Japan

JAPAN, an empire of eastern Asia, and one of the great powers of the world. The following article is divided for convenience into ten sections:I. GEOGRAPHY; II. THE PEOPLE; III.

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE; IV. ART; V. EcoNoMIc CONDITIONS; VI. GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION; \~II. RELIGION;

VIII. FOREIGN INTERCOURSE; IX. DOMESTIC HISTORY; X. THE CLAIM OF JAPAN.

1.GEOGRAPHY

The continent of Asia stretches two arms into the Pacific Ocean, Kamchatka in the north and Malacca in the south, between which lies a long cluster of islands constituting the Japanese empire, which covers 370 14 of longitude and 29 II of latitude. On the extreme north are the Kuriles (called by the Japanese Chishima, or the myriad isles), which extend to 156 32 E. and to 50 56 N.; on the extreme south is Formosa (called by the Japanese Taiwan), which extends to 122 6 E., and to 21 45

N. There are six large islands, namely Sakhalin (called by the Japanese Karafuto); Yezo or Ezo (which with the Kuriles is designated Hokkaido, or the north-sea district); Nippon (the origin of the sun), which is the main island; Shikoku (the four provinces), which lies on the east of Nippon; KiUshi or Kyushu (the nine provinces), which lies on the south of Nippon, and Formosa, which forms the most southerly link of the chain. Formosa and the Pescadores were ceded to Japan by China after the war of 1894-1895, and the southern half of Sakhalinthe part south of 500 N.was added to Japan by cession from Russia in 1905. Korea, annexed in August 1910, is separately noticed.

Coast-line.The following table shows the numbers, the lengths of coast-line, and the areas of the various groups of islands, only those being indicated that have a coast-line of at least I ri (23/4 m.), or that, though smaller, are inhabited; except in the case of Formosa and the Pescadores, where the whole numbers are given Length of Area Number. coast in in square miles. miles.

Nippon 1 4,765.03 99,373.57

Isles adjacent to Nippon. .. 167 I,27509 47o3C

Shikoku 1 1,100-85 6,4613

Isles adjaoent toShikoku. .. 75 548.12 1754C

RishiO I 2,10128 I3,7786~

Isles adjacent to KiOshi. .. 150 2,405.06 I,82I~8l Length of Area Number, coast in in square miles. miles.

Yezo I 1,423.32 30,148.41

Isles adjacent to Yezo - - - - 13 110.24 30.51

Sakhalin (Karafuto) - -.. I Unsurveyed 12,48764

Sado I 13005 335.92

Okishima I 182.27 130.40

Isles adjacent to Okishima - I 3o9 0.06

Awaji I 9443 217.83

Isles adjacent to Awaji - - I 5.32, 0.83

Iki I 86-47 50.96

Isles adjacent to Iki - - - I 441 047

Tsushima I 409.23 26172

Isles adjacent to Tsushima - 5 if88o 4.58

RiQkjO (or Luchu) Islands - - 55 768-74 935.18

Kuriles (Chishima) 31 1,496.23 6,159-42

Bonin (Ogasawara Islands) - 20 174.65 26.82

Taiwan (Formosa) I 731.31 13,429.31

Isles adjacent to Formosa - -. 7 12832Not surveyed Pescadores (Hoko-tO) -. -. 12 98.67 85so Totals 549 18,16098 f73,78675

If the various smaller islands be included, a total of over 3000 is reached, but there has not been any absolutely accurate enumeration.

It will be observed that the coast-line is very long in proportion to the area, the ratio being 1 m. of coast to every 95 rn. of area. The Pacific Ocean, which washes the eastern shores, moulds their outline into much greater diversity than does the Sea of Japan which washes the western shores. Thus the Pacific sea-board measures 10,562 m. against 2887 m. for that of the Japan Sea. In depth of water, too, the advantage is on the Pacific side. There the bottom slopes very abruptly, descending precipitously at a point not far from the north-east coast of the main island, where soundings have shown 4655 fathoms. This, the deepest sea-bed in the world, is called the Tuscarora Deep, after the name of the United States man-of-war which made the survey. The configuration seems to point to a colossal crater under the ocean, and many of the earthquakes which visit Japan appear to have their origin in this submarire region. On the other hand, the average depth of the Japan Sea is only 1200 fathoms, and its maximum depth is 3200. The east coast, from Cape Shiriya (Shiriyazaki) in the north, to Cape Inuboye (Inuboes4ki) near Tokyo Bay, though abounding in small indentations, has only two large bays, those of Sendai and Matsushima; but southward from Tokyo Bay to Cape Satta (Satanomisaki) in KiOshi there are many capacious inlets which offer excellent anchorage, as the Gulf of Sagami (Sagaminada), the Bays of Suruga (Surugawan), lie (Isenumi) and Osaka, the Ku Channel, the Gulf of Tosa (Tosonada), &c. ,Opening into both the Pacific and the Sea of Japan and separating Shikoku and KiQshi from the main island as well as from each other, is the celebrated Inland Sea, one of the most picturesque sheets of water in the world. Its surface measures 1325 sq m.; it,has a length of 255 m. and a maximum width of 56 m.; its coast-lines aggregate 700 m.; its depth is nowherc more than 65 fathoms, and it is studded with islands which present scenery of the most diverse and beautiful character. There arc four narrow avenues connecting this remarkable body of water with the Pacific and the Japan Sea; that on the west, called Shirnonoseki Strait, has a width of 3000 yds., that on the south, known ai Hayarnoto Strait, is 8 m. across; and the two on the north, Yura and Naruto Straits, measure 3000 and 1500 yds. respectively. It need scarcely be said that these restricted approaches give littlc access to the storms which disturb the seas outside. More broker into bays and inlets than any other part of the coast is the westerr shore of KiOshiO. Here three promontoriesNomo, Shimabar~ and Kizakienclose a large bay having on its shores Nagasaki, thi great naval port of Sasebo, and other anchorages. On the south 0:

KiOshiO the Bay of Kagoshima has historical interest, and on th west are the bays of Ariakeno-ura and Yatsushiro. To the norti of Nagasaki are the bays of Hakata, Karatsu and Imari. Betweei this coast and the southern extremity of the Korean peninsula an situated the islands of Iki and Tsushima, the latter being onl~ 30 m. distant from the peninsula. Passing farther north, the shore line of the main island along the Japan Sea is found to be compara tively straight and monotonous, there being only one noteworth~ indentation, that of Wakasa-wan, where are situated the naval por of Maizuru and the harbour of Tsuruga, the Japanese point 0 communication with the Vladivostok terminus of the Trans-Asiai railway. From this harbour to Osaka Japans waist measures onl 77 m., and as the great lake of Biwa and some minor sheets of wate break the interval, a canal may be dug to join the Pacific and th Sea of Japan. Yezo is not rich in anchorages. Uchiura (Volcan Bay), Nemui-o (Walfisch) Bay and Ishikari Bay are the only remark able inlets. As for Formosa, the peculiarity of its outline is that th eastern coast falls precipitously into deep water, while the wester ~lopes slowly to shelving bottoms and shoals. The Pescadore lalands afford the best anchorage in this part of Japan.

Mountasns.The Japanese islands are traversed from north t south by a range of mountains which sends out various laterl branches. Lofty summits are separated by comparatively low passes, which lie at the level of crystalline rocks and schists constituting the original uplands upon which the summits have been piled by volcanic action. The scenery among the mountains is generally soft. Climatic agencies have smoothed and modified everything rugged or abrupt, until an impression of gentle undulation rather than of grandeur is suggested. Nowhere is the region of eternal snow reached, and masses of foliage enhance the gentle aspect of the scenery and glorify it in autumn with tints of striking brilliancy. Mountain alternates with valley, so that not more than one-eighth of the countrys entire area is cultivable.

The king of Japanese mountains is Fuji-yama or Fuji-san (peerless mount), of which the highest point (Ken-ga-mine) iS 12,395 ft. above sealevel. The remarkable grace of this moun- Fe L tams curvean inverted catenarymakes it one of the most beautiful in the world, and has obtained for it a prominent place in Japanese decorative art. Great streams of lava flowed from the crater in ancient times. The course of one is still visible to a distance of 15 m. from the summit, but the rest are covered, for the most part, with deep deposits of ashes and scoriae. On the south Fuji slopes unbroken to the sea, but on the other three sides the plain from which it rises is surrounded by mountains, among which, on the north and west, a series of most picturesque lakes has been formed in consequence of the rivers having been dammed by ashes ejected from Fujis crater. To a height of some 1500 ft. the slopes of the mountain are cultivated; a grassy moorland stretches up the next 2500 ft.; then follows a forest, the upper edge of which climbs to an altitude of nearly 8000 ft., and finally there is a wide area of ashes and scoriae. There is entire absence of the Alpine plants found abundantly on the summits of other high mountains in Japan, a fact due, doubtless, to the comparatively recent activity of the volcano. The ascent of Fuji presents no difficulties. A traveller can reach the usual point of departure, Gotemba, by rail from Yokohama, and thence the ascent and descent may be made in one day by a pedestrian.

The provinces of Hida and Etchiu are bounded on the east by a chain of mountains including, or having in their immediate vicinity, the highest peaks in Japan after Fuji. Six of these summits rise to a height of 9000 L. or upwards, and The constitute the most imposing assemblage of mountains Japanese in the country. The ridge runs due north and south Aips.

through 60 to 70 rn. and has a width of 5 to lom. It is mostly of granite, only ~wo of the mountainsNorikura and Tateyamashowing clear traces of volcanic origin. Its lower flanks are clothed with forests of beech, conifers and oak. Farther south, in the same range, stands Ontake (10,450 ft.), the second highest mountain in Japan proper (as distinguished from Formosa); and other remarkable though not so lofty peaks mark the same regions. This grand group of mountains has been well called the Alps of Japan, and a good account of them may be found in The Japanese Alps (1896) by the Rev. W. Weston. On the summit of Ontake are eight large and several small craters, and there also may be seen displays of trance and divine possession, such as are described by Mr Percival Lowell in Occult Japan (1895).

Even more picturesque, though less lofty, than the Alps of Japan, are the Nikko mountains, enclosing the mausolea of the two greatest of the Tokugawa shoguns. The highest of these are Shirane-san (7422 ft.), Nantai-san (8169 ft.), Nyoh- The Nikko zan (8100 ft.), and Omanago (7546 ft.). They are ~flountains. clothed with magnificent vegetation, and everywhere they echo the voices of waterfalls and rivulets.

In the north of the main island there are no peaks of remarkable height. The best known are Chiokai-zan, called Akita-Fuji (the Fuji of the Akita province), a volcano 7077 ft.

high, which was active as late as 1861; Ganju-san Mountains (6791 ft.), called also Nambu-Fuji or Iwate-zan, of the North. remarkable for the beauty of its logarithmic curves; Iwaki-san (5230 ft.), known as Tsugaru-Fuji, and said by some to be even more imposing than Fuji itself; and the twin mountains Gassan (6447 ft.) and Haguro-san (5600 ft.). A little farther south enclosing the fertile plain of Aizu (Aizu-taira, as it is called) several important peaks are found, among them being lide-san (6332 ft.) Azuma-yama (7733 ft.), which, after a long interval of quiescence, has given many evidences of volcanic activity during recent years; Nasu-dake (6296 ft.), an active volcano; and Bandai-san (6037 ft.), A terrible interest attaches to the last-named mountain, for, after having remained quiet so long as to lull the inhabitants of the neigh. bouring district into complete security, it suddenly burst into fierc i activity on the 15th of July 1888, discharging a vast avalanche 01 earth and rock, which dashed down its slopes like an inundation burying four hamlets, partially destroying seven villages, kilhnf 461 people and devastating an area of 27 sq. m.

