Part 35

Considerable deposits of coal exist, both anthracite and bituminous. The former, found chiefly at Amakusa, is not greatly inferior to the Cardiff mineral; and the latter--obtained in abundance in Kiuushiu and Yezo--is a brown coal of good medium quality. Altogether there are 29 coal-fields now actually worked in Japan, and she obtained an important addition to her sources of supply in the sequel to the war with Russia, when the Fushun mines near Mukden, Manchuria, were transferred to her. During the 10 years ending in 1906, the market value of the coal mined in Japan grew from less than 2 millions sterling to over 6 millions.

Petroleum.

Petroleum also has of late sprung into prominence on the list of her mineral products. The oil-bearing strata--which occur mainly in tertiary rocks--extend from Yezo to Formosa, but the principal are in Echigo, which yields the greater part of the petroleum now obtained, the Yezo and Formosa wells being still little exploited, the quantity of petroleum obtained in Japan in 1897 was 9 million gallons, whereas the quantity obtained in 1906 was 55 millions.

Japanese mining enterprise was more than trebled during the decade 1897 to 1906, for the value of the minerals taken out in the former year was only 3½ millions sterling, whereas the corresponding figure for 1906 was 11 millions. The earliest mention of gold-mining in Japan takes us back to the year A.D. 696, and by the 16th century the country had acquired the reputation of being rich in gold. During the days of her medieval intercourse with the outer world, her stores of the precious metals were largely reduced, for between the years 1602 and 1766, Holland, Spain, Portugal and China took from her 313,800 lb. (troy) of gold and 11,230,000 lb. of silver.

Copper occupied a scarcely less important place in Old Japan. From a period long anterior to historic times this metal was employed to manufacture mirrors and swords, and the introduction of Buddhism in the 6th century was quickly followed by the casting of sacred images, many of which still survive. Finding in the 18th century that her foreign intercourse not only had largely denuded her of gold and silver, but also threatened to denude her of copper, Japan set a limit (3415 tons) to the yearly export of the latter metal. After the resumption of administrative power by the emperor in 1867, attention was quickly directed to the question of mineral resources; several Western experts were employed to conduct surveys and introduce Occidental mining methods, and ten of the most important mines were worked under the direct auspices of the state in order to serve as object lessons. Subsequently these mines were all transferred to private hands, and the government now retains possession of only a few iron and coal mines whose products are needed for dockyard and arsenal purposes. The following table shows the recent progress and present condition of mining industry in Japan:--

Gold Silver Copper Lead

Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Quantity Value. oz. £ oz. £ Tons. £ Tons. £

1897 34,553 136,834 1,809,805 208,200 19,722 869,266 746 10,343 1901 82,517 330,076 1,824,842 211,682 26,495 1,625,244 1,744 24,640 1906 90,842 363,715 2,623,212 243,914 37,254 3,007,992 2,721 49,690

Iron Coal Petroleum Sulphur

Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Tons. £ Tons. £ Gallons. £ Tons. £

1897 35,178 103,559 5,229,662 1,899,592 9,248,800 44,389 13,138 33,588 1901 46,456 123,701 9,025,325 3,060,931 39,351,960 227,841 16,007 38,612 1906 85,203 268,911 12,980,103 6,314,400 55,135,880 314,550 27,406 61,386

Antimony Manganese Others

Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Value. Total Values. Tons. £ Tons. £ £ £

1897 1,133 27,362 13,175 8,758 3,863 3,345,662 1901 529 13,481 15,738 10,846 3,450 5,670,508 1906 293 22,862 12,322 51,365 41,338 10,839,783

The number of mine employees in 1907 was 190,000, in round numbers; the number of mining companies, 189; and the aggregate paid-up capital, 10 millions sterling.

