A Handbook of Modern Japan

by Ernest W. Clement

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

For more detailed information concerning the topics treated in this chapter, the reader is referred to “The Story of Japan” (Murray), in the “Story of the Nations” series; “The Gist of Japan” (Peery); and “Advance Japan” (Morris).

For pleasant descriptions of various portions of Japan, “Jinrikisha Days in Japan” (Miss Scidmore); “Lotos-Time in Japan” (Finck); “Japan and her People” (Miss Hartshorne); “Unbeaten Tracks in Japan” (Miss Bird, now Mrs. Bishop); “Every Day Japan” (Lloyd); and “Japan To-Day” (Scherer) are recommended.

The most complete popular work on the country is the “Hand-Book for Japan” (Chamberlain and Mason), 8th edition; and the most thorough scientific treatment is to be found in Rein’s “Japan.”

Students of seismology should consult Prof. John Milne’s works.

CHAPTER II
INDUSTRIAL JAPAN

Outline of Topics: Agriculture; petty farming; small capital and income; character of farmer; decrease of farmers; principal products; rice; tea; tobacco; silk; cotton; camphor; bamboo; marine products and industries.—Mining.—Engineering.—Shipbuilding.—Miscellaneous industries.—Mechanical industries.—Shopping in Japan.—Wages and incomes.—Guilds, labor unions, strikes, etc.—Mr. Katayama.—Socialism.—Bibliography.

THE chief occupation of the Japanese is agriculture, in which the great mass of the people are employed. On account of the volcanic nature and the mountainous condition of the country, there are large portions not tillable;[14] and for the same reason, perhaps, the soil in general is not naturally very fertile. It must be, and can be, made so by artificial means; but as yet not half of what is fairly fertile soil is under cultivation. Large portions of arable land, particularly in Yezo and Formosa, can be made to return rich harvests, and are gradually being brought under man’s dominion. But it can be readily understood that if for any reason the crops fail, severe suffering will ensue, and perhaps become widespread. The prosperity of the country depends largely upon the prosperity of its farmers.

Farming, like almost everything in that land of miniatures, is on a limited scale, as each man has only a very small holding. “There is no farm in Japan; there are only gardens” (Uchimura). Even a “petty farmer” of our Northwest would ridicule the extremely insignificant farms of the Japanese, who, in turn, would be astounded at the prodigious domains of a Dalrymple. A careful investigator, Dr. Karl Rathgen, has summed up the situation as follows: “In Japan are to be found only small holdings. A farm of five chō[15] (twelve acres) is considered very large. As a rule the Japanese farmer is without hired labor and without cattle. The family alone cultivates the farm, which, however, is so small that a large share of the available labor can be devoted to other purposes besides farming, such as the production of silk, indigo, tobacco. The average holding for the whole of Japan (excluding the Hokkaidō) for each agricultural family is 8.3 tan[15] (about two acres), varying from a maximum of 17.6 tan in the prefecture of Aomori to a minimum of 5.3 tan in the prefecture of Wakayama.” “There are no large landed proprietors in Japan.”

A Japanese farm is so insignificant, partly because a Japanese farmer has only a very small capital, and needs only a slight income to support life. It has been estimated that a man so fortunate as to own a farm of five chō[15] obtains therefrom an annual income of 100 or 120 yen.[15] And yet the Japanese farmers are very careful and thoroughly understand their business. “In spade-husbandry,” says Dr. Griffis, “they have little to learn”; but “in stock-raising, fruit-growing, and the raising of hardier grains than rice, they need much instruction.”[16]

