B

owns 62 chō 4 tan and receives in rent 623 koku 7 to. Members of family, 11; servants, 8.

Expenditure of Past Year

yen
House519
Food and drink (18 sen each per day for
members of family; 13 sen each for servants)		1,102
Fuel156
Light36
Clothing770
Education (3 middle-school boys at 20 yen per month;
3 primary-school boys and girls at 2 yen)		312
Social intercourse120
Amusements (journey, 100 yen; summer trip, 231;
others, 50)		381
Miscellaneous (servants, 480 yen; medicine, 150;
other things, 150)		780
Donations300
Taxes3,976
______
8,451

[ THE "BENJO" [IV].] I never noticed a case in which earth was thrown into the domestic closet tub according to Dr. Poore's system. I have come across attempts to use deodorisers, but the application of a germicide is inhibited because of the injury which would be caused to the crops. Farmers are chary about removing night soil which has been treated even with a deodoriser. I ventured to suggest more than once that Japanese science should be equal to evolving a deodoriser to which the farmer, who in Japan seems to be so easily directed, could have no objection. The drawback to using Dr. Poore's system is that the added earth would greatly increase the weight of the substance to be removed. There would be the same objection to the use of hibachi ash (charcoal ash), but there is not enough produced to have any sensible effect. The truth is that there is no lively interest in the question of getting rid of the stink for everyone has become accustomed to it. The odour from the benjo—the politer word is habakari—which is always indoors, though at the end of the engawa (verandah), often penetrates the house. (Engawa [edge or border] is the passage which faces to the open; roka is a passage inside a house between two rooms or sometimes a bridgelike passage in the open, connecting two separate buildings or parts of a house.) Emptying day is particularly trying. This much must be said, however, that the farmers' tubs are washed, scrubbed and sunned after every journey and have close-fitting lids. And primitive though the benjo is, it is scrupulously clean. Also, if it is always more or less smelly, it is contrived on sound hygienic principles. There is no seat requiring an unnatural position. The user squats over an opening in the floor about 2 ft. long by 6 ins. wide. This opening is encased by a simple porcelain fitting with a hood at the end facing the user. The top of the tub is some distance below the floor. In peasants' houses there is no porcelain fitting. Manure is so valuable in Japan that farmers whose land adjoins the road often build a benjo for the use of passers-by. Although the traveller in Japan has much to endure from the unpleasant odour due to the thrifty utilisation of excreta, the Japanese deserve credit for the fact that their countryside is never fouled in the disgusting fashion which proves many of our rural folk to be behind the primitive standard of civilisation set up in Deuteronomy (chap, xxiii. 13). The Western rural sociologist is not inclined to criticise the sanitary methods of Japan. He is too conscious of the neglect in the West to study thoroughly the grave question of sewage disposal in relation to the needs of our crops and the cost of nitrogenous fertilisers. See also [Appendix XX].

[ AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS [V].] In Mr. Yamasaki's school there was dormitory accommodation for 200 youths, some 40 lived in teachers' houses, another 15 were in lodgings, and 45 came daily from their parents' homes. Lads were admitted from 14 to 16 and the course was for 3 years. The students worked 30 hours weekly indoors and the rest of their time outside. Upper and lower grade agricultural schools number 280 with 23,000 students. In addition there are 7,908 agricultural continuation schools with more than 430,000 pupils. The ratio of illiteracy in Japan for men of conscription age (that is, excluding old people and young people), which had been over 5 per cent. up to 1911, was reported to be only 2 per cent. in 1917.


[ CRIME [VI].] In 1916 the chief offences in Japan were:

Dealt with at police station 445,502
Gambling and lotteries81,649
Larceny81,063
Fraud and usurpation49,772
Assaults19,022
Robbery10,383
Arson9,533
Accidental assaults3,277
Obscenity2,796
Wilful injury2,032
Murder1,886
Abortion1,252
Abduction907
Rioting813
Official disgrace481
Military and naval387
Desertion315
Forgery307
Coining206

[ PROSTITUTES [VII].] The chief of police was good enough to let me have a copy of the form to be filled up by girls desiring to enter the houses in the prefecture. It is under nine heads: 1. The reason for adopting the profession. 2. Age. 3. Permission of head of household. If permission is not forthcoming, reason why. 4. If a minor, proof of permission. 5. House at which the girl is going to "work." 6. Home address. 7. Former means of getting a living. 8. Whether prostitute before. If so, particulars. 9. Other details.

When I was in Japan there were reputed to be about 50,000 joro (prostitutes), about half that number of geisha and about 35,000 "waitresses."

[ PHILANTHROPIC AGENCIES [VIII].] In 1917 the number of paupers, tramps and foundlings relieved by the State did not exceed 10,000. The number of institutions was 730 (of which 40 were run by foreigners), with the expenditure of about 5½ million yen.

