雑貨産業

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雑貨産業

The Role of Labour-Intensive Sectors in Japanese Industrialization

論文タイトル: Notes
著者名: -
出版社: United Nations University Press
出版年: 1991
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Notes


Introduction

1. Success of smaller enterprises in growing into big businesses even after the high economic growth
phase was not totally absent, but such instances were found mostly in the service industries and not in
the manufacturing sector.
2. H. Rosovsky, Capital Formation in Japan, 1868-1940 (New York, Free Press of Glencoe, 1961).
3. W.W. Rostow, The Stages of Economic Growth, A Non-Communist Manifesto (London, Cambridge
University Press, 1960).
4. W.W. Lockwood, The Economic Development of Japan, Growth and Structural Change 1868-1938
(Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1954), pp. 582-583.
5. Ibid., p. 588.
6. For further discussion of this point, see Supplementary Comment 1.
7. I wonder whether some characteristics of the Japanese middle class are unique to Japanese historical
experiences alone. One of the most important subjects to examine and compare is the historical-social
characteristics and functions of the middle class of developed and developing countries in the process
of their industrialization.
8. This government was established in 1868 and lasted until 1890 when the Meiji Constitution was
promulgated.
9. Maeda Masana, Kogyo iken (Proposal on the promotion of industry) (Tokyo, Ministry of Agriculture and
Commerce, 1884).
10. Ueda Teijiro, "Sho kogyo mondai kenkyu" (Study on problems of small-scale industries), Kokumin Keizai Zasshi 24, no. 5 (March 1918).
11. Noro Eitaro, Nihon shihon shugi hattatsu shi (History of the development of Japanese capitalism)
(Tokyo, Iwanami Bunko, 1930).
12. Takahashi Kamekichi, Gendai chusho shokogyo ron (Treatise on present-day small and medium-scale
commercial and manufacturing industries) (Tokyo, Chikura Shobo, 1936); Arisawa Hiromi, Nihon
kogyo tosei ron (Treatise on the control of Japanese industry) (Tokyo, Yuhikaku, 1937).
13. See, for example, Ito Taikichi, Ojiro Taromaru, Kitahara Isamu, and Sato Yoshio, "Nihon chusho kigyo
mondai kenkyu shi" (History of studies on problems
of Japan's small and medium-scale enterprises), in Keio Gijuku Daigaku Keizaigakkai, ed., Nihon ni
okeru keizaigaku no hyaku nen (One hundred years of economics in Japan) (Tokyo, Keio Gijuku
Daigaku Keizaigakkai, 1959); Nakamura Hideichiro, Nihon no chusho kigyo mondai (Problems of
Japanese small and medium-scale enterprises) (Tokyo, Godo Shuppan Sha, 1961); Kajinishi
Mitsuhaya, ed., Koza chusho kigyo (Lectures on small and medium-scale enterprises), vol. 1 (Tokyo,
Yuhikaku, 1960).
14. The establishment of the Small and Medium Enterprises Agency in 1948 led to a substantial
improvement, both qualitatively and quantitatively, of factual surveys by government agencies.
15. The 1921 edition is exceptional in that the "less than five" bracket was also covered in connection with
the enforcement of the Factory Law.
16. Nakamura Takafusa, Senzen ki Nihon keizai seicho no bunseki (Analysis of the Japanese economy in
the prewar period) (Tokyo, Iwanami Shoten, 1971).
17. Nakamura Takafusa, "Zairai sangyo no kibo to kosei" (Scale and composition of conventional
industries), in Umemura Mataji et al., eds., Nihon keizai no hatten (Development of the Japanese
conomy) (Tokyo, Nihon Keizai Shimbun Sha, 1976). The first national census in Japan was in 1920.
18. Goto Yasushi, "Kindai Nihon no kaikyu kosei" (Class composition of modern Japan), in Ohashi
Takanori, ed., Nihon no kaikyu kosei (Class composition of Japan) (Tokyo, Iwanami Shoten, 1971).
19. Using the household as the unit of counting these strata, figures were taken from Noji tokei
(Agricultural statistics) (Tokyo, Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, 1888-1935) and Zeimu tokei
(Statistics for taxation) (Tokyo, Ministry of Finance, 1888-1935), partly because the results of the
census alone were inadequate for classifying farmers by the form of management.
20. Hara Akira, "Kaikyu kosei no shin suikei" (New estimate of class composition), in Ando Yoshio, ed.,
Ryo taisen kan no Nihon shinhon shugi (Japanese capitalism in the interwar period) (Tokyo, University
21. Yamanaka Tokutaro, ed., Chusho kigyo kenkyu 25 nen (Twenty-five years of study of small and
medium-scale enterprises) (Tokyo, Yuhikaku, 1953); Komiyama Takuji, Nihon chusho kogyo kenkyu
(Study of Japan's SMIs) (Tokyo, Chuo Koron Sha, 1941), pp. 121, 122.

