THE COUNTRY--ITS PHYSICAL FEATURES--PRODUCTS--FAUNA--FLORA, ETC.
The Empire of Japan (a corruption of Nippon, the native name) is
composed of four large islands--Honshiu, Shikoku, Kiushiu, and Yesso,
besides some thousands of smaller isles. The Kurile Isles, north of
Yesso, and in the neighbourhood of Kamschatka, have been incorporated
in the Empire since 1875, and the Loo-Choo Islands, some 500 miles
south-west of Japan's southern extremity, since 1876. The great island
of Formosa, situated off the coast of China, was ceded to Japan as the
outcome of the Chino-Japanese War in 1895, while as the result of the
recent conflict with Russia, Japan has obtained back the southern half
of the large island of Sakhalin, which formerly entirely belonged to
her, as well as Port Arthur and Dalny on the mainland, not to speak of
the preponderating influence she has obtained in Korea, which is now
practically under the suzerainty of Japan. The population of the
Empire according to the last census was about forty-seven millions,
and, like that of Great Britain, it is annually increasing. The
proximity of Japan to the Asiatic Continent, despite the lessons in
geography which the late war afforded, is not, I think, generally
understood. The nearest point of the Japanese coast is only 100 miles
distant from Korea, while between the two lies the important island of
Tsu-shima, which Japan found so useful as a strategic position during
the war with Russia. The island of Sakhalin, the southern portion of
which, as I have said, has lately passed into the possession of Japan,
is about 20 miles distant from the northern part of Yesso, while at
some places the island is only separated from the Russian mainland by
5 or 6 miles of water. The distance between Hakodate, in Yesso, and
the great Russian port of Vladivostock is somewhere about 200 miles.
This contiguity of Japan to the Asiatic Continent has already had a
marked effect on the politics of the world, and in the future, if I
mistake not, is likely to be a preponderating factor therein. The area
of Japan is about half as large again as that of the United Kingdom.
The southern extremity of the country is in latitude 31 deg. N., the
northern in latitude 45-1/2 deg. N.
The Japanese islands are undoubtedly of volcanic origin, and many of
the volcanoes in the country are still more or less active. The
general conformation of the land leads one to suppose that the islands
are the summits of mountain ranges which some thousands of years back
had their bases submerged by the rising of the sea or else had by
degrees settled down beneath the surface of the ocean. The general
characteristic of the country is mountainous, and only about one-sixth
of the total area is in cultivation. Fuji-yama, the loftiest mountain,
for which the Japanese have a peculiar veneration and which has been
immortalised in the art of the country, has an altitude of 12,730
feet. The next in height, Mount Mitake, ascends some 9,000 feet, and
there are many others of 5,000 feet or more. Japan has from time to
time been ravaged by, and indeed still is subject to, terrible
earthquakes. These dire calamities seem to recur at regular intervals.
The Japanese islands appear to be in the centre of great volcanic
disturbances--a fact which probably accounts for those seismic
outbreaks which periodically devastate considerable tracts of the
country and cause tremendous havoc to life and property. The written
records, extending back some 1,400 or 1,500 years, clearly prove that
earthquakes even more terrible in their effects than any that have
taken place in recent times were of frequent occurrence. It is, of
course, possible that these records may be inaccurate or have been
largely exaggerated, but they at any rate tend to show that those
great cosmic forces which are popularly termed earthquakes have been
constantly at work in Japan ever since any written records have been
preserved and no doubt long anterior to that time.
