The narrative of a Japanese; what he has seen and the people he has met in the course of the last forty years./Chapter 6

June. One morning this month two officers called at my house. They gave their names as Kido Junichiro and Ito Shunske (Note : Now H. E. Count Ito, Prime Minister of Japan) and said they were officials from Satsuma. I received them as such, and they at once fell to asking me questions about foreign matters--more especially about the history of England and America, their institutions, Governments and so forth. I answered their queries to the best of my ability. The elder (Kido) expressed himself as very much interested in the Constitution of the United States--he said it was quite new to him.

As I replied to all their questions with the utmost frankness, they seemed to be very pleased and became very friendly; yet I noticed that they were not at all inclined to be communicative about themselves.

After they had gone, my bantō, Shojiro, entered my office and asked what I thought of my two visitors. I said that they struck me as

particularly nice and gentlemanly men; the only thing about them that I thought strange being the absence of all trace of the Satsuma dialect in their talk, although they had told me they were Satsuma officials. At this my bantō laughed quietly, and then told me that my visitors were no more Satsuma men than he or I was. “The elder,” said he “is Katsura Kō-go-rō, a Chōshiu Samurai. When I was a well-to-do rice-merchant, I used to visit Chōshiu very frequently on business, and then I often associated with Mr. Katsura at Shimonoseki, playing go and composing odes with him. But now that I have become a poor bantō in a foreign house he has forgotten me altogether.”

A few days later the officers called again, and I asked them to tiffin and they accepted my invitation. At table I casually remarked that I could hardly ever have taken them for Satsuma gentlemen, inasmuch as their accent and idiom smacked more of the Inland Sea than of Satsuma. Then turning to Kido I asked him directly whether his name was not Katsura. Upon this the two looked at each other in astonishment for some seconds and then they smiled. After that Kido turned to me and said that I was quite right, and that what he was now going to tell me must be kept strictly private.

“You know,” he said, “that we are very

wrongly and unjustly considered and treated as rebels by the Shōgun's government, since we have done nothing to merit that name. On this account we borrow Satsuma's name whenever we come to Nagasaki on business.” After this disclosure they began to talk to me more freely about the real object of their visit to Nagasaki. After going into the ancient history of the Japanese Empire at some length, and after explaining the origin of the Shōgunate, Kido proceeded: “Thus, you must see, the real Sovereign and ruler of this country is the Mikado; while as for the Shōgun who calls himself Tycoon, the founder of his house usurped the power he wields, some two hundred and fifty years ago. And during all that time the House of Tokugawa has continued to exercise their usurped power, and in our day the Shōgun has even gone so far as to call himself 'Tai-kun' and in his own name to conclude treaties with foreign nations without the Mikado's consent. But on account of the progress of the world, times have changed, and it is the wish of our master, Chōshiu, as well as of ourselves, that the governing power should be restored to our real and legitimate Sovereign, the Mikado, while Tokugawa must resign his post of Sei-i-tai Shōgun. When this has come to pass, then the Empire will become peaceful, and foreign intercouse will

become freer and more cordial. But so long as we shall continue to have two rulers in the land, we shall have nothing but uninterrupted quarrels and troubles--just as is the case in a house with two masters.” He then requested me to aid in forwarding the Mikado's cause, by explaining the above facts and the position of the Choshiu clan in the light of these facts to foreigners, who, in general were not well instructed in the history of the country.

In the following October, Messrs. Kido and Ito again called on me and asked me to act as their agent in Nagasaki. They said that it was likely that they personally would be called away to Kioto and elsewhere and other officers would come on their Prince's business, and these officers they requested me to aid as far as it lay in my power to do so. Although I had been perfectly loyal to them they said, it would be as well to have the thing in writing. They further promised that when the port of Hiōgo should be opened to trade they would appoint me their Sambitsu (special commercial agent), and at the same time handed me the following document.

The undersigned officers of the Prince of Chōshiu, on behalf of their Prince, have this day agreed to engage and do appoint Mr. J. Heco, a citizen of

America, to act as the Prince's special agent for the port of Nagasaki; Japan. ( Signed )  Kido Junichiro,

Hayashi Uichi,

Hirobumi.

Under this agreement I acted as agent for Chōshiu in Nagasaki for two years without any remuneration. Nor did I ever hear anything subsequently of the appointment in Hiōgo offered by Messrs Kido and Ito. I ought also to remark that, in the previous September, Mr. Kido had asked me to find a foreign chemist for his government, and I had engaged my friend Dr. Vedder, of the U.S. ship Jamestown, who went to Choshiu in that capacity.

