are elevated three or four feet above the surrounding fields. They are not macadamized, but are covered with large, coarse gravel known as jari. When this jari is first spread on, the roads are almost impassable, but it soon becomes beaten down and makes a good road. Unfortunately, it must be applied nearly every year.

Some of the chief highways are very old. The most famous is the Tokaido, extending from the old capital, Kyoto, the seat of the imperial court, to the city of Yedo (now called Tokyo), the seat of the shogun's government. It was over this road that the ancient daimios of the western provinces used to journey, with gorgeous pageantry and splendid retinues, to the shogun's court.

Some highways are lined on either side with tall cryptomeria and other trees, giving a delightful shade and making of them beautiful avenues. The most beautiful of these is the road approaching Nikko. This is said to be lined on both sides with rows of magnificent cedars and pines for a distance of 40 miles.

The bridges add a great deal to the peculiar beauty of the landscape. They are substantial, beautiful structures, generally built in the shape of an arch, and are of stone, bricks, or wood. The Japanese are very careful about bridges, and little streams across foot-paths, where in America one sees at best only a plank or log, are here carefully bridged. The bridge called Nihon-bashi, in Tokyo, is said to be the center of the empire, the point at which all roads converge.

A Bridge Scene.

Japan is a land in which the rural population largely predominates. Most of the people live in the villages and small towns. But in recent years a process similar to that going on in America has set in, and large numbers of the rural classes are drifting into the cities.

The chief city is Tokyo, with a population of 1,323,295. Being now the home of the emperor and the seat of government, it is held in much reverence by the people. In popular parlance this city is exalted on a pedestal of honor, and the people speak of "ascending to" or "descending from" it. It is really a fine city, with broad, clean streets and many splendid buildings, and has been called the "city of magnificent distances." One can travel almost a whole day and not get outside the city limits. It was formerly called Yedo, but when the emperor removed his court hither after the Restoration its name was changed to Tokyo. The term means "east capital." The city has enjoyed a marvelous growth and is to-day a vigorous, active place. It has many of the conveniences of modern Western cities, such as electric lights, water-works, tram-cars, telephones, etc.

Kyoto is the ancient capital, the place where the mikados lived in secluded splendor for so many centuries. It was the most magnificent city of old Japan, and many highly cherished national memories and traditions cluster around it. The old classical Japanese, to whom the ancient régime is far superior to the present, still lingers fondly in thought round its sacred temples, shrines, and groves. When the imperial court was removed to Tokyo the name of Kyoto was changed to Saikyo, a term meaning "west capital." Western geographers frequently have been guilty of the error of calling this city "Miyako"; but that has never been the city's name, and is simply the Japanese word for "capital." Kyoto is a beautiful, prosperous city, with a population of 328,354.

Osaka is the commercial center. It is a city of manufactories, and nearly all native articles of merchandise bear the mark, "Made in Osaka." As a business center this city surpasses all others in the empire. It is centrally located, at the head of Osaka Bay, about 20 miles from the open port of Kobé. Here we find the imperial mint, with long rows of splendid buildings. The population is 494,314.

The next largest city is Nagoya, with a population of 206,742. Other prominent cities are: Hiroshima, 91,985; Okayama, 52,360; Kanagawa, 89,975; Kagoshima, 55,495, etc.

There are seven open ports in which foreigners reside at present and engage in commerce. In the order of importance they are: Tokyo, population 1,323,295; Osaka, 494,314; Yokohama, 160,439; Kobé, 150,993; Nagasaki, 67,481; Hakodate, 66,333; Niigata, 50,300. Formerly Nagasaki was in the lead, but now has fallen to the fifth place. It is probable that other ports will be opened to foreign trade in the near future.

Climate

As Japan is so long a country, she has every variety of climate. In the northern provinces, and especially on the northwest coast, it is extremely cold in winter, and snow falls in such quantities as practically to stop all kinds of business. In Formosa and Liukiu there is perpetual summer. That part of Japan in which the West is most interested, and about which it knows most,—which is far the most important portion of the empire,—has a mild, damp climate, free from great extremes of either heat or cold. Each winter snow falls frequently, but it is seldom known to lie on the ground for more than a few hours at a time. Cold frosts are rare. Judged by the thermometer, the summers are no warmer than those of the Carolinas or Tennessee, but their effect upon people of the West resident here is much more trying than the summers of those places. Various reasons are assigned for this. Physicians are well aware that humidity affects health for good or bad as much as temperature. In considering the healthfulness of a climate, not only is the temperature to be taken into account, but the amount of moisture in the air must also be considered. Now, in Japan there is so excessive an amount of moisture in the atmosphere that it makes the heat exceedingly depressing.

The presence of this dampness makes it very hard to keep things clean and free from rust and mold. Sewing-machines, bicycles, scissors, knives, and such things have to be watched carefully and oiled. Carpets, clothing, shoes, etc., have to be sunned well and then shut up in air-tight boxes during the summer season. Often a single night is sufficient to make a pair of shoes white with mold. Were it only on the machines and clothing that the dampness and mold settle, it would not be so bad; but we feel that this same clammy mold is going down into our very bones and marrow, gradually sapping their vigor and strength.

Besides this great excess of moisture in the atmosphere, there are other reasons why the climate is so debilitating. One of these is the lack of ozone. This element is known to be one of the greatest atmospheric purifiers, and also to have a very invigorating and stimulating effect upon mind and body. The proportion of ozone in the atmosphere of Japan is only about one third as great as that in the atmosphere of most Western countries.

The proportion of electricity in the atmosphere is also thought to be much below the average. While not much is known in regard to the effect of atmospheric electricity upon the healthfulness of a country, it is generally believed by scientific and medical men that the proportion of electricity in the air has much to do with our physical well-being.

These three factors, viz., too much moisture, not enough ozone, and not enough electricity, are named as the chief causes which conduce to make the climate depressing and enervating to people from the West. We missionaries have neither the energy nor the strength to do here what we could do at home, and after a five or six years' residence, to do effective work must be permitted to recuperate in the home