How Hie Japanese Looked To Early American “Invaders”
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AP Newsfeatures
Japan was “invaded” by an
American task force in 1853. The
force was Cmdr. MatthewTC. Per
ry’s expedition, the task to open
up Japan and establish a trade
treaty. How the people of the Ris- j
ing Sun appeared to these early
invaders was set down by Edward
Yorke McCauley, a handsome
young acting-master who served
with Perry and recorded what he
saw in a diary, “With Perry In
Japan,” published by the Prince
ton University Press. Here are the
highlights:
Nipponese Manners: They were
“without exception the most polite
people on the face of the earth.”
But they snatched leftovers at the
end of a meal, concealed them in
their sleeves . . . one guest on
board even emptied the saltcellar.
Officials were inquisitve . . . they
measured “the ship guns and ev
ery odd and end.”
Military Mien: A fort the diarist
visited was just a painted screen,
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“intended to hide the warriors
from the view of the enemy.” Sol
diers were “apparently as immov
able as stone. ... If they could
only wait until an enemy walked
up to them, and stood quietly in a
body, these war men would do
monstrous execution.”
Women: An ideal beauty was
very fat very tall, or very short
. . . eyebrows plucked out, teeth
blackened . . . large feet. They did
heavy work “carrying a bundle
that would have been weight
enough for 20 men and 20 boys.”
Social Systems: Princes were
identified by their white socks
and shirts and highly ornamented
fans . . . lesser fry had fans with
gilt streaks and black paint, indic
ative of rank. The rank of Japan
ese women was shown by the
width of their sleeves . . . those
of unmarried princesses swept the
ground; married women gathered
them up into their girdles. The
lower ranks were not allowed to
sit or eat in the presence of their
princes. i
'
Marriage: A Japanese generally
had from one to four wives, who
lived together ... a wife who be
came tired of her husband went
home to father, and that consti
tued a divorce . . . husbands would
not beat their wives with sticks
stouter than their wrists.
Food: A small repast was served
to Perry’s men on lacquered trays
. . . fish, oysters, eggs (not enough
of the latter to satisfy “half a hun
gry man”), sponge cake, striped
candy that reminded the author
of American sweets. No meat . . .
chickens were kept for eggs. They
liked liquor . . . officials drank
“poteen, brandy, gin and saki al
ternately, a mixture that would
wamp the devil himself, and fin
ally went off as happy as two such
polite beings could ever get.”
Sanitation: Villages were clean,
people neat, children scrubbed . . .
they used sa^d instead of soap.
“Lewness of manner and gesture”
drove McCauley away from the
bathhouses, “where men and wo
men bathed together.” Village
houses were of wood with no win
dows, but sliding doors with paper
instead of glass ... in one village
the roof of every house was
equipped with a tub of water and
broom, for fire prevention . . .
large pryamids of buckets in the
streets, near tubs of water, stag
nant from being kept too long.
Hara-Kiri: One Japanese said
the notion about committing sui
cide by ripping out their entrails
was wrong. A would-be suicide
gashed himself with a knife, in
the form of a cross, then an hon
ored friend lopped off his head.
They had invited people, and
there was a feast.
Peace Prognosis: “These people
must be forced into good terms
and conduct as neither precept
nor example can have any lasting
effect on them. They recognize no
‘Law of Nations, and will allow no
intercourse but that which brings
U.S. Army-Navy
War Casualties
Reach 1,012,049
WASHINGTON, June 8—(/Pi
Army and Navy combat casualties
during the war have reached a
total of 1,012,049, an increase of
90,162 in the past week.
Army casualties are 895,000,
killed 185,000. Navy casualties are
116,000; killed 44,000.
them manifest advantage. Their
diplomacy is long and intriguing,
and not to be depended upon for
its inviolability. With such a vex
ing race of men, hard blows are
more eloquent that the poetry of
Truth and Justice.”
. J. J. J. J. A A M 4. A Jh «•» •*• «*• * + + + + + +++
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