Chapter VIII: Part 8

It has been abundantly demonstrated by careful observations that the
east coasts of Japan are slowly rising. This phenomenon was first
noticed in the case of the plain on which stands the capital, Tokyo.
Maps of sufficiently trustworthy accuracy show that in the 11th
century Tokyo Bay penetrated much more deeply in a northern direction
than it does now; the point where the city's main river (Sumida or
Arakawa) enters the sea was considerably to the north of its present
position, and low-lying districts, to-day thickly populated, were
under water. Edmund Naumann was the discoverer of these facts, and his
attention was first drawn to them by learning that an edible sea-weed,
which flourishes only in salt water, is called Asakusa-nori, from the
place (Asakusa) of its original provenance, which now lies some 3 m.
inland. Similar phenomena were found in Sakhalin by Schmidt and on the
north-east coast of the main island by Rein, and there can be little
doubt that they exist at other places also. Naumann has concluded that
"formerly Tokyo Bay stretched further over the whole level country of
Shimosa and Hitachi and northwards as far as the plain of Kwanto
extends;" that "the mountain country of Kasusa-Awa emerged from it an
island, and that a current ran in a north-westerly direction between
this island and the northern mountain margin of the present plain
toward the north-east into the open ocean."

_Mineral Springs._--The presence of so many active volcanoes is
partially compensated by a wealth of mineral springs. Since many of
these thermal springs possess great medicinal value, Japan may become
one of the world's favourite health-resorts. There are more than a
hundred spas, some hot, some cold, which, being easily accessible and
highly efficacious, are largely visited by the Japanese. The most
noteworthy are as follows:--

Name of Spa. Prefecture. Quality. Temp., F°.

Arima Hiogo Salt 100
Asama Nagano Pure 111--127
Asamushi Aomori Salt 134--168
Atami Shizuoka " 131--226
Beppu Oita Carbonic Acid 109--132
Bessho Nagano Pure or Sulphurous 108--113
Dogo Ehime Pure 70--110
Hakone Kanagawa Pure, Salt or Sulphurous 98--168
Higashi-yama Fukushima Pure or Salt 117--144
Ikao Gumma Salt 111--127
Isobe " " Cold
Kusatsu " Sulphurous 127--148
Nasu Tochigi Sulphurous 162--172
Noboribetsu Ishikari " 125
Shibu Nagano Salt 98--115
Chiuzenji Shizuoka Carbonate of Soda and
Sulphur 114--185
Takarazuka Hiogo Carbonic Acid Cold
Ureshino Saga " 230
Unzen Nagasaki Sulphurous 158--204
Wagura Ishikawa Salt 180
Yamashiro " " 165
Yunoshima Hiogo " 104--134

_Climate._--The large extension of the Japanese islands in a northerly
and southerly direction causes great varieties of climate. General
characteristics are hot and humid though short summers, and long, cold
and clear winters. The equatorial currents produce conditions
differing from those existing at corresponding latitudes on the
neighbouring continent. In Kiushiu, Shikoku and the southern half of
the main island, the months of July and August alone are marked by
oppressive heat at the sea-level, while in elevated districts a cool
and even bracing temperature may always be found, though the direct
rays of the sun retain distressing power. Winter in these districts
does not last more than two months, from the end of December to the
beginning of March; for although the latter month is not free from
frost and even snow, the balminess of spring makes itself plainly
perceptible. In the northern half of the main island, in Yezo and in
the Kuriles, the cold is severe during the winter, which lasts for at
least four months, and snow falls sometimes to great depths. Whereas
in Tokyo the number of frosty nights during a year does not average
much over 60, the corresponding number in Sapporo on the north-west of
Yezo is 145. But the variation of the thermometer in winter and summer
being considerable--as much as 72° F. in Tokyo--the climate proves
somewhat trying to persons of weak constitution. On the other hand,
the mean daily variation is in general less than that in other
countries having the same latitude: it is greatest in January, when it
reaches 18° F., and least in July, when it barely exceeds 9° F. The
monthly variation is very great in March, when it usually reaches 43°
F.

Meteorology.

During the first 40 years of the _Meiji_ era numerous meteorological
stations were established. Reports are constantly forwarded by
telegraph to the central observatory in Tokyo, which issues daily
statements of the climatic conditions during the previous twenty-four
hours, as well as forecasts for the next twenty-four. The whole
country is divided into districts for meteorological purposes, and
storm-warnings are issued when necessary. At the most important
stations observations are taken every hour; at the less important, six
observations daily; and at the least important, three observations.
From the record of three decades the following yearly averages of
temperature are obtained:--

F°.

Taihoku (in Formosa) 71
Nagasaki (Kiushiu) 60
Kobe (Main Island) 59
Osaka (Main Island) 59
Okayama (Main Island) 58
Nagoya (Main Island) 58
Sakai (Main Island) 58
Tokyo (Capital) 57
Kioto (Main Island) 57
Niigata (Main Island) 55
Ishinomaki (Main Island) 52
Aomori (Main Island) 50
Sapporo (Yezo) 44

The following table affords data for comparing the climates of Peking,
Shanghai, Hakodate, Tokyo and San Francisco:--

Mean
Longitude. Latitude. Temp., F°.

Peking 116° 29´ E. 39° 57´ N. 53
Shanghai 121° 20´ E. 31° 12´ N. 59
Hakodate 140° 45´ E. 41° 46´ N. 47
Tokyo 138° 47´ E. 35° 41´ N. 57
San Francisco 122° 25´ E. 37° 48´ N. 56

Mean Temp. of
Hottest Month. Hottest Month.

