Chapter I: Preface

I am under deep obligations to the publishers, for giving me an opportunity to tell the story of the rejuvenation of Japan. I was a witness, although at that time I did not comprehend the movement, but I, and those few who are still living, do now.

From a federation of mutually autonomous oligarchies, Japan was metamorphosed into an Empire which holds Russia at bay. From a nation occupying 150,000 square miles, it has expanded by the addition of Formosa, and its population has grown from thirty millions to forty-five millions. An oriental people adopted occidental progress, and within three decades or little more than one generation, digested and assimilated our progress.

I have known, and was personally known to the men, whose story I have endeavored to tell. They are now honored under the simple name of Genrô,--statesmen of Revolutionary Times. Of the brilliant array of patriots whose names appear in these pages, only Ito, Inouye, and OKuma remain!

I have kept the names. Why should I not? Only honor can be bestowed upon such patriots as they; and the world delights to honor them. Besides, there is a healthy spirit for the young in a _true_ story of devotion, sacrifice, and self-restraint. How often does a child, when reading an interesting story, ask: “Papa, is this true?” In this case the father may conscientiously answer: It is.

All the characters as portrayed in these pages, were living actors in the great national drama. Of those whose names have never before appeared in print, Karassu Maru, the only _impulsive_ noble I have ever known, was the first imperial governor of Yedo. He died in August, 1872, and I attended his funeral. Honami came to Yedo with the emperor, but he was soon sent back to Kyoto, where he was placed under guardianship.

I have enjoyed the retrospective communication with my old friends. If my readers do so, they owe the pleasure to the publishers, who suggested the composition of the book.

R. VAN BERGEN.

CAMBRIDGE, MASS., _Nov. 12, 1900_.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Japan Asleep 1

II. The Old Yashiki 10

III. The Messenger 21

IV. The Fifth Day of the Eleventh Month 32

V. The Council of the Clan 44

VI. Young Kano Grows Up 55

VII. Kano’s Journey to Yedo 65

VIII. Yokohama in 1859 76

IX. New Experience 88

X. Friendship or Hatred 97

XI. Choshiu Yashiki 107

XII. Sonno Joï! 118

XIII. Plotting 129

XIV. Within the Palace 141

XV. Underground Rumbling 151

XVI. The Court Aroused 161

XVII. A Conference 171

XVIII. Flight 184

XIX. Battle and Defeat 195

XX. Drilling 206

XXI. Down With Tokugawa 216

XXII. Conclusion 226

Illustrations

Inouye in Samurai Costume Frontispiece

PAGE

Peace reigned over the country 5

A Japanese Family 24

Ito’s mother, suffering from rheumatism, to receive
a massage treatment from one of the servants 31

It is really a day devoted to Hachiman, the god of war 59

He was in Kamishimo 118

The friends were standing in the garden of a Teahouse 165

But the houses are still as they were before 229

A BOY OF OLD JAPAN