Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until
the First World War
Roger Mottini
1
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Content
Foreword
Introduction ................................................................................................ 4
List of Pictures .............................................................................................
The Swiss Way to Japan
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Myterious Zipangu ................................................................................. 10
Inside the closed Oyster ......................................................................... 18
Switzerland's "Blood Export" and Japan................................................. 23
Under Russian Colours in Nagasaki ....................................................... 30
Switzerland and Japan in the Age of Imperialism................................... 36
The Oyster is prized open ..................................................................... 41
Switzerland and Japan – First Encounter and Disbelief
7. Where is the Confederate Republic of Swedenland? ............................. 45
8. Testing Monsieur Humbert ..................................................................... 52
9. Tourist-Samurai ...................................................................................... 64
10. Count Iwakura on top of the Rigi ........................................................... 68
11. The Swiss in Wonderland ...................................................................... 90
12. A Swiss makes History in Japan. .......................................................... 96
13. The Japanese in the Eyes of the Swiss ................................................ 103
14 From Edo to Tokyo. ................................................................................ 126
15 Some Watches don't give the Time ........................................................ 133
16. William Tell shoots a Khaki .................................................................... 141
17. The Red Cross Idea in Japanese .......................................................... 154
18. David against Goliath ............................................................................ 166
19. Painting the Floating World. .................................................................. 181
20. A Colonel turned loose .......................................................................... 186
21. Meiji-Japan at the Crossroads .............................................................. 200
Appendices ........................................................................................ 105
Glossar ............................................................................................. 219
Chronology ........................................................................................ 220
Bibliography ....................................................................................... 224
Abbreviations ..................................................................................... 239
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Foreword
Thinking of Switzerland and Japan, one can but marvel at the fact that two
countries as different as these could have established diplomatic relationships as
early as 1864. A the height of European imperialism, an introspective Japan was
faced with a foreign threat not seen since the failed attempts of invasion
undertaken by the Mongolian Rulers of China some six hundred years earlier.
Tiny Switzerland had already learned the hard way how to come to terms with a
world where strength and force had become the main currency of diplomacy.
Profiting from Franco-German Rivalry and obliged by international law to avoid
international conflicts and alliances, Switzerland‘s security ultimately rested on her
capability to defend herself. Among the earliest countries embracing the
technological means of industrial development and transformation, Switzerland
was also a model of wealth creation which did not rest on colonial expansion and
exploitation. Although she benefitted mightily from the prevailing “Pax Britannica”,
her model of peaceful and open trade relations outlived the efforts of the great
powers to build their own respective spheres of influence based on military might.
In the case of Japan, Switzerland was to profit from rules already established by
the powers, however, in the end it was the quality and value of Swiss goods which
proved to be more convincing than any legal framework.
The communcation between two such different nations was a huge challenge that
went well beyond linguistic problemp. In the eyes of the first Japanese visitors to
Switzerland, this tiny Republic must have been the most “exotic” of all the places
they visited in the west in order to gain an insight into the workings of a modern
nation-state. For the members of an old feudal elite like them, this country without
a king or even a strong president as its political head, was certainly an oddity and
too far from anything in Japan to be considered to emulate and adapt to Japanese
conditionp.
In the eyes of the Swiss, the fast and apparently successful transformation of
Japan into a modern state with democratic features constituted a hopeful social
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
experiment about to prove the universal validity of freedom and democracy in
general and as a base for economic prosperity in particular. Swiss attitudes
towards Japan remained uncritical and favourable even as the country was
already on its slippery road down to imperialism and eventually militarism.
Adorned with all the obvious features of a representative democracy, Japan’s
feudal past was already catching up with her. At the beginning of the first World
War, the country was firmly in the hands of a tiny political elite distrustful of the
population mbling a finely tuned timepiece. However, that “mechanism” called
Japan proved already to be oat large and convinced that development could only
be brought about by an “enlightened” minority carefully planning and implementing
a master plan to progresp. This mechanistic approach to social organisation
resembled a watchmaker asseut of step with the rest of the world. While the
imperialist powers were already on the retreat, Japan was just beginning to
assemble an empire which eventually proved to be the undoing of all progresp.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Introduction
Apart from a mountaineous landscape there is hardly anything comparable between
Japan and Switzerland. As a tiny Alpine Republic, Switzerland lays at the heart of a
polyphone and restless end of the Eurasian continent. Despite her reluctance to
become politically and militarily involved, Switzerland has tight relations with her
European neighbourp.
Japan as an island-nation separated by natural borders from the rest of the world
derives her stability from ethnic and social homogenity. In a kind of 'splendid‘
isolation' Japan has so far profited from Asia without actually feeling to be part of it.
"La Suisse n'existe pas" (Switzerland does not exist)! It was with this
proV.O.Cative phrase that Swiss artist Benjamin Vautier caused an uproar at
home when he painted it on Switzerland‘s pavilion at the world exhibition in Sevilla
in 1992. That formula touched a raw nerve in the Swiss soul, that is the profound
fear of the Swiss to define themselves as a nation. As a nation in the traditional
sense, Switzerland does indeed not exist, she is more like a political fiction. No
linguistic, ethnic or cultural other common traits exist that characterize other
nationp. The Swiss "nation" is hold together only by its political culture and the
democratic will.
Before the Swiss Confederation took shape in 1848, Switzerland was not much
more than a geographical denomination. The old Confederacy left the Holy
Roman Empire in the wake of the Westphalia peace treaty in 1648. That
Confederacy consisted of a complex web of treaties and feudal possessions,
neither a true confederation nor a federation. More or less periodic conferences
amongst the deputies of the member cantons and their allies aimed at coordinating foreign policy along the lowest common denominator, revolving for
nearly three hundred years around their main export: mercenariep.
Thanks to this profitable way of getting rid of a surplus of young males, the first
Swiss arrived in Japan already in the early 17th century.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
In 1798 the Swiss Confederacy collapsed within weeks after French troops
crossed the border imbued with revolutionary zeal. The French came and went,
but the old differences between the Swiss cantons remained. In 1847 those
tensions escalated in a fractricidal civil war between the traditional-mindend,
catholic cantons keen on establishing the old order and those favoring the
establishment of a new federal state. A foreign intervention could be avoided only
thanks to the thoughtful and sensitive leadership of general Dufour, commanding
the federal troops which remained victorious opening thereby the way to the
establishment of a federal state.
Japan‘s isolated geographical position on the other hand was conducive to
keep her distance to the colossus of China, at least politically. When typhoons
annihilated the huge invasion fleets sent in 1274 and 1281 by the Mongolian
Rulers in Beijing, the Japanese myth of the „Godly Winds“ (Kamikaze) and Japan
as a country of the gods was born. This constitutive myth is much more powerful
than the Swiss myth of William Tell, defying tyranny by shooting an apple from the
head of his youngest son.
Sure, the Swiss tend to see Switzerland as a "special case" in European history.
However, fundamentally she is still only a „case“ and not a divine destiny like
Japan. Both countries and their inhabitants might appear rather obstinate in the
eyes of a foreign visitor, the roots of their obstinacy however, are completely
different. In the case of Switzerland it is rational political will, sometimes helped
on by foreign pressure, as well as a historically grown and firmly ingrained
democratic identity governing all political thinking and procedurep.
Japanese identity rests on a religiously enhanced mythology and an ethnic selfconsciousness which expresses itself in unique patterns of social behavior as well.
On the backdrop of such huge differences the encounter between representants
of the two countries was anything but easy and more something like an "encounter
of the third kind“ in the sense of a new dimension of human interaction.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Furthermore, that encounter took place during a period of technological,
economic and political transformation in both countries, particularly however in
Japan, where it assumed nearly traumatic dimensionp.
The rise of new industries offered young Swiss men much less dangerous
possibilities to earn money than the traditional way of fighting foreign warp.
However, the industrialization in Switzerland and elsewhere claimed other victims:
women and children working under harrowing conditionp. Johanna Spyri‘s novel
„Heidi“ which appeared 1880, three years after a federal law limited regulated the
employment of women and children in Swiss factories, was more than a tale for
children. By depicting how an ideal childhood should look like, it was also an
implicit critique of the still widespread child labour in Swiss factoriep.
With the arrival of foreign gunships off her coast, more than two hundred years of
self-imposed isolation came to an abrupt end in Japan. Those were two hundred
mainly peaceful years under an authoritarian but not oppressiv regime that still left
plenty of room for the blossoming of the arts and craftp.
The collapse of the old regime in Japan was much bloodier than in Switzerland
twenty years earlier and the victors in this struggle were confronted with a new
world which they only slightly knew from their reading of books written mainly in
Dutch. The new zeitgeist of Imperialism was characterized by gunship diplomacy
which allowed the European powers and the USA to dominate international
relations and to dictate the terms of those relations in their favor. The possession of
colonies held no economic value for most of the powers and their acquisition was
dictated by reasons of national prestige. The main flows of goods and capital ran
within the European and North American world and Switzerland was firmly
embedded in these worldp. Her industry benefitted hugely from the openness of the
world markets ensured by a British sense of fairness and superiority under the name
of „pax britannica“. Switzerland‘s liberal way of development differed strongly from
that of her larger neighbours more intent on co-ordinating and regulating the
economic development. This was especially true with regard to France where Swiss
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
goods had to bear high customs duties and taxep. As a result, Swiss industry was
constantly looking for new marketp.
When the German states started to form a customs union following the protectionist
thinking of the influential economist Friedrich List (1789-1846), Switzerland was
basically shut out of the German market.
The export-driven Swiss industry had little choice but to look out for even the
remotest potential markets for their goods and suppliep. Under that pressure, feudal
Japan came to the attention of the Swiss as soon as it became clear that the
country would become accessible in the mid19th century. Due to the long standing
seclusion policy, Swiss knowledge about Japan was limited at best. Before the
lacking pieces could be put together, a lot of speculative imagination was used to
describe the far away country and its inhabitantp. The same was true for the
Japanese side; apart from the import of Swiss watches through the Dutch East India
Company which hold a monopoly on trade with Japan, there was no Japanese
knowledge whatsoever about the Swisp.1
As soon as the end of Japanese seclusion policy became obvious, the Swiss set
about to establish contacts of their own, culminating in the conclusion of the first
treaty of friendship and commerce beween the Swiss Confederation and the
Shogun in 1864. The sudden opening of the country to foreign influence sent
shockwaves through Japanese society ending with the collapse of the traditional
order and the fall of the last Shogun in 1868.
The new era saw an astonishing transformation, at least on the surface, of a feudal
agrarian society into a modern nation-state aggressively claiming a place in the
exclusive club of great powers ruling the world. Japan was the first country to
challenge the dominance of European policy and valuep. That challenge called into
question the exclusivity of the European way of development and social or moral
progresp.
1
Iwao (1958), pp. 16.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
List of Pictures
Page
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardes_suisses_(France)
Johann Kaspar Horner (1174-1834) ..........................................................
(http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Kaspar_Horner)
Fig. 2: View of Nagasaki with Deshima. ....................................................
(Ethnographic Museum, University of Zurich)
Fig. 3: The 'Nadeshda' in Nagasaki (signed Rhomberg) ..............................
(Ethnographic Museum, University of Zurich)
Fig. 4: The Swiss Mission to Japan in Berne. ............................................
(Helvetia - Nippon, Tokyo 1964)
Fig. 5: Rōnin liying in Ambush ...................................................................
(Humbert, Le Japon illustré, 1870)
Fig. 6: The Swiss Mission leaving the Dutch Gunship.................................
(Helvetia - Nippon, Tokio 1964)
Fig. 7: The Leading Members of the Meiji Government ............................
Fig. 8: Members of the Iwakura-Mission ...................................................
(http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwakura-Mission)
Fig. 9: Foreign Trade between Switzerland and Japan .............................
Fig. 10 Members of the Swiss Mission in the Streets of Edo ...................
(Humbert, Le Japon illustré, Paris 1870)
Fig. 11: Saigō Takamori ............................................................................
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigo_Takamori
Fig. 12: Troops of the Shogunate ..............................................................
(Humbert, Le Japon illustré, 1870)
Fig. 13: First Committee of the International Red Crosp. ..........................
(http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Dunant)
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Fig. 14: Young Sano. .................................................................................
(http://www.lib.city.minato.tokyo.jp/yukari/e/man-detail.cgi?id=48)
Fig. 15: Casualties of the Satsuma-Rebellion ...........................................
Fig. 16: The Hakuai-sha in action ..............................................................
(Sano Tsunetami kenkyūkai (Hg.), Sano kinenkan, Brochure of the Sano
Museum, Saga (no year).
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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The Swiss Way to Japan
1 Mysterious Zipangu
The first European to mention Japan was Marco Polo (1254-1324), trader and
traveller from Venice who managed to reach the imperial court in China in the 13th
century. There he heard about an archipelago off the eastern coast of the Eurasian
continent called Zipangu. In his memoirs published in 1295 he described that
mysterious ‚Zipangu‘ as a fabulously rich country with gold plated castles and rich
pearl grounds living in complete autarchy.2
European intercourse with Japan began in 1542 when a group of Portuguese
merchants aboard a Chinese junk were shipwrecked on the tiny Japanese island
Tanegashima. In their footsteps followed a growing number of Portuguese and
Spanish missionaries, derisevely called the ‚barbarians from the south‘ (nanbanjin)
by their Japanese hostp. 3
Those ‚southern barbarians‘ strove to know more about the country and its
inhabitants they hoped to convert to the Catholic faith. Most eager among them was
the Spanish Jesuit Francisco de Xavier (1506-1552) who arrived there in 1549.
Among his successors the Portuguese Luis Frois (1532-1597) stood out as a
painstakingly careful chronicler of Japanese society. Frois enjoyed the confidence of
the most powerful lord in Japan, Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582).4 In the eyes of the
European observer the mores and customs of the Japanese seemed to be the exact
opposite of Europe. In a confidential report from 1585 to his superiors in Rome he
drew up a long list of European customs to which the Japanese ones seemed to be
always contrarian:
"No European male would dare to hold a fan in his hand as this would be
interpreted as a sign of effemination and softness; in Japan it is a sign of
poverty and vulgarity not to have a fan attached to his belt and to use it.[…]
2
3
4
Reichert (1993), p. 25.
Cooper (1993), p. 47.
Cooper (1993), p. 48f.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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In Europe men walk in front of women; in Japan the men walk behind the
women […]. In Europa the properties of a married couple is common property;
in Japan they remain separated and sometimes the wife claims usurious
interest from her husband […]. Without her husbands‘ permission, the women
in Europa would not leave the house whereas the Japanese women are free
to go wherever they like without their husbands knowing […]."5
In Japan a kind of ‚nanban-boom‘ set in after 1590 when a mission of Japanese
convertits returned from Europe where they had been received by pope Gregor XII
in 1585. European fashion, food and manners,even Christian symbols became
popular among the Japanese until 16141 when the Chistian faith was outlawed by
the autorities which considered it to undermine the political order and Japanese
identity.6
Scholars in the old Confederacy were aware of his description as well as the
growing number of reports by the missionaries in Japan. In 1522, the scholar, poet
and mayor from St. Gallen, Joachim von Watt (1484-1551), edited and published
a work of the ancient geographer Pomponius Mela, in which he used an already
famous world map drawn by Peter Apian (1495-1552) from Leisnig in Saxony; on
that map Japan appears under the name of Zipargi.7
In 1586, nly a year after the visit of the Japanese converts in Rome, the scribe
from the town of Lucerne, Renwart Cysat (1545-1614), published the probably first
printed map of Japan in Europe as part of a general description of the archipelago
and its inhabitantp.8 Cysat might have been inspired to his work by the jesuit Martin
Leubenstein who originally had been assigned to missionary work in the Far East
but became dean of the jesuit school in Lucerne instead. Cysat based his work on
Spanish, Italian and Latin sources and it went through a second edition in the same
year of its appearance as well as a third one in 1592. 9 ln his book the Japanese
5
6
7
8
9
Zitiert in: Kapitza (1990) Vol.1, pp. 134.
Sakamoto (1993), p. 58ff.
Pomponius Mela (1522).
Croissant (Hg.), Begleitband (1993), pp. 218.
Kapitza (1990) Vol.1, p.175; Immoos (1964), p. 115-129.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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appear as nearly exemplary humans with a fine sense of honour, not unlike that of
the old Romanp. Cysat even mentioned the practice of ‚seppuku‘ better known as
harakiri in the west. In his description the Japanese appear proud, friendly, honest
without even knowing vices like theft or adultery. Cysat even claimed that a majority
of the Japanese population was able to read and write, more so than in Europe.10
Little wonder continued the scholar from Lucerne to characterize the Japanese as a
smart people always eager to learn and to know. He claimed that Japan disposed of
six universities and the printing technique was known there before Europe. None of
all the ‚newly found‘ peoples could rival with their religiosity and virtue.11
The clearly positive characterization of a pagean society was an implicit critique of
European conditions at that time.12 For a devout Catholic like Cysat, Japan was a
source of hope given the success of the Protestants in the Northern half of Europe.
For him, the successes of Catholicism on Japanese soil were visible proof of God‘s
wisdom as a bookkeeper of the faith; he celebrated the Lord‘s ability to compensate
for the large and deplorable loss of souls in Europe with the miraculous successes of
missionary work in Japan.13
Given the prevailing Zeitgeist, spiritual questions figured prominently in Cysat‘s
book. The reader was told about the different religious sects in Japan even
mentioning the yamabushi, secret societies in the mountains with their magical
ritualp. Another point worth to be mentioned concerned a tasty herb called Chia
consumed together with hot water as a beverage (Tea).14 Cysat‘s thoroughly
researched report even mentioned the native population on Hokkaido, the Ainu
people. He described them as wild looking men, wearing thick beards and furs,
fearsome warriors even for the Japanese.15
10
11
12
13
14
15
Zitiert in: Kapitza (1990), Vol.1, pp.175.
Immoos (1964), p. 117.
Cooper (1993), pp. 47.
Kapitza, Vol. 1 (1990), p. 175.
Kapitza, Vol. 1 (1990), p. 176.
Kapitza, Vol. 1 (1990), p. 175.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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Cysat included even a letter written in Chinese characters in order to visualize the
writing system. However, not familiar with that kind of writing, the letter was printed
upside down. 16
As much as people like Cysat welcomed and enjoyed the success of the Catholic
mission in Japan, the factual ruler there, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598), viewed it
very differently. The fact that even some of the most powerful lords in Southern
Japan have adopted the Christian faith deeply worried Hideyoshi. His concern even
increased when a self-conscious Spanish Captain boasted to him that the strategy of
Spain‘s empire-building consisted in gaining first the hearts of a people for the
Spanish king before taking over its land as well.17 Upon this revelation, Hideyoshi
lost no time and ordered the expulsion of all foreign missionaries and outlawed the
practice of the new religion. His successor as Shogun or military ruler was
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), who had defeated his enemies in a decisive battle in
1603. Under the ensuing Tokugawa-Shogunate which was to last more than 250
years the systematic extermination of the Christian faith became part of government
policy isolating the whole country in a bid to ban all foreign influence.
In Switzerland, Japan re-appeared as a subject only in the 17th century. This time
it became a topic on the stage of the Baroque theater in Switzerland and Southern
Germany. Aiming more at religious education rather than at entertaining the public,
the theater developed a knack for ‚exotic‘ scenes for which a country like Japan
came in handy. In 1638 a drama of martyrs was performed for the first time in
Lucerne, revolving around the persecution of Japanese Christians by the Tokugawashogunate.18
With her voluntary self-isolation, Japan had by now lost any possibility to influence
its perception abroad. The country had become the topic of an increasingly critical
European monologue. The first to bear the brunt of public criticism were the Dutch
however. They were said to sacrifice their beliefs for the advantages of the trade
16
17
18
Immoos (1964), p. 118
Inoue (1993), p. 196.
Immoos (1964), pp. 123.
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monopoly with Japan and even enduring a humiliating treatment by their Japanese
hostp. The spark causing this outrage was a report by the German Engelbert
Kaempfer (1651-1716) who worked for two years for the Dutch East India Company
(V.O.C) on Deshima island in the harbor of Nagasaki.19 He was not the only one
who took offence at the cowardly behavior of the Dutch and their disdainful
treatment by Japanese officialp.20 That critique reflected not only a heightened
sense of European self-confidence towards other peoples, it also deplored the
growing materialism in Europe. In that respect it was self-criticism as well when
describing how the representants of a civilization considered superior to all others,
go down on their bellies at the feet of pageant rulers just for the benefit of some
trade privilegep. Another episode from 1638 was taken up in order to emphasize the
moral decline of the European merchant clasp. In that year, a Dutch man-of-war
shelled a fortress on behalf of the shogun where Japanese Christians held out
against his troops intent of annihilating them (Shimabara rebellion). European
opinion towards Japan's policy of seclusion remained divided, however.
In Switzerland, the famous poet and botanist Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777) spoke
out in favor of Japan's policy. In a poem from 1730 he ridiculed the Catholic
missionaries' endeavors considering Francisco de Xavier's death as a martyr to be a
well-deserved punishment for ignoring the religious laws and feelings in Japan.21
The above-mentioned Engelbert Kaempfer was even keener in defending the
Japanese policy. According to him, this policy of seclusion was the prerequisite for
Japan's cultural blossoming. His work appeared 1727 in London under the title
"History of Japan" translated and edited by the well-known Swiss physician and
natural scientist Johann Jacob Scheuchzer (1672-1733). Kaempfer's work depicted
a comprehensive and positive image of Japan based on firsthand knowledge.22
Together with other intellectual heavyweights like Kant and Voltaire, Albrecht v.
19
20
21
22
Lutz (1993), p. 60.
Scurla (1990), p. 281.
Kapitza, vol. 2 (1990), p. 302.
Kreiner (1994), p. 21, Lutz (1993), p. 62.
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Haller stated in 1750 that China and Japan could not be considered the antithesis to
European civilization but rather as equalp.23
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) the Geneva-born philosopher was also
impressed by Kaemper's book. He advocated travelling as a way to gain knowledge
and was critical of the European merchants who were more "eager to fill their purses
rather than their heads".24 In "Emile", his work on education, Rousseau compared
Japan to a mirror in which Europe's deficiencies became clearly visible. He put
forward the rhetorical question whether it was necessary to go to Japan in order to
study the Europeanp.25
However, Japan's image in Europe was gradually deteriorating giving way to a
distinct European world view critical of Japan's seclusion from the world. In the
German Encyclopedia of 1791 Japan was described as a stagnant country unable to
catch up with the Enlightment due to her nearly complete lack of communication with
foreignerp.26
That assessment found also supporters in Switzerland. The physician and popular
philosopher Johann Georg Zimmermann (1728-1795) published an essay in 1766
titled "Von dem Nationalstolze" (about national pride). In that writing he ridicule the
complex pantheism found in Japanese shinto (the way of the gods) as well as the
divine mythology surrounding Japan's origin. According to him, only the Chinese
surpassed them in their conceited pride of the antiquity of their civilization.27
He softened his attitude only where he touched upon his own national pride,
comparing the warrior-like spirit of the Japanese with that of his Swiss ancestors
thereby betraying a great deal of personal ignorance himself.28 At the root of
Japanese arrogance according to Zimmermann, was a lack of knowledge about the
23
24
25
26
27
28
Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Essayband (1993), p. 11f.
Kapitza, vol. 2 (1990), p. 492.
Kapitza, vol. 2 (1990), p. 531.
Kreiner (1993), p. 21.
Kapitza, vol. 2 (1990), p. 518.
Kapitza, vol. 2 (1990), p. 519.
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world at large: "the lesser a nation knows about the world the more she thinks of
herself."29 How true - for the Swiss author as well.
By now European public opinion had become highly critical of Japan's aloofnesp.
Critical voices like that of the German political scientist Justus Heinrich Gottlob von
Justi (1717-1771) who in 1762 deplored a common European haughtiness towards
alien peoples and their cultures were an exception rather than the rule. In his view,
the ignorance of European merchants in Asia had led to a kind of trade imperialism
judging everything according to its profitability.30 Gone also the times when Daniel
Defoe (1660-1731), the author of "Robinson Crusoe" spoke of his own countrymen
as of an "intellectually challenged amphibious mob".31
Meanwhile, the business model of trade imperialism had proved to be too
profitable to abandon and empire-building was about to gain further momentum.
The Dutch in East Asia were less concerned with moral questions as with the
actual conditions within their trade empire. Another German in their service on
Deshima island from 1823-1830, the physician Phillipp Franz von Siebold (17961866) gained a profound insight into Japan. Thanks to his excellent relations to
Japanese scholars and officials he enjoyed an unusual freedom of movement within
the country. Upon his return, he published his findings between 1835 and 1852 in a
huge work under the title "Nippon", dealing with every possible aspect of feudal
Japan ranging from nature, over economy to government. Unfortunately his work
never enjoyed a broad public appeal in Europe, remaining largely within the domain
of specialistp. European public opinion about Japan was already made up at that
time.32
29
30
31
32
Kapitza (1990), vol.2, p. 519.
Kapitza (1990), vol.2, p. 523.
Moynahan (1997), p. 30.
Kreiner (1984), p. 40.
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2. Inside the closed Oyster
Japan was indifferent toward that European monologue. During that period of
seclusion, called after the shogun's capitel Edo (nowadays Tokyo), the country
enjoyed the longest period of peace in its history. The arts and craftsmanship were
blossoming as did the economy.
Social peace and stability came at a price, however. Feudal Japan's population was
subjected to rigoros and comprehensive social control by the authoritiep. Each
member of society had his exactly circumscribed position and was hold collectively
responsible for the behaviour of the other members of the group to which he or she
belonged. An extensive and very detailed set of strict rules guided human behaviour
in Japan's late feudal society divided into four major and strictly hierarchical social
classes, each one subdivided into a plethora of underclassep.33 However, as strict
as the rules were, the political order as a whole was anything but a tyranny. That
unique social system's functioning did not rest on the forceful enforcement of a legal
order, it relied more on the socialisation of the individual through education and
collective responsibility. Social peers' pressure worked much more efficient than any
kind of legal enforcement. The state of the Tokugawa shoguns did not rely on a
huge professional bureaucracy as in the case of China. It was by all means and
measures a lean government.
At the top of the social pyramid stood the warrior class, the samurai or bushi,
followed by the peasantry the craftsmen and at the bottom the merchantp. In an
agrarian society like Tokugawa Japan's the merchants were considered to be
unproductive living off other people's effortp. Therefore, their social prestige was
correspondingly low. However, that reputation contradicted the merchants' factual
significance as the creditors of Japan's warrior caste.
these four main classes were themselves subdivided into a huge number of
hierarchical subdivisions specifying exact rules for each position with regard to
33
Inoue (1993), pp. 209.
18
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profession, dwelling, even dress codes and the use of language.34 Only towards the
end of the Edo period the class boundaries became poroup.
Completely outside of that class system stood a group of social outcasts, called
eta oder burakumin occupying themselves with activities considered "impure"
according to Shinto belief: slaughter of animals, tanning and leather works, disposal
of nightsoil and garbage.35 Although that group lived isolated within the Japanese
society at large, they were not slaves as they had their own social organisation.
Their position was comparable to that of the Jews in Europe, without persecution
and pogromes however!
Under the Tokugawa-Schogunate the mobility of the people was equally limited.
The temples served as a kind of police and were vigilant against a possible reemergence of Christianity. Furthermore, they kept the population registers and
issued the documents indispensable for travelling.36
Control of the warrior class was even more thorough than that of the population in
general. The Schogunate had put an end to the endemic feuds amongst the feudal
lords (daimyos) which plagued earlier periods and established a lasting inner peace.
However, the problem arose what was to be done with the now unemployed
warriorp. Like the old Swiss Confederacy, feudal Japan disposed of a large pool of
young men without a meaningful occupation. In the case of Switzerland, those were
young peasants and herdsmen without any chance of ever taking over a homestead.
In feudal Japan, it was nearly impossible for a member of the warrior class to forgo
or leave ones social clasp.
The young Swiss ended as mercenaries in foreign, mostly French, service; the
Japanese samurai were mostly employed in the administrations and garrisons of
their daimyop. As a consequence, their military skills assumed a ritual character
evolving into a complex system of ritualised violence (martial arts), social behaviour
and manners and moral valuep. That 'Bushido' or way of the warrior became a way
34
35
36
Hearn (1912), pp. 130.
Inoue (1993), p. 638.
Inoue (1993), p. 217, 219.
19
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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of life for the samurai, his ethic-moral compass and his identity.37 This ascetic, nonmaterialistic ethos was difficult to understand for outsiderp. For the Europeans this
way of life was to become a barrier to communication even more formidable than the
language barrier. On the other hand, the Europeans were intrigued and fascinated
by the powerful ethos ruling the lives of the Japanese warriors as will be shown later
on.
Japan under the Tokugawa Soguns consisted of around 260 different han, feudal
fiefs ruled by a clan whose head was called Daimyo. Those Daimyos ruled their fiefs
as sovereigns possessing the tax authority within the boundaries of their domainp.38
In a way those feudal domains resembled the Swiss Cantons in the Old
Confederacy with regard of their degree of sovereignty.
To back his political power each Daimyo had his own army of samurai who were
loyal only to him. Although the Shogun in faraway Edo was the factual ruler of
Japan, he was not much more than the strongest of all the Daimyop. His military
might rested on the tax base of his lands measured in rice with which his samurai
were paid. The lands of the Shogun produced seven million koku of rice (one koku
being the equivalent of about 180 litres), or around a quarter of the total rice
production in Japan.39 This economic base enabled the Shogunate and its allies to
entertain an army superior in numbers to any possible enemy coalition.
Daimyos of doubtful loyalty were given fiefs at the periphery, far from Edo and its
surrounding fertile Kantō region, the plains of Eastern Japan. In order to weaken the
peripheral Daimyos (tozama) economically they had to travel back and forth
between their domains and Edo; for up to two years they had to live alternatively in
the capital of the Shogun or on their domains; that system was called sankinkōtai
(alternate attendance). Travelling back and forth with a huge posse of warriors and
servants was very costly for the feudal lords and kept them busy. They had to build
an appropriate residence in Edo and while away on their domains a Daimyo's family
37
38
39
: Ikegami (1995).
Webb, Vol. 8 (1960), p. 619.
Inoue (1993), pp. 198, 202.
20
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had to remain in Edo, they were in fact hostages to ensure that a feudal lord
remained loyal.40
The political legitimacy of the Shogun derived from the Japanese Emperor
(Tennō) in whose name he claimed to rule. The Tennō resided in Kyoto, politically
inactive and powerlesp. However, he represented the untouchable and supreme
moral authority in Japan, a position not unlike that of the pope. It was this status that
was threatened by the rise of christianity, a threat not only to the political order of
feudal Japan, but also for Japanese identity as a whole. As a divine moral authority
the imperial household linked Japan to its mythological origins; legitimate rule over
Japan was rooted in the Tennō who, however did not exert this rule personally.41
That divine quality set the Japanese monarchy apart from European monarchies of
that time which claimed God's will as the base of their rule. The moral authority of
that claim however, laid with the pope in Rome.
Despite the rigid social and political order, the Shogunate was not a despotic rule
that rested on force. Proof of that was the astonishing longevity of the system which
possessed enough flexibility to balance the different social and political interestp.
Periodic rebellions and protests of the population had their causes up to the late
Edo-period in economic shocks mostly in the wake of bad harvestp.
The feudal order within Japan was completed by a nearly total isolation towards
the outside world, a task made easy by the insular nature of the country. Japanese
shipping movement was limited to the coastal waters and the building of large ships
not allowed. Foreign vessels were nor allowed to land on Japanese shorep.42
Japanese castaways were threatened with banishment or even execution when they
returned home.
The Shogunate made only two exeptions from this policy: Chinese merchants and
the Dutch East India Company (V.O.C) who pledged to abstain from any missionary
endeavor were allowed to cater to Japan's foreign trade. The Dutch, based on
40
41
42
Hartmann (1996), p. 18.
Webb, Vol. 8 (1960), p. 619; Hartmann (1996), p. 20.
Hartmann (1996), p. 19.
21
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Dejima a tiny man-made island in the harbour of Nagasaki lived under quarantine
like conditions but enjoyed a quasi-monopoly in the trade with Japan. For two
hundred fifty years that tiny island was Japan's only window on the world and the
Dutch V.O.C the only link to Europe which had already begun to discover and
subjugate the seas and adjacent lands to their will. Whatever Edo-Japan was to
know about the world had the form of books and accounts written and told in Dutch.
3. Switzerland's 'Blood Export' and Japan
King Louis XIV's high-ranking French official from the treasury was clearly in a
bad mood and yelled at his Swiss interlocutor:
" With the money France had paid for Swiss mercenaries, I could plaster the
road from Paris to Basle with Gold!"
To this outburst the commander of the Swiss guards in French service replied
with equal indignation:
"and with the blood that the Swiss have shed for France, I could fill every
river and lake between Paris and Basle!" 43
Both of them saw the same phenomenon, but from different anglep. "Point
d'argent, point de Suisses" (No money – no Swiss) was a well- known slogan at
that tim in Europe and hinted at the economic importance the mercenaries had for
the Swiss cantonp.
43
Cited in: Kikuchi (2002), p. 74.
22
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Johann Georg Wille (1715-1808) Sappeur of the Swiss Guards in French service
1779.
On the other end of that business however, death was waiting more often than
not. The number of Swiss who gave their lives for France alone is estimated to
amount to over half a million during a period of three hundred years (from mid 16th
century to mid-19th century).44 The total number of Swiss mercenaries serving in
foreign armies from the beginning of the 15th century until the mid-19th century, are
difficult to estimate due to a lack of statistics, but all estimates are well above one
million.45
Swiss mercenary trade started during the Burgundian wars in the 14th and 15th
century when the infantry of the Swiss cantons allied to the king of France
44
45
Kikuchi (2002), p. 75.
Fuhrer, Eyer, p. 184.
23
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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annihilated the mounted knights of Charles duke from Burgundy in a series of
pitched battlep.46 In the wake of those wars, Swiss pikemen dominated Europes
battlefields for nearly two centuries and demand for mercenaries from Switzerland
increased sharply.
The Swiss infantry was organised in units appropriatly named "Gewalthaufen"
which can be translated as "posses of violence"; their tactics were quite simple
and brutal: marching to the tune of drums and pipes those posses, each one
about eighty men strong, advanced towards the enemy linep. The closer they
came the faster their pace until they literally ran into the enemy. The decision was
sought in merciless close combat without any rules or restraint. Horrified, the
Italians who considered warfare more like a kind of art, called this new and terrible
way of tactics with which the Swiss simply overran their enemies without taking
prisoners "la mala Guerra" (bad war).47
This daredevil tactics of the Swiss pikemen was brutally effective however and
their service was well sought after by Europes crowned rulerp. In this bidding for
Swiss mercenaries the kings of France proved to be the most successful and
France advanced to become the major customer of the Swiss cantons for their
young men who were equally eager for adventure, combat and money.
These Swiss mercenaries called "Reisläufer" proved to become the major
source of income for many of the Swiss cantons and their elitep. Critics of the
mercenary system called this commerce in mercenaries simply "Bluthandel"
(blood trade).48 One of the most outspoken critics was Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)
from Zurich who deplored the moral degradation and corruption which this trade in
blood brought along with the money.
Whereas the money from the mercenaries was very welcome back home in the
Swiss cantons, the returning men were not. Those who physically survived the
horrors of war often bore deep psychological scarp. Many were not able anymore
46
47
48
Kikuchi (2002), p. 78; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_mercenaries
Kikuchi (2002), p. 67, 79, 110.
Kikuchi (2002), pp. 67.
24
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
to find back to a peaceful and normal life and were considered to be
troublemakerp. The authorities strove to get rid of them as soon as possible by
selling them in the next recruitment round to the best bidder.49 However, despite
these perils, there was never a shortage of young men volunteering for the job.
Service under foreign colours remained for more than three hundred years the
best opportunity for young Swiss men to escape poverty at home and to know the
world.
By this way, the first Swiss entered Japan already in the first half of the 17th
century. His name was Elie (or Héli) Ripon.
He was born probably at the end of the 16th century near the town of Lausanne in
the French speaking canton Vaud. On the attic of an old farmhous in the canton
Fribourg in the year 1865 parts of his handwritten autobiography were discovered.
The story of his life ends with his return from Asia in 1627, the exact dates of his
life remain therefore unknown.50
The Dutch V.O.C was suffering form a chronic shortage of personnel in order to
run her vast trading empire in East Asia; thus the company resorted to hiring
foreign specialists as well. Needless to say that the above-mentioned Ripon from
Western Switzerland was hired as a mercenary.
His name appears in the registers of the company and according to his own
testimony he eventually reached the Captain's rank. Ripon emphasizes proudly in
his writings, that only the best and the brightest could hope to achieve an officer's
rank in the V.O.C.51 He mentions three other Swiss in the service of the Dutch
company, one from Basle, another from Zurich and the third one from Lausanne.
He did not mention however, whether they arrived together in Batavia (nowadays
Jakarta) the centre of the Dutch empire in East Asia.
Ripon did not elaborate about his own origins, in the remaining 370 pages of his
memoirs he is mostly describing his adventures in Asia. Apart from mentioning a
49
50
51
Kikuchi (2002), p. 80.
Dallais in: Mottini (Hg.) 2006, pp. 57.
Ripon (1990), p. 10.
25
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
brief stay in Japan he also talks about a journey to Mecca disguised as a pious
muslim pilgrim as well as a visit to China's Great Wall.52 The Swiss adventurer
was particularly impressed by the material and cultural wealth of the Middle
Kingdom and its high degree of administrative organisation.
Ripon himself apparently started as a whaler off the shores of Greenland in the
year 1617; at that time he must have been in the prime of his life. However, work
as a whaler was not to his liking he was terribly scared of storms at high seas as
he admitp. Soon he found a more appropriate way of life. After being hired by the
Dutch V.O.C he left Europe in 1618 Europa and reached Batavia on November 4th
in the same year. In 1623 Ripon spent three weeks on Deshima island in
Nagasaki.
The topics he was interested in were not of abstract or academic nature, they
had more to do with the joys of life and his work as a man of war. He frankly
admitted in his memoirs that he felt rather more at ease together with his men
fighting than in the company of pretty women: J' aime mieux la guerre que la
paix."53 (I love war more than peace).
Ripon's writings did not leave the slightest doubt about what his actual task
consisted in. The tough Swiss was employed by the Dutch for doing the 'dirty
things'. In modern terminology he could be described as a specialist for
counterinsurgency warfare. In order to protect and enlarge their trade monopoly
the Dutch showed the same ruthlessness in their methods as their competitors
and this was a struggle without rules or restraint. Ripon and his men showed no
merci when they went after the adversaries of their paymasters and the list was
long indeed: Spaniards, Portuguese, British, Chinese and Locals who dared to do
business on their own. Whoever threatened the monopoly of the V.O.C fared
badly. Captain Ripon did not spare the reader the grisly details of his attacks and
52
53
Ripon (1990), p. 22.
Ripon (1990), p. 10.
26
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
close combats around Macao and many other places in Southern China and on
the Pescadores islandp.54
The theater of operations of Ripon and his troups was large extending from
todays Indonesia to the island of Hainan, Macao, the southern coast of China up
to Taiwan. Wherever the Swiss mercenary and his men encountered the enemies
of the Dutch he fought them without pity. Captain Ripon's men engaged in a vast
range of violent activities ranging from piracy, plunder and massacres and going
even as far as cannibalism.
According to Ripon, the Dutch East India Company used to thoroughly apply
performance-based payment. Therefore, his men got often paid by the Dutch
according to the number of ears or severed heads of dead enemiep.55
On July 27th 1623 Ripon went aboard a Dutch vessel loaded with raw silk and
bound for Japan called : "[…] le navire Espérance […] est parti de Piscadore pour
aller au Japon chargé de soie crue pour trafiquer en Japon (the ship "Esperance"
left the Piscadores for Japan with a load of raw silk to be traded in Japan).
In Japan he claimed to have visited two cities he namely: Languesaqui und
Corsac. The first one was doubtless Nagasaki; the second name could refer to the
city of Osaka.56 There he was particularcy impressed by a huge palace: "Le palais
du roi est magnifique, couvert la plus grande part de cuivre et plomb." (The king's
palace is magnificient and mostly covered with copper and lead).57
Osaka castle was built 1583 under Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) the unifier
of Japan, on the site of the former Honganji temple. During Ieyasu Tokugawa's
victorious campaign against Toyotomi's son Hideyori (1593-1615) the castle was
destroyed in 1615. From 1620 until 1629, Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada (15791632) had the castle rebuilt. When Ripon probably arrived there in 1623
reconstruction works was already well on the way for three yearp.
54
55
56
57
Ripon (1990), pp. 89f, 98, 102.
Ripon (1990), p. 15, 16.
This suppostition is based on the phonetic similarity of the word to the original Japanese
version as well as the fact that the castle of Osaka was one of the largest buildings of its kind
in Japan.
Ripon (1990), p. 101.
27
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
The Swiss visitor described Japan as a wealthy and orderly country, rich in
silver and other metalp. According to him, craftsmanship was blooming and
Japanese techniques of metalworking were not only up to European level but
there could also be found things of a quality not seen in Europe. Ripon was glad to
see a great number of "beautiful canons" as well. Moreover, he liked Japanese
food and the "beer" that came with it, apparently far better than the kind of "wine"
he tasted. Equally worth to be mentioned by him was the low price for the services
of certain ladiep.58
The question of Japanese religion however, seemed to have been far less
interesting for a man of war like him and he admitted not to know much about it:
"Pour leur doctrine et croyance, je ne sais quelle doctrine ils ont, sinon ainsi
que j'ai reconnu presque de même que les Chinois à cause que le Japan au
temps jadis était sous le royaume de la Chine, mais le gouverneur que le roi
de la Chine avait mis en Japan, voyant qu'il était grand et commode, et qu'il
était meilleur soldat que les Chinois, se fit maître des îles; aussi les Chinois
ne les ont jamais depuis aimés: car eux à présent quand ils peuvent
attraper des Japans, ils les font mourir de la plus cruelle mort qu'ils se
peuvent imaginer […]".59
(I with regard to their doctrine and creed, I don't know what it is but I assume
that it is quite the same as that of the Chinese as Japan was once a part of
the Kingdom of China. However, the governor sent over by the King of
China made himself the ruler of the islands when he saw that Japan was
large and convenient and her soldiers better than the Chinese; ever since
the Chinese hated them and when they capture Japanese they kill them in
the most cruel ways the could think of).
Abstract questions like religion were clearly not the Swiss visitor's domain and
he did not give much room to them, after all he was anything but a missionary.
58
59
Ripon (1990), p. 101.
Ripon (1990), p. 102.
28
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Much more of interest for him was the armament and quality of the Japanese
warrior, in these questions he was an expert:
"Ces gens sont de nation de moyenne grandeur et comme nous, et sont
extrêmement bons soldats, fort propres à manier les armes, et fidèlep.
Leurs armes sont des arquebuses à façon de boulet, des piques fort
épaisses, le fer long d'un pied, tranchant à façon d'un couteau, des sabres
de la longueur d'une épée à la Suisse, la lame bien épaisse et pesante,
avec laquelle ils couperaient un homme en écharpe d'un coup, comme si
c'était du bois de la grosseur d'un doigt; même quand il aurait une cuirasse,
ils ne laisseraient pas de tuer un homme. Quand ils sont en guerre, ils ont
ordinairement trois sabres ou épées, une longue et une autre, la lame de
deux pieds long, un petit braquet d'un pied qu'ils portent sur eux en façon
de poignard. Du long sabre, ils s'en servent en ras campagne, ès lieux
larges, bien furieusement à la mode de la Suisse à deux mains; de lame
moindre, s'en servent en lieu étroit à cause que l'autre était trop longue; du
petit, ils s'en servent quand ils sont vaincus et surpris et n'ont espérance de
se pouvoir sauver: plutôt que de se rendre prisonniers, ils se servent du
petit et se le poussent dans le ventre. […] J'ai aussi entendu du gouverneur
de Languesaqui en Japan, qui disait qu'ils avaient le serment de faire cela,
et qu'aussi bien s'ils revenaient étant vaincus, le roi les ferait mourir".60
(These people are, like us, of average height and extremely good soldiers,
apt at handling their weapons and very loyal. Their armament consists of
large-caliber arquebuses and pikes with a blade longer than a foot with
which they cut like a knife. They have swords as long as a Swiss twohander with a thick and heavy blade; with a single blow of them they can cut
in two a man as if he was a piece of wood not thicker than a finger. Even a
harness cannot protect the man from death. When at war, they usually carry
three swords or rapiers with them – a long one and one with a blade of two
feet and one with a blade of one foot like a dagger. The long sword is used
60
Ripon (1990), pp. 99.
29
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
in the open or in large rooms using it in the Swiss way by wielding it wildly
with both hands; the one of middle length is used in narrow rooms where
the large one cannot be used because of its length; the small dagger is
applied when they are vanquished or surprised without hope of escape:
rather than being taken prisoner, they thrust the dagger in their belliep. […]
The governor from Nagasaki in Japan told me that they have sworn to do so
and even if they return vanquished the king would send them to their death).
These were the observations by the first Swiss who probably visited Japan. For
Ripon the visit was certainly a kind of holiday from his blood-soaked profession.
In 1627, Captain Ripon quit the V.O.C and returned home to Switzerland were his
traces vanished.
There is a hint about another Swiss reached the shores of Japan in the 17th
century. His name was Hans Heinrich Stäger from Glarup. His name is mentioned
in the records of the deceased in his hometown; according to the record he served
as a ship surgeon on the vessels of the Dutch East India Company and deceased
in 1666 in Japan. Nothing more is so far known about him, however. 61
61
Sigerist (2001), p. 228.