Chapter 1

. Small and Medium Enterprises Agency, National Council for Regional Survey Agencies, Yushutsu
chusho kogyo no jittai chosa (Survey on the situation of small and medium-scale export industries)
(Tokyo, Toyo Keizai Shinposha, 1957); Miyake Jun'ichiro, "Kawachi chiho ni okeru noka keiei no
hembo - Budo to kai botan" (Changes in farm management in the Kawachi region - Grapes and shell
buttons), in supplementary volume 1 of Nihon nogyo hattatsu shi (History of agricultural development
n Japan), ed. Survey Committee for the History of Agricultural Development (Tokyo, Chuo Koron Sha,
1958), pp. 315-376.
2. Osaka Municipal Office, Department of Industry, Osaka no botan kogyo (The button industry in Osaka),
Osaka City Industry Series, vol. 5 (Osaka, 1930).
3. Kobayashi Tsunetaro, "Nihon kai botan gyo oyobi genryo" (Japan's shell-button industry and its raw
materials) (manuscript in the possession of Osaka Municipal University).
4. Small and Medium Enterprises Agency, Yushutsu chusho kogyo, p. 878.
5. Osaka Municipal Office, Osaka no botan kogyo, p. 4.
6. Continuing this process for one-half hour or even a full hour was not sufficient to "round off" the buttons
according to Amano Yasaku, a shell-button manufacturer in Kagawa Prefecture before World War II;
interviewed by author in 1976 and 1977.
7. Small and Medium Enterprises Agency, Yushutsu chusho kogyo, p. 828.
8. Kobayashi, "Nihon kai botan gyo," pp. 24, 28.
9. Italics mine. Ibid., pp. 28-30.
10. Takahashi Kamekichi, Meiji Taisho sangyo hattatsu shi (History of industrial development in the Meiji
nd Taisho periods) (Tokyo, Kaizosha, 1929), pp. 393-397.
11. Kobayashi, "Nihon kai botan gyo," pp. 32, 33.
12. Small and Medium Enterprises Agency, Yushutsu chusho kogyo, p. 879.
13. Editorial Committee for the History of Kashiwara City, Kashiwara-shi shi (History of Kashiwara City)
(Kashiwara, 1972) (hereafter cited as Kashiwara-shi shi).
14. Osaka Municipal Office, Nihon no botan kogyo, p. 5; Kobayashi, "Nihon kai botan gyo," p. 37.
15. Osaka Municipal Office, Nihon no botan kogyo, pp. 3, 4.
16. Ishii Rokujiro, ed., Nihon Kai Botan Dogyo Kumiai enkaku shi (History of the Japan Shell-Button
Manufacturers and Merchants Association) (Osaka, Nihon Kai Botan Dogyo Kumiai, 1931), p. 139.
17. An oral account by Amano Yasaku (see note 6 above).
18. Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, Agricultural Affairs Bureau, Osaka-shi ni okeru kai botan torihiki
jokyo chosa (Survey on shell-button transactions in Osaka City) (Tokyo, 1922), pp. 31, 32.
19. Quoted from the 1906 prospectus of the Japan Shell-Button Manufacturers and Merchants
Association.
20. Ishii, Nihon Kai Botan Dogyo, pp. 56, 312.
21. Miyake, "Kawachi chiho ni okeru noka keiei no hembo," p. 365.
22. Ishii, Nihon Kai Botan Dogyo, pp. 11, 105, 321.
23. Osaka Municipal Office, Osaka no botan kogyo, p. 249; Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce,
Agricultural Affairs Bureau, Kobe-shi ni okeru kai botan torihiki jokyo chosa (Survey on shell-button
transactions in Kobe City) (Tokyo, 1922), pp. 11, 12.
24. Ishii, Nihon Kai Botan Dogyo, p. 105.
25. An oral account by Nishikawa Takao, a former textile dealer in Osaka; interviewed by author
1971-1973.
26. An oral account by Abe Kichibei, a shell-button dealer in Kagawa Prefecture before World War II;
nterviewed by author in 1977.
27. An oral account by Yamamoto Takegoro, who at one time was engaged in shell-button production
under Sakaguchi in Kashiwara; interviewed by the author in 1977, 1978.
28. An oral account by Amano Yasaku (see note 6 above).
29. Osaka Furitsu Shoko Keizai Kenkyusho, Yushutsu-muke chusho kogyo sosho (Series on
export-oriented SMIs), vol. 5 (shell buttons) (Osaka, 1956), p. 33.
30. Tokyo Municipal Office, Social Affairs Bureau, Tokyo-shi toiyasei shokogyo chosa (Survey on small
industries under the putting-out system in Tokyo City) (Tokyo, 1937); Hochi Shimbun, Economic
Department, Chusho sangyo no katsuyaku (Activities of small industries) (Tokyo, Chikura Shobo,
1930).
31. An oral account by Mugurama Jitsue, a shell-button processor in Kagawa Prefecture before World War
II; interviewed by author in 1977, 1978.
32. An oral account by Yamamoto Takegoro (see note 27 above).
33. An oral account by Amano Yasaku (see note 6 above).
34. Small and Medium Enterprises Agency, Yushutsu chusho kogyo, p. 893.
35. Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, Osaka-shi ni okeru kai botan, p. 37.
36. Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, Kobe-shi ni okeru kai botan torihiki jokyo chosa, pp. 16, 17.
37. Osaka Municipal Office, Osaka no botan kogyo, p. 27.
38. An oral account by Yamamoto Takegoro (see note 27 above).
39. Ishii, Nihon Kai Botan Dogyo, pp. 141, 302.
40. Osaka Prefectural Office, Home Affairs Department, Noka fukugyo oyobi shokogyo seihin torihiki
soshiki ni kansuru chosa (Survey on mechanisms of transactions in products of sideline work by farm
families and small industries) (Osaka, 1930), pp. 28, 30.
41. Osaka Prefectural Office, Home Affairs Department, Fuka noson ni okeru fukugyoteki kakogyo no
gaikyo (Summary of processing as sideline work in farm villages in Osaka Prefecture) (Osaka, 1929).
42. Ibid.; Osaka Prefectural Council for Survey of Sideline Work, Fukugyo chosa hokokusho (Report on
sideline work) (Osaka, 1930).
43. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Agricultural Affairs Bureau, Chiho fukugyo shuninsha kaigi yoroku
(Proceedings of conference of supervisory officials in charge of sideline work in local areas) (Tokyo,
1927); Kagawa Prefecture, Fukugyo chosa (Survey on sideline work) (Takamatsu, 1930); Ehime
Prefecture, Home Affairs Department, Kakoteki fukugyo jokyo (Conditions of processing sideline work)
(Matsuyama, 1921).
44. Iwate Prefectural Office, Economic Affairs Department, Noson kogyo yoran (Outline of rural industries)
(Morioka, 1937).
45. Kashiwara-shi shi, p. 259.
46. Ishii, Nihon Kai Botan Dogyo, pp. 104, 105.
47. During the Meiji and Taisho periods, there were many instances in which merchants from big cities
went to remote localities with some productive potential, controlled local small producers through
advance payments or bought up their output and made quick fortunes, and returned to where they had
come from. In Okinawa, too, during these periods there were many yamatonchu (mainland people)
who made similar fortunes - even in the Sakijima islands, where high-quality textiles were woven (an
oral account by Kochinra Kiyo of Herara City, Okinawa Prefecture, whose husband was a textile dealer
before World War II; interviewed by author in 1972).
48. An oral account by Yamamoto Takegoro (see note 27 above).
49. Kashiwara-shi shi, pp. 259, 261.
50. In Taisho Village almost every household seems to have been engaged in some sideline work, such
as matchbox pasting (which gave work to 280 families), cotton growing, brush making, and cotton
weaving. Osaka Prefectural Office, Home Affairs Department, Noka fukugyo seisekihin tenrankai
hokoku (Report on exhibition of sideline products of farm families) (Osaka, 1915), p. 26.
51. Osaka Asahi Shinbun, Economic Department, ed., Warera no ikita fukugyo o kataru (Stories of
sideline jobs we lived on) (Osaka, Osaka Asahi Shinbun, 1931), p. 96.
52. In Nara Prefecture, kantosen reportedly remained in use as late as the Taisho Period.
53. Osaka Prefectural Office, Home Affairs Department, Fuka noson ni okeru fukugyoteki kakogyo, pp.
115-117.
54. Osaka Prefectural Office, Home Affairs Department, Noka fukugyo oyobi shokogyo, p. 30.
55. Kashiwara-shi shi, p. 262.
56. An oral account by Yamamoto Takegoro (see note 27 above).
57. Oral accounts by Yamamoto Takegoro and Takahagi Minoru (Takahagi was engaged in
shell-accessories manufacturing in Kashiwara, Osaka Prefecture, in the 1970s; interviewed by author
in 1977).
58. Osaka Prefectural Council, Fukugyo chosa, p. 44.
59. Osaka Prefectural Office, Home Affairs Department, Noka fukugyo oyobi shokogyo, p. 46.
60. Miyake, "Kawachi chiho ni okeru noka keiei no hembo," p. 368.
61. Osaka Prefectural Office, Home Affairs Department, Fuka noson ni okeru fukugyoteki kakogyo, p. 272.
62. Osaka Municipal Office, Osaka no botan kogyo, p. 92; Osaka Prefectural Office, Home Affairs
Department, Fuka noson ni okeru fukugyoteki kakogyo, p. 272.
63. Osaka Prefectural Commercial and Industrial Economic Research Institute, Yushutsu-muke chusho
kogyo, pp. 32, 38; Small and Medium Enterprises Agency, Yushutsu chusho kogyo, pp. 892, 896.

