A WOMAN ALONE
IN THE HEART OF JAPAN
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H Oloman Jlloiie in
the l^eart of japan
BY
Gertrude H^am0 fieber
ILLUSTRATED
BOSTON 9 9 9 9 9
* ^ * * PUBLISHERS
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Copyright, igo6
By L. C. Page & Company
(incorporated)
Entered at Stationers' Hall, London
All rights reserved
First Impressioiij October, '1906
SefcoJiJ Imprds^ic»i;j5la^, 1910
• • • • •
COL ON I A L PRESS
EUctrotyPed and Printed by C. H. Simonds &* Co.
Boston, U.S.A.
TO
WHO GAVE ME
THE LOVE OF TRAVEL
THIS VOLUME IS GRATEFULLY
DEDICATED
BY THEIR NOMADIC
DAUGHTER
255109
CONTENTS
CHAPTBR »AG«
I. First Impressions i
II. The Cherry-blossom Season ... 26
III. Sightseeing 48
IV. An Overland Journey 69
V. A National Rite 92
VI. Alone in Nikko iii
VII. Sendai, Matsushima, and Ikao . . .134
VIII. An Inland Trip 155
IX. Sightseeing 179
X. The Buddhist University and the Judo
School 200
XI. The Russian Mission and the Red Cross
Hospital 218
XII. The Great Japanese Industries and the
Stock Market 234
XIII. Woman's Education in Japan . . . 260
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
2
12
20
34
38
45
62
64
68
80
99
00
The Little Mothers of Japan . . Frontispiece
The Author's First Ride in a Riksha — A Riksha
Stand
Youthful Street Acrobats .
The Theatre in Yokohama
The Theatre in Cherry-blossom Season
The Caged Girls of the Yoshiwara .
The Procession of Prostitutes
A Most Distinguished Wrestler of Japan
The Prelude to a Wrestling Bout
A Wrestler in His State Apron .
In the Heart of Old Japan .
Snap Shots of the Procession — Banner Bearers
Carved Monkeys on the Sacred Stable at Nikko
Snap Shots of the Procession — The Sacred
Shrine — Spearmen . . •. . , .102
The Approach of the Sacred Shrines . . .104
Clog -SHOP, Nikko 113
Priests before the Temple at Nikko . . .126
Dwarf Waiter at the Hotel Nikko, a Favour-
ite with All
Temple of the Dancing Priestess at Nikko
The Kindly Servants of the Kindayu Hotel
A Typical Tea-house
Kusatsu
Snap Shots of the Baths of Kusatsu
Geisha Fan Drill
iz
128
132
146
159
166
168
195
List of Illustrations
PAGE
The Famed Buddha of Kamakura . . . 200
Professor Kano 210
Red Cross Hospital Buildings .... 226
In the Tea Fields 234
In the Rice Fields 250
Writing - lesson in a Private School for Girls 261
President Naruse 270
Mr. Dogura 279
Benefactors of the University : Mr. and Mrs.
Mitsui, Mme. Hiro-oka, and Mr. Morimura 280
A Woman Alone
in the Heart of Japan
CHAPTER I
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
A Fascinating Fort of Entry
It pays to visit the Flowery Kingdom, even
though one becomes acquainted with the sea-
port towns only. Yokohama, for example,
is most interesting, and is full of piquant fas-
cination. Though it is tinctured with foreign
life, there is still much that is native. The
embroidery shops of Honchodori; the curio
stores of Bentendori; the clean, though
crowded, homes of Motomachi; the majestic
glimpse of sacred Fuji, from the top of the
hundred steps; the blind shampooer sound-
ing his note on the windy Bluff; the wee
woman toddling along with her baby on her
back; the gay-gowned children rollicking by
.' A Woman Alone
the door; the multitudinous scenes of Theatre
Street by night; yea, even our fated sisters of
the Nectarine, are but hints of the many sights
and sounds which will amaze, amuse, appal,
at this open door of Japan.
The customs inspection is strict, but po-
lite. Bows and smiles prevailed with the
bland little man who inquired anxiously about
the typewriter, whether it was for sale or for
use. He was rather stiff, too, about the shiny
new bicycle which reposed in its crate; but
the kodak lay snuggled among innocent
wares, and escaped unnoticed. The man had
no interest in personal finery and only wanted
to hold up things mercantile.
A First Riksha Ride
Emerged from the shadow of inspection,
the novice must make acquaintance with the
riksha, that native vehicle, resembling a
cradle with the hood raised, hung on tender
shafts which end in boat-hooks. This cross
between chariot and coffin shakes and trembles
as one mounts, and I wondered how far this
human mite, in blue sleeves and bare legs,
with inverted dish-pan on his head, could
carry me. He picked up the boat-hooks like
WL-: ■
THE AUTHOR'S FIRST RIDE IN A RIKSHA
A RIKSHA STAND
In the Heart of Japan
feather,s, and trundled me away, full of the
zest of a first experience. In the first rik ride
one feels like an inspired idiot on stilts. The
riksha grin of the novice is a worthy rival of
the bicycle stare. I was lost in my own amuse-
ment, and the grin stretched from ear to ear,
absorbing every facial feature in a cavernous,
jolting laugh. This was followed by terror,
as I listened to the creaking, twisting my
spinal column for a side-glimpse, and re-
calling the history of the one-horse shay. The
third stage was a struggle for dignity and
calm composure, and I tried to look as if to
the manor born. Lastly, I acquired non-
chalant indifference, poking my head in the
hood and my feet in the floor. In bad
weather this little hearse seems an invention
of the evil one, and frail woman wipes the
roof with her plumes, and submits to a
vapour-bath among the wraps. A sealed
tomb would give up its secrets if dropped
inside this Oriental sweat-box.
" Rattle his bones over the stones,
Here goes a pauper whom nobody owns,"
I quoted, as the human dog bore away, with
his burden practically on his back and under
3
A Woman Alone
his arms. He was a study in legs, a chiapter \
in anatomy. Great bunches of muscles rolled ;
up in huge welts to the knees of this typical
*' Pullman " of Japan, more primitive than !
we turn out from the car-shops. He pattered |
across bridges, shied around corners, dodged ;
a stall and a baby, all but ground off the axle !
of a passing rik, but young and old turned -
out for rikky, as he had the right of way. -
He dashed recklessly around the curves; but, \
when about to collide, he gave a twist of the \
wrist which slung the coach a hair's breadth, \
and disaster was averted. j
So he threaded a sure path among tortu- \
ous lanes, till, at the base of the Bluff, he took i
a pushman, and, with a series of groans and a ^
shower of moans, I was borne zigzag, criss- \
cross up the towering hill where five sen paid |
off the pushman. ;
Below me lay the tinder-box village of Jap- |
town, its huts thick as thieves ; the foreign set- j
tlement in towering dignity ; and, beyond, the |
broad blue sea, with its forest of stately ships. ;
Pullman dropped me with a thud, boat-hooks ;
stabbed the earth, and I reeled forward in \
pained surprise. By the sweat of his brow ;
and the strain of his legs rikky had earned i
his tariff. He mopped his steamy face with \
In the Heart of Japan
a grimy muffler, salaamed to earth in return
for his cash, picked up his shafts and pattered
to his stand, to crouch with the coolies, and
while away time in a smoke till another
princely foreigner enriched him with a
fare.
Only the double rik is sociable, and this is
a cradle spacious enough for Lilliputian Japs,
but two average Americans feel that tinned
sardines are to be envied, and the tight squeeze
and close shave might well result in nerve
paralysis. Ordinary machines run single file,
and to crane one's neck in conversation is a
strain which only a hero could endure. When
rikky is stocked with garlic and absinthe, he
makes the air talk. He pegs on persistently,
and his cords strain tensely, and with every
jolt comes the thin cry, struck off in two sharp
notes, " hey-ho."
'Earthquakes
Even the ways of the foreign home are
novel. A locked door is dangerous, for, if
the earthquake-ridden land is going to shake
with ague and have a half-dozen fits in the
night, a twisted key would embarrass a sudden
flight. Every one is warned to stand on the
S
A Woman Alone
threshold when the shakes come, or, if door-
ways give out, one should leap to the window-
sill. My first experience of that ominous
thrill, which I learned to know and to fear,
came in the silences of the night. The bed
rocked, the house shook, the earth staggered.
Wise plans were forgotten in the midst of
dread reality, and I lay cowering in feeble-
ness, sweating out the terror inspired by the
mysterious force which mocks at man's frailty.
Many a time did the swaying break my slum-
ber, and menace the peace of the kingdom,
and each time, with a heavy heart thump, I
wondered if the end had come. It is the land
of earthquakes, and they get on the nerves,
so that one never grows used to them. Deli-
cate instruments prove that there are often
many quakes in a single day, though the
tremor may be so slight that one does not
perceive it.
Community Baths
The natives are scrupulously clean, and
have their public baths on the main streets,
where the vats are sunk in the floor, and the
bathers indulge in a long soak and a social
visit, after they have spluttered and splashed
6
In the Heart of Japan
and soaped from the little wooden wash-tubs
which hold perhaps a gallon. As the doors
slide back in their grooves, these community
baths are often open to the view of the passer,
and many an Adam and Eve, sans bathing-
suits, are seen floundering like seals in a
tank.
Because this nude simplicity was known to
shock the foreigner, the emperor demanded
that the sexes should bathe separately, and
hence one often sees a bamboo rod stretched
across the bath-house floor, forming the line
of demarcation. Thus the fiat is obeyed, and
the separation of the sexes is maintained.
Modesty is a comparative term, and stand-
ards vary. Clothes, too, are a matter of con-
ventionality, an accretion of civilization. An
American, visiting a Japanese merchant, de-
layed his bath till the others had retired. He
then went modestly and alone, soaped and
lathered from the wooden tub, rinsed in
clear water, and entered the large vat for a
peaceful soak, when, shades of infant mod-
esty! a tiny Eve, simply clad, — in a placid
smile, — intruded on his solitude and he was
forced to beat a hasty and confused retreat
to ruminate later on the queer customs of the
country.
7
A Woman Alone
Graceful Manners
At every turn the comparatively brusque
foreigner has an object-lesson in good man-
ners, for those of the Japanese are graceful and
enticing, even though they mean nothing, or
are a cloak for trickery. O Tey San bowed
low and shuffled with extra speed on being
called " the honourable miss." Toward day-
break she shook me up for tea and after sun-
rise she shuffled in again to open up the day-
light. She giggled and grinned, cackled and
chattered, and said " velly, velly solly," when
it rained, as if she felt personally responsible
for the weather. If I did not rise in time,
she toddled back with the anxious query,
" No getty uppy? Sleepy? " and nearly split
her tiny throat in a merry cascade of cackles,
in recognition of what she considered the
greatest joke on earth.
Nor was there peace for one who indulged
in such irregularity. Later the door opened,
and the little majordomo, a human spin-
ning-top, with immortal smile, huge head,
and tapering legs, dropped in to see the
freak who was too sleepy to eat. Evidently
such specimens were rare, for he cried dra-
matically, " Tane meenit pas nine ; no blekfas,
8
In the Heart of Japan
make fire," and pushed in an ancestor who
tottered around on all fours like a dusky
chimpanzee and struck a spark in the icy
air.
Japanese children are expected to obey,
and Spinning Top crowned his forty odd
years with a deluge of tears, when his papa
ordered him to marry. He defied paternal
authority, and served our numerical meals in
single blessedness.
The menu was called in numbers, since the
servants could follow " 2-5-7 " when they
could never understand ^' roast, carrots, pud-
ding."
hack of Sanitation
Those things which grow on the ground
are forbidden fruits and are always tabooed
by the croaker, unless cooked or peeled.
Luscious berries and tempting salads are
dangerous from lack of drainage, for, as
there is no sewage system, the little farms
are enriched by human refuse. All is not
skittles and beer in the land of the cherry
blossom. In the late afternoon the open
green is beautiful beyond the huddled town.
It is a wondrous picture of sky and land,
thatched roofs and sacred Fuji, towering
9
A Woman Alone
in majestic glory, but the air is defiled by
noisome odours, which stalk abroad like grim
pestilence. Coolies tramp about with yoke
and buckets dangling from their shoulders.
The green fields will be richer for the fer-
tilizing agent which they scatter, but the
beauty all about is tainted by the nauseous
air, and garden fruits are no temptation.
Street Sights and Sounds
The essentials are dear in Japan. The
tourist always pays the piper. Only in his
laundry bill can he delight, for it matters
not whether the item be a dainty kerchief or
an elaborate gown, a boiled shirt or a ruffled
skirt, two American cents will pay for it.
Needless baubles may be numbered among
things cheap. The people are all great
lovers of nature, and the humblest have ar-
tistic taste. The flower vender yokes his
garden across his neck or squats at a cor-
ner with fragrant hyacinths at five cents
a plant. Gay pansies and modest primroses
are much cheaper, and a pair of goldfish
with rough-blown globe costs but two cents.
Garden and menagerie grow up around the
tempted tourist. Canaries, suspected of being
lO
In the Heart of Japan
painted sparrows but looking like pure gold,
are warranted to sing at twenty cents a throat.
The candy man draws like a lodestone. His
brown sugar and water sputter on the coals.
The mass boils and evaporates and thickens
to a little pat, which is dumped for an air-
ing and is then all ready for use. Here is
maple-sugar, also, in a solid mass, and a tiny
child with a snubby nose and hair gathered
in a war-lock, with dirty hands and a penny,
runs to the booth, her face aglow with the
joy that beams through the grime. With
a carpenter's plane the old man scrapes the
big cake and gathers the sweet shavings
into a little wad. He cleans the last crumb
from his plane, pats and squeezes the lump
between his dirty thumb and finger^ and
then stabs it on a reed, which he passes to
the enraptured child, as he pockets the penny.
The gingerbread man pours batter into little
moulds of Buddha and cooks it to a turn.
It looked so good, it smelled so good, I
thought of grandma and was caught. To
eat a brown god with a muddy inside was
not the delight I had hoped, and one ter-
rible taste was enough, while the gingerbread
god went spinning in the gutter, and relig-
ious dyspepsia was allayed by hot water.
II
A Woman Alone
Homes breed children, and in Japan they
mature so young that one often questions
to which of three generations a mite be-
longs. Wee girls of five years bear the
burden of a younger baby and play hop-
scotch in the street with the infant strapped
on the back. Baby's head dangles all ways
and bobs about lumpily in the sun. He ap-
peals for mercy, but he is only a pack of
flesh, strapped on where he will make the
least trouble, and he gets little attention for
the noise he makes. But the Japanese love
their children and are uniformly kind to
them. Almost never does one see a baby
struck. Neglect and ignorance, not wilful
cruelty, are the distress of the little ones.
Dirt and glare soon injure the eyes, and
one encounters the blind everywhere. They
march like stately phantoms, fearless of
danger, swinging their graceful robes and
feeling their way with long sticks. Rikky
calls a sharp " hey-ho," and they are quick
to hear. If confused in the locality, the blind
man calmly plants himself midway, and
merciful rikky makes a detour. Darkness
and daylight are alike to him, but in the
dead of night, when traffic ceases, the blind
masseur is everywhere, threading his way
12
In the Heart of Japan
through the thick of Japtown far into
the Settlement and on the heights of the
windy Bluff, in and out of the twisting al-
leys. Two high notes of his reed, weird
and melancholy, far and near, sing through
the darkness as he gropes his way, humbly
seeking honest work, this unfortunate, who
in many a land would be a beggar. For a
few sen he will knead and pound and rub
the invalid, and a livelihood is assured.
Not less mystic, in the night, is the sound
of the watchman on his beat. He is hired
by the residents of his locality, and like a
grim spectre he makes his round. His
lantern silhouettes him, and his long pole
strikes the stones, and his rings of brass shake
out their metal cry. He prowls behind the
match-box shanties, and his patrons know they
are secure.
Theatre Street, where bright lanterns hang,
is a scene of innocent delight, with long
banners of black chirography which ad-
vertise the shows. Smiling and contented,
the crowd struggles on, and the stranger sees
the Japs as they march. Stalls of food,
flowers, and crockery stretch far into the
street; sweet potatoes, steaming from the
boiler, are skinned for the buyer; snails, un-
13
A Woman Alone
savoury rice, raw fish on spikes, are revealed
by the flickering torch. Huge poppers of
beans suggest pop-corn. There are forests
of miniature trees, trained to every device
of Japanese art. Three cents will buy a
family of crockery babies stretched on their
stomachs and raising their bald heads to
show a single forelock, ready for scalping.
In the shooting-gallery, the little lady bends
low and presents a gun before we know that
we are bent on war. The rubber pellet
never hits the puppet, but another rifle
splits a distant feather. On departure, the
little lady rewards the visitor with a candy
fish with red head and black eye, which will
never be edible, but will serve as a souvenir
till the sugar melts.
Against a fence the palmist spreads a
table of mysterious literature and diagrams
of stiff, unnatural hands. The sleeves of
his long kimono are full of magic, and, be-
hind his horn glasses, he looks the patriarchal
theologian. Being ready for experiences,
the friend says ^^ hands down," and there fol-
lows a stentorian harangue as he draws a
wand through the crevices and expounds
with solemn gravity. There are queer fea-
tures in this hand's history and the old chap
In the Heart of Japan
turns from grave to gay. The crowd shrieks
with mirth, while the victim feels very like
a fool. It takes little to make the native
laugh, but it would be less embarrassing to
know what is being said. As the people
chuckle and nudge and grow hysterical, we
are evidently the butt of wild jokes. The
philosopher pokes his stick between the fin-
gers, to indicate that the victim will have
much money, which will always trickle away.
This gives the climax of mirth to the crowds,
which roar with delight as the old man winds
up his story and clicks his coin. He has
them in good humour, and anxious to know
their fate, as we leave him and saunter across
to the auction, and the crowd again swings
our way and watches for our bids as we han-
dle the wares. The vender is young and gay
and graceful, and he gains courage with this
sudden rally. He flings the white goods on
the air, and reaches them out for us to sample.
Frantically he throws his arms about in dra-
matic despair, in response to low bids. He
is a study in fleeting emotions as he dashes
oflf scathing comment and flings merry
jokes.
15
A Woman Alone
The Busy Bazaars
In the bazaars one is lost in a Grecian
border of roofed stalls with their offerings
of pipes, purses, prints, pictures, fancy tooth-
picks, box puzzles, and every ingenious kick-
shaw. A rickety flight leads up-stairs to a
similar enigma of stalls, and we follow the
narrow alleys where the tide of life is surging.
Suddenly there comes a wild stampede. Every
man bolts through the passage. The clatter of
clogs makes pandemonium. At the exit we
find that a distant tinder shanty is in flames,
and a fire is always interesting when there
is no hope for the building and effort centres
on the wares in the neighbouring houses.
The busy thoroughfares are packed with
hives, where humanity asks little space. At
late night the fitful torch and murky lamp
still burn. Babies tumble about, and the
family reads the news, foots up sales, mends,
tinkers, sews, and makes the wooden clogs
which sound " clamp clomp," with two dis-
tinct notes of a high and low key, like the
beat of a coming army. The inmates kneel
on the mats at meal-time, while the men
manage the chop-sticks and the women an-
ticipate each wish of the lord and master.
i6
In the Heart of Japan
They crouch arouad the brass hebachi, that
melancholy little kettle of ashes where flick-
ering charcoal warms the outspread fingers.
Later, they bring in the wares and draw the
sliding wall of the little box which serves
as home and store. One step up, they draw
another panel, set with little panes of paper,
and they spread rugs on the spotless matting,
and the family goes fast asleep resting on
little wooden pillows which would give us
cramps for a week. Such is the life of the
merchant, the average, well-to-do middle
class. These are the midgets whose every
phase of life is Lilliputian. Meagre and
bare as it looks, it is the making of the brave
soldier on the battle-field.
The little people of bows and smiles see
no reason for our aggressive speech, push-
ing ways, abrupt manners. They have time
to be polite. To them life means more
leisure and less money. They linger long
over a sale, and seem to care little if they
make one. They love their treasures and
know their worth, and the best are hidden
away. The commoner wares are exposed,
and the piece de resistance is trotted out only
when the merchant sees that he has an ap-
preciative customer. If we haggle below
17
A IVoman Alone
his dignity, he bows low, smiles serenely,
says a gentle " Thank you," and replaces
the piece on the shelf.
The Kindly Natives
If we are but a little kind to them they
are supremely kind to us. One day in the
train a wee creature cuddled up on her
knees to me and began a voluble output
of the lingo. I nodded and grinned like an
idiot, but her astonished gaze told me I was
unsatisfactory. At last she ventured, " Air
you a chreeschin? Me too, me chreeschin."
This is the constant query of the native, and,
though I had started out with a confident
reply, constant hammering of the question
had brought doubts as to my surety, and in
despair I sometimes startled the native with
the answer, ^' No, I am an American."
This little lady fished in the depths of her
cavernous sleeves, and intuitively I clapped
my hand on my pocket. Why do we dis-
trust the very ones who would befriend
us? Do we accuse ourselves in suspecting
others? Many times have I realized the
meanness of my doubts. She was no more
a robber than I was. We were separated
i8
In the Heart of Japan
in the push at the station, but the conductor
rushed up with some article in his hand.
" It is not mine. It belongs to the lady/'
I said. He returned in a moment and re-
marked, " For you. She say me geef you."
The dear little lady had sent a souvenir of
her friendship, a roll of gaudy circus figures
whose mysticism I could not fathom, but her
kind intent was legible in the heart language
of the world.
The Theatre
The theatre is a continuous vaudeville,
the delight of the native, where two-cent,
three-cent, and five-cent shows keep the
people in wild guffaws over the most child-
ish nonsense. Clogs by the hundred rest
at the door, and the patron is checked with
a billet of wood in exchange for his shoes.
The cheapest places are nearest the stage,
and the high-priced people are banked in
the rear, while the natives squat on mats in
front. Flags and banners, dragons and gob-
lins, array the walls. A dreary brass band
beats out a measure. On the stage, the
director and manager, rolled in one, a
weird dwarf in green baggy breeches, with
19
A Woman Alone
billiard-ball pate, rings a dinner-bell, and with
Sunday-school voice tells the startling thing
that shall follow. Stage demeanour is stiff
and tragic. Fascinated infants toddle to the
stage, till an extra wild lunge of swords
drives them, fearful, back to their mothers.
The Japanese are famed fencers, jugglers,
acrobats; the clowns are done out in war-
paint and whitewash^ and are a few grades
sillier than at home, but their simplest antics
provoke side-splitting mirth. One clumsy
creature repeatedly tumbles off backward
into the pit, and a string of clogs is revealed
tied to his waist. This is the acme of the
comical to the simple people. The tight-
rope walker performs his daring stunts of
dressing, dancing in clogs, and catching trifles
as he sways in mid-air. Baby clowns and
girls of six years run a race on revolving
globes as their tiny feet patter nimbly to keep
the balance. One child, frightfully scared,
is tossed to and fro, to alight on an extended
arm, and mount a living pyramid, and pivot
high on a slippery head. A little lad shins
up a bamboo-rod, poised on the shoulder of
a native. He swings and gyrates and per-
forms his antics at the top. The crowd
watches breathless, as the rod swings and
20
THE THEATRE IN YOKOHAMA
"c' .
In the Heart of Japan
bends. Four coolies wait below, to catch the
child if he falls. He slides half-way, then
remounts, to pivot on his back, as he spreads
in all directions, till he seems impaled. He
catches a loop and swings to either side and
revolves. There is more pain than pleasure
to strained nerves in watching him, and one
wishes that children were not so cheap or so
plenty in the Orient.
Little Katie of the Nectarine
One would have no adequate notion of
Japan without visiting the quarter set apart
in the great cities for the slave-girls of the
nation, and, with every ship that comes to
port, there is a rapid trundling of the rikshas
toward the famous Nectarine. Most men and
many women, for reason of trade or curiosity,
hunt out this strange haunt of vice. Beyond
the pale of her private home, within this pub-
lic den, pretty little Katie, known rather for
her gentle beauty and her winsome ways than
for her evil life, drew upon my tender love.
She looked so sweet and innocent that one
quite forgot she was a hardened little sinner,
this inmate of the neat white house with
green blinds, in a remote corner, catering
21
A Woman Alone
especially to foreign trade. If the measure
of sin depends on the standards of the coun-
try, then Katie must not be despised. The
novice in the Orient is often '' dropped down
gently " by experienced friends, and I was
cajoled with the notion of seeing a cafe chan-
tant, and dainty Katie met me and beguiled
me before I guessed my whereabouts. She
was so coy and artless, this child of ill-fame,
that the term seemed cruel when coupled
with the little maid, who suggested a bit of
gay china. Her unblushing frankness had
the naivete of innocence. She horrified us
with honest talk, but she seemed to find no
evil in her life. She was decidedly a child
of nature, and her life was part of herself.
She was only a little one, hardly sixteen, who
regretted not her past, recked not of the fu-
ture, and knew no shame for the present. She
supplied a market demand. Let the shame
rest elsewhere. She showed fondness for the
white ladies who petted her, and she toddled
about in rainbow robe, with gay obi, and oily
topknot sprinkled with gewgaws. She cud-
dled down affectionately beside us, and chat-
tered in her broken patois. She rolled out
ripples of laughter, that fell like a jolly cas-
cade, when we paid her pretty compliments.
22
In the Heart of Japan
The matron, tawny and wrinkled but al-
ways polite, known through all the land as
" Mother Jesus," filled little glasses with a
tempting drink. The newcomer grew fear-
ful. '^ Is it a put-up job? Will they drug
us and do us up?" But there is no trickery
in well-regulated Japan. Methods and man-
agement are open as the day, as transparent
as little Katie's heart.
There came a summons for the girls, and
she toddled away, to join the troop of airy
midgets who thronged for inspection. " Many
are called, but few are chosen," and Katie
returned with a sunny smile. When asked
how she learned her pretty English, her
answer came with terrible truth, and im-
pressed the moral nightmare of her life. " Ze
gentlemen, zey teach me Engleesch." The
frank answer startled and saddened the in-
quisitor.
I strolled to the hall, and looked off to the
courtyard of flowers. A dozen little sisters
threw wide their doors and urged me to enter.
I must inspect their belongings and sit cosily
with them on the mats. All were sweet and
gracious, but no one was so pretty as wee
Katie. I wondered what spirit moved them.
Was it the native instinct of politeness, or was
23
A Woman Alone
there deep in the heart's recess a longing to
sit with one of their great sisterhood whose
life was altogether different? They did not
show that they knew any difference.
Segregated children of the Nectarine, set
apart \n their little tainted world, cut off
like moral lepers from the larger and the
better life, generally the victims of the world
which comes to them! Probably they never
question the solution of life's great problem.
There are no other women so dainty and
pretty, so kind and gentle, so polite and gra-
cious, so faithful and submissive, so winning
in all their ways. Has their life no richer
meaning than this daily round of sin? Does
the present bring content? Or is there in every
girl's heart a womanly yearning for a better
fate? Are they all irresponsible, light-
hearted children, whose merry laugh rings
true to pleasure? I rubbed my eyes in bewil-
derment, as I recalled the strange experience.
It was not curious slumming in a big foreign
town; for the new vision of life had awa-
kened a great vexed question, and had wrung
my heart with pity for a sisterhood that knew
not its own needs. A wail arises for depraved
humanity. Overwhelmed by the pathos, one
feels powerless to help.
24
In the Heart of Japan \
Winsome little Katie has been bought, and
has left the Nectarine. A white man paid
the price. She will ever be a living picture '\
on my mind. May the great All-Father re- I
member that she is His child, and enfold her \
in His mantle of universal love.
25
A Woman Alone
CHAPTER II
THE CHERRY - BLOSSOM SEASON
A Land of Cherry Blossoms
It is not enough to simply visit a country,
for that does not mean successful travelling,
nor imply that one has seen the land. The
aim of the traveller should be to be at the
right time in the right place. Spring is liable
to be cold and dreary in Japan. There are
many days of mist and rain, yet the wanderer
w^ho can control his steps makes a big mis-
take in losing the joys of the cherry season.
We were hovering over a hebachi, trying to
extract a bit of heat from the slumbering
charcoal for our frigid fingers, when the man
declared he would never come again in
spring-time cold and raw, but would wait for
warmer weather. He little guessed the dis-
comfort and the suffering from midsummer
heat in fair Japan. I suggested that his rea-
26
In the Heart of Japan
soning ignored the typical event of the year,
the lovely cherry-blossom fete, but he bore
down upon me with all the wisdom of igno-
rance. He knew what cherry blossoms were!
We had them at home! He had not crossed
the water merely to see cherry blossoms!
To see a single branch, a single tree, a
single orchard of New England blossoms, is
quite another thing from seeing the entire
land swept with a misty and a magic veil of
pink and white. It is safe to arrive in Japan
the first of April. During the next two
weeks the land is wrapped in mystic colour.
Bands of diaphanous tints spread through the
sky, as if Iris had dropped her dainty scarf
across our way. Down the back lanes and
across country paths, in the broad acres of
Ueno Park, through the woodland, and along
the banks of the Arashiyama rapids, wher-
ever the pilgrim turns his staff, the beautiful
blossoms are floating through the air, and life
outdoors seems a fairy dream. The foreign-
ers wonder and admire, while the natives
love and adore the tender blossoms. Word
is sped from Tokio to Yokohama, " The
cherries are at their height to-day. The best
may be gone if you wait another day. Don't
fail to come at once," and the trains are
27
A Woman Alone
packed with enthusiasts. The foreigners are
there for no other purpose than to see and
enjoy, while the natives are ready for the first
excuse to picnic. They are devoted to excur-
sions, so the little men close their shops, and
the little ladies gather the children, and, with
the last baby on the mother's back and the
next one strapped to an older sister, they all
clatter away to Ueno, where the daintiest
shades sweep the air. They wander along
the highways, and thousands of clogs resound
by the banks of the Sumida, where the
branches sweep off to the river, where the
pleasure-boats ply the stream. The roadways
are dense with the crowding, surging masses,
all kindly, all sauntering leisurely, where
venders of foods and of toys are making a
harvest. It is a living picture of native life,
a panorama to enjoy for ever. In such a
scene of spontaneous pleasure one comes in
touch with real Japan. It is the true life of
the people, with nothing artificial made up
for the tourist.
Every one who could lingered near the
capital, till the time for the great garden-
party of the emperor, which is the society
ambition of the tourist. His Highness waited
for the fairest bloom of his double cherry
28
In the Heart of Japan
blossoms, and the date was vague, until just
before the event, which occurred April 17th.
From Yokohama to Kioto by Boat
There were other regions glowing with
beauty, and there were weird celebrations in
honour of the national flower at the ancient
capital of Kioto, and on the day following the
emperor's party we started for the distant city.
Sheets of rain pattered on the rikshas as we
were whirled toward the wharf, but they
benignly ceased just long enough to transfer
us in a sampan, with the canvas trunk, to the
big boat in the bay. There were few com-
panions on the old Peking which bore us
down to Kobe, and the boat has since been
beached as useless. We lay helpless through
a tiresome day, and the lady who got up feel-
ing " fine as a fiddle " soon succumbed to the
rough passage, and tumbled into her bunk
feeling anything but fine. The old English
lady with high collar, who played the role of
stewardess, said " my dear " through all the
trip, and a bright Sunday morning saw us
in the harbour of Kobe, where I began a
search for the trunk, which seemed irrevo-
cably lost. The space which held it the night
29
A IVoman Alone
we embarked was void of baggage, and, after
long talk and many signs, it was dragged
from an empty cabin, like a guilty stowaway,
and we made a march for the station, to book
for old Kioto, where the wonderful Miyako
Odori was running a merry month of cherry
dances, to the joy of the native and the won-
der of the foreigner.
A Ceremonious Tea-party
The tea ceremony preceded the dance, and
we waited in the anteroom, shod in moccasins
and armed with wooden tickets. The usher
waved us to the inner shrine, where low stools
and lacquer tables lined the walls, and the
guests in solemn silence awaited develop-
ments.
Mincing, but quiet and dignified, five wee
fairies toddled in, each bringing a much-
flowered earthen saucer and a pasty ball
stabbed with a skewer. She dropped her
offering before a guest, bent herself double
in salute, and tottered away. Back and forth
they flitted, like rainbows running across the
carpet, till all were served. Each maid was
in gala gown, and topped by a chignon of
flowers. They relaxed not a muscle, gave no
30
In the Heart of Japan
side glance to the stranger, but lived up to the
important dignity of their mission. These
children of eight years showed the discipline
of the tried soldier, and were far more cor-
rect than the guests. They disappeared, and
all the foreigners looked fearfully at the
snowballs before them.
One green and hungry creature tried to
sample the frosting. She was promptly
thumped and warned by a stage whisper,
" Use your eyes. They only look at it." Peo-
ple smoked freely, and knocked the ashes
into little trays on the table. One gentleman
revealed the mystery of the bamboo tube,
which had so bothered me. He coughed seri-
ously, raised the tube, and replaced it on the
stand. So the tubes were cuspidors within
arm's reach. It does not sound pretty for a
tea-party, but the tubes answered a human
need, and the fleckless floor was never sullied
by a careless aim at a distant spittoon. There
never was a native so debased that he spat
on the spotless matting.
All eyes were on the door as the queen of
night stood on the threshold, wearing long
black robes, with suggestion of colour at neck
and arms. She made a low salutation, and
moved with measured grace to her table
31
A Woman Alone
arrayed with a caldron and exquisite dishes.
She showed her elegant fingers to advantage
as she reached for her utensils with dexterous
precision, and drew them to her at the angle
demanded by the code of tea etiquette ar-
ranged by Hideyoshi and his nobles centuries
before. From her obi she drew a dainty silk
cloth, and folded it with care, ere she dusted
off each dish. Her dignity was courtly; she
seemed utterly oblivious of everything but
that elegant ceremony. With a long ladle she
poured hot water, and with a bamboo wisp
stirred the beverage. A rainbow doll beside
her carried the bowl of powdered liquid to
the nearest guest, and the queen backed, bow-
ing, from the room to replenish her teapot.
Other rainbows glided in with steaming
bowls, and gathered up the tickets, amid many
salaams. The queen returned and made an-
other bowl, which came to me, in line of pro-
cession. Then the statuesque lady waited,
while the natives lapped and sucked, swung
their bowls and caught the last leaf, and it
sounded as if a tidal wave were sweeping
away the bowls and the drinkers. Such pomp
and ceremony over the choky stufif, which
seemed to my uncultivated taste a fit penalty
for murderers, was a strain on the nerves, and
32
In the Heart of Japan
I nearly upset the tea-party descended from
Hideyoshi by casting a merry smile and a
wicked wink at the little waiting-maid, who
fell from dignity into a semi-smothered and
explosive snicker, while the neighbours help-
lessly stared her out of countenance. She
regained her stoicism, and crept up to my
side to innocently ask, "More tea?" My
negative was positive, and she said a kindly
" Thank you," as she grabbed the bowl and
tottered away. In the oppressive silence
which followed no one moved, till the gra-
cious queen of the occasion rose and left the
room, with stately slides and graceful bows.
Then every native drew forth a handkerchief,
and wrapped up the saucers and the frosted
cake. Like souvenir fiends we, too, pocketed
our trophies, and then repaired to the theatre.
The Theatre in Cherry-blossom Season
A rear gallery was reserved for foreigners,
while the natives squatted on their mats on
the floor of the house. The stage ran around
the sides and front. A whine, a wail, which
rose to a whoop, broke through the walls as
the curtain lifted and showed rows of kneel-
ing girls, robed in heliotrope and violet.
33
A Woman Alone
Pound, pound, thump, thump, they beat the
drum-heads, jerking back, with a quick,
right-angled movement holding one stick
straight in air, and dropping the other like
a pile-driver. They were stiff and angular
as puppets pulled by strings. Some held,
against their faces, drums which looked like
hour-glasses, and these the little ladies
spanked with methodical rhythm. A Thomas
concert on the back fence is the only simile
for the dreadful tones produced, screaming
in high falsetto and then chasing down to a
subterranean note, till we shuddered to think
of the suffering of the performers. " Wiauh-
auu-auu, wiau-au-u au-u-u!" they shrieked
and moaned, till we longed for their trials to
end. What at first was funny became sad
and mournful. Tragically they banged on
the right, and dramatically they responded
from the left wing. Pathetic notes in a nasal
twang accompanied the picking and scraping
of the strings, which sounded through three
sad tones, till one felt that " the melancholy
days have come.'^ Demon was pitted against
demon in a sad, mad travesty of music.