As the islands are narrow and mountainous there are no great rivers
and none available for important navigation. None of the rivers exceed
200 miles in length. Although Japan is situated much further south
than Great Britain, its northern extremity being in about the same
latitude as Cornwall, its climate is, on the whole, not unlike that of
this country. Of course the climate of such a mountainous country and
one extending over 14 degrees of latitude varies considerably. That of
the island of Yesso, for example, is in winter rigorous to a degree, a
fact in some measure caused by a cold current which flows down its
eastern shores from the Sea of Okohotsk. Professor Rein, who has given
great attention to the matter of the Japanese climate, has remarked in
reference thereto: "The climate of Japan reflects the characteristics
of that of the neighbouring continent, and exhibits like that two
great annual contrasts--a hot, damp summer and a cold relatively dry
winter; these two seasons lie under the sway of the monsoons, but the
neighbouring seas weaken the effects of these winds and mitigate their
extremes in such a manner that neither the summer heat nor the cold of
winter attain the same height in Japan as in China at the same
latitudes. Spring and autumn are extremely agreeable seasons; the
oppressive summer heat does not last long, and in winter the contrast
between the nightly frosts and the midday heat, produced by
considerable insulation but still more by the raw northerly winds,
causes frequent chills, though the prevailing bright sky makes the
season of the year much more endurable than in many other regions
where the winter cold is equal. As a fact the climate of Japan agrees
very well with most Europeans, so that people have already begun to
look upon certain localities as climatic watering-places where the
inhabitant of Hong Kong and Shanghai can find refuge from the
oppressive heat of summer and invigorate his health."
The mean annual temperature of Tokio is about 56 deg. The lowest
temperature is in January or February, when the thermometer seldom
falls below 25 deg., the highest in August, when it sometimes rises to
95 deg. or 100 deg. in the shade, the average being 82 deg. The
Japanese suffer a good deal from the effects of the wintry weather,
bronchial, chest, and rheumatic affections being prevalent. The
dwellings of the people, somewhat flimsy in construction as they are,
are not well adapted to withstand the effects of a low temperature. On
the whole the people must be pronounced to be extremely healthy--a
fact probably due to their scrupulous cleanliness, to the excellent
ventilation of their houses, and, as regards those living in the
towns, to the wide and well-kept streets where nothing offensive is
allowed to remain. The country has, however, from time to time been
subject to epidemics introduced from without, cholera and the plague
having more than once carried death throughout the length and breadth
of the land.
Those circular storms known as cyclones in the Indian Ocean and
typhoons in further Eastern seas have from time to time wrought great
devastation in Japan. Fortunately these revolving storms are of brief
duration, and in the neighbourhood of Japan they do not so frequently
occur as in the China Sea.
Japan is well provided with good harbours, that of Nagasaki in
especial being one of the finest in the world. Sheltered completely by
lofty and beautiful hills, with deep water throughout, it is an ideal
anchorage. Until recently foreign trade was confined to the treaty
ports; but as the country has now been completely thrown open, there
is no doubt that the many fine harbours which Japan possesses, and
which so far have hardly been utilised at all, will in due course
become the centres of great commercial activity. The Inland Sea--the
beautiful Mediterranean of Japan--abounds with excellent anchorages,
most of which have hitherto been only entered by an occasional junk.
Regarding the mineral wealth of the country, it is impossible to speak
with any precision. It was not until after the Revolution of 1868 that
the mining industry assumed importance in Japan. At first the
Government itself owned several mines, but these were not financially
successful, and they were after a time disposed of to private owners.
The old mining regulations have recently been superseded by a new
mining law. In accordance with this the Minister of Agriculture and
Commerce is the official who permits, approves, cancels, or suspends
the right of mining, whether permanently or on trial. I may, however,
at once remark that the Japanese Government has not up to the present
held out much encouragement to the speculative prospector. Gold is
believed to exist in considerable quantities in Yesso, and as a matter
of fact, although the amount mined is still small, it is annually
increasing. Coal is abundant in various parts of the country and the
mines are extensively worked. In 1903 there were over ten million tons
of coal produced, and the quantity is at the present time assuredly
very much greater. The coal is not of such a good quality as either
Welsh or North Country, but there is a large and growing demand for it
in the East, and coal is undoubtedly a highly important part of
Japan's latent wealth. Copper, a metal which is in increasing demand,
exists in Japan in enormous quantities, and she promises at no very
far-distant date to be the chief copper-producing country of the
world. Iron and sulphur are also found, and there are many other
minerals, some of which are more or less worked. The Japanese Mining
Law, it may be interesting to relate, recognises the following
minerals and mineral ores, which may accordingly be taken as existing
in the country: Gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, hematite, antimony,
quicksilver, zinc, iron, manganese and arsenic, plumbago, coal,
kerosene, sulphur, bismuth, phosphorus, peat.