Chapter 2

1. Osaka Komamono Oroshi Dogyo Kumiai, ed., Osaka Komamono Oroshi Dogyo Kumiai enkaku shi
(History of the Osaka Association of Haberdashery Wholesalers) (Osaka, n.d.), p. 50.
2. Yokoyama Gennosuke, "Osaka kojo meguri" (Visits to factories in Osaka), in Yokoyama, Naichi zakkyo
go no Nihon (Tokyo, Iwanami Bunko, 1954), p. 175.
3. Ishibashi Zenzo, "Burashi seizogyo" (Brush manufacturing industry), Shakai Seisaku Jiho (May 1934),
p. 290.
4. Osaka Municipal Office, Tokushu keitai kojo no jitsurei (Actual examples of uniquely formed factories)
(Osaka, 1924).
5. Kagawa Toyohiko, "Shisen o koete" (Beyond life and death), Kagawa Toyohiko zenshu (Complete
works of Kagawa Toyohiko), vol. 14 (Tokyo, Kirisuto Shimbunsha, 1964), chap. 3.
6. Osaka Municipal Office, Industrial Department, Osaka no burashi kogyo (The brush industry in Osaka)
(Osaka, 1931).
7. Ministry of Finance, Gaikoku boeki gairan (General report on foreign trade) (Tokyo, 1907), p. 291.
8. Ministry of Finance, Gaikoku boeki nempyo (Yearbook of foreign trade) (Tokyo, 1921), p. 322.
9. Nihon Boeki Kenkyusho, Yushutsu burashi kogyo (Brush export industry), vols. 1 and 2 (Osaka, Daido
hoin, 1942); Osaka Municipal Office, Industrial Department, Osaka no burashi kogyo.
10. On this point, refer to Kagawa, "Shisen o koete," pp. 423-424, 446-448.
11. Any machine tool by itself was never very expensive - costing less than the monthly income of a skilled
raftsman - but several times as much money as its price was needed when beginning a new business
o buy accessories and to pay a deposit and advance rent to the power-lending plant.
12. Ke ue was the sideline work of farm families in the Taisho period. The number of
ke ue intermediaries, going between seizoka and parttime workers, at one time surpassed 400.
Even toward the end of the period, their number was no less than 100, and 2,500 or even more were
reportedly working under them part-time during slack periods for farmers (see note 21 below, p. 50.).
The description above refers only to mechanized bristle planting, which became common from the
mid-Taisho period.
13. Celluloid-handl brushes became popular after World War II and gradually outsold bone-handle
brushes.
14. The financial bases of all seizoka without exception were fragile, and deferred payment was virtually
the only credit creation allowed them.
15. V.1. Lenin, Roshia ni okeru shihon shugi no hatten (The development of capitalism in Russia), vol. 2 of
Renin zenshu (The complete works of Lenin), ed. Soejima Tanenori (Tokyo, Otsuki Shoten, 1976), p.
168.
16. Osaka Komamono Oroshi Dogyo Kumiai, Osaka Komamono Oroshi Dogyo Kumiai, p. 334.
17. There is on record only one case in which two producers tried to jointly operate a power-lending plant,
but the attempt ended in failure. See Takeuchi Johzen, "Waga kuni ni okeru toiyasei kaitai no ichi
dammen" (On the decline of the Toiyasei System in Japan), in the Economic Society of Fukushima
University, Shogaku Ronshu 43, no. 4 (Fukushima, 1975), pp. 80-153.
18. Osaka Municipal Office, Tokushu keitai kojo, p. 26.
19. Nihon Boeki Kenkyusho, Yushutsu burashi kogyo, p. 348.
20. Osaka Municipal Office, Tokushu keitai kojo, p. 10.
21. Osaka Municipal Office, Burashi seizo-gyosha no rodo to seikatsu (Labour and life of brush
manufacturers) (Osaka, 1925), p. 68.
22. Ibid.,p. 64.
23. Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, Juyo yushutsuhin ni kansuru chosa (Survey of important export
goods) (Tokyo, 1924), pp. 9-12.
24. Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, Boseki kogyo narabini zatsu kogyo ni oyoboshitaru jikyoku no
eikyo (Influences of the current state of affairs on the spinning and miscellaneous industries) (Tokyo,
1919), p. 27.
25. It was extremely rare for seizoka to become exporters of their products.
26. Yokoyama, "Osaka kojo meguri," p. 103.
27. Ministry of Finance, Hompo gaikoku boeki jokyo (Situation of Japan's foreign trade) (Tokyo, 1927), p.
127.
28. Osaka Komamono Oroshi Dogyo Kumiai, ed., Yakushin komamono gyokai (The growing
haberdashery industry) (Osaka, n.d.).
29. Yui Tsunehiko, Chusho kigyo seisaku no shiteki kenkyu (Historical study on small industry policy)
(Tokyo, Toyo Keizai Shinposha, 1964); Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Shoko seisaku shi
(History of commercial and industrial policies), vol. 12 (Tokyo, 1964).
30. Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, Meiji sanjuhachi nen yunyuhin mozo zakka himpyo kai (1905
competitive exhibition of sundries imitating imported goods) (Tokyo, 1905).
31. Nihon Boeki Kenkyusho, Yushutsu burashi kogyo, p. 148.
32. The advocates of appropriate scales since A. Marshall have been trying to base their theoretical
hypotheses merely on such secondary aspects.
33. Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Seruroido kogyo no genjo (Current situation of the celluloid
industry) (Tokyo, 1931); Dai Nippon Celluloid Co., Ltd., ed., Dai Nippon Seruroido Kabushiki Kaisha shi
(History of Dai Nippon Celluloid Co., Ltd.) (Osaka, 1932).
34. Iwai Shoten was later reorganized into Nissho-Iwai, which is one of Japan's leading general trading
companies.
35. Mitsui and Mitsubishi are major general trading companies in Japan.
36. Ministry of Finance, Gaikoku boeki nempyo (Tokyo, 1919), p. 352.
37. Iwai Sangyo Co., Ltd., ed., Iwai 100-nen shi (A 100-year history of Iwai) (Tokyo, 1964), p. 263.
38. Kajinishi Mitsuhaya et al., eds., Koza chusho kigyo (Lectures on small enterprises) (Tokyo, Yuhikaku,
1960) 1:154.
39. Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sangyo gorika (Industrial rationalization), vol. 9 (Tokyo,
1933), pp. 143-153.

