British ^^^ Japanese fZ^Z^ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO LOUNO ^3 1822 00290 5941 Map to accompan)( ROBERT R PORTER JAPAN United States H JAPAN : THE NEW WORLD-POWER JAPAN THE NEW WORLD-POWER BEING A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE PROGRESS AND RISE OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE BY ROBERT P. PORTER WITH SEVEN COLOURED MAPS HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON, NEW YOKK, TORONTO, MELBOURNE AND BOMBAY 1915 PRINTED IN ENGLAND AT THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS PREFACE The reader will easily discover the reasons which have encouraged the author to issue this second edition of his work, which first appeared under the title ' The Full Recognition of Japan '. In that book it was his pleasing task to chronicle the course of events which, from the dawn of history to the year 1911, had caused the rise of Japan in commercial, political, military, naval, and international importance, until she had reached the level at which it was no longer possible for the Great Powers of the world to overlook her or to deny to her that ' full recognition ' which was due to her many-sided strength and merit. In performing this task the author was unconsciously doing more. He was tracing the real causes which immediately afterwards led to Japan's triumphant intervention in the Great War by the side of her ally Great Britain and to her unchallenged admission as an equal and a friend into the inner circle of the true World-Powers. Thus in the short interval between 1911 and 1914 the great ordeal which has staggered humanity came so quickly and found Japan so ready that the full recog- nition which the author claimed for the Island Empire of the East was already won ; and this book, in which the claim is fully stated from many points of view, gains new interest and importance as the due recital of the merits and achievements by which Japan now takes her proper place among her peers. Not often is it an author's privilege to say so soon that world-events have moved to justify his words : but not often has author so true a cause to plead. R. P. P. Queen Anne's Mansions, Juhj 28, 1915. PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION In the course of his journahstic work the author of this volume has been twice — first in 1896 and again in 1910 — commissioned by well-known newspapers to visit and report on the economic conditions of Japan and the countries within her sphere of influence. The second visit entirely dispelled the fiction of ' the changeless East ', and proved that great political and industrial developments had been at work in Japan during the years which intervened between the two journeys to the Far East. The facts and figures showing this progress have been obtained almost exclusively from official sources, and the writer is under obligations to the heads of nearly every department of the Japanese Government, not only for the latest printed documents but for specially prepared reports containing the most recent information. The assistance thus freely given, and the aid accorded by the other authorities consulted, have been acknowledged as far as possible in the chapters of the book; and it is only necessary to repeat here that this generous help has been fully appreciated. In printing the proper names it will be noticed that in transliterating from the Japanese the use of accents has been avoided. The best authorities agree that it is not practicable to give a correct representation of the Japanese sounds by the use of roman letters accented or unaccented ; and as the practice in English printing varies, accented letters have been altogether avoided, and the most familiar English forms of trans- literation have been adopted. Thanks are due to The Times for permission to include portions of articles contributed by the author to that journal. Advantage has been taken of this privilege in Chapters xli, xhv, xlvii, xlviii, xlix. R. P. P. 108 Banbuky Road, Oxford, September 20, 1911. CONTENTS PAGE Introductory Survey xiii Chapter I The Progress of Japan 1 Chapter II Early History 17 Chapter III The Tokugawa Shogunate ....... 41 Chapter IV The Transition 66 Chapter V The Work of Reconstruction 85 Chapter VI The Recognition of Japan 101 Chapter VII Physical Characteristics 118 Chapter VIII Population — Occupations — and Emigration . . 133 Chapter IX Education 153 Chapter X Education— continued 178 Chapter XI The Navy 195 viii CONTENTS Chapter XII page The Army 213 Chapter XIII Finance 225 Chapter XIV Agriculture 255 Chapter XV Forestry and MariiVE Products .... 278 Chapter XVI Mineral Resources 295 Chapter XVII Industrial Progress . . . . . . . 307 Chapter XVIII Labour and Wages . . . . . - . . 326 Chapter XIX Trade— Commerce — Shipping 343 Chapter XX The New Tariff .366 Chapter XXI Municipal Progress 374 Chapter XXII The Larger Cities— Tokyo " 394 Chapter XXIII The Larger Cities — Osaka 405 Chapter XXIV The Larger Cities — Kyoto . . . . . 418 CONTENTS ix Chapter XXV page Ports and Other Cities 428 Chapter XXVI The Railways 44.2 Chapter XXVII Other Public Works 459 Chapter XXVIII Art 475 Chapter XXIX Japanese Literature 489 Chapter XXX Journalism and Journalists 515 Chapter XXXI The Drama 527 Chapter XXXII Japanese Music 548 Chapter XXXIII Sports and Amusements 558 Chapter XXXIV The Constitution and Laws 564 Chapter XXXV Prison Reform 574 Chapter XXXVI Japanese Philanthropy 582 Chapter XXXVII "The Ri d Cross Work 599 X CONTENTS Chapter XXXVIII page Korea 605 Chapter XXXIX Korea, 1905 — Annexation, 1910. . . . . 622 Chapter XL Chosen (Korea). Resources and Future . . 639 Chapter XLI Formosa (Taiwan) 654 Chapter XLII Karafuto (Japanese Saghalien) .... 678 Chapter XLIII Hokkaido 689 Chapter XLIV Manchuria 699' Chapter XLV Manchuria — its Towns and Ports .... 719 Chapter XLVI The Administration of the Kwantung Peninsula . 734 Chapter XLVII The Soya Bean . . . . . . . . 745 Chapter XLVIII Around the World via Japan 758 Chapter XLIX The Hotels of Japan 771 INDEX . . ■ 779 LIST OF MAPS (Arranged and Drawn by B. V. Darbishiee, M.A., for the present work.) 1. The Journey round the World { At beginning : 1 inside cover 2. Chosen (Korea) ..... 3. Taiwan (Formosa) .... 4. The Siberian Railways . 5. The Japanese Empire Japan and Hokkaido Inset map of Karafuto (Japanese Saghalien) 6. The Administrative Divisions and Chief Railways of Japan . 7. The Industries of Japan (compiled by Edward Gill) .... To face page 604 „ 654 ., 760 -To face p. 778 At end : inside cover WEIGHTS, MEASURES AND MONEYS, WITH ENGLISH AND AMERICAN EQUIVALENTS Japan Great Britain United States of America Ri ' ' Ri (Marine) | Square rl ' Cho = \Q tan = 3,000 ;s»feo j Tsubo Kol-u = 10 to = 100 sho I Koku (capacity of i vesselj Kuan = 1,000 moni»u' Kin = 160 momme Mom me Yen = 100 sen 244030 miles 1-15152 miles 5-95505 square miles 2-45064 acres 3-95369 square yards 4-96005 bushels ^ of one ton 8-26733 lb. (Avoir.) 10-04711 „ (Troy) 1-32277 lb. (Avoir.) 1-60754 „ (Troy) 2-11644 drams 2.41131 dwts. 2^ 0^-582 2-44029 miles 1-15151 miles 5-95501 square miles 2-45062 acres 3-95367 square yards 47-65389 gallons (Liquid) 5-11902 bushels (Dry) •ijj of one ton 8-26733 lb. (Avoir.) 10-04711 ,, (Troy) 1-32277 lb. (Avoir.) 1-60754 „ (Troy) 0-13228 ounce (Avoir.) 0-12057 ounce (Troy) 0-4984 dollar INTRODUCTORY SURVEY The period of the Great War deserves, for two very special reasons, to be accorded a leading chapter in the story of Japan. In the first place, although it exercised a profound influence upon the world as a whole, yet it must separately be regarded as a crisis in the evolution of the Far East. Secondly, it raised far-reaching political issues in both hemispheres, going far beyond the limits of the quarrel in Europe. It is probable that the end of the war would not have been retarded for a single day if the German flag were still floating over Tsing-Tau. Nor would the fact that Germany still possessed a naval base in the Far East, whence her evasive submarines could harry British commerce, have modified in any material respect the terms which the Allies had decided to impose. Therefore, it might be argued that the affair of Tsing-Tau and the general co-operation of Japan in the war were matters of little moment; but, as a matter of fact, their fundamental importance was almost as great as that of any other issue involved in the war. Of course, the direct issue of Right and Wrong raised by the German violation of Belgian neutrality and contemptuous disregard of signed treaties was the most important ; and second to this was the scientific issue involved in the question whether the Germans were justified in presuming that the German superman was destined to dominate the world. Indeed, if they had been able to prove themselves correct in this belief, they would have been able to thrust even the question of Right and Wrong into the background. Triumphant Germany, with the xiv INTRODUCTORY SURVEY spoils of Britain, France, and Russia at her disposal, would, no doubt, have been generous in granting pecuniary compensation to Belgium for the injury done to her ; and the self-satisfied German historian of the future would have been able to explain to posterity that it was only the foolish short-sightedness of the Belgian Government which caused all tlie trouble, because they had refused to see that God must be on the German side. These two issues — the question of Right and Wrong involved in the violation of Belgian neutrality, and the scientific question whether the German was superior to every other kind of human being — were, therefore, the most important matters which the belligerent nations had to settle ; but scarcely behind these in significance came the question whether this war should be allowed to establish for all time the political equality of all races of mankind, irrespective of geography, creed, or colour. The initial answer to this third question was given by the French Allies in their unhesitating employment of the dusky Turcos from North Africa, side by side with their own regiments, against the white Germans. It is unlikely that the decision upon this ' colour ' question was reached by the French without consulting the British Government, because it was manifestly a question which affected the latter much more vitally, owing to the British position in India, Egypt, South Africa, and many other territories inhabited by coloured races. We may, therefore, presume that at the out- break of war not only were the British Government aware that the Turcos would be employed in the French fighting line, but also that — as, indeed, subsequent events seemed to show — all arrangements were in readiness for similar employment of Indian troops if INTRODUCTORY SURVEY xv need should arise. And having thus decided to cross the 'colour line' in marshalling the forces of the Empire against German aggression it was manifest that the British Government could neither draw any distinction between the various races and creeds of India, nor reject without ungrateftd and impolitic discourtesy the loyal offers of assistance made by the Native States of India. Nor could it refuse to accept similar offers made by races and communities outside India : so that one logical result of the employment of the French Algerian troops may be said to have been the appearance of a gallant, if small, contingent of Fiji Islanders, with bushy hair and cotton petticoats, among the local forces which volunteered for service in the armies of King George. All this, of course, cut away the ground beneath any possible objection to the admission of the Japanese into the war on the score of race or colour. The Kaiser indeed, at one period of his kaleidoscopic career, had posed as a futurist artist in depicting the horrors of the Yellow Peril which he conceived to be menacing Europe ; but in spite of his lurid prophecies the Western world in general readily accommodated itself to the new position which resulted from the triumph of Japan over Russia. In its hour of victory the Yellow Peril showed itself to be such a self-restrained, businesslike, and gentlemanly sort of peril that we were all willing to continue relations with it ; and the British Govern- ment, in particular, had the good sense to conclude with it a treaty for the joint defence in the East of the two island empires, as well as, later, the moral courage to demand the fulfilment of the compact. To those who know the facts the chief point of interest in the intervention of Japan in the war is that xvi INTRODUCTORY SURVEY it was made in response to a direct request from Britain, as was emphatically stated by the Foreign Minister, Baron Kato, to tlie Japanese Diet in the following memorable words : 'Early in August the British Government asked the Imperial Government for assistance under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. German men-of-war and armed vessels were prowling around the seas of Eastern Asia, menacing our commerce and that of our Ally, while Kiaochau was carrying out operations apparently for the purpose of constituting a base for warlike operations in Eastern Asia. Grave anxiety was thus felt for the maintenance of peace in the Far East. ' As all are aware, the agreement and Alliance between Japan and Great Britain has for its object the consolidation and maintenance of general peace in Eastern Asia and the maintenance of the independence and integrity of China, as well as the principle of equal opportunities for commerce and industry for all nations in that country, and the maintenance and defence respectively of territorial rights and special interests of contracting parties in Eastern Asia. There- fore, inasmuch as we were asked hy our Ally for assistance at a time when commerce in Eastern Asia, which Japan and Great Britain regard alike as one of their special interests, is subjected to a constant menace, Japan, who regards that Alliance as a guiding principle of her foreign policy, could not but comply to the request to do her part. ' Germany's possession of a base for powerful activi- ties in one corner of the Far East was not only a serious obstacle to the maintenance of permanent peace, but also threatened the immediate interests of the Japanese Empire. The Japanese Government, therefore, resolved to comply ivith the British request, and, if necessary, to open hostilities against Germany. After the Imperial sanc- tion had been obtained I communicated this resolution to the British Government, and a full and frank ex- INTRODUCTORY SURVEY xvii change of views between the two Governments followed, and it was finally agreed between them to take such measures as were necessary to protect the general interests contemplated in the agreement and the Alli- ance. * Japan had no desire or inclination to become in- volved in the present conflict, but she believed she owed it to herself to be faithful to the Alliance and to strengthen its foundation by ensuring permanent peace in the East and protecting the special interests of the two Allied Powers. Desiring, however, to solve the situation by pacific means the Imperial Govern- ment, on August 15, gave the following advice to the German Government. [Here the Minister quoted the text of the Japanese ultimatum.] Until the last moment of the time allowed— namely, until August 28 — the Imperial Government received no answer, and in con- sequence the Imperial rescript declaring war was issued the next day.' This statement was not only unobjectionable : it was distinctly useful. The chief objection of nervous minds in Britain to the admission of Japan to a fighting place beside European forces was the effect which it might have had upon American opinion. The United States, as well as Canada — and, of course, Australia — had been much troubled by the problem of Japanese immigration. It is undoubtedly a difficult question still, and those who for any reason are opposed to such immigration find their best argument in embittering the sentiments of white men against the 'yellow races'. It is the Kaiser's ' Yellow Peril ' scare on a social and economic plane. If, therefore, it had appeared that Japan had rushed into this war, ' of her own accord ', so to speak, it would have been difficult to persuade the United States or Canada or Australia that the aggrandisement of Japan at the expense of the white races was not her object. But the United States — and, of course, Canada b xviii INTRODUCTORY SURVEY and Australia— have some confidence in the honesty of the British Government ; and, therefore, the inter- vention of Japan seemed far less objectionable when Baron Kato was able to state — as, indeed, he em- phatically stated three times in the passages which are italicized in the declaration quoted above — that the British Government expressly aslxed Japan to intervene. Of course, Baron Kato would not have laid such repeated emphasis on the fact that the request for assistance was made by the British Government if he had not been aware that the latter was agreeable to such dis- closure of confidential correspondence. The whole incident, therefore, may be accepted as reflecting great credit upon the straightforwardness and the states- manship of both parties concerned. Thus it was that Japan entered, by special invitation, into the comity of the World-Powers; and, in deliberately taking her place by the side of Britain as a belligerent, she was wise, because she was acting in accordance with the true instincts of her people arising from the national character. Whatever there may be of greatness in the future of a nation, it can only be achieved by the continuous development of the national instincts, and the psych- ology of Japan thus becomes at this time a most interesting political problem. The innate character of a nation — for, of course, nations, like individuals, have characters of their own — is always most clearly shown in its old folk-sayings ; because the proverbs of a country are, equally with its birds and beasts, the natural results of evolution, which is always governed by adaptation to local envi- ronment. Thus an interesting contrast has been drawn between the old sayings of Japan and those of China : INTRODUCTORY SURVEY xix for while the hitter are marked sometimes Ijy lofty philosophy, their usual characteristic is a hard practi- cality tinged with cynicism and broad jesting. Of the old sayings of Japan, on the other hand, it has been well said that they bring to us whiffs of flower-laden breezes with glimpses of tenderness and pathos. And from these old sayings of Japan we niciy select a few which perfectly illustrate and explain the part which Japan played in the great world-war. For we must remember that the Island Kingdom did not embark in the war from any temporary motives of aggrandisement. When the war came it found Japan in a state of absolute preparedness for the contin- gencies which it presented to her ; not because Japanese statesmen had any prescience of the stormy course of events in Europe, but because they had realized from the first the responsibility which the British alliance entailed and had thoroughly studied the scope of the action which it might demand from them, and had loyally prepared to take such action if and when it might become necessary. Patience, per- severance, and loyalty are the characteristics of the foreign policy of Japan ; and the student of literature might accurately have deduced this fact from the country's proverbs. ' Who is the great man ? He who is strongest in the exercise of patience.' ' Practise the art of giving up.' ' All else will change, but the heart of the nation will not change.' ' He who relies on his own strength shall not con- quer.' In these four old sayings we have a complete summary of the secret of Japan's strength and Germany's weakness in the Far East. Although XX INTRODUCTORY SURVEY written many centuries ago, they definitely stated the result of the struggle for Tsing-Tau. Japan had practised the art of giving up when she surrendered the spoils of war to superior force ; but she was strong in the exercise of patience, and the heart of the nation did not change. It was Germany who relied on her own strength, and therefore did not conquer. And there are many other old sayings of Japan which express the whole spirit of civilization, although they may date from a time when civilization was almost unknown in the West. 'A gentleman never competes in anything that he does, save perhaps archery.' By substituting for ' archery ' any of the various manly sports which have in different ages roused the ambitions of the best in Britain, could we ask for a better sporting definition of the British ' gentleman " than tliis old proverb of Japan provides us with ? Here, again, is a saying which sums up all that civilization has taught us : ' Among really educated men there is no caste or race distinction.' The number of wise old saws could be indefinitely multii^lied, but these few suffice to show that the national instinct of Japan in all circumstances can best be summed up in the single little-used English word ' correctitude '. Especially where the interests of their country and the service of their Emperor are con- cerned the Japanese sailor, soldier, and civilian seem by natural instinct to desire to do only that which may be worthy of the traditions of their country. Thinkers in Japan, as in other countries, saw clearly that the war, and especially Japan's successful share so far therein, had raised new world-issues for her and the Far East. With her increased power and raised prestige came new responsibilities, embarrassments, INTRODUCTORY SURVEY xxi and jealousies. China had not failed to protest against almost every action of the Japanese. American sus- picions were only partially allayed by the fact that JajDan was acting solely as Britain's ally. So, although the characteristic correctitude of the attitude of Japan gave to jealousy neither in East or West any tangible ground for complaint, there was no doubt a temptation for Japanese statesmen to look far beyond the present and, having performed their duty to their allies, to consider only their duty to Japan — how best to protect her interests in the future against the recrudescence of anti-Japanese feeling in the United States and the British Empire when the Great War itself should pass into ancient history. Assuredly we cannot blame the Far East for regarding world-issues from the Far Eastern point of view, and for not wanting the West to always dominate the outlook. The most effective way of guarding against such jealousy after the war would be by strengthening Japan's position so much that it might safely be ignored : and here again the trend of events brought temptations before Japan. After a war between two nations there is always a strong tendency towards friendship between them, if the victors have treated the vanquished with magnanimity. No such tendency was possible between France and Germany after 1871, because the peace which Germany thrust down the throat of France with the bayonet had been even more cruel than war. But after the war between Russia and Japan, every Russian knew that his country had been most considerately treated in the terms of peace ; and ever since then there has been a tendency towards rapprocJiement between Russia and Japan. In this war they found themselves fighting on the same side and rejoicing in each other's victories. They found, too, xxii INTRODUCTORY SURVEY that their interests in Asia were largely identical, and — pei'haps the most potent factor of all — that the dangers which menaced them were the same. No wonder, then, that the newspapers of all the world were busy, immediately after the fall of Tsing-Tau, in announcing the terms — often palpably absurd terms — of imaginary alliances between Russia and Japan. Such an alliance might, however, become desirable or even necessary to both Powers in the future ; and the fact that they have a common meeting-ground of political and commercial interests in the vast Empire of China which lies between them introduces vast possibilities into the outlook. Interests extending almost across the unbroken width of continents from the Baltic to the Yellow Sea must constitute a dominant factor in the future of the world. And here it will be wise for Britons to be perfectly frank with themselves in considering the effect which the Great War may be presumed to have upon the Japanese estimate of Great Britain as a World-Power. Her unreadiness for war must have contrasted sharply with Germany's businesslike preparedness : and the creaking and groaning of the British political and social fabric when the Government set about the task of organization, after the war had already lasted a year, must have heightened the contrast. Even if Japan appreciates to the full the work done by the British Navy in the great struggle, what guarantee is there that the advent of the submarine may not shortly revolutionize the very basis of sea-power? Lastly, although Japan honestly fulfilled her Treaty obliga- tions as regards Kiaochau, the British Empire includes dominions which have been intensely hostile to Japanese intercourse in the past and is also closely connected by many ties with the United States, which INTRODUCTORY SURVEY xxiii Japan not unnaturally regards as the chief opponent to her expansion. Because, therefore, Japanese land and sea forces bore the chief brunt of reducing the German stronghold in the Far East, it would be folly for Britons to suppose that Japan must always be their ally. As a great World-Power Japan has world- interests : but they are not necessarily Great Britain's unless she makes them so. Meanwhile Japan will not be idle. The Great War has taught the world the value of two things, preparedness and alliance based upon common interest. Germany possessed the former and the Allies the latter : hence the grimness of the prolonged struggle. Victory in the next — if there be a next — great war would quickly declare itself on the side which had both these advantages. When there- fore we hear rumours of Japanese alliances and reports of great naval and military additions to the strength of the Island Kingdom we must remember that the modern greatness of Japan rests upon her readiness in the past to take her lessons from the West. And what must of necessity be the ultimate aim and object alike of Japan's negotiations for alliances and of her preparations for defence? Undoubtedly it is absolutely necessary for her to obtain a large outlet for commercial expansion somewhere. The frankness with which British statecraft may recognize this necessity, and the generosity of spirit in which the need may be met, will be the measure of Japan's friendship for the British Empire in the future. And there is every reason why frank generosity on one side and sincere friendship on the other should be the dominating chord of Anglo- Japanese relations in the future. The characters of the two nations are very similar and their vital interests in the East are identical. Inter- xxiv INTRODUCTORY SURVEY national tangles may seem to pull them different ways at times : but the justice and freedom for which Britain stands and the ' faithfulness and righteousness ' which Japan both proclaims and practises are ideals which must stand or fall together. The average British critic, unenlightened by travel and looking only upon the surface of things, may fail to see the similarity of character which draws together the two naval peoples of the West and East, for on the surface no doubt Japan in social practice, literature, and art may seem as far in thought as in geography from Britain. The insular Briton likes to regard him- self as a plain straightforward John Bull, while the Japanese character seems to him as full of unexpected turns and zigzags as Japan's marvellous art. But the insular Briton fails to notice that his own character has many kinks and gnarled angles which are unin- telligible to all foreigners. These are evidence no doubt, like the crooked stubborn growth of his national oak-tree, of innate strength that has weathered many storms : and it is worth his con- sideration whether the ' zigzags ' conspicuous alike in the art, the history, and the very trees of Japan may not similarly be symbolic of innate strength which achieves the highest ideals in spite of the greatest difficulties. Japan has long ago won British admira- tion. At Kiaochau she won British gratitude. Is it not time that she was given British friendship — with both hands ? CHAPTER I THE PKOGRESS OF JAPAN Japan has become mistress in her own household. Japan The year 1911 commemorates her full recognition by "^^jg^j-ggj, the other powers and her final entrance into the "^ ^^^^' . . . own comity of nations. She has assumed the privileges, house- connnercial as well as judicial, of an autonomous and ^° ' ' self-controlling Power. The last of the old treaties binding her to irksome and humiliating policies has expired. The new treaties with foreign countries leave Japan free to deal as her statesmen may deem wise with the fiscal policy of the Empire, and to con- cede to the Imperial courts the right to treat with the stranger within her gates. The object of this volume is to give a detailed account The key- of the recent economic progress of the Japanese Empire J^J^^'l and a brief summary of the events which led to the pvogresa. renunciation of the old policy of seclusion. The key- note of the new j^olicy is found in the two famous utterances of the Emperor when he assumed control of the Government, that knowledge would be sought for throughout the world, so that the ' welfare of the Empire may be promoted ', and that the ' counsel of able men should be widely utilized '. These promises have been faithfully kept. The new policy has made of the Japanese a widely different people to those whom Commodore Perry left, on his first visit, inves- tigating the mysteries of the telegraph and pondering over the models of a locomotive. The story conveyed by these pages will^ it is t POSTER A 2 THE PKOGRESS OF JAPAN Two believed, dispel two popular illusions, namely, that the fuusion^s Japanese are by temperament averse to foreigners, and that they are a mere nation of imitators. It was only when he threatened their religion that the foreigner was ejected. The modern codes of Japan are more liberal in their treatment of foreigners than the laws of many European nations. As a race the Japanese are broad-minded and receptive. From China they took their religion, their art, their printing, some of their crafts, and much besides. In modern times they have learned from England, from Germany, from France, and from the United States, how to modernize their laws, to organize a navy and an army, to improve their cities, and to establish and develop industries. In this they have not been mere imitatore but have adapted to their needs, and have developed ac- cording to their own ideas, what they learned from others. Tiie Japan absorbs, she does not copy. After the iiot mere Restoration she set herself to enfold the whole new copyists, world of Western thought and activity. More than a thousand years before she had absorbed with the same thoroughness of receptivity the civilization, the religion, and the art of China. How thoroughly the creative arts of painting and sculpture were assimilated has only lately become known to European art con- noisseurs, and, we might add, to the modern Japanese himself. Capable critics declare that painting in Japan has had a continuous and splendid existence for twelve centuries, and that no European nation can show anything like its parallel. With such a capacity for assimilating that which is fundamental and developing their own ideas in the creative arts, it is not a matter of surprise to find the Japanese display- ing the same qualities in the industrial arts. Mere THE PROGRESS OF JAPAN 3 copyists and imitators could never have handled the tremendous implements of modern warfare with the absolute mastery and precision disj)layed by the Japanese in the war with Russia. The successful organization and operation of modern fleets and armies are not less difficult achievements than the establish- ment and capable conduct of great industries. In modern shipbuilding, the manufacture of electrical and other machinery, the equipment and direction of large textile factories, the Japanese have done very well. In the building of railways, in Manchuria and in Chosen, where the work was not hampered by the. existence of antiquated lines, as it is in parts of Japan proper, aptitude and dispatch have been developed. These undertakings and many others have been carried through by the Japanese themselves in their own way. They have accepted the new without wholly abandoning the old when it might still be useful, and have shown their wisdom by making the best of both the Eastern and the Western worlds. What Japan has set out to do has been to hammer and weld the civilizations of the two hemispheres, and to shape them into one harmonious whole. Given the necessary raw material of manufacture, whether iron, copper, wood, silk, cotton, wool, clay, or rubber, the Japanese will convert it by modern methods into an excellent finished article. At the present time the The supply of labour thoroughly skilled in modern ^J^Labom-. methods and in technical factory work is limited, but in another generation this difficulty must dis- appear, and the Japanese artisan will take his place, when judged by equality of workmanship and c^uick- ness of execution, with the most capable and expedi- tious of the world's workmen. Regardless of obstacles, and without waiting for the a2 4 THE PEOGRESS OF JAPAN latest appliances, Japan has forged ahead with such implements as came to hand. Her earl}^ railways and bridges and tunnels will have to be rebuilt ; many of her first factories must be entirely re-equipped, whilst her mining and other plants, having become obsolete, are already being sup2)lied with new engines and machiner3\ Things have improved since the writer visited Japan in 1896. The mills and workshops are now much better equipped and the methods are greatly The improved. In nothing does Jaj^an show her genuine Technical industrial advance more than in technical education. Educa- Beside a well balanced and carefully devised general school system, there have been established throughout the Empire technical schools for the teaching of engineering sciences, agriculture, and commerce, with a certain number of nautical and marine industrial schools. Great impetus was given to the movement for these schools after the Chinese and Russian wars. The result has been satisfactory, since they have supplied trained men in all departments of industry. Her Thorough education and training which lay at the seivices. basis of Japanese j^rogress, have not only made them- selves felt in the industry and commerce of the country but also in the navy and the army. In a generation the navy of Japan has passed from a collection of junks to an array of formidable warships manned and officered by warriors who have shaped the destinies of their country, and who have created traditions of which the most valiant kingdom of the world might well be proud. Those who doubt the mechanical genius of the Japanese have but to learn what Japan has done within a comparatively short time in naval archi- tecture. She has constructed what are known to be highly efficient fighting-ships of more than 20,000 tons, and, in addition, she has learned how to use THE PROGRESS OF JAPAN 5 them, which is even more essential than to know how to build them. The Japanese army offers to-day a striking example of what can be achieved by an island race when the able-bodied youth is taught to devote himself to the defence of his country. The Russians had to face an army of valiant conscripts, and the world knows the results. The soul of the nation was in that army, as it was in the navy, when the Russian fleet was sunk. Behind both army and navy were splendid training, superb oigani- zation, and unbounded patriotism. The army is twice as strong as it was at the close of the Russian war, and Japan will not stop until both army and navy are three times as powerful as when she defeated Russia. Japan is a poor country, it is said, and how can is Japan she stand the strain of a policy of the highest degree country of readiness ? The existing degree of efficiency, both in army and navy, has only been attained by a tre- mendous sacrifice, and this sacrifice the people are willing to make, though it must be admitted that those who have to bear the burden occasionally groan under its weight. But is Japan such a poor country? Judged by the standards by which we judge other countries Japan can point to a satisfactory advance in all that goes to make a progressive and prosperous modern nation. Nothing has remained stationary. Her domain now extends from Taiwan in the south Her to Karafuto in the north, and to Chosen on the con- iimViDopu- tinent of Asia. There are, as we shall show in this ^^t^io"- volume, many things in these vast areas, to be exploited and developed. The extent of her territory and her population have greatly increased, and with Chosen and Taiwan the total area of the Empire is nearly 260,000 square miles, and the population 70,000,000. The growth of her population has been steady and 6 THE PROGEESS OF JAPAN satisfactory, and the people appear to be busy and fairly prosperous. Wages have increased, partly in consequence of the fluctuation of the currency, but after making due allowance for this, there has been an actual increment in wages during the period when the currency has remained unchanged. Employment in the modern industries, from the profits of which Japan expects to pay the expenses of its two fighting services, has increased, and the number so occupied has doubled within the last fifteen years, while the quantity of the product manufactured is twice what it was fifteen years ago. Finance The finance and currency of the country are on currency, a strong foundation, and the credit of the nation stands high. Nothing has been more amazing in the progress of the Empire than the conversion of its finances and currency from the hopelessly chaotic state into which they had fallen soon after the Restoration to the soundest possible basis on which they stand to- day. The debt is large and the taxation heavy. The latter is partly due to the desire on the part of the late Government to wipe out the debt by pay- ment, and to reduce the interest account by the con- version of the high interest bearing bonds into those bearing a reduced rate. The wisdom of a too rapid reduction of the debt may be questioned, and probably will be at the general election next year. The new Government will, it is believed, endeavour to lighten taxation. It is, howevei", better to err in paying debt too rapidly than to evince indifference as to whether the debt is paid or not. The wisdom of the policy of conversion is self-evident, but without sound credit it would not have been jiossible. National The War forced a debt of 110 million sterling upon Japan. The proceeds of these loans were lost in THE PROGRESS OF JAPAN 7 carrying on the war, though the loss can be offset by the territory acquired and new spheres for industrial and commercial activities opened. The larger half of the total debt (of 260 million sterling) represents the purchase of productive undertakings, such as the Imperial Railway System with its allied industries, the establishment of important public works, the exploitation of Chosen and Taiwan together with other productive enterprises some of which earn sufficient to pay the interest and provide a sinking fund for the ultimate extinction of the loan. It is not probable that all these undertakings will prove profit- able, but owing to the honesty and economy which pervades the administration of public affairs in Japan, some of them are already quite remunerative and others have a fair prospect of paying their way. Banking has been greatly strengthened in Japan, a sound The Bank of Japan which may be said to represent 'j*»^i"g . . . . system. the Government finance has the privilege of issuing currency which is on a gold basis. A former president of this institution, Mr. Yamamoto, is now Minister of Finance, indicating that the new Government will be strong in the department of Finance. The Yokohama Specie Bank, with its numerous connexions, has for its special object the facilitation of Japanese foreign commerce. The branches of the bank have followed the trade as persistently as the trade has followed the flag into Taiwan, Chosen, and along the South Man- churia n Railway. The president of the Bank is Baron Takahashi, one of the able financiers of the Empire. In travelling through the Far East the writer had the pleasure of meeting at least half a score of the managers of the branch banks. Without exception they were men of education as well as of financial acumen, and uniformly obliging to foreigners. The 8 THE PROGRESS OF JAPAN Yokohama Specie Bank has become the financial backbone of Japanese trade in the Far East — and elsewhere, the world round, for that matter. The improvement and development of agriculture and manu- facture is undertaken by the Hypothec Bank which has recently doubled its capital and performs a useful function at home. The latest in the field is the Industrial Bank of Japan whose special sphere is to grant loans against bonds and shares and whose managers figure largely as negotiators or guarantors of Japanese foreign loans, national, municipal, and for private companies and undertakings. Whilst these banks have been invaluable in furnishing a sound currency, in assisting Japanese trade, in sup- l^lying capital for home industries and in floating foreign loans, they have also kept a firm and con- servative hand on Japanese finance. Their influence acting jointly was strong enough to stop the specu- lation which impaired the credit of the country soon after the Russian War. Impor- Agriculture is the foundation of the prosperity of Acrriciii- Ji^pan, and 60 per cent, of her population find em- ture. ployment in the cultivation of the soil. Unlike some manufacturing countries, Japan has not up to the present neglected her agriculture in order to stimulate other industries, and the future of agriculture would seem to be assured for many years. From the agricul- tural districts the best soldiers came during the Russian war, and since the war the farmers have been paying between eight and nine million sterling annually in taxes, a sum which is now haj^pily to be reduced. The products of the farm, including rice, the staple crop, show a satisfactory increase, whether measured by quantity or value, during the last fifteen years. The average value of the farm products for the last five THE PROGRESS OF JAPAN 9 years has been nearly 130 million, with an additional 25 million sterling for the farmer's home industries. Forests have, under careful management, increased their output 60 per cent., and the j^roducts are valued at 10 million sterling. Marine produce repre- sents another 10 million, and the value of minerals extracted 11 J million sterling. If these resources had remained stationary there might be reason for anxiety, but under improved methods of cultivation and mining there has been a healthy progress in all the basic industries. Manufacturing industries and the trade and com- Deveiop- merce of the Empire also show progress. The number "n^iu^gt^j^^ of mills, factories, and plants, together with the capital antitrade. invested in industrial enterprises, have doubled in the l^eriod under discussion. Japan is hoping to reach the 100 million sterling mark in her total foreign trade for 1911, and if she does she will score a threefold increase over her total trade of 1896 and a twenty fold increase within a generation. An analysis of the figures indicates a healthy development of trade in the Far East, Japan's strongest market, and where her natural commercial future may be found. Under the stimulus of liberal bounties the merchant marine has shown great progress, ranking sixth in the world's tonnage. To what extent the new tariff, which has just come into force, will modify either by stimulating or depressing the agriculture, the industry, or the trade of Japan cannot be predicted. Municii;)al progress in Japan has been satisfactory, Muni- and the governments of cities have been efficiently p/otress. and honestly administered. Old cities have taken new life and new cities have come into existence. Public works of great magnitude, such as waterworks, sewerage systems, harbours, opening of new streets, 10 THE PKOGRESS OF JAPAN the laying out of parks, and the erection of public buildings have been successfully inaugurated. Educa- tion, sanitation, surgical and medical treatment for the poorer classes, trade, industry, and commerce have not been neglected. Whilst the National Govern- ment has watched over and supervised these local enterprises it has not interfered to any undue extent. Local civic spirit is strong in many Japanese cities, and in this respect they compare favourably with the cities of Great Britain and of the United States. National- Japan lias done very well with her railways since lailwaYs ^^^^^ have been nationalized. The spirit of co-opera- tion between the management and the employees is most commendable and has resulted in great economies (see chapter on Railways). The total earnings have more than quadrupled since 1896, which, of course, implies a largely increased mileage and traffic. The profits will be utilized to extend and improve the systems, and the financial plan described elsewhere proposes to do this out of the earnings, and not to seek either State aid or credit. The undertaking is a far- reaching one and is full of difficulties. Closely allied to the i-ailways are the other public works and services including the rebuilding and oj^eration of the South Manchurian i-ailway. Posts, telegraphs, telephones, bridges, road building, and improvements of rivers and harbours have been economically managed by the Government. Custly The pi'izes of victory may have come to Japan quickly, but it has needed and still needs the ex- penditure of both blood and money to retain and develop them. The railways in Manchuria which were relinquished by Russia had to be rebuilt at a cost of millions ; the civilization of Formosa, the trophy of the Japan-China War, is not yet accomplished ; THE PROGRESS OF JAPAN 11 the reformation of Chosen now that China and Russia have been permanently ejected and it has been an- nexed involves changes of a radical nature ; the de- velopment of Saghalien presents yet another problem for Japanese administration. The economic progress of Chosen and Taiwan under Chosen Japanese government forms one of the most fascinating Taiwan. stories in modern history, and will rank among the greatest achievements of the rulers of the Empire. Japan has given the benefit of her civilization as lavishly to these two countries as has Great Britain in the case of Egypt and as the United States has done in the case of the Philippines. The story of the success she has thus far achieved, and of the obstacles which she has so skilfully overcome in dealing with the Korean and Formosan peoples, is a page in Japanese history of which every Japanese and every true friend of Japan may justly feel proud. The detractors of Japan may urge that she has been at times unnecessarily harsh, and that the governments set up have been essentially military and arbitrary. The measures, however, when impartially examined, do not indicate this ; they point to the con- clusion that only when all other methods have failed has Japan resorted to force, and then only in cases where it was necessary to prevent bloodshed and anarchy. The triinnphs of diplomacy in securing the peace of Foixi-,Mi the Far East have been as comi)lete and decisive as the p ' triumphs of war at Tsushima and Mukden. The last of the remaining differences between Russia and Japan has been settled, and the two Powers now mutually under- stand each other. The friendship of the two Nations has been cemented by the gracious act on the part of the Emperor of Japan in ordering the Angara io be handed lussia. 12 THE PKOGRESS OF JAPAN over to the Russian Government as evidence of ' the un- alterable friendship which His Majesty feels for Russia', and the Russian Emperor has recognized in this step ' a fresh proof and a most potent pledge ' of the reciprocal friendship which unites them. With China important issues have been successfully adjusted, and the friends China. of China admit that her relations with Japan are improving. There are no serious questions left, though there are always numerous small ones which require patience and conciliation to adjust. The Japanese Convention with Russia of July 4, 1910, which engaged to maintain the status quo in Manchuria, and to ' lend to each other their friendly co-operation ' in the operation of their respective railway lines in that territory, met with the approval of the Chinese Government. To the new Anglo-Japanese Agree- ment China has ' not the slightest objection ' so long as the expression ' China and the Chinese Empire ' is held to include Manchuria. On this point the Marquis Komura, before he relinquished the portfolio of foreign Japan's afPairs, gave a definite assurance. The policy of Japan in Man- ^^^ Mancliuria, he said, was directed towards the main- churia. tenance of the open door and equal opportunities. The Imperial Government had always followed and would invariably loyally adhere to this policy, in accordance with which Japan has decided to oj^en Port Arthur in order to contril)ute to the development of Manchuria and to facilitate the commerce of all nations. He con- fidently hoped that this 'immutable policy woidd re- ceive the recognition of the Powers '. That statement would seem to be clear and final, and, so long as this j^olicy is adhered to, other Powers, including the United States, can have no cause of complaint. An account of the present condition of Manchuria will be found in subsequent chapters. THE PROGRESS OF JAPAN 18 Tins brings us to the relations of Japan with her Japan ' oldest friend ', the United States. They have been tTnitecf materially improved by the renewed Treaty of Alliance States. with Great Britain. Those who have been haunted by the fear that the treaty in its old form might some day entangle Great Britain in a contest with the United States will, perhaps, l)e relieved to know that the Japanese themselves not only helped to include the new clause, providing that should either party make a Treaty of General Arbitration with a third Power, such party shall not be l)ound by the Treaty of Alliance to go to war with such third Power, but that they desire to effect an Arbitration Treaty with the United States. The friends of Japan in America, and she has many there, are equally desirous to contribute to the 'general stability and repose' of the nations. At a dinner given at the White House in Admiral Togo's honour, President Taft extended to the Admiral an invitation to Japan to join the United States, Great Britain, and France in the world movement for Inter- national Peace. The President said : — ' I gladly acknowledge the important part Japan has played in facilitating the Anglo-American and Franco-American Arbitration Treaties by her prompt and unreserved recognition in the recent Anglo- Japanese Agreement of the great moral principle of arbitration. I entertain the hope that the time is not far distant when Japan will see fit to join the move- ment now so ausj^iciously inaugurated.' The above sentiment has met with a quick response in Japan, whose statesmen are anxious to see the bonds which unite the two great EngUsh-speaking nations strengthened, so that in the future political movements of the Far East Great Britain, the United States, and Japan will stand firmly together. 14 THE PROGRESS OF JAPAN Expres- The first of the new Japanese commercial treaties fr?end- to be signed last May was the one with the United ^^^1*- States. The event was celebrated by a banquet, both in New York and Tokyo. To the former, President Taft sent a letter saying that the recently negotiated treaty between the United States and Japan showed that ' our friendship is so strong that we can well regard with complacency even mischievous and malicious rumours ', which, the President added, utterly lacked foundation. Baron Uchida, then Japanese Ambassador to the United States and now Minister of Foreign Affairs, said upon that occasion that Japan would never again go to war unless forced to do so. Japan's ambition was not to see the Japanese flag dominate the Pacific, but ' to see the ocean hung with the mingled splendours of the Stars and Stripes and the Sun-flag of Japan '. The Tokyo celebration, under the auspices of America's Friends Association, was equally enthu- siastic in the expression of peace and friendship by the distinguished Japanese and American speakers who were present. President Viscount Kaneko made a brilliant speech, which outdistanced Baron Uchida's in the warmth of its expression, and concluded : — ' The true grandeur of nations is not only in the glory of war, but in the enjoyment of peace I Let the Stars and Stripes act as guardian of the Pacific at night, and the Rising Sun watch its peace by day. Day and night, hand in hand, let America and Japan perform in harmony their magnanimous duty.' Whilst to the Americans and Commodore Perry is due the credit of opening Japan to the trade and Great Commerce of the world, Great Britain led the way '^^ '^'"' in the revision of the treaties. She was the first country to surrender what the Japanese regarded THE PROGRESS OF JAPAN 15 as the odious extra-territorial privileges, and by con- cluding an alliance upon terms of absolute equality, she took the first step towards the full recognition of Japan as a first-class Power, thereby giving her the complete control of her own household which she now enjoys. The revision of the tariff and of fourteen com- The now mercial treaties will make the present a memorable '^" ' year in the foreign trade of Japan. The new tariff has come into effect and many of the treaties have been ratified and they will probably all be in opera- tion before the close of the year. The treaty with New com- the United States was the first one concluded and the treaties. Senate of the United States, usually very dilatory in such matters, confirmed it within two days of its submission, a friendly act which was appreciated in Japan. The Agreements with Great Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, and Sweden have practically been concluded, and it is believed that the end of the year will find the commercial relations of Japan with the other powers of the world in a highly satisfactory condition. The promulgation of these new treaties means the complete recovery of her tariff autonomy. The amended treaties are reciprocal and the revised tariff, it is hoped, will create a strong foundation for the development of domestic industries. As this volume goes to press a new Cabinet has The new been formed at Tokyo with the Marquis Saionji as Prime Minister. Party lines are not very tightly drawn in Japan. The aim of both parties so far has been to promote the general welfare of the country. The foreign policy of the new Cabinet will probably not differ greatly fromx that of the Government which has just concluded a long term of office, that will be remembered in the political history of Japan for its 16 THE PEOGKESS OF JAPAN many brilliant achievements. The Marquis Komm^a has greatly enhanced the diplomatic reputation of Japan, and his successor, Baron Uchida, who resigns the Washington Embassy to become Minister for Foreign Affairs, has distinguished himself in the diplomatic sei'vice of his country. In the first Saionji Cabinet, Baron Uchida occupied the post of Vice-Minister for Foreign Affau-s, which has been for some time filled with so much tact and ability by Mr. (now Baron) Ishii. Prince Katsura's resignation was voluntary, and, as subsequent chapters in this volume will disclose, he has completed the tasks contemplated when he entered office, and he relinquishes the Government to his successors in a sound and fairly prosperous condition. To judge from the public services of the statesmen who are to take the work up where their predecessors laid it down, they will prove themselves eminently able to deal with any new problems that may arise. Causes The great strides which Japan has made in constitu- lying' tional government and in her economic progress are economic (jue, first, to her liberal-minded Emperor and elder progress. T 1 • I o • statesmen who laid the foundation ; and second, to her new generation of statesmen who have made the national welfare their first concern, relegating party politics to the rear, at least for the present. To give a list of these statesmen we should have to include the names of the leaders of the existing, as well as those of the late Government. So long as these facts remain substantially true Japan wilL continue to be a well-governed country. The above is a brief review of the economic con- ditions which prevail in Japan to-day. How she appeared to the Western world a generation ago forms the opening subject of the next chapter. CHAPTER II EARLY HISTORY When Gilbert and Sullivan produced The Mikado less than thirty years ago few of the thousands who took from it their impressions of Japan paused to wonder if the picture there presented was as exact as it was amusing. To the vast majority Japan was a conical mountain in an islet-dotted sea, a fairyland forlorn, devastated by tidal waves and convulsed by earthquakes ; they knew that the men wore two swords and carried a fan and that the ladies were remarkable for faces of an elongated oval which it was a sign of culture to admire ; among the flora they could have named the chrysanthemum and the cherry- tree, but they would have been sorely puzzled to mention any of the fauna ; dragons, of course, and there the list would have ended. One thing is certain ; although The Mikado and the Herat question attracted public attention at about the same time, to none of those who discussed the opera did it occur that Japan, confronted with the same difficulty as threatened Great Britain, was to emerge from it unassisted and triumphant; that Japan, so dainty and so quaint, was to overcome in fair fight the empire which had broken the power of Napoleon, which had shown itself almost invulnerable in the Crimea, and which was regarded by Great Britain as a standing menace to her Indian dominions. Those who remembered what befell the legions of Varus, and the discomfiture before Jerusalem of ' the great King 18 EARLY HISTORY the King of Assyria', would have recognized that physical obstacles might prove insurmountable to in- vaders, however numerous and however well equipped, but they would have thought it more fitting that the Japanese should have owed deliverance from Russia to divine interposition than to human foresight ; to the Western mind there would have been nothing in- congruous in a legend of Buddha turning defeat into victory by appearing to his worshippers on a battle elephant and hewing his way through their foes with a mace, but it would have seemed incredible that the * languid Asiatic ' should achieve the same result, not under the influence of some intoxicating illusion but by the intelligent use of modern weapons. As a matter of fact the defeat of the Russians by the Japanese was none the less a miracle in that the preparations for it took fifty years. The conception of Japan credited above to the average Englishman is hardly a travesty of the state of things existing in 1853 : at that time the country was as helpless before a handful of Americans as were the Incas when Pizarro assailed them with two hundred men. How But Japan was accorded a breathing space denied wcm her ^'^ Roru, and it is the object of this volume to describe freedom, how she used it. Lovers of chivalry and high adven- ture may turn from a book on The Economic Progress of Japan, to read of Togo's long vigil outside Port Arthur and of Oyama's dauntless infantry, but the deeds that fire their imagination were rendered possible only by the grim tenacity which held the nation to the long, narrow and difficult road to safety. Regarded in this light tables of figures become unified by a single purpose, and every trivial commercial improvement appears a step towards freedom. In the middle of the last century it broke in upon EARLY HISTORY 19 the patriots of Japan that to the independence of their country a term was set : sooner or later it would suit some foreign power to subjugate her, and for all their long and heroic traditions what resistance could be made by her men in armour ? Then and there it was decided to renounce the old policy of seclusion and to meet the coming foe with weapons of his own forging. The problem before the Japanese was to assimilate the commercialism, the methods and the enterprise of the West without weakening the courage, the loyalty and the self-restraint which were the heritage of the race ; in the Russian war the problem was solved ; at that period the currents of two widely different civilizations united to make the Japanese irresistible ; how that union was brought about will be told in the short historical sketch which follows. The name Japan is said to be derived from the ' Zipangu ' of Marco Polo ; it is applied to the line of islands that fringe the Eastern coast of Asia between the thirteenth parallel of North Latitude and the forty-fifth. Nothing definite can be affirmed of the racial origin of the Japanese people nor of the migra- tions which brought them to their present home. Anthropologists incline to hold that among the first Racial inhabitants of Japan were the Ainu, a race with ^^'^s^"- features rather European than Mongolian, still found in small numbers in the north. Possibly the Ainu entered Japan from Nor th-E astern Asia at some period when the islands were less definitely separated from the mainland than is the case at present ; they are a dirty, drunken, backward people, unlikely to exercise further influence on the development of the Jaj^anese. The books of to-day lay such stress on the devotion of the Japanese to pure Science that it is advisable to exhibit some other aspects of the national character. b2 20 EARLY HISTORY The following passage taken from Miss Bird's Tin- beaten Tracks in Japan throws light on the religious beliefs of the Ainu : — ' The peculiarity which distinguishes this rude mythology is the " worship " of the bear, the Yezo bear being one of the finest of his species ; but it is im- possible to understand the feelings by which it is prompted, for they worship it after their fashion, and set up its head in their villages, yet they trap it, kill it, eat it and sell its skin. There is no doubt that this wild beast inspires more of the feeling which prompts worship than the inanimate forces of nature, and the Ainos may be distinguished as bear-worshippers, and their greatest religious festival or Saturnalia is the Festival of the Bear. Gentle and peaceable as they are, they have a great admiration for fierceness and courage ; and the bear, which is the strongest, fiercest, and most courageous animal known to them, has probably in all ages inspired them with veneration. Some of their rude chants are in praise of the bear, and their highest eulogy on a man is to compare him to a bear.' Miss Bird — writing in 1878— goes on to say that Ainu villages often possess a bear cub which has been suckled by one of the women. The animal was treated as a pet until a feast day when he was done to death in cruel fashion by his playmates. It was the object of each villager to inflict a wound on the bear, which was regarded much as the human being whom the Khonds of India used to offer up as a ' Meriah ' sacrifice to the earth goddess, until the British Government inter- vened. Two other quotations may be cited in illustration of the fierce customs of the nation in early times : — * It is said that when the Emperor's younger brother died (2 b.c.) they buried along with him his living EARLY HISTORY 21 retainers, placing them upright in a circle round him and leaving their heads uncovered.' ' Nomi-no-Sukane suggested that instead of burying the living retainers with their master clay-images be set up in a circle round the 1)urying-place.' The proposal of Nomi-no-Sukane and its acceptance are worth recording for they are typical of the some- what casuistical mental attitude which has enabled the Japanese to acquiesce in the most radical altera- tions of their institutions without admitting that the institutions themselves should be abolished. To this accommodating spirit Buddhism owed its rapid ad- vance, and it is again and again to be observed in the treatment accorded to occupants of the throne. The latter were often deprived of power, they were seldom denied homage. * And you must understand that the deeds ascribed to these Idols are such a parcel of devilries as it is best not to tell. So let us have done with the Idols and speak of other things. ' And I must tell you one thing still concerning that Island (and 'tis the same with the other Indian Islands), that if the natives take a prisoner who cannot pay a ransom, he who holds the prisoner summons all his friends and relations and they put the prisoner to death and then they cook him and eat him, and they say there is no meat in the world so good.' (Marco Polo, on Japan.) Subsequent to the arrival in Japan of the Ainu came the Mongols, apparently in two distinct invasions separated by a consideral^le interval of time ; at least so much is inferred from the higher degree of civiliza- tion attained by the second flood of immigrants. A parallel may be found in the case of England, which 22 EARLY HISTORY was subjected to Latin influence first of all in the time of Julius Caesar, and secondly at the Norman Conquest. But the Mongols were not left in undisputed posses- sion of their new territory ; they in their turn were driven northwards by incursions of Malays from the Philippines. Exactly how the latter established themselves in Japan, without dislodging the Mongols from the supremacy to which they were intellectually entitled, must be left to conjecture, for the three races had fused into a united nation some time before tradition can be accepted as history. It could not be expected, however, that the Japanese themselves would be content to leave their birth in such humble obscurity — to face the nations of un- impeachable pedigree as mere foundlings. To quote Captain Brinkley — to whose works the student of Japanese history must refer continually : — ' That the Japanese migrated from the adjacent con- tinent is not doubtful, but from what part of it there are no conclusive evidences. Their own perception of the fact that an imperial people should have a recog- nized origin seems to have been inspired by the perusal of Chinese history. China taught them the art of read- ing and supplied them with their first literature — the only foreign literature they possessed during fourteen centuries. Therefore, since they were without any tradi- tions as to their own provenance, and since Chinese annals showed them the need of such traditions, they naturally went to these annals for aid in their perplexity, and finding recorded therein a faith that islands inhabited by immortals lay somewhere in the eastern ocean and had been earnestly sought for by ancient sovereigns and philosophers of the Middle Kingdom, they seemed to have identified their country with these islands, ascribed to their primeval ancestors a divine origin, and called Japan " sacred ". A cluster EAKLY HISTORY 23 of picturesque myths gradually grew up to embellish this theory, and ultimately becoming the basis of the national religion — Shinto (the way of the deities) — continues to command reverence to-day, the lower orders not venturing to scrutinize them, the upper recognizing their political value.' The ancestor of the present occupant of the throne Tradi- of Japan is said to have been Jimmu Tenno ; human History. himself, he was descended from the Goddess of the Sun and that is perhaps all that need be said about him here, for it is long after 660 b.c. — the date ascribed to his accession — that the chronicles of Japan became trustworthy. Some reference must, however, be made to the Empress Jingo, for even if modern critics are right in rejecting the traditional version of her doings, the tradition affords some idea of the condition of Japan. This warrior queen crossed to the mainland with a great fleet and reduced Korea about A.D. 200. In the course of this enterprise — which was undertaken at the suggestion of a deity — she received assistance from sundry fishes, and thus the reader is prepared for the success which attended her. While we are obliged to reject the details of an invasion of the mainland of which no corrobora- tion can be found in the records of China and Korea we may accept the inference — an inference supported by other evidence— that early in the Christian era the inhabitants of Japan were so far advanced in civilization as to be able to organize a naval expe- dition and to conduct it to a successful issue. Here, as the mists of legend drift away, we may pause for a moment to examine the constitution of those Japanese battalions whose long march across the pages of history has just been crowned with such splendid success. By the year a.d. 500 the 24 EARLY HISTORY Ainu, the Mongol, and the Mahiy elements in the population had become one nation by much the same process as took place in England after the Norman Conquest. To the national characteristics it may be inferred that the Ainu contril^uted the power of resistance, the Mongol the intellectual qualities, and the Malay that handiness and adaptability which are the heritage of sailor-men. If we are to hold with Montesquieu that it is difficult to over-rate the influence upon national character of climate and physical environment, we must next glance at the conditions under which the race thus composed attained its present development. Foreign critics, who weigh the Englishman in the balance and find him wanting, ascribe the material prosperity of Great Britain — 1. To its being an island and therefore difficult to attack. 2. To its being rich in minerals, and 3. To the facilities for transportation afforded by its long sea-board. The first of these privileges is shared by Japan, which can boast of immunity from invasion in his- torical times, but the policy of seclusion long adopted by her rulers and the attitude of the nation towards commerce, have until recently prevented her from imitating England by profiting as she might have done from the other advantages mentioned. In the matter of climate Japan is free from extremes while possessing a wide range of temperature ; in the Geogra- soutli warm currents from tlie equator make the phical in- • . i i i j. • ^ • fiuences Summer oppressive at sea-level, but in so mountainous ^P^"^ a country invisjoration is easily obtainable at a slight Japanese . . character, altitude. Ill the north there are heavy snowfalls in the winter. The conditions were calculated to develop EARLY HISTORY 25 the intellectual qualities of the inhal^itants ; they were not so relaxing as to preclude the necessity for effort — as is the case in those tropical islands where fish and fruit are to l^e had for the taking — ^nor were they of such severity as to deny all reward to the enter- prising. Their very variety provided a course of instruction. A nation of agriculturists — as the Japanese were — could not but observe the effect of elevation and rainfall on their tea, rice, and other crops, and thus they were led on to investigate the processes of nature. Living as they do among mountains the Japanese exhibit the love of freedom and the clannishness which are associated with hill-men. Cut off from their neighbours by high barriers, which made com- munication arduous, the different sections of the nation showed from early times a disinclination for central- ized government ; they preferred to attach themselves to local leaders to whom they showed the most chivalrous devotion ; indeed, their mountains have influenced their whole history ; these have afforded a refuge to fugitives, as in the case of the Emperor Go-Daigo and his descendants, and are thus answer- able for the length of many of the family conflicts which would no doubt have been decisively settled in a few weeks in a flat country ; on the other hand, the self-reliance which is developed where no assist- ance can be obtained, the self-sufiiciency and self- esteem of people ignorant of the advantages of other modes of life, the frugality, the endurance and the stoicism of those bred under stern conditions have combined to make the Japanese the patriot he has shown himself to be. But if luxuries were hard to come by, the earth must have brought forth the necessaries of life in sufficient abundance for the advent 26 EAELY HISTORY of strangers to be regarded without misgiving. One reads in early history of organized Mongol and Malay incursions and of a constant trickle of settlers from the south, without finding it recorded that the in- habitants banded themselves together to resist the invader, as no doubt they would have done under the menace of starvation. Strangers were appraised on their merits ; the Tokugawa policy of exclusion is an instance rather of the national will-power than of any idiosyncrasy of temperament ; the prohibition was based not on emotional but on intellectual grounds ; it was only when he became dangerous that Policy of the foreigner was ejected. As a race the Japanese exclusion ^^,^ presented to us as singularly broad-minded and tempera- receptive ; for all their national pride they acted on mental. ,, ^ , ^ . . .111 the non olet maxnn ; they examnied what the out- side world had to offer, and they adapted to their own ends just that portion of it which seemed to them valuable ; many years ago they took from China their religion and their art and much beside ; later on the Christian missionary tendered his doctrines ; they were rejected, it is true, but his lethal weapons were imitated ; in modern times they have learned from Germany and from England how to organize an army and a fleet. But the Japanese are not merely imitators ; they have developed according to their own ideas what they have learned from others. Charac- Their art for instance, whatever its ancestry, has assimila- taken on the impress of Japan. A country subject tion m ^Q earthquakes and deficient in buildins'-stone does art, relig- . *• . . "^ ion and not raisc Gothic steeples ; its wooden temples and moia s. sepnlchral monuments, in their elaborate and patiently wrought decoration, are the product of a truly national school of architecture. And the painters who tran- scribed so imaginatively the essential qualities of EARLY HISTORY 27 flowering trees, of misty cataracts and of animals, furred or feathered, must have been long familiar with the mountain forests of their native land and with the wild denizens to which they gave shelter. It is impossible to treat here at any length the religious beliefs of the Japanese. It must suffice to point out that in the sphere of religion, as in that of art, whatever has been taken from the foreigner has been transmuted into an expression of the national character. Reference has already been made (p. 23) to the origin of Shintoism, a mixture of ancestor-worship and nature-worship without any definite code of morals ; in this indigenous faith no allusion is made to a future state of reward and punishment, to deliverance from evil or to assistance in the path of virtue. To avert the consequences of ill-doing and to propitiate the still powerful spirits of dead ancestors the faithful must purify themselves by washing with water and with the sacrifice of valuables. ' Purity and simplicity being essential characteristics of the cult, its shrines are built of white wood without decorative features of any kind, and fashioned as were the original huts of the first Japanese settlers.' Shintoism, inculcating as it does patriotism and reverence, fosters valuable civic qualities, and when Admiral Togo ascribed to the virtues of the Emperor the victory gained at Tsushima by his foreign- built battleships he summed up the attitude of his countrymen towards religious matters. Although the moral teachings of Confucius, of Buddha, and of Christ have modified Japanese modes of thought, the old national faith has never been dis- placed. Buddhism, introduced from Korea in the Dominant middle of the sixth century of our era, is now indeed of Bud-^^ the dominant religion, but, chameleon-like, it had ^^^™- 28 EARLY HISTORY adapted itself to its environment to such an extent that it has both assimilated the creed that preceded it and has become merged in it. A contest between the adherents of the two religions was averted by a com- promise which gives almost a ludicrous expression to Japanese conservation and to Japanese adaptability : when the new faith began to menace the old it was declared that all the members of the Shinto Pantheon were incarnations of Buddha ! ' Japan accepted Buddhism as the faith of civilized Asia ; accepted it more for the sake of the converts it had won and the outward attractions it possessed than for the sake of her own conversion or the beauty of the foreign faith's ethics. ... In its transmission through the Japanese mind Buddhism took many bright colours. Death ceased to be a passage to mere non-existence and became an entrance to actual beatitude. The ascetic selfishness of the contempla- tive disciple was exchanged for a career of single charity. The endless chain of cause and effect was shortened to a single link. The conception of one supreme and all merciful being forced itself into prominence. The gulf of social and political distinc- tions that yawned so widely between the patrician and the plebeian and all the other unsightliness of the world, became subjective ci'dela destined to disappear at the first touch of moral light.' — (Brinkley.) To sum up : Buddhism made such headway among the Japanese — whose intellects Shintoism left unsatis- fied^ — that within less than a century it had become an officially recognized creed. Chinese influence in Japan was not confined to the sphere of religion ; the intercourse between the two countries increased and the wisdom of the mainland was rapidly assimilated by the islanders. But whatever may have been the influence of physical conditions in developing the institutions of EARLY HISTORY 29 Japan, it is certain that from the dawn of the historical period until recent times the system of government has undergone little alteration. Nominally, the Em- System of peror was supreme ; practically, first one great noble- nient. man and then another stood between him and the Nominal authority exercise of authority. As the human descendant ofofEm- a god — a sovereign too exalted to be occupied with the^pie- the details of administration— he held a place half-way failing •^ . . "^ feature. between the Dalai-lama — revered as the reincarnation of a saint^and the faineant King of France kept in a forced seclusion by his Mayor of the Palace. Atten- tion has already been directed to the Japanese attitude towards their Emperor : for centuries the nation treated him with all the forms of veneration which tradition dictated, while it acquiesced in the trans- ference of power to those who could use it. During the period under notice the history of Japan is the history of the great families who forced themselves upon the country as interpreters of the Imperial will ; of their quarrels ; and of the spasmodic attempts which were made now and again to bridle them. A general idea of the controlling power in Japan at different epochs may be derived from the folloAving table : — A. 660 B. c.-A. D. 670. The shadowy empire of Jimmu Tenno and his descendants. B. 670-1050. Government by civilian officials appointed by the Fujiwara family in the name of the Emperor. C. 1050-1600. Arbitrary government by vic- torious warriors. D. 1600-1868. Organized and centralized feudal government by the Tokugawa Shoguns in the name of the Emperor. E. 1868-present day. Direct imperial government. 30 EAKLY HISTORY A. The Early Emperors, 660 b.c.-a.d. 670. Early Em- The recoixls of this period are so vague that it is perois. unnecessary to amplify what has been stated in the introduction. B. The supremacy of the Fujitvara, 670-1050. wara. The Fuji- The Fujiwara, the first of the great families to call for notice, belonged to the nobility connected by blood with the imperial house ; when they rose to power Japan was governed upon a patriarchal system ; the ci'own — in which the land was ultimately vested — parcelled it put to the great nobles who were heads of families rather than soldiers ; and they, in their turn, governed it through their own dependants who were expected to remit money to their landlords in Kyoto, the capital. Thus was formed an aristocracy which administered its territory in its own interest — with the result first of all that the clans fought one another for what they considered desirable, and secondly that the lower classes were bitterly oppressed. About A.D. 650 there was an attempt on the part of the crov/n to resume its direct authority, but Japan — a mountainous country inhabited by warring clans — ■ did not lend itself at this ei30ch to a form of govern- ment depending largely on facilities for communica- tion. The pohcy of centralization was a failure. The land had to be allotted to some one, who would see that taxes were collected and rent paid ; the nobility and the officials could not be overlooked in the new distribution, and thus they were soon in much the same position as before. However, there was one momentous change ; it became customary, for reasons explained below, to give the civil governor a military coadjutor. The facts of the situation had to be faced, EARLY HISTORY 31 and these included the stubborn determination of the Ainu, whom the Mongols and Malays had found in occupation of the soil, not to give it up except under compulsion. Near the capital the central authority met with little opposition, but further north the new officials would have had to content themselves with a barren title had they not organized local armies of their own to make it respected. To encourage them in this task it became the practice to confer upon successful soldiers the conquered land free of taxa- tion ; this land could therefore be offered on easy terms to the peasants of taxed districts, and they flocked to the support of a lord with such benefits to bestow. Here then was a situation full of danger for the Fujiwara, who remained at court acting as the mouthpiece of the sovereign and spending his revenues in aesthetic pleasures and luxurious living. In Kyoto literary proficiency met with special favour : ' A man estimated the conjugal qualities of a young lady by her skill in finding scholarly similes and by her perception of the cadence of words.' ^ The Fujiwara governed as agents of the Emperor, but they had so arranged matters that the latter, honoured though he was, had little control over their doings : they had estabHshed a custom that the Empress should be selected from among the ladies of their house, and that there might be no mistake as to the influence which was to mould her children, the latter were brought up under the tutelage of their maternal grandfather. 'To make assurance double sure' they often induced the reigning sovereign to abdicate on reaching man's estate ; this arrangement suited both parties: the Fujiwara found it less troublesome to manage a child than an adult who had to be treated 1 Enajd. Brit, xv, p. 259, 82 EARLY HISTORY at least with the outward forms of respect, and the Emperor obtained in retirement a position of more freedom and less responsibility. His masters under- stood both how to weary the young prince with the endless ceremonies of a Japanese court and how to distract him from the affairs of state with sensual pleasures. If these facts are borne in mind it becomes less remarkable that an autocrat — not old and wearied like Charles V — should retire in the flush of his youth from an honoured throne. It has also to be remem- bered that owing to his divine descent he occupied even in retirement a position of considerable influence. But though the well-laid plans of the Fujiwara enabled them to mould their heaven-born sovereign, they had to succumb to the natural law which ordains that in the long run every man must do his own fighting. They authorized a policy of conquest, but they did not lead their armies, and while they lived voluptuously in Kyoto, their rivals grew hard and strong on the marches of the Empire ; and the Fujiwara were not only without soldiers but they were without the money to buy them ; the imperial revenue which they controlled was derived from the crown-lands, and these became dei^opulated when the successful warriors in the remoter districts put on the market the tax-free territory from which they had driven out the aborigines. All through this period such of the latter as were not assimilated were gradually driven to the north, where their descendants now live. C. Government hy victorious soldiers, 1050-1600. Period of This period may be subdivided as follows : — Supre-^^ (1) Ascendancy of the Taira and Minamoto families, raacy. 1050-1200. (2) Ascendancy of the Hojo family, 1200-1330. EARLY HISTORY 33 (3) Ascendancy of the Ashikaga Shoguns, 1330- 1565. (4) Ascendancy of self-made chieftains, 1565-1 GOO. (1) Ascendancy of the Taira ami Minamoto families. Among the successful warriors mentioned above The Taira were the princely families of the Taira and the Mina- 'Jfj„j[. ^ moto, who had gathered together l)otli men and money "i<^to. in the provinces ; for some years the emperors and their impoverished kinsmen in Kyoto, the Fujiwara, played off the two houses against one another and found them nothing loth. ' My regret is only that I am dying and that I have not yet seen the head of Yoritomo of the Minamoto. After my decease do not make offerings to Buddha on my behalf nor read sacred books ; only cut off the head of Yoritomo of the Minamoto and hang it upon my tomb.' (D. Murray's Japan.) This quotation illustrates the spirit which the effeminate Fujiwara had to contend against. By the time of the Norman Conquest (1066) their power had departed from them into the stronger hands of the two families mentioned — who eventually fought one another for supremacy. At first the Taira were victorious, but their leader spared the lives of Yori- tomo and Yoshitsune, the sons of his conquered rival ; and these two led the Minamoto to victory thirty years later at the great sea fight of Dau-no-ura, At this battle, if tradition is to be believed, there were 700 junks engaged on behalf of the Minamoto and 500 for the Taira. The latter were exterminated, and it is said that to this day the descendants of the few that escaped to the Island of Kiushiu still think of strangers as pursuers and treat them with incivility. For the next few years the ruler of Japan was the Minamoto chief Yoritomo, who established himself 34 EARLY HISTORY ^t Kamakura with the title of Sei-i-tai Shogun (bar- barian-subduing generahssimo) without arrogating to himself the imperial authority. Yoritomo thus obtained a commission from the Emperor to re- organize Japan. He showed himself both far-sighted and conciliatory ; he was deferential to the Emperor, generous to the Buddhist priests (who had fallen on evil days), and friendly to the old nobility of Kyoto, whose rights to titles and land were confirmed. Having thus arrayed the conservatives on his side, he set to work to establish a new form of government. Hitherto Japan had been ruled by the civilian officials of the emperor in Kyoto ; henceforward the centre of power was transferred to the north and to military governors. Moreover the title of Shogun became hereditary, thus emphasizing the practical indepen- dence of those who bore it. Yoritomo aimed at the establishment of a military feudalism with the Shogun as over-lord : the old civilian officials were appointed to the provinces from Kyoto as before, but henceforward they were practi- cally subordinate to their military councillors, who owed allegiance to the new power at Kamakura. The latter were empowered to levy taxes for military purposes, and the sum thus raised was at the dis- position of the Shogun as general. Under these circumstances the civilians had to be content with a subordinate position, but the country at large seems to have enjoyed a short period of peace during which a strong ruler tolerated no exactions but his own. (•2) Ascendancy of the Hojo, 1200-1330. TbeHojo. With the death of Yoritomo in 1198 real power passed from the Minamoto to the allied family of the Hojo, who were to the Shoguns what the Fujiwara EARLY HISTORY 35 had for so long been to the Emperors. The Hojo * were only the regents of young and immature Shoguns who were the appointees of a court which had at its head an Emperor without power or influence and which was controlled by creatures of their own designation ' (David Murray), but for a hundred years they seem to have governed Japan with energy and success. They were content to be Shikken (constables) ; with the curious scrupulousness of the Japanese in matters of form they forbore to grasp the higher title even upon the failure of the direct heirs of Yoritomo ; when this happened the post of Shogun was conferred upon some child of the imperial or Fujiwara houses. The Hojo ruled these children as well as the country. ' Whenever it seemed best they relentlessly deposed them and set up others in their places.' There was at least one emergency during the supremacy of the Hojo which no child could have dealt with. Kublai Khan, when at the height of his power on the main- land, called upon the Japanese to recognize him as their suzerain ; upon their refusal he took the island of Tsushima and repeated his demands ; this time his ambassadors were executed ; thereupon he sent a great army, which was destroyed (1281) on the coast of Kiushiu under circumstances recalling the defeat of the Spanish Armada. But the seductions of a court and the Eastern desire to retire from active life sapped the vigour of the Hojo ; the reins of power dropped from their hands as from those of their predecessors ; in a season of indigence ' the people saw the constable in Kamakura affecting the pomp and extravagance of a sovereign, waited upon by 37 mistresses, supporting a band of 2,000 dancers and keeping a pack of 5,000 fighting dogs ' (Brinkley). c2 36 EAELY HISTORY (8) Ascendancy of the Asliihiga SJioguns, 1830-1565. The Eventually the Hojo succumbed to a rising made on Shoguns. behalf of the Emperor Go-Daigo (1334) ; the latter found himself with an opportunity of continuing in his own person the administrative work of Yoritomo, but so far from reasserting the direct authority of the Emj^eror he brought it into public contempt — a rare Takauji. thing in Ja]>an. He had to flee to the mountains of the South before the soldiers of Ashikaga Takauji, who became the first of the line of Ashikaga Shoguns. Go-Daigo had taken the insignia of royalty with him in his flight and— perhaps for that reason — he and his immediate descendants are regarded by the con- servative Japanese as the legitimate Emperors of the period, although at the bidding of the Shoguns another branch of the Imperial family supplied sovereigns to Kyoto for fifty-six years. Eventually the Shogun Yoshimitsu settled the unseemly quarrel by persuading the southern claimant to accept the dignified position of retired emperor — his pretensions being thus recognized — and to give up the regalia to the representative of the northern dynasty. The Ashikaga line held the Shogunate from 1338 to 1565, but over much of the country their authority was but nominal ; and such as it was it was vested in the parasites — called at this period Kwanryo or war- dens — who always battened on Japanese sovereigns. Certainly the wardens did little to justify their assumption of power ; probably they were exhausted by the struggle to obtain it. The country was a prey to every form of contention ; as has been stated, there were two claimants even for the post of emperor, and in the disorder that ensued the great territorial families concerned themselves with neither ; they EARLY HISTORY 37 were occupied with carving out kingdoms for them- selves, and the peasant and the manufticturer suffered to such an extent from the incessant warfare that there was no revenue to be obtained from them ; when the Emperor Go-Tsuchi died he ky for forty days unburied, because there was no money in the treasury to pay for his obsequies. Fiom the Japanese stand- point the depth of degradation was reached when the Shogun Yoshimitsu accepted from China the title of King of Japan and paid an annual tribute of a thou- sand ounces of gold for it, but Yoshimitsu was a capable ruler who understood how to adapt means to ends ; after his death — in 139-i: — for many years there was little check on the pirates and robbers who in- fested the seas and roads of Japan, and none at all upon the huge fortified monasteries from which the armed Buddhist monks took toll of the whole country. (4) Ascendancy of self-made chief tains, 1565-1600, It will be gathered that at such a period as this a man was worth, so to speak, his fighting weight, and it fell to the lot of Oda Nobunaga, a small landholder, Nobu- Hideyoshi his groom, and Tokugawa lyeyasu, a warrior °'^°^' socially of the same class as the former, to become masters of the country and incidentally to reduce it to order — a task which had been beyond the ca^^acity of the great nobles for whom their countrymen had such respect. Nobunaga, finding that local magnates were practically independent of the Emperor and the Shogun, organized his forces and gradually extended his domains at the expense of his neighbours ; soon he made himself so powerful that Ashikaga Yoshiaki enrolled him as a supj^orter of his family ; with his assistance Yoshiaki became Shogun, but soon after Nobunaga had thus made himself the most important 38 EARLY HISTORY man in the Empire he fell a victim to treachery. Hide- Fortunately in Hideyoshi — first his servant, later his ^^^ ^' adviser — he left a man even more capable than himself of pacifying the country. Hideyoshi — ugly, low-born, and amazingly quick-witted — is the national hero of Japan ; his deeds have inspired both artist and writer, and an impartial examination of his career suggests that his reputation was fully earned. Jai3an was Hideyoshi's, for the taking ; before dying, Nobunaga had deprived Yoshiaki of the Shogunate and had beaten down the resistance of the Buddhist monks who had shown the traditional clerical attitude towards reforms. To become supreme Hideyoshi had only to conciliate Tokugawa lyeyasu, whom many of Nobunaga's men would have followed. The two men showed their greatness by coming to an agreement, and between them the resistance of the recalcitrant daimyos (great lords) was overcome. Hideyoshi was appointed Kwambaku or regent, in which capacity he gave the country internal peace, improved its cities, and set its finances in order. The blot on his history is an unprovoked invasion of Korea; intoxicated by his unbroken success, and lacking — like most upstarts — all sense of proportion, he wasted the substance of Japan on an expedition which could have benefited her little even if he had led it in person. As it was, his generals quarrelled among themselves, proved unequal to their task, and accomplished little beyond the devastation of a peaceful and prosperous country. Upon his death the troops of Japan were at once recalled. An instance of the astuteness of Hideyoshi may be cited — his action on the death of his patron Nobunaga. When the great nobles attended the funeral ceremony in response to his invitation they found that he had EARLY HISTORY 39 reserved the chief place for himself, and that his soldiers had been marshalled in honour of the occasion. Under the circumstances they were compelled to accept a situation from which, as they well knew, a precedent would be deduced. Hideyoshi left a young son, but the loyalty of that period was as remarkable for its limitations as for its fanaticism. Tokugawa lyeyasu Toku- treated Hideyoshi's family as Hideyoshi had treated fy^tisa. the children of his own benefactor Nobunaga. And, no doubt, he had the support of his countrymen ; suffering, as they had been, from the anarchy resulting from feeble government they were wise in insisting that the appearance and the reality of power should both be in the same hands. In this case they were strong hands, lyeyasu had to fight hard for his position, but it was confirmed at the great battle of Sekigahara ; shortly afterwards he exacted from Kyoto the title of Shogun, which had been in abeyance for some years, and thus was founded the line of Tokugawa Shoguns which lasted until 1868. D. The ToTxiKjatva SJiogiinafc, 1600-1868. In spite of his successes in the field it is as a states- The Toku- man rather than as a soldier that lyeyasu will be gf^o^y. remembered ; what Japan wanted was peace, and that nate. he gave her. He used his victory with moderation ; it left him with large quantities of land on his hands, and of this he disposed with much foresight. Where possible he used existing institutions in his work of reconstruction ; he did not dispossess the old families, but to those he suspected of disaffection he gave adherents of his own as neighbours ; and it was to the latter class that were allotted all positions of strategical importance. lyeyasu carried to their logical conclusion the feudal 40 EARLY HISTORY principles practised by Yoritomo ; he set up his court, not in Kyoto — the poverty-stricken, pleasure-loving capital of the effeminate emperors — but in Yedo, and there he surrounded himself with soldiers and men of substance. Moreover he compelled the great lords to show their loyalty by appearing at certain intervals at Yedo, and in their absence their families resided there as hostages. He also took the precaution of furnishing a strong guard of troops devoted to himself to ' protect ' the Emperor, and thus guarded against any disposition to imperial self-assertion. His laws and his administration were a great im- provement on what had j^reviously existed in Japan, and he had the satisfaction of seeing his jDroposals acquiesced in. The last action of his public life was typical of his sagacity ; he retired in the fullness of his power so that his son who succeeded him might have the benefit of his advice and assistance while estab- lishing his authority. Founded in this fashion the Tokugawa Shogunate gave Japan peace and prosperity for two hundred and fifty years, and it was not until the reign of Queen Victoria that political disturbances again occurred. Other aspects of the Tokugawa administration will be dealt with in the next chapter, while the rest of this volume will treat of the direct imperial government which was re-established in 1868. CHAPTER III THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE Before treating of the characteristics of the Govern- ment estabUshed by lyeyasu, and of the events which led to its fall, it is necessary to give some account of the intercourse of Japan with the nations of Europe ; for foreigners were responsible both for the policy which was adopted in the seventeenth century and for the abrupt fashion in which it was reversed. Reference has already been made to the debt of Japan to China ; as to Korea, her history is so closely bound up with that of the island kingdom that it will be more convenient to consider it in its entirety when recent events come to be recounted. When the Tokugawa family obtained dominion over Japan strangers from abroad were welcomed to the country ; two hundred and fifty years later when the dynasty fell there was again a tendency to prize all things foreign ; but in the interim the nation adopted a policy of exclusion which calls for explanation. Policy of Regular intercourse between Japanese and Europeans gVents ' commenced in the middle of the sixteenth century, leading to Some Portuguese travelling from Macao to Siam were adoption. driven to Japan by stress of weather, and their kindly reception resulted in the fitting out of commercial expeditions to take advantage of the interest manifested by the Japanese in the products of Europe. If the foreigners whom the Japanese had to do with had all been merchants it is possible that the history of their country would have been altered ; there would 42 THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE then have been no occasion to resort to the measures of which we shall now have to speak. But it so happened that Japan suggested itself to the Roman Jesuit Catholics of the East as a field for missionary enter- ary enter- pi'ise ; the work was entrusted to the Jesuits — the prise. privateers of the Church — and before many years had elapsed the Japanese found established in their midst a community recognizing a sovereign other than their emperor; foreigners were thereupon expelled from Japan, and forbidden to return on pain of death. The work of proselytism was undertaken by Francis Xavier, who was well received by the Daimyo of Satsuma. Xavier was accorded permission to preach his doctrine, but the value of the privilege was dis- counted by his ignorance of the Japanese language ; he had, however, obtained the assistance of a native named Anjiro — who had adopted Christianity some years previously in the Portuguese colonies — and through his instrumentality he made several converts. Xavier's incompetency as a linguist is worth noting, for it illustrates the faith in which he ventured unpro- tected among barbarians, for such he must have expected to find the Japanese : stammering denuncia- tions of the gods his hearers worshipped, he typified in its extremest form the courage and fanaticism of the Jesuit. And on the other side the figure of the Daimyo of Satsuma is no less suggestive. Subsequent events showed that his interest in the missionaries was not religious but commercial. He countenanced the priests in order to attract the merchants ; it was not only that he desired to take toll of the goods brought to his harbours ; what he chiefly coveted were the weapons of Europe, the importance of which to a warrior chieftain could scarcely be over-estimated. THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE 43 The Japanese, with thirty religious sects in their country, were too logical and too broad-minded to per- secute a man for recommending a thirty-fii-st : wealth and power were not to be declined because of the religious vehicle in which they were tendered. The attitude towards the missionary of the China- man of twentieth-century Australia is thus summed up : ' You buy sugar, me go church ; you buy tea, me b'leeve in hell-fire.' The sixteenth-century Japanese looked at things much as does this apocryphal grocer : when the business-like Daimyo of Satsuma saw the Portuguese vessels making for the ports of a rival, he lent an ear to the complaints of the Buddhist priests, and made it a capital offence for any of his vassals to embrace Christianity. There is this to be said for the Buddhists ; they appear to have received the new- comers with warm hospitality and disinterested pleasure : they made ready for an enjoyable disputa- tion on metaphysical problems, and they were assailed with dogmatic crudities. It was the aggres- sive intolerance of the Christians, not their doctrines, which led to their being denounced as agitators. It is impossible to give the details of the progress of Christianity; by taking advantage of the feudal dissensions and by employing their ascendancy over the traders the Jesuits had soon enlisted a number of converts, especially in the south. They had been fortunate enough to obtain the assistance of Oda Nobunaga (see p. 38), who had found his work of centralization hindered by the Buddhists. The Buddhist monasteries of this period were fortresses from which the armed monks levied toll on the country-side ; they opposed Nobunaga who would not tolerate their excesses, and he in turn supported their enemies, the Christians. Not that 44 THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE Nobunaga was a Christian by conviction ; in 1579 he gave the Jesuits to understand that their rehgion would be suppressed unless they compelled a certain Christian vassal to betray his suzerain ! At first Hideyoshi who succeeded to the position of Nobunaga, showed himself no less favourable to the Christians ; then he suddenly changed his mind and issued this proclamation : — ' Having learned fi*om our faithful councillors that foreign priests have come into our estates where they preach a law contrary to that of Japan, and that they even had the audacity to destroy temples dedicated to our Kami and Hotoke ; although the outrage merits the most extreme punishment, wishing nevertheless to show them mercy, we order them under pain of death to quit Ja23an within twenty days. During that space no harm or hurt will be done to them. But at the expiration of that term, we order that if any of them be found in our states, they should be seized and punished as the greatest criminals. As for the Portu- guese merchants, we permit them to enter our ports, there to continue their accustomed trade, and to remain in our states provided our affairs need this. But we forbid them to bring any foreign priests into the country, under the penalty of the confiscation of their ships and goods.' The terms of this edict were not rigorously carried out ; Hideyoshi issued it upon discovering that the Jesuits had made themselves supreme in Kyushu, where they were obeying to the letter the scriptural injunction, ' Ye shall destroy their altars, break their images and cut down their groves.' Christianity was being enforced upon * the heathen ' with a brutal violence which ignored the civil power. This Hide- yoshi would not tolerate ; at the same time he valued the trade with Europe, and he was prepared to allow those who fostered it a certain amount of licence. THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE 45 The Jesuits could take a hint and no further persecu- tions would have followed, l3ut for the curious quality in the atmosphere of Japan which stimulates all human characteristics to their highest expression. The Pope had granted to the Jesuits alone the right of entering Japan as missionaries : it would seem then as if the Franciscans were prevented from competing with them. To overcome this difficulty the governor Francis- of Manila — grudging the Portuguese their influence in paffanda. Japan — sent a party of Spanish Franciscans as ambas- sadors to Hideyoshi. Once there they engaged upon a rival propaganda. To the protests of the Jesuits they replied that ' they had not entered the country as priests, and that the papal bull did not require them to leave'. This un- edifying exhibition of casuistry was fatal to the Christian cause. In order to differentiate themselves from the Jesuits, the Franciscans imparted their teach- ing in the openest manner possible, thus flouting the official edict. Soon afterwards the Dutch began to trade with Dutch Japan to the disgust of the Europeans previously tuguese installed there. The situation then was this : the **"^'^'®- Jesuits were quarrelling with the Franciscans, the Portuguese traders with the Spaniards, and the Dutch, who were Protestants, with all Europeans, lay and clerical. Moreover, to appreciate the impression made on the Japanese, it must be remembered that 'the representatives of Europe who visited Japan in the sixteenth century had nothing to offer her in the way of a higher civilization. From her point of view they were rude, truculent and debauched men, essen- tially dirty in their habits, overbearing in their methods, greedy of gain, and deficient in most of the graces of life. Chinese civilization had been accepted 46 THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE eight centuries previously for the sake of its manifest excellences. European civilization as represented by self-seeking tradesmen, rough mariners, and pro- pagandists of a mercilessly fanatic religion deterred by its superficial inferiorities.' ^ It may be imagined that when men of this type solemnly warned the Japanese against one another, their characters were not presented in a favourable light ; rivals hurried to inform the authorities of speeches such as this : — ' Our kings (the kings of Spain) begin by sending into the countries they wish to conquer missionaries who induce the people to embrace our religion, and when they have made considerable progress, troops are sent who combine with the new Christians, and then our kings have not much trouble in accomplishing the rest.' Expui- The Japanese became seriously alarmed ; they pro- foreign- l^i^itcd the profession of the Christian faith ; they ers. expelled first the Spaniards (1624), and then the Portuguese (1638) ; and they exterminated the native converts. Rather than recant many of these perished with their teachers under torture. The final holocaust took place at the castle of Hara, in which the Christians who had taken part in what is known as the Shima- bara revolt made their last unavailing stand. At this siege the Dutch were enabled to ingratiate themselves with the Government at the expense of their rivals by lending heavy guns for the bombardment. Owing perhaps to this proof of anti-Christian sentiment the Dutch were excepted from the edicts of expulsion ; they were allowed to reside in Deshiman Island, three acres in extent, near Nagasaki ; there they were sub- jected to humiliating restrictions which they consented ' Brinkley. THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE 47 to overlook in return for the monopoly of the trade between Europe and Japan. The Chinese were allowed to trade with Japan under somewhat similar limitations, but no general dealing with foreigners was permitted ; indeed, the Government not only expelled aliens from the country, it forbade the Japanese to leave it. Moreover, facilities for so doing were taken from them, for the building of ocean-going ships was prohibited. Count Okuma maintains that * in expelling the Portuguese and Spaniards out of hatred for the intrigu- ing Jesuits, Hideyoshi and lyeyasu were actuated by precisely the same motives as Queen Elizabeth when she placed the Catholics under a ban in England '. This contention is supported by the constant reference to foreigners at this period as ' Bateren ' (padres), and by the general character of the Japanese who impressed Francis Xavier most favourably : — ' Autant que j'en puis juger, les Japonais surpassent en vertu et en probite toutes les nations decouvertes jusqu'ici. lis sont d'un caractere doux, oppose k la chicane, fort avides d'honneur, qu'ils preferent tl tout le reste. La pauvrete est frequente chez eux sans etre en aucune facon deshonorante, bien qu'ils la supportent avec peine.' The policy of lyeyasu and the Shoguns who suc- ceeded him was to reduce Japan to immobility. To men wearied with the incessant wars of the past centuries peace seemed a prize to be attained at all costs. They might have said with the Lotos- eaters : — ' We have had enough of action and of motion Let us swear an oath and keep it with an equal mind In the hollow Lotos-land to live and lie reclined On the hills like gods together, careless of mankind/ 48 THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE The Japanese, having decided to arrest their national development, set about their task with an energy and thoroughness that were curiously inappropriate to the object in view. Those who are struck with the con- trast between the Japanese of to-day and their prede- cessors of the Tokugawa period will find that precisely the same qualities enabled them first of all to retire from the world, and subsequently to compete with it in commerce and on the field of liattle. Japan, like some hibernating animal, entered upon the sleep of recuperation and arose from it to active existence identical in substance and unaltered in outlook. The Toku- The principles underlying the policy of the Tokugawa policy. Shoguns may be gathered from a document entitled the testament of lyeyasu, from which it appears that inspiration had been sought in China. Confucius had inculcated that the family was the basis of society ; lyeyasu accepted this tenet and built up from it a system of morality : ' He held that the basis of all legislation and administration should be the five relations of sovereign and subject, parent and child, husband and wife, brother and sister, and friend and friend.' These relations were governed by custom rather than by ]30sitive enactments ; on the other hand, ' what required minute exposition was criminal law, the relation of social classes, etiquette, rank, pre- cedence, administration, and government.' ^ To etiquette, indeed, the Japanese attach an im- portance which appears surprising unless it is con- sidered in connexion with ancestor worship. The habits of the head of a family grew to be the customs , of his descendants, and as such they became invested ^ Encycl Brif. xv, p. 262. THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE 49 with sanctity. Thus arose the respect for the letter of the law which has been referred to in the last chapter. This attitude of mind, though lending itself to the glorification of trifles, has contributed to the success of the nation, for it must be regarded in con- nexion with the habit of obedience which is so marked a characteristic of the Japanese. As subjects of a heaven-descended ruler their duty was implicit sub- mission ; therefore, they accepted the innovations of the nineteenth century and the hardships of the Kussian War ; all they demanded was that their instructions should be conveyed to them by the proper authority and in the proper form. lyeyasu found a community which lent itself to the adoption of the methods he devised. The practice of obedience was not introduced into Japan through his studies of Confucius ; it was a natural growth in a country where law, as we understand it, was hardly known. The people, subjects of a deity, accepted the decisions of those set in authority over them, and thus the ground was prepared for the establishment of a formal feudal system. Not that feudalism was any new thing in Japan. Mention was made in the last chapter (page 30) of the practice of sending mihtary advisers to the assistance of the civil governors of the provinces and of the gradual transference of power from the latter to the former. As time went on these usurped not only the substance of power but even the title of their civil colleagues. During the distuil^ed Rise of period which followed the death of Yoritomo, they ^^^^^ .q. became under the name of daimyos to all intents and purposes independent princes ruling their lands with the strong hand and adding to them whenever possible. Each district was governed in practice as its feudal POKTEK D 50 THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUKATE Feudal lord desirecl. His writ ran wherever his arms would uie^nt^ follow. The only check upon his exactions lay in this, that incompetent administration meant a low revenue and that without money he could not pay the fighting-men upon whom his authority rested. It was then to his own interest to bestow some attention on the maintenance of order, the ujDkee]) of the means of communication and the observance of the customs which the people regarded as laws. Thus all through the long epoch of the petty wars the Japanese re- mained a civilized race ; culture did not disappear as it disappeared upon the fall of Rome. When lyeyasu became supreme he reconstructed the administration upon the basis which was already existing, utilizing whatever was sound in the old system. Internal authority was not taken from the feudal lords, but any attempt to encroach upon the rights of the central power was restrained by an elaborate adjustment of checks and balances. lyeyasu divided the daimyos into fudai — his own vassals — and tozama, who were supporters of his regime, but not actually vassals. Above these were the Go-san-ke, three families descended from himself from which the Shogun was in future to be chosen ; below them were two classes of lesser noblemen, the hatamoto and the go-ke-nin, and below these again came the samurai, of whom some account will be given later. Class It is only necessary to mention, in discussing social tions. distinctions, that the dignity of the samurai is specially recognized by lyeyasu : ^ Farmers, artisans, and mer- chants may not behave in a rude manner towards samurai — and a samurai is not to be interfered with in cutting down a fellow who has behaved to him in a manner other than is expected.' The order in which lyeyasu refers to 'farmers, THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE 51 artisans, and merchants ' is worth noting, for it is of considerable significcince. lyeyasu's elaborate classification is not to be passed over as an embellishment originating in the Japanese love of detail and etiquette and subtle patterns : it was part of the scheme by which its author sought to protect his dynasty. He secured it against the encroachments of foreigners by forbidding them the country ; he reduced the daimyos to impotence by playing them off against one another and, with the same object, he split up the people into exclusive castes so that they were not only divided as it were vertically into feudal clans, but also horizontally into social classes. This is the secret of the privileges accorded to the samurai. All this was done by lye- yasu without trenching upon the national traditions which served him as cloaks for the innovations he introduced. When the Shogun passed in great state Shogun through thousands of spectators on a visit of ceremony avlcj. to his acknowledged lord, the Emperor, the significance of his armed retinue was overlooked. The Emperor accepted his homage as he would have accepted what- ever else was thus forced upon him — for instance the respectful regulation that he could only be approached with infinite ceremony with its logical consequence that no undesirable adviser could obtain influence at court. The Emperor was surrounded by the effete, peace-loving Fujiwara nobles to whom, with rare per- spicacity, the Shogun allowed pensions sufficient for the maintenance of their rank. Although they had no political power their social precedence over the daimyos was formally recognized, and in this way was secured the acquiescence of the court party who had no cause for discontent. By showing respect towards the Emperor and to the old families who d2 52 THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE typified to the people their national history lyeyasu ranged upon his side the forces of conservatism, with which he would have had to reckon had the import of his policy been less carefully concealed. Since the Emperor had long reigned without governing, the real change did not consist in the transference of authority from Kyoto to Yedo — but in its concen- tration in the hands of the Emperor's deputy. The great nobles who had dominated huge districts were now shorn of much that had made them formidable : they had found their Louis XI. Local government was left to the daimyos as before, but they were no longer independent princes who could make war or peace at their discretion. As time went on they became more and more subordinated to the central power. lyeyasu beat down all who bore arms against him, but he judged it prudent not to proceed to extremities against the old families who did not actively oppose him. Provided they accepted the situation he had created, he was content to leave them the lands from which he could only have expelled them with difficulty. But the Shoguns were always suspicious of these so-called 'Tozama' daimyos, who were bound to them by no ties of loyalty ; they devised a variety of means for rendering them innocuous and they visited any insubordination with severe penalties. One device was so typically Japanese as to call for mention. The Shogun paid the daimyos the compli- ment of summoning them to Yedo to debate questions of internal administration ; once there they were in his power. The next step was to make it compulsory for the daimyos to visit Yedo every two years. The Shoguns did not even trust their own vassals ; the history of Japan was a warning against allowing THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE 53 any great family to pose as hereditary grand viziers, and the new aristocrats were careful to select their advisers from among the lesser daimyos. When the time comes to consider the fall of the Shogunate, this fact must be borne in mind: doubtless the system would have ' died harder ' if the interests of the great clans had been bound up in its survival. The Japanese of to-day are little disposed to do justice to lyeyasu ; they consider that their relations with the outside world have been injuriously affected by his policy. Its defects are patent, but before discussing them it will be only fair to quote his own version of his intentions : — ' In my youth my sole aim was to conquer and sub- jugate inimical provinces and to take revenge on the enemies of my ancestors. Yugo teaches, however, Demo- that " to assist the people is to give peace to the ^""^Jj*^ empire " and since I have come to understand that ments of the precept is founded upon sound principles, I have lyey^f'"- undeviatingly followed it. Let my posterity hold fast this principle. Any one turning his back upon it is no descendant of mine. The people are the foundation of the empire.' (D. Murray.) Sentiments of this kind are no doubt part of the stock-in-trade of many potentates, but lyeyasu acted upon them to the extent of befriending the commonalty, whose circumstances improved under the system introduced by him. The well-being of the lower orders was, it is true, rather a by-product of the Tokugawa administration than the object of it : it followed on the establishment of peace, which could not but enable the farmers, artisans, and merchants to pursue their avocations to better advantage. The chief crop of the country was rice, which was regarded as the standard of value : 54 THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE estates were assessed at so many bushels of rice, and taxes and salaries were calculated in the same medium of exchange. Under such circumstances the man who grew the rice became a person of some importance and his social consequence was recognized in his privilege of carrying one sword. (The samurai carried two.) The artisan shared in the general prosperity : with the cessation of the civil disturbances which had spread destruction over the land and with Artistic the improvements in organization there was more ment ^' money to be dispensed in luxuries. And it was following jj-^ ^j-^g masfnificence of their living and in the upon ^ _ ® ^ internal splendour of their accoutrements that the daimyos ^^^^^* now indulged the competitive instincts which had formerly found an outlet in warfare. The artisans who enabled a nobleman to outshine his rivals obtained consideration and many of them secured permanent employment at a fixed salary. They thus gained the leisure to gratify their artistic impulses ; one small but perfect work of art might be the result of years of toil, for the patron was a connoisseur who did not demand a large output but fine craftsmanship. This exquisite sensibility which can discern all the loveliness of the garden in a single blossom is still noticeable in Japan where what we call floral decoration often consists of a single flower. The arts throve during this period of seclusion, and among the im- provements of to-day is not to be reckoned the sul3sti- tution of the curio-factory for the cultured methods Contempt of Old Japan. The merchant, as has been said, ^^'^^' ranked below the artisan, for the Japanese despised trade and those engaged in it, much as the Christian nations before the Keformation kept aloof from usury which they left to the Jews. This attitude has been attended with serious con- THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE 55 sequences : the higher chisses would not engage in an occupation which meant loss of caste, and the Japanese tradesman, finding himself an object of obloquy, made little attempt to deserve respect. For many years after the old system had been swept away, the progress of Japan was retarded by the narrow outlook and the untrustworthiness of her merchants and by the disinclination of her men of substance to being numbered amongst them. These categories do not include the whole population of Japan, for at the bottom of the social scale there remain to be mentioned the eta — those who were technically defiled by their occupations — and the liinw, who were mendicant outcasts. The subject of defilement cannot be dealt with here except to mention that there was some similarity between the views of the Japanese on this subject and those of the Jews of the Pentateuch. The eta were not of necessity paupers ; those among them who were engaged in tanning — a trade which ' defiled ' — made money like other tradesmen. The samurai who ranked above the civilians call for a few words of comment. The samurai or warriors began to form an exclusive The caste in the eighth century at the time when the representatives of the crown were encountering serious opposition from the Ainu (p. 31). The stronger men were required as soldiers and thus the other classes came to be considered inferior. With the growth of feudalism the great houses surrounded themselves with fighting-men whose sons adopted the profession of their fathers. Thus arose a warrior class which arrogated to itself the sole right of l^eai'ing arms. The samurai might ])e called * the gentry ' of Japan ; they were the social superiors 56 THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE of the commonalty and they enjoyed the monopoly of administrative posts. In the time of lyeyasu ' the general body of the samurai received stipends and lived frugally. Their pay was not reckoned in money ; it took the form of so many rations of rice delivered from their chief's granaries. A few had landed estates usually bestowed in recognition of conspicuous merit. They were probably the finest type of hereditary soldiers the world ever produced. Money and all devices for earning it they profoundly despised. The right of wearing a sword was to them the highest conceivable privilege. They counted themselves as the guardians of their fief's honour and of their country's welfare.