Page:EB1911 - Volume 15.djvu/174

GEOGRAPHY]

If the various smaller islands be included, a total of over 3000 is reached, but there has not been any absolutely accurate enumeration.

It will be observed that the coast-line is very long in proportion to the area, the ratio being 1 m. of coast to every 9.5 in. of area. The Pacific Ocean, which washes the eastern shores, moulds their outline into much greater diversity than does the Sea of Japan which washes the western shores. Thus the Pacific sea-board measures 10,562 m. against 2887 m. for that of the Japan Sea. In depth of water, too, the advantage is on the Pacific side. There the bottom slopes very abruptly, descending precipitously at a point not far from the north-east coast of the main island, where soundings have shown 4655 fathoms. This, the deepest sea-bed in the world, is called the Tuscarora Deep, after the name of the United States’ man-of-war which made the survey. The configuration seems to point to a colossal crater under the ocean, and many of the earthquakes which visit Japan appear to have their origin in this submarine region. On the other hand, the average depth of the Japan Sea is only 1200 fathoms, and its maximum depth is 3200. The east coast, from Cape Shiriya (Shiriyazaki) in the north to Cape Inuboye (Inuboesaki) near Tōkyō Bay, though abounding in small indentations, has only two large bays, those of Sendai and Matsushima; but southward from Tōkyō Bay to Cape Satta (Satanomisaki) in Kiūshiū there are many capacious inlets which offer excellent anchorage, as the Gulf of Sagami (Sagaminada), the Bays of Suruga (Surugawan), Ise (Isenumi) and Osaka, the Kii Channel, the Gulf of Tosa (Tosonada), &amp;c. Opening into both the Pacific and the Sea of Japan and separating Shikoku and Kiūshiū from the main island as well as from each other, is the celebrated Inland Sea, one of the most picturesque sheets of water in the world. Its surface measures 1325 sq. m.; it has a length of 255 m. and a maximum width of 56 m.; its coast-lines aggregate 700 m.; its depth is nowhere more than 65 fathoms, and it is studded with islands which present scenery of the most diverse and beautiful character. There are four narrow avenues connecting this remarkable body of water with the Pacific and the Japan Sea; that on the west, called Shimonoseki Strait, has a width of 3000 yds., that on the south, known as Hayamoto Strait, is 8 m. across; and the two on the north, Yura and Naruto Straits, measure 3000 and 1500 yds. respectively. It need scarcely be said that these restricted approaches give little access to the storms which disturb the seas outside. More broken into bays and inlets than any other part of the coast is the western shore of Kiūshiū. Here three promontories—Nomo, Shimabara and Kizaki—enclose a large bay having on its shores Nagasaki, the great naval port of Sasebo, and other anchorages. On the south of Kiūshiū the Bay of Kagoshima has historical interest, and on the west are the bays of Ariakeno-ura and Yatsushiro. To the north of Nagasaki are the bays of Hakata, Karatsu and Imari. Between this coast and the southern extremity of the Korean peninsula are situated the islands of Iki and Tsushima, the latter being only 30 m. distant from the peninsula. Passing farther north, the shoreline of the main island along the Japan Sea is found to be comparatively straight and monotonous, there being only one noteworthy indentation, that of Wakasa-wan, where are situated the naval port of Maizuru and the harbour of Tsuruga, the Japanese point of communication with the Vladivostok terminus of the Trans-Asian railway. From this harbour to Osaka Japan’s waist measures only 77 m., and as the great lake of Biwa and some minor sheets of water break the interval, a canal may be dug to join the Pacific and the Sea of Japan. Yezo is not rich in anchorages. Uchiura (Volcano Bay), Nemuro (Walfisch) Bay and Ishikari Bay are the only remarkable inlets. As for Formosa, the peculiarity of its outline is that the eastern coast falls precipitously into deep water, while the western slopes slowly to shelving bottoms and shoals. The Pescadores Islands afford the best anchorage in this part of Japan.

Mountains.—The Japanese islands are traversed from north to south by a range of mountains which sends out various lateral branches. Lofty summits are separated by comparatively low passes, which lie at the level of crystalline rocks and schists constituting the original uplands upon which the summits have been piled by volcanic action. The scenery among the mountains is generally soft. Climatic agencies have smoothed and modified everything rugged or abrupt, until an impression of gentle undulation rather than of grandeur is suggested. Nowhere is the region of eternal snow reached, and masses of foliage enhance the gentle aspect of the scenery and glorify it in autumn with tints of striking brilliancy. Mountain alternates with valley, so that not more than one-eighth of the country’s entire area is cultivable.

