Things Japanese

by Basil Hall Chamberlain

"To have lived through the transition stage of modern Japan makes a man feel preternaturally old; for here he is in modern times, with the air full of talk about bicycles and bacilli and spheres of influence, and yet he can himself distinctly remember the Middle Ages. The dear old Samurai who first initiated the present writer into the mysteries of the Japanese language, wore a queue and two swords. This relic of feudalism now sleeps in Nirvana. His modern successor, fairly fluent in English, might almost be a European, save for a certain obliqueness of the eyes and scantiness of beard. Old things pass away between a night and a morning. The Japanese boast that they have done in thirty or forty years what it took Europe half as many centuries to accomplish..." - Basil Hall Chamberlain

Contents: Abacus. Abdication. Acupuncture. Adams (Will). Adoption. Agriculture. Ainos. Amusements. Archæology. Architecture. Armour. Army. Art. Asiatic Society of Japan. Bamboos. Bathing. Bibliography. Birthdays. Blackening the Teeth. Books on Japan. Botany. Bowing to the Emperor's Picture. Bronze. Buddhism. Camphor. Capital Cities. Carving. Cats. Cha-no-yu. Characteristics. Charms and Sacred Pictures. Chauvinism. Cherry-blossom. Chess. Children. Christianity in Japan. Clans. Classes of Society. Climate. Cloisonné. Confucianism. Conventions. Cormorant-fishing. Cremation. Currency. Cycle. Daimyō. Dances. Decorations. Demoniacal Possession. Divination. Dress. Duck-hunting. Earthquakes and Volcanoes. Education. Embroidery. Empress. English as she is Japped. Esotericism. Eta. Eurasians. Europeanisation. Fairy-tales. Fans. Fashionable Crazes. Festivals. Filial Piety. Fires. Fire-walking. Fishing. Flag. Flowers. Food. Foreign Employés in Japan. Forfeits. Formosa. Forty-seven Rōnins. Fuji. Fun. Funerals. Gardens. Geisha. Geography. Globe-trotters. Go. Government. Harakiri. Heraldry. History and Mythology. Incense Parties. Indian Influence. Industrialism. Japan. Japanese People (Characteristics of the). Jinrikisha. Kaempfer. Kago. Kakke. Kakemono. Lacquer. Language. Law. Literature. Little Spring. Living. Logic. Long-tailed Fowls. Lotus. Luchu. Luck (Gods of). Maps. Marriage. Maru. Massage. Metal-work. Mikado. Mineral Springs. Mirrors. Missions. Moral Maxims. Mourning. Moxa. Music. Mythology. Names. Naturalisation. Navy. Newspapers. Nō. Nobility. Numerical Categories. Painting. Paper. Parkes (Sir Harry). Perry (Commodore). Philosophy. Pidgin-Japanese. Pilgrimages. Pipes. Poetry. Politeness. Polo. Population. Porcelain and Pottery. Posts. Praying-wheel. Printing. "Proverbs". Pug-dogs. Race. Railways. Religion. Roads. Rowing. Sake. Salutations. Samurai. Sculpture. Shimo-bashira. Shintō. Shipping. Shōgun. Shooting. Siebold. Silk. Singing-girls. Societies. Society. Story-tellers. Sun, Moon, and Stars. Supernatural Creatures. Superstitions. Swords. Taste. Tattooing. Tea. Tea ceremonies. Telegraphs. Theatre. Time. Tobacco. Topsy-turvydom. Torii. Towels. Trade. Treaties with Foreign Powers. Tycoon. Vegetable Wax. Volcanoes. Weights and Measures. Woman (Status of). Wood Engraving. Wrestling. Writing. Yezo. Yoshiwara. Zoology.

Genres: Japan, Nonfiction, History, Japanese Literature, Asia, Travel

585 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1890

About the author

B. A. Chamberlain was a professor of Japanese at the Tokyo Imperial University and was one of the greatest European Japanologists, along with Ernest Mason Satow, Lafcadio Hearn, and William G. Ashton.

He arrived in Japan on the eve of June 1873, left for Geneva in 1911 where he lived until his death in 1935.

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up for $4 at a remainder sale. As expected with a hundred-year-old title by a British author on Japan, the book is salted with European assumption of superiority, though not as much as one might think. Chamberlain's style is clear and pleasant, if not brilliant, and sometimes amusing. I've enjoyed this for the window into turn-of-the 20th-century Japan. The Japanese people's frequent return to Japanese ways after sampling Western, surprised me at first but pointed up the good sense of a culture that has spent centuries "trying on" other cultures, keeping or adapting what is liked, and abandoning what does not work.

An intriguing browse that makes one want to read more on interesting topics from a Japanese source.

