DEFENCE-PRODUCTION AND INDUSTRY The following are the principal vessels of the Japanese navy. in italics are armoured; those with a prefixed are deck-protected. Those named The sister ships Hashidate, Itsukushima, and Matsushima (the first built at Yokosuka, the others at La Seyne) are of a special class of coast-defence protected cruisers. They displace 4,277 tons, are 295 feet in length, and Each carries one gun of 12 inches, and measure 50 feet 6 inches in beam. The protection consists of a 2-inch has a powerful quick-firing armament. steel deck. The Akitsushima, built in Japan, is a like vessel, but of greater The steel cruiser Yoshino, built at Elswick, is analogous speed (19 knots). in plan to the Argentine 9 de Julio and 25 de Mayo, but is larger and provided with a double bottom. Her length is 350 feet, her beam 46 feet 6 inches, Her armament consists of four and she has a displacement of about 4,000 tons. 6-inch guns (one on the poop and one on the forecastle, each with a firing are of 270°, and the other two sponsoned out on either bow), eight guns of 4.7 inches, twenty-two 3-pounders, all on the quick-firing principle, and five torpedo tubes. The final six hours' natural-draught trial gave a mean speed of 216 knots. Production and Industry. The land is cultivated chiefly by peasant proprietors, tenancy being rare. The land is thus officially divided, in acres :-Public land: Crown land, 8,956,162; used for Government purposes, 194,361; forests, 28,745,354 ; open field, 14,375,745; miscellaneous, 176,400; total, 52,448,022 acres. Private land: under cultivation, 11,508,565; homesteads, 857,573; forests, 15,686,603; open field, 2,552,371; miscellaneous, 53,111; total, 30,658,223 acres. (Private land of Miye, Aichi, and Gifu prefectures not included in the above, owing to the damages of earthquake of the year.) The public lands include only those surveyed, and the private only those taxed. The following are some agricultural statistics for 1888-92 : The number of cattle in 1888 was 1,011,261; in 1889, 1,021,503; in 1890, 1,044,976; in 1891, 1,057,422; and of horses in 1888, 1,529,999; in 1889, 1,541,342; in 1890, 1,546,368; in 1891, 1,547,661. The mineral and metal products in the fiscal year, 1889-90, were as follows: 21 kwan = 8.28 lbs. 1 120 mommé 1 lb. avoirdupois. Silk, cotton, and other textiles were manufactured to the value of 5,987,582 yen in 1884; 17,825,645 yen in 1886; 27,475,408 yen in 1887; 57,654,054 yen in 1888; in 1889, 39,344,840 yen; in 1890, 33,040,151 yen. Cotton yarn was manufactured in 1886 to the extent of 785, 424 kwan, in 1888, 1,593,103 kwan, in 1889, 3,358,042 kwan, in 1890, 5,232,588 kwan, and in 1891, 8,163,093 kwan. In 1887 there were 277,698 fishing-boats, and 865,189 persons wholly or partially engaged in fishing. Some of the products were :-(1891) salt fish, 8,405,562 kwan; dried fish, &c., 8,726,149 kwan; fish manure, 34,070,628 kwan; fish oil, 1,067,918 kwan; sea-weed, &c., 8,702,800 kwan. Commerce. The following table shows the value of the foreign trade of Japan for five years:— Imports 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 Yen Yen Yen Yen Yen 65,416,238 66,041,584 81,670,354 62,880,670 71,276,943 64,891,678 69,306,894 55,791,847 78,738,054 90,404,735 COMMERCE The commercial intercourse of Japan is mainly with the following countries, and to the following values in 1891 and Belgium 69,376 50,125 688,958 951,537 The foreign commerce of Japan is carried on through the open ports of Yokohama, Kobé, Osaka, Nagasaki, Hakodate, Niigata, and 13 other ports. The following table shows the chief articles of the foreign commerce for 1891 and 1892 Imports 1891 1892 Raw silk & cocoons, Cotton yarn 32,089,655 39,853,082 piece goods. 5,589,290 7,131,980 1,761,653 2,941,303 Porcelain, lacquer, Metals bronze, &c. 7,811,307 9,604,350 1,656,681 1,727,186 3,519,959 5,620,637 952,402 1,199,383 5,164,802 5,015,110 379,075 204,430 Seaweed 767,416 994,626 Tobacco 273,149 313,391 Camphor. 1,629,105 1,274,753 Petroleum 4,535,720 3,328,398 Mushrooms 559,853 564,746 Drugs 2,092,031 2,354,344 Drugs & chemicals. 