182 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January !. 1912. 



The Rubber Industry of Japan. 



{By our Special Correspondent.) 



JAPANESE JINBIKISHAS AND RUBBER TIRES. 



JAPAN exported in I9I0 jinrikishas to the number of 14,197, 

 of the value of $209,177; as compared with 9,004, worth $133,- 

 399 in 1909 ; this increase being mainly the result of the de- 

 velopment of rubber cultivation in the Malay Peninsula and 



well as the B. K. tire. The latest incident regarding imported 

 tires, is a recent advertisement in the leading Tokyo papers, to 

 the eflfect that the Hartford Rubber Manufacturing Co. is im- 

 porting jinrikisha tires into Putaba-ya Tokyo. Four-fifths of the 

 above-named 65 per cent, of tires produced by foreign makers 



Jinrikisha for One Person. 



Jinrikisha for One Person. 



Jinrikisha for Two Persons. 



Southern India. The demand was largely due to the fact that 

 many local workers and tappers, not finding employment in their 

 regular avocations, had become jinrikishamen ; another reason 

 being that the establishment and development of rubber planta- 

 tions was in many cases so rapid and successful as to require 

 many jinrikishas for traveling around. The e.xact figures are as 

 follows : 



JAPANESE exports OF JINRIKISHAS. 



Number, 



China 1,275 



Corea 426 



British India 685 



Straits Settlements 6,396 



All other countries 222 



are being supi)lied by the Dunlop Rubber Co.'s Japanese 

 factory. The remaining 35 per cent, of the consumption of 

 jinrikisha rubber tires is made by Japanese manufacturers. 



Prices of Japanese solid rubber tires for jinrikishas usually 

 range from $3.50 or $4 each to $6 each, or from $7 to $7.50 for 

 superior quality. The manufactures of foreign concerns sell 

 from $7.75 to $10,75 (a coninn n wlinlesale price being $10.25). 



9,0(M $133,399 14,197 $209,177 



During 1911 the exports of jinrikishas have been less than 

 those of 1910. 



Of the jinrikishas exported from Japan, 50 per cent, have iron 

 tires and 30 per cent, solid rubber tires; the remaining 20 per 

 cent, being without tires. These go to the Malay Peninsula and 

 Southern India, where they are supplied with tires which have 

 been directly imported to those markets from England. 



At Tokyo there are now about 40,000 jinrikishas, 70 per cent, 

 of which are owned by jinrikisha men, stationed at the corners 

 of streets, while 30 per cent, belong to private individuals, by 

 whom they are used exclusively. Of the above-named 40,000 

 vehicles, 90 per cent, have rubber tires (only few of them pneu- 

 matic) ; 10 per cent, having iron tires. Of the Japanese con- 

 sumption of solid rubber tires, 65 per cent, are manufactured 

 by foreign houses (European and American) ; those of the B. F. 

 Goodrich Co. being made in the United States, and those of the 

 Dunlop Rubber Co. and the Ingram Rubber Co. in Japan ; as 



Jinrikisha Built for the Imperial Household. 



A few solid rubber tires of extra quality sell as high as $19 each, 

 one inch in width ; the few tires sold above that price by foreign 



