〔駒沢女子大学 研究紀要 第11号 ｐ.17～31 2004〕 Henry Adams killed herself by swallowing obliged to look about me.With its usual

poisonous crystals. The subsequent shock exasperating coolness, the world has

The Meiji Era Experiences was so serious that this in turn eventually gone, carrying me with it ...As the sum-

of killed A dams. Adams needed to try to heal mer comes on, I groan at the need of

Henry Adams and John La Farge his pain, and he decided to depart for Japan departing; but as there is no choice, I

the next year,1886.This trip was the first of have decided to pass it in Japan. I leave

Keiko IDO his world-wide travels following the loss of here about June 1., to return in October;

his beloved wife and was probably the key and shall amuse myself by two long sea-

point that changed his life’s direction. voyages, which I abhor; and by two

INTRODUCTION SECTION I:Two Distinguished Travelers The grief caused by this loss was his months among the Japanese whom I do

SECTION I:Two Distinguished Travelers Henry Adams was born in 1838; the major and first motivation for embarking on not in the least pine to see.I can’t go to

SECTION II:Reactions to Japan fourth child of a most distinguished family the journey to Japan, but there were some Europe. It is full of ghosts.Probably,by

II-1:The Schedule in Japan from Boston,and died in 1918in Washington others also. First, popular longings for the the time I get back here in the autumn I

II-2:First Impressions Already Differed D.C. He was a 48year old gentleman when East dominated and fired New Englanders’ shall have so far recovered the tone of

II-3:Various Experiences he arrived in Japan. imaginations. Oriental thought and oriental mind as to feel once more some practical

II-4:The Holy Mountains and Reflections Henry Adams is known as the author of art fascinated them. Besides this trend, concern in the world’s affairs.”

on Buddhism The Education of Henry Adams (1907) and Adams had useful connections which proved Here in this letter we may note his two

II-5:General Impressions of Japan Mont Saint Michel and Chartres (1904). In most helpful,such as the Japanese minister in attitudes regarding Japan. First, his choice

SECTION III:Backgrounds these masterpieces, he develops his skepti- Washington who provided him with introduc- was made by elimination: he felt that he

CONCLUSION cism and cynicism through his accounts of his tory letters and Sturgis Bigelow, cousin to needed to depart for anywhere except Eu-

Notes self-termed failures and forcefully expresses Mrs.Adams, who had been happily living in rope,where he had honeymooned for one year.

his longing for the unity of the 13th century Tokyo from 1882collecting Japanese curios. Secondly,he expected the trip as a vehicle for

INTRODUCTION as the ideal of human perfection. We are Bigelow willingly promised Adams to be his the recovery of his mental stability in as

In 1886,in the middle of an unusually hot accustomed to his self-portrait as an aloof guide. Adams could also take his best com- much to have some practical distractions

summer and at the beginning of a cholera exile from a materialistic 20th century civili- panion to the ends of the world: John La from his past daily and social affairs. The

epidemic, Henry Adams arrived in Japan zation, but this portrait and these famous Farge was free and pleased to receive the hope that the journey would help him to

with John La Farge.He left at the beginning works were produced when he was in his invitation. reconstruct his life while abetting the past

of October.His impression of Japan differed sixties. Thus, finally Adams gave shape to his membership of the super-elite in his own

greatly from that of La Farge,although they Before writing these masterpieces, he plan go to Japan. Was he pleased to be in culture, probably prevented, on the other

stayed at the same hotels,ate the same food, wandered for over ten years around the Japan? Was he looking forward to meeting hand,his appreciating a new culture.In brief,

and observed the same sights. world. In reality, in middle age he was more Japanese people and touching their culture? Adams was not open to the Japanese culture

I would like to examine their dissimilar anxious about his political or utilitarian life. In other words, was he ready to understand and people due to the unfavorable condition

understandings of Japan, namely I will point Therefore,in my opinion,there was a turning or appreciate a totally different culture?We of his being in mourning and predetermined

out their differing comments,then search for point in his eighty long year life. would have to answer these questions nega- attitudes.

the reasons why their opinions varied in such When was his turning point?It was some tively.His letter of April 25.1886to Gaskell On the other hand, John La Farge was

ways. where between the years 1885 and 1886 I gives us a key to his feelings. very ready to absorb Japanese culture.Born

believe,as on the6th of December,1885,Mrs. “At last this winter has passed,and I am in 1835to a French upper class family in New

― 17 ― ― 18 ― 〔駒沢女子大学 研究紀要 第11号 ｐ.17～31 2004〕 Henry Adams killed herself by swallowing obliged to look about me.With its usual

poisonous crystals. The subsequent shock exasperating coolness, the world has

The Meiji Era Experiences was so serious that this in turn eventually gone, carrying me with it ...As the sum-

of killed A dams. Adams needed to try to heal mer comes on, I groan at the need of

Henry Adams and John La Farge his pain, and he decided to depart for Japan departing; but as there is no choice, I

the next year,1886.This trip was the first of have decided to pass it in Japan. I leave

Keiko IDO his world-wide travels following the loss of here about June 1., to return in October;

his beloved wife and was probably the key and shall amuse myself by two long sea-

point that changed his life’s direction. voyages, which I abhor; and by two

INTRODUCTION SECTION I:Two Distinguished Travelers The grief caused by this loss was his months among the Japanese whom I do

SECTION I:Two Distinguished Travelers Henry Adams was born in 1838; the major and first motivation for embarking on not in the least pine to see.I can’t go to

SECTION II:Reactions to Japan fourth child of a most distinguished family the journey to Japan, but there were some Europe. It is full of ghosts.Probably,by

II-1:The Schedule in Japan from Boston,and died in 1918in Washington others also. First, popular longings for the the time I get back here in the autumn I

II-2:First Impressions Already Differed D.C. He was a 48year old gentleman when East dominated and fired New Englanders’ shall have so far recovered the tone of

II-3:Various Experiences he arrived in Japan. imaginations. Oriental thought and oriental mind as to feel once more some practical

II-4:The Holy Mountains and Reflections Henry Adams is known as the author of art fascinated them. Besides this trend, concern in the world’s affairs.”

on Buddhism The Education of Henry Adams (1907) and Adams had useful connections which proved Here in this letter we may note his two

II-5:General Impressions of Japan Mont Saint Michel and Chartres (1904). In most helpful,such as the Japanese minister in attitudes regarding Japan. First, his choice

SECTION III:Backgrounds these masterpieces, he develops his skepti- Washington who provided him with introduc- was made by elimination: he felt that he

CONCLUSION cism and cynicism through his accounts of his tory letters and Sturgis Bigelow, cousin to needed to depart for anywhere except Eu-

Notes self-termed failures and forcefully expresses Mrs.Adams, who had been happily living in rope,where he had honeymooned for one year.

his longing for the unity of the 13th century Tokyo from 1882collecting Japanese curios. Secondly,he expected the trip as a vehicle for

INTRODUCTION as the ideal of human perfection. We are Bigelow willingly promised Adams to be his the recovery of his mental stability in as

In 1886,in the middle of an unusually hot accustomed to his self-portrait as an aloof guide. Adams could also take his best com- much to have some practical distractions

summer and at the beginning of a cholera exile from a materialistic 20th century civili- panion to the ends of the world: John La from his past daily and social affairs. The

epidemic, Henry Adams arrived in Japan zation, but this portrait and these famous Farge was free and pleased to receive the hope that the journey would help him to

with John La Farge.He left at the beginning works were produced when he was in his invitation. reconstruct his life while abetting the past

of October.His impression of Japan differed sixties. Thus, finally Adams gave shape to his membership of the super-elite in his own

greatly from that of La Farge,although they Before writing these masterpieces, he plan go to Japan. Was he pleased to be in culture, probably prevented, on the other

stayed at the same hotels,ate the same food, wandered for over ten years around the Japan? Was he looking forward to meeting hand,his appreciating a new culture.In brief,

and observed the same sights. world. In reality, in middle age he was more Japanese people and touching their culture? Adams was not open to the Japanese culture

I would like to examine their dissimilar anxious about his political or utilitarian life. In other words, was he ready to understand and people due to the unfavorable condition

understandings of Japan, namely I will point Therefore,in my opinion,there was a turning or appreciate a totally different culture?We of his being in mourning and predetermined

out their differing comments,then search for point in his eighty long year life. would have to answer these questions nega- attitudes.

the reasons why their opinions varied in such When was his turning point?It was some tively.His letter of April 25.1886to Gaskell On the other hand, John La Farge was

ways. where between the years 1885 and 1886 I gives us a key to his feelings. very ready to absorb Japanese culture.Born

believe,as on the6th of December,1885,Mrs. “At last this winter has passed,and I am in 1835to a French upper class family in New

― 17 ― ― 18 ― York, La Farge had already some sense of Tall, impressive with his black beard, a materials which I myself consulted in this before experienced.On the second of October

“foreigness”according to his younger friend charming conversationalist, an original Society are in good conditions, though over they left Yokohama for San Francisco.

