The Empire of Japan consists to-day of a group of islands marshaled in the northwest corner of the Pacific Ocean, off the eastern coast of the Asiatic continent. These islands—including Formosa and the Pescadores ceded by China in 1895, and the southern half of Sakhalin, acquired from Russia in 1905—lie between the parallels of 50° 56' and 21° 48' north latitude, and the longitude of their extreme eastern and western points are 156° 32' and 119° 20', respectively, east of Greenwich. The empire thus covers 29° 8' of latitude and 37° 12' of longitude. On the east it faces the Pacific; on the southwest it looks across the waters of the China Sea to the mainland of China; on the northwest the Sea of Japan and Gulf of Tartary separate it from Korea and Siberia. The fiftieth parallel divides the Japanese half of Sakhalin from the northern or Russian half, and the Kurile Strait intercepts the Chishima or Kurile group of islands on the north from the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka. The whole group includes five and one-half large islands and nearly six hundred islets. The large island lying in the center constitutes the mainland; the island directly to the north is Hokkaido (Yezo or Ezo), and that to the south, Kiushu; on the southwest of the mainland and east of Kiushu is Shikoku; and stretching in a northwesterly direction from Hokkaido are the Chishima or Kuriles, while the chain of the Riukiu (Loochoo) Archipelago leads to Formosa. Floating, as it were, in the Sea of Japan are the islets of Sado, Oki, and Tsushima, the last lying only about fifty miles from the southern coast of Korea. Scattered in the Pacific Ocean, at a distance of nearly 500 miles from the southwest coast of the mainland, lies the Ogasawara group (Bonins). To these must now be added the recently ceded southern half of the Island of Sakhalin. Owing to the insular nature of the country, the area of the empire, exclusive of the half of Sakhalin, which is perhaps as much as 12,000 square miles, little exceeds 161,000 square miles, or The country is mountainous, and has little flat land. Two systems of mountain chains extend north to south and east to west, each having numerous branches. The highlands of the empire are the two provinces of Shinano and Kai, situated in the center of the main island. At the boundary of Kai and Suruga stands Fujisan, or Mount Fuji, capped with perpetual snows, its summit rising to 12,300 feet above the sea level. Its position as the loftiest peak in the country has been lost by the acquisition of Formosa, which contains Mount Morrison, now called Mount Niitaka, the altitude of which is not less than 14,200 feet. The mountains of the main island are for the most part volcanic, the active volcanoes numbering 170, and the ranges that comprise them stretch across the extent of the country. Mines and mineral springs consequently abound. Frequency of earthquakes also results from the abundance of volcanoes. Minor shocks average from thirty or forty to several hundreds annually, and of severe shocks history shows that there have been some two or three in each century, entailing sometimes a frightful destruction of life and property. From the general configuration of the country it follows that great rivers with long courses are few, but numerous streams of lesser magnitude traverse all parts of the empire, affording excellent facilities for drainage and irrigation. Many of the larger of these are even navigable. The Ishikari River in Hokkaido, with a length of 407 miles, is the longest in the empire, followed by the Shinano, in the main island, about 240 miles long. Nor is the land richer in extensive plains than in great streams. Valleys lying deep in the bosoms of the hills, plateaus along the margins of the great rivers, gentle slopes at the foot of mountain ranges, or stretches by the seashore, are the only comparatively level places to be seen. The Ishikari Moor, bordering the Ishikari River in Hokkaido, is perhaps the most extensive. Its soil is rich, and it abounds in timber and verdure. Other well-known plains in the north lie along the course of the Tokachi River and by the seashore at Kushiro and The main island of Japan, being situated in the temperate zone, enjoys, for the most part, a medium degree of temperature. But the climate of the empire is much varied, owing to the elongated shape of the country, which extends over nearly thirty degrees of latitude, to the great differences of altitude that characterize the surface of the land, and also to the action of a warm and a cold current that flow past its shores. Thus, in the northern part of Hokkaido and in the Chishima Islands the snow never disappears, the sea freezes in winter, and sleet and fogs prevail. On the other hand, in the southern district, as well as in the Riukiu and Ogaswara groups, the heat is very great, and neither snow nor ice is seen in winter. In the central parts, again, the temperature varies according to the elevation of the land, and the configuration of the mountains and seas. As for Formosa, it is partly situated within the tropical zone, and the two extremes of the entire island are recorded to be 96° and 41° Fahrenheit. The warm ocean current, known as the Kuro-shiwo or Black Stream, from the deep somber color it displays in cloudy weather, rises from the distant Equator, and possesses an average temperature of 81° Fahrenheit in summer. Immediately after leaving the Equator it travels along the eastern coast of China, and thence passing northward, approaches the coast of Kiushu, where it bifurcates. The rainfall is heavy in summer and light in winter. It is greatest along