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PURCHASED ABROAD Built in See also:Japan. Purchased abroad. See also:Year. Steamers. Sailing Vessels. Steamers. Sailing Vessels. 1898 . . 479 1301 194 9 1899 . 554 2771 199 12 1900 . . 653 3302 206 7 1901 . . . 754 3559 215 6 1902 . 813 3585 220 6 1903 . . 855 5304 233 8 1904 • • 947 3324 277 8 1905 . . . IO28 3508 357 11 1906 1 100 3859 387 11 1907 . . 1150 4033 419 12 In the See also:building of See also:iron and See also:steel See also:ships the See also:Japanese are obliged to import much of the material used, but a large steel-foundry has been established under See also:government auspices at Wakamatsu in Kiushiu, that position having been chosen on See also:account of See also:comparative proximity to the Taiya iron mine in See also:China, where the greater See also:part of the iron ore used for the foundry is procured. Simultaneously with the growth of the See also:mercantile marine there has been a marked development in the number of licensed mariners; that is to say, See also:seamen registered by the government Seamen. as having passed the examination prescribed by See also:law. In 1876 there were only 4 Japanese subjects who satisfied that See also:definition as against 74 duly qualified foreigners holding responsible positions. In 1895 the See also:numbers were 4135 Japanese and 835 foreigners, and ten years later the corresponding figures were 16,886 and 349 respectively. In 1904 the See also:ordinary seamen of the mercantile marine totalled 202,710. There are in Japan various institutions where the theory and practice of See also:navigation are taught. The See also:principal of these is the See also:Tokyo shosen gakko (Tokyo mercantile marine See also:college, iron of established in 1875), where some 600 of the men nowEdMariners. serving as See also:officers and See also:engineers have graduated. Well equipped colleges exist also in seven other places, all having been established with See also:official co-operation. Mention must be made of a mariners' assistance association (kaiin ekizai-kai, established in 1800) which acts as a See also:kind of agency for supplying mariners to See also:ship-owners, and of a distressed mariners' See also:relief association (suinan kyusai-kai) which has succoured about a See also:hundred thousand seamen since its See also:establishment in 1899. The See also:duty of overseeing all matters See also:relating to the maritime carrying See also:trade devolves on the See also:department of See also:state for communications, and is delegated by the latter to one of its maritime bureaus (the Kwansen-kyoku, or ships superintendence Administrabureau), which, again, is divided into three sections: tion. one for inspecting vessels, one for examining mariners, and one for the See also:general See also:control of all See also:shipping in Japanese See also:waters. For the better See also:discharge of its duties this See also:bureau parcels out the See also:empire into 4 districts, having their headquarters at Tokyo, See also:Osaka, See also:Nagasaki and See also:Hakodate; and these four districts are in turn sub-divided into 18 sections, each having an See also:office of marine affairs (kwaiji-kyoku). Competition between Japanese and See also:foreign ships in the See also:carriage of the See also:country's over-See also:sea trade soon began to assume appreciable dimensions. Thus, whereas in 1891 the portion carried in Japanese bottoms was only Ii millions See also:sterling Competition against 121 millions carried by foreign vessels, the between corresponding figures in 1902 were 201 millions against anpneseign 321 millions. In other words, Japanese steamers carried ships. only 11% of the See also:total trade in 1891, but their See also:share See also:rose to 39 % in 1902. The prospect suggested by this See also:record caused some uneasiness, which was not allayed by observing that while the See also:tonnage of Japanese vessels in See also:Chinese ports was only 2% in 1896 as compared with foreign vessels, the former figure See also: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-See also:Kong the tonnage of Japanese ships increased from 3 % in 1896 to 13% in 1900. In 1898 Japan stood See also:eleventh on the See also:list of the thirteen principal maritime countries of the See also:world, but in 1907 she rose to the fifth See also:place. Her principal See also:company, the Nippon yusen kaisha, though established as lately as 1885, now ranks ninth in point of tonnage among the 21 leading maritime companies of the world. This company was able to See also:supply 55 out of a total See also:fleet of 207 transports furnished by all the steamship companies of japan for military and See also:naval purposes during the See also:war with See also:Russia in 1904-5. It may be noted in conclusion that the development of Japan's See also:steam-shipping during the five decades ended 1907 was as follows: Tons. Number in Number in Place. 