learn. There does not exist a more ingenious and industrious people, or one more desirous of adopting new inventions or improvements. They had acquired the rudiments of science, and were versed in some of the arts, at a time when Europe was in a state of comparative barbarism. They constructed, from drawings alone, a steam-engine, before one had been seen by themselves; and they are now able to turn out from their factory railway locomotives and marine steam-engines which would do no discredit to a European establishment. They already possess a short railway. Japanese captains command Government war steamers, and the machinery is superintended by native engineers. They understand, and are making available, the electric telegraph. They construct telescopes, barometers, thermometers, and theodolites. Their hydrographical attainments are remarkable; their charts are rightly triangulated and always most correct, and unrivalled for their accuracy of drawing and their neatness. They are well versed in astronomy, and we have heard that there exists a Japanese translation of Laplace's Méchanique Celeste.' They imitate Chubb's locks so well that their productions cannot be distinguished from the real. They turn out excellent glass from their manufactories; and Sir Rutherford Alcock found one establishment making moderator lamps. Nasmyth's hammer is in full operation at a great foundry, and the diving-bell is in common use. The Prince of Satsuma possesses an extensive arsenal, in which eight hundred workmen are constantly employed. Notwithstanding the dark clouds by which the horizon is at present obscured, the results of the treaty which opened the ports to foreign trade have been such as to afford much encouragement for the future but great alterations must take place in the political and social economy of the empire before it can yield those great supplies for foreign markets of which it is undoubtedly capable. There are several powerful causes in operation, which, for the present at least, restrict the ability of Japan to consume European commodities. There is a stringent sumptuary code, which limits expenditure among all classes of the population; and there prevails generally among the higher orders a profound contempt for commerce and commercial men which has embodied itself in the national customs and institutions. A millionaire merchant (if one exists in Japan) is obliged to prostrate himself in the dust before the lowest two-sworded retainer of a Daimio, if he happens to meet one on the road. Wealth bestows no social position. The most prosperous trader dares not appear on horseback in the streets of Yeddo; if he did, he would be instantly dragged from the saddle and ignominiously rolled in the mud. Nowhere has the line between trade and privileged privileged rank been more rigidly and sharply defined. The merchant has his place in society, but it is a very low one; and if he should accumulate wealth, it would, in the present constitution of society, be of little value either to himself or to his children. It has been ascertained that there is a party in the country which would rejoice in extended commercial relations between Europe and Japan. Some of the smaller Daimios, although, like the old feudal nobility of Europe, they profess to hold trade in contempt, have entered into commercial transactions through their agents at the treaty ports, and they have been well satisfied with the results. It is stated by a British merchant settled at Yokahama that several facts had come under his personal observation which convinced him that the report which had been circulated that all the Daimios were inveterately opposed to foreigners was false, and originated with the Government. Almost a monopoly of the foreign trade is now enjoyed by the Tycoon and his officers. The agent of one of the most powerful of the Daimios told the merchant to whom we have referred, that his master was most anxious for commercial transactions with Englishmen, and supplied him with a list of the productions of his dominions, stating he would send from Yeddo one of his commercial agents to treat with him; and invited him to send vessels to Osaka, where the bulk of his produce was stored, and was much disappointed on finding that it would be in contravention of the treaty to do so. must, however, have been an exceptional case, otherwise the commercial policy of Japan would long since have been altered. The exports have hitherto consisted chiefly of edibles for the Chinese market, tea, and silk. For more than two hundred years only two Dutch ships and ten Chinese junks had been permitted to trade with Japan. Fifteen thousand tons of shipping found profitable freights within the first six months after the partial opening of the ports. The first effect of a sudden demand for the produce of the country was to enhance prices, and thus to cause considerable distress. Silk, tea, wheat, and rice (although its exportation was forbidden) were never known to be so dear. This unexpected demand which sprung up for the most important commodities of Japan alarmed the Government. The rice of the country is said to be the finest and most nutritious in the world; the prohibition of its sale to foreigners was evaded, and large exportations took place. Discontent became general, and the Tycoon's Government was pressed on all sides to retrace its steps, and to revert to the ancient policy which, by keeping prices low had kept the people contented. To the distress occasioned by high prices succeeded 2 I 2 This all an apprehension of low. As the commodities of Japan were chiefly paid for in foreign coin, the great Daimios believed that all the silver of Europe would flow into the country, and by lowering prices, seriously diminish the value of the produce of their estates. Silk, tea, camphor, isinglass, vegetable oil, wax, and copper were in great request for European markets and produced very profitable returns. The celebrated lacquer ware was found not to be cheap, even in Japan. Ancient ware, like old china, is most prized, and small specimens inlaid with silver and gold of exquisite designs-derived probably from the collection of some embarrassed Daimio-were occasionally offered for sale at high prices; but such were rarely to be met with, for it is considered as disgraceful for a Japanese to part with his old lacquer as it is for an English gentleman to dispose of his family plate. A few of the Daimios still carry on a profitable commerce with foreigners; vessels, distinguishable by flags bearing the coats of arms of the proprietors and freighted with the produce of their estates, often entering the treaty ports, and finding a ready market for their cargoes. Silk is one of the most important of the exports of Japan, as the country possesses the power of producing