^ . . . Martial exer- cises occupied much of their attention, but book- learning also they esteemed highly. They were profoundly courteous towards each other, profoundly contemptuous towards the commoner whatever his wealth.' ^ The samurai were always ready to give their blood to defend their lord or to maintain the old-fashioned code of ethics which stood to them for all that was honourable, but a time came when the observance of tradition was not enough for Japan. Defects of A nation cannot thrive on a nesjative policy ; its Shogun s r> r J : policy, powers become atrophied by disuse. The energy of the Government of the Shogun was concentrated upon the maintenance and not upon the improvement of existing institutions. With this end in view it created an elaborate system of espionage which ' held every one in the community in dread and suspicion ; not only the most powerful daimyo felt its invidious influence, but the meanest retainer was subject to its sway ; and the ignoble quality of deception, develo]3ing ' Ennjrl. Brif. xv. p. 268. - Brinkley. THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE 57 rapidly to a large extent, became at this time a national characteristic '. ^ It was the special duty of the spies to inform the Government of any change that was in contemplation, for state control was so rigid that no man could take up a new pursuit without permission. Any form of social advancement was thus impossible ; from the great daimyos who were especially excluded from adminis- trative posts to the commoners who were shut out from the ranks of the gentry no man could look to gratify his ambition. ' The stimulus of foreign trade with its interchange of commodities had been withdrawn from the native industries, and internal commerce was strangled by innumerable monopolies, sumptuary laws and re- strictions, the proscription of new inventions and the universal predominance of the military caste. The result was a national life crystallized in many of its aspects, a state of arrested development and stagnation.' ^ By the commencement of the nineteenth century there were few grades of society in which this deca- dence was not apparent. The Shogun was no longer a warrior : the fate of Japanese sovereigns had over- taken him, and he too had become a puppet. As to his ministers, their attention was concentrated on maintaining their positions and on frustrating the machinations of those who coveted them ; in public matters they were not statesmen but policemen. The aristocracy occupied itself with its old-fashioned pas- times, some of them manly enough, and the plebeians, isolated, but no longer poor and downtrodden, set about diverting themselves in their own way. 1 L. Oliphant. ' C. V. Sale. 58 THE TOKUGAWA 8H0GUNATE Different Herein lies the explanation of the existence of two art and different schools of art at one time, for the drama and nriir ^^^® picture which delighted the people did not appeal to the upper classes. Both gentle and simple sought amusement and spent much of their substance in dissipation. Places of en- tertainment multiplied and the dancing-girls prospered. The samurai were not exempt from the general de- moralization. Their code had been evolved at a rougher period ; they had devoted themselves to the sword at a time when honour was to be obtained by it, and they had lived abstemiously when luxuries were not obtainable. But conditions had now changed ; the campaigning days were over and the idle soldiers felt even more than other classes the need of amuse- ment ; their income no longer sufficed them. ' They found difficulty in meeting the pecuniary engagements of every-day existence, so that money acquired new importance in their eyes and they gradually forfeited the respect which their traditional disinterestedness had won for them in the past.' ^ Long peace, if it had not dulled their courage, had at any rate left the samurai without experience of war ; and they were no better prepared than the other classes to face the strain of a foreign invasion. The daimyos had no love for the Shogun ; they re- garded him as an equal who had aggrandized himself at their expense ; the soldiers desired the return of the civil wars with the excitem.ent and the opportunities which accompanied them ; and the business classes Tenden- groaned at the restrictions placed upon their liberties under- ^^^^ aspiratious. It was evident that in time of stress mining there would be no enthusiastic support coming forward Shogun. for the Government : there was little assistance to be » Encycl Brit, xv, p. 264. THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE 59 expected from the sections of the community tiiat have been mentioned and there was another class which was actively hostile. The men of learning resented a system of seclusion which baulked them in the pur- suit of knowledge, and when the time came they put their erudition at the service of the malcontents. It was they who made it known that the Shogun was usurping the authority of the Emperor, thus increasing the disaffection of a people naturally conservative. Curiously enough this weapon was forged by the House of Tokugawa itself. The doctrines of Confucius had been introduced into Japan early in the Christian era ; they did not make extensive progress, but people in the position of lyeyasu were, of course, familiar with them ; he was struck with the manner in which the tenet of unquestioning obedience to rulers and parents accorded with the system he desired to establish, and his patronage gave an impetus to the study of Chinese lore and to the pursuit of general learning. In the face of these researches the principles of Buddhism which were favourable to feudalism gave way to the doctrine that the business of a sovereign was to consult the good of his people ; and the theoretical claims of the Shogun came to be questioned in the light of the Chinese theory that legitimate rulers are appointed by heaven. Some years later, when the Ming dynasty fell in China, Mitsukuni of Mito, a relative of the Shogun, following in the steps of lyeyasu, made a study of the principles of government with the assist- ance of a learned Chinese refugee to whom he gave shelter. He also gathered round him a circle of en- lightened Japanese whom he encouraged to compile a history of Japan. The records were then examined in accordance with Chinese precepts, and it was discovered that Japan 60 THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE possessed a divinely appointed ruler of her own and that no authority existed for the usurpation of adminis- trative authority by the Shogun. The revelations were flattering to the national pride ; they resulted in a revival of Shintoism and in a desire for the abolition of the dual form of government. But the existing Government possessed the machinery for curbing the expression of internal discontent and might long have survived academical objections to its origin. It was only when it showed itself incapable of enforcing the policy of isolation on which, as it asserted, the national safety depended, that the smouldering dissatisfaction broke into flame. The people, for all their longings, could not stir without an impetus from without : — ' When will the hundred summers die, And thought and time be born again, And newer knowledge drawing nigh, Bring truth that sways the soul of men ? Here all things in their place remain, As all were ordered, ages since, Come, Care and Pleasure, Hope and Pain, And bring the fated fairy Prince.' Japan's fairy prince was Commodore Perry of the United States navy, but before describing the result of his resolute kiss, a glance must be cast upon the progress of events in other parts of the world. External Japan could forbid any intrusion upon her own ieadhfc^^to charmed slumbers, but she could not interfere with fall of the restless development of the occidental peoples. A ate.° time came when the steady progress of the nations of the West brought them within sight of her retreat ; and it was then only a question of time before the barriers were forced. With the advent of machinery Europe and THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE 61 America embarked upon a commercial policy. Pro- duction increased and it became a vital matter to gain i^ossession of new markets ; these were to be found in the East where there were no organized factories and where the people lived in the same villages and worked with their hands at the same trades as countless generations of their ancestors. But whether or no the West was superior to the East in its goods, it was undoubtedly superior in its weapons. If the Japanese had been concerned with external politics they would have found food for thought in what is described in Chinese history as the Opium War of 1840. This is no place to discuss the morality of the opium trade, but it must have appeared to the Chinese that Great Britain was forcing upon them at the sword's point a drug which their statesmen pro- nounced deleterious in its effects. For Japan the important point was that an unknown people from beyond the seas had compelled her mighty neighbour to pay an indemnity, to cede territory, and to open her ports to foreigners. It should have dawned on Japan that she could no longer shelter herself behind the mainland of Asia. Europe was no longer terrified by the hordes from the East : the Turk, who at one time had chased the flying Christians to the walls of Vienna, had been humbled at Navarino ; India was still a prey to the invader ; but he came not through the Khyber, but across the ocean. For a country which desired seclusion a position between the conservative Chinese and the Pacific Ocean was admirable ; it was the remoteness of Japan from dangerous neighbours which made her policy practicable. An examination of a map will show that it would have been impossible for the Western nations to have invaded Japan in the days of sailing-ships. 62 THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE But the problem was altered with the coming of the steamship : Eozhestvenski arrived at Tsushima with his fleet intact. A new power had arisen as a menace to Japan. In the time of lyeyasu the American continent checked the intercourse between Europe and Japan ; it not only presented an obstacle to raiding fleets ; it served as a lightning-conductor by offering piratical adventurers like Pizarro and Drake a shorter passage to wealth. Two centuries later the west coast of North America was no longer a distant barrier reef, deserted save for the incursions of wandering savages. The dis- covery of gold had peopled California with energetic and resolute money-makers who were little inclined to let scruples of delicacy stand between them and ' busi- ness ' : they resolved to force their acquaintance upon Japan. This decision was not arrived at in pure wantonness. A large whaling trade had grown up in the Pacific : American sailors were cast away from time to time in Japanese waters ; and it was intoler- able that their repatriation should be attended with complications. Moreover, the whaling trade was not alone in taking the Americans westwards. One con- sequence of the Opium War of 1840 was the opening of Chinese ports to foreign trade ; cargo space was precious ; and it at once became important to steam- ship owners to establish a coaling-station in Japan, foi" much of their profits went in conveying their fuel for the voyage. As the ocean had failed Japan on the East so China had failed her on the West ; the Russians gradually forced their way to the Pacific and then turned their attention to the islands. In 1792 Catherine II sent home some shipwrecked Japanese sailors in the charge of Lieutenant Laxmann ; her envoy was treated with THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE 63 courtesy, but the official encouragement he received was scanty : — * As to the Japanese brought back, the Government was much obliged to the Russians, who, however, were at liberty to leave them or take them away again, as they pleased, it being the law of Japan that such persons ceased to be Japanese, and became the sub- jects of that Government into whose hands destiny had cast them.' ^ A further rebuff provoked reprisals from the Russians who raided Saghalien and burned Japanese ships, thus impressing upon the Shogunate that there was good ground for the warnings which reached them through Deshima. For Japan was still in a position to learn from the Dutch and the Chinese what was taking place else- where ; the official class profited little from these facili- ties, and it was left to those who would now be called ' the intellectuals ' to put two and two together. The result of this sum in simple addition surprised and appalled them, and in spite of stringent prohibitions and drastic penalties they resolved to investigate the full extent of the peril. It became obvious to them that what Japan lacked was not courage but know- ledge ; they realized that it was the white man's science that made him formidable, and with Oriental patience they strove to become masters of his weapons. One instance of their methods may be cited : they first obtained from Deshima a Dutch textbook of medicine, and then acquired a knowledge of anatomy by comparing its plates with what was to be seen on the execution ground — at the risk of never leaving it. What they learned convinced them that Jcipan had made a terrible mistake in not keeping pace with ' Biinkley. 64 THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE modern developments : in matters of morals, of manners, of religion and of the arts the foreigner had little to teach her ; but through his slowly acquired knowledge of natural processes he could compel her to do his bidding. To meet him on equal terms, years of hard work would be needed, and the extirpation of much that the nation held dear. But there was no other way to preserve their independence. As was stated above (page 60) its researches in history had led the intellectual class to regard the Shogun as a usurping tyrant. 'The tyrant of the Chersonese Was Freedom's best and bravest friend : ' and if the same could have been said of the ruler at Yedo he would have had little to fear from his critics. Recent events have made it evident that the Japanese has none of the Westerner's deference for liberty in the abstract : his Government may be arbitrary pro- vided that it is efficient. The Shogun's offence was not his despotism but his incapacity : it had become clear that in the event of an invasion he would lead his people not to conquest but to defeat, and the Japanese were in no mood to tolerate an incapable despotism. Such was the state of things in Japan when the Government of the United States sent Commodore Perry in 1853 to open dij^lomatic relations between the two countries. Arrival of The Japanese had been warned by the Dutch of his modore intentions, and upon his appearance at Yedo they Perry. endeavoured to send him to Nagasaki, that being the only harbour where intercourse with foreigners took place. Perry, however, decUned to recognize any such restrictions and insisted on delivering at Yedo THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE 65 a formal letter from the President of the United States to the ruler of Japan. However, he made no attempt to coerce the Japanese into returning an immediate answer, but sailed away. The Japanese being made aware that he would return in a few months, busied themselves feverishly with the defences of the country : the law against the building of ocean-going ships was withdrawn, forts were constructed, troops were raised, and the Dutch were besought to import and to distribute scientific works from Europe, Knowing what we do of the fighting capacity of the Japanese nothing is more suggestive of their will-power than the determination they formed not to offer resist- ance : having realized that their preparations were not sufficient to repel Perry they decided to accede to his demands. Consequently when the American squadron returned First a treaty was concluded whereby Japan undertook * To can- accord kind treatment to shipwrecked sailors ; to J^P^j^^se permit foreign vessels to obtain stores and provisions within her territory, and to allow American ships to anchor in the ports at Shimoda and Hakodate'. Nothing was said about trade. When his proposals had been accepted Perry showed his unwilling hosts some examples and models of scientific apparatus to illustrate, it is suggested, how the western nations could control the natural forces which the Japanese worshipped. A telegraph wire created a great impression. Here, then, let us leave the conquerors of Russia examining with amazement a model railway ! CHAPTER lY THE TKANSITION The Tokugawa Shogunate survived by several years the acceptance of Perry's terms, but it had suffered a mortal injury. Its policy had failed under circum- stances which made it no longer possible to silence criticism. The long hidden dissatisfaction now gained utterance, and the different classes discovered that they were at one in desiring a change of government. Daimyos' Strengthened by this solidarity they made no secret towards of their wishes. In his perplexity the Shogun had fm^i«^n condescended to ask the advice of the daimyos who policy of iiad for so long been denied any participation in the ate. government. The opportunity was seized to remind the Shogun that his appointment as general did not entitle him to administer the country as he had done, and that he was not even next in rank to the Emperor whose powers he had arrogated to himself. In fact it was asserted that the treaty he had executed was not binding upon Jaf)an. As a class the daimyos resented the indignities that had been put upon the country, and were in favour of resisting the intruders by force ; some, however, with a keener grasp of the situation recommended that the foreign demands should be acceded to until the nation was in a position to make good a refusal. The power- ful Daimyo of Mito gave ten reasons for taking up arms ; one of them is worth quoting as typifying a military attitude towards political economy which is l)y no means confined to Japan : — THE TRANSITION 67 ' What ! trade our gold, silver, copper, iron and sundry useful materials for wool, glass and similar trashy little articles ! ' ^ The Shogun's position was extremely difficult : if he refused to negotiate treaties with foreigners they would seize.his harbours by force ; and if he consented he exposed himself to unpopularity which also was likely to express itself by arms. Eventually he signed the treaty with Perry and similar treaties with England, Russia, and the Netherlands, while giving the daimyos to understand that he was only manoeuvring to gain time. These treaties did not contain specific commercial stipulations, for Perry, who showed considerable shrewdness, wished to give the Japanese no excuse for rejecting his advances. He realized that it was a difficult matter for j)eople as civilized as the Japanese to decline to repatriate shipwrecked sailors, and he foresaw that intercourse would increase, when once relations were entered into. Partly, then, owing to Perry's deliberate policy and European partly owing to the political situation in Europe and American America no great pressure was put upon Japan. She P^^^itics was allowed time to inform herself of the strength of able to the foreigners and to adjust herself to the inevitable. situaS. It was fortunate for her that the third quarter of the nineteenth century was marked by universal unrest. The United States drifted into a civil war that absorbed all the attention of the administration ; Europe had hardly recovered from the revolutionary disturbances of 1848 before she was torn by the series of struggles which led up to the Union of Italy and the Union of Germany : Russia, occupied in the Crimea, could not display much enterprise on her eastern frontier : Asia was a prey to agitation : on the one side India was 1 D. Murray. E 2 68 THE TRANSITION striving to rid herself of her British masters, on the other the Tai-pings were rebeUing against the Govern- ment of China. Foreigners, especially the British, assisted to subdue the insurrection and thus supplied Japan at her own door with information about their methods and their irresistible power. « Ameri- Meanwhile the Americans had been working hard can-Japan ^^ negotiate a commei-cial treaty which they at last uiercial obtained, in 1858, mainly through the clever diplomacy treaty. of their consul Townsend Harris. (An account of Mr. Harris's entry into Yedo and of his audience with the Shogun will be found in the chapter on Tokyo.) The arrangements were made with the Shogun's Government at Yedo — the claims of the Emperor not being realized by foreigners — and thus were sown the seeds of the complications of the ensuing years. The Shogunate, when once satisfied of the strength of the intruders, determined not to court disaster by resisting them ; it signed the commercial treaties with- out the sanction of the Imperial Government at Kyoto, which was the centre of the reactionary party. In so doing it did not exceed its traditional privileges ; the Spanish and Portuguese had always treated with Yedo, and its power to negotiate with the Americans was only called in question because of its general weakness and unpopularity. Mention has already been made of the forces arrayed against the Shogun. Among them now became prominent the chiefs of the great Satsuma Internal and Choshu clans. Situated far from the stronghold reaction. ^^ ^j^^ Tokugawas the two great Southern Houses had remained almost independent : they resented the pretensions of Yedo and seized with alacrity the opportunity of restoring the authority of the Emperor — an authority which they counted on exercising. THE TRANSITION 69 'Expel the foreigner' made a popular cry which was extremely embarrassing to the Shogun. He had been obliged to conclude treaties with Great Britain and other European powers on the lines of that drawn up in 1858 with the United States, and he now found himself confronted with an anti-foreign agitation which asserted itself in outrages and murders. These he was powerless to prevent ; they were the work of opponents who wished either to discredit his administration or to embroil him with the intruders, and they succeeded in their object. The foreigners had no conception that there was a power in Japan above the Shogun, and he, for reasons that can be appreciated, shrank from dis- closing himself as a servant to those who approached him as a master. Apart from this not unpardonable deception the Shogun seems to have acted in good faith ; his per- plexity finds plaintive expression in a letter written by Townsend Harris who had fallen ill ; the Shogun, he says, sent his own doctors, who 'received peremptory orders to cure me ; if I died they would themselves be in peril '.1 Nothing that the Shogun could do gave satisfaction ; in order to protect his unwelcome guests from the attacks of the disaffected he had them followed by armed guards — only to find that the guests regarded the guards as spies ! The disorder took the most serious forms ; the Daimyo of Hikone, Li-Kamom-no-Kami, a strong man who, as regent, wielded the power personified as ' the Shogun ', was murdered by the retainers of the Daimyo of Mito whose reactionary agitation he had sternly repressed. A like fate befell Mr. Heusken, the inter- preter of the American legation. The hatred of the 1 D. Murray. 70 THE TRANSITION Government received whimsical expression in the decapitation of the statues of the Ashikaga shoguns. The British legation was attacked and a British subject named Richardson was cut down by the retainers of the Satsuma chieftain for whose passage he had declined to make way. About the same time the Daimyo of Choshu fired upon foreign vessels passing through the Straits of Shimonoseki. For this offence vengeance was taken by a combined British, French, Dutch, and American fleet, while Kagoshima, a city belonging to the Satsuma chieftain, whose followers had killed Richardson, was bombarded and destroyed by the British. The Shogun was willing enough to make amends, but he lacked the means to pay the indemnity demanded : he still concealed the true cause of dis- satisfaction, attributing the unruliness of the people not to his own unpopularity but to the derangements in the currency and in the price of provisions — derangements which were laid at the door of the foreigners. The punishment which the latter took upon themselves to inflict was extremely effective. Foreign It was the great houses of Satsuma and Choshu which action'^ had Suffered from the bombardments and it was they decisive. ^y\^Q dictated the attitude of the Emperor of Kyoto. The expression 'the Emperor' like the expression 'the Shogun ' was a convenient symbol for the authority exercised in his name ; he was not personally responsible for the anti-foreign policy of his advisers, and there was no difficulty about modifying it when its futility had been brought home to Satsuma and Choshu by the guns of the ships of war. Hence- forward Kyoto ceased to thwart the Shogun by in- volving him in complications with such powerful adversaries. THE TKANSITION 71 ' 111 the face of the Kagoshima bombardment and the Shimonoseki expedition no Japanese subject could retain any foith in his country's ability to oppose Occidentals by force. Thus the year 1863 was memor- able in Japan's history. It saw the "barbarian expelling " agitation deprived of the Emperor's sanc- tion ; it saw the two principal clans, Satsuma and Choshu, convinced of their country's impotence to defy the Occident ; it saw the nation almost fully roused to the disintegrating effects of the feudal system ; and it saw the traditional antipathy to foreigners beginning to be exchanged for a desire to study their civilization and to adopt its best features.' ^ However, the Choshu men were unable or unwilling to pay the indemnity demanded of them, and the Government had to assume responsibility for it. Sir Harry Parkes, the British Minister, then proposed to set off the balance of the indemnity against certain desirable concessions ; these he was shrewd enough to see were of greater value, if obtained, from the rising instead of from the waning authority. He, therefore, addressed himself to the Emperor much as Perry had approached the Shogun. The Emperor was obliged to yield to the pressure put upon him, and the failure of the Shogunate to save him from this affront proclaimed its weakness and sealed its fate. The officials whom the Shogun had appointed to Resigna- carry out the negotiations were dismissed in disgrace gho^un by the Emperor, and the Shogun resigned. Lord Redesdale gives a most entertaining account of the struggle between the foreign diplomatists for the post of chief councillor to the coming power. ' Emijd. Brit xv, p. 239. 72 THE TRANSITION The protagonists were the representatives of England and of France : — ' Our chief was the winner, for the French Minister, who never seemed to be able to take a clear view of the situation, characteristically blundered into backing the wrong horse. He was all for bolstering up the Shogun which was an absolute impossibility.' 'I well remember how one day Sir Harry came into my room, his hair bristling with fury. What was the matter? "That fellow Roches (the French Minister) has stolen a march upon me ; he is sending for a mission militaire to come and drill the Shogun's troops. Never mind ! I will have a mission navale " — and he did. In this way was the first instruction in modern military and naval methods started in Japan.' The Shogun had been asked to resume his office as his rivals were not yet ready to replace him and the administration remained for a year or two as before. But in 1867 Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who had acceded to the title the previous year, tendered his resignation in response to a memorial pointing out that Japan must become a prey to the foreigners unless the system of divided government was put an end to. This time the resignation took effect. It is to be regretted that this unselfish renunciation of kingly power should not have been accepted in a like spirit by the enemies of the Shogun. Unfortunately they induced the Emperor to denounce him as an enemy of the nation and to dismiss the Tokugawa troops with ignominy from Kyoto. They resented the insult by force of arms, only to be defeated by the imperial troops ; fui-ther resistance was made by the Daimyo of Aizu and by the Admiral of the Shogun's fleet, but THE TRANSITION 73 neither of them achieved any success, and in a few weeks the new Government was firmly established and universally acknowledged. The loss of life must have been far greater if the vShogun had fought for his position ; fortunately for Japan he submitted uncondi- tionally to the Emperor, who left him unmolested. He is still alive, and last year was granted an audience by the Emperor. How many other countries can point to a similar instance of subject's patriotism and king's magnanimity ? The Emperor, who thus became supreme, was Mutsu- Restora- hito, who still sits upon the throne of Japan. He imperial inaugurated the new era in 1868 by receiving a number authority of foreign diplomatists — an event without parallel in the history of Japan. His next step was to abandon Kyoto with its traditions of voluptuous seclusion, and to set up his court in Yedo, long recognized as the centre of the administration. Japan had now entered the family of nations ; it remained for her to make good her position. She had been constrained by foreign powers to accept conditions the true irksomeness of which she did not at first appreciate, but this probably was a blessing in dis- guise ; they were an outward and visible sign of in- feriority; while they were in force the nation could not deem itself independent, and by pointing to them statesmen could induce the people to make sacrifices. The sacrifices they called for were heavy indeed ; the Emperor relinquished the dignified ease of Kyoto ; the Shogun renounced the authority bequeathed to him by his ancestors foi- two hundred and fifty years. The daimyos now followed his example. It is not likely Daimyos' that they foresaw this consequence of their opposition Qf^he?"^^ to the Shogun. To all, except the small class of liberal fiefs. thinkers to whom reference will have to be made later. 74 THE TRANSITION the abolition of the twofold government was the end in view. They desired that the Emperor should take his true place at the head of the national polity, but they saw no necessity for any organic alteration in the polity itself. They anticipated that the feudal system would survive with the Emperor as overlord. The Shogunate was a fifth wheel adding to the weight, but not to the efficiency of the coach of state ; with its abolition the machinery of government would be simplified. Moreover, the daimyos were actuated Ijy ambition as well as by public spirit ; they covertly expected to recover much of the authority which had been theirs before it was grasped by lyeyasu. The Satsuma clan were aiming not merely at overthrowing the house of Tokugawa but at supplanting it ; it was only to be expected that the Emperor would testify his gratitude by choosing his advisers from among the chieftains to whom he owed his restoration. Hitherto, Japan had never dethroned Charles but to make James king, and that the Satsuma clan assigned to itself the role of James was evident to the other feudatories. They, on their side, had no desire to substitute a strong master for a weak one ; in all probability they would have offered armed resistance to the Satsuma preten- sions but for the salutary convulsion that attended the intervention of the foreigners. The danger from with- out put an end to internal dissensions. A few years later the same thing happened in Europe : the German princes, whose domestic policy bade them thwart the King of Prussia, hailed him Emperor with acclamation in Versailles. The necessity for uniting the nation against foreign aggression had supplied the discontented daimyos with numerous arguments against the govern- ment of the Tokugawas ; the arguments were unanswer- able, but they called forth the retort ' de te fcibida ' ; THE TRANSITION 75 the Sliogun had to admit the cogency of his own reasoning. By expatiating upon the evils of divided sovereignty he had come to reahze them, and as an honest man he yielded up his own independent autho- rity in the interest of the nation. This act of self- renunciation put an end to the Feudal System which had prevailed for so long. The credit for a reform without which Japan could never have ranked as a great power, has to be shared between the statesmen who induced the chieftains to make the necessary sacrifices and the chieftains themselves. Persuasion had to be employed and not coercion, for all the physical power in the country was controlled by the feudatories. The Emperor could dispose of but few men and but little money ; the Shogun was discredited; and the statesmen themselves as a class were neither rich nor influential. Under these circumstances the latter could only proceed with the nicest tact. First of all they set about gaining over certain noblemen whose co-operation was indis^^cnsable. Fortunately these were men whose knowledge of affairs enabled them to grasp the situation put before them : they were made to realize that the Japanese — unskilled as they were in the commercial methods and military tactics which had been evolved while they were in seclusion — were impotent against the foreigner unless united. And internal union could only be brought about by bringing the tk)ns at whole nation under one system of laws ; so long as Restom- each feudal chief was arbitrary in his own domain it was inevitable that the clans would be suspicious of one another, and that energy would be wasted in local rivalry ; and while the taxes were collected and ex- pended by a number of small potentates, the work of reorganization could not even commence. Japan, a poor country in comparison with foreign powers, was 76 THE TRANSITION suddenly called upon to compete with them in annual expenditure ; but whereas her rivals had to do little more than keep up already existing institutions she started with no such capital. The Japanese, islanders without a fleet, warriors without an army, had been induced by the Tokugawas to misuse their opportunities ; it was only because the raw material was so good that it was possible to make up for previous miscalculations. But the work of reorganization did not admit of the slightest waste of power ; large sums had to be sunk in purchasing naval and military equipment abroad, and the knowledge of how to use it had to be acquired by a corresponding expenditure of intellectual effort which also could be represented in hard cash. It cost money to send Japanese students abroad and to bring foreign professors to Japan. Moreover, the commercial and industrial machinery through which modern revenues are manufactured was absolutely lacking in Japan. There were no railways, no docks, no banking facilities. It was obvious that every dollar that the people could spare must be paid to a central treasury to be laid out as the national interests demanded. The situation comprised but two hopeful fjictors ; in the first place it was so desperate as to drown the promptings of selfishness ; in the second it was not complicated by the existence of vested interests ; the field of modern enterprise was unencumbered. An unlighted town has one advantage ; none of the residents oppose the introduction of the electric light merely because they hold shares in the gas company ! The knowledge which other nations had acquired by the slow process of trial and error was at the service of Japan ; she could enlighten her darkness by the best system known to the mind of man. THE TRANSITION 77 ' In short, the leaders of the movement found themselves pledged to a new theory of government without any machinery for carrying it into effect or any means of abolishing the old practice. An ingenious exit from this curious dilemma was devised by the young reformers. They induced the feudal chiefs of Satsuma, Choshu, Tosa, and Hizen, the four most powerful clans in the South, publicly to surrender their fiefs to the Emperor, praying his majesty to reorganize them and to bring them all under the same system of law. In the case of Shimazu, chief of Satsuma, and Yodo, chief of Tosa, this act must stand to their credit as a noble sacrifice. To them the exercise of power had been a reality, and the effort of surrendering it must have been correspondingly costly.' 1 The procedure of the great princes referred to was Measures imitated by practically all the other feudatories. Many abolish^ of these were typical Japanese potentates ; taken up feudal with pleasures, artistic and sensual, they left the cares of government to ambitious and energetic re- tainers upon whose advice they acted. They were recommended to resign and they resigned. Their counsellors acted upon a variety of methods ; some, no doubt, counted on obtaining greater influence under the new regime ; others in their quality of samurai were swayed by loyalty to the throne and by love of country. The leaders of the movement proceeded by slow degrees : ' The feudatories were not required to surrender the sweets of power, nor were the samurai, their retainers, disturbed in their old homes. Each feudal chief remained as governor of the region where he had always ruled. He was merely transformed from a semi-independent potentate into an official of the ^ Encyd. Brit, xv, p. 26G. 78 THE TRANSITION Central Government, levying taxes as of yore, and paying to the Imperial treasury only such portion of the proceeds as remained after deducting ten per cent, for his own support, and after handing to the samurai their hereditary emoluments.' ^ The objections to this condition of things were obvious ; the Central Government had little power. But all through the criticcil period now under con- sideration the Japanese nation showed a political sagacity difficult to parallel ; they had been content in the first instance to start the machinery of reform, and they now were in a position to make changes which had previously been impossible. By accepting appointments as governors the great feudatories admitted that such appointments were in the gift of a higher power. That power proceeded to avail itself of its rights. ' On the 29th August, 1871, an Imperial decree announced the abolition of the system of local autonomy and the removal of the territorial nobles from their posts as governors. The taxes of the former fiefs were to be thenceforth paid into the central treasury ; all officials were to be appointed by the Imperial Govern- ment, and the feudatories retaining permanently an income of one-tenth of their original revenues were to make Tokio their place of residence. As for the samurai, they remained for the moment in possession of their hereditary pensions.' ^ A year or two later the Government offered to commute the pensions of the samurai on the singularly disadvantageous terms of six years' purchase for an hereditary pension, and four years' purchase for a life pension, and in 1876 two edicts were issued, one making the commutation of the pensions of the ' Times, Jajx edit., p. 181. ^ Encyd. Brit, xv, p. 267. THE TRANSITION 79 ex-feu datoi-ies and samurai compulsory ; the other forbidding the wearing of swords. The significance of these changes consists less in their magnitude than in the spirit in which they were put forward and accepted. The ex-feudal chiefs offered to surrender their independence ; and as for the samurai they resigned their substance at the bidding of their master in the spirit in which they would have obeyed orders to commit hara-liri What manner of people were these to whom a national peril could bring forgetfulness of their immediate personal interests ! What would be the fate of a British ministry which taxed football matches to pay for a ship of war ! And it must be remembered that it was the national army which was called upon for this sacrifice ; no power existed to coerce this body of fighting-men. The Japanese had yet to become a nation in arms. It is almost with a feeling of relief that one reads of The Sat- the Satsuma rebellion. Saigo Takamori, one of the i,"iiion. leaders of the Satsuma clan, partly out of personal ambition, and partly from disgust that Japan (to whom peace while she was reorganizing her forces, was essen- tial) should have allowed an affront from Korea, rose against the Government at the head of the samurai of Satsuma, who stood for conservative Japan. The war lasted six months and cost some tliirty thousand lives before the rebels were defeated ; had they succeeded, the honour of fighting for Japan would have been reserved for the samurai alone, and the assimilation of Western ideas would have been less complete. That is to say, that when the time came to face the crisis with Russia, Japan would have possessed a com- paratively small body of fine soldiers, but no national army ; and she Avould have placed her trust in the methods of science with little comprehension of the 80 THE TRANSITION principles underlying them. It is obvious how she would have fared. But this sanguinary war was a blessing in disguise ; to convince the hereditary soldiery that a change was indispensable nothing would have sufficed so com- pletely as their defeat by peasants trained under the foreign system. Henceforward they accepted the situation. To sum up, the Satsuma and Choshu chiefs who led the movement against the Shogunate had been content to use for their own purposes the court party, and those who favoured the restoration of old Japanese usages, and in 1867 the legislative and executive power was given back to the Emperor. The leaders then developed their policy ; so far from re-establishing the Japan of the pre-Shogun era, the next few years were spent in introducing the practices and institutions of Europe and America, and in adapting Japan for the struggle to come. Develop- A central bureaucracy replaced the feudal form of modern government ; the daimyates became prefectures ; the daimyo and the kuge (the court aristocracy) lost their titles and were merged into one class called kwazoku — a title which distinguished them from the heimin or commoners. (In 1881: the kwazoku were subdivided into barons, viscounts, and so forth in the European fashion.) An analogous reform consisted in the re- moval of the social disabilities of the pariah classes. The samurai were replaced by a conscript army drawn from the whole nation ; the Buddhist church was ' disestablished ', and these democratic measures culmi- nated in an undertaking given by the Emperor in 1869, that he would consult representative men before issuing his edicts. In this connexion the Satsuma rebellion must again be referred to : it had emphasized the fear govern- ment. THE TEANSITION 81 that Japan might once again as formerly be governed by one clan to the exclusion of all others. ' The authors of the restoration, therefore, agreed that Avhen the Emperor assumed the reins of power, he should solemnly pledge himself to convene a deliberative assembly, to appoint to administrative posts men of intellect and erudition wherever they might be found, and to decide all measures in accordance with public opinion. This promise referred to frequently in later times as the Imperial oath at the Restoration, came to be accounted the basis of representative institutions, though in reality it was intended solely as a guarantee against the political ascendancy of any one clan.' ^ During the period of transition the reformers were able to spur on the people to make the necessary sacrifices by pointing to the humiliations imposed on Japan's Japan by the treaties which foreign nations had ex- judicial torted from her. It was evident that a nation which ^"^"^^ . . . nomy. had to accept some of the conditions contained in these treaties was not really autonomous. For instance, the Japanese were not allowed to impose more than a small tax upon imports — a limitation which deprived them of the control of their own fiscal system, and affected the building up of industries. Moreover, the treaties ' exempted foreigners residing in Japan from the operation of her criminal laws, and secured to them the privilege of being arraigned solely before tribunals of their own nationality.' ^ These provisos were disliked, not only because it sometimes happened that a foreigner was judge in a suit in which he was personally concerned, but because of the implication that ' Japan was unfit to exercise one of the funda- mental attributes of every sovereign state — ^judicial autonomy '. ' Encjjvl. Brif. xv, p. 2(3(5. - Encijcl. BriL xv, p. 240. rOBTEK P 82 THE TEANSITION Japan spared no pains to have her disabilities re- moved, and at last it was agreed, ' that from July 1899 Japanese tribunals should assume jurisdiction over every person of whatever nationality within the confines of Japan, and the whole country should be thrown open to foreigners, all limitations upon trade, travel, and residence being removed.' ^ But Japan did not, of • course, obtain this recognition during the progress of the events with which this chapter is mainly con- cerned. The It was fitting that the statesmen who abolished authors time-honoured customs should be of a type as new to of the ... . . modern the Japanese as the institutions which they introduced. sys em. j^p^j^^ ^^q i^n^ of caste and of imtria potestas, gave herself over to the guidance of men who, as a class, had neither birth nor experience to recommend them. 'Though essentially imperialistic in its prime pur- poses, the revolution which involved the fall of the Shogunate and ultimately of feudalism may be called democratic with regard to the personnel of those who planned and directed it. They were for the most part men without either official rank or social standing. . . , Fifty-five individuals may be said to have planned and carried out the overthrow of the Yedo administration, and only five of them were territorial nobles.' ^ For the most part the authors of these great changes were young samurai — the class which monopolized the energy and learning of the community. It is true that they did not belong to what we should call the democracy, for they were the social superiors of some nine-tenths of the population. Hitherto, however, the samurai had figured in history as symbols, not of authority, but of allegiance, and in this sense the revolution was made from below. * Encycl. Brit, xv, p. 241. - Enajcl. Brit, xv, p. 265. THE TRANSITION 83 It was not given to all the fifty-five to exert an equal influence in the work of regeneration : the van is the post of danger, and of those who led the attack, many went down before it had succeeded. Some fell to the assassin ; some to the executioner ; others succumbed to over-exertion and anxiety. Twelve of them are specially honoured by their countrymen with the title of the ' Elder Statesmen '. Their careers are too full of incident to be recounted The in this place. It must suffice to mention their names : states- Saigo Takamori, Okubo, Kido, Matsukata, Ito, Inouye, "'^'^ '• Yamagata, Oyama, Itagaki, Soyejima, Sanjo and Iwakura ; and to append Lord Redesdale's eloquent tribute to the Japanese statesman whose name is most fcimiliar to English readers : — ' Prince Ito's tragic end is still fresh in our memories. Prince he was perhaps felix opportunltate mortis. His life's ^^"• work was done — the last years which he spent in Korea bore good fruit, and it would have been sad if so great a servant of his country had faded into senile decay. Like Julius Caesar and President Lincoln, he died by the murderer's hand in the fullness of his powers, in the ripe vigour of his genius. His countrymen will not soon forget him. When I knew him first, nearly half a century ago, he was a ronin of the Choshiu clan — as wild as a hawk — full of spirits — ready for any adventure — up to any fun — as merry a companion as a man could wish for : but, like Prince Hal, when there was a man's work to be done, the true metal rang out clear and bright, and the energy which found an outlet in his boyish pranks, in his journey to Europe with Inouye, travelling at the risk of life, and in many a hazardous venture, was spent upon serious work, and upon the solution of the serious problem of statecraft.' A new era began for Japan from the moment when her heaven-descended ruler surrendered his celestial r2 84 THE TRANSITION repose in the interests of his country and came among men to share their burdens. The Emperor has had his reward for assenting to the sacrifice of the picturesque mediaeval Japan with which were bound up all the traditions of his long line of ancestors. ' Though thou love her as thyself, As a self of purer clay, Though her parting dim the day, Stealing grace from all alive. Heartily know When half gods go The gods arrive.' CHAPTER Y THE WORK OF RECONSTEUCTION The period with which we are now concerned is The iMeiji known to the Japanese as the Meiji era. Since the failure of the Satsuma rebellion the nation has put its past behind it and has looked steadily forward ; the eclectic instinct through which it assimilated the developments of Chinese civilization that were suitable to its needs has enabled it to take from Europe and America such institutions as could with most advantage be grafted on to the national life. Probably Europe and America in their turn have something to learn from Japan in examining her reasons for taking different countries as her tutors in different departments of knowledge. In all probability Reforms she has made a wise selection, for many of the states- ^^^^ men who moulded her new institutions had completed Western , . . . methods. their education abroad, and were thus m a position to pass judgment. ' Englishmen were employed to superintend the building of railways, the erection of telegraphs, the construction of light- houses, and the organization of a navy. To Frenchmen was entrusted the task of recasting the laws and training the army in strategy and tactics. Educational affairs, the organization of a postal service, the improvement of agriculture and the work of colonization were supervised by Americans. The teaching of medical science, the compilation of a commercial code, the elaboration of a system of local government, and ultimately the training of 86 THE WOEK OF RECONSTRUCTION military officers were assigned to Germans. For instruction in sculpture and painting Italians were engaged.' ^ It will be gathered that the Japanese were extremely thorough in their reforms ; indeed, for a long time there was no surer way of annoying them than to select as a subject for compliment the love of the picturesque and the dignified simplicity of Old Japan. Such a device was taken to imply contempt for the organizing power and ' push ' on which the new generation prided itself. Mr. Basil Chamberlain gives an amusing instance of the childish seriousness with which the Japanese regarded their scientific acquirements : — 'A Japanese pamphleteer refused to argue out a point of philosophy with a learned German resident at Tokyo on the score that Europeans, owing to their antiquated Christian prejudices, were not capable of discussing such matters impartially ! ' Such being the attitude of the Japanese people it will be understood that the ' Yellow Peril ' argu- ment is to them both offensive and unintelligible. Their object is to rank with the United States and the great nations of Europe ; they have been busy for fifty years disorientalizing themselves at a cost which must be apj^reciated by every foreign diplomatist ; and the suggestion that they proj^ose to lead the Eastern nations against the West seems to them the result of wilful misconstruction. Indeed, they have given their proofs ; and their establishment of so Western an institution as Parlia- mentary Government is sufficient to indicate the lines of their future progress. ' Encyd. Brit, xv, p. 269. THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION 87 The Constitutional History of the Meiji era repays Constitu- study ; it discloses how statesmen, whose ability is Reform. proved by the present standing of their country, faced the problem of combining national efficiency with individual freedom — a problem often considered in- soluble ; with the recollection of the strike riots and the sabotage by which the proletariat of the West still shows its displeasure, one must judge them by their successes and not by their failures ; the radical who is dissatisfied with the status of the lower classes should refer to the social progress made in England or France during any period of fifty years. ' The Elder Statesmen' enjoyed the advantage of being unhampered by precedents and of having to deal with a people accustomed to autocracy ; otherwise their task would have been impossible. In a country where the populace had no rights any innovation was of necessity liberal. When the present Emperor emerged from seclu- sion he promised, as we have seen, that the counsels of able men should be widely utilized ; this stipulation may be regarded as admitting the germ of representa- tive institutions, but as a matter of historical fact it was dictated not by the desire to give the masses a share in the government, but by the fear lest adminis- trative power should once more be monopolized by some one clan to the exclusion of the rest. * Not until six years later did a vague conception of representative government present itself to a group of politicians — headed by Itagaki, now a Count, who, finding their advocacy of war with Korea defeated by the majority vote of a cabinet council, naturally longed for some tribunal to which they might appeal against a decision fatal in their opinion to the country's interests.' ^ ^ Times, Jap. edit., p. 178. 88 THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION The situation to which Itagaki took exception was the natural outcome of the circumstances that had preceded it. The men who had combined to depose the Shogun now combined to exercise the power which had been his. Difficul- It w^as only when they had accomplished this object the re- — ^^^ object wliich they were at one in desiring — that formers, their real difficulties began. First of all, they had to devise a national system of administration and to substitute it for the various local customs which prevailed in the different principalities ; secondly, they had to educate themselves to understand the alien institutions which they were compelling their country- men to adopt ; and thirdly, they had to shape their foreign policy so as not to compromise the future development of Japan. Perhaps for men inexj^erienced in diplomacy the last was the hardest task of all. For instance, the true significance of foreign settle- ments and of the limitation of customs duties was not at once apparent to a people who only desired that the intruders should keep out of harm's way, and who did not contemplate manufacturing on a Western scale. It was inevitable that differences of opinion should now manifest themselves, but for several years no machinery existed for referring them to the public. Indeed, the first tentative steps to that end were far from successful. Soon after the Restoration two national assemblies were summoned, ])ut this title is misleading, for, in the first place, they consisted solely of samurai — the gentry ; in the second, they were entrusted with no legislative powder. Their aim- less debating served such little jiurpose that no third assembly was convoked. The elder statesmen grap- pled unassisted with problems, the difficulty of which their critics were not advanced enous^h to realize. THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION 89 They declined to win cheap popularity by inviting men of no experience to participate in the government, and they hesitated to adopt the Anglo-Saxon practice of giving the vote first and educating the voter after- wards — although it should have recommended itself to a country where houses are built from the roof downwards. On the other hand, Itagaki and his followers regarded inconsistencies of this kind as essential to the new polity — inconsistencies which had been forced upon the models they studied ; they desired to imitate the West, defects and all — -just as presum- ably in setting up a copy of the Campanile of Venice they would have expressly sought for marshy foun- dations like those with which the Venetians had to content themselves. It may be said in passing that for the Japanese it was not a question of raising their political edifice on a marsh or on nothing ; they would be well repaid for time spent on allowing foundations to ' set ', for with every year the nation was acquiring more political knowledge. The Japanese were not an unlettered people : the National details of their educational history are given in other ^-0^ chapters ; it will suffice here to quote two references to education under the Tokugawa period from Count Okuma's FifUj Years of New Japan : — ' Under the various fiefs, great and small, Han or clan schools had for a long while previously been established for the education of the fief's retainers, and the number of these schools gradually increased. . . . No school fees were exacted from students.' ' The subjects taught in the Teralwja to the children of the common people were reading, letter-writing, arithmetic, etiquette and calligraph}^, which was the 90 THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION principal course. . . . The lessons differed according to the different callings of the children, with a view to practical application in daily life. . . . The school age of children was from seven or eight years to twelve or thirteen.' After the restoration the Tokugawa system of educa- tion was improved and organized, while with the introduction of universal military service the masses became imbued with the ideas of the samurai. To a country of Japan's financial weakness it was of cardinal importance that democratic proposals — for instance a non-contributory pensions bill — should not be submitted to an electorate which could not count the cost ; and it became the unpopular duty of the Elder Statesmen to defer the ultra-radical measures which would make unavailing the radical reforms which they themselves had instituted with so niuch labour. Constitu- However, by 1880, Itagaki had preached Rousseau tion Pro- i , • -.i i muio-ated. doctrmes With such success Hhat a petition for the immediate establishment of a national parliament was addressed to the throne and thereafter quickly followed an edict creating provincial assemblies to which was entrusted the control of local affairs, notably of finance. Forty-six assemblies comj^rising over 1,500 legislators elected by some two millions of franchise holders, repre- sented a more substantial concession to the rights of the subject than even the opening of a parliament. A promise of the latter was however given formally by the Emperor in 1881, and on February 11th, 1889, the Constitution was at last promulgated.' ' Some historians are apt to regard the grant of repre- sentative government as the end of all difficulties — ' Times, Jap. edit., p. 178, THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION 91 much as the noveUst regards the marriage of his characters — and with as httle reason. In point of fact the tribulations of Japan did not cease ; they merely changed their character. The Constitution was the work of the late Prince Ito, who had given much time to the study of foreign parliaments ; it is perhaps the greatest of his many contributions to his country's welfare. As might be supposed the first debates of the Diet filled patriotic Japanese with apprehension. 'Very little evidence could be detected of a wide national outlook. Even the government's proposal to appropriate a sum for building two battleships was met by a resolute negative and the Emperor himself had to intervene at last '.^ The framers of the Constitution, comj)elled as they were to allow votes to men of no experience, had availed themselves of the peculiar esteem in which the Japanese hold their royal house. Recognizing doubtless that party government was a logical con- sequence of the steps already taken, they nevertheless determined to prolong as long as possible the rule of ministers of proved competence. By the Constitution the executive power is vested in the Emperor who exercises it through ministers appointed by — and responsible to— himself. The Cabinet's tenure of office depends solely upon the will and pleasure of the Emperor ; it cannot be dismissed by parliament. There is also a Privy Council which is consulted by the Emperor on important matters. In practice the Emperor — with his advisers— is responsible also for legislation, for the laws passed l^y ' Times, Jap. edit., p. 178. 92 THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION the Diet must be sanctioned by him and he can both convoke the Diet and put an end to its dehberations. ' The Diet is comprised of two houses — a House of Peers and a House of Representatives. The former consists partially of non-elected and partially of elected members. The non-elective section includes Princes and Marquises — some fifty-five in all — sitting by hereditary right, and imperial nominees — about 120 — selected by the sovereign from among men of con- spicuous erudition or public services, who sit for life. To the elective section belong Counts, Viscounts, and Barons, elected in a certain proportion by their respective orders ; and representatives of the highest taxpayers elected by their class.' ^ The House of Representatives consists • of 379 members elected in the proportion of one to about every 127,000 of the population. The electors are male Japanese subjects who have attained the age of twenty- five years and who pay taxes to the extent of ten yen per annum. ' During the first four years of the Diet's existence the House of Representatives was dissolved three times; during the next four once, and during the next seven once. The descending scale tells its own tale, the poli- tical parties were learning discretion. But the Cabinet on its side, did not escape unscathed. If there were seven dissolutions in the Lower House in nineteen years, there were also eleven changes of Ministry. By these transferences of portfolios the advisers of the Crown acknowledged to the nation their sense of partial responsibility for the situation. The statistics teach another lesson also. Only twice during those nineteen years did a Cabinet enjoy any considerable lease of life ; and on each occasion the country was fighting a foreign foe. An Ito Ministry remained in ^ Times, J iiYt. edit., p. 179. THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION 93 office during the war with China and a Katsura Cabinet sat in the seat of power for four years during the conflict with Russia. No other group of statesmen endured the struggle with the Diet for more than two years. Thus the honours may be said to have been divided, and if the political parties showed that they sometimes preferred tumult to legislation they showed also that patriotism effaced politics from their vision.' ^ In practice the Government of Japan is a bureau- cracy, the leaders of which cannot be dismissed by the people, for they are responsible only to the Emperor. It is a system which lends itself to abuses, but it is difficult to imagine any other that would have tided Japan over the recent crisis in her history. The ' clan statesmen ' who were entrusted with the Government seldom commanded a majority in the Lower House, but no alternative ministry would have been more popular. Encouraged by the Em^^eror, and supported by the House of Peers, they have made their country what she is. Si monumentum quaeris, circumspice. It remains to give a short account of the fighting- services of Japan. Under the feudal system it was the exclusive The privilege of the samurai to bear arms and to defend " ^'"^' their country in time of need. With the advent of Perry came the necessity for a new policy. For a few years Japan experimented with Western ideas, and then in 1873 an Imperial decree was promulgated substituting national conscription for the hereditary army of the past. The soldiers of the new type were soon subjected to a severe test: — in 1877 they were called upon to meet the Satsuma samurai, who had risen primarily to demonstrate their superiority over ^ Times, Jap. edit., p. 179. 94 THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION such civilian warriors. The conscripts were victorious ; but this is not all. To fill their depleted ranks, the Imperial leaders had to have recourse to volunteers. ' But as these were for the most part samurai, the expectation was that their hereditary instinct of fight- ing would compensate for lack of training. That expectation was not fulfilled. Serving side by side in the field, the samurai volunteer and the helmin regular were found to diifer by precisely the degree of their respective training. The fact was then finally established that the fighting qualities of the farmer and artisan reached as high a standard as those of the husJiV ^ The history of the Japanese army during the last thirty years is of vast importance to military men, but it is of too technical a character to be given here. The work of organization and training was entrusted first to French and afterwards to German instructors ; subsequently the services of foreigners were dispensed with, and the plan was adopted of sending promising Japanese officers to study in Europe. The success of this selective method is a proof of the discernment of the War Office, and of the national capacity to adapt foreign methods to local conditions. To instance one point of difference between the Japanese and the foreign soldier ; the latter wants meat, the former can easily carry with him three days' rations in the form of dried rice. The The Japanese navy has developed on much the ^''^' same lines as the army. The Tokugawa policy of seclusion deprived the nation of a fleet — its birthright as an island— but it left it its breed of sailors. The Japanese had access to nothing in the matter of naval equipment which was concealed from the Russians ^ Enct/cl Brit xv, p. 210. THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION 95 and Chinese whom they defeated at sea, and the inference seems irresistible that they were superior in ' the man behind the gun '. 'Japan owes to Europeans, and largely to British naval officers, a debt which her own writers have some- times been a little slow to acknowledge. The services of the late Admiral Tracey to the infant navy have already been mentioned. In 1873, the present Admiral Douglas, then a commander, was selected by the British Admiralty to head a naval mission sent to in- struct the Japanese navy. At a later date the present Rear- Admiral Jolin Ingles served as naval adviser to the Japanese Government. In her two great wars Japan has relied mainly upon herself, but it is not to be forgotten that in earlier days the young officers of her inftint navy were allowed free access to British ships, and that many of them includ- ing Togo himself studied their i^rofession in England.' ^ By the early nineties, the pains bestowed on the army and the navy had borne fruit, and nothing but active service was required to polish them into efficient machines. And the situation in Korea suggested that their services would soon be requisitioned. To the question — why do the Japanese take such interest in Korea? one would answer, why did the Germans desire Heligoland ? why do the Spaniards covet Gibraltar ? The importance of all three is relative rather than absolute ; it lies in their strategic position. If the situation of Korea be examined on the map, The little imagination will be required to regard her as a question. knife pointed at the throat of Japan. With what object ? murder or tracheotomy ? The simile is less hyper- bolical than one might suppose. The interest of Japan ^ Times, Jap. edit., p. 189. 96 THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION in Korea is not merely sentimental and historical, although, no doubt, the close connexion of the two countries in the past and the" legendary triumphs of the Empress Jingo supply motives for resisting foreign intervention. The ownership of Korea is a vital matter. Japan went to war with China to put an end to the confusion in Korea ; it was essential to her to resist any obstruction of this commercial windpipe ; thousands of her subjects were engaged in trade in Korea and she looked to them for large markets on the mainland — markets on which her revenue and, therefore, her independence would largely depend. Disorder and turbulence affected her commercial development, but Russian occupation would put an end to it. Russia would maintain 'the open door' for just the time necessary to kick Japan through it. And the evil would not end even there. Increased possessions would mean an increased Russian Navy ; the indented Korean coast would supply harbours for its base ; and Japan would find a gigantic, unscrupu- lous, and aggressive power established within a few hours' steam of her coasts. In 1894 the Government of Korea — faced with an insurrection — asked for Chinese assistance. China sent an armed force, and Japan perceived that she must do likewise if she was to preserve her influence. China and Japan were both entitled by treaty to send troops to Korea on giving notice to each other, but it was obvious that a dangerous situation would be created if the two powers exercised their rights with- out coming to an agreement beforehand. However, no understanding was arrived at ; indeed, China per- sisted in referring to Korea as a tributary State, whereas Japan had dealt with her as an equal in a treaty concluded in 1876. THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION 97 The breach between China and Japan widened. The latter proposed ' that the two empires should unite their efforts for the suppression of disturbance in Korea and for the subsequent improvement of the kingdom's administration, the latter purpose to be pursued by a joint commission of investigation '. China refused on the ground that Japan was not entitled to interfere in the internal administration of a country at the very time she insisted on its independence. China was not interested in the reform of Korea ; on the contrary, proud of her own venerable civilization, she looked with aversion and contempt upon Japan's acceptance of foreign institutions. China desired that the countries on her frontier should retain for her the respect which would vanish if the Occident replaced her as the source of their customs. Oriental and unorganized they were a pro- tection against more distant invaders ; agitated by the discontent of the West and armed with its weapons they became in themselves a menace. Her policy is easily intelligible ; she has always endeavoured to sur- round herself with buffer States whose course of action she could dictate while leaving them fully responsible for it if international complications arose. The Western powers are familiar with this aspect of Chinese states- manship, of which the latest example occurred in con- nexion with the recent expedition to Lhasa; and Japan, taught by her experiences in the Riukiu affair, knew exactly what value to attach to diplomatic protestations. Japan eventually decided to use the troops that she had sent to Korea, with the negative object of putting down the insurrection, for the positive work of reform. The insurrection itself had come to nothing. The but China did not withdraw her forces ; on the con- Japanese trary, she set about sending reinforcements, and ^^'^*' 98 THE WOEK OF EECONSTRUOTION then war broke out between the two great Asiatic powers. There is no reason to suppose that either of them greatly coveted Korea, but to both it was vital that a country so dominantly situated should not fall under the control of Eussia. China held that JajDan would make a path for the common enemy by introducing Western reforms ; Japan was convinced from her own experience that these and these alone would enable Korea to withstand aggression. She was, at any rate, able to demonstrate that there was much to be said for the new methods from the military point of view : the war began with the sinking of a Chinese transport, and from that time onwards the Japanese successes were unchecked. The first serious engagement took place at Phyong- yang, where the Chinese were routed in spite of enjoying every advantage of position ; and a similar result attended a naval battle off the mouth of the Yalu river, although on paper the prospects were favourable to China. Niu-chang and Port Arthur were taken with little loss, and it was only in a naval engagement off Wei-hai-wei that serious resistance was encountered. However, this battle also ended in the complete defeat of the Chinese, whose ships were either taken or sunk ; their commander, Admiral Ting, committed suicide. The Chinese Government eventually recognized that their enemy was too strong to be overcome, and Li Hung Chang was sent to discuss terms of peace, which were embodied in the treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. Treaty of This treaty ' declared the absolute independence of seki" Korea ; ceded to Japan the part of Manchuria lying south of a line drawn from the mouth of the river Auping to the mouth of the Liao through Feng-hwang, Hai-cheng, and Ying-tse-kow, as well as the islands of THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION 99 Formosa and the Pescadores ; pledged China to pay an indemnity of 200,000,000 taels ; provided for the occu- pation of Wei-hai-wei by Japan pending payment of the indemnity ; secured some additional commercial privileges such as the opening of four new places to foreign trade and the rights of foreigners to engage in manufacturing enterprises in China, and provided for the conclusion of a treaty of commerce and amity between the two powers based on the lines of China's treaties with Occidental powers '.^ Her victory had cost Japan some twenty thousand lives and some twenty million pounds — no high price for a successful war, but one which placed so heavy a strain upon her scanty resources that she was in no condition to engage in further mili- tary operations. She, therefore, had to forgo much of the fruit of her victory. It was represented to her by Russia, France, and Germany that she should restore to China ' in the interests of peace ' the territory on the mainland that had l^een ceded to her ; and the risk to peace involved in the occupation of Port Arthur by Japan was specially emphasized. Japan showed that immediate perception of her own weakness which is one of the sources of her strength. She gave way ; and by giving way at once she pre- served her dignity ; she took the advice of the three powers and adopted their suggestion. The action of Russia was of course dictated by her own material interests ; she did not desire to see Japan ensconced on territory she had marked out for herself. France as the ally of Russia associated herself with the latter's action, but the intervention of Germany is harder to account for. Either she wished to ingratiate herself with Russia or else — obsessed ' Encycl. Brit, xv, p. 247. g2 100 THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION with the 'Yellow Peril' — she was actuated by a vision of millions of Japan-led Mongolians tramping steadily across Russia towards her own Eastern frontier. Japan received a slightly larger indemnity than that which she originally demanded, and restored to China Port Arthur and the Liao-tung Peninsula. To those who recognize that the occupation of this territory by a strong and hostile power could not but be a menace to the independence of Japan, it seems curious that the treaty contained no provision j)rotect- ing her from an obvious danger. It would have been difficult, one would have thought, for the intervening nations to object to the inclusion in the revised treaty of a clause neutralizing the danger zone, or giving the Japanese a right of pre-emption over it ; but Japan received a hint not to press for any guarantee, and perhaps she felt that the existence of any such clause might compel her to fight on the day it was torn up instead of at her own time. For it was obvious that Japan would have to fight for Korea or see Russia in occupation of it. All Russia's maritime neighbours have suffered from her sea hunger ; and for years she had been pushing eastwards into Asia with the same policy that directed her to the north and to the south in Europe. Finally she reached the Pacific at Nicho- layevsk, and then she turned south towards the warm water. It was not likely that she would be content with Vladivostock, commanded as it is by Japan, or that aught but the strong hand would keep her from Port Arthur. That the Jaj^anese were under no illusions is clear ; they remembered lyeyasu's maxim : ' in the moment of victory tighten the strings of your helmet ' : they settled down grimly and quietly to prepare for the inevitable struggle. CHAPTER VI THE EECOGNITION OF JAPAN The last phase of the history of Japan is so intimately connected with that of Russia that it is best prefaced with some account of the earlier relations of the two countries. The experiences of Lieutenant Laxmann in Japan Relations have been already referred to (p. 62). Undaunted by Russia. the rebuff administered to him Russia made further overtures, but they were received so coldly that nothing came of them. However, when the Russians reached the Pacific they could no longer remain passive ; the island of Saghalien commanded the estuary of the Amur, and it became necessary for them to possess themselves at any rate of its northern portion. Situated in a cold and foggy region Saghalien was not The in itself desirable ; for many years it had been visited quf sHon." by fishermen from Russia and Japan, but it had not been effectively occupied by the Government of either country. It was only on account of its strategic position that it was coveted by the former Power, which proposed in 1857 that the whole island should be recognized as a Russian possession. The Shogun's ministers made a counter-proposal that the fiftieth parallel of north latitude should be regarded as the boundary between Russia and Japan. Negotiations were protracted over several years, and in 1875 ' Japan agreed to recognize Russia's title to the whole island on condition that Russia similarly recognized Japan's title to the Kuriles. It was a singular compact. 102 THE RECOGNITION OF JAPAN Russia purchased a Japanese property and paid for it with a part of Japan's belongings.'^ Count Okuma gives a most entertaining account of the attempts made by the Russian diplomatist Ignatieff to outwit Matsudaira, the envoy sent to Europe by Japan in 1861 to discuss the Saghalien question. It seems that a Russian warship had carried a map in which Saghalien was divided between Japan and Russia along the fiftieth parallel, and to this Matsu- daira called attention. Ignatieff replied that this was an English map and that he could produce Russian maps in which the whole island was assigned to Russia ; and sure enough in a few days' time he did ! Shortly afterwards Matsudaira was taken to the Government observatory, and there he was able to point to a globe on which the ' English ' partition was repeated ! About this time the Russians boldly seized Tshu- shima, but were compelled to withdraw in response to the representations of Great Britain. Yet Russia was far from abandoning her policy ; in 1884 she Russian entered into commercial relations with Korea, and Commer- ii^ 1888 sho coucludcd witli that country the famous ?i^^ , Overland Commercial Treaty which laid the founda- Treaty ^ with ' tion for the encroachments dealt with in the last Korea. i , chapter. The open cynicism of the methods of Russia saved Japan from one danger ; that of being lulled into false security. Japan accepted the situation ; and for the next few years she was too feverishly occupied in internal preparations to waste energy in advertising herself. She showed no alacrity to invade China when the Boxer Rising of 1900 gave her an opportunity ; but finding that her co-operation was desired by * Okuma. THE RECOGNITION OF JAPAN 103 Europe and America she sent a division which acquitted itself favourably under critical eyes. It will be remembered that the foreign legations in Pekin were besieged by the insurgent Boxers and that the force sent to relieve them consisted of the troops of all nations. By associating herself with the great powers in this expedition Japan emphasized her claims to be regarded as one of them. With this she was content ; she made no attempt to maintain her troops in China longer than was necessary, nor did she use her position to extort concessions for herself. Russia was not content with the set-back she had given to Japan in insisting on the retrocession of the latter's acquisition on the mainland ; she obtained from China as a reward for her support the right to build the Trans-Asiatic railway through Mandchuria and so to Vladivostock ; and thus she avoided the Russian large bend to the north which the railway would have j^ j^j.^^- liad to follow if it had remained in Russian territor3% chunu. Three years later Russia demanded and obtained a lease of Port Arthur and Talienwan ; and with them a concession to link them up by railway to her main- line in the north. Russian influence thus became powerful in Man- churia, and the Boxer rising gave an opportunity of increasing it. All the resources of diplomacy were required to prevent Russia from exacting an agree- ment making it virtually a Russian province, but finally she consented to withdraw her troops in three instalments. When the time came to act upon these stipulations Russia ignored them ; Japan's protests were treated with almost open contumely. Japan had either to make war or to see herself permanently excluded from the mainland. For with the Russians in permanent occupation of the territory west of 104 THE EECOGNITION OF JAPAN Korea, the harbours of the latter — the only adequate harbours on that part of the coast — would be required for the development of their new acquisition. Russia- Japan decided for war, and on the fourth of February, ^ipanese ^^q^^ Yiqi' destroyers attacked Port Arthur, and did considerable damage to the Russian squadron lying there. The problem before Japan was to establish herself securely in the territory she coveted before reinforcements could strengthen the Russian army of some 80,000 men. To this she could oppose about half a million trained soldiers when her reserves were called up. For Russia it was hardly a question of reserves : she could, so to speak, pump men along the trans-Siberian railway. Thus, the success of Japan was contingent upon her obtaining immediate victories ; and for these her hope lay in the transport difficulties of the Russians. Those who regarded the chances of Japan as hopeless probably overlooked the limitations of a single line of railway. The Russian giant would have made light of his burden if he could have shouldered it as he pleased ; but this he could not do ; he had to support it at the full stretch of his arm. We are concerned here not so much with the military history of the campaign as with the qualities of courage, foresight, judgment, and enter^Drise which it proved Japan to possess. Her victories might be attributable to the incompetence of her foes — as was the case in the Chinese war, but the manner in which they were won revealed such a caj)acity for progress in a people who had relied on two swords fifty years earlier that it would be difficult to over-estimate its prospects in the future. And it must be remembered that Japan was not borne along upon the tide of success. Her first sea raid upon Port Arthur was less success- THE RECOGNITION OF JAPAN 105 ful than she no doubt anticipated : early in the war she was deprived of two of her biggest ships, the Hatsuse and the Yashima ; the first land attack upon Port Ai'thur was a costly failure. And the Russian infantrymen never belied their reputation : their achievement in returning again to the Shaho, after being beaten back for seven consecutive days, indicates a morale for which one is at a loss for a parallel. A short account of the war must be given in order to bring out the difficulties with which the Japanese were faced and the resolution they displayed in over- coming them. Their first object was to keep the two halves of the Russian fleet sealed up in Port Arthur and Vladivo- stock respectively while they hurried their troops over to the mainland. But the Korean roads, always bad, were at their worst under the spring thaws, and it was three months before the Japanese were ready to cross the Yalu. From the Russian standpoint the battle that resulted should have been an affair of outposts, but the Russian commander was loth to retreat before Asiatics, and it was impossible for him, with his inferior forces, to make a stand. His lack of perspi- cacity gave to the inevitable victory of the Japanese a lustre it would otherwise have lacked. They were enabled to start the war by storming entrenchments and hunting the defenders out of them. The Russians would naturally have mobilized at their leisure in the north but for the necessity of saving the fleet in Port Arthur ; the fleet was the dominant factor ; victorious, it could convoy innumer- able Russians to Japan : destroyed, it took with it to the bottom the hope of invading the island kingdom. It so happened that it would have been better for Russia if every ship of the Pacific fleet had been 106 THE RECOGNITION OF JAPAN torpedoed on the night the war began ; the army would not then have hurried into false positions for the sake of relieving Port Arthur ; and Rozhestvenski would never have started on his tragic voyage to Tsushima. But the fleet was badly handled ; Admiral Makarof went down with his ship, the Petropavhvsh, in the early days of the war, and in him Russia lost her only energetic commander. If his methods had been pursued Russia might still have been deprived of her Pacific fleet, but not through the battering of siege guns ; and Rozhestvenski would have found fewer ships to give him battle when he made for Vladi- vostock. What General Kuroki did on the Yalu towards making the rej)utation of the Japanese infantrymen, his colleague, General Oku, did at Nanshan close to Port Arthur. The capture of this strong position by a frontal attack was followed by the defeat of General Stakelberg who was hurrying south to relieve Port Arthur, and the way was then clear for a Japanese advance to the north. The first great battle of the war was' fought at Liao Yang ; as it ended in the Japanese with slightly inferior forces driving the Russians out of an entrenched position, it made it clear that the latter had no advantage in leadership or in soldierly qualities. But there was much that was ominous in the failure of the Japanese to concentrate sufficient men on the battlefield to make the victory decisive ; it suggested that a time would come when they would be outnumbered. Their constancy was further tried by the news from Port Arthur. The investing army under General Nogi had tried to storm the fortress and had completely failed ; this disastrous attack had been ordered partly under misconception of THE RECOGNITION OF JAPAN 107 the strength of the place, partly under the necessity of destroying the Russian fleet before it could be rein- forced from Europe. The besiegers' losses continued to be heavy, and their assistance was becoming more and more necessary in the north, where the Russians were gathering strength. Again and again the Japanese attacked the fortress, but they made little headway. Finally they spent ten thousand men in taking the key of the position, 203 Metre Hill, from which a view of the harbour could be obtained by officers in telephonic communication with howitzers in the rear. Thus they were enabled to sink the Russian warships as they lay in the harbour. A month later Sunender on January 2, 1905, Port Arthur surrendered ; it had ^^^.^^'^l. cost the Japanese 58,000 casualties, and left them with 32,000 sick men. Meanwhile, there had been heavy fighting with little practical result on the Shaho in the autumn, the Japanese being now outnumbered. In the spring of the following year, 1905, the Japanese, putting their full strength into the field, endeavoured to envelop the enemy near Mukden ; after several days hard fighting, their wings succeeded in effecting a junction to the north of the Russian position. But Battle of the Russians had withdrawn from it ; they had, how- ever, suffered nearly a hundred thousand casualties and some loss of prestige in being driven from Muk- den, the historic capital of Manchuria. The battle had cost the victorious Japanese between forty and fifty thousand men and it was obvious that the financial strain could not be endured indefinitely. Indeed, the war was not decided on the great battlefields of Manchuria ; if the Russians could have used their resources they might well have been ultimately victorious in spite of the length of their communi- 108 THE RECOGNITION OF JAPAN cations. But the Japanese had found a powerful ally in the Russian radical party ; so many civil • disturbances occurred in Russia that the Government was constrained to agree to President Roosevelt's suggestion that the time had come to discuss terms of peace. The war was closed by a treaty signed Treaty of in August, 1905, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, mouth. Russia was ' to cede the half of Saghalien annexed in 1875, to surrender her lease of the Liao-tung peninsula and Port Arthur, to evacuate Manchuria and to recognize Japan's sphere of influence in Korea'. Japan was victorious not because she could command better fighting-material than the enemy, but because her subjects shrank from no personal sacrifice in the national cause ; Russia was defeated because her politicians regarded the war as an opportunity for creating difficulties at home. No further moral can be drawn, as the two Governments are equally auto- cratic. But as democratic England suffered in the South African war from embarrassments similar to those of Russia, it would appear that the yellow man has something to teach the white in the matter of patriotism. Blinded by the splendour of the recent achieve- ments of Japan, we run some risk of overlooking the difficulties which still beset her path. She is not necessarily the stronger for the acquisition of foreign dependencies. Imperial An island people such as the Japanese — numerous, WlUies?" homogeneous, self-supporting, governed in a manner to deserve and to command respect — enjoy such an enviable position that possessions beyond the seas must be of the greatest value to compensate for the responsibilities they bring with them. How heavy the latter are may be learned in the history THE EECOGNITION OF JAPAN 109 of Great Britain. Extensive land frontiers call for large garrisons — especially when they lie open to the attack of powerful and ambitious neighbours ; a colonial army is costly to maintain if only because of the objection against forcing conscripts to serve away from home ; and the mother country cannot afford to be cut off from her dependencies ; she must spend far more on her fleet than if she were only concerned with coastal defence. The administration of Chosen will prol)ably involve Chosen. the Japanese in many complications ; the adjacent countries, China and Russia, will be very ready to intervene if occasion offers ; and powers otherwise disinterested will unite to exact commercial privileges. But Japan has established herself in the mainland with her eyes open, for she is not without experience of colonial administration. In 1895 she took over the Island of Formosa which was ceded to her by Formosa. China in the treaty of Shimonoseki. Here her em- barrassments began at once ; her officials possessed no colonial experience and the best of them were reluctant to leave the positions they had made for themselves in Japan. Fortunately there were exceptions, and constructive work of the greatest excellence has been accomplished by Baron Shimpei Goto, whose caj^acity to produce the best results at the least expenditure has resulted in his being transferred to Japan, where his develop- ment of the railway system has excited universal admiration. ' Only thirteen years have elapsed since Formosa was placed under the Imperial Government. But there are already sufficient resources to maintain financial independence, there are industrial monopolies successfully carried out in accordance with the needs 110 THE EECOGNITION OF JAPAN of the time, and there are no more dohi disturbances (insurrections) except occasional menaces by some aboriginal tribes. In short, the influence of the Japanese administration now extends throughout the island.'^ But colonial problems are material in character; they will probably yield to patience, resolution, and watchfulness. It remains to be seen if the Japanese will continue to display these qualities. Indeed, there is only one cause for apprehension — the nation may weary in well-doing. Under the stimulus of a great danger it has made a corresponding effort ; it has performed prodigies ; will it give way to a feeling of lassitude now that dull and unostentatious toil must be substituted for the heroic achievements of the last few years? To succeed in competition with her new rivals, Japan must persist in displaying the restless energy which is instinctive in the Western races; will the nation now resume her Eastern customs as the individual is said to resume his kimono when his day's work is done ? Much money will be needed for what remains to be accomplished ; taxation will of necessity be heavy, and no doubt it will breed labour troubles. To quote Count Okuma in his introductory article to the Times, Japanese edition : — Reaction- ' 111 the early days of national reform, countries ary ten- advance bravely and enthusiastically on their course, Japanese" ^^^ midway they are apt to falter ; their pulse grows character, sluggisli and their energies flag. During the past half century the Japanese have freely and incessantly silent themselves in the working out of their national destiny and not least in the two great foreign wars they have had to wage. There have been signs in some quarters of a certain exhaustion of mental activity, a certain relaxation of moral fibre, a certain ' Okuma. THE RECOGNITION OF JAPAN 111 tendency towards scepticism which, it may be feared may react injuriously on social morality.' In his own book Count Okuma is more explicit : he deplores ' the primitive conceptions of the greater part of the people as to their legal rights and duties '. With the collapse of the feudal system there has been a breakdown of the sense of duty to ancestors, rulers, and superiors, and nothing has taken its place. The new system of law and administration is excellent but the theories upon which it is based are not under- stood by the masses and thus it is not ' broad based upon the people's will '. In art, in literature and in matters of social custom the old has been swept away, and at present the nation is like a questing hound uncertain which of several tracks to follow. Commercial morality is not what it should be — a state of things attributed by some critics to the ' free thinking ' attitude of the Japanese towards religious questions ; by others, to their not having been long enough in business to know that a good reputation is worth more than a single profitable transaction. Some of the criticisms of the Japanese trader must be taken, it is to be remembered, in connexion with the anxiety which his entry into commerce inspires among those already engaged therein. The latter fear that they will find behind each individual Japanese the organized resources of his strenuous Government. In a sense, however, this state support is a source of weakness for it does away with the need for private enterprise. Mr. C. V. Sale said in a paper on Japan recently read before the Royal Statistical Society : — 'Men look to the Government for aid and having received it strive to stifle competition. Success depends more on manoeuvring for privileges than on a steady 112 THE RECOGNITION OF JAPAN persevering struggle against obstacles. As a natural sequence the supply of active, resourceful, self-reliant men of affairs does not keep pace with the demand ; hence the timidity of capital and the cry for more and still more Government assistance.' Count Okuma observes the same characteristic in other walks of life ; he mentions with regret that ' scholars and students are not expected so much to invent as to supply '. Some reference had to be made to blemishes referred to by so great an authority, although to a foreigner they seem symptomatic merely of transition, and of little account in comparison with the merits which the national character has recently shown itself to possess - — merits which Great Britain may claim to have been the first of the Great Powers to recognize. Indeed, without a summary of the relations between Japan and the British Empire, an English account of Japan would be incomplete. British As far as is known the first Englishman to reach with Japan was a certain Will Adams who was pilot of Japan. ^^ Dutcli ship wliicli arrived there in 1600. Adams was never allowed to return home, but he secured the confidence and patronage of lyeyasu, from whom he obtained a comfortable livelihood as a shipbuilder. The Dutch soon developed the trade of which they were destined to obtain a monopoly, and their success excited the cupidity of the English, who resented, moreover, the high prices that they had to pay for Japanese merchandise. The English East India Company set about trading with Japan, and their advances were received at first with great cordiality. But the Company misused its opportunities ; it was ill-advised in its choice of head-quarters in Japan ; it had much to contend against in the hostility of THE RECOGNITION OF JAPAN 118 the Dutch ; money was lost and eventually the trade was abandoned. For many years Great Britain was content to follow in the wake of other Powers ; as, for instance, when as a sequel to the commercial compact made with the United States, Lord Elgin negotiated in 1858 a similar agreement known as the Treaty of Yedo. The British share in the bom- bardment of Shimonoseki has been already referred to (p. 70), and for some time to come ' Great Britain was the chief defender of the principles of extra territorial jurisdiction and of the compulsory limita- tion of tariffs which the Japanese regarded with so much resentment'.^ Indeed, Great Britain, which had greater interests at stake than any other power, was most resolute in refusing any concessions that might jeopardize them ; the foreign newspapers of Japan were British, and it was in them that what may be called the anti-Japanese views received ex- pression ; by the light of subsequent events we can see that Great Britain was running the risk — and we now know what it implied — of being regarded as the national enemy. Fortunately for her relations with the Japanese, when more liberal views prevailed, it was again Great Britain which took the lead. ' A treaty signed in London in 1894 gave back to Japan after a due interval the judicial autonomy and the tariff autonomy which she had lost in the first convention. It will always be a source of satisfaction that this treaty was signed some days before the outbreak of war with China, when the coming greatness of Japan was still almost unper- ceived.' ^ It was the outcome of this war which proved to ^ 'Times, Jap. edit., p. 170. POKTEK IJ lU THE KECOGNITION OF JAPAN Influence Japan and Great Britain that they had much in Japan"* common. The latter refused to join the confederation War upon which Compelled Japan to renounce her conquests in relation- Manchuria, and the logical consequence of this absten- x^li^, tion was reached in 1902, when the two Powers Japanese entered into a formal alliance for the maintenance of 1902. ' the independence of China and Korea. It was provided that if either nation were involved in war with more than one other Power in defending this principle her ally would come to her assistance ; and at the same time the two contracting powers expressly disavowed for their own part any aggressive intentions towards the region referred to. Just previously Japan had consented to the occupation of Wei-hai-wei by Great Britain, but, nevertheless, it was the former to which the agreement promised the greater benefit. To Japan it was vital that Korea should not pass into hostile hands : to Great Britain it was not. There is then no Terms of cause for surprise that the scope of the treaty should Treaty have been extended two years later to embrace India extended, ^nd Asia generally. * The prmcipal changes in the terms of the alliance were the inclusion of India in the specified regions, and the vital decision that hostilities with only one power in the circumstances noted involved both allies.' ^ The terms of the new agreement were arranged towards the end of the Russo-Japanese war, and were announced upon its conclusion. They enabled Japan to ease the almost intolerable strain which had been placed upon her finances, and to develop undisturbed the industries upon which her revenue depends. The treaty was concluded with the object of maintaining peace in the Far East, and in this it has been suc- ^ 'Times, Jcap. edit., p. 173. THE KECOGNITION OF JAPAN 115 cessful beyond the hopes of the contracting parties. In 1907 both France and Russia came to an under- standing with Japan. They agreed to recognize the independence of China ; to support one another in maintaining order there, and to accept the principle of equality of opportunity for the traders of all nations. The tension in the past was at once relaxed, and with it went the previous grouping of the Great Powers ; this, in turn, reacted on the East, for the improvement in the relations between Russia and Great Britain removed one source of danger from Japan. On the other hand, it is pos- sible that the recent unrest in India has been partially due to the success of the Japanese in their conflict with a white race. Indeed, the guns of Tsushima, of Port Arthur, and .of Mukden have reverberated throughout the British Empire. Australia, conscious of her huge and unpeopled territories, has been brought by a dread of an Asiatic invasion to recognize her own helplessness, and to take some steps for her own defence. In Canada the victors were feared not as warriors but as labourers, and the situation created by the anti- Japanese riots in Vancouver in 1907 would have been dangerous but for the calmness of the authorities at Tokyo. The commercial treaty of 1894 between Great Britain and Japan confers upon the subjects of either nation the right to enter, travel, or reside in the dominions of the other ; the Japanese availed themselves of these rights to settle in British Columbia to the real or fancied detriment of the white men who had to compete with them. Disturbances Anti- followed, and British Columbia passed an anti- ^^f^^^f^^^^ immigration act which conflicted with the privileges i" Coium- conceded by treaty to Japan. The Japanese Government preserved its dignity by h2 116 THE RECOGNITION OF JAPAN insisting on the formal recognition of its rights, but it quelled the agitation by consenting not to exercise them in a way to cause friction ; the difficulty was solved by restricting the number of emigrants allowed to leave Japan for Canada. This is only one instance out of many of the ready tact with which the Japanese make matters easy for those who have to deal with them. At the same time, in order that the querulous white races may not be involved in disparaging com- parisons, it should be pointed out that the returned emigrants would form an undesirable element in the population ; their descriptions of the material pros- perity of the Canadian labourer would give rise to discontent ; and the autocracy of Japan would find itself contrasted to its disadvantage with the demo- cratic Governments of North America. It will be gathered that when the first Anglo- Japanese treaty was concluded, it was looked upon with some misgiving in the British Colonies. But since then much has happened ; Japan has acquired outlets for her population which should satisfy her needs for some time to come ; she is no longer credited with aggressive designs, and she has proved herself the equal in Recent civilization of any of the other great Powers. It may tion of be inferred that considerations of this kind have had Anglo- their effect in Great Britain ; otherwise, the Imperial Japanese ^ ^ / ^ Treaty. Conference would not have been immediately followed by the renewal for ten years of the Alliance between Great Britain and Japan. In substance the agree- ment is unchanged, but it has been modified by the addition of the following clause : — ' Should either High Contracting Party conclude a treaty of general arbitration with a third Power, it is agreed that nothing in this agreement shall entail upon such Contracting Party an obligation to go to THE RECOGNITION OF JAPAN 117 war with the Power with whom such treaty of arl)itration is in force.' In a leader commenting on the reception generally given to the renewal of the treaty of alliance the Tmc.^ of July 18, 1911, said : ' America shares our gratification at the removal of an obstacle to our General Arl^itration Treaty with her, and at the fact that Japan has actively helped to remove it, while, after some doubts and hesitations before the real character of the changes was under- stood, the Japanese Press is recognizing more and more the advantages it confers on both signatories alike. Of the European Powers France is naturally gratified by a step which strengthens the hands of her British friends, and which tends to make those Asiatic conflicts impossible, from which her interests in Europe have often suffered and have seldom derived advantage. An article in the Xovoe Vremya takes credit to M. Isvolsky's action in negotiating the Russian Agreement with Japan, for fiicilitating the amend- ment of our alliance with her by the omission of the article referring to the countries adjacent to the Indian frontier. That omission is indeed one of the most welcome features in the new Agreement, as the changes in the situation which have led to it are one of the most welcome features in the present position of world- politics.' It has been by the hardest of fighting that Japan has won her high position among nations, and it is of happy augury that she is now maintaining it by her concessions to the cause of peace. CHAPTER YII PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS Geo- The Japanese Empire consists geographically of FeSures^ a long chain of islands, with six large and innumerable smaller units, lying in the Pacific Ocean between 156^ 32' east and 119° 18' west longitude, and 21° 45' south and 50"^ 56' north latitude. In a shorter sentence than this, giving merely the longitudinal and latitudinal position, the compilers of the first edition of the Encij' chimedia Britamiica (1768) disposed of ' Japan, or the islands of Japan '. No more significant way of empha- sizing how, during the succeeding century, Japan emerged from the nebulous state implied by that short paragraph to her present position can be found than by pointing to the contrast between the amounts of space afforded her in the first and eleventh editions of the Encyclopaedia — and this book is but one of innumer- able tributes to the development of little more than half a century. Islands. In the north Japanese territory commences, at a short distance from the coast of Russian Siberia, in the island of Saghalien, the southern half of which, i.e. from 50" north, was ceded to Japan by Russia in 1905, and is called Karafuto by the Japanese. Due south of this fish-shaped strip of land is the roughly quadrangular Hokkaido, and south of Hokkaido is the largest link of the island chain, Honshiu, the mainland, curving like a bow from southwards to westwards, and having close under its western portion the island of Shikoku. West of Shikoku is Kiushiu ; south and west of this, and PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 119 connected by a string of islets known as Riukiu, are Taiwan, the one-time Formosa, and the Pescadores Islands. From east of Hokkaido the ' Myriad isles ' (Chishima), also known as the Kurile Islands, straggle like stepping-stones north and east to the peninsula of Kamchatka. In all, there are more than 3,000 islands, large and small. Karafoto has an area of 13,154 square miles ; Hok- kaido, without Chishima, covers 30,275 square miles ; of Honshiu, or the mainland, the area with its adjacent islands is 86,770 square miles, a very little less than half of the total of the Empire. The superficial extent of Shikoku, with its adjacent islands, is 7,032 square miles ; of Kiushiu, 15,584, and of Taiwan alone, 13,839 square miles. The total area of the Empire, Area. excluding the recently annexed Korea (Chosen), and disregarding islands with a coast-line of less than one n (about 2}^ square miles), is 174,690 square miles. Chosen has an area of 84,102 square miles. The sea of Japan, broadest where the northern half Seas. of Honshiu faces the centre of Chosen, and narrowing sharply into the Korea Strait in the south and the Maniya Strait in the north, separates Japan from the Asiatic Continent, and is connected with the Pacific Ocean by the straits which part the various islands of Japan. The coast which it washes is comparatively little indented, and affords few harbours or safe roadsteads, and this circumstance accounts for the gravitation of trade to the east coast, which the Pacific has eroded into many bays and inlets, especially in the south. At Moun- a little distance from the north-east coast of Honshiu toicank; is the deepest sea-bed in the world, where soundings ranges. have shown 4,655 fathoms. It is presumed that such a depth indicates a submarine crater of extraordinary dimensions, the origin, probably, of many of the earth- 120 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS quakes which at varying intervals devastate parts of the Pacific coast of Japan. The celebrated Inland Sea, sej)arating Shikoku from Kiushiii and both from Honshiu, is connected with the Sea of Japan by one channel, and with the Pacific by three narrow channels. It is sown with numerous islands of great and diversified scenic beauty, and, almost land-locked as it is, suffers little from storms. It is popularly supposed to feed Lake Biwa, fifty miles from its north-eastern extremity, by means of an under- ground canal. Mountain and valley together constitute about seven- eighths of the area of Japan, though there are some broad plains in Hokkaido, Honshiu, and Kiushiu. The Kwanto plain, wherein are situated Tokyo and Yoko- hama, is the largest, and the cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe are all contained within the Kinai plain. Again, the chief coal-field of Japan is the Tsukushi plain. A large and well-defined range of mountains traverses Karafuto and Hokkaido from north to south, and continues through the centre of Honshiu, sending out many lateral branches. A range called the Kouron Mountains, originating in China and crossing the China Sea, runs north-east from Formosa, and from this main chain spring two branch ranges, one running south through Kiushiu, Shikoku and the Kii peninsula, and the other north past Lake Biwa, finally joining the Karafuto range. There are few volcanoes in the part of the country which faces the Pacific, but the western side abounds in them. One volcanic chain, the Fuji range, follows a line which divides the country into North and South, that is, from the Mariana Islands across the Benin and Izu islands and Honshiu. An- other, the Kurile range, runs along Chishima and through Hokkaido to Honshiu, and a third, the Kiri- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 121 shima range, begins in Formosa and enters Kiushiu l)y way of the Iliukiii Islands. There is also the Midland range, which connects the Kurile and the Kirishima ranges. Hardly any of the mountains of Japan pro- per reach the perpetual-snow line. The highest peak, Niitakayama (14,270 feet) and the second highest, Mount Sylvia, are both in Formosa, the former in the centre of the island and the latter in the north. They are summits of the chief range which traverses the island from north to south, leaving the eastern side hilly and the western half a gentle slope seawards. The most famous of all Japanese mountains is of course Fuji-yama {yama or san ■= mountain) in the Fuji range, which rises in almost perfect symmetry to a height of 12,395 feet, with eight lakes at its feet formed of rivers dammed by comparatively recent out- bursts of ashes and lava. The Fuji range runs in a north-westerly direction through the Seven Islands of Izu into the Izu peninsula. Mount Fuji being a short distance west of Yokohama. Other chief peaks in this range are Jakengatake (9,612 feet), Myokosen (8,050 feet), and Jakeyame (7,905 feet). East of Mount Fuji are the Kanto mountains, and westwards are three smaller ranges, the Akashi Mountains (containing Akashiyama and Shianesan, each over 10,000 feet), the Kiso Mountains (Komagatake, 7,800 feet), Enoyama (7,874 feet), and the Hida Mountains, an imposing group known as the Alps of Japan, which contain Tateyama (9,186 feet), and Hakusan,the Snow Mountain (7,797 feet). Other peaks in this group are Jarigtake, Norikuragate and Ontake, all over 10,000 feet, the last- named the highest in Japan proper after Fuji. In the west of Honshiu the Chugoku range stretches from the northern shores of the Inland Sea to Lake Biwa. The chief range in Shikoku is the Shikoku 122 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS mountains, which are a continuation of the Kiushiu- Nambu range in Kiushiu. The highest peaks in the Shikoku range are Ishizachiyama (7,743 feet) and Tsurugisan (7,355 feet). Generally speaking, the mountain scenery of Japan lacks the quality of ruggedness, climatic processes having effected a smoothing and softening of outlines which makes for a kind of gentle beauty rather than for impressive grandeur. Most of the high peaks are volcanic cones superimposed on mountains of more ancient origin ; indeed Japan stands over the most extensive system of volcanic veins in the world, and has many still active volcanoes which erupt disas- trously from time to time. Asama, in Ise, on the eastern coast of Honshiu, is the largest, and has a crater of about 700 feet in depth, with absolutely perpendicular walls. Its eruption in 1783 destroyed several villages. Komagatake, in Hokkaido, became active in 1856 after a period of quiescence, and wrought havoc in the neighbourhood of its south-eastern flank. Asumayama, in Fukushima, erupted in 1900 for the fourth time since 1893, killing many sulphur- workers and throwing ashes to a distance of five miles. The Nikko district, at one time highly volcanic, now con- tains only one active volcano, Shirane, which erupted in 1889, and in the Kuni of Kai (east coast of Honshiu) a mountain of the same name was active in 1905. The main crater of this latter is walled off into three parts, each holding a lake. A peculiarity of these lakes is that they contain free sulphuric acid, mixed with iron and alum. Agatsuma, in Iwaki, burst out in 1903, killing two geologists ; Aso-take, in Higo (Saikaido), whose 10 m. x 15 m. crater is the largest in the world, has been eruptive since a remote period, and there was an outbreak in 1894. Unfortu- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 123 natel}'' for Japan the foregoing do not exhaust the list, for, according to the famous seismologist Professor Milne, there are at least fiftj'^-one ' active * volcanoes, including sixteen in the Kurile Islands. However, the word ' active ' is capable of a very wide interpreta- tion, and may be used indifferently to describe Asama- Yama, one of the most violent of Jajoanese volcanoes, and Tarumai, which only exhales a little steam from some of its minor cones, so that an estimate based merely upon Professor Milne's figures would be extreme. Then, to compensate Japan for the peril which Hot attends their restless presence, volcanoes have, in the ' ° " words of Mr. Bruce-Mitford, bequeathed her a priceless legacy in the form of her numberless hot springs. ' Of these there are more than a hundred — known and reputed for their medicinal value — acid, saline^ sulphurous, chalybeate, or carbonic, as the case may he.' In Hokkaido there are, for instance, Shimo}^!