Lord Redesdale

Tales of Old Japan Lord Redesdale

The books which have been written of late years about Japan have either been compiledfrom official records, or have contained the sketchy impressions of passing travellers. Ofthe inner life of the Japanese the world at large knows but little: their religion, theirsuperstitions, their ways of thought, the hidden springs by which they move-all theseare as yet mysteries. Nor is this to be wondered at. The first Western men who came incontact with Japan-I am speaking not of the old Dutch and Portuguese traders andpriests, but of the diplomatists and merchants of eleven years ago-met with a coldreception. Above all things, the native Government threw obstacles in the way of anyinquiry into their language, literature, and history. The fact was that the Tycoon'sGovernment-with whom alone, so long as the Mikado remained in seclusion in hissacred capital at Kiôto, any relations were maintained-knew that the Imperial purplewith which they sought to invest their chief must quickly fade before the strong sunlightwhich would be brought upon it so soon as there should be European linguists capableof examining their books and records.