. Old and new Japan . has not been, at least inthe past, inspired (as might be supposed) chiefly by affec-tion for the Mikados person. For, truth to tell, many ofthe rulers of Japan have possessed little in their personalcharacters to inspire either affection or enthusiasm ; and,indeed, have in feudal times been so isolated from personalcontact with their subjects at large, that they have beento most little more than regal abstractions, in whosepersons, however, has dwelt the dignity and power whichhas descended upon them in an unbroken line for twenty-five centuries. With the present Mikado,
. Old and new Japan . has not been, at least inthe past, inspired (as might be supposed) chiefly by affec-tion for the Mikados person. For, truth to tell, many ofthe rulers of Japan have possessed little in their personalcharacters to inspire either affection or enthusiasm ; and,indeed, have in feudal times been so isolated from personalcontact with their subjects at large, that they have beento most little more than regal abstractions, in whosepersons, however, has dwelt the dignity and power whichhas descended upon them in an unbroken line for twenty-five centuries. With the present Mikado, an element ofpersonal regard has become possible from his progressivepolicy, and the innovations which he has from time to timemade with the view of getting into more intimate touchwith his people. Another extraordinary circumstance in connection withthe evolution of the Japanese character and race, is thefact that, whilst the nation was by some mysterious powerkept a virile and patriotic people through the enervating. TO THESE TEMPLES COME A SUCCESSION OF WORSHIPPERS. LEGENDARY GENESIS OF JAPAN 21 centuries of the Long Peace, its nominal rulers have onmany occasions sunk to the lowest depths of nearly ten centuries the reins of power were heldby ambitious nobles, chief amongst whom have been theFujiwara, the Raira, the Minamoto, the Ashikaga, theHojo, and the Tokugawa, whose principal interest andaim it was always to curb the power of the Mikado, or soto control the succession that the throne was occupied bya child or a weakling. But, notwithstanding this, those who vested in them-selves the real power always had to reckon with thepopular devotion to the Emperor idea, and to shapetheir policy accordingly ; and, however powerful a feudallord has in the past become, or however over-masteringhis ambition (unlike what has frequently occurred in othercountries), in Japan it has never been possible for him toattain the supreme power, to actually reign or to found a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidoldnewja, booksubjectjapan