In the province of KOzuke, which belongs to the central part 01

- the main island, the noteworthy mountains are Asama-yama (8I3t ft.), one of the best known and most violently active Mountains o 1 peaks surrounding the basin of an old crater and rising ancisiJnano to a height of 6210 ft.; the Haruna group, celebrated for scenic beauties, and Myogi-san, a cluster of pinnacles which I though not rising higher than 3880 ft., offer scenery which dispel:

the delusion that nature as represented in the classical pictures (bunjingwa) of China and Japan exists only in the artists imagination. Farther south, in the province of Kai (KOshiu), and separating two great rivers, the Fuji-kawa and the Tenriu-gawa, there lies a range of hills with peaks second only to those of the Japanese Alps spoken of above. The principal elevations in this range are Shiranesanwith three summits, NOdori (9970 ft.), Ai-no-take (10,200 ft.) and Kaigane (10,330 ft.)and HOOzan (9550 ft.). It will be observed that all the highest mountains of Japan form a species of belt across the widest part of the main island, beginning on the west with the Alps of Etchiu, Hida and Shinano, and ending on the east with Fuji-yama. In all the regions of the main island southward of this belt the only mountains of conspicuous altitude are Omine (6169 ft.) and Odai-gaharazan (5540 ft.) in Yamato and Daisen or Oyama (5951 ft.) in HOki.

The island of Shikoku has no mountains of notable MO,Ukn~1ins of magnitude. The highest is Ishizuchi-zan (7727 ft.), but there are several peaks varying from 3000 to 6000 ft.

Kishi, though abounding in mountain chains, independent or connected, is not remarkable for lofty peaks. In the neighborhood of ~ ~, Nagasaki, over the celebrated solfataras of Unzen-take KlilshIiI (called also Onsen) stands an extinct volcano, whose summit, Fugen-dake, is 4865 ft. high. More potable is Aso-take, some 20 m. from Kumamoto; for, though the highest of its five peaks has an altitude of only 5545 ft., it boasts the largest crater in the world, with walls nearly 2000 ft. high and a basin from 10 to 14 m. in diameter. Aso-take is still an active volcano, but its eruptions during recent years have been confined to ashes and dust. Only two other mountains in KishiC need be mentioneda volcano (3~,I3 ft.) on the island Sakura-jima, in the extreme south; and Kirishiina-yama (5538 ft.), on the boundary of Hiuga, a mountain specially sacred in Japanese eyes, because on its eastern peak (Takachiho-dake) the god Ninigi descended as the forerunner of the first Japanese sovereign, Jimmu.

Among the mountains ,of Japan there are three volcanic ranges, namely, that of the Kuriles, that of Fuji, and that of Kirishima.

Volcanoes Fuji is the most remarkable volcanic peak. The Japanese regard it as a sacred mountain, and numbers of pilgrims make the ascent in midsummer. From 500 to 600 ft. is supposed to be the depth of the crater. There are neither sulphuric exhalations nor escapes of steam at present, and it would seem that this great volcano is permanently extinct. But experience in other parts of Japan shows that a long quiescent crater may at any moment burst into disastrous activity. Within the period of Japans written history several eruptions are recorded the last having been in 1707, when the whole summit burst into flame, rocks were shattered, ashes fell to a depth of several inches even in Yedo (TOkyO), 60 m. distant, and the crater poured forth streams of lava. Among still active volcanoes the following are the best known Name of Volcano Height in feet. Remarks.

Tarumai (Yezo) 2969. Forms southern wall of a large ancient crater now occupied by a lake (Shikotsu). A little steam still issues from several smaller cones on the summit of the ridge, as well as from one, called Eniwa, on the northern side.

Noboribetsu (Yezo) In a state of continuous activity, with 1148. frequent detonations and rumblings. The crater is divided by a wooded rock-wall. The northern part is occupied by a steaming lake, while the southern part contains numerous solfataras and boiling springs.

Komagatake (Yezo) The ancient crater-wall, with a lofty 3822. pinnacle on the western side, contains a low new cone with numerous steaming rifts and vents. In a serious eruption in 1856 .the S.E. flank of the mountain and the country side in that direction were denuded of trees. -

Esan 2067. A volcano-promontory at the Pacific end of the Tsugaru Strait: a finely formed cone surrounded on three sides by the sea, the crater breached on the land side. The central vent displays considerable activity, while the rocky walls are stained with red, yellow and white deposits from numerous minor vents.

Agatsuma (Iwaki) Erupted in 1903 and killed two geolo5230 gists.

Bandai-san (Iwashiro) Erupted in 1888 after a long period of 6037. quiescence. The outbreak was preceded byan earthquake of some severity, after which about 20 explosions took place. A huge avalanche of earth and rocks buried the Nagase Valley with its villages and inhabitants, and devastated an area of over 27 sq. m. The number of lives lost was 461; four hamlets were completely Bandai-san (Iwashiro) entombed with their iiihabitants and cattle; 6o37(cont.). seven villages were partially wrecked; forests were levelled or the trees entirely denuded of bark; rivers were blocked up, and lakes were formed. The lip of the fracture is now marked by a line of steaming vents.

Azuma-yama (Fuku- Long considered extinct, but has erupted shima) 7733. several times since I893, the last explosion having been in 1900, when 82 sulphurdiggers were killed or injured; ashes were thrown to a distance of5m.,accumulatingin places to a depth of 5 ft.; and a crater 300 ft. in diameter, and as many in depth, was formed on the E. side of the mountain. This crater is still active. The summit-crater is occupied by a beautiful lake. On the Fukushima (E.) side of the volcano rises a large parasitic cone, extinct.

Nasu (Tochigi) 6296. Has both a summit and a lateral crater, which are apparently connected and perpetually emitting steam. At or about the main vents are numerous solfataras. The whole of the upper part of the cone consists of grey highly acidic lava. At the base is a thermal spring, where baths have existed since the 7th century.

Shirane (Nikko) 7422. The only remaining active vent of the once highly volcanic Nikko district. Eruption in 1889.

Shirane (Kai) 70,330. Eruption in 1905, when the main crater was enlarged to a length of 3000 ft. It is divided into three parts, separated by walls, and each containing a lake, of which the middle one emits steam and the two others are cold. The central lake, during the periods of eruption (which are frequent), displays a geyser-like activity. These lakes contain free sulphuric acid, mixed with iron and alum.

Unzen (Hizen) 4865. A triple-peaked volcano in the solfatara stage, extinct at the summit, but displaying considerable activity at its base in the form of numerous fumaroles and boiling sulilhur springs.

Aso-take (Higo) 5545. Remarkable for the largest crater in the world. It measures 10 m. by I5, and rises almost symmetrically to a height of about 2000 ft., with only one break through which the river Shira flows. The centre is occupied by a mass of peaks, on the W. flank of which lies the modern active Crater. Two of the five compartments into which it is divided by walls of deeply striated volcanic ash are constantly emitting steam, while a new vent displaying great activity has been opened at the base of the cone on the south side. Eruptions have been recorded since the earliest days of Japanese history. In 1884 the ejected dust and ashes devastated farmlands through large areas. An outbreak in 1894 produced numerous rifts in the inner walls from which steam and smoke have issued ever since.

Kaimon (Kagoshima One of the most beautiful volcanoes of Bay) 3041. Japan, known as the Satsuma-Fuji. The symmetry of the cone is marred by a con vexity on the seaward (S.) side. This volcano is all but extinct.

Sakura-jima (Kago- An island-volcano, with several parasitic shima Bay) 3743. cones (extinct), on the N. and E. sides.

At the summit are two deep craters, the southern of which emits steam. Grass grows, however, to the very edges of the crater. The island is celebrated for ther mal springs, oranges and daikon (radishes),

which sometimes grow to a weight of 70 lb.

Kiri-shima (Kagoshima A volcanic range of which Takachiho, Bay) 5538. the only active cone, forms, the terminal (S.E.) peak. The crater,situatedon the S.W. side of the volcano, lies some 500 ft. below the summit-peak. It is of remarkably regular formation, and the floor is pierced by a number of huge fumaroles whence issue immense volumes of steam.

Izuno Oshima (Vries The volcano on this island is called Island) (lIti) 2461. Mihara. There is a double crater, the outer being almost complete. The diameter ox the outer crater, within which rises the modern cone to a height of 500 ft. above Izuno Oshima (Vries the surrounding floor, is about 2 rn; while Island) (lzu) 2461 the present crater, which displays incessant (cont). activity, has itself a diameter of 3/4 m.

Asama (Ise) 8736. The largest active volcano in Japan.

An eruption in 1783, with a deluge of lava, destro~ed an extensive forest and overwhelmed several villages. The present cone is the third, portions of two concentric crater rings remaining. The present crater is remarkable for the absolute perpendicu larity of its walls, and has an immense depth from 600 to 800 ft. It is circular, 3/4 m.

in circumference, with sides honeycombed and burned to a red hue.

Some of the above information is based upon Mr. C. E. BruceMitfords valuable work (see Geog. Jour., Feb. 1908, &c.).

Ear~j1quakes.Japan is subject to marked displays of seismic violence. One steadily exercised influence is constantly at work, for the shores bordering the Pacific Ocean are slowly though appreciably rising, while on the side of the Japan Sea a corresponding subsidence is taking place. Japan also experiences a vast number of petty vibrations not perceptible without the aid of delicate instruments. But of earthquakes proper, large or small, she has an exceptional abundance. Thus in the thirteen years ending in 1897that is to say, the first period when really scientific apparatus for recording purposes was availableshe was visited by no fewer than 17,750 shocks, being an average of something over 33/4 daily. The frequency of these phenomena is in some degree a source of security, for the minor vibrations are believed to exercise a binding effect by removing weak cleavages. Nevertheless the annals show that during the three centuries before 1897 there were 108 earthquakes sufficiently disastrous to merit historical mention. If the calculation be carried farther backas has been done by the seismic disaster investigation committee of Japan, a body of scientists constantly engaged in studying these phenomena under government auspices,it is found that, since the countrys history began to be written in the 8th century AD,, there have been 2006 major disturbances; but inasmuch as 1489 of these occurred before the beginning of the Tokugawa administration (early in the 17th century, and therefore in an era when methods of recording were comparatively defective), exact details are naturally lacking. The story, so far as it is known, may be gathered from the following table :

Date AD. Region Houses Deaths.

destroyed.

684. - Southern part of Tosa.. - _(i)

869 - - Mutsu _(2)

1361. .. KiOto 1498 -. Tokaido 2,000(3)

1569 ., - Bongo 700

1596,, - KiOto 2,000

1605 (31,/I) - Pacific Coast 5,000

1611 (27)9). Aizu 3,700

1614 (2/12) Pacific Coast (N.E.). .. 1,700

1662 (16/6) - Kioto 5,500 500

1666 (2/2) - Echigo 7,500

1694 (19,12) IJgo ~,76o 390

1703 (30/12) - Tokyo 20,162 5,233

1707 (28/10) - Pacific Coast of KiOshi and Shikoku 29,000 4,900

1751 (20/5). Echigo 9,100 1,700

1766 (8/3) - Hirosaki 7,500 1,335

1792 (10/2). Hizen and Higo. ... 12,000 15,000

1828 (18/2) - Echigo 11,750 1,443

1844 (8/5). Echigo 34,000 72,000

1854 (6/7) - Yamato, Iga, lse -. .. 5,000 2,400

1854 (23/12) - TOkaidO (Shikoku). .. o,ooo 3,000

1855 (u/u). Yedo (Tokyo) 50,000 6,700

1891 (28/10) - Mino, Owari 222,501 7,273

1894 (22/10). ShOnai 8,403 726

1896 (15,/6). Sanriku 13,073 27,122

1896 (3 1/8). Ugo, Rikuchu.. -. 8,996 209

1906 (12/2) - Formosa 5,556 1,228

(1) An area of over 1,200,000 acres swallowed up by the sea.

(2) Tidal wave killed thousands of people.

(3) Hamana lagoon formed.