Peking July 80
Shanghai " 84
Hakodate August 71
Tokyo " 79
San Francisco September 63

Mean Temp. of
Coldest Month. Coldest Month.

Peking January 22
Shanghai " 26
Hakodate " 28
Tokyo " 36
San Francisco " 49

Rainfall.

There are three wet seasons in Japan: the first, from the middle of
April to the beginning of May; the second, from the middle of June to
the beginning of July; and the third, from early in September to early
in October. The dog days (_doyo_) are from the middle of July till the
second half of August. September is the wettest month; January the
driest. During the four months from November to February inclusive
only about 18% of the whole rain for the year falls. In the district
on the east of the main island the snowfall is insignificant, seldom
attaining a depth of more than four or five inches and generally
melting in a few days, while bright, sunny skies are usual. But in the
mountainous provinces of the interior and in those along the western
coast, deep snow covers the ground throughout the whole winter, and
the sky is usually wrapped in a veil of clouds. These differences are
due to the action of the north-westerly wind that blows over Japan
from Siberia. The intervening sea being comparatively warm, this wind
arrives at Japan having its temperature increased and carrying
moisture which it deposits as snow on the western faces of the
Japanese mountains. Crossing the mountains and descending their
eastern slopes, the wind becomes less saturated and warmer, so that
the formation of clouds ceases. Japan is emphatically a wet country so
far as quantity of rainfall is concerned, the average for the whole
country being 1570 mm. per annum. Still there are about four sunny
days for every three on which rain or snow falls, the actual figures
being 150 days of snow or rain and 215 days of sunshine.

Wind.

During the cold season, which begins in October and ends in April,
northerly and westerly winds prevail throughout Japan. They come from
the adjacent continent of Asia, and they develop considerable strength
owing to the fact that there is an average difference of some 22 mm.
between the atmospheric pressure (750 mm.) in the Pacific and that
(772 mm.) in the Japanese islands. But during the warm season, from
May to September, these conditions of atmospheric pressure are
reversed, that in the Pacific rising to 767 mm. and that in Japan
falling to 750 mm. Hence throughout this season the prevailing winds
are light breezes from the west and south. A comparison of the force
habitually developed by the wind in various parts of the islands shows
that at Suttsu in Yezo the average strength is 9 metres per second,
while Izuhara in the island Tsushima, Kumamoto in Kiushiu and Gifu in
the east centre of the main island stand at the bottom of the list
with an average wind velocity of only 2 metres. A calamitous
atmospheric feature is the periodical arrival of storms called
"typhoons" (Japanese _tai-fu_ or "great wind"). These have their
origin, for the most part, in the China Sea, especially in the
vicinity of Luzon. Their season is from June to October, but they
occur in other months also, and they develop a velocity of 5 to 75 m.
an hour. The meteorological record for ten years ended 1905 shows a
total of 120 typhoons, being an average of 12 annually. September had
14 of these phenomena, March 11 and April 10, leaving 85 for the
remaining 9 months. But only 65 out of the whole number developed
disastrous force. It is particularly unfortunate that September should
be the season of greatest typhoon frequency, for the earlier varieties
of rice flower in that month and a heavy storm does much damage. Thus,
in 1902--by no means an abnormal year--statistics show the following
disasters owing to typhoons: casualties to human life, 3639; ships and
boats lost, 3244; buildings destroyed wholly or partially, 695,062;
land inundated, 1,071,575 acres; roads destroyed, 1236 m.; bridges
washed away, 13,685; embankments broken, 705 m.; crops damaged,
8,712,655 bushels. The total loss, including cost of repairs, was
estimated at nearly 3 millions sterling, which may be regarded as an
annual average.

