A German Newspaper Offers a Rare Peek into Life in 19th-Century Tokyo

Heinrich Schliemann paid a brief visit to the western Tokyo suburb of Hachioji during his month-long stay in Japan in 1865 before turning to archeology and discovering the ancient city of Troy, known as the setting of Greek mythology.

The German was surrounded by beautiful prostitutes and tried unsuccessfully to buy a Japanese sword, according to his diary, which was recently translated into Japanese.

Schliemann and his fellow travelers were also followed by 100 amusing residents as they walked and sang together.

The diary, originally written in French with pen and pencil, offers insight into Hachioji, one of the few places foreigners had access to at the end of the Edo Period (1603-1867), including how it interacted with locals. and described the architecture of the time.

Takao Ito, 49, a professor at the Soka University College of Letters who resides in Hachioji, translated it last summer with the help of students whose native language is French after obtaining permission from the American School of Classical Studies. of Athens (ASCSA) in Greece. Where has the diary been taken?

Schliemann (1822-1890) visited Japan in June 1865 while traveling the world and stayed in the country for about a month, according to his diary.

He left Yokohama with six British men on June 18 and spent a night in Machida, now a city west of Tokyo.

They arrived at Hachioji on the afternoon of June 19 and stayed there for about four hours until night. It was rainy season.

Schliemann bought a traditional Japanese “mino” raincoat made of straw, but said it was still sodden.

In Hachioji, he wrote that he was surrounded by about 30 beautiful women called “yujo” or prostitutes. A municipal official ordered them to get away from him.

Schliemann wanted to buy a sword, but was turned down by a shop, apparently on orders from the municipal office.

He bought sweets at a “dagashi-ya”, a penny candy store, and ate them with delight.

He walked arm in arm with his companions as he sang, prompting laughter from the neighbors, and about 100 people followed.

The newspaper mentioned architecture, such as the traditional “dozo” warehouses whose walls were made of mud and finished with plaster.

He also said that the gravel roads held up well. There were public toilets, and urine was collected for use as fertilizer.

At the end of the Edo Period, foreigners might have been targeted amid a growing movement calling for the expulsion of non-Japanese citizens.

The Tokugawa Shogunate restricted the activities of foreigners to a radius of 10 “ri” (about 40 kilometers) from Yokohama. Hachioji was one of the few places that foreigners could visit.

Hachioji, where the sericulture industry and silk production flourished, was a center of raw silk and silk fabrics in Japan, which was a major exporter of silk at the time.

The silk industry in Europe was hit hard by diseases that infected silkworms, Ito said. Silk production declined, and merchants around the world had their eyes on Japan.

Ito added that Schliemann was previously a businessman who traveled the world. Later, he wanted to start a second life as an author.

He decided to publish a travel book while traveling the world, which was the trend at the time. Stopped in Japan on the way.

After that, he plunged into the world of archaeology.

His travel book was later sent to the University of Rostock in Germany, along with papers on archaeology, and Schliemann was awarded his doctorate.

Six years after arriving in Japan, he made history by excavating the ruins of Troy in the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey).

“He immersed himself in different cultures and looked for how to live a second life,” Ito said. “It is a way of life that gives us some clues about today.”

Schliemann’s diary was included as “New Facts of Schliemann’s Diary Written by His Own Hand” in the book “Schliemann to Hachioji” (Schliemann and Hachioji) published by Daisanbunmei-sha Inc.