CAPTURE OF WAKAMATSU AND ENTRY OF THE MIKADO INTO YEDO
November6th was celebrated with much pomp and ceremony as being the Mikado's birthday. A review of the 2/x regiment was held at Yokohama to which Sir Harry invited Sanjô, now promoted to the rank of Udaijin. The foreign men-of-war joined with the Kanagawa fort in firing a royal salute, which the party viewed from my upstairs verandah overlooking the bay. Besides Sanjô we had Nagaoka Riônosuké, Higashi-Kuzé and Madé-no-kôji. A luncheon at the minister's residence followed, and the swords of honour sent out from England for presentation to Gotô and Nakai in recognition of their gallant conduct on the 23rd of March were handed over. Nakai at once girt his on, and strutted about with a gold-laced cap on his head, to his own great delight and the intense amusement of the rest of the company. As it happened to be the second day of the Yokohama races it was proposed that the whole party should adjourn to the race-course. Sanjô and Higashi-Kuzé, who had on whitemaedaréand black-lacquered paper caps, declined. I rode down with Madé-no-kôji and Nagaoka, who enjoyed themselves immensely. On returning home I took Nakai in with me and gave him tea; in exchange for this he informed me that news had been received of the capture of the outer castle of Wakamatsu, and that only the inner ring and citadel remained in possession of the defenders; also that the Mikado would arrive at Yedo about November 27.
Next day I went up to Yedo on board a Japanese steamer belonging to the Yokosuka arsenal with Sanjô, Higashi-Kuzé, Nagaoka and Nakai. By a mistake of Nakai's about the hour of leaving I kept the party waiting for me at the custom house and a mounted messenger had to be sent to fetch me. I hurried down and found them sitting quietly smoking. They protested against my apologising. How different from some Europeans!
On the 8th Mitford and I went to call on Katsu. His wife had gone off to Sumpu, but he remained to do the "head muck-and-bottle-washing" (miso-zuri) of the clan. He hoped to obtain the Shimidzu lands, amounting to 110,000koku, for feeding the retainers who had lost their lands and pay. Instead of the lands promised in Oshiû, part of Mikawa and the whole of Enshiû had been conceded, but thedaimiôshitherto entitled had not yet given up possession. Keiki had preceded Kaménosuké to Sumpu. Katsu also had a story that Brunet, one of the French military instructors, went off in the Kayô-maru, when the Tokugawa naval squadron left the Yedo anchorage on the night of October 4. We doubted this, as we knew that he had just received promotion in the French army. Nevertheless it turned out to be a fact. He was accompanied by another officer named Caseneuve, and several other Frenchmen.
We also visited Nakai, who gave us a first-rate dinner from the hotel. He said that the citadel of Wakamatsu was captured on October 29. He had also received a letter from Kido placing the question of the Mikado's coming to Yedo beyond a doubt. And as we returned to my house we found that great preparations were already being made in anticipation of His Majesty's arrival, roads being re-made, bridges rebuilt, and ward-gates being constructed in side streets where they had never existed before.
One of mybettéSano Ikunosuké called to present his thanks for having been selected by the court to remain one of the Yedo guard for foreigners; all my sixteen men had been engaged for this service. He said that the Shimidzu domain had been granted provisionally to the Tokugawa family for the purpose mentioned by Katsu. To-day (November 9) was the last day on which men of the Tokugawa clan could send in their names for service under the Mikado. In some cases they would receive about half their former revenue, but others would be better off than before, because their allowances, though nominally diminished, would be issued in rice instead of in money at a low fixed rate. That evening Mitford and I dined with Nagaoka at the Higoyashikiin Shirokané, close by our legation, Higashi-Kuzé and Nakai being the other guests. It was a dinner in European style served from the hotel in a picturesque two-storeyed house, built in the garden so as to command a view over thenagayain the direction of the bay. In the garden there were somesplendid trees and pretty shaded nooks. Hosokawa himself was there, very fat and amiable, very small eyes and a tendency to "fly catching." On the 10th I went back to Yokohama.