_Industries._--In the beginning of the Meiji era Japan was practically without any manufacturing industries, as the term is understood in the Occident, and she had not so much as one joint-stock company. At the end of 1906, her joint-stock companies and partnerships totalled 9329, their paid up capital exceeded 100 millions sterling, and their reserves totalled 26 millions. It is not to be inferred, however, from the absence of manufacturing organizations 50 years ago that such pursuits were deliberately eschewed or despised in Japan. On the contrary, at the very dawn of the historical epoch we find that sections of the people took their names from the work carried on by them, and that specimens of expert industry were preserved in the sovereign's palace side by side with the imperial insignia. Further, skilled artisans from the neighbouring continent always found a welcome in Japan, and when Korea was successfully invaded in early times, one of the uses which the victors made of their conquest was to import Korean weavers and dyers. Subsequently the advent of Buddhism, with its demand for images, temples, gorgeous vestments and rich paraphernalia, gave a marked impulse to the development of artistic industry, which at the outset took its models from China, India and Greece, but gradually, while assimilating many of the best features of the continental schools, subjected them to such great modifications in accordance with Japanese genius that they ceased to retain more than a trace of their originals. From the 9th century luxurious habits prevailed in Kioto under the sway of the Fujiwara regents, and the imperial city's munificent patronage drew to its precincts a crowd of artisans. But these were not industrials, in the Western sense of the term, and, further, their organization was essentially domestic, each family selecting its own pursuit and following it from generation to generation without co-operation or partnership with any outsider. The establishment of military feudalism in the 12th century brought a reaction from the effeminate luxury of the metropolis, and during nearly 300 years no industry enjoyed large popularity except that of the armourer and the sword-smith. No sooner, however, did the prowess of Oda Nobunaga and, above all, of Hideyoshi, the taiko, bring within sight a cessation of civil war and the unification of the country, than the taste for beautiful objects and artistic utensils recovered vitality. By degrees there grew up among the feudal barons a keen rivalry in art industry, and the shogun's court in Yedo set a standard which the feudatories constantly strove to attain. Ultimately, in the days immediately antecedent to its fall, the shogun's administration sought to induce a more logical system by encouraging local manufacturers to supply local needs only, leaving to Kioto and Yedo the duty of catering to general wants.

But before this reform had approached maturity, the second advent of Western nations introduced to Japan the products of an industrial civilization centuries in advance of her own from the point of view of utility, though nowise superior in the application of art. Immediately the nation became alive to the necessity of correcting its own inferiority in this respect. But the people being entirely without models for organization, without financial machinery and without the idea of joint stock enterprise, the government had to choose between entering the field as an instructor, and leaving the nation to struggle along an arduous and expensive way to tardy development. There could be no question as to which course would conduce more to the general advantage, and thus, in days immediately subsequent to the resumption of administrative power by the emperor, the spectacle was seen of official excursions into the domains of silk-reeling, cement-making, cotton and silk spinning, brick-burning, printing and book-binding, soap-boiling, type-casting and ceramic decoration, to say nothing of their establishing colleges and schools where all branches of applied science were taught. Domestic exhibitions also were organized, and specimens cf the country's products and manufactures were sent under government auspices to exhibitions abroad. On the other hand, the effect of this new departure along Western lines could not but be injurious to the old domestic industries of the country, especially to those which owed their existence to tastes and traditions now regarded as obsolete. Here again the government came to the rescue by establishing a firm whose functions were to familiarize foreign markets with the products of Japanese artisans, and to instruct the latter in adaptations likely to appeal to Occidental taste. Steps were also taken for training women as artisans, and the government printing bureau set the example of employing female labour, an innovation which soon developed large dimensions. In short, the authorities applied themselves to educate an industrial disposition throughout the country, and as soon as success seemed to be in sight, they gradually transferred from official to private direction the various model enterprises, retaining only such as were required to supply the needs of the state.

The result of all this effort was that whereas, in the beginning of the Meiji era, Japan had virtually no industries worthy of the name, she possessed in 1896--that is to say, after an interval of 25 years of effort--no less than 4595 industrial and commercial companies, joint stock or partnership, with a paid-up capital of 40 millions sterling. Her development during the decade ending in 1906 is shown in the following table:--

Reserves Number of Paid-up capital (millions companies. (millions sterling). sterling).

1897 6,113 53 6 1901 8,602 83 12 1906 9,329 107 26

What effect this development exercised upon the country's over-sea trade may be inferred from the fact that, whereas the manufactured goods exported in 1870 were nil, their value in 1901 was 8 millions sterling, and in 1906 the figure rose to over 20 millions. In the following table are given some facts relating to the principal industries in which foreign markets are interested:--

COTTON YARNS

+------+----------+---------------+-------------+-------------------------+ | | | Operatives. | Quantity | | | | Spindles.+-------+-------+ produced. | Remarks. | | | | Male. |Female.| | | +------+----------+-------+-------+-------------+-------------------------+ | | | | | lb. | This is a wholly new | | 1897 | 768,328 | 9,933 |35,059 | 216,913,196 | had industry in Japan. | | 1901 |1,181,762 |13,481 |49,540 | 274,861,380 | It no existence before | | 1906 |1,425,406 |13,032 |59,281 | 383,359,113 | the Meiji era. | +------+----------+-------+-------+-------------+-------------------------+