1904. 1go6. See also:United States of See also:America 33,849 130,228 See also:Canada 3,838 5,o88 See also:Mexico 456 1,294 S. America 1,496 2,500 Philippines 2,652 2,185 See also:Hawaii 65,008 64,319 See also: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: At the end of 1868 17,952 1889. 1899. At the end of 1878 63,468 Americans 899 1,296 At the end of 1888 197,365 See also:British . . 1,701 2,013 At the end of 1898 648,324 Russians . . 63 134 At the end of 1907 1,115,880 See also:French . . 335 463 Portuguese 1o8 158 There are 33 ports in Japan open as places of See also:call for foreign Germans . . 550 532 open ports. steamers. Their names with the See also:dates of their open- Chinese . . 4,975 6,372 See also:ing are as follow: Koreans . . 8 188 Name. Date of Opening. Situation. See also:Main See also:Island. See also:Yokohama . 1859 Kobe . 1868 do. See also: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. See also:Sakai do. do. Hamada do. do. Miyazu .. do. do. Aomori 1906 do. Nagasaki, . 1859 Kiushiu. See also:Moji . 1899 do. Hakata do. 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. See also:Yezo. Kushiro do. do. Mororan do. do. Hakodate . 1865 do. Kelung . 1899 See also:Formosa. Tamsui . do. do. Takow . do. do. Anping . do. do. See also:Emigration.—Characteristic of the Japanese is a spirit of See also: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 See also:Columbia, and it is evident that, since one nation cannot force its society on another at the point of the See also:sword, this See also:anti-See also:Asiatic See also:prejudice will have to be respected, though it has its origin in nothing more respectable than the See also:jealousy of the labouring classes. One result is an increase in the number of Japanese emigrating to See also:Korea, See also:Manchuria and S. America. The following table shows the numbers residing at various places outside Japan in 1904 and 1906 respectively: Number in Number in Place. 1904. 1906.
China 9,417 27,126
Korea 31,093 *_00,000
Manchuria 43,823
Hong-Kong 600 756
See also:Singapore 1,292 1,428
British See also:India 413 530
See also:Europe 183 697
1906. 1,650
2,155 211
540 165
67o 12,425
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 See also:volume of the country's foreign trade, which constitutes their main business, grew in the same See also:period from 132 millions sterling to 92 millions.
Posts and Telegraphs.—The government of the Restoration did not wait for the See also:complete abolition of See also:feudalism before organizing a new See also:system of posts in accordance with See also:modern needs. At first, letters only were carried, but before the See also:close of 1871 the service was extended so as to include See also:newspapers, printed See also:matter, books and commercial samples, while the See also:area was extended so as to embrace all important towns between Hakodate in the See also:northern island of Yezo and Nagasaki in the See also:southern island of Kiushiu. Two years later this See also: The state derives a See also:net See also:revenue of 5 million yen approximately from its postal service. It need scarcely be added that the system of postal See also:money-orders was See also:developed pars passu with that of ordinary See also:correspondence, but 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 See also:time of the Restoration (1867) was not entirely with-out experience which prepared her for the postal money-See also:order system. Some 600 years ago the See also:idea of the See also:bill of postal See also:exchange was See also:born in the little See also:town of Totsugawa Postal (Yamato See also:province), though it did not obtain much See also:gauss. development before the establishment of the See also:Tokugawa shogunate in the 17th See also:century. The feudal chiefs, having then to transmit large sums to Yedo for the purposes of their compulsory See also:residence there, availed themselves of bills of exchange, and the See also:shogun's government, which received considerable amounts in Osaka, selected ten brokers to whom the duty of effecting the See also:transfer of these funds was entrusted. Subsequently the to chosen brokers were permitted to extend their services to the general public, and a See also:recent Japanese historian notes that Osaka thus became the See also:birth-place of banking business in Japan. Postal money-orders were therefore easily appreciated at the time of their introduction in 1875. This was not true of the postal savings See also:bank, however, an institution which came into existence in the same year. It was altogether a novel idea that the public at large, especially the See also: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 