A Japanese farmer is hard-working, industrious, stolid, conservative, and yet, by reason of his fatalistic and stoical notions, in a way happy and contented. “Left to the soil to till it, to live and die upon it, the Japanese farmer has remained the same, ... with his horizon bounded by his rice-fields, his water-courses, or the timbered hills, his intellect laid away for safe-keeping in the priest’s hands, ... caring little who rules him, unless he is taxed beyond the power of flesh and blood to bear.” He is, however, more than ordinarily interested in taxation, for the land-tax of three and one-third per cent of the assessed value of the land amounts to about half the national revenue, and is no inconsiderable part of the state, county, town, and village taxes. It would have reverted to the original rate of two and one-half per cent; but it has been still further increased on account of the Russo-Japanese War.[17]

The principal products of the Japanese farms are rice, barley, wheat, millet, maize, beans, peas, potatoes (Irish and sweet), turnips, carrots, melons, eggplants, buckwheat, onions, beets, and a large white bitter radish (daikon). A very good average yield is fifty bushels to an acre. The entire annual production of rice varies each year, but averages about 46,000,000 koku;[18] and the annual exportation of rice runs from about 8,000,000 yen to over 10,000,000 yen. The list of fruits[19] and nuts grown in Japan includes pears, peaches, oranges, figs, persimmons, grapes, plums, loquats, apricots, strawberries, bananas, apples, peanuts, chestnuts, etc.

Among other important Japanese productions must be mentioned, of course, tea, tobacco, and mulberry trees. Of these the last is, perhaps, indigenous; but the other two are importations in their origin. The culture of tea is most extensively carried on in the middle and southern districts. The annual production is now about 7,000,000 kwan;[20] the annual export trade is valued at over 10,000,000 yen. The price of tea runs from five cents to six dollars per pound, of which the last is raised at Uji, near Kyōto. The Japanese are a tea-drinking people; they use that beverage at meals and between meals, at all times and in all places. It is true that they drink it from a very small cup, which holds about two tablespoonfuls, but they drink, as we are told to pray, “without ceasing.” Hot water is kept ever ready for making tea, which is sipped every few minutes, and is always served, with cake or confectionery, to visitors.[21]

Tobacco was introduced into Japan by the Portuguese, but its use was at first strictly prohibited. The practice of smoking, however, rapidly spread until it became well-nigh a universal custom, not even restricted to the male sex. The Lilliputian pipe would seem to indicate that only a limited amount of the weed is used; but smoking, like tea-drinking, is practised “early and often.” The Japanese tobacco is said to be “remarkable for its mildness and dryness.”

The silk industry is the most important in relation to Japan’s foreign trade, and is on the increase. Silk is sent away to American and European markets chiefly in its raw state, but is also manufactured into handkerchiefs, etc. The exports of silk for the year 1910 amounted to about $90,000,000, or about two-fifths of the entire export trade. It would, of course, be beyond the limits of this chapter to enter into the description of the details of sericulture; it may be sufficient here to state that only the stolid patience of Orientals can well endure the slow, tedious, and painstaking process of feeding the silkworms.[22]

COTTON MILLS, ŌSAKA

Cotton-spinning is a comparatively new industry in Japan, but is growing rapidly. Cotton is, of course, the principal material for the clothing of the common people, who cannot afford silk robes. But Japan, though raising a great deal of cotton, cannot supply the demand, and imports large quantities from India and America. It is only within a short time that cotton-spinning by machinery has become a Japanese industry; formerly all the yarn was spun by hand; but in 1907 there were 136 cotton-mills in Japan. Some are very small concerns; but in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tōkyō there are comparatively large and flourishing mills. Ordinary workmen receive from 12 to 20 sen a day; skilled laborers make from 30 to 40 sen; girls earn from 10 to 20 sen, and children only a few sen per day; but the stockholders receive dividends of from 10 to 20 per cent per annum.

