markets of five of the large cities is given in Table 58. In prewar 
years the Tokyo centred market is reported to have handled 750 tons daily 
and the Osaka market about 630 tons. 
The retailing of fish in the cities and towns was largely through 
stores. In Tokyo, for example, more than 4,000 stores handled fish in 
1935. In the rural areas fish was peddled daily by fish mongers. 
In order to provide the large cities with fresh fish, special 
daily trains were operated between major producing areas and the city 
markets. For example, fish was quickly dispatched from Shimonoseki, 
the trawling base, to Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo and from Choshi to 
Tokyo. In 1937 more than 610,000 tons of fresh fish and 280,000 tons of 
salted and dried fish were moved on the Japanese railroads. The amounts 
carried "ty months in each of the railroad bureaus is given in Table 59. 
Prices . Prices of fish and other marine products in Japan 
during the prewar period are available for only a few items as sold in 
Tokyo. The wholesale and retail prices for these items are given in 
Table 60, not as any indication of present prices for the 1945 level is 
well above that of 1933 - 1935, but as indications of the relative prices 
of these items. These figures, as yearly averages, do not show the con¬ 
siderable seasonal fluctuation in prices resulting from seasonal differences 
in supply and seasonal changes in flavor and areas of production. Table 
61, giving high and low prices by months for 1937, indicates the seasonal 
fluctuations in price characteristic of many fish products. The market 
- 149 - 
16-031 P174 t>u 
