JAPAN IN THE COMMERCE OF THE WORLD. 531 



With business proper there developed a hvely money-business, or 

 banking. Osaka possessed not only the greatest and richest 

 dealers in rice, tea, and silk, but also the most banking-houses. 

 On account of the shallowness of its harbour, it is almost as ill- 

 suited for direct foreign commerce as Tokio. Just as Yokohama, 

 with its excellent harbour, is reached from Tokio by one hour's 

 railway journey, so Kiota and Osaka have near them Kobe (Hiogo) 

 for their foreign commerce by water and rail — a place whose foreign 

 business has largely increased. 



The exchanges of Osaka in direct trade with foreign countries 

 are about one-seventh as much as those of Kobe, and are made 

 mostly in native and Chinese junks. Kobe is the foreign settle- 

 ment, a new city, close to Hiogo, beautifully situated on the 

 Inland Sea. Its harbour is commodious, like that of Yokohama, 

 and accessible to all ships. In consular reports Hiogo, the older 

 town, is always named in its stead ; not so in the yearly reports 

 of the Japanese custom-house. 



The trade of Kobe, indeed, is far behind that of Yokohama, 

 but it exceeds by more than threefold that of Nagasaki, and will 

 probably increase considerably through the new railway connec- 

 tions with the interior via Kioto. Kobe exports most of the 

 copper, sumach-tallow, and camphor, as well as rice. In its ship- 

 ments of tea it comes next to Yokohama. Among its principal 

 imports are gold and silver bars for the mint in Osaka, besides 

 cotton and woollen goods, sugar, and petroleum. The tax-reports 

 for the commerce of Kobe-Osaka for each of the last nine years 

 show a marked deficiency of exports as compared with imports, 

 since the latter always far exceeded the former in value. Accord- 

 ingly, during the last five years, 28'8 per cent, of Japan's total 

 imports came through Kobe-Osaka, while only 20 per cent, of its 

 exports were shipped thence. 



The foreign population of Kobe was composed, in 1883, of 610 

 Chinese, 232 British subjects, 48 Germans, 33 North Americans, 

 17 Portuguese, 14 French, 12 Dutch, 6 Scandinavians, 5 Danes, 

 I Swiss, and 1 Austrian. There were 84 business firms, namely, 

 33 Chinese, 30 British, 11 German, 9 American, and i Portuguese. 



Nagasaki. — The relation between imports and exports of this 

 place is the reverse of that at Kobe. It has not populous cities 

 behind it as purchasers, while its exports have increased notably, 

 owing to several favourable circumstances. One of these is the 

 greater proximity of the continent of Asia. Another is the regular 

 steamer service with Shanghai, Fusan, and Wonsan (Gensan) in 

 Corea, and Wladiwostok ; another the increasing output of the 

 neighbouring coal-mines, especially those of Takashima. Coal, 

 dried marine animals, rice, camphor, tea, and sumach-tallow, are 

 the chief articles of export ; while tobacco is now shipped in greater 

 quantities via Yokohama and Kobe. 



As in the other treaty-ports, the clean and spacious European 



