Japan

MUTSUHITO, MIKADO OF JAPAN
THE WORLD’S BEST HISTORIES
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
THE CO-OPERATIVE PUBLICATION SOCIETY NEW YORK AND LONDON
HISTORY OF JAPAN
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.
In the history of the intercourse of the Jesuits with Japan, the letters of the fathers have been almost the only authorities relied upon; while in the more recent events contemporary publications have been used.