Directory_and_Chronicle_1908 — Page 574

JAPAN

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war with Russia has augmented Japan's naval strength considerably, she possesses now a fine fleet of 12 battleships and 11 armoured cruisers of over 10,000 tons displacement,. 17 protected cruisers, 4 armoured coast defence ships and 47 torpedo-boat destroyers.

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, 1904, was 47,215,630;. but at the end of 1907 it was estimated to have increase: to 48,864,010. There are, exclusive of Chinese, about 5,000 foreigners residing in Japan, more than one-third that number being British subjects. The empire is geographically divided into the four islands: Honshiu, the central and most important territory, Kiushui,

"nine pro- vinces," 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 areas, containing sixty-six provinces, and the latter (Yezo or Hokkaido) is divided into eleven provinces.

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

""

1901

1902

1903

1904

1905

1906

Exports, Yen 204,429,994 252,349,543 258,303,065 319,260,89; 321,533,610 423,754,892 Imports, 287,261,845 255,816,645 271,731,508 371,360,738 488,538,017 418,784,108.

Total

491,691,839 503,166,188 530,043,578 690,621,631 810,071,627 842,539,000- For ten years the balance of trade had been against Japan, but in 1906 the exports exceeded the imports by yen 4,860,000. Compared with the trade of 1903, the year- before the war, the trade in 1906 showed an increase of 46 per cent. in exports and 32 per cent. in imports. The great increase in the export trade is attributable to improved markets for raw silk, copper and other goods, on account of favourable economic conditions in Europe and America, to the appreciation of silver which made trading with silver-using countries advantageous, to the restoration of order in Russian Asia and Manchuria, and also to the general rise in prices of the principal articles of export.

The largest item in the Export returns of the country is Raw Silk which (not including waste) represented in 1905 a value of 71,843,755 yen and in 1906 yen 110,442,800. Raw silk and silk fabrics together in 1906 represented a total value of yen 158,000,000, or 37 per cent. of the total exports. Next in importance is the export of Cotton Yarns which were exported to the value of 35,303,526 yen in 1906. In 1890 this export represented a value of only 2,364 yen. Cotton tissues also show a remarkable increase. In 1906, the value of this export was yen 15,617,942; two years previously it was not more than half that figure. The Tea export has never been so high as it was in 1903, when it represented a value of over yen 13,900,000. In 1906 the export amounted to 10,767,090 yen. Copper showed a remarkable increase in 1906, the value of the export being yen 23,104,955, as compared with yen 16,048,452 in 1905. Coal, which in 1901 and 1902 was exported to the value of 17,000,000 yen, increased to 19,260,000 yen in 1903, but in 1904 the export decreased to 14,828,092 yen, and in 1905 to 14,267,867 yen; in 1906 it went up to yen 16,280,072. The export of matches also maintains a steady increase, tho value of the export in 1906 being yen 10,915,905, or about a quarter of a million more than in 1905

The leading article in the Import list is Raw Cotton. In the last ten years this im- port has more than quadrupled in value. In 1905 Japan imported ginned and raw cotton to the value of 110,623,183 yen, which constituted a record, being more than thirty-two millions in advance of the previous record, which was reached in 1902. In 1906 the import fell to yen 82,661,859. But while Japan has become a competitor of importance in the Asiatic markets for cotton goods her own import of cotton piece goods has not suffered to the extent expected. The import of cotton manufactures in 1906, amount- ing in value to over yen 24,000,000, was much above the average for the last five years. Woollen manufactures were imported in 1906 to the value of yen 23,896,433, which showed a falling off from the previous year's returns, but was still considerably above the average import. The high returns under this heading during the last two years have been due to large imports of cloth to the value of yen 15,000,000 a year, while in previous years this line has averaged in value less than three million yen. Metals, which in 1905 reached the unprecedented figure of yen 57,970,383, fell to yen 48,202,525 which, however, forms the second highest total on record. The import of Kerosene in 1906 was valued at yen 12,326,893, a little in excess of the return for the previous year, but it was below the average yearly import of the last six years. The import of sugar in 1906 was valued at yen 23,725,174 à figure which had not been reached since 1901

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