The Foundations of Japan Part 44

MINERAL PRODUCTION [x.x.xVIII]. In 1919 the production was as follows: gold, 1,938,711 _momme_, value 9,681,494 yen; silver, 42,822,160 _momme_, value 11,131,861 yen; copper, 130,737,861 _kin_, value 67,581,475 yen; iron, steel and iron pyrites, 169,545,050 _kwan_, the value of the steel being 72,666,867 yen; coal, 31,271,093 metric tons, value 442,540,941 yen.

j.a.pAN AS SILK PRODUCER [x.x.xIX], In exportation of silk, j.a.pan, which in 1919 had under sericulture 8.6 of her total cultivated area and 17.1 per cent, of her upland, pa.s.sed Italy in 1901 and China in 1910.

Her exportation is now twice that of China. In production her total is thrice that of Italy. France is a long way behind Italy. The production of China is an unknown quant.i.ty.

As to the advantages and drawbacks of j.a.pan for sericulture the Department of Agriculture wrote in 1921: "j.a.pan is not favourably placed, inasmuch as atmospheric changes are often very violent, and the air becomes damp in the silk-culture seasons. This is especially the case in the season of spring silkworms, for the cold is severe at the beginning and the air becomes excessively damp as the rainy season sets in. The intense heat in July and August, too, is very trying for the summer and autumn breeds. Compared with France and Italy, j.a.pan seems to be heavily handicapped, but the abundance of mulberry leaves all over the land and the comparatively rich margin of spare labour among the farmers have proved great advantages."

The length of the sericultural season ranges from 54 days in spring to 31 or 32 days in autumn, but there are variations according to weather, methods and seed. The season begins with the incubation period. Then follows the rearing. Last is the period in which the caterpillars mount the little straw stacks provided for them in order that they may wind themselves into coc.o.o.ns. I do not enter into the technics of the r.e.t.a.r.dation and stimulation of seed in order to delay or to hasten the hatch according to the movements of the market.

Hydrochloric and sulphuric-acid baths and electricity are used as stimulants; storage in "wind holes" is practised to defer hatching.

Coc.o.o.ns are reckoned both by the _kwan_ of 8-1/4 lbs. and by the _koku_ of approximately 5 bushels. The coc.o.o.n production in 1918 worked out at about 16-1/2 bushels per acre of mulberry or 18 bushels per family engaged in sericulture. About 34 million bushels of coc.o.o.ns are produced. In 1919 the production was 270,800,000 kilos. The average production of a _tambu_ of mulberry field was 1.356 _koku_. In 1919 a _koku_ was worth on the average 106.81 yen (including double and waste coc.o.o.ns). The cost of producing coc.o.o.ns rose from 4.105 yen per _kwamme_ in 1916 to 11.284 yen in 1920. The daily wages of labourers employed by the farmers rose from 62 sen for men and 47 sen for women in 1910 to 1 yen 93 sen for men and 1 yen 44 sen for women in 1920. With the slump, the price of coc.o.o.ns fell below the cost of production and there was trouble in several districts when wages were due. The labourers engaged for the silk seasons of 1916 numbered 341,577, of whom 30,000 came from other than their employers'

prefectures. These people migrate from the early to the late districts and so manage to provide themselves with work during a considerable period. As many as 5-1/2 per cent, of the persons engaged in the industry are labourers. Many employment agencies are engaged in supplying labour.

It has been estimated that the labour of 19.8 persons (200 per hectare) is needed for a _tambu_ of mulberry field. The silkworms hatched from a card of eggs (laid by 100 moths) are supposed to call for the labour of 49.2 persons (1,456 per kilo, 2.204 lbs.)

The production of _coc.o.o.ns_ rose from 0.866 _koku_ per card in 1914 to 1.105 in 1918, or from 4,412,000 to 6,832,000.

More than three-quarters of the raw silk produced used to be exported.

