In Memory of the 17th Century Travelogue: Kaempfer-Barney Memorial on the 8 Miles Road of Hakone 箱根八里

Passing the First Torii 一の鳥居 of Hakone Shrine 箱根神社, and we turn right at Motohakone 元箱根 Traffic light. The road, an asphalted commuter road with cars, starts to go up. In 100m or so from the traffic light, on our left there is a stone monument called Kaempfer-Barney Memorial. The place is a focal point of Kaempfer-Barney Festival that is supposed to be held on Sunday around 15th of April every year … Er, it seems to me Hakone Town won’t have it this year as for the last year. COVID-19 thing, you know … Anyway, it’s a festivity started in 1986 by the volunteers of Hakone Town who were active in nature conservation issues in Hakone. Eventually, the Town Hall became the sponsor of the annual event when kids and volunteers gather in front of this memorial to reassure the determination for environmental protection of their hometown. Why in front of this monument? Well, it’s because the 8 Mile Road of Hakone was the historical main artery route for Japan.

Kaempfer-Barney Memorial

Engelbert Kaempfer was in his early 40s when in 1690 he reached Japan from Germany. He worked for the Dutch Mercantile House in Nagasaki 長崎 as a medical doctor. At that time, Japanese government strictly limited any activity of foreigners in the archipelago. Unlike today’s tourists, especially for Caucasians it was extremely difficult hiding in a crowd to watch Japanese way firsthand. Living in Japan must have been a real “adventure” for Kaempfer. He was secretly enthusiastic to record everything he saw in Japan. I guess he also was a charming person. He had two chances to travel from Nagasaki to Edo (Tokyo), some 1500km apart, to meet the 5th Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi 徳川綱吉. You know, Tokugawa Shogunate firmly controlled the traffic in and out of Edo, and Hakone was THE choking point. Kaempfer did not have any other way to come to Tokyo other than going through Hakone. Surely, he came here in 1691 and 1692, to the point the memorial stands now, and recorded the natural scenery (; so he thought. You see? The 8 Miles Road was heavily constructed main street of Japan at that time) he found in Hakone. After returning Germany in 1712 he published his first book, “Amoenitates Exoticae,” mainly describing his experience in Persia. He then started writing his second, “The History of Japan,” but died in 1716 before publication. With many twists and turns of history, his manuscript recording his 2 years’ stay in Japan was donated to the Royal Library of Britain and finally published in 1727, not in its original German, but as an English translation. The original of the translated version is now in British Library. It became a long seller. Even Queen Elizabeth II said she read it before her visit to Japan in 1975. I presume now his “The History of Japan” is on a reading list for budding scholars of Japanology.

The 8 Miles Road to Edo
 seen from Kaempfer-Barney Memorial.
 He may have seen the same scenery 300 years ago …

At the opening of “Japan of Today,” English translator of Kaempfer’s manuscript, John G. Scheuchzer introduced his translation to his monarch, King George II (I guess … George I died in June 1727), this way:


    (The book) describes a valiant and invincible Nation,

    a polite, industrious and virtuous People,

    enrich’d by a mutual Commerce among themselves,

    and possess’d of a Country,

    on which Nature hath lavish’d her most valuable Treasures.

 * pp. xxi-xxii, 1993 Reprint of 1906 Edition, Curzon Press, Surrey, UK

Wow. Thank you! You mean, it’s about Japan, don’t you? Fast forward to the 20th century. When Onshi-koen 恩賜公園 was an Imperial summer palace, Hakone was a fashionable resort town with many mansions of celebrities. One of such was a summer house stood on a lakeshore near the First Torii. It was owned by an English merchant, Cyril Montague-Barney, who did well in international trading business from his office in Kobe 神戸. I wonder why a person lived in Kobe commuted every summer to Hakone, ignoring the other beautiful natural sceneries in between ... Anyway, Barney loved Hakone, and he was an excited reader of Kaempfer’s “Japan.” He received a deep inspiration from the above words of Scheuchzer. So, in 1922 he ordered to construct a stone monument inscribing the phrase to decorate his garden observing Lake Ashinoko. He was not shy to show-off his stone to whomever visited his summer residence. In a sense, Barney’s doing was the first public declaration for the importance of nature conservation in Japan ... Yeah, there were many famous Japanese naturalist already at that time, like Kumakusu Minakata 南方熊楠 or Tomitaro Makino 牧野富太郎, but doing PR for the matter was not their forte ... Hmmmmmmm … At the time Kaempfer-Barney Festival began in 1986, Barney’s summer house was gone, but his memorial was moved to the roadside of 8 Miles Road where surely Kaempfer went through. That’s the reason why volunteers for environmental protection in Hakone Town hold the commemorative festival in front of the monument.

The stone monument Barney made

Today, the point where the monument stands has a small open space, and a map and the other bulletin boards explaining Kaempfer, Barney, and the 8 Miles Road of Hakone. Although there is no toilet here, please use the place wisely, as this is the beginning of real “hiking” road of the 8 Miles Road. I think there is one thing important, practically, from here for today’s itinerary. Please make it sure you wear nice walking shoes WITHOUT spikes, ropes or any slippery things on your sole. Also, we don’t need any spats or the like to cover your foot. 8 Miles Road was the artery road of Japan. We don’t have to push our way through low trees and bushes, or paddle in mud. Instead, the entire path is “paved” for which Kaempfer was so impressed in the 17th century. Er, I think, it’s really a matter of point of view. Yeah, maybe, in the 17th century Europe, a mountain road completely paved could have been an astonishment. But … OK, let’s experience it next week. I’ll tell you my 21st century Adventure in Hakone.

If you find environmental issues in Hakone, please make a contact with Hakone Visitor Center, Ministry of Environment of Japan.

164 Motohakone, Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa 250-0522
Phone: +81-460-84-9981
FAX: +81-460-84-5721
Email: hakone-vc@kanagawa.email.ne.jp
http://hakonevc.sunnyday.jp/shizenjyouhou/gazou/englishindex.html