Whatever the mineral wealth of Japan--and the extent and variety
thereof are probably yet not fully realised--there can be no question
as to the value of its arboreal products. The lacquer-tree (_rhus
vernicifera_), which furnishes the well-known Japanese lacquer, the
paper mulberry, the elm, oak, maple, bamboo, camphor, and many other
descriptions of trees, grow in abundance. The forests of Japan cover
nearly 60 per cent. of the land. For some years after the Revolution
there was a reduction in the wooded area, nearly four million acres
having been cleared for occupation. Of late years, however, forestry
has been scientifically taken in hand, and about one and a half
million acres have been replanted in districts which have not been
found suitable for farming. The climate of Japan varies so greatly
that there is a corresponding variety in its trees. About eight
hundred kinds of forest trees are suitable for cultivation in Japan,
varying from the palm and the bamboo to the fir and many other trees
with which we are familiar in this country.
The Japanese are above all things an agricultural people. The tobacco
plant, the tea shrub, potatoes, rice, wheat, barley, millet, cotton,
rape, and many cereals other than those I have mentioned are
extensively cultivated. The great mass of the people of Japan live on
the land, and though I think the tendency, as in Great Britain, is for
the large towns to magnetically draw the dwellers in the country,
nevertheless agriculture is still held in high esteem, and the peasant
is content to dwell on the land and live by it. Rice is the staple
food of the people, and it is grown everywhere; indeed the yearly
harvest of it affects the Japanese economy quite as much as, if not
even more than, the wheat crop does that of Europe. The Japanese
peasant is almost as dependent on rice as the Irish peasant used to be
on potatoes. The water, so necessary for irrigating the land, is
supplied by the streams and rivulets which are plentiful in the
country. The Japanese agriculturist has long been famous for the
admirable manner in which he keeps and tills his farm. The fields are
clean as regards weeds, and order and neatness are perceptible
everywhere. The labour is almost entirely manual, and men, women, and
children all take part in the work.
Fruit is abundant in Japan, but it is for the most part of an
inferior quality. Grapes, apples, pears, plums, peaches, chestnuts,
persimmons, oranges, figs, lemons, citrons, melons, and wild
strawberries are all grown, but except as regards the grapes I cannot
speak in laudatory terms of Japanese fruit. The flowers of many fruit
trees seem more appreciated than the fruit itself.
The floral kingdom is rich, beautiful and varied. Probably in no other
part of the world are flowers so greatly appreciated as in Japan. They
enter largely into various popular festivals. The Japanese, as most
people know, excel in the art of gardening and the dwarfing of trees
and shrubs. The flower vendor is a familiar sight, and there is never
any lack of buyers. The poorest householder will do without anything
almost rather than deprive himself of flowers. These enter largely
into the religious services of the people, and are also extensively
placed on the graves of the departed. Flowers, indeed, play an
important part in the lives of the Japanese. Japan has long been
famous for the great number of its evergreens. A large number of the
plants growing wild are of this class, so that even in winter the land
has not the bare appearance characteristic of European countries at
that time of the year. Coniferous plants are abundant, many of them
being peculiar to Japan.
The coasts abound with fish of an excellent quality, and this, with
rice, forms the staple diet of the people. Tea is, as I have said,
largely cultivated, and indeed may be regarded as the national
beverage. It has been cultivated in the country for over two thousand
years. It is an article of faith in Japan that tea strengthens the
body. It is drunk everywhere and at all times, without either milk or
sugar--the true way, I think, in which to appreciate its flavour. The
tea-house in Japan occupies the same position as the public-house in
this country, but it has many advantages over the latter. In the towns
and some other parts of Japan, sake--a spirit distilled from rice--is
drunk, and when the Japanese has to any extent been Europeanised or
brought into contact with Europeans, he affects a taste for European
varieties of alcohol. On the whole, however, the people are distinctly
a sober race.
The principal towns are Tokio, the capital, with a population of about
one and half millions, Osaka, having a population nearly as great,
Kyoto, the ancient capital, Nagoya, Kobe, Yokohama, and Nagasaki.
