Hakodate

“ Siebold states that sixty-eight square-rigged vessels—mostly, no doubt, American whalers—had been counted by the Japanese as passing Matsumae and Hakodate in one year. According to a memorandum furnished to Commodore Perry during his recent visit to Hakodate (May 3, 1854) , there had been, in the years 1847-1851, no less than five foreign vessels wrecked in that vicinity.
[100] In Japan, as elsewhere, etiquette requires a good many things to be done under feigned pretences, and on many occasions an affected ignorance of what everybody knows. ”

“ The summit of the rock, called the Peak, is crowned by a fort. Hakodate is one of the ports originally opened to foreign trade. The Bay of Hakodate, an inlet of Tsugaru Strait, is completely land-locked, easy of access and spacious, with deep water almost up to the shore, and good holding-ground. The Russians formerly used Hakodate as a winter port. The staple exports are beans, pulse and peas, marine products, sulphur, furs and timber ”

“ Admiral Enomoto declared that his reason for going to Hakodate with his squadron was that he and his friends had resolved to guard the Northern Gate for the Emperor, and to till the soil, as yet wholly uncultivated, of the island of Yeso.
“Men who have the hearts of Samurai,” they pleaded, “cannot turn into farmers or merchants, so it appeared to us that there was nothing for us but to starve. And considering the untilled state of the island of Yeso we petitioned the Government that we might remove thither, but all in vain.” ”

“ The Japanese took the greatest care of their health, not allowing them to wet their feet, carrying them across the shallowest streams, and furnishing them with quilted Japanese gowns as a protection against the rain.
At Hakodate they were received by a great crowd, among which were several persons with silk dresses mounted on horses with rich caparisons. “Both sides of the road,” says Golownin, “were crowded with spectators, yet every one behaved with the utmost decorum. ”

“ Hakodate to Satsporo, viâ—
The road from Hakodate to Sigonope in its general direction bears N. N. W. by N., distance 23 miles. The road is 36 feet in width and unmetalled; for some distance past Kamida Bridge it runs over a large plain with a very gentle rise towards the hills, the soil a dark loam: much timber has been felled. The trees remaining are beech, birch, silver birch, maple, mulberry, chestnut, &c.
An experimental Farm is situated some 220 feet above sea level and close to the steep slope of the hills, here was growing some fine hemp, also a little corn. ”

“ They accordingly set to work to melt it into balls. There was only enough for two, and when they were made and carried down to the batteries, the Russian ships were already out of sight.
Soon after leaving Hakodate the Russian ships fell in with a war-junk which had left that port some days before with a reinforcement of twenty men for one of the Yezo settlements. It was commanded by Morishige Sachu, an officer who had the chief credit with the Hakodate garrison of the economical administration of affairs. ”

“ The besiegers advanced under a very heavy and well-sustained fire, and Admiral Enomoto’s defence of his vessels, on the other hand, was skilful and resolute. The Kwan-gun or Imperialist forces, which had come to the straits overland from Tokio, were landed on Hakodate Head in the rear of the town of Hakodate, while the rebels held the battery at Benten, and the villages of Chiyoga-oka and Goriokaku. They were under the command of Matsudaira Taro, Otori Keisuke, and Arai Ikunosuke, while Admiral Enomoto was afloat, one of his captains being the present Ambassador in London, Viscount Hayashi. ”

“ I am enjoying Hakodate so much that, though my tour is all planned and my arrangements are made, I linger on from day to day. There has been an unpleasant eclaircissement about Ito. You will remember that I engaged him without a character, and that he told both Lady Parkes and me that after I had done so his former master, Mr. Maries, asked him to go back to him, to which he had replied that he had "a contract with a lady." Mr. ”

“ The newly organized government of the empire, however, instead of inflicting the death penalty on him and his principal followers, as would have been the inevitable sequel of such a drama in previous times, punished them with imprisonment only, and four years after the Hakodate episode, Enomoto received an important post in Hokkaido, the very scene of his wild attempt. ”