[Trevor Kew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This remarkable book written in the early years of the 20th century (very early years...he writes in the updated version I read from that the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War is "still uncertain") is an incredibly eclectic set of entries on all sorts of "things Japanese" by an eccentric, witty, and knowledgeable man who at that point had lived in Japan for many years (through one of the most stunning transformations of any society in history, possibly). The book is sort of the equivalent of a modern day blog, albeit written with great care and diligence (sources appear at the ends of most entries) and with contributions from experts on specialist subjects.

Chamberlain's knowledge of Japanese history, language and literature (and everything else) is certainly impressive. Much of what he says about history holds up very well today and he cuts through the nonsense (e.g. jingoistic nationalistic mythmaking that was occurring in Japan at that time, much as it was in many other countries in the early 20th century) with wit, knowledge and skepticism. As a longtime foreign resident of Japan myself, I found myself relating quite closely to his combination of deep love and admiration for his adopted country alongside his jaded fatigue with some of its annoyances and barriers (though the nature of these have much changed in 115 years!). His tendency to compare civilisations in a rather evaluative manner is slightly irritating at times, but probably this is of its time as well.

Anyone who has read Lafcadio Hearn (a friend of Chamberlain's until Lafcadio stopped answering his letters, according to the book) would be well advised to read Chamberlain instead. Hearn never learned the language and never really knew all that much about Japan, really. Chamberlain very kindly praised his books but did mention that all the foreigners in the books were always cast as villains...

Anyway, "Things Japanese" is not the book for those seeking an entertaining single narrative about Japan, but for those with an interest in how foreigners observe the country (in this case, in fascinating detail) and how the country has changed, I would recommend this strange A-Z of "Things Japanese" very highly indeed. You'll uncover some very surprising gems!

[Ad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basil hall Chamberlain was a scholar employed by the Japanese government. After arriving in Japan in 1873, he first taught at the Imperial Naval School in Tokyo, and then was professor at Tokyo University. Chamberlain was a giant among Westerners in the Japan of his period, and helped many others, such as Lafcadio Hearn. His achievements include the first publication of a translation of the Kojiki, studies of the Ainu and Ryukyuan languages, and as co-writer with W. B. Mason the 1891 edition of “A Handbook for Travellers in Japan.”

But Chamberlain is perhaps best remembered for his informal and popular one-volume encyclopedia “Japanese Things,” which first appeared in 1890 and which he revised several times thereafter. I have the 20th Tuttle reprint from 1994, and that was not the last one. But wait… what value has an encyclopedia from 1890 in 2022? I have looked through my old copy and to my regret the answer must be: none. The only thing you can get out of it is how the late 19th c. Westerners looked at Japan. Not surprisingly, their views are mostly very Europe-centered. Japanese literature "lacks genius," according to Chamberlain (he obviously had not read “The Genji Monogatari”), and as the Japanese were only strong in small things, "they were weak in architecture." Well, what about Horyuji? This a book where you may go for some quaint, superseded ideas, how Europeans in 1890 thought about certain aspects of Japan, but not for real information. When you need to know more about the form of the Japanese government, about literature and history, about Buddhism or festivals, of course only a modern encyclopedia will be of use. A new edition of this book is not necessary!

[Xavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

La compilación de conceptos culturales de Japón de este libro me ha parecido muy amena e interesante.

Dado que esencialmente en origen está escrito hace más de un siglo hay algunas entradas a las que no he encontrado interés, esencialmente las que reflejan temas relacionados con detalles de economía de los años en los que fue documentada la obra , y algunas otras con un tono machista indigesto que en esta edición del siglo XXI eran totalmente prescindibles.

Si uno deja de lado estos inconvenientes, creo que aporta una visión general para mí muy interesante y accesible en cuanto a la esencia de la cultura de ese país. El hecho de estar organizado como un diccionario además permite ir leyendo los temas según tengan relación o nos interesen, como si fuera una pequeña enciclopedia.

[Fernando Alonso Lakkis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reliquia literaria. Penetración, buen estilo mediante, en lo mundano, lo profano y lo sagrado de una cultura versátil; capta, con originalidad, la dinámica de un pueblo conmovido por la transformación y asimila muy bien el conservadurismo de la tradición con la proyección de la modernización.
Ya me gustaría escribir un elogio así.

[Melenide · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 *

[Julia Iriarte · Rating 2 out of 5]

voy a utilizar este espacio para quejarme de que no se pueden poner medias estrellas coño q no es lo mismo 2/5 q 2'5/5... es al diferencia entre un aprobado y un suspenso...

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

So this is more of a mini-encyclopedia and I admit I skimmed a few parts I was not as interested in. Not for everyone, but if you are interested in a vintage look at Japan (because this book was last updated pre-1930s) it can be a fun resource.

[Richard Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has some usefulness.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1890, Chamberlain's book obviously is not the last word on 'things Japanese', but it is central to understanding nineteenth-century European mediations of Japan. Certainly amongst the three or four most widely-read English-language books on Japan before 1940.