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 . . . IO28 3508 357 11 1906 1 100 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 . 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 Seamen. 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 . 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, iron of established in 1875), where some 600 of the men nowEdMariners .

serving as

officers and 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 ship-owners, and of a distressed mariners' relief association (suinan kyusai-kai) which has succoured about a hundred thousand seamen since its establishment in 1899 . 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 maritime bureaus (the Kwansen-kyoku, or ships superintendence Administrabureau), which, again, is divided into three sections: tion. one for inspecting vessels, one for examining mariners, and one for the 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 sub-divided into 18 sections, each having an office of marine affairs (kwaiji-kyoku) . 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 Ii millions sterling Competition against 121 millions carried by foreign vessels, the between corresponding figures in 1902 were 201 millions against anpneseign 321 millions . In other words, Japanese steamers carried ships. only 11% of the total trade in 1891, but their share rose to 39 % in 1902 . The prospect suggested by this record caused some uneasiness, which was not allayed by observing that while the tonnage of Japanese vessels in Chinese ports was only 2% in 1896 as compared with foreign vessels, the former figure grew to 16% in 1902; while in Korean ports Japanese steamers almost monopolized the carrying trade, leaving only IS % to their foreign rivals, and even in Hong-Kong the tonnage of Japanese ships increased from 3 % in 1896 to 13% in 1900 . In 1898 Japan stood eleventh on the list of the thirteen principal maritime countries of the world, but in 1907 she rose to the fifth place . Her principal company, the Nippon yusen kaisha, though established as lately as 1885, now ranks ninth in point of tonnage among the 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 . Number in Number in Place . 1904 . 1go6 . United States of America 33,849 130,228 Canada 3,838 5,o88 Mexico 456 1,294 S . America 1,496 2,500 Philippines 2,652 2,185 Hawaii 65,008 64,319 Australasia 71,I29 3,274 Foreign Residents.—The number of foreigners residing in Japan and their nationalities in 1889, 1899 and 1906, respectively, were as follow: At the end of 1868 17,952 1889 . 1899 . At the end of 1878 63,468 Americans 899 1,296 At the end of 1888 197,365 British . . 1,701 2,013 At the end of 1898 648,324 Russians . . 63 134 At the end of 1907 1,115,880 French . . 335 463 Portuguese 1o8 158 There are 33 ports in Japan open as places of call for foreign Germans . . 550 532 open ports. steamers .

Their names with the

dates of their open- Chinese . . 4,975 6,372 ing are as follow: Koreans . . 8 188 Name . Date of Opening . Situation . Main Island . Yokohama . 1859 Kobe . 1868 do . Niigata . 1867 do . Osaka .

1899 do . Yokkaichi . do. do . Shimonoseki . do. do . Itozaki . do. do . Taketoyo . do. do . Shimizu . do. do . Tsuruga . do. do . Nanao . do. do . Fushiki do. do .

Sakai do. do . Hamada do. do . Miyazu ..

do. do . Aomori 1906 do . Nagasaki, . 1859 Kiushiu .

Moji . 1899 do . Hakata do. do . Karatsu . do. do . Kuchinotsu . do. do . Misumi . do. do . Suminoye . 1906 do .

Izuhara . 1899 Tsushima . Sasuna . do. do . Shikami . do. do . Nafa .. do . RiQkiU . Otaru do .

Yezo . Kushiro do. do . Mororan do. do . Hakodate .

1865 do . Kelung . 1899

Formosa . Tamsui . do. do . Takow . do. do . Anping . do. do . Emigration.—Characteristic of the Japanese is a spirit of adventure: they readily emigrate to foreign countries if any inducement offers . A strong disposition to exclude them has displayed itself in the United States of America, in Australasia and in British Columbia, and it is evident that, since one nation cannot force its society on another at the point of the sword, this anti-Asiatic prejudice will have to be respected, though it has its origin in nothing more 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 *_00,000 Manchuria 43,823 Hong-Kong 600 756

