1.   Great imperial systems propelled by steam have broken down into a myriad nationalities propelled by the internal-combustion engine and oil.

2.   The international network, at least for the Western imperial system, added a long ocean voyage between two rail journeys.

3.   Where a great imperial system survives, as in the Soviet Union, the railways retain some semblance of their former power.

4.   He was a standard-bearer for an angry, disillusioned generation that welcomed the collapse of the authoritarian imperial system after the war and the birth of postwar democracy.

5.   The emperor and the imperial system are rarely written about in any depth, and almost never criticized.

6.   The imperial system collapsed.

7.   Mori has repeatedly denied he was speaking about the prewar imperial system and apologized for any misunderstanding.