130 year old kaki mono

Hi I have an old kaki mono (please excuse the spelling if it is wrong). I got it from my great great grand mother who was a Christian Missionary at the end of the 19th century. I obviously never knew her! We have quite a few Japanese things from this time such as wood-bound books and umbrellas. I would be interested if anyone could translate the text on this kaki mono. I have uploaded a photo of it to my account so hopefully you can see it. If not send me a message and I will do what this site allows. I think it is probably something that was specifically aimed at tourists, who were new to Japan then.

can you link to the picture?

focus, please.

4 large kanjis
from right to left
–F
àÕ or ‘÷ ?
�H
“Œ

left side
�›
�›
‰Ø�H
�l

Šw
�›
�›
�›
�›
‘¡

‰ü
�›
Λ
‹Þ
�‘

right side
–@
Žm
�›
�›
Žt�H�@Žo�H�@’Ø�H
‰ë�H
Ž`�H

This I think was written by people of Chinese descent.
Because there is a character that�Z�ZŠw�Z‰Ø�l.
Finally written ‹ÞŒ¾(Kingen), is the end of the words of the letter.
This word seems to be in Chinese.
When the small character is a little more big picture, I think the more kanji can be read.

Hi,

If you click on my name then you will see a photo in the profile. I will try and take a clearer photo tonight. Please can you explain some of the language you use, eg Kanji? What is this scroll called? Is it the right way up?
I would be surprised if it is in Chinese as it definitely came from Japan, but at least 100 years ago.

It's a pity that it's blurred. You can try taking a better one by using a tripod or by simply pressing your elbows against your body when pressing the shutter. Or, on the other hand, if you're using a smartphone or ipad, you should let go of the shutter as quickly as possible instead of pressing it hard.

As for the writing itself, first of all, this is a typical Chinese style caligraphy (not Japanese style). The language written on it is also in Chinese.

It's quite common for an educated Japanese person to write Chinese caligraphy, but it's best to ask a Chinese person to read it. As implied, it does seem to say that it's from a Chinese school of some sort. The Chinese were already settled in Japan by the 19th century, before the Europeans, but it could also mean that it was sent from someone in China. In any case, China and Japan share a long history together.

That said, at least any Japanese can say that the main message is the four large characters in the middle and it should be read from right to left (A). The vertical line on the right is the addressee (B). The vertical lines on the left is the sender and the red stamps represent them.

(A)
“Œ�@àÕ–F
I can't type the 3rd letter with my computer, because it's probably a character that we don't use in Japan.

By any chance, was your great great grandmother from Germany? Because the letter àÕ represents Germany in classical Japanese writing. “Œ means "east" and –F can mean a lot of things such as a simple suffix to honor the other party or it can mean "spread in all directions".

My wild guess is that the message is meant to let the friendship between eastern Asia and the addressee's home to spread to the world.

(B)
In the order of top to bottom it says
–@Žm”P–qŽt‰ë�H

In Japanese, –qŽt means priest. Was your great great grandmother protestant? Because in Japanese, we don't use the term –qŽt for Catholic missionaries, although I'm not sure about the Chinese language. The other letters could be the Chinese translation of the addressee's name. Do names sounding like "Ho-shi-nen" ring a bell?

All in all, you should have it read by a Chinese person with academic knowledge of classical writing. It's a beautiful piece of caligraphy with a very nice frame.

By the way, "kaki mono" simply means "a writing" in Japanese. I don't know how they'd call it in Chinese, but it's indeed a piece of writing and you have it the right way up.

Just to add, if your great great grandmother was in Japan in the 19th century as a missionary, it's natural to assume she was working at one of the prestigous schools in a relatively big city in Japan. It might help to contact them, especially because I'm quite sure there will be teachers there with enough knowledge to read the caligraphy.

If you don't have clues on her workplace, you can give us information about her nationality, the city she lived in and what religious cult she belonged to, and someone might be able to help you.

Hi,

I have added a new photo to the travel reports section of my account. Click on my name and you will see this clearer photo.