Henry James, and was already a cosmopoli- genius,La Farge was the best companion for one hundred years have already passed.In his During their three month stay in Japan, tan. After having stayed in Europe including Adams, whose mental condition was not sta- letters and memos in the Black Notebook,we they gained different impressions of Japanese

Paris and London, he was fascinated by ble. find his personal, candid, and very frank culture. If I dare say, Adams, who was a

Japanese art and Pre Raphaeism. In the reactions to Japan. John La Farge wrote his member of the super elite W.A.S.P. class of

1860’s, he was also a pioneer in the field of SECTION II:Reactions to Japan impressions of Japan in An Artist’s Letters the Eastern establishment,and a supremacist

Japanism in America. In 1870 he wrote an How did Japanese scenery and all other from Japan which was published first in of Western culture, could not accept Japan, essay on Japanese art, which was published experiences affect these two American gen- Century Magazine, published in New York, and was embarrassed by his uncomfortable as one chapter of Raphael Pumpley’s Across tlemen? and then again by them as one volume in life in Japan. La Farge, pioneer of Japonism

America and Asia. In the seventies he started In order to examine their personal 1897.His polished letters from Japan showed in America, instead tried to appreciate to rise in the field of mural paintings and impressions of Japan,I refer to the following approving sensitivity and became elegant Japanese culture and enjoyed fruitful days decorative art.In 1886,La Farge had reached material. Adams addressed seventeen letters essays on Japanese culture and art. while sketching. an impasse with his design for the famous to his friends in America and made notes in

Ascension painting in New York City’s an accounting book, called the “Black Note- II-1:The Schedule in Japan II-2:First Impressions Already Differed

Church;he was baffled as how to achieve the book” now owned by the Massachusetts Adams and La Farge arrived in Yoko- Here are some passages from Adams’ mystical effect of levitation for the angels. Historical Society in Boston.(see#1)He also hama on the second of July1886.They stayed letter to his friend, John Hay, written one

Adams approached him at precisely the right made a “Japan Album”of one hundred and in the Grand Hotel in Yokohama from where week after his arrival in Yokohama, and moment.La Farge thought he might capture fifty four photos, some of which were taken they vis ited Tokyo by train.There in Tokyo, some sentences from the first chapter of La the appropriate atmospheric effect from the by himself, and which is also owned by the they visited some temples and museums, Farge’s An Artist’s Letters From Japan. We mountains of Japan. Massachusetts Historical Society. These attended Noh-Play theatre,and bought bric- can easily notice the contrast between our

a-brac under the guidance of Ernest Fenol- two visitors’reactions to Japan. losa and Bigelow. After having stayed in We have been here a week.Between the

Yokohama for ten days, they went on to wish that you were here with us,and the

Nikko in the mountains in order to escape conviction that you would probably by

from the heat and cholera epidemic in Tokyo. this time be broken up if you had come, Having experienced local life and observed I am distraught. Amusing it certainly is

Japanese religions for one month, including ―― beyond an idea ―― but comfortable

animism, they returned to Yokohama at the or easy it is not by any means ―― and I

end of August and then moved to the west can honestly say that one works for what

part of Japan. In Kyoto and Nara, they pas- one gets. (Yokohama, 9July, 1886) sed busy days buying curios and sightseeing. The journey back to Yokohama was harrow- We have at last been living at home,are

ing as they had to travel by ship and jinriki- shut up in a ship,as if boxed in with our

sha(rickshaw),and kago(palanquin).Fortu- own civilization,and then suddenly,with

(#1 The “Black Notebook”―― Henry Adams always carried this small leather notebook throughout nately at a small village near Mount Fuji, no transition, we had landed in another. his travels to Japan.Photo taken by Keiko Ido at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston) they found most beautiful views of Fuji ever And under what splendor of light, in

― 19 ― ― 20 ― York, La Farge had already some sense of Tall, impressive with his black beard, a materials which I myself consulted in this before experienced.On the second of October

“foreigness”according to his younger friend charming conversationalist, an original Society are in good conditions, though over they left Yokohama for San Francisco.

Henry James, and was already a cosmopoli- genius,La Farge was the best companion for one hundred years have already passed.In his During their three month stay in Japan, tan. After having stayed in Europe including Adams, whose mental condition was not sta- letters and memos in the Black Notebook,we they gained different impressions of Japanese

Paris and London, he was fascinated by ble. find his personal, candid, and very frank culture. If I dare say, Adams, who was a

Japanese art and Pre Raphaeism. In the reactions to Japan. John La Farge wrote his member of the super elite W.A.S.P. class of

1860’s, he was also a pioneer in the field of SECTION II:Reactions to Japan impressions of Japan in An Artist’s Letters the Eastern establishment,and a supremacist

Japanism in America. In 1870 he wrote an How did Japanese scenery and all other from Japan which was published first in of Western culture, could not accept Japan, essay on Japanese art, which was published experiences affect these two American gen- Century Magazine, published in New York, and was embarrassed by his uncomfortable as one chapter of Raphael Pumpley’s Across tlemen? and then again by them as one volume in life in Japan. La Farge, pioneer of Japonism

America and Asia. In the seventies he started In order to examine their personal 1897.His polished letters from Japan showed in America, instead tried to appreciate to rise in the field of mural paintings and impressions of Japan,I refer to the following approving sensitivity and became elegant Japanese culture and enjoyed fruitful days decorative art.In 1886,La Farge had reached material. Adams addressed seventeen letters essays on Japanese culture and art. while sketching. an impasse with his design for the famous to his friends in America and made notes in

Ascension painting in New York City’s an accounting book, called the “Black Note- II-1:The Schedule in Japan II-2:First Impressions Already Differed

Church;he was baffled as how to achieve the book” now owned by the Massachusetts Adams and La Farge arrived in Yoko- Here are some passages from Adams’ mystical effect of levitation for the angels. Historical Society in Boston.(see#1)He also hama on the second of July1886.They stayed letter to his friend, John Hay, written one

Adams approached him at precisely the right made a “Japan Album”of one hundred and in the Grand Hotel in Yokohama from where week after his arrival in Yokohama, and moment.La Farge thought he might capture fifty four photos, some of which were taken they vis ited Tokyo by train.There in Tokyo, some sentences from the first chapter of La the appropriate atmospheric effect from the by himself, and which is also owned by the they visited some temples and museums, Farge’s An Artist’s Letters From Japan. We mountains of Japan. Massachusetts Historical Society. These attended Noh-Play theatre,and bought bric- can easily notice the contrast between our

a-brac under the guidance of Ernest Fenol- two visitors’reactions to Japan. losa and Bigelow. After having stayed in We have been here a week.Between the

Yokohama for ten days, they went on to wish that you were here with us,and the

Nikko in the mountains in order to escape conviction that you would probably by

from the heat and cholera epidemic in Tokyo. this time be broken up if you had come, Having experienced local life and observed I am distraught. Amusing it certainly is

