2o8 The National Geographic Magazine 



3£ 



Photo by Hugh M. Smith 



Spreading the Wet Funori on Mats to Bleach and Dry 



From certain kinds of seaweed which they call "funori" the Japanese make excellent 

 glue. The seaweed after being cleaned is soaked in fresh water and then spread out in thin 

 sheets on mats. When sufficiently bleached the sheets are gathered and rolled up in bun- 

 dles. They are then converted into a glue or a paste, when needed, by being put into boiling 

 fresh water. The glue, which also is called funori, is employed principally for the glazing 

 and stiffening of fabrics and as a starch for clothing. 



way, and is always kept on hand as an 

 emergency ration in Japanese houses. 

 A fish similar to our scup, known as the 

 tai, is worth about $2,000,000 yearly. 

 It is the favorite fish for fresh consump- 

 tion, and when served raw, with soy- 

 bean sauce, is a delicious food. Other 

 prominent products with which Amer- 

 icans are well acquainted are mackerel 

 ($1,000,000), tunny or horse mackerel 

 ($900,000), amber-fish or yellow- tail 

 ($1,000,000), squid and cuttle-fish ($1,- 

 500,000), anchovies ($800,000), prawns 

 ($700,000), and salmon ($600,000). 



The Japanese have no fisheries com- 

 parable with our shad, river herring, 



menhaden, striped bass, whitefish, pike 

 perch, lake trout, soft crab, lobster, and 

 sponge fisheries, and their oyster, clam, 

 salmon, mullet, cod, halibut, and whale 

 fisheries are insignificant in comparison 

 with ours. On the other hand, our sea 

 herring, sardine, anchovy, yellow-tail, 

 tunny, bontto, shark, prawn, octopus, 

 abalone, and seaweed fisheries are of 

 minor value compared with theirs, and 

 we have no cuttle-fish, sea-cucumber, 

 and coral fisheries. 



A characteristic scene in the larger 

 coast towns is a crowd of men, women, 

 and children on the shores at low tide 

 searching and scraping and digging with 



