REMARKABLE EXPANSION.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 29 August 1924, Page 8

REMARKABLE EXPANSION.

WOOLLEN INDUSTRY OF JAPAN

Remarkable expansion has taken place in the Japanese woollen industry during recent vears j but as the British Vice-Consul at Yokohama points out in a report just published, the demand for woollen goods has been outpacing the growth of the industry, ami there has been no tendency for imports of yarns or tops to diminish. In many cases firms only produce a. portion'of the tofis and yarns which they require, and import the balance, but. it may safely be stated that the interests which control the Japanese woollen industry will never be satisfied until they arc able to produce the bulk of the tops and yarns which they require, and to cut down foreign imports to a minimum. Since 1914, it is stated, the industry has increased its manufacturing organisation sixfold. There are a few Japanese made looms in use for the simplest kind of weaving, which appear to work fairly well, and efforts have been made to manufacture a. comb, but practically all the machinery has been 'imported, because Japanese efforts to make textile machinery have not as yet met with much success. A good proportion of it comes from the United Kingdom, but French, German and American machinery is also in use. British-made machinery enjoys a high reputaton in Japan on account ot its , quality. In the first six months oF 1923 Japanese imports of woollen textiles totalled 10,000.000 square yards., whereas the total of the best pre-war year was only 15,000.000 square yards. Apart from the facts that muslin is the most important single product of the native industry, and that buyers of woollen fabrics for foreign style clothing prefer the imported cloths, the chief reason for the continuous high level of imports is, as already remarked, that the Japanese demand for woollens has grown, and is still growing more rapidly than the Japauese woollen industry. It is difficult to say how long this state of things will continue. There were signs, before the earthquake disaster altered the situation, that the industry wasi beginning to overtake the demand. Indeed, as regards mousseline dc laine, appearances pointed to a state of overproduction within a. year or two, and it was anticipated by certain authorities that the scale of, muslin production within that time would roach 200 million yards per annum. Men living in the cities; are finding that European clothes are the most suitable for westernised conditions, and among women and children, as well as among men, woollen knitted goods are being used more and more.