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2016 | Buch

Economic Activities Under the Japanese Colonial Empire

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The main focus of this edited volume is an examination of dynamic relationships among Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and the northeastern region of China, and the economic development of each area in East Asia from the 1910s to the end of World War II. The development of foreign trade in East Asia, the relations between industrialization and consumption in Korea, the transactions in fertilizers and the development of small-scale industries in Taiwan are precisely examined. At present, East Asia is a major economic center of the world. It is necessary to look closely not only at both sides of the “exploitation or development under colonization” paradigm but also at the prewar factors that spurred East Asian economic growth in the postwar decades. A noteworthy characteristic of the Japanese colonial empire was the close economic and geographic relations among Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and the northeastern region of China. Economic integration within the empire strengthened considerably in the interwar years and remained high even during the war as compared to that in European countries and their colonies. What was the irreversible change in each colonial economy by means of forced incorporation into the Japanese empire? What was the impact on economic subjects such as merchants, manufacturers, managers, and workers through the colonial regime? This book provides readers with broad perspectives that are indispensable given that the factors discussed herein are the historical origins of current issues.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Introduction
Abstract
In an article titled “The Illusion of ‘Greater Japan’” that appeared in the July and August 1921 issue of the renowned economic journal, Tōyō Keizai Shinpō (New Report on the Asian Economy), Tanzan Ishibashi explicated an idea of “Small Japan,” which insisted that Japan should dispense with colonies. However, contrary to Ishibashi’s claims, the economic relationships between the Japanese mainland and its colonies became closer over the interwar period with the increase of economic integration and division of labor within the empire.
Although the task of bridging the political and economic histories of the Japanese empire is a large challenge, this book is a first step toward doing so. Research on the economic history of the Japanese colonial empire should not simply encompass the dichotomic aspects of “exploitation and development” of colonial rule. Rather, it must also consider how the prewar period provided the foundational elements of postwar economic growth across East Asia. This is the underlying theme of this book, which comprises the latest studies on “Economic Activities under the Japanese Colonial Empire.”
Minoru Sawai
Erratum to: The Shifting Axis of Specialization Within the Japanese Empire: A Study of Railway Distribution of Cereals in Colonial Korea
Yusuke Takeuchi

Problems of Economic Development in the Japanese Empire

Frontmatter
Chapter 2. The Formation of Capitalism in East Asia
Abstract
This chapter investigates the process in which Japan emerged as a newly industrialized country during the first half of the twentieth century, as well as the process in which, through the colonization of surrounding areas, Japan developed as an empire. By doing so, this study aims to assess the historical significance of the economic expansion of the Japanese Empire. First, the uniqueness of intra-East Asian trade is highlighted quantitatively. In particular, Japan’s consumer goods exports to the world markets and the process in which Japan became connected with surrounding Asian areas through unique trade relationships are examined. Next, the importance of colonial agriculture which supported Japan’s industrial goods exports is emphasized. It is corroborated that Japan conserved its foreign exchange reserves through the foodstuffs imports from its colonies. Factors which made possible the conservation of foreign exchange reserves, such as agriculture strategy, commercial organizations and peasant societies in the colonies, are discussed. Then, on the basis of an analysis of the formation of the capital-wage labor relation at the empire level and workforce movements within the empire, the transplantation of the capitalist production method from Japan to its colonies is discussed. Finally, as a conclusion of the above investigation, the historical significance of the formation of ‘East Asian capitalism,’ which integrated both mainland Japan and its colonies as an empire, is emphasized, even though the structures of the societies within the empire were regulated by their natural and social conditions.
Kazuo Hori
Chapter 3. The Shifting Axis of Specialization Within the Japanese Empire: A Study of Railway Distribution of Cereals in Colonial Korea
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to elucidate how the “specialization in cereals” emerged and evolved in the imperial Japanese market —Japan, Chōsen, and Manchuria— and to analyze how this structure related to “industrialization.” The “rice production development program” and increased exports to Japan created demand for Manchurian millet as a subsistence food in the rice-producing south. The result was the “specialization in cereals within the empire” which formed along the axis of exports to Japan. However, in 1927–1928, import volumes for millet declined considerably as its rose relative to that of rice. This change in demand differed with region: in the north, the demand for millet stayed stable because of the expansion of railway and the industrialization along it, which created a new market for millet. Demand for millet fell in the southern provinces as the improve standard of living increased demand for rice. In farming districts, improved irrigation facilities and the use of fertilizers, both promoted by the “rice production development program”, led to increased production of barley varieties and enabled the consumption of those, which contributed to the fall in demand for millet. Industrialization created a new axis along which “specialization in cereals within the empire” emerged.
Yusuke Takeuchi
Chapter 4. Industrialization and the Rice-Processing Industry in Taiwan Under Japanese Rule, 1895–1945
Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to show that there was a close relationship between Japanese food policy, which gave Taiwan a central role in supplying rice, and the development of small-scale industries in Taiwan. The analysis focuses on the development of the rice-processing industry, which was typical of small-scale industries in Taiwan in this period. The conclusions can be summarized as follows:
The introduction of small motors in the 1920s–1930s led to the emergence of rice processing in Taiwan as a small-scale industry. This was a result of the active response of Taiwanese rice dealers, who introduced reforms to their collection networks and processing technologies in response to Japanese agricultural policy, and to the new economic relationship with Japan which developed as a result.
The development of the rice-processing industry led to small-scale industrialization’s becoming a pattern of colonial industrialization. It caused, firstly, the formation by Taiwanese business owners of small-scale industries, based on their dominance over the circulation of rice in Taiwan, and secondly, colonial limitations on industrialization, due to the strong connection with agriculture and the small scale of the industry’s businesses.
Yoshitaka Horiuchi
Chapter 5. The Peasants’ Dilemma: Finance and Fraud Problems in Purchasing Fertilizer in Taiwan (1910–1930s)
Abstract
This chapter examines the transaction mechanisms that increased the demand for fertilizers among Taiwanese peasants under Japanese colonial rule. The following three points are discussed. First, there were two supply routes for the purchase of fertilizers: one was from the agricultural associations, the other from merchants. In applying fertilizers, the peasants came to use two applications: a basal fertilizer applied just before planting, and an additional fertilizer applied one or 2 months after planting. The agricultural associations only managed joint purchasing for the basal fertilizer, so the peasants had to purchase additional fertilizer on the market. Second, in purchasing fertilizers, peasants confronted two problems: financial difficulties and fraud. The institutional measures, such as the establishment of banks or laws, were not alone effective in countering these problems. Finally, the peasants chose “reliable” suppliers, thus increasing the demand for fertilizers. The agricultural association was a reliable supplier because it provided financial facilities and did engage in fraud. Some rice merchants, “Tulongjian”, were also reliable suppliers for the peasants because they had no incentives to trade in adulterated fertilizers. Also, these merchants were willing to supply fertilizers on a credit base
Kensuke Hirai

