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A BACHEL O' IN
jAPAN : B' E' IC
E ' SKINE W OOD
T . FISHE' ' NWIN LTD.
L ONDON : ADEL PHI TE' ' ACE
M ' L ITTL E AL MOND-E' ED F' IENDS
W ITH WHOM I P LA' ED IN THE S' NSHINE B'
THE PACIFIC I JO' F' LL' AND
G' ATEF' LL' DEDICATE THISLITTLE ' OL' ME.
IT had been a particularly depressingday for me . In the morning I hadlaboured down to Kensal Green to
attend the obsequies of a much - lamentedand ancient housekeeper
, who for thelast five years had tyrannized over myhumble bachelor household in St .James ’ s . In the afternoon I had” takena walk in the park
,but it seemed to
be full of loving couples of a part icularly blatant kind‘ and nursema idsWheeling out battal ions of babies
,so
I left by the nearest gate and returnedto my flat .
It was the moment when I satdown to my dinner
,I think
,that
the inspiration cam e to me . I had
been curs ing the Fate that could7
51131007 3
A Bachelor in Japan
deprive me of a worthy housekeeperw i th‘ a genius for cheese ‘
soufi‘lées and
spare me a dull housem ‘aid w ith atal ent for smashing one ’ s most expensiveglass and' china
,when it suddenly
occurred to me that if I closed downmy flat for a year or so I couldfl i t abroad somewhere, and therebysolve the health' and housekeepingproblems at the same time . So Ishrieked wi ldly for Mason
,who hurried
in w i th a look of as tonishment on hissedate features .
Was you call ing,sir ' ” he pu ll ed .
Yes,Mason
,I answered ; ' not
merely was I cal ling, I was shriekingfor you to tel l you that w i thin the nextweek you w i l l have to pack sufficientclothes in sufficient portmanteaux tolast me for a couple of years . Iam going away and closing the flat .Yes
,sir
,I see
,sir
,
” he replied,for
he was accustomed to my im'petuosity,8
A Bachelor in Japan
insomuch that i f I had told him thatI was going. out to be cremated Ibelieve he would have said
,Yes
,s ir
,
I see,s ir
,and telephoned to the nearest
crematorium . Invaluable man,Mason
,
but I fear he must be left behind .
Once that my mind was made upI began to feel brighter, studied mapsand guide -books
,but i t did not take
me very long to decide that I shouldcertainly go eastward . I determinedto get on a boat and stay on i tunti l i t eventual ly came to the end
of i ts voyage,then I would disem
bark and stop in the country wher
ever I found myself .
By'
the end of the evening I was
so thrilled w i th anticipat ion that Idecided to calm my nerves a l ittleat my dearly loved Bechstein
,so I
played a nocturne to the four ancestorsthat looked down at me from‘ theirgil t frames . I fel t instinctively that
9
A Bachelor in Japan
they,disapproved of my resolve and
that,had they been able
,they would
have stepped out O f‘ their frames anddenounced me as a flip
'
pant young man ,
al together unworthy of‘ the family name,
but,as things were
,they had been
compel led to l i sten the whole eveningto my plans w i th Mason for afrivolous voyage
,and then to a nocturne
which they probably didn ’ t appreciate .
I know nothing more exhilaratingthan the contemplation of a long
,in
‘definite holiday,the details of which
one leaves entirely in the hands of
capricious Fate .
IO
I AM on the bluest,idlest sea that
ever the sun shone upon,yet i t is
not the Mediterranean,which I love
‘dearly except when it i s angry ; i t i sthe soft
,swaying,
dream -l ike IndianOcean .
The l iner,on which I am bound
for Japan,is speeding acro ss wi th a
pleas ing throb ' of monotony,and I can
l ie in a most comfortable deck -chairw ith undisturbed thoughts and worshipthe sun .
I am not quite clear why. I am‘
go ing to Japan,but I think that one
of the chief factors that is compellingme to go there is that the Japanese aresufficiently delicately minded not to
u
A Bachelor in Japan
make love in the streets and frightenthe horses
,nor do they
,I believe
,ever
under any circumstan ces sit in couplesin their parks glued to each other ’ slips . Another reason
,I think
,that
influenced me was that Japan is thelast place you stop at before youfal l off the ends of the earth' intospa ce
,an action which I have every
intention of doing after I have seenthe land of blossoms .
M y ticket,
which is surpris inglyinadequate for the large sum I paidfor it
,proclaims tha t I shall visit
several places which my imaginat iontells me w ill be full of palm -t reesand cocoa -nuts
,and w ild blacks in a
s tate of nudity, making fierce noisesthrough their noses . I shall weepw i th disappointment if I find theyhave trousers and tall-hats and modernumbrellasThe place called Penang, which (I
12
A Bachelor in Japan
blush to confess i t' I have neverheard'
of before,sounds thrilling . I
do hope the natives w i l l not be in ahostile mood the day we land
,because
I am sure it harbours priceless treasuresof barbarity, which I would not mi s sfor worlds , I sha l l look forward toPenang enormously .
Life on a l iner is very regular butvague . There is a glorious uncertaintyof
‘ act ion mingled wi th a regularity ofmea l s which is astounding . No soonerhas one settled down to a comfortablenap
,resultant on an excellent lunch,
when some abominable but wellmeaning flapper comes up; and, w i tha playful dig in the ribs
,implores you
to come and make a fourth at deckgolf or tear violent ly, in a race, sixteentimes round the promenade -deck inorder to secure a pocket -knife or acard case
,but more possibly an internal
malady for all t ime .
' Sports, asI S
A Bachelor in Japan
these horrors are called,were invented
,
I think,to give the medical oflflcer on
board employment,
or el se to givemuscular females an Opportunity ofshowing their legs . But I now real izethis latter remark is indelicate
, and Iapologize for i t from the bott om of myheart .I have just won the sweepstake on
the daily run of' the ship,for whi ch
I thank the gods that be . Tengolden sovereigns is qu
'
elquechose,
as the Erench would say, and morethan enough to pay the bill whichI shall be shortly ow ing on accountof an unquenchable and overpowering.
thirst,and also the thirst s of one or
two boresome blackguards who ask
me to' come and have a drink , old
man ,and then allow one to pay . But
I am not mean, because I always feelthat meanness was one of the vices forwhich SS . Peter, Paul, James, and John,
14
A Bachelor in Japan
and the other gentlemen who dealw i th one ’ s application for heavenlybl is s
,have a part icular disl ike .
I must go at once have a cocktai l .
15
I HA' E passed Penang . My joy was
unbounded when I found the nativesdid not wear trousers but bath-towelsinstead .
I drove round the town in a si lentrickshaw. pul led by a thin
,oh dreadfully
thin -legged gent leman the colour of
Bournvil le’
s chocolate . He turnedround from t ime to time and madenative chuckl ings from between theshafts . I poked him w ith my umbrella when this unpleasant l ittle trickoccurred
,and endeavoured to drink in
the Eastern beauty that wa s spread al lround . Oh
,the joy of silent red roads
and overwhelming green things (i t hadjus t been m ining' and the fire-fl ies
flashed past me l ike portions of a16
A Bachelor in Japan
scattered rainbow . I was so glad thatI was alone
,because a perspiring
dowager or a talkative school -teacherwould have ruined my day .
