The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-01-21
MIR. Bryan's Opportune Ar
rival in the Wonderful
Little Land of Little Men
and Women How the.
Country Is Changing.
BY WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN.
1905, by Joseph B. Bowles. Copy
right in Great Britain. All Rights ResetVed.)

5r HE eyes of the world are on
h Japan. No other nation has
ever made such progress in the
same length Of time, and at no time
in her history has Japan enjoyed
greater prestige than she enjoys just
now; and, it may be added, at no time
has she had to face greater problems
than those which now confront her.
We were fortunate in the time OF
our arrival. Baron Komura, the peace
commissioner, returned two days later;
the naval review celebrating the new
Anglo-Japanese alliance took place In
Yokohama harbor a week afterward,
and this was followed next day by the
reception of Admiral Togo at Toxic.
These were important events, and they
gave a visitor an extraordinary oppor-
tunity to see the people en- masse.
In this article shall deal In gem
eral way with Japan and her people,
leaving for future articles her history,
her government, her politics, her in
! dustries, her art, her education and
her religions.
The term Japan Is collective title
applied to four large islands, that Is,
Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, Hokkaido,
and about 600 smaller ones. Formosa
and the islands Immediately adjoining
1t are not generally included, altho
since the Chinese war they belong to
Japan.
/ Japan extends In the shape Of a
crescent, curving toward the east. The
! area is little less than 100000
! square miles, more than half Of
which is on the island Of Hon
/; shu. The coast line is broken by
numerous bays furnishing commodious
harbors, the most important Of which
7 are at Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Maya
saki, Kogeshima and Hakodate. The
islands are so mountainous that only
| about one-twelfth the area is capable
| Of cultivation. Altho Formosa has a
mountain, Mount Niitaka (sometimes
called Mount Morrison) which is 1900
feet higher, Fujiyama is the highest
mountain in Japan proper. It reaches
a height Of 1866 feet.
Beautiful Fuj1yama.
Full (yama is the Japanese word for
mountain) is called the Sacred noun.
tain, and is an object of veneration
among the Japanese. And we'll it may
be, for it is doubtful if there is on
earth more symmetrical mountain ap
preaching it in height. Rising in the
shape of a perfect cone, with it's sum
NIT crowned with snow thruout nearly
the entire year, and visible from sea
level, it is one Of the most sublime
of all the works Of nature.
Mount Rainier, as they say at Seattle
or Tacoma, as it is called in the city
of that name, and Popocatapetl, neal
Mexico's capital, are the nearest ap
proach to Full, so far as the writer Is
observation goes. Pictures of Full are
to be found on everything; they are
printed on silk, embroidered on screens
worked on velvet, carved in wood and
wrought in bronze and stone.
We saw it from Lake Hakone, 8
beautiful sheet Of water some 3,OOC
feet above the ocean. The foothills
which surround the lake seem to open
at one point in order to give a more
extended view Of the sloping sides OF
this sleeping giant.
The Home Of the Crown Prince.
And speaking of Hakone, 1t is one OF
Che beauty spots Of Japan. On an island
in, this lake is the summer home Of the
crown prince. Hakone is reached by
a six-mile ride from Mtyanoshita, E
picturesque little village some sixty
miles west Of Yokohama. There are
here hot springs and all the delight:
of mountain retreat. One of the bes
modern hotels in Japan, the Fujiya, Ii
located here, and one Of the earlies
guests was General Grant when he mad,
his famous tour around the world. TIL,
road from the hotel to Hakone Leads
by foaming mountain streams, thr,
closely cultivated valleys and over =,
range from which the coast line can b.
seen.
Nikko, about one hundred miles nortl
Of Toxic, and Nara, about thirty mile
from Kyoto, are also noted for thei
natural scenery, but these places ar
even more renowned because of tn
temples located there.
The Inland Sea.
The inland sea which separates tn
larger islands of Japan, and is itse]
studded with smaller islands, adds il
fte1est to the travel from port to por
Many of these islands are inhabite,
and the tiny fields which perch upo
their sides give evidence Of an eve
present thrift. Some of the islands al
barren peaks jutting a few hundre
feet above the waves, while some al
so tiny as to look like haystacks in
submerged meadow.
All over Japan one is impressed wit
the patient industry of the people.
the Hollanders have reclaimed tt
ocean bed, the people Of Japan hay
encroached upon the mountains. The
have broadened the valleys and terrace
the ,hillsides. Often the diminuti,
fields are held in place by stone wall
while the different levels are furnishe
with an abundance Of water from tt
short but numerous rivers.
The stature Of the Japanese is belo
that Of the citizens of the Unite
States and northern Europe. The a
erage height Of the men in the arm
is about FIVE feet two inches, and IL
average weight between 100 and 1;
pounds. It looks like burlesque ope
to see, as one does occasionally, tv
or three little Japanese soldiers guar
!, inga group of big, burly Russian pr
oners.
Japs Growing Bigger.
The opinion is quite general that Il
habit which the Japanese form fro
infancy Of sitting on the floor with the
feet under them, tends to shorten t
lower limbs. In all the schools t
children are now required to sit up