8
JAPAN
Previous to the last change of Government, which restored the ancient Imperial régime, the administrative authority rested with the Shogun (Military Commander) whom foreigners were at first led to recognise as the temporal sovereign, and with whom they negotiated treaties of peace and commerce. The Shogunate was founded in 1184 by Yoritomo, a general of great valour and ability, and was continued through several dynasties until 1869, when the Tokugawa family were dispossessed of the usurped authority. Under the Shogun two hundred and fifty Daimios (feudal princes) shared the administrative power, being practically supreme in their respective domains, conditionally upon their loyalty to the Shogun; but their rank and power disappeared with the Shogunate. On the 7th July, 1884, however, His Majesty issued an Imperial Notification and Rescript rehabilitating the nobility, and admitting to its ranks the most distinguished civil and military officials who took part in the work of the Restoration. The old titles were abolished, and have been replaced by those of Prince (Ko), Marquis (K), Count (Haku), Viscount (Shi), and Baron (Dan).
REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE.
The estimated revenue of Japan for the year 1891-92 is valued at $81,980,081, and the total expenditure at $81,978,578.
The domestic debt of Japan in 1890 was $295,000,000. The Foreign debt amounted to $5,830,000. Against this debt, however, has to be set a reserve fund amounting in 1889 to $29,706,405.
ARMY AND Navy.
The armed force of Japan is divided into the Standing Army, the Reserve, and the Militia, and the troops into five classes. The Standing Army comprises 77 battalions of Infantry and 2 of Cavalry, 30 batteries Artillery, 14 companies Engineers, 6 companies of Transport Corps. When on a peace footing the Army numbers 50,255 men, and on a war footing 245,310 men. They are stationed in various parts of the Empire, which is divided into six military districts, having head quarters at Tokyo, Nagoya, Sendai, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Kumamoto. Camps are established in 48 places. Not included in the above are the Imperial Guard composed of 7,603 picked troops, which bring up the strength of the regular army, in time of peace, to some 57,858. The army has been organised on the French system by officers specially selected by the French Government. The navy of Japan consists of one ironclad frigate, six composite corvettes, five steel cruisers, one ironclad turret ship, six wooden corvettes, four sloops, seven gunboats, one despatch vessel, and three training ships, all steamers, besides three torpedo boats. The largest of these ships, the ironclad frigate Fuso, has a displacement of 3,700 tons with engines of 3,900 horse-power. The armour is from 7 inches to 9 inches in thickness, while the armament consists of four 15-ton and two 51⁄2-ton steel breechloaders by Krupp, so arranged as to command every point of the horizon. The ironclad corvette, called the Kongo, which has a displacement of 2,800 tons, with engines of 2,500 horse-power, and has a belt of armour 44 inches thick. The armament consists of 12 Krupp guns, capable of throwing steel shells of 121 pounds. The Hiyei is a sister ship to the Kongo. The steel cruiser Tsukushi steams 16 knots an hour, and carries two 25-ton breechloading guns, one in the bow and stern respectively. Two more fast and powerful armed cruisers, the Naniwa and Takachiho having each a displacement of 3,709 tons, built by Messrs. Armstrong & Co. in England, arrived in Japan in 1886. They steam 18 knots an hour and carry two 25-ton breechloading guns besides machine guns. Another cruiser, the Chiyoda, built on the Clyde, arrived in Japan in 1890. She is a vessel of 2,450 tons, and carries 25 guns and three torpedo tubes. Two others of larger tonnage and heavier armament are in course of construction in Europe, and smaller vessels are being built in Japan.
POPULATION, TRADE, AND INDUSTRY.
The total area of Japan is estimated at 156,604 square miles, and the population, according to census returns taken in December, 1888, was 39,607,234, namely, 20,008,445 males and 19,598,789 females. The empire is geographically divided into the four islands: Honshiu, the central and most important territory; Kiushiu, "nine provinces," the south-western island; Shikoku, "the four states,"
"the four states," the southern island; and Yezo, the most northerly and least developed. The former three islands are sub-divided into eight large roads, containing sixty-six provinces, and the latter (Yezo or Hokkaido) is divided into eleven provinces. Administratively, as before mentioned, the Empire is divided into fu and ken, each ken containing more than one province.
Education is very general in Japan, and is making great progress. There are numerous Middle Schools, Normal Schools, and Colleges for special studies, such as Law, Medicine, Mining, Agriculture, and Foreign Languages, and several High Female Schools have been established, and are carefully fostered by the Government. In order to