The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-12-13
TRADINGN JAPAN

pairing engineering works. ETC. tie total
vi rot reach Jess thaa iaa assa.avs yea. or
81. es9 9ea.
Another thriving agricultural pursuit in
japan. OF course. = tea culture. for which
abour 30 zoo acres are planf91 annually
Ths annual product beng ABOUT sS.sss 80
gsounss. There Is considerable discussion
from eirra 20 xlraS IN the native and for
e3xn pspsrs here On he subject % japan
ese tea a. q beverage The japanese Ike
II ard 1rfnk a Ere&t deal of = Fore g1ers
affect 70 Ind Il inferior 20 the tea o. Cey-
lon or q China To r1y own taste z y pal
atahse enough. se-ve1 as ] have had Il In
Jaranese houses from she fhInnest and
dalnEless little cups IMAGINABLE. AT any
rate the Un1fe5 States takes far share
% & The torGi shipments fer last year.
lsaS % green tea. Bancha tea and tea
dust from Japan % ere United States.
amounted % s.. SO. n catties, valued al
asn.l7s sen. o. S4.s74aNs. From what
gnow OF The tea trade IN the Eastern
seates I an sure that much OF this Is used
Tor mixing With other teas OF course
there are All possible grades % japanese
Tea. from the expensive Uti variety when
sells Tor $ a pound. 20 the 'Bsncha' at 5
certs The ord nary tea used IN respect
able japanese houses costs about = cents
a pound TIE same class Of families ire
uuentIy use for special occasions Tea that
costs twice or thrice as much. Unlike the
chinese and Indian varieties. Japanese
tea must nos De made w3th boiling water.
ard even with water below The boiling
fsglrt the first brew - often thrown away
because 4 - TOO bitter.
Tho tea season begins In May, but al
though business continues nominaAy
through the year, feg large purchases are
made after early autumn. The present
wear IS an exception. For some reason
safes during the summer were compare
lively light. but Just recently they nave
Increased. and the tea experts who usual
Is 60 back TO America early IN the IAN
stri finger here. The last Canadian Pa
effc steamer actually bad tea packed IN
al her spare stateTooms.
Japan exports Httie except green teas.
IN preparing the leaf for the foreign mar
ket the grower subjects II 70 one hring'
which is sufficient 20 preserve Il in transit
10 the open ports, as. for example, 10 ho-
kohama. There Il q bought by foreign
merchants and fired" again, process
which I have had the pleasure OF witness
iug II IS placed IN "a deep iron receptacle
over a slow charcoal fire. and faithful
eoofie stirs Il continually with his hands.
Coioring matter Of various kinds Is put IN
"a giye II the desired tint. When taken
from the firing pans II Is assorted and
80
shipment.
Al A general meeting OF japanese tea
merchants recently held at Tsu, Mlyu pre-
lecture the question OF asking for d gov
ernment subsidy. to be expended in pro-
noting the Japanese tea trade With for
eign countries and protecting X from the
encroac hments OF CeyIon tea. was fully
discussed. The original bill sets the
amount OF the subsidy 10 be asked at yen
n. 60 per annum for ten years. but two
amendments were offered. one fixing tho
amount at yen $4,000 per annum for five
years and the other NJ yen 10000 per an
mum for five years. Mr., Maye2a Masaua
made a speech limiting that Il would be
Well 10 ask a sum equal 20 the revenue col
lected BY the government in the form OF
duty on exported tea He also suggested
that the matter should be left wholly In
the hands Of a eommistee, under the presi-
dency Of Mr.. Otani kahei, OF Yokohama.
TO decide upon the amount. The meeting
adopted his suggestion and intrusted TO
the committee ali details in connection
with the matter.
According 20 the jill. during the six
months from April TO September. 1886
- 81. 500 pounds OF tea were imported into
Yokohama. a decrease OF 2s42. 400 pounds
in comparison with the same period OF 1895.
and Of 2.2d.3o pounds as compared with
1885,. The same tendency Is 10 be noted in
The average price. viz. yen 2g5S per 100
pounds in 1856. yen $50 in IS95, and yen
q g In 1895
Beer.
There are In Japan 1850 distillerIes OF
various kinds and grades. and they pro-
duce leoe .0ao gallons Of sake annually.
and 4So,eeo gallons Of other alcoholic bev-
eTages Sake. as you may Judge by the
quantity produced which Is at the rate of
three gallons Tor each man. woman and