Directory_and_Chronicle_1887 — Page 513

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JAPAN.

The two staple articles of import into Japan in the year 1885 were cotton and woollen and mixed woollen fabrics, the former of the value of £1,652,655, and the latter of the value of £596,500. The two staple articles of export in the year 1885 were raw silk, of the value of £2,498,897, and tea, of the value of £1,199,463. The commercial intercourse of Japan is carried on mainly with two countries, namely, Great Britain and the United States of America, the former absorbing more than two-thirds of the whole.

By treaties made with a number of foreign Governments--with the United States in March, 1854; with Great Britain in Öctober, 1854; with Russia and the Netherlands in 1855; with France, in 1858; with Portugal, in 1860; with Prussia and the German Zollverein, in 1861; with Switzerland, in 1864; with Italy and Belgium, in 1866; with Denmark in 1867; with Sweden and Norway and Spain in 1868; with Austria in 1867; and with China in 1871-the Japanese ports of Kanagawa (Yokohama), Nagasaki, Hyogo, Hakodate, Niigata, and the cities of Tokyo (formerly called Yedo) and Osaka were thrown open to foreign commerce. A revision of the treaties is desired by the Japanese Government, and negotiations to that end are proceeding.

Railways in Japan are now being rapidly pushed forward. The first railway constructed was the one connecting Yokohama with Tokyo; it is 18 miles long and was opened for the traffic as a single road on the 12th June, 1872, and was completed as a double line throughout on the 8th May, 1880. The gauge, like that of all other railways in Japan, is 3 ft. 6 in. The Kobe and Osaka section, 22 miles loug, was com- pleted and opened to passenger traffic on the 11th May, 1874; the extension of the same from Osaka to Kyoto, 27 miles in length, was opened to traffic on the 5th Sept., 1876; and the extension from Kyoto to Otsu, 11 miles in le gth, was formally opened by the Mikado on the 14th July, 1880. The Tsuruga and Ogaki Railway, 49 miles in length, connects the northern end of Lake Biwa with the Japan Sea, was com- menced on the 6th April, 1880, and opened for traffic throughout on the 27th May, 1884. The foregoing are Imperial Govern ent Railways. The Japan Railway Company, which has a capital of 20,000,000 yen, has constructed the following lines: The Uyeno (Tokyo), Takasaki, and Mayela hi section was commenced in 1882, and was opened to Takasaki, a length of 68 miles, on the 25th June, 1884; another portion, from Takasaki to Sakamoto, 17 miles in length, was opened to traffic on the 15th October, 1885; and a branch of the same from Omiya to Utsonomiya, 49 miles in length, was opened to traffic on the 16th July, 1885. Utsonomiya is only 22 miles distant from Nikko, which contains the most famous and beautiful temples in Japan, and the district round is equally renowned for the beauty of its scenery. The line will therefore prove a great convenience to tourists. The Shinagawa and Kawaguchi Railway is a connecting link between the Tokyo and Yokohama and Takasaki lines, 13 miles in length, and was opened on the 1st March, 1884. The Temiya, Sapporo, and Poronai Railway, constructed by the Government, is the only railway in the island of Yesso. This line, which starts from the harbour of Temiya to the coal mines at Poronai, is 56 miles in length, and was completed in May, 1883. It is constructed on the lightest and cheapest American system. The total number of miles of railway now open is 330 miles. There are besides about 198 miles of railway in course of construction and 543 miles in contemplation.

The ports of Yokohama, Hyogo, Osaka, Nagasaki, and Hakodate are connected with each other, and with Europe, by lines of telegraph, and the telegraph system has lately been extended to all the important towns of the Empire. Japan has joined the Universal Postal Union, and for the past five years has conducted the interna- tional as well as domestic postal service.