Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/550

530 up by the government, and taught in native geographies. Kioto (formerly Heian or Heianjo, Kioto being a Chinese word signifying capital, of which the synonyme miako is used by the Japanese chiefly in poetry for Kioto or any great city, and not as a proper noun) was formerly the capital, and the divisions were named in reference to their direction from it. They were: the Gokinai, "five home provinces," surrounding Kioto; the Tokaido, "eastern-sea circuit," 15 provinces; the Tozando, "eastern mountain circuit," 8 provinces; the Hokurokudo, "northern land circuit," 7 provinces; the Sanindo, "mountain-back circuit," 15 provinces; the Sanyodo, "mountain-front circuit," 8 provinces; the Nankaido, "southern-sea circuit," 6 provinces; the Saikaido, "western-sea circuit," 9 provinces; the Hokkaido, "northern-sea circuit," 11 provinces; in all, 84 provinces, subdivided into 717 districts or shires. All these provinces, except the eleven of the Hokkaido (Yezo, Kuriles, Karafto, &c.), and the seven into which Oshiu and Dewa have been divided since the late civil war, have each two names, one of purely native derivation, and the other composed of the Chinese word shiu added to the Chinese pronunciation of the character with which the native name is written; thus, Nagato is also called Choshiu, and Satsuma, Sasshiu. In many places the pedantic Chinese name has completely superseded the original Japanese in the mouths of the people; in a few both are used concurrently; while in some the original name is retained. Almost every Japanese word and name has also a Chinese synonyme or counterpart, which leads to endless confusion, and this is made greater by the names which foreigners continually misapply to mountains, rivers, and things in common use. For governmental purposes the empire is further divided into three fu or imperial cities, and 62 ken or prefectures. The most noted cities of Japan are Tokio, the capital (formerly called Yedo), Kioto, Ozaka (or Osaka), Nagoya, Hiroshima, Saga, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, and Fukuoka. These are cities of the first class, each reckoned to contain at least 100,000 inhabitants. Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Fukui, Kurume, Yokohama, Gifu, and Yonezawa rank in the second class, having more than 50,000. Hakodate (Hakodadi), Matsumaë, Niigata, and Hiogo have from 20,000 to 50,000 each. There are probably 50 cities more, containing on an average more than 20,000. The population of Japan has never been properly ascertained, the Japanese method being merely to count the houses and average five persons to one house. Such a "census" was taken in 1804, and gave a population of 30,000,000. A hasty estimate was made by the department of education in 1872, and about 33,000,000 souls were reported. Foreign travellers and those who have long resided in Japan assign 20,000,000 as the highest and 15,000,000 as the lowest figures. Shikoku, Kiushiu, and the central provinces are thickly populated, especially along the great roads. In the N. part of the main island the population is thin, and in the whole of Yezo, Karafto, and the Japanese Kuriles, according to the native estimate, there are fewer than 60,000. In the Riu Kiu (Loo Choo) islands a population of 124,000 is claimed. Tokio (Yedo) contains 800,000, Kioto 567,334, and Ozaka 530,885 souls.—The coasts of Japan abound with promontories, and are much broken by bays and inlets; but there are many good harbors, of which the Japanese number 56 large and 290 smaller ones. There are many rocks along the coast, but the Japanese have excellent charts for the use of their junks and steamers, and the long continued work of foreign survey parties has reduced the danger of shipwreck by daylight to a minimum, while at night every great promontory on the coast is indicated by lighthouses or beacons of the most approved construction and equipment, which have been erected since 1869. The Japanese never give names to their straits or bays; all such names have been given by foreigners. Owing to the narrowness of the main island, and the smallness of the others, there are no very large rivers in Japan; most of them are mountain torrents, with short and rapid courses. Kawa or gawa is the native word for river. The Tonegawa is the longest and widest, being 172 m. long. The Yodogawa, the outlet of Lake Biwa, flows past Ozaka. The Kisogawa flows into the bay of Owari. The Tenriugawa is the outlet of Lake Suwa in Shinano. The current of the Oigawa is very swift, and that of the Fujikawa is still more rapid. The Sumidagawa flows past Tokio. The river called Logo by foreigners is properly named Rokugo. The chief lakes are Biwa, Inawashiro, Suwa, Hakone, and Chiuzenji. The three latter lie far above the level of the sea. Lake Biwa, or Otsu, is more than 60 m. long, and about 20 m. wide.—The most extensive plains are those of the Kuanto or plain of Yedo, Echigo, and the north of Oshiu. The provinces of Mino, Mikawa, and Owari are also very flat. The table land of Shinano lies about 2,500 ft. above the sea. The general trend of the mountain ranges is from N. to S., usually presenting a steep face to the E. and sloping on their W. side. The most noted peak is the volcanic cone Fusiyama (properly Fujisan, or Fujinoyama, "Rich Scholar peak"), 14,000 ft. high, in the province of Suruga, 70 m. 8. W. of Tokio. Thousands of pilgrims ascend it annually. Its craters and hollows only are snow-covered in summer. Hakuzan or Shiroyama, in Kaga, is 9,000 ft. high. Gassan, Mitake in Shinano, the Nikko range, Omine in Yamato, and Tateyama in Etchiu, are also well known. There are some active volcanoes, such as Asamayama, Asoyama, Kirishima, and Yakeyama in Nambu. A perpetual pillar of steam rises from Asamayama; and in past times great destruction of life and property has been caused by eruptions of this and other volcanoes in Japan. The entire group of islands is volcanic, and earthquakes