Bible Encyclopedias
Japan History

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

(Continuation from Japan)

The traditional story of prehistoric Japan indicates that the fix-st recorded emperor was an over-sea invader, whose followers must therefore have possessed some knowledge of Maritime ship-building and navigation. But in what kind of Comm uni canons, craft they sailed and how they handled them, there is nothing to show clearly. Nine centuries later, but still 500 years before the era of surviving written annals, an empress is said to have invaded Korea, embarking her forces at Kobe (then called Takekura) in 500 vessels. In the middle of the 6th century we read of a general named Abe-no-hirafu who led a flotilla up the Amur river to the invasion of Manchuria (then called Shukushin). All these things show that the Japanese of the earliest era navigated the high sea with some skill, and at later dates down to medieval times they are found occasionally sending forces to Korea and constantly visiting China in vessels which seem to have experienced no difficulty in making the voyage. The 16th century was a period of maritime activity so marked that, had not artificial checks been applied, the Japanese, in all probability, would have obtained partial command of Far-Eastern waters. They invaded Korea; their corsairs harried the coasts of China; two hundred of their vessels, sailing under authority of the TaikOs vermilion seal, visited Siam, Luzon, Cochin China and Annam, and they built ships in European style which crossed the Pacific to Acapulco. But this spirit of adventure was chilled at the close of the 16th century and early in the I7th, when events connected with the propagation of Christianity taught the Japanese to believe that national safety could not be secured without international isolation. In 1638 the ports were closed to all foreign ships except those flying the flag of Holland or of China, and a strictly enforced edict forbade the building of any vessel having a capacity of more than 500 koku (150 tons) or constructed for purposes of ocean navigation. Thenceforth, with rare exceptions, Japanese craft confined themselves to the coastwise trade. Ocean-going enterprise ceased altogether.

Things remained thus until the middle of the I9th century, when a growing knowledge of the conditions existing in the West warned the Tokugawa administration that continued isolation would be suicidal. In 1853 the law prohibiting the construction of sea-going ships was revoked and the Yedo government built at Uraga a sailing vessel of European type aptly called the Phoenix (Howo Maru). Just 243 years had elapsed since the founder of the Tokugawa dynasty constructed Japans first ship after a foreign model, with the aid of an English pilot, Will Adams. In 1853 Commodore M. C. Perry made his appearance, and thenceforth everything conspired to push Japan along the new path. The Dutch, who had been proximately responsible for the adoption of the seclusion policy in the I 7th century, now took a prominent part in promoting a liberal view. They sent to the Tokugawa a present of a man-of-war and urged the vital necessity of equipping the country with a navy. Then followed the establishment of a naval college at Tsukiji in Yedo, the building of iron-works at Nagasaki, and the construction at Yokosuka of a dockyard destined to become one of the greatest enterprises of its kind in the East. This last undertaking bore witness to the patriotism of the Tokugawa rulers, for they resolutely carried it to completion during the throes of a revolution which involved the downfall of their dynasty. Their encouragement ,of maritime enterprise had borne fruit, for when, in 1867, they restored the administration to the Imperial court, 44 ocean-going ships were found among their possessions and 94 were in the hands of the feudatories, a steamer and 20 sailing vessels having been constructed in Japan and the rest purchased abroad.

If the Tokugawa had been energetic in this respect, the new government was still more so. It caused the various maritime carriers to amalgamate into one association called the Nipponkoku yubinjokisen kaisha (Mail SS. Company of Japan), to which were transferred, free of charge, the steamers, previously the property of the Tokugawa or the feudatories, and a substantial subsidy was granted by the state. This, the first steamship company ever organized in Japan, remained in existence only four years. Defective management and incapacity to compete with foreign-owned vessels plying between the open ports caused its downfall (1875). Already, however, an independent company had appeared upon the scene. Organized and controlled by a man (Iwasaki Yataro) of exceptional enterprise and business faculty, this mitsubishi kaisha (three lozenge company, so called ~from the design on its flag), working with steamers chartered from the former feudatory of Tosa, to which clan Iwasaki belonged, proved a success from the outset, and grew with each vicissitude of the state. For when (1874) the Meiji governments first complications with a foreign country necessitated the despatch of a military expedition to Formosa, the administration had to purchase 63 foreign steamers for transport purposes, and these were subsequently transferred to the mitsubishi company together with all the vessels (17) hitherto in the possession of the Mail SS. Company, the Treasury further granting to the mitsubishi a subsidy of 50,000 annually. Shortly afterwards it was decided to purchase a service maintained by the Pacific Mail SS. Company with 4 steamers between Yokohama and Shanghai, and money for the purpose having been lent by the state to the mitsubishi, Japans first line of steamers to a foreign country was firmly established, just 20 years after the law interdicting the construction of ocean-going vessels had been rescinded.

The next memorable event in thischapter of history occurred in 1877, when the Satsuma clan, eminently the most powerful and most warlike among all the former feudatories, took ,the field in open rebellion. For a time the fate of the government hung in the balance, and only by a flanking movement over-sea was the rebellion crushed. This strategy compelled the purchase of 10 foreign stearilers, an these too were subsequently handed over to the mitsubishi company, which, in 1880, found itself possessed of 32 ships aggregating 25,600 tons, whereas all the other vessels of foreign type in the country totalled only 27 with a tonnage of 6500. It had now become apparent that the country could not hope to meet emergencies which might at any moment arise, especially in connection with Korean affairs, unless the development of the mercantile marine proceeded more rapidly. Therefore in 1881 the formation of a new company was officially promoted. It had the name of the kyodO unyu kaisha (Union Transport Company); its capital was about a million sterling; it received a large subsidy from the state, and its chief purpose was to provide vessels for military uses and as commerce-carriers. Japan had now definitely embraced the policy of entrusting to private companies rather than to the state the duty of acquiring a fleet of vessels capable of serving as transports or auxiliary cruisers in time of war. But there was now seen the curious spectacle of two companies (the Mitsubishi and the Union Transport) competing in the same waters and both subsidized by the treasury. After this had gone on for four years, the two companies were amalgamated (1885) into the Nippon yusen kaisha (Japan Mail SS. Company) with a capital of i,ioo,ooo and an annual subsidy of 88,000, fixed on the basis of 8% of the capital. Another company had come into existence a few months earlier. Its fleet consisted of 100 small steamers, totalling 10,000 tons, which had hitherto been competing in the Inland Sea.

Japan now possessed a substantial mercantile marine, the rate of whose development is indicated by the following figures:

Year. Steamers. Sailing Vessels. Totals.

Number. Tons. Number. Toni. Number. Tons.

