546
JAPAN
Loans in circulation in London. The amount of issue was £11,000,000, the rate of interest four per cent., the issue price £95, the loan to remain unredeemed for ten years after which it is to be redeemed within fifty years. As the object of the loan was the redemption of the indorsed loans above referred to, the latter loan bonds were accepted in place of cash when the former loan was subscribed for. For the purpose of adjusting. and redeeming the short-term securities and temporary loans chargeable upon the Imperial Railways account, bonds with a total face-value of 200,000,000 francs were issued in Paris in 1913. Their issue-price was 98 francs per 100 francs; and they are to be redeemed at face-value in May, 1923. The following were the totals of outstanding loans at the end of 1914-Internal Loan, Y. 991,531,578; Foreign Loan, Y. 1,485,550,664.
ARMY AND NAVY
Until the war with China, the Army consisted of six divisions and the Imperial Guards, with a peace footing strength of 70,000 in round numbers, and a war footing of 268,000, exclusive of the Gendarmerie and the Yezo Militia; but on the conclusion of that war a large scheme of expansion was adopted, under which the number of divisions was raised to twelve, exclusive of the Guards. In 1904-5 Japan sent a million men into Manchuria, of whom more than 600,000 were combatants. After the Russo-Japanese War Imperial approval was given to the increase of the Army to 25 divisions. present the Army consists of about 22 divisions. Every male Japanese is compelled to personal service from the age of 17 till the completion of his 40th year.
At
At the conclusion of the war with China, Japan found herself in possession of a fighting fleet of forty-three serviceable vessels-independent of twenty-six torpedo- boats-their aggregate displacement being 78,774 tous. Of these, ten, with an aggregate displacement of 15,055 tons, had been captured from China, namely, an armour-clad turret-ship of 7,335 tons, two steel cruisers, six steel gunboats, and one wooden gunboat. Prior to the capture of the Chen-yuen, now calied the Chin-yen, Japan did not possess a line-of-battle ship. Her fleet consisted entirely of compara- tively small vessels. There were also on the stocks two steel cruisers and a steel despatch vessel. An expansion scheme, extending from 1st April, 1896, to 31st March, 1906, was then adopted and orders were subsequently placed for ships in Great Britain, the United States, France, and Germany, as well as in the home yards. The war with Russia augmented Japan's naval strength considerably, and many nine ships. nave since been built. She possesses now a fine fleet of 12 battlesnips, 8 battle-cruisers, 9 first-class cruisers and 12 second-class cruisers, together with coast-defence ships, destroyers, torpedo-boats and submarines. Three large battleships are now in course of construction in the shipbuilding yards of Japan.
POPULATION, TRADE, AND INDUSTRY
The total area of Japan, exclusive of Formosa and Chosen, is estimated at 163,042 square miles, and the population, according to the returns in December, 1915, was 54,282,898. The most populous prefectures are Tokyo with 3,145,369 inhabitants, Osaka with 2,461,067, and Hyogo with 2,143,791. There are, exclusive of Chinese about 5,000 foreigners residing in Japan, more than one-third of that number being British subjects. Japan is geographically divided into the four islands: Honshiu, the central and most important territory; Kiushui, "nine provinces," 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 areas, con- taining 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:—
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1910
1911
1912
1
1913..
1914
..
1915
Exports, Yen 455,091,860 442,996,848 526,981,842 632,460,213 591,101,461 708,306,997 Imports, 463,482,735 512,942,169 618,160,786 729,431,644 595,735,725 532,449,938 Total Yen 918,574,595 955,939,017 1,145,142,628.1,361,891,857 1,186,837,186 1,240,756,935 The balance of trade for some years past has been against Japan, excepting in the years 1907 and 1909. In 1913 imports exceeded exports to the value of nearly ninety- seven million yen, and in 1914 by over four million yen. Nearly 30 per cent. of Japan's total foreign trade is with Great Britain and its Colonies and Dependencies.
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