Oct. 28, 1880] 



NATURE 



611 



official side of the life of the countty, of gaining a know- 

 ledge of what is being done to graft the results of Western 

 civilisation on a civilisation centuries older, and which 

 has been developed on totally different lines. From first 

 to last he was in the hands of the leading Government 

 officials of the country, who spared no pains to make his 

 visit as pleasant as it could possibly be. During the 

 whole of his three months' visit to the country, from the 

 beginning of January, 1879, h^ h«id seldom an hour to 

 himself, and what time he could subtract from his sleep 

 was given to the writing up of his notes on his day's 

 work, for work it must have been, harder than even 

 an obstruction night in Parliament. From the young 

 Mikado down to the most subordinate provincial 

 official, every one was anxious to convince the great 

 English engineer that the enthusiasm with which they 

 received him was genuine, and that they would only 

 be too glad to let him inspect every detail of the great 

 work they were endeavouring to carry out for their 

 country. From beginning to end his visit to the country 

 was a triumphal progress, and, as might have been ex- 

 pected. Sir Edward Reed left the country with a high 

 opinion of its Government, and deeply impressed with the 

 genuineness and thoroughness of its progress. Miss Bird, 

 on the other hand, went to Japan, as she went to the 

 Sandwich Islands and the Rocky Mountains, solely in 

 pursuit of health, which she sought and found by 

 travelling alone in those parts of the country rarely if ever 

 frequented by foreigners, living in common inns and 

 humble houses, and finishing up with a sojourn among 

 that curious people known as the Ainos, the probable 

 aborigines of Japan. She of course had every protection 

 which the influence of Sir Harry Parkes,our representative, 

 could procure her, and her passport was po >verful enough to 

 secure a courteous reception wherever she went ; indeed she 

 found travelling safer in Japan than it is in some European 

 countries. To some extent it maybe said that Sir Edward 

 Reed was shown the outside and the brightest side of 

 Japanese life, while Miss Bird plodded her way through 

 the unfrequented heart of the country, and saw much of 

 the hght and shade in the everyday life of the common 

 people. The two travellers had this in common, that no 

 obstacle was put in the way of their seeing all that they 

 desired to see, leaving one with the conviction that the 

 Japanese Government has really nothing to conceal, and 

 that their enthusiasm for progress is, for the present at 

 least, genuine. Thus the two works, as we have said, 

 afford a fairly complete picture of all sides of Japanese 

 life. 



Sir Edward Reed's headquarters were of course at 

 Tokio, where he was courteously received by the young 

 Emperor, who impressed him as a man thoroughly anxious 

 to do the best he can for his people, but old and careworn 

 beyond his years from the many trials he has had to 

 undergo since his accession. Here he met with most of 

 the ministers and other public officials, and he has a good 

 word to say about every one of them. All the public 

 sights were of course seen, and especially the great 

 temples, both Shinto and Buddhist. Indeed a great part 

 of the narrative is occupied with accounts of the nume- 

 rous temples visited by Sir Edward, their architecture, 

 ornaments, relics, and history, and the legends connected 

 with them ; and they seem to be all so much alike that 

 we think some of the space thus occupied might have 

 been devoted to other details of his interesting journey. 

 After a month's stay in Tokio, Sir Edward and his son, who 

 accompanied him, and a few of whose interesting notes 

 are embodied in his father's narrative, were taken in a 

 lighthouse steamer round the south coast of the main 

 island through the Inland Sea to the outside of Shim- 

 onosdki Strait. The number of excellent lighthouses, 

 constructed on the very latest principles, is remarkable 

 in a country whose adoption of Western institutions is 

 scarcely ten years old. \'arious points on the coast were 



touched at, and the vessel finally left at Osaka. From 

 this point the journey into the interior of the main island 

 and back to Yokohama was performed in those curious 

 man-cabs known as " jinriki-shas," which were only intro- 

 duced seven years ago, but which look as long-established 

 as cabs in London, up to Kioto, the old capital of the 

 country, down to the sacred city of Nara, and back by 

 the ancient Shinto shrines of Isif, at the south entrance 

 to Owari Bay. During this busy journey the time not 

 devoted to inspecting Shinto and Buddhist temples was 

 spent in visiting public works of various kinds, manufac- 

 tories, schools of all grades, dining, mostly in Japanese 

 fashion, and being amused by dances and other spec- 

 tacles of a strictly indigenous kind. How much the 

 great bulk of the people have yet to learn is evident from 

 the fact that in many parts of their route through the 

 most frequented part of the country the people would 

 crowd to the doors and run from their work in the fields 

 to get a look at the " Chinese " riding in their jinriki-shas. 

 It would be impossible to give the reader any idea 

 of one-tenth of the things which Sir Edward Reed 

 saw and which he tells about. As an engineer he 

 was naturally much interested in the public works 

 and manufactures of the countrj', and the magni- 

 tude of some of the Government factories, and the 

 perfection which they have already reached, impressed and 

 delighted him. Even the engineering feats of Old Japan 

 astonished him sometimes, as in the case of the great blocks 

 of stone in the castle of Osaka, the beauty and grandeur 

 of which he says it would be impossible to exaggerate. 

 " The whole or most of the walls are notable for these 

 very large blocks of granite, which vie with the largest 

 of those built into the great pyramid of Cheops, near 

 Cairo, in Egypt ; but as the main entrance to the 

 castle proper is approached, one sees block after block 

 of the most astonishing proportions, until at and opposite 

 to the entrance itself are single stones of such immense 

 size that one is almost driven to doubt whether his 

 senses are not deceiving him. It is so difficult to 

 understand how such huge masses can have been 

 quarried, transported, raised to such a height, and there 

 worked into walls. I could not conveniently measure 

 the largest stones, but I feel sure that some of them must 

 be over twenty feet in height, nearly twice that in length, 

 and several feet thick, and must weigh three hundred to 

 four hundred tons." 



Into their paper-manufacture the Japanese have intro- 

 duced the best modern machinery, and paper has for 

 centuries played an important part in the everyday life of 

 the Japanese. Partitions, table-cloths, napkins, curtains, 

 carriage-covers, and innumerable other things are made 

 of this material, and Sir Edward thinks it would be a 

 good thing to introduce some of the articles thus made 

 into our own country. He paid much attention to the 

 native art of the country, of which it is evident we have 

 the most erroneous ideas. The ordinary reproductions 

 of Japanese pictures which we see here, are wretched cari- 

 catures, and in this as in many other points we have much 

 to learn before we have any adequate idea of the real nature 

 of Japanese civilisation. They have ever so many schools 

 of art going back for centuries, and many of their pictures 

 are well worth studying, and capable of affording genuine 

 pleasure. Their method of producing their famous lacquer- 

 work, and their various contrivances for casting, interested 

 him greatly, and he gives much curious information on 

 these and similar matters. 



Some idea of the multifarious industries of the country 

 and of the zeal of the Government in encouraging them 

 may be gathered from Sir Edward's account of the in- 

 dustries of Kioto. " Under the city government of Kioto 

 there is an industrial department, the Kuwangiyoba, which 

 was established in 1870 specially for the promotion of the 

 industrial arts, and which has the following branches : — 

 I. An experimental gardening department (Saibaishi 