We glided past cool bungalows andwonderfu l palms spread out l ike peacock -tai l s . The air wa s heavy w ithsome curious aroma which I could notplace
,and ever and anon one passed
a cluster of thrilling -eyed nat ives whochatted among themselves in pleasantfashion . Children ran naked andplayed quaint
,incomprehensible games .
Lean dogs sniffed round for refuse,or
lay stretched out,as dead things
,in the
sun . In a crescent the big blue -greenmountains kep t their si lent guard . Iloved Penang .
Singapore,which we vis ited yester
day,was ruined for me . I was com
pelled by the laws of courtesy to spendmy hours there in the company of' aferocious matron and her two floppy
17 B
A Bachelor in Japan
daughters, whose complexions grewshinier and shinier as the day wore on .
We lunched at a big hotel and talkedplatitudes
,and then visited the Botanical
Gardens w ith pained express ions,while
the daughters said,Oh
,how perfect ly
wonderful ' so many times and atsuch punctuated intervals that I shouldhave welcomed a man -eating alligatorwi th open arms . Nevertheless
,m'algré
tout,Singapore did not appea l to me
very much,as i t throbbed wi th civil iza
tion and white ladie s (2 la mode who
crowded in and out of most respectablestores and ate hea rty teas w ith somebody else ’ s husband when their own
wasn ’ t looking . Oh la, la ' butmarriages are made in heaven anddivorces in S ingapore .
In a few days we arrive at HongKong . Chin chin
,Chinaman, I ’m
muchee, muchee glad '
18
A Bachelor in Japan
Kong is beautiful by night and by day .
In ‘ the daytime it is a city hummingwi th li fe and bright w ith colour
,where
dwell serious -eyed Chinese and gayEuropean s s ide by side . At night i tlooks like ten thousand stars scat teredon the purple man tle of an Easternqueen .
I spent a thri lling forty-eight hoursthere as the guest of a charming doctorand his delightful w i fe . They lived onthe top of the wonderful Peak
,and until
I was shown the funicular railway,I
very much wondered however I shouldget up there .
In the funicular you hold you r breathand hope that the cable is saf e . Thenwhen you arrive at the summit you haveall the impressions of
‘ a fly on theceiling . I looked down at the bigl iner on which I had spent the lastmonth ; i t looked like a ridiculous toywhich a child was floating in his bath .
20
A Bachelor in Japan
My friends w ere w i ldly hospitabl e,
and made me feel as if I was the onlyperson who mattered in the whole w ideworld—a truly pleasing feeling sometimes when one has lived among thosewho are painfully careful to remind youthat you are not . They gave mesumpt uous meals and took me in amotor-car to the Happy ' alley, wherea golf and race -course showed one thatthe Englishman abroad is by no meansdull This valley i s a very plea singplace
,because it answers to the con
ven t ional idea of a beautiful valley,wi th mountains that r ise on each s ide .
Hong-Kong amused me immensely . Isaw t rousered ladies w ith screwed-upfeet , but this habit i s being done awaywi th gradually . L'arge mandarins inwonderful s ilks drove here and there .
Cool ies everywhere pulledI appall ing
loads,and street -callers shouted their
wares in truly,
extraordinary grunt2 1
A Bachelor in Japan
soun’ds . Indeed,the language seemed
fu ll of pig noises,and I felt sure I
would be able to pronounce their wordswonderfully well if I should ever beprostrated by nasal catarrh .
A more serious -minded people I havenever come across . They look
,al l of
them,as if they had just returned from
relatives ’ funerals and found that theywere omitted in the w i ll s . I believemoney w i ll do much in China as indeedin all Oriental lands . My host told mea bribe would go a very long way, soI wondered to myself how much theNo . I boy in my friend ’s householdwould require to murder the matron an d
the two shiny daughters who had askedme to sit at their table for the rest ofthe voyage . I firmly believe that fora few dollars he would have murderedthe bunch and stuffedt them through aporthole .
When the time came to weigh anchor2 2
A Bachelor in Japan
(really, a month on a boat makes onequite nautical', I bade a fond good -byeto my charming and kind friends
,and
waved w i ldly to them from the lit tleferry that was speeding across toKowloon .
I was very sorry to leave HongKong ; i t i s a joy for ever, I hope,
forthe B rit ish nation
,who I trust w il l
learn to appreciate , i f they have notdone so already
,this priceless j ewe l in
the China Seas . And,my dear
,the fi sh
curries —but really—well
23
I AM not going to mention Shanghai,
which we left yesterday . The river thatapproaches i t i s pea -soup
,and the town
itself bewi lders . There i s an English,
French,and German quarter
,lots of
good shops , including Mappin andWebb ’s—excuse my smi l ing
,but doesn ’ t
i t sound too absurd -Mappin andWebb
,in Shanghai . Imagine the
following conversationA . Oh
,my dear
,what a duck of
a tiara 'B . Yes
,i sn ’ t i t jolly ' Horatio gave
it me last Chris tmas .
'A . Oh, really, wherever did he geti t from 'B . Mappin and Webb ’s
,dear
,in
Shangha i,don ’ t -yer -know ' Such a jolly
24
A Bachelor in Japan
shop ; my little Chinese friend Pinglang -Pon'g always gets her tiaras thereto give to her friends at Easter .
Of‘ course this i s sheer nonsense,but
so—to my mind—i s an ultra-civil izedshop in Shanghai .The sea i s horrib ly rough tod ay . I
simply couldn ’t even glance in thedirection of the salm on mayonna i se atlunch
,and the two shiny daughters
,
who I am suspecting of big gamehunting—husbands of course—have bothturned ultramarine and flown to theinner seclusion of their cab in . Theirmother
,who has been tw ice through
to -day ’ s luncheon menu and is fil lingin the cracks wi th cheese
,has
,I suspect,
obtained what is ca lled, rather vulgarly,her sea legs . I f they bear any resemblance to her land equivalents I shouldthink they mus t be dreadfu l . AgainI crave pardon
,but we are too deli
cate about these matters—after al l2 5
A Bachelor in Japan
legs are such elementary things,and so
practical .I f the storm continues to rage
horrib ly, I shal l be obliged to turn inand blink at the unsympa thetic ceil ingof my cabin unti l the weather is normalagain . I am still able
,however
,to
make a sort of undign ified dailypromenade on deck— I say undign i
fied” because the old lady
,who has
been strapped into a deck -chair and lefton the deck to perish , seems convincedthat my effort s at walking are notmerely due to the rough sea . I fearshe suspects my daily cocktail ; butI shall not worry
,because a wave
w i l l come over in a minute or two andwash her into the sea . So it rea l lydoesn ’ t matt er, after all .D inner- time has come
,and I have
been able to sit through the wholeperformance . There i s one thing Iobject to
,however
,and very strongl y ;
26
A Bachelor in Japan
I have come to the conclusion thatI must never drink sparkling Mosel leagain for dinner it makes me m'
awkish .
I believe I could be almost reconci ledto the couples in Hyde Park on BankHoliday after a bo t tle of really goodsparkling Moselle . Mn
'
yevowcp.
