_Population._--The population was as follows on the 31st of December
1907:--
Population
Population. Males. Females. Totals. per sq. m.
Japan proper 24,601,658 24,172,627 48,774,285 330
Formosa (Taiwan) 1,640,778 1,476,137 3,116,915 224
Sakhalin 7,175 3,631 10,806 0.1
---------- ---------- ----------
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 1.09 272
1895 21,345,750 20,904,870 42,270,620 1.09 286
1899 22,330,112 21,930,540 44,260,652 1.14 299
1903 23,601,640 23,131,236 46,732,876 1.54 316
1907 24,601,658 24,172,627 48,774,285 1.13 330
The population of Formosa (Taiwan) during the ten-year period 1898-1907
grew 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 1844-1846. 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 2½ 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 11.6% whereas the
food-producing area increased by only 4.4%. 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 3.05% 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 5 ft. declined from 20.21 to 16.20.
_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:--