The significant thing about Japan is the rapidity with which it has
become transformed from a semi-civilised nation into one of the great
nations of the modern world. Until the year 1868 Japan was an
unprogressive, unenlightened country of the usual Asiatic type,
scarcely differing in any way from an inland province of China of
to-day. In that year a revolution took place which put the whole power
of the empire into the hands of the present Mikado, or Emperor.
Immediately Japan began to assimilate Western ideas of civilisation
and to adopt Western methods of trade, commerce, manufacture,
government, and education. Until 1889 the government remained an
absolute monarchy. In that year the Mikado voluntarily promulgated a
constitution by which a legislative Parliament, or "Imperial Diet,"
and an executive Cabinet of State Ministers were instituted, so that
the government of Japan is now as "constitutional" as that of Germany
or Great Britain. The government is in other ways thoroughly modern.
Education, for example, is almost as well looked after as in Germany
or New England. There are 220 kindergartens established, 97 technical
schools, and 49 normal schools for the training of teachers (one being
for the training of high-school teachers), besides elementary schools,
middle schools, high schools, special schools (1263 of these), and
universities. The University of Tokio is an imperial institution,
supported entirely by the government, with colleges in law, science,
medicine, literature, engineering, and agriculture. Education, between
the ages of six and fourteen, is compulsory. The army, too, is wholly
a modern affair. It consists of 285,000 men, and an idea of its
modernness may be gathered from the fact that an important part of its
organisation is its training schools and colleges. Even the
non-commissioned officers are specially trained and educated.
Altogether the students in the military schools and colleges of Japan
number 2400. The navy, too, as is well known, is both modern and
efficient. It consists of 5 battleships and 15 high-class cruisers,
besides 46 other vessels,--torpedo craft, gunboats, convoy ships,
etc.,--and it is intended to build an immense fleet of 19 battleships
and cruisers, and 100 torpedo craft in addition.