The playground of the Far East

Preface

" The Japan of picturesque romance is passing away, and is being replaced by a land of materialism, which, however prosperous, powerful, and wealthy it may be, can no longer be the universally lovely fairyland that it was when first we knew it."

These words form the conclusion and the summing-up of an interesting and sympathetic review of one of the most recent works on Japan {Japan: The Rise of a Modern Power, by E. P. Porter, Times Literary Supplement, 18th February 1918). Yet, true as the writer's lament may be of the effects wrought by the unpleasing changes that have followed in the wake of modern industrialism in Tokyo and other large cities on the coast, the transformation is far more restricted in its extent than is at all realised by the outside world. For it is possible in a few short hours to pass from the beaten tracks of tourist traffic into what is virtually another state of existence.

There the old order still abides unchanged, in the quaint and picturesque open-air life of the streets, and in that simple courtesy and friendliness of the kindly country folk which helps to make travel in the interior of Japan a thing almost apart ;

vi PREFACE

for to them Western " civilisation " is scarcely even a name, and their normal thoughts and ways are often those of nearly a thousand years ago. Beyond the varied beauties of the Miyanoshita valleys and the "sunlit splendour" of the Nikko hills, there lies a region of hundreds of square miles of almost Alpine grandeur — mountain ranges whose lower slopes, clothed in majestic virgin forests, rise from the solitudes of romantic glens even yet almost unknown to the Western world.

Over twenty years ago I sought to attract attention to these splendid but unfamiliar scenes in an earlier volume [The Japanese Alps), and the following pages mainly represent a further attempt to repeat the call. Meanwhile, the active youth of educated Japan have heard and heeded, and a growing literature of great variety and interest has begun to testify to a new form of mountain-love on the part of the one race which is above all others most sensitive to the fascination of the beauties of Nature.

More than forty years have passed since an eminent and industrious German geographer, referring to the journeys of Sir Ernest Satow and other early English travellers in the Hida-Shinshu " Alpine " regions (styled by him the *' Snow Mountains "), spoke of a fuller investigation of them as a pium desiderium (J. J, Rein, Japan, p. 74). The present volume is offered, partly in the nature of a sujoplement to the former one, as a contribution to that object, the complete realisation of which, however, is only to be hoped for from my Japanese colleagues who have taken up the quest with such ardour and thorough-

PREFACE vii

ness. It is to them I have tlie privilege of dedicating this book, mainly as my own share in their happy and congenial task.

To those of them who have helped me with photographs, or in other ways, 1 offer my warmest thanks, especially to Usui Kojima, Shigekichi Kondo, Juko Shiga, Takazo Takano, and Isuke Tsujimura; to my friend "Chester" Poole, the European doyen of artistic landscape photography in the Kamikochi region ; to Viscount Bryce, O.M., etc. ; Basil Hall Chamberlain, F.E.G.S.; Sir J. G. Frazer, D.C.L, etc.; Prof. H. A. Giles, LL.D., etc. ; Prof. W. Gowland, F.E.S. ; Sir Ernest Satow, G.C.M.G., etc.; Prof. T. G. Tucker, Litt.D. ; and to others who have helped me in various ways, as indicated in the text ; above all, to Mr Douglas Freshfield, late President R.G.S., for much kind counsel and encouragement during many years.

The substance of several chapters has appeared in the Journal of the Alpine Club, and in that of the Royal Geographical Society. To the latter I am indebted for the use of the maps originally drawn for the papers read at its meetings.

The device on the cover forms the badge of the Japanese Alpine Club, with its representation of a mountain peak and snow crystals.

Foreword

BY

Professor SHIGETAKA (JIJKO) SHIGA

To the Memherfi of the Japanese Alpine Club.

Whosoever residing in Japan or in other lands studies mountains or mountaineering in the Japanese Empire can hardly pass without noticing, or referring to, something written by Rev. Walter Weston ; for he has climbed almost all the prominent peaks in the islands, and has written on these subjects for a quarter of a century continuously. Through the energetic and enterprising spirit of our intrepid climber, that is, Rev. Weston, so-called "Japanese Alps " have become known world-wide, and by the influences of his ardent exploitation the Nippon Sangaku - Kwai, or "Japanese Alpine Club," had been founded some twelve years ago. The organisation is the first club of the kind ever formed in Japan, and is now the most authoritative source on the subject. It was only proper that Rev. Weston had been elected the first Honorary Member of the society, he being the only foreign-born member. There are at present only two Honorary Members in the club, Rev. Weston being one and the other my humble self, although the society has in its rolls

X FOREWORD

some seven hundred members, and may, according its constitution and by-laws, elect any deserving person to such honour, not only amongst its members but outside of it.

