 7 of Johann Foster’s edited set, Magazin von Merkwündigen neven Reisebeschreibungen (collection of remarkable modern travel writings). Interestingly, Sprengel’s own book, Anleitung zur Kenntnis der Gewächse (Guide to the knowledge of plants) was the first German work to be seen in Japan, and was presented by Siebold to the young Udagawa Yōan, pupil and adopted son of Udagawa Genshin (himself pupil and son-in-law of Sugita Genpaku), in about 1820.252 The Swedish was then retranslated with significant (though less drastic) cuts, by Christian Groskurd, a friend of Thunberg’s and the scholar who, ten year earlier, had overseen translation of Sparrman’s Resa til Goda Hopps-Udden.253 This was entitled Reise durch einen Theil von Europa, Afrika und Asien and also published in Berlin, in 1792 and 1794; both came out in small-scale format. An English version, only slightly cut, was published in 1793. The translator is anonymous, but securely established as Charles Hopton, a medical expert who had recently translated Sparrman’s Resa, to great acclaim. The title is, of course, Travels in Europe, Africa and Asia Made Between the Years 1770 and 1799, though some copies bear a reduced Thunberg’s Travels. The English text consists of four volumes, as did the Swedish, and is divided at the same points. Volumes 1–3 were put out by the London press, Richardson & Egerton, in 1793, but the project then aborted. The author’s name is given as ‘Charles Thunberg’, in keeping with the conventions of the time. (Note that the German calls him ‘Karl Peter’ and the French ‘Charles-Pierre’; in life, the VOC staff referred to Thunberg as ‘Carel Pieter’.254) Volume 4 was taken over by F. & C.Rivington, who published a second edition of Volumes 1–3, to complete their set, in 1795, in a larger format. A third edition, like the first in small size, appeared from them in 1795–96. Textually all are identical. It could be speculated that the English Travels was a slow

Japan extolled and decried

62

starter, with few sales in 1793 and 1794, forcing a new press to intervene with a repackaged version, which primed the market, after which the small-scale volumes sold reasonably well. An anonymous French translation appeared in Paris, in 1794, highly abridged, under the title of Voyages en Afrique et en Asie, principalement au Japon and lacking all of Volume 4. A fuller version appeared two years later, translated by Louis-Mattieu Langlès, under the title of Voyage de C.-P. Thunberg au Japon. Langlès noted that, while he was working, Groskurd’s translation came out (he appears not to have known of Sprengel or the English edition), and he decided to follow suit in heavily abbreviating the text, although not necessarily in the same places, as the German had. Langlès also added footnotes of his own, not always helpfully. Like the English, the French edition appeared in two formats, once with the original four-volume arrangement, and once as two larger volumes; both had an ornamental frontispiece, which is given here as Figure 7. The Travels was not translated into any other language during Thunberg’s lifetime, not excluding—perhaps oddly—Dutch. Thunberg’s volumes were only sparcely illustrated, and the Japan sections had just five plates, grouped together in Volume 4. These were the work of John Niclas Ahl, probably using sketches, or objects actually brought back, by Thunberg. The English and German translations recopied these, giving them a slightly different appearance; those of the English edition are given here. The French translation also reproduced Ahl’s plates, but managed to reverse them, making some meaningless. That French version also had extra images, some taken from the Flora, others from uncertain sources, as well as the elaborate frontispiece. After the third English edition of 1796, no full printing was made in any language. There was nothing more in German, but there were condensed, rewritten versions in English and French. 1796 saw a précis anthologised by William Mavor (father of the rules of modern spelling), in his twenty-volume Historical Account of the Most Celebrated Voyages, Travels and Discoveries; Sparrman’s Resa was also included.255 Mavor divided Thunberg’s text into two sections, with a ‘Europe, Africa, Asia’, and a separate ‘Travels in Japan’, because of, he probably corrected estimated, ‘the superior interest we are convinced most readers will take in [Japan]’.256 Mavor’s anthology was itself reissued in 1809–10, though under a new title, A Collection of Voyages and Travels, augmented to twenty-eight volumes, and with Thunberg’s two segments reunited.257 This second edition was reprinted in 1813. Thunberg’s complete Volume 2, on Africa, was reissued in 1818–23 in John Pinkerton’s twenty-eight-volume General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels.258 Pinkerton’s series was immensely popular. From his name Puccini acquired that of the US captain in Madame Butterfly.259 But Pinkerton did not include Thunberg’s other sections, including those on Japan, perhaps because he anthologised Kaempfer’s History instead, which he found more illuminating.260 In France, Baron Charles Walckenaer, an admirer of Langlès and friend of Pinkerton, anthologised Thunberg (and Sparrmann [sic]) in his Histoire générale des voyages, ou nouvelle collection des relations de voyages par mer et par terre, again, in condensed form.261 The twenty-volume Premier partie of Walckenaer’s Histoire générale appeared in 1826, specified as Voyages en Afrique, and including Thunberg’s Cape sections. Walckenaer noted here that Thunberg wrote ‘without method and without any editorial

Editor’s introduction

63

care’ so that ‘one can hardly read him without becoming bored and tired’, but he whet the reader’s appetite with the remark that the Japan sections were ‘better seen and better described’. However, those sections never appeared as Walckenaer’s series was abandonned after the first part.262 In discussing Thunberg’s text, Walckenaer made the otherwise-unattested claim that Langlès’ French translation was based on the English, without reference to the Swedish.263 Recently, the Japan sections of the two Continental translations have been brought back into print. A facsimile of the Groskurd version (unannotated, but with introduction), has been edited by Eberhard Friese, in two volumes, using the original German title (Heidelberg: Manutius Verlag, 1991). The Japan parts of Langlès’ translation have been reissued, with brief introduction, by Claude Gandon, as Le Japon du XVIIIe siècle vu par un botaniste suédois, Ch.-P.Thunberg (Paris: Calman-Lévy, 1966). In English, until now, all that has been available in a modern edition are the African sections, which have been retranslated from the Swedish, annotated and given a fine introduction, by I. and J. Rudner; they appear in V.S.Forbes et al. (eds), Travels in the Cape of Good Hope, 1772–1775 (Cape Town: Van Riebeeck Society, 2nd Series, vol. 17, 1986). Two Japanese translations exist, both confining themselves to the original Volume 3 and first part of Volume 4. The first, made by Yamada Tamaki, was published in Tokyo in 1928, as Tsunberugu nihon kikō (Thunberg’s travels in Japan); it is a retranslation from the English, contains many errors, and is unannotated. A second translation, by Takahashi Fumi, prepared to a much higher standard, has been made from the Swedish, though it is only lightly annotated. This was published in Tokyo in 1994, as, Edo sanpū zuikōki (Records of an official trip to Edo). The present version is photographically derived from the third English edition, using the volumes held in the library of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Editorial conventions The governing rationale for this edition had been to make Thunberg’s writing available to a wide audience. Deletions have been made only very occasionally, where the text becomes merely a list, or is so repetitive as to be without interest to any but particular readers (as, for example, the temperature recorded morning, noon and night for each day Thunberg was in Japan, or lists of plants in a field, already given for the neighbouring field). Deletions are marked in the notes. Original sentences have not been broken up, unless absolutely necessary, but punctuation, spelling, capitalisation, italicisation and, most importantly, romanisation have been modernised, and diacriticals added. Manifest typographical errors have been corrected. The shogun is generally referred to by Thunberg as the kubō. The original English does not put a definite article before this, which is confusing, and one is accordingly inserted. The same goes for Japanese era names (nengō), which appear without ‘the’ in the text, so one has been added.

Japan extolled and decried

64

Loan words from Japanese, which are (or were) current in English, are allowed to stand unmodified and unitalicised. Examples are kambang (from kanban), meaning the official sale of goods imported on the Dutch ships, kobang (from koban), a Japanese unit of currency, ottona (from otona), meaning a ward elder, and norimon (from norimono), a palanquin. These are pluralised with an ‘s’. Thunberg was scrupulous to use Latin binomes for flora and fauna. However, he was formulating the terminology as he went, and some of his usages are hard to reconcile with other data. Latin names of flora and fauna have been regularised according to the modern convention of a capital for the generic and a lower-case letter for the specific name, further, when binomes were formalised in 1867 (and modified in 1905), many of Thunberg’s original proposals were rejected. It has not always been possible to sort out the resulting confusion, and sometimes the plants and minerals referred to cannot be traced. But where possible, they have been, with common English terms also given here in the notes. Readers for whom it is crucial to know exact genus and species should satisfy themselves through further investigation. The original text had few subheadings until the end of Volume 3, when they suddenly appear, and continue until the end of the work. These are retained, but for convenience subheadings are added in the earlier parts too. Thunberg gave his four pages of figures at the end of Volume 3. These are reproduced here, with the original English captions, but placed at the end of the text. Two types of footnote are used in this edition. Where a number follows a word directly, the note explains that word only. Where the number follows the punctuation mark (usually a full stop at the end of a sentence), the note refers to the wider import of the sentence or clause. For example: ‘I was obliged to make a present to my beloved pupils at Edo of my silver spring-lancet, and other chirurgical* instruments which might be of use to them.*’ The former note will explain ‘chirurgical’ (as ‘surgical’), and the latter will discuss this exchange of instruments and its significance. Weights and measures Most commonly used by Thunberg are the accounting units of the Dutch East India Company: This was a triple, decimal system, of 10 candereen= 1 mas; 10 mas=1 tael. These were not minted as coins. For coinage, all the European Asian factories used the Spanish real; it was generally worth about fl 3 (3 Dutch guilders) or 20 stuivers, or, in British currency, 5s (5 shillings sterling); the real was also known as a Spanish dollar, a real-of-eight, or, most picturesquely, a ‘piece-of-eight’. All nations availed themselves of the Spanish real, but the Dutch had their own coin too, the rixdollar, also spelt ‘rixthaler’ (pronounced ‘rikes-tarler’). This unit was intended to equal and displace the Spanish one, and, depending on circumstances, sometimes did, though to the end was less adopted overall. This rixdollar is not to be confused with the Swedish riksdaler (pronounced almost identically), which was introduced only in 1777 after the old Swedish crown collapsed, and was only used internally, in Sweden. Approximately, 12 Swedish riksdalers=1 Dutch rixdollar. In all cases, however, these units fluctuated against each other, and calculations should be made with caution. Japanese coins were numerous and complex. They were discussed by Thunberg in a special section; see pp. 154–55. But only two figure widely in the text: the kobang

Editor’s introduction

65

(koban), an oval coin minted in a gold-silver alloy, and equal to one gold ryō; a kobang was made up of 4 bu or 16 shu. It was officially devalued in 1685, and whereas it had previously been worth 10 rixdollars, it was reset at 6.8, unilaterally, by the shogunate. The depreciation unfairly hurt the VOC imports. When Thunberg was in Japan, the kobang had been reduced again, and was worth no more than 6 rixdollars. In British terms, the kobang had become worth about £1/10, which, for comparison, we may note in the 1780s was about 3 months’ earnings for a senior domestic servant in London. The second unit mentioned is the zeni. This was a cheap copper coin, round, with a hole in the centre, and often tied into strings of predetermined length. It is virtually impossible to fix kobang-zeni exchange rates, but whereas the former was a significant sum, the latter was trivial. The catty was the principal unit of weight, and common to all factories. It derived from the Japanese kin, which it equalled, but was given a larger, invented unit, of 100 catties, called a picul, deemed to be the weight a man could carry. A picul was actually taken from the name of a Malay measure that had nothing to do with the kin. 1 catty=approx. 0.5kg, or, to be exact, 1 picul=52.3kg. The Japanese unit of capacity was the koku. 1 koku=180 litres. Koku were used to measure any dry goods, but were generally considered specifically a measure of rice. 1 koku of rice was traditionally identified as enough to sustain an adult for a year. Landholdings were measured in notional koku of rice, regardless of what was actually produced. To qualify as a daimyo (regional ruler) it was necessary to possess the equivalent of 10,000 koku, or more. The term ‘koku’, though, by extension, was used to mean the financial equivalent of a koku of rice, such that a koku also became a surrogate quantity of money, albeit one which fluctuated in worth and for which no coin was minted. Thunberg sometimes used Japanese numbers when counting in koku, especially in the case of daimyo income. As ‘10,000’ is read in Japanese ichiman, daimyo wealth had to be at least ichimankoku (elided to ichimangoku). Thunberg makes the common European mistake of assuming mangoku to mean 10,000 pure and simple (rather than meaning 10,000 koku), and he erroneously uses the term with that meaning below. References to a mile should be understood not as referring to the modern statute mile, but the so-called ‘Japanese mile’, or ri, sometimes translated as a’league’, which is almost double the statute mile, at 3.92km. ‘French miles’ also appear, meaning kilometres, and also ‘French leagues’ which was a pre-metric unit, measuring 1.47km. It is assumed that readers will be familiar with the imperial system, so that yards, feet and inches, pounds and ounces, and so on, are not annotated with metric equivalents.

Author’s General Preface So many relations of travels have already been obtruded upon the public, that the shelves in the booksellers shops are loaded with them. It might therefore seem needless to add to their number, did not the generality of them abound more in the marvellous than the simple and certain truths; did not they contain more ridiculous, and, frequently, intrepid narratives, than articles of useful information, and did they not supply more obscure descriptions of animals, plants, and other productions of nature than plain and intelligible names and characters of these different objects. How often is the reader’s time wasted in toiling through a large folio which scarcely contains as much useful matter, or real facts, as would fill a single page! How often has the natural philosopher, as well as the cultivator of rural economy, sought in vain for useful information in many of these books, for want of understanding the barbarous names of natural objects which the author has misreported, and frequently did not comprehend himself! Is not nutmeg, of which almost all the travellers to the East Indies have made mention and which for several centuries past has formed a considerable branch of the European commerce—is not the genus of this in a great measure unknown? Has not our knowledge of the animals and plants mentioned the Bible, a book the most ancient, most sacred, and most universally read of any, been very imperfect till these later times, and are they not even now in some measure unknown to us? An ignorant traveller is apt to call sovereign1 and uncommon animals by the names of those that he is already acquainted with, and, consequently, to consider all the different sorts of wild cats, ‘tigers’, and several species of the dog genus as ‘foxes’, and thus confound the jackal, or Samson’s fox2, either with the common European fox, or with the ordinary bouse-cur3, however dissimilar they are in their qualities. Every traveller thinks himself under an obligation to turn author, and report something marvellous to his countrymen, although, perhaps, possessed of so small a stock of knowledge, as not to be able himself clearly to comprehend what he has seen or heard, much less to give others a distinct idea of it. And this circumstance alone has produced more unintelligible books than can easily be imagined. Upon the whole, then, if relations of travels can either clear up obscurities of ancient authors, or throw a new light on geography, political history, rural economy, physic, natural philosophy and natural history, and several other sciences, they will certainly not be superfluous. When travellers pass through countries with much knowledge and attention to the objects they meet with, as some of the more modern travellers have done, the reader in perusing their books, imagines that he is following them, as it were, step by step, and with his own eyes sees what they have seen. And when everything is set in a clear light, and rendered perfectly intelligible, the reader is always enabled to derive more or less advantage from them.4 I have carefully avoided introducing into this narrative any prolix descriptions (and particularly in Latin) of animals and plants, for fear of tiring out the patience of the

Author’s General Preface

67

generality of my readers; but for the use of botanists and zoologists, I have thought proper to publish them in separate works; still, however, I have taken care, as far as it might be done, to distinguish them5 by their proper and genuine names. The relations of others, which have come to my ears, I have for the most part forborn to speak of, that nobody might be misled or confused by them, and have therefore merely given an account of what I myself have done, seen, or experienced. I have likewise presented, in an artless, unpremeditated order, the memorandums I have put down in my journals, thinking it less necessary, as well as less useful, to write an elegant romance or a well-compiled history, than to introduce naked and simple truths in the same order of time and place as they have occurred to me. If the reader should find any passages in this narrative that might have been either arranged in a better order, or more elegantly expressed, he will be pleased to recollect that I neither had the opportunity of collecting the materials for it with a free and vacant mind6, nor of arranging them properly afterwards, having been, for the most part, interrupted and disturbed by a great variety of other occupations. And if he will likewise be kind enough to consider, on the one hand, how much in the course of these nine years7 I have already written and published for the advancement of the science I possess, and, on the other, the almost innumerable occupations in which I have been engaged, as well with respect to the instruction of the students, as to the arrangement and making of catalogues of various botanic gardens, and more particularly of different collections of natural history, I cannot but hope for his favour and indulgence.8 Although I cannot flatter myself that everything in this journal will be equally pleasing to all of my readers, or that all my readers will be able to derive the same advantage from the perusal of it, yet I am inclined to hope that something will continually occur in it which will prove either entertaining or instructive to every one of them. And since the two first volumes9, which treat chiefly of the Cape and the Hottentots (a country and people in which art has improved but little upon the wild simplicity of nature), cannot possibly be as interesting as the third, which will contain relations and observations respecting a civilised nation10, that has both a regular government and other good institutions, and even vie with the Europeans themselves, I presume the reader will not impute this circumstance to any want of attention in me, but to the country itself and the natives, that could not possibly present more materials to an attentive traveller than they actually possessed.

.

Part I

Author’s Preface to Part I1 The Empire of Japan is in many respects a singular country, and with regard to customs and institutions totally different from Europe, or, I had almost said, from any other part of the world. It has therefore been a subject of wonder to other nations and has been alternately extolled and decried. Of all the nations that inhabit the three largest parts of the globe, the Japanese deserve to rank the first, and to be compared with the Europeans, and although in many points they must yield the palm to the latter, yet in various other respects they may with great justice be preferred to them. Here, indeed, as well as in other countries, are found both useful and pernicious establishments, both rational and absurd institutions, yet still we must admire the steadiness which constitutes the national character, the immutability which reigns in the administration of their laws and in the exercise of their public functions, the unwearied assiduity of this nation to do and to promote what is useful, and a hundred other things of a similar nature. That so numerous a people as this should love so ardently and so universally (without even a single exception to the contrary) their native country, their government and each other; that the whole country should be, as it were, enclosed so that no native can get out nor foreigner enter in without permission; that their laws should have remained unaltered for several thousand years, and that justice should be administered without partiality or respect to persons; that the government can neither become despotic nor evade the laws in order to grant pardons or do other acts of mercy; that the monarch and all his subjects should be clad alike in a particular national dress;2 that no fashions should be adopted from abroad nor new ones invented at home; that no foreign war should have been waged for centuries past and interior commotions should be for ever prevented; that a great variety of religious sects should live in peace and harmony together; that hunger and want should be almost unknown, or at least known but seldom, &c. All this must appear as improbable, and to many as impossible, as it is strictly true and deserving of the utmost attention. I have endeavoured to delineate this nation such as it really is, without on the one hand too highly extolling its advantages, or on the other too severely censuring its defects. I put down daily upon paper whatever came to my knowledge, but several subjects, such as their internal economy, language, government, public worship &c, I have since collected and drawn together from different parts of my journal for the purpose of treating of them in one place, and in order to avoid speaking of them separately on different occasions. No country in the world, perhaps, undergoes fewer changes than Japan, which has been both well and amply described by the learned Doctor Kaempfer in his history of this country.3 Some, nevertheless, I have found and have committed to writing the few alterations which have occurred in matters of smaller moment, at least during the space of nearly a hundred years.4 But as natural history has in a particular manner engaged my attention, I have not only endeavoured diligently to collect the minerals, animals and plants of this country, but also

to render them in some degree useful and advantageous to Europe, and the country that gave me birth.5 Oh, how great would be my joy, without the least tincture of arrogance, could I but in any measure arrive at this constant object of my most fervent wishes! In a separate treatise, under the title of Flora Japonica, I have described such plants as I have found on the Nippon islands, and at the same time indicated their uses.6 But in this account of my travels I have made mention of such only as exhibit some remarkable use in in rural and domestic economy,and in the art of healing.7

1 Departure and arrival June: Departure On the 20th of June, 1775, I went on board of the Stavenise8, one of the three-decked vessels bound from Batavia to Japan. For some time past, the Dutch East India Company has sent two ships only to that empire, which ships are selected by the government in Batavia for this purpose, one of them, and generally both, being large three-deckers from the province of Zeeland, as the navigation of these waters is accounted the most dangerous in all the Indies. I had engaged myself as principal surgeon on board of the ship during this voyage, and on my safe arrival at Japan was to remain there a year, and at the same time to accompany the Dutch ambassador on his journey to the imperial court at Edo, the capital of the country, in quality of physician to the embassy. This was my station in the Dutch East India Company’s service, but I had, besides, at Amsterdam undertaken to collect for the Hortus Medicus9 there, and [for] some gentlemen of distinction, as far as I could get liberty and opportunity in this distant country, seeds and growing plants, particularly of shrubs and trees, to be sent to Europe by the returning ships for the purpose of trartsplanting. The ship was commanded by Captain Von Ess10, and on board of her now embarked M.Feith, in quality of consul, and likewise ambassador, for the fourth time, to the Imperial Court, who had brought him as assistant in the commercial line M.Haringa, the supercargo11, together with four writers.12 The other ship which lay ready to accompany us was somewhat less, and was called the Bleijenberg. It had on board a supercargo and a writer. All the officers on board who were to remain a year at Japan carried with them one or more slaves, as servants during the voyage and their stay at that place. This had been allowed by the Japanese for more than one hundred years back, though the slaves are not suffered to go out of the factory13, or the adjacent town, Nagasaki. On the 21st, about ten o’clock in the forenoon we weighed anchor, saluted14, and got underway in the road15 of Batavia, but came again to anchor for the purpose of putting everything in proper order previous to our intended voyage. The chief16 allowed a free table for all the officers, both now and during the voyage, as also liquors, beer and wine, partly at his own and partly at the Company’s expense. On the 26th, in the morning, by the aid of a light breeze and the tide, we were in the Straits of Banca, which are nearly as broad as the British Channel. We saw the land of Sumatra to the left, the shores of which are even and low, and the land of Java to the right, both overgrown with wood.17 On the 27th, we remained at anchor, and waited the arrival of the other ship, which being a dull sailer, lagged behind. On the 28th, we weighed anchor and got underway.

Departure and arrival

73

On the 30th, we got safe through the sound into the open sea, and were saluted by the Bleijenberg, which compliment being returned, we wished each other a safe passage. July: En route July 3rd, crossed the Line18. On the 8th, saw the rock Pulo Sapato19, which at a distance appears like a ship, and on a nearer view like the hinder part of a shoe cut in two across the instep. Its name signifies ‘Shoe Island’: pulo in the Malay tongue signifying an island, and sapato a shoe. This island has been so called from its resembling the heel of a shoe. On the 10th, saw the Chinese coast, which is a pleasing sight to every Japan trader, as it affords an evident proof that the vessel is pretty far advanced on its voyage. On the 12th, a hard gale. In this latitude gales are very common. Our captain (who was a very careful and sagacious man) ordered immediately to shorten sail, lower the topmasts and take down the yards. This precaution was afterwards observed during the whole voyage when we were similarly circumstanced, and the event showed that it was extremely judicious. The Bleijenberg on the other hand, being astern of us all this time carried all her sail till the topmasts went, and during the gale she lost her lower masts also. In fine20, the ship, in consequence of its rolling, was so much shattered and proved so leaky that it was with the greatest difficulty that she was prevented from sinking, and carried into the port of Macao from whence she was afterwards taken to Canton in order to be repaired, being unable to proceed on her voyage to Japan.21 The cargo, which chiefly consisted of soft sugars, was almost entirely spoiled. On the 17th, a most tremendous gale accompanied by severe hurricanes and a great deal of rain, which lasted for eight and forty hours, but no thunder. On the 20th, the gale having abated, we saw a Chinese fishing boat with her keel upwards. The fishermen belonging to it were supposed to have been lost. On the 22nd, saw again the Chinese shore. Four fishing boats came to us and brought with them several sorts of fish. Amongst others there was the beautiful and transparent shellfish called Ostrea pleuronectes, one of the shells of which is white and the other red, and on this account it is called by the Dutch maan-schulp, or moon muscle. There were likewise found among them several sepiae, some large crabs and the Cancer mantis.22 The whole of this we purchased with some rice and arrack23, with which the fishermen seemed highly pleased. Since our leaving Batavia, the seamen had been very much troubled with intermitting fevers, but as soon as the cold weather and winds increased, the malady abated. Bontius observes that in his time agues were seldom heard of in the East Indies, but at present no species of fever is more common.24 The difference in the degrees of heat, however, was, in fine weather, not very remarkable. The thermometer stood at Batavia between eighty and eighty-six degrees, and in the northern latitude, in which we now were, it was at seventy-eight or seventy-nine degrees, by Fahrenheit’s scale.25 The very heavy rains which accompanied the last gale were not less troublesome than the hurricanes, as everything we had was wet, and on laying them out to dry some articles were found quite useless. The crabs (canceres) and marine animals (sepiae) which I had collected for the purpose of drying and preserving, afforded me at night, as soon as it

Japan extolled and decried

74

grew dark, a most delightful spectacle: the former of these in spots and the latter with almost the whole surface of their bodies, illuminating my little cabin with a bluish phosphoric light. The light proceeding from the crabs in particular was singular, as it appeared upon them in spots and not covering any part entirely, a spot, perhaps on the one side of the tail, giving a light when there was none perceptible on the other. The glimmering continued for the space of two days, and when the animal was brought up on deck and exposed to the open air in the daytime, it gave no light at all. With the naked eye I could neither discover marine insects nor anything else that might occasion this phenomenon, and when I scratched any of the shining spots with my nail the light neither disappeared nor was it in the least diminished. The Chinese fishing boats are remarkably large and long, built of thin boards and decked, and bluff both at the head and stern. Abaft26 however, they are much wider; the deck is open where the rudder traverses, and they have only one mast and sail. In these, generally, four or five men to each boat go far out into the sea and there fish night and day. The officers of the ship who had been [on] several voyages, informed me that sometimes in fine weather such numbers of them were seen as to darken the horizon. On the 23rd, a great number of the fish called pilots were this day seen. On the 26th, passed the island called Med zyn Gatt and made towards Formosa Sound.27 On the 29th, saw the island of Formosa, which formerly belonged to the Dutch East India Company.28 This island is long, large and very fruitful. Formerly all ships bound for Japan touched at this place, which made the voyage more commodious and less dangerous, as in case of hard gales they have now no port to run into. The citadel, called Zeeland, was surrendered in the year 1662 after a siege of nine months by the then governor, Coijet, to the Chinese rebel Coxinga, who had been driven out of China by the Tartars.29 The history of this transaction may be seen in Het verwaaloosde Formosa, by C.E.S, printed at Amsterdam, 1675.30 This island is at present in the hands of the Emperor of China, but no traffic is carried on there with the Europeans.31 On the 30th, we had severe squalls with rain, but of no long continuance. August: Final stretch and arrival August the 4th, hard gales with a high sea and some rain which lasted till the 7th, the sea being in such agitation that we could carry nothing but the main stay-sail.32 During the whole time I kept as much as possible on the deck. On the 19th, for the fifth time on this short passage, a hard gale with rain which lasted twenty-four hours. Hence it appears how troublesome and dangerous the voyage to Japan is, and how boisterous and subject to gales the sea is on either side of Formosa, even in the proper season of the year, which is the only time when ships may ride for three or four months with safety in the havens of Japan.33 Whoever wished for a more explicit account of the gales to which these seas are subject may peruse Dr. Kaempfer’s History of Japan, the folio edition, pages 49 and 50.34

Departure and arrival

75

The voyage to Japan is reckoned the most dangerous in all the Indies, and the Dutch India Company always considers one out of five of the ships that are sent thither as lost. That this calculation exactly agrees with the experience of more than a hundred years is evident from the following list of lost ships, with relation to some of which it has never been known when and where and how they were lost. In 1642 were lost two ships in the narrows of Guinam, viz. the Buys and the Maria 1651, De Koe 1652, De Sparwer 1653, Het Lam 1658, De Zwarte Bal 1659, De Harp 1660, The Hector, which, however, blew up in an engagement with the Chinese 1664, Het Roode Hart 1668, The Achilles 1669, Two, de Hoog Caspel and Vrydenburg 1670, De Schermer 1671, The Kuylenberg 1697, The Spar 1708, The Monster 1714, The Arion 1719, Three, viz. the Meerog, Catherine and het Slot van Capelle 1722, The Valkenbos 1724, The Apollonia 1731, The Knapenhoff 1748, Het Huys te Persyn 1758, The Stadwyk 1768, The Vreedenhoff 1770, The Gansenhoef; the same year the Burg35 was, in consequence of having sprung a leak, rendered unfit to proceed on her voyage and obliged to go to China.36 1772, The Burg, though she had been unsuccessful in the former voyage, was now again sent to Japan and had the chief on board, but became so disabled in a gale of wind that she was abandoned by the crew, and drove on shore on the coast of Japan.37 On the 30th of July, in a hard gale from E.N.E. off Meshima, which had lasted two days, she lost her masts, bowsprit, head, quarter-galleries &c, and springing a leak had a great quantity of water in the powder-room and hold. The chief, M. Daniel Armenault38, and Captain Eveich, saw on the 1st of August the other ship, viz. the Margaretha Maria, commanded by Captain Steendekker. A council was held in which it was resolved to quit the ship. On the day following they went on board the other ship, taking with them their money and valuables, and leaving the ship to the mercy of the wind and waves, arrived on the 6th in Nagasaki harbour. In the course of a few days the vessel that had lately been quitted was discovered driving towards the Gulf of Japan by some fishermen, who had towed her on shore and found no other live animal on board of her than a boar-pig. It must have been in consequence of the greatest negligence that the ship was not towed to land, or agreeably to the regulations previously made, set on fire.

Japan extolled and decried

76

1775, The Bleijenberg39, in consequence of having sprung a leak and sustained great damage, was obliged to go to China where she was repaired and afterwards returned to Batavia. On the 13th, early in the morning, we saw the island of Meshima with its lofty and peaked mountains. In the afternoon we saw the land of Japan, and at nine o’clock in the evening anchored in the entrance of Nagasaki harbour, where the high mountains formed a roundish internal harbour in the shape of a half moon. On the mountains, by order of the Japanese government, were placed several outposts which were provided with telescopes that the guard might discover at a distance the arrival of ships, and immediately report the same to the governor of Nagasaki.40 These outposts now lighted up several fires. This day, all the prayer books and bibles belonging to the sailors were collected and put into a chest, which was nailed down. This chest was afterwards left under the care of the Japanese till the time of our departure, when everyone received his book again. This is done with a view to prevent the introduction of Christian or Catholic books into the country. A bedstead was now placed upon deck with a canopy over it, but without curtains, for the Japanese superior officers to sit on, who were expected to come on board. A muster too of the ship’s company, consisting of about one hundred and ten men and thirty-four slaves, was made out, mentioning the age of every individual, which roll was given to the Japanese. The birth place of each individual was not marked in this list as they were all supposed to be Dutchmen, although many of them were Swedes, Danes, Germans, Portuguese and Spaniards. According to this muster roll, the whole ship’s company is mustered immediately on the arrival of the Japanese, and afterwards every morning and evening of such days as the ship is either discharging or taking in her cargo, and when there is any intercourse between the ship and the factory. By these precautions the Japanese are assured that no one can either get away without their knowledge or remain in the factory without their leave. On the 14th it blew so very hard that we could not get anchor up; at eleven o’clock, therefore, we were obliged to cut the cable and got under sail.41 We now perceived a boat coming from shore to meet us. The captain therefore dressed himself in a blue silk coat trimmed with silver lace, made very large and wide and stuffed and furnished in front with a large cushion. This coat has for many years past been used for the purpose of smuggling prohibited wares into the country, as the chief and the captain of the ship were the only persons who were exempted from being searched. The captain generally made three trips in this coat every day from the ship to the factory, and this was frequently so loaded with goods that when he went ashore he was obliged to be supported by two sailors, one under each arm. By these means the captain derived a considerable profit annually from the other officers, whose wares he carried in and out together with his own, for ready money, which might amount to several thousand rixdollars. The last-mentioned boat brought from the factory one supercargo and three writers, deputed from the chief42, to congratulate us on our arrival, to enquire about the ship’s cargo, and to know the news from Batavia &c.

Departure and arrival

77

In the meantime, we displayed on board a number of different colours43 and pendants in order to give a certain degree of splendour to our entry into the haven. As soon as we approached the two imperial guards which are placed on each side of the port, one of which is called the Emperor’s and the other the Empress’s guard, we fired our cannon to salute them.44 During the whole time of our sailing up this long and winding harbour we had a most delightful prospect of the surrounding hills and mountains, which appeared cultivated to their very summits, a view which is so very uncommon in other countries. We at length came into good anchorage, and at noon let go the anchor at the distance of a musket-shot from the town of Nagasaki and the adjacent small island of Dejima, on which is situated the Dutch factory. Soon after, the above-mentioned gentlemen, who had been deputed from the factory, returned on shore carrying with them the Company’s letters and those of private persons; the chief who had this year remained at Japan came on board, and with him returned to the factory the newly-arrived chief, the captain, supercargo and writers. New anti-smuggling rules The intelligence we received was by no means agreeable, as the strictest orders had come from the court for the prevention of any illicit commerce. First, that the captain and chief should in future be searched, as well as the other, without regard to persons, which had never been the case before. Secondly, that the captain should for the future dress like the others and lay aside the large surtout45 which had hitherto been used for the convenience of smuggling. Thirdly, that the captain should either remain constantly on board, or if he should choose to go ashore he should be permitted to go on board twice only during the whole period of our stay there.46 This latter point was, nevertheless, in a great measure given up and the captain had liberty after a lapse of two days to go on board and moor the ship. The permission for this purpose was obtained from the governor of Nagasaki, partly by solicitation and partly by threatening him that if any accident befell the ship, the loss would be put to the emperor’s shogun’s account, and if the emperor should treat the affair with neglect or indifference the Company would certainly, in that case, resent the affront. These strict orders were issued from the court in consequence of a discovery that was made in the year 1772, when the Burg, having been abandoned by her crew, had driven ashore on the coast of Japan, and, on discharging her cargo, was found to have on board a quantity of prohibited goods, which principally belonged to the captain and the chief.47 The Burg was, as before mentioned, in 1772 so leaky in consequence of the severe gales sustained on her passage to this place, that on a council being held upon her she was abandoned, and it was considered as so certain that she would sink in a few hours that she was not set on fire, agreeably to the Company’s orders in such cases. Notwithstanding this, the ship drove for several days towards the shore of Satsuma, where she was found by the inhabitants, and towed to Nagasaki harbour. The Japanese having thus the ship at their disposal, discovered all her corners and hiding places as also a great number of chests belonging to the principal officers, which were full of the most prohibited goods and marked with their names. They were particularly provoked on finding a chest belonging to the chief, full of ginseng root, which is by no means allowed to be imported

Japan extolled and decried

78

into the country.48 The chest therefore, with its contents, was burned before the gate of the factory. Besides the disgrace accruing to the chief from being searched, the captain loses a considerable sum yearly that he gained by smuggling for the other officers, and the officers are deprived of the profit made by their wares.49 For many years past the captain was not only equipped with the wide surtout above described, but also wore large and capacious breeches in which he carried contraband wares ashore. These, however, were suspected and consequently laid aside, and the coat, the last resource, was now, to the owner’s great regret, to be taken off. It was droll enough to see the astonishment which the sudden reduction in the size of our bulky captain excited in the major part of the ignorant50 Japanese, who before had always imagined that all our captains were actually as fat as they appeared to be. As soon as we had come to an anchor and had saluted the town of Nagasaki, there came immediately on board two Japanese superior officers (banjoses) and some subaltern officers (under-banjoses), as also the interpreters and their attendants.51 The banjoses went and placed themselves on the bedstead prepared for their accommodation, upon which was laid a thick Japanese straw mat and over that a calico covering and all this sheltered by a canvas awning from the rain, and a foot-stool being placed before it to facilitate the ascent. After taking off their shoes, they stepped up and sat down squat on their heels with their legs placed under them, according to the custom of that country. Being used to sit in this posture they could endure it a long while, but it was easily seen that it proved tiresome to them at length, by their rising up and sitting for some time like the Europeans. The business of these banjoses was during the whole time of our ship’s lying in the road to take care that all the wares and the people which went on shore or came on board, were strictly searched, to receive orders from the governor of the town, to sign all passports and papers which accompanied the merchandize, people &c. The way in which they passed the time while they sat in this tiresome posture was in smoking tobacco, now and then exchanging a few words with each other, drinking tea and taking a sip of European brandy. For this purpose the captain set before them a couple of decanters filled with different liquors, and two glasses. Some sweet cakes likewise were set before them on a plate for them to eat with their liquors, although they did not consume much of the liquors which they only tasted. The harbour is about three miles long and four gun-shots broad, inclining a little at the end towards one of the shores. It extends north and south, has a muddy bottom and is very deep so that ships may lie within a gunshot of the factory. After having several times fired our cannon, viz. on passing the imperial guards, on the arrival on board and departure of the committees, on the arrival of the chief and on the officers leaving the ship, we were obliged to commit to the care of the Japanese the remainder of our powder, as also our ball, our weapons and the above-mentioned chest full of books. For this purpose were delivered in a certain quantity of powder, six barrels full of ball, six muskets and six bayonets, which we made them believe was all the ammunition we had remaining. All these articles are put into a storehouse till the ship leaves the road, when they are faithfully restored by the Japanese. The Japanese have of late years had the sense to leave the rudders of our ships untouched and the sails and cannon on board. They were likewise weary of the trouble

Departure and arrival

79

with which the fetching of them back was attended, and which was by no means inconsiderable.52 The Japanese having thus, as they suppose, entirely disarmed us, the next thing they take in hand is to muster the men, which is done every day on board both morning and evening when the vessel is discharging or taking in her lading. They reckon always from one to ten and then begin with one again, a method which is also observed in counting out wares and merchandize. Each time the number of the men that are gone ashore is set down very accurately, as well as the number of the sick and the number of those that remain on board. On all those days when anything is carried on board or taken out of the ship, the upper banjos53, the under banjos, the interpreter, clerks and searchers, are on board till the evening, when they all go ashore together and leave the Europeans on board to themselves. On such occasions the flag on board the ship is always hoisted, as well as that on the factory, and when two ships arrive here safe, business is transacted on board of one or the other of them, by turns, every day. The ship’s long boat and pinnace54 were also taken into the care of the Japanese so that both the people and the merchandize are carried to and from the ship by Japanese seamen and in Japanese boats. To prevent the Dutch from coming from the ship or the Japanese from going to it and trafficking, especially under cover of the night and when no Japanese officers are on board, several large guard ships are placed round the ship and at some distance from it, and besides this there are several small boats ordered to row every hour in the night round the ship, and very near it. I observed that the tide in this harbour was very considerable, as also that the surrounding mountains were very steep, and the shore consequently very bold and almost perpendicular. On our arrival, we found in the harbour eleven Chinese vessels (or junks) lying so close to the shore that when the tide was at ebb they lay only in the mud. Some of these vessels were by degrees loaded and sailed, but seven remained there all winter.55 Each of these vessels generally carry with them a great number of people, frequently from seventy to eighty men. Hence it is that there commonly remain here all winter about six hundred men, on a small island situated on one side of the Dutch factory and directly before the town of Nagasaki.56 Livestock On the 15th, we sent the beasts ashore, such as calves, oxen, hogs, goats, sheep and deer which are brought every year to this place from Batavia. The Europeans not being able to procure such animals here are obliged to carry them with them, partly for fresh provisions for the factory and partly for stock on the homeward-bound voyage. They are kept constantly on the island in stalls, which in summer are open and in winter are closed up. They are fed with grass and leaves which are gathered and brought them twice a day by Japanese servants. In winter they are commonly fed on rice and branches of trees, as also on rice straw. This fodder of the cattle I examined three times every day, and selected out of it the rare and uncommon plants it contained for the purpose of drying them for the botanical collections of Europe—plants which I was not at liberty to gather in the adjacent plains,

Japan extolled and decried

80

in a country where the inhabitants are so suspicious that our pigeons which yet roved much farther were less suspected and watched and less liable to be made captives than the Europeans, who, for the sake of lucre and commerce had come thither through such manifold dangers, and so far from their own homes.57 The Japanese have neither sheep nor hogs and very few cows and oxen. The latter, which are extremely small, are only used, and that but seldom, for the purposes of agriculture. Their flesh is not eaten nor is their milk made use of in any shape. On the 16th and the following days, the clothes, furniture, stock of provisions, wine, ale &c. belonging to the officers were sent on shore, which is always done by itself and before any of the merchandize is suffered to be landed; this is commonly done on the three first days.

2 Life in Nagasaki September: Early activities September 4, the ship was searched by the Japanese, after such private property as was not to be sold had been taken ashore. All the private property which had been entered for sale was this day sent off, and if in the hurry of removal any article had been forgotten, it was not afterwards suffered to be landed or sold. The ship was thoroughly and closely searched, except in the part nearest its bottom, and in the powder-room. The remaining part of this month was spent in discharging the merchandise belonging to the Company. A great number of labourers (kulis1) were ordered to attend to the discharging and loading of the boats and bringing them to and from the ship, others being set as inspectors over them. The former used constantly to sing when they were employed in lifting a weight or carrying a burden, as also when they were rowing, and that in a peculiar tone of voice, their songs being, besides, modulated to a certain tune and measure and the words lively and cheering. The Dutch formerly took the liberty to punish and correct with blows these day-labourers, who were of the lowest class of people, but at present this procedure is absolutely, and under the severest penalties, forbidden by the government, as bringing a disgrace upon the nation. When a European goes to or from the ship, either with or without any baggage, an officer is always attending with a permit, on which his name is written, his watch2 marked down &c. As soon as one half of the ship’s cargo was discharged, we began to take in wooden boxes filled with bars of copper. This year as no more than one ship arrived, one loading and a half of copper, or 6,700 boxes, was taken in, each of 120lb weight, or one picul.3 On those days when there is nothing done towards discharging or loading the ship, no Japanese officers nor any other Japanese come on board, neither do any of the Dutch themselves go to or from the ship on such days. The gate of the island also, towards the water-side, is locked at this time. Should an urgent occasion require any of the other officers to come on board of the ship, such as the captain or the surgeon, which is signified by the hoisting of a flag, in such cases leave must be first obtained from the governor of the town, and should this be granted, still the gate towards the sea shore is not opened, but the person to whom leave is granted is conducted by interpreters and officers through a small part of the town to a little bridge, from which he is taken on board in a boat, after having gone through the strict searches already mentioned. The banjoses and interpreters who accompany him do not, however, go on board of the ship, but wait in their boats till he has transacted his business on board, from whence he is conducted back to the factory, after having gone through the same ceremonies. In the town, while he is passing through it, a great concourse of people assemble together to

Japan extolled and decried

82

look at the traveller, and a considerable number of children, who by their cries signify their astonishment at the large and round eyes of the Europeans (oranda ō-me4). October: trust and its abuse5 We were visited one day by some of the princes, and by the two governors of the town of Nagasaki.6 They came on board of us out of curiosity to see our first-rate ship, which was very large and handsome, nor had its equal been seen at Japan for many years. One of the interpreters assured me that during the thirty years that he had served in the Dutch factory he had not seen a Dutch ship of that size and state.7 About this time we lost one of our sailors, who had been sent ashore amongst the other sick to the hospital on the island.8 After the governor of Nagasaki was informed of his death, leave was granted for his burial.9 The corpse, after having been strictly examined by the Japanese appointed for that purpose, was put into a wooden coffin and was carried by the Japanese to the other side of the harbour where it was interred.10 Some asserted that it was afterwards taken up by the Japanese and burnt, but with respect to this matter, I could not arrive at any degree of certainty. Custom houses are not known either in the interior part of the country or on its coasts, and no customs are demanded either in imports or exports of goods, either from strangers or natives. A particular happiness and advantage which few other countries possess! But that no prohibited goods may be smuggled into the country so close a watch is kept, and all persons that arrive as well as merchandises are so strictly searched, that all the hundred eyes of Argos11 might be said to be employed an this occasion. When any European goes ashore he is first searched on board and afterwards as soon as he comes on shore. Both these searches are very strict, so that not only travellers’ pockets are turned inside out and the officers’ hands passed over their clothes, along their bodies and thigh, but sometimes even the private parts are felt of people belonging to the lower class. As to slaves, the hair on their heads is likewise examined. All the Japanese that go on board of ship are in like manner searched, excepting only the superior order of banjoses. All articles exported or imported undergo a similar search, i.e., first on board the ship and afterwards in the factory, except large chests which are emptied in the factory and are so narrowly examined that they even sound the boards, suspecting them to be hollow. The beds are frequently ripped open and the feathers turned over. Iron spikes are thrust into the butter-tubs and jars of sweet-meats. In the cheeses a square hole is cut, in which part a thick pointed wire is thrust into it towards every side. Nay, their suspicion went even so far as to induce them to take an egg or two from among those we had brought with us from Batavia and break them. The same severe conduct is observed when anyone goes from the factory to the ship or into the town of Nagasaki, and from thence to the island of Dejima. Everyone that passes must take his watch out of his pocket and show it to the officers, who always mark it down whenever it is carried in or out. Sometimes, too, strangers’ hats are searched. Neither money nor coin must by any means be brought in by private persons, but they are laid by and taken care of till the owner’s departure. No letters are to be sent to or from the ship sealed, and if they are, they are opened and sometimes, as well as other manuscripts, must be read by the interpreters. Religious books, especially if they are adorned with cuts12, it is very dangerous to import, but the

Life in nagasaki

83

Europeans are otherwise suffered to carry in a great number of books for their own use, and the search was the less strict in this respect as they looked into a few things only; Latin, French, Swedish and German books and manuscripts pass the more easily, as the interpreters do not understand them. Arms, it is true, are not allowed to be carried into the country, nevertheless, we are as yet suffered to take our swords with us. The Dutch themselves are the occasion of these over-rigorous searches, the strictness of which has been augmented on several different occasions till it has arrived at its present height. The captain’s wide breeches and coat and a hundred more artifices have been applied to the purpose of bringing goods into the factory by stealth, and the interpreters who heretofore had never been searched used to carry contraband goods by degrees, and in small parcel, to the town, where they were sold for ready money. This they have often endeavoured to do with so much art as to hide smaller articles under their private parts and in their hair. Some years ago a parrot was found hid in the breeches of one of the petty officers of the ship, which whilst they were searching the man began to talk and was discovered. This year were found upon one of the writers several rixdollars and ducats, hid in the drawers that he wore under his breeches. To all this may be added the pride which some of the weaker-minded officers in the Dutch service very impudently exhibit to the Japanese, by ill-timed contradiction, contemptuous behaviour, scornful looks and laughter, which occasions the Japanese in their turn to hate and despise them—a hatred which is generally increased upon observing in how unfriendly and unmannerly a style they usually behave to each other, and the brutal treatment which the sailors under their command frequently experience from them, together with the oaths, curses and blows, with which the poor fellows are assailed by them. All these circumstances have induced the Japanese, from year to year, to curtail more and more the liberties of the Dutch merchants and to search them more strictly than ever, so that now, with all their finesse and artifices they are hardly able to throw dust in the eyes of so vigilant a nation as this. Within the water-gate of Dejima, when anything is to be exported or imported, are seated in like manner as on board of ship head banjoses and under-banjoses (head interpreters and under-interpreters), before whose eyes the whole undergoes a strict search. And that the Europeans may not scrape an acquaintance with the searchers, they are changed so often that no opportunity is given them. This puts a stop to illicit commerce only, but not to private trade, as everybody is at liberty to carry in whatever he can dispose of, or there is a demand for, and even such articles as are not allowed to be uttered for sale, so that it be not done secretly.13 The camphor of Sumatra and tortoise-shell private persons are not permitted to deal in, because the Company has reserved that traffic to themselves. The reason why private persons prefer the smuggling of such articles as are forbidden to be disposed of by auction at the public sale, is that when wares of any kind are sold by auction they do not receive ready money for them, but are obliged to take other articles in payment. These articles, consisting of either porcelain or lacquered ware are, in consequence of the yearly imports, at so low a price at Batavia that they sometimes get less for them than the purchase price. But when the commodities can be disposed of underhand, they get gold coin and are often paid twice as much as they would have had otherwise.

Japan extolled and decried

84

Some years ago, when smuggling was still in a flourishing state, the greater part of the contraband wares was carried by the interpreters from the factory into the town, but sometimes they were thrown over the wall of the Dejima and received by boats ordered out for that purpose. Several of the interpreters and other Japanese have been caught at various times in the fact, and generally punished with death. Smuggling has always been attended with severe punishments, and even the Dutch have been very largely fined, which fine has of late been augmented so that if any European is taken in the fact he is obliged to pay two hundred catties of copper and is banished the country forever. Besides this, a deduction of ten thousand catties of copper is made from the Company’s account, and if the fraud is discovered after the ship has left the harbour, the chief and captain are fined in two hundred catties each.14 The Company’s wares do not undergo any search at all, but are directly carried to the storehouse, on which the Japanese affix their seal. In these storehouses they are kept till they are all sold and fetched away. Language, interpreting and plant collecting The interpreters are all natives of Japan and speak with more or less accuracy the Dutch language. The government permits no foreigners to learn their language, in order that by means of it they may not pick up any knowledge of the country, but allow from forty to fifty interpreters who are to serve the Dutch in their factory with respect to their commerce, and on other occasions. These interpreters are commonly divided into three classes. The oldest, who speak the Dutch language best, are called head interpreters; those who are less perfect, under-interpreters, and those who stand yet more in need of instruction bear the denomination of apprentices, or learners.15 Formerly the Japanese apprentices were introduced by the Dutch themselves in their language and this office fell more particularly to the doctor’s lot, but now they are taught by the elder interpreters. The apprentices had also, before this, liberty to come to the factory whenever they chose, but now they are only suffered to come when they are on actual service. The interpreters rise gradually, and in rotation, to preferments and emoluments, without being employed in any other department. Their duty and employment consist in being present, generally one or sometimes two of each class, when any affairs are transacted between the Japanese and the Dutch, whether commercial or otherwise. They interpret either viva voce or in writing, whenever any matter is to be laid before the governor, the officers or others, whether it be a complaint or request. They are obliged to be present at all searches, as well those that are made on board of ship as at those that take place in the factory, and likewise to attend in the journey to the court. Some of the oldest interpreters express themselves on ordinary subjects with tolerable clearness and precision in the Dutch language, but as their own tongue differs so widely from the European languages in its phrases and construction, one frequently hears from most of them very laughable expressions and strange idioms. Some of them never learn it well. When they write Dutch, they use instead of a pen a particular kind of pencil16, Indian ink, and their own peculiar paper; they write, however, from the left-hand to the right, like the Europeans, and generally in very fine and elegant Italian17 characters. The interpreters are extremely fond of European books and procure one or more of them every year from the merchants that arrive in this country. They are not only in

Life in nagasaki

85

possession, but make diligent use of them and retain strongly in their memory what they learn from them. They are besides very careful to learn something from the Europeans and question them without ceasing, and frequently so as to be irksome, upon all subjects, especially relating to physic18, natural philosophy and natural history. They are obliged to apply themselves particularly to the study of physic and are the only persons in the country who practise this art after the European manner, and with European remedies, which they can easily procure from the Dutch doctors.19 This gives them an opportunity both to make money and to acquire rather more reputation than they otherwise would, and sometimes to take apprentices for instruction. Formerly the interpreters were allowed to go whenever they chose to the Dutchmen’s apartments, but now this was prohibited in order to prevent smuggling, excepting on certain occasions when they were accompanied by an Ottoman20 or two. The interpreters are always accompanied, as well to ships as to their college in the island of Dejima,21 by several clerks, who take an account of everything that is shipped or unloaded, write permits, and perform other offices of a similar nature. My first care as soon as I arrived ashore was to get acquainted with the interpreters and to insinuate myself as much as possible into the good graces of such of the officers as most frequented our little island. As physician, I had a good many desirable opportunities of attaining this purpose, as besides that my behaviour towards the Japanese was always in the highest degree friendly and without the least deceit, I had frequent opportunities of serving them and their sick relations, friends and dependents, by good advice and wellchosen medicines. Moreover, not being in the commercial line, I was less suspected than others and my knowledge, particularly of the medical art, was often of the greatest utility to them and proved still more beneficial afterwards when I had gradually discovered many powerful remedies in the plants that grew wild in their own country. Both by means of the interpreters and of the officers on the island, I tried to obtain permission to botanize in the plain that encircles the town of Nagasaki and to seek plants that were to be found there and to gather seeds, a liberty which otherwise is not granted to any European. In this attempt I seemed in the beginning to be tolerably successful, and actually obtained the governor’s permission for this purpose, which, however, shortly after was revoked.22 The motive for this was ridiculous enough and was as follows. The Japanese are in the highest degree suspicious of the Europeans and the governor is at all times very fearful of granting them anything without a precedent. Having requested leave to botanize, the Japanese journals were searched to see if any Dutchman ever had obtained such a privilege, and upon finding that a surgeon a long time before had had that liberty at a period when disorders prevailed and that there began to be a scarcity of medicines, leave was granted me without hesitation, to wander about the town of Nagasaki in order to collect them. But on closer examination, it was found that this surgeon had been only a surgeon’s mate and that consequently I, as principal surgeon, could not enjoy the same privilege. So trifling a circumstance is often of great moment in the eyes of the Japanese who with so much zeal endeavour to fulfil their duties and blindly obey the laws issued forth by government, without understanding or explaining them in their own way, or making new ones suited to their own liking and circumstances. For my part, I did not consider this circumstance as trifling. Of all the calamities that had hitherto befallen me, I had found none bear so hard upon me as this, without despairing however of success in future, although it grieved me much to reflect that the

Japan extolled and decried

86

autumn was all this while advancing with hasty strides. In the meantime, I encouraged the interpreters, whom I daily instructed in medicine and surgery, to gather the leaves, flowers and seeds of all the plants they could find in the adjacent hills, and endeavoured to convince both them and the officers that between a surgeon and a surgeon’s mate there was little or no difference, that a surgeon is first a mate, and that in case of his death the latter succeeds him in the appointment. This had so great an effect that I again obtained the governor’s permission, but so very late that I could not make any use of it before the beginning of February.23 During this time I endeavoured to acquire some knowledge of the language, notwithstanding that such a step is strictly prohibited and that the difficulties attending it were at this time greater than they had ever been before. For this purpose I enquired of the interpreters if any dictionaries, vocabularies or other books calculated to facilitate the learning of it were to be had printed in their and the Dutch language. After having made several such enquiries in vain, I at last found an old dictionary in the Latin, Portuguese and Japanese languages. Ambrose Capelin’s dictionary had been adopted by the Portuguese fathers as the foundation of their undertaking. There was no title-page to it, so that I could not find out in what year it was printed, but I learned from the preface that it was the fruit of the joint labours of the Societas fratrum Europaeorum simul & Japonicum at Japan.24 The book was in quarto, printed on Japan paper, and contained exclusive of the title-page and the last leaf, which exhibited the errata, nine hundred and six pages. The book looked old and one corner of it was a little burnt. It belonged to one of the elder interpreters, who possessed it as a legacy from his ancestors, and I have the more reason to believe it to be very scarce as neither I nor the chief could procure it at any price, either by purchase or barter. Dejima and trade Nagasaki harbour is the only one in which foreign ships are allowed to anchor, though the Dutch and Chinese are the only nations in the world who are permitted to land here and trade. Should any strange ship by stress or weather or other misfortune be driven on the coast of Japan, or run in anywhere for the sake of getting a supply, the circumstance is immediately reported to the court at Edo and the ship ordered to the harbour of Nagasaki. The town is one of the five towns called imperial, and, on account of its foreign commerce is one of the greatest commercial towns in the empire.25 It belongs separately to the secular emperor26, the revenues flow into his treasury and a governor commands in his name. Formerly two governors resided in the town at one and the same time, and, indeed, at present two are always ordered, but one of these only rules at a time and relieves the other every year in the month of October.27 The one that is free from his charge returns to Edo and remains with his family, which is always left behind as a hostage for his fidelity. A governor’s yearly salary amounts to ten thousand rixdollars, exclusive of extraordinary revenues, out of which, however, he cannot save much by reason of the many presents which he is obliged to make at court and the heavy expenses there, and likewise on account of the great number of attendants of different degrees of rank which he is obliged to keep at his own expense. The governor bears sovereign sway in the town and over the Dutch as well as the Chinese factories.

Life in nagasaki

87

The town is surrounded on the land-side with high mountains that slope off gradually towards the harbour and are of a considerable breadth and extent. In the harbour are a great number of Japanese vessels of different sizes, from fifty to one hundred and more, besides a multitude of fishing boats from the adjacent places. Their boats are not rowed, but always wriggled with one or two oars. The oar is large and for that purpose obliquely writhed.28 This way of working with oars does not appear to be very fatiguing, but drives the vessel on with great speed. The island of Dejima is let by the town of Nagasaki to the Dutch company, and is considered merely as a street belonging to the town.29 The town therefore builds all the dwelling houses, and when they stand in need of it, repairs and makes alterations in them. Every house keeper, however, at his own expense, puts in window-frames, papers the rooms and ceiling, white-washes and makes other arrangements for his own convenience. The island is joined to the town and the mainland, and at low water is separated from it only by a ditch. At high water it becomes an island which has a communication with the town by means of a bridge. The size of this island is inconsiderable, it being about six hundred feet in length and one hundred and twenty in breadth. It is planked in on all sides, and has two gates, the one towards the town near the bridge and the other towards the waterside. The latter gate is opened on such days only as the ship is discharging or taking in her cargo, the other is always guarded in the day-time by the Japanese, and locked at night. Near it also is a guardhouse where those that go in and out of the town are searched. Lengthways upon this island are built in form of a small town the Company’s several storehouses, their hospital and separate houses for their servants, two stories high, of which the upper stories are inhabited and the lower used as store and lumber rooms. Between these houses run two streets which are intersected in the middle by another. Excepting the company’s large and fireproof storehouses, the houses are all built of wood and clay and covered in with tiles and, according to the custom of the country, have paper windows and floor mats of straw. Some people have of late years brought with them from Batavia either a few small windows or else some panes of glass, in order to throw more light into the rooms and to enjoy the view of external objects. By the sea-gate are found in readiness every kind of apparatus for the prevention of fire, and at the other end a pleasure- and kitchen-garden and a large summerhouse two stories high. For the purpose of keeping a vigilant eye on the Dutch, several officers, interpreters and guards are kept on the island. There are watch-houses built in three corners of it, in which watch is kept during the time that the ships lie in the harbour. When they have sailed, only one is made use of. This watch patrols day and night, like ordinary watchmen, about the island. The interpreters have a very large house on the island, called their college, in which during the trafficking season a great number of them assemble, but after the ships are gone only one or two come there, who are regularly relieved once a day, generally at noon, in order that they may reach their respective homes before the evening. There is also another house for the ottonas, as they are called, or reporting magistrates, who during the trafficking season assemble to a considerable number, but afterwards only one or two keep watch and are relieved in like manner as the interpreters. Their business is to take notice of every occurrence that takes place on the island and to inform the governor of the town of it. Within this small compass the Dutch are obliged to spend their

Japan extolled and decried

88

time, which, for those who stay here the whole year through, is a very disagreeable circumstance.30 The chief for the Dutch commerce is changed annually so that one arrives every year from Batavia, and the other returns. Formerly, when the trade was in a flourishing state and the profits large, the chief seldom made more than two voyages hither, but at present he is obliged to make three or more voyages, without being able, however, to make as large a fortune as before. M.Feith, who arrived this year, now made his fourth voyage hither as chief, to succeed M.Armenault.31 Besides the chief, at the departure of the ships twelve or thirteen Europeans remain here (not to mention the slaves) and three of these make the tour to the imperial court at Edo.32 The Dutch and the Chinese are the only nations that are suffered to trade to Japan. The Dutch now send hither annually two ships only, which are fitted out at Batavia in the month of June, and return at the latter end of the year. The principal articles carried from hence are Japan copper, raw camphor and lacquered woodwork; porcelain, silks, rice, sake and soy make a very inconsiderable part of the private trade. The copper, which contains more gold and is finer than any other in the world, is cast into bars six inches long and a finger thick, flat on one fide and convex on the other, and of a fine bright colour. These bars, amounting to 125lb in weight, are put into wooden boxes and each ship’s load consists of six or seven thousand such chests.33 The articles which the Dutch company sent this year were a large quantity of soft sugars, elephants’ teeth, sappan wood for dying, also a large quantity of tin and lead, a small quantity of bar-iron, fine chintzes of various sorts, Dutch cloths of different colours and degrees of fineness, shalloons34, silks, cloves, tortoise-shell, China root35 and costus arabicus36. The few articles which were brought in by private persons consisted of saffron, Venice treacle37, Spanish liquorice38, rattans, spectacles, looking-glasses, watches, unicorns’ horns39, and the like. For the Company’s account was imported a certain sum of money in silver ducatoons40, but private persons were not suffered to carry in any coin, although the importation of it might have been attended with some profit. History of Dutch-Japanese trade The Portuguese, who made the first discoveries in the East Indies, found out by accident also the Japan islands, being driven upon these coasts by a storm about the year 1542.41 These were well received, and carried on a most profitable trade for near one hundred years. After the union of Portugal with Spain under one sovereign, the Spaniards participated in this lucrative commerce.42 The English also trafficked for some time with these distant islands, till the Dutch, by a written agreement made with the emperor in the year 1601, monopolized this trade to themselves—a trade which in the beginning was extremely beneficial to them, but of late has become more and more confined and is attended with very little profit.43 In the beginning the Dutch enjoyed very extensive liberties not only that of running with their ships into the harbour of Hirado, but also that of sending hither several, often five and sometimes seven ships, as likewise that of trading to an unlimited amount and to carry out of the country large quantities of silver, gold and other commodities which have been since absolutely prohibited. At length in the year 1641, they were ordered to establish their factory on the island of Dejima, near the town of Nagasaki.44 A certain

Life in nagasaki

89

sum was fixed above which their yearly commerce was not to go; only three, and at length from the beginning of this present century not more than two ships were suffered to come annually hither, and their privileges and the quantity of their wares were by degrees diminished so that the quantity of goods in trade, which formerly amounted to several millions, was now reduced to two millions of guilders.45 On the arrival of a rich Dutch fleet in the harbour in the year 1685, the strictest orders on the part of His Imperial Majesty were received from the court that the Dutch, in consequence of the permission already granted them, should be at liberty to bring into the factory such goods or quantity as they should think proper, but that hereafter no more were to be sold annually than would amount to the sum of three hundred thousand taels, or rixdollars, and the remainder should be kept till the following year.46 Besides this severe stroke to the commerce of the Dutch, one of the governors, who was less partial to them than his predecessors, had fallen upon two other methods further to lessen their profits, by which many of the people in office belonging to the town, and the towns-men themselves, reaped considerable advantage.47 One was that before any Dutch goods were sold, a certain sum per cent was laid on them, which was therefore to be paid by the purchaser, and as this duty was to be raised from the goods, the natural consequence was that less was paid for them than before and that foreigners suffered a considerable loss. The other was, that the value of the coin was raised to the Dutch in this manner: that a kobang, which passes current in the country for sixty mas, was reckoned to them at sixty-eight, so that eight mas on each kobang, which they lost, became a new and considerable income to the town of Nagasaki and its inhabitants as also to some of the people in office there. Thus the Dutch Company, having a right to dispose of merchandise to the amount of three hundred thousand taels, did not actually receive more than two hundred and sixty thousand taels worth for exportation. The deficient forty-thousand taels, therefore, were raised from such private persons as hitherto had been allowed to sell their wares in such quantities as they thought proper and at such prices as they were able to get, so that this sum had been divided between the chiefs, merchants, captains of ships, writers and others. The traffic to Japan was formerly so very lucrative to individuals that hardly any but favourites were sent out as chiefs, and when these had made two voyages it was supposed that they were rich enough to be able to live on the interest of their fortunes, and that therefore they ought to make room for others. At present a chief is obliged to make many voyages. His success is now no more to be envied, and his profits are thought to be very inconsiderable.48 Buying and selling After all the merchandise, as well that which belonged to the Company as that of individuals, had been searched and carried into the storehouses, and notice of the same had been given to the merchants of the country, the sale commenced. Formerly the merchandise was sold by public auction. Samples were shown to the merchants and the governors of Nagasaki of all the different articles, that they might make their proposals with regard to the quantity they wanted, as well as to the price. The merchants or their deputies afterwards went for several days to the storehouses on the island for the purpose of examining the merchandise more accurately, after which

Japan extolled and decried

90

certain commissioners made the Dutch their offers, without previously asking what they demanded for each sort. The first time they bid very low. If the owner cannot take it, the second time somewhat more is bid, and should he refuse this likewise, they bid a third time. If the owner is not then satisfied he is asked how much he wishes to have. The vender then commonly asks a little more for his commodity than what he can sell it for, that he may be able to abate something. And if the Japanese are in great want of the article, the price is generally then made agreeable to both parties, but if they are not, the wares are kept till the next year’s sale, or they are allowed to carry them back to Batavia. The Japanese always bid in mases and not in catties;49 for instance, for one mas of unicorn’s horn, eight mas of silver, and so on. After the sale is concluded, the merchandise is weighed and carried into the town where the country merchants have the liberty to purchase it at a dearer rate. The Japanese pay much less now for Dutch goods than they did before, as 15 per cent and more must at present be paid under the name of hanagin (flower money) to the town of Nagasaki, which is divided between the servants of government and the citizens. Amongst the articles which were imported by the officers for sale this year were camphor, small rattans, tortoise shells, spectacles, unicorn’s horns (unicornu verum) manufactured glass, watches of different sizes, chintzes, saffron, Venice treacle, Spanish liquorice, ninsi-root50, Nuremberg manufactures such as lookingglasses &c. Books on different sciences in the Dutch language were not sold at the sale, but were often exchanged with the interpreters, and that to considerable advantage. Unicorn’s horn (unicornu of the Monodon monoceros) sold this year on kambang very dear.51 It was often smuggled formerly, and sold at an enormous rate. The Japanese have an extravagant opinion of its medical virtues and powers to prolong life, fortify the animal spirits, assist the memory and cure all complaints. This branch of commerce has not been known to the Dutch till of late, when it was discovered by an accident. One of the chiefs for commerce here, on his return home, had sent from Europe amongst other rarities to a friend of his who was an interpreter, a large, handsome, twisted, Greenland unicorn’s horn, by the sale of which this interpreter became extremely rich and a man of consequence.52 From that time the Dutch have written to Europe for as many horns as they could get, and made great profit on them in Japan. At first each catty was sold for one hundred kobangs, or six hundred rixdollars, after which the price fell by degrees to seventy, fifty, and thirty kobangs. This year, as soon as the captain’s wide coat had been laid aside and prohibited and no smuggling could be carried on, all the unicorn’s horn was obliged to be sold on kambang, when each catty, or 3/4lb, fetched one hundred and thirty-six rixdollars, at the rate of one mas of Japan silver for eight mas and five candereen of horn. If any of it could be sold clandestinely on board of the ship, it fetched from fifteen to sixteen kobangs. The thirty-seven catties four taels and six mas of horn which I had brought with me were, therefore, very well disposed of for five thousand and seventy-one taels and one mas, which enabled me to pay the debts I had contracted and at the same time to expend one thousand two hundred rixdollars on my favourite study.53 Ninsi-root, called by the Japanese nishi, and by the Chinese som, sells here at as high a price as unicorn’s horn.54 The Chinese are the only people who bring it genuine and unadulterated to this country. It grows in the northern part of China and chiefly in Korea. A bastard kind is often brought hither by the Dutch, who usually mix it with the genuine root by way of adulterating it. The bastard kind was said by the French to be brought from America to China and is perhaps the ginseng root. The genuine ninsi sold this year

Life in nagasaki

91

for a hundred kobangs per catty, if it was large and the root old. The smaller sort sold at an inferior price. The bastard kind, of which such pieces as are forked and white are the best and with which the genuine is used to be adulterated, is strictly prohibited here, insomuch that it is not suffered to be imported at any price but must be burned, in order to prevent any fraud being practised with it. Several other things are prohibited for exportation, as well to the Company as to individuals, such as the Japanese coin, charts and maps, books, at least such as contain an account of the country and its government, all sorts of arms but particularly their excellent scimitars which in strength and goodness surpass the manufactories of every other country. The copper which was brought hither from the interior and distant parts of the country, was kept in a separate storehouse, and as soon as the ship was in part discharged, the loading of it with the copper commenced. This latter was weighed and put into long wooden boxes, a picul weight in each, in preference of the Japanese officers and interpreters and of the Dutch supercargoes and writers, and was afterwards carried by the Japanese servants (kulis) to the bridge in order to be put on board. On such occasions a few sailors always attended to watch that the porters did not steal any of it by the way, a thing which would not be the least burden to their consciences, especially as they can sell the stolen copper to the Chinese who pay them well for it. The Japanese porcelain is packed up in straw so well and so tight that very seldom any of it is found broken. This porcelain is certainly neither handsome nor neat, but rather on the contrary, clumsy, thick and badly painted, and, therefore, in these respects much like the china which is brought from Canton. This has the advantage that it is not easily affected by heat even when set on glowing embers. The weights in Japan are thus regulated: one picul makes one hundred and twenty-five pounds; one catty sixteen taels, one tael ten mas, and one mas ten candereen. The money current in trade is reckoned in the same manner, so that one tael, which nearly answers to one Dutch rixdollar, is equal to ten mas, and one mas to ten candereen. Kambang money, or the sums due for wares that are sold, is never paid in hard cash as the carrying it out of the country is prohibited, but there is merely an assignment made on it, and bills are drawn for such a sum as will be required for the whole year’s supply, as also for as much as will be wanted at the fair55 of the island. This kambang money is, in the common phrase of the country, very ‘light’ and less in value than specie,56 so that with the money which is thus assigned over, one is obliged to pay nearly double for everything. All these kambang bills are paid at the Japanese New Year only.57 Every man’s account is made out before the ships sail and is presented and accepted at the college of the interpreters after which the books are closed. All that is wanted after the New Year is taken up upon credit for the whole year ensuing. When the Dutch do not deal here for ready money their commerce can hardly be considered in any other light than that of barter. With this view, a fair is kept on the island about a fortnight before the mustering of the ship and its departure for Papenberg58, when certain merchants, with the consent of the governor and on paying a small duty, are allowed to carry their merchandise thither and expose themselves to sale in booths erected for that purpose. The commodities which were bought up this year by private persons were chiefly large brown earthen jars that would contain several pails full of liquor for keeping water

Japan extolled and decried

92

in59, soy in wooden vessels, also some sake, fans, Japanese silken night-gowns60, lacquered works of several kinds, porcelain both coarse and fine or white and painted, narrow silks, and sowas work61, as also fine rice put up in paper parcels of about a pound weight each. Copper is the principal article which the Company carries out from hence. This copper is better and finer than any other, and the major part of it is disposed of on the coast of Coromandel62, to great advantage. Each bar weighs about one-third of a pound. Next to copper in point of quantity, raw camphor is carried out, packed in wooden tubs. The rest consists of large silken night-gowns quilted with silk wadding, a small quantity of porcelain, soy, sake, preserved fruits &c. Sino-Japanese trade The Chinese have almost from time immemorial traded with Japan, and perhaps are the only people from Asia that have engaged in the trade.63 Indeed, they are now the only nation except the Dutch who are allowed to go thither with their vessels and trade. Formerly they ran with their vessels into Osaka harbour64, although it is very dangerous on account of rocks and sandbanks. The Portuguese showed them the way to Nagasaki, where they are at present always obliged to go. At first the annual number of their trading vessels might amount to one or even two hundred, each manned with fifty men or more. The Chinese and Japanese, though they are near neighbours, differ, nevertheless, in many respects: the former wear frocks or wide jackets and large trousers, the latter always make use of night-gowns; the former wear boots made of linen and shoes with upper leathers, the latter go bare-legged with socks and sandals; each of these nations has a distinct and separate language and quite different religious tenets. On the other hand, they are alike in colour and look, write after the same manner and have several religious sects and customs in common. A great many years ago emigrations were very frequent from China to Japan, especially to its southern islands called Ryukyu65, which are subject to Japan, but make annual presents to the emperor of China. The liberty which the Chinese formerly enjoyed with regard to commerce is at present greatly curtailed, since they have been suspected of favouring the Catholic missionaries at China, and since they were so imprudent as to introduce into Japan Catholic books printed in China. At present they are as much suspected and as hardly used here as the Dutch, and in some particulars more so. They are shut up in a small island and strictly searched whenever they go in and out.66 They enjoy, however, the advantage over the Dutch of having in the town, and frequenting, a temple dedicated to the worship of the deity, and at the same time of having for their daily expenses Japanese money, with which they themselves buy at the gate provisions and other necessaries of life.67 When a vessel is arrived from China and has anchored in the harbour, all the people are brought ashore and all charge of the vessel is taken from them till such time as everything is ready for their departure. Consequently the Japanese unload it entirely and afterwards bring the vessel ashore where at low-ebb it lies quite dry. The next year it is loaded with other goods. The Chinese are not suffered to make a voyage to the imperial court, which saves them considerable sums that the Dutch are obliged to expend, as well during the

Life in nagasaki

93

expedition as in presents at court and to the grandees. The Japanese interpreters are as necessary for the traffic of the Chinese as for that of the Dutch, because these two neighbouring nations speak languages so different as not to understand each other. It is true the Chinese are allowed to trade for twice as large a sum as that granted to the Dutch, but as their voyages are neither so long nor so dangerous, they are obliged to contribute more largely to the prosperity of the town of Nagasaki and therefore pay more percent, as far even as to sixty, in hanagin, or flower-money. Their merchandise is sold at three different times in the year and is brought hither in about seventy vessels. That is, the first fair takes place in the spring for wares bought in twenty vessels, the second in the summer for wares imported in thirty vessels, and the third in the autumn for wares brought in twenty vessels. Should any more vessels arrive within the year, they are obliged to return without even being allowed to unload the least article. The principal trade of the Chinese consists of raw silk, various drugs which are imported as medicines, such as ninsi root, turpentine, myrrh, calumbac wood68, besides zinc, and a few printed books, which must be read through and approved by two learned men before they are suffered to be sold.69 Although their voyages are less expensive and they are not under necessity of keeping directors or other servants for their trade, yet on account of the greater value percent deducted from their merchandise, their profits are less than those of the Dutch, and as they are no longer allowed to carry away any specie, they are obliged to buy Japanese commodities for exportation, such as lacquered-work, copper &c. When their vessels are loaded and ready for sailing, they are conducted by a number of Japanese guard ships not only out of the harbour, but likewise a great way out to sea, in order to prevent their disposing to the smugglers of any of the unsold wares that they may have been obliged to carry back. The Chinese vessels are highly built, very high and furnished with still higher galleries, very much turned up especially at the stern. The rudder and sails are very large and awkward to handle. Departure of the ship; isolation October the 14th. The Dutch ship was conducted from the town of Nagasaki to the Papenberg, as it is called, there to remain at anchor and take in the remainder of her cargo.70 It became my duty to follow her and to stay on board of her till I could be relieved by my predecessor, who was to return in her to Batavia.71 A few days after, when the ship has anchored in the harbour72, the governor points out the day when she is to sail and this command must be obeyed so implicitly that were the wind ever so contrary, or even if it blew a hard gale, the ship must depart without any excuse or the least shadow of opposition.73 And indeed the wind was so contrary and blew so hard this day, that above a hundred boats, large and small, were employed in towing the ship. All these small craft placing themselves in several long rows, dragged with ropes this huge ship along, which had an uncommon as well as curious appearance, and was accompanied by the cheering song of several hundred Japanese rowers. Before the ship leaves the harbour, the powder, arms and the chests of books that were taken out of her are returned. The sick from the hospital too are put on board. Whilst she

Japan extolled and decried

94

is sailing out of the harbour, the guns are fired to salute the town and factory, and afterwards the two imperial guards. The Chinese vessels also, after having taken in part of their cargo, anchor under this mountain till they can depart with a fair wind. During the time that the ship stayed here we took in, every other day only, part of the copper and camphor and all merchandise and other things belonging to individuals, when the officers and interpreters were obliged to come almost a league by water in order to be present on board. Here is also taken in water and other articles of refreshment for the voyage. There are also guard ships here to have an eye to the Dutch, but they lie at a great distance. As there are several islands of different sizes in the environs of this place, the Dutch, after they have got their boat again, may row to them for their pleasure without any hindrance from the Japanese. Though if they stay longer on shore there, especially on any of the larger islands that are inhabited, they are generally followed by one of the guard ships, the officers on board of which, without preventing the Dutch from walking about, will merely accompany them. And if one should happen to arrive at any of the villages, which sometimes are very large, an incredible number of grown people and children will assemble to stare, with a clamorous noise, at a people so strange, in their opinion, as the Europeans. They are particularly delighted with our large and round eyes, and therefore always call out ‘oranda ōme’.74 All these opportunities I diligently embraced during the time that I was obliged to be with the ship, and botanized on these islands and their mountains, and this autumn gathered different seeds of rare and uncommon herbs, shrubs and trees, which I sent to Batavia in the homeward-bound ship, to be forwarded to Amsterdam. Papenberg is a small island, covered to the very brink of its shores with a peaked mountain and which may be ascended by two of its sides, and that in about a quarter of an hour’s time. The two other sides are very steep. It is said to have acquired its name at the time that the Japanese persecuted and drove out the Christians and Portuguese and threw down many of the Portuguese friars from these heights into the sea. ‘Vischers Eyland’, or the Fisherman’s Island, lies on one side of Papenberg, and has only one flat and rather oblong hillock, with which it is covered to the very strand, and is, like the former island, uninhabited.75 In the months of September and October, the diarrhoea attended with a tenesmus76 prevailed on board of the ship and particularly in the town of Nagasaki. Amongst the ship’s crew this disorder was occasioned by the great heat in the daytime and the coolness of the evenings. In the town another cause supervened, viz the excessive eating of the fruit of the kaki (Diospyros kaki)77 which was at this time ripe and had an agreeable taste, not unlike that of yellow plums. During my walks on Kosedo78 and the islands before-mentioned, I discovered several remarkable plants, amongst which the following were most beneficial and most in use: China root (Smilax china)79 grows everywhere in great abundance, although the Japanese buy annually large quantities of it from the Chinese. The root is used in decoction, as a purifier of the blood, and by the Japanese in many more maladies. The interpreters were highly pleased at the discovery they had made, by my means, of this useful root’s growing in their own country, as it is come so much into common use and they pay annually large sums of money for it to the Chinese.

