Part 169

=Products and Industries.=--The islands have a very beautiful flora, including many ornamental plants. The great feature of the vegetation is the intermixture of tropical growths, such as the bamboo, palms, tree-ferns, and bananas, with those of temperate regions, the pine, oak, beech, chestnut and maple. Characteristic are the paper mulberry, the vegetable-wax tree, the camphor and lacquer trees. The cultivated crops are rice, maize, wheat, barley, tobacco, tea, and cotton.

Japan is also very rich in minerals. Gold, silver, and copper are especially abundant in the north, and coal and iron beds seem to extend throughout the group. Petroleum is also being produced in large quantities, especially in the Province of Echigo.

=People.=--With the exception of the wilds of Yezo, peopled by eighteen thousand Ainos, the Japanese islands are inhabited by a single race speaking various dialects of the same tongue. Probably the Japanese are the issue of the intermarriage of victorious Tartar settlers, who entered Japan from the Korean peninsula, with Malays in the south and Ainos in the main island. See Book of Races.

There are two prevailing religions in Japan--Shintoism, the indigenous faith; and Buddhism, introduced from China in 552 and still the dominant religion among the people. Francis Xavier introduced Christianity in 1549, and the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Church both carry on a flourishing work in Japan. Of the Protestant missions there are also many actively at work.

In education, as well as in matters of religion, enormous changes and advances have been made in recent years. Education is in the lower grades free and compulsory. Secondary schools are state aided, and prepare for a three years’ course at the universities, which is largely devoted to the study of European languages. There are high schools for girls, and the technical and special schools are well attended. There are three State Universities, at Tokio, Kyoto, and Tohoku.

=Production and Industry.=--Agriculture is the chief occupation of the Japanese, and they are excellent and careful farmers. In the mechanical arts also they excel; especially in the use of metals, in the manufacture of porcelain and glass lacquered wares, and silk fabrics. The chief manufactures are silk and cotton, cotton yarn, matches, paper, glass, lacquer ware, porcelain, and bronze, and ship building is an important industry in the yards.

The chief exports are silk, cotton, yarns, rice, tea, fish, copper, matches, coal, camphor, straw plaits, porcelain, earthenware, lacquer-ware, and marine products.

The commercial development of Japan has of late been marvelous. There were five thousand nine hundred and eighty-five miles of railroad open in 1914, in addition to eight hundred and thirty-six miles open in Korea, while the South Manchurian Railway (China) is under Japanese control.

=Government and Administration.=--The government is an hereditary monarchy, the succession being now exclusively in the male line. The Cabinet consists of ten Ministers of State, presided over by a Minister President.

The Upper House, or House of Peers, consists of about three hundred and thirty members--male members of the royal house, life peers, peers elected either for life or for seven years, and other persons nominated by the emperor. The lower house, or House of Representatives, has three hundred and sixty-nine members, who serve for four years, elected by citizens paying taxes of not less than ten yen (five dollars) per annum. The first general election took place in 1890.

Penal and civil codes have been drafted on a European basis, and with a commercial code were published in 1890, and came into force in 1893.

=Cities.=--The capital of the Japanese Empire, Tôkiô, formerly called Yedo, is the residence of the emperor; population, 2,186,079. Other cities are: Osaka, 1,226,590; Kiôto, the ancient capital, 442,462; Nagoya, 378,231; Kōbe, 378,197; Yokohama, 394,303; Hiroshima, 142,763; Nagasaki, 176,480; Kanazawa, 110,994; Kure, 100,679. The chief ports are Yokohama, Kōbe, Osaka, Nagasaki, and Hakodate.

=Tokio, or Tokei= (“Eastern Capital”), is the chief city of the Japanese Empire. Until 1868, when the emperor removed his court thither from Kyōtō, it was known as Yedo (“Estuary Gate”). Its position at the mouth of the rivers which drain the largest plain of Japan, fits it to be a national center. The lower portion of the city, which is flat and intersected by canals, stretches between the two parks of Ueno (north) and Shiba (south), famous for their shrines. Midway rises the castle or palace, a fine structure in Japanese style, furnished in European manner, and lighted with electricity, within a double ring of high walls and broad moats. In spring-time the city is gay with plum and cherry blossoms. The immense enclosures, formerly inhabited by the nobles and their retainers, are gradually disappearing, and handsome modern buildings in brick for the use of the various government departments are taking their place. Of the fifteen city divisions the northern, Hongo and Kanda, are mostly educational, and contain the buildings of the Imperial University, Law School and other institutions. The student population is astonishingly large. The seaward districts of Nihonbashi, Kyobashi, and Asakusa are industrial and commercial, while the government offices are located in Kojimachi ku.