7870 - - - 35 15,498 - II.. 2,454. - 46 17,952

7892 - - - 642 122,300 780 46,065 - - 1,422 168,365

Nevertheless, only 23% of the exports and imports was transported in Japanese bottoms in 1892, whereas foreign steamees took 77%. This discrepancy was one of the subjects discussed iii the first session of the diet, but a bill presented by the government for encouraging navigation failed to obtain parliamentary consent, and in 1893 the Japan Mail SS. Company, without waiting for state assistance, opened a regular service to Bombay mainly for the purpose of carrying raw cotton from India to supply the spinningindustrywhich had now assumed great importance in Japan. Thus the rising sun flag flew for the first time outside Far-Eastern waters. Almost immediately after the establishment of this line, Japan had to engage in war with China, which entailed the despatch of some two hundred thousand men to the neighboring continent and their maintenance there for more than a year. All the countrys available shipping resources did not suffice for this task. Additional vessels had to be purchased or chartered, and thus, by the beginning of 1896, the mercantile marine of Japan had grown to 899 steamers of 373,588 tons, while the sailing vessels had diminished to 644 of 44,000 tons.

In 1897 there occurred an event destined to exercise a potent influence on the fortunes not only of Japan herself but also of her mercantile marine. No sooner had she exchanged with China ratifications of a treaty of peace which seemed to prelude a long period of tranquillity, than Russia, Germany and France ordered her to restore all the continental territory ceded to her by China. Japan then recognized that her hope of peace was delusive, and that she must be prepared to engage in a struggle incomparably more serious than the one from which she had just emerged. Determined that when the crucial moment came she should not be found without ample means for transporting her armies, the government, under the leadership of Prince Ito and with the consent of the diet, enacted, in March 1896 laws liberally encouraging ship-building and navigation. Under the navigation law any Japanese subject or any commercial company whose partners or shareholders were all Japanese subjects, engaged in carrying passengers and cargo between Japan and foreign countries or between foreign ports, in their own vessels, which must be of at least 1000 tons and registered in the shipping list of the Empire, became entitled to subsidies proportionate to the distance run and the tonnage of the vessels; and under the ship-building law, bounties were granted for the construction of iron or steel vessels of not less than 700 tons gross by any Japanese subject or any commercial company whose partners and shareholders were all Japanese. The effect of this legislation was marked. In the period of six years ended 1902, no less than 835 vessels of 455,000 tons were added to the mercantile marine, and the treasury found itself paying encouragement money which totalled six hundred thousand pounds annually. Ship-building underwent remarkable development. Thus, while in 1870 only 2 steamers aggregating 57 tons had been constructed in Japanese yards, 53 steamers totalling 5380 tons and 193 sailing vessels of 17,873 tons were launched in 1900. By the year 1907 Japan had 216 private ship yards and 42 private docks,i and while the government yards were able to build first-class line-of-battle ships of the largest size, the private docks were turning out steamers of 9000 tons burden. When war broke out with Russia in 1904, Japan had 567,000 tons of steam shipping, but that stupendous struggle obliged her to materially augment even this great total. In operations connected with th~ war she lost 71,000 tons, but on the other hand, she built 722 ft. Next stands the kawasaki at Kobe, and in the third place is the uraga.

27,000 tons at home and bought 177,000 abroad, so that the net increase to her mercantile fleet of steamers was 133,000 tons. Ihe following table shows the growth of her marine during the ten years ending 1907: Steamers. Sailing Vessels. Totals.

Year. Number. ~ Number. Tonnage. Number. T~~e.

1898 - - - 1130 477,430 1914 170,194 3044 648,324

1899 -. - 1221 510,007 3322 286,923 4543 467,930

7900 - - - 1329 543,365 3850 320,572 5179 863,937

1901 - - - 1395 583,532 4026 336,528 5471 920,060

1902 - 1441 610,445 3907 336,154 5348 946,600

1903 - - - 1570 663,220 3934 328,953 5504 992,173

1904 - - 1815 798,240 3940 329,125 5755 1,127,365

1905. - 1988 939,749 4132 336,571 6f7o 1,276,320

1906 - - 2103 1,041,569 4547 353,356 6700 1,395,925

1907 -. - 2139 1,115,880 4728 365,559 6867 I,48f,439

With regard to the development of ship-building in Japanese yards the following figures convey information NUMBERS OF VESsELS BUILT IN JAPAN AND NUMBERs PURCHASED An ROAD

Built in Japan. Purchased abroad.

Year. Steamers. Sailing Vessels. Steamers. Sailing Vessels.

1898 -. - 479 1301 194 9

1899 -. - 554 2771 799 12

1900 -.. 653 3302 206 7

1901 -. - 754 3559 215 6

1902 -.. 815 3585 220 6

1903 -. - 855 5304 233 8

1904 - - - 947 3324 277 8

1905 -.. 1028 3508 357 II

1906 -. - 1100 3859 387 II

1907 -. - 1150 4033 419 12

In the building of iron and steel ships the Japanese are obliged to import much of the material used, but a large steel-foundry has been established under government auspices at Wakamatsu in KiUshiQ, that position having been chosen on account of comparative proximity to the Taiya iron mine in China, where the greater part of the iron ore used for the foundry is procured.

Simultaneously with the growth of the mercantile marine there has been a marked development in the number of licensed mariners; that is to say, seamen registered by the government as having passed the examination prescribed by law. Seamen. In 1876 there were only 4 Japanese subjects who satisfied that definition as against 74 duly qualified foreigners holding responsible positions. In 1895 the numbers were 4135 Japanese and 835 foreigners, and ten years later the corresponding figures were 16,886 and 349 respectively. In 1904 the ordinary seamen of the mercantile marine totalled 202,710.

There are in Japan various institutions where the theory and practice of navigation are taught. The principal of these is the Tokyo shOsen gakko (Tokyo mercantile marine college, established in 1875), where some 600 of the men now tIOfl of serving as officers and engineers have graduated. Well arners. equipped colleges exist also in seven other places, all having been established with official co-operation. Mention must be made of a mariners assistance association (kaiin ekizai-kai, established in 1800) which acts as a kind of agency for supplying mariners to shipowners, and of a distressed mariners relief association (suinan kyflsai-kai) which has succoured about a hundred thousand seamen since its establishment in I 899.

The duty of overseeing all matters relating to the maritime carrying trade devolves on the department of state for communications, and is delegated by the latter to one of its bureaus (the Kwansen-kyoku, or ships superintendence ~1t,1f7~~ bureau), which, again, is divided into three sections: t1o I raone for inspecting vessels, one for examining mariners, and one for the general control of all shipping in Japanese waters. For the better discharge of its duties this bureau parcels out the empire into 4 districts, having their headquarters at TOkyO, Osaka, Nagasaki and Hakodate; and these four districts are in turn subdivided into 18 sections, each having an office of marine affairs (kwaiji-kyoku).

