422 



JAPAN. 



244,869; the Sintoo priests, 163,140; nuns, 

 6,711 ; peasants, traders, mechanics, 81,954,- 

 821; beggars, 82,920; pariahs, tanners, etc., 

 459,695. 

 In 1871 three newspapers were published in 



Yeddo in the English, and one in the French 

 language. 



The following table shows the number and 

 nationality of the vessels entering the Japanese 

 ports in 1870, as well as their tonnage : 



The movement of commerce at the principal 

 ports open to foreign nations was, in 1870, as 

 follows : 



Yokohama 



; Merchandise... 

 Precious met'ls 



Nagasaki 



Hakodadi ...................... (1870) 



Niegata ....................... (1869) 



Total., 



Imports. 



*7,966,675 



8,891,694 



8,023,687 



2,549,982 



2,837,639 



496,908 



495,900 



Exports. 



13,342,386 

 17,090,978 

 8,614,554 



1,872,531 

 813,246 



41,856,292 



On February 27th the residence of Hirosawa 

 Hioski, a member of the highest board of Gov- 

 ernment and one of the most distinguished and 

 enlightened statesmen of Japan, was broken 

 open by a band of armed men, who forced 

 their way to the chamber where Hirosawa 

 was sleeping, and cut him in pieces with their 

 swords. His house stands in the heart of 

 Yeddo, and within only a few rods of one of the 

 guarded gates leading to the Mikado's castle, 

 but, as its grounds are extensive, the assassins 

 succeeded in dispersing and escaping before an 

 alarm could be given. 



The Government of Japan, at the beginning 

 of the year, sent a mission to the United 

 States, composed of the Imperial Prince Mits 

 Fusimi ; Mr. Mori, who is to represent Japan 

 at Washington as charge d'affaires; a secre- 

 tary, assistant-secretary, and attache of lega- 

 tion; Mr. 0. W. Brooks, Japanese consul at 

 San Francisco ; several attaches of the prince, 

 and twelve students. The mission arrived in 

 San Francisco on February 16th, and on March 

 2d was presented at Washington to the Presi- 

 dent of the United States. Mr. Mori is the 

 first minister ever sent by the Japanese Gov- 

 ernment to reside in a foreign country. 



The United States minister De Long, having 

 received his credentials as United States min- 

 ister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary, 

 went to Yeddo on June 8th, where he had an 

 interview with the Mikado. 



Another radical change in the Government 

 of Japan was effected by a decree of August 

 12th, ^ by which the lands and troops of the 

 Daimios throughout the country revert to the 



* In Mexican dollars : 1=1 T V dollar. 



Imperial Government, and the Daimios them- 

 selves are placed upon a salary hereditary in 

 their families. The decree, which was read to 

 the Daimios assembled in the palace at Yeddo, 

 in the presence of the Tenno, by the President 

 of the Council of State, is as follows : 



It appears to me that in the time of reformation, 

 if it is our desire to aid and make our people happy, 

 and to take an honorable position with respect to 

 other nations, we should make the reality correspond 

 to the name, to centralize the governmental power. 

 I previously ordered the ffaus (or feudal govern- 

 ments) to send up a report of all their affairs, and 

 appointed the Daimios to be Ckihitagis (or govern- 

 ors), and prescribed for each his duties. Having for 

 several hundred years been hereditary rulers, some 

 were satisfied merely with the name, and neglected 

 these duties. How, then, can the people be made 

 happy, or we take an honorable stand among the 

 nations? I deeply lament this state of things, and 

 now abolish the Haus (or feudal territories), convert- 

 ing them into Kens (or imperial domains). In per- 

 forming your duties, do away with all useless mat- 

 ters ; cleave to retrenchment, put oif all unnecessary 

 expenses, and abrogate all troublesome laws. 



Do you, my servants, carry out this my mind. 



This political revolution, which transfers 

 most of the rights formerly possessed by the 

 Daimios to the Central Government, began in 

 February, 1869, when four leading Daimios, 

 Chosin, Satsuma, Hizen, and Tosa, published 

 in the official gazette of the empire a mani- 

 festo in which they declared : " The lands that 

 we have and the people we rule belong in 

 reality to the Emperor. We have no right 

 to usurp them from his possession, and we 

 propose to give up those lands and that people 

 over which we have hitherto ruled,' and the 

 imperial court will dispose of them as it may 

 deem proper. It should also give direction in 

 regard to all the property of the Daimios, and 

 all affairs connected with legislation. The 

 army and the navy should be under the im- 

 mediate direction of the Emperor and his 

 court. Then we shall find that the war has 

 brought order out of chaos ; that there is an 

 agreement between word and deed, and we 

 shall be able to stand well among the nations 

 of the earth." A majority of the other 

 Daimios adhered to this declaration, thus pre- 

 paring the new order of things, introduced by 

 the above decree of the Tenno. According to 

 the new regulations, the Daimios are to retain 



