But Christianity has always taught, in Japan as elsewhere, that prostitution, whether licensed or unlicensed, is a sin, and has sought by various means to check this terrible evil. Formerly no girl was able to escape from her awful slavery, no matter how much she desired to free herself, except by permission of the keeper! But within the past few years a campaign has been waged that has greatly weakened the tyranny of the abominable system. A test case, bitterly fought at every point, was carried up through all the courts to the highest, and finally won by those who contended that a girl could not be kept in a brothel against her will. Another test case, carried up to the Supreme Court, and decided in favor of the keepers, to the effect that the financial obligations of the girls are valid in law, has given the reform movement a temporary set-back. But, in spite of all obstacles and opposition, the crusade against the social evil has achieved a large measure of success. About 14,000 girls have been set free; the number of applicants for admission, as well as of unlicensed prostitutes, has diminished; the number of visitors has so largely decreased, that some brothels have been compelled to go into bankruptcy and close up the business; public opinion has been aroused, and the moral tone of society has been elevated and purified. We must not fail to call attention to the fact that the destructive work of this crusade has been supplemented by the constructive work of establishing “rescue homes” under the auspices of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the Salvation Army, and other Christian organizations. There is also a very large and successful Home for ex-Convicts, conducted in Tōkyō by Mr. Hara, a Christian minister, often called the “Howard of Japan.” This title might also be given to Mr. Tomeoka, another Christian minister, who has made a special study of penology and prison management, and is conducting both a “reform school” and a “school for prison officials.” Inasmuch as Japan is under a paternal government, the system of registration is carefully and thoroughly employed. It is practically ubiquitous and universal; and it is carried to such an extreme as to be vexatious to Anglo-Saxons, especially to Americans. But to a Japanese the _seki_ (register) is all important; it is the certificate of his (or her) very existence, age, status, occupation, home (permanent or temporary), and almost of the character of the individual. In case of change of residence, this biographical sketch must be transferred from one locality to another; and even in case of travel, or presence in a hotel for a single night only, the guest must give an account of himself to the proprietor according to certain blanks supplied by the police. A foreigner is concerned with the following information by Dr. Masujima, the eminent lawyer and jurist of Tōkyō:—