TO-morrow we arrive at Nagasaki .The only thing I know about Nagasaki i s tha t i t i s the scene where is laidthe plot of the opera w i th the mostappealing music in the world . Poorlittle Madame Butterfly
,she is but one
of many who wait and wait patient lyin their best kimono for the return ingof Love . C
’
es t tongue, c’
est tongue, and,alas ' so often it never comes . I havedespaired long ago
2 8
I HA' E said good -bye to the goodship that has been my home for
six wonderfu l weeks,I have w rung
people by the han d, vowing undying.
friendship, I have given t ips thatwould have ransomed a kingdom, andI have stepped off the gangway on toJapan at last . The first thing I noticei s the smell of the place . Don ’t askme what it i s l ike . I f my life dependedon it
,I could never describe it— it i s
j ust the sm ell of Japan,that ’ s all .
My sw ift -moving rickshaw puller tookme through narrow s treets lined byhouses of‘ delightful flim s iness halfpaper
,ha lf wood , and tiles . There
were the quaintes t lit tle shops displaying the most picturesque com
29
A Bachelor in Japan
modities,varying from' fish to lacquer
and carved ivory . Curio shops therewere galore
,and the streets seemed
teeming w i th l ittle pa le,almond -eyed
people in sombrely art i st ic clothes . Thenoises w ere delightful . Men and
women,staggering under heavy loads
,
called out picturesque cries and soundsthat suggested post - impressional music .
Everybody got in each other ’s way,
apo logized w i th a charm that delightedme
,and pa ssed on . But the children I
I saw quantities . The dea r little thingsstrutted along in their amusing footw ear
,and appealed to me so much that
I wanted to get out and buy the lot .
I was so happy that I vowed I wouldlive in this dear l ittle country for everand ever . I felt l ike a child that hadbeen given a well -stocked doll ’ s houseto play w ith and been tol d to be goodand keep quiet .
M y mind was full of plans for the
30
A Bachelor in Japan
future and all the gay,impossible
things I was going to do, when my
rickshaw drew up in front of a modernWestern hotel
,and my dreams had come
to an end for a short while,during
which terms and bedrooms and trainsand time -tables predomina ted . I gotout
,paid the puller a m m which I
afterwards learnt was sufficient to buyrickshaw
,m an and all , and went into
my hotel,which was strictly European
,
having tab les and chairs,and waiters
in trousers and coats .
By the time I had had dinner anda subs equent coffee and liqueur I wa sso tired that I craw led Off to bed—9
a quite comfortable,nondescript bed
,
i f I remember rightly, which mighthave graced a hotel chamber in Edinburgh
,Egypt , or New South Wales .
31
I HA' E been true and faithful to thedictates of my guide -book and visitedall the places that i t behove‘d me to
visi t—Tokyo,Kyoto
,Kamakura
,Kobe
,
and a few other places beginning w ithK I have also vis ited but not
ascended Fuj i Sama,the great white
mountain that s tands alone,one Of
' thewonders of a wonderful world . I haveseen temples and tombs amid the mostglorious scenery resplendent w i thautumn colouring . Not mere brown sand yellow s such as we are content w ithin England
,but vivid reds and golds
that s tagger the imagination and makeone w i sh one was an art ist insteadof being a wandering loa fer w ith aminimum of' capabi l ities .
32
A Bachelor in Japan ‘
Japan is too lovely for words . Ishall certainly stay here for some li ttlet ime and take a house— a real Japanesehouse of the papier-maché varie tyand play in the sunshine . My knowledge of the language is as yet verylimi ted
,I
’
m ' afraid,because 1t Is not
easy to pick up in three months a jargonthat i s full of clicks and tricks of thetongue whi ch usually defy,
the Westernpalate . But the pretty little ways andsweet manners of the Japanese makeup for his impossible language . Ihave never seen such exquisite po liteness . I am firmly convinced that ifyou trod on the tenderest corn of' aJapanese man ’s foot in a crowd hewould turn round
,w ithout a touch of
sarcasm,and groan in the agony of his
soul,Thank you very, much ,
”or to be
more literal,
Arigato gosaz’
mus . Onthe other hand
,I notice that men do
not get up in a Crowded: tramcar and
33 C
A Bachelor in Japan
give their seat to a strap-hangingfemale . Not at al l— she can hang wildlyunti l the car stops wi th a jerk
,and
then she finds an unexpected seat onsome one ’ s kn ee . This usually causesimmense amusement
,and everybody
giggles til l they leave the car at theirdestination .
'What I have seen already of the
Japanese tells me tha t for all intentsand purposes they are children . Easilypleased and amused
,they are the
happiest people in the world . For
example,the gentleman who waves a
red flag in front of the native equivalentto a steam -roller does so wi th all thezeal and zest of a Publ ic School boyon the touch - l ine at a house ma tch .
Even at the crit ical moments in theirlives they have always a smile
,but then
I cannot help but feel i t arises from a
different reason,rather like a baby who
smiles from flatulence .
34
A Bachelor in Japan
I f you wi sh to be happy in Japanleave your Western modesty warehousedin England
,and then I can promise
you that you wi ll enjoy yourself verymuch .
THE j ourney up to Hakone,where I
have come for a few days , i s no easytask . .' ou begin i t in a tra in , t ransferinto a tram
,and eventually get dragged
for many miles uphil l in a rickshaw,
bu t i t i s w ell worth the trouble . I thinkit i s one of the most beauti ful lakesI have ever seen ; the snow s of’ Euji
Sama lie reflected in i t, and the wooded
mountains ri se up on every side . Thereis a royal residence at one end of thelittle vi llage
,an old temple w i th a
thatched roof,and an hotel .
I seem to be the only visitor stayingup here save two old French ladies
,
whom I rather suspect of having kepta boarding estab li shment at Lyons .
When we meet at breakfast we bow
37
A Bachelor in Japan
and say bonjou'
rs,at lunch-t ime we
bow. again , and they,say, something
which sounds uncommonly like the noisethe foreign mus ic-hall art ist makes atintervals, d-La or ho-la, then whenwe meet at dinn er we bow a thi rd t imeto a chorus of tender bons ai/ s butI dare say we sha l l be more intima te ifit continues to rain much longer .
The hotel i s pleasing bu t plastery, infact i t gives one the impress ion of
having been built of sugar-ic ing . I ts tan ds right on the edge of the lake ,and I am a little afraid to be at al l
boisterous in my bedroom because oneof the walls has shown obvious sign sof fall ing into the water every t ime Ihappen to cough loudly or slam thedoor .
The first day after I arrived atHakone i t rained . When I say that i trained
,I mean tha t i t did something
which washed away the picturesque ha lf38
A Bachelor in Japan
of the vi llage and transformed the
roads into canals . I t i s quite uselessto endeavour to describe tropi cal rainto any one who has not w i tnessed it .
I can only say that I sat in the li tt lehotel
,realizing that
, at last, I had afeeling in common wi th Noah and Icould sympathize w i th him; for havingbecome so inebriated when he was
permitted at last to emerge from hi sArk .
