Directory_and_Chronicle_1841 — Page 34

1841.

Notices of Japan, No. V.

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remain through life in the class in which he was born, unless exalted by some very peculiar and extraordinary circumstance. To endeavor to rise above his station is somewhat discreditable; to sink below it utterly so. These classes aré eight.*

Class 1 is that of the kokushi, or princes, including both dai.miô and sai-mió, whose condition has been already sufficiently explained.

'

Class 2 is that of the kie-nin; literally, noblemen.' These noblemen, as be- fore said, hold all their lands in fief, by military service, due to the several princes, or, in the imperial provinces, to the siogoun. The number of warriors due from each nobleman is regulated by the size and value of his estate; and they provide for the performance of his duty by the under-granting, or subinfeudation of their lands. From this noble class are selected the ministers who are not princes, the great offices of state, governors, &c., &c.; and the universal passion for these offices serves, in a great measure, to keep the nobility dependent upon the court, but not sufficiently so to satisfy the jealousy of government. Many of the precau- tions employed towards the princes are likewise resorted to with respect to the nobles. They are not, indeed, deprived of their families, except when holding provincial office; but they are compelled to spend a considerable part of every year at Yedo, and are there required to display a magnificence, which, if not quite equal to that exacted from the princes, is so far beyond their means, that it doubly weakens them; first, by actually impoverishing, and secondly, by inducing them to lessen the number of their military vassals, in order to derive a larger income from their estates. In the profound peace Japan has for two centuries enjoyed, this is probably esteemed safe policy.

Class 3 consists of the priesthood of Japan, Sintoo and Budhist alike. Of these, it well be more convenient to speak in an account of the religion of Japan. Class 4 is that of the samorai, or military, and consists of the vassals of the nobility. The service by which they hold their lands is now, and has long been, if not altogether nominal, yet very easy, as they have only to furnish troops sufficient to give guards and splendor to the courts of the mikado, the siogoun, and the princes, to preserve internal tranquillity, and to watch the coast. In former times, prior to the closing of the empire against foreigners, and confining every native within its limits, the Japanese soldiery are said to have been well known and highly valued throughout Asia, where, as soldiers of fortune, they served every potentate and state willing to engage them. That practice is now forbidden; and their military prowess must have died away, since it has had no field of action. But still, this class, useless as it may now appear, ranks in ge- neral esteem next to their feudal superiors. The siogoun is said to maintain, besides the samorai of the imperial provinces, a body of armed men called the dozin, in- cluded in this class, but considered very inferior to the samerai, and bearing more affinity to the French gendarmery than to regular troops.

It should be observed, whilst upon this subject, that captain Golownin, in his account of his captivity in Japan, says the imperial soldiers were so superior in rank and appearance to those of the princes, that he at first mistook the imperial privates for officers. No writer of the Dutch factory mentions any such differ- ence; and generally speaking, Golownin's situation-a prisoner in a remote pro- vince, conversing only through rude and ignorant Kurile interpreters, or by

Meylan.

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VOL. X. NO. I.

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