REPORT OP COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION 315 



given the vitality of my whole life to the industry in which we are all inter- 

 ested. And as one born in Japan, I bring to you the best of greetings from 

 the Island Empire across the Pacific. I bring greetings from the old country, 

 where "sake" distilled from rice has constituted the national beverage for 

 many, many centuries. Greetings to you from that country new in wine 

 industry new because they only learned the art of making wine about a 

 decade ago, though the neighborhood of Kofu, in Yamanashi Prefecture, has 

 for some time been famed for the production of grapes for the table. Viti- 

 culture is yet in its infancy in Japan. Aside from the place just mentioned 

 there are only two vineyards in all Japan worthy of mention: one at 

 Iwahara, in the province of Echigo, cultivated by Kawakami Zembei, an 

 enthusiast, who has been experimenting with about 300 different grapes he 

 imported from France, and the other at Ushiku, in Chiba Prefecture, owned 

 by Kamiya Dembei. While the consumption of wine is steadily increasing 

 in Japan, the wine industry has not made much headway on account of 

 climatic disadvantages and for other reasons. Yet efforts are being made 

 to overcome difficulties and surmount obstacles, as it has been the case 

 with many things in which she has succeeded. Thus I bring greetings and 

 good will to you all from the nation which has found supreme p'easure in 

 overcoming difficulties with its ideals ever fixed upon the ethereal plane of 

 success." 



Mr. Manuel Roldan extended greetings in the name of the Government 

 of Portugal. 



