INTRODUCTION. 



v-^ lEWED in any of its aspects, the Empire of Japan has long 



presented to the thoughtful mind an object of uncommon 



:^ interest. And this interest has been greatly increased by 



>- the mystery with which, for the last two centuries, an 



_ exclusive policy has sought to surround the institutions of 



this remarkable country. The curiosity of Christendom 



has been on the alert ; and the several votaries of various 



pursuits have naturally longed to add more to the little 



that is known of this self-isolated Kingdom. 



The political inquirer, for instance, has wished to study 

 in detail the form of government, the administration of 

 laws, and the domestic institutions, under which a nation 

 systematically prohibiting intercourse with the rest of the 

 world has attained to a state of civilization, refinement, and intelligence, the mere glimpses of 

 which so strongly invite further investigation. 



The student of physical geography, aware how much national characteristics are formed or 

 modified by peculiarities of physical structure in every country, would fain know more of the 

 lands and the seas, the mountains and the rivers^ the forests and the fields, which fall within 

 the limits of this almost tery-a incognita. 



The naturalist asks, what is its geology, what are its flora and fauna ? 



The navigator seeks to find out its rocks and shoals, its winds and currents, its coasts and 

 harbors. 



The man of commerce asks to be told of its products and its trade, its skill in manufac- 

 tures, the commodities it needs, and the returns it can sujiply. 



The ethnologist is curious to pry into the jshysical appearance of its inhabitants ; to dio- 

 if possible, from its language the fossil remains of long buried history ; and in the affiliation 

 of its people to supply, perchance, a gap in the story of man's early wanderings over the 

 globe. 



The scholar asks to be introduced to its literature that he may contemplate in historians 

 poets, and dramatists, (fur Japan has them all,) a picture of the national mind. 



The Christian desires to know the varied phases of their superstition and idolatry ; and 

 longs for the dawn of that day when a purer faith and more enliiihtened worship shall bring 

 them within the circle of Christendom. 



