produced from 1930 to 1940. Pro- 

 duction continued to decline and 

 In 1946, onl7 241 metric tons vera 

 i M-^-^ u I »■ »r, I ■MTJ' produced. 



/Mm • f # I k'-'--- ' ■■■--'im % ^' ^^ 1926 Jspaa exported 



/- JH 9 j M I f ?"i^ 1,083 metric tone of agar-aigar or 



r ^v V it h :'/ fill f : ' 82 percent of the total production 



of 1,308 metric tons. Production 

 figures rose sharply in 1933 to 

 2,081 metric tons. Since the world 

 market could not absorb this 

 increase, exports accounted for 

 only 63 percent of the total pro- 

 d\iction. Production continued to increase, and the percentage exported 

 declined until in 1940 less than half of the total production was ex- 

 ported. As foiu" of the five largest foreign users of Japanese agair-agar 

 were nations allied against Japan, escorts of agar-agar fell off abruptly 

 immediately preceding the war against these nations. JJixports continued 

 to decline during the war years until finally in 1945, only 77 metric 

 tons, or 10 percent of the production, was exported (Table 3). 



Figure 10. Dehydration of agar-agar 



3. From 1934 to 1940 Japan exported agar-agar to more than 

 fifty countries. The largest users of agar-agar during this period with 

 the average annual imports in metric tons were the United States, 257; 

 United Kingdom, 181; (Jermany, 178; France, 161; and the Netherlands East 



Indies, 128- The annual average 

 export to all countries in the same 

 period was 1,455 metric tons. 

 According to these totals, the 

 United States imported about 18 per- 

 cent of all the agar-agar exported 

 by Japan d\iring the years from 1934 

 to 1940 inclusive. 



a. Table 4 gives the . 

 total exports by country for the 

 years from 1934 to 1940 with the 

 exception of 1938. Complete 

 figures for 1938 axe not available 

 at this tine because this was the 

 year when the Japan Agar- Agar 

 Control Company was first formed, 

 and some statistics were misplaced 

 d\iring the confusion following the 

 organization of a central statisti- 

 cal office. 



13 



