[7] Great numbers of the Japanese musicians, as Kämpfer tells us in another place, are blind men, who constitute a sort of order or society which boasts as its legendary founder a certain general of the family of the Heiji, who, at the time of the civil war which ended in the destruction of that family, was taken prisoner by Yoritomo. Notwithstanding repeated attempts at escape, he was very kindly treated, and was pressed to enter into the service of his captor. But, not being able to look upon the destroyer of the Heiji without an irresistible desire to kill him, not to be outdone in generosity, he plucked out his eyes and presented them to Yoritomo on a plate!
There is another—more ancient, but less numerous—order of the blind, composed exclusively of ecclesiastical persons, and claiming as its founder a legendary prince, who cried himself blind at the death of his beautiful mistress.
The blind are numerous, and disorders of the eyes are very common in Japan.
[8] Froez, in one of his letters, defines this Japanese word as signifying a kind of salted vegetable, like olives. It seems to include all kinds of refreshment occasionally offered to visitors.
[9] The total expense of the entire journey, including the presents to the emperor and others, is estimated by Kämpfer at twenty thousand rix dollars, equivalent to about the same number of our dollars.
[10] The fox is regarded by the Japanese as a sort of divinity, though, according to Siebold, they seem in doubt whether to reckon it a god or devil. If a Japanese is placed in circumstances of doubt or difficulty, he sets out a platter of rice and beans as a sacrifice to his fox; and if the next day any of it is gone, that is regarded as a favorable omen. Wonderful stories (equal to any of our spirit-rapping miracles) are told of the doings of these foxes. Titsingh gives the following by way of specimen: The grandfather of his friend, the imperial treasurer of Nagasaki, and who had in his time filled the same office, despatched one day a courier to Yedo with very important letters for the councillors of state. A few days after he discovered that one of the most important of the letters had been accidentally left out of the package,—a forgetfulness which exposed him to great disgrace. In his despair he recurred to his fox and offered him a sacrifice. The next morning he saw, to his great satisfaction, that some of it had been eaten; after which, upon going into his cabinet, the letter which he had forgotten to send was nowhere to be found. This caused him great uneasiness, till he received a message from his agent at Yedo, who informed him that, upon opening the box which contained the despatches, the lock of it appeared to have been forced by a letter pressed in between the box and its cover from without,—the very same letter, as it proved, left behind at Nagasaki. The more intelligent, says Titsingh, laugh at this superstition, but the great body of the people have firm faith in it. There are in Japan, according to Siebold, two species of foxes, very much like the ordinary ones of Europe and America, and, from the immunity which they enjoy, great nuisances. The white fox, of which the skin is much prized, is found only in the Kurile Islands.
[11] Of these pearls Kämpfer says, in another place, that they are found almost everywhere about Kiūshiū in oysters and several other sea shells. Everybody is at liberty to fish for them. Formerly the natives had little or no value for them till they were sought for by the Chinese. The Japanese pretend, as to one particular kind, that when put into a box full of a peculiar sort of complexion-powder made of another shell, one or two young pearls will grow out at the sides, and when they come to maturity, as they do in two or three years, will drop off; but Kämpfer, having never seen this phenomenon, is not willing to vouch for its reality.
[12] The same tree Kämpfer found on his return (May 6) in full blossom, and a very beautiful sight. It was noticed as still standing in 1826, by Siebold, who found it by measurement to be fifty feet in circumference.
[13] Caron also speaks of these springs, some of which he describes as intermittent. Some are boiling hot, and their waters had been used, as we have seen, in the torture of the Catholics. They are all found in a volcanic mountain, having several craters which eject black sand and smoke. In the interior of the province of Higo, on the opposite shore of the gulf of Shimabara, is another volcano. The province of Satsuma is entirely volcanic, and off its southern extremity is an island that burns incessantly.—Klaproth, from Japanese authorities, “Asiatic Journal,” vol. xxx.
[14] On Kämpfer’s second journey to Yedo (1692), the second night was passed at Kurume, which they reached by crossing the bay of Shimabara in boats, thus leaving the principality of Ōmura and the city of Saga on their left. The next day at noon they struck into the road followed on the first journey.