Abstract
One of the most important problems in the beginning of the cotton industry in Japan was the training of workers. The mill owners had to rapidly train the technical managers such as the gaffer and the skilled workers. There are roughly 5 stages in the development of the cotton spinning industry in Japan running from 1867 to 1910s. During this period Japan succeeded in keeping out imported Indian and English imported yarn and woven goods Moreover, Japan was able to export yarn to China, Korea and India. The First Stage (from 1867) : competing with the hand spun yarn. The second stage (from 1887) : competing with the Indian yarn up to 20's. The third stage (from 1889) : competing with the English 32's yarn The fourth stage (from 1893) : competing with the English 42's two fold yarn The fifth stage (from 1894) : competing with the fine English yarn above 60's In this paper I will discuss the important role played by cotton spinning books and particularly the role these books played in the training of the technical managers and the skilled workers.
