Summarising a report of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce, he says of the factory workers:  “The bulk of workers are female and are chiefly fed with boiled rice in 43 per cent. of the factories.  In other factories the staple food is poor, the rice being mixed with cheaper barley, millet or sweet potato in the proportion of from 20 to 50 per cent.  In most cases subsidiary dishes consist of vegetables, meat or beans being supplied on an average only eight times a month.  Dormitories are in defiance of hygienic rules.  In most cases only half to 1 tsubo (4 square yards) are allotted to one person.”  See also Appendix LXIX.

CHINESE COMPETITION WITH JAPAN [XLIII].  The Jiji called attention in the spring of 1921 to the way in which spinning mills in China were an increasing menace to Japanese industry.  There were in China 810,000 spindles under Chinese management, 250,000 under European and 340,000 under Japanese, a total of 1,430,000, which will shortly be increased to 1,150,000 against 3,000,000 in Japan only 1,800,000 of which are at work.  The 1919 return was:  China, 1,530,000; Japan, 3,200,000.

HOODWINKING THE FOREIGNER [XLIV] In the Manchester Guardian Japan Number, June 9, 1921, the managing director of a leading spinning company, in a page and a half article, states that among the reasons why a large capitalisation is needed by Japanese factories, beyond the fact of higher cost of machinery, is the “special protection needed for Japanese operatives and the special consideration given by the spinners to the happiness and welfare of their operatives.”  When will Japanese believe their best friends when they tell them that such attempts to hoodwink the foreigner achieve no result but to cover themselves with ridicule?

TOBACCO [XLV].  In 1918-19 there was produced on 24,439 cho 10,308,089 kwan of tobacco.  During the same period 9,681,274 kwan were taken by the Government, which paid 19,114,803 yen or 1.974 per kwan.  In 1919 there was imported leaf tobacco to the value of 5,288,918 yen.  Cigarettes to the value of 589,744 yen were exported.  The profits of the Tobacco Monopoly, estimated at 71 millions for 1919-20, were estimated at 88 millions for 1920-1.

ELECTORAL OFFENCES [XLVI].  There were candidates at the 1920 election who spent 50,000 yen.  It is not uncommon for the number of persons charged with election offences to reach four figures.  The qualification for a vote (law of 1918) is the payment of 3 yen of national tax.  Under the old law there were about 25 voters per 1,000 inhabitants; now there are 54.

SMALLNESS OF ESTATES [XLVII].  The number of men holding from 5 to 10 cho was, in 1919, 121,141 and between 10 and 50 cho, 45,978.  The number holding 50 cho (125 acres) and upwards was only 4,226, and 400 or so of these were in Hokkaido.  See also Appendix XXXI.