It is worthy of special notice that the Japanese have become quite skilful in ship-building, so that they now construct vessels of various kinds, not only for themselves but for other nations. The Mitsu Bishi Company, Nagasaki, has constructed for the Oriental Steamship Company three fine passenger steamers of 13,000 tons each. At the Uraga Dockyard large American men-of-war have been satisfactorily repaired; and on October 15, 1902, a small United States gunboat was launched,—“_the first instance in which Japan has got an order of shipbuilding from a Western country_.”[26] Among the minor miscellaneous industries which can only be mentioned are sugar-raising, paper-making (there are a number of mills which are paying well), dyeing, glass-blowing, lumber, horse-breeding, poultry, pisciculture, ice, brick, fan, match, button, handkerchief, pottery, lacquer, weaving, embroidery, _sake_ and beer brewing, soy, etc. The extent and variety of the industries of Modern Japan are also clearly evidenced in a short article about “The Ōsaka Exhibition” of 1903 in the Appendix. In what we style “the mechanical arts” the Japanese excel, and have a world-wide reputation. With their innate æsthetic instincts they make the most commonplace beautiful. It is a trite saying that a globe-trotter, picking up in a native shop a very pretty little article, and admiring it for its simplicity and exquisite taste, is likely to find it an ordinary household utensil. Japanese lacquer work is distinctive and remarkable for its beauty and strength; lacquered utensils, such as bowls, trays, etc., are not damaged by boiling soups, hot water, or even cigar ashes. In porcelain and pottery, the Japanese are celebrated for the artistic skill displayed in manufacture and ornamentation. “The bronze and inlaid metal work of Japan is highly esteemed.” Japanese swords, too, are remarkable weapons with “astonishing cleaving power.” To summarize this paragraph, it may be said that the Japanese have turned what we call mechanical industries into fine arts, which display a magnificent triumph of æstheticism even in little things.[27]