A Journal from Japan: A Daily Record of Life as Seen by a Scientist. Marie Carmichael Stopes

It was perfectly exquisite in snowy white, soft straw colour, and grey—I took the shoes from off my feet. It belonged to the widow of an officer killed in the war and her daughter; and as a most exceptional favour I am to be allowed to take part of the house and live with them as a kind of lodger. I could sing for joy. My rooms, of course, are small, but exquisite as a sea-shell; I shall live as nearly as possible in true Japanese style. The house is on rising ground, fifteen minutes from the Botanical Gardens, in a part that is almost country, near a great Buddhist Temple; the air fresh and inspiring after that on the flats down here in Tsukiji.

      August 12.—Glorious weather. I conveyed my luggage to my house and found that boxes look detestably out of place in such a dwelling, and appear more unutterably hideous than ever.

      In the afternoon I had tea in the big summer-house in the Botanical Gardens. The room is really a good-sized lecture hall, only flat and open after Japanese style; the three side walls had their screens taken out, and so we looked on to the lakes and streams of the landscape garden. At tea there was quite a party. Professor M—— most kind and jolly—also several of the younger botanists, and the Director of the Geological Survey, representing both himself and the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, within whose jurisdiction I come.

      The Stimmung is strange and fascinating, and quite indescribable. Professor M—— is in Japanese dress; real Japanese tea (totally unlike our tea) and real Japanese cakes, also as unlike cakes as possible. One is a kind of jelly, made of seaweed, and is very nice. I had my first lesson in eating with chop-sticks, and have “graduated.”

      I had dinner with Dr. M—— and Professor F——, and then returned for my first night in a true Japanese house. It is a myth that the daughter of the house can speak English, and so I have to speak Japanese! They all kneel on the matting and touch the floor with their hands and foreheads, and I do a half-hearted imitation of the courtesy. It crushes my frocks, but otherwise does me no harm to be polite. The matting on the floor is delightful, so springy to walk on as well as pleasing to the eye.

      

      My futons (soft, thick quilt-like mats) are beauties—silk and velvet—and I feel ashamed to lie on them. The mosquito curtains are nearly as big as the room, and make a high, four-square tent when erected, but everything is put away in the day, and no sign of sleeping remains; hence everything gets aired and there is no possibility of dust collecting under beds. In many of the household arrangements we are far behind the Japanese. They have reduced simplicity to a fine art. The bath, where one sits upright instead of lying down, is most comfortable; but of course mine was too hot after a short time in it, as the fire is inside it, and I had to rush out and get help—in Japanese!

      At night the stillness was absolute, but the strangeness of the day kept sleep away.

      August 13.—If things go on at this rate, my Journal must cease to record anything but bald facts. I visited the Imperial University, a series of buildings scattered among landscape gardens and little patches of wood, covering many acres. I saw the specimens of all kinds in the Geological Museum from Hokkaido preparatory to going there, and after that I was taken to lunch in another open house in the midst of the University grounds, looking down on a lake called the Goten. Afterwards I was allowed to examine further specimens, and then went to a tea-party at Professor F——‘s house—a gem of a house, with three little distinct gardens. We had the most wonderful dishes of quaintly decorated rice and seaweed, fish, and cakes. I am glad to say chop-sticks are now mastered. This afternoon’s visit deserves a chapter instead of a paragraph. I dined alone in the same restaurant as with the party last night, the food European, but all else Japanese. On my way home I bargained in the shops for some trifles and succeeded in buying them. As I passed the great temple near my house and looked across the grove of trees toward it, I saw the wonderful Fujii mountain standing out against a sky of crimson and gold, with a crescent moon riding near—a view never to be forgotten.

      One of the events of the day was a long newspaper interview, and when I returned at 8 o’clock there was another reporter most politely waiting for another interview—a nice, polite, pretty boy, who sat on the floor and bowed and wrote down my honourable views on Japanese houses, people, and customs, and on other things in general. It appears, that though I have not been aware of it, the papers have published endless “facts” about me—perhaps it is as well they are in Japanese characters and therefore a sealed book to me. I have protested my little best against the erection of hideous red brick buildings in this sweet city, a desecration which I see beginning, and I hope they will take it to heart, and forbid their erection.

      August 14.—Some of the Professors kindly took me to visit the Principal of the University in solemn state; he was most gracious, and (through an interpreter) said most ridiculously flattering things. According to him only one “specialist” lady has visited Japan before, and she was elderly. Therefore they all marvel at me, as though I were some curious kind of butterfly! We then visited the Director of the Imperial Geological Survey. The Director is most kind, as is also the chief Inspector of Mines, and they put every facility in my way. The Director gave me all the information he could and the largest geological map of the district, which is very small, only about one-hundredth part of the scale I am accustomed to do geological work with, so that things will be difficult. The Government here has kindly written to the Governor of Hokkaido and to the owners of the Mines, so that I should fare as well as possible. The Director of the Survey gave me an enormous, delightfully cooked, but curious lunch—beginning with cold roast beef and salad, going to hot fish, and then three kinds of meats, and ice-cream! They showed me the Survey Museum; the specimens are just being shifted to a fine new building, but some were arranged, and a few cases had been specially laid out for me. I feel quite ashamed that they take so much trouble for me.

      Tea at Professor M——‘s private house, which is even more fascinating than Professor F——‘s, with a beautiful green garden all round it. He has brought several pictures and many things back from England, and speaks as though he had enjoyed his visit very much. Both Japanese and English tea were served, one after the other, as well as cakes and fruit, which a daintily-dressed maid knelt beside us to prepare.

      August 15.—I spent the day at Enoshima, an island about two hours’ journey from Tokio. It is perfectly exquisite. The island is connected with the mainland by a very long narrow bridge of rickety planks, over the mile of sand which may be covered by the tide, or may be dry, according as the sand drifts year by year. The little island is very steeply hilly and well-wooded, and is laid out in long flights of stone steps up and down the hills, leading to the numerous temples and shrines. It is a sacred island, sacred to the goddess of Luck (and a few others), and except for bazaars, where wonderful shells are sold, and the houses for the pilgrims to rest in, there is almost nothing but temples and shrines on the island. At every turn of the pathway something quaint or pretty meets the eye, while the views out to sea, across to the mainland and other islands, are magnificent. Going across the bridge homeward the wind was so strong that we were nearly blown off it several times, but the waves were grand, and a heavy rainstorm added to the effect.

      August 16.—A day of many final preparations for what is going to be an arduous time in Hokkaido.

      August 17.—Before starting for the northern wilds I received the last pieces of advice and information at the station from the Director of the Survey, Professor M——, Professor F——, Dr. Ye——, and others, who all saw me off, and I am now alone and really started.

      The life in this train is different from anything I have yet seen in trains, yet very comfortable, with dining-car where they cook beside you what you order. Near me was sitting a smart man, cultured-looking, and extremely well-dressed in perfect English style. Thus he remained for an hour; then, the heat being great, he took off his coat, then his waistcoat, and finally came to his shirt alone! Then he pulled over him a loose kimono and removed every stitch but that, finally winding a soft silk sash round his waist and sitting down, all without removing his gold-rimmed glasses or turning a hair! The transformation was extraordinary, and during the whole ridiculous scene, acted within two