SKETCHER. Japan's Mighty Ruler.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1905, 18 June 1892, Page 1 (Supplement)

SKETCHER. Japan's Mighty Ruler.

■\irsb Disclosure of the Private Life of the Mikado. -' ■■ ♦»* .Its Descent Traced in a Direct Line from ttie GoOs-Eis Daily Walls aud Conversation — Something About the Empress. Mr. Frank G. Carpenter, who is now sojourning in Japan, has obtained a privelege never btfore granted to any one, namely, an interview vvitn tha Court Chamberlain concerning the house life of the Mikado. "Twenty -five years ago," he says, "it would hsva been death to the Chamberlain and imprisonment to me. At that time it was treason to name aloud the personal name of the Mikado. In writing it, it was agaii st the law to pen it in fall, and one of the etrokes or letters had to be left out. No one except the wives of the Emperor and his highest oiimeteis ever Eaw hia face. His divine features vreie never unvailed to the public gaze. Kipb in tho seclusion" of his palace at Ktota, lie was revered as a god by ihe people, and when lie went abroad in the city he rode in a closely curtained car drawn by bullocks. His sacred feet never touched the earth, and when be died it was supposed that he* would enter the company of the gods. Ha was at that time the Emperor of Japan, but he was only a nominal Emperor. The Commander-in-Cbuf of the Imperial army, under the title of the Saogun, administered Mb aJCbirg, and these commadcre-in-chitl, who huccetded one another by hereditary descent, had for generations usurped the real authority of the Government, while they thu> kept the Mikado in a sort of glass case &nci held him up as a spiritual rather than a tern pomi ruler. They .managed his jreasurj , made the laws, governed the country and hi>: up the taxes. This state of things went on for hucdredLof years. A feudal system grew up under it. The lords of this syßtem became enervaU •. by luxury, and the ohief offioers under them. about twenty years ago, organised a revolu tion to give back to the Mikado hia rta.. power. The present Emperor was then up(L his throne. He was fifteen years old. T- r " revolution was successful. The Shogun vu>\ thrown and the Emperor waß taken by the revolutionists to Tokio and declared E^ peror in fact. This wsa the beginning of ih progressive movement in Japan. The >oui j. Mikado came out of his ourtained seclueiu and before the court he promised that chaug> r should be made in the Empire; that a tv liberative assembly should be formed, a... that all measures should be decided by pub.:, opinon. He promised that impartiality a: a justioe should be adopted as a basis of actiu , and that intelleot and learning should c sought for throughout the world in order r. estabLsh the foundation of the empire. Su-c then many of the old customs have btu thrown away. Baihoads, telegraphs anc schools have been established. Intercoms with other nations has been kept up, and u.t. Mikado rules the new Japan. If lam correctly infoimed, he is deeply inteieeted in h* progiess, and he looks forward anxiously toward the opening of the pirliumtn!;, wnich takes place in 1890.

The Mikado has the bluest blood of ar>y ruler on the face of the earth. Tho present dynasty of Japan runs back to the gods, aud his Imperial Majesty ia the. one hundred and twenty-first Emperor of Japan. The Japtneee have their history and their mythology, and the present Emperor oomes from Jimmu Tenno, who was the first Mikado and ruled Japan six hundred and Eixty years before Christ was born. This man was a descendant of the sun goddess and Mutsuhito; tha present Emperor traces his descent directly from him. The present Emperor wbb born at Kiota, November 3, 1852. He was declared heir apparent to the throne when he was eight years old , and he suoceeded on the death of his father in 1867. He waß crowned in 1868 and was manied at the ega of seventeen in 1809.

H;s Imperial M joety ia now thirty-eight years old. L:t mo tell you how he looks. He is taller than the average Japanese, and his appearance is not bxlf aa imposing now as when he wore tho rich Japanese oostuines and sat cross-legged on his mats of state. He has a daru-browc cafe au-lait complexion, and his eyes, which lock through almond sits, axe of a brilliant bhek. Ilia hair is very thick and he parts it in European style. It is combed w 11 up from a gocd forehead, and his M<*jebtj'd eyebrows have the decided arch which is indicative of Jdpanese beauty. His noae is large and inclined to flatness. It has the widd nostrils of the Japanese, and hia Majesty 'd lips are thick. He ißof medium size, but is inclined to sto-p, whioh limogina may come from the earlier part of hia life having b^en spent m Eiiting upon the floor. He weara a moustache end oain whiskers, and these, like iroat of his race, are thin. Tr.e Court Caauibe-rlain tclla me that for the past Bixteen yetira h8 has worn nothing but European clothes, and he has to a large extent adopted European ways. Ilia drefs is that of a general of the army, and he takes gre&3 pride in military matters. He reviews his troops several times a year, andis thoroughly up in the organisation of his armies. When he goes out to ride he ia always acoompanied by his Imperial Guards, and he has lately purchased several new State oarriegea which are tbe wonder cf Tokio.

The Emperor of Japan ia rich. His U allowed £500,000 a year for hia Household Department, an-i his private fortune is larga and increasing. The Household Department ia as much a part of the Japanese Government as is our Navy or War Department ft part of the Government. It has to do with all matters relating to the Imperial palace and to the Mikado. It was at the royal household department that I held my interview with the Court Chamberlain. We Bat for two hours together and chatted of the E rmeror's habits.

