Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan/Series 1/Volume 3/Part 2/Notes collected in the Okitama Ken
NOTES COLLECTED IN THE OKITAMA
KEN, WITH AN ITINERARY OF
THE ROAD LEADING TO IT.
BY
CHARLES H. DALLAS, Esq.
Read before the Asiatic Society of Japan on the
31st May, 1875.
——o——
The Okitama Ken, better known by the name of its chief town Yonezawa, is situated in the mountainous country due north of Tôkiô at a distance by road of 84 ri. A list of the stations and their distances will be found at the end of this paper. The principal road to it follows the Ôshiu kaidô as far as the important town of Fukushima. It is this town of Fukushima, 72 ri from Tôkiô, that was fixed upon as the provisional terminus of the railway that certain kuwazoku wished to construct to Awomori. As this scheme, though postponed, is probably not definitely abandoned, an itinerary of the Ôshiu kaidô as far as Fukushima may have some claim to interest at the present moment; but before going over it in detail, it may be convenient to sketch briefly the physical geography of the country through which it passes.
The principal chain of mountains comes down from Awomori in nearly a straight line to a point about 30 ri north of Tôkiô, and then turning towards the west, and keeping that distance as radius and with Tôkiô for a centre, describes a circular arc to Fuji-san. This chain is the watershed of the country and throws out a series of spurs which serve as guides to the various rivers. On the way to Fukushima one finds four principal channels. From the corner made by the turn of the mountain chain comes towards the east a ridge of inconsiderable height which forms the northern boundary of the plain in which Tôkiô is situated. On its crest, if it deserves the name, is the town of Utsunomiya 28 ri from Tôki. The Ôshiu kaidô traverses the plain as far as Utsunomiya, and then continues towards the north, parallel to and at a short distance from the eastern base of the principal chain of mountains.
The country between Tôkiô and Utsunomiya is drained principally by the Sumita gawa and the Tone gawa; by the former and one branch of the latter into the Bay of Yedo, and by its remaining branch into the Pacific.
Only 3 ri beyond Utsunomiya is the Kinu gawa, which, pent up for many miles inside the principal range of mountains, breaks through them at the turn, and though checked by the ridge already mentioned, soon rounds it and continues a southerly course for some miles further before uniting with the Tone gawa and striking east to the Pacific, which is reached at Chôshi. In the latter part of its course it receives several affluents.
Proceeding towards the north the next eastern spur shutting in the Kinu gawa is only five ri further. The hill, between the towns of Ujiye and Kitsuregawa, by which the Ôshiu kaidô climbs over it is called Yagorô Saka. Past Kitsuregawa flows a river of the same name almost due east to the Pacific. It unites with four streams, that separated each by a short spur of hills come from the central mountains, to form the Naka gawa, which thus carries off all the water between Yagorô Saka and the mass of hills called Ni-ju-san Saka between Koyebori and Ashino.
North of these twenty-three hills and taking its rise in the mountains at the south of Aidzu is the Abukuma gawa, which crosses the Ôsbhu kaidô at the large castle-town of Shirakawa, 50 ri from Tôkiô, and then turning towards the north only reaches the Pacific at Arahama in the Bay of Sendai. In its northern course its principal affluents are the Shakado gawa the Nami gawa and the Su kawa, all of which cross the Ôshiu kaidô in their eastward descent from the central mountains. They are separated from one another by abrupt and precipitous hills over which the Ôshiu kaidô toils laboriously, apparently scorning to go round them. It is in the corner made by the junction of the Su kawa and Abukuma gawa that Fukushima is situated.
Taking now the western side of the central range, it will be sufficient to say that at the southern extremity of the straight line the turn seems to produce an enormous knot, in the southern portion of which lie ensconced the far-famed temples of Nikkô. Travelling northward through this knot and mounting to its source the bed of the Kinu gawa, one arrives at the water-shed whence rise the rivers flowing towards Niigata; and descending towards the north, the first level land reached after 30 ri of mountain climbing is the plain of Wakamatzu or Aidzu, with its lake and outlet to the west.