Japanese religions for one month, including ―― beyond an idea ―― but comfortable

animism, they returned to Yokohama at the or easy it is not by any means ―― and I

end of August and then moved to the west can honestly say that one works for what

part of Japan. In Kyoto and Nara, they pas- one gets. (Yokohama, 9July, 1886) sed busy days buying curios and sightseeing. The journey back to Yokohama was harrow- We have at last been living at home,are

ing as they had to travel by ship and jinriki- shut up in a ship,as if boxed in with our

sha(rickshaw),and kago(palanquin).Fortu- own civilization,and then suddenly,with

(#1 The “Black Notebook”―― Henry Adams always carried this small leather notebook throughout nately at a small village near Mount Fuji, no transition, we had landed in another. his travels to Japan.Photo taken by Keiko Ido at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston) they found most beautiful views of Fuji ever And under what splendor of light, in

― 19 ― ― 20 ― what contrasting atmosphere!It is as if Japanese audience. confused struggling with dates and divin- did all this.The very lavishness of finish

the sky, in its variations,were the great ities.” and of detail, the heaped-up exaggera-

subject of the drama we are looking at, II-3-2:Reactions to Temple Architecture Adams’interest for temples was decreas- tions of refinement and civilization,bring

or at least its great chorus.The beauty of They visited Zojoji temple which is a ing day by day,and from one visit to another. out the more the simplicity and quiet of

the light and of the air is what I should family temple of the Tokugawas at Shiba in As for Japanese residential architecture, he the nature about them.”

like to describe but it is almost like Tokyo, and Toshogu, which is the shrine of regarded it as toylike “without partitions or And he finally found that “Nothing could

trying to account for one’s own mood the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in the midst of walls except of paper”, where “he can not recall more completely the lessons of death,

―― like describing the key in which one the Holy mountains in Nikko. Even though do well.” the permanence of change,and the transitori-

plays. (July 7) Adams had photos taken and took photos by Contrarily La Farge was deeply impres- ness of man.” Therefore we can say La

Adams has already been dismayed after himself in both sacred places, he was not sed by both sacred places,and from the first Farge noticed the vanity or transitoriness of one week’s stay. Although he found Japan deeply impressed, because he found them “a visit to a Japanese temple, his “dreams of man in the midst of everlasting nature,while amusing, it is beyond his ken and his adher- trifle baroque”or “cheap grotesque”. making an analysis and memoranda of these Adams underlined man’s power of conquest ence to Western values. He misses his com- He says, architectural treasures of Japan”were star- comparing it with that of Louis Quatorze.La fortable and accustomed easy Washington “For sticking a decisive bit of infamous ted. La Farge devoted two chapters to To- Farge continued to observe Japanese archi- life.Encountering the new values of a totally taste into the middle of a seriously shogu and one to Japanese architecture. His tecture;for example,he mentioned Horyuji in different world, he accepts with difficulty. planned, and minutely elaborated mass description of the structure and decoration of Nara as having especially noble and famous

La Farge, pleased to visit another civili- of refined magnificence, I have seen no Toshogu is very minute, accurate and color- mural paintings, admiring “their placid ele- zation,tries to catch it not only with his five people-except perhaps our own-to com- ful, as if we were not reading sentences, but gance,the refinement of their lines,and their senses, that of sight or hearing, but also by pare with the Japs.” looking at colored pictures. The reason why breath of religious peace,”And as for resi- introspection. If Toshogu temples touched Adams a he was so interested in the temples was his dential architecture, he valued its simplicity,

little, it was by the grand scale of its work passion for decorative arts in religious archi- which symbolizes Japanese life. He says:

II-3:Various Experiences that he writes to his friend, tecture, which he himself had started work- “Within, a Japanese house is simplicity

II-3-1:Reactions to a Noh Play “When you reflect that the old Shoguns ing in ten years before;for example his mural itself. (...)There is nothing, apparently,

Bigelow took them to a Noh theatre at spent twelve or fourteen millions of dol- painting of the Trinity Church in Boston.The but what is necessary,and refinement in

Shiba,where they took off their shoes,sat on lars on this remote mountains valley,you crafts and decorative works did win La disposing of that. (...)It is possible that the steps, and observed several short plays. can understand that Louis Quatorze and Farge’s sympathy, but La Farge did not for- when I return I shall feel still more dis-

For Adams, Noh plays meant nothing more Versailles are not much of a show get to compare artificial works with everlast- taste for the barbarous accumulations in than “to sit on his heels through all five hours compared with Nikko.” ing nature. He writes: our houses, and recall the far more civi- at theatre.”and “it is far from a comfortable As for temples in Kyoto or Nara in the “From its (mountain’s) very edge the lized emptiness persisted in by the more life style”.He could not keep his composure west,he did not make a single comment in his great slope is covered with tall trees that esthetic race.” in order to appreciate Japanese classic plays. letters or in his Black notebook.Besides that, look down upon this basin filled with Here, again, we can see the difference

For La Farge, “the monotony of impression Adams did not agree to visit the temples near gilding and lacquers, with carvings and between La Farge’s comment and that of was too novel to(him)to become wearisome, Lake Biwa;according to La Farge, bronze, with all that is most artificial, Adams who thought little of Japanese resi- and (he) sat for several hours through this “the idea of other temples to be seen delicate, labored, and transitory in the dential houses. succession of separate stories,patient,”and brought out A ――’s antagonism to more art of man.It is in this contrast,insisted he observed not only the actor’s movements, climbing only to be rewarded by prome- upon with consummate skill,that lies the II-3-3:Reactions to Bric-a-brac costumes, the Japanese music, but also the nades through lanterns and shrines and secret beauty of the art of the men who Japanese art was one of the most impor-

― 21 ― ― 22 ― what contrasting atmosphere!It is as if Japanese audience. confused struggling with dates and divin- did all this.The very lavishness of finish

the sky, in its variations,were the great ities.” and of detail, the heaped-up exaggera-

subject of the drama we are looking at, II-3-2:Reactions to Temple Architecture Adams’interest for temples was decreas- tions of refinement and civilization,bring

or at least its great chorus.The beauty of They visited Zojoji temple which is a ing day by day,and from one visit to another. out the more the simplicity and quiet of

the light and of the air is what I should family temple of the Tokugawas at Shiba in As for Japanese residential architecture, he the nature about them.”

like to describe but it is almost like Tokyo, and Toshogu, which is the shrine of regarded it as toylike “without partitions or And he finally found that “Nothing could

trying to account for one’s own mood the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in the midst of walls except of paper”, where “he can not recall more completely the lessons of death,

―― like describing the key in which one the Holy mountains in Nikko. Even though do well.” the permanence of change,and the transitori-

plays. (July 7) Adams had photos taken and took photos by Contrarily La Farge was deeply impres- ness of man.” Therefore we can say La

Adams has already been dismayed after himself in both sacred places, he was not sed by both sacred places,and from the first Farge noticed the vanity or transitoriness of one week’s stay. Although he found Japan deeply impressed, because he found them “a visit to a Japanese temple, his “dreams of man in the midst of everlasting nature,while amusing, it is beyond his ken and his adher- trifle baroque”or “cheap grotesque”. making an analysis and memoranda of these Adams underlined man’s power of conquest ence to Western values. He misses his com- He says, architectural treasures of Japan”were star- comparing it with that of Louis Quatorze.La fortable and accustomed easy Washington “For sticking a decisive bit of infamous ted. La Farge devoted two chapters to To- Farge continued to observe Japanese archi- life.Encountering the new values of a totally taste into the middle of a seriously shogu and one to Japanese architecture. His tecture;for example,he mentioned Horyuji in different world, he accepts with difficulty. planned, and minutely elaborated mass description of the structure and decoration of Nara as having especially noble and famous

