The present constitution of the Japanese Army dates from 1873, and the Military Forces consist of—(1) the permanent or Regular Army, with its Reserves and Recruiting Reserves; (2) the Territorial Army; (3) the National Militia; and (4) the Militia of the various island centres off the coast, &c. Military service is obligatory in the case of every able-bodied male from the age of seventeen to forty years of age. Of this period, three years are passed in the permanent or Regular Army, four years and four months in the Regular Reserves, five years in the Territorial Army, and the remaining liability in the National Militia. The permanent Army, with its Reserves, conducts operations abroad, and the Territorial Army and the Militia are for home defence. These latter are equipped with Peabody and Remington single-loading rifles. The up-to-date strength of the permanent Army, on a war footing, which does not include the Reserves, is as follows: +---------------------------------------+----------+----------+--------+ | | | Rank | | | | Officers | and File | Horses | +---------------------------------------+----------+----------+--------+ |Infantry, 52 regiments of 3 | | | | | battalions, 156 battalions = | 4,160 | 143,000 | 52 | | | | | | |Cavalry, 17 regiments of 3 squadrons, | | | | | 51 squadrons = | 400 | 9,300 | 9,000 | | | | | | |Field and Mountain Artillery, 19 | | | | | regiments of 6 batteries, total | | | | | 114 batteries of 6 guns = 684 guns = | 800 | 12,500 | 8,800 | | | | | | |Fortress Artillery, 20 battalions = | 530 | 10,300 | 70 | | | | | | |Engineers { 13 Sapper battalions = | 270 | 7,000 | 215 | | { 1 Railway battalion = | 20 | 550 | 15 | | | | | | |Transport, 13 battalions = | 220 | 7,740| 40,000 | +---------------------------------------+----------+----------+--------+ Total = 684 guns, 6400 officers, 190,390 rank and file, 58,152 horses.