North of this plain there comes from the principal chain a spur, or rather cross-chain, which starting from between the great mountains of Adzuma and Bandai-san, just opposite to Fukushima, extends first westerly and then scatters towards the North-west. A few ri further one branch nearly unites with the main line, thus inclosing the Okitama Ken, and then again diverges to the west to give space to the magnificent plain of Yamagata, which is the northern limit of my own travels. This western cross chain is of great breadth, the road from Yonezawa to Niigata being known as the Ju-san Tôge. Certainly of the thirteen three are only small hills, but four or five are formidable passes.
Having said thus much on the nature of the country let us follow the Ôshiu kaidô, which leaving Tôkiô by the suburb of Senji, stretches t othe north till it reaches the banks of the Tone gawa at a small station town called Kurihashi, distant 1412 ri from the Nihon Bashi. All along this part of the road the villages and station towns succeed each other at such short intervals as almost to make a continuous line; none however appear to be of any special importance, Kasukabe 10 ri from Tokio being the principal. The plain is fertile and carefully cultivated, producing rice, wheat, barley and vegetables; a few miles beyond Senji however is a little grass land that seems to be waste. The black alder and the weeping willow are common trees, and wood-pigeons are to be seen in great numbers.
Approaching Kurihashi along a causeway or band built to confine the river, one has a magnificent view of the Nikkô mountains. The Tone gawa is crossed by a ferry, and when full is 600 yards across. When the water is low the channel is on the Kurihashi side, leaving the northern half of the bed exposed. In July 1872 in swimming across it from the northern side when it was at its highest, I found three feet of water on the shallowest part in the centre, while the stream was dashing down the deep channel with a swiftness that was almost dangerous.
Crossing the ferry one finds on the northern bank the town of Nakata, and from here the character of the road changes. An almost continuous avenue of Cryptomeria shades it all the way to Utsunomiya. The ground is higher and gradually rises. One sees little rice, but plenty of wheat, barley and vegetables, with large tracts of grass land that would apparently furnish excellent pasturage. A short distance from Nakata is the castle-town of Koga which seems a busy place. The shiro was of great extent, but the work of destruction has been done so thoroughly, that the neglected moats, crossed by bridges dangerously rotten, only shut in a wilderness of rank grass that has obliterated all traces of the daimio’s mansion.
The road all the way from Tôkiô to Utsunomiya is fairly passable for carriages and for a short time a public conveyance plied between the latter place and Nakata. There is generally plenty of width, but along the avenues the road is often hemmed in by high banks, which keep in the water, while the stately trees keep out the sun, so that in wet weather and for long afterwards, travelling, whether on foot, on horseback, or on wheels, is disagreeable, difficult and slow.
Utsunomiya is a very large and important town, built on moderately high ground. It was the seat of a daimio of 70,000 Koku whose castle has been turned into barracks. There is an old temple standing on the edge of an almost perpendicular bluff which commands a fine view to the north-east. The city seems an important centre of trade, there are numerous tôbutsuya well supplied with Bass’s beer, or at least beer with Bass’s labels, common claret and champagne, Kerosene lamps, slop clothing, slates and stationery.
At Utsunomiya the tourists to Nikkô leave the Ôshiu kaidô, and turning to the north-west reach their destination by a good road of 9 ri along superb avenues of Cryptomeria. From Imaichi, 2 ri before one reaches Nikkô, there is a most exquisitely picturesque but difficult route up the course of the Kinu gawa due north to Wakamatsu and so to Yonezawa, which seems almost as unknown to Japanese as to foreigners.
Following the Ôshiu kaidô, 3 ri beyond Utsunomiya is the small town of Shirasawa, where one crosses the the Kinu gawa. The river divides 3 ri above the town, and reunites its branches 1 ri below it, thus inclosing a long narrow sandy island thickly covered with small trees and brushwood. On the left or farther bank of the northern branch is the town of Akutsu 1 ri from Shirasawa.
Akutsu is not a regular station town, and the traveller from the south passes through it without stopping; but it is an important forwarding place for travellers and goods coming to Tôkiô from the north, as there is communication by flat bottomed boats down the Kinu gawa, 13 ri to a small village called Kubota; whence 7 ri of level ground lead to Sakai a town on the Tone gawa, by which boats drop down the stream to Tôkiô in about sixteen hours. All the goods traffic and nearly all the passengers go by this route. There is an Ura-kaidô from the Aidzu country by which produce reaches Akutsu, but it is reported to be impassable for travellers.
