JAPAN.
507
Two more fast and powerful armed cruisers, the Naniwa Kan and Takachiho Kan, 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.
POPULATION, TRADE, AND Industry.
"
The total area of Japan is estimated at 156,604 square miles, and the popula tion according to census returns for 1883, prepared on the 1st January, 1884, was 37,451,764, namely, 18,954,770 males and 18,496,994 females. The empire is geogra phically divided into the four islands: Hondo, the central and most important territory; Kiushiu,"
"the nine provinces," the south-western island; Sikoku, "the four states, the southern island; and Yesso, the most northerly and least developed. The former three islands are sub-divided into eight large roads, containing sixty-six provinces, and the latter (Yesso) 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. In 1871, the Mikado appointed a Board of Public Instruction. 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 facilitate the acquirement of foreign languages, the Government of the Mikado has engaged many European professors, and also sent, at the public expense, a large number of students to America and Europe. An association called the Romaji Kai, for promoting the adoption of the Roman alphabet in Japan, was formed in 1885, but is not making much progress.
The trade of 1887 was divided between the ports in the following proportions:-
Yokohama
PORTS.
...
Kobe and Osaka...... Nagasaki...
Hakodate
IMPORTS.
£5,568,633
3,095,408
238.939
2,340
EXPORTS.
TOTAL.
£5,347,743 | £10,916,376
2,070,225
645,904
116,450
5,165,633
884.843
118.790
:
£8,905,320 | £8,180,322
£17,085,642 ·
The two staple articles of import into Japan in the year 1887 were cotton yarn and cotton piece goods and woollen and mixed cotton and woollen fabrics, the former of the value of £1,687,250, and the latter of the value of £1,812,666. The two staple articles of export in the year 1886 were raw silk, of the value of £3,426,558, and tea, of the value of £1,203,843. The commercial intercourse of Japan is carried on mainly with two countries, namely, Great Britain and the United States of America, the former absorbing more than two-thirds of the whole.
By treaties made with a number of foreign Governments the Japanese ports of Kanagawa (Yokohama), Nagasaki, Kobe, Hakodate, Niigata, and the cities of Tokyo (formerly called Yedo) and Osaka were thrown open to foreign commerce.
Railways in Japan are now being rapidly pushed forward. The first railway constructed was the one connecting Yokohama with Tokyo; it is 18 miles long and was opened for the traffic as a single road on the 12th June, 1872, and was completed as a double line throughout on the 8th May, 1880. The gauge, like that of all other railways in Japan, is 3 ft. 6 in. The Kobe and Osaka section, 22 miles long, was com- pleted and opened to passenger traffic on the 11th May, 1874; the extension of the same from Osaka to Kyoto, 27 miles in length, was opened to traffic on the 5th Sept., 1876; and the extension from Kyoto to Otsu, 114 miles in length, was formally opened by the Mikado on the 14th July, 1880. A number of other lines have since been opened, and more are in progress. The most impertant line in course of construction is the Government grand trunk line from Yokohama to Ofu, via the Tokaido route, which connects with Nagoya-Taketoyo road. The length of this line is 205 miles.
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