Apart from these, the name of Rev. Walter Weston is well known amongst the educated class in Japan from the fact that he is not only the first foreign climber of the most prominent Japanese mountains, numbering at least fifteen, but he has trodden many a path on these mountains entirely unbeaten even by the native Japanese themselves.

We are convinced thus that his new work on Japanese mountains, to be published at his home place, London, will be so instructive as well as so popular that the "price of paper in the capital will be enhanced " owing to immense circulation of the book.

Prof. SHIGETAKA (JUKO) SHIGA,

Hon. Mem. the Japanese Alpine Club, Tokyo ; Hon. Cor. Mem. the Royal Geographical Society, London ; Hon. Cor. Mem. the Oeographical Society, Rio de Janeiro.

Contents

CHAP.

I. Inteoductoey .....

II. Mountains and Mankind in Japan

Chapter I

The islands of the Japanese Archipelago have been likened by the fertile fancy of its native geographers and poets to a garland of flowers or a girdle of jewels adorning the western margin of those far Eastern Seas. In prosaic fact they really form the summit ridge of a stupendous mountain chain that rears itself from the profoundest ocean depths yet fathomed. The main features of this gigantic mass quite clearly prove its geological kinship with the Asiatic mainland. The long, sinuous crest of these mountain islands of Japan is nothing less than the advanced frontier of Eastern Asia. The bed of the ocean between Korea and Japan, near the Tsushima Straits, is so shallow that a comparatively slight upheaval of it would afford dry -land communication from one to the other.

The mountain ranges of Japan may roughly be divided into two main systems — Northern and Southern.

The Northern — or Kussian — is known to Japanese geographers as the Karafuto system. Karafuto is the Japanese name for Saghalien, a word representing the aboriginal Ainu term Saharin, or " waveland," in allusion to its mountainous appearance.

The Southern — or Chinese — belongs, geologically, to S.E. China, and runs north-east up through Formosa into the Japanese mainland, or Hondo, as it is now usually known.

These two systems, then, meet in the broadest part of Hondo ; and it is here where the deepest and widest valleys are cleft and the mountain peaks rise to their loftiest heights in the varied and picturesque ranges now known as tlie "Japanese Alps."

The meeting of these two great systems has resulted in terrific upheavals, and here a vast transverse fissure has been formed which crosses Hondo from the Sea of Japan to the Pacific.

It is known to geologists as the Fossa Magna, and through its whole length a line of erupted peaks have thrust themselves up, of which the loftiest is Fujiyama, or Fuji-san (12,400 ft.). This *'Fuji Belt," as it is called, passes out of the mainland southwards, by way of the Hakone hills, into the Pacific Ocean, under the name of the Shichi-to, or " Seven Islands " of Idzu. The most striking of the group is the active volcano of Mihara, on Oshima, or Vries Island, off the coast of Idzu, about 50 miles south-west of Yokohama. The Fossa Magna forms a geological dividing line between the northern and southern parts of the mainland of Japan, whose characteristic features exhibit striking and well-defined contrasts. Whilst the northern region is comparatively low and open, the soutljern, more

OYA-SHIRAZU KO-SHIRAZU 3

particularly in its eastern portion, includes the wildest and most magnificent scenery in the Empire.

The general direction of the great mass of mountains forming the Japanese Alps runs nearly north and south. The northern end rises in steep granite cliffs from the Sea of Japan west of Naoetsu, exactly on the 37th parallel of N. latitude.