30
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
4. Under Russian Colours in Nagasaki
It took another 180 years before the next Swiss arrived in Japan. He was from
Zurich and his name was Johann Kaspar Horner (1774-1834), a physicist and
astronomer.
Horner went ashore in Nagasaki on November 1st, 1804 as a member of a
Russian Expedition under the command of Captain Adam Johann von Krusenstern
(1770-1846) from Estonia. The Swiss was hired as a scientist.
31
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Johann Kaspar Horner (1774-1834).
Horner was born on March 12th 1774, the son of a baker. Complying with his
family's wishes, he embarked on a theological career. Soon however, Horner left
his parish in order to follow his scientific interestp. In 1796 he began studying
natural sciences at the university of Göttingen in Germany, much to the dismay of
his family who regarded science not as a breadwinning activity, he even earned a
32
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
PhD in 1799 at the university of Jena. In the same year the young scientist went to
Hamburg and took part in the surveying of the Elbe river delta.62
Upon the recommendation of baron Franz von Zach (1754-1832) whom he served
as an assistant in 1798 at the observatory of Gotha, Horner joined the
Krusenstern expedition aboard the Nadeshda on August 3rd 1803 in the harbour of
Copenhagen. The Nadeshda had come from Kronstadt in St. Petersburg and the
ship's name carried a deeper meaning: hope.
The main objective of the expedition was to complete the first circumnavigation
under Russian flag. The route went through the English Channel southward
around Cape Horn to Japan and from there through the Singapore straits and the
Cape of Good Hope all the way back to St. Petersburg.63
On October 8th (1804) the Nadeshda reached Nagasaki. Aboard was the Russian
envoy Nikolai Petrowitsch Rezanov (1764-1807) who happened to be a director of
the Russian-American Company which actually sponsored this expedition.
Ignoring his credentials and actual possibilities, Rezanov was intent on prodding
Japan to negotiate a treaty of commerce, he failed however.64 The shogun's
representative kept the Russians waiting for months until they finally had to set
sails in order to avoid the rainy season. On April 5th, 1805 the Russian expedition
sailed out of Nagasaki heading north towards Kamtchatka where Rezanov left the
ship taking the land route to St. Petersburg.
Admiral Krusenstern sailed soutwards through the Malacca strait and around the
Cape of Good Hope. On August 7th, 1806 the die Nadeshda reached her home
port Kronstadt.
62
63
64
Mumenthaler (2008), pp. 97-100.
Mumenthaler (1996), p. 380f
Dallais (2006), p. 64.
33
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
View of Nagasaki harbour with Deshima in the background.
The Russian expedition took nearly three years to complete and although a
failure with regard to diplomacy, in terms of propaganda and science the
expedition was a full succesp. Vastly improved maps and a trove of data on sea
currents as well as flora, fauna and peoples ethnography were the scientific
harvest of the Krusenstern-expedition.65 Krusenstern, Resanov and other members
of that memorable expedition wrote extensively about their experiences, the Swiss
member, however, although crucial in collecting scientific data, did not join this race
for public attention; his publications were limited to purely scientific observationp.
This can be explained with Horner's loyalty to and friendship with Krusenstern. He
did not want to interfere with the Krusenstern's official report of the expedition and
critisized other members who did not bother with such formal niceties and strove to
publish their own accounts ahead of the final report.66 As a token of their friendship,
Krusenstern named a mountain in Southern Japan after his Swiss friend (Pic
65
66
Mumenthaler (1996), pp. 380.
Mumenthaler (2008), p. 387, 396.
34
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Horner) as well as a Cape on Sakhalin island.67. In a letter to Krusenstern, Horner
assured him that his report had met with an enthusiastic response in Zurich and was
read by people high and low.68
After his return, Horner was promoted to a senior Russian civil service rank in
1806 and became a member of the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg. In 1809
he returned to his hometown Zurich where he took a tenure as a professor for
mathematicp. Furthermore, he started a political political career first as a
parlamentarian and finally as a member of the government of the canton of Zurich,
becoming minister of education in 1829/30. 69
One hundred seventy years after his death, in 2004, his drawings and paintings
believed to be lost were found in the cellar of the ethnographic museum belonging to
the University of Zurich.
The 'Nadeshda' in Nagasaki. (signed Rhomberg, Horner collection).
67
68
69
Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz, vol.4 (1927), p. 291.
Mumenthaler (2008), p. 404.
Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz, vol.4 (1927), p. 291.
35
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
5. Switzerland and Japan in the Age of Imperialism
The official Swiss – Japanese encounter took place in the middle of the 19th
century just when the European imperialism was about to reach a first high point.
The European powers and the USA were engaged in a kind of race in order to
acquire 'colonies', 'protecorates' and whatever they called the territories under their
control.70 The term Imperialism came gradually in use after 189071 and the heyday of
imperialist policy was reached between the last quarter of the 19th century until the
outbreak of world war one in 1914 when about 84,4% of the global land mass were
under the control of the European and US-American colonial system.72 Thanks to a
an overwhelming advantage in military technology the Europeans managed to
conquer and hold on to large territories with comparably tiny military forcep. Within a
generation nearly all of Europe was engaged in an adventurous foreign policy with
global dimensionp.
The main objective and play ground of European expansionism were Africa and
Asia where the scramble for territories assumed a dynamic of its own. That
development was triggered by the death of the English explorer and missionary
David Livingstone (1813-1873) in 1873. His legacy consisted in dramatic appell to
the European public to open up Africa and to terminate the slave trade dominated by
the Arabp. His recipe for Africa can be summarized in three words: Commerce,
Christianity, Civilization.73 Thanks to the upcoming mass press his well-meant appell
met with a huge echo to which the politicians could not be indifferent. Although
Livingstone's goals sounded noble and altruistic, Brazilian sugar cane producers
pointed to the fact that the crusade against the slave trade took place just at a time
when Britain's sugar producing colonies met with fierce competition from countries
like Brazil which relied heavily on slave labour.74
70
71
72
73
74
Schieder (1992), p. 293.
Hobsbawm (1989), pp. 83.
Gurland (1960), p. 327; Hobsbawm (1989), p. 98; Schieder (1992), pp. 290.
Pakenham (1993), p. 15.
Mead (2007), p.45.
36
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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The phenomenon of imperialism could not be explained rationally not even by
contemporary observerp. A German author at that time even claimed that the world
powers Great Britain, Rossia and the United States had something 'maniac' about
them.75 The striving for colonial possessions had by then become a question of
national prestige with its own dynamics even extending to the efforts of justifying that
expansionist policy. However, the ideology of imperialism had deeply irrational roots
it was an odd mix of jingoism and quasi-religious missionary zeal combined with
barely concealed economic interests and reinforced by a kind of social Darwinism
that claimed to be the 'White man's burden' or the global responsibility to bring
civilization to benighted peoplep. That 'Spirit of the Empire' was in effect "the
unshaken self-confidence and the chuzpe to consider other peoples' homeland as
ones own"76. It rested on an unbroken enthusiasm for technological progress and
the belief in power as the ultimate political tool. The cynical way of expressing that
self-confidence was a British proverb of the time:"Whatever happens, we have got
the Maxim gun, and they have not."77
Switzerland did not participate directly and overtly in this race for national prestige
at the expense of peoples in faraway landp. The reason for that self-restriction was
not a lack of resources, measured by GDP/head, Switzerland belonged to the
richest nations at the turn of the 19th century already. And the example of Belgium
and the Netherlands showed that small countries were also capable to acquire and
rule vast territories overseap. Even the fact that Switzerland did not have access to
the sea would most likely not have constituted an insurmountable obstacle.78
No, the reason was simply a lack of political will; the acquiring of overseas
territories was never taken into consideration in the first place. Even military
interventions together with colonial powers to protect Swiss interests and property
overseas were out of the question for the Federal Council (government); requests of
75
76
77
78
Hasse (1908), p. 3.
Schieder (1992), pp. 260-263. Cited in: Moynahan (1997), p. 16.
Cited in: Hobsbawm (1989), p. 96.
Behrendt (1932), pp. 25.
37
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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that nature was not discussed at all.79 For Switzerland as a young federal republic
the issue of an offensive or even imperialistic foreign policy was much more than a
problem of neutrality or political will. In essence it would have touched Swiss identity
and in the last consequence her very existence. Divided along ethnic, religious and
linguistic lines, Switzerland as a nation of political will only remained fragile and
without a nationalistic fervor like her big neighbouring countriep. Confrontations
between Germany and France posed always great dangers for Switzerland as a
nation.
Swiss patriotism as an answer to the big nation states around her rested on the
political will to construct a common future on the smallest common denominator, in
the best case it contained the vision of a truly practised brotherhood. The basis for
confederate harmony was to renounce ideologies of any kind resulting in a rather dry
pragmatism which is the hallmark of Swiss problemsolving until today.
Johann Caspar Bluntschli (1808-1881) a Swiss professor who taught state law in
Germany mentioned another Swiss idiosyncrasy which is their belief in Switzerland
as a kind of 'model state'.80 Apart from neutrality and direct democracy the
separation of church and state was another pillar of the young federal republic. The
wounds to Swiss self-confidence and identity inflicted by the short war between the
conservative catholic cantons and the progressive protestant cantons in 1847 were
still open and Switzerland did not claim to have a Christian mission to fulfil in the
world at large.
On the other hand, a very pragmatic Switzerland was undoubtedly able to reap
big economic gains from the politics of conquest by the great powerp. Swiss
merchants roamed the global markets in big numbers relative to the size of their
home country. Often they did so equipped with passports issued by a European
power, preferably France, or the United Statep. Some researchers called this
phenomenon the "Swiss secondary imperialism". According to their view,
Switzerland's economic success in overseas markets urope would not have been
79
80
Behrendt (1932), p. 47.
Bluntschli (1875), pp. 16-17.
38
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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possible without the political and military clout of the great powers as a backdrop
regardless of whether that power would have never been deployed in order to
defend Swiss interestp.81 This reasoning however ignores the fact that the bulk of
Swiss exports went to European countries and the United States and not to the
colonial domains of the powers or to China. In the case of Japan Switzerland
certainly profited from the existing treaties which the powers pressed upon the
Shogunate, but Japan was not a colonialized country and commerce with Japan was
just a tiny fraction of Swiss exportp. The term "secondary imperialism" is therefore
exaggerated to say the least.
For feudal Japan European imperialism posed a real danger to her sovereignty.
However, on the other hand it was the shock that was to break the petrified social
and political structures and to unleash the potential forces dormant within the
Japanese society which eventually led to the collapse of a system that was stifling
any social and political progresp. The Portuguese and the Spaniards were simply
those 'southern barbarians' in the eyes of the Japanese elites and the Dutch were
merely a curiosity. Edo-Japan was interested in the world at large especially not in
foreign ideas which were considered harmful to Japanese social order. Deshima
served as a kind of 'cultural valve' separating useful techniques and products from
potentially disrupting cultural and socio-political ideas and knowledge. The
formidable language barrier certainly helped this endeavor more than anything else.
The occupation with Europe was the domain of a tiny intellectual elite mostly from
the ruling Tokugawa clans and their alliep. Edo-Japan's scholars often served as
translators in dealing with the Dutch.
The study of Europe and western science in Japan of the Tokugawa was known
under the rangaku (Dutch Learning). That new 'Dutch Learning' became the
antipode to the hitherto dominating way of gaining knowledge through the study of
Chinese scriptures and it comprised medicin, natural sciences, geography, history,
military techniques and astronomy.82 In the long run the study of the Occident had
81
82
Witschi (1987), p. 177, 181.
Inoue (1993), pp. 279-280.
39
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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far reaching consequences for Japan. Some of the rangaku-scholars started to
question and revise their image of the Europeans as uncouth barbarians or living
curiositiep. The scientific and technological achievements of the west did not match
that cliche. Moreover, the informations they gained from the Dutch about Europe
during the Napoleonic wars showed clearly how aggressive and violent the
European states treated not only each other but the rest of the world as well.
Influential scholars like FujitaTōko (1806-1855) und Sakuma Shōzan (1811-1864)
came to the conclusion that the foreign powers constituted an ideological and
military threat to Japan in the medium and long term.83
Meanwhile the outside world could not be ignored so easily anymore, from the
beginning of the 19th century more and more foreign merchant ships and whalers
began to appear off the coast of Japan asking for provisions agitation amongst the
population and the authoritiep. The shogunate clung to well-proven traditional means
of dealing with those unwanted visitors; in 1825 it gave the order to chase away all
foreign vessels without delay as soon as they tried to make contact.84 To bolster the
policy of seclusion the authorities also started to persecute persons triying to engage
in 'rangaku' without official blessing. A Japanese friend of Siebold was arrested and
put to death for high treason in 1829 because he gave him a map of Japan in
exchange for European materialp.85
In 1842 however, a horrified shogunate had to take notice how Great Britain
humiliated Japan's great role model China during the opium war. The order to chase
away foreign ships from Japanese coasts was now rescinded and replaced by a
decree ordering local authorities to supply the unwanted foreigners with firewood
and water as they might request.86
83
84
85
86
Vgl. Chang (1970).
Hall (1994), p. 244.
Inoue (1993), p. 285.
Inoue (1993), p. 289.
40
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
6. The Oyster is prized open
After the Napoleonic wars European forces were scattered on a multitude of
conflict zones and in East Asia their primary objective was China with its huge
potential market. It was up to the United States to push for the opening of
Japanese harbors in order to provide bases for their whaling fleet operating in the
waters around Alaska.87 In 1853 US admiral Matthew Calbraith Perry (1794-1858)
appeared with a small fleet of warships off Japan's coast and entered Uraga bay
near Edo without asking for authorisation, an undertaking strictly forbidden to
foreign vesselp. Although the shogunate had already been warned by the Dutch of
the American plans, the appearance of Perry's fleet was a huge schock to the
shogunate which remained nearly paralysed when confronted with such an
impertinent show of force.88 The shogun himself, Tokugawa Ieyoshi (1793-1853),
was said to have been so schocked that he fell ill and died soon afterwardp.89
In a way resembling an ultimatum Perry urged the Japanese to establish
diplomatic relations with the USA handing over a letter from his president with the
formal request. The shogunate was able to ward off this unwelcome guest by
requesting time to reflect on his demand the problem continued to fester however.
The shogun's apparent inability to defend his capital against foreign intruders
suffered an enormous loss of credibility at home.
Under the impact of events and at a loss of answers the shogunate now even
turned to the damiyos at the peripherie (tozama) in search of advice something it
never bothered to do so far. This action was not likely to enhance the already
damaged authority of the bakufu. The opinions amongst the daimyo remained
divided however, one group advocated the strict refusal of any treaty with the
United States regardless of the possible consequences while the other group was
for acceding to the American request.90
87
88
89
90
Lehmann (1982), p. 136.
Webb, vol. 8 (1960), p. 623.
www. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyoshi
Hall (1994), p. 249.
41
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
The second group headed by Ii Naosuke (1815-1860) a vasall of the shogun
eventually got its way and when Perry returned in 1854, the shogunate signed the
treaty presented to them. The treaty foresaw that the ports of Yokohama and
Nagasaki were opened to American ships and a diplomatic representative of the
United States was to take up residence in Japan. In 1856 the ambitious US
General Consul Townsend Harris (1804-1878) arrived in Japan and began to
exert pressure on the shogunate citing the second opium war against China as an
example. In 1858 he succeeded to impress the bakufu so much that it concluded a
'Treaty of Friendship and Commerce' (Treaty of Edo) with his government.
This new treaty contained a series of far-reaching and one-sided concessions
by Japan amounting to limiting her sovereignty.91 The shogunate agreed to open
three more harbours namely Edo, Kobe and and Niigata to American ships;
furthermore, it allowed the establischment of exterritorial settlements in these
harbours and agreed to a ridiculously low and fixed tariff on imports of 5% – all
this without reciprocity!92 Furthermore, the treaty contained a most-favored nation
clause stating that future concessions shall be automatically granted to all nations
which had diplomatic relations with Japan. The treaty was to last until 1872 and
could only be terminated or amended with mutual consent.93 Now the dam was
broken and followed by a wave of similar treaties with Great Britain, France, Russia
and the Netherlandp.
On the Japanese side this development caused a deep political crisip. Emperor
Kōmei (1831-1867) in Kyoto refused to give these 'treaties of shame' his blessing
resulting in the resignation of Hotta Masayoshi (1810-1864) the highest official in
the bakufu.94
The 13th shogun, Tokugawa Iesada (1824-1858) named Ii Naosuke (18151860) Hotta's successor as tairō (Great Elder) in order to resolve this matter. Ii did
not hesitate and put the treaties into force without waiting for imperial consent and
91
92
93
94
Hartmann (1996), p. 23.
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris_Treaty
Webb, vol. 8 (1960), pp.624-625.
Hartmann (1996), p. 24.
42
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
started to persecute his opponents with force (Ansei purge). As a consequence of
his forceful policy tensions between those in favour of opening the country and
those opposed to it increased to the point of open violence. On March 24th, 1860 Ii
was murdered in an ambush. With his death any hope of resurrecting shogunal
power came to an end and violence between the supporters of the bakufu and its
opponents increased further.95
During that critical time an eyewitness who had arrived from Switzerland in
1859 commented on those eventp. His name was Rudolph Lindau (1830-1910)
and he was trying, as will be shown in the following chapter, to persuade the
shogunate to sign a treaty of friendship and commerce with the Swiss
Confederation. He described the tense and complicated situation:
"Um sich von der bedenklichen Lage einen Begriff zu machen, in welche die
Unzufriedenheit der höheren Klassen von Japan die Regierung versetzte, muss
man berücksichtigen, dass die heute in Japan herrschende Dynastie, durch den
in Yedo residirenden Teycun (Schogun) vertreten, eine illegitime oder, richtiger
gesagt, eine geduldete ist und dass der wahre Kaiser von Japan, der
ohnmächtige Mikado von Miako (Kioto) durch eine Revolution Macht genug
erlangen könnte, um die Nachfolger des Hilas (Ieyasu, der Begründer des
Tokugawa-Schogunats), die von den Japanesen als Usurpatoren betrachtet
betrachtet werden, vom Throne zu Yedo zu verjagen."96
(In order to get an idea of the precarious situation in which the government
finds itself due to the dissatisfaction of the higher classes one has to know that
the ruling dynasty in todays Japan, represented by the shogun in Edo, is an
illegitimate one, or more precisely, one which is only tolerated; the true
emperor of Japan, the powerless tennō from Kyoto could gain enough power
through a revolution to chase Ieyasu's successors from the throne in Edo
because the Japanese regard them as usurpators).
95
96
Webb, vol. 8 (1960), p. 625f. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ii_Naosuke.
Lindau (1862), p. 5.
43
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Switzerland and Japan – first Encounter and Disbelief
7. Where is the Confederate Republic of Swedenland?
In Switzerland, the American efforts to open up Japan were attentively followed
on government level. The Federal Councillor Daniel-Henri Druey (1799-1855) who
was crucial in concluding a treaty of commerce with the United States (in 1855)
mentioned already 1852 the ongoing preparations by the Americas to send an
expedition to Japan.97 On June 3rd, 1854 one of the leading Swiss newspapers the
Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) reported that Perry's mission to Japan had been
successfull.
With the definitive opening of Japan in 1858, the country became interesting for
Swiss forteign trade as well; in Switzerland the process of industrialisation had
begun very early already ie around the end of the 18th century, second only to
Great Britain.98 Pushed forward by a constant worry about a save supply with raw
materials and new outlays for their products, the Swiss developed far reaching trade
relationp. Napoleon's continental blockade against Great Britain was a huge blow for
the Swiss economy and they were forced to cast their net even wider. Despite the
difficulties of foreign trade, the Swiss stubbornly clung to the principle of free trade,
even if faced with protectionism.99
With barely two million inhabitants Switzerland had become Britain's strongest
competitor for textilep. This prompted the British parliament to dispatch a spezial
envoy into the Alps to investigate this phenomenon, his name was Sir John Bowring
(1792-1872).100
In stark contrast to Switzerland's far-flung trade web, her foreign policy was very
limited. Only after 1798 did the Swiss establish consulates abroad; between 1850
and 1865 however, 33 new representations were opened abroad, with Japan the
first one in Asia. The initiative for this foreign policy activity often came from the
97
98
99
100
DDS, vol.2 (1990), p. XXI.
Biucchi/Basilio, vol. 4 (1986), p. 44.
Biucchi/Basilio, vol. 4 (1986), p. 49.
Bowring (1837), p. 2f. in 1854 Bowring became governor of Hong Kong.
44
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
private trade lobbies, the government itself adopted a rather passive stance with this
regard.101
As a consequence of a rising tide of protectionism amongst her main trading
partners, Swiss industry was pushing for a more active foreign policy. In 1815,
France imposed protectionist tariffs on Swiss goods and Swiss exports to Italy, the
German states and the USA increased as a consequence. From 1834 on, the newly
founded German "Zollverein" (customs union) imposed high customs duties on
Swiss exports which led to a crisis in Switzerland's textile industry.102 Other
nightmares for Swiss industry were the global overproduction crisis in 1857and the
American civil war from 1861 to 1865 which led to a shortage of cotton supply.103
The crisis of 1857 was particularly painful for Switzerland because export had
meanwhile becom the driving force of economic growth. Especially the textile and
watch industry contributed mightily to Switzerland's GDP. The Swiss recipe for
success was "adaptation up to the point of copying quality standardp."104
In the endeavour to open the Japanese market for Swiss exports rested mainly
on the initiative of the Swiss watch and textile lobby, namely the Swiss
Watchmakers' Association (Union Horlogère Suisse) in La Chaux-de-Fonds and
the Textile Traders' Board (Kaufmännische Directorium) in St. Gallen.
The Textile Board responded affirmatively to an inquiry of the Federal Trade and
Customs Department in 1858 concerning the possible establishment of trade
relations with Japan: "[…] we strongly welcome any initiative to make Swiss
industries profit from the recent opening of Japanese ports to foreign trade."105
The Watchmakers' Association was founded only recently (on February 25th,
1858) and her task was export promotion; by now Asia had become the 3rd largest
market for Swiss watches after the United States and Europe.106 The Swiss did of
101
102
103
104
105
106
Documents Diplomatiques Suisses (DDS), vol. 1 (1990), p. XIX.
Stucki (1981), p. 58f.
Tilly (2003), p. 114.
Welter (1915), p. 7f, 17.
PKD, vol.7 (1858), , p.72.
Welter (1915), p. 74f.
45
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
course also notice the low and fixed tariffs accorded by Japan in the existing
treaties!
The president of the Watchmakers' Association was Aimé Humbert-Droz
(1819-1900) a scholar and politician from La Chaux-de-Fonds (Neuchâtel
Canton). He immediately set about the task to organise a trade mission to Japan
together with the colleagues from St.Gallen. Interestingly, the head of that
delegation was not Swiss but a writer and journalist from Gardelegen in Prussia,
Rudolf Lindau (1829-1910)!107 The fact that foreigners were employed in order to
look after Swiss interests as well apparently was nothing unusual in 19th century
Switzerland as the above-mentioned Sir Bowring reported back home, in some
cantons, he observed, foreigners were also elected to hold political offices simply
because of their competence.108
On April 28th, 1859 Lindau together with two companions boarded a ship in
Marseille. One of them was the watchmaker François Perregaux (1834-1877) from
Le Locle who happened to be also one of the founding shareholders of the Swiss
Watchmakers' Association.109 In 1854 he founded a company that bore his name
and that of his business partner and brother-in-law: Girard-Perregaux.
However, the small delegation was suffering from a crucial lack of credentialp.
Despite Humbert's efforts to bestow diplomatic status on Lindau, the Federal
Council (government) equipped him only with a letter of recommendation.
Furthermore, the French government declined Humbert's request to allow his
delegation to travel on a French warship to Japan that was probably due to Lindau
being a Prussian citizen.110
Lindau and his companions arrived on September 20th 1859 in Nagasaki from
where they continued their journey on a Dutch freighter to Kanagawa. Once there
107
Most likely Lindau was introduced to Humbert by Adolphe Hirsch. Director of the observatory of
Neuchâtel, Barrelet (1986), p. 151.
108
Bowring (1837), p. 9.
109
The name of the third member is not known. Welter (1915), p. 88.
110
Nakai (1967), pp. 29.
46
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Lindau contacted the shogunate with the help of the Dutch vice consul Van
Polsbroek.111
Now however, things started to go wrong as the Japanese side did not attach
the usual importance to the matter as that strange envoy evidently lacked the
proper credentials and, even more damaging in the eyes of the Japanese officials,
arrived on an ordinary merchant vessel.112 The Japanese side had also difficulties
to locate the country from where that envoy claimed to have been dispatched. In
their first report to their superiors they named it "Confederate Republic of
Swedenland"!113
But even after that misunderstanding had been resolved, Lindau's prospects for
obtaining some kind of treaty relations with Switzerland did not brighten. The
existing unequal treaties led to political tensions and the shogunate was
understandably not inclined to conclude yet another treaty of this kind. Lindau
himself described the situation in Japan gloomily:
"...till the end of 1859 already, only six months after the opening of the
above-mentioned ports [Yokohama, Nagasaki und Hakodate, the author],
Japanese and foreigners commonly viewed each other with hostility."114
In the beginning the trade relations following the port openings developed
rapidly and held great promise. Japan's foreign trade was about to literally
explode, from 1.49 mio. $ in 1859 to 33.63 million Dollars in 1865. However,
Japan's productive potential based on craftsmanship was not able to satisfy the
rapidly increased demand for Japanese products from abroad and inflation took
off. The economic imbalances were furthermore enhanced by the flood of
industrially produced cheap imports threatening domestic producerp.115
In his report to the Textile Board in St.Gallen Lindau explained the root causes
of the increasing tensions between Japanese and foreignerp. According to his
111
112
113
114
115
Nakai (1964), p. 25.
Nakai (1964),p. 37.
Morita (1988), p. 10.
Lindau (1862) p.5.
Kasahara et al (1983), pp. 316.
47
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
report foreign merchants were able to resell the Japanese products (seaweed,
gold, silk, tea) in Shanghai with profit margins of 75-500%. The shogunate in Edo
had agreed to an artificially low and fixed exchange of the Japanese currency
which led to losses for the Japanese side whereas their foreign business partners
could profit from exchange rate gains as well. In order to come to grips with the
mounting problems the shogunate tried to interfere bluntly with foreign trade by
applying arbitrarily measures aimed at frustrating trade transactions with
foreignerp. Their main wepon were illegal taxes and fees on import and export
productp. Lindau observed that the government was particularly tough on
Japanese merchantp.116
On the backdrop of these difficulties it came as no surprise that Lindau's
request was eventually turned down politely but firmly. At least, he managed to
obtain a written assurance from his interlocutors to inform the Swiss government
as the first in line when the conclusion of further treaties would become feasible
again.
After the failure of his mission Lindau visited China and Indochina before
undertaking a journey around Japn. At the end of 1861 he returned to Yokohama
from where he sent his report to his sponsors in St.Gallen.117
His companion Perregaux stayed in Singapur from 1859 to1861 in order to set
up an Asian trade office for the Watchmakers' Association. From the end of 1861
however, he was already active in Yokohama because he registered with the
French Consulate there appearing on the list of French nationals in Japan (List of
French subjects resident at the Post of Kanagawa on the 31st December 1861)
published by the British Consulate.118 After the signing of the Swiss-Japanese
Treaty of Friendship and Commerce he didn't need this cover anymore. Apart from
his activities for the Watchmakers' Association and his own company, Perregaux
also served as the president for the 'Swiss Rifle Association' in Yokohama from
116
117
118
Lindau (1862), p. 4f.
Ikuma (1986), pp. 227. In 1864 Lindau briefly served as the Swiss Consul in Yokohama.
The Japan Directory (1862), French Residentp.
48
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
1871 to1872.119 With only 43 years of age he died of illness on December 18th,
1877 and was buried on the Foreigners' Cemetery in Yokohama.
After Lindau left the country the conflict between the weakened shogunate and
its opponents reached a new stage. Four powerful clans in Japan's south formed
an alliance against the bakufu: Satsuma, Chōshū, Hizen und Tosa.
Satsuma situated at the southern tip of Kyūshū-island, was actively engaged in
foreign trade activities and behaved always in a self-conscious rather independent
way. Satsuma's loyalty belonged to the emperor in Kyoto.
Chōshū, situated at the southern tip of Honshu, controls the the strait between
Honshu and Kyushu. Its government was alternatively dominated by conservativexenophob and progressive forces, the latter eventually gaining the upper hand in
that han.120
Hizen, in the Northwest of Kyūshū, was regarded as the technologically most
advanced han profiting from intercourse with the Dutch trading post in nearby
Nagasaki harbour. Reform of the existing bakuhan-system as well as technological
progress was perceived necessary in order to avoid Japan falling prey to the
imperialist powerp.121
Tosa, in the South of Shikoku island was loyal to the Tokugawa-shogunate,
however, with the latter showing ever more signs of weakness, Tosa eventually
came to the conclusion that the old system had run its course and could no longer
be upheld.122
These four han succeeded in gaining decisive influence on the imperial court in
Kyoto where they used their xenophob policy as a weapon against the shogunate in
Edo. Their slogan sonnō jōi (rever the emperor – expel the barbarians) united all
forces opposed to the ruling Bakufu eventually assuming the character of a reform
movement against the Bakufu.123 Even within the extended Tokugawa-clan and their
119
Lardy (1922).
Webb, vol. 8 (1960), p. 627.
121
Webb, vol. 8 (1960), p. 628.
122
Webb, vol. 8 (1960), pp. 629.
123
Inoue (1993), p. 304.
120
49
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
vasalls a conflict of opinios erupted between those advocating a tough anti-foreign
stance regardless of any consequences (the house of Mito) and a majority intent on
seeking to accommodate the foreign powers somehow.124
124
Hall (1994), p. 255.
50
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
8. Testing Monsieur Humbert
On December 15th, 1860 a group of illustruous Swiss politicians and
businessmen met in Bern in order to discuss Swiss commercial interest in the
"Orient and in East Asia); the meeting was chaired by Federal Councillor (Minister)
Josef Martin Knüsel (1813-1889). One of the participants was Aimé Humbert who
forcefully advocated the establishment of trade relations with Japan, explaining to
the audience that Japan was rich in precious goods like silver, copper, tea, silk
and laquerwares, promising to become a profitable market for many European
industry goods as well. The conference adjourned after agreeing to keep an eye
on Japan without undertaking any premature steps, however.125
On April 26th, 1861, the Dutch Foreign Ministry informed the Swiss government
that the Shogunate in Edo was again ready to conclude treaties with foreign
statep. Upon this signal frantic preparations for a second and official expedition to
Japan were immediately undertaken by the Federal government. However, the
cantons took their time to respond and the preparations stalled. A main stumbling
block was the question of the kind and number of gifts to take to Japan. Several of
the cantons asked to provide the appropriate gifts requested more time to
consider the questions and to procure adequate goods from industry and
craftsmen.
For the whole enterprise the two chambers of parliament agreed on a rather
generous credit of 100’000.- Swiss Francs bewilligt. In order not to disrupt the
whole budget, an equal amount was deducted from expenditure for the Military. 126
The Federal Council named Humbert to head the mission and with the usual
enthusiasm he went after his task making even efforts to learn Dutch the language
in which the Shogunate communicated with the abroad.127
With regard to diplomatic protection for the Swiss delegation, it was agreed on a
preparatory conference that the United States were most appropriate as they
125
126
127
DDS, vol.1 (1990), pp. 809.
Nakai (1964), p. 39.
Barrelet (1986) p.147, 152.
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seem to "[…]enjoy the special sympathy of the Japanese".128 On July 1st, 1862 a
conference of representatives from the industrialized cantons (ZH, BE, FR, BS,
AR, SG, AG, VD, NE, GE) the participants learned however, that the US
government was prepared to give the Swiss any "moral protection" – not more.129
After the consternation over that message had calmed down, the conference
agreed to ask the Netherlands to take over that role. Furthermore it was decided
to ask the Dutch government permission to let the Swiss delegation arrive in
Japan aboard a "vessel of the state" (un bâtiment de l'Etat) as this would enable it
to present itself in a more "impressive and dignified way" (d'une manière plus
imposante et plus digne).130
After those formal aspects of the mission, the discussion turned to the
commercial aspects. Once again, Humbert drew a rosy picture of Japan's
pontential as a market for Swiss exports. According to his analysis, at present, the
industrially manufactured cotton fabrics from Eastern Switzerland dominated
Swiss exports by value; printed handkerchiefs from the canton of Glarus were
equally popular while curtains from the cantons of St. Gallen and Appenzell most
likely would not sell as long as glass windows are not common in Japan. Watches,
Musicboxes and jewelry seemed to be luxury objects in Japan and the Japanese
commonly thought that prices for Swiss products were too high. Moreover so went
the analysis, the Japanese did not value time like here a fact that would soon
vanish with the spread of steam engines, however. As for Japanese exports to
Switzerland the participants identified the following products to have the best
potential: algae, silk, tea, herbal wax and copper.131
Humbert's optimistic estimate of exports to Japan stood in stark contrast to
Lindau's assessment of the Japanese market in general. In his report to St.Gallen
he described the majority of the Japanese people as rather poor and pointed out
128
129
130
131
DDS, vol.1 (1990), p. 811, 813, 814.
DDS, vol.1 (1990), p. 907.
DDS, vol.1 (1990), p. 915.
DDS, vol.1 (1990), p. 911.
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that the current trade volume did not meet the original expectations of foreign
merchants in Japan.132
While Switzerland was still discussing, a Prussian delegation had already
arrived in Japan and the report of one of its members, Mr. Spiess, could be read in
the official bulletin of the Federal government the "Bundesblatt". According to that
report, the pontential of Japan as a market for imports should not be overstated. In
cautious and general terms the report saw chances only for industrial products
difficult to imitate by the Japanese. Better prospects still had products for which
Japan was lacking the raw materials like woolen clothp. The best chances were
seen for cotton fabrics and all kind of products which cater to "the Japanese
fondness for daintiness and obvious cuteness".133
The commercial side of the whole undertaking caused no problems, but some
of the participants of the conference were worried about the political situation in
Japan described in various papers as very serioup. Humbert did his utmost to
allay those fears, he was bent on following this project through and to undertake
this journey, a decision which he was to regret probably later on.134
While the preparations for the mission to Japan were in full swing, the Swiss
population at large could glean some information about the faraway island nation
in the "Federal Bulletin". In it the reader was told that the population of Japan was
"very different" from that of China with regard to "race" as well as "character".
Furthermore, the bulletin asserted that the Japanese are thought to be of Arab
(sic) origin.135
132
133
134
135
Lindau (1862), p. 1, 10.
FB 1861/vol.1, pp.471.
Nakai (1967), p. 78.
FB 1861/vol. 2, p. 316, pp. 488.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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The first Swiss mission to Japan in Bern. Sitting in front: Humbert.
Already a year ago the newapaper "Schaffhauser Tage-blatt" (Daily paper of
Schaffhausen) published a long article about Japan by Johann (John) Bringolf
(1824-1892). Bringolf was an intriguing personality a well-travelled adventurer,
sharp-tongued politician and officer in the Swiss Army.136 In his account he drew a
highly phantastic picture of the faraway country.137 The capital of Japan, he told
his readers, was called "Yeddo" and huge covering an area of fifty miles and
housing between two and ten million people in 280.000 mostly one-storied
housep. Wealthy inhabitants were living in garden compounds of exquisite taste
containing rocks, and ponds with little islandp. Japan as a state was a kind of
136
137
Schaffhauer Nachrichten, Oct. 16th, 1982, p. 19.
Bringolf (1871), pp.17.
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empire ruled by a general called the "sciogun" or "kubi". In his colourful account
the author also mentioned nuns and monks with a rather relaxed attitude towards
chastity and he also knew about a "Pontifex Maximus" residing in the city of
"Meaco".138 The Japanese according to Bringolf were "very pompuos" (sehr
zeremoniös) as well as "good drinkers" with no qualms about going home
inebriated. The foreigners were highly unwelcome in Japan and put under strict
surveillance as the American expedition of 1853 experienced. Despite being a
warlike people the Japanese were completely ignorant in using weaponry, so
Major Bringolf's disparangly; with their outdated muskets, pikes, swords and
crossbows the Japanese could hardly resist other "civilised" nationp.
As a member of the planned mission to Japan the man from Schaffhausen
would soon be in a position to test his phantasies against reality. The Swiss
delegation to Japan boarding a French ship in Marseille on November 20th, 1862
was composed of members from the French speaking and German speaking parts
of Switzerland. Compared to Lindau and his two lonely fellows this delegation
looked decidedly more impressive. Its members were:
As head of the delegation with full diplomatic credentials acted the abovementioned Aimé Humbert-Droz from the canton Neuchâtel (NE). His secretary and
specialist for commercial affairs was Kaspar Brennwald from Männedorf in the
canton of Zurich (ZH).
Attached to the delegation were John Bringolf from Unterneuhaus (canton
Schaffhausen), the civil engineer Iwan Kaiser from the canton of Zug, the young
merchant Charles Edouard von Bavier (1842–1926) from Chur (The Grisons) and
the equally youthful watchmaker James Favre-Brandt (1841-1923) from Le Locle
(canton Neuchâtel).
As a matter of fact, the official part of the delegation consisted only of Humbert
and Brennwald as the accompanying four "Attachés" were travelling at their own
expensep.
138
This word was apparently derived from the Japanese term miyako meaning nothing else but
capital; by this he meant Kyoto.
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The Swiss arrived on April 9th, 1863 in Nagasaki from where they were allowed
to continue their journy to Yokohama on a Dutch gunboat. The mission arrived in
Yokohama on April 27th, and took up residence as guests of the Dutch Vice
Consul Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek (1833-1916).139
On May 28th, the delegation, led by Japanese officers and accompanied by a
company of Dutch marine infantry, entered the capital of the Shogun, Edo. With a
cerain dismy Humbert observed that no representatives of the shogunate stood
ready to welcome him and his delegation. On the other hand he felt happy as he
looked around convinced to see only "sympathetic faces" amongst the numerous
spectators watching their arrival (nous ne vîmes que des visages bienveillants). 140
However, the Swiss could not possibly have chosen a worse time for their
arrival as the political situation for the shogunate had meanwhile deteriorated
dramatically. Personal safety had become a prime concern for all foreigners in
Japan during this opening phase of the country; no European or American dared to
venture outside in the evening without a pistol in his pocket as Lindau wrote.141
When Humbert arrived in Edo the still young Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi (18461866) was absent in Kyoto where he tried to gain imperial support for his foreign
policy. At the same time a war of nerves raged between his government and Great
Britain. The British requested a large compensation from the shogunate for the
assassination of a British merchant named Richardson by samurai of Satsuma.
The fatal incident occured when Richardson and his friends failed to dismount
from their horses as they crossed the way of the Satsuma Daimyo and his retinue.
That breach of etiquette was too much for the samurai and they immediately
attacked Richardson and his company with their swordp. While his friends
managed to escape, Richardson was cut into piecep.142
In the same year the Swiss arrived in Japan (1863) guns of the xenophobe
Chōshū clan opened fire on foreign ships in the straits of Shimonoseki. This
139
140
141
142
Nakai (1967), p.87.
Barrelet (1986), p. 155.
Lindau (1864), p. 182.
Schwebell (1981), pp. 319. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lennox_Richardson .
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provocation led to a punitive expedition by British, French, Dutch and US naval
forces in the following year ending in the conquest and destruction of the gun
batteriep.143
In this tense situation Humbert's endeavor to engage the shogunate in
negotiations for another treaty of commerce looked hopelesp. For the safety of the
Swiss delegation in Edo the government of the Shogune was equally loath to take
any responsibility. Humbert was therefore urged to retreat to Yokohama. However,
despite the severity of the situation was only ready to agree to a compromise in
the vain hope to begin negotiationp. As a consequence the Swiss remained in Edo
during the day but spent the night aboard one of the ships of the Shogun in the
harbour.
Rōnin laying in ambush.
143
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Shimonoseki
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At the beginning of June the situation had gotten even worse and the Swiss
went back to Yokohama where French and British troops had taken up positions in
order to defend the foreign settlement against possible attacks by xenophobe
samurai. Meanwhile Berne apparently had other worries; Brennwald the secretary
of the mission, received a letter from his government exhorting the delegation to
use the money economically but also not to hesitate to exhaust the budgetary
means when this should become necessary to the success of the enterprise.144
In Mid-August a British squadron bombarded Kagoshima the capital of Satsuma
in order to press their demands in the Richardson affair. Satsuma than faced up to
the British demand and payed their part of the endemnity, the shogunate had
already done so.145
For the Swiss however, there difficulties were not yet over – quite on the
contrary. At the end of July 1863 the Shogun returned from his audience with the
conservative Tennō who had demanded that he expel all the foreigners at once
and for all!146
Under pressure from all sides, the shogunate was less than keen to negotiate
with the Swiss about a treaty. Humbert suspected the Americans to subvert his
efforts and exchanged notes on a daily basis with them.147 However, there was
nothing he could possibly do other than wait for things to improve.
According to their interests Humbert and Brennwald tried to make good use of
their waiting time and explored the Japanese world around them. Humbert
painstakingly studied everyday life, customs and mores of the city dwellers in Edo
while Brennwald turned to analysing Japan's silk production.148 Zurich and Basle
were at that time important centres of silk industry and in the Ticino canton
silkworm breeding constituted an important branch of the economy. The
delegation had also to send Japanese silkworm eggs to Switzerland as the
144
Brennwald (1862-1867): entry from July 16th, 1863.
Hall (1994), p. 254. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Satsuma_War
146
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Kōmei
147
Brennwald (1862-1867), entry from December 17th, 1863.
148
He also wrote down the exchange rate: 1.500 Mex.$ were 961 Izibu; Brennwald (1862-1867),
entry from Auguts 10th, 1863.
145
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cultures in the Ticino were decimated by an illness and it was hoped that the
Japanese silkworms were resistant. After his return, Humbert published his
observations in two gorgeously illustrated volumes printed in Paris,149 and
Brennwald's report appeared in the Federal Bulletin from 1863/64.
The Swiss mission disembarking from the Dutch warship in Edo bay.
(Most likely the only warship in the Pacific ever to fly the Swiss flag, R.M.)
Back home the long delay of the mission met with derision. The Swiss mission
to Japan became a topic in the carnival in central Switzerland. A play in five acts
called the "Schwyzer Japanesenspiele" (Japanese Games) was written and
performed for the first time in 1863. In this play the unsuccessful attempts of the
Swiss to gain access to the "court of the Tycoon" were ridiculed as well as the
allegedly chaotic conditions there.150
149
150
Aimé Humbert, Le Japon illustré, volp. 1 and 2, Hachette, Paris 1870.
Immoos (1964), pp.129; Weibel (2006).
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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But the Federal Council was running out of patience as well and let his envoy
know that he was expected back home by the end of the year (1863). Desperate
for some more time Humbert shrewdly answered that he would be leaving Japan
by the end of the Japanese year which meant February 7th (1864) according to the
lunar calender in use there.151 Meanwhile the conflict between the xenophobe
sonnō-jōi (Rever the emperor-expel the barbarians) – movement claiming imperial
support and the supporters of the shogunate continued unabated. Violent attacks
of masterless samurai (rōnin) on foreigners and their suspected friends increased
in frequency.
Apparently unimpressed by these events, Humbert continued to lobby the
shogunate for the comencement of negotiations – to no avail. Only when his host
Van Polsbroek, meanwhile General Consul, intervened by threatening that his
government might not receive a shogunal delegation scheduled to visit Europe if
the shogunate did not negotiate with the Swiss things began finally to move. 152 On
January 26th, 1864 the negotiations between the Swiss and the Japanese started
in earnest and progressed smoothly along the lines of the existing treaty with
Prussia.
On February 6th, 1864 only one day before Humbert's scheduled return to
Switzerland the first Swiss-Japanese treaty of Friendship and Commerce was
signed. Switzerland thereby becoming the first non-maritime country to establish
diplomatic relations with Japan aufnahm.
Three of the six members of the Swiss mission to Japan remained there: Iwan
Kaiser worked for several years as a civil engineer in Yokohama, Favre-Brandt
established an import business there and Bavier entered the silktrade. Brennwald
returned to Switzerland in the summer 1864 via America after naming Lindau
Swiss Consul. In 1866 Brennwald returned as the new General Consul to
151
152
Nakai (1967), p. 101.
Nakai, (1967), p.103f.
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Yokohama. He acted as Swiss General Consul and businessman until 1878
before returning to Switzerland for good.153
In the end, the Federal Council was highly satisfied with Humbert's mission as
expressed in his message to the chambers of parliament asking for ratification:
"Dieser Vertrag enthält in zwanzig Artikeln die Bestimmungen, welche die
Schweizer in Japan der gleichen Vorteile teilhaft machen, wie sie den übrigen
begünstigten Nationen zugestanden werden. Überhaupt darf von diesem Vertrag
gesagt werden, dass uns durch denselben mehr gegeben wird, als wir
unsererseits zugestanden, indem von uns für die von Japan zugesicherten
Begünstigungen keine Gegenleistung von Belang verlangt werden [...]. Die
Erwartungen, zu welchen dieser Vertragsabschluss durch die Eröffnung einer
neuen Absatzquelle für die Erzeugnisse schweizerischer Industrie unseren
Handelsstand berechtigt, dürfen zwar einstweilen nicht allzu hoch gestellt werden;
denn es wird immerhin noch einiger Zeit bedürfen, bis die Japanesen sich auf
veränderte Verhältnisse eingestellt und mit europäischen Artikeln vertraut
gemacht haben werden. Dagegen darf mit ziemlicher Sicherheit von der Zukunft
erwartet werden, dass sich mit der in jenem Lande immer mehr und mehr um sich
greifenden Zivilisation nach und nach ein Verkehr entwickeln werde, welcher für
die diesfälligen Anstrengungen reichliche Früchte bringen wird. Zu dieser
Erwartung berechtigt hauptsächlich der fleissige und intelligente Charakter des ja
panischen Volkep."154
(This treaty contains twenty providing the same advantages to Swiss citizens in
Japan as enjoyed by those of the other nationp. In general one can say that this
treaty gave us more than we do as Japan did not ask for anything important in
return for the privileges we enjoy […] Although the expectations of our merchants
with regard to Japan as a market for Swiss industrial products should for the time
being not be rised too high as it will take time until the Japanese have adapted to
the new conditions and European productp. However, one can confidently expect
153
154
Nakanishi (1989), pp. 106.
