In April 1901 Maruichi Sentarō performed for the Japan Society in London with members of the Nishihama and Fukushima troupes. Even before then, the Japan Society were discussing Ju Jitsu, the martial art which many of the Japanese performers became involved in demonstrating in Britain – as can be seen in the account of the first proceedings of the Japan Society below:
THE JAPAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. This Society was established in 1892 mainly by the exertions of Mr. Arthur Diosy and Mr. Daigoro Goh, now its Honorary secretaries, and of a few others interested in Japan. Its object is to encourage the study of the language, literature, art, manners, etc of the Japanese people, past and present, and the discussion of Japanese matters in general except those of a controversial character in religion and politics.
From the first the Society received the approbation and support of the Emperor of Japan, and it has for its President his Excellency the Viscount M. Kawase, his Majesty’s Ambassador to this country. The Council, of which Professor W. Anderson is Chairman, consists of members known either for their writings on Japan or their official relations with that country.
The present work forms the first volume of the Transactions and Proceedings of the Society, and, in addition to the usual information about its statutes, financial accounts, lists of members, etc contains reports of four most interesting lectures delivered at the meetings and of the discussions that followed them.
At the first meeting, held on the 29th of April, 1892, after the inaugural address by the President, Mr. T. Shidachi, secretary of the Bank of Japan at Tokio, read a paper on “Ju-Jitsu, the Ancient Art of Self-defence by Sleight of Body.” This, the speaker explained, is not altogether the same as our wrestling, inasmuch as the result of wrestling is determined by skill and physical strength, whereas in Ju-Jitsu, literally meaning “Soft Art,” victory depends on the observance of certain physical laws and peculiar training alone, over even the strongest uninitiated opponent. Enthusiasts in these matters should make a point of reading Mr. Shidachi’s explanations.
At the second meeting a paper was read by Mr. Charles Holme on ” The Uses of Bamboo in Japan.” After referring to the multitudinous purposes to which this valuable plant is put, he explained that it was not utilised in Japan for houses, bridges, ships, etc, there being plenty of suitable timber available. As an article of food it is common among the peasantry, and the Japanese labourer is often represented in works of art ” digging up the bulky and succulent bamboo shoot, or carrying it on his back, slung from his hoe, for his frugal wife to cook and prepare for the simple meal of himself and family.” Mr. Holme then went onto describe the various purposes to which the bamboo is applied in agriculture, domestic economy, decorative art, and personal adornment. Symbolically, in conjunction with the pine tree and plum blossom, the bamboo makes up a trio emblematic of long life, beauty, and uprightness.
Mrs. Ernest Hart’s discourse on “Some Japanese Industrial Art- Workers” was followed by many remarks as to the contrasts of Japanese and English dress fabrics and costumes. “The Naturalistic Art of Japan” was treated of at the fourth meeting by Mr. W. Gowland, whose experience in Japan extends through seventeen years, during which he was connected with the Imperial Mint at Osaka. He followed the development of Japanese pictorial art from the earliest times through the various schools to the ‘”Shi jo.”‘ which is the modem representative school. In the discussion that followed Mr. Goh remarked that “no artist in Japan can command a high reputation without displaying as much poetical conception in composition as skill in execution.” And he quoted a Japanese saying to show how much a combination of these two elements are appreciated : -” A poem is a picture with a voice: a picture is a voiceless poem.”
A communication by Mr. E. Gilbertson, received too late to be read, but here printed, consists of a translation by Mr G. Kowaki about the Miochin family, members of which were armourers, swordsmiths, and artists in iron to the Japanese Court for over six hundred years from the twelfth century to the end of the eighteenth. The above lectures are all illustrated with artistic engravings which alone give to this publication a special value.
The session was closed by a dinner presided over by the Viscount M. Kawase. Many speeches were made, and among other toasts that of “Success to the Japan Society ” was responded to by the hon. secretary Mr. Arthur Diosy. With his concluding words all who know anything of Japan, especially those who have resided in the land, will cordially sympathise. After describing how in the graphic woodcuts of popular Japanese romance the hero and heroine are represented bound together by a red cord proceeding from heart to heart, so that the reader may make no mistake, and know who are the people intended for each other, he says, ” If the Japan Society succeeds in the course of years in twisting only one more silken thread into the red cord between the hearts of the people of Japan and the hearts of the people of England, then I think the Society will not have existed in vain.” It may be mentioned that in starting the Society had one hundred and ninety members, and that at the end of April, 1893, they numbered four hundred and thirty.
*Transactions and Proceedings of the Japan Society Vol. I. The First Session,1892. London : Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co.
Header photo – Edith Garrud’s dojo (Creative Commons) https://www.messynessychic.com/2018/10/02/bow-down-to-the-queens-of-judo/