Chapter XIV: Part 14

The vehicles chiefly employed in ante-Meiji days were ox-carriages,
_norimono_, _kago_ and carts drawn by hand. Ox-carriages were used
only by people of the highest rank. They were often constructed of
rich lacquer; the curtains suspended in front were of the finest
bamboo workmanship, with thick cords and tassels of plaited silk, and
the draught animal, an ox of handsome proportions, was brilliantly
caparisoned. The care and expense lavished upon these highly ornate
structures would have been deemed extravagant even in medieval Europe.
They have passed entirely out of use, and are now to be seen in
museums only, but the type still exists in China. The norimono
resembled a miniature house slung by its roof-ridge from a massive
pole which projected at either end sufficiently to admit the shoulders
of a carrier. It, too, was frequently of very ornamental nature and
served to carry aristocrats or officials of high position. The kago
was the humblest of all conveyances recognized as usable by the upper
classes. It was an open palanquin, V-shaped in cross section, slung
from a pole which rested on the shoulders of two bearers.
Extraordinary skill and endurance were shown by the men who carried
the norimono and the kago, but none the less these vehicles were both
profoundly uncomfortable. They have now been relegated to the
warehouses of undertakers, where they serve as bearers for folks too
poor to employ catafalques, their place on the roads and in the
streets having been completely taken by the _jinrikisha_, a
two-wheeled vehicle pulled by one or two men who think nothing of
running 20 m. at the rate of 6 m. an hour. The jinrikisha was devised
by a Japanese in 1870, and since then it has come into use throughout
the whole of Asia eastward of the Suez Canal. Luggage, of course,
could not be carried by norimono or kago. It was necessary to have
recourse to packmen, pack-horses or baggage-carts drawn by men or
horses. All these still exist and are as useful as ever within certain
limits. In the cities and towns horses used as beasts of burden are
now shod with iron, but in rural or mountainous districts straw shoes
are substituted, a device which enables the animals to traverse rocky
or precipitous roads with safety.

_Railways._--It is easy to understand that an enterprise like railway construction, requiring a great outlay of capital with returns long delayed, did not at first commend itself to the Japanese, who were almost entirely ignorant of co-operation as a factor of business organization. Moreover, long habituated to snail-like modes of travel, the people did not rapidly appreciate the celerity of the locomotive. Neither the ox-cart, the norimono, nor the kago covered a daily distance of over 20 m. on the average, and the packhorse was even slower. Amid such conditions the idea of railways would have been slow to germinate had not a catastrophe furnished some impetus. In 1869 a rice-famine occurred in the southern island, Kiushiu, and while the cereal was procurable abundantly in the northern provinces, people in the south perished of hunger owing to lack of transport facilities. Sir Harry Parkes, British representative in Tokyo, seized this occasion to urge the construction of railways. Ito and Okuma, then influential members of the government, at once recognized the wisdom of his advice. Arrangements were made for a loan of a million sterling in London on the security of the customs revenue, and English engineers were engaged to lay a line between Tokyo and Yokohama (18 m.). Vehement voices of opposition were at once raised in private and official circles alike, all persons engaged in transport business imagined themselves threatened with ruin, and conservative patriots detected loss of national independence in a foreign loan. So fierce was the antagonism that the military authorities refused to permit operations of survey in the southern suburb of Tokyo, and the road had to be laid on an embankment constructed in the sea. Ito and Okuma, however, never flinched, and they were ably supported by Marquis M. Inouye and M. Mayejima. The latter published, in 1870, the first Japanese work on railways, advocating the building of lines from Tokyo to Kioto and Osaka; the former, appointed superintendent of the lines, held that post for 30 years, and is justly spoken of as "the father of Japanese railways."

