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Perhaps the most generally useful product of Japan is the bamboo,1 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

1 See Transactions Japan Society, London, vol. i., for an interesting paper by Charles Holme, and Transactions Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. xxvii., for an elaborate and finely illustrated paper by Sir Ernest Satow, on "Bamboo."

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smacks in the afternoon is an interesting sight; and the aspect of the sea, dotted with white sails, appeals so strongly to the aesthetic 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.1

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 Japan Mail Steamship Company three fine passenger steamers of 6,300 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

1 See Appendix.

instance in which Japan has got an order of ship. building from a Western country." 1

Among the minor miscellaneous industries which can only be mentioned are sugar-raising, papermaking (there are a number of mills which are paying well), dyeing, glass-blowing, lumber, horsebreeding, 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

1 Japan Times. See also Appendix.

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