本稿は、第一次世界大戦が日本の海運にいかなる影響を与えたかを、その政治過程を踏まえて明らかにすることを目的とする。従来、大正期以降の日本海運は経済史、経営史の枠組みで検討されることが多く、国家産業である海運業や海運政策の政治との結節は問われてこなかった。本稿では、大戦中の一九一七年一〇月に船腹の流出を防ぐ目的で施行された緊急勅令・の立案、審議、運用過程を検討することを通じて、当該期の政府、政党、当業者の対抗や共鳴の諸相を描出するとともに、日本海運業への影響を論じた。
地方利益欲求の吸収による支持獲得が雛形となりつつあった一九一〇年代、大戦による海運勃興の中心地であった阪神地方は、政治的には未だ空白地帯であった。世界市場での自由活動を制限するの発令は、同地方の海運業者、特に社外船主の陳情活動と政府攻撃を惹起し、彼らは政党への接近により同令の実施緩和を達成することを画策した。他方、同地における反政府の気色を看取した政党も、船主から資金や動員の援助を受けながら同地での党大会を開催した。船主との直接の接触のなかで、政友会は逓相からの緩和言質獲得へと動く。
の起草段階では、田健治郎逓相および伊東巳代治ら官僚閥によって、行政による専断的な海運業の指導が構想されていた。しかし、第40議会での同令への事後承諾獲得にあたって、衆議院第一党である政友会の事前交渉により、逓信省は骨抜きとも言える実施緩和を議事上で明言するに至った。禁止されていたスエズ以東の外国間航海が実態として届出制となり、日本船舶はインドや南洋、南方方面への進出を加速させる。当業者と政党の接近、介入は、行政の構想を挫折させただけでなく、その結末は大戦末期の日本海運の航路発展も規定したと言える。

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During World War I, Allied countries, including Japan, regulated trade with companies associated with their enemies. At the same time, free trade had critical importance for the economic and national survive of Japan, which lacked abundant natural resources. This paper explains how Japan joined a global network regulating trade with enemy-associated companies during WWI. Japan implemented naval contraband of war and trade embargoes on some goods in the beginning of the war, but after the promulgation of the British Trading with the Enemy (Extension of Powers) Act 1915 on 23 December 1915, Japan cooperated with the British endeavour to ban trade with enemy-associated companies. The Japanese government began to instruct Japanese traders and shipping companies not to trade with companies on the British Black List.
　The Japanese government issued an imperial ordinance regulating trade with enemy- associated companies in April 1917 based on the resolution of the Paris Economic Conference of the Allied in June 1916. The crucial reason that the Japanese government cooperated with the United Kingdom was the importance of maintaining trade with Allied countries, especially the British Empire. Japanese light industry, which was the country’s most profitable industry, imported natural resources mostly from the British Empire. At that time, British companies stopped trading with not only with enemy-associated companies but also companies suspected of having any relations with those companies. To continue to do business with British companies, Japanese companies had no choice but to cut all relations with enemy-associated companies and to follow British rules.
　Criticism of banning private trade was based on the grounds of humanism or moral conduct between ‘civilized states’. Before WWI, war had been thought of as a conflict between states. Life, property and other rights of civilians, even those with enemy nationalities, were to be protected. In the Privy Council which discussed the imperial ordinance, Miyoji Ito, a leading privy, pointed out that abusing enemy civilians by banning private trade was a significant change from Japanese policies during the Chino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars. This change marked an age of total war in which everything in a state was mobilised to support war, and there were no differences between combatants and non-combatants.

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