The general elevation is about that of the Spanish Sierra Nevada, which it closely resembles in altitude, and distant outline as viewed from the south. Tokyo is on practically the same latitude as Gibraltar. The granite clifiPs at the northern end are called Oya skirazu Ko shirazii, i.e. "knowing neither parents nor children," In ancient times there was neither the modern road cut in the face of the cliffs nor the new railway (opened in 1913) that now pierces them, and therefore the shortest way between the fishing villages on the beach was by making a desperate dash along the shore while the tide was still out. It was a case of sauve qui pent, with no time to help even one's nearest and dearest — hence the name. Eoughly speaking, there is a marked difference in the climatic conditions prevailing at the northern and southern ends of the main chain of the Japanese Alps. In the case of the northern portion, the cold, dry north-westerly winds of winter, that sweep across from Siberia, gather up the moisture over the Japan Sea, and deposit it in a heavy snowfall that frequently buries whole villages. Intercommunication between house and house is then maintained by means of arcades, and the more important buildings are usually identified by means of sign-posts stuck in the snow that covers and conceals the roofs, such as, "The Post Office is below"— "The Police Station will be found underneath this spot."

Fui'ther south, however, near the Pacific coast, a great contrast is met with, for, in place of snowstorms, leaden skies, and biting winds, the winter weather is usually delightfully bright and sunny, and snowfalls are seldom seen.

In spite of the heavy fall of winter snow, which never quite melts in many of the deep and sheltered ravines and near the summits of the higher peaks, no actual glaciers are to be found in the Japanese Alps. An interesting discussion has been going on for some years past as to evidences of glacial action, particularly in the northern range. Notes on this will be found elsewhere in this book, but it may suffice for the present to mention that in the view of the present writer it is a case of "not proven," as the phenomena on which the glacial theory is based are not only slight and inconclusive, but they also seem capable of explanation by other agencies than the action of actual glaciers in bygone times.

In a delightful paper ^ by Mr Douglas W. Freshfield (President, R.G.S., 1914-1917) on his visit to some of these regions in 1913, he compares the general appearance of the main chain to the view of the Bergamasque Alps from the plain of Lombardy. While the upper glens and the forms of the peaks themselves cannot vie with those of the Central Alps of Switzerland, they are more on a level, literally as well as picturesquely, with those of the Alpes Maritimes. A closer view reveals the great influence of an excessive rainfall in modelling the surface of the hills, with

' The Alpine Journal, vol. xxviii.

SCENIC VARIETY AND CHARM 5

their deep and narrow valleys and their sides torn and gashed by waterfalls and streams. The distinctive charm of the scenery mainly lies in the richly wooded gorges, with their exquisite combinations of crag and brilliantly coloured foliage. Only an autumn expedition can reveal these charms in all their varied perfections.

The Japanese Alps comprise two main groups, which I have ventured to call the Northern and Southern Alps, respectively. These terms have now been generally accepted by Japanese geographers and mountaineers.

In the Northern group I have included the great mass which runs nearly north and south, for a distance of nearly 100 miles, from the Sea of Japan to the great sacred volcanic peak of Ontake-san, on the Nakasendo. It is bounded on the west by the provinces of Etchu and Hida, on the east by Echigo and Shinshu. The Southern Alps form the natural boundary between the lower part of Shinshu and Koshu. While the mountains of the Southern range are more massive and densely wooded, it is the peaks of the Northern which exhibit to the highest degree that wonderful variety of form and outline which give to Japanese mountain scenery its most characteristic charm and romance. Mighty volcanoes — extinct, quiescent, or active — alternate with great granite battlements and spires, or with isolated sharppointed monoliths. It is here, moreover, that one receives the most vivid illustrations of those other factors to which that scenery owes so much — the extreme variations of temperature, the abundance of moisture, and the erosive power of the mountain torrents, whose waters rise with extraordinary suddenness, often causing widespread destruction in their lower courses on the melting of the snows in early summer, or, still more, through those typhoons with which the transition from summer to autumn is invariably accompanied.

Add to these factors the efifect of a clear sky and brilliant sunshine during a considerable portion of the year, more especially in spring and autumn, and we have the secret of most of those romantic and varied charms of which one of England's most distinguished travellers and mountaineers has declared that there is probably "no other country that exhibits such an endless variety of natural beauty in the shapes of the mountains and in the rich luxuriance of the trees and flowers." (Lord Bryce in the Alpine Journal, vol. xxix., p. 277.)