Now, with the increase of factories in j.a.pan (the figures are for 1918), only 67 per cent, goes abroad, the bulk of it to the United States, which obtained from j.a.pan, in 1917-18, 75 per cent., and in 1919, it has been stated, 90 per cent, of its total supply. About 28 per cent, of the world's consumption is supplied by j.a.pan. Whereas in 1915 the output of raw silk was 5,460,000 _kwan_ valued at 217,746,000 yen, it was in 1918 7,891,000 _kwan_ valued at 546,543,000 yen. While in 1915-16 the percentage of j.a.panese exporters to foreign exporters was 64-4, it had risen in 1919-20 to 77.5. Against 450 _cho_ of mulberries in 1914 there were in 1918 508,993 _cho_. The total export of raw silk and silk textiles to all countries in 1920 was 382 and 158 million yen respectively. In 1919, 96 per cent. of the raw silk j.a.pan exported went to the United States and 46 out of 101 million yens'

worth of exported silk textiles (habutal). j.a.pan's whole trade with the United States is worth 880 million yen a year. But the proportion of basins in the factories steadily increases. There are nearly five thousand factories, big and little. A well-informed correspondent writes to me: "You know of course of the big organisation subsidised by the Government to control prices and not to make too much silk. The truth is the silk interest became too powerful and the Government is not a free agent."

TUBERCULOSIS [XL]. Phthisis and tuberculosis sweep off 22 per cent, and bronchitis and inflammation of the lungs 18 per cent., or together more than a third of the population. See also Appendix LXIX.

WOMEN WORKERS [XLI]. In addition to women and girls working in agriculture, in the mines, in the factories and & trades there are said to be 1,200,000 in business and the public services. Teachers number about 52,000, nurses 33,000, midwives 28,000 and doctors 700.

FACTORY FOOD AND "DEFIANCE OF HYGIENIC RULES" [XLII]. Dr. Kuwata says in the _j.a.pan Year-book_ (1920-1) that "in cotton mills where machinery is run day and night it is not uncommon when business is brisk to put operatives to 18 hours' work. In such cases holidays are given only fortnightly or are entirely withheld. The silk factories in Naganoken generally put their operatives to 14 or 16 hours' work and in only a small portion are the hours 13."

Summarising a report of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce, he says of the factory workers: "The bulk of workers are female and are chiefly fed with boiled rice in 43 per cent. of the factories. In other factories the staple food is poor, the rice being mixed with cheaper barley, millet or sweet potato in the proportion of from 20 to 50 per cent. In most cases subsidiary dishes consist of vegetables, meat or beans being supplied on an average only eight times a month.

Dormitories are in defiance of hygienic rules. In most cases only half to 1 _tsubo_ (4 square yards) are allotted to one person." See also Appendix LXIX.

CHINESE COMPEt.i.tION WITH j.a.pAN [XLIII]. The _Jiji_ called attention in the spring of 1921 to the way in which spinning mills in China were an increasing menace to j.a.panese industry. There were in China 810,000 spindles under Chinese management, 250,000 under European and 340,000 under j.a.panese, a total of 1,430,000, which will shortly be increased to 1,150,000 against 3,000,000 in j.a.pan only 1,800,000 of which are at work. The 1919 return was: China, 1,530,000; j.a.pan, 3,200,000.

HOODWINKING THE FOREIGNER [XLIV] In the _Manchester Guardian_ j.a.pan Number, June 9, 1921, the managing director of a leading spinning company, in a page and a half article, states that among the reasons why a large capitalisation is needed by j.a.panese factories, beyond the fact of higher cost of machinery, is the "special protection needed for j.a.panese operatives and the special consideration given by the spinners to the happiness and welfare of their operatives." When will j.a.panese believe their best friends when they tell them that such attempts to hoodwink the foreigner achieve no result but to cover themselves with ridicule?

TOBACCO [XLV]. In 1918-19 there was produced on 24,439 _cho_ 10,308,089 _kwan_ of tobacco. During the same period 9,681,274 _kwan_ were taken by the Government, which paid 19,114,803 yen or 1.974 per _kwan_. In 1919 there was imported leaf tobacco to the value of 5,288,918 yen. Cigarettes to the value of 589,744 yen were exported.

The profits of the Tobacco Monopoly, estimated at 71 millions for 1919-20, were estimated at 88 millions for 1920-1.

ELECTORAL OFFENCES [XLVI]. There were candidates at the 1920 election who spent 50,000 yen. It is not uncommon for the number of persons charged with election offences to reach four figures. The qualification for a vote (law of 1918) is the payment of 3 yen of national tax. Under the old law there were about 25 voters per 1,000 inhabitants; now there are 54.

