456 



JAPAN. 



postal-cards, 2,852,511 Government messages, 

 18,671,570 newspapers, 952,870 samples and 

 books, 174,646 newspapers to go by the for- 

 eign mails, and 1,003 registered letters to go 

 abroad ; together, 96,916,235 items of mail 

 matter, against 83,294,010 the previous year. 

 Postal orders were paid out to the amount 

 of $8,521,459. The receipts were $1,660,896, 

 and the expenses $1,470,913. 



Telegraphs. In January, 1882, there were in 

 operation 112 offices, and they had forwarded 

 during the year 1881, altogether, 1,272,756 

 messages. The length of line was 3,929 miles, 

 and that of wire, 9,345. 



Railroads. On July 26, 1883, the first sec- 

 tion of the Great Central railroad was opened 

 to traffic between Tokio (Yeddo) and Kouma- 

 gai, the distance between the two points being 

 38 miles. The Great Central is intended to 

 traverse the island of Niphon throughout its 

 entire length. Soon the locomotive will reach 

 Tagasaki, one of the chief cities in the Japan- 

 ese silk-region ; thence the line will extend to 

 Aomori, the northern extremity of the island. 

 The country through which the first section, 

 above alluded to, passes, is extremely fertile, 

 and it abounds in resources of all kinds. The 

 stations of wood have been cheaply construct- 

 ed, and all the rolling-stock, with the sole 

 exception of the locomotives, is of Japanese 

 build. 



The railroads in operation in Japan on Jan, 

 1, 1884, were the following : from Yokohama to 

 Tokio, 18 miles; from Kobe to Otsu, 58 miles; 

 from Trourouga to Sekigahara, 41 miles ; from 

 Tokio to Koumagai, 38 miles: together, 155 

 miles. There was then being built the line 

 from Tokio to Mayebashi, 81 miles. The first 

 three lines named are Government property ; 

 the remainder is owned by a company. 



Good roads being few in Japan, traffic suf- 

 fers from the high freight which the forward- 

 ing of goods on the backs of horses and mules 

 involves. Japan declared in 1883, through its 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, that it was ready 

 to throw open internal trade to foreigners, 

 provided they submit to be held amenable to 

 local legislation; but this would necessitate 

 the revision of treaties, and can not be accom- 

 plished without considerable delay. 



Prussian Administrators. Following the exam- 

 ple of the Sublime Porte, Japan has asked the 

 Government of Prussia for three officers to be 

 employed in the management of affairs in the 

 interior. They are to bear the same rank and 

 title as members of the Japanese Council of 

 State, and receive a salary equal to that of a 

 cabinet minister in a German kingdom. 

 m Instruction, The Minister of Public Instruc- 

 tion in Japan published in 1883 his sixth an- 

 nual report, according to which there were 

 then^ 26,594 schools, 25,395 of which were 

 public and 1,190 private; increase in the year, 

 1,115 public and 112 private ; together, 1,225 

 more than in 1882. There were 65,612 teach- 

 ers, 63,305 of whom were in public and 1,807 



in private schools. Increase in the former 

 during the year, 5,702, and the latter, 85 ; to- 

 gether, 5,787. Number of pupils attending 

 public schools, 2,208,633, and private, 64,541, 

 being an increase of 112,505 in the former, and 

 a decrease of 2,243 in the latter. Increase of 

 pupils attending superior schools, 8,496, and 

 of such institutes, 190; of professors, 361. 



Several military men left France for Japan 

 in 1883, to be attached as instructors to the 

 superior military academy. 



Merchant Marine. Japan made great efforts 

 in 1883 to establish a steam merchant navy. 

 Five steamships, three wooden and two iron, 

 were purchased in Japan in that year, at a cost 

 equivalent to 82,000. They have a joint car- 

 rying capacity of 4,150 tons, and have since 

 been engaged in the coasting trade for passen- 

 gers and cargo. In addition to these, Admi- 

 ral Ito, assisted by two English nautical men, 

 ' made contracts with eminent ship-builders on 

 the Clyde and Tyne for sixteen steel and iron 

 steamships, having a joint dead-weight carry- 

 ing capacity of 22,540 tons. They are to be 

 constructed upon the most approved principle, 

 being built under Lloyd's special survey, and 

 classed 100 A 1. Their cost in Japan, with 

 spare shaft and other gear, and very full and 

 complete specifications, will be 450,000, or 

 somewhat under 20 per ton. Two of them 

 will have a speed of thirteen knots when laden, 

 and will carry two large Krupp guns, maga- 

 zines, etc. Two other vessels will have twelve- 

 knot speed, laden ; the remaining vessels being 

 ten-knot steamers, guaranteed. There are to 

 be three 700 and two 800-ton ships, the rest 

 being from 1,150 tons up to 2,500 tons. Two 

 of this new fleet were already in the Japan- 

 ese coasting trade in November, 1883 ; another 

 sailed from Glasgow on October 23d ; and all 

 will be at their destination by October, 1884. 

 In addition to these twenty-one steamships 

 belonging to it, the " Union Steam Navigation 

 Company " chartered in November, 1883, three 

 steamships from the Government, making a 

 total of twenty-four steamers, of 28,065 tons 

 burden, eleven of which were then running 

 on the coast of Japan. The charter of this 

 company prohibits the acquisition of any but 

 new steamers ; but it was permitted to pur- 

 chase twenty-two sailing-vessels, of 7,000 tons 

 aggregate, belonging to Japanese owners. The 

 Government subscribed $2,600,000 of the capi- 

 tal stock to the company, $3,400,000 being sub- 

 scribed by over 5,000 merchants. 



Cabinet - Woods. Seven magnificent sorts of 

 cabinet- wood, growing abundantly in the for- 

 ests of Japan, are expected to enter the world's 

 markets as soon as the railways reach the dis- 

 tricts where they are found, which will be 

 at no distant day. They are the sugi (Gripto- 

 meria Japonica), the ichii (Tascus cupidata), 

 the hinoki (Chamcecyparis obtusa), the serva- 

 ra (Chdmcecyparis pin/era), the tsudiakudan 

 (Thuya), the benibiakutan (Juniperus Japoni 

 ca\ and the kiri (Paullownia imperialis). 