See also:petty sums as lo sen (21d.) and 50 sen (Is.), respectively. Indeed, In the circumstances, the fact that £15oo was deposited in the first year must be regarded as notable. Subsequently deposits were taken in See also: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 so millions sterling. See also:Thirty per cent. of the depositors belonged to the agricultural classes, 13 to the commercial and only 6 to the See also:industrial. Rapid communication by means of beacons was not unknown in See also:ancient Japan, but See also:code-signalling by the aid of flags was not Telegraphs. introduced until the 17th century and was probably suggested by observing the practice of foreign merchantmen. Its use, however, was See also:peculiar. The central office stood at Osaka, between which See also:city and many of the principal provincial towns rudely constructed towers were placed at See also:long distances, and from one to another of these intelligence as to the See also:market See also:price of See also:rice was flashed by See also:flag-shaking, the signals being read with telescopes. The Japanese saw a See also:telegraph for the first time in 1854, when See also:Commodore See also:Perry presented a set of apparatus to the shogun, and four years later the feudal See also:chief of Satsuma (Shimazu Nariakira) caused wires to be erected within the enclosure of his See also:castle. The true value of electric telegraphy was first demonstrated to the Japanese in connexion with an insurrection in 1877, under the See also:leader-ship of See also:Saigo, the favourite of this same Shimazu Nariakira. Before that time, however, a See also: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 See also:science created superstitious dread in the minds of a few of the lower orders, and occasional attempts were made at the outset to See also: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 See also: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 (1229 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 See also:army and See also:navy, especially during the war with Russia, when the latter service installed a new system, the See also:joint invention of See also:Captain Tonami of the navy, See also: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 See also:maintenance. The introduction of the See also:telephone into Japan took place in 1877, but it served official purposes solely during 13 years, and even when Telephoaes.(1890) it was placed at the disposal of the general public its utilities found at first few appreciators. But this apathy soon yielded to a See also: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 16o millions. The telephone service pays a net revenue of about £1oo,000 annually. See also:Agriculture.—The See also:gross area of See also:land in Japan—excluding Formosa and See also:Sakhalin—is 89,167,880 acres, of which 53,487,022 acres represent the See also:property of the See also:crown, the state and the communes, the See also:rest (35,680,868 acres) being owned by private persons. Of the See also: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 15° 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 See also: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 Rice. plots by grass-grown ridges a few inches in height
and on an See also:average a See also:foot in breadth—the rice being planted in the soft mud thus enclosed. Narrow pathways intersect these rice-valleys at intervals, and rivulets (generally flowing between See also:low See also:banks covered with clumps of See also:bamboo) feed ditches cut for purposes of See also:irrigation. The fields are generally kept
quality down to shiro-zake or " See also: . 1,703,410 1,688,635 1,752,095 See also:Wheat . . 1,164.020 1,210,435 1,107,967 See also:Millet . . 693,812 652,492 594,28u Beans . 1,503,395 1,488,600 1,478,345 See also:Buckwheat 450,100 414,375 402,575 See also:Rape-See also:seed 377,070 392,612 352,807 Potatoes .. 92,297 105,350 140,197 Sweet Potatoes 668,130 693,427 717,620 See also:Cotton .. 100,720 51,750 24,165 See also:Hemp . 62,970 42,227 34,845 See also:Indigo (See also:leaf) 122,180 92,982 40,910 1903. 1905. 1906. See also:Sugar See also: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 sup-plied from abroad. In See also:Germany and See also: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 See also:rate for paddy fields is only 3.3 % against 7.9 % in the See also:case of upland farms. This means that the See also:population is rapidly outgrowing its supply of See also:home-produced rice, the great See also: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 See also:bushel In 190I, it rose to 6s. 9d. in 1906. Scarcely less important to japan than the cereals she raises are her See also:silk and See also:tea, both of which find markets abroad. Her production of the latter See also:staple does not show any sign of marked Si/k and development, for though tea is almost as essential an Tea. See also:article of See also:diet in Japan as rice, its foreign consumers are 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 ay.). 