In the capital (Tokyo) the average yearly number of shocks throughout the 26 years ending in 1906 was 96, exclusive of minor vibrations, hut during the 50 years then ending there were only two severe shocks (i8S4 and 1894), and they were not directly responsible for any damage to life or limb. The Pacific coast of the Japanese islands is more liable than the western shore to shocks disturbing a wide area. Apparent proof has been obtained that the shocks occurring in the Pacific districts originate at the bottom of the sea the Tuscarora Deep is supposed to be the centre of seismic activity and they are accompanied in most cases by tidal waves. It would seem that of late years Tajima, Hida, KOzuke and some other regions in central Japan have enjoyed the greatest immunity, while Musashi (in which province Tokyo is situated) and Sagami have been most subject to disturbance.

Plains.Japan, though very mountainous, has many extensive plains. The northern islandYezocontains seven, and there are as many more in the main and southern islands, to say nothing of flat lands of minor dimensions. The principal are given in the following table:

Name. Situation. Area; Remarks.

Tokachi plain - - Yezo. 744,000 acres.

Ishikari ,,. - do. 480,000 ,,

Kushiro ,, - - do. 7,229,000 ,,

Nemuro ,, - - do. 320,000 ,,

Kitami ,,. - do. 230,000 ,,

Hidaka ,, .. do. 200,000 ,,

Teshio ,,. - do. 1~o,ooo ,,

Echigo ,,. - Main Island. Unascertained.

Sendai ,,. - do. do.

Kwanto ,, .. do. do. In this plain lie the capital,TOkyo, and the town of Yokohama. It supports about 6 mil lions of people.

Mino-Owari,, .. do. do. HasI3/4millioninhabi- tants.

Kinai ,, .. do. do. Has the cities 01

Osaka,Kioto and Kobe, and 23/4 million people.

Tsukushi ,, .. Kiushiu. do. The chief coalfield of Japan.

Rivers.Japan is abundantly watered. Probably no country in the world possesses a closer network of streams, supplemented by canals and lakes. But the quantity of water carried seawards varies within wide limits; for whereas, during the rainy season in summer and while the snows of winter are melting in spring, great volumes of water sweep down from the mountains, these broad rivers dwindle at other times to petty rivulets trickling among a waste of pebbles and boulders. Nor are there any long rivers, and all are so broken by shallows and rapids that navigation is generally impossible except by means of flat-bottomed boats drawing only a few inches. The chief rivers are given in the following table:

Length in miles. Source. Mouth.

Ishik-ari-gawa.. 275 Ishikari-dake... Otaru.

Shinano-gawa.. 215 Kimpu-san. .. Niigata.

Teshio-gawa.. 192 Teshio-take. -. Sea of Japan.

Tone-gawa.. f 77 Monju-zan, Kozuke - Choshi (Shi mosa),

Mogami-gawa -. 151 Dainichi-dake(Uzen). Sakata.

Yoshino-gawa.. 149 Yahazu-yama (Tosa). Tokushima (Awa).

Kitakami-gawa. 146 Nakayama-dake Ishinomaki (Rikuchiu) (Rikuzen).

Tenriu-gawa -. 136 Suwako (Shinano). TOtmi Bay.

Go-gawa or Iwa megawa. .. 122 Maruse-yama (Bingo) Iwami Bay.

Abukuma-gawa. 122 Asahi-take (Iwashiro) Matsushima Bay.

Tokachi-gawa.. 120 Tokachi-dake. -. Tokachi Bay.

Sendai-gawa.. 112 Kunimi-zan (Hiuga). Kumizaki (Sat suma).

Oi-gawa. .. 112 Shirane-san (Kai).. Suruga Bay.

Kiso-gawa. .. 112 Kiso-zan (Shinano). Bay of Isenumi.

Ara-kawa. .. 104 Chichibu-yama -. Tokyo Bay. -

Naga-gawa... 102 Nasu-yama (Shimo- Naka-no-minato tsuke). ... (Huachi).

Lakes and Waterfalls.Japan has many lakes, remarkable for the beauty of their scenery rather than for their extent. Some are contained in alluvial depressions in the river valleys; others have been formed by volcanic eruptions, the ejecta damming the rivers until exits were found over cliffs or through gorges. Some of these lakes have become favorite summer resorts for foreigners. To that category belong especially the lakes of Hakone, of Chiuzenji, of ShOji, of Inawashiro, and of Biwa. Among these the highest is Lake Chiuzenji, which is 4375 ft. above sea-level, has a maximum depth of 93 fathoms, and empties itself at one end over a fall (Kegon) 250 ft. high. The ShOji lakes lie at a height of 3160 ft:, and their neighborhood abounds in scenic charms. Lake Hakone is at a height of 2428 ft.; Inawashiro, at a height of 1920 ft. and Biwa at a height of 328 ft. The Japanese associate Lake Biwa (Omi) with eight views of special loveliness(Omi-no-hakkei). Lake Suwa, in Shinano, which is emptied by the Tenriu-gawa, has a height of 2624 ft. In the vicinity of many of these mountain lakes thermal springs, with remarkable curative properties, are to be found. (F. By.)

Geology.It is a popular belief that the islands of Japan consist for the most part of volcanic rocks. But although this conception might reasonably be suggested by the presence of many active and extinct volcanoes, Professor J. Mime has pointed out that it is literally true of the Kuriles alone, partially true for the northern half of the Main Island and for Kishi, and quite incorrect as applied to the southern half of the Main Island and to Shikoku. This authority sums up the geology of Japan briefly and succinctly as follows (in Things Japanese, by Professor Chamberlain): The backbone of the country consists of primitive gneiss and schists. Amongst the latter, in Shikoku, there is an extremely interesting rock consisting largely of piedmontite. Overlying these amongst the Palaeozoic rocks, we meet in many parts of Japan with slates and other rocks possibly of Cambrian or Silurian age. Trilobites have been discovered in Rikuzen. Carboniferous rocks are represented by mountain masses of Fusulina and other limestones. There is also amongst the Palaeozoic group an interesting series of red slates containing Radiolaria. Mesozoic rocks are represented by slates containing Ammoniles and Monotis, evidently of Triassic age, rocks containing Ammonites Bucklandi of Liassic age, a series of beds rich in plants of Jurassic age, and beds of Cretaceous age containing Trigonia and many other fossils. The Cainozoic or Tertiary system forms a fringe round the coasts of many portions of the empire. It chiefly consists of stratified volcanic tuffs rich in coal, lignite, fossilized plants and an invertebrate fauna. Diatomaceous earth exists at several places in Yezo. In the alluvium which covers all, the remains have been discovered of several species of elephant, which, according to Dr Edmund Naumann, are of Indian origin. The most common eruptive rock is andesite. Such rocks as basalt, diorite and trachyte are comparatively rare. Quartz porphyry, quartzless porphyry, and granite are largely developed. Drs von Richthofen and Rein discuss the subject in greater detail. They have pointed out that in the mountain system of Japan there are three main lines. One runs from S.W. to N.E.; another from S.S.W. to N.N.E., and the. third is meridional. These they call respectively the southern schist range, the northern schist range, and the snow range, the last consisting mainly of old crystalline massive rocks. The rocks predominatin~ in Japan fall also into three groups. They are, first, plutonic rocks, especially granite; secondly, volcanic rocks, chiefly trachyte and dolerite; and thirdly, palaeozoic schists. On the other hand, limestone and sandstone, especially of the Mesozoic strata, are strikingly deficient. The strike of the old crystalline rocks follows, in general, the main direction of the islands (S.W. to N.E.). They are often overlain by schists and quartzites, or broken through by volcanic masses. The basis of the islands consist of granite, syenite, diorite, diabase and related kinds of rock, porphyry appearing comparatively seldonr. Now the granite, continuing for long distances, forms the prevailing rock; then, again, it forms the foundation for thick strata of schist and sandstone, itself only appearing in valleys of erosion and river boulders, in rocky projections on the coasts or in the ridges of the mountains.... In the composition of many mountains in Hondo (the main island) granite plays a prominent part.

It appears to form the central mass which crops up in hundreds of places towards the coast and in the interior. Old schists, free from fossils and rich in quartz, overlie it in parallel chains through the whole length of the peninsula, especially in the central and highest ridges, and bear the ores of Chu-goku (the central provinces), principally copper pyrites and magnetic pyrites. These schist ridges rich in quartz show, to a depth of 20 metres, considerable disintegration. The resulting pebble and quartz-sand is very unproductive, and supports chiefly a poor underwood and crippled pines with widely spreading roots which seek their nourishment afar. In the province of Settsu granite everywhere predominates, which may be observed also in the railway cuttings between Hiogo and Osaka, as well as in the temples and walls of these towns. The waterfalls near Kobe descend over granite walls and the mikageishi (stone of Mikage), famous throughout Japan, is granite from Settsu.. .. In the hill country on the borders of Ise, Owari, Mikawa and TOtmi, on the one side, and Omi, Mino and Shinano, on the other, granite frequently forms dark grey and much disintegrated rock-projections above schist and diluvial quartz pebbles. The feldspar of a splendid pegmatite and its products of disintegration on the borders of Owari, Mino and Mikawa form the raw material of the very extensive ceramic industry of this district, with its chief place, Seto. Of granite are chiefly formed the meridional mountains of Shinano. Granite, diorite and other plutonic rocks hem in the winding upper valleys of the Kisogawa, the Saigawa (Shinano river) and many other rivers of this province, their clear water running over granite. Also in the hills bordering on the plain of Kwantd these old crystalline rocks are widely spread. Farther northwards they give way again, as in the south, to schists and eruptive rocks. Yet even here granite may be traced in many places. Of course it is not always a pure granite; even hablit and graniteporphyry are found here and there. Thus, for instance, near Nikko in the upper valley of the Daiya-gawa, and in several other places in the neighboring mountains, a granite-porphyry appears with large, pale, flesh-colored crystals of orthoclase, dull triclinic feispar, quartz and hornblende. From the mine of Ichinokawa in Shikoku come the wonderful crystals of antimonite, which form such conspicuous objects in the mineralogical cabinets of Europe. (Reins Japan and Milne in Things Japanese.) The above conditions suggest the presence of tertiary formations, vet only the younger groups of that formation appear to be developed. Nor is there any sign of moraines, glacier-scorings or other traces of the ice-age.

The oldest beds which have yielded fossils in any abundance belong to the Carboniferous System. The Trias proper is represented by truly marine dep~its, while the Rhaetic beds contain plant remains. The Jurassic and Cretaceous beds are also in part marine and in part terrestrial. During the whole of the Mesozoic era Japan appears to have lain on or near the margin of the Asiatic continent, and the marine deposits are confined for the most part to the eastern side of the islands.

The igneous rocks occur at several geological horizons, but the great volcanic eruptions did not begin until the Tertiary period. The existing volcanoes belong to four separate arcs or chains. On the south is the arc of the Luchu islands, which penetrates into Kill Shill. Iii the centre there is the arc of the Izu-no-Shichito islands, which is continued into Hondo along the Fossa Magna. In North Hondo the great Bandai arc forms the axis of the island and stretches into Yezo (HokkaidO). Finally in the east of Yezo rise the most westerly volcanoes of the Kurile chain. The lavas and ashes ejected by these volcanoes consist of liparite, dacite, andesite and basalt.

Structurally Japan is divided into two regions by a depression (the Fossa Magna of Naumann) which stretches across the island of Hondo from Shimoda to Nagano. The depression is marked by a line of volcanoes, including Fuji, and is in part buried beneath the products of their eruptions. It is supposed to be due to a great fault along its western margin. South and west of the Fossa Magna the beds are thrown into folds which run approximately parallel to the general direction of the coast, and two zones may be recognizedan outer, consisting of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic beds, and an inner, consisting of Archaean and Palaeozoic rocks, with granitic intrusions. Nearly along the boundary between the two zones lie the inland seas of south Japan. Towards the Fossa Magna the folds bend northwards.