Singapore 1,292 1,428 British India 413 530 Europe 183 697 1906 . 1,650 2,155 211 540 165 67o 12,425 254 There are also small numbers of Dutch, Peruvians, Belgians, Swiss, Italians, Danes, Swedes, Austrians, Hungarians, &c . This slow growth of the foreign residents is remarkable when contrasted with the fact that the volume of the country's foreign trade, which constitutes their main business, grew in the same period from 132 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 en-gaged 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 pars 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 . Japan at the time of the Restoration (1867) was not entirely with-out experience which prepared her for the postal money-order system . Some 600 years ago the idea of the bill of postal exchange was born in the little town of Totsugawa Postal (Yamato province), though it did not obtain much gauss. 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 to chosen brokers were permitted to extend their services to the general public, and a recent Japanese historian notes that Osaka thus became the birth-place of banking business in Japan . Postal money-orders were therefore easily appreciated at the time of their introduction in 1875 . This was not true of the postal savings 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 lo sen (21d.) and 50 sen (Is.), respectively . Indeed, In the circumstances, the fact that £15oo was deposited in the first year must be regarded as notable . Subsequently deposits were taken in postage stamps, and arrangements were effected for enabling depositors to pay money to distant creditors through the bank by merely stating the destination and the amount of the nearest post office . In 1908 the number of depositors in the post office savings bank was 8217, and their deposits exceeded so millions sterling .

Thirty per cent. of the depositors belonged to the agricultural classes, 13 to the commercial and only 6 to the industrial . Rapid communication by means of beacons was not unknown in ancient Japan, but code-signalling by the aid of flags was not Telegraphs. 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 leader-ship 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 . The introduction of the telephone into Japan took place in 1877, but it served official purposes solely during 13 years, and even when Telephoaes.(1890) it was placed at the disposal of the general public its utilities found at first few appreciators . But this apathy soon yielded to a mood of eager employment, and the resources of the government (which monopolized the enterprise) proved inadequate to satisfy public demand . Automatic telephones were ultimately set up at many places in the principal towns and along the most frequented highways . The longest distance covered was from Tokyo to Osaka (348 m.) . In 1907 Japan had 140,440 m. of telephone wires, 262 exchanges, 159 automatic telephones, and the approximate number of messages sent was 16o millions . The telephone service pays a net revenue of about £1oo,000 annually . 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 . Paddy fields are to be seen in every valley or dell where farming is practicable; they are divided into square, oblong or triangular Rice. plots by grass-grown ridges a few inches in height and on an 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 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 nzirin. crops cultivated in Japan, the areas The various cereal and other devoted to them and the annual production are shown in the following table: 1906 . 1898 . 1902 . Rice Acres . Acres . Acres . 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 . . 693,812 652,492 594,28u 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 sup-plied 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 190I, it rose to 6s . 9d. in 1906 . Scarcely less important to japan than the cereals she raises are her silk and tea, both of which find markets abroad . Her production of the latter staple does not show any sign of marked Si/k and development, for though tea is almost as essential an Tea . 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 cultiva- Tea produced tion (acres) . (lb ay.) . 1897 147,230 70,063,076 1901 122,120 57,975,486 1906 126,125 58,279,286 Sericulture, on the contrary, shows steady development year by year . The demand of 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:— under water to a depth of a few inches while the crops are young, but are drained immediately before harvesting . They are then dug up, and again flooded before the second crop is planted out . The rising grounds which skirt the rice-land are tilled by the hoe, and produce Indian corn, millet and edible roots . The well-wooded slopes supply the peasants with timber and firewood . Thirty-six per cent. of the rice-fields yield two crops yearly . The seed is sown In small beds, and the seedlings are planted out in the fields after attaining the height of about 4 in . The finest rice is produced in the fertile plains watered by the Tonegawa in the province of Shimosa, but the grain of Kaga and of the two central provinces of Settsu and Harima is also very good . Not only does rice form the chief food of the Japanese but also the national beverage, called sake, is brewed from it . In colour the best sake resembles very pale sherry; the taste is rather acid .

