Since the pottery in our country has generally been developing as a local traditional industry, and since it has been playing a very important part as a staple export since the last quarter of the preceding century, it may be said to be a typical form of the middle and small-scale industries in the country. The following are the conclusions I have arrived at by analysing the historical development and the industrial management of the pottery at Yokkaichi City, which is situated about 30 kilometers west of Nagoya, on Ise Bay.
1. The city was not the cradle of this industry. It was an industry which, at the beginning of the last quarter of the preceding century, transmigrated here by land from Kuwana, where it had a long history as a domestic industry. At present, it depends entirely upon other parts of the land for such required materials as clay, kaolin, coal, etc. Its modern prosperity, therefore, may be attributed chiefly to the fact that the city is conveniently located not only for the importation of materials by sea, but also from the point of view of the geographical distance to Nagoya, the greatest center of foreign trade in the area.
2. From the aspects of management, the manufacturing is suited for mass production in that it is constructed on the basis of differentiation or specialization of productive processes.
3. From the point of view of the territorial distribution, the differentiated groups of workers aggregate in one corner of the city, called “Kyohoku Region, ” in complete seclusion from those engaged in other branches of industry.
4. Since it was a new industry in the city that has made sudden remarkable progress since the beginning of the present century, the factory system here has certain peculiarities not to be seen in other traditional centers of the same industry. In the productive scale, it is bigger than that in such neighboring traditional centers as Seto and Tono, and smaller than that of the capitalized colossal factories in Nagoya. Here, most of the factories are middle-sized with 30 employees or so, and are surrounded by a number of small. subcontracting works. However, they form the modern commission business in that they transmit all their manufactures to wholesale agencies.
5. The cost is reduced since the manufactures are of porcelain-earthen-ware composition with an appropriate mixture of the materials baked at a modified temperature without coating. This accounts for the export of the majority of the goods.
6. In organic connection with other centers such as Seto, Tono, Nagoya, etc., the pottery in this city plays an important part in the particular industry of Tokai District, the pottery kingdom of our country.
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