Somehow, I can't view any photos even though I'm doing the same thing I did last. In any case, you should take that clear photo to a Chinese forum.

need more a good picture. enlarge right side letters and left side letters.
right side letters:–@Žm“¿–qŽt‰ë�H
left side letters:
�`
à_�H
Šw
�Z
‰Ø
�l

Šw
�H
“Ÿ�H
Šé�H‘S
left side is �œ,right side is unclear.
Œh
‘¡

‰@�H
left side is ‹à
Λ
‹Þ
�‘

‰@�›Œõ is the writer's name.
‹Þ�‘ is "sincerely writing"

‘¡ is give, gift.
Šw“Ÿ is possibly a status name, student ?
Šé(‹à,‘S),�›,Œh is a name who give this.

�`à_(?) is a school name.
Šw�Z is "school"
‰Ø�l is "Chinese"

you may try to contact Chinese school at Yokohama.
http://www.yocs.jp/YOCS/

they may read more.

Since the character is large, I am easy to read.
The right-hand column
–@
Žm
“¿
–q
Žt
‰ë
�iŠ˜�H�j
Column on the left
Žu
�¬
Šw
�Z
‰Ø
�l

Šw
Ҧ
‘S
‘Ì
Œh
‘¡

è–
ŠÓ
Λ
‹Þ
�‘

All students of Chinese running through to Shisei school(Žu�¬Šw�Z), seems to have gifts in honor of the pastor(–qŽt�Abokushi).
è–�@ŠÓŒõseems to have written this letter.
This calligraphy kanji is the old character.

Unfortunately, red seal (stamp,inkan,ˆóŠÓ) can not be understood because the character has been broken down.

here is the explanation of Žu�¬Šw�Z.
http://www.rikkyo-hs-ob.com/05_05.html

this school was established for Chinese students from �´ in 1906, and continuing until 1917.
the webpage says there is not much information about this school.
this school is related to —§‹³‘åŠw,rikkyo university,Saint Paul's University.
http://www.rikkyo.ac.jp/
Šw�Z–@�l —§‹³Šw‰@
�§171-0021 “Œ‹ž“s–L“‡‹æ�¼’r‘Ü3-34-1�@
TEL:03-3985-2202
http://www.rikkyo.ac.jp/inquiry/index_office1.html
email address:
alumni : koyu@grp.rikkyo.ne.jp
press information : koho@rikkyo.ac.jp

it might be historically valuable for the school.

I hope this help you.

According to the following Japanese link shown by the other poster...
http://www.rikkyo-hs-ob.com/05_05.html

Žu�¬Šw�Z(Shisei-gakkou) was a school for students from China and it seemed to have been operated during 1906-1917 with Bishop Henry St. George Tucker as head master, who was the then head master of St. Paul's University (Rikkyo).

It does make sense since St. Paul's was and still is one of the very few English church schools in Japan. Sister schools are St. Margaret's (Rikkyo-Jogakuin)
http://www.rikkyojogakuin.ac.jp/about/founder.html
and St. Hilda's (Koran-jogakko)
http://www.koran.ed.jp/education/history.html
which are both schools for girls.

St. Paul's (Rikkyo) now has a sister school in England as well. It might be easier for the you to contact them instead of doing things on-line.
http://www.rikkyo.co.uk/special/information-in-english.html

But still, as suggested, if you want the scroll to be read properly, it may be better to contact the Taiwanese school in Yokohama, since according to the St. Paul's website, there seem to be little information left about the Shisei school on St. Paul's side.
http://www.yocs.jp/YOCS/

By the way, you seemed to have second thoughts about the scroll being Chinese, but you wouldn't normally sign yourselves Šw�Z‰Ø�l (school for the Chinese) if you were in China, just as you wouldn't call a school in Britain "school for the British". It's because the school is outside China that they needed to be specific about calling themselves "Chinese". And just so that you'd know, you've got the close-ups of the stamps sideways.