Geishas advanced to the front, gesturing
with palm fans, and attitudinizing to every
fantastic pose. They ran away, to reappear
34
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A Woman Alone
Pound, pound, thump, thump, they beat the
drum-heads, jerking back, with a quick,
right-angled movement holding one stick
straight in air, and dropping the other like
a pile-driver. They were stiff and angular
as puppets pulled by strings. Some held,
against their faces, drums which looked like
hour-glasses, and these the little ladies
spanked with methodical rhythm. A Thomas
concert on the back fence is the only simile
for the dreadful tones produced, screaming
in high falsetto and then chasing down to a
subterranean note, till we shuddered to think
of the suffering of the performers. " Wiauh-
auu-auu, wiau-au-u au-u-u!" they shrieked
and moaned, till we longed for their trials to
end. What at first was funny became sad
and mournful. Tragically they banged on
the right, and dramatically they responded
from the left wing. Pathetic notes in a nasal
twang accompanied the picking and scraping
of the strings, which sounded through three
sad tones, till one felt that " the melancholy
days have come." Demon was pitted against
demon in a sad, mad travesty of music.
Geishas advanced to the front, gesturing
with palm fans, and attitudinizing to every
fantastic pose. They ran away, to reappear
34
In the Heart of Japan
with folded fans, which they shook loose
and raised and lowered over their heads and
beside them. Again they ran off, while the
scenes were shifted. There was no attempt
to conceal the changes. Coolies, like artless
children, placed cascades and castles before
the audience. They arranged glittering pal-
aces, and rippling waters fell through the
forest's shade. The airy and fantastic vision
compensated for the agony which our ears
had endured.
The little maids returned with scrolls.
They advanced and retreated till they met a
vapoury line, and pinned their papers in the
air. It reminded one of Orlando as he
pinned sonnets to the trees. There the mis-
sives fluttered and unrolled, in a vision of
pretty colour and form, fantastic valentines,
caught in mid-air. Then the scene changed
to a cherry-blossom realm. Clouds of colour
drooped from above. The midgets reentered
waving and fluttering branches of pink and
white, and a halo of soft light floated above
them. We wondered not that the artistic
people loved their cherry blossoms, that they
revelled in the dreamy beauty, and through
twenty-eight nights of the month of April
squatted content in the presence of the cherry
35
A Woman Alone
dances. In five nightly performances of forty
happy minutes each the little maids created
winsome fairy-land, and held the people
under magic spell; and, for the stranger,
the beating of tom-toms, the spanking of
drum-heads, the sad caterwaul, and the fog-
horn note were forgotten in the beauteous
vision of sifting petals.
Public Procession of Prostitutes
Kioto alone retains a strange remnant of
the barbarism formerly practised, but now
abolished, throughout all the other cities, and
tourists from all quarters planned attendance
at the annual procession of April 21st. It is
a date to be marked and remembered if the
traveller would see the most unique pageant
in the land, but it is not a sight for the prude,
and the ordinary Christian throws away scru-
ples and principles in a measure when he
lends his countenance to the strange, sad
spectacle. Conventional folks would prefer
to be masked, and one who understands the
wherefore of the scene would not care to be
recognized by casual acquaintances. Yet
everybody came, some innocently, and others
knowingly, for the best of people do throw
36
In the Heart of Japan
away conventionality when they try to be in-
telligent travellers. One loses in knowledge
who clings too closely to old rituals in a for-
eign land.
The eventful day dawned in a setting of
gray. If the pent-up torrents fell, woe betide
the tourists' snap-shot, and the gowns of the
marching girls. No one was sure of the
hour, and the uncertain authorities placed it
between two and four. It was risky to put
trust in Oriental figures, and it would be
maddening to miss what one had come so
far to see.
At one P. M. we left the hotel for an end-
less ride, beside the river, along the canal,
through alleys, and among shanties winding
out on to a country road fringed with rice
paddies and mustard fields. At the narrow
gate of the enclosure the multitudes bristled,
and left not a free inch. I squirmed like an
eel through the battling throngs, and pushed
my way up the narrow lane, though coolies
and policemen hit me in the ribs as I ad-
vanced. It was a national crush. Homes and
tea-houses were Qpen to friends and patrons,
railed-off squares were dense with humanity,
and every balcony had its crowds. For a
quarter of a mile we searched up the narrow
37
A Woman Alone
pass for the enclosure of the Kioto House.
" Here, lady, this way," said a kindly voice
in recognition of a patron, and his flag waved
toward me. I jumped the rail and settled in
a front seat.
Two hours we studied the va-et-vient of
the natives. Mothers nursed their babies,
who turned from the breast to coo with con-
tent at the crowds. A careless coolie dropped
a large part of his trousers, and calmly
stooped to gather up his sash, and re-cover
his tawny skin. Neither he nor his friends
felt disturbed. At home that little incident
would have been embarrassing, only it could
not occur. Nothing more natural in Japan
than that a man might drop some of his rai-
ment, which he would regard as a bother,
anyway.
Only once did I notice a shock. The girl
at my side had not taken in the situation, nor
caught the meaning of the term Yoshiwara,
and she innocently exclaimed : " It is all
very queer for a religious ceremony. Why
don't the priests appear? "
"Priests!" I gasped. "There is little use
for them. This is not a temple service, and
there is not much room for religion in the
38
In the Heart of Japan
annual parade of the bad girls of the
brothel."
Injured Innocence subsided, while native
and foreigner jostled together in a scramble
for a place. Coolies on the roof-tops cracked
their witticisms, which the crowd applauded.
At last they were coming. People turned
their eyes and craned their necks toward the
entrance. Bustling policemen made a nerv-
ous attempt to clear the way. The crowd
was hushed. On they came, slowly, a dozen
geishas, in scarlet, tugging at the cordon of
red and white attached to the fanciful flower
chariot. Its tinsel work trembled, and its
slender branches quivered as if they would
shake their soft petals on the crowds. The
flowers were only pretty papers, with the
appearance of a moving garden. The natives
live among flowers and are easy imitators of
the pretty blossoms which they have always
cultivated.
The header of Sin and Her Gay Retinue
The artificial car was the prelude of the
realism to follow. It was succeeded by two
mites, possibly of six years, wearing gay ki-
monos and glossy black chignons, done like
39
A Woman Alone
butterfly's wings. Their skin was laid with
paste and paint, which proclaimed how false
were their lives. Slowly they paced before
their mistress, lifting high their ungainly
clogs. Behind came the Queen of Sin,
shameless leader of infamy in the big city.
She was a bundle of emblazoned iniquity,
paraded through the streets as a glorified
advertisement of human degradation.
The whole procedure was a pitiful com-
mentary on the disgusting depravity of man-
kind. The twentieth century had dawned
since the Son of God had rebuked the woman
of licentious life; yet, piled upon this pin-
nacle of Christian civilization, in an age
which vaunts its purity of thought and holi-
ness of purpose, a nation high in progress
and in respectability produced this public
spectacle, the triumph of the Scarlet Woman,
not as a warning, a horror, and a moral les-
son, but as an iniquitous triumph, the em-
bodiment of vice rampant in the modern
world, decked in costly clothing, dazzling
with gorgeous finery which few could afford,
which only the wicked would wear, a glow-
ing boast of the traffic in human life, a sensu-
ous appeal to every sensual instinct in the
range of human passions, an unblushing,
40
In the Heart of Japan
walking advertisement of the prostitutes'
quarter 1
Christian types from eVery civilized na-
tion were interested spectators. By what mo-
tive they were drawn, only each heart could
answer, but it would be safe to say that nine,
if not ten, in every ten were drawn by mere
curiosity. We could not honestly attach any
high motive to our presence at a scene so
degrading, and the fact of our presence was
a travesty on our boasted purity. We had
come from all the peoples who send their
teachers and their preachers to reform the
heathen world; we had paid high and had
journeyed fast and far; we had endured dis-
comfort and fatigue to partake of this mon-
strous scene of hardened sin. I wondered
what thoughts animated the audience as they
watched the gaudy sirens. Was there a thrill
of pity for the creatures plastered thick in
immoral mud, girls once innocent, who now
paraded their vileness? Was there a feeling
akin to pity in any human heart of the many
who countenanced the sin by their presence?
Did the watching Christians give much
thought to the real and terrible meaning of
the passing pageant? From my own sense of
41
A Woman Alone
shame and sinking of heart, I longed to feel
the pulse of the crowd.
Whatever thought dominated, the visitors
sat in speechless, almost breathless, w^onder
before the queer designs and radiant colours
of these strange costumes. I searched the
face of the leader among the courtesans,
chosen as the first exemplar of her trade.
She vs^as without expression, like a stone
image propelled by a machine. If she
gloated in her questionable honour, if she
delighted in her publicity, who could tell?
It is not given nor permitted to the Japanese
to wear the heart upon the sleeve, and if that
little skull held any thought, it was well hid-
den from the curious world; the Japanese
are skilled in reserve. Her face was plas-
tered in white lead, which gave her the pallor
of a spectre. Her lower lip was dyed deep
carmine, and her upper lip shaded from
brown to black. Her raven hair, shiny with
oil, and drawn high on the Japanese cushion,
was wound with bright coils of wool, inlaid
with beads. Strings of coral dangled about,
and darts of bone and horn formed a halo
to the pallid face. She wore a tiara of silver
tinsel, from which bobbed a garden of arti-
ficial flowers. The decorations were gaudy,
42
In the Heart of Japan
but tawdry and cheap. Many layers of
bright lining peeped up from the open neck.
At equal spaces in the back the brown skin
showed in precise triangles where the white
paint was not applied, and the efifect was
like a very regular picket fence. The accu-
racy of the triangles is a point of high eti-
quette among the girls. She carried her
hands on her hips, and her elbows spread
like wings beneath the robes, supporting the
ponderous garments which fell in heavy folds
to her feet. The brilliant colouring and the
groundwork of embroidery made a mystery
of beauty. Her clogs were six inches high,
deeply notched, and her step was the climax
of stage etiquette. She placed one foot for-
ward, and turned it in around the other, stood
poised, turned this front foot out, and re-
peated the laborious step with the other foot.
She marched with difficulty, holding the
heavy robes which fell persistently about her
feet, which were natural and beautiful. A
people who have never been shod in leather
are not martyrs to corns and bunions, and her
foot was a shapely type, not compressed, but
spread as nature intended, and the fat, pink
toes were tipped by pretty nails. She passed
like a moving statue, bedecked in gay colour.
43
A Woman Alone
She seemed totally unfeeling. Not a side
glance from the tail of her eye did she give
to the thousands lined up to stare her out of
countenance.
Near her walked her ahmah, a womanly
attendant in dark robes, whose duty it was
to foresee the girPs needs. Behind came her
coolie, dressed in flowing green, embroidered
with the crest of her house, a pretty clover
leaf. Above the girl's head he carried a huge
umbrella of oiled paper and bamboo.
For an instant she halted and trembled,
and we wondered if she would fall from her
stilted clogs. Was the honour of heading
the procession overpowering her? Had she
a fear that she would not do credit to her
calling? Was she stage-struck before the
great throngs? Was she faint with the
weight of her robes? Did a latent sense of
shame shake the little body? Certainly this
girl of the public, daubed with paint, and
plastered with paste and with crime so deep
that one questioned if she still had soul or
sense, trembled on her pedestal of shame.
Drops of sweat oozed through the whitewash,
and trickled in streamlets toward the exact
brown triangles. With pats of her silk ker-
chief, the ahmah dried the slimy spots. Care-
44
In the Heart of Japan
fully she placed a hairpin and arranged the
heavy folds that fell about the woman's feet.
The wadded robe was awkward, and per-
versely swung about the ankles ; but, picking
up her garments and taking courage afresh,
the girl passed on.
A Sad Object-lesson
Our eyes turned to the next vanguard of
midgets and to their gay mistress. Sympathy
was strong for these little ones apprenticed
to crime and nurtured in the dens of sin.
They were fated children, doomed to a life
which was not their choice. They were early
candidates for future shame.
Every beautiful shade of colour passed in
the gay gowns. Deep carmine, royal purple,
sky-blue, Nile-green, scarlet, heliotrope, like
waves of light, were woven in marvellous
designs, shot with gold thread, and glittering
with fanciful effects. A huge peacock spread
his proud wings in rich embroidery. The
lotus, the iris, and the cherry loomed in a
blaze of beauty on the gowns. The stork
stood tall among the reeds. Just an hour and
five minutes were consumed in the passing
of the glittering pageant, which contained
45
A Woman Alone
only ten girls and their personnel. Closely
I looked for the hidden history in the face
of each courtesan. I never saw pleasure, not
a vestige of joy. If the face were not a blank,
it stood for stony indifference, as if the girl
were driven blindly on through empty space.
Sometimes there were pathos and sadness, a
hunger and longing in the eyes which might
never again be lighted by hope. Occasionally
the girl spoke briefly to her ahmah, but
always with a quiet dignity. Not once did
a girl show consciousness of the staring
crowds.
" They are prostitutes, but very great
ladies, so grand that they often keep their
noblest patron waiting, and will not see him
till it suits their pleasure," said a guide. The
remark was a key to the situation in Japan.
The lost girl, isolated, and set apart in her
peculiar quarter, yet held mastery among her
guests. She was sure of patronage. The
highest and the noblest would bid for her,
and, while she held her popular rank, she
could indulge her petty whims and fancies,
and the nobles themselves must do her bid-
ding.
If the reckless foreigner was not awed and
subdued by the thrilling object-lesson, at least
46
In the Heart of Japan
he made his comments in hushed voice.
Among the visitors silence seemed golden,
and speech was the tinkling brass that jarred.
We had much to fill the thought. The Japa-
nese took it lightly. They were used to it,
and it meant a gala-day, one more picnic
added to their outings, which they Would
not have missed for anything. Babies in gay
kimonos cooed and crowed in delight, and
reached their fat hands for the passing gew-
gaws. Grown-ups chattered in their heed-
less way, happy as if watching a circus.
Rough coolies on the roof-tops shouted deri-
sive insults and were loudly applauded. Re-
gardless of praise or censure, the living
images glided on, till the last was a bright
mass of colour and gold embroidery in the
distance. Mothers strapped their babies on
their backs, and I wondered if many of those
laughing little ones were destined to a sim-
ilar fate. Coolies slid from the roofs. As
if stunned by a too bright light, or by a blow
in the conscience, we pulled ourselves to-
gether. To us the spectacle seemed sad and
revolting; we knew that Mephisto had
tempted Faust with the houris of hell.
47
A Woman Alone
CHAPTER III
SIGHTSEEING
A Typical Temple
We alighted at the leafy station in the hills,
and were hailed with the cry of " Riksha,
riksha," by the little men in dish-pan hats.
We knew what we wanted, and when we had
extracted from their light vocabulary the
words, " Temple bell, pine-tree, boat," we
hoped nothing further from their scanty Eng-
lish so far inland, and we settled down for
a trundle through a labyrinth of lanes lined
with stalls of china Buddhas, and past sheds
where tea and sake tempted the traveller.
I was temple-tired, for often had I passed
through that red and black sign of Shinto
faith, the picturesque torii, which stands be-
fore the temple where natives drink from the
holy well, and toss a penny through the grate,
as they pull the bell-rope and clap their
48
In the Heart of Japan
hands to call the god's attention to the gift,
as they mumble the prayer, " Amida-Buddha,
Amid^-Buddha." Behind the lattice sits
great Buddha, covered with spit-balls, which
are the prayers of the faithful, and have been
answered if the little wads have stuck to the
god. He is often so covered with the pejlets
that he looks like a modern Job, bursting
with boils.
Traditions of a Temple Bell
Beneath a tiresome flight of steps, the view
stretched out to thatched roofs wrapped in
purple and white wistaria, and flashes of
colour lay beside the pearly line of road
which ran beside the blue lake, whose deep
green hills rose like protecting giants by the
edge. Descending to the sombre forest, by
paths of velvet moss, we sought the monas-
tery bell in the thicket. Generally the
tongueless temple bell has its separate home,
and stands unmoved till it resounds to the
push of the big battering ram which hangs
at its side, as the devotee offers up his prayer.
Not to pray or to push the beam had we
rolled through the forest, but to hunt the tra-
dition of the hillside, where famous Benkei,
49
A Woman Alone
bold bell robber and sacrilegious kidnapper,
had performed his daring deed. He was a
wicked giant of the twelfth century, eight
feet tall, with the strength of a hundred men.
While trying to kill a worthy hero, he found
that his would-be victim was an abler fencer
than himself, and, from admiration for supe-
rior power, he became the hero's devoted
henchman. Benkei settled on the schoolboy
trick of depriving the old monks of their
monastery bell, so he carried it to the moun-
tain's top, and beat a hideous racket all the
night. The despairing priests pleaded for
their treasure, and he promised to surrender
the bell if they would make him all the bean
porridge he could eat. So they filled him a
soup tureen five feet in diameter. Tragic
pictures show Benkei in every stage of his
crime, and sake cups are sold in triplets to
impress his infamy, showing him scrambling
wildly up the mountain bearing the big bell,
sitting on the height banging the tom-toms,
and again delighting in his big porringer.
Anothef fable claims that the old bell was
stolen by the monks of a neighbouring mon-
astery, but to them it gave only the pleading
wail, " I want to go back to Miidera," and
in wrath and fear the holy thieves flung it
50
In the Heart of Japan
down the slopes, as if it were a thing unclean.
We may believe any hard history of a bell
which is so full of seams and scars.
An Aged Fine-tree
From woodland we rolled to the highway,
flanked by sparkling waters, and by gardens
green with rice and barley, golden with mus-
tard, and tangled with red lupin. It was the
wheelman's paradise, with a road that
stretched like a silvery ribbon, fringed by
dark violets, where happy snakes blinked
dreamily in graceful coils, or scampered in
the crannies of a bridge.
" The pine-tree, the pine-tree, that is the
sacred pine," we shouted, for its name and
fame are wide in the land, as its size and
age are great. Long ago it ceased to have
a birthday, but probably for more than a
thousand years its green branches have waved
in the air. In the sands of a plain beside the
lake it stands propped with tender care, loved
and worshipped throughout the empire.
Stout beams support its aged limbs, and
stone columns prop its bending branches.
Decaying spots are filled with cement, and a
tiny roof forms a protecting watershed to
51
A Woman Alone
shield the top from raging storms. The vet-
eran tree is a holy treasure of Japan, and
before it is a Shinto shrine, where the pil-
grim prays. Whoever doffs the hat to age
may stand in reverence before this majestic
monarch of the plains, who has reared his
head so long in defiance of the ravages of
weather and the withering blight of time.
Frail man shrivels up before such endurance.
The majestic pine has seen the centuries come
and go, has witnessed the rise and fall of
dynasties, the overthrow of governments, the
fluctuations of thought, the advance of civi-
lization, the changes of religion, the fate of
war, the destruction of peoples. Amid all the
strife the noble tree has quietly, steadily,
peacefully grown. Its spreading branches,
two hundred and eighty feet in width, tell
the lesson of patient, persistent purpose, calm
and unmoved amid tempests. Power in re-
pose is the suggestive hint to its admirers.
The guardian of the tea-house spread mat-
tings on the little table, and prepared to serve
the guests. Our hotel luncheon was most
generous, and I carried a goodly portion to
the rikmen in their booth. They returned
abundant thanks, and a few moments later
gave us a desperate scare, as they came wind-
52
In the Heart of Japan
ing through the bushes. Little does the
abrupt and hurried West comprehend the
polite and gentle East, which is never too
rushed for an overflow of good manners.
Often are we overwhelmed and humiliated
by the kindly courtesy of the Orient. Too
often we are brutally suspicious and crtielly
distrustful, when the intent of the native is
all goodness. Instantly, as we saw the dish-
pan Jehus coming, we of little faith were on
the defensive.
" We are here to stay a bit, and to enjoy
life. Those base men need not think they
can trundle us back this minute," said my
chum.
'' Alas for the rarity
Of Christian charity
Under the sun ! "
No such unworthy thought as trundling
back had percolated their tiny brains. With
their dish-pans in their hands, they were
smiling blandly, bowing low and scraping,
as they said a friendly " Thank you " for
the lunch devoured, while we blushed to
think we knew so little of table etiquette that
we did not even recognize it when we saw
it coming toward us. The traveller might
everywhere save himself '' heap-lots " worry,
53
A Woman Alone
if he did not anticipate the evil which will
never come his way.
The hake Btwa Canal
One commencement day, a college graduate
of Tokio set all other graduates a worthy
example, as he refused to sweep the fields of
oratory with the usual flowery platitudes, and
dealt with matters practical, that his erudi-
tion might be a blessing to his land. His
essay, for the College of Engineering, gave
birth to the Lake Biwa Canal, opened in
1890, as an invaluable highway for men and
matter. The authorities saw the worth of
his idea, and appointed the essayist to exe-
cute the scheme. The engineer's right arm
became paralyzed while drawing his plans,
and he finished them with the left hand. It
was a gigantic feat to carry the water up to
Kioto by a canal seven miles long, which
included three tunnels of a total length of
two and a half miles through the very heart
of the mountain.
The ticket man was determined to send
us off in a private boat, perhaps thinking we
might not be pleasing to his countrymen, but
we were bent on native ways, and paid sixteen
54
In the Heart of Japan
sen, eight cents each, for a place on the floor
of the clumsy scow. This meant travelling
first-class, and the natives remonstrated wildly
when we made a mistaken tumble into their
second-class compartment. Being travelling
aristocrats, we must labour to roll over the
gunwale, at the prow, and monopolize our
own side. They would have nought to do
with such high-priced people. The roof was
removed to give us room to sit up, and the
natives prepared to enjoy us, as they squatted
close, giggled and grinned, eyed us tenderly,
and remarked our every move. With a
rhythmical thud of the oar, we were sculled
up-stream, and daylight disappeared as we
slipped into the tunnel. A single lantern in
the centre of the boat made the near dark-
ness visible. The long passage was of Egyp-
tian blackness, and I peered ahead for any
glimmer which might relieve the gloom. A
single star gleamed out in the distance. It
grew brighter, larger, nearer. Was it day-
light? Were we coming to free air and open
sky beyond the weighty brick which walled
us in beneath strong hills? There came a
rush of waters and a sound of turning wheels.
A dark object shot past, and the fleeting
spark revealed a nude man pacing the boat,
55
A Woman Alone
as he pulled the cable which drew it down
the incline, in a revolving cradle. The mid-
night pall settled down again, and we floated
on, in the mystery of darkness. The boat-
man's thud at the stern was the only sound
on the still waters.
The nervous woman or the tactless man
would be out of place in the dark tunnel, for
it is very gruesome. The chum, prone on
the floor at my side, was pale and restless,
as we swung into the sunshine.
" Are you sick? " she feebly gasped.
" Sick in a cradle, the water is a sheet of
glass! " I said, and she answered mildly, " It
is many a year since my cradle days, but
this thud strikes terror to my head and stom-
ach and racks every nerve in my body."
Indeed it was a test, and the second-class
people were moaning and groaning, leaning
over the gunwale and offering up their
agony.
Shooting the Rapids at Arashiyama
Old Kioto and its numberless suburbs are
a ravishing feast for the rover, and one
guards well his precious time. We had been
told that " the trip to the Rapids is a wicked
56
In the Heart of Japan
waste of precious Kioto time." Much is
to be forgiven, if this rash statement should
deprive a tourist of one of the fairest out-
ings in the realm. Other adventurers had
said, ''Do not fail to take it. The scenery^
repays by its charm, even if the season be dry,
and the Rapids tame." Another's experience
is never a sure test, as it is the personal fac-
tor which must solve every problem.
I was fortunate to make the shoot in time
of heavy freshet. " We have had no tele-
gram to warn us, so we know you can get
through, but the waters will be very high
and dangerous, it will cost you more, and,
if you have the time to wait, you would
better delay a day," was the advice which
decided us to " stand not on the order of
our going, but go at once!' The following
day, the mad waters had abated two feet, and
the rousing sport that goes with danger was
all lost.
A railway, cutting its course through
mountain gorges, carried us to the head
waters. Naturally the picked men would
be in the first boats, and, plunging from
car into riksha, we were rattled over the
rocky road to the wharf, where we suc-
cumbed to the ways of the Orient and dick-
57
A Woman Alone
ered and chaffered in long-drawn Japanese
style. Extra men, and rising waters, put a
higher price on the boats, and the trip had
jumped three yen in value, but who would
begrudge the leap in frenzied finance with
the promise of sport ahead? For eight yen,
fifty, we received a streaky document, black-
ened from the ink-pot of a priestly manager.
We gawkily dragged our skirts over the
stockade of the clumsy flat scow. They gave
us chairs and mattings to protect against
splashes over the gunwale. Seven sturdy
natives leaped aboard, and our quartette was
ofif, the first of the fleet, to try its fate in
the whirling stream. For a mad hour we
were tossed by the torrent, tearing on in
our course which was bounded by rocks that
formed a channel for the centre. Bright
sun and cloudless sky made an ideal day for
a country outing. Fluttering birds sang a
pean of triumph to the storm that was past.
Coppery maples and flowering azaleas
blazed in beauty, and clouds of cherry blos-
soms drifted off on the breeze. Bits of
Norway came in view, as we dashed past
a forest of towering pine. It was a mad
race with the waters.
The trip began with the pretty and the
58
In the Heart of Japan
picturesque, and suggested passive anecdote.
The beefy Australian, with a bushwhacker's
accent, tenderly told us the cause of the
American Revolution. " The colonies re-
fused to send England troops, to aid her
in a foreign war, and so the motherland
resolved to subdue the naughty children.'^
The speaker was a " formless fairy," but the
yarn was a bit too gigantic for modern his-
tory.
" Guess you have confused it with the
war in Africa. The Boer war was so long-
drawn out that you thought it was the same
as the American Revolution," said a trav-
eller.
A sweet little English girl saw that there
was a misunderstanding of history, and
meekly suggested, ^' There was something
about stamps, too, which caused some of the
trouble."
" Is that so, something about stamps, to
cause a revolution? Do you mean a stam-
pede of the people, or simple postage stamps?
Did the rage for collecting exist in those
days?" asked the historian.
Scenic delights caused a lull in statistics,
till the bushwhacker remarked that " Amer-
59
A Woman Alone
leans were wont to go over Niagara Falls
in tubs!"
The fat lady from the West here lost her
balance, but remarked, '' Australia is a bit
off the civilized route, if such fairy-tales
are credited by its countrymen."
As we slipped into a foaming maelstrom,
and eddied and whirled among towering
rocks, all sparring ceased, and the fat lady's
eyes dropped out on her face and her wide
mouth stretched as if to take in a tidal wave.
Three men at the prow tugged mightily at
the oars, pulling themselves up on the cross-
beams and straining at the oarlocks. Two
men poled us off, as we swirled in the seeth-
ing caldron. Men in the stern drove their
bamboo rods against the huge boulders. A
sharp command, a quick retort, the speedy
stroke, the strained eye, proved the desper-
ate effort of the men to keep us from the
whirling rapids. Bang! broke the waves,
and the scow swung around to a monster rock,
and took a shipload of water. Swamping
or splitting would soon end our troubles in
the wild stream. There would be no reck-
oning of results by him who was thrown to
the mercies of the torrent and banged on the
crags below. Mattings were useless against
60
In the Heart of Japan
beetling waves which drenched us with their
spray. We were the tossed-about toy of Na-
ture. She would buffet us well, for daring
her frenzied mood.
But the oarsmen were crafty, and out of
the wild abyss we steered, to catch breath
for a few peaceful seconds, while a native
swabbed the boat, and we gloried in the dis-
tant hills. Then we leaped into another
wild chute of seething water, and renewed
the fight with the breakers, drifting to the
jagged rocks, and whirling in the dizzying
rapids. We swung through alive, while the
shapeless Australian and the obese West-
erner, in a friendship born of the nearness
to tragic death, clung to each other in mute
despair. Again, they swung apart, in eager
effort to ballast the boat. It was an hour of
sensations and thrills, filled with experiences
which made time seem eternity. Then we
moored at the tea-house, picturesquely set
among flowers and foliage, which border
the wild river.
The Wonderful Wrestlers of Japan
In the days of Bible story came the
throngs to the river to be baptized. To-day,
6i
A Woman Alone
Kioto's river-bed is the wrestler's play-
ground. A thousand natives squatted in the
large circle of the thatched tent, which was
percolated by a glimmer of sunlight. For-
eigners paid extra for uncomfortable chairs,
on an inclined plane, a concession to civili-
zation which sent the victim sliding at the
most thrilling moment. Wrestlers who had
won fame and glory before admiring throngs
in the winter bouts at Tokio, came for the
May season at Kioto, when the tournament
was held by the Athletic Association, whose
colours, a royal purple with white crest,
draped the central stand. In two opposite
corners sat the staid judges, ancient worthies,
now passe in the art, who looked coldly on
the young aspirants, and longed to give the
youngsters many a point, had they not been
cruelly shelved from the ring. Outside the
other corners were large tubs of water, with
long wooden dippers, where adversaries re-
freshed themselves before the fight. Pack-
ages of tissue-paper, hanging above, served
as handkerchiefs or towels.
With a sepulchral wail, and the air of an
undertaker at a funeral, the ringmaster
called the opponents. In dreary monotone
he applauded their pugilistic powers, and
62
A
A MOST DISTINGUISHED WRESTLER OF JAPAN
In the Heart of Japan
from either side sprang a giant, naked, ex-
cept for a purple loin cloth and a fringe of
stiff, silk spikes, which bristled like quills
when the battle raged. His hair, gathered
to a war-lock at the top, was tied with a
cord above which it fluttered an inch, like
the ruffled feathers of a fighting cock.
On the stage, each antagonist planted his
hands firmly on his knees, stretched to a
base like the Colossus of Rhodes, lifted in
turn each leg to the highest pitch, and
slammed it down with a thud. The extraor-
dinary gesture seemed a weighty threat.
Then the men faced each other, squatting
on their heels, and glowering into each
other's eyes, like a couple of game roosters.
After intense seconds of bated breath and
desperate scowls, one flew at the other in
fury, and, if the other was in no mood for
war, the battle was off, and they retired to
a corner to spit and drink, to blow the nose
and mop themselves down with tissue-paper.
Such was the farcical prelude of the play.
Americans would have cried " Go ahead.
No muffing. Play ball." But Japanese life
is not strenuous, and the patient people had
time and to spare, and all this was stage
etiquette, which added to the dignity. Fi-
A'
A JVoman Alone
nally the contestants made a grab, and
wheeled about in frenzy. A thump in the
body and a slap in the face seemed the
proper antic, and a desperate dig for the
line of fringe despoiled a man of his spikes.
If the breech-cloth itself were dislodged,
there was a stay of proceedings till the man
was properly tied up. As the heroes buf-
feted and clinched, the ringman capered
about like a maniac, giving sharp, staccato
notes on two keys, which meant, " Take care,
take care, take care," that they should not
step out of the ring. The ringman had no
fancy that a wrestler should collapse on his
hands, and he would call a draw at the most
exciting point in the battle, if the combat-
ants seemed winded. To throw the opponent,
or push him from the ring, was each man's
aim, and in wild moments the two stood
clinched in fierce struggle, and neither
gained an inch. Their brawny backs, raised
in knots of muscle, looked like the roots of
gnarled oaks. There were moments of tre-
mendous pose, when the two giants clung
moveless, with held breath, neither giving
up his grip nor being able to dislodge his
man. Then, by a quick and nimble trick,
a victim would go spinning over the line,
64
• * i 3
••• . • J >.
THE PRELUDE TO A WRESTLING BOUT
In the Heart of Japan '
or take a tumble into the audience. They
were good-natured in defeat and modest in
victory, as they strode down the aisles to
their dens, while once more the manager
waved his wand, and wailed the triumph
of the coming heroes.
During four captivating hours we watched
these giants of Japan. The lucky rikmen
had been hired by the day, they had bowled
us five short minutes, and their entree was
paid by their patrons to Japan's great na-
tional show. Little brown boys, who were
aspiring athletes, bared their hard chests,
and spread themselves with pride, to prove
their probability of future fame and prowess.
For centuries, the profession has been
honoured in the empire, and, so soon as a
boy develops any aptitude, he is set apart
for a trained wrestler. Often the glory of
success descends with the ancestral name,
and is a goodly heritage and tradition of
old families, so that the name is a synonym
of renown among the brotherhood. The code
of etiquette is most exacting, and details
which seem a burlesque to the foreigner
are prime essentials in the ring. When we
consider the national sport of Spain, loath-
some and blood-curdling, revolting to all
65
A IVoman Alone
decency, we feel that pagan Japan has a
simple pastime which ennobles and exalts
its people.
Like dessert to a good dinner, the great
champions were reserved for the finals, and
number three advanced for his test. He
was a moving mountain of adipose, tipping
the scales at 365 pounds, and we wondered
how such a mass of fat could show agility.
His girdle measured two yards, and he
could not see far enough over himself to
sight the silk fringe below the welts of fat
that rolled about his belt. His opponent was
little, quick, and wiry, a muscular pigmy,
beside this giant. We wondered how in the
name of all Japanese gymnastics, Fatty
could reach over his ponderous self and find
the fellow. It seemed a case of the elephant
and the flea. The dwarf walked around the
perambulating mountain, sized him up, as
if to say, ^^ What am I up against? " and
decided to buck up against the monster.
Fatty simply shoved his great self against
the little chap and pushed him off the stage.
The second champion weighed 280 pounds,
and quickly disposed of his victim. The
first champion towered like Goliath, six feet
seven inches in the air, and by a few speedy
66
In the Heart of Japan
strokes tucked his daring opponent under
his arm. The people thundered their ap-
plause, as the name and fame of these con-
querors were wide in the land. All Japan
knows and honours the great champions, who
throw their fellow men. The wrestlers are
supported partly by gate receipts, and es-
pecially by patrons, who are very generous
to their favourites. The natural result fol-
lows, and the wrestlers have no pride about
begging. If an athlete spots a friend among
the spectators he is very sure to " touch "
him, and quickly our little guide dodged his
" friend," the wrestler, that he might retain
his purse.
With wails and moans of high falsetto,
the annunciator declared the next day^s
entries. The harrowing howls awed the na-
tive audience, and we waited for the climax,
promised in the " apron procession." To
the novice, a line of fat men and tall men,
richly gowned in aprons only, is a unique
sight, especially when nothing but cords and
tassels dangle in the back. The men ap-
proached the stage from two opposite lines,
jvearing apron fronts of glorious colour, rich
brown, brilliant red, deep green, old gold.
There were magnificent shades and borders,
67
A Woman Alone
fringe, cord, and tassels of dazzling gold.
Many a gorgeous apron was woven with a
thousand dollars' worth of bullion, to give
this golden shimmer. The fat old lady from
the East promptly dubbed them " portieres,"
and added, ^' Such a pity, that the portieres
could not hang all around." But, though
each frontispiece had cost a fortune, there
were greedy people who did not have
enough. The wrestlers bowed low, on the
stage, to their admiring friends, and they
did look a trifle queer to the stranger, as
they stalked back to their lairs, clad in a
front rainbow and a wave of gold embroid-
ery, with a little stick fringe to cover the
nude simplicity of the rear. As Fatty
waddled away, gorgeous cords and tassels
rolled about to find a resting-place on his
ridges of pork, and I wondered how a man
of his proportions could raise muscle enough,
enmeshed in the fat, to proclaim himself an
athlete, since our notion of that character is
anti-fat and sinewy frame.
68
A WRESTLER IN HIS STATE APRON
In the Heart of Japan
CHAPTER IV
AN OVERLAND JOURNEY
Economic Travel
Everybody was in line and nobody miss-
ing, bootblacks, waiters, porters, a solid
phalanx, waited for a fee as I left the beauti-
ful Kioto hotel. The creature who had been
least in evidence was pushed to the front
and introduced as " Your bath-boy, madam,"
but my hand was already in my pocket for
his profit, and showers of blessings followed
my showering coin, as I rolled away. How
I wished myself a grand duchess, to scatter
bountifully of my largess, for when it re-
quires so little to make the humble happy,
one ought to give that little freely.
I was in Japan to see and not shirk, to
enjoy the natives and to know their ways,
therefore I abjured the first-class wagon.
Exclusive Americans travelled thus, and I
69
A IVoman Alone
had not come to Japan to study them, so I
booked with the humbler people, third class,
because there was not any fourth, and I was
with the rank and file of the country. It was
always smoky, and generally crowded, and
the seats were hard and narrow, but here was
life, and it was not bad, and I decidedly liked
it. Fat babies from over their mammas'
shoulders grinned and cooed, and tugged at
my plumes; perhaps my next neighbour
threw back his kimono and scratched his
bare leg, far above the knee, but it seemed
so natural, when the leg needed scratching,
that I did not object.
An Attempted Theft
The successful traveller aims to adapt
himself to the ways of the country, and I
only questioned them, when a suave chap in
long sleeves tried to relieve me of my watch.