North and east of the Fossa Magna the structure is concealed, to a very large extent, by the outpourings of the volcanoes which form so marked a feature in the northern part of Hondo. But the foundation on which the volcanoes rest is exposed along the east coast of Hondo (in the Kwanto, Abukuma and Kitakami hills), and also in the island of Yezo. This foundation consists of Archean, Palaeozoic and Mesozoic beds folded together, the direction of the folds being N. by W. to S. by E., that is to say, slightly oblique to the general direction of this part of the island. Towards the Fossa Magna the folds bend sharply round until they are nearly parallel to the Fossa itself. (P. LA.)

It has been abundantly demonstrated by careful observations that the east coasts of Japan are slowly rising. This phenomenon was first noticed in the case of the plain on which s, stands the capital, TOkyO. Maps of sufficiently trust- M worthy accuracy show that in the If th century ove en Tokyo Bay penetrated much more deeply in a northern direction than it does now; the point where the citys main river (Sumida or Arakawa) enters the sea was considerably to the north of its present position, and low-lying districts, to-day thickly populated, were under water. Edmund Naumann was the discoverer of these facts, and his attention was first drawn to them by learning that an edible sea-weed, which flourishes only in salt water, is called Asakusanon, from the place (Asakusa) of its original provenance, which now lies some 3 m. inland. Similar phenomena were found in Sakhalin by Schmidt and on the north-east coast of the main island by Rein, and there can be little doubt that they exist at other places also. Naumann has concluded that formerly TokyO Bay stretched further over the whole level country of Shimosa and Hitachi and northwards as far as the plain of KwantO extends; that the mountain country of Kasusa-Awa emerged from it an island, and that a current ran in a north-westerly direction between this island and the northern mountain margin of the present plain toward the north-east into the open ocean.

Mineral Springs.The presence of so many active volcanoes is partially compensated by a wealth of mineral springs. Since many of these thermal springs possess great medicinal value, Japan may become one of the worlds favorite health-resorts, There are more than a hundred spas, some hot, some cold, which, being easily accessible and highly efficacious, are largely visited by the Japanese. The most noteworthy are as follows:

Name of Spa. Prefecture Quality. Temp., F.

Arima. .. Hiogo.. Salt 100

Asama. .. Nagano. Pure 111127

Asamushi.. Aomori. Salt 134f 68

Atami. .. Shizuoka. do 131226

Beppu.. - Oita.. Carbonic Acid - - 109132

Bessho.. - Nagano. Pure or Sulphurous. 108i 13

Dogo.. - Ehime. Pure 70110

Hakone. - Kanagawa Pure, Salt or Sulphurous 98f 68

Higashi-yama - Fukushima Pure or Salt - -. 117144

Ikao.. - Gumma, - Salt 111127

Isobe. ., do. - do Cold -Kusatsu.. - do - Sulnhuroiis, - 127TAff Name of Spa. Prefecture. Quality Temp., F.

Nasu - - - - Tochigi - Suiphurous. .. f62172

Noboribetsu. Ishikari - do.. .. 125

Shibu -. - Nagano - Salt 98115

Chiuzenji - Shizuoka - Carbonate of Soda and Sulphqr 114185

Takarazuka - Hiogo - Carbonic Acid -.. Cold Ureshino -. Saga -. do - - 230

Unzen - - - Nagasaki. Sulphurous. -. - 158204

Wagura -. - Ishikawa - Salt 180

Yamashiro - - do. - do 165

Yunoshima.. Hiogo. do 104134

ClimaIe.The large extension of the Japanese islands in a northerly and southerly direction causes great varieties of climate. General characteristics are hot and humid though short summers, and long, cold and clear winters. The equatorial currents produce conditions differing from those existing at corresponding latitudes on the neighboring continent. In KiushiO, Shikoku and the southern half of the main island, the months of July and August alone are marked by oppressive heat at the sea-level, while in elevated districts a cool and even bracing temperature may always be found, though the direct rays of the sun retain distressing power. Winter in these districts does not last more than two months, from the end of December to the beginning of March; for although the latter month is not free from frost and even snow, the balminess of spring makes itself plainly perceptible. In the northern half of the main island, in Yezo and in the Kuriles, the cold is severe during the winter, which lasts for at least four months, and snow falls sometimes to great depths. Whereas in Tokyo the number of frosty nights during a year does not average much over 60, the corresponding number in Sapporo on the north-west of Yezo is 145. But the variation of the thermometer in winter and summer being considerableas much as 72 F. in Tokyothe climate proves somewhat trying to persons of weak constitution. On the other hand, the mean daily variation is in general less than that in other countries having the same latitude: it is greatest in January, when it reaches i8 F., and least in July, when it barely exceeds 9 F. The monthly variation is very great in March, when it usually reaches 43 F.

During the first 40 years of the Meiji era numerous meteorological stations were established. Reports are constantly forwarded by Meteoroio~ telegraph to the central observatory in Tokyo, which issues daily statements of the climatic conditions during the previous twenty-four hours, as well as forecasts for the next twenty-four. The whole country is divided into districts for meteorological purposes, and storm-warnings are issued when necessary. At the most important stations observations are taken everyhour; at the less important, six observations daily; and at the least important, three observations. From the record of three decades the following yearly averages of temperature are obtained:

Taihoku (in Formosa) 71

Nagasaki (KishiO) 60

KObe (Main Island) 5~

Osaka (Main Island) 59

Okayama (Main Island) 58

Nagoya (Main Island) 58

Sakai (Main Island) 58

Tokyo (Capital) 5~

KiOto (Main Island) 57

Niigata (Main Island) 55

Ishinomaki (Main Island) 52

Aomori (Main Island) 50

Sapporo (Yezo) 44

The following table affords data for comparing the climatesof Peking, Shanghai, Hakodate, Tokyo and San Francisco:

Mean Longitude. Latitude. Temp., F.

Peking.. - - 116 29 E. 39 57 N. 53

Shanghai -. - 121 20 E. 31 12 N. 59

Hakodate - - - 540 45 E. 41 46 N. 47

Tokyo - - - - 138 47 E. 35 41 N. 57

San Francisco.. 122 25 E. 37 48 N. 56

Mean Temp. of Hottest Month. - Hottest Month, Peking July 80

Shanghai 84

Hakodate August 71

Tokyo do 79

San Francisco. ... September 63

Mean Temp. oi Coldest Month Coldest Month Peking. January 22

Shanghai do 26

Hakodate do 28

Tokyo do 36

San Francisco. ... do 49

There are three wet seasons in Japan: the first, from the middle of April to the beginning of May; the second, from the middle of June to the beginning of July; and the third, from early in September to early in October. The dog days (doyO)

are from the middle of July till the second half of August. September is the wettest month; January the driest. During the four months from November to February inclusis~e only about 18% of the whole rain for the year falls. In the district on the east of the main island the snowfall is insignificant, seldom attaining a depth of more than four or five inches and generally melting in a few days, while bright, sunny skies are usual. But in the mountainous provinces of the interior and in those along the western coast, deep snow covers the ground throughout the whole winter, and the sky is usually wrapped in a veil of clouds. These differences are due to the action of the north-westerly wind that blows over Japan from Siberia. The intervening sea being comparatively warm, this wind arrives at Japan having its temperature increased and carrying moisture which it deposits as snow on the western faces of the Japanese mountains. Crossing the mountains and descending their eastern slopes, the wind becomes less saturated and warmer, so that the formation of clouds ceases. Japan is emphatically a wet country so far as quantity of rainfall is concerned, the average for the whole country being 1570 mm. per annum. Still there are about four sunny days for every three on which rain or snow falls, the actual figures being 150 days of snow or rain and 215 days of sunshine.

During the cold season, which begins in October and ends in April, northerly and westerly winds prevail throughout Japan. They come from tile adjacent continent of Asia, and they de- Wind velop considerable strength owing to the fact that there is an average difference of some 22 mm. between the atmospheric pressure (750 mm.) in the Pacific and that (772 mm.) in the Japanese islands. But during the warm season, from May to September, these conditions of atmospheric pressure are reversed, that in the Pacific rising to 767 mm. and that in Japan falling to 750 mm. Hence throughout this season the prevailing winds are light breezes from the west and south. A comparison of the force habitually developed by the wind in various parts of the islands shows that at Suttsu in Yezo the average strength is 9 metres per second, while Izuhara in the island Tsu-shima, Kumamoto in KiOshi and Gifu in the east centre of the main island stand at the bottom of the list with an average wind velocity of only 2 metres. A calamitous atmospheric feature is the periodical arrival of storms called typhoons (Japanese tai-fu or great wind). These have their origin, for the most part, in the China Sea, especially in the vicinity of Luzon. Their season is from June to October, but they occur in other months also, and they develop a velocity of 5 to 75 m. an hour. The meteorological record for ten years ended 1905 shows a total of 120 typhoons, being an average of 12 annually. September had 14 of these phenomena, March II and April 10, leaving 85 for the remaining 9 months. But only 65 out of the whole number developed disastrous force. It is particularly unfortunate that September should be the season of greatest typhoon frequency, for the earlier varieties of rice flower in that month and a heavy storm does much damage. Thus, in 1902by no means an abnormal yearstatistics show the following disasters owing to typhoons: casualties to human life, 3639; ships and boats lost, 3244; buildings destroyed wholly or partially, 695,062; land inundated, 1,071,575 acres; roads destroyed, 1236 m.; bridges washed away, 13, 685; embankments broken, 705 m.; crops damaged, 8,712,655 bushels. The total loss, including cost of repairs, was estimated at nearly 3 millions sterling, which may be regarded as an annual average.

Flora.The flora of Japan has been carefully studied by many scientific men from Siebold downwards. Foreigners visiting Japan are immediately struck by the affection of the people for flowers, trees and natural beauties of every kind. In actual wealth of blossom or dimensions of forest trees the Japanese islands cannot claim any special distinction. The spectacles most admired by all classes are the tints of the foliage in autumn andthegloryof flowering trees in the spring. In beauty and variety of pattern and color the autumnal tints are unsurpassed. The colors pass from deep brown through purple to yellow and white, thrown into relief by the dark green of non-deciduous shrubs and trees. Oaks and wild prunus, wild vines and sumachs, various kinds of maple, the dOdan (Enkianthus Japonicus Hook.)a wonderful bush which in autumn develops a hue of ruddy redbirches and other trees, all add multitudinous colors to the brilliancy of a spectacle which is further enriched by masses of feathery bamboo. The one defect is lack of green sward. The grass used for Japanese lawns loses its verdure in autumn and remains from November to March a greyish brown blot upon the scene. Spring is supposed to begin in February when, according to the old calendar, the new year sets in, but th only flowers then in bloom are the camellia japonsca and some kinds of daphne. The formercalled by the Japanese tsubaksma) often be seen glowing fiery red amid snow, but the pink (otorn~ tsubaki), white (shiro-tsubaki) and variegated (shibori-no-tsubaki kinds do not bloom until March or April. Neither the camellia noi the daphne is regarded as a refined flower: their manner of shedding their blossoms is too unsightly. Queen of spring flowers is the plun (ume). The tree lends itself with peculiar readiness to the skilfu manipulation of- the gardener, and is by him trained into shapes of remarkable grace. Its pure white or rose-red blossoms, heralding the first approach of genial weather, are regarded with special favor and are accounted the symbol of unassuming hardihood. The cherry (sakura) is even more esteemed. It will not suffer any training, nor does it, like the plum, improve by pruning, but the sunshine that attends its brief period of bloom in April, the magnificence of its flower-laden boughs and the picturesque flutter of its falling petals, inspired an ancient poet to liken it to the soul, of Yamato (Japan), and it has ever since been thus regarded. The wild peach (momo) blooms at the same time, but attracts little attention. All these treesthe plum, the cherry and the peachbear no fruit worthy of the name, nor do they excel their Occidental representatives in wealth of blossom, but the admiring affection they inspire in Japan is unique. Scarcely has the cherry season passed when that of the wistaria (fuji) comes, followed by the azalea(tsutsuji) and the iris (shibu), the last being almost contemporaneous with the peony (botan), which is regarded by many Japan se as the king of flowers and is cultivated assiduously. A species of weeping maple (shidare-momiji) dresses itself in peachy-red foliage and is trained into many picturesque shapes, though not without detriment to its longevity. Summer sees the lotus (renge) convert wide expanses of lake and river into sheets of white and red blossoms; a comparatively flowerless interval ensues until, in October and November, the chrysanthemum arrives to furnish an excuse for fashionable gatherings. With the exception of the dog-days and the dead of winter, there is no season when flowers cease to be an object of attention to the Japanese, nor does any class fail to participate in the sentiment. There is similar enthusiasm in the matter of gardens. From the 1 0th century onwards the art of landscape gardening steadily grew into a science, with esoteric as well as exoteric aspects, and with a special vocabulary. The underlying principle is to reproduce natures scenic beauties, all the features being drawn to scale, so that however restricted the space, there shall be no violation of proportion. Thus the artificial lakes and hills, the stones forming rockeries or simulating solitary crags, the trees and even the bushes are all selected or manipulated so as to fall congruously into the general scheme. If, on the one hand, huge stones are transported hundreds of miles from sea-shore or river-bed where, in the lapse of long centuries, waves and cataracts have hammered them into strange shapes, and if the harmonizing of their various colors and the adjustment of their forms to environment are studied with profound subtlety, so the training and tending of the trees and shrubs that keep them company require much taste and much toil. Thus the red pine (aka-matsu or pinus densiflora), which is the favorite garden tree, has to be subjected twice a year to a process of spraydressing which involves the careful removal of every weak or aged needle. One tree occupies the whole time of a gardener for about ten days. The details are endless, the results delightful. But it has to be clearly understood that there is here no mention of a flowergarden in the Occidental sense of the term. Flowers are cultivated, but for their own sakes, not as a feature of the Jandscape garden. If they are present, it is only as an incident. This of course does not apply to shrubs which blossom at their seasons and fall always into the general scheme of the landscape. Forests of cherry-trees, plumtrees, magnolia trees, or hiyaku-jikko (Lagerstroemia indica), banks of azalea, clumps of hydrangea, groups of camelliasuch have their permanent places and their foliage adds notes of color when their flowers have fallen. But chrysanthemums, peonies, roses and so forth, are treated as special shows, and are removed or hidden when out of bloom. There is another remarkable feature of the Japanese gardeners art. He dwarfs trees so that they remain measurable only by inches after their age has reached scores, even hundreds, of years, and the proportions of leaf, branch and stem are preserved with fidelity. The pots in which these wonders of patient skill are grown have to be themselves fine specimens of the keramists craft, and as much as 200 is sometimes paid for a notably well trained tree.

