CHAPTER III

HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE TO THE DEATH OF NOBU NANGA

The period of the history of Japan which has most interest to a European is that during which intercourse was carried on with Europe. But, independently of this new and interesting element introduced into the country, this is, even to a Japanese, the period of the history of his country which has most interest. It was the termination of a long succession of bloody civil wars, during which the whole empire was deluged with blood, lasting long enough to make the country a desert, the inhabitants savages, when agriculture was totally neglected, and the knowledge of letters nearly forgotten. Family ties were broken; young men were all soldiers; young women were common property. The Japanese may well look upon the man raised up, and who proved himself able to put an end to such a state of things, as a hero, and think his family worthy of the highest honors. To reduce order out of chaos, to insure his country 250 years of peace, during which time every one has been able to sit under his own vine, and to rear his family in happiness, and gather in the fruits of his labor in peace, may well rank Iyeyas as among the illustrious of men.

It is necessary, in order to understand the working of the government as it exists at present, to have some knowledge of the events which preceded and gradually led up to the period when this change began.

In the works of Klaproth and Kæmpfer will be found notes of the earlier historical events occurring in Japan. What follows here is derived from these and other sources, and is an attempt to notice some of the more prominent important events, and to give some interest to the subject by bringing it down to the present time. It is unnecessary in such a sketch to go back to the time of remote antiquity, or to try to get glimmerings of light out of fables, such as the different generations of heavenly and earthly emperors. To notice shortly the more prominent characters and events may be deemed sufficient.

Among the first of these prominent characters was Yamato Daki no Mikoto, prince of warriors, commander-in-chief, and of the imperial family. He is supposed to have lived during the second century. He overran the eastern and northern parts of Japan as far as the island of Yezo. A story is told of his wife having thrown herself into the sea to appease a storm, and from his lamentations over her, as Atsuma or Adzuma, the eastern provinces are spoken of as Adzuma, now sometimes applied to the east generally, and more specially to the inhabitants, who are spoken of as Adzuma Yebis, or “boors of the east,” by way of contempt.

Another of these early events in the history of Japan, which bears an interest even to the present day, is the invasion and conquest of the southern part of Corea by the Empress Jingu kogu, known by her husband’s name as Chiu ai tenwo, in the third century. The Emperor, her husband, was the son of the above-mentioned Yamato. She accompanied him to the island of Kiusiu, whither he went to put down a rebellion among some tributary states; but before the operation was accomplished he died, and she assumed the reins of power. Her prime minister was an old man, Take ootsi no Sukonne. After raising troops, and collecting ships to transport them across the sea, she found herself pregnant, but she was fortunate enough to find a stone which delayed her accouchement till her return to Japan. Having subdued the three countries of Sinra, Korai, and Hakusai, and compelled them to give up their treasures and to promise to pay annual tribute to Japan, she returned to bury her deceased husband, and was soon after delivered of a son, who was afterward the Emperor Osin, known better by his posthumous title of Hatchimang. Two older sons of her husband by a concubine, asserting their rights of primogeniture, and probably doubting the virtues of the stone, raised an army to oppose the Empress. Take ootsi was sent to defend her rights, and he put them to flight.

There is no incident more frequently taken for a subject by painters in Japan than the Empress Jingu and her infant in the arms of the aged Take ootsi. She is worshiped under the name of Kashi no dai mio jin; but though her victories threw more luster over the arms of Japan, in foreign warfare, than any previous reign, or, it may be added, any subsequent one, she does not seem to rank so high in the estimation of her subjects, or in the company of the gods, as her son. During his reign, Wonin--descended from one of the Emperors of China of the Han dynasty--is said to have introduced for the first time Chinese letters from Corea. His tomb stands in the neighborhood of Osaka, and divine honors have been accorded to him. As has been remarked, it may be doubted how far the Japanese, with their previous use of Chinese titles and names of gods, officers and men, could have been ignorant up to this time of the art of writing. To the Emperor Osin, though unborn, appears to have been given the credit of the conquest of Corea. After his death, in A.D. 313, divine honors were paid to him. He was styled and worshiped as the god of war, and under the title Hatchimang-dai Bosats he is represented as an incarnation of the Buddha of the eight banners. The largest temples have been raised in his honor, and every village, almost every hill, has its Hatchimang goo or shrine in honor of Hatchimang, the god of war.

The introduction of Buddhism was the next event of importance in the history of Japan. This is said to have taken place toward the middle of the sixth century. But it may be presumed, when the Emperor receives the posthumous honor of a Bosat, or Bodhisattwa, in the fourth century, either that the title was given long after his decease, or that the religion was beginning to be introduced at an earlier epoch. In all probability Wonin, who had access to the imperial family, and must have had great influence, had sown the seeds of the new doctrine, and had given the title to his patron. These seeds may not have borne fruit for 200 years; but considering the communication in past times with China, it is difficult to conceive total ignorance of these doctrines. To Corea, therefore, Japan was again indebted for a religion. In the year 552, during the reign of the Emperor Kin mei, the King of Hakkusai, a district of Corea, sent an embassy with a present of an image of Buddha Sakya mooni, with Buddhist books, to the Emperor. The priests of the old Sinto religion were roused, but the new made its way. The Sinto religion seems to be all prayers, without any idea of a being to whom to pray beyond white paper, or a mirror, as an emblem of purity. The Buddhist religion supplied this, and presented what is required by many minds, the idea of a pure life through self-denial--self-denial giving a man power over himself, and enabling him to be the servant or the master as his church may require. During the succeeding reign, In consequence of an epidemic, some persecution of the new doctrines was attempted; but Moumaya do no wosi, son of the Emperor, being a convert, was very zealous in the propagation of the faith; while Nakatomi, then in power, and of the family who superintended the Sinto rites, opposed him. But the son of the Emperor (known by his Buddhist name Ziou go taisi, or Sho to ku tai si) prevailed. He was appointed regent during the reign of the Empress Sui ko. He was a very gentle character, strictly acting up to the injunctions of the new faith. At his death, in the beginning of the seventh century, there were, according to the Annales, 46 Buddhist temples, 816 priests, and 569 “religieuses” in the empire.

The introduction of Buddhism through China and Corea brought with it, as might have been expected, some of the customs of these countries. The use of the Nengo (Nien hau; _i.e._, year name) for marking events and dates was one of the customs introduced in the year 646 A.D. A woman ruling as Empress was another of the changes, and was probably used as a means for the consolidation of the new religion. Under the Empress Sui ko the degrees of rank among the officers of government, similar to those used in China, were introduced about 604 A.D. Six ranks, of two grades each, were settled in place of the nine ranks, of two grades each, as in China. These were distinguished, as in China, by their head-dress, and by the color of the dress. They were called by the allegorical names of Virtue, Humanity, Manners, Faith, Justice, Wit. The first Empress was followed in no long time by a second, Kwo kogoo, and during her reign she had the good fortune to have as a minister and counselor Nakatomi-kamatar iko. He was not a Buddhist, but had no doubt felt the influence which the spread of this doctrine had exercised over Japan, and is reputed to this day one of Japan’s greatest men, and looked up to as the founder of her law. During a long life he seems to have steered safely through the difficulties of politics--acting as counselor to his mistress, Kwo kogoo, her brother who succeeded her, Kwotoku, and again when his former mistress reascended the throne as Zai mei, and subsequently her son Ten si--gaining over those who might have been his opponents by suavity and gentleness of demeanor. The last-named Emperor deplored his loss, and gave him the hereditary name of Fusi wara, a family of which he was the founder. He was canonized after death, and worshiped as Kassunga dai mio jin, his temple being near Narra. During his life, and the reign of Kwotoku, the eight boards were completed after the model of the Lok po, or six boards of China.

Another change, which commenced after the introduction of Buddhism, was the abdication of the Emperors after very short reigns. This led again to the successive appointments of mere children as Emperors. The ages at which several of the Emperors, over a lengthened period, ascended the throne, tended to reduce the position of Emperor to a name, and to throw the entire power into the hands of the ministers. The system began shortly after the introduction of Buddhism at court, and the minds of the boys and women who successively were nominal sovereigns of Japan were directed to the study of books of the religion, to the erection of magnificent temples, and to the manufacture of enormous idols and bells; such as the enormous copper figures of Buddha at Narra, Kamakura, and Miako. The latter has been melted down and a wooden figure substituted. Such were the Empress Sei wa, who began her reign at the age of nine; Yozei, who commenced his at the age of eight; Daigo, at thirteen; Reizan, a weakly lad of eighteen; Yenwou, at eleven; Go itsi, at nine; Konye, at three; and Rokusio, at two. But at intervals when a man ascended the throne, as the Emperor Ten si, it is a relief to see that some energy remained in the members of the royal family; and at times the national vigor was shown, and the military spirit, which the people are always proud of asserting, was fanned, by wars with Dattang (or Tartary) and Corea in 658 and 661. About the same time Yezo was once more overrun by Japanese arms and brought into subjection, military stations and officers being appointed in the island and in the hitherto barbarous provinces of Mootz and Dewa, in the north of Nippon. Revolts in the island of Kiusiu about 740 demanded fresh action from the center, and tend to show what a loose hold this central power had at that time over the extremities of the country. Not till the year 794 was this central power finally fixed at Miako. About this year the Emperor Kwan mu built a large palace there, finding that the magnitude of the business transacted by the eight boards of the empire demanded some settled place at which the court and the heads of departments might be permanently located. To the introduction of Buddhism and Chinese literature we may ascribe the completion, by Fusiwara (Tankai ko), who died in 720, of the “Ritz Rio,” a code of laws which are in force and use at the present day. The introduction of an alphabet or syllabary (the Hira Kana and Kata Kana) to facilitate the reading and understanding of Chinese was the work of the famous priest Ko bo, born in the province of Sanuki in 774, and who died in 835. He was canonized as Kobo dai si, and is venerated as one of the holiest saints of the Japanese calendar, and consequently was very much abused by the Jesuits. He spent some part of his life in China studying under the Buddhists of the time, and brought with him, as many others did, large numbers of Buddhist books. The enduring property of Japanese paper and the absence of white ants have preserved these, and doubtless in some of the libraries of the country and Corea there may be found works of great interest to the student of early Buddhist history in China and India. The Issyekio or catalogue of all Buddhist canonical books has been lately republished.

