Supposing the account published in the Japan Daily Herald of that date
descriptive of the embassy and of the reception thereof might be of
interest, I inclose a copy thereof herewith in duplicate.
[Inclosure.]
[From the Japan Daily
Herald, May 29, 1876.]
THE COREAN EMBASSY.
The Mitsa Bishi Mail Steamship Company’s steamer Korio Marn arrived this
morning in port from Kobe, and at 8 a.m. the Corean embassy and suit,
seventy-six persons in all, landed at the English hatoba, where a strong
police force had collected. Preceded by their own band of music, the
Coreans went to the town-hall, whence they again started for the
railway-station at 9.45, in order to proceed by train to Tokio. The
ambassador is a man of very considerable stature and bulk; he wore a
pair of very large spectacles, and was dressed in a violet crape robe.
When he emerged from the town-hall and descended the steps, his
followers, standing in the street, set up a shout, and the band played
on flutes, drums, and tom-toms. The prevailing sound, however, was a
lugubrious one, something like the sound from a fog-horn, and was
emitted from some large wooden trumpets. The ambassador placed himself
on a small seat covered with a tiger-skin, and fixed on an open litter,
which was lifted on the shoulders of eight men; aloft, above his head,
was carried a large white sunshade. The litter was preceded by the band
of music which played the whole way to the station. Immediately before
the litter walked two Corean girls, apparently about thirteen to fifteen
years of age, in semi-Chinese costume, their hair in a long and thick
plait hanging down their backs. After the ambassador’s litter came four
jinrikishas, each conveying a Corean; the rest of the suite made their
way on foot. The men are tall and stoutly built, with rather a Malay
cast of features. With the exception of the litter-carriers, who wore
black felt hats, the rest wore small black hats of horse-hair adorned
with peacock-feathers; through the meshes of the hat the wearer’s hair
was visible, collected in a knot on the top of the head. The dress of
the common men is of stout parti-colored cotton, not over-clean. The
five men composing the embassy are of the following rank:
Shu-shin-shi-reso-sangi, Bakan-do-sha, Kajan-tai-fu,
Fahanji-jan-san-pan, Fuku-shiu, Bakan dosha Kangi tai-fu. During the
passage in the steamer they most scrupulously avoided partaking of
anything of foreign origin, not touching wine or spirits. They would not
even examine the vessel when they heard it was English-built.
From our special correspondent.
The Corean embassy arrived in Tokio this morning, by an ordinary train,
at a quarter to twelve. Since 8 o’clock a large body of police had been
collected in the neighborhood of shinbasi, as it was not then known by
what train the strangers were to arrive. Soon after 11 a cordon of
police was formed” all the way from the railway-station to the castle
gate, called Sukiya Bashi, and their appearance was the signal for the
assemblage of an eager crowd. The wide, open space in front of the
station was densely packed, and inside the station was a mixed crowd of
Japanese and foreigners, among whom were most of the foreign ministers.
When the train arrived, the embassy remained in their carriages till the
ordinary passengers had passed out, occasioning to the spectators a
momentary apprehension that they had had their trouble for nothing. At
length the Coreans stepped out on the platform, and a very picturesque
appearance they presented, looked at from a distance, reminding one of
Italian brigands in a London theater. The costume appears to consist of
knickerbockers, with gaiters, tight from the knee to the foot, and a
robe of either cotton or silk, fitting tight to the body, with flowing
tails. The most striking part of the dress was the hat, which is shaped
something like a cardinal’s, with a small crown and large flat brim, but
is made of a transparent black gauze, but perfectly stiff; through the
hats one could see that the hair is worn twisted up in a tail on the top
of the head.
The embassy came along the platform in state. First, fourteen band-men,
then flag-bearers and spearmen, then two women, with their black hair
loosely plaited into tails like those of Chinamen, then a big umbrella,
and then the great man himself. He was assisted, that is, literally
supported, by two other richly dressed men, and followed by several
others, who were evidently men of consideration. The cortege was closed
by
[Page 379]
nine bearers carrying a
chair, which was very much like a temple (kiyoku-roku) put on a large
and fragile stand. The music was shrill, harsh, and discordant, at least
to our ears. A friend with musical proclivities assured us that some of
the sounds were sweeter than those of Japanese instruments. The men were
tall and well set up—many of them old men, who wore a Tartar beard and
moustache. They stepped firmly as they walked, and seemed perfectly
satisfied with themselves and indifferent to the laughter which the
Japanese indulged in. They were conducted to the waiting-rooms in the
railway-station, and, after a few minutes’ interval for rest, they set
out for the residence which has been prepared for them in Kanda Nishiki
Cho, in much the same order as they had marched up the platform. A
detachment of the imperial mounted body-guard headed the procession, and
the chief ambassador, a tall, stout, handsome old man, with huge
spectacles, rode in his open chair, towering above the heads of the
bearers. The superior members of his suite, several of whom had
peacock-feathers in their hats, followed him in jinrikishas, and the
interpreters, of whom there were a crowd, had enough to do to start them
according to their precedence. One nice-looking young Corean was
evidently much exercised in his mind at the misplaced zeal of his
jinrikisha coolie, who would try and start before his turn. All,
however, was finally happily arranged, and the cortege wound its slow
way without mishap to the residence set apart for the embassy.