- kawa, Ashiyamadani, and Totetsu ; in Honshiu the spas at Kasatsu, Shiobara, Ikao, Stami, Shuzenji, and other places are held in high esteem for their curative properties, and the Dogo in Shikoku and the Beppu in Kiushiu are other valuable products of volcanic energy. 'When one reflects upon the celebrity to which certain European spas have attained, the social in- fluence with which their natural virtues have endowed them, and the source of attraction the}'' prove to health- seekers from all parts of the world, it may with reason be expected that the future has much in store for the hot-spring resorts of Japan, associated, as they in- variably are, with the contrasted charms of volcanic phenomena and delightful scenery. Indeed, in view of the increasing importance now attached to natural aids in the preservation of health, and the continued annihilation of distance by improved means of travel, 12i PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS it lequires no prophetic vision to see that Japan, with the unrivalled natural advantages she possesses, will eventually enjoy a unique position among the health- resorts of the world.' Geo- Geologically, Japan consists largely of igneous rocks foniia- ^^^ ^^^® Kurile Islands, Kiushiu, and the northern half tion. of Honshiu. In Dr. Rein's valuable work, Japan, it is shown that the mountain system consists of three main lines, and that the rocks fall also into three groups, [a] plutonic rocks, particularly granite ; [h] volcanic rocks, chiefly trachyte and dolerite ; (c) palaeozoic schists. ' The basis of the islands consists of granite, syenite, diorite, diabase and related kinds of rock, porphyry appearing comparatively seldom. Now the granite, continuing for long distances, forms the prevailing rock ; then again, it forms the foundation for thick strata of schist and sandstone, itself only appearing in valleys of erosion and river boulders, in rocky pro- jections on the coasts or in the ridges of the mountains. ... In the composition of many mountains in the main island granite plays a prominent part. ... It appears to form the central mass which crops up in hundreds of places towards the coast and in the interior. Old schists, free from fossils and rich in quartz, overlie it in parallel chains through the whole length of the peninsula, especially in the central and highest ridges, and bear the ores of Chu-goku (the central provinces), principally copper pyrites and magnetic pyrites. These schist ridges rich in quartz show, to a depth of 20 metres, considerable disintegration. The resulting pebble and quartz-sand is very unproductive, and sup- ports chiefly a poor underwood and crippled pines with widely spreading roots which seek their nourishment afar. In the province of Settsu granite everywhere predominates, which may be observed also in the railway cuttings between Hiogo and Osaka, as well as in the temples and walls of these towns. The water- PHYSICAL CHARACTEEISTICS 125 falls near Kobe descend over granite walls, and the mikageishi (stone of Mikage) famous throughout Japan, is granite fi-om Settsu. ... In the hill country on the borders of Ise, Owari, Mikawa, and Totomi, on the one side, and Omi, Mino, and Shinano, on the other, granite frequently forms dark-grey and much disinte- grated rock-projections above schist and diluvial quartz pebbles. The feldspar of a splendid pegmatite and its products of disintegration on the borders of Owari, Mino, and Mikawa form the raw material of the very extensive ceramic industry of this district, with its chief place, Seto. Of granite are chiefly formed the meridional mountains of Shinano. Granite, diorite, and other plutonic rocks hem in the winding upper valleys of the Kisogawa, the Saigawa (Shinano river) and many other rivers of this province, their clear water running over granite. Also in the hills bor- dering on the plains of Kwanto these old crystalline rocks are widely spread. Farther northwards they give way again, as in the south, to schists and eruptive rocks. Yet even here granite may be traced in many places. Of course it is not always a pure granite ; even hablit and granite-porphyry are found here and there. Thus, for instance, near Nikko in the upper valley of the Daiya-Gawa and in several other places in the neighbouring mountains, a granite-porphyry appears with large pale, flesh-coloured crystals of orthoclase, dull triclinic feldspar, quartz, and horn- blende.' The soil, generally speaking, is moderately prolific. Soil. the tertiary and alluvial deposits forming a deep and friable mould, easily worked. This is the chief agri- cultural soil. The Quaternary argillaceous alluvial soils which occur along the banks of rivers and on the coasts are still more fertile. Lying low, they are well adapted to irrigation, and are in consequence chiefly used for rice culture. The climate of Japan varies considerably, not only Climate. from north to south, which, from the length of the 126 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS territory in this direction, might be expected, but also from east to west. Equatorial currents wash the Pacific shores of the islands, and mountain ranges intercept the cold winds, whereas the land facing the Japan Sea lies open to the north-west winds which blow over the cold Siberian plains. The cold is severe throughout the winter, and especially in January, in Saghalien, Hokkaido, and the northern part of the mainland. The yearly mean temperature noted at the meteoro- logical station at Sapporo in Hokkaido is 4-1' F. On the other hand, the winter lasts but two months in the southern half of the mainland and in Shikoku and Kiushiu, January and February alone being recognized months of frost and snow, though these phenomena may occur also in the beginning of March. Tokyo and Kyoto have a mean annual temperature of 57" F. ; Nagoya, Sakai, and Okayama, also in Honshiu, 58° F. ; Osaka and Kobe, 59° F., and Nagasaki, 60' F. ; but further north in the main island the yearly average is lower, being 52' F. at Ishinomaki, and 50' F. at Aomori. Formosa, of course, with its southern half in the torrid zone, is much warmer, and Taihoku has a mean annual temperature of TV F. Of Japan in general it may be said that there are two wet seasons, each lasting about a month, the first commencing in June or July, and the second in late August or September. The latter is the special period ^J' of the typhoon (from tai-fu, great wind), though on an average at least one of these occurs per month. Probably only half of them do any serious damage, but the more violent typhoons wreck shipping, destroy roads and buildings, flood many thousands of acres of land, do great injury to the rice plants which bloom in September, and are attended by much loss of life. The typhoon that, on the 25th of July of this year, swept PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 127 the plain of Kwaiito, on which are yituated Tokyo and Yokohama, killed over 100 persons, and is an example of the more disastrous type. Japan also suifers frequently from earthquakes, Earth- usually accompanied, when they visit the Pacific coast, ^^"^ ^^' by tidal waves in which thousands perish. Mild shocks, passing unnoticed except by the seismograph, occur two or three times daily, but of really serious disturbances there are all too many. The most cala- mitous of recent years was the Sanriku earthquake in 1896, which destroyed over 13,000 houses and killed more than 27,000 people, while the casualties from the seismic outburst in Formosa in 1906 amounted to 1,228. When in Japan the writer had the pleasure of meeting Professor Omori, the Japanese seismologist, whose fame is not confined to the land of his birth, and whose invaluable contributions to the science of seismology are universally acknowledged. He is a pupil of Professor Milne, and a pupil of whom even so distinguished a man as Professor Milne has every reason to bo proud. His studies have enabled him on more than one occasion to predict the course and duration of earthquakes, and he anticipated the Valparaiso shock in 1906. According to Professor Omori, the number of earth- quakes which occurred in various parts of Japan during the twenty-five years 1885 to 1909 was 37,612, an average of 1,506 per annum, or about four shocks a day. In Tokyo alone a perceptible shock occurs once a week, but during the thirty-four years 1876 to 1909 the seismograph registered 3,385 earthquakes, an annual average of nearly 100, the most serious of which was that of June 20, 1894, when twenty-four lives were lost. In 1880 the Seismological Society Seismo- of Japan was formed, many prominent English and g^^^'ig'^y. 128 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS American scientists being amongst its members. The head-quarters of the Society is the Tokyo Imperial University, and two visits under the guidance of Professor Omori enabled the writer to obtain some idea of the extent and thoroughness of the observa- tions made, and of the untiring energy and enthusiasm with which they are conducted. Properly to appre- ciate such work, of course, one must live or have lived in a country where earthquakes are frequent pheno- mena ; in England and other parts of the world where the earth's crust is rarely perceptibly disturbed, seismo- logy can only arouse a mild and impersonal interest. Again, one is occasionally reminded of the smallness of the world by the wonders of the telegraph and the telephone, and, more recently, by the feats of flying machines, but the study of seismic disturbances stimu- lates and enlarges this sense. In Tokyo University, with its charts and delicate instruments, the vibrations of the whole world are registered (or, more properly, record themselves) much as the ' tickers ' register the movements of the world's markets on the never-ending rolls of paper tape. In addition to the Tokyo Observatory there are seventy-five local meteorological stations, and some 1,600 reporters in all parts of the country, and com- munications are received at head-quarters respecting Earth- earthquake vibrations and effects. The Shinzai Yobo investi^a- Cliosakai, generally known as the Earthquake Investi- tion Com- gatiou Committee, is doing splendid work with the object of ascertaining whether there are any means of predicting earthquakes, and what can be done by the choice of sites, materials and methods of construction, to reduce the extent of disasters consequent upon seismic disturbances. One result of the precautions taken upon their recommendations is illustrated by PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 129 II comparison between the Reggio earthquake of December 28, 1908, and the Mino, Owari, earthquake of 1891. In the former disaster the victims numbered over 100,000 ; in the latter only 190 people of the city of Nagoya perished in the earthquake, out of a total population of 165,339, yet the seismic intensity of the latter was the greater. The difference, says Professor Omori, was due entirely to the seismologically superior construction of the buildings in Nagoya. Most of Japan's rivers are short and rapid, charac- Rivera, teristics imposed upon them by the fact that the islands are narrow and heaped towards the centre with mountain ranges. Their beds are wide in com- parison to their length, but it is only in the summer rainy season and in spring when the snows are melting that they carry any great volume of water. At these seasons, indeed, they overflow their banks, causing heavy floods, but at other times of the year only a small portion of the bed is covered. Thus, the rivers of Japan are poor from the standpoint of navigability, though such as are practicable are utilized to the full for transport purposes ; but a number of them, such as the Kino, Katsura, Tone, Oiga, and others near Tokyo, are made to furnish electric energy for lighting, traction, and other purposes, and power stations are numerous. Many mines are worked entirely by hydro-electric power, and it is only lack of capital that limits the application of this force. The biggest plant is that owned by the Tokyo Electric Light Company, and upon the completion of an addi- tional plant which will utilize the waters of the Uji to supply Osaka and Kyoto, the aggregate of their installations will amount to 48,600 horse-power. In all, about 200 plants are in operation, mostly, however, developing small power. LSO PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS The rivers of Honshiu include, in the north, the Abukumagawa {gmca = river) and Kitakamigawa, each about 150 miles in length, and flowing into the Pacific through fertile plains. The harbour of Ishinowaki, at the mouth of the latter, is perhaps the best in the north-east of Japan. Westwards flow the Noshiogawa, 60 miles in length, the Omono (the suffix gmva is henceforth omitted), 173 miles, and the Mogami, 140 miles long. Since- the central portion of Honshiu is the widest j)art of Japan, it is natural that most of the larger rivers should be found there. Chief amongst these is the Shinano, 215 miles in length, which waters the Echigo j^lain, and empties into the Japan Sea. Small steamers can navigate it for some 90 miles. The Tone flows eastward into the Pacific after a course of about 170 miles, and waters the large Kwanto plain. The Sumida is navigable for most of its 73 miles, but the Jiuzu, Imizu, and Kuzurin, each about 80 miles in length, are extremely rapid. The Fuji rises in Kai and flows past Fuji-yama to Suruga Bay. The Kiso, in its course of 112 miles, flows first among the foothills of the mountain range of the same name, but after receiving the waters of the Hida and Nagara, takes a westerly direction and empties into Ise Bay. The scenery of its upper reaches is remarkably beautiful. The Jodo has its source in Lake Biwa, and, flowing to the south of K^^oto, enters the Bay of Osaka, the town of Osaka lying at its mouth. In Hokkaido the two principal mountain ranges cross each other roughly at right angles, forming four distinct w^atersheds. These are the sources of many large and small streams which, in their course, fertilize plains of some magnitude. The largest river in Jaj^an, PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 131 the Ishikai'i, 224: miles in length, and navigable by small vessels for about 100 miles, flows south and west, and enters the Japan Sea at Otaru. The Tesliio, 192 miles, flows northwards into the Sea of Japan, and the Tokachi, after a south-easterly course of 120 miles, empties into the bay of the same name. The next largest river in Hokkaido, the Kujiro, is some 80 miles in length, and flows into the Pacific. Shikoku has but one river of importance, the Yoshino or Joshino, which, after a course of 149 miles through a fertile plain, flows into the sea near Kinokawa, in the north-east of the island. The largest river in Kiushiu is the Kawauchi, in the south, 112 miles in length. The swift Kuma, which passes through some very fine scenery, is also in the south. In the north the Chikugo, with a length of 85 miles, waters the Tsukushi Plain, and the three western rivers, Shira, Kirachi, and Midori, flow through the exceptionally fertile Higo Plain. The Oyodo and the Ikuse flow eastward to the Pacific. In general the rivers of Kiushiu are tortuous in the extreme, their course being determined by the numerous mountains and hills. In Formosa the largest river is the Dakusuikei, 9G miles in length, and flowing westward. Few of the rivers of Formosa are navigable, their channels being as a rule extremely narrow. The Tansuikei, in the south, has its source in Mount Morrison (Mitakazona), and is about 90 miles long. The Tanmiga river rises in the Sylvia mountains and, flowing northwards, has Tansui harbour at its mouth. Many, in fact most, of the lakes of Japan are noted Lakes. for their extraordinary beauty. The largest is Lake Biwa, in the Omi province in the centre of Honshiu, which has a circumference of about 180 miles, and i2 132 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS other moderately extensive lakes are Towaclu, in Mutsii (37 miles), and Inawshiro, in Inashiro (33 miles). The eight lakes of Fuji are popular resorts, both of foreign tourists and of the Japanese, and Lake Ashi at Hakone, Lake Chuzenje at Uikko, and Lake Suwa at Shinano, are celebrated beauty spots. In Hokkaido the largest lake is Saruma, with a circumference of nearly 50 miles, and there are two other large lakes, Doya and Onuma, whose scenery is equally charming. CHAPTER VIII POPULATION— OCCUPATIONS -AND EMIGRATION It is unfortunate that for the analysis of the popu- lation and the discussion of the occupations of the people we have no later exact statistics than those of 1908 when the last census of the Empire was taken. There are more recent figures showing the population of the cities of Japan and of Taiwan and even of Chosen, but the taking of the regular census has been post- poned until October 1, 1915, when an enumeration will be made, and for the first time we shall have a synchronous census of the whole Empire which will include in its scope all the recently acquired territory, and probably show a population of nearly 70,000,000. The data to be included in the census are sex, age, condition, and occupation, which, if ascertained with the accuracy usually displayed in such inquiries by the Japanese, will furnish exact information in rela- tion to the condition of the population which now has to be supplied in a less trustworthy manner. The new census should also throw important light upon the industrial progress of the Empire. So far as the population is concerned, the growth of Japan has been fairly regular during a sufficiently long period of years to make it possible to form a reasonably accurate estimate, especially when we have the actual reckoning of 1908 as a guide. The following table 134 POPULATION— OCCUPATIONS - may be regarded, therefore, as representing the move- ment of population since 1903 :— Recent move- ment of Popula- tion. THE MOVEMENT OF POPULATION IN JAPAN PROPER. At end of Males Females Total Increase 100 pop. 1903 23,601,640 23,131,236 46,732,876 716,400 1-54 1904 23,834,398 23,381,232 47,215,630 482,754 1-03 1905 24,048,142 23,626,518 47,674,660 459.030 0-96 1906 24,312,779 23,848,062 48,160,841 486,181 1-01 1907 24,643,017 24,172,677 48,815,694 654,853 1-36 1908 25,045,359 24,541,884 49.587,243 771,549 1-58 1909 25,388,480 24,878,108 50,266,588 679,345 1-37 1910 25,736,302 25,218,938 50,955,240 688,652 1-37 Rate of inciea«e. Density of Popu- lation. The average rate of increase of population during the ten years ended 1908 was 1-37 per cent, per annum, and it is upon this basis that the increase for the two following years has been estimated. The increase of population results entirely from the natural increment and is not supjilemented by immigration. It is steady and satisfactory. Japanese children are as numerous and apparently as healthy, happy, and contented as ever. Ex-President Roosevelt's remarks upon ' the crime of sterility ' cannot be applied to the Japanese. In spite of the more strenuous demands due to the introduction of occidental civilization, children in Japan occupy the same important place in the family and absorb the same amount of attention from their parents as they did in those days when European and American travellers in Japan wrote volumes about ' The Paradise of Children ' and the joyousness of child life in Japan. The density of the various important divisions of Japan is indicated in the following table : — AND EMIGRATION 185 1910* 1908 Population Population Population Population per sq. ri t per family per sq. ri per family Honshiu (Middle) 2,961 5-26 3,315 5-56 (North) 1,343 6-44 1,430 6-62 „ (West) 2,995 4-91 3,347 5-14 Shikiku 2,547 5.17 2,692 5.40 Kiushiu 2,536 5-54 2,782 5.80 Okinawa 2,004 5-03 2,201 5.17 Hokkaido 163 4-93 3,284 .5.18 classes. * Estimated. t 1 sq. ri = 5-9552 sq. miles. The average density per square ri of the entire area is 1,809. The density'of the popidation of Japan proper is Httle less than that of Great Britain, and it exceeds that of Italy, Germany, and France. Of European countries Belgium alone in this respect exceeds Japan. The Japanese people consist of four classes — Social Kozoku, Kwazoku, Shizoku, and Heimin. ' Kozoku ' is the family of the Japanese Emperor, which is wor- shipped by the Japanese people ; the ' Kwazoku ' are subdivided under the following heads: (1) the Kuge, those having performed official duties for the Japanese Imperial Court from generation to generation ; (2) Lords in the Feudal times ; and (3) Shin Kwazoku (new peers) having recently been elevated to Kwazoku, owing to their great merit. This last class of Kwazoku has also ranks or degrees of nobility which are divided into the five classes of Prince, Marquis, Count, Viscount, and Baron. Any person of one of these ranks has always some privilege in political or social affairs. The * Shizoku ', which consisted of knights in feudal times, are also called ' samurai ', but at present this class is only a remnant of the Feudal system, so that it is not different from the ' Heimin ' in political and social affairs. ' Heimin ' is an ad- ditional class beyond the three classes mentioned 136 POPULATION— OCCUPATIONS— Growth of urbar. popula- tion. above, and represents the majority of the general nation in Japan. The poj^ulation of the three classes, as far as this is supplied by the household classification, except 'Kozoku', is shown as follows: — '^ Class fleads of Houses Family Population per Head of House on average Kwazokn Sliizoku Heimin 887 428.826 8,^11,322 4,755 1,789,797 38,551,655 6-36 6.17 5.88 9,241,035 40,846,207 5-37 The distribution of population in rural and urban districts shows the same tendency as is found in both the United States and Great Britain. Farmers and other inhabitants of the country districts are moving into the cities and towns as the result of general commercial progress. In fact, the attraction of the cities and towns is proving as alluring to the Japanese rustics as to the dwellers in our own rural districts. That there is a strong desire to seek the life of the cities and a willingness to abandon the dull life of the village is clearly shown below : — 1894 1896 1898 1903 1908 In cities of over 10,000 population 0,571,463 6,917,451 7,690,956 9,673,705 12,198,462 Ratio 15-6 16-1 17-6 20-7 24-6 In centres of under 10,000 pop. 35,553.299 36,046 521 36,007,660 37,059,171 37,388,781 Ratio 84-4 83-9 82-4 79.3 75.4 Total pop. 42,124,762 42,963,972 43.69S,616 46,732,876 49,587,243 In 1896 about 16 per cent, of the poj^ulation resided in cities and towns of over 10,000 inhabitants. Now ' These are official returns. The figures relating to heads of houses are not included in the figures relating to families. AND EMIGRATION 137 over 25 per cent, of the population is urban and less than 75 per cent, rural. The exact figures will not be known till 1915, when probably it will be found that 30 per cent, of the people are in the urban districts. The birthrate is increasing, the average rate for a series of years exceeding three to the hundred of population, and the death-rate remains fairly stationary at two and a fraction over per hundred of population (in 1906 a fraction under two). Much has been written about the increase of divorce in Japan, and one of the latest books by an American author criticizes the laxity of the marriage ties in the Empire. The fairness of this criticism may, however, be questioned, because the author does not notice that divorces have decreased by over one-half in the last ten years for which we have official figures. That there was room for improvement, however, is indicated by the following details : — Marriage and di- vorce. Married Divorced Married per 1,000 Divorced per 1,000 1897 365,207 124,075 8-45 2-87 1898 471,298 90,465 10-77 2-27 1899 297,428 66,626 6-72 1-51 1900 846,590 63,926 7-70 1-42 1901 378,637 63,593 8-33 1-41 1902 894,378 64,811 8-57 1-40 1903 371,187 65.571 7-97 1-40 1904 399,218 64,016 8-46 1-36 1905 351,260 60,179 7-37 1-26 1906 353,274 65.510 7-34 136 1908 483,257 61,193 8-88 1-25 For Tokyo alone the figures are : — 1898 1909 8,448 15,965 2,024 2,065 9-40 14-02 2-50 1-81 The above figures show that there has been a decided diminution in divorces in Japan since 1896. The fre- 138 POPULATION— OCCUPATIONS— quency of divorce in Japan is due to the fact that before the enaction of the civil code divorce took place on the slightest pretext. It was, moreover, easy to effect : it needed nothing more than the re-transfer of the divorced wife's domicile from her husband's home to her father's. The wife was simply given Avhat was known on account of its shortness as ' the three lines and a half '. There was no official inquiry, no pul^licity, and no court scene. A re-marriage could take place at any time. The new civil code which came into force in 1898 has had the effect of reducing the number of divorces, and is probably responsible for the decrease of divorces as shown in the above table. Judicial divorces in Japan are, however, as easy to procure as they are in some of the Western States of America. Divorce in what a Japanese writer calls ' its simj^lest form ' does not require the intervention of courts, that is, if both parties agree to separate. A declaration by two I'eputable witnesses at the local office testifying that the divorce takes place by mutual consent is all that is necessary. The majority of divorces now are arranged in this way and judicial divorces are com- paratively rare. The wife under the new code may be divorced for adultery, but not the husband, unless he be convicted of adultery with a married woman, in which case both the guilty parties are liable to a teim of imprisonment. These criminal suits are extremely rare. Although the new law provides for civil action against the destroyers of domestic happiness, the injured party rarely resorts to such a method. Pecu- niary considerations enter as little into actions for breach of promise of marriage, and since the civil code came into operation up to last year only one such case had been tried in the Courts of Japan. From 1890 down to 1897 the official returns show AND EMIGRATION 189 about one divorce to every three marriages. The effect of these divorces must have been demorahzing to family life. From 1898, however, an improvement began, the ratio soon falling to about one divorce in six mar- riages, and in 1908 (the latest figures available) to only one in seven, which is a decided change for the better. Although the growth of cities and towns in Japan Agiicul- of late years has been phenomenal, the bulk of the J^l^ula- population, as we have seen, reside in the rural ^i^"- districts, and Japan is essentially an agricultural country — that is to say, agriculture is her paramount industry and the industry which gives employment to the largest proportion of her population. Considering her resources and bearing in mind the fact that less than 16 per cent, of her area (147,655 square miles ') is arable, it is not a matter of surprise to find Japan looking to sources and lands outside her own boun- daries to supplement her own resources and furnish employment for her constantly increasing population. More than 80 per cent, of the whole area of Japan jiroper still remains unutilized for purposes of tillage. Though the Japanese have always shown great in- genuity in the arts and crafts, and during the last twenty-five years have made satisfactory progress in several important branches of manufcicturing, they are essentially an agricultural nation. There has been little change in the agricultural districts, and hand cultivation still predominates. Nevertheless, by in- tensive farming, the Japanese succeed, as will be shown in the chapter on agriculture, in producing astonishingly large crops on small areas of arable land. Excluding Formosa and Sagh alien, the gross area of agricultural land in Japan proper is 75,000,000 acres, and of this about 17,000,000 acres, or, as we ^ Japan proper. 140 POPULATION— OCCUPATIONS— have seen, less than 16 per cent., is arable. With the increase of population the necessity for bringing additional tracts of the land under cultivation becomes more urgent, and every effort is being made by the Government to extend cultivation. It is estimated that the farmers of Japan now expend annually £12,000,000 sterling (some estimates put the sum at £14,000,000) in fertihzers. If to this is added the value of the seed the margin of profit in farming must be small, and it is only by the most incessant toil, and by the practice of thrift such as few European agriculturists would be able to comprehend, that these industrious men and women are able to make a living. Yet they do earn a living, and actually save money. The largest portion of the deposits in the Post Office Savings Banks of Japan belongs to farmers. The greatest burden of increased taxation during the late war fell upon the farmers of the country who seem to have met these additional responsibilities without a murmur. Whilst stock farming, dair3dng, and meat- preserving form insignificant branches of Japanese farming, sericulture and the cultivation of the tea plant give additional and profitable occupations to hundreds and thousands, nearly all of whom are drawn from the agricultural poj^ulation, and many of whom carry on the combined occupations of farming, with the preparation of tea for the market, or the filciturc industry in connexion with the manufacture of silk. In short, more than sixty per cent, of the population of the Empire are engaged in the pursuit of agriculture. The conditions under which these agriculturists work will be treated more in detail in the chapter on Agriculture, as the present chapter deals more particularly with the progress of the population and the several occupations of the people. AND EMIGRATION 141 There are no complete returns of occupations for industrial Japan, but an estimate may be arrived at by com- ^^Jeni "^ bining the special reports of specific industries. These figures may overlap, but after making allowance for such errors it is possible to obtain an idea of the relative importance of the different industries. A total of something over S'l millions are engaged exclusively iu farming, Avhilst nearly I'l millions combine farming with some other industry. Nearly IJ million house- holds pursue sericulture, but of course this work only occupies a part of the time of some of the members of the family. There are 890,000 manufacturers of tea, but it is not jirobable that this number of people give their entire time to the occupation. It is quite possible that an accurate enumeration would report that nearly all of these persons are engaged in agriculture and allied industries. In mining of all kinds, including coal, copper, and non-metallic mines, the numbers employed can be ascertained with a greater degree of accuracy, and probably this year will reach a total of 250,000. Fishing is an important occupation in Japan, and 1,000,000 are exclusively engaged in the fisheries, whilst li millions combine fishing with some other occupation. The forests cover, as already stated, 70 per cent, of the area of Japan, and as the value of the annual yield in timber and faggots is about seven millions sterling, a good many persons must find employment during a part of the year as wood-cutters, but apparently there are no returns from which esti- mates can be framed. Turning to manufacturing industries conducted in factories and workshops, the latest returns give 307,139 men employed, 493,498 women, totalling 800,637, or nearly double the number returned as employed in factories in 1896. 142 POPULATION— OCCUPATIONS— These include textile industries, machinery, chemi- cal factories, the manufacture of food and beverages, miscellaneous trades, and special workshops, such as those for electricity and metallurgy, but do not, how- ever, include weaving carried on outside the factories. This work is still largely conducted as a home industry, distributed throughout the towns and villages in nearly 500,000 ' weaving-houses', with approximately 800,000 looms, only 30,000 of which are worked as power- looms. There are over three-quarters of a million operatives. Paper-making is also carried on in a similar way, and there are 60,000 small establishments and house- holds with a])out three times as many operatives employed in producing Japanese paper. At the same time, a foreign paper industry has been started, and in ten years has doubled in importance, employing 15,000 hands. Home In- The matting industry has remained stationary, and employs something over 100,000 hands. This is largely a family trade, the factories as a rule being nothing more than additions to the operatives' houses. Even more so is the straw and chip braid industry, in which the Government reports 250,000 persons or more as being employed in producing articles which barely reach £500,000 in value. These occupations are therefore largely in the nature of home industries, carried on by women at times when they are free from household duties. For this reason it is extremely difficult to tabulate occupations in Japan, and to give complete returns such as those published by the British Census or by the Census of the United States. Everybody works in Japan, including the children, whose tiny fingers paste match-boxes, put on labels, AND EMIGRATION 143 help in sericulture, tea picking, and in a variety of other ways. In the aggregate these minor industries bring in a steady, though in many cases a slight revenue. Small as it is, however, it helps to swell the household purse, and aids in defraying the family expenses. It will be seen in the chapter on manufac- tures that whilst Japan has made a good start in manufacturing operations, in factories and workshops, some of her leading industries are still conducted in the household, and in small shops and houses, scat- tered throughout the agricultural districts, oftentimes far away from the large manufacturing centres. For example, a brush manufacturer of Osaka, whose factory the writer visited, said that the total number of hands employed in his works was 600, but that the brushes were sent to a thousand homes in country districts, in order that the bristles might be fastened into them. This operation, which is performed by childish hands, practically involves the manipulation and straightening of each bristle in a tooth or hair iDrush. The most nimble of these industrious little workers can only earn a penny or two a day, but it all adds to the family budget. Such then, briefly, are the occupations of the people. In the cha2)ters on specific industries the conditions under which the wage-earner works, the wages he receives, and his future prospects when compared with his fellow-labourer in other lands will be more fully brought out. The above facts, however, indicate that with the steady increase in population, and the in- creased efficiency of labour brought about by the adoption of modern methods, new fields must be found for Japanese activities. The period, too, must before long come, if it has not already arrived, when the Japanese farmer will find it imjiossible to make lU POPULATION— OCCUPATIONS— a living on the small acreage which he now cultivates, and at the same time meet the increased expense of fertilizers, the heavy burden of taxes, and the higher cost of living. Undoubtedly there is hope in the broader fields of Hokkaido, though the settlement of the northern division has not come up to expectations ; the rigours of the cold climate may possibly stand in the way. Taiwan should furnish an increasing field for energetic Japanese farmers, and as the savages recede from the control of large tracts of land there should be opportunities there for agricultural opera- tions. Chosen, now that it has become part of the Empire, will also provide fresh areas for enterprise. In the chapters on Chosen an attempt has been made to show what these opportunities are, and to indicate how they can most effectively be utilized. Dairen will afford another field for Japanese industry and settlement, whilst the important railway interest which Japan controls in Manchuria will facilitate a constantly increasing stream of immigration in that direction. The activities of the Japanese must find an outlet, first, by the way of immigration to territory which has either been acquired or is controlled by Japan ; secondly, by increasing the output of her manu- factories, and subsequently by augmenting the exports of manufactured goods to foreign countries, and to countries administered by Japan, or where Japanese influence is paramount. This idea of concentrating the activities of the Japanese in the region of the Far East, so as to secure their united efforts in the development of these acquired territories, was repeatedly emphasized by Marquis Komura, when Minister of Foreign Affairs. Emigia- Statistical information with regard to emigration from JajDan is worthy of study, not on account of tion. AND EMIGKATION U5 any appreciable problem to which it points, but because it illustrates the j^olicy of the Government in this direction. The necessity for concentrating her people within the regions of her own administra- tion is one upon which Japan's new international position is based, while, on the other hand, she sees clearly that a policy that might attain this first end by entire restriction of emigration would be detri- mental to the development of her international commerce, the sources of which are naturally ex- tended by the intercourse of the industrial units of her population with foreign countries. The Memorandum exchanged l:>etween the Japanese and Canadian authorities with reference to Japanese labour emigrants to British Columbia on the occasion of the outbreak of anti-Japanese agitation in that State in 1907, shows the firm yet conciliatory spirit in which Japan approached any suggestion to hamper the foreign liberties of Japanese subjects by imposing prohibitory restrictions — and the subsequent measures limiting emigration to Canada and the United States of America that were taken by the Japanese Government embody the view expressed in the letter of Marquis Komura prefixed to that Memorandum that ' it is not the wish of the Imperial Government to insist upon the com- plete enjoyment of the rights and privileges secured l3y the Treaty between Canada and Japan when special circumstances arise in Canada to interfere with the assertion of the same'. According to statistics suj^plicd by the Japanese Foreign Office, the total number of Japanese living abroad at the end of 1908 was 235,124. As, since 1902, a special emigration law has applied to China and Chosen, whereby the necessity of a passport is practically rescinded, the emigration figures for these POUTEK K U6 POPULATION— OCCUPATIONS— countries are not included in this total, which, in view of Japanese enterprise in her newly annexed territory, may be assumed to be considerably less than the actual numbers. The number settled in Chosen is hard to estinicite, but it probably exceeds 200,000. Apart from Chosen, the countries in which the Japanese are most numerous are the Philippines, Hawaii, and Continental Asia. From Hawaii, where the Japanese outnumber the white population by ten to one, came the first stimulus to Japanese emigration when the last King of Hawaii called for emigrants to his country in 1885, and it was the successful results of this movement that urged the Government in 1890 to adopt a definite emigration policy and to direct the attention of prospective emigrants to the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Emigra- At tliis time were founded the first Japanese s^ocietici^. Eniigration Societies, whose efforts, under Government direction, have been so largely responsible for the spread of Japanese emigrants over the whole world, from the coasts of North and South America, over the South Sea islands to Java and to the Transvaal. state con- Without this central organization, Japan could never emigra- have succccded in fulfilling the assurances that the *^°°- anti-Japanese agitation in parts of Canada drew from her, in the consequent dignified and orderly retreat from the hostile districts, and in the recent concentra- tion of her efforts in Chosen and Manchuria. The control of Japanese emigration has never, except in the case of China and Chosen, passed from the hands of the Foreign Minister who grants the passports, and, by closely specified regulations, exercises super- vision over the various companies who are responsible for the organization of emigration. That this responsi- bility is no mere figure of speech is shown by the fact AND EMIGRATION 117 that when, after the Vancouver outbreak of hostility to Japanese emigrants, a ministerial regulation raised the minimum security demanded of an Emigration Company from 10,000 yen to 50,000 yen, several of the twenty-eight companies then existing were forced into liquidation, while others were reduced to a temporary suspension of their business. One of the largest companies, with an assured capital of 10 million yen and receiving a yearly sub- sidy from the Government, is the Takushoku Kaisha. Its chief aim has been to promote the ' peaceful penetration' of Chosen, and in its direction the Marquis Katsura took a prominent part. Other com- panies are active in Manchuria and work in line with the colonizing efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture and the organization of the Railway Bureau. Emigration constitutes in all countries far more complex channels of influence than appears at first sight. Although it is primarily an economic influence it cannot be dismissed with that single classifi- cation. A country that commits itself to a policy of emigration must not look merely for economic results, but for results that come from the practical contact of its emigrants with the infinite number of aspects of life in other countries than its own. Indeed, in so far as emigration is relied upon as an outlet for the undesirable members of the community, these strictly uneconomic results may be said to be not only recognized by a country, but even aimed at by its responsible promoters. In a country so long impervious to outside influences as was Japan the more immediate results of emigration are sooner detected than in our own, where the rights of departure and of entry have been so long uncon- ditioned that it is difficult to trace the beginnings of k2 U8 POPULATION— OCCUPATIONS— the assimilative processes and still more difficult to determine the original national type. The careful organization and control of emigration that have prevailed in Japan since emigration first started not only make possible a fairly accurate enumeration and classification of those who have left the country, but also provide material whereby some estimate can be made of the nature of the influences these exercise in the sphere of foreign politics. To speak first of direct monetary results : it is esti- mated that the total sum sent or brought back annually by emigrants reaches from 10 or 12 million yen, and the tendency is to invest this money in Japan, mostly in real estate, after due provision has been made for the support of the several families of absent emigrants. Japanese emigrants, on the whole, do not make other countries their abiding cities — 75 per cent, at least return home, the instinct that moves them to leave Japan being essentially commercial. The families in most cases are left behind. Yet a survey of the internal economic situation of Japan does not make it easy to account for such a con- stant emigration from her shores. Over-population cannot be assigned as the cause ; the majority of her emigrants do not come either from the poorest or from the most crowded districts of the country. Japan has not yet reached the limits of her capacity for pro- ducing rice and vegetables, and the increasing develop- ment of her resources makes her well able to support an increasing population, while the rise in wages shows that the supply of labour is still overbalanced by demand. Improved social conditions and the toler- tince in religious matters that prevail nullify two possible suggestions as to reasons prompting emigra- tion and it certainly camiot be traced to any keen AND EMIGRATION 149 nomadic tendency among the Japanese people. More- over, the several serious collisions that have occurred with white populations abroad would hardly encourage the desire to emigrate. In fairness to those places that have protested against Japanese immigration it must be admitted that the bulk of the Japanese exported to Chosen, Manchuria, and the ports of the Pacific have not been altogether favourable specimens of their race, nor does the very large part in Ja23anese emigration to the Chinese, Indian, and Arabian coasts played by women of the geisha class command respect, though these meaner instruments are a resource not to be under-estimated in the Japanese spy system, which for range and unscrupulousness is unsurpassed and, since the Russian-Japanese War, well recognized. Still, as a proof of the national discipline, in Manchuria there is very little ground of complaint against Japanese settlers where before complaint was frequent, and the Govern- ment's alteration in policy following upon the various anti-Japanese revolts in Canada, as well as her careful avoidance of exciting tension in China, where the antagonism to Japanese immigrants is not at all diminishing, show a statesmanlike grasp of the in- tricate considerations upon which her commercial intercourse with these countries is based. The annual average number of immigrants from Japan is about 20,000. Roughly, half go to China and the United States of America ; the Sandwich Islands, the Philippines, the South Sea Islands, and South America take the other half. During recent years there has been a small regular emigration to Peru, and the Ja^^anese population in that country amounts to about 5,000. Since 1907 two batches of Japanese emigrants, under 2,000 in all, have gone to Brazil, the majority of which have been under con- 150 POPULATION— OCCUPATIONS— tract with the Sao Paulo Government to work in the coifee phmtations. To Mexico, until the recent restrictions came into force, Japan has been sending emigrants, though not continuously, since 1897, and the Japanese population there, including Koreans who are now part of the Japanese people, is over 3,000. The coal, copper, and other mines in Mexico employ the greater number of these. Owing to the policy of restricting Japanese emigra- tion to the United States, entered upon in view of the United States Government's request in connexion with this matter, Japan has lately placed restrictions upon emigration to Mexico on account of that country being used as a stepping-stone to the United States by a certain number of emigrants. These restrictions, however, will probably be withdrawn when the United States immigration measures are a sufficient guard in themselves against unlawful entrances. In the United States the Japanese population is about 155,000. Emigrants for many years have made this their destination, though many of such emi- grants require to be differentiated from the ordinary labour emigrants. Since 1907, on account of a new Japanese-United States agreement, Japanese labour emigration has been restricted, and each year shows a diminution of those who go to the United States and, in consequence of the yearly return of emi- grants, a decrease in the Japanese population in that country. The same restrictive policy has affected the emigra- tion figures to Canada, and there are not more than 2,000 Japanese in Canada at the present time. With Hawaii Japan has had longer connexion, as far as emigration is concerned, than with any other place. The first AND EMIGRATION 151 band of emigrants went there about twenty-six years ago under the terms of a treaty made between Japan and the Hawaian Government, which treaty was in force until within the last few years. After it expired, Japanese emigration companies continued to send emigrants there, and now the Japanese population in Hawaii reaches nearly 70,000 — indeed little less than half the whole Hawaian population is Japanese. Since the annexation of Hawaii by the United States the measures that have restricted Japanese emigration to the United States have been applied there, and in the case of Hawaii the Japanese who return home to Japan exceed those who go out by about 2,000 every year, and the population, most of whom work in the sugar plantations, is decreasing steadily. In Australia legislative restrictions have practically closed that country to Japanese labour. There are not more than 1,000 Japanese in Australia alto- gether. The Ocean Islands, belonging to Great Britain, contain about 300 Japanese workmen doing work in the phosphate industry under contract for a certain number of years, and in New Caledonia there are 1,500 Japanese employed in nickel mines, while Tahiti, belonging to France, offers employment to a few hundred Japanese in the phosphate industry. Good labourers in phosphate work can save about J:00 yen a year, so there is never any difficulty in replacing them when the contract period runs out. In China there are 39,226 Japanese ; in India, the Straits Settlements, Siam, and French Cochin China, tlie Japanese population now reaches 3,000. If Manchuria be included in China the figures are, of course, very much larger, and the total might amount to well over 100,000 — in fact the only way in which 152 POPULATION, ETC. the figures supplied by the Japanese Bureau of Emigra- tion can be reconciled with those obtained from other sources is to assume that the various compilers have not been at one with regard to territorial denominations, and that the larger figures imputed to China and the United States cover the figures for Manchuria and American islands, such as Hawaii and the Philippines, respectively. The number of emigrants in Europe and Siberia is, for a variety of reasons, difficult to estimate, l)ut it is prol)ably under 5,000. Foreign- The number of foreigners in Japan is about 17,900, PI'S ill . o J. Japan, tvvo-tliirds of whom are Chinese. The British (2,401) slightly outnumber the Americans. Germans, French- men, Eussians, Portuguese, and Swiss between them do not make up more than 2,000. As far as rights and privileges are concerned, the foreigners have the same status as native subjects, with certain exceptions relat- ing to mining concessions which are granted only to native subjects or to companies formed according to Japanese laws. Though generally there is nothing to prevent a foreigner from becoming a shareholder of such a company, there are certain companies bearing special relations to the Government which are not allowed to take foreigners as shareholders. CHAPTER IX EDUCATION In attempting to give a brief description of the Educa- educational system of Japan, it seems necessary in the under the first instance to glance at the position of the schools Sho8'"»s. under the Shogunate, in order to explain more clearly the changes Ijrought about in the early days of the Meiji period by the Emperor and his advisers. There was nothing in the shape of an organized system of education in the time of the Shoguns, and although the Government had itself established various types of schools and encouraged the local daimyos to follow its example, there was no department in charge of the education of the country. Almost everywhere through- out Japan, however, wherever a sufficient population existed, there were private elementary schools^ in which instruction in the three K's could be obtained. It was necessary to acquire some knowledge of the Chinese characters, in general use as ideographs, and lessons in the methods of writing them formed an important part of the teaching in the schools which were intended for the common people in three out of the four classes in which the population was then divided. These classes included the farmers and peasants ; the artisans and labourers ; and the mer- chants and tradespeople, the fourth class being the samurai or military retainers of the feudal chiefs, who alone obtained a superior education. It was not, how- ever, imtil about the middle of the eighteenth century, during the time of the eighth Shogun, Yosliimune, who 154 EDUCATION encouraged the teaching of foreign languages, and who was an enhghtened ruler, that this improvement took place in the education of the masses. Emphasis Coming now to the Meiji era and the accession to cationai power of the present Emperor, a marvellous transfor- impen^il i^^^^^^on in the attitude of the State towards education Oath of at once became apparent ; there is, indeed, no more significant fact in the mighty awakening under the new regime than the idea so well expressed in the last of the famous five articles of the Imperial Oath, sworn on April 6, 1868, in the presence of the Imperial princes and high officials in the palace at Kyoto. This article runs as follows : — ' Knowledge shall be sought for throughout the world, so that the welfare of the Empire may be promoted.' Here we have the keynote of the great educational changes that speedily followed, and gave to Japan a well-balanced and carefully devised school system. The old schools, closed during the fighting between the Imperial forces and the followers of Tokugawa, were reopened, foreign teachers were engaged, promising youths were sent abroad to be trained, and Educa- ^ Department of Education was established as early as tioii Code 1871, followed a year later by the promulgation of an gated. Education Code. The guiding principle of this code has been well defined as one of ' Educational equality ' ; there was, henceforth, no monopoly of education for a privileged class, but all Japanese men and women were to be afforded equal opportunities according to their capaci- ties, and in taking a comprehensive view of what has been accomplished in the forty years since that date it is impossible to avoid being imj^ressed by EDUCATION 155 the thoroughness with which this task has been accompHshed. More than this, the new system was in every sense utiHtarian ; no distinct line was drawn between moral and intellectual training ; girls were to share in the literary advantages afforded, and the educational ladder reached from the primary school to the University. In the original scheme there were three grades of schools, the Elementary, the Middle, and the Univer- sity, all cared for by the State, and each leading in turn to the one above it, until the finished career ended with the University degree. It is true that this somewhat ambitious j^rogramme could not be fully realized, but the European expert can only marvel that Jaj^an has been enabled to effect so much within a limited period. School-buildings had to l)e pro- vided, teachers trained, textbooks supplied, and the cost of this splendid system had to be raised by a country in the making, for in giving up the feudal system, and all that it implied, a new country was virtually created. Another point that we must also greatly admire in this education was what may be called its suppleness and elasticity, as also the manner in which the instruction given could be adapted to the requirements of the locality. As the scheme de- veloped even technical ti-aining found a place in it, and in the absence of the religious question, which has raised so many controversies in Europe, the school system of Japan has gradually been modified to suit the needs of the different classes of the community. At the time of the inception of the new scheme the Educa- entire country, exclusive of Hokkaido and the Loochoo ||iJ"s]ons Islands, was to be divided into eight University of the districts, with a Universit}^ in each. Every district 156 EDUCATION was to include 32 Middle School areas, making 256 in all, and these last were each again partitioned into 210 Elementary School districts, which would have entailed the provision of a total of 53,760 Elementary Schools. This was a grand conce^^tion of the educa- tional requirements of the country, and though it could not be carried out on the scale laid down, it marked the thoroughness with which the problem was grappled. We shall now proceed to discuss the characteristics of the various grades of schools, and show in what way the alcove proposals have been realized. Imperial In the excellent course of lectures delivered before 0,^ Kduca- the University of London in 1907, subsequently tion,iS90. published in book-form, Baron D. Kikuchi began by the reading of the Imj^erial Rescript on Education, issued on October 30, 1890. This important document, which is really the basis on which the entire fabric of education in Japan is founded, has a much deeper moral significance than would appear possible to the European reader from the mere perusal of its con- tents. Indeed, as Baron Kikuchi tells us, ' However we may translate it, the translation will scarcely con- vey the same message that the original does to a Japanese ; in fact, it may be said that our whole moral and civil education consists in so imbuing our children with the spirit of the Rescript that it forms a part of our national life.' As in the present chapter we have availed ourselves repeatedly of the Baron's work, we cannot do better than quote his version of this document, which is an original translation, and may be regarded as official in character. It runs thus : — ' Know ye. Our Subjects : Our Imperial ancestors have founded Our Empire EDUCATION 157 on a basis broad and everlasting and have deeply and firmly implanted virtne ; Our Subjects ever united in loyalty and filial piety have from generation to generation illustrated the beauty thereof. This is the glory of the fundamental character of Our Empire and herein also lies the source of Our education. Ye, Our Subjects, be filial to your parents, aifectionate to your l^rothers and sisters ; as husbands and wives be liarmonious, as friends, true ; bear yourselves in modesty and moderation ; extend your benevolence to all ; pursue learning and cultivate arts, and thereby develop intellectual faculties and perfect moral powers; furthermore, advance public good and promote com- mon interests ; always respect the Constitution and observe the laws ; should emergency arise offer your- selves courageously to the State ; and thus guard and maintain the prosperity of Our Imperial Throne co- eval with heaven and earth. So shall ye not only be Our good and faithful Subjects, but render illustrious the best traditions of your forefathers. The Way here set forth is indeed the teaching be- queathed by Our Imperial Ancestors, to be observed alike by Their Descendants and their Subjects, in- fallible for all ages and true in all places. It is Oiu' wish to lay it to heart in all reverence, in common with you ()ur Subjects, that we may all attain to the same virtue.' The '30th day of the 10th month of the 28rd year of Meiji. (The 30th of October, 1890.) (Imperial Sign Manual. Imperial Seal.) A copy of this Rescript is distributed from the Department of Education to the schools of all grades in the Empire, whether they be governmental, public, or private. In the case of the Government schools this document is actually signed by the Emperor. More- over, the photographic portraits of the Emperor and of the Empress are sent from the Imperial Household to every Government and public school and to all Colleges 158 EDUCATION above higher elementary rank. They are bronght out on all public occasions, and are displayed in the hall or room in which any school ceremony is taking place. A special receptacle is provided for them in each build- ing, in which they are carefully guarded, and when any function is being held these portraits with the Ee- script are deemed to represent the presence of Their Majesties in person. Cases are recorded in which the director or the teacher of a school has saved them at the risk of his life from the flames, when the school building was being burnt down, and such an evidence of the great respect in which they are held cannot fail to make a deep impression on the hearts of children. The virtue they are mainly designed to implant firmly in the minds of the young is loyalty to the Emperor, with which are identified the duties of patriotism and filial piety ; these are the supreme aims inculcated by them. state con- Education is considered one of the most important Educa- functions of the State and is, therefore, entirely under tion based Government control. The department chareed with upon Im- ^ ^_ peiial Or- these duties is that of the Minister of Education who directly or indirectly supervises the whole educational system of the Empire. A special feature of the admini- stration is that it is not determined by laws which have to be passed by the Diet, but depends upon Imperial Ordinances, issued by the Emperor, on the recom- mendation of the Cabinet, after being submitted to the Privy Council. Though this is the fact generally, it may be stated that certain minor matters connected Legal with education have to be sanctioned by laws. Thus ments. the law entitled ' The General Eegulations for Local Educational Matters ' contains provisions for the forma- tion and grouping of school districts, and there are other laws relating to school finances and the pensions of teachers, but with these exceptions all the main EDUCATION 159 enactments are Imperial Ordinances. Among them are those relating to Elementary Schools, Normal Edu- cation, Middle Schools, Girls' High Schools, Special Colleges, Technical Schools and Colleges, Higher Schools preparatory to the Imperial University, as also on Ini|)erial Universities and Private Schools. It is scarcely necessary here to follow the various steps by means of which the present system of Educa- tion in Japan has been reached, but radical changes took place in the earlier days of the Meiji period, and after many experiments, some of which were failures, but all of which were of advantage owing to the ex- perience gained by them, it gradually became possible to advance to a clear perception of the educational needs of the country. The various schools and colleges belonging to the Deiiart- Government are, with a few exceptions, placed under "ontrol of the Minister of Education. In the latter category are schools. the Schools of the Army and Navy for the Education of Officers, two schools belonging to the Department of Communications, and an institution for the study of Marine Industries, placed under the Department of Agriculture and Commerce. There are also a series of schools and colleges maintained by prefectures and sub-prefectures, while the sJii, cho, son, or their unions of districts, carry on elementary schools and technical schools mostly of the elementary grade. Lastly, men- tion may be made of schools established by private individuals or by legal personages. These are of all grades from universities down to elementary schools. The elementary schools in Japan, as in European Eiemen- countries, form the base of the whole educational cation. " system. It is true that there are kindergarten schools, which receive children at three years old and care for them until they become of school age, but such schools • 160 EDUCATION do not form a part of the national system of education. It is stated in the Imperial Ordnance that — ' Elementary Schools are designed to give children the rudiments of moral education, and of an education specially adapted to make them good members of the Community, together with such general knowledge and skill as are necessary for the practical duties of life — due attention being paid to their bodily development.' Elementary schools are of two kinds, viz. the ordinary elementary school and the higher elementary school, but in many localities the two schools exist together in one building. To the school of the lower grade, people are in general under an obligation to send their children for a certain period, that they may receive a definite and prescribed course of education, while the higher elementary school is intended for such children as, having completed their course of compulsory education, wish to receive some further training, though not desiring to advance beyond that, or to enter the Middle school for boys or the High school for girls. The ordinary elementary course extends over six years ; the child enters the school on the completion of the sixth year of age, as already stated, and, except under certain conditions of exemption, remains throughout the course ; the school age is, however, from six to fourteen. The existence of j^rivate elementary schools side by side with public schools of the same grade is recognized by law, and such schools are subject to Government supervision. As a rule, the children of all classes attend the same school. Every localit}' is bound to make school provision for all the children within its jurisdiction, but arrangements are made under which several small localities may combine and con- stitute a school union, and in bearing the costs of such schools several villages must thus combine and share EDUCATION 161 proportionately in the expenses. Pecuniary aid may be granted from the whole district for poor schools, and additional grants may be obtained from the fii or lien. The higher elementary school course may extend over two or three years, according to the decree of the local authorities, and a small tuition fee may be charged. From a report issued in 1909 it appeared that about 60 per cent, of all the public elementary schools were of the lower standard, 35 per cent, of the ordinary and higher standards combined, and about 5 per cent, of a still higher standard. Boys and girls may be taught together, or the sexes may be segregated in special classes. The subjects taught in the ordinary schools are morals, the Japanese language, arithmetic, Japanese history, geography, science, drawing, singing, gym- nastics, and (for girls only) sewing. In some few cases, in addition to these standard subjects, manual instruction is given. The subjects taught in the higher elementary school are essentially those of the elementary school course, with one or more of three additional subjects — manual work, agriculture, and commerce, though the two last may not be taken together. Where local circumstances render it ad- visable the English language may be taught. In the elementary school there are from twenty-one to thirty hours of instruction per week, according to age, and in the higher elementary school thirty to thirty-two hours weekly. In certain half-time schools there are eighteen hours of teaching weekly, and in the case of young children the teaching may be reduced to twelve hours per week in the ordinary course. The number of holidays must not exceed ninety days per annum, exclusive of Sundays. A system of State school-books was adopted in 1903 and, under the advice of a special committee created in 1908 by Imperial Ordin- 162 EDUCATION ance for the investigation of this subject, the matter is now under review. It is pointed out in recent reports that the number of school buildings is on the decrease, owing to the con- solidation of some of the rural districts. Thus while in 1907-8 there were 27,125 elementary schools, the number in the following year was only 26,386. The following table gives the attendance and the total numbers enrolled in the elementary schools ; the average attendance is very satisfactory, reaching as it does a total of 98 per cent. : — Number of children attending school (1909-10) — Boys 3,857,957. Girls 3,461,442. Total 7,319,899. Percentage of attendance for the above year — Boys 98-86 Girls 97-26 Average 98-06 From the elementary school in which the great majority of the children of Japan complete their education an increasing number of boys and girls pass into those of a higher grade, which will now be con- sidered separately. It may be pointed out that the schools of the superior grade are quite distinct for the different sexes and we propose to leave the general consideration of female education to a separate chapter, which will also contain a brief account of technical education. Second- We cannot here trace all the stages in the development calion." ^^ Secondary education ; suffice it to say that as early as 1872 the whole country was divided, as has been stated, into eight grand school districts and each one of these was again subdivided into thirty-two middle school districts, with one such school in each district. This would have provided 256 schools of a superior grade, EDUCATION 163 available on quitting the elementary school. The plan was avowedly based on the French school system, but this arrangement was very imperfectly carried out. In July, 1881, the Department of Education promul- gated general rules for a Middle school, with a standard course of study, and these rules were amended in 1884. Two years later an Imperial Ordinance was issued with respect to the Middle Schools of Japan, under which institutions of this type were divided into ' higher ' and ' ordinary ' schools, the latter with a course of five years. Students of the age of twelve, who had completed the work of the elementary school, were admitted to the ordinary schools, while for the higher school, with a two years' course, only those students who had passed through the ordinary school and had attained the age of seventeen were eligible. Finally, in June, 1 894, the High School Ordinance was issued, in accordance with which the name of the Higher Middle Schools was changed, and the courses previously laid down were made preparatory to the University Course in the High Schools, as they are now called. Under a revision in 1899 the name of the Ordinary Middle Schools was changed to Middle Schools, and the object of such schools was defined as being the provision of such higher education as would be required by boys in general. These schools are entered at the age of twelve, on completing the work in the elementary school, and they provide a five years' course with a supplementary course not exceeding one year in duration. The number of Middle Schools now in existence is about 278, with nine branch schools. Though these schools are some of them public and others private the system of education does not allow of any deviation from the course laid down by Govern- ment, which includes morals, Japanese language and l2 164 EDUCATION Chinese classics, foreign languages (either English or German), history and geography, arithmetic, natural history, physics and chemistry, drawing, singing and gymnastics. The regulations also provide for the teaching of law and economics, but the hours for this subject may be devoted to foreign languages, while singing may be omitted. The time allotted to teach- ing varies from twenty-eight to thirty hours weekly. Much stress is laid on the instruction in the Japanese language and the Chinese classics, and in the second place on the teaching of modern languages. In issuing the amended programme of studies the Department of Education states : ' The instruction in a middle school shall always aim at the attainment of its object, which is a higher general education accompanied with dis- cipline.' The numbers under instruction in Public Middle Schools in 1907 were 90,420, and in Private Middle Schools 20,456, making a total of 110,876. The number of teachers in the same year was 5,426, of whom 71-69 per cent, were qualified and 28-31 per cent, unqualified. Normal The Ordinance relating to Normal Education now in force was issued in 1897, but its main provisions had at that time already been adopted. In the normal schools there is complete division between the sexes. In the case of both male and female students there is a preparatory course lasting for one year, and a regular course of four years which is divided into two sections. The first section extends over four years and the curriculum includes morality, pedagogics, the Japanese language and Chinese literature, English, history and geography, mathematics, natural history, physics and chemistry, law and economics, penman- ship, drawing, manual training, music and gymnastics Schools. EDUCATION 165 — English is tlie only optional subject. In addition to this somewhat formidable list, commerce or agri- culture, or even both subjects, may be studied. In the preparatory course thirty-one hours and in the regular course thirty-four hours weekly are set apart for teaching. The second section of the regular course covers one year only, with a similar list of subjects, and thirty-four hours of instruction weekly. In this second section the intention is not so much to extend the knowledge already gained as to train the students in practical teaching methods, and each Normal School has an Elementary Practising School attached to it. The tuition is free and the students are provided with the cost of their board and clothing. After gradua- tion the students are bound to serve for a certain period in the locahty in which they have been trained. Graduates in the first section serve for seven years and in the second section for two years. Great stress is laid on the discipline and rigid military training to which the students are subjected. Recently, however, the experiment has been tried of establishing a home system in these colleges. The objections raised against this scheme are the excessive number of pupils and the difficulty of finding suitable accommodation. For the training of teachers in Normal Schools there are higher Normal Schools, both for men and women, with a preparatory course of one year and a regular course of three years. Teaching Certificates are of two kinds, namely, Teachinc General certificates and Prefectural certificates. The gj^^-gg^ former are granted by the Minister of Education and are valid throughout the country, while the latter are granted by the prefects and are available only in the prefecture in which they may have been issued- There are, moreover, three classes of teaching certifi- 166 EDUCATION cates, viz. those for regular teachers, those for assistant teachers, and those for special teachers. Of certificates for teachers and assistant teachers there are two grades, in accordance with the type of school in which instruc- tion is given, and the issue of such teaching certificates is carefully guarded, due inquiry being made into character and ability. The examinations, both for male and female teachers, are of the same standard, but in the case of those teachers not specially trained at Normal Schools certain subjects may be dispensed with. Since 1907, changes have been made in the examination for teachers' certificates and the standard has been somewhat raised. The appointment of school teachers rests with the prefect or the sub-prefect, in accordance with the importance of the district. It is somewhat noteworthy that among the reasons for which the teacher may be deprived of his certificate are included bankruptcy or insolvency. The sums paid to teachers are very small, but since 1907 salaries have been slightly increased. Recently, the Minister of Education has given certificates of merit to a number of elementary school teachers deemed worthy of special commendation on account of their long services or peculiar merit. These certificates are accompanied by a grant in each case of about £15. The pensions of public school teachers are determined by laws on very much the same lines as those relating to other State officials, and provision is made for the establishment in each prefecture of an elementary school teachers' pension fund, to which the State contributes a subsidy. The number of Normal Schools, which in 1907-8 was 69, is now 78. The number of pupils in training are, males 16,795, and females 6,627, total 23,422. It will be seen that no efforts have been spared in EDUCATION 167 Japan to undertake the training of teachers on the best Hnes, and to afford them a thorough insight into modern teaching methods. There is, however, still a large proportion of teachers who may be classed as untrained. The staffing of normal schools is on a very liberal basis ; in a school with four classes (which is the minimum) there must be eleven teachers and assistant teachers, and even this number must be in- creased when both agriculture and commerce are added to the studies. The director of a normal school is a Government official, and he is paid by the Depart- ment of Education, even where the school is established by a prefecture. A few words appear to be necessary on the subject inspec- of school inspection which has not been neglected in Schools. the scheme of the Government. A central bureau of inspection was established in 1874, with a small staff, but this was abolished in 1877, and occasional inspec- tion was made by qualified officials. In 1886 the inspectorate was again revived, and a staff of five inspectors took charge of the work ; two more inspec- tors were added subsequently, but in 1893 this system of inspection was again dropped. Four years later five school inspectors were appointed, and each pre- fecture received two sub-inspectors for elementary school duties. In 1899 the number of sub-inspectors was increased, but at the present time the staff is admittedly inadequate for the work, and Baron Kikuchi states that there are only eleven inspectors in the Department of Education ; their duties are mainly connected with the supervision of the teaching in elementary schools, and there is great need of some efficient inspection of the actual teaching in secondary and higher schools. There are now eight High Schools situated in Tokyo, Higher Sendai, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Kumamoto, Okayama, tioi^'* 168 EDUCATION Kagoshima, and Nagoya, and under the Ordinance issued in 1900 relative to courses given in these schools preparatory for the University, certain modifications were made with a view to the improvement of the educational work carried on in these institutions. The courses are subdivided into three sections, the first of which is designed to prepare students for admission to the Colleges of Law or Literature, the second prepares applicants for admission to the Course of Pharmacy in the Colleges of Medicine, to the College of Science and Engineering, or to the Col- leges of Agriculture, while the third section is for those desiring admission to the Colleges of Medicine, In all the three sections the studies embrace ethics, Japanese, Chinese, English, and German or French, but in each section the remainder of the course is specialized in favour of the ]3articular aim the students have in view. Thus in the first of these sections, history, logic, and mental philosophy, elementary law and political economy are included ; in the second section place is given to mathe- matics, physics, chemistry, geology and mineralogy, together with drawing ; and in the third, geology or mineralogy are replaced by zoology and botany. Gymnastics are taught in all the sections. Can- didates for admission to these schools must be graduates of a Middle school, or those who have corresponding qualifications. Competitive entrance examinations are held in order to limit the number of admissions. Promotion depends upon class work, and on the results of examinations held at the end of each term and each year. Certain privileges of exemption from payment of fees, the postponement of the period of army conscription, and liberty to teach in Normal, Middle, and Girls' High schools, without undergoing EDUCATION 169 further examination, are granted to the best students. Very great importance is attached in these schools to the teaching of languages, to which more than half the time is devoted. The object of these High Schools is not merely to prepare youths for the University ; they are regarded also as institutions in which men of talent are trained for the government services, and as the students are chiefly of the age of twenty or thereabouts efforts are made to secure for them sound moral and spiritual education. Boarding-houses are provided to shield them from evil influences, and they are kept under strict control. As regards physical education, gymnastics are taught to the students throughout the entire course, and great attention is paid to their health and welfare. In fact, the authorities do all in their power to foster a manly character, as well as to provide for the intellectual training of those under their charge. There are at present three Imperial Universities in Univerai- Japan, namely, those of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Tohoku, but it is intended to create a fourth University at an early date. The Tokyo University received its present status in 1877, and arose out of an amalgamation of earlier colleges. It was created an Imperial University by the Ordinance of 1886, and it assumed its final form in 1890. It now consists of a University Hall, a College of Law, two Colleges of Medicine (one in Kyoto and the other in Fukuoka), a College of Litera- ture, and a College of Science and Engineering. It is not necessary for our present purpose to examine minutely into the Constitution of the other Universities. The object of an Imperial University in Japan is to provide instruction in literature, science, and art ; all of which are essential to the State. It consists of a Hall and other associated colleges. The Hall is an 170 EDUCATION institution in which research-work is carried on and into which the graduates of the various Colleges obtain admission. If any student, not a graduate of one of these colleges, desires to be admitted to the Hall, he must undergo an examination at the College devoted to his special subject. The length of the course in the University Hall of the Tokyo University is five years, and the student carries out his researches and investigations under the guidance of a professor. At the end of the course he prepares a thesis, and if he passes he receives a degree. A College is an institution for instruction in literature or science, both theoretical and applied. The length of the course of study is three years in the Colleges of Literature, Science, Engineer- ing, Agriculture, and Science and Engineering ; four years in the course of Medicine and three years in that of Pharmacy in the College of Medicine ; and four years in the College of Law. In each College in an Imperial University an elective course is pro-' vided for those students who wish to take up one or more subjects. The University year begins on September 11 and ends on July 10 following. In general, the year is divided into three terms. The courses vary in the different colleges. Thus, in the College of Law at Tokyo there are four courses, namely, law, politics, political economy, and com- merce. In that of Medicine there are two courses. In the College of Engineering are eight courses, and so on. The subjects taught in similar courses in the various Universities are as nearly as possible alike. These Universities, having all been established by the Government, obtain annual subsidies from the National Treasury : thus the Tokyo University receives £180,000 annually, that of Kyoto £100,000 and a EDUCATION 171 smaller sum is granted to the University of Tohoku. Each University has a President, who is of CJioJacnin rank ; under him is a Council consisting of the Directors of the College and one professor from each College, chosen by vote. The President convenes the Council and presides at the meetings. There is also a Com- mittee for the management of the University finances, and there is a faculty meeting in each College attended by its special professors. The staff of the Tokyo Imperial University colleges comprises 143 Professors, 88 Assistant Professors, and 95 Lecturers, while there are in addition 11 Honorary Professors. Attending the Tokyo University there are in all 5,071 students, including 169 students of the elective courses. In the Kyoto University are 1,396 students, including 97 in the elective courses, and the Tohoku University has about 100 students. Training of university rank is not confined to tlie Private provision made by the Government, as special schools ti"ons " may be founded by a fit, Icen, or city, or even by a private individual, with the permission of the Minister of Education, and the object of such schools is in most cases to give higher education in the arts and sciences as laid down in the Special School Ordinance. Such institutions have a course extending over three years or more, and students must either be graduates of Middle Schools and Girls' High Schools, or they must possess corresponding attainments. The teachers must be holders of a degree, or graduates of a College of the Imperial University, or graduates who have attained the gaJ:ushi (degree) qualification, but persons may ])e specially appointed or permitted to teach by the Minister of Education. To this category belong the Government Schools of Schools of Medicine, of which there are five, viz. those of Chiba, 172 EDUCATION Sendai, Okayama, Kanazawa, and Nagasaki, and those schools of similar rank established by prefectures, at Kyoto, Osaka, and Nagoya. There are, moreover, private Schools of Medicine in Tokyo and Kumamoto, and a Government school in course of formation at Niigata. The courses of study at all these institutions, except in the case of Okayama, and the private schools, comprise both medicine and pharmacy ; the period of study for the former being four years and for the pharmacy three years only. To each Government Special School a hospital is attached, and the schools are consequently furnished with the equipment re- quisite to provide a complete medical education. The number of students seeking admission is so large (four or five times the number required) that entrance has to be made subject to competitive examination. These special schools do not, however, turn out such competent and efficient graduates as the Colleges of Medicine forming part of the Imperial University, because in the latter case the students of the College have received, as we have seen, three years' preparatory education in the High School before entering the University, whereas the students of the special Schools of Medicine are admitted directly after graduating from a Middle School. They lack, therefore, the s|)ecial preparatory knowledge of foreign languages, physics, and chemistry gained at the High School. This being the case steps have recently been taken to raise the standard of the Special Schools of Medicine. It is well known that the examination under the Medical Practitioners' Law is to be discontinued after 1914, and the fate of the medical students at that date in the private schools becomes a matter of difficulty. The examination for the medical profession is divided into two parts, and only those who have passed the first examination are EDUCATION 173 entitled to sit for the second. It is calculated that not less than 2,000 medical students will thus be disqualified and will be compelled to enter some other profession. Another school of higher rank is the Tokyo School Various of Foreign Languages, which aims at the training of gytution's, practical linguists and gives three years' courses in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Korean, Tamil, Hindustani, Mongolian, and Malay. In the second and third years, during the hours allotted to the study of each language, teaching is given on the general history, geography, and litera- ture of the country whose particular language is being studied. There is a post-graduate course of two years' duration, and short courses are given in Malay, Hindu- stani, Tamil, and Mongolian for those about to engage in business who need tuition in the above languages. For entrance into this school there is a strict examination as more students present themselves each year than can be admitted. There were 451 students in 1909, and about 250 others attending special courses. Among schools of superior rank which should here be mentioned are the Tokyo Fine Art School, the Tokyo Academy of Music, and the Commercial, Technical, and Agricultural Schools established by the Government, but there are also special schools privately founded which belong to this section. These latter schools may be thus classified : — two special schools of medicine, nine of law, nine of law and literature, three of literature, one of literature and religion, and sixteen of religion. The oldest of these private institutions, established as far back as the period of Keio, is the Daigaki-bu or Special School of the Keiogijuku, founded by the famous Yukichi 174 EDUCATION Fukuzawa, one of the most eminent men of modern Japan, and one to whom the country is most deeply indebted for the introduction of western civihzation. This University received its present name on its transfer to Shin-senza in 1868, and it was again removed to the site now occupied on the heights of Mita in 1871 ; its founder is still known as the ' Sage of Mita '. This institution, first established for the teaching of Dutch and English, has kept well abreast of the times and takes high rank as a seat of learning. Mr. Fukuzawa may be regarded as the pioneer of the introduction of foreign teaching, and while his main object in the first instance was the study of languages, a University department with courses in Economics, Law, and Literature was established in 1890 to which seven years later a course in Politics was added. The spirit which animated the founder has been cherished by his students, and his noble and lofty personality is still held in reverence by his followers. The two words ' Independence ' and ' Self-respect ', embodying his moral teaching, have been chosen as the motto that governs the institution and rules the minds of the students, and many men, eminent in learning and in mental endowments, who now occupy important posi- tions in the State and in society have been trained The Keio- in the Keiogijuku. Its objects are well summed up ^'^" ^' in the following declaration : ' The Keiogijuku is not satisfied with remaining merely a place of cloistered learning. It aspires to be a fountain-head from whence flows nobility of character and an intellectual light and moral glory to illumine the path of Japan. Its aim is to make clear those principles which should govern the domestic, social, and national life, not only by preaching, but also by practising them, thus to prove a leading factor in the general welfare of the EDUCATION 175 country.' These were, indeed, high ideals and they have been worthily carried out. The Institution embraces a Primary School, a Middle School, and a University department. In the first of these depart- ments 300 boys, who enter at the age of six, receive a carefully thought-out education, designed to build up a strong physique, and then to add sound mental cultivation ; physical culture is placed before the training of the mind. This school is a boarding school from which the boys pass on to the Middle School without examination. The Middle School ranks on an equality with those of the Government ; the course covers five years and graduates from this school proceed to the University. Special emphasis is laid on the study of English as well as on intellectual, moral and physical culture. There is a supplementary department for the graduates of other Middle Schools preparing for the entrance examination. In the University which forms the main body of the institution there are now 2,500 students. The two courses are the preparatory, lasting for two years, and the professional, with a full three years' course, making a complete course of five years. Many of the pro- fessors have been trained for their duties by going abroad as students to foreign countries in order to complete their education. Another important feature of the institution is the Shokogakko, the Commercial and Technical School, which prepares candidates for future use- fulness in the commercial and industrial world. The course covers four years with two years of preparatory work. This school was established in April, 1903. There is likewise an evening com- mercial school for apprentices with a two years' 176 EDUCATION course of elementary commercial instruction ; it re- ceives boys at the age of fifteen. In 1909 the numl^er attending the Keiogijuku were as follows:— University 2,293, Middle School 803, Primary School 384, Commercial and Technical School 4:4:9, Evening School 581, making a total of 4,510. The institution is governed by a board of thirty councillors elected by the alumni for a term of four years. The directors are five in number, one of whom, Mr. Eikichi Kamada, an earnest and capable teacher, is the President of the Keiogijuku, and the others are elected from among the councillors. (When in Tokyo the writer had several opportunities to discuss educa- tional questions with Mr. Kamada, and obtained from him the particulars of the institution over which he presides, and its aims in the educational world.) The councillors elect the President, who holds office for five years, but is eligible for re-election. There is, in addition, an Ihato (Chancellor), Mr. Ichitaro Fukuzawa, chosen by the Alumni Association, whose duty it is to superintend the welfare of the institution. The Keiogijuku grants four gakusJii degrees in Political Science, Economic Science, Laws, and Arts respec- tively. We have dealt with it thus fully as a typical institution of its class. The Another well-known institution is the Waseda Daigaku. Daigaku, created by Count Okuma and his friends in 1882. This establishment, which has greatly pros- pered, has furnished all sections of Japanese society with eminent and useful men, and has at the present time some 4,000 students. The Doshisha Special School, founded by Jo Niijima in 1875, is also a flourishing institution of higher rank. The Christian and Buddhist Special Schools, in which the study of EDUCATION 177 religion is of chief importance, must likewise here receive mention. All these special schools are for the training of male students. When dealing with female education, reference will be made to the so-called ' Women's University '. M CHAPTER X EDUCATION— Continued No department of Education in Japan has received more attention, or has shown greater signs of vitality in recent times than that which may for want of a better inchisive term be considered under the generic Technical head of ' technical ' education. This section must here tion.' include education in technology, engineering sciences, agriculture, and commerce, with a certain number of nautical and marine Industries schools. This class of teaching may range from University rank in the various faculties of engineering, law, commerce, and agriculture in the Colleges of the Imperial University of Tokyo, through the ' technical special colleges ' into which students pass direct on completing their educa- tion in the Middle school, down to the Higher Grade school standard. To the special colleges belong the so-called * technical colleges ' of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Kumamoto, various commercial colleges of a similar rank, and the Agricultural Colleges of Morioka and Klushiu. The number of these special colleges will ultimately reach eighteen, but four have not yet been opened. There are also numerous technical schools in two classes, A and B, section A being schools of the secondary, and section B those of the primary grade. The former division contains 190, and the latter 201 schools. Next in order come the supplementary technical schools, of which there are in all 4,908. The origin of these technical schools is in all cases EDUCATION 179 comparatively recent ; thus, the first Engineering School was founded in 1871, the Agriculturtil School in 1874, and the Commercial School in the year following, but these institutions, after undergoing various changes, were merged in the University, and in this way became agencies for imparting instruction of the highest grade in engineering, agriculture, and commerce respec- tively. Later, in 1883 or 1884, regulations were framed by Government for the creation of further technical schools, but little came of this action, and it was not until 1894 that state financial aid was afforded to technical education, and the movement received full Government support. The so-called Technical Technical School Ordinance was issued in 1899, and it was dinance. amended in 1902, and again in 1903. In accordance with this ordinance Technical Schools were divided as follows : (a) Technical Schools, (6) Agricultural Schools, (c) Commercial Schools, {d) Nautical Schools, and (e) Supplementary Technical Schools. Among the agricultural schools were included the special schools in sericulture, forestry, veterinary medicine, and schools for the study of marine industries. Great impetus was given to the movement in favour of the creation of these schools after the wars with China and Kussia, when the need of more highly trained men in all departments had made itself felt. The aim of the higher technical schools is to give Higher T ,.,,.. , p .1 Technical a more advanced instruction in a number or special Schools. subjects to students who desire to prepare themselves for such work. Thus there are schools for mechanics and machine construction, dyeing, weaving, architec- ture, chemistry, mining, and metallurgy, commerce, and many other distinct subjects. The length of the course is three years, but in many cases there is a post-graduate course for two years longer. Candi- m2 180 EDUCATION elates for admission to these schools must be graduates of middle schools, and in order to restrict the numbers of those who enter, there is a stiff entrance examination, because the number of applicants has been increasing from year to year, and in many cases seven or eight times the number of students required present them- selves for admission. The teaching staff' is composed of graduates of the colleges of the Imperial University, or of persons approved for these posts by the Minister of Education. It was stated in a report prepared for the Japan British Exhibition of 1910 that there are 458 teachers on the staffs of these various colleges, and 5,337 students, including those following special elective courses. Most of these schools are provided with workshops and complete equipment for practical work — the agricultural schools have farms attached to them, and in the forestry schools access is secured to forest areas. The great aim is to unite theory and prac- tice in all the teaching. Even in the commercial schools steps are taken to introduce practical business methods. Secondary In the technical schools of Secondary Grade com- ichoois. pi'ised under section A, the same kind of instruction, but less advanced in character, is provided in a wide range of subjects. In the regular course are included morals, Japanese language and literature, mathematics, chemistry, physics, drawing, and gymnastics, with special subjects in accordance with the requirements of the locality in which the school is situated. The school course covers three years, but it may be extended where necessary to four or more years, except in the case of the marine industries schools, where the extension may reach five years. In the nautical schools, in addition to the three years EDUCATION 181 in the school, the student must spencT three yeai*s on board a vessel, during one of which he must be in a sailing-ship, and there are special arrangements for the education of marine engineers, who must work in an engineering factory for one year of their training. Entrance may be obtained by graduates of a higher elementary school, not less than fourteen years of age, but for the preparatory course, where such exists, less stringent conditions prevail. There were, in 1909, 34,675 students in these schools and 2,377 teachers. By far the largest number of students attended the agricultural and commercial schools. The technical schools of the B, or primary grade, Primar}- are mainly designed for the training of workers and Schools. to impart to those intending to engage in various in- dustries, some knowledge of their future occupation. Many of these schools are of the rank of apprentice- ship schools, and certain of them are attended only by female students. The subjects of study are morals, Japanese, mathematics, general science, and gymnastics, with special subjects added which directly relate to the intended occupations of the students. The length of the course may vary from six months to four years, but the time spent in the technical school is to be not more than three years. Each school is at liberty to prescribe its own standard of entrance qualification ; the lowest qualification is that the student must have completed the elementary school course, and be not less than twelve years of age. The nature of these primary technical schools varies greatly in different parts of the country. The teaching qualification is very similar to that of the teachers of the schools of secondary grade, the chief distinction being the larger proportion permitted of unlicensed teachers, or of those without a diploma in tlie case of apprenticeship schools. 182 EDUCATION There are at present 1,158 teachers in these schools and 15,975 students. Supple- The provision made for technical supplementaiT Technical education IS mainly m the form of classes or short tion'^^ courses, attached to or forming part of the elementary school. The classes are intended to give supplementary lessons in general education and at the same time to impart knowledge of a specialized character, useful to those about to be engaged in various industries and in different branches of business. Neither the length of the course nor the school period is fixed by regulation, but these matters may be determined by local condi- tions, or by the consideration of the time that can most conveniently be assigned to this teaching. Some of the schools are open in the daytime, either before or after the regular school hours. Others are held only in the evening or during the winter months, and there are some which meet only on Sundays or on other recognized holidays. The length of the course varies very much in different places and even for different subjects in the same course. Children of not less than twelve years who have completed their term at the elementary school are eligible for admission to these courses, but even this rule has many exceptions, and young persons who are not qualified under the above conditions may be admitted. The subjects of instruction are morals, Japanese, and arithmetic in addition to the agriculture, trade- technology, and commercial knowledge. Japanese and arithmetic may be dropped if circumstances render this advisable, and technical instruction may be grouped in any way suitable to the local conditions, while students have liberty to take up only such parts of the course as they may select. In nearly all cases the teachers of these classes are those in charge of the EDUCATIOlSr 183 elementary schools to which they are attached. Owing to the fact that such teachers may not possess the requisite knowledge of technical subjects, each fu or lien provides from time to time courses of lectures to enable the teachers to prepare themselves to under- take this instruction. Moreover, the Department of Education organizes special summer courses for the training of elementary school teachers who may be willing to qualify themselves to give instruction in these schools. Other persons who are considered fit may have the permission of the local governors to teach in the supplementary technical schools. These schools contained in 1909 no less than 192,148 stu- dents. It is noted that not a few of such schools are located in Buddhist temples or in private dwelling- houses. The great want in this matter is that of adequately trained teachers, and though no special normal school for this type of teachers exists, provision has been made to some extent to supply this want by the addition of special training institutions to the Agricultural College of the Tokyo Imperial Univer- sity, as also to the Technological and Commercial Colleges of Tokyo. The annual Government subsidy for technical schools is £36,500, in the distribution of which some 312 schools participate. Some privileges are enjoyed by the students of such schools as receive official sanction ; namely, that the students are enabled to postpone their period of conscription to a later date, and the graduates of the colleges may become Govern- ment officials of Hannin rank. It is pointed out in the pamphlet prepared for the Technical Japan-British Exhibition of 1910 that of late years jeJi^J^" the relations between men engasjed in business andl^^^^™' the technical schools are becoming closer, and that preciated. this relationship has already been productive of 184 EDUCATION mutually beneficial influence. There is a growing tendency on the part of business men to make them- selves better acquainted with the work going on in technical schools by means of personal visits and inspection of the machines, implements, and equip- ment ; moreover, the value of the trained students is becoming appreciated. It must be remembered that in addition to the Government schools, a great many institutions of a similar character have been started by private initiative. Thus, Baron Kikuchi points out that Mr. Yasukawa has endowed a technological college to be established in Fukuoka. Very brief space remains in which to deal with the highest forms of technical education, but the following facts respecting the Engineering College will serve to show the thoroughness of the work in the premier Institution in the country. Engineer- The present College of Engineering arose, as has CoUecre been stated, out of the amalgamation of the Kobu- in Japan. Daigakko (Imperial College of Engineering, established 1871) and the department of Technology of the Tokyo Daigaku (Tokyo University). The Kobu-Daigakko was organized by Dr. H. Dyer of Glasgow, and contains the following ten courses : — ■ 1. Civil engineering. 2. Mechanical engineering. 8. Naval architecture. 4. Technology. 5. Electrical engineering. 6. Architecture. 7. Applied chemistry. 8. Technology of explosives. 9. Mining, and 10. Metallurgy. EDUCATION 185 Mechanical engineering is, liowever, subdivided into mechanical engineering proper and the marine section, so that there are altogether eleven courses in the University. Besides this special subdivision, another point worth mention is the importance assigned to actual practice and to designing. In the mechanical engineering department, for instance, students are employed during the summer months of July, August, and September in actual practice, either in Government works or in private workshops, while in the third year course, they spend most of their time in practical works and prepare complete designs for engines, steam turbines, and machinery. These drawings are so detailed that they would serve for the purposes of actual construction if sent to shops outside. In the same way the students in the mining course utilize the summer vacation and visit one of the large mines in order that they may practise hand and machine drilling, blasting, and the sharpen- ing of their own drills in the blacksmith's shop. They also take part in timbering in underground workings and go through the regular routine of work. The students in the metallurgical course are sent to one of the principal copper smelting works for actual practice in smelting operations and reduction of ores, together with electric refining of copper, while the specialists of the metallurgy of iron obtain practice either at the Imperial Steel Works or in private iron works for blast-furnace smelting and steel making. The students of other engineering departments follow similar courses of practice in corresponding industrial works. The total numlDer of students is about GGO, and of these more than 186 EDUCATION half attend the three courses of civil and mechanical engineering and naval architecture. The graduates of each engineering course are sub- sequently employed in different engineering works, mostly the property of private owners or companies, both at home and abroad. Many of them go to the South Manchuria Eailway Company, or to posts under the Korean Government. Educa- All writers on Japanese education attribute the Women, relatively inferior position of women in that country for so long a period to the influence of Buddhist and Confucian teaching, in accordance with which woman was looked down upon and even despised. Throughout the more modern Tokugawa period the principal education afforded to woman was that best adapted to render her useful and attractive to man, and little care was exercised upon the development of her intellectual faculties. During all her earlier years the girl was taught unceasingly to consider her duties to her future husband's family, and to practise obedience to her own parents. She had to study modesty and self-repression on every occasion, and she was allowed to have no will or wish of her own to gratify, but to think and do only what was required of her by the family, and more especially the mother of her future husband. The family was the unit of society, and woman as an individual was not con- sidered in any way. It is the lot of nearly all Japanese women to marry, and when in recent years the idea that woman was entitled to an education in no respects inferior to that given to man gained ground, it was impossible at the outset to discard at once the old traditional view of woman's future position in the household. Thus the aim of Japanese female education is to make girls EDUCATION 187 * good wives and mothers ', and to fit them for their future domestic position. The most recent movement in the education of woman comes from a recognition of the fact that it may be necessary, in consequence of the progress of advancing civiHzation, that a certain proportion of the female population should be trained to earn their own living. The earliest step taken in this direction was to Women educate certain women as teachers. Japanese experts speedily became convinced that, especially for young children, no better teachers could be found than those women who had been properly prepared for such duties. As early as 1874 a Women's Training School was founded by the Government, and later, when more advanced education in the Girls' High Schools had to be provided, a Higher Normal School, mainly for the purpose of training women teachers for these institu- tions of a higher grade came into existence. Two such Government training schools have now been estab- lished, the one in Tokyo with 365 students, and the other in Nara. In addition to these higher normal schools for Normal Q 1 1 women, under the Ordinance of 1897, the various fu f^^^*^ ^ and l tion Textiles . . . 10% ad valorem *^'^*'^- Kerosene, of which delivery is taken at a manu- factory, customs house, or bonded warehouse . 1 yen per koku The sugar excise came into force in 1901, and applies Sugar to sugar, syrup, and molasses of which delivery is ®^^^^^- taken at a manufactory, custom house, or bonded ware- house. The rate varies, according to quality and methods of manufacture, from 2 yen to 10 yeti per 2ncul. Tonnage dues, introduced in 1899, are imposed Tonnage upon vessels entering a Japanese port from foreign ^"^^' countries. They consist of 5 se?i per registered ton of the actual capacity, but the payment at a port of 15 sen per ton exempts a vessel from all further ton- nage dues at that port. Taxes, other than those included in the business Stamp tax, and fees from stamps generally, come into the ^'^^^^i^ ^• category of stamp receipts. There are over eighty of them, the most important being stamps for patent medicines and legal documents, the registration tax, the shooting licence tax, civil suit stamps, examination fees, and certain Custom House charges. Turning now to an examination of those items of The the revenue which are not classified as taxes, we find ^J|"e°' that the most important is the Tobacco Monopoly profit, The Leaf-Tobacco Monopoly Law was replaced in 1904 by the Manufactured Tobacco Monopoly Law profit* 238 FINANCE now in force, according to which private persons, authorized by the Government, may cultivate tobacco for sale to the Government. Such tobacco is prepared at Government manufactories and sold at fixed prices, according to quality, by licensed dealers. Tobacco can only be exported or imported by special per- mission of the Government. The Salt Monopoly and the Camphor Monopoly are conducted on much the same lines, except as regards the limitations placed on exportation. Railway The disaj^poarance of this item from the revenue is due to the promulgation in 1909 of a law which had as its object the promotion of the independent work- ing of the various Imperial Railways. The railway system now has its special account, subdivided into Capital, Revenue, and Reserve Accounts. The excess of revenue over expenditure in the Revenue Account constitutes the profit, and the balance remaining after deducting for the Reserve Account a sum not exceed- ing 10 per cent, of the profit is transferred to the Capital Account, whose revenue is fiu'ther constituted by any public or temporary loans which the Govern- ment may issue in the case of a deficit in the railway profit ; by proceeds of sale of the railway's property, and by other receipts. The expenditure of the Capital Account consists of disbursements for the construction, improvements, upkeep and repair of railways, the redemption of the debts, and other charges. The ex- penditure of the Reserve Account consists of disburse- ments to meet deficits in the revenues of the other accounts caused by accidents, natural catastrophes, and the like. Customs Before 1859 no Custom Houses existed in Japan, but in that year, as the result of commercial treaties with Western nations, some few were established at duties. FINANCE 239 certain treaty ports. In 1866 the entire tariff was revised, and remained in force unchanged until 1899. In that year a general tariff was brought into operation, the export duties being abolished. In 1904 it became necessary to impose a special sur-tax on the Customs duties, and towards the end of 1906 the whole tariff again underwent revision. The new tariff specified 538 different articles in nineteen groups, and on many of them the duties were specific. As a result of the Import Tariff Eevision Bill, which became law in April, 1910, a new tariff came into opera- tion on July 17 last (1911). It enumerates 647 articles, classified in seventeen groups, the duties being specific as far as possible. Most raw materials are duty-free, and there are light duties upon semi-manufactured materials. The duties on many manufactured goods are quite low, and for others they range from 15 per cent, to 40 per cent., though the latter rate applies only to articles of limited importation. Articles of luxury pay a duty of 50 per cent., but these again are imported in but small quantities. A new treaty was concluded with Great Britain whereby a reciprocal tariff was arranged, affecting such British exports as linen yarns, cotton and woollen tissues, iron and paints. The table on p. 240 shows the estimated revenue and expenditure for the financial year 1911-12. It is interesting to note that in pre-Restoration times The the people were under obligation to lend money to Debt." their feudal lords. A daimyo could contract a loan in money or rice or other commodities without specifying any security, and the rights of creditors being unre- cognized it frequently happened that they were forced either to provide further contributions or lose what had 240 FINANCE Budget for fn a Ordinary Revenue Customs Duties . Land tax . Income tax Business tax Liquors tax Soy tax Mining tax Consumption tax (Textiles) Consumption tax (Kerosene) Travelling tax . Succession tax . Other taxes Sugar excise Tax on bourses . Tax on bank-note issues Stamp receipts . Posts, telegraphs, and telephones Forests Salt Monopoly . Camphor MonojDoly . Tobacco Monopoly . Other public under- takings, &c. . Int. on deposits trans- ferred Tonnage dues . Other miscellaneous receipts . Extraordinary : — Sale of State Property River Improvement Works Fund trans- ferred Receipts from Public Loans Forestry Fund trans- ferred Transferred from War-ships Replen- ishment Fund Surplus of preceding year transferred Chinese Indemnity . Other Miscellaneous Receiiits Yen 50,514,465 75,072,765 32,968,278 24,184,783 88,727,350 4,630,864 2,013,177 18,617,564 2,111,489 3,184,440 1,862,947 201,506 14,727,283 3,661,210 1,032,897 25,026,150 48,589,725 10,544,807 10,671,092 120,650 50,554,660 6,025,057 7,851,044 587,410 11,434,884 2,309,294 12,845,467 15,084,199 2,755,728 12,000,000 23,495,828 2,144,258 3,852,645 ncietl year igii-i2 Ordinary Expenditure Imperial Household . Foreign affairs . Home affairs Finance : Dept. Proper Interest on deposits and charges for its payment . Inland tax-collection expenses . Cabinet and Privy Council . House of Peers and House of Representa- tives National Debt Con- solidation Fund Transferred to War- ships Replenishment . Fund Other expenses . Army .... Navy .... Justice Public Instruction Agriculture and Com- merce Communications Total, Yen 568,903,916 Extraordinary :- Foreign affairs Home affairs Finance Army . Navy . Justice Public Instruction Agriculture and Com- merce . . Communications Yen 4,500,000 4,249,027 11,828,477 371,375 7,874,523 7,424,954 519,415 1,648,079 147,657,337 12,000,000 9,982,531 76,371,236 40,746,338 11,722,752 9,032,170 7,323,853 56,889,810 240,057 19,041,202 40,880,764 22,021,133 46,063,392 765,076 801,113 8,087,229 20,862,073 Total, Yen 568,903,916 FINANCE 241 already been loaned. In July, 1871, however, when the prefectural or centralized system came into force, the new Government ordered an investigation of debts so contracted, and, after adjusting them, converted those dating since 181:1: into Imperial public loans, delivering the bonds to the creditors. The Government also relieved the people from all obligation to lend money to the daimyo, and established a public loan system similar to that which obtains in Western countries. The first loan raised by the new Government was one of 500^000 yen silver from the British Oriental Bank in 1868, though as this was but a temporary accommodation it may perhaps not be regarded as a loan. But in 1870 there were issued in London 9 per cent, bonds to the value of £1,000,000, the pro- ceeds of which were applied to the building of the Tokyo- Yokohama railwciy. In 1876 the capitalization of hereditary pensions of the daimyo was effected, and the following year saw the issue of ' Pension Bonds for Shinto Priests ', the State debts in this year standing at over 230,000,000 yen. In the following year the Industrial Works Loan was floated with the object of extending public works, and this deserves mention as being the first domestic loan, since the object of the previous bond issues had been merely the liquidation of the feudal debts and the pensioning of the Shinto priests and the former feudal lords. The Eailway Loan and the Navy Loan followed, and in 1886 the Consolidated Loan Act redeemed all previous bond issues bearing more than 6 per cent, interest, which were replaced by new 5 per cent, bonds. The second foreign loan, of £2,400,000, was floated in 1873, also in London, but this time at a less ruinous rate of interest, namely, 7 per cent. It was not until 1897 that another loan was raised POUTER Q '>(•> ^±^ FINANCE abroad, in which year 43,000,000 yen of war bonds, bearing 5 per cent, interest, were placed upon the London market ; while two years later the Govern- ment found it necessary to issue £10,000,000 4 per cent, bonds, also in London, for railway construc- tion. In 1902 a 5 per cent, loan of 50,000,000 yen was raised in the same market, and in 1905 the Government resorted to New York and London for another £10,000,000 at the enhanced price of 6 per cent. The war of 1904-5 forced Japan into debt abroad to the extent of 1,100 million yen, most of which was actually expended within two years ; yet the financial credit it had gained by scrupulous atten- tion to the service of the various loans was not affected by these large borrowings. In the following tables the National Debts out- standing in 1911 are compared with those outstanding in 1898 :— 1898 lutenial Loans: — Old Public Loan (without interest) Hereditary Pension Bonds, 6% Navy Loan, 5% . Consolidated Public Loan, 5% War Loan, 5% . . . Railway Loan, 5% . Public Works Loan, 5% Hokkaido Railway Loan, 5% Foreiijn Loans, nil Yen 5,266,908 29,453,820 9,288,600 173,857,250 124,572,000 17,907,350 37,900,000 1,000,000 Total, Yen 399,245,928 FINANCE 243 1911 Internal Loans: — Old Public Loan (without interest) . /Railway Loan, 5% ..... Public Works Loan, 5% . Hokkaido Railway Loan, 5% . Taiwan Public Works Loan, 5% Imperial Loans for Consolidating debts of Purcliasucl Japanese y Railway Companies, 5% . CTOvern- A Okinawa Prefecture Pension bonds, 5% . ment 5% Loan for relief of Japanese suffering loss by Loan. late war, 5% Loan for the readjustment of Salt-fields, 5% Loan for purchase of Private Railways, 5% ^Loan for conversion of Exchequer Bonds, 5% Extraordinary Expenditure Loan, 5% ' Onshi ' Loan bonds granted to the formei Koreans *4% Loan, first issue 1 .