Zit. in: Hardegger, vol. 1 (1986), p. 299.
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that, given the progress of civilization in that country, relations will develop in a
way which will bring ample rewards for the efforts taken so far. The basis for this
expectation lays mainly in the diligent and intelligent character of the Japanese
people).
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9 Tourist-Samurai in Switzerland
While the Swiss snugly revelled in the success of concluding a treaty as
advantageous as those of the great powers their interlocutors had much less
reason to feel content. On the contrary, the escalating powerstruggle in Japan had
entered its final and decisive stage. The shogunate and its allies were on the
defensive and stood literally with their backs to the wall. Their fiercest adversaries,
Chōshū und Satsuma, had by now overcome their traditional differences and
concluded an agreement in 1866 with the explicit aim of overthrowing Tokugawa
rule by force if necessary. Punitive military expeditions undertaken by the
shogunate against its adversaries had failed and the short but bloody "Boshin"-war
in 1868/69 ended in disaster for the troops of the Shogun.155
Even while the conflict at home was at its height, the younger brother of the
Shogun, Tokugawa Akitake (1853-1910), visited Europe with a large delegation in
1867. Their intention aimed at representing Japan at the Paris world exposition
and regaining foreign confidence in Tokugawa rule.156 Much to their dismay
however, they encountered another delegation from rebellious Satsuma, claiming
a separate pavilion which resulted in Japan being represented twice on the Paris
exhibition.157 The report about the Tokugawa-mission was drafted by the private
secretary of the emperor, Shibusawa Eiichi (1840-1931);158 it took the form of a
diary in documentary and literary style.159
After the Paris exhibition the delegation of the Tokugawa continued its journey
to Switzerland crossing the border at Basle on September 3rd, 1867.160 Their first
impression was described in the report as a "refreshing evening landscape"
overlooking the Rhine. In Basle the delegation visited the "place where preachings
155
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boshin_War
Plutschow (1978), p. 512. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Akitake
157
Baumunk (1994), p. 45.
158
Back in Japan he founded a whole series of enterprises becoming Japan's first modern
entrepreneur. Ueda (1990), p. 615.
159
This was the first Japanese eyewitness account of Switzerland. Plutschow (1978), p. 512.
160
Historiographic Institute of the University of Tokyo, Mikrofile-Protocol KE 137 0766, nr.11163.
The dates used here are according to the Gregorian calendar; in the original they follow the lunar
calendar used in Japan at that time.
156
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are held" (the cathedral) and a weaving mill.161 The next day the delegation took
the train to Berne where they met with the President of the Confederation, Mister
Constant Fornerod (1819–1899) in the Federal Palace. To this meeting on
September 5th, prince Tokugawa appeared dressed in traditional Japanese garb
conveying the official greetings of the shogunal government.162 On September 6th,
the Japanese guests witnessed a military exercise in Thun. The secretary of the
delegation described the Swiss militia system as a system based on the principle
to "[...] recruit men from the peasantry without harming it […] these people are
then employed in the military according to their capabilitiep. In a very short time an
army of two hundred thousand men can be raised, ready for battle."163
In general the rather short report did only enumerate the stations of the journey
and the persons met. However, the author expressed unrestrained enthusiasm
when trying to describe the Swiss landscape. As "undescribably beautiful"
characterised the author the view from the tower of a castle overlooking the lake
of Thun, and he continued, as this landscape is considered to be one of the most
beautiful in Switzerland one can count it as one of the most beautiful landscapes
in Europe as well.164 Another highlight of the journey seemed to be a hiking trip on
the Gurten mountain near Berne, characerized as a "heavenly scenery".165
On Septemer 8th, the Japanese visited the "famous watchmakers' city Geneva",
were the report dwelled on describing the lake of Geneva and the Mont Blanc
erroneously identified as the highest Swiss peak. This "very wealthy" city, so the
author Shibusawa, is also called "Little Paris" by the Swiss, and rightly so. 166
The journey continued to Neuchâtel where the delegation arrived on September
10th (1867). In that town, famous for the production of telegraphic equipment, the
Japanes met with the pioneer of Swiss-Japanese relations: Aimé Humbert.
161
Plutschow (1978), p. 514.
Plutschow (1978), pp. 520.
163
Plutschow (1978), p. 516.
164
Plutschow (1978), p. 516.
165
Pluschow (1978), p. 517.
166
Plutschow (1978), p. 518.
162
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Together the visited a fabric of telegraphic equipment, the observatory and the
museum of natural history.167
Back in Berne, the members of the delegation met with the representative of the
shogunate, Kurimoto Joun (1822-1897) who was based in Parip.168 Most likely
they were briefed by him how desperate the situation back home had meanwhile
become for Akitake's older brother the 15th Shogun.
On September 13th, 1867 the Japanese delegation left Switzerland for the
Netherlandp. Kurimoto himself remained behind in Switzerland for a short while
before returning to Parip. The enterprising official of the shogunate was a lover of
nature who had already undertaken some unusual tripp. In 1862 he travelled to
the southern Kurile islands of Etorofu and Kunashiri before advancing to the 40th
Parallel on the island of Sakhalin heavily contested between Russia and Japan.
He undertook these trips while acting as the official representative of the
shogunate in Hakodate on Hokkaidō.169 In Switzerland, Kurimoto went on
excursions to the mountains around Berne undertaking botanical studies as well.
In a certain sense he can be considered to be the first Japanese alpinist in
Switzerland. In his memoirs Kurimoto referred to the country as one of
"extraordinary beauty", he remembered waterfalls snow-covered peaks and the
large number of tourists from all over Europe fleeing from the summer heat in the
plainp.170
In Japan meanwhile, events went from bad to worse towards the end of the
1860's for the Shogune and his followerp. The Bakufu had lost any support in the
population as well and was militarily defeated after a series of battles with its
foep.171 Since February 3rd, 1867 a new emperor had acceded to the throne in
Kyoto after the sudden death of the Kōmei Tennō. The still young emperor
Mutsuhito (1852-1912) proved to be much more sympathetic towards anything
167
168
169
170
171
Plutschow (1978), p. 519.
Ueda et al. (1990), p. 461.
Yamasaki (1986), p. 286.
Yamasaki (1986), p.285.
Inoue (1993), p. 316, 318.
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new than his conservative father.172 On October 14th, 1867 the last Shogun,
Tokugawa Yoshinobu, offered his resignation to the emperor who accepted at
once. With this resignation the era of the Shoguns and Edo came to an end.
In Switzerland the public was informed of those events by an official message
from the Japanese legation in Paris published in the Federal Bulletin. The
message was written by the same Kurimoto who had, a short while ago visited
Berne.173 His report began with a brief summary of Japanese history under the
Tokugawa-shogunate, emphasizing that shogunal rule had brought peace to
Japan for a period lasting nearly two hundred fifty yearp.174 The message ended
by asserting that the new government of Japan would respect the treaties
concluded by the shogunate with foreign countriep.175
172
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwakura_Tomomi : according to unproven rumours Kōmei had
been poisoned.
173
Kurimoto was still in Paris as the ambassador of the collapsed shogunate; he returned to
Japan in May 1868 starting a second career that made him a well-known journalist and
newspaper editor. Ueda et al. (1990), p. 461.
174
FB 1868/vol.1, pp. 198.
175
FB 1868/vol.1, p. 203.
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10 Count Iwakura on Top of the Rigi
After the collapse of the Bakufu in 1868, a new coalition of nobles from the
imperial court in Kyoto and young, mostly lower ranking but rangaku-educated
samurai from the domains of Chōshū, Satsuma, Tosa und Hizen took over. In the
name of the young Tennō they took power declaring the advent of a new era
named Meiji which meant "enlightened rule". The era's name was programmatic
indicating which direction Japan was to take from now on.
AFFILIATION
FIRST NAME /NAME
LIFESPAN
Court nobility
Tomomi Iwakura
1825-1883
Court nobility
Sanetomo Sanjō
1837-1891
Satsuma
Toshimichi Ōkubo
1830-1878
Satsuma
Takamori Saigō
1828-1877
Satsuma
Masayoshi Matsukata
1837-1924
Satsuma
Munenori Terashima
1833-1893
Satsuma
Tomoatsu Godai
1835-1885
Satsuma
Kiyotaka Kuroda
1840-1900
Chōshū
Hirobumi Itō
1841-1909
Chōshū
Kaoru Inoue
1835-1915
Chōshū
Masujirō Ōmura
1841-1869
Chōshū
Takayoshi Kido
1833-1877
Chōshū
Aritomo Yamagata
1838-1922
Tosa
Taisuke Itagaki
1837-1919
Tosa
Shōjirō Gotō
1837-1897
Hizen
Shimpei Etō
1834-1874
Hizen
Shigenobu Ōkuma
1838-1922
Hizen
Taneomi Soejima
1832-1899
Table 1: The leadership of the Meiji-government.176
176
According to Hall (1994), pp. 261.
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Government strategy was summed up in the catchy slogan of "fukoku kyōhei" –
(rich country and strong defence). A thorough transformation of Japan making it
into a modern nation state on an equal footing with the western powers was the
objective of the new government. Thus, united and strong Japan was not to suffer
China's fate and falling prey to the imperialist policy of the great powerp.177
That was a tall order for a leadership whose members did not know more about
the functioning of the system of nation states than what could be gleaned from
Dutch books and discussions with the few foreigners living in Japan. In order to
gain a more comprehensive worldview and first hand knowledge about what they
are up to, the government of the Meiji decided to undertake a bold move. In
December 1871 a huge delegation headed by Lord Tomomi Iwakura (1825-1883)
started an ambitious journey through the countries which had established
diplomatic relations with Japan. That journey was to last nearly two years and the
delegation included nearly half of all the members of the Meiji-government.
Members were, among others, the minister of justice Kido Takayoshi (1833-1877),
the minister of finance Ōkubo Toshimichi (1830-1878) and the minister for public
works, Itō Hirobumi (1841-1909).
The Iwakura-mission pursued two objectives: the first one was the re-negotiation
of the existing unequal treaties in order to obtain a better deal. In case this proved
to be impossible the delegation was to fall back on its second objective ie to focus
on obtaining as much information and knowledge as possible about the economy,
technology, education and politics of the host countriep. That knowledge was to
serve as a starting point for the modernisation of Japan. It might as well be
presumed that the goal of treaty negotiations merely served as a pretext for the
intelligence gathering part of the journey.178
Already in the USA, their first destination it turned out that a revision of the
existing treaties was out of question as the American side showed no inclination to
177
178
Hall (1994), p. 247.
Hall (1994), p. 280.
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broach the subject.179 As a consequence the second objective of the mission
became a priority. The delegation comprised a large number of youthful members
who were meant to study abroad. Amongst these students there were five girls
between eight and sixteen years of age. They would live with host families and
obtain their education at American schooling institutionp. The youngest of those
girls was Tsuda Umeko (1864-1929), after her return home she founded Japan's
first women's university.180
The Iwakura-mission visited twelve countries and collected a huge body of
informations about those countriep. After their return, the secretary of the mission,
Kume Kunitake (1839-1931) edited the notes taken by all the members and
published them in a kind of encyclopedia of the countries visited.181 Using the
number of pages dedicated to each country as a measurement for the Japanese
interest, the bulk of the voluminous report, about 40%, was taken up by the
descriptions of Great Britain and the USA followed by Germany, France, Italy and
Russia. After those countries the ranking continues with Switzerland together with
Austria, Belgium and the Netherlandp.182
Following the advice of Guido Verbeck (1830-1898), an American missionary
and teacher in Japan whose students also included Ōkubō, Ōkuma and Itō,
Iwakura organised the mission on the principle of the division of labour. The first
group had to focus its attention on the legal system of the host countries, the
second one focussed on the economy particularly on the tax-, and banking
system. The third group took on the educational systems with a special focus on
learning institutions geared towards technical, administrative and economic
education. Furthermore, all the groups were to gather informations about military
and defence matters of the countries visited.183 The latter point clearly indicated
179
180
181
182
183
Inoue (1993), p. 334.
Kasahara (1983), p. 334.
See bibliography: Kume/Tanaka (1982) and for the German speaking nations Pantzer (2002).
Yoshikawa (1991), p. 442.
Kodansha (ed.), vol. 2 (1993), p. 1672. Beasley (1972), pp. 367.
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theis obsession with Japan's future capacity to defend itself against possible
encroachments of the powerp.
Particularly interesting and alluring for the Japanese proved the equally young
and ambitious German Reich born in blood and iron according to its creator the
German chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898).184 The personality of the "Iron
Chancellor" seemed to have fascinated the Japanese visitors in more than one
way, their report dwelled at length on him, none other person got that much or
their attention. Bismarck struck a chord with his guests when he elaborated on the
topic of international law versus power in a speech he made on March 15th, 1873:
The little nation is always at a disadvantage and in a sad condition, unable
to protect itself with proper means […] therefore, we made every effort to
reach the same level of the other statep.185
After that revealing experience the delegation continued its journey to Austria
paying a visti to the world exhibition in Vienna. That proved to be an excellent
opportunity for them to gain an overview of the technological level attained by the
western nationp. Technology first of all occupied their minds (less so the arts and
handycrafts). On this exposition they could also witness the differences between
the different the statep. As a consequence of their visit they reached two decisive
conclusions:
1) The level of development of a country was not related to its size.
2) The present technological and economic level had been attained in a
relatively short period of time it was after all a very recent phenomenon.
The key sentences bearing witness to these insights reads as following
(emphasis according to the original):
There are big countries like England, France, Russia, Prussia, Austria and
little ones like Belgium, the Netherlands, Saxony, Switzerland and Denmark.
Wit regard to their national independence neither the big countries are to be
184
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blut_und_Eisen
185
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. XVIIIf und 451.
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feared nor the little ones to be despised.. […] Seen by the refinements and
improvements of Industry and handycrafts achieved by the European
countries one could think that this sophistication could only be the result of
hundreds of years of cumulative achievementp. However, its history is not
very old; that insight we gained on the world exhibitionp."186
On the Vienna exhibition of 1873 Iwakura and his fellow travellers were
acquainted for the first time with Switzerland as well if only indirectly. Their report
reads (emphasis according to the original):
"Switzerland was always a country of handycrafts and technology. Like the
other countries Switzerland develops her technology to the highest possible
sophistication. If she did not do so she could not possibly sustain her
wealth. A large number of watches from the cities of Geneva and Berne
were displayed. They are a speciality of this country […] all countries do
produce watchep. The thought through precision of pocket watches rests on
a Swiss patent however, a country with an ever more advancing technology.
The watch making companies of other countries can hardly avoid to fall
behind. […] Related to the skills of producing watches are those used to
build musical instrumentp. […] Furthermore, the Swiss excel at producing
fine cotton yarns for which they are famous all over Europe. […] We also
saw maps of all the cantons displayed. This kind of drawing maps has been
developed in Switzerland. The mountains are drawn in a way as to
distinguish the peaks from the valleys by different shades offering a bird's
eye perspective to the observer."187
After the world exhibiton the party continued its journey to Munich and Lindau
where it crossed the Lake of Constance. In the town of Romanshorn the Japanese
reached Swiss territory on June 19th, 1873. From Romanshorn they boarded a
train taking them to Zurich their first destination. The Swiss press dedicated a
couple of lines to the arrival of the Japanese mission, but they didn't make into the
186
187
Kume/Pantzer (2002), pp. 309.
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 324.
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headlinep. The paper Bund from Berne could only report that the delegation
missed its first train in Romanshorn and were now in Zurich.188
The Japanese side had a lot more to tell about the host country and their
journey through it. Kume's report provided its readership a host of detailed
informations as there seemed nothing too trivial not to be mentioned by the
Japanese delegation. The part dealing with Switzerland included 26 copperplate
prints as well, showing different landscapes and the recently completed state of
the art - cogwheel railway running up to the peak of the Rigi high above the
Lucerne Lake in central Switzerland. Apparently there seemed nothing too trivial
as not worth to be mentioned. The Japanese report about Switzerland started with
the exact geographical location, the size and the official name according to the
English and German pronunciation. The latter proved to be quite a challenge as
the Japanese katakana- syllabel system used for foreign names allows for only an
approximatif rendering. In this case “Switzerland” read as “Suitsururando".189
Following this introduction was a brief summary of Swiss history since Roman
timep. With regard to recent history, the Japanese report emphasized the
expulsion of the Jesuit order in 1848 remarkable. The still lingering conflict
between the catholic and the protestant cantons did not escape the visitorp. And
direct democratic procedures in several of the smaller cantons were also
mentioned:
"Although the structure and competences of the Federal government are
basically decided upon, the constitutions of the cantons are a source of
continuous frictionp. The cantons of Uri, Unterwalden and Appenzell do not
have established parliamentary assembliep. In those cantons all men aged
twenty years or older, gather in the open in order to decide the laws and
elect the government of the canton.”190
188
189
190
Der Bund 20.6.1873, p. 1.
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 354.
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 354.
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The report then continued to list and describe the Swiss regions according to
size, population, languages and confession. While dwelling on Berne as the
capital even the yearly salary of the president of the Swiss Confederation seemed
worth to be indicated: 2'400 (Mexican) Dollarp.191
According to their task the visitors were particularly keen on knowing more
about the military and defence of their host country. In this case the report
explained that her army was built upon the idea of a people’s army and employed
according to the political principles of neutrality. In this sense an intruder would be
repelled over the borders, however without crossing them in pursuit. The Swiss
army was likened to a fire brigade with each man having his arms and uniform at
home ready to be taken up at once in case of an imminent attack. Under this
system a large army can be mobilised at short notice. As for military training the
emphasis is on the fight in mountaineous areap. Although a small country
surrounded by big powers, Switzerland was not to be conquered by other states
because of the formidable reputation of her army – so the conclusion of the
Japanese observerp.192
Following the military aspects the mission’s report dwelled on Switzerland’s
landscape. The reader learned that the country’s geography is dominated by
mighty mountain ranges “marvellous like bamboo sprouts" and rich in lakes and
rivers of green color, little wonder then (that) "Switzerland is lauded as the lost
paradise in other European countriep."193
However, the spectacular landscape had serious drawbacks as well did the
visitors from Japan notice. Construction and upkeep of transportation links abroad
were extremely expensive and nature was well not suited to the cultivation of
cereals and corn. Despite her developed industry, so the report, Switzerland with
her 2.5 Million denizens was still basically an agrarian country as more than half of
its people was employed in agriculture. Agriculture’s productivity was insufficient,
191
192
193
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 355.
Kume/ Pantzer (2002), p. 356f.
Kume/Pantzer (2002) p. 357f.
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however, and as a consequence "success lies necessarily with the concentration
on cleverly devised mechanics and highly precise workmanship" proof of it being
the world famous Swiss watchep.194 The chapter closed with a detailed statistic
regardeing Swiss foreign trade, and the ethnical-linguistic as well as
denominational composition of its population. High praise was given to the
common educational level and the reputation of Swiss establishments of higher
learning. Furthermore, the observers remarked (highlighted in the original):
"The cantons prefer a simple way of government resulting in savings and
conducive to strengthening the economic vigor of the people. Wealth in
Switzerland is rather equally distributed poor households are rare. The
country is at peace. With good reason one can say that the polite
intercourse with foreigners is the result of an education in a genuine
republican spirit."195
After that general introduction the report developed into a kind of travel journal
in the form of a diary, meticulously listing all impressions and encounterp. The
mission’s first stop on Swiss soil was Romanshorn where they arrived with some
delay so that they missed their train. During the waiting time the Japanese
collected informations about the region south of the Lake of Constance, describing
the area in theirs report in detail.
The next lap in their journey led them through the “protestant” (sic) canton of
Turgovia, where the eye was enjoyed by a truly lovely agrarian landscape where
“no filth could be found” and the roofs of the wooden houses were like back home
in Japan.196 Via the towns of Weinfelden, Frauenfeld und Winterthur the journey
continued to Zurich where the mission arrived at sunset checking in at the hotel
'Baur en Ville'.
194
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 359ff.
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 362.
196
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 364.
195
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Fig. 8: Members of the Iwakura-mission; (From left to right): Kido, Yamagchi,
Iwakura, Itō, Ōkubo.
On June 20th (1873) the visitors went sightseeing in Zurich; the city and
its surroundings was described as the industrial heartland of Eastern
Switzerland with Geneva playing this role in the Western part of the
country. The Japanese reader learned that Zurich possessed a vibrant iron
industry, numerous cotton and silk mills as well as paper mills and musical
instruments manufactoriep. The Japanese visitors were particularly pleased
with Zurich as a place of learning and education. Apart from the Federal
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Politechnical Institute and the university (shown in a copper) their report
also mentions a military academy and several girls’ schoolp.
Taking Zurich as an example the report dwelled on the Swiss educational
system in detail including the syllabus of the primary schools and their goal:
(Highlighted in the original):
"It is the goal of primary school to give all children, in the Canton an
appropriate education, to give them – without distinguishing between rich
and poor – specific knowledge and teach them virtues and skills enabling
them to be socially competent and turning them into good citizenp."197
In the afternoon, the Japanese boarded a train bringing them via Olten and
Burgdorf to Berne. In the meantime, Hermann Siber (1842-1918), Swiss Vice
Consul in Yokohama, joined the delegation gestossen. Together with Humbert he
was to accompany the party on their journey through Switzerland acting also as
interpreter for Japanese. The report again thoroughly described the langscape
and scenery of the then largest Canton in terms of population.
In the Swiss capital the Iwakura-delegation stayed at the very same Hotel
"Bernerhof" where six years earlier their political foes lodged.
On the following 21st of June (1873) count Fürst Iwakura met with the president
of the Swiss Confederation, Paul Cérésole (1832-1905), dressed in a European
diplomat’s uniform. At the time, the Swiss president always headed the ‘Political
Department’ (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) doubling as foreign minister.
Count Iwakura’s letter of accreditation expressed the hopes and expectations of
the new Japanese government concerning a revision of the unequal treaty with
Switzerland:
"We entertain the wish and the intention to reform and improve the
existing treaties in a way as to be on an equal footing with the most
enlightened nations striving to develop the law and the public interests
to their full potential. The civilisation as well as the institutions of Japan
are so different from those of the other countries that we may not hope
to attain the desired objective; but our intention is such as to choose
197
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 367f.
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from the great number of institutionens of the enlightened nations
those which are best suited to our conditions and to adapt them to our
customs step by step in order to become the equal to those
nationp."198.
However, the keen wish of the Japanese to be recognised as equals by the
Western nations had so far not been met. And Switzerland had no intention to
renounce her privileges either. President Cérésole’s answer to count Iwakura’s
address was evasive and non-committal. He expressed his satisfaction with the
current situation lauding Japan for having respected the agreement over the last
nine years; the Federal government’s position was that the agreement which had
already expired on July 1st a year ago (1872) should retain its factual validity.199
The Japanese guests apparently did not harbour any further illusions with
regard to the matter and kept up their morale – the report did not mention the
diplomatic aspect of their mission anymore and the next entry was a description of
the city of Berne. The Iwakura team seemed to be very pleased with this place as
they stayed longer than originally intended in the Swiss capital whose cleanliness
was particularly mentioned.
After visiting the bear’s pit the sightseeing tour included a power station at the
Aare and river and the visit to a cadets’ barrackp. Tellingly the passage in their
report about the reception by the cadets’ music band: “with all their strength they
serve their country – we could hardly conceal our joy.”200
On June 22 (1873) count Iwakura and his party left Berne for Central
Switzerland. In Münsingen they watched a traditional wrestling contest reminding
them strongly of the Japanese-style wrestling called sumo. The journey continued
via Thun, Interlaken and Brienz, from where they boarded a ship for a cruise on
the lakes of Thun and Brienz. From the “Berner Oberland” their report gave a vivid
impression of the spectacular landscape. The lakes down in the valley were tinted
green from the melted water running down from the snow-covered mountains
198
199
200
Der Bund Nr. 176, 28.6.1873, p. 2.
DDS (1986) vol.3 p. 44.
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 375ff (Zitat p. 377).
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forming a wonderful contrast to the surroundings as they wrote. Here again, the
report included a series of coppers in order to give visual impression of Interlaken
and the surrounding scenery.201
After crossing the Brünig pass (two coppers of the pass) the delegation arrived
in Sarnen apparently to an enthusiastic welcome by the townspeople holding
lanterns and torches and ringing cowbellp. In this place rich in history, the
Iwakura report mentions the ancient myth of William Tell and his role in the Swiss
struggle for freedom and independence from the house of Habsburg. In the
Japanese description, Tell appears as an historic personality:
"[…] The people could not take anymore the tax burden imposed on them
by officialdom, the whole population ground its teeth until a youn man
named William Tell took their lead. He gathered fellow fighters in the three
cantons of Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden and chased the Austrian officials
out of the country. Tell shot the cruel sheriff with his bow (sic)”.202
The Japanese were moved by the simple warmth and kindness of these
mountain dwellerp.203 Something caught there attention as well, however: "in this
area as well many poor people are living as here as well we were offered flowers
for sale; we were told that this is a bad habit among catholicp."204
After passing the night at Sarnen the party continued its journey on June 23rd
towards Lucerne, describing and praising the lovely scenery and the town (a
copper showed the famous Kapell bridge in the foreground). Here the president of
the Swiss Confederation caught up with them and together they boarded a
steamship to Vitznau where the Japanese would be the guests of honor in the
opening ceremony of the newly built upper half of the rack railway to the top of the
Rigi mountain.
201
Kume/ Pantzer (2002), p. 381-386.
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 395f.
203
Vgl. dazu: Izumi (1984), p. 254.
204
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 397. it was probably their protestant Swiss companions who told them
about this bad catholic habit [R.M.].
202
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A grumpy accompanying journalist wrote a reproachful article of the honorary
guests:
"with the exception of count Iwakura, […] they are all young people,
some of them nearly boys and all of tender built, tiny hands and feet
their legs a bit bendy. […]. It is impossible to read from their faces
what impression they have got from the ride, the environment and
the panorama; they don’t look around much and are occupied with
trifling things instead of admiring the the panorama of the Rigi .
They turn their backs to it and haggle about prices with a dealer in
souvenirs and art offering paintings of the Rigi view. One is tempted
to think that they follow the principle of "nil admirari" out of
diplomatic reasons or just of lack of understanding. Some of them,
unmoved by everything, were even sleeping during most of the
ascending journey. Only Iwakura is following everything around him
with quiet attention."205
However, this superficial impression was misleading because those “tourists"
were not after fun and relaxation, they had a clear mission to fulfill. Their journey
was first of all hard work as one of the participants wrote in his diary. After the tight
daily schedule of visits and conferences, the members of the Iwakura-mission
spent the better part of the night with compiling and comparing their impressions
and then writing them down.206 In their final report the Rigi trip was meticulously
described accompanied by no less than four coppers showing the railway and the
hotel on the peak. The report lists a host of technical details of the rack railway as
well as the costs of building it and even mentions the angle of inclination of the rail
tracks, and the ticket price (7.- Swiss Francs per Person).
A more attentive journalist of the 'Neue Zürcher Zeitung' noticed that the Japanese
flooded their surroundings with questions and one of them insisted on getting all
the available technical data of the railway.207
The view from the Rigi Kulm was described to the Japanese readership as
follows (emphasis according to the original):
205
206
207
Der Bund Nr. 176, 28.6.1873, p. 2.
Jansen, vol. 5 (1989), p. 462f.
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 402-405.
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"Looking down from the peak, the high mountains resemble huge waves
and the smaller ones remind one of dancing wavep. In the south, like the
dots of snowballs hurled a group of high mountains in the canton of Uri are
ranged like the teeth of a saw whereas the flatter ones to the west are the
mountains in the canton of Berne. Right in the centre lay the four lakes of
Lucerne. In the east there are the lake of Zug, the lake Aegeri and the
Lauerzer lake; in the west are the lake Rot and the Sempach lake. The look
like big and small mirrors floating on big wavep. The view is indescribably
beautiful. On fine days with an ideal view it is possible to see 15 lakep. 208
A gathering storm offered the guests a particular spectacel because it was
unfolding, complete with lightings and thunder, at their feet causing “some
uneasiness” as an accompanying journalist remarked. In order to enjoy the
sunrise, count Iwakura and his party spent the night at the mountain hotel.
However, bad weather spoiled the next morning as well and their return to
Lucerne took place under a gray and rainy sky. As the sky cleared in the
afternoon, the Japanese guests took to visit the lion’s memorial explaining their
readers the historical background of the memorial.
After that they boarded a train bound for Bern via Zofingen (production of textiles
for raincoats). On the way, in Aarburg, a fellow traveller carrying two rifles caught
their attention:
"[…] and demonstrated the usefulness of his weapons to our group. They
are called Vetterli rifles […] The man showed us yet another rifle […] Both
are manufactured in Switzerland in a place called Solothurn”.209
Back in Berne the Japanese delegation took part in a reception for diplomats
given by the president of the Confederation. After a day of recovery the delegation
visited a primary school in the city on June 27th. Here again, their report showed a
pedantic attention to detail mentioning the number of floors of the building, the age
208
209
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 406f.
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 412.
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of the pupils and the composition of the teaching staff (many women) as well as
the curriculum and syllabus – anything observed or discussed during the visit was
mentioned. Highly self-critical the report compared the practical and down-to-earth
approach of Swiss education with the educational principles of the era of the
barely finished shogunate (emphasis according to the original):
"Looking at study in Asia it developped out of moral and politics and was
determined only by ethicp. Studies aimed at non-material phenomena and
at the fine arts were highly appreciated. However, with disdain one was
looking down at things of everyday’s life. They were considered vulgar and
as a consequence aesthetics and moral did not reach the ordinary
people.210
After that a tour of the museum of natural history and the city library were
undertaken where the Japanese discussed Humbert’s two volumes about Japan
with the author present. The following day did not contain an entry.
On June 29 (1873) the delegation left the capital and drove via Fribourg and
Vevey to Lausanne where they boarded a steamer for Geneva, reaching the city
in the evening. Needless to say that this part of their journey was described in
figurative detail as well.
Geneva Switzerland’s largest city (at that time), so their report, is famous for her
watches and very international to boot because of a population of 68.000 more
than 20.000 are foreignerp. Not quite correctly, the report also states that Geneva
had once been a possession of the dukes of Rohan, in fact, however, the city was
a proud republic since 1536 after the expulsion of the last bishop.211 Naturally, the
Japanese did not forget to mention the “prominent church leader” Jean Calvin
(1509-1564) and his historical significance. Much more detailed, however were
their descriptions of technological achievements they could witness as for example
the water pumps which supplied the city with drinking water.
210
211
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 415.
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 427.
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On July first a tour of the watch factory Patek Philippe was scheduled and the
report described in detail the production process of a chronometer and even
bothers to mention the following (emphasis according to the original): "Within the
factory political and religious talks are not permitted as both lead easily to noisy
disputep."212
The following days in Geneva were filled with cruisings on the lake, excursions
into the mountains close by, city tours and visits to museums and even to a prison
(July 5th, 1873).
On July 8th, a member of the Genevan government explained his Japanese
guests the political system of his canton. The reader of the Iwakura report could
gain a thorough insight into the functioning of a Swiss canton starting with the
“Conseil d’Etat” (the government) the different ministries (départements) and their
tasks up to the “Grand Conseil” (parlament).213 This is astonishing given the fact
that the majority of the members of the Japanese delegation were representatives
of a feudal elite that had plenty of reasons to fear a democratic system like the
Swiss one. This radical openness in their information is either proof of the sincerity
and impartiality with which they went after their task, or maybe naivity. In quite a
few European countries such a section would haver certainly been censored. n
On July 9th (1873) Japan’s reality caught up with count Iwakura and his fellow
travellerp. Back home differences about Japan’s future foreign policy erupted
amongst the members of the new government who remained behind threatening
to escalate. In a telegram Iwakura and his companions were asked to return home
at once.214
Civil strive in Spain their next station prevented the mission to go ahead as
planned and as a consequence Switzerland became the last station on their long
journey. The remaining days were dedicated to relaxation from their arduous
journey. On July 10th the party undertook a last cruise on the lake together with
212
213
214
Kume/Pantzer, (2002), p. 430.
Kume/Pantzer (2002I, p. 432-437.
Hall (1994), p. 277.
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officials from Geneva and the canton of Vaud. A sensitive entry depicted the mood
on this last excursion: on the lake:
"The Mont Blanc – shine of ice and snow, the town of Nyon in the rising
mist, summer’s mountains like a green fog”.215
The remaining two days were filled with receptions and banquets in Lausanne
and Geneva. In his farewell address Iwakura’s interpreter summarized his
impressions and priorities:
"Pendant notre voyage nous avons examiné les civilisations des divers pays
del'hémisphère occidental, et p.Exc. vous assure que rien ne lui a donné
plus de plaisir que de voir le beau développement de civilisation qui se
trouve sous votre constitution libre, par laquelle vous avancez vos industries
mécaniques et faites de si grands progrès dans les sciences et les beauxartp. […] Ainsi vous voyez que la Suisse a bien assisté notre mission dans
son plus grand désir, celui d'obtenir les moyens les plus sûrs d'améliorer la
condition de notre pays et de le mettre en bons rapports avec tout le monde
intélligent et cultivé."216
(During our journey we investigated different civilisations in the Western
hemisphere and his excellency assures you that nothing pleased him more
than the beautiful development of the civilisation that is taking place under
your free constitution enabling you to advance your mechanic industry that
far and under which the sciences and arts have made so much progrsp.
Switzerland has helped our mission to in its burning desire to aquire the
proven means in order to improve the situation in our country and to enable
it to nurture good relations to the enlightende and cultivated world).
Answering Iwakura’s address an impressed and somewhat self-critical Humbert
replied as follows:
215
216
Cited after: Izumi (1984), p. 256.
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 499.
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"Notre présomption occidentale sei plaît en constater l'aptitude étonnante
des Japonais à s'instruire de nos langues et de nos découvertep. […] Où
rencontrerons-nous, au même degré, non-seulement cette absence de
préventions jointe au tact le plus exquis, mais en outre cette soif de
perfectionnement, cette aspiration persistante au progrès, à un meilleur
ordre des choses, à un idéal qui n'est encore que vaguement entrevu? Et
voilà qu'ils se sont mis en route à sa recherche, sans se lier d'avance à
aucune formule […] En Europe on ne se fait pas faute d'entreprises ayant
pour but l'argent ou des conquêtep. Mais que dirions-nous d'un
gouvernement qui organiserait une lointaine et coûteuse expédition tout
uniment dans l'interêt intellectuel et moral de sa nation? L' ambassade
japonaise ne doute pas un instant du succèp.”217
(Western pride is flattered to witness the astonishing ability with which the
Japanese aquire our languages and our discoveriep. ich unsere Sprachen
und Entdeckungen zu eigen machen. Where else do we see to such a
degree not only the absence of prejudice combined with utmost courtesy but
also such a hunger for perfektion an unbound demand for progress for a
higher order of things for an ideal which is only vaguely recognisable? And
so you set off in order to search without shackling yourselves to a
preconceived formula. In Europe there is no shortage of projects aiming at
money or conquestp. But what do we say about a government which
organised a long and costly expedition rooted only in the intellectual and
moral interest of the nation? The Japanese mission has no doubts about its
succesp.)
However, these two speeches demonstrate first of all that how far apart the two
point of views actually were. Basically, two completely different concepts of
“civilisation” clashed here. The Japanese side was eager to investigate the
material and technological base of the Western civilisation in order to decipher the
217
Kume/Pantzer (2002), p. 501.
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roots of their power; they desperately wanted to aquire the means and methods
which would enable Japan despite its present vulnerability to remain unharmed.
However, this was only the first step; the ambition of the Meiji-elite went much
farther, in the end Japan should be on a par with the great powers – nothing lesp.
Others would push this dream much further still, but this is something no one
could have imagined then. At that time the Japanese visitors perceived their own
country probably as a kind of Switzerland in Asia – able to defend itself and
occupied with its own development and well-being. The impressions they received
on their trip to Europe and the United States must have made a deep impression
on them, maybe even traumatic given the vast technological gap between the
west and the rest of the world.218 Japanese self-confidence and singlemindedness in the pursuit of progress sprang from the mission’s realization that
the Western nations had acquired their power within the last fifty years only.219
The language of western sciences was universal and anybody ready to learn it
could also master it. In this respect the new Japanese leadership differed from the
Chinese elite convinced of her cultural and moral superiority and unwilling to
accept anything from the outside.
With their can-do attitude the leaders of Meiji-Japan resembled social
watchmakerp. To them Japan’s society looked like a machine that one can easily
transform into a kind of clock-mechanism given the necessary know-how. Where
this undertaking would lead to nobody of those present could possibly know.
However, the delegation’s American member, Charles Wolcott Brooks, Japanese
Consul in San Franzisco, struck a rather pensive tone in his speech:
"le peuple Japonais attache la plus grande importance à la mission de
cette ambassade, dont il est bien difficile de prévoir aujourd' hui les
vastes conséquencep."
(For the Japanese people the mission of this delegation is of utmost
significance and it is very difficult to estimate the consequences).
218
219
Kasahara et al. (1983), p.333f.
Hall (1994), p. 280.
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Only much later and in a fateful way should those consequences become
known. Humbert was equally optimistic in his belief in tecnological progress,
however, for him this was not to serve purely political objectivep. In his concept
of civilisation technology and sciences were ultimately means to enable a nation to
advance intellectually and morally. Nobody seemed to notice the irony of this last
encounter: a Swiss Confucianist -so to say- met technocrats from Japan!
On July 15th (1873) the Iwakura delegation boarded the train from Geneva to
Marseille. On September 13th the party arrived at Yokohama from where they
started their journey nearly two years earlier.
With the Iwakura report Switzerland gained shape in the public consciesness of
Japan. The descriptions can be said to be objective and down-to-earth, devoid of
prejudice (for lack of prior knowledge) and meticuloup. In this regard the Japanese
report about Switzerland differed clearly from American descriptions of that time.
Those showed a tendency towards moral judgement in the positive and in the
negative.220
The secretary of the Iwakura delegation, Kume Kunitake, characterised
Switzerland in a flattering way as a place where culture and the ability of selfdefense were beautifully combined in a way not unlike the ideal samurai. He
described her inhabitants as modestly acting people of uncomplicated courtesy
and simple honesty.221
220
221
Vgl. dazu: Hammer (1995).
Izumi (1984), p. 13.
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11. The Swiss in Meiji Japan
After the establishment of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Japan
in 1864, the Swiss were eager to come to the remote island country. The first ones
arrived, as mentioned above, in 1863 as "attachés" of the official Swiss delegation
and most of them remained in Japan after the delegation had left. The youngest
amongst them, Charles Edouard Bavier, startet his own silk trading company in
Yokohama in 1865; from 1868 he also acted as the General Consul of Denmark.
For his services the Danes bestowed upon him the "order of the iron crown" at the
world exhibition in Vienna in 1873. And a year later he received the “Dannebrog
order“. Bavier returned to Switzerland in 1892.222 The government of Japan
bestowed upon him an order as well. He died in 1926 in Zurich.223
The secretay of the Humbert mission, Kaspar Brennwald, boarded the "Emily
Branning" on July 8th 1864 bound for San Francisco where he met with the already
legendary "general" Johann August Sutter (1803-1880) from Burgdorf who told
him his dramatic life. Sutter was probably the unluckiest devil in the “American
Dream”.224 On April 24th 1866 Brennwals was back in Yokohama, now as a
businessman and as General Consul of the Swiss Confederation. Together with
his compatriot Hermann Siber he had founded a trading company incorporated in
London a year before. Brennwald was activ in Japan until 1878 when he returned
to Switzerland for good.225
The strategy of forced development of the Meiji-government combined with the
opening of the country for commerce and investments led to astonishing results.
The average production of raw silk between 1868 and 1872 amounted to 1.026
tons (646 tons went into export), however, between 1909 and 1913 production
222
Bavier (1892), p. 24.
Takeuchi (1995), p. 308.
224
Brennwald (1862-1867) related entries. Sutter, fleeing his creditors left his family in Burgdorf
(BE) and emigrated to California in 1834. Striking it rich, in 1848 gold was found on his vast
property causing a gold rush during which Sutter lost everything. Without success he tried to
get his property back in the courts and through petitioning US congress. Sutter eventually died
in poverty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sutter
225
Nakanishi (1989), p.106f.
223
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had reached 12.460 tons (export: 9.462 t); the production of coal rose from
600.000 tons in 1875 to 21.6 million tons in 1913 and Japan’s rail network
expanded from 26 miles in 1872 to 7.100 miles in 1913.226 This rapid economic
development was a major reason for Switzerland’s business community to pay
attention to Japan. Althought the exagerated expectations of the beginnings could
not been upheld, trade between the two countries was definitely on the increase.
Aussenhandel der Schweiz mit Japan (1901 - 1912)
18'000
16'000
14'000
sFr. in 1000
12'000
10'000
Importe
Exporte
8'000
6'000
4'000
2'000
0
Jahr
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
Jahr
Fig. 9: Switzerland’s trade with Meiji-Japan from 1901 until 1912.227
Swiss activity in Meiji-Japan centered on Yokohama the most important trading
port of the country. The Swiss community in Japan was not very large, in 1867
about 16 Swiss people were registered in Yokohama (see appendix A). Five years
226
227
San José State University: http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/meiji.htm
The graph illustrates the numbers given in appendix E.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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later in 1872 around 28 Swiss lived there as general consul Brennwald
reported.228 On December 19th 1866, the first Swiss woman registered with the
Swiss Consulat in Yokohama: Marie Grünig from Burgistein (BE) working as a
housemaid.229
The majority of the Swiss residents in early Meiji-period was apparently well off; on
average nearly a third of them were houseowners.230 As a consequence of
economic growth in Japan the number of Swiss residents there increased steadily
reaching 121 persons at the beginning of the 20th century. In Yokohama alone
around 14 Swiss enterprises were active at that time, the majority of them
engaged in trade business.231
The rhythm of work of the expats in Japan was irregular, determined by
schedule of the ships entering or leaving the port. Phases of work around the
clock were followed by periods of enforced idleness with little or nothing to do as a
Swiss expat remembered his time in Japan.232 With no ships in port the expatriat
had to find other ways to spend his time; in the case of the Swiss they liked to
engage in shooting matches. Since 1865 the “Swiss Rifle Association” (Société
Suisse de tir) existed in Yokohama and its yearly "Swiss rifle fete" was very
popular with the foreign community there as consul Brennwald reported back to
Berne. "The Far East" newspaper in Yokohama dedicated a whole page with two
photographs to the 1871 Rifle fete showing the shooting range and around two
dozen members of the Swiss Rifle Association.233 The Association included a
number of prominent Japanese members as well who participated in the shooting
matches, namely the two marschals Takamori Saigō (1827-1877) and Iwao
Ōyama (1842-1916) as well as the prince Arisugawa (1835-1895), the admiral
Sumiyoshi Kawamura (1836-1904) und several generals.234
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
FB 1873/4, p. 710.
Brennwald (1862-1867), entry from December 19th 1866.
FB 1871/3, p. 48; FB 1872/3, p. 258f; FB. 1873/4, p. 710.
Jequier (1990), p. 479.
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 147; Claparède (1889), p. 46.
FB 1871/3, p. 48. "The Far East" (1871), p. 12-14.
Hirano (1957), p. 223f.
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Besides rifle shooting the Swiss also engaged in horse riding and hunting, major
pastimes of most of the foreign nationals in Meiji-Japan.235 Popular amongst
Europeans was collecting of Japanese objects of art and handicrafts called
“curio”- purchase.236
Early on some Swiss took an interest in Japan’s highest mountain the majestic
Fuji. On August 21st 1866 the first Swiss stood on its peak: Brennwald, Siber,
Gustav Müller und Schmid.237
In 1893 the Swiss community in Yokohama and Tokyo comprised 46 persons,
most of them male bachelors working as businessmen; sorted by regions they
were: from Zurich (22), from the French speaking part (13), from Basle (2), from
Berne (1). 30 of them were engaged in trade (heads, representatives, clerks); 1
shop owner (and son), 1 teacher, 1 watchmaker, 1 lemonade producer, 1 taylor
and 1 baker (Hess) in Tokyo.238
235
Hirano (1957), p. 218.
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 147.
237
Brennwald (1862-1867). Only the British were quicker; in 1860 already, the British envoy
Rutherford Alcock (1809-1897) reached its summit. Yamazaki (1983), pp. 191.
238
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 152.
236
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Fig. 10: Members of the Swiss delegation in the streets of Edo.
In order to get their project of overall modernisation up and running the
governmente of the Meiji employed a great number of foreign experts called oyatoi
gaikokujin (hired foreign hands). In 1875, the peak year the number of foreigners
employed by the government amounted to 520 persons. The number of
Westerners who were hired by private firms reached about 760 persons in 1894,
the majority of them from Britain but many Germans, Americans and French as
well.239
Within this know-how transfer some Swiss specialists could also be found.
