Imported manufactured goods may be divided into two distinct classes, the first including articles of domestic use or consumption, and the second those which tend to extend the various industries of the country, and which in a sense constitute a certain proportion of capital. In the first category may be placed spun goods, both cotton and woollen, and watches; in the second, machinery, wrought iron and steel, rolling-stock and other materials for the railways.
Woollen industries did not exist in Japan until recently, for the simple reason that sheep were not introduced until after the opening of the ports to Europeans. In 1897, woollen goods were imported to the value of £133,700, and textile fabrics to £1,020,000; while watches, which were never seen in Japan until 1850, are now in general use, and in 1897, 305,894 of these necessary articles were imported and retailed at an average of about 12s. each.
The second class of manufactured articles imported into the Empire in 1897 includes £830,000 worth of wrought iron, £1,360,000 of machinery and boilers, £510,000 of locomotives and railway carriages and trucks, £330,000 of rails, and £200,000 of other railway stock, i.e., 15 per cent. of the total imports. This rapid development, which compares very favourably with the two preceding years, 1896 and 1895, is mainly due to increased activity in railway construction since the Chinese War, and also to the rapid commercial expansion throughout the Empire.
The following table shows the manner in which Japanese foreign trade was shared among the various nations in 1896:
| Exportation from Japan. | Importation into Japan. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Britain | £900,000 | £5,920,000 | £6,820,000 |
| United States | 3,150,000 | 1,640,000 | 4,780,000 |
| China | 1,380,000 | 2,130,000 | 3,510,000 |
| Hong-Kong | 2,000,000 | 910,000 | 2,970,000 |
| British India | 450,000 | 2,250,000 | 2,700,000 |
| France | 1,900,000 | 770,000 | 2,670,000 |
| Germany | 300,000 | 1,720,000 | 2,020,000 |
| Korea | 340,000 | 510,000 | 850,000 |
Japan also carries on a very extensive trade with other countries besides those above mentioned, among them Switzerland, Asiatic Russia, Italy, Australia, the Philippines, Cochin China, Canada, etc., but in no case does it exceed £400,000 annually. The relative high figures of the business transacted between Japan and Hong-Kong is due to that port being a centre whence goods are distributed to other countries. One striking feature of the above table is the preponderance of the trade between Japan and England, from which country she derives all her cotton and linen goods, as well as nine-tenths of her machinery and wrought iron (nails excepted), and more than half of her woollens—in a word, the immense majority of all the manufactured commodities imported into the country. Germany sends machinery, cloth, almost all the iron nails, alcohol, sugar and paper; Belgium and Russia export manufactured articles into, but take almost nothing from, Japan. The principal French import is mousseline de laine, valued at £570,000, which is almost a French monopoly. About a fifth of the goods imported from America consists of machinery and wrought metals; the rest includes petroleum, raw cotton, flour and leather. The United States, France, and lastly Italy, are Japan’s principal customers for raw silk, as well as for her light spun silks. Five-sixths of the tea grown in Japan goes to America and the rest to England. China, Korea and India take almost all the Japanese matches, while the coal will be found distributed along the whole of the Asiatic Coast of the Pacific. Copper goes to Hong-Kong, Germany and England, and rice, camphor, matting, straw and art goods are distributed all over Europe and the United States.
This brilliant picture of Japanese commercial prosperity has, unfortunately, its shady side. Many complain that the articles manufactured in Japan are not up to the mark in point of excellence and finish. As is generally the case with Orientals, they start well and make their first batch of goods admirably, but the quality soon falls off, probably the result, not so much of negligence, as of over-hasty production, due to competition. There can be no question that these and other complaints are not unfounded, and many intelligent Japanese are the first to acknowledge and deplore them. As an instance in point, matches are not nearly so well made as they used to be. Many complaints have also been made as to the increasing inferiority of a certain class of silk goods known as haboutaye and of the silk pocket-handkerchiefs, of which an enormous quantity are exported, with the result that the exportation of these last-mentioned necessary articles fell from 1,855,000 dozens in 1895, to 1,157,000 in 1897. On the other hand, there is a distinct increase in the export of haboutaye. Nevertheless many thoughtful people have watched this deterioration in the excellence of the new Japanese industries with some alarm, and not a few manufacturers who have had their attention drawn to the matter have already mended their ways. The same complaint might be made of goods manufactured in certain parts of Europe, notably in Germany, where cheap and showy articles are fabricated in superabundance, but Japan would do well to maintain her reputation as high as possible as a producer of all that is best in the market.
Still graver is the charge brought against Japanese merchants of occasional lapses from a high standard of honour, and of availing themselves of the slightest possible pretext to avoid fulfilling the letter of their contracts, in which they contrast unfavourably with the higher class of Chinese merchants, whose reputation for integrity and for a strict adherence not only to their written, but also to their verbal promises, is well known, with some degree, possibly, of exaggeration. It is as well to recall in this connection that the Japanese were until quite recently a feudal and military people, who despised trade in all its branches, and those who were engaged in its pursuit were not considered any the better for being honest. In China, on the other hand, it has ever been otherwise, the merchants, after the literati, being looked upon as the most honourable class in the Empire, whereas the military were invariably despised, being recruited from the lowest ranks of society. Ideas have certainly been considerably modified in Japan in the last thirty years; still, the majority of the merchants are of the same class as their predecessors when they are not their immediate descendants; therefore, we should not be surprised if they retain some of their traditions it were better they were without. In a word, since the Restoration of 1868 the Japanese have done their best to get rid of the prejudices of feudal times, but although these are fast disappearing, some of their after-effects still remain.
It has always been extremely difficult to induce Orientals to understand the value of time, and in this particular the Japanese are still on a par with their neighbours. Foreign merchants have the greatest difficulty in persuading their Japanese correspondents that a few days’; nay, a few hours’ delay in the transaction of business and in the despatch of goods often leads not only to much inconvenience, but to absolute loss.
One of the chief desires of the Japanese at the present time is to see their export commerce pass from the hands of foreigners, who hold it, into their own; but they may rest assured that until they improve their business habits they will not succeed in carrying out their object in this direction.