I thanke’d Heaven that my room was
on the second floor,becaus e I had les s
chance of being washed away than theladies of Lyons, who were purple andparalysed on the ground floor, trying topack their clothes . I hoped, however,that the sugar -icing would hold a littlelonger
,for the violence of the storm
was soon over .
The following day was fine, so I
sauntered out in my thickest boot s andprepared to wade . I t was very beauti ful
39
A Bachelor in Japan
after the rain . The lake resembled ablue crystal and reflected the tal l treeson i ts banks as in a mirror I walkedfor some little t ime until I came to anold temple that seemed to slumber bythe lake
,dreaming of the gods . I t
was approached by a long fl ight of
lichen -coloured steps,well -worn doubt
less by the feet Of worshippers . AsI mounted up them' I t ried to imaginethe crowd of pilgrims that had journeyedfar to find this hallowed spot in wh ichthey could offer up their prayers andsupplications
.The temple was deserted now andseemed to be falling in to decay ; not
even the children came to play theirgames upon its gras s -grown flagstones .
I t Was a forgotten treasure which allsave the pigeons that nested beneath itseaves and the camellias that bloomed inits court s had forsaken . I t seemed to
me to Offer repose . I felt that I mtt st40
A Bachelor in Japan
creep on t iptoe lest I should wake thes leeping god that dwel t therein . Hisworshippers had left him so undisturbedby prayer that he had fallen asleep and
had left the tal l cryptomerias to keeptheir guard . They heard the n ight in
gale throb out her sad,sweet song at
night,and they watched the moon
beams race across the pu rple waters .
By day the playful breezes lingered intheir branches and the listles s lakethrew back to them their im'ages .
Life i s so easy if you are a tree ;you j ust go on growing an d grow ingand giving pleasure until the s torm or
the axe comes and lays you on the
warm bosom of the earth from whichyou have sprung .
I sat for a long while and acceptedthe silent hospital ity which the slumbering god offered unti l I heard footstepsand shrill voices l The two old ladiesof Lyons had discovered my temple
41
A Bachelor in Japan
and were uttering foolish phrases of
appreciat ion to the accompaniment of
clicks from their cheap cameras . Ifled
,partly because I fea red that the
god would awake and turn us into frogsin his wrath , and pa rt ly because un
attractive old women and scenery suchas surpasseth man
’s understanding donot harmonize in my humble opin ion .
A Bachelor in Japan
prom i ses to be a mos t entertainingservant . The daughter aids her in thehousework
,while the son stil l goes to
schoo l . The w idow i s cal led Haru,
the daughter O Hana,while the son
escapes with a modest Kijuro . Theycall me O Danna San—what it meansI really don ’ t know
,but I swel l w ith
pride when I hear i t,because the
deference they show when they say itconvinces me it must be very com
plimen tary .
The Japanese are nothing if not
correct . Everything. i s done quiteaccording to tradit ion
,and the right
god is evoked at the right momen t . Ifeel sure that every li tt le action thattakes place in my modest establishmenti s under the direct supervis ion Of
' oneof their nine hundred and ninety-ninegods .
Furnishing my house was very s impleand very entertaining . One simply
44
A Bachelor in Japan
strolled out and bought some pots andpans, some bowls and chopsticks , somecushions and some mattresses
,and that
was all that was necessary . True,I
bought a host of pretty little meaning.
less articles which delighted my soul ,but they were in no way essential, butmerely decorative . I f you try, to furnishJapanese houses
,the resu lt i s di sastrous
their beauty lies in their s impl icity,
and wi th their delight ful mat t ing andpaper walls they possess a charm whichholds its own in contrast w ith our overcrowded rooms in England that cost agreat deal of money . In Japan youfurnish on the same amount of moneyas .you would spend on your l ibrarysofa at home .
The bathroom ,to which I have
already a l luded, consists of' a papererection buil t off the house at rathera w indy corner . This i s a drawbackbecause on windy days I am frequent ly,
45
A Bachelor in Japan
compelled to chase after it down theroad or across the rice -fields and bringit back . I t harbours a woodenapparatus w i th a hole in the middle anda stove pipe at one end—thi s i s thebath . I sit in the hole every eveningabout six o ’clock
, and steam comes outof the pipe . I have not yet persuadedthe family that they must not make thisuntoward moment the one time in theday when they w i sh to chat to me
,but
no doubt I shall get used to it,or they
w i ll learn betterM y Japanese cul sme i s excellent . I f
you are art i st ic , I can give you lot usroot salad and sliced bamboo . I f youare not, I can give you anythingvarying from salted plums to octopussoup ; this latter dish I di sl ike candidly,but I can eat and enjoy the overgrownradi sh which‘
one sees everywhere inthe country
,and which usually b‘
afi‘
les
the insides of most foreigners . I t i s46
A Bachelor in Japan
known as daikon and looks like awhite radish in a pantomime .
I t i s w inter,so my garden is sleeping,
but not the sound,sad sleep of the
English gardens,bound as they are by
frost and occasional snow . There i salways a little flower somewhere in itto make me happy
,and I look forward
w ith joy to the b lossom time that w il lsoon be here .
Yeste rday I went up by train toTokyo to buy some k imonos . I founda most wonderful shop
,where I pur
chased the completest outfi t in theshortest possib le t im e . I was a l itt ledisappointed when I learnt that menare limited to a certain range of coloursin their kimonos - saxe b lues
,navy
blues,varied browns
,slate greys
,and
a few dull nondescripts that were ratheruninteresting . I chose some charmingblues and browns . In the matter of
shirt s, however, or under-kimonos, one47
A Bachelor in Japan
can let oneself' go—tradit ion and et iquette allow i t . My unders wouldstop a fight ; they are so giddy and aredecorated wi th m y dragons and riceharvests . When I showed my purchasesto the family they opened their threemouths and gaped' w i th admiration .
Tart/zen uroshiz‘
des nai,said the
widow about fifty-six t imes to the
minute, whi le O Hana San and Kijuro
contented themselves wi th intermittentM aas
,which is the noise the Japanese
make when they are flabberga sted .
I put one of my kimonos on for myevening meal . The widow seemed to
admire me so much that she sat and
shrieked for the family to come an d
help in the admirat ion . They said themost flattering things
,and I believe
,
had I let them,they would have called
in all my fisher-folk and farmer neighbours to a private view . But I allowedthem as I usually did in the evening,
48
A Bachelor in Japan
to bring in the dominoes instead, and
we all sat round and played a game .
The Japanese know how to keep theirplace
,however lenient one i s w i th them .
The widow won that night,doubt less
because she had evoked the god of thegames of chance and we three
,being
younger,had been careless and for
gotten . She went to bed as happy asshe had the Derby .
49
I HA' E had visitors — the firs t entertaining I have had to do in Japan . I twas my neighbour Baron Tsuj i and hislit tle flower of a daughter Kiku San ,eighteen years of age . To my un
bounded delight and relief’ they bothcould speak a little English
,as the
Baron had once visited Englan d,and
his daughter had learnt i t from foreignmission ladies in Tokyo .
They were very. delighted when Igave them an Engl i sh tea , which thewidow was now adept at making, andthey sat up and ate and drank it wi thperfect ease .
