It is rather a difficult task to select from the vernacular newspapers the few most worthy of mention; but two from Ōsaka and six from Tōkyō will suffice. The “Ōsaka Asahi Shimbun” is said to have the largest circulation in the whole country; and the “Ōsaka Mainichi Shimbun” is well known. In Tōkyō the most prominent journals are the “Jiji Shimpō,” the “Nichi Nichi Shimbun,” the “Kokumin Shimbun,” the “Mainichi Shimbun,” and the “Hōchi Shimbun.” Another Tokyo paper of very large circulation is the “Yorozu Chōhō.” Almost all the newspapers of Japan are morning papers; but, as they generally go to press early in the evening of the preceding day, the “news” is not the latest. But very important events will always be published in “extras” at any hour.[137] There are also magazines galore of every kind. Some of them prove rather short-lived; but most of them find a constituency, as each one seems to have its own field. Probably the largest and most successful magazine is named “Taiyō” (Sun), which issues monthly about 250 pages of Japanese matter, with 24 pages of English matter, and is finely illustrated. Its leading articles by well-known writers cover a great variety of topics. The “Kokumin-no-Tomo” (Nation’s Friend) is another excellent magazine, famous for the admirable style of its contributions. The “Rikugō Zasshi” (Cosmos) is philosophical and religious. There are a great many Shintō, Buddhist, and Christian weekly and monthly periodicals, which are published primarily for the edification of the believers. “Of making many books there is no end” in Japan. Composition is apparently such an easy task, and publishing is so cheap, that every person inspired with an idea is tempted to rush into print. And those who are not so fortunate as to be rich in “original” ideas, have an inexhaustible field in the translation of books from English and other Occidental languages; indeed, a fair living may be made in that way. Japanese taste in reading is illustrated by a table accompanying a recent official report from the Imperial Library at Tōkyō. During a period of 24 days covered by the report, the readers numbered 7,770, and the books called for were classified as follows:— Japanese and European Chinese works. works. Theology and religion 635 14 Philosophy and education 2,368 145 Literature and languages 8,038 998 History, biography, geography, travel 9,768 460 Law, politics, sociology, economy, statistics 6,577 304 Mathematics, natural philosophy, medicine 9,506 388 Engineering, military arts, industries 4,943 205 Miscellaneous books 4,840 530