Chapter 3

1. Meriyasu Nihon Sha, ed., Nihon meriyasu kogyo shi (History of the Japanese knit-fabric industry)
(Tokyo, 1934), p. 360.
2. Fujimoto Masayoshi, Nihon meriyasu shi (History of knit-fabrics in Japan) (Tokyo, Tokyo Knit-Fabric
Trade Association, 1910) 1:43.
3. He later became well known for his purchase of government-run plants for cement in Fukagawa and
glass in Shinagawa.
4. Fujimoto, Nihon meriyasu shi 1:49.
5. Osaka Municipal Office, ed., Meiji Taisho Osaka -shi shi (History of Osaka City in the Meiji and Taisho
periods) (Tokyo, Nihon Hyoron Sha, 1935) 1:440.
6. Inobe Shigeo, Sato Yoshitaka, eds., Nishimura Katsuzo no shogai (The life of Nishimura Katsuzo)
7. Fujimoto, Nihon meriyasu shi 1:84.
8. "Tebukuro sangyo hattatsu shi" (History of the development of the glove industry) (manuscript in the
possession of the Shiratori town office, Kagawa Prefecture, n.d.), p. 47.
9. Tonsho Torahiko, Meriyasu o kataru (Talking about knit fabrics) (Tokyo, Sugaya Meriyasu Ten, 1936),
p. 64; Takahashi Kamekichi, Nihon kindai keizai hattatsu shi (History of modern economic
development in Japan) (Tokyo, Toyo Keizai Shinposha, 1973) 3:230-232.
10. Takimoto Seiichi, Mukai Shikamatsu, eds., Nihon sangyo shiryo taikei (Outline of Japanese industry)
(Tokyo, Chugai Shogyo Shimposha, 1934) 9:756.
11. Meiji Bunken Shiryo Kankokai, ed., Meiji zenki sangyo hattatsu shi shiryo (Reference materials on the
history of industrial development in the early Meiji period), vols. 7, 8 (Tokyo, 1962).
12. Ibid., vol. 7, pp. 10-12, vol. 8, pp. 75-80.
13. Meriyasu Nihon Sha, Nihon meriyasu kogyo shi, p. 367.
14. Fujimoto, Nihon meriyasu shi 1:116, 117.
15. Osaka Municipal Office, Meiji Taisho Osaka-shi shi, p. 125.
16. Iwasaki Kin'ichi, Chubaku shi (History of the Central Knit-Fabric Control Association) (Tokyo, Nihon
Meriyasu Tonsei Co., 1944), pp. 7, 8.
17. The figures represent the totals of pertinent items in the Ministry of Finance, Dai Nippon gaikoku boeki
nempyo (Annual tables of Japan's foreign trade) (Tokyo, 1894). Although they are considerably smaller
than the corresponding statistics for exports and imports of the trade association, the two sources are
consistent in indicating that the relative importance of exports and imports was reversed between 1892
and 1893.
18. Takahashi Kamekichi, Meiji Taisho sangyo hattatsu shi (History of industrial development in the Meiji
and Taisho periods) (Tokyo, Kaizo Sha, 1929), PP. 393-397.
19. Calculated from the Ministry of Finance, Dai Nippon gaikoku boeki nempyo, and the Ministry of
Agriculture and Commerce, Kojo tokei hyo (Statistical tables on factories).
20. Nagoya Municipal Office, Meriyasu ni kansuru chosa (Survey on knit fabrics), Series of Industrial
Surveys, vol. 5 (Nagoya, 1925), pp. 70, 71.
21. Horie Yasuzo, Osaka ni okeru ishin go no kogyo no hattatsu (Development of industry in Osaka after
he Meiji Restoration) (Tokyo, Nihon Hyoron Sha, 1935), p. 439.
22. Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Wagakuni meriyasu kogyo no hattensei (Growth
potentials of the Japanese knit-fabric industry), Series of Reference Materials on Commerce and
Industry, no. 13 (Tokyo, 1935), p. 19.
23. Meriyasu Nihon Sha, Nihon meriyasu kogyo shi, pp. 560, 573.
24. Osaka Shohin Chinretsusho, ed., Osaka-fu kogyo gairan (Outline of industry in Osaka Prefecture)
(Osaka, 1923), p. 364.
25. Araki Chikuyo, ed., Mikawajima-cho shi (History of Mikawajima-cho) (Tokyo, Shitaya Shimbun, 1922),
p. 139.
26. This is a famous quip by Inoue Kaoru, an influential Meiji statesman well known for his vitality as well
as his frequent slips of the tongue.
27. Interesting findings on home workers are reported in the following references: Osaka Municipal Office,
Social Affairs Department, Research Section, Tanimachi homen ni okeru kyojusha no seikatsu jokyo
(Living conditions of residents of the Tanimachi area), Report by the Social Affairs Department, no. 95
(Osaka, 1929); idem, Tsuruhashi Nakamoto homen ni okeru kyojusha no seikatsu jokyo (Living
conditions of residents of the Tsuruhashi Nakamoto area), Report by the Social Affairs Department, no.
84 (Osaka, 1928); Joyo rodosha no seikatsu (The life of permanently employed workers) (Osaka,
1922); idem, Hon-shi ni okeru naishoku chosa (Survey on sideline work in Osaka City), Report by the
Social Affairs Department, no. 247 (Osaka, 1940); Osaka Municipal Office, Osaka-shi naishoku chosa
(Survey on sideline work in Osaka City) (Osaka, 1932); Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
Tokyo-shi oyobi sonofukin ni okeru kanai kogyo no jotai (Conditions of domestic industries in Tokyo
City and its vicinity), Survey on Commerce and Industry, no. 12 (Tokyo, 1929); Tokyo Municipal Office,
Social Affairs Bureau, Tokyo-shi sho kogyo chosa (Survey on small industries in Tokyo City)(Tokyo,
1935).
28. Osaka Municipal Office, Social Affairs Department, Hon-shi ni okeru naishoku chosa.
29. Osaka Municipal Office, Osaka-shi naishoku chosa, pp. 3, 4.
30. Hochi Shimbun, Economic Department, Chusho sangyo no katsuro (The way of survival for SMIs)
(Tokyo, Chikura Shobo, 1930).
31. Ibid., p. 128.
32. One can safely assume the "high-quality knit fabrics" were purchased by the upper class and the
military in those days.
33. Meriyasu Nihon Sha, Nihon meriyasu kogyo shi, p. 556.
34. Hochi Shimbun, Chusho sangyo no katsuro, p. 130.
35. After World War II, the major portion of total knit-fabric production was for fashion clothing and
sportswear.
36. Fujita Keizo, Nihon sangyo kozo chusho kogyo (Japan's industrial structure and small industries)
(Tokyo, Iwanami Shoten, 1965); Osaka Municipal Office, Indus-

