The purpose of this paper is to consider the direction of the future investigation by way of a review of the studies of the economic thought in the Meiji Period in the last twenty years.
By studying the economic thought in the Meiji Period, generally not only the economists but also the thinkers, the journalists, the statesmen, the bureaucrats, and the entrepreneurs are made the object. As well, in regard to topics in the study of the Japanese economic thought of the age following the Meiji Restoration, we find at present a general consensus. If it is limited to he Meiji Period, the topics can be summarized as the following three approaches. The firs are studies that examine the so-called “continuance and severance” between the idea which allowed the reception of the Western political economy, and the economic thought in the Edo Period. The second are studies that intend to clarify the introduction of the Western political economy into Japan. The third are studies that aim to elucidate the process of the diffusion and the fixation of the Western political economy in Japan. In this paper, the first is called “the approach focusing on continuance and severance, ” the second is called “the approach focusing on the history of the introduction, ” while the third is called “the approach focusing on institutionalization.”
In addition to those studies pursuing the above three lines of thought, there are studies that examine the economic policy ideas and the economic vision in the Meiji Period. This is called the “approach focusing on the history of the economic policy ideas.” This paper emphasizes the importance of the studies taking this point of view.
Two ideas are fairly suggestive in the study talking the latter approach. One is “developmentalism.” This principle focuses on the nationalism of a backward country, industrialization under the governmental leadership, and the affirmation of governmental intervention in an economy. This can provide a conceptual framework for further study because its elements were widely contained in various economic policy ideas and economic visions appearing in the Meiji Period. The other one is the result of the more recent studies regarding the mercantilism. The authors of such studies insist on the following: Most political economy is structured in such a way that government can intervene to any degree in the market from the viewpoint of the public utility. And, free trade and protectionism often complement each other. If this view is accurate, the validity of the simple point of view in which free trade and protectionism confront each other must be reconsidered, this being true in the studies of the economic thought in the Meiji Period as well.

抄録全体を表示