Even the delights of Japan might end in
robbery, as in other lands. He leaned across,
to get the view, and incidentally, the watch,
for I felt a sharp tugging at my belt. I
grabbed for the chain and lifted his hand
directly from the guard. He gazed on me
with superb coolness, then stared into space
70
In the Heart of Japan
with the abstraction of a Buddhist priest;
but already he had cut a strand in the chain,
and a little lighter touch would have sepa-
rated the watch and its owner for ever. Ten
years ago, a watch was almost unknown to
the native, but now every man and many a
woman carries a ticker within the obi, often
enshrined in a chamois bag.
Native Manners on the Railway
Second class was softer for the hard trip
of sixteen hours between Kioto and Yoko-
hama, and the centre aisle had a long seat
on each side, like a tram. Only elegant
and wealthy Japs could travel so, and to
watch them was a pleasure. Such profusion
of politeness in parting! Each friend
doubled up at right angles, and watched the
other from the tail of his eye, to see if the
vis-a-vis continued to bend. They flopped
again and again, doing the jackknife act a
half-dozen times, resting the hands on the
knees, and bathed in sweet smiles, as they
poured out a sequence of compliments and
good wishes.
One dear old couple filled the aisle in
these double-up antics and chattered their
71
A Woman Alone
blessings as they blocked the way, and all
travel was suspended, till the ankle-deep
bows were ended. When her little man dis-
appeared for a time, the old lady stretched
full length and fell asleep. When he found
his domain thus preempted and populated,
and his rights infringed, he looked dismayed
and scratched his head. There were three
ways out of the trouble. He could take the
vacant seat opposite, put his luggage on the
floor, or wake the little lady. The last
course best became his dignity, so he pulled
her leg, pinched her feet, and tickled her
toes to signify his presence. She opened her
sleepy little eyes, realized the wrong she had
done, drew herself up close like a bundle
of cramps, and the loving couple settled
down in content.
They all carried handsome rugs to pro-
tect the kimonos, and often they first spread
a newspaper to protect the rug. They were
beautifully gowned, and many boasted a
shining solitaire. Two crested ladies in soft
silk underdress wore dark cloth over kimo-
nos. They fished in the depths for pipe
and tobacco, and tugged serenely at the three
little pufifs which the pipe held. Then pat,
pat, pat, they knocked out the ashes. Next
72
In the Heart of Japan
they tried the musical mysteries of a mouth-
piece. There was a prolonged upper note,
with a sudden jerk, and the instrument was
switched to the other end of the mouth. I
smiled in sympathy with the operatic effect,
and the ladies giggled and fell on each
other's necks in weighty embarrassment.
For hours little women knelt at the win-
dow, intent on the fleeting landscape, and
others curled their feet on the seat, and
dropped their tired heads on their arms.
Rows of wooden clogs ran down the aisle.
The semi-European, wrapped in a rig of
all nations, doffed his foreign shoes, and
doubled up, au naturel.
A loving couple, done up in one rug,
slept soundly, feet to feet. When he decided
to change his kimono, he waked up his wife.
She dreamily dove in the carpet-bag, where
numerous lovely gowns were stored, and he
did himself up like a mummy in a fourth
layer of elegance. She passed him an air-
pillow, in dainty silk cover. He returned it,
and I wondered what was the matter with
the wind-bag. Air was lacking. She blew
it up and returned it. His lordship conde-
scended to put it under his head and fall
asleep. Her service wa« not sad nor perfunc-
73
A IVoman Alone
tory. She cared for him as if he was her
infant. This was why she existed. It was
all part of the legal compact called mar-
riage, which may be broken at any time, by
either party who is tired of the contract.
The c?ar was soon strewn with beer bottles,
milk bottles, and various debris, and hourly
a boy with a scratchy broom gave a
sweep-up, as the cuspidors spilled over with
burnt matches, cigarette stumps, and ashes.
Expectorating was all done from the car
window.
Chow was bought at the stations, in wooden
boxes of rice, squid, beans, cold potato,
everything dear to the native palate. Rows
of teapots ran down the car, and venders
were strapped with trays of earthen teapots
and cups, and the travellers indulged in the
native beverage, and giggled delightedly in
relating funny yarns. Rivers of left-over
tea ran the length of the car, and the tea-
pots danced a merry jig.
One man had brought a gargling appara-
tus, arid regularly knelt at the window to rinse
his mouth and squirt a mighty stream at the
surrounding country, where cdMies stood
knee-deep in water, turning up rich mud and
slime. Every foot of ground was utilized in
74
In the Heart of Japan
the wee patches, square, oblong, triangular,
crescent, which fitted into the space. Rice
and barley were plentiful, and beyond the
low-lying farms were thatched huts, which
grew roofs of grass. The valleys were
walled by towering hills of maples, pines,
and cherries.
A Vain Attempt to "Hustle the East''
A Japanese train never runs, and three
hours of slow trot landed us at Nagoya,
memorable for my first and last attempt at
American rush. " Make the rikman hurry.
I have a date, and can't wait here all day,"
I said, impatiently. The boss blazed like
a fiery dragon. " Veil, you get so mad, you
no can wait for dis, you go fine nodder
riksha," and I answered meekly: "Dear
friend, you do not know me. I am not the
least bit mad. This is only a gentle Ameri-
can hustle. If you want me to be real mad,
I will show you the difference." " Veil, you
vas almos' mad," he insisted. " You seem
jus' like mad when you say, ^ No can wait,
mus' have riksha quick, hurry up.' " I
learned my lesson and I always waited, for
it was useless " to hustle the East."
75
A JVoman Alone
passed them on the chop-sticks. He poured
me sake, but, alas! it was hot, and cold sake
is so delicious! They brought a long bottle
and deep glasses. I thought it was cham-
pagne, and greedily accepted. Buncoed
again! It was only native beer! I drank,
and when my vis-a-vis asked for the glass,
as I was not up on etiquette, I thought it
was to be refilled. Promptly I passed it,
without draining. Terrible faux pas! My
host looked sadly in the depths, consulted
a neighbour, filled and drank, and drained
the last drop into the waste bowl, refilled,
and passed me the foaming cup. That was
friendship, that was form, to drink from the
same glass.
Would I like music and the dance? He
touched the strings of the koto, and pointed
to the geishas. Old music women mounted
the stage and touched off minor notes of their
instruments, and the girls whirled about like
gaudy butterflies, fluttered their fans, and
stamped their feet, and waved their wings
in airy revolutions. This was high art, and
rounds of applause went up from the club.
A dark-robed maid pinched my arm and
pulled my sleeve to tell me to go home.
Amid a shower of bows, I dragged myself
78
In the Heart of Japan
from the floor, and was set on a mat in a
dark room below, and given more tea and
cake, as they seemed to think there was no
limit to my eating capacity. I devoutly
kneeled, scraped my head on the floor, and
bowed myself away, wondering where there
was a club in America which would so cor-
dially have received a Japanese woman who
blundered into its private picnic on an an-
nual festival.
A Night in a Wayside Inn
At night I landed alone at a hamlet where
there was no word of English. A coolie
carried my bag a few feet, slung it to an-
other, and demanded his fee. " Oh, no,
carry all way. I no pay now, pay at hotel,"
I said. He understood, sheepishly grinned,
and picked up the bag.
At the threshold of the inn the entire
family pounced upon me for my shoe leather.
It was a clear case of " pulling the leg." I
was fast being distorted and disjointed, so
I indicated that I would do my own undress-
ing. The shoes were hidden away, and I
pattered down the hall to the most remark-
able hotel room, for emptiness and cleanli-
79
A IVamn
h m ddidoMl They braight a
OB die rhnp.fiiclu
x% hot, .
a
(l^Kdily ttootpted. i
1 It w« cMljr tttlifc bcerl
Md wlM aqr Wf-i^N:! Mked for
iS I mm MC «p M ctiqiieftc, I th i^ht it
«ti ID be refilled Pr
TcrriDic laiix
Mdly m ifae HrniK*
r, filled aod dr.) ''t\^A
Ae 1«M diPp iiMo die wait
me die fotir was
form, to annK . ni the
Weald I like hmkic tnd the dtni He
leeched tut itringi of the koco, tnd )inted
ID Ac fdAii. Old music women i
dit Mfe eed loeched ^
leMreeiMeik eed tfie k***' «^iiiii\.%i «• hkc
fiedy bellerflict, fluttered dieir fa and
•ttRiped dietr feet, and waved diei vings
10 airy revolutions Thii was hiuh and
roeoda of applaine went up from th lub.
A dark-robed maid pinched my a
polled mv sleeve to tell me to gc
Amid a shower of bows, I dragged yself
78
and
ome.
In te Heart of Japan
from the floor, and was set on a mat in a
darkroom below, and given more tea and
cake, as they seemed to think there was no
limit to my eating capacity. I devoutly
kneeM, scraped my head on the floor, and
bowd myself away, wondering where there
was club in America which would so cor-
diall have received a Japanese woman who
blunered into its private picnic on an an-
nual estival.
A Night in a Wayside Inn
Atnight I landed alone at a hamlet where
then was no word of English. A coolie
carrid my bag a few feet, slung it to an-
othe. and demanded his fee. " Oh, no,
carr all way. I no pay now, pay at hotel,"
I sai. He understood, sheepishly grinned,
and ticked up the bag.
A the threshold of the inn the entire
famiy pounced upon me for my shoe leather.
It ws a clear case of " pulling the leg." I
was fast being distorted and disjointed, so
I indcated that I would do my own undress-
ing. The shoes were hidden away, and I
pattred down the hall to the most remark-
able hotel room, for emptiness and cleanli-
79
A iVoman Alone
ness, which I had ever entered. It contained
absolutely nothing but the spotless white
matting on the floor. As a concession to my
foreign ways, they brought a chair and
table.
I proceeded to my usual method of iadi-
cating famine, by placing one hand on my
stomach and the other on my mouth. Here
was a case where ordinary " signs and
omens " failed. They took the feat as dra-
matic attitudinizing, and doubled up with
mirth. Then I tried high art, and cackled
like a hen, I thought. They did not rec-
ognize the barn-yard note, and fell into more
merriment. I felt very much like a con-
tinuous vaudeville, but made another ven-
ture, this time in the realm of objective art,
and drew a hen, as I supposed, with eggs,
as these seemed simple, natural food in the
country. But they did not recognize the
bird, and indulged in more convulsions.
Certainly the professional clown never ex-
tracted more spontaneous applause from his
admiring audience. At last I hit upon the
word " omelet." They knew its meaning,
and they flew off to save my life. In a
moment the procession pattered back, wav-
ing a plate and chop-sticks, with a slippery,
80
In the Heart of Japan
semi-fluid, semi-liquid concoction, which
they proceeded to watch me eat. I could
not wiggle the sticks, and the omelet was
fast running away from itself. I thought
I must drink it, when there was a voluble
discussion, and the procession ran off, to
return brandishing a soup-spoon, evidently
left by a foreigner. So I spooned away my
omelet, while the little girls leaned their
elbows on the table and discussed my finery.
Then I attempted to indicate fatigue.
" Tired, sleepy," I said, as I laid my face in
my hands and drew long breaths. This was
a simpler proposition, and they dragged in
the heavy futans, spangled with peacocks
and gold thread. They said a gentle " sayo-
nara," and pattered away, leaving me alone
with the bedquilts. In this sequestered cor-
ner, queerly enough, there were electric
lights and bells. The partitions were slid-
ing screens of rice-paper, naturally without
lock or key, and about a third way up from
the floor ran a transparent pane, so that the
occupant was clearly visible to any one pass-
ing. I placed my letter of credit under my
pillow, and the dirk which I had bought
on Teapot Hill, resolved that whoever
sought the letter would get the dirk first 1
8i
A Woman Alone
Not a wink of sleep was in store for the
foreigner. Across the way, the natives were
giving a grand dinner, and " there was the
sound of revelry by night," as the little
nesans pattered to and fro with trays of sake,
fish, and rice, and " the fun grew fast and
furious " as the night wore on. The sea
dashed on the beach below, and the rats
scampered and raced in the ceiling. Every
hour the old watchman slippered through
the house with his lantern, and gazed guard-
edly at my transparent pane. Every time
he came I expected to be robbed and mur-
dered and thrown into the sounding sea, and
every time he left I was safer than before.
With the late trains came new arrivals, with
sliding of screens, scuffling of feet, and
sound of voices.
Toward morn, I sat upright in bed, rub-
bing my eyes. Was it nightmare, or was it
reality that carried me back to childhood^s
day and to Sunday-school hours? It was
reality, and I was sane. The notes of a
wheezy, squeaky accordion piped out on the
air the strong, familiar strain, " Nearer, my
God, to Thee." " Would you were nearer
to God, and farther from me," was my first
thought. They followed the tune with that
82
In the Heart of Japan
other placid hymn, '' He Leadeth Me, O
Blessed Thought," and, although the mu-
sical natives probably associated no thought
with the notes, murder and robbery seemed
farther away as the stranger listened to the
sacred concert. Before morning sharp dys-
pepsia followed on the heels of the nocturnal
orgy, and the feasters emitted grunts and
groans, while one rioter made a dreamy
attack on his neighbour, which the victim
evidently resented, and the chorus of wails
suggested Welsh rarebit at the banquet board.
Before daylight they were all volubly dis-
cussing the party, while the midgets ran
away with the rolls of quilts. As I trundled
back my screens, the neighbours across the
way were dramatically waving their angel
sleeves, flourishing their towels, and bran-
dishing tooth-brushes. There was no water
in the bare room, and every one washed at
the public sink in the hall, an immaculate
wooden trough, with a brass basin polished
to the reflection of a mirror. A stack of
brushes shredded to fibres at the end were
used as ear swabs by the cleanly natives.
It was at this point in her toilet that a
prim maiden school-teacher from U. S. A.
felt a shadow steal up to her side, and turned
83
A Woman Alone
to find a gentle Japanese clad simply in a
placid smile, waiting patiently for his chance
to bathe. The lady was unused to the nude
simplicity of the Orient, and ran shrieking
to her room, leaving the bewildered man to
cogitate on her unseemly haste.
I pattered back and spooned away another
omelet, as that was the one word we had
in common, and I scuffled to the office to
pay my bill and scatter a few shekels, which
were received with an abandonment of
mirth, as the recipients again doubled up
in convulsions. This was a truly native inn,
where the people were unspoiled by the tour-
ist, and they had not learned the meaning
of a fee. They could not restrain their
amusement, but all had bfeen courteous and
kindly. I alone had thought of robbery and
murder. The steel of my dirk glittered with
shame as it slipped into the sheath.
Miyanoshita, among the Mountains
Sturdy pushman and pullman bowled me
through the forest and among mountain
passes. Tumbling waters tore madly down
the steeps of clean-cut gorges and deep
divides. Cascades, cataracts, waterfalls, tore
84
In the Heart of Japan
away in a triumph of joy. The birds in
the thicket poured forth such floods of delir-
ious music that the butterflies stopped in
their chase to listen.
The riksha climbed up and up, to beauti-
ful Miyanoshita, in the heart of a hot spring
region, which is the fashionable resort for
foreign gentry, where the embassies make
a popular outing. Fugiya Hotel is famed as
being the loveliest house in all Japan. It
is faultlessly clean, and its service is entirely
by little nesans, who flit about in the bright-
est gowns, and seem like gay bouquets flash-
ing in our midst. Usually the hotel service
in Japan is by boys, though one sometimes
finds a mixture of the sexes. The propri-
etor's daughter had passed five years in the
French convent of Tokio, and was at home
with three languages. She stowed me away
in the daintiest den, and coddled me ten-
derly. " I will send up toast and tea, then
you can have a bath, and go to bed at once,"
she said, and it was hard to persuade her
that I had not come so far for a midday
nap. The shiny wooden well of the bath
boasted three faucets and a shower, and dust
and fatigue were soon rubbed away.
Below the green slopes of the cleanly
85
A Woman Alone
hotel the street was lined with miniature
shops of toys and furs and curios. I dragged
lofty brass candlesticks from Matsuzawa's
hoard of helmets, swords, and ivory carvings.
Kitai told with naivete the history of his
English. Five years before he had begun
the struggle, and every night for a year he
had been at the Tokio mission with a hun-
dred other boys for reading, writing, and
conversation. Amazingly good was his Eng-
lish, given with the universal testimony,
" learned at the mission." Here at least
was a raison d'etre for the missions, to teach
English and to civilize. It had a commer-
cial value for the nation, even though the
missions did not convert and proselyte.
The Natives' Love for Children
When a little shopman mentioned his wife,
I asked for the children, and learned the
whole family history. " Me no haf got
chillen, me want very much. My wife no
could haf. She been very sick, she go hos-
pital, Tokio, haf operation, now she much
better, she get very strong, me hope haf chil-
len very soon." I suggested that children
were a care and trouble, that his wife might
86
In the Heart of Japan
not like the bother, and he said in sweet
astonishment: "My wife, she no tink much
trouble, she very much want little baby, she
tink little chillen very nice," and the speech
revealed two points in Japanese character, —
the childlike simplicity, by which the native
speaks most readily of all things natural,
and the love and longing for the little one
in every humble home, where the baby is
tenderly anticipated and warmly welcomed.
hake Hakone
The trip to Lake Hakone is the tourist's
delight and I was swung aloft in a wicker
chair, with high back, broad arms, rest-
basket for the feet, attached to bamboo poles,
and borne on the shoulders of four natives.
Up the narrow foot-path, down the steep
descent they plodded, keeping time with a
steady step and frequent grunt. Each thud
and jounce struck home to my stomach, as
the lofty chariot swayed. " An ocean swell
and a seasick voyage," I thought. " Cuish,"
they all sang, as a signal to swing me to the
other shoulder. From the thick of the steep
forest they marched to the open sweep of
valleys green. Half-hidden in the brush-
87
A Woman Alone
wood was a dignified Buddha, carved in the
solid rock. Centuries ago the chisel of Kobe
Daisha cut the rock, and in majestic dignity
the god has guarded the plain and watched
for the coming tourist. He recalled Thor-
waldsen's lion, but the pagan god of all
wisdom and truth was a greater wonder,
carved in the Nippon plain.
Three hours of swinging and repeated
calls of " cuish " brought me to the shore of
Lake Hakone, where the noonday meal was
in order. It seemed an insult to the snowy
heights beyond. But mundane pangs called
me down from the state of exaltation, and
I ate beneath the dazzling cone of sacred
Fuji, which only in recent years has suf-
fered the polluting step of woman. The
novice may confuse mountain peaks and
ridges, but no one can mistake Fuji, rising
solitary in its snowy purity to stand in solemn
grandeur the monarch of the country. Dear
to every native heart is this holy height.
Never did imaginative Greek turn to Olym-
pus a more adoring love than these little
people offer at this sacred shrine. Many a
weary pilgrimage brings them here to wor-
ship, since poesy and sentiment are traits
%^
In the Heart of Japan
deep-rooted with religion in the Nippon
nature.
While the sampan bore me across the
water, the tired coolies fell asleep, curled up
on the floor. A shivering creature with
plastered legs was wrapped up in a matting.
" Velly, velly col'," said his chum, as he
cowered in scant raiment before the cutting
wind. He speedily snored away his trou-
bles when I passed him an extra wrap.
^* Small money, sake," cried the boatman,
taking his tariff. Sake is to the coolie what
pourboire is to the French cocker, or mac-
aroni is to the Neapolitan, and he grate-
fully bowed his thanks.
The Hot Springs of Ubago
Among nature's wildest freaks, the bearers
bore me to the hot springs of the hamlet
of Ubago, where barrels of water were tum-
bling into the tanks of the little bath-house
sunk in the hillside. Girls and boys, old
men and women, merry maids and jolly
youths, flopped and splashed and scrubbed
with delight. There were three in one tub,
nine in the next, and eleven in the third by
actual count. And their clothes were skin
89
A IVoman Alone
tight, and had never been changed since the
day the folks were born. Yet there were
no tears nor rents, for not a shred did they
wear to cover Mother Nature's birthday
dress, with which they entered the world 1
Simple children these, as happy, if not as
innocent, as those in Paradise before the fall.
We plunged through a forest to enter
" Great Hell," where nature once made a
mighty powwow, and where she threatens,
by sight and sound, again to hold high car-
nival. A wild waste of rock is spread over
the broad region. Volcanic action has
hurled huge boulders and tossed other stones
to fragments. Angry forces seething, raging
under the earth's crust, still struggle to
escape their gloomy prison. Sulphurous
fumes rise in clouds from multitudinous, fis-
sures. Warm lava smokes at the mouths,
and a roar from below comes up like the
boom of artillery. Fighting forces will yet
tear the surface open and vomit forth the
entrails of the earth.
Only Shank's mare can travel on the slopes
of " Great Hell," and I left the chariot, to
creep along the rocky ledges and stumble
among rolling stones. I crossed the sulphur-
ous streams on stepping-stones, and clung to
90
In the Heart of Japan
the faithful coolie, as I dangled over the
abyss. Better was the swinging chair than
the steep climb and dizzying descent, and
with joy I swung again to the coolies' shoul-
ders. Thatched homes and gardens con-
trasted tenderly with the gloomy region of
extinct volcano. Green were the fields and
the distant range compared with the wild
and desert waste. But first among the pano-
ramic views of that changeful day will stand
for ever the dazzling purity of that clear-
cut cone of snowy Fuji, sacred mountain of
the Nipponese.
9»
A Woman Alone
CHAPTER V
A NATIONAL RITE
Nikko in the June Celebration
" See Nikko and die " is the motto of the
native, and the tourists swarm to this famed
beauty-sp(5t for the two days of celebration,
when the Spirit of the great Shogun is con-
veyed from one tomb to the other. 1
alighted in a downpolir of rain, and was
greeted by the bland man of the hotel, who
was full of apologies, as if quite responsible
for Dame Nature'^ freaks.
" I am varee sorry eet eez so wat," he said
so pitifully that I cheerily asked if it always
rained in beautiful Nikko.
"Not afry day," h^ said in a tone which
left little room for hope, " and it nafer rains
on the processictn," he added. Evidently the
heavens themselves paid respect to the great
ShOgun.
92
In the Heart of Japan
When I arrived at the hotel, the host
called me by name, as if I were the one per-
son on earth whom he hoped to see, and a
score of kindly lads and lassies gathered at
the riksha and attacked my luggage. The
little town was shut in by a wall of high
peaks, and the clouds hung like blankets on
the mountains.
A great event was coming, one sacred
throughout the empire, and famed even to the
foreigner, and everybody would arrive who
could possibly scurry to these hills from any
corner of the pretty island. Great prepara-
tions were in progress and the hotel was
thronged with guests. June ist and 2d are
wonderful days for Nikko, and geisha girls,
jig-steps, and fireworks were in order for
the first day, which chanced to be Sunday,
and which dawned fair amid much rejoicing,
while the workmen's hammers banged upon
the grand stand, which was still unfinished
when the show began.
I was bargaining at a curio store for a
pair of lofty candlesticks, when a dozen
geishas, painted and powdered, rolled up the
street. I raced with the riks, lest something
should be missed, and we all just escaped
the sharp shower that came scudding from
93
A Woman Alone
the mountains. " Hard on the geishas," said
a sympathetic flirt, but their stage was roofed
with oiled paper, and they had little discom-
fort.
All the village was behind the bamboo
railing that shut off the humble from those
of high degree, yet did not prevent these
poorer children of the streets from seeing
the wonders of the stage. A wee gamin tod-
dled under the bars to the front, in wide-
eyed, open-mouthed admiration of the sirens
who floated waves of colour above his head.
The unabashed joy of the urchin, till cor-
ralled by his mother, was the amusement of
the crowd. Drum and flute, kato and sami-
sen, performed to the graceful sweep of
geisha gowns.
Lavish Entertainment of Guests
Mr. Aral was the misfit name of our host,
an incongruous sobriquet for a little man
always in order. He was anything but awry,
as he pirouetted about the diner in patent
leathers and evening suit. He had made the
hall a scene of beauty, by bringing birds and
flowers from the woods. A floral scheme of
ferns and azaleas enlivened the tables, and
94
In the Heart of Japan
a dainty boutonniere peeped from each plate.
From soup to nuts, the delicacies in season
and out of season rejoiced the epicure. Fas-
tidious folks purloined the menu that they
might send to fearful friends at home the
proof that they were not starving in the
wilderness.
By night the artistic grounds were a gleam
of fairy splendour. Coy lights below ri-
valled the glittering stars above. Soft rays
from gay lanterns shot among the shrubs, and
lights hung from rustic arbours and edged
the miniature lake. The villagers leaned on
the barriers to indulge in the joys of Eden.
Fireworks are the delight of the native, and
pinwheels whizzed, fiery serpents squirmed
and hissed in the grass, rockets shot high in
air, and the children shot admiring ^' oh's."
Guests wrapped in blankets, like moving
mummies patrolled the veranda, fighting the
sharp mountain air. Stage curtains caught
on the ropes or flapped in the wind, and
footlights blew themselves out in the dark-
ness at the most thrilling point of the play.
The variety of the vaudeville appealed to
the gallery gods. Rowdies and highwaymen
in ragtag toggery played high jinks with
swords that flashed as if in deadly earnest
95
A Woman Alone
Baggy breeches and cloudy turbans gave
dramatic effect to their flashing sabres. Wee
children under thatched hats of ragged
fringe performed like little baboons. Pan-
tomime repeated the old, old story of the
" Suitor Sought," and it was a burning ques-
tion of two to one, as each coy maiden played
up to the vacillating lover, who appeared a
brilliant rose between two pricking thorns.
The audience never knew which persistent
maid had captured the booty, so much was
left to the imagination.
While love or robbery held the stage,
geisha girls royally flirted with every avail-
able American. " Every one of them is a
born flirt, a natural coquette," said a man
who was offering himself in proof of his
theory. The morale of the girl has been
so generally discussed and denounced that
every man goes to Japan with intent to know
the geisha, and he is morally responsible for
much of the social sin which the Japanese
girl shoulders. He assails her with wiles and
smiles and flattery till her empty head is
turned, and he takes liberties that no gentle-
man, no decent man, could use in any other
land, — and the most modest miss becomes
an artful flirt.
96
In the Heart of Japan
The Great Procession of the Shoguns^ Spirits
Day dawned in glory, and tourists and pil-
grims were zealous to witness the transfer
of the spirits of great leyasu, of the warrior
Hideyoshi, and of the noble lemitsu, with all
their sacred paraphernalia, to another temple.
Villagers decked in gay finery joined the
holy priesthood in the annual march, and
the jolly crowds at the vantage-grounds
chosen by the hotels gave little idea that
the ceremony was solemn. Guests, an hour
in advance, were refreshed with ice-cream,
ever dear to the American, and assembled
villagers and countrymen crowded to the
ropes for a view of the wondering foreigners.
Blind children groped their way with staves
in a wistful, hungry search for the joys that
were shut out of their lives.
A congestion in travel caused the minia-
ture policeman to enforce authority among
the gaping crowds. He had not the bigness
of the English police, but he carried disci-
pline with him. He especially cleared the
way for the hotel people, and, with the in-
stinctive courtesy of the native, the grand
patriarch of the hotel floated to the scene and
bowed deep, with the dignity of his ances-
97
A Woman Alone
tors, and worthy of the departed spirits, be-
fore the little officer. A kindness never goes
unnoticed in Japan.
The spectators had little of general intel-
ligence to spare. Just why we had come,
and what we should see, nobody knew; but
all comprehended that it was Nikko's famed
fete, and a noted Shinto rite.
The click of the camera caught the pag-
eant as it swept through the shade of the
kingly forest, among those grand old crypto-
maria that for scores of years had looked
in stately dignity on the priest, the peasant,
and the stranger. On came the advance-
guard of one hundred and fifty white-robed
saints, tearing over the road like a pack of
howling maniacs, dragging the sacred trees
with noise and rush.
Then came the tramping lancers, with
their long, sharp halberds, followed by the
" Great Divine," a most holy personage who
bore among his titles the name of " Com-
mander of the Procession.'' As clown in a
country circus he would have been the terror
of the children, with his terrible red-skinned
mask and bulbous nose. After him came
six little men, with broomstick legs escap-
ing from gilded drapery, who wore hideous
98
In the Heart of Japan
male and female lion masks, while their
human features strained for breath between
the lion jaws. The musicians raised a fright-
ful racket, but eight dainty priestesses, or
Shinto dancing girls, were a picturesque bit
of beauty in flowing sleeves of white and
divided skirts of red. What wheeling they
would have done, perched on a modern
Rambler! The mounted priesthood did not
ride as to the manor born, and the sacred
ponies were not blue-blooded. The irrev-
erent youngster from America did not care if
they were in a sacred procession. His nature
was more sporty than holy, and he promptly
dubbed the gawky creatures " Graveyard,
Tombstone, Rattlebones."
The clank of metal plates inspired more
respect for gunners, spearmen, archers, and
soldiers in armour. The giant guns were
heavy, and the terrible long bows loomed
much taller than their bearers. Two hun-
dred men formed the military force, con-
trasting with a dozen tiny priests, the aco-
lytes of the Shinto service, crowned with
bright flower-caps. Fifty masked men, of
every terrible sort, followed, and then came
stately priests carrying tall banners tipped
with fans. A mounted bearer of the sacred
9?
A Woman Alone
sword was surrounded by his holy body-
guard, art4, emblems of the temple were in
the procession, — the flag, lances, and drum,
which sounded its harsh tattoo for the spirit
of the dead; nor was the big bell missing.
" A motley array of temple trumpery," said
the critic, but he had nothing to say in pres-
ence of the thirty monkey-boys, rigged up
to represent our simian ancestors. Then
came the trainers, with the sacred monkey
who did not like holy processions, and hid
his face in the folds of his master's gown,
as if blushing for all of his descendants.
Though the Shinto priests may not be fol-
lowers of Darwin, the tricky quadruped is
an important feature in Nikko's history.
His fame is wide throughout Japan, and,
though he does not run wild in the woods,
nor hurl sticks on the coming tourist, as
many anticipate, he is a holy symbol, carved
in three attitudes on the sacred stable dedi-
cated to the great leyasu, where he piously
shuts his ears and eyes and mouth to evil.
He is Nikko's holy trade-mark, on box and
tray and table, in group of polished ivory,
bidding the harsh censor, ^^ Hear no evil, see
no evil, speak no evil," and I wondered how
xoo
.'' 5.
In the Heart of Japan ■.•/••.;..'::'■';*'
thoroughly the modern Christian world
would learn the pagan's lesson.
Behind the shamefaced quadruped came
humbler priests, musicians, and types of old
nobility in costumes of gaudy colour arid of
quaint design. White robes and conical
black hats, green coats and blue breeches,
fantastic colours, mingled in the outfit, till
it seemed as if phantoms of an old museum
were marching by. There were all the
grandeur and austerity of the old Shogun,
wrapped in crested garments and waving
his glittering wand.
Behind the nobles came the falconers,
proud of the birds resting on their masters'
wrists, as they blinked in the sun, longing
to break their chains and fly to the deep
forest.
The motley panorama was an unintelli-
gible composite to the stranger, but the glory
of it all was the " Gohei," or divine spirit,
a holy paper of dazzling gilt, radiant as with
heavenly glory. It is the yearly offering
of the emperor, who is himself divine, and
it is sent the day preceding the procession.
Without its presence there could be no cele-
bration. Three times it appeared as a guard-
ian to each of the three shrines, but it re-
lOI
' ; ' ' : A Woman Alone
ceived not a fraction of the honour which
fell to the shrines themselves.
We had heard the verdict, '^ Every person
v^ill stand, and the men will bare their heads
when the great shrine comes in sight." It
approached, as the wildest, maddest, mer-
riest sight a waiting throng could ever wish
to see. It might be a bacchanalian orgy,
or the frantic antics of ungoverned maniacs.
Waves of noise rolled up from the throats of
the bearers as they staggered and reeled
under the weight of their shrine. If the
spirit of the great leyasu was within, it was
terribly tumbled and tossed in its slumbers!
His was a ponderous spirit, to judge from
the struggles of its bearers. Fifty white-clad
priests and forty guards bore the treasure,
resting on long beams. It was brilliant with
rich trimmings of red lacquer and gold, yet
the crowds gave it but secondary thought.
Attention centred in the shrieking men who
bore the burden. They bent beneath it, they
reeled and staggered, till we thought the
giant thing would topple down and crush
its victims. The affrighted crowds fell back,
not wishing to feel the weight of leyasu in
his shrine. As the priests gasped for air, the
attendants fanned them desperately, and
102
V
1 •»
In the Heart of Japan
rivers of perspiration rolled from their
swarthy faces. With a wild effort and a
mighty stride, they dragged on, and shortly
made another halt.
Thus was the perilous journey made from
the permanent home of the illustrious spirit
to the neighbouring temple, where it should
make a brief sojourn. At night, with the
same weary effort and barbaric display, it
returned to its usual resting-place, to wait
another year. Strangers from all quarters
of the earth, and natives from every corner
of the island, had gathered for this wild
pageant, which was eighteen minutes in
passing. It was a mystery to the many, who
could no more realize the glory of Nikko's
shrine to the Japanese than they can under-
stand the sacredness of the tomb in distant
Mecca to the faithful Arab. The crowds
soon scattered, and left the tall cryptomeria
towering like sentinels beside the Shoguns
resting on the hillsides.
The Mountain Road to Fair Chuzenji
Sunshine is so rare at Nikko that the tour-
ists resolved at once upon the visit to Chu-
zenji, renowned upon the heights, and every
103
A Woman Alone
rik was in demand. One lady fainted as she
twisted an ankle on entering, and the rikman
naively explained the accident that " She
died, but did come back again." Evidently
it was to him a resurrection scene.
Bravely they bowled us beside the rushing
waters, where the famed array of Buddhas
never adds up twice the same. " There are
certainly two thousand," exclaimed the nov-
ice. But at least there were two hundred
gods grinning by the roadside with folded
hands and placid smile and look of supernal
wisdom, as if to say of passing tourists,
"What fools these mortals be!" Moss and
lichens drape their saintly forms, and,
though the head of a deity may have rolled
in the mud, his staunch figure retains its
stately pose. Years ago, the patriarch of
the gods rode down-stream in a washout,
whirling among the boiling eddies, but he
landed right side up at the next village,
where to-day he wears a red bib, and is
worshipped for his triumphal journey by the
passing peasants. Deep in the crevice of a
fiver boulder sits the last scion of this long
and illustrious line, dashed by the foam of
the hurrying stream. Kobe Daisha, saint
and sculptor coeval with famed Charle-
J04
In the Heart of Japan
magne in Europe, carved, in the rough rock,
this miracle beyond the reach of mortals.
Eight miles of stiff mountain road ran
beside the racing river, or deep in the heart
of the woods. There was hard scrambling
for pushman and pullman, but no moan or
murmur escaped them. They passed each
rough spot with a laugh of triumph. They
were reenforced with many sandals, and the
road was paved with these relics of the run-
ners, as they pulled on one new pair after
another, and left the worn one in shreds by
the road. The men knew every foot of the
way, and flashed back a sunny smile for
every appreciative word of the patron.
We ran through acres of bamboo grass,
where young shoots striped in green and
white threw a spring carpet in the azalea
woods, whose bright flowers made rainbows
in the air from trunks that were thirty feet
high. It was the ideal June day of the poet,
when every tree is new-gowned and the birds
chant their paean of praise. The crows had
a joyous caw, and the mocking-bird's note
rose above the rushing stream, like first
tenor of a feathered choir. " Waterfall,
waterfall," cried the men, as they urged us
to a tramp in the woods, where a glory of
105
A IVoman Alone
water leaped the rocks and tumbled in
tumult, to catch itself in a pool, where it
eddied and whirled, then fell over rocks in
a rainbow mist.
Four hours the riksha rattled up-hill to
halt at the hotel on the shore of Lake Chu-
zenji. Brilliant stalks of azalea lined the
rooms, and it seemed a wanton destruction
of innocent foliage, but, " We can't kill
them. We stick a shoot in the ground, and
it springs to a tree," said the proprietor.
The lake was heavily stocked, and fisher-
men threw their weighted nets from opposite
sides of the outlet, as they saw the victims
enter the pass. The loud splash on the water
scared off the other fish, but the natives had
the patience which brings success, and waited
till the last cast of the twine was forgotten.
Beautiful Chuzenji makes one fear that it
may become gay and fashionable, and there-
fore spoiled. It is at present a restful resort,
and the foreign legations delight in its
beauty during the long, hard heat of mid-
summer. Early days make it idyllic for the
invalid and tourist.
In the midst of all the natural beauty, near
to calm lake and radiant flowers, the forest
sheltered tragic despair. With his obi at-
io6
In the Heart of Japan
tached to his neck and to a bough, a young
man, with a few sen in his pocket, had swung
himself into eternity. No one knew if sick-
ness and starvation, or a loveless and a lonely
life, had driven him to death. He was found
by a passing woodman who finished his work
before making a report, and still the man
hung till police could come from distant
Nikko.