The custom grew gradually into use of the Emperor, after his abdication, adopting the garb of a priest, shaving his head, and retiring to a religious life. This seems to have been in many cases merely nominal, as some retained not only an interest, but took an active part, in the affairs of the world; while to others the retirement was a relief and an opening to license. The power, numbers, and wealth of the Buddhist monasteries had vastly increased. They threatened to monopolize the land of the empire; and the head of a monastery was equal or superior to one of the most powerful princes. Not only were the priests themselves living off these lands, but each of these establishments had a number of retainers and soldiers sufficient to change the tide of success in any engagement.

For three or four centuries the history of the empire may be written in the successive rise to power of individuals of the great families of the peerage--Fusiwara, Sungawara, Minnamoto, Tatchibanna, and others. Names which are regarded as illustrious in history, and held in veneration to the present day, occasionally shine out, such as Kan sio jo, better known by his posthumous title, Ten mang, the son of Sungawar zay zen kio. He has the reputation of having been a very able man, and was Kwan bakku and Nai dai jin. Fusiwara no toki hira, ancestor of Koozio dono of the present day, became very jealous of him, and Ten mang being of a quiet disposition, Toka hira obtained an order for his banishment to Dazai fu, in the island of Kiusiu. Here he retired to the hill Ten pai zan, in Tsikuzen, and endeavored to get a letter conveyed to the Emperor, but failed in doing so, and was found starved to death on the 25th day of the second month. A fable is told of letters having passed between him and Haku raku teng, a Chinese poet, both letters being so similar that only one word out of fourteen differed. The repetition of the story in connection with the greatest literary character of the country may show what admiration Chinese literature was held in by the Japanese, and how it was considered the standard of excellence. Ten mang occupies in Japanese schools a somewhat similar position to that held by Confucius in the Chinese. He is worshiped on the 25th of each month, a day which is marked as a holiday. On the anniversary a matsuri or festival is held--“Natane no goku.” His posthumous title is Ten mang dai ji sei ten jin. His descendants are known as Ten jin sang. Of temples to his memory there is in Miako a fine one at Kitano, called also Say bio, and in Yedo at Kame ido, and at Yooshima and Shibba. In that at Miako the gilding and lacker are renewed every fifty years. There is in it a large library, with many old pieces of armor and spoils taken during the wars with Corea. These are exhibited annually on the mooshi boshi day, “insect-brushing-away day,” when the temple is cleaned.

Among others who made a name for themselves by their bravery and other qualifications was Yoshi iye (son of Yori yoshi, Prince of Mootz), one of the Minnamoto family, born 1057, and known in history by the appellation given him by his enemies of Hatchi mang taro, or eldest son of the god of war. His third son was Yoshi kooni, who settled at Ashikanga, in the province of Simotsuki, and is the common ancestor of the celebrated families of Ashikanga and Nitta.

In 1008 the Empress was one of the great clan of Minnamoto, which was rising to power. The distant parts of the empire were being consolidated by operations against rebels, and the repeated transmission of large bodies of troops to the different parts of the islands to put them down. This war began to create an excitement or rivalry among some of the leaders, who, when the rebellions were put down, had the wish for more enemies to conquer, and could only turn round in jealousy upon their equals. Yoshi iye was sent to the province of Mootz as commander-in-chief, and, after many years’ fighting, subdued the rebels, and brought this province, as well as all the Kwanto (the provinces “east of the barrier of Hakonay”), into submission. His son Tame yoshi desired the same post. To Taira tada mori, descended from the Emperor Kwan mu, was given the island of Tsussima, and in 1153 his son Kio mori succeeded him as President of the Criminal Tribunal. This name calls up, to any one acquainted with Japanese history, the recollection of the most stirring events and the greatest struggle which has ever convulsed the empire of Japan. This struggle was between the Gen or Minnamoto and the He or Taira families. He and Taira are the same word in Japanese writing, meaning “peace,” the former being the pronunciation of the Chinese word ping. The Minnamoto family, or Gen ji, stood on the broadest basis, and had risen to the greatest fame, and had recently occupied the highest positions in the state. The Empress had been of the family, and the memoirs of the family had been written for her edification or to gratify her own or her family’s pride. On the other side, members of the Taira family, or He ji, had occasionally risen up to high rank in the state; and recently the family had been honored for its prowess and its activity in the imperial service.

Yoshi tomo and Kio mori were rising step by step to higher rank and power, when the abdication of Toba no, 1123, and the question as to his successor, threw everything into confusion. His immediate successor was his son Sho toku, in 1124, who after reigning seventeen years retired (mainly on account of the intrigues of his stepmother) at the age of thirty-nine. He left a son, Sighe shto, but was succeeded by his half-brother, Kon ye no in, who, after reigning fourteen years, died at the age of seventeen. The latter had been elevated to the throne by the intrigues of Bi fouk mon, his mother, and she suspected the late Emperor of having caused his death in order that his own son Sighe shto might ascend the throne. But in order to defeat these projects, she induced her son on his deathbed to adopt his half-brother Go ziro kawa. A younger son was thus in actual possession, while his nephew and the eldest son of the elder brother were displaced. The lineal heir endeavored to regain his rights. He raised an army, and on his side were ranged as leaders many of the higher members of the Minnamoto family. On the other side was Kio mori, of the Taira family, and, of the Minnamoto family, Yoshi tomo and Tada mitsi. A battle was fought only eleven days after the death of the old Emperor Toba no in. Notwithstanding the bravery and prowess of the leaders of their opponents, the He ji, the party in power, gained the day. Among the leaders of the Gen ji was Tame tomo, famous for his power in drawing a bow (owing, perhaps, to the one arm being shorter than the other), and, in his subsequent life, as a rover over the Southern seas. He was the first historical occupier of the islands to the south of Japan, Hatchi jo and its chain, linked on to the southeastern promontory, and the Liookioo Islands, with the chain joined by links to the southwestern promontory of the mainland. He was the brother of Yoshi tomo, who fought on the opposite side. As a reward for their success on behalf of the Emperor _de facto_, Go ziro kawa, Minnamoto Yoshi tomo and Taira Kio mori were both raised to higher rank and power, and to each was given a province as a more substantial acknowledgment of their assistance. From this time mutual jealousy seems to have grown up between these two. But the ability of the reigning Emperor, who thenceforward took the reins into his own hands, seems to have kept down their smoldering jealousy. As to the prince who was endeavoring to resume his lawful rights, he and his father, the Emperor Sho toku, were banished to the province of Sanuki, where the latter died in the year 1163. He died of starvation, having written a letter to the Emperor with his blood, upon a piece of his shirt; but Kio mori would not let the Emperor see it.

The banished Emperor Sho toku was devoted to his worship, and since his death he has to many worshipers taken the place of Compera. This is a name much worshiped in Japan as a god. As a hideous idol with a long nose he has temples erected to his worship in every village. Immediately after the death of Sho toku, in 1163, a violent storm or earthquake took place, and as he was known to have a great reverence for Compera, this convulsion of nature was attributed to the anger of this supposed being, and a magnificent temple was raised by his son and grandson on Dzo dzu Hill (Elephant’s Head Hill), at Matzuyama, near Marungame, in the province of Sanuki. Sho toku (known by the adopted name of Seengeen) is by many looked upon as Compera gongen. Compera, from the Chinese characters composing the name, seems to be Kapila, of Indian mythology. Kapila was known as the founder of the Sankya school of philosophy in India, which, in reference to the sacred Vedas, held the authority of revelations as paramount to reason and experience, to which Buddha, either for his philosophical or his moral or religious doctrines, would not submit. Some have thought Kapila and Buddha to be the same person. His anniversary day is the tenth day of the tenth month. He is revered for his great strength, which he exerted in favor of Sakya mooni. In Buddhist history, Daibadatta wished to destroy Say son--_i.e._, Sakya mooni. He took up a large stone, twenty-four yards long and four-arms’ length broad, and threw it down on him. Compera saw the action, and instantly stretched out his hand and caught the stone as it fell. Another name of Compera is He-ira. He is called also Kapira, and “Goo pira,” and “Goo he ira.” The name of Ee ngio wo--power equal to emperor--is also given to him for his strength. Fudowo mio is, according to some, the same as Compera. Many persons worship him because his name begins with “gold.”

Kio mori turned out to be the ablest and most unscrupulous minister of the time, but the Emperor, who had abdicated, still took the principal management of affairs during the reigns of his son and two grandsons. Kio mori at the age of fifty-one shaved his head, and nominally retired into priest’s orders in 1169.

Yoshi tomo in 1159 had conspired to destroy Kio mori. He failed, and was killed while in the bath by his own servant, Osada. His eldest son went to Miako with the view of killing Kio mori, but was discovered and put to death. His second son died. His third son, Yoritomo, born 1147, fled with his mother (Tokiwa go zen, a woman of low origin) and two brothers. Overtaken by snow and hunger, they were arrested and brought back, when Kio mori forced her to become his concubine. His friends demanded that the children should be put to death, but, at the intercession of his own aunt, he saved their lives, but banished Yoritomo to Hiruga ko jima, or one of the islands to the south of Idzu. The other two boys, Yoshitzune and Nori yori, were kept in Miako and educated for priests. The former of them was afterward a well-known hero. His nickname when a boy was Ushi waka, or young ox or calf. Yoritomo, while a boy, was known as Sama no kami, or captain of the left cavalry.

At this time, 1170, Tame tomo above mentioned, who had been roving about the South Sea for years past, landed on the mountainous province and peninsula of Idzu, and attempted to raise a rebellion; but his men were overcome, and he himself committed suicide. A temple was raised to his memory, and he is worshiped both in Hatchi jo and in the Liookioo Islands.