From Akutsu after crossing one small hill, a level road bordered by rice fields leads through Ujiye to the foot of Yagorô Saka, known to the jinrikisha coolies as the worst hill this side of Sendai. On the other side of the hill is the castle-town of Kitsuregawa, with its river famous for eels and a fish called ayu, which is esteemed a great delicacy. The town has the historical interest of having been the seat of the Ashikaga family.
From Kitsuregawa to Sakuyama is a hilly road over high wild gorse-covered moorland, with occasional plantations of young beeches.
From Sukuyama to Ôtawara the read is level through several villages with gardens and rice-fields. A handsome avenue leads into Ôtawara from whence there is a cross-road to Imaichi, distant about 13 ri to the south-west.
Ôtawara was the seat of a daimiô of 30,000 koku, but was burnt in the war and has never been wholly rebuilt. The honjin however is one of the best on the road. The town is chiefly remarkable for the immense number of pack horses always standing in the streets, which would seem to point out some special activity of trade, but I am told that it possesses no particular meibutsu.
The northern gate of Otawara is washed by a small river, from which a level country extends to the Nasu kawa, on the south bank of which is Nabekake, a large town now almost entirely destroyed by fire. The banks of the Nasu kawa are perpendicular cliffs, with the upper edges most picturesquely wooded. On the north bank exactly opposite to Nabekake is the station town of Koyebori.
Between Koyebori and Ashino are the Ni-ju-san saka, twenty-three hills of corduroy roads. In very clear weather Fuji-san may be seen from the top of the second hill, which is therefore known as Fuji-mi saka.
Ashino is in a long valley surrounded by wooded hills, over which more corduroy roads lead to Shirasaka. Between Ashino and Shirasaka is the boundary separating the provinces of Shimotzuke and Ôshiu.
More hills, and a long stretch of magnificent moorland bring the traveller to Shirakawa, a fine large castle-town with an air of prosperity about it, such as one sees at Utsunomiya, Sukagawa, Koriyama, Nihon matsu and Fukushima. The honjin has been converted into a hospital, and a conspicuous object in the principal street is the telegraph office. In the castle is a small temple dedicated to Jimmu Tennô. Shirakawa was the seat of a daimiô of 110,000 koku, and played a prominent part in the civil war. It was occupied by each of the contending parties, and appears to have been exceedingly lucky in having only slightly suffered from fire. Leaving the town one crosses the Abukuma zawa, and a short distance beyond, on a hillside sloping to the road, is a burial-ground of the southern men who fell in the war. The tombstones and inscriptions are kept in good order, and many a traveller alights from pack-horse kago or jinrikisha to pause and pay a tribute of respect to the memory of the gallant dead. Round this same hill winds to the left the road to Wakamatsu.
Between Shirakawa and Yabuki the country is mostly moorland. Yabuki was a large town totally burnt in the war and only partially rebuilt. From here to Sukagawa the road is very beautiful, through woods and over undulating grassland.
Sukagawa on the banks of the Shakado gawa is one of the richest and best kept towns on the road. After the conversion of han into ken it became the seat of the Shichojo or branch agency of the Fukushima ken, but this has recently been abolished. It has a hospital built in foreign style, attended by Japanese doctors who have studied in Tôkiô. Numbers of mulberry trees are to be seen in the neighbourhood, and the practice is adopted here of cutting the trunk short off just above the ground and keeping the shoots tightly tied together. The stage to Koriyama is the longest on the journey 3 ri 9 chô. There are three or four villages, and one stone quarry on the way. The last ri or so leading into Koriyama is over a carefully made wide road, the first piece of real carriage road that one sees after leaving Tôkiô.
Koriyama is a large flourishing place, and its townsmen have the reputation of being wealthy. In the outskirts some branch of silk manufacture is actively carried on in almost every house.
Between Motomiya and Nihon Matsu are some valleys of rice-land separated by hills crossed by a horrible corduroy road. The lofty mountain of Daki rears its double peak from the range on the left.
