Home ° 2017

Japan

° Chiba ° Hakata ° Kawasaki ° Kobe ° Kyoto ° Moji ° Nagasaki
° Osaka ° Shimizu ° Yokohama ° Ryukyu Islands

Kyoto

February 22, 1890, Daily Alta California, San Francsico, California, U.S.A.

A SUBSTITUTE FOR SILK.

Important Discovery of a Japanese Druggist of Hikone.

Silk-Worm Culture
Utamaro Kitagawa

Mr. Nayemura Sakusaburo, a druggist of Hikone in Omi, after many years of experiment and patient research, has succeeded in converting wild hemp (yachyo) into a substance possessing all the essential qualities of silk. Nothing is said about the process, but it is asserted that trial of the thread has been made at the First Silk Weaving Establishment in Kyoto and at other factories with excellent results in every case.

The highest encomiums have been bestowed on the inventor, and complete success appears to be within his reach. The plant in question grows wild on moors and hill-sides. Its fibre is strong and glossy, in no wise inferior to silk when properly prepared.

Cultivation on an extended scale would present no difficulties. The present idea is to form a company for working it, and to establish a factory in Kyoto, where land is cheap, water exceptionally good, and facilities of transport are provided. The capital of the company will be 300,000 yen, and the name of the factory ''Yachyo-ito Seizo-sho."

Japanese women working at a loom manufacturing silk.

Japanese women working at a loom manufacturing silk

Palace of Komei, Emperor of Japan. Kyoto. 1850s.

Palace of Komei, Emperor of Japan. Kyoto, 1850s.

August 23, 1895, Burlington Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa, U.S.A.

THE CITY OF KYOTO

(Correspondence to The Hawk-Eye.)

In the summer of 1878 I traveled over the Nakassendo inland mountain road a distance of 340 miles, for the purpose of seeing the country and visiting Kyoto-the Benares of Japan--which for nearly eleven centuries was the capital of the empire, and the residence of seventy successive mikados. Geographically Kyoto is the center of the empire. It is situated in the province of Yamashiro, nearly in the middle of the narrowest neck of land between, the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. The natural mountain roads slope down and open toward it from the east and -west, and forty miles to the south to the bay of Osaka, the haven of all ships . . .

The long, even streets of the city, with square blocks of buildings interspersed with groves of evergreen trees, from which rise many-sided pagodas, together with the bright waters of the river Kamo and its affluents, all together furnish a picture pleasant and refreshing to the eye, unrivaled even in this land of abounding natural beauty. On the terraced slopes of this hill are numerous tea houses and hotels, surrounded by gardens in which flowers and choice shrubbery are constantly bursting into bloom and filling the air with their fragrance.

Kiyomizu Temple. Kyoto, Japan.
Kiyomizu Temple,
Kyoto, Japan
Uyeno Kiyomizu-do no Sakura.
Kawase Hasui.

The industries of Kyoto are chiefly porcelain, lacquer, fans, silk and bronze. It is well known that Japan-excels in beautiful creations of ceramic art, and nowhere is it carried to so great perfection as in Kyoto. Silk has been cultivated in Japan since the beginning of the third century, now forms nearly one half of the export trade of the country, and Kyoto has always been the principal seat of this industry.

The weaving establishments are located together in one quarter of the city. The houses are poor and small, each containing about twenty looms, and give no outward indication of the importance of the work carried on within; yet the gold brocades, heavy silks, velvets, figured cloths and lighter fabrics in rich dyes or uncolored are wonderful as to quality and value. The skill displayed in these manufactures has often excited the admiration of foreign experts.

. . . When the bell connected with the temple of Daiburo is hung in its tower and ready for dedication a messenger from Iyeyasu, the shogun, arrived with orders that it should not be struck, giving a reason that a certain passage in the inscription on the bell prophesied the downfall of the shogun. Iyeyasu was at this time seventy-three years of age, and jealous of Hideyori, a youth, of twenty-two, and heir to the shogunate. Hideyori was to have taken part in the ceremony of the dedication, and Iyeyasu knowing this, was glad of the occasion for provoking a quarrel by which his powerful rival might be got out of the way. The pretext succeeded; Hideyori was sacrificed and the shogunate remained in the family of lyeyasu until the office of shogun was abolished by the restoration of the Mikado to personal control to 1868. The following are a few extracts from the long inscription on the bell, cut deep in Chinese characters into the metal:

Kyoto Bridge by Moonlight, 1855

Hiroshige.