In 1171 the Emperor Taka kura no in, at the age of eleven years, married the daughter of Kio mori, aged fifteen years. This rendered Kio mori still more powerful, and at the same time more imperious in his conduct. He emerged from his seclusion, and placed his two sons in the office of Tai sho or first generals, over the heads of others who had hoped for the places. This raised a community of feeling against him, and again a conspiracy was made to attack and kill him and the whole of his family, but it failed through the treachery of some of the conspirators. The Empress, Kio mori’s daughter, 1178, had a son, and in the following year his own son, Sighe mori, died. This son had proved some obstacle to the working out of his father’s schemes of ambition, and when he was removed by death Kio mori imperiously ruled according to his own pleasure. His grandson, Antoku, in 1181, became Emperor. Kio mori became very tyrannical before his death; he not only kept the old Emperor confined, but tried to change the residence of the court from Miako to Fu ku wara, and determined to extirpate the family of Minnamoto. Once more a conspiracy was set on foot to destroy the family of He, by one of the royal princes, who had suffered from the arrogant insolence of Kio mori. Letters were obtained from the old Emperor and secretly dispatched to Yoritomo, then in banishment on the coast of Idzu, who was looked upon as the head of the Minnamoto family and the chief enemy of Kio mori and the He kay. His brother Yoshitzune had escaped from Miako, in the retinue of some gold merchants, to the province of Dewa, and was residing in that province with Hide hira, Mootz no kami. Yoritomo had married the daughter of Hojio Toki massa, in whose charge he was during his banishment. Through her father she was descended from Kwan mu, Emperor, and was afterward known as Ama Shiogoon, or female Shiogoon, her name being Taira no Massa go. When the letters were given to him from the Emperor and his son, calling upon him to raise troops to rid the country of Kio mori, and release them from the durance in which they were kept, he immediately wrote to his brother Yoshitzune, calling upon him to assist him. Under such surveillance were these royal parties kept that it was only under the guise of paying a visit to the great temple of Miajima, on the beautiful island Itsuku jima, in the inland sea, in the province of Aki, then belonging to Kio mori, that the conspirators were able to get the letters dispatched. Yoritomo, with Hojio, collected what men he could, and raised the flag at Ishi bashi yama. When he first started only seven men joined him, and he fought his first battle with only three hundred under him, against ten times their number. He was defeated, and with his seven friends ran away, and the story goes that they all hid in the hollow trunk of a large tree near Ishi bashi hatto. While remaining concealed there, the soldiers, having examined every other place, came to the conclusion they must be there. A Kashiwara man (secretly a partisan of the Gen party) volunteered to go and look, and, though suspected, he was allowed to do so. He went up, looked in, and saw the party hiding, and told them to lie still, and taking his spear showed his commander that he could turn it all round the hollow. When he did so, two bats or birds flew out, and he told his commander that the mouth of the hollow was covered over with spiders’ webs. The party of soldiers went away. Yoritomo and his friends left immediately, and went to a temple, where they were secreted in the wardrobe for storing the dresses of the priests. Meantime the soldiers returned, looked into the tree, and found that they had been there. They then went to the temple, demanded of the priest where they were secreted, and, on his refusing to tell, they killed him.

Meanwhile Yoshitzune collected what forces he could, and with them went down to Kamakura, at the head of the Odawara division of the Bay of Yedo.

Yoritomo was forced to take refuge in the remote peninsula of Awa, southeast of Yedo, whence he dispatched missives calling on all the Gen family to collect, sending Hojio, his father-in-law, to the province of Kahi, and joining Hiro tsune with a large body of men on the banks of the river Sumida gawa, that division of the Tonay gawa which runs past the eastern side of Yedo. In the province of Musasi he was joined by Hatake yama; while his relation, Yoshi naka of Kisso, raised an army in Sinano. Yoritomo fixed upon Kamakura, in the province of Segami, at a very early date, for his residence. This beautiful classic spot is within two hours’ ride of Yokohama, and shows now little trace of having once been the residence of a court. Trivial circumstances probably led him to this conclusion, as it does not seem to be a place suited in any way for a large city or for the capital of a country. He was a man of great ability, and of strong will, but had received no education; and having been brought up in the province of Idzu, had acquired the dialect of the district. The mountain-pass of Hakkone is considered the key to the eastern provinces, and if it were sufficiently guarded, his position would be one of comparative safety, at a distance of a day’s march from the pass. His relation, Yori Yoshi, had formerly resided there, and he had probably looked upon it, when a boy, as the family property. From his residence here he was called, by the people of Kwanto, Kam kura dono, a name by which he is spoken of to this day. Kwanto literally means east of the barrier--_i.e._, of Hakkone--and is synonymous with Ban do, east of the hill. It is a name by which are understood all the eight provinces to the east of the range of hills running down the promontory of Idzu; viz., Segami, Musasi, Simotsuki, Kowotsuki, Simosa, Kadsusa, Awa, and Fitatsi. It is called also Kwang hasshiu.

Forces were sent from Miako by Kio mori to oppose Yoritomo, but at this time his relative Hojio met him with a large re-enforcement, and the He party retired without fighting. Yoritomo overran the province of Fitatsi and put to death Satake Hide Yoshi. The whole empire was now desolated by war. The tide began, before Kio mori died, at the age of sixty-four, in 1181, to turn in favor of the Gen party. But so long as Kio mori lived the cause of his opponents did not seem to hold out much prospect of success, and the relatives of Yoritomo are still found fighting against him, and on the side of the ruling party. Among these were his own uncle Yoshi hiro, and Yoshi naka, another relative. The latter was afterward reconciled to Yoritomo, and rendered him great assistance, being everywhere victorious in the northern provinces of Etsjiu and Kanga. Thence he rapidly pushed on to the capital, and seized the extensive monastery of Hiyaysan. The Emperor Antoku fled westward with his wife, Kio mori’s daughter. His grandfather, the old Emperor Go Zirakawa, received his deliverers in Miako, and still retaining his interest in the regulation of affairs, saw another grandson, brother of Antoku, proclaimed as Emperor. The possessions of the He party were confiscated and divided among the members of the Gen family. Antoku remained about Da zai foo, the station from which military superintendence of the island of Kiusiu was regulated, but from this island the He party was driven out and crossed over to Sikok. Still they were able in different parts of the country to make a stand, and even to defeat their adversaries in more than one battle. Several of the party had been left in Miako in posts of consequence, the son of Kio mori being regent, and they did what they could to support their cause in the capital. Yoshi naka, who had seized Miako on the part of the Genji, became in his turn overbearing, and roused the impatience of the old Emperor, who stirred up the priests of the monasteries of Hiyaysan and Midera to oppose him. But Yoshi naka suddenly came upon them, seized and imprisoned the Emperor, and beheaded the abbots of the religious houses. He caused himself to be created Sei dai Shiogoon, and finally set himself up in opposition to Yoritomo. Yoshitzune and Nori Yori, brothers of Yoritomo, were immediately dispatched from the Kwanto to Miako to attack him, and set free the Emperor and his grandfather, and he was defeated by them and killed. Meantime, 1184, the He ji had been gathering their strength in the western provinces, and had assembled an army of 100,000 men and fortified themselves. Nori Yori and Yoshitzune attacked them, and after a very severe engagement took the fort by assault and completely routed the army, killing many of the leaders of the party. After this Yoritomo ordered his son-in-law, son of Yoshi naka, to be put to death, and Yoshitzune was appointed governor of Miako. He attacked the enemy in the island of Sikok, and also in the western provinces of Nagato, and at the fort of Aka Magaseki routed them; the mother of the Emperor escaping with the two insignia of rule--the sacred sword and the seal or ball. But in crossing over from Simonoseki the Emperor threw himself into the sea and was drowned. Of the two sacred emblems, the sword was said to have been lost; the seal was saved. At this narrowest part of the passage between Kiusiu and Nippon runs a ledge of rocks, and upon these stands a small column, or tombstone, to the memory of the Emperor. On the Kiusiu side is the village of Dairi, called so from the imperial family having rested there. Moone mori, one of the party, is said to have fled to the island of Tsussima, where his descendants to this day rule as (the Chinese sound of the name) Sso. When the men of the party were all destroyed, the females crowded the port of Simonoseki, and were obliged to live by prostitution; and hence the females of this class in Simonoseki are accorded to this day the first rank of the class, and privileges--in the way of dress, such as wearing stockings, and wearing the knot of the obi or belt behind, like other women, and not before, as prostitutes--which are denied to others. In the center of the island of Kiusiu, between Fiuga and Higo, is a high tableland, partly marsh, extending from twenty to thirty miles in length. According to native accounts, this place was, a hundred years ago, quite a _terra incognita_. About that time it was discovered that there were people living in three villages within the marsh. The principal village was called Mayra. Further investigation being made, it was discovered that these were remnants of the He ji, who had fled there at this period, and had isolated themselves through fear. They had conveyed their fears to their children, who, when visited, had a dread of being punished for the crimes of their forefathers. The three villages are now under charge of a Hattamoto.

The power of the He family was thus completely broken, and that of the Gen or Minnamoto firmly established, mainly through the prowess and generalship of Yoshitzune. Yoritomo began to be jealous of his brother on account of the credit and reputation he had gained by his success. He picked a quarrel with him on the ground of his having married a daughter of the enemy of the house, Kio mori, and sent forces against him, demanding of the Emperor that his father-in-law, Hojio, should be appointed generalissimo, by this means filling the places of command with his own creatures. Yoshitzune left the capital and retired to Oshiu to his old friend Hide Hira, governor of the province. Yoritomo was enraged at an asylum being given to his brother in the north, and sent orders to have him put to death. Yasu hira, the son of his old friend, attacked him, and Yoshitzune, being unprepared and seeing no way of escape, destroyed himself, after first killing his wife and children. Yoritomo, angry with the man for doing what he himself had ordered, marched against Yasu hira with a large army, and finally destroyed him. Yoritomo built a palace for himself in Miako, but appears generally to have lived at Kamakura. At this latter place are to be seen to this day the remains of his work in the roads cut through rocks which confined the space of ground set apart for his residence.

