日本版RCA構想の挫折

-形成期無線機器産業の特質-

抄録

Nihon Musen Denshin Kabushikigaisha (Radio Corporation of Japan) was established in 1925 as a semigovernment corporation dedicated to the installation of radio equipment for the international telegraph business conducted by the government. The company's original plan was, however, quite different. Business circles had first intended to establish a company to integrate the international communications business and the manufacturing of radio apparatus, modeled on the giant radio monopolies of the advanced nations. This turned out to be a frustrated attempt, and unlike other advanced nations, a large company in the radio business was never established in Japan.
This paper studies the process of the establishment of Nihon Musen and analyzes the reasons for its failure.
From the 1910s to the 1920s, several companies entered the radio apparatus manufacturing industry mainly because of the rapid expansion in the market. In connection with the establishment plans for Nihon Musen, which had been supported by almost all influential business groups, Tokyo Electric Co., which was associated with GE, sought to form an organization similar to RCA in the United States, which all interested companies would join.
The Ministry of Communications strongly opposed the foundation of such an organization on the grounds that the communications business was by law managed only by the government. Tokyo Electric failed to reach an agreement with Nippon Electric Co., and as a result, Radio Corporation of Japan was permitted only to install radio stations.
This incident greatly influenced the Japanese radio industry. It resulted in an apparatus manufacturing industry composed of many small companies, an industrial structure far different from those of other advanced nations.