Nihon Matsu is a large town extending up and down the sides of an exceedingly steep hill. It was a castle-town the seat of a daimiô of 110,000 koku. It is the chief town of the Shinobu Kôri, one of the principal silk producing districts of Ôshiu, and has a silk-reeling factory with machinery copied in wood from that used at Tomioka, and worked by water-power. It is also noted for a kind of sweetmeat called yôkan.
From Nihon Matsu through Hachonome to Fukushima is all up and down terrible hills. At the end of February this year there was a foot of snow on the road nearly the whole way. A short distance before reaching Fukushima one emerges from a muddy village on to an excellent piece of road which leads to a causeway forming the approach to a magnificent bridge over the Su kawa said to be 250 yards in length.
Fukushima is the chief town of the Ken to which it gives its name, and was the seat of a daimiô of 70,000 koku. The shiro has been dismantled, but the moats and banks are kept in good order. Fukushima is a great centre of the Silk trade, and is the head quarters during the season of the Tôkiô silk buyers. Yanagawa in the Date Kôri and Nihon Matsu are the two chief silk producing places in the Ken, which is also noted for the excellence of its dried kaki (persimmons). The town is well lighted with kerosene lamps, and has a telegraph office, The Ken authorities are paying attention to the great want of Japan, the making of roads. In conjunction with the Yamagata Ken a waggon road is being constructed to connect the two places, and a large portion in the latter Ken is already completed. A proposition was made to the Okitama Ken to make a road between Yonezawa and Fukushima, the Fukushima people offering to pay 50,000 Yen, if the Yonezawa people would pay the same sum; but the latter do not like parting with their money. There is some talk of all that portion of the Ôshiu kaidô which is in the Fukushima Kea being put into proper repair; but it seems doubtful whether it would not be better to abandon it and make a new road; for as the Abukuma gawa finds it way from Shirakawa to Fukushima, it is reasonable to suppose that it would be possible by following its course to make a nearly level road, instead of as now crossing all the spurs that strike out from the grand central rage. Some portions of the upper waters of the Abukuma gawa are navigable for small boats, but near Nihon Matsu there are dangerous rapids. From Fukushima there is a good deal of traffic by it to Arakawa on the Bay of Sendai, 13 ri from the sea port of Ishibashi on the opposite side of the Bay.
In all the towns here named is to be found excellent accommodation for travellers and exceedingly cheap, except indeed at some places south of Utsunomiya where the innkeepers have learnt to demand a special rate for foreigners. The charge for supper, bath, bed and breakfast is three quarters of a bu in the very best hotels. In villages it is even less: at Kubota, on the Kinugawa, there was a notice posted up announcing that, in consequence of the high price of provisions the innkeepers had made an agreement to fix the price of first-class accomodation at 15 sen!
As a means of communication the Ôshiu kaidô is not to be commended, the portion north of the Kinu gawa being in such bad order as to be only not absolutely impassable for carriages; but one must not leave it without saying something of the scenery through which it passes. The blue mountains, along which one travels for days yet seeming always to see the same, are somewhat monotonous, yet with the distant hills in the east, the wood, the water and the undulating ground, combine to form a picture or rather a panorama, which is nearly always beautiful and possesses exquisite ‘bits.’
Still this is not the route to be chosen by the lover of scenery. To the road or rather track from Imaichi to Wakamatsu must be accorded the palm in this respect. The bold mountains, wooded from the peak to the torrent at their base, with almost tropical exuberance of foliage, trees growing out of a few inches of earth, plants seemingly springing from the very boulders, the dashing water and the varied tints give a fresh picture every mile, and every picture a gem.
