Route of Cave Pioneering (cont’d)
It might be somewhat irrelevant to talk about Tamekichi Shiraishi in this section but I will do so tangentially. He had been operating his cave in Rossland for a long time, but he took over Shintarō Hayashi, whom you know, who left for Japan last summer after saving some money. Shiraishi just moved to Nelson in the end of August and is still new there, but he is recognized together with Kawamoto and is ruling Nelson with him. In fact, Chabujin himself is giving him due respect for some aspect. The reason why Shiraishi receives such respect is because he is a great reader, which is rare in their society. Great reader? Well, Shiraishi is truly an extensive reader and an academic, which is rare to find in the cave society. You must be surprised to hear a phrase like “an academic in a brothel”.
The books he has read through are stored in two full suitcases. These are all written in their original language. London Times is something he always reads in the kitchen, and currently he is preoccupied with research of evolutionary theory. His wife was previously involved in prostitution in Spokane; they currently have two prostitutes working for them.
He is turning forty-seven this year. He entered Dojinsha (a well-known school in Japan established by Masanao (or Keiu) Nakamura) in Koishikawa, Tōkyō in the first year of Meiji, and received Dr. Keiu Nakamura’s tutelage, which proves his education in English literature. He has taught English in a teacher training school, too. He also worked at Toyo Bank but he hates work, which is a troubling illness he has got, and is simply obsessed with reading books. He came to Seattle when he was near thirty, and partly because he was also a pleasure-seeker, he fell into devildom. This is ridiculous and also disappointing. His education is far greater than Kawamoto and others. This is why he has been the only person in Nelson whom Chabujin consults with.
When he was operating a cave in Rossland, the emperor of Germany was publicly speaking about Yellow Peril on a kind of strategic grounds. It became a worldwide debate and residents in Rossland, including both elites and lower classes, made it a big deal as if the war between Japan and the United States was starting immediately. Shiraishi then wrote a paper in English, explaining the structure of the Japanese nation-state, the lord-vassal relationship and the principle of Bushido, refuting the ignorance of Kaiser’s Yellow Peril. He submitted his paper to an English paper called Rossland Minor and sold his name, Joe Shiraishi.
Depending on the person, he explains physics, talks about chemistry, discusses astronomy and when the discussion gets heated up he starts banging on the table in the kitchen and attacks a Christian priest. It is helpless of the priest that he is attacked by a brothel owner.
He is a member of Rationalist Press Company and also a member of Yuizoku Education Association. As the reader would know, the first person whom we count as a current authoritative figure who advocates evolutionary theory in London would be Dr. McCabe. Dr. Haeckel in Germany and Dr. McCabe in London are the two acknowledged names among academics in the world, and Nelson’s brothel owner Suzuki is exchanging letters with Dr. McCabe.