Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/606

 578 JAPAN [GEOGRAPHY. Ozaka was built. Now, however, these two have rapidly outstripped Kioto both in size and importance, and are in fact the two great centres of trade throughout the whole country. The emperor s court now resides at Tokio, and it is there that the foreign legations are stationed. The city of Ozaka (often wrongly spelt Osacca) is purely mercantile; it is intersected by numberless canals spanned by bridges that are in some cases of great length, and a very large proportion of the buildings are storehouses for merchandise. The Japanese mint (opened in April 1871) is at Osaka. Treaty Next in importance to these three cities may fairly be ports, classed the various ports thrown open, under the treaties with Western powers, to foreign trade. Commencing from the north, we come first to Hakodate (erroneously spelt Hakodadi) in the south of the island of Yezo. There is here no distinct foreign settlement, the houses of the few Europeans being mingled with those of the natives. The chief exports are dried fish and seaweed. On the main island the most northern port is Niigata, in the province of Echigo, where also no foreign settlement as yet exists. The trade is exceedingly small, owing to the bad anchorage. A bar of sand at the mouth of the river (the Shinano-gawa) prevents the approach of foreign-built vessels, and the roads off the river mouth are so unprotected that when a heavy gale blows the European ships often run across to the island of Sado for shelter. Some little trade, however, is carried on, the neighbourhood being very fertile ; rice and copper are the chief productions. Yokohama, about 18 miles to the south of the capital, and situated on the western shore of the Bay of Yedo, enjoys by far the greater proportion of the whole foreign trade of Japan. The foreign settlement is very large, and numerous bungalows and small villas of the European residents are also built on a hill (known as the &quot; Bluff&quot;) overlooking the &quot;settle ment&quot; proper. The chief exports are tea and silk ; the former goes principally to the United States and to England, and the latter to the French markets. Large business transactions also take place in silkworm eggs and cocoons, as well as in copper, camphor, and sundry other articles of trade. Proceeding westward, we come to the port of Hiogo, in the province of Setsu. The foreign settle ment, generally called Kobe, is not so large as that of Yokohama, but the streets are wider and more commodious. A railway connects this place with Ozaka, where there is also a foreign settlement, though of very small size. The principal exports here are tea, silk, camphor, vegetable wax, &c. Nagasaki, the best known by name of all the open ports, is in the province of Hizen, in the large south western island of Kiushiu. The foreign settlement is small, though the native town is of considerable extent. Coal is the staple export. Dr Kaempfer s History of Japan gives a most exhaustive and interesting description of the everyday life of the early Dutch residents at this port, where they were pent up in the tiny peninsula of Deshima (commonly misspelt Decima or Dezima) in the Castle harbour. Throughout the rest of the country the largest towns, towns are as a rule those that were formerly the seats of the territorial nobles (daimio), and are even now commonly known as &quot; castle-towns.&quot; It is easy to conceive that in- the olden days, under the feudal system, the resid ence of the lord of the district formed a kind of small metropolis for that particular locality; and the importance j thus attaching to the castle-towns has in most cases sur- | vived the departure of the nobles to the capital. The castles usually stood some slight distance from the rest of the town, often on a hill or rising ground overlooking it. In the centre rose the keep or citadel, a strong tower of three or five stories, commanding the whole of the forti- ! fications ; this was surrounded by high earthen ramparts, faced on the outside with rough-hewn blocks of stone and defended by a moat, which was often of considerable width. The gateways were square, with an outer and an inner entrance, constructed of stone and heavy timbers. The lines of fortification were as a rule three in number. Above the ramparts rose a slight superstructure of wattled stakes, whitewashed on the outside and loopholed for musketry and archers shafts. The whole produced a very striking effect when viewed from some slight distance, the grey stone and the brighter whitewash showing distinctly from among the dark foliage of the trees in the pleasure grounds within the enclosure. It was not, however, every castle that was built on the scale just described ; many of them were exceedingly small, and were defended only by narrow ditches and weak wooden gates, the buildings within being thatched with straw and hardly superior to the ordi nary peasant s dwelling. Most of these castles have been demolished, but a few yet remain nearly intact to tell the tale of the former pomp and state of the feudal nobility. On the outskirts of the castle dwelt the retainers of the daimio, their houses being sometimes situated within the outermost I moat, and sometimes, again, completely beyond it. The houses of the townspeople still stand in their original positions. They are constructed almost entirely of wooden posts, beams, and planks, the roofs being generally tiled. The floors are raised to a height of about 18 inches from the level of the ground, and are covered with large straw mats an inch and a half in thickness. These mats are nearly all 6 feet in length by 3 in breadth, are covered with a layer of finely plaited straw, and have the edges bound with some dark cloth. The doors to the rooms are formed of sliding screens of wooden framework covered with paper ; these are 6 feet high, and move in grooves in the beams fixed above and below them. In the houses of well-to-do persons, these slides are often covered with coarse silken stuff, or formed of finely planed boards, usually decorated with paintings. At one side of the room is generally seen a recess, with a low dais ; on this various ornaments or curiosities are ranged, and a painted scroll is hung at the back of the whole. A few years back, before the wearing of swords was prohibited, a large sword-rack (often of finely lacquered wood) usually occupied the place of honour on the dais. The ceilings are of thin boards, with slender cross-beams laid over them at intervals. Except in the larger towns, there are hardly any buildings of more than two stories, though the inns and lodging- houses sometimes have as many as four. The front of the dwelling is either left entirely open, or, with the better class of tradespeople, is closed by a ,kind of wooden grille with slender bars. Those who can afford it usually shut in the frontage altogether by a fence, through which a low gateway opens upon a small garden immediately in front of the entrance to the dwelling. At the back there is generally another tiny garden. All round the house runs a narrow wooden verandah, of the same height as the floor, over which the roof protrudes; this verandah is completely closed at night or in stormy weather by wooden slides known as &quot; rain-doors,&quot; moving in grooves like the slides dividing the rooms in the interior. Next in importance to the castle-towns come the post-towns p along the high roads, where travellers can obtain accom- tc modation for the night, or engage conveyances and coolies for the road. The houses are similar to those already described, but are built on a smaller scale, and most of ihem are thatched instead of being tiled. The inns and tea-houses are the grand feature of these towns ; as a rule the accommodation there to be obtained is excellent, though this is of course only on the great highways. In remote country districts the traveller is frequently forced to rough it, and put up with what he can find in the way of shelter. Each post-town possesses an office for the receipt, for-