Yokohama customs used to employ a number of Swiss as "public silk inspectors"
checking the quality of Japanese export silk which more often than not did not
comply with agreed standards causing trade losses.240 A textile engineer from
239
240
Jansen, vol. 5 (1989), p. 468.
Rham (1964), p. 77; Kakeuchi (1985), p. 18.
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Zurich named Gustav Müller, set up the first mechanic silk mill in Japan (1870) for
the Maehashi family.241
The legal scholar Louis Adolphe Bridel (1852-1913) from Lausanne became a
professor at the imperial university of Tokyo in 1900 teaching civil law until his
death. Another Swiss teaching at that university was Otto Senn. In 1886 he
received the "Order of the Rising Sun" (5th class).242 At the university of Hokkaido
in Sapporo Hans Koller from Zurich was teaching German from 1908 until his
death. Besides, he engaged in ethnological research on about the native
inhabitants, the Ainu people. He is said to have played a pioneering role in
promoting ski sport on the northern island of Hokkaido. His students remembered
him as an enthusiastic mountaineer and theater producer bringing them to perform
Schiller’s drama “William Tell” on stage.243
The cohesion amongst the Swiss in Yokohama was never strong, however.
According to the observations of one of them, the German speakers liked to hang
out at the “German Club” whereas the French speakers preferred the company of
the French. Consul Brennwald was vice president of the “German Club” until 1877
and his successor there became the above-mentioned Edouard Bavier from
Chur.244
Around 1890 the "Swiss Rifle Association" ceased its activities and the only
remaining common institution of the Swiss expatriates in Japan was a relief fund
derisively called "Lumpenkasse" (rag fund) providing help to compatriots who had
fallen on hard times.245
241
242
243
244
245
Schweizerisch-Japanische Gesellschaft (1975), p. 52; Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 488.
Rham (1964), p. 94.
Hokudai Kikan (15/1958), p. 104ff.
Brennwald (1870-1877), entry from January 30th,1877.
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p.152f.
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12. A man from Neuchatel making Japanese history
As mentioned above, amongst the members of the Humbert mission of 1863/64
there was also a young man from a well-to-do family from the canton of Neuchatel:
James Favre-Brandt.
After graduating from the school of engineering in Neuenburg he attended lectures
besuchte at the faculty of medicine of the university of Geneva. As a consequence
of his readings about Japan in travel magazines and books during his youth he
had been fascinated by that far away country.246 No wonder then that he
undertook everything to be taken along when he learned about the preparations of
sending an official delegation to Japan. He could profit from the fact that his
brother-in-law, the famous watch maker Charles Félicien Tissot (1804-1873),
supported his cause with the appointed leader of the delegation, Aimé Humbert. 247
Humbert himself seemed to have been getting along very well with this young
companion.248 While he was still trying to get negotiations with the shogunate
started, Favre-Brandt went his own way and established personal and business
contacts with a number of Japanese. Even before the conclusions of the SwissJapanese treaty his name appeared in the 1863 edition of the foreign companies
register of Yokohama. The young businessman advertised his services for the
importation and sale of watches, music toys, instruments, electrical and
mechanical appliances and: weapons (sic).249
Early on the newcomer showed a knack for manners and appearances: he
attended the ceremony of the signing of the Swiss-Japanese treaty of friendship
and commerce wearing the (borrowed) uniform of a Dutch navy surgeon.250
A little later he also showed a keen senstitivity for the changing winds of
Japanese politics when he followed the invitation of the anti-shogunal daimyo of
Satsuma into his residence in Edo. For his protection Favre-Brandt was
246
247
248
249
250
Nakanishi (1989), p. 108.
Hirano (1957), pp. 212.
Humbert (1981), pp. 7.
The Japan Gazette – Japan Directory (1863), p. 13.
Hirano (1957), p. 214.
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accompanied by an armed escort of shogunal warriors. When they arrived at the
residence the Satsuma guards denied his escort access to the residence asking
them instead to wait outside. At once the Swiss grasped the significance of this
gesture: if the soldiers of the shogun could be denied access to the residence of a
daimyo on their home turf the sogunat’s power must be clearly declining.
Moreover, this symbolic gesture was proof of the self-confidence of Satsuma.251
As a consequence Favre-Brandt sided firmly with the house of Satsuma and its
allies against the shogunate in the ongoing struggle for power. His relationship
with Satsuma became ever closer and friendlier, even personal. Particularly two
ambitious young samurai of Satsuma who were to play import roles later on
became close friends of the Swiss: Takamori Saigō (1828-1877) and Iwao Ōyama
(1842-1916). The representatives of Satsuma had other reasons as well for
establishing contact with the young Swiss. For their struggle against the
shogunate they desperately needed modern weaponry! And here Favre-Brandt
came in handily because he was also the representative of a major French
company “Schneider-Creusot” which happened to be a leading producer of arms
in Europe. The irony of it consisted in the fact that the French government was
actively supporting the shogunate against its rivals! 252 And there was yet another
remarkable aspect of this arrangement: why did Satsuma and Chōshū turn to
private sources for their needs when the British were eager to offer them their
suppor? The answer was that Saigō wanted to avoid being dependent from a
foreign government and thus he declined a British offer for support with the words:
“the change of the Japanese system of government is exclusively our own
concern."253
The discrete Favre-Brandt was the right person to deal with for the adversaries
of the shogun. He supplied them with a large number of modern rifles and even
offered them a steep rebate as Ōyama much later confided in his
251
252
253
Hirano (1957), p. 214.
Kasahara et al. (1989), p. 235.
Cited in: Inoue (1993). p. 322.
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autobiography.254 Furthermore, their supplier who was a non-commissioned officer
in the Swiss army and an excellent marksman to boot, instructed his clients
personally in the use of these arms, he had his own shooting range behind his
house in Yokohama.255
Fig. 11: Takamori Saigō
All that happened without the knowledge or support of the Swiss government
and even the usually well-informed British were apparently unaware of these
dealings.256 In the battle at Toba-Fushimi from 27-29th of January 1868 the rebel
forces, armed with Schneider-rifles, inflicted a decisive defeat on the shogun’s
troops sealing thereby the fate of the shogunate.257
After that Favre-Brandt’s friends and guests in Yokohama became part of the
new political and military elite who determined Japan’s future: Ōyama became
Field Marshal commanding later the victorious troops in the Russo-Japanese war
254
255
256
257
Hirano (1957) p. 220 f; Nakanishi (1989) p. 108f.
Hirano (1957), p. 224.
Hirano (1957), p. 221.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Toba-Fushimi
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of 1904/05; Hirobumi Itō (1841-1909), member of the Iwakura-mission, first prime
minister and father of the Meiji constitution; Aritomo Yamagata (1838-1922) chief
of staff, army minister and member of the genrō (council of elder statesmen) a
political heavyweight during the Meiji-period; general Shinpachi Murata (18361877), chief inspector of the new army; Kaoru Inoue (1835-1915), future minister
of finance whose finance policy was decisive in preserving the economic stability
during the early Meiji period.
As already mentioned, a particularly deep friendship characterised FavreBrandt’s relationship with Saigō who modernised Satsuma’s forces and was
instrumental in defeating the shogunal army. He entered the new government
commanding the imperial guard as Field Marshal. His modest and incorruptible
behavior made him hugely popular among the population of Japan. In 1873 things
took an unexpected turn; Saigō left the government in the wake of politicla
differences (he unsuccessfully advocated an aggressive foreign policy against
Korea and opposed the forced pace of modernisation) and returned to his
hometown Kagosima in the south. There he founded a private military academy
and gathered a following of conservative samurai who urged him to oppose the
government policy of abolishing traditional warrior privileges. Reluctantly he took
over the leadership of a rebel army of 40.000 warriors in 1877 and started to
march on Tokyo. That war (“Satsuma rebellion” or “Southwestern War”) pitched
Saigō against his former friend Ōyama who commanded the government troops
sent out to fight the rebels. The rebel army, outnumbered and outgunned, was
crushed in a series of bloody battles. Facing defeat, Saigō is said to have
committed ritual suicide (seppuku, also known as harakiri).258 Despite his failure,
Saigō became a popular hero symbolising the Japanese virtue of dying for his
convictions rather than abandoning them.
A year before his violent deatch Saigō bid farewell to his Swiss friend FavreBrandt in Yokohama. After Saigō’s death Favre-Brandt hid his wounded son
Kikujirō (geb. 1861) from persecution and is said to have taken care for his
258
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigo_Takamori
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education.259 Later, from 1904 until 1911 wurde Kikujirō Saigō became the mayor
of Kyoto.260
In Meiji-Japan Favre-Brandt’s name became well-known and in 1880 it
appeared in the “Who’s Who” of his time (Dai-Nippon meiyō dai kadoku annai).
For incoming Swiss envoys it became a ritual to pay him their first visit and to
inquire him about their host country. However, he remained modest about his own
role, saying that there was nothing new he could possibly tell.261
Favre-Brandt’s business was flourishing and he opened a branch in Osaka
together with his brother Charles. The two brothers were always keen on quality,
an attitude hard to maintain under the conditions of a rapidly expanding market.
Their watches had their name engraved and were crucial in contributing to the
reputation of Swiss watches in Japan.262
After the Chinese-Japanese war of 1894/95, however, direct import became
more and more common. The brothers then began to import hunting rifles and
cast iron tubes. Here as well, their reliability was highly appreciated and when a
Japanese supplier failed to keep up with quality in 1895 the city of Tokyo turned to
the Favre-Brandts in order to supply them with the required pipes.263
In the drive of modernisation many Japanese cities and towns turned to building
bell and clock towers. The clocks and clockworks for those towers were often
supplied by the Favre-Brandt company.264 James Favre-Brandt also arranged that
two young Japanese, Mizuno Taichi und Takeuchi Seisaburō, could learn at the
famous watchmakers’ school in his hometown Le Locle ("Ecole d'horlogerie du
Locle"). After their return they opened their own shops. Mizuno’s attempt to start
259
Hirano (1957), pp. 222; about the peculiarities of Japanese heros‘ worship see: Morris (1989),
pp. 266.
260
http://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/sogo/page/0000033357.html
261
Hirano (1957), p. 224.
262
Nakanishi (1989), p. 109.
263
Hirano (1957), p. 227.
264
Hirano (1957), p.227f; Hirano (1968), p. 30.
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watch production on an industrial scale however, proved to be premature and
failed.265
Although business went well for James Favre-Brandt, in his private life he
suffered setbacks. He was married twice to Japanese women; his first wife died
early at an age of only thirty years and so did his second spouse, Matsuno
Kumako (1853-1882). Of his many children some did not survive him.266
In the foreign settlement of Yokohama Favre-Brandt and his family lived in a
spacious house built of stone containing the offices and godown in the ground
floor and the living quarters above.267 He was well connected with the Swiss
community in Japan and as an excellent marksman his name could always be
found among the winners of the traditional yearly “rifel fete” of the “Swiss Rifle
Association” in Yokohama. When he was the president of the said association he
insisted early on that Japanese could become members as well – no matter of
course in the European clubbing culture of that time.268 Most of the Japanese
members were by now part of the political and military elite of Meiji-Japan.
Meteorological observations were another passion of Favre-Brandt and this led
him to climb mount Fuji several times. He regularly published the results of his
measuring in the Japan Gazette.269
An essay of him appeared in the Japan Review from Aug./Sept. 1923 in which
he described the early conditions in the foreign settlement in Yokohama and the
so-called "pigsty"-conflagration of 1866 in which he lost his first house.270 In that
essay he described the scary atmosphere full of tensions amongst the foreigners
in Japan when the xenophobic sonnō-jōi movement reached its peak. At that time,
attacks of the “gentlemen of the two swords” as he called them were quite
common. That expression was used for the unaffiliated samurai (rōnin) who were
265
266
267
268
269
270
Hirano (1957), pp. 99 und pp.141.
Nakanishi (1989), p. 110. See appendix G as well.
Ein Bild von ihm und seinem Geschäft in: Kakeuchi (1985), pp. 96.
Hirano (1957), p. 223.
Hirano (1957), pp. 231.
Hirano (1957), pp. 216.
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trying to demonstrate their patriotic convictions by attacking foreigners and their
Japanese companions. James Favre-Brandt himself had an encounter with two of
those “gentlemen” in 1868 during the opening of his branch in Osaka. His
Japanese bravely intervened enabling him to grab his pistol; frightened, the
"gentlemen" took flight.271 Given the fact that the Swiss was an excellent shot, he
ranked first in target shooting and scored third in points at the “rifle fete” of 1871,
their retreat was a smart move.272
When Japan increasingly became able to produce technological products
domestically the significance of foreign importer gradually began to decline and
their place was taken up by Japanese trading houses. The businessman from Le
Locle was by then able to retire from active life as a wealthy man. On August 7th,
1923 he died in the mountain resort of Karuizawa near Tokyo sparing him a last
tragedy. Nearly three weeks later the terrible Kantō-earthquake shook and
devastated the region of Tokyo and Yokohama killing about 130.000 people
among them nine Swiss and destroying his business as well.273
271
272
273
Hirano (1957), p. 219, 233.
The Far East (1871), p. 14.
Kasahara et al. (1989), p. 305, Rham (1964), p. 78.
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13. The people of Nippon
The Swiss delegation arriving in 1863 did not yet know that they were
witnessing a society whose days were already numbered. While writing down his
observations in Japan, however, Humbert must have become aware that he and
his companions had been witnessing a dying civilisation rendering his obsevations
yet more important. About one hundred years later his work was translated into
Japanese in order to give the young Japanese back an important part of their own
history.274
In the introduction Humbert mentioned the difficulties a foreigner encountered
when he wanted to obtain information in Japan; it was close to impossible to bring
officials to talk as they perceived the unwelcome foreigners as a threat to the
existing feudal order.275 However, despite the official reluctance of providing more
than superficial information and the limitations of movement, censorship by that
time was far less effective than at earlier times. In Japanese bookshops according
to Humbert, it was possible to obtain nearly everything one desired and only
literary works remained inaccessible due to a lack of translations. His ambition
went further than writing a purely scientific book, Humbert intended to write a book
about humans as he stated. And he did not assume a wistfully nostalgic attitude
towards his subject deploring the imminent loss of tradition and customs. No,
Humbert did not hide his fondness of enlightment and progress but he refrained
from any moral judgement. His book betrayed the deep fascination of a curious
and truly interested explorer proud to display his observations like a treasure trove.
He did not entertain any illusions about his subject, sober but rather optimistic he
concluded in his elegant prose:
"Evidemment, l'ancien Japon des dieux, des demi-dieux et de leurs
successeurs n'existe plus et ne renaîtra pas. [...] le peuple japonais est
dorénavant partie intégrante et membre activ de la grande famille des
peuples qui personnifient le progrès humanitaire."276
274
275
276
Vgl. dazu Shigemori (1966).
Humbert, vol. 1 (1870), p. 1.
Humbert, vol. 2 (1870), p. 414.
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(There is no doubt that the ancient Japan with its gods and demigods
and their successors does not exist anymore and will never rise again
[…] The Japanese people will henceforth be an active integral member
of the big family of peoples who embody human progress).
As to the origin of the Japanese people, Humbert was at al loss of detailed
information. At length he dwelled on the complex divine myth of Japan’s origin
concluding however, that the Japanese people had probably Chinese-Korean or
Tartar roots.277 With this assumption respect he did not stand alone. His
compatriot, the legal scholar Arthur de Claparède (1852-1911) from Geneva who
visited Japan and its interior parts in 1876 assumed Mongolian origins with some
influence from the Ainu (native) type.278 In particular he noticed the homogenity of
the Japanese people in their appearance:
"[...] rien ne ressemble autant à un Japonais qu'un autre Japonais."279
(Nothing resembles a Japanese more than another Japanese).
However, the same difficulties of distinguishing the faces of Westerners is
still common amongst Japanese today.
Of much more interest for the Swiss visitors of that time seemed to have been
the question of the character of the Japanese people. In this regard their remarks
were also much more long-winded and more often than not driven by phantasy.
Hans Spörry (1859-1925) for example, a silk trader from Zurich who lived in
Yokohama from 1891 until1896 saw the Japanese character as a mixture of
“northern thoughtfulness” and “southern liveliness”.280 In terms of character or
nature Claparède described the Japanese as "kind people" as well as “gentle” and
“cheerful” even “ready to laugh” (rieurs) and in particular as “polite”; and the latter
point, so the visitor from Geneve, must be their most important character trait
277
278
279
280
Humbert, vol. 1 (1870), p.118, 123.
Claparède (1889), p. 14.
Claparède (1889), p. 60, 109.
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), pp.174.
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because this marked politeness could be observed in all classes for Claparède
proof of the “maturity” (ancienneté) of the Japanese civilisation.281
Elias Haffter (1851-1909), a physician from the canton of Thurgovie who visited
Japan in 1883 gained a very similar impression:
"Its people is the most cheerful, child-like happy one in the world,
always keen on playing a trick and rather unfazed with religious
concerns [...] how helpful and friendly it is towards foreigners [...] ."282
The pastor Willi Strobel from the canton of Glaris who was never in Japan
himself described the Japanese in similar terms when giving lectures not unlike
Rudolf Lindau.283 The latter however, was less impressed by the Japanese attitude
towards work, all too often this had to give way for a nice chatter together with a
smoke and a cup of tea as he noticed.284 He saw the reason for this relaxed work
ethic in the feudal economy leading to widespread underemployment.285
However, Humbert contradicted Lindau’s assessment comparing the working
population of Japan with Irish peasants.286 and he was particularly fascinated by
the ethos of the Japanese craftsman:
"Le travail même rentrait dans la catégorie des jouissances les plus
pures et ardentes. L'artisan se passionait pour son oeuvre, et loin de
compter les heures [...] il s'en détachait qu'avec peine lorsque il
l'avait amenée non pas à une certaine valeur vénale qui était le
moindre de ses soucis, mais à un degrée plus ou moins satisfaisant
de perfection."287
(Work itself seemed to enter the category of purest and most
enjoyable pleasures. The craftsman was enthusiastic for his work
without any time constraints and only reluctantly he parted with it
before having reached a degree of near perfection in doing it; sales
value was of no importance for him.)
281
Claparède (1889), p. 15. Ebenfalls: Nippold (1904), p. 13f.
Haffter (1903), p. 124.
283
Strobel (1887), p. 18. In the same sense: Nippold (1893), p. 24, Claparède (1889), p. 25, 102.
Lindau (1864), p. 13, 23. Equally: Haffter (1903), p. 288.
284
Lindau (1864), p. 35.
285
Lindau (1862), p. 11.
286
Humbert (1868), p. 9.
287
Humbert (1868), p. 82.
282
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Another feature of enthusiasm for the Swiss visitor in Japan were the
cleanliness and the bathing culture he encountered even amongst the ordinary
population. Hardly any Swiss eyewitness report went without emphasising the
cleanness in Japan for the Swiss an obvious sign of civilisation even today. This
cleanness was often perceived as a stark contrast to China.288
A common feature of Swiss reports on things Japanese was the fact that they
hardly ever mentioned representatives of the upper classes (samurai and court
nobility). Their lives remained largely closed to a foreigner a marked difference to
the common people’s attitude towards European visitors. The Genevan Edmond
Rochette who worked in 1891/92 on the General Consulate of Switzerland in
Yokohama published his observations in the Geneva Journal (Journal de Genève)
as a series of articles; he noticed a difference between the townspeople and the
population in the countryside. Whereas the foreigners not always seemed to be
welcome in the towns and cities and their environments, the people in the interior
of Japan nearly always could count on a heartfelt and well-meaning welcome. The
”Japanese of the ports” (Japonais des ports), as Rochette called them, had been
“spoiled” by his contacts with the foreigners.289 Otfried Nippold (1864-1938), an
expert teaching international law between 1889 and 1891 in Tokyo, expressed
himself in a similar way.290 During his stay in Japan he travelled the country eager
to make contact with the locals and apparently able to communicate in Japanes.
While on visit in Ise, the centre of Japanese Shintō religion, Nippold even claimed
to have recognised the “true Japanese” there while observing the pilgrims. 291
Contrary to Rochette, he attributed to the population of Tokyo and Yokohama a
friendly attitude towards the foreigners as well; but according to him, only the
“deeply felt warmth” of the Ise pilgrims made him to realise how far away from the
288
Humbert (1981), p. 141. Lindau (1864), p. 31, 33; Haffter (1903), p. 124, Nippold (1904) p. 14,
Rochette (9/1893), p. 2. Huber (1906), p. 104. Spörry (1920).
289
Rochette (Nr. 8/10.6.1893), p. 2.
290
Nakai (1995), p. 53f, 209. Nippold originally came from Wiesbaden in Germany; he spent his
youth in Berne and in 1905 he obtained Swiss citizenship.
291
Nakai (1995), p. 219.
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ancient decency the “europeanised Japanese” in the open ports actually were.
Lindau expressed himself in a similar way going even further while assuming:
"Le peuple au Japon aime en effet les étrangers, – il ne nie point
leur supériorité, et semble instinctivement reconnaître en eux des
libérateurs, déstinés à briser le joug que fait peser sur lui
l'aristocratie féodale."292
(The Japanese people actually loves the foreigners – it does not
negate their superiority and seems to recognise them instinctively
as their liberators from the heavy yoke of feudal aristocracy.)
Little wonder then that the Japanese aristocracy showed its “annoyance”
(malveillance) being systematically opposed towards the foreigners. However, he
saw this attitude as an act of legitimate self defense (légitime défense).293
Another subject of curiosity of the Swiss in Meiji-Japan was the question about
religion, a topic of general interest for the foreign visitors to Japan at that time. The
Swiss observations in this regard were not uniform and more often than not even
contradictory. Meiji’s pragmatic leaders aimed for quick results in their quest for
modernisation in order to safeguard Japan’s independence and sovereignty.
However, they were not in the least interested in transforming or overcoming
traditional Japanese moral and ethical values. Little wonder they assumed an
attitude of sceptical diffidence towards the christian faith; the overwhelming
majority of the Japanese people did not react to the intensified missionary efforts
taking place after the ban on such activities was lifted in 1873. 294
A main difficulty for foreigners to explore Japan’s religious soul had a lot to do
with their inability to differentiate between Buddhism imported from China and the
native Shintō beliefs. A majority of Swiss observers took a stance of
uncomprehending indifference or rejection towards Japanese Buddhism. Lindau
was highly critical of the Buddhist monks describing them summarily as lazy and
even stupid. He also pretended that other classes basically ignored them as the
292
293
294
Lindau (1864), p. 78.
Lindau (1864), p. 279.
Lehmann (1982), p. 167f.
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Japanese were completely indifferent towards religion anyway in his eyes.295 In a
similar way Claparède expressed himself on this issue: "Il n'y a peut-être nulle part
une absence aussi complète de sentiments religieux que dans ce payp."296
(Nowhere else there is a comparably complete absence of religious sentiments
like in this country). In his view Buddhism in Japan was far removed from its
origins and actually degenerated. “Ceremonial pomp” substituted for Buddhist
morals and the “teachings of the void” were even leading to an abasement of
intellectual vigour.297
Humbert who stayed at the Dutch embassy situated on the grounds of a
Buddhist temple characterised the monks’ physiognomy there as “apathetic,
grumpy” and “very malevolent."298 For him Buddhism was the "religion of
nothingness born from sheer desperation" (cette religion du néant, inventée par le
désespoir).299
Strobel contradicted that opinion, however. According to him the Buddhist
monks were “nearly despised” in China, in Japan, however, they were “highly
regarded."300
Even more complicated for the Swiss visitors and Japan experts was the riddle
of Japanese shintō (way of the gods). Furthermore,the Meiji-leadership was
engaged in promoting shintō as a means to promote national identity in the name
of nationbuilding. Claparède did not have to say much about this phenomenon
stating bluntly that it was nothing more than a superficial cult of ancestor worship
combined with a veneration of ghosts of nature but had nothing to teach
otherwise.301 He also noted the government’s efforts to promote shintō at the
expense of Buddhism in order to have it elevated to the role of state ideology.
However, he was deeply sceptical of this endeavour explaining that the essence
295
Lindau (1864), p. 37, 38ff.
Claparède (1889), p. 73.
297
Claparède (1889), p. 113f.
298
Humbert, vol. 1 (1870) p. 68f.
299
Humbert (1981), p. 223.
300
Strobel (1887), p. 29.
301
Claparède (1889), p. 111.
296
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of this state shintō consisted in the formula just to follow the emperor’s will in order
to remain on the right path.302 According to the well-known legal scholar Max
Huber (1874-1960) from Zurich, state shintō was not a religion in the true sense as
it had a purely political meaning. He explained to his readers that the public
schools taught the following: apart from "[...] the dominating principle of piety
towards the parents, loyalty towards dynasty and state in particular was
emphasised and that [...] in a nearly chauvinistic-military sense."303 According to
Huber Japanese morals had mainly Buddhist roots. In this respect he also
mentioned the codex of honour of the samurai (bushidō) whose chivalrous ethics
rested on principles of sacrifice for the lord and the parents. These chivalrous
principles, combined with a mixture of Shintō, Buddhist and Confucian ethics,
were seen by the Japanese as superior to the ethics of the Christian western
world according to Huber.304 Nippold even went a step further. In Shintō he saw
“Japan’s true strength" in the sense that ordniary men were ready to sacrifice
themselves. Shintō, understood as the "religion of patriotism", lent the Japanese
the same strength that Mohammed’s teachings once gave to the arabs. 305
The relation the Japanese had to Christianity was of course another topic of
keen interest for the Westerners. Claparède took the stance that the Japanese
was fundamentally a rationalist more interested in the critical philosophy of
Spencer, Comten or Schopenhauer than in christian teachings. And, he added,
the forced opening of the country made the Japanese nation even more reluctant
to Christianity.306
Spörry saw the reason for the modest success of the Christian creed in MeijiJapan with the Christian churches themselves. Their great number gave an
impression of the hopeless split within christendom.307 He was however, rather
302
Claparède (1889), p. 112.
Huber (1906), p. 163.
304
Huber (1906), p. 162.
305
Nippold (1905), p.28ff.
306
Claparède (1889), p. 114.
307
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 197.
303
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sanguine with regard to the survival of the old gods despite the ongoing
modernisation:
"[...] those incredibly popular and, by their corpulence so inspiring
gods of nourishment called Yebisu and Daikoku (the gods of fishing
and rice cultivation) can never be extinguished in the memory of the
Japanes by hard to understand foreign idols."308
Nippold however, dismissed those observers who saw the Japanese mostly or
exclusively as rationalistic and pragmatic in their thinking stating that their
religiosity was generally underestimated.309 In his view the principle of the
Buddhist Nirwana seen as a state of "utmost happiness" equal to the Christian
idea. To boot he was strongly reminded of Catholicism by the Buddhist rites.310
The religious tolerance he observed in Japan was another strength relative to the
European intolerance in all questions concerned with religion. According to
Nippold there was another deep gulf between Europe and Japan; whereas he
expressed his admiration for the strictness which which unwritten rules of moral
and virtue were observed in Japan he saw a huge difference between moral
pretension and reality in Europe.311
Christian circles in Switzerland viewed Japan as a promising new field of
missionary work despite the difficulties of visitors to come to grips with this country
and its people. Swiss protestants played an important role in the activities of
German missionary and educational activities in Tokyo and Yokohama. The
energetic Wilfried Spinner (1854-1918) from Zurich was leading the “General
German Missionary Association” (Allgemeiner Deutscher Missionsverein) in Japan
founded in 1883 by Ernst Buss from Glaris.312 Spinner started to hold services in
German language in Japan. His efforts to found a protestant university in Tokyo,
however, came to naught and he left the country after six years.313 Working for the
308
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 198.
Nippold (1905), p. 35.
310
Nippold (1905), pp.33.
311
Nippold (1905), pp. 9.
312
Nakai (1995), p. 145, 209.
313
Nakai (1964), p. 78.
309
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same Association was Carl Munzinger who was considered to be an expert
concerning Japanese religiosity; he considered Catholicism as being unsuited for
Japan stating its “similarity in appearance with Buddhism” as the reason for this –
a rather puzzling reasoning.314
In the end, however, one can only conclude from that bewildering array of
opinions and contradictory assessments that the religiosity of Japan remained a
riddle for the Swiss visitors – and not only for them.
There was another phenomenon that Humbert claimed to existed when he was
in Japan. According to him the Japanese seemed to have no sense of time. He
described the Japanese as a people which was living from one day to another,
completely oblivious towards the future.315 To illustrate his allegation he
reproduced in his book the translation of a poem used in schools to help Japanese
schoolchildren in memorising the hiragana syllables (iroha table):
"La couleur et l'odeur s'évanouissent. Dans notre monde, que peut-il y
avoir de permanent? Le jour présent a disparu dans les abîmes
profonds du néant. C'était la fragile image d'un songe: il ne cause pas
le plus léger trouble."316
(colour and smell disappear. Is there anything permanent in our
world? Today’s day has vanished in the depths of nothingness. It was
the fragile image of a dream: he is not worrying me in the least).
This "abécédaire national" (national syllable table) alone, so Humbert, teaches
him more than many wise books about the national character of the Japanese. In
his usual elegant prose he sketches his conclusion from this:
"cette manière de concevoir l'existence, de ne l'envisager qu'au point
de vue des apparences sensibles, de la prendre comme une série
d'heures, de journées et d'années juxtaposées, en un mot, de vivre
tout entier sous l'influence du moment, donne à la jouissance une
vivacité naïve, à la souffrance, à la privation, un charactère de fatalité
qui exclut le murmure, et à la mort enfin le cachet de la trivialité."317
(This way of perceiving existence, to see her only from an emotional
sensual point of view as a ranging of hours and days, in short, to live
314
Munzinger (1904), p. 117.
Humbert, vol. 1 (1870), p. 103.
316
Humbert, vol. 1 (1870), p. 103.
317
Humbert, vol. 1 (1870), p. 104.
315
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only under the impression of a moment gives joy a naïve liveliness
and suffering and privations a character of destiny which is accepted
without complaint; and death in the end becomes trite).
However, as a Christian pietist he feels somehow uncanny towards that
"popular philosophy of nothingness" and, he concludes, it might not be sufficient to
fully satisfy the needs of the human soul.318
Nippold, referring to the japanophile writer Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904)319 of
greco-irish descent, concluded that the Japanese have accepted life’s ephemerity
and come to terms with this fact. However, his existence is ruled by the “shadows
of past ancestors” through a powerful cult of the ancestors.320
Another problem connected to Christian morals was yet another phenomenon
with which the foreign visitor to Japan was confronted at that time: the relaxed
Japanese attitude towards nakedness. Edmond Rochette from Geneva for
example, who, on one of his discovery journeys, ended up by mistake in a public
bath were both sexes indulged in this activity side by side without a thread on their
bodies. Apparently, so an amazed Rochette, he was not considered as an intruder
or nuisance but rather more as an object of friendly curiosity.321 On the other hand
an American captain seemed to have suffered a “terrible shock” when he
first visited such an establishment.322
Dr Haffter from Frauenfeld did not share in the "lamentos" (complaints) of many
European travellers about an alleged “immorality and shamelessness” of the
Japanese as notions of morals and customs were products of culture.323 Humbert
saw things in a similar way stating that all was about double standards giving rise
to endless petty squabbles.324 Lindau was of the same opinion citing the Swiss318
Humbert, vol. 1 (1870), p. 104.
Hearn was considered to be one of the most eminent experts on Japan where he lived since
1889 until his death. He acquired Japanese citizenship and took on a Japanese name:
Yakumo KOIZUMI. Kodansha, vol. 1 (1993), p. 514.
320
Nippold, (1905), p. 15, 29.
321
Rochette (1/31.5.1893), p. 2.
322
Schwebell (1981), pp. 150.
323
Haffter (1903), pp. 124.
324
Humbert (1868), p. 86.
319
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born philosopher Rousseau who already defined the feeling of shame as a cultural
phenomenon.325 Despite all efforts of understanding however, a residual of mutual
incomprehension still remained.
The most difficult thing with which Western visitors had to come to terms with
was a much more serious phenomenon, nearly incomprehensible by its sheer
uniqueness. It was the practice of ritual suicide by disembowelment of the
members of the warrior class called seppuku and in the West commonly known
under the more vulgar term of “harakiri”. Described in the Hagakure, a collection of
samurai teachings of the 18th century, this practice was still common in the 19th
century in Japan. Humbert described this act only in general terms and mostly
critical, in his view the whole thing had more to do with “satisfying one’s own pride”
(satisfaction de son orgueil) or of a “futile resentment" (futile ressentiment).326 The
Genevan Claparède even reported that hurting a samurai’s honour could also
escalate into real "Harakiri-duels"!327
The most impressive and probably most widely known report of such an act was
written by the English Lord Redesdale Mitford (1837-1916). In 1868, the diplomat
had been invited together with other European officials to witness the seppuku of
a young officer called Zensaburo Taki (1837-1868). He had allegedly ordered his
troops to open fire on foreigners triggering strong diplomatic protests. In order to
atone for his mistake his daimyo offered him to safeguard his honour as a warrior
by committing seppuku. Mitford sympathetically reported the scene:
"[...] Bowing once more, the speaker allowed his upper garments
to slip down to his girdle, and remained naked to the waist.Carefully,
according to custom, he tucked his sleeves under his knees to prevent
himself from falling backwards; for a noble Japanese gentleman should
die falling forwards. Deliberately he took the dirk that lay before him; he
looked at it wistfully, almost affectionately; for a moment he seemed to
collect his thoughts for the last time, and then stabbing himself deeply
below the waist on the left hand side, he drew the dirk slowly across to
the right side, and. Turning it in the wound, gave a slight cut upwards.
325
Lindau (1864), p. 33.
Humbert (1981), p. 223.
327
Claparède (1889), p. 106.
326
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During this sickenly painful operation he never moved a muscle of his
face. When he drew out the dirk, he leaned forward and stretched out his
neck; an expression of pain for the first time crossed his face, but he
uttered no sound. At that moment the ‘kaishaku’,who, still crouching by
his side, had been keenly watching his every movement, sprang to his
feet, poised his sword for a second in the air; there was a flash, a heavy,
ugly thud, a crashing fall; with one blow the head had been severed from
the body. A dead silence followed, broken only by the hideous noise of
the blood throbbing out of the inert heap before us, which but a moment
before had been a brave and chivalrous man. It was horrible.”328
Although the Europeans generally disapproved of this, in their view lighthearted
attitude towards one’s own life, they were greatly impressed by the strictness with
which the Japanese warriors lived by their ethos.
Fig. 12: Troups of the shogunate.
Much less tribulations than Japanese attitudes towards religion and time caused
the landscape the Swiss encountered in Japan. Already spoiled in this respect in
their home country the Swiss were amazed when they saw the wooden and strawthatched houses within a lush green and mountainous environment. Huber and
Claparède even went into raptures, Huber confessing to have been revealed a
"new aesthetic ideal":
328
An account of the Hara-Kiri, (From a rare Japanese MS) By A.B. Mitford (Lord Redesdale):
http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a2184.pdf
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"[...] where one looks, the eye meets with something nice, gracious
in nature, more often than not something majestic, in any case
nowhere something ugly which in Europe nearly everywhere is
interfering in a disturbing way."329
"Beautiful like a dream", were Claparède’s words when he first caught a glimpse
of the white summit of Mount Fuji in the early light of the sunrise when his ship
entered the port.330 Little wonder the Japanese landscape dominated by
mountains was appealing to all the Swiss visitors without exception. Haffter could
even imagine Japan as a potential country of emigration – if ever he needed to do
so.331
Old Japan had even more to offer than what nature already did. The visitors
from Switzerland discovered a new aesthetic feeling expressing itself in things or
everyday use constantly amazing them. Their amazement went sometimes so far
as to attribute a fine sensory for beauty and pleasantness to all Japanese in
general. Nippold for example talked about an “aesthetic talent” of the Japanese
embodied for him in their gardening arrangements:"[...] with what a loving
understanding did the Japanese for example listen to nature’s secrets when the
lay out their gardens."332 The architecture of the traditional houses reminiscent of
the Swiss chalet was in perfect harmony to the lovely Japanese landscape as he
found.333
Japanese taste favoured beauty in the little seducing the European spectator
who was used to eye-catching and spectacular things in putting the fine arts on a
par with craft work. At a first glimpse, however the lay spectators from Switzerland
were delighted with the cuteness of beauty in Japan. Humbert’s attitude can be
gleaned from this statement:
"[...] le goût des Japonais dans les arts populaires, [...] a toute la
fraîcheur d'une civilisation qui ne fait que s'épanouir. Aussi n'est-il
329
Huber (1906), p. 104. Ebenso: Nippold (1904), p. 15.
Claparède (1889), p. 10f.
331
Roth (1913), p. 288, 292.
332
Nippold (1905), p. 11f. Auch: Lindau (1864), p. 16.
333
Nippold (1904), p.7f.
330
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pas exempt d'une certaine puérilité: témoin la passion,
véritablement enfantine de toutes les classes de la société pour
les fleurs gigantesques et les arbres nainp."334
(The taste of the Japanese in the folk […] betrays the freshness of
a blossoming civilisation. There is also a certain naivety: to this
testifies the naïve passion of all classes for huge flowers and
dwarf-like trees).
In a very similar way the silk trader Spörry und the physician Haffter would later
report that the Japanese gardens were laid out with the phantasy of children at
play.335 With regard to the fine arts, the Swiss opinions were unsure and not
uniform as most of them were lacking a deeper understanding of the arts. Their
judgements were accordingly rather unprofessional, Japan’s art appeared to them
“decorative” but not very original.336 Claparède considered Japanese laquer ware
“unique” and he was also enthralled by the horitculture there.337 However, he
revealed little understanding for Japanese wood architecture as these buildings
were not built for eternity like the Colosseum or the pyramides.338 In contrast to the
sober reporting done by the members of the Iwakura mission, the Western Japan
visitors from Europe and the States apparently sensed an irresistible need to
categorize and judge everything they encountered. An attitude that often betrayed
more about the observer than about the observed.
Contrary to their admiration for traditional Japanese arts, the Swiss observers
did not at all appreciate Japanese endeavours to imitate European aesthetics.
European style buildings in Japanese surroundings were unanimously considered
as a nuisance or even an offense. To see one’s own culture in Japanese hands
seemed to be like breaking a taboo for the visitors. The same rule applied to the
efforts of many Meiji-era Japanese to ape European fashion and manners in order
to look modern. The results of those endeavours sometimes looked quite “bizarre”
to Europeans observers being treated to combinations of tall hats and kimono or
334
Humbert (1868), p. 73.
Haffter (1903), p. 134; also: Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 51, 157, 159.
336
As of Huber (1906), p. 128.
337
Claparède (1889), p. 63, 134. Auch: Lindau (1864), p. 190, Nippold (1905), pp. 14.
338
Claparède (1889), p. 118, 121, 126.
335
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smoking together with loincloth and straw sandals.339 Fortunately the Japanese
women had a better grasp of fashion than their menfolk, but in the eyes of the
Swiss Japanfarers a European dress did not look as fashionable as a traditional
kimono on a Japanese lady.340
Another point of contention constituted the emerging oil painting in European
style and with modern themes. Efforts in this direction by Japanese artists did not
pass the test. Huber even suspected a kind of conspiration by “chauvinistic
Japanese” as he often saw inferior imitations of European art displayed alongside
masterpieces of Japanese art.341 However, the answer might rather be that the
organisers of such exhibitions were as inexperienced and clueless with regard to
Western art than the other side when it came to Japan’s art. Here, two completely
different aesthetic worlds were colliding still lacking a common language of
understanding.
Something else caught the attention of the Swiss on their expeditions into this
unknown island kingdom about to awaken – scores of children who seemed to be
always happy, cheerful and undisturbed. Humbert being a teacher and educator
as well the topic of children’s education in Japan was of keen interest. Reports of
foreign visitors claiming that Japanese children never cried, were indeed very
close to everyday reality as he confirmed. The reason why, according to him, was
that “the Japanese child can develop unimpededly”.342 In his view the Japanese
way of life steeped in the present benefitted first of all the children because
“childhood needs its time".343 The parents, as he put it, felt great satisfaction and
joy in following this "natural law".
Nippold agreed, stating that Japan was rightfully called "children’s paradise"
because hardly ever one could hear them cry and they were always friendly. This
fact. This was doubtless the result of an education treating the children with "great
339
Claparède (1889), pp. 16. Rochette (6/1893), p. 2
Rochette (6/1893), p. 2; Nippold (1893), p. 8; Claparède (1889), p. 107.
341
Huber (1906), p. 126, 161.
342
Humbert, vol. 1 (1870), p.105, 107.
343
Humbert, vol. 1 (1870) pp. 104.
340
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mildness and tenderness", and, as he continued, “expressions of affect and
corporal punishments" were inexistent.344 Max Huber simply found that the
children were the "most charming thing in an already charming nature" and for
Haffter they were just a delightful sight.345 Claparède reported that Japanese
children were left playing all day long from early in the morning until late and they
could be seen “everywhere even under horses and between the wheels of the
rikshaws”.346
Some of the Swiss also expressed their admiration for the children’s vocational
training in Meiji-Japan as everyone was able to read, write and do calculations. 347
They felt rather awkward, however, when confronted with the Japanese writing
system. Humbert said it was very easy to learn to speak Japanese but writing it
was an “endless labour”; according to him a reform of the writing system must be
the base of Japan’s and China’s development.348 Haffter agreed with this
assessment and there were indeed even Japanese voices during the Meiji
demanding to change to the Latin alphabet or, more radical, the substitution of
English for the Japanese language all in the interest of modernisation.349
Closely connected to the question of education was the problem of the women’s
position in Japanese society. Most of the observers noticed how early Japanese
women got married in general. Humbert expressed this in his own inimitable
nearly poetical way:"elle passe, presque sans transition, de la poupée à l'enfant."
(She passes nearly without transition from the toy puppet to the child).350 And it
was this which he considered one of the reasons why Japanese children could
find so much understanding by their young mother.
With satisfaction the Swiss reports mentioned the monogamy way of life of the
Japanese. This way was prevailing, at least in principle, as Claparède added
344
Nippold (1905), p. 17. in gleichem Sinne: Regamey, (1903), p. 78f.
Huber (1906), p. 104, Haffter (1903), p. 136.
346
Claparède (1889), p. 102.
347
Nippold (1905), p. 18; Haffter (1903), p. 143.
348
Humbert, vol. 2 (1870), p. 413.
349
Haffter (1903), p. 143. Hall (1994), p. 282.
350
Humbert, vol. 1 (1870) pp 104, also: Nippold (1905), p. 24.
345
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cautiously. As it was not uncommon if a not so young woman actively engaged in
the search of a second wife for her husband; however, as she was selecting her
for him “her female pride seemed not to suffer" as he added.351 Nippold called the
Japanese woman the "pearl of the Japanese home" emphasising that her position
was not at all as inferior as many claim.352 Strobel stated that the Japanese
woman was enjoying “greater freedom and rights" than in any other East Asian
country.353
Humbert however, contradicted this optimistic view in his description of the late
feudal period. According to him, for the Japanese woman her “family father” (père
de famille) was similarly her "master" and marriage equalled “dependence and
intimidation."354 The lack of marital rights was according to him a privilege for the
men adding that Christianity did have a lead in this respect.355 Spörry took a
similar view. Marriage in Japan was a equal to a “life of suffering” for the woman
marked by subordination and "a host of different inviolable forms".356
Although there was no consensus amongst the Swiss observers as to the social
position of the Japanese woman the gentlemen unanimously agreed on
attractiveness; just to quote one typical opinion:“even the globetrotter, in reporting
on the land of the rising sun, cannot fail to praise its daughters in a paean.”357
Travelling just for fun and recreation was the privilege of just a few well-to-do
people in the 19th and up to the second half of the 20th century. Compared to the
broad flow of European travellers to Japan there were only a handful of Japanese
journeying to the West. Most of them went there on a diplomatic mission or for the
purpose of training and education. The two first Japanese visits to Switzerland had
an official character (chapters 9 and 10).
351
Claparède (1889), p. 102.
Nippold (1905), p. 19.
353
Strobel (1887), p. 22.
354
Humbert, vol. 1 (1870), pp. 73.
355
Humbert (1868), p. 90. Auch Claparèdes Auffassung ging in dieselbe Richtung; vgl.: Claparède
(1889), p. 102
356
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), pp. 185. To this effect see also the proverbs nr 3 to 5 in appendix A.
357
Strasser (1911), p. 131.
352
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Those missions were soon followed however by visitors who came on their own
in order to see the alpine country and one can consider some of them to be
tourists in the true sense of the word. From his base in London where he studied
and worked as secretary to the Japanese embassy, Ōshū Nakai (1838-1894) did
probably pay a short visit to Geneva in 1873. In his memoirs he briefly described
the city on the mouth of the Rhône river and remembered the view on the
Savoyan Alps with the Mont Blanc.358 After his return in 1876 embarked on a
political career becoming governor of Kyoto shortly before his death.