In 1190 he went to Miako, where he had built a palace, and in great state visited the Emperor; but after a month’s residence in the capital he returned to Kamakura. In 1192 the old Emperor Go zira kawa died at the age of sixty-seven. He had lived, after his abdication, during parts of the reigns of five emperors, his sons and grandsons. He had during forty years taken a very active part in the working of the government, and had passed through the most exciting time in the history of his country. His last years were spent in tranquillity.

Yoritomo was appointed Sei dai Shiogoon. Suspecting his brother Nori Yori of plotting against him, he banished him to Idzu, where he was soon after put to death. He again visited the capital for four months in 1195, but returned to Kamakura, from which place he virtually ruled the empire. He fell from his horse toward the end of 1198, and died shortly after, in 1199, at the age of fifty-three. He is generally regarded as the greatest hero in Japanese history. But his treatment of his brother has been a great blot upon his character, and lowered him very much in the regard of his countrymen. Yoshitzune is looked upon as the mirror of chivalry, and his conduct is held up to the youth of the country for imitation, rather than the calculating, bloody, though brilliant career of Yoritomo.

Kamakura seems to have occupied under Yoritomo very nearly the same situation, in a political point of view, that Yedo does in the present day. The absence of external foes having created a necessity for internal division, two courts arose, the one with forms without power, the other wielding all the power and dispensing with the forms, except when it suited him to demand them. Yoritomo seems to have been the first to establish his court in the eastern part of the empire, a retreat which he chose probably on account of its retired and defensible situation. Standing upon the sea, the place is inclosed by hills, and in order to obtain access to the town a road was cut on either side through the hills. That to the east, toward Kanesawa, is a fine perpendicular cutting through sandstone. The houses occupied by Yoritomo, and after him by Ashikanga, or the sites where they stood, are pointed out. Here stands a fine temple to Hatchimang, erected since the days of Yoritomo, and upon the spot where his son was assassinated. It is known as Suruga oka Hatchimang. An avenue with three fine stone archways leads straight to the sea from the door of the temple. Upon the platform on which the temple stands is a small shrine to Inari, the god of rice, worshiped everywhere in Japan; another to the spirit of Yoritomo; another to stones in which some divine power is supposed to reside. Two stones below show that the Phallic worship lingers in Japan, female (so to speak) as well as male, while a temple on the shore, near Ooraga, is entirely devoted to this infatuation. The tomb of Yoritomo, an unpretending slab, is in the neighborhood. A small hill opposite has the name of Kinoo hari yama, taking this name from Yoritomo having ordered it to be covered with white silk to show some of his lady friends how it looked in winter. The story may be doubted, if it were only on account of the scarcity of silk at that time. At Kanesawa are the tombs of the servants of Yoshitzune. About half a mile from the temple of Hatchimang, on the road to Fusisawa, is the fine old temple called Kenchoji, built by order of Moone taka Sinwo, son of the Emperor Sanga. Further on is a nunnery or convent for ladies, the Matzunga oka. Looking toward the sea, the little island or peninsula of Eeno sima is visible. On the road in this direction is a temple built by a daughter of Mito; a little beyond is a place famous for the manufacture of swords; and beyond this is a village with a temple to Kunon, the goddess of mercy (Kwan yin of China).

Turning to the right from the village is a large copper figure of Buddha sitting in the open air, in a position and with an air of great repose. It is between forty and fifty feet high. Around this colossal figure are seen in the grass large flat stones. These are the bases of the pillars of a temple which once covered the figure. But during a severe earthquake a rush of the sea over a temporary subsidence of the land swept away everything but the massive figure and foundation-stones of the temple. It looks at present far out of reach of the renewal of any such devastation.

The glory of Kamakura has removed to Yedo, and what is said by the Jesuit fathers to have been at one time a town of 200,000 houses is now a village of not 200 cottages.

The son of Yoritomo, Yori ye, succeeded him in all his employments; but proving unequal to the task of governing, he retired, and his son, Sanne tomo, at twelve years of age, was appointed Sei dai Shiogoon, Tokimasa, father-in-law of Yoritomo, being regent; and from this date the power of the Hojio family began. The following year they put to death Yori ye. Tokimasa assassinated Hatake yama, and afterward had designs upon Sanne tomo’s life at the instigation of his wife; but they were discovered by Sanne tomo’s grandmother, Yoritomo’s widow, and Tokimasa was banished. Sanne tomo was assassinated by his brother Kokio (who had become a priest, and officiated in the temple) while descending the stairs of the large temple of Hatchimang goo, at Kamakura, after worshiping there at night. He was the last Shiogoon of the family of Yoritomo. The power fell to the hands of Hojio no Yoshi toki, who ruled with Masa go, widow of Yoritomo, known as “Ama shiogoon,” or the Nun commander-in-chief. Hojio Yasu toki was Sikken, a title which was afterward changed to Kwan rei, or minister to the Shiogoon at Kamakura, and began to assume a similar position toward the Shiogoon that the latter held toward the Emperor. Hojio and Hasago raised to the office of Shiogoon Yoritsone, son of Fusiwara no Mitsi ye. Yoritsone resigned the post of Shiogoon at the age of twenty-seven to his son, aged six, who the following year married a daughter of Hojio. The father and son, being in 1251 discovered to be concerned in a plot against the Emperor, were seized; and the office was now given to one of the royal family from Minko, Moone taka, “Sin wo.” In his time Hojio Toki yori, then Kwanrei, built the large temple of Kenchoji at Kamakura. The Hojio family (Fosio of Klaproth) at this time absorbed the chief authority in the empire.

The historical notes which follow are taken from a native almanac with the assistance of a native, and are in themselves uninteresting; but they give some short notice of the wars between the Emperors of the North and South, of the rise to power of different families--such as Hojio, Ashikanga, Nitta, Hossokawa, and others--who occupied prominent places in Japanese history down to the time of Nobu nanga, when a military genius arose to extract order out of confusion, and system out of a chaos of anarchy. But even the confused and uninteresting mass of names entangled in facts may give an impression of what the state of the country was during a period when nothing but turmoil and boiling brought one after another to the surface, to make way in turn for others from the abyss below. That some information is contained in these notes, may be an excuse for placing them here in such a meager and unentertaining form. But the names of individuals, of places, of temples, become interesting as more is known of the history of the country and the religion of Japan.

In 1260 the Nitsi ren sect of Buddhists was introduced at Kamakura, a sect which has become of more prominence lately, since foreigners arrived in Japan, owing to a saint of the sect, Saysho gosama, having been a great persecutor of Christians.

Hojio Toki yori, minister of the Shiogoon, one of the great men of Japan, died in 1263, aged thirty-seven; and the Shiogoon Moone taka was forced to resign, and his son, Kore Yassu, a child, raised to the office.

In China, the Mokoo (or Mongol), about 1276, had overthrown the Sung dynasty. Corea was compelled to become tributary, and embassies from China were sent to Japan, calling upon the Emperor to send his tribute. At different times several large naval expeditions were fitted out by the Chinese emperor, the Kublai of Marco Polo. One of these, in 1281, reached the coast of Tsussima; but in consequence of severe storms, said to have been raised by the opportune assistance of the god at Isse (whence he is called Kase mo mia, or god of the wind), the vessels were knocked to pieces, and 30,000 men taken prisoners and killed. One of the embassadors was beheaded at Kamakura. The power of the Hojio family had become so great at Kamakura that they retained in their own hands the appointment of Emperor.

In 1282, the Sikken, or Kwanrei, died, and was succeeded by his son, aged fourteen years; so that at this time it would appear that the country was governed by a deputy or assistant of a boy, the deputy or minister of the commander-in-chief under the reigning Emperor, with the advice and assistance of one, and perhaps two, abdicated Emperors.

This state of things could not be expected to continue, and could only exist in a country with no external relations and with no neighbors. The divided government made up to some extent for this want, but it left so many opportunities for individuals plotting to seize the power that it is no wonder that the Emperors and the Shiogoons chafed under it. This was met by a constant accession to these high posts of children, who, when they began to be troublesome, were forced to resign, the Hojio family continuing to hold the real power at Kamakura and Miako, and also in Kiusiu, and deposing the Emperors and Shiogoons when they pleased, and electing whomsoever suited them.

So early as 1284 the laws of the country seem to have followed a policy of exclusion. In that year an officer came over from China in the quality of embassador, accompanied by a priest, but he was taken and executed on the pretext that he was come to spy out the land. Some years after, another priest, Na yissang, came from China, and he also was treated at Kamakura as a spy, and imprisoned, but was afterward liberated, and built the temple of Nan jenji, still standing in Miako.

In 1308, Hana zo no, then twelve years of age, was chosen by the officers of the Hojio family at Kamakura as Emperor.

In 1312 the Kwanrei Hojio Sada toki died, much respected, and the place of minister was kept for his son, Sada toki, for five years by two relations, till he was fourteen years of age, when he became Kwanrei.

The executive at Kamakura had named Godaigo as successor to the Emperor, and he came to the throne when he was thirty-one years of age. He very soon began to be irritated with the position he held, ruled over by subordinates at Kamakura. He married the daughter of Chiooso Kane Kado, a high officer of Chinese extraction.

In 1321 the office known as the Ki rokusho was established in the palace at Miako.

Taka toki, the young Kwanrei, was very dissipated, passing his time between wine and women, and in consequence was hated; and in 1325 Yori Kazoo and Kooni nanga, by secret orders from the Emperor, set out on an attempt to take his life; but he was previously informed of it, and seized them, and put them to death. Taka toki being ill, shaved his head and took orders when he was twenty-four years of age, and his relative, Taka Ske, at Nagasaki, assumed the chief power. The arrogance of the Hojio family at Kamakura excited intense ill-will at Miako, and the attempt to overthrow this power gave rise to the troubles known as the war between the North and South Emperors, which desolated Japan for many years, and which ended in the downfall of both the Emperor and the Hojio faction.

