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becomes the boundary between that province and Rikuzen, falling at Inst into the Pacific Ocean near the town of Watari.
There are numerous lakes in Japan, some of which, such as those of Hakoné, Suwa and Chiuzenji near Nikkô, lie far above the level of the sea. Only one, the Biwa lake in Omi, is worthy of notice on account of its size. It measures about 50 miles in length, or four miles more than the lake of Geneva, while its greatest breadth is about twenty miles or more than twice that of the lake of Geneva. At Katada, about ten miles from its southern end, it suddenly contracts to a breadth of one mile and a half, after which it expands again slightly.
The Inawashiro lake in Iwashiro, seven ri from which on the south side was formerly situated the castle of the Princes of Aidzu, is stated by natives of that part of the country not to exceed ten miles in length, but it is certainly is drawn much larger on the maps. Out of it flows the Aka no gawa, which was formerly at ributary of the Shinano gawa, but now falls into the sea some miles north of Niigata.
For a country in which the only vehicle used in travelling was until lately the palanquin, Japan possesses a very good system of high-roads. Amongst these the Tôkaidô is best known to foreigners. Its existence probably dates from the time when the country was divided into circuits, though it has of course been much improved since it was first constructed. It is the only road in the country which is named after the circuit which it traverses. Whether it begins at the Nihom bashi in Yedo and ends at the Sanjô bashi in Kiôto or vice versâ is a point which would be difficult to determine. A great many writers have stated that all the roads in the Empire start from the Nihom bashi, but this evidently cannot be true of roads on the west of Kiôto. The length of the Tôkaidô, according to an estimate lately prepared for the Japanese Post Office, is 125 ri 13 chô, or nearly 307 miles. The other road between the two capitals, called either Nakasendô or Kiso-kaidô, which traverses half the Tôsandô
