The production center of Banshu hand-made somen (Japanese vermicelli) is in the suburbs of Tatsuno City in Hyogo Prefecture. The industry developed here because of a combination of excellent raw materials and suitable weather conditions.In its origin, this industry was imported by immigrant workers from Settsu Districts during Bunsei Era (1818-1829). After the Meiji Restoration (1868), protected by the government as native industry, it rapidly developed, and at its peak before W. W. II, its annual output was 1, 000, 000 boxes. After the war owing to a scarcity of materials, production greatly decreased. Recently, as control of wheat was abolished, its production rapidly increased, and this year, its output is estimated to be 200, 000 boxes. The basis of the vermicelli industry is the milling industry. Of late, water-milling is being replaced by electric milling. Thus the personality and technical skill peculiar to water-milling is rapidly disappearing. Nevertheless, the so-called feudalistic character of labour in the milling industry still remains. The vermicelli industry of this district is not organized along modern lines. It is domestic industry performed by the farmers as a supplementary means of employments. Its peculiar characteristics can be understood, if we examine the capital structure, the size of the plants, the number of employees and daily output per a plant (i. e. per a family). For example, the average daily output of the vermicelli makers who borrow materials from the water-milling capitalists is only 1.9 boxes. The number of employees averages 2.9, as the average daily output per a worker is 160 bundles of vermicelli. Production of this small scale in the Banshu District accounts for 60% of the production in all Japan. The total number of makers in this district is about 500.
What is most interesting to us is the labour structure within the vermicelli industry. It is more feudalistic than that of the water-milling industry. Cheap wages, heavy labour, and apprentice-system-these features which are far remote from the modern labour practices still remain in this industry. Consequently, after the war, young people have become unwilling to enter this industry, and take employment in the heavy industrial district near Himeji instead. Therefore, the vermicelli industry is finding it difficult to recruit apprentices who will maintain this industry.
The vermicelli manufactured in this district is called “hand-made vermicelli of Banshu”, because its production process almost wholly consist of the work of kneading and stretching the wheat powder by hand. This process begins in the early morning and continues until mid-night, sometimes even until the next morning, and the whole process of manufacturing from raw material to the finished product takes 1.5 days.
With the development of machine-made production of vermicelli after the war, the hand-made vermicelli industry of Banshu District is in an acute state of crisis.
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