The Formulation of the 9-block Plan in the Reorganization of Japan's Electric Power Industry of 1951 : who was the Opinion Leader?

Abstract

In Japan, with the reorganization of the electric power industry of 1951 the state management introduced in 1939 was abolished, and nine privatelymanaged, regionally intgrated companies were established: Hokkaido Electric Power Co., Tohoku Electric Power Co., Tokyo Electric Power Co., Chubu Electric Power Co., Hokuriku Electric Power Co., Kansai Electric Power Co., Chugoku Electric Power Co., Shikoku Electric Power Co., and Kyushu Electric Power Co. The purpose of this paper is to trace the process in which the 9-block plan, adopted in the reorganization of 1951, was formulated. In other words, that is to specify who the opinion leader of the reorganization of Japan's electric power industry was. There were three candidates for the opinion leader: Nine Haiden Kaisha(electric distributing companies), the General Headquarters/Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers(GHQ/SCAP), and MATSUNAGA Yasuzaemon(the former president of the Toho Electric Power Co.). Of the three, Nine Haiden Kaisha completely changed their reorganization plan in 1948 from state management in reality to private management. GHQ/SCAP which made so many plans as 5-block, 7-block, 9-block and 10-block, also could not keep its own opinion consistently. On the contrary, MATSUNAGA who was the chairman of the Electric Power Industry Reorganization Council from November 1949 to February 1950, kept th 9-block plan from the beginning to the end. Therefore, it may safely be said that MATSUNAGA was the opinion leader of the reorganization of Japan's Electric Power Industry of 1951, though the commonly accepted theory emphasizes the role of GHQ/SCAP. This paper is based mainly on the GHQ/SCAP Papers in the Washington National Records Center, Suitland, Maryland, U.S.A., and KOIKE Shinzo Papers in the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Tokyo, Japan. KOIKE was the Chief of the Electric Power Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.