Japan
Japan names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Japan an empire of eastern Asia
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
an empire of eastern Asia. It comprises chiefly a chain of four large continental islands inclosing the sea of Japan. Hondo or Nippon, the largest of these, is from fifty to 100 miles in width, and about 700 miles long. There are in all no less than 487 islands of sufficient size to be recognized by the government. The area of the empire, including several groups of small islands, but not including Formosa, is 147,655 square miles, about equal to the combined areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The larger islands have numerous deep-water harbors. A mountain chain runs lengthwise through Hondo. The highest peak, Fusiyama, lies about two and one-half miles above sea level. About 200 years ago an eruption took place. Many people living in the vicinity were killed. It is now a dormant volcano covered with perpetual snow. The people regard the mountain as sacred. Aside from this peak, the rest of the mountain chain is arable. Active volcanoes occur in Yezo, the most northerly of the large islands. During the last twenty years of the eighteenth century a score of villages and 100,000 people were destroyed by volcanic eruptions. An extinct crater in the southernmost of the large islands is said to have the largest circumference of any in the world. Earthquakes are frequent throughout the empire causing the inhabitants to build low houses of light construction. MINERALS. The fundamental rocks of the islands are of volcanic origin. These are overlaid by clays and marl. There are numerous deposits of a kind of clay used for porcelain. Mines of gold, silver, lead, and iron occur. The tin and copper are of superior quality. Hot springs abound. Coal mines have been opened up of late. Oil wells now produce a large yield of petroleum. The pearls of Japan are famous for their size and beauty. The empire is one of the sources of ambergris. Carnelians, jasper, and agate stones are found. CLIMATE. The Empire extends through so many degrees of latitude that the range of climate is greater than that of the United States . The southern part of Formosa is within the Tropic of Cancer . The most northerly island of the empire, an islet of the Kurile group, lies beyond the fiftieth parallel of north latitude. The climate of the empire is much modified by the Japan Current, producing much the same effect that the Gulf Stream does upon the British Isles. The seasons are much like those in the United States, only warmer. There is abundant rainfall. Typhoons are expected in September. FLORA. The bamboo and the sago palm flourish as far north as Tokio. The pine, elm, chestnut, beech, and oak are found at the greater elevations, or farther northward. Asa Gray, the American botanist, found that the flora of Japan corresponds very closely to that of North America , yet there are many peculiar plants that we do not have, as the lacquer tree, the wax tree, and the japonica. Some of our most valued vegetables and varieties of orchard fruits have been obtained from Japan. The uplands are clothed with a profusion of wild flowers. The leaves of the maple and other deciduous trees on the hillside turn red with frost in autumn just as ours do. The tea plant thrives best in Central Japan. FAUNA. Although a long settled country with an ancient civilization, there are still a few wild animals. Wild bears still roam in Yezo. The monkey, deer, boar, and hyena are found in the more remote portions of the main island. Like other folks, the people of Japan have many tales to tell of the quest of the fox and the badger. Though Japan is noted for cats, the islands are infested with rats and mice. The islands are not without birds, but it is said that there are only two song birds, a lark and a nightingale. Large serpents are numerous, but they are harmless. Insect life is abundant and brilliant. Mosquitoes and fleas infest the country. FISHERIES. A kind of trout much prized by anglers is found in the chief streams. The seas teem with fish. Pearl and coral are gathered. Lobsters and oysters bring the total value of marine products up to $27,000,000. Three million Japanese subsist by means of the fisheries. This industry has been enlarged greatly by the recent agreement permitting the Japanese to fish in the waters of Russian Siberia. The streams are all comparatively short. The water supply is hoarded carefully for purposes of irrigation. Lakes are not infrequent. One in the southern part of Hondo is over forty miles in length. Flatboats carry the produce of the interior to the seaports. Cedar and pine logs, rivaling those of the Pacific Coast in size, are floated from the mountains to sawmills near the sea. the manufacture of porcelain, steel mirrors, mulberry paper, paper handkerchiefs and napkins, fans, ivory carving, the casting of metal statues, the weaving of silks, decoration of screens and earthenware, they are unsurpassed. Modern manufactures are springing up rapidly. Native