Abstract
The purpose of the article is first to clarify the development of the geta [wooden footwear] industry in wartime Japan, focusing on the characteristic of wartime economic controls, and then to seek the factors contributing to the early revival of the industry after the war. Previous research on wartime industries for civilian needs has emphasized regulations, organization, and mobilization due to wartime controls, but in this article we attempt to avoid such categorical views. We have made clear the following two points regarding the case of the geta industry. The first point is that although controls were strengthened as the Pacific War intensified, maximum use of the major geta production areas was made to meet the serious lack of geta. These conditions helped the survival of the geta industry, even despite the continued decrease in production scale. The second point is that the organized voluntary activity of the geta production areas before and after the war was the most important factor that contributed to revival of the industry following defeat. In concrete terms, the activity included the transition and participation of the geta industry, the "three-prefecture conference" initiated by Hiroshima, and establishment of Matsunaga Footwear Ltd., which participated in merchant activities.