[ CHANGES IN RURAL STATUS [IX].] It seemed that during 47 years 18 tenants had become peasant proprietors, 14 peasant proprietors had become landowners (that is men who make their living by letting land rather than by working it), 8 tenants had stepped straightway into the position of landowners, 7 landowners had fallen to the grade of peasant proprietors and 7 more to that of tenants, while 114 householders had changed their callings or had gone to Hokkaido.

[ HOURS OF WORK PER DAY [X].] One of these villages showed that during January and February it worked 6 hours, during March and April 8 hours, from May to August 12½ hours, during September and October 9½ hours, and during November and December 9 hours. There was a further record of labour at night. In January and February it worked from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., during March and April and September and October from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. and in November and December from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. As in the period from May to August inclusive the day working hours were from 5 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., there then was no night labour.

[ DILIGENT PEOPLE AND OTHERS [XI].] The adults of the village were classified as follows: Diligent people, men 294, women 260; average workers, men 270, women 236; other people, men 242, women 191. One supposes that, in considering the women's activities, all that was estimated was the number of hours spent in agricultural work or in remunerative employment in the evening.

[ FARM AREAS AND DAYS WORKED IN THE YEAR [XII].] The information concerned three typical peasant proprietors, A, B and C, living in the same county. The areas of their land are given in tan:

Where farmingPaddyDryHomesteadRentedChildrenParents
AIn hills631-32
BOn plain6.62.6.52 paddy32
CNear town641-3-

Next we are told the number of days that not only A, B and C but their wives and their parents worked and did not work during the year:

AgricultureDomestic
Work		National
Holidays
and Festivals		IllnessRemaining
Days
Husbands{A2542825652
{B2393725-64
{C2314919264
Wives{A239547-64
{B15012826-64
{C1411749-41
Fathers{A14447851872
{B2056940-51
{C-----
Mothers{A153246-20
{B8222023-41
{C-----

It will be seen that men only were ill! [See next page.]

For average of hours worked elsewhere, see page 232 and page 237.

[ FARMERS' EARNINGS AND SPENDINGS [XIII].] If the reader should feel that the following details are lacking in comprehensiveness or definiteness, he should understand that reports of a national and authoritative character on the economic condition of the farmer were not available. There existed certain reports of the Ministry of Agriculture, but they were subjected to criticism. The National Agricultural Association had set on foot an elaborate enquiry as to the condition of the "middle farmer," but it was suggested that too much reliance was placed on arithmetical calculations and too little on known facts. I have had to rely, therefore, on official and private investigations made in various prefectures and villages, and I give a selection for what they are worth. Of the general condition of the agricultural population the reader is offered the impressions recorded in my different Chapters.

Incomes And Expenditures Of Peasant Proprietors.—

The incomes and expenditures of the three households referred to in [Appendix XII] were:

IncomeExpenditureBalance in hand
yenyenyen
A47744928
B91583877
C97170368

Household Expenditures.—The household expenditures of the three families were, in yen:

ABC
yenyenyen
Food192.76216.64189.57
House2.322.241.20
Clothes18.7215.1610.08
Fuel12.7213.5321.00
Tools and furniture10.97160.181.66
Social intercourse9.58--6.05
Education1.56--4.15
Amusement3.302.0318.00
Unforeseen7.8513.7222.33
Miscellaneous6.437.7111.15
__________________
266.21431.21285.19

It will be observed that the expenditure of B under the heading of furniture, 160 yen, is out of all proportion with the expenditures of A and C, 10 yen and 1 yen respectively. This is due to the fact that B had to provide a bride's chest for a daughter.

A balance sheet given me by a peasant proprietor in Aichi (5tan of two-crop paddy and 5 tan of upland) showed a balance in hand of 27 yen.

An agricultural expert said to me, "The peasant proprietors are the backbone of the country, but the condition of the backbone is not good. The peasant proprietors can make ends meet only by secondary employments." The expert showed me average figures for 18 farmers for 1891, 1900 and 1909. The average land of these men was a little over a chō of paddy and 5 tan of upland and some woodland. They had spent 39, 63 and 86 yen on artificial manures as against 100, 153 and 204 yen on food. The balance at the end of the year for the three years respectively was 27, 40 and 29 yen. "The figures reflect the general condition," I was told.

Incomes and Expenditures of Tenants.—I may also note the circumstances of the largest and of the smallest tenant in an Aichi village I visited. The largest tenant family showed a balance in hand, 93 yen; the smallest tenant, 23 yen.