In 1327, Oto no mia, one of the Emperor’s sons, determined to break down the power of the Hojio family at Kamakura; but his intrigues were divulged, and he was compelled to shave his head and become a priest, as Tendai no Zass, or head of the Buddhists. But this did not prevent him putting on his armor again when occasion offered. He afterward, under the name of Mori Yoshi, was Shiogoon.

1330. The Emperor still longed to destroy the influence of the Hojio party. He consulted with the Buddhist priests, then a very powerful body in the realm. He built the fortress of Kassangi in Yamato, to be seen to this day; but his design was discovered, and he was obliged to fly to this fort, whence he sent for Koosinoki massa Singhi, then a small officer in Kawadsi, but considered a very able soldier.

In 1331 the forces of Taka toki attacked and took the castle of Kassangi, and taking Godaigo prisoner, sent him to the island of Oki, and for some years there was no Emperor. Ko gen was called “Tenwo” by the Kamakura party, but he was called the False Emperor by his opponents.

In 1332, Otonomia, Nitta, and Koosinoki met at Chi wa ya, a castle near Miako. While the Kamakura army of Hojio overcame the other detachments, they were repulsed by that under Koosinoki. Nitta Yoshi assembled an army in the province of Kowotski. Troops were sent against him from Kamakura, but after several engagements he marched upon and sacked and burned that town. Among the officers of the Hojio party some were killed in battle, others were beheaded, and many killed themselves. Among the last was Taka toki. His son had his throat cut. In Kiusiu the Hojio party was defeated by Owotomo, who seized the governor, whose life was saved, but all the other members of the Hojio family, who had been so overbearing during their period of rule, were massacred by the people. Their authority, which had been paramount for years in Kamakura, and thence in the empire, was completely broken down.

Godaigo was restored to the throne. He had not improved by adversity, and was weak in his character. He removed all the officers in place, and, against the advice of his friends and ministers, conferred rank and power on Ashikanga Taka ooji, who had entered into a conspiracy against him, and who afterward became the most powerful man in the empire and founder of a long line of Shiogoons. The Emperor gave to those who had assisted him large landed possessions: to Ashikanga, the provinces of Hitatsi, Musasi, and Simosa; to Nitta Yoshi Sada, Kowotski and Harima; and to his son, Etsingo; to Koosinoki, Setsu and Kawadsi; and to others in proportion. Mori Yosi, the royal priest, had been appointed Shiogoon, but at the instance of Ashikanga was imprisoned and deposed. The Emperor had been warned against Ashikanga by Madenga koji chika foossa, his minister, in vain. This minister was the author, in 1341, of the “Shoku gen sho,” the red book of the court of Miako.

The war which was now commencing is known as the war between the Northern and Southern Emperors--the Hokko cho and the Nancho. Each party set up one Emperor after another, while the war raged under generals who were fighting for the office of commander-in-chief rather than for the empire. Ashikanga and Nitta, Koosinoki and Hossokawa, Kikootchi and Owotomo, were the prominent leaders; while Godaigo, as Emperor of the South, was succeeded by Go mura Kami, retaining possession of, during a series of misfortunes, the three insignia of imperial power. On the other hand, Ko gen, called False Emperor, was succeeded as Emperor of the North by his brother Komio, who abdicated in favor of Sh’ko, who was taken prisoner, and Ko ngong took his place; but he and both his predecessors fell into the hands of their opponent. After the destruction of Kamakura and the downfall of the Hojio family in 1332, the theater of war changed to the neighborhood of Miako. Yoshi mitz, afterward the great Ashikanga, was appointed Shiogoon in 1367, when he was ten years of age. On both sides treachery on the part of the generals seems to have been a trivial and common occurrence; and this is not surprising, inasmuch as there was no principle involved, and no party-cry to rally under. Each general was fighting for himself and for his own advancement, while the opposing Emperors looked on apparently without much feeling or interest in the question at issue. By this war in the island of Kiusiu the family of Satsuma largely increased its power and possessions at the expense of Kikootchi.

In the year 1392, by the mediation of O-ooji, lord of the provinces in the west part of Nippon, peace was brought about. He induced the Emperor of the South to bring to Miako the three emblems, and to give them up to his rival, accepting the title of Dai jio ten wo. Thenceforward both Emperors lived in Miako, Go ko matz reigning. During the first troublous times Ashikanga had been strengthening his position, enriching himself and rising in rank and favor to the highest position to which a subject could attain. He built a splendid house for himself in Muro Matchi Street, called the Palace of Flowers, and two others called respectively the Gold and Silver Houses, which were large enough to be taken away in pieces (after his death) and form parts of different temples, of which these parts are still looked upon as the chief ornaments. Such is the temple of Tchikuboo shima in the Great Lake. The titles given him were the head of the Gen family: Joone san goo--_i.e._, as the Emperor’s second son--and Dai Shiogoon. He was at length, before he was forty, raised to be Dai jo dai jin, and during the following year he gave up his titles and place, and, shaving his head, retired under the Buddhist name of Zensan, or Heavenly Mountain. He moved about with a style and equipage similar to that used by the Emperor. He sent an embassy to China, and received an answer, in which he was styled Nippon wo or King of Japan. The Emperor visited him, and conferred on him the title of Kubosama--Kubo being the title of the father or predecessor of the Emperor after abdication, sama implying that he is equal to or “the same as.” He was the first to whom the title was given, and it is still a title which is conferred by the Emperor, and is not inherent in any office. He died in 1408. The office of Shiogoon became hereditary in the family of Ashikanga, and henceforth the position of Kwanrei or Minister to the Shiogoon was aspired to as conveying the chief power in the empire. Kamakura was still the usual residence of this officer. Eight families were set apart, from among whom it was eligible to name the Kwanrei, chief among whom were Hossokawa, Hatake yama, and Ooyay soongi--the family of Hossokawa being at this time the most powerful. After the death of the great Ashikanga, his descendants were unable to wield the power which he had transmitted to them. He does not seem to have established any powerful government throughout the empire, but would appear to have held what he had seized rather from the country being tired of civil war than from any great administrative talent in himself. During the century which followed, civil war seems to have been the normal state of Japan--one man after another rising to seize the reins--at one time at Miako, at another at Kamakura. No one chief was able to reduce the whole empire to a settled state of tranquillity. If one rose a little above his compeers, they combined against him; while the monasteries and religious sects were so powerful as to be able to insure success to whatever side they gave their influence and assistance. This state of things continued till Nobu nanga gradually rose out of the crowd, and struck down the power of these Buddhist sects.

1410. While the appointment of a Dai or great Shiogoon was kept up at Miako, an inferior officer, with the title of Shiogoon only, was placed in Kamakura, with a minister under him. The men who filled both offices were still of the Ashikanga family. When so many high offices were held by powerful chiefs, jealousy was excited, and this kept up a state of constant civil war in some parts of the country. The three rich provinces of Bizen, Mimesaka, and Harima were taken from the owner, Akamatz, who to revenge himself invited the Dai Shiogoon to a banquet and assassinated him. He in turn committed suicide, and his territory was divided.

In 1414 the three emblems were stolen, but were afterward recovered. The family of Hossokawa was rising to power and wealth at Kamakura, while that of Ashikanga was on the wane.

In 1415, for the first time, an act was passed by the ruling powers known as a Tokusayay. This is a law suddenly passed, by which all mercantile engagements are at an end and all debts cancelled. This act of arbitrary, high-handed injustice has been carried out over and over again in Japan, and is generally the act of some high officer who has borrowed money largely. Whether it was carried to the full extent stated may be doubted, but it has been the cause of much trouble and anxiety.

In 1462 Ashikanga nari ooji, son of the former Shiogoon of Kamakura, was obliged to fly to Ko nga in the province of Simotsuki.

In 1466 the war known in history as the “Onin” commenced, and lasted during the following eleven years. The dispute arose between two sons of the chief Shibba, in which the late Shiogoon and his successor took opposite sides. This was the breeze which fanned the smoldering flame arising in the desire on the part of the wife of the abdicated Shiogoon that her son should be nominated to succeed, otherwise he would be compelled to shave his head and become a priest. The whole country around Miako was desolated by war and slaughter, great excesses being committed, during which houses, temples, libraries, and documents of value were destroyed, and, as might have been expected, a famine occurred in 1472. This, together with the death of the generals commanding on both sides--Yamana Sozeng and Hossokawa--led to a cessation of hostilities in 1474, when some years of quiet and peace followed.

1487. The famous Ota do Kwang was assassinated by Sadamasa. An anecdote related of him is often taken as a subject by Japanese artists. He was out hawking when a heavy rain came on. Seeing a little cottage, he with his attendants went to ask for a grass rain-coat. A beautiful young woman came out, and upon his asking for what he wanted, she went to the garden, pulled a branch of a flower, and kneeling down presented it to the gentleman. Looking at the plant, he at once perceived that she was modestly making a play upon the word rain-coat, the plant being known by the name of “no seed,” which implied also by a turn of words that she had no rain-coat to give him.

1487. War again broke out between the Shiogoon and Sasaki in the province of Oomi, which lasted for three or four years, when the Shiogoon fled to the territories of O-ooji, then chief of the western provinces of Nippon.