the coasts washed by the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, and least in the central portions of the country along the two coasts of the Inland Sea, as well as in the northern end of the main island. Hokkaido has an average fall. Rich soil, a genial climate, and a sufficient rainfall produce luxuriant vegetation. Cultivated fields and gardens succeed each other for wide areas. The extraordinary position of the islands stretching from north to south also adds greatly to the variety of vegetation. Thus in Kiushu and Shikoku are to be seen thick, verdant forests abounding in giant trees. Sugar-canes, tobacco, and cotton, find a soil congenial to their growth. The cocoa, the banyan tree, the banana and their congeners flourish in the Riukiu and Ogasawara Islands. In short, the general aspect is tropical. Passing thence to the central districts, great varieties of plant life are found. The pine (pinus densiflora and pinus massoniana), oak (quercus dentata), hi-no-ki (thuya obtusca), sugi (cryptomeria japonica), camphor and bamboo grow in the woods; while the mulberry, tea plant, lacquer tree, millet, the five cereals, vegetables, and various kinds of fruits are seen in the fields and gardens. Finally, even in the cold and little cultivated Hokkaido, its fruitful soil and luxuriant vegetation invite agriculture. The forms of animal life are also much varied. Among Although the country has no mountains of exceptional altitude or rivers of extraordinary length, the conditions of climate and soil are such that not one of the mountains is without woods nor one of the rivers without limpid water. So well distributed, too, are the highlands and streams, that places of beauty are everywhere to be found in the interior, and owing to the configuration of the coasts as well as to the number of islets, gems of scenic loveliness abound by the seaside in all the provinces. Moreover, in addition to wealth of natural charms, numerous shrines and temples of note exist in the choice districts of the main island, so that architectural, glyptic, pictorial, and horticultural beauties supplement the attractions of the scenery. The main island is richest in places of note, and Kinai and its neighborhood are the most favored parts of the main island in this respect. From 794 A.D., when the Emperor Kwammu made Kyoto his capital, until the Emperor Mutsuhito moved to Tokyo, a period of over eleven centuries, Kyoto remained the imperial seat of government. Hence it offers numbers of historical relics, and is further happy in the possession of scenic beauties attractive at all seasons of the year. Separated from Kyoto by a range of hills is the largest lake in the empire, Lake Biwa, noted for the Omi-hakkei which have ever been the theme of poets and the inspiration of painters. At a distance of nearly twenty-five miles from Kyoto is Nara, the imperial residence during a large part of the eighth century. Nara abounds in things historical, the most noteworthy being the shrine of Kasuga and the Temple of In Kiushu, Yabakei is renowned for its landscape, and the Usajingu shrine for its architecture. Still more celebrated is Ama-no-Hashidate in San-indo. Here a sandy promontory completely covered with pine-trees stretches far into the sea, offering a scene of beauty and making with Matsushima and Itsukushima the three most celebrated views in Japan. Among places of note in the neighborhood of Tokyo is Kamakura on the southeast coast, which was the seat of the feudal government of Japan for more than a century and a half till 1333, and still offers many spots of historical interest. To the north of the capital the most celebrated places are Nikko and Matsushima. At Nikko is the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The beauties of its architectural decoration, the fineness of its carvings, and the loveliness of its scenery have inspired a popular saying that without seeing Nikko a man is not qualified to speak of the beautiful (Nikko wo minai uchi wa kekko wo iuna). Matsushima, one of the three landscapes of Japan, is on the seashore of Rikuzen. Here scattered over the face of the bay are hundreds of tiny islets, every one of which is clothed in a luxury of pine-trees. Viewed from the top of the hills, the scene is like a creation of fancy rendered on the canvas of a skillful painter. Japan proper is divided into nine principal regions according to its configuration: they are Kinai, Tokai-do, Tosan-do, Hokuriku-do, Nankai-do, Sanin-do, Sanyo-do, and Hokkai-do. These, again, are subdivided into eighty-five provinces (koku or kumi). The province, however, has little importance in the administrative divisions of the country. The unit of the latter is either the urban (cho) or rural (son) district, which, together with the larger divisions, city (shi) and county (gun), constitutes a self-governing entity. Over and above these divisions are one board of Hokkaido (do-cho), three of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, and forty-three prefectures or ken. At present, there are, outside of Formosa, 638 gun, 58 shi, 1054 cho and 13,468 son. The city of Tokyo was formerly, under the name Edo, the seat of the feudal government for nearly two and three-quarters centuries. To-day it is the capital of the empire. It occupies a central position and is the largest city in the country. Its fifteen wards have a total population of nearly a million and a half. Kyoto, the old capital, is divided into two wards and has a population of over 353,000. Osaka, the third of the cities, was the seat of the Taiko's administration. Possessing exceptional facilities for communication by sea