Death has no fears for the native, and he
steps bravely across the great divide. The
simple people of the interior have few needs,
yet suicide is no uncommon event. It is
always preferable to slow starvation, and,
since rice and every necessity have risen in
price, the poor have known the misery of
hunger. The old code made death the hon-
ourable end to misery, and a man disgraced
looked upon death as duty. By ending the
struggle, he got even with defeat, or cheated
further trouble, and wiped out the shame of
misfortune.
Eight more miles of stiff climbing bear the
traveller through late cherry blossoms, rho-
dodendrons, and azaleas, that keep the forest
alive with beauty. Above towered the snowy
height of holy Nantaizan, ascended by ten
thousand pilgrims every summer. Only re-
107
A JVoman Alone
cently has the foot of woman been allowed to
tread its holy way, and she must still skirt
around the sacred portal, through which the
stern priest forbids her passage. The jolly
sea-captain, who returned with accumulated
wisdom and saintliness from the stiff climb
of four thousand feet, told of the mysteries
performed on him at the base, of prayers
and blessings, and the brushing of holy
papers about his weather-stained brow, ere
he was allowed to ascend.
Fifty feet wide, three hundred feet long,
a wondrous water-slide slipped down its
smooth incline, gathering power and beauty
as it rolled in its glassy bed. Never, in all
my roamings, had I found any whim of
nature to equal this. Below was a rocky
isle, hung with trees and fringed with flow-
ers. It cut the rolling stream, but the di-
vided waters slipped again into the sunlight
and chattered on the rocks below.
On the Heights of Yumoto
Above Chuzenji rests Yumoto, a miniature
lake, where the air is rank with sulphur, sug-
gesting the Inferno. Hot springs well from
the ground, and bath-houses vomit steam.
io8
In the Heart of Japan
The steaming liquid is famous for cures, but
the unwary tourist is often parboiled in its
terrible heat, and, if he awkwardly loosens
the spigot, in frantic efforts to cool off, the
hissing vapours flood the tank, and remind
him of the horrors of a sulphurous future.
Even the natives, who are heroic in the baths,
cool the waters of Yumoto.
Shaven heads bobbed in the tanks, and
dusky forms in nude simplicity marched
down a plank. I had long ceased to call
such sights indecent, but, With a bit of nat-
ural modesty, I left the narrow plank and
skirted in the shrubbery by the way. A
native sprang, au naturel, from the water and
ran toward me. His bathing-suit was a
kindly smile, and he emitted fairly good
English, which indicated that he thought
I was showing politeness and reverence
to the plank. Such deference was need-
less, and he said: "Thees eez the way,
lady. Come on the board. Eet eez no con-
sequence, no consequence at all." He de-
lighted in his vocabulary, and persisted in
his effort, without a suspicion that I would
purposely avoid so simple and natural a
thing as a naked form. I thought the epi-
sode of very great ^' consequence," as an
109
A Woman Alone
illustration, but, with needless blushes, I
emerged from the bushes, resolved to brave
Japanese simplicity on the narrow plank.
The rikmen, bent on what was cleanly and
healthful, dropped to their necks in the vats,
and began a sulphurous scrub. Their efforts
extended to the clothes they wore. Spread-
ing them on the boards, they soaped and
washed and rinsed away every trace of the
tiresome trip, and hung the wet garments
to dry on the bushes. Then they donned
the clean suits which were under the seat
of the riksha, and were natty and neat for
the homeward spin. How many American
cabmen stand as near as the little Japanese
rikman to that quality which is next to god-
liness?
no
In the Heart of Japan
CHAPTER VI
ALONE IN NIKKO
Mutual Distrust
As lovely Nikko is the Mecca of the pil-
grim and the stamping-ground of the tourist,
so is it the restful resort of the weary; and
where the trotters swarm for two days of
celebration, it was my fortune to linger alone
six weeks, to walk and talk with the natives,
and many a heart to heart experience was
mine.
While wandering among the monarchs of
the forest, I met a peasant lad, perhaps of
eighteen years, with pack on back, peering
from a wall into the realm below. With all
a browsing wanderer's interest in things
novel, I climbed the bank to get his point
of view. Never had he seen a thing so
queer and strange drive straight for him.
Instantly he was on the defensive. He
III
A Woman Alone
clenched his fists, ground his teeth, flashed
his eyes, and muttered angry prayers. He
regarded me as an aggressor, and was ready
for the fray. He sfraightened his muscles
and seemed to say, " I'll kill you, if I must,"
and I thought, " Poor fellow, you don't have
to. Only let me depart in peace, for I am
ten times as scared as you are." I was pray-
ing as fast as he to be delivered from the
enemy, but I made less fuss about it. I had
followed close in his path to reaob the para-
pet, where I found, — nothing. The boy
had become the embodiment of defiance.
Every gesture was a threat. There was
blood in his eye, as he took a step fprward.
I backed ffom the wall and skirted iiito the
briers, at the risk of snakes, to avoid the
insensate youth. He muttered incantations
to ward off my demoniac self. Hq cried to
all the gods, he punctured the air with
charms to avert the evil spirit. Fiercely he
denounced the foreign devil, and I slid down
the bank with a one-sided air and gained
speed with distance, while he clapped his
hands and still purified the air of demons.
When people ask if I was afraid in Japan,
I think of that infuriate lad in the woods,
and say: "When the native was afraid of
112
* > 3 > >
In the Heart of Japan
me, I was truly afraid of him. The scare
was mutual."
Visits to the Little Shops
But the denizens of Nikko treated the
stranger with much kindness. Th^ town has
one long main street, lined with tiny homes
and shops. Every home and shgp were mine
ere I left. I sometimes felt that every child
was mine.
On a leafy hill, overshadowed by a grove
of masts, was the daintiest bric-a-brac shop
in town, whose walls were lined with treas-
ures. Never could I pass the door without
the master's kindly call. Well he knew I
should not buy, but he had always another
curio to uncover; something beautiful to
feast my eyes, — a pet casket or carving, or
teapot, or sword-hilt of ravishing design, and
many a chat we had through his limited
English. He took a childlike interest in
my wardrobe, told the price of his obi, and
asked the cost of my shoes. The item im-
pressed him, and he said: "That make one
pound each. Very much cost, one shoe, one
pound," as he told the price of his own straw
sandals.
"3
A JVoman Alone
Celebrating the Birth of the Crown Princess
Baby
The day after the birth of the Crown
Prince's baby, all the land was rejoicing.
Many weeks had the people discussed the
coming event, and the faithful subjects had
longed for a baby boy. When the glad news
went forth by wire and by press, everybody
gave up to a day of feasting and delight.
The humblest home floated the national ban-
ner, and mirth and music were in order.
As I passed the shop, I tried to slide un-
noticed by the collector. But I heard a
dash from the door, and the clatter of clogs,
and there came the friendly call, " Come in
please; do please come see," and he led me
by another door to an unknown realm,
cleanly as the shop, and rich in precious
trophies. At a low centre-table were rice
and fish and sake. His little geisha girl was
curled up in a bunch on the floor with her
samisen. They were having a beautiful cele-
bration without any chaperon, but a third
party was no intrusion, and the girl thought
it quite proper to be found alone entertain-
ing her young man.
He was voluble with drink, and poured
114
In the Heart of Japan
the sake, saying: "We all so glad — varee
much want leetle boy — no much like leetle
girl — my fren come sing, I say ' like sake? '
she say, ' varee much, tank,' we drink sake.
You drink sake, you pleeze me — I take first,
Japneze costom — drink same cup, you
'blige me — all very glad — leetle boy come
— everybody want — all Japneze people
very happy — me drink more, then you
drink, all so glad."
He drained the little egg-shell cup, re-
filled, and passed it to me, and I gladly drank
to the Crown Prince and his new baby of
the mild, sherry-like liquor, which is the
beverage of Japan and palatable to the
stranger. The little musician twisted herself
into a small knot, and struck the strings of
her lyre, to give out those dismal notes which
ravish the Japanese heart. It seemed a
funeral wail, but was meant for a birthday
welcome.
Learning to Know the People
The stranger alone in Nikko had great
opportunity for good. The native greed for
English makes the foreigner useful. Jap-
anese children are most winsome. I have
II
5
A JVoman Alone
counted twenty-three in a bunch, of all di-
mensions, cuddled down on the door-step.
They clung to my hands, about my neck,
under my arms, in my lap, while the mothers
nodded approval, and I borrowed a baby
who crowed and laughed in my face. As
he grew restive, I gave him my finger to
chew, but the diet did not satisfy, and he
openly declared his preference to be snug-
glpd in mother's arms.
Sometimes we exchanged phrases, where
the stranger knew the equivalent for " good
night, good morning," but oftener the little
ones learned their words like parrots, and the
woods echoed with the shouts : " You are
very nice. I love you, good little girl, dear
little midget," which last was given with a
twist that precluded all understanding.
The Japanese adore their children and are
proud to show it, before and after the babies
are born. One day I met a dignified man in
long robes and high clogs, parading through
the streets with a diminutive bundle in his
arms. His face was wreathed in smiling
affection. " How old, baby? " I asked, as I
peered down into the fuzzy, woozy bundle.
" Fourteen day old," said the proud parent,
and I wondered how many an American
ii6
In the Heart of Japan
father would delight in carrying his two
weeks old infant through the main street of
the town!
The Japanese are kind to the children, and
apparently do little punishing, and the usual
baby rewards the laisser-aller system by be-
ing very jolly. But when he does lift his
voice, he does it with vigour that makes
itself heard. One day the wails of a young
hopeful were let loose on the air, and moth-
ers and youngsters gathered on the scene.
They stood mute with consternation at the
sound. It did seem as if some one was being
cruelly massacred. Such misery was a con-
trast to the usual peaceful life of Nikko. It
tore the nerves of the old Irish-Australian
lady, who rushed to learn the cause. Baby
had been refused a penny for candy! The
old lady's sympathy was curdled to wrath.
" An' sure, it's a good sound paddy whacking
I'd bay after a-givin' him, a-stirrin' up a hull
town fur a pinny fur candy."
The " wooden lady," of perfect manners,
pegged away eternally at the blind phrases
of a ridiculous primer, tracing with her
bird's-claw fingers the nonsensical words,
" Is this plant an herbaceous peony? "
" What botanical rubbish have you struck?
117
A JVoman Alone
The man should go to the Bastile who
writes such stuff in a primer," I cried, and^
though she did not comprehend the explo-
sion, she knew there was something doing,
and doubled up and cackled, as she brought
out her dreadful penmanship, which sug-
gested the old story of the picket-fence.
The bird claws were brown and shrivelled,
as if a snake-skin had been drawn over
them, and to follow their tracery was im-
possible.
" Tank you pleeze varee much," she said,
as we closed the lesson. She was a bun-
dle of good manners and etiquette, but,
when caught off her guard, her face in
repose had the stern stoicism of a brave sa-
murai. She was the famed coquette of the
town, dainty and mincing, with sweet and
gentle voice, and the grace of a true-born
siren. Her wily ways bowled over the
strongest men like ninepins. She sub-
merged them with her wooden wares, and
loaded them with trays of carved monkeys
and boxes engraved with waterfalls and
bridges, which they could not escape. The
grim old sea-captain set his flinty face
against her, but she prevailed, as she knew
she would, and he was helplessly loaded
ii8
In the Heart of Japan
down with red and gold lacquer, of which
he did not know the meaning or the value.
She relentlessly knocked at the doors of tired
tourists at late night, and men emerged after
a day's hard jaunt, half-dressed and half-
asleep, and returned from the nocturnal in-
terviews with less of coin and more of curios.
I often visited her store for love of the little
brown puppy which grew to know me. The
canine rose in value as I caressed him, and
the lady said, with a crafty eye to business:
" I no like him, but my farzer luf him, want
to keep him. I gif him you, but my farzer
luf him so he no can gif, he want three yen! "
The Arts and Crafts of the People
One could study silk culture in these
homes, as the peasants gathered the panniers
of leaves ; the worms crawled on the shelves,
and the cocoons bobbed on the boiling
waters, whence the little maidens deftly
pulled the perfect fibres.
The woods of Nikko furnish beautiful
skins to the market, and the furrier let me
roam through her inner sanctuary. The fur
slipper is easy for the gouty foot, and, after
my purchase, the little lady thanked mc
119
A Woman Alone
every time we met, salaaming low with na-
tive grace and saying, '^ Tank you var mooch
for theese morning, tank you for yesterday,
tank you for las' week," as the date required,
till in self-defence I bought another pair that
the thanks merited might be fresh!
Behind the house rose a rough rock, so
near that it seemed the outer wall of the
home. Its warm moss was spread with a
miniature landscape garden. Japanese art
can be crowded into the smallest space, and
every feature of the dim old forest was
there. Rippling streams, roaring cascades,
dense trees, stone lanterns, sacred torii, and
Lilliputian men were in evidence. The ser-
pent slipped through the moss, and frog and
stork were at the lakeside.
In the home a pet monkey scrambled over
the chests, and buried deep in the lady's
sleeves, for nuts and seeds. He was a house-
hold favourite, bought for a pound, and I
was glad to aid in his support, as he was
considered a great bargain. He wore a
wonderful coat of gray silk fur, but his face
was marked by stealthy cunning. He looked
like the soul of an ancestor in retrograde,
and he made a bee-line for me as if he rec-
ognized a member of the family. He
1 20
In the Heart of Japan
grabbed for his favourite cucumbers, and
scrambled by a chain to the roof, in search
of nuts among the rafters. He was the only
child of the honle, and for a year he had
lived in contented luxury^
I never found reason for the quoted cru-
elty of the Japanese, a people who so ten-
derly make pets of babies, animals, and flow-
ers. The children of any nation are bar-
baric little savages until taught better, and
one who has seen an American child bite
viciously into the arm of a baby brother,
and another young American drop a turtle
into scalding water, to drive him out of his
shell, feels that the American has no stones
to sling in that direction.
The wood-carver's haunt was a fanciful
realm, and often I stole up-stairs among the
rare chests, tables, and boxes, and surprised
the owner as I descended to his workshop.
Had he seen me, his politeness would have
bade him stDp all work, and make futile
attempts at conversation. He showed only
generous pleasure that I had roamed unbid-
den among his treasures, and when I made
love to the hen in her cage, he removed the
wicker and deposited the hen and her brood
ill my lap. It was not good for the gown
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A Woman Alone
that mother and chicks should nestle there,
but he had offered me a tender compliment,
and I could not refuse the menagerie. The
guests were not overpolite, and left ruinous
marks on the gown, as they spattered about
and pecked for the grain which their master
had dropped in the folds. Exquisite things
in dark heavy woods were carved by the
humble craftsmen, who dug at the hard
lines with clumsy tools, till the plain pieces
grew to mighty elephants, or a triplet of
monkeys, to roses, iris, or lotus.
The Yankee zeal for bargains had full
play among these little merchants. " How
much?" I asked, of a stand with carving of
a lumbering elephant in a jungle. " Twelve
yen." " Oh, no, too much." " How much
you geef, lady? " " Four yen," I said, sport-
ively. " All right, lady. You haf, go hotel,"
and I found to my dismay that I had an
elephant on my hands. Many a time I car-
ried off cargo which I had never meant to
buy. The derisive prices, which seemed
insulting, were accepted with glee, only
proving what fortunes the canny people
would make if their first figures were taken.
A wily Scotchman, who always struck for
bottom prices, gloated when a sturdy arm-
122
In the Heart of Japan
chair was sent home for seven yen. " It's
a big bargain noo, a great thing that," said
the victorious Scot. I smiled a smile of
wisdom, for when I had said in passing to
the shopman, " I give four yen," he had
gladly answered, " Take it, lady, take, I send
hotel." Maliciously I told the story, as it
was too good to keep, and never would the
injured Scot rest easy in that costly chair,
as he thought of three yen gone to glory!
The box-making industry is an art in a
land where every box is a treasure to encase
another treasure. No nation puts up a lunch
as does the Japanese, in a smooth round box
embedded with leaves. The condiments are
in a tower of lesser boxes, united by wooden
thongs, and the butter, pepper, salt, mustard,
each has its separate box.
All sorts and shapes of boxes are turned
out in the little shops of Nikko, and with
delight I watched the nimble fingers fly.
One industrious old man recalled the " an-
cient arrow-maker " of " Hiawatha," as he
sat in his door ceaselessly plying his trade,
working as zealously and as honestly as the
skilled artist who decorated the valued cloi-
sonne. He worked behind horn glasses,
which were held to his ears by loops of
123
A Woman Alone
string. He fastened the pieces down with
his toes, and made the boxes in piles of
halves, using little wooden pegs in place of
clumsy nails. From a bundle of sticks he
drew the pieces, and tacked them to the
squares of cedar, and as the halves grew
in piles, the bundles of chips diminished.
The two parts were afterward deftly fitted
together. This was his patient life, as the
hours and the days rolled away, to drive the
wooden pegs, and pound the tiny pieces, and
polish them to smoothness. He could speak
no word with me, and only noticed me with
a kindly nod and smile. Long I sat in the
doorway, fascinated by the steady growth of
boxes, whose neatness was my admiration.
This was a trade for all Japan, minus any
big factory with whistles and engines and
endless bands. The dainty boxes that went
out from the Lilliputian homes would carry
treasures of art to all the earth.
What would happen in this fair land, as
we sat on our lovely lawn or leaf-bowered
porch, with book or embroidery, if a brown-
skinned mite from Japan came clapping
down the street in clogs and kimono, with
a bright paper parasol in place of hat, her
hair done in a butterfly bow, if she toddled
124
In the Heart of Japan
up the steps and indicated that she would
sit down and watch us work? Should we
welcome her with sweet and gracious smile,
and make her comfortable with the best we
had, or should we think her an intruder, call
the dog, whistle the police, or telephone the
hurry-up wagon that a loafer was desecrat-
ing our sanctum? I doubt if we would make
that unconventional creature welcome, yet
we think ourselves polite.
Well I recall the music-lesson of a little
home. I heard the thin, falsetto voice pip-
ing within, and drew near to make my poor
salaam and indicate that I would like to
listen from the threshold. The housewife,
with baby strapped on her back, hustled to
the door and gave me mats. Grandma
bowed low with sunny smile. From a dark
corner grandpa saw me, and, bent double
with age and rheumatism, he crawled along
and kissed the floor, suffused with hospitable
grins. Kneeling at the low stand, before the
music-roll, the children whined and droned,
as they picked out the song on the squeaky
samisen. The untiring teacher beat her
baton, crooned low, repeated and corrected,
raised the tone when the midgets were off
the key, and steered them through the weary
125
A Woman Alone
monotone of Japanese art, as she wheezed
her own pitiable notes. They made a mighty
efifort to give me the sweetest lullaby in the
realm, and show me the refined accomplish-
ment of a well-to-do home; and when my
tested nerves could stand no more of shrill
falsetto, I crept away amid the smiles and
salaams of the united household.
In another pigeon-nest on temple hill I
loved to loiter, surrounded by antiques and
curios, where the dealers were my friends,
and I squatted on the mats to gloat on the
ancient treasures which were unwrapped
from their silken layers.
Few tourists found this obscure rookery,
where the dark-eyed lads in soft silks were
always at leisure. One youth naively said
he would like to marry an American lady,
but they were all too rich! They would not
like to stay in Japan, and cook in the kitchen.
His artistic nest was embowered in green,
with no stick or stone in its curving path.
Near the arbour was a temple bell, and
before the door hung a beautiful white
grouse. When I tried to charm him, he
proved to be a wooden bird, so true to life
that he might deceive an Agassiz. Flowers
and the sacred monkeys were carved above
126
In the Heart of Japan
the door. Within rested the quiet calm of
a sanctuary. The little shop seemed posi-
tively holy. Majestic Buddha in the centre
flooded the place with peace. On the wall
hung the big drum, which had beaten many
a tom-tom to departed ancestors. Opposite
were shoguns' emblems, beautiful swords
with ivory sheaths. There were lunch-boxes
of lacquer wrought in gold, layer after layer,
connected by cords. I felt like a throned
god when the little man placed me a mat
on a lacquer lunch-box. He hardly spoke
of his stately souvenirs. He loved them all
and knew their worth. He had ransacked
the country far north for such trophies, and
he loved them as if they were his children
and a part of his life. Tenderly he un-
wrapped the trifles, as we squatted in the
dim light. There were teapots chased with
shoguns' crests, brocaded purses, inlaid
pipes, wonderful sword-guards, ivories yel-
low with age, intricate figures carved in a
solid piece, wrought in microscopic patterns,
so delicate that only a glass revealed the
perfection of their workmanship. It was a
pleasure to touch the treasures, and many
quiet hours I worshipped at this shrine, and
i?7
A Woman Alone
the old man delighted in my enthusiasm,
though he knew I could not buy.
The Wet Season in Nikko
Nikko suggested Scotland in its summer
weeks of rain, but during those thirty days
of wet weather it was ever beautiful. Gray
clouds sailed solemnly across the heights,
and raked the sides, and sifted through the
green. They dropped down the slopes like
sheets of melted lead.
Even the empty-headed nesans felt the
grandeur of it all. Long hours they sat on
the porch like statues, and gazed at the gray-
ness. When they tired of looking, they tried
a high jump from the steps, and the boys
shinned the posts. Never was such freedom
given to hotel waiters. When the electric
light at the gate went out, one brave maid,
descended from a samurai, hit the tall pole
with a billet of wood, and created a tem-
porary glimmer. When the light failed
again, this little mistress of the black art hit
another whack, and laughed to see the elec-
tricity wink back and answer. The maidens
had little idea of hard work, and they
seemed made only to bow low in squads for
128
» ' >
DWARF WAITER AT THE HOTEL NIKKO, A FAVOURITE
WITH ALL
In the Heart of Japan
new arrivals, yet they tugged up-stairs the
heaviest burdens, breathless and giggling
with fun. Grumbling is not the heritage
of those descended from the stoical days of
hara-kiri, or honourable suicide.
The proprietor passed the rainy days in
the office, playing a miniature game of
checkers. The American thought it a grand
time to clean house, but such a funny thought
never struck the little natives.
By the usual contrariety of methods, rainy
weather seemed the time for outdoor work;
and coolie women in blue tights, with the
omnipresent towel of blue and white about
the head, went down on hands and knees, to
" mow the lawn." Five days they knelt and
worked and gossiped over a piece which a
good machine would have clipped in fewer
hours. Living illustrations they were of
wasted strength. But they were chubby-
faced and smiling, and gathered a tuft in
one hand as they snipped it with a rusty
sickle in the other.
Weary days the gardener spent in the
pouring rain, mounted on a ladder, shearing
the branches. He shaved the beautiful trees
almost bald, till they had nothing left to
prove that foliage is green. Thus it is ever
U9
A Woman Alone
with the trimmed trees. They are cut and
pruned till reduced to miniature, as the
Japanese idea is to spread into fantastic
forms, or to flatten to an umbrella shape.
So the pine and the maple and the feathery
shrub had their aspirations nipped in the
bud, and were reduced to shoots. A bed
of Easter lilies, planted in the rain, sprang
into starry beauty before my window, and
the idle nesans filled the vases with flowers,
showing that skill in decoration which has
made Japan so lovely.
One can acquire a taste for foreign dishes.
Bamboo shoots appealed to my palate, and
macaroni pudding, done up in custard, dis-
appeared in slippery tubes. Almond taffy
was too great a test of good manners. Guests
slipped away with sly handfuls, and vulgarly
crunched all the evening. The Americans
looked longingly for ice-cream, which ap-
peared in cycles. In seasons of plenty we
had " glace au citron," and " glace a la va-
nille," which had a suggestion of Huyler.
It had no fixed date, and the joy would con-
tinue a week, to be followed by a season of
famine, when parched lips would hunger
in vain for " glace." Chickens, old and
young, were slain by the gross and offered
In the Heart of Japan
thrice a day, till it depressed one to think
of this massacre of the innocents in our
behalf.
The Booming Temple Bell
Not least among Nikko's glories, in the
heart of the forest, sounds the great bell, and
every hour its rich tone rings deep in the
heart of the tourist. With a powerful effort,
the priest swings the beam toward the
bronze, and holds it back till the metal has
ceased to vibrate. Several minutes are re-
quired to sound the longest hours, and he
keeps tally with a pile of wooden blocks.
"Boom!" sounds the bell through the
woodland, and the dim old forest quivers
with the peal. It lingers on the air and
reverberates through the town. The chatter
of tourists is hushed, and the clatter of meal-
tide is stilled. A tender smile and a kindly
glance, flitting from face to face, mark the
respect and love of the stranger for the dig-
nified note. Sweetly the sound hangs on the
air, strong at first, then soft and low it
floats and pulsates, gently fading, faintly
dying. The breath is held, and every nerve
is strained to catch the last wave of the
A JVoman Alone
sonorous tone. Again the priest lets fly his
beam, and, like a man-of-war, the bronze
strikes out its signal, which again rolls into
space, and the great bell among the dark
cryptomeria is stilled for another sixty min-
utes.
In sunshine or in shower Nikko is lovely.
The sombre forests have impressed addi-
tional dignity on the gentle natives, and the
beauty of their character is in keeping with
the harmony around them. And when for
the last time rikky trundled me down their
fascinating village street, everybody seemed
to share my grief in going. Gentle voices
rang along the way, of brass merchant and
curio vendor, of the wooden lady and the
furrier, of the toy-seller, the box and basket
maker, '' Good-bye, Oksan, come back gen,
see Nikko nodder time." Small wonder that
their motto reads, ^' See Nikko, and die."
When the woman who wandered and
rested alone thinks of lovely Nikko, seques-
tered sepulchre where sleep the dauntless
shoguns among mighty mountains, protected
by two hundred guardian Buddhas calmly
grinning beside the rushing river, blessed by
the beautiful red bridge sacred to the divine
J 32
• . • » >
In the Heart of Japan
emperor, dominated by the sombre cryp-
tomeria of the darksome forest, there comes
the vision of that humble village street and
the kindly workers in the arts and crafts.
133
A IVoman Alone
CHAPTER VII
SENDAI, MATSUSHIMA, AND IKAO
The Famous Chests of Sendai
Ten hours from Tokio the traveller
reaches Sendai, the largest town of the north,
with eighty thousand inhabitants. It is noted
for its tansus, or wonderful Sendai chests,
covered in beautiful designs, with scrollwork
of wrought iron, which the tripper rejoices
to export. There has been a run in late
years on this lovely souvenir, and it is rap-
idly rising in value, as the appreciation of
the tourist is evident, so that one needs to
barter and haggle if he would have bottom
prices. Only the resident, well used to the
native, and posted in values, is able to make
an easy trade. Though comparatively few
travellers reach Sendai, each wants one or
several great chests, which strike to a
woman's heart, since the top drawer will
In the Heart of Japan
receive a full-length gown unfolded. Other
drawers are shorter, as a closet runs down
the side, which contains small drawers with
especial locks. Every corner is a work of
art, and every lock likewise, finished in
graceful coils and spreading fans. The
handles are iron pieces, which pull up, at
the very top. As a buffet for silver pieces,
or packed with choice linen, in bedroom or
dining-room, this noble bit of furniture is
the housewife's pride. It contrasts grandly
with the mysterious chest of Korea, the glory
of that land, which is finished in solid brass,
much of it, but perfectly plain.
The hunter for chests has not yet used the
foreigner's prerogative to spoil a town, and
Sendai is very native, unspoiled by the tour-
ist, though it boasts a semi-European hotel.
The host was newly married, and spent all
his time on the mats of his speckless floor,
making love to his pretty bride. It was
difficult to find him, and it seemed sad to
interrupt him, when found, for the practical
matters of business, which are usually dear
to the native. He appeared to resent intru-
sion, and disregard cash accounts, though,
when I left, he rushed up frantically at the
station, and breathed in my ear the sepul-
135
A Woman Alone
chral notice which he had forgotten,
" Eighty sen, please, for the sandwiches of
your lunch." He apparently had great fear
of mortifying me in presence of my com-
panion, but " we two " had a merry laugh
over the narrow escape with the lunch.
The little man had trotted all over town
with me in search of a proper chest, and,
once torn away from his bride, he seemed
delighted with his errand, and I suspect
drew a fine commission, as my price was not
on the '^ ground floor.*' I talked with him
on matters marital, and was interested in
his adoration of thfe little lady, and he was
very sure that his joy would last and his
delight be ever fresh, *^ that he would never
leave her nor forsake her." " All the world
loves a lover," and his naivety regarding his
affections was most charming.
A Chance Acquaintance
The house had a large dining-room, which
was the resort of the swell Japanese for clubs
and banquets. Every foreigner dined alone,
and was allowed chair and table in the nest
that opened by screens to the gallery that
looked off on the picturesque garden. One
136
In the Heart of Japan
never had the same room twice in succession,
but was switched on behind another screen.
A gloomy forbidding man, behind specta-
cles, with a heavy mop of hair, was soberly
reading as I plunged into his presence and
backed out, excusing the interruption, as I
was not sure of my room. He dropped his
book with relief. " An interruption is a
godsend in this lonely place. I only read
in self-defence. Let us shove back the screen
and be sociable." After that we always
planned a companionable meal-tide. Thus
are the barriers of conventionality burned
away when the traveller is far from home.
He proved a wide-awake insurance man,
with all the rich experience of that class.
He had resented the stalwart prices of our
European house, and roomed at the native
inn, where commodities were few, but amus-
ing geishas plentiful!
Waiting in the Rain
Sendai is the stepping-stone to Matsushima,
one of the three famed beauty-spots of Japan,
and here I waited to make the trip, in the
dreariest rain that ever tumbled from the
sky. Nowhere, except in Southern Cali-
137
^ A JVoman Alone
fornia, had I ever seen it rain so hard; and
the insurance man declared it had done noth-
ing else for ten days.
The European part of the hotel consisted
of three desolate rooms, with the barest
essentials, and here I must sit all day and
watch the pitiless pour and the little men
running about in straw coats.
The native editor who called to interview
me was a joy. I catechized him breathlessly,
and he replied politely, and at the close
remarked, " Madame, you have not told
me very much." " But I have answered all
your questions," I said, smiling to think that
he had had no time to put a question.
Here, too, I met the little English educa-
tor who had raised a storm in Tokio by the
assertion, " The Americans neither write nor
speak the English language correctly." There
is no doubt that many of us are careless, but,
if we deserve her sweeping criticism, let us
speedily improve. For the good of our
country, let us be careful. The natives are
most receptive to new ideas, and the censure
worked much harm to our teachers, who
were making a bread-and-butter struggle in
the capital by their English. Immediately
the Britisher was in demand, and the Ameri-
138
In the Heart of Japan
can teacher lost caste and lost work. The
natives wanted the best, and were suspicious
of our powers.
To the observant traveller, every incident
is a clue to national character. The storm
got on the nerves of the Sendai rats, and
they played mad havoc in the night. They
charged through the hall, and they raced and
rattled and scratched in the ceiling. They
were considerate not to fall through, as
morning revealed holes a foot long above.
The boy solemnly promised to put in re-
pairs, and a little later the holes were all
neatly covered with white paper. Strong
preventive against rats!
My pitcher was without handle, and one
day it slipped from my hands and lay in
magnificent ruins at my feet, while a gallon
of water flooded the room. I sounded a
troubled note on the one public bell in the
hall, as every towel had been taken, and
I feared for the ceiling of the banquet-room
below. Boys and maidens rushed to my
room, and, to my wild demands, " Towels,
quick: towels, pick up water, everybody
wet," they doubled up in roars of laughter,
while I stood helpless in the swamp.
139
A Woman Alone
Matsushima the Lovely
With the first rift in the cloirds, I hurried
to famed Matsushima, an island in the deep
blue, surrounded by archipelagoes, known
for its eternal hills, its temple-caves, and
idols of the past, its tea-houses, gardens, and
geisha girls of the .present. This is the only
spot in the empire where the solid bamboo
is found, and it is sold extensively in seals
of grotesque carvings of the idols in the
gloomy caves.
From the tallest peak one looks down on
a ravishing view which might well be that
of Lake Winnipesaukee and its dotted isles.
Certainly it is the twin of that New Hamp-
shire nook, and no lover of the beautiful in
nature, who has time for pleasure, should
omit seeing this far-away spot.
A Night Ride on the Train
I always pity the poor rich, who can only
afford to travel first class and stop at the
best hotels, for they never know the fun they*
miss. Only the tenderfoot — distressed at
rubbing shoulders with the native whom
140
In the Heart of Japan
he says- he has come to see — and the very
swellest Japanese travel first class.
The insurance man had wound up affairs,
and seemed a serviceable chaperon on the
night trip back to Tokio. In a smart- Aleck
style, he took things, leisurely, would not
hurry. ^' There is plenty of time. Don't
rush," he said, and consequently we sat up
all night. The incident was a very fair
sample of the trials which come from ac-
cepting a chum.
There was no sleeper on the train, and
only one first-class car, a square box, where
two could stretch out at full length on each
side and one at the rear end. I was the only
woman, and, as we entered, four natives,
lost in snores and blankets, were camped at
full length for the night, which left one
space for the two foreigners, who must sit
upright. Inventory of our neighbours
proved them most elegant passengers, and
we resolved to be wary of our English,
which they would surely understand when
they escaped from Morpheus, and we highly
suspected some snoring to be a fake, to be-
tray the unwily.
The insurance man was positive that the
14X
A Woman Alone
old chap opposite, deep in silk pillows and
soft wraps, was a Cabinet minister.
We wiled away the dark hours with jokes
and stories, the joy of the Orient, and with
lunch and sodas, the need of the traveller;
but men never bear their travel trials lightly,
and before morning my comrade had grown
weary and depressed. He " missed his bath
and shave," he said. I missed a great many
things. About eight o'clock the antics of the
Cabinet minister lifted the gathering gloom.
He called his valet, tumbled out of his
blankets, stood in the aisle immediately be-
fore me, deliberately dropped off his trousers,
and shot into another and a better pair!
Such is the simplicity of the native. Even
the cross Englishman laughed.
Ikao the Wonderful
Probably not five in every hundred of the
travelling public ever reach wonderful Ikao,
the very heart of quaint Japan, centre of
beauty and seat of loveliness, ringing with
joyous bird notes in June, radiant with field
flowers in July, populated with old nobility
in August. If September shows a diminu-
tion of each charm, it has a combination
142
In the Heart of Japan
of them all, with the added glory of the fire
and flame of sumac and maple on the dis-
tant hills.
Four hours by rail from Tokio, through
a country given to rice farms, land the wan-
derer at the bustling native town of Mae-
bashi, where a dilapidated horse-tram rat-
tles one away for nearly two hours to the
end of civilization, and a rik with two stal-
wart runners then bowls one for two hours
more over the highways and hidden ways
and mountain passes, through glens and
divides and over the ridges, among sounds
that are clear and smells that are sweet with
the woodland. By a final swift spurt, the
men dash into the clean courtyard of the
Kindayu hotel, where life will be a joysome
holiday.
An Ideal Hostess and a Cosy Inn
Madame Kindayu is a wonderful woman
and an ideal hostess. She is sufficiently Eu-
ropeanized to let her guests walk in foreign
shoes over her speckless carpet. Her clear
voice rings out in a sweet and fluent English
which might shame many a foreigner who
is famed for harsh tone and ugly jargon.
143
A Woman Alone
Oksan has five little Japanese babies, whom
she dearly loves and carefully tends. She
runs a native department of three hundred
noble guests, she cares for all the foreign
visitors, directs their steps, answers their
senseless questions, gives advice and informa-
tion regarding the country, and never is
frown or flurry seen on her kindly face. Al-
ways she is dignified, gentle, and affable, the
embodiment of gracious tact and courtesy.
Her husband is the city mayor, that is, the
chief ipan in the village, and most anxious
that all shall redound to its credit.
The foreigner has foreign food, and does
not suffer from chow and chop-sticks, and
the delight of the native rooms is their
charmipg simplicity, for the traveller worn
out with the worries of life in the city.
Nothing is cramped or crowded in a Jap-
anese home. The gewgaws and kickshaws
which we pile up in space would be the
height of bad taste to these people of ex-
quisite ways. Bed and chair and table are
concessions to our way of living, but one
needs little else who can look off from the
dainty den across sweeping fields to rolling
hills.
Things were semi-primitive at the inn.
144
In the Heart of Japan
A Watson whiskey bottle served as candle-
stick, a pickle bottle of Father Heinze —
fifty-seven varieties — stood for carafe, and
the pegs were corks run through with nails.
The little rooms were built to fit the mat-
ting, which is always of exact dimensions in
Japan.
