The Japan Year Book, 1907. (Japan Press,'? Byward Street. Is.
net.)—The compilers of this volume explain that its appear- ance has been delayed by the process of expansion. They further disarm possible criticism of style by stating that "the English in which guise this compilation is presented is neither the King's nor President's English." It is sufficient to remark that it expresses dearly enough what it is intended to say. It is scarcely necessary to add that this matter is of a highly interesting kind. The population, to begin with, was in 1903 46,732,156, the males, contrary to what is usually the case, exceeding the females by something less than half-a-million (the reverse is stated on p. 18 by an obvious error). More than half the males are under 5 ft. 2 in. in stature ; but the standard, we are told, is rising, the proportion per cent, having fallen in ten years from 60 to 52-07. Old age is common. In 1902 there were 673 centenarians, four of whom claimed an age exceeding 115 years. Australia has more Japanese immigrants than any other country. They number 71,129. The details of politics, administrative, general, or local, curiously resemble our own. Land, however, shows a difference. Two-thirds of it belongs to the Crown. Only one-sixth is under cultivation; and more than half seems to be incapable of it. Nearly two-thirds of the population is employed on the land. "Ten per cont. of Japanese farmers may be said to possess adequate knowledge of farming." How does the comparison stand in this respect ? Small holdings seem to be the rule if "the area per plot amounts to a little over a quarter of an acre." Rent appears to average about 25s. per acre. "Japan is suffering from the pernicious effect of the reckless capture of fish." Pisciculture is practised on a considerable scale, and is encouraged by bounties. Whale-fishing has some- what revived since the war. Three-fifths of the land is under forest. These extracts might be multiplied, but enough has been given to show the value of the book.
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