The mineral products of the Alpine regions of Japan are varied but not very abundant. A certain amount of silver is found in the north, and smaller quantities of gold in the south, both in " placer " and in quartz veins. A gold mine has been worked for many years in the Hayakawa valley, a tributary of the Fujikawa. In the bed of the Saigawa, near Matsumoto, and at Ohinata a little farther south, asbestos has been found, and is known to have been used for centuries in the manufacture of fire-proof paper, and, more recently, of surgical bandages. To the north-east of the Japanese Alps, in the province of Echigo, between Naoetsu and Niigata, are found the principal oil-fields of Japan, which produce nearly half the total quantity of petroleum used in the Empire. The remaining part comes chiefly from Java.

THE UNIVERSAL MINERAL SPRING 7

In the Southern Alps, on Kimpuzan, are found opals, copper, and the finest crystals in Japan, while gypsum and alabaster are quarried near Toyuka ; and from Suzuri-jima comes the best of the clay slate used for the suzuri or "ink stones" on which the " Chinese ink " is rubbed when writing with the fade or native pen.

Of the numerous mineral springs found in all parts of the Japanese Alps, which form a valuable and welcome compensation for the presence of active volcanoes such as Yakedake, Asamayama, etc., more will be said later on. They are a great asset to the country folk in those regions, who resort to them in their thousands for the sake of health, or to kill time pleasantly in the company of their friends. Whatever else may be thought of the alleged fickleness of the Japanese character, it is certain that their love for hot water has never grown cold. Of one of the most noted sulphur-springs it is maintained that all ailments are curable there, with the exception of the disease of love ! Whilst in some places one now finds separate compartments reserved for those who prefer to bathe more privately, it is usual for both sexes to do so together promiscuously, and there is here no longer found the dividing cord stretched across the big tank to denote "This side for ladies, that for gentlemen," which at one time, in some of the larger towns, was employed out of consideration for the feelings of "foreigners" on the subject. All is conducted with complete decorum and propriety.

The mountain Fauna is interesting and varied. A black bear, sometimes measuring 6 ft. from muzzle to tail, is found all over the Japanese Alps. Boars

B and wolves are sometimes seen, and the Japanese chamois^ is frequently met with. It is a sturdier and less graceful creature than the European variety, and has a bigger head with smaller horns. Badgers, foxes, and hares (which turn white in winter) are quite common, also martens, weasels, and a beautiful little brown squirrel. The badgers and foxes are greatly feared for their powers of bewitching people. In the great pine forests an ugly red-faced monkey has his home. He is extraordinarily cunning, and is said to defend himself by throwing sticks and stones at his pursuers. His dark grey winter fur is beautifully soft and thick.

Birds are not numerous nor very varied, but occasionally a splendid golden eagle is seen among the higher peaks, and in the forests a handsome copper pheasant. Ptarmigan, which turn white in winter, abound in the creeping pine at a height of 8000 or 9000 ft. They are known as rai-cho or " thunder-bird," and are sacred to the God of Thunder. Pictures of them are often hung up in farmers' cottages, as a charm against lightning. The Japanese robin " red-beard " of the Kisogawa region is highly valued as a pet. The uguisu, or so-called Japanese nightingale, a greenish brown bird with white breast, has a full sweet note, and is found all over the moorlands and forests. Its song is not, however, usually associated with night. The best specimens are highly prized, and some fetch as much as 1000 yen (£100).

A romantic legend tells of a samurai who became a monk and retired to the monastery of Koya-san, famed for the cult of Kobo-Daishi, which no woman

1 Capricornus Crispa.

FISHES AND FLOWERS 9

was allowed to enter. His wife, Yokobune, deserted, died of a broken heart, whereupon her spirit, embodied in the form of an uguisu, flew away to find a home in the great cryptomeria forest close by Koya-san. It made its nest in a tree overshadowing the cell of the priest himself, into whose ears it poured forth songs of entrancing sweetness unceasingly, until at last one day its strength finally failed and the bird fell dead in his lap as he kneeled at prayer.

In some of the clear granite streams of Hida, the ** Giant Salamander " has been found, and in many of them the two varieties of trout known as kvaiia and yamame are taken in abundance. Near the north of the range, on the borders of Hida and Echigo, a forest-keeper lately reported the discovery of a pond in which he found not only a carp 10 ft. long but a toad 7 ft. high !

