CHAPTER XXIII

Katsu Awa no KamiCommissioner of the Navy

Niiro Giôbu, Satsuma Karô

The 16th was spent at the custom house in the examination of the men of the "Yokobuyé," a Tosa sailing-vessel. It appeared certain that the "Nankai" did not leave Nagasakitill the evening of the 6th August. Two of theKai-yen-tai, one of whom was the captain of the "Yokobuyé," were shown to have been at a house of entertainment opposite to the spot where the British sailors were murdered up to midnight. This looked suspicious, but I told the Japanese officials that if they did not disbelieve the statements that had been made, neither did I. The Tosa people did not want to make the "Yokobuyé" return, neither did the government officials seem to insist on her recall. As my plan was to throw on the government officials the responsibility of discovering the murderers, I did not urge it, but left it to Flowers, who was associated with me in the inquiry, to do so if he judged it necessary.

In the evening of the 18th I went to see Hirayama, and communicated to him my suspicions regarding a young fellow of forbidding countenance, who was with the captain of the "Yokobuyé" on the night of the murder at the house of entertainment referred to. I suggested that his companion should be sent for, and also the four men stated to have gone to Karatsu (in the north of Hizen, near the boundary of Chikuzen) in the "Nankai," and to have landed there. I advised that the keeper of the house of entertainment should be examined, and asked for copies of all depositions received, especially of the two Tosa men. What had fixed suspicion upon men of that province in particular was their general evil reputation as being predisposed towards assassination. The depositions were sent to us by the governors in the afternoon of the 19th, and on discrepancies being pointed out in those of the two Tosa men, they promised to send for one of them whose further examination appeared to be especially desirable. The translation of the depositions occupied me for the whole of the succeeding day. Then on the 21st I went to see Niiro Giôbu, a Satsumakarô, and asked him to make an inquiry about the murder among his own people. He said this had already been done, and offered to give me a copy of the record. As he said that nothing suspicious had been discovered, I declined his offer with thanks. But I hinted to him the possibility of the exclusion of all two-sworded men from the foreign settlement after dark, unless the murderers were discovered and delivered up by the combined clans, a measure which had been recommended to Flowers and myself by Sir Harry, for if the discovery were made by the government, it would be taken to be a proof ofthe complicity of his clan at least. He did not at all like this suggestion. Then I went to Sasaki Sanshirô, with whom I had travelled from Tosa. He said that the governors had lent a steamer to fetch the captain of the "Yokobuyé" and another man, and complained of Hirayama's supposition that he was lukewarm, seeing that he had given money to all the detectives in the place, and had offered a reward of 4000 pieces of silver (worth £450) for the discovery of the murderer or murderers.

Next to Hirayama, to whom I proposed that he should order the Nagasaki representatives of all the clans to examine their men as strictly as the Tosa agents were doing, for as we had been ten days at work without being able to fix the responsibility on them, it was not unreasonable to admit the possibility of men of some other clan being guilty. I proposed that every two-sworded man should be called upon to give an account of his doings on the night of the murder, and that all the houses of entertainment should show their lists of guests on that date. There was, I said, no real difficulty in discovering the perpetrators. In consequence of all this one of the governors called the next afternoon. We proposed to him that the two-sworded men should be excluded from the settlement after dark, to which he added an amendment that if they had urgent business there in the evening, they should be escorted to and fro. The examination of all the clansmen and of persons who were in a house of entertainment close to the site of the murder was again urged by us. The governor also promised to have guard-houses erected at three points in the foreign settlement.

Two days later the same governor called again, and promised that the precautionary measures we had proposed to him should be taken. Nothing further was done until the 28th, when I attended at the custom house to hear the examination of two Tosa men who had been brought from Kôchi in the government steamer. It led to this result, that the governors declared that they found nothing to incriminate any of the men who had left Nagasaki in the "Yokobuyé" and "Nankai," and considered the Tosa people to be cleared of all suspicion as far as these two vessels were concerned. We rejoined that on the contrary we entertained very strong suspicions, not founded on any ocular testimony, but on circumstantial evidence, namely, that the murder was almost certainly committed by men in white foreign dress a littleafter midnight. That one of the two men with a companion were close to the spot where the murder was committed at the very moment, and that they were dressed in that fashion, and that no one else had been shown to have been in the brothel quarter in similar costume. We afterwards addressed a letter to the governors demanding the arrest of these two men on the above grounds, but we were not sanguine of obtaining their consent, as it was evident that the government officials were unable to exercise any control over the Tosa people.

Very little progress was made after this, as was natural enough, seeing that the Tosa people were entirely innocent of any share in the murders, as was afterwards proved. On October 6 I had an opportunity of conversing amicably with the vice-governor. I said that the Tosa people tried to throw obstacles in the way of discovering the criminals, instead of courting inquiry in accordance with Prince Yôdô's expressed wishes. That the government had lost much ground with foreigners in this affair. Firstly, the possibility of the murder being committed in such a manner showed the incapacity of the government to maintain order, and, secondly, it was not fitting that a body calling itself a government should allowdaimiôsto enjoy such rights of extraterritoriality to the extent that was shown by the recent examinations at the custom-house. The vice-governor replied that he had nothing to do with these matters, to which I rejoined that this was precisely the reason why I had spoken to him about them. We received a refusal to our demand for the arrest of the two Tosa men. A few days later a drunken Englishman was cut about the head and an American wounded slightly in the arm by a Tosa man, who straightway gave himself up to his own authorities, and they reported the affair. Having failed entirely in our attempts to bring the crime home to the Tosa people, Flowers and I agreed that it was useless for me to remain any longer, and accordingly I returned to Yedo, leaving about midnight of the 12th October on board H.M.S. "Coquette," which had been lent by the Admiral to bring me back to Yokohama.