Mr. Kindayu had not the fluent English
of his wife, but he had a kindly heart, and
he did his best. " Theez eez your seeting-
room," he said, as I glanced at the dainty
quarters, in whose recess stood a single beau-
tiful ornament, behind which hung an artistic
kakemono, or Japanese scroll. Doubtless
there were many more lovely things hidden
in the go-down, and when the family tired
of looking at these, they would be exchanged
for othet hid treasure. Everybody had two
rooms, and painted screens shut ofiF the bed-
room, while rice screens, or Shoji, separated
the private alley, and solid amados at night
shut out the green valley and the rugged
hills.
I had dropped between the spotless sheets,
when the city mayor appeared on the thresh-
old, dramatically waving his wings and cry-
ing, " Varee dangroos, varee dangrqos."
"Where is it? I don't see it," I cried.
145
A IVoman Alone
" Thieves, thieves," he added, as he closed
down the boards which gave to the leanrto
that looked out on the street. Evidently the
country was not so innocent as I thought.
The next night Boots followed me to my
den, pouring out the same cry, as he insisted
that I lock up my heavy door which led to
the alley, and he spiked it with a ring and
staple that reminded me of the Middle Ages,
with prisoners chained to the wall.
Boots appeared in the morning, frantically
waving a shoe in each hand, and shouting,
" You did bring ink, you have got ink, ink
for your shoes? " " No, I did not bring any
ink for my shoes. Do the best you can, but
don't paint them red," I pleaded. Evidently
he gave them a violent rubbing, as the
leather returned much worn and as if it had
been trying a mud bath.
Table linen would have been very tempt-
ing had Mr. Kindayu known how to handle
a foreign coffee-pot. He was unskilled in
serving, and spilled the beverage at every
meal, till the cloth seemed diagramed like
a railroad map.
146
In the Heart of Japan
The Hot Springs
Hot springs are the safety-valve of this
wild volcanic region. They are hissing in
the woodland, tumbling over the rocks, and
roaring down the hillside. They dash in
torrents through the forests and sound like
a raging storm. Sometimes they leave an
inky pool, and again they throw vapourous
jets. Iron and soda are plentiful, and the
baths of Kindayu are only mild. Sir Brooks
Booth by, attache of the British legation,
created amusement among his hearers by
querulously calling to the boy, '' Make the
water more hot. By, by, it is only warm,
make it hotter," quite ignoring the fact that
the only steam heat which we had was gen-
erated within the earth, and we were subject
to the temperature which Mother Nature
gave out.
Ikao looks like old Naples, sliding down-
hill, minus the water, and with the added
element of cleanliness. Its one main street
is steep and straight, running very high, and
lined on each side with shacks which nearly
overlap, while its steps are rough and ragged
rocks. Here are the tiny shops and go-downs
with native wares. Ikao makes simple toys
H7
A Woman Alone
and very ingenious balls within balls, and
wheels within wheels. It sells games that
are the distraction of the stupid, and carv-
ings that are quaint and odd, though tbey
have none of the intricate design and high
polish which one sees at Nikko. Cross-cuts
and alleys from every quarter of the town
lead to this main street, and no one could
be so desperately lost but that he would
come out at some tijpe on this chief alley.
Through a threadwork of lanes rise the na-
tive inns, in tier after tie;-, on the mossy
slopes of the town.
The Iron-cloth of Ikdo
Nowhere in the empire, outside of the
little shops of Ikao, does one find the famous
iron-cloth dear to the native who has im-
plicit faith in its healing power. A strong
precipitate of iron is in the bed of the
streams, and the natives crawl over the rocks
to gather the deposit, or they spread their
garments on the bed of the brooks to stain
them with the mineral. At Maebashi, a
few miles distant, the cloth is fabricated in
large quantities, and brought up to the vil-
lage to lie in the go-downs till it is needed
148
In the Heart of Japan
on the counters. Often it is printed with
fish or fowl.
Over gout and rheumatism and kindred
troubles, it is thought to have great power.
Prospective mothers wear it in heavy bands
about the body, as it is supposed to give
great strength to mother and child. This is
its crowning glory in the mind of the native,
and this is its chief advertising value. So
the native explained with all the naturalness
of the simplest matter, using the merchant's
best plea for a sale, " If the honourable
lady-san want an honourable little baby-san,
she wear this yellow cloth." What statement
could be more true-hearted! A baby is the
greatest joy of the native. He would never
suspect that an American lady would not
want one. Truly the simple philosophy of
the native often puts the conventional for-
eigner to the blush.
The Japanese Mother
The Japanese women do not have clubs,
and therefore they have babies. By natural
logic, a woman does not have time for both.
No false prudery has debased natural law
among these simple people. They speak
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A Woman Alone
readily and easily of coming events which
are dear to their hearts. If life is empty,
they always live in hope. " Me no tink
mooch trouble, my wife no mind care, she
varee mooch hope leetle baby sometime," is
the general sentiment in Japan. Maternal
love has not been killed by outside duties.
Every woman's heart is open to her share of
babyhood, and every wife is disappointed if
the baby does not appear. Her baby goes
everywhere that she goes, whether it be to
the temple or to the theatre, to the market
or to the store. She attends no meetings
where the baby would be a nuisance. A
father works in the field with the baby
strapped on his back. Old and young are
indulgent to the newest baby, and there is
often a long line. Very young sisters bear
the burden on the back, and never question
the propriety, nor expect anything else, and
the last baby is carried long after he is well
able to walk.
The Saratoga of Japan
Ikao is the Saratoga of Japan, the mid-
summer centre of the old nobility. Here
one gets the best, perhaps the only glimpse
150
In the Heart of Japan
of the high-bred families, the crested people,
who descended from the fine old daimios,
that were wont to march through the land
with scores of thousands of retainers in royal
procession, the brave two-sworded samurai,
ready to live or die for their masters. Those
impressive pageants were a half-century
back, before the guns of Commodore Perry
had thundered in the harbour, demanding
an open port in the foreign land. One sees
to-day the regal etiquette and gracious cour-
tesy which are synonyms for the gentle-born
and highly bred in the land. Lordly men
and courtly ladies troop through the leafy
glens to Yumoto, " Source of the hot
springs," where long dippers are chained,
and where they carry their drinking-cups
to wile away the hours with laughter, and
talk on the benches as they drink the life-
giving iron. Voices are soft and sweet, man-
ners are kind and gentle, and the attitude is
one of deference to one's neighbour and
effacement of self. Here are the elegant
toilets of the gentry, soft dark silks of
lustrous sheen and heavy texture, but never
gaudy colour. The quality is rich, and the
knot in the obi is artistic, and each crest
denotes the special family. In to-day's pro-
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A IVoman Alone
cession is merely a hint of the culture of the
palmy past. We may shut our eyes and
think of the ancestral dignity, the staid de-
meanour, the paraphernalia and retinue
worthy of Oriental kings.
Etiquette to-day is rigidly marked among
the blue-bloods of Japan. If two noble
ladies of the same rank meet, both lower
their parasols, and stand exposed to the sun,
while all the servants do the same. If one
lady be of higher rank, the lady of lower
rank closes her parasol, and all the retain-
ers do likewise, while the lady of higher
rank remains protected from the sun.
By night Ikao's highway made fantastic
showing. Gnarled roots were drenched in
oil, and hung from the trees in wire cages,
and their light was weird and uncertain, as
it flickered and flared along the road. Here
the imperial postman trotted along by our
side, and made wild efforts to talk. Here
I ate roasted snake in the fitful glare of the
torches, and could taste nothing but charcoal.
Another snake of more venomous nature,
warranted to cure all human diseases, was
preserved in alcohol, but I preferred to take
his medicinal merits on faith.
15a
In the Heart of Japan
A Shinto Shrine
Down the valley stands an old Shinto
shrine, said to date back two thousand years.
If it did not stand in the days of Jesus of
Nazareth, at least it has for many centuries
been sacred to Inari. It is approached
through fifty red torii, or arches, and, from
far and near, it is the Mecca of faithful pil-
grims who come for help and healing. The
cat and the snake are among the animals
which receive homage in Japan, and to Rey-
nard, the wily fox, the superstitious natives
bow. There is doubt about the gender, but
Inari, god or goddess, prevails over the rice-
fields, and must not be confused with Imari,
in the south, famous for a certain china.
Inari has power to make the harvest fat
or lean in the rice-fields. The red fox par-
ticularly must be cajoled, so red torii are
raised to him in prayer and praise. Ikao's
shrine is crowded with scores of fox images,
large and small. He presides in grave dig-
nity, as if his name were never known for
trickery and stealth. When the suppliant
tinkles the temple bell, Reynard's messenger
runs with the prayer to the great Inari sama.
Offerings innumerable have been brought to
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A Woman Alone
the altar, and the walls are hung with votive
gifts, in memory of answered prayers.
For many years a wise old sorceress, at-
tached to the shrine, has been revered
throughout the realm, as she guarded the
temple and studied the stars. Her fame in
the black art brings the suffering from all
parts. She certainly has skill in jugglery,
in necromancy. Patiently she hears the tale
of woe. She shakes her box of sticks, and
out tumbles a certain number which must
be found in her sage's book, where she reads
the fate and fortune of the anxious inquirer,
who goes away sure that the old dame's word
is a law which one cannot escape. Her face
is strong and kind, and she, too, has absolute
faith in her clairvoyance and in the answer
of the stars. Wiser folks in distant lands
have talked of solar-astro-biology. Her
cures have been marvellous, and her hold
on the peasant world has long been firm.
Perhaps she is an instance of mind over
mind, the stronger prevailing over the weak.
With her is the right of succession, and she
has appointed her son as rightful heir to
her glory when her day is over.
154
In the Heart of Japan
CHAPTER VIII
AN INLAND TRIP
Preparations for the Trip
If few tourists see Ikao, whose leafy
groves and flowering fields are girt about
by rugged mountains, seldom does the trot-
ter burrow farther inland and penetrate to
the wild mountain fastness, the centre of the
boiling sulphur springs, seat of invalidism,
and Mecca of the sufferer. It had long been
the goal of my travels, a dream and ambition
which were difBcult of accomplishment,
since obstacles there were many, hardships
numerous, and companions none. But with
the rising difficulties came increased desire.
" Interesting! Wildly so, if you can stand
the terrible sights, but I could not endure
them myself," said the experienced friend.
A jaunt of seventy-five miles by riksha to
the interior, through mountain passes and
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A Woman Alone
bamboo jungles, over ridges and down steep
slopes, is bound to have its stern discomforts.
But once off the beaten track, the tripper,
hunting for experiences, soon learns to dis-
card the comforts of home, and to take
troubles lightly. Only the sick, seeking heroic
cure, and the venturesome would find any
reason for the trip. The luxurious and the
lackadaisical keep to the big cities and the
large hotels, run on foreign plan, smacking
more of home than of the Orient.
Wandering one day in the precincts of
Kindayu, I came upon a dapper little dude,
who might be a prince of the realm, arrayed
in knickerbockers, boiled shirt, and diamond
stud, riding a white pony. He was most
affable to the stranger, and glad to air his
smooth English, so he announced : " I am
the proprietor of the Ikao house, next door.
I am Mr. Kindayu's brother-in-law. I mar-
ried his sister. He gave me the hotel, wed-
ding present, Japanese custom."
Evidently he was a proud addition to the
Kindayu circle. He took great interest in
rny ambition for the inland trip, but added:
" The people who come here never have the
courage to go farther. Unless they are mis-
sionaries, they think this is the very centre
156
In the Heart of Japan
of Japan." He knew exactly the man to
guide me, — a trusty old retainer, honest and
kind, who knew every foot of the country,
was a good cook and spoke a little English!
My heart beat high with hope. This
paragon of virtues seemed the prize-package
in a lottery, and I blessed the master of the
Ikao house. How could I secure the worthy
guide? He was a servant at the Ikao.
Oksan Kindayu might not like to have me
take him. Family complications were in
sight, and I must not strain peaceful rela-
tions.
I resolved to finesse a little with Oksan
Kindayu, who had been most kindly toward
my interests. I asked her if she knew a cer-
tain man, Heihachee, famed throughout the
countryside? I had heard him spoken of,
and could she find him for me? Oksan tum-
bled into the trap. Oh, yes, she knew Hei-
hachee. He was not busy now, and she
would find him for me.
The next morning, he salaamed before me
in the breakfast-room. To see hiro was to
trust him. His tawny, wrinkled face be-
spoke fidelity and honour. He was a hardy
mountaineer, and a veritable Fidus Achates,
who would be true to his charge, and lay
157
A Woman Alone
down his life if needful, like the old retain-
ers. More than fifty years he had weathered
the seasons of Ikao. His pyramidal head
suggested Shakespeare. His broad smile
and kindly eyes were full of friendship. His
rugged frame was bent with the battles of
life, and he had been scarred in the strug-
gles, but he had not lost the gentle demean-
our of the unspoiled native. His abbrevi-
ated tights were cut off on the thighs. One
knee was circled with court-plaster, and one
big toe was heavily bandaged. He sucked
in a ponderous breath to show respect, as he
doubled like a jack-knife, and said: "Me
Heihachee. Me go. Oksan like Japanese
chow? " No, Oksan did not like Japanese
chow even a little bit. He threw back his
classic head, emitted a merry roar, and was
off. His aide was a stalwart young fellow,
and I knew that I was very lucky in my
retinue.
A Rough Ride
The mountain road was rough and wild
enough to dismay the stoutest heart. Recent
heavy rains had gullied out the passes, loose
rocks rolled down the defiles, boulders had
In the Heart of Japan
tumbled across the way. Muck and mire
made a paste through the forest. But no
obstacles daunted the sturdy men. They
were wont to conquer. Sometimes they acted
as pushman and puUman, at other times they
ran in tandem. Often they lifted the rik
bodily out of the ruts, and carried it apace.
Frequently I alighted and trudged afoot,
when I saw the muscles strain and the per-
spiration run in rivers from the tawny skin.
Where the way was almost perpendicular,
old Fidelity would say, " Pleeze getty down,
leetle walky, moochee uppee." Where the
freshet had washed away the bridge in a
wild mountain region, rik and men and pas-
senger were packed away in a primitive
sampan, and ferried across by rope and
pulley, that we might not be carried down
the raging stream.
At noon we took a nap and refreshments
at a roadside tea-house. After the midday
heat, we trundled on till five P. M., and rat-
tled up to Hagiwara's inn. The gentleman
was fat, fair, and forty, with a retinue of
kindly servants and jolly children. The
place was not a village, not even a hamlet,
but a clump of houses high on a cliff among
the bushes, and quite suggestive of the Bib-
159
A Woman Alone
Heal " ram caught in a thicket." A stout
aristocrat next door held an elaborate tea
service, and departed. I seemed to be the
only remaining patron, and a suite of three
rooms was at my disposal. The entire fam-
ily thought themselves worthy to untie the
latchet of my shoes, and then I pattered
across the sacred threshold.
Heihachee the Guide
Early in the day Heihachee handed me
a mysterious document, saying, solemnly,
" Master, Ikao house." I found within the
sealed packet a crudely drawn sketch of the
road we must travel, with all stop-overs
indicated, and a letter of presentation to the
affable Hagiwara. Surely one could not
expect more generosity from a rival pro-
prietor, who never expected to see me again.
When I called to thank him, after the re-
turn, the foreign gentleman had been meta-
morphosed, and a native proprietor sat
behind his counter, comfortably arrayed in
loose kimono.
Soon after our arrival, Heihachee disap-
peared, to return in flowing robe with crest,
and bringing a " name-card," like any noble
1 60
In the Heart of Japan
guest, and as if he did not expect recogni-
tion in his party gown. He inspired heavily,
and began a mighty speech, which struck
terror to his patron's heart. '' Me Hei-
hachee, good guide, me go far way all over
mountains, very bad roads, Eeenglesch, Mer-
ican genelmen."
"What, Heihachee!" I exclaimed, in des-
pair, " you go away with English American
gentlemen, and leave me here to fight my
way through the woods! You can't do it.
You promised to stay with me, and you must
see me through. Bring up the gentlemen
and we will settle this."
He tossed back his head with a laugh
and ran away, while I was left guessing as
to the doleful situation. Then I learned how
mean a thing it is to be suspicious, and how
often we misjudge the native who has only
our kindly interest at heart. Noble, faith-
ful old Heihachee! How cruelly and bru-
tally I had suspected him! He was simple-
hearted as a child, and had only the child's
natural desire to stand well in my esteem
and to impress me with his record. He
returned with a stack of credentials, which
told of his services, how he was tried and
trusted and had proved true, how he was
i6i
A Woman Alone
able and intelligent, though I was glad, for
the truth of the testimonials, that they made
little reference to his English or his cook-
ing! These certainly were weak points, not
greatly to be praised by the best judges, and,
luckily, they were not essentials to bringing
us through the woods. Among his valued
papers, I found this doggerel:
" If you're in want of a man,
You may search through this lan\.
An' I trow that right weary you'll be,
Ere you're likely to find
One more to your mind
Than Kaidzu Heihachee."
He performed with the dignity and solem-
nity of an old Roman Senator in control
of the empire, and he went through his pro-
gramme, marking off on his fingers the bill
of fare. " Mornin', Oksan. Wat you haf?
Omlet, bifstek, 'am an' eggs, table bote."
This was his notion of a French cuisine,
this was his menu, and no chef in white
cap could have been more serious. We had
brought loaves of bread and tins of butter,
a frying-pan and Indian meal, and he per-
formed indigestible wonders over the em-
bers. Fish could be had from the moun-
162
In the Heart of Japan
tain brooks, and eggs from any cackling
hennery. He cooked omelet to the queen's
taste, and when the boiled eggs were like
bullets, and I tried to bolt them down, he
moaned and groaned in pitiful sorrow, say-
ing, ^^ Oh, too bad, too bad, no can eat, all
cook, arf hard, poor leetle fire." The rocky
eggs were far more than half-hard, and, with
an effort, I practised Japanese heroism.
Hagiwara^s Inn
Hagiwara's bath-boy was a whole institu-
tion in himself. His English was in a very
minor key, and he wore a dictionary, which
he considered standard, in his gown. This
he fished out and presented when pantomime
was insufficient, and so we came to an under-
standing regarding the essentials, of " can-
dles — matches — bath." The bath was a
" Sabbath day's journey " through courtways
and corridors, under the open, down several
flights of stairs, past tiers of lodgings where
people were packed as in caves and boxes,
to the far-away room, with its great vat sunk
in the floor, where the strong sulphur came
rolling in hot from the hills.
Here the boy prepared to undress me. He
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A Woman Alone
expected to administer the bath. I was tired
with heat and jolting, every bone and mus-
cle adhed from the hard trip. A massage
would have been acceptable, and the tempta-
tion was great; but I was still hedged about
by queer and unnatural conventionality, and
I pointed to the door. What would they
think in proper America if I were washed
and rubbed by a strange lad! O shades of
the proprieties, and slanderous tones of Mrs.
Grundy! And yet, every native woman was
used to being scrubbed and rubbed, and the
boy did not understand how the lady in the
white skin could do away with his serv-
ices.
Then followed the deep mystery of bed-
making. The traveller who is unwilling to
be thoroughly native should carry his own
linen to the interior, as he will find no other,
and it is sad to wake in the night and won-
der what wretched leper may have slept
last in those futans. One is sure to wake,
since the natives plunge into revelry at all
hours, and the wicked flea makes an active
campaign with the tenderfoot. His bite does
not bother, it leaves no venom in the veins,
but his antics are ticklish, and when an army
of fleas take one's spine for a race-course,
164
In the Heart of Japan
and play tag on one's body, insanity would
be a natural result.
Old Fidelity ordered in the thick futans,
or wadded quilts, piled many deep. He
placed a barrel for a pillow, which I
promptly kicked to the wall. That was not
his gentle way of doing, and he wore a re-
proachful look, as he folded a futan in its
place. He added a towel for a half-leogth,
as concession to my strange foreign needs,
and his piece de resistance, which stood for
top sheet, top quilt, and counterpane, was
a huge ancestral overcoat, with velvet collar
and cuffs that were vast; an army of natives
might have snuggled in the folds. I re-
solved not to snuggle in it at all, and dragged
it to the foot, where the futans were minus,
greatly to Heihachee's distress.
My experience with the Sendai rat had
made me dread the beast, and \ pointed
gloomily to holes in the Wall, and expressed
my fear. The boy brought out his diction-
ary, and I hunted for " rats." He sadly
ansv^ered, ^' No, no h^f got, rats, no rats,"
in the melancholy tone of the disappointed
shopkeeper, and I expected him to add with
the shopkeeper's usual hope, '^ will haf to-
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A Woman Alone
morrow." In Japan, "to-morrow" ranks
with the " manana " in Spain.
KusatsUj the Mecca for Sufferers
Heihachee always was one better than his
word. He had promised to reach our goal
on the second day at 2 P. M., and at 12.30
we bowled into the village square of famed
Kusatsu, where the waters roared and raged
as they tore from the earth, where the fumes
were thick in the air, and the odour of sul-
phur could not be escaped. Women were
washing at a large public trough. The min-
eral was deposited, and precipitated in large
crystals, which made a bright lining to the
tanks, and was scraped ofif and sold at the
booths as souvenirs, both in flour and lump.
Bath-houses growled with their angry waters,
and clouds of smoke vomited out on the air.
Native inns of dark, seasoned wood made
the village centre, and their beautiful carv-
ings of stork or dragon or wide-spread fan
upon the gables could be found in this cen-
tre of the empire only, and were renowned
throughout the land, as were the boiling
waters. Beams and buttresses all bore the
artist's touch.
166
In the Heart of Japan
An Hour of Agony
A trumpet sounded a semi-military note.
The deserted village square became alive.
The doors slid back in their grooves, and
from all the inns crawled forth the lame,
the halt, the decrepit, those who could barely
move, and those who were less disabled.
For many of them the ravages of disease
had made life agony. Their long sleeves
floated through the square, and one caught
a glimpse of waving towels and long-handled
dippers.
The doors of all the bath-houses closed
again behind the bathers, and for nearly an
hour there resounded through the village
the short, sharp, decisive bang, like an ex-
plosive, like a repeating pistol, while in
every house was a scene unparalleled
throughout the world, as fifty naked men
were sweating away disease in the hardest
kind of work.
Each held a stout plank about four feet
long and one foot wide, and, bending over
the water, he leaned the plank on the edge
and churned persistently back and forth,
back and forth, to mitigate the terrible heat
of the mineral waters. At a tinkle of the
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A Woman Alone
master's bell, each man put aside his board,
bound a cloth about his head, and, kneeling,
poured two hundred and fifty dippers of
water on neck and head to prevent conges-
tion. Inured as the native is to extreme heat
in the bath, no man could enter here with-
out precaution and prevision.
With the hope that there had been some
slight abatement of the terrible heat, the
master sounded another note, and the victims
took their courage in both hands for the final
plunge into the seething caldron. It seemed
like dropping into the jaws of hell, as the
steaming waters gurgled up around them.
During the beating I thought of the " anvil
chorus," as they sang a wild paean to cheer
their spirits. A pall fell on them, like the
silence of death, when they entered the vats.
Down, down, they slid into the scorching
pool. Not a sigh escaped them, not a moan
nor a groan, at heat which would have made
us shriek with pain, as the waters swept
about the ankles, rolled over the knee, up
the thigb, around the waist, across the chest,
under the armpit, and rose to the neck, where
the invalids crouched submerged, with only
the head above water.
A few suffering women were here also,
1 68
In the Heart of Japan
bearing the test with the same sturdy hero-
ism. Occasionally a tightening of the facial
muscles, or a catching of the breath, showed
how great was their control, as they waited
in the torturing water. It was a strange
scene, of fifty heads above the surface, in
that silent, gloomy room. At the end of
each half-minute the master uttered a thin,
piping sentence in high falsetto, to say what
time had passed, how much remained^ and
to encourage their patience. To each re-
mark all responded with a wild, maniacal
whoop of desperation. Seldom does such an
agonized wail rise from fifty suffering men,
and the stoical silence came again, as in a
tomb.
At the close of five minutes, the master
gave his last nasal chant, and, with a final
cry of agony, the bathers leaped from the
mad waters, which were loath to give up
their prey. From all corners came a storm,
as of huge snowflakes, when the little nesans
hurled towels and cotton through the air,
and gently rubbed off the parboiled bodies.
Not once, but five times a day, beginning
soon after sunrise, the trumpet calls its semi-
military note for these five minutes of an-
guish, and one hundred and twenty baths,
169
A Woman Alone
covering a month, are expected to effect a
cure of stubborn diseases. Not only gout
and rheumatism bring many victims here,
but the most terrible skin maladies are ap-
parent. The water, running in from the
hillside, so terribly hot and so impregnated
with sulphur, passes rapidly down-stream,
and thus is constantly changed, and the min-
eral destroys all germs, so that no contagion
is feared from the community bath. The
follies of youth, the madness of intermar-
riage, the sin of wild oats, are frightfully
in evidence at the baths. Arms and legs are
raw with ugly sores. Knees and armpits
are eaten away by vile disease, the flesh is
putrid and laid bare. These most afflicted
parts are swathed in folds of soft cotton
before and after entering the bath, as even
the brave Japanese could not submit the
open flesh and the exposed nerves to this
awful heat.
The he per Village
A half-mile down the stream is the leper
village, home of the hopeless, haunt of those
doomed children who are segregated to live
alone, cut ofT from all of human kind. The
170
In the Heart of Japan
accursed of the race, these isolated ones, have
access to the baths without rule or regime.
The waters flow madly on, and the victims
enter as they like, and come and go as they
please, in nature's curative streams. Men
and women soaked leisurely in the strong
sulphur pools, as I studied the worst that
comes in the form of physical misery. Eyes
were sunk in their sockets, ears were gone,
arms were decayed, and the ravages of hor-
rible disease were evident on many a
wretched victim. In the homes little babies
toddled about, with here and there a sign
which foreshadowed the dread enemy.
Adults played at cards or dominoes, in
pathetic effort to wrench a little pleasure
out of life's ghastly tragedy.
It is claimed that there is a ray of hope
for the fated leper, and a woman, once
young and handsome, declares that eighteen
years ago she was cured of the foul malady.
With them she lives and works, trying her
remedy on the diseased, and I watched her
process, as she used the powder of the herb
of moxa, and dropped it with a burning
match upon the invalid. Here and there
she dropped her burning point, and the
touch of flesh and fire was harrowing. The
171
A Woman Alone
same calm stoicism, the same stern heroism,
were apparent as at the baths. Not a sound
escaped the sufferer. Rarely a slight shrink-
ing or a twitching of the muscles showed
how keenly the nerves felt the torture. One
hundred points are burned in a hundred
days. Terrible remedy for a terrible mal-
ady, and one could only wish that the forti-
tude of the sufferer would be rewarded by
sound health in a cleanly body.
They are living on heroism and hope,
doomed children of fate and misfortune,
set aside as in a ghetto, too often forgotten
and despised. Whatever the cause of the
trouble, be it personal sin or ancestral heri-
tage, the victims are only worthy of our
sympathy and our help. The heart is wrung
with pity for their plight. What wonder
that of old the leper sought the great Healer,
and pleaded for new life! What wonder
that the Heart of Universal Love was wrung
with such wretchedness! But, wonder of
wonders, that the ungrateful nine, when they
felt the warm life-blood coursing freely
through the veins again, forgot to return
praise and glory to the Healer. All honour
to the native woman! All honour be to
Father Damien, to any man, who has offered
172
In the Heart of Japan
up the great sacrifice of life in the world,
to isolate himself in the vale of disease, that
he may, in brotherly love, v^ripe out one
atom of this foul misery, as he numbers his
days alone with the victims who are called
" Unclean, unclean^"
A Night of Wondrous Beauty
The third-story room needed no protec-
tion from intrusion, and that night a flood
of moonlight entered, as I lay thinking in
the silence, wakeful with the memories of
that eventful day. Through the impressive
quiet there came nine silver strokes. The
watch said 3.30, which did not explain the
ringing notes. Was there fire or danger in
the village? I thought of the warders ever
watchful to warn these little people against
fire and flame, which could so soon sweep
devastation among the match-box homes, and
I crept out on the little balcony to view the
sleeping world.
It was a peaceful picture framed in the
soft, pale light, for all the land was at rest.
The sulphur fumes rolled up in cloudy col-
umns from the vat below, and the wind
drifted the fleeting clouds as they fluttered
173
A Woman Alone
into space. Occasionally a cloud-bank sailed
across the full moon, which rode out again
in regal splendour. The little brown homes
were distinct in the night, and their glorious
carvings of phenix and flower stood clear
against the sky. In the distance lay the vil-
lage of the sleeping lepers, and impartially
the gracious moon shed her refulgent light
upon the hopeful and the hopeless. There
was no suggestion of sad fatality, of suffer-
ing or despair. Serene peace rested over
the inland town. I crept back to the room
which was flooded with glory, and my eyes
fell on the benign Buddha, calmly smiling
in his raised recess. About him were green
boughs, placed in my honour, and before
him were two unbaked loaves, an offering
to the god, that my visit might be propitious
to myself and a blessing to the house.
A Break- down in the Forest
Morning dawned gloriously beautiful. I
had seen the sight for which I came, and
merrily we bowled away. The grass spar-
kled with the early dew. The birds trilled
their sweetest carol. Every flower gave ofiF
rich perfume. The firs were pungent with
174
In the Heart of Japan
balsam. The steep divides, the woodsy
glens, the mountain slopes, the rippling
streams, were full of nature's poetry, when
snap, crash, crack, grind! The poetry of
life went out in dreariest prose. Old Fi-
delity stood still in his tracks, and the rik
jolted down with a thud. The two men con-
sulted, like wise old Senators, then Fidelity
picked up his courage and painfully an-
nounced, " Varee solly, riksha broky, Oksan,
leetle walkee, five cho, fus village.'^
It was all too true; the cart had broken
down in the very wilds of Japan. Every
nerve in my body cried out against such
injustice. I ached with the jaunt, and was
weary with the burden of the sights. I had
no Japanese stoicism, no heroism as reserve
force, and gladly would I have given up.
But the inevitable must drove me on, and
I dragged wearily up to the tea-shop of
the village, and was laid to rest on a shelf,
while the natives came up to view the re-
mains.
The place owned no riksha, and I mounted
astride the spiny back of a dirty, knock-
kneed quadruped, and drove my hands into
his dirty bridle, which promptly broke, and
then I clung to his dirtier mane. No word
175
A JVoman Alone
or deed of mine could keep that creature in
the " straight and narrow way." He was the
most profound student of nature that I met
in Japan. He veered to every cliff, walked
out on every ledge, gazed far into the depths,
studied the yawning gulfs on the ragged
edge, and xip hammeripg of his hard sides,
nor cajoling with soft words, could win him
from perversity. If by mental telepathy he
had learned my rash bo^st, he could not
have been more determined that I " should
not follow the beaten track." He Was bent
on original and unbeaten tracks df his own,
and, after two hours of mutual struggle, I
jogged up to Hagiwara's inn, not like a
conquering hero, but like a most despairing
pilgrim, and the handsome host, the bath-
boy and his dictionary seemed the dearest
friends.
In the morning another riksha and an-
other runner were obtained, and at noon
Fidelity's aide appeared at the tea-house
with seven new unpainted spokes looking
reproachfully from the repaired rik. It had
indeed been a smash-up in the wilds.
176
In the Heart of Japan
Back at Kindayu's Inn
Never was home more attractive to tired
traveller than the cleanly Kindayu house,
perched on a parapet, with its real bed and
spotless linen. Heihachee left me with an
added credential in his budget. He offered
to return the sardines and the unused tin of
butter. Honest old soul! He said he would
keep the bread of his own make, to which
we had resorted when the loaves gave out.
He threw back his pyramidal head and
grinned among the parchment wrinkles, as
he said, " Oh, too bad, too bad, Oksan no
like, no could eat." I lied heroically, and
said that they were very nice, but I was not
hungry for any more. As I analyze the
sentence, I believe there was an unconscious
glimmer of truth in the statement. I had
bolted one down, with saintly grace, to save
his feelings, but the memory of that dread-
ful dab of heavy brown dough will be a
terrifying souvenir. I turned with joy to
the Kindayu menu, strung with pearls of
French which would have astonished the
ears of the Academic.
Faithful, honest, old Heihachee! As I
think of towering forests and grim moun-
177
A Woman Alone
tain ridges, of steaming baths and patient
sufferers, Heihachee looms up, not the least
among the noble features of this marvellous
inland trip. If it be true that " the last
shall be first " in the final casting up of
accounts, this tawny, wrinkled son of quaint
Japan will stand in the vanguard of the
honour roll. If " he who is faithful over
a few things shall be ruler over many," the
realm of Heihachee the faithful will be a
vast domain.
178
In the Heart of Japan
CHAPTER IX
SIGHTSEEING
The ** Welcome Society "
The " Welcome Society," as its name
indicates, welcomes the stranger, for a con-
sideration, to many an interesting corner of
Japan. Originally, membership meant the
payment of fifty sen, or one shilling, but
such was the pressure for the privileges of
admission, and such the revenue to the em-
pire, that the temptation was great for the
crafty natives to raise the fee, and when I
arrived in the land the officers demanded
five yen, or two dollars and a half, for en-
trance to the great order, which speedily
became so unpopular, and so ignored by for-
eigners, that the little people realized that
they had overstepped the bounds of pru-
dence, and reduced their figure to the com-
paratively reasonable sum of three yen.
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A Woman Alone
The old Irish-Australian lady had been
in the land in the one-shilling days, and
she read them the riot act on exorbitance,
logically declaring, " You want everybody
to come, and you use every means to get us
here, and then you make it as hard as possi-
ble for us to see the things of interest." The
official looked meek and submissive, and did
not answer, but perhaps the argument had
some weight, for the price soon dropped.
By being a member of this society, many
semi-public affairs of great interest are made
easy of access.
The Irish- Australian lady was always hard
to down. She alone trundled up to the
funeral of a noted native, was admitted to
the mausoleum on his private grounds, was
escorted to the front seat, and was the only
woman in an audience of five hundred.
When I asked, " What in the world were
you doing there?" she promptly answered,
" What am I in the land at all fur, if it
isn't to say all that is doin'."
The old lady was in high favour with a
certain clique, as she had valiantly defended
the conduct of our crew when they met dis-
aster, and were afterward vilified in what
she called " a darty English paper." It
1 80
In the Heart of Japan
was too much for her honest blood to hear
abused the poor men who had been faithful
in peril, and whose living depended on their
character. She found no man brave enough
or interested enough to take up the cause,
so she penned her own article of defence
to the press, and enlisted the eternal grati-
tude of the company. Its president came
with noble steeds and flowers, and bore her
away in triumph to a superb entertainment
in his home, and she was presented with a
bracelet of pearls. Vials of wrath descended
when I doubted the genuineness of the pearls.
" Do yer be after thinkin' that a great rich
company loike that would bay givin' a lot
of false pearls for a reward of merit? " We
were all ready to write devoted articles and
test the point, but no occasion oflfered.
A Visit to an Asylum
In general, one gains admission to public
and government institutions by applying to
the Prefecture, but, for anything less formal,
a " name-card " is the open sesame through-
out Japan. A kindly soul awaited me in
the gravel court, where I sought entrance
to the asylum of Japan's unfortunates. Re-
i8i
A Woman Alone
peatedly she flattened herself out on the
ground, then steered me to the reception-
room, and settled me in the solitary arm-
chair, while she pattered away to find the
superintendent, whose English was limited
to the words, '' boy, blind," and we filled in
the niches of talk with the usual pantomime.
I looked longingly across the pebbled court,
to groups of gesticulating children, and he
comprehended my desire to visit, glanced
doubtfully at my shoes, but let them pass
on the shiny floors, and I stepped lightly
to the schoolrooms, where science and love
have worked out so much for the children
who have lost so great a part of life. Fif-
teen deaf and dumb children, from six to
twelve years, sat on hard benches around low
tables in a hollow square, and the teacher
taught articulation. The room was very
bare, her wooden table was old and dingy,
and she had no seat. A large mirror aided
her, before which the children stood, as they
attempted to place the organs of speech.
Then the curtain was drawn across the glass,
and they attempted from memory what it
had revealed.
The teacher was quiet and earnest, her
features were strong and tender, and pa-
182
In the Heart of Japan
tiently she worked with vowel sounds, much
like our own, '' a-o-u," forming them into
syllables, to a word, and a phrase. Care-
fully she placed the organs, as she drew the
child's hand across her own face, or placed
the lips of the little one in position to make
the sound which was unheard.