Life in nagasaki

95

Wild figs (Ficus pumila and erecta) were chiefly found amongst the rocks and near stone walls, where they insinuated themselves between the stones. The figs are sometimes eaten, but are small, like plums. The Ipomaea triloba80 grew both wild and planted. The roots of it were either white or black. The latter were used as laxatives.81 The Fagara piperita (or pepper bush) was common everywhere, and had now ripe berries. The leaves as well as the berries have a spicy taste and heating, and at the same time rather disagreeable to the palate. The rind of the fruit, taken inwardly, expels wind and is sometimes found serviceable in the cholic. Both the leaves and the rind of the fruit are very commonly used in soups instead of pepper, but the leaves by themselves, beaten up with rice-flour to the consistency of a poultice, are applied to abscesses and limbs affected with the rheumatism, instead of the common blister-plaster.82 The Rubia cordata is used here by the country people for dyeing, in like manner as madder (Rubia tinctorum) is in Sweden.83 Cordage and lines, even of the thicker kind which might serve on board of the vessels, are made not of hemp, but of nettles, of which different sorts grow wild on the hills, and that frequently to a considerable size. Those species which were mostly used were the Urtica japonica and nivea84, the bark of which, when prepared, produced strong cordage, and some yielded threads so fine that even linen was made of them. From the seeds of the Urtica nivea (the leaves of which on the under-side are as white as chalk) an oil was expelled. November: Living on Dejima In the beginning of November and after staying several weeks on board, I was at last received by the doctor who has now to return with the ship to Batavia in order to make room for me, who intended to remain here a year at least. Not long after this the ship sailed and left behind fourteen of us Europeans, among some slaves and Japanese, in solitude, and, it might in some sort be said, confinement, we being now shut up within the narrow circle85 of this little island of Dejima, and separated not only from Christendom, but in fact from the whole world besides. A European that remains here is in a manner dead and buried in an obscure corner of the globe. He hears no news of any kind; nothing relative to war or other misfortunes and evils that plague and infect mankind, and neither the rumours of inland or foreign concerns delight or molest his ear. The soul possesses here one faculty only, which is the judgment (if indeed it be at all times in possession of this faculty86). The will is totally debilitated and even dead, because to a European there is no other will than that of the Japanese, by which he must exactly square his conduct. The European way of living is in other respects the same as in other parts of India— luxurious and irregular. Here, just as at Batavia, we pay a visit every evening to the chief, after having walked several times up and down the two streets. These evening visits generally last from six o’clock to ten and sometimes eleven or twelve at night, and constitute a very disagreeable way of life, fit only for such as have no other way of spending their time than droning over a pipe of tobacco. Not having much to do, I employed my time in collecting, examining and preserving insects and herbs, and in conversing with the interpreters, whose curiosity and fondness

Japan extolled and decried

96

for learning I perceived, and willingly instructed them in different sciences, but particularly in botany and physic. Many of them had an extensive and profitable practice in the town under my direction, and some of them brought to me on the island various plants of this country’s produce, which were not only beautiful and scarce but likewise hitherto totally unknown. Some of these they had collected themselves and others they had got by means of their friends from the interior of the country. At the same time I procured by degrees some information concerning their government, religion, language, manners, domestic and rural economy &c. I also received from them several books and curiosities of various kinds, the greatest part of which I wished to be able to carry with me to Europe. To wait about their own persons the Dutch make use of the slaves they have brought with them, but for all other purposes Japanese are appointed, such as compradors87, or purveyors of different sorts, who provide provisions and everything else that is necessary in housekeeping; cooks, who dress victuals in the Dutch manner—servants, that although they are natives of Japan and not interpreters have learned to speak the Dutch language. Four such as these are left with the chief, one with the secretary88, and one with the doctor, who together make the trip to the court. Should any artisans be wanted from the town, they have a special permission from the governor to go to the island. The Dutch here, as well as at Batavia, consume a great quantity of rice, nevertheless, there is wheaten bread baked for their use in town, which is brought to the island new every day. The cold began now to grow very troublesome at times and was quite piercing, with an easterly or northerly wind. We began therefore to keep fires in the rooms, though neither the windows nor the doors were over and above close89. Our fires were made with charcoal which was brought from the town in a large copper kettle with a broad rim90, and this kettle being placed in the middle of the floor warmed the whole room for several hours together. Of the Europeans that remain here, the officers such as the secretary, doctor and writers have each two or three handsome rooms, besides the storehouse, which they occupy without paying for them, but ornament them themselves with carpets and other furniture. They dine and sup with the chief gratis, at the Company’s table, so that their usual expenses do not amount to much, except they squander away their money on the fair sex or make expensive entertainments and give suppers to each other. An unexpected misfortune which in the beginning seemed of no consequence but was productive of great confusion and alarm happened to me in this our silent retreat. As I had not when at Batavia money sufficient to purchase a slave that might accompany me to Japan, the supercargo had the goodness to lend me one of his till the next year, when he expected to return hither. This slave, who had a wife and children at Batavia and who had flattered himself with the hopes of returning home in the course of the year to his connections, became on account of this disappointment very much discontented and at length quite melancholy. At last he takes it in his head to hide himself and disappears without anyone’s knowing either where or wherefore he had hid himself. He was immediately sought for by the other slaves, but to no purpose. The day following, the interpreters and some other Japanese on the island made a still stricter search for him. At length, on the third day, there arrived from the town by order of the governor a number of interpreters, head-banjoses and under-banjoses and a multitude of other attendants to search for him, nor could they find his hiding place till towards the evening when he was

Life in nagasaki

97

discovered lurking in an old storehouse. If he had not, to our great joy, been found, a stricter search would have been made by order of the governor, all over the island and even in the apartments of every individual, and if he had not even then been found, orders would have been issued throughout the kingdom to apprehend the deserter and the case reported to the court. About so trifling a matter are the Japanese capable of making a great rout, fearing lest anyone should steal into the country, which however it is very difficult and indeed almost impossible to do. The slave was afterwards punished for his misbehaviour, by being bastinaded91 and put in irons, after which all this ferment subsided.92 Amongst other things which were brought to us on the island and sold for food, I observed something like the roe of a fish, which had been salted, gently pressed together and dried. It had the appearance of a piece of cheese, and was eaten raw, like caviar.93 Matsukasa-uo, a kind of fish (Sciaena)94, each of the belly fins of which consisted of a thick and bony prickle. The skin, which was very hard and of a bony nature, was flayed off. The fish was afterwards boiled and used for food. Its flesh was firm and palatable. Kitamakura was an appellation very properly given by the Japanese to another fish (Tetraodon hispidus) which was so poisonous that when eaten it proved frequently mortal, and therefore according to the signification of the Japanese name made ‘the north one’s pillow’, it being a custom with these people to turn the heads of those that are dying, towards the north.95 Kamikiri-mushi was the name of a large black cerambyx (Cerambyx rubus) with white stripes on its elytra.96 Ote-gaki, which signifies a ‘falling oyster’, because like others of this genus it does not adhere fast to the rocks, was a very large and oblong oyster, much used as food by the inhabitants and sometimes brought to the Dutch for sale. It was well tasted, but being of a great size was generally boiled or stewed and eaten with some kind of sauce.97 A beautiful perch (Perca, which by the Japanese is called ara), adorned with seven white stripes, was also brought amongst other fish to our kitchen.98 For washing linen they neither used soft nor hard soap, but in its stead the meal or flour of a species of bean, which when ground very fine yields an extremely white powder. The interpreters told me amongst other things of a very singular worm which in the summer was a crawling insect but in winter a plant. It was brought hither by the Chinese among other medicines and said to be possessed of cordial virtues. As soon as I was able to procure a drawing of it, and afterwards the drug itself, I plainly saw that it was nothing else than a caterpillar, which against its approaching change to a chrysalis had crept down into the ground and there battened itself to the root of some plant. It was called with much acuteness totsu kasō.99 To light up their rooms in the winter evenings, the Japanese use candles and lamps. The former, however, are but little used, and the latter are most common throughout the whole country. The candles are small, being six inches in length and one inch thick at the upper end and tapering as they go downwards; they are therefore quite the reverse in shape to those that are used in Europe. In the upper end is the wick, made of paper rolled together and covered on the outside with another whiter and finer paper rolled over it in a spiral form. In the lower end is a hole so large as to leave room to introduce a nail fixed to what is termed a candlestick. These candles are made of oil procured by expression or

Japan extolled and decried

98

decoction100 from the seed of the varnish tree (Rhus vernix and succedanea), which tree is called hazenoki and grows in many districts of this country, producing a great quantity of seed. These candles when fresh are of a whitish colour, inclining to yellow within and covered externally with a white coat. The oil grows hard by exposure to the cold air and acquires the consistence of tallow. In time it turns rank and is then of a yellowish colour. These candles burn well, but run, like tallow candles. When these candles are sold they are neatly put in paper which is folded at the lower end and at the upper end twisted round the wick, and about two inches above that left open so that it exactly resembles a long rocket. The apartments101 are most commonly illuminated with lamps, to the number of one or two in each apartment; the oil burned in these lamps is expressed from mustard seed. They strike fire with a steel (which is very small) and a rough greenish quartz stone. For tinder they use the woolly part of the leaves of wormwood (Artemesia vulgaris), which is prepared so as to form a brownish-coloured wool. This substance catches fire more quicker than moxa. They use matches which are short, of about a finger’s length and a nail’s breadth, truncated and covered with brimstone at the ends. These are tied together in bundles and bent in a semi-circular form. The Japanese have the bad custom of very frequently breaking wind upwards102, and is by no means thought indecent as in Europe; in other matters they are as nice as other polished nations. About the New Year, two merchant vessels or junks, arrived here from China, which brought with them several Japanese who had been driven in a gale of wind on the Chinese coast.103 These Japanese were immediately conducted to their native places, from whence they will not be easily suffered to depart. Our chief, in like manner, had brought hither a Japanese who some years ago, whilst he was fishing at sea, had been driven away from the land and had for several years been absent from his country. At last he arrived in Batavia, dressed like a Malay, and spoke fluently the Malay language.104 January: Presents and New Year105 Agreeably to the Eastern custom, the Japanese neither visit each other nor the Dutch, without sending some present previous to their coming. These presents are made more for form sake than for their value, which generally is very trifling. They frequently consist of a fresh fish or the like, but are always presented with some degree of pomp, for instance on a small table made for the purpose and covered with paper folded in some particular shape. When the grandees of this country, who are considered as princes, were on board to see our ship, each of them sent our captain a present which consisted of a tub full of sake and a few dried spotted sepiae106, a kind of fish which is in great request with the Japanese and Chinese.107 1776, Jan. 1, we kept New Year’s day. Many of the Japanese assisted us in celebrating it.108 The cold was now very severe and intense, although the ground was quite bare. According to custom, this day about noon most of the Japanese that had anything to do at the Dutch factory, such as the head and sub-banjoses, the ottonas, the head and subinterpreters, the surveyors and other, came to wish us a Happy New Year. Dressed in

Life in nagasaki

99

their holiday clothes, they paid their respects to the chief, who invited them to dine with him. The victuals were chiefly dressed in the European manner, consequently but few of the dishes were tasted by the Japanese, nevertheless, everything was so contrived that there were no baskets full of fragments gathered. Of the soup they all partook, but of the other dishes, rich as roasted pigs, hams, salad, cakes, tarts and other pastries, they ate little or nothing, but in their stead was put on a plate a little of every dish, and when this plate was full it was sent to the town with a paper on it on which was written the owner’s name, and this was repeated several times. Salt beef and the like, which the Japanese do not eat, was set by and used as a medicine. The same may be said of the salt butter, of which I was frequently desired to cut a slice for some of the company; it is made into pills and taken daily in consumptions and other disorders. After dinner, warm sake was handed round, which was drunk out of lacquered wooden cups. On this festive and joyful occasion, the chief invited from the town several handsome girls, partly for the purpose of serving out the sake, and partly to dance and bear the girls company who were already on the island.109 After dinner too, these girls treated the Japanese with several of their own country messes110, placed on small square tables which were decorated with an artificial fir tree, the leaves of which were made of green silk and in several places sprinkled over with white cotton in imitation of winter snow. The girls never presented the sake standing, but always, according to the custom of the country, sitting. In the evening they danced in their own country fashion, and about five o’clock the girls took their leave. Female prostitution In most of the Japanese towns there are commonly in some particular street several houses dedicated to the worship of the Cyprian goddess111, for the amusement of travellers and others. The town of Nagasaki is no exception in this respect, but affords opportunities to the Dutch and Chinese of spending their money in no very reputable manner. If anyone desires a companion in his retirement112, he makes it known to a certain man who goes to the island every day for this purpose. This fellow, before the evening, procures a girl that is attended by a little servant maid generally known under the denomination of a kamuro, who fetches daily from town all her mistress’s victuals and drink, dresses her victuals, makes tea &c, keeps everything clean and in order and runs on errands. One of these female companions cannot be kept less than three days, but she may be kept as long as one pleases, a year or even several years together. After a shorter or longer time too, one is at liberty to change, but in that case the lady must appear every day at the town gate and inform the banjoses whether she means to continue on the island or not. For every day eight mas is paid to the lady’s husband113, and to herself, exclusive of her maintenance, presents are sometimes made of silk night-gowns, girdles, head ornaments &c. Without doubt the Christians, who are enlightened by religion and morality, ought not to degrade themselves by a vicious intercourse with the unfortunate young women of this country. But the Japanese themselves, being heathens, do not look upon lasciviousness as a vice, and least of all in such places as are protected by the laws and the government. Houses of this kind therefore are not considered as an infamous resort, or improper places of rendezvous. They are often frequented by the better sort of people who wish to treat

Japan extolled and decried

100

their friends with sake. Nevertheless, the institution carries on its very face that which is derogatory to human nature and even to the least polished manners. Parents that are poor and have more girls than they are able to maintain, sell them to one of these fellows at the age of four years and more. During their infancy they serve as maids to the house and particularly to wait on the elder ladies, each of whom has her own girl to attend her. When one of these damsels arrives at the age of twelve, fifteen, or sixteen, she is then, with much festivity and frequently at the expense of her on whom she has waited the preceding years, advanced to be one of those ladies that are exempt from waiting on others, or from any kind of employment. It very seldom happens that one of these ladies proves pregnant by any of the Europeans, but if such a thing happens it was supposed that the child, especially if it were a boy, would be murdered. Others again assured me that such children were narrowly watched till the age of fifteen and then were sent with the ships to Batavia; but I cannot believe the Japanese to be inhuman enough for the former procedure, nor is there any instance of the latter having taken place. During my stay in this country I saw a girl of about six years of age who very much resembled her father, a European, and remained with him on our small island the whole year through. The most curious circumstance in this affair is that when these ladies, after having served a certain term of years in those houses to which they were sold from their infancy, regain their perfect liberty, they are by no means considered as being dishonoured, and often marry extremely well. Other women 114

In other respects, modesty is a virtue to which these people are not much attached, and lasciviousness seems universally to prevail. The women seldom took any pains to cover their nudities when bathing in open places (which they sometimes did), not even in such spots where they were exposed to the eyes of the Dutch or where these latter were to pass. As no Japanese has more than one wife and she is not locked up in the house as in China but is suffered to keep men’s company and walk abroad when she pleases, it was therefore not difficult for me to get a sight of the fair sex of this country in the streets as well as in the houses. The single women were always distinguished from the married, and some of them were even painted.115 The colour with which they paint themselves is called beni and is kept in little round porcelain bowls. With this they paint not their cheeks, as the Europeans do, but their lips, and lay colour on according to their own fancy. If the paint is very thin the lips appear red, but if it be laid on thick they become of a violet hue, which is here considered as the greater beauty. On a closer examination I found that this paint is made from the Carthamus tinctorius, or bastard saffron.116 That which chiefly distinguished the married women from the single were their black teeth, which in their opinion were extremely beautiful, but in most other countries would be sufficient to make a man take French leave117 of his wife. To me, at least, a wide mouth with black shining teeth had an ugly and disagreeable appearance. The black which is used for this purpose is called o-haguro or kane118, and is prepared from filings of iron and sake; it is fetid and corrosive. It eats so deeply into the teeth that

Life in nagasaki

101

it takes several days and much trouble to scrape it away. It is so corrosive that the gums and lips must be well covered while it is laid on, or they will turn quite blue. Some begin to make use of this ornament as soon as they are courted or betrothed. January 20. This day the monies were paid on account of the Dutch and all their assignments settled, which is done only once a year. For this purpose there assembled at the treasury in the town interpreters, servants, merchants, purveyors and all others who had any demands. Everyone who had money to receive was obliged to be there in person, or he could not be paid. February: Botanizing and discovering February the 7th.119 Having been fortunate enough to receive from the governor, a second time, his permission to botanize, I, for the first time, took a walk about the town of Nagasaki. I was accompanied by several head and sub-interpreters, head and subbanjoses, purveyors, and a number of servants. This numerous train did not, it is true, impede me in my quick progression up mountains and hills, but yet it made my diurnal expeditions rather expensive, as it became incumbent upon me towards evening to regale my wearied companions at some inn or other, which amounted each time to sixteen or eighteen rixdollars. As often as the weather permitted, I made use of the liberty thus accorded me, at least once or twice a week, till such time as I accompanied the ambassador to the imperial court. Hard by120 the cottages and farms in the vicinity of the town, but chiefly on rising grounds and by the roadside, I saw a great number of tombstones erected, of various forms. It was said that for everyone that died a stone of this kind was erected, and before it I frequently found placed one or two thick bamboo canes filled with water and either leaves or flowers.121 The stones were sometimes rough and in their natural state, but more frequently hewn with art, with or without letters engraved on them and these either gilt or not gilt. These burying-places are frequently seen from afar on account of the great number of stones erected. I found also here and there by the side of the roads large holes dug in which the farmers collected urine and manure that had been dropped and scattered about, which they very carefully accumulated and used for the improvement of the land, but which gave out a disagreeable and often intolerable stench to the traveller. The town of Nagasaki is in its situation very much exposed; it has neither citadel walls, nor fosse, but it has crooked streets and a few canals, dug for the purpose of carrying off the water from the surrounding mountains, which reach quite to the harbour. Before the time of the Portuguese, it was only a village, but has since, by the emigrations that have been made thither on account of commerce, been extended to its present size. There are a great number of temples and the prettiest spots imaginable on the heights surrounding the town. At each end of the streets there is a wooden gate which can be locked and by this means all communication with other streets cut off. At night they are always locked. In each street, which is seldom more than thirty or forty fathoms122 in length and contains about the same number of houses, there is always an officer appointed to superintend and inspect it, and in like manner in each street there is a house

Japan extolled and decried

102

in which an apparatus is kept for the prevention of fire. The houses are scarcely ever two stories high and when they are the upper story is generally low. The town is governed by four burgomasters123, who have under them a sufficient number of ottonas, attendants of different ranks and degrees, by which means good order and security is procured and maintained in the best and most ample manner. In the gardens, as well in as out of the town, I observed several European culinary vegetables cultivated, and of these I had already seen some carried on board of the Dutch ship and to the factory. Of this kind were red beet (Beta vulgaris), the root of which was of a deeper red than any I had ever seen at any other place out of Europe, carrots (Daucus carota), fennel (Anethum faeniculum) and dill (Anethum graveolens), anise (Pimpinella anisum), parsley (Apium petrofelinum), asparagus (Asparagus officinalis), several bulbous plants such as leeks, onions and others (Alium fistulosum, cepa), turnips (Brasica rapa), black radishes (Raphanus), lettuce (Lactuca sativa), succory and endive (Cichorium intybus and endivia)124, besides many more. On the hills out of the town I observed that near every village large ranges of sloping grounds at the foot of the mountains were planted with batatas roots (Convolvulus edulis)125, which were mealy and agreeable to the taste. The plants with their stalks and leaves lay close to the ground and had not a single flower on them. They are much more agreeable to the taste and easier of digestion than potatoes (Solanum tuberosum), which they have tried to cultivate here. The juniper tree (Juniperus communis), which is generally indigenous to the north of Europe, I found also here scattered up and down in different parts, chiefly near some temple, but very scarce. I likewise found the Calamus aromaticus (Acorus calamus)126 growing wild here in moist places. It was considered by the Japanese, on account of its strong aromatic taste, as a medicine of great powers, but they did not know its true and proper use.127 A kind of ginger (Amomum mioga) grew wild in some few spots out of the town, though in but very small quantities. The root is tolerably hot and acrid and nearly as good as common ginger, and was said to be sometimes used in its stead. Ivy (Hedera) grew up in several places, green and handsome. At first I thought it unlike the ordinary European ivy on account of its having, for the most part, entire and undivided leaves, but in process of time I perceived a great alteration both in the form and size of the leaf. The box-tree (Buxus virens) was not uncommon; it was found both in a wild and cultivated state. Of its fine and close wood combs were made, which when covered with red varnish128 were used by the women to stick in their hair, by way of ornament. The bamboo (Arundo bambos), which is the only kind of grass that grows to the size of a tree, grew in many places and differed much both in height and thickness. The root of it is made use of here as well as on the India islands, for atjar—pickling with vinegar. The thicker stems were used for carrying burthens129, and the finer branches as shafts for pencils, and when slit up, for fan-sticks and for many other purposes. Near some farms and particularly near the temples, I found a very curious shrub of six or eight feet in height and of the celastrus kind (Celastrus alatus)130, which had projecting, blunt and compressed borders all along its branches, and was now full of ripening fruit. I was told that the branches of his shrub were used by lovers to fasten to the outside of the door of the house in which the object of their desires resided.131

Life in nagasaki

103

The Chenopodium scoparia132 was said to be used by some people in this country as a medicine. The Alcea rosea and the Malva mauritiana133 were frequently found cultivated in small gardens in the town for the sake of their large and elegant flowers. The Mentha piperita134 which grew wild in many places about Nagasaki, and the Ocymum crispum135, which still adorned the hills, were used as a tea or infusion in colds. This latter herb, when boiled, yields a red decoction with which the Japanese frequently gave a red colour to black radishes and turnips. Several kinds of sweet potatoes (Dioscoreae) grew wild in the environs of Nagasaki, but I did not observe that any of them were used as food, except the Dioscorea japonica136, the roots of which being cut into slices and boiled had a very agreeable taste. Common hemp (Cannabis sativa) grew in many places, both in a wild and cultivated state. I found here two sorts of Spanish (or cayenne) pepper, chiefly in a cultivated state. The most common was the Capsicum annuum, which the Japanese seldom use themselves, but sell it for the most part to the slaves in the Dutch factory. The other was the Capsicum grossum, which was kept in jars and confined so as to grow small and distorted—properties which the Japanese particularly fancy in many plants, a fancy peculiar to themselves, and in which they differ from all other nations.137 Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) grew also in some places, but so sparingly that no large plantations of it were to be observed. This herb, so agreeable and now become so indispensably necessary to many millions of men138, was first brought hither by the Portuguese and is almost the only relic left behind them in this country. The Japanese have no name for it in their language, but call it ‘tabako’, and smoke it cut as fine as the hair of the head, in small metal pipes. I found a Convallaria japonica139, at this time in fruit. The knobs at the roots of this plant were preserved in sugar and were highly commended by the Japanese and Chinese as good in different disorders. Buckwheat (Polygonum sagopyrum and multiflorum) was not uncommon near the farms and on the hills, the former in a cultivated and the latter in a wild state. From the former, flour was prepared of which small cakes were made, which were boiled; these were commonly coloured and sold to the lower daïs of people.140 The root of the latter was said to be a cordial and was used for that purpose quite raw. I was told it tasted best when roasted in the embers. Windsor beans (Vicia faba) and peas (Pisum sativum), as also some species of French beans (Phaseolus vulgaris & radiatus) were common among the farmers, and the latter sort was very much cultivated in the gardens, from whence they were carried for sale both into the town and in the factories. February the 11th. The time drawing near for our journey to the court, we began to prepare for it by degrees. Although the ambassador himself goes by land, yet a great part of the luggage is sent by sea to Shimonoseki, Hyōgo and other places. This day were put on board of a tolerable large vessel several chests with different sorts of wine in bottles, liquors, ale in bottles, kitchen furniture and some empty chests for carrying merchandise in on our return. This vessel was to sail for Shimonoseki, and on our arrival there, to carry us on to Hyōgo.141 This and the following days, the presents which we were to carry with us were prepared, consisting of cloths of different colours and qualities, chintzes and silks, with other articles. These presents were intended for the reigning secular emperor, the

Japan extolled and decried

104

hereditary prince142, the privy councillors143 and other persons of distinction at the court, and were packed up in large chests, which, that they might not be left to the mercy of the winds and waves, were carried the whole way, or the space of 320 miles.144 The 18th of February was with the Japanese the last day of the year. On this day, therefore, and yesterday, all accounts between private persons were to be closed and these, as well as all other debts, to be paid. Fresh credit is afterwards given till the month of June when there must be a settlement again. Among the Japanese, as well as in China, in case of loans, very high interest is frequently paid, viz. from 18 to 20 per cent. I was informed that if a man did not take care to be paid before New Year’s Day, he had afterwards no right to demand payment on the new year. Happy the people who at the beginning of every new year can reckon themselves free from debt and owe no man anything! Lunar New Year and timetelling The 19th was the New Year’s Day of the Japanese and Chinese, when everyone dressed in his holiday clothes wishes his neighbour joy, goes about visiting with his family, and diverts himself almost the whole of the first month.145 The year is divided according to the course of the moon, so that some years have twelve and others thirteen months, and the New Year makes its entry in February or March. They have no weeks consisting of seven days or of six working days and day of rest, but the first or fifteenth day in each month is, in fact, a sabbath, or a day of rest. On these days no mechanic works and even the prostitutes buy their freedom for that day, considering it as the greatest shame to be obliged to receive the caresses of men. On New Year’s Day, as we said before, they go about in their holiday dress, which is composed of fine blue-and-white check. The night and day, taken together, is divided into twelve hours only, and the whole year through they regulate themselves by the sun’s rising and setting. The hour of six they reckon at sunrise, and the same at sunset; midday and midnight are always at nine.146 Time is not measured by watches or hour-glass, but by burning matches which are twisted like ropes and divided by knots: when one of these after being lighted up has burned down to a knot, which denotes the elapse of a certain portion of time, it is made known in the daytime by certain strokes on bells near their churches147, and in the night by striking two pieces of wood against each other, which is done by the patrolling watch. Children are always deemed to be a year old at the end of the year in which they are born, whether this be at the beginning or latter end of it, so that if a child is born in the last month, it is reckoned a year old on the New Year’s Day ensuing. Their year commences with Jinmu, or 660 years before the birth of Christ.148 A few days after the Japanese New Year’s Day, the horrid ceremony was performed of trampling on such images as represent the Cross, and the Virgin Mary with the Child.149 These images, which are made of cast copper, are said to be about twelve inches in length. This ceremony is performed for the purpose of imprinting on everyone an abhorrence and hatred of the Christian doctrine, and of the Portuguese who attempted to propagate that doctrine, and at the same time to discover whether any remains of it be yet left in any Japanese. The trampling is performed in such places as were formerly most frequented by the Christians. In the town of Nagasaki it continues for the space of four

Life in nagasaki

105

days, after which period the images are carried to the adjacent places and at last are laid by till the following year. Everyone except the governor and his train, even the smallest child, is obliged to be present at this ceremony; but that the Dutch, as some have been pleased to insinuate, are obliged to trample on these images, is not true.150 At every place overseers are present who assemble the people by rotation in certain houses, calling over everyone by his name in due order and seeing that everything is duly performed. Adults walk over the images from one side to the other, and children in arms are put with their feet on them. On the 22nd of February, and the following days, was performed in Nagasaki and the adjacent places the ceremony already described of trampling on the copper images, concerning which I endeavoured to gain every possible information.151 Of the officers that were at this time on the island there was but one who professed having once had an opportunity of seeing it in this way, when sent by the chief to the governor of the town about some matters respecting the preparation for the intended journey to the court. On February the 25th, the chief, accompanied by several supercargoes, writers and interpreters, went to the town to take leave of the governor, previous to their setting out.152 March: Leaving Nagasaki March 2nd. Mine and my fellow travellers’ chests, with clothes, together with the medicine chest, were examined on the island, then sealed and immediately sent to the storehouse, where they were kept till the day that we set out on our journey. The medicine chest is large and is furnished with medicines from the dispensary, which is under the doctor’s care153, and is situated near his apartment. The Japanese use no sealing wax for sealing, but twist and tie a paper about such things as they wish to secure, in such a manner that they can easily perceive if it has been touched. In this way they seal up the locks of the storehouse itself, placing less dependence on their locks than on their curious paper knots.

3 Journey to the court in 17761 On the 4th of March, 1776, the ambassador2 set out from Dejima on his journey to Edo. The 15th or 16th of the first month of the Japanese year is always fixed for commencing this journey. There were only three Dutchmen, or rather Europeans, who took this journey, viz. M Feith, the ambassador as chief in the commercial department, myself as physician to the embassy, and the secretary, M Koehler.3 The rest of our retinue, which consisted of about 200 men, were merely Japanese placemen4, interpreters, servants and valets. In passing the guard on the bridges5 which join the town to the factory we were closely searched, but our chests and other baggage, which had already been searched and sealed, went through free; we were also attended through Nagasaki by the Dutch belonging to the factory, as likewise by a multitude of such Japanese as have any office in, or business with, the factory. The latter accompanied us to a temple out of town, where we waited a short time, and treated our jovial company with sake.6 On our leaving this place, all those Japanese who were now to part with us had placed themselves in groups, according to their different ranks and conditions of life, for above half a mile in length on both sides of the road along which we were travelling, which not only made a very fine appearance, but likewise did us great honour. These Japanese consisted of the ottonas of the town and island, the head and sub-interpreters with the learners, head and subpurveyors, head and sub-banjoses, culi-masters7 and several others who in any shape were connected with the Dutch. A banjos was by the governor of Nagasaki appointed leader of the whole caravan, and ordered everything both in going and returning.8 He was carried in a large norimon9, and a pike was borne before him to denote his authority and high command. To execute his orders several inferior banjoses were appointed. The chief interpreter, who is generally a man advanced in years, is carried in a kago10, has the care of the cash and the management of everything during the journey, paying all expenses for the Dutch Company’s account, and that generally with such care and parsimony that he is sometimes a considerable gainer by it, so that this journey is always supposed to be very profitable.11 Two Japanese cooks accompany them from the factory for the purpose of dressing the victuals that are to be served up at the ambassador’s table, also six Japanese servants who understand and speak Dutch, to serve as waiters, besides those servants that are sent by the governor of Nagasaki to attend on the Dutch and who do not understand nor speak their language. The cooks were sent before during the whole journey in order to get the victuals ready by the time we should arrive at the inn where we dine. With them were sent the necessary provisions, a camp table, three camp chairs, table linen and table furniture, which were always ready and in order on our arrival at dinner or supper. Some clerks attended the cooks, to order what was requisite at the inns for the whole retinue and to keep an account of the expenses. The ambassador, as well as his physician and secretary travelled in large handsome and lacquered norimons. In Kaempfer’s time the two latter gentlemen were obliged to

Journey to the court in 1776

107

perform the journey on horseback, exposed to cold rain and all the inclemency of the weather.12 These norimons, or sedan-chairs, are made of thin boards and bamboo canes, in the form of an oblong square with windows before and on each side. The sidewindows are fastened to the doors, through which one may get in and out of the carriage on both sides. Over the roof runs a long edged pole by which the vehicle is carried on the bearers’ shoulders. It is so large that one may sit in it with ease and even lie down in it, though not without in some measure drawing up one’s legs. It is not only adorned on the inside, but likewise covered on the outside in the most elegant manner with the most costly silks and velvets. At the bottom lies a mattress covered with cut velvet, and it has a slight covering over it either of the same materials or of some costly silk, and behind the back and on each side hang oblong cushions, also covered with velvet; in the place where the seat should be, a round cushion is laid with a hole in the middle. In front, there is a shelf or two for putting an ink-stand, books, or other small articles on. The windows at the sides may be let down when fresh air is wanted and they may be closed both by little curtains and by rolling curtains made of bamboos when the person in the carriage wishes not to be seen. The travelling in this chamber is very commodious; sitting long in it seldom proves tiresome. The porters that bear this light vehicle on their shoulders are in number according to the rank of the person they carry, from six to twelve and more, and when there are more, some of them walk leisurely by the sides for the purpose of relieving each other during the journey. While they are bearing the norimon, they sing some air together, which makes them keep up a brisk and even pace. Besides those articles which have been sent from Nagasaki by water, were carried partly on horseback and partly by porters on foot our small chests of clothes, lanterns to use in the dark, a stock of wine, ale and other liquors for our daily consumption, and a Japanese apparatus for tea, in which we could boil water while we were on the road. The Europeans, however, very seldom used this great relaxer of the stomach, but preferred a glass of red wine or Dutch ale; we therefore provided ourselves with a bottle of each of these, which were put into the fore part of the norimons, at our feet, as also a small oblong lacquered box with a doubled slice of bread and butter of the same form. Everyone that travels in this country always carries his bed with him.13 We were therefore obliged to do the same during the whole of the journey, both coming and going. And as it was necessary to make a great show in every respect, in order to support the dignity of the Dutch Company, the bedding, of course, consisted of coverlits14, pillows and mattresses, covered over with the richest open-worked velvets and silks. On the other hand, the Japanese who either went on foot or on horseback, were provided with a hat in the form of a cone and tied under the chin, a fan, which at the same time served as a guide15, an umbrella, and sometimes a very wide coat made of oiled paper to keep out the rain, which is as light as a feather. Those that travelled on foot, such as servants, hostlers16 and the inferior order of servants, were likewise provided with thin spatterdashes17, several pairs of straw shoes, and wore their night-gowns tucked up. The whole of this numerous caravan, composed of such different people and travelling in such different ways, formed a delightful spectacle for an eye not used to similar sights, and was to us Europeans the more pleasing as we were received everywhere with the same honours and respect as the princes of the land, and were besides so well guarded that no harm could befall us, and at the same time so well attended that we had no more care upon our minds than a sucking child, the whole of our business consisting in eating

Japan extolled and decried

108

and drinking or in reading or writing for our own amusement, in sleeping, dressing ourselves, and being carried about in our norimons. Nagasaki to Kokura 18

On the first day , passing by Himi, two leagues from Nagasaki, we proceeded to Yagami, one league farther on, and from thence to Isahaya, yet four leagues farther, where we took up our first night’s lodging.19 At Yagami, where we dined20, we were received by the host in a more polite and obsequious manner than I ever experienced since in any other part of the world. It is the custom of this country for the landlord to go to meet the traveller part of the way, and with every token of the utmost submission and respect bid them welcome; he then hurries home in order to receive his guests at his house in the same humble and respectful manner, after which some trifling present is produced on a small and low square table and then tea and the apparatus for smoking, which, however, we did not use. Being shown into the rooms prepared for us, we found the tablecloth laid, when, after taking a dram to whet our appetites21, we dined, drank coffee and then prepared for setting out, after those gentlemen that were fond of smoking had lighted their pipes. Here we received for the commissaries’ account fifty Japanese taels22, amounting to about the same number of Dutch rixdollars, for defraying the trifling expenses which we might be obliged to make individually in the course of the journey, and which were so exactly calculated as not to leave any overplus. These were the first Japanese coins which fell into our hands and which came under my inspection. The first disbursement we made was in New Year’s gifts to our servants and valets at Dejima, as also to the bearers of our norimons, which, for my share, amounted to somewhat more than ten rixdollars.23 On the following morning, being the 5th of March, we proceeded on our journey, taking the road for Omura, where we dined at the distance of three leagues, and then went on to Sonogi where we slept, situated five leagues from thence. In the year 1691, when Kaempfer went on the journey to the court, the ambassador took another route to Sonogi, viz. across the bay near Omura, to avoid which we took a round-about way to Isahaya, but without sailing across the large bay by Shimabara which is the road that Kaempfer took, when, in the year 1692, he went for the second time [on] the same journey to the imperial court.24 On the 6th in the morning, after travelling three leagues, we arrived at Ureshino, where is a sulphureous warm bath. After having viewed the bath, we travelled three leagues and a half before we got to dinner at Takeo. After dinner we passed by Shioda to Oda, three leagues and a half, and then went two leagues and a half farther on to Oshitsu, where we slept. The warm bath, which was absolutely boiling hot, was walled in and had a handsome house near it for the accommodation of the invalids25 that used it. The hot water was distributed by means of conduits to several places, where the sick could sit down and, by means of two different cocks26 draw off, accordingly as it suited them best, either hot or cold water, which latter was conveyed hither by art.27 Besides this, there were several accommodations for the patients to rest and refresh themselves after bathing, as also for walking, all which were very neat and clean. The Japanese use this and other similar

Journey to the court in 1776

109

baths, with which the country abounds, in venereal complaints, the palsy, itch, rheumatism, and many more disorders. Shioda is remarkable on account of the large jars (the largest, indeed, in the world) which are made here; they are composed of a brown clay, well burned, and of such an enormous size as to hold several pails full of liquor. The Dutch buy annually a great many of them and carry them to Batavia, where, as well as in other parts of the East Indies, they are used for holding water, and sell to advantage.28 In these, the water that is used for their daily drink is kept cool, at the same time that the sediment settles at the bottom so that the water, by this means, becomes more pure and wholesome. The road which we had travelled the preceding days was very rugged and tiresome, but after we got into the province of Hizen the country appeared more fertile, finer, more thickly inhabited and more populous. The villages here were nearer to each other, were much extended in length, and were sometimes two together, each of them half a league long and only distinguished from each other by means of a rivulet, a bridge, or by the difference of name.29 The country was cultivated all over, exhibiting the finest fields, loaded with rice and other grain. The province of Hizen is, besides, well known on account of its beautiful and valuable porcelain; I had, before this, seen some of it in the Dutch factory at the fair and had now an opportunity of informing myself farther concerning it. It is made of a perfectly white clay, which in itself is very fine, nevertheless is wrought with the greatest diligence and pains, and inexpressibly well, so that the vessels and ornaments which are made of it become transparent and extremely beautiful and at the same time are as white as snow.30 The day following, being the 7th, we had a league to go to a tolerably large river, called Kasegawa, over which we were to pass, and another league to the town of Saga, which is a league and a half long. From thence we proceeded three leagues to another smaller town called Kanzaki, passing by Osabara31, which was situated about half way to it. Here we dined, and going farther on, passed Nakabara at the distance of two leagues and Todoroki, somewhat above a league, till we came to Tashiro, one league farther, where we slept. Saga, which is the capital of the province, has a castle which is surrounded by fosses and walls and has guards at its gates.23 This, like most of the towns in this country, is regularly built, with straight and wide streets.33 There are also several canals by which water is conveyed through it. The towns in general in this country, differ chiefly from the villages, which are also very long in having one street, while the towns have more; besides, the towns are furnished with gates and surrounded by fosses and walls, and sometimes a citadel.34 The people, and especially the women, are of a smaller size in this province than in the former,35 and the married women, although in other respects they are handsome and wellshaped, disfigure themselves by pulling out all the hairs of their eyebrows, which with them serves to denote the marriage state, in like manner as black teeth do at Nagasaki.36 We lay37 at Tashiro that night, although Kaempfe, r in his History of Japan, mentions that this was considered in his time as portending misfortune and was therefore prohibited. The reason for this was that in the course of one of these journeys a banjos and one of the head-interpreters had quarrelled, and the former, after having killed the latter, had likewise made away with himself.38

Japan extolled and decried

110

March the 8th, we travelled nearly ten leagues to Iitsuka town, passing in our way by several villages, large and small, and over many very high mountains. We arrived first at Harada, two leagues off, and afterwards at Yamae, one league more, where we dined. The road from thence went over a high mountain and conducted us a league and a half down to Hayamizu, a pleasing spot where we waited some time, regaled ourselves and officers with sake, and made the landlady a final present in money to the amount of ten mas and five condereen, which is customary at this place. After this we went a league and a half farther on to Uchino, where we also gave our bearers a little rest. This day, in passing through the province of Chikuzen, we were conducted by an officer, who had been sent by the governor of the province to welcome and conduct us through his territories.39 How much so ever the Europeans are despised in their factory, and in however contemptible a light the Japanese are used to consider all foreigners, yet it is not more surprising than true that in the course of our journey to and from the court we were everywhere received not only with the greatest politeness and attention, but with the same respect and esteem as is shown to the princes of the country when they make their journeys to the imperial court. When we arrived at the borders of a province we were always met by an officer sent by the lord of it, who not only offered us in the name of his employer every assistance that might be required with respect to people, horses, vessels &c, but also accompanied us to the next frontiers, where he took his leave of us and was relieved by another. The lower class of people also showed us the same tokens of veneration and respect as to princes, bowing with their foreheads down to the ground and even at times turning their backs to us, to signify that they consider us in so high a light that in their extreme insignificance they are unworthy of beholding us.40 The roads in this country are broad, and furnished with two ditches to carry off the water, and in good order all the year round, but especially at this season when the princes of the country, as also the Dutch, take their annual journey to the capital.41 The roads are at this time not only strewed with sand, but before the arrival of travellers they are swept with brooms, all horse-dung and dirt of every kind removed, and in hot dusty weather they are watered. Their care for good order and the convenience of travellers has even gone so far that those who travel up the country always keep to the left and those that come from the capital to the right, a regulation which would be of the greatest utility in Europe, enlightened as it is, where they frequently travel upon the roads with less discretion and decorum.42 The roads here are in the better order, and last the longer, as no wheel carriages are used, which do so much damage to the roads. To make the roads still more agreeable, the sides of them are frequently planted with hedges, and on this and the preceding days I observed them formed of the tea shrub. Mile-posts are set up everywhere, which not only indicate the distance, but also, by means of an inscription, point out the road. Similar posts are also found on the crossroads so that the traveller in this country cannot easily lose his way. Attending to all these circumstances, I saw with astonishment a people which we consider if not in a state of barbarism at least as unpolished, exhibit in every instance vestiges of perfect order and rational circumspect reflection, while we, in our more enlightened quarter of the globe, are everywhere deficient in efficacious, and in some places in almost every regulation tending to the convenience and ease of travellers. Here I found everything tend to a good end, without boast and unnecessary parade, and nowhere

Journey to the court in 1776

111

did I observe on the mile-posts the name of the governor who had erected them, a circumstance which, in fact, so little concerns the traveller.43 All the miles are measured from one point only of the kingdom, viz. from Nihonbashi, or the bridge in the capital of the country, Edo.44 No post-coaches or other kinds of wheel carriages are to be found in this country for the service of travellers, therefore all those that are poor travel on foot and such as are able to pay either ride on horse-back or are carried in kangos, or norimons. Instead of their long night-gowns, they often wear trousers or linen breeches which reach down to the calves, and travelling soldiers tie these half-way up their thighs. Such as ride make for the most part a strange figure, as frequently several persons are mounted on one horse, sometimes a whole family. In this case, the man is seated on the saddle with his legs laid forward over the horse’s neck, the wife occupies a basket made fast to one side of the saddle, and one or more children are placed in another basket on the other side; a person always walks before to lead the horse by the bridle. People of property are carried in a kind of sedan chairs that differ from each other in point of size and ornament according to the different rank of the owners, and consequently in point of expense. The worst sort are small, insomuch that one is obliged to sit in them with one’s feet under the seat; they are open on all sides, covered with a small roof and are carried by two men. The kangos, more commonly called kagoes, are covered in and closed on the sides, but they are almost square and far from being elegant. The largest and handsomest are called norimons, are used by persons in the higher departments of office, and are borne by several men. At the inns in every town and village there is a number of men who offer their services to the traveller. These norimons and kango-bearers can carry very heavy burdens to a great distance, and not only travellers but goods, which they carry tied to each end of a pole of bamboo across their shoulder; they generally go a Japanese mile (or league) in an hour, and from ten to twelve of these miles in a day. On the 9th of March, proceeding on our journey, we arrived at Nōgata river at the distance of three leagues and a half from the place we had set out from, which river we crossed, and travelling a league and a half farther, dined at Koyaseto. From thence we proceeded to Kurosaki, at the distance of three leagues, and going three leagues farther still came to a large and rich commercial town, called Kokura. Kokura and on Kokura is esteemed one of the largest towns in the country and carries on extensive trade, but at present the harbour is so filled up46 that only small vessels and boats can get up to the town. This town is a Japanese mile (or league) in length, forming an oblong square, and has a river which runs through its streets down to the sea. The gates are guarded by officers and soldiers. At one end of the town and along one side of the river stands the prince’s citadel, which makes a very handsome appearance, is well fortified in the fashion of this country, surrounded by fosses and walls, and receives additional strength from a high tower. In this the Prince of Kokura resides and keeps his court.47 Before we entered into Kokura, we were met in the name of the prince, received, and conducted through the town to the inn by two noblemen from the castle. Here we were exceedingly well lodged, and remained till the next day in the afternoon.

Japan extolled and decried

112

According to ancient custom, the servant which was sent with us by the governor of Nagasaki, to wait on us during the journey, received here a small present of one tael and five mas, equal in value to about a rixdollar and a half. Here, as well as at all the other inns, we were lodged in the back part of the house, which is not only the most convenient, but the pleasantest part, having always an outlet and view into a backyard, larger or smaller, which is embellished with various trees, shrubs, plants and flower-pots.48 At one side of this spot there is also a small bath for strangers to bathe in, if they choose. Among other things that were common in several places were such as the Pinus sylvestris, Azalea indica, Chrysanthemum indicum &c.49 I also found here a tree which is called aukuba and another called nandina, both which were supposed to bring good fortune to the house.50 The front part of the house is generally either a shop for the sale of goods, or a workshop, and just behind this is the kitchen and the apartments occupied by the family, so that strangers occupy the most commodious part of the house and are the farthest removed from the noise of the streets. The houses are very roomy and commodious and never more than two stories high, of which the lower story is inhabited and the upper serves for lofts and garrets and is seldom occupied. The mode of building in this country is curious and peculiar to the inhabitants. Every house occupies a great extent of ground, is built in the style of framework of wood, split bamboos and clay so as to have the appearance of a stone house on the outside, and covered in with tiles of considerable weight and thickness. The whole house makes but one room, which can be divided according as it may be found necessary or thought proper, into many smaller rooms. This is done by moving slight partitions consisting of wooden frames pasted over with thick transparent paper, which slide with great ease in grooves made in the beams of the floor and roof for that purpose.51 Such rooms were frequently partitioned off for us and our retinue during our journey, and when a larger apartment was wanted for a dining room or any other purpose, the partitions were in an instant taken away. One could not see, indeed, what was done in the next room, but one frequently overheard the conversation that passed there. As the Japanese never have any furniture in their houses and consequently no bedsteads, our mattresses and beds were laid on the floor, which was covered with thick straw mats.52 The Japanese who accompanied us lay in the same manner, but had no pillows, instead of which they used oblong lacquered pieces of wood. With the above apparatus for sleeping, the Japanese’s bed chamber is put in order, and he himself up and dressed in the twinkling of an eye, as, in fact, a longer time is scarcely requisite for him to throw the night-gown over him that has served him for bedclothes, and to gird it round his waist. And as they have neither chairs nor tables they sit on the straw mats with which the floor is covered, with their legs under them, and at dinner, likewise, every one of the dishes is served up separately to each of the guests in lacquered wooden cups with covers on a small square wooden salver. During our stay here, we were not allowed to walk about the town and acquire a more accurate knowledge of it. On the 11th of March, in the evening, we crossed in a yacht over the bay to Shimonoseki, a trip which was reckoned to be about three leagues. Here we took up our night’s lodgings at an inn.53

Journey to the court in 1776

113

Between Kokura and Shimonoseki a low oblong rock was visible which at low water appeared a little above the surface, but was quite covered at the tide of flood. A ship was said to have struck on this rock that was carrying over the Emperor Taikō and to have been lost; the emperor was saved, but the captain of the vessel, in order to wreak vengeance on himself, according to the custom of the Japanese, ripped up his own belly. In memory of this disaster a square hewn stone about twenty-four inches high has been erected on this rock.54 Shimonoseki is not the seat of a prince, nor indeed one of the largest towns in the country, but its situation renders it a place of note and it has a very good and muchfrequented harbour where frequently from 200 to 300 vessels are seen riding at anchor. Generally speaking, all such vessels run in here as are bound from the Western to the Eastern coast, or vice-versa, either for the purpose of discharging some of their wares here, or of making a good port in case of a storm. On account of the great number of people who flock to this place from all parts of the kingdom, the trade here is very brisk. As wares and commodities are brought to this port from other parts, a great number of articles are to be had here that are not to be procured elsewhere. In a place where so many people are assembled together from all parts of the country, public stews55 were undoubtedly, according to the ideas of the Japanese, highly necessary and houses of this kind have, therefore, been established for the accommodation of travellers. These the Dutch were not even suffered to see, but when we had liberty to walk about the town the gates of that street where they stood were carefully locked. This town is situated at one end of Nippon56, which is the largest of all the islands and contains the two capitals of the kingdom, in which also there is a road to Edo; this however we did not take, it being very bad, and mountainous.57 A species of ulva (or seaweed) was gathered on the sea beach here, which was called awanori, and which when dried and roasted over the coals and afterwards rubbed down to a very fine powder, was eaten with boiled rice, and sometimes put into miso58 soup. For a cold in the head, which one easily gets in this country at the change of weather from warm to cold, the Japanese made use of a very fine kind of snuff, like Spanish. This snuff is brought them by the Chinese in small opaque bottles of green glass. Laxa is the denomination given to a kind of thread or string about four yards long which is sold rolled up almost all over the country.59 It is made of wheat or buckwheat flour and is sold by weight. That which was made from buckwheat was, in a more peculiar manner, called sobakiri by the Japanese. This string is cut into small pieces and mixed with soup, to which it gives a very agreeable and somewhat glutinous taste, without dissolving in the liquor, and is very nourishing. When put into soup with leeks and forcemeat60 balls made of fish, this dish is called nyōmen, but, if it be mixed with cayenne pepper or soy it is called sōmen.61 We now bespoke against our return home either for our own consumption or for sale, two commodities in particular, which were rice, of which they have here the very best sort, and charcoal, which we wanted for the purpose of dressing our victuals and warming our rooms in winter. Here they do not reckon by taels, but by mas, so that for one tael they count ten mas, and for ten taels one hundred mas, and in order to make their payments agreeably to this mode of reckoning they have several sorts of coins, large and small, made of gold, silver, copper and iron.62 There is no representative, or paper money in this country, but it is all

Japan extolled and decried

114

in specie, coined and stamped by the government, though the silver coin is not always of the same size, for which reason the merchants never fail to weigh it before they take it. On the 11th of March we embarked on board a large Japanese vessel of ninety feet in length, which is hired annually upon the Dutch company’s account, at the rate of four hundred and eighty rixdollars, for the purpose of conveying the ambassador to Hyōgo.63 This voyage is about one hundred leagues in length and with a good wind is sometimes performed in eight days. Another similar vessel accompanied us, which carried our baggage and retinue. We took up our quarters in the cabin. Our banjos64 had his room partitioned off to himself on one side, and the Dutch had the greatest part on the other. This side was divided into two rooms, a very small bedchamber for the ambassador, and a larger apartment for me and the secretary, which was also used as a dining room. The rest was occupied by the interpreters and other officers. A vessel of this kind ranks amongst the largest that are built in this country, being about twenty-five feet broad and very square at the stern with a wide and large opening there for the rudder which can easily be unhinged. Agreeably to the strictest orders, all vessels must be in this form with a view to prevent the subjects from going to sea in them and quitting the country; they are frequently built of fir or cedar, but are not nearly so strong as the European vessels. The keel has a turn upwards fore and aft. They have only one mast and in a calm they are rowed. When we arrived in any of the harbours, our mast was put down and rested on poles fixed for that purpose, after which, in case it rained or was very cold, the sail was spread out by way of awning so as to cover the whole vessel and completely shelter the people in it from the weather. It had indeed, properly speaking, only one deck, but the cabin with its poop formed, in a manner, a second, on which we could walk and across which the mast lay. The cabin therefore, on board of these, as well as all the pleasure boats in Japan, is very large and roomy and is capable of holding a great number of people. This, in the same manner as other rooms in their houses, can be divided into small compartments, all handsomely papered and the floor covered with mats made of rice straw. The most surprising circumstance is that the cabin projects on each side over the vessel’s sides, and is therefore broader than the vessel itself, which has not a peculiarly elegant appearance. Along its sides there are several windows. From Shimonoseki we sailed to Kamuro which is thirty-six leagues, and after having left this place and proceeded seven leagues farther we met with contrary winds and were obliged to anchor off Nakashima. But the wind continuing contrary and the storm increasing, we were obliged to weigh anchor and sail fourteen leagues back to Kaminoseki in order to get into a better and safer harbour. Here we were under the disagreeable necessity of staying almost three weeks before we got a good and prosperous wind to carry us on our voyage.65 Stuck at Kaminoseki All this time we lay constantly on board, but had several times, nevertheless, an opportunity to go ashore and amuse ourselves in the inns and temples. Whilst the storm lasted, the air was very cold so that we were forced to keep fires in the rooms, notwithstanding which we were tormented with colds and catarrh.

Journey to the court in 1776

115

The country all over this coast was mountainous, but, nevertheless, in the highest degree cultivated, insomuch that the mountains in several places resembled beautiful gardens. Here, as well as at Shimonoseki there were certain young men whom the burghers ceded to the burgomaster to wait upon him for a shorter or longer time. These youths, who were known by the name of kodomo, were the burghers’ own sons; they were well dressed, wore long trousers like people in office, and after a short time were relieved by others.66 The women here wore a strange kind of cap which covering the fore part of the head, projected at the sides and was tied under the chin. It was made of white chenille67 and by means of paste rendered quite smooth and sleek. These caps were said to be used only in winter, though for my part I could not conceive that they were capable of imparting any warmth. Not only the ladies of pleasure, but ladies of reputation likewise are in the habit of painting68, and the married women had everywhere pulled the hairs out of their eyebrows, which amazingly disguised even the most beautiful countenances. I saw several kinds of fruit, the produce of this country, either dried or preserved in yeast, in a mode which is, I fancy, only practised at Japan or China. The fruit that was only dried, such as plums and the like, was called umeboshi,69 but such as was preserved either whole, or else if it was very large cut into slices, was termed naratsuke. For this purpose the yeast of sake is used, a liquor prepared from rice. The acid of the yeast penetrates into the fruit, gives it in some measure a taste, and preserves it the whole year through, or longer. Me signifies fruit; Nara the place in Japan where the fruit is thus preserved in sake yeast, and tsuke signifies to preserve.70 Kōnomono is a kind of large cucumber, which is for the most part preserved in this manner, is transported in firkins to other places and eaten with roast meat or other dishes. It tastes much like pickled cucumbers.71 The long time that we were obliged to lay at Kaminoseki on account of contrary winds, the Japanese passed away with games and sports of various kinds. With respect to such of them as were my friends, I filled up their time by giving them lectures on the art of healing, and sometimes by questions about their country, its government, and regulations in point of rural economy, but particularly with respect to their language, which furnished me with the means of entirely completing the vocabulary I had previous to this period already begun.72 Sōbutsu was a kind of game which by the interpreters was called, in Dutch, ‘the game of the goose’ (Ganse-speel).73 In playing this game they made use of a thick chequered paper with different figures delineated upon each square. A die was thrown, and each player had a wooden slice, or something of the kind, with which he marked up his throw on the figures. Cards are by no means a favourite diversion with the Japanese, besides they are very strictly prohibited. I saw them played on board of the vessel sometimes, but never on shore. The cards are made of thick and stiff paper two inches long and one inch or more broad; they are fifty in number, black on the underside and dissimilarly marked on the upper. The cards were laid in different heaps and on each heap the money, after which they were turned up in order to see who had won, so that this game very much resembled that which with us is called sala hybika.74

Japan extolled and decried

116

During our stay here I made myself acquainted with the Japanese compass. This instrument is divided into twelve points, that is, first into the cardinal points, E.N.S. and W., and afterwards each of these into three more. The points bear the name of certain animals, such as for the North, which is in their language called kita, 1, the Rat, in the Japanese language, ne; 2, the Cow or Ox, ushi, and 3, the Tiger, tora; for the East or higashi: 4, the Hare, u; 5, the Dragon, tatsu; 6, the Serpent, mi; for the South or minami: 7, the Horse, uma; 8, the Sheep, hitsuji; 9, the Ape, saru; for the West or nishi: 10, the Hen, tori; 11, the Dog, inu; 12, the Wild Boar, i. Some peculiarities occurred in their language which to me appeared to be worth attending to. Ichikan signifies with them a thousand, but is not used on any other occasion than in counting money; one hundred taels or a thousand mas, therefore, is always denoted by ichikanme.75 Mono signifies both a human being and goods, but these two different significations are denoted by different letters when the word is written.76 Sugi signifies cedar wood (Cupressus and Juniperus) and the particle ‘over’; both are sounded alike but written differently. In like manner, kan signifies warm as well as cold.77 Hashi has a threefold signification, that is, first the small and round lacquered sticks with which they eat instead of a fork, secondly a bridge, and lastly margo, the edge of a table or of any thing else.78 Yesterday or the preceding day they express three different ways, viz, kinō, senjitsu and sakujitsu. The people in office at this place who wore two sabres were called samurai, and such as were entitled to wear but one were called chōnin.79 Kaminoseki to Hyōgo At last, after waiting a long time, we weighed with a more favourable and prosperous wind and sailed to Chinokamuro, where we again let fall our anchor. All around us, as before, we observed islands of various sizes, betwixt which we sailed these waters being filled with them. At every place where we anchored the Japanese were very anxious to go on shore in order to bathe. Cleanliness is the constant object of these people and not a day passes in which they do not wash themselves, whether they are at home or out upon a journey. In all towns and villages, inns and private houses, therefore, there are baths. The poorer sort of people pay a trifle only for bathing, but as many of them are apt to use the same water without changing, it frequently happens that they catch the itch and other contagious distempers. Of children there were here, as well as in the villages in other parts, great numbers, and it was these only that called out after us when at any time we landed. I observed everywhere that the chastisement of children was very moderate. I very seldom heard them rebuked or scolded and hardly ever saw them flogged or beaten, either in private families or on board of the vessels, while in more civilised and enlightened nations these compliments abound. In the schools one might hear the children read all at once, and so loud as almost to deafen one. Our coasting voyage was again continued to Mitarai between a number of small islands and in a narrower channel between two large provinces.80 The harbour here is large and safe, on which account this place is always sought as an anchorage by a great number of vessels.

Journey to the court in 1776

117

In all the sea ports great care has been taken to establish a brothel (and for the most part several) even in the smallest villages. They were commonly the handsomest houses in the place, and sometimes were even situated near their idols’ temples. In so small a place as Chinokamuro, there were said to be no less than fifty women; in Kaminoseki, there were two houses, both which together contained eighty ladies, and in Mitarai, there were no less than four of these disreputable houses. Amazed at such a vicious institution amongst a people in other respects so sensible and judicious, I was at some pains to find out from the interpreters when, and on what occasion, this institution had originated and afterwards been diffused all over the country. In answer to my enquiries I was informed that this dissolute establishment had not subsisted here in ancient times, but had first taken rise during the civil war which was carried on when the secular emperor, as generalissimo of the army, dispossessed the dairi of the imperial power, except that which he still holds in ecclesiastical matters. At that time the dairi was obliged, being as yet very young, to flee with his foster-mother and his court to Shimonoseki. The dairi’s domestics consisted then, as they do at present, of none but the fair sex, and he is even now considered as so holy that no male may approach him. In this flight over sea, being pursued by the enemy, his foster-mother leaped with him into the sea, where they both perished. His female servants who arrived at Shimonoseki and had nothing left to subsist on, were under the necessity of adopting a rather dishonourable mode of gaining their livelihood. This, as several people assured me, gave the first rise to houses of this kind, the number of which has since, during the civil war and disturbances of many years continuance, gradually increased.81 The interpreters told me likewise that these women are not called by the same name everywhere, or alike regarded. In Shimonoseki they are still more peculiarly called yorushi, and this name was before, and still is, borne by the dairi’s concubines, who besides his real wife are twelve in number.82 All others out of Shimonoseki are usually called keisei or kese. The name signifies a castle that is turned upside down, and therefore is perfectly well adapted to these women who have made the transition from chastity to dishonour.83 The haihachi are a lower sort, who are at any man’s service, viz. for eight candereen; haigin was a coin formerly in circulation of very bad silver and of the value of a candereen. Eight of these haigin, therefore, have given them their present name.84 The o-fuiaku were described as being of the lowest class who ran about the streets begging; these were said to have received their denomination from a woman of that name who was a lunatic and also an idle, good-for-nothing hussey.85 The thinking part of the Japanese, however, could not but allow that these institutions were indecent and a scandal to the nation. Shigaki are a kind of oysters which are caught at Mitarai and are well tasted. Here and at several other places I saw in what manner the Japanese preserved their craft against the ravages of that destructive worm, the Teredo navalis.86 After having dragged the vessel up on the strand, they burned both sides of it as high as the water usually reaches, till the vessel was well covered with a coat of charcoal. This may perhaps contribute to preserve them likewise from rotting. Proceeding on our voyage, we again set sail with a more favourable wind for Hyōgo where we arrived after a disagreeable and dangerous passage of twenty-six days.87 As often as the Japanese went on shore, they always took care to kill geese, ducks and fowls, which were dressed for our table, but when they are out at sea they are so superstitious as

Japan extolled and decried

118

not to kill any living creature. Therefore, that we might not for several days together be without roasted birds, I was obliged to take upon myself the office (which was not very troublesome, indeed) of killing them. In fine weather several sorts of ducks, and particularly the Anas galericulata (or Chinese teal) were assembled in these waters (where they are never scared away by the gun) in such numbers that at a distance they appeared like large islands and were not in the least afraid of us as we passed them, not even of me who was their daily butcher. Hyōgo is situated about ten leagues (or thirteen sea-leagues) from Osaka, directly opposite to it in the same Bay. It has a large basin which, however, is open to the south, and was therefore formerly considered as uncertain and dangerous towards that side. This disagreeable circumstance has nevertheless been removed by the Emperor Heike88, at an incredible expense and with great labour and difficulty, in undertaking which great numbers of people are said to have perished. This emperor caused a dam to be made to the southward of the harbour in order to prevent the sea from breaking into it. The dam round which we sailed appeared at first fight like a sandbank and was not much below the surface of the water. Several hundred vessels, besides ours, had taken shelter here on which account this harbour is of the more consequence, as the water as far as Osaka is but shallow and does not admit of large vessels getting up thither. The town, like Nagasaki, is built along the shore of the harbour and then on the rising ground that slopes off gradually from the mountains. The concourse of people here is very great, and the town tolerably extensive and handsome. Kaempfer makes mention that he went in small boats from Hyōgo to Osaka, but although we were here obliged to quit our larger vessel, we travelled from hence by land to Kanzaki, from which place we were carried over in vessels three leagues to Osaka.89 April: the land route On the 8th of April, in the morning, we set out for Nishinomiya in order to dine there; after this we went to Amagasaki, a fortified town on the sea coast, where after a journey of two leagues we rested a little and then went a league farther on to the village of Kanzaki near a large river.90 From this place we ordered ourselves to be set over in boats to the mouth of that large stream which runs through the town of Osaka down into the bay, and which is about the distance of three leagues. Osaka Our new host was the first who came in a boat to meet us on the river, and then conducted us up the same, through the suburbs which had been built all along its banks and which were covered by several hundreds of vessels that bore witness to the great and extensive traffic of this town.91 After we had passed several bridges, the gates and the guard houses that stood on each side of these latter, we perceived that we were come into the town itself. Here we were extremely well lodged and treated.92 Shortly after our arrival, our host entered dressed in his best clothes, and with a joyful countenance and the most respectful demeanour congratulated us, through the interpreter, on our safe arrival after such a long

Journey to the court in 1776

119

and tedious voyage, and brought with him one of his servants who produced, as usual, a small square table with a present which was likewise decorated in the most superb manner. This present consisted of several oranges of the common size but with a thick rind, a few mikan93, or smaller oranges with a thinner rind, and a few dried figs. On the top of this present was laid a folded paper tied over with red and gilded paper-thread, at the end of which was pasted a strip of seaweed (Fucus). Round about it also were laid several square pieces of the same seaweed. All this is according to the etiquette and is a demonstration of the highest respect for the travelling stranger.94 Among other things, we had for supper a kind of fish called aburame, which was extremely well tasted.95 The first thing we had now to do was to testify our gratitude to the captain who had brought us safe in the large vessel to Hyōgo, and together with some of the crew had borne us company hither and taken care of our baggage. For my part, I had to pay him six taels, and to the sailors seven mas five candereen. In like manner we were each of us obliged to pay three taels to those who had guarded and taken care of our norimons, and to the servant sent with us by the governor96, six taels, amounting altogether to about sixteen rixdollars. In Osaka we stayed that day and night only, and in the meantime were visited by several merchants from whom we bespoke several articles corresponding with the samples which they showed us, and which were to be ready at our return. Such were in particular, insects of copper and artificial trees, varnished, fans of various kinds, writing paper, paper for hangings97 and some other rarities. Osaka is one of the five imperial towns which belong to the secular emperor;98 it is governed in his name, and in like manner as Nagasaki, by two governors, one of whom goes to the court every other year and in the intermediate year exercises the functions of government.99 This is, at the same time, one of the greatest commercial towns in the empire on account of its situation near the coast and almost in the centre of the country. In consequence of the incredibly great supply of every article from all parts of the country, provisions are here very cheap and the most wealthy artists and merchants have established themselves here. The river Yodogawa100, up which we sailed to the town, runs through the streets and is divided by means of canals into several branches. The citadel which stands on one side of the town is almost one league square and in the style of this country well fortified. Across the river, which runs through the town, not only expensive bridges of cedar are built, but they are also numerous and some of them very long, from 300 to 360 feet.101 In almost every house the front of the ground floor is either a workshop or a large saleshop, where the goods are hung out to the view to entice purchasers. Many rich people retire to this place to spend their fortunes as this town is the most pleasant in all Japan, so that it is in Japan what Paris is in Europe, a place where an incessant round of amusements is to be had.102 The governor of the town possesses no authority over the citadel, but it is under the care of two other governors or commandants alternatively, who relieve each other every third year and who have no command in the town.103 One of them resides always at court, and when he goes down to relieve his predecessor, the exchange is attended with this particular circumstance: that these two are not to speak to each other and when one enters the other must go out and immediately proceed to the court to give an account of his administration.