_Flora._--The flora of Japan has been carefully studied by many
scientific men from Siebold downwards. Foreigners visiting Japan are
immediately struck by the affection of the people for flowers, trees
and natural beauties of every kind. In actual wealth of blossom or
dimensions of forest trees the Japanese islands cannot claim any
special distinction. The spectacles most admired by all classes are
the tints of the foliage in autumn and the glory of flowering trees in
the spring. In beauty and variety of pattern and colour the autumnal
tints are unsurpassed. The colours pass from deep brown through purple
to yellow and white, thrown into relief by the dark green of
non-deciduous shrubs and trees. Oaks and wild prunus, wild vines and
sumachs, various kinds of maple, the dodan (_Enkianthus Japonicus_
Hook.)--a wonderful bush which in autumn develops a hue of ruddy
red--birches and other trees, all add multitudinous colours to the
brilliancy of a spectacle which is further enriched by masses of
feathery bamboo. The one defect is lack of green sward. The grass used
for Japanese lawns loses its verdure in autumn and remains from
November to March a greyish-brown blot upon the scene. Spring is
supposed to begin in February when, according to the old calendar, the
new year sets in, but the only flowers then in bloom are the _camellia
japonica_ and some kinds of daphne. The former--called by the Japanese
_tsubaki_--may often be seen glowing fiery red amid snow, but the pink
(_otome tsubaki_), white (_shiro-tsubaki_) and variegated
(_shibori-no-tsubaki_) kinds do not bloom until March or April.
Neither the camellia nor the daphne is regarded as a refined flower:
their manner of shedding their blossoms is too unsightly. Queen of
spring flowers is the plum (_ume_). The tree lends itself with
peculiar readiness to the skilful manipulation of the gardener, and
is by him trained into shapes of remarkable grace. Its pure white or
rose-red blossoms, heralding the first approach of genial weather, are
regarded with special favour and are accounted the symbol of
unassuming hardihood. The cherry (_sakura_) is even more esteemed. It
will not suffer any training, nor does it, like the plum, improve by
pruning, but the sunshine that attends its brief period of bloom in
April, the magnificence of its flower-laden boughs and the picturesque
flutter of its falling petals, inspired an ancient poet to liken it to
the "soul of Yamato" (Japan), and it has ever since been thus
regarded. The wild peach (_momo_) blooms at the same time, but
attracts little attention. All these trees--the plum, the cherry and
the peach--bear no fruit worthy of the name, nor do they excel their
Occidental representatives in wealth of blossom, but the admiring
affection they inspire in Japan is unique. Scarcely has the cherry
season passed when that of the wistaria (_fuji_) comes, followed by
the azalea (_tsutsuji_) and the iris (_shobu_), the last being almost
contemporaneous with the peony (_botan_), which is regarded by many
Japanese as the king of flowers and is cultivated assiduously. A
species of weeping maple (_shidare-momiji_) dresses itself in
peachy-red foliage and is trained into many picturesque shapes, though
not without detriment to its longevity. Summer sees the lotus
(_renge_) convert wide expanses of lake and river into sheets of white
and red blossoms; a comparatively flowerless interval ensues until, in
October and November, the chrysanthemum arrives to furnish an excuse
for fashionable gatherings. With the exception of the dog-days and the
dead of winter, there is no season when flowers cease to be an object
of attention to the Japanese, nor does any class fail to participate
in the sentiment. There is similar enthusiasm in the matter of
gardens. From the 10th century onwards the art of landscape gardening
steadily grew into a science, with esoteric as well as exoteric
aspects, and with a special vocabulary. The underlying principle is to
reproduce nature's scenic beauties, all the features being drawn to
scale, so that however restricted the space, there shall be no
violation of proportion. Thus the artificial lakes and hills, the
stones forming rockeries or simulating solitary crags, the trees and
even the bushes are all selected or manipulated so as to fall
congruously into the general scheme. If, on the one hand, huge stones
are transported hundreds of miles from seashore or river-bed where, in
the lapse of long centuries, waves and cataracts have hammered them
into strange shapes, and if the harmonizing of their various colours
and the adjustment of their forms to environment are studied with
profound subtlety, so the training and tending of the trees and shrubs
that keep them company require much taste and much toil. Thus the red
pine (_aka-matsu_ or _pinus densiflora_), which is the favourite
garden tree, has to be subjected twice a year to a process of
spray-dressing which involves the careful removal of every weak or
aged needle. One tree occupies the whole time of a gardener for about
ten days. The details are endless, the results delightful. But it has
to be clearly understood that there is here no mention of a
flower-garden in the Occidental sense of the term. Flowers are
cultivated, but for their own sakes, not as a feature of the landscape
garden. If they are present, it is only as an incident. This of course
does not apply to shrubs which blossom at their seasons and fall
always into the general scheme of the landscape. Forests of
cherry-trees, plum-trees, magnolia trees, or _hiyaku-jikko_
(_Lagerstroemia indica_), banks of azalea, clumps of hydrangea, groups
of camellia--such have their permanent places and their foliage adds
notes of colour when their flowers have fallen. But chrysanthemums,
peonies, roses and so forth, are treated as special shows, and are
removed or hidden when out of bloom. There is another remarkable
feature of the Japanese gardener's art. He dwarfs trees so that they
remain measurable only by inches after their age has reached scores,
even hundreds, of years, and the proportions of leaf, branch and stem
are preserved with fidelity. The pots in which these wonders of
patient skill are grown have to be themselves fine specimens of the
ceramist's craft, and as much as £200 is sometimes paid for a notably
well trained tree.

There exists among many foreign observers an impression that Japan is
comparatively poor in wild-flowers; an impression probably due to the
fact that there are no flowery meadows or lanes. Besides, the flowers
are curiously wanting in fragrance. Almost the only notable exceptions
are the _mokusei_ (_Osmanthus fragrans_), the daphne and the magnolia.
Missing the perfume-laden air of the Occident, a visitor is prone to
infer paucity of blossoms. But if some familiar European flowers are
absent, they are replaced by others strange to Western eyes--a wealth
of _lespedeza_ and _Indigo-fera_; a vast variety of lilies; graceful
grasses like the eulalia and the _ominameshi_ (_Patrina
scabiosaefolia_); the richly-hued _Pyrus japonica_; azaleas,
diervillas and deutzias; the _kikyo_ (_Platycodon grandiflorum_), the
_giboshi_ (_Funkia ovata_), and many another. The same is true of
Japanese forests. It has been well said that "to enumerate the
constituents and inhabitants of the Japanese mountain-forests would be
to name at least half the entire flora."

According to Franchet and Savatier Japan possesses:--

Families. Genera. Species.

Dicotyledonous plants 121 795 1934
Monocotyledonous plants 28 202 613
Higher Cryptogamous plants 5 38 196
--- ---- ----
Vascular plants 154 1035 2743

The investigations of Japanese botanists are adding constantly to the
above number, and it is not likely that finality will be reached for
some time. According to a comparison made by A. Gray with regard to
the numbers of genera and species respectively represented in the
forest trees of four regions of the northern hemisphere, the following
is the case:--

Atlantic Forest-region of N. America 66 genera and 155 species.
Pacific Forest-region of N. America 31 genera and 78 species.
Japan and Manchuria Forest-region 66 genera and 168 species.
Forests of Europe 33 genera and 85 species.

