Directory_and_Chronicle_1904 — Page 547

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JAPAN

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 called 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 is now being carried out, vessels being in course of construction in Great Britain, the United States, France, and Germany, as well as in the home yards. The building programme is as follows:- 4 first-class battle-ships of 15,240 tons each, 6 first-class cruisers of 9,200 tons each, 3 second-class cruisers of 4,850 tons each, 2 third-class cruisers of 3,200 tons each, 3 torpedo-gunboats of 1,200 tons each, 1 torpedo depôt-ship, 11 torpedo-boat destroyers, 89 torpedo-boats. If these ships be added to the strength of the Navy at the date of the commencement of the expansion scheme it results that the total force in 1906 will be 6 first-class battle-ships from 12,510 to 15,240 tons, 1 second-class battle-ship of 7,335 tons, 6 first-class armoured cruisers of over 9,200 tons each, 7 second-class cruisers of over 4,000 tons each, 6 third- class cruisers of over 3,000 tons cach, 12 fourth-class cruisers of over 1,500 tons each, 3 torpedo gunboats of 1,200 tons each, 1 torpedo depôt-ship of 6,750 tons, 11 torpedo- boat destroyers, 115 torpedo-boats, 25 gunboats, sloops, &c.

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, 1898, was 44,733,379, an increase of 754,884 compared with the previous year. The latest returns of the foreign residents, exclusive of Chinese, are 4.718, of which 1,763 are British. The empire is geographically divided into the four islands: Honshiu, the central and most important territory; Kiushiu, "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 roads, containing sixty-six provinces, and the latter (Yezo or Hokkaido) is divided into eleven provinces. Administratively, as before mentioned, the Empire is divided into ƒu and ken, each ken containing more than one province.

The total value of the foreign trade for the last six years was:-

23

1897

1898

1899

1900

1901

1902

Exports, Yen 163,135,077 165,753,753 214,929,894 204,429,994 252,349,543 258,303,065 Imports, ,,219,300,772 277,502,156 220,401,926 287,261,845 255,816,645 271,731,258

Total

382,435,849 443,255,909 435,331,820 491,691,839 508,166,188 530,034,323 The export of Raw Silk (not including waste) increased from 2,110,315 catties in 1890 to 6,919,861 in 1897, but fell to 4,837,329 catties in 1898 and rose again to 5,946,911 in 1899. The quantity exported in 1901 was 8,697,706 and 8,078,10 in 1902. The export of Tea has shown a slow but steady decline during late years; it amounted to 33,241,472 catties in 1896, 32,632,683 in 1897, and 30,826,632 in 1898, but rose to 34,731,644 in 1899. In 1900 the export again showed a decline, the quantity being 32,210,147 catties and in 1902 32,759,580 cattics were exported. The export of Coal and Coal Dust in 1902 was 2,938,741 tons against 2,922,215 tons in 1901. The export of Matches was 19,317,994 gross in 1900, 24,990,6-1 in 1901 and 27,290,831 in 1902, the export showing a steady increase.

Of Imports, Raw Cotton increased from 1,765,550 piculs in 1896, to 2,298,643 in 1897, 2,553,586 in 1898, 3,472,296 piculs in 1899, showing the rapid progress the coun- try is making in supplying herself with the manufactured goods she requires. The import for 1900 showed, however, a decline, 2,608,084 piculs, and in 1901 2,579,162 piculs only were imported, while in 1902 the import increased again to 3,486,450 piculs. Of Cotton Yarn 9,050,988 catties were imported in 1900, 5,994,621 in 1901 and 2,697,932 i. 1902, a big decline as compared with the figures for 1900. There was a continuous increase in the importation of Cotton Piece Goods, from a value of yen 4,789,240 in 1892 to yen 11,843,001 in 1896, but a fall to yen 9,920,046 in 1897, and although the imports in 1898 increased to yen 11,332,627, the amount is under that of 1890. an inevitable result of the establishment of so many mills in the country and in its near neighbour China. But the check suffered was not of a permanent rature, for in 1902 the import value of Cotton Piece Goods amounted to yen 15,41,942. 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 im- provement, namely, to yen 13,069,870, and in 1899 to13,990,186 yen, In 1900 the import took a leap to 23,474,048 yen, but it was not maintained in 1901 and 1902