The king of Japanese mountains is Fuji-yama or Fuji-san (peerless mount), of which the highest point (Ken-ga-mine) is 12,395 ft. above sea-level. The remarkable grace of this mountain’s curve—an inverted catenary—makes it one of the most beautiful in the world, and has obtained for it

a prominent place in Japanese decorative art. Great streams of lava flowed from the crater in ancient times. The course of one is still visible to a distance of 15 m. from the summit, but the rest are covered, for the most part, with deep deposits of ashes and scoriae. On the south Fuji slopes unbroken to the sea, but on the other three sides the plain from which it rises is surrounded by mountains, among which, on the north and west, a series of most picturesque lakes has been formed in consequence of the rivers having been dammed by ashes ejected from Fuji’s crater. To a height of some 1500 ft. the slopes of the mountain are cultivated; a grassy moorland stretches up the next 2500 ft.; then follows a forest, the upper edge of which climbs to an altitude of nearly 8000 ft., and finally there is a wide area of ashes and scoriae. There is entire absence of the Alpine plants found abundantly on the summits of other high mountains in Japan, a fact due, doubtless, to the comparatively recent activity of the volcano. The ascent of Fuji presents no difficulties. A traveller can reach the usual point of departure, Gotemba, by rail from Yokohama, and thence the ascent and descent may be made in one day by a pedestrian.

The provinces of Hida and Etchiu are bounded on the east by a chain of mountains including, or having in their immediate vicinity, the highest peaks in Japan after Fuji. Six of these summits rise to a height of 9000 ft. or upwards, and constitute the most imposing assemblage of mountains

in the country. The ridge runs due north and south through 60 to 70 m., and has a width of 5 to 10 m. It is mostly of granite, only two of the mountains—Norikura and Tateyama—showing clear traces of volcanic origin. Its lower flanks are clothed with forests of beech, conifers and oak. Farther south, in the same range, stands Ontake (10,450 ft.), the second highest mountain in Japan proper (as distinguished from Formosa); and other remarkable though not so lofty peaks mark the same regions. This grand group of mountains has been well called the “Alps of Japan,” and a good account of them may be found in The Japanese Alps (1896) by the Rev. W. Weston. On the summit of Ontake are eight large and several small craters, and there also may be seen displays of trance and “divine possession,” such as are described by Mr Percival Lowell in Occult Japan (1895).

Even more picturesque, though less lofty, than the Alps of Japan, are the Nikko mountains, enclosing the mausolea of the two greatest of the Tokugawa shōguns. The highest of these are Shirane-san (7422 ft.), Nantai-san (8169 ft.), Nyohô-zan (8100 ft.), and Omanago (7546 ft.). They are

clothed with magnificent vegetation, and everywhere they echo the voices of waterfalls and rivulets.

In the north of the main island there are no peaks of remarkable height. The best known are Chiokai-zan, called “Akita-Fuji” (the Fuji of the Akita province), a volcano 7077 ft. high, which was active as late as 1861; Ganju-san (6791 ft.), called also “Nambu-Fuji” or Iwate-zan,

remarkable for the beauty of its logarithmic curves; Iwaki-san (5230 ft.), known as Tsugaru-Fuji, and said by some to be even more imposing than Fuji itself; and the twin mountains Gassan (6447 ft.) and Haguro-san (5600 ft.). A little farther south, enclosing the fertile plain of Aizu (Aizu-taira, as it is called) several important peaks are found, among them being Iide-san (6332 ft.); Azuma-yama (7733 ft.), which, after a long interval of quiescence, has given many evidences of volcanic activity during recent years; Nasu-dake (6296 ft.), an active volcano; and Bandai-san (6037 ft.). A terrible interest attaches to the last-named mountain, for, after having remained quiet so long as to lull the inhabitants of the neighbouring district into complete security, it suddenly burst into fierce activity on the 15th of July 1888, discharging a vast avalanche of earth and rock, which dashed down its slopes like an inundation, burying four hamlets, partially destroying seven villages, killing 461 people and devastating an area of 27 sq. m.

In the province of Kōzuke, which belongs to the central part of the main island, the noteworthy mountains are Asama-yama (8136 ft.), one of the best known and most violently active volcanoes of Japan; Akagi-san, a circular range of peaks surrounding the basin of an old crater and rising

to a height of 6210 ft.; the Haruna group, celebrated for scenic beauties, and Myogi-san, a cluster of pinnacles which, though not rising higher than 3880 ft., offer scenery which dispels