The accounts of 16 tenants for 1891 showed an average sum of 3 yen in hand at the end of the year, for 1900 a loss of 5 yen and for 1909 a gain of 1 yen. These men had an average of 9 tan of paddy and 2 tan of upland. The man who gave me the data said that in the north-east of Japan "the condition of the tenants is miserable—eating almost cattle food." The only bright spot for tenants was that, as compared with peasant proprietors, they were free to change their holdings and even their business.

Incomes of Tenants and Peasant Proprietors (Shidzuoka).—One tenant, who pays 159 yen in rent and taxes, shows a total income of 374 yen and an expenditure of 538 yen, with a net loss of 164 yen. "Farmers of this class," notes the local expert on the memorandum he gave me, "are becoming poorer every year." This tenant spent 2 yen on medicine and 5 yen on tobacco. ("Nothing else for enjoyment," pencils the expert.) In addition to parents, a man, a woman and a girl of the family worked. Food cost 321 yen (cost of fish and meat, 4½ yen) and clothing 34 yen.

In a "model village," where "the farmers are always diligent," a small tenant's income was 508 yen and expenditure 527 yen; loss, 19 yen. Clothes cost 95 yen and food 190 yen. (Cost of fish and meat, 4¾ yen.) There was an expenditure on medicine of 1½ yen and on tobacco and saké ("only enjoyment") 10 yen.

Twenty per cent, of the farmers, I was told, "lead a middle-class life and occupy a somewhat rational area of land." The budgets often of these men, who own their own land, show a balance of 85 yen. "If they were tenants they would not be in such a good condition." "We think the farmer ought to have 2 chō."

Budgets of Farmers on the Land of the Homma Clan, Yamagata (page 186).—A tenant had 3 chō of paddy and a small piece of vegetable land. There lived with him his wife, two sons and the widow and child of the eldest son. After paying his rent he had 30 koku of rice left. The cost of production and taxes, 100 yen or a little more, had to come out of that. This tenant had a debt of 250 yen.

A sturdy wagoner with a sturdy horse lived with his wife and three children and his old mother. He hired 1 chō for 28 koku of rice and his crop was 40 koku. He spent 30 yen on manure and 4 yen went in taxes.

A middle-grade farmer owned a house and a little more than 1 chō and rented 3 chō of paddy and a patch for vegetables. His rent was about 38 koku. He spent 100 yen on manure and 128 yen for taxes, temple dues and regulation of the paddy. He employed at 2½ koku a man who lived with the family, also temporary labour for 48 days. His crop might be 100 koku or more. He had no debt.

A third man was above the middle grade of farmer. His taxes were 240 yen and his manure bill 130 yen. His payment for paddy-field regulation, to continue for ten years, was 60 yen. He had three labourers and he also hired extra labour for 100 days. He had three unmarried sons of 40, 29 and 25. There were 260 yen of pensions in respect of the war service of one son and the death of another.

Income of Peasant Proprietors (Hokkaido).—The following statistics for the whole of Hokkaido are based on the experience of peasant proprietors. The 2½ chō men are rice farmers—rice farming means farming with rice as the principal crop. The 5-chō men are engaged in mixed farming:

Farmer's AreaIncome
from
Farming		Income
from Other
Work		TotalCost of
Cultivation		Cost of
Living		Total
Outlay		Balance.
yenyenyenyenyenyenyen
2-1/2 chō3664340910727638227
5 chō4413347411930142352

It will be seen that mixed farming is the more profitable.

Income of Tenants (Hokkaido).—Professor Takaoka was kind enough to give me the following summaries of balance sheets of tenants of college lands in different parts of Hokkaido in 1915. (In all cases the accounts have been debited with wages for the farmer's family.)

Five chō. Income, 447 yen; net return, 37 yen. (Rye, wheat, oats, corn, soy, potatoes, grass, flax, buckwheat and rape. One horse and a few hens.)

Five chō. Income, 763 yen; net return, 58 yen. (Rye, wheat, oats, rape, soy, potatoes, corn, grass, flax and onions. Three cows, one horse.)

Ten chō. Income, 1,015 yen; net return, 122 yen. (Same crops with two cows and one horse and some hired labour.)

Five chō (peppermint on 3 chō). Income, 882 yen; net return, 93 yen.

Three chō. Income, 1,195 yen; net return, 332 yen. (Vegetable farming. 206 yen paid for labour.)

Thirty chō. Income, 1,979 yen; net return, 61 yen. (Mixed farming; 632 yen paid for labour.)

Model 5-chō farm without rice. Made 604 yen, and 107 yen net return, farm capital being 1,487 yen. (208 yen allowed for labour, interest 128 yen, amortisation 27 yen, and taxes 13 yen.)

Milk farmer, 12 chō and 90 cattle. Income, 12,280 yen; net return of 3,641 yen.

2,120 chō (1,235 forest, 402 pasture, 110 artificial grass and 42 crops; 111 cattle). Income, 66,205 yen; net return, 1,011 yen. (Milk and meat farming.)