• ^i • t. o,, • ^Ao, r 1 • f raised in Japan *4% Loan, second issue J ^ Exche Paris London Tokyo Security of Invest- ments in Japan. Mr. Soyeda and his financial friends take the view that under existing conditions foreign investments are as safe in Japan as they are in any country. The renewal of the treaty of alliance with the United Kingdom and of the treaties which have been negoti- ated with other foreign countries, especially that with FINANCE 253 Russia, assure the peace of the Far East. The aim of Japan is to preserve that peace and to promote the economic development of the Far East, avoiding all conflict with the rest of the world. We have shown that the currency system is sound, and that the finances of the country have been admirably managed. The legal status of foreigners in Japan is practically the same as that of natives. The laws are framed on the most civilized and liberal principles, and the writer has never heard of a foreigner being unjustly treated in a Japanese Court. In the matter of holding property, foreigners, as we have seen, enjoy practically the same rights as natives, though some exception is made in the ownership of mines. But when they form a company under the Japanese laws they are free to work mines. On this point Mr. Soyeda said : — 'While under the Japanese laws foreigners in Japan enjoy, therefore, all kinds of public and private rights, almost to the same extent as the Japanese people themselves, they are not free from certain restraints already mentioned in regard to mines and railways. In order to remedy these inconveniences, especially as regards foreign investors, amendments were effected in the Law of the Industrial Bank of Japan in March, 1905, extending the sphere of business to be conducted by that bank ; while at the same time the Guaranteed Debentures Trust Law, the Factory Mortgage Law, the Mine Mortgage Law, and the Kail- way Mortgage Law were enacted. In virtue of these laws, railway, factory, and other movable, as well as immovable properties can be formed into a legal entity or "estate", and can be made objects of mortgages, on which debentures or loans may l^e raised through the medium of a trust institution, such as the Indus- trial Bank of Japan and others.' ^ ^ Times, Jtipanetie edition. 254 FINANCE There would appear to be excellent opportunities for sound investments by foreigners in Japan, as the country will require a good deal of capital during the next twenty-five years in the exploitation of Taiwan, Chosen, and for their increasing trade in Manchuria. At the same time the leading financiers, bankers, and merchants of Japan themselves advise the greatest caution on the part of foreigners in the investment of capital in the country, for they neither want the investor to lose his money nor do they wish the good credit of the country to be impaired. CHAPTER XIV AGRICULTUKE Ageiculture is and always has been the most important industry of Japan. Few of those who have ruled Japan in the past have failed to encour- age the tilling of the soil, now by edicts couched in quaint paternal phrases, and displaying much practical knowledge of the subject, now by rewards for diligence and skill, equalities always indispens- able to the Japanese farmer. For Japan was never an agriculturist's ^^c^i'tidise ; hard work and plain living have been the lot of those who would support themselves by cultivating the fruits of the earth in Dai Nippon, and it was dogged perseverance, more than any special bounty of nature, which won for Japan the appellation of Mknlio-no-Kuni^ the Land of Luxuriant Rice-crops. Apart from the question of economics agriculture is of importance in other directions. Those who are engaged in it, that is to say over 60 per cent, of the population, are the clean-living, wholesome class from which is drawn the pure and vigorous blood necessary to the physical and moral health of the nation. Moreover, the legions of Japan, which, espe- cially in the last war, amazed the world with their fighting qualities, were largely recruited from the farming classes. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that upon agriculture and agriculturists depends the existence of the empire. Japan is a land of small holdings ; only three ^^j'jjjj^^ 256 AGRICULTURE farmers in a hundred cultivate as much as 8 acres each, and 70 per cent, of the whole class must subsist on holdings of less than 21 acres. Though larger than the United Kingdom by some 26,000 square miles Japan has much less space available for agriculture, so greatly do mountains and valleys predominate in Area the configuration of the soil. To a certain height the cuitiva- i^^^i'^ gentle slopes of some of the mountains are tion. utilized, and about a third of the area of the few level plains is roughly tilled, but (excluding Hokkaido) the percentage in Japan proper of land under cultivation is little more than a quarter of the total area. There were, according to the last census, 7,024:, 583 acres of paddy fields, 6,809,706 acres of upland fields, and 5,447,579 acres of plains and pastures, the latter occupying the very small area of 96,544 acres ; and since then the area has not appreciably increased. This aggregate of 19,281,868 acres, distributed evenly among the 5,270,300 agricultural households, would give each household (with an average of six mem- bers) an acre and a third of paddy fields, an acre and a tenth of upland fields, and the merest frac- tion over an acre of plain and pasture ; a total of 3-45 acres. In view of these figures and of others, referring to taxation, which are given further on in this chaptei*, it is evident that in spite of highly intensive culti- vation, rigid frugality and, in most cases, skilful husbandry, the vast majority of the agricultural class Collateral cannot live by the land alone. Consequently every tries. member of a household, fi-om the \ ery old to the very young, employs his or her enforced leisure from farm- work in some occupation whereby the joint income may be augmented. Chief among these are sericulture and filature, which occupy at least a quarter of the AGRICULTURE 257 households. Then come the mcinufactiu-e from rice- straw of braids, rice-bags, matting, ropes, and other articles ; the making of paper, ftmcy mattings, bamboo fans, and osier baskets from material specially grown ; bee-keeping, weaving, the breeding of carp in paddy fields or fish-ponds, and the raising of a few poor head of cattle. Home industries of this and other descrip- tions will, in the more favourable cases, increase the household revenue by as much as 25 per cent. The tillers of land in the vicinity of a mountain will engage in forestry work ; those who live near salt water or rivers will combine fishing with farming ; others, whose homes are sufficiently close to towns and cities, will hire themselves out as day-labourers or otherwise. Everything is done that can be done to turn the income scale from insufficient to just enough. The agricultural class is divided into jinushi, land- Agri- owners, jisaJcu farmers, or peasant proprietors, and cks^^^ kosahi farmers, or tenants pure and simple. These divisions. last, together with such as cultivate a few square yards of their own, constitute about 47 per cent, of the total, and the area which they work ranges from 2 to 3| acres. It is no matter for surprise that of late a tendency has been noticeable among these tenant farmers, especially the younger men, to abandon the hereditary industry in favour of a life in the cities. From 45 to 60 per cent, of their crops go to the landlord for rent, and out of the balance they must pay heavily for the indispensable fertilizer ; on what is left, even with the addition of the proceeds of their subsidiary labours, a life of privation is their only out- look. The peasant proprietors are, as a rule, better off. In addition to their own plots, which may be 2J- to 12| acres, some cultivate portions of land for the larger proprietors, the j'lnusM, in most cases working 258 AGRICULTURE with their hibourers l)ut occasionally merely directing the work : these make a fair living. But the majority of peasant proprietors own only from 2| to 5 acres, which they till with the assistance of the entire family. Taxes swallow about 16 per cent, of the proceeds, and expenses in connexion with the cultivation (labour apart) account for 23 per cent, or so, leaving a balance of 61 per cent, for wages, interest on capital, and profit. The jinushi are capitalists, very few farming their own lands. In Japan's ' good old times ' the local landed proprietors were what might l^e called county families, respected and liked by their tenants, who called them jiuwja, literally ' land-parent '. But, as one result of the comprehensive changes which the country has undergone in the last fort}^ years, the land has passed out oF their possession into the hands of owners who, as a class, neither command any particular love or respect from their tenants nor show any kindly feeling towards them. In some districts, however, juutshi philanthropically inclined have united to form a protective and benevolent society in favour of the tenants, and evidently desire to improve the lot of the struggling kosaku farmers. The extent of their possessions is not, however, im- pressive ; an average property is about 25 acres in area, and he is indeed a large landowner who possesses more than 30 cho (73| acres). Rents of paddy fields are invariably paid in kind ; of upland fields generally in cash ; and we have seen that they average over 50 per cent, of the produce. But the jinushi are less grasping than they might seem from these figures, for on an average over 30 per cent, of the rent which they collect goes in taxes and other imposts, and the owner of less than 20 acres who depends entirely upon his rents for the means of subsistence is a poor man. AGRICULTURE 259 The ara))le land of Japan, including dwelling-houses Arable and out-buildings, is valued roughly at 7,230,000,000 vaUiation yen (£740,532,750), and for the financial year 1909-10 ^'°^i' yielded £8,777,203 in taxes. Since then the rates of taxation have been considerably reduced, and the estimated revenue from the land-tax for the year 1911-12 is less by about a million pounds. As to the Value of value of the produce the statistics published refer only .^^fiturai to the principal products, and show that they have products. averaged in the last four or five years about £129,000,000 annually. The total annual yield of the agricultural industry, including the proceeds of the farmers' home industries, may be taken as averaging £156,000,000. We may now turn from figures to an examination of Methods the methods of cultivation. Rice, besides being the ^qJ,*^ ^^^^" staple food of the people, is the basis of the national Rice. drink, sake^ and its importance, from the economic point of view, is equal to that of all the other products combined. It is grown in two varieties, glutinous and non-glutinous, and it is from the latter, which forms about one-tenth of the crop, that sake is brewed. Rice is a summer crop, being sown from early May to late June and harvested from late August to early November. A little is grown in the uplands, but all the best paddy fields are situated at low levels, where they form the most valuable land in the country. Irrigation, chiefly from rivers and reservoirs, but also from lakes, wells, and springs, is universal in the cultivation of paddy fields, the area left dependent upon the rainfall being practically nil. From very early times natural irriga- tion has been extensively practised, and where mechanical power was necessary to raise the water a simple arrangement of wheels and buckets was in vogue until quite recent times. Now, however, farm- r2 260 AGRICULTURE ing communities frequently combine to instal steam or electric pumping plant, not only for irrigating the land, but also for the purpose of drawing off the water where natural drainage is defective. The method usually followed in the growing of rice is as follows : the seeds are tested in salt water, those that float being rejected, and are afterwards immersed in fresh water for the space of four or five days. They are then sown in nursery beds, from which sprouts are transplanted into the paddy fields in two or three inches of w^ater and from six inches to a foot apart. Much care is taken to destroy harmful insects, and weeding and hoeing is repeated four or five times, the irrigation water being meanwhile kept at the proper level. When the plants ripen the ears assume a golden tint ; they are then reaped with sickles, the ears are threshed off, the husks are removed in mortars, and the grain is stored away in bags made of rice- straw. Good paddy fields can be made to bear rice crops in summer and barley and other crops in winter. After the September or October harvest the land is drained of all water, and barley, genge, wheat, rape, and the like are sown, to be harvested in early summer, after which the field is again irrigated for the trans- planting of the rice shoots. Where it is impossible to drain off the water, or where the climate is suffi- ciently cold to delay the harvest of the winter crops and consequently the transplanting of the rice shoots, the ground is perforce allowed to lie fallow in winter. But the area of good fields is being considerably increased by the labours of the Adjustment Commission. Since 1900, when a sum was specially set aside for the purpose, the authorities have devoted their atten- tion to the adjustment, primarily, of some 4,000,000 AGRICULTURE 261 acres of paddy fields, or over half of the total area. The plan is, briefly, to concentrate the scattered small plots to the end that animal labour may be utilized to a greater extent than is possible in such tiny hold- ings, to increase the productive area by the abolition of the many boundary ridges hitherto necessary, and ipso facto to improve the drainage. Adjustment of farms is undertaken by Government-trained experts, and with the consent of half the owners concerned ; and it has been shown that of fifty districts adjusted the yield was increased on an average by 15 per cent. The cost of adjustment is about 180 yen per dio, or 245 acres, and, as far as their resources will allow, the Hypothec Bank and its local agencies lend owners the necessary money on easy terms, the Government granting additional aid in some cases. Lack of funds alone limits the enterprise, which is exceedingly popular with owners, but already some 450,000 acres have been adjusted, and the work proceeds steadily, if slowly. The upland fields, being for all intents and purposes Upland unirrigable, are only to a very limited extent utilized ^^.z^^ for the cultivation of rice. Rotation crops are, how- ever, raised twice a year, usually barley, ' naked barley,' and wheat as winter crops, and soya (more properly soja), sweet potatoes, and millets as summer crops. The latter are often sown as a substitute for rice, when for one reason or another, the planting of rice has been delayed until the season has passed. There are many plantations of tea, mulberry trees, and paper mulberry trees, particularly on sloping ground, and the cultivation of fruit such as apples, persimmons, oranges, pears, peaches, and others is rapidly in- creasing. The cultivation of the plains, which are usually 262 AGRICULTURE Culti- vation of the plains. Produc- tivity of lands. Develop- ment of produc- tivity. situated on high ground, i« restricted to the raising of fodder and of weeds which are used as fertihzers, 65 per cent, of the total area being divided evenly between these two products. Pastures occupy about 8 per cent., and the remainder is covered with scrub, collected for fuel, or is farmed in a very poor and primitive fashion. The productivity of these three descriptions of land iiaturally varies very widely. Taking an average over the last ten years of paddy fields throughout the" country it will be found that the annual produce per tan (-245 acre) is 7-913 bushels of rice and 6-668 bushels of barley, which may be considered a repre- sentative winter crop. Upland fields, upon the same basis, produce 6-638 bushels of barley as a summer crop and 3-756 bushels of soya bean. Plains in Japan, except in Hokkaido (which, being a recently opened country, is treated separately), would be called moor- land in England, and their value corresponds approxi- mately to this type of land. An average clio (2-45 acres) of pl-din and pasture produces nearly a ton of grass for fodder and three-quarters of a ton of grass for green fertilizer, and grazes three or four head of cattle. On the whole, both the area of cultivated land and its productive capacity have increased satisfactorily since the writer's visit to Japan in 1896. The output of rice per unit of area has, in particular, vastly improved, but comparison is made difficult by the periodical intervention of an abnormally good or an abnormally bad harvest. Therefore, in the following table, which is introduced to show the agricultural progress of Japan in recent years, the yield of rice is the average yield for the year in question and the five previous years, but of the other principal products for the year mentioned only :— - AGRICULTURE 263 1897 1910 Area Average Area Average under cul- Total yield. yield per under cul- Total yield. yield per tivation. acre. tivation. acre. Acres Bushels Bushels Acres Bushels Bushels Rice .... 6,829,000 163,875,000 23-99 7,226,000 235,213,000 32-55 Barley . . . 1,551,000 40,100,000 25-85 1,520,000 46,456,000 30-57 Naked barley . 1,654,000 30,800,000 . 18-61 1,656,000 33,580,000 20-28 Wheat . . . 1,122,000 19,050,000 17-00 1,656,000 23,910,000 20-52 Millet . . . 68,000 1,292,000 19-00 73,500 1,952,000 26-66 Italian millet . 613,000 11,880,000 19-38 476,000 11,137,000 23-40 Soya bean . . 1,067,000 15,381,000 1441 1,137,000 18,834,000 16-56 Small red bean 268,000 3,069,000 11-45 331,000 4,513,-500 13-63 Buckwheat 427,000 4,911,000 11-50 385,000 6.370,000 16-54 Rape seed . . 378,000 5,015,000 13-27 343,000 5,260,000 15-34 Tons Tons Tons Tons Sweet potato . 635,000 2,444,000 3-85 723,000 3,349,000 4-63 Potato . . . 71,000 216,000 3-04 152,000 589,000 3-88 Tea (manufac- tured) . . 144,000 31,000 Oil 124,000 30,000 0-24 Seed cotton . 109,000 27,000 0-25 9,800 3,600 0-37 Hemp . . . 55,000 13,000 0-23 30,500 8,900 0-29 Indigo . . . 124,000 72,000 0-59 22,500 14,800 0-66 Leaf tobacco . 77,000 33,000 0-43 72,000 42,000 0-59 A brief account may now be given of these products and the uses to which they are put. Barley and ' naked barley ', as food-stuffs, rank next staple to rice but fetch about half the price of the latter. i'^«^"<^<^^ Barley is, of course, much used for brewing beer, and Barley, though German malt is largely imported as being better for this purpose than the native article there is reason to believe that improved methods of cultivation, with seed imported from Germany, will in the course of time render Japan independent of foreign supplies. Mixed with rice, barley is a staple article of food, especially amongst farmers, while quite a large pro- portion, 15 per cent, of the total crop, is used in cattle- feed. ' Naked barley ' is a glumeless species, which ripens more rapidly than ordinary barley and is consequently sown in paddy fields for liarvesting immediately before the planting of rice shoots. 264 AGRICULTURE Wheat. Wheat is grown as a winter crop both in paddies and upland fields in the colder districts, and is of increasing importance as a food-stuff, the Japanese having recently adopted wheat bread as a food. About 80 per cent, of the crop is made into flour for bread and into food pastes such as macaroni or vermicelli. About a quarter of what is consumed in Japan at present comes from North America and Europe, but the improvement in yield and quality and the intro- duction of modern flour-mills are having a perceptible effect upon the importation. Millets and sorghum, on the other hand, are culti- vated less every year. In early times poor and droughty soil, in which they flourish, was set apart for their cultivation as famine cro^^s, and even in the present day, in periods of small rice-harvests, they are boiled together with rice or eaten alone. But with a higher standard of living the demand for these very unpalatable cereals is gradually decreasing. Soya The soya, or soja, bean is well enough known in England as a cattle-food, but in Japan its application is by no means limited to this use. It is the basis of the Japanese sauce, soy, of which enormous quantities are brewed ; of miso, or bean cheese, used extensively for SOU]) and in cookery in general ; and of tojJu, or bean curd, a cheap, highly nutritious and very j^o^^ular article of diet. The residue from these manufactures is used both as fertilizer and as cattle food, or, alter- natively, an oil of some value may be obtained from it. It is the principal summer crop of the upland fields, and its cultivation, which requires less fertilizer and less labour than other products, is general through- out Japan and particularly in Hokkaido. But the supply is far from equal to the demand, and a large quantity of beans and bean cake is imported from AGRICULTURE 265 Chosen and Manchuria, the vahie of the present importation amounting to £3,000,000 annually. Among other beans the small red bean is largely Other cultivated, especially in Hokkaido, and is used for cakes and confectionery, and boiled with rice on occasions of ceremony. The Japanese are very fond of peas, horse-beans, and kidney-beans, which are grown as a stolen crop after rice in the paddies and just before it in the upland fields. Of buckwheat there are two varieties, one sown in Buck- spring and the other in autumn. The crops ripen quickly, and newly broken ground is congenial to them. Buckwheat flour is chiefly made into buckwheat macaroni, a favourite foodstuff in Japan. The sweet potato is an important upland crop, grown Sweet most extensively in the south-west of Japan. It is ^^^ ^ ^' mainly used as an auxiliary foodstuff among the poorer people, being palatable as well as cheap, and in the cold season also appears, baked, on the tables of the well- to-do. Starch and some varieties of alcoholic liquors are made from it, and a little is used to feed cattle. The ordinary potato was brought into Japan soon Potatoes. after the Restoration, and its cultivation since then has developed so rapidly that there is now a consider- able export trade to Russian Siberia, China, and the Philippines. Hokkaido and north-east Japan generally are the principal districts for its cultivation and it is used in many of the same ways as the sweet potato. Of special crops rape seed covers the greatest area. Rape The oil was formerly used for lighting pur^^oses, but nowadays its chief applications are in cookery, hair- dressing and the lubrication of machinery, though rape seed oil-cakes are esteemed as a highly nitrogenous fertilizing agent. Of recent years the export of the oil has considerably increased. 266 AGRICULTURE Tea. Tea flourishes exceedingly in the warm and humid climate of Japan, whither it was brought from China, A. D. 805, becoming rapidly an indispensable item in the diet of all classes. It is planted mainly on slopes and in upland fields, but only about 65 per cent, of the total area under tea (124,000 acres) is exclusively occupied by the plant, peas, beans, and other crops being raised with it in the remainder. In the principal tea districts the soil is very carefully tilled and abundantly fertilized, and though machinery has recently been introduced much of the labour is still done by hand. The results are profitable, but the higher cost of production militates against increased exportation. When placed upon the American market, where most of the exported crop is consumed, Japanese tea, though highly appreciated on account of its flavour, is dearer by nearly 50 per cent, than Indian or Chinese, and as a consequence the export remains stationary. More and better labour-saving machinery is, however, gradually being adopted. Teas for export are mostly green, and the principal districts for their propagation are Shizuoka, Miye, and Saitama. Black teas, used for the greater part for home consumption, are produced in the Fukuoka, Kumamoto, and Kochi districts. Indigo. A crop which, all over the world, has suffered almost to extinction from the science of chemistry is indigo. Before the invention of the artificial product it was grown extensively in Japan, but within even the last ten years the area under leaf indigo has been reduced from over 110,000 acres to less than 23,000, and it is now only cultivated to any extent in the Loochoo islands, where a very fine quality is obtained. Cotton. The cotton-growing industry has been almost entirely swamped by imports from America, China, and India, AGRICULTURE 267 and it.s present position is hopeless. Moreover, the fibre of native cotton is much shorter than that of foreign species. Hemp, as a material for cloth, has been supplanted Hemp. by cotton, and is now chiefly used in the manu- facture of fishing-nets and ropes. Its production is still considerable, but in the last ten years nearly 50 per cent, of the area under hemp has been cleared and used for other crops. Flax is grown chiefly in Hokkaido, where there is an important flax factory. With the exception of Hokkaido, tobacco is culti- Tobacco. vated throughout Japan. The principal districts are in Ibaraki, Tochigi, Fukushima, Okayama, and Hiro- shima in the main island, Kagawa and Tokushima in Shikoku, and Kagoshima and Oita in Kiushiu. The manufacture of tobacco is a Government monopoly, and growers must sell all their produce to the authorities. It follows that the State has full control over the culti- vation of the plant, and of late years it has used its powers to restrict the area planted in order that more attention may be paid to the improvement of the quality. That these efforts have been successful is shown by the following table : — Year 1900-1 1909-10 Acreage 91,800 71,966 Leaf Tobacco l^roduction 110,077,510 lbs. 91,847,081 „ Average Price per lb. Yeti 0-07 (IfcZ.) „ 0.11 (2,V?.) Amount paid Yen 7,720.610 ., 10,617:607 The native tobacco is of very fair quality, and yellow American varieties are also cultivated. Few cigars are made, the chief manufacture being cigarettes, of which the sale exceeds 7,000 million pieces annually. Such are the principal crops of Japan (excluding Hokkaido). There are, of course, many minor crops, 268 AGRICULTURE of some of which we may give a very brief description before examining the question of labour. Sugar- Sugar-cane was grown in Oshima and Okinawa (in the Loochoo islands) as long ago as a. d. 1600, and until recently Sanuki, in the Kagawa prefecture, was the centre of a considerable refining industry. But it is Formosa which is destined to render sugar-cane growing really important in the economy of Japan, and the sub- ject is dealt with in the chapter on that island. The sugar-cane raised in Japan proper amounted in 1909 to 694,520 tons, from a total area of 52,323 acres. Of this over a half came from the Okinawa prefecture, Kagoshima producing almost exactly one-third of the total. In Kagawa and Kumamoto a little was grown, but the output of the other districts was either insigni- ficant or nil. Rushes and ShicMto-i are cultivated in paddy fields ; from them are made the mats so much in evidence in Japanese dwellings. Peppermint, of which the leaves are dried and distilled to make menthol and pepper- mint oil, is an agricultural export product of some importance, but prices have recently been too low for very profitable cultivation. Ginseng. Ginseng is a medicinal plant grown in mountain districts, the roots being dried before marketing. Its cultivation is declining by reason of American and Korean competition. The fibrous tissue of the paper mulberry {mitsumata) is the chief material for Japanese paper. The shrub is extensively grown on mountain slopes, banks of rivers, or wherever crops cannot be cultivated, being particularly useful in this respect. Osiers for basket-making are cultivated in suitable soil and, finally, barley is grown with special care as pro- viding most of the material for straw-braids, an impor- tant Japanese manufacture. AGRICULTURE 269 A comparison of the relative j^ositions of human and Human animal labour in paddy fields and upland farms for the alJimai years 1903 and 1908 (the latest yeiir for which the ^^J^?"^" i" figures are available) shows that the area tilled ex- culture. clusively by human labour still forms a very large proportion of the total, though it tends steadily to decrease. In proportion as the efforts of the Adjust- ment Commission are successful, more land which hitherto has been cultivable only ])y manual labour will certainly be prepared for sowing by animal-drawn ploughs. But it is difficult, especially on paddy fields, to see how it is possible to dispense with human labour to any appreciable extent, even if, from the standpoint of economy, it were expedient. It has been mentioned that the number of agricultural households in Japan reaches approximately 5,270,000, and it is estimated that in each two households there are five members capable of effective work, which gives a total labouring population of 13,175,000 souls to an aggre- gate cultivated area of 13,834,289 acres. Obviously, therefore, manual labour is plentiful, and it is chiefly by reason of its abundance that the intensive system can be carried on. Rice-growing requires, for instance, the labour of 17 men and 9 women per clio (245 acres), barley and wheat 11 men and 6 women, tobacco 25 men and 23 women, soya bean 7 men and 5 women, and so on. Farmers, in the vast majority of cases, are their own labourers, and those who may be distinguished as ' professional labourers ' are a very small class. They are divided, as elsewhere, into day labourers and hands engaged by the year, the latter, as a rule, living in the houses of their employers, who board them and, twice a year, supply them with clothes. Some have tiny farms of their own, and attend to them and their em- ployers' on alternate days. Yearly contract labourers 270 AGRICULTURE earn on an average 43-310 yen (£4 8s. M.) for males and 21-930 (£2 4s. lid.) for females, and the average wages of the day labourer are 0-380 yen (9|d) for males and 0-230 yen (5J(?.) for females per diem. Most of the hired labour is composed of youths and girls, children, generally, of small tenant farmers. Wages. Wages vary widely both with districts and seasons, and, of course, with occupations. Thus, while some yearly contract men will be paid in certain districts as much as 85 ijen, in others they will get as little as 10 yen ; and a sericulture labourer often earns 1 yen a day in the height of the season. The draught animals used by farmers are oxen and horses. It is not long since practically all the plough- ing in the districts north of central Honshiu was done by human labour, and though, with social progress, the human element is gradually being replaced by animals, for work of this nature the improvement is slow, as shown hereunder : — Year Oxen Horses Total 1903 1,014,903 1,171,562 -2,186,465 1909 1,080,323 1,240,924 2,321,247 At this rate the proportion of draught animals to agricultural households works out at little better than one animal to each two households, the area actually ploughed by each animal being about 1 clio (2-45 acres). stock- Such a condition of affairs naturally raises the »ee ing. q^gg^jQJ^ Qf stock-breeding. Japan has never been a horse-breeding country ; the absence, comparatively speaking, of suitable plains and pasture lands, the ubiquity of small rice fields, in which horse labour not only need not but could not be employed to any con- siderable extent, and the fact that horse-riding was not a general method of locomotion among the Japanese — these circumstances were sufficient to prevent the AGRICULTURE 271 development of the horse-breeding industry. The AVcirs with China and Russia emphasized the scarcity and pool- quahty of the native stock, and in 1906 the authorities established a Horse Administration Bureau, Horse which, at first, even condoned betting in order to en- tration courage horse-racing. The present policy of the Bureau. Bureau consists in keeping 1,500 foreign-bred stallions, which are loaned to the principal breeding-centres ( chiefly situated in northern Honshiu and Hokkaido) for mating with native mares. The progeny are pur- chased by the army to the extent of four or five thou- sand chargers annually. The breeds imported are mostly British, and the following figures show that they are gradually replacing the native stock : — Year Native Cross Foreign Total in Japan 1904 1,284,840 103,120 2,047 1,390,017 1909 1,242,921 281,199 27,036 1,551,156 In much the same way the native breeds of horned Cattle- cattle, strong and hardy beasts of burden, though ill- °' looking through neglect in breeding, are disappearing in favour of imported or cross-breeds. In one respect this is a source of regret to consumers of beef, for, to the Japanese at least, the flesh of the indigenous kine is superior to that of foreign cattle, and this accounts for the failure, so far, to popularize Australian cold-storage beef in Japan. Here it may be mentioned that with the introduction of Buddhism the use of flesh as food was prohibited under severe penalties, and that even to- day the consumption of meat in Japan does not exceed 2 lb. per head per annum. Imported cattle was at first mainly Devon, Ayrshire, and Shorthorn, but of late, strains like Holstein and Simmenthal have been found more suitable. There are eight large stock- farms in Hokkaido, and others, Government and pri- culture. 272 AGRICULTUEE vate, in Chiba, Iwate, Fiikushima, Hiroshima, and other prefectures. The Shimosa pasture belonging to the Imperial Household is the largest breeding-station in Japan, and, as might be expected, is a model enterprise. It covers 9,000 acres of land situated about forty miles to the south-east of Tokyo, and its live-stock includes, in round numbers, 700 horses, 180 head of cattle, and 1,100 sheep, which latter animal has for some reason failed to thrive elsewhere. By precept and example and by means of prizes the Government of Japan fosters and promotes stock- breeding to the limit of its resources, and when the difficulty of extending and developing the industry is considered its improvement under State encouragement is highly satisfactory. We may conclude the subject with a tabulated comparison which will bear out this statement : — Number of Cattle in Jnpan. Horned Cattle. Year Native ' Cross j Foreign Total 1908 1909 1,076,377 899,913 189,520 20.219 | 1,286,116 428,112 27,349 1,350,404 Sheep I Goats 2,288 I 62,407 3,411 87,338 Swine 212,569 287,107 The education of the agriculturist to a better know- ledge of the science of his industry is satisfactorily extending, and has undoubtedly contributed to the improvement of the yield of crops per unit of area. In 1903 just under 250,000 farmers had completed courses of instruction at farming schools and lecture classes, and in 1907 this number was almost exactly doubled. Assuming each pupil to represent a house- hold this would mean that about 20 per cent, of the farming households possess knowledge of the more productive methods of agriculture. Seri- Authentic records show that the silkworm was first introduced into Japan by a Chinese royal prince, A.D. 195, and that the first knowledge of the art of AGKICULTURE 273 silk-weaving was imparted to the Japanese by emi- grants who, in A.D. 288, accompanied another Chinese prince to Japan, became naturahzed, and were settled in various districts as instructors to the inhabitants. From the very beginning the industry was encouraged l)y the court, which set the example of planting mul- berry trees and rearing the worms, and stimulated pro- duction by enacting that some of the taxes paid in kind should be paid in silk fabrics. During the Dark Ages of Japan (939-1639) the industry was of necessity con- fined to remote districts undisturbed by the storm and stress of constant war, but we may gauge the extent of its revival on the return of peace by the records of sumptuary laws prohibiting the wearing of silk fabrics by the common people. The opening of the country to foreign trade was, however, in conjunction with the subsequent silkworm epidemic in Europe, the starting* point of the present immense importance of sericulture in Japan. Silkworm rearing and raw silk manufacture seem almost as if they had been specially designed for the benefit of small farmers. Conducted on a large scale sericulture has never been successful, but in the hands of nearly 1,500,000 families scattered throughout the Empire from Hokkaido to Formosa it thrives admir- ably. As a ' subsidiary ' occupation, it is almost as important to the farmer as the growing of rice itself, and when members of a household, chiefly the women and children, are sufficiently active to undertake both the spring and autumn rearing, and possibly the summer rearing as well, it is at least twice as lucrative as ordinary farming alone. With a card of ' seed ' eggs, which costs about 1| yen, from 1600 to 1700 lb. of mulberry leaves (20 yen)^ and miscellaneous expenses amounting to 10 yen, that is to say a total expenditure 274 AGRICULTURE of 31 2 yen^ an ordinarily industrious family can produce about 44 yen worth of cocoons. But there is one serious disadvantage resulting from the rearing of silkworms in so many discon- nected households. There are some 1,200 breeds of worms in use throughout Japan, and the consequent absence of uniformity in the quality of the filament is a defect which is occupying the Government's earnest attention. To overcome this drawback (which pre- vents the use of Japanese filaments for warp, since warp requires finer material of uniform quality) it is proposed to divide the sericulture districts into sections in which only certain specified breeds shall be reared. Most of the raw silk produced in Japan, some 70 to 80 per cent., in fact, is of coarse quality, but this is not due to any difficulty experienced in producing fine silk. Of the total consumption of silk in America 60 per cent, is of Japanese origin, the demand of American importers being for coarse yarns from Japan, and finer fabrics from France and Italy, to which countries Japan's finer product is exported. Important progress has recently been made in the difficult science of feeding the worms, the number of cocoons obtained per egg-card ' having consequently increased by about 20 per cent, during the last nine years, as the subjoined table, which compares the production of cocoons in 1901 and 1909, will indicate : — lEgg-cards hatched 1901 3,831,211 1)0914,602,500 Cocoons 9,914,165 14,512,158 % I Double 79 1,325,137 8l|l,903,423 Pierced 283,772 284,536 Waste 1,011,836 1,288,259 Total 12,634,910 17,988,380 rroduction per card: 1901 1909 3-27 per cent. 3-91 „ All egg-card contains the eggs of 100 moths. AGRICULTURE 275 Raw Silk Waste Silk Total Production Value Production Value Production Value lb. lb. lb. 14,462,903 22,644,604 £7,615,930 £12,673,047 6,331,437 9,060,318 £457,602 £758,950 20,794,310 31,704,922 £8,103,532 £13,431,997 To show the result in silk and in value of the above Raw silk cocoon production the following table has been {ion."*^ compiled : — 1901 1909 As to prices, the average price in 1909 of raw silk was about 6 per cent, lower than the average for the previous nine years, while that of waste silk had remained at the average level of that period. The process of rearing silkworms from the ' egg- card " occupies a matter of thirty or forty days, so that a family which undertakes to breed for spring, summer, and autumn hatching is occupied in this way for at least three months of the year. The spring hatching is by far the most favoured, but it is becoming more usual to breed for autumn hatching as well. The summer, or intermediary crop is comparatively neglected, contributing only 13 per cent, of the total production in 1909, while spring and autumn cocoons formed 63 per cent, and 24 per cent, respectively. The methods of reaiing in use are various ; the most general is what is known as the ' conventional method ', and consists of a combination of the ' warm- rearing method ', in which artificial heat is constantly applied to the rearing-room, and the ' natural method ' which dispenses with such stimulation. Silkworms grow but slowly by the natural method, and the cocoons are apt to be of poor quality, while against the ' warm rearing method ' there is the circumstance that the treatment debilitates the worms, which, although spinning a greater quantity of filament in less time, are more liable to disease, and frequently s 2 276 AGRICULTURE produce cocoons of an abnormal and undesirable, nature. It may be deduced from the foregoing data that the outlook for sericulture in Japan is most favourable. Of the essentials to its prosperity, cheap, plentiful, and naturally skilful labour abounds in the country, mulberry leaves are grown with ease and in ever- increasing quantities, scientific rearing prevails, and in the Government laboratories fresh and effective methods are being discovered of preventing disease in the silkworms, of augmenting their produc- tion, and of improving generally the bases of the industry. Since silk in its various forms is Japan's chief export product, care and energy in these direc- tions was of course to be expected, but the success which has attended these efforts is none the less notable. State en- Probably no Government in the world gives so much raent of ^^ttcntion to the promotion, encouragement, and protec- agricul- tiou of industrial enterprise as does the Government ture and , . . industry. 01 Japan, and it is noteworthy that oi the amount collected as local taxes in the financial year ending March, 1911, an average of 12| per cent., or £901,000, was applied to these purposes in the respective pre- fectures. Agriculture, sericulture, and tea-planting were directly assisted to the extent of £520,000, and the balance was mainly expended in their favour on such items as meteorological observatories, exhibitions and shows, statistics, and the like. In the chapter dealing with banking we have shown how the Hypothec Bank of Japan was founded with the object of facilitating the supply of capital for agricultural purposes, and in this connexion it may be mentioned that in the report of this Bank for the year 1910 the outstanding loans figure at over £8,900,000. More- AGRICULTURE 277 over, the Co-operative Societies Law, which promoted the formation of credit, purchase, sale, and productive societies, inculcated the valuable spirit of self-help among the farmers, and at the end of 1910 there were no less than 7,263 of these societies in Japan. Again, the Agricultural and the Horticultural Ex]3erimental Stations now established in nearly every prefecture have been of incalculable service to the industry ; the Silk Conditioning House has had the effect of rehabi- litating the silk producers in the eyes of the traders ; and few of the Government's many other measures for the improvement of Japan's chief industry have failed in their object. Given this parental care, the assiduity and inherited aptitude of the Japanese agriculturist, and a soil which, while not particularly prolific, has always responded satisfactorily to the farmer's wooing — it would seem justifiable to regard the position of agriculture in Japan as assured for many years to come. Already the total annual value of agricultural pro- ducts exceeds 1,500 million yen, or £153,125,000, a stupendous sum when compared with the acreage cultivated, and the production increases year by year. There must of course be a limit to the resources of the soil, but it is evident that it has not yet been reached. Meanwhile the demand is always ahead of the supply, and with prices tending constantly to rise farming grows steadily more profitable in spite of increasing expenditure on the land. In short, the out- look for Japan's first industry is decidedly favourable. CHAPTER XY FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS In her forests, which cover 70 per cent, of her total area, Japan has an asset of value from the aesthetic as well as from the commercial point of view. It is not too much to say that the beauty of the thickly wooded plains and uplands has had a large share in the moulding of the Japanese character, and in forming that appreciation of sylvan scenery, and sympathetic understanding of trees and shrubs which are innate in the Japanese of all classes. It is, however, with the commercial worth of the forests that this chapter is concerned. If, so far, their importance as a factor in the national economy has not bulked as largely as might be inferred from their area, this is due to the jealous care and protection of which (except just at the beginning of the Meiji era) they have been the object for many centuries, and which has not only preserved them almost intact but has also considerably added to their original extent. Their forests are to the Japanese an entailed inheritance from the remote past, and the entail is still respected ; in recent years, however, the property has been cautiously developed and exploited, and its yield has increased with a rapidity that indicates its possibilities. Various Forestry and re-afforestation are applied sciences of Aff^rs- ^^^^^ have not yet reached their zenith in Japan, but tation. which are being earnestly studied, and on the whole with great success. For a variety of purposes, some of which do not seem to be res^arded as feasil:)le even FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS 279 in Euroi^e, trees are planted as a matter of course. To prevent soil-denudation ; as a protection against sliifting sand, or against flood, wind, tide, avalanches and rolling stones ; as a means of feeding springs, of attracting fish, of providing landmarks for navigators, of improving the public health ; and finally, to ' manufacture ' scenery, many thousands of acres are annually planted with trees, especially since 1901. In estimating the worth of the forests of Japan the value of the special services rendered by these ' pro- tection ' forests must not be forgotten. Forests clothe the slopes of most of the mountains Distribu- of Japan, but abound particularly in the northern f^°"gj^g island and in the more northerly districts of the centre of Honshiu. This lack of uniformity in distribution is not due solely to physical peculiarities of the soil ; in Shikoku, Kiushiu, and the south-west of the main- land, for instance, where by reason of the density of the population, the claims of agriculture have become paramount, much of the land that is now under cereals and other crops was formerly thickly wooded. In the island of Kiushiu the area now covered by forests and by ' wild lands ' (i. e. unreclaimed land akin to forests) is less than in the single prefecture of Aomori at the head of the main island. It is obvious, however, that in so mountainous a country as Japan much forest land must be inaccessible. At the end of March, 1910, the total area of forest Forest and wild lands in Japan proper was 54,164,786 acres, ^"'^^o*^- distributed as to ownership as follows : — 280 FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS Protection Forests Utilization Forests Percentage Forests Total Acreage state Forests . . . Crown „ ... Forests belonging to private owners, civic corporations, and shrines or temples 897,109 240,438 27,605,179 4,961,032 20,283,317 177,716 28,680,004 5,201,465 20,283,317 1,137.542 52,849,528 177,716 54,164,786 Forest revenue. Briefly stated, the State forests represent those that the feudal princes, at the time of the Restoration, surrendered to the Government, a certain proportion of these being handed over to the Crown. Then in early times shrines and temples were erected in forests to protect them by rendering them sacred, and such the State still recognizes as sacerdotal possessions. By 'percentage forests' are meant State forests left under the control of villages or towns which, in return for services rendered, enjoy a certain percentage of their produce. The revenue of the State forests for the financial year ending March, 1910, derived from the sale of products and by-products, rents and other receipts, was £1,025,493, to which may be added the proceeds of sales of forests and plains, £866,834. But expenses were heavy, amounting to £670,170, so that the net profit from the year's working was no more than £722,157, or somewhat below the average of the last three years. No statistics are available in connexion with the Crown forests, and it is only possible to state the value of the principal products of forests in the third category for the year 1909, and (for sake of com- parison), 1905, which was as follows : — FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS 281 Logs and balks Railway sleepers Wood for clogs „ „ paper Bamboo . . . . Hinol-'t and Sugi bark Bamboo sheath Charcoal .... Mushrooms Planks . . . . Wood for casks ., ,, boxes ,, ,, wagon building „ ,, matches ,, shavings Seedlings Fruits Nut-galls . Animal pelts . Stones Various . 1905 1909 X2,233,461 ^3,889,938 70,358 134,214 125,452 181,897 23,143 52,350 128,087 169,770 65,912 102,107 17,224 20,207 1,139,301 1,841,946 134,450 236,371 971,096 1,686,022 157,969 227,399 13,660 29,482 104,470 115,335 49,.380 71,406 7,574 7,837 16,291 14,069 183,671 430,488 478,719 483,618 J5,920,218 £9,694,456 It will be seen that the productivity of these forests has increased, within the short space of five years, by over 60 per cent. In giving a short account of their contents we may omit the tropical forests, partly because their chief site is Formosa, which island is dealt with in another chapter, and partly because, with the exception of bamboos that grow to extraordinary dimensions, and are used for building purposes and the manufacture of various utensils, their products, l)eing mainly banyans, furnish no timber of utility. Of the forests in the frigid zone, which comprises the Forest Kuriles and most of the northern half of Hokkaido, {„ ft-itui many are not yet explored, though they are known to ^^ne. contain an abundance of conifers. The principal trees are Todo-matsu {Abies sachaUensis, Mast.) and Yezo- matsu (Picea ajanensis), which grow with especial luxu- riance in the mountains of Ishikari, Teshio, Tokachi, Nemuro and Kitami. The wood of these trees is light, 282 FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS coarse-grained, and liable to warp, but is in some demand for building-work. A closer-grained wood is the Akaeso-matsu (Picea Glelmi). In the Kuriles the trees are usually too stunted to be of value, but a species of larch {Larix sihirica) found there in pure forests has a hard and wet-resisting timber which is used for boat- building and furniture making. A birch called Shira- kaba {Betiiba aJha, vulg.), the Yama-hanoki (an alder), and the Nagakamado {Pirusaucuparia) are also of little value except as fire-wood. There are, of course, other trees in the frigid zone, but those mentioned are the principal species. Forest In the temperate forests, which extend over the in temper- southem half of Hokkaido and the northern half of ate zone. fJonshiu, the species number over sixty. The pecu- liarly scented fir Hinoki is the best of Japan's timber trees, being tough, strong, and close grained, and is used for building, ship-building, and bridge-work. There are large forests of this tree in the provinces of Kii, Yamato, Totomi, and elsewhere. The Hiba [Tliujopsis (lolaljrata) was one of the five trees specially protected under the feudal regime, and occurs in pure woods in the Aomori districts. It is of very slow growth, and its wood is dense, strong, and durable ; hence its use for railway sleepers. The Sugi [Crj/pfo- meria japonka) is one of the commonest of conifers. Its growth is rapid in moist soil with plenty of light, and specimens are occasionally found measuring 6 feet in diameter and 130 feet in height. Akita is a district where it grows to perfection. The wood is light yellow with a tinge of red, and is largely used for the manu- facture of tools and utensils. The timber of Sawara {Clmmecijpar'is p^^sifera) and Nezuko (Tlmya japoniea) is soft and light and splits easily, and is much used in boards and planks. The Momi [Ahies firma) is very FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS 283 widely distributed ; it grows rapidly after middle age, forming a perfect trunk. Used almost exclusively for the manufacture of paper pulp, its fibre being particu- larly long, and for tea-chests and the cases and boxes which are an item of Japan's export trade. The Tsuga (Tsuga Sieholdii, Carr.), like the Momi, with which it is generally found, is used for paper and tea-chest making, but also as an ornamental wood, being of slow growth and compact structure. -'Its bark is employed for tanning and dyeing. A very useful tree is the Kara- matsu(X«/7> hptoUim)^ which grows fast and well, even in the poorest of soil, forming natural woods on Mounts Fuji and Asama and in the provinces of Shinano and Nikko. Its timber is moderately hard and durable, and is much used for telegraph poles. Among the broad-leaved trees of the temperate forest zone the Keyaki [Zelhoiva Keaki, Sieb.) is supreme in respect of utility and value. It is found in mixed woods throughout Honshiu, Shikoku, and Kiushiu, and attains huge dimensions in calcareous soils. A slow- growing tree, its timber is strong, hard, and lustrous, and it is in great demand for building, carving, ship- building, and for the manufacture of costly furniture, some of the sub-species having a beautiful grain. The Buna (Fagns Sj/Ivatica, Sieb., Maxim.) is a very widely distributed species, used mainly for firewood and char- coal. Its growth continues even when it has attained a great age and enormous proportions. It was of this tree that the Ainus of Old Japan made their log-boats. The Yachidamo and Katsura are the only broad-leaved species which furnish good timber for sleepers and for building purposes ; they grow best on level ground. The Inu-enji (Cladorosfis amurcmis), a very handsome wood, is used for furniture-making and also for sleepers, and another tree whose timber serves for ornamental 284: FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS work is the Kurumi {Jufihms, Sieb.). The oak called Kashiwa (Querctis dentata) and Onara {Quercus crispula) are found throughout the plains of Hokkaido and in several districts in Honshiu. The wood of the latter is used for sleepers, firewood, and charcoal ; the bark of the Kashiwa has tannic properties and is used for curing skins. Two poplars (P. tremula) and (P. hal- samifera) are valuable as providing material for match- sticks, and a chestnut named Kuri, of which the wood is exceedingly hard and moderately durable and wet- resisting, is esteemed the best of all for railway sleepers. Sub- The sub-tropical forests are comprised within Shikoku, forest Kiushiu, the part of Honshiu lying south of parallel species. 36^ ^^^ ai-^(j districts of Formosa about 2,900 feet above sea-level. They contain many species, some of which are particularly valuable. The most important is the camphor-tree, which is sometimes found forming large forests, but as its habitat is now mainly confined to Formosa the tree and the industry of which it is the basis are discussed in the chapter on that island. The wood of the Tsugo (evergreen box) is used for much the same purposes as in Europe. The several varieties of Kashi (oaks), of which the Ubamegashi [Quercns ilex) makes the best fuel-wood in Japan, are the most common of the broad-leaved evergreens. The Aka- matsu, or Red Pine [Phius deusifiora), is the most widely distributed of all the coniferous trees. It grows very rapidly in well-drained land, and on this account is a favourite plantation tree. The wood is hard, strong, and so resinous as to be practically damp-proof, and it makes excellent firewood. The matsntal-e, or 'Pine mushroom', grows in the forests of red pine in the south of the main island. The Kuromatsu, or black pine, is similar in every way except that its wood is of a reddish colour. room e in FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS 285 In addition to these timber trees there are groves of bamboos of many varieties, splendid specimens of which are found in the neighbourhood of Kyoto and elsewhere. They are much used for tools, for orna- mental work, for building and for a hundred other purposes, and there is an export trade of some impor- tance in bamboos and in articles manufactured there- from. The mushroom-growing industry of Japan deserves Mush- mention no less on account of the methods employed cultm than because the annual production exceeds 5,000 tons, forests. There are ten or eleven chief species of edible fungi, the most highly esteemed of which are the aforesaid * pine-mushroom ' {AnniUaria edoides, Berk) and the AgaricKS shiitcikc. Occasionally forests are specially prepared for their cultivation, and in the State forests of Osaka Okayama the greater part of the revenue is derived from the sale of ' pine mushrooms '. They are grown in a way that must be pecidiar to Japan ; big- logs of the Kunugi, Konara, and other trees are soaked in water for some days and then hammered to soften the exterior. At short distances apart the macerated crust of the log is punctured with holes a few inches deep, in which the spawn is sown, and the logs are then left in a dark and secluded part of the forest. In spring and in autumn the fungi are collected and dried, about half of the crop being exported to China, India, Hongkong, Hawaii, and other places. They are usually very large and of the * umbrella ' shape ; the writer has tried several varieties and found them greatly superior in flavour to those of any other country. Japanese forests are rich in undergrowth and, in Other some districts, in grass and herbage, which are much products. used for fuel and fertilizer. Seeds and acorns are a not 286 FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS unimportant item of forest produce, and from these and from beech-mast, wahiuts, and others are extracted wax and oils of varied industrial uses. The bark of several species of oaks, alders, and chestnuts is used for tanning and dyeing. Of more consequence are the stones, such as granite and andesites, calcareous and slate-stones, that are found, for instance, in most of the districts which border on the Inland Sea, and in Mino, Owari, and elsewhere. In the districts mentioned there is a considerable demand for these stones as building-material and for pottery manufacture. Saw-mills. As to the industrial utilization of wood, there are in Japan proper 700 privately-owned saw-mills, in addition to which the Government, which formerly limited its enterprise to the sale of standing timber in State forests, has since 1906 opened timber-conversion mills in Aomori, Akita, Kumamoto, Oita, and Kochi. In 1909 the State mills reduced 268,193,832 cubic feet of timber and 17,628,865 faggots (3 ft. long x 6 ft. wide and 6 ft. high) into over 4,500 tons of sided logs, 1,070 tons of hewn boards, &c., and 1,284 tons of charcoal fuel. The private saw-mills, which are most numerous and important in the Akita and Osaka prefectures, converted between them 103,012,716 cubic feet of timber. Charcoal. Cliarcoal-burning, though appreciably affected by the increased consumption of coal, is an industry which is carried on throughout the country, and having in mind the cooking methods of the Japanese and the extent to which charcoal is used in Japan's large army, it is one which will always retain a certain importance. Transport Transport of timber from the forests to the yards is " often a matter of difficulty. The cost of road-making through the forests is very high, particularly when torrential streams which are liable to overflow their banks have to be bridged, and progress in road con- FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS 287 stiuction has been commensurately slow. Nor is the use of the rivers entirely satisfactory, on account of sunken snags and other obstacles. The cheapest and easiest method is that which is employed in the colder districts, such as Hokkaido, where in winter the timber is ' skidded ' over the hardened snow. The supreme control of forests in general is in the Forest hands of the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, trltian!^ Subject to this they are administered by the Forestry Bureau through 10 Major Forest Offices and 325 Minor Forest Offices. This is in respect of Japan proper, the State Forests in Hokkaido and Taiwan being subject to the supervision of the Minister of Home Affairs. A glance at Japan's coast-line, with its long reach Marine north and south, from the frigid to the tropical zone, ^" and its innumerable bays, gulfs, and river-mouths, will make it clear that many of the inhabitants of this densely populated string of islands, crowded, so to speak, to the water's edge, could and must rely upon the sea for sustenance. Daily fare of rice and vegetables needs to be supplemented by some more invigorating food, and as, either from religious scruples or from inclination, the Japanese ate and eat but little flesh, the obvious deduction is that fish entered to a large extent into the diet of those who could obtain it. Ancient shell-mounds which have recently Antiquity been excavated prove at once the correctness of this ggi^jng inference and the antiquity of the fishing industry in industry. Japan. Its present-day importance is indicated by the fact that a total of 1,740,000 men are engaged therein, 810,000 being exclusively, and 930,000 par- tially so employed. An aggregate of more than 420,000 boats are used, mostly small, open, native craft of about 30 feet in length. But if the total value of their catches be divided amongst the boats, we shall find 288 FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS that the net earnings per aniiuni of each are lamentably small. A matter of 165 yen (say £17) per boat per annum, to be shared by an average boat's crew of five, is an almost incredibly ungrateful return for such hard and perilous toil, and provides a sufficient explanation of the fact that since 1903 the number of regular fishermen has decreased by about 121,000, while 474,000 hands occasionally employed have abandoned the sea altogether. Unsatis- For this unsatisfactory state of affairs there are condiUon several reasons. It is true that Japan is excellently of fishing placed in respect of natural conditions which should industry. •■■ ■"• _ ^ ensure that the fishing industry, conducted in the scientific and methodical manner which we have learned to associate with Government-encouraged industries as a whole, should be at least moderately lucrative. At the Marine Biological Station in Sagani over 4:00 species of marine products have been classified which are of importance either as food or as fertilizer, or as providing material for various industries. But the vast majority of Japanese fishermen, with their unseaworthy craft that can barely sail against the wind, must confine their operations to within a very short distance of land ; the efiect of many years of reckless and improvident fishing is now being felt, some species having become almost extinct ; modern methods are adopted but slowly ; the curing business is in its infancy, and, finally, lack of capital makes speedy and effectual reform impossible. In accordance with the Fishery Agreement of 1907 with Russia, Japan's fishing rights along the coasts of Siberia and North Saghalien were confirmed, and now extend as far north as Kamchatka. The value of the catches in these waters in 1909 was £636,557, and of the catches in Chosen, Taiwan, Karafuto, and FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS 289 Kwantung £1,230,126; but, in the following abbre- viated account, figures^ refer only to inshore and freshwater fishery in Japan proper. The approximate value of the principal items was as under : — Fish Herring . . £51,617 Sawara (Cybium) £132,774 Annual Sardine . . 632,730 Horse Mackerel 151,626 P :1 f P ll P c Anchovy . . 264,935 Grey Mullet . 135,366 ^LlUOlJCO. Bonito . 729,546 Salmon 61,879 Mackerel . 242,191 Trout . 52,454 Tunny . 252,334 Car-p . 65,568 Yellow-tail . 320,361 Eel . . 118,842 Tai (Pagrus) . . 479,466 Others. 1,667,271 £5,500,750 Karei (flatfish) . 141,790 SlieU-fisli Sea-ear . . ^72,944 Oysters . , 39,750 Clam, razor-clai 1, and others . . 187,790 Jrusfdceans £300,484 ( Prawns and Shr imps il54,494 Spiny lobster . 17,928 'iscellaneoKS £172,422 M Cuttle-fish . £78,067 Squid 244,548 Octopus . 109,314 Sea-cucumber . 23,973 Whales . 52,658 Fur-seal (38) . 78 Coral 112,592 Seaweeds . 373,635 Others . 82,370 £1,077,235 £7,050,891 If to the above should be added the total catches Tota in Chosen, Taiwan, Karafuto, and Kwantung, the JJ^"^ ^°^" value of the industry to the Empire last year would Empire. be close upon £10,000,000. The herring fishery is at present restricted to the western shores of Hokkaido and the north of the main ' In view of certain difficulties in the compilation of fishery statistics, absolute accuracy is not to be expected. 290 FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS island (Aomori and Akita), and the months from March to May. The fish are taken with pond-nets and grill- nets, and the deejD-sea catches are of course much greater than those indicated by the figures quoted above. The record twelve-months catch of recent years was valued, for instance, at over £1,100,000. In general, only the parts along the backbone are used for food, the remainder being treated to obtain fish- oil and fertilizer. But, as much herring fertilizer is exported from Siberia, bean cake from North China, and sardine fertilizer from Korea, the demand for the Hokkaido produce has fallen off, and to remedy this the Government is now encouraging the curing business. Sardines and anchovies are caught off nearly the entire coast of Japan, with seines and purse-seines. Most are used as fertilizer, though some are boiled and dried for food. A little canning and sauce-making is done. The bonito is a favourite fish with the Japanese, especially when dried and smoked. It is taken chiefly with rod and line and a bait of live sardine, and as it haunts warm currents it is found nearly everywhere in the south and often in the north. The ' Tai ' {pagrus) is caught for the most part during spring and summer in the Inland Sea. Driving- nets are used to 'corral' the fish and they are then taken with the seine. Occasionally they are caught with long lines. The ' tai ' is very seldom salted or otherwise cured. The ' sawara ' is a fish more common in the south- west than in the north, and it also frequents the Inland Sea. It swims in shoals and is taken in drift- nets. Tunny-fish are found everywhere and taken with FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS 291 drift-nets and long lines. Mostly eaten fresh, they are occasionally cured in the same way as the bonito. The ' Yellow-tail ' {serioJa qumqueradiata) is taken in the Sea of Japan and the south-western seas with lines, grill-nets, and otherwise. It is used either fresh or salted. The mackerel is also a very ubiquitous fish, caught every^vhere with spread-nets and seines. It is usually preserved in salt. Cod, on the other hand, fr-equent the north and are taken with lines and nets. There is some little business in the manufacture of cod- liver oil. Salmon ascend many of the rivers flowing into the Sea of Japan or the northern part of the Pacific, especially in Hokkaido and the head of the main island. In river-fishing seines are used, and occasion- ally traps, but in the sea the salmon are taken with pound-nets. They are usually preserved in salt or tinned. Trout are found in company with salmon, and are both taken and used in much the same fashion. Of shell-fish the sea-ear, or ear-shell, is valuable both for its flesh and for the mother-of-pearl contained in its shell. The flesh is largely exported to China. The oyster is next in importance, and there is a growing demand for this bivalve. At Toba (Shima) in the bay of Ago, a Mr. Mikimoto exercises the unique monopoly of hatching pearl-oysters. His oyster-beds extend for 25 miles along the coast, and the method employed to produce natural pearls is to introduce seed pearl or small fragments of mother-of-pearl into the shells of three-year-old oysters. It is explained that the effect of irritation thus induced is to cause the oyster to put forth its pearl-forming secretion in successive layers, and so to encase the foreign sub- stance. In four years a pearl of considerable value is formed. t2 292 FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS Lobsters frequent the Pacific coast, and are usually taken in grill-nets. Prawns abound in the Inland Sea and the warmer inlets, and are caught in trawl- nets. China imports most of them. Cuttle-fish, squids, and octopi are caught by lines and trawls in warm currents. They are invariably dried for export to China. The sea-cucumber {Mclie cfe me)') is found mostly in Hokkaido and on the north- eastern coast of Honshiu, and a whitish variety (the Japanese species is black) is caught in the South Pacific seas. As is well known it is highly relished by the Chinese. Another dainty among the people of the Middle Kingdom is shark-fin, and sharks are caught in considerable quantities off Oita and Yama- guchi with the object of securing this delicacy. Sea- Chief among the sea-weeds used as food is that known as ' Kombu ' {Laminaria). It grows mostly on the shores of Hokkaido and the south-east of Honshiu, and is eaten sliced into very thin shreds. ' Kanten ' is made by dissolving the weed Tengusa in water and exposing the resulting gelatinous infusion to the action of cold by night and the sun by day. Only the Chinese use it as food, however ; in the West it is a substitute for gelatine, isinglass, starch, and the like. Other sea-weeds are used as paste. Seal- As shown by figures quoted above, fur seals have fisheries, practically disappeared from the shores of the Kuriles. Every year, however, about thirty sealers are fitted out for a season's operations along the coast of Alaska and Kamchatka, and in 1909 their catch included 10,246 seals and 164 sea-otters. Whale- The right-whales, sulphur bottom and hump-back ** ^"^^- whales that formerly frequented in large numbers the seas off the coasts of Kiushiu and Shikoku, are now protected by an ordinance issued at the end of 1909, FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS 293 whereby the number of whaHng-vessels (stecimers or sailers) permitted to engage in the business is hmited to thirty. The principal whaling-grounds in Japan proper are off the Kinkanzan Island in summer, as far south as Tokyo Bay and off Nagato, Tosa, Kishu, and Kiushiu in winter, but the authorities may at any time restrict the fishable area or prohibit the hunting- altogether. These preservative measures, though taken none too soon, may possibly revive the occupation in the waters near the coasts. An industry of great antiquity and some importance Salt- in Japan is that of salt-refining. Rock-salt being ^ "*"^' practically absent from the mineral list of Japan, most of the salt used is extracted from sea-water either by natural or by artificial heat, the former agency being- employed in Formosa in particular on account of that island's constant high temperature. The methods in vogue in both cases have remained unaltered for ages, and consist of the building at ebb-tide of a low circular wall on the foreshore, in which sea-water is half- evaporated. The mixture of brine and sand is then removed, and the evaporation process is completed, in Japan proper, in pans or other receptacles over a fire of faggots. The salt-refining industry is now a Government monopoly, and a somewhat unpopular one, but it is well that a mineral of such importance in all countries should be exploited to its best advantage, and this could not be expected from the crude, slow methods of thousands of small manufacturers in every part of the Empire. Since 1898 several model salt-refineries have been established by the Government, in Chiba, Hiroshima, and other prefectures. The main source of supply in Japan proper are the coasts of the Inland Sea, but a great quantity is imported from Formosa. 294 FORESTRY AND MARINE PRODUCTS The total production in Japan proper during the year ending March, 1910, was 587,000 tons. The in- dustry now occupies 27,017 manufacturers (who sell their produce to the Government) and 114,411 em- ployees, working an aggregate area of 19,264 acres of salt-grounds. CHAPTEE XVI MINERAL RESOURCES Although Japan does not excel as a mineral country from the point of view of production or ex- port, she undoubtedly contains in greater or less abundance most of the species of the mineral kingdom, with the exception of precious stones. From the seventh or in any case the eighth century she has yielded gold and silver ; Marco Polo reported that gold ores were plentiful in Japan, and there is some ground for the belief that the primary object of Columbus in sailing westward was to prospect for Japan's precious metals, yellow and white. Later in Japan's history, when she had left the age of wars behind her and was at peace under the Tokugawa Shogunate, we hear of the opening of mines which Opening are famous to-day — the Kosaka silver and copper uiine^J°^^ mines, the copper mines of Ashio and Besshi, the coal-mines of Miike and Takashima, and certain others. In those days, however, the working of mines was conducted largely upon a retail basis. But with the dramatic change that followed Japan's abandonment of the policy of exclusion ; with the phenomenal development of her shipping trade, of her railways, and of all her industries ; with the clamorous demand of the new era for coal to transform into power and metals to forge into machines, and finally by the energetic action of an enlightened Government, the mining craft was raised within a few strenuous years from a blind groping for the 296 MINERAL RESOURCES Modern earth's buried treasure to a scientific search conducted broT<^ht ^^ the light shed by technical knowledge; and the to bear mining^ industry advanced in status from being the on mining a ^ p • i i industry, casual pursuit of a few hundreds to formnig the sole and constant occupation of many thousands. With marvellous rapidity eager learners in a new school absorbed all the mining lore that foreign engineers, geological surveyors, and other experts, engaged by the Government when it took over the working of the principal mines, could impart to them, and the State l^ioneer undertakings worked by these students be- came thriving and well-ordered modern concerns, models to the private enterprises which soon sprang up in nearly every district of Japan. The mining industry is to-day a factor of consequence in the national economy. There are in all 9,586 mines in Japan proper, and they occupy an area of 2,058,132 acres; they employ 233,827 workers and possess between them 1,236 miles of railways and 100 miles of wire-rope tramway, while such as produce oil have laid down 160 miles of pipes for its conveyance. With these agents they extracted in 1910 minerals to the value of £11,452,847. Such are the bases of the present importance of the mining industry in Japan. To estimate its possibilities and its capacity for expansion in the future it will be necessary to examine into the extent and variety of the resources with which it can reckon. Coal. The most important of Japan's minerals is a non- metal-coal. The anthracite mined in Amakusa is of excellent quality, somewhat similar to Welsh, and it is also found in Kii and Nagato, but only some £52,000 worth was j^roduced in 1909. Brown bituminous coal of fair quality is the predominant type and occurs in large deposits in Hokkaido and Kiushiu ; in the MINERAL RESOURCES 297 latter island one big colliery, the above-mentioned Miike in Kumamoto, works two main layers, one 20 feet thick in parts, and produces about a million and a half tons yearly, ^ and there are some twenty mines in the Fukuoka district. The principal coal- field in Hokkaido is in the Ishikari district, and is 50 miles long by 12 miles broad. Honshiu has coal- fields at Iwaki and elsewhere, but the quality of the mineral is not so good. The best coal in Japan is produced at the Takashima mine near JSTagasaki. A total of 11,763,045 tons was mined in all Japan proper, representing an increase of 3,116,284 tons since 1900, and the supply, according to geological surveys, is enormous. The valuable Fushun mines in South Manchuria are dealt with in the chapter on Manchuria. Copjoer is next in importance as a mineral product. Copper. and it occurs in deposits of two distinct kinds. The first and richest is as a vein in tuff or other volcanic rocks, the ore containing sometimes as much as 30 per cent, of copper. Deposits of this nature are worked by such mines as the Ashio in Tochigi and the Kosaka in Akita, by mines in Niigata and Fuku- shima, and by most of the others in the north of Honshiu generally. The second form of deposit, in which the percentage of copper rarely reaches 10 per cent, and is often as low as 2 per cent., occurs in the beds of crystalline schists which form the basis of Japan's geological structure, in veins 6 to 8 feet thick. Miyazaki, on the east coast of Kiushiu, is the prin- cipal district for this type of deposit, but with the exception of Saitaura, Shizuoka, Toyama, Oita, and Kagoshima, copper is mined in every district of Japan ' Thirty-five years ago only one colliery employed steam-power, and Japan's total output of coal was less than 200,000 tons a year. 298 MINERAL RESOURCES proper, and the total output in 1909 reached a vakie of close upon two and a half millions sterling. Petro- Of late years petroleum has become an important ^"™" product of Japan's mineral kingdom. The petro- liferous strata apparently extend throughout the country from Karafuto to Taiwan in a narrow vein following the western coasts of the islands, and occur in tertiary rocks of the same geological epoch as those of Galicia, California, and Baku ; but prospecting has had somewhat disappointing results, and the yield at present is almost entirely confined to the Niitsu, Higashiyama, Nishiyama, and Kubiki oil-fields in Niigata, from which, in 1909, oil and oil products were extracted to the value of over £700,000. Gold. Gold occurs in three types of deposits, the most important of which is contained in quartz veins in vol- canic rocks such as obtain in north Formosa generally and in Honshiu at Niigata and Sado (north-west), Fukushima (north-east), Hyogo (south-west), and other districts. Alluvial gold is found chiefly in Hokkaido, and to a lesser extent in Ishikawa (north central Honshiu), and in its third form (quartz veins in schists and palaeozoic rocks) gold exists in Shikoku, in the vicinity of the river Yoshino, and in the districts of Kesen in Hokkaido (Rikuchiu province). Gold, however, is produced in one form or another in nearly every fu and lien of Japan proper, Shiga, Miye, Wakayama, Nara, Osaka, Hiroshima, Toku- shima, and Kumamoto being the exceptions. Kago- shima is by far the richest district, and next in importance are Niigata, Akita, Hokkaido (Shiribeshi and elsewhere), and Hyogo. The total value of the annual yield of Japan proper does not greatly exceed half-a-million sterling, but the extraction of gold increases steadily from year to year. MINERAL RESOUECES 299 Silver is chiefly found in the form of sulphides in Silver. tuff and other volcanic rocks, and usually in association with gold, copper, lead, and zinc. The Kosaka mine and the Tsubaki mine in Akita (north Honshiu) each produced over a million ounces in 1909, and there are very few districts in which the white metal is not mined. Iron occurs in considerable quantities in the form of lion, sulphides (which, however, are not used), and as oxides, in which form it is worked chiefly for reduction pur- poses. Magnetite is the principal oxide, and the largest known deposit is at Yamawata, near Waka- matsu Harbour in Kiushiu, the site of the Government iron works. Smaller deposits of magnetite occur at Kamaishi in Iwate (north-east Honshiu) and many other places, and the total output of iron in 1909 was worth about £254,000. Hematite is found at Akadani and Kamo (north central Honshiu), Senninsan (Hok- kaido), and elsewhere, and limonite, or hydrated oxide, occurs in small quantities in many places. Iron pyrite exists in large quantities in Akita, Gumma, and Ibaraki, and to a still greater extent in Yamanashi and Okayama in south Honshiu, but the value of the 1909 yield was under £11,000. In comparison with her needs Japan is exceedingly poor in iron, there being but three iron-mines in the country ; and the bulk of the raw material from which some 150,000 tons of pig iron are annually produced in Japan comes from the famous Taiya mines in China. But Japan is relatively rich in sand-iron, from which much is hoped and expected, not without good reason. Experiments have been successfully carried out in con- junction with the Armstrong & Vickers firms at the Muroran Steel Foundry of the Hokkaido Colliery and Steamship Company, and they have shown (1) that the proportion of sand-iron to the ores used that can be 300 MINERAL RESOUECES satisfactorily melted is no less than 60 per cent., (2) that the sand-iron which the foundry will use con- tains, as compared with the Taiya ores, an appreciably smaller percentage of injurious ingredients such as phosphorus and copper, and (3) that sand-iron fre- quently contains the rare metal, palladium. The prin- cipal districts in which sand-iron occurs are Hokkaido, in the vicinity of Volcanic Bay, and central Japan generally. Sulphur. In point of value sulphur is next on the list, and it is but natural that in so volcanic a country large de- posits should be found. It is worked in Hokkaido, from which island comes about 70 per cent, of the total yield, and in Fukushima and the ' head ' of the main island generally. Small quantities are produced in Kiushiu, in the districts of Kagoshima and Oita. Sulphur is one of the oldest of Japan's mineral exports, for it was shipped to Holland and China as far back as the fifteenth century. In 1909 over 33,000 tons were mined, worth about £82,000. Zinc. Zinc occurs in many veins as zinc blende, generally with other metallic sulphides. The Gifu district in central Honshiu is the richest, Fukushima being next in importance, but there are small mines in all the districts of the ' head ' of the main island with the exception of Miyagi on the east coast. It exists also in Ishikawa and Toyama, on the west coast of central Honshiu, and there is a deposit of some little importance near Nagasaki, but the value of the total yield in 1909 was under £50,000. For lack of suit- able smelting machinery zinc ores are shipped to Germany for refining. Lead, Lead occurs as sulphides, containing more or less silver, in tuff and other volcanic rocks. Gifu again is the most productive district, the yield of the workings MINERAL RESOURCES 301 in Niigata, Toyama, Shinane, and Okayama (north cen- tral Honshiu) being at present insignificant. In all, some £43,000 worth was produced in 1909. Practically the only district at present producing tin Tin. is Kagoshima, though a very little is also found in Gifu and Ibaraki. The 1909 output of the Suzuyama mine in Kagoshima was valued at about £2,500, an unimportant sum, but sufficient to show that the metal exists in Japan. The existence of antimony, at present worked almost Anti- exclusively in the district of Yehime in north-west ^"°""^ ' Shikoku, is another not unimportant source of mineral wealth in Japan. It is also found in Nara, near Osaka, and in Miyazaki (south-east Kiushiu) but to a very limited extent. In all, some £4,000 worth was mined in 1909. Manganese ore occurs in Hokkaido and in several Man- districts of the other islands. About half of the total or"^^^ yield in 1909 came from Aomori, the northernmost district of the mainland, and it is mined in the Tochigi and Kyoto districts of Honshiu, in Kochi (south Shikoku), in Miyazaki, and elsewhere in negligible quantities. The value of the manganese ore produced in 1909 was approximately £5,200, but the yield for 1910 is estimated at a much lower figure. An asphalt deposit occurs in the district of Akita Asphalt. and yielded over £9,000 worth of this substance in 1909. Graphite is found principally in Iwate (north Honshiu) Graphite. and in Hokkaido, Gifu, Toyama and Kagoshima, but only about £1,000 worth was mined in 1909. The catalogue of the minerals which are known to exist in Japan may be completed by the bare enumera- tion of such as are produced at present in quantities too insignificant to mention. Phosphate ore, for Other instance, is found in the Tokyo and Ishikawa districts ; ""'^^^^ ^' 802 MINERAL RESOURCES tungsten in Ibaraki ; chrome iron ore in Okayan and Tottori (north central Honshiu) and in Kumamoto (Kiushiu) ; arsenic in Niigata ; molybdenite in Shimara (north-west Honshiu) and in Gifu, and a very little mercury in Tokushima. To the value of the total yield in 1909 of the minerals of Japan proper (i. e. excluding Formosa, Karafuto, and Korea) £5,962,536, or nearly 60 per cent., was contributed by the collieries. This preponderance of coal might be held to indicate a corresponding poverty in other mineral products, but as a matter of fact there is no single district that does not contain some mineral of value other than coal, and several of them are what might be called mineralogically rich. Moreover, the production figures are no criterion of the potential or even the actual mineral wealth of the country, for mining is perhaps the one important industry which has not kept pace with the recent industrial advance Mining of Japan. Transport facilities are still lacking in many hampered placcs where iron, for instance, is known to exist in tran^port^ large deposits and modern methods of extraction are facilities, not everywhere employed. When the necessary capital has been attracted to the industry it is certain that Japan's importance as a mineral country will vastly increase. Labour in The Condition of mining labour presents some singular features, not the least notable of which is, to English eyes, the absence of strikes and the workers' contentment with their wages and treat- ment, which, for those whose occupation is under- ground, are better than in the case of operatives in other industries. The coal miner (underground) earns about 2s. Id. and the shaft worker approximately Is. lOd. per day, which must be compared with the gardener's Is. 6f/., the fisherman's Is., and the MINERAL RESOURCES 303 bricklayer's 2s. Old. (to take examples at random) ; and the workers in other mines receive on an average l5. ^Id. as miners and shaft hands and Is. Id. as sorters in metallic mines. Some of the men are natives of the district in which they work, but the majority come from neighbouring provinces, marry, settle down, and make a home near their mine, living in creditable cleanliness in thatched or tile- roofed dwellings provided by their employers. The unmarried men live together in large common-rooms. In many cases rice and other provisions are supplied by the mine owners at less than cost price, and the fact that the all-important item of food is assured to them undoubtedly contributes to the miners' satisfac- tion with their lot. Mine owners bear the expense of hospital treatment Mine in case of accidents, of pay during disablement and of J Jponsi- compensation for permanent disablement or death, in i^iiities to which last event they also contribute towards the funeral expenses. Of such expenditure no statistics are available, but the sums disbursed by the large mines are considerable. In 1909 the accidents in Acci- aU the mines of Japan proper numbered 14,803 and resulted in the deaths of 673 employees above and below the surface, severe injury to 496 and slight injury to 14,160, a casualty list aggregating 15,329. The miners of the principal concerns have their Miners' Mutual Aid Associations, to whose funds the mine tio^ns.^^ owners also contribute ; and the miners' children are educated either at schools established by the mine owners, or at institutions subsidized by them, in which case the fee for tuition is, of course, reduced. The workers themselves are, on the whole, orderly and amenable to authority, though amongst them are certain undesirables, itinerant miners who never stay 804 MINERAL RESOUECES long in any district, and are constantly promoting disturbances. A peculiarity of the mining labour class is the authority wielded by the gang-bosses, whose orders, whether right or wrong, are obeyed unquestioningly, and the essentially fraternal spirit which animates and unites all engaged in the extraction of minerals. If a man for some reason leaves a mine and seeks work in another, the mere mention of his gang-boss's name is sufficient to ensure him at least a friendly and charitable reception. On the other hand, a quarrel between one chief and another is promptly taken up by all the underlings of each, with the result that a small personal question frequently assumes the pro|)ortions of a riot. But this is practically the only kind of disturbance that involves suspension of work. Mining Five Mining Inspection Offices exercise control over tkm.^^ such matters as ventilation, building, the use of ex- plosives, provisions against accidents, and the like. One has jurisdiction over Hokkaido, another over Kiushiu, and the remainder control Shikoku and the three Honshiu districts. Each concessionaire must pre- pare and submit to the competent Office a set of rules for his workmen, stating the number of working hours, the nature of the work, the scale of compensation for injury, and so on, the object being to prevent harsh treatment of employees by employers, and thus to lessen the risk of disturbances. Mining Mining legislation in Japan, at no very remote date, tion - prevented a foreigner both from working a mine him- its atti- self and from becoming a member of a mine-operating foreign- concem, thus effectively preserving the industry for ^^' the people of the country. Since 1900, however, a foreign company has enjoyed equal rights under the MINERAL RESOURCES 305 Japanese laws with a concern formed of the subjects of His Imj^erial Majesty. The Mining Regulations of Mining 1890, found defective in several ways, were superseded ^qq^^ by the Mining Law of 1905, which empowered the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce to grant, cancel, or suspend mining or prospecting rights, and also to delegate part of his authority to the directors of Mine Inspection Offices. As the regulations now stand the area of a mining ' set ' must be, for collieries, not less than 50,000 tsiiho (about 41 acres) nor less, for other mines, than 5,000 tsiiho ; and the area for mines of all kinds must not exceed 1,000,000 tsuho (about 820 acres). The Law of 1905 put a term to the practice of occupying a concession for an unlimited period with- out attempting to develop it, and the prospecting rights are now granted only for two years from the date of registration. A mine in operation pays an annual tax of 1 per cent, on the value of the products, except in the case of gold, silver, and iron ores. An unusual feature of Japanese mining law is that the owner of land is not de facto the owner of the minerals which it may con- tain ; he must make his application for prospecting rights in the proper form, or in default the first applicant may supplant him on his own estate. As to the conditions under which mines are worked in Japan at the present day, there is still room for improvement, but it may be said that lack of capital is responsible for most of the backwardness. Quite a number of coal-mines still use Lancashire boilers, which consume from 10 per cent, to 15 per cent, of their output, and on the other hand concerns like the Besshi Copper Mine, which has been in the Sumitomo family's possession since an ancestor discovered it in 1690, the Ashio, Fujita, and Kosaka Copper mining companies, the Miike Coal Mine and many others, POHTLK U 80(5 MINEKAL EESOUKCES have installed the most costly and up-to-date plant, and in most cases have reaped the reward of their enterprise. To take but two outstanding instances, the plant designed for the prevention of mineral poison, introduced by the late Ichibei Furukawa at the Ashio Mine, has no equal in the world, and in that part of the Miike coal-fields which is owned by tlie Mitsui Company there is one large pump which drains the mine, raising ten tons of water for every ton of coal produced. CHAPTER XVII INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS The manufacturing industries have continued soberly industrial prosperous for the last fifteen years. The important myn*t °^' industries are in a stronger position than they were in 1896. The number of mills, factories, and plants, and the capital invested in industrial enterprises, have probably increased twofold ; there has been a large increase in the number of hands, and official reports show that the wages of the workers in nearly all branches of industry have doubled. Speaking gene- rally, the industrial districts of Japan have little reason to complain of the manner in which they have progressed, and there are signs of increased prosperity in the large centres of industrial activity. It is im- possible in a work dealing with the recent progress of Japan to trace the history of the particular industries, which now form the basis of her strength as a manu- facturing nation. It may be said that those which did exist before the Restoration have been born again, and that whilst the introduction of new methods may in some cases have sacrificed the artistic side of Japanese manufacture, it has made it possible for the Empire to enter into competition with the other great manufacturing nations of the world. In the Modern course of her rise as an industrial nation Japan ^^tSion discovered that the profits from the minor arts and to scien- tihc in- crafts, for which she was so rightly celebrated, were dustrial insufficient to support modern armies and build Processes. modern navies, and that only by manufacturing u 2 308 INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS staple commoditiey on a large scale could she hope to become a first-class Power. Hence she went shrewdly to work establishing filature plant, building spinning-mills, introducing jacquard looms, improving her methods of dyeing, building plants for the manu- facture of iron and steel and shipyards to construct a navy and a merchant marine. It was impossible to initiate and carry on these modern industries without some deterioration of those arts and crafts for which Japan in common with other Eastern countries had been famous for so many centuries. When she thus began to build factories, import filature plant and spinning and weaving machinery, equip and install machine-shops, and operate railways, the European world looked askance and suggested that Japan should stick to her handicrafts, in the skilful conduct of which she stood unrivalled. The fact is that the pressure of outside events compelled both the creation of the army and the navy and the establish- ment of industries on a modern basis. The great military and naval organizations which have been called into existence since the war with China, and their effective qualities in the field and on the high seas, have established the reputation of Japan as a first-class fighting nation — a courageous as well as a humane people. As she has returned, it is to be hoped permanently, to peaceful cind industrial pursuits, we pass to the consideration of her industrial progress and to the development of the wider field of manu- facturing industry that requires a different kind of talent to that which has given the country supremacy in the domain of art ; yet the ability and the skill in organization which can successfully bring the machinery for modern military and naval operations into existence and can cany them through a series of INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS 809 brilliant campaigns can surel}^ be turned to the opera- tion of manufacturing machinery with which to accom- plish peaceful conquests in the markets of the world. In the manufacturing industries Japan has been suc- cessful — more successful than some thought possible, but less successful than the Japanese themselves ex- pected they would be when they first laid down modern plants and adopted European methods of manufacture. The weak points in Japanese industry to-day and Defects of those which will have to be strengthened before inSry! Japan can fulfil her ambition to become a great manu- facturing as well as a great military nation are appa- rently these : — the absence of a permanent class of skilled labour ; the entire dependence of her strongest industries upon the labour of women, which labour, by the very nature of things when these industries are carried on in factories, must be more or less inter- mittent and irregular ; the relatively unimportant part occupied in her industries by iron and steel ; the lack of trained artisans, which is one of the reasons why Japan has made no headway in the woollen industry ; the employment of a million or more of bright and healthy men capable of receiving an industrial education, in the performance of tasks dele- gated in the great manufacturing nations to horses and mechanical traction. On the other hand it may be urged that twenty-five years is a short period in which to bring to perfection any new industry. Few of the factories, including those engaged in the textile, machinery, chemical, food supply, and mis- cellaneous industries of Japan, have been in existence for a period longer than this, and many of them are of more recent origin. It has been a less difficult task to crystallize a nation, whose higher and educated classes have always been imbued with the spirit of 310 INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS military achievement, into a great military organiza- tion, than to build up industrial and trading organiza- tions from among a population whose leaders, until recent years, had been taught to look down upon such occupations as sordid and beneath the attention of the upper classes. The city of Tokyo itself was, we are told, practically brought into existence by the requirements of the military classes, who had to be Tradi- Supplied with necessaries. This bred a great contempt ^onTmit ^^^' ii^eclianical and trading pursuits which is only of trade slowly disappearing. ^ay"^ There are, however, distinct signs of a change, and finance, business, commerce, and manufacture are attracting the best minds of the country, whilst technical schools and colleges and scientific training ill the Higher Universities, as we have seen in the chapters on Education, are producing young men of great abilit}^, who will be capable of organizing these industries in a manner not inferior to the best European and American standards. Some of the factories visited during the writers recent stay in Japan are models of good organization, and reflect credit on the engineers and experts who have inaugurated and developed them. More especially is this commendable when it is remembered that there is an insufficient supply of iron and steel works qualified to turn out machinery and that there is only one really efficient steel foundry in the country, which is, moreover, operated by the Government. The Japanese, however, are themselves aware of these conditions and efforts are at present being made to alter them. In shipbuilding, for ex- ample, as the chapter on the Navy shows, exceptionally satisfactory progress has been made, but this, again, was a matter of necessity, for without a shipbuilding industry there can be no satisfactory navy. INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS 811 It may be worth while, even at the cost of intro- ducing a table, to take a bird's-eye view of the industries carried on in factories and shops which may be assumed to be equipped with the modern plants of Japan and employing, according to the latest available official figures (1910), over 800,000 hands :-^ INDUSTRIES CARRIED ON IN FACTORIES AND SHOPS. Total number of Oj )eratives Occupation Male Female Total Textile Factories .... 72,231 414,277 486,508 Raw Silk 9,839 181,722 191,561 Spinning 21,386 81,723 103,109 Throwing 1,500 5,346 6,846 Floss Silk _. . . _ . 22 95 117 Cotton Ginning and Refining 950 1,626 2,576 Weaving . . . . 22,622 132,624 155,246 Bleaching, Dyeing, Finishing 11,968 2,006 13,974 Knitting and Braiding . 2,174 3 789 5,963 Embroidery 245 1.726 1,971 Miscellaneous .... 1,525 3,620 5,145 Machine and Tool Factories . 60,721 3,100 63,821 Machine-making .... 13,532 156 13,688 Shipbuilding and Carriage- making ..... 21,124 119 21,243 Tool-making 10,941 962 11,903 Foundry, Metal, and Metal-ware making ..... 15,124 1,863 16,987 Chemical Works .... 51,805 26,078 77,883 Ceramics ..... 28,749 5,617 34,366 Lacquer-ware .... 932 113 1,045 Paper Mills 7,410 4,886 12,296 Leather and Fur Dressing . 728 68 796 Explosives 4,975 12,136 17,111 Oils and Waxes .... 2,021 366 2,387 Medicines and Chemicals 2,529 1,047 3,576 . Gums 552 286 838 Toilet-articles .... 143 333 476 Soaps and Candles 591 536 1,127 Dye-stuff, Paints, Varnishes, Lacquers, Pigments, Pastes, &c. 564 151 715 Artificial Manures 1,960 264 2,224 Miscellaneous .... 651 275 926 Industries carried on in Factories and Shops. 312 INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS Propor- tion of women workers. Total number of Operatives Occupation Male Female Total Food and Drink Factories 64,320 24,420 88,740 Breweiy 35,655 911 36,566 Sugar 1,055 116 1,171 Tobacco 3.174 14.253 17,427 Tea . . . . 7,680 4,742 12,422 Rice and Flour Mills . 5,829 310 6,139 Lemonade, Ice andMineral Waters 796 661 1,357 Confectionery .... 3,693 477 4,170 Canning and Bottling . 1,008 1,144 2,1.52 Curing of Animal Products . 30 8 38 Curing of Fishing Products 2,880 975 3,855 Miscellaneous .... 2,520 923 3,443 Miscellaneous Factories . 54,197 25,576 79,773 Printing and Publishing 18,687 2,635 21,322 Paper-ware 2,518 2,364 4.882 Wood and Bamboo Work , 15,824 3,537 19,.861 Leather-ware .... 1,589 140 1,729 Feather-ware .... 1,074 891 1,965 Matting and Straw-braids . 1,024 2,993 4,017 Articles of Precious Stones, Horns, &c. .... 1,206 60 1,266 Miscellaneous .... 12,275 12,956 25,231 Special Factories .... 3,865 47 3,912 Electrical Industry 2,307 8 2,315 Gas 398 3 401 Metal-refineries .... 1,160 36 1,196 Total . 