changes through which the empire has been called
to pass. It would be impossible to state in detail the sources from which
I have derived the material for this work. I place first and as most
important a residence of several years in Japan, during which I became
familiar with the character of the Japanese people and with the traditions
and events of their history. Most of the works treating of Japan during
and prior to the period of her seclusion, as well as the more recent
works, I have had occasion to consult. They will be found referred to in
the following pages. Beyond all others, however, I desire to acknowledge
my obligations to the _Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan_. A
list of the contributors to these transactions would include such names as
Satow, Aston, Chamberlain, McClatchie, Gubbins, Geerts, Milne, Whitney,
Wigmore and others, whose investigations have made possible a reasonably
complete knowledge of Japan. The _Transactions of the German Asiatic
Society_ are scarcely less noteworthy than those of her sister society. To
these invaluable sources of information are to be added Chamberlain's
_Things Japanese_, Rein's _Japan_ and the _Industries of Japan_, Griffis'
_Mikado's Empire_, Mounsey's _Satsuma Rebellion_, Dening's _Life of
Hideyoshi_, the published papers of Professor E. S. Morse, and the two
handbooks prepared successively by Mr. Satow and Mr. Chamberlain.

To friends who have taken an interest in this publication I owe many
thanks for valuable and timely help: to Dr. J. C. Hepburn, who for so many
years was a resident in Yokohama; to Mr. Benjamin Smith Lyman of
Philadelphia who still retains his interest in and knowledge of things
Japanese; to Mr. Tateno, the Japanese Minister at Washington, and to the
departments of the Japanese government which have furnished me material
assistance.

In the spelling of Japanese words I have followed, with a few exceptions,
the system of the Roman Alphabet Association (Romaji Kai) as given in its
published statement. I have also had constantly at hand Hepburn's
_Dictionary_, the _Dictionary of Towns and Roads_, by Dr. W. N. Whitney,
and _Murray's Handbook of Japan_, by B. H. Chamberlain. In accordance with
these authorities, in the pronunciation of Japanese words the consonants
are to be taken at their usual English values and the vowels at their
values in Italian or German.

DAVID MURRAY.

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