The next Japanese to mention in connection with Switzerland was called
Toyokichi Harada (1860-1894). He came together with his parents to Europe and
enrolling in the mining academy of Freiberg in Germany studying geology and
mining. In 1882 he earned his academic degree with a study on the rock layers
around the lake of Lugano. The next year returned to Japan and worked at a
geological institute. During his time of study he was said to have been eagerly
hiking in the Austrian alps.359
In 1884, Akamaro Tanaka (1869-1944) came together with his parents to
Europe, his father was a diplomat stationed in Italy. Two years later young
Akamaro moved to Lausanne where he attended a private school and stayed at
the house of Louis Bridel (1852-1913). Bridel was born in Lausanne and
graduated with a degree in law from the University of Lausanne. In 1887 he
became professor of civil and comparative law at the University of Geneva. He
was also a member of the city council there from 1895 until 1898. As a passionate
alpinist, Bridel took Tanaka along on his hiking tours and in the sommer of 1887
they climbed together the Pizzo Centrale (3003 m). So young Tanaka became the
first Japanese to climb a of 3000 meters high Swiss peak. During his time in
Switzerland Tanaka explored as a future limnologist the little and mysterious lake
Ritom on the south side of the Gotthard massif. After further studies in Brussels
358
359
Yamazaki (1986), p. 287.
Yamazaki (1986), p. 288.
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and in France as well as a two year research stint in Africa, Tanaka returned home
to Japan in 1895 where he taught and conducted research at different universities.
Professor Bridel folllowed an invitation of the Imperial University of Tokyo in
1900 where he took up the chair for French and German civil law. Besides he also
became a member of the Japanese Alpine Club. Bridel died in Tokyo in 1913 and
his remains finally were laid to rest in Geneva.360
In the summer of 1904 Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) a painter and woodcutting
artist travelled together with his younger sister to Switzerland. It was his second
visit, the first one lasted three years leading him via America through different
countries in Europe, Switzerland being one of them. From Lucerne the two
climbed the Rigi, the Pilatus and the Stanserhorn before continuing their journey
towards the Bernese Oberland. There they intended to go on the Jungfrau
summit. At that time the rack railway was not yet completed and the passengers
had to climb the last part to the summit secured by ropes. The two Japanese
travellers saw this undertaking as a bit too risky and did not go on to the summit.
Their next station was Zermatt where an English couple persuaded them to climb
the Matterhorn together! However, the inexperienced party lost its way and had to
abandon their task and to retreat; luckily they came back from the mountain
unharmed but completely exhausted.361 Back in Japan, Yoshida became famous
and drew crowds with his paintings and woodcuts created on his extensive
journeys covering four continents.
Around the same time Satoru Nakane (1874-1959) undertook long hiking tours
through the European alps together with an Austrian friend. He came to Vienna in
1903 and studied there geography for three years. During his study he also
travelled through Switzerland in 1904, climbing the Rigi, crossing the Gotthard and
the Furka pass and continuing to Chamonix, Lausanne and Munich – all on foot.362
360
361
362
Kojima (1968), p. 28-30.
Yamazaki (1986), p. 290.
Yamazaki (1986), p. 291.
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On November 17th , 1906 Takeo Arishima (1878-1923) and his brother
Mibuma/Ikuma (1882-1974) came to Schaffhouse following an invitation by their
friend Wilfried Buchmann (1878-1933) a well-known painter. The two brothers
checked in at the Hotel Schwanen. And it was there that Takeo fell deeply, but
unhappily, in love with the pretty hotel owner named Tilda Heck (1877-1970). His
whole life long he kept writing her numerous letters and postcards from the
stations of his life.363 After having encountered another Swiss girl, the unhappy
lover wrote to his beloved:
"Why, Swiss girls have the same traits somehow or other. Brightness of
spirit, innocent charm, wise prudence, sprightliness of manner, - all those
womanly qualities combine to fascinate one who approaches them."364
Back in Japan, Takeo started a successful career becoming a well-know writer
and founder of the influential literary magazine shirakaba (Birch tree). However, in
1923 he took his life together with his female lover.
The next Japanese traveller to Switzerland was Shōtarō Kaga (1888-1954) from
Osaka. Already during his time as a high-school student he used to skip lessons
for extensive hiking in the mountains. As a member of an official delegation
tending to an exhibition in London in 1910, Kaga went again his own way
travelling to Munich in order to buy mountaineering gear, namely: hobnailed boots,
an ice pick and a Tirolean hat. In full gear he continued his journey towards
Switzerland wearing his heavy boots all the time in order to get used to them.
Kaga’s was the Bernese Oberland where he climbed the Jungfrau (4.158 meters)
in August 1910 together with a friend and a local mountain guide. From the
summit they descended to the Aletsch glacier spending the night at the Konkordia
shelter. The next day the party continued to Brig and Zermatt crossing into the
valley of Aosta in Italy and then back into Switzerland again over the Grand St.
363
364
Takayama (1994).
Werner (2001), p. 6.
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Bernhard pass.365 With this feat Kaga became the first Japanese to climb a Swiss
peak above four thousand meters.
Only a year later Kazunobu Kanokogi (1884-1949) undertook a ramble through
the Alps following the traces of the philosophers Nietzsche and Rousseaus. Upon
his return he published a philosophically inspired travel diary with the title “into the
Alps”.366
Probably the most enthusiastic lover of Switzerland and the Swiss Alps during
that period was Isuke Tsujimura (1886-1923). In his native country he was a
pioneer of mountaineering and the first Alpinist to undertake winter tours in the
Japanese Alps starting in 1911. Tsujimura’s interest in the Alps of Europe was
stirred by Kaga’s books and accounts. In 1913, Tsujimura travelled via Sibiria to
Europe under the pretext of studying botanic and gardening architecture in the
name of his university. His true intention, however, was to indulge in
mountaineering. After a stay in London and excursions into the Scottish Highlands
he left in 1914 for the Berner Oberland. There he successfully completed two
winter ascents on the summits of the Mönch and the Jungfrau becoming the first
Japanese to have done this. Although Tsujimura had ample experience with hiking
during the coldest season back home, he was not yet familiar with the use of
crampons and ithe ice pick in difficult terrain and the ascent on the two summits
was anything but joyful. To compensate for the hardships suffered he eagerly
drank plenty of Swiss cherry brandy (Kirsch) once he was back in the shelter as
he wrote in his autobiography.367
Tsujimura’s next objective was the Gross-Schreckhorn (4.078 m) and for that
undertaking he was joined by his mountaineering buddy Shigekichi Shindō who
had meanwhile arrived from London. On August 1st, the Swiss national day, at two
o’clock in the night they started their tour together with two local guides and with
nervous heartbeats because both of them had never before such a difficult tour as
365
366
367
Ōmori (2007), pp. 199.
Ōmori (2007), p. 201.
Ōmori (2007), pp. 203.
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Tsujimura openly admitted in his writings. Despite their initial worries, they
reached the summit before noon already embracing each other on the top filled
with joy and happiness about their achievement. However, during the descent
disaster struck:in a steep couloir the party an avalance came crashing down and
dragged the whole of the roped party down into the depths.
However, they were lucky beyond belief; the disaster had been observed and
help quickly arrived and all four survived suffering some broken bones and
bruises. In the hospital of Thun down in the valley Tsujimura quickly recovered
from his injuries and more luck befell him there. He fell in love with Rosa, one of
the nurses and married her as soon as he was up again and running again. After
that disaster his enthusiasm for further tours cooled but his love for the mountains
remained intact.
Together with his Swiss wife Tsujimura returned to Japan a year later. There he
published his European endeavours and his adventures as an alpinist in two
books: Suisu nikki (Switzerland diary) and Hairando (Highlands). Tsujimura’s
writings inspired many Japanese to discover the European Alps. He himself and
his family settled in Hakone a village at the foot of the majestic Mount Fuji. And it
was there when his luck eventually ran out. On September 1st, 1923 the terrible
Kantō earthquake devastated the whole area of Tokyo and its surroundings. As
one of the consequences a dam near Hakone burst unleashing a huge mudslide
into the valley beneath which buried the house and the rock garden where
Tsujimura, his wife and three daughters lived killing them instantly.368
14. From Edo to Tokyo
In 1868 Edo, the capital of the Tokugawa-shoguns, was renamed Tokyo. In the
following year the emperor left the residence of his forbears in Kyoto and moved
to Tokyo into the palace of the former shoguns. With these strong symbolic acts
Japan broke with its feudal past hence forth taking Western nations as examples
for its own future as a modern nation state. Up to that time China had been
368
Ōmori (2007), p. 203-208.
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serving as a model, not only with regard to the writing system, but also for its
religious, philosophical and scientific concepts which Japan took over and adapted
them to her needs. The reception of things foreign in Japan followed always a
certain pattern. A new concept was never taken over in its entirety but in a rather
eclectic way and put besides existing concepts, usually not replacing them. In this
process institutions of the state played a prominent role in Japan’s readiness to
learn from others.369
The project of modernisation of the Meiji-government was to embrace all
dimensions of society and of a radicalism hardly seen before. The speed with
which Japan adopted the know-how and the attributes of modern civilisation was
such as to impair the Euro centric world view challenging all interpretations of
industrial progress hitherto undertaken. This phenomenon proved to be damaging
to the self-esteem of many Japan visitors from the West. Rudyard Kipling (18651936), the most prominent representative of European colonial literature described
his personal inner drama while visiting Japan like this: "The Chinaman is a native
[...] That's the look on a native's face, but the Japanese isn't a native, and he isn't a
sahib either."370
His compatriote, Rutherford Alcock (1809-1897), the first British envoy to Japan,
expressed his annoyed bewilderment troubling him in Japan:
"Japan is essentially a country of paradoxes and anomalies, where all –
even familiar things – put on new faces, and are curiously reversed. [...]
and this principle of antagonism crops out in the most unexpected and
bizarre way in all their moral being, customs and habitp."371
Since the time of the Portuguese padre Louis Frois (see chapter 1) nothing had
changed apparently. The Europeans of the 19th century had not the slightest doubt
that their own cultural and social norms were true and, as a consequence,
anything different was looked upon as bizarre or even sick. Amongst the most
popular European novels about Japan the trilogy of Julien Viaud (1850-1923), a
369
Reinfried (1996), p. 34.
Cited in: Littlewood (1996), p. 6.
371
Cited in: Littlewood (1996), p. 9.
370
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French navy lieutenant writing under the pen name of Pierre Loti, most likely
reached the largest audience.372 Loti’s rather simple novels always revolved
around his love affair with an indigenous girl while expressing his disdain for
everything alien, particularly Japanes.373
The usual disdain for anything different went quite naturally together with an
atrophied self-esteem among the Europeans. The Britisch in particular, being the
representatives of the leading colonial power, had a propensity for an exaggerated
opinion of themselves "We happen to be the most outstanding people", quipped
Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902) and he was convinced that it was the better for
humankind the more the British possessed of the world. Not only did they think it
was their mission to civilise the rest of the world as “the white man’s burden”, they
also agreed that Africa begins in Calais.374
Switzerland felt no reason to participate in this kind of “burden sharing”, she had
enough at hands to keep together as a confederation. Armed neutrality and wealth
kept her away from colonial temptations her argument was not the gun but the
quality of her products on world markets. With this strategy she was in fact far
ahead of her time as all the colonial empires turned out to be costly errors and
crumbling eventually. On the other hand, there is no doubt that Switzerland
profited greatly from the prevailing "Pax Britannica" guaranteeing free access to
the world makets. Without this access Switzerland’s industrialisation would not
have been successful as her domestic market was much to small for industrial
mass production. Naturally, the Swiss considered themselves to be part of Europe
and thus as representatives of a superior type of civilisation as well.
And they too were not prepared for Japan which did not conform to the common
expectations which the Europeans harboured regarding to the non-European
world. Even Humbert admitted defeat when trying to explain East Asia: "l'extrème
372
Loti was only twice (1885 und 1900/1901) in Japan and in total for less than a year. See:
Cornevin (1988), p. 13.
373
Siary (1988), p. 19.
374
Moynahan (1997), p. 7, 30, 32. The expression "The white man‘s burden" had its origin in a
poem by Kipling eulogizing the American occupation of the Philippines.
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Orient est le monde de l'imprévu. La sagesse occidentale y perd son latin."375 (The
Far East is the world of the unforeseen. There, Western wisdom is at a loss for
words).
Neither seemed Spörry have been further nearly half a century later, he
compared his host country with a maze full of “tricky things” and “nearly
irresolvable complications”376
The Japan visitors of the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of
the 20th witnessed a societal transformation at lightning speed with all possible
kinds of disruptions. As the larger Japanese cities changed their faces, the
hinterland remained largely untouched and traditional ways of living continued
largely undisturbed. It was this stark contrast which stimulated the fantasies of the
Swiss visitors. Rural Japan appeared to them unspoiled and pure, what a
difference to Europe with its smokestacks – even on tatami Heidi would have felt
at home in the Japanese countryside rather than Frankfurt so to say. Premodern
Japan appeared to have fascinated nearly all Western visitors not only the Swiss.
Many expressed sadness about the unstoppable intrusion of modernity into the
traditional Japanese lifestyle. To most of the Westerners in Japan at that time, the
country appeared to have been a kind of lost paradise. Humbert called the era of
premodern Japan the “age of innocence” (cet âge d'innocence).377 Nippold
compared it to ancient Greece, another imaginary place idealised by the
Europeans; enthusiastically he called Japan a “fairy tale in a wonderful dream”. 378
On the backdrop of such a highly emotional perception equally enthusiastic
Japanese endeavours to imitate and combine European elements of style with
traditional ones of her own were incomprehensible to the Europeans. In their
search for originality and purity the Swiss admired traditional crafts and Japanese
gardening in particular. For them they embodied nothing less than the “aesthetic
genius of old Japan”. Spörry had his own intriguing theory for Japanese
375
376
377
378
Humbert, vol. 2 (1870), p. 349.
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 186.
Humbert (1868), p. 82.
Nippold (1904), p. 9.
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skillfulness and care expressed in the traditional handicrafts. To him this was the
result of the way children were taught to write, that is with a "subtle brush" instead
of a hard slate pencil on an equally hard slate as he ruefully remembered his own
experience.379
The Genevan Rochette betrayed his sense of naïve and romantic imagination
towards Japan when he described his arrival in 1891. No girls under paper
umbrellas wearing kimonos were waiting for him in front of tiny cute wooden
houses; instead, only men in European uniforms wearing hard hats asking him in
a “very correct English” to open his trunks and boxes for customs inspection –
what a let-down.380
However, in the hinterland of the booming urban centres the frustrated visitors
could finally discover the Japan of their imagination: in a lush green environment
they encountered laughing people full of friendly curiosity wearing kimonos and
living in nice clean little wood houses with paper walls. Most of the Swiss visitors
did not hide their regret over the disappearance of old Japan.
Spörry, after his return home, did not want to see again this "materialist state par
excellence" which, in his view, had replaced a country of “contemplation and of
peaceful innocent joy of nature and dreaming".381
Humbert, however, although sympathetic towards old Japan as well tried to
keep balanced view and remained fundamentally optimistic. He did neither
idealise the old ways nor the new ones. Rather confidently he commented on a
popular woodcut image of an unknown Japanese artist, created on the occasion of
the return of the Shogun from his audience with the Emperor residing in Kyoto
aboard a Britisch steamer in 1863. At that time the Shogun still embodied the
hope of modernising the country against the opposition of the father of the later
Meiji-emperor. The picture showed a party of a gods and heroes of ancient Japan
379
380
381
Vgl.: Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 161.
Rochette (1/31.5.1893), p. 2.
Spörry, vol.2 (1925), p.119.
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flying in a cloud above the steamer. It was an allegory on the coming
transformation of the country.:
"Va donc en paix"! Semble dire l'artiste à son souverain. Poursuis ta
route et ton oeuvre civilisatrice; rivalise avec l'Occident et fais-nous
part de sa science et son idustrie. Tu n'as rien à redouter du pouvoir
suranné qui se survit encore dans la vieille Miako. Les Kamis, qui ont
fait la gloire de l'ancien Japon, étendent eux-mêmes une main
protectrice sur ce navire autrefois étranger, oeuvre merveilleuse du
génie moderne qui se naturalise enfin parmi noup."382
(Go in peace! The artist seems to tell his ruler. Pursue your way and
your work of civilisation; compete with the West and have us to
participate in its science and industry. You have nothing to fear from
the old-fashioned power still surviving in the old capital. Even the old
gods embodying the glory of ancient Japan extend their protecting
hands on this formerly foreign vessel, this miracle of modern spirit
which is finally unfolding amongst us.)
As a Swiss however, Humbert was not at ease with the political dimension of
the Japanese way towards modernity which was a strictly authoritarian top-down
affair, planned by a tiny elite not seeking a democratic consensus whatsoever. He
was a sharp observer and the ambitious Meiji-oligarchs could not confound him
because for Humbert freedom was more than a technical problem to be resolved:
"Entre le Japon d'aujourd'hui et la liberté, quel abîme n'y-a-t'il pas à
franchir! [...] la liberté ne s'imite pas et, pour la posséder, il faut être
à sa hauteur. Certain connaissances acquises ne sauraient pas y
suffire."383
(What an abyss has to be bridged between today’s Japan and
freedom […] freedom is not aped, in order to reach it one has to be
at its height. Some acquired knowledge is not sufficient for that.).
With these remarks Humbert pointed out the fatal flaw of the new, emerging
Japan. Behind its facade of a kind of democracy Japan was still strongly
influenced by its old feudal tradition the character of which Humbert once
described as an “intelligent despotism”.384 Only much later his reservations about
382
383
384
Humbert (1981), p. 171.
Humbert, vol. 2 (1870), p. 412.
Humbert, vol. 13 (1862), pp. 681.
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the Japanese project of modernisation should be proven right in a fatal way. Some
of the Meiji leaders did notice this dangerous contradiction as well but their
warnings fell on deaf ears (see chap. 21).
In the end, European statement regarding Japan remained a monologue telling
more about the reporter than about the reported cultural phenomena as Rousseau
once remarked.385 However, Rousseau did not answer the question what other
world view could a Swiss possibly have than a Swiss one (or European one for
that sake)?
As a matter of fact the atmosphere in the foreign concessions of the Japanese
port cities was apparently very Western expressed in the ironic twist given by the
English to an ancient Roman proverb:"when in Rome, do as you would at home".
Consequently one could spent whole evenings in the different foreigners’ clubs in
Yokohama and doing “European studies” as Spörry recalled ironically in his
reminiscences.386
16. Some watches run differently
Most Swiss living over an extended period in Japan did so because they were
on business. Their communication tended therefor to be limited to practical
aspects of their business activities. Thus they came naturally into contact with the
representatives of that social class which had been at the bottom of the social
order during the only recently finished feudal period stigmatised by a low prestige:
the merchant class. Add to that the extraordinary difficult economic conditions
surrounding any business activity not to mention the political and social ones in
order to gain an impression of the general atmosphere under which this encounter
took place. The beginning of the Meiji period saw runaway inflation. In 1857 one
385
386
Kapitza, vol. 2 (1990), p. 531.
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 156.
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Japanese currency unit (ryō, a gold coin) bought 64.04 koku of rice. In 1867 it
bought a mere 15.06 koku. 387
Most Swiss statements on business in Japan showed genuine frustration.
Nippold called Japan, apparently borrowing a proverb amongst the English
expatriates there:"the globetrotter’s paradise and the graveyard of the merchant’s
hopes."388 Huber noticed that foreign businessmen in general were critical towards
Japan stating that the “commercial morals of the Japanese were at the very
bottom”. This opinion stood in contrast to those of diplomats, artists and scholars
with language skills.389 This applied to the industry as well where he bluntly
mentioned "[...] the rather fraudulent management of large parts of Japanese
industrial companies if compared with European standards."390 However, Huber
did not turn this into a question of national character, he saw economic reasons at
the heart of these phenomenons. According to him the strict deflationary policy
applied since 1880 in order to combat inflation led to a shortage of capital and
firms were increasingly taking to risky accounting tricks as a means to pay
dividends to their shareholders. Little wonder then that something like “a
commercial ethos” could not develop, this needed more time according to
Huber.391
The French graphic artist Félix Regamey (1844-1907), who visited Japan in
1876 apparently had a discussion with two Swiss businessmen working for French
companies on his journey; they seemed to return only very reluctantly to their
Japanese business complaining about the dishonesty and conceitedness of the
Japanese merchant in general.392 In Kobe, Haffter met a German merchant whose
statements about his indigenous business partners sounded very similar.393
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
Kasahara et al. (1983), p. 316. One koku was about 180 litres.
Nippold (1905), p. 15.
Huber (1901), p. 4; Huber (1906), p.111.
Huber (1901), p. 9.
Huber (1901), p. 10.
Regamey (1903), pp. 27, 30.
Haffter (1906), p. 124.
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Spörry working as a silk trader had daily contacts with Japanese business
partners and he complained bitterly about the “long-winded negotiations with the
Japanese” who displayed a “terrible patience with haggling” and were always bent
on getting the better of the foreigner.394 Despite his frustration, Spörry would not
generalise his personal experiences. At the roots of this behaviour he saw the
special historical and sociocultural conditions under which the ongoing
modernisation was taking place and he claimed that the values of the feudal were
still casting a wide shadow:
"After Japan’s opening forced upon by America [...] the foreigners
floodin in were hated -even despised- to a degree that it was
unimaginable for a ‘true son of Japan’ to enter into contact with the
‘barbarians’ other than by pure necessity. On the other hand,
anyone who had nothing to loose least of all his honour of social
standing, rushed to take advantage of the arising new possibilities
and as a consequence the foreign business people (unknowingly)
were nearly exclusively to deal with elements of the lowest esteem
in Japan."395
Therefor, according to Spörry, European merchants were often quick in passing
an “unjust judgement” on the population as a whole. Furthermore, he hastened to
remind his readers that many a doubtful character was washed up on Japan’s
shores from the other side of the ocean as well including fellow compatriots.396
Lindau and Nippold agreed with this view, they refused to generalise the
complaints coming from the world of business.397
More problematic than those personal relations were the structural distortions
that complicated trade with Japan. Spörry learnt from his fellow compatriote
Bavier, a silk trader like himself, that the Japanese were actually organised in
“secret associations” strictly controlled by government officials who decided trade
volumes and prices. Often they kept silk bales back in Tokyo in order to cause
price hikes in Yokohama. Such manipulations were a clear violation of the existing
394
395
396
397
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 120,223.
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 63.
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 64, 124.
Lindau (1862), p. 8. Lindau (1864), p. 191. Nippold (1904), p. 16.
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treaties which claimed that trade had to be conducted without government
interference. According to Spörry the underpaid officials also claimed a “lion’s
share” of the profits for themselves.398 With frustration he described a case when
he had to attend a “dinner of reconciliation” with his adversarie in order to prevent
a boycott of his company as he had been contemplating legal action to enforce his
claims.399 This ideosyncratic way of conflict resolution could however, also be
employed to advance one’s own interests as Spörry himself freely admitted. One
day he was supplied with silk bales that did not conform to the agreed quality and
much to his dismay the Japanese suppliers insisted on acceptance of their
delivery. As a result of a lavish lunch including lots of spirits the whole affair ended
with the Japanese coming around to his demands thankfully.400
Contrary to his professional frustrations stood Spörry’s private experiences with
Japanese people. He was an avid collector of objects made from bamboo and in
his endeavours he could count on the support of Japanese friends. Apart from his
enthusiasm for the high level of craftsmanship so obvious in all bamboo products
he was also impressed of the everyday popular wisdom expressed in proverbs
and sayings writing them down and publishing them in the appendix of
hisautobiography (see appendix A). In these word plays he saw “[...] all the good
and bad (or maybe more correct, the human) character traits [...] revealed", as he
wrote.401
Besides the trade in silk, the export of watches was another main activity of the
Swiss in Japan and it was no coincidence that the watchmaking industry of
Western Switzerland had been a driving force behind diplomatic relations with
Japan. The reason for that can be found in the collapse of the Chinese market
where Swiss watches where already well entrenched; since 1824 Switzerland
exported watches specially designed for the Chinese market. The first contacts of
398
399
400
401
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), pp. 64.
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 125f.
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 124.
Spörry, vol. 2 (1925), p. 180.
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Swiss watchmakers with China dated back to the 17th century already.402 In the
free ports of China the Swiss traders simply put themselves under the protection
of European powers, a proper diplomatic representation was not needed given the
chaotic conditions of domestic politics under the weak central authority of the Qing
emperors.403 As a result of the wars between China and the European colonial
powers from the mid 19th century on, the export of Swiss watches to Asia in
general collapsed.404 In order to compensate for those losses, the Swiss turned
their attention to Japan where they operated mostly under the protection of the
French consulate until the conclusion of the Swiss-Japanese treaty in 1864.
It is puzzling that the Swiss were intent to sell watches to a people who,
according to their observations, was lacking any sense of time. Not only Humbert
noticed that, his secretary Brennwals got this impression as well and he duly
reported it in his market analysis meant for the business community back home.
The answer to this riddle had nothing to do with the notion of time; because
Brennwald equally observed that the Japanese buyers of a Swiss watch
considered it to be more of an original curiosity and an accessory rather than a
time piece.405 Even then the essence of owning a Swiss watch had more to do
with prestige and self-promotion, the watch as an accessory is nothing new!
However, Brennwald and Humbert had also to take notice of the limited
capacity of the Japanese market due to a generally low level of disposable
income, Japan could for the time being not make up for the loss of the Chinese
market.406 And they were right in their assessment.
On the other hand Japan turned out to be a promising market for yet another
important Swiss export product: cotton textiles. From this market the textile
industry based mainly in Eastern Switzerland could benefit; the Merchant
Association of St.Gallen ("Kaufmännische Directorium") had proved farsighted
402
Chapuis/Loup (1983), pp. 12.
Jequier (1990), p. 466f. Lindau (1862), p. 13.
404
Barrelet (1986), pp. 161.
405
Brennwald (1865), p. 45. The European calendar as well as the standard of daily time were
introduced in Japan by 1872 only.
406
Brennwald (1865), p. 45.
403
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when they supported the watchmakers’ push for a diplomatic mission to Japan.
The Japanese preferred simple, cheap and imprinted cotton fabrics considered
ideal for making kimonos. Due to this cotton textiles took first place among Swiss
exports to Japan at least at the start of mutual trade. Very soon, however, the
Swiss textile industry had to recognise the limits of the Japanese market as well.
In 1877 already, the Merchants’ Association registered heavy losses for their
cotton fabrics and two years later their export seemed to have stopped entirely. 407
As a result of Meiji-Japan’s rapid economic growth, the export of watches
overtook that of textiles from 1885 on, taking first place in Switzerland’s exports to
Japan in terms of value.408 The Swiss pocket watch, already leading worldwide,
did also dominate the Japanese market during Meiji-times with a market share
between 80 and 90% during the nineties of the 19th century (see appendix C).
Despite the increasing competitiveness of Japanese industry, Huber saw some
weak points standing in the way of Japan becoming a serious competitor - at least
with regard to watches. According to his analysis, Meiji-Japan’s industry was
suffering from a lack of capital as well as “bad organisation, nepotism and
corruption” on top of a generally low labour productivity.409 A potentially serious
threat to Swiss industry, however, posed in his view the “extraordinary capability of
the Japanese to copy things” and he decried furthermore the rather “pityful”
protection of intellectual property rights.410
Worldwide the Swiss watch industry exported about five million watches with a
value of about 100 million Swiss Francs. Those numbers were rough estimates as
the watchmakers tended to underreport the numbers as their major press organ
frankly admitted.411
407
PKD (1880), p.10.
Jequier (1990) p. 465, 483. Only after 1885 did Switzerland drew up an official statistic of
foreign trade and only after 1899 did Japan appear as a proper destination of Swiss exports;
before that it was subsumed under the category of "East Asia" auf. Also: RitzmannBlickenstorfer (1996), p. 697.
409
Huber (1906), p. 168.
410
Huber (1901), p. 5. The Swiss chemical industry had a similarly bad reputation in Europe at
the beginning of the 19th century, see: Stucki (1981), p. 233f.
411
The detailed estimates for the total export of watches were as following:
408
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In 1897 Emile Bonjour, the chief of the federal bureau of commerce trumpeted that
the superior position of the Swiss watch in Japan was unassailable least of all by
the Japanese.412 The Swiss watchmakers themselves assumed a more restrained
attitude. On the base of a low daily (eleven hours) salary between 60 and 80 cents
for men and half as much for women they considered the Japanese industry as a
potential competitor at least in the long run.413
The intricate Japanese market proved to be a challenge for the watch
producers. Consul Brennwald already pointed out the quickly changing
preferences of the Japanese warning that only “a careful observation of the
market” could lead to success.414 Another peculiarity was the structure of the
market: on one side only a few Japanese bulk buyers who were in a position to
command price reductions at will whereas on the other side a large number of
Swiss suppliers was locked in a ferocious competition for customers. Some
amongst them even went as far as selling on credit a practice largely shunned due
to mutual lack of confidence.415
At the turn of the century disaster struck the Swiss watchmakers – sales in
Japan collapsed dramatically. In 1898 the Swiss exported 344.000 time pieces to
Japan and only 55.000 in the following year (see appendix D). What happened
and who profited from the fall of the Swiss watch from grace? Definitely not the
few Japanese producers; it was the watchmaking industry in the US which gained
market share at the expense of the Swiss watch.416
1891: Fr. 92'413'219.- 4'550'439 pieces
1892: Fr. 81'937'874.- 4'003'462 pcs.
1893: Fr. 83'040'843.- 4'167'905 pcs.
1894: Fr. 80'530'596.- 4'345'526 pcs.
1895: Fr. 83'826'686.- 4'716'619 pcs.
1896: Fr. 93'110'654.- 5'299'729 pcs.
Source: La Fédération Horlogère nr.86/1897, p. 1.
412
Barrelet (1986) p. 163.
413
La Fédération Horlogère nr.47, 13.6.1897, p. 253.
414
FB 1873/4, p. 706f.
415
Jequier (1990), pp. 489.
416
Jequier (1990), p. 499.
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The Swiss General Consul in Japan, Dr Paul Ritter, analysed what happened
and in 1901 he detailed his findings in a report sent to Berne. According to him the
Swiss watchmakers were producing very showy, large-sized pocket watches while
their American competitors had noticed that the Japanese customers preferred
more and more “delicate watches of normal size".417 The nimble Americans also
reacted quicker to a rise in customs duties for watches; those new tariffs were laid
down in the revised treaties of 1896; gold watches were taxed at 30%, silber ones
at 25% and clockworks only at 15%.
The American producers reacted to the new tariffs by reducing the export of
whole watches and switching to importing lowly taxed clockworks and parts to
Japan where they had them assembled. The Swiss watchmakers on the other
hand were slow in reacting to this new situation.418 Swiss watch sales in Japan
never recovered from this collapse. The market share of the Swiss watch started
to decrease year by year: 86% (1896), 76% (1898), 55% (1900), 47% (1902). 419
The dominant position of the Swiss watch in Japan was history by the turn of the
century.
16. Wilhelm Tell in Japan
After the long years of enforced ignorance about the world under the
Tokugawa-shoguns the Japanese started to devour any information about the
world at large as soon as it became available in the course of the opening during
the Meiji era. And not only the intellectual and political elite was engaged in this
process of learning. Descriptions of foreign countries and mores became hugely
popular in Meiji-Japan. The whole Japanese project of modernisation was
comprehensive from the start going well beyond gaining only technical and
organisational knowledge.
417
418
419
BAB E 6/40, Paul Ritter (1901): Commerce de l'horlogerie au Japon.
Barrelet (1986) pp. 164. Jequier (1990), p. 501.
Jequier (1990), p. 500.
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Whether consciously or not, the political elite took on a great risk to allow an
intellectual and cultural opening of the country as well as a commercial opening.
Already the Iwakura report by the sheer amount of information was proof of a
readiness – or maybe of political naivity – to incur political risks in the process of
modernising Japan. However, the further development rather supports the first
assumption because it would have been possible from the beginning to impose a
strict censorship like in Russia by exploiting the formidable language barrier and
prohibiting translations at will. However, this was not the case and the intellectual
opening of the country made it receptive for Western political ideas as well.
The opening prompted a flood of translations of Western writings into Japanese.
The intellectual elite of Meiji-Japan was intrigued by the clarity of language in the
literary works of the West and their focus on theme and content rather than
linguistic form.420
One of the most prominent figures in disseminating knowledge about the West
in Japan was Yukichi Fukuzawa (1835-1901). In 1860 he got the opportunity to he
travel to San Francisco as a member of an official delegation sent by the shogun;
an in 1862 he visited Europe. The first visit was like a time travel for him and his
fellow travellers, a sequence of bewildering and often embarrassing
misunderstandings.421 Fukuzawa described his boundless astonishment when he
first saw a horse-drawn carriage or an elevetor common things in Western
countries. Stunned he also noticed the humble dress of the president of the United
States, while he himself was clad in a magnificent kinmono wearing two swords:
"like some ordinary merchant he was wearing a simple black dress
consisting just of jacket and trousers. He had neither a sword nor any
medals."422
The Japanese envoys could barely avoid to laugh out loudly when they first
witnessed a dancing party, to them the whole thing looked just plainly ridiculous. 423
420
421
422
423
Webb (1960), p. 641.
Schwebell (1981) pp. 257.
Cited in: Schwebell (1981), p. 260, 266.
Cited in: Schwebell (1981), p. 261.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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His personal experiences in the West shaped his thinking and for the rest of his life he
became an avid and uncompromising voice for the spiritual and technical modernisation
of his home country. As an independent and wealthy author he was also contributing
greatly to Meiji-Japan’s perception of the West. In 1867 he published a book
describing the eleven countries of the West with which Japan had diplomatic
relations (jōyaku 11 kokki). In his book he mentioned Switzerland as well:
"[...] in the politics of this country there is neither a king nor a person
one could call president. The country is divided into 21 separate
districts and each district sends two representatives to an Upper
House. Furthermore, from the population one representative per
twenty thousand people is elected and sent to a Lower House. Both
are changed every three years. The representatives of both houses
meet in a city called Berne and discuss and decide the politics of the
country."424
In his book published in 1869 titled “All countries of the world” (kunikotogoto)
Fukuzawa briefly talked about Switzerland again. This country, he wrote, could be
found following the river Rhine back to his source. There, where the mountains
rise high is Switzerland, a “small, republican and flourishing country”. Despite its
small size it is respected. The humans there are well educated, diligent, frugal,
modest and just plain spirited people. Around the watchmaking industry a whole
industry of precision engineering has developed. Those were the first Japanese
descriptions of Switzerland.425 Fukuzawa did not elaborate further on Switzerland
as the focus of his interest and research was on the English speaking nations
where he gained personal experiences.
Apart from Fukuzawa, and one could also say his opposite, Hiroyuki Katō
(1836-1916) was another major player in the intellectual debates of Meiji-Japan.
He was the first Japanese expert for the German language working first for the
shogunate as a translator in the “Office for the examination of barbarian writings”
(bansho shirabesho). In his book tonarigusa (miscellaneous from the
neighbourhood) published in 1861, he described the political systems of the
424
425
Zitiert nach: Morita (1988), p. 14.
Morita (1980), p. 21.
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United States and various European countries.426 In his analysis he distinguished
between monarchical and republican types of government. The monarchical ones
he subdivided into two kinds, absolute and constitutional monarchies. With regard
to republics he differentiated between the oligarchic nobility republic and the “pure
republic” based on civil equality. At the beginning Katō considered the monarchic
systems as an inferior form of government celebrating the “pure republic” as the
highest form of government. In his view, the US and Switzerland were examples of
countries where this type of government had been realised.427 In his publication of
1868 titled “An outline of constitutional political systems” (rikken seitairyaku) he
explained to his fellow compatriots the structure of these two republics.428 In 1872
Katō translated “General constitutional law” (Allgemeines Staatsrecht) from
German written by the famous Swiss law scholar Johann Caspar Bluntschli (18081881) who was teaching in Germany.
After his initial enthusiasm for the republican system of government, Katō
changed his mind later and in his later works he did not refer to Switzerland again.
He personally concluded that the Japanese people was not yet ready for a
republican form of government of the Swiss or American type; he advocated a a
strong government at the expense of democratic rights at least in the first phase of
development. He was also sceptical regarding the establishment of a
parliament.429 Katō’s writings strongly influenced the position of the Meijigovernment in the public debate after 1874 about a constitution for Japan by
justifying an emperor-centred system. Kentarō Ōi (1843-1922), a prominent leader
in the democracy movement critised him heavily for his opposition to the
establishment of a parliament.430
Apart from these brief appearances in the intellectual debates Switzerland was
also part of Western history in the first schoolbooks for ten to 13 year old pupils in
426
Ueda et al. (1990), p. 344. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katō_Hiroyuki
Morita (1988), p. 14;
428
Morita (1988), p. 15.
429
Morita (1980), p. 28. Kasahara et al. (1983), p. 337, 365-366.
430
Ueda et al. (1990), p. 212; Inoue (1993), p. 361.
427
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Meiji-Japan. The schoolbook version introduced in 1872 was based on a work by
Shigeki Nishimura (1828-1902) which appeared in 1869: “Brief of the history of all
countries (bankoku shiryaku). In it Switzerland’s early history was also mentioned:
"[...] at the beginning of the 14th century the rebellion of the Swiss was
of significance resulting in the Helvetic republican system [...] The
German sheriff Gessler who represented the authority of the emperor
suppressed the Swiss at utmost, thus the Swiss William Tell shot him.
Then the regions of Uri, Schwytz und Unterwald concluded a pact and
were victorious at Morgarten; as a consequence the country won its
freedom and established a republican political system."431
In the issue of 1875 the part of the Swiss struggle of liberation was edited but
contained still the myth of William Tell. Apart from him some other heroes of the
liberation saga of the first cantons appeared like Stauffacher and Melchthal two of
their leaders. The 1876 edition was shortened and Tell’s name disappeared from
Japanese schoolbooks altogether. 432 After the promulgation of the "Emperial
Rescript on Education" in 1890 the direction of Japanese education took another
turn, focussing more on instilling patriotism and loyalty to the emperor, foreign
history disappeared from the curriculum of primary education.433
The first consequences of Japan’s opening up to the world, not welcomed by
the new government, appeared already during the time of the Iwakura-mission.
And in this respect the press played a major role. The first daily newspaper in
Japan appeared in 1870 (The Daily Paper of Yokohama) followed by a flood of
other print products. The ideas and opinions propagated and spread by the great
number of papers soon collided with the rather authoritarian worldview of the
government leaders and they went at once after the task to ban the ghosts they
had awakened. In 1873 already the Meiji-government issued regulations requiring
the newspapers to obtain printing licences and forbidding any kind of critique and
431
432
433
Morita (1980), pp. 36.
Morita (1988), p. 17.
Morita (1980), p. 38.
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obstruction. Two yeas later a repressive press law followed having the desired
effect.434
Despite all this, however, the political discussion centering on Japan’s future
course continued unabated and further inflamed by differences of opinion within
the government itself. This debate reached a first turning point in 1874 when the
former minister Taisuke Itagaki (1837-1919), together with like-minded supporters,
published his "Memorandum for the establishment of a parliament elected by the
people" in the Japanese language newspaper Nisshin Shinjishi (New News). The
paper was in the possession of an Englishman and according to the existing
treaties the government was not allowed to interfere with foreign-owned
enterprises.435 As expected, the government dominated by Ōkubo and Iwakura
rejected the memorandum but opinions were divided within the governing
oligarchy as well. The more liberal Shigenobu Ōkuma (1838-1922) was in favour
of a political system according to the English model, however, he could not prevail
against Iwakura, and later Itō as well, who advocated a strong Emperor and a
system modelled after the Prussian-dominated German state.436
Within the broader population, howeve, Itagaki’s request was met with an
unexpectedly wide response. Suddenly a cry for participation in political matters
arose from all social classes. Everywhere in Japan countless discussion groups
and political associations sprung up disussing and spreading the ideas of Western
political thinkers like John Locke, John Stuart Mill, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and
Jeremy Bentham as well as many others. That extremely heterogeneous and
spontaneous mass movement coming out of the population became later known in
Japanese history under the broad name of Freedom and Civil Rights Movement
(jiyū minken undō).437 For nearly fifteen years, from 1874 until 1889, that public
debate about the future of Japan raged on. Their main demands, apart from the
establishing an assembly of elected representatives from the people, included
434
435
436
437
Inoue (1989), p. 254, 259.
Inoue (1993), p0. 360.
Kasahara et al. (1983), p. 338.
Inoue (1993), pp. 382; Kasahara et al. (1983), p. 340; Jansen (1989) vol. 5, p. 402-405.
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calls for a reduction of the tax burden and for freedom of expression and
assembly.
The movement for democracy made the notion of freedom (jiyū) wildely popular
among the population and was even used for the purpose of advertisement
appearing on all kinds of shop billboards: the "Freedom bath" (public bath), the
“Freedom pill” (pharmacies) or the just pubs called "Freedom".438 Little wonder
then that sooner or later the Japanese public craving for freedom became
aquainted with the mythical figure of Switzerland’s famous hero of freedom
William Tell. Already in 1880 a popular version of Schiller’s William Tell hit the
stages in Japan under the Japanese title "The Freedom bowstring of Switzerland".
The authors of that play of which only the introductory part has survived were
Tetsutarō Saitō und Masukichi Izumi.439 In the introduction to that work, Tell’s feat
was likened to that of the "47 samurai", the most prominent heroic tale in Japan.
That tale from the 18th century was actually based on historical truth illustrating the
most cherished value in feudal Japan – loyalty to one’s lord. Those forty-seven
samurai endured years of humiliation and scorn in order to wait for an opportunity
to take revenge on lord Kira who ashamed lord Asano, their own feudal lord, so
that he drew his sword within the castle of the Shogun – a serious crime – and he
was duly ordered to commit seppuku. After they took revenge on their lord’s
offender, the forty-seven samurai followed their feudal lord in the same way as he
had done.440
However, the authors of the Japanese Tell ignored the fact that the Swiss hero
of freedom did not kill one feudal lord in order to prove his loyalty to yet another
one! The work was remarkable probably more for being the first Japanese
translation of a play written in German.441
438
439
440
441
Miyashita (1977b), p. 68.
Miyashita (1977a), pp. 226.
Morita (1988), p. 17. Ikegami (1995), pp. 223.
Morita (1980), p. 38f; Miyashita (1977b) p. 68.
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In 1882 yet another story of William Tell appeared written by a certain Ikuji
Yamada and the title was: "The freedom tale of Tell – the pionier of liberation".
With regard to its content it said:
"Outline of the murder of a feudal lord, restitution of the liberty
rights of the country and the shake off of the tyrant’s yoke."442
The first literal translation of the Schiller-drama appeared only in 1886 as a
contribution to the renewal movement for the renewal of the Japanese theater
written by Kajō Nakagawa under the title: "Tell’s arrow of freedom."443 In an
"anthologie of freedom songs" from 1887 William Tell appeared as well. The
publisher of that anthology was a leading personality of the Japanese Civil Rights
Movement: Emori Ueki (1857-1892). He was an outspoken critic of the oligarchic
Meiji-government and never succumbed to the spreading chauvinism in foreign
policy taking hold of many other leaders of the Democracy Movement. 444 Among
the freedom songs collected by Ueki one bore the title “The liberation of
Switzerland” revealing a text of great pathos:
"White mountains rising up high into the clouds, landscapes of incomparable
beauty, today the fragrance of spring blow tenderly, blossoms of freedom
are smell everywhere, but many years ago in Switzerland being part of
Austria merciless tyranny was ruling, storms raging incessantly. For the
earth and for the countrymen, even for the whole world one hit upon the
idea to dare a revolutionary fight, that was William Tell’s wish. [....]
Forwards, always forwards countrymen clenching the spear of freedom in
your hands, [...]. Heaps upon heaps of enemy deads; now we found a free
country, dying our free country with red streams."445
At that time however, the Democracy Movement was already past its zenith.
And when the Meiji-government promulgated the first constitution in 1889 thereby
fulfilling a main request of the movement its political strength quickly faded. From
442
Morita (1988), p. 17.
Miyashita (1977b), p. 68.
444
Ueda et al. (1990), p. 165; Inoue (1993), p. 375.
445
Zit. nach: Miyashita (1977b), p. 67.
443
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now on William Tell’s days in Japan were numbered as well. In 1890, Nakagawa
published his Tell drama once more, this time as a play for youths, in the
magazine " shōnen bunbu".446 In 1905, Tell had his last public appearance in a
play based upon Schiller’s original but freely interpreted and retold by the writer
Sazanami Iwaya (1870-1933). In his version the story was transferred into Japan
during the Tokugawa-period and the Japanese Tell shot a khaki from his son’s
head instead of an apple, at that time a largely unknown fruit in Japan. The spirit
of the play underwent a transformation as well and was now more imbued with a
sense of militaristic patriotism.447 In the same year a translation by a Shiho Satō
appeared as well claimed to be as close as possible to Schiller’s original drama.
The book was printed in three editions with the title “William Tell – story of a just
Swiss”. Satō’s version was very Japanese as well in order to facilitate
understanding.448
After Japan’s victory in her war against China (1894/95), however, Tell’s career as
a symbol of the Japanese Democracy Movement drew to a close giving in Japan
way to Bismarck’s spirit for whom the mythical Swiss hero had always been just a
“murderer and a rebel” as he was later to confess right at the beginnning of his
autobiography.449
Contributing to the decline of the Japanese Movement for Freedom and Civil
Rights was the fact that within the two main parties of the movement many did
actually support the expansionist foreign policy pursued by the government. 450 In
same time the government oligarchy acted ever more repressively against the
fractured movement while succeeding to corrupt the leaders of the liberal party. 451
A great number of partly violent uprisings by the population in the countryside
446
447
448
449
450
451
Miyashita (1977a), p. 227.
Miyashita (1977a), pp. 228.
Togawa (1964), pp. 132.
Bismarck (1898), p. 1.
Inoue (1993), pp. 387.
Inoue (1993), p. 378f.
