Office of the Historian

No. 299.
Mr. Bingham to Mr. Evarts.

United States Legation,
Tokei, Japan, August 8, 1879. (Received September 4.)
No. 929.]

Sir: Referring to my No. 925, of the 26 ultimo, in which I reported the revised quarantine regulations issued by this government to prevent the importation by vessels of cholera, I now have the honor to inclose for your information the report of the sanitary bureau of the home department, as published in the Japan Daily Mail of the 5th instant, of the number of cholera cases, together with the rate of mortality therefrom up to the 25th ultimo. Referring to this report, it appears that there is no publication of cases in the report, as the table shows, later than the 11th of July, and that up to that date the whole number of persons attacked was 31,759, 18,017 of whom died within that period, showing the rate of mortality to have been 56.73 per cent.

Of the whole number of deaths, as above stated, but 60 are reported to have occured in Tokei and Kanagawa (Yokohama). Omitting these two places, and including the other places named in the table, where nearly the entire mortality occurred, I estimate their population at not more than 2,000,000 people.

[Page 664]

In concluding this note I beg leave to observe that an examination of this official report shows that the entire mortality caused by Asiatic cholera occurred between the 22d of April and the 11th of July last; and that from the 22d of May to the 11th of July 5,031 persons died in the city of Osaka of this scourge, the whole population of the city being estimated at about 600,000. The rate of mortality was 77 per cent, of the persons attacked.

I have &c.,

JNO. A. BINGHAM.
[Inclosure in No. 929.—Extract from Japan Daily Mail, August 5, 1879.]

Table of cholera cases reported up to July 25 from different localities.

Name of fu and ken. Date commenced. Patients. Died. Cured. Under treatment Percentage of mortality.
Osaka From May 22 6,478 5,031 935 512 77.66
Kiyoto From June 6 700 482 118 100 68.86
Sakai From May 30 5,205 2,874 598 1,803 55.22
Hiroshima From April 23 3,157 1,867 283 1,007 59.14
Yamaguchi From May 15 1,956 1,015 42 899 51.89
Okayama From May 22 3,768 1,883 399 1,486 49.97
Wakayama From June 2 915 423 6 486 46.23
Yéhime From April 22 2,962 1,495 171 1,296 50.47
Kochi From June 7 159 80 9 70 50.31
Oitah From April 23 2,512 1,224 950 338 48.73
Nagasaki From June 11 52 7 45 13.46
Kumamoto From May 24 36 11 25 30.56
Kajoshima From April 30 308 157 58 93 50.97
Fakuoko From May 21 691 276 64 351 39.94
Shiga From May 25 133 88 16 29 66.17
Miyi From June 15 47 29 7 11 61.70
Kanagawa From June 19 9 6 1 2 66.67
Aichi From July 2 24 16 8 66.67
Gifu From June 30 3 1 2 33.33
Ishikawa From June 23 181 75 3 103 41.44
Shimane From June 19 3 1 2 33.33
Shidzuoka From June 26 6 3 3 50.00
Tokei From June 19 82 54 4 24 65.85
Yamanashi From June 26 9 3 5 1 33.33
Gunba From July 2 4 1 3 25.00
Chibah From June 27 1 1
Ibaraki From June 29 1 1
Niigata From July 8 13 3 10 23.08
Soldiers under army:
Osaka garrison From June 17 80 22 19 39 27.50
Himeji garrison From June 27 10 4 6 40.00
Hiroshima garrison From June 2 6 3 2 1 50.00
Matsuyama garrison From June 28 23 6 13 4 26.09
Marugame garrison From July 2 5 2 3 40.00
Kokura garrison From June 29 16 7 2 7 43.75
Fuknoka garrison From July 11 6 2 4 33.33
Kanazawa garrison From July 23 1 1
Kumamoto garrison From July 11 13 3 10 23.08
Otsu garrison From June 29 1 1
Fushimi garrison From July 6 2 1 1 50.00
Total 31,759 18,017 3,731 10,011 56.73

Infected localities:

Osaka, under the jurisdiction of Osaka fu.

Kobe, under the jurisdiction of Hiogo ken.

Shimonoseki, under the jurisdiction of Yamaguchi ken.

Collected by sanitary bureau, home department, on 26th July, 12th year of Meiji.