There exists among many foreign observers an impression that Japan is comparatively poor in wild-flowers; an impression probably due to the fact that there are no flowery meadows or lanes. Besides, the flowers are curiously wanting in fragrance. Almost the only notable exceptions are the mokusel (Osmanthusfragrans), the daphne and the magnolia. Missing the perfume-laden air of the Occident, a visitor is prone to infer paucity of blossoms. But if some familiar European flowers are absent, they are replaced by others strange to Western eyesa wealth of lespedeza and Indigo-fera; a vast variety of lilies; graceful grasses like the eulalia and the ominameshi (Patriaa scabiosaefolia); the richly-hued Pyrus japonica; azaleas, diervillas and deutzias; the kikyo (Platycodon grandifiorum), the giboshi (Funkia ovala), and many another. The same is true of Japanese forests. It has been well said that to enumerate the constituents and inhabitants of the Japanese mountain-forests would be to name at least half the entire flora.

According to Franchet and Savatier Japan possesses: Families. Genera. Species.

Dicotyledonous plants. .. - 121 795 1934

Monocotyledonous plants. .. 28 202 613

Higher Cryptogamous plants - 5 38 196

Vascular plants 154 1035 2743

The investigations of Japanese botanists are adding constantly to the above number, and it is not likely that finality will be reached for some time. According to a comparison made by A. Gray with regard to the numbers of genera and species respectively represented in the forest trees of four regions of the northern hemisphere, the following is the case:

Atlantic Forest-region of N. America 66 genera and 155 species.

Pacific Forest-region of N. America 31 genera and 78 species.

Japan and Manchuria Forest-region - 66 genera and 168 species.

Forests of Europe 33 genera and 85 species.

While there can be no doubt that the luxuriance of Japans flora is due to rich soil, to high temperature and to rainfall not only plentiful but well distributed over the whole year, the wealth and variety of her trees and shrubs must be largell the result of immigration. Japan has four insular chains which link her to the neighboring continent. On the south, the RikiU Islands bring her within reach of Formosa and the Malayan archipelago; on the west, Oki, Iki, and Tsushima bridge the sea between her and Korea; on the north-west Sakhalin connects her with the Amur region; and on the north, the Kuriles form an almost continuous route to Kamchatka. By these paths the germs of Asiatic plants were carried over to join the endemic flora of the country, and all found suitable homes amid greatly varying conditions of climate and physiography.

Fauna.Japan is an exception to the general rule that continents are richer in fauna than are their neighboring islands. It has been said with truth that an industrious collector of beetles, butterflies, neuroptera, &c., finds a greater number of species in a circuit of some miles near Tokyo than are exhibited by the whole British Isles.

Of mammals 50 species have been identified and catalogued. Neither the lion nor the tiger is found. The true Carnivora are three only, the bear, the dog and the marten. Three species of bears are scientifically recognized, but one of them, the ice-bear (Ursus maritimus), is only an accidental visitor, carried down by the Arctic current. In the main island the black bear (kuma, Ursusjaponicus) alone has its habitation, but the island of Yezo has the great brown bear (called shi-guma, oki-kuma or aka-kuma), the grisly of North America. The bear does not attract much popular interest in Japan. Tradition centres rather upon the fox (kitsune) and the badger (mujina), which are credited with supernatural powers, the former being worshipped as the messenger of the harvest god, while the latter is regarded as a mischievous rollicker. Next to these comes the monkey (saru), which dwells equally among the snows of the north and in the mountainous regions of the south. Saru enters into the composition of many place-names, an evidence of the peoples familiarity with the animal. There are ten species of bat (komori) and seven of insect-eaters, and prominent in this class are the mole (mugura) and the hedgehog (hari-nezumi). Among the martens there is a weasel (itachi), which, though useful as a ratkiller, has the evil repute of being responsible for sudden and mysterious injuries to human beings; there is a river-otter (kawauso), and there is a sea-otter (rakko) which inhabits the northern seas and is highly valued for its beautiful pelt. The rodents are represented by an abundance of rats, with comparatively few mice, and by the ordinary squirrel, to which the people give the name of tree-rat (ki-nezumi), as well as the flying squirrel, known as the momo-dori (peach-bird) in the north, where it hides from the light in hollow tree-trunks, and in the south as the ban-tori (or bird of evening). There are no rabbits, but hares (usagi) are to be found in very varying numbers, and those of one species put on a white coat during winter. The wild boar (shishi or si-no-shishi) does not differ appreciably from its European congener. Its flesh is much relished, and for some unexplained reason is called by its vendors mountain-whale (yama-kujira). A very beautiful stag (shika), with eight-branched antlers, inhabits the remote woodlands, and there are five species of antelope (kamo-shika) which are found in the highest and least accessible parts of the mountains. Domestic animals have for representatives the horse (uma), a small beast with little beauty of form though possessing much hardihood and endurance; the ox (ushs)~mainly a beast of burden or draught; the pig (buta), very occasionally; the dog (mu), an unsightly and useless brute; the cat (neko), with a stump in lieu of a tail; barndoor fowl (niwa-tori), ducks (ahiro) and pigeons (hato). The turkey (shieldmencho) and the goose (gacho) have been introduced but are little appreciated as yet.

Although so-called singing birds exist in tolerable numbers, those worthy of the name of songster are few. Eminently first is a species of nightingale (uguisu), which, though smaller than,its congener of the West, is gifted with exquisitely modulated flute-like notes of considerable range. The uguisu is a dainty bird in the matter of temperature. After May it retires from the low-lying regions and gradually ascends to higher altitudes as midsummer approaches. A variety of the cuckoo called hototogisu (Cuculus poliocephalus) in imitation of the sound of its voice, is heard as an accompaniment of the uguisu, and there are also three other species, the kakkodori (Cuculus canorus), the Isutsu-dori (C. himalayanus), and the masuhakari, orju-ichi (C. hyperythrus). To these the lark, hibari (Alauda japonica), joins its voice, and the cooing of the pigeon (hato) is supplemented by the twittering of the ubiquitous sparrow (suzume)

while over all are heard the raucous caw of the raven (karasu) and the harsh scream of the kite (tombi), between which and the raven there is perpetual feud. The falcon (taka), always an honored bird in Japan, where from time immemorial hawking has been an aristocratic pastime, is common enough, and so is the sparrow-hawk (/lai-taka), but the eagle (washi) affects solitude. Two English ornithologists, Blakiston and Pryer, are the recognized authorities on the birds of Japan, and in a contribution to the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan (vol. x.) they have enumerated 359 species. Starlings (muku-dori) are numerous, and so are the wagtail (sekirei), the swallow (tsubame) the martin (ten), the woodchat (mozu) and the jay (kakesu or kashi-dori), but the magpie (tOgarasu), though common in China, is rare in Japan. Blackbirds and thrushes are not found, nor any species of parrot, but on the other hand, we have the hoopoe (yatsugashira), the red-breast (komadori), the bluebird (run), the wren (miso-sazai), the golden-crested wren (itadaki), the golden-eagle (inu-washi), the finch (hiwa), the longtailed rosefinch (benimashiko), the ouzelbrown (akahara), dusky (tsugumi) and water (kawa-garasu)the kingfisher (kawasems), the crake (kuina) and the tomtit (kara). Among game-birds there are the quail (uzura), the heathcock (ezo-rachO), the ptarmigan (ezo-raicho or ezo-yama-doni), the woodcock (hodo-shigi), the snipe (ta-shigi) with two special species, the solitary snipe (yama-shigi) and the painted snipe (tama-shigi)and the pheasant (kiji). Of the last there are two species, the kiji proper, a bird presenting no remarkable features, and the copper pheasant, a magnificent bird with plumage, of dazzling beauty. Conspicuous above all others, not only for grace of form but also for the immemorial attention paid to them by Japanese artists, are the crane (tsuru) and the heron (sagi). Of the crane there are seven species, the stateliest and most beautiful being the Grus japonensis (tanchO or tanchO-zuru), which stands some 5 ft. high and has pure white plumage with a red crown, black tail-feathers and black upper neck, It is a sacred bird, and it shares with the tortoise the honor of being an emblem of longevity. The other species are the demoiselle crane (anewa-zuru), the black crane (kuro-zuru or nezumi-zuru, ie. Grus cinerea) ,the Grus leucauchen (mana-zuru), the Grus monachus (nabe-zuru), and the white crane (shiro-zuru). The Japanese include in this category the stork (kOzaru), but it may be said to have disappeared from the island. The heron (sagi) constitutes a charming feature in a Japanese landscape, especially the silver heron (shira-sagi), which displays its brilliant white plumage in the rice-fields from spring to early autumn. The night-heron (goi-sagi) is very common. Besides these waders there are plover (chidori); golden (muna-guro or aiguro); gray (dailee); ringed (shiro-chidori); spur-winged (ken) and Hartings sand-plover (ikaru-chidors); sand-pipersgreen (ashiroshigi) and spoon-billed (hera-shigi)-and water-hens (ban). Among swimming birds the most numerous are the gull (kamome), of which many varieties are found; the cormorant (u)which is trained by the Japanese for fishing purposesand multitudinous flocks of wild-geese (gan) and wild-ducks (kanjo), from the beautiful mandarinduck (oshi-dori), emblem of cunjugal fidelity, to teal (koga,no) and widgeon (hidori-ganto) of several species. (~reat preserves of wildduck and teal used to be a frequent feature in the parks attached to the feudal castles of old Japan, when a peculiar method of netting the birds or striking them with falcons was a favorite aristocratic pastime. A few of such preserves still exist, and it is noticeable that in the Palace-moats of Tokyo all kinds of water-birds, attracted by the absolute immunity they enjoy there, assemble in countless numbers at the approach of winter and remain until the following spring, wholly indifferent to the close proximity of the city.

