The annual meeting of clergy (Shinpin Kwaigi) of the Greek Church Mission was held in the cathedral of that mission in Tōkyō on the 15th inst. It was reported at the meeting that there were 1,037 converts last year, deaths 320; and now that the members of the church number 27,956, including 40 clergymen and 146 _denkiosha_ (preachers or unordained evangelists and helpers). JAPAN’S NATIONAL SONG[231] Few Europeans have learned to detect and enjoy the subtle beauty of Japanese poetry. Fewer still, perhaps, are acquainted with the delicate charm of the little poem which, although not a hymn, takes the place in Japanese minds and hearts of the Briton’s “God Save the King,” or the American’s “My Country, ’tis of Thee.” It is sung to a native air, the custom being to sing the poem through thrice, and when thus rendered by a large and enthusiastic company it is often truly impressive. The poem itself is very old, being found in the “Manyōshiu,” which dates from about the middle of the eighth century, and its author is unknown. As originally composed, it was not addressed to the actual ruler, but in all probability to an Emperor who had gone into retirement. Now, however, it is exclusively applied to the reigning Sovereign. The poem consists of the usual number of thirty-one syllables, and runs as follows:— Kimi ga yo wa Chiyo ni yachiyo ni Sazare ishi no Iwao to narite Koke no musu made. So far as we are aware only two English translations have been published. One of these is by Viscount Fukuba, and, closely following the original, reads as follows: “May our Sovereign live for thousands and ten thousands of years, until the tiny pebble becomes a moss-covered rock.” The other, by Professor Chamberlain, is more finished but less literal than the foregoing, and is included in his excellent “Classical Poetry of the Japanese”:— “A thousand years of happy life be thine! Live on, My lord, till what are pebbles now, By age united, to great rocks shall grow, Whose venerable sides the moss doth line.” To the above translations may be added a third by the late Dr. Gordon:— “O Prince upon the throne! Ten thousand years live on, Till pebbles shall great rocks become With moss all overgrown!” FLORAL JAPAN