a-yama in Hyuga, and Asama-yama in Shinano. Asama-yama is about
8,000 feet high, and is an active volcano.

From time immemorial the Japanese islands have been affected with
earthquakes. Occasionally they have been severe and destructive, but
usually slight and ineffective. It is said that not less than five hundred
shocks(6) occur in Japan each year. The last severe earthquake was in the
autumn of 1891, when the central part of the Main island, especially in
the neighborhood of Gifu, was destructively disturbed. During the long
history of the empire many notable cases(7) have occurred. Mr.
Hattori-Ichijo in a paper read before the Asiatic Society of Japan, March,
1878, has compiled a list of destructive earthquakes, and has deduced from
it some important generalizations.

Closely associated with earthquakes in Japan as elsewhere are the
phenomena of volcanoes. The whole archipelago bears evidence of volcanic
formation. The long line of islands stretching from Kamtschatka to Borneo
is plainly the product of continued volcanic action. Dr. Rein(8)
enumerates eighteen active volcanoes now in existence within the empire.
Fuji-san in all its beauty was no doubt thrown up as a volcano. The last
time it was in action was in 1707, when in connection with a series of
severe earthquake shocks, an eruption took place on the south side of the
mountain, and its symmetrical form was destroyed by the production of the
new crater, Hoye-san.

Among the mountainous districts many small lakes are found, a few of which
are large enough to be navigated. In Yezo there are six considerable
lakes. In the Main island the largest lake is Biwa, in the beautiful
mountain region north of Kyoto. It received its name from its fancied
resemblance to the shape of a musical instrument called a _biwa_. There is
a legend that this lake came into existence in a single night, when the
volcanic mountain Fuji-san 300 miles distant was raised to its present
height. It is about fifty miles long and about twenty miles broad at its
greatest width. It is said to be not less than 330 feet at its greatest
depth. It is navigated by steamboats and smaller craft. It is situated
about 350 feet above the ocean. Lake Suwa in Shinano is 2,635 feet above
the ocean. Lake Chuzenji in the Nikko mountains is 4,400 feet; and Hakone
lake near Yokohama is 2,400 feet.

Owing to the narrowness of the Main island, there are no rivers of a large
size. Most of them take their rise i