2292 



COMMERCIAL JAPAN. 



[December, 



THE TEXTILE INDUSTRIES OF JAPAN. 



The details of the textile industries of Japan, which differ in many particulars from those of the United States, are described by 

 Consul Lyons in a recent report to the State Department, and published in the Consular Eeports of May, 1899, as follows: 



The manufacture of textile goods in Japan is not confined to certain localities, as in the United States, but extends, by means of 

 hand looms, all over the country. The spinning wheel was formerly in general use, but during the last twenty years it has been almost 

 wholly displaced by spinning mills using machinery. More than 1,000,000 spindles are now thus operated, 47 mills in Japan producing 

 last year an estimated yield of 650,000 bales of cotton yarn of 400 pounds each. Present returns show that more than 200,000 bales wiU 

 be shipped to China during the current year, and the home demand for counts averaging 18s. will be nearly supplied by the remaining 

 450,000 bales. Only one of the spinning mills in Japan has imported the machinery necessary for spinning the higher counts above SOs. 

 The Nippon mill, of Osaka, has done this, but so far has probably not made a success of it. Higher counts are steadily imported from 

 England, and in greatly increasing quantities, to meet the home demand. When mill hands with greater skill are to be procured in 

 Japan, tlie sjjinning of the higher counts will increase more rapidly, in order to supply the domestic market and the demands from 

 China and Korea. 



Increasing demand for the higher counts of cotton yarn explains the rapidly growing market for American cotton, from which it ia 

 produced. It would he well for American cotton producers to note this fact with a view to educating a sufficient number of Japanese 

 workmen to become expert and teach others, in order to extend the sale of American cotton, from which the higher counts are made. 



Many of the large class of persons formerly employed in spinning by hand are now engaged in weaving textiles on hand looms. 

 It has recently been computed that more than 600,000 hand looms are in use in Japan, and it Ls stated that they employ 890,000 women 

 and 50,000 men. As these hand looms are generally opei-ated in private houses, giving a home character to the work, it can readily be 

 seen Avhy such slow progress is being made in the introduction of power weaving machinery. The hand looms now in use are called 

 "battan," and are an improvement on those formerly used. They cost but about 5 yen ($2.50 gold) each, and take up little room in a 

 house, while a power machine would require a separate building, and Avith the necessary power would cost, say, nearly 500 yen ($250 

 gold). The hand loom will produce about half as much as a power loom, but one person could attend to perhaps four or five of the 

 latter at a time, and thus be able to turn out, say, eight or ten times the product with a power loom as with a hand loom. The 

 convenience, however, of having the hand loom in the hou.se and the difference in its cost will perhaps be sufficient to delay the 

 introduction of power looms to any great extent for some time to come. The comparative cost of labor is about one to eight or ten in 

 favor of the power looms, and this should tend to crowd out the hand looms very fast; but it is not doing so yet, though the progressive 

 8i)irit of the Japanese will no doubt ultimately cause them to substitute power looms for the hand looms now in use. In regard to 

 spinning machinery, the labor cost is about one to one hundred and fifty in favor of the machine, and this very great difference ia of 

 course the cause of the rai)id introduction of spinning machinery. 



TJie hand looms are handmade, and are principally used in supplying some 1,000,000 pieces of goods, say 14 inches in width and 

 from ] 2 to 25 yards in length, to the home market and for export to China and Korea. 



SILKS. 



The Japanese manufacturers are very conservative in their business methods, and manufacture large quantities of goods only on 

 orders. The largest silk factory in Japan using power looms is the Kyoto Orimono Kaisha, of Kyoto. It imported these machines 

 from France. It was the intention of the company to manufacture silk fabrics for export, but after some years of unsuccessful attempt 

 the project was abandoned, and the company commenced making satins and "obi " materials for home use. In these lines, it is said, it 

 has been very successful. This mill also manufactures curtain and upholstery materials, and it has found a good market for them in 

 Knglanfl and Australia. The power looms first obtained have been copied here, and the company is using large numbers of them; but 

 they !ire not equal to the imported ones. 



Silk in its various forms, from the raw material to the finished product, is mamly exported from Yokohama. The industry dates 

 back to an early period, and is to-day in an advanced condition. 



Exports of manufactured silks from Japan during 1897 were as follows: 



There i.n no doubt a great misapprehension existing in our country as to the necessity for the use of woolen goods in Japan. The 

 clini'.ite i.M tlionght by ni^iiy to be such a.s not to require warm clothing in winter, but this is not the case. During the last winter, which 

 was sa'.d lo be not as cold as n.'«ual at this i>ort, foreigners were clotluvl a.s warmly a." persons need to be dtiring the cold se;v«tn in Wash- 

 ington, I). (',, ami the masses of the Japanese peojile needed, but did not have, the same protection; and it must be remeuilxTCil that 

 this locality is a warm one in comparison with some other parts of the Empire. 



The r.iannfacture of woolen goods is a new industry here and a small one, as only about 13 j-ver cent of the woolen textile)* usetl in 

 Japan are made in this coimtry. The raw material is all inijiorted from China, Australia, and London. The four woolen factories of 

 the country are located in Osaka and Tokyo. One i.s owned atul operated by the Imperial Oovernment, and manufacturer supplies for 

 the army and navy. Some of the bcttt-r gra<les of cotton and woolen yarns are made there, but they are mostly imported. A largo 

 proportion of th" woolen clotlis Uf^ed are made on hand looms similar to those already referred to. 