trial Affairs Department, Research Section, Osaka no meriyasu kogyo (The knit-fabric industry in
Osaka) (Osaka, 1931).
37. Osaka Municipal Office, Naichi meriyasu kogyo no genjo (The current situation of the knit-fabric
industry in Japan), Research Findings on Smaller Commercial and Industrial Enterprises by Osaka
City, part 12 (Osaka, 1940), pp. 6, 7.
38. Osaka Municipal Office, Social Affairs Department, Hon-shi ni okeru naishoku chosa.
39. Osaka Prefectural Office, Industrial Affairs Bureau, Osaka-fu kogyo gaiyo (Outline of industry in Osaka
Prefecture) (Osaka, 1923).
40. Osaka Municipal Office, Osaka-shi kogyo chosa sho (Survey report on industry in Osaka City) (Osaka,
1933).
41. It has to be pointed out, however, that influential capitalists had their factories in the less-urbanized
areas around Osaka City. Knit-fabric production organized by the seizo don'ya seems to have had its
unique basis in the densely populated residential areas of the urban lower class.
42. Takeuchi Johzen, "Toshi chusho burujowaji o meguru sho doko" (Trends involving the urban small
bourgeoisie), in Ando Yoshio, ed., Ryo taisen kan no Nihon shihon shugi (Japanese capitalism
between the two world wars) (Tokyo, University of Tokyo Press, 1979).
43. Horie Hidekazu, "Yukiteki chusho kogyo no seisan kozo" (Productive structures of organic small
ndustries), Shakai Seisaku Jiho, no. 228 (September 1939), p. 112.
44. Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, Commercial Affairs Bureau, Kouri kogyo no shikin yuzu no
genkyo ni kansuru chosa (Survey on the current situation of accommodation of funds to retailing
industries) (Tokyo, 1912).
45. Tokyo Municipal Office, ed., Tokyo-shi ni okeru chusho shoko gyosha no jissai (The realities of small
merchants and manufacturers in Tokyo City), vol. 2 (Tokyo, Koseikai Shuppanbu, 1931).
46. Isozaki Shunji, "Meriyasu seizo gyo" (Knit-fabric manufacturing industry), Shakai Seisaku Jiho (May
1934), pp. 214-216.
47. Tonsho, Meriyasu o kataru, p. 119.
48. Ariga Rokuro, Shohin no henka to torihiki no hensen shi (History of changes in commodities and
transactions) (Tokyo, Kyodo Kumiai Tokyo Ton'ya Domei, 968), p. 100.
49. Takeuchi Johzen, "Gyokai annai ni yoru keiei shi bunseki no kokoromi" (Analytical approach to the
istory of business administration through the Guide to Industries), Hiroshima Daigaku Keizai Ronso 2,
nos. 3 and 4 (1979).
50. Osaka Municipal Office, Social Affairs Department, Hon-shi ni okeru naishoku chosa, pp. 11, 97.
51. Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Meriyasu kogyo no hattensei, p. 9.
52. Osaka Furitsu Shoko Keizai Kenkyusho, Osaka o chushin to suru sen'i shogyo no chosa (Survey on
textile commerce around Osaka) (Osaka, 1951), pp. 107, 108.

