2. What Supported the Development of Traditional Rural Economies? The Forgotten Financial Infrastructure

This chapter elucidates the macroeconomic position of funds accumulated from personal small-amount savings, and seeks to ascertain the relationship of these funds with economic growth. Before conducting a historical analysis of this topic utilizing specific examples, this chapter outlines the aforementioned popular funds and through relevant statistics confirms their position in the Japanese economy. First of all, the chapter charts Japan’s modernization and economic development. In doing so, particular attention is given to the development of light industry, as it is often referred to, and the growth of regional economies (including the agricultural sector) from a macroeconomic viewpoint, in an effort to determine the extent to which they have contributed to the Japanese economy. It also seeks to determine how savings and the financial system have supported their modernization and development. Throughout, a focus is maintained on the accumulation of personal savings and the resulting formation of massive funds that have often been overlooked in analyses of the above process.