Competition between Japanese and foreign ships in the carriage of the countrys over-sea trade soon began to assume appreciable dimensions. Thus, whereas in 1891 the portion carried in Japanese bottoms was only 13/4 millions sterling ComseUtlon against 123/4 millions carried by foreign vessels, the between corresponding figures in 1902 were 201/2 millions against a~13~~Ign 321/8 millions. In other words, Japanese steamers carried Ships only 11% of the total trade in 1891, but their share rose to 39% in 1902. The prospect suggested by this record caused some uneasiness, which was not allayed by observing that while the tonnage of Japanese vessels in Chinese ports was only 2%

in 1896 as compared with foreign vessels, the former figure grew to 16% in 1902; while in Korean ports Japanese steamers almost monopolized the carrying trade, leaving only iS% to their foreign rivals, and even in Hong-Kong the tonnage of Japanese ships increased from 3% in 1896 to 13% in 1900. In 1898 Japan stood eleventh on the list of the thirteen principal maritime countries of the world, but in 1907 she rose to the fifth place. Her principal company, the Nippon yusen kaisha, though established as lately as 1885, now ranks ninth in point of tonnage among the 2f leading maritime companies of the world. This company was able to supply 55 out of a total fleet of 207 transports furnished by all the steamship companies of Japan for military and naval purposes during the war with Russia in 1904-5. It may be noted in conclusion that the development of Japans steam-shipping during the five decades ended 1907 was as follows: Tons.

At the end of 1868 17,952

At the end of 1878 63,468

At the end of 1888 197,365

At the end of 1898 648,324

At the end of I907 1,115,880

There are 33 ports in Japan open as places of call for foreign ~ ~r~ steamers. Their names with the dates of their opening are as follow:

Name. Date of Opening. Situation.

Yokohama 1859 Main Island.

Kobe 1868 do.

Niigata 1867 do.

Osaka 1899 do.

Yokkaichi do. do.

Shimonoseki do. do.

Itozaki do. do.

Taketoyo do. do.

Shimizu do. do.

Tsuruga do. do.

Nanao do. do.

Fushiki do. do.

Sakai do. do.

Hamada do. do.

Miyazu do. do.

Aomori 1906 do.

Nagasaki 1859 KiCshiU.

Moji 1899 do.

Hakata lo. do.

Karatsu do. do.

Kuchinotsu do. do.

Misumi do. do.

Suminoye 1906 do.

Izuhara 1899 Tsushima.

Sasuna do. do.

Shikami do. do.

Nafa do. RiQkiU.

Otaru do. Yezo.

Kushiro do. do.

Mororan do. do.

Hakodate 1865 do.

Kelung 1899 Formosa.

Tamsui do. do.

Takow do. do.

Anping do. do.

Emigration.Characteristic of the Japanese is a spirit of adventure: they readily emigrate to foreign countries if any inducement offers. A strong disposition to exclude them has displayed itself in the United States of America, in Australasia and in British Columbia, and it is evident that, since one nation cannot force its society on another at the point of the sword, this anti-Asiatic prejudice will have to be respected, though it has its origin in nothing more respectablethan the jealousy of the laboring classes. One result is an increase in the numbel of Japanese emigrating to Korea, Manchuria and S. America. The following table shows the numbers residing at various placef outside Japan in 1904 and 1906 respectively: Number in Number in Place 1904.1906.

China 9,417 27,126

Korea 31,093 100,000

Manchuria 43,823

Hong-Kong 600 756

Singapore 1,292 1,428

British India 413 530

530

Europe 183 697

Number in Number in Place 1904.1906.

United States of America 33,849 130,228

Canada 3,838 5,088

Mexico 456 1,294

S. America 1,496 2,500

Philippines 2,652 2,185

Hawaii 65,008 64,319

Australasia 71,I29 3,274

Foreign Residents.The number of foreigners residing in Japan and their nationalities in 1889, 1899 and 1906, respectively, were as follow:

1889.1899.1906.

Americans -.. 899 1,296 1,650

British 1,701 2,013 2,155

Russians 63 134 211

French 335 463 540

Portuguese - - - 108 158 165

Germans 550 532 670

Chinese 4,975 6,372 12,425

Koreans 8 f 88 254

There are also small numbers of Dutch, Peruvians, Belgians, Swiss, Italians, Danes, Swedes, Austrians, Hungarians, &c. This slow growth of the foreign residents is remarkable when contrasted with the fact that the volume of the countrys foreign trade, which constitutes their main business, grew in the same period from 31/2 millions sterling to 92 millions.

Posts and Telegraphs.The government of the Restoration did not wait for the complete abolition of feudalism before organizing a new system of posts in accordance with modern needs. At first, letters only were carried, but before the close of 1871 the service was extended so as to include newspapers, printed matter, books and commercial samples, while the area was extended so as to embrace all important towns between Hakodate in the northern island of Yezo and Nagasaki in the southern island of KiUshifl. Two years later this field was closed to private enterprise, the state assuming sole charge of the business. A few years later saw Japan in possession of an organization comparable in every respect with the systems existing in Europe. In 1892 a foreign service was added. Whereas in 1871 the number of post-offices throughout the empire was only 179, it had grown to 6449 in 907, while the mail matter sent during the latter year totalled 1254 millions (including 15 millions of parcels), and 67,000 persons were engaged in handling it. Japan labors under special difficulties for postal purposes, owing to the great number of islands included in the empire, the exceptionally mountainous nature of the country, and the wide areas covered by the cities in proportion to the number of their inhabitants. It is not surprising to find, therefore, that the means of distribution are varied. The state derives a net revenue of 5 million yen approximately from its postal service. It need scarcely be added that the system of postal money-orders was developed pan passu with that of ordinary correspondence, hut in this context one interesting fact may be noted, namely, that while Japan sends abroad only some 25,000 annually to foreign countries through the post, she receives over 450,000 from her over-sea emigrants.

Japan at the time of the Restoration (1867) was not entirely without experience which prepared her for the postal money-ordet system. Some 600 years ago the idea of the bill of exchange was born in the little town of Totsugawa Postal (Yamato province), though it did not obtain much development before the establishment of the Tokugawa ~ shogunate in the I 7th century. The feudal chiefs, having then tc transmit large sums to Yedo for the purposes of their compulsor) residence there, availed themselves of bills of exchange, and thi shoguns government, which received considerable amounts ir Osaka, selected ten brokers to whom the duty of effecting the transfei of these funds was entrusted. Subsequently the 10 chosen broken were permitted to extend their services to the general public, and f recent Japanese historian notes that Osaka thus became the birth place of banking business in Japan. Postal money-orders weri therefore easily appreciated at the time of their introduction 11 1875. This was not true of the postal savings bank, however, ai institution which came into existence in the same year. It wa altogether a novel idea that the public at large, especially the lower sections of it, should entrust their savings to the government for safe keeping, especially as the minimum and maximum deposited at one time were fixed at such petty sums as 10 sen (23/4d.) and 50 sen (Is.), respectively. Indeed, in the circumstances, the fact that 1500 was deposited in the first year must be regarded as notable. Subsequently deposits were taken in postage stamps, and arrangements were effected for enabling depositors to pay money to distant creditors through the bank by merely stating the destination and the amount of the nearest post office. In 1908 the number of depositors in the post office savings bank was 8217, and their deposits exceeded 10 millions sterling. Thirty per cent. of the depositors belonged to the agricultural classes, 13 to the commercial and only 6 to the industrial.