While there can be no doubt that the luxuriance of Japan's flora is
due to rich soil, to high temperature and to rainfall not only
plentiful but well distributed over the whole year, the wealth and
variety of her trees and shrubs must be largely the result of
immigration. Japan has four insular chains which link her to the
neighbouring continent. On the south, the Riukiu Islands bring her
within reach of Formosa and the Malayan archipelago; on the west, Oki,
Iki, and Tsushima bridge the sea between her and Korea; on the
north-west Sakhalin connects her with the Amur region; and on the
north, the Kuriles form an almost continuous route to Kamchatka. By
these paths the germs of Asiatic plants were carried over to join the
endemic flora of the country, and all found suitable homes amid
greatly varying conditions of climate and physiography.

_Fauna._--Japan is an exception to the general rule that continents
are richer in fauna than are their neighbouring islands. It has been
said with truth that "an industrious collector of beetles,
butterflies, neuroptera, &c., finds a greater number of species in a
circuit of some miles near Tokyo than are exhibited by the whole
British Isles."

Of mammals 50 species have been identified and catalogued. Neither the
lion nor the tiger is found. The true Carnivora are three only, the
bear, the dog and the marten. Three species of bears are
scientifically recognized, but one of them, the ice-bear (_Ursus
maritimus_), is only an accidental visitor, carried down by the Arctic
current. In the main island the black bear (_kuma_, _Ursus japonicus_)
alone has its habitation, but the island of Yezo has the great brown
bear (called _shi-guma_, _oki-kuma_ or _aka-kuma_), the "grisly" of
North America. The bear does not attract much popular interest in
Japan. Tradition centres rather upon the fox (_kitsune_) and the
badger (_mujina_), which are credited with supernatural powers, the
former being worshipped as the messenger of the harvest god, while the
latter is regarded as a mischievous rollicker. Next to these comes the
monkey (_saru_), which dwells equally among the snows of the north and
in the mountainous regions of the south. _Saru_ enters into the
composition of many place-names, an evidence of the people's
familiarity with the animal. There are ten species of bat (_komori_)
and seven of insect-eaters, and prominent in this class are the mole
(_mugura_) and the hedgehog (_hari-nezumi_). Among the martens there
is a weasel (_itachi_), which, though useful as a rat-killer, has the
evil repute of being responsible for sudden and mysterious injuries to
human beings; there is a river-otter (_kawauso_), and there is a
sea-otter (_rakko_) which inhabits the northern seas and is highly
valued for its beautiful pelt. The rodents are represented by an
abundance of rats, with comparatively few mice, and by the ordinary
squirrel, to which the people give the name of tree-rat (_ki-nezumi_),
as well as the flying squirrel, known as the _momo-dori_ (peach-bird)
in the north, where it hides from the light in hollow tree-trunks, and
in the south as the _ban-tori_ (or bird of evening). There are no
rabbits, but hares (_usagi_) are to be found in very varying numbers,
and those of one species put on a white coat during winter. The wild
boar (_shishi_ or _ii-no-shishi_) does not differ appreciably from its
European congener. Its flesh is much relished, and for some
unexplained reason is called by its vendors "mountain-whale"
(_yama-kujira_). A very beautiful stag (_shika_), with eight-branched
antlers, inhabits the remote woodlands, and there are five species of
antelope (_kamo-shika_) which are found in the highest and least
accessible parts of the mountains. Domestic animals have for
representatives the horse (_uma_), a small beast with little beauty of
form though possessing much hardihood and endurance; the ox (_ushi_)
mainly a beast of burden or draught; the pig (_buta_), very
occasionally; the dog (_inu_), an unsightly and useless brute; the cat
(_neko_), with a stump in lieu of a tail; barndoor fowl (_niwa-tori_),
ducks (_ahiro_) and pigeons (_hato_). The turkey (_shichi-mencho_) and
the goose (_gacho_) have been introduced but are little appreciated as
yet.

