GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JAPAN ' 29 



making a long plateau upon whicli the Keijo-Gensan railway runs. 

 Naturally there is no remarkable stream here tlowing to the Sea of 

 Japan, the formation contrasting with the slope to the Yellow Sea 

 and Korea Strait, wliere are many large streams such as the Oryoku-ko, 

 or Yalu-kiang, Sei?en-ko, Daido-ko, and Kin-ko. They have generally 

 extensive flood plains with many towns and villages. The population 

 is more dense in the southwestern provinces and less so in the north. 



Agriculture, mining and fishery are the principal industries of 

 Chosen. The production of rice, wheat, beans and cotton has been 

 increasing in recent years. Ginseng culture deserves special attention. 

 The breeding of cattle and export of their hides constitute a flourishing 

 industry. Lumbering in the Yalu basin of North Chosen has been 

 well known for a long time. Gold is the principal product of the 

 mines. At present more mountain gold is smelted than placer gold. 

 Yun-san is the most noted gold mine. Iron ore from Sainei 

 and Inritsu is ex|)orted to the Imperial Steel Works in Yawata. 

 Anthracite of Carboniferous from Pingyang supplies materials for 

 bricket. Graphite is obtained in several places. 



Keijo or Seoul on the bank of the Kan-lvO in the centre of the 

 peninsula is the present seat of the government general. It is a 

 walled city with many palaces and parks. Jinsen, its harbour, has a 

 well equipped tidal basin. Kaijo and Heijo (Pingyang) to the north and 

 Keishu to the south are noted old towns. Near Heijo there are scattered 

 many thousands of ancient tombs, the recent excavation of some of which 

 tells very clearly of an active intrusion of Chinese civilization of the 

 Han dynasty in the peninsula, some 2000 years ago. Shingishu is a 

 boundary station on the bank of the Yalii. Markets and fairs are 

 the prevailing organs of exchange in Chosen, even at present. Indeed 

 there are at least one thousand markets there. They are opened once 

 every five days, and even in small markets at least 500 customers 

 gather from the environs a score of kilometres distant. When an 

 annual fair takes place, like that of Taikyu in South Korea in 

 August, it is visited liy more than a thousand merchants and the 

 trade is said to amount to 6-700,000 yen. 



ix. Kwantung. Kwantimg is a small peninsula in the southwest 

 end of the Liaotung Peninsula in South Manchuria. Geologically, it 

 is composed of older formations, which are now highly worn, forming 

 wavy hills. The coast line is well developed and has good harbours 

 and coves. It was leased to Kussia bv China in 1895, and then 



