JAPAN. 



355 



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Hokkaido. The Hokkaido, especially in Yezo, 

 is developing in all lines of industry, notably in 

 harbor improvement, placer mining in which 

 American placer diggers have introduced great 

 improvement since 1900 in the opening of new 

 ports, and in the working of coal-mines and 

 petroleum wells. Muroran, opened as a port of 

 export in 1894, is now the third largest port in 

 Japan and the chief coaling-station of steamers 

 between North America and China. In 1901 89 

 foreign steamers, of 190,921 tons, and 7 Japa- 

 nese steamers, of 42,035 tons, entered the port. 

 Hakodate is the chief port, able to accommodate 

 109 vessels of 5,000 tons, while Muroran can har- 

 bor 38. Otaru is the next port of importance. 

 The total population of the Hokkaido in 1869 

 was 58,467; in 1899, 922,508; in 1901, 1,020,000; 

 total trade in 1901, $450,000. 



Products and Enterprises. Contrary to 

 early supposition, Japan is not rich in minerals, 

 yet the total mineral output in 1900 was 49,936,- 

 378 yen, showing an increase of 4.5 times, com- 

 pared with a decade ago. The value per person 

 in 1898 was 0.91, compared with England's 19.23, 

 Austria's 3.91, and Russia's 1.15. Most branches 

 of the mining industry are, as to the methods 

 employed, still in their infancy. The output of 

 iron in 1900 was 23,682 tons, worth 956,000 yen 

 in value. Japanese coal is of two kinas, the soft 

 and the hard, which latter is greatly inferior to 

 British coal. In 1900 7,429,457 tons were mined, 

 to the value of 24,583,038 yen. In petroleum, 

 Echigo leads. The total output of Japan in 1900 

 was 31,000,000 gallons of oil, worth 1,941,518 yen. 

 Of sulfur, 14,435 tons, worth 312,835 yen, were 



ined. 



The import of petroleum in 1901 was 55,197,080 

 allons, worth 14,943,400 yen. Despite the im- 



rted supply, the demand for Echigo oil, which 

 iupplies three-tenths of the petroleum used in 

 "apan, has increased. In 1895 6,334,160 gallons, 



orth 526,976 yen, and in 1901 44,632,280 gallons, 



orth 2,345,916 yen, were produced. Refined na- 

 ive petroleum is equal to the best American and 

 ~ussian oils. 



The average rice-crop for the seven-year period 

 ending in 1901 was 204,281,085 bushels. The crop 

 for 1902 is 2.6 per cent, below the average, and 

 15.2 per cent, below last year's crop, or 179,023,195 

 bushels. 



In 1900 the Japanese constructed in their own 

 dockyards 77 steamers, aggregating 12,828 tons, 

 and 48 sailing ships, with a tonnage of 16,243, 

 while buying abroad 346 steam and sailing ships, 

 with a tonnage of 133,666. In Japanese waters 7 

 vessels or steam-yachts are engaged which use the 

 harpoon gun to hunt the minor species of whales. 



The mercantile marine shows a total tonnage 

 of 648,328, of which 179,894 are of sailing ships 

 and 477,430 in steamers, making her, as to power 

 of steam sea transit, sixth on the list of the 

 great nations of the world ahead of Russia and 

 Sweden, and only slightly below Spain and Italy. 



In Yokohama dwell 5,588 foreigners, of whom 

 3,550 are Chinese, 915 British, and 452 Amer- 

 icans. 



Emigration to Korea increases steadily. In 

 1902 44,000 Japanese went thither. 



Trade and Labor. For the first time, the 

 volume of exports and imports has exceeded 500,- 

 000,000 yen, the exports being in value 248,000.000 

 yen, or 44,000,000 yen larger than last year's fig- 

 ure; whereas the volume of imports was 253,000,- 

 000 yen, being 33,000,000 yen less than last year, 

 the total bulk of the trade showing an increase 

 of 11,000,000 yen, and the imports exceeding ex- 



>rts by only 5,000,000 yen. 



The silk trade shows in exports an increase 

 from 7,743,393 pounds, worth 47,866,256 yen in 

 1895, to 11,537,924 pounds, valued at- 74,460,947 

 yen, in 1901. Up to 1900 the United States took 

 0.6 of Japan's sales of silks, but last year the 

 American share was 0.7. 



The number of American and European firms 

 in Japan is decreasing. At Yokohama in 1899 

 there were 303, while in 1900 there were but 241. 

 Whereas in 1896 the value of exports from Ja- 

 pan amounted to 13,823,843 yen and the imports 

 from China 21,344,521 yen, the exports in 1901 

 were 42,925,579 yen and the imports from China 

 27,265,986 yen, or a total volume in 1891 of over 

 70,000,000 yen. 



It was permitted until July, 1902, to establish 

 an exchange with a capital as small as 30,000 

 yen, but the Government now requires a capital 

 of 100,000 yen, and the time of the transactions 

 in negotiable securities must not be for a longer 

 period than two months; the previous limit was 

 three months. 



The chief imports from the United States are 

 raw ginned cotton and petroleum, these two ma- 

 king up more than half the value of the whole, 

 and different kinds of machinery, engines, electric 

 apparatus, etc. The value of exports to the Uni- 

 ted States was $36,010,060, and of imports $21,- 

 299,176. This was by far the largest bulk of 

 traffic with any Western country, and more 

 than twice as much as with any country except 

 China. 



In 1892 about one-eleventh of Japanese trade 

 was carried in native bottoms. In 1901 about 

 three-fourths of the exports and imports was 

 moved in native vessels. In 1901 the Japanese 

 steamer tonnage in Japanese ports \vas 3,861,659, 

 and was surpassed only by British ships, with a 

 tonnage of 4,080,583. Germany and Russia both 

 exceeded the United States, only 175 American 

 ships, with a tonnage of 404,724, entered Jap- 

 anese ports. 



The Japan Steam Mail Company, which has 

 lines of steamers making regular trips to ports 

 in Europe, America, Australia, British India, 

 China, and Korea, have begun the establishment, 

 in connection with the Hunan Company, of 

 China, of a line of steamers in the Yangtse valley, 

 in order to secure feeders for their steamers at the 

 Shanghai terminal. 



In 1901 185,000 tourists traveled in Japan or 

 stopped over during steamer calls, and it is com- 

 puted that they spent $20,500,000 In the country. 



Education. Japan has now four universities, 

 two of them being on Government foundation, at 

 Tokio and Kioto respectively, and two in Tokio 

 under private auspices. Commissioner Wu, sent 

 out by the Chinese Government, has been for 

 three months investigating the various grades of 

 Japanese schools and their methods. There are 

 43 public libraries, with a total of 728.067 vol- 

 umes, of which 65,595 are foreign. One in Tokio, 

 on Government foundation, has 401,519 volumes. 

 Fifteen libraries, with a total of 169,946 books, 

 have been established by local authorities, and 

 27 libraries, with a total of 156,602 volumes, estab- 

 lished by private individuals. A new public li- 

 brary, opened June 15 in Tokio, was founded by 

 the late Mr. Ohashi, who made his money in 

 publishing standard Japanese literature, chiefly 

 fiction in cheap form. He devoted 125,000 yen for 

 its building, equipment, and maintenance. At 

 Osaka Mr. Sumitomo bestowed 200,000 yen for a 

 public library. Another instance of private lib- 

 erality is the mercantile school of Mr. Okura. 



Religion. In 1901 the number of Protestant 

 missionaries was 782; of churches, 456; of mem- 