Rapid communication by means of beacons was not unknown in ancient Japan, but code-signalling by the aid of flags was not introduced until the 17th century and was probably Telegraphs. suggested by observing the practice of foreign merchantmen. Its use, however, was peculiar. The central office stood at Osaka, between which city and many of the principal provincial towns rudely constructed towers were placed at long distances, and from one to another of these intelligence as to the market price of rice was flashed by flag-shaking, the signals being read with telescopes. The Japanese saw a telegraph for the first time in 1854, when Commodore Perry presented a set of apparatus to the shogun, and four years later the feudal chief of Satsuma (Shimazu Nariakira) caused wires to be erected within the enclosure of his castle. The true value of electric telegraphy was first demonstrated to the Japanese in connection with an insurrection in 1877, under the leadership of Saigo, the favorite of this same Shimazu Nariakira. Before that time, however, a line of telegraph had been put up between Tokyo and Yokohama (18 m.) and a code of regulations had been enacted. Sudden introduction to such a mysterious product of foreign science created superstitious dread in the minds of a few of the lower orders, and occasional attempts were made at the outset to wreck the wires. In 1886 the postal and telegraph offices were amalgamated and both systems underwent large development. Whereas the length of wires at the end of the fourth year after the introduction of the system was only 53 m., and the number of messages 20,000, these figures had grown in 1907 to 95,623 and 25 millions, respectively. Several cables are included in these latter figures, the longest being that to Formosa (I229 m.). Wireless telegraphy began to come into general use in 1908, when several vessels belonging to the principal steamship companies were equipped with the apparatus. It had already been employed for some years by the army and navy, especially during the war with Russia, when the latter service installed a new system, the joint invention of Captain Tonami of the navy, Professor S. Kimura of the naval college and Mr M. Matsushiro of the department of communications. The telegraph service in Japan barely pays the cost of operating and maintenance.

The introduction of the telephone into Japan took place in 1877, but it served official purposes solely during 13 years, and even when k ho (1890) it was placed at the disposal of the general e P LIes, public its utilities found at first few appreciators.

But this apathy soon yielded to a mood of eager employment, and the resources of the government (which monopolized the enterprise) proved inadequate to satisfy public demand. Automatic telephones were ultimately set up at many places in the principal towns and along the most frequented highways. The longest distance covered was from Tokyo to Osaka (348 m.). In 1907 Japan had 140,440 m. of telephone wires, 262 exchanges, 159 automatic telephones, and the approximate number of messages sent was 160 millions. The telephone service pays a net revenue of about 100,000 annually.

Agricul~ure.The gross area of land in Japanexcluding Formosa and Sakhalinis 89,167,880 acres, of which 53,487,022 acres represent the property of the crown, the state and the communes, the rest (35,680,868 acres) being owned by private persons. Of the grand total the arable lands represent 15,301,297 acres. With regard to the immense expanse remaining unproductive, experts calculate that if all lands inclined at less than 25 be considered cultivable, an area of 10,684,517 acres remains to be reclaimed, though whether the result would repay the cost is a question hitherto unanswered. The cultivated lands are thus classified, namely, wet fields (called also paddy fields or rice lands), 6,871,437 acres; dry fields (or upland farms), 5,741,745 acres, and others, 2,688,115 acres.

Paddy fields are to be seen in every valley or dell where farming is practicable; they are divided into square, oblong or triangular Rke plots by grass-grown ridges a few inches in height and on an average a foot in breadththe rice being planted in the soft mud thus enclosed. Narrow pathways intersect these rice-valleys at intervals, and rivulets (generally flowing between low banks covered with clumps of bamboo) feed ditches cut for purposes of irrigation. The fields are generally kept under water to a depth of a few inches while the crops are young, but are drained immediately before harvesting. They are then dug up, and again flooded before the second crop is planted out. The rising grounds which skirt the rice-land are tilled by the hoe, and produce Indian corn, millet and edible roots. The well-wooded slopes supply the peasants with timber and firewood. Thirty-six per cent. of the rice-fields yield two crops yearly. The seed is sown in small beds, and the seedlings are planted out in the fields after attaining the height of about 4 in. The finest rice is produced in the fertile plains watered by the Tonegawa in the province of ShimOsa, but the grain of Kaga and of the two central provinces of Settsu and Harima is also very good.

Not only does rice form the chief food of the Japanese but also the national beverage, called sake, is brewed from it. In color the best sake resembles very pale sherry; the taste s k is rather acid. None but the finest grain is used in a e. its manufacture. Of sake there are many varieties, from the best quality down to shiro-zake or white sake, and the turbid sort, drunk only in the poorer districts, known as n-igori-zake; there is also a sweet sort, called snirin.

The various cereal and other crops cultivated in Japan, the areas devoted to them and the annual production are shown in the following table:

1898.1902.1906.

Acres. Acres. Acres.

Rice 7,044,060 7,117,990 7,246,982

Barley 1,649,240 1,613,270 1,674,595

Rye 1,703,410 1,688,635 1,752,095

Wheat 1,164.020 1,210,435 1,107,967

Millet 693,812 652,492 594,280

Beans 2,503,395 1,488,600 1,478,345

Buckwheat. .. 450,100 414,375 402,575

Rape-seed. .. 377,070 392,612 352,807

Potatoes 92,297 105,350 140,197

Sweet Potatoes.. 668,130 693,427 717,620

Cotton 200,720 51,750 24,165

Hemp 62,970 42,227 34,845

Indigo (leaf). .. 122,180 92,982 40,910

1903.2905.1906.

Sugar Cane. ... 41,750 43,308 45,087

It is observable that no marked increase is taking place in the area under cultivation, and that the business of growing cotton, hemp and indigo is gradually diminishing, these staples being supplied from abroad. In Germany and Italy the annual additions made to the arable area average 8% whereas in Japan the figure is only 5%. Moreover, of the latter amount the rate for paddy fields is only 33% against 7~9% in the case of upland farms. This means that the population is rapidly outgrowing its supply of homeproduced rice, the great food-stuff of the nation, and the price of that cereal consequently shows a steady tendency to appreciate. Thus whereas the market value was 5s. 5d. per bushel in 1901, it rose to 6s. 9d. in 1906.