Average income and expenditure of 200 tenants of University land whose budgets Professor Morimoto (see Chapter XXXIV) investigated:

yen
Crops 451.66
Wages earned 61.33
Horses 20.09
Poultry and eggs .96
Pigs .85
Manure (animal, 35 kwan; human, 14 koku 24.50
Other income 29.64
------
589.03
yen
Cultivation, etc.206.32
Cost of living303.33
------
509.65
------
Profit 79.38

The returns of capital yielded the following averages:

yen
Tenant right in respect of 5-16 chō750.82
Buildings (32.2 tsubo)195.95
Clothing162.82
Horse (average 1.23)108.48
Furniture58.47
Implements51.23
Poultry (average 2.58)1.15
Pigs (average .12).87
--------
Total1,329.79

[ VALUE OF NEW PADDY [XIV].] More delicious rice could be got, I was told, from well-fertilised barren land than from naturally fertile land. The first year the new paddy yielded per tan an average of 1.2 koku, the second 1.6, the third 2, and this fourth year the yield would have been 2.3 had it not been for damage by storm.

[ AREAS AND CROPS OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF RICE [XV].] In 1919 there was grown of paddy rice 2,984,750 chō (2,729,639 ordinary, 255,111 glutinous) and of upland rice 141,365 chō. Total, 3,126,115 chō. The yield (husked, uncleaned) was of paddy 61,343,403 koku (ordinary, 56,438,005; glutinous, 4,905,398); of upland, 1,839,312. Total, 63,182,715 koku; value, 2,352,145,519 yen.

In 1877 the area is reputed to have been 1,940,000 chō with a yield of 24,450,000 koku and in 1882 2,580,000 chō with a yield of 30,692,000 koku. The average of the five years 1910-14 was 3,033,000 chō with a yield of 57,006,000 koku; of the five years 1915-19, 3,081,867 chō with a yield of 94,817,431 koku.

In a prefecture in south-western Japan I found that 2 koku 5 to (or 2½ koku, there being 10 to in a koku) per tan was common and that from 3 koku to 3 koku 5 to was reached. "A good yield for 1 tan," says an eminent authority, "is 3 koku, or on the best fields even 4 koku." The average yield in koku per tan for the whole country has been (paddy-field rice only): 1882, 1.19; 1894-8, 1.38; 1899-1903, 1.44; 1904-8, 1.57; 1909-13, 1.63; 1914-18, 1.86; 1919, 1.99; 1920, 2.05 (ordinary, 2.06; glutinous, 1.92). Upland rice in 1920, 1.30 as against 1.02 in 1909. All these figures are for husked, uncleaned rice.

[ BARLEY AND WHEAT CROPS [XVI].] The following table (average of five years, 1913-17) shows the yields per tan of the two sorts of barley and of wheat and the average yield all three together in comparison with the rice yield (all quantities husked):

go go
Barley1,672 All three together1,307
Naked barley1,172 Rice1,808
Wheat1,073

Naked barley is grown as an upland crop, as are ordinary barley and wheat; but it is more largely grown as a second crop in paddies than either barley or wheat. The barleys are chiefly used for human food with or without rice. Wheat is eaten in macaroni, sweetstuffs and bread. It is also used in considerable quantities in the manufacture of soy, the chief ingredient of which is beans. There was imported in the year 1920 wheat to the value of 28½ million yen, and flour to the value of 3¼ million yen. Macaroni is largely made of buckwheat as well as of wheat. The other grain crop is millet, which is eaten by the poorest farmers. In 1918, as against 60 million koku of rice, there were grown 5 million koku of beans and peas. The crops of barley were 17 million, of wheat 6 million, of millet 3¼ million, and of buckwheat ¾ million. More than a million kwan of sweet potatoes were produced and nearly half a million of "Irish" potatoes. (The figures for barley and wheat are for 1919.)

[ COST AND PRICE OF RICE [XVII].] The annual figures (from Aichi) for the years 1894 to 1915 (page 384) show the cost of producing a tan of rice, that is the summer crop. The amounts per tan are calculated on the basis of the expenses of a tenant who is cropping 8 tan. The totals for the winter crop are also given. The figures which appear on the opposite page were described to me by the farmer concerned as "compiled on the basis of investigations by the chairman of the village agricultural association and by its managers and still further proved and quite trustworthy." It will be seen that the value of the winter crop is low; a secondary employment is usually a better thing for the farmer. In one or two places there is a sen or so difference in the additions which may have been made by the transcriber from the Japanese original. The difference in amounts of rent is due to difference in fields rented and also to reduction allowed owing to bad crops. The difference in the income from crops is usually due to destruction by hail or wind.