La Farge, pleased to visit another civili- of refined magnificence, I have seen no Toshogu is very minute, accurate and color- mural paintings, admiring “their placid ele- zation,tries to catch it not only with his five people-except perhaps our own-to com- ful, as if we were not reading sentences, but gance,the refinement of their lines,and their senses, that of sight or hearing, but also by pare with the Japs.” looking at colored pictures. The reason why breath of religious peace,”And as for resi- introspection. If Toshogu temples touched Adams a he was so interested in the temples was his dential architecture, he valued its simplicity,

little, it was by the grand scale of its work passion for decorative arts in religious archi- which symbolizes Japanese life. He says:

II-3:Various Experiences that he writes to his friend, tecture, which he himself had started work- “Within, a Japanese house is simplicity

II-3-1:Reactions to a Noh Play “When you reflect that the old Shoguns ing in ten years before;for example his mural itself. (...)There is nothing, apparently,

Bigelow took them to a Noh theatre at spent twelve or fourteen millions of dol- painting of the Trinity Church in Boston.The but what is necessary,and refinement in

Shiba,where they took off their shoes,sat on lars on this remote mountains valley,you crafts and decorative works did win La disposing of that. (...)It is possible that the steps, and observed several short plays. can understand that Louis Quatorze and Farge’s sympathy, but La Farge did not for- when I return I shall feel still more dis-

For Adams, Noh plays meant nothing more Versailles are not much of a show get to compare artificial works with everlast- taste for the barbarous accumulations in than “to sit on his heels through all five hours compared with Nikko.” ing nature. He writes: our houses, and recall the far more civi- at theatre.”and “it is far from a comfortable As for temples in Kyoto or Nara in the “From its (mountain’s) very edge the lized emptiness persisted in by the more life style”.He could not keep his composure west,he did not make a single comment in his great slope is covered with tall trees that esthetic race.” in order to appreciate Japanese classic plays. letters or in his Black notebook.Besides that, look down upon this basin filled with Here, again, we can see the difference

For La Farge, “the monotony of impression Adams did not agree to visit the temples near gilding and lacquers, with carvings and between La Farge’s comment and that of was too novel to(him)to become wearisome, Lake Biwa;according to La Farge, bronze, with all that is most artificial, Adams who thought little of Japanese resi- and (he) sat for several hours through this “the idea of other temples to be seen delicate, labored, and transitory in the dential houses. succession of separate stories,patient,”and brought out A ――’s antagonism to more art of man.It is in this contrast,insisted he observed not only the actor’s movements, climbing only to be rewarded by prome- upon with consummate skill,that lies the II-3-3:Reactions to Bric-a-brac costumes, the Japanese music, but also the nades through lanterns and shrines and secret beauty of the art of the men who Japanese art was one of the most impor-

― 21 ― ― 22 ― tant interests for both of them.However we quer, bronze, books, and kimonos. It is said also find other dissimilar attitudes toward that because,returning home,Adams present-

Japanese culture.In this field their instructor ed many kimono pieces to his friends and in Japan was Ernest Fenollosa,who let them their wives, kimono became a kind of vogue see his collections at his house. Lafarge was as a gown for a while among the Washington moved by the paintings. He says: upper class.If he had made the best use of the

My mind is yet too confused with many help of such experts as La Farge,Fenollosa,

impressions to tell you of what we saw Bigelow and Okakura,he might have had the

that afternoon and evening, and what opportunity to collect special curios like

was said;all the more that the few beau- Weld or Frier had；however,regrettably,his

tiful paintings we looked at out of the shopping was of the souvenir genre.

great collection lifted me away from

today into an indefinite great past.(...)I II-4: The Holy Mountains and Reflections

could not help the recall of what I had on Buddhism

once felt at the first sight of old Italian II-4-1:Retreat to Nikko

art. The summer of1886in Tokyo was so hot (#2 Zenchi-In house 禅知院 where Adams and La Farge stayed in August 1886.Photo taken by Keiko

He was interested not only in Ukiyoe but that Adams and La Farge followed Bigelow’s Ido in Nikko) also Buddhist religious paintings and advice to retreat to the holy mountains in

Japanese crafts that he bought some of them. Nikko,where they were going to have direct various icons long rooted in the worship of Buddhist outlook on nature.

At the same time he observed the confused and impressive contact with Japanese reli- the local people.Besides these visits,Bigelow He writes as follows: state of Japanese arts and crafts after the gions. and Fenollosa acquainted them with “Everything here exists for a painter’s

Meiji Restoration, and worried about the They stayed in a Japanese style house, Japanese Buddhism, especially “Mikkyo”, delight, everything composes or makes

Westernization or industrialization of these next to one of the Toshogu temples.Reading esoteric Buddhism,because both of them had pleasant arrangements. (...) and here is works. La Farge’s comments concerning this house,I become “Tendaisyu” Buddhists. In these the sacred grove, all about me, as if

Adams was touched not by the paintings, myself went to Nikko to seek it out. Very ways, Adams and La Farge enlarged their history were made living. The lovely but unfavorably by Fenollosa’s personality. luckily,I found it standing in the same place knowledge of Japanese religion in the midst scenery reminds me of what has been

Adams called him “a tyrant”in his letter, and with the same garden which La Farge of the holy mountains. associated with it; a civilization which because Fenollosa said that they must not painted.The owner of this house is a priest of has been born of it, has never separated like any work done under the Tokugawa one of Toshogu temples.(see #2and #3) II-4-2:La Farge:Acceptance from nature,has its religion,its art,and

Shoguns.When one of the best curio dealers, Here Adams recovered a bit by enjoying According to Cortissoz, La Farge’s its historic associations entangled with al

Yamanaka, came to them, Adams “took the Mrs.Fenollosa’s Western style table where biographer, La Farge liked the eastern atti- natural manifestations. (...) I can fall whole lot, and has sent for more.”But he they were pleasantly served three times a day tude of contemplation, and his own nature into moods of thought, or, if you prefer, found,already in the first week in Japan,that for one month. Both Adams and La Farge was meditative.Besides his sensitive charac- of feeling, ―in which the edges of all

“Japan has been sold out”, and this im- walked or rode around into the sacred moun- ter, La Farge, a visual artist, perceived the things blend, and man and the outside patient disappointment continued till the last tains, where they visited not only famous sacred nature of Nikko through his sketch- world pass into each other.” day when he left Japan with tons of cargo, Toshogu temples but also small shrines, ing, namely through his sight. Therefore he La Farge was inspired by the unity of filled up with curios, namely kakemono,lac- sacred falls, rocks, or trees which symbolize had a sensitivity and an empathy for the nature with man, and that of nature with

― 23 ― ― 24 ― tant interests for both of them.However we quer, bronze, books, and kimonos. It is said also find other dissimilar attitudes toward that because,returning home,Adams present-

Japanese culture.In this field their instructor ed many kimono pieces to his friends and in Japan was Ernest Fenollosa,who let them their wives, kimono became a kind of vogue see his collections at his house. Lafarge was as a gown for a while among the Washington moved by the paintings. He says: upper class.If he had made the best use of the

My mind is yet too confused with many help of such experts as La Farge,Fenollosa,

impressions to tell you of what we saw Bigelow and Okakura,he might have had the

that afternoon and evening, and what opportunity to collect special curios like

was said;all the more that the few beau- Weld or Frier had；however,regrettably,his

tiful paintings we looked at out of the shopping was of the souvenir genre.

great collection lifted me away from

today into an indefinite great past.(...)I II-4: The Holy Mountains and Reflections

could not help the recall of what I had on Buddhism

once felt at the first sight of old Italian II-4-1:Retreat to Nikko

art. The summer of1886in Tokyo was so hot (#2 Zenchi-In house 禅知院 where Adams and La Farge stayed in August 1886.Photo taken by Keiko

He was interested not only in Ukiyoe but that Adams and La Farge followed Bigelow’s Ido in Nikko) also Buddhist religious paintings and advice to retreat to the holy mountains in

Japanese crafts that he bought some of them. Nikko,where they were going to have direct various icons long rooted in the worship of Buddhist outlook on nature.