None but the finest grain is used in Sake. i Of t t t t s manuacure. sae ere are many varees, rom e e Lacquer Vegetable Tobacco (lb). wax (lb) . (Ib) . 1897 .. . 344,267 25,850,790 110,572,925 1906 668,266 39,714,661 101,718,592 While the quantity of certain products increases, the number of filatures and factories diminishes, the inference being that

industries are coming to be conducted on a larger scale than was formerly the case . Thus in sericulture the filatures diminished from 4723 in 1897 to 3843 in 1906; the number of lacquer factories from 1637 to 1123 at the same dates, and the number of wax factories from 2619 to 1929 . It is generally said that whereas more than 6o% of Japan's entire population is engaged in agriculture, she remains far behind the progressive nations of Europe in the application lof scientific principles to farming . Nevertheless if we meats . take for unit the average value of the yield per hectare in Italy, we obtain the following figures Yield per hectare Italy too India 51 Germany 121 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, silkworms and cattle, and regulations to check dishonesty in the matter of fertilizers, complete the record of official efforts in the realm of agriculture during the Meiji era . One of the problems of modern Japan is the supply of cattle . With a rapidly growing taste for beef—which, in former days, was Stock- not an article of diet—there is a slow but steady breeding. diminution in the stock of cattle . Thus while the num- ber of the latter in 1897 was 1,214,163, out of which total 158,504 were slaughtered, the corresponding figures in 1906 were 1,190,373 and 167,458, respectively . The stock of 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 there-planting of denuded areas . A plan was also elaborated for systematically turning the state forests to valuable account, while, at the same time, providing for their conservation . Fisheries.—From ancient times the Japanese have been great fishermen . The seas that encircle their many-coasted islands teem with fish and aquatic products, which have always constituted an essential article of diet . Early in the 18th century, the Tokugawa administration, in pursuance of a policy of isolation, interdicted the construction of ocean-going ships, and the people's enterprise in the matter of deep-sea fishing suffered a severe check . But shortly after the Restoration in 1867, not only was this veto rescinded, but also the government, organizing a marine bureau and a marine products examination office, took vigorous measures to promote pelagic industry . Then followed the formation of the marine products association under the presidency of an imperial prince . Fishery training schools were the next step; then periodical exhibitions of fishery and marine products; then the introduction and improvement of fishing implements; and then by rapid strides the area of operations widened until Japanese fishing boats of improved types came to be seen in Australasia, in Canada, in the seas of Sakhalin, the Maritime Province, Korea and China; in the waters of Kamchatka and in the Sea of Okhotsk . No less than 9000 fishermen with 2000 boats capture yearly about {300,000 worth of fish in Korean waters; at least 8000 find a plentiful livelihood off the coasts of Sakhalin and Siberia, and 200 Japanese boats engage in the salmon-fishing of the Fraser River . In 1893, the total value of Japanese marine products and fish captured did not exceed If millions sterling, whereas in 1906 the figure had grown to 5z millions, to which must be added 3} millions of manufactured marine products .

Fourteen kinds of fish represent more than 50 % of the whole catch, namely, (in the order of their importance) bonito (katsuo), sardines (iwashi), pagrus (tai), cuttle-fish and squid (tako and ika),

mackerel (saba), yellow tail (buri), tunny-fish (maguro), prawns (ebi), sole (karei), grey mullet (bora), eels (unagi), salmon (shake), sea-ear (awabi) and carp (koi) . Altogether 700 kinds of aquatic products are known in Japan, and 400 of them constitute articles of diet . Among manufactured aquatic products the chief are (in the order of their importance) dried bonito, fish guano, dried cuttle-fish, dried and boiled sardines, dried herring and dried prawns . The export of marine products amounted to £900,000 in 1906 against £400,000 ten years previously; China is the chief market . As for imports, they were insignificant at the beginning of the Meiji era, but by degrees a demand was created for salted fish, dried sardines (for fertilizing), edible sea-weed, canned fish and turtle-shell, so that whereas the total imports were only £1600 in 1868, they grew to over £400,000 in 1906 . Minerals.—Crystalline schists form the axis of Japan . They run in a general direction from south-west to north-east, with chains starting east and west from Shikoku . On these schists rocks of every age are superimposed, and amid these somewhat complicated geological conditions numerous minerals occur . Precious stones, however, are not found, though crystals of quartz and antimony as well as good specimens of topaz and agate are not infrequent . Gold occurs in quartz veins among schists, paleozoic or volcanic rocks and in placers . The quantity obtained is not large, but it shows tolerably steady development, and may possibly be much increased by more generous use of capital and Gold . larger recourse to modern methods .

