Corporate Continuity and Disconnection in the Export Ceramics Industry

Examining the Nagoya Region

Abstract

In this paper, we took up the Nagoya region, which was the largest producer of Japanese export ceramics, and examined the continuity and disconnection of corporate activities from the prewar through the postwar. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the postwar Nagoya ceramics industry inherited some of the achievements that were realized before the war.

For example, the technological foundations of the companies that drove the development of the postwar production area were generally formed in the prewar period. In addition, foreign buyers, who became important trading partners of Nagoya’s ceramics traders when trade resumed after the war, had deep ties with the Nagoya industry even before the war.

Of course, all the factors behind the development of the postwar production area cannot be attributed to the prewar achievements. The harsh conditions during the war, such as export suspension and damage due to the war, had a great impact on the management of the companies in the production area. In addition, Nihon Toki Co., Ltd. started production of whetstones, which became one of the company’s main products after the war, during the war period when munitions production was carried out.

Furthermore, after the war, subsidies from the government and the transfer of engineers from Nihon Toki to the companies in the production area promoted the development of the export ceramics industry. In short, the postwar export ceramics industry started in response to the changes in the war period while inheriting some of the achievements of the prewar period, and with the addition of new postwar conditions, it achieved a swift recovery.