Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/597

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569

Japan

Plate IX.The empire of Japan consists of a long chain of islands separated from the eastern coast of Asia by the Seas of Japan and Okhotsk, and extending from 24° to 50° 40′ N. lat., and from 124° to 156° 38′ E. long. It commences with the Kurile Islands and descends in a southwesterly direction to the Loochoo group, to which the Japanese Government reasserted their claim in 1875. The southern portion of the island of Saghalien was ceded to Russia in exchange for the Kuriles. The whole empire is called by the natives Dai Nippon, or “Great Japan”; but Nippon or Nihon is often employed alone. Nippon means literally “sun’s origin,” i.e., the land over which the sun first rises, and thus denotes the position the empire occupies in the extreme East. The principal islands may be enumerated as follows:—

01. The main island, which does not bear any special name. In many of the older geographical works it is stated that Nippon is the distinctive appellation of this one island, but by the Japanese themselves the name is applied only to the whole country.
02. Kiushiu (lit., “the nine provinces”).
03. Shikoku (lit., “the four provinces”).
04. Yezo.
05. Sado.
06. Tsushima.
07. Hirado (often wrongly written Firando).
08. Awaji.
09. Ôshima (“Vries Island”) and the chain adjacent to it, terminating with Hachijô (misspelt on charts Fatsisio).
10. Iki, with several smaller isles.
11. The Oki group.
12. The Gotô group.
13. The Bonin group.
14. The Riukiu (Loochoo) group.
15. The Kurile group (Chijima; lit, “the thousand islands”).

Owing to the lack of reliable surveys, it is exceedingly difficult to form a correct estimate of the area of the Japanese empire. A few years ago the Government instituted surveying operations under the direction of skilled foreign engineers, and an ordnance map of the city of Tôkiô has already been prepared and published; but any correct calculation of the size of the whole country can hardly be obtained for some years to come. In a work on general geography published a few years ago by the Education Department at Tôkiô, the area of Japan is stated to be 24,780 square ri, which measurement, taking the linear ri as equal to 2.45 English miles, gives a total of about 148,742 miles, or nearly one-fourth more than the area of the United Kingdom. This estimate, however, is founded on maps which are far from correct.^[1]

The old division of Japan into provinces was made by the emperor Seimu (131–190 A.D.), in whose time the jurisdiction of the sovereign did not extend further north than to a boundary line running from the Bay of Sendai, on the east coast of the main island, to near the present treaty port of Niigata on the west coast. The northern portion beyond this line was then occupied by barbarous tribes, of whom the Ainos (still to be found in Yezo) are probably the remaining descendants. The whole country was then divided into thirty-two provinces. In the 3d century the empress Jingô, on her return from her victorious expedition against Corea, portioned out the empire into five home provinces and seven circuits, in imitation of the Corean system. By the emperor Mommu (696–707) some of the provinces were subdivided so as to increase the whole number to sixty-six, and the boundaries then fixed by him were resurveyed in the reign of the emperor Shômu (723–756). The old division is as follows:—

I. The Go-kinai, or “five home provinces,” i.e., those lying immediately around Kiôto, the capital, viz.:—

Yamashiro^[2]	also called	Jôshiu
Yamato,	also called„	Washiu.
Kawachi,	also called„	Kashiu.
Idzumi,	also called„	Senshiu.
Setsu,	also called„	Sesshiu.

II. The seven circuits, as follows:—

1. The Tôkaidô, or “eastern-sea circuit,” which comprises fifteen provinces, viz.:—

Iga	or	Ishiu.
Isé	or„	Seishiu.
Shima	or„	Shishiu.
Owari	or„	Bishiu.
Mikawa	or„	Sanshiu.
Tôtômi	or„	Enshiu.
Suruga	or„	Sunshiu.
Idzu	or„	Dzushiu.
Kai	or„	Kôshiu.
Sagami	or„	Sôshiu.
Musashi	or„	Bushiu.
Awa	or„	Bôshiu.
Kadzusa	or„	Sôshiu.
Shimôsa	or„	Sôshiu.
Hitachi	or„	Jôshiu.

2. The Tôzandô, or “eastern-mountain circuit,” which comprises eight provinces, viz.:—

Ômi	or	Gôshiu.
Mino	or„	Nôshiu.
Hida	or„	Hishiu.
Shinano	or„	Shinshiu.
Kôdzuké	or„	Jôshiu.
Shimotsuké	or„	Yashiu.
Mutsu	or„	Ôshiu.
Déwa	or„	Ushiu.

