The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1889-03-02
Our Olio.
The Land of Islands.


the new Japan, to the New York World,
Frank G. Carpenter says. Japan is land
of islands. aud the chain which constitutes
it extends, says one authority, distance
of 2000 miles. Most Of these island are
small. but the country all told has enough
territory for a big nation, and several Of its
islands are larger than many of our Amer
lean States. The island of Iondo, which
is the main part Of the country, and the
one in which the big cities are located, has
5000, 600 population, and the area of
Japan all told Is bigger than Italy, and you
could lose Prussia inside of IT, Al 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 population is about
equal TO that of Great Britain aud Ire
land
These Islands run ike crescent, the
horns Of which are pointed towards Asia.
There are $500 Of them, and the topmost
horn Is formed by the island Of YeEo.
Yc1o is the Alaska Of Japan. Ii contains
one-tfth Of the whole territory. aud il Is
peopled by sayagcs who are hardly more
advanced in civilization than the ESqui
maux. These are the Ainos, who are sup
posed by some 10 be the primitive japanese.
There are oaly IL ,000 Of them They live
10 buss. wear long hair aud boards, aud
have an entirely different civilization from
the res; Of the country They are small
like the japanese, hns broader shouldered
and they are a. dirty as the japanese are
clean The uglie=t sex Of the Amos Is the
women. who tattoo their upper lips aud
think that frowsy hair Is a sign Of beauty
The biz cities Of Jspan are in the island
Of Hondo, which lies soaih Of the Yezo,
and which Is several hundreds of miles
long and at places POO miles wide. Here
are the chief agricultural regions, the man-
ufsr,uring districts, and, in short, Japan.
Toxic itself has a million inhabitants aud
il lies in the centre Of the empire Its dIs-
iauocs are more magnificent than those Of
Washington, aud its size Is about that Of
Philadelphia Three hundred miles west
Of Toxic Is Osaka. which has about as
fAAGF tHAADAAAAAH a. ' AHtNAlRr Atal y hgAN
few miles of from this is KiO,a, which
was formerly ,he capital Of the empire, and
which boasts a. many people as Washing
ton, Kansas City or Cleveland.
Osaka Is nov the New York of Japan,
and kiota, with It's temples, may be called
the Mecca Of the empire. Nagoya and
kanazawa are cities each having over l00,-
600 population, aad there are dozen other
cities iu Japan each Of which contains from
40, 600 to so 600 people There are count
less villages aud many small cities, and the
land Of Japan has been semi-civIlized
country for centuries.
japan Is land OF mountains aud val
lcys. and it has as many different climates
as the United States Surrounded by the
sea. the air j. ever full of moisture, aud
even in winter the land is green. Il Is a
land Of flowers, | saw Csmellia hedges
ike trees near Yokohama. There are
acres and quarter sections cf water about
Toxic covered with lotus flowers as big as
a round fve-eent Loaf Of American bread
and surrounded by gEeen discs, each Of
which Is as big as palm leaf fan. The
wisteria here grows wild and Japan Is the
land Of the chrysanthemum. This flower
forms the crest of the MikaGO, and the po.
etic nature Of the japanese people isshowu
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 Toxic is a city of gardens.
The biggest mountain in Japan is Fug-
iyamr, an extinct volcano, whose small
summit is over l., 900 feet above the sea.
There are now over twenty active aud hun
dreds of dormant volcanoes in Japan, and
the land is one of earthquakes. Some per-
sons state that Toxic has an earthquake
every day of the year, but if SO they are
/ imperceptible, for have been here month
and have noticed but one, which was only
slight shiver of the earth, which passed
away in a minute One hundred and
eighty-6ve years ago an earthquake de-
stroyed the whole of this city and it is
said that in it POO, ,000 people lost their
lives. Toxic had an earthquake as far
back as 1855, which cost the capital the
lives of 104, 900, and within FIVE years of
scientific observation, between 1872 and
1877, eighty-six earthquakes were noticed
at Toxic.
Still the Japanese country in this part OF
the island looks anything but volcanic. 1t
is made of beautiful patches of hill and
hollow cut into fields like a crazy quilt, and
with the various crops covering areas each
of which is not much larger than the floor
of good sized room. Agriculturally the
people seem to work their ground as
though it was all garden, and | doubt
whether there is more thorough cultivation
anywhere / am told that only two-tenths
of the area of the empire is cultivated, and
that much of the remainder contains valu-
able land Colonization is now going on
in Yedo, and the experimental farms which
the government has instituted will show that
some lands which are not good for rice or
tea can be planted in other crops.
The Japan Of the past was made up of
farmers aud warriors, and in the Japan of
the present the farmer has not materially
changed. The advances have all been
made by the warrior class, and Japan is
governed by the former soldiers. The