The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-07-21
Lieut.. Col. Wantanabe, First Mill
tary Attache to the United
States, Explains 1t.
BUILT ON BEST OF MODELS.
Reorganization Was Begun TWEEN.
ty-Five Years Ago-Arms and
Munitions Are of Japan
ese Manufacture.

REPUBLIC SPECIAL.
Washington. d. c., July 20-Lieutenant
Colonel Wantanabe. the first representative
of the Japanese Army to be accredited to
Washington as military attache. has ar
rived and reported to the japanese Leya-
ton. He is type of the Japanese Officer,
OF stocky build, wiry and alert. Although
lot serving in the recent military opera
tons in China, he was there during the
Japan-China War. and witnessed the heavy
fighting around Port Arthur and Wei-HaIr
Wei. He gives an interesting outline of tlk,
development of the modern Japanese AI5kyt
and its fighting organization.
The present military system of Japan iss
thoroughly MODERN" said fie. land Is Sim
liar to the best European systems. thosefof,
Germany being. followed to considerahle
extent The present system was adopted
some twenty-five years ago, and has grad
,ally been perfected, until there is not a
remnant of the old native fighting forces.
The peace footing Is from 10000 to $1,000
trent, with a war footing about double that
number, and reserves which can be called
upon to an almost unlimited number
THE army is divided into thirteen d!vis-
ions. with a General in command of each.
We have three Field ACCOMPLISHMENTS :
ere chiefly of an advisory character. and
are not directly connected with the service
in the field. Besides these we have three
Generals of high rank-Nodzu, Sakuma and
kuroki-who take part in military affairs
and are superior to the Generals Of divis-
.ons.
"Our military administration is much like
| that In European and American armies. The
headquarters staff has general charge of
! military information, and concerns itself
| with the larger questions of warfare, STRAIT
| egg and plans of campaign. The War De-
partment carries on the administration of
the commissary and other branches. there
being no distinction in our service between
4 the commissary and quartermaster depart
l ments
| THE Japanese troops are armed and
equipped with the most modern devices OF
/ warfare, the latest rapid-fire inventions be-
| iEg ADDED about three years ago. The prin-
cipal fiedpiece is five-inch gun, and with
this are mountain guns and raptd-fire
| pieces y. -
| g.. rifle Is distinctively a japanese
weapon, made In our own arsenals anc
| combining the best features Of the Other
most effective weapons: 1t is breech-load.
ing, the opening of the breech expelling thu
exploded she'll Not only are our rifles ant
other small arms made at home. but all the
heavy guns are now being manufactured II
japanese arsenals The arsenal at Tokyo
furnishes the rifles and ammunition. ant
the other. at Osaka. turns out the FIELD
guns mountain guns and seacCast batteries
| We have adopted smokeless powder. which
is used for rifle fire as we'll as for ord
nance.
Our soldiers are we'll drilled, and e1pe
rience has shown them TO be capable O
great mobility. The regular uniform Is %
dark blue, with various colored stripes Il
designate the infantry, artillery, cavalry
engineers and commfssary. The troops re
i Gently sent to China were furnished with I
white linen uniform In order to Withstand
the heat. but. this ha, developed that whit
made our men conspicuous mark. and tn
color will probably give way to neutra
| gray. The men serving in China are ais
turn shed with head covering to keep OF
the rays Of the sun.
~ have not had the good fortune to Sc
| any Of the American troops serving in tn
| East but we hear much Of them, and tn
reports are always favorable as TO thei
| splendid appearance. courage and fighting
ability. I am glad to say. too. that there l
the most friendly feeling between the ia
! | panese and American soldiers, and this ha
frequently been shown during the recen
) cooperation Of the allies in China"