it in abundance. It is considered superior to the best China silk in strength, softness, colour, and gloss. When the silk of China was selling in the London market for 25s. per lb., that of Japan realised as much as 38s. It appears that 3000 bales were exported from Japan in the first year of the opening of the ports, but in the following year the exports increased to 18,000 bales. We learn from private sources that the quantity of silk now coming to this country from Japan amounts to from 30,000 to 40,000 bales. The tea-plant is supposed to be indigenous, having been observed growing wild in the hedgerows. The cottagers cultivate as much of it as is sufficient to supply their wants. The aggregate value of the trade of Japan in the first year after opening the ports is estimated by Sir Rutherford Alcock as exceeding a million sterling, from which very large profits were realised by a few merchants, chiefly English, Dutch, and American. Whenever the policy of the Government becomes more liberal, and the prejudices of the great Daimios are removed, there can be no doubt that the country will supply an export trade of ten times the amount mentioned. Thousands of acres on which the tea-plant would yield abundantly are lying * See the excellent little work of Mr. Hodgson, our first Consul at Nagasaki and Hakodadi, which is as instructive as it is amusing. waste, waste, and only a little improvement in the manipulation of the leaf is required to raise it to the level of the best Chinese tea. We may, therefore, look forward to a considerable addition to our imports from this quarter, and a competition with China which can scarcely fail to produce a fall in price. The exports of tea from July, 1860, to July, 1861, amounted to 5,000,000 lbs. The disposition to grow produce specially for European markets has been before noticed. Vegetable wax is an article much in demand, and, as soon as it was found profitable, 20,000 of the trees producing this substance were planted in the neighbourhood of Nagasaki; but they were carefully concealed from foreigners with a view to keeping up the price. The capacity or inclination of Japan to consume British manufactures is not yet satisfactorily established. In consequence of the great ingenuity and imitative skill of the Japanese it may prove that there are few commodities which they cannot themselves produce and sell at English prices. Cotton to almost any amount might be grown in the country; and if machinery should ever be introduced, and mills set to work, the extremely low wages of labour, coupled with the great ingenuity of the people, might enable Japan to become an exporting country and even to undersell England herself in cotton fabrics. At present we can, of course, supply Japan with these productions much cheaper than native manufacturers. Woollen goods, perhaps, have the fairest prospect of meeting with a steady demand, since they would supply an important want. Good winter clothing is much needed. In the northern portion of Niphon and the island of Yesso the cold is severe, and the inhabitants are imperfectly protected from it. It is satisfactory, however, to learn that almost every staple of Manchester and Bradford which was imported into Japan was readily purchased.* A marked increase in our imports from Japan has taken place in the past six months of the current year, over the corresponding period of 1862. In the one period they amounted to 309,5667.; in the other to 671,5867. The silk now expected in this country is valued at between three and four millions sterling, and we are informed that large consignments of cotton, far superior to any that is grown in India, are also on the way to England. The renewed intercourse with foreign countries, and the disgraceful rapacity of foreigners, produced a severe monetary crisis, which both perplexed and alarmed the Government and threatened to drain the country of the whole of its gold. The Japanese had once before experienced this serious in * Parliamentary Paper, p. 58. convenience. convenience. The Portuguese and the Dutch both derived enormous profits from their exports of the precious metals. Kæmpfer, the old Dutch writer, remarks, that had the Portuguese enjoyed the trade of Japan but twenty years longer, there would have been a flow of gold and silver from this Ophir of the East into Macao, such as there was into Jerusalem in the time of Solomon. Unfortunately no regulated standard of exchange had been established in the treaties with foreign Powers. The 'cash,' which is of iron, is almost the only coin which the Japanese common people use. The principal silver coin is the itzebou, representing about 1s. 8d. of British money; but the gold kobang, which was intrinsically worth 17. 2s., could be obtained for four itzebous, or 6s. 8d. of our money. The merchants, of course, at once detected this difference in the specific values of the silver and gold coins, and discovered in it a mine of wealth, compared with which the returns of commerce would, they thought, be altogether unworthy of their attention. A clause had been introduced in the American treaty, and, after its example, into those concluded with other Powers, that all foreign gold and silver coins should freely circulate in Japan, and be exchangeable with Japanese coin weight for weight. The merchants accordingly immediately converted their dollars into itzebous, and their itzebous into gold, realising at once a profit of about 200 per cent. Four silver itzebous (a dollar and a third in weight) would, it was found, purchase a kobang of gold, exchangeable in China for 18s. 43d. The merchants thus found themselves unexpectedly able to triple their capital by two very simple operations, which they could repeat several times Demands for itzebous, to immense amounts, in order to exchange them for gold, were daily sent in to the Japanese mint. The Government was distracted, and at its wits' end how to evade or to meet these unexpected requirements, which they felt were opposed to justice and fair dealing. It seemed as if a few greedy foreign traders were plundering the country of its gold as completely as Pizarro and Cortez plundered Peru and Mexico. The true remedy, of course, was in the hands of the Government. It was in their power at once to put an end to the drain of gold by altering the expressed relative values of gold and silver. This they did; but not until after very serious losses had been sustained, and the public feeling had been exasperated at what was deemed, with justice, an outrageous spoliation. This was an unfortunate recommencement of our commercial intercourse with Japan, and it tended greatly to excite those feelings of hostility towards foreigners which subsequently displayed themselves in public outrages and secret assassinations. It deter |