The Country and its People. 
Japan consists of four large islands, and numerous smaller 
ones, numbering in the total about 3,800. This island- 
empire stretches away from the icy latitudes of Kamschatka, 
down through the Sea of Japan into the Pacific Ocean, thus 
possessing many degrees of temperature. The large islands 
are Kiushiu, Yezo, Honshiu or Nipon, and Shikoku. The 
area of the empire is larger than that of Great Britain, and 
great part of it lies much further south, thus possessing a 
warmer climate. The Kurile Islands — the most northerly 
possessions of Japan — stretch away to the north-west to 
Kamschatka, a distance of 600 miles ; while another group 
or chain of islands extends in a south-eastern direction from 
the mainland of Japan for about 500 miles. If the 900 
miles of length in the four large islands be added, it will 
then be seen that this scattered island-kingdom extends from 
end to end for about 2,000 miles. Some of these islands 
lie far apart from each other, but the four chief islands are 
so near that the channels can be crossed without difficulty. 
They are by some writers called " the Japanese mainland." 
The Japanese are in the habit of applying various figura- 
tive names to their country. Among these are the follow- 
ing: ''Land of the Rising Sun,'' ''Nest of the Sun,'' "Out- 
spread Island, '^ "Country of Peaceful Shores," " Land of 
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