JAPANESE TRADE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 786, 17 August 1916, Page 2

JAPANESE TRADE.

——■■•■ ■ •■■ | AFFAIRS IN THE FUTURE. I PLEASING THE BUYERS. ISpc.-ial lo The Sun.] WELLINGTON, August l(i. The prospects of improved trade between New Zealand and Japan are discussed in a very inleresiing way by Mr S. t'kiia, Ihc Japanese 'Trade Commissioner, who has spent I (he last few weeks travelling through Ihe Dominion. Mi t'kiia is 'engaged upon a mission of inquiry, j ! and he told your correspondent today that he was very well pleased I with Ihe information he had been! able to gather and the avenues of j (trade that he believed he had tits-; icerned. He would go back to his 1 jcountry prepared lo advise the Jap-; janese merchants and manufacturers; regarding the requirements of New j Zealand, and he hoped to be able to! •remove .some of the difficulties that J | had hampered trade in the past. j j "Japan's export trade is going to increase very largely in conse-i 1 quence of Ihe war," said Mr Ukita. j "We have set out to manufacture 1 I very many articles that previously j came from Germany and Austria, j I and the trade figures show that we are succeeding. Then there has! been a great expansion of Japan- j | ese manufacturing facilities, ow-j | ing to the demand for munitions for I the Allies, and these facilities will | Ihe available for ordinary work in] j times of peace. Increased exports mean increased imports, naturally,! and both mean enlarged transport 1 j services. All Ihc Japanese shipyards i are working their hardest at the present time, and some of them j : have taken contracts for years to come, owing lo the demand of the Japanese companies for additional j steamships. Some of the vessels, 'doubtless, will be used for the trade, ! with New Zealand am! Australia."! The Japanese people, added Mr i Ukita, would he buyers of wool, ! hides, tallow, etc., on a large scale in Ihe years to come, and they mighl j also take dairy produce lo some extent. That remained lo be proved, I bill iu. any case Japan would buy goods from the countries which look her manufactures. The necessity for j securing return freights for Ihe j steamers was obvious. The exleiit of j Japan's exports of manufactured j goods seemed to be unlimited. Japan j was at the beginning of her indus- j trial expansion, and her manufae- j hirers doubtless had much to learn, | but they had proved their adaplabi-j lity already, and he fell sure a big, trade between Japan and Australasia could be established with advantage to both sides. A reference lo the important question of quality led Mr t'kiia to say j something regarding Japan's com-1 mercial ideals, lie had been told, he said, that the Japanese merchants did not maintain a sufficiently high i code of commercial morality, and he realised the very great importance of this point. He would bring the mailer under the notice of the Japanese Government on his return. But some of the complaints regarding the poor quality of certain Japanese goods had arisen from the effort of the manufacturers to produce very cheaply, under the impression that the buyers desired cheap- > ness. He had not heard complaints ; on the score of price. The British countries had taken large quantities of very cheap goods from Ger- ! many and Austria in Ihe past, without very much regard for quality. The point he would stress was the desire of the Japanese manufacturers to please the buyers. Japan could produce goods of the class re- > ({uircd, though her manufacturers ; and workers might require to gain experience in some directions.