2. The five largest processing areas on Honshu are located in 

 the mountainous regions of the following prefectures: Osaka, Kyoto, 

 Hjrogo, Gifu, and Hagano. The largest plants are in Hagano Prefecture 

 where the average capacity is 225 kilograms of raw material per batch or 

 day's run. The capacity of the plants in Gifu Prefecttire is 187 kilo- 

 grams; the plants in Osaka, Kyoto, and %ogo average 121 kilograms. The 

 processing season usually extends from the first part of December to the 

 latter part of February with an average of 70 production days, excepts in 

 Kagano Prefecture where the season is five days longer. 



3. The Ministry of Agricultxire and Forestry registers and gives 

 permits to the operators of processing plants. Permits were issued to 

 536 plants in 1945. Of this number only 170 plants actually operated 

 because of the scarcity of raw material. In order to continue in 

 business, the operators of two to four plants combined their supply of 

 raw material and processed it in one plant, using a combination of labor- 

 ers and technicians from the several plants as a crew. 



4. A typical, fairly large processing plant consists of several 

 buildings and fenced-in drying yards occt^jying an area of about one-half 

 acre. The buildings usTially consist of a warehouse, where both the raw 

 material and the finished product are stored; an office building; a wash- 

 ing shed in which the dried seaweed is soaked end washed; a boiling house 

 where the gelatin is extracted from the seaweed and placed in trays for 

 the final process; and the sheds where the finished material is sorted 

 and tied into bundles of a convenient size for handling and storage. 



5. Each plajat requires an average of el^t men for full oper- 

 ating strength in normal times. As personnel have been combined in the 

 170 plants now in operation, a total of 1,700 persons is employed in the 

 industry. In 1947 conditions are expected to approach a more normal 

 state, and possibly 600 plants will operate, employing a total of about 

 4,800 men. 



C. Manufacttiring Process 2 / 



1. Soaking and Washing 



a. The dried seaweed is placed in cement bins approximately 

 10 by 3 by 1.5 feet in size and covered with cold water. This step in 

 the process has a twofold purpose. The tanks are located to take 

 advantage of the maximum amoxint of svmlight each day, and. the material is 

 stirred frequently so that all of the surfaces are exposed to the li^t, 

 resulting in a bleaching of the product. This is one of the purposes of 

 the soaking operation. The other is the removal of foreign material, 



2/ The description of manufacturing methods is based on observations of 

 plants in Hagano Prefecture. Methods used in other areas are simi- 

 lar, although plant capacities are smsdler. 