In the meadows of the upper waters of the Adzusa-gawa, near Kamikochi, an experimental cattle-farm has been established by the Nagano Prefectural Government, which seems likely to flourish. But there is little of such pasturage available in these regions, and the absence of cattle on the hillsides, so familiar to us in the Swiss Alps, will always be a disappointing feature of the mountains of Japan.^

The Floi^a of the Japanese Alps is extraordinarily varied. Its peculiar admixture of Alpine and Northern plant forms suggests its transmigration from Kamtschatka and Eastern Siberia, carried thence southwards mainly by the violent monsoons and currents, and then driven up the mountains by valley winds.

On the lower flanks of the hills, up to 6000 to

^ Cf. chap. ix.

7000 ft., stretches a kind of moorland, or prairie, called hara. No one who has not yet seen this "great flower-field," as it has been styled, with its floor of living mosaic, can quite picture the grouping of Japanese plants. Side by side with familiar English wild -flowers grow also many of our favourite ornamental species.

The beautiful Lychnis grandijlora, varieties of handsome lilies, and the noble deep blue of the kikyo [Platycodon grandijlorum) give a truly gorgeous colouring to the face of the field.

Higher up flourish various gentians, tlie Japanese edelweiss, and the delicate soldanella {Schizocodon soldanelloides) ; while a rarer find is the splendid Shortia unijlora, with a tiny dwarf azalea. Beautiful cream-coloured rhododendrons flourish in places up to 7000 ft., and lovely orchids one has gathered up to 9000 ; at 10,000, both on Yarigatake and much farther south, on the Shirane-san of Koshu, I have found that most magnificent of Alpine columbines, Aquilegia Akitensis. The golden petals of the cheerful little Potentilla gelida greet one on nearly all the loftiest summits.

On Hodaka-yama, and on Yatsugatake, near Lake Suwa, I have gathered quantities of wild black-currants, and in many localities varied wild raspberries, strawberries, and bilberries ofier welcome refreshment during summer's parching heat.

On both sides of the Northern Alps we find forests of magnificent sugi (cryptomeria) and hinoki ("fire cypress"). The Jmioki is specially valued for lacquer-ware and for the construction of Shinto temples. The great "Shrine of the Imperial

SACRED AND IMPERIAL TIMBER 11

Ancestors " at Ise, known as the Dai Jingu, is built of hinoki grown in the Government forests in the southern portion of the range, in the "Kiso" region of the province of Shinshu. The building is renewed every twenty years, but it is now stated that a finer quality of timber has lately been found in the hills of Formosa, which will in future replace the Kiso variety. On a mountain near Funatsu, in Hida, a choice variety of yew {araragi) is found, which is highly prized for its handsome red grain. It was from this that the flat baton was made, formerly used as a kind of memorandum tablet by court nobles, but now only carried in the presence of the Emperor on ceremonial occasions as a sign of rank. For this reason the yew is also known as ichi-i no ki ("tree of the first rank"), while the name of the mountain in question near Funatsu is Kurai-yama ("the hill of dignity"). The forest shade in early summer is lightened by wistaria, azaleas, and hydrangea of various tints. A strong, tough creeper called Kurogane modoshi {Kadzura Japonica) is often used in the remoter torrent valleys for bridge-fastenings and hawsers.

The most characteristic of all the higher Alpine vegetation is the go-yo-no-matsu {Pinus pm^viflora), or "five-needle pine," so called from its numerous tiny spikes. It flourishes anywhere between 7000 and 10,000 ft., up to the edge of almost the loftiest ridges, and sometimes forms a densely matted carpet over which it is possible to walk. It is usually some 3 or 4 ft. in height, but occasionally, as on the north ar^te of Kaigane-san, in Koshu, it is found three or four times that size.

The farmer of these mountain regions is surely the most industrious person in the world. Wherever anything can be made to grow, his ingenuity and diligence take their toll of nature.

The weathered lava of the volcanic districts produces some of the best soil in Japan, and the granite areas are specially favourable for rice, hemp, tea, etc. The province of Shinshu, on the east flanks of the main chain, is the most important silk-producing district in the country, and is noted for the brilliancy of its silk. During the " season," mainly in August, the 0 ho sama ("honourable little gentleman"), as the precious worm is entitled, is the main preoccupation of a large part of the country folk, and his voracious appetite keeps a whole household busy day and night. For this reason it is often difficult to obtain accommodation at the inns, or the services of baggage-coolies for mountain travel.