September 1872 saw the first official opening of a railway (the
Tokyo-Yokohama line) in Japan, the ceremony being performed by the
emperor himself, a measure which effectually silenced all further
opposition. Eight years from the time of turning the first sod saw 71
m. of road open to traffic, the northern section being that between
Tokyo and Yokohama, and the southern that between Kioto and Kobe. A
period of interruption now ensued, owing to domestic troubles and
foreign complications, and when, in 1878, the government was able to
devote attention once again to railway problems, it found the treasury
empty. Then for the first time a public works loan was floated in the
home market, and about £300,000 of the total thus obtained passed into
the hands of the railway bureau, which at once undertook the building
of a road from Kioto to the shore of Lake Biwa, a work memorable as
the first line built in Japan without foreign assistance.[5] During
all this time private enterprise had remained wholly inactive in the
matter of railways, and it became a matter of importance to rouse the
people from this apathetic attitude. For the ordinary process of
organizing a joint-stock company and raising share-capital the nation
was not yet prepared. But shortly after the abolition of feudalism
there had come into the possession of the former feudatories state
loan-bonds amounting to some 18 millions sterling, which represented
the sum granted by the treasury in commutation of the revenues
formerly accruing to these men from their fiefs. Already events had
shown that the feudatories, quite devoid of business experience, were
not unlikely to dispose of these bonds and devote the proceeds to
unsound enterprises. Prince Iwakura, one of the leaders of the Meiji
statesmen, persuaded the feudatories to employ a part of the bonds as
capital for railway construction, and thus the first private railway
company was formed in Japan under the name _Nippon tetsudo kaisha_
(Japan railway company), the treasury guaranteeing 8% on the paid-up
capital for a period of 15 years. Some time elapsed before this
example found followers, but ultimately a programme was elaborated and
carried out having for its basis a grand trunk line extending the
whole length of the main island from Aomori on the north to
Shimonoseki on the south, a distance of 1153 m.; and a continuation of
the same line throughout the length of the southern island of Kiushiu,
from Moji on the north--which lies on the opposite side of the strait
from Shimonoseki--to Kagoshima on the south, a distance of 232¾ m.; as
well as a line from Moji to Nagasaki, a distance of 163½ m. Of this
main road the state undertook to build the central section (376 m.),
between Tokyo and Kobe (via Kioto); the Japan railway company
undertook the portion (457 m.) northward of Tokyo to Aomori; the Sanyo
railway company undertook the portion (320 m.) southward of Tokyo to
Shimonoseki; and the Kiushiu railway company undertook the lines in
Kiushiu. The whole line is now in operation. The first project was to
carry the Tokyo-Kioto line through the interior of the island so as to
secure it against enterprises on the part of a maritime enemy. Such
engineering difficulties presented themselves, however, that the coast
route was ultimately chosen, and though the line through the interior
was subsequently constructed, strategical considerations were not
allowed completely to govern its direction.

When this building of railways began in Japan, much discussion was
taking place in England and India as to the relative advantages of the
wide and narrow gauges, and so strongly did the arguments in favour of
the latter appeal to the English advisers of the Japanese government
that the metre gauge was chosen. Some fitful efforts made in later
years to change the system proved unsuccessful. The lines are single,
for the most part; and as the embankments, the cuttings, the culverts
and the bridge-piers have not been constructed for a double line, any
change now would be very costly. The average speed of passenger trains
in Japan is 18 m. an hour, the corresponding figure over the
metre-gauge roads in India being 16 m., and the figure for English
parliamentary trains from 19 to 28 m. British engineers surveyed the
routes for the first lines and superintended the work of construction,
but within a few years the Japanese were able to dispense with foreign
aid altogether, both in building and operating their railways. They
also construct carriages, wagons and locomotives, and they may
therefore be said to have become entirely independent in the matter of
railways, for a government iron-foundry at Wakamatsu in Kiushiu is
able to manufacture steel rails.

The total length of lines open for traffic at the end of March 1906
was 4746 m., 1470 m. having been built by the state and 3276 by
private companies; the former at a cost of 16 millions sterling for
construction and equipment, and the latter at a cost of 25 millions.
Thus the expenditure by the state averaged £10,884 per mile, and that
by private companies, £7631. This difference is explained by the facts
that the state lines having been the pioneers, portions of them were
built before experience had indicated cheap methods; that a very large
and costly foreign staff was employed on these roads in the early
days, whereas no such item appeared in the accounts of private lines;
that extensive works for the building of locomotives and rolling stock
are connected with the government's roads, and that it fell to the lot
of the state to undertake lines in districts presenting exceptional
engineering difficulties, such districts being naturally avoided by
private companies. The gross earnings of all the lines during the
fiscal year 1905-1906 were 7 millions sterling, approximately, and the
gross expenses (including the payment of interest on loans and
debentures) were under 3½ millions, so that there remained a net
profit of 3½ millions, being at the rate of a little over 8½% on the
invested capital. The facts that the outlays averaged less than 47% of
the gross income, and that accidents and irregularities are not
numerous, prove that Japanese management in this kind of enterprise is
efficient.

