The End

January 1, 1862

It has been a few months since my last entry, however, this is the last entry i will be making in my journal. There is much to say about Japan now. The samurai were defeated by the newly skilled Japanese soldiers. The Japanese army now have howitzers and a new type of gun that can fire 200 rounds a minute. The country of Japan has obtained many more wires for electricity and people are dressed more like Americans and Europeans; actually, most are American or European. I was astonished by how far the Japanese have come along. It has been less than a year now and they are already booming industrially.

Just about 3 months ago they were still learning how to fight in war, how to shoot guns, and how to obey commands, but now they are skilled soldiers and fight with honor.

Bad News

November 8, 1861

The last few weeks have been crazy. For the first time i saw the Japanese "army". They were not trained and they did know how to use their weapons efficiently. I am terribly worried for these people. One of the men on the emperor's council has decided that the old ways of the samurai are no longer needed. I heard him say in Japanese that he wanted to go to war with the samurai. The samurai are a skilled group of warriors that fight with swords and arrows. In America and European countries, people are using guns and cannons. The samurai culture is the way of discipline and devotion. I was told that samurai translated means 'to serve'. I watch from a distance as the unprepared army goes towards the samurai. I worry for the Japanese army, I know that they are not ready. The council will not listen to me, however, because I am not a part of the army. The samurai men were practically raised to fight in combat. They rode up to the Japanese soldiers on horseback with armor. They were terrifying. Since the Japanese army were not skilled with war, they lost, and the samurai rode off into the night. It is the culture of the samurai to take your own life when you have lost a battle because it is dishonorable to lose. The Japanese army lost because they were not fully prepared and they did not have the skill or leverage that the samurai had. Many, if not all, samurai were on horses and all were skilled with their swords or arrows. The army cowered in fear when the samurai rode towards them.

The First Day

October 3, 1861,

My ship has finally landed after a long journey across the North Pacific. We went through a few hard times during a storm but we managed to arrive in Japan only a few days after scheduled. There are many Japanese people here. They crowd the streets. My crew is from America, however I am originally from France. The entire crew is dressed lavishly with clean clothes and nice shoes. Almost every Japanese person is dressed in dirty clothes, some even without shoes. They have the stereo-typical eyes and hair; slanted eyes and jet-black hair in ponytails. Their robes are all plain and the same. The young children look as though they have been forced to work all day and night, and they are exhausted. The postal workers are children because they are young and fit, but even they look skinny and unhealthy. I feel as though a thousand sets of eyes are staring right through me, for I am very different from these people. I am dressed differently, i speak differently, everything about me is different from these Japanese people. The first few minutes here reminded me of how i was told that the Native Americans were different from the European settlers; the natives wore clothes to cover themselves and were quite savagely, and the Japanese wear robes and look savagely. I am not sure yet as to how these people protect their cities and their families, but from what I see from these first few minutes, I am not impressed. They did not have many power lines for electricty, and you would rarely see the few that they had. Compared to the United States, these people are living in the 1700's.