TRAVEL, TRANSPORTATION, COMMERCE
OUTLINE OF TOPICS: Travelling in Old Japan; vehicles of Old and
New Japan; _jinrikisha_; railway travel; telegraph and telephone;
street-car, bicycle, and automobile; steamships.—Postal system.—Oil,
gas, and electric light.—Foreign commerce; variety of imports.—Mixed
corporations.—Stock and other exchanges.—Banking system; coinage;
monetary standard.—Baron Shibusawa on business ability of Japanese,
prospects of industrial and commercial Japan, and financial
situation.—Bibliography.
One of the most common and most important indications of a great
change in the life and civilization of Japan is to be seen in the
improved modes of travel and transportation. The ancient method, though
in some sections pack-horses and oxen were used, was essentially
pedestrian. The common people travelled on foot, and carried or dragged
over the road their own baggage or freight. Couriers, carrying the most
important despatches, relied upon fleetness of foot. The higher classes
and wealthy people, even though not themselves making any exertions in
their own behalf, were carried about in vehicles by coolies, who, with
their human burdens, tramped from place to place. On water, too, travel
and transportation depended mostly upon human muscular exertion, as all
boats, small or large, had to be propelled by oars or poles, except
when favored with a breeze to swell the sails and allow the boatmen a
respite from their toil. But all this hard labor developed, of course,
a strength of limb and a power of endurance that even in recent years
have enabled the Japanese soldiers to march and fight in either the
piercing cold and deep snow of Manchuria or the blistering heat of
Formosa. A life of constant outdoor exposure to wind, rain, cold, or
heat has toughened and browned the skin, and made an altogether hardy
race out of the common people; while the lack of this regular exercise
and calisthenic training has left its mark in the comparatively weak
constitutions of those who travelled, not on their own feet, but on the
shoulders of others.
The common vehicles of the olden days were ordinary carts for
freight and _norimono_ and _kago_ for passengers. The _norimono_ is
a good-sized sedan-chair or palanquin, in which the rider can sit
in a fairly comfortable position. The _kago_ is a sort of basket in
which the traveller takes a half-sitting, half-reclining posture, not
altogether comfortable—at least for tall foreigners. At present the
_norimono_ is seldom if ever employed except for corpses or invalids,
but the _kago_ is still used in mountainous regions, where nothing
else is available. It must be understood, of course, that the nobles
and their retainers often rode on horseback; but the great mass of the
people walked and the few rode in _kago_ or _norimono_.
Now, however, modes of travel have changed greatly, and are changing
year by year. There are still many pedestrians; the _kago_ is yet to be
seen; boats are propelled by stern-end oar or laboriously pushed along
with poles; and pack-horses and oxen—even in the streets of Tōkyō—are
in frequent use. But there are many other means of communication and
transportation. There have come into use the horse-car, the stage, the
_jinrikisha_, the railroad, with the telegraph and the telephone; the
modern row-boat, the steamboat; the bicycle, the automobile, and the
electric railway, with the electric light to show the road by night.
An excellent postal system and various other modern contrivances for
facilitating the means of communication have been adopted.
