Taihoku (in Formosa) 71
Nagasaki (Kiushiu) 60
Kobe (Main Island) 59
Osaka (Main Island) 59
Okayama (Main Island) 58
Nagoya (Main Island) 58
Sakai (Main Island) 58
Tokyo (Capital) 57
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 climates of 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 140° 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 " 79
San Francisco September 63
Mean Temp. of
Coldest Month. Coldest Month.
Peking January 22
Shanghai " 26
Hakodate " 28
Tokyo " 36
San Francisco " 49
Rainfall.
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 inclusive
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.
Wind.
During the cold season, which begins in October and ends in April,
northerly and westerly winds prevail throughout Japan. They come from
the adjacent continent of Asia, and they develop 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 Tsushima, Kumamoto in Kiushiu 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 11 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 1902--by no means an abnormal year--statistics 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 and the glory of flowering trees in
the spring. In beauty and variety of pattern and colour the autumnal
tints are unsurpassed. The colours 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
red--birches and other trees, all add multitudinous colours 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 the only flowers then in bloom are the _camellia
japonica_ and some kinds of daphne. The former--called by the Japanese
_tsubaki_--may often be seen glowing fiery red amid snow, but the pink
(_otome tsubaki_), white (_shiro-tsubaki_) and variegated
(_shibori-no-tsubaki_) kinds do not bloom until March or April.
Neither the camellia nor the daphne is regarded as a refined flower:
their manner of shedding their blossoms is too unsightly. Queen of
spring flowers is the plum (_ume_). The tree lends itself with
peculiar readiness to the skilful 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 favour 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 trees--the plum, the cherry and
the peach--bear 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 (_shobu_), the last being almost
contemporaneous with the peony (_botan_), which is regarded by many
Japanese 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 10th 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 nature's 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 seashore 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 colours
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 favourite
garden tree, has to be subjected twice a year to a process of
spray-dressing 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
flower-garden in the Occidental sense of the term. Flowers are
cultivated, but for their own sakes, not as a feature of the landscape
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, plum-trees, magnolia trees, or _hiyaku-jikko_
(_Lagerstroemia indica_), banks of azalea, clumps of hydrangea, groups
of camellia--such have their permanent places and their foliage adds
notes of colour 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 gardener's 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
ceramist's 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 _mokusei_ (_Osmanthus fragrans_), 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 eyes--a wealth
of _lespedeza_ and _Indigo-fera_; a vast variety of lilies; graceful
grasses like the eulalia and the _ominameshi_ (_Patrina
scabiosaefolia_); the richly-hued _Pyrus japonica_; azaleas,
diervillas and deutzias; the _kikyo_ (_Platycodon grandiflorum_), the
_giboshi_ (_Funkia ovata_), 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."