307,139 493,498 300,637 Women's work a feature of Japanese industry. These figures, in which the numbers of men and women operatives stand in the proportion of about five to three, clearly indicate the preponderance of women workers. Nearly 40,000 of the total number of operatives are children under fourteen years of age, whose work it is hoped the operation of the new factory law will eliminate. The wages paid in those occupations and the hours of labour are treated in the chapter on Labour and Wages. As will be seen, the textile and allied industries rank first. Most of the really successful industries have been developed by the industry of Japanese women, and too much credit cannot be given to them. As INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS 313 the home industries, such as weaving, are compelled to give way to the power loom, women will be less able to use their labour to advantage, and their places must be taken by trained men operatives, like those of Lancashire and Yorkshire. In the treatment and manufacture of silk — Japan's strongest industry — women remain supreme, but this is because the industry can be carried on in conjunction with their household duties. Nothing could be more satisfactory than the Silk and progress made in the several branches of the silk gpinnhig. industry, and the same applies with equal force to the advance made in the cotton-spinning industry. The spinning of silk yarns from waste silk is making headway and is being carried on in a manner that would be creditable to a Bradford spinning-mill. The advantage of sending abroad ' dressed silk ' at 4s. per pound and ' spun silk ' at Qs. per pound instead of * waste silk ' at I5. per pound is evident. The difference in the price is almost entirely represented by labour — and a kind of labour in which Japan excels. The Osaka district continues to push the weaving of cotton cloths, especially cotton flannel sheetings and cotton tissues. Attention must now be given to the manufacture of the finer grades of goods in which Japan should excel and of which she buys larger quantities annually from abroad. At the Nagoya Exhibition (1910) and also at the Commercial Museum in Kyoto the writer inspected examples of fine cotton yarns, cotton velvets, and some high-class goods which indicate that manu- facturers are alive to advances in the industry. The hemp and flax industry has remained stationary, yet Jaj3an should do good work in this branch of manufacture. Hardly any headway has been made in the manufacture of woollen goods, and those which 314 INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS are produced are mostly woven from imported yarns. Woollen The first Japanese woollen factory was only started in station-"^ 1877 by the Government, and in 1880 was transferred ^'■y- to the absolute control of the War Office. Other woollen enterj^rises have done but poorly — and yet Japan is thousands of miles nearer the Australian wool market than Europe. There are some mousseline- de-laines made in Japan, but they are not yet equal to the imported goods. Popula- In the chapter on Population and Occupations will Ja"edTn '^6 found an estimate of the number of people engaged Industry, [^i the various occupations. The figures in the above table only give those employed in factories. For instance, about 155,000 are returned as engaged in weaving. If to this number were added those engaged in house weaving there would be found over 750,000 operatives employed in the weaving industries, and the annual value of the products is close on £25,000,000. The goods manufactured are chiefly for home con- sumption. House industries are still very important in Japan, and are responsilDle for a good deal of the manufactured output. Minor In industries such as machine construction, the manufacture of paper, of matting, of porcelain, and of lacquer, there has not been much change. In fifteen years the manufactin-e of matches, of brushes of all kinds, and of straw and chip braids, has made highly satisfactory progress, the output and exports having probably doubled since 1896. The match industry has been exceptionally successful, and the value of the export of matches has increased from £500,000 in 1896 to nearly £1,500,000 last year. The match industry is not included in the report on factories and shops. The leading match districts are in Aichi, Hyogo, and Osaka, and nearly 18,000 INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS 315 hands are reported as employed in this industry. Over 50 milHon gross of matches were exported last year. China and India are the principal markets. The refining of sugar, the brewing of sa/.e, and the flour-milling industry have all increased in im- portance with the growth of population and with the improved capacity for consumption due to the rise in wages. The numerous minor industries of Japan — for example, the manufacture of bamboo wares, fans, and leather goods — are very prosperous. The supply of coal in Japan is sufficient, and that Coal. supply has been reinforced by the excellent coal of the Fushun mines of South Manchuria. The produc- tion has increased from 5 million tons in 1896 to nearly 12 million tons last year (Japan proper), and will, with these new supplies, soon reach 20 million tons per annum. The production of iron is insufficient iron. and must come from either China or Chosen, unless the utilization of iron-sand (discussed in the chapter on mineral resources) in the manufacture of steel should prove successful. Of the 450,000 tons of pig- iron consumed in Japan, only 150,000 tons were made in the country, and 60 per cent, of that amount was produced in the Government steel foundry in Waka- matsu. This pig-iron was made from the magnetic ores of the Taiya mines in China. The production of Copper. copper in Japan continues to increase. The total Mineral annual value of the output of minerals, which has and hands more than doubled since 1900, is estimated at nearly employed ' ^ ^ *^ in mining £11,500,000, three-fourths of which is represented by indus- coal and copper. The total number of hands employed in the mines has increased by more than 100,000 in ten years. In 1900 the number was 131,011, and last year it had reached the total of 233,827. Of this total the coal-mines employed 152,515, metal mines 816 INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS 74,105, and non- metallic mines 7,207. Japan is divided into five mine inspection districts, and care is exercised to prevent a,ccidents and protect the interests of the miners. Petro- The hopes for a larger supply of petroleum have not been realized, and the existing wells furnish about one-third of the amount consumed. In the basic industries, with the exception of coal and copper, the situation remains unchanged since 1896. The same is true of agriculture, the fisheries, and forestry, which industries are also treated in special chapters. The Japanese are showing great skill in the Tokyo La- Conservation of all natural resources. A Central Labora- for rc°^^ tory has been established at Tokyo for the purpose search of research work. It has five sections, (1) mineral, cipies of (2) technological, (3) ceramic and machine-making, ti(m o7^ (4) dyeing, and (5) electric. The first section under- natural takes analyses of ores and raw materials used in manu- ■ facture, the second at present conducts experiments on lacquer wares with the object of finding proper materials for lacquering in order to prevent the cracking of the wares in Europe and America, where the climate is far drier than in Japan ; the section also deals with coloured lacquers, paper and match manufacture, and the refining of fish-oils and oils contained in the pupa of silkworms. The third is carrying on experiments with the object of encouraging the use of machines among Japanese ceramists, the ceramic industry still remaining more or less in the family stage of develop- ment ; it is also contriving machines adapted to the peculiar conditions of Japan. In the fourth section experiments are being made on foreign artificial indigo, state en- The Government has sent students abroad, in all ment of ^hout 300, for the purpose of acquiring practical INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS 317 knowledge in relutiou to nianufactuiing, mining, and industrial agriculture. At the present time 110 young Japanese are thus engaged. The Economic Investigation Com- Economic mittee is a useful adjunct to industrial work. It istionCom- composed of seventy members, including Members of ^^^ttee. Parliament, Government officials, professors, and leading manufacturers, and its object is the in- vestigation of all matters relative to the promotion of industry and commerce. Effort is being made under the direction of the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce to keep Japan ahead of the times in manufacturing and industry, and the practical way the Government has gone about this work deservea the highest praise. The result of such painstaking- endeavour cannot fail to be beneficial. Japanese artisans, though quick to learn, are said Japanese by friendly critics to lack thoroughness, and do not ' confine themselves to one kind of work. They like to change their occupations. Up to the present time combination among labourers is weak, and trade unions, as they are understood in England and else- where, are pi-actically unknown. Labourers are there- fore to a large extent at the mercy of their employers. A serious disadvantage to which Japanese factories Lack of are subject is that the work, especially in machine zluon! ^ construction, is not yet specialized. It is only in the making of lathes, gas and oil engines, and motors of various descriptions, milling machines, and a few other lines of industry that progress has been made in this direction. The principal reason why specialization is not so marked in Japan is because the demand for any one kind of machine is limited, both at home and in China and Chosen, and does not warrant the construc- tion of a number of machines. Owing to a want of sufficient skill in manufacturing on a large scale, and 318 INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS to the diverse methods pursued in regard to family industries, Japanese productions lack uniformity in quality. In cotton-spinning, for instance. Professor Y. Takenob, the editor of the Japan Year Book, a publication which every one interested in Japan should possess, says that owing to this lack of skill, and also to ' the practice of night-work, yarns spun by the same hand in the same mill are not strictly uniform in quality '. Many spinning-mills are obliged to undertake weaving as a means of disposing of their yarns. Raw silk as exported to the United States is not as acceptable to large shops as Italian productions, simply because Japanese silk lacks uniformity and is not well suited for warping. If these defects could be remedied — and every effort is being made to improve the quality of the raw silk — Japan would have no reason to fear Italian competition. Depen- In the supply of raw materials, Mr. Takenob adds, externa" Japanese industries are not as yet self-dependent, supplies Cotton-spinnino" is carried on with cotton imported of raw i o X materials, from Bombay, China, and the United States. Flour- milling is partially dependent on American wheat, for the grain produced in Japan is of poor quality and not sufficiently abundant. Machine construction depends on the iron brought over from the Taiya mines in China. The paper industry has still to rely upon the pulp coming from Scandinavia, though the pulp-mills that have been constructed in Formosa and Hokkaido niciy in future be ex- pected to yield enough raw material for home require- ments. For artificial fertilizers Japan uses phosphates from the United States, South America, India, and Australia, and bean cake from Manchuria. The woollen industry is solely dependent on the tops coming from Australia INDUSTRIAL PEOGKESS 819 and the yarns from England. Ship building must have foreign teak and steel. All the factory and mining industries, printing, and many other trades, are worked with imported machinery. Japan is self- supporting in silk weaving, the preparation of national liquors, soy brewing, matches, porcelains, and some other articles. Professor Takenob cannot be accused of optimism. Japanese He presents the unvarnished facts, and he is less upon the hopeful than are many of his compatriots. Moreover, gj^-u^^"^^ he does not share the present writer's sanguine belief in the industrial future of Japan. It is possible that the professor, dealing as he does from year to year with the statistics of the industrial progress of the Empire, does not realize how great the improvement and advance in manufacturing has been when the comparison is made over a longer period, say of fifteen or twenty years. We have said that the Japanese have discovered that the progress of industry cannot depend wholly upon cheaj) labour. Experience, skill, training, steady application, and a plentiful and easily accessible supply of raw material with cheap capital are equally impor- tant elements in the problem. The progress during the last twenty years has been marked. It is hardly fair to expect that the same rate can be maintained. Like the human body, the growth during the earlier years is more raj^id than during the later period. No objection can be urged, in view of the present protective policies of the principal nations of the world, against the ambition of the Japanese to suj^ply their own home markets with manufactured articles and to build up their own industries. Equally laudable is the desire to supply neighbouring countries with the products of their own 320 INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS factories and workshops. To do this successfully manu- facturers must have cheap capital, skilled labour and good machines, and they must exercise great care and caution, not only in the organization and management of their factories, but in the maintenance of the quality of their products. This is recognized by such men as Baron Shibusawa, who has, during his long life, interested himself continuously in the material pro- gress of Japan. In discussing this question Baron Shibusawa said to the writer : — ' Our industrial advancement is more encouraging but furnishes us with no reason for cessation of careful attention. Mechanical processes are gradually super- seding manual crafts and subsidiary occupations, until we have now almost every manufacture to be met with in Europe and America, but the scale of our operations, and the extent of our output cannot be compared with industrial centres abroad. We are mainly lacking in skill of manipulation, perfection of execution, and capacity for output.' That the Japanese recognize their own defects is one of the surest indications that they will eventually remedy them. They are certainly going about the problem in a sensible and ^^ractical way. In a brief memorandum which Mr. Takenob pre- pared for the writer when he was in Japan he takes the ground that the average wages of skilled labourers are about one-eighth of the wages current in the United States and about one-third of the English wages. Condi- Though in point of efiicicncy the Japanese skilled labour hibourer is far inferior to the skilled labourer of either market. Qf these two countries, Mr. Takenob is of opinion that the difference of capacity is less than the difference in wages. There is a satisfactory supply of labourers in INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS 321 Japan for machine construction, as the workshops belonging to the Army and Navy have acted as train- ing schools. There are, however, not enough of such labourers to enable factory owners to regulate the number of men they employ in accordance with the demands of the market. The owners are often obliged to retain the services of men when the market is slack, because if once hands are discharged it is a difficult matter, should trade revive, to procure others to fill their places. This puts the Japanese manufacturer at a great disadvantage in the matter of labour supply. On the other hand, it is contended that skilled labourers have a just grievance in the lack of appreciation of their services by their employers, many of whom still continue to regard even the managers and foremen of their factories and workshops as mere artisans, and refuse to extend to them the consideration which men in such positions receive in European countries. The result is that only a small percentage of skilled labourers of over fifty years of age remain in sub- ordinate service. They generally resign and either set up shops of their own, or turn to some other business in which their savings can be utilized as capital. Mr. E. P. Purvis, Professor of Naval Architecture in the Tokyo Imj^erial University, fully confirms what has been said above in relation to the Japanese workman, and thus describes the labour conditions in the shipyards : — ' The labour conditions in connexion with ship- building form an interesting study. If it were possible to make a fair comparison of cost at home and abroad some curious features would be observed. The daily wage to every class of workman is well known, also the number of hours worked ; the interest taken by the individual workman in his particular job is probably as keen as in other countries ; piece-work and the PORTER X 322 INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS jDremium system have been introduced with a view to economy of cost and time. Under certain circum- stances competition with England and other countries seems to be possible ; in other cases the cost of pro- duction elsewhere is no doubt largely exceeded. The want of that experience which extends, in other lands, over many generations, counterbalances, and far more than counterbalances, any advantages which Japan possesses in the form of cheap labour, a willingness to learn, and a keen zest for success. Together with his inexperience must at present be coupled the ordinary inability of a Japanese workman to appreciate that " time is money ", or, indeed, the necessity in any form for that race against time which is so large a feature in our own and in some other lands.' Mr. Takenob also takes the position — though it is doubtful whether he could sustain it if it were possible to ascertain the facts — that though the unit of efficiency of a Japanese skilled labourer is decidedly below that of a similar labourer in England or America, the woman operative, especially in mills and factories, has a higher degree of efficiency than her sister opera- tive in Europe. He thinks one Japanese woman operative can easily turn out an amount of work equivalent to thtit which would require 1} or 1^ hands in the West. The deft hand-work by female operatives, may, indeed, be regarded as materially contributing towards the success of many of the leading industries of Japan. The last statement is correct and has already been emphasized, but doubt exists as to the truth of Mr. Takenob's first assertion. The relative inferiority of male operatives may be partly attributed to the defective factory arrangements, and partly to the lack of the efficient organization that characterizes European and American factories. While travelling in Japan during 1896 the writer INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS 828 noticed in several of the important centres of manu- Com- facture signs of a decided awakening to the necessity Morality. of governmental or other supervision of manufacturers. Japanese goods had begun to find their way abroad, and the first samples having pix)ved satisfactory, large orders were received from various countries for addi- tional supplies of goods of a similar kind and quality. Unhappily for the honest Japanese manufacturer, those of his compatriots who were not troubled with a conscience sent abroad articles inferior to those ordered, and there were many complaints of deficient weight, shortage in length, and lack of uniformity in workman- ship, to say nothing of poor quality of raw material used in the manufacture. Owing to this carelessness, and in many cases to intentionally dishonest methods of doing business, Japanese manufactured goods lost character in the foreign markets, and in many cases rugs, mattings, and even textiles of certain kinds l^ecame unsaleable. As a remedy, guilds were formed, Guikl and it may be remembered that in certain flagrant v^swn. instances of deception drastic methods of punishment were adopted. These industrial guilds caused an examination of the goods ready for shipment abroad to be made, and where they were found to be of poor quality and workmanship, quantities of the condemned articles were publicly burned. This was done for the purpose of impressing foreign purchasers with the fact that Japan had awakened to the necessity of thorough and honest workmanship, and that the more respon- sible of the manufacturers would undertake, through these organizations, to see that foreign importers were supplied with goods of the standard and of the quality which they had ordered. Since that time guilds have made great progress in all parts of the country, and as the result of investiga- x2 824 INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS tions made by the Department of Agriculture and Commerce there have been estabhshed throughout Japan over 6,000 such guilds. They deal with agri- cultural, industrial, and commercial matters, and also with the fishing industry and forestry. Their influence has produced a marked improvement in the character of Japanese industry. Fifteen, years ago the critics of Japan's business morality were, in a measure, justified in their criticisms. The only excuse which could be offered for such short- comings was that industrialism in Japan, though it had rapidly developed, was still in its infancy. The New During the last ten years there has been a decided Era"^ ^^^ improvement in the quality of workmanship and in the business methods in vogue. Technical knowledge has increased during this period, and the wages paid for nearly all kinds of manufacturing labour are twice what they were in 1896. With increased wages comes a higher standard of living and a greater efficiency in workmanship should follow. There is no reason why Japan should not produce in those departments of industry suited to her labour a superior quality of manufactures. A better educated and more thoroughly equipped merchant is entering the fields of trade and manufacture in Japan. In the early days merchants and manufacturers were looked down upon, and were almost regarded as inferior beings — certainly in- ferior to the old samurai class. The development of modern industry or commerce and the increasing- requirements of modern life have made it necessary for the better classes to enter these occupations. Great business enterprises are, therefore, no longer conducted by men who have little or no standing in their own country, but are in the hands of men who rank in education and social standing on an equality INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS 325 with the governmental chiss, and who, by reason of the increasing intercourse with Western nations, are themselves becoming persons of importance, equally anxious to obtain a high character for probity abroad and to maintain their position as honourable mer- chants and manufacturers at home. In other words the Japanese manufacturers and the Japanese mer- chants are rapidly assuming positions similar to those occupied by their contemporaries in Europe and America. Other countries, as for instance Germany, have lived down their reputation for cheap and inferior goods, and there is no reason why, with proper care in the selection of raw material, the systematic use of the best machinery, and the employment of better trained and better paid labour, Japan should not, so far as quality is concerned, produce manufactured articles that will rank in the world's market equally with those of any other nation. CHAPTER XYIII LABOUK AND WAGES Labour The workiiig classGS in Japan are, on the 'whole, teSedby Peaceful. They are not organized and are without Trade unions, co-operative bodies, and simihu- organizations for the advancement of their condition. The actual state of factory labour is not so deplorable as it is generally supposed to be, and allowances should be made for the absence, until this year, of any Factory Act. It is, however, advisable to be pre- pared to meet evils that may arise. Already a change has taken place in the relationship between employer and employee. The old spirit of benevolence and loyalty between master and servant is rapidly passing away. On the whole, Japanese workers are obedient and not exacting. For this reason they are all the more deserving of sympathy, and should be protected from the oppression of shortsighted and un- reasonable employers. They are almost powerless, for such organizations as they have are imperfect, if not totally lacking in strength or influence. There are a few remnants of the old guilds, whilst new unions are in process of formation. These are local in character, and limited to such special trades as tailoring, car- pentry, masonry, and some others. The Japanese labourer at present seems quite contented with his lot and makes little progress in improving it. There has been a steady rise in wages, and, though they are still low, they have increased at a higher i-atio than the price of commodities. The factory owners are begin- LABOUR AND WAGES 327 iiiiig to realize the necessity for more efficient labour, and would like to see steadier work and shorter hours. The Japanese factory hand, they say, is too much in- clined to take things easily and work and play at the same time, but as the factory system becomes more developed and the wealth of the nation increases, his attitude is bound to change, though at present the movement is very slow. Japan has hitherto been free from strikes and trade Compaia- disputes such as are common in Europe and America. ^[^^^-^ f^gj^i It is true that labour disturbances have occurred in \abour X n • 1 • • Uistuib- Japan, generally ni the mmmg regions, a department ances. of industry which for some time has been supervised and regulated by the Government under the Mining Act of 1905. This Act, when compared with similar legisla- Pro- tion in Great Bi'itain, is rather elementary. It requires of^the^ that all wages shall be paid in the currency of the Mining country, at least once a month. The Minister of Agri- culture and Commerce is empowered to restrict the employment of female and juvenile workers in mines, and also to exercise control over the age of workmen ia general, and the Act further imposes upon mine- owners the responsibility of giving relief to the families of miners who are disabled or killed by accidents. The prevailing motive of the labour disturbances has usually been some personal grievance, and the move- ment has been directed against the incompetency of managers and foremen. In most instances an increase of wages and changes in the management have followed the strikes. The country is to be congratulated on the fact that, generally speaking, obedience and an old- fashioned sense of duty to masters still remain among workers. Social problems, as they are understood in Europe and America, do not yet trouble Japan — for she has no suffering poor, no millionaires (in the sense 328 LABOUR AND WAGES in which the word is understood elsewhere) and com- paratively little unemployment. In one way, the Japanese are intensely communistic and very social- istic, for there are no class divisions as we understand them. Class hatred is entirely unknown, for there are no elements with which to kindle it. There is no necessity for any sharp division between capital and labour, or be- tween high and low, which is one of the reasons why as yet there is no strong socialistic tendency in the country. Labour Herein lies the ground for the hope that Japan may Capital— i^i^icceed in securing an amicable and harmonious solu- ^^'V- , tion of the hardest problem of modern times, owing- lashioned . -^ 70 relations to the preservation of the good old custom of appre- existiii". <^iation on the side of the master and loyalty on the side of the servant. If this spirit could be applied to the operation of the new Factory Law, Japan might be able to show a new way to solve social problems, by bringing into harmony the two conflicting elements — capital and labour. But should she fail in this, she will have no choice but to drift with the general tide, and thus place her industries, State, and society at the mercy of socialistic extremists, who, although at present few in number, and so far powerless, may some day assume a position not less threatening than the one they now occupy in the leading countries of Europe and America. After his second visit to Japan in 1910 the writer in a letter to the Times said : — Need for ' For ten years efforts have been made to pass Factory ^ Factory Act, but the Bill preferred at the last tion! Session of the Diet was finally withdrawn March 23, 1910. It is believed that the Factory Bill, after further revision, will be sent to the next Session of the Japanese Diet. The sooner that the country enacts a factory law the better it will be for both the LABOUK AND WAGES 329 owners and the operatives of the factories. The profits of some of these mills have been enormous, from a European point of view, and it is surprising that the owners have not seen the wisdom of doing more than they have done for the hands employed.' On May 21, 1911, the writer received a telegram Reception V ■y from Mr. Soyeda of Tokyo, saying that the Factory ^^^^^ Act had passed the Diet. The law enacted was not Act at all what the friends of the measure desired, as con- cessions had to be made to the factory owners in the way of postponing its operations for certain periods in relation to the employment of women and children. Nevertheless, it is a movement in the right direction and will, when it is full}' in operation, do much towards alleviating the conditions of factory life. It received only a very lukewarm reception, which, however, is not surprising. Factory organization is still only in its infancy in Japan, and naturally the views of the capitalists receive far more attention than do those of the labourers. The factory owner has always found labourers who were quite willing to accept his terms. Moreover, it must be remem- bered that the lower classes in Japan are used to working hard for very little pay, and consequently the conditions of factory life do not seem so bad to the Japanese themselves as they do to English visitors. Although the hours are long, work is not nearly so strenuous as in England, and in some factories the hands are kindly and liberally treated by their employers. The knowledge of this fact pro- bably caused a great number of the members of the Diet to consider such a law unnecessary, but there is no doubt that serious abuses are prevalent in some of the smaller factories, and the Bill should afford protection to all classes of factory workers. 330 LABOUR AND WAGES Japan never adopts anything in its entirety. Even some of the transplanted religions have had to be modified to suit the country. Sometimes this process improves the idea or method transplanted, and some- times it does not. Hence, when Japan introduced the British factory system in spinning- and weaving-mills, she rejected, in spite of repeated appeals from public- spirited Japanese, the factory laws and regulations Factory which go with it. With abundant labour at fourpence tions! ^1' five^^ence per day, with the bright eyes and nimble fingers of operatives willing to work for twelve hours a day, and on Sundays, and without a murmur to keep the machinery running all night as well as all day, well might Manchester, New England, and the textile districts of France, Germany, and Italy recognize Japan's competition. These views found expression in Japan five years ago in the speeches of statesmen, and in the writings of the newspaper press. What is the situation in the manufacturing districts of Japan to-day ? The factories are still buzzing night and day ; thousands of young girls are still contract- ing to live for three years in a ' compound ' like so many peas in a pod, and to work in the mills for twelve hours per day one week and twelve hours per night the next. Recent There is over four times as much capital invested in plo^ress! industrial enterprises now as in 1896 (90 million yen in 1896, and 400 million yen in 1910) ; the number of factory operatives then was 431,832 and now is 800,637—307,139 male and 493,498 female; and twice the amount of products are manufactured. The operatives, over half of whom are engaged in the textile industries, are no doubt better cared for, and many mill owners show almost paternal solicitude for their employees' welfare. There are cases of remark- LABOUR AND WAGES 331 able progress. In one instance the writer visited the mills of a concern that was organized in 1896, and which last December had over 16,000 operatives on the pay roll. In the newer mills of this company the condition of the operatives seems satisfactory. They look well fed, rosy, and happy. Their dormitories are clean, and their food is, from the Japanese point of view, wholesome and sufficient. One of these mills was situated near Tokyo and the other near Yoko- hama, but only a few of the operatives are drawn from these localities ; nearly all of them come from the country districts, and are the daughters of small agriculturists. The services of these girls are contracted for at prices varying from fourpence to sevenpence per day. They are furnished with lodging, medical treatment, facilities for doing their own laundry work, and with books from a common library. The younger ones receive some instruction. They are also provided with amusements, such as dancing and theatrical entertainments, within the compound, and at times they are given a holiday and are allowed to go outside. They must, however, pay for their food, which costs them three sm (three farthings) a meal, or ''l\d. per day. In Japan it would be impossible to keep these young girls and women in families and boarding- houses, and therefore it is useless to bemoan the evils of the industrial compounds. Under the new factor}^ law these compounds will be inspected and regulated, and the conditions will be greatly imj^roved. As they are at the present time, some are comfortable, and the wants of the operatives are fairly well cared for, whilst others are bad, and the houses where these hard-working, cheerful little creatures eat, sleep, and work, are damp, comfortless, 332 LABOUR AND WAGES and forlorn. The places where the food is served are little better than sheds, with leaking roofs and gaping walls, while pools of water accumulate on the earthen floor. The seats of the operatives are four-inch bare boards, and the tables two ten-inch boards nailed together. Their sleeping quarters are a trifle better ; the floors are covered with tatima matting, upon which they sleep in rows, fifty, or even a hundred, in a room. In spite of this apparently harsh method of life, the operatives look well, seem contented and even cheer- ful, and are ever busy at their work. The above was the typical Japanese spinning-factory in 1896. There have been marked improvements in some of the con- cerns since then, but there are far too many of the old kind remaining. So long as there was no factory law, and so long as this state of affairs existed, the condition of the opera- tives engaged in the industries of Japan could not be on a par with those of the other manufacturing coun- tries. Big factories have arisen one after another ; the rural population has begun to migrate towards industrial centres, and the evils natural to the concen- tration of labour are now making their appearance. Dangers On account of the low wages of minors and women, defects of ^^^^ ^^^^ because of their being less troublesome to cheap manage, there is a constantly growing demand for women and child workers. The injurious effects of over-work, of unsanitary conditions, and especially of the night work, endanger both their mental and their physical health. But wherein lies the value of all this cheap labour, and the wisdom of working nights and days and Sundays? It does not show in the results. Cheap labour the Japanese factories may have, but they have not experienced hibuur nor have they suflicient LABOUR AND WAGES 388 expert labour. The girls thus employed usually remain during the contract period, and then a good many of them return home. Their places must be filled by inexperienced hands. Instead of encouraging the creation of a class of skilled labour, as the term is understood in Europe and America, the present system compels the Japanese mill owner to secure his supply of labour from a class of totally untrained girls, many of them but twelve or fourteen years of age, some of whom, before they have developed into capable operatives, return home, marry, or seek other employ- ment. In factories, where female workers outnumber the Child males, the proportion of juveniles is relatively greater ^'^°"^'- — the explanation being that mothers often take their children, and sisters their younger brothers with them into factories. The fundamental reason why so many female and juvenile hands are employed seems partly to lie in the character of Japanese industries. As the country does not abound in iron, but is by nature more adapted to silk raising, the general disposition is towards spinning and weaving, for which female and child labour is best fitted. Moreover, as the factory system is not so fully developed and intensified as is the case in Europe and America, the attendant evils, it is fair to admit, are less in number and extent. Factory buildings are low, and are generally isolated in the country districts ; also they are well ventilated. Then the idea of taking children to work in factories is welcomed especially by female workers, and the family spirit is often encouraged by factory owners themselves. Nevertheless this state of things is gradually undergoing a change, as labour becomes more concentrated and intensified and competition keener. In extreme cases, especially in small and 384 LABOUR AND WAGES baclly-managed factories, life, it is said, is becoming so intolerable that experienced female hands would leave if they could, and it is becoming more and more difficult to obtain new hands. In others, ill-health and premature death not unfrequently remove opera- tives who are satisfied and who wish to retain their places. The primary school education, though compulsory, cannot be well enforced in the case of children in factories, and the moral standard of these little workers is becoming lowered, threatening an ultimate general deterioration of the working class. Various means to obtain workers from rural districts are resorted to by factory owners. What is called ' inter- factory plundering ' of workers has become common, proving that the supply of hands is far from meeting the increasing demand. The position and daily life of these dormitory operatives is frequently pitiable, though the evils arising from this system of labour are in some cases tempered, as we have already seen, by humanity and kindness. Remedial Intelligent and thoughtful mill-owners even go so tion! ^ ^^^* ^^ ^^ make their factories homelike. Schools, libraries, bath-rooms, recreation grounds, and flower gardens are furnished, while facilities for making savings and other methods of mutual help are pro- vided. Such owners entertain their workers with picnics and theatrical performances, using the means at their command for the comfort and encouragement of their emjiloyees. These, however, are the exceptions, and the necessity has arisen for some kind of State intervention to ameliorate extreme cases of bad management, and to control the threatening evils before they become too serious. . The principal objection heretofore urged against LABOUR AND WAGES 385 factory legislation was that the only weapon Japan had to fight the keen competition of the present day was her cheap labour. To this those who have at last obtained such legislation reply : — ' The wages of labour in Japan have in most cases risen considerably of late, whilst the efficiency of labour is at a standstill, if not on the decrease, thus making meaningless the plea of the so-called cheap labour as a national weapon.' If we go to the bottom of the question and consider what is being paid as wages and what is being ob- tained as the product of labour in Japan, we may find that the Japanese labour is not cheaper than that in other countries. Even granting this, however, there still remains the fact that wages in Japan are low. It may not follow that remedial legislation will cause losses to the employers. The operation of this law will most likely increase the real efficiency of labour. The magnitude of the change in the labour market foreshadowed by the Factory Act that has recently passed the Diet is anticipated in the arrangement whereby the law will not become operative for five years, in order that there may be no sudden disloca- tion of industry. The prohibition of the employment of children under twelve, and the restriction that women and children under fifteen must not work more than twelve hours a day would, if suddenly enforced, disorganize a great many industries where fifteen and sixteen hours for both these classes of employees have been the rule, and particularly, for instance, the match industry, where practically the whole of the work is done by quite young children. The existing conditions of factory labour in Japan can be inferred from the provisions of this new Act, which embody principles long since accepted by countries which possess factory legislation even in its 386 LABOUR AND WAGES most primitive form. The following are the chief provisions and restrictions : — New * Night work is limited to men more than fifteen Act**'^- y^^^'^ ^^^j except when there are two shifts a day visions, at the machines. Two holidays a month are enforced (hitherto in some instances there has rarely been a holiday all the year round). In cases where there is night work four holidays a month must be granted. Women and children under fifteen are not allowed to work at dangerous employments or to handle dan- gerous materials. Men who are ill and women who expect motherhood or who recently have become mothers must not be employed. The liability of the employers is recognized by the new labour law, but the provisions under this head have not yet been worked out,' Wages— Mr. Charles V. Sale in an exhaustive paper read ifflu'cTua- ^^I'cl^ 21, 1911, before the Royal Statistical Society, tion in wisely suggests caution in estimating the economic ' progress of Japan in money values. This applies with equal force when dealing with the increase of wages. As will be seen in the chapter on currency, in 1871 the coinage system was remodelled, but fui-ther changes occurred in the ratio between the two metals in consequence of the world-wide fall in the price of silver. In 1858 the ratio was 8 of silver to 1 of gold ; in 1859, 15 or 16 of silver ; in 1871, 16 to 1 ; and in 1879, 32 to 1. The large increase, therefore, of the money proceeds from taxation does not imply a cor- responding augmentation in the individual burden : nor does the increase in wages and prices of staple com- modities, as shown in the following table borrowed from Mr. Sale's paper, imply an actual improvement in purchasing power : — LABOUR AND WAGES 337 1887 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 1897 138 251 207 203 204 194 182 1907 1908 Taxes and stamp receipts Price of foodstuffs — Rice Barley Wheat Wages — Farm labour (daily) .... Carpenter . . . . . . Blacksmith. . . 413 340 231 252 261 335 300 412 324 260 245 282 361 313 The corollary of this reduction in the currency unit of gold to one-fourth of its original weight would be a corresponding increase in prices and wages. There increase has been, however, after making due allowance for ^^ ^'^^^'^ the fluctuation in currency, an actual increase of wages nuiuber of . indus- during the period when currency has remained un- tries, changed, as will be seen by the following comparisons which the writer compiled when in Japan last year, showing the daily wages paid in a number of industries in 1895 and in 1910 :— Natukk of P.'mployment 1895 1910 Yen Yen Carpenter ........ 0-312 0-810 Plasterer .... , 0-313 840 Stone-cutter . 0-359 0-960 Sawyer .... 0-307 0-780 Shingle-roofer . 0-293 0-790 Tile-roofer. 0-325 0-970 Brickmaker 0-380 0-740 Bricklayer .... 1-060 Floor-mat maker 0.297 0-740 Screen and door maker 0-304 0-780 Paperhanger 0-2S8 0-740 Cabinet maker . 0-296 0-710 Cooper .... 0-253 570 Shoemaker 0-315 0-680 Harness maker . 0-298 0-680 Cartwright 0-279 0-670 Tailor (for Japanese dress) 0-252 0-540 Tailor (for European dress) 0-384 0-770 Dyer . . . . 237 0-460 Blacksmith 0-280 0-680 Jeweller .... 0-296 620 Founder .... 0-307 0-660 Potter .... 0-217 0-660 Lacquerer .... 0-278 0-640 OKTEB "5 f 338 LABOUR AND WAGES Natuke of Employme>'t Paper-maker Tobacco-cutter . Confectioner Compositor Printer .... Shipwi'ight Gardener .... Farm labourer (male) „ „ (female) Sericultural labourer (male) „ „ (female) Silk spinner (female) Weaver (male) . ,, (female) Fisherman . Day labourer Male servant (monthly contract) Female servant ,, ., Farm labourer (male) yearly contract „ . „ (female) „ „ 1895 Yen 1910 Yen 0-186 0-440 0-249 0-580 0-206 0-390 0-239 0-510 0-236 0-470 0-322 0-830 0-291 0.690 0-18.5 0-390 0-114 0-230 0-192 0-420 0-12.5 0-270 0-135 0-250 0-182 0-440 0-115 0-240 0-232 0-510 0-223 0-530 1-710 4-040 0-930 2-830 21-930 46-220 12-180 28-750 Increase in cost of liviner. Koughly speaking it may be said that wages in certain industries have, as we have seen, doubled in Japan since 1895, but this is not so in alL The labour of operatives under fourteen years of age is still very poorly paid. In the raw silk industry the pay is 12 sen per day, or 3(7. In tobacco fcictories, tea factories, confectionery canning and bottling, printing and publishing, the manufacture of paper ware, feather ware, matting, straw braids, lacquer ware and metal refining there are children employed at from 2|f/. to 3(7. per day. In these occupations 5(7. to l\d. per day still remains the average wage for women. As a rule the very low wages will be found in the household industries, the standards of payment in the factories and shops being generally higher. Against this rise in wages we must place the in- creased cost of living, for during the period under consideration there has been a marked rise of prices of commodities and necessary items of living. Until tho passage of the Mining Act and the Factory Act LABOUR AND WAGES 339 of this year Japan has done jDractically nothing for the working cUisses. It is only just to say, however, Condi- that the Government, which itself in certain industries oovern- employs in its factories more than a fourth of the male "^^nt operatives of the Empire, treats its employees with more consideration than private capitalists. The hours are less and the pay is higher. There are something- like 125,000 thus employed in the manufacture of army cloth, woollen fabrics and tobacco, and in paper printing, and other industries. Even the Government employs a few children under twelve years of age and several thousand under fourteen. But the hours of labour as a rule are ten per day, and seldom exceed twelve. In private concerns the hours seldom fall below twelve, and in weaving sometimes range between thirteen and sixteen. The first results of a general system of compulsory echication have, as in all countries, contributed to an unsettled condition of the labour market. There is a disinclination to engage in manual work on the part of those who are well able to read and write, yet in whose education the practical and technical branches of learning have not been sufficiently emphasized. A question has arisen in Japan with which Western General nations of late years have become more or less familiar, ^I'J^^tiou namely, the difficulty of finding employment or rather influence of finding situations for the young men who have been labour trained for clerical work and occupations other than ^"®^*'^°"" those of a mechanical nature. A series of articles on this subject has recently been written by Mr. K. Uematsu, editor of the Toijo Keisai : Mr. Uematsu estmiates the number of Government officials, officials of companies, and others whose work requires brain labour as dis- tinguished from work that is mainly manual, roughly at 900,000, and drawing an example from the actual y2 340 LABOUR AND WAGES Socialis- tic ten- dencies. conditions of official life, he subdivides the total of 900,000 higher officials, clerks, and employees as follows : — 1. High officials or their equivalents 2. Clerks or their equivalents . 3. Employees or their equivalents . 45,000 135,000 720,000 Estimated Mortality 5% 2,250 6,750 3(3,000 Total 900,000 45,000 With regard to the number of young men who finish their schooling every year, both secondary and higher grade, the following figures for 1908 are given : — 40,351 6,611 4,608 2,309 8,374 62,253 Graduates of schools equal in status to Middle Schools ,, Normal Schools ...... ,, , (lovernment higher institutions ,, Private higher institutions .... „ Middle Schools not entering higher institutions Thus against the 45,000 vacancies there are 62,253 candidates who compete for the posts, leaving 17,253 to shift for themselves. As this surplus goes on in- creasing at a uniform geometrical ratio, the outlook must be considered somewhat serious. Conservative spirits in Japan naturally fear that from this large army of educated unemployed may arise strong socialistic tendencies. So far socialistic ideas have made little progress in Japan. The Govern- ment has succeeded in checking the movement when it assumed a threatening aspect, such, for example, as an anti-war movement. The socialistic spirit is not at work yet in Japan among the labouring classes. Lately there was a slight Nihilistic movement, but it was almost entirely limited to the educated classes in a very small section of the country. Political activities on the part of the socialistic organizations have LABOUR AND WAGES 841 been frowned upon by the Government and socialistic newspapers and propaganda have been suppressed. Notwithstanding this a Hst of the works on sociaHsm pubhshed in Japan would fill a page in the present volume, and their tendency must contribute to the spread of socialism in Japan. Professor Isoli Abe of the Waseda University, who contributed the article on ' Socialism in Japan ' in Count Okuma's Fifty Years of New Jcqmn, concludes his review of the question as follows : — ' Socialistic ideas have been widely diffused through- out the empire in the past few years, and an increasing number of scholars and statesmen now devote them- selves to its study, while many students take an interest in the subject. It would be a great mistake to judge of the influence of Socialism from the yet small number of professed Socialists only. The Socialistic spirit is afloat everywhere. To what then, is attributable the fact that the political movement of Socialists is as yet very insignificant in influence ? Certainly to the narrow limitation of the suffrage, by virtue of which the large number of Socialists have no qualification to participate in the Parliamentary elections. But some day, when the limits of the suffrage are enlarged, their activities will be brilliant. It is for this reason that Socialists are crying out for the adoption of the popular suffrage system. How Socialism will develop in this country in the future is still problematical, but we cannot doubt that it will become a very powerful factor in politics when such extension takes place.' It is hardly to be expected that in assuming the other burdens peculiar to the Great Powers of the world Japan should escape the responsibility of the troubles arising from socialism. True the Govern- ment of Japan is paternal enough to win the admira- tion of Mr. Bernard Shaw, but in this particular instance her paternalism appears to have been the 342 LABOUR AND WAGES cause of her undoing. In her efforts to give the bene- fits of higher education to her sons she has created an army of educated unemployed that may become more troublesome than those armies of unemployed with which we are more familiar. However, the time has not yet come for Japan to deal seriously with this question, and there will be time enough for her to cross that bridge when she comes to it. CHAPTER XIX TRADE— COMMERCE— SHIPPING The industry and commerce of a country are closel}^ allied. It is, therefore, necessary to consider some features in conjunction with each other. To under- stand better the scope of an inquiry into the foreign trade and commerce of Japan the following extract showing the relative importance and distribution of her industries is quoted from the writer's Commerce and Industries of Japan, published in 1896, after his first visit to that country : — * My inquiry was more limited than I wished, and Scope of I was unable to cover all the ground in the time given Japanese for the work. The best results were invariably se- "^"^'y- cured in districts like that of Fukui, where railways had not penetrated (the road from Tsuruga to Fukui will be open for travel this year) and in districts away from the large centres. To cover this ground thoroughly one should trave-1 in jinrikishas, live at the native hotels, which I found comfortable, and take plenty of time. Time is not so valuable in Japan as it is with us, and the Japanese will not be hurried. They are ever ready and willing to oblige, but they prefer to take their own way of doing things. In spite of limitations, the present inquiry may fairly be said to have dealt with the important manufacturing points of the main island and Shikoku Island, and to have covered an area with which 35,000,000 Japanese out of 45,000,000, the total population of the Empire,^ are concerned. * Inclusive of Formosa. 844 TRADE— COMMERCE— SHIPPING Taking Tokyo as the centre of operations, I journeyed northward through the silk-growing districts of Gumba, Tochigi, and Fukushima, and at Nikko visited the famous coj^per mines of Ashio, employing nearly 10,000 hands. Then I went to Nagano, probably the most important centre of silk culture and filature. Returning via the cotton-cloth district of Saitama, I made a special study of the large spinning-mill and other industries of Tokyo, and then of the somewhat diversified manufacturing enterprises of Kanagawa, in which district Yokohama is located. After a short time at Enoshima, where I realized the vast importance of the fishing interests of the island, I proceeded through the picturesque tea districts of Shizuoka. From here it is an easy journey to Aichi, the most important cotton cloth weaving district of Japan. The famous old city of Nagoya, with its ancient castle and gold dolphins, has been converted into as neat and bustling a city of weavers and clockmakers as can be found anywhere. Even the farmers round Nagoya take a hand in manufacturing, and to their skill we are largely indebted for the cloisonne ware of modern times. Nara, Wakayama, Osaka, and Saitama, in the north, and Ehime in the island of Shikoku are also cotton cloth and yarn producing districts, Osaka, of course, being the seat of cotton-spinning. While silk culture, the preparation of the filature, spinning and weaving, are perhaps more generally distributed over Japan than any other industry save that of rice growing, the tendency is towards central- ization. In the north I visited the cities of Nagano, Kiryu, Utsumiyu and Ashikaga ; in the vicinity of Tokyo, Hachijo and sundry smaller villages ; in the south Kyoto, and the districts around it and Fukui. In Sakai I had an opportunity of studying rug-making and also a score of other important Japanese industries, such as the manufacture of straw hats, bead blinds, bamboo blinds, surgical instruments, and hardware, and, in Osaka, tooth-brushes, matches, porcelain, TRADE— COMMERCE— SHIPPING 845 linoleum, clocks, umbrellas, glass, paper, woollen goods, leather goods and all sorts of minor commodities. I was greatly interested in the Okayama and Hiroshimo districts, which stand first in the growing of rushes, and the manufacture of the Japanese matting, now exported to the United States in such large quantities. Fukuoka and Oita also produce in lesser quantities varieties of this matting for which Japan has become famous. The district that interested me most in Japan was that around the Bay of Osaka, including the cities of Hyogo, Kyoto, and Osaka, which altogether have a population of 3,750,000. From this district the great city growing up at the head of the Inland Seas can draw its supply of cheap labour. Within a hun- dred miles north and south, Osaka and the great commercial port of Kobe have a population of over 16,000,000, and within this radius may be found (excepting Tokyo and Yokohama) all the large cities of Japan. Cross the bay, only sixty miles away, and you have the island of Shikoku, with 3,000,000 more. Here is a tributary population greater than that around London, and compared with which New York and its environments seem a thinly-settled country, and Chicago an unsettled area. For this centre of in- dustrial energy Japan has a splendid outlet through the Inland Seas, and can supply China, now open to commerce and manufactures, rapidly developing Korea and Formosa, which the Japanese are civilizing ; and when the great Siberian railway is completed Osaka can send its goods direct to London from Vladivostock by a water joiarney of a few days. Surely the possibilities of this part of New Japan are full of hope and forecast future prosperity for the Empire.' A glance at the list on the following page indicates Situation that speaking generally the principal industries of the dpai in- Empire were in 1896 distributed in the following ^^"'*"^^' manner : — - 346 TRADE— COMMERCE— SHIPPING Books and Paper Camphor Sulphur Marine products . Eice . Mushrooms Sugar . Metals Coal . Petroleum . Raw silk Silk manufacture Cotton-spinning . Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo. Shikoku Island, Kiushiu. It is believed that as soon as law and order are assured in Foi'mosa, large quantities of camphor will be obtained from there. In fact this is regarded as the future source of supply. Hokkaido Island. Of fish oil, which goes to France, Germany, and Great Britain, over seven-tenths comes from Hokkaido. Other marine products go mostly to China. Kiushiu and main island west of Osaka ; Niigata, Hyogo, Toyama. Shikoku, Kiushiu, Wakayama and Shizuoka prefecture. Beet : Hokkaido. Crystallized and unrefined : Kagawa and Kagoshima. Refined : Tokushima. (Raw sugar of Okinawa or Riukiu group of islands between .Japan and Formosa is of specially excellent quality. Formosa has heretofore furnished the greater part of the imports.) Copper: Ashiomine, nearNikko ; Besshimine. Gold : Akita and Kagoshima. Silver: Akita, Innai mine. Iron : Iwate — Kawaishi and Sennin mines, Shimane, Hiroshima and Tottori. Niigata — Akadani mine. Hokkaido — Yamako- shinai mine. Kiushiu — Fukuoka prefecture. Miike — Nama- zuda mines. Hokkaido — Poronai, Ikushum- betsu, Yubari and Sorachi mines. Nagasaki — Takashima mine. Hokkaido, Ugo, Echigo, Shimane and Totomi, Yamagata, Fukushima, Miyazaki, Tochigi. Gunma, Nagano, Saitama, Yamanashi, Gifu, Miye. Gunma, Tochigi, Fukushima, Fukui, Tokj'o, and Kyoto. Osaka, Tokyo, Miye, Okay a ma, Aichi, Hyogo. TRADE— COMMERCE— SHIPPING 347 Cotton-weaving . Aichi, Ehime, Osaka. Nara, Wakayania, Kyoto, Okayama, Tochigi. Floor mattings . Okayama, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Oita. Rugs and mats . Sakai, Osaka Fii, Hyogo Ken. Wooden and bam- Districts adjoining Kobe. boo ware Straw stalks and Tokyo, Saitama, Okayama, Aichi, Wakayama, braids Osaka, Tottori, Kumamoto, Kanegawa. Porcelain . . Kiushiu — Kagoshima, Nagasaki and Kuma- moto. Shikoku — Ehime, Hyogo, Kyoto, Nagoya, Gifu, Ishikawa, Fukushima. Cloisonne . . Aichi, Kanegawa. Lacquer . . Aomori, Akita, Fukushima, Ishikawa, Waka- yama, Shi7Aioka. Oils and wax . Hyogo, Shiga, Aichi, Miye, Osaka, Fukui. Glass-wares . Tokyo, Osaka, Nagasaki. Matches . . Hyogo, Osaka, Aichi, Tokyo. Since the above was written much water has passed under the mill. The Tsuruga railway has long been in operation ; Korea is now part of Japan ; Formosa, according to the last census returns, is half civilized ; the Siberian railway is an established fact, and the Japanese are in possession of two out of the three termini — those of Dairen and Antung. Notwithstanding these changes, the distribution of industry upon which the commerce of Japan is based remains substantially as it was in 1896. If we except the regions of silk production, which is Japan's primarily an agricultural industry, the basic strength j^chleve of the country, so far as its foreign trade is concerned, '^^^^^f^'^} may be found in the manufacturing centres. Themercial Japanese, as we find them to-day, are ambitious to be the controlling industrial and commercial as well as the commanding political nation of the Far East. They are^ also hopeful of becoming a great commercial and maritime power — the Great Britain of the Pacific. The events of the last fifteen years have encouraged this belief Now that the Treaty of Alliance with Great supre- macy. 348 TRADE- COMMERCE -SHIPPING Britain has been renewed and commercial treaties concluded with nearly all the other important Powers, Japan is well on the road to gratify her laudable ambi- tions. The people of the country appear to be absorbed in industrial and commercial questions, and these ques- tions are almost as popular subjects of discussion, both in the press and by public speakers, as the most urgent political questions, whether foreign or domestic. Among the matters continually discussed are the ex- tension and broadening of existing steam routes, the results of treaty revision on trade, the improvement of chambers of commerce and of the existing system of guilds, the dispatch of commissioners to study com- mercial and industrial conditions abroad, and the effect on Japanese trade of the opening of the Panama Canal. Except perhaps the United States, no country will receive more benefit from the completion of this titanic enterprise than will Japan. The Government of Japan is fully alive to the necessity of extending the trade of the Empire, and whatever success may have been attained in the past, her competitors may be sure that Japan will not be found lacking in seizing the opportunities of the future. Her legislators, no longer subject to outside control in tariff rates, may make mistakes, l)ut may be trusted to rectify these if diminution of business should follow increased rates Foreign of duties. The trade returns for the present year vSues. (1^11) ^^'^ sufficiently encouraging to warrant the esti- mate of a total foreign trade of £100,000,000. Even should it fall short of this substantial figure, Japan will have little to complain of respecting the development and growth of her foreign trade. The progress of trade for a series of years has l^een satisfactory. Twenty-five years ago (1885) the total value was then a trifle over Gi millions sterling, the exports slightly exceeding the TRADE— COMMERCE— SHIPPING 349 imports. Ten years later, in 1895, the value had increased to 26^ millions, of which 13 millions repre- sented imports and 13 J millions exports. The total foreign trade for 1910 shows a threefold increase over the figures of 1895, though of late years, owing to the large foreign purchases after the Chinese War and during and subsequent to the Russian War, the value of imported merchandise has greatly exceeded the value of domestic exports. There are indications that the new tariff will have the effect of reducing the im- portations, especially of such articles as Japan is now beginning to manufacture for herself. The increases so far this year have been in imports, and undoubtedly have been due to the fact that importers have taken their last opportunity of profiting by the lower rates which existed prior to the operation of the new tariff'. A thirteenfold increase in twenty-five years in the trade and commerce of the nation should satisfy the ambition of the Japanese. It may serve to remind her statesmen that such an achievement has followed from the fact that the relations between Japan and the countries with which she has been trading have been fairly satisfactory. Her future prosperity depends largely upon her foreign trade, and it is, therefore, to be hoped that the new tariff has not in any way jeopardized the expansion of trade. The high-water mark of Japanese foreign trade was reached in 1907, when it was nearly £95,000,000. For two years (1908-9) it dropped about £10,000,000, but fully recovered in 1910, when, including Chosen, the foreign trade exceeded the total of the year 1907. There are, however, signs of better times ahead, and the decrease in trade of 1908 and 1909 may be regarded as a temporary decline, common to the commercial history of the most prosperous countries. 350 TRADE— COMMERCE— SHIPPING Distiibu- There has been but little change during the last fifteen trade! years in the distribution of Japanese trade, with the exception that the trade with the Far East is naturally growing at a more rapid rate than that with Europe and America. The following table shows the great strides Japan has made during the last five years in the export to China of plain cottons — shirtings, sheetings, drills, jeans and T-cloths, &c. : — 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 Nationiiliiy „. „. ^i- re t>- ■^ Pieces Pieces Pieces Pieces Pieces British 10,785,227 8,224,951 8,99;:;,534 10,691,448 6,511,126 United States 8,544,165 578,647 1,586,989 3,856,231 1,385,819 Japanese 733,436 840,401 986,982 1,396,297 2,389,693 Indian 85,003 67,905 141,312 133,855 147,952 Cotton- British manufacturers are fully alive to the gravity exports to of the situation created by the growth of Japanese China. competition in the piece-goods trade of China. In the Competi- production of the better class of goods the Japanese, Bri"tirh i^^ spite of a marked improvement in quality, are still luanu- behind British manufacturers. In the cheaper lines of lactures. cotton goods they are faced with the growing competi- tion of Chinese mills. According to a recent report there are now 33 cotton mills working in China, and the number of spindles has risen from 780,000 at the end of 1909 to 903,000 at the end of 1910, with 3,808 looms. In spite of the fact that the British higher grade goods and the Chinese lower grade goods appear unlikely to be ousted from the Chinese market, there is no reason why, with improving methods of manufacture and the economies which experience will suggest, the Japanese manufacturer should not hold his own in this constantly enlarging market. TRADE— COMMERCE- SHIPPING 351 It is now proposed briefly to review the foreign The trade of Japan for thirty-five years. To avoid detail UreT, the total values of the exports and the impoi-ts are*^^'^*^^ given for 1876 and for 1886. From 1896 to 1910 the values for each year and the proportion per head of total population have been compiled from the official returns : — Total of Exports Imports exports and Per imports Total value Total value Per Total value Per Yen head Yen head Yen head 1S76 27,711,528 0-81 23,964,679 0-70 51,076,207 1.51 1886 48,876,313 1-27 32,168,432 0.84 81,044,745 2.11 1896 117,842,761 2-76 171,674,474 4-02 289,517,235 6.78 1897 163,135,077 3-77 219,300,772 5-08 382,435,849 8-85 1898 165,753,753 3-79 277,502,157 6.34 443,255,910 10.18 1899 214,929,894 4.86 220,401,926 4.98 435,331,820 9-84 1900 204,429,994 4.56 287,261,846 6.41 491,691,840 10.97 1901 252,349,543 5-55 255,816,645 5.61 .508,166,188 11-16 1902 258,303,065 5.61 271,731,259 5-90 530,034,324 11-51 1903 289 502,442 6-19 317,1.35,518 6.79 606,6.37,960 12.98 1904 319,260,896 6-76 371,360,738 7.87 690,621,634 14-63 1905 321,533,610 6-74 488,538,017 10.25 810,071,627 16-99 1906 423,754,892 8-80 418,784,108 8-70 842,539,000 17-50 1907 432,412,873 8-86 494,467,346 10.13 926,880,219 18-99 1908 378,245,673 7-63 436,257,462 8.80 814,503,135 16.43 1909 413,112,511 8-21 394,198,843 7.84 807,311,3.54 16.05 1910 458,428,996 9-00 464,233,808 9-11 922,662,804 18-11 Since September, 1910, Chosen, being part of Japan, is not included in foreij^n trade tables. The above table tells the story of Japanese trade. Speaking roundly the growth in value has been from a little over five million sterling to over ninety- two million — and probably this year foreign trade figures will reach the hundred million sterling point. An increase of twentyfold within a generation indicates great possibilities for the future. Taking the last fifteen years, the period with which the present volume is dealing more particularly, it is seen that the value of the exports has nearly quadrupled, 852 TEADE -COMMERCE— SHIPPING Export trade develop- ment. the imports have increased two and a half times, and the total trade last year was over three times as great in value of commodities as it was in 1896. These tables have not been changed into pounds sterling because the yen ("is. 0\d.) answers just as well for comparative purposes, and division by ten will give the reader roughly the amounts in sterling. The following table gives the values of the exports in 1910 according to commodities. To indicate those commodities in the production of which a great ex- pansion has taken place and which may be regarded as showing very fair prospects of future development, the values of their exports in 1897 are also given : — Exports Grain and Seeds .... Tea Marine Products .... Beverages and Comestibles . Tobacco ...... Animal Products (skins, bones, &c.) Drugs, chemicals, dyes, &c. . Oil and Waxes .... Tissues, 3'arns and materials thereof: - Of Silk Of Cotton All Other Clothing and Accessories Paper, and Manufactures thereof . Metals, and Manufactures thereof Machineries ..... Ores and Minerals .... Miscellaneous .... 1897 Yen 6,290,984 7,860,460 4,495,804 2,026,632 351,740 972,535 2,913,447 1,437,614 72,384,799 16,575,160 1,046,966 949,012 1,092,929 7,221,810 37,515,185 163,135,077 1910 Yen 7,418,677 14,542,334 9,107,390 18,910,313 1,256,659 2,811,093 8,745,867 5,110,358 179,387,322 68,927,518 6,618,569 14,042,989 5,025,218 27,173,667 3,511,648 17,634,845 68,204,529 458,428,996 This table shows that Japan has done particularly well in silk and cotton goods, and that in some other indus- tries her sales abroad have more than doubled. The ex- poits of metals and manufactures have increased nearly fourfold, and of beverages and comestibles ninefold. TRADE— COMMERCE— SHIPPING 353 Comparing the imports in the same way, the results Develop- „ ,, ment of are as lollows : — the Import T trade. Imports 1897 1910 Yen Yen Grain and Seeds . . 28,482,933 24,875,872 Beverages and Comestibles .... 23,999,235 21,766,749 Animal Products (skins, bones, &c.) 2,325,981 7,314,239 Drugs. Chemicals, and Medicines . 4,634,816 22,032,765 Dyes, Pigments, Paints ..... 4,023,416 9,948,898 Oils and Waxes 8,606,992 19,938,339 Tissues, Yarns, and materials thereof: Of Cotton 63,165,518 173,474,600 Of Wool 12,009,902 31,969.967 - Of Silk 1,479,556 2,202,175 Of Flax, Hemp, &c 1,060,681 4,582,709 All other 1.658,979 4,503,016 Clothing and Accessories .... '866,960 1,817,594 Paper and Stationery ..... 2,096,549 8,848,098 Ores and Minerals — 9,027,050 Metals and Manufactm'es thereof: Iron and Steel 17,368,454 43,578,899 All other 2,938,387 9,498,450 Earthenware, Glass, and manufactures 698,245 3,173,941 Machines and Machinery .... 21,897,971 23,619,138 Miscellaneous 21,986,197 42,066,809 219,300,772 464,233,808 Imports have hkewise more than doubled during the period under consideration, the greatest increases being in textile materials and yarns, whilst the imports of iron and steel have doubled. In some other com- modities the Japanese have been able to keep the imports down, and the increase has not been so great. Having noted what Japan buys and what she sells we may next enumerate the countries which buy her commodities and the countries whence her imports come. The principal exports from Japan to the British Possessions and other countries, for the year 1910, were as follows : — Exports and Imports classified according to coun- tries. 854 TRADE-COMMEECE— SHIPPING Great Britain 25,781,364 5^0 Hongkonsf 23,459,911 5% Straits Settlements 6,549,661 11% British India 18,712,918 4|% British America 4,261,792 1% Australia 6,552,457 n% Total 85,318,103 m% U. S, of America and Dependencies 152,076,320 33J% Holland and Dutch Indies . 3,859,550 r/o France and French Indo-China 45,266,812 10% Russia and Asiatic Russia 4,314,759 1% Germany 11,167,773 n% Austria-Hungary .... 1,159,587 \% Belgium ....•• 3,464,839 r/o Italy 16,834,878 3|% 23|% China . 109,185,810 Other countries .... 25,780,565 51% Total 458,428,996 1 100 The principal imports from the same countries are as follows : — Great Britain 94,700.911 20|% 1% Hongkong 674,651 Straits Settlements .... 4,615,981 1% British India ..... 106,361,497 23% British America ..... 850,126 4% Australia 7,601,681 1|% Total . 214,804.847 46^% U.S. of America and Dependencies . 55,498,898 12% Holland and Dutch Indies . 19,798,708 4i% 21% France and French Indo-China . 9,842,982 Russia and Asiatic Russia . 970,625 V/o Germany ...... 43,946,478 9.i% Austria-Hungary .... 2,782,032 f% Belgium 9,409,075 2% Italy 591,50-2 r/o China 78,309,701 16a% Other countries ..... 28,278,960 6% Total • 464,233,808 100 The summary of the foreign trade of Japan for 1910 will be found on the following page : — TRADE— COMMERCE- SHIPPING 355 Great Britain 120,482,275 13% Hongkong 24,134,562 2% Straits Settlements .... 11,165,642 n% British India 125,074,415 m% British America 5,111,918 1% Australia 14,154,138 300,122,950 11% Total . 32*% U.S. of America and Dependencies . 207,575,218 22f% Holland and Dutch Indies 23,658,258 2J% France and French Indo-China . 55,109,794 H% Russia and Asiatic Russia , 5,285,384 t% Germany 55,114,251 51% Austria-Hungary .... 3,941,619 J^. Belgium ...... 12,873,914 11% Italy 17,426,380 li% China 187,495,511 201% Other countries 54,059.525 5i-% Total . 922,662,804 100 The United States is Japan's best customer, China ranking next and the British Possessions third. On the purchase side of the Imperial ledger Great Britain and her Possessions rank first, supplying nearly half of all that Japan buys. Of the total trade, which last year nearly reached the sum of 923 million yen, Great Britain and her Possessions supplied about one- third, the United States nearly a quarter, and Italy one-fifth. These tables indicate that Japan is a good customer not only of Great Britain, but also of her colonies, for of India alone she purchased in 1910 almost two-thirds of her supply of raw cotton, valued at over ten million sterling. The returns of Japanese trade for last year show The that the period of recuperation has ended and that [^g^\ ^f there has been a complete recovery. The total volume tiade. of import and export trade in 1910 was, as we have seen, 922,662,804 yen (£94,503,737), being an increase of 115,351,450 yen (£11,814,872) or 14 per cent, on the total trade of 1909, which amounted to 807,311,354 yen (£82,688,865). This total, after making allowance z2 356 TRADE— COMMERCE— SHIPPING for the omission, since the annexation of Chosen, of her trade figures from the foreign trade returns, is the largest in the whole history of Japan : — Exports in millions of yen Imports in millions of yen 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 .SI 9 ?.21 423 432 378 413 371 488 418 494 436 394 G90 809 841 926 814 807 1910 458 464 922 Foreign Trade of 1910. If we include the amount of trade with Chosen, which is shown in the returns for other years, to the above total for 1910 must be added 22,726,437 yen (£2,827,754), which brings the total trade of the year up to 945,389,241 yen (£96,831,491), marking an increase of 17 per cent, on the preceding year and reaching the high prosperity mark of Japanese trade. The next achievement will be the 1,000 million yen total. The increase in trade for 1910 is in a measure attributable to the favourable condition of business throughout the world. The silk industry was parti- cularly prosperous, and the demand for manufactures for the Chinese market shows improvement com- pared with the preceding years. The trade with foreign countries has been given in detail above and requires no recapitulation here. The exports of manufactures increased in almost every branch, and so did the exports of agricultural and marine products, fish- oil, sugar, and hides. It would be difticult to imagine a more satisfactory improvement, because the increased exports were spread over an infinite variety of articles and, therefore, the benefits obtained must have been distributed throughout nearly all the industrial districts of the Emjiire. The increase in the value of imported TRADE— COMMERCE— SHIPPING :357 merchandise may be largety traced to the increased imports of raw material, raw cotton alone amounting to 159,221,808 yen (£16,308,293), or more than one- third of the total value of imports. Of the total amount imported, 63 per cent, came from British India, 21 per cent, from China, and less than 11 per cent, from the United States. These figures indicate that the Far East will soon be self-dependent as regards the supply of raw cotton. The other imports were largely commodities like wool, woollen yarns, and cloths (most of which came from England and Australia), manu- factures of iron and steel and other imports with which Japan is as yet unable to supply herself^ — the bulk, however, being raw material for use in her own manufactures. Looking at the export trade, we find that in 1895 Change America held the first place, but that now she occupies Export the second. The trade, however, has more than doubled. Trade, but the trade with Asia, including the Kwantung Province, has quadrupled, and therefore outranks that of America. The average value of the exports to Asia for the first three years of this period was about £4,500,000, and of the last three years over £17,000,000, a decidedly satisfactory increase. In trade with Europe and America the change is less marked, but in both cases the total exports have more than doubled. Whilst Japan has always purchased more from Great Britain than from any other country with the exception of British India, the United Kingdom has for many years bought less of Japan than France and much less than Japan's best customer, America. Between 1895 and last year there has been, how- ever, a threefold increase in exports to Great Britain, whilst the exports to France have barely doubled. 358 TRADE— COMMERCE—SHIPPING The export trade both with Germany and Italy shows a marked increase. The exports to AustraKa have quadrupled, and those to Hawaii have increased ten- fold. For the last three years Japan's export trade has averaged £42,000,000, and, speaking roughly, £17,000,000 has gone to Asia, £14,000,000 to America, and £10,000,000 to Europe ; the remainder, £1,000,000, going to Australia, Egypt, Hawaii, and to unenumerated countries. Asia, America, Australia, Egypt, and Hawaii may be said to take nearly 32 out of the 41 million sterling of exports. Competition is evidently too strong for Japan at present to make headway in the European markets. Though her exports have been practically doubled during the period under considera- tion, the progress is chiefly to be noted in the markets of Asia and America, while the United States takes the greater portion of her raw silk. Position In the value of commodities imported Great Britain Britain, ^^^s always held and still retains the first position (except British India). This position, however, is being sharply contested by both Germany and the United States and, with the new tariff in opera- tion, by the Japanese themselves. From 1895 to the present time the imports from the United States have increased more than eightfold and those from Germany nearly fourfold, whilst the values of the commodities coming from England have rather more than doubled. Those from France have remained stationary. It should be stated, however, that in 1895 the value of British imports was five times greater than those from the United States, and nearly four times greater than those from Germany. Now Great Britain only out- strips America by one-third and Germany by a little more than one-half. The exports and imports to Asia about balance, but the increase in imports has been TRADE— COMMERCE -SHIPPING 359 nearly fourfold. The same relative proportion holds good in Australia, Egypt, and Hawaii, which are classified in one group. Speaking generally nearly half the foreign trade of Japan has been and will continue to be with Asia, Australia, Egypt, and Hawaii. In these countries may be found her best customers, and from them Japan will continue to purchase more and more. Her iron and steel must for some time to come be imported from Great Britain and the United States, the latter country having the advantage in time, but the former in price and quality. Of course, the United States is Japan's best individual customer, and it is only natural that Japan should favour that country in the purchase of such commodities, as America supplies as cheaply as Europe. Of cotton goods, including the raw material, Japan Trade in still buys more than she sells, and, of course, this is and Wool, equally true of wool. Every effort is being made to manufacture the finer yarns and to weave more cotton cloth in order to make Japan self-supporting. To help in building up these industries she has resorted to a higher tariff. The importation of sugar will decline as the Formosan product increases, and ultimately Japan may be an exj^orter instead of an importer of sugar. In the manufacture of chemicals she has still much to learn, but she is sending her young men to Germany, England, and America to study modern methods of manufacture, and with the additional tariff duties her manufacturers say that the imports under this heading may be reduced. Ten milHon sterling for iron and steel and machinery of various kinds seems an immense sum to the Japanese to send abroad. Every effort is being made to equip machine shops, and to start plants that will produce the needed railway equipment. In this work a large British firm is 860 TRADE— COMMERCE— SHIPPING interested. The chapter on Industries deals with the subject and shows what Japan is doing in this direction. Activityof The Japanese are exerting every effort to control Japanese ^|-^gjj, Q^yj^^ trade and commerce. The latest figures show chants, that in the matter of exports Japanese merchants control about 40 per cent., Germans 17 per cent., Chinese 16 per cent., British 15 per cent., Americans 9 per cent., the rest being divided among the French, Dutch, Austrians, and others. In the import business the Japanese make even a better showing, controlling 57-7 per cent., while the British controlled 16 per cent., the Germans 10 per cent., the Chinese 7 per cent., and the Americans 4 per cent. Future With regard to the jDrospects for the future of prospects, j^^p^j-^^g^ commerce and industry, it is believed that industrial production is relatively increasing. This claim is based on an analysis of the trade which specifies the commercial and industrial articles under five classes : — (a) technical, (b) agricultural, (c) mining, [d] fishery, (e) forestry. The figures show that agricultural products in 1893 represented over 40 per cent, of the total amount of the export, while those of technical industries amounted to 30 per cent, and those of mining to 10 per cent. The ratio is now 481 per cent, for industry and 31 per cent, for agricultural products. On the import side the figures indicate that the import of technical articles for 1893 was 60 per cent, of the total imports, and that of agricultural articles 28 per cent., while at present the technical articles are 49 per cent, of the total import, and agricultural products 33 per cent. These facts tend to prove that industry is making satisfiictory progress, and that besides satisfying the domestic demand her manu- TRADE— COMMERCE— SHIPPING -361 factiirers are developing an export trade to foreign countries. The Japanese, like the British, have the maritime Shipping, instinct. The configuration of their country demanded easy means of communication. In the modern era, Japan has made steady progress towards securing the supremacy of her own flag in her own seas, and her ships traverse all the great ocean highways. In 1897 Japan only carried one-fifth of her imports and one- seventh of her exports in her own ships. She will soon carry half of her trade in Japanese bottoms. The efficiency of Japanese seamanship is recognized by all who care to probe beneath the surface. A mistaken idea has prevailed in many quarters, owing to the employment of a number of foreigners as executive officers on ocean liners. This, however, has, in latter days, at least, been largely a concession to the prejudice of Western nations, for in her naval personnel Japan has long since shown that she has no need to go outside the ranks of her own subjects. With regard to the development of the mercantile marine which has taken place during recent years, statistics were furnished the writer when in Tokyo for the purpose of this review by Mr. Rempei Kondo, the President of the Japan Mail Steamship Company (Nippon Yusen Kaisha). In the year 1871 Japan's mercantile marine com- statistics prised 46 ships with a tonnage of 17,948, while lastn^ge. year the number and tonnage were 8,937 and 1,647,629. The progress which has been made cannot, however, be revealed by so bald a comparison. It is necessary to take cognizance of other factors. There has been a considerable increase during the last twenty years in the carrying capacities of the ships, and the 67 iron ships of 1886 have to be compared with over 400 362 TRADE— COMMERCE— SHIPPING steel and iron ships in 1910. The following tables have been prepared and kindly forwarded from Tokyo by the Department of Communications : — Number and Tonnage of Vessels, 1910. Steamers Sailing-Ships Total Number Gross tonnage Number Gross • tonnage Number Gross tonnage Registered Vessels Unregistered Vessels 1,703 842 1,224,091 9,818 4,958 1,434 390,796 22,924 6,661 2,276 1,614,887 32,742 2,545 1,233,909 6,392 413,720 8,937 1,647,629 Note:— The unregistered steamers are those having a gross tonnage of less than 20 tons, and the unregistered sailing-ships those whose gross tonnage is from 5 tons to 20 tons. Number and Tonnage of Steam Vessels belonging to the Principal Companies (Registered), 1910 Name of Companies Awa Joint Steamship Co. . Chiuyetsu Steamship Co. . Dai Nippon Joint Ship- ping Co. Essa Steamship Co. . Higo Steamship Co. Kagoshima Steamship Co. Naoyetsu Mercantile Steamship Co. Nippon Yusen Kaisha Nippon Mercantile Steam- ship Co. Nisshin Steamship Co. Ojiro Steamship Co. Oriental Steamshii^ Co. . Osaka Mercantile Steam- ship Co. San-riku Steamship Co. . Tatsuma Steamship Co. . Tokyo-wan Steamship Co. Uwajima Shipping Co. . Total . j Authorized I Capital Yen 500,000 300,000 500,000 500,000 300,000 1,500,000 300,000 22,000,000 469,000 8,100,000 500,000 13,000.000 16,500,000 300,000 350,000 800,000 300,000 66,219,000 Vessels No. 6 5 111 7 11 5 5 106 4 48 4 12 134 6 5 48 6 523 Gross Tonnage Tons 2,058 9,002 2,840 1,814 1,238 4,130 2,810 289,784 10,442 28,783 10,172 70,099 136,430 883 10,829 8,108 2,350 591,772 Earnings and Bounties Earnings Yen 259,049 325,850 89,957 128,796 84,920 329,168 179,330 19,842,592 222,626 1,945,821 223,029 3,602,497 11,914,897 75,755 275,291 581,984 232,238 40,313,800 Shipping subsidies and Bounties Yen 11,995 7,000 2,250 5,400 6,129,879 799,159 2,530,847 2,084,982 6,000 7,560 11,585,072 TRADE -COMMERCE— SHIPPING 868 The dividend paid by these companies ranges from 4 to 10 per cent., the average dividend for hist year being a trifle over 7| per cent. As stated above, the hick of skilled Japanese navi- gators is more apparent than real. In 1876 the Japanese licensed mariners numbered but 74, of whom only four were Japanese subjects ; there are now 22,154 certificated mariners, of whom 21,803 are Japanese subjects. In 1870 the first line of modern ships was started, Modem . Passenger and the Kaiso Kaisha established a service between steam- Tokyo and Osaka. In 1875 the Mitsubishi Company fl^i^,""'''' opened the Yokohama-Shanghai line, and afterwards bought the goodwill of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company on the same route. A new era was initiated in 1885, when the formation of the Japan Mail Steam- ship Company, which has now a greater tonnage than the Cunard Company, put an end to fierce competition, and progress has been rapid since that date. In 1885, there were only four regular services abroad, the Yokohama-Shanghai, the Nagasaki- Vladivostock, the Nagasaki-Chemulpo line, and the Kobe-North China service. Within a few years were established the Japan-Bombay line and the Japan- Australia and Japan-Europe services, the ships of the last-named line running fortnightly from Yokohama to London, Antwerp, and Middlesborough. The steamers of the Oriental Company are principally engaged in the American trade, both North and South. There are now nearly a score of regular services in operation by arrangement with the Central Government, while other lines have been inaugurated by agreement with various local authorities. Some of the ships in the foreign service have, since the year 1897, been under the command of Japanese captains, one of the lines SU TRADE— COMMERCE— SHIPPING in the European service having been in charge of a Japanese commodore since 1906. The Japan Mail Steamship Company is building new vessels for the European service. The The average gross tonnage of the vessels emj^loyed Service, in the services to Europe and America is from 6,000 upwards, the largest and fastest boats being those running to San Francisco and having a tonnage of between 13,000 and 14,000, and a speed of from 18 to 20 knots. The passenger vessels in the foreign service have qualified for the shipping subsidies, the revised regulations concerning which came into force this year. The subsidized open-sea routes are the European, North American, South American, and Australian. The vessels must have a speed of over 12 knots and the percentage paid rises with the speed but declines with the age of the vessel ; it is not paid on ships over fifteen years old. Under the law to encourage shij^building there will have been paid at the close of 1911 in general bounty on vessels not on subsidized routes, on those on subsidized routes, or as shipbuilding bounty, nearly £10,000,000. The shipbuilding bounty alone will have reached very close upon three-quarters of a million sterling. That the mercantile marine should have been progressive under such stimulus is not surprising. But Japan has great Japan's ambition in this direction, and many things point to Sition. tl^e fact that her ambition is well founded. When once fairly started, her mercantile fleets certainly should be able to compete with the similar fleets of other maritime nations, for she has capable navigators, good seamen, and the instinct of economy in manage- ment. Added to this she will have the lion's share of the benefits arising from the Panama Canal, for which she has paid nothing. TRADE —COMMERCE— SHIPPING 365 To receive the full subsidy the vessels must have been built in Japanese shipyards, foreign-built ships receiving only one-half. For vessels built to special plans an extra 25 per cent, subsidy is granted. The Tokyo Mercantile Marine College plays an important part in Japanese shipping in suj^plying qualified officers and engineers. The control of Japanese and foreign ships within the Empire is vested in the Ship Superintending Bureau, which inspects vessels, examines mariners, and exercises general powers of control, such as are vested in Lloyd's Register. In the world's mercantile marine Japan ranks sixth when tonnage is made the basis, but among steamship companies the Nippon Yusen Kaisha stands higher on the list than famous lines such as the Union-Castle, the Cunard, and the Elder- Dempster. During the war with Russia the maritime strength of the country was shown by the manner in which men and materials were transported to the seat of operations. The growth of Japanese trade points the way to a rapid increase in her mercantile marine, and the nation looks forward to the day when her aggregate tonnage will be half that of Great Britain. CHAPTER XX THE NEW TARIFF The history of the Tariff. Tariff Revision of 1866. Tariff Revision of 1906. A COUNTRY that wanted no intercourse with foreigners was at least spared the discussion of Tariff Reform. Until 1859 the j^eople of the Island Kingdom appear to have lived happily and contentedly without those disagreeable and not infrequently detested inter- national barriers known as custom-houses. In that year, however, custom-houses were for the first time established and custom-duties levied at a few open ports selected for the purpose at a time when most of the early commercial treaties with the Western powers had been concluded. The history of the Japanese tariff until the present year may be found embodied in her commercial treaties with foreign Powers. In 1866 the whole tariff was revised by treaties. This revision kept the tariff practically unchanged for a generation, and it remained in force until 1899, when the treaties of commerce and navigation which expired July 16, 1911, came into operation. In 1899 export duties were entirely abolished. The operation of the revised commercial treaties of 1899 made it possible to bring into operation the general tariff which, combined with the conventional tariffs, formed the customs tariff of Japan. The urgent needs of the war led to the imposition of a special sur-tax on custom-duties, and on the restoration of peace to the partial revision of 1906. The conventional tariffs between Japan and several foreign countries expired THE NEW TARIFF 367 July 16, 1911, and the next day the new tariff took their place. The number of articles enumerated in the existing The new tariff is 64:7. They are classified into seventeen groups, '^^^■***^- and are further subdivided according to the incidence of duties that are as far as i30ssible made specific — that is payable on quantities rather than on valuation. Raw materials largely used in the manufacturing in- dustries are wisely admitted duty free ; upon half- manufactured materials lighter rates of duties are levied. Upon manufactured goods the rates range from 15 to 40 per cent. Articles of luxury are rated at 50 per cent. The new tariff came into operation on July 17, 1911. Before that date the imports had been very large in all articles of merchandise on which the rates have now been increased, and unless the imports take a sudden fall during the last five months of the year, the total trade for 1911, as heretofore intimated, may reach one hundred million sterling. It will not be possible to comment on the effect of the new tariff either on the commerce or on the industries of the country until it has been in operation for a few years. In 1896, the average rate of customs duties collected increase by Japan was not over 5 per cent., and the receipts l."terof from customs had never reached a million sterling, duty. As Great Britain was the largest importer, the British merchants at Yokohama and Kobe were prosperous. Since then the rates have been steadily increased, and wherever it was possible without injury to Japanese industries, articles from the free list have been transferred to the dutiable schedules. In 1900 the rate of duty had increased to 8h per cent., and for the last five years it has averaged about 15 per cent. Of course, fifteen is three times five, but as tariffs go the new Japanese tariff is by no means one of the 368 THE NEW TARIFF worst. In 1910 nearly £24,000,000 in value came in dutiable, and over £23,000,000 free of duty ; the receipts from Customs were about £3,600,000, nearly five times what they were in 1896, and the average rate of duty was nearly 16 per cent. The average percentage including dutiable and free was Increase nearly 8 per cent. The estimates for 1911 and 1912 Revenue "^^licate that more revenue is expected — a total of expected. £4,500,000 and 55,000,000 respectively — from the new tariff, but, of course, it is difficult to forecast what revenue a new tariff will produce. Stimu- The imports and exports of 1910 will mark the home" close of the fiscal period which was to some extent industry, controlled by the provisions of the old treaties. The progress of trade from 1910 will be closely studied by those interested in Japanese foreign trade. If it continues to increase, the wisdom of enacting the new tariff will be demonstrated, for it is quite certain that the effect of the new fiscal policy will be to stimulate home manufactures. The first result will be almost certain to reduce the imports of some lines of British and American manufacture. What the final effect will be it is impossible to predict at present. Marquis^ The clearest and most precise statement of the State- ' attitude of the Government in relation to the new ment. tariff may be found in the following address of Marquis Komura, then Minister for Foreign Affairs, made in the House of Representatives last year. Marquis Komura said: — 'The present measure embodies the proposed revi- sion of the Tariff amended in 1906, and is to supersede the existing Conventional Tariff expected to cease operation between July and August, 1911. When the Conventional Tariff was elaborated it was impossible for Japan, owing to the various Treaty restrictions THE NEW TARIFF 369 by which she was tied, to determine the rates accord- ing to the requirements which the interests of Japan might demand. All such restrictions being no longer binding, Japan is left free to determine the rates on her own judgment, When the existing Statutory Tariff was amended some years ago rates were raised for not a few imports, but in the presence of the Conventional Tariff at the same time the new rates were a dead letter as applied to the goods coming from the countries under the Conventional Tariff. With the coming into force of the proposed Statutory Tariff such an anomaly will disappear, and the tariff will be operative on all imports coming from all countries. The question as to what influence the pro- posed tariff will have on Japanese economic affairs therefore received due consideration from the authori- ties when framing the present draft. The underlying principle was to give the greatest importance to all matters touching national economics. The condition of Japanese industries also received proper considera- tion, and this was also the case with regard to com- mercial relations with other countries. So far as circumstances permitted the rates were fixed propor- tionally. The question of the proper harmony between different industries was also considered.' The difficulty which arose between Japan and Great Tiie diffi- Britain in relation to the adoption of this tariff was Great largely due to the entirely different points of view from Britain, which the two countries approached the subject. The British merchant compared new schedules with the expiring conventional tariff and the Japanese Government with the existing statutory tariff. The latter from the British point of view was inoperative so far as British goods were concerned, but from the Japanese point of view, so far from being inoperative, it was a real binding system, yielding 89 per cent, of the customs revenues. PORTEU A. a 370 THE NEW TARIFF Desire for As Japan had for many years been bound by these Auto- unihiteral conventional tariffs she could not, until nomy. 1911^ formulate and put in force any industrial policy to her own satisfaction which would meet the require- ments of the country. For this reason she was deter- mined to abolish these impediments to tariff autonomy. There was no desire on her part to enact exorbitant rates of customs duty which would be tantamount to prohibitive rates, but she did want to have such a tariff as would cover her financial requirements and meet her economic necessities. As to the protective features of the measure, they are easily disposed of by the Japanese who, regarding the industries of the country as still in their infancy, are able to produce innumer- able precedents showing that the fostering of trade and industry is admissible, especially for the purpose of revenue. Japan's The question of revenue with Japan is inevitable Revenue, not only for carrying on the Government but for continuing the heroic policy inaugurated of paying off the war debts. The redemption of Japan's old loans, as will be seen in the chapter on Finance, is proceed- ing satisfactorily. In order to be free from liabilities Japan must have a substantial revenue, and although there may be many undesirable features in customs duties, and in internal taxes, the country has to be a little patient until its debts are paid off. So long as Japan does not go in for extreme protection on the one hand, and intolerable internal taxation on the other hand, there is not much to be said even by those who believe in free trade. The payment of debts is the first care and on this point there is unanimity of opinion. Japan wants money. The Government must raise revenue somehow or recede from her position as a first-chiss nation. If the internal taxes are increased THE NEW TARIFF 371 financiers and industrialists object. If the tariff rates are raised the importers coniphiin. Fortunately the Japanese Government has been Reci- able to reach a satisfactory arrangement with Great Treaty^ Britain, the greatest grumbler, and before the year!^it^\ • 1 1 1 vjrreat IS out settlements will have been reached with Britain. other countries. These arrangements are based on the modern idea of reciprocity. The commercial treaty with England j^rovides for reductions of the new Japanese Tariff on certain important classes of manufactured articles, mainly textile and iron and steel goods, of special interest to British trade when imported into Japan. Broadly speaking, the effect is that, in the case of cotton tissues of the classes which specially interest British trade, the new duties on grey tissues are re- duced by proportions varying from one-third to one- fourth, with consequential reductions on other kinds ; in the case of the more important classes of tissues of pure wool, by proportions varying from one-fourth to one-fifth ; in that of tissues of wool and cotton mixed, and of linen yarns, by about one-fifth ; in that of certain classes of iron and steel plates and sheets, including galvanized sheets and tinned plates, by amounts varying from two-ninths to two-fifths ; in that of pig-iron, by about one-sixth ; and in the case of paints, by one-third. The imports of the above articles from the United Kingdom into Japan are valued at about £3,500,000 per annum, representing over 80 per cent, of the imports of the like articles from all sources. The Schedule enumerates certain articles of Japanese production which are to continue to be admitted free of duty into the United Kingdom. These articles are either materials for industry or A a 2 372 THE NEW TARIFF specialities of Japanese manufacture. The total value of these articles imported into the United Kingdom from Japan is about £2,150,000 per annum. An article of the Treaty which is of special interest is No. 26, which provides that : — Operation ' The stipulations of the present Treaty shall not be J-" 1^^. applicable to any of his Britannic Majesty's Dominions, Colonies, Possessions, or Protectorates beyond the seas, unless notice of adhesion shall have been given on behalf of any such Dominion, Colony, Possession, or Protectorate by his Britannic Majesty's Representa- tive at Tokio before the expiration of two years from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of the present Treaty.' The ten articles of import from Japan to the United Kingdom affected by the Treaty are : — habutae of pure silk, not dyed or printed ; handkerchiefs of habutae of pure silk, not dyed or printed ; copper, un wrought, in ingots and slabs ; plaiting of straw and other materials ; camphor and camphor oil ; baskets (including trunks) and basketware of bamboo ; mats and matting of rush ; lacquered wares, coated with Japanese lacquer (urushi) ; rapeseed oil ; and cloisonne wares. The articles of export from the United Kingdom to Japan affected by the Treaty are : — prints ; linen yarns, tissues of cotton, including velvets and plushes ; tissues of wool and mixed tissues of wool and cotton, of wool and silk or of wool, cotton, or silk ; iron and steel, including lumps, ingots, blooms, billets, and slabs ; pig-iron ; plates and sheets, coated with metals, tinned or galvanized, corrugated or not. When it is remem- bered that Great Britain stands alone as the one great Power that enters into the arena of international ex- change with no weapon with which to trade, the Japanese Government appears to have acted quite THE NEW TARIFF 373 fairly. The familiar Haying that there is no friendship in business does not apply here. England could not threaten Japan with higher rates of customs duty on her imports. All that the British Government could do was to point out that England was the most generous of all nations in the treatment of foreign merchandise, and that she was the special friend and ally of Japan. The Japanese statesmen, for purely sentimental reasons, recognized the fairness of the appeal and granted the concessions. The new tariff is the first Japanese tariff that applies to all countries alike, subject, of course, to reciprocal arrangements such as the one with Great Britain. It is reasonable as to rates, admirably arranged in its administrative features and intelligently considerate in many of its exemptions from duty, which is more than can be said of the tariffs of at least four European countries or of the tariff of the United States. CHAPTER XXI MUNICIPAL PKOGRESS Local In the process of national transformation which has tration. astonishecl the world the methods of local administra- tion had to be remodelled. The change from com- munal government to central governmental supervision has been wisely accomplished without obliterating the communal spirit, and there still exists in Japanese cities and towns a good deal of civic pride. The local officials are elected and left more or less to do as they please subject only to certain checks by the National Government, which, as will be shown, are now rarely used, but which were thought necessary as precautions against local uprisings when the feudal system was abolished. Under present conditions these checks are really unnecessary, and, as a matter of fact, the control exercised by the Central Government in municipal affairs is not onerous, and except in the election of mayors, which must be approved by the Emperor, amounts to little more than the supervision of the Local Govern- ment Board in the case of British cities. The muni- cipal authorities of Japan are subject to fjir less inter- ference from the central authorities than is the local administration of South American cities, which are, as a rule, hotbeds of party politics. In the municipal trading corporations of the United Kingdom we are familiar with the political influence of that official-of- all-work, the town clerk, and we have heard of the power he sometimes exercises in parliamentary elec- tions. The restraining influence of national or state MUNICIPAL PROGRESS 375 government in financial matters is undoubtedly wise, and in the United States, where local self-government may be said to exist to a greater degree than in most other countries, it has been found necessary to enact laws placing a limitation on the powers of the local authorities to create indebtedness. Practically all the recent state constitutions of the United States have a clause limiting local indebtedness to a certain per- Local centage of the taxable value of the property. The ne'Js^*^'^" Japanese Government is too practical and sensible to allow its cities unrestricted borrowing powers, and the loans that have been made abroad for municipal pur- poses have all had the sanction of the Government. Several important municipal loans have been made by the Industrial Bank of Japan, a financial institution endorsed by the Government and established for the purpose of protecting both the foreign bondholder and the Japanese creditor. Loans made through this bank are sound in every respect. The money derived from such loans has been uniformly spent on important and greatly needed public improvements. A further increase of local municipal bonds is in- evitable, in view of the fact that the people, dissatisfied with the civilization attained in the past, aspire to bring the supply of water, condition of the roads, and sanitation, to a state of perfection. In the issue of local municipal bonds every precaution should be adopted to prevent extravagance and excessive borrow- ing. There is no country in the world in which the Government is more economically conducted than in Japan, and there is no Government that has so much to show in the way of public w^orks, for the amount oi money expended. This not only applies to the public works department of Japan proper, Formosa, Chosen, and Manchuria, but also to the public works depart- 376 MUNICIPAL PROGRESS ments of the larger cities. The one thing that astonishes the inquirer is the excellent results ob- tained for the small amounts expended. Of course labour is still cheap, in spite of the fact that it has Honest practically doubled in cost since 1896. Even more traSoiI important is the fact that the administration of national oflocal Qp local affairs in Japan is thoroughly honest. What- ever may have been urged against the morals of the Japanese traders in the past, it is impossible to impugn the honesty of the Japanese official, national, colonial, or local. Hence the great changes that have been in course of progress during the last few years in the cities and towns of Jaj^an have been brought about honestly and efficiently. There has scarcely been any ' grafting ' or peculation. Old cities have taken new life and new cities have come into existence. Public works of great magnitude, such as waterworks, sewage systems, har- bours, the opening of new streets, the laying out of parks, and the erection of public buildings have been successfully carried out without a scandal, and, it may be added, without a charge of extravagance. Educa- tion, sanitation, surgical and medical treatment for the poorer classes, trade, industry, and commerce have not been neglected. Excellent schools and hospitals have been established in all the important cities. Technical colleges, local museums devoted to the in- dustries of the districts, and Boards of Trade and Com- merce to watch over and assist the industrial and commercial development of the various centres of industrial energy have been encouraged, and the work thus accomplished may be described as altogether admirable. Whilst the National Government has supervised these local enterprises it has in no way interfered. Visitors to the cities where great improve- MUNICIPAL PROGKESS 377 ments have been carried on will find local civic spirit as strong as it is in the cities and towns of Great Britain and of the United States. Indeed, so much has been accomplished in these directions that it is feared that the space which it is proposed to devote to municipal progress in Japan will be inadequate to do justice to the subject. In the olden days Japan enjoyed a system of com- munal government as complete and as efficient as that to be found in any country. The Restoration, how- changes ever, brought about governmental supervision of these L"overn- affairs, and administrative officers, wdiose salaries were "lent paid by the Government, undertook the management at Restor- of local matters. The fact, however, that these officials ^*^^^"- were elected by the villages and had to sacrifice them- selves for the good of their constituents as occasion demanded, indicates that all the communal spirit was not swept away by the more centralized system of government. Professor S. Shimiyu, probably one of the best authorities on local government in Japan, thinks that at the Restoration, if things had been left to take their natural course, a system of communal govern- ment peculiar to Japan would have been evolved. But communal government disappeared with many other institutions, and when the necessity for local self-govern- ment again arose, the present system came into exist- ence. As this chapter deals especially with municipal progress, it is impossible to do more than designate the civil divisions as they exist at present. They are Existing hu or cho (towns), son (villages), gun (subdivisions of ^j^J^^^*^ ^J.^^" a province), fa (urban prefectures), and ken (prefec- country. tures). There are in Japan proper 47 prefectures, 637 rural districts, 66 cities, 1,174 towns, and 11,155 villages. An additional 26 prefectures and 421 rural districts must be considered if we are dealing with 878 MUNICIPAL PROGRESS Chosen, Taiwan, and Saghalien. These constitute the local civil divisions. Begin- For a period immediately following the Restoration m^fern ^^ local government system was in existence. In local 1876 regulations relating to the public borrowing of ment. money by towns and villages were issued, and from that time onwards the present system of local govern- ment may be said to have begun. In 1878 a law was promulgated for the organization of gun, hi, and clio, and villages were also empowered to organize assem- blies. The regulations or the code for governing these assemblies may be regarded as forming the basis of the town and village enactments now in operation. Both French and German advice apj^ears to have been sought in the drafting of these regulations, and it is easy to trace in the local government system of Japan both French and German influence. Election Town and village affairs, it is true, are partially in ofMayois. ^j^^ hands of officials elected by the people, but they are never free from Government supervision and inter- ference. The government of the towns and villages is, however, left pretty much to the local officials, but the politicians of Japan were not willing to allow the chief officials, in the case of the large cities, to be freely elected lest — according to some — the result should have been to bring to the front exceptionally strong and independent men. It was, therefore, decided that the Municipal Assembly or City Council, as it is called sometimes, should nominate three candidates and should report the nomination to the Emperor, petitioning his Majesty at the same time to choose one of the three as the chief official of the city. This precautionary measure prevents the selection of a socialistic mayor or of a man likely to be inimical to the Government. The Emperor invariably selects the MUNICIPAL PROGRESS 379 candidate who has received the highest number of votes, and this system of choice has furnished excel- lent officials. The cities of Japan are, in a measure, self-governing, for they elect their own aldermen and municipal assemblies, and the latter elect the mayor ; the final choice, however, is vested nominally in the Emperor, and in reality in the Central Government. In the minor civil divisions some of the old communal spirit has been revived, and the government is largely left in the hands of the people, the Central Govern- ment only undertaking to supervise matters that have a bearing on national affairs. For a time the three cities, Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, were subject to special regulations providing for the tenure of the two chief municipal offices, those of the mayor and vice-mayor, by the municipal governor and secretary respectively, an arrangement which may be said to have accomplished the views of those who urged that the cliief municipal appointment should be in the hands of the Govern- ment. Such strenuous opposition to these exceptions from urban regulations was persisted in by the three cities concerned, with continuous support from the Lower House of the Diet, that in 1898 the objec- tions encountered in the Upper House and in the municipalities were overcome, and the ordinary city regulations became applicable to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. As a whole both the central and the local government Freedom of Japan are honestly and intelligently administered, < graft '. and the functions with which the Government officials are invested seem to work for the general good of the community. There is certainly no wholesale corrup- tion, such as that with which we have become familiar in the United States, nor even the milder sort from which we are not wholly free in England. During 380 MUNICIPAL PROGRESS the writer's stay in Japan charges of ' grafting ' were filed against certain municipal officials of Osaka and vigorous prosecution and conviction followed. The general indignation aroused by the prominence given in the press to this case of municipal corruption following upon what are known as the Sugar Frauds, for their implication in which certain members of the Diet are now undergoing sentence of imprisonment, points to the rarity of such occurrences. Indeed, when one looks over a list of the innumerable under- takings, industries, and enterprises in which the Japanese Government is interested, it is surprising that one hears of so little dishonesty and 'graft'. The The system of Imperial selection from among these Mayor of candidates nominated by the Municipal Assembly has certainly given to Tokyo a capable mayor. Mr. Yukio Ozaki, M.P., Mayor of Tokyo, is exceptionally well informed on all matters relating to municipal progress in Japan. The writer is indebted to him, not only for much valuable information relating to the capital of the Empire, but also for facts as to other cities, and likewise for reports and documents referring more especially to what the Mayor of Tokyo aptly calls ' the epoch of municipal improvement '. There is so much of interest to write about the individual cities of Japan that the six periods into which the history of municipal progress has been divided must be passed over briefly. These are : (a) the early formation period, (b) the period when the centre of administrative authority was in the south, (c) the period when the centre was in the north, {(l) the non-centralized period, (e) the period when the feudal system was perfected, and (/) the period when the prefecture or county system was introduced. The first of these two periods is altogether too mythical for profitable discussion in a volume dealing MUNICIPAL PROGRESS 381 with modern economic progress. The second period is of passing interest because it deals with Nara which Nara as was the fu-st regular political capital, and is to-day one capital, of the most lovely and fascinating cities in all Japan. The Japanese have always entertained a great respect for reports, so it is not surprising to find one dated A.D, 724 describing ' the grandeur of the city of Nara' in that primitive stage of her existence. The following extract will interest those who have a fancy for picturesque red-tiled roofs : ' The capital where the Emperor reigns and the world comes to pay homage, should well represent the Imperial augustness. Edi- fices, roofed with straw, a remnant of earlier days, require much labour and are of short durability. To avoid such a waste of money, measures should be taken to order every official not lower than the fifth rank, and those equal to the expense, to have their domiciles tiled, and painted either red or white.' In the very early days the capital never remained long in one place, as according to strict Shinto ethics it was not seemly for an Emperor to reside in a city polluted by the death of his predecessor, and it is recorded that during forty-two reigns there were no less than fifty changes of the capital. After the Capital ascendancy of Nara the capital was transferred to l'^^^^' •^ ^ ^ ^ lerred to Kyoto and remained there until the supremacy drifted Kyoto, to Northern Japan and the Shogunate Government was established at Kamakura in 1186. For two centuries and a half (1336-1580) the country was without a centre of authority. About 1540, according to Mr. Ozaki, Japan entered into trade relations with Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch merchants, which resulted in a rise of commercial cities, and the period 'o ^ policy to preserve the integrity of his domains, and to this with le- end the foAV roads that were constructed, particularly in such the vicinity of national boundaries formed by moun- P^^j^*^ •^ «^ ^ works as tains, were deliberately made difficult and tortuous ; if existed. such natural paths as existed were deemed sufficiently easy to render access inviting they were blocked with barriers at convenient spots, the more effectively to insulate the province into which they led. The spheres of influence of river- works or land-preservation schemes were, of course, restricted as far as possible to the territory of the daimyo who undertook them. A postal service of a rudimentary character had, PostalSei- it is true, existed since a. d. 202, and had been im- system. proved from time to time by the adoption . to some extent of Chinese ideas. For the last two centuries of the Shogunate the merchants of the chief cities of Japan had a regular private service of letter-carriers running between Osaka, Yedo, and Kyoto, and for sharing in this convenience the public were only too glad to pay high rates. It is interesting to recall that in 1858, ten years before this primitive system was superseded, the rebellious but progressive Daimyo of Satsuma had installed in his palace the electric telegraph, of which two sets of instruments had been presented to the Shogunate by Commodore Perry. 460 OTHER PUBLIC WORKS Com- In the first year of Meiji the whole subject of mentof Communications was taken up with the vigour and modern intelHgence that has characterized Government action system or . " communi- Since that date. A large staff of selected engineering ca ions. ^^^^ surveying students was formed, and trained by two Dutch advisers, and in the seven years from 1872 to 1879 much good work was done in river and harbour improvement, road-building, and the like, in accordance with the result of a general survey Postal begun in 1871. The postal system was taken over moclelled. ^J ^^^^ Government and remodelled on Western lines, a trial service being put into operation between Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto in March, 1871. Several times a day, at hours stated beforehand, carriers were dis- patched along the trunk route with stamped letters for towns and villages through which it lay, and the local authorities were ordered to take charge of the business of transmission. In those early days letters could be ' registered ' on payment of double postage ; such mixed matter as petitions to the Government, manuscript for newspapers (in open envelopes), and samples of grain and seeds could be sent free, and there was a system of 'express' delivery. With the advent of the railways the service naturally improved, Japan a and by June, 1877, Japan was able to become a of Inter- Hicmber of the International Postal Union. The Pos^r^ British, United States, and French post offices which Union, had Until then been maintained in Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagasaki, were thereupon closed. Tele- In 1867, Tokyo and Yokohama, twenty miles apart, communi- Were connected by telegraph, an English expert ac- cation in- complisliing the momentous innovation. Much trouble was at first experienced in maintaining communication through this medium, for the more ignorant sections of the public persisted in regarding the line as an OTHER PUBLIC WORKS 461 instiTiment of ovil and were almost as obstinate in destroying it as the Government were in renewing it. The Satsuma rebellion, however, demonstrated its Events practical utility in just as convincing a manner as, on "-ts^uffil"" several quite recent occasions, the rescue of passengers from a sinking liner has demonstrated the utility of wireless telegraphy, and before long telegraj^h offices were springing up throughout the country at the earnest demand of inhabitants whose discernment had conquered their superstitious awe of the over- head wire. The monetary crises through which the country began at this time to pass were not without their effect upon the telegraphic business of the Government, and expansion was temporarily checked ; but the authorities turned this period of quiescence to excellent account by perfecting the arrangements of the offices, combining them with the post offices and making the fee uniform throughout the country ; they also directed their attention to the matter of external telegraphic communication. In 1883 Japan cable sei- was Unked to Korea by the Great Northern Telegraph j'^(fg^5^^*°" Company's Cable and in 1881 Japan joined the Inter- national Telegraph Union. The annexation of Formosa was celebrated by the laying, in 1897, of 1,270 miles of cable, to connect the island with its new rulers in more tangible fashion. By this date both the postal and telegraphic services of Japan were under the control of the Government, and were perhaps as a consequence at least adequate to the necessities of the period. In 1876 Mr. Bell invented the telephone, and in Tele- 1877 Japan had adopted it, at first over short distances, fgj.y"g^g but, ui3on the successful working of the experimental adopted. line between Tokyo and Atami, as a means of communi- cation between widely separated centres. A private 462 OTHEK PUBLIC WORKS enterprise at the outset, it was soon nationalized, and in 1890 the service was inaugurated in and betAveen Tokyo and Yokohama. General appreciation of the merits of the invention was comparatively rapid ; in 1893 Osaka and Kobe were linked, and by 1895 the number of unsuccessful applicants for telephonic connexion exceeded 4,000, though in some cases a rent of £80 was offered, while frequent petitions from the provinces prayed the authorities to extend the system. Without delay the sum of £1,300,000 was voted for a seven years' programme, and by 1899 the long-distance service was opened between most of the principal cities. To-day the telephone is as matter-of-fact an institution in Japan as it is in Europe, and public call-offices have long ceased to excite interest on the score of novelty. The demand for installation in subscribers' houses still greatly exceeds the supply of instruments, and the Government's present pro- gramme contemplates the connexion of a further 60,000 subscribers by 1912. Recent Until 1908 wireless telegraphy was employed only o?wiTe^-^" by the Army and Navy, but communication by this less tele- nieans has since then been made possible between service, foreign steamers and coast stations and through the latter to and from the telegraph system of Japan. The number of ' wireless ' messages sent in the business year 1909-10 was 7,817. The machines known as 'tickers' or 'tape machines' are by no means unfamiliar to the stockbrokers of Tokyo and Osaka, and over 100 of these instruments are in use in these great cities. Revenues Posts, telegraphs, and telei^hones have, since their munica^ inception, almost always been made to pay their way 1^°^,.,. in Japan, and the latest returns indicate a continuance facilities. „ . T 1 1 ii j^ 1 of prosperity. In round numbers the postal revenue OTHER PUBLIC WOEKS 463 for the fiscal year 1909 was £2,273,000, and the expenditure £1,244,000. In 1910, the telegraph offices cost £641,000 and yielded £841,800, while the profit on telephones was represented by the difference between an expenditure of £218,000 and a revenue of £883,000. The increase in the business movement of these institutions, even since 1900, when they were all fairly established, is remarkable, as may be seen by the following table : — Posts 1900-1 1909-10 Offices 4,821 6,943 Miles of route 49,861 57,784 Letters, &c. 749,071,103 1,487,792,451 Parcels 7,664,045 20,355,283 Telegraphs Telephones Offices Miles of line Messages Offices Miles of line Calls 1900-1 1909-10 1,651 3,952 17,080 22,870 16,694,841 28,173,062 104 1,523 1,912 5,756 66,577,969 422,871,302 The Postal Savings Banks were inaugurated in 1875, Postal and the rate of interest was little by little made so Banks',*^ tempting that within fifteen years the deposits in the hands of the Government grew to unwieldy proportions, and the rate, which at 7-2 per cent, had created a record in the history of postal savings banks, was gradually lowered. But when, in 1893, savings banks were opened in many districts, the Postal Savings Banks felt the competition ; the rate was, therefore, raised again, formalities were shortened and simplified for depositors, and the useful institution gradually returned to favour amongst the thrifty Japanese. At the be- ginning of 1911 there were over 11 million depositors, as against 26,473 in 1879, and their deposits aggre- 464 OTHER PUBLIC WORKS gated more than 70 million yen, as compared with less than half a million yen in 1879. The present rate of interest is 4-2 per cent. The postal authorities are the poor man's stockbrokers ; at the request of a depositor they will buy or sell national loan bonds and other public bonds and debentures, and accept them as deposits. Special deposit systems have lately been introduced, for the benefit of Japanese subjects in foreign lands, and since 1900 a postal stamj) saving service for school children has been in operation. Within the last twelve months the Post Offices have dealt with the payment of annuities and pensions to those entitled to them, much to the relief of the applicants, who formerly had to go through a some- what wearisome ceremony at municipal offices or district bureaux. Postal The postal money order service dates also from 1875, Older ^ ^1^^ owing to the restricted banking facilities was at service, f^jg^ much used by business men for the transmission of considerable sums. Subsequently, the Government imposed a limit upon the amount of these transactions. The principle embodied in the money order system was first extended to the telegraph service in 1885, and the postal collection service was introduced in 1900, the maximum YSilue of a single money order being fixed at 100 yen, and that of a single postal order at 5 yen. The fee is ad valorem in the case of the former, and 3 sen each in the case of the latter, and the public's appreciation of this branch of the postal service is shown by the fact that the number of orders issued in 1909-10 was 14,126,761, involving a sum of over 175 million yen, or nearly £18,000,000 as compared with 6,656,957 orders issued for the approximate equivalent of under £6,600,000 in 1899. OTHER PUBLIC WORKS 465 As to foreign money orders, arrangements for their Foreign exchange were concluded with Great Britain in 1881, "rder"^ and since 1885, with all the countries of Europe and semce. North and South America, at first with the British Post Office as intermediary but latterly, in most cases, direct. Japan is, of course, a subscriber to the International Postal Money Order Agreement, and there are now but few countries with which she has no arrangement for the postal exchange of values. The service would naturally be much used by Japanese residents in foreign lands, and it is interesting to note that in 1909-10 the number of orders issued in the country was 19,346, representing the meagre sum of 623,575 yen, while there reached Japan from abroad no less than 167,729 orders, involving an aggregate amount of nearly £1,400,000. A similarly useful institution has been the postal cheque and draft service, adopted by Japan in 1906. Much of the foregoing data and of that which Depart- follows was very courteously supplied to the writer cJlJ^mu- by Mr. Tanaka, of the Department of Communica- ^cations; tions at Tokyo, under date of May 26, 1911. This of its Department, established in 1885, has greatly in- *"^^*'''^^^- creased in importance and in the extent of its authority. At first it merely took over from the Department of Agriculture and Commerce and the Department of Engineering the administration of the posts and telegraphs, lighthouses and light- ships and some minor affairs, but in 1891, telephones came within its control, in 1892, railway business, and in 1893, the superintending of transportation by sea and overland. Upon the nationalization of the railways their administration was relegated to a special section. The scope of the Dejxu'tment includes the supervision of many bureaux, apart PORTER G S," 466 OTHER PUBLIC WORKS from the Minister's Secretariat, among which we find the following : — The Correspondence Bureau (posts, telegraphs, and telephones) ; The Electrical Bureau, which supervises and inspects electrical undertakings ; The Mercantile Marine Bureau (lighthouses, buoys, beacons, and marine transportation in general) ; The Postal Savings Banks Bureaux (money orders and savings banks) ; The Finance Bureau (departmental estimates and accounts) ; and The Telegraphic and Lighthouse Material Manu- factory. In April, 1910, a decree ^ was issued organizing a special Hydro-Electric Investigation Bureau, whose functions include inquiry into such matters as the quantity, rapidity, and force of water of rivers from which it is proposed to derive hydro-electric energy. It was considered that hydro-electric enterprise would be assured of a more prosperous future if super- vised by the State than if left entirely in the hands of individuals, and since an aggregate of 1,500,000 horse- power, or three times the amount now derived, can, it is calculated, be developed from Japanese rivers, it seems wise that such possibilities should be investi- gated by an official department which can authorize subsequent operations. Woiks The Department for Home Affiiirs has control of trolled bj Toad-coustruction, bridge-building, irrigation, land- Depait- luent for lldine ' It i^i:iy be of interest to mention here that a decfi-ee is tlie Aftans. expression of the will of the Sovereign, and luis the effect of a law ; a law is promulgated with the sanction of the Diet, and a ministerial ordinance has reference to points of minor importance. OTHER PUBLIC WORKS 467 preservation, and the improvement of rivers and harbours. Some of these public works may here be discussed briefly. Roads in Japan come into three categories — koku-do Classifica- (State or national roads), ken-do (provincial or pre- ^^^^^ fectural roads), and ri-do (village roads). The first named are those which lead from Tokyo to the great Ise Shrine, to the head-quarters of army divisions, and to all the naval stations and sites of prefectural offices, and the width of these highways, including the banks, exceeds 7 ken, or 42 feet. The second class is formed of those which connect prefectures and towns and seaports of consequence ; their breadth is between 24 and 30 feet. The ri-do have no limitations as to width. There are 5,243 miles of State roads, 22,040 miles of prefectural roads, and 231,078 miles of village roads, and besides an infinity of pontoons and wooden and earthen bridges there are 119 of iron and 61,836 of stone. The cost of their construction and main- tenance falls chiefly upon the prefectures, cities, towns, and villages, but in some cases the State Treasury subscribes to the expenditure, which, for the ten years from 1896, has averaged annually £1,004,548 on roads and £330,718 on bridges. In 1910, moreover, the Government decided to make a fixed annual grant with the object of assisting road improvement, and a Road Conference has been sitting since 1907 to investigate conditions. Japan sent a delegate to the International Road Congress at Brussels last year, and will also be represented at the 1912 Congress. The torrential nature of many of Japan's rivers has River always been a source of damage and trouble to the ,^„j ,.e- districts in their vicinity. In a period of 1300 years P'''""'^ ^^ . "^ conse- (566-1866) no less than 426 serious floods are re- quence ot corded, and even during this less strenuous era repairs ^° ^' Gg2 468 OTHER PUBLIC WORKS to embankments and deepening of channels involved considerable expenditure. Since the Rerstoration it would almost seem that Japan's liability to floods had increased ; in any case it is seldom that a year passes without some disastrous inundation, and since 1896 when the River Control Law was promulgated, the authorities have improved a score of large rivers and twenty-seven tributaries, and are still at work, with modern and efficient machinery, on the river Yodo and fourteen others. In view of the three calamitous floods which occurred last year the Government has decided upon a much more extensive programme of preventive works. These inundations, which made 1910 a tragically memorable year, chiefly affected the prefectures of Tokyo, Yamanashi, Saitama, Gumma, and others north-east of Tokyo, and resulted in the death of 1,409 people, injury to 708, and the destruction, partial or complete, of 12,286 houses, and nearly half-a-million acres of crops. In this special case the cost of riparian preventive works, estimated at 20 million yen., will largely be borne by the Treasury and the Calamity Fund, which will contribute re- spectively 7 million and 4 million yen ; local taxation will j)rovide a further 2 million yen^ and the remainder will come from local loans to be supplied from the Deposit Account on easy terms. Expendi- The annual ordinary expenditure on river-improve- j.