Page:A handbook of modern Japan (IA handbookofmodern01clem).pdf/52

22 Perhaps the most generally useful product of Japan is the bamboo, which "finds a use in every size, at all ages, and for manifold purposes," or, as Huish expresses it, "is used for everything." Rein and Chamberlain each takes up a page or more for an incomplete list of articles made from bamboo; so that Piggott is surely right when he states that it is "an easier task to say what is not made of bamboo."

Inasmuch as Japan is an insular country, with a long line of sea-coast, it is natural that fishing should be one of the principal occupations of the people, and that fish, seaweed, and other marine products should be common diet. From ancient times down to the opening of Japan, the fishing industry was a simple occupation, somewhat limited in its scope; but since the Japanese have learned from other nations to what extent marine industries are capable of development, fishing has become the source of many and varied lines of business. The canning industry, for instance, is of quite recent origin, but is growing rapidly. Whaling and sealing are very profitable occupations. Smelt-fishing by torchlight by means of tame cormorants was largely employed in olden times, and is kept up somewhat even to the present day. The occupation of a fisherman, though arduous and dangerous, is not entirely prosaic, and, in Japan, contributes to art. The return home of the fishing-