MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE JAPANESE.

Tins volume is of necessity a compilation ; for the system of Japan being more exclusive than that of China, and more completely carried out, no single traveller has ever enjoyed opportunities to collect matter for a general view of the country and its people, at

all events since the days of the early Missionaries. The informa- tion, too, that has been collected, having, with few exceptions, been

published in Dutch, very few individuals out of Holland have been capable of reading it, and no single work was of a character to tempt a translator.

But though a compilation, The Manners and Customs of the Japanese has none of the heaviness and patchwork air that generally characterize compilations, nor any of their frequent in- completeness. Every available authority has been used, from the quaint old books of the early writers, down to the later presidents and physicians of the Dutch Factory, as well as such translations of Japanese documents as have appeared in Europe. From this store of information, scanty perhaps, but the fullest that can be procured, every characteristic or interesting trait seems to have been selected, and the whole put together with workmanlike skill, and animated by something more than a workman's spirit.

The arrangement is natural and judicious ; the book beginning with the arrival of a vessel at Nagasaki, where the Dutch have their factory, and describing the numerous precautions observed by the Japanese towards the new comers, and the life they lead in their Factory-prison (for it is no better) when permitted to land. By petitioning the Governor, however, the resident factors are

allowed to visit the town and its environs ; but as this involves an enormous train of attendants, who have to be treated at the

holyday-maker's expense, these excursions are not very frequent. Still they are made ; and what has been observed by the more in- telligent Dutchmen, together with what they have learned by official and other intercourse with the natives, is interwoven into an account of a jaunt of this kind. Once every four years, the bead of the Factory and two of his officers go in formal procession to the capital, to carry the Dutch tribute to the Sovereign, and perform the ceremony of prostration. And a very ample description of the journey, the capital, the reception, and the return, is compiled from the narratives of the different persons who have written accounts of these expeditions ; the every- day particulars being taken from later travellers, but a peculiar circumstance, seen by luck, being drawn from any age. These two journies—an excursion in the neighbourhood of the Factory, and a four-years trip in a close sort of palanquin to Yeddo—close the extent of the foreigner's travelling in Japan ; and the more

general description begins. This embraces the social and domestic life and manners of the Japanese, together with their language,

literature, trades, arts, science, and produce ; a view of the religion, history, and political state of the country ; as well as an account of their intercourse with China, and of the various attempts made by foreigners to open relations with Japan ; not one of which attempts could have impressed so clever a people with any very exalted notion of the honesty or modesty of the strangers. The picture here drawn of the Japanese is very favourable. With all the intelligence and acuteness of the Chinese, they are much less bigoted to their own customs ; being, in fact, anxious to acquire foreign learning, and to understand foreign politics and manners. They are personally a more amiable and goodnatured people, though their laws and customs encourage a barbarous indifference to human life. It is to these customs that the ex- clusion of foreigners would seem attributable, rather than to fear

or aversion : but in all that relates to their constitution or go- vernment, the volume, though clear, is of necessity not very trustworthy. A man who sees a person or an object, travels along a road, partakes of a feast, or bears part in a ceremony, may de- scribe them all truly enough ; from observation or hearsay he can give some account of manners and modes of living ; whilst litera- ture and art speak for themselves : but to acquire a just knowledge of the constitution and government of a people, who system- atically repudiate intercourse with strangers, must be a difficult thing—we see the blunders continually made by foreigners to

whom every facility is offered. According to this volume, the government of Japan is an iron despotism of law and custom, where usage is every thing and the will of monarch or ministers nothing ; each person being safe so long as he travels in the prescribed path. The character of their constitution seems to resemble that of

Venice more closely than any other; all kinds of empty honour being assigned to the monarch, but all real power being lodged in a council of state. These two powers, like our Parliament and

Crown, are, we suppose, held by Japanese constitutional writers to exercise a check upon each other. Their difference, however, is more fraught with consequences than squabbles in England.

" This Council of State transacts the whole business of government ; decides upon every measure. sanctions or reverses every sentence of death pronounced by an imperial Governor, appoints to all efficient offices, corresponds with the local authorities ; and, upon the occurrence in any part of Japan of any matter in which the course to be pursued is not clearly marked out by law or prece- dent, must be consulted, and pronounce its decree, before a single step be taken by even the highest local officers. Each councillor has his own specific depart- ment, for which, in the common routine, he alone is responsible ; but the mea- sures of which, upon any important point, must be discussed, and adopted or rejected by the whole body of his colleagues, headed by their president. " When any proposition has been duly investigated and determined upon by the Council, the resolution taken is laid before the Ziogoon for his approval. This usually follows, as a matter of course, nine times in ten without the Monarch's even inquiring what he is called upon to confirm. But if, by some extraordinary accident, he should chance to trouble himself about the concerns of his empire, and either upon rational grounds or through caprice withhold the fiat requested, the proceeding consequent upon the difference of opinion between the monarch and his ministers is prescribed by law. The measure is not at once abandoned, as might be imagined by persons thinking of the Ziogoon as a despotic sovereign : it is, on the contrary, referred to the arbitration of three princes of the blood, the nearest kinsman of the monarch, his probable heir in default of a son, being one, if of sufficient age. The sentence of these arbitrators, whatever it be, and whatever be the question submitted to them, is not only final, but fraught with important and to European minds painful results.