Chapter 4

1. Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa-ken no 100 nen (100 years of Kanagawa Prefecture) (Yokohama,
1969); Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, Osaka-fu keisatsu shi (History of police in Osaka
Prefecture), vol. 1 (Osaka, 1970); Nihon Kogakkai, ed., Meiji kogyo shi (History of industry in the Meiji
Period), vol. 10
(Tokyo, 1930); Nishida Hirotaro, ed., Dai Nihon no sangyo (Industry of Greater Japan) (Tokyo, Kagaku
Kogei Sha, 1928); Osaka Municipal Office, Industrial Affairs Department, Research Section, ed.,
Osaka no jitensha kogyo (The bicycle industry in Osaka) (Osaka, 1933).
2. Kobayashi Masaaki, "Nihon kikai kogyo Karakuri Gizaemon" (Karakuri Gizaemon and the Japanese
machine industries), in Economics Society of Kanto Gakuin University, ed., Keizaikei, no. 82 (1970),
pp. 59-70.
3. Jitensha Sangyo Shinkokai, ed., Jitensha no isseiki - Nihon jitensha sangyo shi (Centenary of the
bicycle - A history of Japan's bicycle industry) (Tokyo, 1973), p.6.
4. Nihon Rinkai Shimbun Sha, Chiho rinkai no ayumi (Development of local bicycle industries) (Tokyo,
959), pp. 40, 41, 105 (hereafter cited as Chiho rinkai no ayumi).
5. Tanaka Omi 0 Kensho Kai, Tanaka Omi daijo (Biography of Tanaka Omi) (Tokyo, 1931), p. 7.
6. "Yokohama Seiko Meiyo Kagami" (Models of success and glory in Yokohama) (manuscript), p. 38.
7. Okato Buhei, Jitensha banzai (Bicycles forever) (Nagoya, Chubu Keizai Shimbunsha, 1974), p. 19.
8. Chiho rinkai no ayumi, p. 40.
9. Nichibei Shoten, ed., Rinkai tsuioku zadankai (Panel discussion retrospective on the bicycle industry)
(Tokyo, 1934), p. 25.
10. Tokyo Jitensha Seizo Kyodo Kumiai, "Nihon jitensha sangyo kaiko zadankai sokkiroku" (Transcript of
a panel discussion retrospective on the bicycle industry of Japan) (Tokyo, 1960, manuscript), p. 6.
11. An oral account by Otsu Ikujiro, an old bicycle dealer in Sakai City; interviewed by author in 1978 and
1979.
12. Miyata Seisakusho 70-nen Shi Hensanshitsu, Miyata Seisakusho 70-nen shi (70-year history of Miyata
Seisakusho) (Tokyo, Miyata Seisakusho, Ltd., 1959), p. 9 (hereafter cited as Miyata Seisakusho
70-nen shi).
13. Chiho rinkai no ayumi, p. 40.
14. Jitensha Sangyo Shinkokai, Jitensha no isseiki, p. 20.
15. Dai Go-kai Naikoku Kangyo Hakurankai, Dai Go-kai Naikoku Kangyo Hakurankai shinsa hokokusho
(Jury's report of the Fifth Domestic Industrial Exposition) (Tokyo, 1907) 4:216.
16. Osaka-fu Jitensha Keijidosha Shogyo Kyodo Kumiai, Kouri ten no kaiko roku (Memoirs on retail
tores) (Osaka, 1979), pp. 50, 51 (hereafter cited as Kouri ten no kaiko roku).
17. Fukaya Ryoji, Chukyo rinkai 50 nen no kaiko (Looking back on 50 years of the bicycle industry in the
Chukyo Region) (Nagoya, Aichiken Riyaka Seizo Oroshi Kyodo Kumiai, 1951), p. 9.
18. Miyata Seisakusho 70-nen shi, pp. 3-5.
19. Ibid., pp. 14-16.
20. Sakai Municipal Office, Sakai-shi shi (A history of Sakai City), appendix 2 (Sakai, 1971).
21. Oki Kitaro Denki Hensangakari, ed., Oki Kitaro (Tokyo, 1932); Hanabusa Kingo, ed., Ikegai Tekkosho
50-nen shi (50-year history of Ikegai Ironworks) (Tokyo, 1941).
22. Chiho rinkai no ayumi, p. 2. At that time, the army attached great military importance to bicycles and
had already prepared an "army bicycle instruction course."
23. This list suggests a number of other interesting facts. For instance, the import of the latest machines
continued even after World War I, and military arsenals were not always steady customers of domestic
manufacturers of machine tools because military purchases from them were concentrated in wartime.
24. An oral account by Tajima Eikichi, the founder of a bicycle-parts factory in Sakai City; interviewed by
the author in 1978.
25. Chiho rinkai no ayumi pp. 28-35, 45; Nihon Jitensha Shimbun Sha, Nihon jitensha koshin meikan
(Who's who in the Japanese bicycle industry) (Tokyo, 1954), p. 102.
26. Chiho rinkai no ayumi, p. 43.
27. An oral account by Otsu Ikujiro (see note 11 above).
28. Ishikawa-ken Rinkaishi Hensan Iinkai, Ishikawa-ken rinkai shi (History of the bicycle industry in
Ishikawa Prefecture) (Kanazawa, 1977), pp. 15, 16 (hereafter cited as Ishikawa-ken rinkai shi).
29. Maruishi Shokai, Ltd., Sogyo sanjusshunen kinen shi (30th anniversary commemorative album)
(Tokyo, 1937), p. 63.
30. Ibid.
31. Fukaya Ryoji, Chukyo rinkai 50 nen, p. 98.
32. Ibid., p. 6.
33. Nichibei Shoten, ed., Nichibei Shoten oyobi Dai Nihon Jitensha no genjo (Current situation of Nichibei
Shoten and Dai Nihon Bicycle Company) (Tokyo, 1934), p. 62.
34. Ibid., p. 63.
35. Nichibei Shoten, ed., Hadaka ikkan yori hikari no mura e (From pennilessness to the Village of Light)
(Tokyo, 1934), p. 76.
36. Chiho rinkai no ayumi, pp. 43, 64; Nichibei Shoten, Nichibei Shoten oyobi Dai Nihon Jitensha, p. 31.
37. Nichibei Shoten, Nichibei Shoten oyobi Dai Nihon Jitensha, pp. 26-29.
38. Ibid., p. 66.
39. Ibid., pp. 64, 66.
40. Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, Industrial Affairs Bureau, Industrial Affairs Division, Kojo tsuran
(Review of factories) (Tokyo, 1911).
41. Osaka Mekkikogyo Kyodo Kumiai, Kumiai 50-nen shi (50-year history of the Association of Gilders)
Osaka, 1967), p. 13.
42. An oral account by Ishibashi Sukeji of Kyokuto Seisakusho, a leading manufacturer of bicycle parts.
Ishibashi interviewed by author in July 1978.
43. Rin'yu Zasshi (Cyclists' magazine), no. 125 (November 1912), p. 21.
44. Kouri ten no kaiko roku, pp. 96, 97.
45. Osaka Mekkikogyo Kyodo Kumiai, Kumiai 50-nen shi, p. 16. For another reasonable comprehensive
report on such factories, see Osaka Municipal Office, Tokushu keitai kojo no jitsurei (Examples of
uniquely formed factories) (Osaka, 1924).
46. Nichibei Shoten, Rinkai tsuioku zadankai, pp. 5 1-60.
47. Nihon Rinkai Shimbun Sha, Jitensha sangyo no ayumi (Development of the bicycle industry), vol. 1
Tokyo, 1957), p. 49; Sakai Ringyo Kyokai, Sakai no itensha (Sakai bicycles) (Tokyo, 1939), p. 37.
48. Sakai Ringyo Kyokai, Sakai no jitensha, pp. 15-17.
49. Takeuchi Johzen, "The Formation of the Japanese Bicycle Industry: A Preliminary Analysis of the
Infrastructure of the Japanese Machine Industry" (Tokyo, United Nations University Press, 1981,
Working paper), pp. 42-45.
50. "Jitensha o tsukuru mura" (Bicycle-producing villages), in Osaka Furitsu Shoko
Keizai Kenkyusho, ed., Osaka keizai no ugoki (Developments in the Osaka economy), no. 25 (Osaka,
954), P. 33.
51. Jitensha Sangyo Shinkokai, Jizensha no isseiki, p. 217.
52. Yamaguchi Sasuke, ed., Maruishi no ashiato (Footsteps of Maruishi) (Tokyo, Maruishi Shokai, Ltd.,
1946), pp. 8-13.
53. Osaka Municipal Office, Osaka no jitensha kogyo, p. 11.
54. Miyata Seisakusho 70-nen shi, p. 36.
55. Okato, Jitensha banzai, p. 31.
56. Ibid., pp. 31-35, 108.
57. Ibid., p. 38.
58. Ibid., pp. 41, 43.
59. Fukaya, Chukyo rinkai 50 nen.
60. Miyata Seisakusho's idea of an "interchangeable system" became part of its management philosophy.
61. Kanto Byonejikugi Kogyo Kyodo Kumiai, ed., Soritsu sanjusshunen kinen shikiten shi (30th
anniversary celebration albums) (Tokyo, 1968).
62. Tokyo Jitensha Seizo Kyodo Kumiai, "Nihon jitensha sangyo kaiko zadankai" (1960, manuscript), pp.
15, 18.
63. An oral account by Tajima Eikichi (see note 24 above).
64. Miyata Toranosuke, a younger brother of Eisuke, Jr., the second-generation owner of Miyata
Seisakusho, was a graduate of the secondary engineering school attached to the Tokyo Institute of
Technology. The trend of factory owners - including even those who had worked their way up from
