Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1888-11-22
CIVILIZATION In JAPAN.
Yankees of Asia Far Ahead OF Their
NeighbOrs.
They Have Post Offices and System of
Telegraphic Communication.
Schools in Which the Young Ideas are
Taught to Shoot.

| Asia Five thousand miles and fourteen
days from San Francisco. 1t is 10000
miles by shi p from Liverpool through the
Suez Canal. 1t is five days from Yoko-
hama to Hong Kong, and yet some parts
of Japan are SO near the As!atic CONT
nent that you can cross in few hours in
a canoe. Two days sail will bring you
into Corea, and kamschatka is within a
few hours journey of the northern Dor
ders OF Japan. 1t is land of islands
| and the chain which constitutes 1t ex
tends, says one authority, distance of
1000 miles. Most of these islands are
small, bul the country all told has enough
| territory for big nation, and several of
It's islands are larger than many of our
American States. The island of Hondo,
which is the main part of the country,
and the one In which the big cities are
located, has 100000 population, and
/ the area of Japan all told is bigger than
! Italy, and you could lose Prussia inside
of it. All the territory Of Great Britain
/ and Ireland are not equal to Japan, and
| the state Of New York is only one-third
its size. The country has to-day more
people than We had in 1870, and its popu-
lation is about equal TO that Of Great
| Britain and Ireland.
These lands run like a crescent,
| the horns of which are pointed toward
Asia. There are $500 of them and the
| topmost horn is formed by the island of
| Yezc Yezo is the Alaska of Japan. 1t
contains one-ffth of the whole territory,
and it is peopled by savages who are
| hardly more advanced in ci7ilizatian than
the Esquimaux. These are the Amos
who are supposed by some to be the
primitive Japanese. There are only
! 1900 of them. They live in huts, wear
long hair and boards, and have an entire
| ly different civilization from the rest of
the country. They are small like the
Japanese, but broader shouldeted, and
they are as dirty as the Japanese are
clean. The ugiiest sex of the Amos ia
the women, who tattoo their upper lips,
and think that frowsy hair is sign of
beauty. With the modern Japan Yezo
and the Amos have little TO do. They are
governed ~ the Mikado, and he appoints
a ruler for their island They furnish
much of the lumber for Japan, and their
rocky island is said to be full of minerals.
As a political factor, however, they are
nothing.
The big cities of Japan are In the island
Of Hondo, which lies south of the Yezo
long and at places 200 miles wide. Here
are the chief agricultural regions, the
manufacturing districts and, in short,
Japan. Toxic itself has a million in
habitants, and it lies in tha center of the
empire. It's distances are more magniti-
cent than those of Washington and its
size is about that of Philadelphia, Three
hundred miles west of Toxic is Osaka,
which has about as many inhabitants rs
Chicago, and a very few miles off from
this is Kiota, which was formerly the
ca pital of the empire, and which boasts
of as many people as Washington, Kansas
CITY or Cleveland. Osaka is now the New
York of Jspan, and Kiota with its temples
may be called the Mecca of the empire.
Nagoya and Kana2awa are cities each
/, having over 100000 population, AID
there are q dozen other cities in Japan,
each of which contains from 10000 to
$4,000 people. There are countless villages
and many small cities, and the land Of
Japan has been a semi civilized country
for centuries.
Japan is a land of mountains and val
leys, ana it has as many different climates
as the United States. You may find
your Minnesota in Yezo, your Florida
about Nagasaki. and over all you will trd
the green of old Ireland. Surrounded by
the sea, the air is ever full of moisture,
and even in winter the land is green. 1t
ia a land OF flowers. l saw c2melsa
hedges like trees near Yokohama. There
are acres and quarter sections OF water
about Toxic covered with lotus flowers as
big as round ive-cent loaf of American
bread and surrouHded by green discs,
each of which is ss big IS palmleaf fan.
The wisteria here grows wild and Japan
is the land of the chrysanthemum. This
flower forms the crest of the Mihado, aud
the poetic nature of the Japanese people
is shown in their love for flowers. They
have their flower shows three times a
month and when the trees blossom the
whole nation goes wild. Flower peddlers
are everywhere and ToEio is city of
gardens.
The biggest mountain In Japan is
Fugiyama, an extinct volcano whose
summit is over u 600 feet above the sea,
Its snowy peak looks down upon me as
write this letter, and the story of the vol
cauo at Bandissn is still new. There are
Low over twenty active and hundreds OF
dormant volcanoes in Japan, and the land
is one OF earthquakes, Some persons
state that Toxic has an earthquake every
day of the year, but If so they are i'm
perceptible, for have been here month
and have noticed but one, which was
only q slight SILVER Of the earth which
passed away in minute. The Japanese
of olden tunes believed that the earth
cuakes came from a gigantic hsh, which,
living IN the sea, bumped its nose or
struck its tail against the coast in It's
I anger. TAis shook the earth and caused
. IL to crack and tremble.
The old Japan divided the population
into five classes AZ the top gas the
Mikado, who was supposed to be descend
ed from the gods, and who ruled supreme
Under him came the Shotgun or COM
msuder-in-chief of the imperial army,
who tor generations before the revolution
had usurped the power OF the Mikado
and who held his court here 81 Toxic
while be kept the Mikado, as a figure
head 800 miles away a. kioto. Under
the shotgun served the army which was
made MP OF Daimios and amurai. The
and fb. &arDure,