3. The Hokurikudô, or “northern-land circuit,” which comprises seven provinces, viz.:—

Wakasa	or	Jakushiu.
Echizen	or„	Esshiu.
Kaga	or„	Kashiu.
Noto	or„	Nôshiu.
Etchiu	or„	Esshiu.
Echigo	or„	Esshiu.
Sado (island)	or„	Sashiu.

4. The Sanindô, or “mountain-back circuit,” which comprises eight provinces, viz.:—

Tamba	or	Tanshiu.
Tango	or„	Tanshiu.
Tajima	or„	Tanshiu.
Inaba	or„	Inshiu.
Hôki	or„	Hakushiu.
Idzumo	or„	Unshiu.
Iwami	or„	Sékishiu.
Oki (group of islands).

5. The Sanyôdô, or “mountain-front circuit,” which comprises eight provinces, viz.:—

Harima	or	Banshiu.
Mimasaka	or„	Sakushiu.
Bizen	or„	Bishiu.
Bitchiu	or„	Bishiu.
Bingo	or„	Bishiu.
Aki	or„	Geishiu.
Suwô	or„	Bôshiu.
Nagato	or„	Chôshiu.

6. The Nankaidô, or “southern-sea circuit,” which comprises six provinces, viz.:—

Kii	or	Kishiu.
Awaji (island)	or„	Tanshiu.
Awa	or„	Ashiu.
Sanuki	or„	Sanshiu.
Iyo	or„	Yoshiu.
Tosa	or„	Toshiu.

7. The Saikaidô, or “western-sea circuit,” which comprises nine provinces, viz.:—

Chikuzen	or	Chikushiu.
Chikugo	or„	Chikushiu.
Buzen	or„	Hôshiu.
Bungo	or„	Hôshiu.
Hizen	or„	Hishiu.
Higo	or„	Hishiu.
Hiuga	or„	Nisshiu.
Ôsumi	or„	Gûshiu.
Satsuma	or„	Sasshiu.

III. The two islands, viz.:—

1. Tsushima or Taishiu.
2. TsushimaIki or„ Ishiu.

Upon comparing the above list with a map of Japan it

↑ Even in ordinary Japanese maps there are noticeable very glaring discrepancies as to distances, &c. The common measurement of length is the ri, equivalent, as has been said above, to about 2.45 miles. The ri usually contains 36 chô, though in the extreme western portion of the country 50 chô are sometimes reckoned to the ri. In hilly regions we often meet with what is termed the “mountain ri,” which is one-half of the ordinary one. In former days, in stating distances along the roads, &c., the space occupied by temple enclosures was not reckoned, and thus the traveller had often to traverse a far longer route than that actually noted in the guide-books. The minor linear measures are the sun, or inch, 10 of which make the shaku, which is as nearly as possible equivalent to our foot; 6 shaku, or 71½ English inches, make up the Japanese ken, while the jô contains 10 shaku. See recent works on Japanese weights and measures by Mr W. Bramsen.
↑ The names given in italics are those more commonly used. Those in the first column are generally of pure native derivation; those in the second column are composed of the Chinese word shiu, a “province,” added to the Chinese pronunciation of one of the characters with which the native name is written. In a few cases both names are used.

[1] Even in ordinary Japanese maps there are noticeable very glaring discrepancies as to distances, &c. The common measurement of length is the ri, equivalent, as has been said above, to about 2.45 miles. The ri usually contains 36 chô, though in the extreme western portion of the country 50 chô are sometimes reckoned to the ri. In hilly regions we often meet with what is termed the “mountain ri,” which is one-half of the ordinary one. In former days, in stating distances along the roads, &c., the space occupied by temple enclosures was not reckoned, and thus the traveller had often to traverse a far longer route than that actually noted in the guide-books. The minor linear measures are the sun, or inch, 10 of which make the shaku, which is as nearly as possible equivalent to our foot; 6 shaku, or 71½ English inches, make up the Japanese ken, while the jô contains 10 shaku. See recent works on Japanese weights and measures by Mr W. Bramsen.

[2] The names given in italics are those more commonly used. Those in the first column are generally of pure native derivation; those in the second column are composed of the Chinese word shiu, a “province,” added to the Chinese pronunciation of one of the characters with which the native name is written. In a few cases both names are used.

[1]

[2]