Yokohama may be regarded as the European headquarters; indeed it is
largely a European town, while Nagasaki has more than any other been
under European influences, the Dutch having, as I have already stated,
had a factory there, in the suburb of Decima, continuously ever since
the expulsion of foreigners from the country in the sixteenth century.
Railway communication in Japan is a subject upon which much might be
written. For many years there was only one line in the country--that
between Yokohama and Tokio, about 22 miles in length. At the present
time there are some 4,500 miles of railway open, and extensions are
either in progress or in contemplation. Of the lines now being worked,
about one-third are the property of the Government, the rest having
been constructed by private enterprise. This dual system of ownership
has its disadvantages, and it will doubtless not be permitted to last.
Railway construction has already had a considerable effect on the
opening up of the country, and as the construction is extended the
development of Japan will doubtless proceed in an increasing ratio.
The scenery of Japan has provided a theme for so many pens that I do
not feel inclined to do more than refer to it in passing. Much of the
scenery is sublime but, truth to tell, its beauty, or perhaps it would
be more correct to say the effect thereof on the sightseer, has been
somewhat marred of recent years by the influx of those persons
colloquially known as "globe trotters," the railway extensions to
which I have referred, and the erection of large hotels run on
European lines. Nikko, the incomparable, with its glorious scenery and
its still more glorious temples, the meandering Daynogawa, the
beauteous Lake Chiuzenji, on which a quarter of a century or so ago a
European provided with a passport and having his headquarters at a
neighbouring tea-house might gaze at his leisure, and meditate in a
glorious silence broken only by the sound of the ripples of the water
or the cry of the birds from the neighbouring woods, all are now
vulgarised. The personally conducted tourist is there and very much in
evidence. He wanders carelessly, often contemptuously, through the
ancient temples, regarding temples, scenery, river, lakes, merely as
"something to be done." The change was, I suppose, inevitable, but the
change is one that I think is in some respects to be regretted. The
tourist brings money and spends it freely, and the country no doubt
reaps the advantage thereof, but the effect on the Japanese brought
into contact with the European under such conditions is not, in my
opinion, always, or often, beneficial.
I have not much to remark in regard to the fauna of Japan. The
domestic animals are comparatively few. The fact of the inhabitants
not eating animal food has led to their paying little or no attention
to the breeding of those animals which are largely in request in
foreign countries. Horses, however, are fairly plentiful, though
small. Japan, as I have elsewhere remarked, has been handicapped in
the organisation of her cavalry by the lack of a proper supply of
suitable horses, and she has recently despatched a commission to
Europe to effect purchases with a view of putting this matter right,
and improving the breed of horses in the county. Oxen and cows were
till recently entirely, and are still largely, used for purposes of
draught only. Sheep and pigs have been introduced from abroad, but
they have not been generally distributed, and in many parts of Japan
have never been seen.
The wild animals of Japan are neither numerous nor important. The
black bear and the wolf still exist, chiefly in the Northern Island,
but it is certain that at no far-distant date they will, unless
artificially preserved, go the way of all wild animals in civilised
countries. The red-faced monkey is there, the only kind found in
Japan, and snakes exist, but they are for the most part harmless. The
art of the country will have familiarised Europeans with the presence
of the crane and the stork, which play such a prominent part therein.
Indeed the wild birds of the country are more numerous than the
animals. I am not aware whether geological research in Japan has been
sufficiently extensive or systematic to ascertain whether, and if so
what, any species of animals have ever existed there other than those
at present found in the country. It certainly is in some respects
extraordinary that a country so close to the Asiatic Continent and
possessing such a variety of climates should, as regards the animal
kingdom from the standpoint of the zoologist, be put down as
distinctly poor. The fact, or supposed fact, to which I have
previously referred, that the Japanese islands are the summits of
mountain ranges which many thousand years ago had their bases
submerged by the rising of the sea or had gradually settled down
beneath the surface of the ocean, may, of course, account for the
poverty of Japan in regard to the animals therein. I must leave other
pens than mine to descant on that interesting if highly speculative
matter. Be that as it may, if the fauna of Japan is poor, the country
certainly makes up for it by the variety and magnificence of its
flora--a flora which deserves to be studied, and which has done so
much to brighten not only the appearance of the country but the lives
of its inhabitants.