The city of Tōkyō was formerly, under the name Edo, the seat of the feudal government for nearly two and three-quarters centuries. To-day it is the capital of the empire. It occupies a central position and is the largest city in the country. Its fifteen wards have a total population of nearly a million and a half. Kyōto, the old capital, is divided into two wards and has a population of over 353,000. Ōsaka, the third of the cities, was the seat of the Taikō's administration. Possessing exceptional facilities for communication by sea and by river, it has been a trading center from olden times. It is divided into four wards, and has a population of 825,000. These three cities constitute the three _fu_. Next in order of importance come Nagoya, between Tōkyō and Kyōto, with a population of 245,000; Kanazawa, in the north of the main island, with a population of 85,000; Sendai, in the northeast, with a population of 84,000; Hiroshima, in the southwest, with a population of 123,000; Kumamoto, in Kiushū, with a population of 62,000. Among the open ports, Yokohama, with a population of 195,000, and Kōbe, with a population of 216,000, are the two most important, Nagasaki, Hakodate, and Niigata following at a considerable interval. The total population of Japan proper is nearly forty-seven millions, and that of Formosa about three millions. The distribution per square mile, exclusive of Formosa, varied in 1898 from 495 in the western part of the main island to 23.7 in Hokkaidō, with the average at about 300. To-day it is approximately 324. The recent national activity of these people will be briefly described in the last division of this volume, and the career of their ancestors in the earlier parts.