During my stay at Nagasaki we heard a good deal about the discovery and arrest of native Roman Catholic Christians of Urakami, a village near the town. Niiro Giôbu of Satsuma, who came to see me on the 12th October, said that besides the Urakami people, some of the inhabitants of a villageclose by, belonging to thedaimiôof Omura, had been converted, and were now in prison at Nagasaki. According to Japanese law this was a capital offence. The Omura officials had hitherto conformed to the practice of the Nagasaki government with respect to the punishment of criminals, and desired to act accordingly in the present case. It was, however, reported that the governors intended to pardon all those who were willing to abjure, because the number of offenders was so large. This offended the Omura officials, who held that believing in Christianity was a very grave crime; further, that the proposal to let such criminals off on the pretext that they were too numerous to punish was revolutionary and subversive of good government, and they were endeavouring to induce all thedaimiôsof Kiûshiû to join in a representation in that sense to the government at Yedo. This proposal was of course intended as a general manifesto against the Shôgun's government. I replied that he must quite well know that Christianity was not harmful to any country by whose people it was professed, and that even a Protestant government such as that of England would not be pleased to hear of Roman Catholics being persecuted on the ground of their religious belief, but if the only object of the remonstrance was to annoy the Shôgun's government, we should not disapprove of that by itself. On the general subject of Japanese internal politics, he said he did not believe that civil war would break out, or at least he pretended not to, though at the same time he acknowledged its possibility. Hirayama, to whom I said good-bye on the same day, told me that all the Christians of Urakami had been forgiven on their promising "not to do so again," and that they would be permitted to believe what they liked, doubtless on condition of their not professing their religion openly. He thought the Omura officials would also forgive their Christians. This opinion of his was, however, in contradiction to what I had heard from Niiro.

My stay at Nagasaki afforded me useful opportunities of making the acquaintance ofsamuraiof various southern clans. I have already mentioned my introduction to Kido Junichirô.

The 14th I spent almost entirely in the company of Kido and Itô. A few days later Kido called to offer me the use of a steamer to Ozaka, if it suited me to return to Yedo by that route, but I deferred accepting, as my plans were not yetsettled. Eventually arrangements were made for my being conveyed to Yokohama in one of H.M. ships, so that I was able to decline his obliging proposal. When Itô came to say good-bye on September 23, he was accompanied by a young fellow-clansman whom he wished me to take to Yedo, nominally as a pupil. This was Endo Kinsuké, one of the party of five Chôshiû men to which Itô had belonged, who went secretly to England in 1863, as already narrated. He bore the alias of Yamamoto Jinsuké. Itô's pseudonym was Hayashi Uichi, and Inouyé Bunda went by the name of Takada Harutarô. Amongst other interesting information given to me by Itô was that my friend Yamagata Keizô, who was one of the Chôshiû men that had accompanied me to Yokohama in October 1864, had been adopted by Shishido Bizen. It was his father, Yamagata Taiga, who wrote the pamphlet of which the title translated is the equivalent of "The presentdaimiôsare not vassals of the prince,"i.e.of the Shôgun, and not Nagai Uta, to whom it was usually attributed. Itô was a pupil of the well-known patriot Yoshida Torajirô, the author of several books controverting the views of Yamagata and Nagai. He said there were two schools of Chinese philosophy in Japan, namely, of Teishi (Ch'êng-tzu) and Oyômei (Wang Yang-ming), of which the first inculcates the duty of resisting tyrants, the second that of self-reformation. Yamagata belonged to the latter, hence his arguments against any attempt to disturb the existing political arrangements. (But the most widely diffused system in Japan was that of the philosopher Chu Hsi.)

Niiro Giôbu I saw four times. I dined with him once at a Japanese restaurant, when he said that he knew nothing of the engagement of Frenchmen by Iwashita Sajiemon, a Satsuma man who had gone to Paris for the exposition of 1867, and there came under the influence of the Comte de Montblanc. Directly he heard of it he wrote to Iwashita that the engagements must be cancelled, but his letter did not reach Paris in time. I said that of course we could not object to Satsuma employing Frenchmen, but as French views of Japanese domestic politics differed so widely from ours, and it was well understood that ours coincided to a certain extent with those of Satsuma, it was natural to ask whether this engagement implied a change of policy on the part of the Satsuma clan. Niiro replied that such a supposition would be quite natural, but that in fact no such change hadoccurred. Since the time when Osumi no Kami (father of the Prince of Satsuma, and virtual ruler of the clan notwithstanding his formal retirement from public life) had decreed the adoption of English methods, the whole province had become enthusiastic in their favour, and objected very strongly to the proposed introduction of Frenchmen. He was afraid he should have to send them home again. A few days later Niiro dined with Russell Robertson (assistant at the consulate) and myself at Robertson's house, when we engaged a French cook to serve the dinner. On this occasion no political conversation took place, but he told us that Saigô was Osumi no Kami's confidential man, and Komatsu Tatéwaki one of the sevenshussei(administrators) of the Satsuma clan. The prince, whose title was Shiuri no Taiyu, was 29 years of age, and his brother, Shimadzu Dzusho, 28. Altogether there were ten brothers and sisters, besides the three girls of the late prince, Satsuma no Kami. My last talk with Niiro was on October 12, when he gave me information about the native Christians, already recorded.

Last year I had met at Robertson's house a doctor belonging to the Kurumé clan, and he now came with his son to ask permission to bring some of his fellow clansmen to call on me. This they did on the 8th October. Their names were Imae Sakai, said to be connected with the government of the clan; Nagata Chiûhei, who was visiting Nagasaki for the first time in his life; and Tanaka Konoyé. Originally a Kiôto clockmaker, he had developed into a skilled mechanical engineer, and had constructed engines and boilers for a couple of Japanese steamers. After drinking a bottle of champagne together, we sallied forth to a Japanese restaurant, where we had a little feast in the style of the country, and a great deal of political talk. They said their principal reason for objecting to Hiôgo being opened as a port for foreign trade was that the tea consumed at Kurumé came from the provinces to the west of Hiôgo, and they feared it would be diverted to that place for exportation. With regard to internal affairs, I said I did not see how they could be settled without a war of some kind or other, as thedaimiôscould not agree among themselves. A civil war might last twenty or thirty years, and greatly impoverish the country, while it would afford an opportunity to foreign powers to appropriate bits of Japanese territory by aiding one party against the other. But a foreign war, in whichKiôto became the object of attack, would lead to the reconciliation of their internal differences, and when peace came to be made we could conclude treaties with the Mikado, in which the constitutional position of the Tycoon might be defined.

