ILLEGITIMACY [XXXVI].  In Japan illegitimacy is a question not of morals but of law.  That is to say, it is a question of registration.  If a husband omits to register his marriage he is not legally married.  Thus it is possible for there to be born to a married pair a child which is technically illegitimate.  If the child should die at an early age it is equally possible for it to appear on the official records as illegitimate.  A birth must be registered within a fortnight.  It may be thought perhaps that it is practicable for the father to register his marriage after the birth of the child and within the time allowed for registration.  It is possible but it is not always easy.  An application for the registration of the marriage of a man under twenty-five must bear the signature of his parents and the signature of two persons who testify that the required consent has been regularly obtained.  In the event of a man’s father having “retired,” the signature of the head of the family must be secured.  If a man is over twenty-five, then the signatures of his parents or of any two relatives will suffice.  Now suppose that a man is living at a distance from his birthplace or suppose that the head of his family is travelling.  Plainly, there may be a difficulty in securing a certificate in time.  Therefore, because, as has been explained, no moral obloquy attaches to unregistered marriage or to unregistered or legally illegitimate children, registration is often put off.  When a man removes from one place to another and thereupon registers, it may be that his marriage and his children may be illegitimate in one place and legitimate in another.  There is a difference between actual and legal domicile.  A man may have his domicile in Tokyo but his citizen rights in his native village.

SAKE AND BEER [XXXVII].  Sake is sold in 1 or 2 go bottles at from 10 to 25 sen for 2 go.  As it is cheaper to buy the liquor unbottled most people have it brought home in the original brewery tub.  There are five sorts of sake:  seishu (refined), dakushu (unrefined or muddy), shirozake (white sake), mirin (sweet sake) and shochu (distilled sake). Sake may contain from 10 to 14 per cent. of alcohol; shochu is stronger; mirin has been described as a liqueur.  Japanese beers contain from 1 to 2 per cent. less alcohol than English beers and only about a quarter of the alcohol in sake.  More than four-fifths of it is sold in bottles.  Beer is replacing sake to some extent, but owing to the increase in the population of Japan the total consumption of sake (about 4,000,000 koku) remains practically the same.  In 1919 beer and sake were exported to the value of 7,200,000 and 4,500,000 yen respectively.

MINERAL PRODUCTION [XXXVIII].  In 1919 the production was as follows:  gold, 1,938,711 momme, value 9,681,494 yen; silver, 42,822,160 momme, value 11,131,861 yen; copper, 130,737,861 kin, value 67,581,475 yen; iron, steel and iron pyrites, 169,545,050 kwan, the value of the steel being 72,666,867 yen; coal, 31,271,093 metric tons, value 442,540,941 yen.