.We talked of many things—of Japan,of England, and their respective hab itsand cus toms . I learnt that the Baron
50
A Bachelor in Japan
I couldn ’ t understand . However,I
gleaned that the Baron was ari stocraticbut poor, and that his daughter was
very high collar,
” a curious expressionprevalent in Japan and used to describea person as being ultra -modern . I toriginated from the very h igh collarsthat the Japanese invariably wore whenthey returned from the West for the firs ttime . But whether the lady was highcollar or not I did not care—I onlyknew that she was one of the mostbeautifu l l i tt le flowers I had ever seen .
That night I lost again .
I HA' E been up and paid a return callon my neighbours . They have a largeJapanese house standing among a greatmany enorm ous pine-trees and a gardenthat is ful l of miniature mountains andlakes and bridges . The old gentlemanreceived me in a charming room,
wherewe sat on crimson cushions and' s pokeof recent events . He showed me agreat many family swords and otherheirlooms until tea was served in prettyli ttle china bowls
,together w i th some
highly coloured,sweet cakes that ma de
one feel thoroughly sick .
His daughter Kiku made her appearance
,bearing the tea -things herse lf
,
and w ith many bows and l ittle nat ivenoises showed me that I was welcome .
53
A Bachelor in Japan
Her kimono w as of a very brightcolour
,w i th a golden obi or be lt around
it ; I do not think I have ever seensuch a delicately beautiful maiden .
She was as pink and white as a shellon the beach
,and her raven hair looked
blue in the bright sunlight . I feelsure
,however
,that her mind was full
of ridiculous little ideas,pretty in them
selves but eminently childish She didnot speak very much on this occasion ,smiled frequently as though to herself ,and
,as I thought , seemed to mak e
naughty li ttle eyes at me that nearlydrove me mad w i th a desire to kiss herNow kiss ing in the land of blossomsi s the unpardonable s in ; bes ides, Idisapproved of i t in others , and I hadno right to contemplate i t myself . Sowe continued to talk to the Baron of
dull things .
After the dainty repast her fatherinvited me to see his garden
,of which
54
A Bachelor in Japan
he was obviously proud,so the three of
us put on our foot attire and went outto see the mountains and lakes I t was
delightful . Trees,shrubs
,and flowers
grew as though they enjoyed it . Therewas nothing in row s as in my aunt ’sgarden at Ham'mersmi th, no geraniumsdrawn up like soldiers at the salute .
Everything seemed to grow w i th an easeand grace that was enchanting
,while
amid all this beauty the little Kikuflitted round like a gaily pa inted butterfly
,which indeed she was .
Providence was kind to me as we
wandered round this fair garden,be
cause the old Baron wa s cal led awayinto the house by the arrival of one ofhi s retainers from Tokyo
,who required
an interview . He was loathe to leaveus
,excus ing himself, but I assured
him that I should be quite happy inthe company of his fair daughter .
Left alone together,Kiku and I
5 5
A Bachelor in Japan
realized that we were to be friends .
She was j ust the little child I took herto be
,and prattled of flowers and the
sea and the moon and a hundred otherpicturesque sub jects . Yet she was agi rl of marriageable age
,talented in
that she sang and played little sad
songs on the koto,a k ind of recumbent
harp . The sam isen she despised ; i twas the trade ma rk of the Geisha
,and
Geishas had come to be what musicalcomedy actresses so often are .
She told me that there was a rabbi tin the moon
,that flowers had souls
,and
that there were bogies in the bamboogroves . Had she been an Eng lish girlof eighteen I should have shaken her ;as she was
,I wanted to take her in my
arms .
I told her that in England we saidthere was a man in the moon .
Then there i s a woman al so,she
answered, and I took her hand .
56
AS I s tood looking out to sea from my
veranda to -day I realized that therewas considerable excitement on thesi lver crescent of sand and shells whichformed the beach . Little brown
,naked
figures ran hither and thither,and
snatches of‘
song and chat ter were waftedup to me by the breeze . Curiosi tyseized me
,so I took up my hat and
ran down the well -worn path which ledto the shore . When I arrived I foundthat the fisher-folk were pulling in theirnet s and chanting a quaint rhyt hmicalsong as they toiled . Both men andwomen were working
,the latter w i th
babies tied on their backs .
In a little group,of spectators that
stood by I recognized my little Japanese57
A Bachelor in Japan
friend w i th her elderly attendant . Shelooked very bright and gay in a yellowkimono
,and was smi l ing and chatting
w i th some little children that hadgathered round her .
I went over and greeted her inJapanese . ' ou are learning veryquickly our language
,she said as she
made her custom‘ary bows .
' But I am learning other thingsbes ides
,I answered th ings one
cannot easi ly learn in England .
”
' Oh,but are there any things you
cannot lea rn in England ' My fathertell me it i s wonderful place and everyone very rich . Perhaps I visit one
day,she said .
' ou would certainly enjoy yourself,
Kiku S an,because you are pretty and
speak English, bu t you could never bereally happy there . I t would all seemgrey and colourless after this beautifulland
,and we have no blossom trees in
5 8
A Bachelor in Japan
the marriage -market i s a prosperousone
, especially in Japan , where etiquettedemands a middleman who undoubtedlypockets a commission on each transaction . Yet somehow I felt sorry forl ittle Kiku San ; she did not seem torealize that her happiness was to besacrificed on the altar of filial duty .
A European girl under s imilar circumstances would have enacted a viol entscene before her pa rents and fled thehouse . I rather think I should havecontemplated something s imilar myself,but Kiku San merely awaited her fatein dutiful silence .
At last,wi th a shout of joy
,the nets
were landed high up on the beach , anda wr i thing
,glittering mass of beauti
ful,multi -coloured fish flashed in the
sun,
flapping themselves to deathagainst each other . From every sidepeople appeared w ith baskets , and soonthe marketing began . Such a happy
60
A Bachelor in Japan
scene of picturesque animation,for I
noticed an abs ence of anything ap
proaching quarrels or discontent 'Every one seemed highly satisfied w iththeir bargains
,and the whole episode
struck me as being more of an amusinggam e than serious business .
Kiku and her nurse bade me goodbye
,and so I sat down on the remains
of an old boat and wrote a little poem‘
to the fisher-folk on the back ofunpa id b i ll .
Happy little fisher-folk,
L aughing through the day,
As you pull your nets inIs it work or play '
Is life always sunlit'Is there never pain '
Is TO-day another' esterday again 'Merry little fisher-folk,P laying through the years ,
I have seen your happiness,Never once your tears .
61
A Bachelor in Japan
I t may not be correct from a poeticalpoint of view
,but it i s exact ly what
other line quite nicely
62
K IK' SAN and I are sweethearts . Ithink that i s exactly the word to
describe our feelings towards eachother . I take her bunches of
‘ flowersthat I have labou red to pi ck
,and she
brings me,a great big man of thirty
two,sugary dragons . We are always
together on the hi ll s or the shore ;indeed
,I often wonder how a Japanese
girl i s allowed to wander w ith whom shelikes so freely . I asked Haru San
,
who to ld me that Japanese ladies arenow becom lng more emancipated, andespecially those who have been broughtup
,l ike Kiku
,in a foreign school .