Nagata, who was already drunk, shouted out: "You must not attack Kiôto, but destroy theBaku-fu." This was the term, meaning "military power," by which the adversaries of the Tycoon were in the habit of speaking of his government. It appeared from this utterance that the men of Kurumé shared what was evidently the general feeling in the west of the country. Afterwards we adjourned to another restaurant, where a grand feast was served. More of the Kurumé clan came in, and the room was gradually filled with courtesans and musicians. Most of my friends got very drunk, so after about two hours of this festivity I left, and the party broke up. I also had a dinner with a Tosa man named Yui, who was captain of the "Yugawo."

Another acquaintance I made was that of Hosokawa Riônosuké, younger brother of the Prince of Higo, who came to call on Flowers. He had a fat round face, was about 25 years of age, and intelligent. He tried to pump me about the Tosa affair but failed, and when he proceeded to talk politics I held my tongue, for Higo was supposed not to belong to the Satsuma party. He then invited me to visit him on board his steamer and have a long conversation, but when I went at the appointed hour on the following day he was absent. However, next day two of his men called to apologize for his breaking the engagement, and he also appeared in person to tell me of the desire cherished by the Higo people to invite Sir Harry Keppel, the Admiral in command of the China squadron, to some point off their coast to display naval evolutions; for the clan having ordered an iron-clad man-of-war and two smaller war steamers to be built in England, wanted to learn how they should be manœuvred. He was at great pains to prove that he was on the best of terms with Kido (aliasKatsura), and that the Hosokawa brothers loved the English more than they did any other nation, for all their steamers, besides 16,000 rifles of different patterns, had been bought from us. I replied that their inviting the Admiral to a place off their coast and not to the castle at Kumamoto, was like sending for a troupe of tumblers to perform before one's house, into which one would not care to admit them. If a man were prevented from inviting a guest to his ownhouse, it would be more courteous to go and call on him than to ask him to come half-way, and that Riônosuké at least ought to come to Nagasaki and visit the Admiral first of all. He said he intended going to Shimonoséki with one of the Higokarô(councillor) to arrange an alliance between Higo and Chôshiû.

Endo presented himself on the 12th, but instead of coming straight to me, he sent in his card by my Aidzu retainer Noguchi, who read it and at once discovered who he was. We embarked in the course of the evening, and steamed out of the harbour at eleven p.m. through the inland sea, and without calling anywhere, arrived at Yokohama at midnight on the 16th.

DOWNFALL OF THE SHOGUNATE

Beforeleaving Yedo I had taken a lease of a house known asTaka-yashiki(high mansion) on a bluff overlooking the bay, at a monthly rental of 100ichibus, equal to £6 13s. 4. It was the retired home of a Japanese gentleman of rank, who had abdicated his position in favour of his eldest son, and had bought a piece of ground to build himself a residence after his own taste. Consequently it was one of the oddest houses imaginable, consisting of a number of small rooms of varying sizes, and the garden was laid out in little hills and grass-plots, planted with trees and shrubs. The only flowers were those of the camellia and St John's wort bushes (Hypericum Chinense), for herbaceous borders are almost impossible to manage in Japan, owing to the heavy summer rains, which beat down all plants that have not woody stems. The whole covered about two-thirds of an acre. There was an upper storey, where I had my bedroom and apartments for the entertainment of Japanese guests, and three staircases provided means of escape in case of attack from the midnight murderer. Downstairs was a room for the reception of European visitors, and two waiting rooms for callers, one more for the accommodation of my head man and my own study. This was nine feet square, with a circular window commanding a view of the sea, and a square one at the side overlooking the garden. It was fitted up with numerous small cupboards and shelves for the accommodation of books and papers. It held a writing desk, a small table, a chair for myself and one for my Japanese teacher, and a stool for the Chinese teacher attached to the legation. There were also a large bathroom, a kitchen, and a two-storeyed building beyond where my head man lived, and where the young Japanese to whom I intended to teach English were to be lodged. My food was entirely in the Japanese style, sent in from the well-known house called Mansei, but I continued to drink English beer. The household consisted of my head man (the Aidzusamurai, Noguchi, who has beenalready mentioned), whose function was to superintend everything, pay my bills, arrange for necessary repairs, and receive persons who came on business which did not require a personal interview with myself. Next to him came a small boy of fourteen who waited at table and acted as valet. He was of thesamuraiclass, and so entitled to wear sword and dagger when he went abroad. Then there was a woman of about thirty years of age, whose duty it was to sweep the floors, open the sliding shutters in the morning and close them at night, and sew on my buttons. As there was hardly any furniture, she had very little dusting to do. I was to engage a man to go, not run, on errands, perhaps cook the rice for the whole family, and make himself generally useful. Lastly came a gatekeeper, who had also the duty of sweeping the garden, and a groom or running footman. When I went out walking or on horseback, I was accompanied by a couple of the mounted escort that had been attached to me by the Tycoon's government since my journey overland from Ozaka in the earlier part of the year.