factories now make cannon, firearms, ammunition, and implements of the most approved patterns. Shipyards equipped with the most modern appliances have been established at several ports. Tokio is the capital. Yokohama, eighteen miles distant, is its seaport. There are eight cities having over 100,000 in population. The leading exports are tea, silk, ornamental articles, drugs, porcelain, matches, paper, and straw braid. The leading imports are flour, sugar, cotton, iron and steel goods, machinery, stationery, and petroleum. PROGRESS OF JAPAN. Japan was little known to the world prior to 1852, when a naval expedition under Commodore Perry succeeded in making a treaty opening the principal ports to foreign commerce. The only nation previously enjoying the privilege was the Dutch. During the last fifty years Japan has made wonderful progress. Docks have been constructed; railroads have been built; the empire has been thrown open to the world. The young people of the upper classes have been sent abroad to absorb knowledge and learn the ways of the world. GOVERNMENT. In 1868 the rule of feudal lords was shaken off in favor of the emperor. In 1889 the Japanese exchanged an absolute monarchy for a constitutional form of government. The emperor is called the mikado. He is assisted by a cabinet and a parliament of two houses framed on the British model. The members of the house of representatives are elected by ballot, one for each 127,000 people. Male Japanese subjects not less than twenty-five years old, who are residents of a year's duration and who pay taxes to the amount of not less than five dollars a year, may vote. This sounds fairly reasonable, but the smallness of means is such that thousands pay less and the suffrage is confined to a fraction of the male population. POPULATION. The Japanese belong to the Mongolian family. They are related to the Chinese, whom they resemble some-what distantly in appearance. They are more active and intelligent, however, and many families are of lighter complexion. The entire population is divided into four classes. The imperial family includes fifty three individuals, the nobles and their families number 4,551. The knights, corresponding possibly to the English squires and their families, number 2,105,698. The common people, that is to say, the laboring people,--those who neither hold office nor assume a part in the government, number about 47,000,000. EDUCATION. Education is now well nigh universal. There are 27,000 elementary schools in the empire, with nearly 100,000 teachers, and an enrollment of not far from 5,400,000 pupils. High schools, normal schools, industrial schools, normal schools, industrial schools, agricultural schools, and two universities, including departments of law, medicine, engineering, architecture, etc., are maintained. Illiteracy is practically a thing of the past. As in Germany and France, every able-bodied male citizen is liable to be called upon for military service. INSTITUTIONS AND CUSTOMS. The constitution provides for absolute freedom of religious belief and practice. There is no state religion and no state support. In religious belief the people are much divided. A mild form of ancestor worship prevails. There are twelve sects of so-called Shintoism, and as many of Buddhism. Most of the upper classes have forsaken the native religions for European forms of belief. Volumes might be written on the peculiar institutions of Japan. The sexes dress much alike, usually in a number of loose gowns, worn one over the other, with large sleeves that serve as pockets in which to carry articles. The dress of the women may be known from that of the men, however, by the brighter colors that prevail. The women of the higher classes use much gold embroidery. Until of late all classes went bareheaded. Parasols were very fashionable. The women dress their hair elaborately, keeping it in place with big tortoise shell combs. All women, regardless of social station, carry fans, with which to screen their faces from the sun. With men the sword is a badge of social standing. The nobles wear two swords, one above the other; the knights, one sword. Men of laboring station are not allowed to carry any. The people are sociable and peaceful, but, like the Chinese, are slaves to long established forms of etiquette. It is illbred, not to say impious, to violate rules of behavior. Food is eaten usually out of light lacquered dishes made of papier mache. At great feasts each guest is supposed to be followed by a servant with a basket in which to carry away remnants of fish, game, venison, poultry, etc., that might be left over. There are no chairs, tables, or bedsteads. The floor, matting, and cushions serve instead. Cooking is done over small charcoal stoves, The entire furniture of a prosperous family in a four-room house is worth not to exceed twenty-five dollars. The house itself is of very light bamboo construction. The partitions are mere sliding screens, easily removed. In fine weather the outside walls are taken away during the day. The people are