“ A single look at Hakodaté itself makes one feel that it is Japan all over. The streets are very wide and clean, but the houses are mean and low. The city looks as if it had just recovered from a conflagration. The houses are nothing but p. 213tinder. The grand tile roofs of some other cities are not to be seen. There is not an element of permanence in the wide, and windy streets. It is an increasing and busy place ”

“ The best were of the salmon species, but every kind of marine animal was eaten. The gathering of sea-weeds for food (of the kind called by the Russians sea-cabbage [91] ) also constituted a considerable branch of industry. In the northern villages the inhabitants were principally native Kuriles, with a few Japanese officers. Within a hundred and twenty or thirty miles of Hakodate the villages were inhabited entirely by Japanese, and were much larger and handsomer than those further north, having gardens and orchards, and distinguished by their scrupulous neatness ”

“ Thence they were taken, partly by water and partly by land, to Hakodate, already mentioned as a Japanese town at the southern extremity of Yezo. This journey occupied four weeks, in which, by Golownin’s calculation, they travelled between six and seven hundred miles. The Japanese stated it at two hundred and fifty-five of their leagues. The route followed was along the east coast of the island. Every two miles or so there was a populous village, from all of which extensive fisheries were carried on, evidently the great business of the inhabitants. ”

“ His abduction had thrown his family into the greatest distress, and his wife had made a pilgrimage through all Japan, as a sort of penitential offering to the favoring gods. During his absence his business had prospered, and before the departure of the Diana he presented the crew with dresses of silk and cotton wadding, the best to his favorites, the cook being especially remembered. He then begged permission to treat the crew.
"Sailors are all alike," he said, "whether Russian or Japanese. They are all fond of a glass; and there is no danger in the harbor of Hakodate." ”

“ The imperial fleet followed, and after some manœuvring at Sendai proceeded to Hakodate. Here the warlike operations between the rebels and the imperial troops lasted till July, 1869. Finally, the leaders, Enomoto and Matsudaira Tarō, seeing that it was hopeless to contend longer against a constantly increasing enemy, offered to commit hara-kiri, in order that their followers might be saved by a surrender. Their unselfish purpose was not, however, permitted. Then it was determined that the [pg 376] two leaders should give themselves up to the besiegers, to save the rest. ”

“ Active preparations were made for repelling any future attacks which might be made. A body of 150 men was despatched at once to Kushunkotan, but arrived too late to be of any service. Two hundred Tsugam soldiers were soon after posted at Soya, a settlement near the northern point of Yezo, and opposite to Kushunkotan. The garrison of Itorup was increased to 200 or 300 men, and by the spring of next year that of Hakodate was raised to about 2,500 men, mostly retainers of the northern Daimios. ”

“ Hafela mixed the poison as you taught him; I gave the remedy, and saved the king alive.”
Now the knees of Hokosa grew weak beneath him, and he leaned against the fence of the kraal for support.
“I have skill in the art,” he said hoarsely; “but, Messenger, your magic is more than mine, and my life is forfeit to you. To-morrow morning, you will tell the king all, and to-morrow night I shall hang upon the dreadful Tree. Well, so be it; I am overmatched at my own trade, and it is best that I should die. You have plotted well and you have conquered, and to you belong my place and power.” ”

“ In the inimitable sketch-book of Hokusai, the bourgeois artist who threw all classical rules to the winds, we see the sort of people who really "had a good time," while their betters bored themselves to extinction, namely, the Japanese shopkeepers and artisans. We see their homely jokes, their drunken sprees, their occasional sly hits at superiors, as when, for example, a group of street Arabs is depicted making fun of some Confucian sage behind his back, or as when the stately Daimyō's procession becomes a procession of grass hoppers bearing a mantis in a basket. ”

“ Hakodadi, in the straits of Tsou-gar, on the island of Yesso, is the second of the ports of the Japanese empire which has been opened by treaty to the commercial nations. It is of the greatest importance to the Russians, as being their most southern station on the Sea of Japan. Although the other European and the American officials dislike the comparative seclusion and ungenial climate of Yesso, the Russian functionaries, having been promoted from forlorn stations such as we have described, learn by contrast to esteem Hakodadi as a luxurious residence. ”

