Antony Cummins - Old Japan: Secrets from the Shores of the Samurai

Oh country which has become so dear to me, is this progress really progress, this civilisation really civilisation for you? I, who have admired the artlessness of your inhabitants as well as their simple customs, who has seen the abundance of your fertile fields, who has heard everywhere the happy laughter of your children, and have never been able to discern misery, oh, I fear God, that this scene of happiness is coming to an end and that the Occidental people [Westerners] will bring here their fatal vices.

Journal of Henry Heusken, 7 December 1857

First published 2018

The History Press

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Antony Cummins, 2018

The right of Antony Cummins to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the Publishers.

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ISBN 978 0 7509 8958 9

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My great-grandfather, A.B. Mitford, 1st Lord Redesdale, was everything a dashing Victorian was meant to be: adventurous, a scholar and extremely brave. However, where he differed from many was that he really tried not only to understand but, in a time of fast-moving change, record the culture of the Japan of the 1860s from the age of the shogun, which tried to prevent foreign influence, to a society that embraced progress, at a rate that led to the loss of many traditions that he experienced first-hand. Most travellers, after a brief stay in a country, believe they have a clear understanding of how that country works. This is probably due to the veneer of globalisation that affects almost all countries these days. However, from Mitfords writings it is clear that only when he had finished his tour of duty at the Embassy and looked back many years later did he realise that his deep knowledge had left him with far more questions than he had in the first place.

Mitford recorded many customs, practices and folk tales he came across while in Japan; however, most of his writings were published much later in life. His writing may have been influenced through looking back, but the image it evoked is of a culture he loved. His gift as a writer led to the books becoming very popular and, it can be suggested, would have been one of many reasons that there was so much interest in Japanese art and culture.

We tend to forget, being able to travel to Japan in a day, how inaccessible the country was in the nineteenth century. It is hardly surprising that the Victorians would have had little knowledge about the country, and his descriptions would have given a rare insight. Mitfords recollections would have been one of the few sources available. It is ironic that, for most, their idea of life in Japan was the picture created by the comic opera The Mikado. It is fitting therefore that there is evidence Mitford was consulted on costumes to ensure their authenticity for the opera. I have in the library a book incorporating all the flyers, pictures and descriptions of the many amateur dramatic productions Mitford took part in throughout his life, giving context to his link with Gilbert and Sullivan. The comic opera was the second longest-running musical at the time, showing how the exotic theme touched a chord with London society.

Mitfords life changed after he returned from Japan: he inherited an estate in Gloucestershire and land in Redesdale, Northumberland, from his cousin. His cousins title of earl, however, was not passed to him. Family legend has it that, as a drinking companion of the Prince Regent, Queen Victoria blocked him from taking the title. There may be some truth in this as he was created Lord Redesdale two years after she died. It was as Lord Redesdale that he took part in the Garter mission to Japan, seeing a country that had shifted fundamentally as a culture.

Having read many of Mitfords accounts, I have always wanted to visit Japan and managed my first trip earlier this year. Japan is a fascinating place that has adopted the trappings of globalised culture in a uniquely Japanese blend. Like Mitford, I am sure I could spend years immersed in Japan without really understanding such a complex and multi-layered society. The one thing that has not changed is the warmth of the welcome. I am sure that even though the changes would make modern Japan totally alien to Mitford, if he were to visit today, unlike many cultures, he would see how much of the culture has survived rather than how much has been lost.

Lord Redesdale

February 2018

If history were a cake, the individual contests between historians would be the ingredients, the complex parts that make up the whole meal of history, while the myths, legends, stories, anecdotes and traditions would be the flavour. There are plenty of volumes out there with competitive arguments, debates, analysis and historiography, but this book is not one of them. This book is the smell of a scone from a wood-lit stove, it is the waft of bacon in the morning and the aroma of port and cheese it is the flavour of the story of Japan.

The historical basis for this book are the numerous records of European travellers who have been visiting Japan since the 1500s those men and women who travelled the gruelling seas and passed entire continents by way of tall ship to arrive in the famed land of the barbarian knights with their savage scimitars. These special accounts are stored in uniformed rows of books in university libraries, packed away in college journals or found in now long out of print diaries. They range from Jesuit accounts of the 1500s, to ships logs and seamens diaries, to diplomats journals and travellers letters, all of them the thoughts, statements and recordings of those people who saw the samurai for real and who witnessed such times with their own eyes. From these accounts I have taken the mysterious, the interesting, the exciting and the curious and laid them out here for readers to enjoy in a bite-sized manner. Each chapter holds an array of small sections which in turn hold the essence of the above accounts, removing the laborious but highlighting those parts that are worth remembering. In addition to this are extracts and assimilations from various academic journals and books that hold key and fascinating ideas about Japan but which are locked between long and complex arguments. It is there, inside that space where the interesting is encased in the stonework of historical debate, that I have searched out the best elements and brought them together to form the essence of Japan a touch of warm nostalgia of days long gone. I want this aroma of old ways to waft over the world as copies of this book reach its far corners, and I wish to spread the experience of a lost world, the accounts and tales to be shared and passed on, generation after generation. Japan, being a most ancient and traditional land, has deep enriched soil filled with the memories of linked generations. The echo of their stories continues down the ages and is brought to the modern world, through these bygone travellers in Japan, and is laid out for you here to relish and enjoy.