William Elliot Griffis
(1843-1928) was born in Philadelphia, Pa.
and in 1850 saw the launching of the U.S.S. "Susquehanna," (later the flagship of Commodore Perry)
from alongside of his father's coal wharf, on the Delaware River.
He saw the first Japanese Embassy in Philadelphia ten years
later. From 1866-70 taught Ise and Numagawa, nephews of Yokoi
Heishiro, the first two Japanese students in America,
and also several of the scores of Japanese young men, who flocked to New
Brunswick, N. J., during the years 1868-70. In 1870 Griffis
was called "To organize schools on the American principle and teach the
natural sciences." He accepted the appointment, crossed the
continent on the newly finished railway and sailed from San Francisco,
December 1. He arrived at Yokohama before year's end, the first
of the O-yatoi
called out from foreign countries, according to the
Imperial "Charter Oath" of the Meiji Tenno (Emperor) to "seek for
learning and talent throughout the world, to relay the foundations of
the Empire." After seven weeks in Tokyo, teaching as a volunteer
in the Imperial University, and meeting many prominent men--the leading
daimios, Counts, Soyeshima, Okuma, etc.-- Griffis left by steamer for
Kobe and Osaka. In March 1871 he began teaching science in the
Castle and equipped the first chemical laboratory in Japan. From
1872-74 he taught chemistry and physics in the Imperial University, and
mental science as a volunteer. He made many journeys in the
interior during vacations and holidays. After four years of educational service, several audiences with the Emperor, summer and holiday explorations, etc., Griffis left Japan for America in July 1874. During the next fifty-two years, he spent much time in interpreting Japan to America, with voice and pen. He began lecturing, writing, correcting errors and misstatements about Japan, in school and text books, encyclopedias, newspapers and periodicals in America and England. He wrote hundreds of articles, long or short on Japan and the Japanese for six encyclopedias, delivered three thousand lectures or addresses in schools, colleges, universities or before clubs and general gatherings. He lectured singly or in courses, with 1,500 stereoptican lantern slides for illustrations. Griffis was decorated by the Emperor in 1908 with the insignia of the Fourth Class Order of the Rising Sun. At the office of foreign affairs, in 1926 he received the 3rd class decoration of the Order of the Rising Sun--the highest awarded to foreigners. The following year he had an audience with the Emperor in the Imperial Palace. During this visit to and in the Japanese Empire, Griffis spoke about two hundred and fifty times to various organizations. Besides writing introductions to books on Japan by native and foreign authors, and numerous pamphlets, he wrote the following books: The Mikado's Empire (1876, 12 ed); Japanese Fairy World (1878); Asiatic History: China, Korea and Japan (1880, Chautauqua); Corea: Without and Within (1880); Corea: The Hermit Nation (1880); Matthew Calbraith Perry, A Typical American Naval Officer (1887); Honda: The Samurai (1889); Japan: In History, Folk-lore and Art (1891); The Religions of Japan (1894); In the Mikado's Service (1900); Dux Christus: An Outline Study of Japan (1903); The Japanese Nation in Evolution (1907); The Mikado: Institution and Person (1914); and Japanese Fairy Tales (1921). |
The Mikado's Empire (1876):
"To the left of the temple [of Kuanon at Asakŭsa] are gardens famed for their displays of flowers in season -- the plum-blossoms in February, cherry blossoms in April, the lotus in July, azaleas in summer, chrysanthemums in October, camellias in December, and evergreens always. Here are dwarfed trees in every shape. Fuji appears over and over again in miniature. Tortoises, cats, male foreigners with hats, and females in crinoline, houses, wagons, and what not, appear in living forms of green. Tiny trees, an inch or two high, balmy pines, oaks and bamboo, cacti, striped-grass, rare plants of all varieties known in Japan, are here. An open chrysanthemum, the crest of the emperor, is emblazoned on all the barracks of the soldiers, on their caps, buttons, and banners, and on all buildings devoted to governmental purposes." (pp. 384, 387)
"A Flower Fair at Night in Tōkiō. (Drawn by Nankoku Ōzawa.)" (pg. 386) "In the cultivation of these flowers the native gardeners excel. In their limited specialties, the Japanese florists distance those of any other country. The borders of the Asakŭsa gardens are made of clipped tea-plants. Dwarfing, unnatural local enlargement, variegation of leaf and petal, the encouragement of freaks of nature by careful artificial selection -- these are the specialties of the natives of Nippon, which have been perfected by the hereditary patience, tact, and labor of a thousand years. The guild of florists in Tōkiō is large and wealthy. As the florist father, so is the son. Some of the streets of the city are noted for their floral displays and fairs. These are often given at night, the street being lighted by candles, as in the picture. (pg. 387) 1 |
1 Griffis, William Elliott,
A.M. The
Mikado's Empire, Book I. History of Japan, From 660 B.C. to 1872 A.D.,
and Book II. Personal Experiences, Observations, and Studies in Japan,
1870-1874 (NY: Harper & Brothers, Publishers; 1876). Book I , pp. 16-324; Book II, pp. 325-625. In Griffis' 21-page article "The Development of the Hardy Japanese," in The Craftsman, an Illustrated Monthly Magazine for the Simplification of Life (Syracuse, NY), Vol. IX, Oct. 1905, pp. 180-201, we find the lines "Behold not only the nation's art, but the solace and joy brought to homesick war veterans on foreign shore! To beguile the monotony of long vigil and waiting, Admiral Togo distributes among his sailors a thousand home grown dwarf pine trees in pots. General Kuroki sends for flower seeds to beautify the camps and make the war-wasted fields of Manchuria bloom with delight." (pg. 182) In Fenollosa, Mary "The Umè or Plum-Flower Belongs to the History, Literature and Art of Japan -- It is Celebrated in the Shogatsu, The January Good Will Festival," in The Craftsman, an Illustrated Monthly Magazine for the Simplification of Life (Syracuse, NY), Vol. XI, No. 4, Jan. 1907, pp. 405-421, "Field Marshal Marquis Yamagata, Marquis Ito, and Admiral Togo, with doubtless many others of their kind, are acknowledged lovers of the plum, and it is said of grim old Togo the Silent that he once carried this love to the extent of having several thousand dwarf plants sent to his camp in the Liao-Tung Peninsula that his fighting men might be heartened by the presence of beauty." (pg. 408) Were there any other written or graphic references to these trees -- besides Jerningham? Are any of these trees still extant or are there any grafts or cuttings traceable back to these? |