^24 Toiiio Kabukaki 



colder, while the reverse is true of the Oya-shivvo ; hence the nieetiug 

 point of these streams is shifted sometimes up and sometimes down, 

 oscillating along the northern coast of Honshu. 



The Japan Sea is an enclosijd basin with four narrow outlets, in 

 which there are two streams. The more influential one emerges from 

 the Kuro-shiwo at the west of the Osumi strait, and passes as the 

 Tsushima stream into the sea basin, a part of which pours in through 

 the west channel of the strait and runs for some distance along the 

 eastern coast of Korea. Its main part intrudes into the east channel 

 and travels towards the north-east, bathing the north-western coast of 

 Japan. Through the Tsugaru strait a minor branch goes out into the 

 Pacific and runs down close to the coast of the north-eastern part of 

 Honshu, taking for some distance a course parallel with the Oya-shiwo. 

 The remaining part continues to proceed northwards as far as the 

 Soya strait where it gives off a branch, which flows out to the Okhotsk 

 Sea through the said strait. After skirting the coast of Hokkaido, this 

 branch stream appears to rush in part into the Pacific chiefly through 

 the de Vries strait. The main stream, keeping its original course, 

 extends to the western coast of south Saghalien and turns round towards 

 the Amurland. Finally it disappears. The Tsushima stream, though 

 a branch of the Kuro-shiwo, is distinguished from the latter, being by 

 no means so high in salinity. 



The cold stream takes its origin from the Mamiya strait, and runs 

 south-westwards along the Amur coast. Eecently it has been clearly 

 made out that coastal waters circulate in two different directions on 

 either side of the line stretching from about Vladivostock to Tsuruga 

 bay, one counterclockwise, the other clockwise. 



Keceiving a paramount influence of the currents just sketched out, 

 Japanese waters command a very rich and varied marine founa, there 

 being found two types of animal life, the northern and the southern. 

 Neglecting here some southern and northern elements, which have their 

 limits north in the Behring Sea and south off the Loochoo group, 

 respectively, the following three faunal areas may be more or less clear- 

 ly recognized, though contiguous zones blend one into the other :- 



1). Northern zone, extending from the shore of the Kurile group 

 to that of the northern part of Honshu which lies to the north of 

 Kinkwasan. 



2). Middle zone, extending from off Kinkwasan to near the 

 Shiwo-no-misaki, on the Pacific side, and representing the zone of ming- 



