(b) "Hayashi was indeed 53 years old when he signed the document, with a cipher. Likewise, the name of the Japanese top interpreter for the occasion is cited in the native order, 'Moryama Yenoske.' In today's spelling and reverse order, it may be given 'Einosuke Moriyama [MORIYAMA 森山 栄之助].' "
(i) cipher (n): "one that has no weight, worth, or influence: NONENTITY <She was nothing more than a cipher>"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cipher
(ii) "signed the document, with a cipher"
(A) In the Japanese version of the Convention of Kanagawa, the signature on behalf of Japan was "復斎."
(B) In the English version, it was blank where Japan's representative should have signed.
The Treaty of Kanagawa. Washington, DC: US National Archives, undated
https://www.archives.gov/exhibit ... /treaty-of-kanagawa
Quote: "One interesting feature is the omission of a Japanese signature on the English language version [in three languages: English, Japanese and Chinese] of the treaty. Perry's letter to the Navy Secretary, also in the holdings of the Archives, offers an explanation: 'It will be observed that the practice usually pursued in affixing signatures to treaties was departed from on this occasion, and for reason assigned by the Japanese, that their laws forbade the subjects of the Empire from putting their names to any document written in a foreign language." The missing signature demonstrates that Perry's determination to achieve mission objectives was tempered by a willingness to compromise on issues of custom.
(c) "The British, at the height of imperialistic might, also kept the native name order. Sir Ernest Satow, who was stationed in Japan from 1862 to 1883, shows this abundantly in “A Diplomat in Japan.”"
Ernest Satow, A Diplomat in Japan; The inner history of the critical years in the evolution of Japan when the ports were opened and the monarchy restored, recorded by a diplomatist who took an active part in the events of the time, with an account of his personal experiences during that period. Philadelphia: JB Lippincott Co, 1921.
(d) "Most likely, then, the Japanese themselves decided to reverse the name order for Western use. I think of two Meiji figures who may have had some influence in this respect. Arinori MORI 森 有礼 (1847-1889) is famed for his proposal that Japanese be replaced with English. * * * For his advocacy of Westernization as typified by this, he was assassinated by an ultranationalist 17 years later when he was minister of education. Yukichi FUJUZAWA 福澤 諭吉 (1835-1901) was no less an advocate of Westernization. In his 1875 book, 'An Outline of the Theory of Civilization 文明論之概略,' he ranked countries in three stages of 'civilization and enlightenment' * * * Then, in 1885, he wrote an editorial for his own newspaper [時事新報], 'On Getting Out of Asia 脱亜論' * * *But Fukuzawa is unlikely to have advocated anything like name reversal so Japan may look more like the United States, Great Britain, et al."
Japanese-English dictionary:
* nori 典 【のり】 (n): "rule; law"
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