[Illustration: MUTSUHITO, MIKADO OF JAPAN] THE WORLD’S BEST HISTORIES [Illustration] JAPAN BY WALTER DICKSON WITH A SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER OF RECENT EVENTS BY GILSON WILLETS WITH AN ACCURATELY DRAWN CHART GIVING A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE SCENE OF THE WAR IN THE EAST _ILLUSTRATED_ [Illustration] THE CO-OPERATIVE PUBLICATION SOCIETY NEW YORK AND LONDON HISTORY OF JAPAN CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE IMPERIAL FAMILY AND COURT 9 CHAPTER II THE EIGHT BOARDS OF GOVERNMENT 55 CHAPTER III HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE TO THE DEATH OF NOBU NANGA 78 CHAPTER IV GOVERNMENT OF TAIKOSAMA 124 CHAPTER V GOVERNMENT OF IYEYAS 160 CHAPTER VI HISTORY TO THE EXPULSION OF CHRISTIANITY 176 CHAPTER VII THE LAWS OF IYEYAS 192 CHAPTER VIII THE POSITION AND COURT OF THE SHIOGOON 223 CHAPTER IX THE DAIMIOS 228 CHAPTER X THE DAIMIO CLASS 279 CHAPTER XI THE HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE CONTINUED 288 CHAPTER XII EVENTS FOLLOWING THE ABOLITION OF THE SHIOGOONATE 363 CHAPTER XIII THE FOREIGN POLICY OF NEW JAPAN AND THE WAR WITH CHINA 374 CHAPTER XIV TWENTIETH CENTURY JAPAN AND THE WAR WITH RUSSIA 385 CHAPTER XV THE WAR WITH RUSSIA, AND JAPAN A WORLD POWER 409 PREFACE In the preparation of the following Work the Author has to acknowledge the assistance which he has received from a Japanese gentleman in Yokohama, whose name, for obvious reasons, it is prudent not to mention. With his knowledge of the history and institutions of his country, the Author was able to fill up the blanks in short notices of history contained in elementary Japanese books. He was further enabled to go over the red-books of the empire, which enter into the details of the pedigrees of illustrious families, and into the minutiæ of Government offices. The supposed unalterable character of these institutions induces those who have any pretensions to learning in China and Japan to master and retain by memory the names and duties of the different offices in the various departments of Government; and they are frequently found to be good authorities upon questions upon which there is no published information.