A photograph of Percival Lowell.

Percival Lowell

Percival Lowell was born in Boston in 1855 and graduated from Harvard University. The Lowell family is one of New England’s most famous intellectual families. His sister, Amy, 19 years his junior, was the leader of the Imagist movement in poetry and an indispensable figure in modern American poetry. The stimulation and encouragement she received from her brother should not be overlooked. She was one of the first to write poems on the subject of ukiyo-e, clearly influenced by what Percival brought back from Japan. Percival Lowell came to Japan in 1883 as a diplomat. He was strangely attracted to the country and maintained ties with Japan for the ensuing decade until 1893. During this time, he lived in Korea as a diplomatic advisor and also returned to the U.S. with a Korean trading mission, but he seemed to have some mysterious connection with Japan. In 1888, he published this book, which was then followed by Noto: An Unexplored Corner of Japan (1891) and Occult Japan: The Way of the Gods (1895), the latter of which is particularly noteworthy as a record of his experience of climbing Mt. Ontake and coming into contact with the Shugenja (ascetic practitioners). It is interesting that he was a rationalist who loved logic, yet also had a fascination with mystery. After returning to the U.S., he devoted himself to astronomy and established an observatory in Arizona. He died in 1916.

“The boyish belief that on the other side of our globe all things are of necessity upside down is startlingly brought back to the man when he first sets foot at Yokohama. If his initial glance does not, to be sure, disclose the natives in the every-day feat of standing calmly on their heads, an attitude which his youthful imagination conceived to be a necessary consequence of their geographical position, it does at least reveal them looking at the world as if from the standpoint of that eccentric posture. For they seem to him to see everything topsy-turvy.”

This is the opening text of The Soul of the Far East. It is a bit pretentious, and readers may be surprised at how naive, or even violent, the contrast he draws between East and West is. His claim that everything is opposite just because they are on opposite sides of the earth, may suggest to readers that he is a little crazy. It is true that Lowell was a bit odd and eccentric. Although a member of Boston’s prestigious intellectual class, after graduating from Harvard University Lowell soon embarked on a trip to Europe and could not help but travel as far as Syria. In 1883 (Meiji 16), when he was only 28 years of age, he came to Japan, and for the ensuing decade his ties to the country remained unbroken. During that time, he accompanied a Korean trading delegation back to the U.S. and lived in Korea as a diplomatic advisor, but he also occasionally stayed in Japan, first to study the Japanese language, then to travel to Noto, and to research the Shugenja (ascetic practitioners) of Mt. Ontake and Ise Jingū Shrine. He was a man of great curiosity and activity, attracted to the strange and mysterious, and he could not help pursuing them in his own way to the end.

Moreover, this man was not just an enthusiast and a dilettante. There are plenty of facts to demonstrate his intellectual prowess. Having always had a love of mathematics and a mind for the natural sciences, he suddenly became interested in astronomy after returning to the U.S. from East Asia; he founded the Lowell Observatory, where he devoted himself to the observation of Mars and predicted the existence of Pluto. He was no ordinary man in terms of his abilities and work ethic. If you reread The Soul of the Far East with these later achievements in mind, phrases that may seem eccentric and dogmatic will have a slightly different nuance. Indeed, even if some of his indiscretions are undeniable; he seems to be the type of person who is attracted to clear-cut rationalism and who cannot help but think everything through logically. The fact that he rushes so quickly to an excessively clear-cut schematic can only be attributed to his inner rationalism and the urge to be consistent in his logic.

As evidence, Lowell goes on to say, “[…] they still appear quite as antipodal, mentally considered. […] their world is one huge, comical antithesis of our own. […] To speak backwards, write backwards, read backwards, is but the a b c of their contrariety. The inversion extends deeper than mere modes of expression, down into the very matter of thought. […] From the standing of a wet umbrella on its handle instead of its head to dry to the striking of a match away in place of toward one, […] equal [to us] but opposite.” He is so vigorous that he is unable to refrain from extending and, in his eyes, proving his basic proposition: “East and West are upside down,” by using concrete examples. “It grows steadily more personal as we go west.” This is without doubt a bit too rough a generalization and assertion, but he is, after all, a man obsessed with clarity and logical consistency. Let’s scrutinize what he has to say further.