Immediately after handing me the above document Mr. Kido asked whether I could not place Mr. Ito on board some English man-of-war on this station. I told him that although my acquaintance with English naval officers was limited, I fancied I could manage to carry out his request. A few days after this Admiral Keppel came in on the Salamis tender, and I asked for, and got a letter of introduction to him from the senior partner in our firm. Upon receipt of this I went off with Messrs. Kido and Ito to see the Admiral,

Image for printing MR. KIDO.

who upon reading the letter, welcomed us very kindly. We then explained that the Prince of Chōshiu had lately ordered several men-of-war and gun-boats from England through an English firm in Nagasaki, and that although some of these would be out directly, they would be practically useless, since the Prince had no officers who knew anything of navigation, and that he (the Prince) was consequently exceedingly anxious to have some of his people placed on an English war-ship. The Admiral's answer was that it would give him great pleasure to comply with the Prince's request, and that Mr. Ito, or any other of his officers, would be welcome on board any of the vessels on the station, and that when the Rodney came in he would at once make the necessary arrangements with her Commander. Mr. Kido then said that his government would defray all the expenses, to which the Admiral said that that “would be all right when Mr. Ito got on board.”

Shortly after the Rodney came in, and one fine morning I was able to go to Kido and tell him that I had received a letter from the Captain saying that Mr. Ito might come on board in a few days. Kido thereupon made an important communication to me. He said that it was the wish of the Mikado's party (i.e. Chōshiu, Satsuma, and Tosa) to have Ito placed on board an English war-ship

in order that he might watch events at Kiōto and Osaka from a distance. Satsuma, Chōshiu, and Tosa had sent in a memorial to the Government at Kiōto in which it was urged that the Shōgun should abdicate his position as ruler of the country. It was a bold step for them to have taken, and they fully expected that there would be considerable trouble among the Court nobles, as well as among the Daimio in consequence of their action. For they (Kido and Ito) did not believe that the Shōgun would give up his post so easily. He personally might be inclined to do so, since he would recognise the justice of their demand in the memorial, but his friendly Daimio and Hatamoto would strongly oppose the step, in which case there would undoubtedly be a civil war. It was in order that he might be able to watch and report what was toward in Kiōto and Ōsaka that they were so anxious to have Ito placed on board a foreign war-ship.

Hereupon at Kido's request Ito handed me a copy of the memorial (in Japanese) signed by the representatives of the three Daimio and sent up to Kiōto, and then they requested that I should explain the document to foreigners speaking against them. I should make it clear that the action of the associated clans was not directed against foreigners at all, but against the Shōgun and in favour of the Mikado.

Next day Kido left for his own country, while Ito remained to join the Rodney, which was bound for Hiōgo.

The day before his departure Ito came to my house, presented me with his photograph and brought some baggage which he wished to leave with me till he left. He invited me to dinner with him next day at his quarters in the native town, saying that the only other guest there would be Godai Saisuke, and that he wished to have a quiet talk with me before he left; so I went and found Godai already there. Before I went to the dinner I wrote to Ito asking what I should do with his baggage, when he wrote in English as follow:--

Image for printing

Image for printing MR. ITŌ.

About 5 p.m. Godai went to keep an appointment while I stayed on till nine o'clock. At 9.30 p.m. we walked down to the jetty, where Ito got into his sampan and was sculled off to the Rodney, while I bade him sayonara and returned home.

In May, 1868, I again saw him in Hiōgo, where he was acting as the first Governor of the place under the new régime. He then gave me the following account of what took place after he had left Nagasaki on the Rodney.

The Rodney's voyage to Hiōgo had been much longer than he had expected, owing to her having stopped here and there while going up the Inland Sea. By the time he reached Hiōgo the troubles at Kiōto had already begun. The Shōgun had resigned his post, and had retired to his Castle in Ōsaka. Then followed the rising of his followers, and the Battle of Fushimi, which was lost to the Tokugawa cause mainly through the treacherous defection of Tōdō, who went over to the Mikado's party with 20,000 men. On account of all this the Shōgun's party had fired their own Castle of Ōsaka, and blown up the magazine, while the Shōgun himself had got on board an American war-ship at Tempozan and fled secretly to Yedo. And as a consequence of these events the Shōgun's authorities in Hiōgo had chartered an American

vessel, and taking with them all the treasure and the official documents has likewise sailed in her for the Tokugawa Capital. When Ito learned the posture of affairs in Hiōgo he at once landed, and collecting a small body of men with flags and lanterns with crests, went to the vacant Custom-House and Governor's office and took possession of them in the name of Mikado. He thereupon wrote off to Kiōto informing his friends of what he had done, and requesting them to send down some troops for the protection of the town and the settlement.

On the following night 500 soldiers came in from the Capital. At the same time came an Imperial Commission appointing Ito Governor of Hiōgo, with authority over 4 Settsu and 8 Banshiu gun, with the title of Jiu-goi-gé. However, he found himself a governor with no money to carry on his government, for his predecessor, as already stated, had carried off every ounce of treasure in the place. So Ito called all the native bankers of Hiōgo together, and arranged with them for a loan upon the security of the local taxes. Subsequently he issued 1/4 Bu kinsatsu, and with the loan and his paper money he was able to carry on the administration of the district.