Although so-called singing birds exist in tolerable numbers, those
worthy of the name of songster are few. Eminently first is a species
of nightingale (_uguisu_), which, though smaller than its congener of
the West, is gifted with exquisitely modulated flute-like notes of
considerable range. The _uguisu_ is a dainty bird in the matter of
temperature. After May it retires from the low-lying regions and
gradually ascends to higher altitudes as midsummer approaches. A
variety of the cuckoo called _holotogisu_ (_Cuculus poliocephalus_) in
imitation of the sound of its voice, is heard as an accompaniment of
the _uguisu_, and there are also three other species, the _kakkodori_
(_Cuculus canorus_), the _tsutsu-dori_ (_C. himalayanus_), and the
_masuhakari_, or _juichi_ (_C. hyperythrus_). To these the lark,
_hibari_ (_Alauda japonica_), joins its voice, and the cooing of the
pigeon (_hato_) is supplemented by the twittering of the ubiquitous
sparrow (_suzume_), while over all are heard the raucous caw of the
raven (_karasu_) and the harsh scream of the kite (_tombi_), between
which and the raven there is perpetual feud. The falcon (_taka_),
always an honoured bird in Japan, where from time immemorial hawking
has been an aristocratic pastime, is common enough, and so is the
sparrow-hawk (_hai-taka_), but the eagle (_washi_) affects solitude.
Two English ornithologists, Blakiston and Pryer, are the recognized
authorities on the birds of Japan, and in a contribution to the
_Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan_ (vol. x.) they have
enumerated 359 species. Starlings (_muku-dori_) are numerous, and so
are the wagtail (_sekirei_), the swallow (_tsubame_) the martin
(_ten_), the woodchat (_mozu_) and the jay (_kakesu_ or _kashi-dori_),
but the magpie (_togarasu_), though common in China, is rare in Japan.
Blackbirds and thrushes are not found, nor any species of parrot, but
on the other hand, we have the hoopoe (_yatsugashira_), the red-breast
(_komadori_), the bluebird (_ruri_), the wren (_miso-sazai_), the
golden-crested wren (_itadaki_), the golden-eagle (_inu-washi_), the
finch (_hiwa_), the longtailed rose-finch (_benimashiko_), the
ouzel--brown (_akahara_), dusky (_tsugumi_) and water
(_kawa-garasu_)--the kingfisher (_kawasemi_), the crake (_kuina_) and
the tomtit (_kara_). Among game-birds there are the quail (_uzura_),
the heathcock (_ezo-racho_), the ptarmigan (_ezo-raicho_ or
_ezo-yama-dori_), the woodcock (hodo-shigi), the snipe
(_ta-shigi_)--with two special species, the solitary snipe
(_yama-shigi_) and the painted snipe (_tama-shigi_)--and the pheasant
(_kiji_). Of the last there are two species, the _kiji_ proper, a bird
presenting no remarkable features, and the copper pheasant, a
magnificent bird with plumage of dazzling beauty. Conspicuous above
all others, not only for grace of form but also for the immemorial
attention paid to them by Japanese artists, are the crane (_tsuru_)
and the heron (_sagi_). Of the crane there are seven species, the
stateliest and most beautiful being the _Grus japonensis_ (_tancho_ or
_tancho-zuru_), which stands some 5 ft. high and has pure white
plumage with a red crown, black tail-feathers and black upper neck. It
is a sacred bird, and it shares with the tortoise the honour of being
an emblem of longevity. The other species are the demoiselle crane
(_anewa-zuru_), the black crane (_kuro-zuru_ or _nezumi-zuru_, i.e.
_Grus cinerea_), the _Grus leucauchen_ (_mana-zuru_), the _Grus
monachus_ (_nabe-zuru_), and the white crane (_shiro-zuru_). The
Japanese include in this category the stork (_kozuru_), but it may be
said to have disappeared from the island. The heron (_sagi_)
constitutes a charming feature in a Japanese landscape, especially the
silver heron (_shira-sagi_), which displays its brilliant white
plumage in the rice-fields from spring to early autumn. The
night-heron (_goi-sagi_) is very common. Besides these waders there
are plover (_chidori_); golden (_muna-guro_ or _ai-guro_); gray
(_daizen_); ringed (_shiro-chidori_); spur-winged (_keri_) and
Harting's sand-plover (_ikaru-chidori_); sand-pipers--green
(_ashiro-shigi_) and spoon-billed (_hera-shigi_)--and water-hens
(_ban_). Among swimming birds the most numerous are the gull
(_kamome_), of which many varieties are found; the cormorant
(_u_)--which is trained by the Japanese for fishing purposes--and
multitudinous flocks of wild-geese (_gan_) and wild-ducks (_kamo_),
from the beautiful mandarin-duck (_oshi-dori_), emblem of conjugal
fidelity, to teal (_kogamo_) and widgeon (_hidori-gamo_) of several
species. Great preserves of wild-duck and teal used to be a frequent
feature in the parks attached to the feudal castles of old Japan, when
a peculiar method of netting the birds or striking them with falcons
was a favourite aristocratic pastime. A few of such preserves still
exist, and it is noticeable that in the Palace-moats of Tokyo all
kinds of water-birds, attracted by the absolute immunity they enjoy
there, assemble in countless numbers at the approach of winter and
remain until the following spring, wholly indifferent to the close
proximity of the city.

Of reptiles Japan has only 30 species, and among them is included the
marine turtle (_umi-game_) which can scarcely be said to frequent her
waters, since it is seen only at rare intervals on the southern coast.
This is even truer of the larger species (the _shogakubo_, i.e.
_Chelonia cephalo_). Both are highly valued for the sake of the shell,
which has always been a favourite material for ladies' combs and
hairpins. By carefully selecting certain portions and welding them
together in a perfectly flawless mass, a pure amber-coloured object is
obtained at heavy cost. Of the fresh-water tortoise there are two
kinds, the _suppon_ (_Trionyx japonica_) and the _kame-no-ko_ (_Emys
vulgaris japonica_). The latter is one of the Japanese emblems of
longevity. It is often depicted with a flowing tail, which appendix
attests close observation of nature; for the _mino-game_, as it is
called, represents a tortoise to which, in the course of many scores
of years, confervae have attached themselves so as to form an
appendage of long green locks as the creature swims about. Sea-snakes
occasionally make their way to Japan, being carried thither by the
Black Current (Kuro Shiwo) and the monsoon, but they must be regarded
as merely fortuitous visitors. There are 10 species of land-snakes
(_hebi_), among which one only (the _mamushi_, or _Trigonocephalus
Blomhoffi_) is venomous. The others for the most part frequent the
rice-fields and live upon frogs. The largest is the _aodaisho_
(_Elaphis virgatus_), which sometimes attains a length of 5 ft., but
is quite harmless. Lizards (_tokage_), frogs (_kawazu_ or _kaeru_),
toads (_ebogayeru_) and newts (_imori_) are plentiful, and much
curiosity attaches to a giant salamander (_sansho-uwo_, called also
_hazekai_ and other names according to localities), which reaches to a
length of 5 ft., and (according to Rein) is closely related to the
_Andrias Scheuchzeri_ of the Oeningen strata.

