DIRECT TRADE WITH JAPAN

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2885, 25 September 1916, Page 6

DIRECT TRADE WITH JAPAN

.. . « It is natural that a good deal of interest be excited in commercial circles by the possibilities opened up by a direct steamer service to Japan. At the moment the service is in its experimental stago. Tho fine steamer Akita Maru, now lying at the Glasgow Wharf, may be the or a regular direct service botween the Dominion and Japan, ior it may prove to be merely a casual visitor.. That will depond mainly on how' our importers and our producers view tho opportunity which the enterprise of tho directors of tho IMippon Yusen Kaisha line, and their local representatives, Messrs. Bums, Philp, and Co., have placed at their disposal. The position appears to be that the largest shipping company in Japan is prepared to establish a direct steamer sorvico with the Dominion, using modern boats of a high class, providing it can see a prospect of securing sufficient support in tho way of cargoes each 1 way. The matter is one of considerable importance, and oalls for more than passing attention. Thero is a market m New Zealand for Japanese manufactures of various kinds, and already there have been importations on a limited scale, but the trado is handicapped by tho necessity for transhipment from Australia, and also by a lack of clear understanding between buyer and seller. The Japanese manufacturers and exporters arc in the; main now to our requirements, and in consequence thero have been at times misunderstandings. But that is merely a temporary difficulty which should disappear with a bettor knowlodge of what wo want from them—a,-knowledge which should bo tho more ' readily obtained by the establishment of a direct steamer service, and the development of closer trade relations. Certain classes of goods previously obtained from Germany are said to be procurable from Japan,. and there is Tittle doubt that so far as outward cargoes from Japan are concerned j the trado would grow rapidly. But I tho steamers cannot be sent back empty. What can we send to Japan I We are told that there is a market there for wool and hemp, and possibly also for -some other of our I products.' : It is for our producers to test this market, and tho opportun- j ity of doing so is now placed M- j foro them. The outward cargo of the Akita Maru should be a matter of widespreadi.interest. On it much may depend. No doubt our merchants are giving tho matter their attention, but tho Government also might well interest itself in it. If, as seems possible, there is a definite prospect of a new and profitable market opening up to us in the East; then we Bhould not allow the present excellent chance to pass by without adequately testing it.