At an interview on November 16 between all the Foreign Representatives, Higashi-Kuzé and Térashima, the Japanese ministers stated that the castle of Wakamatsu had surrendered on the 6th November to the imperial forces. The two princes, father and son, in robes of ceremony and preceded by a retainer carrying a large banner inscribed with the word "surrender" (kô-fuku), and followed by the garrison, likewise in robes of ceremony and with their heads shaven, came to the camp of the besiegers and gave themselves up. The castle and all the arms it contained were handed over, and the two princes retired into strict seclusion (kin-shin) at a Buddhist monastery in the town. Nakamura Hanjirô, the chief of the staff (gun-kan) wept when he went to take delivery of the castle and its contents. It was a pleasure to us to see how the countenances of some of those who had to listen to the story fell, for they had counted on a desperate resistance on the part of Aidzu to defeat the imperialist party and frustrate the policy of the British Legation. Now that this exciting episode was at an end, the speedy submission of the other northern clans could be counted on with confidence. The detailed report made by the Hizen clan, dated November 16, published in the "Kiôto Gazette," shows that the garrison includedsamuraisoldiers 764, troops of a lower class 1609, wounded 570, outlaws from other territories (rônin) 462; women and children 639, officials 199, civilians 646, personal attendants of the princes 42, and porters 42. There was no record of the number of men killed in the defence. On November 19 I went to Yedo with Captain Stanhope, Charles Wirgman the artist, and Dr. Siddall, after breakfasting with Du Petit Thouars on board the "Dupleix." Adams and William Marshall went up by road. On our arrival possession was at once taken of Siddall, by a Japanese doctor named Takéda Shingen, and he was carried off to the military hospital established at the Tôdôyashikiin the Shitaya quarter. On the 21st Adams, Mitford, Marshall and Wirgman went to the Yoshiwara and had a feast in fine style at the Kimpeirô, part of which was furnished in western style for such Japanese guests as liked it. The admission of Europeans into that quarter of the town, from which they haduntil then been jealously shut out, was hailed as the dawn of a day of friendly intercourse of the frankest character. Next evening I gave a great entertainment at my own house. There were threegeishafrom Shimmei-mae and twotaikomochi(jesters). We kept it up boisterously till midnight. The jesters performed a foreigner and his escort arriving at the Kawasaki ferry on the way to Yedo, and meeting with the usual obstruction at the hands of the men placed there to guard the crossing. My escort men also exhibited some comic scenes, much to their own satisfaction and to the delight of the household, who were admitted to a room at the top of the stairs. Letters arrived from the chief to say that he wanted a stand erected for himself opposite to the gate of our former legation buildings, in front of Sengakuji, for him to see the Mikado pass in (he was expected to reach Yedo on the 27th), and that Higashi-Kuzé and I must go down to Yokohama on the 24th to see himself. We wrote in reply to say that a stand was altogether an impossibility, seeing what Japanese etiquette was in such matters, and that I could not leave Siddall alone in Yedo without some one to interpret for him. So next day Wirgman and I went over to see Siddall, and found that the Tôdôyashikihad now been turned into a general hospital. Here we fell in with old Ishigami, the Satsuma doctor who married a daughter of old Freiherr von Siebold by a Japanese mother, a very cheery person. After lunch we went with him and a crowd of other Japanese doctors to Uyéno, intending to get in and examine the scene of the fighting that took place on July 4, but the gate was shut in our face, and though we waited and argued patiently for a whole hour with the sentries, we could not convince them that we might safely be admitted. I think our Japanese companions felt even more annoyance than we did. The gateway was riddled with bullets, and it was evident that a pretty stiff fight had taken place there in July.
We stayed the night at the hospital, and spent a jolly evening with Ishigami and another doctor named Yamashita. Next morning, in spite of the bitter cold, we went round the wards with the doctors. All the state apartments of thedaimiô'smansion (go-ten) had been converted into wards, and provided with iron bedsteads and hair mattresses. There was a very plucky little Tosa boy, probably a drummer, who had had his foot amputated. Then our attention was attracted to an aristocratic-looking little surgeon fromChôshiû, with his sleeves turned up like ruffles over a pair of delicate little wrists. At noon there came the two brothers Notsu, Shichizayemon and Shichiji, who persuaded Wirgman and myself to go to the Yoshiwara with them, instead of keeping an engagement with Nakai. Siddall compoundedmistura vini gallici, and after partaking of this we started on a journey of exploration. It was a terribly cold day, with a gale from the north-west coming straight down the plain from the snowy peak of Asama-yama and other mountains of Shinshiû. The Yoshiwara lay right out in the middle of the rice-fields, occupying a considerable extent of ground. It was entered through a narrow gate at the end of a long causeway. After passing this gate, we were introduced into the upstairs rooms of a rather shabby house, evidently much frequented by the Satsuma clan.Geishaswere of course sent for, and thesaké-cup circulated merrily. Towards nightfall it was proposed that we should visit the Kimpeirô, a hideous house furnished in what was regarded as European style; but we stayed there only a few minutes, and then returned to the house where we had first been entertained. Here we had more drinking, dancing and playing atnanko. In this game a wooden chopstick is broken up into six pieces, of which each player receives three. He puts in one palm as many as he thinks fit, and guesses at the total of what his hand and the hand of the other player contain. If he guesses right, the loser has to drink, and his turn comes to give the challenge. Evidently this is the way to get speedily drunk. We stopped there till a message came from Ishigami to say that he was awaiting us at another house to drink sober again. We went in search of him to a restaurant on the river bank, theYu-mei-rô, where much singing, dancing, drinking andnankofollowed, till we had had enough of it, and came home by boat to the hospital, accompanied by three of thegeishas. Next afternoon the artist and I said good-bye to Siddall, and walked over to Nakai's, but not finding him at home, we went to the hotel for refreshment, where we sat down in the garden and found ourselves overwhelmed with melancholy at the ugliness of the building. For five cups of tea and a bundle of Manila cheroots the manager charged us a dollar, to the surprise and horror of the Japanese boy who waited on us. To him it appeared an exorbitant demand. The cheroots were perhaps worth 20 cents, which left 16 cents for a cup of tea. On getting home to Takanawa we found thatRickerby, the proprietor and editor of the "Japan Times," had just arrived in a boat from Yokohama to witness the ceremony of the following day.
