It is rather a difficult task to select from the vernacular newspapers the few most worthy of mention; but two from Ōsaka and six from Tōkyō will suffice. The “Ōsaka Asahi Shimbun” is said to have the largest circulation in the whole country; and the “Ōsaka Mainichi Shimbun” is well known. In Tōkyō the most prominent journals are the “Jiji Shimpō,” the “Nichi Nichi Shimbun,” the “Kokumin Shimbun,” the “Mainichi Shimbun,” and the “Hōchi Shimbun.” Another Tokyo paper of very large circulation is the “Yorozu Chōhō.” Almost all the newspapers of Japan are morning papers; but, as they generally go to press early in the evening of the preceding day, the “news” is not the latest. But very important events will always be published in “extras” at any hour.[137]
There are also magazines galore of every kind. Some of them prove rather short-lived; but most of them find a constituency, as each one seems to have its own field. Probably the largest and most successful magazine is named “Taiyō” (Sun), which issues monthly about 250 pages of Japanese matter, with 24 pages of English matter, and is finely illustrated. Its leading articles by well-known writers cover a great variety of topics. The “Kokumin-no-Tomo” (Nation’s Friend) is another excellent magazine, famous for the admirable style of its contributions. The “Rikugō Zasshi” (Cosmos) is philosophical and religious. There are a great many Shintō, Buddhist, and Christian weekly and monthly periodicals, which are published primarily for the edification of the believers.
“Of making many books there is no end” in Japan. Composition is apparently such an easy task, and publishing is so cheap, that every person inspired with an idea is tempted to rush into print. And those who are not so fortunate as to be rich in “original” ideas, have an inexhaustible field in the translation of books from English and other Occidental languages; indeed, a fair living may be made in that way.
Japanese taste in reading is illustrated by a table accompanying a recent official report from the Imperial Library at Tōkyō. During a period of 24 days covered by the report, the readers numbered 7,770, and the books called for were classified as follows:—
| Japanese and Chinese works. | European works. | |
|---|---|---|
| Theology and religion | 635 | 14 |
| Philosophy and education | 2,368 | 145 |
| Literature and languages | 8,038 | 998 |
| History, biography, geography, travel | 9,768 | 460 |
| Law, politics, sociology, economy, statistics | 6,577 | 304 |
| Mathematics, natural philosophy, medicine | 9,506 | 388 |
| Engineering, military arts, industries | 4,943 | 205 |
| Miscellaneous books | 4,840 | 530 |
The table will interest American readers as showing how large is the number of European works included. It may be added that the Japanese are decidedly a reading people. Even the “jinrikisha man,” waiting on the street-corner for a customer, is frequently to be seen reading a newspaper, magazine, or book.
The leading firm of booksellers in Japan recently asked a large number of eminent Japanese men of letters, of science, of business, etc., to name their favorite European or American books. The 73 answers received have been published in a Japanese periodical, and are interesting as displaying the literary tastes of Japanese readers of foreign literature.
The most popular work is Darwin’s “Origin of Species,” which received 26 votes; next come Goethe’s “Faust,” the “Encyclopædia Britannica,” and Hugo’s “Les Misérables,” in the order named. Among English men of letters, Byron and Tennyson are the most popular. The names of Stevenson, Hardy, Meredith, “Mark Twain,” and other recent writers are rarely met with, while that of Kipling occurs not even once. Among continental writers, Tolstoi, Schopenhauer, Heine, and Zola are frequently mentioned; and Nietzsche’s “Zarathustra” is characterized more than once as the greatest work in the last decade of the nineteenth century.[138]
Some interesting information with reference to the demand for foreign works in Japan has been made public in the “Japan Times” by a Japanese importer of foreign books, and several items therefrom are of interest.
Works relating to architecture and building, chemistry, electricity and magnetism, engineering and mechanics, manufactures and industrial arts, metallurgy and mining, together with dictionaries and encyclopædias, enjoy the largest demand. In chemistry, Remsen is one of the popular authors; in metallurgy, Phillips’s work heads the list; in electricity and magnetism, Thomson’s works find the largest number of purchasers; and there is an active demand for Taggart’s “Cotton Spinning.” The favorite dictionary is “Nuttall’s Standard Dictionary,” of which the firm above named has already sold between 200,000 and 300,000 copies! Next comes “Webster’s Condensed Dictionary,” and even “Webster’s Unabridged” sells at the rate of from 50 to 60 copies per month. The “Students’ Standard Dictionary” also sells well.