1897 147,230 70,063,076 1901 122,120 57,975,486 1906 126,125 58,279,286 Sericulture, on the contrary, shows steady development year by year. The demand of See also:European and See also:American markets has very elastic limits, and if Japanese growers are content with moderate, but still substantial, gains they can find an almost unrestricted See also:sale in the See also:West. The development from 1886 to 1906 was as follows: Raw silk produced yearly (lb). Average from 1886 to 1889 8,739,273 1895 19,087,310 1900 20, 705,644 1905 21,630, 829 1906 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. See also:Lacquer, See also:vegetable See also:wax and See also:tobacco are also important staples of production. The figures for the ten-year period, 1897 to 1906, are as follow:— under See also:water to a See also:depth of a few inches while the crops are See also:young, but are drained immediately before harvesting. They are then dug up, and again flooded before the second See also:crop is planted out. The rising grounds which skirt the rice-land are tilled by the See also:hoe, and produce See also:Indian See also:corn, millet and edible roots. The well-wooded slopes supply the peasants with See also: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 See also:grain of Kaga and of the two central provinces of Settsu and Harima is also very See also:good. Not only does rice See also:form the chief food of the Japanese but also the See also:national beverage, called sake, is brewed from it. In See also:colour the best sake resembles very See also:pale See also:sherry; the See also:taste is rather See also:acid. None but the finest grain is used in Sake. i Of t t t t s manuacure. sae ere are many varees, rom e e Lacquer Vegetable Tobacco (lb). wax (lb). (Ib). 1897 .. . 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 See also:industries are coming to be conducted on a larger See also: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 6o% of Japan's entire population is engaged in agriculture, she remains far behind the progressive nations of Europe in the application lof scientific principles to farming. Nevertheless if we meats. take for unit the average value of the yield per hectare in Italy, we obtain the following figures Yield per hectare Italy too India 51 Germany 121 See also:France 122 See also:Egypt 153 Japan 213 In the See also:realm of agriculture, as in all departments of modern Japan's material development, abundant traces are found of official activity. Thus, in the year 1900, the government enacted See also: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 See also:capital for the purposes of farming, 46 agricultural and commercial banks—one in each prefecture—were established with a central institution called the See also:hypothec bank which assists them to collect funds. A See also:Hokkaido colonial bank and subsequently a bank of Formosa were also organized, and a law was framed to encourage the formation of co-operative See also:societies which should develop a system of See also:credit, assist the business of sale and See also:purchase and concentrate small capitals. Experimental stations were another official creation. Their functions were to carry on investigations relating to seeds, diseases of cereals, See also: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-See also:worms and the management of filatures are taught, but also experiments are made; and these institutions, like the state agricultural stations, have served as See also:models for institutes on the same lines under private auspices. A silk-conditioning See also:house at Yokohama; experimental tea-farms; laws to prevent and remove diseases of See also:plants, cereals, silkworms and See also: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 See also:beef—which, in former days, was Stock- not an article of diet—there is a slow but steady breeding. diminution in the stock of cattle. Thus while the num- ber of the latter in 1897 was 1,214,163, out of which total 158,504 were slaughtered, the corresponding figures in 1906 were 1,190,373 and 167,458, respectively. The stock of See also:sheep (3500 in 1906) increases slowly, and the See also:stocks of goats (58,694 in 1897 and 74,750 in 1906) and See also:swine (206,217 in 1897 and 284,708 in 1906) grow with somewhat greater rapidity, but mutton and pork do not suit Japanese taste, and goats are kept mainly for the sake of their See also:milk. The government has done much towards the improvement of cattle and horses by importing bulls and sires, but, on the whole, the mixed breed is not a success, and the war with Russia in 1904–5 having clearly disclosed a pressing need of heavier horses for See also:artillery and See also:cavalry purposes, large importations of Australian, American and European cattle are now made, and the organization of See also:race-clubs has been encouraged throughout the country. Forests.