The seas surrounding the Japanese islands may be called a resort of
fishes, for, in addition to numerous species which abide there
permanently, there are migatory kinds, coming and going with the
monsoons and with the great ocean streams that set to and from the
shores. In winter, for example, when the northern monsoon begins to
blow, numbers of denizens of the Sea of Okhotsk swim southward to the
more genial waters of north Japan; and in summer the Indian Ocean and
the Malayan archipelago send to her southern coasts a crowd of
emigrants which turn homeward again at the approach of winter. It thus
falls out that in spite of the enormous quantity of fish consumed as
food or used as fertilizers year after year by the Japanese, the seas
remain as richly stocked as ever. Nine orders of fishes have been
distinguished as the piscifauna of Japanese waters. They may be found
carefully catalogued with all their included species in Rein's
_Japan_, and highly interesting researches by Japanese physiographists
are recorded in the Journal of the College of Science of the Imperial
University of Tokyo. Briefly, the chief fish of Japan are the bream
(_tai_), the perch (_suzuki_), the mullet (_bora_), the rock-fish
(_hatatate_), the grunter (_oni-o-koze_), the mackerel (_saba_), the
sword-fish (_tachi-uwo_), the wrasse (_kusabi_), the haddock (_tara_),
the flounder (_karei_), and its congeners the sole (_hirame_) and the
turbot (_ishi-garei_), the shad (_namazu_), the salmon (_shake_), the
_masu_, the carp (_koi_), the _funa_, the gold fish (_kingyo_), the
gold carp (_higoi_), the loach (_dojo_), the herring (_nishin_), the
_iwashi_(_Clupea melanosticta_), the eel (_unagi_), the conger eel
(_anago_), the coffer-fish (_hako-uwo_), the _fugu_ (_Tetrodon_), the
_ai_ (_Plecoglossus altivelis_), the sayori (_Hemiramphus sayori_),
the shark (same), the dogfish (_manuka-zame_), the ray (_e_), the
sturgeon (_cho-zame_) and the _maguro_ (_Thynnus sibi_).

The insect life of Japan broadly corresponds with that of temperate
regions in Europe. But there are also a number of tropical species,
notably among butterflies and beetles. The latter--for which the
generic term in Japan is _mushi_ or _kaichu_--include some beautiful
species, from the "jewel beetle" (_tama-mushi_), the "gold beetle"
(_kogane-mushi_) and the _Chrysochroa fulgidissima_, which glow and
sparkle with the brilliancy of gold and precious stones, to the jet
black _Melanauster chinensis_, which seems to have been fashioned out
of lacquer spotted with white. There is also a giant nasicornous
beetle. Among butterflies (_chocho_) Rein gives prominence to the
broad-winged kind (_Papilio_), which recall tropical brilliancy. One
(_Papilio macilentus_) is peculiar to Japan. Many others seem to be
practically identical with European species. That is especially true
of the moths (_yacho_), 100 species of which have been identified with
English types. There are seven large silk-moths, of which two only
(_Bombyx mori_ and _Antheraea yama-mai_) are employed in producing
silk. Fishing lines are manufactured from the cocoons of the
_genjiki-mushi_ (_Caligula japonica_), which is one of the commonest
moths in the islands. Wasps, bees and hornets, generically known as
_hachi_, differ little from their European types, except that they are
somewhat larger and more sluggish. The gad-fly (_abu_), the housefly
(_hai_), the mosquito (_ka_), the flea (_nomi_) and occasionally the
bedbug (called by the Japanese _kara-mushi_ because it is believed to
be imported from China), are all fully represented, and the dragon-fly
(_tombo_) presents itself in immense numbers at certain seasons.
Grasshoppers (_batta_) are abundant, and one kind (_inago_), which
frequent the rice-fields when the cereal is ripening, are caught and
fried in oil as an article of food. On the moors in late summer the
mantis (_kama-kiri-mushi_) is commonly met with, and the cricket
(_kurogi_) and the cockroach abound. Particularly obtrusive is the
cicada (_semi_), of which there are many species. Its strident voice
is heard most loudly at times of great heat, when the song of the
birds is hushed. The dragon-fly and the cicada afford ceaseless
entertainment to the Japanese boy. He catches them by means of a rod
smeared with bird-lime, and then tying a fine string under their
wings, he flies them at its end. Spiders abound, from a giant species
to one of the minutest dimensions, and the tree-bug is always ready to
make a destructive lodgment in any sickly tree-stem. The scorpion
(_sasori_) exists but is not poisonous.

Japanese rivers and lakes are the habitation of several--seven or
eight--species of fresh-water crab (_kani_), which live in holes on
the shore and emerge in the daytime, often moving to considerable
distances from their homes. Shrimps (_kawa-ebi_) also are found in the
rivers and rice-fields. These shrimps as well as a large species of
crab--_mokuzo-gani_--serve the people as an article of food, but the
small crabs which live in holes have no recognized _raison d'être_. In
Japan, as elsewhere, the principal crustacea are found in the sea.
Flocks of _lupa_ and other species swim in the wake of the tropical
fishes which move towards Japan at certain seasons. Naturally these
migratory crabs are not limited to Japanese waters. Milne Edwards has
identified ten species which occur in Australian seas also, and Rein
mentions, as belonging to the same category, the "helmet-crab" or
"horse-shoe crab" (_kabuto-gani_; _Limulus longispina_ Hoeven). Very
remarkable is the giant _Taka-ashi_--long legs (_Macrocheirus
Kaempferi_), which has legs 1½ metres long and is found in the seas of
Japan and the Malay archipelago. There is no lobster on the coasts of
Japan, but there are various species of crayfish (_Palinurus_ and
_Scyllarus_) the principal of which, under the names of ise-ebi
(_Palinurus japonicus_) and _kuruma-ebi_ (_Penaeus canaliculatus_) are
greatly prized as an article of diet.