Ando Hiroshige

Ando Hiroshige was born in Edo (Tokyo), the son of a samurai and fireman. At the age of twelve, both his parents died. Two years later, in 1811, the young Hiroshige received a chance to join the famous Utagawa painting school. At that time, the ukiyo-e master Toyohiro Utagawa was the head of the studio. In 1812 he was formally allowed to take the name Utagawa. From then on he called himself Utagawa Hiroshige. In the ukiyo-e literature he is usually referenced as Hiroshige Ando.

The first work by Utagawa Hiroshige was a book illustration published in 1818, when he was 21 years old. Until 1830, Hiroshige created prints in the traditional style learned from his master Toyohiro Utagawa. Typical subjects out of that time were Kabuki actors prints, beautiful women and a few warrior prints.

From 1830 on, Hiroshige Utagawa tried his luck with a new genre - landscape prints. One of his great masterpieces is the series Tokaido gojusan-tsugi no uchi created from 1833 to 1834 with 55 Hiroshige prints in oban format. In literature you will find slightly varying English translations such as Fifty-three Stages of the Tokaido or From the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido.

"The temple is built its steep roof is high up to the blue sky, and its crystalline base reaches to the bottom of the earth. Its thousand pillars and posts stand, high with beams and rafters placed upon them, and some parts are adorned splendidly, and some parts are carved beautifully.

The beautiful gate stands loftily at the front with corridor surrounding the grounds.

This is, indeed, the most splendid temple in the world', and everybody, even deity itself, bows down, struck with its magnificence. Besides all this the great bell was made for the purpose of indicating the morning and evening hours.

It can be heard up to heaven and down to hell, and there is no place where its sound like thunder cannot be heard. It opens the ears of mankind, and of the evil ones, and makes them aware of their wickedness."

But the great bell was destined never to ring. When I saw it in 1878 it was resting upon blocks of stone in the open court.

The goddess of mercy. The verandah of this temple was formerly used as a gallery for the practice of archery, the length of the range being several hundred feet. It is said that there here some wonderful shooting matches were held, in the days of bows and arrows, before gunpowder came into use. One clever marksman hit the bull's eye eight thousand out of ten thousand times. The temple was once a fine building, now falling into decay.

. . . These temples are built of the finest timber and the workmanship is of the highest class. The pillars and shrines are covered with heavy gliding apparently regardless of expense. The carvings and paintings on the ceilings and walls are masterpieces of art. Taken together with their surroundings these temples may be classed with the chief objects of interest in this ancient capital, if not in the whole of Japan.

The emperor was considered a god, and his dwelling a temple, therefore the imperial residence within the precincts of the city was called the Omiya Gosho (temple palace). It is by no means as imposing in appearance as some of the temples in its neighborhood, or as the military stronghold of the Shoguns of the sixteenth century the castle of Nijo that lifts its majestic towers on the other side of the city.

Within the walls surrounding the palace are clustered numerous houses of various dimensions, in some of which the sovereigns were accustomed to execute the highest officers of the state, while in others they resided with their families and closest attendants. These houses are mostly of simple 'form, and in exterior so plain as to present no appearance of intentional decoration. Some of them, however, are adorned within in the highest style of Japanese art; with elaborate and costly paintings, carvings and tapestries, all especially wrought for the emperor's use, and of a character not permitted to be elsewhere reproduced.

The prosperity of Kyoto was seriously injured by the abrupt removal of the court to Tokyo in 1868. It had been the imperial dwelling place for over 1,000 years. It was the scene, at regular intervals, of important political gatherings. It had been the resort of pilgrims, pleasure seekers, artists and literary coteries for a score of generations. Its "floating population" was therefore exceptionally large, and of thus it was in great part forever deprived by the migration of the court. Although it was never again to become the seat of government, there were sufficient reasons why it should not be suffered to fall into decay. Among other devices for its relief was that of an industrial exhibition, which was opened in the spring of 1872. The result was so happy that its repetition annually was forthwith decreed. Never before had the city been so filled with visitors of every degree; foreigners were admitted for the first time, and did not abuse their privileges, and the financial condition of the old city was once more rosy and blooming.