At the same time he observed the confused and impressive contact with Japanese reli- the local people.Besides these visits,Bigelow He writes as follows: state of Japanese arts and crafts after the gions. and Fenollosa acquainted them with “Everything here exists for a painter’s

Meiji Restoration, and worried about the They stayed in a Japanese style house, Japanese Buddhism, especially “Mikkyo”, delight, everything composes or makes

Westernization or industrialization of these next to one of the Toshogu temples.Reading esoteric Buddhism,because both of them had pleasant arrangements. (...) and here is works. La Farge’s comments concerning this house,I become “Tendaisyu” Buddhists. In these the sacred grove, all about me, as if

Adams was touched not by the paintings, myself went to Nikko to seek it out. Very ways, Adams and La Farge enlarged their history were made living. The lovely but unfavorably by Fenollosa’s personality. luckily,I found it standing in the same place knowledge of Japanese religion in the midst scenery reminds me of what has been

Adams called him “a tyrant”in his letter, and with the same garden which La Farge of the holy mountains. associated with it; a civilization which because Fenollosa said that they must not painted.The owner of this house is a priest of has been born of it, has never separated like any work done under the Tokugawa one of Toshogu temples.(see #2and #3) II-4-2:La Farge:Acceptance from nature,has its religion,its art,and

Shoguns.When one of the best curio dealers, Here Adams recovered a bit by enjoying According to Cortissoz, La Farge’s its historic associations entangled with al

Yamanaka, came to them, Adams “took the Mrs.Fenollosa’s Western style table where biographer, La Farge liked the eastern atti- natural manifestations. (...) I can fall whole lot, and has sent for more.”But he they were pleasantly served three times a day tude of contemplation, and his own nature into moods of thought, or, if you prefer, found,already in the first week in Japan,that for one month. Both Adams and La Farge was meditative.Besides his sensitive charac- of feeling, ―in which the edges of all

“Japan has been sold out”, and this im- walked or rode around into the sacred moun- ter, La Farge, a visual artist, perceived the things blend, and man and the outside patient disappointment continued till the last tains, where they visited not only famous sacred nature of Nikko through his sketch- world pass into each other.” day when he left Japan with tons of cargo, Toshogu temples but also small shrines, ing, namely through his sight. Therefore he La Farge was inspired by the unity of filled up with curios, namely kakemono,lac- sacred falls, rocks, or trees which symbolize had a sensitivity and an empathy for the nature with man, and that of nature with

― 23 ― ― 24 ― an ancient Greek.” the East and the West,and finally stopped in

Besides these examples of folk worship he the West;at the veranda of a small house in

observed one day another strange, ancient, Nikko,he read Alfred de Musset’s poem and

pre-Christian activity, namely the people’s Dante’s Paradiso, thought about Paradise,

custom of public mixed bathing in the small nature and God, and copied out three verses

village of “Yumoto”hot springs. He saw: in his “Black Notebook”, which tell us that

“In a wooden hut, open to all the winds, he chose the West. and public as the road,men,women and First，he copied out the stanza of

children, naked as the mother that bore Musset’s romantic idealization of Beatrix,

them,were sitting,standing,soaking and whose death crushed the poet severely.Read-

drying themselves,as their ancestors had ing Musset’s poem, Adams transposed him-

done a thousand years ago.” self into the poet and Beatrix into his lost

And he considered this scenery as “the true wife,and he might have made a double image

Japan of my dream”. He did not regard of Paradise and Nirvana, as well as that of

such worship or custom positively. Adams his wife and Kannon,the female Goddness of

considered them “primitive”, because Mercy,but rejected a double Japanese image.

Japanese, whose roots were not of the When he meditated on Paradise,he could

“Aryan race”(Indo-European race), lived not but read Dante’s Paradiso. He examined

still in an “archaic society”. Here, in especially Canto XIII in which St.Thomas

Adams’s use of words of “primitive” and Aquinas illuminates the superiority of God to

“archaic”, there are negative connotations. nature, and he copied in his “Black Note- Adams used them in contrast to civilized and book”, secondly, the epigram from Canto (#3 The garden with a waterfall in Zenchi-In house.Photo taken by Keiko Ido in Nikko) Christian society, in which he was born and XIII: “Nature is always imperfect like the religion.And he himself finally reached some II-4-3:Adams:Resistence brought up. The public baths and folk wor- artist.”Here we can find a Christian who stage of Buddhist thoughts;he confessed: Meanwhile,Adams had no sympathy for ship suggested to him a wholly unusual social placed nature and man under God, and we

“I can say(...)that when the light of the Japanese religion. For example, while walk- psychology, and of course, as an educated also understand why Adams rejected primi-

fire or the sun appears,then I come forth; ing around the mountains, he could not Puritan, he was surprised by the boldness of tive people’s worship of the sun, trees, and

when the night comes,I lie still,(...)they approve of the forms of worship deeply root- sex. Therefore he dismissed such worship stones. He, who approves of the superiority

come and I come,they go,and I go,too. ed in the people. He writes to his friend as rooted in a “primitive”and “archaic”people. of God to nature, cannot accept animism.

(...)I have become as a blank to be filled. follows. Another example which explains Adams’ Adams supported heavenly paradise instead

I employ my mind as a mirror;it grasps “I was a bit aghast when one young rejection of Japanese religion is his denial of of Nirvana, truth instead of nature, and

nothing, it refuses nothing; it receives, woman called my attention to a temple the Japanese belief in the relationships Christianity instead of Buddhism.

but it does not keep. And thus I can as a remains of phallic worship;but what between gods and nature. In his “Black It was in the midst of Buddhist surround-

triumph over things without injury to one can do?Phallic worship is as univer- Notebook” owned by the Massachusetts ings that Adams did make this choice; he

myself―― I am safe in “Tao” (the sal here as that of trees, stones and the Historical Society, we find some sentences stayed in the priest’s house next to the To-

Way).” sun. I come across shrines of phallic which tell us the pendulum of his thoughts. shogu temples,everyday he saw the Toshogu

symbols in my walks, as though I were His pendulum swung back and forth,between priests going about their Buddhist practices,

― 25 ― ― 26 ― an ancient Greek.” the East and the West,and finally stopped in

Besides these examples of folk worship he the West;at the veranda of a small house in

observed one day another strange, ancient, Nikko,he read Alfred de Musset’s poem and

pre-Christian activity, namely the people’s Dante’s Paradiso, thought about Paradise,

custom of public mixed bathing in the small nature and God, and copied out three verses

village of “Yumoto”hot springs. He saw: in his “Black Notebook”, which tell us that

“In a wooden hut, open to all the winds, he chose the West. and public as the road,men,women and First，he copied out the stanza of

children, naked as the mother that bore Musset’s romantic idealization of Beatrix,

them,were sitting,standing,soaking and whose death crushed the poet severely.Read-

drying themselves,as their ancestors had ing Musset’s poem, Adams transposed him-

done a thousand years ago.” self into the poet and Beatrix into his lost

And he considered this scenery as “the true wife,and he might have made a double image

Japan of my dream”. He did not regard of Paradise and Nirvana, as well as that of

such worship or custom positively. Adams his wife and Kannon,the female Goddness of

considered them “primitive”, because Mercy,but rejected a double Japanese image.