Thus established as a householder after my own liking, able to devote myself to Japanese studies and to live intimately with Japanese and thus become acquainted with their thoughts and views, I was perfectly happy. In my journal I find noted down a dinner on November 6 with Nakamura Matazô at the Sanku-tei near Shimbashi, withgeishaof course to pour out thesakéand entertain us with music and bright conversation, and on the 7th a dinner of broiled eels and rice at the Daikokuya, Reiganbashi, with Yanagawa Shunsan, a teacher at the foreign language school (kaiseijo). The political ferment threw a great deal of work on me in interpreting for Sir Harry in his talks with government people, and in translating official papers from and into Japanese, and these duties often occupied me from nine o'clock in the morning till nine in the evening, with only short intervals for meals.

In the dead of night on November 16 Ishikawa Kawachi no Kami, one of the commissioners for foreign affairs, came to impart to Sir Harry the momentous news that the Tycoon had resigned the direction of government into the hands of the Mikado, and in future would simply be the instrument for carrying out His Majesty's orders. We had heard from other sources that he had abdicated, and that the office of Shôgun would cease to exist. Already on the 14th Ogasawara Ikino Kami had told us confidentially that the programme of the future consisted of a council of the greatdaimiôs, decision by the Tycoon subject to the approval of the Mikado.[4]The actual date of Keiki's resignation was November 8.

[4]For the detailed circumstances of this event I must refer the reader to Chapter V. of my friend Mr. J. H. Gubbins' valuable volume "The Progress of Japan, 1853-1871."

At an interview with Sir Harry two days afterwards, Iki no Kami read out a long paper explaining the causes which had led to the Tycoon's decision to surrender the government into the hands of the Mikado. He went into a long retrospect of affairs from the commencement of the renewed intercourse with foreign nations. The blame was, of course, thrown on the agitators for political change. Keiki, it said, had not resigned the chieftainship of the Tokugawa clan, but had simply abolished the office of Shôgun. The new arrangement would not involve any change in the previous agreements about the opening of the new ports which had been entered into earlier in the year. Two of the Council of State, Nui no Kami and Hiôbu Taiyu, were off to Kiôto.

Katsu Awa no Kami told us that he was afraid that the Tycoon's party would precipitate events, and cause the outbreak of civil war. Kanéko Taisuké, a retainer of Sakai Hida no Kami, told us that thedaimiôswere collecting troops at Ozaka. Satsuma had 5000 men, and Chôshiû and Tosa men, under the command of Môri Nagato, were also encamped there, so that we should find ourselves in a hornets' nest when we went down to superintend the opening of the ports. The Tycoon had ordered 4000 or 5000 men to be despatched thither. The Council of State had informed his chief and Matsudaira Hôki no Kami that in future they might be Tycoon's or Mikado's men as they liked. A secret circular had been sent round among thehatamoto(retainers of the Tokugawa chief holding fiefs assessed at less than 10,000kokuof rice) inciting them against Keiki, by accusing him of having poisoned the previous Shôgun Iyémochi, and calling upon the faithful to assemble at Mukôjima, a suburb of Yedo. Thesampeior drilled troops were clamouring for their pay. Civil war at Kiôto was inevitable.

Truly it seemed as if the end of the old régime had come.

A week later Iki no Kami circulated another paper to be substituted for the first, in which he had vented a little too much abuse of the anti-Tycoon party. Matters had quieteddown very much in the interval. Kanéko also came to us and confessed that there was no foundation for the rumours he had previously reported. Last night there arrived a letter from Gotô Shôjirô, brought by Gotô Kiûjirô, one of the aliases of him whom we afterwards knew so well as Nakai Kôzô, and a companion. They produced a copy of the Tosa memorial of last month, advising the Tycoon to take the step he had since adopted, and proposing various reforms. Of these the most important were the establishment of an assembly composed of two houses, the erection of schools of science and literature in the principal cities, and the negotiation of new treaties with foreign powers. They asked me for detailed information about parliamentary practice, which I did not possess, so I put them off by promising that they should get it from Mitford when we went to Ozaka for the opening of the ports. They were succeeded the following day by a messenger from Yoshii Kôsuké of Satsuma, to report that all was going on well, and that they hoped to be "favoured with a call" as soon as we reached Ozaka. Saigô and Komatsu had gone down to Kagoshima to fetch either Osumi no Kami or Shiuri no Taiyu.

We had now become acquainted with the Satsuma agents in Yedo; therusui(as the principal representative of adaimiôwas called) Shinosaki Hikojirô scoffed at the notion that the Tycoon had given up the reins of government because he thought it would be better for the country at large to be ruled by an assembly; the fact was that he could not help himself. Messages arrived by post from Tosa and Satsuma, the "two or three clans acquainted with the dispositions of foreigners" mentioned in the Mikado's most recent edict respecting foreign affairs. This seemed to indicate a pretty strong desire to gain our support. We now prepared to start for Ozaka. On the 27th November I went down to Yokohama with my little pupil, Tetsu, dressed like a drummer-boy. Mitford and I sailed on the 30th at daylight in H.M.S. "Rattler," Captain Swann. On December 2, as we were steaming up the Kii channel, we encountered a strong northwest breeze, against which the ship could only do two knots, so deficient in boiler-power were the British men-of-war of that period. We anchored off Ozaka in the afternoon, and as no boats put off from the shore, we had to conclude that the bar was impassable. However, we managed to get ashore about noon, and proceeded to call on the governors at theirofficial residence opposite the castle. It is a remarkable proof of Mitford's linguistic powers that he was able to carry on the conversation in Japanese entirely unaided, although he had been in the country no longer than twelve months.

Our mission was to find quarters for the legation, and after consultation with them we went to inspect ayashikibehind the castle, which had been occupied in the spring by Iga no Kami, Keiki's principal minister. We arranged for its repair, and for the construction of a temporary barrack for the mounted escort and a detachment of fifty men of the 9th regiment, who were to arrive as a guard. Everything was to be ready by the 18th if possible. This peaceable and entirely commercial city was full of two-sworded retainers ofdaimiôs. Finding that Saigô had not yet returned from Kagoshima, and that Yoshii was in Kiôto, we wrote to the latter asking him to come down to see us, but he replied that he was too busy, and recommended us to wait until Saigô came back. We visited the site of the intended foreign settlement, where we found bonded warehouses, a custom-house, a guardhouse and a palisade being erected, the object of the latter being to cut off the foreign residents from the city. This proceeding was altogether contrary to treaty stipulations, and we lost no time in lodging a protest with the governors.

