CLIMATE. Stretching as the Empire does through nearly 30 degrees of latitude, climatic conditions vary widely in different parts. In the Loo-ehoo group subtropical conditions pre vail; the heat is great. and snow and ice are never seen. In the Kurile Islands, on the other hand, snow and ice never entirely disappear, the sea freezes over in winter, and it is sometimes possible to pass from One island to the other on the ice. Omitting Loo-ehoo, the Bonin Islands, and Formosa, there is scarcely a part of the country that is entirely free from snow in winter. It is heaviest in Yezo, and along that part of the main island which lies between the great mountains (which form its backbone) and the Sea of Japan; and so deeply does it cover the country that in ninny places, especially north of the Shinano, Hida range. the inhabitants have recourse to continuous porticoes or snow-sheds along the streets to afford passageway. To the south and east of this region the snow is some what less heavy, and the winter is milder. emin:.. to the influence of the warm current known as the Kuro Shiwo(q.v). Seldom does more than a few inches of snow fall ill Tokio and Yokohama, though Fujiyama, only 60 miles distant, is cov ered to its base. The winter temperature hardly ever goes below 22 degrees Fahrenheit, and there are not more than three or four frosty days during the whole winter. Kiushiu, Shikoku, San
yo-do, and Tokaido are warm, and snow sel dom lies except on the higher mountains. The wind is northerly and dry and the air bracing. The exceptional conditions which prevail in Yew are due largely to the cold current—the Oya shiwo—and to the strong northeast winds which sweep down upon it from the ice-fields of Siberia.
The southwest monsoon brings with it it hot, moist summer. The rainfall is great, and the heat is considerable, much greater than in cor responding latitudes in Europe and America. The rainfall is heaviest in June and September. The annual fall in Yokohama is about 70 inches; in Nagasaki, 717:-.; in Tokio. 65.4; in Hakudate it is only 57.2. It is the great humidity which some of these figures imply, coupled with a tem perature which may rise in summer to .95 degrees or 96 degrees Fahrenheit, as in Tokio and Yoko hama, that causes so much discomfort, and sends to the mountain all who can get away. Yet, as compared with many places on the mainland of China, Japan is a very pleasant summering place. There is a well-equipped and well-managed Weather Bureau, with 74 meteorological stations.