Japanese, whose roots were not of the When he meditated on Paradise,he could

“Aryan race”(Indo-European race), lived not but read Dante’s Paradiso. He examined

still in an “archaic society”. Here, in especially Canto XIII in which St.Thomas

Adams’s use of words of “primitive” and Aquinas illuminates the superiority of God to

“archaic”, there are negative connotations. nature, and he copied in his “Black Note- Adams used them in contrast to civilized and book”, secondly, the epigram from Canto (#3 The garden with a waterfall in Zenchi-In house.Photo taken by Keiko Ido in Nikko) Christian society, in which he was born and XIII: “Nature is always imperfect like the religion.And he himself finally reached some II-4-3:Adams:Resistence brought up. The public baths and folk wor- artist.”Here we can find a Christian who stage of Buddhist thoughts;he confessed: Meanwhile,Adams had no sympathy for ship suggested to him a wholly unusual social placed nature and man under God, and we

“I can say(...)that when the light of the Japanese religion. For example, while walk- psychology, and of course, as an educated also understand why Adams rejected primi-

fire or the sun appears,then I come forth; ing around the mountains, he could not Puritan, he was surprised by the boldness of tive people’s worship of the sun, trees, and

when the night comes,I lie still,(...)they approve of the forms of worship deeply root- sex. Therefore he dismissed such worship stones. He, who approves of the superiority

come and I come,they go,and I go,too. ed in the people. He writes to his friend as rooted in a “primitive”and “archaic”people. of God to nature, cannot accept animism.

(...)I have become as a blank to be filled. follows. Another example which explains Adams’ Adams supported heavenly paradise instead

I employ my mind as a mirror;it grasps “I was a bit aghast when one young rejection of Japanese religion is his denial of of Nirvana, truth instead of nature, and

nothing, it refuses nothing; it receives, woman called my attention to a temple the Japanese belief in the relationships Christianity instead of Buddhism.

but it does not keep. And thus I can as a remains of phallic worship;but what between gods and nature. In his “Black It was in the midst of Buddhist surround-

triumph over things without injury to one can do?Phallic worship is as univer- Notebook” owned by the Massachusetts ings that Adams did make this choice; he

myself―― I am safe in “Tao” (the sal here as that of trees, stones and the Historical Society, we find some sentences stayed in the priest’s house next to the To-

Way).” sun. I come across shrines of phallic which tell us the pendulum of his thoughts. shogu temples,everyday he saw the Toshogu

symbols in my walks, as though I were His pendulum swung back and forth,between priests going about their Buddhist practices,

― 25 ― ― 26 ― and he encountered everyday folk worship- West in the midst of the East,while Huck La expectations and reasons for embarking on in Germany, at the age of 23, just after ping on the small mountain paths.Moreover Farge, a less restricted person, received and the trip to Japan that would create dissimilar graduating from Harvard, Adams went to his American circle itself was converted to opened to this culture more freely and deeply. impressions. Adams chose to be passive,and gymnasium (high school)for three months to the teaching of Budda, with Fenollosa and he was not ready to receive the new, or brush up his German. He practiced French

Bigelow both Buddhists, and La Farge who II-5:General Impressions of Japan totally different civilization. His intentions also in his first stay in France.After return- had sympathy for Buddhist meditation. Through three months of contemplation, during the trip were to rebuild his own ing home from Japan, he wanted to visit

Therefore Adams was the only person who for Adams, Japan was “a child’s country”, shattered life crushed by his wife’s death.La China,and he started to learn Chinese.Before supported the West. It is natural that he where “nothing is serious, nothing is taken Farge was eager to see Japanese art and arriving in Japan, he never tried to learn needed to read such a Christian evangelical seriously. All is toy. (...) the people have scenery in order to obtain ideas for motifs for Japanese,and after arriving there he gave up text as Dante. And in order to encourage given us infinite varieties of laughter ever his mural paintings at the Ascension Church learning it.In Japan,he could not implement himself, he noted, thirdly, another phrase since we saw our first fishing-boat.” in New York. his favorite means of understanding.He was from Canto XVII: “Let there be scratching Compared to himself, a grown-up or mature Secondly, the background in which they intellectually handicapped in a totally alien where the itching is.”This phrase is spoken person,Adams considered Japan as a child or were born and brought up was very impor- culture. He could eat or sleep, but he could in reference to the situation that Dante’s immature person.And in his use of the word tant.Adams,a pillar of WASP society in the not learn or collect first hand information. ancestor, Cacciaguida, charges Dante to “child”, no positive meaning like “pure”or United States,had been always in and of the This was a definite disadvantage for Adams. speak the truth even if he would be the only “innocent” seemed intended, but only the legitimate or orthodox school in America, La Farge was a visual artist,who obser- person who does that.In other words,Adams negative meaning “infantile,immature,prim- and he did not need to be melted into the ved the new culture through his sense of decided to be the last fort before the East, itive”.Adams laughed at such childish,barba- melting pot. His own discipline placed him sight. He received new information through where the itching was. rous people. He could neither appreciate nor always in the main or center stream. If his eyes, observed it, examined it, and ap-

like Japan, because he could neither under- Adams had felt some affinity for other coun- preciated it. La Farge was much less han- II-4-4:“Tom and Huck” stand nor value it. tries,his affinity would have been for Europe, dicapped in Japan than Adams.He was able

In these ways,Adams could not approve La Farge,on the other hand,liked Japan as Henry James had. Adams would never to appreciate his stay in Japan as a visual of Japanese religion and the Japanese con- and its culture, as he declared in the dedica- have valued Asia, which he thought was artist. cept of nature. In the one month stay in the tion to Okakura Tensin of An Artist’s Letters primitive or inferior to the West. He never Fourthly,it was their dissimilar tastes or holy mountains, Adams and La Farge obser- From Japan. As I have mentioned already,he bowed in the East to be understood himself. ways of thinking that resulted in their differ- ved Japanese local life from different views. treasured Japanese light and scenery, he Meanwhile La Farge was born into New ent perceptions of Japan. Adams was a man

According to Adams’letter,La Farge affir- valued Japanese traditional arts and crafts, York French society. He was a foreigner to of brightness, an intellectual, who would not med that Adams was Tom Sawyer and La but besides these he even sometimes consid- the Eastern WASP establishment circle in feel alleviated if he could not understand

Farge was Huckleberry Finn, and they cer- ered the Japanese race as more esthetic,and America, and more ready to receive other completely. Because his means of collecting tainly felt like these models.And I would also admired their courtesy. cultures. In a word, I would say, La Farge information was incapacitated,he was totally agree to this classification. Tom Sawyer was more open to alien cultures. at a loss,and terribly irritated.In his past,he

Adams stuck to the Western civilized life SECTION III:Backgrounds Thirdly, their means of absorbing the could observe everything, examine every- form, while Huckleberry Finn La Farge By focusing briefly on five important new culture were different. Adams was a thing, and understand everything, but in showed his real ability as an visual artist in issues,one can further investigate the reasons man of the verbal,while La Farge was a man Japan,he could do nothing except buy curios the open mountains.Concerning their impres- why their impressions of Japan differed so of the visual. When Adams tried to under- or laugh at the Japanese. Besides that, as a sions of Japan, Tom Adams, an elitist of a much. stand other cultures, he approached them Puritan, he was very distressed by religious highly educated civilization, defended the First, it was their positive or passive through language.When he studied in Berlin, symbols or the mystic moods of Buddhism,

― 27 ― ― 28 ― and he encountered everyday folk worship- West in the midst of the East,while Huck La expectations and reasons for embarking on in Germany, at the age of 23, just after ping on the small mountain paths.Moreover Farge, a less restricted person, received and the trip to Japan that would create dissimilar graduating from Harvard, Adams went to his American circle itself was converted to opened to this culture more freely and deeply. impressions. Adams chose to be passive,and gymnasium (high school)for three months to the teaching of Budda, with Fenollosa and he was not ready to receive the new, or brush up his German. He practiced French

Bigelow both Buddhists, and La Farge who II-5:General Impressions of Japan totally different civilization. His intentions also in his first stay in France.After return- had sympathy for Buddhist meditation. Through three months of contemplation, during the trip were to rebuild his own ing home from Japan, he wanted to visit

