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YEZO

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 920 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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YEZO , or Ezo, the most northerly of the five See also:

principal islands forming the See also:Japanese See also:empire, the five being Yezo, Nippon, Shikoku, Kiushiu and See also:Formosa. It is situated between 450 30' and 41° 21' N. and between 146° 7' and 139° II' E.; its See also:coast-See also:line See also:measures 1423.32 m., and it has an See also:area of 30,148.41 sq. m. On the N. it is separated from See also:Sakhalin by Soya Strait (La Perouse) and on the S. from Nippon by Tsugaru Strait. Its See also:northern shores are washed by the See also:Sea of See also:Okhotsk, its See also:southern and eastern by the Pacific Ocean, and its western by the Sea of See also:Japan. See also:Orography.—The highest See also:mountain in the See also:island is Ishikaridake (6955 ft.) and the next in importance is Tokachi-dake (6541 ft.). Yubari-take in Ishikari has a height of 65o8 ft., and in the See also:province of Kushiro are 0-akan-dake (447o ft.) and Meakan-take (4500 ft.). Dr See also:Rein's investigations led him to See also:state that Tokachi-dake forms a See also:species of central See also:elevation whence most of the principal See also:rivers flow towards the sea, and that the mountain See also:system is a continuation, on the WV., of the Sakhalin range, and on the E. of the See also:Kuriles range; the former consisting of See also:granite and old See also:schists, the latter chiefly of volcanic formations. Near See also:Hakodate are two conspicuous volcanic peaks, Komaga-take (3822 ft.) and Tokatsu-dake (3800 ft.) ; and 24 M. from Kushiro (by See also:rail) is a See also:volcano called Atosa-nobori, or Iwo-zan (See also:sulphur mountain), whence See also:great quantities of first-See also:rate sulphur are exported to the See also:United States. Mention must also be made of Rishiri, an islet on the extreme N.W. of Yezo, which has a See also:peak of the same name rising to a height of nearly 6000 ft. Rivers.—Yezo boasts the largest See also:river in the Japanese empire, the Ishikari-gawa, which is estimated to measure 275 M. Its other large rivers are the Teshio-gawa (192 M.), the Tokachi-gawa (120 M.), the Shiribeshi-gawa (88 m.), the Kushiro-gawa (81 m.), the Toshibetsu-gawa (64 m.), and the Yubetsu-gawa (64 m.). The valley of the Ishikari is believed to be the most fertile See also:part of the island; the Tokachi is navigable to a point 56 m. from its mouth, but the Teshio has a See also:bar which renders its approach extremely difficult.

A peculiarity of several of the rivers is that, on approaching the sea-See also:

shore, they run parallel to it for some distance before finding an exit. Those flowing to the S. coast take a W. direction, those flowing to the E. coast a N. direction. This is attributed to the fact that the prevailing winds set up the See also:sand so as to deflect the rivers from their straight course. Nearly all these rivers abound with See also:salmon, the most remarkable in that respect being the Nishibetsu-gawa, which yields an See also:average of over 2000 tons of See also:fish annually. Lakes.—There are no large lakes, the most extensive—Toyako, Shikotsuko and Kushiroko—not having a circumference of more than 25 m. Lagoons, however, are not uncommon. The largest of these—Saruma-ko in Kitami—is some 17 M. See also:long by 7 wide. It abounds with oysters nearly as large as those for which the much smaller See also:lagoon at Akkeshi is famous, the molluscs measuring about 18 in. in length. See also:Climate.—The climate differs markedly from that of the See also:main island of Japan, resembling rather the climate of the See also:British Isles, though the See also:winter is longer and more severe, and the See also:atmosphere in the warm See also:season contains a greater quantity of moisture. During five months the See also:country is under See also:snow, its See also:depth averaging about 2 ft. in the regions along the southern coast and more than 6 ft. in the northern and western regions. An See also:ice-See also:drift, setting from the See also:north and working southwards as far as Nemuro, stops all sea See also:trade on the E. coast during See also:January, See also:February and See also:March, though the W. coast is protected by the warm current of the Kuro-shiwo. Fogs prevail along the E. coast during the summer months, and it is not uncommon to find a See also:damp, chilly atmosphere near the sea in See also:July, whereas, a mile inland, the thermometer stands at 8o° or 9o° F. in the shade, and See also:magnolia trees are in full blossom.