On December 7 we called on two of the Council of State and their colleagues of the second council (Inaba Hiôbu Taiyu, Matsudaira Nui no Kami, Nagai Hizen no Kami and Kawakatsu Bingo no Kami), who were on their way to Yedo, and had orders from the Tycoon to stop at Ozaka to see us. They gave us no information worth mentioning, but asserted that he had long ago been intending to take the step of surrendering the government to the Mikado. This of course we did not believe, our view being that he was tired of being badgered by Satsuma, Chôshiû, Tosa and Hizen, and that in order to give unity to his own party, he had resolved to call a general council, which possibly might reinstate him by a majority of votes, and thus establish his authority more strongly than ever.

On December 12, having transacted all our business at Ozaka, we started in palanquins for Hiôgo. Mitford walked as far as Ama-ga-saki, which he reached in 3-3/4 hours, and I in a palanquin took half-an-hour more. By three o'clock in the afternoon, after travelling six hours, we had got only half-way. So we betook ourselves to Shanks' mare. Mitford'sJapanese teacher Nagazawa and our escort had to trot in order to keep pace with us, and we got on board the "Rattler" soon after six. Having dined with Captain Swann, we went ashore again, and took up our quarters for the night at the municipal office (sô-kwai-sho). Next day we called on the newly appointed governor, Shibata Hiuga no Kami, to discuss various business details. He told us that there had been a week of feasting at Kôbé in honour of the anticipated opening of the port, with processions of people dressed in red silk crape, with carts which were supposed to be transporting earth to raise the site of the proposed foreign settlement. Its situation appeared to us entirely satisfactory. Fêtes at Hiôgo itself were also projected. These we took to be marked signs of goodwill on the part of both government and people, and to promise a great extension of friendly intercourse between Japanese and foreigners.

The same day we returned to Ozaka by boat, accompanied by Noel (afterwards Admiral Sir Gerard Noel), first lieutenant of the "Rattler." There we found the whole population occupied with festivities in honour of the approaching opening of the city to foreign trade. Crowds of people in holiday garb, dancing and singing "Ii ja nai ka, ii ja nai ka" (isn't it good), houses decorated with rice-cakes in all colours, oranges, little bags, straw and flowers. The dresses worn were chiefly red crape, a few blue and purple. Many of the dancers carried red lanterns on their heads. The pretext for these rejoicings was a shower of pieces of paper, bearing the names of the two gods of Isé, alleged to have taken place recently.

On the 14th we received a visit from our Satsuma friend Yoshii. He told us that the coalition, which was determined to push matters to the last extremity in order to gain their points, consisted of Satsuma, Tosa, Uwajima, Chôshiû and Geishiû. Higo and Arima were inclined to join, Hizen and Chikuzen indifferent. On the whole, it might safely be said that all the western clans were pretty much of one mind. Osumi no Kami (who suffered a good deal fromkakké, a sort of dropsy of the legs) was too ill to come to Kiôto, and Shiuri no Taiyu was to take his place, arriving in a few days. Saedani Umétarô, a Tosa man whose acquaintance I had made at Nagasaki, had been murdered a few days ago at his lodgings in Kiôto by three men unknown. The Tycoon had about 10,000 troops at Kiôto, Satsuma and Tosa about halfthat number between them, part in Kiôto, part in Ozaka. Otherdaimiôs, such as Geishiû, would also bring up troops. The Chôshiû question would be difficult to settle peacefully, as the Tycoon's party included a large number of men who wished to force on a renewal of the war in order to effect the complete destruction of that clan.

I took occasion to say that the murder of our sailors at Nagasaki was by no means disposed of, and that one of the first demands to be laid by us before the new government would be for the punishment of the murderers; that no money compensation would be accepted, and that the Japanese, if they wished to remain on good terms with foreigners and to avoid a disaster, had better prevent the occurrence of such incidents. Yoshii replied that if internal affairs were not placed on a sound footing on the present occasion, thedaimiôswould wreak their wrath upon foreigners, in order to provoke bad relations between the Tycoon and the treaty powers. I responded that they would not gain their object, as we could no longer hold the Tycoon responsible for the acts of persons over whom he had no real control.

On the 16th I received a visit from two Uwajima men, Sutô Tajima and Saionji Yukiyé, the former a man of high rank in his clan, the other an official whom I had met when I was at Uwajima in the spring of the year. They had come up to Ozaka as precursors of Daté Iyo no Kami, who was expected to arrive early in January. They represented him as greatly pleased with the existing prospect of the establishment of a parliament, regarding which the old prince had talked to me on more than one occasion. I mentioned the Nagasaki affair in similar terms to those I had used to Yoshii, and assured them that the question of reparation was by no means abandoned, but was simply in abeyance for the present, and I explained that we were on as good terms with Tosa as before.

No sooner had they gone than Nakai came in to say that Gotô had arrived the previous evening, but was too busy to call on us. We offered to call on him instead of his coming to us, a proposal which was joyfully accepted, and meeting Gotô in front of the Tosayashiki(agency), we turned in there with him. Our first topic was the murder of our two sailors. We said that though the particular suspicion against Tosa was removed by the discovery that there was no foundation for the report of the "Yokobuyé" and "Nankai" leaving the port together on the night of the murder, the factthat our men had been killed by Japanese still remained, and that we should not rest until redress was afforded, not in the shape of a pecuniary indemnity, which some people appeared to suppose would satisfy the British Government, but by the punishment of the criminals, and that we were content to wait until the establishment of the new constitution gave us an opportunity for presenting our demand with effect. He replied that the recent murder of two of his own subordinates inspired him with sympathy for our feelings, and that both the ex-Prince Yôdô and he himself held that no stone should be left unturned to discover the criminals. I then asked him to take charge of a gun which I wished to present to Yôdô as a small return, though not of any great value or beauty, for his kindness to me. We then discussed the constitution which he proposed for the new government, and particularly the senate he desired to see established. The upshot of the conversation was that he promised to come down from Kiôto to see the chief on his arrival, and to stay a few days at Ozaka in order to learn more from Mitford and myself about the English form of government. All we could do on that occasion was to give him some information about the composition of the Cabinet, and the method of carrying legislation through Parliament.

