Technology and the problem of quailty in the textile industry of the Meiji period (1868〜1912)

Abstract

Low product quality is frequently a problem during the development of manufacturing industries. The tendency to ascribe this to moral-hazard behavior by producers is often substantially correct. However, technological factors could also be involved, as in the case of the textile industry of the early Meiji era. In other words, low quality was at least partly caused by the attempts of enterprising producers to introduce new technology in the form of chemical dyeing materials from Europe. The result was poor-quality products which cost Japanese textile manufacturers their good market reputation. In this paper, the report of a competitive exhibition of 1885 is used to provide an objective evaluation of textile products. Efforts were made to establish quantifiable standards for the exhibits in respect to elements such as weaving, yarn quality, dyeing, length and weight, design, and price. One of the most important findings is that dyeing posed more serious problems of quality for silk textile products than for other kinds. For this reason trade associations, especially in silk textile industry districts, established institutions to teach producers how to apply new technology.