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suffering greatly under the deflationary politics which began in 1881 came in
handily for the government as a pretext for the repression.452
Nakae Chōmin (1847-1901), a radically democratic member of the Lower
House as well as journalist and translator was one of the last great leaders of the
Japanese civil rights movement. He was known in Japan as "Asia's Rousseau".
He tried to combine the democratic idea of the sovereignty of the people with
Asia's traditional moral philosophy.453 From 1871-1874 Nakae studied in France
and in 1882 he translated Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "social treatise" into
Japanese. He not only advocated a people's right of resistance against
government repression but a "Right to revolution" as well.454
In 1887 he published an essay under the title "Three drunk men talk politics"; in
it, three fictional characters represented the controversial topics of the current
political debate.455 One character called "strong man" demanded that Japan
should follow the policy of robust expansion at the expense of Korea and China in
order to challenge the colonial powers in Asia. The second character called
"gentleman" opposed him. He wanted Japan to renounce any colonial adventures
focussing on domestic development instead in order to realise a kind of ideal
people's rule. The third character was the teacher "Nankai" and he was critical of
both of the extreme positions advocating democracy along the lines of
Switzerland, France and Great Britain. Furthermore that "Nankai" was also in
favour of Japan taking great care to her cultural and economic ties with China
hoping to develop them even more. In his fictional debate he likened Belgium and
Switzerland to two children playing peacefully in the midst of quarrelling and
fighting adults oblivious to their concerns.456
The constitution enacted in 1889 took the wind out of the sails of the Freedom
and Civil Rights movement. Prime minister Hirobumi Itō, the drivin force behind
452
453
454
455
456
Kasahara et al. (1983), p. 342.
Miyashita (2000), p. 12.
Inoue (1993), p. 374, 394; Ueda et al. (1990), p. 889.
Inoue (1993), p. 395; Kasahara et al. (1983) p. 347.
Miyashita (1991), p. 7.
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the constitution had ventured to Berlin in 1882 in order to study German
constitutional law. He had been instructed by the German Rudolf von Gneist
(1816-1895) and Lorenz von Stein (1815-1890) from Austria, both experts on
constitutional law.
Back in Japan (in 1883), Itō started to work on a Japanese constitution in 1885
together with a group of Japanese scholars and the German Friedrich Hermann
Roesler (1834-1894) a professor at the Imperial University of Tokyo. A second
German involved in that project was Albert Mosse (1846-1925) a pupil of Gneist.
On the Japanese side the following persons took part in that highly secret
endeavour: Inoue Kowashi (1844-1895), Itō Miyoji (1857-1934), Kaneko Kentarō
(1853-1942).457
In 1889 this Prussian-style constitution was “granted“ to the Japanese people
by the tennô (preamble) whom the constitution endowed with a “god-like” status
(art.3). To boot, a number of far-reaching powers were bestowed upon the
Japanese emperor.458 Although the Meiji-constitution contained civil rights as well
(freedom of speech, assembly, religion and movement), those were only granted
within „the framework of the laws” and they were not meant to protect against the
overweaning power of the state.459
The biggest concession to the Civil Rights movement was a legislative system
with upper and lower chamber, however, they did not enjoy the right of initiative
and had no control of the budget. This parlament was elected by a tiny number of
male voters with a high minimum income.460
After the victorious war against China in 1894/95 and the looming confrontation
with Russia jingoism began to engulf Japan’s politics. As a response to that
development Nakae and Abe started a discussion putting forward the highly
idealistic image of Switzerland as an alternative to the prevailing nationalistic
mood. That debate amongst intellectuals, kown in Japanese history as the "Model
457
458
459
460
Jansen, vol. 5 (1989), p. 660; Kasahara et al. (1983), pp. 344.
Jansen (1989), pp. 662.
Kasahara et al. (1983), pp. 260.
Hall (1994), pp. 289.
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state discussion" (moderu kokkaron) centered around a perception of Switzerland
as an ideal democracy without aggressive attitudes and ambitions.461
One of the fiercest critiques of the prevailing war euphoria was the socialist
Sozialist Isoo Abe (1865-1949). In 1901 he was one of the founders of the Social
Democratic Party of Japan declared illegal by the authorities on the same day of
its foundation.462 In 1904, in a supplement to the "People's newspaper", Abe
published an essay under the title: ideal country on earth – Switzerland (chijô no
risôkoku – suisu).
In his essay he depicted Switzerland in rather pathetic words as a country whose
qualities of freedom, equality and peace were even surpassing the height of the
Alps and the beauty of the lake of Geneva. The political order had been stable
since 1874 as he mentioned. In three different parts Abe described the political
and educationals system of Switzerland discussing questions of society in general
as well.463
He intended his booklet to be the socialist answer to the " society of the
antirussian minded", an association founded by rightwing intellectuals and
politicians. Abe countered them with his "Socialist Association" embracing those
opposing war against Russia.464 He compared Japan's situation with that of
Switzerland, although surrounded by four powerful nations she was protected by
her mighty mountains. Japan, according to Abe, was in a similar position:
surrounded by China, Russia, the United States and Australia (sic), Japanwas
protected by the sea. Instead of throwing herself into imperialistic adventures,
Japan should be for Asia what Switzerland was for Europe – a neutral harbinger of
peace.465 However, the small minority of leftwing intellectuals and their mainly
urban supporters could not influence public opinion in a substantial way.
461
462
463
464
465
Morita (1980), p. 39.
Ueda et al. (1990), p.42.
Morita (1980), pp. 40.
Ueda et al. (1990), p. 42.
Morita (1980), p. 43.
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In the wake of the spectacular successes against Russia, the voices of reason
were drowning in a general euphoria of victory. Under such cicumstances
Switzerland had outlived her usefulness as a possible role model as well – at least
for the time being.
17. Solferino and Satsuma
on June 29th, 1859 a decisive battle between the armies of Austria on the one
side and those of the kingdom of Sardine-Piemont and its ally France on the other
took place around the small town of Solferino in Northern Italy. In terms of power
the battle was to decide which side was to control Italy's north.
Suddenly, in the midst of the ongoing battle, a Swiss civilian made his appearance
on the battle field. Stubbornly but eventually without success, he tried to meet with
the French supreme commander emperor Napoleon III in order to discuss matters
of his private business. His name was Henry (Jean-Henri) Dunant (1828-1910), a
citizen from Geneva.
Witnessing the horrors of war and the great number of wounded first hand,
however, the young businessman soon forgot his own worries and started on the
spot to organise first aid shelters together with local volunteers and military
surgeons taken prisoners. His traumatic personal experiences on the battle fields
were to alter Dunant's life who was a stout calvinist educated by his mother in a
strictly pietistic sense. In the following year 1860 already, he and the physician
Louis Appia (1818-1898) received a medal of honour for their humanitarian efforts
from the hands of the Italian king Vittorio Emanuele II (1820-1878).
Back in Switzerland, Dunant tried to cope with his emotional shock as a result of
the human misery he had witnessed on the battle fields retreating to an alp in
order to write a book which he published at his own expense in 1862: "A memory
of Solferino". Dunant distributed his bood amongst influential European
personalities in politics and in the military embarking on a lecture tour. In his
lectures he tried to enlist support for the idea laid out in his book of a neutral
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organisation of volunteers extending humanitarian aid in war zones worldwide
recognised and governed by international law.
The idea that even war should have humanitarian limits was already mentioned
one hundred years ago as a philosophic idea of the enlightment by yet another
great son of Geneva. As the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
then wrote in his 'contrat social' (social contract):
"La fin de la guerre étant la destruction de l'état de l'ennemi, on a droit d'en
tuer les défenseurs tant qu'ils ont les armes à la main; mais sitôt qu'ils les
posent et se rendent, cessant d'être ennemis ou instruments de l'ennemi, ils
redeviennent simplement hommes; et l'on n'a plus le droit sur leur vie."466
(As the aim of war consists in the destruction of the enemy state, one has
the right to kill its defenders as long as they hold arms in their hands;
however, as soon as they have laid down their arms and surrendered they
cease being enemies or instruments of an enemy becoming simply human
beings again; and one has no more right to their lives).
Dunant's appeal to establish an international and neutral organisation dedicated
to the only task of granting professional help to defenseless victims of war met
with an unexpectedly big response in Europe and his book went through a number
of reprints in many different languages.
In Dunant's home town the "Philantropic Society of Geneva" chaired by Gustave
Moynier (1826-1910) took a keen interest in this idea as well. In its member
assembly from February 9th, 1863 the society decided to put Dunant's idea into
practice. A committee of five members chaired by the Swiss general GuillaumeHenri Dufour (1787-1875) was charged with this project. Dufour, was a thoughtful
man with political foresight; as the supreme commander of the federal troops who
put down the armed rebellion by the secessionist cantons in 1847 he urged his
troops to show utmost restraint against civilians and surrendering enemy soldiers.
The short order he had issued at that time to his officers and men became
466
Rousseau, vol. 5 (1832), p. 33.
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famous: "Il faut sortir de cette lutte non seulement victorieux, mais aussi sans
reproche"
(we must not only emerge victorously from this fight but also without blame). 467
Together with Moynier as vice president the philanthropic society nominated
Henry Dunant together with Louis Appia and Théodore Mauoir (1806-1869), two
physicians, as members of the above-mentioned committee. A week later, on
February 17th, 1863 the five members decided to turn the commitee into a
permanent body somewhat clumsily named "International commitee of the aid
societies for the care of the wounded". That day became the foundation day of the
ICRC (International Comittee of the Red Cross) named this way since 1876.
With Duour as president and Moynier as vice president, Dunant became the first
committee's secretary.
Fig. 13: The first International Committee of the Red Cross.
467
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume-Henri_Dufour
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The foundation of the Red Cross marked the first step in order to mitigate the
horrors of industrially organised modern warfare and to give humanity a voice in it
as well. Already a year later, on August 22nd 1864, the first convention of the Red
Cross was enacted in Geneva and immediately signed by a dozen states. In its
ten paragraphs the neutrality of all Red Cross personnel and installations marked
by its official emblem was stipulated.468
The person responsible to bring the idea of the Red Cross to Japan was
Tsunetami Sano (1822-1902). His biography was typical for a gifted young
Japanese man of that era. Under the impression of the technological superiority of
the western powers, Sano began to study western sciences early on embarking
on an itinerant life of academic formation that led him to the leading institutions of
learning in Kyoto, Osaka and Edo.469 He started with the study of medicine
abandoning it soon however, for the sake of engineering and natural sciences.
Back home, Sano became the first Japanese to construct actually working
models of a steamboat and a railway in 1855 whose quality it was said could
astonish foreign experts as.470 Upon request of the domain's feudal lord Kansō
Nabeshima (1814-1871), Sano also developed a small fleet an cannons after
foreign designs.
In 1867 Sano was sent by his lord to the world exhibition in Paris. He was in
charge for the objects to be shown originating from his domain Saga, mostly
porcelain and handycrafts. For a young Japanese hungry for knowledge, the world
exhibition was the ideal opportunity to get a glimpse of the level of technological
development of the Western world. On the exhibition the Red Cross organisation
was present as well with its own pavilion displaying medical service equiment. A
bust with a garland of its founder Henry Dunant was also shown, however, at the
same time the founder himself was lost in the streets of Paris reduced to being a
tramp after being forced to leave his home town Geneva as a social pariah in the
468
469
470
Descombes (1988), p. 88.
Ueda et al. (1990), p. 584.
Saga (1993), p. 13.
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wake of his bankruptcy in that same year.471 As Sano himself recounts he
encountered the Red Cross idea for the first time when he visited the pavilion
recognising at once its importance at once.472
Fig. 14: Sano as a young gentleman.
Six years later yet another world exhibition opened its gates in Vienna and once
again Sano came to Europe as deputy leader of a Japanese delegation. On the
Vienna exhibition of 1873 the Red Cross was also there and the conviction in
Sano grew that the time for this idea was ripe in Japan as well.473 Meanwhile it
was clear for him that progress of civilization could not just consist in technological
progress and the rule of law alone, it had to be accompanied by progress in moral
action as well.474
At about the same time as Sano visited the exhibition Vienna the mission led by
count Iwakura Tomomi (1825-1883) was in Switzerland. Arranged by Paul
471
472
473
474
Nihon sekijûjisha (1993), p. 5. Gumpert (1939), p.205.
NHK (1992), p. 249, 253.
NHK (1992), p. 254.
Nihon sekijûjisha (1993), p. 5.
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Cérésole (1832-1905), Paul Cérésole (1832-1905), the president of the Swiss
Confederation, Iwakura and Itō met in Geneva with the leading representatives of
the International Committee of the Red Cross. The report of that meeting reads:
"Nous avons eu la bonne fortune de trouver dans les membres de
l'ambassade des auditeurs on ne peut plus bienveillants, en même
temps que des hommes éclairés, qui se sont montrés tout à fait
sympathiques à nos effortp."475
(We had the fortune to find in the members of the mission not only
very well-meaning but enlightened listeners who showed great
sympathy for our endeavors).
In an expertise written for the Red Cross in Geneva Humbert elaborated on
laws and customs of war in Japan. einem für das Rote Kreuz in Genf erstellten
Gutachten äusserte sich auch Humbert zu den in Japan geltenden
Kriegsgesetzen und -bräuchen. However, he admitted to have found nothing
about conventions and usages in the case of war in the legal codex of the
Tokugawa-Shogunate from 1711 nor in the imperial edicts from 1871. As a
consequence his report was limited to general remarks about the subject.
According to Humbert the domestic Japanese wars in the 16th century “did not
know any rules nor limits whatsoever.” However, he went on like this:
"[…] les vendettas, le suicide noble, les persécutions religieuses, les
assassinats commis sur des étrangers inoffensifs, ne peuvent être
imputés au charactère national. Le peuple, pris dans son ensemble,
est doux, humain, pacifique, et rien n'a rendu le gouvernement actuel
plus populaire que le désarmement de la noblesse et la suppression
de la féodalité. La guerre civile de 1865 à 1868, qui a remis le Mikado
dans la pleine possession de son antique pouvoir, n'a point été
souillée par des actes d'inhumanité. [...] J'ai donc la conviction que le
475
Bulletin International de la Croix Rouge (BICR), 17/1873, p. 13.
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Japon offre un terrain bien préparé à l'oeuvre de votre Comité
international."476
(…as the vendettas, the honor suicide the religious persecutions and
the killings of unarmed foreigners cannot be attributed to the national
character. The people as a whole is gentle, humane, peaceful and
nothing rendered the present government more popular than the
disarmament of the nobility and the abolition of feudalism. The civil
war between 1865 and 1868 leading to the restauration of the
emperor’s ancient power was not sullied by acts of inhumanity […]. I
am therefore convinced that Japan is a fruitful soil for your
committee’s work).
Humbert‘s conclusion proved to be true rather quickly, however, not as intended
and without the help of the committee in Geneva. As mentioned above, in 1877
the government was challenged by Saigō‘s rebel army. The rebellion could be
suppressed but the price was high: 477
Satsuma-Rebellion 1877
Governmen Forces
Rebel Forces
Strength
60'831
about 40'000
Dead and wounded
15'801
about 20'000
Fig. 14: Losses in the Satsuma-war.
What the battle of Solferino was to Dunant, the Satsuma rebellion now became
for Sano. The news of the violent events in the south prompted him to act at once.
Together with Yuzuru Ogyū (1839-1910), a high-ranking government official, in
March 1877 Sano founded a relief organisation modelled after the Red Cross
example named Hakuai-sha (Philanthropical society).478 In its founding charter the
476
477
478
BICR 17/1873, pp. 14.
Kasahara et al. (1983), p. 336.
Ueda et al. (1990), p. 277.
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society explicitly pledged to offer help indiscriminately to those wounded who were
called „enemies“ as well.479 The founders of the Hakuai-sha submitted their charter
to the government asking for official recognition. There, however, the idea of
indiscriminate help met with refusal. The idea to offer help to wounded rebels who
had “raised their swords against the emperor” seemed to the government officials
completely absurd.480 As a consequence Sano decided to submit the dokument
directly to the imperial supreme commander on the battlefield, prince
Arisugawanomiya Taruhito (1835-1895). There, he finally met with sympathy and
not only was the organisation immediately allowed to become active, their
members could also draw upon medical supplies of the army. That day, May 1st
1877, became the actual birthday of the Japanese Red Cross. The Hakuai-sha
took care of the wounded, marking her presence as a neutral party was a
Japanese flag with a short horizontal red bar under the sun symbol.481
Pleas for support made the humanitarian mission of the Hakuai-sha known
amongst the population. Soon the government followed the imperial example
authorizing the society’s activity ex post.482 When Prince Komatsu Akihito (18461903) became its president, the relief organisation enjoyed imperial protection with
Sano und Ogyū as vice presidents.483
479
Nihon Sekijūjisha (1993), p. 10.
NHK (1992), p. 250.
481
Nihon sekijūjisha (1993), p. 4. The japanese army used to mark her medical materials with a
horizontal red bar on a white background.
482
The bulletin of the Red Cross societies reported the activities of the Hakuai-sha as well. See:
BICR 58/1884, pp. 104.
483
NHK (1992), p. 255.
480
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Fig. 16: Die Hakuai-sha in action, note the flag in the background.
Although the Hakuai-sha mission had been a success the organisation itself
could only be regarded as a transitional solution. In the next step one was
contemplating to join the Geneva Convention of 1864.484
At the end of 1883 a delegation of high-ranking military went to Europa in order
to study the armies of different countries. The delegation was led by chief-of-staff
general Iwao Ōyama who had studied languages in Geneva from 1870 until
1873.485 Another member was Dr. Tsunatsune Hashimoto (1845-1909) the chief of
army medical service and professor at the imperial university of Tokyo.486 His task
was the study of medical services in the European armies. Furthermore, at the
request of Prince Komatsu he should also find out more about the conditions and
484
485
486
NHK (1992), p. 256.
Ueda et al. (1990), p. 256.
Ueda et al. (1990), p. 985.
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formalities that have to be fulfilled if Japan was to join the Geneva Convention.487
Temporarily, Hashimoto left the group in order to focus on his special task. He
spent more than two months in Germany visiting hospitals and medical
departments of universities before continuing his journey to Vienna.488 During his
stay in Germany Ōyama got an invitation to join the 3rd international conference of
the Red Cross societies in Geneva; however, as he was about to go to the USA
he forwarded his invitation to Hashimoto. He immediately set out to Geneva where
he became the first –albeit unofficial- Japanese representing his country at such a
conference conducting preliminary negotiations concerning the accession of
Japan to the Geneva Convention. However, now the difficulties of his undertaking
became obvious. Moynier, since Dufour‘s resignation in 1864 the new president of
the International Committee,489 was loath to admit Japan. In his view Japan was a
nation with completely different religious and moral values, therefore he worried
about the Red Cross idea not being understood there.490 Moynier put for
fundamental questions at the heart of the negotiations:
1. Moral 2. Law 3. Physicians 4. The Red Cross Symbol.
Hashimoto’s position towards these questions could be summarized as following:
1)Japanese mores are not 'barbaric‘.
2)The necessary legal foundations for adherence are in place.
3)Formation of Japanese physicians on highest university level.
4)The use of the Red Cross as a symbol will not meet with opposition among
the Japanese population.491
487
Matsudaira (1977), p. 16, 17.
Matsudaira (1977), p. 16.
489
In the wake of his business failure Henry Dunant was expulsed from the board of the
organisation by the jealous Moynier and ignored. After leaving Geneva, Dunant led an itinerant
life under precarious conditions. Despite his misery, however, he propagated his new ideas for
an convention for the treatment of prisoners of war and for the establishment of an
international court of Justice to deal with differences among states. See: Wikipedia/Henry
Dunant; Descombes (1988), p. 157.
490
Matsudaira (1977), p. 17.
491
As in islamic countries the committee in Geneva was worried that the emblem could meet with
refusal. See: BICR 67/1886, p. 246.
488
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With the help of his interpreter and consultant Alexander von Siebold492 and
other members at the conference Moynier’s reservations could be overcome and
in the end the sceptical president gave his unofficial approval to Japan’s
accession.493 Finally the way was open and on June 5th, 1886 Japan joined the
Geneva Convention. This breakthrough was the first great success of the new
Meiji government in her struggle to be recognised as equal by the Western
countries.
In the patronizing style of the time the International Committee in Geneva issued
the following statement expressing its satisfaction:
"Les Japonais sont la première nation païenne qui arbore la CroixRouge, et affirme ainsi sa conformité de croyance avec le monde
chrétien, sur un point de morale pratique qui constitue, pour l'Europe
elle-même, une conquête toute récente de la civilisation. Ils font
preuve de sagesse, reconnaissons-le, en empruntant à l'Occident ses
principes juridiques, contrepoids nécessaire à l'importation de ses
progrès matériels, au sein d'un état social que ceux-ci bouleversent.
C'est un spectacle aussi nouveau que rejouissant, celui d'une nation,
naguère encore absolument réfractaire à l'influence européenne,
entrant ainsi à pleines voiles dans le courant de nos idées modernes,
jusqu'à se soumettre aux devoirs de fraternité et de charité qu'elles lui
imposent envers ses ennemis!"494
(The Japanese are the first non-Christian nation which applies the Red
Cross demonstrating thereby their accordance in a point of practical
morale which has only recently become a victory of civilisation in
Europe itself. With it they show wisdom as they borrow her legal
principles as a necessery counterweight to the imported material
progress which is turning the social order upside down. This is a
492
He was the eldest son of the famous German Japan explorer and physician Philipp Franz von
Siebold (1796-1866).
493
Matsudaira (1977), pp. 17.
494
BICR 67/1886, p. 245.
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spectacle as unusual as it is uplifting to see a nation which was
dismissive of any European influence until very recently now joining
our modern ideas with full sails up to the point of the duties of
brotherhood and mercifulness towards its enemies).
In Japan the public was informed of this event on November 15th of the same
year. A year later, on May 20th 1887, the Hakuai-sha changed her name and
became the Red Cross Society of Japan (Nihon Sekijūjisha); the new member’s
admittance to the international organisation was confirmed on September 2nd
1887.495 In a European dominated world perceived as discriminatory in Japanese
eyes this constituted an important step towards emancipation. Under these
circumstances the humanitarian idea took a backseat to political goals. That “birth
defect” of the national organisation should become fatally obvious only much later
in the 1920 years and particularly during the Pacific war.496 During the Meiji-era
and World War One the Japanese Red Cross functioned in an exemplary way and
fully in the sense of the Geneva Convention.
Focussed and efficiently the Japanese members went now about to built and
expand their organisation. The fact that the Red Cross was enjoying imperial
protection contributed very much to its rapid development. Around 1900 the
organisation already counted more than 800.000 members becoming the largest
national Red Cross society.497
On the other hand the organisational strength of the Japanese Red Cross was
its Achilles tendon. Together with its political „birth defect“ the society became very
much dependent on the government from the start. In three crucial points the
Japanese Red Cross society diverged from the other sister organisations:
495
BICR 72/1887, p. 157.
Checkland (1994), p. 8.
497
Checkland (1994), Einleitung xii. auch das Jahresbudget des JRK war enorm, es betrug um
1900 Fr. 42'400'000.-; vgl. dazu: BICR 131/7 1902, p. 182.
496
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1. The principle of volunteers was very relative in Japan; joining the
organisation was a patriotic duty and „volunteers“ were required by local
authorities to join.
2. As a consequence, a distinctly patriotic spirit permeated the whole
organisation; this was also a consequence of imperial goodwill for the
society because the emperor played a key role in the nation-building
process of modern Japan.
3. The Japanese organisation was strictly hierarchical and centralistic in its
structure. Local sections had no autonomy whatsoever serving rather as
the arm of Tokyo.498
After 1918, these peculiarities led the organisation ever more into the
ideological orbit of the military until being nothing more than the medical
service of the armed forces during the Second World War.
Apart from these external features another contradiction arose from the
traditional Japanese warriors‘ ethos (bushidō) with the humanitarian idea of the
Red Cross. That ancient codex qualified captivity as a personal shame leaving
suicide as the only way of avoiding it. Survivors were treated as slaves.499 An
expression of that dichotomy in Japanese thought was the rehabilitation of
Takamori Saigō in 1891 who until the end always acted according to the traditional
samurai ethos - even as a rebel.
Thanks to the huge number of members and their contributions the Japanese Red
Cross was able to build up a large and efficient infrastructure during the 19th and
the beginning of the 20th century. When the volcano Bandai erupted in 1888
claiming numerous victims the society impressively demonstrated her
capabilities.500 Providing help in this civilian disaster the Japanese Red Cross
went beyond the narrowly defined principles laid down in the Geneva Convention.
The Red Cross also took up a leading role in providing medical services to the
498
Checkland (1994), pp. 9.
Checkland (1994), p. 1, 3.
500
Checkland (1994), p. 9.
499
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civilian population in Japan although her hospitals were thought to tend primarily
to sick and wounded members of the armed forces and to training military medical
personnel.501 However, the way the Red Cross Society of Japan went about its
task during that time and up to the end of World War one often met with
international admiration and recognition.
18. David against Goliath
With the promulgation of its first constitution it became obvious by then which
foreign example Japan was to follow: Germany. Contemporary Western observers
quipped that Meiji-Japan was suffering from German measles.502 However, count
Iwakura and many of his travel companions felt a spriritual affinity to the equally
young German Reich and its „iron chancellor“ Bismarck. Particularly his Darwinist
view of nation states with its emphasis on strength as the only reliable source of
authority apparently made a strong impression on the Japanese visitors to Berlin.
However, they failed to see that the German chancellor was also keenly aware of
the vulnerability of his young Reich and foregoing a policy of expansion. He
focussed on a prudent policy of alliance building with the objective of a stable
balance of power in Europe.503
Japanese ambitions however, were more in line with the later German emperor
William II (1859-1941) who was clamouring for colonies for the Reich as well.
According to the wishes of the Japanese leadership Japan should also claim a
place amongst the powers. In this case, however, Russia’s seemingly unstoppable
advance in Asia played a crucial role as well. The start of the construction of the
Transsiberian railway in 1891 did not bode well and was a shock to Japan.504 The
Japanese feeling of encirclement had tangible reasons. Between 1873 and 1893
France brought Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia under its control; Great Britain
501
502
Checkland (1994), p. 29f.
Wippich/Spang (2006), p. 2.
503
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blut_und_Eisen;
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Bismarck
504
Inoue (1993), p. 432.
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reacted in 1886 with the annexion of Burma while Germany gained a foothold in the
South Pacific. The kingdom of Hawaii fell under the unofficial control of the USA in
1891 and the Dutch secured Java, Sumatra, Borneo und Celebes as their spheres
of influence.505
In the centre of strategic considerations of the Japanese leaders stood Korea;
weak, isolated and ruined by a corrupt nobility the country played a not
unimportant economic role for Japan as a supplier of rice and gold.506 Korea itself
was content to rely largely on Beijing for its defence and foreign policy. However,
Tokyo doubted that the weak Chinese Empire of the Qing dynasty was actually
capable of countering Russian influence in Korea. The Korea question had split
the Japanese government in 1873 already. On the basis of their knowledge of the
West, Iwakura und Ōkubo were strictly against an invasion at that time prompting
Saigō and his followers to leave the government in protest.507
Twenty years on, the situation had changed fundamentally. Now Japan felt
strong enough to challenge China’s influence in Korea and to force the country
into adopting Japanese-style reforms in order build it up as a bulwark against
Russia and, later on, to use it as a springboard into China. The conclusion of a
revised treaty of commerce and friendship with Great Britain assured Tokyo of a
benevolent British neutrality.508
Now, Korea had to endure systematic Japanese pressure leading to the
conclusion of a treaty of commerce in 1876 resembling very much the unequal
treaties Japan had been forced to sign with the Western nations; meanwhile the
Japanese side was provoking China with a series of incidents.509 As a
consequence of this pressure, Korea split politically into a pro-Japanese and a
pro-Chinese faction rivalling each other violently. In 1894 the situation escalated in
a way that China intervened with troops called into the country by the Korean
505
506
507
508
509
Mann vol. 8 (1960), pp. 762.
Inoue (1993), p. 431.
Kodansha, vol. 2 (1993), p. 1293, 1336.
Inoue (1993), pp. 441.
Inoue (1993), p. 349.
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government besieged by rebels. This in turn caused Japan to send troops as well
eventually clashing with the Chinese forces.510
In Switzerland the public knew about the events only slowly but then the reports
and comments increased and quickly gained the headlines of the press. On the
first page of the evening edition of the Neuen Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) on August
3rd, 1894 the reader could read:
"[...] Japans Regierung will im eigenen Lande böse Wirren abwenden
und lenkt deshalb das Interesse des Volkes auf Korea als
Eroberungsobjekt."511(Japan’s government wants to avoid domestic
disturbances and is therefore channelling the people’s interests on Korea as
an object of conquest).
About the victim of this conflict, Korea, the newspaper had some fantastical
information to provide. The country, so the Swiss paper, was ruled by an
extremely lovable but also weak king called Hi-Li who barely pretended to rule. An
English lady tourist was quoted saying that the Koreans are „incredibly naughty
and rude” as well as “completely unreliable and cowardly”. A British officer drew a
hopeless picture of the “odd Korean army“ with its penchant to display corroded
weaponry at funny parades. Of course, the Brit went on, that army was quickly
beaten by the Japanese and the unfortunate king taken prisoner. Initially that war
was perceived in Switzerland as a curiosity, the NZZ wrote ironically that Japan
was asking twenty-five reforms from Korea and China only seven – so what is it all
about?512 As details started to become clear, however, the tone soon changed.
For Japan the war with China took a favourable turn and Swiss opinion in the
press was firmly pro-Japanese. Whereas Japanese prowess in war was admired
without reservation, China’s reputation suffered; the longer the war continued the
more obvious the weaknesses of the Chinese troops became for anyone to see.
They stumbled from one disaster into the next and China’s Qing dynasty lost any
respect whatsoever - not only in Switzerland.
510
511
512
Kasahara et al. (1983), p. 352.
NZZ (A) 213/1894, p. 1.
NZZ (A), 213/1894, p. 1.
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On August 13th, the NZZ undertook a half-hearted attempt in favour of the
Chinese navy. According to a Britisch captain China’s maritime forces were not
inferior to others but the officers were lacking “esprit de corps”. With regard to the
Qing army however, the same source was quoted as saying that “half of it was
made up of barbarians”. In the same issue appeared a short but flattering
biography of the Japanese general Yoshimasa Ōshima (1850-1926), the
commander of the 5th Brigade.513
The reports coming out of the Middle Kingdom however, were rather
depressing. A large fundraising campain was not intended to raise additional funds
for the fight against Japan but for the birthday celebrations of the Empress
Dowager to be held in autumn! In the eyes of the Swiss journalist it was just an
unforgivable „waste of money“.514
With the further advance of the Japanese troops, Swiss voices regarding the
performance of the Qing army became ever more critical. However, China was
credited with a „strong passive power of resistance“ due to the fact that it was a
„enormously tall and fat guy”.515 The most upsetting feature of China in the West
was her „boundless haughtiness“; only seldom one tried to find and to explain the
reasons for that perceived attitude:
"China ist in der That das Land, in dem am frühesten eine Kultur
entstanden ist. Es hat die Schrift erfunden, hat ärztliche und
astronomische Beobachtungen gemacht zu einer Zeit, wo Europa
noch nicht an solche Dinge dachte. Es sieht auf ein so ausgebreitetes
Schrifttum zurück, wie kein anderes Land der Erde. Es hat seine
Dichter, seine Philosophen; es hat den Ackerbau zu einer
staunenswerten Vollendung gebracht."516
(China is in fact the country with the earliest civilization. It was there that the script was
invented and medical and astronomical observations were made at a time when Europe
was not yet thinking of such things at all. Its written culture is second to none on earth. It
has its poets, philosopher; it has developed agriculture up to an astounding degree of
perfection).
513
514
515
516
NZZ (A), 223/1894, p. 2. Zu Ōshimasa: Ueda et al. (1990), p. 228.
NZZ (A), 224/1894, p. 2.
Der Bund (2. Blatt), 36/1895, p. 1.
Der Bund (2. Blatt), 43/1895, p. 1.
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Such insights were the exception, however, general disdain was not targeting
China as a whole but merely the corrupt and inept Manchu dynasty in Beijing.517 In
the spring of 1895 the inevitable came to happen: "[…] der Baum des
chinesischen Hochmutes ist zusammengebrochen unter dem fürchterlichen
Hämmern und Hacken der kleinen Japaner".518
(Under the terrible hammering and hacking of the little Japanese the tree of
Chinese haughtiness has collapsed).
In that conflict the Swiss sympathies were doubtless with the little guy for the
Swiss it was a fight of David against Goliath.
During that war the Japanese Red Cross was able to score as well whereas the
Qing empire gave any reason for appearing strange in the eyes of the
International Committee in Geneva:
"Les Japonais se sont montrés aussi civilisés que le droit de la guerre le permet
et que la Convention de Genève l'exige. [...] On voudrait pouvoir se dire que les
défenseurs du Céleste Empire sont mieux partagés que leurs voisins de Corée,
au point de vue des soins éclairés qu'ils recoivent en cas de maladie ou blessure,
mais il n'en est rien. [...] Un bon example a été donné par l'impératrice douairière,
qui a envoyé à l'armée chinoise, alors qu'elle se trouvait à Ping-Yang, quarante
caisses de 'pilules préventives', souveraines pour protéger les soldats contre la
fatigue, la faim et le soleil!"519
(The Japanese have shown themselves to be as civilised as the laws
of war permit and the Geneva Convention require. […]. One would be
happy if one could say that the defenders of the ‚Empire of Heaven‘
enjoyed the same medical treatment in case of illness and injury as
their neighbours in Korea but this is not the case […]. A telling
example for that was given by the Empress Dowager who had sent
forty cases of pills for the Army in Ping-Yang as a protection for the
soldiers against exhaustion, hunger and the sun).
517
518
519
Der Bund (2. Blatt), 43/1895, p. 1.
Der Bund (2. Blatt), 47/1895, p. 1.
BICR 101/1895, p. 14, 16.
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The committee criticized the Chinese military as well for indiscriminately firing
on Red Cross personnel.520 China was not a member of the Geneva Convention;
in a letter to foreign missionary doctors in China Moynier strictly rejected their
quest to recognise their relief organisation for the wounded as the Chinese Red
Cross society. According to him, the Chinese people was not yet sufficiently
civilised from the point of view of the rules of war to ensure that the Geneva
Convention is observed.521
On the other hand, the Japanese side was always ready with explanations and
disproof also in the case when the military was accused of violence against
Chinese civilians after the fall of Port Arthur (Lüshunkou).522 Beijing however,
remained silent and became a plaything of the Western press. And there the
causes for the Chinese debacle were quickly identified: „Chinese
mismanagement“.523 Meanwhile the Qing dynasty had lost any resemblance of
respectability.
On the other side Japan‘s strategic gamble had paid off handsomely and Europe
was enthusiastic about that masterpiece of power politics which suited Western
Zeitgeist at that time so much. During the peace negotiations in Shimonoseki
however, something unforeseen happened. A Japanese fanatic shot at the
Chinese chief negotiator wounding him heavily. The government in Tokyo was
deeply embarrassed by such an act of meaningless violence. However, by now it
seemed that the Japanese could do nothing wrong and even such an incident did
not dampen a leading Swiss newspaper’s Japanophile attitude; the only unusual
thing about the article was a dose of self-criticism:
"[...] und es ist wirklich hübsch zu sehen, mit welcher Feinheit und
Sicherheit die Vertreter dieser asiatischen Nation sich in einem so
schwierigen Falle benehmen. [...] Der japanische Vertreter in
London, welcher aus Anlass des Attentates von einem Interviewer
520
521
522
523
BICR 111/1897, p. 209.
Checkland (1994), p. 45.
BICR 105/1896, pp. 210.
NZZ (A), 100/1895, p. 1.
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besucht wurde, überschüttete diesen mit zierlichen Sprüchen der
japanischen Volksweisheit, welche alle die ritterliche Gesinnung
zum Ausdruck bringen, welche für das japanische Volk
charakteristisch ist. [...] Überhaupt führt eine engere Beschäftigung
mit den aussereuropäischen Kulturnationen unvermeidlich zu dem
Schluss, dass unser Europäerhochmut um gar nicht so viel weniger
lächerlich ist, wie der so übel verrufene Chinesenhochmut. [...] in
der Einrichtung des Lebens dagegen, in Sitten und Gebräuchen, in
der für das praktische Leben wichtigen Lebensphilosophie, und
namentlich auch in der Druchdringung der Individuen mit der Kultur,
stehen wir zum teil noch weit unter ihnen."524
(And it is indeed a lovely sight to see the representatives of that
Asian nation how delicately and safely they are dealing with such a
difficult situation […]. The Japanese envoy in London lavished an
interviewer with delicate sayings of Japanese popular wisdom
expressing the chivalric attitude which is so characteristic of the
Japanese people […]. Generally speaking, as we deal deeper with
the civilised non-European nations we discover that the arrogance
of the Europeans is not so different from the much reviled Chinese
arrogance. […] with regard to the organisation of everyday life, the
mores, customs and practical wisdom which are so important in
practical life and with regard to individual culture we are sometimes
still far below them).
Only seldom one could also hear voices critical of Japan and the best known
among those belonged to the former German envoy to Japan Max von Brandt
(1835-1920). He had the reputation of being a harsh critic of Japan. In Switzerland
his lectures attracted many people and he warned his audience about Japan’s
ambitions which was the original cause of the conflict. The German characterised
the Japanese in general as „dishonest“ praising on the other hand the Chinese
businessman and civil servant as “uniquely reliable”.525 As a particular danger
emanating from Japan he saw its economic competitiveness. Extremely low
wages in combination with European machinery constituted an economic threat to
Europe argued von Brandt. As a countermeasure he recommended a federation
of Western Europe in a kind of “idea of the United States of Europe”.526
524
525
526
Der Bund (2. Blatt), 88/1895, p. 1.
NZZ (A), 105/1895, p. 1.
Der Bund 106/1895, p. 1.
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On April 23rd, 1895 China and Japan signed the Peace Treaty of Shimonoseki.
The conditions for a humiliated China were tough. It had to recognize Korea’s
sovereignty, cede Taiwan and the Pescadores-Islands to Japan to pay a war
indemnity of 300 million Yen. To add insult to injury, China was to lease the
peninsula of Liao-Tung and Port Arthur (now: Lüshunkou) to Japan and had to
grant a number of trade privileges to boot.527 In the eyes of the NZZ the peace
treaty was even deemed as a masterpiece of daft Japanese diplomacy. According
to the paper the territorial concessions had deliberately been kept below the
possible maximum in order not to provoke a European reaction, however, that
soon turned out to be a misjudgement.528 Tokyo’s joy was not to last for long
because a powerful coalition of Russia, Germany and France conveyed their
reservations regarding the Japanese leasing concessions in Liao-Tung. And Great
Britain saw no advantage in backing up Japan further; the Japanese troops
withdrew from the contested area, not without making China pay another 50
million Yen in compensation. As a reaction to that demonstration of power Japan’s
leaders embarked on a program of armament at the expense of its civilian
population.529
In Switzerland the so called Triple Intervention by the three powers met with
incomprehension; it was seen as blackmailing in order to rip Japan of the spoils of
her victory. Particularly Germany’s policy was regarded badly because Japan was
seen as not having exploited her victory to the full.530
However, the cynicism of the powers proofed to be limitless during that time of
imperialism. Only a few years later China had to cede the territories handed back
to her by Japan again. And from 1898 on Russia took over Port Arthur from were
the Japanese had retreated. The German Reich occupied the bay of Kiaouchow
(now: Qingdao) in 1897, France the area of Kuangchouwan in 1898 and in the same
year Great Britain claimed the port city of Weihaiwei (now: Weihai).
527
528
529
530
Inoue (1993), p. 445.
NZZ (A), 112/1895, p. 1.0
Kasahara et al. (1983), p. 354.
NZZ (A), 114/1895, p. 1.
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Despite Japan‘s humiliation by the European powers Germany’s brash emperor
William II already perceived a „Yellow Peril“ against Europe’s civilization. The
German painter Hermann Knackfuss (1848-1919) illustrated his emperor’s fears in
an allegoric painting: a group of fearless European Valkyries faced a radiant
Buddha on the horizon riding on a dragon.531 However, this official attitude was not
necessarily shared by the general public in Germany, particularly intellectuals
were sceptical of such a peril.532 According to the German emperor’s theory,
Russia was the last bulwark against such a "Yellow Peril" because: "[...] in einem
ungeheuren Bogen von der Ostspitze Sibiriens bis zur Nordostecke des britischen
Indiens diese unheimlich Welt umschliesst."533 (It surrounds that eerie world in a
huge arc reaching from the Eastern tip of Siberia to the northeastern corner of
British India).
For Switzerland such geostrategic considerations were of no meaning,
however, a slight uneasiness started to set in when thinking about possible
consequences for Swiss business in East Asia. Japanese competitors had not
only an advantage in pricing but were also profiting from geographical and ethnical
proximity to China and the Chinese. Furthermore, Japan was by now able to
produce as "aesthetically and tastefully" as here.534 Another point in case was the
fact that the old –and unequal- Treaty of Commerce and Friendship was up for
revision. A number of countries already did conclude more balanced treaties with
Japan: Britain (July 1894), USA (November 1894), Italyi (December 1894), Russia
(June 1895), Denmark (October 1895), Germany, Sweden and Norway (April 1896).
Switzerland could not ignore this development. At the core of Swiss commercial
interests was the export of watches to Japan. Between 1893 and 1895 the Swiss
watch was still ruling the Japanese market supremely, those were the golden times
with an average market share of 83% and even 86% by value.535
531
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Knackfuss
Wippich (2006), p. 3.
533
NZZ (A), 125/1895, p. 2.
534
NZZ (A), 114/1895, p. 1.
535
EPD, Négotiations (1896), p. 36.
532
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The president of the Swiss Confederation Adolf Deucher (1831-1912) was
hoping that the Japanese side would be tolerant with regard to new custom tariffs;
his objective was to reach an agreement at a general fixed tariff of 10%, that is,
twice the existing one. His argument was based on the case of Germany who got
a fixed tariff for its long case clocks. Furthermore, Deucher pointed to the fact that
Switzerland was the third biggest buyer of Japanese silk and silk scarves after the
USA and France charging by far the lowest tariff: 16.- francs per 100 kg (France
200.- francs, Italy 600.-, Germany 1.000.-, Russia 7.400.- and the USA 45% of the
value).536
As solid as his argumentation was, poor Deucher faced Kogorō Takahira (18541926), a tough negotiator whom he could not solid convince. The Japanese side
was bent on exploiting their newly won negotiating power to the fullest, as
Switzerland had been able to do earlier with the inexperienced shogunate.
Nowadays, Japan’s situation has changed completely and the existing treaty
would most likely damage the good relations between the two countries replied
Takahira coldly.537 Strong words indeed and whatever the Swiss president did
there was no arguing that time had changed.
The new treaty was signed in Berne on November 10th, 1896 replacing the
former “Treaty of Friendship and Commerce” from 1864.538 Bowing to facts the
Federal Council had to recognise that one „could not anymore refuse to grant
Japan the right of self-determination“ despite „a certain resistance of foreign
nationals residing in Japan“.539 In his report to parlament the Swiss government
emphasized the fact that Japan’s trade had increased nearly tenfold between
1868 and 1894 and that in the sphere of legislation and constitution fundamental
improvements had taken place.540
536
537
538
539
540
EPD, Négotiations (1896), p. 37.
EPD, Négotiations (1896), p. 52.
NZZ (A), 313/1896, p. 1.
FB 1896/4, p. 795.
FB 1896/4, p. 794.
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The new treaty brought several improvements in the relations between
Switzerland and Japan. According to article 2 provided for full freedom of travel
outside the port cities as well as the protection of person and property. In article 3
the principle of freedom of religion and conviction was renewed together with an
extended right to own, rent and lease of real estate.541 In article 11 intellectual
property rights now covered foreign nationals as well, something the Federal
Council was particularly eager to emphasize as there had been complaints in this
regard for years.542 Under the new treaty the autonomous foreign settlements in
the port cities were again incorporated into the existing Japanese communities
(art.12) and in artikel 14 Japan not only regained her tariff authority back, the
consular courts for foreign nationals were also abolished.
Taking the new tariffs already agreed upon with Great Britain, Germany and
France as an example, the Federal Council expected future Japanese tariffs for
Switzerland’s main export items to be set between 5 and 10%.543 The Japanese
side had declined to enter in tariff negotiations with Switzerland arguing that she
was not a main trade partner. The Swiss had to be content with Takahira’s
assertions that the new tariffs would be of purely fiscal nature and not
protectionist. The Federal Council soothingly stated that according to „competent
conclusion“, no quick development of Japanese watch production was be
expected.544 The new treaty between Japan and Switzerland was to come into
force on July 17th, 1899 for the duration of twelve years. The press in Switzerland
welcomed the new treaty hoping it would give new impetus to the economy in its
dealings „with the nowadays most important people in Eastern Asia which is
becoming more and more important."545
However, the following year saw a bad awakening when the Japanese Diet
ratified the treaty with Switzerland with a hitch: the import of watches was subject
541
542
543
544
545
FB 1896/4, p. 797.
FB 1896/4, p. 799.
FB 1896/4, p. 802.
FB 1896/4, p. 804; EPD, Négotiations (1896), p. 52.
NZZ (A), 315/1896, p. 1.
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to heavy taxes. The Diet set the new customs tariff for pocket watches at between
25 to 30%!