^J^:^.^" ment averages about £1,400.000, of which approxi- work.,. mately £1,100,000 is contributed by prefectures, cities, towns, and villages interested, and the balance (since 1887) by the Central Government. The j^rogramme referred to above calls for permanent riparian work on sixty-five rivers, the improvements on twenty of these CO be completed by the fiscal year 1928-9, and the remainder to ])e put in hand subsequently. This OTHER PUBLIC WORKS 469 involves the setting apart, every year, of an additional 10 million yen, while a further sum of 10 million yen is to be spread over twenty years of work, for the pre- vention of landslips. Finally, having in mind the effect upon rivers of the numerous head-springs formed in forests, the Government is preparing a plan of forestry operations which, it is hoped, will haveftivourable results. The relative importance of the principal harbours of Japan may be gathered from the following table of exports and imports for 1910 : — Port Exports Imports Total Yokohama . Kobe . Osaka . Nagasaki . Hakodate . Moji . Other Ports Yen 225,174,470 122,114,769 48,201,798 3,093,959 2,356,337 15,469,414 41,898,249 Yen 154,284,552 230,567,578 27,616,762 8,918,907 161,671 18,703,121 23,981,217 Yen 379,459,022 352,682,347 75,818,560 12,222,866 2,518,088 34,172,535 65,879,466 Total 458,428,996 464,233,808 922,752,884 Relative Import- ance of Japanese Ports. It was in 1878 or 1879 that the condition of the Harbour country's harbours first engaged the attention of the )™ ntT ' Government. For some time after the opening of Yokohama and other ports to foreign trade ( 1854-9) their accommodation depended almost entirely upon their natural features, but with increasing foreign trade, extension became imperative, and many harbours were improved l)y dredging or other operations. A Harbour Investigation Commission appointed in 1900, dissolved shortly afterwards, and reappointed in 1906, ascertained through the medium of expert inspectors the harbour needs of various districts, and in view of the approaching opening of the Panama Canal has recommended that extensions of at least three of the principal harbours, Yokohama, Kobe, and Moji, should be put in hand without delay. 470 OTHER PUBLIC WORKS Yokohama and Kobe, of the thirty-seven open ports which Japan possesses, are those through which the bulk of the foreign trade has always passed, and it may almost be said that since 1879 the former has never been free of port-works of one kind or another, so rapid and constant has been the expansion of Japan's foreign commerce. No sooner has one pro- gramme of improvements been carried out than the additional accommodation is found to be inadequate, and work begins again. In 1899 the reclamation of 56 acres for sheds, warehouses, and moorings was begun, and in 1908 the re-dredging of the harbour was put in hand, both to be finished in March, 1914. Though the aggregate length of the breakwaters is over 2| miles, and the space they enclose already exceeds 1,237 acres, it has for some time been recognized that to cope with the existing trade the iron pier must be reconstructed, special quay- walls for coasting vessels must be built, the Yokohama dockyard must be ex- tended, and the coast-lines of the Yokohama Railway Company and the Yokohama warehouses must be lengthened. The construction of a canal between Tokyo and Yokohama is also to be undertaken very shortly. Kobe, an ideal harbour, except when the rare southerly and easterly winds blow, was discovered in 1896 to 1)0 imperfect in the matter of facilities for land and sea connexions, and shore improvements were thereupon begun. In 1902 railway work was initiated with the object of assisting the lighter-service, and in 1906 the Government inaugurated a six-years' programme which included the construction of moles and of a steel pier. But, meantime, the movement of the port had developed so rapidly that this pro- gramme would have been but a makeshift, and in OTHER PUBLIC WORKS 471 1907 foreshore reclamation was planned to cover 66 acres. In addition, three detached breakwaters with a combined length of just under 3 miles, and enclosing a water area of 1,715 acres, are to be built to protect the harbour from south and east winds; these should be completed in March, 1915. As in the case of Yokohama the sheds on the reclaimed ground will be connected directly with the railways. In 1905 a considerable area was reclaimed for Osaka Harbour, and two breakwaters and an iron pier were constructed, but the plan seems to have been somewhat faulty, railway communication not being connected to the pier. When this is done the accommodation will be vastly improved. Tsuruga, the chief port for trade with Siberia, is to be reconstructed by 1912 at a total cost of £42,000. The harbours in which, since 1878, work such as dredging, reclamation, and breakwater construction has been completed, are Sakai, Nagasaki, Misumi, Ujina, Kagoshima, Hakodate, Miike, and Nagoya. The cost of these improvements is usually defrayed from the Public Works funds of the localities con- cerned, but in the case of Yokohama and Kobe the National Treasury is to contribute nearly four-fifths of the total expenditure, and there are other exceptions ; the port of Miike, for example, was constructed at the expense of the Mitsui family. In the matter of electric tramways, the more popu- Electric lous centres of Japan are excellently served, though it Jj^yg" was not until 1895 that the first was constructed for public traffic in Kyoto. There are now, according to the returns for 1910, thirty-five electric tramway and electric railway companies in Japan, working in all 349 miles of line, and a further 368 miles are either building or projected. There are four inter-city Hues — 472 OTHER PUBLIC WORKS the Osaka-Kobe (19J miles), Kyoto-Osaka (29 miles), Tokyo-Yokohama(]64 miles), and Minomo-Arima (18 miles), of which all but the last run alongside the regular railways. The elevated electric railway in Tokyo carried during last year 180,272,314 passengers out of a total, for all the Japanese companies, of 325,066,003, and has 59 miles of line. Many of these undertakings also generate electricity for the motive power of various other enterprises, and with very few exceptions pay satisfactory dividends. The Osaka City Electric Tramway is the only municipal under- taking, all the others being private. In view of the extraordinary increase in the traffic of Tokyo, due principally to the rapid suburban de- velopment of the city, it is proposed to construct a 'tube' railway, of which the first section will be some 3| miles in length, at a depth of 40 feet below ground. The cost is estimated at 32 million yen. The congestion of traffic is not confined to Tokyo, and the ' tube ', if the project for its construction is sanctioned, may be but the pioneer of others in the larger towns. Public In addition to the public works and undertakings Adminis- wliicli liavo been mentioned, the Department for tration. '^qyrq Af^iirs also controls, through a Sanitary Bureau, all matters respecting the public health, such as quarantine for shipping, the prevention of infec- tious diseases, vaccination, the sale of drugs and patent medicines, the supervision of medical practi- tioners, chemists, and midwives, of water supply, and drainage works, the inspection of food and drink, and many kindred subjects. There are sanitary labora- tories at Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka, where analyses are conducted, and there is a Central Sanitary Board, formed of Government officials, doctors, chemists, and OTHER PUBLIC WORKS 478 sanitary engineers, which discusses hygienic matters and reports to the Ministers concerned. Quarantine, medical inspection, inspection of animals, and similar sanitary duties are in the hands of the Harbour Offices at Yokohama, Kobe, Nagasaki, and Fukuoka, and in the larger towns there are sanitary bureaux and guilds in connexion with the municipal corporations. Water supply cannot yet be regarded as satisfactory Water in Japan. The first city to construct waterworks on ^"^^ ^' western lines was Yokohama. There, a quarter of a century ago, the late General Palmer, an English retired officer, put into operation a plan of his own, whereby at the j^resent day 78,13G houses are each sup- plied with rather less than 3 cubic feet of water per diem, in return for an annual payment of 6 yen. On much the same lines works have been built at Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Nagasaki, Moji, Shimonoseki, Hiroshima, Okayama, Hakodate, Akita, Aomori, and at six other towns and three villages, though on a smaller scale. All expenditure on waterworks is defrayed by the city, town, or village concerned. Drainage and sewerage are so far only completed in Drainage Nagoya and Hiroshima, where the works were com- sewerage, menced in 1907, but in Osaka, Yokohama, Kobe, Shimonoseki, Sendai, and several other towns, systems are in process of construction, while in many other centres they have been projected. Meanwhile, street scavenging and the removal of refuse are thoroughly attended to in each town and city. With regard to the disposal of the dead, strict Burial- regulations prohibit the opening of new burial-grounds ° in the immediate vicinity of rivers, houses, public roads, or raihvays, and crematoria have been estab- lished in Tokyo and Osaka with the object of encouraging the practice of cremation. 474 OTHER PUBLIC WORKS In matters pertaining to slaughterhouses, the pre- vention of tuberculosis in cattle, the sale of milk, the supervision of doctors, dentists, midwives, and phar- macists, and cognate subjects, Japanese laws and regulations are very similar to our own, and in some cases superior, as in their excellent arrangements for the prevention of phthisis. The law respecting vacci- nation has recently been amended, and now provides that every child shall be vaccinated at two periods, between birth to June of the following year, and again before his tenth year. Opium Finally, the opium trade is controlled by the Government with creditable severity, and the sale of the drug is practically confined to cases in which it is prescribed by physicians. trade. CHAPTER XXYIII ART Only a few years ago it was customary to treat the Creativ(> whole art of Japan as applied or decorative art. The jjip^n creative arts of painting and sculpture, which in i^'^^e not I'GCGlVGd. Europe would of course receive almost exclusive the atten- attention from the critic or historian of Western art, [o^LpUed have been relegated by most writers to a less than oy decora- secondary place and given the briefest of accounts, while lacquer, porcelain, pottery, colour-prints, and sword-furniture, have been written of at length, and taken as typical and representative of Japanese art as a whole. This view is still maintained by many collectors, very few of whom have paid any attention to the paintings. This was mainly due to ignorance. But since 1893, when at the Chicago World's Fair, Japan exhibited for the first time in the Fine Arts section, instead of in the Industrial Arts section, the world has l)ecome better acquainted with the history and achieve- ments of her painters and her sculptors. We may also say that this history and these achieve- ments have in the last few years become also fai- better known to the Japanese themselves. The historic masterpieces of painting and of sculp- ture are almost all still in the possession of Buddhist temples or of private owners. They were, therefore, practically unknown to the Japanese public, as to the Euroi3ean traveller or resident. But now, partly owing to the Government policy (since 1897) of 476 ART registering and protecting the national treasures, and partly to the many and magnificent sets of repro- ductions published by the Kokka Company, and by the Shimbi Shoin, the true range and wealth of Japan's artistic achievements have been made known to every one. Applied It cannot be too well realized that in Japan, as spired by ^^^ every other country possessing a mature art — that creativp. jy^ an art expressive of the ideas, emotions, and aspirations of the race producing it^what are called the applied or industrial arts are merely the reflection of the creative or free arts : or rather they represent the overflow from the shaping and inventing energy embodied in works which have an independent imaginative existence. The decoration of things of use and luxury is governed by principles of design derived from the brains of the masters. It is true that in Japan some of the most original of the masters have applied their genius directly to decorative design. The lacquer of Koyetsu and Korin, the pottery of Kenzan, are classic examples. And the distinction between pictorial and decorative art is, in Japan, hardly perceptible. None the less it remains true that, just as in the West, painting and sculpture, and especially painting, are the predominant arts : it is in them that we must seek the key to all the rest. Painting. Painting in Japan has had a continuous and splendid existence for at least twelve centuries. No European nation can show anything like its parallel. What is the condition, and what are the pros^^ects of Japanese painting to-day ? Certainly there is no dearth of painters, and no lack of activity among them. But for all the display of multifarious talent, the art cannot be said to be in a satisfactory state. It is uncertain of its aim, dis- ART 477 tracted and confused. What else, indeed, could be expected ? Let us glance back for a moment at the history of the last few decades. When the Restoration came, and the period of Schools of Meiji was inaugurated, the two great classic schools ^\^"ie"^ of Tosa and of Kano were both at a low ebb of for- Restora- tune. The Tosa school, pre-eminently Japanese in its traditions, had existed since the thirteenth century, but, though it never died out, it had never enjoyed anything like the power and influence which made it paramount till the reversion to Chinese taste and ideals in Ashikaga times. A movement led by three fine painters, Totsugen, Tameyasu, and Ikkei, promised in the early nineteenth century a serious revival ; but it was not taken up and carried on. The Kano school was more fortunate in that it could still boast distinguished talent in men like Hogai, who died in 1888, and Hashimoto Gaho, who died in 1908. The vigorous genius of Kiosai (died 1889), though often associated with a popular kind of subject, also belonged essentially to the Kano tradition. But the kinds of painters which enjoyed most of public favour and esteem were, on the one hand, the groups deriving from Tani Buncho and his followers, or from the Bunjingwa, ' the literary men's style of painting,' both entirely Chinese in inspiration, and the Shi jo school of Kyoto painters, who practised a graceful naturalism. After the Restoration, when Japan set herself to absorb the whole new world of Western thought and activity, there was little here which could either coalesce with or effectively I'esist the new movement of ideas. More than a thousand years before, Japan had 478 ART absorbed with the same thoroughness of receptivity the civihzation, the religion, and the art of China. But how different were the two events ! Assimiia- Whatever the differences between the character Western and temperament of the two races, they belonged to ne^r t ^^^^ same hemisphere ; moreover, in the sphere of of native art, Japan was in the position of a novice ; she had tions. nothing to unlearn, she had only to learn. But in the nineteenth century she possessed an immense tradition, she could boast of a long line of splendid artists ; and if the art of the West was to become her exemplar, how much must be forgotten and thrown away ! For it was no mere question of technique that was at issue. Appliances of science, the external machinery of existence, could be taken over from the West without essential encroachment on inherited ways of thought. But art is like religion ; in it is bound up the soul of a race. The principles of composition in painting, the very conception of landscape and of figure-design, depend in great measure on a certain attitude of the mind to the world ; they are rooted in philosophic and religious ideas. And just in these ideas and conceptions the mind of Japan profoundly differed from the mind of Europe. Yet it cannot be wondered at that at first, when everything European was being so ardently embraced and enthusiastically imitated, the native traditions of art were for a time neglected and despised. It was supposed that the methods and aims of Western painters and sculptors must be superior and must be absorbed along with political institutions and scientific inventions. This was a time of grievous hardship and privation for the painters of the native schools, even for men of the eminence of Yosai, Hogai, and ART 479 Kiosai. The Government, with its resokite Western- izing poKcy, estabhshed an art school on European Hnes in 1876, and imported three artists from Italy as teachers. It was mainly owing to the impassioned remon- Reaction strances of an American, the late Prof. E. F. Fenollosa, of native the first non-Oriental to grasp and understand the ^^*- real significance and power of Japan's art, that a re- action was brought about. Fenollosa pleaded earnestly that before the methods of Europe were adopted, the study and practice of purely Japanese art should be placed on a sound footing. This advice was tendered in an official re23ort made after a tour in Europe on which he was sent with Japanese colleagues to study European schools and methods. In 1886 the Tokyo Art School was founded, with Tokyo Kano Hogai and Hashimoto Gaho as its chief teachers, gji^o^i And in the following year an official inspection of fo'^n'^ed. national treasures of art was set on foot by the Government. Hogai died in 1888. Later, a secession by Gaho Nippon and Okakura Kakuzo, well known in England and founded" America by his book The Ideals of the East, resulted in the formation of a new art school, the Nippon Bijitsu-in. During this transition-time the old traditions had been kept alive by a few painters of eminent gift, whose youth had belonged to the pre-Restoration era. But Hashimoto Gaho died in 1008, and though a few artists of the older generation are still working, it is, of course, to the younger men that we must look for the dominant tendencies of the day and the auguries of the future. The Japanese painters of to-day are divided into two main camps ; those who regard Western ideas 480 ART Modern Japanese painters divided into two camps. Antago- nism between European and Japanese art over- empha- sized. as a dangerous contamination, and those who beheve that the conventions of the old schools are worn out, and that only an infusion of fresh conceptions and fresh material can restore vitality to their country's ai-t. A genius may arise any day who will strike out a firm path for himself on one or other of these lines, or effect a triumphant fusion of both. Genius is in- calculable. Meanwhile we may consider the situation and the problems now presented. A distinguished critic, Mr. Sei-ichi Taki, writing in that admirable magazine, The KoJchi, has found both camps of artists wanting. Those who are for the old tradition, he thinks, imitate the letter rather than the spirit of the great men of the past ; while the innovators borrow a superficial realism from the West, without seizing the essential strength of Western art. Whatever truth there is in this criticism, and in the main it seems to be justified, too much may be made of the antagonism between the art of Europe and the art of Japan. It is true, as we have said, that psycho- logical characteristics, an inherent mental attitude toward life and nature, affect the one art and the other in deep and subtle ways. These characteristics are bound to appear, whether consciously or uncon- sciously. But though the main current of develop- ment in each case and the technical methods employed have been so different, art is a universal language, and there arc phases of European painting which have real affinities with Japanese painting. Still more is this the case if we include European drawings. Probably this is not yet realized in Japan. Both Japanese and European critics have noticed the striking similarity, behind surface differences, between the early Italian frescoes and the early reli.iiious paint- ART 181 iiig of Japan. Indeed, as Mr. Arthur Morri.son points out in his recently-published large work {The Falnters of Japan, 1911), the methods of the fresco painter and of the Japanese painter of whatever school or period have much in common. Again, the drawings of Claude, of Rembrandt, of Holbein, of Gainsborough (to take a few instances only) might be put side by side with certain kinds of typical Japanese brush- drawing without any incongruity. Such cases, it may be said, are exceptional. The great bulk of European painting has for its object, it is true, the complete realization of a scene, whether observed or imagined. Japanese painting has no such aim : it abstracts from reality, suppressing all cast shadows, for instance, and aims rather at evoking an emotion in the spectator by dwelling on just those elements which have stirred the artist's emotion, omit- ting everything else. Yet it must not be overlooked that at the present time the stream of tendency among the more serious and thoughtful of European artists and critics is toward a more significant and spiritual presentation of things, and away from the pursuit of realism for its own sake ; in fine, towards a nearer kinship with the aims of Japanese tradition. And Japanese painters should realize that, just as the civilization of Europe is not summed up by, or really dependent on the mechanical triumphs of science, its mastery of steam and electricity, so the real achievement of European art is not its wonderful success in representing the asj)ect of actual nature, for this is only a means and not an end. Doubtless to one who has been accustomed only to the methods and effects of Japanese and Chinese painting, the scientific thoroughness displayed in a European picture, the know- ledge of perspective, anatomy, light, and shadow, &c., I'OUTEU H ll 482 ART must be (whether welcome or not) very striking. But the danger of the Westernizing Japanese is that they may become absorbed in these matters and forget that all this knowledge and mastery are merely instru- ments in the expression of a pictorial idea. Growing Europe in the last few years has become aware of oOapTn- ^^^^ greatness of the historic art of Japan. It no ese art in longer confiues its attention to Hokusai, Utamaro, Hiroshige. And what impresses European artists in Japanese masterpieces is their greater freedom and spirituality. Idea is not clogged and swamped by material as it too often has been with us. Japanese colour-prints have already widely influenced European and American design. In the future the influence will come rather from the classic art of Japan, from those masterpieces of painting and sculpture which are felt to have a spiritual kinship with a certain side of European art, hitherto but imperfectly developed. What then can Japanese art, in its turn, gain from Europe? Possible Its weakness has been the converse of that which Japanese ^^^^ beset Western art ; instead of becoming too matter- art from of.fact throusrh the pursuit of observation for its own European ° ^ art. sake, it has tended to become thin and starved from overmuch re^^etition of the same motives and over- much prizing of the calligraphic element. It will be a deplorable thing if Japanese painting as we have known it in the past, with its delicacy, its suggestiveness, its reticence of power, should efface itself in surrender to an alien ideal. Oriental art is the beautiful complement of Western art ; each has its own life, each is alike precious to the world. But as the Japanese nation has since 1868 taken its choice so resolutely, it is impossible that its art should not be affected in some way or other by Western ART 483 example, if that art is to remain in touch with national life. This may come without any surrender of essen- tials. If indirect, rather than direct, the influence is likely to be all the more fruitful. Just as European artists are being stimulated by all sorts of felicities of invention, quite new to them, in Japanese work, so may the Japanese be stimulated by European work. The gain should be in an accession of fresh ideas, which can be transmuted into Japanese forms. But let the painters of Japan be sure that it is the finest of European art which they study ; for assuredly it is this which they will find most congenial to their innate ideals, and from which they will best be able to profit. Our contemporary art in the West is to an un- initiated eye a gross welter of confusion. A thousand times too many pictures are painted ; and the pro- portion of really inspired work remains as small as ever, often neglected and ignored. Merely to catch the contagion of this state of things would be disas- trous. Exhibitions have now become regular and frequent in Tokyo ; and the exhibition picture, which is the bane of Western art, a thing designed not to form part of the harmony of a living-room, but to out- shine its neighbours on a gallery wall, is bound to increase and multiply. Such a recent painting as the 'Founding of a Nation ', Mis- by Nakamura Fusetsu, may be noted as an instance of imitation the misdirected imitation of Europe. Though a work ^^ ^"^""^ ,. 1 .,. 1 • • • n 1 pean art. or ability, this is essentially one or those compositions of nude figures grouped together and doing nothing in particular, of wdiich Western academies have produced only too many. This is to imitate from the outside ; a method which can result in nothing durable oj' profound. Hh2 484 ART Recent At Paris, in 1900, and at the Japan-British exhibi- porary ^^^^^ ^^^ London in 1910, there was an op]3ortunity for Japanese Europeans to see something of the aims and achieve- ments of the recent and contemporary art of Japan. The paintings in native style at the latter exhibition, "without baing extraordinary, gave promise for the future. The screens by Odake Kokkwan displayed some of the old genius for representing action and movement which produced such splendid masterpieces in the heyday of the Tosa school. And in Shimomura Kwanzan, whose two panels of ' The Forest in Autumn ' showed great richness of design, Japan has a painter, already distinguished, who should do great things. Terasaki Kogyo and Kawai Giokudo have also shown interesting talent. Many of the paintings, however, in both these exhibitions, both of native and Western style, had a marked want of substance and significance. In the classic kakemono the motives are often ex- tremely slight to Western eyes ; but that is atoned for by the depth of mood in which the subject is felt, and which is communicated in every stroke of the brush. Smallness of character is also the weakness of modern Japanese sculpture, which tends to delicate realism and extreme cleverness of workmanship, but rarely attempts anything like grandeur of conception or largeness of execution. Here, surely, the study of the great Europeans might prove a wholesome stimulus. For in sculj)ture the problems are much simpler than in painting, where shadows, eschewed by the Japanese, form an integral part of the Western scheme. Sculp- There has been no i-eally great sculpture in Japan for centuries, though as early as the seventh century many wonderful masterpieces were produced. The static poses required for Buddhist figures, and the ])aramount influence of Buddhism on the art, probably ture ART 485 account for this earl}^ decline. But there is no reason why secuhir sculpture should not develop and ex^Dand in our time. The singular genius of the Japanese for suggesting movement and their instinct for beauty of line should here serve them admiral)ly. What is wanted are a greater seriousness and force of concep- tion, more sincerity and ardour, issuing in a style that should disdain the triviality of over-finish and heartless dexterity. It is to ])e hoped that neither in sculj^ture nor in jDainting will Japan fail to l)e true to her own national character and ideal. We, in the West, may point to Whistler as an example of a great artist who, while gaining much from Japanese art, nevertheless remained true to himself. He assimilated only what was naturally congenial to his instincts ; and amid the great wealth and variety of European art there must be examples in one school or another from which Japanese artists could derive a quite sympathetic and salutary in- fluence. We repeat that the important thing is that the artists of Japan should know and understand the great masters of Europe before attempting to involve them- selves in the many conflicting currents and confused aspirations of contemporary Western art. In the minor arts of Japan there is still exquisite Minor w^orkmanship. The old traditions still persist, though ^^ ^' sadly weakened by modern commercialism. The once glorious art of the sw^ordsmith seems to be perishing and for ever. Since the beginning of the Meiji period there has been a revival of the colour-print, which had passed, with the introduction of aniline dyes, into a state of utter decadence. The prints designed by Gekko, Tosliikata, and a few others are graceful and 486 ART attractive, though they cannot compare with the really noble design of the period of Kiyonaga and Utamaro. The skill of the woodcutters has been most signally shown, however, in the astonishingly beautiful repro- ductions of old paintings which first appeared in the Kol'lia, started in 1889, and in the Shhnhi Tail-wan (1899, &c.). Exquisite reproduction of old designs is, indeed, a striking feature of the industrial arts, most enjoyable in itself but hardly a testimony to the power and originality of living designers. It would seem as if Japan were following Europe in the growing divorce between creative and decorative art. This is to be regretted ; and, probably, a reaction will come, as indeed it is coming in Europe, where artists are everywhere growing more interested again in the long-despised crafts. But a nation that has shown throughout its history so profound an instinct for design should surely not want for new genius to arise and, it may be, transform the character of its arts under the fresh influences of modern times. We wait in hope. rracticai It may not be uninteresting to add a brief note on tion of the growth in the recognition of Japanese art which arHn^^^ the past fifteen years have witnessed in Europe. Europe. The chief change to be noted in the attitude of collectors and museums is the gradual approach to a true perspective. Lacquer pottery, sword-furniture, and textiles retain the appreciation which is their due ; but masterpieces of the classic periods of the ideal art of Japan, whether in 23ainting or in sculpture, are now the paramount objects for acquisition by enlightened collectors. When Japan was first opened to Western trade the events of the revolution had caused many old families to disperse treasured property, and at that time really first-rate works could on occasion ART 487 have been bought. Unfortunately, there was httle to guide the European buyer ; he was thrown on his own taste, and, having little experience, bought in most cases what was pretty and attractive rather than what was noble and severe in style ; he preferred Sosen to Sesshiu. Now that he is better instructed the oppor- tunity has passed. He can only acquire fine examples of classic work with great difficulty and must pay highly for them. The result of these conditions has been that European collections of Japanese paintings are mostly of a mixed character. A certain number of really fine things have been acquired, but the ten- dency has been for these to be greatly outnumbered l)y inferior specimens and by forgeries. Henceforth, with better opportunities for forming a judgment, more care will doubtless be shown. European museums have till lately collected Japanese Coiiec- works of art as materials for the study of ethnography. European The earliest of these collections, that at Leyden, is still '1"*^^ . , American in the ethnographical museum of that city. Usually museums. we find Japanese art in the sections of ethnography or of industrial arts. But undoubtedly in the future Japanese painting will be recognized, with Chinese painting, as on the same footing as the painting of Europe. It is so recognized in the Museum of Fine Arts at Boston, U.S.A., of which the collection made ])y Fenollosa formed the magnificent nucleus. No European centre can show anything to rival this or the other great American collection, that of Mr. Charles Freer of Detroit, destined to become a national museum and to be housed at Washington. France, the first country in Europe to appreciate Japanese art, con- fined her attention too long to the colour-prints and the minor arts, in which the French private collections are extraordinarily rich. Of recent years, however, 488 ART a small representative collection of* painting and sculp- ture has been made by the Louvre, which will doubtless grow in importance. In England, the British Museum has possessed since 1881 the Anderson collection of nearly 3,000 paintings, among which, though there is much that is insignificant, are a number of fine pieces. Additions have been made to this in the last few years, but it is the Chinese section of it which has been enriched with the most notable of new acquisitions. The collection of Mr. Arthur Morrison at Loughton is probably the richest and finest private collection of Japanese paintings in Europe. Germany, though its chief museums have been later in the field, is now alive to the interest of the subject. The Berlin Kunst- Gewerbe Museum has in the last four years acquired a choice series of paintings and other subjects. And at Cologne there is now in course of erection the first museum yet made which is solely dedicated to the arts of Eastern Asia. This will house the fine collection formed by Professor Adolf Fischer in the East. A jiublic collection has been formed at Buda-Pesth ; and in 1905 the Chiossone collection, bequeathed to the city of Genoa by an Italian engraver long resident in Japan, was opened as a museum. Thus all over Europe the interest in Japanese art has steadily grown and is growing still, not only in extent but in enlightenment. The material used in this chapter was largely supplied by Mr. Laurence Binyon, assistant in the British Museum, to whom the writer is also indebted for valuable assistance in its preparation. Mr. Binyon is the author of Paintings in tlie Far East, and is a recognized authority on Japanese art. CHAPTER XXIX JAPANE>SE LITEKATURE Though a small band of British explorers has laboured during the last forty years to open up the undiscovered coiuitry of the literature of Japan, large tracts remain partially or totally obscure. Guided by the veneration of native critics for works which have survived from earlier ages, these inquirers have devoted most attention to the translation and ex- position of ancient authors. Hence much more is known of the j^oetry and prose produced between the ninth and thirteenth centuries than of the immense activity which created popular taste in the seventeenth century and has continued to cater for it until the present day. One reason for this disparity is that not Use of the r. 1 X 'L • ^ ' i. Chinese a tew modern Japanese writers on serious subjects lano-uao-e have preferred to express themselves in Chinese, ^^^'^ ^^^^' , , . graphs an thereby laying a pitfall for foreign students. Indeed, impedi- Professor Haga has reason to complain of the ' gross ™gearch. mistake ', which caused Nilion Gwaislii, a famous war- chronicle covering four centuries of the Shogunate, and published by Eai Sanyo in 1887, to be registered as a Chinese work in the catalogue of the Royal Library of Berlin. Japanese was considered, at that time, a suitable medium only for plays and novels which appealed to the vulgar. Thus l^arricaded behind aristocratic ideographs lies a mass of unrevealed philosophy, biography, and history on which the literati most pride themselves. And since the move- ment for printing purely Japanese compositions in 490 JAPANESE LITERATURE romanized characters, so that even the running tourist might read, has met with increasing opposition of late years from the classes which value close intercourse with China, one can only hope that, in return for the flood of occidental literature which has fertilized the soil of Japan since the seventies, many more of her sons will follow the welcome examples of Professors Haga and Takenob by admitting us to the still veiled recesses of her most-treasured thoughts, feelings, and memories. Trans- Before describing the chief literary developments Japanese ^^ recent years, which are none the less interesting on literature, account of a large derivative and transitional element, it may not be out of place to recall what we owe to previous interpreters, especially as their pious industry is too often sepulchred in the transactions of erudite societies. The versions by Sir Ernest Satow of the Norito, archaic prayers to Shinto deities for good harvests, for the prosperity of the Palace, for deliver- ance from fire and plague, most of which date from before the seventh century, are only accessible in the records of the Asiatic Society of Japan. In the same grave is interred Professor Chamberlain's translation of the Kojiki, a sort of Turanian Bible, containing the cosmogony, mythology, and earliest history of the country from the days of the gods until a.d. 628. From a literary point of view the compilation is often crude and tedious ; as a historical document, it is open to grave doubt ; as a picture of divine existence and behaviour, it stands in about the same relation to the Homeric conception of Olympus as a clay fetish of the Maori to the marbles of Phidias. But, while it is true that Motoori, the great commentator, took thirty-two years (1764-96) to expound its merits in forty-four volumes, exalting its veracity and praising its theology JAPANESE LITERATURE 491 with uncritical patriotism, what is wanted for the purpose of fruitful elucidation is a complete study of its legends and customs by an anthropologist steeped in Asiatic folk-lore. The talking animals and childish gods, with their queer mixture of barbarism and politeness, betoken a state of mind more primitive in quality, if not in time, than is reflected in any other literature. Classical poetry has been clearly and ably expounded English to English readers. About five years ago the Clarendon <.Jo "g Jf Press issued Mr. F. V. Dickins's admirable work on Japanese . poetry. the Manijoshhi, a famous anthology of poems written by courtiers for courtiers at Nara in the latter half of the eighth century. These elegant lyrics of the seasons and the affections are printed in Roman type opposite a literal translation and copiously accompanied by notes, essays, and appendices, so that critics who may be inclined to differ from the modest rate at which Mr. Dickins assesses the contributions of Hitomaro and Akahito to the poetry of the world, have ample means of forming independent judgment. The same writer is much to be thanked for including in the volume the Taketori 3fonofjatari, that charming fairy tale of the woodcutter, who found in a split bamboo the shining maiden Kaguyahime, destined to l^e wooed by an Emperor and to soar back from the midst of his vainly encircling warriors to her kinsmen in the Moon. Though founded on Chinese fancy, this beautiful specimen of Heian authorship is a striking example of the graceful culture which reigned at Kyoto at the beginning of the tenth century. No version has yet been made either of the Ise Monogatari, an even more elegant record of Narihara's poetical amours, or of the Ufsuho and Yamato collections of tales from which Mr. W. G. Aston gives tantalizing 492 JAPANESE LITERATURE excerpts in Jiis JajKinese Literature. A second official anthology of poems, the Kohinshiu, completed about a century after the McDiyosMn, has attracted many translators, who vainly try to pin down the Tanka, like butterflies, without sacrificing their elusive beauty. But the English versifier's point is often fatal to the Verlainian nuance of Kyoto art. Some amplify out of all recognition, others, like Professor Chamberlain, fly in despair to sheer literalism with explanatory prose. Classical Probably the most famous specimen of classical ction. f^g^JQj;^ ig i\^Q Genjl 3Ionogatari, written, if tradition . may be accepted, by a lady of the Fujiwara clan at the dawn of the eleventh century. It deals in rambling fashion with the amorous adventures of Prince Genji, and presents a panoramic view of Imperial society. Full of incident and character, it yet defies translation by its prolixity. Viscount Suyematsu translated, many years ago, the first twenty-seven chapters, but the more picturesque episodes, such as that of the Nun and the little girl who lost her pet sparrow, have been made familiar by the widely - circulated illustrations of Kunisada and other artists of the Ukiyo-ye School. -Phil- Between 1186-1382 in the Kamakura period, when teenth court influence decreased and the military caste laid century . . . . "^ . antho- an iron hand on national life, it was inevitable that amlTheir literature should decay, while sterner pursuits mono- influeiicp polized men's minds. Nevertheless, two works of upon ^ national great importance were produced. The last of the °"^^ ■ classical anthologies — the Hiakft-nhi-is-shm, or Tankas by one hundred authors— was compiled about 1235. These have been three times rendered into English, and Mr. W. N. Porter's quite recent invention of an equivalent stanza with triple rhyme and terse phrasing may be said to suggest as much as can be expected JAPANESE LITERATURE i98 of the original. It is a thousand i^ities, however, that no student has appeared of sufficient knowledge and resource to adapt the Ilellie Monogatari. This is the true Japanese saga, celebrating their war of the Roses between the Taira and Minamoto clans with profuse splendour of fact and legend. It is partly in verse, partly in rhythmic prose. It was chanted by blind Rhapsodists to their lutes ; it became the source of numberless plays and novels. Its heroes remain the national heroes : Yoshitsune means far more still to a Japanese schoolboy than King Arthur or King- Alfred to British lads. At least one passage, which describes how the Emj^eror Antoku, a child of eight, is drowned with his nurse Niidono in the supreme hour of defeat at the sea-fight of Dan-no-ura, may be compared for beauty and pathos with the scene where Hector parts from Andromache and his infant son on the battlements of Troy. Here is Mr. Aston's simplified rendering : — ' This world is the region of sorrow, a remote spot small as a grain of miUet. But beneath the waves there is a fair city called the Pure Land of Perfect Happiness. Thither it is that I am taking you. AVitli such words she soothed him. The child then tied his top-knot to the Imperial robe of the colour of a mountain-dove and tearfully joined together his lovely little hands. First he turned to the East and l^ade adieu to the shrine of the great God of Ise and the shrine of Hachiman. Next he turned to the West and called upon the name of Buddha. When he had done so, Niidono made bold to take him in her arms, and, soothing him with the words : " There is a city away below the waves," sank down to the bottom one thousand fathoms deep.' During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries feudal struggles continued to absorb attention. As in the 494 JAPANESE LITERATURE Monkish so-called Dark Ages of Europe, learning and writing cleTof became the monopolies of monks — with, however, f°"^" one notable difference. The Buddhist pens were less teentn . and dipped in theological gall than the Christian. They centuries, were not SO exclusively concerned with doctrine, and dwelt readily on secular themes. Chikafusa, no doubt, used the Shinto faith as an arsenal of weapons for defending the right of the Southern Mikados to claim the True Succession of the Divine Monarchs, but his main object was political. The monkish chronicles of the TailieUd mingle Buddhist theology with battles, travels, and parallel episodes of Chinese or Indian history. One is reminded by the easygoing Kenko, author of that strange pot-2)ourri of reflections, anecdotes, and sketches, entitled Tsiire-dziire-gusa {Fleurs cV Ennui) of a genial abbe at the court of Louis XIV, before Madame de Maintenon prescribed external austerity. This amusing table-talker, who extenuates, while he cen- sures venial frailty, has been made intelligible but not accessible by the Rev. C. S. Eby in the pages of The Chri/santhenium. Wider publicity is desirable. Buddhist Finally, the wonderful, but untranslatable No texts The"5Jar foi"ii^, perhaps, the noblest contributions by Buddhist authors to Japanese literature. Their full effect naturally depends on the conjunction of weird melodies and dances with which they are interwoven round the subject of some historic or legendary occurrence. The religious element is introduced either by choric odes or by the intervention of ghosts, demons, and exorcising priests. But the human interest is always pathetically present, though rather shrouded by the impersonal tone of sentiments and reflections, in accordance with Japanese taste. Many critics have done their best to interpret at least the form and j^urport of these sacred operettas. We may cite one JAPANESE LITERATURE 495 of the best examples, the Japanese Flays and Plaij- Jellous of Mr. Osman Edwards. The writer is greatly indebted to Mr. Edwards for material and for valuable assistance in the preparation of this chapter, and the chapter on the Japanese Drama, of which Mr. Edwards has made a special study. The appreciation of the com- posite and many-coloured odes and speeches in these No texts demands deej^er acquaintance with Chinese lore, and more ability to comprehend the verbal dexterity of puns and pivot-words than most foreigners possess. It looks as though even Professor Tsubouchi's attempt to revive this ge)ire in modern form by similar coni- l^ositions on the subject of the Fisher-lad of JJrasliima and the Moon-maiden had failed to satisfy the judg- ment of contemporaries. Many translations have been made of the Kiogcn — the ' mad ' interludes of rustic humour which relieved the solemnity of religious drama. But these have no claims to literary merit, and though their local colour is novel to Western readers, the jests on which they turn are neither subtle nor remarkable. It might have been expected that the Golden Age Litera- of the Tokugawa Shoguns, extending from 1603 to ^^^^^ ^-^^ 1867, when the whole country enjoyed peace, and Toku- each citizen was chained to his duty in that state of ' ' ' life unto which it had pleased lyeyasu to call him, would abound in masterpieces of many kinds. But, if this did happen, as regards literature at any rate, two circumstances have excluded outsiders from participa- tion. Chinese influence completely dominated the Chinese upper classes, and imposed its philosophy and ethical ^° "^°*^^- code on every rank. These are generally of unsym- pathetic quality in the eyes of foreigners. Few have troubled to absorb them, but Monseigneur de Harlez's Ecole Pliiloso'pliique de la Chine may be consulted with 196 JAPANESE LITERATUEE advantage. Beneath their serene canopy the masses of the people at last entered on their heritage. Popular drama and popular romances were eagerly devoured by the shopkeepers of Osaka and Yedo, whose children were now taught ' reading, letter- writing, arithmetic, etiquette, and calligraphy' in the temple schools established by lyeyasu. Such writers as coveted vulgar glory were despised by the educated, and paternally checked by the Government, but, for the most part, their fancies ran riot. Read, for in- stance, Mr. Aston's analysis of the plot of Chikamatsu s masterpiece, Kokusenija Kassen (1715) — a play, which amasses in five acts the murderous exploits of a famous Chinese pirate — or glance in the British Museum through Hokusai's illustrations to one of Bakin's interminable romances (1805-41) : you will at once perceive what has deterred or horrified trans- lators. Erudition, prodigal invention, lavish blood- shed, bombast, and improbability are the main in- gredients. Graft the extravagance of Marlowe on the prolixity of Dumas, and imagine a public that will spend all day in feasting on the horrible and the incredible : you will then understand both the con- tempt of Japanese scholars for such productions, and the reluctance of Europeans to rifle treasures, which would shrivel in the cold light of those who judge by the tame standards of Fielding or Defoe. Writers Yet between the abstruse logomachies of Chinese f'awa or fShinto disputants, like Hakuseki or Motoori, and times of those purveyors of marvels for the multitude, there did repute . . to-day. exist somo keen-witted observers, whom Japanese novelists of to-day delight to honour. There was Ibar^ Saikaku of Osaka, who died in 1693 ; there was Kiseki of Kyoto, who died in 1736. Both drew in humorous and realistic sketches the gay life and free JAPANESE LITERATURE ^97 manners of their day. For graphic satire they are unsurpassed ; as witnesses to the state of the Tokugawa underworld they are invaluable. Such, at least, is the verdict of their successors. But, unfor- tunately, the squeamish European has refused to follow them into the circles they loved to frequent. The prudery of our race has forbidden any reproduc- tion of their indiscretions — a prudery which was shared on more than one occasion by their own Government, since their liveliest efforts to rebuke immorality by ' moral tales ' met with swift sup- pression and im^^risonment. Whatever may have been their offences against our notions of reticence, they seem to have had the prime merit of mirroring the spirit of their age, while their style was witty and concise. Ikku, who flourished in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, wrote a rollicking masterpiece in Hizakimge, which has been compared with Pickivich and eulogized as ' the most humorous and entertaining book in the Japanese language'. Who will rescue this romance of the road from the obscurity of its Uiitive tongue for the delectation of alien readers ? Original work in fiction or any other branch of influence literature was violently arrested by the Restoration of i-ation 1867 and by the simultaneous inrush of exotic ideas. 1^p°" „ , . literary It was felt to be a duty of paramount importance for work. all patriots to secure the safety of their country by full examination and wise use of any discoverable sources of foreign strength. Thus, for about fifteen years most literary men of influence were occupied with the task of translating and explaining. Though Dutch had been the first medium through which a knowledge of medicine, astronomy, and geography was acquired, the English tongue held a predominant place. Professor Toyama, a graduate of Michigan University, and PORTER I 1 498 JAPANESE LITERATURE Influence Professor Kikuchi, a graduate of Cambridge University, peai"arici ^^^^ ^lie foundations of Tokyo official teaching on an Amevican Anfiio- American basis. As a private schoolmaster, the thouglit. ^ . . ^ . . \ far-seeing pioneer, the great Yukichi Fukuzawa, having indi- recorded in Seipo Jijo {Condition of Western Countries) teachers, l^is fi'ank impressions of America and Europe, began to exercise enormous influence. Indifferent to politi- cal questions, he believed profoundly in the wisdom of the West. His school (the KelogijuJiu), his news- paper (the Jiji, or Times), his lectures and public speeches (the last proceeding was a bold innovation for men accustomed to Tokugawa restraint), wielded the powers of Luther or Voltaire. Though he once pro- posed the adoption of Christianity as a State religion for purely convenient reasons, the main trend of his teaching was utilitarian : the writers with whom he felt most sympathy were Hume, Buckle, Bentham, Mill, and Gibbon. Dr. Niishima stands apart from the other educators, whose debts to the Occident are mostly intellectual, by the fact that he imbibed ardent Protestantism in New England and returned to estab- lish the Christian Doshisha schools at Kyoto. The Waseda University is the work of Count Okuma, whose devotion to progressive liberalism of an English type partly accounts for the fact that during the last decade he has found more scope in educational than governmental activity. With his name must be linked that of Professor Tsubouchi, author of an able History of English Literature and originator of many literary and theatrical reforms. Another influential teacher was Mr. Keiwu Nakamura, who translated Mill's On Liherty and Smiles's Self-Help. The philosophy of Spencer and Darwin was entrenched in the Tokyo Imperial University, for evolution, whether interpreted with Christian or agnostic glosses, seemed exactly JAPANESE LITERATURE 499 suited as a creed to a time of rapid growth. France, about this time, enjoyed a brief period of popularity. Mr. Tokusuke Nakae's translation of Rousseau's Contrat Social is said to have given such impetus to the demand for democratic rights that the Imperial Rescript, which pi:omised a Constitution within ten years, was partly ascribed to its success. Voltaire and Montesquieu found translators. Novels with a politi- cal tendency held the field. Lytton and Disraeli were draped in the kimono of a loose rendering, while Mr. Fumio Yano wrote A Model for Statesmen, choosing as his hero Epaminondas of Thebes, and reminding one of the chlamys-and-toga hero-worship of the French Revolution. The wild aspirations of those early years, whether derived from English or French sources, have long ago been pruned to the more congenial type of German statecraft. In local government, in the science of pedagogy, in Prince Ito's constitution itself, choice was finally made of German models, as being more in harmony with the oligarchic spirit and semi-divine monarchy of old Japan. At Tokyo University Pro- fessor Florentz maintains the traditions of Teutonic industry and erudition. Hence it may be asserted that, while Great Britain and the United States were the first tutors of the Mikado's subjects in freedom of speech and thought, they have now formidable rivals in the enlightened civilization of Berlin. By 1885 a generation was growing up, which had European attained the position not only of reading, but also of |j|e^[fg*^ assimilating European literature. In that year Pro- i^tro- d IIP PCI fessor Tsubouchi issued his much-discussed Principles of Fiction, a manifesto as important in its way as Hugo's trumpet-call to young France in the preface to Hern an i. The period of absorption had passed : it was time to create. Moreover, a counter-movement towards ii2 500 JAPANESE LITERATURE national ideals was setting in. The old-fashioned romance with its lidiculous licence of unchartered fancy must be superseded by the novel with the defi- nite aim of portraying Japanese life in its essential truth. The pretence of edification, the didactic bias with its 2)oetic justice and impossible adventures, must be replaced by the narrower purpose of artistic satis- faction. Style, however, must not be neglected. As models, therefore, were recommended the works of Samba and Shunsui, realistic observers of Yedo society between 1810 and 1830, while the professor himself, to illustrate his principles, published some Sketclies of Student Life {SJiosei Katagi) which speedily bore fruit. An association was formed of Friends of the InJc Shdj (Ken-yn-sJia) and a magazine appeared, the Garahda BunJw, in which, after the manner of Paris, a literary coterie shouted its war-cry and hoisted its flag. Aesthetic The leader of this school, ' Koyo ' Ozaki, seems to schooi^^ have aimed at aesthetic realism, that is, at combining beauty of words with ardour of sentiment and adher- ence to fact. His novels were chiefly concerned with womanhood, from The Love-confessions of Two Kuns (1889) to the unfinished Golden Hag (1905), a tale of conflict between love and avarice, which has been partially translated by Mr. Arthur Lloyd. Many amours, many regrets is the tearful confession of a widower. By one Japanese critic he is bracketed with Mr. Henry James, but as the same writer accredits his country with a Thomas Hardy, a George Eliot, a George Meredith, and an Edgar Allan Poe, such analogies may be taken as signs rather than measures. At any rate, Koyo died in 1904 at the early age of thirty-eight, with a reputation based quite as much on his style, which recalls the elegance of JAPxVNESE LITERATURE 501 Saikakii, as on the depth of his psychology, which is, perhaps, more general than particular. The titles of his novels are prettily suggestive : Neugi-bisho [Tlie Floiver-fwirlii/g Smile, which refers to a legend of Buddha); Kyam-Mahum {The Aloe-tvoocl Filloiv)', Odoro- Bnne {Sht])s in the Haze). Another member of the school, ' Bimyosai ' Yamada, whose best-known stories are Kocho [Baiteyfly) and Wal-ashiraya {Grey-haired Youth), is also credited with a polished style but rather superficial treatment. He was the first to dilute conventional ' fine writing ' with colloquial idiom. ' Bizan ' Kawakami, who graduated with the love- stories of Yellow Chrysanthemum, White Chrysanthemum, and Snow-hroJcen Bamboo, turned in later years to less sentimental subjects and won an after-math of fame with The Government Official and The Reverse of the Medal. Iwaya Sazanami preferred to write of ' the pretty emotions of young people ' under fanciful titles derived from shells or textures. Three authors stand by themselves in niches of Authors unique personality. ' Roban ' Koda, who is Professor Action. of Literature at Kyoto University, is an idealist of 'Roban.' lofty imaginative power. His books are leavened with Buddhist reflections and poetic passages, which lengthen but beautify the narrative. His men are more firmly depicted than his women, and both are enveloped in silver haze. His chief works are : The Buddha of Taste and Elegance, Dew, Facing a Skull, The Eccentric Man, The Microcosm of Elegance ; they appeal to literary epicures. He has published an historical novel, Higi-otolio (1897), dealing with the civil wars of the sixteenth century, and The Five-storied Pagoda was lately translated into English. His essays on Saikaku and others of the Genroku period are highly esteemed. 502 JAPANESE LITERATUliE •Futabei." • ' Futabei ' Hasegawa (1863-1909) is more earnest, if less ornate, than the members of the Ken-yu-slia. He hved in St. Petersburg for many years as corre- spondent of the AsaJii; he was the first to imbue Japanese fiction with Russian sadness and intensity. His masterpiece. Floating Cloud (Ukigumo), published in 1887, was followed by long silence until the Asalii commissioned him to write Vestiges and Mediocrity. His strong imagination is reinforced by the use of colloquial idiom not only in dialogue but in de- scription. 'Ogai.' An excej^tional position is held by Surgeon-General 'Ogai' Mori, Chief of the Medical Bureau of the Army, who brought home from four years' study in Germany a deep enthusiasm for German writers. He made translations of Heine, Goethe, Stellen, Hart- mann's AestJwtiJi, and of much continental literature from the German, while two original stories, the Dream and the Dancing - Girl, were inspired by memories of the Fatherland. A tale which he wrote about the storming of Port Arthur had immense vogue. Both he and ' Roban ' were appointed this year by the Government to serve on the Board of Literary Censors, which has recently been established with the purpose of encouraging healthy fiction, and of bridging the gulf which has existed for some time between the harassed Civil Authorities and extremists of the Fleshly School. In the early nineties Romance began to raise its crushed head again, and to aj^peal with chastened voice to classes which lay outside the ring-fence of l^rofessional orthodoxy. Historical tales, detective stories, sentimental effusions won great success with feminine readers. As a femtletoniste and newspaper- proprietor ' Gensai ' Murai made a large fortune with JAPANESE LITERATURE 503 ' goody-goody tales ', like The Small Cat, The Belle of the 3Iountain. Lady novelists flourished. Most of the Women latter were undistinguished, but critics are agreed in ^^" ^^^' assigning the title of genius to an authoress named ' Ichiyo ' Higuchi, who died at the age of twenty-four, in 1896, after publishing a score or so of short stories in five years. Charming in style, truthful in delinea- tion of character, she limned life-like portraits of women in Passing Clouds, Out of Oneself Muddy Inlet, and A Branch-Road. The war with China (189i) struck deep into national Fictiou consciousness. Novelists no longer aimed at amusing by serious their readers, but turned to the study of social *?^'^^J1' ' '' cies after problems. Moral earnestness was the prevailing China feature of the Katel-Shosetsii (Family Novels) which now appeared. The economical effects of the war were such that many of the older writers, who had contributed to previously flourishing magazines, left Tokyo and lived by provincial masterships. New names and new reputations sj^rang to light. • Rokwa ' Tokutomi took the first j)lace with Hototogisii {The'Rokwn: Nightingale), better known by the name of the heroine Namiko in its American version. This tale treated of the burning question of a mother's power over her son's wife. On the ground that she is consum])tive and therefore an unsuitable mate, Namiko is sent home to her father's house to die, while her husband is provided with a new partner by her old-fashioned and tyrannical mother-in-law. The story ran through sixty-four editions, and owed some of its success to the report that it was partly a roman a clef ' Rokwa ' is a fervent Tolstoy an, and has made pilgrimages to Yasnaya Poliana and Jerusalem. He wrote for many years in the Kolaimin-i(o4omo {Friend of the People), of which influential journal his brother 504 JAPANESE LITERATURE licliiro is editor and proprietor. Its columns have always been open to literary essays and discussions, but it has practically become a Government organ since supporting the Katsura Ministry at the time of the unpopular peace-treaty. Political differences arose between the brothers, and Rokwa, whose unfinished novel, Blach Current, has a distinctly socialistic ten- dency, retired, Cincinnatus-like, to his rice-field. ' Shun-u.' Second in poj^ularity may be named ' Shun-u ' Nakamura, whose successful Ichigikii {The Fig) raises the 2)roblem of Christianity in a non-Christian com- munity. The heroine is an American woman, placed in rather similar circumstances to those which Haw- thorne invented in the Scarlet Letter. The Fig has been dramatized with jorofit and much skill, for Shun-u is a fervent admirer of Ibsen, whose dramas he saw performed in London, and he has found it worth while of recent years to abandon the magazine for the theatre. Other novels of the same kind, but less brilliantly written, are The Countess by ' Kikutei ' Taguchi, and Her Otuu Sins by 'Yuko' Kikuchi. Gloomy pessimism and black despair are seldom absent from the family novels, which, none the less, enjoyed great vogue for a time. They are differentiated by a moral purpose, sincere or assumed, from the pure ' Ryuro.' tragedy of ' Ryuro ' Hirotsu, a very prolific and realistic writer, who passed from the aesthetic realism of such tales as Zangiku [Chrysantliemums after Autumn) to the sordid misery of Tlie Bouhle Suicide at Iniado, and the House of Kachiwa (A Japanese Maison Tellicr). Though his successive novels have taken the tinge of passing fashions, at heart they have all been charac- terized by sombre power. To Nietzsche is assigned the credit of dominating the Naturalist grouj:) of ai-tists, who next won public JAPANESE LITERATURE 505 favoiii-. His philosophy had been heard of in 1897, 'i'he but obtained no hold on the Intellectuals until 1900, sdiod/^ when Professor Rinjiro Takayama, a tireless propa- Nietz- gandist and polished orator, devoted himself, in com- influence. I^any with Mr. Tobari, to the promulgation of Nietzschism. The result naturally took the foiiii of confident individualism, of a defiant self-assertion, which dismayed j^atriarchal officialdom. Here was a spirit of insubordination, the subversion of morality, the end of all things. Prosecutions, tines, suppressions of journals followed. At the same time Russia began Russian to gain in literary influence what she was soon to ^" '^'^"^^• lose in political prestige. Tolstoy and Turgenieff and Dostoieffsky had already conquered. Now came the fiery Gorky, Andrieff, Garshin, Tchekoff. An audacious tone of hopefulness and revolt marks off the Naturalists from their predecessors, the Realists, though both make in common the claim to represent life in naked actuality. The leader of this school, ' Doppo ' Kunikida, was a master of the short story. After his early death in 1908 at the age of thirty-seven, his collected works continued to make disciples. His declared masters are Wordsworth and Turgenieff, from whom he took the idea of omnipresent Nature, the controller or solvent of souls. One tale, with the odd name of Beef and Potato, has been rendered into Russian and English. 'Katai' Takayama, now the acknowledged leader of the group, won sensational notoriety with Futon [The Countcr])anc), the confessions of a middle- aged Don Juan, and with Sei [Life). He is editor of BunsJio-Selrii. * Toson' Shimazaki, of more poetical temperament, is something of an Impressionist, and has none of the hardness which other Nietzschians display. One of his stories, The Old Master, was pro- 506 JAPANESE LITEEATUEE liibited, but his vivid picture of Halai [Social Outcasts) was the book of the year in 1906. With this trio may be joined ' Eoan ', author of the sujopressed BroTcen Hedge. Some of the rebellious Naturalists have been tamed by time and official j^ressure. others by a change of Yoyu-ha popular taste. Tired of stormy sensations, readers fcchooi. ^velcomed the Yoyu-ha School, which promised them tranquillity. Professor ' Soseki ' Natsume, who spent some years in England, and taught English in the Kumamoto High School before joining the staff of the Tokyo AsaJii, thus defines the 'tranquil' novel, of which he is the inventor and chief practitioner : — 'It avoids such words as " extreme '' and "extra- ordinary " ; it refuses to drive, harass, and suffocate you with fi-ightful problems ; it seeks to give such pleasure as maybe derived from enjoying the flavour of green tea, from cultivating one's garden, from fishing, travelling, or going to the theatre.' This gentle hedonism was first illustrated by the delightful I a 1)1 a Cat (l'-)05), which exhibited the traits and habits of a Tokyo household from the household pet's point of view, much as Bill was accustomed to sit in judgment on Anatole France's amiable M. Bergeret. The Quail Cage, The Field P Jitsiigyo no Economic and fortnightly 11 ., Jitsugyo no Nippon . business Nippon sha Nippon Keizai Economic and „ 13 „ Nippon Kei- SJiinshi . political zai Shinshi Office Oriental Econo- Political and tri-monthly 12 „ Toyo Keisai- mist economic zasshiOffice Nippon-jin . Political and literary fortnightly 15 „ Seikyo-sha Shin-ShosefsH Literary and social monthly 25 ,, Shunyodo Sunday General weekly 10 „ Shuhosha Taiyo . Political, eco- nomic, and literary monthly 30 „ Hakubun- kwan Tai-hei-yo . Economic and business fortnightly 12 „ >» Tokyo Economist Economic weekly 10 „ Tokyo Economic Office Teikoku Biinyakii Literary monthly 15 ,. Tokyo Imperial Literary University Waseda Bungakn Literary " 20 „ Waseda Uni- versity Tokyo Puck Caricature tri-monthly 25 „ Yuraky-sha The The ' interviewing ' of foreigners is an art adopted iS"^^^ from America, but it cannot be said the Japanese have viewer, either absorbed or improved it. The immaculately dressed and serious reporters, with their gold spectacles and notebooks, are models of politeness and persis- tence, but they mentally dissect their victims without the use of anaesthetics, making theprocess unnecessarily painful. You are constantly aware of what the operator JOURNALISM AND JOURNALISTS 528 is doing, which is rarely the case when in the hands of a skilful American reporter until the ' scare-heads ' enlighten you next morning. Before reaching Nagoya a Japanese reporter of a newspaper of that city came on the train and practically remained with the writer until he left the city late the following afternoon. The questions that sad-eyed youth asked would have filled a volume. Afterwards it transpired that his 'interview' took a serial form and was published in several successive issues of the paper. From the editor of the journal came a courteous letter of thanks for receiving his reporter, together with a box of the ingeniously constructed models of the ancient warriors of the Aichi province. These tokens of appreciation mollified one a little, but for sixteen out of the twenty- four hours spent in Nagoya that ubiquitous reporter hovered near, never failing to ply a question at the opportune moment. What the writer said and what the reporter wrote and whether the one bore any resemblance to the other must be left to the imagina- tion of the reader. It is impossible for one unable to read a word or a character of the Japanese language to comment on the vernacular press. Those European writers who say the Japanese press is inaccurate, untrustworthy, and otherwise abuse it probably know little or nothing about it. During his stay in Tokyo the writer visited the editorial offices of nearly all the above-mentioned newspapers, meeting the editors and other members of the staffs — not merely once but a number of times. Before leaving Japan he had formed friendly Japanese relations with several of them which it is hoped will ^ ^^^^'^' last a lifetime. No one could have been more intel- ligently considerate and more practically helpful than these editorial colleagues. Mr. Fukuzawa, Mr. Ishii, 52i JOURNALISM AND JOURNALISTS Mr. Tokutomi, Mr. Murayama, Mr. Ikebe, Captain Brinkley, Mr. B. W. Fleisher and Mr. S. Ando were The es|)ecially kind. The proprietors of the Asahi in edftors Osaka contributed greatly to the success of the writer's work in the Osaka district. Through their kindness he was afforded an opportunity of publicly meeting more than a hundred of the most representative citizens of Osaka and of obtaining from them direct the information relating to the commerce and industry of the greatest manufacturing district of Japan. The knowledge thus obtained is included in the chapters on Industry, on Trade, Commerce and Shipping, and on Osaka. To the brilliant Mr. Sugimura, foreign editor of the Asahi, expressions of thanks are inadequate, for no trouble on his j^art seemed too much when called upon for assistance in obtaining trustworthy information. It is impossible to name all the Japanese journalists who gave their time freely to help a fellow-member of the craft, but not to have especially mentioned the above would have been ungracious. The news- If the proprietors and editors and correspondents SauS ^^^^^ comprise the members of the Japan Press Associ- ^y}^(^ ation (to which the writer was elected) are representa- editors. . V i tive 01 the newspapers they produce, the progress oi the newspaper press of Japan has kept time with the rest of the country. It must be admitted that twenty years ago there was room for improvement, and if some writers are to be believed that observation holds good to-day. As nearly all the editors speak English, it is possible to pass judgment on those responsible for the newspapers, though the difficulty of overcoming the Chinese characters makes their journals a sealed book. Judged, therefore, from the men responsible for these newspapers, the daily press of Japan ought JOURNALISM AND JOURNALISTS 525 to possess literary excellence, political sagacity, a knowledge of foreign political situations, accuracy in collecting news and skill in displaying it, sound sense in commercial matters, and a decided unity of purpose when the interests of Japan are at stake. The Japan Japan Press Association itself emphasizes the cohesive power Associa- of the Empire, for here competitors come together and, ^i^"- discarding their rivalry, join in the laudable work of advancing the interests of their common country. It is not claimed that the Japanese newspapers do possess all the above-mentioned qualities, but there is no reason why they should not, if the editors display the same high ideals in their editorial columns as the}^ invariably do in their speeches and conversation. Of the newspaper plants visited in Tokyo and Osaka News- many are of modern type, so far as presses are con- pf^nts. cerned, and some of the presses are capable of print- ing issues of 200,000 copies in a few hours, and perhaps of 500,000 coj^ies. As the Japanese compositor has to be prepared to place in his stick any one of 4,000 different types the composing room is a more com- plicated l)ranch of the business. The Japanese have gone into modern journalism with the energy they have displayed in other directions. They have, perhaps, in this field adopted rather more of the American methods than of the English, which has led to the ' livening up ' of their journals with ' catch lines ' and illustrations. Some of the latter are inartistic inartistic examples of printing, the parallel for which could only jj^'lj^g*'^' be found in the productions of the old Catnach Press. What comfort the people at large, for whom these papers are apparently issued, can take in such illustra- tions it is difficult to imagine. There is room for improvement both in the printing and in the quality of the paper. 526 JOURNALISM AND JOURNALISTS The total numl^er of dailies and periodicals has risen in ten years from 944 to 2,500. Though editors are hampered by the necessity of depositing security with the authorities, who exercise careful censorship in both political and literary matters, the influence and profits of some of the papers mentioned above are Hospi- very considerable. And if interviewers are inaccurate lorei^iv ^i^ ^^^^ dancing-stages at the Shinto temples of Ise and of THE DEAMA 529 Nara may still be seen the pantomimic posturings, which are supposed to mimic the luring of the Sun- Goddess from the Eock-Cavern by ' Her Augustness Heavenly-alarming-Female '. Such dances, however, are simple and primitive. Complexity of step and tune were added from many sources. During the fourteenth century the blind lute-players or Bhva- Hoshi, who roamed like trouljadours from castle to castle, chanting romances of chivalry, and the care- fully trained dancing-girls, or SJiimhyosJii, precursors of the modern geisha, brought new subjects and fresh skill to the interpretation of their respective arts. The KioJiii-mai, or memory dance, was invented with closer co-ordination of music and movement to represent a battle, a love-scene, or a landscape. Many such songs survive embedded in the No texts, and these libretti with the musical score (called YoJiioku or Utai, when not associated with stage-performance) are as reverently studied and practised by enthusiasts as are the works of classical composers by Europeans. The final transition from dance to drama took place Fifteenth- in the fifteenth century. Kiyotsugu and Motokiyo, de'vcbp- members of one of the four families who controlled i^^"t^^ the Ao. the Nara temple-stage, succeeded in winning the Shogun's patronage and repaid it by panegyric in the choral songs. Their suj^ervision was mainly concerned with the manner of production, for the authors (like those of European miracle-plays) were often anonymous monks. Buddhism gladly seized the occasion of in- culcating its views and enhancing its prestige through this aristocratic amusement. If it cannot be proved that the priests Ikkiu and Shiuran wrote the No of their day, at least the No stage was thronged with ghosts and Buddhist exorcisers. Thus, in time, Terpsichore changed sides, and, having worn the red PORTEK L 1 530 THE DRAMA trousers of a Shinto ' darling of the gods', deserted from the court to the Shogun's miHtary stronghold. Buddhist influence faded when Nobunaga patronized Christianity and destroyed the monasteries of Hiei- zan, but the No grew more popular than ever among Social the nobles. The actors ranked as samurai, and a pro- actois.^ gramme is extant on which the two greatest names in Japanese history — those of Hideyoshi and lyeyasu — star the list of performers. Though temporary eclipse was caused by the dispersal of the No troupes at the Restoration of 1868, with its inrush of modern Modern anxictics for the daimyo class, a revival has set in with IhTNo.^^ the happiest results. At present there are six rival societies, influentially supported, with a repertoire of some 250 pieces. Modern A brief description of Aoi no Uye, one of the most ,ance°^^" famous of thcse, witnessed by the writer under the described, .^^igpices of Mr. Minora Umewaka, who directed the No players attached to the household of Prince Keiki Tokugawa, the last of the Shoguns, will convey an adequate impression of the resources and effects of this ' crystallized ' art. The orchestra consisted of a flute and two taiko, drums shaped like a sand-glass and rapjDed smartly with the open palm. At irregular intervals the musicians emitted staccato cries or lugubrious notes, which punctuated the passion of the player and tightened the tension on the listener's nerves. In two rows of three on the right of the stage sat the chorus in the stiff costume of samurai who intervened with voice and fan to accentuate the quality of the music. In placid moments the fan would sway gently, as if rocked on waves of Gregorian chanting, but, when blows fell or apparitions rose, it was planted menacingly erect before the choralist's cushion. Behind the musicians ran a long screen of THE DRAMA 531 conventional design, in which green pines trciiled across a golden background. SymboUsm plays a Symbol- curious part in the mounting of these tiny tragedies. ^^'"" A personage or an idea will be sometimes represented more suggestively by a symbolic object than by a living performer. Thus Aoi no Uye, Prince Genji's long-suffering wife, whose jealousy of her husband forms the motif oi the piece, does not appear. In her stead a long strip of folded brocade, suggesting a bed of sickness, lies in the forefront of the stage. By this means the spectator is sub-conscious of her entity, though his attention is challenged by a series of ghostly visitants. First comes the spirit of a pale woman, the Princess Rokijo, to take vengeance on her faithless lover (Prince Genji is the Don Juan of Japanese literature) by haunting Aoi. A Shinto priestess is summoned to expel the intruder. In vain she rubs her green rosary, muttering fervid prayers. The spirit complains more loudly and intolerably, until the rougher exorcisms of a Buddhist mountain- priest prove efficacious. Then a terrible phantom, the Devil of Jealousy, wearing the famous Hannya mask, assails the priest. Inch by inch the latter recoils, as the grinning demon with gilt horns and pointed ears glides forward with menacing crutch. To and fro the battle rages beside the prostrate Aoi no Uye ; neither holy man nor devil will give way ; the screaming and shrill fifing of the musicians rise to frenzied pitch ; adjuration succeeds adjuration, until Jealousy at last is driven away. Such a piece satisfies Japanese canons of art. A moral lesson is implied in the power of faith to expel evil passion (the fact that Buddhist spells are more effective than Shinto prayers is signifi- cant of the authorship), and at the same time the least imaginative spectator is thrilled by the weird plian- l12 532 THE DRAMA toms, the grim posturing, the Wagnerian thumping and wailing of drum and flute. For schokxrs there is the added dehght of the linked verses with their flying puns, prismatic pivot-words, and classical allusions. Scenery and mechanical accessories are as scanty as those at the disposal of an Elizabethan audience, but their absence is not prejudicial to the total effect. The means employed are sufficient to suggest in exquisite ej^itome the poetry and music, the dresses and legends, the beliefs and manners of Japanese feudalism. Fortunately the theatrical re- former, whose schemes for changing popular drama are incessant, has realized that alteration in the case of the No would be irrational and absurd. None have been wiitten since the end of the sixteenth century ; all that remain are jealously preserved as specimens of naif but venerable art. They are not too small to raise large issues and teach old truths. In them the gods become marionettes for an hour without wholly losing their godhead. Kiogen. To relieve the strain of these very serious operettas, they are interspersed with one-act farces, called Kiogen (lit. ' mad words '), which make homely fun of men and deities. They are written in prose and were sometimes artfully used to call the daimyo's attention to grievances, which it would have been impolite as well as dangerous to mention otherwise. Like the Spanish zarztielas, so dear to the populace of Madrid, they present rough but realistic pictures of common life, stripped of all literary and artistic convention. As drama, they have small value, but as human documents they are well worth attention. Priests and rustic gods, farmers and traders are introduced on terms of humorous equality. Hundreds of these amusing farces are still played. THE DRAMA 533 Comparison of English and Japanese stage history Rise of elicits the curious fact that in both countries the rise SJama^in of popular drama dates from the same period. I^ ^3"^? 1575 Okuni, the first KahuJci actress and a fugitive with priestess from the Kizuki temple in Izumo, gave a En^giand. performance in Kyoto, piously devoting part of the receipts to the repair of Onamji's shrine. In 1576 ' the Earl of Leicester's servants ' erected the first public theatre in Blackfriars. The times were dra- matic and the excitement of foreign adventure disposed the masses to novelty. Four years after the defeat of the Spanish Armada Korea was invaded by the armada of Hideyoshi. To complete the parallel, just as Greene and Marlowe were rebels against social discipline, so Chikamatsu, the so-called Shakespeare of Japan, was a m-n'm or ' wave-man ', owing allegiance to no feudal superior. ' Rogues and vagabonds ' were also the strolling players of Kabuki-drama, despised and sup- pressed from time to time on the ground of immoral tendency. One leading feature, however, distinguishes the Charac- plebeian stage of Yedo from that of the Bankside, its difterence reliance on musical and acrobatic elements rather ^^^^^^^^^^^^ than on any attempts to depict life and character, ancf The name of Joruri or Gidayu was given to a kind of early dramatic ballad, which was accompanied throughout '^'■^^"^• by elaborate music on the sam'tsen and by the jerking of cunningly manipulated puppets. For the marionette- theatre at Osaka many of Chikamatsu's most famous plays were composed, and the dolls continued for two centuries to provide livelihood for musicians, authors, and singers. Though the actor ultimately triumphed, his methods are still vitiated by these traditional adjuncts. His voice must be pitched in a shrill or gruff falsetto, for removed from the tones of natural 584 THE DRAMA speech, to evade the relentless orchestra, which follows him like a curse from start to finish. Sometimes by a refinement of artificiality, which conflicts entirely with our idea of ' holding the mirror up to nature ' while the actor is expressing one kind of simulated emotion on the stage b}^ facial and gesticular contor- tions, the invisible singers are conveying his real sentiments in appropriate strains from the wings. Also, whether the play be historical or mythical, for the imaginative audience welcomes the fire-spitting Frog of Jiranja as heartily as the fire-eating swash- buckler of Ichi-no-bani, posture-dances of great length and agility are sandwiched between the author's hum- ble efforts to tell his tale. The same athletic ingenuity mars the realism of a stage-battle, for the warriors dance, while they fight, with rhythmic accuracy. Finally, the author having been as a rule as much an employee of the manager as the painter or samisen- player, without a free hand to construct his plot, the so-called historical play or Jklaimono is too often an extravagant medley of preposterous incidents without Thcatri- truth, development, or unity. All that is aimed at is a series of sensational episodes to exhibit the talents of the actor-manager as dancer, reciter, or im- personator. Until Ichikawa Danjuro exploited his own personality with versatile success, it was the duty of each actor to impersonate his predecessor in the role which he inherited, and dramatic guilds mono- polized the profession with jealous conservatism. Since, too, in pre-Restoration times the stage was in the hands of men who were debarred from general education and restricted to the technique of their art, the whole theatre was stuck in a morass of un- intelligent routine. To imitate and to dazzle was the whole duty of an actor. Well might Professor cal trad tions THE DRAMA 585 Tsubouchi describe the current plays as Miigen-gehi, or ' phantasmal drama '. It is easy to exaggerate defects, which Japanese critics are led to emphasize by inherited prejudice and foreign observers by shocks to inherited feeling. But do not imagine that the enormous influence exerted for generations on the middle and lower classes of Japan by their theatre is due to barbarous absurdity. That theatre, true to Viscount Suyematsu's Beauty of criterion of art, has always apj^ealed to two of the [!gp™^pj|: noblest and deepest sentiments — the love of beauty ^^tion. and the love of duty. Its plays may seem fantastic, its heroes may be monsters, but they are picturesque monsters. Every detail in the stage-picture is thought out and presented with unerring taste. To watch act after act of the spectacular melodramas is like looking through a portfolio of superb colour-prints. One revels in the rich series of glowing hues, sweeping- lines, majestic contours. On the ' flower- walks ', which slope from the stage through the audience to the back of the auditorium, processional and recessional movements, unexpected exits and entrances, can be studied at leisure and at close quarters by spectators who may be poor judges of history but are highly trained appreciators of the beautiful. Pictorial effect is enhanced by the dignity of the actors, who have no difficulty in assuming the garb and adopting the gait of their ceremonious forefathers. Confirmation of this may be found in the theatrical drawings by Toyokuni, Kunisada, and other artists, whose work is now eagerly sought by collectors. Many of the programmes are masterpieces of decorative lettering. It is significant. Artists too, that the poorest artist took rank above the most !J"J^g popular actor. Mr. E. F. Strange tells an interesting Victors. story about Hokusai, who was visited at a time of 536 THE DRAMA extreme penury by one of the chief actors of the day. The great man came unannounced into the studio, took a seat without being invited, and commanded a portrait of himself. Hokusai took not the shghtest notice but continued his painting, until the humiliated mummer had no option but to retire. He had omitted the proper salutation to a social superior, and no pecuniary consideration could extort the coveted drawing from the poverty-stricken artist. In the principal theatres both the mounting and the dresses are on a lavish and flamboyant scale. While the scenery is being shifted, a series of costly curtains will be exhibited, on which the embroiderer has con- tributed all the resources of his skilful fancy to honour the management. These are generally presents from the tea-houses, which surround the theatre and pro- vide refreshment for the playgoer, who deposits with them his watch, purse, and other valuables, in case an adroit pickpocket should be his neighbour in the closely-packed, lidless boxes, which correspond to our pit and stalls. Moral Though the upper classes kept disdainfully aloof from of the ^^^^ playhouse, and the samurai was forbidden to be drama, present, unless he left his sword outside and went incognito, as he frequently did, giving a nam (Voccasion at the door, the moral mission of this despised drama was very emphatic and clear. It fostered patriotism and taught the duty of obedience at any price — such obedience as would amount in Western eyes to com- plete moral and physical suicide. During the ^M:r japonica of two hundred years, when the Tokugawa Shoguns held the nation in iron bondage of sub- mission to feudal governors, the Yedo stage was as useful an instrument for the cultivation of loyalty as the Greek Church was to the Tsar. Nakamitsu, who THE DRAMA 537 killed his son to save his master's profligate heir, Bijomaru ; Kumagaya, who induced his son to be slain in place of Atsumori to serve the political ends of the Minamoto chief, Yoshitsune ; the forty-seven ronin, who committed simultaneous suicide, after murdering their lord's murderer, and whose tombs are yet covered with poems and visiting-cards every • New Year's Day at Sengakuji — these are the heroes and models of play after play. When the faithful vassal commits hara-k-iri, and with great deliberation draws the knife across his abdomen, the squeamish foreigner is apt to leave the theatre, but the admiring patriot does not blench and is taught indifference to death. Such loyalty is now transferred from the daimyo to the Emperor, and such cases of self-slaughter from patriotic motive are of recent occurrence. The young girl, Yuko Hatakeyama, who cut her throat in 1891 in expiation of the outrage offered to the Czare- vitch, when he visited Japan ; the forty soldiers, who took their own lives because the Government gave up Liaotung in 1897 at the bidding of Russia, France, and Germany ; the high-minded professor, who, in 1901, struck down Hoshi-Toru in the Town Hall of Tokyo for political corruption — these, and many others, are martyrs of melodramatic duty. The stage, there- fore, was less remote from life than might be supposed, and its most famous figure, Ichikawa Danjuro, was fully justified in his avowal to the writer : ' I prefer historical plays, which revive old ideals and present noble figures for the emulation of posterity.' Two classes of play, less popular than the historical, Oikenwno but still frequently performed, are the Oikemono, or^"^,,^^"" 'pieces connected with the private troubles of illus- trious families', and the SetuamoJio, or social drama. The former are more popular in the provinces, and 538 THE DRAMA must be looked upon as a survival of a rapidly vanishing past. They are chiefly valuable as furnishing glimpses of existence in the Yashiki, or residences of aristocratic families. Often they deal with legend, as in the tale of the Lord of Nabeshima, whose wife was possessed l)y the evil spirit of a vampire-cat. The story is well • told in Lord Eedesdale's laJes of Old Japan. Some- times they present vivid pictures of the rivalry between the retainers of a daimyo's household, as in Kaga- mhjam(i-lvJi'yo-no-msJilki, which enabled Danjuro to exhibit his talent for female impersonation in the character of Iwafuji. They, of course, supplement the military bias of the stage with scenes, in which women play the most prominent part. Of the Setvaniono it must be said that they, too, frequently reproduce the faults of the historical drama without its merits. The plot is generally romantic and sensational ; the hero will be a robber, the heroine a courtesan. They depict the adventures of outlaws in Tokugawa times, and might be compared with the glorification of Jack Sheppard and Dick Turpin by Harrison Ainsworth. The comedy-scenes are ex- travagant and often licentious. Realism in the sense of portraying modern society is not in favour with playwrights of any standing. The reason is plain. How can the up-to-date advocate of progress, who wears European dress, who takes little interest in his own antiquities, but is absorbed in politics or com- merce, furnish material for picturesque or edifying tableaux? Whatever be the cause, the Tokyo of to-day has not produced an Ibsen or Pinero. Its dramatists either look behind them or across the sea. Obstacles The question of reforming the Japanese stage b}^ form 'of applying to it the same process of selection from the Japanese j^^^^^ examples to be found in any j^art of the world, as THE DRAMA 539 has been adopted in other spheres of national Hfe, has proved peculiarly difficult. The chief obstacles are three, and consist of the structure of the theatre, the vested interests of existing theatrical institutions, and the consers^atism of pul)lic taste. Western playhouses are built to foster the assumption that the audience is regarding through a picture-frame the actions of people, who live in a separate world between the wings, the footlights, and the ' back-cloth '. The subsidiary aid of scene-shifters, lime-light-men, stage carpenters, and machinists is invisibly rendered. Except for the recall of actors to receive applause before the curtain, nothing is done to destroy the illusion of an observed fragment of life. The Japanese stage, on the con- Constmc- trary, makes little effort to conceal its operations, ^^l^ The proscenium arch is only 15 feet high, but the width is often as much as 70 feet. As a rule, the supposed locality of a piece, be it j^alace or temple or battlefield, is a wood-and-cardboard island in a sea of bare boards, of which the circumference nearly corre- sponds with that of a revolving section of the stage, twenty or thirty feet in diameter, which turns on lignum vitae wheels. While one scene is being enacted, a second is being prepared behind, and at a given signal the eccAjdema is whirled round, carrying away one set of actors and bringing on their successors in full view of the spectators. The ' flower-walks ', on which the actors advance or recede through the middle of the audience, give admirers opportunities of showering presents at their feet, as they pass, but this proximity is fatal to the pretence of impersonation. Even more objectionable to our conventions is the practice of allowing cloaked attendants to creep about the stage, removing ' properties ' or in other ways assisting the performers. Their black garments denote invisibility, 540 THE DRAMA and the polite spectators ignore them. About a cen- tury ago the same licence was permitted at Drury Lane, when men in black gauze cloaks appeared at Theatri- intervals to snuff the candles. Three defects in tfonr"*^^^ Japanese acting may be attributed to the size of the theatre. Tricks that appeal to the eye rather than the ear are relied upon, such as posturing, grimacing, and excessive pantomime ; elocution is intolerably shrill and staccato, though the omnipresent samisen is partly responsible ; women are debarred from playing by sheer physical inability to tramp the twelve or twenty miles a day involved by their inconvenient dress and mincing gait. This circumstance has been turned to great account by the men, who play women's parts, and who formerly were expected to spend their lives outside the green-room in female costume and society, thus attaining extraordinary perfection. There are, of course, companies in which all the roles are played by women, but since the visit to Europe of Mr. Kawakami and Madame Sada Yacco, it has become more usual for the sexes to appear together on the New stage. This will be the case in the New Imperial Theatre. Theatre, which has lately been built on Chiyoda Hall, opposite the Imperial Palace. The New Theatre was opened this spring, and would seem to meet all the modern requirements of a first-class playhouse. It is a steel-framed building with granite masonry, the dimensions are one hundred feet by two hundred, and the interior is planned in all respects like a Euroj^ean theatre, except that removable ' flower-walks ' are The retained for native plays. At the Actresses' School Schod!^^ in connexion with it, about twenty-four novices of respectable family are being well educated in etiquette, music, dancing, and methods of acting of both old and new schools. Thus Tokyo playgoers, who have never THE DEAMA 541 been in a foreign playhouse, will be enabled to appre- ciate for the first time the advantages or disadvantages of Western theatrical architecture as a suitable shrine for the Japanese Sarah Bernhardts and Ellen Terrys of the future. The solidarity of vested interests in the * commercial Commer- ■ 1 ■ 1 theatre ' is best illustrated by an anecdote. Some years oAheatai- ago the writer was honoured by a long interview with <^*! ^ntei- the JNmth Danjuro, who was graciously communicative on many points. He had recently earned about 50,000 tjen (nearly £5,000) in a season of four weeks at Osaka. Pressed for details, he explained that the total receipts were £13,000, and that of his own share two-fifths (£2,000) was spent on presents. To whom ? To tea-houses, geisha-houses, societies, guilds of various kinds, of which the prosperity was largely dependent on that of the theatre. Any reform, which would shorten the length of performance and modify the picnic aspect of play-going, would therefore injure many associated trades. The proprietary interest in the stage of old theatrical families, whose former monopoly is already sadly diminished by free compe- tition, is also opposed to change. Public taste is, of course, the only lever by which Public the dramatic standard can be raised. It is probably letards very little lower at present from an intellectual point drama, of view than that of London, which rewards musical comedy with millions and allows the serious dramatist to make occasional hundreds. Unfortunately to the Japanese playgoer reform is so often presented in foreign guise that acquiescence in what he has seems patriotic, and the travelled professor, who brings him novelties from Paris or Berlin, is regarded as were the English advocates of Ibsen in the 'nineties. As each reformer of note brought the characteristics 542 THE DRAMA of an interesting personality to bear on his task, the best way of estimating their success is to describe the Modern men. Two were actors. The improvements, intro- eis° "^ duced by Ichikawa Danjuro, were limited to the technique of acting, and had no relation to external influence. He was very dignified and respected, winning for his profession something of the considera- tion from above that Irving won in this country. He was the first to break the yoke of traditional inter- pretation, to embody his own conception of a part instead of copying a predecessor ; he substituted for the old blue and red stripes across the face denoting- ferocity, a natural make-up, which allowed free facial expression ; he endeavoured to release the spoken part from the undue exigencies of the music. In con- junction with Mr. Fukuchi, who wrote historical plays of the Katsureki (or ' living history ') school, he tried to purge the Jidaimono of their worst extravagances and vulgarities. But his lack of interest in foreign drama necessarily prevented him from moving very far ahead of his audience. Modern Otojiro Kawakami is the most prominent of the Soslii actors. The Soshi were students who resented the coercion of the Government in respect of political utterance, and found, first as public story-tellers, after- wards as actors, the chance of impressing the public. Many remained on the stage and denounced its old- fashioned mannerisms. As for Kawakami, his chief weapon was topical novelty. He founded a realistic piece on the war with China in 189J:-5, and produced a version of Round tJie World in 80 days. His social plays had small artistic value, but they drew rough- and-tumble pictures of modernized Japan. Then he came to Europe with the graceful and fascinating Sada Yacco, and in 1900-1 revealed to Paris and THE DRAMA 543 London some few secrets of Japanese drama. He gave chiefly its deeds without its words, its beauty without its tedium, so that people, who had seen Sada Yacco dance in The Geisha and the Knight or Kawakami performing feats of jujitsu or committing hara-kiri in feudal pantomimes, saw correct, though curtailed, examples of what the Japanese public likes. In return he took home Sairolm (an alias for Shylock in an adaptation of the Trial Scene from The Merchant of Venice)^ and his last exploit was to present Monna Vanna. His chief titles to notice are : (1) that he broke down the prohibition against men and women acting together ; (2) that he made several Japanese versions of European plays, taking generally the plot, adapting the situations, and omitting all that was too outre for his countrymen to appreciate. He rather exploited the foreign stage than elevated his own. Two men of letters, both thoughtful students of Shakespeare, and both jealous for the honour of their own land, deserve mention. To Mr. Fukuchi is due immense credit for the skill and enthusiasm with which he raised the tone of historical drama at the Kabukiza. His hands were tied l^y the demands of manager and actors to provide star-parts ; he was forced to admit the interpolation of dances and familiar ' business ', but he did write some admirable plays, such as The Lad tj- in- Waiting of Kasuga and Takatoki, in which historical personages were drawn with great sobriety and force. He was heartily sup- ported by the Dramatic Reform Association, to which Draiuatic Viscount Suyematsu, Baron Kikuchi, Marquis Inouye, Agsocia- and other distinguished men belonged. He had the tion. wisdom to avoid throwing Western ideas at playgoers' heads, unlike the rash adapter of Le Monde oil Von senmiie, than which no more complete antithesis to 544 THE DRAMA Jaj)aiiese custom can be imagined. Although Mr. Fukuchi had translated Othello and Hamlet, he never dreamed of presenting them, for the freedom of speech and action enjoyed by Shakespearian heroines might have been, he thought, morally dangerous to his countrymen. In fact, he regarded Shakespeare as unfitted for the Japan of twenty years ago, when the position of women was less independent than it is to-day. Audiences were not then emancipated enough to welcome foreign heresies for their own sake. Professor Yuzo Tsubouchi, who has been a leading member of Waseda University since its foundation in 1882 by Count Okuma, and is President of the Litera- ture and Art Association, though little over fifty years of age, holds the highest position in Tokyo to-day as an educational reformer. Since Mr. Fukuzawa died, he is the chief exponent of European ideas. Both dramatist and novelist himself, he is a critic of keen penetration, and may be called the Brandes of Japan. The younger men follow him with enthusiasm on his crusades against theatrical obscurantism, which started with an Essay on Historical Drama in 1883. To every form of art he applies the touchstone of clear thinking and he is no blind admirer of exotic culture. By many, who despise the theatre as a mere vehicle of amuse- ment, his zeal for dramatic reform is looked upon as an eccentric whim. His own ideas are thus eloquently expressed in a recent address to members of the Imperial Dramatic School. Dramatic ' As a result of two great wars Japan became a first- cnticism. j.^^g power among the nations of the world. And yet we cannot help but admit that spiritually and mate- rially she is far behind other countries in the West. The inferiority of our drama as compared with that of foreign countries is conspicuous, and it must be con- THE DRAMA 545 fessed thcit the present state of the drama is inferior to that of the Tokugawa period. There is no art with hfe in it at present. The drama of to-day does not reflect the spirit of the age, and the pieces played are either antiquated or immature. . . . Personally speak- ing, I am convinced that the drama is one of the necessities of human existence, as it is a medium for spiritual culture and links together amusement, morality, and religion.' Recognizing that new wine must be poured with care into old bottles, Dr. Tsubouchi has always tried to combine foreign spirit with native form. Thus his version of Julius Caesar was arranged in Joruri fashion with a thread of poetical narrative. The adaptation of Hamlet, given in May of this year at the New Theatre, was closer to the original. His two plays on Japanese historical subjects, the 3Iaki no Kata (1897) and Ktku to Kir I (1898), do not lack sensational incidents. In the first are murders, combats, and two liara-hiri by women. But the dialogue is terse, vigorous, and natural : all the old pivot-words, rhetoric, and bluster disappear. In 1905 he published an Essay on Opera, and illustrated his principles by two dance-plays on the subjects of UrasMma, the Fisher-hoij, and Kaguya- hime, the Lady of the Bohe of Feathers ; but this attempt to establish modern No met with slight success. At Waseda there is a private theatre, where he is able to test his theories by the performances of trained amateurs. Great hopes are based on the Imperial Theatre Company of Tokyo, with a privately subscribed capital of £120,000. Its supporters are Baron Shibusawa, Marquis Saionji, now Prime Minister, Count Hayashi, Mr. Kihachiro Okura, Mr. Momosuke Fukuzawa, proprietor of the Jiji, Mr. Soichiro Asano, Mr, Keinosuke Nishimo, and many other well-known business and professional men. Both to Mr. Fukuzawa PORTER M m 546 THE DRAMA and to Mr. Nishimo the writer is indebted for informa- tion in relation to this public-spirited venture. Its indefatigable director is Mr. Nishimo, who will have at his disposal the results of minute study of the working of European theatres by Mr. Matsui and others. In the attached training school for actresses, methods of natural deportment and elocution, in har- mony with refined realism, are inculcated. In fact, the whole scheme must be regarded as an endowed, national theatre, depending for success on a highly cul- tured minority of playgoers. It cannot for a long time hope to compete financially with popular rivals, but its educational effect cannot fail to be great. Beginning with such a succes d'estime as the philosophic Hamlet, it will unfurl the banner of serious and truthful dramatic art. Of late years men of intellectual importance have devoted themselves to the service of dramatic criticism. Such are Messrs. Ibara('Seiseiyen'), author of the Historij of the J((]) was not won piecemeal by fire and sword from an un- willing sovereign. It was a gift freely given. After the constitutions of other nations had been duly studied and compared, the Emperor, in 1889, ' desiring to promote the welfare of, and to give development to, the moral and intellectual faculties of Our beloved subjects . . . and hoj^ing to maintain the prosperity of the State, in concert with Our people and with their support,' . . . promulgated the present constitution. The preamble also says that ' The rights of sovereignty of the State We have inherited from Our Ancestors, and We shall bequeath them to Our descendants. Neither We nor they shall in future fail to wield them in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution hereby granted.' And it further provides that amend- ments are to be made by the Emperor submitting them to the Diet. Imperial Whilst onc finds the usual separation of the executive, legislative, and judicial powers of the State, the Emperor has more control than European sover- eigns have over the Diet. This is not onl}* true in theory but in practice. In short, the sovereign power does not lie in the Parliament, but in the sovereign himself. He has indeed to pay respect to the law, but the law has no j^ower to hold him accountable to it. ' The Emperor is the head of the Emj^ire, combining rights. THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS 565 in Himself the rights of sovereignty, and exercises them according to the provisions of the present Con- stitution.' (Const. Art. IV.) These rights of sovereignty include the legislative power which the Emperor exercises ' with the consent of the Imperial Diet '. He convokes, opens, closes, and prorogues the Diet, and may dissolve the lower House. In case of public danger, provided the Diet is not in session, he has the right to issue ordinances which have the force of laws until disapproved by the Diet. ' But no Ordinance shall in any way alter any of the existing laws.' (Art. IX.) The Emperor is the head of the army and navy, may declare war, make peace, and conclude treaties without the consent of the Diet. He also has the power of declaring a state of siege. The rights and duties of subjects are dealt with in Subject the second chapter of the constitution. They may"^^*"' not be arrested, detained, tried, or punished, unless according to law by judges determined by law. The rights of property, freedom of religious belief, liberty of speech, writing, publication, public meeting or association, and petition are also assured ; it should, however, be stated that the censorship of the press is more strict than in Great Britain (see Chapter on Journalism and Journalists). But Article XXXI says that ' the provisions contained in the present chcX^iter shall not affect the exercise of the powers appertaining to the Emperor in times of war or in cases of a national emergency '. The Imperial Diet consists of a House of Peers Constitu- composed of members of the Imperial Family, of the jije Diet. orders of nobility, and certain other persons nominated by the Emperor, and a House of Representatives elected by the people. 566 THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS Article XXXVII provides that ' Every law requires the consent of the Imperial Diet '. This does not of course apply to ordinances which are not considered laws, although they have the force of laws under many circumstances. The Diet must be convoked every year according to Article XLI. The members have the usual privileges as to freedom from arrest and liability for opinions expressed in either house. The Ministers of State and the Delegates of the Government may, at any time, take seats and speak in either house. They are, however, liable to be questioned by the members, although they are not obliged to answer or give explanations. Imposition of new taxes or modification of existing taxes requires the consent of the Diet. So also in the case of national loans or the contraction of other liabilities to the charge of the Treasury. The budget is a matter for the Diet to pass upon, but as to the expenditures of the Imperial House the Diet has no control, provided the appropriation does not exceed a certain amount. When the Diet cannot be convoked, owing to the external or internal condition of the country, money may be raised by ordinance, which must be submitted to the Diet when it is convoked. In case the Diet does not vote on the budget, or the budget has not been brought into actual existence, the Government is to carry out the budget of the pre- ceding year. It is perhaps through the purse-strings that the Diet gets what control it has over national affairs. However, it is doubtful whether an all-power- ful legislature would be more advantageous than the present constitutional arrangement. The Privy In addition to the Diet and the Cabinet there is a third l)ody called the Privy Council. Its functions THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS 567 are purely deliberative. It sits when consulted by the Emperor who follows its advice or not as may seem best. The Judicature is covered by five short articles ofTheJudi the Constitution. Public trial and the inviolability of ^^*"'"'^- judges are guaranteed. A ' Court of Administrative Litigation ', a feature unknown to English and American jurisprudence, is provided for cases where it is claimed that the executive authorities have in- fringed upon the rights of the subject. The underly- ing idea seems to be that a court of law might be incapable of deciding upon questions of administrative expediency, and would also be disinclined to sacrifice the individual for the public benefit. The most striking feature of the Japanese law as it Law is to-day is the fact that it is founded upon modern ^^^o^^''^ Roman Law — that is to say upon the codes of France modern and Germany, modified to suit local customs and Law. conditions. It is not the first time that Japan has gone abroad in search of better laws. The early Early Japanese law was of course unwritten and hardly ° ^^' adapted for modern requirements. It sufficed for the needs of a people little concerned in trade or com- merce. The first codes which followed the Chinese law were promulgated in the sixth century a. d., not long after the compilation of Justinian's codes. The Chinese laws were modified from time to time, but as Professor Masaakira Tomii says : ' it is an undeniable fact that these important laws continued to be of great use even up to recent times ' {Fifty Years of New Japan), With the beginning of the Meiji era a great need arose for laws more suital^le to modern conditions. Other nations were loth to give up their rights of extra- territorial jurisdiction unless the laws of Japan were 568 THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS brought into harmony with those of Europe and America. It was, therefore, both with this fact in view, and as a part of the general effort of improve- ment by borrowing the best from all nations, and welding them together to suit their conditions that Japan set about the compilation of the present codes. The Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure were founded upon the French codes. On the other hand the Civil Code was built upon a German model. But as regards Family Law and the law of succession Japanese customs and usage were adhered to. German influence is also noticeable in the Code of Commerce. Civil Considering the Civil Code in detail we find it divided into five books. 1. General Provisions — largely concerned with the divisions of persons, rights, and things ; the accrument and loss of private rights ; prescription and so forth. 2. The book on real rights which deals with the vaiious rights in and to real and personal property, such as mortgages or hypothecations, perpetual leases and emphyteusis, and superficies. Land is taxed and may be condemned for public use. 3. This book treats of those rights and obligations which are created by contracts, quasi-contracts, and torts or delicts. 4. Family law or the law of domestic relations. In this book the Japanese laws and customs have been retained in such matters as adoption, marriage, divorce, relationship of husband and wife as regards property, parent and child, and so forth. The new laws in relation to divorce are discussed in the chapter on population. Parental authority and adoption are more important institutions in Japan than in the Western world. 1 THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS 569 5. Succession. Here also the old law has been retained. As the title denotes this book covers such matters as wills, inheritance, and distribution of pro- perty and rights. As in other countries the State is the ultimate heir. The Code of Commerce is divided into five books. Commer- The first l)ook contains, besides fundamental rules relating to commercial law in general, the provision that what is not specified in the Code shall be treated according to commercial usage. In the second book, or the Book of Companies, these are classified as partnerships, limited partnerships, joint-stock com- panieSj and joint-stock limited partnerships, and recognized as a sort of juridical person. Insurance may be carried on either by a joint-stock company or on the mutual plan, provided permission is first obtained and a minimum capital of 100,000 yen raised. Insurance companies may not engage in other business nor may life insurance be combined with insurance against loss. The amount of life insurance carried last year was about 500 million yen. Fire insurance reached about 1,000 million yen, and marine insur- ance about 50 million yen. In the third book. Com- mercial Acts, the classes of commercial acts are enumerated and illustrated ; in the fourth book, or the Book of Bills, three kinds of bills, viz. drafts, promissory notes, and cheques are recognized ; and in the fifth book, or Book of Maritime Commerce, provisions concerning vessels, mariners, and the like are given. As for the law of bankruptcy, which was originally j^art of the Commercial Code, the Government prepared it as a special law entirely independent of the commercial, for the reason that that branch of law should in its nature be compiled so as to be applical^le equally to both commercial and 570 THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS civil affairs and also for the purpose of making its revision easy. According to the law of bankruptcy now in force, proceedings in bankruptcy begin with an adjudication of bankruptcy ; one under such ad- judication loses the right of disposing of his own property, and when declared a bankrupt loses further a variety of rights appertaining to his status.^ Absence A feature of the Japanese judicial system which lunes. ^-jj especially strike Englishmen and Americans is the absence of juries and the appointment of judges and public prosecutors after examination. Courts of The Courts of Justice are classed as District Courts, Justice. Lq^^i Courts, Courts of Appeal, and the Court of Cassation. Each court has its public procurator after District the Continental fashion. The District or lower court Court. q£ |^j.g^ instance is presided over by a single judge who has jurisdiction in small civil and criminal cases. He also has other duties such as supervising guardians and registration. Local The Local Court is divided into sections presided over by three judges. It acts as a couii of first instance in civil and criminal cases not within the jurisdiction of the District Courts and also hears appeals from the latter. Court of The Court of Appeal is a tribunal of second instance ^^^^^ ■ and hears appeals from the local court. Court of The supreme court of Japan is the Court of Cassa- assa ion. ^^^^^ Each of its sections is composed of seven judges. It is both a court of appeal from the lower courts and of first and final instance in certain offences against or involving members of the Imperial family. In the year 1908 there were in Japan (excluding Taiwan) : — ' Okuma's Fifty Years of New Japmi. THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS 571 Courts of Justice Court of Cassation . Courts of Appeal . Local Courts . District Courts District Courts (Branches) 1 7 50 312 1,409 Judicial Officers Judges Public Procurators Probationary Judicial Officers Clerks of Courts . Notaries Public Bailiffs Advocates . . . . 