Alice in Asia: The 1905 Taft Mission to Asia, Japan 日本

Japan 日本

July 25: Arrive at Yokohama

“The shipping in the harbor, the wharves, and many of the buildings were decorated in our honor when we landed in Yokohama. Lloyd Griscom, our Ambassador, and a reception committee met us, and we drove through crowded streets hung with flags and jammed with cheering citizens, brass bands, and hundreds of Japanese banner-bearers to take the train for Tokio.”

04:30 Manchuria arrival at Yokohama (マンチュリア号到着)
06:30 Steam launch with military band of America Friendship Society (米友会派遣ノ軍楽隊ヲ搭載セル小蒸気船)
08:00 Manchuria at port. Welcome by four welcoming committee members, the Governor, and Mayor (投錨接待員四名、知事、市長歓迎)
09:10 Steam launch of customs (汽艇税関監視部前ヨリ上陸 )

10:56 Arrive at Shinbashi then to hotel (新橋着宿舎へ)

“At the Tokio station we were met by many officials; Viscount Tanaka, Minister of the Imperial Household; Prince Tokugawa, President of the House of Peers; Admiral Ito, General Sakuma, Baron Hannabusa, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs; Lieutenant-General Ishimoto, Vice-Minister of War; Baron Sange, Governor of the Tokio Prefecture; Mr. Osaki, the Mayor of Tokio, and a number of minor dignitaries. There were also several ladies to meet us, among them Marchioness Oyama, wife of the Field Marshal; Princess Mori, and Princess Iwakura, who presented me with bunches of flowers. On the platform of the station, members of the Taft party were divided into groups and taken to their respective lodgings. I stayed at the Embassy with the Griscoms; Lloyd and Elsa were both old friends, and no people were ever more delightful hosts. Mr. Taft and his personal staff were put up at the Shiba Palace, a big modern frame house, I should say a sort of guest palace, that was originally built for General Grant’s reception. That night I dined there with him and some of our Japanese hosts.”

Cover of The Japanese Graphic, with illustrations of american flags, and Alice Roosevelt in a carriage — Japanese Graphic, No.61, August 10, 1095
『戦時画報』 (明治38年8月10日発行第61号

July 26: Tokyo

“The next day, Mr. Taft and his entire party lunched with the Emperor; the Crown-Princess took the place of the Empress who was out of town. An audience was first given by the Emperor to Mr. Taft and me and a few others. We assembled in a large room and then went in one by one to be received by the Crown Princess; then to another room where we made our bows and courtesies and were presented to the Emperor who shook hands and talked to us. There was no language in common. Little was said but banalities through the medium of an interpreter. After that we all went in to lunch, a most formal occasion. The Emperor sat in the middle of a long table with the Crown Princess and another Imperial Princess on either side of him, Mr. Taft, Lloyd Griscom, and I directly opposite. As I recollect, we were seated, two Americans, one Japanese, two Americans, one Japanese, and so on. After lunch, we went through the Imperial Gardens where, so we were told, no foreigners and not many Japanese had been before.”

09:30 Alice Roosevelt, with Miss Boardman and Miss McMillan arrive at Palace. Taft and assistants to Maruki Photography Studio for portraits (ルーズベルト嬢ボールドマン嬢及ヒマクミラン嬢の三名来宮シ、タフト氏一行並ニ接待員ト共ニ丸木写真師[i]ニ撮影セシム)
10:50 Entering the Palace (参内)
Lunch at the Palace (午餐宮中)
After lunch imperial audience, then return to hotel. (午餐後吹上御苑参観終ツテ帰館)
16:00 Taft and 5 assistants visit Palace with Nagasaki, Terashima, Prime Minister Katsura, Minister of War Terauchi, Imperial Household Minister Tanaka (タフト氏外五名長崎寺嶋両接待員陪乗シテ桂総理 (兼臨時外務）大臣、寺内陸軍大臣、田中宮内大臣ヲ官邸ニ訪問)
17:30 Return to Hotel (帰館)
19:30 Evening gathering at Imperial Hotel sponsored by Minister of Foreign Affairs (外務大臣ノ主催ニ係ル帝国ホテルノ晩餐会ニ出席)
22:00 Return to Hotel (帰館)

July 27: Tokyo

“The day after the lunch, the Empress sent me a very fine embroidered screen, a piece of gold cloth embroidered with white chrysanthemums, a lacquer box, and a photograph of herself. On these trips of my youth, gifts seemed to be the rule, and I was filled with greedy delight at getting them—it was such fun. In fact, I was a frankly unashamed pig. I did so love my “loot,” as it was called in the family. In Japan I was given, as well as the Imperial presents, costumes and fans and souvenirs of all sorts.”