Eagerly and desperately they tried, and
the results were often pitiful. Frequently
there seemed little likeness to the original
sound, but the joy in the child's face pathet-
ically bespoke his longing for success. Two
little boys made frantic efforts, but their
thick, clogged words were almost devoid
of form. An anxious little girl pitched her
voice like a shrivelled old crone, and the
cracked falsetto note was shrieked in despair,
as she nervously shook her head and snapped
off from her fingers' ends the word which
she knew her tongue should utter. Their
keen attention and their eagerness to do were
a sharp rebuke to the carelessness of chil-
dren whose powers are complete. Marvel-
lous things could be done through the same
hard work by scholars who have started un-
handicapped in life.
I watched the arithmetic work in a class
of older scholars who were deaf and dum.b,
183
A Woman Alone
As I entered, the teacher saluted gracefully,
and all the children rose and made a cere-
monious bow. They took no further notice
of me, but each boy and girl was eager to
be at the board, to write the results from
their slates, or to correct a mistake. Hands
bristled in the air, and, as the teacher pointed
to his choice, the scholar salaamed low be-
fore coming to the board. The little ones
were devoted to the work, without hint of
disorder or neglect. The world-famed cour-
tesy of the natives was most apparent in the
school routine.
The teacher of the next grade was himself
a deaf mute, and his work was marked by
enthusiasm. With a bamboo rod, he pointed
to the pupil and to the object-lesson. Words
on the board were illustrated by objects on
the table, and the children were quick to
associate house, horse, ship, store, flag, and
rejoiced in their success. I purposely took
the vacant seat beside a little boy, but he had
prejudice against my foreign self, and, by a
series of grunts and signs, prevailed upon me
to take the seat behind him. I could not
blame the little chap for his fastidious whim,
as he knew nothing about me, and I had
no right to usurp any privileges on his do-
184
In the Heart of Japan
main. But his pernickety dislike for my
presence greatly shocked, and rather amused,
the kindly superintendent, and he was un-
certain whether to sympathize with me or
with the child. The man had won a warm
place in their hearts, and they ran to him
with fearless freedom, to beg a favour or to
give him welcome.
As recess time came, the deaf teacher gave
sharp, quick moves to denote erect position,
to stand, to bow, to march, and the pebbled
court was alive, as the little folks made use
of the crude, open-air gymnasium, where the
boys performed on parallel bars, and girls
jumped in large hoops and swung from the
rings which dropped from a pole of many
radii.
From the study of the mutes I passed
among the blind. The master was dictating
a lesson which the little ones printed with
raised letters in a frame. Darkened eyes
rolled heavily, or peered pathetically under
the lids, as if the afflicted ones would fain
catch a glimpse of the soft, warm sunlight
of the Orient. Disease had injured other
eyes. Some little heads swung back and
forth, in that pitiful manner of the blind.
But their touch was keenly sensitive, and
185
A Woman Alone
they readily traced the raised text, and
learned the world's geography through
raised globes. Arts and trades were theirs,
by patient manipulation, and carpentry, sew-
ing, weaving, moulding, were followed with
marvellous results. Up-stairs was the realm
of practical industries and fine accomplish-
ments. Blind girls knelt with their teachers,
stringing the long kato and picking the dis-
mal samisen with their ivory spatula. Here
was the embryo of public concerts, of plain-
tive quartettes, and of the weird music which
is the high art of the native and the amuse-
ment of the foreigner. In the sewing-room
pupils were cutting and tailoring, as they
knelt on the mats. Dark tights and bright
kimonos grew under the deft fingers of the
unfortunate ones, who were thus working
their way toward a practical livelihood.
Japanese Art
In visiting Japanese schools, one is struck
with the fact that there is very little life
work in the art, and almost no sketching from
the object. As all work was from the copy,
I often wondered who had the courage or
the skill to make the first " copy." The peo-
i86
In the Heart of Japan
pie are fine imitators, copyists, and often the
schools showed me good work, figures that
were ably done. To my question, " Was
this from the original," always came the
answer, ^^ It was from a flat copy." I was
greatly amused to hear the defence put up
in their behalf, that the Japanese were such
thorough students of the human anatomy
that they needed no object before them.
This assumed, of course, the perfect type,
and always the same type, and admitted no
individuality of form or style, which with
us is the mark of genius. To catch varieties,
to give the distinct personality of a form, is
to us the delight (and the life) of art.
In the studio for the mutes, the scholars
did much decoration of cover-frames, al-
bums, books. The work was all flat, and
the copy always before them, and the work
often seemed stiff and conventional. The
superintendent pointed proudly to the mural
decorations, and called his one Christian
worker, and best artist, to do me a rough
sketch. It was very free-hand work, from
memory, one might say, and I guard it
among prized souvenirs. He dashed a ffw
quick strokes, and a rose-bush with fair flow-
ers grew upon the cheap brown paper, and
187
A Woman Alone
a delicate butterfly settled among the petals.
" Cho," he called it, as the pretty creature
fluttered on to the bright leaves.
The School of Massage
The room of the massage was a most
interesting scene, as it stood for one of the
best known trades throughout Japan. The
visitor is soon struck by the plaintive note
which resounds at night in the byways, as
the masseur strikes the weird call which tells
of his approach. There was science in the
management of nerves and muscles, as teach-
ers manipulated the pupils, scholars kneaded
themselves, and pupil worked with pupil.
Girls were stretched on the floor, propped
on the little wooden pillows, with clothing
loosened, while quilts were dropped lightly
on the exposed figures. The blind girl was
a strange sight, as she felt her way over the
body, skilfully tracing muscles and nerves.
The leader invited me to a personal pound-
ing, and I loaned my neck and shoulders
to the science, but the strong little hands
crashed into my starched linen, and fast
demolished my blouse, and I recoiled from
what might be called a " rub 'er neck." In
1 88
In the Heart of Japan
the next room the boys devoted themselves
to massage, and in this school which pre-
sented so many lines of help and service
to the suffering, nothing seemed more prac-
ticable than this health-restoring science.
Scholars without special talent here learned
a trade which lifted them above public beg-
gary, and rendered them useful in spite of
misfortune.
Only a scant half-dozen words of English
could the leader speak, and no sentence could
he follow, but he proudly showed the medals
won from the World's Fair for the training
in his school, and he showed many photo-
graphs of our great institutions, one of Helen
Keller being orally taught by Miss Sullivan,
and an autograph letter by Mrs. Bell of
telephone fame, whose personal affliction
gave her a warm interest in all that per-
tained to the deaf and dumb. She had vis-
ited the Kioto school, and wrote in strong
faith for its work.
I had decided on a personal application
of massage in my room, and resorted to sign
manual for expression. " I " (pointing to
myself), " Kioto hotel " (well known to all),
"massage" (making passes on my person),
" to-night, nine o'clock " (showing my watch
189
A IVoman Alone
and making figures); "how much?" (pre-
senting money.) It is astonishing how far
a very little goes. The man understood me
perfectly, and called to the teacher. I se-
cured her smiling consent, and gave her my
" name-card."
That night, exactly on the stroke, she
left her clattering clogs at the steps, and
sent in my card. She was ushered to my
room in soft straw sandals. She slipped
them oflf at the door and glided gracefully
along in her stockings, and with reverential
bows put me under the bedclothes. She
twirled my thumbs and bent my joints, and
seriously studied the rigid wrists that were
stiffened by long sieges of gout. She was
all tenderness and sympathy for the suffering
that lurked in the frame. She made soft
passes from the shoulder down, following
gently the nerve-lines. Not a word could
we exchange, but I needed no medium of
language to know that she was giving me
the best of her warm heart and trained hand.
She bent the toes and twisted the ankles, fol-
lowing the legs and moulding the knees and
rubbing the thighs with the same kind care.
It was funny enough to see this wee creature,
so dignified and serious, creep cautiously
190
In the Heart of Japan
on to the bed, and kneel beside me like a tiny
kitten. She folded her shapely baby hands
under a cheek, to show that I must turn, and
she rubbed the tired scalp, and ran her little
fingers over neck and shoulders. It seemed
as if an electric eel squirmed its way down
my back, as she turned her knuckles in upon
the spinal column and worked them down
my vertebrae. Her touch quieted and
strengthened. She had a strangely comfort-
ing power, and I had drifted into a sleepy
langour, when her soft pat told me the
seance was finished, and she slid gently
away, bowing and backing from the room,
a mass of smiles. Oh, little sister of the
tawny skin, how much the foreigner has to
learn of gentle grace and sweet demeanour!
For over an hour she had knelt beside me,
giving generously of her sweetness and
strength. In her eyes, fifty sen were a boun-
tiful requital for an hour of life's service.
But the nervous foreign lady thought twenty-
five cents a small return for the offering of
physical strength and kindly love.
The Geishas
If one word, above all others, strikes a
chord of interest, and draws the stranger like
191
A Woman Alone
a magnet, in Japan, it is that of Geisha.
The charms of the geisha girl have been
read and written and sung, till the name is
a synonym for the flowery kingdom, and the
avowed object of every man's visit is an ac-
quaintance with these little charmers. The
school which fits these young women in those
fine accomplishments which have made the
name renowned through the world is one of
the most interesting features of the land.
The preconceived ideas of the fair lady
are often shattered by personal contact. I
had heard of her as coy and artless and inno-
cent, loving and winning, modest, fascinat-
ing and beguiling, and I was not ready for
the astonishing statement of the cranky old
maid who had studied the girl for fifteen
years and declared, " They are stealthy,
wicked little cats, cats, all of them, and they
do not seem to have a human instinct.'^
This was a slap in the face, a rude
awakening, after one had indulged the
fanciful notions of literature, and had
heaped charms unlimited about the geisha.
"Is she morally impossible?" I asked.
" Not positively impossible, but she is mor-
ally improbable. All her wiles and graces
19:2
In the Heart of Japan
are for the ruin of her victims, and seldom
is she better than an outcast."
Thus pleasant theories were swept away,
and the pretty geisha girl became the em-
bodiment of vice made easy, if I was to be-
lieve the bald statement of the harsh critic,
which I did not accept without reserve.
Fifteen-year residents may have knowledge,
and, likewise, they may have violent preju-
dice and vehement expression.
A Trancing Lesson
The geisha is the public dancer, all will
admit, but " dancing," in our sense, does not
exist in Japan. No spinning top reel, or
grasshopper jump, with awkward bounce
and breathless hurry of the Western world,
would ever mark or mar the graceful sweep
of the geisha's movements. Slow lines, easy
waves of motion, pretty attitudes, and gentle
poses constitute the dance, which is taught
and performed individually. One cannot
picture two geishas wheeling about in each
other's arms. Old age and homeliness do
not shelve a teacher in Japan. The years
which ripen one's experience add authority
and weight in the land where age is hon-
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A Woman Alone
cured and where ancestors are venerated,
and women old and wrinkled are strong in
the teaching force.
A child of eight or a miss of eighteen was
put through her paces by the old duenna,
who did not rise from her knees, but indi-
cated, as she bent her body, what should
happen on the stage. The long sleeves un-
folded gracefully, and wrapped themselves
again. They swirled in wraith-like form
about the little body. With gentle voice and
friendly glance the teacher directed, and
with meek obedience the pupil imitated.
She pattered softly across the stage, flung
wide her sleeves, toyed with the big folds.
It was a Loie Fuller performance, looking
not to colour and lime-lights for success, but
depending wholly on grace of motion. She
scampered back, wheeled quickly, and bent
so that the narrow draperies fitted tight to
the small form. At a rap of the teacher's
wand, the pretty foot descended, thud, upon
the floor, while the other poised above.
Then the midget in flowery kimono twirled
and pirouetted on her dainty toes like a
whirling rainbow. The airy motions of her
arms suggested the bird-play of our kinder-
garten. The pupil relaxed her muscles with
194
« 4 - »
In the Heart of Japan
the ease of a Delsarte, while the old lady
swung her head backwards and sidewise,
dramatically rolled her eyes, and threw coy
glances over her shoulder. It was a quaint
attempt to beguile and to fascinate. It was
studied national art, followed solemnly,
worked out religiously by the little mimic.
Had she been performing the sacred rites
to her dead ancestors, she could not have
been more serious, more conscientious in her
effort. Not a side glance, nor the shadow of
a smile, betrayed a thought beyond the les-
son. The coquetry of the fan drill showed
the same stately dignity, almost stern in its
exactness. Each twirl and twist, each flutter
and turn, had weighty value, and must be
made with thumb and fingers at the proper
angle, with hands adjusted to a code of fan
etiquette which was only known to the high
bred. Any omission in the attitudinizing
stamped the performer as a wretched bun-
gler. The teacher's quick rap of the wand
on the stool meant another fleet dash of light
feet across the stage, and the lesson ended
with low bows and airy flutters.
195
A Woman Alone
A Music Lesson
Of equal interest, and of equal difference
from anything we know in the name of
music, is the other lesson of the little people,
and, as catcalls sounded through the thin
partitions, I entered the music-room, to
watch the stiff gestures of the clubs, raised
parallel, perpendicular, at right angles, to
fall with a bang on the drums, and perhaps
stir those famed forty-seven ronins from
their long, cemetery sleep. Near by stood
the native hibachi, and, as the lesson ended,
the teacher drew the finely shredded weed
from her pouch and bent her long pipe in
the embers of the brazier, to puff contentedly
the three little puffs which are the native
pipe's capacity. Her honest effort had
earned her the comfort which came with the
smoke.
Other musical aspirants crooned their dis-
mal wails above stringed instruments, and
another old lady struck shrill falsetto notes
for them to follow. It was a wild attempt
in the name of Apollo, and Orpheus must
have done sweeter things than this to move
the stones, but I had listened to the highest
pitch of musical culture in the dismal shrieks
196
In the Heart of Japan
of the cherry fetes, and I recognized that
these amateurs were well on the road to
fame and glory.
A Lesson in Tea Service
Tea service is a solemn rite, time-honoured
and royal. It is the test of elegance, of quiet
dignity and repose. There is precision in
every move of the tea maiden. As I watched
the little lady, no drop of water fell outside
the bowl. All the steps were performed in
our presence. Daintily she rinsed the dish
and tenderly she wiped it. Exactly she
measured with her little scoop, and grace-
fully her twirling bamboo brush mixed the
liquid. She replaced each object with taper-
ing fingers that were straight and firm.
Every move declared, " I am so honoured
in rendering you this service, my noble
guest, that I cannot be too dainty, too deli-
cate, and too thoughtful in every act. My
very best efforts cannot do justice to your
noble presence." Gentle courtesy and ex-
quisite compliment are implied in the deco-
rum of the elaborate tea service, which was
amplified and emphasized by the old emper-
ors, and especially by the redoubtable Hidi-
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A Woman Alone
yosha, to impress the worth of ceremony
upon his courtiers, and to lead long hours in
fruitful meditation rather than in idle gos-
sip. It is the fine edge of culture and the
acme of politeness. We admire rather than
ridicule it when we realize its deep signifi-
cance, and We of the hurried age and the
worried life may rejoice in a people who
have time for long-drawn-out elegancies of
reposeful etiquette. The elaborate tea cere-
mony is the sine qua non in a broad educa-
tion. It is a prime essential in correct de-
portment, and the brusque and independent
nations cannot easily grasp its value and
importance, nor do we readily catch its fine
details.
The little maid passed the steaming drink
to the ancient teacher, who bowed in grate-
ful appreciation and rattled down the bev-
erage. Drinking is no silent art among
the Japanese, and noisy swallowing is per-
fectly consistent with propriety.
The maid passed me a twin bowl, and I
resolved on gastronomic heroics. But the
floating green flakes caught and choked me,
and I faithlessly relinquished my test. The
lifeless brown wafers, which looked like
fried potatoes, were much better. But I had
198
In the Heart of Japan
made a bad break in good manners. A
look of astonished sorrow passed across the
teacher's face as her pupil poured away my
wasted grounds. I had my object-lesson in
self-control. A lady from the geisha school
would have strangled at her task, in the last
gasp of tortured etiquette, ere she would
have grieved her hostess by wasting one leaf
or one drop of the treasure so carefully pre-
pared. She would have swung her bowl till
the last leaf swirled into place, and she
would have gurgled down the last drop,
though it sounded like a death-rattle, out of
friendly consideration. In their duty to
decorum, the cultured Japanese can never
falter, even though Spartan heroism be a
part of their politeness.
199
A IVornan Alone
CHAPTER X
THE BUDDHIST UNIVERSITY AND THE JUDO
SCHOOL
Buddhism in Japan
ShinTOISM, the native religion of Japan,
has its rival in the imported faith of
Buddhism, brought in by way of Korea,
and its rites have been degraded by the evil
practices of its leaders. The debauchery of
the HongAvangi chief, his extravagance and
consequent indebtedness, caused trouble
among the followers. Since the emperor
is considered divine, his relative, the lord
high abbot, was a being so nearly divine
that it was a difficult matter to reprove the
gentleman for his sins. His son, an exalted
ascetic, bears proof of pure life in face and
manner. When the followers demanded
that the father should curtail expenses and
200
THE FAMED BUDDHA OF KAMAKURA
In the Heart of Japan
renounce his profligate mistress, the wicked
gentleman positively refused to give up the
pleasures of sin. So great a storm v^as
raised that the objectionable lady voluntarily
v^ithdrew from the temple, and father and
son united in an appeal to the temples
throughout the land for a payment of the
debt. So we see that church troubles are as
possible among the pagan as among the
Christian sects! The result was a religious
revival in the land, and a call for the purifi-
cation of the Buddhist faith.
An Irish Buddhist
The old Irish-Australian lady, advanced
theosophist and incipient Buddhist and all-
round crank, had in tow an Irish ex-priest,
sycophant and parasite, who was ready to
embrace any doctrine which meant no work
and fruitful returns. He claimed to have
studied, long years, the occult science in
India. He had been denounced by an ex-
missionary, editor of The Voice, in Tokio,
and was challenged to an argument. Though
the old lady was willing to believe in the
Irishman, with limitations, she did not wish
him to riin on to sure ruin, and offered her
20I
A Woman Alone
advice, when he declared he should answer
the challenge.
'^ Shure an' ye'U do no sich thing. Ye
can't answer thim argumints. Ye ain't got
the wisdom nar the larnin' ter open yer
mouth, an' yer must jist kape still."
It was difficult to down the Hibernian
fakir, but the old lady prevailed, and then
we accepted his invitation to the Buddhist
University, seat of mystic learning, in a
grove outside of Tokio. He met us at the
station, robed in flaming orange. He looked
like a cutthroat playing a saintly role. His
two brethren were less conspicuous in gray
togas. It would have cost a mite to pass
the turnstile with a platform ticket, so they
waited just beyond, and their sandals scuffled
through the dust as we made our way to the
jogging tram.
'^ You will kindly pay our fares," said the
Irishman, with calm assurance.
" Och, indade, shure we will that, with
plisure," said the old lady.
The Buddhist University
Students on the grounds fiercely batted
tennis-balls, and crowds were assembled in
202
In the Heart of Japan
a long, low shed to watch a fencing bout.
Hundreds of students, squatting outside the
ring, looked on with breathless interest. The
foreign ladies were put in a safe corner to
watch the display of warlike struggle. The
opponents looked and fought like fiends in-
carnate. Thej wore stout cuirasses, worsted
gloves, wicker masks, and they furiously
flourished bamboo swords with a zeal that
would drive many a Mars from the field of
battle. The umpire kept close watch, and
judges made frequent notes. A favourite
fighter despatched a worthy line of foes, but
a stronger combatant drove him from the
ring amid thundering applause for the vic-
tor. Beyond the ring, contestants dressed
and undressed with the unconventional ease
of the native. Winners received testimonials
of their skill, tied in coloured ribbons. A
cord, across the room, blazed the names of
the victors, and the number of their victories
was streaked in red.
It is never easy to guess ages in Japan,
where children are early responsible, and
mere babies care for the younger babies.
Two infants stepped into the ring and
opened a lively contest. The youngest
looked scarcely seven years, and fought like
203
A JVoman Alone
an avenging fury as he plunged toward the
foe and whacked the air with violent strokes.
When his blows struck our way, we dodged
under the table, while I meekly demanded,
" Is this the reformed Buddhism of your
mystic university? Is this warring process
illustrative of the peaceful doctrine of occult
India?"
" An' shure I'll not be afther a-tellin' yer
till I say miself out o' this aloive, wid me
head on me shoulders," said the scared theos-
ophist. When the youngster was safely cor-
ralled, the priestly orangeman urged us to
peep out, and led us to the peaceful audi-
ence-room of the wise Swami Rah Tirth.
Swami Rah Tirth
To the faithful, calling for the purifica-
tion of the faith, he seemed the bright star
in the night, pointing to a resurrection. He
was the embodiment of the doctrine. His
mind was regarded as a well of wisdom and
his life as an open book. Long years of
concrete and abstract study, of mathematical
and scientific work in the university of La-
hore, of occult meditation beneath the snowy
Himalayas, had ripened him in knowledge.
204
In the Heart of Japan
He was devout in practice, a true disciple
of great Buddha. The people looked upon
him as the Saviour of their faith, the Luther
of reform. " Prove all things, choose that
which is best," was his motto, arid his heart
was fixed on the salvation of Japan. When
that is done, he promised that he would
cross and attempt the regeneration of Amer-
ica! Such is his lofty aim, and he evidently
did not realize what a big contract he was
blocking out. He had a kind, true face, a
winning smile, a gracious manner. He was
eager to visit our vast land, and he gave a
heavenly smile as I told of our own snowy
heights, which are no unworthy rivals of the
great Himalayas.
In the upper chamber were assembled the
men of wisdom. The president of the uni-
versity, the editor of the theosophical maga-
zine, priests of the temple, drank the inevi-
table tea with the Swami and his two Indian
attendants, stunning men, with tawny skin,
flashing eyes, and raven hair. To the true
Buddhist even eggs are forbidden, since
they contain the germ of life. The old lady
had sent to her sycophant a mammoth
sponge cake, and he asked if it contained
205
A Woman Alone
any of the forbidden product, and she lied
with Irish ease.
" Indade, don't I know yer rules, and wud
I bay afther makin' yer throuble? Not a
sign av an igg wuz ther in it." Later she
gleefully whispered in my ear, " It's not me-
self that makes sponge cake without the
iggs, and ther wuz iggs enough ter make it
good. The poor, starved crittur shud have
wan rich bite in his life."
We were the only women and the only
foreigners on the platform, and it was very
infra dig. to cross the spotless matting in our
shoes, but the lady, fat and lame, rebelled
when sandals were presented, and readily
gave account of her remarkable shoes, that
they " niwer tuk dust, they have no hales,
an' are worn a-purpose." The natives did
not quite see the logic, and scanned the for-
eign shoes most critically, but they were too
polite to resent her assurance, so the great
concession was granted, and we tiptoed along
in shoe leather, like guilty sneaks, while
every man left his shoes outside, and entered
barefoot, or in his stockings.
Several hundred students, including three
earnest women, squatted on the mats, below.
A native orator spoke on the " Comparative
206
In the Heart of Japan
Merits of Buddhism and Christianity,"
while we longed to know his argument; but
the occasional word " Christo," was the only
hint we caught of a discourse which would
have been pregnant with interest to the
Christian hearers.
An Indian, who introduced the Swami,
had no Japanese, but spoke in fluent English
to his enlightened audience which was gen-
erally familiar with our tongue. He told
of the periods in the leader's life, of early
activity and later seclusion, of his profound
scholarship, his high-grade mentality, gained
by self-projections into the astral realms,
where mind travels apart from the body.
The speaker was a queer colour-scheme in
blue, with dark trousers and long coat, broad
white belt, and light blue vest and heavy
muffler. The outfit seemed a misfit suit
donated by foreign army and navy. As he
closed, amid applause, a band of dwarfs
struck up on two accordions, two drums, and
a pair of cymbals. The leader played a
piercing flute, and the big base drum was
much larger than the little boy who banged
it.
The gentle Swami took his place amid
accordion-pleated music, and waited to be
207
A Woman Alone
heard. His colour-scheme was brilliant yel-
low, and he made a unique picture. His
head was Shakespearian, and his glazed
scalp bristled with abbreviated spikes.
Kindly eyes, with gold-rimmed spectacles,
looked from under his high forehead. His
tawny features were wreathed in a perpetual
smile. His narrow, bright robe fell to his
feet. Above it dropped a gown of gay
orange. Around him swept a salmon-col-
oured shawl.
His English was finished, and his first
sentence was an inspiration: "Sisters and
brothers! Gods! what a blessed sight it is
to look into so many serene and happy
faces." His lecture was an exalted tribute
to self-sacrifice. His manner was vehement.
He had no notion of vocal training, and he
roared with a violence that rubbed oflF the
velvet, and left him cracked and hoarse. As
his voice grew huskier, he approached
strangulation. It would have been funny,
if it had not seemed dangerous. The strict
principle of caste forbids a true Buddhist
to use the receptacle of another, and the
Swami ignored the glass of water brought
by an attendant, as a previous speaker had
used the glass, and he struggled on with his
208
In the Heart of Japan
hoarseness. He threw back his sahnon shawl,
and drew from mjrsterious depths a pink
table-cover, which he vigorously used as
handkerchief, and bunched it away under
his armpit Faster he spoke, and hoarser he
grew, as the beaded drops rolled down his
face.
Indian orators do not imitate the classic
and the statuesque. They speak with fiery
ardour, and are soon physically exhausted.
The Swami grew tired, but his placid smile
returned as he drank tea and nibbled sponge-
cake, in the upper chamber, and discussed
abstraction and the bliss of Nirvana. Swami
Rah Tirtfi is a wise student, and he is gentle
and good. He believes in his mission to
reform the people who have fallen so far
from the first truths of Buddha. The gos-
pel of universal brotheiiiood and everlasting
love he would revive throughout Japan.
It sounds very much like the teaching of the
gentle Jesus, and, whether it be practised in
India, in Nazaretfi, or in Japan, it is Ae
light and life of the world. The Swami's
face reflects his doctrine, and attests a mys-
terious and abiding peace, "which passeth
all understanding," and is good to have. His
kindly wishes were sounding in my ears as
209
A Woman Alone
we turned to the station, accompanied by
the Irish protege, of cat-like step, who pre-
sented a deplorable contrast, and who left
us with profuse adieus and the calm com-
mand, '' You will kindly pay my fare to
Megura."
Professor Kano and His Judo School
A contrasting institution, of equal fame in
the land, is the Judo school of Professor
Kano, its founder, who is a unique factor in
the country. As Kano was journeying in
China, Tomita Tsunejira carried on the
school and received the guests. Red tape
and a special permit secured the entry, and
repaid all effort. A score of men jumped
to their feet, as my riksha rolled into the
court. Spectators are always drawn to the
school, and there were idlers, and coolies in
blue. The lobby seemed a dressing-room,
where scores of suits were pigeon-holed, and
where clogs awaited their owners. The
urbane manager smiled sweetly and bowed
low to my card of introduction, and, in
stockinged feet, I curled up like a Turk
on the platform, while a score of sturdy
men tumbled and bumped and rolled and
2IO
PROFESSOR KANO
In the Heart of Japan
spun, landing on the classic floor which, for
a quarter of a century, had trained athletes
and developed wrestlers renowned through-
out Japan. The unfurnished room was the
cradle of physical skill, the spot where many,
by scientific training rather than by weight
or power, have learned how to handle men.
Professor Kano, known as the " Father
of modern wrestling," is a philanthropist,
loved by his people. His skill and his devo-
tion have given to the Japanese their repu-
tation as the best tumblers and the most
daring acrobats in the world. Neither he
nor his manager nor his teachers receive a
penny for their work. Love and enthusiasm
inspire the workers. Professor Kano has no
desire to be wealthy. He is content to draw
a salary as professor in the Higher Normal
School. There is no sordid motive in his
private enterprise, and no school could be
more public. " Whosoever will, may come,"
without entrance or tuition fee. Money is
an unknown element in his school, and its
platform is truly democratic. The true
sporting spirit for fair play and equal rights
prevails. Nobleman, rikman, and coolie are
on an equality, and skill in throwing is the
only badge of merit. Five thousand pupils
211
A Woman Alone
have tried their strength on this wrestling
field, and they number in their lists a sec-
retary to the British legation. Sm^U boys
and mature men are proud to practise here.
All wear the same costume, of heavy white,
with loose, open jacket and very short trunks.
Men of noble families wear a purple sash,
while the sash of the ordinary citizen is
white, and this is the only mark to distin-
guish plebeian from patrician, to tell the
humblest combatant when he has displaced
a man of noble rank. The son of the editor
of Japan's best paper sat by the wall with
the humblest natives, and was tossed and
thrown by an obscure coolie who outdid him
in skill.
The manager declared strongly for the
principles which guide the wrestler's code,
and for the value of wrestling in mental and
moral gain. The code of ethics is exacting,
and many a thoroughly bad boy shows a
moral reform after a month at the Judo
school. No court code is more precise than
the ceremony with which these adversaries
approach each other. The ballroom manners
of Alphonse to Dulcina, as he asks her for
a dance, are no more perfect than those of
the opponents in this arena. The suppliant
212
In the Heart of Japan
crawls on hands and knees, salaams to the
floor, and repeats his fixed form of invita-
tion. The recipient also plays the role of
quadruped, bumps his head on the floor, and
repeats the ceremonious acceptance. Then
they stand erect, come to the centre, and war
begins. At the finish follow bows and re-
sponses, expressions of mutual gratitude and
appreciation; and congratulations, compli-
ments, and recognition of special merit are
in order.
The men mark their record in the school
register, in strange cabalistic signs dashed
on by a brush from a block of India ink.
The writing is in columns, beginning at the
end, we should say, on the last page of the
book, and on the right margin. Here is
future proof of each man's bout, with whom
he struggled, and with what result. The
test is no child's play, but deadly earnest
from start to finish. Muscles strain, cords
swell, eyes dilate, as each man pushes for
the mastery. Every movement is thought
out for its scientific value. The fray is
marked by nimbleness and dexterity. Every
sweep of the body is made with lightning
flash, and the thought which precedes is
quicker than lightning. It is a training of
213
A Woman Alone
the mental powers and a swift study of cause
and effect. The work is based on physical
laws. Statics, inertia, the law of bodies at
rest, of bodies in motion, of momentum, of
velocity, of the lever, the fulcrum, of poise,
and the maintenance of gravity, are the foun-
dation of the art. Fair play and a scientific
basis are the code.
In his limited English the gracious mana-
ger explained the system, and I drank the
detested tea, an ubiquitous penance, if one
is not fond of the beverage. Tomita Tsune-
jira explained the word '^ judo," which is
the key-note to the profession, and which,
as he sadly announced, has no equivalent in
English. ^^ Ju " means soft, pliant, yield-
ing, and " do " means thoroughness. Freely
translated, a thorough doing-up of the oppo-
nent, in a soft and easy style. The practical
object-lesson did not reveal the softness of
the process. Men spun through the air, and
fell, slap-slam, on all sides. The soft, yield-
ing matting seemed the only pliant feature.
After the toss-up and the thump, men lay
for a moment stretched in Delsartean relax-
ation. Then they rebounded with the spring
of a rubber ball, and jumped to the foe, like
wiry little spiders. If a shoulder were dis-
214
In the Heart of Japan
located, a spasm of pain delayed the game
till the bone was shoved back in the socket.
Scientific Wrestling
" I will now show scientific moves," said
Mr. Tsunejira, as he cleared the floor, and
called for his two crack teachers. The
pupils had been ready for practice. They
had held many bouts and brief rests, but they
readily retired to give place to the experts.
Students knew that rare sport was in store,
and they were anxious for the exhibition.
With a modest laugh and a smile of pleas-
ure, the men advanced for my benefit. One
was short and thick-set, the other slight in
figure. They slid along, 1-2-3, ^s if prac-
tising a waltz. Then they twisted their
knees, and tied up their bodies in a double
knot. They rested, they pushed, and a man
was thrown. The beginning and the end
were apparent, but only a trained eye could
detect the scientific move. Some sudden
twist, unexpected, at the right second of
poise, had sent the victim sprawling. A
few moments were filled with dexterous
moves, electric tosses, and quick tumbles.
Over the head, on to the shoulder, right, left,
215
A Woman Alone
across the thigh, a man was tossed like a
featherweight in mid-air. The admiring
school crouched in envious wonder. The
proud manager scanned the play, intent,
with knotted brow and wide-open eyes, dis-
approval and pleasure evident, at the vari-
ous moves. He would have made a noble
daimio in older times, this mixture of courtly
grace and stern rigidity. The performers
did their best stunts, and gave general pleas-
ure; the manager called a halt, and the
teachers retired with profuse expressions of
courtesy and compliment. The white and
purple sashes of the pupils mingled on the
floor, as the men renewed their bouts with
fresh impulse and inspiration for the art.
Daily, from three to five P. M., and Sun-
day morning, from nine to eleven, the school
is in session, for that work which makes men
ready to see, able to do, willing to dare,
courageous in attack, modest in victory, brave
in defeat, polite and manly always. The
principle and the practice of the school are
the making of the soldier, and the humblest
men in training here become record-breakers
of bravery and endurance at the front.
Here the aspiring lads of Tokio may take
few lessons or many, as they choose, and
216
In the Heart of Japan
here they have the practice which is one
essential in the equipment of every police-
man, that he may hand over a scientific
touch-down to every tough who needs it.
In the outside court men were drawing
water from the deep well to fill the buckets
for the after-bath, which is the pleasure and
the need of these cleanly people in every
walk of life.
For his great and practical philanthropy,
Professor Kano has earned the world-wide
fame and the national love which he has
won. His is patriotic mission work of the
highest type, without money and without
price, a free gift to the humblest and the
highest, for the betterment of mankind, for
the making of manly men, who, in time of
peace or in time of war, are the strength and
bulwark of the nation.
217
A JVoman Alone
CHAPTER XI
THE RUSSIAN MISSION AND THE RED CROSS
HOSPITAL
Bishop Nicolai
From the plain of Tokio, which stretches
in a labyrinth of wide streets and narrow
alleys, with a network of shanties and little
shops, one sees, high on the dominating hill,
a group of white buildings with a dark
cupola, a slender spire, and golden cross.
Thus, overlooking the great capital in the
plain below, is the Russian mission, with its
large cathedral. " Be shure yer say it, fur
it well repays the climb," said the old Irish-
Australian lady, who was my respected men-
tor and advisory board. Following her ad-
vice, I climbed the high hill with a snorting
rikman, well-winded before he reached the
top.
With memories of the Greek-Russian
218 •
In the Heart of Japan
church in Sitka, whose vestments and altar-
cloths were woven by devoted nuns in Rus-
sia, I wondered what this station in Japan
might hold, and, crossing the pebbled court,
I sought the bishop's house. A Japanese
lad ran down the corridor, and bade me
enter where a perpendicular card, in wood,
bearing cabalistic signs, probably read the
occupant's name. If it read " No admit-
tance," I was none the wiser. The apart-
ment united bedroom and reception-room,
and, to my hesitating knock, there came a
hearty greeting in an unknown tongue, which
encouraged me as if it said, " Come ahead,"
and I passed to the inner room, where two
queer men sat in close conference. They
were, apparently, host and guest. The latter
was enjoying sweet biscuits and a savoury
drink, as the former. Bishop Nicolai, ad-
vanced with a warm greeting for the
stranger. This was the dear father who for
so many years had devoted his life to his
chosen people. No extra time and no intro-
duction were needed to be on friendly terms
with the kind old man. He was very tall,
with long hair and beard, and his beautiful
cloth gown reached to his heels. From his
long chain of very small silver beads, which
219
A IVoman Alone
passed around his neck, hung his big silver
watch. When I asked how long he had lived
in Japan, " Long before you were born, my
dear child," he replied, and we fell to guess-
ing ages. He gallantly guessed mine as
much less than it was, and this I heartily
appreciated. The father was not so com-
pletely out of the world that he had for-
gotten to cater to woman's weakness.
" I have only two more years to live,"
he said. " You know David said we could
live till seventy, and I am sixty-eight."
" But we do not consult David in that
matter. He was not speaking for the mod-
ern world. Hosts of people have passed his
limit, and you are just ready for your best
work," I answered.
In recent years, the biShop has had gen-
eral oversight of the entire mission, but has
given his personal attention to the transla-
tion of the Gospel from Russian into Japa-
nese. Forty-three years he had worked
among these people, returning only twice to
his own country. He seemed a man fired
with nervous energy, and ready in many
tongues. His den w^as full of pictures, and,
as I spoke of a copy of the Sistine Madonna,
he called my attention to a series of softly
220
In the Heart of Japan
coloured Raphaels, which recalled the gal-
leries of the Pitti Palace.
Very freely he discussed the Greek
Church, and its points of contrast with the
Roman. " We have no Pope. We are ruled
by the council and the synods. We have
confessional and seven distinct sacraments.