The most common mode of conveyance at present, in all possible
localities, is the _jin-riki-sha_ (man-power-carriage), or “Pull-man
car,” as it has been wittily called. This is a two-wheeled “small
gig,” or large baby-carriage, pulled by one or more men. A ride in a
_jinrikisha_, after one has become accustomed to human labor in that
capacity, is really comfortable and delightful. The coolies who pull
these vehicles develop swiftness and endurance, but are comparatively
short-lived. There is also a two-wheeled freight cart manipulated in
the same fashion. It has been estimated that in the Empire there are
almost 1,350,000 hand-carts, about 185,000 _jinrikishas_, about 28,000
ox-carts, more than 66,000 other freight carts, and almost 100,000
carriages and wagons. The business of transportation thus furnishes
occupation to thousands of people, but gives to each engaged therein
only a scanty remuneration, which is often insufficient for the support
of life, after the tax has been paid. The fee for a _jinrikisha_ ride
averages about 12 or 15 _sen_ per ri (2-1/2 miles), or varies from 20
to 30 _sen_ per hour. If a coolie makes 50 _sen_ in one day, he is
fortunate, and is lucky to average 25 or 30 _sen_ per day; for some
days he may be wearily waiting and watching from dawn to the dead of
night without receiving scarcely a copper. Hard, indeed, is their lot;
and their death rate is rather high.[30]
But even the _jinrikisha_ will eventually be supplanted for long
journeys wherever a railroad goes. There are now in Japan over 6,000
miles of railway, and in Korea and South Manchuria there are 641 and
706 miles more. There is one continuous line of railroad from Aomori
in the extreme north to Shimonoseki in the extreme south of the main
island, and then, after crossing the Straits of Shimonoseki, there is
another unbroken line from Moji to Nagasaki and Kagoshima or Kumamoto.
In the island of Yezo (Hokkaidō) is a short line built by American
engineers after American models; but all other railroads in Japan were
built and are operated according to the British methods. The rate of
fare is 1 _sen_ per mile for third class, 2 _sen_ for second class,
and 3 _sen_ for first class, and the rate of speed rarely exceeds 20
or 25 miles per hour; but fortunately the people are not in such a
hurry as Americans. Recently, however, express trains, running at the
rate of 30 or more miles per hour, have been started on several of
the roads, especially between large and important places. Dining-cars
and sleeping-cars, too, may be found on some of the lines; and the
American check system is used for baggage. The government owns most of
the railways; in 1906, the Twenty-second Diet adopted a bill for buying
up the seventeen largest private lines. This may have been desirable
from a strategic point of view; but from the business standpoint it was
not advisable, for the government lines are not so well managed. The
best line in the country was a private one, the Sanyō Railway Company,
operating west from Kōbe.[31]
Railroads have been naturally accompanied, and often preceded, by
telegraph lines, which now keep the various parts of the empire in
close communication with Tōkyō and with each other. During 1910 the
telegrams numbered over 28,000,000, and are increasing rapidly in
number every year. The Japanese syllabary has lent itself easily to a
code like the Morse Code.[32] Telephones, too, have been introduced and
are growing in favor so rapidly that the government cannot keep up with
the petitions for installation. According to the latest reports, there
were over 100,000 telephones in all Japan. There are many public slot
telephones, which can be used for a few minutes for 5 _sen_.
Horse-cars are largely used in cities, but are being gradually
supplanted by electric cars. The bus in the city and the stage in the
country are in common use, but cannot be recommended for comfort.
Bicycles are very popular, and are cheaply manufactured in Japan; even
Japanese women have begun to ride, while young men are very skilful as
trick riders and rapid as “scorchers.” Automobiles also are coming into
a limited use.
In a country where formerly no ships large enough to make long voyages
were allowed to be made, steamship companies are now flourishing. The
_Ōsaka Shōsen Kwaisha_ (Osaka Merchant Marine Company) is a very large
and prosperous corporation, whose business is chiefly coasting trade,
but which also runs to Formosa, the Ryūkyū Islands, the Bonin Islands,
Korea, China, and America. The largest steamship company in Japan, and
one of the largest in the world, is the _Nippon Yūsen Kwaisha_ (Japan
Mail Steamship Company). It has a fleet of 88 vessels with 300,000
tons; and maintains not only a frequent coasting service, but also
several foreign lines, to Siberia, Korea, China, India, Australia,
Europe, and America. This is the line which runs fortnightly from
Seattle to Hongkong with excellent passenger accommodations. The _Tōyō
Kisen Kwaisha_ (Oriental Steamship Company) is a Japanese organization
with three fine vessels running about once a month from San Francisco
to Hawaii, Japan, China, and Manila. The word _Maru_[33] in such
combinations as “America Maru” or “Kaga Maru” is a special suffix
always attached to the name of a ship.