The value of the

silver mined is approximately equal to that of the gold . It is found chiefly in volcanic rocks (especially tuff), in the form of sulphide, and it is usually associated with Silver. gold, copper, lead or zinc . Much more important in Japan's economics than either of the precious metals is copper . Veins often showing a thickness of from 7o to 8o ft., though of poor quality (2 to 8%), are found bedded in crystalline schists or paleozoic sedimentary Copper . rocks, but the richest (to to 30 %) occur in tuff and other volcanic rocks . There have not yet been found any evidences that Japan is rich in iron ores . Her largest known deposit (magnetite) occurs at Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture, but the quantity of pig- Iron . iron produced from the ore mined there does not exceed 37,000 tons annually, and Japan is obliged to import from the neighbouring continent the greater part of the iron needed by her for ship-building and armaments . Considerable deposits of coal exist, both anthracite and bituminous . The former, found chiefly at Amakusa, is not greatly inferior to the Cardiff mineral; and the latter—obtained in abundance Coal. in Kiushiu and Yezo—is a brown coal of good medium quality . Altogether there are 29 coal-fields now actually worked in Japan, and she obtained an important addition to her sources of supply in the sequel to the war with Russia, when the Fushun mines near Mukden, Manchuria, were transferred to her . During the to years ending in 1906, the market value of the coal mined in Japan grew from less than 2 millions sterling to over 6 millions .

Petroleum also has of late sprung into prominence on the list of her mineral products . The oil-bearing strata—which occur mainly in tertiary rocks—extend from Yezo to Formosa, but Petrekum. the principal are in Echigo, which yields the greater part of the petroleum now obtained, the Yezo and Formosa wells being still little exploited . The quantity of petroleum obtained in Japan in 1897 was 9 million gallons, whereas the quantity obtained in 1906 was 55 millions . Japanese mining enterprise was more than trebled during the decade 1897 to 1906, for the value of the minerals taken out in the former year was only 31 millions sterling, whereas the corresponding figure for 1906 was II millions . The earliest mention of gold-mining in Japan takes us back to the year A.D . 696, and by the 16th century the country had acquired the reputation of being rich in gold . During the days of her medieval intercourse with the outer world, her stores of the precious metals were largely reduced, for between the years 1602 and 1766, Holland, Spain, Portugal and China took from her 313,800 lb (troy) of gold and 11,230,000 lb of silver . Copper occupied a scarcely less important place in Old Japan . From a period long anterior to historic times this metal was employed to manufacture mirrors and swords, and the introduction of Buddhism in the 6th century was quickly followed by the casting of sacred images, many of which still survive . Finding in the 18th century that her foreign intercourse not only had largely denuded her of gold and silver, but also threatened to denude her of copper, Japan set a limit (3415 tons) to the yearly export of the latter metal . After the resumption of administrative power by the emperor in 1867, attention was quickly directed to the question of mineral resources; several Western experts were employed to conduct surveys and introduce Occidental mining methods, and ten of the most important mines were worked under the direct auspices of the state in order to serve as object lessons . Subsequently these mines were all transferred to private hands, and the government now retains possession of only a few iron and coal mines whose products are needed for dockyard and arsenal purposes .