Japan extolled and decried

120

Osaka to Miyako As it was thirteen miles from Osaka to Miyako, we were obliged to set out early in the morning on the 9th of April. We were awakened, therefore, before it was daylight and after having drunk a dish of coffee and got ready our bread and butter for breakfast, proceeded on our journey, the Japanese who went before with a great number of torches to light us on our way almost continually cheering us with their enlivening songs. After travelling two miles and arriving at a large village called Moriguchi, we and our bearers reposed for a while. After this, we proceeded three leagues to a larger village, viz. Hirakata, where we again rested and took some refreshment, after which we went on to another resting place, viz. Yodo, one league farther, and dined rather late at Fushimi, to which it was more than a league. Yodo is a small but handsome town, and has plenty of water. Its bridge, called Yodobashi, is one of the largest in that kingdom, being 400 paces in length. The town is defended by a citadel situated on one side of it, in which a prince keeps court.104 Fushimi is, in fact, nothing more than a village, but then it is three leagues long and reaches quite to the imperial capital, Miyako,105 of which it may be considered as the suburbs. Excepting in Holland, I never made so pleasant a journey as this with regard to the beauty and delightful appearance of the country. Its population too, and cultivation, exceed all expression. The whole country on both sides of us as far as we could see was nothing but a fertile field, and the whole of our long day’s journey extended through villages, of which one began where the other ended, and which were built along the road. This day I saw several carts driving along the road, which were the first I had seen and indeed were the only wheel carriages used in and about the town of Miyako, there being otherwise none in the country. These carts were long and narrow with three wheels, viz. the two usual wheels and one before. The wheels were made of an entire piece of wood sawed off a log. Round the felly106 was put a cord, or some such thing to prevent the wheel from wearing away by friction. Nearer the town, and in it, these carts were large, and clumsier, sometimes with two wheels only and drawn by an ox. Some of these carts too were like those of Europe, with naves107 and spokes, but not mounted with iron and very liable to be broken. None were allowed to drive these carts excepting on one side of the road, which on that account seemed much broke up. For this purpose, too, a regulation was made that the carts should set out in the forenoon and return in the afternoon, in order that they might not meet each other.108 Small cakes made of boiled flower of rice, sometimes coloured green and sometimes white, were to be purchased at all the inns and likewise in the villages;109 these were bought by travellers and particularly by the norimon carriers, who ate them with their tea, which was everywhere kept in readiness for the convenience of travellers. Near the river Miyakos dwelt a great number of pelicans who had made their nests in pine trees all along the road, as had also ducks and other wild fowl;110 notwithstanding that, even the banks of the river were not left free for them to dwell on, but were everywhere inhabited and cultivated. I had imagined that during so long a journey in a country to which Europeans have seldom any access, I should have been able to collect a great number of scarce and unknown plants, but I was never in my life so much disappointed. In most of the fields, which were now sowed, I could not discover the least trace of weeds, not even throughout whole provinces. A traveller would be apt to imagine that no weeds grew in

Journey to the court in 1776

121

Japan but the industrious farmers pull them diligently up, so that the most sharp-sighted botanist can hardly discover any uncommon plant in their well-cultivated fields. Weeds and fences were equally uncommon in this country, a country surely in this respect inexpressibly fortunate.111 The seed is sown on small beds of about the breadth of a foot and separated by a furrow above a foot broad. On these small beds wheat or barley is sown, either crossways in rows at a small distance from each other, or else lengthways in two rows. After the corn112 is grown up to the height of about twelve inches, earth is taken out of the furrow which is thus converted into a ditch, and this earth is care-fully laid about the borders, which by this means receive fresh nourishment and manure. In consequence of so laborious an operation, the corn fields bear the exact appearance of cabbage-beds, which makes the view of the heights in particular enchanting, these being bordered at the foot with a stone wall so that they have all the appearance of being surrounded by ramparts. If these heights are sown, which is not seldom the case, with rice, then the water which is collected on their tops from the clouds and the rain, is conducted from them to the lowermost parts, so that they are laid under water by means of a wall raised at the bottom of an equal height, through which the water may be let out at pleasure. In the beginning of April,113 the farmers began to turn over the ground that was intended for rice. This, by means of its raised borders, lay now almost entirely under water. The ground was turned up with a hoe that was somewhat crooked, with a handle to it and of a foot in length and of a hand’s breadth. Such rice fields as lay low and quite under the water were ploughed with an ox or cow, for which work these animals only are used in this country. The other fields which were sown with East Indian kale (Brassica orientalis)114 appeared now in the month of April gilded all over with yellow flowers, and glistened even at a great distance. The seeds of this kind of kale, called natane, are commonly pressed and the oil expressed from them (natane abura) is used all over the country for burning in lamps.115 The seed is ripe in May, and the root is not used. In several places I saw a kind of mustard (Sinapis cernua) cultivated. The Japanese seldom use the seed of it to their victuals, but it was that kind which was sold to us now during our journey, and to the factory, for common mustard. The husbandmen116 who were occupied in digging were always followed by several beautiful whitish herons (Ardeae), which cleared the fields of worms and were very tame. On account of the service these birds are of, they are considered here as privileged and are not scared away nor molested by anyone. Miyako In the town of Miyako we were lodged in the upper story, which is not customary in other places, and we remained here four days.117 Our great chests were also opened that we might take out a change of linen and other clothes, and necessary provision for the remainder of the voyage. During this time we had an audience of the chief justice and the two governors of the town, who had all presents made them from the Dutch Company. We were carried in our norimons to their palaces and treated with green tea, tobacco and sweetmeats. The chief justice (groot rechter) is almost the only male at the dairi’s, or ecclesiastical emperor’s

Japan extolled and decried

122

court. He is, as it were, his vicegerent, or court marshal, who in the name of his great master regulates and orders everything about the court, and more especially in ecclesiastical matters out of the court. He grants passes to all those who travel higher up the country, or to the secular emperor’s court. This respected man is, nevertheless, not appointed by the dairi, but by the kubō119, and is generally an elderly man and one whose understanding is ripened by age and experience. Some trusty old man who at the same time is possessed of a tolerable portion of wealth was said to be chosen for this office by the secular emperor, and as the income of this place is trifling and insufficient, he generally grows very poor in time with his high appointment. The dairi’s court and palace is within the town and, as it were, in a separate quarter of it, forming of itself a large town surrounded by fosses and a stone wall. We had not the good fortune to get a sight of it otherwise than from a considerable distance.120 Within it lives the dairi with his concubines, a great number of his attendants, and priests. Within this palace all his pleasure lies and here he passes his whole life without once going out of it. When the dairi at any time leaves his apartments in order to walk in the gardens, it is made known by signs, to the end that no one may approach to see this country’s quondam ruler, now merely its pope, veiled with power in ecclesiastical matters only, but who is considered as being so holy that no man must behold him.121 During the few days we stayed here His Holiness was pleased to inhale the pure air out of doors when a signal was given from the wall of the castle.122 Although the kubō, the temporal emperor, as generalissimo of the army, had wrested to himself the chief power, still, however, the greatest honours were left to the dairi. For some time after the revolution, the kubō made also annually a journey to Miyako in order to pay his respects to the dairi. But of late years these visits have been now and then neglected, and are now said to be entirely laid aside.123 Miyako is not only the oldest capital, but also the largest commercial town in the empire, an advantage, for which it is indebted to its central situation.124 It stands on a level plain of about four leagues in length and half a league in breadth. Here are established the greatest number, and at the same time the best, of workmen, manufacturers and artists, as also the most capital merchants, so that almost everything that one can wish or desire is to be purchased here: velvets and silks woven with gold and silver, wrought metals and manufactures in gold, silver and copper, likewise, sowas, clothes and the best of weapons. The celebrated Japanese copper, after being roasted and smelted at the smelting house, is refined and manufactured here. All the coin too is struck here and stamped. And as at the dairi’s court all kinds of literature are encouraged and supported, as at the Royal Academy, therefore all books that are published are printed here.125 Here the superior interpreter126 delivered to us a sum of money in new kobangs for us to lay out during our journey in rarities and merchandise or in what manner soever we might choose. The secretary and I received each of us three hundred rixdollars, but which we were afterwards obliged to refund from our kambang stock in Nagasaki, after bespeaking from those merchants who were permitted to visit us several articles, such as sowas work, fans and lacquered ware in particular, to be ready by our return.

Journey to the court in 1776

123

Miyako to Yoshida On the 14th of April we set out on our journey.127 Before we had travelled one league, we arrived at Keage, where we made a short halt. We had not much farther to go from hence to Yakkō-chaya, where we again rested a little. To Hashirii it was somewhat more than a mile, and about the same distance from thence to Hashiba, or Ōtsu128, where we dined. Ōtsu is situated near a lake of the same name, which, in proportion to its length of forty Japanese miles, is very narrow.129 Ancient histories relate that this lake was formed in one night only, by an earthquake, in which this whole tract of country gave way and disappeared. This lake is very convenient for the conveyance of goods and merchandise by water to the adjacent places, and is likewise remarkable from the circumstance that, though it is only a fresh water lake, it contains salmon—a species of fish which is otherwise so very scarce, and indeed, hardly ever to be seen in the East Indies. Some salmon were brought to us to buy for our table, which were very delicious. The largest that I had an opportunity of seeing weighed about ten pounds. Finding in the course of our journey that we often had this species of fish brought to us, we ordered some to be smoked against our return; however they were not to be compared to our European salmon, either in fatness, size, or the mode of curing them.130 In the afternoon, we continued our journey one league to Seta, one league to Tsukinowa, and somewhat more than a league to Kusatsu, where we took up our night’s lodging. This village has at least five hundred ground-plots. At Seta we crossed the river over a very long bridge. The bridge rested on a small island, which was situated nearer to the town than to the opposite shore. It was about three hundred and fifty paces in length, built, according to the rural mode of this country, in a magnificent style and furnished with balustrades. The next morning, being the 15th of April, we had above eleven leagues to travel to several villages and towns which stood quite close to each other in a large, rich and fertile district called Ōmi.131 Among the most remarkable of these were Mumenoki, Ishibe, Natsume, Izumi, Minakuchi, Ōno, Matsuo, Tsuchiyama, Inohana, Sawa132 and Sakanoshita. We dined at Minakuchi, which is a large inland town. Here, as well as at the other places, were sick people who had come from the adjacent parts for advice from the Dutch physicians in their chronical complaints. These complaints were frequently either large indurated glands133 in the neck, and cancerous ulcers, or else venereal symptoms which had generally taken too deep root. Towards evening we were come into the district of Ise, where we passed through several villages and at last arrived at the town of Seki, where we took up our night’s lodging. On the 16th of April, our journey was not less agreeable than it had been the day before, and, indeed, hitherto in general, by reason that the country of Ise was very closely inhabited, fertile and populous, insomuch that we passed through very long villages which lay upon the road, and at very short distances from each other. We were, nevertheless, whenever we passed through any village, subject to an inconvenience which embittered all our pleasures and obliged us to keep the windows of our norimons shut. A privy, which is necessary for every house, is always built in the Japanese villages towards the street and at the side of the mansion house134; it is open downwards, so that the passengers may discharge their water from the outside into a large jar, which is sunk on the inside into the earth. The stench arising from the urine and the ordure, as also from

Japan extolled and decried

124

the offals of the kitchen, all which were very carefully collected together for the lands, was frequently in hot weather so strong and insupportable that no plug introduced into the nose could dispute the passage with it and no perfumes were sufficient entirely to disperse it. Useful and beneficial as in other respects I everywhere found this branch of the over-strained economy of the Japanese, it was equally hurtful to the eyes. For by the exhalations of this intolerable vapour, to which the people had gradually accustomed themselves, the eyes became so much affected that a great many, and particularly old people, were afflicted with very red, sore and running eyes. This day we travelled about ten Japanese miles and dined at Ishiyakushi, after having passed through Nojiri, Kameyami, Morinoshita and Shōno, and in the evening arrived at a famous large town near the bay, called Kuwana, after having passed through Tsuetsuki, Oiwake, Yokkaichi—a large town—Tomida and Matsudera. At Yokkaichi we were come again to the seashore, which we followed almost all the way to the capital, Edo, and in our way had many large and dangerous streams to ford, over which no bridges could be thrown on account of the great increase of the waters in the rainy seasons.135 On our way from Yokkaichi, we were favoured with the company of three mendicant nuns, one of which followed each of our norimons in expectation of obtaining some money from the Dutch. They accompanied us with an even pace for several hours, constantly begging, although at the very beginning they had received a handsome piece of silver from us. Their dress was neat and clean, but their incessant begging extremely troublesome. We therefore changed a piece of gold into pieces of small copper coin which were strung on a ribbon by means of a square hole made in the middle. One or two of these copper coins, called zeni, we distributed now and then so that the expense became more supportable to us. The girls were of different ages from 16 to 18 years, decent in their behaviour except the circumstance of their begging with such pertinacity, and were said to be the daughters of priests of the mountains, a sort of monk in this country called yamabushi.136 The interpreters told us also that their chief support was begging, that out of the alms they were obliged to pay a certain tribute to the temple of Ise, and that they were not quite so well behaved and chaste as, from what we saw, we might suppose them to be. They were called Kumano bikuni.137 Kuwana is a large and strongly fortified town in the province of Owari, which is rich and of great consequence amongst the princely provinces of this empire.138 Here we took up our night’s lodging in a handsome and commodious inn. The town has two forts and is surrounded by fosses and walls.139 The citadels have high towers which afford a pleasing sight, and in every part of them, and of the walls, small oblong openings are visible through which the besieged may discharge their arrows under cover of the walls, against the enemy’s shot. On the 17th of April, in the morning, we set out from Kuwana in a vessel, and crossed the bay to Miya, which was reckoned seven sea leagues.140 But this voyage was one of the most extraordinary that ever was made. We embarked with our retinue and baggage on board of large vessels at Kuwana, but when we approached near the harbour of Miya town the harbour grew so shallow that we were obliged to make use of small boats in order to disembark; nevertheless we could not get up to the town otherwise than by being

Journey to the court in 1776

125

pushed over the mud, by the hands of two men fording it in very little water. So that we might rather be said to go by land than by water, and that a good way up to the town. Miya, therefore, though situated near the bay, is a very indifferent harbour and unfit for larger, and even for smaller kinds of vessels, notwithstanding which a considerable number of them lay here at anchor. The town has neither walls nor forts, but is extremely populous and has great traffic. There is, besides, an extraordinary circumstance with respect to Miya, that the middle street projects full two leagues out of the town, all along the large river, up to the town of Nagoya, which is fortified and is the capital of the province of Owari. After having dined in Miya, we set out again on our journey, and passing through Kasadera, Marumi, Shingo, and Imokawa to Chiriu, where we put up at night, making in all four leagues. On the morning following, being the 18th of April, we proceeded through Ushida, Ōhama and Yahagi to Okazaki, a fortified town in the province of Mikawa.141 Here we dined, after having viewed and passed over the remarkable bridge which is laid across the river near the town, and is considered as the longest bridge in the whole empire, being 158 fathoms long.142 It is built of wood, and is said to have cost 30,000 kobangs, or 300,000 rixdollars.143 The prince of the province resides in the fort, which is well fortified and adorned with a high tower and walls.144 In the afternoon, passing through Kaginoe145, Fujikawa, Motojuku, Akasaka, Goyu, Jōkasen and Yotsuya, we travelled somewhat above seven leagues farther on to Yotsushida or Yoshida147, where we stayed all night. Observations on agriculture, and other matters The country appeared this day more mountainous than it had for some time before, but was interspersed with level plains and valleys, which were well cultivated. In this month the rice was transplanted. It is first sown very thick on separate beds, like cabbage or other rooted plants, and when grown to about a hand’s breadth in height, taken up in order to be transplanted out in the fields. For this purpose several roots are taken together and with the hand put down firm into the ground, which is about six inches under water. Each bundle is set a hand’s breadth or more asunder. This transplantation is generally the women’s business, who, on this occasion, are used to wade half a leg deep in water and mud. After this, the rice ripens and is cut down in the month of November. The rice, the grain of which is surrounded with a husk, is afterwards cleaned in various ways till the grain is totally deprived of all extraneous matter. In the course of my travels I saw several of these different methods. Sometimes it was beaten with blocks which had a conical hole in them. These blocks were placed in two rows, generally four on each side and raised by water in the same manner as the wheel of a mill. In their fall they beat the rice so that the grain separated from the chaff. Sometimes when there was no opportunity for erecting similar waterworks, a machine of this kind was worked by a man’s foot, who at the same time also stirred the rice with a bamboo. In private families I sometimes saw rice pounded in small quantities and for daily use in the same manner as on board of the ships and at other places in the East Indies, that is, in a hollowed block with a wooden pestle.

Japan extolled and decried

126

Fucus saccharinus (konbu or kofu) was thrown up on the seashore in these provinces.148 I found it of a considerable breadth as well as length. Otherwise it was said to come from the great island called Matsumae, which lies to the northward of Japan.149 This fucus, when dried and cleansed from sand, salt and other impurities, is used by the Japanese on several occasions. As tough as it may appear to be, yet it is eaten occasionally, and particularly when they meet together to make merry and drink sake. In these circumstances it is cut into pieces and boiled, upon which it grows much thicker than before, and is mixed with other food. It is sometimes eaten raw after being scraped till it is white, and in such a case is generally cut into slips of a nail’s breadth and two inches in length, then folded up in the form of a square and tied over with a finer slip of the breadth of a line and three inches in length, cut out of the same fucus.150 These folded squares are eaten with or without sanshō (Fagara piperita).151 About half a score or even a score of these squares are strewed about on the small table when any presents are made, which is customary here on many occasions and is deemed necessary. It makes part of the ceremonial to accompany the present with a ‘complimentary paper’, as it is called, which is folded in a singular manner and tied. To each end of this paper a slip is always pasted of this fucus, an inch broad and a quarter of an inch long. This fucus is by some called noshi.152 In several of the villages we passed through I saw the manner in which the oil of the Dryandra cordata (aburashin)153 was expressed, for the purpose of burning in lamps. The press lies down on the ground and consists of two blocks between which the seed is put and crushed, and the oil expressed. One of the blocks is fixed and immovable and against this the other is forced by means of graduated wooden wedges, which, increasing in size at the foremost end, are driven in with a very long wooden club. At the side is an opening to let out the oil, which is received in a vessel placed underneath. Screens eight feet high are contrived so commodious that they may be put up together in several folds, and are used everywhere to set before the beds when several persons sleep in one chamber, or when the occupier wishes to conceal anything in his own room. They serve also to divide the apartments, to set before the windows by way of keeping off a draught of air, to put before the fire pot in the winter so as to make the room warmer within the space thus intercepted, and on many other occasions. These screens are of different sizes, they are often handsomely painted and covered over with thick painted paper, for the most part they are composed of six different frames, each about two feet broad.154 There is nothing which travellers wear out so fast as shoes. They are made of rice straw, and platted, and by no means strong. The value of them too is trifling, insomuch that they are bought for a few copper coins (zeni). There is nothing therefore more commonly exposed to sale in all the towns and villages, even in the smallest, through which the traveller generally passes. The shoes, or rather the straw slippers, which are in the most general use, are without strings, but such as are used on journeys, are furnished with a couple of strings made of twisted straw so that they may be tied fast about the foot and do not easily fall off. And that these strings may not chafe the instep, a linen rag is sometimes laid over it. On the roads it is not unusual to see travellers who carry with them one or more pair of shoes, to put on when those that are in use fall to pieces. When it rains or the road is very dirty, these shoes are soaked through so that the traveller is obliged to walk wetshod. Old worn-out shoes are found lying everywhere by the side of

Journey to the court in 1776

127

the roads, especially near rivulets, where travellers on changing their shoes have an opportunity at the same time of washing their feet. Small shoes or slippers of straw are used for the horses all over this country instead of iron shoes. These are tied above the hoof with straw strings to prevent their feet from being hurt by stones, and when the roads are slippery, keep the horses from stumbling. They are not very strong, cost but little and are to be had everywhere. I saw a curious and peculiar method practised here of conveying the water in times of great drought to the subjacent155 cornfields. The rivulets, it is true, are both larger and swell much in rainy weather, but at the same time they run off very quickly into the sea and are then greatly diminished. In order to reap the benefit of these, the farmers throw up banks of several yards in breadth and of an immense length, over which they carry the water to a great distance and draw it off as fast as it is wanted from the sides on to the fields that lie below. Several of the rivulets rise in the rainy season so high and with such rapidity that no bridge can resist the force of the current. These streams, therefore, must either be passed in boats, if that be feasible, or else forded. The bearers, who are used to this business and surefooted, carry the travellers either on their shoulders or sitting in their norimons, both which ways, to me, frequently bore the appearance of being very dangerous. Some of these rivulets afterwards dry up so that they may be passed dryshod in the summer. In the villages were planted in a great many places almond and peach trees (Amygalus communis and persica) and apricot trees (Prunus armeniaca), which all blossomed this month on the bare branches before the leaves had time to burst from the bud. They furnished a most pleasing sight to the eye on account of the number of blossoms which covered the whole tree, and even at a distance made a glorious appearance with their snow-white petals. These, as well as the plum trees (Prunus domestica), cherry trees (Prunus cerasus), apple and pear trees (Pyrus malus and cydonia), bore at this time both single and double flowers. On the latter, as well as on other deformities of this kind, the Japanese set a great value. Yoshida to Hakone On the 19th of April, at noon, we arrived at a small and open town called Arai and situated on the borders of a large bay, which runs in at that place from the sea. If its bottom answers its appearance and situation, it should seem to be the fastest156 and best harbour in the world, and if fortified in the European manner would be impregnable. We had about five leagues journey hither, passing Imure, Futagawa, Ichiri-yumura, Shirasuka and Moto-Shirasuka. This place is very remarkable on account that here the merchandise and baggage of every traveller are searched, especially the baggage belonging to the princes who travel upwards to the court. This search is made by persons appointed by the emperor and invested with full powers for the purpose, whose duty it is to see that no women nor arms are introduced, by which the tranquillity of the country might be interrupted.157 After we had dined and our baggage had been searched, though by no means strictly, we went to pay our respects to the imperial commissioners158, and then proceeded on our journey one league across the bay in flat-bottomed vessels to a town situated on the other side of it, called Maisaka, from whence we proceeded in the afternoon by the way of Shinohara, Nenbutsudō, Hamamatsu—a large and considerable

Japan extolled and decried

128

town—Tenjinmatsu, across Tenryūgawa river159 in boats, and farther on past Ikeda and Daijōin, to Mitsuke, in all about seven leagues. On the following morning, being the 20th160 of April, we went on past Mikano, Fukuroi, Nakuri and Haragawa, to a large and fortified town called Kakegawa.161 Before noon we had travelled four leagues, and here we dined. After this we continued our route, passing Yamahana, Nissaka, Kikugawa and Kanaya, to the river Ōigawa, in all four leagues. The river Oigawa is one of the largest and most dangerous in the whole country. It does not only rise high, like others, in rainy weather, but its course towards the sea is inconceivably rapid and the bottom of it is at this time frequently covered with large stones which the violence of the stream has carried with it from the mountains. At all these large rivers where no bridges can be built, the government has taken care that the traveller shall be attended so as to be enabled to pass them without danger, either in boats, or carried by other people. At this dangerous place, where neither bridge nor boat can be used, the care has been redoubled. Here, therefore, is ordered a great number of such men as not only know the bottom well and accurately, but are also used to carry travellers across, and are paid by them according to the height of the water and consequently according to the danger. These fellows are likewise answerable with their lives in case of any sinister accident happening.162 The position in which we were carried over, sitting in our chairs, was exceedingly alarming, although the water was not remarkably high and did not reach much above the bearers’ knees. Several men on each side bore our norimons, and others went alongside of these to support them and prevent their being carried away by the force of the stream. In a similar manner the horses were taken over with several men on each side of them, as was also all the rest of our baggage. By way of payment for taking over our norimon bearers, we here distributed to each of them a couple of pinches of strung copper coin. Being arrived safe over, we had not much more than half a league to our quarters for the night, in Shimada, a village about onefourth of a league in length. Having rested here two days and nights, we set out again on the 23rd of April,163 passing by several villages such as Seto, Fujieda, Abumi, Okabe and Utsunoya, till we came to Mariko. After dining here we passed the river Abekawa and then through Fuchū and Kurihara to our destined night-quarters in Ejiri, after having travelled in the course of the day above ten leagues. On the 24th of April we were obliged to set out early in the morning as this day we had thirteen leagues to go.164 After having travelled four leagues and passed Ejiri-noOkitsu, Okitsuno,165 Kurasawa and Yui, we dined at Kanbara. During a journey of five leagues in the afternoon we passed in vessels a large river called Fujikawa, and then thro’ Moto-Ichiba or ‘Shirosake’166, Yoshiwara, Kashiwabara, Ipponmatsu, Hara, Numatsu and Kisegawa, to Mishima. Hitherto we had followed the sea coast, but at Hara, again, a tract of land appeared which was very mountainous and over which we were to travel. The country here, too, abounded more in pines and other sorts of wood. Fujikawa river is very dangerous and is said not to be passable anywhere but just at the spot where we crossed it. It is rather deep and uncommonly broad and rapid in its course, so that our rowers, though they pulled with all their might, could not take us straight over. At Yoshiwara, we were nearer than anywhere else in the course of our journey we possibly could be to the mountain of Fuji, the top of which we had already descried several days before, it being the highest mountain in that country, and almost the whole

Journey to the court in 1776

129

year round covered with snow, with which its white summit glistens far above the clouds.167 The Japanese reckon the height of it, in the ascent from the foot to the top, to be six leagues. In shape it greatly resembles the one-horned rhinoceros, or a sugar-loaf, being very thick and spreading at the foot and pointed at the top. When the Japanese at any time visit this mountain, where they believe that the god of the winds (Aeolus) has his residence, they generally take three days to ascend it.168 In the descent they are not so slow as it is said to be sometimes performed in a few hours, when they make use of small sledges, constructed for that purpose of straw or halm, and tied before their bodies.169 In this neighbourhood, I saw several boys turn round on their hands and feet like a wheel all along the sandy road in order to get a little money from us; for this purpose we had beforehand provided ourselves with some small copper coin, which we threw out amongst them.170 After this, we arrived at our night-quarters, but not till late in the evening, and, it being very dark, by the light of lanterns and torches. On the following day, a very fatiguing and troublesome route lay before us, over the Hakone mountains. The whole forenoon was employed in getting up to the top of them, where we rested ourselves, and afterwards spent the whole afternoon in getting down on the other side, to the foot. This day I was seldom in my norimon, but as often as I possibly could walked up the hills, which were pretty thickly covered with bushes and wild trees, and were the only hills that, except those which lie near the town and harbour of Nagasaki, I have been allowed to wander upon and to examine. But in the same degree as I eased my bearers of their burthen, I rendered the journey troublesome to the interpreters, and more particularly to the inferior officers, who by rotation were to follow my steps. I was not allowed indeed to go far out of the road, but having been previously used to run up rocks in the African mountains, I frequently got to a considerable distance before my anxious and panting followers, and thereby gained time to gather a great many of the most curious and scarcest plants, which had just begun to flower, and which I put up in my handkerchief.171 After we had arrived to the top of the mountain, we descended again for about a quarter of a league, and afterwards continued our route to Hakone village, where we dined, bespoke against our return several pieces of lacquered wooden ware and other merchandise, and viewed this beautiful spot situated so extremely high as it is and on a very extensive mountain. Here was also a lake of a tolerable size with an island in the middle.172 The water of it was sweet and amongst other sorts of fish, it contained salmon, which was set upon our table.173 Although the road went up hill continually all the forenoon, nevertheless the country was cultivated and inhabited in several different places. From Mishima we travelled through Tsukahara, Yamanaka and Kabutoishi. Plants and trees One of the handsomest and largest trees that I saw here was the superb and incomparable Thuja dolabrata which was planted everywhere by the roadside.174 I consider this tree as the handsomest of all the fir-leaved trees on account of its height, its straight trunk and its leaves, which are constantly green on the upper and of a silver-white hue on the under part. As I did not find it in flower here, nor any of its cones with ripe seeds in them, I

Japan extolled and decried

130

therefore used my endeavours to procure, through the interpreters and others of my friends, a few seeds and growing plants of it, which I afterwards sent over to Holland by the first conveyance.175 A shrub grew here to which I gave the name of ‘lindera’176; its wood is white and soft and the Japanese make toothbrushes of it, with which they brush and clean their teeth without injuring either the gums or teeth in any shape whatever. These are sold as commonly as matches in Europe. The barberry bush (Berberis vulgaris)177, both the Swedish and that from Crete (B.cretica), grew here and were now in blossom. The Osyris japonica178 that was found here is a curious shrub which had several flowers on the middle of its leaves—a most rare circumstance in nature. Amongst the bushes grew a great number of the Deutzia scabra179, a shrub of which the leaves were so rough that the joiners used them universally in the same manner as we do the shave grass, for polishing wood. The Northern and mountainous part of Japan, being very cold, I found here several genera of trees and shrubs which are otherwise inhabitants in Europe, although for the most part they were a new species.180 Thus, I found here two or three kinds of oak, some vaccinia, a few viburna181 and trees of the maple kind (aceres), together with a wild sort of Japanese pear (Pyrus japonica). Near the farms as well here as at various places, several other plants were cultivated, some for hedges, some on account of their beautiful flowers, and some with a view to both these intentions. These were: Several new species of viburnum, with both single and double flowers (flores radiati), so that some exactly resembled the Gueldres rose (Viburnum opulus).182 Of the spirea kind, I very frequently saw the chamoedrifolia and the crenata used for hedges, which with their snow-white flowers made an elegant appearance. The Citrus trifoliata183, with its hard and stiff thorns of the length of one’s finger, was not so generally used for hedges. Its bare branches were now in full bloom and the leaves had hardly begun to show themselves. The fruit was said to be of a laxative nature. For beauty nothing could excel the maples indigenous to this country (Acer diffectum, japonicum, palmatum, septemlobum, pictum and trifidum), which here and at other places were found cultivated. They had but just then begun to put forth their blossoms, and as I could nowhere get any of the ripe seed, I was obliged to bespeak some small plants in pots, which with a great deal of trouble and expense were forwarded to Nagasaki.184 That beautiful plant, the Gardenia florida, which I saw here both with double and single flowers and which is so seldom to be had in other places, was also a bush used for making hedges, altho’ by the principal people of the country only, and near their dwellings. The seed vessels of it were sold in the shops and used for dying yellow. A long and slender lizard (Lacerta japonica), which the interpreters considered as a Scincus marinus and which was called by the Japanese in their language sanshō no uo, was very commonly seen running in the tracts of the Hakone mountains. I afterwards saw the same animal hanging out for sale, and dried, in almost every shop in this part of the island; several of them were spitted together on a wooden skewer that was run thro’ their heads. It was used in powder as a strengthening remedy; it was also exhibited in

Journey to the court in 1776

131

consumptions, and to children that were infested with worms. The Arum dracontium and dracunculus, and the Dracontium polyphyllum185 with its large flowers that diffused around a cadaverous odour, were seen dispersed up and down in different spots, as also the Arum esculentum186, which was cultivated in several places. The roots of all these plants are very acrid. The root of the Dracontium polyphyllum is used by dissolute women for the purpose of procuring abortion, but the root of the Arum esculentum, when divested of its acrimony and cut into pieces, is a good and nutritious food. The village of Hakone lies on the borders of Lake Hakone187, above mentioned, which is surrounded by mountains on all sides. This village consists of at least one hundred and fifty houses, altho’ it lies so high up the mountains as hardly to admit of cultivation. The lake is said to be one league long and three quarters of a league broad. In some places it appeared to me to be of the breadth of two musket shots at most. Stroemlings, a species of herring so common in the Baltic, and which according to Kaempfer is to be found here, I had not an opportunity of seeing, but some salmon was now ordered to be smoked against our return.188 This lake was said to have been produced by an earthquake, which in this country and especially in the northern parts of it, is no uncommon phenomenon. This is the more probable as from the bottom of the lake the divers still bring up large cedar trees, which had formerly sunk down thither with the land itself. Cedars (Cupressus japonica) grew in great plenty hereabouts, as well as in most of the other provinces, but nowhere, perhaps, can they be found finer or in greater numbers. These are indeed the straightest and tallest of all the fir-leaved trees. Their trunks run up as straight as a candle and the wood lasts long, without being subject to decay. It is not only made use of for the construction of bridges, ships, boats and other sorts of woodwork to be kept under water, but of it is made also joiners’ work of all kinds and dimensions, which, when lacquered, shows all its veins through the varnish. This wood, when it has lain for some time underground and is soaked through by the water, acquires a bluish colour, and when covered with a transparent lacquer is extremely handsome and much of it is sold from this place. Hakone to Edo We now left this beautiful spot and proceeded on our journey down the mountain, during which time I did not neglect diligently to search for and collect the flowers and seeds of the plants and bushes that grew by the roadside. In our way we saw a great many pretty artificial cascades and aqueducts from the lake, made by the inhabitants for the benefit and convenience of their estates. But before we reached the foot of the mountain we came to an imperial guard, by whom we were narrowly searched in presence of the sitting imperial commissioners. This is the second guard which travellers coming from the western district must pass when they intend to go to Edo.189 The situation of the country hereabouts is such that everyone must travel over Mt Hakone and pass this narrow place, which is guarded and shut up with gates. The duty of the commissioners is, particularly, to take great care that no weapons are carried this way up the country, nor women downwards, especially such as are constantly kept in Edo as hostages for the fidelity of their husbands in the exercise of their offices and for their loyalty to the emperor.190 This place is therefore like a

Japan extolled and decried

132

frontier to the northern part of the country and for the security of the capital. It is here that travellers show their passports, and in default of such, are detained. Hata, Kawabata, Yumoto and Kazamatsuri were the villages which we passed through before we arrived at Odawara, where we stayed all night after more than five hours journey. In Yumoto the interpreters told me that not far from thence there was a warm bath.191 On the 26th of April, we arrived early in the morning at a large and rapid river called Sakawa, which we crossed in flat-bottomed boats with thin bottoms. After this we followed the coast to the river and town of Fujisawa.192 We went through Mikawa193, Kōfu-Shinjuku, to Koiso, four leagues from Odawara. Here we dined, and then travelled on for the space of about seven leagues to the town of Totsuka (where our quarters were bespoke for that night), passed Hiratsuka, over the river Banyū-gawa, and then passed Nanko, Kowada, Fujisawa town and Hara-no-Shuku. Banyū-gawa is one of the larger, rapid and dangerous rivers of this country, over which no bridge can be built. We crossed it therefore in flat-bottomed boats constructed for the purpose. Here ended the mountainous tracts and a level plain lay open to us, as far as we could see. The town of Totsuka was situated in the interior part of a country, which projects in a very mountainous angle towards the sea, but we soon got out to the sea-coast again and followed its shores quite up to the capital. We set out on our last day’s journey on the 27th of April, and had about ten leagues to go to Edo. On this, as on the preceding day, we travelled through an extremely well inhabited and cultivated country, where one town or village almost joined another and where travellers in large troops near the capital, as it were, jostled each other. We arrived first at Shinano and then at Hodogaya, Kanagawa, Tsurumi and Kawasaki, where we dined. Afterwards we came to the river Rokugō-gawa, to Omori, Obotoki, Okido and Shinagawa. On the coast, which in different parts was well supplied with oysters and was covered with a great many shells of different sorts, of which I had no opportunity to get any in the course of this day, I observed how both fuci and ulvae—green and brownish sea-weed— were collected to serve these industrious people for food. After these weeds, which were naturally not a little tough, had been well washed and freed from salt, sand and other impurities, they were cut into small pieces which were again washed and squeezed, till they were fit to be made into small cakes and eaten. May: Arrival in Edo and observations on the journey194 Shinagawa and Takanawa are two suburbs to the imperial residence town of Edo, the former commencing about two leagues from thence and being continued along the seashore. We rested a full hour in Shinagawa, took some refreshments, and enjoyed the delightful view afforded us by the largest town in the empire, and probably on the whole face of the earth, as well as that of its beautiful harbour.195 This latter, however, it must be confessed, is excessively shallow and muddy. The largest vessels frequently lie at anchor at the distance of five leagues from the town, others less than two leagues, and the small craft and boats in several rows within each other to the amount of some hundreds,

Journey to the court in 1776

133

according to their different size and burthen. The town is, by these means, well secured from the attacks of an enemy by sea; besides that, insurmountable obstacles lie in the way in case of the transportation of merchandise from other places. With the same curiosity as we beheld the town, harbour and adjacent country, the Japanese beheld us, and making up to us in shoals, if I may use the expression, formed around us, shut up as it were in our norimons, a kind of encampment. Amongst the rest were several ladies of distinction who had been carried to the spot in their norimons and seemed displeased when we at any time let down the curtains. These norimons, when set down on the ground around us, seemed to form a little village, whose small moveable mansions a short time afterwards disappeared. Having passed through the suburbs of Shinagawa and Tanakawa, composed of only one street, I perceived by the guard, the increased number of people, the silence of our bearers and their steadier gait, that we were in the capital. Not long after, we passed over Nihon-bashi, a bridge of forty and odd fathoms in length and from which all the roads in the kingdom are measured. After having passed the guard-houses at the entrance of the town, we were carried a full hour along a large and broad street before we arrived at our usual inn, where we were carried through the back gate and through a narrow passage to the other end of the house.196 The first entrance into this lodging did not seem to promise us anything very great or elegant, but being shown up one pair of stairs we found our apartments tolerably neat, though not such as I expected for an embassy from so distant a part of the world. A large room formed our antechamber, drawing room and dining room; a separate room for the ambassador and another that could be partitioned off for the doctor and the secretary, together with a small room for bathing, made the whole of our private conveniencies, with which we were obliged to put up during our stay here. The view was towards a smaller street, which was seldom free from boys who constantly called out and made an uproar as soon as they caught the least glimpse of us, nay, and sometimes climbed up the walls of the opposite houses in order to see us. Thus we had with health and pleasure finished our long journey, and without anyone being indisposed (except the secretary, who, when at sea, suffered an attack from the gout) were safe arrived at the capital of this country, situated in the remotest corner of the east.197 The road by which we were conducted was at some few places altered from that which the ambassador took in Kaempfer’s time, and a few other inns different from those which we called at were used for resting and dining at. The voyage, which lasted almost a whole month, rendered this journey to court uncommonly tedious to us and made our arrival at Edo later than perhaps had ever happened before.198 This circumstance, however, was quite in my favour as by this means the spring passed away the faster and the summer approached the nearer, so that more trees and plants had time to blossom than I should otherwise have seen and collected, if the journey had been a month shorter and we consequently had returned a month sooner to the factory at Nagasaki. In our way we had an opportunity of seeing how several of the princes of the country, as well the greater and more opulent as those that were less considerable, made their annual journey to the imperial court, with a retinue proportioned to their rank and income. Few of them met us in their return. Most of them passed us on their way thither. For such as were of great consequence, we were obliged to stop while they passed us, unless we could get on to some inn before them, and when their retinue was very large

Japan extolled and decried

134

we frequently suffered the inconvenience, especially when we met them in places where there were nothing but small villages, of being obliged to put up at very indifferent inns. It even happened to us once that we were compelled to leave the inn we had already engaged in the town and go to one of the temples situated out of it, where we stayed two days before we could get proper bearers, horses, and other necessaries for the continuation of our journey.199 Several hundred men, sometimes even to the amount of one or two thousand, frequently constituted the train of one of these princes, who travelled with great state, order and magnificence. A considerable quantity of their baggage was carried by them, or else on horses’ backs. Their coats of arms and insignia were always borne at a greater or less distance from their norimons. A beautiful led horse, or two generally, went before, and some had one or more falcons trained up to the sport, which were carried on the arm with a chain fastened round one of their legs. Besides this, large and small chests, bedding, the equipage of the tea table and even an umbrella, fan, hat and slippers, were carried by different servants in order to have everything ready at hand. Wherever they passed, a profound silence was observed; the people on the road fell prostrate on the ground in order to show their respect. The norimon bearers wore their master’s livery, and everything else was marked with the owner’s coat-of-arms. When they passed us, the curtain was generally down; some of them however had the politeness to draw it up and even to bow to us and some sent their attendants to compliment us. If at any time we arrived before them at a town or village, we had an opportunity of seeing from some house which had been already bespoke for us in the main street, the whole suite pass by, when the curtain of the carriage was generally drawn up and we had a sight of the prince sitting in his norimon, in appearance and complexion exactly like the common people, dressed in the same manner and, except in the great state he exhibited, in no wise differing from other men.200 On the frontiers of every province through which we passed we had always been well received indeed, and complimented, but were not allowed to pay the princes a visit, although we passed thro’ the very town in which they resided, nor were we once visited by them. The former of these could not be done because it would have cost us considerable presents, which after the manner of the country are always sent previously to the visit being made. Neither is the latter suffered for certain reasons, for besides that this is prohibited in order that the Dutch may not form any acquaintance with the princes of the country, which in one respect or another might prove prejudicial to it, the very dignity and greatness of the princes do not allow it, who, if this was done, must appear in all their state. One evening, nevertheless, we happened to have the honour, as unexpected as it was unusual, of being visited at our inn by a great personage who came to us incognito, accompanied only by two of his gentlemen, and stayed till late at night discoursing with us on different subjects. He seemed to be as curious and inquisitive as he was friendly and engaging. He examined our furniture, and everything belonging to us that was at hand, with great attention, and the conversation turned not only on the affairs of Japan but also on those of Europe. Sometimes, it is true, we had rain, but not too often, and the cold was supportable, altho’ in some few places we were obliged to moderate it in our apartments by means of a fire.201 The Japanese themselves bore cold better than rain, which did not altogether agree with their bare feet and heads. If it rained hard, they did not willingly go out and expose

Journey to the court in 1776

135

themselves to it; otherwise, when on a journey, they covered themselves with an umbrella, hat and cloak. Their umbrellas are made of oiled paper such as are usually brought from China; their hats are round and deep in the crown and made of fine grass, platted; they are very thin and light and are tied under the chin with a string. Their cloaks being made of oiled paper keep the rain out and are inconceivably light and at the same time do not grow heavier by the rain, as the clothes of the Europeans do. The poorer sort of people who could not afford a cloak of the kind, hung a piece of straw mat on their backs, which was generally smooth, but sometimes rough on the outside from the projecting and depending202 ends of the straw. In our journey hither we had passed through fourteen provinces, viz. Ōmura, Hizen, Chikugo, Chikuzen, Buzen Yamashiro, Ōmi, Ise, Owari, Mikawa, Tōtōmi, Suruga, Sagami, and Musashi, besides passing by eight more on the coast in our voyage, viz. Nagato, Suō, Aki, Bingo, Bitchū, Bizen, Harima and Settsu.

4 Residence in Edo, 17761 First visits and observations Immediately on our arrival at Edo we were visited by great numbers of the Japanese, altho’ we were not suffered to go out before the day of audience.2 However, no one had liberty to pay us a visit except such as had received express permission from the government. At first we were visited by the learned and the great men of the country; afterwards even merchants and others were numbered among our visitors. Five physicians and two astronomers were the very first who, after obtaining leave from the council of the empire, in a very ceremonious manner came to see us, and testify their satisfaction on our arrival. The ambassador in person, as also the secretary and myself, received them in our saloon and had several hours’ conversation with them, although I, as being more travelled in the extensive fields of science, was, after the first general compliments had passed, almost solely engaged with their questions, to which they requested satisfactory answers and illustrations.3 The astronomers were Sakaki Bunji and Shibukawa Shōsei, both elderly and sedate men.4 The questions chiefly regarded eclipses, which I found that the Japanese could by no means calculate to minutes, and frequently not even to hours. As all questions and answers were obliged to be made through the interpreters, it often happened that we did not clearly understand each other; besides, I was not so well versed in the science that treats of the celestial bodies as I could have wished, and neither they nor I had any book at hand that could be of the least assistance to us in this point. With the physicians, it was much easier to converse, as two of them understood Dutch a little; likewise the interpreters were not totally ignorant of the art of healing. The physicians were as follows: Okada Yōsen, a man above 70 years of age; he generally took the lead in the conversation and amongst other things particularly requested me to give him some information concerning the cancer, broken limbs, bleeding at the nose, boils, phimosis5, ulcerated throat, toothache and the piles.6 Kurisaki Dōha was a young physician who accompanied the former.7 Amano Ryōjun and Kushimoto Jōshun were the names of two others who in general were only hearers.8 All these did not often repeat their visits, which afterwards indeed were not made with any parade, particularly to me. But two of the doctors not only visited me daily, but sometimes stayed till late in the night in order to be taught and instructed by me, in various sciences for which they had great predilection, such as natural philosophy, rural economy and more particularly botany, surgery and physic. One of these gentlemen, Katsuragawa Hoshū was the emperor’s body physician;9 he was very young, goodnatured, acute and lively. He wore the imperial arms on his clothes10, and was accompanied by his friend Nakagawa Jun’an, who was somewhat older and was body physician to one of the first princes of the country.11 These two, and particularly the latter, spoke Dutch tolerably well, and had some knowledge of natural history,

Residence in edo, 1776

137

mineralogy, zoology, and botany, collected partly from Chinese and Dutch books, and partly from the Dutch physicians who had before visited these regions. Both of them were inexpressibly insinuating and fond of learning, and were the more desirous of engaging me in conversation as in me they found that knowledge which had been sought for in vain in others, and as the interpreters had long before our arrival spread the report that this year a Dutch doctor would arrive much more learned than those who usually came thither and who frequently were very little better than farriers.12 The fine set of instruments that I had brought with me from Paris and Amsterdam served to confirm them still more in the good opinion they had already conceived of me. Although I was often wearied out by their questions, yet still I cannot deny that I have spent many an hour in their company with equal satisfaction and advantage. They frequently brought to me at the inn, either as presents or else for my inspection, small collections of drugs, minerals and various fresh plants both with and without flowers. Of the latter, which I put up in paper, dried and laid by, they gave me the indigenous names together with their different uses, and I communicated to them in return the Latin and Dutch names and the more rational uses which the Europeans make of them. Their principal books in botany were Johnson’s Historia naturalis and Dodonaeus’s Herbal, and in physic Woyt’s Treasury (Gazophylacium), which books they had purchased from the Dutch.13 In surgery, they had Heister translated into Dutch, and I sold to them at this time, amongst other books, a very fine edition of Muntingius’s Phytographia.14 The doctors were distinguished from others by the circumstance that they sometimes shaved their hair all over, and sometimes kept their hair on, without taking, like others, part of it off. In all the Japanese towns, the utmost care is taken to prevent fires or other casualties. A trusty, vigilant and sufficiently numerous watch is therefore appointed at all places, and is set early in the evening as soon as it is dark. The first night it excited my attention, and ever afterwards took care to be very distinctly heard. This watch was double in Edo, that is, one of them only gave intelligence with respect to the hour, which was done by striking two pieces of wood against each other. These strokes were given very frequent and almost at every house, by the watch as they went their rounds. The two last strokes followed very quick upon each other, for a token that no more were to be expected. Such a watch was kept for the most part in every street. The other watch is particularly appointed for the prevention of fire, and is known by the circumstance of his dragging along the streets a cleft bamboo or an iron bar, in the upper part of which there is an iron ring that produces a singular and disagreeable sound. At the end of every street where it can be shut with gates, there is always a high ladder on which the watch can mount to see if there be anywhere an appearance of fire. At the top of every house there is a square place surrounded with railing where a vat with water always stands ready at hand, in case of fire. In a great many places are erected near the houses storehouses of stone that are fireproof, in which merchandise and furniture may be saved. On the sides of these I observed several large iron hooks fixed in the wall, which served to hang wet mats on, and by that means to moderate the force of fire. For the rest, the houses in Edo are, as in other towns, covered with tiles, and two stories high, the uppermost of which is seldom occupied. As the houses are very liable to take fire, conflagrations very often happen in Edo that lay waste whole rows of houses and entire streets. During our stay here, fires broke out

Japan extolled and decried

138

several times, but were very soon extinguished. Our ambassador gave us the history of a terrible fire which happened during his stay here in the month of April, 1772: the fire broke out at twelve o’clock at noon, and lasted till eight in the evening of the following day, insomuch that the devastation made by it extended six leagues in length and three in breadth. On this occasion, the inn occupied by the Dutch was burnt down and they were removed three times that night from the vicinity of the fire, and last of all to a temple.15 Earthquakes were felt several times during our residence in the capital, although not very severe, and more were said to have taken place though we were not able to perceive them. We now distributed gratuities to those who had brought us hither. The man that waited on us had four rixdollars, the norimon bearers three, those that walked by the side of us also three and two other servants three rixdollars. Exclusively of the usual current specie which I had seen during my journey, I was at some pains to collect, by means of the interpreters and physicians, every sort of ancient and scarce coin. The most common current coins were as follow:16 The new kobangs, which are oblong, rounded at the ends and flat, about two inches long and a little more than two broad and scarcely thicker than a farthing, are of a pale yellow colour; the die17 on one side consists of several cross lines stamped, and at both ends there is a parallelogrammatical figure with raised letters on it, and besides, a moonlike figure with a flower on it in relief. On the other side is a circular stamp with raised letters which are different on each kobang. The value of it is sixty mas or six rixdollars.18 Ichibu19 is called by the Dutch ‘golden beans’ (boontje20) and is made of pale gold of a parallelogrammatical figure and flat, a little thicker than a farthing, with many raised letters on one side and two figures of flowers in relief on the other. The value of this is five mas or one-fourth of a kobang. Nanryō-gin21 is a parallelogramatical flat silver coin of twice the thickness of a halfpenny, one inch long and half an inch broad and formed of fine silver. The edge is stamped with stars and within the edges are raised dots. One side is marked all over with raised letters and the other, on its lower and larger moiety22, is filled with raised letters and at the same time exhibits a double moon-like figure. This I found passed current on the island of Nippon23 only, and especially in the capital towns of the empire; its value was seven mas and five candereen. Itagane and kodama were denominations by which various lumps of silver without form or fashion were known, which were neither of the same size, shape, or value.24 The former of these, however, were oblong and the latter roundish, for the most part thick, but sometimes, though seldom, flat. These pass common in trade, but are always weighed in passing from one individual to another, and have a leaden cast. They differ with respect to the letters inscribed on them, and those that have the figure of the god of riches on them are called Daikoku-gane.25 A more particular description of these and the rest of the Japanese coins,

Residence in edo, 1776

139

illustrated by figures, is to be found in the speech I made before the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, in the year 1779.26 Zeni is a denomination applied to pieces of copper, brass and iron coin which bear a near resemblance to farthings.27 They differ in size, value and external appearance, but are always cast and have a square hole in the middle, by means of which they may be strung together, and likewise have always broad edges. Of these are current jūmon-zeni28, which, however, at present is scarce, and passes for ten common zeni, or half a mas. Shimon-zeni29, of the value of four common zeni, is made of brass and is almost as broad as a halfpenny, but thin. I found it current in the island of Nippon only. It is easily known by its yellow colour and by its raised arches on the underside. The common zeni are of the size of a farthing and made of red copper; 60 of them make a mas. Dōza-zeni is a cast iron coin, in appearance like the last and of the same size and value, but so brittle that it is easily broken by the hand, or breaks in pieces when let fall on the ground.30 This was cast in a mint near the town of Nagasaki. The coins formerly current and at present scarce, which my friends procured for me here, were as follow: Old kobang: this is made of fine gold, is of an orange-yellow colour, and somewhat broader than a new kobang, otherwise it bears the same impression. It is always worth 10 rixdollars, or taels.31 Old ichibu is somewhat longer, broader and thicker than the common ichibu; it is made of pale gold and in value 22 mas and five candereen. One similar to this, but less, was said to be very scarce. It was much shorter, narrower and thinner, and of a deeper colour, and was valued at eleven mas two candereen, and two catties. Kōshū-kin, kōshū-ban or kōshū-ichibu, nishū and shūnaka were small gold coins, different in size, form and value.32 They were formerly coined in the province of Kōshū and from that circumstance have obtained their name. They are made of pale gold, and flat, with stamps on each side, two on the one side and four on the other. Of these I obtained four of the round and one of the square sort, differing in size but all agreeing in having the uppermost stamp on one side always similar and the other two on the right, on the other side, also similar. The lower stamp on one side and the two to the left on the other are variable in several of these coins. The round ones were marked within the edges with raised dots, but the square ones not. The value of them is from two to twelve mas. Gomonme-gin33, a flat silver coin, is almost two inches long and half as broad, with truncated angles, as thick as a halfpenny and made of indifferent silver. On the edges are several stars and within them, on each side, there is an elevation, as if a nanryō-gin had been laid in there, on which there is a large stamp with raised letters. The other, lesser moiety is on one side smooth and on the other decorated with two rows of dots, two straight cross-bars and between them a wavy riband34, all raised. This was valued at five mas, and said formerly to have been current in the capitals of the empire. Amongst such Japanese books as were shown me was one which had been printed during the time of the Portuguese being here. It was a long quarto, printed on Japan paper and

Japan extolled and decried

140

entirely with Japanese characters, except the title-page. At the top of this stood Racvyoxv, which the interpreter could not translate into Dutch. In the middle was an oblong Portuguese coat of arms and below it, In collegio Japonico societatis Jesu, cum facultate superiorum. A.D. MDXCVIII. The interpreters said that it was a vocabulary, but without any Portuguese in it. It was an inch in thickness.35 My attentive and ingenious pupil Mr Jun’an, made me a present of a Japanese herbal, which he called Jikinsō, consisting of twenty volumes in octavo, with descriptions and very indifferent figures. Each volume was one or at most two lines broad.36 Besides this, I had likewise an opportunity of purchasing some other printed botanical books consisting of different numbers of volumes and containing figures of different degrees of excellence, such as Sōka-e zensō, a herbal consisting of three volumes, and containing besides descriptions, indifferent figures of Japanese plants only.37 Morokoshi kinmō, another herbal which treated at the same time of quadrupeds, fishes, birds, manufactures and rural economy. This was said to have been first printed in China, and consists of several volumes and small, miserable figures. The same work, printed in Japan but in a somewhat handsomer manner, was called Kinmō-zui. It consists of thirteen volumes in quarto.38 Hokkyō no yamagusa was a beautiful herbal consisting of only one octavo volume with elegant and distinct figures of Japanese plants, and another (title unknown) in seven volumes quarto.39 I also bought a large printed book in large quarto and in two parts with coloured figures of Japanese fishes.40 This is one of the most elegant publications ever exhibited in this country and the figures are engraved and coloured in such a manner as would obtain singular commendation even in Europe. At this time, and during the 26 days41 that I resided at Edo, the weather was often damp, and almost every day cloudy with sometimes drizzling and sometimes heavy rain, either in the fore or afternoon. The Japanese kept here to their usual mealtimes. They eat three times a day and very frequently their fare was miso soup boiled with fish and onions. A kind of a thick paper, which was of a brownish colour with several single dark streaks printed on it, was sold as a rarity. Several pieces of more than a foot square were pasted very neatly together and were said to be used as night-gowns. These night-gowns, as I was informed, were worn by very old people only, and that in the cold season of the year when they do not perspire, and over one or two other night gowns. It was said that young people were absolutely forbidden to wear them. As this dress was neither durable or indeed necessary for want of better clothing, it rather denoted the great age of those that were permitted to wear it. Another sort of stuff was made me present of as a still greater rarity. It was woven, was as white as snow, and resembled calico, but it was prepared, spun and woven from the same kind of bark and its filaments of which their paper is commonly made.42 This was used instead of linen, not through necessity but as a rarity, and was not very strong. It was said that it would bear washing, but that this operation was to be performed with great care. The candles used in this country are made of an oil pressed out of the seeds of the Rhus succedanea.43 This oil becomes, when concrete, of the consistence of tallow and is not so hard as wax. The province of Echigo, more particularly, produces this tree and consequently supplies the greatest quantity of this oil. Amongst the presents which the prince from this province brings to the imperial court are one hundred candles of a foot in

Residence in edo, 1776

141

length and as thick as a man’s arm, with a wick in proportion. These gala candles are burned only twice a year at court, that is, on the first of shōgatsu and at the festival of the first of jūgatsu.44 Although it is a difficult matter to procure any of these candles, I had nevertheless the good fortune to get one which had burnt on the above-mentioned occasion. The oil in these seemed both whiter and harder than in the small ones that are commonly exposed to sale which soon grow rancid and brown. The shogunal audience The 18th of May was appointed for the day of audience. This day was not fixed on before we arrived at Edo, and always depends upon the speed or tardiness of our journey thither. The day being now arrived, we were ready in our best apparel, after having previously made a good breakfast, to be conveyed in our norimons to the imperial palace. We were dressed in the European fashion, but in costly silks which were either interwoven with silver or laced with gold. And on account of the festivity of the day as well as of the occasion, it was requisite for us to wear our swords, and a very large black silk cloak. The presents had been sent before, as well to the emperor as to the hereditary prince, the privy counsellors and other officers of state, and arranged in order at the side of the room where we were to have our audience. We were carried for a considerable time through the town before we arrived at that part which constitutes the emperor’s residence. This is surrounded by fosses and stone walls and separated by draw-bridges. It forms a considerable town of itself and is said to be five leagues in circumference.45 This comprises the emperor’s private palace, as also that of the hereditary prince, each of which were kept separate by wide fosses, stone walls, gates and other bulwarks. In the outermost citadel, which was the largest of all, were large and handsome covered streets and great houses which belonged to the princes of the country, the privy counsellors and other officers of state. Their numerous families, who were obliged likewise to remain at the court the whole year throughout, were also lodged here. At the first gate, it is true, there was a strong guard, but that at the second gate was said to consist of one thousand men every day. As soon as we had passed through this gate, having previously quitted our norimons, we were conducted to an apartment where we waited a full hour before we were suffered to advance any farther into the imperial palace. At last we obtained leave to approach it. We passed thro’ a long lane of warriors who were posted on both sides quite up to the door of the palace, all armed and well clothed. The emperor’s private palace was situated on an eminence and although it consisted of one story only, still it was much higher than any other house and covered a large tract of ground. We were immediately conducted into an antechamber where we again waited at least an hour. Our officers sat down in the Japanese manner on one side and the Dutchmen together with the interpreters on the other. It proved extremely fatiguing to us to sit in their manner and as we could not hold it out long thus, we put our legs out on one side and covered them with our long cloaks, which in this respect were of great service to us. The time that we waited here did not appear long to us as great numbers of people passed in and out, both in order to look at us and talk with us. We were visited by several princes of the country, but constantly incog., though we could always perceive when they

Japan extolled and decried

142

were coming from the murmuring noise which was at first heard and the silence that ensued upon that, in the inner rooms. Their curiosity was carried to a great length in everything, but the chief employment they found for us was to let them see our mode of writing. Thus we were induced to write something either on paper or on their fans. Some of them also showed us fans on which the Dutch had formerly written and which they had carefully treasured up as great rarities. At last the instant arrived when the ambassador was to have audience, at which the ceremony was totally different from that which was used in Kaempfer’s time, a hundred years ago. The ambassador was introduced into the presence of the emperor, and we remained all in the apartment into which we had been ushered, till in a short time he returned.46 After the return of the ambassador, we were again obliged to stay a long while in the ante-chamber in order to receive the visits and answer the questions of several of the courtiers, during whose entrance a deep silence several times prevailed. Amongst these, it was said that his Imperial Majesty had likewise come incognito in order to have a nearby view of the Dutch and their dress. The interpreters and officers had spared no pains to find out, through the medium of their friends, everything that could tend to our information in this respect. The emperor was of a middle size, hale constitution and about forty and odd years of age.47 At length, after all the visits were ended, we obtained leave to see several rooms in the palace, and also that in which the ambassador had had audience.48 The ambassador was conducted by the outside of the drawing room and along a boarded49 passage to the audience room, which opened by a sliding door. The inner room consisted in a manner of three rooms, one a step higher than the other, and according to the measure I took of them by my eye, of about ten paces each in length, so that the distance between the emperor and the ambassador might be about thirty paces. The emperor, as I was informed, stood during the audience in the most interior part of the room, as did the hereditary prince likewise, at his right-hand.50 To the right of this room was a large saloon the floor of which is covered by one hundred mats, and hence is called the Hundred Mat Saloon.51 It is six hundred feet long, three hundred broad, and is occupied by the most dignified men of the empire, privy counsellors and princes, who all, on similar occasions, take their seats according to their different ranks and dignity. To the left in the audience room lay the presents piled up in heaps. The whole of the audience consists merely in this: that as soon as the ambassador enters the room, he falls on his knees, lays his hand on the mat and bows his head down to the mat in the same manner as the Japanese themselves are used to testify their subjection and respect. After this the ambassador rises and is conducted back to the drawing room the same way as he went. The rest of the rooms which we viewed had no furniture in them. The floors were covered with large and very white straw mats; the cornices and doors were handsomely lacquered and the locks, hinges &c, well gilt. After having thus looked about us, we were conducted to the hereditary prince’s palace, which stood close by and was separated only by a bridge.52 Here, we were received and complimented in the name of the hereditary prince, who was not at home, after which we were conducted back to our norimons.53

Residence in edo, 1776

143

Although the day was already far advanced and we had had sufficient time to digest our early breakfast, we were nevertheless obliged to pay visits to all the privy counsellors, as well to the six ordinary, as to the six extraordinary54, at each of their respective houses. And as these gentlemen were not yet returned from court, we were received in the most polite manner by their deputies, and exhibited to the view of their ladies and children. Each visit lasted half an hour and we were for the most part so placed in a large room that we could be viewed on all sides through thin curtains, without having the good fortune to get a sight of these court beauties, excepting at one place where they made so free as not only to take away the curtain but also desired us to advance nearer. In general we were received by two gentlemen in office, and at every place treated with green tea, the apparatus for smoking, and pastry, which was set before each of us separately on small tables. We drank sometimes a cup of the boiled tea, but did not touch the tobacco, and the pastry was taken home through the prudent care of our interpreters. On this occasion I shall never forget the delightful prospect we had during these visits from an eminence that commanded a view of the whole of this large and extensive town, which the Japanese affirm to be twenty-one leagues, or as many hours’ walk, in circumference. So that the evening drew near by the time that we returned, wearied and worn out, to our inn. Post-audience period On the following day, viz. the 19th of May, we paid our respects to the temple lords, as they are called, the two governors of the town and the two commissaries of strangers.55 A few days elapsed after this before we received our audience of leave from the emperor and the hereditary prince. This was given in a very summary manner and only before the lords in council appointed for this purpose, on the 23rd following. In the meantime, these and the following days were employed in receiving presents and preparing for our departure. At the audience of leave the night-gowns that are intended as presents to the Dutch Company are then delivered, but the other presents destined for the gentlemen themselves were carried to our inn.56 Every ordinary privy counsellor, the day after the audience of leave, gives ten night-gowns, every extra-ordinary privy counsellor six, every temple lord five, every governor five and every commissary, and the governor of Nagasaki two. These are made of the finest Japanese silk, very wide and reaching down to the feet, with large wide sleeves in the Japanese fashion and quilted either with silk-wad or cotton. Of these our banjos received two, the secretary and myself two apiece and the ambassador kept four to himself. Of the stuffs57, some are black and others flowered in different ways. The rest are packed up for the Company’s own account and divided into different packets, one for each of the East India Company’s warehouses in Europe, in order that they might be sent home in this manner from Batavia. Among the other curiosities that were shown us at Edo was a young wolf which had been caught farther to the northward, and as a scarce animal had been brought hither to be shown. The Japanese were not acquainted with this animal and gave so strange an account of it that we could not but long to see it. Being brought to the place where the wolf, which was scarcely half grown, was kept, we observed how carefully they had tied

Japan extolled and decried

144

it about the body and legs, though, in fact, it seemed more frightened than dangerous. The Japanese appeared rather astonished when I told them that in my native country these animals went in large troops and sometimes did a great deal of mischief. A small cabinet such as is used for the Japanese toilets58 with several drawers in it, a foot long and little more than six inches high, varnished with old lacquer (vieux lac59), was offered to the ambassador for sale. Such pieces of furniture nowadays are seldom to be seen and still seldomer exposed to sale. But in order to purchase it one must have weighed it against gold. For this, twenty kobangs were asked, or four hundred rixdollars.60 It was without doubt better lacquered than is done at present, and the flowers upon it elegantly raised. But yet the difference in the price seemed to be extravagant and by far too great. Maps of the country and towns are strictly prohibited from being exported, or sold to strangers. Nevertheless I had an opportunity to purchase several, exactly like those that Kaempfer brought away with him (though with less trouble indeed) in his time. These were a general map of Japan and of the towns of Nagasaki, Miyako and Edo.61 A woman who had been turned out of doors by her husband was permitted to visit the ambassador in order to beg something towards her support. She had had her head shaved all over and walked about with it bare, making a very strange figure.62 This was said to be customary when any female for some reason or another was parted from her husband. ‘Koto’ was the name of a musical instrument which in sound much resembled a guitar or David’s harp. It was six feet long and one foot broad, with thirteen strings and moveable pieces of wood63 for the better arranging the strings. The two physicians at court, my much beloved pupils who visited me almost every day, had, through my assiduous pains and their own unwearied endeavours, made considerable advances in the science which treats of the diagnosis of disorders, and had even begun, under my direction, to restore to health several patients by means of the same medicines as are used in Europe, divers of which they had procured in order to use them as occasion might require. At this time it happened that as I, for the most part, prescribed the medicines that were to be used, my advice was asked with regard to some patient of great distinction at the imperial court. But when I desired to be informed of the patient’s sex, age &c, which is very often highly necessary for a physician to know, they affected great secrecy, which prevented me from being able to prescribe at all.64 The people of distinction in this country seldom suffer themselves to be seen by the inhabitants themselves, much less by strangers, and at court the personages composing the imperial family are, for the most part, so little known that there are very few people in the whole empire that know the reigning emperor’s name before he dies.65 So that in fact it might have been absolutely impossible for me to discover who my illustrious patient was. At first I used great importunity to be allowed to speak with the sick person and to put such questions as would serve to give me information concerning the disorder. And this might have actually happened on account of the dangerous situation in which the patient was, but on this occasion such precautions were to be used as would prevent me from either seeing the sick person or laying my finger on the pulse. In short, my visit was to be made in the adjacent room with the curtain down. As by such means I could not obtain the necessary information with respect to the state of the patient, I adopted the method of investigating and finding out the circumstances I ought necessarily to be acquainted with through the medium of the interpreters and of such of my medical pupils

Residence in edo, 1776

145

as had made the greatest advances in their studies. After which the remedy was soon prepared, and my illustrious patient, who without doubt was one of the imperial princesses, quickly restored to health. I had brought with me from Holland a quantity of corrosive sublimate, and during my residence here plainly perceived that this remedy was much wanted, on account of the great number of people that laboured under the venereal disease.66 Notwithstanding which I could not sell any of it to the physicians of this country who were totally ignorant of the use and application of this sure, but at the same time dangerous medicine. They had some idea, indeed, of salivation67, but thought it too difficult and dangerous. With the other methods of using mercury they were not acquainted. I therefore thought I could not do better than present the practitioners, as well the physicians of the country as the interpreters, with small parcels of the sublimate and at the same time give them directions how to use it, by dissolving it in water with the addition of some kind of syrup. This solution was afterwards exhibited by them to a great many miserable creatures, after the due preparations and with the utmost caution, but never without daily reports being made to me (and consequently under my direction) till such time as, at length, they could venture to take the management of it entirely to themselves. The cures they performed with it seemed at first to surpass their conception; they were rather inclined to consider them as miracles and bestowed on me more thanks and blessings than I could ever have expected for a piece of information which I myself considered as trifling, but which was of great importance to them, and may hereafter prove of inestimable utility to a whole nation. The Japanese have not the least knowledge of anatomy, neither have they the most distant idea of the circulation of the blood. When, therefore, they feel the pulse of their patients, they do it first on one and afterwards on the other arm, not knowing that the beatings of the pulse are everywhere exactly alike and that the same heart propels the blood to both places. This feeling of the pulse, in their manner, is a tedious operation and lasts full a quarter of an hour. Bleeding, indeed, has sometimes been performed in the arm by a few physicians and interpreters, but it was but seldom that they had recourse to this operation, and then always with a great deal of apprehension and fear. On this head I gave them not only the best and most certain instructions, but also encouraged them to practise on certain occasions this simple but often useful operation, and for that purpose I was obliged to make a present to my beloved pupils at Edo of my silver spring-lancet, and other chirurgical68 instruments which might be of use to them.69 Amongst the plants which were brought to me in Edo, and which I did not observe elsewhere, were the following, viz: Juglans nigra, walnuts; Gagus castanea, chesnuts, which, however, I afterwards saw in Miyako; Inula helenium, elecampane70, the aromatic root of which was used as a strengthener of the stomach, and our common pine (Pinus abies), several of which I saw at the time that they were carrying us up to the imperial court.71 At the same time too, I had the pleasure of seeing a man of distinction carried in his norimon to court in the most pompous manner, a manner which is used in the towns and on days of festivity only. On this occasion the norimon is not carried as usual on men’s shoulders, but on their hands, and as high as the bearers possibly can, who, at the same time, run with it as fast as they are able. The other hand is carried horizontally, and in

Japan extolled and decried

146

running they throw their heels up into the air. This norimon passed us at some distance, like an arrow shot across a field. My friends made me a present of a large chalkstone which was said to be found in the stomachs of horses. The Dutch called it paardesteen.72 It was only said to be found in the vicinity of Edo in such horses as are kept in the stable, without my informer being able to throw any farther light on the subject or to say whence this concretion derives its origin and receives its growth. Some smaller stones which I had given me afterwards were flatter and had no nucleus in them. This stone consisted of lamellae73, was very closegrained and as large as a child’s head. I am apt to imagine that the water which the horses drink is impregnated with lime and that their standing still contributes much to the growth of this substance. The minerals as well as other natural curiosities which the Japanese brought to me at Edo were of various kinds, of which I shall here enumerate only the most curious: Gold ore from Shimar was called kinnab.74 Asbestos, an immature species, called ishiwata.75 Cuprous pyrites76 from Shimotsuke and Oshio-yama, or from Oshio mountain.77 A copper ore brought hither from China, was called shimō seki78; it contained a great quantity of sulfur and was said when burned and reduced to powder to be used in coughs. A white and fixed porcelain clay of a farinaceous consistence was called hakusekishi.79 This, together with a great variety of other minerals from the Cape, as also bezoar80 and precious stones, I presented to my much esteemed preceptor, the Chevalier Bergman, and may be seen in the collection of fossils belonging to the Royal Academy at Upsal.81 Also, a white asbestos with soft and fine fibres, called sekimen, which is spun and woven and made into cloth.82 Also a red arsenic called ōo or kyukuan-seki, and yellow shell-sand termed awasuna (i.e. coarse-grained sand).83 A lapis steatite84 was called saku-seki and ishiwata85; this was of a flesh colour and very beautiful. Pumice stone was known under the denomination of karu-ishi86, and a spathiform87 stalactite under that of tsurara-ishi.88 Cinnabar in powder was called shū. A round quartzose-stone was named from Tsugaru, the place from whence it had been brought, tsugaru-ishi and also takara-ishi.89 White marble, nikkō-ishi and nikkō-roshiku.90 Galena91 with cupreous pyrites, soinome gin.92 A fine rock oil from Shimano, kesoso no abura.93 Salt-petre, shiroin sō.94 Sal fontanum boiled out of the earth near some warm baths at Bōzu.95 Phytolithus lithophyllum from the Hakone mountains, konoha ishi.96 Tubipora musica, kuda sango.97 Sponge, umiwata.98 A Gorgonia ramosa, umimatsu.99 Red corals from Kamaku100, sango-jin, and the same from Sagami were called sango-ju.101 A thick red millepora102 from the island Shōdo-shima in the province of Sanuki, jukutsu.103 Anomia plicatella104, sekien105; Argonauta argo106 from Etchigo, takofune.107 Cypraea mauritanica108, kinokui.109 Cicindela japonica110 from Uji, hanmo.111,112 Julus terrestris113, yasude.114 Oniscus asellus115, saorikoshi which signifies a house insect.116 Oniscus oceanicus117, funamushi which signifies a ship-insect. Syngnathus hippocampus118, kaiba.119 Sepia octopodia (the cuttle-fish), which is much fished for and is dried and eaten all over the country, ika. Yamame120 was the name given to a fish with red fins from the rivulets of the Hakone mountains; this, reduced to powder, was said to be good for the ladies in pectoral complaints. Anas querquedula121 was called kamo. Karasumi122 was a name given to the roe of some large fish which salted, pressed flat and dried, could be eaten like any other dry food, with rice. Kari, makocha, niga-kocha and isakagocha were appellations borne by different kinds of flounders (pleuronectes).