humble workers - giving their sons a higher education was already becoming evident in this period.
65. Tokyo Jitensha Seizo Kyodo Kumiai, "Nihon jitensha sangyo kaiko zadankai"; Nihon Rinkai Shimbun
Sha, Jitensha sangyo no ayumi; Umezawa Seisakusho, Umezawa 60 nen no ayumi (60-year
development of Umezawa) (Tokyo, 1974).
66. Umezawa Seisakusho, Umezawa 60 nen no ayumi, p. 35.
67. Miyata Seisakusho 70-nen shi, p. 57.
68. Kouri ten no kaiko roku, p. 83; Nakano Suguru, Shoka dozokudan no kenkyu (Studies on merchant
family groups) (Tokyo, Mirai Sha, 1964), p. 11.
69. Kouri ten no kaiko roku, p. 98.
70. Maruishi Shokai, Ltd., Sogyo sanjusshunen kinen shi, p. 139.
71. Naikaku Tokei Kyoku, Nippon teikoku tokei nenkan (Imperial statistical yearbook) (Tokyo), vol. 36
(1917), p. 253, vol. 37 (1918), p. 255.
72. Kouri ten no kaiko roku, p. 74.
73. Ishikawa-ken rinkai shi, p. 235.
74. Hyogo Prefectural Office, Economic Affairs Department, Commerce and Industry Section, Shuyo
kogyo gaikyo chosa (Survey on the general situation of major industries) (Kobe, 1937), p. 28.
75. For the years before 1929, statistics on domestic production are available only concerning the number
of completed bicycles and their total value.
76. Akamatsu Kaname, Koide Yasuji, "Jitensha kogyo ni okeru ten-shitsugyo mondai" (Problems of job
transfers and unemployment in the bicycle industry), in Yamanaka Tokutaro, ed., Ten-shitsugyo
mondai (Problems of job transfers and unemployment) (Tokyo, Yuhikaku, 1941), p. 85.
77. Takeuchi, "The Formation of the Japanese Bicycle Industry."
78. Nihon Rinkai Shimbun Sha, Jitensha sangyo no ayumi, p. 50.
79. Maruishi, less a manufacturer than a dealer, had taken over the management of a bicycle factory set
up in Kobe by a British company.
80. Tokyo Jitensha Seizo Kyodo Kumiai, "Nihon Jitensha sangyo kaiko zadankai," p. 40.
81. Shimano Kogyo Co., Ltd., Shimano Shozaburo den (A biography of Shimano Shozaburo) (Osaka,
1959), pp. 119, 120, 126.
82. Tokyo Municipal Office, Juyo kogyo chosa (Survey on important manufacturing industries), vol. 1
(Tokyo, 1932).
83. Tokyo Jitensha Seizo Oroshi Kyodo Kumiai, 30-nen shi (30-year history) (Tokyo, 1979), pp. 49, 50.
84. Bicycle exports plummeted after 1937, reflecting intensified international tension, and were not
resumed until after 1950.
85. Skilled craftsmen and experienced merchants were able to tell the source of supply by merely looking
at the polished surface of steel.
86. Osaka Municipal Office, Osaka no jitensha kogyo, pp. 26-33.
87. More sophisticated bicycles required a greater variety of pipe diameters and thicknesses.
88. Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Jikyoku to chusho kogyo (Current political situation and
small industries) (Tokyo, 1937), p. 6.
89. Dr. Ohashi's survey can be considered to have covered all pertinent enterprises.
90. Okumura Tadao, "Waga kuni saikin no jitensha kogyo" (The bicycle industry in present-day Japan),
Shakai Seisaku Jiho, no. 1 (July 1939), pp. 153-177, no. 2 (August 1939), pp. 158-174.
91. Newer versions of this model, though with major improvements, are still being produced today.
92. Miyata Seisakusho 70-nen shi, pp. 82-84.
93. Ibid., pp. 58, 59, 66, 67.
94. Aida Toshio, "Issen kyuhyaku niju nen-dai Nihon shihon shugi ni okeru chusho reisai kogyo no tenkai
katei" (Development process of mini-, small-, and medium-scale industries in the Japanese capitalist
economy of the 1920s), Shakai Rodo, vol. 26, no. 1(1979), p. 96; Nihon Kagakushi Gakkai, Nihon
kagaku gijutsu shi taikei (Outline of the history of science and technology in Japan) (Tokyo, Daiichi
Hoki Shuppan, 1966) 18:164-170.
95. Tokyo Jitensha Oroshi Kumiai, "Tokyo Oroshi Kumiai no rekishi" (History of the Tokyo Association of
Wholesalers) (n.d.; manuscript in the possession of Jitensha Sangyo Shinkokai, Tokyo), p. 16.
96. Headquartered in Birmingham, this company was originally a rifle manufacturer and later was the
world's largest manufacturer of coaster brakes for bicycles.
97. Nihon Rinkai Shimbun Sha, Jitensha sangyo no ayumi, p. 51.
98. Ibid.
99. Okato, Jitensha banzai, p. 62; Tokyo Jitensha Oroshi Kumiai, "Tokyo Oroshi Kumiai no rekishi," p. 50.
100. Atarashi Yoshiyasu, a parts manufacturer in Osaka before World War II; interviewed by author in 1976 and 1977. As tiny producers concurrently processed components for other industries as well, their
precise classification is difficult.
101. In the 1950s, Isobe Koichi counted 15 main components, which he further classified into 300 different
parts, or in greater detail, into as many as 1,800. See Isobe Koichi, "Waga kuni jitensha sangyo no
kozo bunseki (1)" (Structural analysis of the Japanese bicycle industry, 1), Meiji Gakuin Ronso, no. 50,
part 2 (1958), p. 15.
102. Ibid., "Waga kuni jitensha sangyo no kozo bunseki (2)," Meiji Gakuin Ronso, no. 52 (1959), pp. 39-59.
103. Ibid., "Waga kuni jitensha sangyo no kozo bunseki (3)," Meiji Gakuin Ronso,
no. 56, part 1(1960), pp. 53-73.
104. Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Saikin ni okeru jitensha kogyo no hatten (Recent
developments of the bicycle industry) (Tokyo, 1935).
105. Such examples are described in detail in Nihon Rinkai Shimbun Sha, Jitensha sangyo no ayumi.
106. Hochi Shimbun, Economic Department, Chusho sangyo no katsuro (The way of survival for SMIs)
(Tokyo, Chikura Shobo, 1930).
107. "Jitensha o tsukuru mura."
108. Nakano Suguru, Shitauke kogyo no dozoku to oyakata-kokata (Family and master-apprentice
relationships in the subcontract industries) (Tokyo, Ochanomizu Shobo, 1978).
109. On this point, refer to Umezawa, Umezawa 60 nen no ayumi; Ishikawa-ken rinkai shi; Sakai Ringyo
Kyokai, Sakai no jitensha; Shimano Kogyo Co., Ltd., Shimano Shozaburo den.
110. Organization of the apprentice system is discussed in the following works: Osaka Mekkikogyo Kyodo
Kumiai, Kumiai 50-nen shi; Okumura, "Waga kuni saikin no jitensha kogyo"; Koyasu Hiroshi, "Jitensha
seizo gyo" (Bicycle manufacturing), Shakai Seisaku Jiho, no. 114 (1934); and Tokyo Prefectural Office,
Education Department, Occupational Section, Shokugyo chosa (Occupational survey), vol. 8 (Tokyo,
1938).
111. Takeuchi Johzen, "Jitensha gyokai sogyosha chosa" (Survey of founders of the Japanese bicycle
industry), in Keizal Ronso (Hiroshima University, Faculty of Economics), vol. 4, no. 2 (1980), pp.
99-142.
112. Tokyo Jitensha Seizo Kyodo Kumiai, "Nihon jitensha sangyo kaiko zadankai."
113. Between these two extremes, there were many intermediaries who constituted the largest segment
among the suppliers of bicycle parts kits.
114. Okumura, "Waga kuni saikin no jitensha kogyo," no. 2, pp. 173-174.
115. Shimano Kogyo Co., Ltd., Shimano Shozaburo den. See also Takeuchi Johzen, "The development of
the bicycle industry," in Entrepreneurship, no. 8 (Kyoto, PHP Institute, 1984), pp. 8-18, and Idem,
"Kakuritsuki no wagakuni jitensha sangyo" (The Japanese bicycle industry after the Russo-Japanese
War), in Nempo Keizaigaku (Hiroshima University, Faculty of Economics, 1984), pp. 39-70.
116. On this point, see the following: Kouri ten no kaiko roku; Koyasu, "Jitensha seizo gyo"; Osaka Shoko
Keizai Kenkyukai, Osaka Furitsu Shoko Keizai Kenkyusho, Osaka ni okeru jitensha sangyo no jittai -
Ryutsu hen (The situation of the bicycle industry in Osaka - Distribution) (Osaka, 1954); Tokyo
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Saikin ni okeru jitensha kogyo no hatten; Isobe, "Waga kuni
jitensha sangyo no kozo bunseki (3)," pp. 53-73.