Already in 1882, Dunker in his _Index Molluscorum Maris Japonici_
enumerated nearly 1200 species of marine molluscs found in the
Japanese archipelago, and several others have since then been added
to the list. As for the land and fresh-water molluscs, some 200 of
which are known, they are mainly kindred with those of China and
Siberia, tropical and Indian forms being exceptional. There are 57
species of _Helix_ (_maimaitsuburi_, _dedemushi_, _katatsumuri_ or
_kwagyu_) and 25 of Clausilia (_kiseru-gai_ or pipe-snail), including
the two largest snails in Japan, namely the _Cl. Martensi_ and the
_Cl. Yoko-hamensis_, which attain to a length of 58 mm. and 44 mm.
respectively. The mussel (_i-no-kai_) is well represented by the
species _numa-gai_ (marsh-mussel), _karasu-gai_ (raven-mussel),
_kamisori-gai_ (razor-mussel), _shijimi-no-kai_ (_Corbicula_), of
which there are nine species, &c. Unlike the land-molluscs, the great
majority of Japanese sea-molluscs are akin to those of the Indian
Ocean and the Malay archipelago. Some of them extend westward as far
as the Red Sea. The best known and most frequent forms are the _asari_
(_Tapes philippinarum_), the _hamaguri_ (_Meretrix lusoria_), the
_baka_ (_Mactra sulcataria_), the _aka-gai_ (_Scapharca inflata_), the
_kaki_ (oyster), the _awabi_ (_Haliotis japonica_), the _sazae_
(_Turbo cornutus_), the _hora-gai_ (_Tritonium tritonius_), &c. Among
the cephalopods several are of great value as articles of food, e.g.
the _surume_ (_Onychotheuthis Banksii_), the _tako_ (octopus), the
_shidako_ (Eledone), the _ika_ (Sepia) and the _tako-fune_
(Argonauta).

Greeff enumerates, as denizens of Japanese seas, 26 kinds of
sea-urchins (_gaze_ or _uni_) and 12 of starfish (_hitode_ or
_tako-no-makura_). These, like the mollusca, indicate the influence of
the Kuro Shiwo and the south-west monsoon, for they have close
affinity with species found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. For
edible purposes the most valuable of the Japanese echinoderms is the
sea-slug or _bêche de mer_ (_namako_), which is greatly appreciated
and forms an important staple of export to China. Rein writes: "Very
remarkable in connexion with the starfishes is the occurrence of
_Asterias rubens_ on the Japanese coast. This creature displays an
almost unexampled frequency and extent of distribution in the whole
North Sea, in the western parts of the Baltic, near the Faroe Islands,
Iceland, Greenland and the English coasts, so that it may be regarded
as a characteristic North Sea echinoderm form. Towards the south this
starfish disappears, it seems, completely; for it is not yet known
with certainty to exist either in the Mediterranean or in the southern
parts of the Atlantic Ocean. In others also _Asterias rubens_ is not
known--and then it suddenly reappears in Japan. _Archaster typicus_
has a pretty wide distribution over the Indian Ocean; other
_Asteridae_ of Japan, on the other hand, appear to be confined to its
shores."

Japan is not rich in corals and sponges. Her most interesting
contributions are crust-corals (_Gorgonidae_, _Corallium_, _Isis_,
&c.), and especially flint-sponges, called by the Japanese _hoshi-gai_
and known as "glass-coral" (_Hyalonema sieboldi_). These last have not
been found anywhere except at the entrance of the Bay of Tokyo at a
depth of some 200 fathoms.

II.--THE PEOPLE

_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:--

URBAN POPULATIONS

1898. 1903.

Tokyo 1,440,121 1,795,128
Osaka 821,235 988,200
Kioto 353,139 379,404
Nagoya 244,145 284,829
Kobe 215,780 283,839
Yokohama 193,762 324,776
Hiroshima 122,306 113,545
Nagasaki 107,422 151,727
Kanazawa 83,595 97,548
Sendai 83,325 93,773
Hakodate 78,040 84,746
Fukuoka 66,190 70,107
Wakayama 63,667 67,908
Tokushima 61,501 62,998
Kumamoto 61,463 55,277
Toyama 59,558 86,276
Okayama 58,025 80,140
Otaru 56,961 79,746
Kagoshima 53,481 58,384
Niigata 53,366 58,821
Sakai 50,203 --
Sapporo -- 55,304
Kure -- 62,825
Sasebo -- 52,607

The growth of Kure and Sasebo is attributable to the fact that they
have become the sites of large ship-building yards, the property of
the state.

The number of houses in Japan at the end of 1903, when the census was
last taken, was 8,725,544, the average number of inmates in each house
being thus 5.5.