The following table shows the recent progress and

present condition of mining industry in Japan: GOLD Quantity . Value . oz . £ 1897 • • 34,553 1901 . . 82,517 330,076 363,715 IRON MANGANESE Quantity . Value . Tons . £ 13,175 8,758 15,738 Io,846 12,322 51,365 The number of mine employees in 1907 numbers; the number of mining companies, paid-up capital, to millions sterling . Industries.—In the beginning of the Meiji era Japan was practically without any manufacturing industries, as the term is understood in the Occident, and she had not so much as one joint-stock company . At the end of 1906, her joint-stock companies and partnerships totalled 9329, their paid up capital exceeded loo millions sterling, and their reserves totalled 26 millions . It is not to be inferred, however, from the absence of manufacturing organizations 50 years ago that such pursuits were deliberately eschewed or despised in Japan . On the contrary, at the very dawn of the historical epoch we find that sections of the people took their names from the work carried on by them, and that specimens of expert industry were preserved in the sovereign's palace side by side with the imperial insignia .

Further, skilled artisans from the neighbouring continent always found a welcome in Japan, and when Korea was success-fully invaded in early times, one of the uses which the victors made of their

conquest was to import Korean weavers and .dyers . Subsequently the advent of Buddhism, with its demand for images, temples, gorgeous vestments and rich paraphernalia, gave a marked impulse to the development of artistic industry, which at the outset took its models from China, India and Greece, but gradually, while assimilating many of the best features of the continental schools, subjected them to such great modifications in accordance with Japanese genius that they ceased to retain more than a trace of their originals . From the 9thcentury luxurious habits prevailed in Kioto under the sway of the Fujiwara regents, and the imperial city's munificent patron-age drew to its precincts a crowd of artisans . But these were not industrials, in the Western sense of the term, and, further, their organization was essentially domestic, each family selecting its own pursuit and following it from generation to generation without co-operation or partnership with any outsider . The establishment of military feudalism in the 12th century brought a reaction from the effeminate luxury of the metropolis, and during nearly 300 years no industry enjoyed large popularity except that of the armourer and the sword-smith . No sooner, however, did the prowess of Oda Nobunaga and, above all, of Hideyoshi, the taiko, bring within sight a cessation of civil war and the unification of the country, than the taste for beautiful objects and artistic utensils recovered vitality . By degrees there grew up among the feudal barons a keen rivalry in art industry, and the shogun's court in Yedo set a standard which the feudatories constantly strove to attain . Ultimately, in the days immediately antecedent to its fall, the shogun's administration sought to induce a more logical system by encouraging local manufacturers to supply local needs only, leaving to Kioto and Yedo the duty of catering to general wants . But before this reform had approached maturity, the second advent of Western nations introduced to Japan the products of an industrial civilization centuries in advance of her own from the point of view of utility, though nowise superior in the application of art . Immediately the nation became alive to the necessity of correcting its own inferiority in this respect . But the people being entirely without models for organization, without financial machinery and with-out the idea of joint stock enterprise, the government had to choose between entering the field as an instructor, and leaving the nation to struggle along an arduous and expensive way to tardy development . There could be no question as to which course would conduce more to the general advantage, and thus, in days immediately subsequent to the resumption of administrative power by the emperor, the spectacle was seen of official excursions into the domains of silk-reeling, cement-making, cotton and silk spinning, brick–burning, printing and book-binding, soap-boiling, type-casting and ceramic decoration, to say nothing of their establishing colleges and schools where all branches of applied science were taught .

Domestic exhibitions also were organized, and specimens cf the country's products and manufactures were sent under government auspices to exhibitions abroad . On the other

hand, the effect of this new departure along Western lines could not but be injurious to the old domestic industries of the country, especially to those which owed their existence to tastes and traditions now regarded as obsolete . Here again the government came to the rescue by establishing a firm whose functions were to familiarize foreign markets with the products of Japanese artisans, and to instruct the latter in adaptations likely to appeal to Occidental taste . Steps were also taken for training women as artisans, and the government printing bureau set the example of employing female labour, an innovation which soon developed large dimensions . In short, the authorities applied themselves to educate an industrial disposition throughout the country, and as soon as success seemed to be in sight, they gradually transferred from official to private direction the various model enter-prises, retaining only such as were required to supply the needs of the state . The result of all this effort was that whereas, in the beginning of the Meiji era, japan had virtually no industries worthy of the name, she possessed in 1896—that is to say, after an interval of 25 years 1906 . . 90,842 1897 1901 1906 Quantity . Tons . 35,178 46,456 85,203 Value .