SOCIO-ECONOMIC HISTORY
Online ISSN : 2423-9283
Print ISSN : 0038-0113
ISSN-L : 0038-0113
Volume 76, Issue 3
Displaying 1-21 of 21 articles from this issue
  • Tetsuro NAKAOKA
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 329-351
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    In the Meiji period, the transport of coal from Wakamatsu to Osaka via the Inland Sea began by native sailing boats. It was followed by the introduction of the tugboat method where- by a steamboat would pull several sailing boats, and then was replaced by sailing boats equipped with oil engines. As steamships could not enter shallow traditional ports, native sailing methods continued to be dominant despite government promotion of steamships. Even in Osaka, steamships anchored offshore, from which goods were lightered. Thus the deeper port of Kobe was increasingly used for vessels for overseas shipping, and lighters and tugboats carried goods and passengers between Kobe and Osaka. Meanwhile, large- scale dredging, repair, and improvement works of rivers and construction of a new port were carried out in Osaka, and eventually a unique port structure emerged whereby canal networks, created in the Tokugawa period, were connected by river tugboats to the new port, which was able to handle overseas shipping vessels. The diffusion of the hot bulb engine began with the introduction of the oil-engine-equipped river boat to these canals. This new engine soon became a favorite among fishermen and sailing boat owners. Local manufacturers readied themselves for its supply, and this in turn supported the growth of its use in domestic shipping.
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  • Kazuo HORI
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 353-377
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    This study seeks to understand the process by which during the first half of the 20th century, Japan rapidly emerged as a newly industrialized country in the world, as well as the process by which, through colonization of its surrounding areas, Japan developed as an empire. Furthermore, this study aims to evaluate historically the significance of the economic expansion of the Japanese Empire. First, the unique development of intra-East Asian trade is validated quantitatively. In particular, Japanese export of consumption goods to the world market and at the same time the process by which Japan became connected with the surrounding Asian areas through a unique trade relationship are examined. Next, the importance of the colonial agriculture that supported Japan's export of industrial goods is explained. Japan's foreign exchange savings through the import of foodstuffs from its colonies are also ascertained. Factors that made foreign exchange savings possible, such as agriculture strategy, commercial organization, and peasant farmer management in the colonies, are discussed. Finally, from an analysis of the formation of the relationship between capital and wage labour at the empire level, as well as the labour movement within the empire, the transplantation of capitalist production methods from within Japan to its colonies is discussed. The above analysis thus presents the integrated formation of East Asian capitalism by Japan and its colonies as an empire, albeit regulated by their natural and social conditions.
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  • Yoshinori KIGOSHI
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 379-396
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    This paper explores the structure of modern China's national market and its independence from the Empire of Japan. Although Japan dominated China's market and territory mainly in Manchuria, it failed to integrate the whole Chinese market into its empire. The reason is that China had established a market between the Yangtze River area and Shanghai, independent from the Empire of Japan. The economy of the Yangtze River area demanded industrial goods from Shanghai and also supplied raw materials, which the national industry needed. Furthermore, this area also supplied various raw materials needed by the world market aside from Japan. As long as this structure of trade relations was maintained, the Chinese market was able to attain sustainable growth independent of Japan. To integrate the Chinese economy's wealth into its empire, Japan had to bring both the internal and external trade structures under its control. But Japan's invasion into the Yangtze River area resulted in the destruction of the structure of China's trade relations. The recovery and formation of the Chinese national market was postponed until after the Japanese surrender.
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  • Kazuko FURUTA, Toshiaki USHIJIMA
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 397-408
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    This article examines quality problems encountered in goods markets in East Asia from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century. It investigates how mechanisms were formed to reduce asymmetries of information regarding product quality and enable stable transactions at appropriate prices for high-quality merchandise. Research to date has focused almost exclusively on the effectiveness of centralized solutions by governments, trade associations (dogyo kumiai), and other intermediate organizations to alleviate asymmetries of information. It has not fully studied decentralized approaches by transactors. This panel highlights the important role played by parties to a transaction to increase trust in transactions as a means of solving quality problems in circumstances when it is difficult to establish centralized solutions over a short period of time, for example solutions that cover the entire breadth of a rapidly developing market. Even in cases in which there are limits to what can be accomplished by centralized approaches, effective solutions to quality problems can be found by parties to a transaction through a combination of the creation of new transactional systems, enhanced disclosure of quality information, and technical and financial support to supplement them.
