STUDY ON THE ACTUAL SITUATION OF IMPORT OF NAILS IN THE EARLY MEIJI ERA THROUGH “YOKOHAMA MAINICHI SHIMBUN”

Abstract

 The author has been examining the transition of the Western nail prices during the Meiji era and the transition from the Japanese nails to the Western nails. And, I pointed out that the Japanese nails and the Western nails were used together in the late 1877s. According to the analysis of the Yokohama-syokyo carried in the Chugai-Bukka-Shimpo, started from 1876, I found that "Nail rods", "Iron nails" and "Nail irons" were imported during the Meiji 10s to the mid-Meiji 20s. As a result, "Yotetsu-Kokusan-Kakukugi" (= Domestic square nail using iron imported from the West), was produced by "Nail irons", and the price of "Yotetsu-Kokusan-Kakukugi" was reduced in the early 1980s. On the other hand, in the latter half of 1907, I showed that imports of "Yotetsu-Marukugi" (=the Western nail) increased sharply, and the so-called “combined period” was used, in which both square nails(=Japanese nails) and the Western Nails were used. The business conditions section was used for this discussion. This column was useful for knowing price changes. However, the import amount could not be known from this column. The purpose of this article is to clarify the trends in the import quantity of nails in the early Meiji era, using the description in the Yokohama Mainichi Shimbun, which shows the import and export situation in Yokohama in detail.

 By inspecting the Yokohama Mainichi Shimbun, it was confirmed that the import of Yokugi-rui in 1871 was 6t for Kugitetsu-rui and Tetsukugi-rui was not imported in Yokohama. From the following year, Tesyukugi-rui was imported at around 100 tons. On the other hand, the Kugitetsu-rui recorded 321 tons at a stretch in the following year, 1872, 1246 tons in 1873, and up to May in 1874, reaching 1182 tons compared to the previous year. Thus, in the early Meiji period, imports of the Tetsukugi-rui were seen from an early stage, but the quantity was small and growth was sluggish. On the other hand, imports of the Kugitetsu-rui increased after 1872, surpassing the Tetsukugi-rui, and this imported Kugitetsu-rui was widely used as raw materials for domestic Japanese iron nails.