Around the 14th and 15th years of the Meiji Era (1881-82) shipbuilding techniques 

 progressed greatly, the size of the vessels gradually increased, and the fishermen began to 

 spend 2 to 3 days at sea on each trip. As the size of the vessels increased, the area of opera- 

 tions also gradually extended. 



In the eeirly years of the Meiji period the area of operations did not exceed the 

 distance of 25 miles from the coast, by the 15th year it had been extended to 38 miles, by the 20th 

 year to 50 miles ajid thereafter until around the 40th year of the Meiji era (1907), it was extended 

 at approximately the rate of 1 ri (2.5 miles) per year until the fishing boats from the Boso (Chiba 

 Prefecture) area were active from waters off Choshi to the coastal waters of the Izu archipelago. 



Thus the fishing grounds were extended from year to year, with the small sail- and 

 oar-propelled fishing boats of that time. This extension of the fishing grounds was accompanied 

 by an increase in losses of vessels and a great increase in the number of fishern-ien lost. For 

 this reason in the Tonnisaki area this gear was called the "widow line". This strange name is 

 aji expression of the extrennely tragic situation in which a large number of young men were lost 

 in this fishery, leaving behind numerous widows. (The foregoing is abstracted from the Awa 

 Suisan Shi. ) 



In this nnanner the fishery has advanced step by step, however, the tempo of that 

 advance was by no means fast and in the process a great many lives were lost. In the latter 

 years of the Meiji Era internal combustion engines came to be used as propulsive power in fish- 

 ing boats, and this brought about a great change which might be called the industrial revolution 

 in this fishery. 



It is said that the first man to consider and try the use of a fishing vessel powered by 

 an internal combustion engine was Mr. Bunshichi Maruo of Shizuoka Prefecture, He was not a 

 fisherman but rather was engaged in ocean freight carrying, but in the course of his voyages he 

 had often encountered large schools of skipjack and conceived the idea of attempting to operate 

 a skipjack fishing vessel powered by an engine. Mr. Maruo installed a S-horsepower engine in 

 a 20-ton Western-style sailing vessel and began fishing for skipjack out of the port of Shimizu. 

 That was in Meiji 36 (1903), 



Mr. Maruo's experiment unfortunately ended unsuccessfully, but it provided the 

 motive for the construction of a powered vessel, the Fuji Maru, in 1906 as the Shizuoka Prefec- 

 ture experimental fishing vessel. 



When the Fuji Maru began its work it was the focus of attention in skipjack fishing 

 circles, and as the results of its operations were extremely successful, it provided a strong 

 stimulus to the industry. In view of the success of this vessel, the Shizuoka Prefectural author- 

 ities adopted an extremely appropriate ajid positive subsidization policy with the result that in 

 1909, only 3 years after the construction of the Fuji Maru, there were actually 150 powered 

 vessels in the Prefecture, 



Next the Isuzu Maru was constructed as an experimental vessel by Mie Prefecture. 

 This vessel, too, enjoyed good success and the industriad revolution in this fishery spread 

 throughout the country with the rapidity of a prairie fire. 



At that time fishing boats were generally of about 20 tons and 20 horsepower, but 

 thereafter they gradually increased in size until steel vessels of 200 tons and 400 horsepower 

 were built for skipjack and tuna fishing. 



At the time when power boats first came into use the fishing grounds were limited to 

 coastal waters, but with the increase in size of the vessels, the navigational techniques of the 

 fishermen were greatly improved, and the radius of operations extended from year to year. In 

 the late years of the Taisho Era (1912-25) boats were fishing from the waters off northeastern 

 Honshu to the Ogasawara and Okinawa islands, and in the early years of the Showa Era (1926- ) 



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