The first three expositions were held in the grounds of various temples: that of 1875 was held in the former palace of the Mikado--precincts that since the first occupation in 794 had been inaccessible except to the imperial "descendants of the gods" and their loftiest followers. No more striking proof of the complete overthrow of conventional forms and effete superstition could have been given than the surrender of this spot, so long the haunt of sacred mysteries, to the prosaic purposes of utilitarian progress. All who know anything of Japan are aware that the reverence once attached to the person and residence of the Mikado was of a nature that exceeded infinitely every other sense of humility and devotion. In the eyes of the multitude he was literally a god, and in the eyes of the enlightened he was the impersonation of a majesty that transcended the glory of anything that could be considered human. All the forms, of divinity that hedged about this sovereign were consecrated alike by the cherished traditions of the people and by the loyalty of the ruling classes, into a system that had persisted through the ages. His name might not be uttered by mortal tongue. His face might not be seen, except by such as nearly approached him in rank. When he moved about in his car of state, the highways were deserted and the regions over which he passed were hushed as in the silence of death. But when the court took flight to the new capital the glamour began to fade from the eyes of the nation, and when the gardens and palace halls of Kyoto wore thrown open to the public, and the shrine of unceremonial spiritual supremacy was converted into a bustling repository of industry and trade, it might be said that the extremes of old and new Japan had met and that that the last shadow of the ancient superstition "the divine descent of the Mikado" had disappeared forever.

The industries of Kyoto are chiefly porcelain, lacquer, fans, silk and bronze. It is well known that Japan excels in beautiful creations of ceramic art, and nowhere is it carried to so great perfection as in Kyoto. Silk has been cultivated in Japan since the beginning of the third century, and now forms nearly one half of the export trade of the country. Kyoto has always been the principal seat of this industry. The weaving establishments are located together in one quarter of the city. The houses are poor and small, each containing about twenty looms, and give no outward indication of the importance of the work carried on within; yet the gold brocades, heavy silks, velvets, figured cloths and lighter fabrics in rich dyes or uncolored are wonderful as to quality and value. The skill displayed in these manufactures has often excited the admiration of foreign experts.

Kyoto. Hiroshige.
Cool of the Evening at Shijo Riverbed
Utagawa Hiroshige

The society of Kyoto is the gayest in all the land, noted for refinement of manners and taste in dress. During the hot summer evenings, the people in large numbers resort to the river, where the proprietors of the tea houses that line the banks of the Kamo, place matted platforms on the bed of the shallow stream that brawls and babbles over acres of fine pebbles; here companies of well-dressed people may be seen, sitting around the light of thousands of colored lanterns and flaring torches, or flitting about in picnic parties, entertained with music, pantomime and other forms of amusement. There fashion and beauty flaunt at will and nothing can excel the good nature, the kindly feeling and the decent, orderly behavior of a Japanese crowd. The whole scene witnessed from one of the high bridges, is a picture of life in some of its social unbendings exceedingly pleasant to look upon. In the afternoons companies of friends may be seen on matted platforms plated, beneath the wide bridges, spending the hours in reading, conversation games, tea drinking and gossip. The hotel where I lodged was situated on the bank of the river near one of those bridges, so that I had full opportunity for observing this hashiano shita no suzumi (enjoying the cool under the bridge).

GEORGE COCHRAN, D D
(Copyright, 1895, by R. Garner Curran.)

"Enjoying The Fireworks And The Cool Of The Evening At Ryogoku Bridge In The Eastern Capital"

Utagawa Hiroshige

Maiko Street, Kyoto, Japan.

Maiko Street, Kyoto, Japan

Frank Carter


Floating World of Ukiyo-E: Shadows, Dreams and SubstanceFloating World of Ukiyo-E: Shadows, Dreams and Substance. Dr. Sandy Kita.
Dr. Sandy Kita
An essay on the actual definition of Ukiyo-e and how it may have been misrepresented as "floating world" or "sorrowful world" heads the book. A discussion of class in Japan and its placement of artisans, warlords, and merchants shows that Ukiyo-e was a strong socio-political statement as well as a thing of beauty. Ships, Shipping, Migration, World Seaports.The colourful woodblock prints that are the most popular form of Japanese art; this book introduces the little-seen collection held by the Library of Congress. This collection, one of the largest outside Japan, has never been exhibited and has rarely been handled. This book includes known masterpieces by such names as Hokusai, Hiroshige and Kunisada, as well as rare and unusual prints previously unexplored. The bibliography--which covers 309 items and runs more than 20 pages--is a superb guide to woodblock-printed books in the Library of Congress.

53 Stations of the Tokaido.

The 53 Stations of the Tokaido
Station Forty-Eight

Ando Hiroshige

53 Stations of the Tokaido.

The 53 Stations of the Tokaido

Ando Hiroshige

Russian Views of Japan, 1792-1913: An Anthology of Travel Writing, David N. WellsRussian Views of Japan.

