COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE. - 1538
producers seek to control the export trade. The Japanese Government
 has been very active in promoting the expansion of the tea
industry, and in 1897 granted for the time being a state aid of 70,000
yen a year for this purpose. In compliance with the instructions of
the Government, the Central Tea Guild maintains branch offices in
several countries to investigate the condition of the market and to
stimulate the trade.? - Numerous other measures have been adopted
by the Government for promoting the tea industry, such as for the
improvement of the quality, for providing against deterioration, and
for informing those interested as to market conditions? For the
improvement of manufactured tea and to extend its market, tea trade
associations have been established. There are now one central chamber,
 20 associated chambers, and 218 tea trade associations.* The
Imperial Establishment of Tea Industry at Nishigahara, which is
controlled by the Government, not only concerns itself with the
cultivation of the tea plant, but also carries on inquiries into the
state of the tea industry at home and abroad.
Sarf.—Saké, the national beverage of Japan, is one of the principal
 manufactures of that country. In 1913 the production of saké
was valued at 198,000,000 yen. The export of saké shows a tendency
to increase year by year with the improvements in the method of
brewing and in the quality of the product. The National Brewing
Experimental Station, in conjunction with expert officials, is making
 strong efforts to improve and develop the industry. In 1913 the
export of saké was valued at 3,962,242 yen.
Marcues.—Japan’s match industry has attained a considerable
degree of importance, dominating the match trade in the markets of
eastern Asia.’ In 1913 there were 189 factories, producing 51,731,-010
 gross of boxes,® valued at 14,188,183 yen. In 1914 the value
of matches exported amounted to 11,052,254 yen. The principal
markets are China, British India, Hongkong, the Dutch Indies,
Straits Settlements, French Indo China, Siam, the Philippines, and
the United States.’ It is chiefly on the strength of their relative
cheapness that Japanese matches compete with those of other countries;
 they are quoted in Chinese and near-Asiatic markets about

tH, A. Heber, Japanische Industriearbeit, 1912, p. 128. :
'Japan in the Beginning of the Twentieth Century, p. 154. fol.
+Ibid, p. 158. |
Japan As It Is, 1915, p. 107.
$Japan in the Beginning of the Twentieth Century. 1904, p. 174 fol.
' Japan As It Is, 1915, pp. 157, 167, fol.
Bali Totelsh, Japans Internationale Handelsbeziehungen, p. 66; HE. A. Heber, op,
it, p. 1
"The Fifteenth Financial and Heconomic Annual, 1915, p. 70.
"Japan As It Is. 1915, pp. 174, 175.