“ Should you so much as dare to approach one of the gates of the Great Place, that moment you shall die.”
“Have no fear, O King,” said Hokosa humbly, “for I have emptied all my heart before you. The past is the past, and cannot be recalled. For the future, while it pleases you to spare me, I am the most loyal of your servants.”
“Can a man empty a spring with a pitcher?” asked the King contemptuously. “By to-morrow this heart of yours may be full again with the blackest treachery, O master of sin and lies. Many months ago I spared you at the prayer of the Messenger ”

“ The chief emporium of the trade with China in the early Ashikaga period was of course Hakata in Kyushu as before. As the family of the Ôuchi, however, held the strait of Shimonoseki, the gateway of the Inland Sea, and as Hakata itself came afterwards under the rule of the same family, the Chinese trade had been for a long time controlled or rather monopolised by this lord of the province of Nagato. The prosperity of the inland city of Yamaguchi, the residential seat of the Ôuchi family, is to be ascribed also to the same circumstance. ”

“ To that cross let my sins be fastened and with them my body.”
Now the moon sank, but in the darkness men were found who dared to climb the tree, taking with them strips of raw hide. They reached the top of it, four of them, and seating themselves upon the arms of the cross, they let down a rope, the noose of which was placed about the body of Hokosa. As it tightened upon him, he turned his calm and dreadful eyes on to the eyes of Noma and said to her:
“Woman, I do not reproach you; but I lay this fate upon you, that you shall watch me die. Thereafter, let God deal with you as He may choose.” ”

“ All the lectures and addresses of the summer school at Hakoné were listened to with that fine mingling of concentrated and sympathetic attention and the spirit of independent inquiry which characterises the best minds among the Japanese, as it does [87] the same class in other civilised races. With such minds, clearness, knowledge of his subject, and moral earnestness on the part of the speaker, are the most highly prized qualities. With them also, appreciation and enthusiasm follow upon conviction of the truthfulness of what is said ”

“ CHAPTER XXI HOKOSA IS LIFTED UP “What would you?” asked Hokosa of the herald as he halted a short spear-cast from the wall.
“My master, the Prince Hafela, desires to treat with your master, Nodwengo. Many men have fallen on either side, and if this war goes on, though victory must be his at last, many more will fall. Therefore, if any plan can be found, he desires to spare their lives.” ”

“ You must give up Ohitika. He is brave; and you, too, are brave. He will not fear death; you will bear his loss bravely. Come—here are four bundles of paints and a filled pipe—let us go to the place.”
When the last words were uttered, Hakadah did not seem to hear them. He was simply unable to speak. To a civilized eye, he would have appeared at that moment like a little copper statue. His bright black eyes were fast melting in floods of tears, when he caught his grandmother’s eye and recollected her oft-repeated adage: “Tears for woman and the war-whoop for man to drown sorrow!” ”

“ And now depart, for I must talk with the King as to this matter of the onslaught of Hafela.”
“Then, that will be the signal for my death, for what King can forgive one who has plotted such treachery against him?” said Hokosa.
“Fear not,” answered Owen, “I will soften his heart. Go you into the church and pray, for there you shall be less tempted; but before you go, swear to me that you will work no evil on yourself.”
“I swear it, Messenger, since now I desire to live, if only for awhile, seeing that death shuts every door.” ”

“ Hokosa, you have been famous in your day, but it seems that henceforth you who have led must follow.”
“The battle is not yet fought, King,” answered Hokosa. “To-day I met the lightnings without my medicines, and it was a little storm; when I am prepared with my medicines and the tempest is great, then I will challenge this white man to face me yonder, and then in that hour my god shall show his strength and his God shall not be able to save him.” ”

“ Is not the plan good, Prince?”
“It is very good, Hokosa—save for one thing only.”
“For what thing?”
“This: the white man who is named Messenger might chance to be a true prophet of a true God, and to recover the king.”
“Oho, let him do it, if he can; but to do it, first he must know the poison and its antidote. There is but one, and it is known to me only of all men in this land. When he has done that, then I, yes, even I, Hokosa, will begin to inquire concerning this God of his, who shows Himself so mighty in person of His messenger.” ”