SMALLNESS OF ESTATES [XLVII]. The number of men holding from 5 to 10 _cho_ was, in 1919, 121,141 and between 10 and 50 _cho_, 45,978. The number holding 50 _cho_ (125 acres) and upwards was only 4,226, and 400 or so of these were in Hokkaido. See also Appendix x.x.xI.

VEGETABLE WAX MAKING [XLVIII]. The wax-tree berries are flailed and then pounded. Next comes boiling. The mush obtained is put into a bag and that bag into a wooden press. The result is wax in its first state. A reboiling follows and then--the discovery of the method was made by a wax manufacturer while washing his hands--a slow dropping of the wax into water. What is taken out of the water is wax in a flaked state. It is dried, melted and poured into moulds. The best berries yield 13 per cent. of fine wax. The variety of wax grown was _oro_ (yellow wax). There is another variety. The sort I saw is grafted at three years with its own variety. The fruitful period lasts for a quarter of a century. Roughly, the yield is 100 _kwan_ per _tan_.

Formerly, wax was made from wild trees.

NAMES FOR ETA [XLIX]. Eta (great defilement) is an offensive name. The phrase _tokushu buraku_ (special villages), applied to Eta hamlets, is also objected to. _Heimin_ is the official name, but the Eta are generally termed _shin heimin_ (new common people), which is again regarded as invidiously distinguishing them. The name _chiho_ is now officially proposed for Eta villages. The fact that many Eta have made large sums during the war has somewhat improved the position of their cla.s.s. Some Eta are well satisfied with their name and freely acknowledge their origin. Year by year intermarriage increases in j.a.pan. A Home Department official has been quoted as saying that in 1918 as many as 450 marriages were registered between Eta and ordinary j.a.panese.

The population of the village I visited, 1,900 in 300 families, was getting its living as follows: farming 682, trade 185, industry 31, day labour 97, travelling players 180, not reported 180. The Parliamentary voters were 10, prefectural 17, county 19 and village 57. There were 98 ex-soldiers in the community and one man was a member of the local education committee. The birth rate was above the local average. The crimes committed during the year were: theft 2, gambling 2, a.s.sault 1, police offences 3. Of the 300 families only one was dest.i.tute, and it had been taken care of by the young women's society.

A considerable proportion of the early emigrants to America were Eta.

It is now recognised that it was a short-sighted policy on the part of the authorities to allow them to go.

PAPER MAKING [L]. A paper-making outfit may cost from 60 to 70 yen only. The shrubs grown to produce bark for paper making are _kozo_ (the paper mulberry), _mitsumata_ (_Edgworthia chrysantha_) and _gampi_ (_Wilkstroemia sikokiana_). Someone has also hit on the idea of turning the bark of the ordinary mulberry to use in paper making.

LIBRARIES, THE PRESS AND THE CENSORSHIP [LI]. There are 1,200 libraries in the country with 4 million books and 8 million visitors in the year. About 47,000 books are published in a year, of which less than half, probably, are original works. From one to two hundred are translations, usually condensed translations. The largest number deal with politics. There are about 3,000 newspapers and periodicals. In 1917 some 1,200 issues of newspapers and periodicals attracted the attention of the censor and the sale of 600 books was prohibited. Some sixty foreign books were stopped.

j.a.pANESE IN BRAZIL [LII]. Emigration to South America has latterly been arrested through the rise in wages at home. During the past four years an average of about 3,000 families has gone every twelve months to Brazil, where about a quarter of a million acres are owned and leased by j.a.panese. The j.a.panese Government spends 100,000 yen a year on giving a grant of 50 yen to each emigrating family up to 2,000 in number, through the Overseas Colonisation Company. The Brazilian Government also offers a gratuity.

CATTLE KEEPING IN SOUTH-WESTERN j.a.pAN [LIII]. Tajima, the old province which comprises about four counties in Tottori, is a large supplier of "Kobe beef," but it is a cattle-feeding not a grazing district. The number of cattle in Hyogo is double the cattle population of Tottori, but no cattle keeper has more than a score of beasts. The usual thing is for farmers to have two or three apiece. Some of the "Kobe beef"

comes from the prefectures of Hiroshima and Okayama. It is in the north of j.a.pan, where the people are not so thick on the ground and cultivation is less intense, that cattle production has its best chance.

