Mysterious Japan; . speak briefly of the FeudalEra, the most interesting era of Japanese lasted from the twelfth to the middle of thenineteenth century—that is, throughout the periodduring which Japan was ruled not by its Emperors,but by several successive families of shoguns, or asfor reasons given later they were sometimes called,tycoons. Though the shoguns usurped Imperialpower it is a noteworthy fact that they did not usurpthe throne itself nor attempt to destroy the Imperialfamily, but were content to keep the successiveemperors in a state of impotence. Under theshoguns were th
Mysterious Japan; . speak briefly of the FeudalEra, the most interesting era of Japanese lasted from the twelfth to the middle of thenineteenth century—that is, throughout the periodduring which Japan was ruled not by its Emperors,but by several successive families of shoguns, or asfor reasons given later they were sometimes called,tycoons. Though the shoguns usurped Imperialpower it is a noteworthy fact that they did not usurpthe throne itself nor attempt to destroy the Imperialfamily, but were content to keep the successiveemperors in a state of impotence. Under theshoguns were the daimyos, powerful feudal lordsacting in effect as provincial governors; and eachdaimyo had his samurai, or fighting men, holdingrank in several grades. There was also a class ofsamurai known as ronin who acknowledged nolord as their master, but were independent fightersand trouble-makers. I give this outline becausethese various terms confused me at first. Therewas but one shogun at a tune; the daimyos numbered. Nor is the potency of Ceremonial Tea diminished by the fact that it is served by a lovely little Japanese hand (Above)While Yukis fortune was being told I photographed her (Below) MYSTERIOUS JAPAN 71 between two and three hundred, and it has beenestimated that there were some two million a very few exceptions—among them richfarmers and swordmakers—no one below the rankof samurai could wear a sword. The sword-wearingclass was the ruling class, and ordinary workerswere regarded as of little consequence. A samuraicould strike down with his sword any plebeianwho jostled him by accident, or who as much aslooked at him in a manner which he found rank of samurai corresponded with thatof knights in feudal Europe, and Japanese familieswho are descended from samurai are proud of thefact, precisely as some European families, and indeedsome American families, are proud of having sprungfrom knightly forbears. But to return to our tea. A Zen pries
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookpublishergarde, bookyear1922
