JAPAN IN THE COMMERCE OF THE WORLD. 533 



I. Value of exports and imports of Japan from 1 868-1 885 

 through the several treaty ports. 



II. Foreign commerce of Japan during the last five years, ar- 

 ranged by countries. 



III. Survey of the principal articles of export since 1868, ac- 

 cording to groups and value. 



IV. Principal articles of export with their values during the 

 years 1881-1885. 



V. Review of exportation in 1885, according to articles, coun- 

 tries, and value. 



VI. Comparative table of the importation and exportation of 

 gold and silver in coins and bars. 



VII. Review of the principal articles of import since 1868, and 

 of their value. 



VIII. Importation of prominent articles in 1885, according to 

 countries and value. 



Trade reports during the transition period from the conclusion 

 of the first treaties till 1868 are incomplete, and had to be left out. 

 Those of the first five years Meiji {\Z6^-\Z'J2) are inaccurate. But 

 that is not to say that the later customs registers agree everv- 

 where. In general there is a notable increase of exportation and 

 importation, though without steadiness, which was not to be ex- 

 pected, since the same general causes here as elsewhere ca'used 

 great fluctuations in trade. 



Large purchases, whatever their causes, always occasion an 

 unnatural swelling of the import figures, and are generally soon 

 followed by a reaction, just as extraordinary advances in prices for 

 any article are as a rule only transitory. War and preparations 

 for war raise the price of war materials and the necessaries of life. 

 Rich harvests, which greatly increase exportation, raise the import 

 figures for clothing stuff and other comforts and necessities of life. 

 All these phenomena are seen in the commercial statistics of Japan. 

 But as the consular reports dwell upon them sufhciently, I prefer 

 to emphasize certain other points. 



Raw silk with its by-products has stood far in advance of the 

 other articles of export in value, ever since the country was opened. 

 It is likely, moreover, to maintain this supremacy. When its 

 exportation began, in 1859, and for the next ten years, the silk- 

 worm disease in Europe made the greatest depredations on Euro- 

 pean sericulture, so that the demand for oriental silk advanced 

 enormously, and consequently the price also. A further increase of 

 price was occasioned by the high cost of cotton during the Ameri- 

 can civil war. On account of both these causes raw silk reached 

 in 1865 more than double its price in 1863 ; and the exportation of 

 silk from Yokohama amounted to 17,467,728 yen, despite a small 

 falling off in quantity, whereas in 1863 it was only 8,997,484 yen. 

 Considerable transient advances in the price of silk have occurred 

 several times since, as in the spring of 1876 and 1S79, though none 