Scarcely less important to Japan than the cereals she raises are her silk and tea, both of which find markets abroad. Her production of the latter staple does not show any sign of marked development, for though tea is almost as essential an ~k and article of diet in Japan as rice, its foreign consumers are ea.

practically limited to the United States and their demand does not increase. The figures for the 10-year period ended 1906 are as follow: Area under cultiva- Tea produced tion (acres). (lb av.).

2897 147,230 70,063,076

1901 122,120 57,Q75,486

2906 126,125 58,279,286

Sericulture, on the contrary, shows steady development year by year. The demand of European and American markets has very elastic limits, and if Japanese growers are content with moderate, but still substantial, gains they can find an almost unrestricted sale in the West. The development from 1886 to 1906 was as follows: Raw silk produced yearly (Ib).

Average from 1886 to 1889. - 8,739,273

1895 19,087,310

1900 20,705,644

1905 21,630,829

2906 24,215,324

The chief silk-producing prefectures in Japan, according to the order of production, are Nagano, Gumma, Yamanashi, Fukushima, Aichi and Saitama. At the close of 1906 there were 3843 filatures throughout the country, and the number of families engaged in sericulture was 397,885.

Lacquer, vegetable wax and tobacco are also important staples of production. The figures for the ten-year period, 1897 to 1906, are as follow:

Lacquer Vegetable Tobacco (ib). wax (Ib). (Ib).

i897 344,267 25,850,790 110,572,925

1906 668,266 39,714,661 101,718,592

While the quantity of certain products increases, the number of filatures and factories diminishes, the inference being that industries are coming to be conducted on a larger scale than was formerly the case. Thus in sericulture the filatures diminished from 4723 in 1897 to 3843 in 1906; the number of lacquer factories from 1637 to 1123 at the same dates, and the number of wax factories from 2619 to 1929.

It is generally said that whereas more than 60% of Japans entire population is engaged in agriculture, she remains far behind the progressive nations of Europe in the application /t~tuhI~of scientific principles to farming. Nevertheless if we improve- take for unit the average value of the yield per hectare meats, in Italy, we obtain the lollowing figures:

Yield per hectare Italy 100

India 5

Germany 121

France 122

Egypt 153

Japan 213

In the realm of agriculture, as in all departments of modern Japans material development, abundant traces are found of official activity. Thus, in the year 1900, the government enacted laws designed to correct the excessive subdivision of farmers holdings; to utilize unproductive areas lying between cultivated fields; to straighten roads; to facilitate irrigation; to promote the use of machinery; to make known the value of artificial fertilizers; to conserve streams and to prevent inundations. Further, in order to furnish capital for the purposes of farming, 46 agricultural and commercial banksone in each prefecturewere established with a central institution called the hypothec bank which assists them to collect funds. A Hokkaid colonial bank and subsequently a bank of Formosa were also organized, and a law was framed to encourage the formation of co-operative societies which should develop a system of credit, assist the business of sale and purchase and concentrate small capitals. Experimental stations were another official creation. Their functions were to carry on investigations relating to seeds, diseases of cereals, insect pests, stock-breeding, the use of implements, the manufacture of agricultural products and cognate matters. Encouragement by grants in aid was also given to the establishment of similar experimental farms by private persons in the various prefectures, and such farms are now to be found everywhere. This official initiative, with equally successful results, extended to the domain of sericulture and tea-growing. There are two state sericultural training institutions where not only the rearing of silk-worms and the management of filatures are taught, but also experiments are made; and these institutions, like the state agricultural stations, have served as models for institutes on the same lines under private auspices. A silkconditioning house at Yokohama; experimental tea-farms; laws to prevent and remove diseases of plants, cereals, silkworms and cattle, and regulations to check dishonesty in the matter of fertilizers, complete the record of official efforts in the realm of agriculture during the Meiji era.

One of the problems of modern Japan is the supply of cattle. With a rapidly growing taste for beefwhich, in former days, was not an article of dietthere is a slow but steady Stock. diminution in the stock of cattle. Thus while the num~ breed ~ her of the latter in 1897 was 1,214,163, out of which total 158,504 were slaughtered, the corresponding figures in I9o~ were 1,190,373 and 167,458, respectively. The stock of sheer (3500 in 1906) increases slowly, and the stocks of goats (58,694 in 1897 and 74,750 in 1906) and swine (206,217 in 1897 and 284,708 in 1906) grow with somewhat greater rapidity, but mutton and porli do not suit Japanese taste, and goats are kept mainly for the sake of their milk. The government has done much towards the improvement of cattle and horses by importing bulls and sires, but, on thi whole, the mixed breed is not a success, and the war with Russif in 1904s having clearly disclosed a pressing need of heavier horse~ for artillery and cavalry purposes, large importations of Australian American and European cattle are now made, and the organizatior of race-clubs has been encouraged throughout ,the country.

Forests.Forests occupy an area of 55 millions of acres, or 600/ of the total superficies of Japan, and one-third of that expanse namely, i8 million acres, approximately, is the property of the state It cannot be said that any very practical attempt has yet been mad~ to develop this source of wealth. The receipts from forests stoo at only 13 million yen in the budget for 1907f 908, and even tha figure compares favorably with the revenue of only 3 million:

derived from the same source in the fiscal year 1904-1905. Thi failure to utilize a valuable asset is chiefly due to defective communi cations, but the demand for timber has already begun to increase In 1907 a revised forestry law was promulgated, according to whic]

the administration is competent to prevent the destruction a forests and to cause the olantin~ of olains and waste-lands, or th re-planting of denuded areas. A plan was also elaborated for systematically turning the state forests to valuable account, while, at the same time, providing for their conservation.

