JAPAN (native name, Xiport—or Nlpon, Great Nipon—i.e.. the Land of the Rising Son), a very ancient islaed-enipire of eastern Asia, long remarkable for the proud isolating policy of its rulers, and now claiming special consideration, both on account of its recent renewed relations with the civilized world, and the %•onderful enauges that during the last few years have been in progress in the country.
Japaa 1.uper comprehends four large islands, viz , Nipon (the Japanese. mainland), Sikok or Sikopf, Kiusin, and Yezo, and extends from 31° to 45° 30' n. lat. The empire of Japan—the area of which has been estimated at 266,500 sq about 3,800 small islands and islets besides the four larger ones, and is situated between 26° to 52° n. lat., and 123' to 151' C. long. It is hounded on the n. by the sea of Okhotsk, on the e. by the north Pacific ocean, on the s. by the eastern sea of China, and on the w. by the sea of Japan. In 1872 the population of Japan was 133,110,825.
Physical Features,—The islands of Japan appear to be of vole .nic origin, and that part of the Pacific on which they rest is still intensely affected by volcanic action. Earthquakes occur very frequently in japan, although certain pails of the country are exempt. The Japanese reckon that, on an average, sonic one of their cities is destroyed every seven years by this agency. Japan lies been balled the land of mountains; but though these are very numerous, and many of them volcanic, they are of moderate ele vation, and rarely attain the limits of perpetual snow. The country generally is of mod erate elevation, with fertile valleys, picturesque landscapes, and a coast indented with magnificent harbors; the soil is productive, rich in mineral wealth, and teemiug with every variety of agricultural produce. The great volcanic mountain Wunsentake, on a promontory of Kiusiu, reaches to the line of perpetual snow, and is both feared and worshiped by the Japanese. The celebrated and sacred ' usiyama (" Rich Scholar Peak"), the Parnassus of Japan, is au extinct volcano, the highest peak of which reaches to the height of 14,177 feet. Springs, lakes, and rivers are numerous; but the last, being sand-choked and very impetuous, are valuable chiefly for the purposes of irri gation.
Our knowledge of the climate of Japan is yearly increasing. June. July, and Aug.
are the months of rain, which sometimes descends in unceasing torrents. The months of Oct. and Nov. are the pleasantest mid most genial of the twelve, when tine weather is enjoyed without the scorching heat of summer. The summers arc very hot, and the winters in the northern parts almost Siberian: the thermometer rising to 9G° in the shade in the former, and sinking to 18° below zero iu the latter season. Alcock says: "The thermometer in the shade (during the summer)ranges from 70' to 85°, and aver ages 80' between the morning and the evening, while it is sometimes below 70' at night." Hurricanes and waterspouts are frequent; dense fogs hide the sun, sometimes for four or five days together; and about the change of the monsoons. typhoons, and equinoctial gales frequently sweep the Japanese seas.
Vegetable Productians. —In Hodgson's Japan will be found a systematic catalogue of Japanese flora by sir William Hooker. We can only mention a few of the most note worthy trees and plants. Chestnut, oak (both deciduous and evergreen). pine, beech. elm• cherry. dwarf-oak, elder, sycamore, maple, cypress. and many other trees of familiar name ahound. The evergreen oak and the maple are the finest of all Japanese trees. The grandest forests of pine, and oaks of prodigious size, grow in Yesso; but the rh us rer nicifera or lacquer-trec, the lau sus camphora or camplior4ree, the brouPsonctia papyrifera or paper-mulberry—the bark and young twigs of which are manufactured by the Japanese into paper—nnd the rhus succerlanfa or vegetable wax-tree of Japan. are among the remarkable and characteristic trees of the country. Bamboos, palms, including sago-palms, and 150 species of evergreen trees, likewise flourish. Thus, the vegetation of the tropics is strangely intermingled wi;h that of the temperate or frigid zone; the tree-fern, bamboo, banana, and palm grow side by side with the pine, the oak, and the beech, and coniferw in great variety. The camellia, the paulownia, and the chrysanthemum are conspicuous amongst its indigenous plants. Nymphams and par nassia fill the lakes and morasses. The tobacco-plant, the tea-shrub, the potato, rice, wheat, barley, and maize are all cultivated. The flora of Japan bears a remarkable resemblance to that of the North American continent.