From Fukushima the traveller to Yonezawa turns off to the north-west to cross the central range by the pass of Itaya over a ridge of the Adzuma mountain. The pass in about 2,500 feet above the sea. The first 212 ri are over level road to a village called Niwasaka, and from there the climbing commences. First up a mountain 1,500 feet above Niwasaka to the village of Su-momo-daira, then down again to the borders of a torrent at the point where it divides into two streams, that almost encircle the mountain and flow out past Fukushima; then up an ascent densely wooded, and down again to the same torrent immediately under Itaya. The climbing so far is all unnecessary: it would be easy to trace a level road, that with all its windings would not measure more than the present one; and it would be easier still to establish water communication. The banks of the gorge, at the bottom of which the stream passes, rise perpendicularly to a considerable height before commencing to slope upwards to the mountain-tops, so that there would be no difficulty in throwing a dam across a narrow part of each stream just before its issue to the plain, and raising the water, of which there is abundance, to any desired height between the stone walls that nature has provided for it. Crossing this torrent, a zigzag ascent leads to the village of Itaya enclosed by a thick belt of pine trees. Grassy slopes bring one to the summit of the pass, from which there is a rapid descent through a picturesque glen to Ôsawa, 312 ri from the town of Yonezawa. The whole distance from Fukushima is 12 ri, the 6 ri in the centre being difficult climbing. The road is an excellent specimen of military engineering in the olden time,—it succeeds in rendering travelling as difficult as may be without making it absolutely impossible.
The plain of Yonezawa, about 12 ri long and varying in breadth from 5 to 17 ri, is perfectly flat, and the lofty mountains by which it is hemmed in appear in the distance to rise perpendicularly from its sides. From the centre of the plain no break whatever is visible through this mountain wall, but on the north a tortuous gorge with only a moderate ascent communicates with the plain of Yamagata, and on the north-west is the outlet of the Matsu kawa, a large river that rises from Adzuma yama in the south-east, flows past the town, traverses the whole extent of the plain, forces its way though the mountains and eventually reaches the Sea of Japan at Sakata. Just before leaving the plain it becomes navigable for small boats, but the upper part is too shallow and irregular. No attempt is made to guide or confine the water; and nearly every year the floods carry away all the bridges. The chief summits of the surrounding mountains are Adzuma, Kabuto yama, so called from its resemblance to a helmet, Iide san, and Asahi yama. The famous mountain Gas-san in Mogami may he seen in very clear weather breaking through the northern horizon. It is stated that the snow never quite disappears from Iide san, and the phrase “Iide san no yuri wa kiyetara” is used as the local equivalent for the Greek Kalends.
The plain thus enclosed does not all belong to the Okitama Ken, a portion called Yashire Go on the right bank of the Matsu kawa was taken from the late daimiô after the war, and is now included in the Yamagata Ken. The whole plain forms the Okitama Kôri, the southern division of Uzen, and is about midway between the Pacific and the Sea of Japan, the town of Yonezawa being 36 ri from Niigata, and 32 ri from Sendai. Just 16 ri to the south is the famous town of Wakamatsu, and 1212 ri to the north is Yamagata.
Yonezawa itself is a large town of not very prepossessing appearance situated near the south-eastern extremity of the plain. The houses are all thatched, and have no verandahs. The streets are narrow, rough, unpaved and altogether uncared for. Water from the numerous mountain-streams is led along the centre of almost every street in open conduits, which with the addition of two or three wells supply the people with water for all purposes. The late governor put up kerosene lamps, but the people demolished them, as they considered the lighting of the streets an unnecessary expense. The shiro is immense, and as all the houses within its ramparts have large gardens separated by hedges, it presents the appearance of an enormous village. There is no attempt at fortification except the usual three moats. The inner one inclosed the mansion of the daimiô and a temple sacred to the memory of Uyesugi Kenshin his ancestor,—a mighty warrior of the 16th century. The mansion has been razed to the ground, but the temple remains, and a great festival is held on the date corresponding with the 13th day of the 3rd month of the old calendar. The streets or roads in the shiro were formerly very broad, but three years ago the then governor allowed the residents to take in a quarter, and in some instances a third, on each side. This was after the conversion of Han into Ken, and was intended as some sort of alleviation to the kerai in their distressed circumstances. Some idea of the severity with which the changes pressed on the upper classes may be gathered from the fact that the principal retainers, especially those few families from whom the Karô was selected, have pulled down their old mansions in order to grow rice on their sites, and are now living in the out-buildings of their yashiki. One family whose revenue was 1,600 koku now receives a pittance of 40 bags—about 18 koku. The upper class of samurai did not draw an allowance of rice from the daimiô’s treasury, but received it direct from the farmers as rent of the land. As this right, though ostensibly the salary of a sinecure office, was handed down from father to son, the samurai were virtually owners of their land, and the manner in which they acquiesced in the surrender of their revenues to the central government reflects the highest honour on their patriotism. It has been the fashion with many foreigners to bestow a great deal of commiseration on the farmers or, as they may be more accurately styled, farm-labourers. It is probably true that the government does exact from them a higher rent than that with which the former owners were satisfied, but the change of ownership does not affect them to any perceptible fraction of the extent to which it affects their betters. In an old and thickly populated country unskilled labour at a healthy occupation cannot be expected to earn more than will provide the rude necessaries of life, and these the field labourers certainly possess, if the healthy sturdy appearance of themselves and their children may be taken as a criterion.