Fisheries.From ancient times the Japanese have been great fishermen. The seas that encircle their many-coasted islands teem with fish and aquatic products, which have always constituted an essential article of diet. Early in the 18th century, the Tokugawa administration, in pursuance of a policy of isolation, interdicted the construction of ocean-going ships, and the peoples enterprise in the matter of deep-sea fishing suffered a severe check. But shortly after the Restoration in 1867, not only was this veto rescinded, but also the government, organizing a marine bureau and a marine products examination office, took vigorous measures to promote pelagic industry. Then followed the formation of the marine products association under the presidency of an imperial prince. ,Fishery training schools were the next step; then periodical exhibitions of fishery and marine products; then the introduction and improvement of fishing implements; and then by rapid strides the area of operations widened until Japanese fishing boats of improved types came to be seen in Australasia, in Canada, in the seas of Sakhalin, the Maritime Province, Korea and China; in the waters of Kamchatka and in the Sea of Okhotsk. No less than 9000 fishermen with 2000 boats capture yearly about 300,000 worth of fish in Korean waters; at least 8000 find a plentiful livelihood off the coasts of Sakhalin and Siberia, and 200 Japanese boats engage in the salmon-fishing of the Fraser River. In 1893, the total value of Japanese marine products and fish captured did not exceed 13/4 millions sterling, whereas in 1906 the figure had grown to 53/4 millions, to which must be added 3~ millions of manufactured marine products. Fourteen kinds of fish represent more than 50% of the whole catch, namely, (in the order of their importance) bonito (katsuo), sardines (iwashi), pagrus (Sal), cuttle-fish and squid (tako and ika), mackerel (saba), yellow tail (burl), tunny-fish (maguro), prawns (ebi), sole (karei), grey mullet (bora), eels (unagi), salmon (shake), sea-ear (awabi) and carp (koi). Altogether 700 kinds of aquatic products are known in Japan, and 400 of them constitute articles of diet. Among manufactured aquatic products the chief are (in the order of their importance) dried bonito, fish guano, dried cuttle-fish, dried and boiled sardines, dried herring and dried prawns. The export of marine products amounted to 900,000 in 1906 against 400,000 ten years previously; China is the chief market. As for imports, they were insignificant at the beginning of the Meiji era, but by degrees a demand was created for salted fish, dried sardines (for fertilizing), edible sea-weed, canned fish and turtle-shell, so that whereas the total imports were only 1600 in 1868, they grew to over 400,000 in 1906.

Minerals.Crystalline schists form the axis of Japan. They run in a general direction from south-west to north-east, with chains starting east and west from Shikoku. On these schists rocks of every age are superimposed, and amid these somewhat complicated geological conditions numerous minerals occur. Precious stones, however, are not found, though crystals of quartz and antimony as well as good specimens of topaz and agate are not infrequent.

Gold occurs in quartz veins among schists, paleozoic or volcanic rocks and in placers. The quantity obtained is not large, but it shows tolerably steady development, and may possibly be much increased by more generous use of capital and God. larger recourse to modern methods.

The value of the silver mined is approximately equal to that of the gold. It is found chiefly in volcanic rocks (especially tuff), in the form of sulphide, and it is usually associated with gold, copper, lead or zinc. ver.

Much more important in Japans economics than either of the precious metals is copper. Veins often showing a thickness of from 70 to 80 ft., though of poor quality (2 to 8%), are found bedded in crystalline schists or paleozoic sedimentary opper. rocks, but the richest (10 to 30%) occur in tuff and other volcanic rocks.

There have not yet been found any evidences that Japan is rich in iron ores. Her largest known deposit (magnetite) occurs at Karnaishi in Iwate prefecture, but the quantity of pigiron produced from the ore mined there does not exceed 37,000 tons annually, and Japan is obliged to import from the neighboring continent the greater part of the iron needed by hei for ship-building and armaments.

Considerable deposits of coal exist, both anthracite and bituminous The former, found chiefly at Amakusa, is not greatly inferior to thc Cardiff mineral; and the latterobtained in abundance in Kishi and Yezois a brown coal of good medium Coa quality. Altogether there are 29 coal-fields now actually worker in Japan, and she obtained an important addition to her sources oJ supply in the sequel to the war with Russia, when the Fushun minn near Mukden, Manchuria, were transferred to her. During the i years ending in 1906, the ,market value of the coal mined in Japaz grew from less than 2 millions sterling to over 6 millions.

Petroleum also has of late sprung into prominence on the list o her mineral products. The oil-bearing stratawhich occur mainl~ in tertiary rocksextend from Yezo to Formosa, but Petrole m I the principal are in Echigo, which yields the greater Dart of the petroleum now obtained, the Yezo and Formosa well being still little exploited. The quantity of petroleum obtained in Japan in 1897 was 9 million gallons, whereas the quantity obtained in 1906 was 55 millions.

Japanese mining enterprise was more than trebled during the decade 1897 to 1906, for the value of the minerals taken out in the former year was only 33/4 millions sterling, whereas the corresponding figure for 1906 was II millions. The earliest mention of goldmining in Japan takes us back to the year A.D. 696, and by the 16th century the country had acquired the reputation of being rich in gold. During the days of her medieval intercourse with the outer world, her stores of the precious metals were largely reduced, for between the years 1602 and 1766, Holland, Spain, Portugal and China took from her 313,800 lb (troy) of gold and 11,230,000 lb of silver.

Copper occupied a scarcely less important place in Old Japan. From a period long anterior to historic times this metal was employed to manufacture mirrors and swords, and the introduction of Buddhism in the 6th century was quickly followed by the casting of sacred images, many of which still survive. Finding in the 18th century that her foreign intercourse not only had largely denuded her of gold and silver, but also threatened to denude her of copper, Japan set a limit (3415 tons) to the yearly export of the latter metal. After the resumption of administrative power by the emperor in 1867, attention was quickly directed to the question of mineral resources; several Western experts were employed to conduct surveys and introduce Occidental mining methods, and ten of the most important mines were worked under the direct auspices of the state in order to serve as object lessons. Subsequently these mines were all transferred to private hands, and the government now retains possession of only a few iron and coal mines whose products are needed for dockyard and arsenal purposes. The following table shows the recent progress and present condition of mining industry in Japan:

GOLD SILVER Co Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Quantity.

oz. oz. Tons.

1897.. 34,553 136,834 1,809,805 208,206 19,722

1901 -. 82,517 330,076 1,824,842 211,682 26,495

1906.. 90,842 363,715 2,623,212 243,914 37,254

IRON COAL PET

Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Quantity Tons. Tons. Gallons.

1897.. 35,178 103,559 5,229,662 1,899,592 9,248,8C

1901 -. 46,456 123,701 9,025,325 3,060,931 39,35I,9(

1906.. 85,203 268,911 12,980,103 6,314,400 55,135,81

ANTIMONY MANGANESE

Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value.

Tons. Tons.

1897 - - 1,133 27,362 13,175 8,758

1901 - - 529 f3,481 15,738 10,846

1906 - 293 22,862 12,322 51,365

The number of mine employees in 1907 was 190,000, in round numbers; the number of mining companies, 189; and the aggregate paid-up capital, 10 millions sterling.

