1901.] COMMEECIAL JAPAN. 2223 



coal is the most important in export value, the exportation of 1900 being 13,703,055 yen; those of copper, refined, 12,080,185 yen, while 

 the cliief of the manufactured articles exported were cotton yarn, 20,589,263 yen; silk goods, 23,512,110 yen; cotton tii^sues, 6,099,261 

 yen; mats, 3,310,042 yen; porcelain and earthenware, 2,660,478 yen. Of the cereals, rice occupied in 1899 6,958,885 acres, against 

 1,105,000 in wheat, 1,605,000 in barley, and 1,677,000 in rye, the number of busliels of rice being, according to the Statesman's Year- 

 Book for 1901, 196,367,997, as compare'd with 20,126,043 bushels of wheat, 41,690,025 of barley, and 32,767,1.34 bushels of rj-e. The 

 production of tea for 1899 is given at 7,543,997 kwan, or 62,454 pounds avoirdupois, the kwan being equal to 8.28 pounds; sugar, 

 14,615,473 kwan (in 1898); raw silk, 3,277,404 kwan; silk cocoons, 2,512,562 koku, the koku being equal to 4.96 bushels. 



THE COAL SUi PLY. 



Coal, the most important of the minerals of Japan, is found in the northernmost island, Hokkaido, and in the northern part of the 

 island of Hondo, and in large quantities in the most southerly island of the group, Kius.hiu. Coal lias been mined systematically during 

 the last thirty years, formerly by the Government, but more recently the management has been transferred to a prominent financial 

 firm of private citizens, who promptly established trading stations, not only in Japan but in China, Straits Settlements, Burmah, and the 

 Philippine Islands, their product rapidly taking the place of Australian coal, upon which steamships in that part of the world were 

 formerly compelled largely to rely. Locomotive engines from the United States and electric power have been introduced into the mines 

 to take the place of horses, and branch railways convey the coal to ports 50 miles distant, where steamships can have constant acceja to 

 the docks and depots of supply. Tlie coal veins at the most important of these mines range from 8 to 20 feet in thickness, and the area 

 is believed to be such as to justify the expectation that Japan will, for many years at least, prove an important coal producer and 

 distributor in the East, while tlie fact that enormous coal deposits, easily worked, are in China, simply awaiting transportation methods 

 to render them available, shows that the coal supply of the Orient can from this time forward be relied upon as sufficient for ordinary 

 requirements. And when it is remembered that the supply of natural water ]X)wer in the mountains of Japan must necessarilv be very 

 great and that this may now be conveyed in the form of electricity to accessible points for use in manufacturing, the manufacturing 

 possibilities of Japan, with its large industries and skillful population, will be apparent. 



TJIANSPORTATION METHODS. 



Methods of communication and transportation, which play such an important part in the productive possibilities of any countr}', 

 have so rapidly improved in Japan during the past few years as to add greatly to its industrial prospects, whether agricultural, mining, 

 or manufacturing. Railway lines now stretch along the coast on either side of the principal islands, the total length of railroads being 

 over 3,000 miles, with a large additional mileage proposed and in many cases under construction; telegraph lines form a network ovei 

 the entire group of islands, while large sums of money have recently been expended by the Government in the construction of highways 

 for transportation connecting the railways, the chief lack, however, being in horses, of which, as already indicated, the number is but a 

 little over 1,000,000 for the 45,000,000 population of the Empire. 



Of the 11,684 foreigners residing in Japan in 1900, 11,561 were classed as "merchants and other professions," while of the 1,296 

 from the United States 1,282 were classed as "merchants and other professions." Of the 2,113 British subjects 1,994 were thus classed, 

 and of the 532 Germans 518 were so classified. The number of foreigners residing in Japan is only about one-ninth as great as the 

 number of Japanese residing in foreign countries. The Japanese census of December 31, 1899 — and it is interesting to observe that the 

 Japanese take a census each year — showed 99,039 Japanese residing in other countries. Of this number 71,315 were in the United 

 States, so that 62 per cent of the Japanese now residing abroad are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Of the remaining 

 27,724 Japanese residing abroad 15,068 were in Korea, 5,681 in England and English colonies, 4,021 in Eussla and Russian colonies, and 

 2,442 in China. Of the 71,315 residing in the United States 282 were students and 1,983 merchants. It is interesting to observe that 

 the disposition of the Japanese is apparently to look almost exclusively to the United States in educational matters, as the total number 

 of Japanese students residing abroad, as shown by the census figures, was 605, and of this number 282 were in the United States, 147 in 

 Germany, 37 in Russia and Russian colonies, 35 in England and English colonies, 49 in China, 15 in Korea, and 17 in France. 



The new relation in which the foreigners in Japan stand to its citizens, laws, and Government is especially important because of 

 the unusual relation they hold to its foreign commerce. Both the import and export business of Japan are conducted largely by 

 foreigners residing in that comitry. About 63 per cent of the exportations from Japan and more than 6i per cent of its importations are 

 conducted by foreigners. Of the total exports from Japan in 1900 over 124,000,000 yen wore sent abroad by foreign merchants doing 

 business in that country and 73,000,000 by Japanese merchants, Vthile of the total imports of the year 173,000,000 yen in value were 

 imported by foreigners and 112,000,000 yen in value by Japanese merchants. That the Japanese have proved ajjt pupils in the study of 

 foreign commerce as an art is shown by an examination of the record of Japan's foreign trade during the past few years. In 1883 only 

 4.85 per cent of the imports into Japan and 14.4 per cent of the exports were made by Japanese merchants. By 1SS8 the percentage of 

 importations made by Japanese merchants had increased to 17.8 per cent: by 1894 they had reached 29.2 per cent, and in 1900 39.4 per 

 cent of the total imports were made by Japanese merchants. Meantime their share in the exportation business has also increased, reaching 

 18.4 per centm 1894, 25.8 per cent in 1896, and 37.05 per cent in 1900. The total value of imports by Japanese merchants in 1SS3 was 

 1,383,101 yen, and in 1900, 112,737,050 yen, while the total value of the exports by Japanese merchants, winch in 1883 was 5,149,078 yen, 

 was in 1900 73,381,634 yen. The fact that three-fifths of the exports of Japan still find a market through foreigners residing in that 

 country, and that a like proportion of the imports is brouglit in and distributed by foreign merchants doing business in Japan, adds 

 greatly to the imj^ortance of the new relations which now exist between the Japanese Government and foreigners residing and doing 

 business in that country. 



CURKENCY. 



Naturally the banking and currency of a country which is so rapidly increasing its commercial relations with the United States is 

 a matter of especial interest. Tlie gold standard, as is well known, was established in Japan in 1897, and its general banking facilities, 

 as well as its currency, are considered stable and satisfactory. The total coinage issued from the mint from its foundation in 1870 up to 

 March 31, 1900, exclusive of recoinage, was, according to the Stateman's Year-Book of 1899, 431,240,052 yen. The paper money, 

 according to the same authority, consists of Nippon Ginko, or Bank of Japan notes, exchangeable for gold on presentation, and the 

 amount in circulation on April 1, 1900, 217,809,333 yen. In 1899 the Nippon Ginko, or Bank of Japan, had a paid-up capital of 