About 1494 the family of Hojio of Odawara took its rise in the person of Zinkio, who had been a merchant in Isse, but whose genius seems to have been military, and who was known afterward as Hojio so woon. He seized whatever territory in the Kwanto and around the castle of Odawara he could lay his hands upon. During these periods this unfortunate country was not only desolated by civil war and all its horrors, but it suffered severely in addition from convulsions of nature. In 1472 a famine arose as the concomitant of war. In 1475 a very extensive earthquake occurred on the sixth day of the eighth month, when a wave from the sea, during a temporary subsidence of the earth, carried away at one sweep a large part of the lower quarter of the city of Osaka. In 1496 there was a drought all over the empire, which was followed by a famine in 1497. And the next year was marked by severe earthquakes all over Japan; while in 1506 all the old fir-trees on the hill Kassunga yama near Narra died to the number of above 7,000. A similar disease had visited Japan in 1406, exactly a hundred years before. Severe drought and dreadful thunderstorms in 1514 were followed in 1515 by earthquakes over the whole country.

The new century brought no cessation from war and assassination. Hossokawa, then prime minister, was assassinated by his servant Kassai. O-ooji, from the western provinces, marched upon Miako, bringing his protégé, the late Shiogoon, with him, and, seizing the capital, caused the Emperor to install him as prime minister or Kwanrei, an office which had for many years been in the hold of the three families, Shibba, Hossokawa, and Hatake yama. An attempt was made in Miako to assassinate the Shiogoon during the night, but he killed the assassins with his own sword.

In 1510 Nangao, a servant, and relative of Ooyay Soongi, minister at Kamakura, rebelled against his master, defeated him, and entered into possession of his castle and territory in the province of Etsingo, where he afterward became very powerful as Ooyay Soongi Kengshing. Hossokawa and O-ooji drove one another alternately out of Miako, but ultimately the latter retired to his own western province of Suwo; and during the same time Hojio of Odawara was fighting in the Kwanto with Miura.

1486. Hossokawa massa moto was made Kwanrei.

In 1521, for the first time in many years, the Emperor made a public appearance. The officers and court were both impoverished. The land was barely and sparsely cultivated. The young were growing up in perfect ignorance. Hossokawa brought Yoshi haru to Miako, and made him Shiogoon, and put the Shiogoon, Yoshitanne, into confinement in the island of Awadsi. The following year the latter died in the province of Awa, where his descendants still live, and the head of the family is still known as “Awa kubo.”

In the year 1523 an attempt was made to commence a trade with China at Ningpo. O-ooji, the lord of the western provinces, sent over ships. But at this time the coasts of China were infested by Japanese pirates, and the attempt to trade does not seem to have been successful: it shows, however, that a commerce was beginning before the Portuguese visited Japan.

1528. Mioshi kaï woong, from the province of Awa in Sikok, attacked Miako; the Kwanrei, Takakooni, on the part of the Shiogoon, met him at the Katsura gawa, the river running into the sea at Osaka, but was defeated, and the Shiogoon fled to Oomi, where the head of the Sasaki family gave him shelter.

1530. The following year the Kwanrei and Mioshi were again at war in the neighborhood of Osaka, when the former was defeated, taken prisoner, and put to death.

1532. Haru moto, whom Mioshi had placed as Kwanrei in Miako, took offense at some of the proceedings of the latter, and ordered him to be killed.

1536. At this period the Emperor was very poor and his expenses were defrayed by O-ooji, the lord of the western provinces, to whom the Emperor gave the title of Da zai no dai ni. The Emperor Go Tsutchi died in such poverty that his body lay unburied for some days for want of money.

To this date the annals of the Emperors are brought down. Since the accession of the present dynasty of Shiogoons, the printing of every work relative to government is prohibited. There are slight notices of remarkable occurrences during each year published in an almanac form; as, for instance, it is noted that in 1533, on the tenth month, eighth day--_i.e._, November--there were observed an extraordinary number of falling stars, and in 1534 a very fatal epidemic passed over the country.

1537. During this year disturbances arose between the Buddhist priests of the Tendai sect of the Hiyaysan monastery, and those of the Hokkay or Nitchi ren sect. The former burned down the temple of the latter, and with it nearly the half of Miako was consumed.

1538. In Kwanto the chiefs were again at war. Hojio attacked Yamano ootchi in his castle of Kawa goi near Yedo and routed him by a night attack. Takeda Singeng, now a lad, turned his father out of his possessions in Kahi.

In 1539, muskets were first known--brought over to Tanegasima by the Portuguese, pistols being known to this day by the name of “tanegasima.” According to the “History of the Church in Japan,” “The islands of Japan were first discovered in the last century, but at what time is very uncertain--some say in the year 1534; St. Francis Xavier believed it was rather five or six years after. Be it as it will, Father Maffius and others tell us that three Portuguese merchants, Antony Mora, Francis Zaimor, and Anthony Pexot, in their voyage from Dodra, in Siam, to China, were thrown by tempests upon the islands of Japan in 1541, and put in at the kingdom of Cangoxima.” This is the southern part of the island of Kiusiu, off which lies the island of Tanega or Tanesima. Mendez Pinto, who appears to have been wrecked in this vessel, gives no date, but, from his account, the sensation caused by the pistols and muskets brought to this warlike nation seems to have been much greater than that caused by the apparition of strangers. It is not wonderful that the year should have been noted in the Japanese calendars as that in which firearms were introduced. They did not anticipate that the arrival of these foreigners was to be to the empire the source of much trouble. At this time the Lioo Kioo Islands seem to have been well known to the buccaneers on the Chinese coast, and with the strong southerly monsoons, so frequently broken up by typhoons, it was not likely that Japan could remain long undiscovered; and the Japanese must have known of Europeans and their customs from their own sailors trading to China and Singapore.

1540. Mowori Moto nari, ancestor of Choshiu of the present day, and founder of the family, was embroiled with his feudal superior, Amako of Idzumo, and gave in his allegiance to O-ooji. This state of disturbances is noted in the earliest letters of the Jesuits, written from Amangutchi, the capital of these provinces, which was afterward visited by Francis Xavier.

1542. This year was born (26th day of twelfth month) To sho Shingku--better known as Iyeyas--at Oka saki in Mikawa; and during the year Ima ngawa and Nobu hide, father of Nobu nanga, fought a battle at Atsuka Saka in Mikawa. The Portuguese came to Boongo to trade, and received a warm reception in the territories of Owotomo.

In 1543 the Portuguese came back again; Owotomo, Boongo no kami, was then lord of this province, and of a great part of the island of Kiusiu. An officer, by name Seito, was sent by him with the Portuguese to Miako. Hitherto the history of Japan has been made up entirely from native sources; but after this time the letters of the Jesuits, and the accounts published from time to time by Europeans, become of interest. Kagosima, the port of Satsuma at which these Portuguese merchants first touched, is not a place adapted for carrying on a large trade. It is too far out to sea, and cut off from the interior (which is not fertile) by high ranges of hills. The port offered by Owotomo was much better suited to their views. It is in the heart of the inland sea, well sheltered, and, at the same time, having water-communication with the extensive fringe of coast bordering that sea. The island of Sikok, the most fertile part of Japan, was within easy access. The whole of the western part of Nippon and the island of Kiusiu could bring their products to this port by water, while intercourse with Osaka and the capital was comparatively easy. The objection to Kagosima applies equally to Nagasaki, which is cut off from trading communication with the interior of the country by the difficulty both of its water and land approaches. The family of Owotomo had gradually risen to wealth and power in the island of Kiusiu, and at the time the Jesuits arrived, the Lord or Tono, called by them Francis, was the greatest of the feudal chiefs then ruling in the island.

1545. Miako was reduced by war and fires to such a state that it became impossible to live in it; whoever did attempt to live there ran the risk of being burned, killed, or starved. The Koongays left, and generally settled under the protection of some feudal chief in the provinces.

1548. The Shiogoon, who had fled to Sakamoto, returned to Miako, and Hossokawa was appointed Kwanrei.

1549. Mioshi tchokay, called Mioxindo no in the “History of the Church” (or Naga Yoshi), took up arms against Haru moto and the Shiogoon party, and the latter fled again to Sakamoto, about twelve miles from Miako. Nobu hide, father of Nobu nanga, died, leaving him, his son, heir of all the possessions he had acquired. Francis Xavier, then at Malacca, whither he had gone with the fondness for change and excitement which seemed to have characterized his career, met with some of those who were returning to Japan. He immediately determined to visit it. He arrived in the year 1549, and left it again in 1551, disappointed and disheartened with the realities of missionary work. In the “History of the Church” it is said, in 1549 (p. 72): “On the way from Amangutchi (Yama ootchi) to Miako the ways were infested with soldiers, by reason of troubles between the Dairi and Cubo. Miako inspired Xavier with the desire of planting there the standard of Christ, but the effect did not at all answer his expectations. Miako, which signifies a thing worth seeing, was no more than the shadow of what it formerly had been, such terrible fires and wars had laid it waste, and the present condition of affairs threatened it with total destruction. All the neighboring princes were combined against the Cubosama, and nothing was to be heard but the noise of armies. However, he endeavored to gain an audience from the Cubosama and Dairi; but his poverty made him contemptible. It required 10,000 caixes to gain an audience. To comfort himself he preached in the streets; but the town being full of confusion, and the thoughts of every man taken up with reports of war, none listened to him. After a fortnight’s stay, hearing that the Dairi bore only the name of a monarch, and that the Cubo was absolute only in the Tensa and Gokinai, he saw it was nothing but lost labor and expense to have his leave to preach over all Japan when he was not master.”

1550. Yoshi haru, late Shiogoon, died. Mioshi tchokay burned Hingashi yama, or Hiyay san, a collection of monasteries and temples near Miako.

1551. O-ooji was attacked by the forces of one of his own officers, Suyay haru kata, who obliged him to fly, and he committed suicide with several high Koongays who were residing under his protection. This Suyay had promised Owotomo, chief of Boongo, to give back to his younger brother, Yoshi Naga, the command in the province of Suwo. At the death of O-ooji the seal under which trade with China had been carried on was lost, and the trade suspended.

