fanning; in other words sligLtly over 10 per cent, of the population 

 are directly connected with the fisheries^ mostly marine. These men 

 owned 426,287 boats and about 1,200,000 nets ; the average value of 

 the former is not clear, but the 36,642 boats built in 1904 were 

 valued at nearly Rs. 72 each on the average ; nets average Rs. 18 

 apiece. Boats are very cheaply built, chiefly of pine wood, and last 

 only 10 or 12 years; hence the low average value; most of them 

 moreover are very small and frail with an average cost of only Rs. 51. 

 The weight of the annual catch is doubtful; in 1905 Dr. Hugh M. 

 Smith, U.S.A. Fisheries Commissioner, stated it at 3,000,000 tons or 

 about three times the total catch of Great Britain and Ireland or of 

 the United States, but this seems doubtful since the official statistics 

 for the main islands for 1904 give just 975 million kwam or 360,000 

 tons as the weight recorded for all fish of importance including shell 

 fish, "plus about one-third more— judging by values — for unclassified 

 fish, making a total of 480,000 tons ; other years are not very dis- 

 similar. To this must be added the catch for Hokkaido, the weight 

 of which is unknown, but judging by the value which is about one- 

 third of the recorded value for the main islands, another third should 

 be added on this account making a grand total of 640,000 tons ; in 1900 

 the weight actually given (" Japan in the 20th Century ") was about 

 610,000 tons. The value of the catches of 480,000 tons in 1904 

 exclusive of Hokkaido, was about Rs. 630 lakhs (42 million yen or 

 £4,280,000) or about Rs. 130 per ton or 11 pies per pound, which 

 seems high for Japan ; the total value in 1900 for 610,000 tons was 

 Rs. 850 lakhs (£5,700,000) or nearly Rs. 140 per ton or exactly one 

 anna per pound. This estimate nearly agrees with Dr. Smith's 

 valuation of 30 million dollars or £6,000.000. 



3. To this value must be added the increment obtained by 

 manufacture; the value of " marine products " which in the statistical 

 returns represents such portion of the total "catches" as has been 

 dried and salted or turned into manure, etc., is about Rs. 450 lakhs 

 (30 million yen). Hence the gross value of the fisheries, including 

 the whole of Japan except Formosa, the whole of the products (fish, 

 shell fish, seaweed, manure, etc.) and the whole pi us- value obtained 

 by manufacture, averages annually above Rs. 1,300 lakhs (850 + 450) 

 or £8,750,000. The above figures should be understood to be 

 approximations from official statistics and nothing more. 



4. Dividing the weight and value of the catches by the number of 

 fishing households the average catch per liouse is 0"68 ton and the 

 value about Rs. 90, but it will be remembered that more than half the 

 fishermen have other small occupations including farming. It must 

 also be remembered that though fish abound, it is considered that the 

 nearer or inshore waters except in Hokkaido and the north, are 

 largely depleted, as shown by the distances to which boats must go 