1,104 374 274 4,238 290 500 1,999 Number of Civil Judgments in 1909 First Instance District Court Local Court 77,526 15,860 Total 93,386 Local Court 4,942 Second Instance Court of Appeal 2,379 Court of Appeal 456 Final Court of Cassation 459 Total 915 Total 7,321 Civil Judg- ments. Number of Criminal Judgmknts in 1908 First Instance District Local Court Court Men 99,928 37,955 Women 12 430 4.414 Total 137,883 Local Court 5,549 Second Instance Court of Appeal 16,844 Court of Appeal 962 Final Court of Cassation 1,599 Total 2,561 Total 6,209 11,758 Summary Judgments at Police Stations in 1908 Men Women Total 458,694 48,994 507,688 Criminal Judg- ments. 572 THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS Legal status of foreigners in Japan is on the whole as good as that enjoyed by aliens in European countries. Perpetual A curious controversy has arisen between the Japanese Government and certain foreign residents over per^^etual leases. It seems that in the early days of the European settlement in Japan the Govern- ment granted perpetual leases of land for building and recreation purposes to the foreign residents. A rent was, of course, reserved. These leaseholds were to be free from all taxes, but subject to the payment of ground rents based upon the estimated amount of the municipal taxes. Of late years the taxes have ex- ceeded the rents and the Government has had to pay to the cities the difference between the nominal ground rents and the taxes which the municipalities would have received had the tenants been Japanese. The Government has offered to give the lessees the land for nothing, the rents to cease and the owners to pay the same taxes as their Japanese neighbours. Naturally they have declined this offer. They prefer to remain lessees unless compensation is paid them. The leaseholders are being supported by their respec- tive Governments, but all parties are striving to settle the matter fairly. Laws re- The patent laws make no discrimination between Rxtents^ Japanese and foreigner with respect to the protection of industrial property. Any person who has applied for the registration of a patent for an invention, a design, or a trade-mark in a country which is a party to the International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is granted in Japan a right t)f priority, which is valid for one year in the case of a patent, and for four months in the case of a design or trade-mark. THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS 573 The term of a patent is fifteen years, which may be extended a feAv years under certain conditions. The term for a design is ten years, and for a utility model three years, which may be extended another three years. Trade-marks are protected for twenty years, and may, of course, be extended. An examination of the invention, design, or trade- mark is made at the Patent Bureau, and if the appli- cation is dismissed the applicant may take the matter into court. The fees are 230 yen for a patent, 17 yen for a design, 20 ye}i for a trade-mark, and 15 ye)i for a utility model patent. CHAPTER XXXV PKISON EEFOEM Corrective The modem attitude towards the question of Prisons otPilso*ns. ^^^^ ^^^^ Prison system brings with it a sensibiHty which was generally lacking in those who approached this question in the past, the methods of imprison- ment being nowadays of as much importance as its mere fact used to be, and the idea of imprisonment as an instrument of education being, as far as it exists, essentially a modern characteristic. The early history of Japan, as of any country, very rarely affords any direct record of prisons, and we are left to infer their existence because the accounts of the adminis- tration of the various penal codes include within their penalties and punishments that of im]3risonment. Prison A survoy of the various Japanese codes, which in no way exemplify anything that may be called a system of prison institution and control, being the outcome merely of military ascendancy, and con- sequently involving military rigour and suppression of all that tended to disorganize military rule, is hardly necessary to demonstrate that the movement towards Prison Reform, and the resulting change in the Prison system during the Meiji Era, were based upon principles that had hitherto never influenced those who were responsible for Prison administration. Ameiiora- From 1870 onwards, the amelioration of prison life prison ^^^^ ^^^^ recognition of prisoners as reclaimable mem- "^6. bers, rather than deadly enemies of society, are prin- ciples that have actuated all prison administration. PRISON REFORM 575 and it in interesting to note that the first Regulations for Prisons, drafted in 1870, followed upon an official visit to Hong-Kong, Singapore, and several towns in India, to inspect the state of British prison affairs in those places. Between the date of these Regulations and 1889, the system of prison rules underwent con- stant improvement, and though changes and modifi- cations have occurred of recent years, the main lines of the prison regulations of to-day are those underlying the revised Regulations of 1889. The number of prisons in Japan at present is given Statistics, as 150, the large majority of which are local prisons and their branch establishments. Central prisons, four in number, v/ith two branch institutions, are used for criminals sentenced to penal servitude and for those sentenced to life-imprisonment under the old Penal Code. Female criminals sentenced to penal servitude, however, are confined in the local prisons wherein are imprisoned criminals of both sexes sentenced to confinement, detention, or imprisonment. The maintenance of prisons is defrayed by the National Treasury, having been transferred from the charge of local taxation in 1899, in order to co- ordinate affairs relating to prisons which had been hitherto hampered by a lack of uniformity. The cost of prison maintenance for 1910 slightly exceeds 6,000,000 yen, and the prison expenses per inmate work out at a little over 100 yen. About one quarter of the expenses of each convict is defrayed by the proceeds of prison labour. The prison population according to the official returns does not tend to decrease, the number of prisoners in 1909 being about 67,000, or 15,000 more than the number in the previous year. This sudden increase is to be attributed principally to the pro- 576 PRISON REFORM mulgation, in 1908, of the new Penal Code, which stipulates that habitual criminals are to be condemned to longer periods of detention. It cannot, however, be denied that though the increase of crime cannot be directly attributed to the introduction of Western ideas, the introduction of railways, telephones, postal facilities and the like have afforded many opportunities for crime to people who before were without such opportunities. Japanese prisons are further classified according to the sentences imposed upon their inmates, and the prisoners are confined separately, according to difference of sex, age, nature of offence, and number of previous convictions. A like classification exists in the work- shops within the prisons. The train The special training of prison officials, both upper officials ^^^^ lower, is an instance of the Japanese Govern- ment's appreciation of the fact that prison regula- tions, however wisely framed, inevitably fall short of their aim unless executed by individuals who have been brought into real, not mechanical, contact with the principles that inspired those regulations. A school for the training of officials was satisfactorily established in Tokyo in 1900 after an abortive attempt some ten years previously, and the students enter upon the practical work of prison administration after a course of study that covers penal and civil codes and pro- cedure, i^enalogy, criminology, prison sanitation and hygiene, and drill. Minor officials go through pro- bationary training in the prisons, and test examinations have to be passed before the appointments of these probationers are confirmed. It may be due to the logical outcome of such training, a sympathy between the prison officials and their duties, or to the national characteristics of simplicity and lightheartedness, that Jtipanese prisons seem to PRISON REFORM 577 be less abodes of gloom and iron rigour than they are in Western countries, and that the bearing of the prisoners themselves during their imprisonment and upon discharge does not point, as it often does in this country, to an apparently irreconcilable conflict between theoretical and practical justice. The writer visited a prison situated on the outskirts of Tokyo and found a remarkably well managed institution. The doors and windows of the cells — dormitories would be a better name for these sleeping-rooms — were wide open, admitting light and air. The inmates were scattered throughout the workshops, industriously and apparently cheerfully carrying on their various handi- crafts. The discipline was there but without un- necessary rigour. The prison regulations regarding medals of merit Rewards awarded to prisoners for good behaviour are inter- py^jgi^. esting. Medals can be awarded not more than three ments. times to a prisoner, and the pj'isoners' possession of medals guides the governor of the prison in deter- mining pardons and paroles, and also enables the medallists to secure certain not-to-be-despised privi- leges, such as an increase of interviews with friends and relations, increased power of sending and receiv- ing letters, permission for the supply of accessory clothing, increase of rate of earnings, and certain favours highly valued by all Japanese in connexion with baths. Prize money of 50 sen or less is granted for services rendered by prisoners in giving private information of another's contemplated escape, in rescuing or guarding another prisoner's life, or on the occasion of any natural or accidental calamity such as the outbreak of disease or fire. Disciplinary punishments are those of solitary con- POBTEB O 578 PEISON REFORM finement, solitary confinement in dark cells, and the reduction of food. The associate cell system for ordinary prisoners is found in practically all the old prisons though in the new prisons there is a mixed system of separation and association, the separate cell system, except in the case of disciplinary punishment, being mainly for foreign criminals for whom special alterations in prison customs and circumstances are made, notably in the food. The prison governor has it within his power to put forward to the Minister of Justice, in whom supreme supervision of prison administration is vested, though his immediate control extends only to the central prisons, a plea for parole, or conditional liberation, of any prisoner who has served three-quarters of his sentence, on the ground of his good behaviour. The reasons upon which the plea is urged have to be sub- mitted specifically, and are considered by the Minister of Justice who may then accord the parole, at the same time placing the released prisoner under police surveillance during the remainder of the period of his sentence. Educa- For prisoners of primary and higher education prisoners, grade, education is provided, while upon those of still higher grade no obligation to attend school is enforced and books are supplied to these. The writer inspected one of these schools and found a large number of young men in a well-lighted and well-ventilated school- room busily engaged in their lessons. The industrial work imposed upon prisoners is imposed as much with the view of training the prisoners to particular trades and employments as with the idea of increasing the prison revenue. That the latter object is achieved is shown by the figures, the earnings from work amounting in 1910 PRISON REFORM 579 to one-fourth of the total expenditure of the prisons. The work is authorized by the Government who supply the funds for materials and implements, or by private employers and companies, after sanction has been obtained from the Minister of Justice. Government work comprises a variety of industries, and, of course, all repairs within the prison as well as the manufacture of many articles required by the prison and other Government departments, especially clothing for the army or the navy. The hours for industrial work are scheduled, and Industrial vary from seven to eleven hours a day according to ^ the season of the year, and they may be prolonged or shortened according to the circumstances of the locality or work, with the sanction of the Minister of Justice, from whom also sanction must be ob- tained with regard to the nature of the work under- taken. Those prisoners who work of their own free will may work for shorter hours, but they are not allowed to give up or alter their work without justifica- tion. Wages are calculated according to the nature of the prisoners' sentences and behaviour, and are handed to the prisoners at the time of liberation, except in the circumstances of those having relations outside the prison dependent upon them, or desiring to purchase books if they are of the class to whom books are permitted, when a certain proportion of the amount earned is allowed for the desired purpose. Moral instruction is given on holidays or Sundays, Moral in- or at the discretion of the Governor. Special privi- ^ ^""^ ^^" leges with regard to receiving moral instruction are granted to prisoners who may have received news of the death of fathers or mothers, and these prisoners may, if they desire it, apply for services to be held on o 2 580 PEISON REFORM behalf of the deceased. In consequence of these bereavements prisoners are allowed a few days' relaxation from work for meditation, a privilege highly regarded by the Japanese. On all occasions of pronouncing discharge, provisional release, deaths of prisoners and statements of reward, the ceremony is preceded by moral instruction, which is attended by the whole or by some part of the prisoners. Modern Recent improvements in prison conditions show piisons. themselves not least in the measures that have been taken to secure the health and well-being of the prisoners. In the new prisons that have been built in Kara, Nagasaki, and Chiba, and in the Kojibashi Prison in Tokyo, much attention has been paid to sanitary construction, and to the provision of the maximum attainable amount of light and air. In addition to these structural reforms every precaution is now taken to ward against the spread of contagious disease among the prisoners, and very careful methods of isolating suspected cases of disease are enforced. Health of The sickness and mortality rates among prisoners mma es. ^^^ given as nearly 46 and 2^ per cent, respectively. The number of prisoners listed as sick at the time of entering prisons was, in 1910, roughly 25 per cent, of the men and one-third of the women. Contagious diseases are rare in prisons, only eleven cases, for example, were reported in 1909. Many of the prisoners are degenerates, but as a rule their general health improves under prison discii^line. The establishment of institutions for the protection and assistance of prisoners after they leave prison is proving useful. The work of the Salvation Army in this direction has also been most successful and meets with the cordial support of the Government. Government control, with its very obvious advan- PRISON REFORM 581 tages of co-ordination, especially in the matter of The finance, does in its first stages tend to modify the Bureau energies, if not the aims, of individuals and private associations for grappling with reforms that are con- tingent uj^on the central one, and which may at first appear to be included within the scope of the central administration. Later on, when the extent and the consequent limitations of the activities of the Prison Bureau are clearly realized, and when the existing problem can be compared with the actual solution, come the various private agencies to fill up the gaps in the system that have not been dealt with by the central programme. A statutory interpretation of the functions of a Prison Bureau inevitably leaves such gaps, and as the individual comes into practical contact with the problem of crime his definition of such functions becomes widened by the constant process of discovering that the statutory interpreta- tion is at many points of contact insufficient. The work of protecting ex-convicts from the tenipta- The pro- tions to return to evil ways is one of those contingent q.^.^^^, ^ reforms that, as we have seen, are beginning to be ^icts- understood in Japan. A great many educational and moral institutions exist for the prevention of crime, and Government regulations have in this instance co- operated with private effort, but discharged prisoners, until quite recently, have fallen outside the aim of most of these societies, and such associations as exist for this particular branch of philanthropic work have only begun their efforts. It is to the increase of such societies, and to the co-extensive progress of civilization, and humanitarian ideals, that the prison system of Japan, as well as the prison system of every country, must look for its justification of the right to call itself a comprehensive system. CHAPTER XXXVI JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY A country FoR a couiitiy that has no poor law and no so- poor law! called workhouses, to which the needy and indigent may resort as a right, Japan has established an admirable system of charity and relief which appar- ently answers the purpose without making permanent paupers of the recipients. Her progress in the gentle virtue of charity has kept pace with the advancement of the martial and commercial spirit of the Empire. The story of Japanese philanthropy is both unique and interesting, and dates back twelve centuries. Early Kccords of Japanese charities and relief works begin and Relief early in the authentic history of the country, and are Works, almost invariably associated with the names of mem- bers of the reigning houses. Prince Umayado, son of the Emperor Yomei, celebrated in the sixth centurj^ a victory for Buddhism by the erection of the Shi-tenno-ji Temple, to which were attached the useful adjuncts, a charity-school, a hospital, and an institution for out- door relief. In the seventh century 100,000 out-of- work coolies were employed upon the construction of a huge canal from the west of Kayama to Isoka- miyama. A proposal of this kind would be met with something akin to horror by the professional 'out of work' of London. About a. d. 700, the Giso system of charity granaries was introduced from China. The construction of a large number of granaries for the storing of rice received as taxes was put in hand to provide work for the indigent, and a JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY 583 law enacted that for the future the upper and middle classes should contribute to the maintenance of these stores for the benefit of the poor. Here we have a practical illustration of the mere system of providing for the poor and needy. The charitable Empress Komyo (701-60) built almshouses, orphanages, and hospitals in various parts of the country, and ordered the provincial treasuries to furnish rice for their up-keep in quantities commensurate with the size of the province. Another royal lady, Princess Masa-Ko {circa a.d. 860), rescued from misery a host of helpless people and, forestalling the idea of allotments, set them to the cultivation of the tiny farms with which she presented them. The philanthropy of those times was not always so Com- eminently practical; occasionally it took the form of§i"t^°ibu- an indiscriminate distribution of largesse ; now and J;^^" '^^' again of thanksgiving offerings, as when the Emperor Gemmyo (708-14) celebrated the discovery of copper in the province of Musashi by ' large gifts of millet to aged men and women '. But in nearly every instance the charity of Japan's middle ages emanated either from the monarch or from Buddhist priests, and was clearly an outcome of religious impulse. The spirit of charity does not seem to have animated the hearts of the common people, who were always more ready to receive than to give. A Rescript of the Emperor Daigo, issued in 930, said : — ' We have seen that many sick people are lying by the roadside, and that no one gives them shelter. We order that they shall be supplied with shelter and with food. There shall be given daily to a man or a woman one sJio of rice, one shaJiic of fine salt, and one go of soy, and to a boy or a girl six go of rice, five sliakii of soy, and one sliakii of salt. The rice shall be supplied from the charity granaries.' 584 JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY To puiiiwli the indifference to suffering which the Emperor had observed the rations were fixed on a particularly liberal scale — 8 pints of rice for an adult and 2 pints for a child seem ample for each day's fare — but the people of those times were not naturally charitable, and the Emperor desired to teach them a lesson. Benevo- With the fall from power of the Fujiwara family Priests, the Empire was plunged into civil war, and for a time little is heard of Imperial relief works. Buddhist priests continued their philanthropic labours. Fore- most among these was Shunjo, who spent the whole of his large fortune in alleviating the distress of the famine-stricken inhabitants of Suwo and Uagato. It was in recognition of his benevolence that, for the first recorded occasion, the people voluntarily brought an annual tribute of rice to the Todaji temple which the good monk had rebuilt. It is conceivable that the charitable actions of the Hojo family were inspired by the desire to secure popularity for their rule, but the benefit derived from their charities was great in an era which saw many bad harvests and consequent famines. The regent Hojo-Yasutoki lent or gave vast quantities of rice and modified or removed taxation from farms in such districts as were most seriously affected. His suc- cessor, Tokimune, sold his palace in Tosa to pay for a charity hospital which he built in Kuwatani, and upon his death in 1284 the priest Ninsho continued and extended his philanthropic endeavours. Boundless Shortly before his decease the regent Tokimune osity^of allowed his benevolence, or his socialistic tendencies, Toki- ^Q j.-jjjj away with his I'udgment. The invasion of the mune. .y o o Tartars under Kublai Khan (1281) necessitated the imposition of a war tax so extraordinarily heavy as to JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY 585 create a, financial panic in which the poor, as usual, were the chief sufferers. In the days of the emperors distress thus caused would have been alleviated by temporary remission of taxes and exemption from personal service. Tokimune, not content with so parsimonious a bounty, ordered in addition the imme- diate cancellation of all mortgages upon the property of his proteges, the proletariat. Exemption from old debts followed by order of his successors. The result of these eccentric actions was disastrous. The common people, until then moderately industrious and thrifty, degenerated gradually into a mob of idlers and sturdy beggars. The inch they had received in the name of charity failed to satisfy them ; they were soon Confisca- clamouring for their ell in the shape of confiscation of property property for redistribution in accordance with their demand- advanced ideas, a condition of affairs which we are not unfamiliar with in Europe, and to study which it is not necessary to examine Japanese records. Riots became frequent occurrences, and the disturbance in- creased under the weak rule of the regent Yoshimasa (1449-72), culminating, in the first half of the six- teenth century, in a popular demonstration at the gates of the Imperial Palace. Of the victorious warriors whose era began at the Old Age close of the Ashikaga regime, Uyesugi Kenshin was paid in the most famous for his charity. In the intervals of "'^^• fighting he is said to have busied himself with good works. In 1574 he introduced a system of old age pensions, paid in rice. But the times were too troublous for the practice of organized and dis- criminating benevolence, and it is not until the assumption of power by the Tokugawa Shogun that any improvement took place in this direction. Then, indeed, both the Shogunate and the feudal 586 JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY lords systematically attacked the problem of pauperism The story and witli some degree of success. In 1666 Maeda paying Tsunanori, Lord of Kaga, ordered his officials to take alms- a census of the beggars in his province, and meanwhile commenced the construction of a hospital and a collec- tion of almshouses which covered five acres of ground. To these he admitted 2,000 beggars, adults and children, and his administration of the asylum from the economic point of view is said to have been almost perfect. Food and clothing were supplied to all the in- mates, and the sick were medically treated by the best physicians that could be found. Those of the able- bodied who possessed skill were taught crafts in which they might utilize their attainments, and employment was found for them outside the asylum ; the renowned sword-smith, ' Beggar Kiyomitsu,' learned his art while an inmate. To those who possessed no special talent simple tasks were given, such as the making of ropes and sandals. The articles thus manufactured were sold and the proceeds banked for the benefit of the makers upon being discharged. When they wanted to leave, the money standing to their credit was handed to them together with some rice and new clothing, and they were sent as servants to families or were assisted to emigrate or to begin farming on their own account. The principles of this institution may sound familiar to English people, but there were certain circum- stances in connexion with Lord Maeda's undertaking with which, as payers of poor-rates, they are not so well acquainted. The first is that the almshouses rapidly became self-supporting, and in a very few years the money which the founder had advanced was repaid to him. The second is that, with rare delicacy of feeling, this excellent noble did all in his power to JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY 587 secure a due measure of respect for his * friends ', and to protect them from the stigma of pauperism. An edict is still extant in which he commands that his asylum should be regarded not as ' beggars' shelters ' but as 0-loija, 'honourable lodgings,' where belated travellers thi'ough life might purchase rest and re- freshment before starting on their journeys again. In the Government institutions known as TamariJ^e less tender solicitude was shown for the susceptibilities of the inmates, but the hopelessness of the material upon which they had to work is evident from the meaning of the name — ' a place where the scum of humanity is thrown '. The first Tamarl were estab- lished in Tokyo (then Yedo), another in 1687 in the Asakusa district and one three or four years later in the Shinagawa suburb. They were originally intended for the reception of released felons and of those who had contracted diseases during incarcera- tion, but subsequently became open to honest people in poor circumstances and to homeless imbeciles and other human derelicts. For better-class folk the Shogun Yoshimune built at Yedo the Charity Hos- pital, accommodating about 120 patients. Their treat- ment was tempered with kindness ; food, clothes, bed- ding, and medicine were provided, and each patient was allowed to stay a period of eight months, if necessary. But charitable undertakings were not the prerogative The solely of the Government and the daimyos. The scholar, relief of Miura-Baien, a student of Confucian doctrines, founded P''^"Peis- in the province of Bungo, in 1756, a 'Charity Club', whose members were bound to mutual assistance in times of trouble, and to the relief of paupers and the sick or aged poor. Beginning in modest fashion in a small village, the philanthropic operations of the original club never cittained a particularly wide scope ; 588 JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY its importance rested upon tlie example which it set to other villages, and upon the fact that it revived the admirable ' family ' system, the goninguni, by which every five families in a town or village were banded together to render mutual aid in 'the improvement of agriculture, the promotion of morality and religion, and the exercise of charity and general benevolence '. The Giso. In the years of peace, under the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate, much more was done in the cause of charity, than can be even hinted at here. The Giso, or charity granaries, which had lapsed as institutions during the preceding period of anarchy, were re-established on a larger scale and a better system under the wise administration of Lord Matsu- daira-Sadanobu, Counsellor to the Shogun lyenari. By economizing municipal expenditure he was able to build fifty-three giso in Yedo and its vicinity, and time and again, during the terrible famines which afflicted north-east Japan in the Temmei and Tempo eras, his granaries rescued from starvation those who could avail themselves of their aid. In his own fief of Shirakawa, Lord Sadanobu initiated public works for the employment of the poor, and encouraged large families by giving grants to mothers of triplets. Japanese Many other names of bygone philanthropists could thropy. be cited — Shigegata Hosokawa, lord of Kumamoto : Harunori Uyesugi, lord of Yonezawa, contemporaries of Sadanobu Matsudaira ; Navatsir Takegaki, and Shirobei Suzuki, friends of poor children ; Shin-en Sato ; Sontoku Ninomiya, the organizer of Hotokusha, a benevolent trade union — space, however, prevents further enumeration. Charity In the confusion which attended the opening of the Meiji era. Meiji era the poor were necessarily somewhat neglected. JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY 589 It is true that the name of Jmiin, which for centuries had chuig to beggars, and which means, literally, ' an inhuman being,' was abolished by law, but though these outcasts were given a moral status in society they were for a time left physically helpless. With the resumption of order, and with the reintroduction of Christianity into the country, arrangements for their treatment were systematized and widened in scope, while numerous additions were made to the existing charitable and philanthropical undertakings. The City of Tokyo Asylum for the Poor took its The origin from part of the fund amassed by the economies Asyfmu. of Lord Matsudaira. At the Restoration this money was used for the purchase of the mansion of the former Lord of Kaga (now, however, the site of the Tokyo University), and for the maintenance, primarily, of 140 poor men and women. To-day it is the largest and most important of Japan's charities, with over 1,500 inmates, and since its foundation has cared for more than 20,000 poor people. Since 1885 H.I.M. the Empress has marked her appreciation of its labours with an annual gift, and, with other contributions, its funds amount to about £40,000. From 1883 it has opened its doors to sick travellers ; since 1885 it has received waifs and foundlings, and in 1900 it began to take in refractory boys for correction. The Tokyo Charity Hospital, founded in 1882, pro- The vides free medical treatment for the poor. Like the Ho^p°|.^i Toyko City Asylum it enjoys the special patronage of Her Imperial Majesty, and at the end of 1908 it possessed a fund of £60,000. During that year there were 74 patients in the Hospital, and nearly 40,000 out-patients were treated. It is closely associated with the Red Cross Society, and has as Director the Naval Surgeon-in-Chief, Dr. Kanehiro Takagi. 590 JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY Other The Sugamo Hosj^ital of Tokyo is an asylum which charitable • i i- 'ji • • i j? j? institu- receives lunatics, either as paying inmates or tor tree tions. treatment, and poor people generally. In an average year its inmates number over 400, and as its revenue from donations does not usually amount to one-half of its expenses, it is dependent in great measure upon subsidies from the Central Treasury. The Fukudenkai Orphanage at Kogaicho, Azabu (Tokyo), is a private charity, founded in 1879, which ordinarily takes charge of some 120 orphans. The Ryuge Orphanage at Fuku- yaina, the most successful of all the charities con- ducted on Buddhist principles, was founded in 1899 by the priest J. Shichiri, son of a noted philanthropist. It receives children for education at the public schools and youths for training to a business life, and in 1908 had 138 inmates. Juji The Okayama Orphanage was founded in 1889 by phanage. J^ji Isliii, a medical student of the Christian faith, who was induced by the miserable state of the children of the poor of Waki, a village in the Okayama Pre- fecture, to devote his life to the succour of orphans. His philanthropy has been recognized by the court, which in 1904 made him a grant of £100, and signified its intention of repeating the gift annually for ten years. At the end of 1909 the orphans under his care numbered 597 (385 boys and 212 girls) about 70 of whom, the very young or the physically weak, are boarded out in farmers' families. Others are trained in agricultural colonies, and the orphanage possesses 17 acres of land in the Miyazaki Prefecture where farming and tree-planting are successfully carried on by 40 of its proteges, girls and youths. Some who show promise are even sent abroad for the prosecution of special studies. Primary education is provided at the school-houses in the orphanage compound, which JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY 591 covers 9 acres of grounds, and comprises 70 l>uildings. A feature of the revenue of this splendid institution is the 15,000 yen (£1,531) annually contributed by as many life members. Until 1907 all the leper hospitals in Japan were those Leper founded by foreign missionaries. The first, which ^°^^" * ^* is also the largest, owed its origin to the devotion of Father Testewinde, who started in 1889 with 70 or 80 patients in a house and compound near the Gotemba Station in Tokaido. The Ihai-yen Hospital at Meguro, a suburb of Tokyo, was established in 1894 by Miss Youngman, an American lady, and has from the first been in charge of Mr. S. Otsuka and his wife. At this institution the famous Dr. Kitasato, known and honoured everywhere for his research work, attends thrice weekly. The Kwaishun Hospital, founded at Kumamoto in 1895 by Miss Hannah Riddell, an English lady, takes care of about 50 patients. Miss Riddell, whose work has been recognized by the Government, was decorated with the blue ribbon of the Order instituted in 1881 for the purpose of honouring such work as hers. The Tai- ra-in Hospital, established in Kumamoto in 1894 by Father Corre, has at present 14 or 15 patients, and its benevolent founder has been similarly decorated. Eight Sisters of Mercy, aided by Japanese assistants, carry on the work under the superintendence of Father Lebel. In the 1906-7 session of the Imperial Diet a Bill was passed for the establishment, at the expense of the State, of five hospitals for lepers, and these are now all in being in the vicinity of Tokyo, Osaka, Kumamoto, Kanazawa, and Aomori respectively. The largest private charity hospital in Japan is the The institution which the Mitsui family founded in Kanda, Hospital. Tokyo, and which has nearly completed three years of 592 JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY magnificent work. It is a Japanese boast that their progress in the heaUng art has kept pace with their advance in the science of war, but a visit to the Mitsui Charity Hospital will lead one to believe, and almost to hope, that in vaunting their development in the more humane branch of knowledge they have been unduly modest. On this point the writer speaks from personal experience. Within the plain and substantial building, which encloses a grassy quadrangle, shaded by trees and bright with flowers, the surgical and medical skill and learning gained in years of close study in Europe and America is dedicated gratuitously to the relief of 120 in-patients, and of 700 or more out-patients, who daily throng to the dispensary for free A tour of treatment. From the large reception room on the first tionf "^ floor, the visitor is taken along wide corridors, covered with polished brown oilcloth, and up and down car- peted stairs, through the library, in which German books seem to predominate, the laboratory, the con- sulting-rooms for day-patients and for special cases, and the dispensary. There are two rooms devoted to ophthalmic patients, and here it may be men- tioned that eye trouble is the most common of the ills which afflict the Japanese poor, and is due, in most cases, to their habit of sleeping upon mats on the floor. The operating theatre, with its white-tiled walls, electric lights, and glass roof, is equipped throughout in the style of the best European hospi- tals. In the lofty and well-aired wards the wooden bedsteads each have a diagnosis-board at the head, precisely as at Guy's or St. Bartholomew's, and the nurses wear white washing-dresses made much in the English fashion, with caps of a mode of their own. There are forty nurses, and thirty-five student nurses, the latter distinguished from their more practised JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY 598 sisters only by two little red embroidered marks on the collars of their dresses. These student nurses enter the institution between the ages of seventeen and twenty-six, and undergo a three-years' course of training. The tour of inspection includes the wing recently The built for infectious cases, the vivisection theatre, and infectious the morgue. This last is one of the brightest places in '^''^^^^' the whole building. It is a room, furnished in the severely simple Japanese fashion, into which the sun- shine streams through windows ' glazed ' with paper. A huge bowl of flowers decorates one corner, and the only feature that in any way suggests the funereal purpose of the apartment is the stretcher which stands against a wall. There are forty-eight physicians and surgeons attached to the Mitsui Hospital, who all give their services freely and gratuitously. Many of them come from the Imperial University to study for one or two years, often practising outside at the same time. Doctors from all over Jaj^an attend the lectures on the latest develo^Dments in medical science which are given three or four times a year by the Senior Physician and the occupant of the Chair of Medicine at the Tokyo University. Baron Mitsui, who, in the name of the Mitsui family, founded the institution, gave for the purpose the sum of 1,200,000 yen (£122,500). In the initial expenses some £52,000 was sunk, and the interest on the re- mainder is sufficient for the cost of maintenance on the scale we have attempted to indicate. Reform work in Japan is mainly in the hands of Refonu Christian or Buddhist philanthropists. There are ^^^^ fifty-five houses for ex-convicts, of which the first to be established was Mr. M. Kimbara's institution at rORTEB 1' p 59i JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY Shizuoka (1888), but only tsix or seven of them are of perceptible utility. Tliey were mostly started shortly after the death of the Empress Dowager in January, 1896, when 18,500 convicts were liberated, and a grant of 400,000 yen was distributed amongst the prefectures for their assistance. Mr. Hara's Home for ex-convicts is the largest and one of the most suc- cessful. The founder is a Christian who suffered several years' imprisonment for a political offence, and who afterwards acted as chaplain to a prison, re- claiming, in this capacity, no less than 805 discharged convicts. Since its foundation his Home has be- friended a total of 1,071 ticket-of-leave convicts, with the result that 561 were re-habilitated and are now supporting themselves, 115 died, and 175 escaped and were re-convicted, the whereabouts of the others being unknown. The At the Imperial Household Dairy Farm (Shibuya, Reforma- near Tokyo) the Tokyo Reformatory is doing valuable tory. work in the direction of making good citizens out of refractory children. It was established in 1885, and since then has reformed an aggregate of 440 boys, of whom 27 are now in the army, 24 are merchants, 51 are mechanics, 9 are Government officials, 89 are students, and 25 are farmers, the present occupation of the remainder not being definitely known. Prince Nigo is the President, and the institution has the patronage of the Emperor and Empress, the Royal Princes and other subscribers. Four According to an investigation carried out last year charitable tli^re are over 400 charitable institutions, j^ublic and institu- private. For the most part they are excellently con- ducted, combining economy and efficiency. Their operations cover most of the wide field of human misery and misfortune, and while there are no ' fancy ' JAPANESE PHILANTHKOPY 595 charities in Japan, there is no class or condition of poor people that need seek help in vain. But it is a curious fact that in this country where The inde- so many subsist on the merest pittance a state of^pJit'^of necessity does not indicate, to the extent which obtains *^® P°o^- in many other lands, a willingness to accept aid. Especially among the farming class in the interior is this independence apparent, and as an instance may be cited the fact that, in the last famine which afflicted north-eastern Japan, an entire village, though on the verge of starvation, politely refused all offers of assistance. Again, for the relief of the soldiers who were invalided home from the war with Russia, a large grant was voted and distributed amongst the pre- fectures, and in addition Japan's rich men vied with each other to swell the fund ; but the writer heard that, maimed and helpless as many of them were, applications for relief had up to the present been amazingly few. They had their tiny pensions, and they had their families to care for them ; to ask for help under these circumstances would have made paupers of them, and sooner than sink so low they would starve. A significant token of the strength of the 'family' feeling in Japan is that often enough, over- flowing the limits of one household, it extends to the members of another scarcely less poor. The Government, anxious to avoid all danger of Relief pauperizing the needy, does what it can to encourage ti(fns.'^ this sentiment. There is no Poor Law in Japan ; its substitute is the Relief Regulations issued in 1874 for the benefit only of those who, having no family and being unable to support themselves, have failed to receive that neighbourly help which is usually so ungrudgingly dispensed. To be entitled to this relief the applicant must be under lo, over 70, or disabled p p 2 596 JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY Relief of sufferers from disasters. by disease or accident, and the grants are calculated to discourage a tendency to idleness. Those who are disabled or over 70 and who fulfil the conditions mentioned are given annually 150 sJio of rice ; those who are under 13 receive 70 slw. (A sho is less than one-fifth of a peck.) To such as are temporarily un- able to work owing to disease or accident a daily ration is given, one-fifth of a sho to a woman and half as much again to a man. To the protectors or guardians of foundlings or orphans an earlier decree (1871) grants 70 sho per annum. There are also regulations which provide for the treatment of ' diseased or dead travellers' by the mayors of towns or the headmen of villages, but here again any j)i"oneness to travel at the expense of the State is checked by the system of collecting from those who are relieved, or from those who should support them, the cost of their treatment. Where this is impossible the prefecture which rendered the service bears the loss. For the relief of sufferers from disasters, such as floods, storms, earthquakes, fires, plagues of vermin, and kindred ills, there were issued in 1897 the ' Relief Fund Regulations ', a revised version of the ' Regula- tions for Times of Calamities ' (1880), which again were a modification of the old system of ' Charity Funds '. The fund stands at present at about £4,500,000, and each prefecture is bound to hold in reserve for this object at least 500,000 yen (say £51,000). In the case of widespread damage the Central Government con- tributes a sum of money in proportion to the need, dispatches to the scene of the calamity war-ships or soldiers, as the case may be, with provisions, clothes, fuel, and medical aid, and places at the disposal of the survivors the resources (fuel, food, and timber for building) of tlie State Forests in the vicinity. JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY 597 No statistics are published which show the extent inade- to which application is made for assistance from these Sistics funds and whether it tends to increase or diminish, and it is only possible to quote the following figures as illustrating the sums disbursed in two recent years which were, however, practically free from catastrophes of any description : — Central Gov't Prefectures Cities, towns, and villages Sufferer's Relief m . i Funds ( prefectures) *^ ^ 908 £18,829 909 6,527 £19,239 23,347 £18,840 £4,451 £61,359 8,394 38.268 In addition to its expenditure in these directions the Central Government has, since 1908, granted sums of money to charitable undertakings, which also, in some prefectures, receive ear-marked subscriptions fi'om the local authorities. The splendid munificence of the Royal Family of Berevo- Japan has been a shining example to philanthropists thTRoyal throughout the Empire. There is scarcely a charitable family. undertaking. Christian or Buddhist, which cannot claim the recognition or support of the Emperor or Empress, or of the Princes or Princesses of the Blood Royal, and Imperial benevolence mitigates the effects of every calamity that overtakes the country. The scale upon which the Emperor's gifts are conceived is lavish enough to be remarkable even in a land where the liberality of the monarch is traditional. The latest instance occurred on February 11 ' of this year, when His Majesty summoned to his presence Prince Katsura, then Premier, and handed him an Imperial Rescript which may be translated as follows : — ' We have observed that the urgent need of means ^ This is the date of the public holiday known, as Kiffensefsu, which commemorates both the accession of .Timmu Tenno in t)GO B.C. and the promulgation of the Constitution in 1889. 598 JAPANESE PHILANTHROPY for the development of national power in order to keep pace with the progress of the world has wrought a change in the economic condition of the nation. In such a state of affairs the thoughts of the people are apt to take a misguided course and to deviate from the proper way. Those who have charge of the administration of the affairs of the nation should therefore strive to encourage and assist the people in their occupations, and to help them towards the attain- ment of a more perfect development as a nation by providing them with the means of securing thorough education. It is a matter of deep regret to Us if any of Our poorer subjects should perish prematurely from lack of medical aid, and We are anxious to relieve and befriend them. For this purpose We have commanded that a sum of money belonging to Our household be set aside and used as a fund for the benefit of the helpless among Our people. You, knowing Our will, must endeavour to carry out Our wishes, to the end that Our people may be at ease.' The sum referred to was a million and a half of yen, or £153,637. CHAPTER XXXYII THE RED CEOSS WORK ' Occidentals,' says Surgeon-General Baron Tadanori The Ishiguro, ' seem to hold, with a certain amount of pride, aXuImne that the spirit of humanity which tends to alleviate people, the horrors of war is a j)roduct peculiar to their own modern civilization. But this magnanimity, which enables men to treat enemies who have lost their fighting-power no longer as adversaries but as brothers, and to extend kindness and protection to those who have surrendered, has been a special characteristic of our nation from all time. It is not a mere accident that the people of Japan have of late years devoted so much attention to the development of the philanthropic work of the Red Cross Convention of Geneva ; it is rather attributable to a love of mercy deeply rooted in the hearts of all true Japanese, and transmitted through their forefathers through many a generation.' Though unable to agree with the first sentence of the paragraph quoted, the writer can vouch for the truth of what follows. Amongst the exhibits of the Red Cross Convention held at Kyoto in May, 1910, was a collection of ancient documents, some of them dating back to the eighth century, bound so as to present, opposite each original, a French and an English trans- lation. They were mostly orders issued upon battle- fields that have long since been covered, year by year, with smiling crops, and one and all furnished indis- putable evidence of the merciful sentiment which inspired the warriors of old Japan. 'Spare all who 600 THE RED CROSS WORK yield ' is their invariable tenor, and often enough they convey to subordinates injunctions as to the kindly treatment of captives and the burial, with priestly rites, of the dead of both sides. A common practice was the erection upon a field of combat of one monument * in memory of friends and foes who fell in the battle '. The in- Xo Baron Tadanori, Surgeon Ki Hayashi, and Sur- the Red geon-General Jun Matsumoto is due the inception of Society ^^^ Japanese Red Cross Society. Upon the establish- ment in 1871 of a War Department for the Army and Navy the last-named officer was appointed Director of the Medical Bureau. Rumour had reached them that in Western countries there existed an association which in time of war rendered medical aid impartially to the belligerents, and whose members and place upon the field were distinguished and protected by a badge which they displayed. The idea ap^^ealed insistently to men familiar with the saddest aspect of war, and they petitioned the Council of State that the Japanese Army Medical Service might adopt the badge and the principles, as far as they could understand them, of the beneficent Occidental society. To their grief the petition was rejected, as savouring too highly of slavish admiration of everything Western. At the time Mr. (now Marshal Prince) Oyama was in Europe studying modern military science, and was a witness, in France and Switzerland, of the operations of the Red Cross Corps in the Franco-Prussian war. Upon his return, deeply impressed by what he had seen, he added his influence to the arguments of the little band of army surgeons, and the Council of State was gradually persuaded that to come into line with the Powers Japan must formally join the Convention of Geneva. Arrangements to that end were being con- cluded when the Kasroshima rebellion liroke out. THE RED CROSS WORK 601 In this unhappy civil war the fighting was so fierce The that opposing detachments sometimes lost two-thirds ^^^-^^ pg- of their strength in casualties. At Baron Tadanori's ijelHon. urgent solicitations the authorities established a tem- porary military hospital at Osaka in which the wounded of both sides were cared for, and in the meantime Mr. (now Count) Tsunetami Sano, who, as Japan's Minister in Vienna, had seen the field-work of the Red Cross Ambulance Corps at manoeuvres, organized with Viscount Ogyu in Tokyo an institution modelled on the same lines, and finally inaugurated with the title of Hakuaislia, or Society of Universal Love. With this, the precursor of the Red Cross Society of Japan, permission was obtained to join the Imperial troops at Kumamoto, where, in an improvised hospital, wounded prisoners to the number of fifteen or sixteen were tended as well as circumstances would allow. In 1886 Japan was admitted to the Geneva Con- Japan vention, and the Hakuaisha, thoroughly reorganized, 'Jq^JJ^ became the first Far Eastern branch of the Red Cross Geneva Society, adopting the well-known badge. In the tion. following year Baron Tadanori, with Drs. Taniguchi and Mori, represented his country at the Fourth Inter- national Conference of the league, held at Karlsruhe, Viscount Noritsugu attending on behalf of the Japanese Red Cross Society. An incident which occurred at this Conference on the sixth day of the meeting must have amazed the European representatives. To the question before the delegates, ' How is antiseptic surgery to be effectively perfoi-med on the battlefield ? ' Japan had responded by showing the disinfected bandages which were sewn inside the tunics of her troops, and had ex- plained that as a result of training in times of peace the men were able to bandage their own or 602 THE RED CROSS WORK their comrades' wounds until surgical aid was forth- coming. In the discussion of the methods by which the spirit of the Geneva Convention could most effectively be inculcated among the troops, Japan's answer that copies of the Red Cross Compendium had been distributed amongst her own men, was very well received. But later in the proceedings a delegate representing the Red Cross Society of a certain Power placed before the Conference the extraordinary ques- tion, ' Whether or not the assistance and protection which the Red Cross League mutually rendered in time of war should be extended to countries outside the boundaries of Europe, even when those countries happened to be members of the League ? ' There was a scene of some animation, and the motion was eventually withdrawn ; before the close of the Con- ference the Japanese Red Cross Society had concluded arrangements for being recognized formally as a member of the League. Tiip Since then the history of the League in Japan has of the been one of uninterrupted progress. The institution League in ^j^^^ started in 1877 with thirty-eight members and .lapan. ... ^ o a subscription-list of about 150 yen can boast to-day nearly 1,600,000 members, twelve hospitals, two hospital ships, 3,787 doctors, pharmacists, and nurses, and property valued at over £1,680,000. The two steamers, the Hakuai Maru and the Kosai Ilaru, were built in England in 1897, and in time of peace they form part of one of the passenger lines of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, upon the condition that in a case of emergency they may at a week's notice be held at the disposal of the Society completely equipped as hospital-ships. Their efficiency was fully proved in 1900, during the Boxer trouble, when they were dispatched to Taku, and brought French and Austrian THE RED CROSS WORK 603 as well as Japanese wounded back to Japan for treat- ment. The splendid work of the Red Cross League in the Russia-Japan war is well known throughout the world and requires no mention here. It established Japan as a humane as well as a courageous nation. The principal hospital of the Society is the Red The Cross Hospital at Shibuya, and in accommodation and hospitS general arrangement it is the best in the Far East, surpassing the Mitsui Hospital in the matter of beds, of which it maintains 267. The branch hospitals are in Miye, Nagano, Shiga, Wakayama, Kagawa, Toyama, Osaka, Himeji, Hyogo, Port Arthur, and Mukden, and between them they number 1,137 beds, many of them devoted to charity patients. The number of ward- patients who were treated in the twelve Red Cross Hospitals during 1909 was 2,126, in addition to 6,977 out-patients. Poor patients are also admitted at a nominal charge, to enable them to retain their inde- pendence." The organization of the relief corps is in very The capable hands. At the end of 1908 the Society was ^^^^^^ in a position to mobilize for immediate service 221 medical officers, 93 pharmaceutists, 263 chief nurses, 2,534 nurses, and 117 probationary nurses, 61 chief attendants, and 575 attendants, 133 stretcher-bearers, and 48 clerks, and in the last two years the strength of the corps has been increased. During 1909 there was fortunately little in the way of national calamities wherel^y the efficiency of the organization might be tested, but the relief work accomplished in connexion with the Shiga earthquake, the great fire in Osaka, and the famine in the Ham-Gyeng Do province in the south of Chosen was worthy of all praise. In their operations with the troops in Formosa they tended 2,607 sick 604 THE RED CROSS WORK and wounded, and but for the utter intractability of the savages they would have extended their benevo- lence to them. The present year, unhappily, has been more disastrous, the eruption of Asama-yan and the typhoon and tidal wave at Tokyo and Yokohama having been attended by considerable loss of life and damage to the people's crops, and though no particulars can yet be given, nothing can be more certain than that the aid of the Red Cross was prompt and effectual. To be assured of this one has only again to recall the magnificent work of the Society in the late war with Russia. The It is perhaps unnecessary to say that the Red Cross oniie^^ Society of Japan enjoys the special patronage and the Emperor, constant recognition of the court, receiving therefrom a regular subscription of £2,600 a year, in addition to large sums given on special occasions. Many of Japan's wealthiest men contribute freely to the funds, and the finances of the Society have lately been placed upon a solid and stable basis. With Marquis Matsukata as president, and Baron Ozawa as vice-president, the one a noted financier, and the other a particularly able statesman, there can be little doubt as to the future prosperity of the Society. 35 SOUTH Eng Miles >• Kilometres ^Tsushima Russian Terntorj jakeshikir^ Chinese Territon (Jisuhara . , . Chinese Territon • shimonoseki\iH— leased to Japafl ^ 1 ^ ^^^^■^s^IyIoj Japanese Territ Q 35 130 fR.Y.'^aKJMsUre, Q\ Map to accompany "THE FULL RECOGNITION OF JAPAN" by RoDert P.Porter. '^^ ^OjjMEturfC, O^^^iml, CHAPTER XXXVIII KOKEA Whether the Japanese have experienced more diffi- Difficui- culties in dealing with the sorcerers, necromancers, and countered ' sea- thieves ' of Korea than in the work of taming the ^" ^ovea ^ . and human-skull hunting savages of Formosa will perhaps Formosa. never be known. Both tasks have been difficult and dangerous and have 'required infinite patience, for- bearance, and tact. To convert semi-fanatics and semi-pirates into peaceful citizens requires as much skill and firmness as to domesticate savages. Gentle methods, kindness, and diplomacy have been tried in both instances, only to be requited by assassination, A'iolence, and brutality. Then what the Japanese in- genuously call ' a stronger pressure ' has been brought to bear, and it would be folly to deny that hard blows have been dealt alike to those who would despoil and assassinate. But when all milder measures fail, there remains but one method of dealing with armed insur- gents and bloodthirsty savages, and that is to shoot them. From 1905 to 1910 Japan attempted to ad- The An- minister the affairs of Korea under a so-Ccdled pro- tectorate. The dual administration had undoubtedly broken down when, last year, the Japanese Govern- ment decided that annexation was the only remedy for the existing condition of affairs. We are told that the Korean administrators were constantly at cross- purposes with the Japanese advisers, that there was no unity of aim, and nothing but serious and con- 606 KOREA tiniial misunderstandings. Added to this a, strong Korean party had been formed to agitate for annexa- tion. The Emperor had abdicated, his nominal successor was in seclusion and described himself in the rescript ceding the sovereignty of Korea to the Emperor of Japan as having * long been in delicate health ' and in a condition that ' has now become incurable to our sorrow '. He was afraid he would no longer be able to ' discharge his great task ' and therefore decided to entrust it to ' other hands with a view to perfect the system of government and carry out reforms '. The plaintive, almost childish tone of the rescript pictures for us a monarch indeed fortunate that his constitu- tional delicacy, in the physical sense of the term, enabled him to bow with such dignity to the inevit- able. His personality could have commanded no real respect from his subjects, and probably when the Koreans have grown accustomed to the change, they will not be unwilling to show loyalty to the Emperor of Japan. The extent of their acquiescence will depend largely upon the policy adopted by Japan, but judging from the past, there is every reason to believe that this will prove to be a conciliatory and a generous one. The protectorate had, in fact, become a fiction. Korea was in all but name part of the Japanese Empire, and this last act simply regularized its position and made it possible to establish a stable and efficient govei'nment. There was nothing in this action that could, in the slightest degree, cause humiliation to Korea, but, on the contrary, it will enable Japan to maintain public order and security and to advance the happiness of the Korean people. It is proposed to give a brief historical sketch of the relations which have existed between the Govenmient of Korea and that of Japan together with an account KOREA H07 of the incidents which led up to the Chinese and the Russian wars. The disputes o\'er the affairs of Korea, as we shall see, precipitated both of these wars, though other and perhaps more far-reaching reasons than the control of Korea undoubtedly influenced Japan in her declaration of war against Russia. It has been said that in the dawn of history History ot a Japanese Empress led a successful expedition to i-Xtions Korea, and down to the middle of the sixth century with Mra at the head of Chinghai Bay and the Bay itself '^^.^ji. were held by the Japanese. It is now proposed to tional make a naval port in Chinghai Bay which a glance at by Em- the map of Korea shows lies directly opposite thejj^^''^ island of Tsushima. Within Chinghai Bay there is everywhere ample depth of water for the biggest war- ships, and sufficient area for the manceuvres of modern fleets. Historically this Japanese expedition to the Penin- Hide- sula seems to have been the earliest, and it was not exp"di- until a thousand years afterwards that the expedition to tion. Korea sent by Taiko Hideyoshi was undertaken (1592), the Japanese tell us, purely to gratify the lust of conquest. These warriors must have followed the Empress and landed somewhere in the vicinity of Chinghai Bay, the map indicating that a battle was fought here in June, 1592. For eight years Korea was plundered and overrun by the Japanese, and the help- less Koreans were compelled to call upon the Chinese for protection. Twenty years afterwards the Chinese themselves invaded Korea, and it is said that Korea was never able to recover from the effect of these two disasters. On the death of the warlike Hideyoshi luter- peaceful intercourse was established between the two between nations, and for many years a Korean embassy was -^'^P'!;" ^"^^ ' ^ "^ •^ _ *' ^ and Korea entertained in Kyoto on the occasion of the accession estab- lished. 608 KOREA of each new Shogun. Subsequently owing to the impecuniosity of latter-day Shoguns, the place of meeting was transferred to Tsushima island, where the lord of the island received the Korean envoy on behalf of the Shogun. Korean Tlius matters remained between the two countries staiidint^ Until 1868, wlien an incident occurred which nearly in 1868. caused a war. The new Japanese Government, in courteously informing the Korean Government of the restoration of the Imperial authority, used an ex- pression which, in the opinion of the Koreans, could only be used by the Emperor of China himself. The Koreans refused to receive the letter, returning it through the provincial authorities of Fusan with an expression of their surprise and horror at such an apparent usurpation of Imperial dignity and title. Had it not been for the counsel of some of the wiser statesmen this incident would have led to hostilities. Japan, however, was not then ready for such an adventure, and the matter was wisely allowed to drop. First com- In 1876 the first treaty of friendship and connnerce treaty was signed, and from that date the modern relations between between the two nations may be said to have com- Japanand , "^ ^ Korea, menced. In the first article of that treaty Korea was set forth as an independent kingdom having equal rights with the Empire of Japan. The insertion of this clause, however, did not remove the shadowy claims of China over Korea, who, apparently, desired to maintain the fiction of the independence of Korea, and at the same time to evade the responsibility of a protectorate. This attitude of China, it is claimed by Japanese authorities, was the source of all the trouble in Korea until the close of the Japan-China war. In accordance with the new treaty, a Japanese legation was estciblished in Seoul in 1877, and until KOREA 609 1882 the relations between the two countries seem to Events have run smoothly. Factions had, however, arisen ^^^J"^° *^*^ within the Korean administration, and these troubles anti- terminated in a campaign for the expulsion of policy. foreigners. As the Korean recruits were being- trained by a Japanese officer with the view to organizing an army on modern lines it was not difficult to arouse a spirit of resentment in the ranks of the old army of incompetents, who mutinied in a body, attacked and killed the Paymaster-General, attempted to seize the Queen, a personage of much political weight, and committed other depredations including the burning of the Japanese Legation. The Burning Minister and his staff escaped and, after enduring jj^pa^ese many hardships, reached the sea coast where they Legation embarked in a small boat and were finally rescued by a British gun-boat. The Tai-won-Kun, the father of the Korean king, who had recently abdicated and to whose intrigues the anti-foreign policy was largely due, was temporarily restored to power. The tales of anarchy existing in the Hermit Kingdom Chinese aroused China to action, and General Ma, with 4,000 men suppoi-ted by the Chinese northern fleet, was dispatched to Seoul. The leaders of the disturbance were taken prisoners, the disturbing elements removed from the Government, Tai-won-Kun sent, practically as a prisoner, to China, and Yuan-Shih-Kai was appointed as Regent-General to maintain order and reform the administration. The trouble, however, was too deeply seated to yield to treatment from the representatives of a country which, whilst claiming suzerainty, had for long evaded all responsibility. The Queen and her party, believing the Chinese power Anti- more firmly established than it subsequently was found mov"^^^ to be, cultivated the favour of the Regent-General, ])ut "^^nt, PORTER Q q 610 KOREA in her efforts to strengthen her own position she seems to have offended those of her supporters who believed in an independent Korea, and the dissatisfied elements naturally turned to Japan for support and sympathy. At the close of 1884 conspirators led by Kim-Gyok-Kun attempted to annihilate the whole Government at a banquet to which the Ministers had been invited to celebrate the inauguration of the Korean postal service. The scheme was, however, only partially successful. According to Count Hayashi, the Japanese Minister, who was said by the conspirators to have countenanced the plot, was sent for by the King to guard his person with the Legation troops consisting of two companies of infantry. The Palace was soon besieged by the soldiers under Yuan-Shih-Kai, and the first collision took place between Japanese and Chinese troops, but a mere handful of Japanese, two companies in all, could not resist the attack of 4,000 Chinese soldiers. The King and Queen, together with the whole court, went over to the Chinese camp, while the Japanese Legation, followed by the Japanese residents in Seoul, withdrew to Chemulpo. Some of the conspirators took refuge in Japan. Much damage was done to the property of the Japanese and many lives were lost, while many partisans of the conspirators, together with their families, who were unable to escape in time, were arrested and put to death. Treaty The time had not yet arrived for Japan to test the China and strength of China, and in April, 1885, a treaty was ^^P?;"' signed between China and Japan, in which both countries agreed to withdraw their soldiers from Korea, and it was stipulated that when the necessity arose for one of the contracting parties to dispatch troops thither, previous notice should be given to the other. The spirit of this convention was that both parties KOREA 611 should be placed on an equal footing, and that Korean affairs should be dealt with accordingly, but the actual ascendancy remained with China. Such arrangements between nations never last, and this one continued for less than ten years, under somewhat strained con- ditions, during which period China and Japan con- tinued to watch Korea much a two cats might watch a mouse. So far as Korea, then, was concerned it was not of much importance which sprang upon its prey first. Both nations were embarrassed by the stipula- tion of the treaty to the effect that when the necessity arose for one of the agreeing parties to make a move, notice must be given to the other. It is not necessary to give particulars of the incidents which brought about the crisis of 1894. Korean refugees in Tokyo, Events a Korean assassin who murdered Kim-Gyok-Kun in to^^jamn- Shanghai, and the violent language of young legislators ^""^ in the Japanese Diet, all played a part. China, thinking the time had come to make a display of military force, and assert her practical suzerainty over Korea, dispatched veteran troops to Seoul under the pretence of helping the King to suppress an insur- rection ; Japan followed quickly with her soldiers, nominally to protect the Japanese residents. This time Japan was prepared. Negotiations were opened between the two Governments as to the future con- duct of business in Korea. Pending these negotiations Captain, now Admiral Viscount, Togo, challenged a Chinese transport escorted by two men-of-war carrying- reinforcements to Yashan, which, refusing to sur- render, was sunk after some shots were fired. This concluded what may be called the Chinese sovereignty of Korea and brought on the Japan-China war in which Japan forced out China, only to have Russia step in. The end was not yet. Q q 2 612 KOREA iiuiepen- By the treaty of peace signed at Shimonoseki, in Kmea°^ ^vhich China ceded Formosa with its troublesome recoTut the best land for the meiit. culture of the bean lies in the north. In travelling- Man- . . "~ cliuria over its hundreds of miles of marvellously cultivated compared j{qI([^ one is reminded of the journey from Buenos Aigpn- Ay res to Mendoza, in Argentina. The Manchurian fields are, however, far better tilled than are those of the Argentine Republic. The area of Manchuria is not so extensive as that of Argentina, but if the actually cultivated areas of Argentina were com- pared with that of Manchuria the difference would not be great. Manchuria, however, has twice the pojDulation of Argentina, though it is probable that the 7^ million population of the latter consume more than twice as much as the 15 million population of Manchuria. The Manchurians convey their produce in primitive carts such as were used 200 years ago, l)ut the MANCHUKIA 701 Argentiiio moves his crops on a perfect network of railways. In the j^lanting and harvesting opera- tions, Manchurian methods are quite primitive. Apparently nothing is done by an implement that can possibly be done by hand, whereas with the Argentino nothing is- done by hand that can be done with an implement. Thus the efficiency of the 7 2 millions of Argentina is probably more than twice, and perhaps three times, as great as that of the 15 million inhabitants in Manchuria. With this population now in possession of the fields of Manchuria and with an equal number near at hand, ready to take up the remaining lands — there is an immense area of land untouched and awaiting immigrants — and to work them in the same way, it is unlikely that any great transformation scene will take place in the next few years in Manchuria. There will be no rapid Forecast changes such as have been witnessed in north-west tuniT^^" Canada, for example, nor such progress as the present ^^^ture. generation has seen in western America. The Cana- dian provinces to-day have not one-fifth of the popu- lation of Manchuria, but they possess a consuming- population that will have things, and are willing to exert their ingenuity to obtain them. They are not like the Manchurians, contented with cultivating im- mense tracts of land by hand, and with bringing their produce fifty or even a hundred miles over bad roads in carts to a river, or sending it to the seaboard in junks. The South Manchurian Eailway, now that Japan is looking for business south of Chang-chun, and Russia has actually awakened to the importance of the bean trade for its port of Vladivostock, is teaching Man- churian farmers a useful lesson, and already we hear of demands for more railways. These railways, how- 702 MANCHURIA ever, cannot l^e laid down as British capitalists in Argentina have laid them down. Argentina probably has at the present moment 20,000 miles of railways in operation and many additional miles projected, while Manchuria, including the lines under Japanese and Russian control, has not over an eighth of this mileage. The interests to be consulted are not national, as in Argentina, but international. By the time Russia and Japan agree, and China makes up its mind, and other countries decide on the financing and material to be used in construction, a good many years must have elapsed. The agricultural possibilities of Manchuria — and they are great and varied — will, therefore, be developed slowly, and in all probability by a popula- tion that will stick to old methods as long as possible, and by reason of their small wages will not become so important as consumers of foreign produce as the less densely inhabited agricultural regions of North and South America. Manchuria has an estimated population of 15,000,000. The provinces are Fengtien (Mukden), area 60,000 square miles, population 8,000,000 ; Kirin, area 110,000 square miles, population 5,000,000; and Keilungkiang, area 190,000 square miles, j^opulation 2,000,000. Manchuria, which was once regarded as a colony of China, is now an integral part of the Chinese Empire. It is at present governed by His Excellency Chao-Erh- Sun, who is known as the Viceroy of the Three Eastern 'I'liL' Provinces. If one may judge from the interest which iittihSo ^^i^ predecessor took in industrial exhibitions, in tourists who visited Japan, and in foreigners who visited Manchuria, the Chinese, like the Japanese, desire to encourage industry and enterprise. His Excellency Hsi Liang's administration of the Three Eastern Provinces was economical, and he tried to do MANCHURIA /llo away with useless offices and to discourage ' graft '. The seat of Government is at Mukden, and during the writer's stay there, and during his entire journey through Manchuria, the Viceroy Avas most anxious that every facihty should be afforded to him to see and understand the condition of the country. The Viceroy's wishes in this respect were carried out by Mr. Tan, whose kindness will long be remembered. During the recent plague, Mr. Tan, now promoted to the office of Taotai, was in charge of the Harbin district, and successfully prevented the spread of the disease. The writer was granted an audience by Hsi Laing, who said, in the course of conversation :— ' Manchuria, or, as it is now known, the Three Eastern Provinces of our Empire, is an integral part of China, and is no longer regarded as one of our colonies. We are trying our best to bring this region into full harmony with the rest of my master's dominions, but I feel keenly that I have not been able as yet to carry out all the improvements I have so much desired, and I am conscious of many short- comings, but our friends will have realized that a country which has had the great misfortune of having to play so conspicuous a part in the making of modern history must have been badly handicapped in its ordinary and industrial pursuits and in its general development. You will pardon me if I say that I have earnestly tried to carry out the decrees of my Imperial Master for the best securing of the peace and prosperity of our beloved, and I may add industrious, people, and to meet, as far as possible, the wishes of those honour- able countries with whom we have relations. To fall short of one's ideals seems but human, yet regret must be expressed that more cannot be done.' More recent intimation of China's policy was given in the instructions, according to a Peking telegram, from 704 MANCHURIA the Prince Regent of China to the new Viceroy, which enhghtened opinion in Japan regards as characterized on the whole by sound wisdom and sober judgment. That which bore principally upon the existing political situation was the instruction to proceed with the 'utmost circumspection in all negotiations, having regard to the widespread influence of Japan and Russia' — and it is to the Chinese point of view, embodied in the word circumspection, that criticism must for a moment be directed. It is true that circumspection is necessary in view of the presence of Russia and Japan in Manchuria, but it is also true that had circumspection on the part of China in the past been supplemented by more loyalty in the observance of treaty agreements and more sincerity in co-operation with the civilizing work of foreign Powers, the politics of her frontier provinces, owing to the presence of foreign Powers, would not be, as they are, a constant source of irritation and anxiety to the rulers of China. It has been China's want of straightforwardness in her dealings with foreign Powers that has been the cause of much of her recent trouble in Manchuria. There would have been no China-Japan War of 1894 had she faithfully adhered to the terms of the Tientsin Treaty of 1886. Arro- gance, quib])ling, delay, and the policy of playing off one nation against the other have invariably character- ized the attitude of her statesmen— she has only herself to blame for the ' widespread influence of Japan and Russia ' in Manchuria at the present time. The writer is a sincere friend and well-wisher of China and fully appreciates the many excellent qualities of the Chinese character. These observations, therefore, are not made in a spirit of unfriendliness. Her future policy should be marked by circumspection certainly, but by a loyal MANCHURIA 705 observation of her treaty obligations too, and by efforts to co-operate with foreign Powers in introducing modern civilization and order into the three Man- churian provinces, which efforts, it is believed by many, will find no more appreciative recognition than from Russia and Japan themselves. It is impossible in this book to give an adequate account of Manchuria, which would make an excellent theme for a volume by itself. The only reason for touching on the subject here is the fact that the Japanese Government is successfully operating seven or eight hundred miles of railway in Manchuria, and administers the Kwantung peninsula. The circum- stances of Japan's control in these two spheres are the subject of another chapter. It must not be supposed from anything said above that there are no signs of healthy progress and improved economic conditions in Manchuria. On the contrary, these are visible, especially along the lines of the South Manchurian Railway, and in a lesser degree along those of the Imperial Railways of China and the Eastern Chinese lines, which still remain under the control of the Russian Government. It Three must be borne in mind that Manchuria is thrice af^oJk! blessed, if a country may be called blessed which is being developed by three different systems of railways, each controlled and administered by a different nationality. The Japanese methods are distinctly modern, up-to-date, and pushing ; the Russian cumber- some and bureaucratic, and the Chinese conservative and easy-going. That the working inhabitants of the country, mostly Chinese from various provinces of the Empire, are able to adjust themselves to the three distinct methods speaks well for their adaptability and for their peace- poRir.u y y 706 MANCHURIA fill and industrious instincts. That there should be differences of opinion and even irritation when branch lines and extensions of railway lines are proposed is not a matter that should cause surprise. The wonder is that with the three supreme conflicting interests, as well as some others of minor importance, there should be any progress at all. Nevertheless the bean crop goes on increasing, and with it the purchasing power of the country improves. The staple crops, such as kaoliang and millet wheat, used for home consumption, increase as the population becomes more numerous. In the North it is believed that an area exists suitable for the cultivation of the sugar-beet. The The Changchun-Kirin railway, under construction chun-^ ^y ^^^® Chinese with Japanese participation, will, Kirin when finished, open large tracts of forest and develop the timber supply. The construction of this line was contemplated by the Russians before the war. China and Japan, after long negotiations, have reached an agreement on the subject, and it is to be built of the standard gauge. It should be open for traffic during the winter of this year or in the spring of 1912. Japan has contributed half the capital for construction, and, in return, retains the right to appoint the chief engineers and the chief accountants. It is hoped that the cars of both railways will be constructed so that they will be interchangeable, and thus facilitate the through traffic, both on the South Manchurian line and the Imperial Railways of North China via the Mukden- Junction Simmintun branch. Efforts are also being made to ways at connect all three of these railways in one station at Mukden. Mukden. At present the station of the South Man- churian Railway is about two miles from the city, and there is no direct connexion between the Chinese and Japanese lines. This is very inconvenient for through MANCHURIA 707 passengers on both lines, but could easily be remedied by mutual concessions and friendly co-operation look- ing to the economical working of the railways. There are signs of improvement in cattle and sheep breeding, and in the supply of milk and of hides for leather manufacture. There is an experimental farm at Mukden, which is doing good work in stimulating agriculture. These observations apply in a greater or less degree alike to North and South Manchuria, and to the spheres of all three nations. It must, how- Japan's ever, in justice to the Japanese, be admitted in regard poiic^-^^^^ to the southern part in particular that the influence "^°^:^ PT • ^' • T-1 • notice- 01 Japans economic policy is more distinctly notice- able than able. The management of the railways, the establish- otiiei°* ment of steamship lines, harbour construction, mining, Powers. factory building, the establishment of technical and other schools, of exi3erimental stations, laboratories, and of hospitals, are all hopeful signs. These topics are referred to in more detail in the description of the important ports of Manchuria. The production of silk, rice, barley, maize, hemp, vegetables, salt, soda, tobacco, and medicinal plants, under proper encourage- ment, are all susceptible of further development. Industry is also capable of greater expansion. There is a good Portland cement factory near Dairen. The manufacture of ceramics and furniture, as also that of raw silk and many other industries, are being pro- moted, not only by the Japanese, but by the Chinese themselves, who in some districts have been en- couraged by what the Japanese have accomplished to undertake the industrial education of their own people. Manchuria possesses considerable latent wealth in The coal, and the Japanese have made good use of the ^"^^{^_"" Fushun coal - mines, reached by a branch railway mines. Yy2 708 MANCHUEIA 34 miles long, at Suchiatini, just south of Mukden on the South Manchurian line. In 1909 these collieries produced nearly 700,000 tons of exceptionally good coal ; in 1910 the output was 856,744 tons, and this year (1911), with the modern electric plant, and the new mine to be opened, the com23any expect to raise 6,000 tons per day— perhaps 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 tons annually. Fushun coal is used entirely by the South Manchurian Railway Company for its loco- motives, steamers, workshops, power-houses, and gas- works. There are other local inines, whose total output in 1910 amounted to 295,000 tons, and the completion of the Antung-Mukden Railway will make it possible to work some serviceable iron-ore mines, which with the adjacent coal may lead to the establishment of a blast furnace in the vicinity of Yentai and Penhsihu. Gold-mining is already an important item of revenue to the Chinese Government, and systematic exploration may lead to the extension of this source of wealth. Mukden. Fengtien, better known as Mukden, is a city of many and varied attractions. It is situated in the heart of Manchuria, is said to have a population of 175,000, and is the seat of the Viceregal Government of the Three Eastern Provinces. It is the terminus of the Imperial Railways of North China for Peking and the Kirin Province, as also of the Antung-Mukden railway, and it is an important business centre on the main line of the South Manchurian Railway Company. The company has built and manages a good hotel at the Mukden station, which was much needed. It is now possible for tourists and travellers to stay at Mukden in comfort, and from that centre to visit the interesting places in the district. The city has an outer and an inner wall something like MANCHURIA 709 Peking. Outside the walls, and connected with the centre by a somewhat primitive tramway, is the Japanese quarter of the town, in which is located the station of the South Manchurian Railway Company, about 2 1 miles distant from the Imperial precincts. Within the precincts is the Palace of Chinlan, built Wonders in 16^2, Wensoko with its four libraries, and the chuno-. Chungchen Palace, in which the ruling monarchs ^^^^'^ transacted their regal duties in olden times, with two repositories. These repositories contain, besides bookcases, old porcelains, bronzes, embroideries, and brocades, some of which are extremely rare and of great value. Through the courtesy of the Viceroy these palaces were opened during the writer's stay in Mukden, and many of the treasures were displayed. There is some pretence of keeping the porcelain in glass cases, though these cases are built so closely together, and many of them are in such dark parts of the palace, that the porcelain specimens themselves, piled together nmch as ordinary china would be in a well-supplied china closet, can only be seen with difficulty. It is possible, however, to admire some of the rarest and most beautiful of the objects here collected together. The other treasures are kept in huge boxes, each fastened by three padlocks and secured by official seals. These seals were broken, and sample after sample of wonderful embroideries, hundreds of years old, were taken out of the cedar chests and the yellow cloth in which each Imperial garment was carefully wrapped. They were then unfolded and the beautiful objects were laid out for our inspection. It was a slow process, but there were many officials, and one thing after another came in rapid succession to dazzle and amaze the visitor. The carved jade was especially fine and rare. The minor 710 MANCHUEIA things, and there are thousands of them, are kept in cupboards, which are thrown open as one passes along. There are several rooms entirely given over to bronzes, and the Manchu Emperors must have been zealous collectors. These bronzes, some of them magnificent specimens, are packed as thickly as possible on the shelves of cupboards to a depth of three or four feet. Indeed, quite a number of these valuable specimens are crowded one on the top of the other, as if they were waiting for the melting-pot. Need of a It is fortunate that these treasures have thus far buiidb°. escaped fire or looting. They were nearly destroyed during the Boxer riots, and were in more or less danger while the great armies of Russia and Japan hovered in the vicinity. The Viceroy hopes to obtain the requisite consent to establish an Imperial museum at Mukden, so that these fine specimens of Chinese art and workmanship may be safely preserved. To see them is alone worth a visit to Mukden. In the present condition, and stored as they are in w^ooden boxes in a wooden building, they are in constant danger of fire, while the method of keeping them affords every opportunity for their gradual dis- appearance. Chinese Having feasted on these specimens of the lost arts activity of China, it was almost pathetic to witness at the re-be- Chinese Technical School the efforts which are being made to instruct the Chinese youths in the methods of modern manufacturing. Here may be found in operation a furniture manufactory making furniture for everyday use, also printing, bookbinding, soap- making, spinning and weaving, glass-grinding, and other commonplace industries. Thus China, which has given to the world some of the finest and most beautiful specimens of handicraft it has ever known, is srinninor. MANCHUEIA 711 now beginning its industrial life all over again and has commenced to manufacture cheap goods by the agency of machinery. One cannot blame the Chinese, for such goods are wanted in China and cheap goods from other countries are flooding the Chinese markets — although they are now sold at astonishingly high prices. Eeturning to the fascinations of Mukden, it is necessary to mention the two Mausoleums ; one about ten and the other about five miles distant from the city. They are both surrounded by fine old trees, and the approaches, with the avenues of quaint stone camels, elephants, horses, and other curious sculptures, add greatly to the picturesqueness of the scene. Mukden was nominally opened to international trade by the Commercial Treaty concluded by the United States with China in 1903, but it was not really opened until 1906, when the Japanese troops were withdrawn. A fair development in general trade has gradually taken place since the Russo-Japanese War. Unfortu- nately there is no official return of trade, but judging from information received from trustworthy sources Mukden has been making satisfactory headway. The Trade. annual exports and imports of the place probably amount to 15 million yen (£1,500,000 sterling). The principal imports are kerosene oil, flour, sugar, candles, cotton yarn and cotton piece-goods, matches, woollens and satins, paper, glass, provisions, wines and sundries ; and the principal exports are beans, bean cake, bean oil, kaoliang and other cereals, spirits of MoUang, cattle liides, furs and skins, bristles, bones and sun- dries. Distilling is one of the local industries, chiefly from kaoliang or millet. The spirits are exported for native use to the province of Shantung. Bean oil is still made under the old Chinese system, and no improvement has ever been effected in its manufacture, 712 MANCHURIA Popula- tion. while it is worked by modern European methods in Dahiy and Newchwang. As ah^eady mentioned, there are here two Chinese Government works, for furniture-making and tanning, which are not, however, recognized as important. Cigarette-making and glass-blowing on a rather small scale are carried on by the Japanese. The American Cigarette Company's tobacco factory is the largest concern in Mukden. The following table shows the population figures of Mukden in 1910 :— Within and with- S. M. Railway Total out the walls Area House- Popula- House- Popula- House- Popula- holds tion holds tion holds tion Chinese . 29,835 171,934 387 2,787 30,222 174,721 Japanese . 443 1,616 752 1913 1,195 3.529 British . 17 37 1 1 18 38 French . 4 9 — — 4 9 German . 7 11 — — 7 11 American 10 21 — ■ — 10 21 Russian . 8 60 1 1 9 61 30,324 173,688 1,141 4,702 31,465 178,390 The classification ' South Manchurian Railway Ai-ea ' needs a little explanation. The Japanese Government delegated certain powers to the Company to collect rates and fees from the residents within the railway area as contributions towards the cost of managing the district, and the Company determines conditions of residence within that area, and is responsible for public works and general upkeej), defraying any deficit that the rates and fees do not meet. In the various railway towns on the South Manchurian Railway the total railway area amounts to about 46,000 acres, and during the last few years there has been steady development of these areas, population and housing both having increased very considerably. The Company have MANCHURIA 713 identified themselves with town-planning and all the subsidiary activities, such as road construction, the building of waterworks, hospitals, agricultural stations, slaughter-houses, cemeteries, and crematoria, and have re-modelled sanitary arrangements. There are three Manchurian ports, Dairen, New- Ports. chwang, and Antung, together with Vladivostock, the Russian port, competing for the trade of Manchuria. A fifth may yet be established, namely, the maritime port of Shongchin in Korea. In 1909 China and Japan Railway made a treaty for the extension of the Kirin Railway, ^^.-^^^'^ when finished, to Hoe-ryong, on the Korean frontier, thus effecting a connexion with the Korean railway system, and in this enterprise Japan will participate. The length of the Kirin-Hoe-ryong line will be 400 miles, constructed at the cost of £3,000,000. At the Korean extremity it will connect with a railway which the Korean Administration will construct, linking it with the port of Shongchin. The effect of the building of these railw^ays will be to create a fifth line of communication, this time with the eastern side of Manchuria and the sea. Manchuria will then have the South Manchurian Railway with its two ports, Dairen and Antung ; the Chinese Northern Railway with its terminus on the right bank of the Liao River at Ying-kou or Newchwang ; Vladivostock, carrying its produce from the north of Changchun on the Eastern Chinese Railway, and thence eastward to the most northern outlet ; and Shongchin (Chongjin), a Korean port, perhaps with an important commercial as well as a great strategical future, with the extension of the Kirin railway running parallel to the Chinese Eastern Railway and competing with it for the produce of that region, distant only 120 miles south of Vladivostock. 714 MANCHURIA Ports With ail ice-free port at Shongchiii, and with petino- for interests in a railway running through this rapidly the bean developing bean territory, it will surely be possible for Japan to regain control of the bean business should the awakened activity of Vladivostock menace her present predominating commercial position in Man- churia. The latest Vladivostock complete figures avail- able are those of 1908. and though later figures for Dairen have been sent us by the South Manchurian Railway Company, and are given below for purposes of comparison, the exports for 1907-8 must be con- sidered. These figures show the export of beans from Dairen to have been nearly double the quantity ex- ported from Vladivostock. Shipments of beans from the latter port, however, have increased more than threefold since 1907-8. At this rate of growth, it will not be long before the Russian port and the Chinese Eastern Railway control the trade. The Mitsui Bussan Kaislia (Limited) have prepared a table showing that the export of beans from Dairen in 1907-8 was 2,M9,807 piculs, or 145,820 tons, and from Vladivostock 1,004,560 piculs, or 86,471 tons, and for the season November, 1908, to February, 1909, from Dairen 6,974,960 piculs, or 415,200 tons, and from Vladivostock 3,674,256 piculs, or about 218,700 tons. Relatively Vladivostock shows the highest per- centage of gain. A signij&cant fact, as indicating that the Japanese do not intend to lose their grip on the bean trade if they can help it, is that the Mitsui Company shipped 2,180,000 piculs, or 129,760 tons, from Dairen and identically the same quantity from Vladivostock. The total export of beans for 1907-8 was 5,191,467 piculs, or 306,442 tons; for 1908-9, 13,364,241 piculs, or 788,916 tons, of which 51 per cent, was sent to Europe, 30 per cent, to South China, MANCHURIA 715 and 19 per cent, to Japan. The total export of bean cake for 1907 was 8,958,367 piculs, or 528,830 tons ; for 1908 9 11,548,718 piculs, or 681,446 tons, of which 94 per cent. Wiis sent to Japan, 5-9 per cent, to South China, and one-tenth per cent, to Europe. Nearly a quarter of the shipments to Japan were made the by Mitsui Bussan Kaisha (Limited). The relative positions of the three Manchurian ports Relative and the value of the trade of South Manchuria may of the"'^'' be shown by a srlance at the following table, which has Manchu- •J ^ o 7 nan ports been prepared from the returns of last year : — Exports Imports Total Newchwang £4,009,425 £4,897,345 £8,906.770 Dairen 4,017,081 3,230,223 7,247,304 Antung (in- 981,633 1,001,234 1,982.867 cluding Tatungkow) £9,008.139 £9,128,802 £18,136,941 The principal exports are beans, bean cake and bean oil, grain and seeds, wild silk, timber and coal. The principal imports were cotton piece-goods, cotton yarns and thread, raw cotton, food and drink, and hardware. The sundries and unenumerated items reach a large total and comprise a great variety of manufactured articles. The trade was distributed as follows : — Exports Newch- wang Dairen Antung (including Tatungkow) Total To Japan . ,, Korean ports „ Chinese ,, . „ other £ 1,367.100 307 2,381,297 260,721 £ 1,619.450 46,142 1,244,191 1,107,298 £ 89,425 38,383 853,825 £ 3.075,975 ' 84,832 4,479,313 1,368,019 £4,009,425 £4,017,081 £981,633 £9,008,139 716 MANCHURIA Exports Newch- wang Dairen Antung (including Tatungkow) Total By steam boats and sailing-vessels By junks . £ 3,471,854 537,571 £ 3,713,179 303,902 £ 413,131 568,502 £ 7,598,164 1,409,975 £4,009,425 £4,017,081 £981,633 £9,008,139 Imports From Japan ,, Korea ,, China „ others 596,983 4,900 3,706,135 589,327 1,829,027 116,375 695,187 589,634 393,021 128,829 472,442 6,942 2,819,031 250,104 4,873,764 1,185,903 £4,897,345 £3,230,223 £1,001,234 £9,128,802 By steam boats and sailing-vessels By junks . 3,792.293 1,105,052 3,084,141 146,082 895,475 105,759 7,771,909 1,356,893 £4,897,345 £3,230,223 1 £1,001,234 £9,128,802 New- chwanj?. Newchwang and Vladivostock, it should be remem- bered, are ice-bound ports for several months in the winter ; Dairen, Antung, and Shongchin are ice-free, and are therefore open all the year round. The port of Dairen is at present showing healthy development. Newchwang still has the carts, and the junks, and the river, which together bring her 65 per cent, of the produce she exports. Probably a certain quantity of her supplies come from the South Manchurian . Rail- way, and 10 Y>ei' cent, through the Chinese Railway. Her future, however, may be threatened as the rail- ways extend and the farmers realize that this is the cheapest and surest method of transportation. The building of l^ean elevators which is projected will also aid the railways, because it will make it possible to store the beans. The exclusion of large vessels, because of the bar in the river, and the fact that the port is ice-bound for three or four months in the winter, count against Newchwang. Improvements, MANCHURIA 717 however, are now in progress in the harl)our, and it is beheved that the merchants whose trade has been threatened are awake to the importance of taking action to retain the commerce of the port. The trade of Vladivostock is increasing and willVladivo- continue to increase as the northern, and, as some experts beheve, the richest, part of Manchuria is opened up. Apparently the most fertile soil is situated around Changchun and Harbin, and these districts present the greatest possibilities for development. Nevertheless, the bean traffic may have to be divided with the Russian port of Vladivostock now that the freight rates have been reduced to compete with those of Dairen. Vladivostock has undoubtedly the best bean country within her railway sphere, and only her own folly and the stupidity of her railway and shipping management can deprive her of this traffic. It is well for other foreigners that Japan and Russia are competing for this trade, as it will ensure for them reasonable freight rates, avoid discrimination, and secure prompt deliveries. In the stern struggle between Vladivostock and Struggle Dairen for the exports and imports of North Man- vkdi> "- churia the Russians have been partially successful, stock and and even Japanese firms like Mitsui have dispatched shipments from Harbin via Vladivostock. Still, the fact that the port is ice-bound in the winter will always be a handicap — and it is one which was re- cognized by the Russians themselves when they built the South Manchurian Railway and laid the founda- tions of the new port of Dairen. That the position of Vladivostock as a free port has Dairen. been abolished is another advantage which those who control Dairen will not be slow to utilize. The main- tenance, therefore, of Dairen as a free port, the com- 718 MANCHURIA IDletion of the new harbour accommodation described in another chapter, and the promotion of an extensive maritime traffic will greatly aid in making her the first port of Manchuria. Only by this course, and by encouraging important foreign firms to establish their business at Dairen, can its commerce assume an inter- national character. Foreign merchants will not be attracted if the idea gets abroad that the Japanese are adopting a narrow policy by unfair methods and are trying to capture all the business for themselves. Only by healthy competition and honest business methods, and by a policy of giving to every one a permanent share of the profits, will Dairen become what the Japanese are ambitious to make it — an inter- national port. Dairen now offers Europeans in many respects improved conditions for residence. There is a foreign population of perhaps 100 at the present time ; there are several Consuls, a comfortable club, an excellent hotel, and an English newspaper, the MancJmrlan Ba'dy News. CHAPTER XLY MANCHUEIA— ITS TOWNS AND POETS Fkom Japan there are now several alternative routes Japanese to North China, each one of which offers its special ]^q^^-^ ^^ attractions. One may go from Kobe by a fairly China, comfortably equipped passenger steamer through the Inland Sea to Tien-tsin, and thence, in about three hours, by the Imperial Kailways of North China to Peking. This is probably the quickest and most direct means of travelling. A second route is from Kobe by steamer to Fusan, Korea, and from Fusan by the Korean Kailway — apart from the Inland Sea, this route has only 122 miles of open water — to Seoul, and from Chemulpo, the port of Seoul, by boat across the Gulf of Chihli to Tien-tsin. Though the laying down of the standard - gauge line between Antung and Mukden will not be finished until the end of this year (1911), and, until the bridge across the Yalu is opened for traffic in the following February, connexion between the Seoul-New Wiju line and the Antung-Mukden railway has to be made by ferry across the river, the overland journey from Seoul to Mukden is not only The possible in comparative comfort, allowing for certain An°tuna-- changes from the narrow-gauge mountain railway to Mukden the completed portions of the standard-gauge line, but it provides an interesting survey of the stages of con- struction of the latter, which in parts runs alongside the narrow-gauge, as well as a comparison between the engineering details of the two that cannot fail to win our admiration for the builders of the first railway. 720 MANCHURIA From Sliihchiaotsu, two- thirds of the way between Antung and Mukden, the train cHmbs steadily up into the mountains, and it is then that the traveller realizes the indomitable perseverance of the Japanese, for this Antung-Mukden road was built during the actual pro- gress of the Russian war, when as there was little time for engineering technicalities, such as tunnelling the mountains (as is now being done for the standard- gauge track), they carried their rails round the summits for many miles. The sensation of climbing at such a height is a very weird one, and the eventual abandon- ment of this for the new track, which can be seen many hundred feet below, will cause passengers to miss what is probabl}" a unique experience in railway travelling. The Antung-Mukden Railway, however, does not run trains at night, and while the distance is only 189 miles, through a charming country with wooded hills and clear rivulets, and the journey is a picturesque one, it should only be undertaken by experienced Prospects travellers with a limited amount of luggage. The pletion" of South Mancliurian Railway Company is building the standard- ^^^^ standard-s'aueje railway between these two points, gauge, r 7 . . Antung- and when this line is completed, and the road is Mukden • ,.,,.., . , ,^ line. equipped with similar carriages to those now m use on the main line from Dairen to Mukden, including good sleeping and dining carriages, the journey from Tokyo to Peking, or from Tokyo to Changchun (where the Russian railway begins), can be made with only a few hours' passage by sea. The length of water journey can still further be reduced by taking the Japanese railway from Tokyo to Shimonoseki, instead of the boat from Kobe. The beautiful Inland Sea of Japan is, however, an attraction that even a poor sailor dislikes to forgo for the smoke and dust of the railway. TOWNS AND PORTS 721 When the Antung-Mukden Railway is completed Shoi-ten- it will be possible to reduce the time between Tokyo journey and Peking by twenty-four hours, and thereby to cut off ^etween T -r -I x 6Kinff a day by the Siberian route between Tokyo and London, and The Japanese Government will then run well-equipped ° ^°' trains from Tokyo to Shimonoseki, which w^ill connect with the Fusan boat at Moji. A train will await the arrival of the boat, and through passengers will be taken over the Korean-Manchurian Railway without change to Changchun, where the Japanese standard- gauge ends and the Russian broad-gauge section of the Manchurian Railway begins. This route, besides being a day shorter, will furnish a more comfortable and interesting mode of travelling than that by way of Vladivostock. The traveller wishing to see some- thing of Korea, and then to visit Peking, can take a steamer at Chemulpo, easily reached by rail from Seoul, and journey thence via Chefoo to Peking, a distance of 515 miles. From Chemulpo to Dairen by water is 280 miles. The journey might be broken at Changchun, where the traveller will find the Yamato Hotel, recently built by the Manchurian Railway Company, and one of the best in the Far East. From Changchun it is an eight-hours' easy journey to Harbin, and nine days from Harbin to St. Petersburg. The present journey, however, is by no means rapid, and could easily be reduced by -a day. The time will probably be reduced two days between Vladivostock and Moscow as soon as the double tracking and improvements on the Siberian Railway are completed. The Tsuruga -Vladivostock route (-115 miles by sea) Tsmuga- is at present the one usually taken when travellers gt(J^ij^^°" desire to make the overland journey to Europe as ^o^te. quickly as possible. A special boat train leaves PORTEU '/j 7j 722 MANCHURIA Tokyo three times a week in the evening and con- nects with the Vladivostock boat next morning. The distance by sea from Tsuruga to Vladivostock is one day less than by the Kobe-Dairen route, but of course one misses the Inland Sea and much else of interest. Even if time cannot be afforded for lingering, the Kobe-Dairen route is the more picturesque and inter- esting. In the first place, the boats, which belong to the Osaka Shosen Kaisha — one of the oldest and most prosperous of the Japanese steamship companies — are good, and passengers are made quite comfortable. The officers and the stewards are uniformly courteous and attentive and most of them sj)eak English. The cabins are clean, and the food is excellent. The day on the Inland Sea is full of fascination for those who enjoy beautiful scenery, and these delights may be extended into the night when the moon is shining and the water is illuminated by phosphorescence. In the morning, about sunrise, the boat arrives at Moji, which has now become an important and pros- perous port. On the opposite side of what may be called the ' Gateway of Japan ' is the ancient town of Shimonoseki, known to the modern world as the place where the treaty of peace between China and Japan was signed in 1895. There is time to visit both of these towns. In a beautiful garden on a richly wooded hillside, reached by an inviting flight of moss-grown steps, nestles the charming little Japanese hotel where the late Prince Ito and Li Hung-Chang negotiated the terms which ended the Chino-Japanese War. It is well worth a visit, and so are several attractive temples and shrines in the same vicinity. Moji is less picturesque and is much given over to the mining and shipment of coal and the manufacture of cement, which imparts to the town TOWNS AND PORTS 723 a dingy appearance. Its streets, however, are busy and crowded, its shops are filled with customers, and its trade and commerce are increasing so nipidly that it is known as the ' boom town ' of Japan. The second day's voyage is not so interesting, but the sea is generally smooth and, if not delayed by fogs, the ship is tied up to the spacious wharf at Dairen in the afternoon of the third day from Kobe. The dis- tance from Moji to Dairen is 620 miles. Dairen, better known to European readers as Dalny, Dairen. forms the basis of the commercial, as Port Arthur does of the military, strength of Japan on the Liaotung Peninsula. The history of Dairen is of recent date, but its brief story may be said to abound with stirring incidents. The town was planned and mag- nificently laid out by the Russians, who intended to make it the principal port of the Empire for the Pacific. Money was lavishly expended on the harbour, warehouses, streets, public buildings, and the resi- dences, many of which are imposing edifices. Of late years much work has been done on the Port of Dairen, which is becoming increasingly important in Manchurian trade. The roadstead is open, easy of ingress and egress, and sufiiciently deep to accommo- date even the largest vessels of the present day. It is divided into an inner and an outer harbour, and even the inner harbour is capable of accommodating vessels drawing 28 feet of water. The wharves and harbour works passed into the Wharves jurisdiction of the South Manchurian Railway in 1907, haUour and since that date the Japanese have made many improve- . . . ment. improvements. The Wharf Office was established in 1907 to superintend the loading and unloading of cargo, and it is estimated that the increased facilities in the way of railwav sidings, sheds, cranes, shunting zz2 724 MANCHURIA engines, and lighter-boats, which the harbour now affords, have had the effect of augmenting the trade of the port until it now reaches 1,500,000 tons annually. Dredging works have been undertaken at many of the old wharves, and a new wharf is in course of con- struction, having a total frontage of 1,495 feet, to be completed by 1913. This wharf will have accommoda- tion for vessels of 10,000 tons. The Japanese have also undertaken the extension of the breakwaters. The eastern breakwater, with a length of 1,220 feet, was completed last year, and now only requires a light- house, while an important scheme is being carried out whereby the northern breakwater may be extended to the north-west by 8,150 feet, and then continued in a southerly direction until it touches the western shore of Hanachao, making a total length of 12,000 feet. It is expected that this work will be finished in the early part of 1916. The Yamato Hotel, owned and managed by the South Manchurian Company, is an excellent one. Another hotel is in process of building, which, when completed, will, it is said, be one of the finest hotels in the Far East. The streets and avenues, some of them wide and of considerable length, converge upon a circular park forming the centre of the town. From this centre the electric tramways radiate in various directions. Around the circle cluster some of the finest edifices, and here the new hotel and other public buildings will be erected. The pleasure ground, or tio-called ' Electric Park ', was designed after the style of an ordinary amusement park for the creation of tramway traffic, and is some distance from the centre of the city. Here may be found restaurants, theatrical entertaimiients, bowling and shooting alleys, roller skating, and a range of amusements. Lectures by TOWNS AND PORTS 725 well-known scholars on educational topics are given in the Assembly Rooms of this park. No Western city with a population equal to that of Dairen can boast of being a more complete resort for recreation and instruction. Moreover, Dairen has a golf-links. The head-quarters and offices of the Manchurian Rail- way Company are located in a commodious building which was formerly the palace or official residence of a Russian official. Part of this building is used as an industrial museum, illustrative of the products of Manchuria. Here the Company has large railway workshops at present building cars for the Antung- Mukden road that will run through from Mukden to Fusan. These consist of baggage, mail, and sleeping cars, all 10 feet wide by 60 feet long. There is also a technical school with a laboratory effectively managed by the railway company, where may be seen interesting experimental work tending to promote the scientific utilization of the agricultural and mineral products of Manchuria. Perhaps the most interesting as well as the most practical of these is the model silk mill, in which all the processes in the treatment of the filature, the bleaching, the reeling, and the spinning of the silk from the wild cocoons, which abound in Manchuria, may be witnessed. A large number of operatives are engaged in the work, directed by well-trained scientific silk experts, and it is possible that the result maj' some day add an important industry to those already successfully carried on at Dairen. Among the most flourishing of these may be mentioned the bean oil and bean cake mills ; both of these are modern estab- lishments, owned by rich and enterprising Japanese firms, and in one of them electrical power is employed. The President of one of these firms is Mr. Okura of 726 MANCHURIA Tokyo, whose famous mnsenm in that city is well worth a visit. Mr. Okura is the founder of an excel- lent commercial school and is identified with many useful and public-spirited works. The bean industry and the trade of the Port of Dairen are treated elsewhere. Dairen at night impresses one favourably. Its har- bour is wonderfully well lighted, the lights stretching out a long way and being very brilliant. In the morning, on landing, it appears like an American town in the making ; onty the Chinese coolies and their garb give it a strange air. There are many railway tracks, and more are being constructed, and there are several fine bridges. It possesses a very good telephone service and a new electric-power station owned by the South Manchurian Railway Company. This supplies electric light as well as power for the 12 or 13 miles of tram- ways, which, by the way, are operated entirely by Chinese. The tramway tracks are well laid, after the English practice, the rails being level with the streets. Some of the streets are macadamized, and many of them have been planted with rows of shade trees. Modern gas-works have just been completed, which furnish gas made from Fusliun coal for lighting and power purposes, the idea l)eing in this way to encourage industrial development by rendering available a cheap motive power. The Japanese, it will be noted, have not allowed Dairen to fall behind, whether as a lousiness or as a residential resort. As soon as the railway was rebuilt and put in order they turned their attention to their newly-leased port. The unoccupied spaces are covered with large iron water mains for the new waterworks, and immense piles of bricks and materials for new buildings. There is, in fact, on every side the TOWNS AND PORTS 727 evidence of progress and enterprise, and the dream of the Russians will probably become an accomplished fact in the hands of the intensely practical Japanese. Dairen may not be the terminus of a great international highway (the Trans-Siberian Railway), but the increas- ing use of this line is adding greatly to its importance, a fact shown by the necessity of building another large hotel to accommodate the tourist traffic, for which the original hotel has lately been insufficient, while the opening of the South Manchurian Railway's steamship service between Dairen and Shanghai has been another factor of development. Also it will become the prin- cipal outlet for the staj^le products of Manchuria and the receiving port for the merchandise which the Manchurians will purchase with their beans and other products. Additional interest is given to Dairen because an Port hour and a half — 39 miles by rail — brings the visitor ^ ^"^' to Port Arthur. About 15 miles distant is Hsia-chia- ho-tsu, which the enterprise of the South Manchurian Railway is rapidly turning into a seaside resort, and which faces the Gulf of Chihli. Port Arthur has been converted into a place which may be visited without inconvenience. Competent guides can be obtained, and the Yamato Hotel at Port Arthur, like the other hotels of the South Manchurian Railway Company, is comfortable and reasonable in its charges. The question has been raised as to whether Port Arthur might originally have been made a better mari- time port than Dairen. Perhaps such might have been the case, but as vast sums of money have been spent both by the Russians and Japanese on Dairen, and as the business has concentrated there, it is not likely that any special efforts will be made at present to change the course of trade. The cost of the work neces- 728 MANCHURIA sary to develop Port Arthur on a large scale would, it is said, be much more than the cost of finishing the harbour work planned for Dairen. It is probable, therefore, that Port Arthur will be left in possession of the coastwise trade, and the traffic of the junks and small steamers with China, and perhaps trade with Japan might be directed there. The Naval authorities only maintain a small station at Port Arthur, and here- after will only make use of a section of that port. The Japanese Government has formally announced the opening of Port Arthur as a trading port, and has considered the advisability of adopting the western part of the port for that purpose. The South Man- churian Railway Company have several plans in con- nexion with the opening of this port, and part of the proposed work has been commenced. It is said that an extensive area will be dredged so as to keep the water 24 to 30 feet deep at low tide. Three piers will be built providing accommodation for several vessels at one time. There is a museum in which is exhibited a collec- tion of mementos of the terrific struggle between Russia and Japan for the possession of this port. They are rather gruesome, some of them, but the neighbourhood is one of intense interest, and a visit makes clear many points which puzzled one when the news of the siege was being cabled from day to day to the newspapers. Most of the forts, trenches, and defence works have been preserved, and it is possible to study the progress of the siege — j^rol^ably the fiercest in modern history. Port Arthur has now been thrown open for commercial purposes in virtue of the Imperial Decree of June 80, 1909. Newch. From Dairen it is about six hours' journey by rail ^^"^' to the rival Manchurian port, Newchwang, or Ying- TOWNS AND PORTS 729 kou, as it is called. Before the advent of Dairen and of the South Manchurian Railway, Newchwang monopolized the exports of local produce and received most of the important commodities from foreign countries. It was then the only port in Manchuria, and being located near the mouth of the river Liao it was the terminus of the considerable river trade, in which a fleet of over 3,000 native vessels was engaged. The railway under Japanese management, however, has diverted a portion of this trade to Dairen, and the merchants of Newchwang are very unhappy over \vhat they call the loss of their business. The loss, however, has been more imaginary than real, for if one goes back over the records for ten years it will be found that the trade of Newchwang has more than doubled during the decade, and the total value of the business last year (1909) was greater by some millions of dollars than it was for any year during the decade, except 1905, when the railways were engaged in a more serious business than the transportation of beans. Unless the figures are entirely misleading, Newchwang merchants are lamenting more over the trade they might have gained, had not Dairen suddenly loomed up as a competitor, than over the trade they have actually lost. Newchwang is still ahead of Dairen, the totals foi- last year being — Newchwang 112,707,990 yen, Dairen 79,091,233 ijen, and Antung 23,516,296 yen ; total for the three ports of Manchuria 215,315,519 silver yen. Newchwang has no right to complain of its progress, for less than fifty years ago it was a small village, and by the aid of the river it became the most important centre of the trade of Manchuria, which was then entirely conducted in a primitive manner by native carts with thi'ee or four and even as many as seven or 730 MANCHURIA eight horses. These carts brought the beans to the river, and thence they were taken in small boats to Newchwang. To-day Newchwang is a straggling, dirty place, the Chinese quarters being especially bad. The streets are unpaved, there is no drainage, and the water supply is obtained by dipping buckets into an open reservoir or pond near the centre of the town. Ships having 18 feet of draught or more cannot go up the river, owing to the bar in the mouth, and the river is completely frozen over during three months in the winter. Unless the merchants and those who have made their fortunes in Newchwang under the old conditions of trade are willing to improve the existing state of things, the present stagnation of trade will be followed by an actual decline. The principal European hotel is a queer little black building, facing the river. It is not over-clean, the cooking is ])ad, and the charges are extortionate — seven Mexican dollars per person for bed and break- fast. Unless Newchwang wakes up Dairen will soon be as much ahead of it in its trade as it is in all that goes to make a decent sanitary town fit for the residence or the business of an industrial or trading- population. There is still some river trade, but as the farmer finds he can do better by taking his produce to the railway than by carrying it so far in carts to the river, the railway trade will continue to increase, and the river trade, except for the country immediately adjacent to the Liao, will correspondingly decrease. Newchwang was first opened by the Tien-tsin Treaty of 1860, and the to^vn was populated by emigrants from Shantung, Canton, and Foochow. It was formerly under the control of the Russians, but was occupied by the Japanese army during the Russo-Japanese War, TOWNS AND PORTS 781 though it was placed under the administration of tlie Chinese Government by the Peking Treaty in 1906. In June, 1910, when the writer visited Newchwang, the Taotai did not appear to take much interest in the affairs of the place, and the foreign residents seemed somewhat discouraged at the outlook. The foreign population consists of 2,300 Japanese, 60 English, 18 Americans, 15 Germans, and 23 Russians. Cotton piece-goods and yarns, sugar, flour, kerosene oil, and matches are its principal imports, and beans and bean cake constitute almost its entire exports. About half the cotton goods come from the United States, 20 per cent, from England, and 15 per cent, from Japan. The beans go to South China and Japan, and the bean cakes almost entirely to Japan. The manufacture of bean cakes began about seventy years ago in the northern part of Manchuria. Before this, oil was the principal and cake the subsidiary product.