Nationalization of Private Railways.

When the fiscal year 1906-1907 opened, the number of private companies
was no less than 36, owning and operating 3276 m. of railway. To say
that this represented an average of 91 m. per company is to convey an
over-favourable idea, for, as a matter of fact, 15 of the companies
averaged less than 24 m. Anything like efficient co-operation was
impossible in such circumstances, and constant complaints were heard
about delays in transit and undue expense. The defects of divided
ownership had long suggested the expediency of nationalization, but
not until 1906 could the diet be induced to give its consent. On March
31 of that year, a railway nationalization law was promulgated. It
enacted that, within a period of 10 years from 1906 to 1915, the state
should purchase the 17 principal private roads, which had a length of
2812 m., and whose cost of construction and equipment had been 23½
millions sterling. The original scheme included 15 other railways,
with an aggregate mileage of only 353 m.; but these were eliminated as
being lines of local interest only. The actual purchase price of the
17 lines was calculated at 43 millions sterling (about double their
cost price), on the following basis: (a) An amount equal to 20 times
the sum obtained by multiplying the cost of construction at the date
of purchase by the average ratio of the profit to the cost of
construction during the six business terms of the company from the
second half-year of 1902 to the first half-year of 1905. (b) The
amount of the actual cost of stored articles converted according to
current prices thereof into public loan-bonds at face value, except in
the case of articles which had been purchased with borrowed money. The
government agreed to hand over the purchase money within 5 years from
the date of the acquisition of the lines, in public loan-bonds bearing
5% interest calculated at their face value; the bonds to be redeemed
out of the net profits accruing from the purchased railways. It was
calculated that this redemption would be effected in a period of 32
years, after which the annual profit accruing to the state from the
lines would be 5½ millions sterling. But the nationalization scheme,
though apparently the only effective method of linking together and
co-ordinating an excessively subdivided system of lines, has proved a
source of considerable financial embarrassment. For when the state
constituted itself virtually the sole owner of railways, it
necessarily assumed responsibility for extending them so that they
should suffice to meet the wants of a nation numbering some 50
millions. Such extension could be effected only by borrowing money.
Now the government was pledged by the diet in 1907 to an expenditure
of 11½ millions (spread over 8 years) for extending the old state
system of roads, and an expenditure of 6¼ millions (spread over 12
years) for improving them. But from the beginning of that year, a
period of extreme commercial and financial depression set in, and the
treasury had to postpone all recourse to loans for whatever purpose,
so that railway progress was completely checked in the field alike of
the original and the acquired state lines. Moreover, all securities
underwent such sharp depreciation that, on the one hand, the
government hesitated to hand over the bonds representing the
purchase-price of the railways, lest such an addition to the volume of
stocks should cause further depreciation, and, on the other, the
former owners of the nationalized lines found the character of their
bargain greatly changed. In these circumstances the government decided
to take a strong step, namely, to place the whole of the railways
owned by it--the original state lines as well as those
nationalized--in an account independent of the regular budget, and to
devote their entire profits to works of extension and improvement,
supplementing the amount with loans from the treasury when necessary.

South Manchuria Railway.

