JAPAN. 



507 



and Indian delegates. Rigid inspection of pas- 

 sengers arriving from eastern countries in 

 which cholera exists, by rail, road, river, or 

 over the Caspian Sea, was likewise approved. 

 In the plenary sitting of the conference after 

 the reception of the report of the technical 

 commission, on the motion of the German am- 

 bassador the conference adjourned until No- 

 vember, in order to give the Governments 

 time to examine the recommendations of the 

 technical commission. The quarantine ques- 

 tion, after the separation of the conference, 



was made the subject of diplomatic discussion 

 between the European governments. As Eng- 

 land continued to resist the proposal for ob- 

 servation and isolation in the Red Sea, there 

 was no reassembly of the conference in No- 

 vember. The failure of the conference was 

 one of the causes of dissatisfaction that led to 

 the ministerial crisis in Rome. Cholera reap- 

 peared in the Italian province of Alexandria 

 in August, the contagion having been intro- 

 duced form Marseilles, but there was no epi- 

 demic. 



JAPAN. The European name of this empire 

 and archipelago in the North Pacific Ocean, 

 lying east of Corea, is a corruption in Portu- 

 guese mouths of the pronunciation of the Chi- 

 nese characters by which it is expressed. The 

 Japanese pronounce them Ni'hon or Nip'pon. 

 The term in pure Japanese is hi no moto (be- 

 ginning of day). Japan is thus the land where 

 the day begins. The name was evidently ap- 

 plied by the settlers coming from the Asian 

 mainland, by way of the Corean Peninsula. 

 Its territory is about equal to one and a half 

 time that of the British Isles. 



Population. By the last census (1883) the 

 number of inhabitants is 37,442,966. Of these 

 18,950,159 are males and 18,492,807 females, 

 living (in 1875) in 7,389,371 houses or tene- 

 ments. In Tokio the average of persons to 

 each dwelling is 4; in Awomori Icen, in the 

 north, 5'8; in Osaka, 3'7. In the poorer ru- 

 ral districts the houses are more crowded than 

 in the cities, and in the northern or colder 

 portions more than in the southern and 

 warmer. The number of children under four- 

 teen years is about 10,000,000 ; of the nobility 

 and gentry, 2,000,000 ; of other classes not ac- 

 tive producers, 5,000,000 ; leaving 20,000,000 

 active producers. Of every 10,000 people, 

 4,533 are of the agricultural class, 213 manu- 

 facturing, 390 commercial, and 702 follow 

 other callings, while 4,142 have none that are 

 known or classified. 



Nobility. In the peerage are 11 princes, 24 

 marquises, 76 counts, 324 viscounts, 74 barons, 

 total, 509. Persons who have received decora- 

 tions for merit, among whom are Americans 

 to whom were awarded tokens of the third or 

 fourth class, number 105. The highest order of 

 merit is awarded posthumously. 



The population of Tokio, on the Sumida 

 river, is 1,091,161. Of foreigners in 1878 there 

 were 711, and in 1884, 700. Yokohama, be- 

 sides a native population of 65,000, contains 

 3,700 foreigners. It has 5 banks, 15 foreign 

 and 2 Japanese steamer lines, 4 churches, 4 

 newspapers, 5 hospitals, 17 consulates, and 89 

 insurance companies. 



Labor and Wages. Until the revolution of 

 1868, as the Government of Japan was abso- 

 lute and irresponsible, the laborer had no 



rights but such as the privileged class con- 

 ceded. No courts for the trial of causes aris- 

 ing between the workman and his superiors 

 were in existence. To petition his prince or 

 the sho-gun was as much as his life was worth. 

 The common people were bound to the soil, 

 and could not leave it without permission. In- 

 solence or insubordination from a mechanic to 

 a sword-wearer was sufficient justification for 

 the latter to take the life of his inferior. Now 

 the condition of the working-man is vastly bet- 

 tered. He can claim the intervention of the 

 courts to compel the payment of wages, and 

 can be heard even against the highest classes. 

 His wage-earning power has also increased, 

 and education is free to himself and to his 

 children. The average pay of a farm-laborer 

 is $35 a year with board, or $50 without. 

 Women get from $8 to $10 a year with food, 

 and from $25 to $30 without food. Skilled 

 mechanics, especially in the large cities, earn 

 more. The average rate of daily wages in To- 

 kio is, in cents, of carpenters, 40 to 60 ; paper- 

 hangers, 30 to 60 ; plasterers, 45 to 55 ; stone- 

 cutters, 60 to 75 ; blacksmiths, 30 to 50 ; roof- 

 ers, 65 to 75 ; tile-makers, 40 to 60 ; carters, 

 35 to 45 ; painters, 25 to 35 ; gardeners, 25 to 

 50 ; laborers, 20 to 30 ; good porcelain-decora- 

 tors, 75 to $1.50 ; good bronze-inlay ers, $1.00 to 

 $1.50; ivory-carvers, 40 to $1.00; lacquerers, 

 20 to $1.25. Professional workers receive as 

 follows : Writers, translators, interpreters, $10 

 to $50 a month ; clerks, salesmen, and book- 

 keepers, $10 to $20 a month, including board; 

 the average yearly salary of all the school-teach- 

 ers in 1878 was $44.72. The average physician 

 receives a call at his office and gives medicine 

 for from 12$- to 20 cents. A few highly skilled 

 professors, lawyers, and physicians in the capi- 

 tal receive much higher fees, but a salary or in- 

 come exceeding $1,200 per annum is rare. In 

 the humbler or average class the annual rent of 

 a house is $6, and the amount necessary to fur- 

 nish a house, exclusive of mats and luxuries, 

 is $5.36. The cost of a farmer's clothing is 

 $4 or $5 a year, that of a mechanic from $6 to 

 $8. Food in the country districts is almost 

 entirely vegetable, and in the poorer sections 

 rice is a luxury. 



Great changes are now being wrought in the 



