Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-19
JAPAN'S LEADERS
ARRIVE TODAY
COMMERCIAL COMMISSIONERS
GUESTS OF LOS ANGELES
BANQUET TO VISITORS WILL BE
SERVED TOMORROW NIGHT
Return to Pacific Coast Is Made After
Visit to Chief Industrial Gen.
ters of the United
States

The honorary commercial commits
sioners of Japan, numbering more than
fifty of the most prominent business
men of the Nipponese empire, will ar
rive today at noon in special train.
The commissioners will be the guests
of the local chamber of commerce until
Sunday, when they will depart for
day in San Diego. Later they will
visit Riverside and Redands, the
Grand Canyon and end their trip at
San Francisco.
Saturday night a banquet will be
served at the Alexandria hotel. Auto
rides about the city. especially through
the oil we'll district, have been ar
ranged, as has also brief trip to San
Pedro harbor.
The present trip is the result Of a
visit made in 1908 to Japan by repre-
sentatives of the Associated Chambers
Of Commerce of the Pacific coast. 1t
was decided that commercial relations
between Japan and the United States
visit of the leading business men to
this country and so an invitation was
extended At first it was planned to
have the commissioners visit only the
Pacific coast states, but later the trip
was enlarged and extended so as to
cover the entire United Sta'es.
Every Industrial centss Visited
Every important Industrial. COM
mercial, agricultural and mining center
in the United states will have been
visited by the japanese commissioners
by the time they reach San Francisco.
Their Investigations have covered al
most every line of endeavor In the
United States, and II has been freely
stated that trade relations will be
greatly increased as a result of the
trip.
In the party are the presidents of
tie chambers Of commerce of the six
principal cities of Japan-Tokio, Yolto-
hama, Osaka, Kiote, Kobe and Ne
goya-eight members of the Japanese
parliament, numerous bank presidents,
manufacturers, capitalists, brokers,
educators, authors and Japanese
municipal officers
The chairman of the honorary COM
mission is Baron EiiChi Shlbusawa, one
Of the most eminent of the elder gem
Grafton of Japan, and the founder and
father of the modern banking system
in that country, and one of its leading
orators and statesmen. Baron Kanda
Is one of the prominent educators OF
the empire, a graduate of Amherst
speaker, both in japanese and English.
Many other members OF the commits
sion are brilliant men, and all are.
highly educated and cultured.
Bring Friendly Greeting
While the honorary commission Is
an unofficial body, its members were
called together by the emperor before
their departure for America at one of
the imperial palaces, and through the
prime minister their mission of peace
and good will to the United States,
and an increase In the trade of Japan
with America by enlarged purchases
of the former country in the United
States, was heartily commended. They
were given remarkable farewell on
their departure by the commercial
bodies and people Of Japan
In the language Of Baron Shibusawa,
they bring a greeting of friendship
and good will from the fifty million
people of Japan to the ninety million
people of the United States, with
whom there has been a strong and
traditional friendship from the time
that Commodore Perry entered the
Japanese ports in 1853"
The purpose of the commission, in
addition to responding to the invita-
tion of the Pacific coast chambers Of
commerce. is to see the natural re-
sources of this country, TO examine its
banking and industrial institutions,
and ascertain where they can make
purchases In this country on advan-
tageous terms. The United States now
purchases more from Japan than any
other country, while Japan purchases
more from Great Britain and Germany
than from the United States. 1t is TO
equalize this difference, by increasing
its lines of purchases in the United
states, If 1t can be done on even terms
yryffh OIL countries that Of
the principal objects of the commits
sion.
Importance Is Recognized
The international Importance of this
visit of distinguished Japanese has
been recognized by the United States
government, which delegated three
representatives one of the state de-
partment and two of the department
of commerce and labor to accompany
and assist the commission throughout
the country.
In all the great cities that have been
visited, from Seattle, Portland and
Spokane to Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland,
Buffalo, New York and Boston, the
commission has been greeted with re-
ceptions and entertainments OF. the
most cordial and enthusiastic char
acter, participated in by the leading
men of those cities in finance, manu-
featuring, education and public affairs.
They have been received formally by
the governors of several states, the
mayors OF cities and by such educa-
tional institutions as the University OF
Wisconsin, the Chicago university.
Syracuse university, Cornell university,
Yale university, Harvard university
and many others
The japanese commission has been
given the fullest facilities for inspect
ing the great resources and industries
of the country. In the northwest they
have visited the vast forests of Wash
ington, Oregon and Idaho, with their
immense modern sawmills; the -four
mills OF Oregon and Minneapolis, the
copper mines of Butte City and the
enormous iron mines of Hibbing,
Mimi; the ore loading piers and ore
steamers of Duluth, the tanneries and
breweries of Milwaukee and many of
the largest manufacturing plants in
the United States.