316 



JAPAN. 



of whom 06,023 were above the conscription age 

 of twenty years. The artillery soldiers garrison 

 the forts, and the 12 divisions are located in differ- 

 ent sections of the empire, usually in large camps 

 and barracks, where the drilling, training, and 

 daily education of the soldiers can take place with 

 facility. In army education there has been in re- 

 cent years vast improvement, since so large a per- 

 centage of the volunteers and conscripts are gradu- 

 ates of the middle and elementary schools. The 

 number of illiterates is small in 1897-'98 only 

 11,75)0 while the graduates of the ordinary and 

 the upper elementary schools number more than 

 (i( 1.1 )00, and of the middle schools or academies 

 more than 500. For the campaign in China in 

 the summer of 1900, the Hiroshima division, with 

 some additions from two or three others, making 

 a body of 20,000 men of all ranks and arms, was 

 dispatched under command of Lieut.-Gen. Yama- 

 guchi. under whom were Major-Gens. Fukushima, 

 Teiauchi. and Oku. The men were armed for the 

 most part with the new Arisaka rifle, which is 

 very light and simple, carrying a magazine of five 

 rounds. The definitive establishment of officers 

 (on a peace footing) is 3 field marshals, 3 full 

 generals, 21 lieutenant and 48 major generals, 90 

 colonels, 118 lieutenant colonels, 481 majors, 1,397 

 captains, 1,500 lieutenants, and 1,302 second lieu- 

 tenants. 



The total membership of the Red Cross Society 

 is <>93,179, of whom 46,320 are life members, the 

 annual contribution amounting to 1,904,365 yen. 

 Two hospital ships, with names meaning Savior 

 and Mercy, especially built and equipped for the 

 service, with all modern appliances, were in con- 

 stant use for natives and foreigners, during the 

 Chinese campaign, in the expedition from Tientsin 

 to Pekin, in which the Japanese casualties reached 

 a total of 797. 



The Navy. Most of the new ships contracted 

 for in Europe and the United States after the 

 Chino-Japanese War are afloat and in commission. 

 The resources and classification of the imperial 

 navy of 70 ships and 66 torpedo boats, at the end 

 of 1900, are 8 battle ships (first class, above 10,000 

 tons, 6; second class, below 10,000, 2) ; 20 cruisers 

 (first class, above 7,000, 6; second class, above 

 3,500, 9; third class, below 3,500, 5). Ships for 

 coast defense are rated the same as cruisers, but 

 while the first and second class are wanting, there 

 are 10 in the third class. Of 15 gunboats, there 

 are 2 in the first class above 1,000 and 13 in the 

 second class below 1,000 tons. There are 4 dispatch 

 boats, 1 torpedo depot ship, 12 torpedo catchers. 

 The 00 torpedo boats are rated in 4 classes. The 

 battle ship Mikase, 15,150 tons, launched in No- 

 vember, is the largest war ship afloat. The total 

 number of sailors, marines, officers of line and 

 staff, construction and administration, under the 

 Navy Department is about 25,000 men. 



Communications. A railway system of 7,000 

 miles would not be sufficient for the needs of 

 Japan. The first railway, between Tokio and Yo- 

 kohama, was finished, despite antiforeign clamors, 

 in 1S72, and but few more railways were built until 

 1HHO. The length of railways now in the empire 

 is 3,700 miles. The number of companies holding 

 provisional charters in 1900 was 16. Of 68 appli- 

 cations for charter to build railways in 1901, 12 

 were rejected and 56 granted. The aggregate 

 capital of these companies is 80,940.000 yen, and 

 total mileage secured is 1,523, making a grand 

 total for the empire when finished of 5,830 miles. 

