CULTIVATION OF MARINE ANIMALS IN JAPAN 695 



From this standpoint the cultivation of various organisms becomes 

 an important and necessary aid to scientific researches, and it is 

 partly for this reason that I venture to call your attention to some 

 of the more successful of culture methods practiced in Japan. 



Japan, I need hardly remind you, consists of an immense number of 

 islands, large and small. In proportion to its area, which is nearly 

 160,000 square miles, its coast-line is immense, being, roughly speak- 

 ing, 20,000 miles. This is broken up into bays, estuaries, inlets, and 

 straits of all sorts and shapes, with an unusually rich fauna of marine 

 organisms everywhere. In addition, the country is dotted with lakes 

 and smaller bodies of fresh water. Put these natural conditions to- 

 gether with the facts that the population, in some districts at least, 

 has been extremely dense, and that until within comparatively recent 

 times hardly any animal flesh was taken as food, and even at the 

 present day the principal food of the general mass of people consists 

 of vegetables and fish, it would be strange indeed if the cultivation 

 of some aquatic organisms had not developed under these circum- 

 stances. And such is actually the case. For instance, the oyster cul- 

 ture of Hiroshima and the algae culture of Tokyo Bay are well-known 

 industries which have been carried on for hundreds of years. Within 

 recent times there has been a development of a number of such enter- 

 prises, some of which are interesting even from the purely scientific 

 standpoint. It is my intention to call your attention to the more 

 important of these culture-methods, giving preference to those which 

 are peculiar to Japan, and which might be interesting not only from 

 the economic aspect, but as a means of scientific investigation. 



The Snapping-Turtle, or Soft-Shell Tortoise, "Suppon" (Trionyx 



japonicus Schlegel) 



The place occupied among gastronomical delicacies by the diamond- 

 back terrapin in America and by the green turtle in England is taken 

 by the suppon, or the snapping-turtle, in Japan. The three are equally 

 esteemed and equally high-priced, but the Japanese epicure has this 

 advantage over his brothers of other lands, - - he has no longer any 

 fear of having the supply of the luscious reptile exhausted. This de- 

 sirable condition is owing to the successful efforts of a Mr. Hattori, 

 who has spared no pains to bring his turtle-farms to a high pitch of 

 perfection, and is able to turn out tens of thousands of these reptiles 

 every year. As his are, so far as I am aware, the only turtle-farms in 

 the world which are highly successful, a description of his establish- 

 ment and methods will, I think, prove interesting and serve as a guide 

 to those who may have similar undertakings in, view. In passing, I 

 may remark that I have known Mr. Hattori these twenty years and 

 have spent a number of summers on his original farm, collecting, with 



