Page:Japan by the Japanese (1904).djvu/453

During twenty-five centuries the chief industry of Japan has been agriculture, and to-day 60 per cent. of the population is engaged in farming. Owing to religious prejudices, which have led the people to live largely upon vegetable diet, there has been little or no accumulation of live stock, so that the tiller of the soil, relieved of the need of pasturage, has been able to obtain a living from the product of an exceedingly small portion of land, one hectare (two and a half acres) per family being the average holding. The system of tillage, although for the most part primitive, is extremely thorough, two and even three crops per annum being raised on one piece of land, where climatic conditions permit. The men, when not engaged in actual farm work, betake themselves to such other occupations as offer temporary employment, the women and children, meantime, concerning themselves with such useful labour as the cultivation of silkworms, reeling silk, etc. Primitive methods, however, have succeeded in the past only because of the industry and sobriety of the people as a whole, and because of the lack of foreign competition; but with the desire to keep abreast of Western farmers, or possibly to lead, the necessity of modern scientific agricultural knowledge has been recognised by the Imperial Government, and where put to practical test has resulted in increased production per acre. To offset this, there is a tendency of the rural populations to drift into the cities, and, quite as serious, a decided decrease in the market for such staple productions as cotton, sugar, and tea, in which commodities, in spite of the assistance and supervision of a paternal Government, foreign competition is making considerable inroads.

The beet-sugar industry, established some time ago in Hokkaido, has not proved a success, in spite of largely-increased