JAPAN 



3124 



JAPANNING 



A Period of Wars. Marvelous indeed was 

 the progress made, and one of the nations 

 which viewed it with great jealousy was China. 

 War between the two powers broke out in 

 1894, disagreement over Korea being the main 

 cause, and Japan was completely successful. 

 The navy of China, upon which it had placed 

 its chief reliance, was destroyed, and China 

 was forced to sue for peace. During the Boxer 

 Movement in China the new "great power" 

 fought side by side with the Western powers, 

 and at the close of the struggle claimed recog- 

 nition; and even then Japanese statesmen 

 protested against the Chinese concessions which 

 were allowed to Russia. In 1904 Japan en- 

 tered upon the greatest struggle in its history 

 the war with Russia, from which it emerged 

 victorious (see RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR). 



Later events include the Anglo-Japanese 

 Alliance of 1905; the annexation of Korea in 

 1910; the death of the Emperor Mutsuhito, 

 who had reigned all during Japan's "modern" 

 period, from 1868, and the accession of his son 

 Yoshihito in 1912; strained relations at vari- 

 ous times with the United States because of 

 California laws which discriminated against the 

 Japanese; the disastrous volcanic eruption of 

 January 12, 1914, during which hundreds of 

 lives were lost; and, finally, the entrance of 

 Japan into the great War of the Nations in 

 1914. As the ally of England Japan declared 

 War against Germany and attached and took 

 the strong fortress of Tsingtau in Kiao-chow. 

 At the close of the war Japan demanded and 

 received from the peace conference rights in 

 the peninsula of Shantung, over the protest of 

 China and the American Senate. I.T. 



Consult Wade's Our Little Japanese Cousins; 

 Scidmore's Jinrikisha Days in Japan; Williston's 

 Japanese Fairy Tales; Longford's The Evolution 

 of New Japan; Seaan's The Real Triumph of 

 Japan. 



Related Subjects. The reader who is inter- 

 ested in Japan is referred to the following articles 

 in these volumes : 



Kobe 

 Kyoto 

 Nagasaki 

 Nagoya 



CITIES 



Osaka 

 Tokyo 

 Yokohama 



Boxer Rebellion 



China, subtitle History 



Chosen 



Mikado 



Mutsuhito 



HISTORY 



Port Arthur 



Russo-Japanese War 



Shogun 



War of the Nations 



Yosnihito 



LEADING PRODUCTS 



Bamboo Persimmon 



Bean Rice __ 



Enamel Silk 



Lacquer Ware Tea 



UNCLASSIFIED 



Aino Jinrikisha 



Buddhism Jiu-Jitsu 



Fujiyama Kuro Sivo 



Hara-kiri Samurai 



JAPAN CURRENT, or KURO SIWO, or 

 SIWA, koo'ro she' wo, a warm current in the 

 Pacific Ocean, corresponding in a general way 

 to the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean. 

 The name Kuro Siwo means blue salt. Sailors 



Formosa 

 Kurile Islands 



ISLANDS 



Loo-Choo 

 Saghalien 



THE JAPAN CURRENT 



distinguish the current at sea by the deep blue 

 of its waters and by the warmth that it brings 

 from its tropical source. The south coast of 

 Japan, along which it flows, enjoys a distinctly 

 milder climate because of its influence. It 

 was once generally believed that California 

 and the west coast of North America owed 

 their moderate temperatures partly to the 

 warmth of the Japan Current, but this view is 

 no longer held. The Japan Current originates 

 in the north equatorial current along the south- 

 east coast of Asia. It passes the east coast of 

 Formosa, is deflected to the northeast and then 

 heads toward the southwestern point of Japan. 

 After passing the Kuriles and the Aleutian' 

 Islands, it spreads out and bends southward 

 towards the coast of California. It has a lower 

 temperature than the Gulf Stream and con- 

 siderably less volume. 



JAPANNING, jap an' ing, the art of apply- 

 ing to the surfaces of metal, wood, leather, 

 papier-mache and other substances -a variety 

 of varnishes in imitation of the lacquered wares 

 of Japan and China. Articles so coated are 

 placed in stoves or hot chambers for the pur- 

 pose of drying and hardening the varnishes. 

 The various drying processes constitute the 

 distinguishing features of this art. 



Japanning owes its name to the famous 

 lacquering of Japan, although the latter is 