"Should their verdict coincide with the sentiments of the Council, the Ziogoon has no alternative : he may not revoke his previous refusal, and yield to the united judgment of his ministers and the arbitrators, but must imme- diately abdicate in favour of his son or other legal heir. Such an abdication, for various causes, is an act so constantlf recurring, that it bears a specific name, inkioe ; and a regular habitation for the abdicating Ziogoon is as esta- blished and essential a provision of the Yedo Court, as a jointure-house for a Queen Dowager in this country. To this inferior abode the Ziogoon against whose opinions the arbitrators have decided, instantly retires, and his successor takes possession of the vacated palace.

" Should the arbitrators pronounce the monarch to be in the right, theicon- sequences are y et more serious, inasmuch as the minister who proposed and most strongly urged the obnoxious act, if not every member of the Council, headed by the President—whose supreme authority should involve responsi- bility—is under the necessity of committing suicide, according to the Japanese mode, by ripping himself up. When to this always possible, if not often re- curring necessity, is added, that the whole Council, collectively and individually, is surrounded by spies, known and unknown, employed by superiors, inferiors, rivals, and each other, it will be evident that these seemingly absolute ministers cannot venture upon the slightest infraction of any law, or upon any deed of violence, of rapacity, or of arbitrary tyranny, except with the sword of Damo- cles, it may be said, literally as well as metaphorically, hanging over their heads."

This check is perfect upon paper ; but we dare say the system also " works well," as CANNING said of the Unreformed Parliaments; and that when a difference to be resolved by arbitration takes place in Japan, it would be settled in other countries by an appeal to the sword, or a popular revolution ; so that, of the two, the Japanese is the less troublesome mode to the people. The monarch de facto is called the Ziogoon; and his time is now occupied by ceremonies and receiving homage; but there is over him a monarch de jure, whose title is Mikado, and who is thus described.

" This nominally supreme sovereign does, indeed, claim to reign by right divine, both as being descended in a direct line from the gods, and as being in a manner still identified with them, the spirit of the sun goddess, the deity who rules the universe, gods and men included, Ama-terasu-oo-kami, being em- bodied in every reigning Mikado. Such a claim to despotic power was indis- putable and undisputed, as it still is; but some centuries ago, a military chief, rendering his own situation hereditary, possessed himself of the actual au- thority, under the title of Ziogoon, as vicegerent or deputy of the mikado, to whom he left the nominal supreme sovereignty, and all his state, pomp, and dignity, a nominal ministry included.

" In fact, it appears that the autocrat's dignity is now made the plea for de- priving him of his power. Wordly affairs are represented to be so wholly undeserving the attention of the successor of the gods, that his bestowing a thought upon them would degrade him, even if it were not actual profanation. Accordingly, no business is submitted to him, no act of sovereignty is per- formed by him, that has not a religious character. He deifies or canonizes great men after death—the Ziogoon taking the trouble of pointing out the dead who are worthy of apotheosis. He confers the offices of his court, a real spiritual hierarchy, and, from their nominal dignity and sanctity, objects of ambition to the princes of the empire, to the Ziogoon's ministers, and to the Ziogoon himself. He determines the days on which certain moveable religious festivals are to be celebrated, the colours appropriate to evil spirits, and the like. and one other governing act, if act it may be called, he daily performs, which should prove him to be, in virtue of his partial identification with the sun god- dess, quite as much the patron divinity as the sovereign of Japan. He every day passes a certain number of hours upon his throne, immovable, lest by turn- ing his head he should bring down ruin upon that part of the empire to or from which he should look ; by this immobility maintaining the whole realms sta- bility and tranquillity. When he has sat the requisite number of hours, he resigns his place to his crown, which continues upon the throne as his substi- tute during the remainder of the day and night."

Various honours are paid to the Mikado ; one being rather

AN INCONVENIENT HONOUR.