 In 1900 227 miles were opened for traffic, 102,- 

 115,942 passengers traveled (showing an increase 

 of 3.1 per cent, over last year), paving for passage 

 23.41 7.37<i yen, while 18,820,024 'tons of freight 



were carried, on which 12,726,845 yen were paid, 

 giving a balance of net profit on freight and pas- 

 sengers of 19,386,055 yen. The increase in freight 

 traffic, and money paid for the same, was 26.6 

 and 39.1 per cent, respectively. Most of the roads 

 are single track, only 250 miles being double. The 

 aggregate capital employed in railroads is about 

 300,000,000 yen. Besides those under Government 

 ownership, there are more than 100 private rail- 

 wav companies. The length of the postal routes 

 by 'land and sea is 100,000 miles. In 1898 157,514,- 

 549 letters, 329,933,823 postal cards and other pack- 

 ages were carried. There were in the postal and 

 telegraph service 4,537 offices, 39,295 postal boxes, 

 and 38,000 employees. To foreign countries 2,922,- 

 663 pieces were sent, and from them 2,749,784 

 pieces received. Over 5,295 miles of telegraph 

 route, having 20,561 miles of wire, 15,342,535 do- 

 mestic messages were sent. By submarine cable, 

 333,000 foreign dispatches were transmitted. There 

 are 640 miles of telephone routes and 13 stations, 

 chiefly in the large cities. In 1898 10 street-car 

 companies, with 420 cars and 1,620 horses, carried 

 36,872,845 passengers. In 1898 there were 1,130 

 steamers, of 477,430 tons, and 1.914 sailing ships, 

 of 170,894 tons, and 19,097 junks, of 16,601,420 

 bushels' capacity. In 1899 115 lighthouses built 

 by the Government and 22 by private authorities 

 lighted the coast. 



Religion and Education. According to the 

 Constitution of 1889, all religions are equal before 

 the law. Article XXVIII declares that " Japan- 

 ese subjects shall, within limits not prejudicial 

 to peace and order and not antagonistic to their 

 duties as subjects, enjoy freedom of religious be- 

 lief." Legislation, despite the virulent opposition 

 of the Buddhist hierarchy, steadily proceeds toward 

 carrying out the constitutional provisions, espe- 

 cially in freeing impartially from taxation all 

 ground and edifices for religious purposes. In 

 Shinto, no longer a state religion, there are 12 

 sects, 100,705 priests and shrine keepers, and 1,357 

 pupils. In Buddhism there are 38 sects, 103.340 

 priests and preachers, with 10,983 pupils. Shinto 

 temples number 1,962, and Buddhist temples (usu- 

 ally much larger than Shinto) 109,9-}."). 



In Tokio the Christians have 70 church edifices 

 and 55 preaching places, with an enrollment of 

 13,711 members; 5,221 Sunday pupils in 112 

 schools, with 2,251 Christian students, 9 theolog- 

 ical schools, and 9 industrial, poor, and primary 

 schools, having 5,423 pupils. They publish 19 

 periodicals. The value of mission property in 

 Tokio, including the Christian Association build- 

 ing, is 1,200*000 yen. About 2,000,000 copies of 

 the Bible, or portions of it, have been distributed 

 by sale or gift. The Emperor accepted a copy in 

 1895. In all 944,000 Scripture portions have been 

 circulated since 1890, in addition to those imported 

 and sold to the trade. In the public schools, out 

 of 7,125,966 children of school age 4.910,380 attend 

 daily, the other 2,215,586 remaining at home. 

 making in 1898 an attendance of 69 per cent. Of 

 Christian schools, despite their having been greatly 

 crippled by the interference of the educational 

 authorities, there are 204, 68 of which arc above 

 the middle course, \\ith 1.">.S4<! pupils. 9.394 being 

 in the primary course. Mr. Xaruse. a Christian 

 educator, has obtained the gift of nearly five acre-f 

 in Tokio and the sum of 130,000 yen for the estab- 

 lishment of a woman's university. In the Gov- 

 ernment schools, besides 90,000 native teachers. 

 270 foreigners are employed, the majority being 

 American. Kuglish. and French. Students still go 

 abroad to study, a large number preferring Ger- 

 many, and there is a distinct trend toward the 

 adoption of German idecs and culture, yet the 