The climate presents a striking example of the modifications produced by the physical conformation of the country. In winter although snow to the depth of five or six feet lies on the ground from early in December till late in March, yet owing to the protection afforded by the surrounding mountains, the cold is not by any means so trying as that experienced at Tôkiô during the prevalence of the northerly winds. The beat in summer is about equal to that of Tôkiô.
There are several hot springs in the district, those of Onogawa, Akayu and Go-hiki being the most noted. I believe that they all contain more or less iron and sulphur. I have soma bottles of the different waters which I shall be happy to place at the disposal of any gentleman who may desire to analyse them. Their medicinal properties are held in high estimation, each spring being considered a specific for some particular disease. The waters at Go-hiki are under the special protection of whoever in the Japanese mythology may correspond to the goddess Lucina.
The soil is exceedingly fertile: rice is produced in such quantities as to allow of a large export to the west coast, whence a good deal is said to be forwarded to Hakodate. Wheat, barley and the ordinary potato, carrot and turnip of Europe are grown. Persimmons, grapes, walnuts and chestnuts abound, and last year an attempt was made on a very small scale to make wine. The result was not very successful, but sufficiently so to encourage a repetition of the experiment. Lastly and most important of all the mulberry flourishes all over the district and attains its highest perfection in the north-west corner, where are the villages of Arato, Miya and Ko-ide celebrated for their silkworms’ eggs. Silkworms’ eggs are made throughout the Ken, but those of Shimo-nagai the northwestern portion are considered the best.
A table of statistics published last August states that the amount of ground under cultivation exclusive of garden ground is 24,206 chô yielding a total production of 295,671 koku of which 88,564 koku or rather less than one-third are paid into the Ken treasury. The value of this is set down at 195,293 yen, so that roughly speaking there are 60,000 acres of cultivated ground paying for rent and taxes an average amount of 13 shillings per acre. The money value of the land is estimated at 2,786,238 yen equivalent to 384 mon per tsubo or £9.5 per acre. The house and garden ground measures 1,498,787 tsubo or about one-forty-eighth of the farm land. Its value is estimated at 159,010 yen equivalent to 1060 mon per tsubo. The amount levied on it is only at the rate of about one-third of that on the farm land, though its value is estimated at nearly three times that of the latter.
The population belonging to the Ken numbers 159,716 divided as follows:—
| Males. | Females. | Total. | |||||
|
13,150 | 13,584 | 26,834 | ||||
|
742 | 318 | 1,060 | ||||
|
… | 12 | 12 | ||||
|
67,230 | 64,680 | 131,910 | ||||
| 81,122 | 78,594 | 159,716 | |||||
Public instruction is carried on under the supervision of a council of officers chosen by the governor. There is one middle school with an English and a Chinese department, and 212 lower schools with 217 teachers attended by 3,950 boys and 642 girls.
The annual revenue of the Ken amounts to 236,027 yen, derived from the following sources:—
| Koku. | Yen. | ||||
|
88,564.227 | = | 195,293.162 | ||
|
3.632 | = | 8.157 | ||
|
— | 553.859 | |||
|
3,454.047 | 7,616.877 | |||
|
— | 1,590.103 | |||
|
— | 2,812.511 | |||
| 233,187.268 | |||||
|
2,840.274 | ||||
|
Yen | 236,027.542 | |||
The expenditure is not given in detail: the total amount is set down at 34,255 koku of rice and 31,563 yen in money. Besides this there is the Government grant of 29,238 yen distributed as follows:—
Salaries of officials |
yen 19,068 |
Sundry current expenses |
yen„ 2,050 |
Reserve-fund |
yen„ 5,850 |
Police |
yen„ 2,030 |
Two Superintendents of Silk and Silk-worms’ eggs |
yen„ 240 |
The officials number 69; one of the 5th class, one of the 7th, 48 from the 8th to the 15th, and 19 below the 15th.