The Baron seems to have little t imeto spa re for his daughter . He poursover the Chinese Classics from morning
63
A Bachelor in Japan
to night, and allows her to do muchas she likes
,wi thin reason . They are
both ultra-Western in their views,as
Haru San declared,and are very fond
of foreign people and things .
He has been very kind to me, and
many are the hours I spend in hisgarden w i th the little daughter infl irtatious idleness among the miniaturemountains and lakes .
Japanese hospitality is most complete .
There is littl e Of' that s i tt ing in thedrawing-room for ten minutes such as
delights the heart of‘ those at home inEngland . In Japan you are asked forthe day or half day at least , an d duringone ’s visit you are Offered a bath , adressing-gown ,
and as many mea l s asyou can conveniently fi t in . ' ery,
often you are treated to a Gei sha entertainment or to a display of the talentsof the family . I t i s al l highly enter
64
A Bachelor in Japan
There has been a lamentable catastrophe in my hous ehold arrangements .
A neighbour who sometimes vis its mebrought a magnificent specimen of' achicken to me
,and I asked him to come
and share i t d l ’anglaise He was
delighted,and on the fixed day arrived
,
in his best kimono . We possessed oursouls in patience for the roast chickento make i ts appearance
,for half an
hour,but i t never came —only a smiling
Haru San,who explained that the
honourable hen had perished beyondrecognition , burnt to a cinder . I askedfor an explanation
,but she Offered
none ; so,as one must never show
emotion before Japanese from whomyou w i sh to command respect
,I smi led
too,and substituted a tin of sardines
and some eggs .
I t was over our evening game of
domino es that I learnt the reason Theboy Kijuro told me that his mother has
65 E
A Bachelor in Japan
considerab le feeling s for a little manwho keeps the local tea -house
,and she
was so engrossed in writ ing an ode tohim that the chicken was forgotten andmet ‘
w i th its un fortunate fate . I wasdelighted wi th the story
,as I felt i t to
be so human . I could never pluck upany enthusiasm over Alfred and thecakes
,but Haru and the chicken fi lled
my soul w i th joy . Of course,had it
occurred in England I should havemade fearful throa ty noises
,sacked the
cook,and climbed up the wall -paper
wi th rage . In Japan one folds one ’ shands and trusts that the gods w i ll bemore clement the next time .
A Bachelor in Japan
priest next door,and also the um
comfortable feeling of sliding precipi tately t o the ground under a showerof loose tiles .
How strong the impulse is,when one
i s happy or thrilled,to make noise s '
Witness t he hen when she lays an eg ;
the cheering crowd ; the happy child ;the s inging housemaid ; or even theoverfed canary . They simply can
’ t helpmaking their respect ive noise for thejoy in their hearts .
The J apanese know tha t theirs i s abeautiful land ; they never cease toadmire it . On their public hol idays Mr .
and Mrs . an d the children go to somefamous pa rk or beauty spot, and theysit down to admire the scenery all day,and be happy . They. are even able toeat their meals in view of the pa rticularobject of their admirat ion, be it ShibaPark
,or Fuj i Sama, or the sacred i sland
of Enoshima for there is always an68
A Bachelor in Japan
inn,and
,for the religiously incl ined, a
temple at hand .
I often think,
when I see theJapanese taking their s imple pleasures ,how differently we B rit ishers take ours .
On our holidays we hire a motor -carand tear down to B righton ; gorge inan overcrowded hotel
,then tear home
again . B righton,Bournemouth
,and
B reezy Somewhere -else are odiously ful lof the type of holiday-maker who i sworking hard in order to enjoy himself
,
by doing everything only to returnhome w i th tuppence and a heada che .
But I suppose it i s useless to makecontrasts, pa rt ly because East i s Eastand 'West i s West , as some fat andfoolish platitudinarian said in the yearOne . I prefer the East
,than k you
,
and the only things I w i sh to borrowfrom the West
,at least fro-m England
,
are the afternoon teas on an autumnor w inter ’s evening
,and an English
69
A Bachelor in Japan
cottage garden ; both I love wi th agran
‘
de pass ion . Somehow you cannotget the firelight effects in Japan or thehot cakes
,while hol lyhocks and sun
flowers never seem to thrive .
I find a subt le delight in walkingthrough the maze of‘ rice-fields atevening . The red sun as i t s inkscasts a crimson reflection over thewatery fields
,staining them red’
. Theother evening as I s tood on the hillslooking down I
'
could not helpimagining that the pla in was a hugebatt lefield where men had fallen andshed their b lood . S ince that day Ihave seen a real battlefield
,one of the
many which covers Europe to -day . It
i s a very different s ight indeed . I donot wi sh to see the sun again when iti s in the mood to turn the fields or seainto blood . I hate blood now that Ihave seen so much of i t
,spilt on the
earth where grains of wheat should fal l .70
THE unexpected oft en happens,but I
w i sh it would not catch one so unawares .
A thunderbolt has dropped from theblue and left me greatly embarrassedand not a little sad .
Yesterday a large gentleman paid mea call on private business . I felt surethat I had omitted to pay some obscuretax , but I was m i staken . The gentleman
,after a great many bow s and
salutations,explained that he was a
friend of a friend of a relation of theBaron ’ s
,who had bidden him come to
the honourab le house of the honourableforeigner (which was m e' an d honourably arrange a marriage between theaforesaid honourab le foreigner (stil lme', who, doubtless , was a great man
7 1
A Bachelor in Japan
in his own honourable land (I hadnever tried to give that impress ion
,but
all foreigners s tan d out in Japan wherethey are obscure in their own country',and the only daughter of the honourableB aron . Then my know ledge of thelanguage forsook me, because I was
dazed and bew i ldered . I t i s one thingto flutter in the sunshine wi th a 'dearlittle Japanese butterfly
,whom one has
no other intentions towards save thatof friendship . I t i s quite another thingto marry her
,how ever charming
,and
probably have a lot of children alllooking like Japan ese puzzles . How
could I declin e the kind Offer wi thoutoffendin g my friend the Baron
,and
especially my little playmate,Kiku San
herself ' And the large gentleman sa t ,
still bow ing,and waited for an answer
in the most distracting manner .
How could I possibly explain in mybad Japanese that English gentlemen
72
A Bachelor in Japan
did not marry in the same spirit as they,engage a valet or a housekeeper ' Oh Ihow could I explain all the hundredan d one d ifficulties that such a matchpresented ' Besides
,i t was w rong
,as
all the world decreed .
Then an inspirat ion came to me. TheBaron could speak better English thanI could Japanese . I would go to himand explain
,myself
, and w i th diplomacyand tact estab lish the old
‘ relationshipswhich I had before w i th the family . Itold the fat gentleman
,whose bowmgs
I became convinced would never end,
that I was overcome by such an honourable compliment which the honourablegent leman had taken upon himself to
arran ge for me,but that I would visit
myself the honourable house of thehonourab le Baron at once . At this thebow ings were renewed fourfold
,and we
bade each other sayonara .
A difficult task lay before me . I f I73
A Bachelor in Japan
managed to satisfy the Baron,I felt
that Kiku would not understand,and
vice versa .
