Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to analyze a structural change and the localization of the weaving industry in the Ohra weaving district, which is a part of the northern Kanto weaving industrial area. For that purpose, the varieties of textiles, the distribution of weavers, and the role of their capital in the district are described.
Throughout the Meiji and Taisho eras (1894_??_1925), most of the major weavers were concentrated in Nakano village, which is located in the western part of the Ohra district. They controlled other weavers throughout the district. However, after the Taisho era (1912_??_1925), their number declined due to a change of the demand structure. The major weavers began to concentrate in the town of Tatebayashi in the eastern part of the district and most of the weavers in the district came under their control. Thus the center of weaving production shifted from the Nakano village to Tatebayashi town.
By the beginning of the Showa era (1926_??_1940), the center of production was Tateb-ayashi, and the subcenter was Nakano. The reason for the change was due to the differences in the varieties of patterns in the working conditions. The textiles produced at Nakano were generally characterized by a splashed pattern, while those produced at Tatebayshi had striped or plain patterns. Textiles with a splashed pattern required a very sophisticated technique, but it was difficult to weave using power looms. As a result, the major weavers in Nakano were unable to cope with a change in demand after the Taisho era (1912_??_1925). On the other hand, textiles with striped patterns could be woven by power looms and thereby produced in quantity. Consequently, the major weavers in Tatebayashi net the increased demand by modernizing their looms.
Furthermore, the characteristics of the respective capitals and their objects for investment were different in these places differed. The major weavers in Nakano were farm-workers as well as weavers. They invested their capital in weaving and in improvement of their farmlands. This gradually strengthened their characters as landowners. On the other hand, in Tatebayashi the weavers did nothing but weave. They wanted to be industrialists. Hence, they invested their capital in weaving production, modernizing their machine and developing new patterns.
In this way, the types of weaving and the characteristics of the weavers themselves produced differences in the development and the distribution of weaving production in the Ohra district. In conclusion.
I. The Ohra weaving district has been centered in Tatebayashi only since the beginning of the Showa era (1926_??_1940).
II . In the Ohra district there were two centers of weaving production which were different in their patterns and techniques. These factors coupled with the difference in capital investment account for the subsequent shift in importance from one center to the other.
