Publisher's Synopsis
The books which have been written of late years about Japan have either been compiled from official records, or have contained the sketchy impressions of passing travellers. Of the inner life of the Japanese the world at large knows but little: their religion, their superstitions, their ways of thought, the hidden springs by which they move-all these are as yet mysteries. Nor is this to be wondered at. The first Western men who came in contact with Japan-I am speaking not of the old Dutch and Portuguese traders and priests, but of the diplomatists and merchants of eleven years ago-met with a cold reception. Above all things, the native Government threw obstacles in the way of any inquiry into their language, literature, and history.
