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A great variety of rubber ware is made in Japan, but much of 
it is of the cheaper grades. The principal manufactures are 
pneumatic tyres and tubes for motor vehicles, bicycles and rick- 
shaws ; boots and shoes; soles and heels; soles for * tabi *’*; toys; 
electrical ware; hose, belting and mechanical goods in general. 
There are about 460 factories, mostly working on a small scale. 
Only one factory employs more than 1,000 workpeople. The 
total number of workers in the industry is between 25.000 and 
30,000. 
Labour and power are comparatively cheap in Japan, and the 
market has almost unlimited scope both for meeting the demand 
in the Japanese Empire and for building up an export trade with 
neighbouring markets in the Far East. 
Few Japanese concerns manufacture motor tyres. The only 
firm producing them on a large scale is the Dunlop Rubber Com- 
pany (Far Hast) at Kobe. 
106. The home market is almost entirely supplied from the 
local factories. Imports, in which motor tyres are the most im- 
portant item reach a value of some £350,000 a year. It is 
estimated that 30 per cent. of the motor tyres in Japan come 
from the United States. The firms that supply them are Good- 
rich, Goodyear, United States Rubber Company and Firestone. 
Michelin, Bergougnan and Pirelli tyres are also imported. De- 
tails of the imports of tyres into Japan are not available. 
The following are some of the principal classes of rubber manu- 
factures apart from tyres imported into Japan :— 
Class of Goods. 
Boots and Shoe 
Rubber Belting 
Rubber Hose 
Rubber Thread 
Rubber Packing . 
Approximate Yearly 
Imports. 
170,000 pairs. 
140,000 Ibs. 
360,000 Ibs. 
160,000 lbs. 
230.000 lbs. 
Imports. 
Some 1,200,000 pounds of scrap and old rubber is imported 
annually into Japan for making cheap quality boots and shoes 
and ‘‘ tabi >’ soles. It is imported mostly from the United States 
and China. 
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107. The annual returns of trade of Japan classify rubber manu- 
factured goods in only three headings, namely :—rubber tyres; 
* The “ tabi *’ is a thick sock originally made with a coarse canvas sole. Though 
originally the national form of footwear, it has been partly replaced by shoes of 
asther or Tubber. 
Exports.