and separated from Corea and Primorsk by the Sea of
Japan, consists of Honshiu (31,000), Shikoku (3,000), Kyushu (6,000),
Yezo (314), and 4000 small islands; though not of volcanic origin, the
islands are the most mountainous in the world, have many volcanoes and
sulphur springs, and are subject to earthquakes; they are very
picturesque, and have peaks from 8000 to 12,000 ft. high; the rivers are
too swift for navigation; the coast, not much indented, has yet some good
harbours; the valleys are well wooded, but the soil not very fertile;
temperature and climate are various; nowhere is the heat intense, but in
some parts the winter is very cold; there is much rain, but on the whole
it is healthy; the chief industry is agriculture; farming is careful and
intelligent; rice, cereals, pulse, tea, cotton, and tobacco are raised,
and many fruits; gold, silver, all the useful metals, coal, granite, some
decorative stones are found, but good building-stone is scarce; the
manufacture of porcelain, lacquer-work, and silk is extensive, and in
some artistic work the Japanese are unrivalled; the chief ports are
Yokohama (143), on the E. of Honshiu, which has grown up since 1854, when
the country was opened to trade; and Hyogo (143), on the S. coast of the
same island, where are also shipbuilding yards; the chief exports are
tea, silk, and rice; imports cotton, woollen, iron goods, and chemicals;
the Japanese, sprung from an ancient union of Tartars with Ainos and with
S. Malays, are a kindly, courteous, law-abiding folk, with highly
developed artistic tastes; education is compulsory, and well provided
for; religion is Shintoism and Buddhism, but Christianity is gaining
rapid ground; the government is in the hands of the Mikado, who rules now
with the aid of ministers and two houses of parliament; education,
government, army, and navy--indeed the whole modern civilisation of the
country--is on Western lines, though until 1853 foreigners were excluded;
a civil war in 1867-68 effected the change from the old feudalism, and
the amazing success of Japan in the war against China in 1894 has proved
that the new civilisation is no mere veneer; the capital is Tokyo
(1,162).

JAPHETH, one of the three sons of Noah and the ancestor of the
Gentiles, as distinct from the descendants of Shem, or the Semites, and
of Ham, or the Hamites. See IAPETOS.

JAQUES, or the "melancholy" a cynical moraliser in Shakespeare's "As
You Like It."

JARNAC