Gotô said he wanted to employ a foreigner, such as myself for instance, to collect information for him, and with whom he could consult. I replied that I was content to serve my own government, and could not take service under that of any other state, but that if the clan wanted the services of an officer they should apply to the minister for the loan of one.

The idea of takingpayfrom a Japanese, however highly placed, did not suit me, and I was resolved, in case I quitted Her Majesty's service, not to seek another career in Japan.

That evening we, that is, Mitford, Noel and I, devoted to adîner en villein the Japanese fashion at a sort of "Trois frères" called Tokaku, and about half-past six we started forth. It was expected that the streets would be full of merry-makers, and the two men of my escort who were detailed to accompany us wished that the rest of them should be summoned to attend us. But I threw the burden of decision on their shoulders by saying that I thought the two of them would be enough for anything, and no more was heard of that proposition. So we issued into the streets, and dived through all sorts of back lanes to find a shortercut, for my instinct seemed to show the road, but our escort triumphed after all, and they brought us to the place of entertainment by what proved to be a circuitous route.

Some difficulty was experienced in making our way through the crowds of people in flaming red garments dancing and shouting the refrainii ja nai ka. They were so much taken up with their dancing and lantern-carrying that we passed along almost unnoticed, but I was half afraid the escort (betté) would provoke a quarrel by the violent manner in which they thrust people aside in order to make way for us; on the contrary, the crowd did not offer any rudeness to us, and let us pass without hindrance. On reaching Tokaku we found the principal rooms occupied by festival makers and the rest of the house shut up. Our messenger had been just that instant turned away with a refusal to receive us. While we stood there trying to persuade the people of the house to give us a room, a herd of young men and boys trooped in, shouting and dancing, and tossing about in their midst a palanquin occupied by a fat doll clad in the most gorgeous robes. All the feasters in the house came out to meet them, one cannot say at the doors, for in Japan there are no doors, but on the thresholds in which the sliding screens run that divide the different parts of a house. After a violent united dance executed by all present, the troop disappeared again. The number of pretty girls who appeared as dancers was much larger than previous experience had led us to suppose Ozaka could possibly contain. We could not prevail on the Tokaku people to take us in, but they gave us a guide to a house about "five minutes" walk distant. There we found the doors locked, the explanation being that all the inmates had gone to the dance. We began to despair of success, and contemplate the possibility of having to return to our quarters and sup on whatever cold food "the philosopher" (Mitford's Chinese servant Lin-fu) could give us. Luckily however the guide, a little man on sturdy legs, said he knew of a house called Shô-ô-tei (Hall of the Old Man of the Pine Tree), where we might as well call, since it lay on our road home. So we went there, and after waiting a few minutes were shown into a very good room, where we had our meal, waited on by the women of the house, who carried on the conversation and passed the wine cup, offices usually discharged on such occasions bygeishas. The entire absence of fear or dislike on the part of the Ozaka women was very remarkable when comparedwith the cold and often hostile reception we were accustomed to meet with in Yedo. Curiosity apparently triumphed over every other feeling; and besides, the attendants mostly had their teeth dyed black, a sign of mature age, instead of wearing them as they are naturally, and probably felt immune from attempts at flirtation. We got home early, very pleased with our adventure.

Noel returned next day to his ship, and we moved over from our lodgings in Tera-machi to the quarters prepared for the whole legation behind the castle. The main building was large enough to accommodate the minister and three or four members of what he delighted to call "the staff," a military term picked up during his campaigns in China. The outbuildings were given up to Mitford, the officers of the detachment from the 2/ix regiment shared a second, guests were to be put up in a third, the mounted escort in a fourth, and the fifth I reserved for myself; a temporary shed was provided for the infantry guard.

After settling in, we went to call on Saigô, with whom we found Iwashita Sajiémon, just back from Europe, accompanied by his friend the Comte de Montblanc. The conversation turned on the murder of the two bluejackets of H.M.S. "Icarus." Saigô paid me the compliment of saying that I gave little hits, but hard ones. Opinion seemed to be divided as to the probability of more such murders being committed. I used to find that men who desired the progress of Japan, and were actuated by friendly feeling towards its people, maintained that the attacks on foreigners would cease, but that unprejudiced observers did not give one much encouragement to leave off the practice of carrying revolvers. We gave them clearly to understand that the "Icarus" affair could not be disposed of by the payment of a sum of money by way of "indemnity." They were anxious to disprove the possibility of there having been a plot on the part of Tosa and Satsuma men to murder Mitford and myself when we passed through Fushimi in the previous August. (Fortunately we changed our route for other reasons.) But I had no doubt myself of the fact. Noguchi had told me when we reached Ozaka that he had overheard some men, whom he believed to be Tosasamurai, expressing their regret at having failed to carry out their project, and when I told Gotô at Susaki that I had heard this story, he replied that being in Kiôto at the time he too had heard such a report, and took measures toprevent the scheme, if there were one, from being carried out. Saigô tried to show that it could not have been true, and asserted that Gotô was not then in Kiôto. We assured him that we did not think it probable that men of either Satsuma or Tosa would desire to take the lives of foreigners, but that the clans contained ruffians who sometimes took such ideas into their heads quite independently of their chiefs.

