412 



JAPAN. 



JAPAN, an Empire in Eastern Asia. The 

 appellation by which the Emperor is generally 

 known in foreign countries is the ancient title 

 of Mikado, or the Venerable. The present Mi- 

 kado, Muts-Hito, was born at Yedo, September 

 22, 1852 ; succeeded his father, Komei-Tenno, 

 1867; married December 28, 1868, to Prin- 

 cess Haruko, born April 17, 1850, daughter 

 of Prince Itchidgo. The first child of the Em- 

 peror was born in 1873, but died soon after. 

 There is no regular law of succession, and in case 

 of the death of the Emperor without leaving is- 

 sue, his successor must be chosen from the Kat- 

 zura, Arisugawa, Fushimi, or Kannin families. 

 At the head of the Government is a Council 

 of State, of which Sandjo is the first president, 

 and Iwakura the second. The other members 

 are the ministers. The ministry was composed 

 as follows, in 1877 : Foreign Affairs, Terashi- 

 ma; War, Yamagata; Navy, vacant; Interior, 

 Okubo; Finances, Okuma; Justice, Ogi; Edu- 

 cation, vacant ; Public Works, Ito ; Imperial 

 House, Tokudaidjin. 



The following table gives the area of the 

 several islands, according to an official calcula- 

 tion made in 1877, and the population in 1874 : 



The budget for 1876-'77 was as follows (val- 

 ue in yens, one yen equal to the American 

 trade dollar) : 



RECEIPTS 



1. Ground-tax 46,556.748 



2. Tax on alcoholic liquors. 2,378,859 



8. Mining-dues, stamp-dues, patent-dues, post- 

 age-stamps, etc 2.523.774 



4. Customs duties 1.762.554 



5. Income-tax 2,292,489 



6. Tobacco-tax 689.948 



7. Tribute of the Lin -Km Islands 34,925 



8. Taxes on the products of the Northern prov- 



inces 870.592 



9. Receipts from mines 1,212,825 



10. Railroads 692,967 



11. Telegraphs 168,858 



12. Receipts from various manufactures, etc 885,710 



13. Mint .~^T77T>v,... 770.800 



14. Publiclands, 962.254 



15. Miscellaneous receipts '. 1,026.849 



16. From sums due to the Government 1,825,496 



Total 62,995,648 



* Sit htlien was ceded to Russia in 1875. 



5,551.447 

 827,500 



17,517,453 



187,924 



494.000 



287,000 



185,600 



8,699,612 



1,798,600 



7,250,000 



8,549.700 



1,704,800 



78,000 



4,900,000 



1,420,000 



816,000 



1,905,660 



471,000 



4,162,500 



1,945,000 



220,000 



1,629,000 



548,300 



500,000 



659.051 



1,880,000 



EXPEND ITFRIS. 



1. Public debt 



2. Civil list 



8. Pensions and indemnification of the deposed 



princes 



4. For the Shinto and Buddhist Temples 



5. Council of State 



6. Senate and Provincial Assemblies 



7. Ministry of Foreign Affairs 



8. " the Interior 



9. " Finances 



10. " War 



11. " the Navy 



12. " Education 



18. " Worship 



14. " PublicWorks 



15. " Justice 



16. " the Imperial House 



17. Colonization 



18. Land-tax reform 



19. Provincial administration... 



20. Police 



21. Clergy 



22. Public buildings, canals, etc 



28. Embassadors and consuls 



24. For the poor, and the promotion of industry. . 



25. Miscellaneous 



26. Unforeseen expenses 



Total expenditure 62,903,347 



Surplus. 2,296 



The public debt on July 1, 1876, was as fol- 

 lows: 



1. Home debt : 



Bearing interest at 4 per cent . . 11,801,750 ) 



" " 6 per cent.. 2,288,550V 80,682,150 



" " 8 per cent... 16,641,860) 



" no interest 10,082,720 



Paper money 94,064,781 



Total home debt 184,769,601 



2. Foreign debt: 



Bearing interest at 9 per cent 2.92S.OOO 



" " 7 per cent 11,227,123 



Total foreign debt 14,155,128 



Total debt 148,924,724 



The Army comprises 14 brigades or 12 

 regiments infantry, 3 regiments cavalry, 18 

 battalions artillery, 10 battalions engineers, 6 

 companies commissary troops, 9 companies 

 marine artillery. The strength of the army on 

 a peace footing is 31,680, and on a war footing 

 46,350. The Navy comprises 12 vessels of 2,350 

 horse-power each, with 51 gnns, and is manned 

 by 1,200 men, inclusive of 171 officers. 



The foreign commerce in the years 1873-'75 

 was as follows (value in yens) : 



An official report on the foreign trade of 

 Japan, in 1876, stated that, in comparison with 

 1875, the value of the imports had decreased 

 $5,379,552, while the value of the exports had 

 increased $9,654,576. The classes of goods 

 which showed the greatest decrease among the 

 imports are the "Foreign Mixed Goods," and 

 cotton and woolen manufactures, the former 