Looking at the world as a whole, and looking back through history, we realize that “almost all the nations of note in the world, past or present” have been included in “the earth’s temperate zone, a belt of country whose northern and southern edges are determined by certain limiting isotherms, not more than half the width of the zone apart.” And “if we examine this belt, and compare the different parts of it with one another,” the above-mentioned proposition will become self-evident. “The sense of self grows more intense as we follow in the wake of the setting sun, and fades steadily as we advance into the dawn. America, Europe, the Levant, India, Japan, each is less personal than the one before,” he says, and continues, “We stand at the nearer end of the scale, the Far Orientals at the other. If with us the ‘I’ seems to be of the very essence of the soul, then the soul of the Far East may be said to be Impersonality.” Here the basic thesis that runs through this book is clearly set forth.

The book is structured as follows: Chapter 1. Individuality; Chapter 2. Family; Chapter 3. Adoption; Chapter 4. Language; Chapter 5. Nature and Art; Chapter 6. Art; Chapter 7. Religion; Chapter 8. Imagination. The contrast between the Western ego and individuality and the Oriental ego’s weakness, absence, and impersonality is the basic theme of this book, and continues to resonate throughout. Lowell’s homeland, the United States, was the pole of the West, and Japan was the pole of the East. This was an early comparative cultural theory, as well as a theory on the Japanese as seen through the mirror of America. As we have already seen, Lowell’s emphasis is on the differences between the two, and he attempts to dramatically illuminate these differences and contrasts. For example, if we look at Chapter 4. Language, we are immediately confronted with almost the same proposition. “In the first place, the Japanese language is pleasingly destitute of personal pronouns. Not only is the obnoxious ‘I’ conspicuous only by its absence; the objectionable antagonistic ‘you’ is also entirely suppressed, while the intrusive ‘he’ is evidently too much of a third person to be wanted.”

Lowell had been enthusiastic about studying Japanese during his stay in Japan. Apart from his language skills, there is no doubt that the above observations were based on his honest reactions to his own experiences. He was apparently surprised at how few pronouns were used in Japanese and how little presence they had in the language. He then returned to the great proposition of the “impersonality” of the Japanese, and not only does it convey his sense of astonishment, but it also has a kind of humor in its phrasing. The way he jokes around by adding exaggerated adjectives to English pronouns is amusing, but he also adds, “It is certainly delightful to be able to speak of yourself as if you were somebody else,” and that such “freedom” of the Japanese language is “not without its charm.” In fact, he was not necessarily judging the ambiguity or lack of “individuality” of the Japanese language or assuming English expressions to be the supreme and absolute standard. While frankly expressing his surprise, he also did not try to hide his joy at the liberating feeling of being exposed to, so to speak, and immersing himself in the world of another culture.

When considering the fact that The Soul of the Far East was published in 1888 (Meiji 21), we cannot help but admire the brilliance and uniqueness of the eccentric Lowell. Although the word “impersonality” is translated here as “hi-kojinsei (非個人性),” there is a subtle duality in this phrase. Indeed, it has a negative connotation as a lack or absence of “personality” or “kosei (個性),” but it is not a demeaning term in and of itself. Rather, it is often used with positive connotations, such as detachment and freedom from personality. It should be noted that Lowell did not judge the East and Japan solely on the basis of American-style “personality.” As the book progresses through Chapter 5. Nature and Art, and Chapter 6. Art, Lowell’s role as a connoisseur of Japanese culture comes vividly into view. When it comes to art, “the scientific is not the Far Oriental point of view.” Lowell writes, “To stroll down the Broadway of Tokio of an evening is a liberal education in everyday art,” and that “in one point the bustling street and the hushed temple are alike—in the nameless grace that beautifies both.” He also praises a Japanese cook, noting “the lowest artisan is essentially an artist.” It is no wonder that Lafcadio Hearn was one of the first to appreciate the worth of this book which is said to have partly inspired him to come to Japan. Let’s tip our hats to the spirit of Lowell.