The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2 / Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristics

by J. G. Wood

For those who can afford so expensive a luxury, the usual mode of conveyance is a sort of palanquin called a Norimon. It is a square cage, hung from a pole, and carried by four men, two in front and two behind. For Japanese travellers this is a very comfortable conveyance, but for Europeans, who are not accustomed to the crouching attitude so characteristic of the Japanese, even a short journey in a norimon is a source of torture, the unfortunate passenger finding great difficulty in getting into the machine, and, when the journey is over, almost as much difficulty in getting out again, his limbs being stiff and cramped by the position into which they have been forced.

The pole of the norimon is stout, and very long; and it is a matter of rivalry between young and fashionable men to have their norimon poles as long and as profusely decorated as possible. When the coolies carry the norimon, they hoist it on their shoulders at a signal from their master, and step along at some three miles an hour. In many parts the coolies much resemble the palanquin bearers of India, but are in this respect superior, that they travel in silence, and do not weary the soul of their master by the perpetual grunts and moans with which the Indian bearers are accustomed to lighten their journey.

Uncomfortable as is the norimon, there is a popular conveyance which is even more painful to European limbs. This is called the Cango, and it bears about the same relationship to the norimon as a wheelbarrow does to a carriage. Indeed, if the reader can imagine the wheel, the legs, and handle of a wheelbarrow to be removed, and the body of the machine to be hung from a pole, he can form some idea of a cango. In the norimon the inmate has to crouch, in the cango he has almost to tie himself in a knot. Yet the Japanese limbs are so supple, that cango employers travel for many successive hours without being in the least oppressed by the attitude which they are compelled to assume. Cangos are largely used in Japan, and are indeed what cabs are to Londoners, the norimons supplying the place of carriages.

When a great noble or Daimio travels, he always uses the norimon, partly because it is the most luxurious conveyance which he knows, and partly because it gives him an excuse for displaying the strength of his retinue, which is about the only mode of ostentation known to the Japanese. The norimon is preceded by some of the men called Samourais, or Yaconins, i. e. men who are permitted to attach themselves to his service, and thereby to gain the privilege of wearing two swords. As their master passes along, they continually utter the word “Shitanirio!” i. e. kneel down, whereupon every one that hears it must at once prostrate himself on the ground, or remain erect at his peril. The most serious quarrels that have arisen between strangers and the natives in Japan have originated in this custom, the strangers either not knowing the custom, or refusing to comply with it lest they should compromise the dignity of their nation. Refusing to obey such an order is sure to cause a quarrel, and is likely to end in loss of life, as the Yaconins who give the order to kneel are always ready to enforce obedience with their swords.

Around the norimon is a crowd of servants, each wearing his master’s badge on his back, and each armed according to his rank. Some led horses generally accompany the procession, so that the great man may ride when he is tired of the norimon, and a number of coolies bear umbrellas covered with waterproof cases, and large boxes on poles. These boxes are almost invariably empty, but are conventionally supposed to contain the stores of baggage without which so great a man could not be expected to stir. Superior officers in norimons, and inferior officers on horseback, accompany the procession, for which a passage is kept by a number of men fantastically dressed in harlequin-like suits of various colors. Each of them carries a long iron rod, to which are attached a number of rings made of the same metal. As they walk they strike the end of the rod against the ground at each step, so that a clashing sort of jingle is produced, and strikes awe into the people.

That the Japanese should be such poor horsemen is very singular, considering the marvellous perfection to which they have brought other athletic exercises. As “acrobats” the performers are far superior to those of any other nation, performing the most audacious and apparently impossible feats with an absolute precision which quite removes any idea of danger.

Until the Japanese gymnasts came to this country, we were inclined to treat the accounts of travellers as exaggerated, but they proved to be capable of performing any feats which our professional athletes could achieve, and many others which they never even dreamt of attempting. For example, nothing seems much more difficult than for a man to lie on his back and balance on the soles of his feet a ladder thirty feet high. But when we add that to the top of the ladder a second ladder was attached at right angles, like the top of the letter F, and that a boy went up and down the ladder, and even crawled to the end of the cross piece and there hung by his instep, while the ladder was balanced on the soles of the reclining man’s feet, we appear to be romancing rather than relating a fact. Yet this astonishing performance was repeated day after day, and nothing was more wonderful than the elaborate perfection and finish of the performance. The heavy ladder was placed on the upturned feet, and in a moment it was as steady as if it had been planted in the ground. Though, owing to the crosspiece, it was considerably inclined, its steadiness was not impaired, and even when the boy ascended and descended it, causing the centre of gravity to be continually altered, there was not the slightest wavering perceptible.

So with the other feats achieved by these remarkable performers. Everything was done with the deliberation which forms an essential part of the Japanese nature, but there were no needless delays, and whether the man was balancing the ladder on his feet, or whether he was spinning tops and making them act as if they were rational beings, or whether he was making two paper butterflies flutter about as if they were real insects, the same quiet perfection characterized the whole of the performance, and every feat was done with such consummate ease that it looked as if it really required no skill at all. The extraordinary life which the Japanese performers contrive to infuse into inanimate objects is almost incredible. Had not the feat been actually seen, it would be scarcely possible to believe that a top could be spun, and then launched off to perform the following feats without being even touched:—

It ascended an inclined plane to a temple, the doors of which were closed. It knocked open one of the doors, entered the temple, waited inside some time, and then knocked open another door at right angles to the former, and emerged. It then went over an inclined bridge, entered another temple, and went up stairs, emerging at an upper story. It then proceeded along an inclined plane standing at right angles to the temple, and passed over a drawbridge, which was immediately lifted, leaving a gap over which the top had to pass in order to get back again. However, by the loosing of a catch, the top was flung over the gap, and went on as gayly as ever, finishing with entering a third temple, ringing a bell inside, coming out again, and running over two more bridges into the hands of the spinner, having traversed some forty feet, besides the work in the temples.

The same man spun a top upon the edge of a sword, making it pass from one end of the blade to the other. He flung the top in the air and threw the string at it: the top caught the middle of the string by the peg, wound itself up, and was again flung into the air, spinning faster than before. It was then caught on the slender stem of a pipe, along which it ran as if alive, was passed behind the back, and caught again in front, and lastly, was received upon the hem of the sleeve, made to spin up the garment, over the neck and shoulders, and down the sleeve of the opposite side. It was also made to spin upon a slight string stretched from the wall, and to pass backward and forward as long as the spinner chose.