14
JAPAN
6 first-class cruisers of 9,200 tons each, 3 second-class cruisers of 4,850 tons each, 2 third-calss cruisers of 3,200 tons each, 3 torpedo-gunboats of 1,200 tons each, 1 torpedo depôt-ship, 11 torpedo-boat destroyers, 89 torpedo-boats. It was calculated that with these additions the total force in 1906 would be 6 first-class battle-ships from 12,510 to 15,240 tons, 1 second-class battle-ship of 7,335 tons, 6 first-class armoured cruisers of over 9,200 tons each, 7 second-class cruisers of over 4,000 tons each, 6 third class cruisers of over 3,000 tons each, 12 fourth-class cruisers of over 1,500 tons each, 3 torpedo gun- boats of 1,200 tons each, 1 torpedo depôt-ship of 6,750 tons, 11 torpedo-boat destroyers 115 torpedo-boats, 25 gunboats, sloops, &c. The war had not affected this calculation to any great extent down to the time of issuing this volume.
POPULATION, Trade, and Industry
The total area of Japan, exclusive of Formosa, is estimated at 163,042 square miles, and the population, according to census returns taken in December, 1901, was 45,426,651, but at the end of 1903 it was estimated to have increased to 46,304,999. There are, exclusive of Chinese, about 5,000 foreigners residing in Japan, more than one-third that number being British subjects. The empire is geographically divided into the four islands: Honshiu, the central and most important territory; Kiushiu, "nine pro- vinces," the south-western island; Shikoku, "the four provinces," the southern island and Yezo, the most northerly and least developed. The former three islands are sub-divided into eight large roads, containing sixty-six provinces, and the latter (Yezo or Hokkaido) is divided into eleven provinces.
The total value of the foreign trade for the last six years was:-
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
;
Exports, Yen 165,753,753 214,929,894 204,429,994 252,349,543 258,303,065 289,502,442 Imports,,,
277,502,156 220,401,926 287,261,845 255,816,645 271,731,258 317,135,518
Total
17
443,255,909 435,331,820 491,691,839 508,166,188 508,166,188 606,637,960 The largest item in the Export returns of the country is Raw Silk which (not including waste) represented in 1903 a value of 74,428,907 yen though the quantity exported (7,315,531 catties) was considerably below the quantities in 1901 and 190Z. These were-1901, 8,697,706 catties value 74,667,331 yen; 1902, 8,078,166 catties, value 76,859,478 yen. Next in importance is the export of Cotton Yarns. In 1890 this export represented a value of only 2,364, yen; in 1903 yarn was exported to the value of 31,418,614 yen. Cotton tissues also (with the exception of whites, which showed a remarkable decline in 190%) substantially exceeded the figures of previous years notably in grey shirtings. The Tea export has never been so high as it was in 1903 when Green Tea represented a value of over yen 13,000,000. Black Tea was exported to the value of 290,381 yen; this, though showing a large increase on the return for 1902, is less than half the amount in the returns for 1900 and 1901. Copper has exhibited a steady increase and reached a value in 1903 of 14,906,034 yen. Coal, too, which in 1901 and 1902 was exported to the value of 17,000,000 yen, increased to 19,260,000 yen in 1903. export of matches also maintains a steady increase, the value of 28,628,869 gross in 1903 being 8,473,072 yen.
The
The leading article in the Import list is Raw Cotton. In the last ten years this import has more than quadrupled in value, which is eloquently indicative of the rapid progress the country has been making in her endeavour not only to supply her own needs but to share in the market for manufactured goods on the continent of Asia. In 1903 she imported ginned cotton to the value of 68,206,725 yen, which, however, was less by more than ten millions the value of her import in 1902, which was her record year in that respect, 1903 coming next. But while Japan has become a competitor of importance in the Asiatic markets for cotton goods her own import of cotton piece goods has not suffered to the extent expected. In 1902 her import of these goods represented a value of 15,416,942 yen, but in 1903 it fell to 11,086,834 yen which is approximately the average value of the yearly im- port in the last five years. Woollen Goods were imported to the value of yen 7,982,882 in 1894, yen 12,780,326 in 1895, and yen 18,268,460 in 1896, but 1897 showed a marked reverse, the value in that year being yen 12,009,902, while 1898 showed only a slight improvement, namely, to yen 13,069,870, and in 1899 to 13,990,186 yen.
In 1900 the import took a leap to 23,474,048 yen, but it was not maintained in 1901 and 1902, the returns showing a value of 11,837,534 yen for 1901 and 14,304,534 yen for 1902. The import for 1903 showed a slight improvement, the total value being yen 16,316,074. Metals have shewn a steady increase from yen 6,792,024 in 1893
Original from
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN