, 1884-03-01
JAPANESE INDUSTRY.
Primitive Industrial and Agricul-
tural Implements in Use
The Japanese Land system---How
the Crops Are Raised--Branchesi
OF Manufacturing - Ton
SILK, Cotton


lNOIs hOuuOn ANt"a
Runagai is a busy little place doing a big
business in cotton and the eggs OF silkworms.
An industry that is even more In evidence is
that Of basket-making. These, woven Of
bamboo, are of all shapes and sizes, are won
derfuly cheap, and are the prettiest things
Imaginable. As in all other Japanese villages
we visited, everybody in Kumagai was hard
at work There was, 1t is true, a temporary
oessotion OF labor on the part of a body of
men, women, and children who followed us
round .dumbly staring, but generally the PEG
pie went On with their work, evidently
pleased with the attention it attracted from
the foreigners. All the implements in use
were OF the most primitive description A
gang OF fourteen men were driving piles pre-
paratory to building a structure Of heavier
cast than tho average Japanese house. Stand
ing on q scafrold, the fourteen men hoisted
the ram a few feet, and, letting go their hold,
It fell with whatever impetus was to be de-
rived from the height 1t dropped In pre-
cisely the same way we saw a gang of men
driving piles for a bridge some fifty miles
inland. p
A common object In Japanese towns and
villages is the ~rice-pounder. A man, or
sometimes a woman, steps ou the end of a
long beam, at the other end of which a stout
piece Of wood is fixed at right angles The
WtlRnb OIL Tue nan rhlSS5 Tue Deaul, anu Wueu
he steps on it falls to the scoop filled with
rice, by which treadmill work an appreciable
portion is pounded. The Same primitive
kind of tools are In use through all the
earlier processes of rice growing. The rice
harvest was in full swing as wo drove along,
and, Sunday though it was, there was no
cessation OF labor, whether in field or home
stead. In a journey OF nearly $50 miles
through this portion Of the interior l did
not SEQ q single pillow. In the course of a
subsequent journey through tho southern
portion of the island 1 saw two miserable
little things which u man could easily lift,
drawn by an understood OK.
In almost universal use is the earliest idea
OF a pillow. 1t is a spade, with a narrow blade
about three feet long. The farmer thrusts
this well into the soil, and. turning ii over on
one side, makes a furrow, the action and the
result being identical with that of a pillow.
Only, watching the laborious process, one
thinks of the enormous strides agriculture
will take in Japan when these rude instru-
ments are cast aside, and the pillow Is put to
work. When the rice is cut and dried
it Is stripped by the simple process
OF drawing the heads through a
small comb, which does a handful
ut a time. 1t Is thrashed by a fail pre-
cisely of the same make as that in use in
the thrashing floor of Nachon the time Uz-
rah put forth his hand TO steady the ark OF
God that David was bringing up from Kirjath
Jearim. When the rice is stripped it is laid
out to dry on mats spread in the sun. In
passing through u village these mats covered
wit rice are frequently to be seen fanking
the full length OF the road OF both sides.
Porcelain and earthenware are manufac-
tured in every province OF japan. Its enamel.
ers on copper have no rivals in the world. 1t
has workers in bronze, carvers Of ivory, and
Is the home Of lacquer. But 1t Is essentially an
agricultural country, living by the fruit OF
its land. According to the last census, taken
In 1880, the total population was 80. 000, 900.
and of these nearly IL, OO0, 900 were farmers
in almost equal proportion Of sexes. Under
the present order of things, dating from the
revolution Of 1868, the people own the land,
paying the tax for it to the government.
About three-tenths of the titled land OF Japan
is in the hands OF small proprietors, who,
with their wives and children, do all the farm
work. or the balance, though held in large
sections, there is nothing akin to the larger
farms OF England.
In addition TO the population returned as
farmers, there is a considerable proportion OF
farm laborers. An able-bodied farm hand
receives wages at about the rate OF tenpencs
a day, with board. AS he is almost a vegeta.
rian. his food does not cost much, consisting
chiefly Of rice, barley, peas, beans, and tur.
nips, with occasional relishes in the shape OF
eggs and salt fish. Rice Is the principal
product Of the empire, being grown in all its
provinces. Tea, silk and cotton come next,
and, in addition, there are grown tobacco,
wheat, barley, millet, peas and beans OF
late years, much attention has been given to
the culture of grapes, and the Japanese are
not without hope that within the next ten
years they may introduce and popularize in
Europe u new vintage.