“MADE IN JAPAN.”

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3481, 8 May 1920, Page 7

“MADE IN JAPAN.”

A RAPID b‘LLU’;\l'.L‘ T.\' I*.\IITATIONrS.

T()O EAGAER FOR FOREIGN

MARKETS.

A NASTY JAR TO TRADE. 111 the early days of the war, when . ‘this country, in common‘ with the other I_ovel'se:r Dominions, hurl to look round ]for ;mothcl~ source from which to obfain those goods which previously had come from G‘rel'nlany and from Great Briizain and "the Allied countries, Jzl:pzln’s commercial opportunity arrined. The Japs were not slow to sense it, and we were quickly flooded with articles so faithfully imitated in outward appearance from European modol_-4 that they even had on them in v'm-my instzniees, the Gerlnan, British, and French tz'adelnal'ks:, At first. blush it seemed thuf -:1 new and f.'ormldable manufacturing competitor‘ had entered ‘the field——’tlle more formidable from the fact llmt the prices he quoted we,l-0 absul'de(ll'y low compared with quota;tions for similar articles of European and Amel'ic:ln m:ll<e. And then came the awakening. Although‘ the goodsso cgl.gerly oll'el'erl ‘from Japan had (.‘V€l‘_\f :Ippem'mlr:.e of being up to sgrnlplo, tlu-y fell woefully below .the mark. when put to the test, and though wl:-ile the war continued imports from .l;1p;m wow arlternzrtive to going with- é our. Hm l‘l'il4_l('“ in whnf may be called inlit:lfi\'(>’linPs has declined almost as; rupirlly as it started, till -to-day very‘

:1“ 3 . - few merchantmen care to handle Japanese nmnufzletiires if they can avoid doing so. VlM];’,l‘A'l‘ll\' G THE P:\INT. The conunon opinion about the failure of the article “made in Japan” to make good under the acid test of use is that Japanese commercial morality is largely to blame. But some inquiries among merchants who deal, or have dealt in Japanese lines tends to modify th‘F§ opinion to :1 considerable extent. “There is no doubt,” reinarked one closely aequainted with the Japanese traclefi “that the Jap. is {L pretty shrewd business man, and is not above playing pranks if opportunity favours him, But he is out to capture nmrkets, and no one knows better than The Jup that commercial dislionesty is -.1 bud a.\.'>‘.Gt for the securing of foreign trade. A lot of the tl'onbl.'> -.<e:ms to

haYe a,ris.en ir'ronl'tlie fact ‘that he was called upon at short notice to produce goods that were absolutely foreign, to his luiowledge. So he ob-' tained samples and iiiiitateal them. In outward appearance the imitation was perfect, but the Japanese manufacturer really knew nothing about the goods he was turning out, and the consequence was that in theniajority of cases quality, as we understancl it, was conspicuously missing. Not always so for remarkably honest parcels of goods have come along, and this has been a factor towards increasing suspicion of the commercial morality of our Pacific allies, for people could not understand the reason for this inequality. The real reason for this is that a great part of these ‘made in Japan’ goods are put up in large nuinbers of small factories. The Japanese mitldlernan, who has been responsible for much of the ill repute that has become attached to the manufactures of his countTy, «has chosen samples from a fzlctory that is turning out a -genuinely good article, but makes up his shipment orders by collecting from all and sundry, irrespective of the quality. Maledictions on Japan and her manufactures follow at this end when thes goods are opened up. Had the Japanese Government. appointed agents, as they have now done, in the early days of the export rush, and prohibited the export of any but honest, manufactures, a good deal of loss would have been caused to the big cropiof small Inanufacturer:s that sprouted up all over the land like mushrooms, but her trade would have been started on a scam‘! mnl lasling basis, and would never I'la\‘e lfifiliéd lJilCl{. AS

it ‘Wsls’, they began to L‘Xpol’i‘ b0f01'0" they kru\\" Thoxv to nmkv i‘llc‘gL)ods, and now tlnev {Ho p:l.\'ill-_o_;Afo!‘ their expol'i—' once. But’ the Jup has lu:mlf his 103-‘ son, mu? he will come agair And ff" he is beaten 011% of the Tn:l,l'ln:.‘ next,‘ timo it will not be because of HlO2 qn:,flif'_V' of his goods, or rather lack of E if‘?! A FATAL I\lls'lu\Kl:. i_ Another merchallf”£?xl:>l‘usse(l :1 sixni-If’ lax’ opinion about the reason for afbc slump in Japanese goods other than

those which have been readily Imported from that eounitry. He pointed out that though -the Japs make good in different grades, and that although the lower grades are usually worthless rubbish, Japanese first.-grade goods are invariably good, and ofitentimes superior to the European manufacture. For some years’ however, they have been doing a big export trade in manufactures to Siberia and China, and for the greater part this trade is in very low grade goods. When they started shipping to our market they began emptying the same class of Sfuif on us, and they only awoke to their mistake when the damage was done, and the brand “made in Japan” had become an -anathema to merchants and the public alike in Australasia. He remarked that the Japanese Government is doing all in its power now to recover the ground so quickly won and lost, but the slip was going to be 3,

very cosfly one, and public opinion, in the Dominion, at all events, would be slow to accept a. Japanese Ifrade mark on its presumptive value for at long while to Come.