CO129-426 - Public Offices - 1915 — Page 476

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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]

JAPAN.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[43913]

24442

469

[April 14.]

REC

SECTION 2.

REG 27 MAY 15

No. I.

Sir C. Greene to Sir Edward Grey. (Received April 14.)

(No. 51.) Šir,

Tokyo, March 3, 1915. I HAVE the honour to transmit to you herewith a copy of a report from His Majesty's vice-consul at Hakodate on the development of the Hokkaido by the Japanese.

I also annex a copy of a memorandum, which Mr. Sansom has sent me privately in connection with this report, dealing with the question of emigration from Japan to the Hokkaido and elsewhere. The conclusions which he draws are of considerable interest, and tend to the inference that the volume of emigration from Japan, even to countries where admission is unrestricted, is so small as to throw grave doubt on the statement so often heard that the population of the country is pressing on the limits of territory or subsistence. In support of this contention Mr. Sarisom points out that the population is increasing at a rate slightly less than that of the United Kingdom, whilst the Hokkaido, with a total area of nearly one-fourth of the entire area of Japan, supports only one-fiftieth of her population. It is true, he says, that the conditions of life in the Hokkaido are not easy for immi- grants, but the climate is not any more severe than that with which the early settlers in New England had to contend, whilst the vital statistics prove that it is healthy.

The crux of the matter seems to stand in the habits and food of the Japanese as a people. As long as rice remains the indispensable staple of existence, it would seem that grave difficulties must stand in the way of emigration on a large scale.

I bare, &c.

CONYNGHAM GREEN E.

Enclosure 1 in No. 1.

(No. 4.) Sir,

Vice-Consul Sansom to Sir C. Greene.

Hakodate, February 20, 1915. I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith an account of the development of the Hokkaido, in which an attempt has been made to arrive at some idea of the measure of success that has attended Japanese efforts to colonise this island.

One hesitates to make sweeping statements, but, summarising its conclusions, it does appear that better results would have been achieved by a white population. It is largely a question of national diet and national wealth, and it need not be inferred that administration has been inefficient, for, though the record of the executive is not quite clean (in particular with regard to land transactions), they have made genuine efforts to advance the prosperity of the Hokkaido. One thing is certain, that the island is capable of supporting two or three times its present population.

I have, &c.

G. B. SANSOM.

Enclosure 2 in No. 1.

Report by Vice-Consul Sansom on the Development of the Hokkaido,

JAPANESE bistorians relate that the first of the Yamato stock to emigrate to the northern island of Yezo were the defeated followers of Fujiwara Yasuhira, in 1189. During the Kamakura era it was used as a place of banishment, and from that period on there were settlements maintained with difficulty against constant attacks of the Ainu aborigines, until finally one, Matsumae Michihiro, was able to subdue them, and to establish a certain degree of security in the present Oshima district, the south- west corner of the island. In 1893 this Matsumae was granted by Hideyoshi, the

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