I seized my hat and wa lked quicklytowards the baronial pa per mansion
,
concoct ing the most fearsome tales en
route . I should have to persuade themthat my health was bad and that mydoctor had forbidden me to marry
,and
,
by way of demonstration,I should be
compelled to have an apoplet ic fi t onthe door -mat as I left .
74
A Bachelor in Japan
the form al proposal which her fatherhad made . I spoke of what had passed .
Do you understand why we cannotmarry ' ” I asked her
,and she looked
up and laughed .
Yes—marriage in Japan is verydifferent from marriage in England .
M y father wi sh me to be w ife of greatEnglishman
,
” she repli ed .
But I am not a grea t Englishman .
I am a vagabond a man who
wanders . In Englan d I am obscure ,I insisted .
That i s very sad,she replied .
My father thinks you a great man inyour coun try . He says your uncle isvery famous Englishman
, so you mustbe great too .
I laughed at her logic and repeatedmy assurance that
,although I had an
uncle who was an English lord andvery rich
,yet I myself was but an
obscure traveller who happened to bestopping in Japan
A Bachelor in Japan
Perhaps you,wi ll one day, ma rry a
Japanese, she said .
'
Not unless she loved me and Iloved her
,Kiku San , I answered .
What is it—your English loving 'she asked .
' ou must ask your rabbit in themoon, I replied
,and we talked of
other things .
As I returned I wondered if thiss trange little b lossom of Japan wouldever learn to love
,or whether she would
be given to some wealthy merchantwho would treat her just as one treatsa chattel . This
,doubtless
,would be her
lot,although she was made for love .
I f you are of the lower classes inJapan
,you can
,w i thin cert ain limita
tions,choose your mate . I f you are
born an aristocrat, you must be conten t
wi th what i s given you . Poor l i ttlepa tient Japanese ' Yet they are veryhappy all the same .
77
THE ' E i s a new bond of sympathybetween Kiku S an and I . We arefirmer friends because we are morefrank w ith each other
,and there is no
fear of a further attempt by her fatherto catch me now he know s that I am
not rich . I have fallen,I fear
,in his
estimation — I am no longer the re
nowned fore igner that he thought I wasnevertheless
,he i s stil l courteous and
kind . Kiku San , who had no say in thematter
,t ook the whole thing in the
usual quiet,resigned spirit of the
Japanese lady . I f her father madeovertures to a foreigner, the Shah ofPersia or the Man in the Moon, it washer place to fold her hands and sayThank you very, much .
” I f he in78
A Bachelor in Japan
t ended to chop her head off in orderto make soup
,i t would be her duty
,
according to the Japanese code,to
submit to it,however unpleasant the
proceeding . The ' omans understoodthis duty towards parents and called i tp
'iet‘as . Thank Heaven
,one i s wiser
nowadays and is ab le to punish theparent who neglect s his parental duties
,
or attempt s to chop off one ’s head .
I do not think I know anothercount ry where one can idle so sat isfac
torily as over here . My days are spentin doing exactly nothing,
and yet I donot feel in the least ashamed WereI in Europe I should be fu rious wi thmyself i f I pa ssed a morning bywithout w rit ing a poem or composinga song
,but here I do not even write
letters , and it i s an effort to keep thisdiary up to date . There is not muchharm in idleness real ly if you
’ve gotyour head screwed on the right way .
79
A Bachelor in Japan
I know. several people who have beenso busy all their lives that they havenot even had time to appreciate all thej oy and beauty God has placed aroundthem . I f to be busy prevents one
from enjoying the blue sea and thewhite c louds and the cherry blossom
,
then I ’m going to be idle .
To -day I am visiting a neighbouringvillage where there i s to be a templefestival . I am invited to it by theBaron—doubt less at the instiga t ion of
his daughter—and we are to stay for
the lantern procession in the evening .
.I forget which of the gods i t is thati s being feted
,but I believe he is
very powerful and fearfully ugly . S o
i t i s j ust as well to keep on the rightside w i th him . Haru San has fi tt ed meout wi th a wonderful paper fish whoseon ly entrails seem to be a nightlightand a piece of wi re . When the procession begins I light the nightl ight and
80
A Bachelor in Japan
j oin in the stream unti l I am violentlyjost led, which w il l ups et the nightlight,set fire to the fish
,and I shall have
to ret ire into the obscurity again , wi th,no doubt
,a couple of‘ burnt fingers .
But I am going to enjoy myself .
The pr ie st of the little temple downby the shore i s doing his darn
'
a’es t
on a big drum . I t i s the fi fteenth dayof the month
,an d to-ni'ght i s full
moon,which accounts for the noise I
believe,because I have not iced that in
a Buddhist temple they always beat adrum on the fi fteenth of every monthfor the whole day long . I cannotimagine anything more annoying or
depress ing ; it i s as bad as having aComm ination Service once a week in
the rain .
My litt le house is to look after itselfthis evening
,as Haru San is to go to
the festival wi th the tea -shop man andthe daughter and son are joining a
8 1 F
A Bachelor in Japan
merry company of uncles and auntsand strings of' cousins . I f the dreadeddorobo
,or burglar
,enters
,he i s welcome
to the remains of the fried cuttle -fishand lotus -root salad
,but I do sincerely
hope that he wi l l overlook my Hokusaiprints
,for which I have a grea t
affection .
The fear that the Japanese entertainfor the harmless burglar i s astounding .
I am told by an old foreign resident ofTokyo that if you wake up in the middleof the night and find a burglar on thedoor-mat you must call F ire 'because that wi ll bring your neighbours to your assistance . I f you callThief ' they pull the bedclothestighter round them and refuse to budge .
Nevertheless,the Japanese burglar is
a most polite fellow . The followingstory helps to illustrate this fact
'A foreign mission lady, resident inTokyo, woke up one night to find a
82
' ' III
A L L the magic in the world might bemine to -night . The great white moonis looking down from a purple sky upona scene that must cause it pleasure .
The temple court i s thronged w i th ahappy
,careless crowd tha t wave glowing
lan terns and sprays of blos som likefairies in a fantast ic dream . The old
and yellow priests are droning away,
curious psalms , wi thin the temple , to
the beat of a drum,and pleasure and
prayer are meet ing in strange familiarity . Laughter
,s inging,
and theclapping of hands seem‘ to rise upfrom every side . The b lue haze ofromance lies everywhere .
Yet on this night I have determinedto say good -bye to Sakawa and toKiku San . I am going to leave the
84
A Bachelor in Japan
Paradise tha t I have found,because the
serpent has found it s way into it .
Love is an assailant from whom one
has to fly,especia lly when he attacks
the heart s of an Englishman and aJapanese maid .
Kiku San an d I had dri fted beneaththe shade of the temple
,out of the
crowd,to a little garden where lay
priests who had died . They each hada quaint lit tle grey stone to m ark theirresting -places
,and a few Old pine - trees
kept their guard .
How you enjoy to -night areyou happy ' ” she asked in her quaint
,
hesitat ing manner .
I think,Kiku San
,it i s the most
thrilling,intoxicat ing: thing I have ever
seen,I answered
,and
,laughing
,she
took my hand .