Residence in edo, 1776

147

The interpreters also showed me a root, probably of some fern or other filix, which they called yaboki123 and which when cut across exhibited the figure of a star that was considered by them as something extraordinary. As the town of Edo is very huge and extensive, it is likewise very populous on account of the infinite number of strangers who flock to it from all parts of the country. Every family, it is true, has its own house, and the houses are only one or at most two stories high, but yet many individuals live crowded together in one and the same house. Towards the street there are either workshops, or ordinary sale shops. These are, for the most part, covered with a cloth hanging down before them, at least in part, so that no one can easily see from the street what people are at work upon.124 But in the sale shops are seen patterns125 of almost everything. The streets, especially the principle ones through which we passed, were very long and broad, frequently from eighty to a hundred feet in breadth. The town, like that of Nagasaki, is alternately governed by two governors, burgomasters and commissaries (ottonas) over each street.126 I was informed that the princes of the country had not only their usual palaces for themselves and their families within the first citadel, but also several houses in different quarters of the town, to flee to in case of fire.127 Before departure, my pupils requested from me a certificate with respect to the instructions I had given them and the progress they had made. I therefore gave them one, written in Dutch, which made them so immensely happy and proud that neither I nor any young doctor could possibly have ever plumed ourselves more on our doctor’s hat and diploma. I had the good fortune to gain their love and friendship to such a degree that they did not only set a high value on my knowledge and on my kindness in communicating that knowledge to them, but they loved me from the bottom of their hearts, so as greatly to regret my departure. [Since this, during a period of several years, I have not only kept up an intercourse by letters with them, and others of my friends among the interpreters, but likewise sent them some small but acceptable presents, and received in return both seeds for the botanical garden at Upsal, and some additions to the academy’s collection of natural history.]128 Departure from Edo Our departure from Edo was fixed for the 25th of May and was to take place, inevitably129, as the 13th of shigatsu, or the 30th of May,130 was appointed by the kubō, the reigning secular emperor, for his setting out on a journey to the temple of Nikkō, which is very large, stands thirty-six leagues to the east of Edo, and was the place where a great festival was to be kept.131 This journey had been in agitation three years and a great many preparations made for it, although it had been continually put off from year to year. As both the monarch himself and all the princes of the country are clothed and their hair dressed in the same manner as the rest of the inhabitants, and consequently being destitute of thrones, jewels and the rest of their paraphernalia, cannot be distinguished from others, they have adopted the expedient of exhibiting themselves on journeys and festive occasions, according to their condition in life and the dignity of their respective offices, with a great number of people, officers and attendants hovering about them. It

Japan extolled and decried

148

was therefore necessary that extraordinary preparations should be made for the supreme ruler of the country. On the roads, new houses were to be built to wait at as well at night as in the day time. Every convenience that could be thought of was to be in abundance and previously in proper order at each place. All the domestics both before and during the journey were to be in the highest degree vigilant, everyone in his station. During the kubō’s absence, the imperial citadel was to be in charge with the prince of the province of Mito, and the government with some of the privy counsellors.132 Orders had already been issued that a careful watch should be kept everywhere to prevent fires, popular commotions and other untoward accidents. The money ordered to defray the expenses of the journey amounted to 280,000 kobangs, or 1,680,000 rixdollars.133 Of this money, distributions were made to the privy counsellors, princes of the country and others who were to be in the emperor’s suite. The journey was to be performed to the temple of Nikkō in three days, and the day after their arrival was to be a day of rest. On the 17th of shigatsu, or the 3rd of July, the festival was to be celebrated, and the day following they were to set out on their return home.134 At our departure on the 25th of May135 from Edo, we already saw several large companies which were to go before, but three days before the emperor set out such companies as these began to follow very close upon each other.136 On the day before the emperor’s departure, towards the evening, they crowded so close on each other that there was only an interval of half an hour between the appearance of each company, and this continued till five o’clock in the morning when the emperor himself set out with the hereditary prince. In the train of this innumerable multitude followed, as the interpreters informed us, several very old men, beggars, executioners and even coffins, that nothing might be wanting to complete the procession. Before I quitted Edo, I felt myself excited by my pride not only to know the name of the emperor at whose court I had had the singular fortune to reside, but also to learn the names of all the rulers as well ecclesiastical as secular who have reigned over this happy people and land since Kaempfer’s time, which is almost a hundred years ago.137 I well knew the difficulty of this and foresaw the impossibility of arriving at any knowledge of it at any other place than here, which might be done by the assistance of the friends whom I had obliged. It was not without a great deal of trouble, though in fact fortunate enough and very flattering to me, that a few days before my departure I received an historical sketch relative to this subject, which otherwise could not have been procured for any sum of money. The name of the reigning secular emperor, or kubō, was Minamoto no Ieharu kō138; he had also received from the dairi, whose province it is to grant titles, the following surname: Jōichii naidaijin sakonnoe no daishō seii taishōgun.139 His age likewise was given to me and was forty-three years.140 Minamoto was said to be the family name, Ieharu, his own name, and kō answers to ‘sir’, although this title, like that of seigneur in France, is only given to people of distinction. The name of the hereditary prince was Minamoto no Iemoto kō, together with the dairi’s title: Jōnii daingon.141 He was said to be about twelve years old.142

Residence in edo, 1776

149

Return from the court143 Edo to Nissaka 144

On the 25th of May , in the morning, we set out from the capital for Nagasaki. Our journey homeward was made nearly in the same manner and along the same road as the journey upward. We likewise, for the most part, put up at the same inns either to dine or sleep, and very seldom made any change. We dined this day in Kawasaki and took up our first night’s lodging in Totsuka. On the 26th of May, before we left this place, we made a purchase of several elegant but small boxes of shells, which were laid up very neatly and curiously on carded cotton. These are generally bought by the Dutch either to sell again, or to send to Europe, to their friends and relations, as rarities from so distant a country.145 Although the shells were all fastened to the cotton with glue made of boiled rice, in order that they might not fall off, I picked out as many as were not before known in Europe, or at least very scarce, and which are now kept amongst other collections of the Academy at Upsal. We dined afterwards in Koiso and slept at Odawara. In our road we observed a pine tree (Pinus sylvestris) the branches of which were spread horizontally and formed a vegetating cover over a summer house under which we might walk to and fro.146 I had seen several of these pines before at different places, but none by far so extensive as this. Its branches were twenty paces in length and supported by several poles that were placed under them. On the 27th of May, we crossed the high Hakone mountains, where we met with the same adventures as on our journey upwards. We dined at the village of Hakone, received and paid for the things we had bespoke,147 and put up at night on the other side of these mountains at Mishima. The Epidendrum monile148, a parasitical plant that does not fasten its roots in the ground, was seen here tied up in bundles and hung out before the house. So that this plant could live several years without water, or any kind of nourishment whatever and yet grow and flower all the while. Several places also they had Acrostichum hastatum149 planted in pots for pleasure, although it is with great difficulty that this species of plant is raised in Europe. On the 29th150 of May, we travelled on till noon, to Yoshiwara where we dined, and in the evening to Kanbara. In passing by we investigated still more accurately the lofty mountain of Fuji. The foot of it seemed, on the one side in particular, to go off with a very long slope. Its snow-white top appeared now very high above the clouds. Here, as in various other places, the ordure left by travelling horses was very carefully gathered from off the roads by old men and children. This was done very readily and without stooping with a shell (Haliotitis tuberculata151) which resembled a spoon and was fastened to a stick. The gatherings were put into a basket and carried on the left arm. Neither could I see without admiration the industry of the farmers in manuring the lands, a work in which they were already pretty far advanced. This collection of manure of every kind, urine and offals which they had prepared at home, quite thin and fluid, they now carried in two pails on their shoulders in their lands, and there with a scoop poured it out near the roots of the green corn152, the blades of which were six inches long. This I was told was done twice each time they sowed.

Japan extolled and decried

150

Trapa natans153 was a very common plant in the rice grounds, and its black roots were much used for food when boiled in soups, although I thought them rough and disagreeable. On the 29th, 30th and 31st of May we proceeded on our journey as far as Nissaka, where, on account of the great number of people who met the travelling princes, we were obliged to wait three whole days. On the first of these days we did not travel more than seven miles to Fuchū; on the second day to Shimada, on the third we did not get farther than to Nissaka, scarcely more than two leagues. The catkins of the alder (Betula alnus) were seen in several places hung out in the shops for sale. On enquiry, I found they were used for dyeing black. The Lycium japonicum154, a small handsome shrub, was everywhere planted for hedges, and the Azalea indica155 stood in almost every yard and plot near the houses, in its best attire, ineffably resplendent with flowers of different colours. The Chamerops excelsa156, a palm-tree higher than a man, was seen in different places. From the net-like bark that surrounds the stem were made brooms157, which were everywhere used for sweeping, and were exposed to sale. The fruit of the Mespilus japonica158 now began to ripen. Like other medlars it tasted tolerably well and melted in the mouth. In the heat of the day I thought it very refreshing. In Fuchū, we bought several baskets of different sizes, and cabinets with drawers, all of which were made of slips of rattan, woven on the spot in the neatest and most elegant manner. During our journey down, and in this rainy season, we were molested by gnats (Culex irritans)159 which particularly disturbed us in the night, and sometimes prevented us from sleeping.160 We were therefore under the necessity of purchasing a kind porous green stuff for curtains, such as is used everywhere in this part of the world for a defense against these blood-sucking insects. These curtains are very wide and are tied over the tester161 and spread below over the whole bed without having any other opening than just at bottom. They are very light and portable, and wove so open as not to prevent the air from passing through them. The Dolichos polystachyos162, a plant of the pea kind, which ran up, winding like scarlet beans, was planted in many places and formed into arbours. It was not only serviceable for this purpose but also extremely ornamental on account of its flowers, which hung down in long stalks and made their appearance in gradual succession. The Sesamum oriental163 was cultivated in many places, and from the seed, although very small, a fine oil was expressed, which was in general use here as well as in other places in India164 for dressing of victuals, and other purposes. June: En route Nissaka to Miyako After having sufficiently rested ourselves, we set out again on our journey on which is only two leagues. the 4th of June, although we did not get farther this day than to Kakegawa,165

Residence in edo, 1776

151

On the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th of June we kept on our regular route, in the same manner as on our journey upwards, and dined in Mitsuke, Arai, Okazaki, Ishiyakushi, Mizoguchi and Ishiba, and slept in Hamamatsu, Yoshida, Chirifu, Kuwana, Seki, Kusatsu and Miyako. In different parts of the road between Edo and Miyako beggars were seen that were cripples, for the most part in their feet. This appeared to me so much the more strange, as otherwise cripples are seldom to be met with in this country. Red and infected eyes also were very common in these provinces, especially among the poorer sort of people, as well among such as were advanced in years as among young children. This malady has its principal source in two things, viz. in the smoke from the charcoal within the houses, and the stench proceeding from the jars of urine which are in all the villages near every house. Double flowers of the Corchorus japonicus (yamabuki)166 grew wild here and made a pleasing appearance. Dried and pulverised, they were used in haemorrhages and, in cases of bleeding at the nose, were blown up the nostrils by means of a quill. In the beginning of June, which is the third or fourth Japanese month167, the first gathering was made of the leaves of the tea plant, which at this time are quite young and yield the finer kinds of tea. In some places I observed they had carelessly168 spread tealeaves on mats to dry before their houses. I had also an opportunity of seeing at several places in the villages how corn, wheat and mustard seed were thrashed169 on mats before the houses in the open air. This operation was sometimes performed with flails which had three sticks; sometimes the sheaf and ears were beaten against a barrel so that the grain fell out, which was afterwards separated from the chaff. The wood of the Myrica nagi was called nagi.170 This wood is very fine and white, and is used for combs and other similar articles. Hinoki171 was the name given by the Japanese to a kind of wood which was also used for making of combs. Miyako On the 12th172 of June we were introduced to the grand marshal, or the imperial supreme judge, as also to the two governors of the town by whom we were received in like manner as by the others in Edo.173 The supreme judge (Groot rechter) gave in return for the presents he received, five large night-gowns, but the governors of the town, instead of these, gave the ambassador a sum of money, only to the amount of 21 rixdollars.174 These were put up in paper, in the manner usual in this country. When such presents as these are made in silver, they are wrapped up in a long piece of Japan paper which is afterwards pasted together and written upon, on one or both sides. Sums so enclosed, whether larger or smaller, come frequently from the master of the mint and pass through many hands. And the master of the mint, who has written the value on the outside, becomes answerable for the contents when one of these parcels is opened.175 In the afternoon I had a private visit from the dairi’s, or the ecclesiastical emperor’s, body physician. He is about the middle age and his name is Ogino Sahyōe Ie no Sakon. Ogino is his family name; Ie no Sakon his praenomen176 and Sahyōe is a title of honour given him by the dairi.177 He brought me several herbs, the most of them just gathered,

Japan extolled and decried

152

the use of which he was very desirous of knowing, as well as of gaining some intelligence with regard to the cure of certain disorders. Our conversation was carried on through an interpreter; but he was not a little surprised when once, in order to fix the name of a plant in his memory with the greater certainty, I wrote it down before his face in Japanese characters.178 Tamamushi was the appellation given by the interpreters to the Buprestis ignita179, which they had got here and brought to me. On our return from the court, we are always more at liberty than in going to it. Consequently we were allowed, previous to our departure from Miyako, which was on the 13th of June180, to see several of the largest, most elegant and best situated temples in that place. These stand, as in this country is usually the case, on the declivity of a mountain, and command the most delightful prospects. Here were also artificial ponds in which the monks had several live black turtles (Testudo japonica)181, for their amusement. Amongst these temples, that of Daibutsu is not only the largest, but the most remarkable.182 The temple stands on 96 pillars and has several entries which are very lofty, but at the same time very narrow.183 The body of the temple consists, as it were, of two stories which run into each other and consequently have a double roof, the uppermost of which was supported by several painted pillars above two yards in diameter. The floor was laid with square pieces of marble which I had not seen anywhere else.184 The only thing here wanting was a sufficient light for so large and magnificent a pile of building, which doubtless proceeded from the architect’s not having been grounded in the true principles of his art. The image of the idol, Daibutsu, which stood almost in the middle of the temple, was enough to strike the beholder with terror and awe: terror on account of its size, which scarcely has its equal, and awe in consequence of the reflections it must naturally suggest.185 The image was in a sitting posture and raised about two yards from the ground, with its legs laid across before it in the Indian manner, and gilded. The ears were long, the hair short and curling, the shoulders naked, the body covered with a wrapper, the right hand raised and the left laid edgeways against the belly.186 To anyone who had not seen this image the size of it must appear almost incredible. The interpreters assured me that six men might sit on the palm of the hand in the Japanese manner, with their heels under them. The figure seemed to me very well proportioned, although it was so very broad that its shoulders reached from one pillar to the other, notwithstanding that, these, when measured by the eye, appeared to be about thirty or thirty-two feet asunder. This idol, as well as the sect that worships it, derives its origin from India and their acquaintance with it must, in all probability, have come from Siam, China or some other place, at the time when strangers were at liberty to trade with greater freedom in this country and they themselves carried on commerce with foreign nations in their own bottoms.187 My astonishment at this enormous statue had not yet ceased when we were carried to another temple which was nearly as majestic and as worthy of admiration. The height of it was not very extraordinary nor its breadth, but on the other hand its length was considerable. This was sacred to Kannon, and his image, together with all his dei minores188, were to a considerable number set up in this edifice. In the middle sat Kannon himself, furnished with thirty-six hands; near him were placed sixteen heroes larger than men are in common, but much less than the idol, and these occupied a separate room and partitioned off, as it were, to themselves.189 On both sides next to these stood two rows of

Residence in edo, 1776

153

gilt idols, each with twenty hands. Afterwards were put up in rows on each side, idols of the size of a man, quite close to each other, the number of which I could not reckon. Those that were nearest to us, or forwards, were the smallest and those that stood behind, gradually larger, so that all the twelve rows could be seen very distinctly.190 On the hands, the heads of all these smaller idols were placed, and the whole number was said to amount to thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-three.191 Miyako to Osaka We then proceeded to Fushimi, where we supped, after which a little before sun-set we got into our small boats and went down the river to Osaka, where, after an agreeable night’s trip, we arrived the following morning. We stayed at Osaka two whole days192, and had more pleasure and amusements at this place than during the whole of our journey besides, as here we had several times an opportunity to take a view of the town in our norimons, be present at plays, see their dances and enjoy various other uncommon sights which are to be met with here in great abundance. Those that I, for my part, most valued were a collection of Japanese plants in a well-ordered garden, a collection of birds indigenous to this country, and the casting of their copper into bars.193 Their plays are full of glee, but so very singular at the same time that, to me, they rather appeared absurd. The interpreters were obliged to explain them to us. The subject of them was generally either some love adventure or heroic deed. In their way, the performers seemed to act well, but the theatre was very small and narrow. The dancing was chiefly performed by children of both sexes, two or more together. They somewhat resembled our country dances194 and the subject of them was nearly the same as that of their plays. The body was bent a hundred different ways and then fell back again into its natural position, according to the music or singing by which the dances are accompanied. The most curious part of the spectacle was to see the girls195 dressed in the most magnificent manner and in the highest style like ladies of the first distinction and with an almost infinite number of night-gowns, the one over the other, all of the finest and thinnest silk. This great number of night-gowns, which was not perceptible as they were extremely thin and light, sometimes amounts to thirty or more, and the girls growing warm while they are dancing, partly to cool themselves and partly to make a view of their finery, pulled them off by degrees, one after the other, so that a whole dozen of them together hung down from the girdle with which they were tied about their bodies, without hindering them in the least in their evolutions.196 I saw in the street called Bird Street197 a number of birds that had been brought hither from all parts, some to be shown for money and others for sale. There was also a botanic garden tolerably well laid out in this town (though without an orangery198) in which were reared and cultivated, and at the same time kept for sale, all sorts of plants, trees and shrubs, which were brought hither from other provinces.199 I did not neglect to lay as much money here as I could spare in the purchase of the scarce shrubs and plants planted in pots, amongst which were the most beautiful species of this country’s elegant maples and two specimens of the Cycas revoluta200, a palm-tree as scarce as the exportation of it is strictly prohibited, and on which, on account of its very nutritious sago-like pith, the Japanese set so high and indeed extravagant a value, not knowing that it likewise grows in China. These were afterwards all planted out into a large wooden box, at the top of

Japan extolled and decried

154

which were laid boughs of trees interlaced with pack-thread so that nothing might injure them. This box was afterwards sent off by water to Nagasaki, from whence is was sent along with another box of the same kind, packed at the factory to Batavia, to be forwarded to the Hortus Medicus in Amsterdam. We also viewed the temples here, and had an interview with the two governors of the town.201 The operation of smelting of copper was one day performed particularly for us, and merely on purpose that we might see it, in consequence of the importunate entreaties both of our chief and our conductors.202 This was done with much greater simplicity than I had imagined. The smelting hut was from twenty to twenty-four feet wide, and a wall like a niche was built up with a chimney on one side of it. At the bottom of this, and level with the floor, was a hearth, in which the ore, by the assistance of hand-bellows, had been smelted before our arrival. Directly opposite, on the ground, which was not floored, was dug a hole of an oblong form and about twelve inches deep. Across this were laid ten square iron bars barely the breadth of a finger asunder, and all of them with one of their edges upwards. Over these was expanded a piece of sail cloth which was pressed down between the bars. Upon this was afterwards poured cold water which stood about two inches above the cloth. The smelted ore was then taken up out of the hearth with iron ladles, and poured into the above-described mould, so that ten or eleven bars six inches long were cast each time. As soon as these were taken out, the fusion was continued and the water now and then changed. That the copper was thus cast in water was not known before in Europe, nor that the Japanese copper hence acquires its high colour and splendour. At the same time I had the good fortune to receive through the influence of my friends the interpreters, a present of a box in which was packed up not only pure copper cast in the above-mentioned manner, but also specimens taken from every process that it had gone through, such as the crude pyrites with its matrix, the produce of the roasting, and of the first and second smelting. This box, which may be seen in the cabinet of minerals belonging to the Academy at Upsal, was not less gratifying to my late respected and beloved tutor, Professor Bergman203, than the information I gave him on my return home with respect to the casting of the copper in water. After this we saw a quantity of cast copper, not only in the above-mentioned form of bars, as it is sold to the Dutch and Chinese, but also cast in larger and smaller, round and square, thicker and thinner pieces, for other purposes, according as they may be wanted for the fabrication of kettles, pans and other utensils. Here was a difference made between the servants that waited on us at the inns. Young boys were usually called kodomo, but servants that had arrived at the age of manhood bore the appellation of todokos.204 There cannot well be a stranger spectacle than that which presents itself to the view when a great multitude of people are assembled together, which is not infrequently the case, every man’s clothes as well as the rest of his paraphernalia, being marked with the owner’s mark or his arms. This is a common custom with the Japanese so that every one knows his own property again, and thieves can make no advantage of stolen goods. I purchased here a quantity of moxa of different degrees of fineness and of different qualities.205 The finest sort of all is white and is used in common all over the country as a caustic, both for the cure and the prevention of disorders. The coarser kind is brown and

Residence in edo, 1776

155

is used as tinder. Both these sorts are prepared from the common wormwood (Artemisia vulgaris), that is to say, from the wool that covers its leaves. The leaves are gathered in this month and afterwards dried and set by for further preparation. They are then beaten and rubbed till the fibrous part is separated from the woolly, and the latter is obtained pure. There are particular surgeons206 who apply themselves closely to the administration of this caustic and who carefully study, when, how, to what part of the body, and in what disorders it is to be used. It takes fire very readily and consumes slowly. When a small ball of this is laid on any part of the body and set fire to, it burns down into the skin, forming ulcers of different depths which some time after act as drains for carrying off the humours that have flowed to them from different parts.207 The back is the chief place for the application of this universal remedy and although there are but few maladies in which it is not used, yet it has the best effect in rheumatisms and colds. Neither sex, age, nor situation in life exempts anyone from the necessity of its use. The Menyanthes nymphoides208, with the leaves and flowers, was kept here, seeped in brine, and was used for salad, in the same manner as pickled cucumbers. Of the box tree, which was common in this country, combs were made, which were lacquered and worn by the ladies in their hair by way of ornament. The Nymphea nelumbo209 in several places grew in the water and was considered on account of its beautiful appearance as a sacred plant, and pleasing to the gods. The images of idols were often seen sitting on its large leaves.210 The shikimi (Illicium anisatum)211 was everywhere considered as a poisonous tree and the Japanese would not believe that the same tree produced the seal (Anisum stellatum) starry anise, which they annually buy of the Chinese. The capsules did not ripen well in this country, nor had they such a strong and agreeable aromatic taste as those that are kept in our druggists’ shops. Otherwise the tree itself was in high estimation, was frequently to be met with planted, and particularly near the temples, and, as their idols were supposed to delight in it, branches of it were always put amongst other flowers in their temples, in pots full of water. For the mensuration of time, the Japanese use the powder of the bark of this tree in a singular manner. A box twelve inches long being filled with ashes, small furrows are made in these ashes from one end of the box to the other, and so on, backwards and forwards to a considerable number.212 In these furrows is strewed some fine powder of shikimi bark, and divisions are made for the hours. The lid of the box is then closed, but a small hole is left open in order to supply the fire with air. After this the powder is set on fire, which consumes very slowly and the hours are proclaimed by striking the bells of the temples.213 The fruit of the Melia azederach214 was used, like the seeds of the Rhus succedanea215, for making an expressed oil, which oil grew hard like tallow and was used for candles. Osaka to Nagasaki 216

On the 15th of June, we set out for Hyōgo, where we made preparations for the long voyage we had to take, and embarked on board of the large vessel which usually carried the ambassador over to Shimonoseki. The passage this time was both quick and prosperous so that in the space of a few days217 we arrived safe in port.

Japan extolled and decried

156

From Hyōgo we went to Kokura, and on Midsummer Day218 in the morning, from thence to Nagasaki. We dined and slept at the same places where we had put up on our journey upwards to Edo. There cannot be a finer spectacle in all nature than that of the Lampyris japonica219 in a summer’s evening. This is a fly which near its tail has two small bladders, that, like the glowworms in Europe, diffuse a bluish phosphoric light. But the glowworm has no wings and lies quiet in the juniper bushes, whereas this is winged and flies about free and unconfined. Thousands of these now filled the air, some soaring high and others flying lower and near the ground so that the whole horizon seemed to be a sky illuminated by thousands of glittering stars. In Hyōgo we gave our norimon men five rixdollars and five mas for their trouble, and to the hostess in Hiyamizu-tōge220, according to the established custom, seven mas and five candereen; after having waited there and regaled ourselves with sake. Before we got quite to Nagasaki town, our chests were sealed in order that they might pass on to the warehouse without being searched. Our norimons and the rest of the baggage, as also we ourselves, were strictly searched. It is true I had no contraband articles to hide, but as to the scarce coins and maps which I, with great pains and difficulty, had procured, I was unwilling either to lose them or, by their means, bring any man into difficulties.221 Therefore, after having put the maps amongst other papers and covered the thick coins over with plaster and hid the thinner pieces in my shoes, I arrived with the rest of our company, safe in the factory on the 30th222 of June, where we gave each of our servants one tael and five mas, and were received by our friends with satisfaction and joy, which were so much greater and livelier as this journey had been protracted to a much greater length than usual, and consequently they had long been in expectation of our return.223

5 A description of Japan and the Japanese, I1 Nature of the country: the nature and properties of the country2 Japan is situated beyond the farthermost end of Asia to the East, entirely separated from this part of the globe, and consists of three large and many small islands. It extends from the 30th to the 41st degree of North latitude and from the 143rd to the 161st degree of East longitude, reckoning from the meridian of Tenerife.3 Therefore, it lies several degrees East of the capital of Sweden so that at Japan they have sunrise and noon eight hours earlier; consequently, when it is noon at Edo, it is only four o’clock in the morning at Stockholm, which makes a difference of eight hours. Most of the European nations call this empire Japan, or Japon; the inhabitants themselves call it Nippon or Nihon, and the Chinese, Sippon and Jepuen.4 The Japanese islands were not totally unknown in former ages. Japan is supposed to be the country which Marco Paolo of Venice, heard the Chinese mention by the name of Zipangri.5 Of the European nations, the Portuguese were the first who discovered it and landed there; viz. when Antoine de Mota, Francois Zeimoto and Antoine Peixota were thrown by a storm, with a large Chinese junk, on this coast, on their voyage from Siam to China. After their arrival at China, and in consequence of the report they made, other Portuguese and even missionaries were sent thither. In what year the first Portuguese made this discovery is by no means certain; some say in the year 1535, others in 1542, others in 1548 and others still later.6 The whole country consists of scarcely anything else than mountains, hills and valleys, and large plain is seldom seen here. The coast is surrounded by mountains and rocks and a very turbulent stormy sea. The greatest part of its harbours are entirely unknown to the Europeans, and those few that are known are either full of rocks or have large sands or shoals, so that all sailing and entrance into them is extremely dangerous. Formerly Portuguese and Dutch vessels arrived in the harbour of Hirado, but at present this, as well as all the others, are shut up and Nagasaki is the only port in which foreign vessels are allowed to anchor.7 The harbour of Edo has such shallow ground that even small boats cannot approach the strand; the larger Japanese vessels keep far out to sea, and a European ship would be obliged to anchor at five leagues distance. The mountains are of various heights, more or less scattered or connected, and some of them also are volcanoes. One of the highest in the country is Mt Fuji, its top reaching above the clouds and being discernible at the distance of many leagues. Many of the mountains are overgrown with wood, and some of these again, which are not too steep, are cultivated and made to rise in very high perpendicular declivities, like steps, one above the other, and that not infrequently up to the very top.8 In the valleys and on the plains the soil differs in different places, but most commonly it consists of clay or sand, or of both together intermixed with a small portion of mould.

Japan extolled and decried

158

In general it may be asserted with the greatest truth that the soil of Japan is in itself barren, but in consequence of the labour and manure bestowed upon it, together with heat and a sufficient quantity of rain, it is brought to a considerable degree of fertility.9 The heat in summer is very violent and would be insupportable if the air was not cooled by winds from the sea. In like manner, the cold in winter is extremely severe when the wind blows from the North and North-east. It is always felt to be more intense than it really is, as indicated by the thermometer, as from the violence with which the wind blows it pierces the body like arrows of ice. The weather is very changeable the whole year throughout, and the ground receives rain in abundance. It rains almost the whole year round, but particularly in the satsuki or rainy months10, as they are called, which commence at midsummer. This abundance of rain is the cause of the fertility of Japan, and of what is the consequence of this, its high degree of population. Thunder is by no means infrequent, but tempests and hurricanes are very common, as also earthquakes. The thermometrical observations which I made during my stay in Japan, and which are probably extremely uncommon in their kind, will show in a more accurate manner the nature of this climate, and as none such, to my knowledge, have been hitherto made known, I have thought proper to be very circumstantial11 in the communication. They were chiefly made in the Southern parts of Japan, that is, near Nagasaki on the island of Dejima, but part of them were likewise made during my journey to the court and in Edo, the capital.12 The thermometer I made use of was Fahrenheit’s, divided into 112 degrees, with a double glass and filled with quicksilver, and was affected by the slightest change of weather. I always kept it hanging on the outside of my chamber window by the side of a wall against a wooden post in a Northern aspect and in the open air. The greatest degree of heat in Nagasaki was 98 degrees, in the month of August, and the severest cold 35 degrees, in January, in the morning. The cold weather was universally allowed13 to set in this year later than other years and was of shorter duration, insomuch that we began to make fires in our rooms later than usual. As to a barometer, I had none, and therefore could make no barometrical observations in the sense of the word, in general, however, I took notice: 1 That the East and North and North-east winds, which here blow from the land, are very cold. The South and West and South-west, which blow from the sea, are always much warmer, and when it rains the weather immediately grows milder. 2 In the summer time, the wind blows at Nagasaki almost every afternoon from the South, which is a refreshing wind; in the nights and mornings it blows from the East. 3 When a fog rises in the evening and the clouds gather, it generally rains on that night, but if there be a fog in the morning, it generally proves fair. 4 When the sky in the winter is clouded over in the East and South, rain with blowing weather and storms generally succeed, but as soon as it clears up in the West or North the weather turns out fair. 5 In the months of December and January, I twice observed fine flakes of snow in the air, which however at Dejima melted before it could reach the ground. I was told that in other years a great deal of snow had fallen, which had lain for some time.

A description of japan and the japanese

159

6 Lightning, thunder and thunder-showers occur sometimes in June and July, but chiefly in August and September, as well in the evening as all night long.14 The persons15 of the Japanese The people of this nation are well made, active, free and easy in their motions, with stout limbs, although their strength is not to be compared to that of the Northern inhabitants of Europe. The men are of the middling size and in general not very corpulent, yet I have seen some that are of a yellowish colour all over, sometimes bordering on brown and sometimes on white. The lower class of people, who in summer when at work lay bare the upper part of their bodies, are sun-burnt and consequently brown. Ladies of distinction, who seldom go out in the open air without being covered, are perfectly white. It is by their eyes that, like the Chinese, these people are distinguishable.16 These organs have not that rotundity which those of other nations exhibit, but are oblong, small, and are sunk deeper in the head, in consequence of which these people have almost the appearance of being pink-eyed.17 In other respects their eyes are dark-brown, or rather black, and the eyelids form in the great angle of the eye a deep furrow, which makes the Japanese look as if they were sharp-sighted and discriminates them from other nations. The eyebrows are also placed somewhat higher. Their heads are in general large and their necks short; their hair black, thick and shining from the use they make of oils. Their noses although not flat, are yet rather thick and short. The genius and disposition of this nation18 The Japanese are in general intelligent and provident, free and unconstrained, obedient and courteous, curious and inquisitive, industrious and ingenious, frugal and sober, cleanly, good-natured and friendly, upright and just, trusty and honest, mistrustful, superstitious, proud and unforgiving, brave and invincible. The Japanese nation shows sense and steadiness in all its undertakings, so far as the light of science, by whose brighter rays it has not as yet had the good fortune to be illumined, can ever guide it.19 This nation is so far from deserving to be ranked with such as are called savage, that it rather merits a place amongst the most civilised. The present mode of government, regulations for foreign commerce, their manufactures, the vast abundance, even to superfluity, of all the necessaries of life &c, give convincing proofs of their sagacity, steadiness and undaunted spirit. That idle vanity, so common amongst other Asiatic as well as many African nations, who adorn themselves with shells, beads and glittering pieces of metal, is never to be observed here, nor are these unnecessary European trappings of gold and silver lace, jewels and the like, which serve merely to catch the eye, here prized at all, but they endeavour to furnish themselves from their own manufactures with decent clothing, palatable food and excellent weapons. Liberty is the soul of the Japanese, not that which degenerates into licentiousness and riotous excess, but a liberty under strict subjection to the laws. It has been supposed, indeed, that the common people of Japan were merely slaves under a despotic government, as the laws are extremely severe.20 But a servant who hires himself to a

Japan extolled and decried

160

master for a year is not therefore a slave, neither is a soldier who has enlisted for a certain number of years and over whom a much stricter hand is kept a slave, although he is obliged implicitly to obey his superiors’ commands. The Japanese hate and detest the inhuman traffic in slaves carried on by the Dutch, and the cruelty with which these poor creatures are treated. The rights and liberties of the higher and lower class of people are equally protected by the laws, and the uncommon severity of these laws, joined to the inevitable execution of them, serves to keep everyone within proper bounds. With regard to foreigners, no nation in the whole extensive tract of the Indies is more vigilantly attentive to their liberties than this, and none more free from the encroachments, fraudulent attempts, or open attacks of others. The regulations they have adopted in this particular are not to be paralleled in the whole world. The inhabitants have been forbidden to leave the empire on pain of death, and no foreigners are suffered to come into the country, except a few Dutchmen21 and some Chinese, who during the whole time of their stay are watched like state prisoners. The people of distinction and those that are rich have a great number of attendants, and everyone in general has some attendant in his house to wait upon him, and when he goes abroad to carry his cloak, shoes, umbrella, lantern and other things that he may want of a similar nature. With respect to courtesy and submission to their superiors, few can be compared to the Japanese. Subordination to government and obedience to their parents are inculcated into children in their early infancy, and in every situation of life they are in this respect instructed by the good example of their elders, which has this effect: that the children are seldom reprimanded, scolded or chastised. The inferior class of people show their respect to those of a higher rank and to their superiors by bowing very low and in the most reverential manner and at the same time pay implicit obedience to them cheerfully and without the least hesitation. Their equals they always salute with great politeness, both at meeting and parting. In general, they bend their backs with their heads downward and lay their hands either on their knees, or else on their legs below their knees, and sometimes bring them down to their feet, accordingly as a greater or less degree of respect is to be shown, and the greater the veneration, the nearer do their heads approach the ground. If anyone speaks to them, or they are to present anything to another, they bow in the same manner. If a person of inferior rank meets his superior in the street, he remains in the posture above mentioned till the latter has passed him. If they are equals, they both make the same obeisance standing still, and then go on with their backs bent for a short time after they have passed each other. On entering any house they fall on their knees and bow their heads more or less low, and before they rise to go away, perform the same obeisance. This nation, as well as many others, carry their curiosity to a great length. They examine narrowly everything that is carried thither by the Europeans and everything that belongs to them. They are continually asking for information upon every subject, and frequently tire the Dutch out with their questions. Among the merchants who arrive here, it is chiefly the physician of the embassy that is considered by the Japanese as learned, and consequently on the little island set apart for the factory, and particularly in the journey to court, as also during the residence of the Dutch in the metropolis, they look up to him as an oracle whom they suppose capable of giving them information upon every

A description of japan and the japanese

161

subject, particularly on those of mathematics, geography, natural philosophy, pharmacy, zoology, botany and physic. During the audience we had of the emperor, the privy counsellors and others of the highest officers state, we were surveyed from head to foot, as also our hats, swords, clothes, buttons, lace, watches, canes, rings &c; nay, we were even obliged to write in their presence in order to show them our manner of writing and our characters. In mechanical ingenuity and invention, this nation keeps chiefly to that which is necessary and useful, but in industry22 it excels most others. Their works in copper and other metals are fine, and in wood both neat and lasting, but their well-tempered sabres and their beautiful lacquered ware exceed everything of the kind that has hitherto been produced elsewhere. The diligence with which the husbandman cultivates the soil, and the pains they bestow on it, are so great as to seem incredible. Frugality has its principal seat in Japan. It is a virtue as highly esteemed in the imperial palace as in the poorest cottage. It is in consequence of this that the middling class of people are contented with their little pittance, and that accumulated. Stores of the rich are not dissipated in wantonness and luxury. It is in consequence of this that dearth and famine are strangers to this country, and that in the whole extent of this populous empire scarcely a needy person or beggar is to be found.23 The people, in general, are neither parsimonious nor avaricious, and have a fixed dislike to gluttony and drunkenness. The soil is not wasted upon the cultivation of tobacco or of any other useless plant, neither is the grain employed in the distillation of spirits, or other idle, not to say pernicious purposes.24 Cleanliness and neatness are attended to as well with regard to their bodies as to their clothing, houses, food, vessels &c, and they use the warm bath daily. Of their friendly disposition and good nature I have frequently, with astonishment, seen manifest proofs, even at a time when, as now, they have every reason in the world to hate and despise the Europeans who traffic there for their bad conduct and fraudulent dealings.25 This nation is lofty26, it is true, but good natured and friendly withal, with gentleness and kindness it may be soothed and brought to hear reason, but is not to be moved in the least by threats or anything like defiance. Justice is held sacred all over the country. The monarch never injures any of his neighbours, and no instance is to be found in history, ancient or modern, of his having shown an ambition to extend his territories by conquest.27 The history of Japan affords numberless instances of the heroism of these people in the defence of their country against foreign invasions or internal insurrections, but not one of their encroachments upon the lands or properties of others. The Japanese have never given way to the weakness of conquering other kingdoms, or suffering any part of their own to be taken from them. They have ever followed, and still continue to follow, the usages and customs of their forefathers and never adopt the manners of other nations.28 Justice constantly presides at their tribunals, where causes are adjudged without delay and without intrigues or partiality. The guilty finds nowhere an asylum; no respect is paid to persons29, nor can anyone presume to flatter himself with hopes of pardon or favour. Justice is held sacred even with respect to engagements with the Europeans, insomuch that treaties once concluded are neither broken nor even a single letter of them altered, unless the Europeans themselves give occasion to such procedures.

Japan extolled and decried

162

Honesty prevails throughout the whole country, and perhaps there are few parts of the world where so few thefts are committed as here. Highway robberies are totally unknown.30 Thefts are seldom heard of, and in their journey to the court the Europeans are so secure that they pay very little attention to their baggage, although in the factory the common people think it no sin to pilfer a few trifles, particularly sugar and tea cups, from the Dutch while these articles are carrying to or from the quay. It is highly probable that these people have not been always so suspicious as they are at present; possibly their former internal commotions and civil wars, but still more the frauds of the Europeans, have called forth and increased their mistrust, which now, at least in their commerce with the Dutch and the Chinese, is without bounds. Superstition is more common with them, and rises to a higher degree than in any other nation, which is owing to the little knowledge they have of most sciences and the absurd principles inculcated into them by their priests, together with their idolatrous doctrines. This superstitious disposition is displayed at their feasts, their public worship, in the making of solemn promises, in the use of particular remedies, the choosing of lucky or unlucky days &c. Pride is one of the principal defects of this nation. They believe that they are honoured with that sacred origin from gods, from heaven, the sun and moon, which many Asiatic nations as arrogantly and absurdly lay claim to. They consequently think themselves to be somewhat more than other people, and in particular consider the Europeans in a very indifferent light. Whatever injury a Japanese might be inclined to put up with, he can never bear to have his pride touched. It was pride that expelled the Portuguese from the country, and this alone may in time ruin the present flourishing traffic carried on by the Dutch. Besides the circumstance of this nation having never (not even in the remotest ages) been conquered or subjected to any foreign power, we read in the annals of its history such accounts of its valour and unconquerable spirit as might rather be taken for fables and the produce of a fertile imagination than the sober dictates of truth, did not latter years furnish us with convincing proofs of their reality. In the year 799, the Tartars, having for the first time overrun part of Japan with an innumerable army, and their fleet having been lost in one night in a hard gale of wind, the Japanese commander-in-chief on the day following raised the camp, attacked the enemy, routed and put them all to the sword, so that not a man was left alive to return with the tidings of so unparalleled a defeat and so complete a victory.31 In like manner, when in the year 1281 they were again attacked by the Tartars to the amount of 240,000 men, the victory was equally great and glorious.32 The expulsion of the Portuguese and the extirpation at the same time of the Christian religion, in the seventeenth century, was so complete that scarcely any traces are now to be found of their former existence in the country. The war and devastation continued for the space of 40 years; several millions were victims to its fury and at the last siege 37,000 men fell.33 These victories are not the only proof of the courage and intrepidity of the Japanese. I shall here adduce another instance still more to the purpose. The affair happened in the year 1630.34 A small Japanese vessel arrived for the purpose of trading at the island of Formosa, which at that time belonged to the Dutch East India Company. One Peter Nuytz, who was at that time governor, treated the Japanese merchants ill who arrived there in this vessel, and who on their return home complained to their prince of the ill

A description of japan and the japanese

163

treatment they had received. As the prince took fire at this insult, and the more so as it came from foreigners whom he despised, and at the same time he did not find himself in a condition to revenge himself, his guards addressed him in the following manner: ‘We do not consider ourselves worthy any longer to have the care of your highness’s person unless you permit us to retrieve your honour. Nothing can efface this stain but the blood of the offender. You have only to command and we will cut off his head, or bring him hither alive to be treated as you shall think proper and according to his deserts. Seven of us will be sufficient for the purpose. Neither the danger of the voyage, the strength of the castle, nor the number of his guards, shall screen him from our vengeance.’ Accordingly, having received the prince’s permission and consulted upon the measures proper to be taken, they arrived at Formosa. They were no sooner introduced to the governor in order to have an audience, than they all drew their sabers, made him prisoner, and carried him on board of the vessel that had brought them. This happened in broad daylight in the sight of his guards and domestics and without anyone of offering to stir in defence of their master, or to rescue him from his bold conductors, who with their swords drawn threatened to cleave his head in two the moment the least opposition should be made. This anecdote may be seen in Kaempfer’s Description of Japan, Appendix, p. 56.35 Anyone that from what has been said above has formed to himself a notion of the pride, justice and courage of the Japanese, will not be much astonished when he is told that this people, when injured, are quite implacable. As they are haughty and intrepid, so they are resentful and unforgiving; they do not show their hatred, however, with violence or warmth of temper, but frequently conceal it under the mask of an inconceivable sang froid, and wait with patience for the proper time to revenge themselves. Never did I see a people less subject to sudden emotions and affections of the mind. Abuse them, despise them, or touch their honour as much as you please, they will never answer you a single syllable, but merely with a long Eh! Eh! testify, as it were, their hatred for their opponent, which no justification, nor length of time nor change of circumstances, can afterwards efface. Thus they are not used to treat their enemies uncivilly either in word or behaviour, but deceive them as well as others with dissembled friendship, till sooner or later an opportunity offers of doing them some material injury. The Japanese language The Japanese language is, on account of its differing in many respects from the European languages, very difficult to learn. It is written, indeed, like the Chinese, in strait lines upwards and downwards, but the letters are quite different and the languages, upon the whole, so dissimilar that these two neighbouring nations cannot understand each other without an interpreter. The Chinese language, however, is much read and written at Japan, and is considered as their learned language, which together with various sciences they have adopted from China. Notwithstanding these difficulties, I was at great pains as well during the last autumn and winter months as since that time, to learn from my best friends among the interpreters both to understand and speak it a little, as also to write it, though, as well for their safety as my own I was obliged to do this with the greatest privacy. And the better to obtain this end whence I flattered myself that at a future period (and particularly in my journey to

Japan extolled and decried

164

court) I might derive considerable advantage, I wrote down the words by degrees as I learned them, and, by the assistance of the Japanese dictionary already mentioned, formed a vocabulary of a language which, of all others, is the least known in Europe. I imagined I should profit much in this respect by my Dutch friends, and the more as many of them seemed to be able to call for anything they wanted in the Japanese tongue, but not one of them had ever thought of forming a vocabulary by way of assisting his memory, or otherwise endeavoured to elucidate the nature of the language. A Japanese and Dutch vocabulary might, it is true, in the space of two centuries have been thought of and completed for the use and service of such as are to remain for some time in this country, had not incapacity in some and idleness in others laid insurmountable obstacles in the way. Some stay here for a short time only, others are merely in search of a fortune, and for the major part of them the tobacco-pipe has too great charms for them to devote to anything better, more useful and more agreeable, their precious time, which, however, here they frequently complain of as tedious. Of this vocabulary, I have given an extract at the end of this volume, in hopes that somebody, sooner or later, may reap some benefit from it.36 Their names37 The name of each family and individual is used in Japan in a very different manner from what it is in Europe. The family name of the Japanese remains unchanged, but is never used in daily conversation or in the ordinary course of life, but only when they sign any writings, and that chiefly when they set their seals to them. There is likewise this singularity in the affair, that the family name is not put after, but always before the adscititious38 name, in like manner as in botany, where the generic name of a plant always precedes the specific.39 So that the adscititious, or adopted name is that by which they are addressed, and this is changed several times in the course of their lives. As soon as a child is born, it receives from the parents a certain name, which, if a son, he keeps till he arrives at years of maturity. At that period it is changed. If afterwards he obtains an office, he again changes his name, and if in process of time he is advanced to other offices, the same change always takes place, and some, but especially emperors and princes, have a new name given them after their death.40 The names of the women are less subject to change and are frequently taken from certain beautiful flowers. Titles are given to placemen of a superior order on entering to their employments, and to the chief of them various names of honour are added by the spiritual emperor. Their dress Their dress at Japan deserves more than anywhere else in the world the name of national, as it not only differs from that of every other nation, but at the same time is uniform from the monarch down to the most inferior subject, similar in both sexes and (which almost surpasses all belief) has been unchanged for the space of two thousand five hundred years.

A description of japan and the japanese

165

It consists everywhere of long and wide night-gowns, one or more of which are worn by people of every age and condition in life. The rich have them of the finest silk, and the poor of cotton. The women wear them reaching down to their feet, and the women of quality frequently with a train. Those of the men come down to their heels, but travellers, together with soldiers and labouring people, either tuck them up or wear them so short, that they only reach to their knees. The men generally have them made of a plain silk of one colour, but the silken stuffs worn by the women are flowered and sometimes interwoven with gold flowers. In the summer they are either without any lining at all or else with a thin lining only; in winter, by way of defence against the cold weather, they are quilted with cotton or silk wad. The men seldom wear many of them, but the women often from thirty to fifty41 or more, and all so thin that together they hardly weigh more than four or five pounds. The undermost of them serves for a skirt and is therefore either white or bluish and for the most part thin and transparent. All these night-gowns are fastened about the waist by a belt, which for the men is about the breadth of a hand and for the women of about twelve inches, and of such a length as to go twice round the body with a large knot and role. The knot worn by the fair sex, which is larger than that worn by the men, shows immediately whether the woman is married or not as the married women wear the knot before and the single behind.42 The men fasten to this belt their sabre, fan, tobacco pipe and pouch, and medicine box.43 The gowns are rounded off about the neck without a cape44, open before, and show the bare bosom which is never covered either with a handkerchief, or any thing else.45 The sleeves are always ill-shaped and much wider than they ought to be, and sewed together half way down in front so as to form a bag at bottom into which they put their hands in cold weather, or use it as a pocket to hold their papers and other things. Young girls in particular have the sleeves of their gowns so long as frequently to reach quite down to the ground. On account of the great width of their garments, they are soon dressed and undressed, as they have nothing more to do than to untie their girdle and draw in their arms, when the whole of their dress instantly falls off of itself. So that long and wide night-gowns universally form the dress of the Japanese nation, though in this point some small variation takes place with regard to sex, age, condition and way of life. Thus, one frequently sees the common people, such as labourers, fishermen and sailors, either undressed when they are at their work with their night-gowns taken off from the upper part of their bodies and hanging down loose from their girdles, or else quite naked having round their body a girdle46 only, which wrapping round and covering the parts that decency requires to be concealed is carried backwards between the thighs, to be fasted to the back. Men of a higher rank have besides these long night-gowns a short half-gown47 which is worn over the other and is made of some thin kind of stuff, such as gauze. It is like the former at the sleeves and neck, but reaches only to the waist and is not fastened with a girdle, but is tied before and at the top with a string. This half-gown is sometimes of a green, but most frequently of a black colour. When they come home to their houses or to their respective offices where there are none superior to them, they take off this outer garment, and folding it carefully up, lay it by. The breeches48 are of a peculiar kind of stuff which is thin indeed, but at the same time very close and compact and made neither of silk nor of cotton, but of a species of hemp. They are more like a petticoat than breeches, being sewed between the legs and left open

Japan extolled and decried

166

at the sides to about two-thirds of their length. They reach down to the ankles and are fastened about the waist with a band, which is carried round the body from before and from behind. At the back part of these breeches is a thin triangular piece of board scarcely six inches long, which is covered with the same stuff as the breeches and stands up against the back just above the band. The breeches are either striped with brown or green, or else uniformly black. I have sometimes seen them made of succotas, a stuff from Bengal.49 Drawers50 are seldom used but on journeys and by soldiers, who wear short and tucked-up night-gowns, that they may walk or run with the greater speed. The complimentary51 dress, as a sort of holiday dress is called in Japan, is used only on solemn occasions and when people of an inferior rank pay homage to their superiors or by such as are going to court.52 Such a dress is worn on the outside of all, over the gowns that form the whole of this people’s usual dress. It consists of two pieces made of one and the same kind of stuff. The undermost piece is the above-described breeches which are generally made of a blue stuff printed with white flowers. The uppermost piece which particularly distinguishes this dress is a frock, not unlike the half-night-gown already spoken of but is carried on each side back over the shoulders, by which means the Japanese have the appearance of being very broad shouldered. All their clothes are made either of silk, cotton, or of a kind of linen manufactured from certain species of nettles.53 The better sort of people wear the finest silks, which in fineness and tenuity54 far exceed everything produced either in India or Europe, but as these silks are not above twelve inches broad they are not carried to Europe for sale. The common people wear cotton, which is found here in great abundance. Sometimes, but merely as a matter of curiosity, the Japanese make of the bark of the Morus papyrifera55 a kind of cloth, which is either manufactured like paper, or else spun and woven. The latter sort, which is quite white and fine and resembles cotton, is sometimes used by the women. The former, printed with flowers, is used for the long night-gowns by elderly people only, and is worn by them at no other time than in the winter, when they perspire but little, and then with a gown or two besides. As the night-gowns reach down to the feet and consequently keep the thighs and legs warm, stockings are neither wanted nor used throughout the whole country. One sees the common people, however, when travelling, and soldiers who have not such long nightgowns, wear spatterdashes made of cotton stuff. I observed that some people near Nagasaki wore also hempen socks56 with the soles of cotton stuff, which they used in the severest winter months to preserve the feet from cold. They are tied fast about the ankle and have a separate place made for the great toe to enter, and adapted to the form of the shoe. The shoes, or to speak more properly, slippers of the Japanese, are the most shabby and indifferent part of their dress, and yet in equal use with the high and the low, the rich and the poor. They are made of rice straw woven, but sometimes, for people of distinction, of fine slips of rattan. The shoe consists of a sole without upper leather or hind-piece; forwards it is crossed by a strap of the thickness of one’s finger, which is lined with linen; from the tip of the shoe to this strap a cylindrical string is carried which passes between the great and second toe and keeps the shoe fast on the foot. As these shoes have no hind-piece, they make a noise when people walk in them, like slippers. When the Japanese travel, their shoes are furnished with three strings made of twisted straw with which they are tied to the legs and feet to prevent them from falling off. Some

A description of japan and the japanese

167

people carry one or more pair of shoes with them on their journeys in order to put on new when the old ones are worn out. When it rains, or the roads are very dirty, these shoes are soon wetted through and one continually sees a great number of worn-out shoes lying on the roads, especially near the brooks, where travellers have changed their shoes after washing their feet. Instead of these, in rainy or dirty weather they wear high wooden clogs which underneath are hollowed out in the middle and at top have a band across, like a stirrup, and a string for the great toe, so that they can walk without soiling their feet.57 Some of them have their straw shoes fastened to these wooden clogs. The Japanese never enter their houses with their shoes on, but leave them in the entry, or place them on a bench near the door, and thus are always bare-footed in their houses so as not to dirty their neat mats. During the time that the Dutch live at Japan, when they are sometimes under an obligation of paying visits at the houses of the Japanese, their own rooms at the factory being likewise covered with mats of this kind, they wear instead of the usual shoes, red, green or black slippers, which, on entering the house they pull off; however, they have stockings on and shoes made of cotton stuff with buckles in them, which shoes are made at Japan and can be washed whenever they are dirty. Some have them of black satin, in order to avoid washing them. This people’s mode of dressing their hair is as peculiar to them and at the same time as general amongst them as their use of the night-gown. The men shave the whole of their head from the forehead down to the nape of the neck, and what is left near the temples and in the neck is well greased, turned up and tied at the top of the head with several rounds of white string made of paper. The end of the hair that remains above the tie is cut off to about the length of one’s finger, and after being well stiffened with oil, bent in such a manner that the tip is brought to stand against the crown of the head, in which situation it is kept merely by the string above mentioned. This coiffure is strictly attended to and the head shaved every day that the stumps of the growing hair may not disfigure their bald pates. Priests and physicians and young men that have not yet attained to the age of maturity are the only persons who are exempted in this respect. The priests and physicians shave their heads all over and are thus discriminated from all others. Boys again keep all their hair on till such time as the beard begins to make its appearance. Of the fair sex, none have their hair cut off, except women that are parted from their husbands.58 I had an opportunity of seeing such a one, while I was at Edo, who traversed the country much and made with her bald pate, droll and singular appearance. Otherwise, the hair, well besmeared and made smooth with oil and mucilaginous59 substances, is put up close to the head on all sides, and this either quite in a neat and simple manner or else standing out at the sides in the form of wings. After this the ends are fastened together round a knob at the crown of the head. Single women and servant maids are frequently distinguished from the married by these wings. Just before this knot a broad comb is stuck, which the poorer sort of people wear of lacquered wood and those that are in better circumstances of tortoiseshell. Besides these, the rich wear several long ornaments made of tortoiseshell stuck through this knot as also a few flowers, which serve instead of pearls and diamonds and constitute the whole of their decorations. Vanity has not yet taken root among them to that degree as to induce them to wear rings or other ornaments in their ears. These people never cover their heads either with hats or caps to defend them against the cold or the scorching heat of the sun, except on journeys when they wear a conical hat

Japan extolled and decried

168

made of a species of grass, and tied with a string. I observed such as these also were worn by fishermen. Some few travelling women wore caps in the form of a terrine60, which were interwoven with gold. Otherwise the parasol is what they use to shelter them against the rain or the rays of the sun. Besides the above-mentioned drawers, spatterdashes and hat, which none but travellers wear, they are generally provided on journeys with a cloak, especially such as travel on foot or on horseback. These cloaks are wide and short and of the same shape as the night-gowns. They are made of thick oiled paper and are worn by the superior attendants in the suit of princes and of other travellers, and my fellow travellers and myself during our journey to court were obliged to make a present to our attendants of some of these cloaks when we passed by the place where they were manufactured. The Japanese always have their coat of arms put on their cloaks, particularly on their long and short night-gowns, and that either on their arms or between their shoulders, with a view to prevent their being stolen, which in a country where people’s clothes are so much alike in point of materials, form and size, might easily happen.61 Instead of a handkerchief, I always saw them use thin and soft writing paper, which they constantly carried about them for this purpose and which they also used for wiping their mouths and fingers, as likewise for wiping off the sweat from their bodies under the arm-pits. The style of their architecture The houses in general are of wood and plaster, and white-washed on the outside so as to look exactly like stone. The beams all lie horizontal, or stand perpendicular (no slanting ones as are otherwise used in framework buildings). Between these beams, which are square and far from thick, bamboos are interwoven and the spaces filled up with clay, sand and lime. In consequence of this the walls are not very thick, but when whitewashed make a tolerably good appearance. There are partition walls in their houses which are merely supported by posts or upright beams, between which again at the ceiling and floor other beams run across with grooves in them, for partitioning off the apartments. Thus, the whole house at first forms only one room, which, however, may be partitioned off with frames that slide in the grooves made in their cross-beams, and may be put up, taken away, or slid behind each other at pleasure.62 These frames are made of lacquered wood and covered with thick painted paper. The ceiling is tolerably neat and formed of boards closely joined, but the floor, which is always raised from the ground, is laid with planks at a distance from each other. The roofs are covered with tiles, which are of a singular make and very thick and heavy; the more ordinary houses are covered with chips63, which are frequently laid heavy stones to secure them. In the villages and the meaner towns, I sometimes saw the sides of the houses, especially behind, covered with the bark of trees, which was secured by laths nailed on it to prevent the rain from damaging the wall. The houses are generally two stories high, but the upper story is seldom inhabited, is for the most part lower than the other, and is used for a loft, or to lay up lumber in. The houses of people of distinction are larger indeed, and handsomer than others, but not more than two stories, or at the most twenty feet high. In each room there are two or more windows which reach from the ceiling to within two feet of the floor.64

A description of japan and the japanese

169

They consist of light frames which may be taken out, put in, and slid behind each other at pleasure, in two grooves made for this purpose in the beams above and below them. They are divided by slender rods into panes of a parallelogramic form, sometimes to the number of forty, and pasted over on the outside with fine white paper which is seldom or never oiled and admits a great deal of light, but prevents anyone from seeing through it. The roof always projects a great way beyond the house and sometimes has an additional roof which covers a final projecting gallery that stands before the window; from this little roof go slanting inwards and downwards several quadrangular frames within which hang blinds made of rushes65, which may be drawn up and let down and serve not only to hinder people that pass by from looking into the house, but chiefly when it rains to prevent the paper windows from being damaged. There are no glass windows here, nor have I observed mother-of-pearl or Muscovy talk66 used for this purpose. The floors are always covered with mats made of a fine species of grass (Juncus67) interwoven with rice straw, from three to four inches thick and of the same size throughout the whole country, viz. two yards long and one broad, with a narrow blue or black border.68 It was only at Edo in the imperial palace that I saw mats larger than these. In the houses of the lower order of people a great part of the room on the outside is not covered with mats and serves for a hall where the company may leave their shoes: within is a raised floor, which, covered with mats, constitutes the sitting-room, and by means of sliding screens may be divided into several compartments. The insides of the houses, both ceiling and walls, are covered with a handsome thick paper ornamented with various flowers; their hangings are either green, yellow, or white and sometimes embellished with silver and gold. A thin gruel made of boiled rice forms the paste used for this purpose, and as the paper is greatly damaged by the smoke in winter it is renewed every third or fifth year. Tradesmen and mechanics frequently use the front part of the house that looks into the street as a workshop, sale shop, or kitchen, and inhabit the part that looks into the yard. The room which serves as a kitchen has no other fireplace than a square hole, which is frequently in the middle of the room and is lined with a few stones which are laid level with the surface of the mats. The smoke makes the house black and dirty as there is no chimney but only a hole in the roof, and the floor mats, being so near the fireplace, frequently occasion fires. Every house has its privy, in the floor of which there is an oblong aperture and it is over this aperture that the Japanese sit. At the side of the wall is a kind of a box, inclining obliquely outwards, into which they discharge their urine. Near it there is always a china vessel with water in it, with which, on these occasions, they never fail to wash their hands. Every house likewise has a small yard, which is decorated with a little mount, a few trees, shrubs and flower pots. The plants that were most commonly seen here were the Pinus sylvestris, Azalea indica, Aukuba, nandina &c.69 At some places, such as in Edo and other towns, adjacent to each house there is a storehouse that is fireproof, for the purpose of saving the owner’s property. One seldom finds a house in which there is not a room set apart for the purpose of bathing, with a bathing tub in it. This generally looks towards the yard. So that70 the Japanese buildings, in town as well as in the country, have neither that elegant appearance nor the convenience and comfort of our houses in Europe, the rooms

Japan extolled and decried

170

are not so cheerful and pleasant, nor so warm in the winter, neither are they so safe in case of fire, nor so durable. Their semi-transparent paper windows in particular spoil the look of the houses, as well in the rooms as out towards the street. The public buildings such as temples and palaces are larger, it is true, and more conspicuous, but in the same style of architecture, and the roofs, which are decorated with several towers of a singular appearance, are their greatest ornament. The towns are sometimes of a considerable size, always secured with gates, and frequently surrounded with walls and fosses and adorned with towers, especially if a prince keeps his court there.71 The town of Edo is said to be twenty-one French leagues.72 From a height I had an opportunity to take a view of the whole of this spacious town, which for size may vie with Peking.73 The streets are strait and wide, and at certain distances divided by gates, and at each gate there is a very high ladder from the top of which any fire that breaks out may be discovered, an accident that not infrequently happens here several times in the week. The villages differ from the towns by being open and having only one street. Their length frequently surpasses all belief; most of them are three quarters of a mile in length and some of them so long that it requires several hours to walk through them. Some also stand so close together that they are discriminated74 from each other only by a bridge or rivulet, and their name. Neither chimneys nor stoves are known throughout the whole country, although the cold is very intense, and they are obliged to make fires in their apartments from October to March. The fires are made in copper kettles75 of various sizes with broad projecting edges. The hollow part of these is filled with clay or ashes and well-burned charcoal is put at the top and lighted. A pot or kettle of this kind is placed in the middle of the room, or at one side, and on account of the apartments being too pervious to the air, the fire is made several times a day, or else a constant fire is kept up for the Japanese to sit round it. This mode of firing, however, is liable to the inconvenience that the charcoal sometimes smokes, in consequence of which the apartment becomes dirty and black and the eyes of the company suffer exceedingly. The furniture in this country is as simple as the style of building. Here neither cupboards, bureaus, sofas, beds, tables, chairs, watches, looking glasses, or any thing else of the kind are to be found in the apartments. To the great part of these the Japanese are utter strangers. Their soft floor mats serve them for chairs and beds. A small table about 12 inches square and four in height is set down before each person in company at every meal. Here it may be proper to observe that whereas most of the other nations in India sit with their legs laid across before them, the Chinese and Japanese lay their feet under their bodies and make a chair of their heels. A soft mattress stuffed with cotton is spread out on the mats when the hour of rest approaches. Cupboards, chests, boxes and other similar articles are kept in the storehouses or else in separate rooms. Fans are used throughout the whole country and everybody carries one always about him. It is always stuck in the girdle on the left hand, behind the sabre, with the handle downwards. On these they frequently have their route marked out when they go on a journey. Mirrors do not decorate the walls, although they are in general use at the toilet. Of glass there are none made in the country, but both the smaller and larger sort are made of cast metal which is a composition of copper and zinc and highly polished. One of these

A description of japan and the japanese

171

mirrors is fixed on a stand made for that purpose of wood, and in an oblique position, so that the fair sex may view their lovely persons in it as well as in the best looking-glass.

Part II

Author’s Preface to Part II1 At length I have the happiness to send from the press the concluding volume of my Travels. It contains a further account of the Japanese nation, my departure for Batavia, and the description of the island of Java, after that, my voyage to Ceylon, and my travels on the coasts of this island, and finally my voyage home, by the Cape of Good Hope, through Holland, England and Germany.2 With a view to illustrate a part of what I have here treated of, I have added a few plates, descriptive of the Japanese and Indian utensils and furniture.3 Japan is in many respects a singular country when compared with the different states of Europe. In it we behold a form of government which has existed without change or revolution for ages, strict and unviolated laws, the most excellent institutions and regulations in the towns, the villages and upon the roads; a dress, coiffure and customs that, for several centuries have undergone no alteration; innumerable inhabitants without parties, strife or discord, without discontent, distress or emigrations; agriculture in a flourishing state and a soil in an unparalleled state of cultivation; all the necessaries of life abounding, even to superfluity, in the land, without any need of foreign commerce; besides a multiplicity of other advantages. Among the rulers of the country are to be found neither throne, sceptre, crown nor any other species of royal foppery which in most courts dazzles and blinds the wondering eyes of the simple multitude; no establishment of a royal household, no lords in waiting, nor maids of honour; no extensive and magnificent range of stables, no profusion of horses and elephants, not masters of horse; no equipages4, wheel carriages, nor cavalry; no wars, nor ambassadors; no public functionaries unused to or unqualified for their respective posts; no corporations, imposts5, nor other monopolies; no play-nor coffee houses, no taverns and ale houses, and consequently, no consumption of coffee, brandy, wine, bishop6 or punch; no privileged soil, no waste lands, and not a single meadow; no national debt, no paper currency, no Course of Exchange7 and no bankers8.

6 A description of Japan and the Japanese, II The government9 The empire of Japan is encompassed on all sides with water, and consists of three large islands together with a vast multitude of smaller ones. All these are divided into seven departments which again are subdivided into sixty-eight provinces, and these into six hundred and four districts.10 At present, the kubō, or the secular emperor, is lord of the whole country, and under him rules a prince or governor in each province. The princes that are first in dignity are called daimyō; those of an inferior rank are denominated shōmyō. If any of them is guilty of misdemeanours, he is amenable to the emperor, who has a right to dismiss him, to banish him to some island, or even to inflict capital punishment upon him. It is further incumbent upon all these princes to perform a journey once every year to the imperial court, to reside there six months, and to keep their whole family there constantly, as hostages for their allegiance.11 But besides this monarch, there is a spiritual or ecclesiastical emperor, whose power at present is totally confined to the concerns of religion and the church establishment, although this spiritual regent, or pope, derives his descent in a direct and uninterrupted line from the ancient rulers of this country, for upwards of 2,000 years back.12 If we carry our researches back to the remotest ages of antiquity which are enveloped in obscurity and uncertainty, it will appear probable that Japan, like other countries, was governed by patriarchs, or petty chiefs, who afterwards united together under one head. The most authentic history of the Japanese monarchs commences about 660 years before the birth of Christ, when the government was bestowed upon Jinmu, of a very conspicuous race, called Tenshō Daijin.13 This Jinmu is the founder of the monarchy; he introduced an accurate chronology, called nin’ō14, and improved not only the laws of the country, but likewise the very form of the government. The emperors of this tribe were most usually denominated15 dairi, and sometimes, but not so frequently, mikado, dai, tai, tenjin and ō.16 One hundred and nineteen17 dairis have ascended the throne in succession from that period down to the time of my residence at Japan, although their power and authority have been very different and dissimilar at three different periods: these reigned alone with unlimited authority till the year 114218; from that time the secular power was divided between the oldest and lawful potentate of the country and the secular rulers, or generalissimos of the army, till the year 1585, since which time his authority has only manifested itself in matters which concern the government of the church.19 The veneration which is entertained for the dairi falls little short of the divine honours which are paid to the gods themselves. He seldom goes out of his palace, his person being 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. If at any time he has absolute occasion to go abroad, he is generally carried upon men’s shoulders that he may not come into contact with the

A description of japan and the japanese II

175

earth. He is brought into the world, lives and dies within the precinct of his court, the boundaries of which he never once exceeds during his whole life. His hair, nails and beard are accounted so sacred that they are never suffered to be cleansed or cut by daylight, but this, whenever it happens, must be done by stealth during the night whilst he is asleep. His holiness never eats twice off the same plate, nor uses any vessel for his meals a second time, they being for the most part broken to pieces immediately after they have been used to prevent their falling into unhallowed hands. For this reason, the furniture of this table consists of a cheap and inferior sort of porcelain.20 The case is pretty much the same with respect to his clothes, which are distributed among those who reside at his court. Without the precinct of the court there is none, or at least hardly anyone, that knows his name till long after his death. His whole court, with very few exceptions, consists of none but such as are of his own race21, all of whom have their appointments at court in like manner as others of them who are not employed at court, are promoted to the richest benefices and the best convents. He has twelve wives only, one of whom, however, is empress.22 The pomp which reigns in his court, though not so splendid as formerly, is yet very great. Since the retrenchment of his power, he derives his revenues from the town and adjacent country of Miyako, and has likewise an allowance from the kubō’s treasury, besides immense sums which he acquires by the conferring of titles; and yet his revenue is frequently inadequate to his expenses. The right of bestowing titles of honour remains to this day veiled in the person of the ecclesiastical emperor, and serves considerably to increase his income. Even the kubō himself and the hereditary prince receive titles at his hand, as do likewise, on the kubō’s recommendation, the highest officers of state at his court. Those who have spiritual titles are distinguished both at court and in the churches all over the country by a particular dress, conformable to their rank and dignity. I had the honour to see one of these prelates at a convent in Nagasaki; his dress consisted of a pair of trousers and a large cloak with a long, flowing train. I found him very affable and courteous and we had a long conversation together, through the medium of our interpreters, respecting various matters, which, however, afforded me far less pleasure than the shrubs I met with in the vicinity of his church. The dairi’s court was formerly removed at pleasure from one part of the 23 country to the other, but now his residence is fixed in the town of Miyako. This court is very extensive and forms of itself not inconsiderable town, being provided with walls, fosses, ramparts and gates; in the centre stands dairi’s palace, adorned with lofty turrets, and round about it are the mansions of both the superior and inferior officers of his household and other attendants.24 A governor is kept here for his service by the kubō, and a guard appointed for his safety, to defend the sacred person of the dairi, and by way of security to the kubō, that no disturbances or insurrection can be raised there. At this court literature is cultivated and academic studies are pursued with vigour. It is the only university in the country and here the students are maintained, brought up, and instructed.25 The principal objects of their application are poetry, the history of the country, mathematics &c. Music is a very favourite study with them, especially with the ladies. Here it is that all their almanacs are compiled, which are afterwards printed in Ise.26 Although the dairi has lost his authority in temporal concerns, yet he is still considered as so august and holy that the kubō, either in person or by his ambassador, is bound to

Japan extolled and decried

176

pay him a visit, and that either annually or at the expiration of a certain stated time, bringing with him, according to the general custom of the country, presents of great value. Yoritomo and many more of the secular emperors have visited Miyako in person to perform this homage, which latterly however and by degrees has been more and more neglected and is last entirely given up.27 Neither the princes of the country, nor the Dutch when they go up to Edo, pay their respects to the ecclesiastical emperor in Miyako. Seventy-six emperors of this race have reigned with unlimited power till the year 1142, when civil commotions arose among the princes of the land, and a calamitous war was waged between them.28 With a view to compose these disturbances, the command of the armies was given to Yoritomo, in the quality of generalissimo. This valiant commander suppressed, indeed, the growing disturbances, but at the same time also arrogated to himself and his successors great part of the emperor’s authority, which continued to be divided between dairi and the imperial generals till the year 1585.29 About this time a peasant’s son named Taikō sama had raised himself by his superior abilities to the rank of general, reduced all the princes of the land under his authority and in the end deprived the dairi of all the power he had hitherto possessed with respect to secular affairs and the government of the empire.30 From the reign of Yoritomo, the first of the secular monarchs, to that of Ieharu, who swayed the sceptre of Japan at the time of my residence in that country, one and forty kubōs had sat upon the throne, and kept their court at Edo.31 The secular emperor does not, however, hold the reins of government entirely in his own hands, but reigns conjointly with six privy counsellors, who are mostly men in years and of sound judgment. Besides the considerable presents which each ruling prince sends to court, of the produce of his province, the kubō derives his revenue from certain crown lands, as they are called, or five imperial provinces and some imperial towns, which are subject to the sway of governors, or bugyōs.32 The tax or tribute is paid in such commodities as each country produces. In the same manner, each of the princes receives tribute from his province, with which he maintains his household, his troops, defrays the expenses of keeping the roads in repair, as likewise of his journeys to court, maintains his family &c. The five imperial crown-lands pay a tax of 148 mans and 1,200 koku of rice, which amounts to nearly 44,400,000,000 sacks of rice. Each man contains 100,000 koku, each koku 3,000 bales or sacks of rice, and each sack weighs upwards of twenty pounds.33 The aggregate revenue of the whole empire of Japan amounts at least to 2,328 mans and 6,200 koku. At the time when Kaempfer resided in Japan, in the year 1692, the dairi, kinjō kōtei, was in the fifth year of his reign, having ascended the throne AD 1687.34 Since that period the following emperors have reigned: Nakanomikado no in, from 1709 to 173535 Sakuramachi no in, from 1736 to 1743 Momozono no in, from 1747 to 1761 Sentō Gosho, from 1762 to 176936 And since the year 1770, Higashiyama no in, who continued to fill the imperial throne at the time of my departure from Japan, in the year 1776.37

A description of japan and the japanese II

177

Of kubō, or secular emperors, the following have successively sat on the throne of Japan. In the year 1693, when Kaempfer took his leave of this country, Kubō Tsunayoshi still reigned. He was then in the 43rd year of his age and had reigned twelve or thirteen years. The whole duration of his reign comprehended a period of twenty-nine years.38 After him followed: Ienobu kō, and reigned from 1709 to 1712 Ietsugu kō, from 1713 to 1716 Yoshimune kō, from 1717 to 175139 Ieshige kō, from 1752 to 176140 at which time the present kubō, Ieharu kō ascended the throne, which he still occupied at the time of my departure A[nno] 1776.41 The government of each province is entrusted to some prince who resides in it and is responsible to the secular emperor for his administration. He has a right to all the revenues of his fief, with which he supports his court, his military force, keeps the roads in repair &c. He is likewise bound, as we said before, to make a journey once every year to the kubō’s court, with a degree of pomp suited to the size and dignity of his fief, to take with him considerable presents, and to keep his family constantly at this emperor’s court as hostages for his allegiance. The towns in which these princes hold their court are mostly of considerable note, situated near some harbour or large river and surrounded with walls and fosses. Most frequently at one of the extremities of the town stands the prince’s castle, which is of a great extent, being likewise surrounded with a wall and fosse, provided with strong gates and adorned with high towers. These castles are for the most part like the imperial palace at Edo, divided into three compartments each of which is well fortified. The innermost is the residence of the prince himself, the second is allotted to the superior officers of state, the third and last is destined for his troops, with the rest of his retinue and attendants. Not only are the towns themselves provided with gates, but each individual street has its own gates, which are shut during night and on some other occasions, so that not a soul can either enter in or go out. The distance between each of these gates is generally from 60 to 120 yards. Each street has its own watch, watch house, and apparatus for guarding against fire, as likewise an ottona and other officers for preserving decorum and good order. For the accommodation of travellers, in every town there are a great many inns, which are neat and conveniently situated; by the side of the roads, likewise, and near each other (none of them being more than a quarter of an hour’s distance asunder), there are others which are posthouses, where are always to be found horses and norimon-bearers, who forward travellers for a certain determined price proportioned to the length and difficulty of the road, so that the price of travelling is not the same throughout the whole country, but is regulated according to the nature of the roads in each place. Although the regulations here, as well in the towns as in the country, agreeable to the genius42 of this people, appear sometimes very singular and frequently even savour of compulsion and constraint, still, it cannot be denied that they are really sometimes both necessary and excellent. Upon the whole, both the supreme government and the civil magistrates make the welfare of the state, the preservation of order, and the protection of the persons and

Japan extolled and decried

178

property of the subject, an object of greater moment and attention in this country than in most others. The villages in Japan are for the most part situated near the public roads; they are distinguished from the towns by having only one street and by being open, but they are otherwise of an extraordinary length, extending from a mile and a half to three miles, and sometimes farther. The roads are both broad and kept in excellent repair, as they are not liable to be spoiled by wheel carriages in a country where travellers are generally carried by men in a kind of litter, or else walk. With respect to this, they constantly observe a most excellent rule, which is that travellers shall always keep on the left-hand side of the way, so that different companies, whether great or small, may meet and pass, without in any wise incommoding each other—a regulation which in other countries that lie under less restraint deserves so much the more to be attended to, as not only in the high roads in the country, but even in towns and cities. Every year exhibits in no inconsiderable number, the most lamentable, and to an enlightened nation disgraceful instances of persons of every age and sex, but more especially children and old people, being rode or driven over by the giddy sons of riot and dissipation, of which broken limbs, if not loss of life itself, is a pretty certain consequence. And as it often happens that bridges cannot be laid down over certain parts of a river on account of the violent floods, the best and safest regulations are adopted for transporting travellers over, either in boats or upon the hands of men. Even in the most inconsiderable villages there is a number of petty inns established, where the traveller is sure to find boiling water ready for his tea, with other refreshments. Weapons The arms of the Japanese consist of bows and arrows, scimitars44, halberts and guns. Their bows are very large and their arrows long, like those of the Chinese. When these bows are to be drawn and the arrows discharged, the troops always place themselves upon one knee, a position which renders it impossible for them to discharge their arrows in quick succession. In the spring the troops assemble to exercise themselves with these bows in shooting at a mark. Guns are not their usual weapons: I could only meet with these at the houses of the gentry45 where they were displayed upon an elevated stand, appropriated for that purpose, in the audience chamber. The barrels of the guns were of the usual length, but the stock behind the lock was very short and, inasmuch as I could perceive at a distance, there was a match in the lock; the locks are sometimes made of copper. I never had an opportunity of seeing a gun fired off, although I have several times heard them discharged from the Dutch factory in the neighbourhood of the town of Nagasaki, but the interpreters informed me that their guns, which on account of their shortness could not be placed against the shoulder, were here generally held against the cheek bone—a position which, however, appears not a little singular. Cannon are not the usual arms of this country, although at Nagasaki in the possession of the imperial guard there are some to be seen which were formerly taken from the Portuguese, but they are never used for saluting the ships and indeed they are very seldom discharged at all. The Japanese have little or no notion of the proper mode of using them and whenever they are to fire them off, which is generally done once every seven years at Nagasaki in order to

A description of japan and the japanese II

179

cleanse and prove46 them, the adjutant of artillery provides himself with a long pole to which he fixes the match and, notwithstanding this precaution, sometimes sets fire to the cannon with averted eyes. The scimitar, therefore, is their chief and choicest weapon and is constantly worn by everyone but the peasants. This scimitar is a yard in length, somewhat inclining to a curve, and has a broad back; the blades are of an incomparably good temper and such as are old, in particular, are very highly valued. In goodness they far surpass the Spanish blades which are so much renowned throughout Europe47; they will cut a very large nail asunder with ease and without their edge being turned, and, according to the accounts of the Japanese, will cleave a man asunder from top to bottom. A blade is never sold for less that six kobangs, but these scimitars often fetch from fifty to seventy, and even a hundred rixdollars, and are considered by the Japanese as the most precious and valuable part of their property. The hilt is furnished with a round and substantial guard, without any bow48, and is sometimes full six inches long; the hilt itself is somewhat roundish and flat, is frequently split at the ends and covered with shark skin which presents a surface replete with knobs of different sizes. These skins have been imported by the Dutch and bought of them at a very dear rate, sometimes from fifty to eighty kobangs, each kobang being valued at six rixdollars.49 Round this shagreen50, silken cords are twisted checkerwise, so that the shagreen appears through; the guard itself is thicker than a rixdollar, embellished with embossed figures or curious openwork. The scabbard of the scimitar is thick and rather flat, and cut off square at the end; it is sometimes covered over with the finest shagreen which is lacquered; sometimes it is made of wood and lacquered either entirely black or variegated with black and white spots, like marble. Sometimes one sees a silver ring or two encompassing51 the scabbard; in the fore part on one side there is a small rising prominence with a hole in it, through which a strong silken cord is introduced that serves occasionally to fasten the scimitar. Near the inner side of the hilt there is another hole which contains a knife about six inches in length. This silken cord is sometimes yellow and sometimes green, but more commonly black. They never make use of an appropriated belt, but always thrust the scimitar into the belt upon the left side, with the edge upwards, which to Europeans appears ridiculous enough. In the figures which Dr. Kaempfer has given of the Japanese in his History of Japan, these scimitars are drawn after the European manner and therefore appear in the very reverse of their real position.52 Every magistrate, as well as the superior and inferior officers of the army, wear constantly two of these scimitars, one of which is their own private property, the other is what is called their official scimitar and is farther distinguished by its superior length53. Both these scimitars are worn in the belt upon the same side, where they lie a little across each other. On entering a room and sitting down, they generally take off their official scimitar and lay it either on one side of them or before them. The interpreters had only one scimitar, but the banjoses wore two, and these were always the first that came on board and the last that left the ship on those days when any business was to be transacted there.