In Old Japan there was no official postal system, and letters were
despatched by private messengers and relays of couriers. When Japan
was opened to the world, some of the foreign nations represented there
maintained special post-offices of their own, but these were gradually
abandoned. It was in 1872 that the modern postal system of Japan was
organized on American models; and it was only five years later when
Japan was admitted to the International Postal Union. The twenty-fifth
anniversary of this event was celebrated with great _éclat_ in Tōkyō
in 1902. The Japanese postal system has been gradually improved during
its quarter-century of existence, so that in some respects it excels
its model, the United States postal system, and is really one of the
most efficient in the world. It includes registration, money orders,
parcel post, reply postal cards, postal savings,[34] and universal free
delivery. Letter postage is 3 _sen_ within the empire and 10 _sen_ to
all countries of the International Postal Union; postal cards are 1-1/2
and 4 _sen_ respectively. We also beg leave to remind Americans that
letter postage to Japan is _not_ 2 cents, but 5 cents, per ounce.
Oil is most extensively used for lighting purposes; but gas and
electricity are also employed, and bring good dividends to companies
furnishing such illumination. A very large amount of oil has been
annually imported from the United States and Russia; but as rich
fields have been found in Northern Japan,[35] the Standard Oil Company
is also interested in a Japanese corporation, the International Oil
Company, organized to work Japanese fields. Foreign capital has also
been invested in the Ōsaka Gas Company, and is sought by the Tōkyō Gas
Company, as well as by several electric and steam railway companies.
The first buildings erected for the Imperial Diet were supplied
with electric lights, but caught fire in some way, and were totally
destroyed. This calamity was laid at the door of a flaw in the electric
lighting apparatus, and so frightened the Emperor that he decided not
to use the electric lights in the palace; but if my memory serves
me rightly, after one or two nights of imperfect and unsatisfactory
lighting, he resorted once more to electricity.
The foreign trade of Japan had increased from $13,123,272 in 1868
to $265,017,161 in 1902,—twenty-fold in a third of a century.[36]
Of recent years the imports have been larger than the exports; in
1898 they were more than $55,000,000 in excess; in 1900, almost
$41,500,000 in excess; but in 1901 the difference was only about
$1,750,000. The chief articles of export are silk (either raw, or
partly or wholly manufactured), cotton yarn and goods, matches,
coal, high-grade rice, copper, camphor, tea, matting, straw braid,
and porcelain. The principal imports are raw cotton, shirting and
printed cotton, mousseline, wool, cotton velvet, satin, cheap rice,
flour, sugar, petroleum, oil cake, peas and beans, machinery, iron and
steel (including nails and rails), steamers, locomotives, and railway
carriages. The exports are sent chiefly to the United States, Great
Britain and colonies (especially Hongkong), China, and France; while
the imports come mostly from Great Britain and colonies (especially
England, India, and Hongkong), the United States, Germany, France and
colonies, and China.
The variety in the geographical distribution of the imports of Japan
may be faintly illustrated by the following partial list of supplies
taken by an American family from Tōkyō to the summer resort of
Hakone: soap from England and America, cocoa from England, butter
from California, cornstarch from Buffalo, N. Y., Swiss milk, Holland
candles, pickles from England, Scotch oatmeal, American rolled oats and
cracked wheat, flour from Spokane Falls, Washington, canned goods from
San Francisco, Kansas City, Chicago, and Omaha, and evaporated cream
from Illinois.
The first mixed corporation, composed of Japanese and foreigners, to
be licensed under the new Commercial Codes after the new treaties went
into effect in 1899, was the Nippon Electric Company, in which a large
electric company of Chicago is specially interested.
Japan has several stock exchanges and chambers of commerce in various
localities, and these are all under the strictest supervision and close
restrictions.
