Students of seismology should consult Prof. John Milne’s works. CHAPTER II INDUSTRIAL JAPAN OUTLINE OF TOPICS: Agriculture; petty farming; small capital and income; character of farmer; decrease of farmers; principal products; rice; tea; tobacco; silk; cotton; camphor; bamboo; marine products and industries.—Mining.—Engineering.—Shipbuilding.—Miscellaneous industries.—Mechanical industries.—Shopping in Japan.—Wages and incomes.—Guilds, labor unions, strikes, etc.—Mr. Katayama.—Socialism.—Bibliography. The chief occupation of the Japanese is agriculture, in which the great mass of the people are employed. On account of the volcanic nature and the mountainous condition of the country, there are large portions not tillable;[14] and for the same reason, perhaps, the soil in general is not naturally very fertile. It must be, and can be, made so by artificial means; but as yet not half of what is fairly fertile soil is under cultivation. Large portions of arable land, particularly in Yezo and Formosa, can be made to return rich harvests, and are gradually being brought under man’s dominion. But it can be readily understood that if for any reason the crops fail, severe suffering will ensue, and perhaps become widespread. The prosperity of the country depends largely upon the prosperity of its farmers. Farming, like almost everything in that land of miniatures, is on a limited scale, as each man has only a very small holding. “There is no farm in Japan; there are only gardens” (Uchimura). Even a “petty farmer” of our Northwest would ridicule the extremely insignificant farms of the Japanese, who, in turn, would be astounded at the prodigious domains of a Dalrymple. A careful investigator, Dr. Karl Rathgen, has summed up the situation as follows: “In Japan are to be found only small holdings. A farm of five _chō_[15] (twelve acres) is considered very large. As a rule the Japanese farmer is without hired labor and without cattle. The family alone cultivates the farm, which, however, is so small that a large share of the available labor can be devoted to other purposes besides farming, such as the production of silk, indigo, tobacco. The average holding for the whole of Japan (excluding the Hokkaidō) for each agricultural family is 8.3 _tan_[15] (about two acres), varying from a maximum of 17.6 _tan_ in the prefecture of Aomori to a minimum of 5.3 _tan_ in the prefecture of Wakayama.” “There are no large landed proprietors in Japan.”