Japan extolled and decried

180

Religion54 Paganism is the established religion throughout the whole empire of Japan, but their sects are both numerous and very opposite to each other in their tenets, notwithstanding which they all live together in the greatest harmony and concord, without disputes or quarrels. The ecclesiastical emperor, the dairi, is, like the pope, the head of the church, and appoints the principal priests. Every sect has its respective church and its own peculiar idols which are represented under some determinate, and that for the most part very uncouth and hideous, form. The number of these fictitious deities is such that almost every trade has its own tutelary divinity, after the manner of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and consequently they have both their deii majorurn et minorum gentium.55 The Japanese are not, indeed, entirely ignorant of the existence of an eternal, omnipotent being, supreme in power and might above all other gods, but their knowledge in this particular is very much obscured with fable and superstition; notwithstanding this, I have never seen among any pagans whatever, so large and majestic a representation of this god as is to be met with in two of the temples in this country.56 In the one is seen a wooden image of such an amazing magnitude that six men can sit cross-legged in the Japanese fashion upon its wrist, and it measures ten yards in breadth across the shoulders. In the other, his infinite power is represented by a multitude of subaltern deities who stand round him on each side, to the number of 33,333. Their temples, of which they have likewise a great variety, are generally built in the suburbs of the towns upon the highest and most eligible spots. The priests in each temple are numerous, although they have little or no employment any farther than to keep the temple clean, to light the fires and the lamps, and to present such flowers as are consecrated to the idol and which they believe to be most agreeable to him. No sermons are preached, nor hymns sung in the temples, but they are left open all day for the accommodation of such as wish to offer up their prayers or to leave their offerings. Nor are strangers denied admittance to their temples, not even the Dutch, who are allowed to visit them and may be accommodated with lodgings in them whenever it happens that the inns in the petty country towns are bespoke, as was once the case in the course of the journey that I made to the imperial court.57 The principal religions of Japan may properly be said to be only two: the Shinto and the Butsudo.58 The former is the proper and most ancient religion of the country, though its adherents are not so numerous as those of the latter, which was brought hither from the continent of Asia and has acquired the greatest number of followers.59 The doctrine of the Shinto, in its original simplicity and purity, was much nobler than it was after it became in process of time adulterated with a great many foreign and superfluous ceremonies. It is even probable that it originated from the Babylonian emigrants and was in its rise more intelligible and clear, but by degrees became obscured. Its adherents acknowledge and believe in a Supreme Being who inhabits the highest heavens, but they likewise allow of inferior or subaltern deities. It is by this Supreme Divinity that they swear, and they believe him to be far too great to stand in need of their worship.60 Their adoration, therefore, has for its object the inferior deities who, according to their creed, exercise dominion over the earth, the water, the air &c and have it in their power to make men happy or miserable. Neither are they without some conception, however imperfect, of the immortality of the soul, and of a future state of happiness or

A description of japan and the japanese II

181

misery after death. According to their tradition, the souls of the virtuous have a place assigned them immediately under heaven, whilst those of the wicked are doomed to wander to and fro under the cope and canopy of heaven in order to expiate their sins; consequently they place no manner of faith in the metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, into animals or other bodies; the whole tenor of their doctrine has no other object than to render mankind virtuous in this life; their chief and universal care is to preserve a clear conscience, to lead a virtuous life, and to show due obedience to the laws of their sovereign. They abstain from animal food, are very loth to shed blood, and will not touch any dead body. Whenever anyone transgresses in any of these points, he is considered as unclean for a longer or a shorter term, as was the case with the Jews agreeable to the Levitical law. They believe that there are no other devils than those which reside as souls in foxes, these animals being considered as very noxious and dangerous in this country.61 Although the professors62 of this religion are persuaded that their gods know all things, and that, therefore, it is unnecessary to pray to them for anything, they have, nevertheless, both churches and certain stated holidays. Their gods are called shin or kami, and their churches are styled miya. These churches consist of several different apartments and galleries, with windows and doors in front which can be taken away and replaced at pleasure, according to the custom of the country. The floors are covered with straw mats and the roofs project so wide on every side as to overhang an elevated path in which people walk round the temple. In these churches one meets with no visible idol, nor any image which is designed to represent the Supreme Invisible Being, though they sometimes keep a little image in a box representing some inferior divinity, to whom the temple is consecrated. In the centre of the temple is frequently placed a large mirror made of cast-metal, well polished, which is designed to remind those that come to worship that, in like manner as their personal blemishes are faithfully portrayed in the mirror, so do the secret blemishes and evil qualities of their hearts lie open and exposed to the allsearching eyes of the immortal gods. I have frequently observed with the great astonishment, as well on holidays as on other occasions, the extreme devotion with which the Shintoists approach these temples; they never venture to approach the house of their god if they are in any wise impure, for which reason they wash themselves first perfectly clean, dress themselves in their very best apparel, and wash their hands a second time just at the entrance of the temple, then advancing with the greatest reverence they place themselves before the mirror, and after bowing respectfully down to the very ground, turn once more to the mirror, proffer their prayers and present their offerings. At the conclusion, they ring thrice a little bell which is kept for that purpose in the temple, and retire to spend the remainder of the day in mirth and rejoicing. The priests in these temples may be divided into two classes: the first, who attend to the domestic business of the temple, are secular priests and illiterate in order that they may not be able to reveal the mysteries of their religion. The other class, consisting of those who are in sacred orders, instruct their disciples in the religious mysteries of their sect, who are bound by oath not to reveal any part of them. The secular priests shave their beards, but not their heads, and are habited in a large and loose dress, after the manner of the country; on their heads they wear a lacquered hat with a silken tassel hanging down behind. Since the introduction of Butsudo’s doctrine into this country, this sect has adopted a greater variety both of tenets and ceremonies than it originally embraced, and

Japan extolled and decried

182

unquestionably merits the preference before all other sects in the island, notwithstanding all the superstition with which it is infected. The kubō professes himself of this sect and is bound to make a visit every year, either in person or by his ambassador, to one of their temples, and there to perform his devotion, and at the same time to leave behind him presents of great value.63 Butsudo’s doctrine was originally brought hither from the Western coast of the East Indies, that is to say, from Malabar, Coromandel and Ceylon. Buddha, who without doubt is the same with Butsudo, was a prophet among the Brahmins, who is reported to have been born in Ceylon about one thousand years before the birth of Christ, and was the founder of that sect which has since diffused itself over every part of the East Indies, and to the remotest boundaries of Asia.64 The doctrine, however, did not gain repute in China till a long time after its first introduction; from thence it passed over into Korea, and from that place into Japan, where it was very generally received, and being blended with that of the ancient Shinto, gave birth to the most monstrous and absurd superstitions. Its principal tenets consist in the following maxims: that the souls of men and beasts are alike immortal; that a just distribution of rewards and punishments takes place after death; that there are different degrees of happiness as well as of punishment; that the souls of the wicked transmigrate after death into the bodies of animals, and at last, in case of amendment, are translated back again into the human form &c. To the Supreme God they give the name of Amida, and Satan is called Enma.65 The churches of all the different religious sects are in general built upon the most eligible spots, both in the villages and towns; the roads leading to them likewise are frequently adorned with alleys of cypress trees and handsome gates; most of them have a separate apartment for the idol, who is sometimes exhibited sitting upon an altar surrounded with incense, flowers and other decorations. The churches throughout the whole country are open every day in the year, but they are, as the reader will easily imagine, more generally frequented on the customary festival days, and likewise at other times, by a multitude of visitors who repair thither in order to amuse and divert themselves. The usual holidays in Japan are the first day of every month, when they rise early in the morning, dress themselves handsomely and go to pay their respects to their friends and superiors, at the same time wishing them joy of the new month. This day is kept as a festival throughout the whole empire, a custom which has been observed from the earliest ages. The full of the moon, or the fifteenth day, is another holiday on which the people resort to the temples in greater numbers than on the first. The third festival is of less consequence and falls upon the twenty-eighth day, or the day before the new month. Besides these monthly festivals they celebrate five more which happen but once in the year: the first of these is New Year’s Day. On this day, they rise very early in the morning, dress themselves in their best attire and go round among their superiors, friends and relations to wish them a happy New Year; the remainder of the day is spent in eating and drinking, visiting the temples and making merry; some of them make a practice of giving away some trifling present on these occasions, and very often the eldest of the tribe66 gives a public supper to his kindred. The whole country at this time is in a state of busy fermentation, as it were, which lasts for three whole days; after this, the whole of the first month is dedicated almost to no other purpose than to pastime and pleasure. The second annual festival falls upon the third day of the third month, the third upon the fifth

A description of japan and the japanese II

183

day of the fifth month, the fourth upon the seventh day of the seventh month and the fifth upon the ninth day of the ninth month67. These months and days, which make always uneven numbers, are considered by the Japanese as unlucky and are therefore dedicated (setting all business aside) to mirth and mutual congratulations and in some measure, though but little, to the service of the divinities. On some of these holidays, in preference to other days, they celebrate their nuptials, give public entertainments and other diversions, as it is a maxim with them that the gods take delight in seeing mankind joyful and happy. Some of the churches in the country, being more worthy of note than others, it is common to perform pilgrimages thither from all parts of the empire, in like manner as the Mahommetans68 are accustomed to visit Mecca. Among these, the temple of Ise, which is consecrated to Tenshō Daijin, the most ancient of their gods and supreme above all the other celestial divinities, is particularly remarkable. This temple is the most ancient in the whole empire and at the same time in the worst condition, being now so exceedingly decayed with age that it can scarcely be kept together with the greatest care and attention.69 It has no other ornaments than a mirror and slips of white paper hung roundabout on the walls, denoting that nothing impure may approach or can be pleasing to God, as likewise that nothing can be hid from his all-seeing eye. The emperor, who cannot personally visit this temple, sends thither every year an ambassador in his stead in the first month of the year. Every one of his subjects, without any exception of age or sex, is bound to undertake a pilgrimage thither at least once in his lifetime, and many perform it every year;70 people of superior rank, however, go but seldom as here as well as in other places they arrogate to themselves various privileges and prerogatives, in which they consult their private ease and convenience rather than their duty. These journeys may be undertaken at any season of the year, as best suits the convenience of the party, but in general they chose the pleasantest months, especially the spring. The performance of such a pilgrimage is deemed highly meritorious and is besides rewarded with an indulgence, granting remission of sins for the whole year.71 In the course of my journey to the imperial court at Edo, I saw some thousands of these devout pilgrims, many of whom were so wretched and indigent that they were obliged to beg their way. These miserable people even carried their beds with them, agreeable to the fashion of the country, consisting of a straw mat, which they carried on their backs; most of them were further provided with a little bucket which served them to drink out of as likewise to receive the alms given them. On this bucket I saw the name of the owner inscribed, which served to show who the traveller was in case he should meet with any calamity or chance to die on the road. On their arrival at Ise, the pilgrims are conducted by some priest to the temple of the god where they humbly prefer72 their prayers, and, in consideration of some present made to the priest are favoured with an indulgence which consists of a few thin laminae of pewter kept in an oblong box, made likewise of thin pewter.73 Besides the priests employed in the service of the different churches, there is another class, or a less sacred order of them. The order of Blind Monks is, perhaps, one of the most singular that ever was known and is not to be paralleled in the whole world, consisting of none but blind members who are dispersed over the whole empire. The order of yamabushi, or Monks of the Mountain, is likewise worthy of notice; it was founded about 1,200 years ago and has a General74 who resides in Miyako and distributes titles of honour to his dependants, according to their various merits. These wear, by way

Japan extolled and decried

184

of distinction, a small cord suspended from the neck to which are attached several pieces of fringe of different lengths, according to the merit of the wearer; they further wear a scimitar on the left side and carry in their hands a staff with a copper head to it and a conch, or Mures tritonis, which serves them instead of a trumpet. Their head is covered with a cap, on their back is hung a sack and a pair of shoes to make use of when they travel over the mountains, and they are likewise frequently provided with a rosary, or kind of pater noster.75 The monks of this order suffer many hardships and are in duty bound, once every year, to the great and imminent danger of their lives, to traverse wild forests and to climb up to the summits of the highest mountains. It is furthermore incumbent upon them to study cleanliness, on which account they bathe very often in cold water and subsist solely upon roots and herbs which they gather in the mountains; in fine76, they wander barefoot over the whole country and, like the gypsies in the North, cure disorders, restore stolen goods, tell fortunes &c. Vows are frequently made by superstitious persons, thus, for instance, one of our best interpreters, a man advanced in years, having made a vow a long time back never to make use of shoes and being this year employed to accompany the Dutch embassy to the imperial court in the depth of winter, marched along very patiently upon his bare feet, bore all the inclemency of the weather with the unconcern of a Stoic and, what was surprising, did not afterwards suffer any inconvenience in consequence of his hard and troublesome expedition. Nunneries have been established in this country upwards of a thousand years ago, although with respect to number they fall infinitely short of those established in Europe. Every order or sect has constantly its General resident in Miyako, besides which every church or convent has its own superior; exclusively of these, they have likewise at the secular emperor’s court in Edo their ecclesiastical plenipotentiary, whose business it is to settle such disputes as concern temporal matters in the country, as likewise to take cognizance of the misconduct of those who are in holy orders; but when sentence of death is to be passed upon the latter the warrant must always be previously signed by the General of the order. The Christian religion was brought into Japan immediately after the discovery of this country by the Portuguese. The first Jesuit missionaries arrived in the province of Bungo in the year 154977, and in a short time spread themselves over the whole country, where they continued till the year 1638, when 37,000 Christians were massacred. In 1549, a Japanese youth was baptised in Goa, who gave the Portuguese great insight into the advantages which they might reap in Japan both with respect to commerce and the propagation of the Christian religion.78 The Portuguese enjoyed here the most unlimited freedom, with liberty to travel over the whole country, to trade and to preach. Their commerce proved very lucrative and the work of conversion made such a rapid progress that many of the princes of the empire, as for instance, the princes of Bungo, Arima, Ōmura79 and many more, embraced the Christian religion, which induced the Portuguese to come over in great numbers, marry and settle in different parts of the country. In 1589, after forty years labour, the Catholic religion was in such high esteem here that a Japanese embassy was sent to Rome to Pope Gregory XIII, with letters and valuable presents.80 But the incredible profits of this commerce, added to the rapid progress of the Christian religion, soon puffed up the Portuguese with pride and it was not long before their avarice and haughtiness proved their ruin. In proportion as their riches and credit

A description of japan and the japanese II

185

increased, they became insupportable to the Japanese and were at length detested to such a degree that already in the year 1586 a decree was issued for the extermination of the Christians, in consequence of which heavy persecutions were commenced against them, and, in the year 1590 only, upwards of twenty thousand of them were put to death. Notwithstanding all this, numbers of the Japanese daily became proselytes to the Christian faith, so that in the years 1591 and 1592 not less than twelve thousand were converted and baptised. Even the emperor Kubō Hideyori himself professed Christianity,81 together with his court and army, and had the Portuguese but conducted themselves with prudence and gentleness there is every reason to believe that the persecutions already commenced against them would have ceased. But instead of this they gave daily greater scope to their haughtiness and ambition and one of their bishops behaving with unwarrantable rudeness towards a prince of the empire, thereby accelerated their final ruin, giving at the same time a decisive blow to their lucrative commerce, together with the propagation of the Christian religion. This circumstance took place in the year 1596, when a certain prince was so grossly affronted by an ambitious prelate during a journey to the imperial court, that on his arrival at Edo the former laid before kubō a statement of the whole affair.82 Hence arose a new persecution against the Christians in the year following; the priests being forbidden to preach, a great many of the clergy banished out of the country and the mercantile part of the colony sent to the island of Dejima.83 At this time too a conspiracy was discovered, which the Portuguese had set on foot against the emperor with an intent to dethrone him. The Dutch who happened at that time to be at war with the Portuguese, having captured one of their vessels, found among other papers a letter from a certain Japanese captain named Mori to the King of Portugal, containing the particulars of the plot concerted against the emperor’s throne and person.84 The actual existence of this conspiracy being afterwards fully authenticated by another letter written by Moro to Macao, the Japanese government came to the final determination to banish all Christians from the empire who should refuse to abjure the Catholic faith, or else to put them all to death without quarter. This persecution was accordingly commenced and carried on without intermission for the space of forty years when it ended in the total eradication of the Christian religion, together with the final overthrow of the trade carried on by the Portuguese; after 37,000 Christians who had taken refuge in the castle of Shimabara, where they sustained a siege, had been forced to surrender and were all put to the sword in one day. The Japanese, who were persuaded that this unwarrantable conduct in the Christians was the inseparable consequence of their doctrines, took from that time forward the most efficacious measures to prevent the Christian faith from being ever re-established in their dominions, and the Portuguese received strict injunctions under the severest penalties never to approach their coasts any more. And in order the more effectually to discover whether any Japanese Christians remained hidden and concealed in the country, recourse was had to various institutions and among others to that of trampling upon the images of the saints, a custom which still prevails and is repeated at the commencement of every year in Nagasaki, and the circumjacent country.85 Philosophers and moralists are regarded in this country in the same light as priests and sacred persons, and their tenets have been embraced with equal ardour with those of other spiritual sects. The chief which has obtained estimation and repute in Japan is Jutō or Kōshi, known in Europe by the name of the morality of Confucius.86 This system derives

Japan extolled and decried

186

its origin from China, where Confucius was born 400 years after Butsudo87. Its followers, though they cannot properly be said to worship any god, place their summum bonum88, nevertheless, in a virtuous life, and admit of rewards or punishments for man in this life only. They confess that a universal soul, or spirit, belongs to the world, without acknowledging any other gods, without having churches and without worshipping any one. Their doctrine, therefore, chiefly inculcates the following maxims: to lead a virtuous life, to do justice to every man, to behave at the same time to all persons with civility, to govern with equity, and to maintain an inviolate integrity of heart. They do not burn their dead, but lay them like the Europeans in a chest, and bury them in the earth. Suicide is not only deemed lawful among them, but is even applauded and considered as a heroic act. The difference between this system of morality, which has been introduced among them in latter times, and their most ancient religion is very great and remarkable. In their modern system we discover the offspring of human wit, whilst their ancient religion exhibits evident traces of the divine Law of Moses. Food and the various modes of preparing it In the multiplicity of the articles of food to be met with in its islands and the surrounding ocean, and which both nature and art conspire to furnish and prepare, Japan may, perhaps, be said to surpass most other countries hitherto known to us. The Japanese not only make use of such things for food and aliment which are in themselves wholesome and nutritive, but take almost the whole of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, not excepting the most poisonous which, by their mode of dressing and preparing them, may be rendered harmless and even useful. The meat that is served up in every dish is cut into small pieces, thoroughly boiled and stewed and mixed with agreeable sauces. By this means all the viands89 are extremely well dressed and the master of the house is not harassed at his table with the trouble of cutting up great pieces, or of distributing the provisions round to the guests. At mealtime everyone sits himself upon the soft floor mats; facing each guest is placed a small square table that serves for the purpose of holding the different dishes which already in the kitchen have been portioned out to each person, and are served up in the neatest vessels either of porcelain or japanned wood. These cups are tolerably large basins, and always furnished with a lid. The first course consists generally of fish with fish soup; the soup they drink out of the cup, but eat the solid part which is chopped into small pieces with two lacquered 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 with them; and these pegs serve them for the purpose both of fork and spoon. As soon as one course is finished it is taken away, another served up in its room. The last course is brought to table in a cup of blue porcelain and this likewise is furnished with a lid. The victuals are carried in by a servant who kneels down as he places them upon the table and takes them away after dinner. When several persons eat in company together, they all salute each other with a low bow before they begin to eat. The ladies do not eat with the men, but by themselves. Between each dish they drink warm sake, or rice-beer, which is poured out of a tea kettle into shallow tea saucers made of lacquered wood, and during this they sometimes eat a quarter of an egg boiled hard,

A description of japan and the japanese II

187

and very frequently they drink at the same time to somebody’s health. In general they eat three times a day: about eight o’clock in the morning, two o’clock at noon and eight in the evening. There are some that observe no regular time for their meals, but eat whenever they are hungry, for which reason the victuals are obliged to be kept in readiness the whole day. Rice, which is here exceedingly white and well-tasted, supplies with the Japanese the place of bread; they eat it boiled with every kind of provisions. Miso soup, boiled with fish and onions, is eaten by the common people frequently three times a day, or at each of their customary meals. Misos are not unlike lentils and are small beans gathered from the Dolichos soja.90 Fish is likewise a very common dish with the Japanese, both boiled and fried in oil. Fowls, of which they have a great variety both wild and tame, are eaten in great abundance, and the flesh of whales, though coarse, is in several places, at least among the poorer sort, a very common food. It has a red and disagreeable look and was often exposed for sale in the streets in Nagasaki, when I passed by in order to go on board of ship. In preparing their victuals, they make use of expressed oils of several different sorts. These oils are made chiefly from the seeds of sesame, of tsubaki (the Camellia japonica), kiri (the Bignonia tomentosa91), aburagiri (Dryandra cordata92), sendan azedarach93 and several others, sometimes from the Rhus fuccedanea94, Taxus baccata95 and ginko. In their victuals they make a very plentiful use of mushrooms and the fruit of the Solanum melongena96 as well as the roots of the Solanum esculentum (batatas)97, carrots and several kinds of bulbous roots and of beans. For the desert, they have kaki-figs98, chestnuts, waternuts99 and pears (which are possibly often exported from hence to Batavia), besides lemons, seville and China oranges, shaddocks100, grapes &c. Among their valuable fishes is what they call the tai (by the Dutch called steen-braasem)101, which is frequently sold at a very high price and purchased for holidays and festival occasions. The Perca sexlineata (ara)102 ranks among their finest fish, and their Clupea thrissa103 is so fat that it is equal to the best herrings that are caught in Europe. Salmon is only found near the Hakone mountains, and is neither so large nor so well-tasted as those of Europe. Of oysters and other shellfish, several different sorts are eaten, but always boiled or stewed, as likewise shrimps and crabs. Drink Tea and sake-beer constitute the sole liquors of the Japanese, which fall infinitely short in number of those which the thirsty Europeans can exhibit. Wines and distilled liquors they never make use of, and can hardly be persuaded to taste them when offered them by the Dutch. Coffee is scarcely known, even by the taste, to a few of the interpreters, and brandy is not with them one of the necessaries of life. They have hitherto never suffered themselves to be corrupted by the Europeans that have visited them; rather than adopt any practice from others, which might be actually both useful and convenient, they have chosen to retain their ancient and primitive mode of life in its original purity, into which they would not even insensibly104 introduce any usage or custom that in the course of time might become useless to them, or detrimental. Sake is the name of a kind of beer which the Japanese prepare from rice; it is tolerably clear and not a little resembles wine, but has a very singular taste which cannot be

Japan extolled and decried

188

reckoned extremely pleasant. This liquor, when it is fresh, is more inclined to a white colour, but after it has lain in small wooden casks it becomes very brown. This drink is vended in every tavern, in the same manner as wine is sold in all cellars in Europe, and it constitutes their cheer at entertainments and looser hours, and is likewise used as wine by the more wealthy at their very meals. It is never drunk cold by the Japanese, but is warmed in a common tea kettle from which it is poured out into flat tea cups made of lacquered wood, and in this manner it is drank quite warm, which in a very short time heats and inebriates them, but the whole intoxication vanishes in a few minutes and is generally succeeded by a disagreeable headache. To Batavia, sake is imported as an article of commerce, but it is also drunk there out of wine glasses before meals to provoke an appetite, on which occasions the white sake is generally preferred, which is less disgusting to the taste. Tea is drunk throughout the whole country for the purpose of quenching thirst, for which reason they keep in every house and more especially in every inn a kettle upon the fire all day long, with boiling105 water and ground tea; from this the brown decoction is poured out for immediate use and another kettle, filled with cold water, affords them the means of diluting and cooling it. In the houses of people of distinction, visitors are always presented with green tea, with which the Dutch are entertained whenever they wait upon any of the privy counsellors or other persons in office. This tea is fresh gathered and ground to a powder; boiling water being first poured into a can, they put in the tea in its pulverized state, and stir it round with a stick in the same manner as is usually done with chocolate, and then pour it out into tea cups; it must be drunk immediately, otherwise the green powder settles at the bottom. No person of distinction undertakes a journey of any length without carrying with him a lacquered chest which is borne by a manservant and in which water is kept boiling all the way; ground tea, tea cups and every other necessary appendage are ready prepared and at hand. The tea shrub grows wild in every part of the country, but I met with it most frequently growing on the very borders and margins of cultivated lands, or upon such mountains and downs as did not very well answer the trouble of cultivation. This plant grows from the seed in the course of six or seven years to the height of a man, but already in the third year of its growth it yields some produce of its leaves. Those who are somewhat accustomed to this kind of harvest can gather in the space of one day ten or twelve pounds weight of them. The older the leaves are and the later in the year the gathering is made, the greater abundance, it is true, they yield, but then the tea is so much the worse, as the smaller leaves and those which have but just shot forth furnish the finest and most valuable. The tea, therefore, is gathered annually at three different seasons. The first harvest commences at the end sangatsu106 (the beginning of March or the end of February), at which season the leaves begin to push forth possess a viscous quality, and are gathered solely for the use of the emperor, or for people of rank and opulence, whence it takes the name of Imperial Tea. A month after this the second harvest takes place, when the leaves are full-grown but are still thin, tender and well-flavoured. Again a month and the principal harvest commences when the greatest quantity is gathered, the leaves having all pushed forth completely and become very thick and stout. Young shrubs always yield better tea than old ones and some places produce it in greater perfection and more delicious than others.

A description of japan and the japanese II

189

The tea leaves are afterwards, for the sake of drying them, spread upon thin plates of iron which are made hot. During this operation they must be continually stirred round with both hands as long as ever the fingers can support the heat. They are next rolled to and fro upon mats, till they grow perfectly cool and in case they are not then sufficiently dry they are roasted and rolled over again once, or as many times as may be requisite. The smoking of tobacco The smoking of tobacco was in former times not customary in this country, but it is probable that the Portuguese were the first who introduced this practice. The Japanese have no other name for tobacco than tabako, which is smoked indiscriminately by both sexes. The tobacco used for this purpose is planted in the country and is the common Nicotiana tabacum. They cut their tobacco into very fine shreds, almost as fine as human hair; the pipes which they use are very short, seldom more than six inches in length and are made of lacquered bamboo with a copper mouthpiece and bowl; this latter is so small that it does not contain above a third part or one half of a thimbleful of tobacco, which is twisted up and crammed in with their fingers. These pipes are soon smoked out in a very few whiffs only, upon which the ashes are beaten out and the pipe is filled again, which practice they repeat several times. The smoke is puffed out each time both through the nostrils and the mouth. Persons of distinction have always the following apparatus for smoking: an oblong box eighteen inches long a foot broad and three fingers high, lacquered of a brown or black colour, is placed before each person; in this box are laid pipes and tobacco and three cups are placed which are used in smoking; one of these round cups, which is generally made of thick and stout porcelain or lacquered wood is lined with brass on the inside and is filled with ashes in which a live coal is placed for the purpose of lighting the pipe; the second serves to receive the ashes of the tobacco after the pipe is smoked out, when this latter is struck with force against the edge and sometimes it is spat upon in order to quench the sparks. The third supplies the place of a spitting-pot during the time of smoking. At visits, this apparatus is the first thing that is placed before the guests. One of these boxes is sometimes furnished with a lid which is tied fast with a ribbon and is carried by a servant whenever they go to such places where they do not expect to have tobacco presented to them. The poorer class generally carry both their pipe and tobacco with them when they go out; the pipe is then put into a case and worn on the right side in the girdle at the back of their loins; the tobacco-pouch is hardly of the breadth of a hand and somewhat shorter, furnished with a flap at the top which is fastened together with a little ivory hook; this pouch is likewise slung to the girdle by means of a silken cord and a bead107 of cornelian108 or a piece of agate: it is made for the most part of a particular kind of silk with interwoven flowers of silver and gold. Festival sports and games Although gravity forms the general character of the Japanese nation, this serious disposition, however, does not prevent them from having their pleasures, their sports and

Japan extolled and decried

190

festivities. There are of two kinds, occasional or periodical, and constitute part of their worship; the latter, in many respects, may be compared to our plays. Their chief festivals are the Feast of Lanterns, and what is called the matsuri.109 The Lantern Festival, or Feast of Lamps, is celebrated towards the end of August and is called by the natives bon. It lasts three days, but the second afternoon with the following night are kept with the greatest festivity. It was originally instituted in memory and honour of the dead, who they believe return annually to their kindred and friends on the first afternoon of these games, everyone visiting his former house and family, where they remain till the second night, when they are to be sent away again. By way of welcoming them on their arrival, they plant stakes of bamboo near all the tombs, upon which they hang a great number of lanterns with lights, and those so close to each other that the whole mountain appears illuminated; these lanterns are kept alight till nine or ten o’clock at night. On the second evening when the spirits of the defunct are, according to their tradition, to be sent away again, they fabricate a small vessel of straw with lights and lanterns in it which they carry at midnight in procession with vocal and instrumental music and loud cries to the seashore, where it is launched into the water and left to the wind and waves till it either catches fire or is swallowed up by the waves. Both of these illuminations, consisting of several thousand fires, exhibit to the eye an uncommonly grand and beautiful spectacle. The feast of matsuri is celebrated upon some certain festival day and in honour of some particular god. This, for instance, in the town of Nagasaki where I was present at one of these festivals, it is celebrated in memory of Suwa, the tutelary deity of the town. It is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth month, which is the day of this idol’s nativity, with games, public dances, and dramatic representations;110 the festival commences on the seventh day when the temples are frequented, sermons are preached, prayers are offered up and public spectacles are exhibited; but the ninth day excels all in pomp and expensive magnificence, which they vary every time in such a manner that the entertainments of the present year bear no resemblance to those of the last, neither are the same arrangements made. The expenses are defrayed by the inhabitants of the town in such manner that certain streets exhibit and pay the expenses of certain pieces and parts of the entertainment. I, together with the rest of the Dutch, had an invitation sent me to be a spectator of this festival in 1776, which was celebrated in a large open spot in the town of Nagasaki. A capacious house resembling a large booth raised upon posts and provided with a roof and benches, was erected on one side for the convenience of the spectators. These consisted not only of the magistrates and ecclesiastics, but likewise of foreigners, and a guard was placed to keep off the crowd. First of all appeared the priests carrying the image of the idol Suwa, and took their places habited in black and white. A company of ten or twelve persons played upon instruments of music and sang the exploits of their gods and heroes, in the meantime that a party of virgins dancing displayed the most enchanting elegance in their gestures and deportment. The music consisted in a mere rattling noise, which might perhaps be found more grateful in the idol’s, than in human ears. A large parasol was next introduced, inscribed with the name of the street and emblazoned with its coat of arms, followed by a band of musicians in masks with drums, flutes, bells and vocal music. These were succeeded by the device itself, which was different for every street; then followed a band of actors, and lastly the inhabitants of the street in solemn procession with an innumerable and promiscuous111 crowd at their heels. This progressive march lasted nearly a whole hour, after which they marched back again

A description of japan and the japanese II

191

in the same order and a second procession succeeded in its place; this was followed by a third, and so on during the whole forenoon. The inhabitants of each street vied with each other in magnificence and invention with respect to the celebration of this festival, and in displaying, for the most part, such things as were characteristic of the various produce of the mines, mountains, forests, navigation, manufactures and the like, of the province from which the street derived its name, and whence it had its inhabitants. Plays I had an opportunity of seeing acted several times, both in Nagasaki and during my journey to the imperial court at Osaka. The spectators sit in houses of different dimensions upon benches; facing them upon an elevated but small and narrow place stands the theatre itself, upon which seldom more than one or two actors perform at a time. These are always dressed in a very singular manner, according as their own taste and fancy suggest, insomuch that a stranger would be apt to believe that they exhibited themselves not to entertain but to frighten the audience. Their gestures as well as their dress are strangely uncouth and extravagant, and consist in artificial contortions of the body, which it must have cost them much trouble to learn and perform. In general they represent some heroic exploit or love story of their idols and heroes, which are frequently composed in verse and are sometimes accompanied with music. A curtain may, it is true, be let fall between the actors and the spectators, and some necessary pieces be brought forward upon the theatre, but in other respects these small theatres have no machinery nor decorations which can entitle them to be put in comparison with those of Europe. I did not observe that public spectacles contributed any more in this country than in other places to reform the manners of the people, as the design of them appears to be the same here as in other parts of the world, and as they tend rather to amuse the idle frivolity of mankind with jugglers’ tricks than to amend the heart, rather to fill the pockets of the actors than to be of any real benefit to the spectators. When the Japanese wish at any time to entertain the Dutch, either in the town of Nagasaki or more particularly during their journey to the imperial court, they generally provide a band of female dancers for the amusement of their guests. These are generally young damsels, very superbly dressed, whom they fetch from the inns; sometimes young boys likewise are mixed among them. Such a dance requires always a number of persons who turn and twine and put themselves into a variety of artificial postures in order to represent an amorous or heroic deed, without either speaking or singing; their steps are however regulated by the music which plays to them. The girls are in particular provided with a number of very fine and light night-gowns, made of silk, which they slip off one after the other during the dance from the upper part of their body, so as frequently to have them to the number of a dozen together, suspended from the girdle which encircles their loins. Their dances therefore correspond in some measure with our country dances, although upon the whole they widely differ even from there. Their weddings and funerals may likewise claim a place among their festivals, although they do not celebrate them with the same pomp as do the Europeans and other nations. Marriages are solemnized upon a pleasant eminence without the towns, in the presence of the relations and the priests, when the following ceremonies are observed. The bridegroom and the bride advance together to an altar erected for that purpose, each holding a torch in their hand; whilst the priest is employed in reading a certain form of prayer, the bride, who occupies the right-hand place, first lights her torch from a burning

Japan extolled and decried

192

lamp and then holds it out to the bridegroom who lights his torch from hers; upon which the guests wish the new married couple joy. In this country the men are not allowed a plurality of wives as in China, but each man is confined to one, who has liberty to go out and show herself in company, and is not shut up in a recluse and separate apartment, as is the custom with their neighbours. Instances of divorces sometimes occur among them, but these cases are not very common. The more daughters a man has and the handsomer they are, the richer he esteems himself, it being here the established custom for suitors to make presents to their father-in-law before they obtain his daughter. Fornication is very prevalent in this country, notwithstanding which, chastity is frequently held in such high veneration, both with married and single, that when they have been injured in this point, they sometimes lay violent hands upon themselves. In this country likewise the dishonourable practice of keeping mistresses obtains with some, but the children they bring into the world cannot inherit and the mistresses are considered as servants in the house. The Japanese either burn their dead to ashes or else bury them in the earth. The former method, as I was informed, was in ancient times much more customary than it is at present, though it is still practised with persons of distinction. This ceremony is not always performed on a funeral pile in the open air, but takes place at times in a small house of stone, calculated for that purpose and furnished with a chimney. The ashes are carried away in a costly vessel and reserved for some time in the house at home, after which they are buried in the earth. Both men and women follow the corpse in norimons, together with the widow and children of the deceased and a numerous train of priests, who sing all the time. After one of the priests has sung the eulogy of the deceased, he waves thrice over the corpse a burning torch and then throws it away; upon this it is picked up by the children or other relations and the pile set on fire with it. Those who are interred without being first burned are enclosed in a wooden chest, after the customary manner, and let down into the grave. The children are very much attached to their parents, even after their death. During the interment and after the same, fragrant spices are cast into the grave and the finest flowers are planted upon their tombs. The survivors continue to visit the mansions of the dead for several years and not infrequently during their whole lives, repeating their visits at first every day then every week, after that once a month, and at last once a year, exclusively of the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated every year in honour of the defunct. Sciences112 The sciences in general fall infinitely short in Japan of that exalted preeminence to which they have attained in Europe. The history of their own country, may, however, perhaps be deemed more authentic here than that of most other nations, and this together with the science of house-keeping, is studied, without exception, by them all. Agriculture, which the Japanese consider as the most necessary and useful science for the prosperity and stability of the empire, is in no place in the world so much esteemed as here; where neither foreign nor civil wars, nor emigrations lessen their population, and where they never think of encroaching upon the territories of other nations, nor yet of introducing the unnecessary and often detrimental productions of other climates, but where on the

A description of japan and the japanese II

193

contrary their whole care is directed in the highest degree that not a single sod of earth shall lie fallow, nor the revenue of the earth be unthriftily employed. Astronomy is in great favour and repute, notwithstanding which they are unable, without the assistance of the Chinese and Dutch almanacs, to compose a perfect calendar, or to compute to minutes and seconds an eclipse of the sun or moon. Medicine, neither, has attained to any degree of eminence. With anatomy they are totally unacquainted, and their knowledge of diseases is very imperfect, involved in error and frequently in fable. Botany and the knowledge of remedies constitute the whole of their medical knowledge. Of natural philosophy and chemistry the Japanese have little more idea than what they have lately learned from the physicians of Europe. Law is not here a tedious and complicated study: no nation upon earth has a smaller code and fewer judges. Commentators upon the statutes, and advocates are here totally unknown, but in no country perhaps are the laws more strictly carried into execution without any regard to persons and without partiality or violence. The laws are severe and law-suits short. The original language of the country, in opposition to that of all other nations, is at once copious and expressive. Of foreign languages, Chinese is learned by those who devote themselves to study and read Chinese books and writings. The interpreters and some of their physicians even learn the Dutch language, and some of these understand a little Latin—a language which for nearly two thousand years has given more trouble to youth in the schools of Europe than in general they have derived benefit from it.113 Their morality does not consist in any curious labours of the brain, but in simple and rational doctrines, which they endeavour to reduce to practice in their conduct by leading a virtuous life. And this morality is preached and enforced by all their religious sects and is never detached from their divinity114 with which it stands in the closest connexion. The science of war is with these Orientals very simple: courage, fortitude and love of their country make ample amends for their ignorance of military tactics, and with these qualifications they have hitherto always proved victorious and never once been obliged to bow their necks to their enemies. Four hundred and seventy-one years before the commencement of our era, we find the first mention made of war in the Japanese history.115 After that period they have been several times disturbed by foreign forces. Anno 1284, after the Tartars had subdued China, Mōko, their General, sent 4,000 vessels and 240,000 men to conquer Japan, but without being able to accomplish his aim.116 The art of printing is unquestionably very ancient in this country, but they always used and still continue to use plates for this purpose, without having any knowledge of moveable types. They print upon one side of the paper only, on account of its thinness as otherwise the ink would sink through. They have even a knowledge of engraving although in the art of drawing they remain vastly inferior to the Europeans, over whom they however boast this decided preference, that they always draw some animal, plant, or other object that exists in nature and do not heap together upon tapestry or other kinds of paintings, fantastical figures of things which have no actual existence—a circumstance which has hitherto so little engaged the attensensible European. tion of our artists and which would do no little credit to an enlightened and117 Surveying they understand tolerably well and possess accurate maps both of their country in general and of its towns. Besides the general map of the empire I have seen special maps of Edo, Miyako, Osaka and the town of Nagasaki, which I likewise

Japan extolled and decried

194

contrived to carry out of the country with me, notwithstanding the great danger with which this was attended, and the strictest prohibitions to the contrary.118 Like the Chinese, the Japanese write in upright rows or columns, from the top to the bottom and then down again, beginning at the right hand and so proceeding to the left, forming their letters with a pencil made of hare’s hair and tousche,119 or Indian ink, which they rub every time with water upon a stone. Poetry is a favourite study with this nation, who employ it to perpetuate the memory of their gods, heroes and celebrated men. Music is likewise held in high estimation, but hitherto they have neither been able to bring their musical instruments to any degree of perfection, nor yet have they made any progress in the science of harmony. At festivals and on other grand occasions they make use of drums, fifes, stringed instruments, bells, horse-bells,120 and other musical instruments. The ladies especially are very fond of music and even learn to perform upon different instruments themselves, but their favourite instrument is a kind of lute with four strings which they strike with the fingers, and will pass whole evenings at this diversion, although it is not very pleasant.121 The koto bears a strong resemblance to our dulcimers, having a number of strings which are struck with sticks,122 and is incontestably the most agreeable instrument they have. In several places for the instruction of children in reading and writing, public schools are established, in which all the children read aloud and make a terrible noise. The children are in general educated without chastisement and blows; in their infant years songs are sung to them in praise of their deceased heroes, which tend to encourage them in the practice of virtue and constancy. In youth they are admonished with seriousness and good examples are held up for their imitation. Arts and manufactures are carried on in every part of the country and some of them are brought to such a degree of perfection as even to surpass those of Europe; whilst some, on the other hand, fall short of European excellence. They work extremely well in iron and copper and their silk and cotton manufactures equal, and sometimes even excel, the productions of other Eastern countries. Their lacquering in wood, especially their ancient workmanship, surpasses every attempt which has been made in this department by other nations. They work likewise with great skill in sowas, which is a mixture of gold and copper, which they understand how to colour blue or black with their tousche, or ink, by a method hitherto unknown to us. They are likewise acquainted with the art of making glass and can manufacture it for any purpose, both coloured and uncoloured. But window glass, which is flat, they could not fabricate formerly. This art they have lately learnt from the Europeans, as likewise to make watches,123 which they sometimes use in their houses. In like manner they understand the art of glass grinding and to form telescopes with it, for which purpose they purchase mirror glass of the Dutch. In the working of steel they are perfect masters, of which their incomparable swords afford the most evident proof. Paper is likewise manufactured in great abundance in this country, as well for writing and printing, as for tapestry124, handkerchiefs, clothes, for packing of goods &c, and is of various sizes and qualities. They prepare it from the bark of a species of mulberry tree, Moras papyrifera. The method is as follows. After the tree has shed its leaves in the month of December they cut off the branches about three feet in length, which they tie up in bundles and boil in a ley125 of ashes standing inverted in a covered kettle, till such time as the bark is so shrunk that half an inch of the woody part is seen bare at the ends. They are then taken out and left in the open air to cool, cut up

A description of japan and the japanese II

195

lengthwise, and the bark is stripped off. Upon this, the bark is again soaked three or four hours in water and when it is become soft they scrape off the fine black skin with a knife. The next thing to be done is to separate the coarse bark from the fine, which produces the whitest paper. The older the branches are, the coarser is the paper. The bark is now boiled again in fresh ley, and the whole continually stirred with a stick, and fresh water added to it till the fibers separate. The washing of it, which is a nice126 and delicate operation, is then performed in a brook by means of a sieve, by stirring the bark incessantly about till the whole is reduced to the consistence of a fine pap, and thrown into water separates in the form of meal.127 It is then further mixed in a small vessel with a decoction of rice and the Hibiscus manibot128 and stirred well about till it has attained a tolerable consistence. After this it is poured into a wider vessel, from whence the sheets are taken and put into proper forms made of grass straw and laid one upon another in heaps with straw between, that they may be easily lifted up. They are further covered with a board, and pressed at first lightly, but afterwards and gradually harder till the water is separated. When this is done, they lay the sheets upon a board, dry them in the sun and then gather them into bundles for sale and use. An inferior kind of paper is likewise manufactured from the Morus indica.129 The lacquered woodwork which is executed in Japan excels the Chinese, the Siamese and indeed that of all other nations in the world. For this purpose they make choice of the finest sort of firs and cedars and cover them with the very best varnish, which they prepare from the Rhus vernix130, a tree that grows in great abundance in many parts of the country. This varnish, which oozes out of the tree on its being wounded, is procured from stems that are three years old and is received in some proper vessel. When first caught it is of a lightish colour and of the consistence of cream, but grows thicker and black on being exposed to the air. It is of so transparent a nature that when it is laid pure and unmixed upon boxes and other pieces of furniture, every vein of the wood may be clearly seen. For the most part a dark ground is spread underneath it, which causes it to reflect like a looking-glass, and for this purpose recourse is frequently had to the fine sludge which is caught in the trough under a grind-stone. At other times ground charcoal is used and occasionally some black or red substance is mixed with the varnish and sometimes leaf-gold, ground very fine, when it is called salplicat.131 This lacquered work is afterwards for the most part embellished with gold and silver flowers and figures laid on upon varnish, which, however, are liable to wear off in time; sometimes one sees these figures embossed upon the varnish and more especially in old work, which is greatly esteemed and being rare fetches a high price. This varnish, which hardens to a transparent and difficultly soluble gum, will not endure any blows, but flies and cracks almost like glass, though it can stand boiling water without receiving any damage. With this they varnish over the posts of their doors and windows, their drawers, chests, boxes, scimitars, fans, tea cups and soup dishes, their norimons and most articles of household furniture which are made of wood. No Japanese is allowed to leave his native land and visit foreign countries, this being prohibited, under penalty of death. So that the long voyages which the people of this nation formerly undertook in their own vessels to Korea, China, Java, Formosa and other places, can be no longer performed and the art of navigation must, of course, be upon the decline. This, however, does not prevent them from making short voyages between the rocks with an inconceivable number of trading vessels of different sizes, as likewise with

Japan extolled and decried

196

fishing smacks.132 They seldom venture out far enough at sea to lose sight of land, and always take care to have it in their power to run every evening into some port or else to come into some other place of safety in case of sudden storms. Yet they are provided with a compass which is not divided into so many points as those which the Europeans make use of, but their vessels are open at the stern so that they cannot weather the open sea, and their rudders are large and inconvenient. The Japanese have little furniture in their houses besides their apparatus for the kitchen and what they use at their meals. Of these, however, as likewise of clothes and other necessaries, one sees such an incredible quantity exposed for sale in the shops of their tradesmen, both in town and country, that one is led to wonder where they can find purchasers, and would be apt to suppose that they kept magazines133 here to supply the whole world. Here the native may select, according to his varying taste and fancy, all his clothes ready made, and may be furnished with shoes, umbrellas, lacquered ware, porcelain and a thousand other articles, without having occasion to bespeak any thing before hand. The laws and the police If the laws in this country are rigid, the police are equally vigilant, and discipline and good order are as scrupulously observed. The happy consequence of this are extremely visible and important, for hardly any country exhibits fewer instances of vice. And as no respect whatever is paid to persons134, and at the same time the laws preserve their pristine and original purity without any alterations, explanations, and misconstructions, the subjects not only imbibe as they grow up an infallible knowledge of what ought or ought not to be done, but are likewise enlightened by the example and irreproachable conduct of their superiors in age. Most crimes are punished with death, a sentence which is inflicted with less regard to the magnitude of the crime than to the audacity of the attempt to transgress the hallowed laws of the empire and to violate justice, which together with religion they consider as the most sacred things in the whole land. Fines and pecuniary mulets and amercements135 they regard as equally repugnant to justice and reason, as the rich are thereby freed from all punishment, a procedure which to them appears the height of absurdity. Murder is punished with death, and if this crime is perpetrated in a town or in the open street, not only the murderer himself but sometimes his relations and dependants and even the neighbours partake in the punishment, accordingly as they have been more or less accomplices in the crime, or have neglected to prevent its perpetration. To draw one’s sword upon anyone is likewise a capital offence. Smuggling of all kinds is punished with death without mercy and the punishment extends to every individual concerned in the traffic, both buyers and sellers. Every death warrant must be first signed by the National Council136 in Edo before it is carried into execution, previous to which also the culprit has a fair trial before the proper tribunal and witnesses are heard. The general mode of punishment is private decapitation with a scimitar in prison, although crucifixion and other painful modes of death are sometimes practised in public. Those whose crimes do not merit death are either sentenced to perpetual imprisonment, or else banished to some distant island when all their property is confiscated. In the towns it often happens that the inhabitants of a whole street are made

A description of japan and the japanese II

197

to suffer for the malpractice of a single criminal, the master of a house for the faults of his domestics and parents for those of their children, in proportion to the share they may have had in the transaction. In Europe, which boasts a purer religion and a more enlightened philosophy, we very rarely see those punished who have debauched and seduced others, never see parents and relatives made to suffer for neglecting the education of their children and kindred, at the same time these heathens see the justice and propriety of such punishment. The prisons are in this country, it is true, as in most others, gloomy and horrid; the rooms are, however, kept clean and wholesome and consist of an apartment for the trial by torture and another for private executions, a kitchen, a dining room and a bath. The imposts137 in the empire are different in the towns and villages and in different places. Besides the considerable presents which the kubō receives annually from all the feudal138 princes and from the Dutch Company, this temporal monarch has his revenues from certain towns and districts. The princes derive their revenues each from his province and the towns which the same contains, and their revenues differ in value according to the situation of the province itself, its opulence, extent, population and cultivation. Each proprietor of a home is assessed in proportion to the breadth of his house towards the street, besides the presents he makes to the civil officers and the taxes he pays for the support of the temples and idols. The town of Nagasaki contains ninety streets and sixtytwo temples, or thereabouts, and the produce of its taxes amounts to about three mangokus.139 The country is rated according to its produce and this consists, for the most part, in rice. Forests and other little cultivated tracts of land are rated lower. A receiver-general, or voight140, collects this important impost. Arable land is divided into three classes according to its different degree of fertility. The man that cultivates a fresh portion of land holds it free of all taxes after the first two or three years. In order to make an estimate of the value of a piece of ground, which in spring frequently lies under water, and at the same time of the lord of the manor’s141 income from it, lands of this description are sometimes measured twice a year, viz. in spring and in harvest time. The taxes levied upon landed estates are extremely heavy and frequently amount to more than half or even two-thirds of the produce. In order to calculate them they measure off a portion of land of which they cut down the corn and thrash it for a specimen, and from thence afterwards calculate what may be the amount of the produce of the whole. The land belongs always to the crown or to the prince, and the farmer holds it in fee142 no longer than while he cultivates it with proper care and attention. In every town the most excellent order is kept up for the preservation of the welfare, peace, conveniency143 and security of the community. For this purpose four burgomasters are appointed, of which number one presides every year, who is their prolocutor, speaking in his own name and those of his companions, and is called ninban.144 Besides these, an ottona is appointed for every street, who acts in the capacity of commissary and is obliged to give in his report to the burgomaster concerning everything that happens; this officer has several of the town officers under him to execute his commissions. His duty is to set down the names of all that are born or die in his street, or marry, or travel, or remove thence, or arrive there; he likewise promotes union and concord among the inhabitants and has the power of casting offenders into prison and even of putting them in irons. This officer is chosen by the inhabitants of the street and is paid from the private revenue of the street over which he presides. Lodgers have not the privilege of voting.

Japan extolled and decried

198

Lodgings are paid for by the month, the rent being in proportion to the size of the room, which is ascertained by the number of mats upon the floor. Each ottona has three assessors as his coadjutors, a secretary who sets down everything that comes under the cognizance of the office, and a cashier.145 The town officers act at the same time in the capacity of spies, who give the ottona accurate intelligence of everything that occurs. Each street is, as it were, detached from the rest by gates at each end, which being shut on the approach of any tumult cut off all communication with the other streets so that no perpetrator of the peace can escape by flight. Most admirable measures are adopted in the towns for the prevention of fires. The burghers, including both housekeepers146 and lodgers, keep watch themselves. Two keep watch every night and their persons are considered so sacred that it is a capital offence to attack them whilst on duty. Of these, one is constantly with the main ward and whenever any apprehension is entertained of danger, the watch is doubled. The other goes the rounds and is, properly speaking, the fire watch, in which capacity he perambulates the streets and gives notice of the hour by striking two pieces of wood against each other. Ladders are kept in readiness at the gates and every other apparatus for extinguishing fire is constantly at hand and in the best order. In the daytime, certain officers are stationed at the churches, who strike the clock with a wooden clapper in order to show what hour of the day it is. Besides this, in every tavern and inn such peace and order are observed that one seldom sees any instance of frays and drunkenness, irregularities which so greatly and so commonly disgrace the Northern part of the Western world. That they will be trusty and upright, the officers of justice take a very strict oath on entering on their office, and this is sometimes repeated every year. Sometimes, likewise, they are changed in order that they may not be too long in one place and in the course of time seduced from the paths of probity. And for as much as the punishments in this country are exceedingly severe and the laws at the same time immutable, it may be affirmed with great truth that fewer crimes are committed and fewer punishments inflicted than in other populous countries where, notwithstanding the number of punishments yearly inflicted, a multitude of criminals remain concealed, or fall upon some expedient to fly from the spot, or in some other manner escape the punishment they so justly merit. I heard the following extraordinary circumstance mentioned by one of the interpreters, viz. that there were laws which did not make known the punishment, and that for many crimes the punishment was not universally known. They were of opinion that a person ought not to be the less on his guard against crimes and trans-gressions, although the sovereign did not think proper to determine and make known the species of punishment, and probably they have good reason for thinking thus. However, that no man may plead ignorance of the laws, they are promulgated not only once or twice from the pulpit, according to the custom in the Christian churches, but likewise in every town and village they are posted up for public inspection and daily perusal in large letters, being placed conspicuous in an open spot surrounded and guarded with rails.147 This place, in the towns, is immediately within the city gates; in the villages, it occupies the middle. Directions what ought or ought not to be done are drawn up very concise, without specifying the punishment annexed to disobedience or the addition of any menaces of which the governments in some parts of Europe, so renowned for its jurisprudence, have such a plentiful score. One sometimes perceives on the West side of crosses and posts that are erected without the towns and villages, the places where formerly a greater

A description of japan and the japanese II

199

number of criminals than at this time present made their exit and migrated to another world.148 Physicians Physicians are of several descriptions. Some possess only medicine149 and occupy themselves with the cure of internal disorders. Others practise surgery; others only burn with moxa; others perform no other operation than that of puncturing with needles (the acupunctura), and others again go about making frictions.150 Those who perform the latter151 of these operations may be heard in the evening patrolling the streets and making a tender of their services with great noise and vociferation. In a country where colds are so frequent this chafing of the body is very beneficial. Those who cure internal disorders are considered as superior to the rest, from whom they are distinguished by their heads being shaved all over. They never make use of any other than simple remedies, and those generally in the form of decoctions, which are either diuretic or sudorific.152 Sometimes they make use of powders likewise. Of compound medicines they have no knowledge. A great part of these remedies may be procured, it is true, within the precincts of their own kingdom, but a very considerable quantity is sold to them by the Chinese. Their physicians sometimes feel the patient’s pulse, but they take a long time for examination, sometimes not less than a full quarter of an hour, feeling it first in one arm and then in the other, as though the blood did not flow into both arteries from one and the same source. Their knowledge of fevers and other internal disorders can be no other than very superficial and their mode of cure very precarious, as their physicians have no insight into anatomy and physiology and are very little acquainted with the remedies which they prescribe. The only persons among them who have a little more knowledge of these matters are either the physicians of the court or the Dutch interpreters, who have an opportunity of acquiring some degree of knowledge from the European physicians. Burning with moxa and puncturing with needles are two very essential and customary operations throughout the whole empire, and are performed, in fact, as often as ever phlebotomy153 is in Europe. Moxa is made use of not only for curing, but likewise for preventing diseases; no exception is here made either for sex or age; everyone makes use of it, old and young, children, rich and poor and even the prisoners themselves. There are few parts of the body which do not allow of this operation, as for instance the sinews (tendines), veins &c, but the fleshy parts and more especially the back, are considered as the properest places, which are therefore carefully selected by the operators and of which they have printed tables. It is of use in most disorders, but especially in the pleurisy154, toothache, and it proves of the greatest service in gout and rheumatisms. Moxa is nothing else than the woolly part (tomentum) of the leaves of mugwort (Artemifia vulgaris), particularly of the old leaves. It is prepared in the following manner: the leaves are beaten and rubbed with the hands till all the green separates from them and nothing but the woolly part remains. Of this there are two sorts, the coarse and the fine. The fine is considered as the best and the coarse is commonly used for tinder. When it is to be applied, a little ball is made of it, which is laid upon the appointed place and then set fire to; when the fire gradually consumes it, and at the same time burns the skin, leaving behind it a scar which some time after breaks, and a humour distils from it.

Japan extolled and decried

200

Acupuncture, or puncturing with a needle, is generally performed with a view of curing the colic155, especially that kind which here has the name of senki156 and is commonly occasioned by the drinking of sake. Thus it has the stomach for its object, over which several small holes, often to the number of nine, are made, under the idea of promoting the discharge of wind, but other fleshy parts of the body likewise may be selected for this operation. The needles used on these occasions are very fine, nearly as fine as the hair of one’s head, being made of gold or silver, by persons who have the privilege of making them and who alone understand how to give them the temper, pliability and fineness which it is requisite for them to have. While they are passing through the skin, they are twirled round between the fingers, and the bony parts are carefully avoided. The diseases to which the Japanese are most liable and which are peculiar to this country are the above-mentioned colic, which is here called senki, watery eyes and indurated glands. The senki colic, which proceeds from the use of sake, or rice beer, attacks great numbers of people and likewise strangers who reside any length of time in the country. The pain is violent and intolerable and often leaves swellings behind it in different parts of the body and is especially productive of the hydrocele.157 Red and watery eyes are very common among the peasants and the poorer kind of people in the villages, and originate partly in the smoke of the coals with which they warm their rooms in winter and partly from the stench which exhales from their privies. Indurated glands were very common in every part of the country and frequently I observed turned to cancers. They happen particu-larly in the neck and increase daily from the size of a pea to that of a man’s fist. As the heat in the day time is frequently very intense, and a sudden fit of wind arising is very apt in those circumstances to stop the pores and prevent perspiration, it follows of course that the rheumatism must be very prevalent among them; in like manner as for the same reason, during the summer months diarrhoeas and dysentries attack both the Europeans and Japanese. The same is likewise apt to be the case when they imprudently eat too much of the fruit, the produce of the country, and more especially of the kaki-figs which are very palatable and in high estimation. The smallpox and the measles have been long prevalent in this country and are not more dreaded here than in other places. I did not see a great many people that were much defaced by them; they are unacquainted with inoculation. The hydrocephalus, or dropsy in the head, I had an opportunity of seeing in a man thirty-three years old who came to ask my advice during my journey to the court. He related to me that he had been attacked with this disorder nineteen months ago in consequence of having received several blows upon his head from a bamboo cane in a fray with another man, although the cane was covered with linen. From the crown to the back of his head a tumor was perceived about the thickness of a finger, and the bones of the scull were elevated to that degree that the hindermost part of158 the fontanel was soft. A species of military eruption, termed by the Europeans the Red Dog, is very rife here in the hottest summer months, viz. in August and September, particularly among the Europeans.159 It continues for several weeks and sometimes for months together. The eruption is elevated above the surface of the skin, rough and of a red colour without fever. Sometimes it partly disappears and at other times it becomes visible in greater quantity, especially about noon and evening. The disorder is not always attended with an itching, but whenever this concomitant symptom appears it is most troublesome in the

A description of japan and the japanese II

201

evening and at night, being attended with great restlessness and want of sleep. Sometimes a very singular kind of itching supervenes, which is chiefly felt when the patient is in motion, when he sets himself down in a chair or leans with his back against a wall, or is lying in bed, or folds his arms. On these occasions a sensation of pricking is felt in the skin as if it were pierced with a thousand fine needles, and this sensation ceases immediately as soon as the limb which was in motion is kept still even if the same position be preserved. The face is free from this eruption which diffuses itself over every other part of the body even to the very extremities of the fingers. A person may be afflicted with this disorder several times during his residence in India.160 The venereal disease was without doubt imported by the Europeans, who have the superlative merit of having diffused this distemper to many parts of the globe. Venereal complaints are at present very prevalent here and they are hitherto acquainted with no other mode of alleviating them than the use of decoctions that purify the blood. The cure by salivation, of which they have indeed heard mention made by the Dutch surgeons, appears to them very difficult to undertake properly as well as to undergo. They adopted, therefore, both with joy and gratitude, the method which I had the good fortune to be the first to teach them, viz. of curing this disorder with the Aqua mercurialis. Several of the interpreters made use of this method as early as the years 1775 and 1776, and performed with it, under my direction, several complete cures, both in and out of the town of Nagasaki. And I pleased myself with the agreeable hopes that by means of this easier method in future many thousand unhappy sufferers will be preserved both from fistulas161 in the neck and other dreadful symptoms attendant on this truly foul disease which I very frequently had opportunities of seeing with an equal mixture of grief and horror during my journey into the country. Agriculture Agriculture is in the highest esteem with the Japanese, insomuch that (the most barren and intractable mountains excepted) one sees here the surface of the earth cultivated all over the country, and most of the mountains and hills up to their very tops. Neither rewards nor encouragements are necessary in a country where the tillers of the ground are considered as the most useful class of citizens and where they do not groan under various oppressions which in other countries have hindered, and ever must hinder, the progress of agriculture.162 The duties paid by the farmer of his corn163 in kind are indeed very heavy, but in other respects he cultivates his land with greater freedom than the lord of a manor in Sweden.164 He is not hindered two days together at a time in consequence of furnishing relays of horses, by which he perhaps earns a groat and often returns with the loss of his horses; he is not dragged from his field and plough to transport a deserter or a prisoner to the next castle, nor are his property and his time wasted in making roads, building bridges, alms houses, parsonage houses and magazines. His days are not consumed in journeys after poles and stakes in winter, nor with the almost endless occupation of fencing in his grounds, sunk up to the ankles in mire and clay in spring. He knows nothing of the impediments and inconveniences which attend the maintenance and equipment of horse and foot soldiers.165 And what contributes still more to his happiness, and leaves sufficient scope for his industry in cultivating his land, is this: that he has only

Japan extolled and decried

202

one master, viz. his feudal lord, without being under the command of a host of masters, as with us. No parcelling out166 of the land forbids him to improve to the best advantage the portion he possesses, and no right of commonage belonging to many prevents each from deriving profit from his share. All are bound to cultivate their land, and if a husbandman cannot annually cultivate a certain portion of his fields, he forfeits them, and another who can is at liberty to cultivate them. Thus he is enabled to direct all his thoughts and all his time to the cultivation of his land, an employment in which he is assisted by his wife and children. Meadows are not to be met with in the whole country, on the contrary, every spot of ground is made use of either for cornfields168 or else for plantations of esculentrooted vegetables.169 So that the land is neither wasted upon extensive meadows for the support of cattle and saddle horses, nor upon large and unprofitable plantations of tobacco170, nor is it sown with seed for any other still less necessary purpose, which is the reason that the whole country is very thickly inhabited and populous and can without difficulty give maintenance to all its innumerable inhabitants. There is no part of the world where manure is gathered with greater care than it is here, insomuch that nothing that can be converted to this use is thrown away or lost. The cattle are fed at home the whole year round so that all their excrements are confined to the farm yards, and it is a very common spectacle to see old men and children following the horses that are used in travelling, with a shell (Haliotis tuberculata171) fastened to the end of a stick in order to collect the ordure from off the highways, which is carried home in a basket. Nay, even urine itself, which the Europeans seldom turn to the advantage of their fields, is here carefully collected in large earthen pots, which are to be found sunk in the earth here and there in different parts, not only in the villages but even beside the highways. Nor is the Japanese more scrupulous and exact in collecting every material fit for manure than his mode of applying it is different from that of other countries. He does not carry out his manure either in winter or in summer into his fallow fields, to be dried up there by the scorching heat of the sun and to have its nutritive qualities weakened by the evaporation of the volatile salts and of its oily particles, but on the other hand gives himself the disgusting trouble of mixing up manure of various sorts, the excrements both of man and beast, with water and urine together with every kind of refuse from the kitchen, till it becomes a perfect hodge-podge; this he carries in two large pails into his field and with a ladle pours it upon the plant which has now attained to the height of about six inches and receives the whole benefit of it at the same time that the liquor penetrates immediately to the root. By this mode of manuring, and at the same time by the farmer’s indefatigable weeding, the fields are so completely cleared of weeds that the most sharp-sighted botanist would be scarcely able to discover a single plant of another species among the corn. The pains which a farmer takes to cultivate the sides of even the steepest hills is almost incredible. If the place be even no more than two feet square he nevertheless raises a wall of stones at the bottom of the declivity, fills the part above this with earth and manure, and sows this little plot of ground with rice or esculent-rooted vegetables. Thousands of these beds adorn most of their mountains and give them an appearance which excites the greatest astonishment in the breasts of the spectators. Rice is their principal corn.172 Buckwheat, rye, barley and wheat are very little used. Among their esculent-rooted vegetables batatas (Convolvulus edulis173) are the most abundant and the most palatable. Several sorts of beans and peas are planted in

A description of japan and the japanese II

203

abundance, as likewise alliaceous174 plants, turnips, and coleworts175; from the reeds of which last they express an oil for their lamps, and whose yellow flowers give to whole fields together a most beautiful appearance in spring. In the beginning of April, the farmer begins to dig up the land which he designs for the cultivation of rice. It lies at this time almost entirely under water with banks raised round the sides. The furrows are made with a rather crooked hand-bill176 about a foot long and a hand broad, fastened to a handle. The rice grain is always sown first in a plot of ground very close and thick, as coleseed177 is in boxes. Afterwards when it is grown up to the height of six inches it is taken up and planted out in a manner similar to colewort plants, in the rice grounds, several plants together in tufts leaving the space of six inches between each tuft. This is always the women’s work, who wade about in water that is at least six inches deep. In the month of November it is ripe and is then mown, and after being bound up in bundles, carried home. The mere striking of the ears against a barrel, or any other hard body, causes the corn to fall from the stalk, so that in this respect no long and tedious threshing is necessary; but before the husk can be separated from the pure grain, a second threshing, or stamping, is necessary, which is seldom set about before the grain is wanted to be used. Thus it is carried to different places and sold there entirely unstamped. The stamping of it in small is performed in the following manner: a block of wood is hollowed out and this cavity is filled with rice which they pound with a wooden pestle till it separates from the husk. In the great178, this stamping is performed not only by means of a machine consisting of a number of pestles which are set in motion by a water-wheel, but likewise by a similar machine which a man treads with his foot and during the stamping stirs with a stick in the hopper so that the grain can run down. The rice in this country is accounted the best in all the East Indies, and is extremely white, glutinous and more nutritive than any other. Buck wheat (Polygonum sagopyrum) is most commonly used when ground to meal and made into small cakes, which after being boiled and frequently at the same time coloured, are baked and are sold in the villages and at the baiting places179 for a mere trifle to travellers and their bearers.180 Wheat (Triticum aeftium hybernum181) is sown in the month of November and cut down ripe in June. It is used in general in the form of fine meal; of this they make small cakes, which are eaten in a soft state. Barley (Hordeum) is sown at different seasons of the year, sometimes in November sometimes in December, and at times in the month of October. It is cut down, dried and threshed, either towards the latter end of May or in the beginning of June. The fields in this country often resemble cabbage gardens with their beds, which are frequently no more than a foot in breadth and separated from each other by a deep furrow or trench, which is likewise a foot broad. In these narrow beds the corn is sown strait across in rows which leave an empty space between them. I have sometimes however seen the corn sown lengthways in the beds, in which case there were only two rows. I have likewise had an opportunity of observing that when the corn has grown to the height of about a foot, that before it has put forth the ear, the farmer has dug up, as it were, these small trenches and very carefully put earth about the roots whence the corn has both received manure and been watered. I was informed that after a certain stated time the trenches are filled up with earth, and what before constituted the beds is converted into trenches. In

Japan extolled and decried

204

some places likewise the corn was found to be blighted, a calamity to which, however, the seed is more liable in Europe. As soon as the corn is cut down, they frequently sow another kind of corn or even French beans (Phaseoli)182 between the stubble, either across it or in furrows, so that the land is actually sown twice in the year, although upon different places without fresh carting or other attendance. They use this corn chiefly for fodder for their horses and other animals. It is likewise at times ground down to a fine flour, of which they make small soft cakes. Coleseed (Brassica orientalis) is cultivated in great abundance in every province. In the month of April, the fields all over the country appear gilt with the flowers of this plant. They make no use of the root, but the seed, which ripens in May, yields, on being pressed, an oil which is used everywhere for lamp oil. The plant the Japanese call natane and the oil natane abura, or natane no abura.183 Barley, wheat, and coleseed are all of them threshed out at times quite in a plain and artless manner upon straw mats in the open air in the villages, and not infrequently before the doors of their houses, with flails which have three swingles.184 And indeed some only beat the sheaves with the ears of corn against a barrel, vat or the like, which causes the corn to drop out; this must afterwards be purged from the chaff and other impurities.185 As everyone’s land lies open without being fenced in with hurdles and pales, which are unknown in this country; it is very common to meet with a great number of culinary vegetables and kitchen garden plants growing wild in the open fields, and consequently there are no other gardens than those which are found near every house, are of a very insignificant size and are chiefly intended for the sake of ornament. In these are to be seen both trees, which make a splendid figure with their beautiful, large and frequently double blossoms, and other vegetable productions, as well herbs as bulbous plants adorned with the most elegant flowers, such as, for instance, the Azalea indica, Nandina domestica, Prunus cerafus, Gardenia florida, Aucuba japonica, the Spireae, Mạgnoliae, the Tagetes patula, Celosia cristata, Hovenia dulcis, Aster chinensis, Paeonia officinalis, Chrysanthemum indicum, Calendula officinalis, Impatiens balsamina, Mirabilis dichotoma and an infinite number of others.186 For materials for dyeing, I saw them cultivate the Polygonum chinense, barbatum and aviculare,187 all of these produced a beautiful blue colour much like that from indigo. The leaves were first dried then pounded and made into small cakes which were sold in the shops. With these, I was told, they can dye linen and cotton. When they boil them up for use they add ashes to them and the stronger the decoction is made of so much the darker blue is the colour obtained, and vice-versa. The cultivation of cotton and silk is an object of the greatest importance in this country and furnishes the clothing of many millions. For this purpose they cultivate and plant every year the cotton shrub (Gossypium herbaceum), which yields a very fine and white cotton, fit for cloth, wadding and other uses. The cultivation of silk depends upon the planting and propagation of the mulberry tree, by means of which an incredible number of silkworms are bred and the raw silk is produced of which are made silken stuffs, thread, wadding and a great many more articles, both of ornament and use. The varnish tree (Rhus vernix), the camphor tree (Laurus camphora), the pine (Pinus sylvestris), the tea-tree (Thea bohea), the cedar (Cupressus japonica) and the bamboo cane or reed (Arundo bambos) do not only grow wild in every part of the country, but, are likewise cultivated in several places on account of the great advantages which the inhabitants derive from all these articles. The bamboo reeds serve them for water pipes,