Since Japan acquired Formosa from China, she has had added to her resources another very important and valuable product, in which she possesses practically a monopoly of the world’s market and a supply supposed to be sufficient for the demands of the whole world for this entire century. It has been estimated, for instance, that the area of interior districts in which the camphor tree is found will reach over 1,500 miles. The camphor business of Japan in Formosa is in the hands of a British firm, to whom, as highest bidder, the government let out its monopoly for a fixed term of years.[23]

Perhaps the most generally useful product of Japan is the bamboo,[24] which “finds a use in every size, at all ages, and for manifold purposes,” or, as Huish expresses it, “is used for everything.” Rein and Chamberlain each takes up a page or more for an incomplete list of articles made from bamboo; so that Piggott is surely right when he states that it is “an easier task to say what is not made of bamboo.”

Inasmuch as Japan is an insular country, with a long line of sea-coast, it is natural that fishing should be one of the principal occupations of the people, and that fish, seaweed, and other marine products should be common diet. From ancient times down to the opening of Japan, the fishing industry was a simple occupation, somewhat limited in its scope; but since the Japanese have learned from other nations to what extent marine industries are capable of development, fishing has become the source of many and varied lines of business. The canning industry, for instance, is of quite recent origin, but is growing rapidly. Whaling and sealing are very profitable occupations. Smelt-fishing by torchlight by means of tame cormorants was largely employed in olden times, and is kept up somewhat even to the present day. The occupation of a fisherman, though arduous and dangerous, is not entirely prosaic, and, in Japan, contributes to art. The return home of the fishing-smacks in the afternoon is an interesting sight; and the aspect of the sea, dotted with white sails, appeals so strongly to the æsthetic sense of the Japanese that it is included among the “eight views” of any locality.

Mining is also a flourishing industry in Japan, as the country is quite rich in mineral resources. Coal is so extensively found that it constitutes an item of export. Copper, antimony, sulphur, and silver are found in large quantities; gold, tin, iron, lead, salt, etc., in smaller quantities. Oil, too, has sprung up into an important product.[25]

Engineering, perhaps, deserves a paragraph by itself. This department in the Imperial University is flourishing, and sends forth annually a large number of good engineers. In civil engineering the Japanese have become so skilful that they have little need now of foreign experts except in the matter of general supervision.

It is worthy of special notice that the Japanese have become quite skilful in ship-building, so that they now construct vessels of various kinds, not only for themselves but for other nations. The Mitsu Bishi Company, Nagasaki, has constructed for the Oriental Steamship Company three fine passenger steamers of 13,000 tons each. At the Uraga Dockyard large American men-of-war have been satisfactorily repaired; and on October 15, 1902, a small United States gunboat was launched,—“the first instance in which Japan has got an order of shipbuilding from a Western country.”[26]

Among the minor miscellaneous industries which can only be mentioned are sugar-raising, paper-making (there are a number of mills which are paying well), dyeing, glass-blowing, lumber, horse-breeding, poultry, pisciculture, ice, brick, fan, match, button, handkerchief, pottery, lacquer, weaving, embroidery, sake and beer brewing, soy, etc. The extent and variety of the industries of Modern Japan are also clearly evidenced in a short article about “The Ōsaka Exhibition” of 1903 in the Appendix.

In what we style “the mechanical arts” the Japanese excel, and have a world-wide reputation. With their innate æsthetic instincts they make the most commonplace beautiful. It is a trite saying that a globe-trotter, picking up in a native shop a very pretty little article, and admiring it for its simplicity and exquisite taste, is likely to find it an ordinary household utensil. Japanese lacquer work is distinctive and remarkable for its beauty and strength; lacquered utensils, such as bowls, trays, etc., are not damaged by boiling soups, hot water, or even cigar ashes. In porcelain and pottery, the Japanese are celebrated for the artistic skill displayed in manufacture and ornamentation. “The bronze and inlaid metal work of Japan is highly esteemed.” Japanese swords, too, are remarkable weapons with “astonishing cleaving power.” To summarize this paragraph, it may be said that the Japanese have turned what we call mechanical industries into fine arts, which display a magnificent triumph of æstheticism even in little things.[27]

