JAPAN
477
The total Shipping, including junks, from and to Foreign countries for the year
1904 was-
Steamers
Entered 5,993
Tonnage Cleared
11,376,982
Sailing Vessels
1,435
121,822
5,894 1,781
Tonnage 11,159,352
Total Tonnage. 11,897
130,054
3,216
22,536,334 251,876
7,429
11,498,804 7,675 11,289,406 15,103 22,788,210 The merchant vessels entere.l from Foreign countries in 1904 were divided among the different nationalities as under :—
Strs.
Tonnage
Sailing Tonnage Total Tonnage
Japanese
1,539
1,173,448 1,385
51,919
2,924
1,225,367
British
2,281
5,980,226
8
13,617
2,289
5,993,843
German
667
1,567,292
9
17,340
676
1,581,632
Russian
20
20,253
20
20,253
United States of America
289
1,172,847
19
17,430
308
1,190,277
Norwegian
748
728,657
748
728,657
French.
98
217,917
10
16,889
108
234,806
Austrian
53
161,966
53
164,966
Other Countries
298
351,376
4,627
302 355,003
5,993 11,376,982 1,435
121,822 7,428 11,498,804
The total Customs Revenue for the same year consisted of-Export Duties, nil; Import Duties, yen 20,519,938; Miscellaneous, yen 710,304; Total, yen 21,230,242. The revenue shows an increase of yen 4,182,352 compared with that of 1904.
Extension of the Japanese railway system goes on uninterruptedly. The most recent returns give the length of the railway lines as 5,581 miles, 1,739 miles of Govern- ment and 3,842 miles of private railway, on March 31, 1904. The total cost of these lines was 338,943,792 yen. There were also 1,389 miles under constructon at the date men- tioned, their estimated cost in the aggregate being 19,748,156 yen. The principal private lines are the Nippon Railway, mileage 857 miles; Kiushiu Railway, mileage 416 miles; Sanyo Railway, mileage 334 miles; Hok-kaido Tanko Railway, mileage 207 miles. A Private Railway Law and Railway Business Law were promulgated on March 15, 1900, for the better exercise of control over the construction of railways and matters connected with railway work in general, which came into force on October 1, 1900. Sleeping-cars were brought into use on the Tokaido line from the same date.
By treaties made with a number of foreign Governments the Japanese ports of Kanagawa (Yokohama), Nagasaki, Kobe, Hakodate, Niigata, and the cities of Tokyo (formerly called Yedo) and Osaka were thrown open to foreign commerce. In 1894 a new treaty was signed with Great Britain by which extraterritoriality was abolished and the whole country opened to foreign trade and residence, the treaty to come into force in July, 1899, provided similar treaties were effected with the other Powers. This was done and extraterritoriality ceased to exist on August 4th, 1899.
CURRENCY
From October 1897, Japan placed her currency on a gold basis. The unit of value is a gold dollar weighing 8333 grammes and containing .75 grammes of fine gold. The conversion from silver to gold was effected at the ratio of 1 to 32.348. A scarcity of money available for mercantile purposes with a high rate of interest was much felt during 1900 and again in 1905.
EDUCATION
Education is national and very general in Japan, and is making great progress. There are numerous Higher Schools, Middle Schools, Normal Schools, and Colleges for special studies, such as Law, Science, Medicine, Mining, Agriculture, and Foreign Languages, and several Female High Schools have been established, and are carefully fostered by the Government. In order to facilitate the prosecution of foreign studies the Government employs many European professors, and also sends, at the public expense, a large number of students every year to America and Europe.
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