' There wi ll be better than this , shesaid
,later on in the year - then we w il l
come tog-ether .
85
A Bachelor in Japan
No,I shall never see anything
better than this,because because
I am going away .
She dropped my hand,and tea rs
started up in her brown eyes .
' ou are going away ' she repeated,but you are happy here .
'
I am going back to England,l i tt le
plum-blossom—it i s bett er for me togo soon very soon perhapsto -morrow .
She looked up into my face thenand said
,Why are you going
away ' '
I took her in my arms and held herclose .
Because,Kiku San ,
I am learningto love you
,and we may not love .
You are of the East and I am of theWest and and i t i s wi ckedfor us to marry do you not understand ' our little ones theywould be outcasts—pa riahs—scorned by
86
A Bachelor in Japan
the whole world—your world and minedon ’ t you see now how wrong. of
us i t would be 'She did not reply
,but moaned against
my arm,
' I love you I love youdon ’ t go awaySsh
,dearest
,
'do not say thati t i s hard enough already to leave you
,
but i t i s because we love that we mus tpart . Kiku San
,my love
,i f I do not
say good -bye to you to nigh t,I shall
never be able to leave . Say that youw i l l let me go .
Yes I understand you
had better go and her tea rsfell fast on my sleeve . I put my.cheek on her smooth hairLittle wi se butterfly
,I said
,al l
along I have thought of you as achi ld , but to night you are differentyou are a woman, and I love you ; Iw i ll a lways love you,
but we cannotmarry . Your father thought that if we
87
A Bachelor in Japan
had married and gone to England itwould not matter I mean aboutany children that might be bornbut in England they are scorned evenas here . ' ou do not know how sad
i t i s for them the world is verybitter and cruel .Yes
,
” she answe red,and to night
I thought i t would be kind to mebut I am unhappy I am
unhappy .
Then she lay very quietly againstmy heart—poor little t ired butterfly . Itried to comfort her in many littleways . I told her fairy tales that sheloved . I kissed her eyes and hair ,but st i l l she lay as though asleep .
Presen t ly she pointed up in to the skyat three littl e s tars tha t were closedown by the sea on the horizon . Sheloved stars and seemed to have fablesfor all of them .
Look at those stars, she said tear88
A Bachelor in Japan
fully ; ' I think they are the soulsof our l ittle children that would
have come ifI we had beenmarried . They tell us I think
to leave them;
up in thesky always they are happyin the sky not ha ppy here .
I kissed her,and she accepted my
kisses .
Dearest,I said
,when I am gone
you can look up at those three l it tles tars—our little children—and sing them
,
at night,to s leep . They are happier
up there in the clouds than down here ,and w i ll be w i th us always .
”
I wi ll always sing them to sleep,
she said,and bade me say good-bye .
I held her in my arms and mutteredfooli sh things I have since forgotten .
Good-bye,li tt le b lossom your
petals w i l l lie on my heart for ever,I
said,and we kissed where the temple
cast her purple shadow across the89
A Bachelor in Japan
tombs that shone as s i lver in the moonlight .
Then I led her ba ck to where herold nurse awaited her
,and together
they passed out of the festive crowd .
A Bachelor in Japan
Fuji Sama, and disappeared again wi than equal abruptness .
The Baron has been to say good -byeand confide in me the new s that hehas successfully arranged a matchbetween his daughter and the son of
a Kobe banker . He was kind enoughto add that although he would havewelcomed me as his son - in -law
,yet
perhaps a mixed marriage would haveled to diffi culties
,as Eurasian chi ldren
are f ar from popular in Japan . Ichanged the subj ect
,and we talked
about foreign po licies , German philosophy
,and my
,wealthy uncle in
London . He was immensely impressedby the rich unc le
,and talked of him
unti l he took his leave .
I have said farewell to my neighbours and have bowed ti ll my backached . They are very sweet
,these
little Japanese allies of ours I couldlive among them’ always
,and be happy
9 2
A Bachelor in Japan
perhaps one day I wi ll return—when Iam old and tired of wandering , Ishould like to lie here
,when I am
dead,for ever under one of these gnarled
pine -t rees and listen to the st rangesong of the frogs , at even, in the ricefields .
Haru San and the two chi ldren aretaking me for a last wa lk to-nightat their special request . They havebeen very kind to me always
,and I
shall miss them,for they are my friends
,
and friends are few and far betweenin this difficult world . I wonder ifthere w i ll be any left in England whenI return '
93
O' ' walk by the shore is over,and I
am going to bed in my quaint litt lebedroom for the last t ime .
The full moon is peeping at me
through the shutters,
and I think itwants to say good night - perhaps itw i shes to
’
say something else to mewhich i t can ’t quite express . The w i seold moon—it has seen so much
,and
everybody at some time or other tellsi t their secrets . To-night I told itmine .
‘As we walked back pa st the houseof the Baron we heard some one singinga sad li ttle song which sounded to melike a lullaby .
Listen,Haru San—there i s some
one singing there—ou that veranda94
A Bachelor in Japan
I think i t i s Kiku San—do you hearit ' ” I asked .
Yes,Danna San i t i s Kiku
—but how strange she is s ingingthe song that m others sing to theirbabies to lull them to sleep .
I think it i s rather a sad song,I
answered,and
,looking up
,I saw three
l i ttle stars twinkling in the purple sky .
9 5
ONCE more I am' sai ling on the bluewaters
,and my ship is bound for the
home shore .
As I s tand here on deck I can seethe fast -retreating streak of grey whichhas been the home of' so man y of myhappy hours . At the moment I fee l asi f I .can never be happy again
,for I
am leaving the people and things thatI care for
,and I do not know whether
I shall ever see them again . Yet allwounds heal w i th time , especially if youare a w anderer .
Around me there IS the usual crowd- a few business men returning onfurlough w i th their shabby w ives afew globe-trott ers , including Sir ’Emeryand Lady Something-or-other re
96
A Bachelor in Japan
cuperat ing their’
ealths a few noisychildren a few bar-loafers and a fewold ladies who gossip and coughalternatelyAt the moment everybody i s scurry ing
down,at the sound of a bugle
,to feed
their funny insides,but I am s taying
here,for I wi sh to see the last of the
grey streak that I love .
A big,b luff
,red-faced man has
already encroached on my misery .
Looking a bi t down in the dumps ,he said
,using the express ion that I
dis like intensely . I expect you ’veleft something on shore
,eh ' Why, bless
my soul,we ’ve al l left a l itt le gi rl
back yonder , ‘
an d he pointed a fatfinger towards Japan . Every Englishman leaves a girl in Japan - i t ’ s partof the fun
,and he roared wi th
laughter,then added
,Come and
have a drink,old man ; that ’l l put you
right .
97
A Bachelor in Japan
I declined as politely as I could,and
tried to appreciate his crude joculari ty .
To-morrow I shall determine to pullmyself together ; I wi l l t ry to be
j olly ; I wi l l make fourths at bridge ;I w i ll tear round the deck for prizesan d talk impossible platitudes to
dowagers after every meal . But to
n ight leave me to my thoughts , to the
swi sh -sw i sh Of' the tireles s
,restles s
ocean and the ca ll of the wi ld sea -bird .