Therefore Adams was the only person who for Adams, Japan was “a child’s country”, shattered life crushed by his wife’s death.La China,and he started to learn Chinese.Before supported the West. It is natural that he where “nothing is serious, nothing is taken Farge was eager to see Japanese art and arriving in Japan, he never tried to learn needed to read such a Christian evangelical seriously. All is toy. (...) the people have scenery in order to obtain ideas for motifs for Japanese,and after arriving there he gave up text as Dante. And in order to encourage given us infinite varieties of laughter ever his mural paintings at the Ascension Church learning it.In Japan,he could not implement himself, he noted, thirdly, another phrase since we saw our first fishing-boat.” in New York. his favorite means of understanding.He was from Canto XVII: “Let there be scratching Compared to himself, a grown-up or mature Secondly, the background in which they intellectually handicapped in a totally alien where the itching is.”This phrase is spoken person,Adams considered Japan as a child or were born and brought up was very impor- culture. He could eat or sleep, but he could in reference to the situation that Dante’s immature person.And in his use of the word tant.Adams,a pillar of WASP society in the not learn or collect first hand information. ancestor, Cacciaguida, charges Dante to “child”, no positive meaning like “pure”or United States,had been always in and of the This was a definite disadvantage for Adams. speak the truth even if he would be the only “innocent” seemed intended, but only the legitimate or orthodox school in America, La Farge was a visual artist,who obser- person who does that.In other words,Adams negative meaning “infantile,immature,prim- and he did not need to be melted into the ved the new culture through his sense of decided to be the last fort before the East, itive”.Adams laughed at such childish,barba- melting pot. His own discipline placed him sight. He received new information through where the itching was. rous people. He could neither appreciate nor always in the main or center stream. If his eyes, observed it, examined it, and ap-

like Japan, because he could neither under- Adams had felt some affinity for other coun- preciated it. La Farge was much less han- II-4-4:“Tom and Huck” stand nor value it. tries,his affinity would have been for Europe, dicapped in Japan than Adams.He was able

In these ways,Adams could not approve La Farge,on the other hand,liked Japan as Henry James had. Adams would never to appreciate his stay in Japan as a visual of Japanese religion and the Japanese con- and its culture, as he declared in the dedica- have valued Asia, which he thought was artist. cept of nature. In the one month stay in the tion to Okakura Tensin of An Artist’s Letters primitive or inferior to the West. He never Fourthly,it was their dissimilar tastes or holy mountains, Adams and La Farge obser- From Japan. As I have mentioned already,he bowed in the East to be understood himself. ways of thinking that resulted in their differ- ved Japanese local life from different views. treasured Japanese light and scenery, he Meanwhile La Farge was born into New ent perceptions of Japan. Adams was a man

According to Adams’letter,La Farge affir- valued Japanese traditional arts and crafts, York French society. He was a foreigner to of brightness, an intellectual, who would not med that Adams was Tom Sawyer and La but besides these he even sometimes consid- the Eastern WASP establishment circle in feel alleviated if he could not understand

Farge was Huckleberry Finn, and they cer- ered the Japanese race as more esthetic,and America, and more ready to receive other completely. Because his means of collecting tainly felt like these models.And I would also admired their courtesy. cultures. In a word, I would say, La Farge information was incapacitated,he was totally agree to this classification. Tom Sawyer was more open to alien cultures. at a loss,and terribly irritated.In his past,he

Adams stuck to the Western civilized life SECTION III:Backgrounds Thirdly, their means of absorbing the could observe everything, examine every- form, while Huckleberry Finn La Farge By focusing briefly on five important new culture were different. Adams was a thing, and understand everything, but in showed his real ability as an visual artist in issues,one can further investigate the reasons man of the verbal,while La Farge was a man Japan,he could do nothing except buy curios the open mountains.Concerning their impres- why their impressions of Japan differed so of the visual. When Adams tried to under- or laugh at the Japanese. Besides that, as a sions of Japan, Tom Adams, an elitist of a much. stand other cultures, he approached them Puritan, he was very distressed by religious highly educated civilization, defended the First, it was their positive or passive through language.When he studied in Berlin, symbols or the mystic moods of Buddhism,

― 27 ― ― 28 ― and he could not admit his prejudice. There- Restoration, was for the already 48 and 51 Therefore, considering this chronology, we of Henry Adams, neither was the trip to fore it was natural that he could not bound years old upper class Americans accustomed find that from 1886 to spring of 1895, he Japan.His turning point came in Japan at the openly into Japan,if he could not understand to an agreeable and comfortable life style.It wandered through non-Western,non-modern age of 48, he received his inspiration in the nor value Japan. is said that they carried a gun in case of countries and areas,and after receiving inspi- cathedral at the age of 57. He published

La Farge was a man of sensibility, who emergency, which tells us that how much ration in 1895, he entered into his studies of privately his major works, Mont Saint Mi- was not particular about the need to criticize care they took, how much anxiety they felt. the medieval world. chel and Chartres at the age of 63, The or judge another culture.He could feel Japan, In any case, they left safely on the 2of In Japan, Adams was very irritated, Education of Henry Adams at the age of 69, even if he could not completely and exactly October from Yokohama for San Francisco. because he could not understand what he saw, and died in 1918at the age of eighty and was understand Japan. He never felt irritated by or what he touched or what he heard. This buried beside his wife in Rock Creek Ceme- the totally different culture.Moreover he was CONCLUSION initiated in him a great shock.It was the first tery under the bronze figure executed by a catholic, who was already accustomed to In conclusion, or as an epilogue to their time in his life, where he could not master, Saint-Gaudens. religious symbols or mysticism and found he trip to Japan,I will relate what then became understand,or examine the new culture with La Farge, who sketched constantly dur- could enter into a Buddhist frame of mind of them and briefly address what the journey any secure sense of linguistic control and ing his stay in Japan,made several paintings more smoothly than Adams. brought to Adams and La Farge afterward. therefore with his usual calm self assurance. on the theme of Japan, and of course he

And lastly, their attitudes toward Japan It is surprising that Adams,after return- That is why he ridiculed the Japanese so successfully discovered the motif for the themselves were different. One approached ing to America, then repeated and repeated often,but after returning home,this appalling mural paintings at The Ascension Church in with a school master attitude,while the other his wandering into non-Western cultures. In experience shook and disturbed his former New York.He was also encouraged in Japan came as a student. Like many Americans in 1888, he made his first visit to Cuba. From self-satisfied opinions to the extent, that it to continue and develop his decorative art the latter half of the 19century and 20 August 1890, to September 1891, he traveled gave him the opportunity to pursue other work from his admiration of Japanese deco- century, from Perry who opened Tokugawa with John La Farge to Hawaii, Samoa, Ta- trips toward discovering different cultures. rative works and crafts. The friendship

Japan,to MacArthur after World War Two, hiti,Fiji,Australia,Ceylon,and back through Ten years of wandering around the non- between La Farge and Okakura Tenshin last-

Adams was a western supremacist. He France and England to America in the spring modern world opened his eyes to a reexami- ed a life time.Okakura was one of Fenollosa’ thought that the primitive and barbarous of 1892. This time he was away from his nation and reassessment of his modern West- s students at the University of Tokyo,suppor-

Japanese were inferior to Americans. house for almost two years. In the spring of ern material civilization, and sent him back ted traditional art in Japan, and became

However, La Farge was one of the first 1894, he toured Cuba, and that summer he to the medieval world where men, to him, director of the East section at the Museum of artists to espouse Japanism in America. traveled to Yellowstone and the island lived in harmony. Fine Art in Boston. La Farge’s An Artist’s

Having already examined and studied the Tetons.From December of that year to April Therefore Adams’trip to Japan was Letters from Japan was dedicated to Okaku-

Japanese Art of Ukiyoe in the1860s when he 1895, he toured Mexico and the Caribbean nothing but a genesis in his education in ra,while so was Okakura’s The Book of Tea began his career as a painter, he was inter- Islands. In the summer of 1895Adams made meeting and examining the existence of new to La Farge.When La Farge was sick in his ested in its usage of color and motifs. And his first systematic study of the Gothic archi- cultures, and it was also a key step towards last years, he consoled himself with paints during his stay in Japan, he was capable of tecture of Normandy cathedrals and received reconsidering his own culture. Then regard- chosen by Okakura.According to La Farge’s learning as an uninhibited student. inspiration in the cathedral of Chartres: he ing this journey to Japan, together with the biographer, La Farge said, “In all these

was then 57. After this he mainly traveled tragic loss of his wife,it was a turning point things of misery I have had a great consola-

