Kyoto, Japan ,experienced the Meiji Restoration while the industries in the area、primarily commerce, became rapidly weakened after the relocation of Japans capital to Tokyo、Since the industrial policies ㏌ Kyoto during the Meiji period had an implication on the restoration of the weakened industries within the area、they should not be regarded as a simple application of on the Meiji governments promotion policies for new industries、 The Kyoto government suggested five large industry promation measure for restoring industry within the area, one of which was cattle breeding for milk production. The central players in the implementation of these industrial promotion policies were Masanao Makimura, Councilor (later Governor) of Kyoto Prefecture; Kakuma Yamamoto, Advisor of Kyoto Prefecture; and Hiroakira Akashi, MD. Although their positions differed, these individuals realized that developing human resources and introducing scientific knowledge was critical for the restoration of Kyoto’s industries, and strongly supported Kyoto’s industrial promotion policies. On this basis, Kyoto took steps toward the modernization of cattle breeding, as was done in Tokyo. At that time, the people of Japan consumed neither milk nor beef. Cattle were used only for tilling fields and as beasts of burden. In 1871, Nobuatsu Nagatani, the then-governor of Kyoto Prefecture, issued the Proclamation of Encouragement of Grazing Cattle to strongly advocate that (1) eating beef was healthy and (2) an increase in the beef and dairy industries would lead to more industries in Kyoto because the cattle being raised could be sold for profit to foreigners. In 1972, as part of the policy of encouraging cattle breeding, the government of Kyoto purchased dairy cattle from the United States, hired foreign agriculturists, and established the Kyoto Prefectural Stock Farm. Dairy cattle bred on this farm were loaned or sold to residents within the area who reclaimed the land as a job-creating endeavor for ex-samurai and a measure by which the poor citizens could gain income. Moreover, Kyoto manufactured and sold milk and dairy products to residents within the prefecture to raise awareness of these practices. In 1876, the Kyoto Prefectural Agriculture and Stock-Farming School was founded to provide instructions on large-scale American farming systems and specialized education through demonstration of agricultural practices and academic lectures. This article discusses the unique development of cattle breeding in Kyoto during the early Meiji period, including the development and progression of the undertaking on the Kyoto Prefectural Stock Farm, as well as other relevant matters.

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At the end of Edo period, Japan was, after a long national isolation, widely opened to foreign countries. Westerners, who had been permitted to visit only Nagasaki until then, started to arrive in other regions of this country. For the first time Japanese people were exposed to the western eating habits such as eating meat and drinking milk. Although these shocked them, they started to imitate the western dietary culture. This paper focuses the steps of the life of Fukuda Matsujiro (1856-1928). He was born in Kanuma, a post station town along Nikko Reiheishi-Kaido Road, and was engaged in meat and dairy industries in Nikko, Ashio and Kiryu. In early modern time of Japan, people did not have cattle for eating and milking purposes but treasured them for load carriage and cultivation. Because Matsujiro’s family had run a carrier business he knew how to handle cattle, which was afterwards useful in his meat and dairy business. The progress of his business was also due to the regional developments, such as, the increase of foreign visitors and inhabitants in Nikko, the prosperity of the Ashio Copper Mine, and the opening of the railway, Ashio Line. By referring such circumstances and the relations between those areas, this paper trys to reveal why and how Matsujiro launched stock-raising and dairying, and further developed his business in our region.

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