fond of music and dancing, and of tea drinking. Theaters are popular. Mountebanks and jugglers of all sorts are welcomed by the people everywhere. Women and children toil in the fields. Ladies spend much of their time in making artificial flowers, butterflies, embroidery, and other fancy work. The common people are exceedingly industrious and tractable. They will do anything that they are taught to do. The recent advance of Japan is due very largely to the superior intelligence of the ruling classes, whose servants the common people are. In this respect the great public works and even success in warfare bear a certain similarity to the successes of the ancient Egyptians. The hour of Japan's greatest peril will arrive when the schools which the common people now attend render them intelligent, or rather make them think they are the intelligence of the country. Unless the nobility are sufficiently wise to merge gradually with the common people a day of bitter struggle and of deliverance will one day arrive. SOCIOLOGICAL. To carry this latter point a little farther, it should be understood that the present industrial condition of Japan is oppressive. The Japanese call their country "The Land of the Rising Sun," as, indeed, it is the first Asiatic country to greet the sun as it rises above the Pacific. The astonishing advance made by the country during the last thirty years, the leadership assumed over the people of China and Korea, and the tremendous defeat administered to Russia in the War of 1904-05, have made Japan the leading native power of Asia; but the problem of Japan has not been worked out yet. To begin with, the people are crowded. Mr. Frederick J. Haskin states that, if the entire population of North America were crowded into Kansas, the agricultural situation would not be more serious. The Japanese farmer on his two-acre plot gives the general government twenty-seven per cent of his produce and pays in addition from two to eight percent into the local treasury. To do this he sells his rice and lives largely on boiled millet seed and on occasional fish. Four hundred thousand operatives are employed in factories. Men earn fifteen cents, women ten cents a day. Thirty-four thousand children under fourteen years of age receive less. Factory hours are long. Operatives labor from twelve to fourteen, and, in some cases, sixteen and seventeen hours a day. TAXATION. Japanese art has given Western nations the notion that Japan is rather a light-hearted country-a land of butterflies, apple-blossoms, gay color, and lacquer work. Travelers who investigate the condition of the common people draw a somber picture. The government is paying interest on a huge war debt, is building Dreadnoughts that cost millions, is subsidizing merchant vessels, and is spending money in Korea and Manchuria. The wealthy are paying an income tax as high as sixty-eight per cent. The people are working to the verge of endurance. Unless financial help comes, possibly by way of income from the new possessions on the continent, a revolution or a breakdown may be expected. The Japanese leaders are making a plucky fight for civilization. A world disarmament-an escape from the financial burden of maintaining army and navy-would be a godsend to Japan. EMIGRATION. The Japanese are swarming into South America, particularly Peru, Chile, and Brazil. They are welcomed on the west coast of South America, where there is a large labor demand with no supply. The Japanese are employed in the culture of sugar-cane, in the mines, and on the coffee, cotton, tobacco, and olive plantations. The wages are relatively high. Meanwhile, there follow after the coolies, Japanese artisans and merchants. The immigration as yet (1909) has but commenced, yet in Peru alone it is estimated that 60,000 Japanese are at work. STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources: Population (1908) 49,000,000 Tokyo 1,818,655 Osaka 995,945 Kioto 38,568 Yokohama 326,035 Nagoya 288,639 Kobe 285,002 Nagasaki 153,293 Hiroshima 121,196 Sendai 100,231 Number prefectures 47 Representatives 379 Salary of Mikado $1,500,000 National revenue (1909) $310,000,000 Bonded indebtedness $1,138,000,000 War strength of army 600,000 Acres under plow 13,000,000 Agricultural Products- Rice, bushels 250,000,000 Wheat, bushels 20,000,000 Barley, bushels 45,000,000 Rye, bushels 35,000,000 Silk, raw, pounds 26,000,000 Sugar, pounds 1,000,000,000 Tea, pounds 57,000,000 Gallons of petroleum 55,000,000 Exports (1907) $216,000,000 Imports $257,000,000 Textile operatives 860,000 Output of textiles $105,000,000 Output of paper $15,000,000 Output of matches $8,000,000 Coal mined (1906) tons 12,000,000 Iron ore, tons 108,000,000 Copper, pounds 85,000,000 Sulphur, pounds 60,000,000 Earthen ware $7,000,000 Leather $5,000,000 Domestic Animals- Horses 1,465,000 Other cattle (1906) 1906,000 Sheep 3,501 Goats 75,000 Swine 285,000 Merchant steamships 1,618 Miles of railway 4,899 Letters delivered (1908) 316,000,000 Number postoffices 7,423 Teachers in public schools 116,000 Pupils enrolled 5,500,000 Libraries 127 Volumes 1,464,000 Periodicals published (1907) 2,000 See Ainu; Korea ; Manchuria ; Buddha ; Ancestor Worship ; Formosa ; Rice ; Tea ; Silk ; Tokio ; Yokohama ; Literature ; Japan
