A study on the recycle business in Tokyo during Taisho and the beginning of Showa: An analysis of effects of urbanization and industrialization

Abstract

After the Filth cleaning law was enforced in 1900 and the local government began to dispose of garbage, recycled resourses such as used paper and scrap iron had economic value and recycle business continued. The purpose of this study is to consider why recycle business continued during Taisho and the beginning of Showa. From the end of Meiji to Taisho, problems of hygiene influenced not only business of garbage and night-soil disposal but also recycle business, and traders of recycled resources got into a difficult situation. The traders coped with the problems of hygiene together, and the industrialization that was advanced by World War 1 increased the kind of the recycled resources and supported the traders.