VALUE OF LAND [LIV]. The value of land in the hill-village in which I stayed necessarily varied, but the average price of paddy was given me as 250 yen per _tan_. Dry land was half that. Open hill land, that is the so-called gra.s.s land, might be worth 120 yen. The rise in values which has taken place is ill.u.s.trated by the following table of farm-land values per _tan_ in 1919, published by the Bank of j.a.pan:

------------------------------------------------------------ Paddy Upland ------------------------------------------------------------ Good Ordinary Bad Good Ordinary Bad ------------------------------------------------------------ Hokkaido 231 158 95 115 62 26 {North } 802 579 366 477 295 170 Honshu {Tokyo } 863 607 406 673 442 272 (main {middle} 1,226 834 523 875 565 313 island){west } 1,226 840 525 727 443 244 Shikoku 1,120 784 470 752 450 225 Kyushu 960 652 416 538 300 175 -----------------------------------------------------------

FRUIT PRODUCTION [LV]. The j.a.panese when they do not eat meat do not feel the need of fruit which is experienced in the West. But there is now a steady increase in the fruit crops. For 1918 the figures were (in thousands of _kwan_): persimmons, 43,620; pears, 27,730; oranges, 73,660; peaches, 12,810; apples, 6,695; grapes, 6,240; plums (largely used pickled), 6,190.

j.a.pANESE STUDENTS ABROAD [LVI]. During 1921 more than 200 young professors or candidates for professorships were sent to Europe and America by the Ministry of Education. Probably another 300 were studying on funds (450 for a year plus fares is the grant which is made by the Ministry of Education) supplied by the Ministries of Agriculture, of Railways and of the Army and Navy (often supplemented, no doubt, by money furnished by their families). If to these students are added those sent by independent Universities, inst.i.tutions, corporations and private firms, the total cannot be fewer than 1,000.

The students stay from six months to two or three years, and when they return others take their places. Counting diplomatists, business men, tourists and students there are, of course, more j.a.panese in Great Britain than there are British in j.a.pan. There are fifteen hundred j.a.panese in London alone.

TEA PRODUCTION [LVII]. Every prefecture but Aomori produces some tea, but very little is grown in the prefectures of the extreme north. The largest producers are in order: Shidzuoka, Miye, Nara, Kyoto, k.u.mamoto, Gifu, Kagoshima, Shiga, Saitama, Osaka and Ibariki. In 1919 Shidzuoka produced 4 million _kwan_, valued at nearly 13 million yen.

But the statistics of tea production are unsatisfactory. Much tea is produced and sold locally which is unreported. A great deal of this is of inferior quality and produced from half-wild bushes. The 1919 figures are: area, 48,843 _cho_; number of factories, 1,122,164; green tea--_sencha_, 7,205,886 _kwan_; _bancha_, 2,580,035 _kwan; gyokuro_, 75,826 _kwan_; black, 50,756 _kwan_; others, 234,868 _kwan_; _sencha_ dust, 249,862 _kwan_; other dust, 486 _kwan_. Total, 10,397,719 _kwan_; value, 33,377,460 yen. There was exported green tea (pan fired), 12,420,000 yen; green tea (basket fired), 4,575,000 yen; others, 1,405,000 yen. Of this there went to the United States consignments to the value of 15,600,000 yen and to Canada of 1,700,000 yen. In 1918 the export to America was 50,000 tons; in 1919, 30,000; and in 1920, 23,000; and a further decline is expected in 1921. The total exports, which were, in 1909, 62 per cent, of the production, were, in 1918, only 57 per cent, and, in 1919, 37 per cent.

THEINE PERCENTAGES.--The following percentages of theine in black and green tea were furnished me by the Department of Agriculture:

--------------------------------------------------- Green Green Black Oolong (Basket Fired) (Pan Fired) --------------------------------------------------- Theine 2.81 2.22 2.26 2.35 Tannin 15.08 14.29 7.32 16.15 ---------------------------------------------------

Theine or caffeine is a feathery-looking substance which resembles the material of a silk-worm's coc.o.o.n. There is more theine or caffeine in tea leaves than in coffee.