Then was witnessed the sight of a whole nation penetrated by the higher moral teaching, and embracing a new religion, without any attempt to persecute or abolish the old -- the Shinto or nature-worship of ancient Japan.
From this moment the door of progress was one; architects, painters, japanners, musicians, dancers, chroniclers, artisans, potters, porcelain-manufacturers, fortune-tellers, all crowded into Japan, and were welcomed by the empress who left nothing undone to further both the spiritual and material advancement of her country.
But this happy state of things soon closed. The imperial family was composed of carious heterogeneous elements from which there had emerged into prominence two lines of dynasties (with no end of feudal chiefs), our of which there arouse about this time two princely families. Both having acquired immense possessions, and a vast influence over the minds of the people by means of their military talents, they now began to claim, each in its own respective right, the hereditary title of Military Dictator of the realm.
Like the houses of York and Lancaster, the hatreds and discords of these two families involved the country in civil wars. They adopted a red flag and a white flag as their respective standards, and were known as the Taira and Minamoto clans. The annals of these wars are filled with wonderfully romantic incidents, deeds of exalted courage, chivalry and devotion, strangely identical with those of the feudal times of European history.
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From General Nelson A. Miles
Thrilling Stories of The Russian-Japanese War, 1904
