JAPAN 



3119 



JAPAN 



humid. Indeed, an excess of moisture is one fall during the growing season, irrigation is 

 of the chief characteristics of the climate as a necessary at times. Fierce storms of rain and 



whole, and fogs are frequent. 



wind are frequent and do great damage, both 



The average annual rainfall is heavy, prac- during their course and by reason of the flood- 



tically every part of the Empire having more 

 than fifty inches; but as much of this does not 



ing of the rivers afterwards. These storms are 

 most numerous in autumn. 



Resources and Industries 



Minerals. In the seventeenth and eighteenth 

 centuries, when the European nations were 

 making first acquaintance with Japan, it was 

 gold and silver which they coveted, and they 

 carried away with them millions of pounds of 

 these precious metals. To-day the supply of 

 both is comparatively small, but constant ef- 

 forts are being made to develop new mines. 

 Copper, too, the early traders obtained from 

 Japan, and of that metal there is still a large 

 yield. It is difficult to estimate the quantity 

 of copper which, after the introduction of Bud- 

 dhism, was cast into images. 



Coal of various grades is fairly plentiful, 



and is mined in large quantities in Yezo, 



Kiushiu and Formosa, the output being well 



over 20,000,000 tons a year; and iron, too, is 



ound in paying quantities. There is a huge 



upply of sulphur, and petroleum is one of the 



more recent mineral developments. But all 



n all, it cannot be said that Japan has great 



nineral wealth. 



Fisheries. The fisherman in Japan is a very 

 mportant person, furnishing to the people one 

 of their staple articles of food. It is estimated 

 hat more than a million and a half persons 

 are engaged in fishing or in some of the indus- 

 ries that grow out of it, and that no fewer 

 han four hundred products of the sea appear 

 >n Japanese tables. Among the most impor- 

 tant fish are mackerel, salmon, haddock, hali- 

 )ut, flounder, trout, tunny and eel, and various 

 manufactured products are made from the 

 parts that are not eaten. 



Agriculture and Vegetation. As fish is the 

 :hief animal food, so rice is the chief vege- 

 table, and as the national drink, sake, is made 

 'rom this grain also, the yield must of neces- 

 sity be very large. Indeed, one of the most 

 characteristic sights in all Japan is its rice 

 fields or paddy fields. Wherever the land can 

 De irrigated it is divided by ridges of grass 

 into little muddy plots, and in these the rice 

 is planted. Ditches, divided and subdivided 

 until they are but tiny trickles, supply the 

 necessary water, for the paddy fields are kept 

 flooded until just before harvest time. On 



land which will not produce any of the two 

 hundred or more kinds of rice which are known 

 to the Japanese, other grains, especially barley 

 and wheat, or potatoes, soy beans, cotton, tea, 

 tobacco or sugar are grown. In some parts of 

 the Empire fruits are produced, but except 

 for the big Japanese persimmon and the man- 

 darin orange they do not thrive especially 

 well. Altogether, only about one-sixth of the 

 land is fitted' for cultivation, so mountainous 

 is the country; and none of the soil, after 

 thousands of years, is especially fertile. But 

 the Japanese are a very painstaking people, 

 and have brought intensive farming to a higher 

 state than most other peoples. 



It is but recently that stock-growing has 

 received much attention, and only now are 

 .the Japanese beginning to be well acquainted 

 with butter, milk, cheese and beef as articles 

 of food. Even to-day the stock and dairy 

 industries are of very minor importance, de- 

 spite the interest which the government has 

 shown in them. 



Vegetation. This is especially luxuriant, 

 owing to the warm climate and the excessive 

 moisture, and constitutes the chief beauty of 

 Japan. The people love flowers, for centuries 

 have cultivated them carefully, and have spe- 

 cial festivals at periods when the land is 

 abloom with some favorite blossom. In Feb- 

 ruary come the plum flowers; two months 

 later the cherry, the "soul of Japan," and vis- 

 itors to Japan are fond of timing their trips 

 so that they may reach the country during 

 cherry-blossom time. Next comes the exqui- 

 site wistaria, then the azalea, the iris and the 

 peony, this last regarded with a special affec- 

 tion; and then, in November, comes the crown- 

 ing glory of the year, the gorgeous chrys- 

 anthemum, which Japanese gardeners have 

 brought to a high state of perfection, and 

 which has become the national flower. Trees 

 grow everywhere, especially in the mountains, 

 and nowhere can there be seen more beautiful 

 autumn color effects. 



Manufactures. There are two classes of in- 

 dustries in Japan, the old historic pursuits, 