A description of japan and the japanese II

205

for levers, for making baskets and cabinets, for writing pens188, fans &c. Firs serve to adorn the courts and places in the vicinity of their houses and the wood is used for building, as likewise in handicraft trades of every kind, even in the finest lacquered work. Cedars are used for naval craft, household furniture and cabinet-work, in the same manner as fir. The varnish tree contains a milky juice which is the best of all gums for lacquering. The camphor tree grows wild in great abundance in the neighbourhood of Satsuma and on the Gotō islands.189 From this tree is prepared the chief part of the camphor that is used in Europe. The Japanese split the wood and roots into very fine pieces, boil it up with water in an iron pot covered with a wooden lid, which has a deep concavity on the inside. In this concavity they fasten a piece of straw or hay so that the camphor, when it rises, may adhere to it. The gum camphor on being separated from the straw is in grains and is packed up in wooden casks and sold to the Dutch Company by weight.190 As in the whole of this extensive empire there is neither any tallow to be found, nor any butter churned; the inhabitants have turned their attention to supply the place of these articles by using sweet oils both for dressing victuals and for burning in the house. The seeds of the Rhus succedanea191 indeed, yield, on being pressed, an oil which soon congeals to the consistence of tallow, and from which they prepare candles, but these are by no means so much in use as lamps. So they sometimes likewise manufacture candles from the coagulated oil of the Laurus camphora and glanca, of the Rhus vernix, and the Melia azedarach.192 For burning in lamps again, to light up their rooms in winter, they make use of several sorts of oil, as for instance that of the Dryandra cordata &c, but especially and most commonly the Braffica orientalis.193 The fine oil of Sessamum they use in the kitchen for frying fish, and dressing other dishes. The sugar maple does not, to my knowledge, grow in Japan, neither have sugar canes been hitherto imported for cultivation; the Japanese interpreters nevertheless showed me that they had a juice from which sugar may be prepared. This, they informed me, was made from the juice of a certain tree which grows upon the islands that surround Japan. It had a sweet taste, but was of a brownish colour and a disagreeable aspect. So that if sugar be a necessary commodity for a country, it seems to be the only one which the Japanese need to receive from the hands of foreigners. That besides, they have, and that in great abundance, everything else which is needful both for food, clothing and the convenience of life, results from that which was said above. And whereas in most other countries complaints are made more or less frequently about bad harvests and severe famine, such complaints are seldom heard in the populous empire of Japan where the inhabitants live frugally and without prodigality or dissipation, and where they providently blend in the soil with their different species of corn, a considerable number of leguminous and esculent-rooted vegetables. Notwithstanding these precautions, however, it sometimes happens that even here famine is felt. As the Japanese have such a variety of species of corn, such a plentiful diversity both of roots and pulse194, besides the large supply of provisions which they fetch from the rich storehouse of the circumambient195 tea, they neither need nor have any considerable stockfarms.196 They have few quadrupeds, for which reason there is no occasion to lay out the land in extensive meadows. The small number of horses to be met with in this country is chiefly for the use of their princes; some are employed as beasts of burden, and others serve travellers to ride on. Indeed I do not suppose that the sum total of all their

Japan extolled and decried

206

horses amounts to the number of those made use of in one single town in Sweden. Here one neither hears mention made of stately chargers, nor of mettlesome coach horses, nor of swift sledge trotters, nor of the Masters of the Horse so famous in Europe. Of oxen and cows they seem to have a still smaller number, and they neither make use of their flesh, nor yet of their milk, nor of the cheese, butter and tallow prepared from them; the sole use they make of them is sometimes for drawing carts and for ploughing such fields as lie almost constantly under water. A very few swine are to be seen in the vicinity of Nagasaki, and this mischievous animal, the most hostile to agriculture, if not confined, of any, was probably introduced by the Chinese. Sheep and goats are not to be found in the whole country; the latter do much mischief to a cultivated land, and wool may easily be dispensed with here where cotton and silk abound. During my stay at the Dutch Factory, it happened that some Japanese arrived at the island with several sheep of which they had had the custody for many years, having received them from some chief for the Dutch trade who sailed to Batavia and did not return again.197 Dog, the only idlers in this country, are kept from superstitious motives, and cats are, in general, the favourites of the ladies. Hens and common ducks are also kept tame in their houses, chiefly it is to be presumed on account of the eggs, of which they are very fond and make use of them on various occasions, boiled hard and chopped into small pieces.198 Commerce Commerce is carried on either within the empire itself between its different towns and harbours, or else with foreigners. Their inland trade is in a very flourishing state and in every respect free and uncontrolled, being exempted from imposts and having no want of communication between the various and innumerable places of the empire. The harbours are seen covered with large and small craft, the high roads are crowded with travellers and wares that are transporting from one place to another, and the shops are everywhere filled with goods from every part of the empire, especially in the principal trading towns. In these towns, and particularly in Miyako which is situated in the centre of the empire, are kept likewise several large fairs199, to which a vast concourse of people resort from each extremity of the land to buy and sell. If we except the kubō, the merchant is, it is true, the only one in the whole country who can become rich, and sometimes accumulate very considerable sums. But notwithstanding his wealth, he cannot here as in other countries either purchase great titles or raise himself to a higher rank in life; on the contrary, a merchant is always despised, and the public at large entertain the most contemptible opinion of him, inasmuch as they look upon it that he has amassed his treasures in a dishonourable way and not without doing an injury to his fellow citizens. In casting their accounts, they always make use of decimals. For weighing they use a steelyard200, to which they fasten a scale, wherein they place their wares. Upon this steelyard is hung, by means of a string, a weight which can be pushed backwards or forwards to ascertain the weight of the commodity. Such small steelyards the merchants always carry about with them, either single or else in a box together with a computing board. The tea trade is confined entirely to the inland consumption; the quantity exported amounting to little or nothing. The traffic in soy, on the other hand, is more considerable, and as the tea produced in this country is reckoned inferior to that of China, so the soy is

A description of japan and the japanese II

207

much better than that which is brewed in China. For this reason soy is not only exported to Batavia, in the wooden barrels in which it is made, but is likewise sold from thence to Europe and to every part of the East Indies. In some places of Japan too the soy is reckoned still better than in others, but in order to preserve the very best sort and prevent its undergoing a fermentation in consequence of the heat of the climate and thus being totally spoiled, the Dutch at the Factory boil it up in iron kettles and afterwards draw it off into bottles which are then well corked and sealed. This mode of treatment renders it stronger and preserves it better and makes it serviceable for all kinds of sale, The silk trade is indeed in a very flourishing state in the empire, but their manufactured silk cloths, on account of their slightness, cannot be exported and used by the Europeans. The home trade in porcelain is very brisk, but the exports are very few as the Japanese porcelain, though very good with respect to the materials, is thick and clumsy and very seldom well coloured, and in general is far inferior in beauty to the Chinese. The trade with China has probably been carried on longer than with any other nation; it is likewise the only Indian nation with which they continue to have any dealings.201 From the remotest times the Chinese traded in raw silk, which they imported; they202 first landed at Osaka and afterwards at the harbour of Nagasaki where they still continue to anchor and have a factory, together with a temple and their own priests. Till the year 1684, there arrived annually two hundred vessels each equipped with fifty men, but on its being discovered that the Jesuits, who at that time stood in high favour with the Chinese emperor, had, through the medium of some merchants smuggled into Japan several Catholic books originally printed in China, the Chinese were in consequence of this more restricted than formerly, and their capital in trade, which before was discretional, was fixed at 600,000 taels, and the number of their ships reduced to seventy, equipped with only thirty men each.203 At present they are confined to a small island opposite the town of Nagasaki; they send no ambassador to the emperor; they have no purveyor, but barter their own provisions themselves at the gate; they have likewise no director over their commerce but interpreters, a guard, and supervisors are appointed to attend them, the same as the Dutch.204 They vend their wares at three different seasons of the year, viz. spring, summer and autumn. They sell here raw silk and manufactured silken stuffs, sugar, turpentine, myrrh, agate, calumbak205, baros camphor206, ninsi 207, medical books and other articles appertaining to medicine; in exchange for which they take copper in bars, lacquered ware &c. Many who are fond of pork bring with them swine from China. When a ship of theirs has taken in its lading208 and set sail, it is followed to a considerable distance at sea by a Japanese vessel in order to prevent smuggling on the coast. The Portuguese, who first discovered the islands of Japan, were likewise the first European nation that carried on any trade in these parts. The profits were in the beginning incredible, insomuch that annually upwards of 300 tuns of gold were exported from hence. Afterwards, when they had rendered themselves detested by their haughty conduct, and their trade in consequence of this had fallen off amazingly, yet still they continued to export Anno 1636, 2,350 chests of silver, or 2,350,000 taels. Anno 1637, they exported 2,142,365 taels, and in the year 1638, 1,259,023 taels.209 After the Portuguese had been expelled from the land they, as well as the Spaniards, made several attempts to re-establish their trade, but every attempt not only miscarried but was attended with the most disagreeable consequences among a people, so inflexible in their resolves as the Japanese. Anno 1640, a ship was sent from Macao, having on board two

Japan extolled and decried

208

ambassadors with a retinue of seventy-three persons. These were all of them immediately made prisoners in Nagasaki and their arrival signified to the court; upon which they were all, excepting twelve who had previously set out on their return, sentenced to be put to death, and were all of them beheaded upon one and the same day, and even in one and the same moment, each by a separate executioner.210 At the same time the prohibition was renewed for this nation ever to come to Japan, and this prohibition contains the following no less arrogant than strange menace, that should even the King of Portugal himself, or the God of the Christians arrive there, they should undergo the same fate.211 A large Spanish three-decker, well-manned and mounting a considerable number of guns, was audacious enough to anchor in the harbour of Nagasaki, and experienced a still more lamentable fate, which proves how inflexible the Japanese are in their determinations, how pertinaciously212 they execute the statutes of their laws and supreme magistrate213, and do not even suffer themselves to be deterred by the formidable cannon and artil lery of Europe.214 The ship alluded to came from the Manillies215, unloaded their216 cargo in Nagasaki and took in a heavy lading of silver and other commodities. Meanwhile intelligence of their arrival had been sent to court, upon which the Prince of Arima received orders to burn the ship, together with its crew and merchandise. Accordingly the Prince attacked the ship, in spite of the most valiant resistance. As soon as he had boarded the ship with his forces, the Spaniards retreated under their uppermost deck. The Prince retired in time to save himself and the deck was blown up into the air. The Spaniards were attacked with equal bravery a second, and after that a third time, till all their decks were blown up, when the ship went to the bottom and not a single man was saved. Upwards of 3,000 of the Japanese perished in this attack and the contest lasted nearly six hours. More than 300 chests of silver have been since got up at different times. The Dutch trade has experienced many vicissitudes and has ever, one time after another, both been diminished and rendered less profitable. As the Portuguese could not by the influence which they had at first acquired prevent the Dutch from trading here, likewise the latter established a factory upon an island near the town of Hirado, which they were in the sequel compelled to abandon. In the reign of the Emperor Ieyasu, Anno 1601, the Dutch first obtained the royal permission to carry on a trade in any part of Japan, a trade, which flourished until the year 1619 when they had the imprudence to request the renewal of this charter from the succeeding emperor, Hidetada. Since this period their profits were greatly reduced, and their privileges in may respects retrenched. Anno 1638, they received orders to demolish their warehouse at Hirado, which was built of stone with great strength as well as magnificence, and had the letters A: o C. inscribed over the door—a circumstance which could not fail of alarming a people so extremely mistrustful and so ill-treated by the Portuguese.217 Shortly after this transaction, they received orders to abandon Hirado entirely, and to remove to Nagasaki, and in future to cast anchor only in this harbour, which is situated at the very extremity of the empire. Here they were subjected to the strictest inspection; the rudders being at first taken off from the ships, the powder, balls, cannon and arms carried into the country and the ship unladen by the Japanese themselves; but some of these precautions have been since gradually omitted. At first the Dutch imported raw silk, manufactured silk-stuffs, and half-silks, chintzes, cottons, clothes, sappan wood, Brazil wood, buffaloes’ hides, wax, buffaloes’ horns, ivory, shagreen, Spanish leather, pepper, sugar, cloves, nutmegs, baros camphor,

A description of japan and the japanese II

209

quicksilver, saffron, lead, saltpetre, borax, alum, musk, gum lac218, benzoe, storax219, catechu220, ambergris221, Costus arabicus222, coral, antimony, looking glasses, Lignum colubrinum223, files, needles, glass, spectacles, birds and other curiosities. The profits of this trade were very considerable at Hirado, when on the lowest calculation six millions of gilders were exported and in silver alone upwards of four millions. At the request of the Dutch themselves, the silver trade was afterwards exchanged for that of copper, the profits upon the latter being at that time the most considerable but from that period likewise the exportation of silver has been strictly forbidden. The worst blow perhaps, which the Dutch trade has received, was in the year 1672, in consequence of the enmity which the Privy Counsellor Inaba Mino, a favourite of the pious Emperor Daijō-in, had conceived against the Dutch.224 This hatred he gratified by means of one of his relations, who was appointed Governor in Nagasaki.225 This man ordered samples to be sent him of every kind of wares which were that year brought in the Company’s ships to Nagasaki. These samples he showed to the merchants and informed himself of the price set upon them as well as of the quantity which they wished to have. Upon this, he proffered the Dutch much less for these commodities and left it at their option to export them in case they did not find it answer to them.226 According to this valuation, the price of commodities was reduced every year, and the kobangs, or Japanese currency, rose in value. This conduct, it is true, gave birth to complaints, and the Dutch trade was so far free and uncontrolled that their wares were permitted to be sold by public auction, but the whole amount of their sale was limited in the year 1685 to 300,000 taels.227 At present the company employs only two228 ships, and its profits are very inconsiderable. The commodities which are now in general imported and exported by it, have been already specified by me in the Third Volume of this work.229

7 Residence at Dejima previous to my return home 1 June-July After my arrival at the factory from the Court, I spent a very hot summer and was very busily employed in reviewing and arranging the different collections which I had made in the course of my journey, as well of dried and preserved as of curious live trees and shrubs which I intended to send to Amsterdam by the homeward-bound ships from Batavia.2 These were in particular several very beautiful species of the maple genus (Aceres) besides others appertaining to those of Lucium, Celaftrus, Viburnum, Prunus, Cycas, Cyprssus, Citrus &c.3 I made likewise at this time several excursions in the vicinity of Nagasaki, and as this was the season of the year most productive of flowers, I had the pleasure to see my heavy expenses in this respect somewhat better repaid than in the preceding autumn and winter.4 July 31, 1776, the Zeeduyn, a ship belonging to the Dutch Company, arrived from Batavia, and on the 2nd of August following, the admiral’s ship, Stavenisse, having on board M.Duurkoop, who was to reside here this year in quality of chief of the factory.5 August August 26th, in the evening, the Japanese began to celebrate in Nagasaki, and throughout the whole empire, the Feast of Lamps, or Lantern Festival, which is kept with great solemnity in Nagasaki.6 September September 13th, towards evening, intelligence was brought, that the Prince of Owari, cousin german7 to the kubō, had died five days before. On account of this event, orders were given out that no person whatever should play upon any kind of instrument for the space of five days, which in this country is the ordinary time of the deepest mourning. This prince was about forty years of age, or rather more. For some time previous to this he had been made choice of for the emperor’s son-in-law, but his ill stars had decreed that the day before his arrival in Edo, his intended bride had paid the last debt of nature.8 When copper is weighed for exportation, it is always done with a large Dutch weighing-machine.9 In each chest a picul is put, and on each picul the additional weight of a cattie is allowed, of which the administrators at Onrust, in Batavia, to whom the copper is consigned, receive a fifth part.10 Of the remaining four-fifths, the ship’s captain

Residence at dejima previous to my return home

211

receives two-thirds and the first mate one-third, in order that those who are responsible for the weight may not be losers. However, notwithstanding this precaution, it happens every year that in carrying the chests of copper to the bridge, the Japanese contrive to steal some of it, so that those who are concerned in them always lose something. They do not regard it as a crime to rob the Dutch merchants in this manner, and the stolen copper is afterwards sold to the Chinese who pay a greater price for it than the Dutch could. The preceding year the captain was fifty-two piculs too short.11 Several of the crew in the Dutch ships who had been attacked very severely with the fever in Batavia, speedily recovered their health here, and others who had large indurated tumours in different parts of their bodies and a swelled abdomen, which is a very common consequence of the malignant Batavian fevers, were here perfectly freed from them.12 Unicorns teeth (unicornu13) were sold this year at a much lower price than the preceding. A mas of it fetched this year only four mas eight candereen and five catties, which amounts to about fifty-eight taels for each cattie.14 October October 10th, the newly arrived governor reviewed first of all the imperial guard in the harbour, after which he paid a visit to the Dutch admiralship15 and lastly proceeded to the island of Dejima, accompanied by the governor, who was now going out of office.16 The following gentlemen were Governors in Nagasaki during my abode there. Anno 1775, Noto-no-kami went out of office and was succeeded by Nagato-no-kami, who in his turn resigned the reins of government in the year 1776 to his successor Tango-nokami.17 Of the fishermen who from the harbour of Nagasaki alone go forth to seek their livelihood upon the deep, and who may be seen by their lighted torches at the distance of four miles or more from the town, the number is almost incredible. The multiplicity of fires which were now seen at this distance presented to the spectator in the dark autumnal evenings the most glorious sight imaginable. Among other commodities which private persons exported on their own account, there was likewise this year a parcel of iron carried out by one of the captains, probably with a view of selling it to some profit to the Chinese in Batavia. As I foresaw that were I to prolong my stay in this country to another year, I should still be able to contribute little or nothing more to the advancement of the sciences than I had already done this year, I formed a firm resolution to return to Batavia. On the other hand, our new chief endeavoured at first to persuade, and at last to compel me to continue here another year, with a view to his own advantage, as he placed greater trust in my medical talents than he expected he should have reason to do in those of my successor.18 I was, however, fortunate enough to escape from him and to revisit those places where I could have greater liberty and a wider extent of the country, to collect and examine without control the wonderous treasures of nature.

Japan extolled and decried

212

November November 23rd, bade farewell to the island of Dejima and sailed to the admiral’s ship, Stavenisse, which rode at anchor off Papenberg.19 On the 29th following, commissaries20 from the factory came on board to deliver letters and other documents to the Government in Batavia. On the 30th, in the morning, we weighed our first anchor, although we still stayed there a couple of days. December December the 3rd, about ten o’clock, we weighed our other anchor and got under sail. The Zeeduyn sailed ahead of us and fired her guns, as we did ours, at eleven o’clock, directly before Papenberg, and again at twelve at the last ridge of mountains called Cavallos21, at the same time reciprocally wishing each other a prosperous voyage. The lading in each ship consisted now chiefly of 6,750 piculs of bar copper and 364 barrels of camphor, each barrel containing from 120 to 130 pounds weight.22

Residence at dejima previous to my return home

Plate 1

213

Japan extolled and decried

Plate 2

214

Residence at dejima previous to my return home

Plate 3

215

Japan extolled and decried

Plate 4

216

Explanation of the plates Plate 1 Fig. A Japanese slipper. These are used every day in common, instead of shoes. 1. 2. Another, which is used on journeys and is tied round the foot. 3. A house-shoe, which is tied around the foot. 4. A razor case, (a) the case itself, for two razors (b) the razor. 5. A medicine box with several compartments in it, (a) the box, with its partitions (b) the cord by which it is supported (c) the ball by which it is made fast in the belt.

Plate 2 Fig. A Japanese lady with (a) her lute, in her usual dress. 1. 2. Touche, or Japan ink, with which the Japanese and Chinese usually write and which they use instead of ink. 3. A box, which contains (a) a reckoning board with movable counter strung upon a steel wire, denoting units and decimals (b) a steel yard together with its scale, and (c) the weight hanging to it (d) (e) an excavated stone to rub the touche upon (f) a little trough for holding water for that use, and (g) a writing pencil.

Plate 3 Fig. A steel yard with its case, (a) the case, which shuts up with great ease and convenience (b) 1. the steel yard itself, formed of ivory (c) the scale with its, strings (d) the strings by which the steel yard is held when used (e) the weight. 2. A toothbrush, of softwood, to cleanse the teeth with. 3. A common writing pencil, made of reed and hare’s hair. 4. A spring steel yard, or weight upon a spring, which is very elastic, for weighing smaller articles.

Plate 4 Fig. A tobacco pouch with a pipe and its sheath, (a) the pipe sheath, made of silk (b) the pipe in 1. its sheath (c) the pipe made of reed, with a mouth-piece and bowl of metal (d) the tobacco pouch made of silk. 2. A case for instruments for the ears and teeth, (a) the case made of horn (b) the string, by which it is fastened to the belt (c) ornaments of silk (d) divers small instruments, to clean the ears and teeth with.

Japan extolled and decried

218

[Editor’s note: The figures were largely the same in all editions and translations of Thunberg’s Resa, except that on each occasion they were retraced, introducing minor differences. These here are taken from the English translation. The French translation only reversed the images, thereby rendering the written characters meaningless. Attributions are not clear, but the plates are identified as by D.Neé after Notté. Photos: Glenn Ratcliffe]

Appendix 1 Account of a voyage to Japan by M.Thunberg1 Translated by the editor Introduction This short précis of what would become Thunberg’s Resa, is known today only from inclusion in a pseudonymous novel by ‘Bryltophend’, actually F. le Breton. The novel is entitled Roman historique, philosophique et politique (Historical, philosophical and political novel), and includes the ‘Account’ as the second of three appendices, the others being by unrelated authors, one discussing travels in Tibet, and one in Sumatra.2 Le Breton claimed to have composed his novel in 1778, lost it, and rewritten it the following year. The date of publication, though, is given as 1789. The title-page playfully gives the places of publication as ‘Paris et Pékin’ (Beijing). Since the title-page lists two of the three appendices (not that on Sumatra, perhaps because it is very short), the possibility that these were bound in later, inappropriately, by the bookseller, is precluded. The dating is thus secure, and the ‘Account’ is accordingly Thunberg’s first piece on Japan: the first volume of the Resa had appeared in 1788, but the third, on Japan, would not do so until 1791. All Le Breton’s appendices are epistolary, and in Thunberg’s case the text purports to be an English letter, translated into French, presumably by Le Breton himself. The identity of the original correspondent is unknown, as is how the letter came into Le Breton’s possession. Perhaps the original recipient was Sir Joseph Banks, who was Thunberg’s most distinguished British associate, although that is no more than speculation. No English version is extant, and the present text is a retranslation back from the French. Le Breton’s book is of some interest in its own right. It had two prefaces to, the first, another letter, from ‘the Abbot…’, commends the work; next comes a dialogue between an ancient Greek citizen and his slave, the one an Epicurean, the other a Platonist. The novel itself is ‘Bryltophend’s philosophical and political dream’, and it recounts how the author slept to imagine he was a Chinese boy, brought up far from the capital by hermits; it is suddenly announced to him that he is son of the emperor, and so he travels to Turkey, Persia and throughout China (though not to Japan), to learn about different forms of government. Le Breton states at the outset, ‘we will analyse the various systems that have been tried, up to the present, to secure the happiness of the populace’. He uses the common eighteenth-century conceit of satirising the author’s homeland via the vehicle of a foreign country or countries. Thunberg would probably have reacted with horror to his faithful account of Japan being placed in this context, and indeed, he never acknowledged publication of his letter. Yet le Breton’s compilation offers an interesting aperçu into the

Appendices

220

sense of opportunity for political change that pervaded parts of Europe at the time of the French Revolution. This is substantially the same as the Russian Authentic Account of Japan, which appeared under Thunberg’s name some decade later, in the November 1787 issued in the journal of the St Petersburg Academy, securing it a ‘relatively broad readership’;3 it also predates Chapter 3 of the Resa, but is not included in the present edition. Account of a voyage to Japan by M.Thunberg Dear Sir, As you know, I was engaged by the directors of Amsterdam’s botanic garden, as well as certain other distinguished gentlemen, to go to the Cape of Good Hope, and from there to Japan, in order to undertake research into natural history of those regions, and to send back seeds and living plants of such unknown species as I might discover.4 I stayed three years at the Cape, and during that time had the good fortune to find and describe new species of animals and plants. In 1775, I left for Batavia, and after a brief stay there, embarked for Japan in a Dutch vessel, the Stravenisse. On 21 June we espied Pulo Sapatoo and sailed passed it, also making out the coast of China and the island of Formosa.5 On 13 August, we could make out Japan, and the next day we sailed into view of Nagasaki, the only Japanese port in which it is permitted for us to drop anchor.6 En route we were struck by squalls, owing to which the ship sailing with us was severely damaged. It was obliged to leave us and return to Canton, for repairs. We entered Nagasaki harbour, wearing full flags, saluted the Pappenburg, the guard stations of the Emperor and Empresses, and the city itself.7 During this time two banjoses inspectors came aboard, with many interpreters and lower officials, as well as some of the staff attached to the Dutch factory. The banjoses inspectors are rather like the mandarins of China. A space on the ship’s deck is always prepared for them, for they must be present whenever we disembark or unload the cargo. They check everything, survey the crew and hand out the permits to those who will go ashore, reporting daily to the Governor of Nagasaki on all that occurs on the ship. It is remarkable how punctiliously these officers carry out the order handed down by the Imperial Court [shogunate] in 1775.8 Even the smallest thing removed from the ship and placed in a boat for taking ashore, is scrupulously inspected, and the same goes for when the cargo itself to be unloaded. The mattresses are all opened and the feather bedding checked; the crates are emptied and even their planks are investigated lest contraband be hidden in hollowed out sections inside; the butter kegs are stirred up with metal poles, and our cheeses are rigorously examined by means of digging a hole down into the centre and by cutting in laterally in all directions, with a knife; even the eggs did not escape suspicion and several were broken to ensure they did not contain smuggled objects. All crew and others onboard, every one of them, undergoes a search on leaving the ship, and on returning to it again. The inspectors run their hands over our backs, sides, stomachs and thighs, in such a way that it is next to impossible to hide anything.

Appendices

221

In the past, they were less exacting, and ship’s captains were exempt from the search, but they greatly abused this privilege. They used to wear a vast overcoat with two huge inside pockets, better called sacks, in which they moved contraband, going back and forth several times a day. The Japanese government was so annoyed by this kind of behaviour that they introduced new measures. The Europeans attempted to circumvent the new searches, contesting the wishes of government, but after repeated incidents things arrived at how they are today, where it is nearly, if not totally, impossible to deal fraudulently in any goods at all. The Japanese complexion is generally yellow, although some, mostly the women, are nearly white. Their eyes are small and elongated, like those of Chinese and Tartars. Their noses are not flat, but are shorter and thicker than ours. Their hair is black. Throughout the empire, fashion is very uniform, and hairstyles the same for everyone, from emperor to peasant. For men, the hairstyle is peculiar, with a completely shaved top of the head, from brow to crown. The remaining hairs at the temples and back are gathered up and lain on the top, in a cue the length of a finger. This is bound with a white ribbon and attached to the back of the head.9 The women retain their full head of hair, and gather up on top, rolled into a turban shape, fixed in place with pins. They add ornaments, which stick out either side like little wings, and behind these they insert a comb. Priests and doctors are the sole exceptions to the practice [common to other men]. They shave their hair completely, and are thereby differentiated from other people. Dress has taken the same form since highest antiquity. They wear one or more loose robes, closed at the waist with a belt. Women’s robes are longer than men’s, falling to ground level. In summer they have light robes, but in winter they wad these with silk or cotton. People of distinction use silk cloth, and those below just cotton. Women generally wear more layers than men, and more patterned, often embroidered with gold silk. The robes tend to be left open at the chest; the sleeves are wide and hemmed so as to create a pocket into which the hands can be put, and they also use these for keeping paper or other light articles. Upper-class men are distinguished from those below by a short tunic worn over the robe, and shoes open at the sides. Some wear leggings, but all are basically bare-legged. They also have straw sandals, tied to the foot with a cord passing around the ankle and another going between the big toe and the toe next to it, and attached to the sole. In winter they wear cloth socks, and when it rains they use sandals with wooden soles. This people never cover their heads, except when going on a journey, when they wear a conical straw bonnet. Otherwise they use parasols against sun and rain. At the belt they wear a sword, fan, parasol or pipe. The sword is invariably on the right, with the scabbard pointing upwards. Those in public office wear two swords, one much longer than the other. Their houses are of wood, with bamboo wattle coated in plaster, both inside and out. Ordinarily, houses have two storeys, but the upper is low and rarely inhabited. Roofs are covered with heavy, but proportionately made tiles. The floor is raised up a foot above the ground and constructed of planking. They place double straw-filled mats some three inches thick on this floor. Homes are a single big room, but can be divided up, as desired,

Appendices

222

by painted paper screens fixed into runnels built for that purpose into the floor and ceiling. Windows are a wooden grid covered with translucent while paper, which makes a pretty good alternative to glass. Their rooms are not furnished. They have no tables, chairs, stools, cupboards nor even beds. They sit on their haunches on the matting, which is always kept clean and soft. Food is served on low tables a few inches high, one dish at a time. They have mirrors made of metal alloys, but these are only used for washing and are not left out in the room at other times, as furnishings. Notwithstanding the severity of their winters, which requires them to heat their houses from November to March, they have neither chimneys nor hearths, instead of which they use large copper vases, lined inside with earth, to burn charcoal in, which seems to be prepared in such a way that the smoke is not bad for one’s health. The Portuguese were probably the first to introduce tobacco to Japan, but wherever it came from, it is consumed here very moderately, albeit that both sexes and young and old smoke continually. They blow the smoke from their nostrils. On meeting a stranger, the first thing they do is offer a cup of tea and a pipe. The tube and bowl of their pipes is made of copper. The bowl is so small that it barely holds a normal amount. They cut the tobacco into strips, thin as hairs and the length of a finger, and roll this into pill-shaped quids, so that they fit into the pipe’s little bowl. The quids only last a few minutes and have to be often replaced. Both sexes use fans, and they are never without this accessory, whether at home or outside. The entire nation is naturally clean. Each house has a bath, and the whole family use it daily. Very few men fail to have their crest printed in their sleeves, or on the back of their clothing. Cloth is even made with blank spaces for this crest, which is always inserted in the same colour as the cloth. This nation is very noteworthy for the respect they accord to parents and superiors. It is pleasing to see the deferential way that inferiors treat those in elevated positions. If they meet in the street, the lower person will stop until the higher has passed; if they are indoors, they will stand to one side and bow to the ground. Their greetings are extremely polite and children grow accustomed to them from a young age, by seeing the example of their parents. Laws are very severe, but punishments seldom meted out. There is probably no country where so few crimes against society are committed. They use names in a different way from all other nations. The family name is never used, except in contracts, and the given name, by which everyone is known conversationally, changes with age and situation; people are called by different names in the course of their lives. Commerce flourishes in this country, albeit not in so developed a way as with us in Europe, since the people have fewer needs. Agriculture is so well practised that even the mountaintops are cultivated. The Japanese only trade with the Chinese and Dutch, and only then with the appointed companies of those two countries. The Dutch export copper and raw camphor, and give in exchange sugar, cloves, sappan wood, ivory, tin and lead, tortoise shell and a few other things.

Appendices

223

The Dutch Company pays no taxes in Japan, neither on imports nor exports, but sends instead annual gifts to the Court of sheets, cottons and a few trinkets. I had the satisfaction of following the ambassador charged with delivering these presents on his trip to Edo, the capital of this vast empire.10 That city is situated very far from Nagasaki. Only three Europeans are permitted to make the trip. I was one of that number, and we were accompanied by at least 200 Japanese.11 We left Dejima, and the city of Nagasaki, on 4 March, 1776, passing Kokura to arrive at Shimonoseki on the 12th. There we met the barge in which we would travel to the coast of Hyōgo, from which, we went overland to Osaka—one of the main commercial cities—where we remained 8–9 April. On the 10th, we arrived at Miyako, place of residence of the dairi—the ecclesiastical emperor—where we stayed two days.12 Next we took the road again, for Edo, where we arrived on 1 May. During the trip we were carried by bearers in a sort of palanquin called a norimon, enclosed, but provided with windows. The presents we were taking were also carried on men’s shoulders, except some bags which were loaded onto horses. The Japanese officers provided for all our needs, such that the trip was entirely pleasant. On the 18th, we had our audience with the kubō, or temporal emperor, the heir apparent and twelve lords.14 The next day we greeted the ecclesiastical governor, city governors and other grand functionaries.15 On the 23rd we had our audience of leavetaking. We left Edo on 26 May, and arrived at Miyako on 7 June, where we had an interview with the emperor’s viceroy, to which we gave presents, since we are not able to see the dairi.16 On the 11th we were given permission to see the city and visit its principal buildings. That evening, we left for Osaka, which we were also allowed to view, on the 13th, seeing temples, theatres and many interesting buildings, but principally the copper refinery. This is the only city in the whole empire where metal is founded. On the 14th, after being received in audience by the governor of the city, we took the road back to Hyōgo, from whence we returned to Dejima, arriving after an absence of 128 days.

Appendix 2 Preface to the first sections of Thunberg’s Flora Japonica, 17841 Translated by the editor The site and climate of the Japanese kingdom The Japanese kingdom, called Nippon or Nihon by its inhabitants, comprises a miscellaneous group of many islands. Of these, one is the largest, two very large and the others of various but smaller sizes. They form the extreme limit of Asia and are situated between Asia and North America, separated by the watery tracts of the ocean. Japan extends in latitude from 30 to 40 degrees north and in longitude from 143 as far as 161 degrees east. These islands are surrounded on all sides by a very great, strong, stormy sea. Inland it has few plains, but many hills and mountains, often very high. The heat in summer is intense, sometimes reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and would be almost unbearable if it were not mitigated by winds. The heat is greatest in July and August. So too, the cold in winter is very intense, reaching several degrees below freezing, especially when winds blow from the North and East. In winter, the water turns to ice, and snow falls even in the Southern parts, but above all in those parts which are more Northerly. Some mountains are hardly free from snow throughout the whole year. Storms are very common: there are scarcely three months in the year when they do not rage wildly. Changes in the air are exceedingly inconstant in these lands. Rain is fully adequate and falls almost throughout the year, but especially in the spring and summer months. Copious rain is the cause of the very high fertility of Japan. Thunder is not rare, indeed storms and earthquakes are exceedingly common. The whole kingdom consists in hardly anything but mountains, some quite small, some very big, so that it is nothing but hills and valleys. Fields are found, but never meadows. The soil is mostly clay, though in some places sandy, being less fertile of itself than from the untiring and incredible toil of its indigenous inhabitants. The occasion for going to Japan and collecting plants there I credit the cause of my going to a land so remote and difficult of access primarily to the famous Professor Burmann [sic],2 celebrated far and wide for his elegant botanical writings and his most efficacious practise of medicine. Having undertaken to travel through France, I was lingering in Amsterdam when, in his home over several weeks, he kindly showed me his precious collections. He saw and detected my competence, such as it was, in natural history, and my burning desire for further knowledge in this most useful of sciences. After I had shown my desire to go to little-known lands in the Indies, whilst I

Appendices

225

was spending the winter and the following summer in Paris, the said professor commended me to some of the greatest men in Amsterdam, that I might sail in their name and at their expense, to Japan, the greatest part of whose produce was yet unknown but which was very close to the Netherlands in its temperate climate. Outstanding amongst them were the consul Ury Temmink, commissioner of Amsterdam’s Hortus Medicus, the consul Van der Poll, and the senators I. van der Deutz and David ten Hoven. I was required to collect from Japan, partly for the use of the Hortus Medicus and partly to be the private property of those great men, both growing green trees and shrubs, and also the seeds of living plants in general, especially such as could adapt to the climate of Europe and be made to grow in the open, in gardens (Buyten plaatsen3), rather than all those kinds of tree, already copiously introduced, which are supplied by other lands, and which can withstand the cold and changes of climate. Japan is closed to the inhabitants of the rest of the world, and opens its ports only to two annual ships from Holland and a few Chinese vessels, and admits only about two hundred Europeans a year (and them strictly enclosed and guarded), as well as about the same number of Chinese, all of whom must leave after some three or four months, except for a tiny number who remain. So that I could profitably go to a land like this, it was of the utmost necessity that I should understand and speak Dutch. To learn it accurately and completely, neither my too-short stay in Holland, nor the journey to Japan itself seemed likely to suffice. To that end, I went to the Cape of Good Hope, in South Africa, to study for three years well-known, special and rare genera of plants. From there, in the year 1775, I travelled by sea towards Japan, and arrived there in the same year. The factory of the Dutch merchant company is sited on the small island of Dejima, near to the town of Nagasaki. It is in the southernmost part of the kingdom and the only harbour in the entire kingdom where foreign ships are allowed to anchor. The island is completely surrounded by a wall and boasts two well-guarded gates. No European is allowed to enter or leave without permission, and without undergoing a most exacting double inspection. However, three or four Europeans receive an annual permission from the Japanese governor [of Nagasaki] to go into the city and to some nearby temples— though they have great retinue of Japanese minders.4 So it is clear that even the keenest botanist is deprived of freedom to collect the plant treasures of the countryside. Seized by boredom and anxiety, I took care from the very outset, through everything that could reasonably be done, to ingratiate myself with the Japanese officials and interpreters who came in virtually every day and who stayed in the factory while the ships were being unloaded. By volunteering various gifts and services, and above all by several medical cures happily performed, and through information in that and other sciences faithfully supplied, I won their love and trust. The interpreters sought and collected various plants around Nagasaki, and brought them to the island, when they came there, and the officials obtained for me, from the governor of the city, the freedom (admittedly surrounded by guards and interpreters) to perform botanical excursions throughout the surrounding mountains. That was most happy news for me! But it was soon altered into the severest of interdicts on my work of botanising: the reason for this is that the Japanese people are deeply suspicious in all things and do not dare to grant any additional freedoms to the Europeans, but they do allow them such freedoms as their records show to have been previously conceded. My petition having been submitted and read, it was found that some little time before, permission had been granted to a Dutch

Appendices

226

physician, after he had run out of medicines in the factory, to seek herbs in the hills around Nagasaki, to be put to curative uses. The governor had therefore not hesitated to grant me leave to hunt for plants roundabout, and to instruct a local person in their uses so that he could try them out on the sick. But having studied their records more closely, they noticed that the aforementioned surgeon was of a lower rank. Permission therefore was withheld from me, as chief physician. Such a little thing is often of the greatest importance to the meticulous Japanese. I did not become despondent, but, relying on the old adage of ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again’, I strove to persuade the Japanese that there was no difference between a high-ranking physician and a lower one, as, after all, the lower would succeed when the chief died. These and similar arguments opened the eyes of the Japanese, yet three whole months went by was already advanced before I could take advantage of the concession. before I could obtain renewed permission from the governor, and autumn5 Seeds rather than plants would be looked for in that season. Those which I diligently collected, I sent by ships leaving for Europe.6 That year, 1775, from the end of autumn, and then through the whole of the summer and part of the following autumn, I instituted one or more excursions a week, until I was obliged to board ship and leave that happy land. I collected the greater part of the plants described in this Flora during those expeditions. They turned out to be more expensive than I had bargained for at the outset, since the food and drink provided for the officers who accompanied me, and for the interpreters of higher and lower rank and their servants—comprising a total of twenty or thirty people each time—cost 16–18 rixdollars, with the result that I think I can say few plants and seeds have been so costly to acquire—not to mention the costs of great labour and many inconveniences. Apart from such opportunities, I made use of another, which enriched me with several plants that I had not always found on my excursions. The Japanese do not rear any pigs or sheep, and very few cows or bulls (which they never slaughter, nor do they eat their meat). The Dutch who live in that factory have to bring their animals from Batavia with them, and butcher them subsequently, as needed. Several Japanese are employed to feed the livestock, and three times a day—morning, noon and evening—they bring in the requisite fodder, with plenty of grass, from the sites near the city. I carefully appraised these heaps before they became the property of the hungry animals, and I sometimes found rare plants amongst them. During court trip, from 4 March to 30 June—that is to say, about four months or 118 days—I personally collected from the wayside whatever was then growing, and also obtained things which grew farther from the road thanks to my servants, as well as through the interpreters, and physicians who not infrequently came to see us in the inns along the way. The year 1776 was the most favourable for me and my cherished Flora project. The court trip started late and took longer than usual, on account of the adverse sea winds affecting some 130 miles of coast. Hence it was late spring and indeed almost summer, and on the return journey I was able to find many plants in their fullest flowering states. Whilst I was living in Edo from 18 May to 13 June7, two physicians came to me at the inn, Katsuragawa Hoshū and Nakagawa Jun’an, who were more than a little interested in mineralogy, zoology, botany and medicine. They frequently brought natural specimens

Appendices

227

for me to examine, the names of which they told me in Japanese whilst I told them in return their names in Latin and Dutch. After loading their merchandise, the ships always have to sail some miles off from the town of Nagasaki and then anchor near the Papenberg, an uninhabited island, before they quit Japan. They then sail off, passing by all the coastal islands and bays, although no one is allowed to go ashore. I was able to examine the Papenberg and Fishers’ Island (in Dutch, Vischers Eyland), and the greater and lesser islands of Koseto and surrounding coasts.

Appendix 3 Thunberg was in Japan to investigate the local flora, so as to prepare himself to write the definitive Flora Japonica on his return. The book duly came out in 1784, and was well regarded. The issue of the extent of time he was able to spend in the field is unclear, but since this is a crucial matter, it will be investigated here. Thunberg’s first account of his time in Japan, the Letter given here as Appendix 1, contains no information on plant gathering. The Preface to the Flora, which came next, and is translated here as Appendix 2, states that after disembarking at Nagasaki, he was soon permitted to go into the field, but that this privilege was retracted, before he had even used it, on the grounds of precedent: previously only an under physicians had gone off the island, and Thunberg was a senior physician. In the Flora, Thunberg states it was ‘three whole months’, before he talked the authorities out this nicety and that he was able go out. This implies a first trip in mid-November, or about the time the Stavenisse sailed back to Batavia. Prior to that, he made do with examining animal fodder and plants brought to him by well-wishers. After permission was finally granted, he states, he went out once or more per week. If Thunberg was in the fields from mid-November, this would allow a good deal of time to collect. However, in the Resa, Thunberg contradicts the date he had given in the Flora, stating that the rescinding of the denial of permission occurred much later, namely in late-January, and moreover, ‘I could not make use of it [leave to go out] before the beginning of February’. This second version is probably the truth, for Arend Feith records in the Dagregister that he interceded for a review of the denial of permission on Thunberg’s behalf on 17 January, and that this was accepted on the 30th, and Thunberg went out ‘for the first time’, on 7 February.1 Incidentally, Feith also states that Thunberg was accompanied by the factory assistant, Fredrik Schindeler, although Thunberg ungraciously deletes this. (Schindeler had arrived in Japan with Thunberg and would remain there until 1781; in his final spring, he went as secretary to Edo, and held conversations with the shogunal doctors, many of which were published by Katsuragawa Hoshū’s brother, Morishima Chūryō in his popularising treatise on Europe, Kōmō zatsuwa.2) The conclusion has to be that the discrepancy in the Flora is not accidental, and that Thunberg reverted to the truth in the Resa, having deliberately falsified his account in the Flora, giving himself some ten extra weeks, and importantly autumnal ones before the winter set in, so as to better validate his research. Moreover, his removal of Schindeler turns himself into a lone European tackling Japan’s vast plant world. When it came to the travel book, where botanical scholars were not the intended readers, he went back to the notes taken at the time, which accorded with the facts. The Resa does record one period of plant-hunting before the departure of the Stavenisse, while Thunberg was living aboard the ship as it lay in Nagasaki’s roadstead, before the in-coming factory team were permitted to embark. This is possibly the case, although no firm details are given and it is not in the Flora.

Appendices

229

The court trip left on 4 March, so from 7 February, Thunberg had a maximum of 25 days remaining (1776 was a leap year). Feith records no excursion on any day after the 7th. Although it was not necessarily Feith’s job to mark down Thunberg’s every movement, he was to record some later outings, so it is odd that he gives none between the first and the setting out on the court trip. Since Thunberg says his trips were weekly, he could have had at most just three. During the court trip, some gathering would have been possible, although much of the journey was onboard. Thunberg specifically refers to giving his minders the slip and running off to gather plants only once, although in a way that suggests he did it several times. The court trip itself lasted from 4 March to 29 June, according to Feith, which he states was 117 days. Thunberg almost matches this in all his writings, only having them come back one day later, and calculating 118 days away. The periods of the all-important residence on Edo, however, do not match. Feith gives from 1 to 26 May, and the Account and Resa give this too, but again the Flora is out, having from 18 May to 13 June. This is nonsensical as it was not possible to travel from Edo to Nagasaki in the short period between 13 and 29 (or 30) June. Thunberg does not increase the length of his time in Edo, but he shifts it almost three weeks backwards. The probable reason is to have himself still in Edo at the change of season, for the period mid-May to mid-June is more useful to the botanist than in May only, and in Edo he was brought many of his most important samples by his Japanese friends. Upon return to Nagasaki, there were some four months left, and Thunberg would have had time for many more weekly excursions, assuming the permission to herborise still stood as Thunberg implies. But the permission did not stand. Feith does note on 14 July, two weeks after they were returned from the court trip, ‘I asked permission for Thunberg to search for herbs in the surroundings of Nagasaki for five days.’ They waited ten days for a verdict and then on the 26th, word came that Thunberg could herborise for three days only. Feith has Thunberg returned on the 28th, so that under three full days is implied, perhaps just two.3 On Feith’s evidence, other than snatched time on the court trip, Thunberg was only in the field four times. Another means of estimating time spent might be through costs, but this turns out not to be possible. Feith states that he asked Thunberg to pay a certain sum to his guides on each outing, and although the figure is erased from Feith’s log, in the Flora, Thunberg says each outing cost him 16–18 rixdollars. In the Resa, Thunberg reports he spent 1,200 rixdollars on his ‘favourite study’. Although this might seem to indicate about 80 field trips, computation would be invalid as Thunberg mentions spending money on other study-related things, such as books. Finally, the internal evidence of the Flora can be considered. Peter Jonas Bergius called it a ‘big stately book’, and indeed it contains 812 plant species. This compares with the Japan section of Engelbert Kaempfer’s Amoentatis exoticae, which has 324.4 Thunberg’s Flora entries can be broken down as follows: 300 are from the Nagasaki area, 62 from Hakone, 43 from Edo, 11 from Miyako and 8 from Osaka; additionally, 46 are cultivated and so not geo-specific, and 329 are indeterminate.5 The prevalence of Hakone species is interesting, and surely related to the claim appearing in Kaempfer’s History of Japan, that Japanese doctors regarded plants growing there as superior to all others. Yet, it is notable that Thunberg was in Hakone for only two days. Why was it he

Appendices

230

was able to gather only five times as many items in Nagaski, where he lived for a whole year, unless he was not often permitted to botanise? It is not to diminish the importance of the Flora to state that it was produced under highly adversarial conditions—indeed it is to prove Thunberg’s diligence. With most Linnaeans spending up to two years in gathering, however, he would not have wished his truncated exposure to the open field to be too apparent.

Glossary Banjo(s) translators; interpreters. Banjos(es) as above. Bugyō magistrate or governor; general term for high officials. Corn the most prevalent grain in any area, here usually rice. Daimyō regional rulers; ‘princes’, c. 280 in number. Dairi ancestor of modern Emperor of Japan. Dejima site of the VOC factory (also romanised Dezima and Deshima). Ecclesiastical emperor see, Dairi. Eis(en) goods requested by Japanese potentates for special import. Emperor shogun. Kambang official sale of VOC imports, held in Nagasaki. Kobang unit of currency initially equal to 6 (previously 10) taels; koban. Kubō shogun. Mangoku 10,000 koku (a unit of rice). Norimon palanquin. Ottona(s) local officials or ‘commissaries’; two were in charge of the island of Dejima. Secular emperor shogun. Shōmyō regional lord beneath the level of a daimyō. Sowas gilded metalwork; also sowas-work. VOC Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or Dutch East India Company. Abbreviations to Notes DDR Blussé, Leonard & Cynthia Viallé (et al. eds), The Deshima Dagregisters: Their Original Tables of Contents (Leiden: Intercontinenta, 1995-date); 12 vols. FJ Carl Peter Thunberg, Flora Japonica: sistens plantas insularum japonicarum (New York: Oriole Publications, 1975). HOJ Kaempfer, Engelbert (J.-J. Scheuchzer, trans), A History of Japan Together with a Description of the Kingdom of Siam (London: Curzon, 1993) 3 vols. KJ Engelbert Kaempfer (Bodart-Bailey, Beatric M. trans & annot.), Kaempfer’s Japan: Tokugawa Japan Observed (Honolulu: Hawaii University Press, 1999). SZK Thunberg, Carl Peter (Takahashi Fumi, trans & annot.), Edo sanpū zuikōki, Tōyō Bunko 583 (Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1994). TEAA Thunberg, Carl Peter (Charles Hopton, attrib. trans), Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa made during the Years 1770 & 1779 (London: Rivington, 1793–95).

Notes Introduction 1 Eberhard Friese, ‘Leben und wirken Carl Peter Thunbergs’, p. vii. Letter dated June 1795. 2 Venon Forbes, ‘Foreword [to Thunberg]’, pp. xxiv–xxix. It is clear that Volumes 1–3 were not translated by the same person as Volume 4, although Forbes does not discuss this. He does, however, interestingly note that Hopton’s middle name was Rivington, which is the surname of the publishers of Volume 4 of the English version, after another press had issues Volumes 1–3. See above, Publishing History. 3 Olof Eriksson Willman, Een reesa till Ostindien, China och Japan (1667) and Een kort berattelse om kongarijket Japan (1674). These were, however, small-circulation, privately published books and not widely known. For a Japanese translation of the former, see Ōzaki Yoshi (trans.), Nihon ryokō ki, and for a brief English summary, see Catharina Blomberg, ‘Jammaboos and Mecanical [sic] Apples’, and her ‘Mechanical Apples: Olof Eriksson Willman’. It should be noted that large portions of Willman’s book are lifted from François Caron, Beschrijving van het machtighe Koninckrijcke Japan (1648). Willman may have been in the first group of Swedes in Japan, for there were two, perhaps three that year; also present was Johan Schedler, and Jurriaen Scholten may have been Swedish, despite his Hollandified name; see Willman, Nihon ryōkō ki, p. 19 and Reinier H.Hesselink, Prisoners from Nambu: Reality and Make-believe in Seventeenth-century Japanese Diplomacy, pp. 82 and 148. See also Carl Steenstrup, ‘Scandinavians in Asian Waters in the 17th Century’. 4 Quoted in B.M.Bodart-Bailey, ‘Introduction: The Furthest Goal’, p. 5, where he is referred to as Hoffwenig. 5 Ibid., p. 12. 6 Wolfgang Muntschick, ‘The Plants that Carry his Name,’ p. 79. 7 Derek Massarella, ‘The History of The History: The Purchase and Publication of Kaempfer’s History of Japan’ pp. 97 and 117. In any case much of Kaempfer’s book was about the history and culture of Japan, so the English title was actually more pertinent. An unrelated essay about Japan by Simon Delboe et al., was also included too, and Sloane considered adding Willman’s book (see note 3 above), although it was not, in the end, translated for inclusion (it is, though, mentioned in the History’s translator’s introduction); see Massarella, ‘The History’, p. 114. 8 Bodart-Bailey, ‘Introduction’, p. 1. 9 Maurice O.Johnson, ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ and Japan, passim. Since Gulliver’s Travels was published in 1726, Swift must have seen a pre-publication MS. 10 Matsura Kiyoshi (‘Seizan’), daimyo of Hirado, possessed a copy by 1782; see C.C.Kreiger, The Infiltration of European Civilisation in Japan During the Eighteenth Century, pp. 75– 76. For a slightly later alarmed comment, see Aoki Okikatsu, Jōmon jūssaku (1804), p. 382. 11 Count Alphonse Fortia de Piles, ‘Fortia’s Travels in Sweden’, p. 479. This is a translation of the Sweden sections of Fortia’s Voyage de deux français en Allemagne, Danemark, Suède, Russie et Pologne fait en 1790 et 1792 (Paris, 1796); the other of the ‘two Frenchman’ was Pierre-Marie-Louis de Boisgelin de Kordu, see below. 12 Ibid., loc. cit. 13 Sweden had four: Upsala, Lund, Åbo and Greifwald. 14 Lisbet Koerner, Linnaeus: Nature and Nation, pp. 16–17.

Notes

233

15 Most of the following biographical data is derived from the Travels itself. For modern summary biographies in English, see Catharina Blomberg, ‘Rerum memorabilium thesaurus: A Treasury of Memorable Things—Carl Peter Thunberg’s Observations on his Year in Japan, 1775–1776’, same author’s ‘Carl Peter Thunberg, a Swedish Scholar in Tokugawa Japan’, and Ione Rudner, ‘Biographical Outline’. 16 Wilfrid Blunt, The Complete Naturalist: A Life of Linnaeus, p. 231. 17 Heinz Goerke, Linnaeus, p. 30. 18 John Z.Bowers, Western Medical Pioneers in Feudal Japan., p. 75; Bertil Nordenstam, ‘Carl Peter Thunberg—Liv och Resor’, p. 11. 19 TEAA 1/66. Here and below, references to Thunberg’s Travels that fall outside the portions presented in this edition are referenced to the original English edition, abbreviated as TEAA, with volume and page number. 20 Goerke, Linnaeus, p. 26; TEAA 1/36. 21 The son was Katsuragawa Hoshū; see below. 22 Neil Kent, The Soul of the North, p. 184. 23 Blomberg, ‘Rerum memorabilium’, p. 329. 24 See Appendix 2. 25 TEAA 1/68; L.C.Rookmaaker, The Zoological Exploration of Southern Africa, p. 148. 26 Letter to Thunberg, dated 6/10/1774, quoted in Mia Karsten, ‘Carl Peter Thunberg: An Early Investigator of Cape Botany’, pt 2, p. 98. 27 J.Mac Lean, ‘The Introduction of Books and Scientific Instruments into Japan, 1697–1875’, p. 37. The items were inventorised at the factory when Feith died in 1783; it cannot be known if they were already there in 1775. 28 Furukawa Koshōken calculated the population as 51,702 when he visited in 1783; see his Saiyū zakki, p. 161; a Chinese population of 10,000 is given in Kamae Masao, Ō-Edo no omoshiroi yakushoku jiten, p. 176. 29 There were variant spellings, but Dezima is the most common and that used by Thunberg (throughout this edition, romanisations are modernised; see Editorial Conventions above). 30 For a table of bugyō, see Toyama Mikio, Nagasaki bugyō, pp. 189–204. For Feith’s remark, see DDR 8/151. Like all senior officials, they also have marchalcy (kami) names, which were Kaga no Kami, Iyo no Kami, Nagato no Kami and Tango no Kami respectively (although Hiromichi only became Tango at his sudden appointment, once in Nagasaki, having previously been known by the common name of Heikyūro; see DDR 8/150). Thunberg and Feith mistakenly call Morikazu ‘Noto no Kami’. 31 For a convenient table of top VOC staff in Japan (including physicians), see Toda Yukio, Katsurakawa-ke no sekai, pp. 194–95. 32 Rudner, ‘Biographical Outline’, p. xiv. Nils Svedelius, ‘Carl Peter Thunberg (1743–1828) on his Bicentenary’, p. 132; the binome has since been changed. 33 TEAA 4/283. 34 Letter to Thunberg, dated 3/10/78, quoted in Karsten, ‘Carl Peter Thunberg’, pt 1, p. 7 and pt 4, p. 154. 35 Blunt, The Complete Naturalist, p. 191. 36 V.S.Forbes (ed.), Carl Peter Thunberg, Travels at the Cape of Good Hope, 1772–1775, p. 3129, n. 7. 37 Letter to Thunberg, dated 6/10/74, quoted in Karsen, ‘Carl Peter Thunberg’, pt 2, p. 96. 38 Koerner, Linnaeus, pp. 160–61. 39 Goerke, Linnaeus, p. 152. 40 Koerner, Linnaeus, p. 156. 41 Ibid., p. 161; Tore Frägsmyr, ‘Introduction: 250 years of Science’, p. 10. 42 Harold B.Carter, Sir Joseph Banks, 1743–1820, pp. 190–91. 43 Ibid., p. 196.

Notes

234

44 Richard Tames, Soho Past, pp. 22, 24, 31 and 33. Banks moved to Soho Square in 1777, shortly before Thunberg arrived. 45 Quoted in Carter, Sir Joseph Banks, p. 173. 46 TEAA 4/291. 47 Wolfgang Michel, ‘On the Background of Engelbert Kaempfer’s Studies’, p. 710. 48 TEAA 4/290. 49 Carl Peter Thunberg, Inträdes-Tal, om de mynt-sorter (1779); for the lecture and translations, see TEAA 3/xi. 50 Karsten, ‘Carl Peter Thunberg’, pt 2, p. 102. 51 Carter, Sir Joseph Banks, p. 191. Barber, Heyday of Natural History, p. 55. 52 Tames, Soho Past, p. 44. 53 Koerner, Linnaeus, p. 169. 54 Ibid., p. 39. 55 Rudner, ‘Biographical Outline’, p. xvii. 56 Karsten, ‘Carl Peter Thunberg’, p. 2. 57 Fortia, ‘Fortia’s Travels’, pp. 478–79. See above, note 11. Most notoriously, they had faked a set of letters of Mesmer; see Jean Vartier, Alphonse de Fortia. 58 Valerijo Grubor and Moisej Kirpiczuikova, ‘Carl Peter Thunberg and C.J.Maximowicz: Maximowicz’s Researches into Materials Left Posthumously by Thunberg’, p. 340. 59 Frans Stafleu and Richard Cowen (eds), Taxomonic Literature, pp. 306–34; Joseph Acerbi, Travels Through Sweden, Finland and Lapland, p. 121. Acerbi’s real name was Richard de Vesurotte de Saint-Mauris. 60 Koerner, Linnaeus, p. 170; Blunt, Complete Naturalist, p. 30. 61 Thomas Thomson, Travels in Sweden During the Autumn of 1812 (1813), quoted in Koerner, Linnaeus, loc cit.; see also Goerke, Linnaeus, p. 41. The greenhouses are now totally restored, and for a convenient illustration, see Blunt, Complete Naturalist, pp. 140 and 150. 62 Carl Peter Thunberg, Orangeries och samlings-salar (1807). 63 Fortia, ‘Fortia’s Travels’, p. 475. 64 The painting is accepted as dated to 1808, but shows the sash, which must, therefore, be an addition. 65 His foremost pupil, Olof Schwartz, had died a decade earlier. See Bertil Nordenstam, ‘An Introduction to Carl Peter Thunberg’s Icones plantarum Japonicarum’, p. 543. 66 Kimura Yōjirō, Edo no nachurarisuto, p. 166. 67 Notable were the deaths of Kristofer Ternström in Java (1746), Fredrik Hasselquist in Smyrna (1752) and Peter Forsskål in Arabia (1763). For a chart of Linnaean students with routes and death dates, see Sten Selander, Linnélärjungar i främmande länder, pp. 8–9, 68 Carl Linnaeus, Critica botanica (1737), quoted in Sverker Sörlin, ‘Scientific Travel: the Linnaean Tradition’, p. 113. 69 Letter dated 1/11/1771, sections quoted in Blunt, Complete Naturalist, p. 191 and Sörlin, ‘Scientific Travel’, p. 106. 70 Leonard Blussé, Cynthia Viallé et al. (eds), The Deshima [sic] Dagregisters: Their Original Tables of Contents, vol. 8, p. 69. Hereafter, DDR with volume and page number. 71 While Thunberg was in Japan, the rōjū were Matsudaira Takemoto, Matsudaira Terutaka, Matsudaira Yasutomi, Doi Toshisato, Iikura Katsukiyo and the famous Tanuma Okitsugu. The wakadoshiyori were Katō Hisakata, Matsudaira Tadamasa, Mizuno Tadatomo, Sakai Tadayoshi, Torii Tadaoki. Lists of senior shogunal officers are to be found in Katō Toyomasa et al. (eds), Nihonshi sōgō nenpyō, q.v. 72 DDR 8/14. The identity of the secretary is not known. Armenault refers to Okitsugu as ‘Thanema Tonomo Cami’ (i.e. Tanuma Tonomo no kami). 73 The worst disasters, for which the period became notorious, occurred some half-dozen years after Thunberg’s visit. For an assessment of the malaise of the times, see Timon Screech, The Shogun’s Painted Culture: Fear and Creativity in the Japanese States, 1760–1829.

Notes

235

74 The temple is not named, but was probably the Kōdai-ji, Nagasaki’s main shogunal precinct. 75 Ione Rudner, ‘Biographical Outline’, p. xiii. 76 Francis Masson, ‘Account of Three Journeys from the Cape Town’, Transactions of the Royal Society of London (1776). 77 Anders Sparrman, A Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope…from the Year 1772–1776. The English editions (all identical) are from London (1785 and 1786), Dublin (1785) and Perth (1789). The book was slow to appear because Sparrman had contracted herpes on his hands during his travel; see Vernon S.Forbes, ‘Foreword [to Sparrman]’, p. 5. For the identity of the translator, see Forbes, ibid., pp. 16–17 and also his ‘Foreword [to Thunberg]’, pp. xxviiiii. Forbes notes that Hopton rather paraphrased Sparrman and made his text verbose, whereas with Thunberg, ‘no attempt has been made to impose on it a literary tone which the original does not possess’, p. xxviii. 78 For discussions of Sparrman’s character, see Forbes, ‘Foreword [to Sparrman]’, pp. 4–5. 79 Ibid., p. 12. 80 Jacob Berzelius (later secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy) wrote Thunberg an undated letter deploring Sparrman’s ‘chemical arrogance and medical ignorance’; quoted in Sörlin, ‘Scientific Travel’, p. 122. Acerbi said Sparrman’s Resa was ‘but a poor work’ and that his other writings ‘do not entitle him to a high rank in the republic of letters’. 81 TEAA 3/vii. There are translator’s prefaces only to Volumes 3 and 4 (not reproduced in this edition). 82 Title-page to French edition. 83 Spelling of proper nouns was not yet fully standardised, but the failure of most critics to match Sparrman’s name with the spelling used on the title-pages of his books and articles is extreme. 84 Late in life, however, Thunberg published a Flora Javanica (1825). 85 Sörlin, ‘Scientific Travels’, loc. cit. 86 Chambers, ‘Sir Joseph Banks’, p. 9. 87 Carl Peter Thunberg, De moxae ignis (1788); see also below. 88 Letter to Thunberg, dated 30/5/1785, quoted in Karsten, ‘Carl Peter Thunberg’, pt 2, p. 100. 89 Karsten, ‘Carl Peter Thunberg’, pt 1, p. 20, n. 20. 90 The books are Nova genera plantarum (1781), Dissectio de medicina Africorum (1785), Dissertationes academicae (1799) and Dissertatio de novis generibus plantarum (1799– 1801). It was normal for professors to co-author doctoral theses (dissertatii). 91 The title is Icones selectae plantarum quas in Japonia collegit et delineavit Engelbertus Kaempfer, 1791. 92 Neil Chambers (ed.), The Letters of Sir Joseph Banks: A Selection, p. 143, and his ‘Sir Joseph Banks, Japan and the Far East’, p. 9. 93 This is available in English (although with the Latin title), Jonas Engberg (ed. and trans.). 94 The British Library copy of Thunberg’s Icones has Banks’s book stamp. 95 Half the sketches are by Johan Henric Olin (Thunberg’s student and tutor to his children), and the others unsure; see Bertil Nordenstam, ‘The Origin of Thunberg’s Unpublished Icones plantarum Japonicarum’ p. 373. 96 TEAA 4/86. 97 Koerner, Linnaeus, p. 167. 98 Acerbi, Travels, p. 121. 99 TEAA 3/xii. 100 Charles-Pierre [sic] Thunberg (Louis-Mattieu Langlès (trans.), Voyage de C.-P. Thunberg au Japon, Translator’s Preface, p. iii. 101 Quoted in B.M.Bodart-Bailey, ‘Writing The History of Japan’ p. 17. Spalding refers to several books (including Kaempfer) and not to Thunberg alone. 102 Letter to Thomas Pennant, quoted in Vernon Forbes, ‘Foreword [to Thunberg]’, p. xxv.

Notes

236

103 This was simply a matter of removing from Volume 3 any frontmatter that would identify it as part of a larger whole. 104 Also known as African sunset, the plant is similar to the better-known American black-eyed Susan (now state emblem of Maryland), which latter, interestingly, was also classified by Thunberg, and named by him Rubeckia hirta (‘hairy Rubeck’), after Olof Rubeck, the ‘universal genius’ who had first laid out the Upsala’s Hortus Botanicus; see Tore Frängsmyr, ‘Editor’s Introduction’, p. vii. 105 TEAA 3/xii. 106 When Gustav Adolf visited Upsala, Thunberg dressed four children as a Japanese, Chinese, Javanese and Moor, see Catharina Blomberg, ‘From the Horizon of the Enlightenment: Carl Peter Thunberg’s Views of Religion in Japan’, p. 39. 107 This portrait is frequently reproduced, but is now lost. Its authority is perhaps in doubt, although the face is clearly from the same source as the frontispiece to the French Resa, given here as Plate 7. Thunberg wears the medal of the Vasa, which he received in 1785, so the image is not contemporary with his travels; according to Bertil Nordenstam, he wears the lace costume made for him in Batavia (oral communication). 108 DDR 8/149. 109 Koerner, Linnaeus, p. 211. 110 Mary Wollstonecraft Hilleström H.Poston, ed.), Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway and Denmark (1795), p. 20. The Vindication was published in 1792; her husband had sent her to Sweden so he could pursue an affair with his mistress; see Poston, ‘Introduction’, p. 12. 111 Scott, Sweden: The Nation’s History, p. 271; Louis gave 300,000 livres. 112 Goerke, Linnaeus, p. 4; Kent, Soul of the North, p. 117; Hovde, Scandinavian Countries, vol. 1, p. 43; Catharina Blomberg (oral communication). 113 TEAA 4/viii. 114 For the so-called Gripsholm coffer, see Lis Granlund, ‘Gustav II Adolfs Japanska kista’, pp. 27–28. I am grateful to Oliver Impey for this reference. For Gustaf and Gripsholm, see Håken Groth, Neoclassicism in the North: Swedish Furniture and Interiors, 1770–1850, p. 42. The Chinese Pavilion was (and still is) in Drottingholm Palace. 115 Groth, Neoclassicism, p. 7. 116 Kent, Soul of North, p. 275. 117 Scott, Sweden, p. 287. 118 Ibid., p. 269. 119 Ibid., p. 280. Verdi’s opera, Un ballo in maschera (The masked ball), premiered in 1859. 120 For satire on this, see Kent, Soul of the North, p. 117 (with illustration). 121 Scott, Sweden, p. 300. 122 Christian Koninckx, Swedish East India Company, p. 439. 123 Hovde, Scandinavian Countries, 1720–1865, vol. 1, p. 45. 124 Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776), pp. 309–10. 125 Chambers, ‘Sir Joseph Banks’, p. 9. 126 The Swedish Company formally disbanded in 1813 although it had been required to piggyback on other companies ever since the late eighteenth century; the VOC folded in 1799. 127 Wollstonecraft, Letters, pp. 19 and 28. Coffee was one of a number of expensive imports banned under sumptuary laws. The salmon was probably pickled. 128 Koerner, Linnaeus, p. 136; Goerke, Linnaeus, p. 112. 129 Chambers, ‘Sir Joseph Banks’, p. 11. 130 Koerner, Linnaeus, p. 137. 131 Ibid., p. 137. 132 Goerke, Linnaeus, p. 112; Koninckx, Swedish East India Company, p. 412. 133 Carl Gustav Ekeberg, Capitaine Carl Gustav Ekebergs onsindiska resa (1773).

Notes

237

134 Forbes, ‘Foreword [to Sparrman]’, p. 13. Forbes notes it is not sure whether Ekeberg and Sparrman were related by blood. 135 Koerner, Linnaeus, p. 63. 136 Goerke, Linnaeus, p. 153; Koninckx, Swedish East India Company, p. 410. 137 Letter to William Devaynes, December 1788, see Chambers (ed.), The Letters of Sir Joseph Banks, p. 114. 138 HOJ 3/219. Not in KJ. 139 The source is referred to as ‘Kinmosui, a Japanese herball’, which is Nakamura Tekisai, Kinmō zui (General encyclopaedia), of 1688, largely taken from earlier Chinese sources; the borrowed image appears as Kaempfer’s Figure 138. The Appendix cites Willem ten Rhijne’s ‘prolix and accurate description’ of tea, which was published in what appears in the History as Jacob Breynius, Century of Exotic Plants (Danzig, 1678)—the English translator’s ad hoc translation of the actual title, Exoticarium aliarumque minus cogitartum plantarum centura prima; for the text of the Appendix, see HOJ 3/213–48. 140 Compare HOJ 1 /179 and KJ 65. 141 Koerner, Linnaeus, p. 128. 142 Linnaeus, Criterea botanica, quoted in Sten Lindroth, ‘The Two Faces of Linnaeus’, p. 61. 143 Lindroth ibid., p. 59; Goerke, Linnaeus, p. 49. 144 Koerner, Linnaeus, p. 151. 145 Smith, Wealth of Nations, p. 124. 146 Fortia, ‘Fortia’s Travels’, p. 408. 147 Hovde, Scandinavian Countries, vol. 1, p. 27. 148 Hesselink, Prisoners From Nambu, p. 29. 149 For the other depiction; see Kent, Soul of the North, fig. 129. 150 Koninckx, Swedish East India Company, p. 37. 151 Koerner, Linnaeus, p. 117. 152 DDR 1/34. For the VOC practice of ‘viewing the smelting’ (saobuki kenbutsu), see Katagiri Kazuo, Edo no orandajin, pp. 213–46. 153 Fortia, ‘Fortia’s Travels’, p. 403. 154 DDR 8/189; Sugita Genpaku, Rangaku kotohajime, p. 485. 155 Gennai revealed his erekiteru generator in the 11th lunar month of 1776, and Thunberg sailed out in mid-November; see Haga, Hiraga Gennai, pp. 393–97. 156 DDR 8/147, 157–58. 157 Ibid., pp. 164, 167 and 157. 158 Kent, Soul of the North, p. 165. 159 Goerke, Linnaeus, p. 35. 160 Koninckx, Swedish East India Company, p. 353; Goerke, ibid. 161 Fortia, ‘Fortia’s Travels’, p. 392. 162 Goerke, Linnaeus, p. 35. 163 Claude Quétel, History of Syphilis, p. 82, see also above, p. 228. 164 Goerke, Linnaeus, p. 35. 165 Frederik Cryns, ‘The Influence of Herman Boerhaave’s Mechanical Concept of the Human Body in Nineteenth-century Japan’, pp. 345 and 353. The Latin book was imported in the Dutch translation of 1760, entitled, Verklaaring der korte stelling van Herman Boerhaave. Boerhaave’s original Aphorisms (1709) was one of the most important medical books of eighteenth-century Europe. 166 Mark Honigsbaum, The Fever Trail: The Hunt for a Cure for Malaria, pp. 20–30. 167 Quétel, History of Syphilis, p. 83. 168 TEAA 4/123. 169 Yoshio Kōzaemon changed his name to Kōsaku (or Kōgyū) some three weeks before Thunberg arrived, but the VOG continued to call him by his old name; see DDR 8/144. 170 Satō Narihiro, Chūryō manroku (1798), pp. 74–75.