—Forests occupy an area of 55 millions of acres, or 60 % of the total superficies of Japan, and one-third of that expanse, namely, 18 million acres, approximately, is the property of the state. It cannot be said that any very See also:practical See also:attempt has yet been made to develop this source of See also:wealth. The receipts from forests stood at only 13 million yen in the See also:budget for 1907–1908, and even that figure compares favourably with the revenue of only 3 millions derived from the same source in the fiscal year 1904–1905. This failure to utilize a valuable asset is chiefly due to defective communications, but the demand for timber has already begun to increase. In 1907 a revised forestry law was promulgated, according to which the See also:administration is competent to prevent the destruction of forests and to cause the planting of plains and See also:waste-lands, or there-planting of denuded areas. A See also:plan was also elaborated for systematically turning the state forests to valuable account, while, at the same time, providing for their conservation. See also:Fisheries.—From ancient times the Japanese have been great fishermen. The seas that encircle their many-coasted islands teem with See also:fish and aquatic products, which have always constituted an essential article of diet. See also:Early in the 18th century, the Tokugawa administration, in pursuance of a policy of See also:isolation, interdicted the construction of ocean-going ships, and the See also:people's enterprise in the matter of deep-sea fishing suffered a severe check. But shortly after the Restoration in 1867, not only was this See also:veto rescinded, but also the government, organizing a marine bureau and a marine products examination office, took vigorous See also:measures to promote pelagic See also:industry. Then followed the formation of the marine products association under the See also:presidency of an imperial See also:prince. See also:Fishery training See also: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 See also:Kamchatka and in the Sea of See also:Okhotsk. No less than 9000 fishermen with 2000 boats See also:capture yearly about {300,000 See also:worth of fish in Korean waters; at least 8000 find a plentiful livelihood off the coasts of Sakhalin and See also:Siberia, and 200 Japanese boats engage in the See also:salmon-fishing of the See also:Fraser See also:River. In 1893, the total value of Japanese marine products and fish captured did not exceed If millions sterling, whereas in 1906 the figure had grown to 5z 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 (tai), cuttle-fish and squid (tako and ika), See also:mackerel (saba), yellow tail (See also:buri), See also:tunny-fish (maguro), prawns (ebi), sole (karei), See also:grey See also:mullet (See also:bora), eels (unagi), salmon (shake), sea-See also:ear (awabi) and See also: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 See also:guano, dried cuttle-fish, dried and boiled sardines, dried See also: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-See also:weed, canned fish and turtle-See also:shell, so that whereas the total imports were only £1600 in 1868, they grew to over £400,000 in 1906. Minerals.—Crystalline See also:schists form the See also:axis of Japan. They run in a general direction from See also:south-west to See also:north-See also:east, with chains starting east and west from Shikoku. On these schists rocks of every See also:age are superimposed, and amid these somewhat complicated See also:geological conditions numerous minerals occur. See also:Precious stones, however, are not found, though crystals of See also:quartz and See also:antimony as well as good specimens of See also:topaz and See also:agate are not infrequent. See also:Gold occurs in quartz See also: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 Gold. larger recourse to modern methods. The value of the See also:silver See also:mined is approximately equal to that of the gold. It is found chiefly in volcanic rocks (especially See also:tuff), in the form of sulphide, and it is usually associated with Silver. gold, See also:copper, See also:lead or See also:zinc.
Much more important in Japan's See also:economics than either of the precious metals is copper. Veins often showing a thickness of from 7o to 8o ft., though of poor quality (2 to 8%), are found bedded in crystalline schists or paleozoic sedimentary Copper.
rocks, but the richest (to to 30 %) occur in tuff and other volcanic rocks.