877,012 912,754 Dyes and paint 1,083,465 1,486,459 Vegetable wax 316,835 285,567 Machinery, ships, Wheat and other &c. 3,982,825 2,997,999 cereals. Tobacco (leaf). 88,175 95,820 visions. 7,423,578 6,203,193 Fish oil 175,802 i 248,621 Other articles. 16,654,734 21,088,779 Fans 364,324 341,567 Silk textiles 4,782,459 8,251,096 Other articles 11,525,745 14,207,745 62,880,671 71,276,942 The exports of bullion and specie in 1891 amounted to 1,452,964 yen (1892, 9,729,753 yen), and imports to 13,888,526 yen (1892, 22,883,757 yen). The extent of trade with the United Kingdom, according to the Board or Trade Returns, is shown in the subjoined table for five years : Imports from Japan into U.K.. 1,034,383 977,606 1,024,993 1 152,585 3,976,832 3,888,188 4,081,793 2,882,964 2,992,068 The staple articles of import from Japan into Great Britain in the year 1892 were raw silk and silk waste, of the value of 54,1167. silk manufactures, 40,140t.; earthenware, 33,0497. ; tobacco, 25,1017.; drugs, 26,7207. ; copper, 152, 1097.; rice, 135, 2921. The staple articles of British export to Japan consist of cotton goods and yarn, of the value of 1,659,4531.; woollen fabrics, 366,5351.; iron, wrought and unwrought, 214,5247.; machinery, 172,2127.; chemicals, 71,3967. in the year 1892. Shipping and Navigation. The following are the shipping statistics of the Japanese ports for 1892: Of the total foreign ships entered, 582 of 967, 420 tons were British; 337 of 278,702 tons German; 44 of 79,682 tons American; 26 of 61,396 tons French; 56 of 5,888 tons Norwegian; 45 of 54,647 tons Russian; 1 of 230 tons Corean; 3 of 2,016 tons Dutch; 1 of 1,211 tons Chinese. Of the total shipping 347 vessels of 384,229 tons entered Nagasaki; 210 of 397,128 tons Yokohama; 218 of 308,086 tons Kobé. In 1891 the merchant navy of Japan consisted of 1,442 vessels of European build, of 145,725 tons, 607 being steamers, and 889 native craft above 50 tons. Internal Communications. There are 5,000 miles of State roads and 16,490 miles of provincial roads. Railways are of two classes-(1) State railways; (2) railways owned by private companies, thirteen in number, four of them guaranteed a certain rate of interest by Government. The following table gives the railway The following are the postal statistics for five years :— All open ports and other important cities and towns are connected with each other and with Europe by lines of telegraph. In March, 1892, there were 7,671 miles of telegraph with 22,244 miles of wire, besides 238 miles of submarine cable, with 320 miles of wire. The number of telegrams carried was 4,523,430 in the year 1892. There were 524 offices in Japan. In March, 1893, there were 376 miles of telephone (3,234 miles of wire), with 4 exchange offices, 20 calling offices, and 1,504 subscribers. Money and Credit. The following table shows in yen the amount of coinage issued in the fiscal years stated (ending 31st March) : The total coinage issued from the mint from its foundation in 1870 up to 1892, exclusive of re-coinage, amounted to 188,891,364 yen. The paper money in circulation consists of Treasury notes, Kokuritsu Ginko notes, or notes of the National banks, and Nippon Ginko (or Bank of Japan) notes, exchangeable for silver on presentation. The amount in circulation on 1st April, 1892, was 136,161,150 yen. In 1891 the Nippon Ginko, or Bank of Japan, had a paid-up capital of 10,000,000 yen; notes in circulation, 103,843,080 yen; loans, 11,747,551 yen; deposits, 5,730,493 yen. The Kokuritsu Ginko (134 branches), paid-up capital, 48,701,100 yen; notes in circulation, 24,846,468 yen; deposits, 38,765,574 yen; loans, 66,173,259 yen. The Shokin Ginko, or Specie Bank, paid-up capital, 4,500,000 yen; loans, 4,534,546 yen; deposits, 5,532,472 yen. At the end of 1891 there were 252 private banks, with capital 18,976,616 In 1891, 41,053 persons deposited 3.742,255 yen, and withdrew 2,293,435 yen during the year from the Kokuritsu Ginko, which does business also as savings banks. In the same year 843,320 persons deposited 30,587,700 yen and withdrew 10,437,852 yen during the year from the post-offices, which act as savings banks. yen. |