November 26, 1868. About ten o'clock in the morning the Mikado passed into Yedo, having slept at Shinagawa. Mitford, the artist, Rickerby and I saw the procession from the open space recently created in front of the new gate of what had previously been Sir Harry Parkes' diplomatic residence, now transformed into a sort of foreign office. The display could not be described as splendid, for the effect of what was oriental in the courtiers' costumes was marred by the horribly untidy soldiers with unkempt hair and clothing vilely imitated from the west. The Mikado's black-lacquered palanquin (hôren) was to us a curious novelty. As it passed along the silence which fell upon the crowd was very striking. Old Daté, who rode between it and the closed chair in which the Mikado was really seated, nodded to us in a friendly manner. Rickerby wrote and published an excellent newspaper account of the whole show a few days afterwards in the "Japan Times." In the afternoon he and I walked to Kai-an-ji, a Buddhist religious house at Shinagawa, celebrated for its very pretty plantations of maple. From there we proceeded to a house of entertainment, the Kawasaki-ya, close by, to drinksakéand crack jokes with the girls about the Prince of Bizen, who had passed the night there. The house was full of troops from the west, but they scarcely took any notice of us, and in fact all those we met on the road ignored us completely. It must be said that whenever I went out into the streets of Yedo I was always accompanied by my AidzusamuraiNoguchi and from four to six of my personal escort of thebetté-gumi.
On the 28th Sir Harry and Dr. Alford the Bishop of Victoria, Hongkong, came up to Yedo, and were entertained in European style at the new foreign office by Daté and Higashi-Kuzé. Machida and Môri, young Satsuma men, were also of the party. Both had been in England and spoke English, the latter, who was only about one-and-twenty, particularly well.
Next day Mitford and I went to call on Nakai. We met there Machida, and Yamaguchi Hanzô, a Hizensamurai, who brought with him a man who had just returned from Shônai. He reported that Shônai had submitted on the 4thinstant, and that two foreigners, one an American, the other an Englishman, both from Hakodaté, were present as spectators. Nakai, who was a member of the local government of the city, now called the Tô-kei-fu instead of Yedo, had given in his resignation because he found that the governor-general instead of placing confidence in himself and the other officials, was in the habit of upsetting their arrangements on the complaint of a few wretched tradespeople.
Wirgman and I went down to Yokohama on the 30th, walking as far as Namamugi-mura (where Richardson was murdered in 1862), whence we took boat across to the foreign settlement. At Kawasaki-ya in Shinagawa we fell in with Notsu Shichizayémon and Ijiû-in, with two Kurohané men and one from Utsunomiya, companions on the occasion of our visit to the Yoshiwara, of whom the Satsuma men were on their way home. There was a large consumption ofsakéand Japanese dishes, and much Doric Japanese spoken. Further on, at Mmé-yashiki or Bai-rin, as it had now become the fashion to call this very pleasant half-way house between Yedo and the ferry at Kawasaki, we found Oyama, who was like the others returning to Kagoshima as the civil war was practically at an end. We drank many parting cups together, and then walked with him to his hotel at Kawasaki. The road was full of homeward bound Satsuma men and Tokugawa people going to Sumpu. A report had got about that difficulties had arisen between Satsuma and Higo, and that the latter in conjunction with Arima and Chikuzen were going to fall upon the great clan; that in consequence of this the troops were rushing off as fast as possible to forestal the attack. Another rumour, much credited by the French Legation, was that Aidzu surrendered only on condition that the Satsuma troops should be withdrawn from the east and north of the country, and the Mikado come to Yedo. But as others besides the Satsuma fighting men were also going home, these stories were easily discredited. On December 3 I went back to Yedo, half-way in akago(common palanquin) from Kanagawa, and on foot from Kawasaki. At Bai-rin I met Midzuno Chinami, hurrying back from Shimoda where he had been put ashore from H.M.S. "Manila." Here was the late governor of Yokohama, who last year used to ride in a state palanquin (nagabô), with a large cortége and preceded by running footmen cryingshitaniro, "down on your knees," now travelling in a wretched cheap hackneykago, without asingle retainer. For all that he seemed cheerful enough. A good deal of my time in those days was passed in the compilation of an English-Japanese dictionary of the spoken language and in reading Japanese novels. On the 4th I went over to the hospital, where I found Siddall with his hands full, wounded men from Echigo having begun to arrive. Willis had gone on from Echigo to Wakamatsu to look after the Aidzu wounded, of whom there were nearly 600 in the castle when it was surrendered. My new pony "Fushimi," a present from Katsu before he left Yedo, carried me splendidly; the imperialists who crowded the streets appeared to admire with envy a black chimney-pot hat which I was wearing. On the 5th I went there again to pass the night, with Ishigami and Yamashita. They complained bitterly of one Mayéda Kiôsai, who had been appointed chief of the hospital, and said that the patients had threatened to cut his head off because he spent his time in driving about the city in a carriage and pair instead of attending to his duties. The reflection came naturally that you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, or give the standing of an European physician to a Japanese half-educated apothecary.
