afe.easia.columbia.edu

neZpr TIL that the Japanese language has only 100 syllables. But, it takes knowledge of about 1900 characters to write words with them. English has over 2600 one-syllable words, and thousands of different syllables, all of which are written using only 26 characters.
GYaOQ TIL that in 1853 the US sent military ships to Japan and ordered them to open trade to the US or face military action.
d8kxd TIL China's Qing Dynasty attempted various reforms to try to save itself. Local assemblies had begun to meet in 1909 and the dynasty had worked out a timetable for creating a constitutional monarchy, with a constitution planned for 1912 and a parliament the following year