Induslries.In the beginning of the Meiji era Japan was practically without any manufacturing industries, as the term is understood in the Occident, and she had not so much as one joint-stock company. At the end of 1906, her joint-stock companies and partnerships totalled 9329, their paid up capital exceeded 100 millions sterling, and their reserves totalled 26 millions. It is not to be inferred, however, from the absence of manufacturing organizations 50 years ago that such pursuits were deliberately eschewed or despised in Japan. On the contrary, at the very dawn of the historical epoch we find that see tions of the people took their names from the work carried on. by them, and that specimens of expert industry were preserved in the sovereigns palace side by side with the imperial insignia. Further, skilled artisans from the neighboring continent always found a welcome in Japan, and when Korea was successfully invaded in early times, one of the uses which the victors made of their conquest was to import Korean weavers and .dyers. Subsequently the advent of Buddhism, with its demand for images, temples, gorgeous vestments and rich paraphernalia, gave a marked impulse to the development of artistic industry, which at the outset took its models from China, India and Greece, but gradually, while assimilating many of the best features of the continental schools, subjected them to such great modifications in accordance with Japanese genius that they ceased to retain more than a trace of their originals. From the 9th century luxurious habits prevailed in KiOto under the sway of the Fujiwara regents, and the imperial citys munificent patronage drew to its precincts a crowd of artisans. But these were not industrials, in the Western sense of the term, and, further, their organization was essentially domestic, each family selecting its own pursuit and following it from generation to generation without co-operation or partnership with any outsider. The establishment of military feudalism in the 12th century brought a reaction from the effeminate luxury of the metropolis, and during nearly 300 years no industry enjoyed large popularity except that of the armourer and the sword-smith. No sooner, however, did the prowess of Oda Nobunaga and, above all, of Hideyoshi, the taik, bring within sight a cessation of civil war and the unification of the country, than the taste for beautiful objects and artistic utensils recovered vitality. By degrees there grew up among the feudal barons a keen rivalry in art industry, and the shoguns court in Yedo set a standard which the feudatories constantly strove to attain. Ultimately, in the days immediately antecedent to its fall, the shoguns administration sought to induce a more logical system by encouraging local manufacturers to supply local needs only, leaving to Kioto and Yedo the duty of catering to general wants.

But before this reform had approached maturity, the second advent of Western nations introduced to Japan the products of an industrial civilization centuries in advance of her own from the point of view of utility, though nowise superior in the application of art. Immediately PER LEAD the nation became alive to the Value. Quantity. Value, necessity of correcting its own in Tons. feriority in this respect. But the 869,266 746 10,343 people being entirely without 1,625,244 1,744 24640

3,007,992 2,721 49,690 models for orgamzatfon, without financial machinery and with 1OLEUM SULPHUR

out the idea of joint stock V~lue. Qu~ntltY. V1lue. enterprise, the government had 0 44,389 13,138 33,588 to choose between entering the 0 227,841 16,007 38,612 field as an instructor, and leaving o 314,550 27,406 61,386 the nation to struggle along an OTHERS arduous and expensive way Value. Total Values, to tardy development. There ~ could be no question as to which 3,863 3,345,662 course would conduce more to 41,338 10:839:783 the general advantage, and thus, in days immediately subsequent to the resumption of administrative power by the emperor, the spectacle was seen of official excursions into the domains of silk-reeling, cement-making, cotton and silk spinning, brick-. burning, printing and book-binding, soap-boiling, type-casting and ceramic decoration, to say nothing of their establishing colleges and schools where all branches of applied science were taught. Domestic exhibitions also were organized, and specimens of the countrys products and manufactures were sent under government auspices to exhibitions abroad. On the other hand, the effect of this new departure along Western lines could not but be injurious to the old domestic industries of the country, especially to those which owed their existence to tastes and traditions now regarded as obsolete. Here again the government came to the rescue by establishing a firm whose functions were to familiarize foreign markets with the products of Japanese artisans, and to instruct the latter in adaptations likely to appeal to Occidental taste. Steps were also taken for training women as artisans, and the government printing bureau set the example of employing female labor, an innovation which soon developed large dimensions. In short, the authorities applied themselves to educate an industrial disposition throughout the country, and as soon as success seemed to be in sight, they gradually transferred from official to private direction the various model enterprises, retaining only such as were required to supply the needs of the state.

The result of all this effort was that whereas, in the beginning of the Meiji era, Japan had virtually no industries worthy of the name, she possessed in I 896that is to say, after an interval of 25 years of effortno less than 4595 industrial and commercial companies, joint stock or partnership, with a paid-up capital of 40 millions sterling. Her development during the decade ending in 1906 is shown in the following table: Reserves Number of Paid-up capital (millions companies. (millions sterling), sterling).

1897 6,113 53 6

1901 8,602 83 12

1906 9,329 i07 26

What effect this development exercised upon the countrys over-sea trade may be inferred from the fact that, whereas the manufactured goods exported in 1870 were nil, their value in 1901 was 8 millions sterling, and in 1906 the figure rose to over 20 millions. In the following table are given some facts relating to the principal industries in which foreign markets are interested: COTTON YARNS

Operatives. Quantity Remarks.

Spindles.

Male. Female, produced.

lb This is a wholly 1897 768,328 9,933 35,059 216,913,196 new industry in 1901 1,181,762 13,481 49,540 274,86f,380 Japan. It had 1906 1,425,406 13,032 59,281 383,359,113 no existence before the Meiji era.

WOVEN GooDs Operatives. Market value Remarks.

Looms.

Male. Female, of products.

Millions sterling. It is observable I897 947,134 54,119 987,110 19 that a decrease 1901 719,550 43,172 747,946 24 inthenumberof 1906 736,828 40,886 751,605 36 operativesiscon - current with an increase of pro duction.

MATcHES

o Operatives. Quantity Value. Remarks.

~i produced.

~ Male. Female.

Gross. This is an 1897 269 21,447 26,277 24,038,960 654,849 altogether 1901 261 5,656 16,504 32,901,319 926,689 new indus 1901 250 5,468 18,721 54,802,293 1,551,698 try. Japan ese matches now hold the leading place in all Far- Eastern mar kets.

FOREIGN PAPER (as distinguished from Japanese)

.~ Operatives.

_______________ Quantity Value. Remarks.

0 _________________

produced.

~ Male. I Female.

lb Had not 1897 9 164 109 46,256,649 300,662 Japanese fac 1901 13 2.635 1,397 113,348,340 714,094 tories been 1906 22 3.774 1,778 218,022,434 1,415,778 established all this papermust have been im _______ __________ ________ ported.

In the field of what may be called minor manufacturesas ceramic wares, lacquers, straw-plaits, &c.there has been corresponding growth, for the value of these productions increased from i4 millions sterling in 1897 to 34 millions in 1906. But as these manufactures do not enter into competition with foreign goods in either Easterr or Vestern markets, they are interesting only as showing thi development of Japans producing power. They contribut~ nothing to the solution of the problem whether Japanese industries are destined ultimately to drive their foreign rivals from the markets of Asia, if not to compete injuriously with them even in Europe and America. Japan seems to have one great advantage over Occidental countries: she possesses an abundance of dexterous and exceptionally cheap labor. It has been said, indeed, that this latter advantage is not likely to be permanent, since the wages of labor and the cost of living are fast increasing. The average cost of labor doubled in the interval between 1895 and 1906, but, on the other hand, the number of manufacturing organizations doubled in the same time, while the amount of their paid-up capital nearly trebled. As to the necessaries of life, if those specially affected by government monopolies be excluded, the rate of appreciation between 1900 and 1906 averaged about 30%, and it thus appears that the cost of living is not increasing with the same rapidity as the remuneration earned by labor. 1 he manufacturing progress of the nation seems, therefore, to have a bright future, the only serious impediment being deficient capital. There is abundance of coal, and steps have been taken on a large scale to utilize the many excellent opportunities which the country offers for developing electricity by water-power.

