Directory_and_Chronicle_1933 — Page 319

Directories & Chronicles 香港指南 All

JAPAN

263

capital and the chief port were reduced to dust and ashes by the earthquake and the fires which followed. The official returns gave a total of 6,962 factories destroyed, and assessed the damage at yen $380,000,000. Great progress has been made in Tokyo and Yokohama with re-construction work on the most modern lines.

On November 26th, 1930, Japan experienced another serious earthquake, 252 people being killed, 351 injured and over 8,000 buildings were damaged. Though the shock was felt severely in Tokyo the special precautions taken in the rebuilding of the capital fully justified themselves and practically no damage was sustained in the rural districts. The total damage was estimated over twenty million yen.

FOREIGN TRADE SITUATION

The volume of foreign trade in 1931 amounted to Y. 2,382 millions (exports Y. 1,146 millions and imports Y. 1,235 millions) against Y. 3,015 millions of the previous year. In Japan's foreign trade Great Britain, U.S.A., their dependencies and China occupy the foremost position. Japan gets her raw materials such as raw cotton, jute, China grass, and other vegetable fibres, wool, gum, furs and hides, metals and metal ores chiefly from those countries, while the bulk of silk and cotton yarns and piece goods which are the foremost items of her export trade, find their market in U.S.A. and China respectively.

Directory_and_Chronicle_1933 — Page 319

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