There have not yet been found any evidences that Japan is See also:rich in iron ores. Her largest known See also:deposit (See also:magnetite) occurs at Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture, but the quantity of See also:pig-
Iron.
iron produced from the ore mined there does not exceed
37,000 tons annually, and Japan is obliged to import from the neighbouring See also:continent the greater part of the iron needed by her for ship-building and armaments.
Considerable deposits of See also:coal exist, both See also:anthracite and bituminous. The former, found chiefly at See also:Amakusa, is not greatly inferior to the See also:Cardiff See also:mineral; and the latter—obtained in abundance Coal. in Kiushiu and Yezo—is a See also: See also:Petroleum also has of See also:late sprung into prominence on the list of her mineral products. The oil-bearing strata—which occur mainly in See also:tertiary rocks—extend from Yezo to Formosa, but Petrekum. the principal are in Echigo, which yields the greater
part of the petroleum now obtained, the Yezo and Formosa See also:wells
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 See also:mining enterprise was more than trebled during the See also:decade 1897 to 1906, for the value of the minerals taken out in the former year was only 31 millions sterling, whereas the corresponding figure for 1906 was II millions. The earliest mention of gold-mining 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 See also:medieval intercourse with the See also:outer world, her stores of the precious metals were largely reduced, for between the years 1602 and 1766, See also: The following table shows the recent progress and See also:present See also:condition of mining industry in Japan: GOLD Quantity. Value. oz. £ 1897 • • 34,553 1901 . . 82,517 330,076 363,715 IRON See also:MANGANESE Quantity. Value. Tons. £ 13,175 8,758 15,738 Io,846 12,322 51,365 The number of mine employees in 1907 numbers; the number of mining companies, paid-up capital, to millions sterling. Industries.—In the beginning of the Meiji era Japan was practically without any manufacturing industries, as the See also: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 See also:loo millions sterling, and their reserves totalled 26 millions. It is not to be inferred, however, from the See also:absence of manufacturing organizations 50 years ago that such pursuits were deliberately eschewed or despised in Japan. On the contrary, at the very See also:dawn of the See also:historical See also:epoch we find that sections of the people took their names from the See also:work carried on by them, and that specimens of See also:expert industry were preserved in the See also:sovereign's See also:palace See also:side by side with the imperial insignia. Further, skilled artisans from the neighbouring continent always found a welcome in Japan, and when Korea was success-fully invaded in early times, one of the uses which the victors made of their See also:conquest was to import Korean weavers and .dyers. Subsequently the See also:advent of Buddhism, with its demand for images, temples, gorgeous See also:vestments and rich See also:paraphernalia, gave a marked impulse to the development of See also:artistic industry, which at the outset took its models from China, India and See also:Greece, but gradually, while assimilating many of the best features of the See also:continental schools, subjected them to such great modifications in accordance with Japanese See also:genius that they ceased to retain more than a trace of their originals. From the 9thcentury luxurious habits prevailed in See also:Kioto under the sway of the Fujiwara regents, and the imperial city's munificent See also:patron-age See also:drew to its precincts a See also:crowd of artisans. But these were not industrials, in the Western sense of the term, and, further, their organization was essentially domestic, each See also:family selecting its own pursuit and following it from See also:generation to generation without co-operation or See also:partnership with any outsider. The establishment of military feudalism in the 12th century brought a reaction from the effeminate luxury of the See also:metropolis, and during nearly 300 years no industry enjoyed large popularity except that of the armourer and the sword-See also: Domestic exhibitions also were organized, and specimens cf the country's products and manufactures were sent under government auspices to exhibitions abroad. On the other See also: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 See also:rescue by establishing a See also:firm whose functions were to familiarize foreign markets with the products of Japanese artisans, and to instruct the latter in adaptations likely to See also:appeal to Occidental taste. Steps were also taken for training See also:women as artisans, and the government printing bureau set the example of employing See also:female labour, an innovation which soon developed large dimensions. In See also: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 See also:model enter-prises, 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 1896—that is to say, after an See also:interval of 25 years 1906 . . 90,842 1897 1901 1906 Quantity. Tons. 35,178 46,456 85,203 Value. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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