The role of competitive exhibitions and agricultural experiment stations in the development of the Japanese agricultural machine industry in the interwar period

Abstract

Machines came to play a significant role in Japanese agriculture in the interwar period. Competitive exhibitions and agricultural experiment stations contributed to their diffusion, and to the general development of the agricultural machine industry, in a variety of ways. The main purpose of competitive exhibitions was the display and evaluation of agricultural machines. In response to the nationwide diffusion of such machines, the competitive exhibitions of the 1920s upgraded their advertising function and refined their systems of evaluation. However, while the greater size of exhibitions increased the impact of their advertising function, the greater number of exhibits led to higher costs and impeded accurate evaluation. In the 1930s, therefore, agricultural experiment stations came to replace competitive exhibitions. As permanent organizations, they were more effective in promoting and examining machines than ad hoc exhibitions which took place only once a year. Furthermore, the stations fostered the growth of human networks linking their engineers to technical advisors belonging to agricultural associations, farmers and manufacturers. These made an important contribution to the advancement of R&D, production, and sales of agricultural machines.