It was in 1872 that National Bank Regulations were first issued, and
a few banks were established; but in 1876 it was found necessary to
make radical amendments in those regulations in the way of affording
greater facilities for the organization of banks. The result was that
by 1879 there were 153 national banks in the country; and in 1886 the
further organization of national banks was stopped. In the mean time
the Yokohama Specie Bank had been organized (in 1880) for the support
of the foreign trade; and (in 1882) the Bank of Japan (Nippon Ginkō)
had been organized to “secure proper regulations of the currency.” In
1897 the Industrial Bank, and later provincial agricultural-industrial
banks were organized to give special banking facilities to local
agricultural and industrial circles. The Bank of Formosa, the Colonial
Bank of Hokkaidō, and a Credit Mobilier complete the list of official
institutions. By 1899 all the national banks had either been changed
into private banks or had gone out of existence. Private banks number
almost 1,700, of which the Mitsui, the Mitsubishi, the Hundredth, the
Sumitomo, the Fifteenth (Nobles’), the First, and the Yasuda are the
strongest. Savings-banks are also quite numerous (652), and are helping
to develop habits of thrift and economy among the common people.[37]
[Illustration: FIRST BANK, TŌKYŌ]
The first Japanese mint was established at Ōsaka in 1871, and has been
actively at work ever since; and there is an institution in Tōkyō for
the manufacture of paper money. The coins now chiefly used the copper,
nickel, silver, and gold; but in the country districts it is still
possible to find brass coins of less than mill values. The copper
pieces are 1/2 _sen_ (5 _rin_), 1 _sen_, and 2 _sen_; the 5 _sen_ piece
is the only nickel coin; the silver pieces are 5 _sen_, 10 _sen_, 20
_sen_, and 50 _sen_; and the gold coins are 5 _yen_, 10 _yen_, and
20 _yen_. There are also paper notes of 1 _yen_ and upward: these
are issued only by the Bank of Japan, and amounted in 1910 to over
400,000,000 _yen_.
In 1897 Japan adopted the gold standard, so that exchange fluctuations
with the Occident are slight, and the Japanese currency has a fixed
value, at the rate of about 50 cents for the _yen_.[38]
Concerning the prospects of industrial and commercial Japan, it may be
well to note the views[39] of Baron Shibusawa, one of the foremost of
Japanese merchants and financiers. In referring to the capacity of the
Japanese for business, the Baron says:—
“There are, however, four peculiarities in the Japanese character
which make it hard for the people to achieve business success. These
are: Firstly, impulsiveness, which causes them to be enthusiastic
during successful business and progressive even to rashness when
filled with enthusiasm; secondly, lack of patience, which causes
easy discouragement when business is not so successful; thirdly,
disinclination for union; and fourthly, they do not honor credit as
they should, which is so important a factor in financial success.
These four peculiarities are to be met with in Japanese business men
in a more or less marked degree.
“Although Japan, as a country, is old, yet her commercial and
industrial career being new, there are necessarily many points of
incompleteness. For example, although we have many railways, yet
there is no close connection made between the railway station and the
harbor. Again, although we have railways, yet we have no appropriate
cars, etc. To complete such work and to open up the resources of
the country, and to allow Japan to benefit from them, we need more
capital. The capital we have in the country is not enough. So what
is now wanted in Japan is foreign capital. A great proportion of the
Japanese people, however, are opposed to the idea of sharing any
profits equally with any other nation. Their exclusiveness in this
respect is a distinct relic of the old era. They ignore altogether
the fact that, with the assistance of foreign capital, the profits
would be quadrupled. The very idea of sharing with an outside power is
distasteful to them. For instance, I have been endeavoring for many
years by word and deed to obtain a revision of the laws relative to
the ownership of land in Japan by foreigners. I may say that Marquis
Itō and other public men are of my opinion in the matter. Because,
however, of this exclusive element in Japan, it has still been found
impossible to allow foreigners to own Japanese land. Until this change
is made, foreign investors will naturally feel that there is little
safety for their investments.