Statistics of the produce of the Ken and given under no less than 75 heads, of which I can here only cite some of the more important figures. The number of young mulberry trees is a million and a half. The quantity of leaf 69,046,668 lbs. The weight of Cocoons 1,800,000 lbs. Of Silk 88,176 lbs. Of Pierced Cocoons 231,400 lbs. The Silk-worms-eggs numbered 199,981 Cards; last year there were upwards of 230,000.
Of Silk piece goods there were manufactured 14,000 double pieces (hiki) the length of the single piece (tan) being 2812 feet.
Of lacquer gum there was collected 3,608 lbs. and of lacquer ware there was wade 110 horse-loads (one horse-load is 40 kuamme=33313 lbs.) The lacquer ware is all made for the Yokohama market.
The Ken produces 346,775 lbs. of Tobacco, chiefly exported to Echigo, its flavour being stronger than is liked in Tôkiô.
Saké is an important article of export; 13,751 koku are brewed, most of which is sent to Sakata.
The mountain sides are well wooded, the quantity of timber felled is given at 46,880 loads of Cedar and 16,489 loads of Pine.
Pen-making is one of the industries of the district the number manufactured is returned as 3,102,500 pairs. Of candles there were made 62,598 lbs. and of pomatum 130,670 lbs. Indigo was produced to the extent of 188,808 lbs. and the flax crop yielded 579,891 lbs.
The prices quoted in the table of statistics sufficiently illustrate the difficulty of communication. In the outlying valley of Oguni the value of best rice is stated to
ITINERARY OF THE ÔSHIU KAIDÔ.
From the Nihon Bashi.
| Ri. | Chô. | Ken. | Feet. | Ri. | Chô. | Ken. | Feet. | ||||
|
2 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 0 | |||
|
2 | 17 | 53 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 0 | 3 | |||
|
1 | 33 | 30 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 31 | 0 | |||
|
2 | 21 | 28 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 59 | 4 | |||
|
1 | 29 | 42 | 3 | 10 | 34 | 42 | 1 | |||
|
1 | 18 | 36 | 3 | 12 | 17 | 18 | 4 | |||
|
2 | 3 | 21 | 1 | 14 | 20 | 39 | 5 | |||
|
0 | 5 | 49 | 1 | 14 | 26 | 29 | 0 | |||
|
1 | 21 | 33 | 4 | 16 | 12 | 2 | 4 | |||
|
0 | 31 | 28 | 0 | 17 | 7 | 30 | 4 | |||
|
1 | 31 | 48 | 5 | 19 | 3 | 19 | 3 | |||
|
1 | 19 | 13 | 0 | 20 | 22 | 32 | 3 | |||
|
1 | 18 | 23 | 3 | 22 | 4 | 56 | 0 | |||
|
0 | 28 | 21 | 2 | 22 | 33 | 17 | 2 | |||
|
1 | 20 | 39 | 0 | 24 | 17 | 56 | 2 | |||
|
1 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 26 | 6 | 5 | 2 | |||
|
2 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 28 | 12 | 7 | 1 | |||
|
2 | 25 | 0 | 4 | 31 | 1 | 7 | 5 | |||
|
0 | 29 | 5 | 0 | 31 | 30 | 12 | 5 | |||
|
0 | 29 | 58 | 4 | 32 | 24 | 11 | 3 | |||
|
1 | 33 | 42 | 2 | 34 | 21 | 53 | 5 | |||
|
2 | 32 | 58 | 5 | 37 | 18 | 52 | 4 | |||
|
1 | 28 | 6 | 5 | 39 | 10 | 59 | 3 | |||
|
3 | 2 | 25 | 2 | 42 | 13 | 24 | 5 | |||
|
0 | 10 | 11 | 5 | 42 | 23 | 36 | 4 | |||
|
2 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 44 | 29 | 21 | 4 | |||
|
3 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 47 | 29 | 36 | 5 | |||
|
1 | 35 | 55 | 0 | 49 | 29 | 31 | 5 | |||
|
1 | 22 | 38 | 4 | 51 | 16 | 10 | 3 | |||
|
2 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 53 | 16 | 36 | 4 | |||
|
1 | 2 | 44 | 0 | 54 | 19 | 20 | 4 | |||
|
1 | 15 | 53 | 0 | 55 | 35 | 13 | 4 | |||
|
3 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 59 | 8 | 22 | 3 | |||
|
2 | 17 | 16 | 0 | 61 | 25 | 38 | 3 | |||
|
1 | 6 | 56 | 5 | 62 | 32 | 35 | 2 | |||
|
