for the extinction of fires, are for that reason in disfavour with the true native of Tokyo, who admires the “flowers of Yedo” as much as the flowers of nature, for it is not worth while to turn out of bed on the first alarm of fire, as was his Wont, at midnight in winter at the risk of catching cold, and then run at full speed for half a dozen miles, only to find it extinguished, as would now be the case. Tokyo cannot now boast of what in the old days used to be one of its finest sights. The fire look-outs, too, which were such picturesque features of old Yedo, have disappeared, having been replaced by perpendicular ladders and towers that look more like scaffoldings.
Notwithstanding the good work done by fire-engines, the old-style fireman’s duties are still very important in a city of wooden structures like Tokyo. He is also interesting because, in spite of his deterioration, he still partially retains that spirit of old Yedo which found its fullest expression in the otokodate, a class of men who arose to protect their fellow-citizens from the oppression of the samurai. Tokugawa Iyeyasu, upon his accession to the Shogunate, felt uneasy as he knew many daimyo were ready at the first opportunity to revolt; and to be prepared for sudden attacks of these territorial lords, he surrounded himself with a large bodyguard of his immediate feudatories, the hatamoto or bannerets, who had followed him through all his fortunes from the lordship of a petty daimiate to the Shogunate. And further to bring all the daimyo to complete submission, he compelled them to live half the year in Yedo, while their wives were kept there throughout the year as hostages. By these and other prudent means the Tokugawa dynasty kept its sway undisputed for two centuries and a half.
Though in time of peace there was no need for a large standing army of bannerets and their retainers in the capital, they were well drilled and kept ready for any emergency. While martial spirit was thus fostered and encouraged among them, they were at the same time guilty of