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  • Masataka SETOBAYAHSI
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 409-425
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    This article explores fraudulent trading and how it was prevented, taking as an example the adulteration of cotton for export in Hankou (in Hubei province) in the beginning of the 20th century. From the late 19th century, the Japanese and Shanghai cotton-spinning industries developed rapidly, increasing the demand for raw cotton. The Japanese merchants who bought cotton for the cotton-spinning industries began to require good and unadulterated cotton, but the Chinese cotton merchants annoyed them with their devious practice of mixing water into cotton. Most earlier written accounts mention this fraudulent practice. But there is no explanation of why this transpired or how it was prevented. However, it was important for the cotton-spinning industries to prevent adulteration in order to buy quality cotton. First, the discussion will focus on why this fraudulent practice transpired. Then, how it was prevented will be examined. This paper suggests that the process from deception to eventual prevention helped build trust between trading partners, Japanese merchants, Chinese merchants, and Chinese peasants: if the quality of cotton was good, they could trade on better terms in the cotton market.
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  • Chikashi TAKAHASHI
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 427-442
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    The purpose of this paper is to show that the analysis service offered by a governmental agricultural experimental station contributed to order in the fertilizer market in the latter half of Meiji era. In around 1900, new participants entered the fertilizer market in Japan. Some of them made or dealt in new kinds of fertilizers, such as chemical fertilizer and bone meal. Because of the lack of the information on the new participants and fertilizers, the market was in disorder. The agricultural experiment station of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce therefore launched an analysis service. Through this service, people were able to obtain such vital information as the ingredients of the fertilizers. Many requests for the service were made by the manufacturers and dealers themselves. They needed testimonies for the ingredients of their fertilizers. The results of the analyses were made public not only by the station, which published its reports for a nominal fee, but also by the manufacturers and dealers who had requested the analysis. They used the information in their sales promotion brochures and in advertisements in agricultural magazines for farmers. Thus knowledge of the usefulness of the new fertilizers was imparted to the people.
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  • Kensuke HIRAI
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 443-461
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    The purpose of this article is to examine the transaction mechanism that increased the demand of fertilizers among Taiwanese peasants. The following three points are discussed. First, there were two supply routes for the purchase of fertilizers. One was from nokai (the agricultural association), the other was from merchants. Second, when the peasants purchased fertilizers, they confronted two problems: financial difficulties and deceptive trading practices. Despite the institutional measures that were taken, such as the establishment of banks or laws, they were not effective in countering these problems. Finally, the peasants solved these problems by choosing "reliable" suppliers, which was why the demand for fertilizers kept increasing. Nokai was one of the reliable suppliers, because it provided financial facilities and did not have the incentive to engage in deceptive trade. Some of the rice merchants were also reliable suppliers for the peasants. When purchasing fertilizers, many peasants did not choose fertilizer merchants but chose rice merchants instead, because they supplied fertilizers on a credit basis. For rice merchants, fertilizers were a necessary item to collect rice, so they had no incentive to be fraudulent.
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  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 463-465
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
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  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 465-467
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
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  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 467-469
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
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  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 469-471
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
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  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 471-473
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
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    Download PDF (466K)
  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 473-476
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Download PDF (613K)
  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 476-478
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
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    Download PDF (509K)
  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 478-480
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
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    Download PDF (491K)
  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 480-481
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
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    Download PDF (330K)
  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 482-484
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
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    Download PDF (494K)
  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 484-489
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
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    Download PDF (910K)
  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 489-491
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
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    Download PDF (475K)
  • [in Japanese]
    Article type: Article
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 491-493
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
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    Download PDF (377K)
  • Article type: Bibliography
    2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 494-497
    Published: November 25, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: July 18, 2017
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