Every thing about him must be incessantly new. No article of his dress is ever worn a second time ; the plates and dishes in which his repasts are served, the cups or bowls out of which he drinks, must be new at every meal, as must the culinary utensils in which the meal is prepared. But none inherit his leavings. Whatever article of any kind has been hallowed by the Mikado's use, even such remote use as cooking what he is to eat, is thereby so sanctified, that no human touch must be afterwards suffered to profane them. To wear his cast clothes, to eat off his plates, cook in his saucepan, &c. or even to feed upon the broken victuals from his table, would call down the vengeance of heaven upon the sacrilegious offender. To prevent all risk of the kind, every thing that has once been in any way employed in the service of the Mikado is immediately torn, broken, or otherwise destroyed ; his clothes, which are of a colour that no other person may wear, are burnt ; and hence arises the only drawback upon all this state. The Mikado is supported by the Ziogoon ; and the allowances from Yedo not being as ample as might be wished, the heavy ex- pense of renewing daily, almost hourly, whatever appertains to the Son of Heaven, is alleviated by supplying his wardrobe, table, kitchen, &c. with articles of the very cheapest, and therefore coarsest description.

We will take some miscellaneous passages as a close to our notice of this useful account of a very curious people, respecting whom so little is known and that little scattered about in many out-of-the-way places.

JAPANESE USES OF THE FAN.

Neither men nor women wear hats, except as a protection against rain : the fan is deemed a sufficientguard from the sun ; and perhaps nothing will more strike the newly-arrived European than this fan, which he will behold in the hand or the girdle of every human being. Soldiers and priests are no more to be seen without their fans than fine ladies, who make of theirs the use to which fans are put in other countries. Amongst the men of Japan it serves a great variety of purposes : visiters receive the dainties offered them upon their fans ; the beggar, imploring charity, holds out his fan for the alms his prayers may have obtained. The fan serves the dandy in lieu of a whalebone switch; the pedagogue instead of a ferule for the offending schoolboy's knuckles ; and, not to dwell too long upon the subject, a fan, presented upon a peculiar kind of salver to the high-born criminal, is said to be the form ofannouncing his death- doom : his head is struck off at the same moment as he stretches it towards the fan.

TOWN GARDENS. TOWN GARDENS.

The front of the better class of houses is occupied by a large portico and entrance, where the palanquins, umbrellas, and shoes of visiters are left, where servants and persons on business wait, &c.; and which is connected with all the domestic offices. The back of the house is the part inhabited by the family ; and it projects into the garden triangularly, for the benefit of more light and cheerfulness. These gardens, however diminutive, are always laid out in the landscape-garden style, with rocks, mountains, lakes, waterfalls, and trees ; and uniformly contain a family chapel or oratory. Absurd as such would-be pleasure-grounds may seem, when confined in extent, as must be the garden even of a wealthy householder in the heart of a city, this intermixture of verdure nevertheless contributes greatly to the airiness and gay aspect of the town itself. And we are told that the very smallest habitations possess similar gardens, yet more in miniature, sometimes consisting of what may be called the mere corners cut off from the triangular back of the house, with the trees in flower-pots.

The wives or daughters of many officers, being detained at court as hostages, it is death to permit a fern to pass beyond certain districts. were is an example of Jap ese readiness in dealing with a difficulty in the law.

"An inhabitant of Yedo, named Fiyosayemon, a widower with two children, a girl and a boy, was called to a distance by business. Be was poor—he knew not how to provide for his children during his absence, and resolved to take

both with him. Accordingly, he dressed his daughter boy's clothes, and thus passed the Fakone guard unsuspected. He was rejoicing in his success, when a man, who knew what children he had, joined him, congratulated him on his good luck, and asked for something to drink The alarmed father offered a trifle ; the man demanded a sum beyond his means ; a quarrel ensued ; and the angry informer ran back to the guard to make known the error that had bgen committed. The whole guard was thunderstruck. If the informer spoke truth, and the fact were detected, all their lives were forfeited ; yet, to send a party to apprehend the offenders, and thus actually betray themselves, was now unavoidable. The commanding officer, however, saw his remedy. Ile delayed the detachment of reluctant pursuers sufficiently to allow a mes- senger with a little boy to outstrip them. The messenger found Fiyosayemon and his children refreshing themselves at an inn : he announced the discovery made, and the imminent danger ; offered the boy as a temporary substitute for the disguised girl; and told the father that, when the falsehood of the charge should have been proved by both the children appearing to be boys, he might very fairly fly into such a rage as to kill his accuser. The kind offer was, of course, gratefully accepted. The wilfully dilatory guard arrived, surrounded the house, seized upon Fiyosayemon and the children, and gladly pronounced that both the latter were boys. The informer, who well knew Fiyosayemon's family, declared that some imposition bad been practised; which the accused indignantly resenting, drew his sword and struck off the informer's head. The delighted guard exclaimed that such a liar had only met his deserts, and re- turned to their posts."