A Fantasy of Far Japan; Or, Summer Dream DialoguesSuematsu, Kencho
Philosophy
A Fantasy of Far Japan; Or, Summer Dream Dialogues
Suematsu, Kencho
Japan -- Civilization
We were again wafted through the air, and were once more moving over
the tops of countless houses on the way. On reaching my hotel, I shook
hands with my friend and his wife on the tops of the beautiful
avenue-trees in front of the hotel.
II
Greek inspiration--Semitic sympathy--Religion--Difference between
Japanese and European chivalry--What is the Bushi?--The weakest point
of a hereditary military organisation--Introduction of the new
system--New commoners and the history of their emancipation--Combination
of democratic ideas and conservative traditions--Old bottles and new
wine--The Great Change of 1867--Napoleon--Negligence of a proper
estimation--Scenery of Japan---History of Tokio--European and Japanese
method of dwelling--President Roosevelt and jiujitsu
It seems my young secretary, noticing I was asleep, and fearing that I
might catch cold, brought a rug and covered me, which action roused me
for a moment, but I soon returned to the same dreamland again.
Once more I was wafted through the air, and found myself in a large
entrance-hall with gilded ceiling and walls painted with pictures. It
was brilliantly lighted, and in one corner a band was playing. A broad
staircase, the upper part of which branched off into two, led to the
upper part of the house, numerous men in livery lined both sides of the
passage, displaying the sure sign of aristocracy. There were balconies,
or rather corridors all round overlooking the hall. I ascended the
staircase, and, passing along one side of the corridors, entered a large
chamber which was evidently the reception-room. But seeing but few
people there, proceeded to an open window at the end of the room and
looked down into the garden, which was brilliantly illuminated. In a few
moments I moved, almost unconsciously, into a further room. It was the
study of the host, who with his wife was showing the room to a group of
guests. The host, noticing me, made me welcome, and introduced me to one
of the guests in particular. It was the Prince Royal of Greece. I
exchanged some words with him, in the course of which I remarked that
Greece was the country which I was most anxious to see, inasmuch as it
teemed with historical interest. As I did so, the scene of many heroic
actions, above all, those of Salamis and Marathon, together with the
glory which Byron sung for her freedom in the recent century vividly
arose before my mental eyes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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