Rice and potatoes are grown up to 4000 ft., then come barley, buckwheat, and millet up to 5000. A story is told, to illustrate the energy with which intensive cultivation is sometimes pursued, of a farmer who terraced his little hillside in no less than eleven tiers. He at last sat down on the top to rest and survey the successful results of his toil. To his dismay, he could only count ten terraces below him. He had overlooked the eleventh, since, indeed, it formed the spot on which he had taken his seat !

An excellent topographical map of Central Japan is published by the Imperial Geological Survey of Japan, on a scale of 1:400,000 (or 1 inch to 6'3 statute miles), and printed in Roman characters. The latest edition is 1914. The Imperial General Staff in

MODERN MAPS 13

1913 issued one on a scale of 1 : 50,000. The detail of this is extraordinarily minute and accurate, but the printing is not good, and as the names are in Chinese characters this map is not so useful to ordinary European travellers. Indeed, many of the names are often unintelligible to the average Japanese, but it is nevertheless a production which represents a great deal of careful labour carried on for nearly a quarter of a century.

In the Imperial "Taisho" Exhibition, held in Tokyo in 1914, a large-sized relief-map of the Northern Japanese Alps was shown by the Shinano (Shinshu) Educational Association, and attracted much attention. At the close of the exhibition it was acquired by the Japan Tourist Bureau, and transferred permanently to the headquarters of that organisation on the first floor of the great new Central Railway Station, near the Imperial Palace, in the centre of the capital.

The artistic and charmingly illustrated monthly magazine of the Bureau, printed in English, is a real storehouse of useful information of current interest for the European traveller, whether on or off the beaten tracks.

Chapter II

That intense love of freedom and independent " clannishness " which are always especially associated with mountain peoples, are nowhere more strikingly seen than in the Japanese race. Just as ancient Greece was not, in a political sense, one single homogeneous country, but rather a congeries of independent States, often quite small but exceedingly jealous of their individuality, so to a great extent do we find it in the case of the Japan of earlier times. Dififerent clans inhabited their own particular areas, cut off in many instances almost entirely from their neighbours by high mountain barriers, which made intercommunication difficult, and bred a strong disinclination for centralised government. Throughout their whole history no people has been more influenced by its mountains and hills than they, in every phase of national life, a fact which finds illustration from the earliest days of legend and myth, when we find Ninigi-no-Mikoto, grandson of the Sun-Goddess, Amaterasu, descending from the "plains of High Heaven," and landing on the sharp peak of Takachiho-dake in Southern Kyiishu, to begin the work of conquest in preparation for Jimmu

MOUNTAIN DISCIPLINE 15

Tenno, the legendary first "Emperor" of Japan. Not alone was it true of some great Buddhist saint like En-no-Shokaku or Kukai, of his retirement into the mountain fastnesses of Yamato, or farther inland still, for communion with the Invisible — "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from Avhence cometh my help." For to every class and individual in time of need have the great mountains afforded sure refuge in time of peril and storm. Even an Emperor found it so when Go-Daigo fled into Yamato for safety, and found an asylum in the hills of Yoshino till the end of his sorrow-laden days. It is over the heights of the Zara-goe, right in the very midst of that maze of impenetrable wilds at the eastern base of Tateyama, that a former Daimyo of far-off Etchu is stated to have fled from the relentless pursuit of Hideyoshi ; and amongst the tangled mountain mass of Eastern Koshu that Takeda Shingen spent many troubled years of difficult warfare against the lords of the neighbouring hostile clans. In such inaccessible forest-clad hills and secluded valleys as these, fierce family feuds and internecine strife persisted during long years of intrigue and bloodshed, which, if confined to the lowlands, might frequently have been disposed of in a few weeks.

At the same time, it was the hard conditions of living in those wild, inhospitable regions that themselves engendered habits of frugality, endurance, and self-reliance among an island race immune from hostile invasion, and stamped the Japanese as one of the most ardent, proud, and self-satisfied patriots the world has ever known.

Those who, before the advent of railways, have wandered among the beautiful hills and valleys of Satsuma, in the extreme south of Kyushu, the southernmost island of Japan proper, to whose mountain barrier on north and east is added the long coast-line on west and south, will be familiar with the extraordinary exclusiveness and peculiar individuality of its independent people.