2 | 23 | 33 | 3 | 65 | 20 | 8 | 5 | |||
|
2 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 67 | 28 | 26 | 0 | |||
|
1 | 17 | 23 | 3 | 69 | 9 | 49 | 3 | |||
|
1 | 23 | 5 | 3 | 70 | 32 | 55 | 0 | |||
| — | |||||||||||
|
2 | 13 | 9 | 5 | |||||||
|
2 | 3 | 42 | 0 | |||||||
|
1 | 24 | 49 | 0 | |||||||
|
2 | 15 | 16 | 5 | |||||||
|
3 | 13 | 32 | 3 | 82 | 31 | 25 | 0 |
N.B.—6 ft.=1 ken, 60 ken=1 cho, 36 cho=1 ri, 1 ri=4,320 yards or 2511 of an English mile.
be yen 1.33 per koku, while at Yonezawa distant only 10 ri it is yen 2.24. In the carrying traffic over the mountains bulls are used instead of packhorses. The cheapest communication is in winter when the snow allows the passage of little sleds drawn by men.
In conclusion I must apolozize for the crude form in which, fearing to trespass too much on the time of the meeting, I have presented these statistics.
ASIATIC SOCIETY OF JAPAN.
The regular May meeting of the Society was held on Monday the 31st ult. at 8.30 P.M. at the Grand Hotel, Dr. Brown in the Chair.
The Minutes of the last meeting were approved, and it was announced that the following gentlemen had been elected Ordinary Members of the Society since the last General Meeting: Rev. C. F. Warren, Messrs. A. J. Van Casteel, G. J. Rockwell and John Farmer.
The following donations had also been received:—A Comparative Vocabulary of the Chinese, Corean and Japanese Languages, Proceedings of the American Oriental Society and of the American Philological Association, &c.
Mr. Dallas then read his paper entitled “Notes collected in the Okitama ken with an itinerary of the roads leading to it.”
On its conclusion Dr. Brown said:—In Japan we have no Nineveh or Babylon to disentomb, no Jerusalem to uncover of its superincumbent débris, in order to identify its ancient topography, no Ilium that was, to bring to light, after the oblivion of ages, nor ancient ruins of any kind whatever to interest the antiquary. The materials of which all structures have been built in this country have been so perishable that we have but to scratch the surface of the soil, or penetrate a few inches or, at most a few feet, below it to lay bare all the structural antiquities it contains. Hence the antiquarian who confines his researches to this country is in danger of being disaapointed, not because the country is not old enough, but because if is so old that its perishable monuments have crumbled to dust. All are turned to mould. The Asiatic Society is therefore indebted to those who, despite the want of such monuments as might furnish them with themes for papers to contribute to our Transactions, are willing to put themselves to the trouble of giving us the results of their careful observations upon things that he, as it were, upon the surface. These things are not seen without travel, nor understood without inquiry, nor is every one who does see them ready to take such note of them as is requisite to furnish the basis of valuable communications to the public. Even itineraries, in the present exclusion of foreigners from the interior of the country, are valuable, and especially carefully prepared statistics like those contained in Mr. Dallas’s paper on the Akitama Ken. I have much pleasure in saying that the Asiatic Society are under obligations to him for this contribution to their information respecting a part of the country to which few of us have had access.
Alter some further conversation on the subject of the paper the meeting terminated.