On December 9 I went to the hotel to dine with Machida. The indispensable Nakai was there, also Okubo and Yoshii. The latter had left Wakamatsu on December 1st. Willis was there looking after the wounded, of whom he said there were at least two thousand on the Aidzu side alone. Snow was lying deep both in Echigo and Aidzu. Shônai was pacified, and the whole country might now be said to be at peace, a state of things which of course was displeasing to anti-imperialists, whether among diplomatists or merchants. Information had arrived that the murderers of the two sailors of H.M.S. "Icarus" in August 1867 had been discovered; they were from Chikuzen and the party to which they belonged was said to number nine in all. This of course would be welcome news to the Tosa people. It was strange that retainers of Chikuzen, who entertained Admiral King so hospitably in January should have been guilty of such a wanton crime. The newly issued paper money, known askinsatsu, was much discussed, and it was evidently creating a great ferment among the people. Uchida, the mayor (nanushi) of Kanasugi, who had been to see me a few days earlier, said that a refusal to receive these notes in the payment of taxes was the only obstacle to their free circulation.Nakai denied the correctness of the statement that taxes might not be paid with them, but he thought that in the end it would be found necessary to establish a proper banking system by giving authority to the great firm of Mitsui to issue notes against a reserve of coin or bullion. It was a matter of vital importance to the imperial government, which had not found any money in the Tokugawa treasury, and the Mikado had always been kept very poorly supplied by the Shôgun's ministers.
ENOMOTO WITH THE RUNAWAY TOKUGAWA SHIPS SEIZES YEZO
OnDecember 11 Machida came to me with a report from Hakodaté that the Tokugawa pirates, as they were styled after their refusal to surrender and their exodus from Yedo Bay on October 4, had landed at that port from the Kaiyô-maru and her consorts. The rebels were led by a member of the French military mission sent out in 1866 who had gone off with them when they left the bay, and it was very annoying for the French Legation that this officer should have violated the neutrality proclaimed by the Minister, and have joined rebels against the authority of a sovereign with whom France maintained friendly relations. A fight had ensued near Hakodaté, in which a large number of imperialists were killed or wounded. The Yokohama foreign press however represented that the Mikado's men had won the victory at a place about 15 miles from the port. According to despatches received from the consul the rebels had had by far the best of it. The foreign residents were in a great state of alarm. The consul wrote thus: "As the enemy approach we shall retire towards the hill; if he comes nearer, we shall go up the hill, and should it come to the last extremity we shall have no resource but to put our trust in an over-ruling Power." Nakai came on the 13th to talk about the new paper money, and the difficulties with foreigners to which it would give rise. Tom Glover's opinion was quoted in favour of a paper circulation, but he did not himself agree that a merchant, who was naturally an interested party, should be regarded as an authority on currency. This paper money had been issued to the troops, who forced the shop-keepers and the hucksters on the high roads to accept it in payment. But this could not go on long, for the paper did not pass current amongst the civilian population. We spoke about the state of foreign relations. He admitted that the old distrust of foreigners still existed; the foreign representatives were regarded as a necessary evil,to be endured, but not to be embraced. Nothing pleased the Mikado's government so much as to see the diplomatists living at Yokohama, and the idea of asking their advice upon any matter was never entertained for a moment. In fact the representatives were looked upon much in the same light as the agents (rusui) of thedaimiôs,i.e.persons sent to Japan by their respective governments to receive the Mikado's orders, whenever occasion might arise. The representatives were themselves partly to blame for this state of things. Fine houses, comfortable living and whole skins at Yokohama were doubtless preferable to makeshifts and dangers at Yedo, but for all they knew or could learn of pending international questions they might just as well be resident at Hongkong.