Of reptiles Japan has only 30 species, and among them is included the marine turtle (urni-ganie) which can scarcely be said to frequent her waters, since it is seen only at rare intervals on the southern coast. This is even truer of the larger species (the shogakubo, i.e. Chelonia cephalo). Both are highly valued for the sake of the shell, which has always been a favorite material for ladies combs and hairpins. By carefully selecting certain portions and welding them together in a perfectly flawless mass, a pure amber-colored object is obtained at heavy cost. Of the fresh-water tortoise there are two kinds, the nippon (Tnionyx japonica) and the kame-no-ko (Ernys vulganisjaponica). The latter is one ofthe Japanese emblems of longevity. It is often depicted with a flowing tail, which appendix attests close observation of nature; for the mino-game, as it is called, represents a tortoise to which, in the course of many scores of years, confcrvae have attached themselves so as to form an appendage of long green locks as the creature swims about. Sea-snakes occasionally make their way to Japan, being cairied thither by the Black Current (Kuro Shiwo) and the monsoon, but they must be regarded as merely fortuitous visitors. There are 10 species of land-snakes (hebi), among which one only (the mamushi, or Trigonocephalus Blomhoffi) is venomous. The others for the most part frequent the rice-fields and live upon frogs. The largest is the aodaisho (Eta phis virgatus), which sometimes attains a length of 5 ft., but is quite harmless. Lizards (tokage), frogs (kawazu or kaeru), toads (ebogayeru) and newts (imori) are plentiful, and much curiosity attaches to a giant salamander (sanslio-uwo, called also hazekai and other names according to localities), which reaches to a length of 5 ft., and (according to Rein) is closely related to the Andrias ~ ,,~ 1-~

The seas surrounding the Japanese islands may be called a resort of fishes, for, in addition to numerous species which abide there permanently, there are migatory kinds, coming and going with the monsoons and with the great ocean streams that set to and from the shores. In winter, for example, when the northern monsoon begins to blow, numbers of denizens of the Sea of Okhotsk swim southward to the more genial waters of north Japan; and in summer the Indian Ocean and the Malayan archipelago send to her southern coasts a crowd of emigrants which turn homeward again at the approach of winter. It thus falls out that in spite of the enormous quantity of fish consumed as food or used as fertilizers year after year by the Japanese, the seas remain as richly stocked as ever. Nine orders 01 fishes have been distinguished as the piscifauna of Japanese waiters. They may be found carefully catalogued with all their included species in Reins Japan, and highly interesting researches by Japanese physiographists are recorded in the Journal of the College of Science of the Imperial University of TOkyo. Briefly, the chief fish of Japan are the bream (tai), the perch (suzuki), the mullet (bora), the rock-fish (hatatate), the grunter (oni-o-koze), the mackerel (saba), the sword-fish (tachi-uwo), the wrasse (kusabi), the haddock (tara), the flounder (karei), and its congeners the sole (hiranie) and the turbot (ishi-garei), the shad (namazu), the salmon (shake), the mash, the carp (koi), the funa, the gold fish (kzngyo), the gold carp (higoi), theloach (dojo), the herring (nishin) the iwashi (Clu pea melanosticta), the eel (unagi), the conger eel (anago), the coffer-fish (hako-uwo), the fugu (Tetrodon), the ai (Plecoglossus altivelis), the sayori (Heminamphus sayoni), the shark (same), the dogfish (maiiuka-zame), the ray (e), the sturgeon (chO-lame) and the maguro (Thynnus sibi).

The insect life of Japan broadly corresponds withthat of temperate regions in Europe. But there are also a number of tropical species, notably among butterflies and beetles. The latterfor which the generic term in Japan is mushi or kaichinclude some beautiful species, from the jewel beetle (tama-mushi), the gold beetle (kogane-mushi) and the Chrysochroa fulgidissima, which glow and sparkle with the brilliancy of gold and precious stones, to the jet black Melanauster chinensis, which- seems to have been fashioned out of lacquer spotted with white. There is also a giant nasicornous beetle. Among butterflies (chOchO) Rein gives prominence to the broad-winged kind (Papilio), which recall tropical brilliancy. One (Papilio macilentus) is peculiar to Japan. Many others seem to be practically identical with European species. That is especially true of the moths (yacho), 100 species of which have been identified with English types. There are seven large silk-moths, of which two only (Bombyx mon and Anthenaea yama-mai) are employed in producing silk. Fishing lines are manufacttired from the cocoons of the genjiki-mushi (Caligula japonica), which is one of the commonest moths in the islands. Wasps, bees and hornets, generically known as hachi, differ little from their European types, except that they are somewhat larger and more sluggish. The gad-fly (abu), the housefly (hai), the mosquito (ka), the flea (nonzi) and occasionally the bedbug (called by the Japanese kara-mushi because it is believed to be imported from China), are all fully represented, and the dragon-fly (tombO) presents itself in immense numbers at certain seasons. Grasshoppers (batta) are abundant, and one kind (inago), which frequent the rice-fields when the cereal is.ripening, are caught and fried in oil as ad article of food. On the moors in late summer the mantis (kama-kiri-niushi) is commonly met with, and the cricket (kurogi) and the cockroach, abound. Particularly obtrusive is the cicada (semi), of which there are many species. Its strident voice is heard most loudly at times of great heat, when the song of the birds is hushed. The dragon-fly and the cicada afford ceaseless entertainment to the Japanese boy. He catches them by means of a rod smeared with bird-lime, and then tying a fine string under their wings, he flies them at its end. Spiders abound, from a giant species to one of the minutest dimensions, and the tree-bug is always ready to make a destructive lodgment in any sickly tree-stem. The scorpion (sasori). exists but is not poisonous.

Japanese rivers and lakes are the habitation of severalseven or eightspecies of freshwater crab (kani), which live in holes on the shore and emerge in the day-time, often moving to considerable distances from their homes. Shrimps (kawa-ebi) also are found in the rivers and rice-fields. These shrimps as well as a large species of crabmokuzo-ganiserve the people as an article of food, but the small crabs which live in holes have no recognized raison d tre. In Japan, as elsewhere, the principal crustacea are found in the sea. Flocks of lupa and other species swim in the wake of the tropical fishes which move towards Japan at certain seasons. Naturally these migratory crabs are not limited to Japanese waters. Milne Edwards has identified ten species which occur in Australian seas also, and Rein mentions, as belonging to the same category, the helmet-crab or horse-shoe crab (kabuto-gani, Limulus longispina I-Ioeven). Very remarkable is the giant Taka-ashi long legs (Macrocheirus Kaempfeni), which has legs 14 metres long and is found in the seas of Japan and the Malay archipelago. Thele is no lobster on the coasts of Japan, but there are various species of cray-fish (Palinurus and Scyliarus) the principal of which, under the names of ise-ebi (Palinurus japonicus) and kuruma-ebi (Penaeus canaliculatus) are greatly prized as an article of diet. -

Already in 1882, Dunker in his Index Moliuscorum Mans Japonics .~i ,..~.i. ,~..,.-. .r.~.... ~ f.-.,,,,.-l a, Japanese archipelago, and several others have since then been added to the list. As for the land and fresh-water molluscs, some 200 of which are known, they are mainly kindred with those of China and Siberia, tropical and Indian forms being exceptional. - There are 57 species of Helix (maimailsuburi, dedemushi, katatsumuri orkwagyu) and 25 of Clausilia (kiseru-gai or pipe-snail), - including the two largest snails in Japan, namely the Cl. Martensi and the Cl. Yokohamensis, which attain to a length of 58 mm. and 44 mm. respectively. The mussel (i-no.kai) is well represented by the species numa-gai (marsh-mussel), karasu-gai (raven-mussel), kamisori-gai (razor-mussel), shijimi-no-kai (Corbicula), of which there are nine species, &c. Unlike the land-molluscs, the great majority of Japanese sea-molluscs are akin to those of the Indian Ocean and the Malay archipelago. Some of them extend westward as far as the Red Sea. The best known and most frequent forms are the asari (Tapes philippinarum), the hamaguri (Meretrix lusoria), the baka (Mactra sulcataria), the aka-gai (Scapharca inflata), the kaki (oyster), the awabi (Haliotis japonica), the sazae (Turbo cornutus), the hora-gai (Trilonium tritonius), &c. Among the cephalopods several are of great value as articles of food, e.g. the surume (Onychotheuthis Banksii), the tako (octopus), the shidako (Eledone), the ika (Sepia) and the tako-fune (Argonauta). -

Greeff enumerates, as denizens of Japanese seas, 26 kinds of seaurchins (gaze or uni) and 12 of starfish (hitode or tako-no-makura). These, like the mollusca, indicate the influence of the Kuro Shiwo and the south-west monsoon, for they have close affinity with species found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. For edible purposes the most valuable of the Japanese echinoderms is the sea-slug or bche de mer (namako), which is greatly appreciated and forms an important staple of export to China. Rein writes: Very remarkable in coiinexion with the starfishes is the occurrence of Asterias rubens on the Japanese coast. This creature displays an almost unexampled frequency and extent of distribution in the whole North Sea, in the western parts of the Baltic, near the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and the English coasts, so that it may be regarded as a characteristic North Sea echinoderm form. Towards the south this starfish disappears, it seems, completely; for it is not yet known with certainty to exist either in the Mediterranean or in the southern parts of the Atlantic Ocean. In others also Aslerias rubens is not knownand then it suddenly reappears in Japan. Archaster typicus has a pretty wide distribution over the Indian Ocean; other Asteridae of Japan, on the other hand, appear to be confined to its shores.

Japan is not rich in corals and sponges. Her most interesting contributions are crust-corals (Gorgonidae, Corallium, Isis, &c.), and especially flint-sponges, called by the Japanese hoshi-gai and known as glass-coral (Hyalonema sieboldi). These last have not been found anywhere except at the entrance of the Bay of Tokyo at a depth of some 200 fathoms.

11.THE PEOPLE

Population.The population was as follows on the 3jst of December 1907: Population Population. Males. Females. Totals. sq. m.

Japan proper.. 24,6oI~658 24,I72~627 48,774,285 330

Formosa (Taiwan) 1,640,778 1,476,137 3,116,915 224

Sakhalin. .. 7,175 3,631 10,806 o.r Totals.. 26,249,611 25,652,395 51,902,006

The following table shows the rate of increase in the four quadrennial periods between 1891 and 1907 in Japan proper:

Average Population Year. Males. Females. Totals, increase per per cent. sq. m.

1891.. 20,563,416 20,155,261 40,718,677 I~o9 272

1895.. 21,345,750 20,904,870 42,270,620 109 286

1899.. 22,330,112 21,930,540 44,260,652 114 299

1903.. 23,601,640 23,131,236 46,732,876 1.54 316

1907.. 24,601,658 24,172,627 48,774,285 I~I3 330

The population of Formosa (Taiwan) during the ten-year period1898-1907grew as follows: Average Population Year. Males. Females. Totals. increase per per cent. sq. m.

