2025 Volume 60 Issue 2 Pages 26-49
This paper analyses the development of the pelagic fishery and the development of Japan Fishing Co.’s pelagic fishery and cod product export business. The company first focused on the manufacture of salted and dried cod products using American fishing and processing techniques, aiming to export them. However, it faced difficulties selling its products due to low demand in Japan and East Asia. Meanwhile with the outbreak of World War I, Japanese cod was sought as a replacement for the declining cod supplies in Norway, then the world’s largest producer of cod. Japan Fishing also expanded its business significantly by exporting its products to North and South America and other countries, but the post-war global recession caused significant losses and led to the company’s closure. The company failed to sustain its business due to several key reasons: the undeveloped technology for manufacturing cod products, losing the competition to Norway in the cod product supply market, and the failure to develop demand in Japan and neighboring countries. The company’s improper accounting practices and the biased appropriation of surplus also contributed to the deterioration of the company’s business.
The Japanese fisheries industry rapidly expanded its fishing grounds and product markets until the 1970s, when the pelagic fishery industry began to decline. It was particularly successful during the pre-war Showa period, especially through exports like canned products. However, even before this, the pelagic cod fishery, which had sought technology and markets abroad, revealed practical limitations due to a lack of product manufacturing technology and market constraints.
