Bell At Kyoto

CHAPTER I. THE JAPANESE ARCHIPELAGO.

The first knowledge of the Japanese empire was brought to Europe by Marco
Polo after his return from his travels in China in A.D. 1295. He had been
told in China of "Chipangu,(1) an island towards the east in the high
seas, 1500 miles from the continent; and a very great island it is. The
people are white, civilized, and well favored. They are idolaters, and are
dependent on nobody. And I can tell you the quantity of gold they have is
endless; for they find it in their own islands." The name Chipangu is the
transliteration of the Chinese name which modern scholars write
Chi-pen-kue, by which Japan was then known in China. From it the Japanese
derived the name Nippon, and then prefixed the term Dai (great), making it
Dai Nippon, the name which is now used by them to designate their empire.
Europeans transformed the Chinese name into Japan, or Japon, by which the
country is known among them at present.

Marco Polo's mention of this island produced a great impression on the
discoverers of the fifteenth century. In Toscanelli's map, used by
Columbus as the basis of his voyages, "Cipango" occupies a prominent place
to the east of Asia, with no American continent between it and Europe. It
was the aim of Columbus, and of many subsequent explorers, to find a route
to this reputedly rich island and to the eastern shores of Asia.

The islands composing the empire of Japan are situated in the northwestern
part of the Pacific ocean. They are part of the long line of volcanic
islands stretching from the peninsula of Kamtschatka on the north to
Formosa on the south. The direction in which they lie is northeast and
southwest, and in a general way they are parallel to the continent.

The latitude of the most northern point of Yezo is 45 deg. 35', and the
latitude of the most southern point of Kyushu is 31 deg.. The longitude of the
most eastern point of Yezo is 146 deg. 17', and the longitude of the most
western point of Kyushu is 130 deg. 31'. The four principal islands therefore
extend through 14 deg. 35' of latitude and 15 deg. 46' of longitude.

The Kurile islands(2) extending from Yezo northeast to the straits
separating Kamtschatka from the island of Shumushu belong also to Japan.
This last island has a latitude of 51 deg. 5' and a longitude of 157 deg. 10'. In
like manner the Ryukyu islands, lying in a southwest direction from Kyushu
belong to Ja