1898.. 1,307,428 1,157,539 2,464,967 182

1902.. 1,513,280 1,312,067 2,825,347 2.70 209

1907.. 1,640,778 1,476,137 3,116,915 2.37 224

According to quasi-historical records, the population of the empire in the year A.D. 610 was 4,988,842, and in 736 it had grown to 8,631,770. It is impossible to say how much reliance may be placed on these figures, but from the 18th century, when the name of every subject had to be inscribed on the roll of a temple as a measure against his adoption of Christianity, a tolerably trustworthy census could always be taken. The returns thus obtained show that from the year 1723 until 1846 the population remained almost stationary, the figure in the former year being 26,065,422, and that in the latter year 26,907,625. There had, indeed, been five periods of declining population in that interval of 124 years, namely, the periods 1738 1744, 1759-1762, 1773-1774, 1791-1792, and I 8441846. But after 1872, when the census showed a total of 33,110,825, the population grew steadily, its increment between 1872 and 1898 inclusive, a period of 27 years, being 10,649,990. Such a rate of increase invests the question of subsistence with great importance. In former times the area of land under cultivation increased in a marked degree. Returns prepared at the beginning of the 10th century showed 21/8 million acres under crops, whereas the figure in 1834 was over 8 million acres. But the development of means of subsistence has been outstripped by the growth of population in recent years. Thus, during the period between 1899 and 1907 the population received an increment of ii.6% whereas the food-producing area increased by only 44%. This discrepancy caused anxiety at one time, but large fields suitable for colonization have been opened in Sakhalin, Korea, Manchuria and Formosa, so that the problem of subsistence has ceased to be troublesome. The birth-rate, taking the average of the decennial period ended 1907, is 3~o5% of the population, and the death-rate is 2.05. Males exceed females in the ratio of 2% approximately. But this rule does not hold after the age of 65, where for every 100 females only 83 males are found. The Japanese are of low stature as compared with the inhabitants of Western Europe: about 16% of the adult males are below 5 ft. But there are evidences of steady improvement in this respect. Thus, during the period of ten years between 1893 and 1902, it was found that the percentage of recruits of 5 ft. 5 in. and upward grew from 10.09 to 12.67, the rate of increase having been remarkably steady; and the percentage of those under ~ ft. declined from 2021 to I 62o.

Towns.There are in Japan 23 towns having a population of over 50,000, and there are 76 having a population of over 20,000. The larger towns, their populations and the growth of the latter during the five-year period commencing with 1898 were as follow: URnAN POPULATIONS

1898 1903.

Tokyo 1,440,121 1,795,128

Osaka 821,235 988,200

Kioto 353,139 379,404

Nagoya 244,145 284,829

Kobe 215,780 283,839

Yokohama 193,762 324,776

Hiroshima 122,306 113,545

Nagasaki 107,422 151,727

Kanazawa 83,595 97,548

Sendai 83,325 93,773

Hakodate 78,040 84,746

Fukuoka 66,190 70,107

Wakayama 63,667 67,908

Tokushima 61,501 62,998

Kumamoto 61,463 55,277

Toyama 59,558 86,276

Okayama 58,025 80,140

Otaru 56,961 79,746

Kagoshima 53,481 58,384

Niigata 53,366 58,821

Sakai 50,203

Sapporo 55,304

Kure 62,825

Sasebo 52,607

The growth of Kure and Sasebo is attributable to the fact that they have become the sites of large ship-building yards, the property of the state.

The number of houses in Japan at the end of 1903, when the census was last taken, was 8,725,544, the average number of inmates in each house being thus 5.5,

Physical Characteristics.The best authorities are agreed that the Japanese people do not differ physically from their Korean and Chinese neighbors as much as the inhabitants of northern Europe differ from those of southern Europe. It is true that the Japanese are shorter in stature than either the Chinese or the Koreans. Thus the average height of the Japanese male is only 5 ft. 31/2 in., and that of the female 4 ft. 103/4 in., whereas in the case of the Koreans and the northern Chinese the corresponding figures for males are 5 ft. 53/4 in. and 5 ft. 7 in. respectively. Yet in other physical characteristics the Japanese, the Koreans and the Chinese resemble each other so closely that, under similar conditions as to costume and coiffure, no appreciable difference is apparent. Thus since it has become the fashion for Chinese students to flock to the schools and colleges of Japan, there adopting, as do their Japanese fellow-students, Occidental garments and methods of hairdressing, the distinction of nationality ceases to be perceptible. The most exhaustive anthropological study of the Japanese has been made by Dr E. Baelz (emeritus professor of medicine in the Imperial University of Tokyo), who enumerates the following sub-divisions of the race inhabiting the Japanese islands. The first and most important is the Manchu-Korean type; that is to say, the type which prevails in north China and in Korea. This is seen specially among the upper classes in Japan. Its characteristics are exceptional tallness combined with slenderness and elegance of figure; a face somewhat long, without any special prominence of the cheekbones but having more or less oblique eyes; an aquiline nose; a slightly receding chin; largish upper teeth; a long neck; a narrow chest; a long trunk, and delicately shaped, small hands with long, slender fingers. The most plausible hypothesis is that men of this type are descendants of Korean colonists who, in prehistoric times, settled in the province of Izumo, on the west coast of Japan, having made their way thither from the Korean peninsula by the island of Oki, being carried by the cold current which flows along the eastern coast of Korea. The second type is the Mongol. It is not very frequently found in Japan, perhaps because, under favorable social conditions, it tends to pass into the Manchu-Korean type. Its representative has a broad face, with prominent cheek-bones, oblique eyes, a nose more or less flat and a wide mouth. The figure is strongly and squarely built, but this last characteristic can scarcely be called typical. There is no sat?sfactory theory as to the route by which the Mongols reached Japan, but it is scarcely possible to doubt that they found their way thither at one time. More important than either of these types as an element of the Japanese nation is the Malay. Small in stature, with a well-knit frame, the cheekbones prominent, the face generally round, the nose and neck short, a marked tendency to prognathism, the chest broad and well developed, the trunk long, the hands small and delicate this Malay type is found in nearly all the islands along the east coast of the Asiatic continent as well as in southern China and in the extreme south-west of Korean peninsula. Carried northward by the warm current known as the Kuro Shiwo, the Malays seem to have landed in KiUshithe most southeFly of the main Japanese islandswhence they ultimately pushed northward and conquered their Manchu-Korean predecessors, the Izumo colonists. None of the above three, however, can be regarded as the earliest settlers in Japan. Before them all was a tribe of immigrants who appear to have crossed from north eastern Asia at an epoch when the sea had not yet dug broad channels between the continent and the adjacent islands. These peoplethe Ainuare usually spoken of as the aborigines of Japan. They once occupied the whole country, but were gradually driven northward by the Manchu-Koreans and the Malays. until only a mere handful of them survived in the northern island of Yezo. Like the Malay and the Mongol types they are short and thickly built, but unlike either they have prominent brows, bushy locks, round deep-set eyes, long divergent lashes, straight noses and much hair on the face and the body. In short, the Ainu suggest much closer affinity with Europeans than does any other of the types that go to make ug the population of Japan. It is not to be supposed, however, that these traces of different elements indicate any lack of homogeneity in the Japanese race. Amalgamation has been completely effected in the course of long centuries, and even the Ainu, though the small surviving remnant of them now live apart, have left a trace upon their conquerors.

The typical Japanese of the present day has certain marked physical peculiarities. In the first place, the ratio of the heighi of his head to the length of his body is greater than it is in Euro peans. The Englishmans head is often one-eighth of the lengtl of his body or even less, and in continental Europeans, as a rule the ratio does not amount to one-seventh; but in the Japanese it exceeds the latter figure. In all nations men of short stature have relatively large heads, but in the case of the Japanese there appears to be some racial reason for the phenomenon. Another striking feature is shortness of legs relatively to length of trunk. In northern Europeans the leg is usually much more than onehalf of the bodys length, but in Japanese the ratio is one-half or even less; so that whereas the Japanese, when seated, looks almost as tall as a European, there may be a great difference between their statures when both are standing. This special feature has been attributed to the Japanese habit of kneeling instead of sitting, but investigation shows that it is equally marked in the working classes who pass most of their time standing. In Europe the same physical traitsrelative length of head and shortness of legsdistinguish the central race (Alpine) from the Teutonic, and seem to indicate an affinity between the former and the Mongols. It is in the face, however, that we find specially distinctive traits, namely, in the eyes, the eyelashes, the cheekbones and the beard. Not that the eyeball itself differs from that of an Occidental. The difference consists in the fact that the socket of the eye is comparatively small and shallow, and the osseous ridges at the brows being little marked, the eye is less deeply set than in the European. In fact, seen in profile, forehead and upper lip often form an unbroken line. Then, again, the shape of the eye, as modelled by the lids, shows a striking peculiarity, For whereas the open eye is almost invariably horizontal in the European, it is often oblique in the Japanese on account of the higher level of the upper corner. But even apart from obliqueness, the shape of the corners is peculiar in the Mongolian eye. The inner corner is partly or entirely covered by a fold of the upper lid continuing more or less into the lower lid. This fold often covers also the whole free rim of the upper lid, so that the insertion of the eyelashes is hidden and the opening between the lids is so narrowed as to disappear altogether at the moment of laughter. As for the eye-lashes, not only are they comparatively short and sparse, but also they converge instead of diverging, so that whereas in a European the free ends of the lashes are further distant from each other than their roots, in a Japanese they are nearer together. Prominence of cheekbones is another special feature, but it is much commoner in the lower than in the upper classes, where elongated faces may almost be said to be the rule. Finally, there is marked paucity of hair on the face of the average Japaneseapart from the Ainuand what hair there is is nearly always straight. It is not to be supposed, however, that because the Japanese is short of stature and often finely moulded, he lacks either strength or endurance. On the contrary, he possesses both in a marked degree, and his deftness of finger is not less remarkable than the suppleness and activity of his body.

Moral C/iaracteristics.The most prominent trait of Japanese disposition is gaiety of heart. Emphatically of a laughterloving nature, the Japanese passes through the world with a smile on his lips. The petty ills of life do not disturb his equanimity. He takes them as part of the days work, and though he sometimes grumbles, rarely, if ever, does he repine. Exceptional to this general rule, however, is a mood of pessimism which sometimes overtakes youths on the threshold of manhood. Finding the problem of life insolvable, they abandon the attempt to solve it and take refuge in the grave. It seems as though there were always a number of young men hovering on the brink of such suicidal despair. An example alone is needed finally to destroy the equilibrium. Some one throws himself over a cataract or leaps into the crater of a volcano, and immediately a score or two follow. Apparently the more picturesquely awful the manner of the demise, the greater its attractive force. The thing is not a product of insanity, as the term is usually interpreted; letters always left behind by the victims prove them to have been in full possession of their reasoning faculties up to the last moment. Some observers lay the blame at th door of Buddhism, a creed which promotes pessimism by beget ting the anchorite, the ascetic and the shuddering believer ii seven hells. But Buddhism did not formerly produce suc]

incidents, and, for the rest, the faith of Shaka has little sway over the student mind in Japan. The phenomenon is modern:

