JAPAN. 



439 



voices upon the most distinguished or powerful 

 relative of the Emperor. The throne has often 

 been filled by a woman, but she must take a 

 husband, who must be a member of one of the 

 royal houses. The government is constituted 

 in part on European models, the Mikado ruling 

 in accordance with the counsels of his regu- 

 larly appointed advisers. These are the Min- 

 istry, which was established in imitation of 

 European cabinets ; the Council of State, of an 

 indefinite number of members; and the Sen- 

 ate, composed of thirty-two members, most of 

 whom are persons who have filled high posts. 

 The first president of the Council of Ministers 

 is Sandjo, the second Prince Arisugawa, the 

 third Iwakura. The ministers at the head of 

 the different departments are : Foreign Affairs, 

 Inuye ; Interior, Yamada ; Finance, Matsuka- 

 ta ; War, Oyama ; Marine, Kavvamura ; Agri- 

 culture and Commerce, Saigo ; Public Works, 

 Sasaki ; Justice, Ogi ; Instruction, Fukuoka ; 

 Imperial Household, Tukudaida ; Postmaster- 

 General, Nomura. 



AREA AND POPULATION. The area and pop- 

 ulation of Japan, on January 1, 1880, were as 

 follow : 



The number of males was 18,210,500; of 

 females, 17,714,813. The density of the popu- 

 lation is 325 inhabitants to the square mile on 

 the Japanese islands, about equal to that of the 

 Netherlands, and 244 for the whole empire, 

 or about the same as in Italy. 



The population of the empire, on the 1st of 

 January, 1881, is stated to be 36,357,212, clas- 

 sified according to rank as follows : Emperor 

 and family, 5 ; royal house, 34 ; Kazokou, 

 3,146; Shizokou, 1,933,882; Hei'min, 34,415,- 

 392 ; and 4,753 persons whose class is not 

 known. The number of Ainos, or aborigines 

 of the Island of Yeso, is estimated by the most 

 recent travelers at only about 17,000. The 

 number of foreigners residing in Japan in 1879 

 was reported as 2,398 Europeans and Ameri- 

 cans, and 3,649 Chinamen. 



The city of Tokio had, in 1878, 796.785 inhab- 

 itants, and, with the suburbs, 1,064,333. The 

 population of the city was returned, in 1879, 

 as 811,510, and, in 1881, that of the city and 

 suburban districts as 1,140,566. The next 

 largest city is Osaka, the population of which 

 was returned, in 1881, as 291,086. Kioto had 

 229,810 inhabitants in 1877. Kagoshima, the 

 principal city of the Satsuma Province, has 

 not been enumerated. Nagoya had, in 1880, 



a population of 114,978 ; Kanazawa, in 1877, 

 108,263 ; Hiroshima, 75,760 ; Yokohama, in 

 1879, 67,499. There are forty other towns of 

 over 20,000 inhabitants. 



The number of post-offices, in 1880, was 

 4,377. The number of letters carried was 

 34,627,343 ; of postal-cards, 17,345,212 ; of 

 newspapers, 14,256,795 ; total number of mis- 

 sives, 68,944,782, against 55,775,206 in 1878- 

 '79. The receipts amounted to $1,173,692; 

 the expenses to $1,091,900. 



The length of telegraph in operation, in 1882, 

 was 3,929 miles ; of wires, 9,345 miles. The 

 number of dispatches forwarded, in 1881, was 

 1,272,756. 



The total length of railroads in operation 

 was about 100 miles, consisting of short lines 

 connecting Tokio with the port of Yokohama, 

 Osaka with Hiogo and Kioto, and the latter 

 place with Otsu, besides a line on the Island of 

 Yeso, between Otarunai and Sapporo. 



COMMERCE. The total imports and exports 

 for the last six years reported were as follow : 



The staple imports are cotton and woolen 

 fabrics. The imports of European cotton 

 goods in 1879 amounted to $12,112,000, 

 against $12,739,000 in 1878 ; of woolen goods, 

 $4,172,000, against $4,637,000; of cotton and 

 woolen mixed, $1,308,000, against $1,156,000. 

 The imports of metals amounted to $1,645,- 

 000; of miscellaneous merchandise, $8,288,- 

 000 ; of Asiatic products (sugar, cotton, etc.), 

 $5,106,000. The exports of staple articles for 

 1879 and the preceding year are given in 

 thousands of dollars in the following table : 



The foreign commerce of Japan is divided 

 mainly between Great Britain and the United 

 States, the American share being less than 

 halt' as great as the British. 



Of 992 vessels, of 1,101,502 aggregate ton- 

 nage, entering Japanese ports in 1879, 286, of 

 464,346 tons, were Japanese ; 408, of 351,144 

 tons, British; 153, of 191,488 tons, American; 

 29, of 44,286 tons, French; and 87, of 37,034 

 tons, German. 



