224 The National Geographic Magazine 



the surrender of fiefs to the Mikado. 

 No annals of mankind record an inci- 

 dent which appears more inconsistent 

 with the course that human experience 

 would have predicted. Many expla- 

 nations have been attempted. The 

 weakened condition of the Tokugawa 

 government, selfish motives of some 

 ambitious southern Daimios, personal 

 motives of various kinds, the inability 

 of appreciating the real consequences 

 of the change on the part of the Daimios 

 and Samurai, are mentioned among the 

 causes. I do not hesitate to say, how- 

 ever, that such a grand achievement in 

 human history cannot be caused by such 

 petty and selfish motives. It was solely 

 and entirely due to the lofty spirit of pa- 

 triotism and loyalty which found ready 

 echo for action in the spirit of self- 

 sacrifice nurtured for centuries under 

 the rigid feudal system. 



From the following words of Captain 

 Brinkley, an eminent authority on Jap- 

 anese history, you will get some idea of 

 the spirit of self-sacrifice: "It had so 

 long been the bushi's habit to associate 

 great deeds with some form of self-im- 

 molation that he had learned to regard 

 the latter as a kind of finger-post to the 

 former. History shows that the ro- 

 mantic element occupies a prominent 

 place in Japanese character, and that 

 the educated classes can always be led 

 into feverish pursuit of an idea which 

 appeals to their sense of moral nobility. 

 The atmosphere was full of loyalty and 

 patriotism in 1869. The mood of the 

 nation was exalted. Any one hesitat- 

 ing for plainly selfish reasons to follow 

 a course apparently essential to the new 

 order of things, and sanctioned by the 

 example of the great southern clans, 

 would have seemed to forfeit the right 

 of calling himself a Samurai." 



THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF THE 

 SAMURAI'S SELF-SACRIFICE 



Such was the spirit of the people of 

 the time in whose hands rested the des- 



tiny of the Empire. But what was the 

 immediate cause which called forth such 

 a marvelous display of the extreme de- 

 gree of self-sacrifice ? It was the advent 

 of black ships to the coast of Japan. 

 It is true that the long peaceful reign 

 of the Tokugawa government resulted 

 in undermining its strength and power, 

 which infused into some ambitious feu- 

 dal barons the spirit of revolution. It 

 is true that toward the end of that 

 government the spirit of loyalty to the 

 throne received an impetus from the 

 advocates of the Imperial authority, 

 but were it not for the appearance of 

 the black ships of the various western 

 nations along the coast of Japan and 

 the pressure brought upon her by those 

 powers Japan would never have seen 

 the day of restoration. 



Long before the formal opening of 

 the country to the world at large a 

 certain sort of intercourse was estab- 

 lished with the Dutch, who had been 

 permitted to reside at Deshima, a little 

 island lying near Nagasaki. Through 

 the Dutch settlers the glimpse of the 

 West was being introduced into Japan 

 in a certain measure. What overawed 

 the people of Japan the most at the 

 time were the black ships which moved 

 about on the surface of the water as 

 freely as would a wagon on land, emit- 

 ting big volumes of black smoke and 

 raising hideous noises. It was a mar- 

 vel to them that these sailing ships 

 with triangular sails could go against 

 the head wind. Through the Dutch 

 they heard of the greatness of England 

 and France. The Russian fleet made 

 occasional appearances in the northern 

 islands, perpetrated havoc among the 

 inhabitants, and left letters of threat. 

 The following extract from Mr Aston's 

 article on ' ' Russian Descents on Japan ' ' 

 is interesting in this connection : 



AN EARLY VISIT FROM RUSSIA 



' ' From Ruitaka the Russians crossed 

 over to Rushin, a small island near the 



