There are a few works interpretative of the moral side of the evolution of the Japanese nation, among which again chapters in Brinkley, as well as I. Nitobe's "Bushido," Philadelphia, 1900, and New York, 1905, and K. Okakura's "Soul of the East," London and New York, 1904, may be mentioned. These able authors will admit, however, that the subject requires so extensive and rigorous a training and so naturally refined and delicate an intellect, and it is so impossible to pass a final or even a definite judgment on the matter, that it seems hazardous to rely upon the opinion of any one writer. S. L. Gulick's "Evolution of the Japanese, Social and Psychic," New York, 1903, is a misnomer, as no work of such claim can afford to be more seriously defective in showing the development of a historic nation. The author's notion of social evolution, which forms the basis of this work, does not seem to have been tested by the modern student, and the entire work unfortunately breathes a certain type of mind and training to the exclusion of others. In studying such a subject as is aimed at in this work, no student can be too well trained and too thorough, and no statement can be too undogmatic.
Of books written on the politics of New Japan, Count (now Marquis) Hirobumi Ito's "Commentaries on the Constitution of the Empire of Japan," English translation, Tokyo, 1889, is the authoritative work and is indispensable. Chapters in Brinkley, Stead and Clement are interesting. The last writer has also an article on the local self-government in the Political Science Quarterly for June, 1892, and another on the constitutional government in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science for March, 1903. T. Ienaga's "Constitutional Development of Japan" ("Johns Hopkins Studies," 9th Series, No. 9), Baltimore, 1891, takes up the earlier years of the new régime, while K. Kawakami's "Political Ideas of Modern Japan," University of Iowa, 1903, brings the account of the theoretical side of the development down to about 1902. An article by H. N. Lay on the political parties of Japan in the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, volume 30, No. 3, is valuable.
In regard to the economic and financial conditions of Japan, the United States Consular Reports and the British Diplomatic and Consular Reports are very useful. The Japanese Government publishes the Economic and Financial Annals of Japan. Among other official publications by the same government, the "Report on the Adoption of the Gold Standard," 1899, the "Post-Bellum Finance," 1900, and "Japan in the Beginning of the Twentieth Century," 1903, are important. Y. Kinos[h]ita's "Past and Present of Japanese Commerce" ("Columbia University Studies in History, Economics and Public Law"), New York, 1902, is an interpretative account of Japan's foreign trade. J. Morris has written a volume on "Japan and Its Trade" ("Harper's International Commerce Series"), London and New York, 1902.
Passing to the matter of literature, W. G. Aston has a "History of Japanese Literature," New York, 1901, while, for practical studies of the language, one may turn to W. Imbrie's "English-Japanese Etymology," Toyko, and B. H. Chamberlain's "Hand-book of Colloquial Japanese," Tokyo, 1888, "A Simplified Grammar of the Japanese Language," Toyko, 1886, and the "Moji-no-Shirube; a Practical Introduction to the Study of the Japanese Writing," London, New York, and Shanghai, 1899.
We conclude by again recommending Captain Brinkley's "Oriental Series" to general readers, who may also profitably consult some articles in the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan and of the Japan Society at London.