THE JAPANESE DOOR

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 24, 28 July 1939, Page 5

THE JAPANESE DOOR

RELUCTANT OPENING

BARBARIAN CALLERS

LORD ELGIN PRESENTS HIS CARD

(Written for "The Post" by G. 0.)

"Deadlock Talks in Tokio. Heated Exchanges."—Headlines to Press dispatches, July 19, 1939. How contrary is all this to the spirit of the verse by the Japanese contemporary poetess, Nakahara Aya-ko: May swords become quickly Rusted completely For the honour and glory Of the world and mankind. At the moment the Japanese sword is not only brjgnt and razor-keen, but trfe hand is on the hilt. Its bearers are still the proud people they ever were, quick to detect and resent affronts, fancied or real, aflame with the haughty "spirit of old Japan." for all their westernisation. They were so when Francis Xavier. cross in hand, knocked at their door; but they let his missionaries in. The gospel was preached with wonderful spiritual results—also, according to tradition, the art of sponge cake making was similarly introduced, and it has survived the general practi<& of Christian teaching. Converts were made in hundreds of thousands, including princes as well as peasants. The Christian religion flourished /until in the mercantile squabbles between Spanish and Portuguese, and their participation in political intrigues, the Japanese realised that .Christianity, unexceptionable >in itself; had no recommendation from the loose practices of its Occidental professors. It was banished with ruthless cruelty,, and martyrs in their hundreds were hurled over a cliff into the sea. One may see this rock on the port side on entering Nagasaki Harbour. IN JAMES'S DAY For 200 years the front door and back door of Japan were closed to foreigners. Captain Saris, commanding H.MS Clove, in 1613 bore a letter from King James I to the Emperor of Japan, and a trade treaty between England and Japan was obtained, but the Dutch and Portuguese, already established in the south of Japan, were too powerful for the English, whose factory was closed, the venture being a failure.

The Japanese door was not opened until the nineteenth century and that distinction was won by Commodore Perry, of the United States Navy, in 1853. He succeeded where Commodore Biddle had failed in 1846. Poor Biddle had but two ships showing the American flag, whereas Perry, at his first visit; had four ships and 560 men, and when he returned, in 1854, he came with ten ships and 2000 men in order, as Congress had nicely worded his instructions, to .establish "commercial arrangements" with Japan. Prayers had been offered in Japan between 1853 and 1854 for "the destruction of the barbarians," but Perry came back. From that time, it may be said, Japan set out to become a world Power.

Great Britain had pressing business in the Black Sea in 1854, but it spared Admiral Sir John Stirling for Japan, and six months after Commodore Perry's visit he negotiated a treaty similar to that obtained by*the United States. - Russia, in 1856. also negotiated a trade treaty. Later the Japanese people began to be perturbed by all this treaty business and hostility to foreigners became more pronounced than ever before. The Shogun was publicly accused of treachery. • The Prime Minister was murdered and his| head cut off and stuck on a pike above the castle gate of Mito. ( ]|OVAL GIFT OF A YACHT Next came Lord Elgin in 1858—and the gift of a steam yacht from Queen Victoria to the Emperor of Japan. Of that mission, his Lordship's private secretary could write, "There exists not a single disagreeable association to cloud our reminiscences of this delightful country. Eacli day gave us fresh proofs of the amiable and generous j character of the people." That was the I impression gained at Nagasaki But how little was to be seen on the surface of the thermal activity in the heart of I the nation. I However, Lord/ Elgin's ilotilla ! steamed out of Nagasaki on its passage !to Yedo, now Tokio. It must havej tbeen a brave sight as it cleared the heads witti the early Christian martyrs' | cliff on the starboard side. There was H.M.S. Retribution with the yacht in I tow. H.M.S. Furious, and the gunboat ! Lee. Five days later the vessels came to anchor in" Samoda Bay. There the, local Governor suggested the mission should stay; and as for the yacht, the Governor would be answerable for it reaching the Emperor; but in any case, the mission should not proceed to Yedo. The talk was friendly, even jolly, but the meaning was plain- Lord Elgin should not go to Yedo. The Governor lunched aboard the Retribution and enjoyed the chanipagne, so did his staff. When lunch was over the guests carefully gathered up what food remained and wrapped it up in paper, according to custom, and left for the shore. That was an expression of politeness.

Lord Elgin was instructed to go to Yedo, and go he did. When his fleet dropped anchor there, under the guns of forts all round, the Retribution was boarded by voluble officials, imploring the departure of the vessels to Kanagawa, or anywhere else, and that at once. Lord Elgin made it clear that he had no intention of doing other than presenting in person the gift of her Majesty Queen Victoria to his Majesty the Emperor of Japan; and he desired the local authorities to provide him with a suitable residence ashore. Princes came aboard and lunched and enjoyed themselves, but the burden of their talk was "up anchor and away." Lord Elgin politely demanded audience of the Emperor.

' That could not be; the Emperor was ill; his, Majesty could receive no one. Would his son, a boy of 13, do in his stead? No; Lord Elgin had been commanded to present the yacht to his Majesty. and to obtain a treaty of peace and amity if he could. "RULE BRITANNIA" Lord Elgin and staff landed in state, the band of the Retribution, stationed on a paddle box. playing "Rule Britannia," the ships firing royal salutes. Crowds, dense crowds, of Japanese lined the shores. The press around the' landing place was terrific and tightly wedged all ways to his temporary residence The Emperor sent his honourable but unwelcome 'guest a Japanese dinner, a courtesy well nieant and courteously received, but it was a rather tedious dinner. ! After many conferences with Commissioners, and watching closely the Japanese who closely watched him, Lord Elgin tactfully but firmly pressed for an audience of the Emperor. The yacht, however, was handed over to Japanese Commissioners, the British colours being hauled down and the

Japanese flag taking its place. The Japanese guns saluted' and more powder was burned on the British ships. Lord Elgin's desire to present the vessel to the Emperor was not granted. It could not have been, for not until a month after he had left Yedo was he informed that the Emperor died just before he arrived, but court etiquette forbade publication of the fact until weeks later.

When all was said (much of it) and done, and the Retribution's paddles were churning up the waters of the Yellow Sea. Lord Elgin's secretary wrote in his diary:—

"The cordiality of our reception at Yedo was in certain quarters the mask which a somewhat shallow diplomacy led them to assume in order to avert a danger they deemed imminent and which they dared not meet.

"If we hope to conduct relations with Japan upon a satisfactory foot-' ing. our true policy is to intimate distinctly to the Government that we intend to enforce every one of our rights to the uttermost letter." That was written in 1858.