THE HISTORY OF COMMERCE
Okayama prefecture, carried to Kobe a specimen of a new kind of floor-mat, the outcome of two years' thought and trial. Briefly described, it was matting with a weft of fine green reeds and a warp of cotton yarn, having a coloured design woven into it. Isozaki found difficulty in getting any one to test the salability of his invention by sending it abroad. Sixteen years later, the "brocade-matting" industry of Okayama prefecture alone occupied 734 weaving establishments, with 9,085 stands of looms; gave employment to 9,375 artisans, of whom 5,335 were females, and turned out two and a fourth million yen worth of this pretty floor-covering. Meanwhile the total value of the industry's output throughout the Empire had reached nearly six million yen, and the quantity exported stood at four millions, approximately, in the customs returns. Here, then, is a trade which rose from nothing to a position of importance in six-teen years.
Even more remarkable in some respects has been the development of the textile industry. In 1884 the total production of silk and cotton fabrics was six million yen; in 1898 it had increased to one hundred and ten millions.[1] The manufacture of lucifer matches is another industry of entirely recent growth.
A few years ago, Japan used to import all the matches she needed, but by 1900 she was able
- ↑ See Appendix, note 64.
219
