Each of the great territorial magnates above enumerated is absolute lord within his own territory, and has power of life and death over all his subjects and dependents. Certain districts only are under the immediate control of the central Government, and their revenues are assigned to the maintenance of the first dignitaries of the state, the Mikado and the Tycoon. The real authority of the realm, however, is in the hands of the Daimios, who form a federal aristocracy not dissimilar to that of Europe in the early Middle Ages. Trade and Commerce. The commercial intercourse of Japan with the United Kingdom is shown in the subjoined table, which gives the value of the total imports from Japan into the United Kingdom, and of the total exports of British and Irish produce and manufactures to Japan in each of the five years 1859–63. The following table shows the various articles imported from Japan into the United Kingdom, in each of the years 1861-63. The exports of British produce to Japan, in the years 1861-63, consisted of the following articles : The internal trade of Japan is very extensive, and a variety of regulations are in force, the object of which is to protect and encourage home industry. The prices of goods are not enhanced by imposts of any kind; and communication between the great markets and all parts of the empire is facilitated by numerous coasting vessels and well-maintained roads. Foreign commerce, however, so far from being encouraged, is vigorously opposed by the government. Nevertheless, by the treaties made with several European Governments with Russia in October 1857, and with Great Britain, France, and the United States in July and August 1858-the three Japanese ports of Nagasaki, Kanagawa, and Hakodadi were thrown open to foreign commerce. The value of the total imports and exports of these three ports, from and to all countries, in each of the three years 1861-63, is shown in the subjoined statement. Kanagawa 307,981 536,860 811,146 558,948 1,313,568 £ 2,638,503 750,000 419 1,240 The total area of Japan is estimated at 156,604 square miles, with a population of 35,000,000, or 229 per square mile. The number of foreigners settled in Japan is as yet very small. At the end of the third year that the ports had been opened, the foreign community at Kanagawa consisted of fifty-five natives of Great Britain; thirty-eight Americans; twenty Dutch; eleven French; and two Portuguese; and in the latter part of 1864 the permanent foreign residents at Kanagawa had increased to 300, not counting soldiers, of which number 140 were British subjects, and about 80 Americans and 40 Dutch. At Nagasaki, the number of foreigners at the same period was 39, with a greater proportion of Dutch. The port of Hakodadi, in the north of Japan, was deserted, after a lengthened trial, by all the foreign merchants settled there, it having been found impossible to establish any satisfactory intercourse with the natives. Hakodadi is situated on an island, where there is little or no cultivation, separated from the continent of Niphon by the Sangar Straits. No Japanese can enter Hakodadi, or have commercial intercourse with any foreigner, without permission from the officials, who claim a large percentage on the business transacted.* There is an edict of 1637 still in force in the whole of Japan, which makes it a capital offence for natives to travel into other countries. Japanese seamen, even when accidentally cast on foreign shores, are on their return subjected to a rigorous examination, and sometimes imprisonment, to purify them from the supposed pollution contracted abroad. The Dutch, who were the first permitted to visit the empire after the expulsion of the Portuguese, had their earliest factory on the island of Firato; but they were removed, in 1641, by the emperor's orders, to Nangasaki, where, in common with the Coreans and Chinese, they are allowed to bring their goods for sale; but the number of vessels allowed to come each year, and the quantity of each description of wares to be sold, are strictly defined: and the residents in the factory are restricted to 11 only. The ships, immediately on their arrival, are minutely searched, and the crews are kept, during their stay in port, completely secluded from the natives, on the small island of Djesima, close to the harbour. All the business transactions are conducted by the natives of Japan. Money, Weights, and Measures. The money, weights, and measures in common use at the three open ports of Japan, and the British equivalents, are :— Commercial Reports from H.M.'s Consuls in China and Japan. 1864. 8. London, 1865. Reports by Mr. Consul Vyse and Mr. Consul Winchester on the Trade of Hakodadi and Kanagawa; in Commercial Reports received at the Foreign Office.' 8. London, 1865. 2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS. Alcock (Sir Rutherford), The Capital of the Tycoon; a narrative of a three years' residence in Japan. 2 vols. 8. London, 1863. Cornwallis (Kinahan), Two Journeys to Japan, 1856-57. 8. London, 1859. Leupe (P. A.), Reise van Maarten Gerritz-Uries in 1643 naar het Noorden en Oosten van Japan. 8. Amsterdam, 1858. Lühdorf (J. A.), Acht Monate in Japan. 8. Bremen, 1857. Osborn (Capt. S.), A Cruise in Japanese Waters. 8. London, 1859. Spiess (Gust.), Die Preussische Expedition nach Ostasien während der Jahre 1860-62. Reise-Skizzen aus Japan, China, Siam und der Indischen Inselwelt. 8. Berlin, 1865. Titsingh (M.), Mémoires et Anecdotes sur la Dynastie Régnante des Djogoungs, souverains du Japon. Publié par A. Rémusat. 8. Paris, 1820. |