We can marry, and have the cares and pleas-
ures of home. No, the Czar is not our head,
in any sense. That is a false notion which
has gone out, among many wrong ideas about
Russia. The Czar would be subject to me,
or to any bishop, in church affairs. We do
not have statues, because they are coarse
and clumsy, in a church where decorations
should be simple. Hence we have pictures
only."
The Cathedral
Clap, clap, came the small boy with the
big key, which would admit me to the empty
sanctum, built in circular form, with a strip
of carpet running up the centre. The Greek
church has no aisles and no divisions. The
congregation usually stands, but the Japa-
nese are allowed their national habit of
kneeling. The Greek service uses no mu-
221
1
A Woman Alone \
I
sical instruments, but young voices are trained
in a goodly choir, and the vesper music of
the mission on the hill is one of the delights
of the city, and the children grouped before i
the altar rejoice to sing their evening hymns.
The cathedral, w^hich has been built about \
fourteen years, is the crowning w^ork of the |
bishop's devoted life, and every evening, at ;
six, beneath the great candelabra, he reads \
the service to his people. From nine to
eleven the Sunday service is held. The audi- |
torium vs^ill accommodate fifteen hundred,
though only at Easter is it crowded.
The high altar, which cost eleven thou-
sand yen, is an elaborate contrast to the stern |
simplicity of the interior. Towering, with ^
its gilded cross, fifty feet high, and extend- |
ing forty feet in width, it is an extravagant '
mass of gilding, inlaid with beautiful paint-
ings, i
The altar is a veritable gallery of Bible \
literature. The bishop has realized the value
of object-lessons for impressing the young '
mind, and he placed the Bible stories in the
most attractive form. *' Here the children
see the Bible in painting. It is good for !
the eyes to dwell upon," he said, and the
most famous artists of St. Petersburg were
222
In the Heart of Japan
engaged to decorate the obscure temple on
the distant hill. The Annunciation is por-
trayed. The Madonna holds the infant
Jesus, with His hand on the globe, in token
of a conquered world. The Crucifixion, the
Resurrection, the Last Judgment, are pic-
tured. Stephen and his brother martyrs read
the lesson of fidelity. The Apostles are sug-
gestively portrayed, and the Evangelists
stand out in a dignity which would rival
the great figures of Diirer.
The Japanese are devotees of art, and are
readily impressed by the magic touch of the
brush. Here they find much to study, and
they adore this artistic revelation of sacred
history. Their impressionable natures re-
ceive the old story, and the appeal is most
vivid, through the sense of sight. Such is
the good bishop's belief, and, surely, he has
a right to know. In the practical work of
his school and hospital, he has been a power
for good, and dearly has the Russian priest
been loved for many years throughout his
parish. So closely is he identified with the
life of the neighbourhood, that the entire
district is called after him, the Nicorai.
Another ornament is the treasure of the
cathedral. Near the altar, protected by a
223
A Woman Alone
glass case, reposes the dead Christ, painted
in relief, and clad in marvellous grave-
clothes. The cloth of gold is run with
strings of pearls. On the base of gold
embroidery are worked the words, " He gave
Himself in death, that all the world might
live." The Russian nuns had generous love,
and to spare, when they wrought with tire-
less fingers, and with infinite skill, the glori-
ous Christ-robe for the mission across the
seas.
Bishop Nicolai talked most lovingly of his
flock. He had a warm word for the Ameri-
can missionaries, who, he said, " were all
good people." The secretary of the Russian
legation to Korea was of our group, and
much was said of that quaint land. He, too,
spoke good English, as all high-bred Rus-
sians are linguists, and we spoke of the poli-
tics and the poverty of Korea, which had
abandoned the emperor's celebration for lack
of money, and lack of credit, with which to
borrow cash for large processions. The
bishop was no cloistered monk, with eyes
only for his book and his breviary, but a
modern man of affairs, well versed in the
serious questions of the day. He stopped
in th^ discussion of modern history to give
224
In tPie Heart of Japan
me a kindly farewell and the hearty invita-
tion, " Come often to our service. We w.ant
to know you well."
The Red Cross in Japan
Ever since those remote days when " A
gentle knight was pricking o'er the plain,"
the Red Cross has been the symbol of kindly
deeds and gentle courtesy, and the countries
are hard to find on the round globe to-day
where the Red Cross is not known by its
work. Wherever its proud banner waves,
there the philanthropist and humanitarian
are found. The empress is its warm patron
in Japan, where the society has been estab-
lished twenty-eight years, and, on the anni-
versary which marked a quarter of a cen-
tury, one hundred and ten thousand people
crowded into Ueno Park to hear the words
of her Highness, as she awarded medals to
the faithful. It was a great gathering of
enthusiasts, and offered an excuse to the fete-
loving people for a national picnic. The
entrance was arched in evergreen, bearing
the red symbol, and the park, at night, gave
every proof of a big gala day. What the
valiant Red Cross has been to the sick and
v225
A Woman Alone
dying, among the brave soldiers of the war,
has now become matter of history.
The Red Cross Hospital
A very long and rambling ride from the
centre of the limitless city brings one to the
wide grounds, whose large buildings wxre
erected twenty years ago. Pest-houses, de-
voted to infection, are a little removed from
the main buildings, which are conspicuous
by the emblem of the order. The usher
made obsequious recognition of my visitor's
pass, and conducted me to a sad reception-
room. A doctor appeared, immaculate in
white duck, which contrasted with his
swarthy skin, and we conversed in German,
as we had no English-Japanese base. Our
efforts were pitifully weak, but I tried to
resurrect a few phrases, which might match
the atrocious wreckage of the little man, who
thought he spoke as to the manor born the
language of the Fatherland. We waxed elo-
quent over the tea-cups, which seemed the
first step to support me in my general survey.
We made a solemn tour of all the show-
rooms, the directors' chamber, and the em-
press's salon, with her full-length picture,
226
j
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i^^^^m^^i^^H
ySi.^.;>'^ ^^Hh
^ 1
L'^HSmmL * Th^H^^hI
■*4
i^pn *^^^^^^^H
i
t"«
'r J
In the Heart of Japan
where she may admire her gracious self on
those glad days when she is received at the
hospital. But I had not come for show-
rooms, and only when I caught a stiff lab-
oratory smell of alcohol did I feel sure that
we were approaching anything like hospital
wards. The laboratory was a storehouse
for pans, jars, cases of organs internal
and external, malformed, putrid, semi-gone,
retained for examination and study. Speci-
mens there were, enough to satisfy any lover
of the monstrous, in this ghastly chamber
of horrors. Every ailment in the catalogue
of miseries has its sample.
The quiet corridors were restful, and the
little nurses flitting about like gentle doves,
in white uniforms and high French caps,
with the red cross, were a happy relief to
the gruesome den. The hospital staff, of
three hundred women, had passed a train-
ing of three years. They live and mess in
annexes of the hospital. They earn the small
sum of eight yen a month for their services,
and must pay five for board, so that their
actual income is three yen, or one dollar
and fifty cents per month. Not a vast sum
for the long hours, hard work, and unpleas-
ant details of their profession. A real mis-
A Woman Alone
sionary at a minimum salary is this gentle
Nippon nurse.
The hospital is conducted by a company,
which holds itself responsible for the sup-
port. Twenty doctors are always in service.
The Graded Wards
The cost to the patient is graded in five
classes, according to his means. A first-
grade patient pays yen 5.50 per day to be
alone in two comfortable rooms, with mat-
tings and soft bedding. The so-called read-
ing-room is the reception-room of visitors,
who call under the doctor's supervision. In
the second class, two patients share one neat
bedroom, each paying three yen a day. In
the fourth class are six patients, at yen 1.50
each. The fifth class includes long wards
of those who pay the nominal sum of one-
half yen, or twenty-five cents of our money,
to retain their self-respect, and do away with
the sense of absolute pauperism. These sums
include all necessities of food, service, and
treatment. Foreign beds are used in the
form of crude cots. The native beds of
piled-up quilts are entirely discarded. There
is still another grade, unnamed in the reg-
228
In the Heart of Japan
ular classes, of actual charity patients, or
frei-costen, who pay nothing. The chief
distinction apparent in these two classes was
in the bedding, as the blankets of the free
patients were rough and coarse and gray,
while the fifth class had white blankets.
Both of these wards, of long, gloomy sheds,
were very plainly outfitted. Such of the
frei-costen as can leave their beds eat at
a general mess table, and they know that
after death their bodies belong to the hos-
pital.
In very lame German, the little doctor
asked if I would like to attend the autopsy
then in progress, in the building reserved for
dissection, on a poor man who had suc-
cumbed to heart disease the day before.
Perhaps he had not realized how thoroughly
I wished to visit, and he seemed a little sur-
prised at my ready assent, but resigned him-
self to the inevitable. Six earnest men and
one attentive little nurse, all robed in white,
bent over their subject, while another doctor
took notes. They removed the internal or-
gans, and a final cut took off the breast-bone.
Everything was scrupulously clean, but the
ghastliness of the work did not inspire me
to follow the medical calling. The guide
229
A Woman Alone
invited mc to wash my hands, as we passed
out, but gloves rendered such ablutions need-
less, unless he would drop me into the vat,
and cleanse me in toto.
Even in the most cheerless rooms there
was an attempt to lighten suffering. Pallid
children played with dolls and toys, and
adults sewed and crocheted, or read the
zigzag characters, which seem mysterious
enough to make a well man sick. Long
corridors gave off to the sunlight, and
formed a fine solarium for the convalescents.
Prevalence of Consumption and Kakke
Insurance men, who can be trusted for the
health statistics of the land, say that con-
sumption claims fifty per cent, of all the
deaths. It is the prevailing malady of Japan,
and certainly the ratio of one-half on the
death-roll, for a single malady, is enormous.
The prime causes may lie in thin clothing
and little fire, during much damp weather,
poor food and hard work, which in time
must deplete the system which is little en-
riched and rebuilt by juicy roast beef. If
there be no power of resistance, colds and
coughs, engendered by damp climate, settle
230
In the Heart of Japan
hard in the system, and hollow chests, sunken
faces, and hacking coughs are plentiful in
the hospital. Often the humble rikman, who
braves all weathers in all seasons, wheezes
and hacks with a persistency that suggests
the grim reaper. He is very soon winded,
and he puffs and snorts as if blowing a blast
for resurrection morn.
Kakke, a term which has no equivalent in
English, is another grim disease, due to
damp climate, which claims many a victim
in Japan. It attacks the arms and legs,
rendering the invalid as helpless as if para-
lyzed, while the flesh is soft and flabby, pain-
ful to the touch, and apparently bloodless.
The doctor regarded this malady as a pecul-
iarly national trait, and a most interesting
study. As a polite attention to myself, he
turned back the bedclothes and pinched a
sick man's flesh, to prove its weak condition.
The invalid, with the beseeching look of a
wounded animal, cringed beneath the touch,
and, with a shock and a sense of pity, I
begged the doctor to drop the painful illus-
tration. It could do no good, and it added
one more ache in this suffering world.
The poor receive help in the Red Cross
dispensary. One doubly fated little girl,
231
A Woman Alone
with eyes and ears afflicted, came under the
skill of the aurist, and again under the care
of the oculist. The blindness, so pitifully
prevalent in the empire, is often caused in
babyhood, when the child's head is allowed
to swing in the dazzling sun, as the infant
dangles on the mother's back. The strongest
nerves might be " put out of joint " by the
glare which baby endures.
In the doctor's kindly zeal to show every
ward and each long corridor, it seemed to my
tired feet that we had traversed miles of ter-
ritory. Many harrowing scenes had been sad
and depressing, a strain on the nerves, which
added to the general fatigue, and a cup of
Turkish coffee at the close of the trip was
a welcome tonic. It had a queer flavour,
which smacked of the laboratory, and an
unnatural sweetness, and I wondered if the
doctor was preparing me for the clinic. But
he was void of evil intent, and I left the
Red Cross with added proof of kind hos-
pitality and native politeness. Though he
often pronounced my German " zehr gut,''
the petty fib could be forgiven on the ground
that standards vary, and he was quite in-
capable of judging. I smiled to think that
we had nothing to boast of on either side,
232
In the Heart of Japan
A Tribute to the Red Cross
What the Red Cross hospital has done for
the people of Japan in time of peace was
but an earnest of its power upon the battle-
field in days of dire disaster. Its spirit and
its strength have been terribly tested, and
gloriously proved in the late war. A visit
to the central home in Tokio, or the record
of its work in time of sorest need, leaves
supreme the thought of love and reverence
for its work, honour and respect for its
deep-seated purpose, wherever it lifts its flag
and plants its relief corps throughout this
needy world. As it helps the poor, comforts
the sick, and soothes the dying, glory, hon-
our, power be to its name, since the good
which it would is the essence of God Him-
self.
233
A Woman Alone
CHAPTER XII
THE GREAT JAPANESE INDUSTRIES AND THE
STOCK MARKET
The Tea Industry
The wanderer to Japan, who does not
care for rice and tea, will often find himself
lacking occupation when the time comes to
eat and drink. As rice is the staple food,
so is tea the polite form. In store, temple,
and theatre, in private home and public tea-
house, at solemn rites and merry functions,
tea is always offered, the emblem of good
cheer, the symbol of hospitality. One is ex-
pected to empty the tiny cup, and a refusal
to drink would often mean insult.
One of the famed sights of the land, which
draws the tourists as honey draws bees, is
the broad fields of Uji, near Kioto, where
acres of short shrubs rear their thick tops
of dark and shiny leaves. The picturesque
234
In the Heart of Japan
peasants, with kerchiefs on their heads, and
with their dark, patient faces seamed by
much contact with the sun, pick the leaves
into large panniers which are carried on the
head and on the back.
Kahei Otani
The tea-culture is not simply for Japan,
but the far countries import great quantities
of the product. Kahei Otani, a busy man in
matters municipal and political, and a prom-
inent member of the Chamber of Commerce,
is the international link in the tea trade.
He is an important business factor in the
seaport of Yokohama, who buys the herb
from the growers, fires it, and then exports
it to distant nations. He is a patriarch
among his people, honoured at home and
respected abroad.
His personality is strong. His keen eye
and sharp-cut features show unusual char-
acter. His smile encourages, his manner is
dignified, and one feels that he is a man of
business who has no time to waste. He has
carried foreign dress to that extent which
always amuses the foreigner. He is span-
gled with gold ornaments; bi;^ sleeve-buttons
235
A Woman Alone
the size of an eagle, big chain and multi-
tudinous pendants, a bullet scarf-pin, and
manifold rings with flashing stones attest
his notion of what the foreign swell should
be. Until recent years, the native knew that
rings were a foe to natural beauty, but to-day
every dude is loaded down like a slave-girl.
The great merchant's business cares have
not lessened his activity. He is open to good
joke or story, and throws back his head with
a jolly laugh as he strokes his long gray
beard. He has been a wide traveller in
America, from coast to coast, and speaks
with interest of our big cities. He knows
the value of international relations, and de-
sires the friendship of America, as essential
to commercial success in both lands. Yoko-
hama's exports and imports have a wide
future, and he realizes that a high duty on
tea, if it forced Japan to find another market,
would be a sad mistake. Readily he dis-
cussed the situation, in the little office where
the shelves, tier upon tier, were ranged with
half-pound cans of samples. The dwarf
bowls on the counter awaited the tester,
whose delicate duty it is to sample and clas-
sify every specimen which goes out of the
great establishment. He is an expert, with
236
In the Heart of Japan
sense of taste so acute that a mere touch,
often a sniff, is sufficient to give rank to the
tea. The taster has to be very cautious in
his profession, as a generous swallow of each
sample would soon make of him a gastro-
nomic wreck, or a hopeless tea-drunkard.
Such is the latent power in the herb that
professional tasters have often shortened
their lives by carelessness. Mr. Otani speaks
a little English, slowly. He understands still
less, and does not pretend to follow fluent
speech. His dapper little interpreter is
always at hand, listening with patient meek-
ness. He holds his hands behind him, and
rises on tiptoe to the situation, when he
would pour out his own harangue. Both
gentlemen have a series of funny fits if a
joke is uttered, and the joker feels proud
and thankful that he is alive to give such joy.
In referring to his active life, the mer-
chant said : " I am up every day at five
o'clock. I always get up at sunrise."
" And do you go to bed at sunset? " I
asked.
" No, I go to bed when the moon comes."
" Sentimental people think that is just the
time to be up. If you follow the way of
the moon, you retire an hour later every
237
A Woman Alone
night, and when the moon does not rise at
all, you must sit up all night and wait for
it." This view of his nocturnal habit sent
the old gentleman into spasms of mirth so
violent that I regretted a witticism which
might lead to his death.
Tea-firing
Mr. Otani is not a planter. He is simply
a merchant who buys the leaf from all cor-
ners of the island, and fires, packs, and ex-
ports it to all parts of the world. The sea-
son yields three crops, and the best comes in
about May loth. Throughout the land the
bushes, decked in their glossy green robes,
are roofed with bamboo to protect them
from bad weather, and the little natives,
chiefly women, are busily picking the har-
vest.
From May till October fires burn and
wheels turn in the factory, when everything
stops for another season. The working day,
of twelve hours, runs from five A. M. till
six P. M., with an hour's rest at noon. Mr.
Otani employs a hundred workers, men and
women, but there is no child labour. The
children of workers, with babies strapped
238
In the Heart of Japan
on their backs, were toddling about, and
nursing mothers often stopped their work
to feed the little ones. A woman receives
thirty or forty sen a day, /. e. fifteen or twenty
cents of our money, for twelve hours of life,
and the men receive from forty to sixty sen,
or not more than thirty cents. Strange, isn't
it, how we spoil the foreign servant? That,
within a few weeks after he lands, we must
pay a Japanese a dollar and a half per day,
or forty dollars a month.
Banked more solid than wood in a shed,
and strong enough to stand alone, the tea
is massed in the storehouse, whence it is
shovelled into tubes and blown up-stairs,
where it runs through the tunnels to the
hoppers, and is dropped to the big iron pans
below. Each pan contains seventy-five
pounds, which are swiftly churned by a
revolving piston in the centre. The long
row of brick ovens is below, with fires that
are faithfully fed. Intense heat, with a gen-
eral shake-up, for forty minutes, constitutes
what is known as pan-firing. Sun-firing is
a very similar process under a different
name. In basket-firing, the leaves are put
in very coarse baskets, over small pans of
charcoal embers, and the heat is retained
239
A Woman Alone
under cover. Basket-fired tea is very pop-
ular with buyers, and the process takes about
fifteen minutes. Mountains of charcoal, to
feed the furnaces, stand in the yard. A very
fine tea dust flies through the house, and
little sweepers are busy all the time brush-
ing up the powder from the spotless floors.
The strong odour gives the idea of walking
about in a big tea-caddy. Sorters and sift-
ers pass the leaves through sieves of vari-
ous grades, and others grind them down by
rubbing heavy wooden rollers across the long
sieve. A very tedious process it seemed for
the quantity worked. ^' Very slow way, you
think, in America," said the interpreter, and
I could not deny the suggestion, which many
a tactless American had doubtless uttered.
In another corner of the house is the col-
ouring process, — poisoning, one might say,
in view of the ugly green urns of venomous
liquid churned by coolie women. They
looked up with a kindly smile from their
evil task, and seemed not to realize the ex-
tent of their crime toward the race, as the
green spun around like an angry sprite.
" What deadly stuff do you use? " I asked.
The man smiled with placid reserve. *' It
is quite good, all harmless. People want
240
In the Heart of Japan
grc^n tea, must haf, must make. No come
natural. Put in varee, varee leetle," he said
in justification.
So bibulous folks get green, — they know
not what, — and comfort themselves that
they have the natural hue of the plantation,
while they grow cross and nervous with the
artificial dye. The knowing ones, who are
on to the trick, stand back and smile com-
placently at the green world which they have
hoodwinked. The United States and Can-
ada take vast quantities of the Japanese tea,
both black and green. The great merchant,
with his tricks of the trade, his secrets, and
his science, and his jugglery of the leaves,
only caters to the public taste, and when that
taste is green, the colour matches. If the
public cried out for blue tea, he would use
bluing.
He is a typical Japanese, in spite of his
foreign jewelry. He is a generous and pro-
gressive patriot, a far-sighted, clear-headed
financier, and he is patron saint to the army
of humble workers who come to the great
tea-firing house for work during three
months of the year. He solves for them
life's terrible problem, which, too often, is
most distressing in the Orient.
241
A Woman Alone
The Silk Industry
From the mulberry leaf with its crawling
worm, and the white cocoon with its long-
drawn fibres, to the glossy fabric on the
counter, the traveller may see every phase of
the silk industry in Japan. Natives trudge
the hillsides, with their baskets of leaves,
and the shelves of humblest cottagers are
incubators where the creeping things nibble
their food. Later, cocoons are heaped up
by the thousands, in the sun, by the doors,
and they are dropped in the boiling caldrons,
and the threads are skilfully drawn off.
Country women have hand-looms, and the
carded floss is their capital. There are no
huge factories, with whistles and wheels and
endless bands, but numberless little homes
throughout the land work out the national
industry.
The House of Mitsui
The name of Mitsui is great in the land,
and is the shibboleth of commercial enter-
prise. Eleven branches of the family —
grown large by intermarriage and adoption
of sons-in-law — control great business mar-
kets. Their four departments include silk,
242
In the Heart of Japan
mining, banking, and commission business,
I. e, selling, from their wholesale houses, rice,
cotton, and raw silk. Their ships, loaded
with great cargoes of silk, cotton, and beans,
touch at the ports of Tien-Tsin, Shanghai,
and Manila, as Mitsui is the great trader
for all the East. The name is a synonym
for Oriental commerce. The family is
proud of its industry, traced back a thousand
years to the noble house of Fujiwara. The
noted silk firm dates back 250 years, and
230 years ago it made an innovation in busi-
ness methods by marking the price on goods
and selling any quantity desired. One may
guess what an upheaval this was in the ways
of commerce for a people who make no talk
and do all things quietly and with reserve.
Previously all sales were by the piece, and
trade was wholesale, we should say. These
changes gave the firm a popularity which it
has always held, and the house of Mitsui
is one of the liveliest centres in the capital
of Tokio.
A Bargain Sale at MitsuVs
The world over, a bargain sale draws the
American woman like a magnet, and I
243
A Woman Alone
rushed down to Mitsui's when the clearance
sale was on. Natives left their clogs at the
door, and received wooden cheeky in return,
and the polite coolies sat me on a stool and
shoved my offending members into mocca-
sins, before I could cross their threshold.
Certainly no boorish creature could ever
tread their spotless matting in his boots.
The sale was like other sales, plus the na-
tional factor. Customers stared at the goods
in the cases, raised in relief and folded to
advantage, designed for obis, underwear,
kimonos, in quiet silk, subdued cloth, or
gaudy cotton. All the cases were locked,
and the heads of departments carried the
keys. Quiet order reigned, and it was ap-
parent that the cases did not belong to the
big bargain. To foreigners, the cleanlioess
and quiet were marked features of the na-
tive trade.
The tide of traffic swarmed to the enclo-
sure behind the rail, where remnants and
goods damaged, spotted, left over, of every
sort, were stacked on oilcloth mats on the
floor, and women knelt in hundreds to pick
and sort, to praise and condemn, to grab and
carry off, with the same feminine zeal which
marks the bargain fiend at home. The dif-
244
In the Heart of Japan
ference was in the general quiet. There
were orderly disorder and quiet confusion.
Babies toddled under foot, in every one's
way, and nobody minded. In America they
would have been killed in the melee. No
Japanese baby was ever killed by public
rush. Many babies slept sweetly on their
mothers' backs, as the matrons searched
among the remnants, and an occasional
toss-up to the shoulder replaced the infant
who had begun to backslide. He opened
his eyes and stared at the bargains, without
pretending any interest, and then fell asleep,
regardless of gains. The merchants have
no mental arithmetic, and near the gate sat
the cash-men with soraban, or little beaded
frames, on which all sums are counted, much
like the school frames with which our chil-
dren learn their tables. Loaded with bun-
dles of remnants, the ladies approached the
treasurer at the gate, to sum up accounts.
Bundle boys, with rice paper and rice strings,
wrapped the purchase like a portfolio, which
was always too small for its contents.
Robbery is possible in Japan, and kimono
sleeves are well adapted for shoplifting, and,
mounted outside the rail, were spotters ready
to detect any suspicious movement on the
245
A Woman Alone
part of the little ladies. I was the only sus-
pect who gave trouble. Passing the gate,
I went down on my knees among the tro-
phies in a state of devotion. I had been
warned that there were no foreign goods.
" These sales are only Japanese goods, for
the Japanese," said a man. " But I want
to buy Japanese things. That is why I came.
Won't my money go?" I asked. The logic
prevailed, but prices are always so exalted
for the foreigner that, naturally, the sales-
man did not wish to see me getting goods
at bottom prices.
" Cheap as mud, and going at a song,"
I chanted, as I lifted the slabs, not knowing
the price-marks, nor the quantity contained.
But delight in a prospective bargain brought
the woman's nature to the front. There were
pieces of rich brocade which would make
stunning draperies, sofa-cushions, vests, thea-
tre coats. I clutched and grabbed, overthrew
babies, and ran down gentle women. The
floor was thrown into confusion. Why had
I omitted Japanese in my tourist's outfit?
The salesmen had no English when I made
an appeal. I had made a wild chase, and
perspired like a running rikman. I jerked
off my heavy jacket, and, unluckily, threw it
246
In the Heart of Japan
across the shoulder which protected in its
armpit a weight of glorious samples. Then
I deliberately darted for the street to leave
the jacket in the riksha. Not for unknown
worlds would I have left the bargains be-
hind, which some native lady of similar
taste might appropriate in my absence.
My erratic conduct admitted of but one
conclusion. It was the boldest bit of robbery
ever committed in the Mitsui house. The
natives may steal, but they will always be
polite and quiet about it. They will be
gentle and mannerly. A wild charge like
mine, an unblushing piece of effrontery, quite
passed their comprehension. It took their
breath, and for a moment unnerved them for
action. I advanced a few feet untouched,
while they stood speechless and appalled.
They regained presence of mind, as they
saw the vanishing point of the goods. The
watchmen gave the slogan, and runners fell
upon me like avenging angels. I innocently
thought they were running to my aid. It
became an instance of the catcher caught.
The man grabbed the goods, and I grabbed
the man, to hold him with Masonic grip.
"You speak English? Who speaks Eng-
lish? Where is interpreter to tell me of
247
A Woman Alone
the goods?" The men were unconvinced.
The robbery had been too bold for me to
fake innocent purchase. They seized the
remnants, sent the jacket to the rik, and
called for the head of the department. He
was polite, he spoke pretty English, and he
wore elegant clothes.
Till six P. M., he guided me through a
labyrinth of lovely weavings, and revealed
the glories of the loom. One regal obi, four
and a half yards long, cost 370 yen. It was
like tapestry, a blaze of gold thread with
beautiful designs. It would have been a
handsome addition to Gobelin hangings. I
left it hanging!
We were up-stairs in the elegant show-
rooms, discussing prices, when, at five P. M.
Sunday, the store closed down, and the de-
spairing rikman sent in to inquire if his prey
had slipped out by a side door and left the
unpaid chariot on his hands. Surely the
natives seemed to place little faith in the
foreigner. The exquisite furnishings of the
lavish reception-room made it a princely
retreat. Smoking-sets and crisp wafers were
at hand, and tea was prompt to arrive. An
elegant customer ofifered me the contents of
his gold cigarette-case. We cast up accounts,
248
In the Heart of Japan
and a hundred-yen piece rejoiced the inter-
preter for his long afternoon, and proved
that the purchaser was no common thief.
The large store was quiet as I passed out
by a side door, and noted that salesmen and
spotters were resting from work, and ac-
countants were telling their beads in the back
rooms. The gracious linguist bowed me
away, and rikky gave me a satisfied grin as
he thought of his earnings while he had
rested throughout the afternoon, and he trun-
dled me away, both of us content with the
results of a native bargain sale.
R.ice Culture
The summer passed in talk about the crops.
Gossipy coolies discussed the vital theme.
In the pigmy paddocks men and women
waded ankle-deep in the mire, braving the
bite of venomous creatures, while they
weeded the farms. Constant rain would rot
the rice, just as drought would burn it.
There had been incessant weeks of deluge,
and dread and fear were abroad. The price
had risen, famine was in prospect, and the
poor would face starvation. Even the selfish
tourist was willing that the hot sun should
249
A Woman Alone
redeem the soggy earth. At the crisis of
anxiety, a few bright days of overwhelming
heat allayed the fears. The rice was saved
and the panic was stayed.
Japan's great trade is evolved through
home industry. On a small scale, in all the
little hamlets, work is carried on.
Our vast prairie farms, with machines of
every patent device for sowing and garner-
ing, are unknown to the simple natives. As
the grain ripens, workmen comb the kernels
before their door, and thresh the grain with
crude hand-flails. The men of " Pillsbury's
A " would scorn the country flour-mill of
Japan, where the natives beat the wheat and
barley into flour beside the running streams.
An overshot wheel without connects with a
beam within doors, which drops a crude
piston, thump, thump, into an earthen jar
set in the ground, where the cereal is
crushed. Kernels pushed aside by the piston
fall back to the bottom of the bowl as the
piston rises. The workers repeatedly sift the
grain till it is sufficiently small. Beside all
the running brooks one sees this primitive
method. The dark, rough shanties of mud
or thatch are home and mill to the poor
people, who have barely a half-partition
250
♦ *'' c '
In the Heart of Japan
separating compartments. Here, in the dark
and the dust, lives the large family, breathing
all day the sifting particles of the mill.
The Rice Exchange n
From the planting of the kernel to the sell-
ing of the same, rice is of paramount inter-
est in Japan. But the trip to the exchange
was not so funny, nor so thrilling, as I had
expected. The rikman dropped me before
a long, low shed, which would have been
an insult to an American stable, and I passed
behind a railing, while merchants huddled
on the floor like a flock of sheep, and grum-
bled and rumbled a steady stream of small
talk in polite and proper tones. This was a
very correct affair, not the wild row of New
York, nor the mad lunacy of the Paris
Bourse, heard for blocks away. My advent
caused a lull in business, which also seemed
different from New York. No woman's
presence subdues that pandemonium. But
many a winged native left the market to lean
on the rail and puff his smoke serenely in
my face, as he studied the foreign Eve who
had the nerve to invade his paradise. Evi-
dently petticoats were an unknown element
251
A Woman Alone
in their realm, and my presence caused a
lull in stocks.
The market was saved by an anxious usher,
who whispered mysteries and beckoned me
through the office, where men of affairs lei-
surely read the newspapers, up a gloomy
back stairway to an attic room with doleful
furnishings of green rep chairs and table-
cloth. A steamer-chair was the only com-
fort, and a smoking-set was the prime essen-
tial. It was hot with embers, and the usher
suggestively pushed it toward me. Then he
read a long and fluent riot act, punctured
with smiles and brimming with bows. My
imagination made a wild guess at his mean-
ing. Doubtless, with native politeness, he
expressed appreciation of the honour done
the humble exchange by my visit, and, with
an instinctive eye to business, asked what
stock I would take, and if I would water
it, and if I would corner the market. I
finally replied with a negative nod, and sad-
ness passed over his face as he caught a dis-
solving view of the colossal sale. He showed
me how to use the push-bell, intimating that
I might ring for help when I had decided
on my bid and the number of shares. Then
he ducked and wriggled away, leaving me to
252
In the Heart of Japan
ruminate on my past history and on the pres-
ent excitement of the Japanese 'change.
The situation hit my risibles. Silence and
solitude as substitute for noise and crowds!
An upper room, much like a prison cell,
except that I had power to manipulate the
market by touch of the tintinnabulator. The
stowaway in the vessel's hold would not have
more privacy than I in this business centre.
Surely there must be something doing, de-
spite the apparent depression, so I picked
up my courage and slid stealthily down the
narrow stairway and through the office of the
busy men, who gave me a worried glance
from their newspapers. I sneaked behind a
pillar that shut ofif the active usher, and
watched the shuffling crowds, who mumbled
the figures and watched the results with pas-
sive faces and folded arms. If the men were
hopeful or despairing, they showed no signs.
The Stock Exchange
The stock exchange was a lively contrast.
It is not usually open to the foreigner; but
a little red tape secured the pass, which I
presented at the lobby. A polite native came
out to examine the applicant and conduct
253
A IVoman Alone
me to the rostrum. Evidently I was not the
first guest, and my advent did not startle
the market. The stock exchange of Tokio
means a company, and not individual mem-
bers. It is open from nine to ten-thirty A. M.
and from one till two P. M., a short day's
work compared with that in many cities.
Three hundred wild-eyed men stood within
the railing, shrieking their figures in proof
of the battle. The excitement was what I
would expect. All were men of means and
position, and the types were an interesting
study. A tall patriarch with a Moses beard
grew rampant, and screamed his figures with
the zest of a maniac. A small man in Eu-
ropean suit and white vest, with one eye,
kept that eye riveted on the boards, while
a grim smile played on his face. He surely
would play a big game to the finish. Men
pushed and scrambled to the front. Railway
stock, electric shares, steamship interests, were
called, and roused a furor among the differ-
ent contingents. Small boys, on a platform,
hung the slabs with mystic marks, which told
what sale was on. Gallery boys, with paint
pot and brush, with a dash of white slapped
the final figures on the blackboards, that
254
In the Heart of Japan
looked like a series of memorial slabs hung
to departed spirits.
My guide, apologizing for his laboured
English, that stammered and limped on his
tongue, explained the signs of the times.
" Mooch acteevitee eez prevailing nowdays,"
he said with delight. The phrase was his
great linguistic triumph, and he pulled it
out as the Nippon Yusen shares were called.
They were the popular war-cry, and raised
a mad uproar. Frenzied natives surged to
the front. Clogs rattled loudly in a general
stampede. Kimono sleeves were entangled
with their neighbours. Men shoved back the
offending sleeves, and rushed into each oth-
er's faces, with arm outstretched, and fingers
poking at each other's eyes, to indicate per
cent. A violent push of the fingers outward
accompanied the loud cry, " I sell, sell, sell."
A nervous beckoning went with the gleeful
cry, " I take, take, take." Excitement cen-
tred about a half-dozen bundles of wasting
energy. They seemed about to stab, to im-
pale each other on the railing. Yet the wild-
est frenzy was tinctured with good-natured
mirth. An idiotic creature, with bristles and
fangs, grinned like a jolly schoolboy, as he
ran down his fat antagonist, and the latter
255
A Woman Alone
returned a roaring laugh. Buying and sell-
ing steamship shares seemed the huge joke
of the century, and the grinny foe, with the
shiny billiard-ball head, was so fat and jolly,
so clean and smily, that he would have
graced a circus or a pulpit. In sober mo-
ments he was the prototype of a temple
priest.
The Nippon Yusen Kaisha
The Nippon Yusen Kaisha sale was the
climax of the day. All was over in the
shouting scene, as the brokers clogged home-
ward, with the day's work done, when its
shares were hung at seventy-nine. Some
years ago its capital of twenty-two million
yen was held by 440,000 sharers, at fifty yen
a share. The successful close of the war with
China boomed the company, whose shares
for a time reached the abnormal value of
105 yen. With seventy-six strong steamers,
it has had an aggregate tonnage of 242,000.
In extent of service and of tonnage it is the
seventh line in the world.
Thus the young nation, born into the com-
mercial world within the last half-century,
has made a noble record for industry, enter-
256
In the Heart of Japan
prise, energy, and wealth. Bound somewhat
by traditions, by obscurity, and seclusion for
centuries, by the disfavour of many nations
toward a people not Christian, what other
nation so handicapped in the race would
have made such a record for progress and
activity? Japan has pitted herself with won-
drous power against the modern world, and
to-day, a people hoary with the age of cen-
turies, ranking themselves proudly with
Christian peoples, is battling hard for su-
premacy, while the laurels have been fast
wrenched away by the little nation, brave
and brainy, whom the great world has half-
despised and never known. The vast fleet
which plied the perilous waters to wage
bloody war bore a marvellous record for
safety, and the travellers' boats which have
run to America, Asia, Europe, India, Aus-
tralia have been immensely popular. They
are always clean and cautious. They are
famed for good service and for courteous
attention. Daily do the captain, physician,
and purser make the rounds of the boat to-
gether, entering every cabin to see that all
is cleanly and well ordered. Never have
I known this attention on an Atlantic liner.
No wonder that their stock stood foremost in
257
A Woman Alone
the fluctuating market, and that Japanese
brokers watch its progress with an eye keen
for current values, and are quick to buy its
shares.
