What of China and Japan? (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from What of China and Japan<br><br>American business men are beginning to take a very great interest in all foreign trade matters and the members of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce may consequently be interested in a general review of the present political and business conditions in the Far East.<br><br>First of all, it is perhaps quite important that consideration be given to the form of government in Japan which seems to be very much like the German form of government before the war.<br><br>The Mikado<br><br>The Mikado is supposed to be a direct descendent of the Gods, and the people of Japan believe that he is divine. Pictures of the Mikado are in all of the houses, and a majority of the people bow down before these pictures. The important religions are Shintoism and Buddhism and both teach the divinity of the Mikado. The people have been taught for generations to be loyal to the Mikado, and there is probably no country on earth in which the people are so solidly loyal to their ruler and their government.<br><br>The Mikado exercises the supreme power, and his will is practically law. However he is advised in important matters by the Privy Council.<br><br>The Privy Council and Elder Statesmen<br><br>The Privy Council consists of thirty-nine members, and its functions are purely advisory. This Privy Council is of course hand-picked, and it represents the ruling classes, and the vested interests, together with the militarists. Inside of this Privy Council there developed a clique of seven men, called the Elder Statesmen, only three of whom are now active. These Elder Statesmen actually run Japan. Their appointment is not provided for in any of the laws of Japan, but nevertheless they are the real power and the Mikado and everybody else usually follows their recommendations. They are militarists and they control the army and navy. They sometimes use their influence against the Cabinet and Diet much the same as the militarists used to do in Germany.<br><br>The Cabinet<br><br>The Cabinet is provided for in the constitution and the direction of the country's affairs is supposed to be largely in its hands.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.