Nearly parallel to the Akaishi Mountain, and between the two great valleys of Tenryu and Kiso, extends the Kiso Range with another Koma-ga-take (9,446 feet). This range joins the mountainlands of Mikawa in the south. The spurs of these mountains form a terraced coastal plain which is mostly grass-plain or ((tiara?' such as Takashi-ga-hara, Mikata-ga ham, etc. The lowlands at their base are well cultivated and contain many towns and villages, through which runs the trunk line of the Tokio-Kobe Railway. Many large rivers such as the Fuji, the Abe, the Oi and the Tenryu . flow toward the south, cutting deep valleys in the Akaishi Mountain and its spurs, and forming stony deltas on this coastal plain. On the plain is Lake Hamana, which is now connected with the sea by a narrow outlet.
Coming back to the great tectonic valley of Fuji-Kamanashi, we find the small basin of Suwa with the lake of the same name. It lies 2,600 feet above sea-level and is the source of the Tenryu. Further to the north, separated from this basin by the small ridge of Shiojiri toge, stretches the valley of Matsumoto-daira with an average height of 1,500 feet. Rising precipitously from this level the lofty Hida Range forms the western boundary of the valley. This range extends south to the right side of the great Kiso Valley, and the north end of it terminates abruptly in the precipitous cliff of Oyashirazu on the Sea of Japan. This is the highest mountain range in the empire with many peaks of 10,000 feet in altitude, and hence it is often called the Alps?' There is no glacier in this range at present, but the striated surface of the rocks of Shirouma-ga-take, one of the prominent peaks, indicates the former existence of one. Like the Akaishi Range, it consists of older geological formations and various eruptive rocks. Among several peaks Yari-ga-take (10,142 feet) or the of Hodaka-yama (10,168 feet), Jonenbo-dake (10,168 feet), Otenjo-dake (10,447 feet), Shirouma-ga-take (9,624 feet) are the most celebrated. The size and importance of this range is still further increased by its junction with the Norikura volcanic chain. The two largest volcanoes of this chain, Ontake (10,447 feet), and Norilcura-ga-dake (10,385 feet), are next in height to Mount Fuji. Tateyama is a lofty group including Tat ma proper (9,630 eya feet) and Ken-ga-mine (about 9,840 feet) closely parallel to the western side of the northern Hida Range and separated from it by the great gorge of Kurobe-kawa.
The western flank of the whole Hida Range is not so steep as the eastern, bat slopes to the mountainland of Hida, sometimes called the Hida Plateau. This comprises a wide tract of the most mountainous district in Japan, which spreads over the province of Hida and a part of Mino and Etchu. In its centre there is the small basin or of Takayama. To the north of this mountainland lies the fertile plain of Toyama, along the coast of the deep Toyama Bay, an arm of the Sea of Japan. Jindzu-gawa and Imidzu-gawa drain
this mountainland and then flow through the plain. The western border is a high ridge, upon which stands the volcano Halm san (8,659 feet). The range slopes gradually through a hilly region to a narrow belt of the coastal plain along the Sea of Japan. The province of Noto is a large peninsula on this coast, with Nanao, an excellent harbor. The coastal plain is thickly populated and there are such cities as Kanazawa, the seat of an old gDaiznyo,' and as Fukui, famous for its silk manufacture.
On the south of the Hida Mountainland stretches the low lands of Mino and Owari. It is a part of the great depression, whose southern half is now occupied by the Ise-no umi, an arm of the Pacific. The Mino-Owari plain is drained by the three rivers, Kiso-gawa, Nagara-kawa and Ibi-kawa. It is extremely fertile and produces rice of an excellent quality. Nagoya is a flourishing commercial and in dustrial city and also an important railway junction in this plain. This plain is bounded on the west by the range of Ibuki, Yoro and Suzuka. On the further west, there is a series of such depressions separated from each other by north and south aliorstx' ranges, which finally come to the great depression of the Inland Sea or Setouchi.
Next to the Mino-Owari plain and between the ((Horse Yoro and Hiei-ICasagi, there lies the depression of the province of Omi, the greatest part of which is occupied by Lake Biwa, the most picturesque and largest fresh water lake in Japan. The waters of the Sea of Japan cut deep into the land, forming Tsuruga Bay, and there is only a narrow tract of land between this bay and Lake Biwa. Iga is a small basin to the south of the former. On the southwest of Omi Basin there are the basins of Yamashiro and Yamato. There was, however, originally a single depression between Hiei-Kasagi (Hira-san 4,044 feet, Hieizan, 2,700 feet), and Kongo (4,057 feet) mountains which was afterward divided into the two basins by the undulating hills of in significant height between them. These basins have played an important role in the history of Japan. The basin of Yamato was the seat of the capital of the Nara dynasty, 1,000 years ago, and there still remain many buildings, especially ancient Buddhist temples. In the centre of the basin of Yamashiro is situated the city of Kioto, which was the capital of Japan for a thousand years until Tokio was made the new metropolis in 1868. The city which is often called the Paris of Japan,° is well known for its scenic beauties and its many old magnificent palaces and temples, and it is also noted for its artistic and industrial wares, especially various kinds of silk, em broideries, porcelains and cloisonné ware.