236
46
China, and the Dutch East Indies. It is of interest to note that the value of Japan's export of glass is now more than half that of similar British exports.
Porcelain and glassware are industries which appear to be par- ticularly suited to Japanese skill, and there is every reason to believe that Japan can and will substantially increase production and export in both these industries.
KNITTED GOODS (UNDERWEAR AND HOSIERY).
75. This item is mentioned here for two reasons. It is an item in Japan's export trade of almost equal importance to porcelain. In 1929 the exports from Japan under this heading were valued at £3.6 million, a sum many times greater than ex- ports of similar goods from Great Britain. In the second place. two British countries-India and Great Britain are the principal markets for this item of Japanese export. Exports of Japanese knitted cotton goods to India in 1929 were valued at £1 million, and to Great Britain £700,000. Great Britain's imports from Japan of cotton hosiery rose from 28,000 dozen pairs in 1924 to 843.000 dozen pairs in 1928, declining to 739,000 dozen pairs in 1929. Our imports of cotton underwear from Japan rose from 350,000 dozen pairs in 1924 to 1,000,000 dozens in 1928, declining to 875,000 dozens in 1929. Coincident with the increase of Great Britain's imports of these goods from Japan and other sources, our own exports of similar goods both by quantity and value, to all destinations, had declined.
CEMENT.
76. Of late years, production of high class cement has shown a large increase, and Japan now exports annually cement of a value of approximately £1 million, which compares with British exports of £2 million. Principal overseas markets for Japanese cement are the Dutch East Indies, China, the Phillippines, and the Malay States.
PAPER.
77. Japan is sixth in order of pulp producing countries, and apart from a few thousand tons of pulp imported for special pur- poses, she entirely supplies her own needs. So successful has Japan been in her paper industry that she now enjoys an export of £2.6 million per annum, most of which is shipped to China.
HATS AND CAPS OF CLOTH, FELT AND STRAW. 78. There is a large Japanese industry engaged in the manu- facture of these articles, and Japan enjoys a successful trade. Her exports, in 1929, amounted to £1.8 million, the principal destina- tions being the United States, Great Britain and China.
T
47
79. The foregoing items have been presented because Japan not ouly supplies almost the whole of her own domestic requirements of the articles discussed, but also competes with us and other industrial countries in their sale in the important markets of the world. Her imports of these articles are negligible. A number of factories producing these articles were visited by us, and in many it was found that no more labour was being employed than for similar operations in Great Britain. It should be noted that Japanese factories of the industries under review are already equipped-in many cases well equipped-to produce a quantity greater by 30 per cent. than the domestic and export markets together now take, so that without any further expenditure on plant or equipment, Japan could quickly enter any market in which a demand arose.
CHAPTER IV.
REASONS FOR THE DECLINE OF BRITISH TRADE WITH JAPAN.
JAPANESE INDUSTRIAL POLICY.
30. Japan has developed from an importer, through an inter- mediate and comparatively brief stage of production for her own needs, into an exporter. The late development of Japanese indus- try has been of advantage to Japan, in that it has enabled her to install and use the latest industrial devices and equipment per- fected by the experience of her competitors. The outstanding example of this fact is the cotton industry, but the woollen, elec- trical, and other industries in Japan bid fair to furnish equally striking examples. Most of these industries were not natural to Japan prior to her industrialisation, which began some fifty years ago.
In the sections of this Report which are devoted to the study of certain principal industries, we have described the competition of Japanese with British goods. We have also pointed out in the para- graphs dealing with miscellaneous industries, that in many other lines Japan has become a serious competitor with Great Britain.
81. The Japanese tariff is sufficiently high to restrict materially the import of just those goods in which Great Britain and other highly industrialised countries excel, and careful and effective use has been made of tariff protection with frequent adjustments to meet changing conditions. Japanese machinery, for example, may not equal in excellence that of Great Britain, yet Japan, partly by means of tariff protection, has been enabled to manufacture machinery and equipment which for all practical purposes is as efficient and productive as the imported article. Encouragement is officially given to the purchaser of home products, and there is
237