"His Majesty," said he, "is a very studious man, He rises early and breakfasts at seven or eight o'clock. He uegs the knife and fork in eating when he takes foreign food, and be adopts tbe ohop-sticks at his Japanese dinners. He eats at a table and sits upon chairs. He varies his meale, Bometimcs taking foreign food and sometimes Japanese. He is fond of meata, and baa a will-trained Japanese cook to eerve them f^r him. After breakfast is over he goeß to his s'ady, and here at nine o'clock he receives tuch ministers cf Stata as have matters to r;p Et to him. Hie audience with them cftcn la;ta till twelve o'clook. At tbia hour he returns to liis own room and takes his lunch. This usually oonßists of fish, meats, bnai and wines. He is a good eater and likes good wine.

" After lunoh hia Majsety spends some time in reading the newspapers and books. All of the leading Japanese newspapers come to his palace and he watches olosely the current of public opinion. Many of the newspapers are marked, and in the caee of the foreign papers of Japan the most prominent articles are translated for him. Articles in New York, London and Paris papers which have a bearing upon Japar>, aro also translated and handed to him to read, and he is especially fond cf the illustrated foreign papers. He thus keeps poeted on what is going on tha world over. After reading he takes his exercise, and his dinner comes in the evening. Sometimes the Empress dines with him, and sometimes the little Prince, who is the beir to the throne, has a seat at the table. Bothnave, however, their separate establishments. The dinner is served in tho table d'hote style, and with all the European accompaniments." 11 What are the Emperor's favorite exercises?" I asked.

"He is especially fond of horseback riding," replied the chamberlain, "He has

about three hundred horses in the royal mews, and he sits a horse well. He has a big race-track in the grounds of the new paluco, and he is much interested in horse-breeding as well as in horse-raoinpr. Ho attends the races in Tokio and in Yokohama, and he is very fond of watohing hiß nobles play polo. This game is often played inside of tho palaoe grounds, and his majesty often hunts deer and wild pigs on his royal preserves. He ahoots well, but, as a rule, he prefers to watoh the others hunt." " Does he give many receptions ?" I asked. " Not many," waa the reply. "Ho has a i>ig reception on New Year's, at which the diplomats and the Japanese officials are present. Then on the 2nd of February there is a reception in commemoration of the fonudation of the empire. The 3rd of November is the Emperor's birthday, and the imperial garden party is given ia the spring and in tha fall. At these receptions the guests appear ac a rale in European dreES and the Emperor ia saluted with a bow. The Emperor has hia interpreters with him &t his receptions. He speaks no language but the Japanese, and no has given up tbe study of German, which he began some time ago. His duties of state were co great that he had not time for it, an-? be regrets bis laok in this regard when foreign Princes come to Japan." Tbe Empress is just about as old as her husband. She is a fall head shorter than tbe average English woman, has a tlecder figure, very straight and very digniSed. She appreciates her position and walks like an Empress. It ia now more than a year since she adopted foreign clothes, and her jst-black hair is combed in foreign style and a foreign waterfall sits upc n her shapely crown. She has a fine complexion, much lighter than tbe ordinary Japanese, and she has that drooping of tbe lower lip which is a mark of Japanese beauty. The only piotnres which are now procurable of her are those in old court a iess, but thc?o give a fair idea of her features, and her face ia decidedly aristocratic. " She does not," says the Court Chamber. lain, " paint her lower lip nor black her teeth, as was the former oußtom of Japanese wi tea. and she wears now a straight bang of hair across her forehead." At present I am told that the Empress buys her clothes, as far as possible, in Japan. She is a thorough little Japanese Queen, and she is anxious to do everything to advance her own people. " She is," in the words of the Court Chamberlain, "especially interested in Japanese women, and she tries to prcmoto their advancement in every way. She ia very charitable, and she is especially the patron of the Red GroBS Sooiety and of the Tokio Charity Hospital. At the eruption of Bandaiaan sbo sent money at once to relieve the sufferers from the volcano, and Bho ia especially interested in the education of Japanese women. There is a female sohool attended by the girls of the nobles, whioh is known as the Empress' school. She watches very closely over this, and ono of tbe pictures upon ita walls consists of some poetry written by her. The Empress of Japan is a fine Chinese soholar, and she ia one of the best poets in the Empire. Many of her poems have been set tomußio, and have been used as national songs, and quite a number of them have been published in the Japanese newspapers." • l Tell me something of the daily life of the Empress," said I. "Shehae," replied the Court Chamberlain, " an establishment of her own, and it is quite a large one. She has her maids of honor, her private secretaiias and the ladies of tha oourt to deal with. Her morning ia oocupied by the reading and writing of letters. She attends to the supervision of her various oharitiea through others chiefly, and in the afternoon Bhe devotes herself to social duties. She receives at thia time wives of the Ministers and the Princesses who may call upon her, and if they come at the proper time these sometimes tike tea with her. She sometimes invites these ladies to meetings to discuss matters relating to the oharity hospital, and she has a grand marshal and a chamberlain. She is, you know, tho first Empress of the new order of things, even as the Emperor i« the first Emperor. She wears but little jewellery, though she has some diamond ringa and brace-lets. She is a fine horseback rider, and often takes a turn on one of the horses of the imperial stablea. S^o wearß j\ European riding habit and sits her horse well."