Another day was spent with the mayor of Kanasugi and three or four retainers at the classical theatre Kongo-daiyu in Iigura chô, to seeNôandKiôgen. Minami Torajirô was also among the audience. This was a young Aidzusamurai, who had come in the previous April to see me, with his countryman Hirozawa, when I had a great argument with the latter about Japanese politics and especially about the part our Legation had taken. It was the first time a foreigner had been present at this kind of theatrical performance.Nôis a sort of tragedy or historical play,Kiôgenis low comedy. There is no scenery and the costumes are all in an ancient style. The stage is about 24 feet square, and a long passage on the left connects it with the greenroom from which the actors make their appearance. There are 200Nô, and printed books of the text, known asutai, could be bought for a trifling cost. They are delivered in slow recitative to the accompaniment of the music, or rather dissonance, of the fife and small drum. The orchestra, likewise dressed in antique fashion, were seated on campstools at the back of the stage. TheKiôgen, which pleased me most, wereSuyéhirogari, in which a sort of Moses Primrose is sent to Kiôto to buy a fan, and is cheated by the merchant into paying 500riôfor an umbrella, andOba ga saké, in which a fellow having tried in vain to persuade his aunt, a rich old curmudgeon, to give him somesaké, puts on a devil's mask and frightens her into submission, while he goes to get drunk at the store room where the liquor is kept. He threatens to eat her if she looks his way; her cries,"Oh fearful to behold; spare your retainer's life"; her anger on discovering in the drunken and sleepy demon her rascally nephew, were infinitely diverting. TheNôI could not understand until I borrowed the book from a Japanese lady in the next box, and was enabled to follow the text. This wasHachi no ki. Sano Genzayémon, who has been deprived of his feudal estate, entertains a Buddhist priest at night. Having no food to offer him nor fuel to warm the room, he cuts down his own favourite dwarf plum, cherry and pine trees, and makes a fire of the branches. In return for this the holy man persuades the Lord of Kamakura to restore to him his forfeited lands. There were at that time three other companies ofnô-yakusha; Kanzé-daiyu, Kôshô-daiyu and Kompara-daiyu. The audience consisted entirely of thesamuraiclass.
The two Aidzu princes were brought to the suburb of Senji on December 15. Matsudaira Higo (now, like all other rebels, shorn of his title ofKami) was placed in the charge of Inshiû, and Wakasa in that of Chikuzen. Ninnaji no Miya, the commander-in-chief of the imperialist forces engaged in Echigo and Oshiu, was expected to arrive in Yedo on the 17th. And on or about the 16th the foreign representatives were officially notified of the restoration of peace. The guns and stores of H.M.S. "Rattler" which had perforce to be left behind at Sôya when the "Dupleix" brought us away, had been offered to the Mikado's government and accepted by them. This was the news heard from Okubo and Yoshii, whom I met at Nakai's on the 16th.
As a measure of protection for British and French subjects at Hakodaté the "Satellite" and "Vénus" were despatched thither on the 14th, the former conveying our secretary of legation Adams. His "History of Japan," vol. ii., gives an account of what he saw and did there. Up to the 5th of December however that place had not been threatened with an attack from the fugitive Tokugawa navy.
My old writing master Tédzuka, who came to call, gave me the following statistics about his clan. The chief's name was Sengoku Sanuki no Kami, and he ruled over territories assessed at 30,000koku. The actual yield to thedaimiôwas 16,000kokuof rice; of this 8000kokuwere accounted for by fiefs held by retainers; 4000kokuwere required for the maintenance of thedaimiô'spersonal establishment, and an equal quantity went in expenses of administration. The latter included official salaries, cost of journeys to court at Yedo, of soldiers in the field, arms, etc. The clan numbered no more than 60samuraifamilies. Its constitution as regardsthe offices ofkarôandyôninwas the same as in the case of other clans. In accordance with orders promulgated in No. 5 of the Kiôto Gazette the old practice of hereditary office-holding had been abolished, and a system of promotion by merit established in its stead. In order to carry out these new arrangements, the hereditary fiefs of the retainers ought he thought to be equalized.
When I went back to Yokohama on the 18th I found that news had been received of the capture, which I had anticipated, of Hakodaté by the runaway Tokugawa ships, and the flight of Shimidzu-dani with all his staff. The consul was, as one would expect, very seriously alarmed. And from the "Satellite's" expedition to the spot one could not look for any results of importance.
On December 21 a great conference was held at the legation in Yokohama of the chief with Daté, Higashi-Kuzé, Komatsu, Kido, Machida and Ikébé Goi (of Yanagawa in Kiûshiû). The first thing they wanted was that Sir Harry would arrange to give Yamaguchi Hanzô a passage on board an English man-of-war to Hakodaté, in order that he might open negotiations with the rebel leaders. The chief seemed to me to fear that this would involve him too much in the opinion of the public as a partizan of the imperial government, and he advised them instead to despatch a common messenger across the strait from Awomori bearing written offers to treat. Seeing that they could not induce him to accede to their request, they acquiesced in his suggestion, but in such a half-hearted manner as to make one doubt whether they would follow his advice. A great discussion took place on the Christian question, in which the Japanese spoke very reasonably, and Sir Harry likewise, until he unfortunately lost his temper over the arguments used by Kido, and made use of very violent language such as I do not care to repeat. The result was that they promised to write Notes to the Foreign Representatives announcing the Mikado's intention of showing clemency to the converts. Next day Ikébé came to me to explain the theory of the imperial paper currency, but I did not understand much of what he said, and we wandered off into other subjects, especially Christianity. The old fellow professed to be not only an admirer of its doctrines, but also a believer. In the afternoon the chief and I went to return Daté's call at what had formerly been the governor's official residence at Tobé, a suburb of Yokohama. They had a longconversation, especially about the Christian question and the representative system, and Sir Harry tried to pump him about the future capital. Would it be at Kiôto, Ozaka or Yedo (Tokei, Tôkiô), for we had of course read what Okubo Ichizô had written on the subject early in the year. The old prince gave him some very polite "digs in the ribs" about his violent language of the previous day, saying that when people became animated in conversation, spectators were apt to think that a dispute was going on, whereas instead of that being the case, it was merely that the speakers were in earnest; and naturally every man desired to express his own views. The chief replied that his animation was caused by the extreme regret he felt at seeing the Japanese do things that were prejudicial to themselves. On this Daté observed that it did them good now and then, to be got angry with (hara wo tatté morau). This set the chief "a-thynkynge," and as we were driving home he suddenly said: "I think they would never have spoken to the other representatives about Christianity, had it not been for the little piece of excitement I got up yesterday." I replied: "Well, it may be so but I think you hurt Kido's feelings; he shut up at once and preserved a marked silence." "Did you think so?" says P. "I am sorry to think he was offended." I then said: "If you will excuse my speaking freely, I believe that although that sort of thing may have a good effect in a particular case, it makes the Japanese dread interviews with you." Upon this the chief declared that he would have Kido to breakfast the next morning, and begged me to write him as polite a note of invitation as possible.
