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The Okitama Ken, better known by the name of its chief town Yonezawa, is situated in the mountainous country due north of Tôkiô at a distance by road of 84 ri. A list of the stations and their distances will be found at the end of this paper. The principal road to it follows the Ôshiu kaidô as far as the important town of Fukushima. It is this town of Fukushima, 72 ri from Tôkiô, that was fixed upon as the provisional terminus of the railway that certain kuwazoku wished to construct to Awomori. As this scheme, though postponed, is probably not definitely abandoned, an itinerary of the Ôshiu kaidô as far as Fukushima may have some claim to interest at the present moment; but before going over it in detail, it may be convenient to sketch briefly the physical geography of the country through which it passes.

The principal chain of mountains comes down from Awomori in nearly a straight line to a point about 30 ri north of Tôkiô, and then turning towards the west, and keeping that distance as radius and with Tôkiô for a centre, describes a circular arc to Fuji-san. This chain is the watershed of the country and throws out a series of spurs which serve as guides to the various rivers. On the