In the sequel of the war of 1904-5 Japan, with China's consent,
acquired from Russia the lease of the portion of the South-Manchuria
railway (see MANCHURIA) between Kwang-cheng-tsze (Chang-chun) on the
north and Tairen (Dalny), Port Arthur and Niuchwang on the south--a
total length of 470 m. At the close of 1906 this road was handed over
to a joint-stock company with a capital of 20 millions sterling, the
government contributing 10 millions in the form of the road and its
associated properties; the public subscribing 2 millions, and the
company being entitled to issue debentures to the extent of 8
millions, the principal and interest of these debentures being
officially guaranteed. Four millions' worth of debentures were issued
in London in 1907 and 4 millions in 1908. This company's programme is
not limited to operating the railway. It also works coal-fields at
Yentai and Fushun; has a line of steamers plying between Tairen and
Shanghai; and engages in enterprises of electricity, warehousing and
the management of houses and lands within zones 50 _li_ (17 m.) wide
on either side of the line. The government guarantees 6% interest on
the capital paid up by the general public.

Electric Railways.

Not until 1905 did Japan come into possession of an electric railway.
It was a short line of 8 m., built in Kioto for the purposes of a
domestic exhibition held in that city. Thenceforth this class of
enterprise grew steadily in favour, so that, in 1907, there were 16
companies with an aggregate capital of 8 millions sterling, having 165
m. open to traffic and 77 m. under construction. Fifteen other
companies with an aggregate capital of 3 millions had also obtained
charters. The principal of these is the Tokyo railway company, with a
subscribed capital of 6 millions (3½ paid up), 90½ m. of line open and
149 m. under construction. In 1907 it carried 153 million passengers,
and its net earnings were £300,000.

Maritime Communications.

The traditional story of prehistoric Japan indicates that the first recorded emperor was an over-sea invader, whose followers must therefore have possessed some knowledge of ship-building and navigation. But in what kind of 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 Taiko's 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 17th, 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 19th 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 Japan's 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 17th 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 _Nippon-koku yubin jokisen 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 government's 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, Japan's 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 this chapter 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 steamers, and 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 connexion 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 £1,100,000 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. Tons. Number. Tons.

1870 35 15,498 11 2,454 46 17,952
1892 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 steamers took 77%. This
discrepancy was one of the subjects discussed in 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 spinning industry which 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
neighbouring continent and their maintenance there for more than a
year. All the country's 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,[6] 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 the war
she lost 71,000 tons, but on the other hand, she built 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. The following table
shows the growth of her marine during the ten years ending 1907:--

Steamers. Sailing Vessels. Totals.

Gross Gross Gross
Year. Number. Tonnage. Number. Tonnage. Number. Tonnage.

1898 1130 477,430 1914 170,194 3044 648,324
1899 1221 510,007 3322 286,923 4543 467,930
1900 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 6170 1,276,320
1906 2103 1,041,569 4547 353,356 6700 1,395,925
1907 2139 1,115,880 4728 365,559 6867 1,481,439

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 ABROAD

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.

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 3.3% against 7.9%
in the case of upland farms. This means that the population is rapidly
outgrowing its supply of home-produced 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.

Silk and Tea.

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 article of 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 cultivation Tea produced
(acres). (lb. av.).

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 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 (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.

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
(lb.). wax (lb.). (lb.).

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
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.

Agricultural Improvements.

It is generally said that whereas more than 60% of Japan's entire
population is engaged in agriculture, she remains far behind the
progressive nations of Europe in the application of scientific
principles to farming. Nevertheless if we take for unit the average
value of the yield per hectare in Italy, we obtain the following
figures:--

Yield per hectare

Italy 100
India 51
Germany 121
France 122
Egypt 153
Japan 213

In the 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 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 banks--one in
each prefecture--were established with a central institution called
the hypothec bank which assists them to collect funds. A Hokkaido
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
silk-conditioning house at Yokohama; experimental tea-farms; laws to
prevent and remove diseases of plants, cereals, silk-worms 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.

Stockbreeding.

One of the problems of modern Japan is the supply of cattle. With a
rapidly growing taste for beef--which, in former days, was not an
article of diet--there is a slow but steady diminution in the stock of
cattle. Thus while the number 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 sheep
(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 pork 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 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 artillery and
cavalry purposes, large importations of Australian, American and
European cattle are now made, and the organization of 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 practical attempt has yet been made to
develop this source of wealth. The receipts from forests stood at only
13 million _yen_ in the 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 administration is
competent to prevent the destruction of forests and to cause the
planting of plains and waste-lands, or the 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.