1552. At this time the religion of Christ was brought, according to native accounts, by “Nan bang,” foreigners from the south, to Boongo. The period at which this event took place was worthy of note. Japan had been for years torn by rival factions, and by the contests of men intriguing for power. The Emperor was powerless, and reduced by poverty and neglect to a position bordering on contempt. The eastern court at Kamakura retained some portions of its former power, and was at least a hotbed where schemes might be hatched for overthrowing either the power of the court of Miako, or that of some of the neighboring princes. Yedo was almost unknown, except as a village dependency of the castle. The western provinces were under the sway of independent chiefs, while the island of Kiusiu hardly acknowledged the authority of the Mikado. A small beginning of commerce with China had been going on for some years past, and was conducted with Ningpo. It was not likely, therefore, that at the first landing upon Tanegasima the country and people of Japan were unknown to the Portuguese buccaneers upon the coast of China. Not many years had elapsed since China had been first visited by the Portuguese, and Liampo or Ningpo was their northern port. If Mendez Pinto is to be credited, there were 800 Portuguese then living near that city under their own laws; but if his account of the doings of his countrymen in China be correct--and it is in many things corroborated by concurrent testimony--the men who sailed about these seas were not exactly the men best suited to spread a healthy commerce, or to propagate correct notions of the Christian religion. They were the buccaneers of that day, and mixed up their business of piracy and murder with trade and religion in a strange medley. The vast opening consequent upon the doubling of the Cape induced these men to push their discoveries further and further. Europe had just been convulsed by the throes of delivery of the Church of Rome. Twin children had been born by the Reformation to the Church, and the schismatic operations of Luther without gave rise to the crafty strengthening process of Loyola within the Church. The propagandist zeal of Jesuitism at this period put forth her strength to reap the harvest in Japan; but the bane of the Church of Rome pursued her here, and her desire to make the kingdom of Christ of this world brought to naught all her schemes. The Inquisition was in full operation in Portugal and Spain, where John III. and Philip II. directed the missions of the Church; and the same zeal was carried into India and all their foreign possessions. The whole power, political and ecclesiastical, in the East, was allowed by other nations to be in the hands of the King of Portugal: without his permission no bishop could be appointed; no episcopal see created without his consent; and he retained the right of filling up vacancies in every see. No European missionary could go to the East without his sanction, and with that only in a Portuguese vessel; and no bull or brief from the Holy See was of any effect in the East until it had received the approbation of the King, who in return was supposed to protect and support the Church of Rome. This was known as the Protectorate of the Crown of Portugal, and was annually confirmed by Papal bulls, in which was inserted a clause whereby the Pope annuled beforehand every bull which any one of his successors might issue to the contrary. Such was the epoch at which the Portuguese arrived in Japan.

1553. Mioshi attacked and killed Hossokawa, the minister of the Shiogoon, and the following year attacked Miako, whence the Shiogoon fled to Tanba.

1555. Fighting was going on between Mowori moto nari (ancestor of Mowori Daizen no diaboo) and Suyay haru taka, who had killed his lord O-ooji. Mowori was victorious, and gained possession of all the “middle or central provinces” west of Miako--laying the foundation of the wealth and power which remain to the family to the present time. An embassy was sent this year to Japan from China, to complain of pirates from the island of Kiusiu who were ravaging the coasts of China.

1557. The Emperor Gonara died. Nobu nanga put to death his own younger brother Nobu yuki.

1558. Oki matchi ascended the throne at forty-two years of age. At this time Hideyoshi, better known as Taiko sama, as a young man became an officer in the service of Nobu nanga.

1559. Etsingo Nangao Kage tora, a large feudal chief, went to Miako from his province of Etsingo to pay his respects to the Emperor, and to claim his installation into the office of Kwanrei, when his name and designation was changed to Ooyay Soongi teru tora.

1560. Ima ngawa, lord of Suruga, was one of the chiefs who were competing for power. He had raised a large force and met Nobu nanga, who was not inclined to face him with a small number such as he then had with him; but Hideyoshi persuaded him to join issue, and by skill and stratagem they defeated and killed Ima ngawa, and Nobu nanga took possession of all his territory.

1561. Iyeyas was infeft by Nobu nanga in the province of Mikawa, and made the castle of Okasaki his residence.

1562. Mowori moto nari and Owotomo Boongo no kami, or Zo rin (the great patron of the foreigners in Kiusiu), were at war, which was terminated by the interference of the Shiogoon, who sent down a messenger to restore peace, through a matrimonial alliance and enlargement of Owotomo’s territories.

1563. Fighting was going on in the neighborhood of Yedo between Sattomi, who possessed large territories in Awa and Owota, on the one side, and Hojio of Odawara on the other. A great battle took place between these chiefs at Kowunodai, near Yedo, in which Sattomi was defeated. The defeat took place upon the 9th of the ninth month, a festival-day all over Japan. Since the defeat, Kanagawa and Kawasaki, then belonging to Sattomi, have held the festival on the 19th. Mowori Motonari this year completely defeated Amako, the lord Idzumo, and absorbed his territories, thus becoming lord of ten provinces.

1564. Nobu nanga killed his father-in-law Seito Do Sang, the lord of Mino, and seized all his territory, and changed his own residence, which had been hitherto in Nagoya in Owarri, to Gifoo in Mino.

In 1565 Matza naga hissa hide (Daxandono, or properly Danshio, in “History of the Church”) and Mioshi attacked Yoshi teru, Shiogoon, who was surprised, and committed suicide. His younger brother Yoshi aki fled to Oomi, shaved his head, and became a priest. The grandson of Yoshi dzumi aimed at the position of Shiogoon. To oppose the designs of Mioshi, who was attempting to assassinate him, Yoshi aki joined Nobu nanga, who put him into the post of Shiogoon in 1568, and they together attacked and defeated Mioshi.

1569. Nobu nanga found it necessary to begin a crusade against the Buddhist priests, and their wealthy and powerful establishments. He attacked and routed and killed Kita batake, the lord of Isse. He built a palace for the Emperor, but it was so small and shabby that the Emperor would not inhabit it, but lived in the temple of Kammo, near Miako. This year the palace and castle of Nijio was built in Miako, and has since been occupied by the Shiogoons as their metropolitan residence.

1570. Nobu nanga was fighting with the lord of the province of Etsizen, Asakura, who was defeated, and his territories seized by Nobu nanga.

At this time Nobu nanga, Hideyoshi, and Iyeyas found it their interest to be friends. Hideyoshi had grown up as an officer in Nobu nanga’s army, and both are said to have been jealous of Iyeyas (known as a young man as “Sing Koong”), probably discerning at this early time superior administrative talents, as well as a reticence which may have displeased them. He is said to have been put forward by them into difficult positions to get rid of him, but the vigor of his character increased by overcoming the obstacles in his path. He went to the province of Oomi at the time Nobu nanga was fighting with the troops of Asayee and Asakura at Anegawa, and by his timely assistance turned the fortune of the day.

1571. The Buddhist priesthood had at this time arrived at the height of their power. The arrival of the Roman Catholics, and the spread of their doctrines, was probably hailed by many as a relief from the extravagant pretensions and power of the monasteries, and it was hoped that they might in some measure balance the power of the Buddhist priesthood. All over the country these monasteries had become very wealthy. The monks, bonzes, or bozans, were very numerous, and their retainers and dependents formed an army sufficiently powerful to cope with any single chief. The policy of the Roman Catholics seems to have been from the first of an aggressive character, attacking vehemently the native priests, abusing their characters, and getting up discussions in public, and thus unnecessarily irritating a very powerful body in the kingdom. Nobu nanga was very jealous of the power of these Buddhist monasteries, and hated the priests. He therefore gave his countenance to these newcomers, who were delighted, as thinking it showed a zeal for their mission, while, in truth, it was only to gratify his hatred of the native bozans. He suddenly fell upon the largest of the monasteries, the Hiyaysan, also called by the early writers Freno yama, and Hiyay no yama. The grounds are said to have been of great beauty, near the lake of Oomi, and inclosing thirteen valleys; and at the time the Jesuits arrived in the country there were said to be 500 temples within the area of the monastery. Nobu nanga burned all the temples and massacred the priests. These latter had been joined by some of Nobu nanga’s late opponents, but he defeated them all.

1572. Takeda Singeng, at Mikatta nga harra in Tootomi, was fighting with Iyeyas. A great mortality had taken place in the force of the latter, and he was nearly overcome, and in great danger, but finally conquered.

The same year the Shiogoon Yoshi aki became embroiled with Nobu nanga, who arrested him and put him in prison, thus bringing to a termination the real power of the Ashikanga family.

During the year Iyeyas was beaten by Takeda near Mitske; he was obliged to fly, and was pursued across the Tenrio River to a village, Hamamatchi. During the night he heard music, and creeping up with some of his men to listen, they saw Takeda himself sitting enjoying the music, when one of Iyeyas’s men fired at him with a musket. He was wounded and gave up the pursuit. He lingered a while, but at length died of the injury.

1574. All over the country Roman Catholic temples were being built, exciting the Buddhist priesthood to wrath.

1575. At Nanga shino, in Tootomi, there was some smart fighting between Katzu yori, son of Takeda Singeng, and Iyeyas, as officer of Nobu nanga. Katzu yori was very powerful, and had a large army with him of well-trained soldiers, and Nobu nanga was afraid to fight; but Iyeyas declared that if he would not fight he himself would join Katzu yori.

1576. Hideyoshi was sent by Nobu nanga to Kiusiu and the west provinces. As a whim, he this year made a new name for himself out of the half of the names of two of Nobu nanga’s officers, Shibata and Niwa, and calling himself Hashiba, a name by which he is frequently spoken of by the Jesuits.

1576. Nobu nanga built the castle of Azutchi (called Anzuquiama in “History of the Church”) in the province of Oomi; a castle which now belongs to Ee kamong no Kami.

1577. Matz nanga hissa hide, known in the “History of the Church” as Daxandono, was killed by Nobu nanga.

1578. Hashiba hide yoshi was this year fighting with Mowori teru moto, known to the Jesuits as the King of Amanguchi, and the island of Kiusiu was devastated by war between Owotomo, son of the Jesuits’ friend, and Shimadzu of Satsuma, the result being that Owotomo was defeated and his territory much diminished.