and by river, it has been a trading center from olden times. It is divided into four wards, and has a population of 825,000. These three cities constitute the three fu. Next in order of importance come Nagoya, between Tokyo and Kyoto, with a population of 245,000; Kanazawa, in the north of the main island, with a population of 85,000; Sendai, in the northeast, with a population of 84,000; Hiroshima, in the southwest, with a population of 123,000; Kumamoto, in Kiushu, with a population of 62,000. Among the open ports, Yokohama, with a population of 195,000, and Kobe, with a population of 216,000, are the two most important, Nagasaki, Hakodate, and Niigata following at a considerable interval. The total population of Japan proper is nearly forty-seven millions, and that of Formosa about three millions. The distribution per square mile, exclusive of Formosa, varied in 1898 from 495 in the western part of the main island to 23.7 in Hokkaido, with the average at about 300. To-day it is approximately 324. The recent national activity of these people will be briefly described in the last division of this volume, and the career of their ancestors in the earlier parts. Before we proceed, however, a few words may be said regarding the general nature of the historical account of Japan. In ancient times Japan possessed neither literary script nor a regular system of calendar and chronology. All events had to be transmitted from generation to generation by oral tradition. The use of writing was imported from China, probably one or two hundred years before Christ, but the general use of letters for the purpose of recording events dates from the fifth century A.D., while the compilation of the national annals began two centuries later still. But such historical records as were then compiled suffered almost total destruction a short time afterward by fire, and the oral records of remote antiquity must have already been greatly disfigured by omissions, errors, and confusion of facts. Regretting this, and perceiving that unless steps were then taken to correct the annals, subsequent generations would be without any trustworthy record of remote events, the Emperor Temmu ordered an eminent scholar, Hieda-no-Are, to prepare a brief chronicle of sovereigns and important events. Unfortunately the death of the emperor, which occurred in 689, interrupted this work. Some twenty years later the Empress Gemmyo instructed O-no-Yasumaro to continue the compilation of Hieda-no-Are's annals. The work thus completed in 712 is the "Kojiki" as we now possess it. It must be regarded as the most trustworthy record extant of the events of ancient times. Eight years after the appearance of the "Kojiki," or in 720, the "Nihongi" was compiled. We find, on comparing these works, that although, on the whole, they agree, certain discrepancies exist between them. In these two works, however, is found the chief material for the reconstruction of the history of ancient Japan. If curious supernatural incidents figure in their pages, it should be remembered that literature being then in its infancy and a long interval having elapsed since the time of many of the events recorded, the annalists were untrained in the selection of matters worthy of a place in authentic history, while, at the same time, in the oral traditions on which they relied, errors had doubtless been included, and, ordinary events drifting out of sight, extraordinary incidents and supernatural stories had alone survived. As regards the ancient chronology of Japan it is recorded that almanacs first came into use in Japan in 604 A.D., although it appears that the Chinese calendar had been imported about the middle of the preceding century. The compilation of annals, as In Japan from ancient time chronology was not based on an era. Originally the method pursued was to reckon years after the accession of each emperor to the throne. In 645 A.D., however, was introduced the Chinese fashion of using year periods designated usually in two felicitous Chinese characters and changed as frequently as was desired. The change of the name of a year period thus occurred at the beginning of each new reign, and also on the recurrence of a cyclical year of ill-omened designation, as well as on occasions of exceptional good or bad fortune, so that there are extreme instances of five or six changes of designation within the reign of one single emperor. It results, of course, that a troublesome effort is required to commit to memory the sequence and dates of the various year periods. The Chinese, in the reign of the Ming sovereign Taitsu, decided that there should be no change in the designation of a year period throughout the reign of a sovereign. A similar ruling was made in 1868 on the accession of the present Emperor of Japan, from which time also the era of Jimmu began to be used as a chronological basis. This latter era is officially fixed at 660 B.C. As to the later sources of Japanese history, following the already mentioned "Kojiki" and "Nihongi," they are abundant, increasing as we move further from earlier ages. Much of this vast historical literature has been published and edited (though thus far little translated into European languages), but more has neither been extensively circulated nor even seen light. The Japanese Government, which has been searching for hidden material all over the land, is now publishing, through the Imperial University of Tokyo, historical documents, mostly unpublished hitherto, in two large series The history of Japan does not lend itself to the customary division of the ancient, mediÆval, and modern ages. On the basis FOOTNOTES: |