A few days before Ito's departure on the Rodney, Kido casually informed me that in 1864 an

American adventurer had come to Chōshiu and bought the steamer Lancefield (which had been sunk by the Wyoming in 1863) for $30,000 and paid for her by a promissory note. He had taken away the steamer, but had never reappeared to redeem his promissory note. Could I recover the money for Chōshiu, or find out who the man was? I told Kido that if he brought the note I would bring the affair to the notice of the U.S. Consul. Mr. Kido said he would send me the note as soon as he went home. However he shortly after wrote me to say that although he had made careful search for the promissory note he could not find it, and the affair was then dropped.

One day Mr. Niro, a Councillor of the Prince of Satsuma and Mr. Godai invited the English Admiral, an English naval lieutenant, the principal of our firm, and myself to a Japanese banquet in one of the Nagasaki tea-houses. One of the items in the bill of fare was a living carp, cut into thin slices, with a bamboo in its mouth, and with its skin replaced over it. It was brought in on a large plate, and whenever it breathed, the bamboo in its mouth quivered. The Admiral said that it was cruel to serve fish in this style, and refused to touch it.

October 19th. I received a note from my friend Motono asking whether I could not get permission for a Minister of the Prince of Hizen to

inspect an American man-of-war then in port. So before I answered his letter I sent the following note to a lieutenant on board, whom I had the pleasure of knowing:-- DEAR MR. S.--,

Will you be so kind as to inquire of your Captain, whether he has any objection to my bringing on board a Japanese official to inspect the vessel. I have been requested by one of the Cabinet Ministers of the Prince of Hizen to inquire, and he proposes to go on board tomorrow if your Captain has no objection. By your giving an answer to this by bearer I shall feel much obliged.

Yours truly,

(Signed)  J. HECO.

When the letter reached the vessel, I received a reply, not from my friend, but from the Captain himself to the following effect:--

U.S. Ship “H--d,”

Nagasaki, Oct. 21st, 1867.

JOSEPH HECO, ESQ.,

DEAR SIR,

Japanese officials arewelcome at all times on board the “H--d,” but as we are coaling ship now, visitors would find it more satisfactory to them, if they deferred their visit for two or three days. If the Prince of Hizen wishes to visit the ship, the Admiral will be glad to receive him on board on Wednesday at one o'clock p.m.

Yours truly,

(Signed)

Commander.

When I received the above note, I noticed that the commander mentioned a person whom I had never referred to in my note, but thinking that he might have misread my letter I thought it was

all right, and went straight to Motono and informed him of the contents of the note, and saw the minister for the first time. Both were quite pleased to wait for a few days and then go on board and see the vessel. But on the following day, when I got to my office, I found a note which had come from the commander through a ship-chandler's chit-book. I opened it and read as follow:--

Nagasaki, 22nd October, 1867.

MR. J. HECO,

SIR,--In your note of yesterday written to Lt. S--, of this vessel, you stated that the Prince of Hizen desires to come on board. Upon inquiry I am credibly informed that the Prince is not in town, and until the mistake made in your note is explained, neither yourself nor your friends will be admitted on board.

Respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

(Signed)

After I read the above note, I thought, surely I had made no such mistake. Still I thought it best to send for my note to Lt. S--. So I wrote him to return me my note of the previous day, to make sure of myself, and in the meantime I called at the ship-chandler's, and asked him whether the Commander of the H--, had been there. He said “Yes,” and further added that I had written to him saying that the Prince of Hizen was in town, that he (the Commander) had asked him whether it was so? to which he had replied that he was not, for if he had been, he certainly would have come to

him (the ship-chandler) first. I then told the ship-chandler that I had not written anything of the kind; what I had written was that the Prince's minister was in town and would like to see the vessel. When I returned to my office, I found a note from Lt. S-- with my note to him enclosed, so I perused my note, when I found I had not made any mistake. So I immediately wrote to the Commander, enclosing the note I had addressed to Lt. S--, on the previous day.

--, SHIP “H--,”

COMMANDER, &c., SIR,

In reply to your note of the 22nd inst. in respect to some Japanese officers coming on board to see your vessel, I beg to state that the mistake was not on my part, but thinking that there might possibly have been some clerical error in my note (although I felt convinced that I could not have said that the Prince was to be one of the proposed visitors) and wishing to satisfy myself, I requested Lt. S-- to return me my letter, which together with his note to me, I now take the liberty to enclose for your perusal. From it, you will at once see, and, I hope, acknowledge that I have given no occasion for the accusation you have made against me, of having wished to mislead you in regard to the rank of the intending visitor. I feel much regret personally at the receipt of your note, as it has compelled me to make an unpleasant explanation to my Japanese friends.

I remain, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

J. HECO.

I sent the above note by our boat and got a receipt for it in our chit-book.

October 26th. Early this morning I received the following note from Lt. S--:--

The Captain told me this morning, that there had been some mistake about your wishes in regard to the Japanese officials, and has directed me to say that they would be welcomed whenever you may desire to bring them on board.

Yours truly,

(Signed)  J. H. S--.

I suppose this was meant as an apology on the part of the Commander, but I had already explained the unpleasant occurrence to my friends and asked to be excused from accompanying them. So I could not take them on board, as they wished.