GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.—Owing to the irregular topography of the country the cultivable land is very limited, and does not exceed 20 per cent. of the whole area. As Japan for long sup ported a population at least as great as that of Great Britain now is, without importing food supplies from abroad, it is obvious that cultivation must have been very intensive in character. Agricul tural holdings were generally small, and in many cases did not exceed one acre, but the farmer and his family supported themselves by engaging in one or other of various subsidiary employments. What manufactures there were, were therefore chiefly carried on as domestic industries, and the modern factory system did not exist. Since Japan within recent years became a food importing country, various attempts have been made to increase still further the productivity of the soil, and, at the same time, to extend the margin of cultivation by bringing in land, hitherto believed to be useless.
The HOKKAIDO, which measures just over one-sixth of the whole country, consists to a great extent of forest-covered mountains. It is only in the south-west, in the valley of the Ishikari, and in the south-east, in the valley of the Tokachi, that lowlands are developed to any extent. The relatively unfavourable conditions of soil and climate have prevented the growth of a large population, and, although the number of inhabitants has nearly doubled within the last fifteen years, it is still less than one and a quarter millions, while the density is only 23 to the square mile as against 300 to the square mile in the whole of Japan. The cultivated land amounts
to less than 3 per cent. of the total area, and on it the chief crop consists of beans, although some rice and other cereals are also grown. It is believed that there are considerable areas which might be converted into good pasture land. The export of timber is a rapidly growing industry, hard woods being obtained in the centre and south of the island and soft woods in the north. The coal mines of the Hokkaido, which occur in the west, are being developed, and now produce over one and a half million tons of coal annually. Other minerals also occur, but none is as yet of much importance.
Hakodate has hitherto been the chief town and port of the island, mainly as a result of the fact that it is situated on a good harbour in the peninsula which is the nearest part of Hokkaido to Honshiu.
The difficulties of communication inland, and the proximity of Otaru and Muroran to important producing centres, have led to a relative decline on the part of Hakodate. Otaru, situated near the mouth of the Ishikari river, serves the chief agricultural districts, and is also the principal timber port of the island, while Muroran, lying to the east of Volcano Bay, is the outlet for the coal mines. Large steel works are being constructed in the vicinity of the latter town, and it is hoped to utilise the magnetic iron in the sands of Volcano Bay. Kushiro, which is connected by rail with the Tokachi valley, will probably become the chief port of south-eastern Hokkaido.