Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/563

Rh the greatest character in Japanese history. His system of government was that under which Japan continued during the period of her seclusion from the rest of the world, which has been so well described by Kämpfer, Titsingh, and Klaproth, and which so long excited the wonder of other nations. It was a normal outgrowth of peculiar circumstances. Having no foreign enemies, the feudal condition of the country necessitated a dual government and two capitals: a divine emperor, the fountain of honors and titles, to be venerated; and a strong hand of power, the shogun, with castles, wealth, and armies to be feared. The one dwelt amid a semi-sacred nobility and a host of learned priests, in a quiet capital filled with temples and colleges; and the other, from his moated castle ruling the turbulent vassals and enforcing military authority in every part of the land, resided in a bustling capital filled with wealth, luxury, and all the circumstance of actual power. Though the shogun was the de facto ruler of Japan, the mikado was by no means the empty shadow that Kämpfer and his copyists make him to be. Title and rank in Japan have a significance even greater than in Europe, and all high ranks and titles had to be obtained from the mikado. He was the true sovereign of Japan, and the shogun was a usurper, and in no sense of the word a king or emperor. He was but a military governor, a commander-in-chief. Properly he was a senior baron, primus inter pares. His family was but a clan like the others, which had obtained its supremacy by the genius and labors of Iyeyasu, and which held it by force and superior resources. Probably no greater diplomatic mistake was ever made in the history of the world than that of the foreign nations who made treaties with Japan, and accepted the seal of the shogun as surety, without having them ratified by the mikado. In fact, the foreign nations were content to make treaties with the lieutenant, or the mayor of the palace, through their ignorance of the facts, while the emperor's consent was actually withheld. The term taikun (or tycoon) means "great sovereign," and was an absurd title, to which the shogun had no right whatever, and which was invented to deceive foreigners. When the foreign ministers in Japan found out the true state of affairs, and that the mikado was and had always been de jure the true sovereign, they insisted upon and obtained his ratification of the treaties. The assumption of this title by the shogun helped to bring on the civil war of 1866–'9 which reduced his power to that of a daimio, and restored the emperor to his ancient power and rights. There never were two emperors in Japan, and the loose statements about a "secular" and an "ecclesiastical" emperor originated in deception.—The first European known to have written of Japan is Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller, who visited China, and in his narrative speaks of Zipangu, a modification of the Chinese name. He gave such glowing accounts of the people and the wealth of the land, that Columbus seems evidently to have had the quest of that country in mind when he sailed westward, and on first landing in the Bahamas believed himself to be in Zipangu. After the circumnavigation of Africa by Vasco da Gama in 1497, the Portuguese rapidly extended their discoveries and conquests in southern Asia. In 1542 three Portuguese sailors arrived at Taneshima, and "breathed into the Japanese atmosphere the first breath of Christianity." About three years later a Portuguese adventurer, Fernam Mendez Pinto (whose name for a long time was a synonyme for liar, but whose veracity has been reëstablished by modern criticism), while cruising with some companions of his own nation in the vessel of a Chinese pirate, was driven by foul weather into a harbor in one of the smaller Japan islands. He was well received, and carried back to the Portuguese settlements in China such reports of the riches and magnificence of Japan, that great numbers of traders and adventurers flocked thither, and an active commerce sprang up. Missionaries speedily followed the merchants, and in 1549 Japan was visited by the celebrated "apostle of the Indies," St. Francis Xavier. Both merchants and missionaries were favorably received, and while the one class found a ready and most profitable market for their goods, the other rapidly converted vast numbers of the natives to Christianity. Three of the most powerful nobles, the princes of Bungo, Harima, and Omura, were among the converts. In 1582 the Japanese Christians sent an embassy with letters and presents to Rome to do honor to the pope, and assure him of their submission to the church. In the two years which followed their return (1591–'2), it is said that 12,000 Japanese were converted and baptized. Tempted by the success of the Portuguese, the Dutch East India company in 1598 despatched five merchant vessels to Japan, one of which reached it in 1600. In 1609 other Dutch ships arrived, and were well received by the Japanese, who conceded to them a port on the island of Hirado (called by them Firando) for a factory or settlement, with considerable privileges. Before the arrival of the Dutch, who were then at war with Portugal, the Japanese government had become distrustful of the Portuguese, whose astonishing success made them haughty and disdainful of the feelings and prejudices of the natives. The effects of the missionaries' labors had scarcely been perceived during the anarchy into which the country was plunged, and Nobunaga had utilized the enthusiastic energy of the new converts in the suppression of their common enemy, the Buddhist priesthood. His successor Hideyoshi found the native Christians disobedient and unyielding under his rude and arbitrary orders. He is said to have asked a subject of the double kingdom of Spain and Portugal how his king had managed to possess