GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OP JAPAN 7 



increase in the number of towns. Sixiy-three per cent of the poiml- 

 ation of Japan proper still consists of village dwellers. There are 

 only twenty-one cities with a poi)ulation of over 100,000, a condition 

 fiir different iVoni that of the densely populated countries in north- 

 western Euro})e. The cities of Tokyo and Osaka, with populations in 

 the nnllions, represent the industrial centres of the east and the west 

 of the Enjpii-e respectively. 



Japanese emigration to foreign countries is not so great as that 

 of some Euro|!ean nations. There are nearly 600,000 Japanese abroad. 

 Of this total, the number of 110,000 in Hawaii is the most remarkable. 

 The number of our emigrants to the Pacific coast of the United States 

 of America is now decreasing on account of unfavorable social and 

 political conditions there. On the contrary, a new field in the Brazil- 

 ian plateau has in recent years been opened for eujigrants from 

 Ja})an. At present tliere are already 40,000 Japanese in Brazil, 

 enjoying a peaceful life in the pursuit of coffee plantation and rice 

 culture. There are, besides, many thousands of Japanese in China, 

 engaged for the most part in commerce. 



V. Industries. The ]irincipal industry is agriculture. Rice is 

 cultivated in most parts of the country with a few exceptions in the 

 northernmost districts. In Taiwan, and even in some of the southern 

 provinces of Honshu, crops are ])roduced twice yearly. Barley and 

 wheat come next ; they are produced mostly in the Kwanto Plain. 

 Though the production of these cereals is large, it is not enough for 

 the consumption of the great population of the country. So we import 

 more rice from the tropical monsoon lands of southeastern Asia. 

 Wheat and flour are im^iorted from North America- In the warn^er 

 districts of south J^pan, es})ecially in Taiwan and Ryukyu, sugar-cane 

 is cultivated. Green tea is produced in the central prefectures of 

 Honshu, such as Shidzuoka, Miye and Kyoto, while colong tea is 

 prepared in northern Taiwan. Both varieties of tea constitute impor- 

 tant sta[)les for export to America. 



Stock farming is carried on but little as a separate industry in this 

 country, but horses are kept in the grassy plains of northern Honshu, 

 Hokkaido and southern Kyushu, while cattle are produced in quantity 

 in Chosen, western Honshu, Hokkaido and southern Kyushu. Sericultui-e 

 is the most important industrj^ in many districts, especially in central 

 Honshu, the Kwanto Plain and the Ou district of noith Japan. The 

 annual ex})orts of silk amount to nearly seven hundred million yen, 