The fact that Japans exports of raw silk amount to more than 12 millions sterling, while she sends over-sea only 34 millions worth of silk fabrics, suggests some marked inferiority Silkon the part of her weavers. But the true explanation weaving. seems to be that her distance from the Occident handicaps her in catering for the changing fashions of the West. There cannot be any doubt that the skill of Japanese weavers was at one time eminent. The sun goddess herself, the predominant figure in the Japanese pantheon, is said to have practised weaving; the names of four varieties of woven fabrics, were known in prehistoric times; the 3rd century of the Christian era saw the arrival of a Korean maker of cloth; after him came an influx of Chinese who were distributed throughout the country to improve the arts of sericulture and silk-weaving; a sovereign (Yuriaku) of the 5th century employed 92 groups of naturalized Chinese for similar purposes; in 421 the same emperor issued a decree encouraging the culture of mulberry trees and calling for taxes on silk and cotton; the manufacture of textiles was directly supervised by the consort of this sovereign; in 645 a bureau ot weaving was established; many other evidences are conclusive as to the great antiquity of the art of silk and cotton weaving in Japan.

The coming of Buddhism in the 6th century contributed not a little to the development of the art, since not only did the priests require for their own vestments and for the decoration of temples silken fabrics of more and more gorgeous description, but also these holy men themselves, careful always to keep touch with the continental developments of their faith, made frequent voyages to China, whence they brought back to Japan a knowledge of whatever technical or artistic improvements the Middle Kingdom could show. When Kito became the permanent metropolis of the empire, at the close of the 8th century, a bureau was established for weaving brocades and rich silk stuffs to be used in the palace. This preluded an era of some three centuries of steadily developing luxury in KiOto; an era when an essential part of every aristocratic mansions furniture was a collection of magnificent silk robes for use inthesumptuous NO. Then, in the 15th century came the Tea Ceremonial, when the brocade mountings of a picture or the wrapper of a tiny tea-jar possessed an almost incredible value, and such skill was attained by weavers and dyers that even fragments of the fabrics produced by them command extravagant prices to-day. KiOto always remained, and still remains, the chief producing centre, and to such a degree has the science of color been developed there that no less than 4000 varieties of tint are distinguished. The sense of color, indeed, seems to have been a special endowment of the Japanese people from the earliest times, and some of the combinations handed down from medieval times are treasured as incomparable examples. During the long era of peace under the Tokugawa administration the costumes of men and women showed an increasing tendency to richness and beauty. This culminated in the Genroku epoch (1688-1700), and the aristocracy of the present day delight in viewing histrionic performances where the costumes of that age and of its rival, the Momoyama (end of the 16th century) are reproduced.

It would be possible to draw up a formidable catalogue of the various kinds of silk fabrics manufactured in Japan before the opening of the Meiji era, and the signal ability of her weavers has derived a new impulse from contact with the Occident. Machinery has been largely introduced, and though the products of hand-looms still enjoy the reputation of greater durability, there has unquestionably been a marked development of producing power. Japanese looms now turn out about 17 millions sterling ,of silk textiles, of which less than 4 millions go abroad. Nor is increased quantity alone to be noted, for at the factory of Kawashima in Kito Gobelins are produced such as have never been rivalled elsewhere.

Commerce in Tokugawa Times.The conditions existing in Japan during the two hundred and fifty years prefatory to the modern opening of the country were unfavourable to the development alike of I~ational and of international trade. As to the former, the system of feudal government exercised a crippling influence, for each feudal chief endeavoured to check the exit of any kind of property from his fief, and free interchange of commodities was thus prevented so effectually that cases are recorded of one feudatorys subjects dying of starvation while those of an adjoining fief enjoyed abundance. International commerce, on the other hand, lay under the veto of the central government, which punished with death anyone attempting to hold intercourse with foreigners. Thus the fiefs practised a policy of mutual seclusion at home, and united to maintain a policy of general seclusion abroad. Yet it was under the feudal system that the most signal development of Japanese trade took place, and since the processes of that development have much historical interest they invite close attention.

As the bulk of a feudal chiefs income was paid in rice, arrangements had to be made for sending the grain to market and transmitting its proceeds. This was effected originally by establishing in Osaka stores (kura-yashiki), under the charge of samurai, who received the rice, sold it to merchants in that city and remitted the proceeds by official carriers. But from the middle of the 17th century these stores were placed in the charge of tradesmen to whom was given the name of kake-ya (agent). They disposed of the products entrusted to them by a fief and held the money, sending it by monthly instalments to an appointed place, rendering yearly accounts and receiving commission at the rate of from 2 to 4%. They had no special licence, but they were honorably regarded and often distinguished by an official title or an hereditary pension. In fact a kake-ya, of such standing as the Mitsui and the Konoike families, was, in effect, a banker charged with the finances of several fiefs. In Osaka the method of sale was uniform. Tenders were invited, and these having been opened in the presence of all the store officials and kake-ya, the successful tenderers had to deposit bargainmoney, paying the remainder within ten days, and thereafter becoming entitled to take delivery of the rice in whole or by instalments wrthin a certain time, no fee being charged for storage. A similar system existed in Yedo, the shoguns capital. Out of the custom of deferred delivery developed the establishment of exchanges where advances were made against sale certificates, and purely speculative transactions came into vogue. There followed an experience common enough in the West at one time: public opinion rebelled against these transactions in margins on the ground that they tended to enhance the price of rice. Several of the brokers were arrested and brought to trial; marginal dealings were thenceforth forbidden, and a system of licences was inaugurated in Yedo, the number of licensed dealers i being restricted to 108.

The system of organized trading companies had its origin in the 12th century, when, the number of merchants admitted within the confines of Yedo being restricted, it became necessary for those not obtaining that privilege to establish some mode of co-operation, and there resulted the formation of companies with representatives stationed in the feudal capital and share-holding members in the provinces. The Ashikaga shoguns developed this restriction by selling to the highest bidder the exclusive right of engaging in a particular trade, and the Tokugawa administration had recourse to the same practice. But whereas the monopolies instituted by the Ashikaga had for sole object the enrichment of the exchequer, the Tokugawa regarded it chiefly as a means of obtaining worthy representatives in each