John Spargo

“ There are many thousands of Japanese in the agricultural villages who seldom taste rice except on festival occasions. They live on rye and barley, in houses that are destitute of the most ordinary simple comforts. Picturesque such houses often are, but deficient in most if not all the qualities of homes.
From time to time it has been said by the American farmer, or by those who have championed his cause, that it often happens that the farmer's income is less than that of the hired laborer. In Japan this would seem to be commonly true. ”

“ Yet there is probably not a great nation in the world in which the State takes more than one-third of the total production of its people. England takes not more than twenty per cent., and, contrary to the case of Japan, much of that amount is spent upon local improvements, education, maintenance of the poor, and other matters of direct and immediate advantage to the people. The taxpayer of Nippon is mulcted for something far remote from his own life, and rarely feels any improvement in his lot as a result of the taxes he pays to the imperial government. ”

“ On the other side of the ledger the biggest item of all is taxes. From every side comes confirmatory evidence of the fact that taxation is to-day the greatest burden of the people. Mr. Wakatsuki, Vice-Minister of Finance, has estimated that, taking the entire population, the people of Japan pay not less than thirty-five per cent. of their total income in taxes. ”

“ The chief crop raised in the village is tobacco, but silk and charcoal are both responsible for larger shares of the total income. Rice, barley and rye are grown upon practically every farm for home consumption, but it is significant that the village is not self-sustaining in this regard. ”

“ It is fairly typical of Japanese villages, and is rather more prosperous, or, better, less poor, than many other villages of equal size.
As in most Japanese villages the land is in the hands of small holders, peasant proprietors. Large landed proprietors are practically unknown in Japan, and tenant farming is an exception. It exists to a small extent, however, and is on the increase. As a rule, each farmer or peasant tills his own land with the assistance of his family, his wife and children doing the work which would otherwise have to be done by hired laborers. ”

“ Numasawa is one of the four azas, or villages, which constitute the mura, or township of Higashigo, in the prefecture of Yamagata. It has a population of 800 men, women and children, belonging to 120 families. ”