Manuscript on pre-printed paper describing a tour of northeastern China by a delegation of students at Tokyo University’s Agricultural School (Tokyo Teikoku Daigaku Nōka).
177 leaves. 8vo (234 x 158 mm.), later wrappers. [Japan & China]: ca. 1925-26.
In the mid-1920s, a group of 28 students at the Agricultural School of the then-named Tokyo Imperial University, led by Prof. Takaishi Hajime 高石発, made a tour of northeastern China to study the state of agriculture. They departed from the port of Kobe and arrived at Tianjin. Thereafter, they visited Beijing, Dalian, Fushan, Mukden (today’s Shenyang), and finally Harbin before travelling by land through Korea to Japan. At that time, there was a considerable Japanese presence, both military and industrial, in this area of the country. The Japanese-owned South Manchuria Railway Co. was a large conglomerate involved in every aspect of the economic, cultural, and political life of Manchuria.
This highly legible manuscript is an illustrated journal of the tour kept by one of the students. He records his impressions of each city, its landmarks, and local customs. In the countryside, he describes the agricultural research stations, agricultural activities of the farmers and their crops, local industries such as salt-making and fisheries, various large industrial activities including manufacturing vegetable oils and fertilizers, electrical power generation, etc.
The student has tipped-in a number of maps, city plans, and newspaper clippings.
Fine copy, preserved in a chitsu.
Price: $1,750.00
Item ID: 11140