See also:

Zoology.—Tsugaru Strait has been shown by See also:Captain T. W. Blakiston, R.A., to See also:form a line of zoological See also:division. Pheasants and monkeys are not found on the Yezo See also:side of this line, though they abound on Nippon, and, on the other See also:hand, Yezo has See also:grouse and solitary See also:snipe which do not exist in Nippon. The Yezo See also:bear, too, i* of a distinct species, and the island has an abundance of singing birds which are absent S. of the strait. There are also notable See also:differences in the See also:flora, the trees and See also:flowers of Yezo resembling those of the British Isles rather than those of Japan. See also:Population.—The island seems to have been originally peopled by a semi-barbarous See also:race of See also:pit-dwellers, whose See also:modern representatives are to be found in the Kuriles or their neighbours of See also:Kamchatka and Sakhalin. These autochthons were drivenout by the See also:Ainu, and the latter, in their turn, succumbed to the Japanese. The population of Yezo is 605,742, of whom 17,573 are Ainu. There is a steadily growing but not large See also:emigration from Japan proper to Yezo. Yezo is divided into ten provinces, the names of which, beginning from the S., are See also:Oshima, Shiribeshi, Ishikari, Teshio, Kitami, Iburi, Hidaka, Tokachi, Kushiro and Nemuro. Of these, Oshima, Shiribeshi and Ishikari are by far the most important.

There are only three towns having a population of over 20,000, viz. Hakodate (50,314), See also:

Sapporo (46,147) and Otaru (34,586). Other towns of importance are Fukuyama (formerly called Matsumae), the seat of See also:government in feudal days, Esashi, Mombetsu, Oiwake, Tomakomai, Piratori (the See also:chief Ainu See also:settlement), Mororan, Kushiro, Akkeshi, Nemuro, Horobetsu, Yunokawa, Abashiri and Mashike. Yunokawa, 4 m. from Hakodate, is much frequented for its hot springs; Oiwake is the junction of the main line of railway with the See also:branch to the Yubari collieries; Kushiro exports See also:coal and sulphur; Akkeshi is celebrated for its oysters. See also:Industries and Products.—Marine products constitute the principal See also:wealth of Yezo. Great quantities of salmon, sardines and codfish are taken. The salmon are salted for export to Nippon and other parts of Japan; the sardines are used as an agricultural fertilizer, their value varying from See also:f2 to £5 per ton; and the See also:cod-fish serve for the manufacture of oil. An immense See also:crop of edible seaweed is also gathered and sent to See also:Chinese markets as well as to Japanese. This kombu, as it is called, sometimes reaches a length of 90 ft. and a width of 6 in. The See also:herring See also:fishery, too, is a source of wealth, and the See also:canning of Akkeshi oysters as well as of salmon gives employment to many hands. Vast tracts are covered with a luxuriant growth of ash, See also:oak, See also:elm, See also:birch, See also:chestnut and See also:pine, but, owing to difficulties of See also:carriage, this See also:supply of See also:timber has not yet been much utilized. One of the earliest acts of the Meiji government was to develop the resources of Yezo and encourage Japanese to emigrate thither.

See also:

Free grants of agricultural See also:land were made, roads were constructed, See also:model farms established, See also:beet-See also:sugar factories and sawmills opened, See also:horse-breeding undertaken, See also:foreign See also:fruit trees planted and See also:railways laid. The outlays incurred did not immediately bear fruit, but they attracted large See also:numbers of settlers. During See also:recent years See also:attention has been attracted to the See also:mineral resources of Yezo. Coal of See also:fair quality is abundant, and a railway has been built for its carriage; an apparently inexhaustible supply of sulphur is obtained from a mountain near Kushiro See also:lake; See also:petroleum seems likely to pay exploiters, and in 1899 See also:gold was discovered at Usotannai, Pankanai and other places along the Poropetsu river, near Esashi in Kitami province. Communications.—The roads are few and in See also:bad See also:order, but there is a railway which, setting out from Hakodate in the extreme S., runs, via Sapporo and Iwamizawa, to the extreme N., with branches from Iwamizawa, S. to Mororan and E. to Poronai, and from Oiwake N.E to the Yubari coal-mines. There is also a line W. along the S. coast from Nemuro. In districts beyond the railway, travelling is done on horseback, there being an abundant supply of ponies. There is See also:good coastwise communication by steamer. See also:History.—Yezo was not brought under Japan's effective See also:control until See also:medieval times. In 1604 the island was granted in See also:fief to Matsumae Yoshihiro, whose ancestor had overrun it, and from the See also:close of the 18th See also:century the E. was governed by officials sent by the See also:shogun, whose attention had been attracted to it by See also:Russian trespassers. In 1871 the task of developing its resources and administering its affairs was entrusted to a See also:special See also:bureau, which employed See also:American agriculturists to assist the See also:work and American See also:engineers to construct roads and rail-ways; but in 1881 this bureau was abolished, and the government abandoned to private hands the various enterprises it had inaugurated.

End of Article: YEZO

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