Evening star., 1920-07-11
125 MILLION VOTED
FOR JAP ANS ROADS
With Only 10000 Automo-
bi|es, Empire Presses
Need for Highways.
BY JUNIUS b. WOOD,
Correspondence Of The Star and Chi
cagO Daily News.

Correspondence of The Star and Chi
cagO Daily News.
TOXIC. Japan. July 3.-Japan, with
only 10000 automobiles in the empire, has
appropriated SIPS, 900 900 as state aid dur
| ing the next ten years for building good
roads. The comparatively small num-
Der OF cars now in Japan is 40 per cent
more than there were year ago. In
sistence on good roads has increased in
about the same proportion. lima agine the
United States appropriating at rate of
S12500 per automobile for road work!
Good highways are needed. Of course,
/ for many other things than automobile
touring, but of the $4,000 miles Of high
ways on the islands, satisfactory for
pedestrians. small carts or 'rikishas.
few outside of the largest cities can be
| used for motor travelling.
From Toxic to Kobe is a railroad ride
of 376 miles, covered in less than four
teen hours. Old Dutch writer's tell of
! the macadam causeway stretching be-
tween the two cities and known as the
| Tokiado eastern sea road. 1t was
crowded with daimyos (nobles) and their
| armed retainers. merchants. peasants.
pack horses and all the heterogeneous
| assortments of a medieval highway. who
| stopped az the tea houses and rested
under the trees, chatting and leisurely
| Toxic of the Shoguns. The trip con-
sumed between thirteen and fourteen
| days.
Need of New Bridges.
| Recently the good roads boosters. un-
| der the auspices of the roads improve
| ment association, made demonstration
trip in six automobiles over this
road 1t required five days. At five differ
ent places the railroad is using the only
| substantial bridges. Pedestrians and
carts must either ford or cross on struc-
lures which will not hold the weight OF
| a car. 1t was necessary 10 loao the au-
| tomobileS on trains to make the cross
| ings The prefectural government has
now set aside 81 600 900 for the improve
! ment of roads and construction OF bridges
through this Hakone district. Highway
bridges are to be built across the mouth
| of Lake Hamana. 5000 ken QS,oo0 feet).
and over the Fuji-kawa (F'ugl river).
Oi-gawa and Tenryu-Gawa. 1t Will De
several years before the automobile
| highway through this picturesque and
historical section is completed.
The nation pays half the expense OF
road improvement, while the perfectural,
county municipal and township govern
ments pay the remainder. An automo-
bile owner pays in Toxic district an an
nual tax Of $50 to the prefecture and
SIS to the municipality So he is entitled
to something in the way OF roads.
bill is before the diet to have the state
collect all the automobile taxes and use
them for road building.
Building Shorter Roads.
Work is going ahead on several
shorter stretches connecting cities. For
the twenty miles between Kobe and
Osaka s., ,00O, 900 has been set aside, and
the work is to be completed In fve
years. The eighteen miles between
Toxic and Yokohama is to be finished
in three years at cost OF Sf,o0ooo
Next will follow the road between Osaka
and Kyoto at a cost of $500. 600. II
will connect with the main Toxic Kobe
highway From Tokyo north to Nikko
is ninety-seven miles. This road re-
ouires the erection OF a bridge owe the
Tone gawa at cost of $4,000 II
should be finished next year, when auto
mobiles may make the run from Yoko-
hama, through Tokyo. to Nikko and It's
temples in three hours.
Military needs have been another
strong incentive to good roads. The
twenty-one mile road between Yoko-
hama and the naval station at 1oko-
suka skirting the sea. is delightful
This road reaches Kamakura. fourteen
miles from Yokohama. the old Shogu-
nate capital of the twelfth century with
its colossal Daibutsu and hoary temples
The state has offered the prefecture
$40. 90, 600 to improve the other two
roads between Yokohama and Kama
kura. but so far the latter has not come
forward with an equal amount
Spending Millions I'm Korea.
In Chosen (Korea) and Hokkaido
Yezo), the northern island chiehy
visited to see the city Of Hakodate
and the few surviving Amos. millions
are being expended for the construc-
tion of new roads. The imperial gov
ernment builds them and the local
governments maintain them. In four
Years $40 1000 900 will have been spent
for road building in Chosen. Much
of this new highway can already be
seen paralleling the railroad from
Antung on the north for $50 miles to
Fusan on the southern tip OF the
Korean peninsula. In all about 5000
miles of highway are being built or
modernized in Chosen.
Japan is hopefully building roads
and present and future owners or au-
tomobiles are equally hopeful OF the
use they are to get out of them. Lit
tie thought is given now to the con-
tinuous expenditure and labor neces-
sary to keep them up.
Most of the roads are macadam,
some oiled and others having asphalt
surfacing What will happen to them
when a flock of cars such as may be
seen on Chicago boulevards on fine
Sunday afternoon is turned loose on
them is difficult to imagine.
The government is going to pront
by the experience of other countries.
n. Sagabi, chief of the roads section.
home affairs department, has been
selected to make tour of Europe and
America to learn their road adminis-
tration and road building methods.
He is looking forward to seeing
Michigan boulevard, 5th avenue, the
Lincoln highway and other gigantic
feats of road building, all of which
he already knows by name.