[KAWAKAMI, KAICHI]. 川上嘉市.

濠洲視察報告書. [Gōshū shisatsu hōkokusho].
[Inspection Report on Australia].

[Japan]. 電線製造所. [Densen Seizōjo]. Taisho 6 [ 1917]. Stock ID #220893

Black and white line map of Australia in English, 122pp, 28 x 19.5cm, ribbon ties, plain wrappers. First two pages damaged with a little loss of Japanese text, lower cover marked, upper cover detached and damaged with loss but present and now carefully repaired with washi. Fortunately the content of the report is largely intact in spite of some insect damage causing the loss of occasional Japanese characters.

This 1917 report on the Australian electric power cable market offers a fascinating insight into how electric power cables were imported, traded and utilised at that time. The report was compiled by Kawakami Kaichi, a technician at a power cable factory referred to as Densen Seizōjo (電線製造所). It has not been possible to identify the company with certainty, although it may have been the Sumitomo Densen Seizōjo, founded in 1911.

Kawakami travelled in Australia for four months between June and October 1917, visiting Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide in order to gather information on the Australian power cable market. In the foreword he notes that Australia was experiencing increasing difficulty importing cables from Europe and the United States as the situation in the First World War became more serious. Kawakami was therefore dispatched to investigate the local market and to explore potential opportunities for Japanese industry, particularly the export of manufactured products such as power cables.

The report observes that Japan’s principal exports to Australia at the time were silk textiles, and suggests that power cables might become one of the first manufactured products exported from Japan to the Australian market. The study is detailed and wide-ranging, covering many aspects of the trade. It also lists potential commercial agents, including Kobe Masuda Shokai (神戸増田商会), which maintained branches in Sydney and Melbourne, and its representative Fred S. Lee.

When referring to this item please quote stockid 220893.

Price: $425.00 AU

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