This chapter would be incomplete without a paragraph concerning Japanese shops, or retail stores, which are among the first curiosities to attract and rivet a foreigner’s attention. The building is, perhaps, a small, low, frame structure, crowded among its fellows on a narrow lane. The floor is raised a foot or so above the ground, and is covered, as usual, with thick matting. Spread out on the floor or on wooden tiers or on shelves are the goods for sale. The shopkeeper sits on his feet on the floor, and calmly smokes his pipelet, or fans himself, or in winter warms his hands over the hibachi (fire-bowl). He greets you with a profound bow and most respectful words of welcome, but makes no attempt to effect a sale, or even to show an article unless you ask to see it. He is imperturbably indifferent whether or not you make a purchase; either way, it is all right. He will politely display anything you want to see; and, even if, after making him much trouble, you buy nothing or only an insignificant and cheap article, he sends you away with as profound a bow and as polite expressions as if you had bought out the shop. Whether you buy little or much or even nothing, you are always dismissed with “Arigatō gozaimasu” and “Mata irasshai,” which are very respectful phrases for “Thank you” and “Come again.” Having dropped into “a veritable shoppers’ paradise,” you will quickly “find yourself the prey of an acute case of shopping fever before you know it!” It is, indeed, true, to quote further from this same writer, that “to stroll down the Broadway [known as the Ginza] of Tokio of an evening is a liberal education in every-day art.”[28]

From what has already been written, it is easily noticeable that wages and incomes, like so many things in petite Japan, are insignificant. It may be added that ordinary mechanics earn on an average over 50 sen a day, and the most skilful seldom get more than double that amount; that carpenters earn from 70 to 100 sen a day; that street-car drivers and conductors receive 12 or 15 yen per month, and other workmen of the common people about the same. Even an official who receives 1,000 yen per year is considered to have a snug income. It will be inferred from this that the cost of living is proportionately cheaper, whether for provisions or for shelter or for clothes, and that the wants, the absolute necessities, of the people are few and simple. Literally true it is, that a Japanese man “wants but little here below, nor wants that little long.” With rice, barley, sweet potatoes, other vegetables, fish, eggs, tea, and even sweetmeats in abundance and very cheap, a Japanese can subsist on little and be contented and happy with enough, or even less than that. But, unfortunately, the new civilization of the West has carried into Japan the itch for gold and the desire for more numerous and more expensive luxuries, and has increased the cost of living without increasing proportionately the amount of income or wages.[29]

Industrial Japan has already become more or less modified by features of Occidental industrialism, such as guilds, trade unions, strikes, co-operative stores. It is true that feudal Japan also had guilds, which are, however, now run rather on modern lines. One of the oldest, strongest, and most compact is that of the dock coolies, who without many written rules are yet so well organized that they have almost an absolute monopoly, with frequent strikes, which are always successful. Others of the guilds are those of the sawyers, the plasterers, the stonemasons, the bricklayers, the carpenters, the barbers, the coolies (who can travel all over the empire without a penny and live on their fellows), the wrestlers, the actors, the gamblers, the pickpockets, etc. The beggars’ guild is now defunct. The labor unions of modern days include the iron-workers, the ship-carpenters, the railway engineers, the railway workmen, the printers, and the European-style cooks. The last-mentioned is one in which foreigners resident in Japan necessarily take a practical interest! The only unions which have become absolute masters of the situation are those of the dock coolies, the railway laborers, and the railway engineers. As for co-operative stores, there are a dozen or more in Tōkyō, Yokohama, and Northern Japan.

The perfect organization of these modern unions is due largely to the efforts of a young man named Sen Katayama, who is the champion of the rights of the laboring man in Japan. He spent ten years in America and made a special study of social problems. He is the head of Kingsley Hall, a social settlement of varied activity in the heart of Tōkyō, and editor of the “Labor World,” the organ of the working classes. That the changes rapidly taking place in the industrial life of Japan will raise up serious problems, there is no doubt; what phases they will assume cannot be foreseen. But “socialistic” ideas are carefully repressed in modern Japan.