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
1922. Premier Takahashi resigned June 2d, and was succeeded by Admiral Baron Kato, recently head of the Japanese delegation at the Washington Conference on Limitation of Armaments. An aggressive and highly creditable program in fulfillment of the various agreements and promises entered into at Washington was at once undertaken by the new government. The Five Power Naval Treaty was ratified and received the sanction of the Prince Regent, August 7th. Steps were also taken to reduce the army, beginning with a first cut of 56,000 men. A decision to evacuate the Maritime Province of Siberia was reached June 24th, and the evacuation was completed on October 26th, K KIAU-CHAU. Japan finally restored the territory to China, December 10, 1922, in accordance with an agreement signed at Washington, (See WASHINGTON CON- FERENCE: SHANTUNG AGREEMENT.) manuel invited Mussolini to form his own government. The new Cabinet was composed almost wholly of new men, but included General Diaz as Minister of War, while Premier Mussolini retained for himself the control of both foreign and domestic affairs. All treaties, he declared, would be strictly respected. His internal policy would be based on the necessity of work, economy, and discipline for all. The Fascisti armies, after entering Rome in triumph, quietly withdrew and the outward forms of parliamentary government were at once resumed. But the Premier in his first speech before the Chamber avowed the revolutionary nature of his authority and demanded and obtained dictatorial powers to do whatever he might deem necessary for the benefit and regeneration of Italy. Census of Dec. 1, 1921. The population of Italy at the end of 1921 was 38,- 835,184, including 1,564,691 persons in the provinces acquired at the end of the World War. Northern Sakhalin continued to be held, owing to the Russian government's refusal to grant satisfaction for the Nikolaievsk massacre of 1920. The withdrawal of Japan from the Chinese province of Shantung was finally finally completed eted in December, 1922, with the evacuation of the territory of Kiau-Chau by the Japanese troops. All these measures, however, were bitterly attacked by the militarists and other opponents of the Kato government, and a resolution condemning what was called the weak policy of the Cabinet toward China was adopted by the Privy Council, December 29th. JAPANESE NATURALIZATION DE- CISION. (See UNITED STATES, 1922-23.) KINAUTOGRAPH. (See AUTOMATIC MACHINERY.) KU KLUX KLAN. (See UNITED STATES, 1922-23.) L (See LABOR PARTY, BRITISH. GREAT BRITAIN: ELECTIONS OF 1922.) LABOR UNIONS LIABILITY DE- CISION. See UNITED STATES, 1922-23.) LADD, EDWIN FREMONT, U. S. Senator from N. Dakota, was born at Starks, Me., December 13, 1859. He received scientific education at the a University of Maine, from which he was graduated in 1884. From 1884 to 1890 he was chemist at the N. Y. State Experiment Station, afterwards removing to N. Dakota, where he became professor of chemistry in the N. Dakota Agriculncultural College and chief chemist in the Agricultural Experiment Station of that state. In 1916 he became president of the N. Dakota Agricultural College. During the World War he was federal food administrator of N. Dakota. He is the author of various chemical works and reports, and was formerly editor of the N. Dakota "Farmer." In 1920 he was elected U. S. Senator for the term 1921-27. LATVIA. Recognized by the Allied Powers and the United States, 1921 and 1922. The constitution adopted in 1922 provides for a parliament (Saeima) of 100 members and for a President selected by that body. Latvia was admitted to the League of Nations in September, 1921. A. treaty signed with Poland, Finland, and Esthonia, March 17, 1922, provides for closer relations with these states. LAUSANNE CONFERENCE. (See NEAR EASTERN QUESTION: CONFERENCE AT LAUSANNE.) LEAGUE OF NATIONS: Third Assembly.-Held at Geneva, September, 1922. Forty-six nations were represented at the opening, out of a total membership of fifty-one. Augustin Edwards of Chile was elected President. Hungary was admitted to membership September 18th, while Peru announced its decision not to participate further unless the United States should join. Among the important subjects discussed and acted upon by the Third Assembly were those of disarmament, the more general application of the principle of conciliation in international affairs, and the further ance of international health and relief work. Two general resolutions on disarmament were approved: (1) looking to the establishment of a system of regional guarantees to meet the requirements of nations willing to disarm, but unable to do so in the presence of armed neighbors; and (2) recommending the calling of an international conference for the purpose of extending the principles of the Washington naval