VILLAGES HAVING FROM 1,500 TO 3,000 INHABITANTS-Concluded.

CHAPTER VII.

Countries with which Canada deals.-Trade and Commerce.-Census Returns.-Education.

No. 3. THE EMPIRE OF JAPAN.

370. The Empire of Japan occupies its position in the North Pacific Ocean to the east of the Asiatic continent. It extends from 24° 6' north latitude to 50° 56′ north latitude, and from 122° 45′ east longitude to 156° 32′ east longitude.

371. The empire, which consists of the four great islands and numerous smaller islands, is separated on the north-west by the sea of Japan from the Russian Manchuria and the Corean Peninsula. On the north it is separated / from the Russian territory by Saghelien Island and the strait of Nicholævsk and on the north-east the group of the Kurile Islands extends to the Kamtchata in the Russian Dominion. On the south-east the empire is bordered by the Pacific Ocean, the vast expanse of which separates Japan from the Dominion of Canada. On the south-west the empire includes the Riukin Islands and extends southward so as to include the Island of Formosa.

The extent of the empire from north-east to south-west is about 500 ri and its breadth varies from 30 to 60 ri. Ri= 2.44 miles.

Honshin, the largest of the four islands occupies the central position. Shikoku lies in the south; Kiu-siu in the west and Hokkaido in the north. The provinces of the empire are divided, exclusive of those of the Kinai, into eight great circuits, seven of which are contained in Honshin, Kiu-siu and Shikoku. The remaining circuit comprises Hokkaido. Besides the four great islands, the chain of the Kuriles extends northward from the eastern coast of Hokkaido.

372. The following statement gives the area and population of the empire :

Almost every part of the empire is mountainous, there being several

mountain chains.

The highest mountains are Fujisan, height 12,370 shaku, Ahaishiyama 10,214 shaku, and Shuanesan 10,212 shaku. A shaku is equal to 994

of a foot.

The general feature of the country is its length north and south and its narrowness east and west. As one great chain of mountains runs through the middle, the rivers correspond in their course to the formation. The few longer rivers running parallel to the mountain ranges, the greater number are short. The current of the rivers emptying into the Pacific Ocean is comparatively slow owing to the gradual slope of the land. The rivers discharging into the sea of Japan have a rapid descent. The longest river is the Ishikarigawa with a length of 407 miles.

The coast line of the empire amounts to 15,300 nautical miles, of which the four great islands have 8.177 miles.

The coast abounds in numerous harbours, the most important being Yokohama, Kobe, Osaka, Niigata, Nagasaki and Hakodate, which are the open ports. Besides these there are ten ports which are special ports for exports and twenty-two others without specially designated uses.

373. There are 36 cities having more than 30,000 inhabitants, Tokio, the largest, having 1,214,113 of a population.

374. Of the total population of 41,388,313 persons, 20,906,465 are males and 20,481,848 are females. Of the 41,388,313 persons, 18,611,702 are under 21 years of age, 15,908,538 are between 21 and 50 years of age, and

6,868,053 are over 50

years old.

The foreign population is small, numbering only 9,803, of which English and Canadians number 1,802.

375. The religions are Shintoism, with 10 sects, and Buddhism with 12 sects and 40 creeds. The Shinto temples in 1892 numbered 193,476, and the Buddhist temples 71,973.

376. Elementary education is compulsory. The number of schools of all grades was 25,579. The teaching staff numbered 68,697, and students pupils, 3,300,016.

The number of periodicals, monthly, weekly and daily, published was 792, of which 244,203,066 copies were issued during 1892.

The number of letters and printed documents received into and sent from Japan in 1893 was 1,583,509, of which 24,792 were for and from Canada.

The total number of letters, post cards, newspapers, books, samples and parcels sent through the post offices of Japan in 1893-94 was 321,630,508, or 7.66 per inhabitant.

There were in the beginning of 1894, 9,053 miles of telegraph, with 24,972 miles of wire, besides 269 miles of submarine cable, and 403 miles of telephone, with 4,356 miles of wire.

The number of telegrams sent and received was 6,444,463.

377. The total mileage of railway on Sept. 30th, 1894, was 2,039 miles. The passengers carried in the year numbered 32,404,772. The total receipts were 11,594,474 yen (dollars), and the total expenses 4,977,343 yen (dollars).

378. The public debt of Japan in 1894 was 283,519,624 yen, of which foreign debt at 7 per cent was 2,957,280 yen. The remainder is home debt and carries varying interest, from 4 to 7 per cent, excepting about 28 million yens.

The total paper money in circulation amounted to 148,483,906 yen. This consists of treasury notes, Kokuritsu Ginko notes, or notes of the National Bank and Niphon Ginko (or bank of Japan) notes exchangeable for silver on presentation.

The bank of Japan has a paid up capital of 10,000,000 yen, with reserve of 6,888,000 yen, deposits amounting to 261,998,000 yen.

a

There are over 270 private banks with a capital of 25,000,000 yen. Japan's foreign trade for 1894, according to the annual returns published by the Department of Finance, amounted to $117,209,845, composed of :

Imports....
Exports

Value.
$ 59,680,833
57,529,012

These figures, which do not include foreign produce re-exported from, nor Japanese produce re-imported into, Japan, show, as compared with the corresponding ones for 1893, an increase of $5,008,077 in imports, of $1,964,294 in exports, and in the gross foreign trade of $6,972,371. This large increase has been experienced in spite of the adverse circumstances created by the war with China, causing a withdrawal from trade for military transport of the entire mercantile fleet of the country, by which the coasting trade and also a considerable part of the foreign trade with China and British India are usually carried on. Railway and other land transport facilities will be also largely appropriated by the govern

ment.

By countries the trade is distributed as under :

TOTAL FOREIGN TRADE OF JAPAN BY COUNTRIES, 1894.