Yokohama is the port of entry (seventeen miles off), and a great harbor scheme to cost twenty million dollars was planned in 1911-1912. The city is subject to disastrous fires; that of April, 1892, burned four thousand houses in one morning. Tokio has three railway termini and a system of electric railways. Almost every phase of modern civilization is to be found within its vast area.

=History.=--Before 500 A. D. Japanese history is mere legend. Buddhism was introduced from Korea in 552; and in the next century Chinese civilization strongly influenced Japan. About the end of the twelfth century, the weakness of the emperor led the military head (Shogun) to assume a large share of the supreme power, and he handed it on to his descendants. Hence the statement often made that Japan had a Mikado or spiritual emperor who reigned but did not govern, and a “Tycoon” (Shogun) who did govern though he paid homage to the nominal sovereign. The military caste was now dominant until the reign of Iyeyasu (c. 1600), whose descendants reigned till 1868.

Total exclusion of foreigners was the rule till 1543, when the Portuguese effected a settlement; but in 1624 all foreigners were expelled and Christianity interdicted. The policy of isolation was rigidly pursued from 1638 till 1853, when Commodore Perry of the United States Navy steamed into a Japanese harbor, and effected a treaty with the Shogun. Soon sixteen other nations followed the American example, and free ports were opened to foreign commerce.

In 1867-1868 a sharp civil war broke the feudal power of the daimios or territorial magnates, suppressed the Shogunate, and unified the authority under the Mikado. In a very few years Japanese students took a place of their own in western science; and how thoroughly the Japanese had laid to heart what they had learned abroad in the military and naval arts was partially revealed by the swift and complete success of the war with China about Korea in 1894, and more impressively by their amazing triumph over the great military empire of Russia, in 1904-1905, whom they defeated in a succession of bloody battles, took Port Arthur, and utterly destroyed the Russian fleet. By the peace that followed the Russians not only evacuated southern Manchuria, but recognized Japan’s preponderance in Korea, and gave up to Japan the “leases” of Port Arthur and the Liao-tung peninsula Russia had wrested from China.

A conspiracy against the life of the emperor was discovered in September, 1910. The same year saw the passing of a bill enabling foreigners to own land in Japan proper, under certain restrictions. But the principal event of 1910 in Japanese history was the formal annexation of Korea, the treaty with the emperor of Korea being promulgated on August 29. According to the new commercial treaty with the United States, ratified by the Senate on February 24, 1911, the clause in the old treaty was omitted, wherein each side reserved the right of regulating immigration from one country to the other. In 1910 and 1911 important agreements were also made with Russia with special reference to Manchuria.

Japan entered the European war on August 23, 1914, on the side of the Entente Allies, and immediately began the blockade and siege of the German colony at Kiao-Chow on the Shantung promontory of China. In November, 1915, the present emperor, Yoshihito, was crowned.

=THE COLONIAL DIVISIONS OF THE WORLD=

The following tables show how the colonies of the world have been divided among the various nations:

