578
KOBE-HYOGO
large lawn for all kinds of sports. The Union Protestant Church and a French Roman Catholic Church are in what was formerly known as the Concession. An English Episcopal Church, All Saints, was opened in 1898 on the Hill behind, and there are several native Protestant churches in Kobe town. There are three foreign hotels in the town-the Oriental, the Tor, and the Grand, while the Mikado (near Kobe railway station), is in foreign style but under Japanese management. Two foreign daily papers, the Japan Chronicle and the Kobe Herald, and one weekly, the Japan Weekly Chronicle, are published in Kobe. There are also two native papers. The population of the city of Kobe exceeds 300,000. There are about 3,000 foreigners residing in Kobe, but of this number nearly two-thirds are Chinese. When a census was taken in 1901, the British numbered 602, Germans 188, Americans 179, French 67, and the Portuguese 70.
The Temple of Nofukuji, which possesses a large bronze Buddha, and which is situated in the old town of Hyogo, is worth a visit; and there is a monument to the Japanese hero Kiyomori, erected in 1286, in a grove of trees in the vicinity of the tem- ple, which claims some attention from its historic associations. On the Kobe side of the old river known as the Minato-gawa also stands a temple dedicated to Kusunoki Masashige, so famous in Japanese history for loyalty and valour, who died on the spot in 1336, during the unsuccessful wars for the restoration of the Mikado's power. The Kawasaki Shipbuilding Yard situated at Hyogo is one of the largest in Japan. The new graving Dock will accommodate vessels of some 5,000 tons. The Government in 1906 sanctioned a scheme for the improvement of the harbour involving an expenditure of 32,000,000 yen. Large reclamations are being undertaken at Onohama, and com- modious wharves and other facilities for the working of cargo are to be provided. The work is to be completed in about ten years.
Kobe's excellent railway communications, both north and south, have naturally tended to centralise trade at this port.
In 1907 the values of the different classes of Imports of foreign produce and manufactures were :-
***
Beverages and Comestibles...Yen 4,895,979 Cotton, Raw and Ginned... 82,690,293 Cotton Yarn and Piece Goods... 11,359,257 Drugs, Medicines &c....
11,283,072 Grains and Seeds...
7,008,314 Machinery, Watches, Arms, &c. 15,300,797
...
***
Metals, & Manufactures of...Yen 29,442,548 Oil & Wax (mostly Kerosine Oil) 6,857,322 Rice...
9,489,098 Wool and Woollen Manufactures 8,230,048 Sundries...
36,880,838
Total Imports
Yen 223,437,566
The values of the principal articles of Export in the same year were as follows:- Beverages and Comestibles, Yen 6,652,447 Porcelain and Earthenware
Clothing and Accessories
Cotton Yarn & Cotton Goods
Drugs, etc. (mostly Camphor)
Matches
Mats for Floors
...
4,671,568 Rice ...
18,978,234 Straw and Chip Braid...
6,568,979 Tea
7,062,629 Sundries 5,726,882
Total Exports
...
*..
5,839,434 2,902,376 4,403,845 3,404,052
Metals and Metal Manufactures 16,889,836
... 23,567,983
Yen 106,668,265
The quantity of tea exported from Kobe-Hyogo during the year 1906 was 8,397,572 kin, while in 1907 it amounted to 9,396,753 kin." Practically the whole of this went to the United States of America and Canada.
The following table of values in Yen shows the total trade of the port from 1897 to 1907:
Imports
Exports Total
1898
138,133,799
Imports 151,534,013 1899 120,289,524 75,320,884 195,610,408 | 1904 174,855,201 69,706,549 207,190,830 | 1905 228,614,095
Exports
Total
60,119,645 198,253,443
1903
90,518,216 245,052,229
87,976,178 262,831,379
1900 137,494,281
84,458,679 313,072,684 1901 125,979,022 77,206,226 203,185,248 1906 192,190,166 110,605,293 302,795,459 1902 144,516,111 74,748,143 219,264,2541907 223,437,566 106,668,265 330,105,831
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