Development of the local silk industry during the interwar period and the industrial experiment station : Gunnai region, Yamanashi prefecture

Abstract

This study examines the activities of the industrial experiment station during the interwar period to identify its importance in the development of the local silk industry and to determine its historical role. The silk industry in the Gunnai region produced ingrain fabric used for lining as its core product and focused on large-variety, small-quantity production. Social division of labour had not yet developed sufficiently in the industry, and Yamanashi prefecture's industrial experiment station played a major role in the development of preparation and finishing procedures at the beginning and end of the weaving process. The participation of the industrial experimental station made it possible for the industry to make technological advances that it would not have been able to make solely on its own. The station promoted the role of social division of labour within the local industry and later assisted in the establishment of a private, dedicated production-process business, thereby contributing to a consistent ingrain fabric production in the region.