These reasons are why Adams and La again in Europe,especially in France.In 1904 for Adams,thus his three month education in tion. I have found the Japanese and Chinese

Farge had different impressions of Japan. he privately printed Mont Saint Michel and Japan was not a failure. paints chosen for me by Okakura some years

However, we can imagine how hard their Chartres, and in 1907 he issued the private And as similarly his wife and his mar- ago ―― all,of course,of great purity and of stay in Japan, just 19 years after the Meiji edition of The Education of Henry Adams. riage were never mentioned in The Education long tradition. Such a ‘Kano’blue!”La

― 29 ― ― 30 ― and he could not admit his prejudice. There- Restoration, was for the already 48 and 51 Therefore, considering this chronology, we of Henry Adams, neither was the trip to fore it was natural that he could not bound years old upper class Americans accustomed find that from 1886 to spring of 1895, he Japan.His turning point came in Japan at the openly into Japan,if he could not understand to an agreeable and comfortable life style.It wandered through non-Western,non-modern age of 48, he received his inspiration in the nor value Japan. is said that they carried a gun in case of countries and areas,and after receiving inspi- cathedral at the age of 57. He published

La Farge was a man of sensibility, who emergency, which tells us that how much ration in 1895, he entered into his studies of privately his major works, Mont Saint Mi- was not particular about the need to criticize care they took, how much anxiety they felt. the medieval world. chel and Chartres at the age of 63, The or judge another culture.He could feel Japan, In any case, they left safely on the 2of In Japan, Adams was very irritated, Education of Henry Adams at the age of 69, even if he could not completely and exactly October from Yokohama for San Francisco. because he could not understand what he saw, and died in 1918at the age of eighty and was understand Japan. He never felt irritated by or what he touched or what he heard. This buried beside his wife in Rock Creek Ceme- the totally different culture.Moreover he was CONCLUSION initiated in him a great shock.It was the first tery under the bronze figure executed by a catholic, who was already accustomed to In conclusion, or as an epilogue to their time in his life, where he could not master, Saint-Gaudens. religious symbols or mysticism and found he trip to Japan,I will relate what then became understand,or examine the new culture with La Farge, who sketched constantly dur- could enter into a Buddhist frame of mind of them and briefly address what the journey any secure sense of linguistic control and ing his stay in Japan,made several paintings more smoothly than Adams. brought to Adams and La Farge afterward. therefore with his usual calm self assurance. on the theme of Japan, and of course he

And lastly, their attitudes toward Japan It is surprising that Adams,after return- That is why he ridiculed the Japanese so successfully discovered the motif for the themselves were different. One approached ing to America, then repeated and repeated often,but after returning home,this appalling mural paintings at The Ascension Church in with a school master attitude,while the other his wandering into non-Western cultures. In experience shook and disturbed his former New York.He was also encouraged in Japan came as a student. Like many Americans in 1888, he made his first visit to Cuba. From self-satisfied opinions to the extent, that it to continue and develop his decorative art the latter half of the 19century and 20 August 1890, to September 1891, he traveled gave him the opportunity to pursue other work from his admiration of Japanese deco- century, from Perry who opened Tokugawa with John La Farge to Hawaii, Samoa, Ta- trips toward discovering different cultures. rative works and crafts. The friendship

Japan,to MacArthur after World War Two, hiti,Fiji,Australia,Ceylon,and back through Ten years of wandering around the non- between La Farge and Okakura Tenshin last-

Adams was a western supremacist. He France and England to America in the spring modern world opened his eyes to a reexami- ed a life time.Okakura was one of Fenollosa’ thought that the primitive and barbarous of 1892. This time he was away from his nation and reassessment of his modern West- s students at the University of Tokyo,suppor-

Japanese were inferior to Americans. house for almost two years. In the spring of ern material civilization, and sent him back ted traditional art in Japan, and became

However, La Farge was one of the first 1894, he toured Cuba, and that summer he to the medieval world where men, to him, director of the East section at the Museum of artists to espouse Japanism in America. traveled to Yellowstone and the island lived in harmony. Fine Art in Boston. La Farge’s An Artist’s

Having already examined and studied the Tetons.From December of that year to April Therefore Adams’trip to Japan was Letters from Japan was dedicated to Okaku-

Japanese Art of Ukiyoe in the1860s when he 1895, he toured Mexico and the Caribbean nothing but a genesis in his education in ra,while so was Okakura’s The Book of Tea began his career as a painter, he was inter- Islands. In the summer of 1895Adams made meeting and examining the existence of new to La Farge.When La Farge was sick in his ested in its usage of color and motifs. And his first systematic study of the Gothic archi- cultures, and it was also a key step towards last years, he consoled himself with paints during his stay in Japan, he was capable of tecture of Normandy cathedrals and received reconsidering his own culture. Then regard- chosen by Okakura.According to La Farge’s learning as an uninhibited student. inspiration in the cathedral of Chartres: he ing this journey to Japan, together with the biographer, La Farge said, “In all these

was then 57. After this he mainly traveled tragic loss of his wife,it was a turning point things of misery I have had a great consola-

These reasons are why Adams and La again in Europe,especially in France.In 1904 for Adams,thus his three month education in tion. I have found the Japanese and Chinese

Farge had different impressions of Japan. he privately printed Mont Saint Michel and Japan was not a failure. paints chosen for me by Okakura some years

However, we can imagine how hard their Chartres, and in 1907 he issued the private And as similarly his wife and his mar- ago ―― all,of course,of great purity and of stay in Japan, just 19 years after the Meiji edition of The Education of Henry Adams. riage were never mentioned in The Education long tradition. Such a ‘Kano’blue!”La

― 29 ― ― 30 ― Farge first met and admired Hokusai’s prints xi Royal Cortissoz, John La Farge, a me- in Paris at the age of 21, wrote his essay on moir and a study (Houghton Mifflin,

Japanese art in 1870at the age of35,came to 1911), p.15.

Japan in 1886 at the age of 51, and died in xii “Sketching”, ALJ, pp.159-174. 1910at the age of 75. xiii “Tao The Way”, ALJ, pp.99-118. In these ways,the unusually hot summer xiv HA to John Hay, 22 August 1886, of1886in Japan gave different impressions to Letters, pp.31-34. two American gentlemen, who had different xv HA to John Hay, 25 August 1886, backgrounds,but for both of them,the three Letters, p.34. month stay in Japan was a key to their xvi HA to Dewight, 30 July 1886, Letters, futures. p.35. xvii Cortissoz, Ibid., p.103. Notes i Henry Adams (hereafter HA) to Gas- kell,25April 1886,The Letters of Henry

Adams, vol.III, ed, by Levenson & Samuels (The Belknap Press of Harvard

University Press, 1982), (hereafter

Letters), p.8. ii HA to John Hay, 9 July 1886, Letters, pp.14-17. iii John La Farge , “An Artist’s Letters

from Japan”, An Artist’s Letters from

Japan (Century, 1897) (hereafter ALJ), pp.1-26. iv HA to Elizabeth Cameron, 13 August 1886, Letters, pp.29-31. v HA to John Hay 24 July 1886, Letters, pp.21-24. vi “From Kyoto to Guifu”, ALJ, p.256. vii HA to Dwight 17July1886,Letters,p.18. viii “The Shrines of Iyeyasu and Iyemitsu in

the Holy Mountain of Nikko”, ALJ, pp.52-84. ix “Kyoto”, ALJ, p.240. x “Japanese Architecture”, ALJ,pp.120- 128.

― 31 ― ― 32 ―