JAPANESE PEASANTRY.
The mikados being thus regarded as semi-divinities, it is not surprising that the very excess of veneration showed them tended more and more to weaken their actual power. They were too sacred to be brought much into contact with ordinary mortals, too sacred even to have their divine countenances looked upon by any but a select few. Latterly it was only the nobles immediately around him that ever saw the mikado’s face; others might be admitted to the imperial presence, but it was only to get a glimpse from behind a curtain of a portion of the imperial form, less or more according to their rank. When the mikado went out into the grounds of his palace in Kioto, matting was spread for him to walk upon; when he left the palace precincts he was borne in a sedan chair, the blinds of which were carefully drawn down. The populace prostrated themselves as the procession passed, but none of them ever saw the imperial form. In short, the mikados ultimately became virtual prisoners. Theoretically gifted with all political knowledge and power, they were less the masters of their own actions than many of the humblest of their subjects. Although nominally the repositories of all authority, they had practically no share in the management of the national affairs. The isolation in which it was deemed proper that they should be kept, prevented them from acquiring the knowledge requisite for governing, and even had that knowledge been obtained, gave no opportunity for its manifestation.
From the death of Jimmu Tenno to that of Kimmei, in whose reign Buddhism was introduced, A.D. 571, there were thirty mikados. During this period of one thousand three hundred and thirty-six years, believed to be historic by most Japanese, the most interesting subjects are the reforms of Sujin Tenno, the military expeditions to eastern Japan by Yamato-Dake, the invasion of Corea by the Empress Jingo Kogo, and the introduction of Chinese civilization and Buddhism.
Sujin—or Shujin, B.C. 97-30, was a man of intense earnestness and piety. His prayers to the gods for the abatement of a plague were answered, and a revival of religious feeling and worship ensued. He introduced many forms in the practices of religion and the manners of life. He appointed his own daughter priestess of the shrine and custodian of the symbols of the three holy regalia, which had hitherto been kept in the palace of the mikado. This custom has continued to the present time, and the shrines of Uji in Ise, which now hold the sacred mirror, are always in charge of a virgin princess of imperial blood.
The whole life of Sujin was one long effort to civilize his half savage subjects. He regulated taxes, established a periodical census, and encouraged the building of boats. He may also be called the father of Japanese agriculture, since he encouraged it by edict and example, ordering canals to be dug, water courses provided, and irrigation to be extensively carried on.
The energies of this pious mikado were further exerted in devising a national military system whereby his peaceably[peaceably] disposed subjects could be protected, and the extremities of his realm extended. The eastern and northern frontiers were exposed to the assaults of the wild tribes of Ainos, who were yet unsubdued. Between the peaceful agricultural inhabitants and the untamed savages a continual border war existed. A military division of the empire into four departments was made, and a shogun or general appointed over each. The half subdued inhabitants in the extremes of the realm needed constant watching, and seem to have been as restless and treacherous as the indians on our own frontiers. The whole history of the extension and development of the mikado’s empire is one of war and blood, rivalling that of our own country in its early struggles with the Indians. This constant military action and life in a camp resulted, in the course of time, in the creation of a powerful and numerous military class, who made war professional and hereditary. It developed that military genius and character which so distinguish the modern Japanese and mark them in such strong contrast with other nations of eastern Asia.
Towards the end of the first century A.D., Yamato-Dake, son of the emperor Keiko, reduced most of the Ainos of the north to submission. These savages fought much after the manner of the North American Indian, using their knowledge of woodcraft most effectually, but the young prince with a well equipped army embarked on a fleet of ships and reaching their portion of the island, fought them until they were glad to surrender.
JAPANESE GOD OF WAR.