LATEST REGULATIONS 323 



were exhausted, attempted to induce the Government to lease those islands to him 

 upon a similar basis as the Eussian aiid American seal islands were leased, but that 

 he failed in si)ite of every effort, backed by powerful influence. The refusal was 

 probably due to the " Japan for Japanese" principle, fqr we find that later (1889) an 

 exclusive permission to hunt the seals and sea otters was given to the Dainippon 

 Suisan Kaisha (The Japan Maritime Product Company) of Hakodate, subject to the 

 above regulations. The few seals taken by the schooners of this company in the 

 Kurils have been enumerated above (p. 259). 



INVESTIGATIONS OP THE PUR-SEAL QUESTION BY THE JAPANESE 



GOVERNMENT. 



The sudden reawakening in seaUng interests which was the result of the 

 successful pelagic sealing season of 1892 in Asiatic waters, also aroused the Japanese 

 authorities, and the search for information, so long neglected, was delegated to the 

 fisheries bureau of the department of agriculture and commerce in Tokyo. A report 

 upon the whole seal question, including the trial and award of the Paris Arbitration 

 Tribunal, was prepared and issued by the bureau in 1893, being chiefly a compilation 

 from available American and British sources. At the same time young men with more 

 or less scientific training were sent out to investigate the question, notably Mr. Kozawa 

 and assistant in 1893, Mr. Mva in 1894, and Mr. Kitahara in 1895, to the Kurils, 

 while Mr. Kaneda and Mr. Kaburaki, in 1894, were placed in two Japanese pelagic 

 sealers, and Mr. Mori and Mr. Nagasi similarly in 1895. The reports of these gentlemen 

 furnished a certain amount of information and have been published, except Mr. 

 Ifozawa's, which was not quite finished when I saw him last autumn in Hakodate. 



These investigations led to the abolition of the old regulations and the framing 

 of new ones to meet the altered conditions. There being no more rookeries on the 

 Kurils to protect, no special notice has been taken of this side of the question, 

 although the new law has vested enough power in the Government to take all the 

 steps it may find necessary or desirable. 



NEW LAW AND REGULATIONS POR THE PROTECTION OP SEALS AND SEA 



OTTERS. 



The old regulations were in force until the end of 1895. During that year a law 

 passed the Japanese Parliament and received the imperial sanction in which are 

 found the basis and authority for the regulations now in force. The act and the 

 regulations have been kindly translated for me by the officials of the fisheries bureau 

 of the department of agriculture and commerce. Dr. Kishinouye and Mr. Otaki, and 

 are to the following effect r 



Act No. 10. Issued March ^, S8th year of Meiji (1895). An act regulating the hunting of fur seals and 



sea otters. 



Art. 1. Any person wishing to engage in hunting fur seals and sea otters shall have a license from 

 the minister of agriculture and commerce. 



Akt. 2. With a view to protect the fur seals and sea otters the tilling of these animals may he 

 prohibited or limited by imperial decree with reference to (a) sex; (6) age; (c) season or locality; 

 (d) methods of hunting, implements, and kind of vessels. 



Art. 3. Commanders of vessels of the imperial navy, police officers, custom-house officers, and 

 other commissioned officers are empowered to inspect, in accordance with the imperial decree, any 