Ishikawa Kawachi no Kami, a commissioner of foreign affairs, came to see us on the 18th. He told us that no date had been fixed for the assembling of thedaimiôs, and no one of them could be blamed if he arrived at Kiôto later than the others. Even supposing that the few who were already there, or were about to arrive, should discuss matters and come to a decision, how could they enforce it? Objections would surely be raised. We came to the conclusion from this conversation that civil war was after all not unlikely to break out, and that the omission to fix a date for the assembly was part of the Tycoon's plan for embarrassing his opponents.

Letters which arrived overland from Yedo on the 20th reported the general impression to be that there was no more a Tycoon, and that Keiki was nobody. So much did distance and report by word of mouth change the look of the situation. Itô Shunsuké's opinion was that war would begin almost immediately, with the object of depriving the Tycoon of a part of his domains, which were far too large for the peace of the country. He had only seven battalions of infantry in Kiôto, all reinforcements having been countermanded in the belief that no cause for war existed. Of course Hiôgo and Ozaka would not be the most peaceful places of residence for foreigners if war did break out, and our Legation, situated just at the back of the Ozaka castle, would be endangered, as that fortress was certain to be the centre of a severe conflict in arms. He wanted to know whether Sir Harry's arrival and the opening of Hiôgo and Ozaka to foreign trade could not be deferred, and whether Saigô had written to the chief to make this proposal. I said "No, of course" (though I did not know). Then, said he, their object must be to open these two places, and so content foreigners, while the Japanese went on with their plans for the reformation of the government. Some one however must be appointed to represent Japan at Ozaka and Hiôgo. I suggested the present governors, but he replied that they would immediately be expelled when the crisis arrived. I rejoinedthat as long as the insurgent forces did not attack the residences of foreigners, they might do as they liked with the Tycoon, but that if they interfered with us they would have a couple of English regiments and all the foreign men-of-war to fight against, as well as the Tokugawa troops. Itô did not think they would wish to do this, and promised to let me know beforehand when the actual day for taking action became imminent. A body of Chôshiû men was coming up under the command of Môri Heirokurô and Fukumoto Shima, Katsura (i.e.Kido) and Kikkawa Kemmotsu being obliged to remain at home to carry on the administration of the province.

Sir Harry arrived on December 24, took a look at the legation quarters, and then went back to the ship that had brought him down. There was a fine confusion all day. I received a letter from Shinosaki Yatarô comparing the present condition of the country to an eggshell held in the hand, and begging me to persuade Komatsu and Saigô to keep the peace. On Christmas Day Kasuya Chikugo no Kami, a commissioner of foreign affairs, called. He said that thedaimiôsof Hikoné, Bizen and Geishiû, all three men of importance, were in Kiôto, and he appeared to be doubtful what was going to happen. My old friend Hayashi Kenzô, who had made the cruise in H.M.S. "Argus" with me in January, called on the 28th, and reported that 1500 Chôshiû men had disembarked at Nishinomiya on the 23rd, under the command of Môri Takumi. He also seemed uncertain whether there would be any fighting, but he thought that Saigô and Gotô were trying to keep the peace. My protégé Endo naturally went off to Nishinomiya to see his clansmen, and doubtless to report what he had learned in Yedo to Môri Takumi. The latter had the reputation of being a man of capacity, which was perhaps the reason why he had retired into a private position (in-kio) early in life. On the 29th Iga no Kami came to see the chief, accompanied by Nagai Gemba no Kami, who had the credit of being almost the only adviser of the Tycoon at the moment, though of course Iga no Kami was admitted into their secrets. All the governors of Ozaka and Hiôgo were present, and the only subjects of discussion related to the arrangement for opening these places to trade on January 1. "All the governors" is the phrase, because the practice in those days was to duplicate nearly every administrative office.

Next day the two great men came again, and the Nagasakimurders were the topic of conversation. It appeared unlikely that we should obtain any satisfaction. It was however agreed that old Hirayama should again go to Nagasaki, in spite of Gemba's efforts to get him let off this disagreeable errand. The Foreign Office had written approving Sir Harry's action, and he seemed inclined to keep this question hanging over the Tycoon's government as a perpetual nightmare. He told them in the strongest language that we would never desist from pressing the matter until the murderers were seized and punished. Our callers asked a great number of questions about the English constitution, just as Gotô had done, so that it appeared as if both parties were desirous of getting our advice. Then Sir Harry told them that unless they got all troops away from Ozaka, where they might come into collision with foreigners, he would send for a couple of regiments. I could not help feeling that it was unfair of him to meddle in this way in Japanese domestic affairs and thus add to the Tycoon's embarrassments, for as thedaimiôs' forces had taken Ozaka merely as a stage towards advancing on Kiôto, where else could they go except to the capital? Following on this move, he sent me the following day to Koba Dennai, the Satsuma agent, to explain why he wished their troops to be removed. Koba replied that there were only two hundred and fifty, but doubtless they could be sent elsewhere, and he would write to Saigô on this point. From there I went on to see a Chôshiû man named Nagamatsu Bunsuké, who had come over from Nishinomiya, and was stopping with the Geishiû people. A proclamation was out announcing that the Chôshiû forces, having been ordered to come up to the neighbourhood of the capital, were allowed to borrow the use of the Geishiûyashiki, and to be quartered also at the Nishi Hongwanji temple. Nevertheless, they had no wish to come to Ozaka, and thought it a great piece of luck that the English Minister had proposed to the Tycoon's people what they themselves happened to desire most particularly. I found it impossible to get any explanation from Nagamatsu of the real reason for their coming.