* Since it was found that the cakes were effective fertilizers, the cake manufacture has become more important than the production of oil. There are about twenty bean-cake manufacturing firms in Newchwang, producing last year 4,600,000 piculs, or 278,600 tons. These cakes look like solid wooden cart-wheels, and the mills turn out 10,000,000 of them annually. The city of Antung is situated a few miles from Antung. the mouth of the Yalu River, which flows between Korea and China. It is the largest place in the Yalu Valley, and is the terminus of the Antung-Mukden Railway. Little was known of it until the China- Japanese war. Before that date the Chinese had established a Taotai's office there, but the place had no business beyond such as arose from its being a station for Chinese junks and timl)er rafts. Both the 782 MANCHURIA Russian and Japanese Governments seem to have recognized the importance of Antung as a locality for the supply of timber. From this district came the timber which supplied the Japanese troops both during their war with China, and subsequently with Russia. The new line will be of standard gauge (4 ft. 8 1 in.), and will traverse a route of 170 miles instead of 189 miles, the length of the narrow-gauge railway now in operation. The work on the new line is divided into 19 contractors' sections. The 19th section or 27i miles, from Mukden to Shihchiaotsu has been already completed, and has been in operation for traffic since January, 1910. The remaining sections are still in course of construction. Ten tunnels out of twenty-four have been already pierced. The whole line will be finished in 1912. When the railway now in progress of completion is finished Antung will become better known to the travelling world, since this route will provide the quickest way to reach Europe by rail, and in conjunction with the Korean line and the main track of the South Manchurian Railway, it will become part of the great international system which brings the Far East within 12 to 14 days of the principal capitals of Europe. Antung-Hsien, for that is the full title of the place, and the Chinese city Shaho-chen, about 1| miles distant, which constitutes the Chinese quarter of Antung, have together a population of nearly 40,000, the Japanese settlement numbering about 7,000 out of the total. Like nearly all the South Manchurian cities, Antung has gone through many vicissitudes in its history. Neglected by the Chinese Government as l^eing territory outside of the jurisdiction, it was only con- sidered worthy of a Taotai, or perhaps some lower provincial officer, in 1875. TOWNS AND PORTS 733 In 1894-5 the Japanese recognized its importance and procured from there, as ah-eady stated, their timber supplies to carry on the war. After the war with China, Antung became a bone of contention between China, Russia, and Japan, on account of the timber business of the Yalu River. Indeed, these disputes may be said to have conduced to the Russo- Japanese War. For a second time within ten years the Japanese troops occupied Antung. The large business in timber attracted merchants, especially the Chinese and Japanese, to Antung. After the war, the Japanese Government built a new town, and Japanese immigration has greatly increased. Moreover, the work of reconstructing the Antung-Mukden Railway has brought about a recovery in business in this locality. Timber, wild cocoons, wild silk yarn, beans, bean cake, and hioliang, are the principal exports of Antung ; and shirtings, flour, kerosene oil, sugar, rice, tobacco, and sundries, form the chief imports. CHAPTER XLVI THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE KWANTUNG PENINSULA Japanese On the 5tli September, 1905, Japanese relations with with Mail- Manchiu'ia, which for over ten years, since the be- f^fi^'^ ■ §'ii^iiii^§" o^ ^1^® China-Japan War, had been pointing 1905. to the necessity of the estabhshment of some definite stahis qtto, were fundamentally defined. The con- cluding treaty of peace between Japan and Eussia (Treaty of Portsmouth) gave the former rights over those districts in Manchuria that Russia had hitherto held. Following upon that agreement came the Peking Treaty of December, 1905, wherein China openly recognized Japan's new position, and the position of the contracting parties to both these treaties cannot be better defined than by quoting the most important items of the special treaty between Japan and Russia that was finally entered upon : — Special 1. When, uj^on the pacification of Manchuria, China Japanese ^^ fully enabled to protect the lives and properties of treaty, foreigners, Japan together with Russia will withdraw the railway garrisons. 2. The military railway built during the Russo- Japanese War between Antung on the borders of Korea and Mukden will be managed by the Japanese for the transport of commercial and industrial goods of all countries, and Japan will have the right of possession of these railways for fifteen years, beginning with the date of the completion of such improvements needed for the service. ADMINISTRATION OF KWANTUNG 735 Before enlarging upon the details of the adiiiinistra- Japanese tion established in Manchuria to deal with the special Man/ ^" rights secured by the above and the two preceding '^^^"^■i'''- treaties, an authoritative exposition of Japanese policy in this country which the writer during his stay in Tokyo received from a member of that administration will make clear the special position that Japan holds, and explain the functions that she has in consequence assumed. This statement is of considerable interest, as it represents the views of the present Government on a question much discussed of late, and but imperfectly comprehended in some quarters. In order rightly to understand Japan's attitude in Manchuria, said this authority, the principles underlying her policy should first be made clear. They are these : — (a) A love of peace and not of war ; (&) a self-restraint which, in spite of the tendencies of the age, seeks neither territorial expansion nor encroachment upon any foreign dominion ; (c) readiness for national defence in case of need ; (d) the conviction that maintenance of peace is the only justification for war ; and (e) the belief that sincerity is the right aim and method of diplomacy. These five principles are, according to this high official, the essence of Japan's policy, the unwritten articles, of the faith of the people and an expression of the will of his Imperial Majesty the Emperor. The fact that the nation was ready for self-defence should not be interpreted as indicating that the Japanese have a warlike temperament and are bent upon national aggrandizement, for such an interpretation is fundamentally false. The peaceful development of Japan being the weightiest concern of the Govern- ment, they look upon anything which would threaten 736 THE ADMINISTRATION OF the peace of the Far East as a potential cause of war, whilst believing that the ultimate outcome would still be for the benefit of mankind. Many misunder- standings have arisen abroad in regard to the foreign policy of Japan in relation to Manchuria. The position acquired by Japan in that part of China, solely for self- protection and the maintenance of peace, has evoked the envy and jealousy of other nations. The Japanese hope that with a clearer comprehension of Japanese sincerity the suspicions with which their proceedings in Manchuria have been viewed will be removed, and that their activity in that region will be recognized as a chief factor for universal peace, causing Manchuria to become the meeting-place of the civilizations of the East and West. To fortify this position it is pointed out that the war with China was undertaken for no other purpose than the maintenance of peace in the Far East and the preservation of Japan. When, as a result of that war, the Liaotung Peninsula had been ceded to Japan, it was, nevertheless, upon the advice of friendly Powers, restored to China. Shortly afterwards, the relations between China and certain European Powers brought about unexpected changes, the most startling of which was the lease of Port Arthur and Dairen to Russia. As this was fraught with danger to the national existence of Japan, repeated efforts were made by friendly negotiations to remove this standing menace to the peace of the Empire. The attitude of Russia, however, remained unchanged, and when every means that patience and diplomacy could command had been exhausted Japan felt compelled to resort to arms. Issue of The issue resulted in the transfer to Japan of the Japan- soutlieru portion of the Manchurian Railway and of Russia j-i^g territory which had been leased by China to THE KWANTUNG PENINSULA 737 Russia. Far from being an act of violence or of forcible aggrandizement, the Japanese contend that this acquisition was rightly and fairly earned — a legitimate reward for their expenditure of blood and treasure. There were many who thought its value inadequate to the sacrifice made, and loud and long was the popular outcry. That outcry, however, had been successfully resisted by those who regarded the moral issue of the war as being of far greater moment than the gain in territory. Japan having thus become responsible for South Manchuria, the Kwan- tung Government was organized for its administration, whilst for its economic development special importance was attached to the railway system, upon the effective working of which must largely depend the success of Japanese policy. The KAvantung Administration Office and the Man- Kwan- churian Railway Ofiice were the two administrative Adminis- organizations that Japan established — immediately ^I'ation ujDon securing the treaty rights above reierred to. Manchu- The Kwantung Administration Office has charge of ^^J^" q^JJ. * the administration of the leased territory as well as estab- the protection and control of the districts adjacent to railway lines transferred from Russia. The preceding chapters deal in detail with the scope of the Maii- churian Railway Company — here it need only be said that the Company's main object is to work the rail- ways between Dairen, Port Arthur, and Changchun, Mukden, and Antung, and other branch lines, with certain subsidiary undertakings, not least of which in importance is the mming industry and the operation of the Fushun and Yentai coal-mines. The Kwantung Province is the most southern part of the Liaotimg Peninsula and covers an area of about 218 square miles ; it has a population of a little over POETEB O A 738 THE ADMINISTRATION OF 400,000, 95 per cent, of which is Chinese, and the remainder Japanese and foreigners. The province was first under mihtary control, but since order has been restored the administration has been discharged by a Governor-General, who presides over the Civil Administration. There are two administrative dis- tricts, those of Port Arthur and Daireii, and each district discharges its own local administrative duties. For the control of the land adjacent to the rtiilways owned by the Manchurian Railway Company there is an office of Police affairs which is concerned with the protection and control of the lines. To Japanese consuls in South Manchuria also are delegated powers of commissioners for the Kwantung Government. The various branches of the administration such as those dealing with Communications, Education, Public Health, and Marine Affairs, have gradually acquired such importance as to demand the establishment of special departments exclusively devoted to their several objects, and now the whole administration is marked by considerable differentiation of sections. The provisions of the judicial administration do not materially differ from those in Japan. The Kwantung Court and its divisions were created in 1906, and the regulations have been framed with regard to the legal conceptions of the Chmese, and to the applicability of native laws. In the application of the penal code all inhabitants of the province, both Chinese and Japanese, are treated indiscriminately ; only as far as punishment is concerned the characteristics and cus- toms of the Chinese have been considered, and punish- ment by flogging or fines has been transmuted into short-period confinement. Local courts are invested with all the rights of judgment in civil and penal affairs, wlii('h do not come under the authority of the THE KWANTUNG PENINSULA 789 chiefs of the local administmtion offices, but appeals may be made to the High Court against the latter or against the findings of the local court. The Kussian prisons have been taken over by the Kwantung Administration, and repaired and re- arranged. The unpolitical nature of the Japanese position Japan's in Manchuria is constantly being emphasized by PJ^^^^JJ^*" Japanese officials, to whose statements of policy thetions. writer has already referred, and by official reports dealing with the Kwantung Administration. Indeed, in the latest available report, the admission of Japan's peaceful interest in the country is so frankly put that it may be quoted : — ' Manchuria, Kwantung Province in particular, sub- sequent to the Russo-Japanese War forms no longer the theme of political dispute, but is to be regarded rather as the treasury in the Extreme Orient where interests common to the Powers of the world are pro- tected according to the principles of open door and equal opportunity. The special position that Japan enjoys in Manchuria is utilized toward the develop- ment and exploitation of this treasury. Such being the case, the measures regarding productive industries occupy the most important place in the administration of the Kwantung Government. In fact, the exten- sion of the administration may be regarded as the harbinger of the final withdrawal of the Japanese garrisons from Manchuria.' Land in the Kwantung Province is generally adapted Agricul- to cultivation, and the development of such cities as aeveiop- Port Arthur and Dairen creates a demand for the "i^"*^- produce of the ordinary market-gardener. The civil administration authorities have encouraged, by the distribution of seeds and plants and by leasing the 3a2 tries 740 THE ADMINISTRATION OF land in some cases free, to as many agricultural under- takings as showed the least signs of development. The principal agricultural products are Indian corn, kaoliang, millet, sorghum, and beans — and the extra- ordinary success of the bean export trade during the last few years, in South Manchuria, principally through Dairen, claims for it special treatment in another chapter. Indus. With the exception of bean cake, manufacturing industries liave not advanced beyond the first stages of development. Since the opening of the South Manchurian railways, and the consequent improved facility of export at Dairen, the number of bean oil manufactures has rapidly increased, and the old- fashioned horse- or mule-worked presses by means of which the beans are treated are giving way to presses with petroleum or oil as motive power. There are some fifteen to twenty factories in the province, work- ing with capitals of over 10,000 yen, of which the Nissin Bean Cakes Manufacturing Company, at Dairen, is the largest, with a capital of 3,000,000 yen. It is claimed that brick manufacturing has excellent prospects. It was undertaken in the neighbourhood of Port Arthur and Dairen, and made headway under the Russian Government, but a great number of factories were ruined dming the late war. Though, when new construction works under Japanese control were begun on a large scale and there was naturally a great demand for bricks the trade recovered to a cei-tain extent, the general economic depression of 1908 brought a second check to the industry. Lime and oyster shell works are doing a good business. The Nissin Match Works at Changchun meet loccd demand and the Saiisin Koslii tobacco manulacturc is a fiourishing concern. THE KWANTUNG PENINSULA 741 Mining enterprises in Kwantung, though varied as to Mining enter- prises. products, have not as yet made good returns. When^" ^^ the province came under the Japanese lease a great many of the mining concessions registered under Russian control were rejected, and though since 1907 there have been eight gold-mining concessions granted, the enterprise is of recent growth and results are not well known. The quarrying of stones for building and industrial purposes is being under- taken by the Japanese. Forestry enterprise was one of the first undertaken Forestry. by the military government in 1905, and the Civil Administration to which the work has since been transferred has taken it up in good earnest not only in the leased land but also in the railway zone. Seedling offices have been established in the principal towns, and the Agricultural Experiment Office at Dairen has charged itself with the most practical methods of forestry encouragement. Fishery is one of the most profitable industries of Fisheries. the province. The waters of the Yellow Sea on the East and the Gulf of Pechilien on the West are suited to a variety of fish for which Dairen and Port Arthur supply constant markets. It is estimated that there are about 15,000 fishers and 2,140 fishing-boats engaged in the industry. A marine industry laboratory has been established by the Government at Lao-hu-tan, and a subsidy is also granted to the fishing guild. The salt industry — once a flourishing one — has, Salt. since the war, revived considerably, and the number of salt-fields has increased. A salt-field surveying office has been instituted, which conducts a survey of the salt-fields owned by the natives and prospective fields. The total area of existing salt-fields was, at the end of 1908, about 3,670 acres. 742 THE ADMINISTRATION OF Selection In selecting Baron Goto to reorganize the South Gokfto" Manchurian Railway the Japanese Government un- organize doubtedly acted wisely, for it would have been difficult churian to find a broader-minded man, or one better equipped Railway. £^^. ^ ^^^^ ^^jj ^^ perplexities and delicate problems. Baron Goto had proved his capacity as civil adminis- trator of Formosa, and the work he accomplished in that Island will always stand as a monument to his capacity, executive ability, and tact. Believing fully in his capacity and judgment the Government en- trusted Baron Goto with wide latitude of action, and left him free to work out as he deemed best the impartial policy to which Japan is committed in Manchuria. To him were confided the management of the railways, the mines, and other contributory industries, as well as the organization of education, sanitation, and public works both in the leased territory and in the area included in the railway zone. Success- That this work is being well done and that the ministra. activities of the Japanese in South Manchuria have Hon of been skilfully directed will be seen by the perusal of churian the observations and impressions recorded throughout ai way. ^j^-^ yQ^^j^-^g {^^ regard to the cities and j^oi'ts and territories served by the South Manchurian Railway. The Japanese Government and the officials of the railway company maintain that all nationalities are treated within that territory with entire impartiality and equality, and they point to the fact that although inquiry has been made by the diplomatic and consular representatives of different countries, whose subjects and citizens have brought forward complaints, not a single case has been proved to show that the railway company imposed a differential tariff rate or differential loading or unloading charges, or in any way discrimi- nated against a foreign firm or company in favour of THE KWANTUNG PENINSULA 748 a, Japanese concern. They repudiate all these charges as pure inventions, and by way of 23roof point to their pubhcly issued tariffs and instructions, all of which are printed in the English language. The above may be said to represent in substance the views of the Japanese Government in regard to their Manchurian policy and to the controversy to which it has given rise. The personage to whom the writer is indebted for the above facts, ended the con- versation by summarizing what he called the 'em- phatic points of the Japanese regime in Manchuria ' in the following words, which are quoted textually : — 1. ' The control of this territory by Japan is deemed absolutely necessary to maintain the integrity of the Empire.' 2. ' The peace of the Far East is indispensable to our own safety.' 3. ' The maintenance of the status quo in Manchuria is needed, we are convinced, to safeguard universal peace ; for unless this territory is under Japanese jurisdiction, it is not possible to serve the cause of peace and progress.' 4. ' As is evident from the trend of current events, the 400 millions of China can most judiciously be brought to an appreciation of modern civilization through the development of Manchuria, and Japan as the pioneer nation of the East accepts the task as her bounden duty.' 5. ' An impai-tial observer free from prejudice should realize that our policy in Manchuria offers little scope for criticism. War, if aggressive and for the enlarge- ment of territory, is foreign to the interests and tradi- tions of our race. The maintenance of peace in the East and the integrity of our own land, can alone ])e for us the cause of war.' ' 7U ADMINISTRATION OF KWANTUNG Activities The Soutli Manchuriaii Railway is now workiiijo: South satisfactorily, and is steadily extending its business. Man- The improvements on the line between Mukden and chunan at Railway. Antung, and the gradual development of the Kwantung Peninsula, will probably increase its profits. At the expiration of the lease the Chinese Government must pay to the Japanese Government all the money they have expended on the railway. Meanwhile to make the line pay and to improve the trade of the country, the Japanese are expending a good deal of money in im- proving the property. The more activity this railway company shows the better for the people of the locality as well as for international trade. The talk about discrimination the writer found to be baseless — goods shipped by merchants of different nationality are all treated alike. One Japanese financier, who had raised over £10,000,000 of debenture stocks for the South Manchurian Railway, declared that the company is working in a very satisfactory manner and that the debt would be redeemed at maturity. CHAPTER XLYII THE SOYA BEAN The history of the growth of the bean trade in Recent Manchuria is as captivating as the story of the rise develop- of Jack's famous beanstalk of our nursery days. It i"ent in reads more hke a fairy tale than a page from the trade of Board of Trade Eeturns. Only after one has travelled ^^^ through the region where the soya bean reigns supreme, and has seen the wharves and the warehouses, the stations, and the platforms laden with bags of beans, and noted the thousands of queer looking stacks with pagoda-like roofs with which the country is dotted and which serve as temporary storehouses for the produce whilst awaiting shipment, does one realize that it is not a fable, but a veritable fact in the history of international commerce. Nevertheless, more than the ordinary amount of imagination is required to grasp the fact that the first commercial consignment of this crop was sent to Europe in 1906, and that the requirements for the coming season are estimated at a million tons. At the minimum price of £6 10s. per ton, this means a business of £6,500,000, or something like 70 millions of silver dollars. That an industry of such vast proportions should at a time like this spring up in a few years indicates that all the opportunities of commerce are not closed to those who have courage and foresight enough to search for new openings for trade. And the manifold uses, agTicultural and industrial as well as dietary, to which the ])ean can be put, invest this generous vegetable 746 THE SOYA BEAN with increasing importance and the future of the bean crop with romantic mystery. The development of the soya bean is of such recent date, and has been so intimately connected with Japanese enterprise, that a few facts in regard to its rise and progress may be of interest in this volume, introduc It is not kuowu when the bean was actually intro- bean into duccd into Mancliuria, but, according to a useful chmia by treatise written by Mr. Norman Shaw, of Newchwang, Chinese, and issued as one of the special series of Imperial Maritime Customs publications, ' the probability is that it came north from the central provinces of China many centuries ago,' and we learn from a story in the life of Wen, tyrant in the kingdom of Wei, that beans were a staple article of diet in the early centuries of the Christian era. Though the bean trade has for many years been a flourishing item of local trade, it was not until 1908 that the first trial shipment was sent to Hull, and the trade with that port has grown in two years from nothing to nearly 250,000 tons. Bean first It is strange that the potency of the little green ducTdinto^^an — it looks more like a dried pea than the bean Europe, gi'own in England — which is furnishing three railway systems with freight, hundreds of vessels with cargoes, and three ports with business, and starting new in- dustries in the north of England, should have remained so long undiscovered by Europeans. Its advantages appear to have been forced upon the attention of Eng- land by a Japanese merchant, who, failing in his first efforts, made a second attempt to introduce the soya })ean into Europe. These beans, raised by industrious Chinamen toiling incessantly for a few pence per day, are generally brought to the river in carts and shipped THE SOYA BEAN 747 in junks in the summer time, while in the winter they are often brought for miles along very bad roads by cart to Newchwang. After the building of the railways it was natural that Chief these exports should gravitate more and more to the export^of maritime outlets of the railways at Dairen, Vladivos- ^^^^"• tock, and, to a lesser extent, to Newchwang, which last port, as will be seen in another chapter, is still receiv- ing the bulk of its consignments by means of junks and by carts. The Newchwang exports consisted of New- oil and cakes, which were manufactured by the aid of exSs. numerous crude Chinese oil-presses worked with mule power — the oil going to China and the cakes to Japan. As soon as the bean assumed an international impor- tance Newchwang lost its monopoly of the trade. As recently as 1907 almost all the beans available for export — namely, 120,000 tons — were exported via Newchwang. Of the 800,000 tons exported in 1909, half went by way of Dairen and the remainder from Vladivostock and from Newchwang. In the export of bean cake Newchwang holds the first position because of her numerous Chinese oil-presses, and her one modern factory. Extensive up-to-date factories capable of extracting a greater percentage of oil are, however, being established — of these two are at Dairen — and unless Newchwang shows more enterprise than one observes in a visit to the city, she will soon lose the first place in the bean-cake trade. Manual labour in bean-crushing was everywhere Manual employed until a few years ago, and as regards cultiva- phanka'i tion, still predominates over mechanical power. The labour in natural prejudice of the Chinese towards the latter crushing, does not, however, find any justification in the results achieved by the two methods, and though no mechan- ical substitute for the human foot in wine-pressing has 748 THE SOYA BEAN been found, the mechanical process of bean-crushing extracts more oil than does manual labour, and the oil is of a purer quality. The quantity of oil in the soya bean varies from 16 to 17 per cent., and by some chemical processes even 19 per cent, has been extracted. Of course nothing like this amount is obtained even in the excellent mills which the writer visited at Dairen. To what extent the extraction of practically all the oil would impair the value of the cake as a fertilizer is difficult to say. These are questions which will have to be dealt with in the future. For the present the industry is still in its infancy, so far as the appli- cation of applied chemistry and modern methods is concerned. In case the story of the rise of the soya bean in- dustry should prove too alluring to British merchants of a speculative turn of mind, and not provided with a knowledge of the methods of doing business in the Far East, it may be well to mention that it would be quite useless to start an office at some point like Dairen or Changchun in order to buy beans in the Purchase local market. The only way is to travel into the in small interior, to visit the country markets, and to buy in quantities gniall quantities for silver coins of low value, that is, tor small ^ ' coins 20 or 10-cent pieces. The Chinese silver dollar is only a visa e. ^^^j,^]^ gg g^^ Japanese money, or Is. 9d., and five of the 20-cent silver pieces are worth about 2|^. less than the Mexican or Chinese dollar. The Japanese, l)y purchasing the beans with the little silver coins, obtain them cheaper than would be possible for an English firm which was paying for them in silver dollars. For some unaccountable reason the Chinese producer prefers the small coin, though its value is 10 per cent. less. This is not generally known, for THE SOYA BEAN 749 one naturally assumes that ten 10-cent silver coins or five 20-cent coins make alike one silver dollar ; but such is not the case in the bean district of Manchuria. The soya bean now constitutes an important part in Soya bean the Hull import trade, and has provided a new source Jf Jh^i* of revenue for the shipping industry. It is estimated, import indeed, that already the cost of the freight to British ports has reached over a million sterling. The imports into Hull in 1910 were 245,829 tons, more than half the total import into the United Kingdom. The soya oil exported from Hull, the pioneer in the crushing of soya beans, reached 113,372 barrels. Good judges are Cotton of opinion that the rapidly increasing import trade imports into Europe must ultimately have a serious effect upon Y^f^ the seed industry, and is likely particularly to affect affected. the imports of cotton seed. The bulk of the soya beans imported into Hull are the yellow beans, and those engaged in the seed trade in the Hull district have a good opinion of the new bean. According to Mr. Shaw's treatise, before referred to, the yellow bean appears to be the most profitable variety as regai'ds oil production. It is to the cattle grower, as well as to the oil trade, that the advent of the soya bean into this country is of importance. The cake is cheaper than cotton-seed cake, and is said to be richer in those con- stituents for which the cotton-seed cake is valued. The experiments in feeding British cattle on bean cakes only have not been very satisfactory, but when mixed with other food it has proved more practicable. The British farmer has not yet quite made up his mind as to its value as a food for cattle. The value of soya oil is widely recognized by soap manufacturers, and there is a notable tendency to employ it in preference to cotton oil. 750 THE SOYA BEAN There are evidences of the beginning of an export trade from Hull to the Continent. A quantity of soya cake has been exported from Hull, and if a further reduction in the price should take place a IcU'ge export trade may be established. Continental dairy-farmers are employing soya meal, and in conjunction with other food the experiment has been satisfactory. Inquiries made at Hull show that the mills have had their capacity taxed by the advent of the soya bean. The firbt The Credit for the introduction of this useful article merit! ^'^ ' ^^ Commerce is due to Messrs. Mitsui & Company, the well-known Japanese financial and industrial firm, who sent their first trial shipment of beans to England in the winter of 1905-6. This consignment was not successful owing to imperfect packing. A second shipment met with better results and led to a succession of large orders. The beans were found to be valuable both for the extraction of oil similar to that obtained from other cultivated seeds, and also when mixed with other food as cake for feeding- cattle. Excellent biscuits have been made out of one Recent Variety of these beans. The United Kingdom was me^ntTt" ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ advantage of this newly-found demand, import because of its admission free of duty, the high tariff on such produce precluding the soya beans from access to Germany, France, and other Continental countries. So great was the demand that by the end of the season of 1908 the Mitsui Company had ex- ported to Europe 200,000 tons of these beans, and both this concern and the Yokohama Specie Bank, operating in conjunction, are said to have made very handsome profits on these transactions. In the season of 1909 the sales to Great Britain alone are stated to have reached 400,000 tons. Severtil other well- THE SOYA BEAN 751 known firms have entered the field, inchidingthe firm of Samuel Samuel & Company. The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce estimates the consumption value of a ton of soya beans in London at £6 10s., and a British Consular report optimistically concludes that England alone will in the future be able to take one million tons of beans animal] y. Under date of Dairen, August 3rd, 1911, the Expoitb Statistical Department of the South Manchurian "^ Kail way Company kindly furnished the writer with the latest figures relating to the soya bean trade. According to these figures the total value of the exports of beans and bean cake from the three ports Dairen, Newchwang, and Antung for last year (1910) amounted to about 5| millions sterling. These three ports ex- ported nearly 1,500,000 tons, the export from Dairen alone for that year reaching 352,620 tons of beans and approximately 250,000 tons of bean cake. Whilst the soya bean has thus suddenly come into Uses and international fame, its uses and virtues have long [^g^^y.^ been known in the Far East. The oil of the bean has ^6^"- been used throughout China as an article of food and for other purposes. The cake is valuable as a ferti- lizer for rice and sugar-cane fields, and the figures given above show the enormous quantities of the cake exported to Japan, a country which, according to Government estimates, is obliged to spend £12,000,000, some estimates say £20,000,000, annually on ferti- lizers of various kinds. In Manchuria the soya bean is primarily used for the extraction of oil and for the manufacture of cake ; it is also made into vermicelli and similar articles of food. Manchuria seems to have a natural monopoly in the growing of this bean for export. The bean plant is hardy and prolific, as is shown by the universality of its appearance, in 752 THE SOYA BEAN North America, parts of the British colonies, Japan, Man- and the Yang-tze valley. But Manchuria appears to ideally ^® ideally suited to its cultivation, and it does not T^^^1r° seem likely that she can ever be seriously displaced vation. as a bean-growing centre. The other producing countries, Japan and Korea, require all they are able to raise for domestic consumption, whilst the produc- tion of the French possessions in Asia^ in Asia Minor, and in West Africa is said to be neither large nor promising enough to be of much account for export. Down to the present time the soya bean has not been successfully produced elsewhere, though experimental efforts to grow this particular bean in other parts of the world are in progress. Chang. The soya bean is the foundation of the prosperity its pros- of Changchun. The beans shipped southwards and th^so a° ^^poi't^^i through Changchun Station represent the bean. Japanese sphere of this trade, and they are carried to the progressive port of Dairen. The beans attracted northwards passing through Harbin represent the Kussian share of the trade, and indicate the progress of the Russian port of Vladivostock. Russian and Japanese interests may, therefore, be said to have merged at Changchun in two senses, for the con- nexion between the Russian-Japanese lines which was temporarily interrupted near Changchun was re- estabhshed in 1909, and the railway is now operating continuously — that is, passengers leave the standard- gauge train at the Changchun Station on the one track and take the Russian broad-gauge train on the other. Changchun has become an important station, and business is watched there with considerable interest. With the growth of the foreign demand for these beans, the Chinese farmers increased their cultivation with such rapidity that the total export from Manchuria THE SOYA BEAN 753 during 1908-9 reached an unusually high figure. During the season 1909-10, when the crop, from climatic causes, was less favourable than during the period 1908-9, the amount exported does not appear to have increased though there has been an appreciable advance in the price of the beans. At the same time, more land has been devoted to the cultivation of soya beans in the north, particularly in the territory north of Harbin, from which it may be assumed that less has been produced in the south ; in fact, it is stated on good authority that the soil in the south is already showing signs of deterioration. The wasteful- ness, or rather ignorance, of the Manchurian farmer may be held partly accountable for this — as his habits of tearing up plants and roots for fuel prevent the natural fertilization of the soil by the nitrogenous properties which the bean roots possess. The Kussian Railway Railway Company, recognizing this development in the *^'^"^P«^*' north, have done their best to secure the transit of grain from the agricultural centre of Changchun so as to compete with the South Manchurian Railway Company. Freight rates are quoted which enable shippers to send their cargo from Changchun to Vladivostock at the same cost by the Russian lines as from Changchun to Dairen by the Japanese railway. When in Changchun the writer was told that it Defects in was cheaper to ship beans from Changchun via Harbin offe^Ky to Vladivostock than from Harbin to Vladivostock Russian direct. The result of this competition and the develop- ment of cultivation in the north is shown in the statistics for the season. In spite of these facilities in rates afforded by the Russian lines, shipments are invariably attended with vexatious delays and cause innumerable complaints on the part of the exporters. PORTER O B 754 THE SOYA BEAN The wharves at Dairen are capable of loading and unloading nearly 5,500 tons per day, but when the new cranes now in course of construction are com- pleted, the average bulk handled per day will be more than 3,000 tons of loading and discharging respec- tively. At Vladivostock, however, recent experience shows that steamers have taken as long as ten days to load 3,500 tons. Again, cargoes take two days to do the journey from Changchun to Dairen. Owing to various breakdowns, blockings, and sundry causes on the Eussian lines, a cargo has taken over thirty days Superi- from Harbin to Vladivostock. ' These points,' said the Man.'^ writer's informant (a well-known British merchant at chuiian Changcliun), ' go to prove the superiority of the Japanese Company ovor the Russiau lines. In not one single instance in of tranr ^^^ P^^^ scasou lias there been any cause of delay on port of the former.' It is also stated that shippers from Harbin have frequently to expedite their shipments by making it worth the while of the officials on the Russian rail- way. On asking if there was any truth in the state- ments that favouritism is shown by the South Man- churian Railway Company to the Japanese the reply was given : — ' A great deal is heard nowadays of cases of reported favoured terms given by the Japanese lines to their own countrymen, but in not a single case has this been proved.' The fact that Japanese bean merchants in the district of Changchun have all failed or have come to grief, with the exception of the Mitsui Bussan Kaisha, and, perhaps, one or two others, is given as a reason to show that they can secure only the regular rates from the railway company. The South Manchurian Company afford every convenience for shipments of cargo, and it can be truthfully said that the working of this line will compare favourably with European or German railways. THE SOYA BEAN 755 Another point that recent criticism has concerned Defective itself with is the defective condition of so many of the of"ece t" receptacles for oils shipped from Manchuria as well as tacles from Japan. The Japanese Commercial Commissioner shipped. in London reports upon the defectiveness of the kerosene oil-can, which has been most largely used for this purpose. The leakage, consequent upon the wear and tear of the oversea shipment, in the majority of cases, he says, neutralizes the margin of profit to owners, and creates a risk which the insurance com- panies will not approach save at almost prohibitive premiums. The substitution of drums of British make has been found to answer, but it is not likely to be encouraged unless the Japanese Government exempts, in case of their being re-exported, these empty vessels from the heavy rates of duty now exacted. With the influx of so much money it is apparent japan's that the import trade will be worth consideration. ^^^^^ f ^ . . . import The principal item is piece-goods, and British mer- trade. chants in Manchuria declare that European manu- facturers are allowing the Japanese to have it all their own way. This, however, they admit is in no sense due to any favouritism on the part of the railways or of the Government, but has been attained by ' a steady and careful nursing of the country ' on the part of the Japanese. Japanese firms hold large stocks of goods at all the principal centres, and are able to supply the wants of the community at short notice. European manufacturers desiring to enter into this field of great possibility must be prepared to adopt methods similar to those employed by the Japanese. A profitable import business is done in such staple commodities as soap, candles, and matches, also in tin, iron, and steel. The majority of important firms at Changchun are German and American houses ; British manu- 3b2 756 THE SOYA BEAN British facturei'S ])ay but little attention to the business, behind- Excepting the South Manchurian Railway Company, hand. ^y]^Q place the greater part of their contracts in con- nexion with their railways in Tok3^o, it is difficult, if not impossible, it is said, to point to a single contract of importance for municipal work of an engineering or electrical nature which has gone into the hands of impoi- British contractors. The reason given for this is that Con*sular ^^^^ assistance rendered to Germans and Americans l)y assistance their respective Consular officers is much greater than of obtain- that rendered by the British Consular Service. The Sets" appointment of a Commercial Attache for Manchuria is greatly to be desired. These remarks, of course, apply also to the other towns in Manchuria, where the jurisdiction is in the hands of Chinese officials having the power to place such contracts for the development of the towns under their control. The preference in every case is shown to those firms who are introduced to the officials by the Consular officers or interpreters, rather than to those who have not the benefit of such assistance. It is, moreover, stated that at Changchun the Chinese officials regard ordinary commercial representatives as of quite a different caste to them- selves, and that it is difficult for such a representative to obtain facilities without Consular assistance. A British merchant of Changchun sends the writer the following letter in relation to the attitude of the Japanese in Manchuria : — Japanese 'With regard to that part of Manchuria which — bene-^^ comes under Japanese influence, too great 23i'aise ficial cannot be given. The conveniences and facilities results, afforded by the Japanese to one and all in regard to banking institutions, railway communications, j^ostal and telegraph service are far and away superior to those afforded by the Russian and the Chinese institu- THE SOYA BEAN 757 tions. The Yokohama Specie Bank, with its numerous branches, enables foreign traders to transact business on the same lines as they are accustomed to do in other civilized countries. Transactions with this bank are free from the exorbitant rates and the petty red- tapeism, to which it is necessary to conform in work- ing with either the Kussians or Chinese. It is a recognized fact that it takes any time over an hour to get a cheque cashed at a Kussian bank ; moreover, the absence of any knowledge of the English language renders transactions with them considerably irksome. Every employee in the Yokohama Specie Bank, on the other hand, has a good knowledge of the English language. Notwithstanding the fact that the Chinese Customs are supposed to manage the Postal Service in Manchuria, that service has become practically con- fined to the transmission of Chinese correspondence. The Japanese appear to handle the greater part, if not all, of the foreign mail in a satisfactory manner. ' In conclusion, Japan has fulfilled all her obliga- tions, and continues to do so, in the development of Manchuria, and woe betide the day if the country comes under Russian influence or if it is handed back again to the control of the Chinese. Too great atten- tion cannot be devoted to this country by the Press in Great Britain, in order to direct the attention of British firms to the enormous prospects which await them here in various directions. It is to be hoped they will soon awaken to these possibilities. If these efforts are delayed too long they will find that it is too late, as other countries will have secured the business.' It is well in criticizing a Government to reflect long enough to contemplate the results which would follow in the event of its overthrow. The choice, should the Japanese relinquish or abandon Manchuria, would be either Eussia or China, alternatives which may well make foreign traders willing to bear their present ills rather than to end them by flying to evils that, in this instance, they know all about. CHAPTER XLYIII ABOUND THE WORLD VIA JAPAN Around the World in Eighty Bays, by Jules Verne, a romance which aroused such keen interest and evoked so much discussion respecting the possibihty of such an achievement, when the first translation was published in 1878, would seem rather a pointless story to the youth of the present generation. It took the writer less than forty days of actual travelling to make a circle of the world, and the journey was neither undertaken for a wager nor made for the pur- pose of ascertaining how quickly it could be accom- l^lished. Phineas Fogg would not have embarked upon such a leisurely boat as the AmeriJicc, of the Hamburg- American Line, but probably upon the Mmiretania, though arriving in New York he could have done no better than to have taken the 6.55 express on a Thursday evening and by this means made con- nexion with the 10.30 Canadian Pacific boat train, which leaves Montreal on Friday, by which train he would secure the Pacific steamer of that line at Vancouver. Although these boats have been in service for some years they are as comfortable as ever, and can make the journey across the Pacific and land their passengers alongside the new wharves at Yokohama in twelve days. From Yokohama the traveller may now by train and boat reach Harbin in four days, and thence find himself in Moscow in nine days more. In this way, if no connexions are missed, he would be in London again in just under forty days. AROUND THE WORLD VIA JAPAN 750 This time, within a few years, will probably be improve- further reduced by contemplated improvements on "ontem- both the Canadian and Asiatic parts of the journey, plated. The Canadian Pacific Railway will either build new boats for the Pacific service or transfer their fast ships of the Atlantic to the Pacific and build the new ones for the Atlantic service. The journey from Liverpool to Yokohama across the Dominion could then be made in twenty or twenty-one days, and con- nexions assured. We repeat that the Japanese Government is laying out its plans for a future through route — Tokyo-Shimonoseki-Korea-Mukden- Harbin. This route will involve only ten hours of sea voyage. With the Antung-Mukden line finished, the time required will be only three and a half days to Harbin, and with the Japanese State railways recon- structed to standard gauge, it is hoped to reduce the time to three days. From Harbin to Moscow now takes nine days at a speed of less than 25 miles an hour, and with innumerable stops. The officials of the Siberian Railway say that two days will be gained in the journey between Vladivostock and Moscow as soon as the double-tracking of the road and other improvements are carried out, and the journey round the world by Canadian Pacific, Japanese State Rail- ways, and Siberia, may be as follows : — London to Yokohama, twenty days ; Yokohama to Harbin, three days ; Harbin to Moscow, less than eight days ; Mos- cow to London, two days ; total, thirty-three days. Within the next two years the double-tracking of Doubie- the Trans-Siberian Railway will have been completed th^ ""^ between Omsk— the junction of the Tinmen (new) and |^^^^'^*" Cheliabinsk through lines to Russia — and Karymskaya (the junction of the Manchurian and Amur lines, the latter in course of construction). A small section of 760 AROUND THE WOELD VIA JAPAN the Circum-Baikal Railway (from Baikal to Tanhoy, about 130 miles in length) is to remain single-tracked for the present ; but this deficiency is compensated for by ferry communication over the lake. The Tiumen-Omsk section links up the Trans-Siberian with the Tiumen-Ekaterinburg and the new direct Ekaterinburg -Perm lines. By the end of next year Russia will have two continuous independent lines (Viatka and Samara Ufa) connecting her European system with Omsk, and thence a double track to and beyond Lake Baikal. TtieAiiiur The Amur Railway, connecting the Trans-Baikal " ^^^' and Usguri lines, will probably be completed by the end of 1915 at a cost of £30,000,000. Russia will then have a Trans-Continental route entirely within her own territory. The work is being carried out in four sections — Kivenga-Uryum, 183 versts ; Uryum- Kerak, 621 versts; Kerak-Dia, 638 versts; Dia-Haba- rovsk, 480 versts, altogether 1,922 versts, or 1,280 miles. To this must be added a branch line to Blagoveshchensk, bringing up the length of permanent way to about 1,340 miles. A glance at the map shows that the line had to be kept w^ell north of the Amur River. This was for strategical reasons, to keep it beyond the reach of a possible foe on the Chinese side. It was also necessary to avoid the mountainous regions, with concomitant tunnels which could Ije blocked by snow or by the hand of the enemy. On the other hand, if the distance were excessive, strategy would not benefit, because the Russian colonization of the country would not be developed. Alterna- East of Kerak three alternative routes were sur- routes. veyed — one following the Zca (w^hich flows, like the Amur, through vast gaps in the great Hinghan Range), Map to accompany "THE FULL RECOGNITION OF JAPAN "by Robert P.Porter. THE SIBERIAN RAILWAYS Scale Kilometers 1 9°. 9 . . . . so o Russian Territory um Chinese Territory E23 Japanese Territory ?zzzi British Territory es c Map to accompany 'THE FULL RECOGNITION OFJAPAN'by Robert p. Porter. eV IScljJx-Air., 0«f.«l, II o AROUND THE WORLD VIA JAPAN 761 thence sweeping far northward around the Burey Mountains to Habarovsk ; another ahiiost continuous with the arc ah-eady described, and a third nearer to the Amur. A compromise between the two last was chosen. By faciUtating communications on the Vhidivostock route a corresponding gain in time and convenience will result for passengers going to Peking. Steam- ship connexions between Vladivostock and Dairen and Japanese and Chinese ports will be equally benefited. A Russo-Japanese railway agreement will further develop transport facilities. The journey from London or Paris to Tokyo will, by the end of 1912, have been reduced by two days. The distance to Peking, 7,500 I'aris to miles {via Harbin and Mukden), which now requires twelve" fourteen days, will be covered in less than twelve. '^^'''^^'^■ A further gain would result from the construction of the much-debated Aigum-Tsitsihar-Tsintchen railway, but in the event of the adoption of Russia's proposal to connect the Circum-Baikal with the Peking-Kalgan lines, via Kiakhta-Urga (total length about 1,000 miles), the distance between Paris and Peking would be reduced to about 5,600 miles, and the time might eventually be shortened to eight days. Little was known by the travelling public of the The Trans-Siberian Railway until the International SleejD- sibJ^i^-^^n ing Car Company, in conjunction with the Russian and Railway. Chinese Eastern railways, established what is called a through train to the Far East on the railway which begins at the Russian frontier town of Alexandrowo, or at Virballen, and travels over the broad-gauge rail- way of European Russia to Cheliabinsk, 2,311 versts from St. Petersburg. Here the two branch lines, one from St. Petersburg and one from Moscow, converge and connect with the Trans-Siberian Railway. From 762 AROUND THE WORLD VIA JAPAN this station to Mandcliuria, a distance of 4,472 versts, the hne runs right across Siberia through thousands of miles of forests and vast stretches of agricultural land, crossing several mountain ranges and mighty rivers to Manchuria. At Mandchuria, the first station in Man- churia, the Chinese Eastern Railway begins, and as this railway was built on the 5-feet gauge, and is operated by the Russian Government, no change is necessary, after once starting on the Russian railways, until Vladivostock is reached, a distance of 1,604 versts. The distance traversed from St. Petersburg to Vladi- vostock is therefore 8,387 versts, or 5,560 miles. As Alexandrowo is 1,472 - kilometres (915 miles) from Ostend, the total distance from Ostend to Vladivo- stock is 6,475 miles, or from London to Vladivostock 6,611 miles. By the route via St. Petersburg, Moscow, Samara, and Irkutsk it is 5,900 miles from St. Peters- burg to Vladivostock, but by the Northern route via Viatka the distance is reduced to the figure above mentioned. The last rail of this great enterprise was laid on November 3, 1901, but the line was not opened for permanent regular traffic until two years later. Then came the Russo-Japanese War, which disorganized the railway service and ended in the transfer of the Port Arthur branch into the control of Japan. It is only, therefore, within the last thi'ee or four years that any attempt has been made to utilize this tremendous under- taking for commercial purposes. In London very little interest has been aroused in the regular operation of this railway, except among firms doing business in the Far East — letters posted and marked by this route reach Peking or Tokyo in fifteen or seventeen days, instead of forty and forty-five days, the time required by the Suez Ccinal route — but in the East it is a AROUND THE WORLD VIA JAPAN 763 matter of living interest and a topic of almost daily conversation. We may describe an actual journey. Two through expresses — Russian State trains — and Securing one train made up of the International Sleeping Car and dation. dining coaches are now running over this route, making three through trains weekly. Of these the Inter- national train is the most popular, because the atten- dants speak English, French, and German, and because the dining-car arrangements and food are admittedly better than on the Russian trains. Apart from these advantages there is no difference, as all three trains seem to make the journey in about the same time, and as the Russian cars are equal in all respects to those of the International Sleeping Car Company. The Russian gauge of the Chinese Eastern Railway The now starts at Changchun, and on Saturday morning, ^^fj^^^ at 11 o'clock, passengers from China for the Russian State express are provided with a train at Changchun, which includes sleeping-coaches and a buffet-car, and the journey across Siberia begins. These coaches are attached to the Vladivostock train at Harbin, reached the same day, about 8 o'clock in the evening, and the whole train then goes through to Irkutsk, where we arrived on the morning of the following Tuesday. At Irkutsk all passengers, including those who started from Vladivostock, are transferred into the St. Peters- burg train, and there is no further change until the capital of Russia is reached on the following Monday evening, nine days after leaving Harbin and ten days from Vladivostock. The train, after a steady run of ten days and nights, arrived at St. Petersbm-g punctual to the minute. The transfer at Irkutsk is easily made by civil porters, whose charge is 10 kopeks per package, and the two trains are brought alongside each other in the station. 764 AROUND THE WORLD VIA JAPAN Little The carriage in which the journey was begun, and in classes, which was left at Irkutsk with the rest of the Vladi- vostock train, was evidently one of the earlier coaches. It was well built, heavy, and a little cumbersome, while the space was not utilized to the best advantage, though it is only just to say that each passenger is allotted as much, if not more, space than in European and American sleeping-cars. It was fairly clean, though the Russian guards and porters are not punctilious where rigid cleanliness is concerned. The toilet accommodation is inadequate, the water was not plentiful, and was only obtainable in tiny streams through a sort of watering-pot nozzle fastened on the tap, and there were no towels or sundries in the toilet room. The second-class compartments on the Russian trains are as good as the first, if not better, and some passengers, though holding first-class tickets, used second-class accommodation because the carriages seemed cleaner. When the trains are not crowded it would be just as comfortable to travel second class, saving from £12 to £14 respectively on each ticket from London to Harbin or Vladivostock. The second- class passengers have the same rights in the buffet as have those of the first class, and are allowed the same weight of luggage. The buffet on the Irkutsk train and the one on the subsequent train which ran through to St. Petersburg were both very poor. In the first instance, there was one waiter who sj^oke a little English and French, but on the St. Petersburg train no language but Russian was spoken by any attendant. Only It was at times amusing to see French, Germans, spoken. English, and Japanese trying to make themselves understood. The density and opaqueness of the dining- room attendants were almost incredible, and they seemed AROUND THE WORLD VIA JAPAN 765 utterly devoid of imagination. They could not even guess at the meaning of such words as ' tea,* ' coffee,' ' salt,' ' milk,' ' hot ' or ' cold ' water when successively given them in French, German, or English. A list printed in Russian and in French is furnished with the names and prices of the food to be had, arranged in parallel columns, but even with this list carefully marked the attendants would make the most ludicrous mistakes. At times one had misgivings as to their ability to read their own language. However, they were good-natured about it all, and the process of obtaining one's daily bread in this way to some extent relieved the monotony of the journey. As all nationali- ties, except the Russians, were in the same dilemma, we were placed on an equal footing. Another inter- esting way of foraging for food is in the station restaurants and from the peddlers who offer bottles of milk, hard-boiled and new-laid eggs, and other delicacies for sale along the route. There are many good things to be thus obtained at the stations, such as fresh caviare, good cakes, and glass jars of jam. These may be taken to the dining-car and a picnic with coffee, tea, or beer from the buffet arranged. The attendants take care of what remains for your next meal. In this respect the Russian State trains offer a freedom not possible on the International trains. The attendants, according to their lights, are uniformly accommodating, and not at all grasping in the matter of tips, which cannot be said of the employees of the International Sleeping Car Company. There is one regular meal served in the buffet each indif- day at 1 o'clock. Passengers may partake of this or caterinc order something specially cooked, and may have it served at the same time. The most abnormal appetite could not complain of the quantity provided at the 766 AROUND THE WORLD VIA JAPAN table d'hote luncheon, at the cost of a rouble and a half. Those who desire quality and dislike food cooked in grease and strongly flavoured would prefer something more simj^le. It is a pity that a little more care is not exercised in cooking on these trains. The substitution of more wholesome food and a few plain dishes would add greatly to the comfort of passengers unaccustomed to Russian food — one does not like to say at its worst, but certainly not at its best. There is a great lack of vegetables, and of fruits there are practically none, oranges and apples of the poorest quality costing 6d. and 8d each. It is possible occasionally to obtain better ones at the stations for half the price charged on the train. With the exception of the charges for fruit, the -other prices are not unreasonable, and living in the way described above, the cost per person will range from 6s. to 10s. per day — the latter including beer and native wines. The wines from the Imperial vineyards must always be sold at fixed prices on the train, and they are the best, and the prices are reasonable. Provisions Those Contemplating the journey should provide journey, themselves with a spirit lamp, teapot, cups, and glasses, and also with a hamper containing tea, chocolate, a few tins of biscuits, and fruit such as apples and oranges. Boiling water can readily be obtained, either at the station or on the train, and the Russian attendants will always cheerfully fill your teapot. By this method, and by purchasing food at the stations, the number of Russian meals can be reduced and some of the rich food avoided. A stock of towels, soap, and other toilet requisites is essential, for these articles are not supplied by the State railways, or if furnished the supply is inter- mittent. The second carriage which we occupied — AROUND THE WORLD VIA JAPAN 767 that from Irkutsk to St. Petersburg — was much better than the first. Nothing could have been more com- fortable. The compartments were spacious and each one had a wash-basin and running water^ — not merely one between two compartments. There is a good table and an electric drop light. The racks are built wide and strong, and any reasonable amount of luggage can be stowed away during the daytime. The beds are large and comfortable and the linen of the best quality. In fact, nothing could have been better than this coach in all its appointments. The Imperial Government has certainly spared no Trains expense to make these carriages the best and most commodious in operation. The wide gauge and the great weight of the coaches reduces the motion, and except in bad parts of the road — and there are not so many as might be expected on such a long journey — they run remarkably smoothly. The average speed is under 25 miles an hour, but the rate of travelling is uniform and the stops, though at times frequent, are short. The carriage was kept exceptionally clean. Several times a day, during fifteen minutes' stops, women with pails of fresh water came into the carriages and washed the floors of the passages and cleaned the windows, inside and out. As a result, the carriage had a fresh appearance when you returned to it after your fifteen minutes' walk up and down the platform. During the day one is able to take eight or ten of these outings — some of ten mmutes' duration, and occasionally at very important stations a halt is made of twenty minutes, amounting perhaps to an hour or an hour and a half daily. With all the essentials so well provided for, the Russian Government should improve the minor features of the service. Among such good linguists as the 768 AROUND THE WORLD VIA JAPAN Russians, surely attendants could be found who speak a little French, German, or English. There are a few other ways in which the convenience of travel could be improved and the comfort of the passengers considered. They would entail but small outlay on the part of the railway. Attention must be given to the matters referred to if the Russian Government wants to popularize and to make a commercial success of its great railway. Too many Scattered all through the coaches in the empty first ants. and second class compartments were the attendants of various grades. There are many officers in Russian State trains for whose existence it is difficult to find a reason. They are ornamental in their long coats, top boots, and military caps, but what they really do one could never quite make out. If one of them came round for a ticket, which event rarely happened more than once in two or three days, he brought an assistant with him, who actually held the ticket while the ' top man ' snipped or punched it. Roughly speaking, after travelling on the railways of China, Japan, and Russia, one concludes that it takes twice as many men to operate a Russian train as it does a Chinese train, and twice as many to manage a Chinese train as it does to staff a Japanese train. Nevertheless, the Japanese trains are operated in a more business-like way than the Russian trains, especially those of the South Man- churian Railway. There are many more soldiers and military guards on the Russian than on the Japanese trains running through Chinese territory. On the Imperial railways of North China, the head trainman is usually an Englishman, civil and gentlemanly. His assistants are very efficient and hard-working Chinamen. These trains are well managed, and though some of the carriages are not up to the standard of the newer AROUND THE WORLD VIA JAPAN 769 coaches which the Japanese have put on the Dairen- Mukden branch of the South Manchurian hue, they are comfortable, and the service both in the sleeping- and dining-cars is excellent. The food and service on both Chinese and Japanese trains are better than on the Russian trains. If the experience of the passengers travelling on Customs the train we came on from Harbin to St. Petersburg ° ^^^ ^' was not exceptional, a great deal of injustice is done to the Russian Customs officers. To one familiar with the New York Custom House these stories had no terrors, but from what one hears in Tokyo and else- where the passengers were prepared for a searching and, perhaps, disagreeable examination. On the con- trary, they found at Mandchuria station civil officials who merely went through the form of examining the through heavy baggage, and who came on board the train and inspected the hand baggage and smaller packages. The effects of all were treated with reason- able impartiality, and there could be no cause for complaint. Some passengers did not understand why luggage registered through to London should be ex- amined. The reason is simple. Mandchuria station is the Chinese as well as the Russian Customs station, and the Chinese Government levy an export tax on certain articles. There are both Chinese and Russian officials at this station, and in fact a dual examination takes place. Passengers who do not understand the language, or who do not take pains to inquire — for both Russian and Chinese officials speak English— fail to understand why two sets of officials examine their luggage, and become irritated. There may, however, have been good cause in the past for some of these com- plaints. Travellers familiar with this route say it has been considerably improved within the last two years. POKTER O C 770 AROUND THE WORLD VIA JAPAN A great The magnitude and boldness of such an enterprise Gil tor* prise. as the Trans-Siberian railway, which can only be realized after one has travelled day after day through vast stretches of virgin forests and agricultural land, make a striking imi3ression upon the traveller. The grandeur of the conception of the enterprise being Russian, why not keep the o23eration Russian, especially when the Government has spared no expense, so far as the trains go, to make a superb service ? A capable Biitish or American railway man experienced in the sleeping- and dining-car departments, if allowed a free hand, could so improve this service in six or even three months that travellers would no longer stop to inquire whether the train was State or International ; nor would the Russian Government be hauling half- empty carriages over those thousands of miles whilst people waited months (it must be admitted without good reason) to secure accommodation on the Inter- national train. CHAPTER XLIX THE HOTELS OF JAPAN The hotels of Japiin have improved since 1896, but the iinprovements have not kept pace with the increase in prices. From three to five yen (vahie about two shillings then and now) per day, inclusive of food, the rates have increased to eight, and even fifteen yen a day. The practice in the Far East of including the cost of meals in the charges, and of not letting rooms on the European fashion without meals, makes it impossible to economize, and the average charges for a comfortable room and board in a first-class hotel in Japan and China will not be less than from 18s. to 20s. a day. In Yokohama, the first stopping-place, the Graiul Grand Hotel still flourishes, and a constant throng of Yoko- travellers from all parts of the world pass in rapid '^^'"'^• succession through its maze of corridors and halls, while it has grown in so many different directions that it is difficult to find one's way about in it without the aid of a guide. Apart from these additions, and the higher scale of prices, there is not much change. It has lost some of the individuality which pervaded it under the original manager, now deceased, and it has become merged into a company represented by a number of civil young Japanese. The financial department is still controlled by efficient Chinamen who seem anxious to please. The weak point of the hotels of the East is in the housekeeping department, which, owing to the apparent necessity for having these duties performed ])y men, is 3c2 772 THE HOTELS OF JAPAN attended to imperfectly. The bedrooms of these ex- pensive hotels are, from the European standard, not properly cleaned. The work at its best may be described as slovenly and untidy, and at its worst in Oriental terms mucli stronger. The Oriental Hotel at Yoko- ^ ^ ■ hama is not the centre of so much life as the Grand Hotel, but it retains its place as an excellent and well- conducted hostelry. The cuisine of nearly all these hotels has, upon the whole, improved. A greater variety of food is supplied than formerly, and the cooking is undoubtedly better. Increased The Consumption of fruit must have increased fruit! enormously in Japan during the last ten or fifteen years, not only in the European hotels but amongst the Japanese population. Fruit shops and stalls have become percej)tibly more numerous, and in the distinc- tively Japanese and poorer quarters of all the cities one finds many and attractive displays, especially of apples, pears, and oranges. In Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya, and Osaka these shops and stalls are simply innu- merable. A large quantity of fruit formerly came from China, but the Japanese themselves have been giving attention to fruit-growing with most satisfactory results. Apples, pears, peaches, and plums are being cultivated with success, and in May one observes large orchards of peach trees, their deep pink bloom adding beauty to the Japanese landscape. The The Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, still remains practically HoteT'^ the only first-class European hotel in that city. The Tokyo, structure has been enlarged, and the old Metropole and other adjoining buildings have been annexed, but it is still far from being the hotel that a capital city like Tokyo requires. It is said that one of the reasons for the postponement of the International Exhibition was because of the lack of hotel accommodation. No THE HOTELS OF JAPAN 773 time should be lost in supplying this demand, and a large modern hotel with several hundred bedrooms should be built. Kobe and Kyoto are both better supplied with hotel accommodation than Tokyo. The Imperial is, in fact, the centre of European life in Tokyo, and while it takes the place of a hotel, it is in reality a set of large public assembly rooms, with an excellent restaurant attached. Here are held all the public functions in which Europeans participate, and a constant succession of banquets, balls, theatrical entertainments, and receptions take place, to say nothing of the numerous associations and company meetings in which refreshments form part of the programme. The cuisine is far in advance of the sleeping accommodation, and in April and May hundreds of people are turned away from the Imperial, simply because of the lack of bedrooms. Many of them are obliged to remain in Yokohama, travelling to and fro by the express trains, which cover the 18 miles in about 30 minutes. The electric tramway between the two cities does not make such good time as the railway. In spite of some drawbacks the Imperial Hotel is an interesting place to stay at. Here one meets people from all parts of the world, and a page from the 'Arrival Book' literally brings all corners of the earth together. Nagoya, a good stopping-place at which to break Nagoya. the railway journey to Kyoto, now has a comfortable hotel, and its manager is most anxious ^ to please European guests who find time to make a visit to this enterprising town. Nagoya to-day, however, as a glance at the chapters on cities will show, has much more to offer the traveller than these relics of its past. A few days here will well repay those interested in the industries and modern development of Japan. 774 THE HOTELS OF JAPAN The Kyoto, in itself less changed than any city, is no K^MDio ^^ longer a place of one hotel, but offers two or three, all excellent, to choose from. The Myako Hotel, which in point of importance takes the place of the picturesque old Yaami Hotel (partially destroyed by fire, but still open), is a fascinating place. Its position on one of the lovely wooded hillsides with which the ancient capital of the Mikado is surrounded lends itself to Japanese architecture. Once within its walls you really feel you are in Japan. All that can be done to combine Japanese surroundings (including picturesque and obliging Japanese waitresses) with European comforts may be found here. The one drawback is the difficulty of access, necessitating the climbing of a long, steep hill, which is severe on the human ponies that cheerfully undertake the task of pulling you up the hill. If one could not be content here, with the innumerable charms of Kyoto to gaze at from the windows and enjoy when you descend from your elevation, there is little hope of happiness anywhere. The Kyoto Hotel, more centrally situated, is equally first class and correspondingly high-priced. Osaka's Osaka has ])ut one European hotel — solid, sombre sombre externally, and well built. The Osaka Hotel, like the Imperial Hotel of Tokyo, serves not only as hotel, but as the public rendezvous for all the social events of the great industrial city of Japan. Banquets, balls, and company meetings are held here, and distinguished strangers are entertained. It is distinctly European, and was built for hotel purposes. There are some spacious suites of rooms, with bath-rooms attached, and all modern conveniences. More surprising is the fact that it is quite reasonable in its charges. You pay for your I'oom and food separately, and the manager and the attendants have not yet become possessed THE HOTELS OF JAPAN 775 with the idea that a European on his travels must be a milKonaire. Kobe undoubtedly can boast the finest hotels — from The city the European point of view — in Japan. The Oriental ° '^ ^ '^' reminds one of those imposing hotel buildings which the Canadian Pacific is erecting throughout Canada. It is managed by an American, and is clean and comfortable, with an excellent cuisine, and until a second and more magnificent competitor arose on the bluff was a lucrative investment. The famous Tor Hotel, planned on far too large and grand a scale, has reduced the Oriental to a less profitable invest- ment, and is making no money itself. The Tor is beautifully situated on the bluff and is really a fine hotel, but is chiefly supported by residents. There are several other hotels at Kobe, all of which are comfortable, and some of which are more reasonable in price than the two above mentioned. At Shimonoseki the traveller is perhaps surprised A unique to find a comfortable European hotel, the Sanyo. This ^^ ^ * hotel was purchased by the Government with the rail- way, and is now under the management of the Imperial Government Railways. The manager naively informs his patrons that ' profit is not the purpose of this hotel ' but ' to make the travelling public comfortable ', sentiments which the wayfarer cannot fail to applaud. When Shimonoseki becomes the place of departure for the ' all-around-the-world route ' the travelling- public will have an opportunity to test this declara- tion of ' comfort, not profit ', as the motto for an hotel. Besides the above, good hotels for foreigners will be found in Nagasaki, Miyajima, Kamakura, Karui- zawa and Sendai. The best hotels in picturesque cities of Japan, ' towns of pleasure,' as the Japanese 776 THE HOTELS OF JAPAN call them, will be found at Nara, Hakone, and Nikko. A chaia The South Manchurian Eailway Company, following hoteis^"^ the excellent practice of the Canadian Pacific Eailway, is building a chain of hotels which will become — indeed, are becoming — valuable adjuncts in the development of their property, and are attracting foreign capital and enterprise to Manchuria. If it is true that Japan desires to exclude all Europeans from participating in the trade of this part of the world, the worst thing she could have done was to build these hotels. They were not built for profit, for none of them are paying expenses. They were not built for Japanese, for most Japanese prefer comfortable Japanese hotels. Each of these hotels, therefore, besides affording food and shelter for the few tourists who now find their way into these regions, is an attraction to Europeans who are looking after international business, or who are seeking opportuni- ties for trade and enterprise. The 'open Nothing nourishes a policy of exclusiveness so much ^^ood ^"^^ ^^ ^ miserable hotel where only a man of strong hotels, stomach can make a long stay. Nothing encourages the ' open door ' so much as a good hotel, and the policy of 'good hotels' has been adopted both in America and Canada by railway companies wishing to attract capital and encourage immigration along their lines. Beginning at Dairen and Port Arthur and ending at Changchun, where the Japanese section of the South Manchurian Eailway terminates, good hotels have been built and are open for business. Another of these hotels was opened this year at Mukden, a town greatly in need of a clean and comfortable stopping-place. The South Manchurian Eailway Company's hotels are substantially built and well THE HOTELS OF JAPAN 777 supplied with bath-rooms and all modern conveniences. The management is excellent and the managers courteous and obliging to travellers. This policy of good hotels has been carried by the The wise Japanese into both Chosen and Taiwan, and a com- decent^ fortable European hotel may be found at Taihoku, hotels. about eighteen miles from the port of Keelung, and also at Takao, the southern terminus of the Taiwan Eailway. At Seoul there are two fairly convenient European hotels, and those over which the Japanese exercise control are clean and comfortable, and the managers do everything possible to oblige their guests. They nearly all print for free distribution good guide- books of the locality, which usually contain the infor- mation necessary for a short stay and a superficial journey through the country, with a glimpse at the most interesting objects and places. Some of these handbooks are models of their kind, and are quite indispensable. Not many British or even American hotels would take the trouble to do this. Nearly all the Japanese railway stations, besides the name of the station in English, give on a large and prominently- placed notice-board a list of the principal places to be reached from that station, together with the distance to each shrine or temple, or historic spot. The Japanese do not believe in hiding their light under a bushel, and are second only to our American cousins in their advertising propensities. A word is due in this connexion about the extensive The public-spirited work of the Welcome Society of Japan, society?*^ which, established in 1893, was only in its infancy on the writer's former visit. The object of this Society in brief is to welcome foreign visitors to Japan, and to render them all possible assistance during their sojourn. It is in no sense a money-making corpora- 778 THE HOTELS OF JAPAN tioii, and its promoters and supporters, among whom is numbered his Majesty the Emperor, contribute periodically such sums as may be necessary to make up the difference between the receipts and the ex- penditure. The Welcome Society has published the best cheap guide-book of Japan, and the most useful map of the country, and it has just issued excellent maps of Manchuria, Chosen, Taiwan, and Karafuto. Its work is well performed and practical in character. The avowed purpose is to promote and facilitate such intimate intercourse between Japan and foreign peoples as will tend to dispel racial prejudice and break down the barriers between East and West. To those who visit Japan and who are anxious to see as much as possible with a limited outlay, no better advice can be given than to place themselves in the hands of the Welcome Society. If, however, the traveller has work to do in a very short time and requires the services of an educated and travelled gentleman, well versed in the history of his own and European countries, he would be extremely fortunate to secure the services of Mr. Shinichi Ando. To Mr. Ando the writer is greatly indebted, and had it not been for his assistance it would have been impossible to have gathered in such a short time the material required either for the newspaper which the writer represented when in Japan or for this volume. LLL" ^jy \ P # JAPANESE EMPIRE Eng Miles < Map to accompany >HE FULL RECOGNITION OF JAPAN" by Robert P Porter, Q C INDEX Ab(_', Professor I., o41. Adams, L. D. K., 521. Adams, Will, 112. Adjustment Commission of Agri- culture, 260-1. Administrative Divisions, 377, B88. • Age of Local Autonomy,' 381-2. Agriculture : 255-77 ; area under cultivation, 256 ; class divisions, 257-8 ; development statistics, 262-3 ; field crops, 261-2 ; labour, human and animal, 269-70 ; minor products, 265, 266, 267, 268 ; potato trade, 265 ; pro- ductivity of land, 262 ; rice culti- vation, 259-60 ; staple jiroducts, crops, 268-9 ; state encourage- ment, 276-7; sugar-cane, 268; tea, 266 ; tobacco, 267-8. Ainus : in Japan, 19 21 ; religious beliefs, 20-1. Akiko, 510. American- Japanese Treaties, 65, 68. Amur railway, 760. Amur river, 699. Ando, S., 778. Anglo- Japanese Alliance, 13. 11-4- 5, 116, 347-8. Antung-Hsien, 731-3. Antung-Mukden railway. 636-7. 719-21. Aoi no Uye [No drama), 530-2. Applied arts, 476. Army: 218-24; conscription sys- tem : 93-4, 220-2, revision, 217-8; department established, 198 ; early history, 218-4 ; ex- pansion, 218 ; expenditure, 221- 4 ; foreign instruction discon- tinued, 217 ; military organiza- tion, 218-9 ; modern methods, 215-6. Art, 475-88; assimilation of western art, 478-9 ; collections in foreign museums, 487-8 ; creative arts, 475 ; different ideals, 58 ; Euro- pean recognition and influence, 482-4, 486-7; minor arts, 485-6; painters, modern, 479-80; ))aint- ing : 476-82, schools, 477-8 ; sculpture, 484-5. Aston, Mr. W. G., 491-2, 493. Australia, Japanese in, 151. Bank of Japan, 246. Bank of Taiwan, 249. Banks, 244-54. Binyon, Laurence, on Japanese Art, 488. Bird, Miss, 20-1. Board of Literary Censors, Japan. 502. Boxer Rising, 1900, 102-4. Brinkley, Captain, on Buddhism, 28 ; on effects of abolition of Feudal System. 398-9 ; on racial origin, 22 ; Japan Mail, 521, Buddhism : disestablishment, 80 ; influence, 27-8. Buncho, T., 477. Canada, emigration to, 150. Chamberlain, Professor Basil Hall, 86, 490. Chambers of Commerce, 391-2. Changchun, soya bean trade, 752-6. Changchun-Kirin railway, 706. Chao-Erh-Sun, His Excellency, 702. Chemulpo, 644, 718, 721. Chikamatsu, 406. Chikami, K., 521. China, emigration to, 149, 151 ; Korean question, 95 100. Chino-Ja])anese War, 1895, 97-S ; cost of, to Japan, and indemnity, 99-100; effect on literature, 503; events leading to, 611-2; influ- ence of, uj^on British relation- ship, 114. Chosen, sec Korea. Choshu, Clan, disaffection, and results, 68-70. Chungchen Palace, Mukden, 709- 10. Climate, 24 5, 125 6. 780 INDEX Columbia, British, Anti-Japanese agitation, 115-6. Commercial supremacy, aim to achieve, 347-8. Communications, Department of, Tokyo, 465-6. Constitution and laws, 564-73 ; diet, imperial, 365-6 ; imperial rights, 564-5 ; Privy Council and Judicature, 566-7 ; promulga- tion, 1889,564; subject rights, 565. Daimyos, The : antagonism of, to Shogun, 58-9 ; attitude towards foreign policy of Shogunate, 66-7 ; disaifection among, 68-70 ; rise of, 49 ; surrender of fiefs, 73-5. Dairen: 717-8; attractions, 724; public works, 723-7; silk mill, 725. Dalny, see Dairen. Danjuro, I., 587, 542. Dau-no-ura, battle, 1096, 33. Deshima, 63. Dickins, F. V., translations, 491. Douglas, Admiral Sir Archibald Lucius, 95, 198. Drama, 527-47 ; actors, social status, 530 ; Actresses' School, Tokyo, 540-1 ; beauty of repre- sentation, 535 ; characteristic difference between drama of Great Britain and, 533 ; diver- sity, basis of, 527 ; dramatic criticism, supporters of, 544-7 ; The Gagal-u, 528 ; The Kiogeu, 532 ; modern actors, 542-3 ; modern reformers, 542 ; modern, symbolism, 530-2 ; moral effect, 536-7 ; The No, 494-5, 528-30 ; public taste, 541 ; reform : Dra- matic Association for, 543, ob- stacles to, 538-41 ; stage-history, comparison with Great Britain, 533-4 ; superiority of artists over actors, 535-6 ; theatres : stage construction, 539, vested in- terests, 541 ; theatrical condi- tions, 540 ; theatrical traditions, 534-5. Dramatic Reform Association, 548. Dyer, Dr. H., 184. Earthquakes, 127 ; Investigation Committee, 128-9. East India Company, English, trade with Japan, 112-3. Eby, Rev. C. S., 494. Eckert, Herr F. 551. Education, 153-94; departmental control of schools, 159-62 ; divi- sions, 155-6; elementary, 159- 62 ; engineering colleges, 184-6 ; general, influence on labour, 339-42 ; higher schools, courses at, 167-9 ; Imperial Rescript, 156-7; inspection of schools, 167 ; Keiogijuku University, Tokyo, 173-6 ; legal enactments, 158-9 ; normal schools, 164-5 ; private institutions, 171 ; schools of medicine, 171 ; secondary 162-4 ; state control, 158 ; teachers: certificates, examina- tions for, 165-6 ; pensions, 166 ; salaries, 166 ; technical schools, 178-84; Technical School Ordin- ance, 179 ; Tokyo School of Foreign Languages, 173; Univer- Bities, 169-71 ; women : higher education, 188-90, peeresses' school, 192, progress and develop- ment, 186-7 ; teachers, 187-94 ; Universities, 169-71, 190-2. Education Code, 1872, 154-5. Edwards, Osman, on Japanese drama, 495. Elder Statesmen, The, 83. Elgin, Lord, Treaty of Yedo, 1858, negotiated by, 113. Emigration: 144-52; societies, 146; state control, 146-52. European art : and Japan, 480-4 ; Japanese imitation of, 483 ; Japanese influence on, 482. Expulsion of foreigners, 46. Factoij Act, 1911, 329. Fengtien, see Mukden. Fenollosa, the late Professor E. F., native art, reaction in favour of, 479. Fifty years of New Japan, by Count Okuma, 89. Finance and revenue: 225-54; banks, 244-54 ; coinage : gold, new, 229, silver, withdrawal of, 229-30 ; currency : evolution, 226, fluctuations of, influence on wages, 336-7, history of, 225-9, denomination details, 2 0; for- eign loans, 252 ; gold and silver bimetallic system, 227-8 ; Na- tional Debt, 239-44 ; paper money, issue of, and results, 226- 7; Shogunate, debasementduring. INDEX 781 225 ; specie payment, resumed, 228-9; taxation, 230-9; com- parison with pre-restoration, 250. Fischer, Professor A., 488. Fishing Industry : 287-92 ; fishing rights, extension, 288 ; herring, 289-90; seal fisheries, 292; statistics, 289 ; whale fisheries, 292-3. Florentz, Professor, 499. Forestry : acreage, 279-80 ; ad- ministration, 287 ; afforestation, 278-9 ; minor products, 285-6 ; mushroom culture, 285 ; revenue, 280-1 ; species in different zones, 281-5; timber trade, 282-4, 286-7. Formosa (Taiwan): 654-77; agricul- tural development, 658-9, 665-6; camphor, 662-8 ; cession of, to Japan, 109 ; civil administi'ation, 657-8 ; civilization of, difiiculties and plan of campaign, 654-7 ; 660-1 ; communications, 658-9 ; education, 672 ; finance and re- venue, 674-5 ; foreign trade, 674 ; forests, 670 ; geographical features, 664-5 ; government monopolies, 661-4 ; judicial ad- ministration, 673; marine affairs, ports, 673-4; military service, 676 ; mineral resources, 670-1 ; minor products, 669-71 ; opium, 663; origin of name, 664 ; police school, 672-3 ; population, 672 ; products, 659, 662^, 666-71 ; progress, economic, Japanese re- lations with, 12-13 ; public works, 671-2; railways, 449; rice, 666 ; salt, 663-4 ; steam- ship services, 674, 676-7 ; Sugai : cane, 667-8, cultivation, govern- ment encouragement, 666-8, ex- ports, 668 ; taxation, 675 ; tea, 669 ; tobacco, 664. Formosan Sugar Company, 667. Freer, Charles, Japanese Art col- lection, 487. Fujii, Rear-Admiral T., 207. Fujiwara, The, history, 30-2. Fujiyama mountain, 121, Fukuchi, Mr., dramatic reform, 516,519,543-4. Fukuzawa, Y., 174, 176,498. Fumio Yano, Mr., 499. Furukawa, I., 306. Fusan, Korea, 643-4. Fushun coalmines, 707-8. Gaho, H., 477. Genji Monogatari, 492. Geographical featui-es: area, 119; hot springs, 123-4 ; islands, 118- 9; lakes, 131-2; mountains and volcanoes, 119-23; physical characteristics, 118; rivers, 129- 31 ; seas, 119. Geological formation, 124-5. Giokudo, K., 484. Giso, The (charitable granaries), 588. Go-Daigo, Emperor, 36. Goto, Baron: Manchurian Railway Office organized by, 742-3 ; Rail- ways: development of, 109-10, financial proposal, 447-9, light, scheme for, 454. 6o-Tsuchi, Emi^eror, 37. Government : authority of Em- peror, usurjiation of, by Shogu- nate, 59 ; different epochs, 29 ; early emperors, 660 B.C.— a.d. 670, 30 ; feudal system : aboli- tion of: effects, 398-9, measures for, 77-9 ; effect of, on towns, 382 ; Meiji Era, 85-100 ; military supremacy, 1050-1600, 32-9; Ashikaga Shoguns, 36-7 ; Hojo family, 34-5 ; self-made chief- tains, 37-9 ; Taira and Minamoto families, 33-4 ; modern, authors of, and development, 80-4 ; pre- restoration system : end of, 75, nominal authority of Emperor, 29 ; promulgation of constitu- tion, 1889, 90-3 ; restoration system, internal conditions at institution of, 75-7 ; Tokugawa Shogunate : 39-65 ; class dis- tinctions, 50-1. Great Britain : drama, comparison with Japanese, 533-4 ; interests in Korea, as affected by annexa- tion, 618-20 ; reciprocity treaty with Japan, 371-3 ; tariff rela- tions, 369 ; trade : early relations with Japan, 112-7, Japanese, competition with manufactui-ers, 350, position of, in, 358-9 ; Treaty of Alliance with Japan, 13, 114- 5, 347-8. Haga, Professor, 489. Hakodate : 696 ; removal of British Consulate from, 437. Harbour Investigation Commission, 1900, 469. 782 INDEX Harbours, 469-71. Harris, Townsend, American am- bassador to Japan : first diplo- matic entry into Yedo, 394-5 ; treaty negotiated by, 1857, 395-6. Hasegawa, ' Futabei,' 502. Hawaii, emigration to, 146, 150. Hayasbi, Count, 11. Hayashi, Surgeon, 600. Hearn, Lafcadio, influence on Japanese literature, 506. Heusken, Mr., 69. Hideyoshi, Shogunate founded by, 38-9 ; Korean expedition, 607 ; music, 550 ; Osaka castle built by, 408. Higuchi, ' Icliiyo,' 503. Hiraoka, Mr., 681. Hii'oshima, 437. Hirotsu, ' Ryuro,' 504. History, 17-117: Anglo-Japanese Alliance, 1902, 114-5, 116; Boxer rising, part played in, 102-4 ; early, 17-40: fall of Shogunate, 71 ; imperial responsibilities, 108-9 ; relations with Russia. 101-8; restoration, 1868, 73; Russian - Japanese War, 1904, 104-8 ; Satsuma Rebellion, 1877, 216 ; traditional, 23. Hogai, 477. Hokkaido, 689-98 ; administration, 690-1 ; area and population, 691-2 ; communications, 695 ; fisheries, 693 ; harbour develop- ment, 695-6; history, 689-90; industrial enterprises, 694-5 ; minerals, 693-4; products. 693-4. Hokkaido Colonial Bank, 249. Home Affairs, Deiiartment for, scope, 466-7. Horaei, Mr., 511-2. Honshiu, 118, 119, 132. Horse Administration Bureau, Japan, 271. Hosokawa, S., 588. Hospitals, leper, 591 ; Mitsui, 591- 3 ; Tokyo Hospital for Poor, 589. -Hotels, 771-8. Hull, England, soya bean import trade, 749-50. Hypothec Bank of Japan, 247. Ignatieff. Count, 102. Ikebe, K., .521. Immigration, 152. Imperial Oath, 1868, emphasis on education in, 154. Industrial Bank of Japan, 248. Industrial development, 307-10 ; aim to achieve supremacy in, 347-8 ; commercial morality, 323-4 ; dependence on supply of raw materials from foreign coun- tries, 318-9 ; factories, remedial legislation, 334-6 ; lack of specialization a serious disad- vantage, 317-8 ; manufactures, conditions of labour, 320-2 ; recent progress, 330-42 ; scope, 343-5 ; shop and factory indus- tries, statistics, 311-2; situa- tion of principal industries, 345- 7 ; state encouragement, 317 ; women workers, value of, 312^3. Ingles, Rear -Admiral John, 95, 198-9. Inouye, 83. Inouye, J.. 399, 404. Ishiguro, Baron, 599. Ishii, J.. 590-1. Ishii, Mr., 395, 520. Ishikawa, K., 520. Itagaki, 83. Ito, K., 520. Ito, Prince : annexation of Korea, share in, 615-6 ; tribute to, 83. Iwakura, 83. , i Jingo, Empress, traditional invasion of Korea, 607. Jingoru, H., 440. Journalism : 515-26 ; censorship, 516-7; editors, 523-4; English papers in Japan, 521 ; interview- ing, 522-3 ; newspaper plants, 525-6 ; newspapers and periodi- cals, 518-22; Press Law, 1909, 517-8; press: official sanction necessary for publication, 516, political, 519, state control, 517. Ju-jitsu, 559-61. Kagoshima : bombardment, 70 ; rebellion, Red Cross work dur- ing, 601. Kamada, E,, 176. Kamakura, Shogunate established at, 1186, 381. ' y : Kamakura period, literature djai^ ing, 492 3. ...:.;,-: Kanazawa, 440. Kaneko, Viscount, 14. Kano School, The, 477. INDEX 788 Karatuto. see Saghalien. Kato, K., 521. Kato, T.,521. Katsura, Marquis, 16, 147, 597, 651. Kawakami, O., 540, 54'2 3. Kawashima & Company, Messrs., textile fabrics. 424, 426. Keiogijuku University, Tokyo: 173- 6 ; degrees, 176 ; electorate, 176 : Shokogakko, 175 ; statistics, 176. Keilungkiang, 702. Kenshin, U., 585. Kido, 83. Kikuchi, Baron D., on rescript on education, 156-7 : on school in- spection, 167. Kiosai, 477. Kirihara, 520. Kirin, 702. Kisiki, of Kyoto, 496-7. Kiushiu : area, 119; hot springs, 123; mountains, 121-2; navy yard, 210. ' Kiyomitsu ', 388. Kobe: communications, 433-4; foreign trade, 412 3, 434-5 ; hotels, 775 ; Kanegafuchi sj^in- ning works, 435 ; manufactures, 435 ; necessary improvements, 470-1 ; trade, 433. Koda, ' Roban,' 501. Kodamo, Count, 665. Kokkwan, 0.,484. Komura, Marcjuis, 16, 145 ; state- ment re new tariff, 368-9. Kondo, Rear-Admiral, 208, Kondo, R., 361. Korea (Chosen) : 605-53; adminis- tration, 109, 616-7 ; administra- tive reforms : abuses of power, 623-4 ; cabinet system, 629 ; emi- gration to, 149; imperial progress, eftectof,624-5; officials, reduction of, and substitution of Japanese for Korean, 626-9; afforestation, 639-40 ; agriculture, 645-7 : an- nexation : 605, 615, effect of, on British interests, 618-20 ; anti-foreign policy, events lead- ing to, and results, 608-10; brigandage, 634; Commercial Treaty with Japan, 1876, 608; cotton, 647 ; education, 642 ; Emperor's rescript, 616-8; finan- cial reforms, 634-5 ; foreign in- terference, 612-3 ; foreign trade, 647-50; future outlook, 651; ginseng, government monopoly, 646 : Imperial family-, 625-6 ; independence recognized, 612 ; industries, 641, 651-2; Japanese policy, 650-1 ; Japanese relations with, 607-8; Japanese Treaties, 614-5 ; judicial reform : 630-3, Law Courts, established, and codes revised, 631 ; police, 632- 3 ; prisons, 631-2 ; local ad- ministration : reforms, 629-30, transference of power to Central Government, 630 ; marine pro- ducts, 652-3 ; military condition, 633-4; mineral resources, 652; model farms, 640 ; progress, economic, Japan's effect on, 12- 13; railways, 449-50, 636-8; reform, attitude towards, 644-5 ; relation to Japan, 95-100 ; Resi- dency-General, establishment of, in Seoul, 622-3 ; resources and future, 639-53 ; rice, 646 ; roads and bridges, 635-6 ; sericulture, 640-1 ; traditional invasion by Empress Jingo, 607. Korean question, The, 95-100. Kublai Khan, invasion and defeat of, and subsequent taxation. 584-5. Kunikida, ' Doppo,' 505. Kure Navy Yard, 210. Kuroiwa, S.,521. Kuroki, General, 106. Kwangtung Peninsula : 734-44 ; administrative office, 737 ; agri- culture, 739-40 ; area and popu- lation, 737-8; fisheries, 741; industries, 740-1 ; mining, 741. Kwanzan, S., 484. Kyong-li-won. abolition of, 626. Kyoto, 418-21 ; Chamber of Com- merce, 423-4 : communication, 423 ; Emperor of, 70-1 ; history, 421-3 ; hotels, 774 ; manufac- tures, 424, 426-7 ; municipal offices, 379 ; commercial museum, 425 ; transference of capital from Nara to, 381 ; university, 169. Labour and wages, 326-42 ; cheap labour, dangers and defects of, 332-3 ; child labour, 333-4 ; fac- tory legislation, necessity for, 328-30 ; government work, con- ditions, 339 ; trade unions non- existent, 326-7 ; wages : increase in, statistics, 337-8, influence of fluctuation in currency on. 336-7. 784 INDEX Law, 567 - 73 ; civil procedure, 568-9 ; commercial code, 569- 70 ; early codes, 567-8 ; Judicial system, 570-1 ; perpetual leases, 572 ; patents, 572-3. Laxmann, Lieutenant, 62, lOL Leyland, J., 206-7. Liang, Hsi, His Excellency, 702-3. Liao, river, 700. Liao Yang, battle, 1904, 106. Li-Hung-Chang : on Formosa, 654 ; peace terms, 1895, 98. Li-Kamom-no-Kami, 69. Literature, 489-514 ; aesthetic realism, 500-1 ; Chinese lan- guage in, 489 ; classical fiction, 492-3; effect of war on, 503; European and American in- fluence, 498-500 ; European literary ideals, introduction of, 499-500 ; fiction : modern, authors, 501-3, as a social force, 507-8 ; individual teachers, 498- 9 ; monkish chronicles, four- teenth centuiy, 494 ; Naturalist school, 504-6 ; Nietzschian in- fluence, 504-7 ; the No texts, 494-5 ; post-restoration fiction, 497-507 ; realism, 507 ; research, impediments to, 489-90 ; re- storation, influence upon, 497- 500 ; romance. 502 ; Russian in- fluence, 505 ; thirteenth century anthologjs 492-3 ; under Toku- gawa Shogunate, 495-7 ; trans- lators, 490-2; women writers, 503 ; Yogu-Na school, 506. Local administration. 374-80 ; civil divisions, 377-8 ; foreign influence, 378 ; freedom from graft, 379-80 ; local loans : issued abroad, 387-8 ; regula- tions for, 386 ; local i-evenues, division of, 390 ; mayors, elec- tion of, 378-9 ; Restoration period, changes, 377 ; system, 388-9. Maida, Ringwan, 512-3. Maidzuru Navy Yard, 210. Makarof, Admiral, 106. Makimura, Baron, 427. Malays, in Japan, 22. Manchuria : agricultural develop- ment, 700-2 ; Chinese attitude, 702-5 ; coal, 707-8 ; economic conditions, 705-6 ; emigration to, 151 ; geographical features. 699-700 ; Japanese influence, beneficial, 756-7 ; Japanese policy in, 735-7, 743 ; Japanese routes, 719-23 ; population, 702 ; ports, 713 ; railways, 706-7, 713, 715 ; Russian influence, 103-4 ; soya bean trade, 745-57, com- petition, 714-5 ; ideal situation, 7.52 ; trade, 715-6. Manchurian Railway Company, 725 737. Mandchuria, 762, 769. Manufactures : competition with Great Britain, 350 ; cotton spin- ning, 312-3 ; minor products, 314-5 ; silk, women's work in, 312-3 ; woollen, 313-4. Marine Biological Station, Sagani, 288. Marine products : 287 ; salt-refin- ing industry, 293-4 ; seaweeds, 292. Marriage and divorce, statistics, 137-9. Matsudaira, 102. Matsudaira, Sadanobu, 588. Matsukata, 83, 228, 229. Matsunioto, Surgeon-General, 600. Matsushita. G., 521, Mauka, 686-7. Meiji Era, The : 85-100 ; charity during, 588-9 ; constitution pro- mulgated, 1889,90-3; education under, 154; feudal system, aboli- tion of, during, and effects, 398- 9 ; history, constitutional re- forms, and difliculties attaching, 87-90 ; reforms, 85. Mejirodai, Tokyo, Women's Uni- versity, 193. Mexico, emigration to, 150. Mikimoto, Mr., oyster-beds, mono- poly of pearl-oyster hatching, 291. Mineral resources : 294-306 ; coal, 296-7, 315 ; copper, 297, 315 ; gold, 298; iron, 299-300, 315; minor products, 298, 300-2. Mining Act, 1905, 305, 327. Mining industry : inspection, 304 ; labour, and remuneration, 302-3 ; legislation, 304-5 ; miners' asso- ciations, 303-4; opening of mines, 295-6 ; owners' responsi- bilities, 303 ; transport facilities, lack of, a hindrance, 302. Minor towns, 440-1. Minoura, K., 520. INDEX 785 Mitsui, Baron, 593. Mitsui Company, 750. Mitsui Hospital, Tokyo, 591-3. Mitsukuni of Mito, 59. Miura-Baien, pauperism, 587. Moji, 435-6. Mollison, James Pender, on social life in Yokohama, 428-9. Mongols, in Japan, 21-2. Mori, Dr., 502, 601. Moi'rison, Arthur, Japanese Art, 481, 488. Motono, M., 521. Mukden: 708-12; battle, 1905, 107 ; Chungchen Palace, 709-10; industrial activity, 710-1 ; population, 712 ; trade, 711-2. Municipal progress, 374-93. Murakami, T., 520. Murayama, R., 519-21. Museums and exhibitions, effective organization of, 292-3. Music, 548-57 ; artists, 555-6 ; bureau established, 551 ; com- parison betvreen Eastern and Western, 549, 553; in educational curriculum, 552-3 ; facilities for introduction of Western music, 556-7 ; foreign music for military, 551-2 ; instruction, 553 ; instru- mental, foreign instruments, 554-6 ; religious influence on, 548-9; state patronage, 550; strictui'es upon, 553 ; varieties of composition, 550-1. Mutsuhito, Emperor, 73. Nagasaki : 436 ; naval training school, 197-8. Nagoya : 437-9 ; dancing, 438 ; ex- hibition, 1910, 438-9; hotels, 773 ; industries, 4.38. Nakae, T., 499. Nakamura, K., 498. Nakamura, ' Shun-u ', 504. Nara, 381, 439-40. Naruse, Mr., 190, 193. Natsume, ' Soseki,' 506. Navy: 94-5 ; 195-212 ; battleships, 201 ; British influence, 198-9 ; coast defence ships, 203 ; con- struction, 208-2 ; debt of grati- tude to Europeans, 95 ; depart- ment established, 198; dry docks, 211; early encounters, 197; engineering, 207-8; expenditure, 199, 206-7; first modern squadron, 198 ; gunboats, 203 ; protected cruisers, 202 ; ship- building, mercantile, 212; ship- building yards, 209-2 ; statistics, comparison with Foreign Powers, 204-5 ; torpedo boat destroyers, 204 ; training school, 197. Newchwang : 728-31 ; history, 730- 1 ; soya bean export, 747 ; trade, 716-7, 731. New Imperial Theatre, Tokyo, 540. New Imperial Theatre Company, Limited, Tokyo, 545-6. New Tariff, 1911 : 16-17, 366, 367- 73 ; articles enumerated in, 367; effect on foreign trade, 367-9 ; government's attitude towards, 368-9 ; increase in duty rates, and probable result on revenue, 367-8 ; relations with Great Britain under, 369. Niajima, J., 176. Niishima, Dr., influence on litera- ture, 498. Nikko, 440. Ninomiya, S., 588. Nippon Bijitsu-in school of art, 479. Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line, 365. Niu-chang, battle, 98. Nobunaga : rule of, 37-9 ; sup- port of Christians, 43-4. Nogi, General, 106-7. Noritsugu, Viscount, 601. Nozaki, H , 520. Odake Kokkwan, 484. Oikemono, 537-8. Okayama Orphanage, 590. Oku, General, 106. Okubo, 83. Okuma, Count: 47, 89, 102, 110-2, 176, 544. Okuni, 533. Okura, Mr,, of Tokyo museum, 726. Omori, Professor, 127-8. Opium Trade, 474. Opium War, 1840, 61, 62. Oriental Development Company, Korea, 640. Osaka: 405-17; antiquity, 406; clearing house, 414-5 ; descrip- tion. 408-9; fire, 1909, 415; foreign trade, 412-4 ; harbour, 416-7,471 ; hotels, 774; industrial centre, 405-6, 409-10 ; manufac- tures, 412-3; mint, 407-8; mu- nicipal government, 411, 416; municipal offices, 379 ; newspaper plants, 525; population, 407, 411. D 786 INDEX Otani, Professor M., 507, 520. Otaru, 437, 696-7. Overland Commercial Treaty, 1888, 102. Oyama, 83, 600. Ozaki, 'Koyo,' 500-1. Ozaki, Yukio, M.P., Mayor of Tokyo, on municipal progress, 380-1. Palmer, General, 473. Panama Canal, probable eflFect on Japanese trade, 348. Pardon, E. R. S., 521. Parry, C. A., 521. Peking Treaty, 1905, 734. Penlmgton, J. N., 521. People : agricultural class divisions, 257-8 ; character : assimilation in art, religion, and morals, 26, geographical influences, 24-6, reactionary tendencies, 110-2 characteristics of nations form- ing, 24 ; policy of exclusion, 26 ; racial origin, 19-23 ; social classes, 135-6. Perry, Commodore, U.S.A., 16, 60, 64-5. Philanthropy : 582-98 ; charitable institutions, 589-95 ; early chari- ties, 582-5; Giso, charity gra- naries, establishment, 588 ; old age pensions and almshouses, 585-7 ; paujserism, government institutions, 587-8 ; philanthro- pists, 588 ; Poor-Law non-existent, 582 ; priests, benevolence of, 584 ; reform work, 593-6 ; relief regulations and statistics, 595-7 ; Royal Family, benevolence of, 597-8. Philippine Islands, emigration to, 146, 149, 152. Phyongyang, Japanese victory at, 98. Piggott, Sir F., 548-9. Poetry: metres, 513; native, new school, 509-10; 'prose-poetry,' 512-3 ; the Tanka, universality of 509 ; Western influence, 508. Polo, Marco, 19, 21. Population : 133-5 ; agricultural, 139-40; density, 134-5; home industries, 143-5 ; increase of, in cities, statistics, 383; industrial, 141, 314 ; rate of increase, 134 ; recent movement, 134 ; urban, growth of, 136-7. Port Arthur : 727-8 ; surrender, 1905, 98, 107. Ports, 428-37 ; relative importance, 469. Portsmouth, Treaty of, 1905, 108, 679. Prefectural expenditure and taxa- tion, 389-91. Prisons, 574-81 : education of prisoners, 578-9 ; ex-convicts, protection of, 581 ; governor's powers, 578 ; health statistics, 580 ; industrial pursuits, 579 ; modern, 580 ; moral instruction, 579-80 ; officials, 576-7 ; prison bureau, 580-1 ; reform, 574-81 ; rewards and punishments, 577 ; statistics, 575, Public Health administration, 472-3. Public works : burial grounds, 473 drainage and sewerage, 473 harbour improvements, 470-1 postal service : 459-65 ; cable service, 461 ; money oi-ders, 464- 5 ; revenues, 462-3 ; savings banks, 463 ; telegraphic com- munication, 460-1 ; telegraphy, wireless, 462 ; telephones, 461 -2 ; Pre-restoration, daimyos' policy, 458 ; tramways, electric, 471-2 ; water supply, 473. Purvis, Professor E. P., on condi- tions of labour in Japan, 321-2. Railways, 442-58 ; early history, 444 ; economics, 454-5 ; exj^endi- ture proposed, 455- 6 ; finance, 456-8 ; light, scheme for, 454 ; mileage, 443, 449, 450-1; nar- row gauge, proposal for standard and estimates, 444-9 ; new loans, 458; profits, 443-4 ; recent legis- lation, 453-4 ; state financial pro- posal, 447-9 ; state programme, 452-3 ; state purchase, 442-3 ; Tokyo-Shimonoseki, reconstruc- tion proposal, 446-7 ; Yokohama and Tokyo Service, 451-2. Raw Sugar Guild, The, 667. Reciprocity Treaty with Great Britain, provisions, 371-3. Red Cross Convention, 1910, 599. Red Cross Society in Japan : chief movers in, 600 ; history, 602-4 ; hospitals, 603 ; relief corps, 603- 4 ; work, 599-604. Redesdale, Lord, 72, 83. INDEX 787 Religion : Buddhism, 27 ; Chinese influence on, 28-9 ; Franciscan propaganda, 45 ; missionary enterprise, 42-5 ; Shintoism, 23, 27. Research work, state encourage- ment, 316 7. Revenues : growth of, under local administration, 385 ; schemes relating to increase, 370-2. Richardson, Mr., 70. River Control Law, 1896, 468. River works, 467-9. Roads, 467 ; in Korea, 635-6. Routes to Japan : alternative, 760- 1 ; international, 758-70. Rozhestvenski, Admiral, 62, 106. Russia : attacks on Japan, 62-3 ; influence in Manchuria, 103-4; Japanese Fishery Agreement, 1907, 288 ; Japanese Treaty, 1905, terms. 734; Japanese wai", 1904, 104-8, 613, 736-7 ; Korean Treaty, 1888, 102. Sada Yacco, Madame, 540, 542-3. Saghalien : 678-88 ; cession to Japan, 679; civil administration, 681-2; early history, 678-9; education, 687 ; fisheries, 683-4 ; forests, 683 ; governor, 681 ; minerals, 684-5 ; physical fea- tures, 679-80 ; population, 680- 1; postal service, 687 ; products, 682-3 ; raid, 63 ; railways, 449, 687 ; revenue, 682 ; roads, 685- 6 ; Russian occupation, 101-2, 679 ; settlers, 682 ; steamship communication, 687, Saikaku, I., 406. Sale, Charles V., on fluctuation in Japanese currency, 336-8. Samurai, The : 55-6; pastimes, 558- 9 ; i^ension terms, 78-9. Sano, T., 601. Sanjo, 83. Sao Paulo, emigration to, 150. Sapporo, 697. Sasebo Navv Yard, 210. Sato, S., 588. Satow, Sir Ernest, Japanese trans- lations, 490. Satsuma clan : disaffection and results, 68-70; rebellion, 1876, 79, 80-1, 216. Saw-mills. 286. Seki, S., 520. Sekigatara, battle, 39. Seoul : Antung-Mukden railway, 719-20, 731-2 ; Japanese legation at, 608 ; New Wiju railway, 719. Sericulture, 272-6. Seto, potteries, 438. Sewamono (social drama), 537-8. Shaw, N., 746. Shemazaki, ' Toson,' 505-6, 510. Shibusawa, Baron, 193. Shijo School of Kyoto, 477. Shimiyu, Professor S., 377. Shimoda, Madame, 192-3. Shimonoseki : 436 ; hotels, 775 ; treaty, 1895, 98-9, 612, 722. Shintoism : origin, 23 ; revival of, 59-60. Shipping : 361-5 ; passenger ships, foreign service, 363-5 ; tonnage statistics, 361-3. Shogun, hereditary title, 34. Shongchin, 713, 716. Silk industry : 272-6 ; exportation and statistics, 274 ; raw produc- tion, 275 ; sericulture, 272-6 ; women's work in, 313. Social and municipal improve- ments, 384-5. Socialistic tendencies, 340-2. Soil, 125. Sone, Viscount, 616. South Manchurian Railway, 450, 701-2, 712, 742, 744. Soya bean : 745-57 ; British inter- ests, 749-50, 755-6 ; crushing, oil statistics, 747-8; develop- ment, 750-1 ; exports of statistics and chief ports, 747 ; introduction of, into Europe, 746 ; Japanese interests, 755; in Manclauria, 746; purchase of, for speculation, 748- 9; Russian interests,, 752-8; transport of, 752-5 ; uses and value, 751. Soya oil, 747-8, 749. Soyeda, I. H., 251 ; on foreign in- vestments, 253 ; on labour and wages, 329. Soyejima, 83. Sports and amusements : 558-63 ; angling, 561-2 ; ju-jitsu, 559-61; minor pastimes, 563 ; modern, 562. Stakelberg, General, 106. Steamship services, 363-4. Stock- and cattle-breeding, 270-2. Strange, E. F., 535. Sugar Frauds, 380. d2 788 INDEX Sugimiira, Mr., Osaki, 524. Suyematsu, Viscount. 527. Huzuki, S., 588. Tadanori, Baron, see Isbiguro. Taft, President, on relations with Japan, 15. Taiwan, see Formosa. Tajimi, potteries, 438. Ta Kauji, 36. Takagi, Dr. K., 589. Takahaslii, 1., 520. Takamori, S., 79-80, 83. Takayama, Prof. R., 505. Takekoshi, Y., 521. Takenob, Mr. : on industi'ial situa- tion in Japan, 318-23 ; on litera- ture, 490 ; on women's work in Japan, 322. Taki, S., 480. Takihaslia, Baron, 432. Tamari, The, government pauper institutions, 587. Tan, Mr., 703. Tanaka, Mr.. 465. Taniguchi, Dr., 601. Tariff autonomy, formulated, 870. Tariff revisions, 1866. 1906, 366-7. Tekkan, 510. Terano, Dr., 212. Terasaki Kogyo, 484. Terauchi, Viscount, 615. Territory and Population, 5-6. Timber trade, 282-4, 286-7._ Ting, Chinese admiral, suicide. 98. Tobari, Mr., 505. Togo, Admiral, 14-5, 27, Tohoku University, 169. Tokimune, beneficence of, 584-5. Tokugawa Shogunate : 39-65 ; artis- tic development, 54 ; contempt of trade, 54-5 ; democratic senti- ments, 53-4 ; education under, 153-4; expulsion of foreigners, 46-7 ; fall of, external influences leading to, 60-4, 71 ; foreign policy, daimyos' attitude, 66-7 ; Government : defects, 56-7 ; feu- dal system, 49-50 ; history, 39- 65 ; internal reaction, to restore authority of Emperor, 68-70 ; literature under, 495-7 ; mission- ary enterprise, Jesuit, 42-5 ; naval policy, 196-7 ; policy, 26, 41, 48; Shogun supremacy over daimyos, 51-3 ; ti'caties, 67-8 ; undermining of power of, 58-60. Tokutomi, I., 520. Tokutomi, ' Rokwa,' 503-4. Tokyo: 394-404; art school, 479 ; asylum for poor, 589 ; drainage system, inadequate, 402 ; edu- cational institutions, 172-4 ; electric light company, 129-30; hospital, 589 ; hotels, 772-3 ; im- perial commercial museum, value of organization of, 392 3 ; labo- ratory for research, 316; local administration and taxation, 401; mayor of, on municijjal progress, 380-1 ; Mercantile Marine Col- lege, impoi'tance of, 365 ; muni- cipal ofiices, 379 ; new govern- ment, evolution and contrasts, 399-401 ; newspaper plants, 525 ; population, industrial returns, 402 ; rail and tramway systems, 402, 404; reformatory, 594: Shimonoseki railway, recon- struction ijroposals, 446 - 7 ; streets, improvements necessary in, 403 ; university, 169; see also Yedo. Tosa School, The, 477. Toyohara, Saghalien, 686. Tracey, the late Admiral Sir Richard, 95, 198. Trade : 341-65 ; competition with Great Britain, 350 ; contempt of, under Tokugawa Shogunate, 54- 5 ; cotton, 359-60 ; distribution, 350 ; Dutch and Portuguese, unrest caused by, 45 ; export : changes, 357-8, classification of, according to countries, 353-5, cotton, 350, development, 352 ; foreign : of 1910, 356-7, growth, 351-61, values, 348-9 ; future prospects, 360 ; import : classifi- cation of, according to countries, 353-5, development, 353; mer- chants, activity of, 360 ; necessity for extending, 348 ; returns, 355-6 ; wool, 359-60. Tramways, electric, 449. Trans-Siberian Railway, 759-60, 761-70. Treaties, American-Japanese, 65, 68; Anglo-Japanese, 13, 114-5, 347-8; Chino-Japanese, 610-1; commercial, 15, 16-17; Korean, 613-5 ; various, 67. Tsubouchi, Professor, 498, 499, 544. Tsuchii, B., 510-1. 52S. Tsunanori, M., 586. Tsurubara, S., 520. INDEX 789 Tsuruga: 437,471. 'J'suruga-Vladivostock route, 721-3. Tsushima : capture by Kublai Khan, 35 : Russian seizure of. 102. Typhoons, 126-7. Uchida, Baron, on relations with Ameiica, 15-16. Uematsu, Mr. K., statistics of government Uxbour supplied bv, 339-40. Umayado, Prince, 582. Viiheaten Tracls in Japan, 20-1. United States of America : emigra- tion to, 150 ; Japanese trade, 355: treaties, 65, 68. Uyesugi Harunori, 588. Vladivostock, 717. Waseda Daigaku, The, 176. Wei-hai-wei, 98. Welcome Society of Japan, The, 777-8. Xavier, Fi-ancis, missionary work in Japan, 42. Yalu Forestry Station, Korea, 650. Yalu river, 700 ; bridge over, 636, 719; Japanese victory at, 98. Yamada, Bimyosai, 501. Yamagata, Field-Marshal Prince Aritomo, 83, 213, 216. Yano, Fumio, 499. Yasukawa, Mr., endowment of technological college, 184. Yedo : abolition of feudal system, etfect of, in, 398-9 ; first diplo matic entry into, 394-5 ; history, and association with Shogunate, 397; Treaty, 1858, 113; .sw ol-^\A\'iyeavM0 70ri \ />.»,.. ..'l.,_- f{,^My t Cotton spinning jJ* /'MofiripprpductA lfl(/\^ Cotton spinning <^]^ Weaving\ Iii5 Bricks ic Tiles 170 Leather Ciiemicais Oils&OilCake Soap Paper Suaar refining Matches Glass 23S Brushes 263 Buttons 198 Cotton spinning "'eaving 1580 132 370 186 165 620 3Sy\Knitted goods 260 I Earthenware Sc Porcelain 525 Ylour milling 102 p, , \Cotton spinning \Weaving 2350 Fans 'R-V.^^OLnjUs^wve, Ox-|Tn-a.^ iqil I lllilii illii nil mil nil' inn iiiii inn inn inii iiiii n AA 001 022 454 1 Map to accompany "the FULL RECOGNITION OF JAPAN" by Robert P.Porter. Sketch Map of JAPAN /Administrative Divisions & Chief Railways J Paper I5^\ /{ Earthenware Weai/ing y . ^ 2Z S^ii'^ng I93^'^isi//f spinning KjWeamg /^''^ 'P7c7L7'o7r--^i^eavmg I ''yfCotton\\llT"^'e'0/%Zag) 3/0 ^^-^^ I^P'^ningSFIour-^ ( Weavmo L ^spinnwp _ ^i — ^1. ^r^'f'i \rprrii,:, ^spinning Waving ' Marineprodl "225. Vertilizer Silk spinning IVeaifing 95 Silkgoods 2^1 Togs 5 \Cotton spinning I Marine proi^cfs 106 ■ ■^ ~^eaving 46 ^Bamboo manuf)~8^ \-Marin£prpmcts 156" Marine products Earthenware Soaps Paper Flour milling Sugar refining 120 135 116 261 638 300 Leather Glass Cement Cotton spinning HVeai/ing Togs 191 109 136 997 233