limitations agreement to all nations. The Cecil proposal of regional guarantees would provide for a prearranged plan of assistance in case of any nation being attacked, the obligation to render such assistance being limited to countries situated in the same part of the globe. As a first step to permanent reduction of armaments, it was recommended that all European states be invited to reduce their military, naval, and air expenditures to the figures of 1913. Council Changes and Meetings. An important change in the composition of the League Council was made in 1922 when the non-permanent members, representing the smaller nations of the world in distinction from the so-called Allied and Associated Powers, were increased in number from four to six. The members elected by the Third Assembly were Brazil, Spain, Belgium, China, Sweden, and Uruguay. The Council held its nineteenth meeting in July, 1922, at which the whole mandate system was finally approved, including the mandates for Palestine and Syria. Certain changes in deference to the views of the United States had been made and the full agreement of the United States was announced except as to Mesopotamia or Irak. The critical soituation of Austria led to the appointment of a commission by the Council at its September meeting and a plan was worked out by which Austria was set upon its feet financially and its independence and integrity secured. Health Section. - An important part of the work of the League since 1920 has been in the protection of international health. The first efforts in this field were called forth by the threatening typhus epidemic in Russia and Poland, 1920. Arrangements made at Warsaw in March, 1922, provide for continued coordination of efforts in attacking and controlling epidemics at their source. Twenty-eight nations are at present cooperating under the League in the task of ridding Eastern Europe of repeated dangerous scourges. In September, 1921, a permanent Health Section of the League was organized and an international reporting system was established to supply information of value to the public health services of all nations. The gathering of statistics and the standardization of serums, vaccines , etc., has been undertaken by the League, the U. S. Public Health Service cooperating actively in this work. As one of the leading drug-using nations, the United States was especially invited in 1922 to appoint a representative on the Advisory Committee on the traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs . An American observer had previously been present. Similarly, the United States and Germany were invited to appoint members to the Advisory Committee for the suppression of the traffic in women and children, the United States responding in October, 1922, by the appointment of Miss Grace Abbott, chief of the Children's Bureau of the Department of Labor. LIBERIAN LOAN. (See UNITED STATES, 1922-23.) LINCOLN MEMORIAL, Potomac Park, Washington, a massive, white marble temple erected to the memory of Abraham Lincoln. Dedicated May 30, 1.922. It was designed by Henry Bacon and contains an heroic statute of Lincoln by Daniel C. French. Total cost $3,000,000. LITHOPONE, a white pigment widely used in the manufacture of white paint and enamels. It has great durability and other popular qualities, but with the disadvantage that it darkens under exposure to sunlight. Efforts have been made to counteract this tendency and satisfactory results have recently been obtained by the addition of zinc oxide or other substances which resist the action of ultraviolet rays. LITHUANNIA. Recognized by the Allied governments and the United States, June and July, 1922. Admitted to membership in the League of Nations, September, 1921. By the constitution adopted in August, 1922, the supreme legislative power is vested in a Parliament elected by citizens over thirty years of age, without regard to sex. The President of the Republic is elected by the Parliament. The district of Vilna was finally lost to Lithuania by its formal annexation to Poland March 24 , 1922, following an unsettled controversy between the two countries over this as well as over other boundaries . The seizure of the Baltic territory of Memel by Lithuanian irregular troops early in 1923 led to international complications . The territory was awarded to Lithuania by the Council of Ambassadors February 16, 1923. LITTLE ENTENTE, a name applied to the cooperative alliance established during 1920 and 1921 by Czechoslovakia , Jugoslavia, and Rumania for the purpose of maintaining their common interests and pursuing a common European policy. The underlying motive of the Little Entente in its early history was to uphold the terms of the peace treaties resulting from the World War to which the states in question owed their political existence and independence. A number of bonds of alliance or close friendship have been formed in accordance with this basic policy, beginning with the convention made by Jugoslavia and Czechoslovakia to support each other against any renewal of Hungarian