The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-12-09
JAPAN WILL COMPETE
AN IMPORTANT NEW ELEMENT IN
THE INDUSTRY OF THE WORLD.
Finest Goods Produced at Prices That
ious for Its Supremacy.


useful with the beautful-finds in Japan its
fullest application. Nowhere is there a ma
ton more devoted TO the beautiful Art
seems to be their natural birthright. The
curve Of the swallows wing. the airy grace
of the spray of cherry blossoms. the ethe
real texture Of the drifting cloud are to them
matters OF everyday familiarity. Their
personal manners and habits. TOO, are es-
sentially graceful. They are playful as chill
dren. or as kittens, and as courteous as
any grand seigneur of the days of chivalry.
Truly, one would say. poetical. dreamy,
happy people. butterfiy-like, imbued with
the music of life but with little of its prac-
teal philosophy; people seldom serious,
never dominated by great passion.
In the great international games of war, OF
commerce, and of industry.
But he reckons i'll who does not credit
the Japanese with seriousness of purpose
OIL. practically of execution. They are re-
ally about the most earnest people in the
world. They are intensely thorough. They
are ruled Dy unvarying principle. Never
did a nation show more tremendous pa
trfotism than they during the late Chinese
war. Nor was IT fitful, mercurial pas
sion, but Steadfast determination as fixed
and enduring as that of the Briton. AS for
their thoroughness, all the world knows
tna1 n,n mas long been prcvsrb,al The
are said TO be carved as carefully as the
high altar ITSELF though no human eye
the work. So with everything made by the
japanese. Inside and outside. everywhere
whether in parts seen or unseen, the work
manShip is perfect as human skill and
patience can make II.
If we turn to the practical Industrial de-
velopment OF Japan, We have, perhaps, the
most impressive spectacle the whole realm
of enterprise and labor has to show to-
day. The warning that his island empire
is about to become serious competitor
in the American and European markets
with the identical manufactured goods we
have hitherto been sending to Japan is by
no means meaningless. England has al
cashire cotton mills have not merely ceased
to supply Japan with manufactured goods.
They are suffering from the rivalry of Jap
anese mills in other markets. The hundreds
of towering chimneys of Osaka are inn
pressive landmarks of industrial progress.
They mean that the japanese will hence
compete with the rest of the world in the
export trade to COMMUNICATING coun>
tries
A PROOF OF PROGRESS
What we may presently expect from ia
pan is to be seen at the present time in
the great industrial exhibition at Kioto.
Such an exhibition is held every fourth
year. under the auspices Of the imperial
government, for the purpose of promoting
commerce.
seen in each one over its immediate prede-
cessor is really startling. Hitherto these
exhibitions have been held at Toxic. but
K XII a city which this year has ceIe-
brated the 1.100th anniversary OF It's found
ing. 1t is an extensive and varied exhipl-
departments. and 1t is attended by vast
throngs OF people from all parts OF the
empire. The admission fee, by the way. is
only sen. or 2ls cents.a circumstance
lob no "a a q
character and purport of the whole ex-
hibition. For while the thoroughness and
of the Japanese are here well maintaine I,
the cost of production Is seen to be so low
as to offer serious menace TO the industries
of other lands.
the various branches of manufacture is not
adequately to be described within the Inn
its Of a newspaper article. Indeed, no de-
scription could make clear to one who has
not actually visited the exhibition the Won
derful advances made in all departments OF
The native for
turtles. show vast improvement Silks. en-
broideries. porcelain. lacquer. enamels. carv-
ings in wood, ivory and metal, have all
taken on wonderful development since
the great markets of the world have been
familiarized with these products. Western
art, also. is cultivated. but as an exotic,
without arrestng the progress of the native
reproductions of nature. In one OF the gal
leries of the fine arts building are TO be
seen a dozen paintings, cnle0y INCIDENTS OF
the Chinese war, which are creditable imi-
tations of the modern French school.
Throughout the exhibition as a whole.
the London Times. the useful preponderate as'
over the ornamental The variety of new
fabrics. the wealth of new designs, and the
audacity of new adaptations of material
to the wants of life. are all so impressive
that one cannot resist peering into the not
distant future when yet greater develop
will be revealed, possibly to the consterna-
ton of the West. What possesses the most
immediate interest for foreigners is not ma
tive art and Industry, but the department
of Japanese manufacture which has become
naturalized and in which the products of
Europe and America have been adopted.
copied and sometimes improved. The newly
gained confidence of the Japanese. their in
telligence and their intentneSS OF purpose,
would overcome almost any obstacle But
the obstacles are few and their enterprise
is assisted by certain very great adyan-
tages. 1t is perfectly evident TO every one
that country in which the wages OF
skilled laborers are only six silver yen a
month, or say 10 cents day. must have
enormous advantages over American or Eu-
ropean industries
PROGRESS IN MANY INDUSTRIES.
Mention has already been made of Japan's
great progress in cotton manufacture. She
is likewise extending her conquest in many
other directions. Wooden fabrics, to which
the war has impaired a wonderful stimu-
luS, canvas, ana the neaNleF collon SoOuSs
ropes and cOrdage of all kinds, carpets OF
cotton and hemp. In which already large
export trade to the United States has been
established. are all we'll represented at tho
Kioto exhibition. In the great department
of chemicals Japan really seems to be
abreast of the most advanced country. In
the item of matches her productive ca
pacity is to be seen in the fact that at
Kobe short time ago no less than 1000
tons of them were stored In one lot, await
ing shipment. And so through vast range
of articles great and small.
One turns from the exhibition OF them
with the irrepressible conviction that there
is nothing within the range OF human IN
genuity which. in course OF time. the Jap
anese will not manufacture. and that what
ever they make at all they will make We'll
and make more cheaply than any one else
i'm the world. One enormous advantage
which should here be mentioned is this.
that the Japanese are still free TO adopt
and copy the patented inventions of other
countries ar their own sweet will. Thus
they are possessed of every secret of West
ern handcraft. while their own discoveries
they keep relgiously to themselves with
that secretiveness in which they surpass
all the world.
fans and parasols and lanterns, for certain
silk and cotton fabrics. and for various
other goods of characteristic Japanese de-
sign But in the Kioto exhibition one Is al
every turn confronted with articles Of jap
anese manufacture which seem identical
with those Yankee notions" of which
America was supposed TO have the monopo-
~. There are. for example. perfumery.
brushes and toilet requisites of every kind
lamps and glassware, clocks. watches and
Et.1a los mi ntav-