Railways.—The railway system began with two lines, one from Tokyo to Yoko hama, and the other from HyOgo to Osaka and Kyoto. In 1877 a g-reat im petus was given to railway construction by the formation of private companies. There were in 1919 5,999 miles of state railway, 1,835 miles of railway owned by private companies, or a total of 7,834 miles. In 1920 the construction of five railway lines in Manchuria and Mongolia was begun.
Education.—Elernentary education is compulsory. There are about 7,500,000 pupils in the elementary schools, and about 165,000 teachers. In special tech nical schools there are about 400,000 pupils, with about 6,000 teachers. The total number of children of school age is about 10,000,000. There are four uni versities, Tokio Imperial University, Kyoto Imperial University, Tohuku Im perial University, and Kyushu Imperial University. In these universities there are about 10,000 students, with about 900 instructors. Beginning in 1919-20, the government devoted 44,000,000 yen to extend higher education. There is a special education system in Formosa.
Army and Navy.—See ARMY; NAVY.
Finance.—The estimated revenue for the year ending March 30, 1920, was 1,064,190,340 yen. The' chief revenues are derived from taxes, from state prop erty, post and telegraphs, and from monopolies. The chief expenditures are for administration, education, and com munication. The public debt on March 31, 1919, was 2,579,946,478 yen.
Religions.—There are two prevailing religions in Japan—Shinto or Kami 770 Michi ("The way of the gods"), the in digenous faith; and Buddhism, intro duced from China in 552. (1) Shinto ism: The characteristics of ShintOism in its pure form are "the absence of an ethical and doctrinal code, of idol wor ship, of priestcraft, and of any teachings concerning a future state, and the deifi cation of heroes, emperors, and great men, together with the worship of cer tain forces and objects in nature." The principal divinity is the sun goddess Amaterasu, from whom the Mikado is held to be descended. (2) Buddhism: Of Buddhists there are no fewer than 35 sects. The monks have assumed the functions of priests, and Japanese Bud dhist worship presents striking resem blances to that of the Roman Catholic Church. Buddhism is still the dominant religion among the people. Full tolera tion is extended to all forms of religious belief, in so far as they do not conflict with the Apace and order of the commu nity. Francis Xavier introduced Chris tianity in 1549, but his work was extin guished in blood, till scarcely a trace of it was left. Of the Protestant missions the Presbyterians, five sects working.to gether, and the American Congregation alists are the most flourishing. The American and Canadian Methodists, the Baptists, Episcopalians, and others are also actively at work.
Manufactures.—The latest industrial census was made in 1917. There were 20,966 factories employing more than 10 hands each. The total number of em ployees was 1,280,964. The chief manu factures were woven goods, silk goods, woolen goods, Japan paper, European paper, . nlatches, earthenware, matting,
oil, knitting products, etc. There were 9 sugar factories in 1918. The products were valued at 75,935,000 yen.
COMMERCE.—The total imports in 1917 were valued at £217,331,933, and the ex ports at £209,887,261. The chief im ports were from the United States, British India, China, and Great Britain. The chief exports were to the United States, China, Great Britain, British In dia, and France. The chief imports in 1919 were raw cotton, 667,866,651 yen; rice, 162,220,404 yen; iron bar, wrought plates, etc., 156,579,108 yen. Other im ports of importance were sugar, beans and peas, wool, machinery, coal, flax and hemp. The chief exports were raw silk, 623,919,491 yen; cotton tissues, 280,061, 883 yen; silk manufactures, 101,539,277 yen. Other exports of importance were cotton yarn, coal, matches, earthenware, refined sugar.
History.—The reputed founder of the present dynasty was Jimmu Tenno, who ascended the throne in 660 B. c. The legendary epoch continues for more than 1,000 years, and all Japanese history be fore A. D. 500 is to be classed as legend ary. In A. D. 201 the Empress Jingo is said to have invaded and conquered Korea, and this expedition was followed by the introduction of Korean civiliza tion, the sacred Chinese books "Rongo" and "Senjimon" arriving from Korea in 285. In 552 Buddhism was introduced from Korea, and became 40 years later, the established religion. In 624 a Bud dhist hierarchy was established by gov ernment. Shortly before this direct re lations had been entered upon with China, and Chinese civilization was thereafter rapidly assimilated. At one time (1333-1392) two puppet-dynasties held sway, the North and the South, to one or the other of which the feudal barons rallied. The shogunate, made powerful by Yoritomo, itself fell into abeyance, but the military genius and astute policy of Hideyoshi, who died in 1598, prepared the way for its revival in 1603 by Tokugawa Iyeyasu, the illustri ous general and statesman who gave a lasting peace to Japan. The Portuguese, who first landed in Japan in the year 1543, carried on a lucrative trade; but by-and-by the ruling powers took alarm, and ordered away all foreigners, and in terdicted Christianity (1624), believing that foreigners impoverished the country, while their religion struck at the root of the political and religious systems of Japan. The Portuguese continued to frequent Japan till 1638, when they and their religion were finally expelled. From this date the Japanese government maintained the most rigid policy of isola tion, till 1853, when they were rudely awakened from their dream of peace and security by Commodore Perry steaming into the harbor of Uraga with a squad ron of United States war vessels. He extorted a treaty from the frightened Shogun, March 31, 1854, and Japan, aft er a withdrawal of 216 years, entered once more the family of nations. Other countries slowly followed the example of the United States till 16 in all had ob tained the same privileges.