1579. The two Buddhist sects, Jodo shiu and Nitchi ren shiu, held a great discussion upon religion before Nobu nanga at Azutchi, known as the “Azutchi rong.”

Akitchi mitzu hide, one of Nobu nanga’s best officers, seized the province of Tanba. The Ikko shiu, a Buddhist sect, was very powerful at this time, and had possession of the castle of Osaka, then known as the temple of Hoonganji. Nobu nanga, by one of his generals, had been long besieging it, and had failed in taking it. In 1580 he called in the persuasive interference of the Emperor, and a compact was finally made, under which the priests consented to give up this strong fortress, which has ever since remained in the hands of the executive power.

1581. Hideyoshi this year overran the province of Harima, destroying the castle of Miki, and began to build the chateau of Himeji for himself in that province; while Nobu nanga, assisted by Iyeyas and Hojio of Odawara, completely demolished the power of the Takeda family in Kahi. The war is known as the “Ten moku san” war, from the place where Takeda concealed and destroyed himself. The tie between Nobu nanga and his generals seemed to have been very slight, and he does not appear at any time to have been considered ruler of the country. On more than one occasion Iyeyas threatened to leave him and throw his weight into the opposite scale. In a portrait drawn of Nobu nanga in the “History of the Church,” he is described as “a prince of large stature, but of a weak and delicate complexion, with a heart and soul that supplied all other wants; ambitious above all mankind; brave, generous and bold, and not without many excellent moral virtues; inclined to justice, and an enemy to treason. With a quick and penetrating wit, he seemed cut out for business; excelling in military discipline, he was esteemed the fittest to command an army, manage a siege, fortify a town, or mark out a camp, of any general in Japan, never using any head but his own: if he asked advice, it was more to know their hearts than to profit by their advice. He sought to see into others and to conceal his own counsel, being very secret in his designs; he laughed at the worship of the gods, convinced that the bonzes were impostors, abusing the simplicity of the people and screening their own debauches under the name of religion.”

This is the character given of him by the Jesuits, who considered him a friend to their cause and had some hopes of him as a convert. It agrees in the main with the pictures drawn of him by the Japanese. Hating the Buddhist priests, he patronized the Jesuits as a counterpoise, encouraging them to build even in the neighborhood of his own palace at Azutchi. Under the encouragement thus given, the Jesuit priests rose to favor and power at court. The efforts of the fathers to extend their influence were crowned with success, and at this date the position of the church is described as follows: “Father A. Valignan, superior of Japan, for convenience of government, divided Japan into three parts. The first and principal is that island where Miako stands. They had there three residences of the Society--Meaco, Anzuquiama (Azutchi-yama in Oomi) and Takacuqui. In the residence of Miako were two brothers and two fathers, who preached and celebrated the divine mysteries daily in a very fair church. In Anzuquiama they had two fathers and two brothers; the first of these took care of the church, and of all the Christians round about; the other instructed the young gentlemen in the seminary, teaching them their Catechism, and to read and write in Latin, Portuguese and the language of the country. In Takacuqui (Itami in Setzu) there was only one father and one brother. Justo Ucondono (Takayama), governor of the place, built in it a very handsome church and house for the fathers, and furnished them with all the necessaries for their families. About three leagues off were the churches of Vocayama, Fort Imori in Kawadsi, and Sanga--all dependencies of this residence. Two leagues from Sanga, Don Simon Tagandono (Tango no Kami), lord of Yao, had eight hundred subjects, all Christians. There were also great numbers of them in Amangutchi, but without any church, it being expressly against the king’s pleasure.

“The second part of Japan is that which they commonly call Ximo (Kiusiu). There the Christians had most churches, and the Jesuits most houses. In the city of Funay, the metropolis of Bungo, there were both a college and a university, where they took degrees of masters of arts and doctors of divinity. There were twenty Jesuits in the college. The noviceship stood at Vosuqui, where King Francis (_i.e._, Owotomo Boongo no Kami) resided. Besides, they had two residences--one at the valley of Ju, some seven leagues from Funay, and another at Nocen--and these four houses furnished the whole country with evangelical missionaries. Moreover, they had a house at Facata, in the kingdom of Chicuzen, that was tributary to Bungo; but Aquizuqui, having made himself master of that country, soon beat them out of those quarters. The kingdom of Chicungo, bordering upon Chicuzen, had only one church, which was governed since Riozogi’s conquest by a devout Christian, that prince being unwilling to entertain any Jesuits in his states. In the kingdom of Fingo, which Aquizuqui and Riozogi parted betwixt them, there were two houses of the Society--one in Amacusa and the other at Fort Fundo; and these two residences took charge of above twenty other churches in that country. As for the island of Xequi (Ko Siki), which stands upon the confines of Amacusa, they had only one church, with near 5,000 Christians, who were governed by one of the inhabitants; for the lord of the place, though he was to permit the fathers to visit them, would not hear of fixing a residence; which obliged the Christians, on the more solemn days, to come over to the church of Amacusa.

“In the kingdom of Goto (the five small islands to the west of Japan), since Don Lewis’s death, there was neither church nor house, the uncle and tutor to the young prince being, as was said, a most professed enemy to all religion. The King of Firando, indeed, though a heathen, was content to receive two priests and two others for the benefit of the Christians, and chiefly his uncle and son, Don John and Don Anthony.

“As for the kingdoms of Omura and Arima, religion flourished there above all other parts, Bungo only excepted. The fathers had three houses in Omura, one in Omura itself, where the King kept his court, another at Nangasak, and a third at Curi, and out of these three churches they visited forty several churches, and had charge of some 50,000 Christians that were in that kingdom. In Arima they had three residences: one in the city of Arima, with five Jesuits, whereof two had care of the seminary for educating young nobles, among whom was the King of Fiungas’ son, cousin-german to the King of Arima, and the rest, all of them sons to the chief lords in the country; the second at Arie; and the third at Cochinozi, a most celebrated port for commerce.

“In the kingdom of Saxuma, where St. F. Xaverius landed at his first entrance into Japan, there were some few Christians whom the fathers visited by times, being all banished by the bonzes, who acted by the King’s authority. They reckoned in the kingdom of Ximo upward of 30,000 Christians.

“The third part of Japan (Sikok) contains only four kingdoms, and of these only the King of Tosa received the faith. So Father Alex. Valignan, at the end of his visit, upon his return to the Indies, left 150,000 Christians in Japan, 200 churches and 39 religious of his own order, besides several able, young and virtuous Japonians who helped to instruct the new Christians.”

In 1582 Nobu nanga was gradually overrunning all Japan. He had given the revenues of the island of Sikok to his son, Nobu taka. “This year he built at Azutchi a splendid temple. In this temple he collected idols of all the gods of Japan, and placed in the midst a statue of himself, calling it Xanthi; _i.e._, supreme ruler. He then, like Nebuchadnezzar, issued an edict prohibiting any one from worshiping any other idol, and ordered all to resort to this place on his birthday to worship this representation of himself. The first that adored was his eldest son. The nobility followed, and then the gentry and people in their course.” This idol is said to be in existence at the present day. Nobu nanga, after this public adoration of his statue, returned to Miako. Akitchi mitzu hide had been one of his most prominent and successful generals, and was at this time in the neighborhood of the capital. Nobu nanga had dispatched a large body of troops to assist Hashiba Hideyoshi in his operations in the west. Whether Akitchi aspired to the position occupied by Nobu nanga, or was really jealous and hated him, in common with others, as a tyrant, or, as some relate, smarted under the insult of being struck by Nobu nanga over the head with a fan, is doubtful. But “when he saw that the guards and forces under the immediate command of Nobu nanga were so diminished in number that he was left nearly unprotected, he took advantage of what seemed to him an opportunity. He had been ordered by Nobu nanga to take a large body of troops under his command to join Hideyoshi. Accordingly, he marched, but, instead of taking the route indicated, he took aside some of the captains whom he knew to be dissatisfied with the government, discussed with them his design, and gained them over by declaiming against the violence, oppression, and tyranny of Nobu nanga, accusing him of destroying the gods and murdering the priests, and concluding by promises of wealth stored up in the castle of Adzutchi yama. He then suddenly wheeled round upon Miako, surrounding Honnoji, where Nobu nanga was residing, before he was aware of any danger. All the avenues were closed--no escape was left for him. He was washing his face when the news came that the troops had invested the place, and opening a window to see what was the matter, they poured in a shower of darts and wounded him between the shoulders. The place was soon in flames, and his body was consumed with the building. Thus died Nobu nanga, at forty-nine years of age, a little after he took upon himself the title of god, and had made himself be adored by his subjects.”

Nobu nanga was by birth of higher origin than his successor, Taikosama, and, as the son of a feudal prince, had, at a time when might gave right, some pretension to rule. Descended from Kio mori, he was of the Taira family, that clan which had contested so long with the Minnamoto for the executive power in the empire. No question of family origin entered into his rise or brought about his fall. As an individual, he rose to power through his military talents; and probably from want of administrative ability failed to strengthen himself, or insure to his sons the succession of the position to which he had risen. The period of his rule was signalized by the rise and success of the Jesuits, whom he countenanced, according to their own showing, rather from hatred to the Buddhist priests than from love for the doctrines of Christianity, or respect for the Roman Catholic priesthood. When he died, the tide of prosperity turned and ebbed till it gradually swept the whole doctrines, priests, and proselytes from the shores of Japan.

Akitchi mitsu hide, who had thus removed the master-spirit of Japan, was not the man to take the vacant seat. Apparently an able second, a successful lieutenant, he was wanting in every quality for command. He had gained over the troops placed in his charge by the promise of plunder. He marched them upon the city of Azutchi-yama, where Nobu nanga had stored up the treasures he had accumulated during many years, and in three days squandered the whole in largesses to those under his command.