Russian Views of Japan

Before Japan was "opened up" in the 1850s, contact with Russia as well as other western maritime nations was extremely limited. Yet from the early eighteenth century onwards, as a result of their expanding commercial interests in East Asia and the North Pacific, Russians had begun to encounter Japanese and were increasingly eager to establish diplomatic and trading relations with Japan. This book presents rare narratives written by Russians - explorers, official envoys, scholars and, later, tourists - who visited Japan between 1792 and 1913. The introduction and notes set these narratives in the context of the history of Russo-Japanese relations and the genre of European travel writing, showing how the Russian writers combined ethnographic interests with the assertion of Russian and European values, simultaneously inscribing power relations and negotiating cultural difference. Students of Japanese history, nineteenth-century Russia, literature and cultural studies will find this book an invaluable insight|into the contact between two civilizations at a time when they were particularly ignorant of each other.

Servants of the Dynasty:
Palace Women in World History
(California World History Library)
Ships, Shipping, Migration, World Seaports.

Anne Walthall, Professor of History, University of California
Palace Women in World History by Anne Walthall.Ships, Shipping, Migration, World Seaports.Mothers, wives, concubines, entertainers, attendants, officials, maids, drudges. By offering the first comparative view of the women who lived, worked, and served in royal courts around the globe, this work opens a new perspective on the monarchies that have dominated much of human history. Written by leading historians, anthropologists, and archeologists, these lively essays take us from Mayan states to twentieth-century Benin in Nigeria, to the palace of Japanese Shoguns, the Chinese Imperial courts, eighteenth-century Versailles, Mughal India, and beyond. Together they investigate how women's roles differed, how their roles changed over time, and how their histories can illuminate the structures of power and societies in which they lived. This work also furthers our understanding of how royal courts, created to project the authority of male rulers, maintained themselves through the reproductive and productive powers of women.

Murasaki Shikibu.

Murasaki Shikibu, Japanese Courtier
Author of Genji Monagatari (The Tale of GenjiMurasaki Shikibu..)


1899. World's Fleet. Boston Daily Globe

Lloyds Register of Shipping gives the entire fleet of the world as 28,180 steamers and sailing vessels, with a total tonnage of 27,673,628, of which 39 perent are British.

Great Britain10,990 vessels, total tonnage of 10,792,714
United States 3,010 vessels, total tonnage of 2,405,887
Norway 2,528 vessels, tonnage of 1,604,230
Germany 1,676 vessels, with a tonnage of 2,453,334, in which are included her particularly large ships.
Sweden 1,408 vessels with a tonnage of 643, 527
Italy1,150 vessels
France 1,182 vessels
   

For Historical Comparison
Top 10 Maritime Nations Ranked by Value (2017)

  Country # of Vessels

Gross

Tonnage

(m)

Total

Value

(USDbn)

1 Greece 4,453 206.47 $88.0
2 Japan 4,317 150.26 $79.8
3 China 4,938 159.71 $71.7
4 USA 2,399 55.92 $46.5
5 Singapore 2,662 64.03 $41.7
6 Norway 1,668 39.68 $41.1
7 Germany 2,923 81.17 $30.3
8 UK 883 28.78 $24.3
9 Denmark 1,040 36.17 $23.4
10 South Korea 1,484 49.88 $20.1
Total 26,767 87.21 $466.9

The Project

Maritime Nations, Ships, Sea Captains, Merchants, Merchandise, Ship Passengers and VIPs sailing into San Francisco during the 1800s.

SITE SEARCH

HOME PORT

Merchant Shipping

Merchant Shipping.Merchant Shipping and Ancient Commerce.  
History of Merchant Shipping and Ancient CommerceMerchant Shipping and Ancient Commerce.
W. S. Lindsay
Cambridge

Kindly Kindly Donate.

Inquiries

DALevy @
MaritimeHeritage.org



MaritimeHeritage.org
MaritimeHeritageProject.com
MaritimeHeritage.co
MaritimeNations.com
MaritimeHeritage.us
MaritimeHeritage.education
MaritimeHeritage.world

Sources: As noted on entries and through research centers including National Archives, San Bruno, California; CDNC: California Digital Newspaper Collection; San Francisco Main Library History Collection; and Maritime Museums and Collections in Australia, China, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Wales, Norway, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, etc.

Please inform us if you link from your site. Please do NOT link from your site unless your site specifically relates to immigration in the 1800s, family history, maritime history, international seaports, and/or California history.