As soon as the news transpired a wave of public outrage engulfed the Western
parts of Switzerland. The newspaper La Revue from Lausanne used strong
language talking about „Japanese crooks“ who are „lying like the Cretes“. The
watch industry, according to the same paper, was badly surprised by that
„meanness“ and in a couple of years from now on the Japanese might probably
work for the export.546 The paper Journal de Genève was more careful in its
wording but also expressed the opinion that Switzerland had been „heavily hit“,
assuming further that the high tariff was set in order to protect industry.547 The
Tribune de Genève saw in it even a trade war. For this paper, the main culprits
however, were sitting in Berne stating sarcastically that the new treaty was
certainly not a masterpiece by our statesmen.548 But this assessment was not
entirely fair to Deucher, Switzerland had definitely no leverage in this situation – a
punitive tariff on silk imports would have rather hit the Swiss textile industry than
the Japanese silk production.
The organ of the directly affected watch industry remained cool-headed and
was asking for restraint in order to limit the damage.549 In its analysis the reason
for the high import tariffs were seen in the Sino-Japanese war which ended barely
two years earlier. Because the budget had more than doubled the Japanese
government needed new income which was impossible to obtain under the 5%regime. The Japanese government had been in favour of a 15 to 20% increase
but parliament insisted on a 25-30% increase; but, so the paper further, there
could not be any doubt that parliament did also intend to promote the domestic
watch industry by this measure.550
546
La Revue, 29.6.1897, Lausanne, Zeitungsausschnitt ohne Seitenangabe, in: BAB, Dossier
E6/40.
547
BAB, Dossier E6/40, Journal de Genève 160 (2ème éd.)/1897, p. 2.
548
Tribune de Genève, 11./12.7.1897, p. 1.
549
La Fédération Horlogère, 47/1897, p. 254.
550
La Fédération Horlogère, 56/1897, p. 303.
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However, given the enormous war indemnity which China had to pay the
argument about an expanded budget seems rather unconvincing and
protectionism was most likely the main motive for the watch tariffs.
Meanwhile, the Japanese side felt some uneasiness about their negotiating
success because Switzerland had indeed got the rawest deal possible.
Ambassador Hayashi in Vienna pointed out to his boss, the minister of foreign
affairs Tokujirō Nishi (1847-1912), that Japan had agreed to a conventional tariff
even to Spain a country with whom trade relations were insignificant; the same
was true in the case of Austria-Hungary and Hayashi was worried that Japan’s
image among the Swiss population was worsening because the Swiss now felt
cheated.551 Nishi replied that one would be ready to think about possible SwissJapanese trade promoting measures if the new tariff did indeed damage to the
Swiss watch exports.552
What strikes the eye is the fact that the problem of watch tariffs was not a big
issue in the German language press of Switzerland; here one can find barely more
than the official statements to the whole affair.553 In the end, the new situation was
defused by the long-term growth dynamics of the Japanese economy and so,
despite the increased tariffs, Swiss exports on to Japan continued to increase
steadily.
The day the new treaty went into force was celebrated by the Japanese
population as a „day of liberation“, reported the Swiss envoy to Japan Paul Ritter
back to Berne.554 After the long years of discrimination by the West everyone in
Japan felt the dawn of a new era in the relations with the West. Finally it seemed
that Europe was taking Japan seriously, a country whose population in 1880 was
equal to that of Great Britain.555
551
552
553
554
555
Gaikōshiryōkan (2.5.1.52), Depeschen vom 18.1.1898 und 28.1.1898
Gaikōshiryōkan (2.5.1.52), Depesche vom 3.2.1898.
NZZ (A), 189/1897, p. 2.
BAB, Dossier E 2300, Bericht Ritters vom 8.8.1899, p. 1.
Barraclough (1960), p. 706.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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The Swiss envoy, however, was more worried that „the foreign nationals will
from now on be completely in the hands of the Japanese“.556 He apparently was
not alone with this assessment; considerable uneasiness spread amongst the
Europeans and Americans living in Japan. In einem vertraulichen Bericht
zeichnete Ritter ein eher düsteres Bild von der Stimmung unter der
Ausländerkolonie in Yokohama. Schon jetzt, so klagte er, mache sich die
"Selbstüberhebung" der Japaner gegenüber den Fremden "täglich unangenehmer
bemerkbar", so seien etwa "Beschimpfungen und Angriffe" an der Tagesordnung.
Ein solches Gebaren war für ihn nicht nachvollziehbar, er erwartete von den
Japanern eher Dankbarkeit. In einem dem Bericht beigelegten Zeitungsausschnitt
aus der Zeitung The Japan Daily Mail vom 5. August 1899 (p. 3) war eine Rede
Ritters vor der Ausländerkolonie in Yokohama abgedruckt, in der er die Ansicht
vertrat, dass Japans Fortschritt doch eigentlich ein Verdienst der Ausländer
war.557
Für die Japaner dagegen bedeuteten die neuen Verträge vor allem, dass sich
Vorfälle wie die "Normanton"- Affäre vom 25. Oktober 1886 nicht mehr
wiederholen sollten. Dieser tragische Zwischenfall hatte sich tief ins öffentliche
Bewusstsein eingegraben. Damals war der englische Frachter "Normanton" vor
der Küste Japans in schwere Seenot geraten. Während sich der englische
Kapitän und ein Teil seiner Mannschaft mit den Rettungsbooten in Sicherheit
brachten, wurden die restlichen Menschen an Bord, darunter alle dreiundzwanzig
japanischen Passagiere, ihrem Schicksal überlassen – keiner von ihnen überlebte
das Unglück. Vor dem englischen Konsulargericht in Kobe rechtfertigte sich der
Kapitän daraufhin damit, dass die Japaner seine Aufforderung, in die Boote zu
steigen nicht verstanden hätten, worauf er sie zurücklassen musste. Sein Konsul
glaubte ihm diese Aussage und sprach ihn von jeder Schuld frei. Dieser Entscheid
löste in der japanischen Öffentlichkeit eine Welle der Empörung aup. Unter dem
Druck des Volkszorns liess die japanische Regierung im Namen des Gouverneurs
556
557
BAB, Dossier E 2300, Bericht Ritters vom 28.1.1898, p. 1.
BAB, Dossier E 2300, Bericht Ritters vom 28.1.1898, p. 1.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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der Präfektur Hyōgo Anklage wegen Mordes gegen den Kapitän erheben. Das
englische Konsulargericht in Yokohama verurteilte ihren Landsmann daraufhin zu
drei Monaten Gefängnis, was nicht eben zur Beruhigung des japanischen
Volkszorns beitrug. Als Folge der ganzen Affäre entstand sogar ein japanisches
Volkslied über den Untergang der "Normanton", das sich im ganzen Land
verbreitete.558
19. Hodler im Kimono
Der obenerwähnte Félix Regamey brachte das Paradoxe in der Wahrnehmung
Meiji-Japans durch Europa auf den Punkt und erhellte gleichzeitig den
herrschenden Zynismus des imperialen Zeitalterp. Mit Bitterkeit merkte er an, dass
Japan offenbar nicht durch seine "friedlichen Künste" beeindrucken, sondern erst
mit der "erfolgreichen Schlächterei" des chinesisch-japanischen Krieges die
ersehnte Achtung Europas gewinnen konnte.559 Diese Feststellung Regameys traf
für die europäische Kunstwelt allerdings nicht zu. In diesen Kreisen wurden
Japans schöne Künste schon sehr früh anerkennend zur Kenntnis genommen.
Bereits seit dem späten 16. Jahrhundert fanden Lack- und Porzellanarbeiten aus
Japan über die VOC ihren Weg nach Europa. Zusammen mit chinesischen
Produkten erfreuten sie sich grosser Beliebtheit als Gegenstände des gehobenen
Luxus und wurden in Europa auch eifrig imitiert. Um 1740 herum stellte die V.O.C
ihre Käufe von japanischem Porzellan (Arita-Porzellan) jedoch wieder ein, weil es
preislich mit den chinesischen Produkten nicht mehr konkurrieren konnte.560
Im Gefolge des japanisch-französischen Handelsvertrages von 1858 kamen
dann auch japanische Farbholzschnitte nach Parip. In der europäischen
Entdeckungslegende der japanischen ukiyo-Bilder spielte der Zufall die
entscheidende Rolle. Demnach fand der französische Maler und Graphiker Félix
Braquemond (1833-1914) 1856 in einer Sendung japanischen Porzellans einen
558
559
560
Kasahara et al. (1983), p.350.
Regamey (1903), p. 38.
Impey (1994), p. 148, 160.
173
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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biegsamen Band mit Holzschnittdrucken von Hokusai, der als Füllmaterial gedient
hatte. Anderen Berichten zufolge wurden diese sogenannten manga allerdings
erst 1862 entdeckt.561 Dort lösten sie in der Künstlerwelt eine regelrechte "Welle
der Holzdrucke" (vague des estampes) aup. Bei diesen Holzdrucken handelte es
sich um volkstümliche Darstellungen des japanischen Alltagslebens vom 17. bis
zur Mitte des 19. Jahrhundertp. Diese bürgerliche Genremalerei und -graphik war
in Japan bekannt unter dem Namen ukiyo-e, was etwa soviel heisst wie "Bilder
der fliessenden, vergänglichen Welt." Die berühmtesten ukiyo e-Meister waren:
Hokusai Katsushika (1760-1849), Andō Hiroshige (1797-1858) und Utamaro
Kitagawa (1753-1806).562 Die Motive dieser Drucke stammten vielfach aus dem
städtischen Vergnügungsleben des alten Edo oder zeigten Ansichten von
bekannten japanischen Landschaften. Diese ukiyo-Bilder bildeten den Gegenpol
zur elitären Hof- und Sakralkunst Japans und wurden in ihrem Entstehungsland
vergleichsweise gering geschätzt.563
In Pariser Künstlerkreisen stiessen die ersten ukiyo-Bilder dagegen auf
Begeisterung. Der Sammler und Kunstkritiker Philippe Burty (1830-1890) prägte
dafür in einer Artikelreihe den Begriff Japonismup. In dem Japonismus Europas
sah Burty allerdings kein wirklich tiefgehendes Interesse an der Kultur Japans,
sondern eher eine in der Tradition der Romantik stehende, oberflächliche
Begeisterung für japanische Kunst.564 Nichtsdestoweniger übte der japanische Stil
in der Folge auf viele der bekanntesten europäischen Maler und Graphiker einen
deutlich sichtbaren Einfluss aup. Verstärkt wurde die Wirkung des Japonismus
noch durch die auf den Weltausstellungen565 gezeigten kunsthandwerklichen
Erzeugnisse Japanp. Allerdings war der durchschnittliche Europäer kaum
imstande, zwischen Japan und China zu unterscheiden.566 Dasselbe galt auch für
561
562
563
564
565
566
Budde (1994), p. 166.
Lühl (1983), p. 175, 195ff.
Budde (1994), p. 164.
Budde (1994), p. 165.
London 1862; Wien 1873, Paris 1876, 1878 und 1889.
Balemi (2003), p. 52f.
174
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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viele Künstler und Sammler, die in ihrer unkritischen Begeisterung gemischte
Kollektionen japanischer und chinesischer Kunstwerke aufbauten.567
Neben Braquemond war der in Paris lebende amerikanische Kunstmaler James
McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) einer der Ersten, die sich näher mit den japanischen
Holzdrucken befassten. In seiner Zeitschrift für asiatischen Kunst, Le Japon
Artistique, feierte der ebenfalls in Paris lebende, aus Hamburg stammende
Kunsthändler Siegfried/Samuel Bing (1838-1905) die neue Ästhetik des
japanischen Holzschnitts überschwänglich und trug damit wesentlich zu dessen
Verbreitung bei. Neben Bing gab es in Paris zahlreiche weitere Kunsthändler, die
der gestiegenen Nachfrage nach japanischen und chinesischen Objekten
Rechnung trugen. So soll auch Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) eine Sammlung
von Japandrucken besessen haben, einige seiner Selbstporträts orientierten sich
in ihrem Ausdruck an japanischen Vorbildern.568
Zum bildlichen Symbol der Japonismusbewegung in Europa wurde der Kimono.
Auf der Pariser Weltausstellung von 1878 feierte die Kunst aus China und Japan
wahre Triumphe und löste in Frankreich sogar eine ostasiatische Modewelle aup.
Viele namhafte Künstler verwendeten den Kimono in der Folge als Motiv. Claude
Monet (1840-1926) malte 1876 seine junge Frau in einem prachtvollen roten
Kimono, einen Fächer in der Hand ("La Japonaise").569 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
(1864-1901) wurde von seinen Zeitgenossen auch als der Utamaro vom
Montmartre bezeichnet, weil er seine Motive vorzugsweise im Nachtleben der
Grossstadt suchte. In der Art eines Stillebens malte er 1888 eine seiner
Freundinnen im Kimono (Lily Grenier im Kimono).570 Auf dem Bild, das Eduard
Manet (1832-1883) von Emile Zola (1840-1902) malte, waren im Hintergrund
japanische Holzschnitte und Tuschmalereien zu erkennen.571 Edgar Degas (1834-
567
568
569
570
571
Wichmann (1980), p. 8.
Bonafaloux (1990), p. 54, Wichmann (1980), p. 9, 40.
Wichmann (1980), p. 19f.
Budde (1994), p. 176f.
Wichmann (1980), p. 25.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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1917) interessierte sich vor allem für japanische Gebärden und Haltungen wie sie
bei Hokusai zu sehen waren.572
Auch für den aus Lausanne stammenden Maler und Graphiker Félix Vallotton
(1865-1925) war Bings Zeitschrift eine reiche Quelle der Inspiration.573 In seinen
Farbholzschnitten lehnte er sich in Technik und Motiven immer wieder an
japanische Muster an, er besass eine umfangreiche Sammlung japanischer
Drucke.574 Ausgehend von Hokusais Ansichten des Fuji entwickelte Vallotton
einen eigenen, rein auf Flächen aufgebauten Schwarzweissstil.575
Der Berner Albert Anker (1831-1910) wurde während seines
Studienaufenthaltes in Paris anscheinend ebenfalls von der dort herrschenden
Japanbegeisterung angesteckt, er schuf im Jahre 1880 einen Wandteller mit dem
Porträt einer Geisha.576
Im deutschsprachigen Raum setzte die Japonismusbewegung erst mit
Verspätung ein. Das Bild Die Japanerin des Österreichers Hans Makart (18401884) war ein typisches Beispiel dafür.577 Der Japonismus profitierte im
deutschsprachigen Raum von der Wiener Weltausstellung im Jahre 1873, auf der
eine Reihe von Farbholzschnitten Hokusais zu sehen waren. Und auch hier
stiessen diese Werke bei den Künstlern Wiens auf einhellige Begeisterung.578
Neben Wien waren Berlin und München die bedeutsamsten Zentren der
darstellenden Kunst im deutschsprachigen Raum; und in diesen Städten hielten
sich auch Schweizer Künstler auf. Der in Berlin lebende Maler und Graphiker Karl
Walser (1877-1943)579 wurde von der dort herrschenden Japanbegeisterung
derart mitgerissen, dass er sich 1908 entschloss, Japan selbst zu besuchen. Die
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
Wichmann (1980), p. 28f.
Budde (1994), p. 176.
Wichmann (1980), p. 82, 102, 104, 230.
Hinz (1982), p. 130.
Hinz (1982), p. 188.
Budde (1994), p. 176.
Hinz (1982), p. 73f.
Bruder des Schriftstellers Robert Walser (1878-1956).
176
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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von dieser Reise mitgebrachten Bilder und Zeichnungen Walsers fanden in
verschiedenen Ausstellungen grossen Anklang.580
Der bekannteste Schweizer Künstler zu jener Zeit war zweifellos Ferdinand
Hodler (1853-1918). Er kam 1890 erstmals mit japanischer Kunst in Berührung
und im selben Jahr schuf er sein symbolistisches Werk "Die Nacht". Seine
reduziert gesehenen Landschaftsbilder orientierten sich dabei am japanischen
Vierfarbenholzschnitt.581 Repräsentativ dafür war sein im Jahre 1907
entstandenes Bild "Silvaplanersee", das mit mit Hokusais "36 Ansichten des Fuji"
verglichen wurde.582
Auf den um die Jahrhundertwende in einer Krise steckenden europäischen
Holzschnitt wirkte der japanische Einfluss ebenfalls belebend. Der moderne
europäische Holzschnitt begann sich nicht nur technisch, sondern auch formal,
kompositionell und inhaltlich neu am japanischen Vorbild zu orientieren.583 In
München, dem Zentrum des modernen deutschen Holzschnitts verbrachte die
bekannte Holzschnittkünstlerin Martha Cunz (1876-1961) aus St.Gallen ihre Lehrund Wanderjahre. Der verspätete Japonismus in Deutschland hatte sich aber
bereits von seinen ursprünglichen Quellen entfernt und übte auf das Werk der
Ostschweizerin nur noch einen indirekten Einfluss aus; direkter und unmittelbarer
war ab 1909 ihre Auseinandersetzung mit den Holzschnitten Hodlerp.584 In
Frankreich, wo der Japonismus seinen Siegeszug durch Europas Kunstwelt
angetreten hatte, war er nach 1902 bereits wieder im Schwinden begriffen.585 Im
deutschsprachigen Raum dagegen, wo er mit Verzögerung und aus zweiter Hand
eingesetzt hatte, blieb der Japonismus noch einige Jahre populär, bevor er sich
dann auch hier abschwächte.
580
581
582
583
584
585
Hinz (1982), p. 295f.
Hinz (1982), p. 305. Auch: Wichmann (1980), p. 409.
Hinz (1982), p. 306.
Hinz (1982), p. 206.
Studer (1993), p. 118.
Hinz (1982), p. 70.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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20. Oberst Gertsch an der Front
Nachdem Japan China gewaltsam aus Korea verdrängt und damit Einlass in
das Konzert der Mächte gefunden hatte, entwickelte die Logik der Machtpolitik
ihre eigene Dynamik. Japans Interessen stiessen nun frontal mit jenen des nach
Süden ausgreifenden Russland zusammen, das sich im Gefolge des chinesischen
Boxeraufstandes, seit 1900 militärisch in der Mandschurei festzusetzen begann.
Die aussenpolitischen Verwicklungen Japans schlugen in der Folge auch auf
das innenpolitische Klima durch. In der Bevölkerung herrschte eine
überwältigende nationalistische Stimmung. Der Deutsche Arzt Erwin Bälz (18491913), Professor an der Kaiserlichen Universität Tokio und Leibarzt des Tennō,
schrieb in sein Tagebuch, dass ein Krieg mit Russland schon heute vom Zaun
gebrochen würde, wenn es nach der öffentlichen Meinung ginge.586
Als Absicherung in einem Krieg mit dem mächtigen Russland hatte Japan am
30. Januar 1902 ein Flottenabkommen mit der führenden Seemacht
Grossbritannien abgeschlossen. Am 8. Februar 1904 dann überraschte die
japanische Flotte die im chinesischen Port Arthur (Lu Shün) vor Anker liegende
russische Pazifikflotte und vernichtete sie weitgehend; damit begann Japans
bisher gewagtestes aussenpolitisches Abenteuer.
Für Paul Ritter, den Schweizer Geschäftsträger in Japan, stand bereits
unmittelbar nach Kriegsausbruch fest, wie dieser Krieg ausgehen würde. In einem
vertraulichen Bericht nach Bern schrieb er: "die Vortrefflichkeit des japanischen
Soldaten wird den Landkrieg entscheiden."587
Auch in der Schweiz schlug dieses Ereignis wie eine Bombe ein und
beherrschte in der Folge über ein Jahr lang die Schlagzeilen. Wie gross das
Interesse an diesem Konflikt hierzulande war, zeigte sich allein schon an der Flut
der Sonderausgaben und Zeitungsbeilagen zum Kriegsgeschehen. Früh wurde
ausserdem klar, auf wessen Seite die Sympathien der Schweiz lagen denn dieser
Konflikt wies wiederum eine reizvolle "David gegen Goliath"- Konstellation auf.
586
587
Kasahara et al. (1983), p. 362.
BAB, Dossier E 2001/A648-652, Bericht Ritter vom 17.3.1904.
178
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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Und auch hier hatte der japanische David die öffentliche Meinung der Schweiz auf
seiner Seite. Die Verantwortung für den gegenwärtigen Konflikt lag für die
Schweizer Presse schon vor Kriegsbeginn bei den nach Süden drängenden
Russen, die die japanische Seite geradezu provoziert hätten.588
Die von offiziellen Kreisen in Deutschland vertretene These einer "Gelben
Gefahr" stiess in der Schweiz gänzlich auf Ablehnung. Hier sah man, ganz im
Gegenteil, einen russischen Sieg als ungleich "schwerer und gefährlicher" für die
europäische Zivilisation an. Interessanterweise wurde dabei zwischen Japan und
den anderen Völkern Asiens ein deutlicher Unterschied gemacht:
"Es ist bekannt, wie leicht und rasch Russland seine asiatischen
Eroberungen verdaut. Im Gegensatz zum Engländer, der den
beherrschten Fremdvölkern immer nur als ein höheres Wesen
gegenübertritt, verkehrt der Russe mit Tartaren, Turkmenen und
Dschungusen als mit seinesgleichen [...] Aus einem entscheidenden
Sieg über Japan wird daher Russland mit einer Machtfülle
hervorgehen, die für Europa in wirtschaftlicher wie machtpolitischer
Richtung erdrückend sein musp."589
Die in der demokratischen Schweiz herrschende Antipathie gegen das
autokratische Russland sass derart tief, dass sogar ein so wenig bekanntes Land
wie Japan den Schweizern sympathisch erschien. Bei der Schweizer
Berichterstattung dominierte bis zum Schluss eine weitgehend kritiklose
Begeisterung für die japanische Seite. Nicht einmal so etwas wie ein
gemeinsames christliches Erbe konnte dabei eine Rolle spielen. In einer kühnen
Interpretation stilisierte das Blatt die japanische Armee zur Verteidigerin einer
höheren Moral empor:
"Im Tross der russischen Armee liegen Haufen von Heiligenbildern,
Messgewändern, geweihten Hostien, Amuletten, die japanischen
Heere rücken ohne sichtbare Gegenstände religiöser Ehrerbietung ins
Feld. Dort riesige Veranstaltungen, Massengebete, Zeremonien, um
den obersten Schlachtenlenker günstig zu stimmen, Bigotterie,
Fanatismus; hier Nüchternheit, rein patriotisches Interesse. Dort aber
auch ungeheuerliche Korruption, politischer Despotismus, religiöse
588
589
Beilage NZZ 11/1904, p. 1.
NZZ (M) Nr. 41/1904, p. 1.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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Intoleranz, Kulturfeindlichkeit in und gegenüber den breiten
Volksschichten, insgeheim noch immer wilde Grausamkeit, die vor
etlichen Jahren Tausende von mandschurischen Chinesen ertränkte;
hier musterhafte Ordnung, politische Weitherzigkeit, Glaubens- und
Gewissensfreiheit, ausgezeichnete Volkserziehung, Grossmut gegen
den Feind. Folglich, schliesst man, zeigt der gegenwärtige Krieg das
Christentum in stillem Einverständnis mit Korruption und Dekadenz,
während der Atheismus voll kalter Verachtung von den Sonnenhöhen
einer überlegenen Moral aus dem christlichen Treiben zusieht. Und
doch ist diese Gegenüberstellung grundfalsch. Dass die russische
Orthodoxie durch und durch widerchristlichen Charakter trägt, wird
hierzulande kaum jemand leugnen."590
Diese Einschätzung war durchaus repräsentativ für die führenden Blätter in der
Schweiz, in protestantischen Kreisen wurde Russland als "Knutendespotie"
bezeichnet.591 Von der Schweizer Abneigung gegen das zaristische Russland
sollte in wenigen Jahren auch ein weiterer erklärter Gegner des Zarismus
profitieren können: Lenin.
Mit dem Beginn der Kampfhandlungen hatte gleichzeitig die Stunde der
Schreibtischstrategen geschlagen, welche sich über die Qualitäten des
japanischen Heeres ausliessen. Die japanische Truppenausbildung, stehe "auf
der Höhe der besten europäischen Staaten", allerdings sei die Kavallerie mangels
gutem Pferdematerial "minderwertig", meinte einer der Schreiber.592 Neben
Zähigkeit, Anspruchslosigkeit und tadelloser Disziplin besass der japanische
Soldat in den Augen des Journalisten auch den "Geist der Samurai", das hiess
konkret: "[...] kriegerischer Ehrgeiz, Rauf- und Abenteuerlust, Todesverachtung
und fanatischer Opfersinn für den nationalen Ruhm."593
Allerdings bot dieser Krieg auch professionellen Militärs eine willkommene
Gelegenheit zur Weiterbildung und die Eidgenossenschaft zögerte nicht, ebenfalls
Offiziere zu entsenden, die das Geschehen vor Ort mitverfolgen sollten. Dabei
bewies das zaristische Russland schon zu Beginn des Konflikts ein besonderes
590
NZZ (A), 237/1905, p. 1. Der Leitartikel trug die Überschrift: "Die Legende von der religionslosen
Moral der Japaner."
591
Wiedmann (1995), p. 93.
592
NZZ (1. Abendblatt), 47/1904, p.1.
593
NZZ (1. Abendblatt), 47/1904, p. 1.
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Geschick darin, seinen ohnehin schon miserablen Ruf in der Schweiz vollends zu
ruinieren.
Mit Oberst Alfred Audéoud (1853-1917) entsandte der Bundesrat nicht nur
einen ihrer beliebtesten und begabtesten Truppenführer und Ausbilder in das
russische Hauptquartier in der Mandschurei, der gebildete und vornehme
Westschweizer galt als liebenswürdig im allgemeinen Umgang und war einer der
besten Taktiker des Schweizer Heerep. Ausserdem leitete er die Zentralschule
(Heeresschule) in Thun. Die Russen erklärten den Schweizer jedoch schon bald
zur unerwünschten Person und verlangten seine sofortige Heimreise. Die Gründe
dafür blieben im Dunkeln, Gerüchten zufolge soll er sich abfällig über das
russische Militär geäussert haben. Wahrscheinlich war Audéoud aber einfach das
Opfer einer politischen Intrige geworden wie die Schweizer Presse spekulierte.594
Der Sache Russlands in der Schweiz diente diese Affäre jedenfalls nicht, denn der
Bundesrat reagierte auf diesen Affront indem er auch Audéouds Begleiter,
Hauptmann Philippe Bardet zurückbeorderte, sodass auf russischer Seite
während des ganzen Krieges kein Militärbeobachter aus der Schweiz anwesend
war.
Zur japanischen Armee in der Mandschurei entsandte der Bundesrat einen
eigenwilligen Mann mit Ecken und Kanten. Fritz Gertsch (1862-1938), Bürger von
Lauterbrunnen/BE wuchs als eines von acht Kindern in ärmlichen Verhältnissen
auf. Die Armee bot ihm nicht nur einen Ausweg aus der Armut, sie wurde dem
knorrigen Berner zur eigentlichen Berufung. Rasch machte der der Sohn eines
Strohhutflechters Karriere als Offizier und fast ebenso rasch machte er sich dabei
auch Feinde. Er war alles andere als ein intellektueller Theoretiker und behielt bei
seinen Analysen stets das Praktische und Zweckmässige im Auge. Mit einem
geradezu missionarischen Eifer zeigte er Missstände oder Mängel auf, wobei er
keinerlei Rücksichten auf bestehende Konventionen und Reglemente nahm wenn
es darum ging, seine geliebte Armee weiter zu bringen. Mit spitzer Feder
prangerte er eingefahrene Denkweisen und liebgewordene Gewohnheiten im
594
Haas (1968), p. 129.
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Dienstbetrieb an. Bei seiner Kritik nahm er kein Blatt vor den Mund und dieser Stil
brachte den streitbaren Oberst (er wurde erst nach seiner Rückkehr von Japan
befördert) noch oft in Schwierigkeiten. Zusammen mit seinem Begleiter,
Hauptmann Richard Vogel (1870-1950), einem leidenschaftlichen Kavalleristen
und Sportler, traf Gertsch 1904 auf dem Kriegsschauplatz ein.595 Während seiner
Anreise in die südliche Mandschurei hatte er bereits erste und schlimme
Eindrücke gesammelt. Korea, so stellte er entsetzt fest, glich als Folge einer
"korrumpierten diebischen" Verwaltung beinahe einer Wüste. In dieser
"Mandarinenwirtschaft", so Gertsch, gedieh nur gerade der Hochmut der
"niederen Japaner" gegenüber den Koreanern und er sah schlimme Zeiten für das
gebeutelte Land voraup.596
Im japanischen Hauptquartier trafen Gertsch und Vogel auf einen alten Freund
der Schweiz (und Favre-Brandts), den Oberkommandierenden Marschall Ōyama.
Dieser hatte mehrere Jahre in Genf studiert und war sogar mit Henri Dunant
befreundet. Ōyama sprach fliessend Russisch und zu seinem Erfahrungsschatz
gehörten die Lektionen des Deutsch-Französischen Krieges von 1870/71. Er hatte
seinerzeit als Militärbeobachter die Einkreisung und Vernichtung der
französischen Armee bei Sedan miterlebt.597 Ganz im Sinne der deutschen
operativen Schulung wollte er nun versuchen, den russischen Gegner durch
rasche strategische Bewegungen zu umfassen und zu vernichten.598
Gertsch zeigte sich beeindruckt von der Qualität der japanischen Militärs; hier,
so vermerkte er mit einem Seitenhieb auf heimische Zustände, würden die Leute
strikt aufgrund ihrer Fähigkeit ausgewählt und dabei liessen sie sich von
"Nebensächlichkeiten" nicht beeinflussen. Mit dieser einleitenden Bemerkung
spielte er natürlich auch auf seine eigene Situation in der eidgenössischen
Militärhierarchie an.
595
596
597
598
Haas (1968), p. 130, 133.
Gertsch (1907), p. 21f, 27.
Gertsch (1910), p. 49f. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwao_Oyama
Haas (1968), p. 102.
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Wenig Eindruck machten ihm dagegen gefangene russische Offiziere, die er zu
Gesicht bekam - bestenfalls Unteroffiziersniveau so sein vernichtendes Urteil. 599
Auch kriegsgefangene Kosaken fielen ihm lediglich durch ihr "liederliches und
unwürdiges Benehmen" auf.600 Gertsch drängte es seinem Naturell gemäss an die
Front und dabei nahm er sich Eigenmächtigkeiten heraus, die die Geduld seiner
japanischen Gastgeber manchmal arg strapazierten wie er freimütig bekannte. 601
Aus nächster Nähe konnte der Beobachter nun die japanische Infanterie oft in
Aktion sehen und er war begeistert. Diese "kleinen gelben Krieger" seien ideal für
den modernen Krieg, es gebe keine Unordnung und Nachlässigkeit – was geputzt
sein könne das war geputzt, sogar im Kampf. Ihm fiel auch auf, dass bei
Missgeschicken in der Armee des Tennō nicht geflucht wurde. Befremden
beschlich ihn allenfalls bei der "pietätlosen Bestattung von Gefallenen".602
Im Russisch-Japanischen Krieg kamen erstmals Maschinengewehre in grosser
Anzahl zum Einsatz. Dieser Krieg stellte gewissermassen die Generalprobe dar
für das, was sich knapp zehn Jahre später dann auf den europäischen
Schlachtfeldern abspielen sollte. Gertsch erkannte die entscheidende Bedeutung
des Maschinengewehrs bei diesem Waffengang, aber er lag falsch mit seiner
Einschätzung, dass aus diesem Kriege nur von der japanischen Seite positive
Lehren gezogen werden konnten.603 Die japanische Taktik, die russischen
Stellungen durch Sturmangriffe massierter Infanterie mit aufgepflanztem Bajonett
zu nehmen, erwies sich nämlich als unglaublich verlustreich. Diese "Angriffe mit
menschlichen Kugeln" (nikudan kōgeki) liessen eine Art "Kult des Bajonetts"
entstehen, der versuchte, technologische Defizite durch Willenskraft zu
kompensieren. Konservativ denkende Offiziere beschworen dabei den
mythologisch verstandenen Geist des Bushidō als Motivation und Rechtfertigung
dieser selbstmörderischen Taktik und beschuldigten ihre Kritiker, die auf
599
600
601
602
603
Gertsch (1907), p. 10, 12, 238.
Gertsch (1907), p. 67.
Gertsch (1907), p. 93f.
Gertsch (1907), p. 157, 159, 173.
Gertsch (1910), p. 105.
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Feuerkraft setzen wollten, der westlichen Dekadenz.604 Diese archaische
Auffassung von Heldentum forderte einen fürchterlichen Preis, allein die
Belagerung und Erstürmung von Port Arthur kostete die japanische Armee 60'000
Tote und Verwundete.605
Hauptmann Vogel war allerdings schwer beeindruckt von dieser Taktik, in
seinem Bericht über die Schlacht von Liaoyang schilderte er wie es ihm vergönnt
war, "[…] die prachtvolle japanische Infanterie zu sehen, die in den Tod geht, wie
bei uns die Kinder auf eine Schulreise". Aufgrund dieser Erfahrung sah er selbt
durchaus die Möglichkeit, dass das "Gespenst der Gelben Gefahr" greifbare
Formen annehmen könne.606
Für Oberst Gertsch stellte sich bei dieser Taktik in erster Linie die Frage, wieso
ganz normale Menschen dazu gebracht werden konnten, ohne zu zögern gegen
konzentriertes Maschinengewehrfeuer anzurennen mit der fast sicheren
Gewissheit vor Augen, dabei umzukommen. Der Berner hielt die Japaner nicht für
morbide, sondern ganz im Gegenteil, eher für Menschen die mit einer "geradezu
kindlichen Schwärmerei" am Leben hängen. Dieses "antike Heldentum" wie er es
nannte, musste also machtvolle Antriebe haben denn er konnte in dieser
"herrlichen Tapferkeit der Japaner" auch keine "Rasseneigentümlichkeit" sehen.
Gertsch kam letztlich zu dem Schluss, dass diese Tapferkeit das Ergebnis
soldatischer Schulung und Erziehung zur Pflichttreue war, die soweit ging, sogar
schon im Frieden an den Tod zu denken. Auch in der intensiven Verehrung der
Gefallenen durch die Hinterbliebenen und in der Bevölkerung ganz allgemein sah
er einen Ansporn für diesen Todesmut. Eine der Hauptursachen für die Tapferkeit
des einfachen japanischen Soldaten sei ausserdem, dass beim Handgemenge
alle japanischen Offiziere mit gutem Beispiel vorangingen. Eigentlich, so Gertsch,
konnte man auch schon im Deutsch-Französischen Krieg dieselbe Tapferkeit am
604
605
606
Matsusaka (2005), p. 198-201.
Hargreaves (1967), p. 211.
Haas (1968), p. 100.
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Werke sehen, weil die Deutschen durch "straffe Schulung zu exakter Arbeit und
gewissenhafter Pflichterfüllung erzogen waren".607
Die Presse in der Schweiz gab sich mit differenzierten Erklärungsversuchen
nicht ab, sie schwelgte lieber in Sensationsberichten. Eine Meldung besagte, dass
auf einem sinkenden japanischen Transportschiff viele der Soldaten an Bord
lieber Selbstmord begingen, als sich den Russen zu ergeben. Der Korrespondent
erläuterte, dass eben dieses Harakiri, oder Seppuku, in Japan die "angesehenste
Art" sei, Selbstmord zu begehen. Mit diesen Erläuterungen wollte der Schreiber in
pathetischer Überhöhung das "Geistesleben des Volkes" erhellen, das "[…] gegen
eine überwältigende Übermacht die alten heroischen Traditionen […] mit
modernster Kriegswissenschaft verbindet und nur zu siegen oder zu sterben
versteht."608 Die Presse wusste aber noch Erstaunlicheres zum japanischen
Kampfgeist zu berichten, so hätten sich etwa zur Erstürmung der Festung Port
Arthur 20'000 Freiwillige für Selbstmordkommandos gemeldet - "[...] 'delende est
Carthago' schreit ein ganzes Volk."609 Mit schaudernder Faszination sah der
Korrespondent in diesem "Harakiri" aber auch eine "Verschwendung von
Menschenleben", die wie ein dunkler Schatten über der ansonsten "aufgeklärten
Kriegführung Japans" liege.610
Gertsch, kam in seinem Bericht ebenfalls auf dieses Pänomen zu sprechen,
beurteilte es aber nicht als einen japanischen Ausdruck für die "Geringschätzung
des Lebens" denn japanische Offiziere, so der Berner, sprachen davon "als von
etwas fürchterlichem."611
Mit unverhohlener Freude begrüsste man in der Schweiz das Debakel, welches
sich immer deutlicher für das autokratische Russland abzuzeichnen begann. Mit
seiner Verfassung hatte sich das Japan der Meiji eine demokratische Fassade
gegeben, die hierzulande offenbar überzeugte. Dabei blieb die Logik allerdings
607
Gertsch (1910), p. 80, 95-99, 101.
Der Bund (1.Blatt), 184/1904, p. 1.
609
Der Bund 183/1904, p. 1.
610
Der Bund (1.Blatt), 219/1904, p. 1.
611
Gertsch (1910), p. 97.
608
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manchmal auf der Strecke. Ein Kolumnist versicherte seinen Lesern, dass […]
"die Disziplin und das unerschütterliche Vertrauen des japanischen Volkes",
letztlich nichts anderes seien als die "Früchte der Freiheit."612 Das enorm
gestiegene Schweizer Interesse an dem fernöstlichen Lande spiegelte sich auch
in einer Flut von Meldungen und Berichten nieder, die nichts mit dem aktuellen
Kriegsgeschehen zu tun hatten.613
Auch an der humanitären Front versagte Russland in der Schweizer
Wahrnehmung vollständig. Offenbar im privaten Auftrage Henri Dunants,614 hatte
sich die Schweizer Krankenschwester Cathrin Sturzenegger auf den Weg
gemacht, um über die Arbeit des Japanischen Roten Kreuzes zu berichten. Da ihr
der Zutritt zu den Kriegsschauplätzen verweigert worden war, musste sie sich
damit begnügen, die Sanitätseinrichtungen in Japan zu besichtigen.615 Ihre
Beobachtungen veröffentlichte sie in einem Büchlein in dem sie Arbeit des
Japanischen Roten Kreuzes in den höchsten Tönen lobte.616
Dagegen zeichnete sich das russische Rote Kreuz zunächst einmal durch
Missmanagement und Korruption aup. Erst nachdem die Zustände ans Licht
gekommen und auch in Russland selbst heftig kritisiert worden waren, fand die
Organisation nach und nach zu ihrer eigentlichen Rolle.617
Je länger sich die Auseinandersetzungen hinzogen, desto deutlicher zeichnete
sich ein japanischer Sieg ab. Gertsch meinte jedoch, dass dieser Sieg Japans
eher der russischen Untüchtigkeit als der japanischen Tüchtigkeit zuzuschreiben
sei.618 Allerdings führte die selbstmörderische Sturmtaktik der Japaner nicht zu der
erhofften Vernichtungsschlacht à la Sedan, sondern bloss dazu, dass ihrer Armee
612
Der Bund 188/1904, p. 1.
Der Bund 338/1904, p. 1. Auch ein gut besuchter Vortrag mit dem Titel "japanische Kunst und
Farbempfinden" war nun eine Mitteilung wert. Vgl.: Der Bund 241/1905, p. 2.
614
Dunant, der sich ins Bezirksspital Heiden zurückgezogen hatte, wurde dort von dem St. Galler
Journalisten Georg Baumberger 1895 aufgespürt und seine Berichte brachten den
vergessenen Rotkreuz-Gründer ins öffentliche Bewusstsein zurück. Dunant erhielt 1901 den
ersten Friedensnobelpreis und eine Reihe weiterer Ehrungen. Vgl. Descombes (1988), p. 157.
615
Nihon Sekijūji 148/1904, p. 21.
616
Sturzenegger (1906).
617
Checkland (1994), p. 46.
618
Gertsch (1910), p. 106.
613
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langsam auch die Offiziere und Unteroffiziere auszugehen drohten. Aus der
entscheidenden grossen Kesselschlacht wurde nichts, die Masse des russischen
Heeres im Fernen Osten wich zwar zurück, blieb aber nach wie vor intakt und
leistete weiterhin hartnäckigen Widerstand; selbst Gertsch wusste vom
Schlachtfeld bei Jantai zu melden, dass sich die Russen "gut schlagen."619 Die
Zähigkeit der russischen Verteidigung und die enormen Verluste zehrten immer
mehr am japanischen Kampfwillen. Diese Kriegsmüdigkeit fiel auch dem
Schweizer Beobachter auf, er beschrieb sie als "japanische Launenhaftigkeit", die
bis hin zur Depression ging.620
Doch damit nicht genug, der Zar spielte nun seine letzte Trumpfkarte aup. Er
beorderte seine Baltische Flotte ans andere Ende der Welt, um sich mit den
Resten der blockierten Pazifikflotte in Wladiwostok zu vereinigen. Gegen Ende
Mai 1905 erreichte das russische Geschwader die Strasse von Korea. Bei der
Insel Tsushima wurden die Russen allerdings von der japanischen Flotte unter
Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō (1847-1934) erwartet und fast vollständig vernichtet.
Damit hatte die russische Autokratie auch in den Augen der eigenen Bevölkerung
endgültig ausgespielt, die revolutionäre Stimmung in Russland erreichte einen
ersten Höhepunkt. Trotzdem dachte der starrsinnige Nikolaus daran, weitere
Reserven mobilisieren und den Krieg zu Lande weiter zu führen; nur mit Mühe
konnte er davon abgebracht werden.
Auch in Tokio beschlich die politische Führung trotz der militärischen Erfolge ein
leises Unbehagen, denn je länger dieses Kriegsabenteuer andauerte, desto
schwerer belasteten die gewaltigen materiellen Kosten die Wirtschaft. Der
Korrespondent des Berner "Bund" berichtete aus Japan, dass sich im Lande mehr
und mehr die Kriegsnot bemerkbar mache und die ungeheuren Opferzahlen die
"Lebensfreude dieses Volkes" beeinflussten.621 Für die Regierung wurde es
619
620
621
Der Bund 332/1904, p. 1.
Gertsch (1907), p. 253.
Der Bund 338/1904, p. 1.
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zudem immer schwieriger, neue Anleihen in Grossbritannien und den USA
aufzunehmen.622
Besorgt um den japanischen Machtzuwachs in China und die immer instabiler
werdende innenpolitische Lage Russlands, drängte der amerikanische Präsident
die Kriegsparteien zu einem Friedensschlusp. Auch in der Schweiz bemerkte man
den britischen und amerikanischen Stimmungsumschwung. Zwar sei die westliche
Geschäftswelt in ihrer Mehrheit durchaus für einen Erfolg Japans gewesen, aber
inzwischen sei klar geworden, dass man gegen japanische Ambitionen nicht mehr
mit den "gewohnten eisernen Argumenten" entgegentreten konnte.623
Die Aussicht auf einen wirtschaflichen Zusammenbruch liess die japanische
Regierung nach dem Seesieg von Tsushima das gesichtswahrende
Vermittlungsangebot des amerikanischen Präsidenten Theodore Roosevelt (18581919) annehmen.624
Im August 1905 begannen in Portsmouth/New Hampshire die
Friedensverhandlungen zwischen dem russischen Ministerpräsidenten Sergej J.
Witte(1849-1915) und dem japanischen Gesandten Komura Jutarō (1855-1911).
Von Anfang an verstand es Witte geschickt, den amerikanisch-japanischen
Interessengegensatz in Ostasien für Russland auszuschlachten.625 Komura war
aufs äusserste bemüht, die japanischen Maximalforderungen, insbesondere nach
Abtretung der Insel Sachalins und der Bezahlung einer Kriegsentschädigung
durchzusetzen. 626 Aber während Witte auf Zeit spielte, geriet Komura zunehmend
unter Druck von Seiten des amerikanischen Präsidenten und bald auch von Tokio.
Dort hatte Ōyamas Stabchef, Kodama Gentarō (1852-1906), die Regierung
inzwischen über die kritische Lage der japanischen Armee in der Mandschurei
unterrichtet, der langsam die Munition und Führungskräfte auszugehen drohte. In
Kombination mit der Aussichtslosigkeit, weitere Mittel für eine Fortsetzung des
622
623
624
625
626
Inoue (1993), p. 479.
Der Bund (1. Blatt), 194/1904, p. 1.
Inoue (1993), p. 479f.
Kutakow (1988), p. 249f.
Kutakow (1988), p. 252f.
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Krieges aufzutreiben, war man in Tokio zu weitgehenden Zugeständnissen bereit,
um einen raschen Friedensschluss zu erreichen.627
Am 5. September 1905 kam der Friedensvertrag zwischen Japan und Russland
schliesslich zustande. Der Vertrag anerkannte im Wesentlichen Japans
Oberhoheit in Korea an, daneben trat Russland seine chinesischen Pachtrechte in
Port Arthur und in der Südmandschurei ab. Ausserdem fiel die Südhälfte der Insel
Sachalin an Japan.
