The principal exports are: manufactured silk, copper, food, rice, drugs, and colours, matches, mats for floors, coal.
The principal import trade is from: Great Britain, the United States, British India, Hong Kong, Korea, China, Germany, Russian Asia, France, and Belgium.
The principal export trade is with: United States (72,000,000 yen), China and Hong Kong (about 40,000,000 yen each), France (about 27,000,000 yen), Korea (11,000,000 yen odd), Great Britain (11,000,000 yen), and British India (9,000,000 yen).
The following (from the Statesman’s Year Book) are the shipping statistics of the Japanese ports (without Formosa), exclusive of coasting trade, each vessel being counted at every Japanese port it entered:—
| Entered. | Cleared. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Tonnage. | No. | Tonnage. | ||
| Japanese | steamships | 3,042 | 3,861,659 | 3,064 | 3,883,782 |
| ” | sailing ships and junks | 1,344 | 67,139 | 1,408 | 68,902 |
| Foreign | steamships | 2,998 | 7,018,077 | 2,990 | 7,016,357 |
| ” | sailing ships | 105 | 104,505 | 102 | 95,910 |
| Total | 7,489 | 11,051,380 | 7,564 | 11,064,951 | |
Of the total foreign ships entered, 1644 of 4,080,583 tons were British; 385 of 1,192,153 tons German; 284 of 455,243 tons Russian; 188 of 240,906 tons Norwegian; 175 of 404,724 tons American; 154 of 303,690 tons French. Of the total shipping in 1901, 1094 vessels of 2,050,201 tons entered Nagasaki; 770 of 2,001,233 tons Yokohama; 1446 of 2,998,955 tons Kobé; 207 of 85,952 tons Shimonoseki; 1683 of 2,870,640 tons Moji.
In 1901 the merchant navy of Japan (without Formosa) consisted of 1321 steamers of European type, of 543,258 tons; 3850 sailing vessels of European type, of 320,572 tons; and 911 native craft above 200 “koku,” of 415,260 “koku.”
In 1901 the total ships for foreign trade entered to the ports of Formosa were 2017 of 184,192 tons, of which 140 of 125,222 tons were steamers, 1877 of 58,970 tons were sailing vessels.
The total ships cleared the ports of Formosa were 1946 of 174,814 tons, of which 139 of 118,912 tons were steamers, 1807 of 55,902 were sailing vessels.
The principal steamship line is the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, the ships of which are usually white with black funnels, and a white house-flag carrying two red horizontal lines in the centre. It has a dozen good steamers and many smaller ones. None are very swift, and so there are none of any account as “armed liners,” supposing such craft even to be of value. On the other hand, all are very useful as transports. Both in the Chino-Japanese war and in the war with Russia they proved very valuable.