“오찬이 있은 다음 날, 황후는 매우 아름답게 수놓은 가리개와 흰 국화를 수놓은 금빛 원단, 칠기 상자 그리고 자신의 사진을 보내왔다. 젊은 시절 이런 여행에서 선물은 일종의 규칙인 듯했고 난 선물을 받는 일이 매우 신나고 좋았다. 사실 난 부끄러움을 모르는 돼지 같았다. 가족들이 ‘전리품’이라고 칭했던 이 선물들을 나는 정말 아꼈다. 일본에선 황후에게서 받은 선물과 더불어 옷과 부채, 각종 기념품을 하사받았다.”

“有一天午饭后，皇后送给我一面非常精致的绣花条屏、一匹绣着白菊花的金色布料、一个漆盒和一张她自己的照片。在我年轻时候的这些旅行中，礼物似乎是惯例，在得到这些礼物时我的心中总是充满贪婪的喜悦，乐在其中。事实上，我当时就像是恬不知耻的小猪。我实在很喜欢我的‘战利品’，家里人就是这么称呼我的礼物的。在日本，我收到了皇室赐予的礼物、服饰、扇子和各种各样的纪念品。”

「ランチの翌日、皇后は私にとても繊細な刺繍が施された幕、白い菊が刺繍された一枚の金の布、漆細工の箱、そして彼女の写真をお贈りくださいました。若い頃のこれらの旅行では、贈り物は規則であるように思われ、それらをいただくと欲深い喜びに満ちていました。とても楽しかったのです。実際、率直に言って私は恥知らずの欲張りでした。家族の中で使われていた言葉で言えば、自分の「戦利品」を非常に愛していました。日本では、皇室の贈り物に加えて、衣装や扇などあらゆるお土産をいただきました。」

12:00 Lunch at Fushiminomiya Palace (伏見宮邸ニ於ケル午餐会)
15:00 Garden party hosted by American legation (米国公使ノ主催セル園遊会)

“The Griscoms gave a garden party to which were invited all the Americans in Tokio and Yokohama and all the Japanese Government officials above a certain rank; also two pretty young Japanese princesses, Nashimoto and Higashi-Fushimi—pretty even in occidental dress. A matting was placed for them to stand on and I was escorted up to stand beside them. All the Japanese women who approached them curtsied, and then, to my astonishment, curtsied in my direction, too. They only did it while I was standing on the matting with the Princesses. The mere physical proximity to their venerated royalties caused me to become, for the time it lasted, an object of respect. It was a real “magic.””

18:00 Return to Hotel (帰館)
19:00 Japanese style dinner at Koyokan hosted by Tokyo Chamber of Commerce, including music, dance and acting) (東京実業団体ノ主催ニ係ル紅葉館ノ日本風晩餐会 (大小歌妓ノ手踊リ及ヒ舊俳優ノ演劇）)
23:30 Return to hotel (帰館)

July 28: Tokyo; train to Kyoto

“The peace conference at Portsmouth was about to begin. Not only the Government, but the man in the street as well was interested in and friendly to the Americans. Crowds followed us everywhere. I have never seen a denser and more enthusiastic crowd than that which packed the open spaces around the station, the night we left Tokio, in the light of thousands of paper lanterns. They cheered when the American Secretary of War went out on the balcony to wave good-by—they cheered the daughter of the American President when she appeared—and then they cheered us all over again. There is no sound like the Japanese “Banzai.” “Dai Nippon Dai Koku” (at least that is the way the first part comes to my memory; I think it means “Japan, a thousand years, America a thousand years.”) “Banzai, Banzai, Banzai.” There are teeth behind the barking roar of “Banzai.”

