Japan: From the Age of the Gods to the Fall of Tsingtau (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Japan: From the Age of the Gods to the Fall of TsingtauThe Ainu no longer has the burrowing instincts of animal, neither does he drink blood or practise cannibalisr Fortunately he has lost the savage cruelty of the jungle, a: no longer indulges in horrible forms of punishment, such cutting Off the nose, severing tendons, and boiling amputat~ limbs. When he was driven northward, and after a pr tracted struggle at last forced to cross the Tsugaru Strz and dwell in the Island of Yezo, he lost many of his sava qualities and with them departed his fine spirit Of indepen ence. To-day he is a pathetic figure with a warlike pa tainted by many deeds of savagery. If a savage can be 33 to degenerate'the Ainu has certainly degenerated, and part because the spirit of independence has been crushed out him. He is extremely filthy in his person and his skin covered with layers of dirt, which have accumulated for considerable time. Filth, as a protection against cold, h become a necessity, and the Ainu only consents to overcoi his abhorrence of washing on the occasion of a funeral or bear feast. Though the Ainu still has many good qualitli' and is very far from being devoid Of religious belief, he nevertheless addicted to strong drink. He does not becor a toper in the hope Of drowning the tribulations of a conquer people. On the contrary, he drinks simply because he cc siders drunkenness a state of supreme bliss. He consun sake, the Japanese rice-wine, in vast quantities and I happily named the beverage tonoto, Official milk, a play.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.