The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-05-12

1 IOhOI<Ah+ay - pa w al VI an
other cause, which would interrupt
trade relations between Japan and tht
United states would Immediately par
Ialyze the internal business economy Of
this country. The United States is
Japan's best customer, and takes one
third of all it has.to sell. These ex-
/ ports which go to American markets
are almost all the product of japanese
labor and the increasing trade with
the United States means more employ
ment at higher wages. ANY interrupt
ton of this trade will spell disaster to
the common people of Japan, and it
| is not too much to say that, in a mate
rial way, Japan's very life depends
upon the maintenance of good CONNER
| ciaI relations with the United States.
The folly of a japanese governmental
policy which might tend to lessen the
| export business to America is too ap-
parent to require notice.
Yokohama ranks third among the
ports of the world in the amount or
exports shipped to the United states;
Paris being first and London second.
The most important item of export is
silk This product strikingly illustrates
the Japanese dependency upon the
United States, because the recent Wall
Street panic was more disastrous in
its results in Japan than at home, ow-
ing to the falling off in demands for
raw silk for the New Jersey factories.
The warehouses here are choked with
bales of silk that long ago should
have been on their way to America.
Capital to the extent of $35,00O,OOO is
tied up in this way
Notwithstanding this temporary dull
ness, the future of the silk business in
Japan is bri ht. If politics or war do
not interrupt, the United States will
renew its old demand and Japan Will
prosper Domestic conditions in Japan
are peculiarly adapted to the success
full production of silk. In most silk
countries only one crop of mulberry
leaves can be obtained in season, but
in Japan there are three crops. Large
tracts of rough volcanic land. entirely
worthless for other purposes, are
adapted to raising mulberry shrubs,
and eventually will be put to this use.
Much of this land is located around
the base of Fujiyama, Japan's sacred
t<liSdAt lc1DOl - eAAoeAANA o.
vantage Japan enjoys over other. silk
producing countries Here the farmer
raises silk worms as a side line, the
women and children gathering the
leaves and feeding the ravenous little
worms that make the silk.
Tea is the second item of Importance
in the exports from Japan to America,
but the future of this business is not
so promising. For several years past
there has been a marked falling off in
the volume of the shipments, and there
is still a general feeling of depression
in the trade. The causes of this stag
nation seem to be the strong competi-
ton of Ceylon and Formosa, and the
unfair business methods of the Japan
csc firms.
Although Japanese porcelain has a
market in all parts of the world, the
United States is much larger con-
sumner than any other country; in fact,
almost half the porcelain shipped from
the port of Yokohama goes to America.
This is another industry that probably
will have a large development because
of its adaptation to local conditions.
The artistic temperament of the Jap
anese workmen makes them very skill
full decorators, and wages are extremely
low, because the business is conducted
as a household industry. While most
of the work is done by hand, one large
machinery plant has been installed.
This modern factory employs four
thousand operatives, and its entire out
put goes to the American market in
with the cheap products OF
Germany.
Most of the tooth brushes used in
the United States are made by women
and girls in country homes in the vicin-
ity of Osaka. The bone used in the
of these brushes is
brought from Chicago, the wood from
China, and the bristles from Russia.
The reason that this has become the
center of such an industry, in the alb
sence of all the raw materials needed,
is the abundance of cheap labor. Work.
ers may be had for ten cents a day.
Another branch of home industry
that is steadily increasing is the man
ufacture of certain kinds of linen goods.
The material for these articles is i'm
ported from Great Britain, sent to the
districts of Japan, where men,
women and children do the embroidery
and drawn-work on it, after which 1t
frequently finds it's way back to the
country of its origin. This work is
very highly priced for ladies' waists,
and the country people who tediously
work out the exquisite patterns earn
from five TO fifteen cents day. While
this may strike an American as star
walton wages, it is quite the contrary
in rural Japan. The natives are very
deft in this kind of needle work and
their habits of living are extremely
frugal. When all the members Of
large family are given employment
their total income rises to an amount
that is considera bic, when judged by
Oriental standards. About $2,000,O00
worth of this work finds its way into
the United States every year.
A new item in the exports from Japan
to the United States is lumber. There
are extensive forests of hard woods,
both in northern and southern Japan,
and lumber from them can be laid
down in California in large quantities
at lower cost than oregon pine. This
imported, lumber is used for railroad
ties. for making furniture and also for
building cars. The oak ties from the
Japanese forests are far superior to