WOVEN GOODS

+------+--------+----------------+------------+--------------------------+ | | | Operatives. | Market | | | | Looms. +----------------+ value of | Remarks. | | | | Male. |Female. | products. | | +------+--------+-------+--------+------------+--------------------------+ | | | | | Millions | It is observable that a | | | | | | sterling. | decrease in the number of| | 1897 |947,134 |54,119 |987,110 | 19 | operatives is concurrent | | 1901 |719,550 |43,172 |747,946 | 24 | with an increase of | | 1906 |736,828 |40,886 |751,605 | 36 | production. | +------+--------+-------+--------+------------+--------------------------+

MATCHES

+------+--------+---------------+-----------+----------+-----------------------+ | |Families| Operatives. | Quantity | Value. | | | |engaged.+-------+-------+ produced. | | Remarks. | | | | Male. |Female.| | | | +------+--------+-------+-------+-----------+----------+-----------------------+ | | | | | Gross. | £ | This is an altogether | | 1897 | 269 |21,447 |26,277 |24,038,960 | 654,849 | new industry. Japanese| | 1901 | 261 | 5,656 |16,504 |32,901,319 | 926,689 | matches now hold the | | 1906 | 250 | 5,468 |18,721 |54,802,293 |1,551,698 | leading place in all | | | | | | | | Far-Eastern markets. | +------+--------+-------+-------+-----------+----------+-----------------------+

FOREIGN PAPER (as distinguished from Japanese)

+------+----------+-------+-------+------------+----------+--------------------+ | | | Operatives. | Quantity | | | | |Factories.+-------+-------+ produced. | Value. | Remarks. | | | | Male. |Female.| | | | +------+----------+-------+-------+------------+----------+--------------------+ | | | | | lb. | £ | Had not Japanese | | 1897 | 9 | 164 | 109 | 46,256,649 | 300,662 | factories been | | 1901 | 13 | 2,635 | 1,397 |113,348,340 | 714,094 | established all | | 1906 | 22 | 3,774 | 1,778 |218,022,434 |1,415,778 | this paper must | | | | | | | | have been imported.| | +------+----------+-------+-------+------------+----------+--------------------+

In the field of what may be called minor manufactures--as ceramic wares, lacquers, straw-plaits, &c.--there has been corresponding growth, for the value of these productions increased from 1¼ millions sterling in 1897 to 3½ millions in 1906. But as these manufactures do not enter into competition with foreign goods in either Eastern or Western markets, they are interesting only as showing the development of Japan's producing power. They contribute nothing to the solution of the problem whether Japanese industries are destined ultimately to drive their foreign rivals from the markets of Asia, if not to compete injuriously with them even in Europe and America. Japan seems to have one great advantage over Occidental countries: she possesses an abundance of dexterous and exceptionally cheap labour. It has been said, indeed, that this latter advantage is not likely to be permanent, since the wages of labour and the cost of living are fast increasing. The average cost of labour doubled in the interval between 1895 and 1906, but, on the other hand, the number of manufacturing organizations doubled in the same time, while the amount of their paid-up capital nearly trebled. As to the necessaries of life, if those specially affected by government monopolies be excluded, the rate of appreciation between 1900 and 1906 averaged about 30%, and it thus appears that the cost of living is not increasing with the same rapidity as the remuneration earned by labour. The manufacturing progress of the nation seems, therefore, to have a bright future, the only serious impediment being deficient capital. There is abundance of coal, and steps have been taken on a large scale to utilize the many excellent opportunities which the country offers for developing electricity by water-power.

Silk-weaving

The fact that Japan's exports of raw silk amount to more than 12 millions sterling, while she sends over-sea only 3½ millions' worth of silk fabrics, suggests some marked inferiority on the part of her weavers. But the true explanation seems to be that her distance from the Occident handicaps her in catering for the changing fashions of the West. There cannot be any doubt that the skill of Japanese weavers was at one time eminent. The sun goddess herself, the predominant figure in the Japanese pantheon, is said to have practised weaving; the names of four varieties of woven fabrics were known in prehistoric times; the 3rd century of the Christian era saw the arrival of a Korean maker of cloth; after him came an influx of Chinese who were distributed throughout the country to improve the arts of sericulture and silk-weaving; a sovereign (Yuriaku) of the 5th century employed 92 groups of naturalized Chinese for similar purposes; in 421 the same emperor issued a decree encouraging the culture of mulberry trees and calling for taxes on silk and cotton; the manufacture of textiles was directly supervised by the consort of this sovereign; in 645 a bureau of weaving was established; many other evidences are conclusive as to the great antiquity of the art of silk and cotton weaving in Japan.

