Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/141

* JAPAN. 123 JAPAN. of 170 miles. The third great river is the Kiso- gaw.n, which pursues a devious course from Shi- nano, and falls iiilo the Pacific. Another im- portant river is the Ten-riu, whieh rises in Lake Suwa and Hows south for 135 miles to the Pacific. Other rivers are the Sumida, flowing through Tokio into the Gulf of Vcdo, and the Yodogawa, the outlet of Lake Biwa, which enters Osaka Bay. The}- are all swift, and spread out greatly when they leave the mountains. Japan has few lakes of any great extent. Sev- eral shallow sheets of water are found in Yezo, and along both the east and the west sides of Hondo or !Main Island, but they are of little con- sequence as lakes, and have little beauty. The largest and most noted is Lake Onii, better known as Biwa-ko (Ko-lake) from a fancied resemblance in shape to the Chinese guitar {p'i-pa). It lies in the centre of the Province of Omi, at no great distance from Kioto (q.v.). and is much visited by tourists on account of it.s 'Eight Beauties.' It is 37 miles long and 12 miles ■wide at the widest part, and has an area nearly equal to that of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. Northeast of this, in the Province of Shinano, is Suwa Lake, the source of the Ten-riu-gawa, 2600 feet above the level of the sea. In winter it is covered with ice more than a foot thick. Farther north, in the Nikko Mountains, is the beautiful C'hiuzen-ji, at the foot of Nantai-san, with an area of nearly 18 square miles, and situated 4375 feet above sea-level. It is of great depth, . and contains no fish. Farther north still is Ina- washiro, near Bandai-san. with an area of perhaps
 * tO square miles, and situated about 1840 feet

above sea-level. It abounds in fish and is said ilfver to be frozen over. Its outlet is the Ika- no-gava, which falls into the Sea of Japan near Niigata. Another well-known lake is that of Hakone, about 50 miles west of Yokohama. It is said to fill the crater of an ancient volcano, at an elevation of 2300 feet above sea-level. It is about 10 miles long, and is of unknown depth. Its outlet is the Haya-gawa, and by a tunnel at one end it supplies water for irrigating the rice- fields of 17 villages on. the plain to the west. Clijiate. Stretching as the Empire does through nearly 30 degrees of latitude, climatic conditions vary widely in diflerent (larts. In the Loo-ehoo group subtropical conditions pre- vail ; the heat is great, and snow and ice are never seen. In the Kurile Islands, on the other hand, snow and ice never entirely disappear, the sea freezes over in winter, and it is sometimes possible to pass from one island to the other on the ice. Omitting Loo-choo, the Bonin Islands, and Formosa, there is scarcely a part of the country that is entirely free from snow in winter. It is heaviest in Yezo, and along that part of the main island which lies between the great mountains (which form its backbone) and Lhe Sea of .Tapan : and so deejily does it cover the country that in many places, especially north of the Shinano, Hida range, the inhabitants have recourse to continuous porticoes or snow-sheds along the streets to alTord passageway. To the south and east of this region the snow is some- what less heavy, and the winter is milder, owing to the influence of the warm current knovn as the Kuro Shiwo(q.v). Seldom does more than a few inches of snow fall in Tokio and Yokohama, though Fujiyama, only 00 miles distant, is cov- ered to its base. The winter temperature hardly Vol. XI.— 9. ever goes below 22 degrees Fahrenheit, and there are not more tiian three or four frosty days during the whole winter. Kiushiu, Shikoku, San- yo-do, and Tokaido are warm, and snow sel- dom lies except on the higher mountains. The wind is northerly and dry and the air bracing. The exceptional conditions which prevail in Y'ezo are due largely to the cold current — the Oya- shiwo — and to the strong northeast winds which sweep down upon it from the ice-fields of Siberia. The southwest monsoon brings with it a hot, moi.st summer. The rainfall is great, and the heat is considerable, much greater than in cor- responding latitudes in Europe and America. The rainfall is heaviest in .Tune and September. The annual fall in Yokohama is about 70 inches; in Nagasaki, 71^/2 ; in Tokio, 05.4; in Hakodate it is only 57.2. It is the great humidity which some of these figures imply, coupled with a tem- perature which may rise in summer to .95 degrees or 96 degrees Fahrenheit, as in Tokio and Y'oko- hama, that causes so much discomfort, and sends to the mountain all who can get away. Yet, as compared with many places on the mainland of China, Japan is a very pleasant summering place. There is a well-equipped and well-managed Weather Bureau, with 74 meteoj-olo.gieal stations. Flor.^. The flora of .Japan is exceedingly rich in variety, and its luxuriance is in keeping with the warmth and the moisture of the Japanese summer. In 1876 Franchet and Savatier enume- rated no fewer than 2743 species of phaneroga- mous and the higher cryptogamous plants, dis- tributed among 1035 genera. Since then the number has been increased to over 3000. The ferns are represented by 43 species, the sedge family by 108, and the Ericacese by 76. In the plains one meets with pimpernel, the lily of the valley, blue-bells, ej-e-bright, various kinds of violets, the gladiolus or sword-lily, and many sjiecies of iris, hemerocallis, etc., as well as the characteristically .Japanese Lespedeza striata, or 'Japan clover,' with its minute purple flower, now well known throughout the Southern United States, having been introduced accidentally .about 1840, perhaps in tea-chests. In April the hill- sides of Japan are ablaze with azaleas. AuKJiig trees, evergreens, of which there are said to be 150 varieties, predominate. vSavatier enumerates 41 species of Conifei'ie alone. One of the most characteristic of Japanese trees is the sugi, or 'Japanese cedar' (Vn/ptomeria japo- nica), which sometimes attains a height of 150 feet. It is a favorite in temple grounds, and is frequently seen lining the highways, but more particularl}' the approaches to some sacred place, as along the great avenue (nearly 50 miles in length) leading to the tomb of lyeyasu at Nikko (q.v.). Another beautiful temple-tree is tlio Icho (fialisbt(ria adiantifnlia) or 'maiden-hair' tree. A fine specimen, said to be 1000 years old, stands near the entrance to the Temple of Ha- eliiman at Kamakura. The cypress and the yew, firs of different kinds, the box, the holly, and the myrtle abound. The mulberry-tree, the tea-plant, the lacquer-tree (Rhus vetiiiciferii), the camphor-tree, and nianv species of bamboo not only add to the beauty of the landscape, but are of great economic value. Among deciduous trees are the oak (20 species), the maple (24 species), beeches, alders, the ash, the horse-chestnut, the birch, and 17 species of willow. The hinoki, or 'fire-cypress,' is much