Technocrats and Forest Management : A Substratum of the Modern Forest Policy in Japan

Abstract

From the 1910s to the 1960s the national forest covered the entire forest sector in Japan. We are focusing on this period and considering a parallel to the technocrats in the modern Japan forest management. Based on the academic involvement in the forest policy and economics in Japan, we apply the technocrat history in administrative and political history, and conduct a life course analysis of historical sociology. We discussed the behaviour of four forestry technocrats' generations when they encountered particular historical events, such as the co-operative movement of forest technocrats and the National Forest Productivity Increase Plan. Consequently we found that the forest technocrats are naive when concerned with the violence of state power and market economy. With the elaboration of appropriate way to manage forest by technocrats, there is also a need to further advance the empirical research.