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The volume of domestic cargo transport has normally a deep connection
with the productive activity. In the current depression, it showed a movement
in pace with the decreasing public investments according to the total demand
suppression policy from the beginning of fiscal 1973 and tended to decrease
in advance of the decline of mining and industrial production (Fig.
1-1-3).
The public investments, the decrease of which was a main cause for the reduction
of domestic cargo transport preceding the recession, showed a sharp decline
in the January-March term of 1974 but scarcely decreased thereafter. Rather,
it showed a considerable recovery in the January- March term of 1975 in which
countermeasures to the recession were taken twice. However, on account of the
decrease of production and shipment due to the recession, the volume of cargo
transport continued to decrease, and the domestic cargo transport in fiscal
1974 declined by 11.0 percent in tonnage or 7.7 percent in ton-kilometers against
the previous year.
The domestic passenger transport was also influenced by the oil crisis.
In the October-December term of 1973, it dropped mainly with respect to the
automobiles of personal use, then increased with recovery of the individual
consumption in fiscal 1974, but decreased again with decrease of the individual
consumption coupled by the revision of transport fares in the October-December
term. However, it showed a recovery in the January March term of 1975 (Fig.
1-1-4).
Consequently, the growth rate of passenger-kilometers in fiscal 1975 remained
only at 2.9 percent over the previous year. It should be noted particularly
that the private car passenger kilometers which had continued to grow at a high
rate, slowed down greatly following the preceding year. With such slow down
of the growth rate of private car passenger-kilometers and the decrease of cargo
transport, the road traffic volume (automobile vehicle-kilometers) showed a
decrease for the first time after the war (Fig.
1-1-5).
The Japanese overseas travellers decreased greatly during the January-March
term of 1974 in which the personal consumption showed a decline and was stagnant
thereafter, thus noting a 5.0 percent decrease against the previous fiscal year.
Although the number of Japanese overseas travellers continued to be stagnant
during 1974, it showed a recovery in the April-June term of 1975 to a level
exceeding that in the same term of the previous year.
Now looking over the trade activity of our country in fiscal 1974, the import
clearance showed an increase of 39.3 percent over the previous year on account
of the rise of the import commodity prices due mainly to the steep rise of the
crude oil price, but the quantity of imports reflected the recession of the
domestic business and noted a I.9 percent decrease against the previous year.
For the exports, on account of the increase of export of the iron and steel
and chemical products due to world-wide shortage of basic materials, the customs
clearance noted an increase of 47.3 percent over the previous year well exceeding
the increase of the import clearance. In the quantity, the exports continued
to increase until the October-December term of 1974 and thus noted a 24.2 percent
increase over the previous year. However, reflecting the reducing trend of the
world trade due to recession in the respective countries, the export clearance
turned to a decreasing trend in the January-March term of 1975 and, in the April-June
term, fell short of the level of the same term in the previous year (Fig.
1-1-6).
Here, looking to the trend of international transport of our country, the
maritime transport by ocean shipping noted, in reflection of the trade movement
of our country, an increase of 26.7 percent over the previous year for the export
and a decrease of i.3 percent for the import.
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