Tokyo: Crowd watches banner being put up on side of a building

12:00 Luncheon at Korakuen hosted by Minister of War. Tour of Arsenal (後楽園ニ於ケル陸軍大臣主催ノ午餐会砲兵工廠内参観)

“At one garden party, there was an exhibition of Japanese wrestling, the wrestlers huge, fat, brown men as big as Secretary Taft himself. I don’t think we really appreciated the fine points of their slow heaving performance. We lunched with Prince and Princess Fushimi; we dined with Count Katsura, Minister of Foreign Affairs; we met Count Matsukata and Count Inouye. We went to a dinner given by the bankers and businessmen of Tokio, at the Maple Club; a Japanese dinner, sitting on cushions on the floor at tiny low tables. It was perfectly comfortable for me, as I have always been able to sit like a Buddha for hours at a time, but other members of the party were cramped and uncomfortable when they managed to get to their feet again; perhaps from sitting cross-legged, but also, perhaps from generous draughts of sake.”

“The day we left we lunched with the Minister of War and Mrs. Teraouchi at the Gardens of the Tokio Arsenal. There was the usual series of speeches and toasts, but when it came the turn of Marquis Ito, instead of speaking he chanted a little poem he had written for the occasion. The theme was the distance our party had come and the pleasure it gave the Japanese to have us among them. If it was singing, it was in a key and a pitch that was weird to our western ears. The fine old statesman was very impressive, standing there intoning in that strange sing-song, with almost impassioned earnestness.”

16:00 Return to Hotel (帰館)
19:30 Dinner at Shiba palace (invitation of Central Tea Producers Council) (晩餐芝離宮←中央茶業組合の招待)
21:00 Left Shiba (離宮出門)
21:20 Shinbashi Station (新橋停車場着)
21:30 Leave Shinbashi Station (special cars ordered by Ministry of Foreign Affairs) (発車 (外務省による特別仕立）)
Welcomed at Hiranuma, Numazu, Shizuoka, Hamamatsu, Nagoya, Gift, etc. (平沼、沼津、静岡、浜松、名古屋、岐阜などで歓迎細工物若しくは土地の物産の贈進)

July 29: Kyoto

“On the way to Kobi to meet the steamer, we stopped in Kioto, where, even though it was July, the Cherry Blossom Festival performance was put on for us.”

11:00 Arrive Kyoto (京都着)

Kyoto: Carriage with William H. Taft and Alice Roosevelt cheered by flag-waving crowd in front of Kyoto Station

14:00 Kyoto Imperial Palace, Nijo Imperial Villa, (Kawashima Textile?) (京都御所、二條離宮、川島織物 (刺繍クッション）)

Kyoto: William H. Taft, Alice Roosevelt, and Nagasaki Michinori in a carriage leaving the Imperial Palace

18:30 Return to Hotel (帰館)
19:00 Dinner (晩餐会)
20:30 City hosted dance presentation (市ノ催セル都踊ヲ観覧ス)

Kyoto: Female musicians on stage with Japanese and American flags, likely at a musical presentation hosted by the city of Kyoto

22:45 Return to Hotel (帰館）

July 30: Kyoto to Kobe

10:00 Tour of Chion’in, Gion, Kiyomizudera (知恩院、祇園清水辺ヲ縦覧)

18:30 Aboard the Manchuria. (マンチュリア号に乗込ム接待員四名始メ其他ノ人々ヘ晩餐ヲ饗セリ)
22:20 Anchors up, leaving to Nagasaki (抜錨長崎へ)

“Then we steamed through the Inland Sea, greeted by fireworks set off from launches and sampans when we reached the Straits of Shimonoseki, to land at Nagasaki for a day of more entertainment. From the moment we landed in Yokohama we were accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Nagasiki and the Count and Countess Terashima, who looked after us and saw that we had everything we wanted. No people have ever been treated with greater consideration and kindliness than we were by the Japanese, not only Mr. Taft and myself, but the entire party. I was in Japan only a week at that time, and saw far more of people than of sights. Fortunately, I went back for a longer stay on the way home.”