JAPAN
475
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 with Russia has augmented the naval strength considerably, but at the time of issuing this volume the exact value and serviceableness of the refloated vessels is not known.
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 45,426,631, but at the end of 1903 it was estimated to have increased to 16,304,999. 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:—
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
Exports, Yen 165,753,753 214,929,894 201,429,994 252,349,543 258,303,065 319,260,896 Imports, 277,502,156 220,401,926 287,261,815 255,816,645 271,731,508 371,360,738
Total
443,255,909 435,331,820 491,691,839 508,166,188 530,043,578 690,621,634 The largest item in the Export returns of the country is Raw Silk which (not including waste) represented in 1904 a value of 88,740,702 yen and the quantity experted was 9,658,582 catties. Next in importance is the export of Cotton Yarns which were exported to the value of 29,268,455 yen in 1904. 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 1903) 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 290,361 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. In 1904 the export amounted to 12,833,836 yen, mostly Green Tea, the value of which was 12,417,820 yen. Copper has exhibited a steady increase but in 1904, the value of the export was about two million yen less than
less than in 1903, being only 12,907,776 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, but in 1904 the export decreased to 14,828,092 yen.
The export of matches also maintains a steady increase, the value of 33,290,631 gross in 1904 being 9,763,860 yen.
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 68,209,725 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. In 1901 the import value of this article was 71,466,841 yen. 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, and in 1901 to 9,654,907 yen. 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, while in 1904 the import value showed a further increase, the amount being 19,342,942. Metals have shown a steady increase from yen 6,792,024 in 1893 to yen 17,553,543 in 1896, yen 20,306,841 in 1897, and yen 23,646,159 in 1898; fell to 19,698,346 in 1899, but recovered again considerably in 1900, when the value imported was yen 37,766,270. The value of this commodity imported in 1901 was yen 25,406,566, and in 1902 yen 23,836,697. In 1903 it rose to yen 27,741,078 and in