1869—AUDIENCE OF THE MIKADO AT YEDO
OnJanuary 2 I went back to Yedo (as we long continued to call the Eastern capital, being, like most Englishmen, averse to innovation). The city had been opened to foreign trade and residence on the 1st, and dear old William Willis was installed as H.M. vice-consul. He and Adams had returned on December 29th, the one from caring for the wounded in Echigo and Aidzu, the other from Hakodaté.
On January 5 we had an audience of the Mikado. On this occasion Sir Harry asked a large number of naval and military officers, besides Captain Stanhope, R.N., of the "Ocean," and Colonel Norman, in command of the 2/ix. So the list of persons to be presented, fixed originally at twelve, was increased to double that figure. As usual the chief had mismanaged the business, because he insisted on doing it all himself instead of leaving details to his subordinates, and he did not even know the names of those who were to be presented. The Squadron furnished a guard of a hundred marines. The costumes worn were very various, especially those of the legation and consulate men. It was a terribly cold day, snow falling, which changed into sleet, and then into rain by the time we reached the castle, and what made things worse was that we had to ride on horseback instead of driving in carriages. The audience took place in the palace of the Nishi-no-Maru, just inside the Sakurada Gate. We were allowed to ride over the first bridge, past the usualgébaor notice to alight, right up to the abutments of the second bridge, where we got down. Here we were met by Machida, who conducted us into the courtyard, from which we ascended at once into the ante-chamber. The Prince of Awa, Sanjô, Higashi-Kuzé, Nakayama Dainagon and Okubo came in and exchanged the usual compliments. Then we were ushered into a very dark room, where the Mikado was sitting under a canopy rather larger than that used at Ozaka. It was so dark that we could hardly distinguish his dress, but his face, which was whitenedartificially, shone out brightly from the surrounding obscurity. The Prime Minister stood below on the right and after H.M. had uttered a few words of inquiry about the Queen's health, and congratulated the chief on continuing at Yedo as minister, read the Mikado's speech. To this Sir Harry replied very neatly. After the audience, which took up no more than five minutes, was over we cantered back to the old Legation building in Takanawa, now converted into a branch of the Japanese Foreign Office, where we had great feasting beginning by an entertainment in Japanese style, very good of its kind, followed by a late luncheon supplied from the hotel. Awa and Higashi-Kuzé presided in our room. The American Minister and the North German Chargé d'Affaires were also present. Higashi-Kuzé proposed the health of the Queen, the President and the King of Prussiaen bloc, after which we drank to the health of the Mikado.
Katsu had come back to Yedo, and early in January was to start again for Sumpu, to lay a foundation for negotiation with the Tokugawa runaway ships at Hakodaté. On the 8th a review of the English troops in garrison at Yokohama was held for the entertainment of the prince of Awa, as our particular friend, and a party of young Court nobles. These were not men of political importance, and I do not think we ever heard of them again. The rapidity of the fire from the Snider rifles was a surprise to all the spectators.
On the 9th the chief and I having ridden up to Yedo in the morning, he had an important interview at Hama-goten, the sea-side palace of the Shôguns, with Iwakura. Kido, Higashi-Kuzé and Machida were also present. Many compliments were offered to Sir Harry, and assurances of the gratitude which the Mikado's government felt for the hearty recognition they had received from Great Britain. To this succeeded some confidential conversation. It was intended that the Mikado should return to Kiôto to be married, and also for the performance of certain funeral rites in honour of his late father. When these ceremonies were completed he would come again to his Eastern Capital to hold a great council of the empire. The date of this was not yet fixed; it might be in the first month of the Japanese calendar, perhaps in the third. Sir Harry advised Iwakura to notify this to all the Foreign Representatives. The question of foreign neutrality and the situation at Hakodaté were then discussed. Iwakura denounced very eloquently those of the ministers who, whilerecognising the Mikado as sovereign, granted the status of belligerents to the Hakodaté pirates. Sir Harry declared for himself and the French Minister, Outrey, that no neutrality existed, and that they did not recognize Enomoto and his associates as belligerents; nor did van Polsbroek. To this Iwakura responded: "Why does the American Minister still allege a declaration of neutrality as the ground of his refusal to hand over the 'Stonewall Jackson' to the lawful government?" Sir Harry replied that the declaration in question had been of very great service to the Mikado's government, that but for its existence Enomoto would now be in possession of the iron-clad ram, and that he himself had been mainly instrumental in procuring the signature of that document. This was quite true. An excellent lunch was served from the hotel, and we parted from our hosts just at sundown, both parties well satisfied with each other.
I went on the 10th January to visit Siddall at his hospital on the other side of the city; there I found Willis, who on the way there from Tsukiji, the foreign Settlement, had been threatened by a swash-buckler. We discussed together the means by which the Japanese government might be induced to apply for the services of Willis for a year in order to assist them in establishing their general hospital. So we told Ishigami that Siddall was to be recalled to the Legation, and that Higashi-Kuzé must ask for Willis. The Mikado had presented Willis with seven rolls of beautiful gold brocade, and Higashi-Kuzé wrote a nice letter thanking the dear old fellow for his services to the Japanese wounded warriors.
On January 12 we heard that the "Kaiyô-Maru" had sailed from Hakodaté, with her rudder lashed to her stern; her destination was supposed to be Esashi, where fighting was going on. It was believed that the pirates were running short of money and rice. The Ainos were reported to have joined the people of Matsumae in resisting the pirates.
I had some interesting conversation with Ikébé Goi, whom I went to see on the 13th. At his lodgings I met a young man named Yoshida Magoichirô, a councillor of the Yanagawa clan. We talked about Christianity, and Ikébé cited the Sermon on the Mount as a composition that pleased him more than anything written by Buddhist or Confucian Sages. I remarked that the Christian religion reversed the Chinese saying: "Do not unto others as ye would not that others should do unto you"; upon which he quoted the command to turnthe other cheek to be smitten. After a little he began to talk about my chief's violence in conference, and said: "Now in his case, when he gets in a rage, so far from offering the other cheek, I feel inclined to kick him out of the room." Ikébé said that the Mikado would leave for Kiôto about the 17th or 18th January, and that a notification had been issued announcing his departure during the first decade of the 12th month, to return again in the spring.
On the morning of the 15th I was summoned by the chief to Yokohama in a great hurry to attend a conference between Iwakura and the foreign colleagues. I rode the 20 miles on my pony "Fushimi," in two hours and a half without drawing bridle, and arrived at the Legation to find the conference just assembling. Iwakura addressed to the colleagues pretty much the same arguments as he had made use of at Hama-goten on the 9th. They put a number of questions to him by way of reply, and at last said they could not give answer to so important a matter as he had laid before them without mature consideration. Iwakura then said that he would take the opportunity of saying a few words about the causes of the existing political situation. The present Mikado was the descendant of sovereigns who ruled the country more than 2000 years back; the Shôgunate was an institution not more than 700 years old. Still, the power had been in its hands, and it was during the continuance of its authority that the Americans came to the country in 1853. The Shôgun's people were sharp enough to see the necessity and advantage of entering into relations with foreign countries, while the Mikado's Court, followed by the greater part of the nation, professed the anti-foreign policy. The country thus became disturbed, and the authority of the Shôgun could no longer be maintained. Then both the Mikado and the Shôgun died, and the latter's successor, a man of ability, was able to see the absolute indispensability of a government directed by the Mikado. Sincerely convinced of this, he surrendered the power into the hands of the Mikado, not as a mere gift, but because it was the only way of solving the political difficulties which existed. Thereupon the Mikado's government changed its policy with regard to foreigners, and did what never could have been done under the late sovereign, that is, entered into relations with the Treaty Powers. Hitherto our relations had been merely commercial, but the government hoped that they would improve and become something like those which existed amongEuropean and other civilized nations. The foreign ministers replied that they would consult together, and send him a reply without delay.