COLONIES IN AFRICA ==========================+========================+=========+============ =Colony= | =Governing Country | =Area | =Popula- | and Form of Government=| Sq. M.= | tion= --------------------------+------------------------+---------+------------ Algeria |French Colony | 184,474| 4,739,300 Algerian Sahara |French Possession | 123,500| 50,000 Angola |Portuguese Possession | 484,800| 4,119,000 Ascension |British Crown Colony | 35| 430 Azores and Madeira Islands|Portuguese Province | 1,510| 407,002 Basutoland |British Crown Colony | 10,293| 264,100 Bechuanaland |British Protectorate | 286,200| 100,500 British East Africa |British Protectorate |1,000,000| 2,500,000 British Central Africa |British Protectorate | 42,217| 900,615 British South Africa |British Protectorate | 425,728| 1,075,000 (Rhodesia) | | | Canary Islands |Spanish Province | 2,808| 334,521 Cape Colony |British Protectorate | 276,775| 2,433,000 Cape Verde Islands |Portuguese Province | 1,480| 147,424 Ceuta |Spanish Province | 13| 5,090 Comoro Islands |French Protectorate | 620| 47,000 Congo Inland Straits |Belgian Protectorate | 900,000| 30,000,000 Dahomey |French Possession | 60,000| 1,000,000 Egypt |Turkish Tributary | 400,000| 9,734,405 Eritrea, etc. |Italian Possession | 42,000| 329,516 Fernando Po, etc. |Spanish Possession | 850| 23,709 French Congo |French Possession |1,160,000| 10,000,000 Gambia |British Crown Colony | 69| 13,500 German East Africa |German Protectorate | 384,180| 8,000,000 German Southwest Africa |German Protectorate | 322,450| 200,000 Gold Coast |British Crown Colony | 40,000| 1,500,000 Guinea, French |French Possession | 95,000| 2,200,000 Guinea, Portuguese |Portuguese Possession | 4,440| 820,000 Ivory Coast |French Possession | 116,000| 2,000,000 Kamerun |German Protectorate | 191,130| 3,500,000 Lagos |British Crown Colony | 3,460| 85,600 Madagascar |French Possession | 227,950| 2,505,240 Mauritius, etc. |British Crown Colony | 729| 378,040 Mayotte |French Possession | 140| 11,640 Military Ter’s |French Possession | 700,000| 4,000,000 Portuguese East Africa |Portuguese Possession | 301,000| 3,120,000 Natal and Zululand |British Institutions | 34,019| 902,365 Nigeria |British Protectorate | 400,000| 25,000,000 Nossi-Be |French Possession | 130| 9,500 Orange River |British Possession | 48,330| 207,500 Princes and St. Thomas |Portuguese Possession | 360| 42,103 Islands | | | Reunion |French Possession | 966| 173,200 Rio de Oro and Adrar |Spanish Possession | 243,000| 100,000 Sahara |French Possession |1,544,000| 2,550,000 St. Helena |British Crown Colony | 47| 3,342 St. Marie |French Possession | 64| 7,670 Senegal |French Possession | 80,000| 1,800,000 Seychelles |British Crown Colony | 148| 19,343 Sierra Leone |British Crown Colony | 4,000| 77,000 Somali Coast, British |British Protectorate | 75,000| ... Somali Coast, French |French Possession | 45,000| 200,000 Somali Coast, Italian |Italian Possession | 100,000| 400,000 Togoland |German Protectorate | 33,700| 900,000 Transvaal Colony |British Possession | 119,140| 1,094,100 Tripoli |Turkish Tributary | 398,000| 800,000 Tristanda Cuhna |British Crown Colony | 45| 100 Tunis |French Protectorate | 51,000| 1,900,000 Uganda |British Protectorate | 140,000| 3,000,000 Zanzibar and Pemba |British Protectorate | 1,020| 200,000 --------------------------+------------------------+---------+------------ COLONIES IN ASIA ==========================+========================+=========+============ =Colony= | =Governing Country | =Area | =Popula- | and Form of Government=| Sq. M.= | tion= --------------------------+------------------------+---------+------------ Aden and Perim |British Crown Colony | 80| 41,222 Anam |French Protectorate | 52,100| 6,124,000 Bahrein Islands |British Protectorate | 273| 68,000 Baluchistan |British Protectorate | 130,000| 500,000 Bokhara |Russian Dependency | 92,000| 1,250,000 Cambodia |French Protectorate | 37,400| 1,500,000 Ceylon |British Institutions | 25,365| 3,578,333 Cochin China |French Possession | 22,000| 2,968,600 Cypress |British Administration | 3,584| 227,900 East Turkestan |Chinese Dependency | 550,340| 1,200,000 Formosa |Japanese Dependency | 13,455| 2,745,000 Goa |Portuguese Possession | 1,390| 494,836 Hong Kong |British Crown Colony | 407| 386,159 India, British |British Crown Colony |1,087,404|231,898,807 India, French |French Possession | 196| 273,000 India, Portuguese |Portuguese Possession | 1,558| 572,290 Jungaria |Chinese Dependency | 147,950| 600,000 Kiauchau Bay |Japanese Possession | 200| 60,000 Khiva |Russian Possession | 22,320| 800,000 Kwang Tung |Russian Possession | ...| ... Macao |Portuguese Possession | 4| 78,627 Malay Federated States |British Protectorate | 27,500| 512,342 Manchuria |Chinese Dependency | 363,610| 8,500,000 Mongolia |Chinese Dependency |1,367,600| 2,580,000 Pescadores Islands |Japanese Dependency | 85| 52,400 Samos |Turkish Tributary | 180| 54,830 Sikkim |British Protectorate | 2,818| 30,458 Straits Settlements |British Crown Colony | 1,472| 572,249 Tibet |Chinese Dependency | 463,200| 6,430,000 Tonquin and Laos |French Possession | 144,400| 7,641,900 --------------------------+------------------------+---------+------------ COLONIES IN EUROPE ==========================+========================+=========+============ =Colony= | =Governing Country | =Area | =Popula- | and Form of Government=| Sq. M.