Built in Japan. Purchased abroad.
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 1028 3508 357 11
1906 1100 3859 387 11
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 Kiushiu, 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.
Seamen.
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. 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.
Education of Mariners.
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 serving as officers arid engineers have
graduated. Well 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 kyusai-kai_) which has succoured about a hundred
thousand seamen since its establishment in 1899.
Maritime Administration.
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 bureau), which, again, is divided into three
sections: one 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.
Competition between Japanese and foreign ships in the carriage of the
country's over-sea trade soon began to assume appreciable dimensions.
Thus, whereas in 1891 the portion carried in Japanese bottoms was only
1½ millions sterling against 12½ millions carried by foreign vessels,
the corresponding figures in 1902 were 20½ millions against 32¼
millions. In other words, Japanese steamers carried 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 18% 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 21 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 Japan's 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 1907 1,115,880
Open Ports.
There are 33 ports in Japan open as places of call for foreign
steamers. Their names with the dates of their opening are as follow:--
Name. Date of Opening. Situation.
Yokohama 1859 Main Island.
Kobe 1868 "
Niigata 1867 "
Osaka 1899 "
Yokkaichi " "
Shimonoseki " "
Itozaki " "
Taketoyo " "
Shimizu " "
Tsuruga " "
Nanao " "
Fushiki " "
Sakai " "
Hamada " "
Miyazu " "
Aomori 1906 "
Nagasaki 1859 Kiushiu.
Moji 1899 "
Hakata " "
Karatsu " "
Kuchinotsu " "
Misumi " "
Suminoye 1906 "
Izuhara 1899 Tsushima.
Sasuna " "
Shikami " "
Nafa " Riukiu.
Otaru " Yezo.
Kushiro " "
Mororan " "
Hakodate 1865 "
Kelung 1899 Formosa.
Tamsui " "
Takow " "
Anping " "
_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 respectable than the
jealousy of the labouring classes. One result is an increase in the
number of Japanese emigrating to Korea, 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 31,093 100,000
Manchuria -- 43,823
Hong-Kong 600 756
Singapore 1,292 1,428
British India 413 530
Europe 183 697
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 71,129 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 8 188 254
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 country's foreign trade, which constitutes their main
business, grew in the same period from 13½ 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 Kiushiu. 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 1907, 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 labours 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 _pari passu_ with that of ordinary
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.
Postal Savings Bank.
Japan at the time of the Restoration (1867) was not entirely without
experience which prepared her for the postal money-order system. Some
600 years ago the idea of the bill of exchange was born in the little
town of Totsugawa (Yamato province), though it did not obtain much
development before the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in the
17th century. The feudal chiefs, having then to transmit large sums to
Yedo for the purposes of their compulsory residence there, availed
themselves of bills of exchange, and the shogun's government, which
received considerable amounts in Osaka, selected ten brokers to whom
the duty of effecting the transfer of these funds was entrusted.
Subsequently the 10 chosen brokers were permitted to extend their
services to the general public, and a recent Japanese historian notes
that Osaka thus became the birthplace 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
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 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_ (2¼d.)
and 50 _sen_ (1s.), 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.
Telegraphs.
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 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 connexion with an insurrection in 1877, under the
leadership of Saigo, the favourite 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
(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 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.
Telephones.
The introduction of the telephone into Japan took place in 1877, but
it served official purposes solely during 13 years, and even when
(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 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.
_Agriculture._--The gross area of land in Japan--excluding Formosa and
Sakhalin--is 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 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 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.
Rice.
Paddy fields are to be seen in every valley or dell where farming is
practicable; they are divided into square, oblong or triangular plots
by grass-grown ridges a few inches in height and on an average a 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 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 Tone-gawa in the province of Shimosa,
but the grain of Kaga and of the two central provinces of Settsu and
Harima is also very good.
Sake.
Not only does rice form the chief food of the Japanese but also the
national beverage, called sake, is brewed from it. In colour the best
sake resembles very pale sherry; the taste is rather acid. None but
the finest grain is used in 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
_nigori-zake_; there is also a sweet sort, called _mirin_.
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 1,503,395 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 100,720 51,750 24,165
Hemp 62,970 42,227 34,845
Indigo (leaf) 122,180 92,982 40,910
1903. 1905. 1906.