252 T- Teeada and T. Matuzawa 



must have aroused in the imenliglitened minds of our remote 

 ancestors. Earthquakes have been counted in a vulgar adage^^^ as the 

 foremost of the four things terrible. According to tradition, the 

 shalving of the earth was attributed to the stirrings of a monstrous 

 catfish which had been imprisoned under the earth by the God of 

 Kasima^\ 



The most ancient record of great earthquakes dates back to 416 

 A.D. In 684, a district (estimated at about 8 sq. km. in area) ia 

 the Pacific coast of Tosa disappeared beneath the sea. Since that 

 time, the history of this country is remarkably rich in records of 

 earthquakes, especially of those which shook the districts near the site 

 of the Imperial Residence. The name of the era, or Nengo, has been 

 changed on the occassions of destructive earthquakes, as was customary 

 in the case of any incident of grave significance, good or evil, caused 

 by nature or by man. A comprehensive collection of these records 

 is published as No. 46A,B of the Report of the Earthquake Invest- 

 igation Committee which supplies an almost inexhaustible source of 

 materials for investigators. 



Though speculative theories have often been propounded by some 

 of the thinking minds of the Tokugawa era, about the nature of the 

 remarkable natural phenomenon, no one dreamed of making it a 

 subject of investigation under the light of experimental physical science, 

 from which the eyes of our fathers were long . since turned by the 

 deep-rooted influences of oriental metaphysics. After the Meiji Res- 

 toration, European sciences were freely introduced and cultivated with 

 ever-increasing zeal. In the Imperial University of Tokyo a number 

 of European and American scientists were engaged in awakening the 

 scientific spirit of the younger generation, a spirit which had remained 

 dormant in the blood of the nation. John Milne was among these 

 learned worthies, giving lectures on mining, engineering, geology, and 

 mineralogy. A local earthquake which occurred on 22 Feb., 1880, in 

 the vicinity of Yokohama happened to kindle the enthusiasm of this 



(1) i.e. earthquake, tlmnder, fire and dad. 



(2) There is a stone in the confine of the shrine of Kasima, known by the name 

 of Kanameisi which is said to be the top of an enormous piece of rock weighing upon 

 the head of the monster catfish, so that the locatity is saved for ever from destructive 

 eartliquakes. The late Dr. Kusakabe wrote an interesting paper on this stone, refer- 

 ring to it as an example illustrating his theory of the relation of earthquake intensity 

 and the geological structure, T.S.B.K., 3 (1906), 88. 