The coming of Buddhism in the 6th century contributed not a little to the development of the art, since not only did the priests require for their own vestments and for the decoration of temples silken fabrics of more and more gorgeous description, but also these holy men themselves, careful always to keep touch with the continental developments of their faith, made frequent voyages to China, whence they brought back to Japan a knowledge of whatever technical or artistic improvements the Middle Kingdom could show. When Kioto became the permanent metropolis of the empire, at the close of the 8th century, a bureau was established for weaving brocades and rich silk stuffs to be used in the palace. This preluded an era of some three centuries of steadily developing luxury in Kioto; an era when an essential part of every aristocratic mansion's furniture was a collection of magnificent silk robes for use in the sumptuous _No_. Then, in the 15th century came the "Tea Ceremonial," when the brocade mountings of a picture or the wrapper of a tiny tea-jar possessed an almost incredible value, and such skill was attained by weavers and dyers that even fragments of the fabrics produced by them command extravagant prices to-day. Kioto always remained, and still remains, the chief producing centre, and to such a degree has the science of colour been developed there that no less than 4000 varieties of tint are distinguished. The sense of colour, indeed, seems to have been a special endowment of the Japanese people from the earliest times, and some of the combinations handed down from medieval times are treasured as incomparable examples. During the long era of peace under the Tokugawa administration the costumes of men and women showed an increasing tendency to richness and beauty. This culminated in the Genroku epoch (1688-1700), and the aristocracy of the present day delight in viewing histrionic performances where the costumes of that age and of its rival, the Momoyama (end of the 16th century) are reproduced.

It would be possible to draw up a formidable catalogue of the various kinds of silk fabrics manufactured in Japan before the opening of the Meiji era, and the signal ability of her weavers has derived a new impulse from contact with the Occident. Machinery has been largely introduced, and though the products of hand-looms still enjoy the reputation of greater durability, there has unquestionably been a marked development of producing power. Japanese looms now turn out about 17 millions sterling of silk textiles, of which less than 4 millions go abroad. Nor is increased quantity alone to be noted, for at the factory of Kawashima in Kioto Gobelins are produced such as have never been rivalled elsewhere.

_Commerce in Tokugawa Times._--The conditions existing in Japan during the two hundred and fifty years prefatory to the modern opening of the country were unfavourable to the development alike of national and of international trade. As to the former, the system of feudal government exercised a crippling influence, for each feudal chief endeavoured to check the exit of any kind of property from his fief, and free interchange of commodities was thus prevented so effectually that cases are recorded of one feudatory's subjects dying of starvation while those of an adjoining fief enjoyed abundance. International commerce, on the other hand, lay under the veto of the central government, which punished with death anyone attempting to hold intercourse with foreigners. Thus the fiefs practised a policy of mutual seclusion at home, and united to maintain a policy of general seclusion abroad. Yet it was under the feudal system that the most signal development of Japanese trade took place, and since the processes of that development have much historical interest they invite close attention.

As the bulk of a feudal chief's income was paid in rice, arrangements had to be made for sending the grain to market and transmitting its proceeds. This was effected originally by establishing in Osaka stores (_kura-yashiki_), under the charge of samurai, who received the rice, sold it to merchants in that city and remitted the proceeds by official carriers. But from the middle of the 17th century these stores were placed in the charge of tradesmen to whom was given the name of _kake-ya_ (agent). They disposed of the products entrusted to them by a fief and held the money, sending it by monthly instalments to an appointed place, rendering yearly accounts and receiving commission at the rate of from 2 to 4%. They had no special licence, but they were honourably regarded and often distinguished by an official title or an hereditary pension. In fact a kake-ya, of such standing as the Mitsui and the Konoike families, was, in effect, a banker charged with the finances of several fiefs. In Osaka the method of sale was uniform. Tenders were invited, and these having been opened in the presence of all the store officials and kake-ya, the successful tenderers had to deposit bargain-money, paying the remainder within ten days, and thereafter becoming entitled to take delivery of the rice in whole or by instalments within a certain time, no fee being charged for storage. A similar system existed in Yedo, the shogun's capital. Out of the custom of deferred delivery developed the establishment of exchanges where advances were made against sale certificates, and purely speculative transactions came into vogue. There followed an experience common enough in the West at one time: public opinion rebelled against these transactions in margins on the ground that they tended to enhance the price of rice. Several of the brokers were arrested and brought to trial; marginal dealings were thenceforth forbidden, and a system of licences was inaugurated in Yedo, the number of licensed dealers[7] being restricted to 108.