Notes

238

171 Sugita Genpaku, Keiei yawa (1810), p. 283. 172 Sōda Hajime, ‘Baidoku chiryōyaku shimatsu ki’, pp. 188–97. For the ‘Dutch thread’, see Fritz Vos, ‘Forgotten Voibles’, p. 618. 173 The existence of this book is stated in S. Iwao, ‘C.P.Thunbergs ställning i japansk kulturhistoria’, p. 143, but he gives no source, and his misreading of all the book titles and people’s names he cites (including even Kōsaku’s) does not inspire confidence. The book is mentioned in Yojiro Kimura, ‘Thunberg and the Flora of Japan’, where the title is given as Thunberg kuden, p. 33. 174 Cecilia Segawa Seigle, Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan, p. 213. 175 P.F.Kornicki, ‘European Japanology at the End of the Seventeenth Century’, p. 150. 176 For a discussion and translation, see Robert W.Carruba and John Z.Bowers, ‘The World’s First Detailed Treatise on Acupuncture: Willem ten Rhijne’s De accupunctura’, pp. 371–98. For Kaempfer, see above note 138. For Frederick, see Michel, ‘On the Background of Engelbert Kaempfer’s Studies’, p. 715. 177 Nakagawa Jun’an was born in Edo to a family serving the daimyo of Obama (often more romantically referred to as Wakasa), and after a minor post in the shogunal medical team (in which he could not advance as such posts were hereditary), he returned to service of his daimyo; see Tozawa, Katsuragawa-ke, pp. 304 and 306; Hoshū already attended the shogun occasionally, by virtue of his father’s rank, and had first done so in 1769. See also Sasama Yoshihiko, Edo bakufu yakushoku shūsei, pp. 318–19. 178 I have discussed this book in Timon Screech, The Lens within the Heart, pp. 34–37 (with illustrations). 179 Onitake’s book is entitled Wakanran zatsuwa, which means ‘Japano-Sino-Dutch Miscellany’, though if read fast, this collapses into ‘wakaran zatsu wa’, which means ‘I haven’t a clue it’s such a mess!’ 180 The master handed on his name through the generations (as was common in the period). The Nagasaki-ya was in Honkoku-chō, beside Nihon-bashi. 181 Katsuragawa Hoshū, appendix to Ōtsuki Gentaku, Ran’en tekihō (MS 1792, first published 1817), quoted in Soda Hajime, Nihon iryō bunkashi, p. 192. Soda mistakenly dates the book to 1799. 182 Morishima Chūryō, Bango sen (1788). There is no modern edition. 183 Tozawa, Katsuragawa-ke, pp. 304 and 311. Hoshū was demoted from shogunal physician to ‘trainee’ (yoriyose) in 1786, but reinstated in 1793. Chūryō became a retainer of Matsudaira Sadanobu in 1792. 184 I have discussed this in Screech, Lens within the Heart, pp. 137–44, although much new information is presented here. 185 James Smith (ed.), A Selection of Correspondence of Linnaeus and Other Naturalists, vol. 1, p. 172. 186 Morishima Chūryō, Kōmō zatsuwa, pp. 454–55. 187 No physician was appointed until 1780 (i.e. the 1781 court trip), although from 1778 (the 1779 court trip) the Assistant restarted the pattern of multi-year tenure. 188 DDR 8/169. 189 Ibid., pp. 177 and 180. 190 I have discussed this incident more fully in Screech, Shogun’s Painted Culture, pp. 89–91. 191 Morishima Chūryō, Kōmō zatsuwa, p. 465. Chūryō calls Feith ‘Heito’ and Iemoto Kōkyōin. 192 DDR 8/181. 193 TEAA 4/271. True, Patterson has started life as a gardener, but that was far behind him. 194 Smith, Selection of Correspondence, vol. 2, p. 21. 195 Scott, Sweden, p. 273 and Koerner, Linnaeus, p. 170. Fortia, ‘Fortia’s Travels’, p. 402. 196 Nagakubo Sekisui, Nagasaki kikō, p. 22v.

Notes

239

197 The image, part of the anonymous Bankan zukan, now in the Bibliothèque nationale, France, is datable to c. 1797. For a convenient reproduction, see Screech, Lens within the Heart, fig. 72. 198 DDR 2/125. ‘Sickuseen’ is a garbling of Chikuzen, the poetic name for Fukuoka. 199 DDR 5/7. 200 DDR 8/130. The lunar second month of 1774 had 29 days, so the VOC arrived on lunar 26/2, but 6 April was lunar 1/3. The dates of birth of the daughters are not recorded. 201 The state of Kagoshima is often referred to as Satsuma. 202 Martha Chaiklin, Cultural Commerce and Dutch Commercial Culture: The Inftuence of European Material Culture on Japan, 1700–1750, p. 63. 203 Jonathan Swift, Tale of a Tub, p. 109. 204 Santō Kyōden, Ko wa mezurashiki misemonogatari (1801); for a convenient reproduction, see Screech, Lens within the Heart, fig. 77. 205 The events are summarised in English in Reinier Hesselink, ‘A Dutch New Year’, pp. 189– 93 and 207–9. 206 Letter to F.M Grimm, quoted in George Lensen, The Russian Push Towards Japan, p. 120. 207 Ibid., pp. 99–101. 208 Ibid., p. 115. 209 Katsuragawa Hoshū, Roshia-shi (1793). 210 Tozawa, Katsuragawa-ke, pp. 56–62 and 311. 211 Morishima Chūryō, Hōgu-kago, p. 172. Although Edo people had variant names, Jun’an was never ‘Junzō’. Thunberg is referred to as ‘Toinberugu’ and Sweden as ‘Sessai’. 212 Morishima Chūryō, Kōmō zatsuwa, p. 455. 213 For the special circumstances (which saw three experts—a gunner, silversmith and physician—stay in Edo from New Year’s Eve to late September, 1650), see Hesselink, Prisoners from Nambu, pp. 142–62. 214 The date of the original MS is unknown. For the ‘Caspar’ story, see inter alia, Norman T.Ozaki, Conceptual Changes in Medicine during the Tokugawa Period, pp. 108–14. 215 These (and other) titles are listed in the prolegomena (hanrei) to, Sugita Genpaku et al., Kaitai shinsho (1774), pp. 216–17. 216 DDR 8/H9. 217 Sugita Genpaku et al., Kaitai shinsho, pp. 208–9. 218 A.M. Luyendijk-Elshout,’ “Ontleedinge” (Anatomy) as Underlying Principle of Western Medicine in Japan’, p. 27; the last recorded edition (the eighth), was produced in 1755; for Kamepfer, see Bodart-Bailey, ‘Introduction’, pp. 3–4. 219 Sugita Genpaku, Rangaku kotohajime, p. 486. The data in this paragraph derives from that source, although I have argued elsewhere that many mythical elements have crept into the narrative, which long post-dates the events it describes; see Timon Screech, Edo no shintai o hiraku, pp. 162–68. 220 It may seem more plausible that the translation was made from Ryōtaku’s copy, but Genpaku clearly states he had not met Ryōtaku until the draft translation was complete; see note above. Genpaku is not always a trustworthy source. 221 Ōtsuki Gentaku (ed.), Jūchō kaitai shinsho. 222 For a reproduction of the Kaitai ryakuzu, see Nihon iji gakkai (ed.), Nihon iji bunka, vol. 2, pp. 159–60. 223 The Odano were retainers of the Northern Branch (hokke) of the Satake clan, which was based in Kakunodate, not Kubota (modern Akita), thus Naotake was not in the direct service of Yoshiatsu, although that lord’s permission would have been required for him to travel to Edo; Naotake lodged in the Kubota High Commission (kami-yashiki) in Edo and was regarded as working on Akita state business. 224 DDR 8/141. 225 Sugita Genpaku, Rangaku kotohajime, p. 483.

Notes

240

226 A. Portal, Histoire de l’anatomie et de la chirurgie (1770), quoted in Luyendijk-Elshout, “‘Ontleedinge” (Anatomy) as Underlying Principle’, pp. 27–28. 227 Masuda Kiyoshi reckons Genpaku had the second Dutch printing, but he notes a copy of the third is extant in the former collection of the Matsura daimyo family; see his Yōgaku no shoshiteki kenkyū, pp. 472–72. Grant K. Goodman reckons Genpaku had this third printing, which is possible, though not with Goodman’s date for it (1776); see his Japan: The Dutch Experience, p. 125. See also note 226 above. 228 Sugita Genpaku, Rangaku kotohajime, p. 483. 229 There were many different frontispieces produced for the varying editions of Heister. The third Dutch edition had a secondary portrait of Ulhoorn, which was never copied in Japan, suggesting it was indeed the second edition that was brought. For a convenient reproduction of the third edition’s plate, see Nihon Iji Gakkai (ed.), Nihon iji bunka shiryō shūsei, vol. 2, p. 250. The only competitor for this iconic status was Hippocrates, whose imaginary portrait was also often painted. 230 The painting is attributed to Hosan, but is not accepted as such by all; see, for example, ibid., vol. 5, p. 187. The Latin name was given to Hosan in 1810 by the then factory chief, Hendrik Doeff; see Tozawa, Katsuragawa, p. 315. Hosan must have misread an ‘m’ as an ‘n’, for Doeff would not have made such a simple error. 231 Koshimura Tokki (ed.), Shōryō seisen zukai. Ōtsuki Gentaku (trans.), Shōi shinsho. 232 Lorenz Heister, A General System of Surgery (1757 edn), Author’s Preface, p. ix. 233 George Rosen, ‘Lorenz Heister on Acupuncture: An Eighteenth-century View’, p. 387. 234 Heister, General System of Surgery (1757 edn), Author’s Preface, p. ix. 235 Heister, however, was not enthusiastic about acupuncture; see ibid., p. 386. 236 Goerke, Linnaeus, p. 144. 237 DDR 8/145–48 and 154–58. 238 Letter to Thomas Pennant, quoted in Forbes, ‘Foreword [to Thunberg]’, p. xxvi. Hopton does not state the source of the misinformation. 239 See Rüdinger Korff, Das berufsethos in der Chirurgie Lorenz Heisters. 240 For example in the German edition of 1763. 241 HOJ 3/155 and EK 402. 242 DDR 2/41; there were two chief counsellors, Toda Tadamasa and Abe Masatake, so who was cured is unsure. Obe is described as being from the New Netherlands—later New Amsterdam, now New York; see DDR 2/109. 243 See Kornicki, ‘European Japanology’, p. 507. 244 Lindroth, ‘Two Faces’, p. 47. 245 Sugita Genpaku, Yasō dokugen, p. 303. The book is undated but internal evidence places it at 1807. 246 Called the ‘Phaeton Incident’ (Fēton-gō jiken), from the name of the ship; see W.G.Aston, “‘H.M.S. Phaeton” at Nagasaki in 1808’. The justification was that the Dutch stadtholder, William V, had fled to England following the French annexation of the Netherlands in 1795, and had placed all Dutch colonies and ports under British control; but the legal status of Dejima was unusual as it was leasehold and not a colony; see, Jonathan Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness and Fall, p. 1127 (which, however, does not mention Japan). 247 See S.T.Raffles, Raffles’ Report on Japan to the Secret Committee of the English East India Company. 248 Letter to Thunberg dated 27/6/1826, quoted in Karsten, ‘Carl Peter Thunberg’, pt 1, p. 17. 249 For a convenient reproduction, see Richard C.Rudolph, ‘Thunberg in Japan and Thunberg’s Flora in Japanese’, fig. 8. The monument was made into a picture postcard in the nineteenth century; see Arlette Kouwenhoven, Seibold and Japan: His Life and Work, p. 31 (with illustration). For the enduring myth of ‘the three scholars of Dejima’ (Dejima no sangakusha), see Katagiri, Edo no oranda-jin, p. 9. 250 See Rudolph, ‘Thunberg in Japan’, pp. 163–79.

Notes

241

251 Seibold returned to Japan in 1859–61 and met his old friends, probably including Itō Keisuke, who may have told him of the translation. 252 Friese, ‘Leben und wirken’, pp. xxxiii-vi. 253 Ibid., loc. cit. 254 DDR 8/150. 255 William Mavor, Historical Account of the Most Celebrated Voyages and Travels, vol. 8, pp. 1–95; vol. 15, pp. 1–136 and 137–284. Mavor’s English Spelling Book (1804) is a core work in the history of the English language. He was also to publish with the Rivingtons, in 1814, his sermons, The Fruits of Perseverance. 256 Mavor, Historical Account, vol. 15, p. 181. 257 William Mavor, A Collection of Voyages and Travels, vol. 11, 253—end. 258 William Pinkerton, General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels, vol. 16, pp. 264. 259 Puccini took the name, with the story, from David Belasco’s play (which he saw in London in 1900). Belasco, in turn, took it from John Luther’s novel of 1895. The opera was first performed in 1905. 260 He also included ‘[François] Caron’s Account of Japan’, and an anonymous ‘Diary of the Coast of Japan, 1673’, both in Volume 7. 261 Walckenaer and Pinkerton co-authored an Abrégé de géographie moderne (1811). See also Charles Walckenaer, Notice sur L.M. Langlès (1820). Walckenaer, Histoire générale des voyages, vol. 6, pp. 1–113 (for Sparrman) and 114–209 (for Thunberg). 262 Ibid., p. 114. 263 Ibid., p. 116.

Author’s General Preface 1 Notable. 2 [Thunberg’s note:] Judges Chap. XV. 3 Dungheap dog. Thunberg contrasts the noble, biblical fox with the modern, verminous equivalent. 4 There follows a description of previous writings about the Cape. 5 Animals and plants. 6 That is, at leisure from other business. 7 Thunberg returned from his travels in 1779, and the first volume of the Resa appeared in 1788. 8 There follows an outline of the contents of Volume 1. 9 Omitted from the present edition. A fourth volume had not yet been envisaged when this Preface was written. 10 Japan.

Author’s Preface to Part I 1 This is identified as ‘preface to the third volume’; see Introduction. The first paragraph of the Preface is deleted as it refers to the two earlier volumes (which do not form part of the present edition). 2 As other commentators have noted, Thunberg is here speaking to his Swedish audience: in 1779, Gustaf III declared a ‘national dress’ for his subjects, ‘be they counts, baron, nobles on sons of landless peasants’; the idea flopped. See Koerner, Linnaeus, p. 100.

Notes

242

3 Engelbert Kaempfer (J-J Scheuchzer, trans.), A History of Japan together with a Description of the Kingdom of Siam (London, 1727). Although the manuscript was written in German, the book first appeared (posthumously) in English. References to Kaempfer below will be given to the 3-volume Curzon edition of 1993, and also to the re-translated version of Beatrice Bodart-Bailey, Kaempfer’s Japan: Tokugawa Society Observed (Hawaii University Press, 1999), abbreviated as HOJ with vol. and page no., and KJ with page number, respectively. 4 It is not clear to whom Thunberg refers here. 5 Sweden. 6 Carl Peter Thunberg, Flora Japonica (Leipzig, 1784); this work, which draws on Kaempfer and several imported Japanese books, as well as on his own samples, sets new-found Japanese plants within the Linnaean system. For the Preface to the Flora, see Appendix 2. 7 The ensuing list of principal plants and trees used in food and its preparation, clothing and its dyeing, interior furnishing and medicines, is omitted here.

I Departure and arrival 8 Actually the Stavenisse; the ship was named after a Dutch town. 9 Medicinal (or Physic) Garden. Thunberg appears to be unable (or unwilling) to send plants to the Hortus Botanicus in Upsala, still being run by Linnaeus. 10 Adriaan van Es (not Ess); he was commanding his third sailing to Japan, having taken the Gijnwensch there in 1774 and 1775; he was to return in the same Stavenisse the year after the present voyage, when Thunberg et al. were picked up; see Leonard Blussé et al. (eds), Deshima dagregisters: their Original Tables of Contents (hereafter DDR with vol. number) vol. 8, pp. 154 and 208. This would be his third, not fourth, trip to Edo. 11 Supercargo=superintendant of cargo; writer=clerk in the service of the English East India Company, but here the term is carried over to the Dutch company. 12 Arend Feith was in Japan intermittently for over fifteen years. He arrived in 1766, and was chief in 1771–72, 1773–74, 1775–76, each time attending on the Edo trip. He would be chief again in 1778–79 and 1780–81. 13 The trading station is known as the ‘factory’. 14 To fire blank cannon shots. 15 Roadstead, or sheltered waters. 16 Arend Feith, see above, note 12. 17 This geography is absurd. Thunberg left Batavia, which is on Java, and sailed northwards to pass through the Straits of Banca (Selat Bangka), which divides the small island of Bagka (not Java) from Sumatra. 18 The Equator. 19 One of the Spratly Islands. 20 In sum. 21 They were not to discover what had happened to the sister ship for almost a year after arriving in Japan; see DDR 8/155. 22 Squid, crabs and crayfish. 23 Alcohol distilled from coconuts or (more likely here) from rice, and sometimes sweetened with honey or dates. 24 Jacobus Bontius (Jacob de Bondt; 1558–1631), De medicina indorum (On [East] Indian medicine) (Leiden, 1642 and 1658). The old book was far from forgotten, and in fact two English editions appeared during Thunberg’s lifetime, the second while he was in Japan, as An Account of the Diseases, Natural History and Medicine of East India (London, 1769 and

Notes

243

1776). Bontius was known as one of the great ‘luminati of Leiden’; see M.Kidd and I.M.Madlin, ‘The Luminati of Leiden’, pp. 1307–14. 25 Between 27 and 30 degrees and 26 degrees C. Fahrenheit is also used in the Swedish original, which is curious as Anders Celcius was one of the great mid-seventeenth-century Swedish scholars, and founders of the Stockholm’s Royal Academy. It seems that Thunberg is being deliberately disloyal. 26 Astern. 27 Med zyn Gatt (a Dutch garbling, literally meaning ‘with its hole’) is a minute island southwest of Formosa (modern Taiwan). 28 This is explained in the next-but-one paragraph. 29 The Dutch had taken Formosa (Taiwan) in 1620s; Frederick Coijet (previously a chief of the Dutch factory in Japan) surrendered to Zheng Chenggong, half-Japanese son of Zheng Chilong (‘Nicolas Iquan’). ‘Coxinga’ (or Koxinga) is a Dutch attempt to pronounce of his title, Guoxingye (‘Lord of State of Suriname’). Normally the date of 1662 is given for the surrender. The encounter was part of a loyalist attempt to restore the Ming dynasty, recently ousted by the Qing, by whom Chilong had also been seized. Chenggong’s military exploits were fictionalised in Japan by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, whose jōruri (puppet drama) Kokusen’ya kassen was performed to astounding success in 1715 (see ‘The Battles of Coxinga’ in Donald Keene (trans.), Major Plays of Chikamatsu, pp. 195–269). After the Dutch surrender, Coijet was imprisoned in Batavia then exiled, but pardoned in 1665. 30 ‘C.E.S.’ is ‘Coijet et socii’ (Coijet and company). The book is available in English in William Campbell, Formosa under the Dutch: Descriptions from Contemporary Records (London: Kegan Paul, 1903) and in Inez de Beauclair, Neglected Formosa (Chinese Materials Centre, Occasional Series 21, San Francisco, 1975). See also Lynne Struve, Voices From the Ming-Qing Cataclysm, pp. 204–34. 31 Taiwan surrendered to the Qing in 1684, as the Dutch in Nagasaki knew; see DDR 1/36. 32 Only the main sail could be raised. 33 The trip to Japan could only be safely made from July to October. 34 These appear in HOJ 1/160 and KJ 55. The page numbers have been altered by Hopton. Thunberg’s original reference reveals that he was not using the original English, but the French translation. 35 Properly, the Burgh. 36See DDR 8/86. Since the incoming chief, Daniel Armenault, was on the Gansenhoef, the factory was able to function, although being undersupplied. 37 The chief was again Armenault. For an account of this disaster, which had profound effects on Dutch trade, see DDR 8/86 and 154, and also Timon Screech, ‘Strange Vessels: Maritime Technology and Japanese Isolation’ (American Neptune, forthcoming). However, it is argued that Thunberg overstates the importance of this wreck; see Martha Chaiklin, Cultural Commerce and Dutch Commercial Culture, pp. 22–24. 38 Armenault was back in Japan as chief in 1774, and was replaced by Arend Feith when he sailed in with Thunberg. 39 This ship now sailing with Thunberg’s Stavenisse; he writes retrospectively. 40 The Nagasaki bugyō. There were always two, one resident in Nagasaki and the other in Edo, and they switched position each autumn. The incumbents were Kurihara Morikazu (in Nagasaki) and Tsuge Masakore (in Edo). The former had been in post for many years, but the latter was appointed only that summer. In the autumn, Masakore arrived in Nagasaki. Morikazu was promoted to shogunal Magistrate of Buildings (sakuji-bugyō), and so the next autumn his replacement, Kuse Hirotami (who had been appointed late 1775), arrived in Nagasaki. See Toyama Mikio, Nagasaki bugyō, p. 197. 41 Nagasaki harbour is very long. The ship has arrived at its mouth, but further hours of sailing are required to reach the city port.

Notes

244

42 Daniel Armenault, the out-going chief, to be replaced by Arend Feith. While the two chiefs overlapped, the former was in charge, surrendering his commission only at the moment of departure. 43 Flags. 44 Actually, the God and Goddess Guard-houses (nanshin/nyoshin gobanjo). 45 Cloak or overmantle. 46 Since the ships (or, in 1775, ship) remained for some five months in Japan before sailing off again, this was a major restriction. 47 The captain was François van Ewijk and the chief was Armenault. 48 Ginseng was imported from Korea by Chinese merchants, but the commerce was closely controlled. The root has many medicinal purposes and was regarded as a heal-all. 49 The interpretation of restrictions being placed as a result of the discovery of the Burg is now famous through Thunberg’s account, but it has recently been challenged: the archives do not suggest any such sequence of events; see above, not 37. 50 Unknowing. 51 In most Dutch writings these officers are referred to as bongiois (pl. bongioisen). The etymology is unclear, but it may be a corruption of bugyōshū, or ‘magistrate’s staff’, of banjōshi, ‘guards’, or banjo, ‘guard station’. They are known in English as translators or interpreters. 52 Previously these items had been surrendered on arrival. 53 Here, ‘banjos’, which was the singular form above, seems to be a plural. 54 Small, light two-masted vessel. 55 After early November sailing was impossible and ships would be required to winter in Nagasaki. 56 The Chinese had a small island to store their goods, but they did not live on it, rather in a stockaded compound on shore. 57 This is one of the many unparsable sentences constructed by Thunberg’s translator.

2 Life in Nagasaki 1 Coolies. 2 Watch period of duty. 3 Feith gives 6,000 chests; see DDR 8/146. Normally two ships came and exported 4,000 chests each, but when only one ship arrived, it was allowed to export 6,000. This also occurred in 1758, 1768 and 1770. 4 Literally, ‘big-eyed Dutch’. 5 Internal evidence suggests that one month has passed since arrival. See note below. 6 The governors visited on 10 October; see DDR 8/147. See also above, note 40. The ‘princes’ are less clear. The daimyo of Hirado, the famous scholar Matsura Kiyoshi (known as Seizan), who had assumed the daimiate from his father, Sanenobu, earlier that year, visited on 8 September, and the daimyo of Shimabara, Toda Tadatō, on 12 October; see ibid., 146 and 148. 7 The Stavenisse was a fine, new ship, on its first trip to Japan; it would be used several times, and indeed returned the following year when it picked up Thunberg et al. 8 In fact there were six deaths during this period, although only three are said to be of sailors, and only four men are named: Jan Pietersen, 13 September; Gerrit Baard, 14 September; Jan Vonk, 28 September, and Jurgen Gluffgave, 17 October; see DDR 8/128 and 147–48. Since Thunberg’s narrative has got to October, the deceased is probably Gluffgave. 9 Kurihara Morikazu has now left, and the governor is Tsuge Masakore; see above, note 40.

Notes

245

10 Deceased Europeans were buried at the temple of Goshin-ji. 11 Argos is the mythical Greek hundred-eyed guardian (as in the phrase, ‘Argoseyed’). 12 Woodcuts, i.e. illustrations. 13 So long as it is not done secretly. 14 This is illogical since the captain can not be fined if he has left. Presumably he would have to pay on his next return, if he made one, or else another Dutchman would be compelled to pay on his behalf. 15 Ōtsuji, kotsūji and keiko -tsūji. 16 A brush. 17 Not Gothic. 18 Medicines, or medications. 19 Thunberg would later find that there were Dutch-style physicians in Edo, although he seems not to have gone back to amend this initial incorrect impression. 20 ‘Ottoman’ is otona or ward elder; Dejima had one nominated otona; below, Thunberg calls them ‘reporting magistrates’. In Dutch they were referred to as wijkmeester, or most often romanised as ottona(s), as Thunberg gives below. 21 For the interpreters’ ‘college’, see below. 22 See Appendix 3. 23 The governor was newly appointed and so may have been over-anxious about not breaking with precedent, see above, note 40. On 7 February, Feith recorded, ‘Physician Thunberg assisted by Assistant Schindler, has gone looking for herbs for the first time’. The assistant, whom Thunberg ungraciously never mentions, is Frederik Schindler; he was back in (or perhaps still in) Nagasaki in 1780, after which he disappears from the records, perhaps quitting Japan that summer; see DDR 8/196. 24 ‘Society of Brothers, European and equally Japanese’, here meaning the Jesuits. This original was Ambrosius Calelinus, Dictionarium latino-luscitaricum (1595), a Latin-Portuguese dictionary to which Japanese was added for publication in Nagasaki, as Vocabulario da lingoa de iapan (1603); it was republished in expanded form the following year. In the original Swedish Thunberg had given the author’s name entirely incorrectly as Ambrosii Calep, but Hopton has corrected it; see Thunberg, Resa, vol. 3, p. 41. Thunberg encountered a second Japanese-Latin version while in Edo. 25 The ‘imperial’ cities, or those governed directly by the shogunate, are Edo, Kyoto, Osaka, Sakai and Nagasaki. Although the term is not a translation of any Japanese designation. They were joined in having imported goods guilds, or itowappu. Kaempfer refers to them; see, HOJ 3/73 and KJ 351. Edo was the largest, with a population of some million souls. 26 The shogun. 27 See above, note 40. 28 Twisted. 29 Let=leased. This was an important legal point: the island was not a Dutch possession, but rented property. See DDR 11/65 and 79. When in 1795 the Dutch stadtholder put all Dutch colonies under British care (following French annexation of the Netherlands in 1795), Stamford Raffles sent a ship to claim Dejima, but the then Dutch chief refused to hand over the island; see above, p. 270 n. 246 and Timon Screech, Edo no igirisi netsu (Kōdansha, forthcoming). 30 The top three men did not stay all year, but spent 3–4 months on a trip to Edo and back, as Thunberg recounts below. 31 See above, p. 272 n. 12. 32 That is, two of them (the scribe and physician), plus the chief. 33 The bars were 120lb in weight, and the ships took 4,000 cases; see above, note 3. 34 Cheap English wool, usually used for linings. 35 Chinese smilax, a rose-like plant for treatment of syphilis. 36 Probably false-ginseng and a species of ginger.

Notes

246

37 Medicinal paste of honey with preservatives. 38 A black sweet made with evaporated juice of the liquorice plant. 39 Narwalls’s horns; see below. 40 More usually, ducats. 41 The year is generally given as 1543, but is contested. 42 The crowns of the two countries were united by Philip II in 1580. 43 The English East India Company operated in Japan from 1613–23. There was no official ‘written agreement’ between the Dutch East India Company and the shogunate, and in 1601 the title of shogun (‘emperor’) was anyway in abeyance owing to civil war. 44 They were ordered to relocate from Hirado to Dejima in 1639, although the process took about a year to complete. 45 By contrast, in 1640 the Company made 6.3 million florins, which was regarded as very healthy; see Derek Massarella, A World Elsewhere, p. 246. 46 In 1685, under the fifth shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, the protocols of trade were revised, and the VOC was delighted that import tax (taxatie handel) was abolished. Many more Dutch ships came, and also Chinese ones as, in 1683, following the conquest of Formosa, the Qing court ended its ban on overseas trade. Note also that in 1685, the Portuguese returned, but were told to leave and ‘warned never to return to Japan again’, gleefully wrote the VOC chief, Hendrick van Buitenhem; see, DDR, 1/44–45. 47 Person not identified. 48 This paragraph is an example of the needless repetition that dogs Thunberg’s book. 49 That is, by monetary value not by weight. Mas does not generally take a plural form. 50 Ginseng. 51 ‘Kambang’, probably from the Japanese kanban, or advertising board; the official sale of goods. 52 Not otherwise attested. 53 On buying books and botanical samples, and paying those who accompanied him on his excursions. 54 The Japanese is ninjin; som is the Korean (not Chinese) name. 55 Market, or sale; see below. 56 Light: karui=‘not significant’. 57 The lunar new year, which falls some six weeks after the solar one. 58 Papenberg (‘pope’s hill’) or Takahoko-jima is an island in Nagasaki Bay, so called from a massacre of Christians there. 59 So-called ‘swato’ jars; see below, p. 280 note 28. 60 Kimono. 61 From the Japanese sekidō (‘red copper’), a copper-silver-gold alloy much in demand in Europe. Kaempfer refers to it as ‘sowaas’; see HOJ 2/241 and KJ 220 and 483, note 44. 62 East coast of the Indian subcontinent. 63 It was not unknown, though rare, for Asian (e.g. Siamese or Korean) ships to arrive. 64 That is, Sakai. 65 Modern Okinawa, at this time ruled by its own king, but subjected to vassal status by Japan. 66 This is incorrect: the Chinese were permitted to live in a stockaded quarter on the mainland; their island was for storage only. 67 Nagasaki boasted five Chinese-style Zen (chan) temples, although Thunberg probably here refers to another institution, namely the Temple of Confucius. 68 From the Japanese kyaraboku, or aloes wood. 69 The Karae mekiki, or inspectors of Chinese imports. 70 Since the Bleijenburgh had not arrived, the Stavenisse was the sole departing ship. 71 The previous physician, C.H.Ferbiskij. 72 That is, the harbour of Papenberg, some considerable distance down the roadstead from the city port.

Notes

247

73 Thunberg exaggerates: this same year Captain van Es requested—and received—leave to considerably defer departure; see DDR 8/146–48. 74 See above, p. 274, note 4. 75 The Japanese is Gyofu-tō, of which the Dutch and English names are translations. 76 Straining of the bowels. 77 Persimmon, or sharon fruit. Below it is referred to as a kaki-fig. 78 Another island near the mouth of the Nagasaki roadstead. 79 Chinese smilax, a rose-like plant. 80 Morning glory. 81 The seed coats, not the leaves, are used. 82 This plant is sanshō in Japanese, and a very common seasoning. 83 Both are species of madder. 84 Two specie of ramie (Chinese silk plant). 85 Compass. Dejima was fan-shaped and not literally circular. 86 One of Thunberg’s many digs at the quality of the typical VOC staff. 87 An Asian household steward employed by Europeans. 88 The scribe. The incumbent was Herman Köhler (or Koehler). 89 Neither windows nor doors shut tightly. 90 A hibachi. 91 Beaten on the soles of the feet. 92 This episode was also recorded by Feith, who saw the person escape three times, and finally, ‘Thunberg found the slave under his own bed’; see DDR 8/149 and Introduction, p. 26. 93 Dried herring roe (kazunoko). 94 Pinecone fish. 95 Literally ‘northern pillow’, this is the blowfish, or properly in Japanese, fugu. Corpses were laid out with feet pointing southwards. 96 Long-horned beetle; elytra are insect wings. 97 This is obscure; ‘falling oyster’ would be ochi-gaki—perhaps Thunberg heard a Nagasaki colloquialism. 98 This is obscure; Thunberg clearly refers to sea bass, which is properly suzuki; ‘ara’ means the bony parts of any fish. 99 Literally, ‘winter insect summer grass’. 100 Pressing, or boiling to extract soluble parts. 101 Rooms. 102 Obscure. Perhaps meaning while standing. 103 Not mentioned in DDR. 104 It is not clear whether this was done by Feith on his present trip or on one of his previous incumbencies. It is not mentioned in DDR. 105 No events seem to be recorded for December, although notable occurrences in DDR include torrential rains, a serious water shortage, and the departure of the out-going governor, Kuwabara Morikazu (‘Coabara Noto’); see DDR 8/149. 106 Squid. 107 Thunberg refers to the visits by the daimyos of Hirado and Shimabara, made in October; see above, p. 274 note 6. 108 The solar New Year, which had no significance in the Japanese calendar. 109 The Europeans’ mistresses were already there; Feith summons women from Nagasaki’s red-light district, the Maruyama. 110 Dishes. 111 Aphrodite (Venus) is said to be from Cyprus. 112 Retiring for the night, thus, in bed.

Notes

248

113 Husband is not the correct term: the male recipient of the fee would be the brothel agent. Thunberg’s empirical evidence here is at odds with the official rule that women could not stay on the island beyond three consecutive days. 114 Sexual discretion. 115 Made-up. Normally, a single woman would wear longer sleeves and not pluck her eyebrows and not (as appears below) blacken her teeth. 116 Safflower. 117 Properly, take absence without leave. 118 Literally, ‘tooth-black’ and ‘metal’. 119 The date matches that given by Feith; see below, Appendix 3. 120 Nearby. 121 Bamboo would be cut horizontally and filled with water to serve as a flower vase. 122 A fathom is six feet. 123 The standard Dutch translation of machi-doshiyori, or ward elder. 124 Two sorts of chicory (or endive). 125 Yams. 126 Sweet flag. 127 The ‘proper use’, or the Western one, is as a stimulant for weak internal organs and flatulence. 128 Lacquer. 129 Burdens, i.e. as a yoke. 130 Spindle tree. 131 The Japanese name ‘brocade tree’ (nishikigi) has an affluent and auspicious ring, appropriate for wooing. 132 Kochia scoperia or broom cypress. 133 Cotton rose and mallow. 134 Mint. 135 Latiate or Japanese shiso. 136 Yam. 137 Surely referring to bonsai. 138 Men and women; people. 139 This is the Japanese bush orchid, although it does not bear fruit. 140 Dais=class. Buckwheat is the flour used for soba; noodles would be a better term than cakes. It is not usually coloured. 141 The vessel was the Hiyoshi-maru, known to the VOC as the Hofreisbark, used annually. Generally the VOC staff joined it at Shimonoseki and took it as far as Sakai. 142 The inheriting prince, that is, the shogunal heir-apparent (the seishi or saijo), at this time, Iemoto, aged fourteen. He was to die three years later leaving the shogun heirless. 143 The rōjū, or elders. There were always six; see above p. 264 note 71. 144 ‘Japanese miles,’ or ri, approximately 4km, thus over 1,000 statue mile. 145 In this sentence, ‘his’ denotes male and female agents. 146 The lengths of the hours are thus flexible. 147 Buddhist temples. 148 The Japanese state was mythically founded in 660 BC by the Emperor Jinmu, which was a sort of Year 1, although years were not numbered sequentially, but divided into ‘eras’ (nengō) of some dozen years each. 149 These ‘stamping pictures’ (fumie) were notorious enough to be known of in Europe, and they feature in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726); Swift’s imagination was much stimulated by his reading of Kaempfer. 150 Gulliver is said to have been specifically exempted; see note above.

Notes

249

151 Omitted from this edition is Thunberg’s description of the Japanese zodiac, and his concordance of months in the Japanese and Dutch calendars. The odd repetition of these two paragraphs is the result of this deletion. 152 The original mistakenly gives the month as December, which would be Christmas Day; editor’s emendation. Feith states that on 25 February he and the bookkeeper Jan Schuts were ‘received in audience’, presumably by the Nagasaki governor; see DDR 8/150. 153 Thunberg is the senior physician, but there is also a surgeon who will remain on Dejima.

3 Journey to the court in 1776 1 This heading appears in the original text. From here on, editorial subheadings refer to location along the route of travel, rather than to date. 2 Ex officio the ambassador is the chief, although to the Japanese this was a tribute mission, not an embassy. Accordingly, below Feith is referred to by his temporary title. 3 For Herman Köhler (or Koehler); [SUAP]. He was in Japan for much of the 1770s. 4 State employees, usually derogative though apparently not so here. 5 There is only a single bridge. 6 The temple was the Ifuku-ji in Sakurada. 7 Above spelled kuli, that is, coolie. 8 On this occasion the leader was Kumaki Kōjirō; see DDR 8/150. 9 Norimono, is the generic word for palanquins. 10 Also a palanquin. 11 Imamura Sanbei was selected. The accompanying junior interpreter (underbanjoses) was Nakamura Genjirō. 12 This was fortunately no longer the case as it rained during almost all the spring of 1776. Kaemper went to Edo twice, in 1691 and 1692, but in fact he stated on the second trip that they were taken in palanquins (‘cangos’, as he calls them) for at least part of the way. On the former occasion, the chief was Hendrick von Buitenhem and on the latter Cornelius von Outhoorn; the scribes are unnamed, and, of course, Kaempfer was physician. See HOJ 2/281–84 and 147, and KJ 242–46 and 398. 13 Beds were not used; Thunberg refers to bedding. 14 Counterpanes. 15 This was a concertina-map rather than a fan. Kaempfer also observed them; see HOJ 2/287 and KJ 245. 16 Oslers, or horse tenders. 17 Long leggings. 18 4 March. 19 The confusing term ‘mile’ is hereafter dropped in favour of ‘league’. In both, a ri is intended; see above, p. 68. 20 Dinner is lunch. 21 [Original footnote to the English translation:] A very prevalent custom in Sweden, and some other countries in the North of Europe. 22 50 ryō is transferred to the VOC account. 23 The presents are sent back to Dejima, since the group is no longer there. 24 See HOJ 2/362–63 and 3/147 and KJ 290 and 398. 25 Not invalids, but healthy spa visitors; ditto ‘patients’ below. 26 Taps; faucets. 27 Technical skill. 28 These vessels were known in Europe as ‘swoto’—a corruption of ‘Shioda’.

Notes

250

29 This form of ribbon development was the norm along highways, but not for rural villages. 30 Probably meaning Hirado ware. 31 This place does not exist. Perhaps Sakaibara is intended. 32 Saga is the capital of Karatsu. Thunberg does not make distinctions between kuni (province) and han (a state, several of which make up at kuni). Karatsu is a han whereas the kuni is called, like the town, Saga. The daimyo had met the VOC in Nagasaki on 1 March; see DDR 8/186. 33 The city is a grid. 34 This sentence is totally ungrammatical. Citadels do not surround the towns but are surrounded by them. 35 The ‘former’ province must be Ōmura, which is the central Nagasaki region, but Nagasaki itself is in Hizen, where Thunberg still is. This is either a translation error, or their route has taken them out of Hizen and then back into it, surely the former as the original Swedish gives, ‘than the people I had seen up to now’; see Thunberg, Resa, vol. 3, p. 118. Kaempfer also noted this difference; see HOJ 2/370 and EK 294. 36 An interesting regional variant is revealed. In Edo (and most other places) married women blackened their teeth and plucked their eyebrows. 37 Slept. 38 HOJ 2/373–73 and KJ 295; according to Kaempfer, this occurred in 1687. Make away=kill. 39 The daimyo was Kuroda Haruyuki. 40 Thunberg’s interpretation may be correct, although it was also normal to turn away so as to avoid the dust thrown up by a procession. 41 Most daimyo processions to Edo took place in early spring. Edo, however, is not the capital but merely the shogunal seat. 42 In other words, traffic moved on the left. In Europe at this time it was unregulated, although the Roman Empire had introduced left-hand driving. Samuel Johnson noted that during the 1710s the practice gained currency in London, although oddly, he has it that people were walking on the right not left; see James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson, p. 53. It is noteworthy that Thunberg should comment on the quality of the roads, for Sweden was regarded as having the best in Europe; see Hovde, Scandinavian Countries, vol. 1, pp. 27– 28. 43 For the north European propensity of rulers to dot the landscape with pillars bearing their names, see Martin Warnke, Landscape and Power, pp. 17–20. 44 This is still the case in Japan. 45 This is the same as the kago given above, as Thunberg notes below. Owing to the nasal quality of the Nagasaki dialect, an intrusive ‘n’ often featured in romanisations, e.g. Nagasaki being called Nangasaki. Below, the distinction Thunberg seeks to draw between kago and norimono is invalid. NB: this edition pluralises Westernised Japanese words but not bona fide Japanese. 46 Silted up. 47 The daimyo was Ogasawara Tadafuda. 48 The keeper of the Dutch hostel (Oranda-tabijuku) in Kokura was Ōsakaya Yoshitsuke; the name and job were hereditary. 49 Pine, azalea and chrysanthemum. 50 Thunberg introduced these plants into European languages in corruptions of their Japanese names, thus aukuba is from aokiba, otherwise known as Japanese laurel, and nandina from nanten. 51 Shōji and fusuma. 52 Tatami. 53 They are crossing from Kyushu to Honshu, where they will meet the barge sent on ahead from Nagasaki. The keeper of the Dutch hostel (Oranda-tabijuku) in Shimonoseki was Itō Mokunojō; the name and job were hereditary.

Notes

251

54 Taikō is Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was warlord-cum-courtier in the late sixteenth century, but never ‘emperor’ (shogun). This story is not otherwise attested, except that it is noted by Kaempfer; see HOJ 2/380 and KJ 300. ‘Ripping up the belly’ features in this book as the translation of seppuku (vulgarly, harakiri). 55 Brothels. 56 Throughout, Thunberg mistakenly calls Honshū (the main island) ‘Nippon’ (Japan), an error he probably acquired from Kaempfer; see HOJ 2/391 and passim. The ‘two capitals’ are Miyako and Edo. 57 They go on to Osaka by water, although they take the road from Miyako to Edo. 58 A paste made by soya beans. 59 Probably tama. The ‘string’ is noodles. Buckwheat noodles are known as sobakiri or just soba. 60 Mince. 61 Literally, boiled noodles and barley noodles. 62 In other words they use the lower denomination without moving up a decimal place. A tael is always ten mas. 63 See above, p. 278 note 141. 64 Imamura Sanbei. 65 According to Feith, the group left Shimonoseki (for Kamisaki although he omits the toponym) on 14 March, and arrived in Hyogo on 6 April. He gives no further details; see DDR 8/150. 66 Kodomo=Children. The term often indicates a boy prostitute or catamite, which is probably what is intended here. 67 Cloth made from cord or yarn. 68 Using make-up. 69 Umeboshi is preserved plum (ume); naratsuke, ‘nara pickles’, from the city of Nara, as Thunberg explains below. 70 Tsuke is preserve or pickle; see above note. 71 Konomono is the generic term for pickles. The idea of roast meat is a fantasy. 72 This Vocabulary was published in the Resa at the end of Volume 3, but is omitted from the present edition. 73 More normally called sugoroku, this is a kind of snakes-and-ladders. It is similar to the nowforgotten ‘game (or ‘royal game’) of goose’. Shōbutsu means simply ‘win or lose’. 74 A now-forgotten Swedish card game, akin to rummy. Sala means to club together. 75 Actually, kan (properly a unit of weight (3.75kg), although also a notional unit of currency, was valued at 100 taels; ichi is one. There is nothing very peculiar about this. 76 The pronunciation is the same, but the words are written with different characters. Thunberg is discovering homophones, of which there are many in Japanese. 77 Samui and kan (as in atsukan, warm sake), although this is rather stretched. 78 Chopsticks, bridge and margin (margo: Latin for edge). 79 It is the mark of a samurai to wear two swords, but chōnin (generic towns-people) wore none, except in special cases. Thunberg may mean chōyakunin, or town officials. 80 Chūgoku and Shikoku, although they are not provinces, the former being a general district and the latter an island. 81 The boy-dairi Antoku drowned at Dannoura in 1185 during the Genpei Wars, which were won by the Minamoto, who went on to establish the first shogunate under Minamoto no Yoritomo. The foster-mother was Nii-dono. Naturally, this is entirely specious as a rationale for the origin of brothels. 82 Neither the title, nor the limitation in number is attested elsewhere. 83 Keisei, literally ‘castle-toppler’ perhaps pronounced kese in some places, was a Chinesederived term for a beauty who made men forget their duties. Originally it was applied to the Tang emperor’s mistress, Yang Guifei.

Notes

252

84 Hachi is eight and hai (from haigin) a cheap coin, though any equivalence to the VOC’s candereen would be fortuitous. 85 Obscure. 86 Shipworm. 87 DDR 8/186. 88 The Heike were a aristocratic military clan, and although one of their number became dairi, Antoku, he was swiftly killed at Dannoura, when the family was eradicated, see above note 81. Their heyday was the mid-twelfth century. Probably being referred to here is Antoku’s father, the clan’s patriarch, Taira no Kiyomori. 89 HOJ 2/396 and KJ 309. The reference to the ‘emperor Heike’ is also in Kaempfer. 90 The Yodo. 91 The keeper of the Dutch hostel (Oranda-tabijuku) in Osaka was Nagasakiya Tatsukichi; the name and job were hereditary. The present Tatsukichi had taken over from his father only the previous autumn; see DDR 8/147. 92 The Dutch hostel in Osaka (like that in Edo, known as the Nagasaki House, or Nagasaki-ya) was fixed and the men stayed in the same place every year, although it has never been successfully located. 93 Satsumas or mandarins. 94 Seaweed, konbu puns with yorokobu, rejoicing; see below, note 148. 95 No such fish exists, although aburami would mean any fatty meat or fish. 96 The governor of Nagasaki. 97 Wallpaper. 98 See above p. 275, note 25. 99 The incumbents were Hosoi Katsutame and Matsudaira Masaura, but the former was then in Edo. 100 Thunberg refers to it throughout as the ‘Edogawa’, an error probably derived from Kaempfer; see HOJ 3/1. It is the same river as that referred to above; see note 90. –gawa means river. 101 Osaka was known for its bridges, and these were famously memorialised by Chikamatsu Monzaemon in the michiyuki section in his jōruri (puppet drama) play Shinjū ten no amijima (1721) (translated as ‘Double Love Suicides at Amijima’ in Donald Keene (trans.), Major Plays of Chikamatsu, pp. 387–425). All tourists admired them. 102 Thunberg had been in Paris as a student from December 1770 to July 1771. By the time his book appeared, however, the Terror had changed the face of Paris. 103 The shirodai (representative in charge of the castle) changed while Thunberg was going to and from Edo, from Matsudaira Norisuke to Kuze Hiroakira (a close relation of Kuze Hirotami, the governor of Nagasaki). Osaka was governed from Edo and had no daimyo. 104 The daimyo of Yodo was Inaba Masanobu. 105 ‘Imperial’ of course meaning shogunal. The shogun’s seat here was the castle of Nijō-jo. Miyako is Kyō or Kyoto. 106 The outer circle of a wheel to which spokes (if there are any) are fixed; also ‘felloe’. 107 Hubs. 108 Not meet head on. 109 Rice cakes or mochi. 110 A clause odd in two respects: the ‘river Miyakos’ must mean ‘Miyako’s river’, the Kamo, which runs through the city; pelicans (the term appears in the Swedish, and is not a translation error; see Thunberg, Resa, vol. 3, p. 164) must mean white herons (sagi), which figure below, although it is curious that Thunberg should make such a blunder. 111 No fences implies neighbourliness and absence of land disputes. 112 The dominant grain of any region can be referred to as ‘corn’ (viz. in USA corn means maize but in Europe it means wheat); here and throughout, ‘corn’ denotes rice. 113 It is now the 9th of April.

Notes

253

114 Rape. 115 Natane=rapeseed; abura=oil. 116 Farmers engaged in animal husbandry. 117 The ‘Dutch hostel’ (Oranda-tabijuku) in Miyako was fixed and the men stayed in the same place every year. It was located at Takasegawa Daikokuchō, and known as the Ebiya; the hereditary master was Murakami Tōichi. The Feith suggests the men did not stay four days (unless counting inclusively), but arrived on the evening of the 9th and departed on the 12th; see DDR 8/150–51. 118 The shoshidai (known to the Dutch as the groot rechter; see below) and machi-bugyō. Kaempfer had called the former the Lord Chief Justice; see HOJ 3/17 and the incumbent was Doi Toshisato; the latter were Akai Takaakira and Yoshimura Yoshiasa. 119 This term appears below as the designation of shogun, although previously the text had given ‘emperior’. 120 In fact the palace was exceedingly modest and Thunberg is working on hearsay, which is in error. 121 It should be recalled, however, that the Pope was still a temporal ruler of large parts of Italy, as the dairi was not of Japan. 122 The dairi’s palace, far from being a castle, was a middle-sized mansion, see above, note 120. 123 They had been exceedingly infrequent from the first. The ‘revolution’ (a pregnant word as at Thunberg’s time of publication events in Europe and North America had recently given the term a heightened meaning), probably refers to the creation of the first, Kamakura shogunate in 1192, not the reigning, third, Tokugawa shogunate in 1603. By the time Thunberg came to Japan, no shogun had visited Miyako for over 150 years. 124 Nara and Nagaoka were earlier capitals, although Miyako had been such since 794. As a city, it was significantly smaller than either Osaka and Edo. 125 Thunberg may have been referring to the Swedish Royal Academy, of which Linnaeus had been a founder member and to which he was elected shortly after his return home. However, he may also mean the Royal Academy of London, of which he was likewise a member and also a friend of Sir Joseph Banks, its long-lasting president. More books were published in Edo than in Miyako. 126 Above referred to as the chief interpreter, Imamura Sanbei. 127 Feith gives the date as the 12th, which accounts for the discrepancy mentioned above, see DDR 8/151. Feith’s and Thunberg’s chronologies cannot be harmonised from this point until their arrival in Edo. 128 Hashiba is within the larger town of Ōtsu. 129 Properly, Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest. 130 Perhaps as a Scandinavian, Thunberg’s pride is permissible here; Norway, home of some of the best salmon, was under Swedish rule. 131 Feith gives no entries between the 12th (departure from Miyako) and the 17th (arrival in Hamamatsu). 132 In the original, these two places are turned into one, ‘Inohanazawa’. 133 Having hard swellings. 134 Main house. 135 The spring melting of ice was more of a hazard than the early summer rain, although because it rained unseasonably hard throughout spring of 1776, Thunberg may have misinterpreted the evidence. 136 Literally monks who ‘sleep in the mountains’ (not in a temple). These wandering ascetics were known for rough behaviour, and they followed the cult of En no Gyōja (c. seventh century). The women mentioned may or may not have been their daughters. 137 ‘Nuns from Kumano’, the great temple complex in Mie, not far from where Thunberg now is, but not the same place as his present location of Ise. He may be confused because Ise had

Notes

254

the top Shintō shrine (as distinct from Buddhist temple). Their order originated in women who wandered expounding the benefits of faith in Kumano’s principal deity, Sansho Gonzen, and they sold charms (often decorated with the image of crows) to ward off evil. By the later Edo period the women had indeed become a byword for roadside prostitution. 138 Owari was a province, within which was the daimiate of Owari itself, centred on the city of Nagoya; the daimyo was a close shogunal collateral, and the incumbent was Tokugawa Munechika. The VOC party were to cross his procession on 22 April, according to Feith, as it came down from Edo, and they watched it filing past; see DDR 8/151. 139 The is correct: unusually Kuwana has two castles, Kuwana Castle and Ōgi Castle. The incumbent daimyo was Matsudaira Tadakatsu. 140 They are crossing the Bay of Ise. Feith has the men waiting at Hamamatsu on this day because the Tenryūgawa is too swollen to cross; see DDR 8/150. 141 Feith has the men waiting at Kakegawa on this day, because the Ōigawa is too swollen to cross; see DDR ibid., loc. cit. 142 Okazaki Bridge was about 320 metres long and was indeed one of Japan’s finest. The castle had been home to Tokugawa Ieyasu before he became shogun, and the city retained certain privileges. 143 Perhaps for dramatic effect, Thunberg almost doubles the exchange rate: a kobang was about 6 rixdollars, as he knew perfectly well. However, he may also be referring to the old kobang, which was worth about 40 per cent more and so about equivalent to the rixdollar; see above, p. 67. 144 The daimyo of Okazaki, Honda Tadatoshi, died suddenly in the 5th lunar month of 1776, just after the VOC had passed back, and was succeeded by his son, Honda Tadatsune. 145 Untraceable; Takahashi suggests Kanbasaki; see SZK 141. 146 Untraceable. 147 The former toponym is a garbling of the latter, which is the correct name. 148 Edible seaweed, known as konbu. Its use in gift-giving, as outlined by Thunberg above and below, is accounted for by its name which recalls the word ‘rejoicing’ (yorokobu). 149 Not an island, but the most northerly Japanese settlement, just across the straits from Honshu on Ezo (Hokkaidō), which was Ainu land. It does indeed produce the best konbu. 150 The weed is tied with another piece of the same, cut to form a cord and some 12cm long. 151 Japanese pepper. 152 The name for seaweed when attached to a gift. Noshi could also be understood to mean ‘complementary paper’ although that would be a false etymology. 153 Tung oil tree; the Japanese for this is aburagiri; ‘aburashin’ is unclear, most likely meaning ‘oil [i.e. lamp] wick’. 154 Byōbu. This is Thunberg’s only comment on Japanese art. The screens were never 8-foot, but more likely 6 or less, and composed of a pair of six concertina-ed panels. 155 Lower-lying. 156 Closed-in, and so safe. 157 Women leaving the Edo area or guns entering it suggested the formenting of insurrection. Arai was famously one of the most strict checkpoints on the Tōkaidō, and also the only significant waterborne section of it. 158 The samurai staff at Arai Barrier. 159 Feith has the men detained here because of its swollen size; see DDR 8/151. 160 The text erroneously gives the 30th. 161 Feith has the men here on the 18th; see DDR 8/151. 162 Thunberg omits the disaster that befell the daimyo of Shimabara. As the daimyo crossed the river, much of his luggage fell into the water and ‘worst of all, he lost the cabinet containing all his papers’, DDR ibid., loc. cit. The bearers were surely executed. It is interesting that Thunberg suppresses this anecdote.

Notes

255

163 This seems to be Thunberg’s gloss on the three-day wait (19–22 April) that had occurred prior to crossing, caused by the swollen river; see Feith, DDR ibid., loc. cit. 164 22nd and 23rd Feith has the men detained by preparations for the passage of the daimyo of Owari, and watching the retinue file past. One would have thought this worth recording by Thunberg. Feith mentions no further toponym from here until arrival in Edo. 165 These two names are curious. Both seem to be garblings of the single town, Okitsu. 166 Shirosake, ‘white sake’ (a thick, sweet sake made with mochi-rice), was a famous product of Moto-Ichiba, and may have served as a nickname for the town. 167 In late April it might indeed be still snow-capped, but it was not so all year round. 168 Aeolus, the classical wind god, has nothing to do with the Japanese one, called Fūjin. Kaempfer also refers to Aeolus here; see HOJ 3/55 and KJ 340. Fuji was associated with many religious cults, including that of Fūjin. Men could ascend freely Fuji, but women were debarred. 169 Such a scree-surfing descent is entirely fictional; halm (normally, haulm) is plant stalks. 170 Kaempfer also has cartwheeling children appearing in this place; see HOJ3/55 and KJ 340. Perhaps it was annual, hence the advance preparation of the money. 171 Thunberg had been three years in the Cape on his way to Japan, 1772–75. His enthusiasm for Hakone may have been stoked by reading Kaempfer, where it is stated, ‘The plants which grow upon these mountains, are esteem’d by the physicians of the country to have greater virtues in proportion, than other of the same kind grown elsewhere, and are therefore carefully gathered and laid by for physical uses’; see HOJ 3/62–63 and KJ 345. Kaempfer’s two trips (1690 and 1691) took place in March, so that Thunberg had the advantage in terms of seasonal growth; for both of Kaempfer’s the weather was not good, and Cornelius van Outhoorn, the chief on Kaempfer’s second trip, recorded, ‘bad weather in the Faconese [Hakone] mountains’; see DDR 2/20. 172 The lake is Ashinoko, but it has no island. Thunberg is copying Kaempfer’s error. 173 Lake Ashinoko does not contain salmon. Probably Thunberg ate sweetfish (ayu), but was led astray by Kaempfer, who says the lake salmon had them; see HOJ 3/59 and KJ 3433. 174 Japanese cypress, planted along much of the Tōkaidō. 175 Thunberg remained six months in Batavia and six in Ceylon after leaving Japan, so the samplings should have arrived a year before him. 176 It still bears that name, Lindera benzoi. Otherwise known as spicebush. Thunberg named it after his turn-of-the-century Swedish botanical forebear, Johann Linder. Note that he chose not to name it after his teacher, Linnaeus. 177 Properly ‘barbary bush’. 178 Japanese helwingia. 179 Deutzia or Japanese sunflower. 180 Thunberg never went to the north of Japan. He is here referring to the central region, which is on a latitude with the southernmost parts of Europe. 181 Here and passim, Thunberg pluralises in Latin even when the Latin is used as a vernacular term, thus vaccinia and viburna, not vacciniums and viburnums. 182 A rose native to Sweden. 183 Trifoleiate orange. 184 This is curious since maple blossom is not notable—unlike its autumn leaves. 185 Two types of devil’s tongue, and the devil’s tongue tuber. 186 Taro. 187 Properly, Lake Ashinoko see above, note 172. 188 For stroemlings, see HOJ 3/59 and KJ 3433; for salmon, see above, note 173. Of course, herring cannot live in a lake. 189 The first being at Arai, above. They are at the famous Hakone sekisho (barrier). 190 See above, note 157. All daimyo were obliged to leave their principal wife and designated heir in Edo at all times.

Notes

256

191 Yumoto means ‘source of hot water’, and is celebrated for its hot springs. 192 The town of Fujisawa is on two rivers, the Sakai and the Hikiji, but there is no River Fujisawa. 193 Error for Umesawa. 194 Thunberg gives no date for arrival, although it must logically be the 27th. However, Feith gives 1 May, which is what Thunberg himself has below. More confusingly, elsewhere, Thunberg gave his arrival date in Edo as 18 May; see his Flora Japonica p. xviii. 195 At approximately 1m inhabitants, Edo was indeed the world’s largest city. 196 The Dutch lodgings in Edo were fixed and the men stayed in the same place every year. They were located at Hongoku-chō 3-chōme, and known as the Nagasaki-ya; the master was Nagasaki-ya Gen’emon, and name and post were handed on hereditarily. The previous Gen’emon had died only a month before; see DDR 8/147. 197 This conflicts with Feith who states his servant ‘Mats’ (probably Matsu) and a few others had to be left behind in Miyako with measles; see DDR 8/150. Perhaps only Europeans count as ‘anyone’. 198 The trip lasted almost two months, since they had left on 4 March. Assuming they arrived on 1 May, as Feith states, however, then they were on perfect schedule since that day corresponded with the 14th of the 3rd lunar month, and their audience with the shogun was generally on the 1st of the 4th month, which allowed them two weeks to prepare. This year the audience took place on 18 May, which was indeed the 1st of the 4th; see below. 199 Thunberg only records encounting one procession, that of the daimyo of Owari, who was, however, heading from Edo not to it. No other meetings are mentioned, although Feith reports that they were following that of the daimyo of Shimabara, but they do not seem to have encountered him; see above. There is no other record of their being evicted from their lodging. 200 Feith recorded that they had specially rented a house on the street which the daimyo of Owari would pass along, and that they watched the retinue file by; see DDR 8/151; see also above, note 164. 201 Actually, Thunberg’s weather chart (omitted from the present edition) suggests it rained most days—the swollen state of the rivers confirms this. 202 Hanging.

4 Residence in Edo, 1776 1 This heading appears in the original text. The chapter also includes the return journey to Nagasaki. 2 The audience with the shogun, this year set for 18 May, so is nearly three weeks off. 3 This is rather unfair on Feith who had amateur scientific interests; see Introduction, p. 8. 4 Sakaki Bunjirō (not Bunji) was appointed a shogunal stronomer (tenmongata) in 1764; Shibukawa Shōsei (or Masakiyo) was scion of a family who had been shogunal chief astronomers ever since Shibukawa Harumi had devised the first ever Japanese calendar, in 1684. 5 A constriction of the foreskin making it hard to retract. 6 Okada Yōsen scion of an established medical family, had been appointed a shogunal private surgeon in (goban geka-i) in 1745. When Thunberg met him he was only 56. Sugita Genpaku regarded him as one of the fathers of Dutch-style medicine, stating, ‘he witnessed seven or eight autopsies and as all conflicted with the prevailing theories, he began to doubt’ thereby initiating anatomical enquiry; see Sugita Genpaku, Rangaku kotohajime, p. 491.

Notes

257

7 Kurisaki Dōha (or Masaaki) was scion of an elite medical family who headed the eponymous Kurisaki School, of which Yoshio Kōsaku was a member. They traced their practice back to the Portuguese. Dōha’s father was a principal shogunal attendant surgeon (omote goban gekai), and he himself had become a shogunal attending physician (ban’i) some months before Thunberg’s arrival in Edo; in 1797 he was promoted to shogunal body physician (oku-i). Sugita Genpaku mentions him in Rangaku kotohajime, referring to him as Dōyu, the name always taken by the head of the family (which he had by then become), p. 475. 8 Amano Ryōjun was a principal shogunal attendant surgeon (omote goban geka-i). Kushimoto Jōshun (or Tsunechika) was an internal physician with the title of shogunal visiting physician (yoriai ishi). 9 This is anachronistic: Hoshū did not become shogunal body physician (oku-ishi) until the following year, 1777. 10 The shogunal trefoil hollyhock crest (mitsubaoi). 11 This is anachronistic: Nakagawa Jun’an officially succeeded his father as physician to the Sakai family, daimyos of Obama, two years later in 1778; at this time he was a regular official physician (kan’i). 12 Horse doctors. 13 They would have possessed the Dutch translation of the Polish author’s Latin work: Jan Jonstonus, Naeukeurige beschryving van der natuur der vier-voetige dieren (natural history of quadrupeds), which, nevertheless, covers plants and other life forms; it was first published 1649–53. Rembertus Dodonaeus, Cruydtboek (herbal), published in Dutch in 1644. Johann Jacob Woyt, Gazophylacium medico-physicum (known in the English translation as Woyt’s Treasury), was first published in Latin in 1741, but probably also brought in Dutch translation. 14 Lorenz Heister’s Churgurie of 1718 was translated into Dutch in 1744; see Introduction, pp. 55–58; Abraham Muntingus had been keeper of Gröningen University’s botanical garden. His book was probably sold by Thunberg in its Dutch translation, Naauw keurige beschryving der aardgewassen of 1696. Matsuda Kiyoshi speculates that the copy now in the International Institute for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken) in Kyoto is the one that changed hands at this time; see his Yogaku no shoshiteki kenkyu, p. 127. Note that Jonston, Dodonaeus, Heister and Muntingus are all mentioned by Sugita Genpaku as crucial works in the development of ‘Dutch Studies’ (Rangaku) in Japan; see his Aran iji mondo, pp. 199 and 212. 15 Feith misremembers somewhat: in his log on 1 April 1772 he had written, ‘about noon a fire broke out. It gathered such force that it could only be extinguished a day later in the evening. In the afternoon it seemed as if the whole city was on fire. An area of nine miles in length and five in width has been destroyed by fire’; the Dutch were twice moved, only their goods being displaced a third time to a temple; see DDR 8/104–105. 16 In the following discussion of coins, this information may be useful: standard money came in large gold coins as 1 koban (kobang)=1 ryō (ryō being technically the weight and koban the coin itself); 1 ryō/koban was made up of 4 bu; 1 bu was made up of 4 shu. There were also fractions of these coins issued in other metals; see below; see also Introduction, p. 67. 17 A device for stamping designs in coins, or, by extension, the design itself. 18 The old kobang had been valued at 10 rixdollars, whereas the new one, issued from 1685, had been set at 6.8; if Thunberg is correct, it had depreciated by over 10 per cent in the intervening century. 19 Literally, 1 bu. 20 Literally ‘beanie’ from boojn, a bean; the word ‘gold’ is not contained in the Dutch. 21 Nanryō=high-quality silver; gin=silver (i.e. not gold like the coins already discussed). 1 nanryō-gin=2.5 shū. 22 Half; European coins had a hierarchy of sides (‘head’ vs. ‘tail’), but this was not so with Japanese ones. It is unclear how one side of a coin can be larger than the other.

Notes

258

23 See above, p. 281 note 56. 24 ‘Sheet money’ and ‘nuggets’. Not technically coinage, but exchangeable pro rata. 25 Daikoku is the god of the wealth of the land; -gane (kane)=gold and by extension, money. 26 Carl Peter Thunberg, Inträdes-tal om de mynt-sorter (1779). 27 That is, a generic term for small-value coins with neither gold nor silver content. 28 Jū=ten; mon=a unit of currency worth 0.0166 (one sixtieth) of a koban (kobang) and hence actually about 1 mas. Mon is an abbreviation of the full term monme. 29 Shi=four; for mon, see note above. 30 Dōza is the ‘copper monopoly’ in Osaka, which Thunberg visited. It was not a mint. 31 The old coins were generally worth more because of debasement. A new kobang was just 6 rixdollars. See above, note 18. 32 Kin=money; ban=a flat coin (as in koban); ni=2; shūnaka is a ‘mid-shū’. 33 Go=five; monme is a currency denomination; -gin=silver. 34 Ribbon. 35 ‘Racvyoxv’ is an ad hoc romanisation of the Japanese ‘rakuyō-shū’, or ‘anthology of fallen leaves’, a rare single-volume dictionary of 1598 published in Nagasaki. The Latin is not the title, but the publication data, and translates as ‘[printed at] the Japanese Jesuit college with permission of the authorities. AD 1598’. Unlike the trilingual Japanese-Latin-Portuguese dictionary that Thunberg saw in Nagasaki, this was a Chinese character (kanji) dictionary for Europeans who already knew spoken Japanese. 36 Itō Ihei, Jikinsō (‘Flat sections of a raised brocade'), 1733. A ‘line’ is a unit of measurement, c. 0.5 cm (1/12 inch); ‘breadth’ is the thickness of the volume. In his Flora Japonica, Thunberg referred to the book as ‘Tjimensi Herbarium, 20 volumes. Octavo, with descriptions and rough illustrations, printed in Japan. Each volume equals about a quarter of a thumb [in thickness], and lists the medical virtues of plants’; see FJ xxv. The author is the same as that of the next-cited book. 37 Itō Ihei, Kusabana-e zensō; standard modern reference works read the first part of the title as kusabana, not sōka, though either is possible; see Kokusho sōmokuroku (q.v.), (‘collection of illustrations of plants and grasses’), 1672, 3 volumes. Thunberg elsewhere referred to it as ‘Sooqua Ienso Herbarium, 3 volumes in octavo, with rough illustrations printed in Japan’; see FJ xxv. The author is the same as that of the previously cited book. 38 Hirasumi Shudō (or Hakuan), with illustrations by Nakamura Yuzeishi (or Tachibana Morikuni), Morokoshi kinmō zui (‘illustrated compendium of China'), 1719, 14 volumes; it is probably not based on any specific Chinese original. Nakamura Tekisai’s Kinmō zui, though also in 14 volumes, is a different work and unrelated, published in 1666, expanded in 1668, and thoroughly revised and reprinted (after Thunberg’s visit) in 1789. Thunberg elsewhere referred to it as ‘Morokusi Kimoosi Herbarium, about 15 volumes in quarto, with small, wretched illustrations. It deals with plants, various domestic things, mammals, fish, amphibians, insects and worms, and has rough illustrations adjoining each animal. It was first printed in China then reprinted in Japan rather more elegantly. It does not therefore strictly contain descriptions of the plants of the kingdom of Japan, but of both the kingdoms, Chinese and Japanese’; see FJ, pp. xxv–vi. Interestingly, the Kimnō zui had previously been imported by Kaempfer, and cited by the English translator of the History of Japan in his introduction; see HOJ 1/lxxxvii. 39 This is a garbling for Tachibana Morikuni, Ehon no yamagusa (Illustrated mountain grasses), 1755 (expanded in the nineteenth century); hokkyō is the author’s rank (‘dharmic bridge’), thus ‘Hokkyō no yamagusa’ should be interpreted as ‘hokkyō’s yamagusa’; see Kimura Yōjirō, ‘Nachurarisuto tsuyunberii no nagai tabi’, p. 365. Elsewhere Thunberg referred to it as, ‘Foko no Iamaa Kusa or Foko Herbarium, one single volume, about a finger thick, octavo, printed in Japanese characters with very beautiful, well-executed illustrations’; see FJ, p. xxv. The author is the probably illustrator of the previously cited volume. The sevenvolume work is unidentifiable.

Notes

259

40 Unidentifiable. 41 According to Feith, 1–26 May; see DDR 8/151–52. 42 That is, made from mulberry. 43 Sumac. 44 New Year’s Day and the 1st of the 10th month (first day of winter). 45 Edo Castle is usually reckoned as about 30km in circumference, thus more like 8 leagues. 46 Only the chief, in his capacity of ‘ambassador’, was received by the shogun, whereas in Kaempfer’s time all had gone in. Moreover, Kaempfer had spent quite some time in the shogunal presence, but by the eighteenth century the audience was a quick formality, as Thunberg states below. An official called out ‘oranda kapitan’ and the Dutchman bowed in the direction of the shogun, who would be almost hidden; he then withdrew. That was it. See HOJ 3/88–95 and KJ 360–66. One hundred years is, of course, an exaggeration: 84 years had passed. 47 Tokugawa Ieharu, born in 1737, was 39, but 40 by the inclusive Japanese count. Such comments on the shogun’s person are extremely rare, and could not have been made by a Japanese, for whom they would be lèse-majesté. Since Thunberg had not seen the shogun, this comment must be based on a remark by Feith (who was seeing him for the third time), although Feith records no details in DDR. 48 The ōhiroma. 49 Wooden floored (not covered with tatami mats). 50 This is highly unlikely: they would more likely have sat. 51 The hyakujōma. 52 This was in Edo castle’s western enceinte (Nishi no maru); the heir apparent was often known as the ‘Nichi-no-maru dono’ (dono=lord), or ‘Saijō-dono’(saijō= western [part of the] castle). 53 Presumably he does not appear because he has already received the Europeans in the ōhiroma. 54 This is the translation of wakadoshiyori (young elder). 55 The jisha-bugyō, machi-bugyō and shūmon-bugyō. The date matches that recorded by Feith, although he says the rituals were undertaken by the interpreters on behalf of the Europeans; see DDR 8/152. 56 Twenty luxury kimonos (known to the Dutch as rok, plural rokken) were given annually to the VOC; the gentlemen are the Herren XVII (‘gentlemen seventeen’), who ran the VOC in Amsterdam. For details, see Timon Screech, ‘Dressing Samuel Pepys: Japanese Garments and International Diplomacy in the Edo Period’. 57 Cloth. 58 Washing and making up. 59 Old lacquer, although any rationale for inclusion of the French is not apparent. 60 This is a wild exaggeration: 20 kobangs=c. 120 rixdollars. 61 Listed in HOJ 1/lxxxviii–ix. 62 Shaving the head was (and still is) a sign of a failed relationship. 63 Bridges. 64 Thunberg may or may not have been aware that this, to him, modern bedside manner stemmed from the innovations of Linnaeus’s enemy, Lorenz Heister; see Rüdinger Korff, Das berufsethos in der Chirurgie Lorenz Heisters. 65 That is, posthumous names only are generally known. 66 The Swedish edition gives the full medical name, mercurus sublimatus corrosivus. See Thunberg, Resa, vol. 3, p. 224. Thunberg became famous for introducing the mercury cure for syphilis, and Yoshio Kōsaku rich from circulating it; see Introduction. 67 To produce secretion of saliva with mercury, an earlier cure for syphilis. 68 Surgical.

Notes

260

69 The doctors are still Katsuragawa Hoshū and Nakagawa Jun’an. Ironically, phlebotomy is no longer thought to have any medical value. 70 A type of sunflower. 71 The Tōkaidō from Miyako to Edo was lined with pines. 72 ‘Horse stone’ or bezoar, that is, a morbid concretion in an animal’s body (akin to a gall stone). Thunberg’s first paper after his return from Japan was on this subject. 73 Singular, lamella, membrane or hard tissue. 74 Unclear. Shimar perhaps shima, an island; kin is gold. 75 Hiraga Gennai had devised an asbestos fabric, and wrote a treatise on this in 1764 entitled Kakanpu setsu (On non-burning cloth). Ishiwata is literally ‘stone cotton-wool’, although the normal name was kakanpu. 76 Fool’s gold. 77 Oshio-yama means Oshio mountain. 78 ‘Bristle-stone’. 79 Unclear, although hakuseki could mean ‘white stone’. 80 A stomach stone; see above, note 72. 81 Torben Bergman, professor at Upsala from 1767. The Cape items would have been sent home before arrival in Japan. Chevalier is a term of respect: Bergman was not knighted. 82 See above, note 75. 83 Unclear, although seki is ‘stone’ and awasuna literally ‘foam sand’. 84 Soapstone. 85 Literally, ‘stone cotton’, although this overlaps with asbestos; see above, note 75. 86 Literally, ‘light stone’. 87 Resembling a spath, or spar. 88 Roughly, ‘dangling stone’; the standard popular name for a stalactite. 89 Literally, ‘treasure stone’. 90 Probably from the region of Mt Nikkō. However, the names are not otherwise attested. 91 Lead sulphite. 92 Unclear, although literally it could mean ‘drunk-eyes silver’. 93 ‘Oil of kesoso’, although this last word is obscure. 94 Literally, ‘white seal saltpeter’. 95 Salt created in a hot whirlpool. No toponym Bōzu exists; bōzu means monk, and as there is a spa called Hōshi-onsen, where hōshi means priest, perhaps this is a confusion. 96 A fossil plant; literally, ‘tree-leaf stone’. 97 Coral; literally, ‘kuda coral’, probably from the Ryukyus. 98 Literally ‘sea cotton’. 99 Probably Gorgonia racemosa, a kind of coral; umimatsu is literally ‘sea pine’. 100 Kamakura. 101 Sango-ju is a coral, but sango-jin is not known. 102 Reef-building coral. 103 Ju can be coral, but kutsu is unclear. We now move from rocks and corals to sea shells. 104 Jingle shell. 105 Unclear; sekien usually means ‘rock salt’. 106 Argonaut shell. 107 Literally, ‘octopus boat’. 108 Cowrie shell. 109 This cannot be untangled. 110 Japanese tiger beetle. We now move from seashells to insects. 111 Unclear; usually michioshie is the term. 112 This term cannot be untangled. 113 A millipede. 114 Literally, ‘eight hands’.

