Page:A handbook of modern Japan (IA handbookofmodern01clem).pdf/31

 fact is expressed statistically, in cold figures, that the area of the Empire of Japan is about 175,000 square miles, or only a little more than that of California. It has, however, a comparatively long coast line of more than 18,000 miles. The name Nihon, or Nippon (a corruption of the Chinese Jih-pên, from which was derived "Japan"), means "sun-source," and was given because the country lay to the east from China. It is for this reason that Japan is often called "The Sunrise Kingdom," and that the Imperial flag contains the simple design of a bright sun on a plain white background.

Japan proper comprises only the four large islands, called Hondo, Shikoku, Kyūshiu, and Yezo (Hokkaidō); but the Empire includes also Korea, Formosa, the Pescadores, and about 4,000 small islands, of which the Ryūkyū (Loo Choo) and the Kurile groups are the most important. Japan proper lies mainly between the same parallels of latitude as the States of the Mississippi valley, and presents even more various and extreme climates than may be found from Minnesota to Louisiana.

The extreme northern point of the Empire of Japan is 50° 56´ N., and the extreme southern point is 21° 45´ N. The extreme eastern point is 156° 32´ E., and the extreme western point 119° 18´ E. These extremes furnish even greater varieties of climate