“I am also anxious to introduce the idea of a system of trusteeship in
order to encourage foreign nations to invest their money in Japanese
enterprises. There are very many uncompleted works in Japan, which
need outside money to finish them and which would return good profits.
I feel assured that it would be possible for prominent Japanese
bankers and capitalists to make themselves personally responsible for
the money of the foreign investor. By such a system the security of
the investment would be much increased, and the foreign investor would
have the assurance that his money was safe, even if the business in
which it had been invested may have ceased to exist. The entire loss
caused by the failure of Japanese business enterprises would thus be
borne by the Japanese.
“The day will come when Japan will compete with the powers already
in the field on all lines of manufactured goods, but this time must
necessarily be far distant. The trouble at present is that, while the
Japanese can imitate everything, they cannot, at the same time, invent
superior things. But the trade of the Oriental countries will come to
be regarded as Japan’s natural share, and she is already well capable
of supplying it.
“The resources of Japan are very varied and very fair in quantity
at present. Raw silk and tea are abundant, while coal is plentiful,
as also copper and silver; gold is not so much so. I hope to see our
plentiful water supply turned into good account and harnessed to
produce electric energy. This would be a great saving of expense and
would cheapen the cost of production very much. Oil has been found in
several districts and will take the place of coal to a large extent,
and it is possible that if fully developed its export trade may be
made to the neighboring countries. In Hokkaidō we have rich coal and
silver mines and oil wells, while in Formosa we have rich gold mines.
The iron we use in our iron works in Kiūshiu comes partly from several
mines of Japan and partly from China.
“My hope for the future is that foreign capital may be brought into
the country and that the economic position of the country may be made
so secure as to leave no doubt possible in the mind of the world as to
the stability of the Japanese Empire.”
We also take pleasure in quoting the same high authority upon the
subject of the present financial situation in Japan, as follows:[40]—
“The present financial difficulty in Japan is only the natural
sequence of the over-expansion of business of some years ago. In
every country there are waves of prosperity followed by periods of
depression. I have known, in the economic history of Japan since the
Restoration, five or six such waves. They do not necessarily injure
the real financial standing of the country. The peculiarities of the
Japanese business character have much to answer for in the way of
increasing the appearance of financial insecurity during the times
of depression. After the prosperous times of 1893 came the war with
China and the subsequent indemnity. Much of the money paid by China
was spent in Japan, and the Japanese people came to the conclusion
that this increased circulation of money would be permanent. They
acted impulsively in many enterprises, and rushed into all kinds of
business because the government had over-expanded its enterprises
after the war. The depression reached its height in 1900 and 1901,
and businesses were abandoned or reduced because it was not such easy
work as formerly. By proper management our national income can be made
still greater than our expenditure.”
[Illustration: BARON SHIBUSAWA]
The national debt of Japan January, 1913, was more than 2,500,000,000
yen ($1,250,000,000), of which almost 1,500,000,000 yen ($750,000,000)
was in foreign loans.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
For interesting accounts of travel when and where modern conveniences
were not available, read “Unbeaten Tracks in Japan” (Bird); “The
Mikado’s Empire” (Griffis); “Noto, an Unexplored Corner of Japan”
(Lowell); “Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan” (Hearn); and papers in
the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan. For similarly
interesting accounts of travel with modern conveniences read
“Jinrikisha Days in Japan” (Scidmore); “Japan and her People”
(Hartshorne); “The Yankees of the East” (Curtis); “Japan To-day”
(Scherer); “Every Day Japan” (Lloyd).
On the industrial and commercial phases of these topics, consult
books, papers, magazines, and pamphlets mentioned in the bibliography
of the preceding chapter; especially, for the latest statistics, “The
Japan Year Book.”