Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-09
METHODS IN JAPAN
How the Importing Business
is Carried On.
FUNCTION OF A BANJO
HE Is REGARDED AS AN ESSEN
TIAL FACTOR.
Acts as Middleman-British Vigilance
and American Indif-
ferenceA
FUNCTION OF A BANJO

Of Japan are described somewhat In detail.
| The methods Of packing, Hghterage, trans
| portation and other charges are also ex-
| planned, and attention is called to the class
| of merchandise that Is imported by our
| competitors and the particular kinds that
| are given popular preferment. He says:
"In order to meet the peculi arities of the
| Japanese trade and to maintain a thorough
understanding Of the desires Of their pa
| trons each commission house employs one
| or more Japanese statesmen, called 'bantos.'
One chief banto, with various native as
sistants, Is employed in each department CT
| the business. while an American or Euro
pean is in charge of the department and re-
| sponsible to the head Of the house for Its
| administration. Without a banto, however.
| business in Japan would come to a stand
| still.
although the banto does not occupy the
same relation to the business in all respects
| as the compradore In China he is, never
| theless quite as essential a factor. Even
though the manager of a brokers' house
| may speak Japanese fluently, as many do,
he rarely undertakes the initial steps OF
business transaction. The duty of the banto
| Is to meet the japanese merchant in his
place of business, or when the merchant
calls at the commission house to conduct
| the business, either buying or selling. TO
liminaries, the great amount of talking and
tea drinking which are necessary prel1mi-
nary to any transaction, are the portion OF
the banto. No effort is made by the broker
to expedite matters, unless upon the sug-
gestion of one of the natives. At the proper
time he will be calleQ upon to ratify the
terms of the deal, to accept or reject
terms proposed by the merchant.
Methods of Business.
"If a merchant desires goods furnished
after some pattern or design submitted by
him, he may call for bids and select the
price most satisfactory, agreeing to pay the
usual commission In addition or, on the
other hand, he may set his maximum price
when the broker will have to bring his
commission and price within that figure.
These are the usual methods of business In
foreign trade pursued by the best-known
commission houses, although purchases are
made, when market prices seem to war
rant, without orders from merchants upon
the expectation Of future orders at better
prices. and some consignment business is
also done.
When an order is placed the New York,
London or Hamburg office, as the case
may be- advise its representative in the
east by cable Of date of shipment. line, etc,
and the shipper draws against the commits
sion house at sight, or thirty, sixty or
ninety days sight, according to previous
agreement. The discounting bank takes
/
policy and copy of bill of lading-maklng
them a part of the draft which is for
warded for collection. By this arrangement
payment of the draft is made prior to deliv-
cry of goods, under such conditions as
the bank may require. 1t is customary,
however. for banks to permit delivery to be
made at once upon the guaranty of the
draft by the agent. The letter of credit is
made use of by some to accompany each
order, but this is not the preferred method.
Lighterage and Other Charges.
LAS all ships except those of light draft
anchor offshore, landing and shipping
agents are employed to deliver merchandise
from ship to custom house and furnish the
necessary lighters and coolies to perform
this service. A fixed charge is made for
each package or case, which ranges from
sen G. cents) to IS sen 60 cents) for bags,
cases, crates. bales, baskets, etc, up to
picul in weight, while measured tons range
from GO sen go cents to yen GO cents),
and tons by weight are from Go sen (33k
cents to l.25 yen (62A cents). These
charges are borne by the consignee or
agent and have to be computed by him in
fixing prices on imports.
Advantage of Small Packages.
an shipping small packages or in ship
ments amounting to fifty pounds or as much
as 100 pounds where the nature of the mer-
chandise is such as TO admit of its division
into four-pound packages, most salts
factory method to be pursued is by means
of parcels post. The rate by this means Is
IL cents per pound, with maximum OF
four pounds six ounces. At this rate Ship
ments may be made from any point in
the United States to any point in Japan
and to the ports of China and Korea and
in fact to any country in the postal union.
An additional charge of cents per pack
age insures safe delivery by registration.
Delays incident to the landing of cargoes,
fees, etc, in passing the customs, ana
other charges are avoided by making use
Of the parcels post, and in light, bulky
articles a great saving in transportation
charges Is made. The many advantages
and economics of this system of shipment
are we'll worth the careful study of Ameri-
can exporters. When the nature of the
goods is such as to preclude division into
small packages to admit of sending by
parcels post, parcel freight rates may be
obtained through shipping brokers' IN
America. A rate of S1.75 per 100 pounds
is obtanable from central points in Amer
lea to Kobe, Japan.
British Vigilance.
"In such staples as pig iron, channels,
joists, angles and pipes for steam and
boiler purposes, this market is kept in close
touch with prices in England by regular
weekly cables. These quotations are gem
orally received each Tuesday morning, and
orders received in England during the fol-
lowing three days are PROMPTLY filled. Or
ders are taken during the remaining days
subject to cable approval from London.
This method of weekly quotations is not
pursued by American houses, but by this
close attention to the market in Japan Eng
land has been able to maintain a lead
in many large lines far in advance of all
other countries
Indifference Of Americans.
1.-THE sentiment here is general that until
the American manufacturer feels the need
| for competing In the foreign market at all
times, abandons his attitude of Indifference
| toward that field, and is ready to earnestly
| and seriously consider it's needs with the
purpose of catering to them at all times,
he bulk of the trade will go to other coun-
tries, where an unceasing study is made to
cater to the wants and peculiarities. In
short, when the American manufacturer
concludes to treat the foreign buyer on
somewhat the same plane as he does his
good patron at home he will be able to reap
| q large reward for his attention in in
| creased sales in this market"