In der Schweiz begrüsste man den Friedensschluss zwischen den
Kriegsparteien, wenn er auch bedauerlicherweise um den Preis eines
diplomatischen Sieges Russlands zustande gekommen sei.628 Der
Friedensvertrag sei jedenfalls nur möglich gewesen, "durch die kluge
Nachgiebigkeit Japanp."629 Das Schweizer Fazit dieses Kampfes war eindeutig
positiv, sollte sich aber als zu optimistisch erweisen: "In Asien ist Japan als eine
grosse Kulturmacht aufgetreten, welche die Integrität Chinas wahren wird."630 Aus
Tokio kamen aber bald schon beunruhigende Meldungen. Die Bedingungen des
Friedensvertrages entsprachen nämlich nicht den hochgesteckten Erwartungen,
die man sich aufgrund der grossen Opfer in der Bevölkerung gemacht hatte und
es kam zu blutigen Ausschreitungen, denen die Polizei erst mit militärischer
Unterstützung Herr wurde.631 Der Schweizer Gesandte Paul Ritter, beschrieb die
Stimmung im Lande als "bedrückt". Er brachte auch kein Verständnis für den
japanischen Volkszorn gegen Komura auf, dessen Leistung für ihn ausser Zweifel
stand. In seiner Lagebeurteilung sah Ritter eine Mitschuld der Regierung an den
jüngsten Ereignissen, denn diese habe das Volk nicht in die
Friedensverhandlungen einbezogen, sondern sei mit "echt orientalischer
Verschwiegenheit" vorgegangen.632
627
628
629
630
631
632
Kasahara et al. (1983), p. 363.
NZZ (2. Abendausgabe), 241/1905, p. 1.
NZZ (2.Abendausgabe), 240/1905, p. 1.
NZZ (M), 247/1905, p. 1.
NZZ (1. A), 249/1905, p. 1.
BAB, Dossier E 2001/A 648-652, Bericht Ritters vom 18.10.1905.
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Nur wenige Zeitgenossen erkannten bereits die historische Bedeutung dieses
Kriegep. Der Sieg Japans über eine europäische Grossmacht erschütterte das
eurozentrische Weltbild nachhaltig und markierte den Anfang vom Ende des
europäischen Imperialismup. Der glücklose Oberbefehlshaber der russischen
Armee im Fernen Osten, Alexej N. Kuropatkin (1848-1925), hatte als einer der
Wenigen erkannt, dass der Ruf "Asien den Asiaten" noch Folgen haben werde für
Europa.633
Allerdings sah sich das siegreiche Japan selbst keineswegs als Anwalt der
unterjochten Kolonialvölker. So eifrig und gewissenhaft die Japaner ihren
westlichen Vorbildern auf dem Wege des technisch-wissenschaftlichen
Fortschritts gefolgt waren, so unkritisch folgten sie auch der praktizierten
Grossmachtpolitik. Das Ironische dabei war, dass Japan mit seinem Sieg gegen
Russland das Ende genau jener Politik eingeläutet hatte, die es selbst nun erst
recht weiter verfolgte. Eine Schweizer Zeitung brachte das neue japanische
Selbstverständnis klar zum Ausdruck:
"Vor der Welt liebt es somit Japan ganz gewiss nicht, von den
andern asiatischen Völkern als auf gleicher Stufe mit ihnen
angesehen zu werden, selbst nicht in der Stellung eines primus
inter parep."634
Diese Sichtweise passte nicht mehr zu der noch vor kurzem gültigen
Vorstellung in der Schweiz, die Japan als gelehrigen Schüler der Freiheit sah. Das
Land der aufgehenden Sonne hatte sich definitiv in den Reigen der
imperialistischen Mächte eingereiht. Nach seinen militärischen Erfolgen wurde
Japan nun insbesondere für das durch den gemeinsamen Flottenvertrag
verbündete Grossbritannien zum Haupthandelsrivalen in Asien.635
Oberst Gertsch zog seine eigenen Schlüsse aus dem zu Ende gegangenen
Kriege. Er gab sich keinen geostrategischen Spekulationen hin, er beschränkte
sich auf die taktische Truppenführung. In der Hitze des Gefechts blieben die
633
Hargreaves (1964), p. 211.
Basler Nachrichten, 1. Beilage zu Nr.334/1908, p. 1.
635
Basler Nachrichten 33/1908, p. 1. Der Bündnisvertrag mit Grossbritannien war am 12. August
1905 erneuert und erweitert worden.
634
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Offiziere auf sich selbst gestellt und er hatte erlebt, dass die japanischen
Truppenführer dabei die grösstmögliche Handlungsfreiheit zum Erreichen ihrer
operativen Ziele genossen. Gertsch betrachtete nun die Truppenführung anderp.
Er sah sie mehr als eine Sache des gesunden Menschenverstandes und der
Kunst an denn als eine Standardprozedur. Flugs machte er sich daran, seine
Erkenntnisse in der eigenen Truppe umzusetzen und setzte sich dabei wie
gewohnt über alle Konventionen hinweg. Das brachte ihm nicht nur die Kritik
seiner Vorgesetzten, sondern schliesslich auch den Verlust seines
Brigadekommandos ein.636
Aber Gertsch war nicht der Mann, der sich still einfügte. Er schoss publizistisch
nach allen Seiten und prangerte die vorherrschende Reglementsgläubigkeit mit
der ihm eigenen Offenheit an:
"Freilich können nicht alle Truppenführer künstlerisch angelegt sein. Es ist
jedoch verkehrt, aus Rücksicht auf die, die es nicht sind, eine offizielle
Taktik aufzustellen. Sie ist in jedem Falle eine Taktik der Talentlosigkeit. In
langer Friedensperiode kann sie pedantisch gearteten, fleissigen
Menschen, die aber als Truppenführer völlig ungeeignet sind, helfen, zu den
höchsten Graden auzusteigen, und anderseits talentvolle Offiziere, die
jedoch keine Formenmenschen sind, hindern, vorwärtszukommen, ohne
dass jemand dafür verantwortlich gemacht werden könnte. Es ist in aller
Ordnung angerichteter Schaden und in aller Rechtmässigkeit begangenes
Unrecht."637
Seine direkte Sprache und kompromisslose Radikalität in der Sache kam nicht
überall gut an und im Frühling 1911 entliess der Bundesrat den Unbequemen aus
dem Dienst als Instruktionsoffizier. Erst 1917 holte man den streitbaren Oberst
wieder aus der Versenkung und betraute ihn mit dem Kommando über die 3.
Division, was sich offenbar als ein Fehler herausstellte. Mit seiner Kritik am
Zustand der Truppe und seinen hohen Anforderungen machte sich Gertsch auch
636
637
Haas (1968), p. 131.
Zitiert nach: Haas (1968), p. 102.
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dort sofort unbeliebt und ein Jahr später wurde er definitiv aus der Armee
entlassen.
21. Ein schwieriges Erbe
Seit seinem Sieg gegen Russland war es offensichtlich geworden, dass Japan
von nun an dem ausgetretenen Pfad der Grossmachtpolitik folgte und Ambitionen
auf ein grosses Kolonialreich in Ostasien hegte. Trotzdem kühlten sich die
Schweizer Sympathien für das Inselreich vorerst noch nicht ab.
Im Gefolge des verlustreichen Krieges, der Japan an den Rand des
wirtschaftlichen Zusammenbruchs geführt hätte, hatte nun die Sanierung der
zerrütteten Staatsfinanzen oberste Priorität.638 Zu diesem Zwecke hob die
Regierung auch die Importzölle an, und am 1. Oktober 1906 trat ein neuer
Generaltarif in Kraft. Sehr zum Leidwesen der Schweiz betrug der neue
japanische Tarifansatz für Uhren und Gehäuse aus Gold nun satte 50%, während
derjenige für Uhrwerke und Uhren aus anderen Metallen auf 40% emporschnellte.
Nach dieser Zollrunde, so stellte der Bundesrat fest, kannten lediglich die USA,
Russland und Brasilien noch höhere Zollansätze für Uhren.639 Wohl unter dem
Eindruck der zu erwartenden neuen Tarife füllten die Importeure ihre Lager auf
und so erreichte der Schweizer Uhrenexport nach Japan ausgerechnet im Jahre
1906 einen neuen Rekordstand.
Im Jahre 1911 dann lief der 1896 abgeschlossene Niederlassungs- und
Handelsvertrag aus und am 21. Juni desselben Jahres wurde in Bern ein neues
Abkommen unterzeichnet. Dieser brachte in seinen sechzehn Artikeln nur
unwesentliche Verbesserungen, aber der Bundesrat hoffte, dass insbesondere die
Meistbegünstigungsklausel in Art.7 "nicht unbedeutende Vorteile" für einige Zölle
brächte.640 Die Ratifizierung des Vertrages durch die Eidgenössischen Räte bot
denn auch keine Schwierigkeiten.
638
639
640
Kasahara et al. (1983), p. 379f.
FB 1911/3, p. 887.
FB 1911/3, p. 895.
192
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Für Japan gestaltete sich die aussenpolitische Lage immer schwieriger. Sein
Anspruch, die südliche Mandschurei als besondere Interessensphäre zu
betrachten kollidierte nun mit Amerikas Forderung nach gleichberechtigtem
Zugang aller Mächte zum chinesischen Markt ("open door"-Politik).641 Unter dem
Druck wachsender Kritik gege japanische Einwanderer in Kalifornien, erliessen die
USA 1907 strenge Einwanderungsgesetze. Dasselbe Problem stellte sich auch in
Kanada, wo es sogar zu Ausschreitungen gegen Einwanderer aus Japan kam. 642
Tokio reagierte darauf mit einer Wiederannäherung an Russland, das in seiner
geschwächten Position von einer solchen Kehrtwendung nur profitieren konnte,
ohne dafür eine nennenswerte Gegenleistung zu erbringen. Mit dieser
Kehrtwende brüskierte Japan wiederum seinen engsten Verbündeten
Grossbritannien. Diese kurzsichtige Politik stiess in der Schweiz auf zunehmendes
Befremden. Das Abkommen mit Russland sei gegen Amerika und China gerichtet
und "[...] der Beginn einer scharfen, aller Wahrscheinlichkeit nach zu einem
blutigen Kampfe führenden Konkurrenz Japans und Amerikap."643 Zu Recht
schloss die NZZ aus diesen Umständen, dass Grossbritannien in Zukunft wohl auf
eine Lockerung des Bündnisses mit Japan hinarbeiten werde.
Ende Juli 1912 starb der Meiji-Tennō und mit seinem Tode fand die Aufbruchsund Gründungsphase des ersten japanischen Nationalstaates ihr Ende. In der
Schweiz wurde der verstorbene Kaiser gewürdigt als Schutzherr jener Reformen,
die aus Japan eine "gleichberechtigte" Grossmacht gemacht hätten.644
Bei der Überführung des toten Tennō nach Kioto fiel einem Beobachter aus der
Schweiz auf, dass viele der weissen Laternen ein rotes Kreuz trugen und
nachträglich mit einer Traueraufschrift versehen worden waren, "wegen der
grossen Armut zahlreicher Bewohner".645 Der Weg zur Grossmacht ging ganz
offenbar eindeutig zulasten der Bevölkerungsmehrheit, die zu einem grossen Teil,
641
642
643
644
645
Inoue (1993), p. 489.
NZZ (2.M), 258/1907, p. 2.
NZZ (1.A), 186/1910, p. 1.
NZZ (1.M), 210/1912, p. 2.
NZZ (1.M), 256/1912, p. 2.
193
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
vor allem auf dem Lande, immer noch in ärmlichen Verhältnissen lebte und von
der Teilnahme an der grossen Politik ausgeschlossen blieb.
Einer der letzten grossen Oligarchen, die Japans Politik im Namen des
verstorbenen Tennōs gestaltet hatten, Itō Hirobumi, warnte vor den Gefahren
einer zunehmenden Militarisierung und kolonialen Expansion, konnte das Rad
aber nicht mehr zurückdrehen, er war drei Jahre vorher von einem koreanischen
Nationalisten erschossen worden.646 Nach seinem Tode übte Feldmarschall
Yamagata, der Schöpfer der modernen japanischen Armee, den grössten Einfluss
auf die Politik Japans aup.647 Dieser stand dem preussischen Gedankengut nahe
und hielt nichts von einer zivilen Kontrolle des Militärs; als Verfechter einer
militaristischen und autoritäten Politik stellte er auch die Weichen für den
japanischen Militarismus (gunkokushugi).648
Nachfolger des verstorbenen Meiji-Tennō wurde sein kränklicher Sohn
Yoshihito (1879-1926). Mit dessen Thronbesteigung begann die kurze Ära Taishō
(Grosse Rechtschaffenheit), die bis 1926 dauerte. Die neue Ära war geprägt von
der Auseinandersetzung zwischen zivilen demokratischen Kräften und den
ultranationalistischen Militärs, die zu einem Staat im Staate geworden warden und
einer aggressiven Tennō-Ideologie huldigten.
Die Ära Taishō begann turbulent. Im gleichen Jahr der Thronbesteigung des
musste das Kabinett des gemässigt liberalen Premierministers, Fürst Saionji
Kinmochi (1849-1940) unter dem Druck der Militärs zurücktreten, die höhere
Militärausgaben forderten. Sein Nachfolger wurde ein Schützling Yamagatas,
Katsura Tarō (1848-1913), der aber bereits anfangs 1913 von dem als gemässigt
geltenden Admiral Yamamoto Gonnohyōe (1852-1933) abgelöst wurde. Als Folge
eines Bestechungsskandals bei der Rüstungsbeschaffung musste Yamamoto
aber bereits im April 1914 zurücktreten. Nachfolger als Premierminister wurde
darauf hin Fürst Ōkuma Shigenobu (1838-1922). Unter dessen Führung trat
646
647
648
Inoue (1993), p.490.
Langer (1960), p. 238.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_militarism
194
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Japan auf der Seite der Entente-Mächte in den Krieg gegen Deutschland und
dessen Verbündeten ein.
Die Schüsse von Sarajewo stürzten Europa in seinen bisher blutigsten Krieg.
Diese Auseinandersetzung stellte auch die Schweiz vor eine Zerreissprobe, waren
hier die Sympathien für die Kriegsgegner doch klar entlang der Sprachgrenzen
geteilt. Japan stellte in dieser Zeit der existenziellen Bedrohung kein Thema mehr
dar für die Schweiz, deren Neutralität nun zum zweiten Mal nach 1870/71 auf eine
harte Probe gestellt wurde.
In dieser schwierigen Lage hielt der Dichter Carl Spitteler (1845-1924) im
Dezember 1914 vor der Helvetischen Gesellschaft seine berühmten Rede in der er
zur Besinnung und Wahrung der Neutralität aufrief:
"Zum Schluss eine Verhaltensregel, die gegenüber sämtlichen fremden
Mächten gleichmässig Anwendung findet: die Bescheidenheit. Mit der
Bescheidenheit statten wir den Grossmächten den Höflichkeitsdank
dafür ab, dass sie uns von ihren blutigen Händeln dispensieren. [...] Vor
allem nur ja keine Überlegenheitsgefühle! Keine Abkanzeleien! Dass wir
als Unbeteiligte manches klarer sehen, richtiger beurteilen als die in
Kampfleidenschaft Befangenen, versteht sich von selber. Das ist ein
Vorteil der Stellung, nicht ein geistiger Vorzug."649
Diese mutige Rede brachte dem Dichter und Literaturnobelpreisträger von 1919
nicht nur Lob ein. Vor allem in Deutschland stiess er damit auf heftige Ablehnung,
die schliesslich dazu führte, dass er seine deutsche Leserschaft verlor. Aber es
war für die Schweiz der einzigeWeg, sich in dem losbrechenden Sturm zu
behaupten.
649
Zitiert nach: Weder, Hg. (1971), p. 65f.
195
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ANHANG A
Verzeichnis der Schweizer in Yokohama im Jahre 1867
1
Alpiger, C. E. L
2
Baumgartner, Louis
3
Bavier, Edward
4
Bavier, Antoine
5
Bernhard, J.
6
Borel, Louis
7
Bourgeois, E.
8
Dumelin, Arnold
9
Kaiser, J.
10
Mingard, August
11
Morf, H. C.
12
Rosselet, J.
13
Schoene, H. F
14
Wyttenbach, C. F. E
15
Ziegler, Charles
Quelle: The Japan Directory; Yokohama Directory 1867.
Ausserdem: Perregaux, François (d. Verf.)
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ANHANG B
Nihon no kotowaza : Japanische Sprichwörter
(Aus: Spörry, vol. 2 (1925). p.182-186)
1. Erdbeben, Donner, Feuer und Vater (sind am meisten zu fürchten)
Gegen die unumschränkte väterliche Gewalt (von oft grausamer Härte) gibt
es kein Mittel, sie beruht auf der Verantwortlichkeit des
Familienoberhauptes gegenüber dem Staat. (Lehre des Konfuzius).
2. Wenn du auch nur drei Mass Reiskleie hast, so werde kein AdoptivSchwiegersohn.
Um den Familiennamen nicht untergehen zu lassen, wird ein junger Mann
adoptiert, der dann die Erbin des Hauses heiratet; diese Stellung bringt
aber viel Demütigendes mit sich.
3. Die Frau hat in allen drei Welten kein (eigenes) Haup.
Sie steht während ihres ganzen Lebens unter der Herrschaft zuerst ihres
Vaters, dann ihres Mannes und zuletzt ihres ältesten Sohnep.
4. Die Frau verlässt (das Haus des Mannes) auf siebenerlei Art.
Bezieht sich auf die sieben Scheidungsgründe, die nach dem "Taihoryo"
(einem 701 n.Chr. erschienenen, nach chinesischem Muster verfassten
Gesetzbuche) dem Manne zustanden: Kinderlosigkeit, Ehebruch,
Ungehorsam der Frau gegen die Schwiegereltern, Schwatzhaftigkeit,
Dieberei, Eifersucht und erbliche Krankheit.
5. Drei und eine halbe Zeile geben.
Seiner Frau den Scheidebrief (der unveränderlich denselben, aus drei und
einer halben Zeile bestehenden Wortlaut hat) geben.
6. So dass man in den Ohren Schwielen bekommnt.
Wenn man immer wieder dasselbe anhören musp.
7. Wasser ins Gesicht des Froschep.
Ermahnungen und Vorwürfe, die ebenso wirkungslos abgleiten.
8. Eiserne Klammern um Bohnenkäse (legen).
Bohnenkäse ist butterweich. Etwas nutzloses, widersinniges tun.
9. Vom oberen Stockwerk (dem Patienten unten) Arznei in die Augen tropfen.
Wie Nr.8.
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10. Dem Affen eine adelige Mütze (aufsetzen).
Über seinen Stand gekleidet, oder über Verdienst erhöht sein.
11. Die Kartoffel wird zum Aal.
Scherzhaft, wenn jemand, dem man nicht viel zugetraut hat, es plötzlich zu
etwas bringt.
12. Weisse Hautfarbe deckt sieben anderweitige Mängel zu.
Weisse Haut gilt in Japan als Haupterfordernis weiblicher Schönheit.
13. Als ob man eine junge Katze geschenkt bekommen hätte.
Von einer Frau, die nicht die geringste Aussteuer mitbekommen hat.
14. Ein böses Weib ist eine sechzigjährige (lebenslängliche) Missernte.
15. Wie eine Libelle mit abgeschnittenem Hintern.
Ein auffallend kurzer Kimono.
16. Als ob die Reisstampfheuschrecke zum Besuch gekommen wäre.
Die ihren Namen von dem beständigen Auf- und Niederbewegen des Kopfes
hat. Übertriebene Verbeugungen.
17. Wie ein Flohpärchen.
Ein Ehepaar, bei dem die Frau grösser ist als der Mann.
18. Wie ein Frosch mit verbundenen Backen.
Wenn sich der Frosch die Backen mit einem Tuche verbinden wollte (wie
man es in Japan manchmal, besonders abends tut, um sich unkenntlich zu
machen), so würde er sich zugleich die Augen verbinden. Jemand der
unbesonnen handelt, blindlings in eine Gefahr rennt.
19. Nach Sonnenschein riechend.
Spöttisch – für von der Sonne gebräunte Mädchen vom Lande.
20.
Für das Auge des Liebhabers sind selbst Pockennarben Lachgrübchen.
21. Netsuke.
Scherzhafter Ausdruck für die obligate Begleitung (gewöhnlich eine alte
Frau) junger Mädchen oder Frauen beim Ausgehen. Netsuke ist der Knopf,
welcher vermittelst Schnur allerlei Anhängels Medizinbüchse, Tabakbeutel
etc.) im Gürtel festhält, sie nicht durchschlüpfen lässt.
22. Der Aufzug des 'hijiki' (essbarer Seetang) auch: "Wie zerbrochene Nägel".
Von einer sehr unleserlichen, regellosen Handschrift.
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Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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23. Als ob man Wachs kaute.
Von einem langweiligen Stil.
24. Nicht die (falsch angewendete) Arznei, sondern der Arzt bringt den Menschen
ums Leben.
Der Urheber, nicht das Werkzeug, ist verantwortlich.
25. Zuerst Pflege, dann Arznei.
Pflege in der Krankheit geht vor Arznei.
26. Ein Wind (crepitus) ist so gut, wie tausend Arzneidosen.
27. Langärmel.
Verächtlicher Ausdruck für Adlige, die ohne Fähigkeiten sind.
28. Das Kürbisschiff ist angekommen.
Versammlung buddhistischer, kahlgeschorener Priester.
29. Wenn man Geld hat, so dreht selbst das hölzerne Buddhabild sein Gesicht
(nach einem) um.
30. Unter den fünf Lebensgütern schätzt man langes Leben am höchsten.
Die fünf Lebensgüter (gofuku) sind: 1.langes Leben (ju), 2.Reichtum (fuku),
3.Gesundheit (konei), 4.Tugendübung (shutoku), 5.glückliches Lebensende
(roshumei).
31. Ein Berg ist nicht ehrwürdig, weil er hoch ist.
Reichtum oder vornehme Geburt allein geben keinen Anspruch auf
Hochachtung.
32. Wenn man nach oben sieht, so hat es keine Grenzen.
Es ist besser, auf die zu sehen, denen es schlechter geht,
denen es besser geht.
als auf die,
33. Erziehung ist besser als vornehme Abkunft.
34. Das Wasser richtet sich (in der Form) nach dem eckigen oder runden
Gefäss, der Mensch (im Charakter) nach guten oder schlechten Freunden.
35. Für Dichtkunst gibt es keinen Lehrer.
Man muss als Dichter geboren sein.
36. Ein Zoll vor uns ist Nacht.
211
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Wir wissen nicht, was der nächste Augenblick bringt.
37. Das Gebet der Sterbestunde spricht jeder.
"Not lehrt beten."
38. Bohnen gegessen haben.
Schon alt sein. Es ist eine Sitte am Neujahrstage so viele Bohnen zu essen,
als man Jahre zählt.
39. Wie Sembei.
Ein dünnes, hartes Gebäck aus Reismehl (etwa wie Zürcher Tirggel!) Speziell
von alten, schlechten Matratzen gesagt.
40. Pferdebein.
Ausdruck für Anfänger. Pferde werden auf dem Theater durch Menschen
dargestellt, wobei einer die Vorder- ein anderer die Hinterbeine übernimmt.
Hiezu verwendet man natürlich nur Leute in unterster Stellung.
41. Wenn noch eine Nacht vergeht, so kommt (selbst) der Teufel zu gratulieren.
Die Nacht vor dem Neujahrstage! Teufel bedeutet 'Gläubiger'. Vor Neujahr
müssen alle Rechnungen des alten Jahres bezahlt werden.
42. Metall prüft man durch Feuer, Menschen durch Wein.
43. Wer andere gern ins Gesicht lobt, tadelt sie auch gern hinter dem Rücken.
44. Der Reiche und der Aschbecher werden um so schmutziger, je mehr sich
(Geld oder Asche) anhäuft.
45. Zuerst der Fuji, dann der Falke, dann die Eierfrucht.
Die drei besten Träume.
46. Lieber jetzt fünfzig als morgen hundert.
"Besser ein Sperling in der Hand, als eine Taube auf dem Dach."
47. Nach Wurzel und Blätter fragen.
Endloses, lästiges Fragen; Fragenfresser.
48. Der Katze ein Goldstück (geben).
"Perlen vor die Säue werfen."
49. Die Glocke klingt, wie das Glockenholz angeschlagen wird.
Wie das Echo aus dem Walde! Die japanischen Glocken werden durch
einen waagrecht schwingenden Balken von aussen angeschlagen.
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50. Den Kopf eines Flohs mit der Axt spalten.
Mit Kanonen auf Spatzen schiessen.
51. Der Tropfen durchbohrt den Stein.
Ein sehr altes chinesisches Sprichwort.
52. Wenn man hungrig ist, schmeckt allep.
53. Von einer Münze (noch) eine Münze abreissen.
Rappenspalter.
54. Ob (jemand) gut oder schlecht, - sieh seine Freunde an.
"Sage mir mit wem du gehst, und ich sage dir wer du bist."
55. Wenn du in Eile bist, so mache einen Umweg.
"Eile mit Weile."
56. Wenn man von jemand spricht, so erscheint sein Schatten.
57. Kalter Kopf, warme Füsse.
(Gesundheitsregel wie No.58 und 59).
58. Das (schädliche) kalte Wasser des alten Mannep.
59. Der Wind (Erkältung) ist der Anfang von hundert
Krankheiten.
60. Saru no toshi ni wa enzuki senu.
Im Jahre des Affen schliesst man keine Ehe, weil das Wort 'saru' zugleich
Affe und 'sich scheiden' bedeutet.
61. Hokkoku-kaminari de kita nari.
Der beim Donner im Norden getragene Anzug.
Scherzhaft von jemand, der beständig in ein- und demselben Kleide
erscheint, das Doppelsinnige 'kita nari' klingt dem Japaner besonders
komisch als 'nördlicher Donner' und 'getragenes Kleid.'
62. Kasaya no kozo honeotte shikarareru.
Der Lehrjunge des Schirmmachers wird gescholten, obgleich er sich Mühe
gibt.Scherzhaftes Wortspiel mit 'honeotte': "Die Knochen (Schirmrippen)
zerbrechen" und "sich Mühe geben."
63. Namari wa kuni no tegata.
"Der Dialekt ist der beste Heimatausweip."
213
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64. Jodan kara komma ga deru – hyotan kara koma ga deru.
Wortspiel: "Aus Scherz geht Wahrheit hervor" – "aus dem Flaschenkürbis
kommen Fohlen heraus" (= Aufschneiderei)
65. Bushi no tamashi.
(Das Schwert ist) die Seele des Kriegerp.
66. Hana wa sakura, hito wa bushi.
Unter Blumen die Kirschblüte, unter Menschen der Krieger. - Beide sind die
vornehmsten ihrer Art.
67. Hara wa karimono.
Die Mutter (aus niederem Stande) ist (nur) geliehen. – Der illegitime Sohn
eines Vornehmen bleibt vornehm; die Abstammung vom Vater
entscheidet.
68. "Der Pfandleiher ist ein Karrenschieber auf den Zimmermatten."
Spöttisch: 'er verdient Geld ohne Arbeitsleistung.'
214
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ANHANG C
Struktur des Schweizer Aussenhandels mit Ostasien im Jahre 1895
EXPORTE
Chemikalien ............................................................................. Fr. 728'891
(insbep. Teerfarben, Kali, Alkaloïde)
Uhren ....................................................................................... Fr.3'174'932
davon:
Taschenuhren silber 2'040'319.-/139'412 Stk.
Taschenuhren nickel 624'635.-/ 69'152 Stk.
Taschenuhren gold 373'638.-/ 3'632 Stk.
Musikwerke
66'727.-/ 93 q.650
Hartkäse (209 q.) ..................................................................... Fr. 38'479
Kondensierte Milch (1'631 q.) .................................................. Fr. 160'660
Zigarren/Zigaretten (21 q.) ....................................................... Fr. 25'816
Gefärbtes Baumwollgarn (576 q.) ............................................ Fr. 148'487
Baumwollgewebe (3'143 q.) .................................................... Fr.1'964'000
Plattstichstickereien (Besatzartikel, 28 q.) ............................... Fr. 61'812
Gezwirnte Floretseide (85 q.) .................................................. Fr. 161'560
Reine Seidengewebe (19 q.) ................................................... Fr. 86'150
Halbseidene Gewebe (16 q.) ................................................... Fr. 33'070
Seidenbänder (4 q.) ................................................................. Fr. 29'515
Wollgewebe (31 q.) .................................................................. Fr. 361'269
Elastische Gewebe (31 q.) ...................................................... Fr. 35'410
Dampfkessel (606 q.) .............................................................. Fr. 37'200
Maschinen (930 q.) .................................................................. Fr. 109'110
Verschiedenes ......................................................................... Fr. 212'174
Total Exporte .......................................................................... Fr.7'368'535
Nach Schweizer Schätzungen entfiel ungefähr die Hälfte dieser Exporte auf
Japan.
650
Quintale, 1 Quintal=1 Zentner.
215
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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IMPORTE
Chemikalien ............................................................................. Fr. 543'233
(insbep. pharmazeut. Rohstoffe, Harze, "Catechu", Farbbeeren, Wurzeln, Rinden)
Reis (13'129 q.) ....................................................................... Fr. 251'023
Gewürze (429 q.) ..................................................................... Fr. 160'875
Tee (2'343 q.) .......................................................................... Fr. 937'200
Rohseide/Grège (6'071 q.) ...................................................... Fr.17'603'667
Seidenabfälle (5'541 q.) ........................................................... Fr. 1'662'300
Flachs, Hanf, Jute, Ramie, etc.(49 q.) ..................................... Fr. 90'960
Stroh, Rohr, Bast etc. (1'137 q.) .............................................. Fr. 40'480
Strohtressen (2'429 q.) ............................................................ Fr. 680'120
Holzwaren (259 q.) .................................................................. Fr. 44'540
Borsten (110 q.) ....................................................................... Fr. 77'000
Hörner, roh (276 q.) ................................................................. Fr. 24'840
Porzellan u. Quincaillerie (211 q.) ........................................... Fr. 57'849
Verschiedenes ......................................................................... Fr. 350'963
Total Importe .......................................................................... Fr.23'645'818
Aus Japan wurde schätzungsweise für 6 Mio. Fr. Rohseide direkt importiert.
(Quelle: Bundesblatt 1896, vol. 4, Bern 1897, p. 805f.)
216
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ANHANG D
Schweizer Uhrenexporte nach Japan
1893-1895
Stk.
Wert (Fr.)
308'177
1'600'916.-
(83% v.Totalimp.)
(86% v. Gesamtimport)
Quelle: "La Fédération Horlogère" Nr. 56, 15.7.1897, p. 303.)
Offizielle Schweizer Statistik (Rubrik Ostasien):
1897: 481'970 Stk.
7'462'000 Fr.
(2'848'090 Yen)
1898: 343'985 Stk.
5'382'000 Fr.
(2'054'197 Yen)
1899: Japan 54'777 Stk.
957'000 Fr.
(36'526 Yen)
China 108'808 Stk. 1'822'000 Fr.
Quelle: BAB, Dossier E6/40, "Uhrenhandel mit Japan/Expedition Union Horlogère
- Vorbereitung, 1858-1913";
217
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
ANHANG E
Umfang des Schweizerisch-Japanischen Handels 1901-1912
(in 1000 Fr.)
Jahr
Importe (Total)
Exporte (Total)
1899*
14'440
5'620
1900*
9'930
10'590
1901
8'728
5'987
1902*
8'650
5'640
1903
7'433
7'279
1904*
8'190
6'730
1905*
8'490
10'910
1906*
12'740
16'300
1907
10'693
11'446
1908
8'139
9'969
1909
11'778
8'278
1910
12'598
7'504
1911*
15'620
9'400
1912*
15'710
8'500
Bei den Schweizer Importen aus Japan machte Seide (Rohseide, Seidenabfälle
und Seidenwaren) mit Abstand den grössten Posten aus, gefolgt von Strohwaren,
Reis und Tee.
Unter den Schweizer Exporten dominierten nach wie vor die Uhren und Uhrenteile
(Spitzenjahr 1906 mit über 8 Mio. Fr.); danach folgten Textilien (Woll- und
Baumwollgewebe, Kammgarngewebe), ab 1908 dann in zunehmendem Masse
auch Teerfarben und Maschinen (insbesondere Turbinen/Pumpen und
Dynamomaschinen).
Quellen: FB 1911/vol.3, p.897 Mit * bezeichnete Werte sind gerundet und
stammen aus: Ritzmann-Blickenstorfer (1996), p. 697.
218
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
ANHANG F
Schweizer Exporte 1910/1911 nach Regionen
(In Mio. Franken)
1910
(% v.Total)
1911
(% v. Total)
Europa
899
(75,18)
938
(74,61)
Afrika
12
(1,06)
15
(1,22)
Asien
40
(3,37)
47
(3,75)
davon: Japan
7,5
9,39
Amerika
224
(18,74)
234
(18,64)
Australien
11
(0,98)
14
(1,14)
(Quelle: NZZ Nr. 195 (3. Abendblatt), 15.7.1912, p. 1)
219
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Roger Mottini
ANHANG G
SchweizerInnen auf dem Ausländerfriedhof in Yokohama (Gemäss
Grabinschriften)
Name
Abegg
Bachmann
Baud
Beck
Berger
Berger
Brigel
Brigel
Burgermeister
Colomb
Deck
Dubois
Ehrismann
Engler
Favre-Brandt
Favre-Brandt
Favre-Brandt
Favre-Brandt
Favre-Brandt
Favre-Brandt
Favre-Brandt
Favre-Brandt
Favre-Brandt
Favre-Brandt
Haenni
Hormann
Huber
Kobelt
Kobelt
Mingard
Mingard
Müller
Munro geb. FavreBrandt
Ogi
Vorname / Herkunft
Hans und Elsa
A. (von Gundetschwil/
ZH)
Gabriel Adrien
(Sentier/VD)
H. G. (Zürich)
E.
E.
H.
Joseph
E.
Paul (Neuchâtel)
H. C.
G. (von Loch/Suisse)
Fritz (Zürich)
Adolf
James
Shisa geb. Matsuno
Kikou – Louise
Eouard
James
N. L.
Henri
Sophie
François
Jules
Charles (Thun)
Jules
Hans (Zürich)
Marguerite Anne
Anny née Fehrline
A.
Luis
Gustav (Weiningen)
Adele
Lebensdaten
1897-1957
11.10.1821-24.1.1873
Richard
d. 23.5.1958
21.1.1847-9.8.1911
22.11.1857-8.3.1943
d. 1935
d. 1935
d. 1919
5.5.1879-1.9.1923
d. 1883
6.5.1849-5.2.1912
d. 1913
17.9.1862-16.12.1895
15.2.1867-19.9.1940
15.3.1890-24.1.1963
1841-1923
1853-1882
12.10. 1890- 24.12.1907
20.12. 1872-24.12.1907
19.1.1869-12.6.1907
…..? 1907
17.12.1875-12.10.1958
30.12.1884-25.2.1955
21.4.1870-21.4.1950
Né 1877, d. 1877
22.11.1842-11.1.1892
d. 1874
7.10.1886-4.2.1960
d. 1933
d. 1928
d. 1896
d. 1959
8.5.1837-24.4.1887
18.3.1886-25.10.1943
220
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
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Pelizza
Perregaux
Ravetta
Ravetta
Ravetta
Ravetta
Schaefer
Schellenber
Schoene
Schoene
Schoene
Schoene
Schoene
Schoene
Schoene
Stingelin
Trub
Lorenzo
François
Felix
Helena Saku
Giuglio
Francesco G.
Georg (Bern)
G. P.
H. F.
Frederik Henri
Millie
Frederik
Fritz Michal
Herbert J.
Lina Lucy
Peter (Pratteln)
Rudolf (Dübendorf)
20.6.1857-18.4.1891
25.5.1834-18.12.1877
25.9.1874-30.12.1957
1.7.1899-30.4.1975
1.3.1925-1.7.1970
8.10.1927-17.12.1976
d. 29.7.1899
d. 1916
d. 1896
d. 1895
1882-1949
1876-1948
28.3.1951-3.7.1972
23.3.1914-10.12.1989
6.5.1910-21.2.1980
27.11.1848-7.2.1887
1.6.1853-30.3.1895
Quelle: McCabe (1994)
Ausserdem in Yokohama beigesetzt: Paravicini, Fritz (GR), 1874-1944.
221
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Glossar
Bakufu
Bakumatsu
Banshō shirabeshō
Bushidō
Chōshū (auch: Nagatō)
Daimyō
Edo, Edo-Zeit
Fudai
Fukoku kyōhei
Genrō
Gunkokushugi
Hagakure
Hakuai-sha
Han
Hizen
Jiyū Minken Undō
Kiheitai
koku
Manga
Meiji
Schogunat, feudale Militärregierung mit dem Schogun
an der Spitze.
Spätes Schogunat, ab ca. 1860.
"Amt zur Untersuchung des barbarischen Schrifttums"
unter dem Tokugawa-Schogunat
"Weg des Kriegers", Ehrenkodex und Lebensethik der
Samurai
AntiSchogunales Daimiat, an der Südspitze der Insel
Honshū gelegen.
Lehensfürst, Vasall.
Alter Name für Tokio (bis 1869), Sitz des Schoguns;
Edo-Zeit bezeichnet die Periode des TokugawaSchogunates von 1603-1867.
"Innere Vasallen". Daimyō, die loyal zum TokugawaSchogunat standen.
"Blühendes Land, starke Wehr!" Motto der MeijiRegierung.
"Ältestenrat"; informelles Staatsorgan, das den
Begründern des Meijistaates als kaiserliche Berater
lebenslangen politischen Einfluss sicherte (MeijiOligarchie).
Japanischer Militarismus; Überbetonung militärischer
Stärke und absolute Kaiserloyalität. Antidemokratisch,
imperialistisch.
Lebensgrundsätze für den Samurai; nach Aussagen
von Tsunetomo Yamamoto zwischen 1706-1716
Philanthropische Gesellschaft; Vorläuferin des
Japanischen Roten Kreuzes
Daimyat; Feudales Lehen.
Daimyat im Nordwesten der Insel Kyūshū.
"Bürgerrechts- oder "Demokratiebewegung";
Volksbewegung gegen die autoritäre Meiji-Oligarchie.
AntiSchogunale Kampfverbände von Chōshū, 1863
aus freiwilligen Nichtsamurai zusammengestellt. 1870
wieder aufgelöst.
altes japan. Hohlmass für Reis, ca. 180 Liter.
ursprünglich eine Sammlung von Skizzen, sind mit
diesem Begriff heute Comics gemeint.
"Erleuchtete Herrschaft." Japanische Ärabezeichnung
von 1868-1912.
222
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
Musme
Nanban
Nihonga
O-yatoi (gaikokujin)
Rangaku
Rōnin
Sahib
Sakoku
Samurai, Bushi
Sankin-kōtai System
Satsuma
Shintō
Schogun
Sonnō jōi
Sumo
Tairō
Taishō
Tennō
Tokugawa
Tosa
Tozama
Ukiyo-e
Yōga
Eigentlich "Tochter"; Euphemismus für die meist
jungen Konkubinen, mit denen Ausländer eine "Ehe
auf Zeit" eingingen.
"Südliche Barbaren"; japanische Bezeichnung für die
Portugiesen und Spanier in Japan.
Japanische Malerei in traditionellem Stil
Ausländische Experten in Meiji-Japan
"Holländisches Lernen" oder "Holländische
Wissenschaften", bezeichnete das Studium westlicher
Naturwissenschaften während der Edo–Zeit, später
auch yōgaku ("Westliche Wissenschaften") genannt.
herrenlose Samurai
"Herr"; Anrede, die die Engländer im Umgang mit
Einheimischen (natives) für sich reservierten
Politik der Landesabschliessung, praktiziert unter dem
Tokugawa-Schogunat (siehe Bakufu).
Angehöriger der Kriegerklasse.
Pflicht der Daimyō, abwechselnd ein Jahr in Edo und
auf seinem Lehen zu wohnen, wobei die Familie als
Geisel in Edo zurückbleiben musste.
Antischogunales Daimiat im Süden der Insel Kyūshū
"Weg der Götter", japanische Naturreligion.
Generalissimus, Führer des Bakufu.
"Ehrt den Kaiser, vertreibt die Barbaren!" Kampfparole
der antiSchogunalen Kräfte unter der Führung von
Chōshū und Satsuma.
Traditioneller japanischers Ringkampf
Oberster Ratgeber des Schoguns
"Grosse Rechtschaffenheit", japanische
Ärabezeichnung von 1912-1926.
Japanischer Kaiser.
Familienclan, aus dem die Schogune während der
Edo-Zeit kamen.
AntiSchogunales Daimiat, im Süden der Insel Shikoku
gelegen.
Daimyō der Peripherie, von wichtigen Ämtern des
Tokugawa-Schogunates ausgeschlossen. Mächtigste
Vertreter: Chōshū, Satsuma.
"Bilder der flüchtigen Welt"; Holzschnitte, meist von
schönen Frauen aus den Vergnügungsvierteln des
alten Edo und Osaka.
Japanische Malerei im westlichen Stil
223
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ZEITTAFEL Schweiz – Japan von 1848 bis 1914
1848
Erste Schweizer Bundesverfassung.
1853
US Commodore Matthew C. Perrys Geschwader vor Japan.
1854
Abschluss des Vertrages von Kanagawa (USA-Japan).
1856/57
"Neuenburger Handel": Preussen verzichtet auf Neuenburg, das zum
Schweizer Kanton wird.
1859
Der erste Gesandte in Schweizer Auftrag, Rudolf Lindau, erreicht
Japan.
1860
"Savoyerhandel": die Schweiz gibt ihre Ansprüche in Nordsavoyen auf,
das definitiv zu Frankreich kommt; erste japanische Delegation in den
USA.
1863
Schweizer Gesandtschaft unter Aimé Humbert-Droz erreicht Japan;
Chōshū beschiesst ausländische Schiffe bei Shimonoseki; die britische
Flotte zerstört Kagoshima (Satsuma).
1864
Erster Vertrag zwischen der Schweiz und Japan; Erstürmung der
Chōshū Stellungen bei Shimonoseki durch europäisch -amerikanische
Einheiten.
1866
Niederlage der Schogunatstruppen gegen Chōshū; Tod des Schoguns
Tokugawa Iemochi; Nachfolger wird Tokugawa Yoshinobu.
1867
Tod von Kaiser Kōmei; Sohn Mutsuhito wird Nachfolger; TokugawaGesandtschaft besucht die Schweiz; Rücktritt von Schogun Yoshinobu,
das Schogunat ist zu Ende.
1868
Kaiser Mutsuhito übernimmt Regierung als Meiji-Tennō; letzte
Niederlage der Schogunatstruppen bei Osaka; Edo wird zur neuen
Kaiserstadt, 1869 wird sie in Tokio umbenannt.
1870/71
Preussisch-Französischer Krieg; die abgedrängte Armee Bourbaki
überschreitet die Schweizer Grenze im Jura und wird entwaffnet.
224
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
1873
Reise der Iwakura-Gesandtschaft durch die Schweiz.
1874
Totalrevision der Schweizer Bundesverfassung, Ausbau der
Volksrechte durch Einführung von Initiative und Referendum.
1875
Russisch-Japanischer Grenzvertrag: Sachalin zu Russland, nördliche
Kurilenkette zu Japan.
1877
Satsuma-Aufstand unter Saigō Takamori.
1885
Erstes Japanisches Kabinett unter Itō Hirobumi.
1886
Beitritt Japans zur Genfer Rotkreuzkonvention.
1889
Die Meiji-Verfassung wird vom Tennō erlassen.
1890
Erstes japanisches Parlament eröffnet.
1894/95
Chinesisch-Japanischer Krieg um Korea; China tritt Taiwan ab,
"verpachtet" die Liao-Tung Halbinsel mit Port Arthur und verliert
Einfluss in Korea. Diplomatische Dreimächte-Intervention (R, D, F)
zwingt Japan zur Rückgabe der Halbinsel Liao-Tung an China.
1896
Revision des Schweizerisch-Japanischen Vertrages von 1864.
1898
Russland besetzt die chinesische Halbinsel Liao-Tung mit dem Hafen
Port Arthur (Lu Shun).
1899
Aufhebung der ausländischen Exterritorialrechte in Japan.
1900
"Boxeraufstand" in China, Japan beteiligt sich massgeblich an der
ausländischen Militärintervention.
1902
Britisch-Japanisches Flottenbündnis unterzeichnet.
1904/05
Russisch-Japanischer Krieg; im Frieden von Portsmouth/USA gewinnt
Japan freie Hand in Korea, umfassende Rechte in der
Südmandschurei und der Liao-Tung Halbinsel ausserdem den Südteil
Sachalinp.
1906
Japan erhöht die Importzölle, Schweizer Uhren als Luxusgüter in
besonderem Ausmasse betroffen.
225
Switzerland and Japan – Mutual Discovery from the Beginnings until the First World War
Roger Mottini
1906/07
Errichtung der ersten Schweizer Gesandtschaft in Tokio.
1909
Der Staatsrat Itō Hirobumi wird in Harbin (Mandschurei) von einem
koreanischen Attentäter ermordet.
1910
Formelle Annexion Koreas durch Japan.
1911
Dritter revidierter Freundschafts- und Handelsvertrag der Schweiz mit
Japan.
1912
Tod des Meiji-Tennō am 30. Juli; mit der Thronbesteigung seines
Sohnes Yoshihito war es gleichzeitig das erste Jahr der neuen Ära
"Taishō" (Grosse Rechtschaffenheit), die bis 1926 dauerte.
1913
Das Kabinett von General Katsura muss auf Druck der Militärs
zurücktreten. Nachfolger wird Admiral Yamamoto Gonnohyōe.
1914
Rücktritt von Premier Yamamoto, wegen eines Rüstungsskandals
(Siemens Rüstungsaffäre). Nachfolger wird Ōkuma Shigenobu. Japan
tritt am 23. August gegen Deutschland und dessen Verbündete in den
Krieg ein.
Im Dezember hält Carl Spitteler vor der Helvetischen Gesellschaft
seine vielbeachtete Rede: "Unser Schweizer Standpunkt".
226