Tokyo, Nov. 17.
Japanese efforts to. take advant; of, shipping. opportunities resulting from the European war have failed because. of Japan's involvement in war with China, Japanese press Te-ports admitted here today.
'Because of the war in China, Japan has been forced to leave her ships in military service in China coastal -waters' and the construction of new ocean-going freighters has fallen off sharply because of the wartime shortage of material in Japan, Japanese meed Post in French Lines scene approved passed by the French censor. It shows an with' its poilu occupants keeping close watch on the enemy.
Upon the outbreak of the European the reports said, Japanese s ping companies hoped to regain control of shipping lines which Japan had been forced to give up to western shippers after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war.
The Shipping Control Committee, in ce-operation with the Ministry of Communications, was even said to have worked out- plans whereby Japan theoretically could again enter into ocean-going shipping on a large scale.
Since the outbreak of the European war, however, Japanese coastwise shipping not only has not decreased, but has increased by 29 ships. Japanese ships engaged in overseas service actually declined more than 7,000 tons—United Press, AL tortured with be taken imital.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.