1909.

1908.

1909.

Imports.

Exports.

Total.

Name of Port.

£

£

£

15,443,995

13,372,953

19,477,102

20,943,733

34,921,097

34,316,686

19,506,171

18,806,278

8,586,716

10,271,272

28,092,887

29,077,550

2,743,070

2,641,264

4,690,560

4,813,027

7,433,630

1,072,151

145,638

127,175

258,617

46,226

270,862

Otaru

282,713

341,230

234,168

265,472

Hakodate

274,544

359,681

192,717

13,073

5,037

:

44,534,616

40,241,131

38,612,580

42,171,902

83,147,196

82,413,033

Yokohama, thanks to a great extent to its exports of silk, still maintains its place at the top of the list, and its share of the total trade amounts to 416 per cent.

Kobe is a good second with 35.2 per cent. of the trade.

The southern port is a long way ahead of Yokohama in imports, but it only does half as big an export business.

These two ports, together with Osaka, continue to transact over 85 per cent. of Japan's whole foreign trade.

Amongst the other ports there is little that calls for special notice. Nagasaki has fallen still further behind and is now passed by Shimonoseki. Yokkaichi, has improved its position both with regard to imports and exports, and when the harbour works, referred to elsewhere in this report, are completed, it will doubtless become the outlet for a great deal of the merchandise which is produced in and about Nagoya.

Wakamatsu and Shimizu have both done well in exports.

The former is a coal port and the latter is gradually taking a great deal of tea business away from Yokohama.

Miike is quite a new port, having only been opened to foreign trade in the autumn of 1908, but it has done very well in exports of coal, and it will no doubt in time attract a certain amount of imports destined for the south of Kiushiu. It owes its existence chiefly to the enterprise of Messrs. Mitsui and Co., some of whose collieries are in the immediate neighbourhood.

The coaling arrangements are absolutely up-to-date.

The advance of Miike has caused a decline in Kuchinotsu's exports of coal, as the latter place used to be the port of shipment for the Miike collieries.

Otaru in the Hokkaido has done very badly indeed, having fallen from eighth to fifteenth place.

There was a cessation of imports of railway material and in addition the lumber industry was much depressed.

Muroran has now beaten both Otaru and Hakodate and heads the list of Hokkaido ports, but as 70 per cent. of its total trade consisted of imports of machinery for the Japan steel foundry, which is now nearing completion, the position will soon be reversed.

Water power schemes.-One of the features of the year has been the activity with regard to water power schemes.

There is no doubt that a country like Japan with a large number of rivers and waterfalls is ideally situated for the utilisation of water power, and there are already in many parts of the country small plants in operation for the running of electric light and tramway companies.

Of large hydro electric undertakings, however, the only one which appears to be meeting with success is that of the Uji River, which is intended to supply Osaka.

The other great consumer of power in Japan is the capital, Tokio, where there are five or more water power schemes on the tapis, all of which have been proposed with a view to enabling Tokio to dispense with black coal. Two of these enterprises have been jointly undertaken by British and Japanese capitalists, but various difficulties have arisen, sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other, and it does not appear that either scheme is making startlingly rapid progress.

There are said to be many obstacles in the way of the larger proposals. In one case the dam to be constructed would have to be of such big dimensions that some experts doubt whether it would be safe in an earthquake country; in another case the flow of water cannot be depended upon, while in yet another the water, coming as it does from a district which is full of mineral springs, would probably corrode the pipes and injure the machinery.

No doubt similar or even more serious difficulties have to be encountered by engineers in other parts of the world, and if only all the troubles in connection with the financing of the schemes and the rights of farmers, &c., can be overcome, the suppliers of cheap power to Tokio will have a chance of making excellent profits.

Electric tramway and gas companies.-Another noticeable feature of the year under review, especially of its closing months, has been the boom in electric tramway and gas undertakings, more particularly for the district round Osaka and Kobe and for the south of Japan.

Nearly every day notices appear in the papers of some new charter that has been applied for, and it seems to be no objection at all to a scheme that there should be a rival concern in full operation a few miles away.

Where so many proposals are made it is clear that only a small percentage can be successfully developed, and it is desirable, therefore, that great caution should be exercised before attempts are made to "dabble" in any of these ventures. There are several engineers on the spot whose business it is to watch these enterprises, and if anything at all good is forthcoming they know, or ought to know, all about it long before the general public.

It is clear, therefore, that most schemes which have been rejected by them could not be described as thoroughly sound, and as in most cases orders for machinery and rolling-stock, &c., are accompanied by requests for very easy payments, the business is not often worth much. The above remarks must be taken as referring more particularly to the tramway rather than to the gas schemes.

Trade-marks, patents, &c.-In November, 1909, the revised laws with regard to patents, trade-marks, designs and utility models came into force.

There has hardly been time yet to judge of the effect which they will produce, but up to the present some satisfactory decisions have been given in trade-marks cases which it would only have been possible to obtain with the greatest difficulty under the old law. One of these which is likely to be quoted in future as a precedent is the "Monarch of the Oaks case. A Japanese had registered this mark in May, 1903, and when an application for cancellation was made in 1907, he pleaded that under Article 10 of the old law his mark could no longer be assailed as three years had elapsed. The Judges, however, found that the foreign mark was well known to the public as it had been used in America since 1900 and had been continuously imported into Japan since that date, and therefore decided that under Article 11 of the new law the registration in favour of the Japanese should be cancelled.

In the matter of the Carlowitz and Co., hong mark, and in the "Atlas" and "Light House cases, interesting decisions have been given in favour of the foreign plaintiffs,

Infringements of registered trade-marks still continue, however, to a certain extent, and it is not likely that they will disappear entirely till a few punishments, severer than a small fine, are imposed.

There have up to the present been no notable judgments under the new law with regard to patents, so that it is impossible to say how the provisions relating to "Working" will be interpreted. The following table gives some idea of the work of the Japanese Patent Bureau.

NOTE. The reason why in some cases the number of grants is greater than the number of applications is that the former includes the number of grants on applications pending from the preceding year.

Wakamatsu steel foundry.-During a recent visit to the Imperial Government Steel Works at Wakamatsu, the following particulars were kindly supplied :

The iron ores used come from China, Japan and Corea, the limonite ores being the output of the Ofuku mines in Negato (Japan) and the Inritsu mines in Corea.

Hematite is obtained from Angaku in Corea and Akatani in Echigo (Japan), while nearly all the magnetite comes from the well known Tayeh mines in China.

According to a contract made with the Chinese mines this ore is said to cost, delivered at Wakamatsu, 6 yen 67 sen (1 yen equals 28. 0žd.) per 1,000 kilos., while the Corean ores range from 5 yen to 6 yen 90 sen, according to the quantity taken.

The Corean ores are reported to be very satisfactory, and it is thought that in time to come the foundry will be able to supply nearly all its requirements from that country.

Coal is procured from the Takao and Uruno collieries, which belong to the steel works and are immediately connected therewith by rail.

The coke used in the furnaces is nearly all made in the foundry's own coke ovens, of which there are 270, 150 being on the Semet Solvag system and 120 on the Koppée system.

The coke costs the foundry some 7 yen (148.) a ton, because, although its actual cost amounts to about 9 yen, they recover nearly 2 yen from by-products like sulphate of ammonia and pitch.

The pitch is all supplied to the navy at considerably below cost, while the sulphate of ammonia is sold to fertiliser dealers.