= | tion= --------------------------+------------------------+---------+------------ Bosnia and Herzegovina |Austro-Hungarian | 23,262| 1,568,092 |Protectorate | | Crete |Turkish Suzerainty | 3,326| 303,543 Faroe Islands |Danish Colony | 512| 15,230 Gibraltar |British Crown Colony | 2| 27,460 Iceland |Danish Province | 39,756| 78,470 Malta and Gozo |British Institutions | 117| 188,141 --------------------------+------------------------+---------+------------ COLONIES IN NORTH AMERICA ==========================+========================+=========+============ =Colony= | =Governing Country | =Area | =Popula- | and Form of Government=| Sq. M.= | tion= --------------------------+------------------------+---------+------------ Alaska |United States Territory | 599,446| 63,592 Bahamas |British Institutions | 4,470| 54,358 Barbadoes |British Institutions | 166| 195,600 Bermudas |British Institutions | 20| 17,535 Canada |British Dependency |3,048,710| 5,371,315 Curacao, etc. |Dutch Possession | 403| 52,301 Danish West Indies |United States Possession| 138| 32,786 Greenland |Danish Possession | 46,740| 10,516 Guadeloupe, etc. |French Possession | 688| 182,110 Honduras, British |British Crown Colony | 7,560| 37,650 Leeward Islands |British Institutions | 700| 127,440 Jamaica and Turks Islands |British Crown Colony | 4,370| 771,900 Martinique |French Possession | 380| 203,780 Newfoundland and Labrador |British Dependency | 162,200| 217,100 Porto Rico |United States Possession| 3,606| 953,243 St. Pierre and Miquelon |French Possession | 92| 6,250 Trinidad and Tobago |British Crown Colony | 1,868| 279,700 Windward Islands |British Institutions | 500| 162,800 --------------------------+------------------------+---------+------------ COLONIES IN SOUTH AMERICA ==========================+========================+=========+============ =Colony= | =Governing Country | =Area | =Popula- | and Form of Government=| Sq. M.= | tion= --------------------------+------------------------+---------+------------ Falkland Islands |British Crown Colony | 7,500| 2,076 Guiana, British |British Institutions | 104,000| 294,000 Guiana, French |French Colony | 30,500| 32,910 Guiana, Dutch |Dutch Possession | 46,060| 68,968 --------------------------+------------------------+---------+------------ COLONIES IN OCEANIA ==========================+========================+=========+============ =Colony= | =Governing Country | =Area | =Popula- | and Form of Government=| Sq. M.= | tion= --------------------------+------------------------+---------+------------ Bismarck Archipelago |German Possession | 20,000| 188,000 Borneo, British N. |British Protectorate | 31,106| 175,000 Borneo, Dutch |Dutch Possession | 212,737| 1,180,578 Caroline Islands and |German Possession | 810| 42,000 Palaos | | | Celebes Islands |Dutch Possession | 71,470| 1,197,860 Fiji and Rotumah Islands |British Crown Colony | 7,740| 120,950 Guam |United States Possession| 150| 9,000 Hawaii |United States Territory | 6,449| 154,000 Java and Madura |Dutch Possession | 50,554| 28,745,698 Kaiser Wilhelm Land |German Protectorate | 70,000| 110,000 Marianne Islands |German Possession | 250| 2,000 Marquesas Islands |French Possession | 480| 4,280 Marshall Islands |German Possession | 150| 13,000 New Caledonia |French Possession | 7,650| 51,415 New Guinea, British |British Crown Colony | 90,540| 350,000 New South Wales |British Dependency | 310,370| 1,397,700 New Guinea, Dutch |Dutch Possession | 195,653| 599,208 New Zealand |British Dependency | 104,470| 787,660 Philippine Islands |United States Possession| 119,542| 8,000,000 Queensland |British Dependency | 668,500| 510,520 Samoan Islands (Savaii and|German Possession | 1,000| 29,100 Upolu) | | | Samoan Islands (Tutuila |United States Possession| 79| 5,800 and Manua) | | | Society Islands, etc. |French Possession | 1,520| 29,000 Solomon Islands |German Possession | 4,200| 45,000 South Australia |British Dependency | 903,700| 364,800 Sumatra |Dutch Possession | 161,612| 3,209,067 Tasmania |British Dependency | 26,215| 174,230 Timor, Dutch |Dutch Possession | 44,374| 978,267 Timor, Portuguese |Portuguese Possession | 7,458| 300,000 Victoria |British Dependency | 87,890| 1,208,710 West Australia |British Dependency | 975,920| 194,800 --------------------------+------------------------+---------+------------

NOTE.--Practically all the German colonial possessions throughout the world are at this date (1917) in military possession of the Entente Allies, and will be so held pending the terms of the final treaty of peace at the close of the present European war.

THE GREAT FOREIGN WARS OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY

In the various wars the victorious contestants are indicated in =bold face= type, as are also the victorious leaders and the battles won by them. The figures prefixed show with which of the warring parties the leaders are identified, and who were the victors in the battles named. Naval battles are shown in _italics_. Consult the Table of Foreign Battles for details concerning the more important military actions.

=TROJAN WAR= (Partly mythical).--1193-1184 B. C.

(1) =Greeks= vs. (2) Trojans.

CAUSE: Greeks avenge the abduction of Helen of Troy by Paris.

LEADERS: (1) =Agamemnon=, =Achilles=, =Ulysses=; (2) Hector.