That _rôle_ is not, however, purely æsthetic, because it contemplates the mercenary advantages to be reaped from the expected throngs of pleasure-seekers, and is, therefore, also practical. And the same person makes another suggestion, wholly practical and pecuniary, as follows:— “Japan is geographically situated in an advantageous position, as at the centre of the world’s commercial routes. China will be the future market of the world, and Japan will receive the mercantile vessels fitted to be despatched to all parts of the earth. Japan should provide herself with extensive docks at the various ports of the island on the route of the mercantile vessels, to give them shelter and, if needed, necessary repairs and cleaning, and eventually supply fuel and water.” We have already referred, in the closing paragraphs of the first chapter, to the physiographical advantages of Japan, but we are impelled to dwell more at length on the subject. A noted Japanese[176] has emphasized the point with the following suggestions: “To all appearances, the seas about Japan and China will be the future theatre of the Far East. The Philippines have been reduced to a province of the United States. China, separated from us only by a very narrow strip of water, is offering every promise of becoming a great resource open to the world of the twentieth century. The Siberia railway has been opened to traffic; and the construction of a canal across Central America is expected to be finished before long.... As for fuel, our supply of coal from the mines of Hokkaidō and Kyūshiu is so abundant that the surplus not required for our own consumption is exported largely into various parts of the East, where no productive coal mines have been found except a very few ones of poor quality.... “Taking all these [things] into account, it is not too much to say that the future situation of Japan will be that of a central station of various water passages,—a situation most conducive to the good of our country; and that, numerous as the attractive places of historical interest and natural beauty are, it is chiefly from our excellently advantageous position, a connecting link common to the three chains of water passage to and from Europe, America, and Asia, that we shall be able to obtain the largest share of the riches of the nations of the world.” With reference to the success of Japan in such a purpose as this, there can be very little doubt; for the natural advantages are so great that they require comparatively little improvement. But, besides this aim of commercial prosperity, there is a higher ambition. One writer[177] says:—