_Physical Characteristics._--The best authorities are agreed that the Japanese people do not differ physically from their Korean and Chinese neighbours as much as the inhabitants of northern Europe differ from those of southern Europe. It is true that the Japanese are shorter in stature than either the Chinese or the Koreans. Thus the average height of the Japanese male is only 5 ft. 3½ in., and that of the female 4 ft. 10½ in., whereas in the case of the Koreans and the northern Chinese the corresponding figures for males are 5 ft. 5¾ in. and 5 ft. 7 in. respectively. Yet in other physical characteristics the Japanese, the Koreans and the Chinese resemble each other so closely that, under similar conditions as to costume and coiffure, no appreciable difference is apparent. Thus since it has become the fashion for Chinese students to flock to the schools and colleges of Japan, there adopting, as do their Japanese fellow-students, Occidental garments and methods of hairdressing, the distinction of nationality ceases to be perceptible. The most exhaustive anthropological study of the Japanese has been made by Dr E. Baelz (emeritus professor of medicine in the Imperial University of Tokyo), who enumerates the following sub-divisions of the race inhabiting the Japanese islands. The first and most important is the Manchu-Korean type; that is to say, the type which prevails in north China and in Korea. This is seen specially among the upper classes in Japan. Its characteristics are exceptional tallness combined with slenderness and elegance of figure; a face somewhat long, without any special prominence of the cheekbones but having more or less oblique eyes; an aquiline nose; a slightly receding chin; largish upper teeth; a long neck; a narrow chest; a long trunk, and delicately shaped, small hands with long, slender fingers. The most plausible hypothesis is that men of this type are descendants of Korean colonists who, in prehistoric times, settled in the province of Izumo, on the west coast of Japan, having made their way thither from the Korean peninsula by the island of Oki, being carried by the cold current which flows along the eastern coast of Korea. The second type is the Mongol. It is not very frequently found in Japan, perhaps because, under favourable social conditions, it tends to pass into the Manchu-Korean type. Its representative has a broad face, with prominent cheekbones, oblique eyes, a nose more or less flat and a wide mouth. The figure is strongly and squarely built, but this last characteristic can scarcely be called typical. There is no satisfactory theory as to the route by which the Mongols reached Japan, but it is scarcely possible to doubt that they found their way thither at one time. More important than either of these types as an element of the Japanese nation is the Malay. Small in stature, with a well-knit frame, the cheekbones prominent, the face generally round, the nose and neck short, a marked tendency to prognathism, the chest broad and well developed, the trunk long, the hands small and delicate--this Malay type is found in nearly all the islands along the east coast of the Asiatic continent as well as in southern China and in the extreme south-west of Korean peninsula. Carried northward by the warm current known as the Kuro Shiwo, the Malays seem to have landed in Kiushiu--the most southerly of the main Japanese islands--whence they ultimately pushed northward and conquered their Manchu-Korean predecessors, the Izumo colonists. None of the above three, however, can be regarded as the earliest settlers in Japan. Before them all was a tribe of immigrants who appear to have crossed from north-eastern Asia at an epoch when the sea had not yet dug broad channels between the continent and the adjacent islands. These people--the Ainu--are usually spoken of as the aborigines of Japan. They once occupied the whole country, but were gradually driven northward by the Manchu-Koreans and the Malays, until only a mere handful of them survived in the northern island of Yezo. Like the Malay and the Mongol types they are short and thickly built, but unlike either they have prominent brows, bushy locks, round deep-set eyes, long divergent lashes, straight noses and much hair on the face and the body. In short, the Ainu suggest much closer affinity with Europeans than does any other of the types that go to make up the population of Japan. It is not to be supposed, however, that these traces of different elements indicate any lack of homogeneity in the Japanese race. Amalgamation has been completely effected in the course of long centuries, and even the Ainu, though the small surviving remnant of them now live apart, have left a trace upon their conquerors.

The typical Japanese of the present day has certain marked physical peculiarities. In the first place, the ratio of the height of his head to the length of his body is greater than it is in Europeans. The Englishman's head is often one-eighth of the length of his body or even less, and in continental Europeans, as a rule, the ratio does not amount to one-seventh; but in the Japanese it exceeds the latter figure. In all nations men of short stature have relatively large heads, but in the case of the Japanese there appears to be some racial reason for the phenomenon. Another striking feature is shortness of legs relatively to length of trunk. In northern Europeans the leg is usually much more than one-half of the body's length, but in Japanese the ratio is one-half or even less; so that whereas the Japanese, when seated, looks almost as tall as a European, there may be a great difference between their statures when both are standing. This special feature has been attributed to the Japanese habit of kneeling instead of sitting, but investigation shows that it is equally marked in the working classes who pass most of their time standing. In Europe the same physical traits--relative length of head and shortness of legs--distinguish the central race (Alpine) from the Teutonic, and seem to indicate an affinity between the former and the Mongols. It is in the face, however, that we find specially distinctive traits, namely, in the eyes, the eye-lashes, the cheekbones and the beard. Not that the eyeball itself differs from that of an Occidental. The difference consists in the fact that "the socket of the eye is comparatively small and shallow, and the osseous ridges at the brows being little marked, the eye is less deeply set than in the European. In fact, seen in profile, forehead and upper lip often form an unbroken line." Then, again, the shape of the eye, as modelled by the lids, shows a striking peculiarity. For whereas the open eye is almost invariably horizontal in the European, it is often oblique in the Japanese on account of the higher level of the upper corner. "But even apart from obliqueness, the shape of the corners is peculiar in the Mongolian eye. The inner corner is partly or entirely covered by a fold of the upper lid continuing more or less into the lower lid. This fold often covers also the whole free rim of the upper lid, so that the insertion of the eye-lashes is hidden" and the opening between the lids is so narrowed as to disappear altogether at the moment of laughter. As for the eye-lashes, not only are they comparatively short and sparse, but also they converge instead of diverging, so that whereas in a European the free ends of the lashes are further distant from each other than their roots, in a Japanese they are nearer together. Prominence of cheekbones is another special feature, but it is much commoner in the lower than in the upper classes, where elongated faces may almost be said to be the rule. Finally, there is marked paucity of hair on the face of the average Japanese--apart from the Ainu--and what hair there is is nearly always straight. It is not to be supposed, however, that because the Japanese is short of stature and often finely moulded, he lacks either strength or endurance. On the contrary, he possesses both in a marked degree, and his deftness of finger is not less remarkable than the suppleness and activity of his body.