aggression (1920). Poland, on account of a similar situation, has commonly acted in unison with the Little Entente in European affairs, and more recently the same tendency has appeared among the so-called Baltic States. Common fears of Russia, Germany, and Hungary, as well as many common interests, tend to draw together all the new states of Central Europe . The total population of the Little Entente, with Poland, is about 75,000,000. LOCOMOTIVES, TURBINE. TURBINE LOCOMOTIVES.) (See LUCIFERIN. (See COLD LIGHT.) LUMINOUS ANIMALS AND PLANTS. Beside the familiar glowworm and firefly, a number of species both of plants and animal organisms possess the property of emitting light in darkness. According to Molisch, there are 45 species of fungi which possess this property, including some 20 species of bacteria. To these are probably due the luminescence sometimes reported of birds and larger animals such as a number of species of skunks. Among larger plants, several members of the primrose family have been noted as being slightly luminous in the dark. But the sea is richer than the land in luminous forms , and this apparently at almost all depths. Copepods, ostracods, and salpae among the simpler forms of sea life often cause the surface of the ocean to glow intensely, one genus of the latter being known as Pyrosoma or the "fire animal," which forms in colonies sometimes several yards in length, moving on the water like a fiery serpent. Many deep-sea fishes possess the property, not only of giving forth light, but even of throwing it in a certain direction. The light organ, as a rule, is surrounded by a layer of black pigment which acts as a reflector , and in some cases the rays are projected through a transparent lens . The source of MACDONALD, JAMES RAMSAY 84 organic luminescence is still only partly understood, but in 1922 Prof. E. N. Harvey of Princeton University succeeded in isolating the substance (called luciferin) by which the light of the glow-worm is produced, and this substance is known to be secreted also by glandular structures in other organisms. In all cases luminescence is produced by some method of oxidation in the organism. MACDONALD, JAMES RAMSAY, leader of the British Labor Party, was born at Lossiemouth, Scotland, 1866, and received a board school education. For a time he taught school, but in 1900 was chosen secretary of the Labor Party. In 1906 he was elected to Parliament from Leicester as a representative of that party, of which he became leader in 1911. He was editor of the Socialist Library, 1905, and has published numerous works on the socialist and labor movements. In 1922, as the result of the great gains of the Labor Party in the general elections of November of that year, he became opposition leader in Parliament.
Japan to coat wood
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
to coat wood, metal, or paper es the baking of with a thick coat of hard brilliant var- The Japanese cle nish. Japanning involves the baking of btained from a tree the varnished article. The Japanese aking incisions in employ a lacquer obtained from a tree the juice; this (Rhus vernix) by making incisions in am, but becomes black the trunk and collecting the juice; this The process is is at first like cream, but becomes black After the juice by exposure to the air. Their process is color, finely said to be as follows: After the juice has assumed a deep black color, finely to it. The e in several pulverized charcoal is added to it. The dried in the lacquer is applied to an article in several on. It soon successive coats, each being dried in the and is polished sun before the next is put on. It soon water until it becomes extremely hard, and is polished glass. On this with a smooth stone and water until it figures are traced becomes as smooth as glass. On this in a varnish of surface ornaments and figures are traced with a brush dipped in a varnish of d till 1 railwa be the nd 682 Ben dictine of Be (1918) sibly of boiled oil and turpentine. Before this is quite dry, gold or silver leaf is laid on, and the whole afterward receives a finishing coat of varnish .
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's described in 1910 an empire whose territory pointedly excluded Formosa (Taiwan), then a recent colony; Korea was annexed that same year, and by 1942 Japan held much of East Asia. Defeat in 1945 stripped all of it, ended the empire in practice, and produced the 1947 constitution under which the emperor is a symbol without political power and Japan renounced war; the population Aiton's counted in the tens of millions is now about 123 million, and the country has been one of the world's largest economies since the 1960s. The geology has held up better than the politics: earthquakes remain frequent, as the 1923 Kanto disaster and the magnitude-9.0 Tohoku quake and tsunami of 11 March 2011 showed, and Fuji, put at "about two and one-half miles above sea level," is measured today at 3,776 metres and has not erupted since the 1707 event Aiton's recalled.
Written for this edition, 2026.