A hundred years ago From the 'Spectator', 13 November 1869—There
is something wonderfully grotesque in the Japanese mind, with all its genuine force. It appears that whenever the Mikado goes abroad the upper windows of the streets through which he passes are closed and sealed up with paper bands, "so that no one may look down upon him,"—not, that is, despise him, but stand on a greater elevation than he. At least, that is the theory in Siam, where courtiers are required to approach the Sovereign hopping, like so many highly decorated toads, for fear their heads should be higher than his. We have refined on all that in Europe, and do our prostrations mentally, it not being etiquette to talk better than Sovereigns, or approach them except in an attitude of mental deference. The Japanese custom was, it appears, observed for the Duke of Edinburgh, as a final proof of the honour in which the Mikado held his English ally.
Previous page