it is not an outcome of Japanese nature nor yet of Buddhist teaching, but is due to the stress of endeavouring to reach the standards of Western acquirement with grievously inadequate equipment, opportunities and resources. In order to support himself and pay his academic fees many a Japanese has to fall into the ranks of the physical laborer during a part of each day or night. Ill-nourished, over-worked and, it may be, disappointed, he finds the struggle intolerable and so passes out into the darkness. But he is not a normal type. The normal type is light-hearted and buoyant. One naturally expects to find, and one does find, that this moral sunshine is associated with good temper. The Japanese is exceptionally serene. Irascibility is regarded as permissible in sickly children only: grown people are supposed to be superior to displays of impatience. But there is a limit of imperturbability, and when that limit is reached, the subsequent passion is desperately vehement. It has been said that these traits go to make the Japanese soldier what he is. The hardships of a campaign cause him little sufferin~ since he never frets over them, but the hour of combat finds him forgetful bf everything save victory. In the case of the military classand prior to the Restoration of 1867 the term military class was synonymous with educated class this spirit of stoicism was built up by precept on a solid basis of heredity. The samurai (soldier) learned that his first characteristic must be to suppress all outward displays of emotion. Pain, pleasure, passion and peril must all find him unperturbed. The supreme test, satisfied so frequently as to be commonplace, was a shocking form of suicide performed with a placid mien. This capacity, coupled with readiness to sacrifice life at any moment on the altar of country, fief or honor, made a remarkably heroic character. On the other hand, some observers hold that the education of this stoicism was effected at the cost of the feelings it sought to conceal. In support of that theory it is pointed out that the average Japanese, man or woman, will recount a death or some other calamity in his own family with a perfectly calm, if not a smiling, face. Probably there is a measure of truth in the criticism. Feelings cannot be habitually hidden without being more or less blunted. But here another Japanese trait presents itselfpoliteness. There is no more polite nation in the world than the Japanese. Whether in real courtesy of heart they excel Occidentals may be open to doubt, but in all the forms of comity they are unrivalled. Now one of the cardinal rules of politeness is to avoid burdening a stranger with the weight of ones own woes. Therefore a mother, passing from the chamber which has just witnessed her paroxysms of grief, will describe calmly to a strangerespecially a foreignerthe death of her only child. The same suppression of emotional display in public is observed in all the affairs of life. Youths and maidens maintain towards each other a demeanour of reserve and even indifference, from which it has been confidently affirmed that love does not exist in Japan. The truth is that in no other country do so many dual suicides occursuicides of a man and woman who, unable to be united in this world, go to a union beyond the grave. It is true, nevertheless, that love as a prelude to marriage finds only a small place in Japanese ethics. Marriages in the great majority of cases are arranged with little reference to the feelings of the parties concerned. It might be supposed that conjugal fidelity must suffer from such a custom. It does suffer seriously in the case of the husband, but emphatically not in the case of the wife. Even though she be cognisantas she often isof her husbands extra-marital relations, she abates nothing of the duty which she has been taught to regard as the first canon of female ethics. From many points of view, indeed, there is no more beautiful type of character than that of the Japanese woman. She is entirely unselfish; exquisitely modest without being anything of a prude; abounding in intelligence which is never obscured by egoism; patient in the ho~ir of suffering; strong in time of affliction; a faithful wife; a loving mother; a good daughter; and capable, as history shows, of heroism rivalling that of the stronger sex. As to the question of sexual virtue and morality in Japan, grounds for a conclusive verdict are hard to find. In the interests of hygiene prostitution is licensed, and that fact is by many critics construed as proof of tolerance. But licensing is associated with strict segregation, and it results that the great cities are conspicuously free from evidences of vice, and that the streets may be traversed by wonien at all hours of the day and night with perfect impunity and without fear of encountering offensive spectacles. The ratio of marriages is approximately 8.46 per thousand units of the population, and the ratio of divorces is 1.36 per thousand. There are thus about 16 divorces for every hundred marriages. Divorces take place chiefly among the lower orders,who frequently treat marriage merely as a test of a couples suitability to be helpmates in the struggles of life. If experience develops incompatibility of temper or some other mutually repellent characteristic, separation follows as a matter of course. On the other hand, divorces among persons of the upper classes are comparatively rare, and divorces on account of a wifes unfaithfulness are almost unknown.

Concerning the virtues of truth and probity, extremely conflicting opinions have been expressed. The Japanese samurai always prided himself on having no second word. He never drew his sword without using it; he never gave his word without keeping it. Yet it may be doubted whether the value attached in Japan to the abstract quality, truth, is as high as the value attached to it in England, or whether the consciousness of having told a falsehood weighs as heavily on the heart. Much depeMs upon the motive. Whatever may be said of the upper class, it is probably true that the average Japanese will not sacrifice expediency on the altar of truth. He will be veracious only so long as the consequences are not seriously injurious. Perhaps no more can be affirmed of any nation. The white lie of the Anglo-Saxon and the hoben no uso of The Japanese are twins. In the matter of probity, however, it is possible to speak with more assurance. There is undoubtedly in the lower ranks of Japanese tradesmen a comparatively large fringe of persons whose standard of commercial morality is defective. They are descendants of feudal days when the mercantile element, being counted as the dregs of the population, lost its self-respect. Against this blemishwhich is in process of gradual correction the fact has to be set that the better class of merchants, the whole of the artisans and the laboring classes in general, obey canons of probity fully on a level with the best to be found elsewhere. For the rest, frugality, industry and patience characteffize all the bread-winners; courage and burning patriotism are attributes of the whole nation.

There are five qualities possessed by the Japanese in a marked degree. The first is frugality. From time immemorial the great mass of the people have lived in absolute ignorance of luxury in any fo:m and in the perpetual presence of a necessity to economize. - Amid these circumstances there has emerged capacity to make a little go a long way and to be content with the most meagre fare. The second quality is endurance. It is born of causes cognate with those which have begotten frugality. The average Japanese may be said to live without artificial heat; his paper doors admit the light but do not exclude the cold. His brazier barely suffices to warm his hands and his face. Equally is he a stranger to methods of artificial cooling. He takes the frost that winter inflicts and the fever that summer brings as unavoidable visitors. The third quality is obedience; the offspring of eight centuries passed under the shadow of military autocracy. Whatever he is authoritatively bidden to do, that the Japanese will do. The fourth quality is altruism. In the upper classes the welfare of the family has been set above the interests of each member. The fifth quality is a genius for detail. Probably this is the outcome of an extraordinarily elaborate system of social etiquette. Each ge~eration has added something to the canons of its predecessor, and for every ten points preserved not more than one has been discarded. An instinctive respect for minutiae has thus been inculcated, and has gradually extended to all the affairs of life. That this accuracy may sometimes degenerate into triviality, and that such absorption in trifles may occasionally hide the broad horizon, is conceivable.

But the only hitherto apparent evidence of such defects is an excessive clinging to the letter of the law; a marked reluctance to exercise discretion; and that, perhaps, i5 attributable rather to the habit of obedience. Certainly the Japanese have proved themselves capable of great things, and their achievements seem to have been helped rather than retarded by their attention to detail.

111.LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

Lan guage.Since the year 1820, when Klaproth concluded that the Japanese language had sprung from the Ural-Altaic stock, philologists have busied themselves in tracing its affinities. If the theories hitherto held with regard to the origin of the Japanese people be correct, close relationship should exist between the Japanese and the Korean tongues, and possibly between the Japanese and the Chinese. Aston devoted much study to the former question, but although he proved that in construction the two have a striking similarity, he could not find any corresponding likeness in their vocabularies. As far back as the beginning of the Christian era the Japanese and the Koreans could not hold intercourse without the aid of interpreters. If then the languages of Korea and Japan had a common stock, they must have branched off from it at a date exceedingly remote. As for the languages of Japan and China, they have remained essentially different throughout some twenty centuries in spite of the fact that Japan adopted Chinese calligraphy and assimilated Chinese literature. Mr K. Hirai has done much to establish his theory that Japanese and Aryan had a common parent. But nothing has yet been substantiated. Iwleanwhile an inquirer is confronted by the strange fact that of three neighboring countries between which frequent communication existed, one (China) never deviated from an ideographic script; another (Korea) invented an alphabet, and the third (Japan) devised a syllabary. Antiquaries have sought to show that Japan possessed some form of script before her first contact with either Korea or China. But such traces of prehistoric letters as are supposed to have been found seem to be corruptions of the Korean alphabet rather than independent symbols. It is commonly believed that the two Japanese syllabarieswhich, though distinct in form, have identical soundswere invented by Kukai (790) and Kibi Daijin (760) respectively. But the evidence of old documents seems to show that these syllabaries had a gradual evolution and that neither was the outcome of a single scholars inventive genius.

The sequence of events appears to have been this:Japans earliest contact with an oversea people was with the Koreans, and she made some tentative efforts to adapt their alphabet to the expression of her own language. Traces of these efforts survived, and inspired the idea that the art of writing was practised by the Japanese before the opening of intercourse with their continental neighbors. Korea, however, had neither a literary nor an ethical message to deliver, and thus her script failed to attract much attention. Very different was the case when China presented her noble code of Confucian philosophy and the literature embodying it. The Japanese then recognized a lofty civilization and placed themselves as pupils at its feet, learning its script and deciphering its hooks. Their veneration extended to ideographs. At first they adapted them frankly to their own tongue. For example, the ideographs signifying rice or metal or water in Chinese were used tc convey the same ideas in Japanese. Each ideograph thus came tc have two sounds, one Japanese, the other Chinesee.g. the ideograph for rIce had for Japanese sound kome and for Chinese sound bel.

Nor was this the whole story. There were two epochs in Japani study of the Chinese language first, the epoch when she received Confucianism through Korea; and, secondly, the epoch when sh began to study Buddhism direct from China. Whether the sound, that came by Korea were corrupt, or whether the interval separatin~ these epochs had sufficed to produce a sensible difference of pronun ciation in China itself, it would seem that the students of Buddhisn who flocked from Japan to the Middle Kingdom during the Sui erl (AD. 589619) insisted on the accuracy of the pronunciation ac quired there, although it diverged perceptibly from the pronuncia tion already recognized in Japan. Thus, in fine, each word cam to have three soundstwo Chinese, known as the ken and the go and one Japanese, known as the kun. For example:

KAN GO JAPANESE

SOUND. SOUND. SOUND. MEANING.

Sei Jo Koe Voice Neil Zen Toshi Year Jinkan Ningen Ilito no aide Human being.

As to which of the first two methods of pronunciation had chronological precedence, the weight of opinion is that the ken came later than the go. Evidently this triplication of sounds had many disadvantages, but, on the other hand, the whole Chinese language may be said to have been grafted on the Japanese. Chinese has the widest capacity of any tongue ever invented. - It consists of thousands of monosyllabic roots, each having a definite meaning. These monosyllables may be used singly or combined, two, three or four at a time, so that the resulting co~nbinations convey almost any conceivable shades of meaning. Take, for example, the word electricity. The very idea conveyed was wholly novel in Japan. But scholars were immediately able to construct the following:

Lightning. Den.

Exhalation. Ki Electricity. Denki.

Telegram. Dempo. Ho=tidings, Electric light. DentO. TO = lamp.

Negative electricity. Indenki. In = the negative principle.

Positive electricity. Yodenki. Yo = the positive principle.

Thermo-electricity. Netsudenki. Netsu = heat.

Dynamic-electricity. Ryado-denki. Rydo = fluid.

Telephone. Denwa. Wa = conversation.

Every branch of learning can thus be equipped with a vocabulary. Potent, however, as such a vehicle is for expressing thought, its ideographic script constitutes a great obstacle to general acquisition, and the Japanese soon applied themselves to minimizing the difficulty by substituting a phonetic system. Analysis showed that all the required sounds could be conveyed with 47 syllables, and having selected the ideographs that corresponded .to those sounds, they reduced them, first, to forms called hiragana, and, secondly, to still more simplified forms called katakana.

Such, in brief, is the story of the Japanese language. When we come to dissect it, we find several striking characteristics. First, the construction is unlike that of any European tongue: all qualifiers precede the words they qtialify, except prepositions which become postpositions. Thus instead of saying the house of Mr Smith is in that street, a Japanese says Smith Mr of house that street in is. Then there is no relative pronoun, and the resulting complication seems great to an English-speaking person, as the following illustration will show: -

JAPANESE. ENGLISH.

Zenaku wo saiban suru tame no The unique standard which Virtue vice-judging sake of is used for judging virtue or mochiitaru yitsu no hyojun Wa vice is benevolent conduct used unique standard solely.

jial no kOi tada benevolence of conduct only kore nomi.

this alone.

It will be observed that in the above sentence there are two untranslated words, wo and Wa. These belong to a group of four auxiliary particles called te ni wo ha (or we), which serve to mark the cases of nouns, te (or de) being the sign of the instrumental ablative; ni that of the dative; wo that of the objective, and wa that of the nominative. These eXist in the Korean language also, but not in any other tongue. There are also polite and ordinary forms of expression, often so different as to constitute distinct languages; and there are a number of honorifics which frequently discharge the duty of pronouns. Another marked peculiarity is that active agency is never attribtited to neuter nouns. A Japanese does not say the poison killed him but he died on account of the poison; nor does he say the war has caused commodities to appreciate, but commodities have appreciated in consequence of the war. That the language loses much force owing to this limitation cannot be denied: metaphor and allegory are almost completely banished.

The difficulties that confront an Occidental who attempts to learn Japanese are enormous. Th