Mr, Kawada
The loyal American is pleased to believe
that much of this prosperity is due to the
rare ability of its general manager, who is
an exponent of the best methods of two great
nations, which should join hands across the
seas. Mr. Kawada, graduate of Ann Arbor,
'94, spent eight years in America in prepara-
tory and college life. He is a wonderful
combination of the dignity, the grace and
courtesy, the reserve power of his own peo-
ple, with the push and enterprise, the busi-
ness energy of the able American. He was
sensitive to his environment, and his life in
the States gave him a broad outlook on the
business world, and ripened all those powers
which are the essentials of the tactful busi-
ness manager, who must come in sharp touch
with all sorts of people, and must be a keen
student of human nature, if he would success-
fully handle men. A fine product of one of
our strongest institutions, he is an important
258
In the Heart of Japan
factor in the work of the large company.
His English is well spoken, his French is
good, and, if a German sought advice, Mr.
Kawada could readily give points for the
passage and map out the route. The scholar
who has mastered his own native language
of the Orient has little difficulty in acquir-
ing the comparatively easy tongues of the
Occident. Mr. Kawada has an inexhausti-
ble fund of information for the straying tour-
ist of any nation, and America may rejoice
that he is an exponent of her own institutions,
an adopted son worthy to spread her wisdom
and her glory among his own people on the
isle of Nippon.
259
A Woman Alone
CHAPTER XIII
woman's education in japan
The 'Emancipation of the Japanese Woman
Day has dawned for woman in Japan. A
few years ago, the educated native woman
was an unknown quantity. All her aspira-
tions were flouted, and she was regarded as
an unnatural bugaboo. The story is told of
four girls on education bent, who formed a
suicide's quartette, resolved to learn or die
in the effort. One and then another ap-
pealed, through father, brother, and univer-
sity, for the opportunity to work out life on
advanced lines of thought. Their very argu-
ments were the weapons turned against them,
to prove that higher education was bad for
women. Two girls were refused all help.
They committed suicide. Christian mission-
aries saved the other two from the same sto-
ical fate. To-day learning is the passion of
260
In the Heart of Japan
these people, and modern methods are their
delight. The humblest peasant has his Eng-
lish primer, and opportunity is given to girl
or boy, since all the nation knows that by
the power of modern learning Japan has
taken a front rank among civilized peoples.
Japanese statesmen now realize the fact that
the little girls of to-day are the mothers of
to-morrow, and that the training of citizen,
soldier, patriot rests largely with them.
Woman, once relegated to obscurity, has
now come to the foreground. Schools for
girls are many, with a curriculum based on
that of foreign nations, and often conducted
by foreigners or by foreign-trained teachers.
The Girls' Industrial School
The Girls' Industrial School of Tokio fits
its pupils for a practical, honest livelihood.
For twenty years it has been established
under a president and board of directors.
The natives have no fear of long hours, and
do not call for short days, — till after they
leave Japan, — and from eight A. M. till four
P. M. the girls work at their chosen calling.
A German, who has lived a quarter of a
century in the country, and understands the
261
A Woman Alone
natives and their language, has charge of the
sewing. Being married to a Japanese, and
the mother of girls, she can sympathize with
the pupils, who furnish their own material,
and work out the intricacies of underwear
and overwear, and plan the national kimono.
Sewing and Embroidery
Accuracy is a feature of all Japanese work,
and patient, exacting care is given the wad-
ding which lines a garment, as the people
put no stress on show or surface work. The
pupils kneel beside their many-tiered work-
box, and patiently evolve the garments which
will be the proof of their skill.
The making of kimonos on their native
heath is an essential and natural part of
needlework; but the fanciful feature of their
handiwork results in a hideous display of
ugly knit and crochet work, which we long
ago learned to throw overboard, as a futile
and barbaric invention for woman. It seems
a queer inconsistency that these artistic little
women should adopt what they never can
adapt in wools and worsted, and arrive at
such hideous conclusions, when by nature
their taste is exquisite. Perhaps it is an in-
262
In the Heart of Japan
stance of German ugliness thrust upon them.
All the world knows that no nation surpasses,
if it equals, the Japanese in beautiful em-
broideries, when the people are left to their
own devices.
In the sewing-school, also, is included the
making of dolls and wild animals, very wild
indeed, to judge from their wondrous anat-
omy. The result is an uncaged menagerie,
less harmful than it looks at first sight, of
dogs, lions, elephants, fish, and fowl. The
creatures are dear to the native heart, and
have a ready sale in the market. In their
eagerness to be Western, the people incline
to anything foreign, regardless of what we
have discarded, or how we have improved.
They would seem to have culled the worst
we ever had to offer, if the gaudy caps and
spectrum bibs are samples, and their varie-
gated mats might give delirium tremens to
a sober man. Wristlets and garters have
some raison d'etre among a people poorly
clad, but the monstrosities might be spared.
The foreigner's best is none too good for the
dainty native, and we should not foist our
back numbers, which have long been known
as waste trash, upon these eager little peo-
ple, who are anxious to acquire foreign art.
263
A Woman Alone
Their own beautiful embroidery is much
better, and will always be prized at home
and abroad.
Pattering cautiously in my stockings
among the frames, I watched wonderful
results grow from satin background. Bird
and flower and landscape were evolved with
taste and patience and consummate skill on
cover, screen, and kakemono.
Drawing
Drawing, too, is very dear to the Japanese,
though, strangely enough, they know nothing
of life classes, nature and object work. They
usually work from the flat copy, and seldom
do they really sketch. Twice I saw a sad
attempt to copy a stufiFed bird from the
show-case. The results were pitiful. The
spirit of the feathered fowl would never have
recognized himself in the '^ impressionist "
picture, which violated all ornithological
conditions. The people are keen copyists,
but they have done little with the natural
form, which we believe is the foundation of
art.
264
In the Heart of Japan
Artificial Flowers
Imitation is at its best in the flower manu-
facture. This is the delight of the scholars,
and their deft fingers work charming results.
Ancestral worship, plus flower worship,
stands close to the religion of the country,
and these floral copyists get very close to
nature. The visitor may watch the flower's
growth through every stage of development.
Each bench has its dish of paints and its hot
hebachi for firing the tools. The metal
moulds of leaves and petals are put under a
heavy press, and the perfect form emerges.
The painting is most skilful, as the edges are
tinted and the centre is shaded after the fash-
ion of the flower. Stems of fine wire are
rolled in green paper. A delicate tool,
heated in the embers, is pressed into the
dainty calyx or corolla, to give each sepal
or petal its peculiar form. Minute forceps
adjust it to the stem. Stamens are inserted,
each with its tufted top, for anther. The
pistil is dipped in a mass of yellow flakes,
to form the feathery pollen. On the left
hand, below the thumb, the pupil carries
the paste in which she dips the wee organs
before they are placed on the flower. Care
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A Woman Alone
and patience, love and pleasure attend the
flower's growth, and a garden of brilliant
buttercups, dainty cherry-blossoms, clusters
of asters, the running morning-glory, the
drooping wistaria, the feathery heather, pan-
sies, and daisies give radiant efifect. So deep-
rooted is their love for flowers, whether it
be of the lotus-pond and iris-meadow, or of
the miniature and the artificial, that the Jap-
anese must have flowers of some sort. Per-
haps the constant contact with the posies, real
or simulated, may be a key-note to the na-
tional courtesy and gentleness. Certainly it
is a practical education, and flower culture
of any kind will always be in demand.
Flowers, real or artificial, will find a ready
market with natives and foreigners.
The Girls' High School
Three courses of study, the technical, the
scientific, and the literary, are included in
the Girls' High School. Sewing and draw-
ing have much attention here, and strong
work is done in history and national litera-
ture. Science has a crude beginning, along
lines which have been so well defined in our
own country. I saw no compound micro-
266
In the Heart of Japan
scopes with various objectives. Each scholar
was provided with a specimen, a pan of
water, and a simple pocket lens. Her little
tool-box held a scalpel and a probe, two pairs
of scissors, and two of forceps. A specimen
hardened in alcohol was ready for drawing.
Specimens are certainly plentiful, and one
might hope for original work and life study
in a land where the cicada singeth unceas-
ingly. Alas! the little ladies are not so sci-
ence-trained. Perhaps they have not the
nerve to tear a creature limb from limb.
The cicada had been drawn and quartered,
labelled and analyzed in advance, and all his
parts were duly named upon the blackboard,
" dorsal-ventral-egg-guide," and again the
work was conscientious copy rather than
original research. Carefully each pupil
sketched, and results were of varied skill:
Some were marked by a trained eye and
steady hand and a keen observance of winged
venation, while others were decidedly imag-
inative, and indulged in wild flights of col-
our, blue and red-yellow entering into the
scheme, not apparent in the original insect,
but suggestive of the solar spectrum. Eng-
lish labels were strangely distorted, but the
effort was always honest.
267
A Woman Alone
The entrance of a visitor causes no com-
motion in the schoolroom. It is barely no-
ticed, as the scholars work as if entranced
with their subject, which is an all-important,
all-engrossing matter. Fun and mischief
have no part on the programme. They
would be an incomprehensible interruption
to the earnest work, and they never occur.
The levity which may mark an American
schoolroom would scandalize these sedate
little ladies, who come to school for work
solely.
About four hundred scholars, from all
over the island, are studying here, to go out
as teachers to all parts. Over two hundred
are boarders. A dozen girls occupy a hall,
whose dormitories are fitted with single cots
of foreign make. Schoolgirls here, as
throughout the empire, are known by their
dark kimonos and magenta skirts. In the
dining-room long wooden benches seat the
girls, and long tables are stacked with the
food. Each girl has her chop-sticks and
bowl of rice, a bowl of cut fruits, a little
teapot, and a big slice of bread. Though the
dormitory has adopted foreign ways, the eat-
ing is decidedly native. The teachers sit at
268
In the Heart of Japan
a separate table, and at intervals on the tables
stand little firkins with relays of food.
The head master speaks excellent English,
and is proud of his training at the Oswego
Normal. A grand and fitting tribute he paid
to the memory of that woman, good and
great, whose especial work in history at Os-
wego, at Wellesley, and at Stanford has
given her fame in the educational world, as
her gentle deeds and loving heart have en-
deared the name of Mary Sheldon Barnes
to thousands of worshipful students, and have
made her grave, in the cemetery of Rome,
a pilgrim's shrine.
Woman's University
Japan owes many a modern impulse to
America. A sunburst of progress has bright-
ened the land in the last half-century, and
the advancement of woman, though slow,
even now in the embryo, emerging by change
and development from a past bound by
traditions and encrusted by prejudices, shows
magical results. As a part of the new move-
ment, the Woman's University is a thrilling
surprise, both to native and foreigner. It is
the hope and triumph of a Christian gentle-
369
A Woman Alone
man, whose life is given to education, whose
strength is devoted to the betterment of
his countrywomen. His work is based on
American ideals. President Naruse was im-
pressed with the educational methods of the
States, while a student at Andover Seminary
and at Clark University. In an extended
tour through America, he visited all the lead-
ing colleges for women, and returned to
Japan in 1894 determined to erect a similar
institution in his own country.
Count Okuma and other prominent men,
who believe in the nation's need of intelli-
gent women, gave money to the scheme, and
in April, 1901, the University was opened.
Its wide grounds are on a hill outside the
city limits. The approach is through an
avenue of cherry-trees which, in springtide,
lend a wondrous glory to the place. Flow-
ering plants beautify the grounds. Tennis-
courts stretch out before the big buildings,
whose rooms are large and light and airy.
The schoolrooms are marked by all the sim-
plicity of the native homes. No ornaments
relieve the bareness. The large assembly-
room has cushioned benches. The study-
rooms have the most primitive wooden desks,
hand-made, and straight-backed chairs with
270
PRESIDENT NARUSE
In the Heart of Japan
no fanciful touch. There are no ink-wells,
for each scholar furnishes her own ink-bottle.
There are three distinct courses, the high
school, the preparatory, and the university.
The management plans to make a complete
system, by extending the work down, through
the grammar, primary, and kindergarten
grades, thus giving perfect sequence to the
entire course, with no abrupt transitions.
Many come from other schools, unprepared
for the university, and the preparatory work
supplements their lack. In the high school,
girls of thirteen years are fitting for the uni-
versity.
The Gymnasium
In the large gymnasium, furnished with
clubs, rings, and dumb-bells, the pupils give
three hours a week to physical culture, to the
development of "a healthy mind in a healthy
body." The ring exercise, as I saw it per-
formed in pairs, was more amusing than
serious. The girls had little idea of military
measure, and kept a time all their own,
stepped as they pleased, and moved as they
chose, regardless of the signals, and the em-
phatic accent pounded out by the stirring
271
A Woman Alone
notes of " Ta-ra-ra-ra-boom-de-ay," which
might have pleased the immortal Lottie Col-
lins. This strain of American music rings
through all the Orient, and at any port will
greet the American, to his pleasure or pain,
in proportion to his love for music hoydenish
or classical.
Instruction in English
Especially is it true of English that its
chief stumbling-block is the pronunciation,
and those who have studied long and learned
much have so little hold on our strange com-
binations that their speech is often nearly
impossible to follow. An advanced class,
reading ^' Evangeline," could by no means
have been understood, except by one well
used to the pupils, or well versed in the poem.
That such mutilated jargon could exist in
" The forest primeval, the wavering pines
and the hemlocks," one would never have
guessed. It would seem that the first step in
making English practical should be exact
pronunciation of our difficult sounds, and
whether the disastrous results, as noticed
within and without schools all over the em-
pire, were due to lack of care in teaching,
272
In the Heart of Japan
or to the fact that accurate speech was quite
beyond the tireless effort of the teacher, I
could not decide. Certainly the sincerest
attempts of the speaker are often most bewil-
dering to the hearer. " Ivanhoe," as ren-
dered by the advanced students of the uni-
versity, was most difficult to follow, and al-
most as unintelligible to me as if it were a
Japanese translation.
The English department contained a li-
brary of encyclopaedias, essays, and novels,
and here was the only attempt at schoolroom
decoration to relieve the bareness of the
walls. A cheerful display of photographs
brightened the rooms, and impressed the
greatness of English heroes, giving evidence
of the touch of a foreign hand. Shakespeare,
Tennyson, Milton were present, with fac-
similes of their autograph letters, from the
British Museum. Burns's Cottage, Windsor
Castle, Parliament Buildings, and old cathe-
drals spoke of history and architecture in a
distant land. In one room, I was attracted
by the photographs of Robert and Elizabeth
Browning. " She deed write ze ^ Cry of ze
Children ' varee nice," said my little guide,
and I wondered what schoolgirl in America
could name any classic of Japanese literature 1
273
A Woman Alone
Miss Hewes
To Miss Hewes, of Oxford, were owed the
foreign contributions. In her around-the-
world tour, she lectured extensively through-
out the island, and taught English in the
University. Her tactless assertion against the
''American-English '' was hard on the teach-
ers, but let them watch their words and
guard their lips, ere they too speedily repudi-
ate the criticism, which certainly had a germ
of truth. Extremely faulty English, among
those who should be professional models, is
a sad reflection on our public schools, and we
are often tempted to ask, " Have the schools
ceased to teach English?" When the teach-
ers make the very usual errors of " like " for
" as," when they say " this much " and " those
kind," they condemn themselves, and they
should correct the faults ere they bubble over
with wrath and bewail the general charge.
The criticism was sweeping and severe, and
it worked havoc for American teachers
among the Japanese, who want the best and
who are easily influenced. Miss Hewes did
good work for the little people, whose love
followed her to England. They speak of
her always in the tenderest terms, and her
274
In the Heart of Japan
picture adorns many a scholar's little sanc-
tum. Another English lady now fills her
position.
Student Life
About nine hundred pupils are in the Uni-
versity, with a faculty of nearly fifty. One-
half the scholars are day pupils, paying
twenty-seven and a half yen for tuition a
year, or nearly fourteen dollars. The board-
ers pay six and a half yen a month in addi-
tion, or three dollars and twenty-five cents,
so that the entire expense of board and tui-
tion for a year of ten months is, in round
numbers, forty-six dollars. Not a huge sum
for a college education; but life is so humble
in Japan that this amount can only be raised
in well-to-do families.
The school buildings are flanked by large
dormitories, and the boarders are divided
into eight squads, each having its supervis-
ing matron. Spotless mattings and fresh,
new wood are a feature of the tiny nests.
Oddly enough, in this new institution, based
on foreign methods, every bedroom is strictly
native. It seems a wise provision, and it is
followed in many of the mission schools, that
275
A Woman Alone
the pupils who are absorbing the new learn-
ing shall not grow out of harmony and out
of sympathy with home life and native ways,
but shall keep in touch with the life which
they must follow when they leave the school,
strengthened for work by the new thoughts
they have garnered. Hence, every native
room is marked by emptiness and cleanliness.
No cot or couch is seen, no garment or toilet
article is in sight. A severe simplicity marks
every room. A very low table, at which the
occupant kneels, a shelf ranged with books,
and occasionally a loved photograph are the
items which relieve the utter bareness. It
is easy to sweep an empty room, and it can
always be neat. It is a happy, peaceful con-
trast to the tossed-up, littered-up, harum-
scarum apartment of the average American
schoolgirl, piled with an inartistic muddle
of the odds and ends, the trophies and em-
blems of our vigorous life. Repose breathes
in every corner of the Japanese student's
room. Rows of tin boxes, with the soap and
tooth-brush of each little lady, are in a near
closet. The pupils all go to the general
wash-room for their daily bath at the immac-
ulate sink of wood, with its high-polished
basin of brass.
«76
In the Heart of Japan
In the cooking class alternate days are
given to foreign and native cookery. A fat
and jolly native, v^ho superintended the
v^ork, kindly welcomed me in her domain,
where the girls were eagerly devouring the
meal which they had prepared, of fish, rice,
and fruits.
The native love of floriculture is worked
out in the gardens, where scholars are al-
lowed the freedom of perfecting their own
plans and following their individual ideas.
As a result, the beds were bright with beauti-
ful and thrifty blossoms.
President Naruse
Unity is the watchword of Japan. It is
the land of mighty results from small begin-
nings. It has no multimillionaire, no Pier-
pont Morgan or Carnegie as munificent bene-
factor, but it has loyal, loving hearts, and
patriots willing to give generously from the
fortunes that are small. In America, where
we give by millions, and have barely time to
utter a polite " thank you " for a few thou-
sands, we can hardly grasp the brave effort
of President Naruse, who fathered the insti-
tution, and his supreme gratitude for all
277
A IVoman Alone
donations. Thousands here are more than
millions in America, where institutions are
born in the night, and seem like indigenous
plants with a spontaneous growth. In the
Nippon isle the scale is never colossal, the
resources are Lilliputian, but faith is gigan-
, tic, and results come with long, untiring
effort.
A few figures will be a practical illus-
tration of the relative values of things in
Japan, and will prove the tremendous energy
of the founder and his heroic faith in the
new institution.
Count Okuma
Valiant supporters have upheld Naruse
from the start. Count Okuma, Japan's great
statesman, chairman of the trustees, has
worked with him from the beginning of the
plan. In the political world he has written
his name on the scroll of fame. He is a
hero, a living martyr to his principles, wear-
ing a wooden leg as the result of a dastardly
attack upon his person years ago. He has
brightened the lustre of his noble name by
the strong stand he has taken for the advance-
ment of woman.
278
MR. DOGURA
In the Heart of Japan
Other Benefactors of the University
Other great names are enshrined in the
hearts of the appreciative people. The noted
Mitsui family gave four and a half acres
as the site of the new University. In the
day of doubt, when darkness brooded over
the whole embryonic scheme, Mr. Dogura
and Mme. Hiro-oka each gave five thousand
yen, and generously told Mr. Naruse that if
the plan failed, they would have no regret
for the money. These were all monumental
gifts, when one considers the miniature scale
of things Japanese. Mr. Ichizaenlon Mori-
mura has the fame of being the largest donor
to the University. Recently, in the name of
his family, he presented thirty thousand yen
cash, or fifteen thousand dollars, to the Uni-
versity, the largest gift ever made by any one
person in Japan to such an institution.
Every individual feels herself essential to
the good of all, and faculty and pupils unite
for general welfare. A sense of personal
ownership pervades, which stimulates the
work and gives a loyal public spirit. The
thought of individual responsibility is a
guarantee for the success of the whole. The
founder has extensive plans for the future,
279
A Woman Alone
and he sees in this hopeful beginning the
germs of a grand development. The Uni-
versity is founded for the betterment of
woman, which means the uplift of mother-
hood, and that means the good of the nation.
It is planted on the hill, to be a centre of
light, to wield a force for good, to carry a
wealth of knowledge throughout the empire.
That woman's name shall be honoured and
her power for righteousness be increased is
the object of the institution.
The Academy of Music
We always feel a patriotic pride when we
trace a foreign virtue to its origin on the
home soil, and the Hub of America, some-
times called the Hub of the Universe, may
rightly claim to '^e the origin of the institu-
tion which stands among stately trees and
sacred tombs in Ueno Park, a joy and bless-
ing to hundreds of students who knock at its
doors.
Mr, Mason
Twenty years ago, a musical man from
Japan came to America. He noted the pop-
280
• . * .»
MME. HTRO-OKA MR. MORIMURA
BENEFACTORS OF THE UNIVERSITY
In the Heart of Japan
ular education of the country and the musical
intelligence of the people. In the Boston
schools he found an enthusiast who was
teaching the children with marked success.
The gentleman transported this gifted leader
to his own country, believing him the one
man capable to impart that musical love and
life which would be a lasting blessing in
Japan. The Boston teacher first tilled the
ground and sowed the seed which others
have cultivated, till a mighty growth results,
and branches from the mother-tree have
sprung up all over the island. New ideas
are always hard to plant. The school which
stands for broad musical culture had its
fierce struggle, and its long day of proba-
tion, when it was small and obscure, an un-
recognized factor in the community.
JJeno Park
The Musical Academy rears its walls to-
day upon historic ground. Great changes
have come in the empire since the time when
the last shogun defied the emperor in bloody
battle upon the beautiful field of Ueno. No
one heeds the shogun now. He is a private
citizen, living in retirement. Occasionally
281
A Woman Alone
he worships at the tomb of his ancestors, but
never again will he oppose the emperor as in
the days of bygone power. He is the last
of a long and illustrious line, but he has
accepted the inevitable, the reign of his rival
as the recognized head. Lately he met with
an accident, while driving privately in the
capital which he once ruled. What contrast
to those days of gorgeous cavalcades and
gilded glory, when he was followed by a
mighty retinue of noble daimios and brave
samurai, a resplendent pageant to do him
homage. Marks of the imperial struggle
are still seen on the posts of Ueno, and
thoughts of the late revolution sweep over
the modern historian who passes through the
wonderful park for entrance at the doors of
the academy, which only six years ago was
in embryo. Then the school of sixty mem-
bers received a push and an impulse, and
it now enrolls more than four hundred pu-
pils, with five foreigners included in its
faculty of thirty teachers. The scholars pay
the merely nominal fee of one or two yen
a month, a small fraction of the cost, that
the scholar may feel that he gives his mite
and retains his self-respect.
282
In the Heart of Japan
Prof, August Yunker
Great strides have been made since Mr.
Mason gave his first music lesson in Japan.
He found general ignorance regarding for-
eign music. We find general intelligence
and a hunger and thirst for the best.
The success of the early beginnings has
been furthered by the energy, ability, and
ambition of the present director. Prof. Au-
gust Yunker is a German, proud to call him-
self American, one whose loyalty to the land
of his adoption is revealed in every refer-
ence. He has the natural musical love, the
fire, and the knowledge of the true German.
As skilled violinist, he played for many years
under Theodore Thomas in the Boston Sym-
phony. The academy had neither orchestra
nor chorus when he came to Tokio. The
regime was more chaotic than systematic.
He established method and developed order.
He imparted zeal and created enthusiasm,
like the true-born teacher. He worked for a
standard, with all the ardour born of broad
culture and pure love. Results have fol-
lowed upon his earnest efiforts. The visitor
who recalls the recent seclusion of these peo-
ple, their late awakening and acceptance of
283
A Woman Alone
things foreign and up-to-date, is unprepared
for the burst of modern music which greets
him, and mutters in wonderment as he
threads the long corridors, "Just like any
college of music in America." It is hard
to grasp the truth that one hears and sees
Boston methods in Ueno Academy.
In the Class-room
English is an important branch of the
work, and a class of thirty boys and girls
were correcting their exercises, just as Ameri-
can scholars struggle with their Latin prose,
and were differentiating with difficulty be-
tween the adverb " too " and the preposition
" to." The efforts of teacher and pupils
were patient and earnest, but her native pro-
nunciation of the foreign tongue left it far
from being intelligible, and accented the need
of a foreign teacher for a foreign language.
The politeness and ceremony which mark a
Japanese class-room leave no room for joke
or levity, and impress the stranger with a
dignity which is almost cold and stolid. In
such high respect is the teacher held that
anything approaching chumship or comrade-
284
In the Heart of Japan
ship is unknown to the formal Japanese
mind.
In the practice-room there appeared the
same devotion to art. The student, begin-
ning or advanced, kept steadily at v^ork,
without regard to the visitor who read the
notes or followed the execution. Once or
twice a giggling little girl did show a con-
sciousness of company, which proved her
quite human, while her companions had been
decidedly statuesque as far as any emotion
was concerned.
The jarring, jangling notes of their pianos
would have tried the heart and the nerves
of any music-lover. The institution cannot
entrust its few grand instruments, which are
reserved for state occasions, to the constant
pounding of unskilled fingers. Usually the
pupils have no instrument in their homes,
and the practice required, of two or three
hours daily, is done at the conservatory, and
an instrument which comes under the ham-
mer of many children gets a wear and tear
not common in the private home. A piano
in Japan is a luxury, only to be found in
princely homes. The comfortable middle
class in Japan is very poor, poverty poor, if
judged by our standards, and the necessity
285
A Woman Alone
of the American miner or day labourer
would be a luxury in Japan. A number of
scholars own a harmonicum, made in Japan,
of three or four octaves, which would cost
fifty or sixty yen, and this is a matter of wild
extravagance. A grander instrument would
be far beyond their reach.
Attending school six days in the week,
from eight A. M. till four P. M., these pupils
are not all children, but many of them are
beyond their teens. Some are earnest young
men. Others are married women of twenty-
three or five years, devoting their time to
music. Often the husbands are army or navy
men, away for months or years, and the little
wives, living at home, leave the babies in the
care of their elders while they are away
at the conservatory. These people, so long
trammelled by tradition, and so recently re-
vealed to themselves, are consumed with the
zeal for learning. Often, too, they have the
money interest at stake, which is a goad to
their ambition. The Ueno school stands
well, and with advancing years the entrance
examinations have grown harder. They de-
mand intelligence in the applicants, and
many have been turned away who did not
come up to the standard. On completing
286
In the Heart of Japan
the course, graduates receive a diploma and
go out as authorized teachers, whose work
is respected in the land. A salary of thirty
yen a month seems very large, and fifty yen,
earned by teachers exceptionally good, is a
princely sum for those whose needs are few
and living expenses light.
Professor Yunker's Classes
The visitor to Professor Yunker's classes
receives a startling surprise, both for the
matter and the manner of the music ren-
dered. His sympathy and magnetism have
broken down the national formality and re-
serve, and warm German friendship, born
of large heart and musical love, prevails.
Spontaneity has replaced stolidity, and one
feels the sympathy existing between teacher
and scholar. The pupils long to prove their
power, as they catch the glow of his burning
enthusiasm. He inspires them to noble
achievement. He stirs the natural respon-
siveness of youth in contrast with the dull
repression in the presence of the native
teacher. He numbers among his products
a lady who has for some time been teacher
to the crown princess. Another of his
287
A IVoman Alone
scholars went abroad to continue her work
under Joachim, and has returned as a superb
artiste in her own country. It was certainly
keen pleasure to the wanderer to hear the
orchestral rendering of Schubert's Unfin-
ished Symphony. I might shut my eyes and
believe that I listened to the trained orches-
tras at home. It was difficult to realize
that little Japanese people were doing the
good work. Violins, flutes, oboes, bass viols,
'cellos caught the spirit of their leader, and
were true to his efficient teaching.
The amazing results of the chorus proved
the latent possibilities in raw material when
a superior guide, with the very genius for
teaching, is untrammelled in his work. The
chorus opened with a simultaneous and vig-
orous attack. Smoothness and evenness were
a happy feature. Shading and phrasing, so
essential to effective results, were carefully
worked out. Enunciation was distinct, and
again I found it hard to realize that the
clear and clean-cut English rang from Japa-
nese throats. It is so seldom that the native
gets our accent straight and pure that the
fine result must be accredited to the in-
structor.
A high standard of classic composition is
288
In the Heart of Japan
preserved. An air from Schumann was
beautifully rendered. Selections from Men-
delssohn's ^^ Paulus " and from Haydn's
" Creation " were triumphs of execution.
Two visits of the empress during the year,
when the best efforts are put forth in con-
certs, give great stimulus to the ambitious
students. Among his foreign assistants. Pro-
fessor Yunker has had for some years a
French priest who is skilled in harmony,
counterpoint, and the organ. With praise
or blame, the professor is most impartial.
He believes that the girls are generally more
patient and more gifted than the boys, and
therefore they show better results. There
are especial prodigies among these little
midgets, and the same petty weaknesses crop
out, the same envy and jealousy are shown,
among these geniuses of lesser growth as
appear in other nations among famed musi-
cians. Great stars are frail, and subject to
heartburnings. Bitter rivalries exist be-
tween world-wide geniuses. fhese little
novices are just as human, a: j musical war-
fare often wages near the shoguns' tombs
beneath the shade and in the classic halls of
Ueno. Often these lesser stars are criticized
and ridiculed, spiked and impaled, with all
289
A Woman Alone
the native rigour and stoicism of bitter war,
for no other reason than their superiority
and excellence.
May it be the last great boom of woman's
higher education that in her greatness she
shall put aside all pettiness. May her
broader culture and her larger vision lift her
out of self, to make her just and generous
to rival friend or foe. Till that day dawns,
at home or abroad, woman's education has
failed of success, and she is neither well
educated nor truly great.
THE END.
290
INDEX
Academy of Music, Tokio,
280-290.
Aral, Mr., 94.
Arashiyama Rapids, 27, 56-
61.
Art, Japanese, 186-188, 264.
Artificial flowers, 265-266.
Arts and crafts, 1 19-128.
Asylum, A visit to the, 181-
190.
Athletic Association, 62.
Barnes, Mary Sheldon, 269.
Baths, Public, 6-7, 83-84, 89-
90, 109-110.
Blind, The, 12-13, 185-186.
Benkei, 49-50.
Boothby, Sir Brooks, 147.
Box-making industry, 123-
124.
Buddhism, 200-210.
Cherry - blossom festivities,
26-36.
Chuzenji, 103-107, 108.
Consumption, Prevalence of,
230-231.
Customs inspection, 2.
Daisha, Kobe, 88, 104.
Damien, Father, 172.
Dancing, 193- 195-
Deaf and dumb, The, 182-
185, 187.
Dogura, Mr., 279.
Earthquakes, 5-6.
Embroidery, i, 262-264.
Family life, 9, 12, 86-87, 116-
117, 120-121, 135-136, 149-
150.
Fencmg, 203-204.
Fuji, Mount, i, 88, 91.
Fur industry, 1 19-120.
Geishas, 34, 39, 17, 78, 93-94>
96, 114-115, 137, 140, 191-
199.
Girls' High School of Tokio,
266-269.
Girls' Industrial School of
Tokio, 261-266.
"Great Hell," 90-91.
Hagiwara and his inn, 159-
160, 163-166, 176.
Heihachee, the Guide, 157-
163, 165-166, 175-178.
Fewes, Miss, 274-275.
H'deyoshi, 97.
Hiro-oka, Mme., 279.
lemitsu, 97.
leyasu, 97, 102.
Ikao, 142-152, 15S-.158, 177.
Hot Springs, 147.
Ikao House, 156, 160.
291
Index
Iron-clotlj, 148-149.
Kindayu House, 143-146,
147, 156, 177.
Shops, 147-148.
Inari, 153.
Judo School, 210-217.
Kakke, Prevalence of, 231.
Kano, Professor, ^0-211.
Kawada, Mr., 258-259.
Kindayu, Mr. and Mrs., 143-
146, 156-157.
Kioto, 29, 30-47, 54, 56, 57,
71, 234.
Asylum, 181 -190.
Ceremonious tea-party, 30-
Cherry-blossom dance, 33-
36.
Kioto Hotel, 69, 189, 190.
Public procession of pros-
titutes, 36-47.
Wrestling, 61-68.
Kitai, 86.
Kobe, 29.
Kusatsu, 166-174.
Leper village, 170-173.
Sulphur baths, 155, 166-
170.
Lake Biiwa Canal, 54-56.
Lake Chuzenji, 106.
Lake Hakone, 87-89.
Lake Yumoto, 108- no, 151.
Lepers, 164, 170-173.
Maebashi, 143, 148.
Mason, Mr., 280-281, 283.
Massage, School of, 188-191.
Matsushima, 137, 140,
Miidera, 50.
Mitsui, House of, 242-249,
279.
Miyanoshita, 84-86.
Fugiya Hotel, 85.
Shops, 86.
Monkeys, Sacred, 100, 126.
Morimura, Ichizsemon, 279.
Music, Native, 125-126, 196-
197.
Nagoya, 75-78.
Castle, 'j^-yT.
Nantaizan, ic^-108.
Naruse, President, 269-270,
277-27^, 279.
Nectarine of Yokohama, 2,
21-25.
Nicolai, Bishop, 219-225.
Nikko, 92-103, 106, 111-133,
148.
Procession of the Sho-
guns' spirits, 92, 97-103.
Shops, 93, 1 13-128.
Temple bell, 131-132.
Wet season, 128-130.
Nippon Yusen Kaisha, 255-
258.
Okuma, Count, 270, 278.
Otani, Kahei, 235-241.
Perry, Commodore, 151.
Pine-tree, The Sacred, 51-54.
Politeness, 8-9, 17- 19, 52-54»
71-72, 75, 118, 151-152.
Prostitutes, Public procession
of, at Kioto, 36-47.
Railroad, Travelling by, 69-
75, 140-142.
Red Cross in Japan, The,
225-233.
Rice culture, 249-251.
Rice Exchange, 251-253.
Rikshas and rikmen, 2-5,- 48,
52-53, 65, 75, 77, 84-85, 104-
106, no, 159, 175-176, 248-
249.
Sanitation, 9-10.
Sendai, 134- 139, 165.
Famous chests, 134-136.
Shintoism, 48-49, 98-104, 200.
Shinto shrine, 153-154.
292
Index
Silk industry, 119, 242.
Sorceress, A, 154.
Stock Exchange, 253-256.
Sulphur baths, 155, 166-171.
Sumida River, 28.
Swami Rah Tirth, 204-209.
Tea etiquette, 30-33, 160, 197-
199.
Tea Industry, 234-241.
Temples, 48-51.
Theatre in Japan, The, 19-21,
33-36, 94, 95-96.
Tokio, 27, 28, 54, 62, 86, 134,
141, 143, 201.
Academy of Music, 280-
290.
Buddhist University, 202-
210.
French Convent, 85.
Girls' High School, 266-
269.
Girls' Industrial School,
261-266.
Judo School, 210-217.
Mitsui's store, 243-249.
Red Cross Hospital, 226-
233.
Rice Exchange, 251-253.
Russian Mission and
Cathedral, 218-225.
Stock Exchange, 253-256.
Ueno Park, 27, 28, 225,
280-282.
Woman's University, 269-
280.
Tsunejira, Tomita, 210, 214-
216.
Ubago, Hot Springs of, 89-
91.
Ueno Park, 27, 28, 225, 280-
282.
Uji, 234.
Welcome Society, 179-180.
Woman's University of
Tokio, 269-280.
Wood-carving industry, 121-
122, 148.
Wrestling and wrestlers, 61-
68, 210-217.
Yokohama, 1-25, 2J, 2f), 71,
23s, 236.
Bazaars, 16.
Bentendiori, i.
Bluff, The, I, 4.
Customs inspection, 2.
Honchodori, i.
Motomachi, i.
Nectarine, 2, 21-25.
Street sights, 10-15.
Theatre, 19-21.
Theatre Street, 2, 13-15.
Yumoto, 151.
Yunker, August, 283, 287-
289.
293
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6
ALL BOOKS AAAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS
1-mont^> Ic^nf 'r^fl / • c- ..a^cff^d by caHIng 642-3405
1-y3ar 'Car s ii ay re- recharged by bringing the books to the Circulation Desk
Renewals and recnarges may be nnade 4 days prior to due date
DUE AS STAMPED BELOW
RtC
C\P J\JL
24
^^
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERK'
FORM NO. DD6, 60m, 1/83 BERKELEY, CA 94720
255109
