HONSHIU, SHIKOKU, AND KIUsHIU.—Northern Honshiu is in some respects very different from the remainder of this region. Its climate and vegetation are intermediate between those of Hokkaido and Southern Japan, and, while rice is grown throughout the whole area, the mulberry and tea plant are not extensively cultivated further north than central Honshiu. The density of population, moreover, is 250 to the square mile in the northern region as compared with 500 in the and the latter also contains the chief mines, factories, and towns. As, however, there are numerous points of resemblance between the two regions, they may be taken together.
The agricultural land of Japan consists in part of lowlying fields, generally built up of recent alluvium, in part of upland districts, which can be cultivated, and in part of high plains and pastures. The first of these are known as paddy fields, and constitute nearly 45 per cent. of the agricultural area. The chief crop grown upon them is rice, which is the staple food-stuff of the country, and, as it almost always requires the aid of irrigation, very little is produced in the upland districts. About 30 per cent. of the paddy fields bear a second crop, and these, along with the upland districts amounting to 36 per cent. of the agricultural area, are mainly cultivated with multi (that is, barley, oats, and wheat), beans, potatoes, and millets. On the high plains and pastures which are uncultivated, a certain amount of stock is raised, but pastoral farming is not yet, and perhaps never will be, an important industry in Japan, although considerable attention is now being given to the improvement of the existing breeds of horses, cattle, and sheep. Next in importance to the production of food comes the cultivation of the mulberry and the rearing of the silkworm, pursuits which are chiefly carried on in the upland districts of central Honshiu. Further south, much of the land is more suitable for rice, while in the north the danger of frost renders a spring crop of mulberry leaves uncer tain. The trees are planted either in fields or in hedges, and the area cropped in this way is gradually extending, being now about 1,000,000 acres. Three crops of leaves are obtained annually, the
spring crop being the most important. The rearing of the silkworm demands considerable skill and labour on the part of the farmer, who has been aided within recent years by the assistance of Government experts. Formerly, the cocoons were reeled off at home by the farmers themselves, but; since the establishment of filiatures on modern principles, the greater part of this branch of the industry has been transferred to them. Japan is now the principal silk-producing country in the world.
The tea-plant is grown chiefly in Central and Southern Japan, generally on the lower slopes of hills, though, where there is good drainage, it also thrives on level plains. For some years Japanese teas seemed to be deteriorating, but this retrograde movement appears to have been checked by improved methods, both in the cultivation of the plant and in the preparation of the leaf. There is a large home consumption, but a considerable amount remains for export. Among other plants grown are flax, hemp, rape, and rushes. The cultivation of cotton, indigo, and tobacco is declining.
The extensive use of fish for food in Japan, though partly resulting from the religious ideas of a people who do not eat meat, is also accounted for in part by the distribution in the surrounding seas of warm and cold currents, which contain a great variety of species, and in part by the many indentations of the coast, which provide suitable facilities for the fishing industry. Over 800,000 people make fishing their sole occupation, while an even greater number follow it in addition to agricultural or other pursuits. With the better internal communications the home demand has increased, while the recent improvement in fishing vessels has led to a much larger supply than before. Among the principal fish caught are herring, sardines, bonito, mackerel, and yellow-tail. Japan has also a number of vessels engaged in whaling and sealing in the North Pacific.