Notes

261

115 Woodlouse. Perhaps dear to Thunberg’s heart as its full name is Oniscus asellus Linnaeus. 116 Saori is the festival day when new rice is planted; koshi is ‘beyond’; the usual word for woodlouse is dango-mushi, but neither term signifies ‘house insect’. 117 Shipworm. 118 Seahorse. We now move from insects to fish. 119 Literally, ‘sea horse’. 120 A species of trout. 121 Hardtail or yellow jack fish. 122 Mullet roe, hence the unnamed fish is a mullet. 123 Not attested. 124 A noren, or half-curtain placed to half-reveal half-obscure the interior of a premesis. 125 Examples. 126 Machi bugyō, machi-doshiyori, otona. 127 Daimyo had three mansions, the kami-, naka- and shimo-yashiki. The first was like an embassy, the second used in case of urgency, and third often as a retirement villa for the exdaimyo, or for garden entertaining. 128 In the original Swedish, this is offered as a footnote; see Thunberg, Resa, vol. 3, p. 232. The square-bracketed insertion is retained here from the English translation. Katsuragawa Hoshū died in 1809 and Nakagawa Jun’an in 1786, so only the former was still alive at Thunberg’s time of writing. 129 Come what may. 130 Fourth Lunar month, the 13th day of which corresponded to 30 May. 131 The shrine-temple complex at Nikkō houses the mausolea of the first and third shoguns, Ieyasu and Iemitsu. Such in-person trips by a shogun were extremely unusual. Feith notes that this one forced the shogunal audience to be rushed forward (the VOC having arrived later than expected); see DDR 8/151. Ieyasu had died in 1616, and been translated to Nikko one year later, so this was the 160th anniversary. As Thunberg notes, the pilgrimage has been delayed for several years; it had originally been intended for the 150th anniversary. 132 Tokugawa Harumori, sixth daimyo of Mito, was the most senior shogunal relative. Some of the rōjū would continue governing. 133 This time the equivalence is correct. Feith reports also, ‘for his daily expenses and those of his attendants on his journey to Nikkō, the shogun have been supplied with 280,000 new gold koban’, ibid., p. 152. 134 Ieyasu had died on the 16th of the 4th month, and the festival would be one day after this date. 135 Feith says on the 26th, ibid., loc. cit, which Thunberg also implies since above he referred to a 26-day stay and they arrived on the 1st. 136 That is, from the 27th. This was not witnessed by Thunberg as he was now out of Edo. 137 Kaempfer listed the rulers’ names up to the time of his own visit, so Thunberg need discover only those since 1692; see HOJ 1/281–336. 138 Kō=lord. The Tokugawa had assumed the name of the first (twelfth-century) shogunals, Minamoto. 139 This is four titles: Associate First Rank, Great Minister of the Centre, General of the Left Guards, Great Barbarian-Subduing Shogun. 140 This is incorrect. See above, note 47. 141 Associate Second Rank, Great Counsellor. 142 Tokugawa Iemoto was twelve, or thirteen by the inclusive Japanese count. 143 Thunberg’s heading. 144 This date is probably incorrect. Feith has them leaving on the 26th; see DDR 8/ 153. In his Flora Japonica, Thunberg gives the departure date as June 13, which is certainly wrong; see p. xviii. 145 The return journey is more relaxed so private purchases can be made.

Notes

262

146 Very possibly the landmark Shikamatsu (‘Deer pine’) outside Odawara. 147 On the way to Edo, they ordered ‘several pieces of lacquered wooden ware and other merchandise’; see above. 148 A member of the dendrobium species of orchid. 149 A fern, in Japanese iwao-modaka. Thunberg assigned this name to the plant, and it is accordingly known fully as Acrostichum hastatum Thunberg. 150 This is an error for the 28th. The 29th appears below. 151 Abalone. 152 The Swedish gives ‘crops’, not ‘green corn’; probably rice and millet; see Thunberg, Resa, vol. 3, p. 239. See also below, p. 303 note 163. 153 Water chestnut. 154 Japanese boxthorn. 155 Common azalea. 156 Hemp palm. 157 Bissoms (witches’ brooms). 158 Loquat, or Japanese medlar. 159 Mosquitoes. 160 Thunberg did not have much luck with the weather: May would normally be a fine, dry period. 161 The canopy of a four-poster bed. The ‘curtains’ are mosquito nets. 162 Wisteria. 163 Sesame. 164 East Indies; Asia. 165 It is unclear how the days 1–4 June were spent. Feith gives no comments. The three-day stop appeared above to be 29–31 May, but may in fact be 1–3 (or 4) June. 166 Keria rose. 167 In 1776, 1 June coincided with the 15th of the 4th lunar month. 168 Unconcernedly; without worry. 169 Threshed. 170 A kind of boxwood, now known as Podocarpus nagi. Another example where the specific Latin name is actually the Japanese name. 171 Japanese cypress. 172 Feith says they arrived in Miyako on the 7th, and in Osaka on the 12th; see DDR 8/152. 173 The shoshidai and machi-bugyō. The former appeared above as the chief justice; see above, p. 283 note 118. 174 That is, they gave 3.5 kobang. 175 Unclear. Evidently the sum is packed and labelled at the mint, but passes several owners on trust and unopened, until someone who needs the cash opens it. 176 Given name. 177 Normally known as Ogino Gengai, then aged forty. His title is literally ‘member of the left palace guards’. The previous year (1775) he had been awarded Associate Sixth rank, although Thunberg does not record this. He became famous enough to be called to Edo to treat the shogun, in 1790, and was author of several learned books. 178 Plant names would properly be written in Chinese characters, not Japanese, although possibly Thunberg had only mastered the native syllabary. This is the only place where he lays claim to skill in writing. However, Ogino Gengai was a Dutch-style physician and is said to have been proficient in Dutch. 179 Jewel beetle. 180 Feith has the men already in Osaka on that day; see DDR ibid., loc. cit. 181 Properly terrapins, or freshwater turtles. 182 The Hōkō-ji, contained a 20 m statue of the Buddha Amida, and so was colloquially known as the ‘Great Buddha’ (daibutsu); the image was housed in the Great Buddha Hall

Notes

263

(daibutsuden). This was one of Miyako’s newest temples having been founded in only 1589. It was lost to fire in 1798. 183 Pagodas. 184 Most Japanese floors were wooden or matted, although this flagging would not have been marble. 185 That is, the thoughts it inevitably provokes. 186 These are ‘stage left’ and ‘stage right’. The statue is in the standard semui-in (mudrā), or the hand gesture that symbolises the granting of freedom from fear. 187 The ‘sect’ is of course Buddhism, which is said to have arrived in Japan from the Korean Peninsula in AD 552. Bottoms=ships. 188 Lesser divinites. 189 This is the Sanjūsangen-do (Hall of Thirty-three Bays), properly the Rengeō-in, some short distance from the Daibutsu. It was founded in 1164, and its reconstruction of 1266 is still standing. The hall has 1,001 statues of Kannon (principal attendant of Amida Buddha), one larger that the rest; Thunberg mistakes the smaller images for ‘lesser divinities’. All have (notionally) 1,000 hands. In front is a highly arcane set of protector divinities. 190 There are ten rows of statues, raked to allow vision, all of the same size. 191 The exaggerated figure comes from a confusion with the name of the hall (see note 189 above). 192 Feith has them there on 12–16 June; see DDR, loc. cit. 193 The garden is unclear; the birds were probably those at the famous bird shop (torimise) in Yaoya-chō; the casting was at the Copper Monopoly (dōza). 194 The Swedish says a ‘quadrille’, or square-dance; see Thunberg, Resa, vol. 3, p. 254. 195 These would have been male actors impersonating girls (oyama). 196 It is not clear what kind of theatre this is, but probably kabuki. 197 See above, note 193. 198 Green houses, quite novel in Europe at this time too. 199 See above, note 193. 200 Japanese sago palm. 201 Osaka’s most famous temple was the Shitennō-ji in the south of the city. Feith puts the interview with the machi-bugyō on 14 June; see DDR 8/152. 202 Copper was the chief Dutch export from Japan, so interest was to be expected. This was not the first time a trip to the smelting works (fukisho) of the Copper Monopoly (dōza) had been organized, and indeed they had been frequent previously, but had lapsed in the mideighteenth century. The only recent one had occurred in 1767; see DDR 8/52. Importantly, in 1775–76 Feith was making concerted efforts to have the copper export allocation (set at 12,000 chests) raised. The dōza was relocated in 1766 (perhaps prompting the Dutch to visit the following year) to Kashiwa-machi. The group probably included the keeper of the Osaka Dutch hostel, Nagasakiya Tatsukichi, since he was also a Copper Monopoly official (in which role he used the name Tamegawa Tatsukichi). The Monopoly was crucial to Japanese finances and was directly controlled by the governors of Osaka and Nagasaki and the Shogunal Minister of Finances (kanjo bugyō). 203 Bergman died in 1784, after the visit but before the writing of the Resa. See above, note 81. 204 Kodomo in modern Japanese means all children. See above, p. 281 note 66. The term ‘todoko’ (here pluralised) is a garbling (or perhaps regional pronunciation) of otoko, ‘man’. 205 Moxa, from the Japanesese mogusa. The process described is known in English as moxibustion. 206 The term is used loosely for medical perople generally; moxibustion was performed by masseurs. 207 An interesting fusion of eighteenth-century European medical terminology and classical Chinese theories. 208 Water-shield.

Notes

264

209 Lotus. 210 The Buddha’s Lotus Throne (renza). 211 Star anise. 212 Actually incense (‘ash’) was placed in grooves dug into a board. 213 In other words, an incense clock is used to measure time, which was then publicly announced by a bell. Mechanical clocks were also known. 214 Bead tree. 215 A kind of sumac; hazenoki in Japanese. 216 Feith has them leave Osaka the following day; see DDR 8/152. 217 According to Feith, on 16–23 June; see DDR 8/152. 218 24 June. This fits with Feith’s dates; see ibid., loc. cit. 219 Firefly. 220 Referred to as simply Hayamizu above. Toge is a mountain pass. 221 Only a few weeks later, on 14 August, 95 Japanese coins were found in the possession of an unnamed member of the VOC, which brought them all into difficulties; see DDR 8/155. 222 Feith says on the 29th; see DDR ibid., loc. cit. 223 Feith notes the journey lasted 117 days. About 90 was normal.

5 A description of Japan and the Japanese, I 1 Original heading. 2 This ungainly and tautological heading is Hopton’s and not in the original; see Thunberg, Resa, vol. 3, p. 279. From this point on, Thunberg himself provided subheadings, which are retained; in both Swedish and English originals, the subheadings run into the ensuing text, whereas here they are separated. 3 Before the establishment of Greenwich as the international zero meridian, Tenerife was generally used. 4 There are infinite regional Chinese pronunciations, but the standard Mandarin for Japan is ruben. 5 Marco Polo (‘Paolo’) called Japan ‘Zipangu’, although Kaempfer mistakenly has him calling it ‘Zipangri’, whence Thunberg’s error; see HOJ 3/306. 6 Still under dispute, although between 1542 and 1543. 7 Thunberg neglects the English East India Company’s presence in Japan (although he had mentioned it above), also in Hirado. The English withdrew in 1623 and the Dutch were relocated to Nagasaki in 1639–40, after which all foreign vessels were confined there. 8 The mountains are terraced. 9 This cannot, in fact, he asserted with any degree of truth. 10 Satsuki means the 5th month, which is not part of the rainy season, although unseasonal rains fell in 1776. The rainy period is referred to as tsuyu and occurs from mid-June to July. 11 Detailed and precise. 12 Not included in the present edition. 13 Generally agreed. 14 Thunberg here provides a table (omitted) of weather throughout his stay, giving Farenheit readings for morning, noon, afternoon and evening, plus a verbal summary (‘cloudy’, ‘rain’, etc). 15 Physical appearance. 16 And reciprocally so, for the Europeans were jeered at as being big-eyed, as Thunberg records; see above p. 88. 17 Suffering from conjunctivitis.

Notes

265

18 This section has to be read as Thunberg’s polemic. Many of the comments are flatly contradicted by his own remarks elsewhere. 19 In other words, Japan has so far only received the dimmer light of science. 20 It is unclear who would have given European readers this impression—certainly not Kaempfer. 21 Odd that Thunberg forgets that not all VOC employees (including himself) were Dutch. It is not a translation error, for the Swedish has the same. 22 Industriousness. 23 This is entirely incorrect, as famines were recurrent and devastating. Beggars are attested by all travellers, including Thunberg. 24 The sentence begins with an ‘as’ (deleted) rendering it ungrammatical. Tobacco had been banned in the early-seventeenth century, but was grown extensively again by 1770s. Rice, other grains and tubers were all made into alcohol. 25 The year before Thunberg’s arrival, Dutch smuggling had resulted in a threat to cut the VOC’s copper allocation and banishment from Japan of the chief, Daniel Armenault, who, nevertheless, blithely recorded, ‘they can never prove that the…goods were imported by us’; DDR 8/141. 26 Aloof. 27 This is only true under a strict definition of monarch. In 1592 and 1597, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had invaded Korea as imperial regent (kanpaku). Hence the following sentence is counterfactual. 28 A preposterous statement, given the imprint of China and Korea on aspects of Japanese life in all periods. 29 No partiality is shown to status. 30 They were famously common. 31 It is not clear to what event this refers, and it would seem to be a confusion with the next one. 32 The Mongol army of Khubilai Khan attached Japan under the leadership of the Korean admiral Hong Tagu, and was routed, partly through destruction of their ships in a freak ‘divine gale’ (kamikaze). 33 The siege of Shimabara Castle in 1637–38 effectively erased Christianity. 34 The details of this event are these: Fort Zeelandia on Taiwan was founded by the Dutch in 1624 and in 1628; the governor, Peter Nuytz, who felt himself to have been insulted on a recent trip to Edo, seized two Japanese vessels in revenge and imprisoned members of their crews. When the others returned, they reported to ‘their prince’, the daimyo of Kagoshima, Shimazu Iehisa, who forwarded news to Edo. The VOC factory was ordered to cease trading as a punishment; Nuytz was captured by a Kagoshima invasion party, forced to apologise, and indemnify the Japanese. In 1631, five Dutchmen were sent to Japan as hostages, where two died. The following year Nuytz was forced to surrender himself to Edo, and was imprisoned for four years, which brought the affair to a close. 35 Properly, Kaempfer’s History of Japan; the error derives from turning Thunberg’s original generic reference to Kaempfer’s ‘beskrifning om Japan’ into a proper name. The relevant section can be found at HOJ 3/308. The Swedish also refers to p. 479 (amended to Appendix, p. 56), which proves Thunberg was not reading Kaempfer in English. 36 Omitted from the present edition. 37 Original heading is ‘The Name’, and like all the original headings, it runs into the following text. 38 Assumed or adopted. 39 Note here Thunberg’s connection with Linnaeus who had established the binomial (generic/specific) system of botanical nomenclature. In modern botany, the ‘adscititious name’ is the ‘specific name’.

Notes

266

40 All would receive a Buddhist posthumous name, but in the case of dairi and shoguns this was then retrospectively used to refer to them at all times, as their given names were generally secret. 41 Twelve would be the usual maximum. 42 This is an error. Courtesans tied their sashes before; all others tied them behind. 43 Inro or hanging pocket, originally for carrying pills. 44 Collar or hood. 45 This is fictional, although a working woman might loosen her garment at the neck. 46 A loincloth (fundoshi). 47 A haori, although this is not necessarily an indication of rank. 48 Trousers (pants), here meaning the trouser-skirt (hakama, worn only by samurai). 49 As Indian cotton cloth was a major VOC import, there is no reason why such clothing could not have been made with it. Bengal was capital of the English East India Company, as Batavia was to the VOC. 50 Underpants. 51 Showing honour to other people; perhaps the term this purports to translate is reifuku. 52 The official dress worn only by samurai: hakama (‘breeches’) described above, and upperbody kamishimo (‘frock’). 53 Presumably hemp. 54 Thinness. 55 Mulberry. 56 Tabi. 57 Geta; actually, they are raised on two slats. 58 At the moment of separation the woman would shave her head, but would afterwards allow the hair to grow back. Nuns also shaved their heads. 59 Viscous. 60 Pie dish; pudding basin. 61 The crest (mon) was put on kimonos in up to five prescribed places, depending on degree of formality. Theft prevention was not the issue. 62 Sliding interior walls, usually painted (fusuma). 63 Wood chips; shingle. 64 Sliding interior screens of papers (shōj). 65 Sudare. 66 Properly, Muscovy talc, or mica. 67 Rush. 68 Tatami mats. 69 Pine, azalea, laurel and nandina; interestingly, the name of this last is a Latinisation of the Japanese, nanten. 70 Insofar as. 71 Towns were never walled and moated, although castles were. 72 1,478m. 73 Thunberg was never in Peking (Beijing). Edo had a population of some 1 million and was considerably larger than the Chinese capital. 74 Differentiated. 75 Hibachi.

Author’s Preface to Part II 1 The original Volume 4 began here, and like each volume, it begins with a preface. There is also a short translator’s preface (omitted).

Notes

267

2 The last parts omitted here. 3 There follows a long list of ‘articles which are in general use at present’, such as medicines and spices, omitted here. 4 Retinue. 5 Customs levied on merchandise. 6 Mulled wine or port. 7 Probably a typographical error for ‘bourse of exchange’ or stock exchange. 8 The preface continues with remarks on Ceylon, then on Thunberg’s meeting with the king on his return to Sweden, and his appointment at Upsala University.

6 A description of Japan and the Japanese, II 9 This volume continues the practice of the end of Volume 3, in giving subheadings, retained here. 10 These divisions do not correspond to any known to have existed. 11 Under the system of sankin kōtai, daimyo left their wife and inheriting son in Edo, while themelves moving between there and their state, not biannually, however, but annually. 12 Two thousand years is an exaggeration. Although by the mythical date for the founding of the line, 660 BC, as Thunberg goes on to say, it is an understatement. Modern historians would argue for c. early fifth century. 13 This sentence is confused: race =tribe; ‘called’ should be ‘by’. Tenshō Daijin (nowadays known as Amaterasu Ōmikami), the Sun goddess, handed on rule to Jinmu, a member of a prominent tribe. 14 Nin’ō means ‘human sovereign’, of which Jinmu was the first, after the age of the gods. 15 Termed. 16 Mikado=august gateway. Dai/tai=emperor. Tenjin was the deified name of the statesman Sugawara no Michizane (845–903), given imperial title post-humously, but who never reigned, and whose name was specific to him and not a generic title. Ō=king. 17 The incumbent during Thunberg’s stay was Hidehito (posthumously, Go-Momozono), the 108th dairi. 18 An error for 1192, the founding of the first (Kamakura) shogunate. 19 The great warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi was created kanpaku (imperial regent) in 1585, which marked a significant break with tradition. He was never shogun (‘generalissimo’) but in many ways established the pattern for Tokugawa rule. 20 Not porcelain, but earthenware or often bare wood. 21 Class. 22 This is fiction. 23 Before the seventh century the court moved on the death of each emperor, nevertheless, Miyako was the third fixed capital. 24 The palace was small. Thunberg had not seen it. He may also be confusing the shogunal castle. 25 This is fiction, and in any case, the notion of a ‘university’ does not apply. 26 The court had the prerogative of setting the (lunar) calendar. Ise was site of the chief shinto shrine, that of Amaterasu (Tenshō). 27 Minamoto no Yoritomo was the first (Kamakura) shogun (r. 1192–99). 28 The calamity was the Genpei War, which lasted most of the 1180s. 29 ‘Imperial Generals’ is the translation (used here only) of shogun. The Minamoto (unlike the Tokugawa) were indeed of royal blood. Hideyoshi’s installation as kanpaku in 1585 marked

Notes

268

a watershed, although the last shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, had been removed in 1573 (he died in 1597). 30 The Taikō was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, see above note 19. His line was obliterated by the Tokugawa in 1615. 31 The first two shogunal dynasties held court at Kamakura and Muromachi (in Kyoto), not at Edo, which became the centre of the Tokugawa shoguns in 1603. There had not been fortyone but thirty-four shoguns. 32 Some third of the land was under direct shogunal control (the tenryō); previously Thunberg had it correct when he referred to five imperial towns (not provinces), namely, Edo, Kyoto, Osaka, Sakai, Nagasaki. Bugyō=magistrate. 33 Man (here pluralised) means 10,000; Thunberg takes it to mean 10,000 koku. 100,000 is an error. 1koku=180litres. 34 ‘Kinjō kōtei’ means simply ‘reigning sovereign’. The person concerned was Asahito (posthumously, Higashiyama). The Swedish gives ‘third year of his reign’ but this has been corrected by Hopton. 35 ‘No in’ was affixed to the end of deceased emperor’s posthumous name, as ‘tennō’ is today. This emperor is normally known as Nakamikado (not Nakanomikado). 36 This is Toshiko, a female, and so known by the name of her residence (gosho) not by her posthumous name, which was Go-Sakuramachi. 37 Thunberg means Hidehito (posthumously, Go-Momozono), who died in 1779. Higashiyama reigned 1687–1709. It is interesting that the reigning emperor’s name could not be properly traced by Thunberg. 38 Tsunayoshi was in office 1680–1709. 39 Yoshimune abdicated in 1745, but lived (retaining many powers) until 1751. 40 Ieshige assumed office in 1745 and abdicated in 1760; he died in 1761. 41 Ieharu died in 1786 and was succeeded by Ienari. 42 Spirit. 43 First usage is this term; probably the bugyō. 44 The term ‘sabre’ has generally been used up to this point. 45 This is the new translation for ‘samurai’. 46 Test. 47 Toledo made the best swords in Europe. 48 Metal frame shielding the hand. 49 More common was ray skin, which has the same textured surface. This must be what is intended since it was ray, not shark skin (shagreen), that the Dutch imported. 50 Sharkskin. See note above. 51 Binding around. 52 For example HOJ 3/129. Kaempfer shows the swords hanging concavely not convexly. 53 All samurai bore two swords, one long and one short (the daishō); both belonged to the wearer, although gift-giving of swords was common. 54 This section is seriously in error in almost all its claims. 55 ‘Gods of high and low status’, or, perhaps ‘gods and demigods’. 56 Great Buddha at the Hōkō-ji, and the images at the Sanjūsangen-do, as described above. 57 Not noted above. 58 The ‘way of the Buddha’ (butsudō). It is odd that Confucianism is omitted, although it was discussed by Kaempfer. He does allude to it below. 59 Traditionally, Buddhism is said to have been introduced from Korea in AD 552. 60 Of course a red herring. The supreme being is Amaterasu, who appears above as Tenshō Daijin, the Sun Goddess (regarded as female, pace Thunberg’s ‘him’). 61 Although foxes were often regarded as demonic, they were hardly devils and certainly not the only ones. 62 Adherents.

Notes

269

63 The Tokugawa family were Pure Land (Jōdo) Buddhists, although they did Shinto abeyance too; the first Tokugawa shogun was defied as a Shinto god, Tōshō Daigongen, and his shrine-temple was at Nikkō. 64 The Buddha was born about 500 BC, and in Japanese butsudō means the ‘way of the Buddha’. The myth of the Buddha’s birth in Ceylon, though held, is not factual. 65 Amida was chief Buddha of the much-followed Pure Land (Jōdo) school, but he was not ‘supreme’. King Enma (or Emma) is judge of hell, but not himself wicked. 66 Lineage group. 67 The so-called Gosekku holidays. 68 Muslims. 69 Famously, the Ise shrine is rebuilt every 20 years, so is always in pristine condition. Thunberg had not visited it. 70 Pilgrimage to Ise was not compulsory, although it was popular. 71 This is a fiction. 72 Surely a misprint for ‘proffer’. 73 Obscure. 74 This title seems to be taken from that of the head of the Jesuits. It is used again below. 75 Literally, ‘Our Father’, but by extension meaning a rosary or rosary bead. 76 In sum. 77 See above p. 276 note 41. 78 The boy Ajirō, who took the Christian name Angelo. Much that follows below is myth. 79 Ōtomo Yoshishige (called Francesco, 1530–87); Arima Yoshisada (André, 1521–76) and Ōmura Sumitada (Barlolomeu, 1533–87). 80 The dates are correctly 1582–90; the embassy was led by Itō Mansho (1569–1612) and Chijiwa Miguel. 81 Toyotomi Hideyori, son of Hideyoshi, was neither kubō (shogun) nor a Christian; he died as a child in 1615. 82 This event is obscure. A major persecution (the Nagasaki crucifixions) occurred that year. There was no kubō (shogun) at this point as the title had lapsed, although Tokugawa Ieyasu was already a major warlord based in Edo. 83 Dejima, built for the Portuguese, became home to the Dutch factory in 1639–1640. 84 No Captain Moro is known. As the two crowns were united, the king of Portugal was the king of Spain, Philip II. 85 See above, pp. 115–209. 86 Kōshi is the Japanese pronunciation of Confucius’s name; Jutō means ‘the way of Confucianism’. 87 Having mistakenly put the Buddha 1,000 years before Christ, this date is approximately correct. 88 Highest good. 89 Meats. 90 Soya bean. Miso is not a bean, but a way of preparing soya. 91 Kiri is paulownia, although that is properly Paulownia imperialis. 92 Tung oil tree. 93 Japanese bean tree. 94 Summach 95 Yew. 96 Aubergine (egg plant). 97 There is a confusion here as the Latin denotes a tomato, which was not yet known in Japan, while the bracketed term is a sweet potato. 98 Persimmon or sharon fruit. 99 Peanuts. 100 A large citrus fruit (J: zabon).

Notes

270

101 Sea bream; also called stone bass, as per the Dutch word. 102 Sea bass. 103 Herring. 104 Unwittingly. 105 Correctly, hot water. Japanese tea is not made with boiling water. 106 The third lunar month, which falls considerably after early March. 107 An ojime. 108 A reddish quartz. 109 Matsuri means, generically, a festival. 110 Suwa was Nagasaki’s main shrine; it is not the name of a god, and the festival, which the Dutch always attended, was a kunchi (a generic name for festivals falling in the day specified). In 1776, 9th of 9th month corresponded with 20 October, and Feith also mentions a matsuri that day; sadly it was raining; see DDR 8/157. 111 Discriminate; varied. 112 Academic attainments. 113 Odd that having published his Flora Japonica in Latin Thunberg attacks the language. 114 Theology. 115 This corresponds with the reign of Kōshō, although no specific war is mentioned in the chronicle of that time, the Nihongi. 116 Mōko is Japanese for Mongol, and not a person’s name. The general was, of course, Khubilai Khan. The armada was struck by an unseasonable gale (a kamikaze, or divine wind) and was sunk. 117 Engraving (i.e. printing with copper plates) was first successfully undertaken in Japan in 1787, after Thunberg’s return to Europe. He means xylographs, or woodblock printing. It is perhaps true that natural forms appear more in Japanese than in European painting, although it is not true that fantastic beings are never shown. Thunberg is making a plea for better natural-history (botanical) illustration in Europe. 118 He would also have seen the maps of Edo, Miyako and Nagasaki (but not Osaka) published by Kaempfer; see HOJ 2/fig. 78 and 3/figs 116 and 120. 119 Brush and ink. 120 Small bells with an internal clapper. 121 A biwa. 122 The koto is played with the fingers, though wearing plectra. 123 Actually, clocks. 124 The Swedish gives ‘wallpaper’, which is both more reasonable and more accurate; see Thunberg, Resa, vol. 4, p. 56. 125 Alcalised water made from vegetal ashes. 126 Intricate. 127 Powder. 128 A species of rose (fuyō). 129 Another species of mulberry. 130 Lacquer tree. 131 Unclear. The actual Japanese would be irourushi. 132 Single-masted coastal fishing vessels. 133 Presumably, stores, although properly a magazine is a store for weapons. 134 No privileges are given to rank. 135 A mulet is the payment arising from an amercement, or arbitrary fine. 136 Nobody with such a name, or such a role, existed. 137 Duties. 138 This is the first time the term ‘feudal’ has been introduced with respect to daimyo. 139 At 30,000 koku this would make it a wealthy town—which it was. (The minimum koku revenue (kokudaka) to qualify for the status of daimyo was 10,000.)

Notes

271

140 A daikan; voight is the Dutch term. 141 The one who has overall rights to the village, generally a daimyo on temple. 142 As a fief, i.e. not owned outright. 143 Freedom from trouble. 144 Burgomaster was the established Dutch translation of machi-doshiyori; ninban means ‘[this] year’s turn’. 145 Probably these are the hosa, hisha and suitōgakari, although it is not certain to what extent these positions were formalised. 146 Householders. 147 Kaempfer had discussed this and illustrated such a panel; see HOJ 2/274 (with illus.), KJ 232–5 (with illus.). 148 Crosses are orientated westwards, the direction of Amida’s Pure Land (paradise), so that the dying criminal could meditate on their salvation. 149 Pharmacy. 150 Massages. 151 Properly, the last. 152 Induce sweating. 153 Bleeding. 154 Inflammation and swelling of the throat. 155 Stomach pains. 156 Lumbago. 157 Accumulation of watery fluid. 158 Properly fontanelle, the soft part of a skull, usually in infants. 159 Typhus boils; the fever was referred to by the Dutch as rood hond, although the condition was normally known across Europe by the French term, chien rouge (red dog); see Hattori Toshirō, Edo jidai igaku no kenkyū, p. 361. 160 The Indies, or Asia. 161 Deep openings or lesions. 162 A rosy interpretation of the Edo-period peasant’s lot. 163 The dominant grain crop of any area, regardless of which plant it is, can be referred to as corn (viz. in Britain wheat is known as ‘corn’, but in USA ‘corn’ is maize). 164 The Swedish landholding class had lost much power after Gustaf III’s coup d’état, when he had pushed through many populist reforms to assist a peasantry suffering from parcelling; see above pp. 27–28. 165 Cavalry and infantry. 166 Alienation of family farms. This was topical in Sweden where the main laws against parcelling had been removed in 1747 and 1751, to the detriment of the peasantry; see Hovde, The Scandinavian Countries, vol. 1, p. 287 and above, note 164. 167 Shared pasturing. 168 See above, note 163. 169 Vegetables with edible roots. 170 See above, p. 113. 171 Abalone. 172 See above note 163. 173 Sweet potatoes. 174 Onion-type. 175 Cole or rape. 176 Trowel with a hooked end. 177 Colewort and coleseed are the same—rape. 178 In the main. 179 En-route resting places. 180 Soba noodles.

Notes

272

181 This is two types of Triticum. 182 Probably ingen mame. 183 See above, p. 135. 184 The swinging part of the flail. 185 There follows a long list of beans and edible roots, with their Latin names, omitted here. 186 Azalea, nandina, plum, gardenia, aucuba, spiraea, magnolia, marigold, cockscomb, Japanese raisin tree, aster, peony, chrysanthemum, marigold (another species), balsam and morning glory. 187 Japanese indigo, and two species of knotweed. 188 Brushes. 189 Southern Kyushu and its outlying islands. 190 For export of camphor in the year Thunberg was in Japan, see DDR 8/158. 191 Wax tree or sumac, although this is normally known as Rhus silvestris. 192 Two species of laurel, lacquer tree and bead tree. 193 Two species of tung-oil tree. 194 Peas and beans. 195 Presumably intended to mean ‘ubiquitous’. 196 Animal farms. 197 No other reference to this event has been traced. 198 The next section, entitled ‘The Natural History of the Country’, is omitted here. It is principally a list of flora and fauna and repeats much already stated. 199 Markets. 200 Metal balance. 201 Trade with the Korean peninsula was older, and the shogunate maintained official links in Asia only with the Chōson (Korean) court. 202 ‘They’ changes ungrammatically from meaning the Japanese to the Chinese. 203 Under the so-called Jōkyō Regulations. They had little to do with Christianity, but were intended to control export of copper. The Chinese were allocated to 6,000 kanme (i.e. 600,000 taels); the Dutch were limited to just half that sum. The limit on ship numbers is fictional. Controls were tightened further in 1715 under the Shōtoku Regulations. 204 The Chinese compound (Tōjin yashiki) was established in 1689; it was onland and slightly more relaxed than Dejima, and its affairs were more loosely ordered. 205 Aloes wood. 206 Borneo camphor, or camphol. 207 Ginseng. 208 Cargo. 209 It is not clear from where these figures derive. 210 The Portuguese made two attempts to return, the second in 1647; see below, note 214. Thunberg might also have noted that the English also tried in 1673, but were denied because their queen (Catherine of Braganza) was sister of the Portuguese king. 211 There is no evidence of this threat being made. 212 Stubbornly. 213 Perhaps meaning the shogun. 214 This is probably in error for the second attempted Portuguese return in 1647, although the details do not fit well: military preparations were made by the daimyo of Hakata (not Arima), in response to which the ship left peacefully and without loss of life. The Dutch witnessed these tremendous events; see DDR 11/ 290–99. 215 Philippines. 216 ‘Its’ would be more grammatical. 217 The letters were short for Anno Christi (year of Our Lord), and so were taken as an offensive Christian symbol. 218 Lacquer gum.

Notes

273

219 Two base resins for making fragrances. 220 Genbier, a tanninous vegetable extract from Malaysia. 221 Extract from whale intestine, used in perfume manufacture. 222 A costus from Latin America (not Arabia). 223 Snake wood. 224 Inaba Mino-no-kani Masanori was rōjū (‘privy counsellor’) and favourite (kinjū—not a real government post, but a semi-officially recognised position) under Tokugawa Ietsuna, whose posthumous name, however, was Gen’yū-in, not Daijō-in. There is no particular reason to call him pious, probably a confusion with his brother or successor, Tsunayoshi. 225 Both Nagasaki bugyō were replaced at this time: in 1671, Ushigome Katsunobu succeeded Matsudaira Takami, and in 1672 Okano Sadatomo succeeded to Kōno Yukisada, although neither is known to have been related to the Inaba. 226 Re-export them if they did not find any other takers. 227 See above note 203. 228 By the time Thunberg’s book was published, only one ship was being sent. 229 The first section of the present edition. There follows a description of Japanese coinage that repeats what was said above, and is omitted here.

7 Residence at Dejima previous to my return home 1 Original heading. 2 Thunberg would travel to Batavia with the plants, but then send them home ahead since he intended to make stops (notably in Ceylon) on his return. 3 Chinese matrimony vine, spindle tree, Japanese honeysuckle, plum, cyclad, cypress and mikan orange. 4 See Appendix 3. There follows a long section describing plants collected, omitted here. 5 These dates fit with those given by Feith; see ibid., loc. cit. The name of the Stravenisse is this time spelled correctly, see above, p. 272, note 8. Hendrik Duurkoop had been to Japan several times during the previous 15 years and participated on the court trip, as scribe, in 1764; this was his first stint as chief. He would be nominated a second time in 1778, but die en route to Nagasaki, after which his grave there became a famous site among Japanese ‘Dutch studies’ (Rangaku) experts. 6 Obon or the festival of the dead. Feith gives the date of the celebrations as the 29th, although since festivities lasted three days (Thunberg noting the beginning and Feith the culmination), they can both be correct. 7 Related on both sides. 8 The sentence is gabled, and moves from the death of the groom (which was correct) to that of the bride. However, Thunberg is wrong for the groom was not the 15-year-old Tokugawa Munechika, daimyo of Nagoya (often referred to as the daimyo of Owari), but of his infant son; this occurred while the baby was being conveyed to Edo, to be promised to the shogun’s daughter. Feith mentions this correctly: ‘the son of the Lord of Owari, Matsendairo Owari Tjeusio [Matsudaira Owari no Chūjō], a close relative of the shogun, has died. We have to observe a mourning of five days.’ The Dutch were, however, permitted to continue loading the ships, see DDR 8/156. Munechika.also died young, in 1799. 9 This machine was often depicted, and convenient illustrations of period images, see Screech, Lens within the Heart., figs 13 and 4. 10 Since 100 catties=1 picul, smuggling to the tune of 1 per cent is permitted, in return for 0.2 per cent of this sum going to the officers in Onrust (Batavia).

Notes

274

11 This is Van Es: he had just arrived back on the Stravenisse where he reports how he had lost out on the previous voyage, after landing Thunberg, Feith et al.; see DDR 8/156. 12 Feith names twelve crewmen who died; see ibid., pp. 146–57. 13 Above referred to as unicorns’ horns, meaning narwal horns. 14 This confusing sentence probably means a quantity originally purchased for 1 mas sold in Japan 4 mas 8 canderine (4.8 mas), and a totality of 5 catties in weight were sold at 58 taels per cattie. 15 Above and below called the admiral’s ship, i.e. the Stravenisse. 16 This fits with Feith’s dating; see DDR8/157. For the governors, see note below. 17 See p. 262, note 30. 18 Fredrik Willem Hartman. 19 The ships had already been towed to the Papenberg to be loaded in deeper water. They rode there for days or weeks before sailing, and the senior Europeans would be conveyed to them only shortly before departure. The in-coming physician would remain on the ships until the out-going one boarded prior to sailing. 20 The ottonas. 21 Another island in Nagasaki Bay, Iō-jima in Japanese. 22 Feith gives 12,000 chests (= 6,000 piculs); for the excess, see above, note 10. See DDR 8/158.

Appendix 1 1 Relation d’un voyage au Japon par M.Thunberg. 2 George Bogel, ‘Relation du royaume de Thibet’ and M.Miller, ‘Voyage a Sumatra’. Both texts were originally in English. 3 See Valerij Grubor and Moisej Kirpiczuikov, ‘Carl Pater Thunberg and C.S. Maximowicz: Maximowicz’s Research into Materials on Japanese Flora Left Posthumously by Thunberg’, p. 339. 4 There was only one director of the garden, the Hortus Medicus, and that was Ury Termminck. 5 The Resa spells the island Sapat (one of the Spratly Islands), and moreover gives the date of passing it as 8 July, with Chins spied on the 10th. This date must be in error, for the passage could not have taken so long. Formosa is modern Taiwan. 6 The Resa has Japan spied and Nagasaki entered on the same day, 13 August. 7 See above, p. 273 note 44. Salute=to shoot a salvo from canon in greeting. 8 The rules supposedly resulting from the wreck of the Burgh, see above, pp. 83–84. 9 Actually, attached to the top of the head. 10 The ‘ambassador’ was Arend Feith, chief of the Dejima factory. 11 The Company chief, physician and scribe went. The third person in 1776 was Herman Köhler. 12 The text gives ‘Mioco’ but this is a misprint as the name appears as ‘Miaco’ below. According to the log kept by Feith, they arrived in Miyako (modern Kyoto) on the 9th and left on the 12th; see DDR 8, p. 151. The dairi was Gomomozono. 13 The correct Japanese term is noromono, but ‘norimon’ had entered the European languages. 14 The shogun was Tokugawa Ieharu, the heir apparent (seishi), Tokugawa Iemoto, and the dozen lords were the ‘elders’ (rōjū) and ‘young elders’ (waka doshiyori). 15 They met the jisha-bugyō and machi-bugyō. 16 The official was the shoshidai. He managed the court on behalf of the shogun.

Notes

275

Appendix 2 1 The other sections are technical, relating to plant categorisations. 2 Extraordinary that Thunberg should get this wrong, but the Latin gives ‘Burmanno’ (being in the dative case), which cannot but indicate that ‘Burmannus’ is the nominative and hence Burmann, not Burman. 3 For some reason the Dutch word for a country estate is interpolated, in the plural (and oddly spelt): properly buiten plaats(en). 4 This refers to the VOC’s participation in the fHassaku festival, held on the 1st day of the 8th month. 5 This is confusing, for Feith reports that Thunberg went out to botanise for the first time in early February, 1776; see DDR 8/150. 6 Since only one ship arrived in 1775, and it left on 3 November, it is unclear what Thunberg means. 7 Feith gives the dates as 1–26 May; see DDR 8/153–55; see Appendix 3.

Appendix 3 1 Paul van der Velde and Cynthia Vialé (eds), The Deshima Dagregisters, vol. 8, p. 150. 2 Morishima Chūryō, Kōmō zatsuwa, pp. 455–56. Chūryō implies that Schindeler’s direct interlocutor was Sugita Genpaku. Chūryō mistakenly says that Schindeler came in the An’ei period, which had in fact ended in 1780. 3 Ibid., vol. 8, p. 154. 4 Bergius, letter to Thunberg dated 30 May 1785, quoted in Mia Karsten, ‘Carl Peter Thunberg: An Early Investigator of Cape Botany’, p. 100. For Kaempfer, see Muntschick, ‘Plants that Carry his Name’, p. 80. 5 Yojiro Kimura, ‘Thunberg and the Flora of Japan’, p. 331.

Bibliography This bibliography contains only works cited in Introduction and textual notes. It is not intended as a full list of Thunberg-related studies. Acerbi, G.J. (1802). Travels Through Sweden, Finland and Lapland in the Years 1798 and 1799. London. Achiwa, G. (1969). Herman Boerhaave, 1668–1738, sono shōgai, shisō, waga rangaku e no eikyō. Tokyo, Ogata. Aoki, O. (1929). Jōmon jūssaku. Tokyo, Keimei-sha. Aston, W.G. (1879). “‘H.M.S.Phaeton’ at Nagasaki in 1808.” Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan 7:323–36. Banks, J., Ed. (1791). Icones selectae plantarum quas in japonia collegit et delineavit Engelbertus Kaempfer. London. Barber, L. (1980). The Heyday of Natural History, 1820–1870. Garden City, NY, Doubleday. Blomberg, C. (1992). “Mechanical Apples: Olof Eriksson Willman, one of the First Swedes in Japan.” Proceedings of the International Conference of Orientalists in Japan 37:151–52. Blomberg, C. (1996). From the Horizon of the Enlightenment: Carl Peter Thunberg’s views of Religion in Japan. Florilegium Japonicum: Studies presented to Olof G.Lindin on the occasion of his 70th birthday. B.Frellesvig and C.M.Hermansen. Copenhagen, Akademisk Forlag: 29–40. Blomberg, C. (1998). “Jammaboos and Mecanical [sic] Apples: Religion and Daily Life in Olof Erikson Willman’s Travel Diaries, 1651–52.” Itinerario 33:85–102. Blomberg, C. (2001). Rerum memorabilium thesaurus: A Treasury of Memorable Things—Carl Peter Thunberg’s Observations During his Year in Japan, 1775–1776. Dodonaeus in Japan: Translation and the Scientific Mind in the Tokugawa Period. W.F.Vande Walle and K.Kasaya. Leuven & Kyoto, Leuven University Press/ International Center for Japanese Studies: 323–42. Blunt, W. (1971). The Complete Naturalist: A Life of Linnaeus. London, Collins. Blussé, L. and C.Viallé, Eds. (1995–2001). The Deshima [sic] Dagregisters: Their Original Tables of Contents. Leiden, Intercontinenta. Bodart-Bailey, B.M., Ed. (1995). The Furthest goal: Engelbert Kaempfer’s Encounter with Japan. Folkstone, Japan Library. Bodart-Bailey, B.M. (1995). “Introduction. The Furthest Goal”. The Furthest Goal: Engelbert Kaempfer’s Encounter with Japan. B.M.Bodart-Bailey. Folkstone, Japan Library: 1–16. Bodart-Bailey, B.M. (1995). Writing ‘The History of Japan’. The Furthest goal: Engelbert Kaempfer’s Encounter with Japan. Folkstone, Japan Library: 17–43. Bodart-Bailey, B.M., Ed. (1999). Kaempfer’s Japan: Tokugawa Japan Observed. Honolulu, Hawai’i University Press. Bowers, J.Z. (1970). Western Medical Pioneers in Feudal Japan. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press. Breynius, J. (1678). Exoticarium aliarumque minus cogitartum plantarum centura prima. Danzig. ‘Bryltophend’ (1789). Roman historique, philosophique et politique. Paris. Caron, F. and J.Schorten (1663). A True Description of the Mightie Kingdom of Japan and of Siam. London. Carrubba, R.W. and J.Z.Bowers (1974). “The World’s First Detailed Treatise on Acupuncture: Willem ten Rhijne’s De acupunctura.” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 29:371–98. Carter, H.B. (1988). Sir Joseph Banks, 1743–1820. London, British Museum (Natural History) Press.

Bibliography

277

Chaiklin, M. (2003). Cultural Commerce and Dutch Commercial Culture: The Influence of European Material Culture on Japan, 1700–1750, Leiden, Research School, CNWS. Chambers, N., Ed. (2000). The Letters of Sir Joseph Banks: A Selection, 1768–1820. London, Imperial College Press. Chambers, N. (2002). Sir Joseph Banks, Japan and the Far East. A Garden Bequest: Plants from Japan. A.Farrer. London, Japan Society: 7–14. Cryns, F. (2001). The Influence of Herman Boerhaave’s Mechanical Concept of the Human Body in Nineteenth-century Japan’. Dodonaeus in Japan: Translation and the Scientific Mind in the Tokugawa Period. W.F.Vande Walle and K.Kazuhiko. Leuven & Kyoto, Leuven University Press International Center for Japanese Studies. Desmond, R. (2003). Great Natural History Books and their Creators. London, The British Library & Oak Knoll. Farrer, A., Ed. (2002). A Garden Bequest: Plants from Japan. London, Japan Society. Forbes, V.S. (1975). Foreword [to Sparrman]. A Voyage to their Cape of Good Hope… from the Year 1772–1776. V.S.Forbes. Cape Town, Van Riebeeck: 1–25. Forbes, V.S. (1986). Foreword [to Thunberg]. Carl Peter Thunberg’s Travels at the Cape of Good Hope, 1772–1775. V.S.Forbes. Cape Town, Van Riebeeck Society. 17:1–36. Fortia de Piles, A. (1808–1813). Fortia’s Travels in Sweden. A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in All Parts of the World. J.Pinkerton. London. 11:373– 569. Frägsmyr, T., Ed. (1989). Science in Sweden: The Royal Swedish Academy of Science, 1739–1989. Canton, MA, Scientific History Publishers. Frägsmyr, T. (1989). Introduction: 250 Years of Science. Science in Sweden: The Royal Swedish Academy of Science. T.Frägsmyr. Canton, MA, Science History Publications: 1–22. Frägsmyr, T., Ed. (1994). Linnaeus: The Man and his Work. Canton, MA, Scientific History Publications. Frägsmyr, T. (1994). Editor’s Introduction. Linnaeus: The Man and his Work. T.Frägsmyr. Canton, MA, Scientific History Publications: xii–xiv. Friese, E. (1991). Leben und wirken von Carl Peter Thunbergs. Reise dutch eined Theil von Europa, Afrika und Asien hauptsächlich in Japan in den Jahren 1770 bis 1779. E.Friese. Heidelberg, Manutius Verlag. 1:7–52. Furukawa, K. (1927). Saiyū zakki. Kinsei shakai keizai sōsho. E.Motoki. Tokyo, Kaizōsha. 9:140– 69. Goerke, H. (1973). Linnaeus. New York, Charles Scribner. Goodman, G.K. (1986). Japan: The Dutch Experience. London, Athlone Press. Granlund, L. (1986). Gustav II Adolfs Japanska Kista. Möbelhistoria på Gripsholm. B.Vahlne. Stockholm, Royal Armouries: 227–28. Groth, H. (1990). Neoclassicism in the North: Swedish Furniture and Interiors, 1770–1850. London, Thames and Hudson. Grubor, V.I. and M.E.Kirpiczuikov (1994). Carl Peter Thunberg and C.J.Maximowicz: Mazimowicz’s Research into Materials on Japanese Flora Left Post-humously by Thunberg. Carl Peter Thunberg’s Drawings of Japanese Plants, Icones plantarus Japonicarum Thunbergii, Kept in the Library of the Komarov Botanical Institute. Y.Kimura and V.P.Leonov. Tokyo, Maruzen: 335–46. Gubler, A. (1935). “Aetzte der Holländische-Ostindien Konpagnie in Japan.” CIBA Festschrift 20:686–91. Haga, T. (1988). Hiraga Gennai. Tokyo, Asahi Shinbun. Hallman, J. (1788). De Mozae atque ignise in medicina rationale usu. Leiden. Hara, H., Ed. (1953). Tsunberii kenkyū shiryō. Tokyo, Science Council of Japan. Hattori, T. (1978). Edo jidai igakushi no kenkyō. Tokyo, Yoshikawa Kōbunkan. Heister, L. (1757). A General System of Surgery in Three Parts. London.

Bibliography

278

Hesselink, R., H. (1995). “A Dutch New Year at the Shirandō Academy, 1 January, 1795.” Monumenta Nipponica 50:189–234. Hesselink, R., H. (2002). Prisoners From Nambu: Reality and Make-Believe in SeventeenthCentury Japanese Diplomacy. Honolulu, Hawai’i University Press. Honigsbaum, M. (2001). The Fever Trail: The Hunt for a Cure for Malaria. London, Macmillan. Hovde, B.J. (1972). The Scandinavian Countries, 1720–1865. Port Washington & London, Kennikat Press. Imaizumi, G. (1969). Katsuragawa-ke no hitobito. Tokyo, Chikusai Shorin. Israel, J. (1995). The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness and Fall, 1477–1806. Oxford & New York, Oxford University Press. Iwao, S. (1953). “Thunbergs Ställning i Japansk Kulturhistoria.” Svenska Linnésällskapets A[0]rsskrift 36:35–47. Johnson, M.O. (1977). ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ and Japan. Kyoto, Doshisha University Press. Jonsell, B. (1993). Thunberg, Linné och det linneanska. Carl Peter Thunberg: linnean, resenär, naturforskare. B.Nordenstam. Stockholm, Atlantis. Kaempfer, E. (1712). Amoenitatis exoticae. Leipzig. Kaempfer, E. (1993). A History of Japan Together with a Description of the Kingdom of Siam. London, Curzon. Kamae, M., Ed. (1989). Ō-Edo no omoshiroi yakushoku jiten. Rekishi yomihon. Tokyo. Kanwatei, O. (1803). Wakanran zatsuwa. Edo (Tokyo). Karsten, M.G. (1939 & 1949). “Carl Peter Thunberg, An Early Investigator of Cape Botany.” Journal of South African Botany 5 & 21:1–27, 87–104, 105–55; 127–91. Katagiri, K. (1994). Kaempfer, Thunberg, Seibold no nihon to oranda tsūji. Edo sanpu zuikō-ki. F.Takahashi. Tokyo, Heibonsha: 381–99. Katagiri, K. (2000). Edo no orandajin: kapitan no sanpu. Tokyo, Chūō Kōronsha. Kato, T. and e. al., Eds. (2001). Nihonshi sōgō nenpyō. Tokyo, Yoshikawa Kōbunkan. Katsuragawa, H. (1990). Hokusa bunryaku. Tokyo, Iwanami. Kent, N. (2000). The Soul of the North: A Social, Architectural and Cultural History of the Nordic Countries, 1700–1940. London, Reaktion Books. Kidd, M. and I.M.Modlin (1999). “The Luminati of Leiden: From Bontius to Boehaarve.” World Journal of Surgery 34:1307–14. Kimura, Y. (1988). Edo no nachurarisuto. Tokyo, Asahi Shinbun-sha. Kimura, Y. (1993). De Tre Lärde på Deshima. Carl Peter Thunberg: Linnean, Resenär, Naturforskare. B.Nordenstam. Stockholm, Atlantis: 151–64. Kimura, Y. (1994). Nachurarisuto Thunberg no nagai tabi. Edo sanfu zuikō-ki. F.Takahashi. Tokyo, Heibonsha: 365–80.Kimura, T. (1994). Thunberg and the Flora of Japan. Carl Peter Thunberg’s Drawings of Japanese Plants, Icones plantams Japonicarum Thunbergii, Kept in the Library of the Komarov Botanical Institute. Y.Kimura and V.P.Leonov. Tokyo, Maruzen: 327–34. Kimura, Y. and V.P.Leonov, Eds. (1994). Carl Peter Thunberg’s Drawings of Japanese Plants, Icones plantarus Japonicarum Thunbergii, Kept in the Library of the Komarov Botanical Institute. Y.Kimura and V.P.Leonov. Tokyo, Maruzen. Kitamura, S. (1991). Honzō zufu sōgō kaisetsu. Tokyo, Dōhōsha. Koerner, L. (1999). Linnaeus: Nation and Nature. Gambridge MA & London, Harvard University Press. Koninckx, C. (1980). The Swedish East India Company. Kortrijk, Van Ghemmert. Korff, R. (1975). Das berufsethos in der ‘Chirurgie’ Lorenz Heisters (1683–1758). Zurich, Juris. Kornicki, P.F. (1993). “European Japanology at the End of the Eighteenth Century.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 56:502–24. Kouwenhoven, A. (2000). Seibold and Japan: His Life and Work. Leiden, Hotei. Kreiger, C.C. (1949). The Infiltration of European Civilisation in Japan During the Eighteenth Century. Leiden, E.J. Brill.

Bibliography

279

Lensen, G. (1971). The Russian Push Towards Japan: Russo-Japanese Relations, 1697–1875. New York, Octagon Books. Lindroth, S. (1994). The Two Faces of Linnaeus. Linnaeus: The Man and his Work. T.Frägsmyr. Canton, MA. Science History Publications: 1–62. Lindström, E., Ed. (1951). Carl Peter Thunberg: Resa uti Europa, Africa, Asia, förrättad åren 1770–1779. Stockholm, Uddevalla. Luyendijk-Elshout, A.M. (1991). ‘Ontleedinge’ (Anatomy) As Underlying Principle of Western Medicine in Japan. Red-Hair Medicine: Dutch-Japanese Medical Relations. H.Beukers. Amsterdam. Atlanta, GE, Ropodi: 27–36. Lyle, C. (1980). Sir Joseph Banks: Eighteenth-century Explorer, Botanist and Entrepreneur. Newton Abbot, David & Charles. MacLean, J. (1974). “The Introduction of Books and Scientific Instruments into Japan 1712–1884.” Studies in the History of Japanese Science 13:9–68. Makino, T. (1949). Illustrated Flora of Japan. Tokyo, Hokuryū. Massarella, D. (1995). The History of ‘The History’: The Purchase and Publication of Kaempfer’s ‘History of Japan’. The Furthest Goal: Engelbert Kaempfer’s Encounter with Japan. B.M.Bodart-Bailey. Folkstone, Japan Library: 96–131. Masson, F. (1776). “Mr Masson’s Botanical Travels.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London: 269–307. Matsuda, K. (2001). The Reception and Spread of Dodonaeus’ Cruydt-Boeck in Japan. Dodonaeus in Japan: Translation and the Scientific Mind in the Tokugawa Period. W.F.Vande Walle and K.Kasaya. Leuven & Kyoto, Leuven University Press & International Center for Japanese Studies. Mavor, W. (1796). Historical Account of the Most Celebrated Voyages, Travels and Discoveries. London. Mavor, W. (1809). A Collection of Voyages and Travels. London. Michel, W. (2002). “On the Background of Engelbert Kaempfer’s Studies of Japanese Herbs and Drugs.” Nihon igaku zasshi 48:692–720. Miller, D.P. and P.H.Reill, Eds. (1996). Visions of Empire: Voyages, Botany and Representations of Nature. Cambridge MA & London. Morishima, C. (1788). Bango sen. Edo (Tokyo). Morishima, C. (1913). Kōmō zatsuwa. Bunmei genryō sōsho. Tokyo, Kokusho Kankōkai. 1:454– 86. Morishima, C. (1980). Hōgu kago. Zoku-enseki jusshū. S.Mori. Tokyo, Chūō Kōronsha. 3:165–79. Muntschick, W. (1995). The Plants that Carry his Name: Kaempfer’s Study of Japanese Flora. The Furthest Goal: Engelbert Kaempfer’s Encounter with Japan. B.M.Bodart-Bailey. Folkstone, Japan Library: 71–95. Nagakubo, S. (1746). Nagasaki kikō. National diet Library, Tokyo. Nihon, i.g., Ed. (1977). Nihon iji bunka shiryō shūsei. Tokyo, San’ichi Shobō. Nordensam, B. (1993). Carl Peter Thunberg—Liv och Resor. Carl Peter Thunberg: Llinnean, Resenär, Naturforskare. B.Nordenstam. Stockholm, Atlantis: 9–40. Nordenstam, B., Ed. (1993). Carl Peter Thunberg: Linnean, Resenär, Naturforskare. Stockholm, Atlantis. Nordenstam, B. (1994). The Origin of Thunberg’s Unpublished “Icones plantarum Japonicorum”. Carl Peter Thunberg’s Drawings of Japanese Plants, Icones plantarus Japonicarum Thunbergii, Kept in the Library of the Komarov Botanical Institute. Y.Kimura and V.P.Leonov. Tokyo, Maruzen: 371–406. Nordenstam, B. (1994). An Introduction to Thunberg’s “Icones plantarum Japonicorum”, Fasc. i— V (1794–1806). Carl Peter Thunberg’s Drawings of Japanese Plants, Icones plantarus Japonicarum Thunbergii, Kept in the Library of the Komarov Botanical Institute. Y.Kimura and V.P.Leonov. Tokyo, Maruzen: 543–56. O’Brien, P. (1982). Joseph Banks: A Life. London, Collins Harvill.

Bibliography

280

Ohba, H. (1993). Thunberg och Japanska Botanik. Carl Peter Thunberg: Linnean, Resenär, Naturforskare. B.Nordenstam. Stockholm, Atlantis: 165–75. Ohwi, J. (1965). Flora of Japan. Washington DC, Smithsonian Institution. Ozaki, N.T. (1980). Conceptual Changes in Medicine During the Tokugawa Period, University of San Francisco. Pinkerton, J., Ed. (1808–1813). A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in all Parts of the World. London. Priest, J. (1981). The Garden of Eden: the Botanical Garden and Re-creation of Paradise. New Haven and London, Yale University Press. Quétel, C. (1990). A History of Syphilis. Cambridge, Polity Press. Raffles, S.T. (1971). Raffles’ Report on Japan to the Secret Committee of the English East India Company. London, Curzon. Rookmaaker, L.C. (1989). The Zoological Exploration of Southern Africa, 1650–1790. Rotterdam & Brookfield: A.A.Balkema. Rosen, G. (1984). “Lorenz Heister on Accupuncture: An Eighteenth-century View.” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 30:386–88. Rudner, I. (1986). Biographical Outline. Carl Peter Thunberg’s Travels at the Cape of Good Hope, 1772–1775. V.S.Forbes. Cape Town, Van Riebeeck Society. 17:10–19. Rudolph, R. (1974). “Thunberg in Japan and Thunberg’s Flora in Japanese.” Monumenta Nipponica 29:163–79. Santō, K. (1801). Ko wa mezurashiki misemonogatari. Edo (Tokyo). Sasama, Y. (1990). Edo bakufu yakushoku shūsei. Tokyo, Ōzankaku. Satō, N.C. (1929). Chūryō manroku. Nihon zuihitsu taisei. London, Yoshikawa Kōbunkan. 3:22– 335. Scott, F.D. (1977). Sweden: The Nation’s History. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. Screech, T. (1997). Edo no shintai o hiraku. Tokyo, Sakuhinsha. Screech, T. (2000). The Shogun’s Painted Culture: Fear and Creativity in the Japanese States, 1760–1829. London, Reaktion Books. Screech, T. (2001). The Visual Legacy of Dodonaeus in Botanical and Human Categorisation. Dodonaeus in Japan: Translation and the Scientific Mind in the Tokugawa Period. W.F.Vande Walle and K.Kasaya. Leuven & Kyoto, Lenven University Press International Center for Japanese Studies. Screech, T. (2002). The Lens Within the Heart: The Western Scientific Gaze and Popular Imagery in Later Edo Japan. London & New York, Cambridge University Press. Screech, T. (2004). “Carl Peter Thunberg and Japan, 1776–98.” Orientations 35: 62–67. Seigle, C.S. (1993). Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan. Honolulu, University of Hawai’i Press. Selander, S. (1960). Linnélärjungar in Främmande Länder. Stockholm, Bonniers. Smith, A. (1970). The Wealth of Nations. London, Penguin Books. Smith, J., Ed. (1821). A Selection of Correspondence of Linnaeus and Other Naturalists. London. Sōda, H. (1989). Nihon iryō bunkashi. Tokyo, Shibunkaku. Sōda, H. (1994). Baidoku chiryōyaku shimatsu ki. Mono no imeeji: honzō to hakubutsugaku e no shōtai. K.Yamada. Tokyo, Asahin Shinbun-sha: 186–209. Sörlin, S. (1989). Scientific Travel: The Linnaean Tradition. Science in Sweden: The Royal Swedish Academy of Science, 1739–1989. T.Frägsmyr. Canton, MA. Scientific History Publishers: 96– 123. Sparrman, A. (1785). A Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope…From the Year 1772–1776. London. Stafleu, F.A. and R.S.Cowen, Eds. (1994). Taxonomic Literature. The Hague & Boston, Bohm, Scheltema & Holkema. Steenstrup, C. (1982). “Scandinavians in Asian Waters in the 17th Century: On the Sources for the History of the Participation of Scandinavians in Early Dutch Ventures into Asia.” Acta Orientalia 43:69–83.

Bibliography

281

Struve, L. (1992). Voices from the Ming-Qing Cataclism: China in a Tiger’s Jaws. New Haven & London, Yale University Press. Sugita, G. (1964). Rangaku kotohajime. Taion-ki, Oritaku shiba no ki, Rantō kotohajime. Tokyo, Iwanami. 95:473–516. Sugita, G. (1972). Yasō dokugen. Yogaku. Tokyo, Iwanami. 1:291–316. Sugita, G. (1976). Keiei yawa. Nihon koten bungaku taikei. Tokyo, Iwanami. 64:245–90. Sugita, G., R, Maeno, et al. (1972). Kaitai shinsho. Nihon shisō taikei. Tokyo, Iwanami. 64:207– 318. Svedelius, N. (1944). “Carl Peter Thunberg (1743–1828) on his Bicentenary.” Isis 35:128–34. Swedish Embassy Tokyo, Ed. (1977). Bicentenary Celebration of Carl Peter Thunberg’s Visit to Japan. Tokyo, Royal Swedish Embassy. Swedish Embassy Tokyo and N.S.Gakkai, Eds. (1976). Tsyunberii rainichi 200-hen kinen shi. Tokyo. Swift, J. (1958). Tale of a Tub, Etc. Oxford, Clarendon Press. Takahashi, F. (1994). Thunberg to nihonjin no kōryū. Yōgakushi. T.Arisaka. Tokyo, Sōgensha. 11:42–61. Tames, R. (1994). Soho Past. London, Historical Publications. Thunberg, C.(K.) P. (1991). Reise durch eined Theil Von Europa, Afrika und Asien hauptsächlich in Japan in Den jahren 1770 bis 1779. Heidelberg, Manutius Verlag. Thunberg, C.P. (1779). Inträdes-Tal, om de mynt-sorter. Upsala. Thunberg, C.P., Ed. (1781). Nova genera plantarum. Upsala. Thunberg, C.P., Ed. (1785). Dissectio de medicina africorum. Upsala. Thunberg, C.P. (1788–94). Resa uti Europa, Africa, Asia, förrättad åren 1770–1779. Upsala. Thunberg, C.P. (1792). Observationes in linquam japonicam. Upsala. Thunberg, C.P. (1794). Icones plantarum japonicum. Upsala. Thunberg, C.P., Ed. (1799). Dissertationes academicae. Upsala. Thunberg, C.P., Ed. (1799–1801). Dissertatio de novis generibus plantarum. Upsala. Thunberg, C.P. (1807). Orangeries och samlings-salar. Upsala. Thunberg, C.P. (1928). Tsunberugu nihon kikō. Tokyo. Thunberg, C.P. (1933). Flora Japonica: sistens plantas insularum japonicarum. Leipzig, Mulleriano. Thunberg, C.P. (1975). Flora japonica: sistens plantas insularum japonicarum. New York, Oriole Editions. Thunberg, C.P. (1990). Observationes in linquam japonicam. Stockholm, University of Stockholm Center for Pacific Asian Studies. Thunberg, C.P. (1994). Edo sanpu zuikō-ki. Tokyo, Heibonsha. Thunberg, C.P. (C.) (1795). Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa made during the Years 1770 & 1779. London. Thunberg, C.P. (C.-P.) (1796). Voyage of C.P. Thunberg au Japon. Paris. Thunberg, C.P. (C.-P.) (1966). Le Japon du XVIIIe siècle vu par un botaniste suèdois, Ch.-P. Thunberg. Paris, Calman-Lévy. Thunberg, C.P. K. (1991). Reise durch einem Theil von Europa, Afrika und Asien. Heidelberg, Manutius Verlag. Toda, Y. (1994). Oranda-ryū goten-i: Katsuragawa-ke no sekai: edo geien no kiun. Tokyo, Tsukiji Shokan. Toyama, M. (1988). Nagasaki bugyō: edo bakufu no mimi to me. Tokyo, Chūō Kōron-sha. Vande Walle, W.F. and K.Kazuhiko, Eds. (2001). Dodonaeus in Japan: Translation and the Scientific Mind in the Tokugawa Period. Leuven & Kyoto, Leuven University Press International Center for Japanese Studies. Vartier, J. (1985). Alphonse de Piles. Paris, France-Empire.

Bibliography

282

Vos, F. (1971). “ForgottenFoibles: Love and the Dutch at Dejima (1641–1854)”, in Brüll Lydia & Ulrich Kemper (eds.), Asien Tradition und Fortschritt: Festschrift für Horst Hammitzsch zu seinem 60 Geburtstag. pp. 614–33. Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz. Wagner, U. (1993). I det Slutna Japan. Carl Peter Thunberg: Linnean, Resenär, Naturforskare. B.Nordenstam. Stockholm, Atlantis: 87–118. Walckenaer, C. (1826). Histoire générale des voyages, ou nouvelle collection des relations de voyages par mer et par terre. Paris. Willman, O.E. (1667). Een Reesa till ost Indien, China och Japan. Stockholm. Willman, O.E. (1953). Nihon ryōkō-ki. Tokyo, Kōbundō. Wollstonecraft, M. (1976). Letters Written during a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Lincoln NE & London, University of Nebraska Press.

Index Acupuncture, 37, 56–57, 225–26 Amano Ryōjun, 152, 287 Amsterdam, 5–6, 12, 13, 15, 18, 29, 45, 153, 173, 238, 248, 254 Anatomy, 21, 37, 52, 152, 218, 225, 287 Armenault, Daniel, 8, 18, 47, 53–55, 81, 95, 273, 296 astronomy (astronomers), 53, 152, 218, 287 Banks, (Sir) Joseph, 13–15, 20, 21, 25, 29–30, 61 Bergius, Bengt, 7, 12, Bergius, Peter Jonas, 7, 12, 20, 259 Bergman, Torben, 164, 173, 291 Boerhaave, Herman, 35, 56, bonsai, 113 The Burg (ship) 81, 83, 273, 306 Burman, Johan, 5 Burman, Nicolaas 5, 6, 12, 18, 61, 254–55, 306 British Museum, 13, 21 brothels, see prostitution Chikamatsu Monzaemon, 273, 282 Christianity/Christians, 82, 90, 93, 100, 103, 109, 181, 235, 300; trampling on images, 115, 209, 279 banning, 208–9, 296, 304 clocks (watches), 95, 98, 115, 192, 274, 295 Crans, Jan, 18, 34, 60, Daibutsu (Great Buddha of the Hōkō-ji), 170–71, 203, 294 Dodonaeus, Rembertus, 153, 288 Feith, Arend, 8, 10, 34–35, 43–44, 46–47, 57–58, 95, 117, 257, 258–59, 272, 275, 287, 306 Ferbiskij, C.H., 8, 18, 55, 277, Funerals, 217 games, 128, 214–15, 281 George III (of England), 15, 56 ginseng, 84, 98, 275, 276 glass, 43, 93, 04, 98, 126, 190, 200; windows, 94, 127, 138, 141, 190, 191, 220, 250; see also mirrors (looking-glasses) Go-Momozono (Hidehito), 18, 298 Gustaf III (of Sweden), 6, 16, 27–28, 298;

Index

284

national dress, 271 Heike family, 131 Heister, Lorenz, 55–58, 60, 61, 153, 288, 290 Hemmij, Gijbert, 50 Hiraga Gennai, 34, 40, 42, 46, 55, 291 Hokusai, see Katsushika Hokusai Hopton, Charles, 1, 19–20, 22, 23, 57–58, 63, 261, 264, 273, 275, 295 Hosokawa Shigekata, 46–47, 48, hot springs, 120 Ise, pilgrimage, 206–7 Johnston, Johannes (Jonston, Jan), 153, 288 Jussieu, Antoine de, 6 Jussieu, Bernard de, 6 Kaempfer, Engelbert, 3–4, 6, 10, 13, 18, 20, 21, 30, 37, 52, 58–60, 61, 166, 199; comparisons with/listings from, 118, 120, 121, 131, 146, 149, 159, 161, 279, 280, 281, 282, 285, 286, 290, 295, 302; Amoenitatis exoticae, 3, 4, 13, 30, 259; Heutiges Japan, 3, 4; History of Japan, 4, 13, 30, 64, 183, 202, 259, 289, 297 Kafuku Yasujirō, 50 Kaitai shinsho (New anatomical atlas), 52–52–55 Kanwatei Onitake, 37 Katsuragawa Hochiku, 6, 38 Katsuragawa Hoshū, 6, 37, 40–44, 48, 50, 52, 153, 256, 257, 268, 292; as ‘beloved pupil’, 161–63, 165 Katsuragawa Kunimichi, 37 Katsushika Hokusai, 37, 38, 39, Keisai Eisen, 48, 49. kimono (night-gown), 100, 109, 119, 123, 125, 157, 160–61, 170, 172, 185–88, 189, 216, 249–50, 290 Köhler (Koehler), Herman, 10, 117, 277, 306 Kotwijk, Ikarius, 7, 55, Kumano bikuni (nuns), 138–39, 284 Kurisaki Dōha, 152, 287 Kushimoto Jōshun, 152 Kuze, Hirotami, 10 lacquer (japan), 90, 95, 100, 101, 137, 144, 147, 161, 181, 210, 214, 220, 221, 235 Langlès, Louis-Matthieu, 22, 63–64–65 Laxman, Eric (Kiril), 49–50 Linnaeus, Carl, 2, 5–6, 12, 13, 16, 17–18, 25, 31, 45, 60, 292; tea, 29–31; syphilis, 35; animosity of Heister, 57; Classes Plantarum, 2, 15; Flora lapponica, 13, 15

Index

285

Linnaeus, Carl (the Younger), 12–13, 15, 31, London, 12–13, 20, 29, 35, 45 maps, 161, 175, 219, fan-shaped, 119, 279 marriage, 121, 128, 216–17 Matsudaira Sadanobu, 40, Matsura Kiyoshi (Seizan), 262, 274 mirrors (looking-glasses), 50, 95, 98, 192, 237, 250 Mito, prince of (Tokugawa Harumori), 166, mixed-race children, 109–110 Morsishima Chūryō, 39, 40, 41, 48, 51, 257, 268, Mt Fuji, 144, 167–68, 177, 285 Muntingius, Abraham, 153, 288 Nakagawa Jun’an, 37, 40–44, 50, 52, 153, 156, 256, 288, 292; as ‘beloved pupil’, 161–63, 165 Nihon-bashi (bridge), 123, 149 Nuytz, Peter, 183, 296–97 Odano Naotake, 42, 54, 55, Ogino Gengai (Sahyōe ie no Sakon), 170, 294 Okada Yūsen, 40, 152, 287 Onitake, see Kanwatei Onitake Otsuki Gentaku, 36, 56, painting, 219, 250 Paris, 6, 13, 27, 28, 55, 63, 153, 254; comparison with Osaka, 133, Polo (‘Paolo’), Marco, 176 porcelain, 90, 95, 99, 100, 110, 121, 197, 210, 214, 234 printing, 53, 80, 93, 101, 137, 219, 220 prostitution/brothels, 109–110, 114, 125, 128, 130 Rhijne, Willem ten, 52, 53, 56, 61, 266 roads, excellence of, 122, 280 Rubeck, Olof, 265 Ryukyus (Okinawa), 100, 291 Sakaki Bunji (sic, Bunjirō), 152, 287 samurai, 129 Sanjūsangen-do (temple), 171, 203, 294 Santō Kyōden, 48–49 Satake Yoshiatsu (Shozan), 41–43, 42, 43, 55, scabies, 60 Schambergen, Caspar, 52–53, 61 Schindeler, Fredrik, 39, 258, 259, 275, 306 Screens, folding (byōbu), 141, 250 seppuku (ritual suicide), 125 Shibukawa Shōsei, 152, 287

Index

286

Shimazu Shigehide, 47, Shozan, see Satake Yoshiatsu Seibold, Philipp Franz von, 61, 63, Sloane, (Sir) Hans, 4, 30, 262 smuggling, 82–84, 88–89, 101, 222, 235, 249, 296 Solander, Daniel, 13, 15, 25, 29, 35, 45 Sparrman, Anders, 19–20, 23, 25, 26, 30, 33, 45, 63, 64, 264 Sugita Genpaku, 36–37, 52–53–55, 63, 287, 288, 306; see also Kaitai shinsho syphilis, see venereal diseases Tachibana Morikuni, 289 Taikō, the, see, Toyotomi Hideyoshi Tanuma Okitsugu, 18, 40 tea, 29031, 40, 84, 113, 118, 119, 134, 135, 150, 160, 169, 212–13, 233, 250–51, theatre, 172, 216, 252 Thunberg, Carl Peter, Flora capensis, 20; Flora japonica, 2, 3, 6, 15, 19, 20, 61, 289, 293 tobacco/smoking, 84, 104, 113, 119, 135, 160, 181, 184, 185, 213–14, 229, 246, 250 Tokugawa Harumori, see Mito Tokugawa Ieharu (the kubō), 18, 39, 44, 50, 166–67, 198, 199, 290; to Nikkō, 165–66 Tokugawa Iemoto (‘hereditary prince’), 167, 278, 293 Tokugawa Ienari, 50, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, 199 Toyotomi Hideyori, 209, 300 Toyotomi Hideyoshi (the Taikō), 125, 198, 296 Tremmink, Ury, 5, 6, 254, 306 Tsuge, Masakore, 10 venereal diseases 35–39, 120, 137, 162, 273, 275, 290–91 Washington, George, 6 watches, see clocks Willman, Olof Eriksson, 3, 52, 262 windows, see glass Woyt, Johann, 153, 288 yamabushi, 138, 207, 284 Yoshio Kōsaku, 36, 287, 291