JAPAN. 



425 



every government department has its special 

 and technical schools. In elementary instruc- 

 tion, tint Kindergarten system and object-teach- 

 ing Imve been successfully introduced. In the 

 middle schools, the studies are wholly in Eng- 

 li-li, or some other elected foreign language, 

 the text-books being those used in America or 

 Europe, while the course of studies common 

 to American high-schools or academies is gone 

 through with. In the dai gakko, or university, 

 the full standard of which it is expected to 

 reach in the future, the students are actually 

 carried through the curriculum of the average 

 AiiuTican college, excepting in Latin and 

 Greek, the place of these being filled by Eng- 

 lish and Chinese. At present there is but one 

 university in Japan, the Kai Sei Gakko, in To- 

 kio, which has a corps of about twenty Amer- 

 ican and English instructors. An " Outline 

 History of Japanese Education," prepared by 

 the Japanese Department of Education, was 

 published in New York in 1876. 



The Mikado made the following address in 

 connection with the announcement of the new 

 military law : 



During our ancient monarchy, when my ancestors 

 solely ruled the empire of Japan, thera was no dis- 

 tinction between the army and the citizens ; every 

 one was a soldier. This honor ought to be revived. 

 If the middle ages, steeped in despotism, hiive cre- 

 ated a military ctiste, and separated the army from 

 the population to serve the interests of some, I can- 

 not permit such an abuse of power to exist, and I 

 must employ all my power to destroy it. The feudal 

 system of government, that I have overturned in 

 commencing the era Meiji, has bestowed on the 

 country, during its existence of one thousand years, 

 unjust and arbitary laws, that it is my duty to pro- 

 gressively abolish. The ancient recruiting for the 

 army is among others one of those laws completely 

 opposed to the feelings of my Government, with the 

 spirit of the age and the modes of European coun- 

 tries, and requires a change of which the detail is 

 contained in the following words: For the future I 

 wish the army to be the entire country. Communi- 

 cate my wish to the officers of the existing army, to 

 this soldiers, and to the country, for I desire every 

 one to accept my ideas on the subject. 



The law is said to have met with general 

 approval. 



An embassy, consisting of his Excellency 

 Woozeno Kajionuri, the Japanese minister in 

 London, and two secretaries, visited Spain and 

 Portugal early in the summer, with the object 

 of delivering dispatches from the Emperor of 

 Japan to the Kings of those countries. The 

 dispatches set forth the desire on the part of 

 Japan to cultivate friendly relations with Spain 

 and Portugal, which were considered of special 

 importance in consequence of the proximity 

 to Japan of the colonies of those countries in 

 the East. The embassy was cordially received 

 both at Madrid and Lisbon. At Madrid the 

 minister was nominated Knight of the Grand 

 Cross of the Order of Isabel la Catolica, and 

 received the insignia as the gift of the King. 

 At Lisbon, in his address, the embassador 

 alluded to the fact that the Portuguese were 

 the first Europeans to visit Japan. Ilis Excel- 



lency was here created Knight of the Grand 

 Cross of the Order of the Conception. T lie- 

 countries embraced in this mission had Dot 

 been visited by the embassy of Iwa-Kura in 

 1873, as they had not sufficient time to permit 

 their doing so. With the present mission, the 

 formal entry of Japan into diplomatic relations 

 with all the courts of Europe was completed. 



The unfriendly attitude which Corea had as- 

 sumed toward Japan is said to have been in- 

 duced by the disapproval of the Government 

 of the former country of the new policy of 

 Japan in entering into relations of friendship 

 and intercourse with European countries. An 

 embassy was sent from Japan to Corea to exact 

 satisfaction for the firing upon the Japanese 

 man - of- war Unyokuan by Corean soldiers, 

 and settle all the differences between the two 

 countries. It was entirely successful, and con- 

 cluded a treaty of peace February 27th, which 

 provided for a full restoration of intercourse 

 between the two countries, and which it is 

 hoped may prove the beginning of a change 

 which will eventually open Corea to the world. 



JAPANESE BATH. 



Much delicacy and firmness were required of 

 the Japanese envoys to gain their end. The 

 fleet with the embassy arrived at Fusan, the old 

 Japanese station in the south of Corea, Janu- 

 ary 15th, and on the 23d sailed for the month 

 of the river on which the capital of Corea, 

 Seoul, is situated. On the 10th of February 

 the envoy and his suite landed in Kokwa, 

 and took up their quarters in the principal 

 town of the island, Kokwa, or Kanfa, under 

 an escort of detachments of sailors and ma- 

 rines from the vessels of the fleet. With very 

 little delay they were visited by two officers 

 appointed to receive them, Ji Sbinken and In- 

 jisho, the former of whom was announced as 

 holding the highest rank in Corea. These 

 officers represented that they had full power 

 to treat with their visitors upon all subjects. 



