The fighting man of Japan / [F. J. Norman].

  • Norman, F. J
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The fighting man of Japan / [F. J. Norman]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The arrival of Europeans in the country gave an immense impetus to the art of shipbuilding in Japan ; but, true to their nature, the Japanese employed their newly gained knowledge more for other purposes than for peaceful pursuits, and their piratical raids upon Chinese shipping and along tlie China and Korean coasts developed to such an extent, that, to avoid a rupture with the governments of those two countries, the Shogun lyemitsu, grandson of lyeyasu, promulgated a law forbidding the building of ships above a certain tonnage. Had this law not been rigorously put into force, there is no saying what the Japanese empire might now have been. Siam, for instance, was for some years completely under the rule and guidance of certain Japanese adventurers, and a party of them even had the temerity to carry off into captivity the Dutch governor of Batavia. Some of them made their way to Madagascar and India, while others, joining hands with the Chinese pirates of Formosa, simply ruled that island and the waters about it. Just how these Vikings of the Far East were dreaded is amply exem- plified by the numerous watch towers that still dot the whole of the North China coast, and also from the fact that despite the existence of many otherwise advantageous positions, all the coast towns and villages in Korea are—to use an Irishism —situated a few miles inland. That the Spanish, Dutch, and other vessels which visited Japan from time to time were armed with cannon, may be taken for granted ; but, curiously enough, the Japanese do not appear to have taken to these weapons or ordnance so readily as might have been supposed. Hideyoshi’s troops certainly did use both large and small guns in their expedition against