Book Reviews

Frontmatter
Chapter 6. Review of Nak Nyeon Kim, Nihon Teikokushugika no Chōsen Keizai (The Korean Economy Under the Japanese Rule)
University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, 2002
Abstract
What was the total picture of Japanese investments in colonial Korea? How did these investments change over time, particularly with regards to areas of investment? These are the central questions to this work. Kim Nak Nyeon provides concrete evidence concerning how Japanese investments shaped Korea's economy in the following chapters: Chapter 4 deals with agricultural investment during the 1920s; Chapter 5 covers Korean industrialization during the 1930s; Chapter 6 examines the transformation of Japanese capital exports during the Pacific War. Chapter 3 serves as an introduction to the entire work. Kim has successfully achieved a difficult task to write objectively about the history of his country under colonial rule with this book. Moreover, scholars in both Japan and Korea will appreciate this work as important step towards the development of a shared approach in the study of colonial economic history.
Yūzō Yamamoto
Chapter 7. Review of Chaisung Lim, Senji Keizai to Tetsudō Unei (Wartime Economy and Railroad Operations)
University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, 2005
Abstract
Spanning from pre-WWII to the post-Korean War, this work is the culmination of the author’s analysis of the historical process by which Korean Railways was transformed from an infrastructure of colonial domination to an infrastructure of resistance to socialism. It is an analysis based on detailed evidence from primary materials uncovered by the author himself. The key points brought to light by the empirical evidence and addressed in this volume are the Chosen (Korean National) Railway’s organizational responses to the environment brought about by war and liberation: the restructuring of operating processes internal to the organization and the restructuring of the transport capacity allocation system external to the organization.
Jongwon Woo
Chapter 8. Review of Hirokazu Hirai, Nihon Shokuminchi Zaiseishi Kenkyū (Study on the History of Finance of Japanese Colonial Governments)
Mineruva Shobō, Kyoto, 1997
Abstract
The field of Japanese colonial economic history has produced a significant body of research, but work on fiscal history remains sparse for some reason, a discrepancy that seems all the more disproportionate given the abundance of research on monetary history. Fiscal administration is the point of intersection for politics and economics. We need studies of this area for our grasp of the history of the Japanese colonial empire to be truly comprehensive.
Fumio Kaneko
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
Economic Activities Under the Japanese Colonial Empire
herausgegeben von
Minoru Sawai
Copyright-Jahr
2016
Verlag
Springer Japan
Electronic ISBN
978-4-431-55927-6
Print ISBN
978-4-431-55925-2
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55927-6