Iga no Kami had told us that by a messenger who left Geishiû on the 15th, instructions were sent ordering them not to come, but he went by sea, thus missing a Chôshiû messenger who arrived there by land to report that they were starting in compliance with the orders previously given. (This was evidently a mere fiction.) He also said that on the20th three Chôshiû steamers full of troops put in at Mitarai in Geishiû, and asked for Geishiû officers to accompany them. This request was refused, and they were advised to return home, which they declined to do, alleging their prince's orders; without a recall from him they were unable to go back to Chôshiû. This was the Geishiû story, which it was impossible to believe. I felt certain that it had been concocted between the two clans, and was simply in accordance with the general plan of campaign. That the Tycoon should have sent orders to countermand the movements of Chôshiû troops was pretty clear proof that when the original instructions were given (if they really were given), the present change of policy on the part of the government was not contemplated—as Iki no Kami had pretended to us—but in reality had recently been forced on them by the confederate daimiôs. It had been intended by the chief that I should go down to Nishinomiya to ascertain how the land lay, but having learnt all that the Chôshiû man was willing to tell me, I was relieved from the necessity of undertaking a toilsome journey.

That day, the last of the year 1867, despatches arrived from the Foreign Office sanctioning my appointment as Japanese Secretary, with a salary of £700 a year, in succession to Eusden, transferred to Hakodaté as consul.

OUTBREAK OF CIVIL WAR (1868)

OnNew Year's Day salutes were fired at Tempôzan, the fort at the mouth of the Ozaka river, and at Hiôgo, in honour of the opening of the city and the port to foreign trade. Many Japanese had been under the impression that it had been deferred, owing to the notification about the west coast port,i.e.Niigata, which they took to mean Hiôgo because of its situation west of Kiôto. I conceived a plan for taking the chief up to Kiôto to mediate between the contending parties, and to prevent the Japanese from cutting each other's throats, and I proposed to go ahead of him to Fushimi in order to make the necessary arrangements with Saigô and Gotô. But this ambitious scheme was frustrated by the rapidity with which events developed at Kiôto.

Rumour was very busy during the next few days. First, we heard that the two princes of Chôshiû had been reinstated in their titles. The Tosain-kio(Yôdô) landed on the afternoon of January 1, and went up to Kiôto at once without stopping at Ozaka. It was said that the Tycoon's position was weak, for he had no support except from Aidzu and one or two of the smaller clans. Chôshiû's people had taken military possession of Nishinomiya, and were patrolling the surrounding country, as if afraid of being attacked. My man Noguchi told us that the Chôshiû troops had left Nishinomiya, and marched ten miles to Koya on the road to Kiôto. All the Aidzu men at Ozaka had gone up to Kiôto. The prince was dissatisfied with the Tycoon's leniency in the Chôshiû business, and intended to resign his office of guardian of the Mikado's person (Shugo-shoku). On the 4th January there were symptoms of a great disturbance at Kiôto. The ministers of the other Treaty Powers came to visit the chief and impart their views of what had passed. For the most part these were of very slight value, for they were very much in the dark as to the internal condition of Japan. Von Brandt, the Chargé d'Affaires of the North German Confederation,was so little acquainted with the geography of the country as to confound Geishiû and Kishiû. Endo, who had come back from Nishinomiya, told me that Môri Takumi was already at Kiôto with part of the Chôshiû force, and that another part had occupied Fushimi in conjunction with Satsuma troops. But more significant than anything else was the fact that Satsuma, Geishiû and Tosa were guarding the imperial palace in the place of Aidzu. There was some talk of the Tycoon intending to come down to Ozaka, and boats were said to have been embargoed at Yodo to convey his drilled soldiers down the river. That the object of thedaimiôswas not to fight the Tycoon, but only to extort concessions from him. They proposed to deprive him of a millionkokuof lands as a punishment for the transgressions of the Tokugawa family. It was certain, Endo said, that the Chôshiû question was settled, and that the guards of the palace had been changed. Noguchi's story was that Aidzu, disgusted with the Tycoon, sent in his written resignation, but that it was intercepted by Kuwana. The Tycoon however had heard of Aidzu's intention, of which he informed Iga no Kami directly after the return of the latter from Ozaka, and sent him his dismissal. Then the three clans above-mentioned seized the environs of the palace. Thedaimiôsthereupon proceeded to the palace to discuss the situation, but the Tycoon refused to attend. He would neither fight nor take any decided action; his sole aim was to arrange matters peaceably. Noguchi evidently was reflecting the war-like disposition of his clan. Ishikawa Kawachi no Kami gave a somewhat different account, but it was clear that up to that moment there had been no disturbance of the peace. TheKwambakuNijô, a nephew of the Tycoon Iyénari, who died in 1841 aged 52, was said to have been dismissed, and either Konoyé or Kujô appointed in his place. Chôshiû's troops had entered Kiôto on January 2.

Ozaka was not perturbed by the events that had passed at the capital, and on the 5th I was able to give an entertainment to my Japanese escort at a restaurant in the city. We had two charminggeishasto attend on the party, one looking as if she had just stepped out of a picture, the classical contour of the face, arched nose, small full underlip, narrow eyes, and a good-hearted expression of countenance. The other personally more attractive according to western notionsof beauty, but with a little of the devil in her eyes. Lastly, there was an oldgeikoor musician of six or eight and twenty, a clever woman. The streets were still illuminated at night for the festival, and crowded with dancers.

On the 6th the mystery was cleared up by Ishikawa, who came to tell me that on the 3rd Satsuma had proposed to abolish not only the Tycoon, but also theKwambaku,TensôandGisô, the three offices intermediary between the Mikado and the Tycoon. The new administration would consist ofSôsai, which sounded like secretaries of state;Gijô, which he thought meant a cabinet; and thirdlySanyo, resembling our under-secretaries of state. This looked rather like what we had suggested to Gotô as the framework of the future executive.[5]He said that this proposal had met with great opposition from others besides thefudai daimiôs, who were afraid that the extremists might go further and abolish the Mikado. I endeavoured to reassure him on this point. "It is not," he continued, "a proposal which can be discussed over the table, and fighting must decide." It seemed from his account that the Tycoon personally did not object, but his followers objected for him, while he seemed willing to make every possible sacrifice in order to secure peace.

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