Sir Harry came up on the 19th from Yokohama to tell Iwakura the result of yesterday's conference of colleagues on the subject of neutrality. We were to have met him at Hama-goten, but when we got there we found the gates shut, and since no orders had been received to admit us, we came away. As we were returning to the Legation Mori came after us in a great hurry, and begged the chief to turn back, but he refused, and said Iwakura might come to see him. This message was misunderstood by Mori, and there was more delay, but at last everything was arranged, and Iwakura came at half-past seven to the Legation, accompanied by Higashi-Kuzé. Iwakura had sent through Mori to ask me to come to Yedo, in order that he might speak to me personally, but I took no notice of this request, treating it merely as an invitation to the chief, or rather as a request to me to be present on the 19th in order to perform interpretation. He asked Sir Harry what had been the result of the conference of foreign ministers, and all he could say was that it had been adjourned. It appeared that the colleagues were willing to make a declaration that the war was over, but were not willing to give up the "Stonewall Jackson"; and that in order to justify her retention they would not withdraw their notifications of neutrality. To us this appeared highly illogical. The chief, after Iwakura had repeated all his arguments and had added that so far from desiring to get hold of the "Stonewall" in order to attack Enomoto, the Mikado's government were determined to offer him lenient terms, declared that in his own opinion the war had ceased, and that the neutrality lapsed with it; and that he was ready to state this in writing. Iwakura said that the Mikado was very desirous of knowing the answers of the ministers, and had therefore ordered him to stop behind for five days in order to try to settle this question and to rejoin him at Shimidzu, a port on the Tôkaidô, that he would like to get Sir Harry's answer confidentially, so that the Mikado might have a pleasant souvenir to carry away with him. Another thing Iwakura said was that the Mikado's government had made a sufficient display of power by reducing the provinces of Oshiû and Déwa in six months, whereas in former wars twelve years had been nothing extraordinary; that their intention was to adopt a humane line of conduct, and they hadtherefore ordered the two Tokugawas of Sumpu and Mito to proceed against the remaining rebels, and if they succeeded in arranging matters Keiki would be pardoned and restored to favour. He had himself seen Katsu, who believed that the offer of lenient terms would induce submission. The Mikado's government would not however consider any capitulation satisfactory that was not accompanied by a complete surrender of arms and ships of war. If the rebels proved obstinate they must be reduced by force. This frank statement drew out a favourable reply from Sir Harry. Iwakura also appeared to be alarmed about the attitude of Russia, and asked whether she might not possibly enter into an alliance with Enomoto. The chief thought this unlikely. The interview lasted three hours, and ended with many thanks from Iwakura and apologies for having kept Sir Harry waiting at the gate of Hama-goten. The chief on his side undertook to do everything possible to bring his colleagues round to his view and to induce them to send in their answer by the 25th, and he engaged to publish his own reply in the "Japan Herald" of the same day; that would be as decisive a manifestation of his policy as he could possibly give. I was greatly pleased myself to find that he had now made up his mind to "go the whole hog."
The Mikado passed through Takanawa about eight o'clock the following morning, on his way back to Kiôto. His train appeared to be smaller than on the occasion of his entry. News arrived from Hakodaté on January 21 that the "Kaiyô-maru" had got on the rocks near Esashi and was expected to stick there; her guns had been thrown overboard and buoyed.
The sentences on Aidzu and Sendai were promulgated on the 21st, with the penalties inflicted on otherdaimiôsof the northern provinces, and a few more who had held out to the last. The Aidzu princes were let off with their lives, but the whole of their territories were confiscated. Sendai was reduced from 625,000 to 280,000koku. The reigning prince was made to retire into private life, and was succeeded by a son of our old friend, the Daté of Uwajima.
On the 22nd a further conference of the ministers was held with reference to the question of withdrawing the declarations of neutrality, and the little Italian minister, who came up to Yedo on the 23rd, assured us that only Sir Harry and Polsbroek were willing to consent, the others having refused. Letters however arrived from Sir Harry showing that all thecolleagues had agreed to write anote identiqueacknowledging that the war was over, but demanding a short delay in order to concert measures for the simultaneous withdrawal of their notifications. Also a note from him instructing me to arrange an interview with Iwakura for Adams and Montebello (Secretary of the French Legation) in order that they might hand to him the petition which the Tokugawa rebels at Hakodaté had asked M. Outrey and Sir Harry to forward to the Mikado. The translation of this document was made and sent off at once. Then, after learning from Higashi-Kuzé that 2 o'clock was fixed for the interview, Mitford and I went off to Kido, to whom I gave a copy of thenote identiqueabout neutrality. He at once pitched on the 'short delay' clause as unsatisfactory, but I could only give him my opinion that this was inserted as a sort of compromise; it was better, I said, for the Mikado's government that all the ministers should agree to recognise that the war was over, even with this slight drawback, than that only two of them should have recognised the fact and the other four have continued to declare themselves neutral. A memorandum reached us from Adams stating the nature of the final arrangement, and suggesting that the government should make it generally known by publishing the correspondence in their official Gazette. Then I went off to Higashi-Kuzé's place, to meet Adams, Montebello and Dubousquet,[11]who arrived there about a quarter past two. Proceedings began by Montebello handing in Outrey's copy of thenote identique; Iwakura at once pointed out the sentence in the letters of the English and French ministers which spoke of 'a short delay,' and asked what was its meaning. Both Adams and Montebello replied that they had no authority to say anything on this point, but they undertook at his request to write to their chiefs, and obtain if possible a definite date. I also whispered to Yamaguchi Hanzô to tell Iwakura afterwards that Kido already knew all about the compromise. The business of handing over the petition of the Tokugawa rebels was then proceeded with. Iwakura was told that in delivering this document the ministers did not offer any opinion on its contents, and they renounced for themselves any idea of acting as mediators; but that as the Japanese Foreign Minister had expressed to both of them his desire tolearn if possible the feelings and intentions of the fugitives, they were very glad to have this opportunity of complying with his request.