Chapter 5

1. Although Miyata Eisuke's and Okamoto Matsuzo's bicycle factories are included as examples of
ntegrated production in many reports, they should not be seen in the same light, because of their
heavy dependence on imported parts. What may be significant about them is the gradual increase
they achieved in the proportion of self-supplied components.
2. This major enterprise did not survive long enough to benefit by the war boom that came into full swing
only a few months later.
3. In Europe, gold was traditionally considered the metal of the nobility, and iron,
the metal of the common people. However, in Japan, poor as it is in natural resources, both gold and
iron were beyond the reach of commoners. Partly for this reason, substitute machines devised by
traditional craftsmen or immediate producers in the relevant Japanese industries were mostly made of
wooden components, except where the use of metal was indispensable. For some kinds of machine,
even gears were made of very hard wood.
4. Nihon Boeki Kenkyusho, Yushutsu burashi kogyo (Export brush industry) (Osaka, Daido Shoin, 1942)
1:47.
5. Kajinishi Mitsuhaya et al., Koza chusho kigyo (Lectures on small- and medium-scale industries), vol. 1
Tokyo, Yuhikaku, 1960); Komiyama Takuji, Nihon chusho kogyo kenkyu (Research on Japan's small
industries) (Tokyo, Chuo Koron Sha, 1941); Naramoto Tatsuya, Kinsei tojiki gyo no seiritsu (Formation
of the modern ceramic industry) (Tokyo, Iwanami Shoten, 1953).
6. Machinery manufacturing and metal processing in Japan had not grown significantly before World War
II; consequently, the creation of additional demand by the war was often welcome by the producers.
They were obliged to follow an abnormal path of growth by their dependence on the militaristic national
policy, even though they had not really taken root in the national economy. Osaka Municipal
University, Economic Research Institute, Osaka ni okeru tekko gyo, men orimono gyo no jittai (The
situation of the iron and steel and cotton weaving industries in Osaka) (Osaka, 1953); Iida Ken'ichi et
al., eds., Gendai Nihon sangyo hattatsu shi: IV, tekko (History of the development of modern Japanese
industries: IV, iron and steel) (Tokyo, Kojunsha Shuppan Kyoku, 1969).
7. The complexity of the physical distribution process in Japan is counted among the barriers to direct
articipation by foreign businesses in the Japanese market. This barrier seems due to the overlapping
of networks for the transactions of diverse commodities, accompanying industrialization, with the
traditional marketing mechanisms.
8. V. I. Lenin, Roshia ni okeru shihon shugi no hatten (The development of capitalism in Russia), vol. 2 of
Renin zenshu (The complete works of Lenin), ed. Soejima Tanenori (Tokyo, Otsuki Shoten, 1976).
9. Their diligence may be explained by the tradition of labour-intensive farm management inherited from
the feudal age in Japan. The hard work of Japanese workers in general seems closely related to the
fact that most of them come from rural villages rather than from urban areas.
10. A similar trend is observed even in today's production of integrated circuits. Big manufacturers can
accelerate the depreciation of their equipment by operating the factories 24 hours a day, with their
work-forces kept on duty in shifts. While they can sell the amortized equipment to their
subcontractors and buy new machines, it is so arranged that the cheaper labour of the subcontractors
can be used to continue the operation of the older machines for the production of less sophisticated
goods.
11. Ruth Benedict, Kiku to katana (Tokyo, Shakai Shiso Kenkyujo Shuppan Kyoku, 1949), trans. The
Chrysanthemum and the Sword (New York, Houghton Mifflin, 1989); Kida Minoru, Kichigai buraku
shuyuki (Travelogue of a mad village) (Tokyo, Azuma Shobo, 1948).
12. Bank of Japan, Kin'yu shi shiryo (Reference materials on the history of finance), section on the Meiji
and Taisho periods, vol. 24 (Tokyo, 1960).
13. Interestingly, those who most enthusiastically embrace this maxim even today are of Japan's current
business leadership.
14. It was in the 1950s that this tendency began to be reversed.
15. Private companies in Japan often publish many copies of their histories several decades after their
founding and distribute them to their business contacts and other interested parties. As to which
anniversary they usually do so, it depends on the earning performance of the particular company and
the prevailing tone of economic activities in general.
16. Business leaders of the first and second types were able to force the unions to split or incorporated
them into the substructure of the company's personnel management mechanism. Another example
f the third type, however, is Honda Soichiro of Honda Motor Company.
17. Matsushita Konosuke, Watakushi no ikikata, kangaekata (My way of life and thinking) (Tokyo, Ishokuju
Shuppan, 1954), p. 19.
18. Oral accounts by Hashimoto Hirobumi and Otsu Ikujiro, former dealers in bicycle goods in and around
Osaka; interviewed by author during 1977-1979.
19. Tokyo Prefectural Office, Education Department, Social Affairs Section, Shokugyo chosa (Survey on
occupations) (Tokyo, 1934) 3:125.
20. An oral account by Nakatani Torazo, bicycle parts merchant before World War II; interviewed by
author in 1977, 1978.
21. Tokyo Prefectural Office, Shokugyo chosa, pp. 127, 128.
22. Osaka Mekkikogyo Kumiai, Kumiai 50-nen shi (50-year history of the Osaka Association of Gilders)
(Osaka, 1967).
23. Miyata Seisakusho 70-nen Shi Hensan Iinkai, Miyata Seisakusho 70-nen shi (70-year history of Miyata
Seisakusho) (Tokyo, Miyata Seisakusho, 1959).
24. Ibid., pp. 38, 39.
25. Takahashi Kamekichi, Gendai chusho shokogyo ron (Analysis of modern small- and medium-scale
industries) (Tokyo, Chikura Shobo, 1936).
26. The machine industries in particular required the presence of intermediate sectors for the processing
of metal materials. This need was typical of industries in which there was a great distance between
the upstream and downstream subsectors.
27. In times of prosperity, of course, small producers became independent for more positive motivations.
Thus, depending on the tone of the market, the same phenomenon could take completely reverse
forms, reflecting the complexity of the social position in which immediate producers found themselves.
28. It has to be noted, however, that in the machine industry of some regions, subcontractors had little
development potential and only the manufacturers of finished goods emerged; consequently, the
whole industry eventually became stagnant and was affected by the inflow of less expensive and better
products from elsewhere. Keizai Antei Hombu Shigen Chosakai, Niihama kogyo chitai chosa
hokokusho (Survey report of Niihama industrial zone) (Tokyo, 1962); Fukuoka Prefectural Office,
Fukuoka International Trade and Industry Bureau, Nogata-shi tetsu kogyo sogo shindansho
(Comprehensive evaluation of the iron industry in Nogata City) (Fukuoka, 1960).
29. Japan was no exception in following a policy to hastily attempt industrialization before there were
reasonable prospects for the development of diverse sectors of industry in the downstream region and
of intermediate goods producing sectors of different scales. The Japanese experience reconfirmed
that forcible political actions, based on no specific and detailed knowledge of industrial structure, prove
very expensive.
30. When thinking about technology, we place less emphasis on the transfer of technology than on how
the recepient of the transfer is trying to change its social
system and quality of manpower induced by that transfer. This aspect is touched on in Takeshi
Hayashi, The Japanese Experience in Technology: From Transfer to Self-Reliance (Tokyo, United
Nations University Press, 1990).
31. Japanese technology is often criticized for its relative lack of development in basic principles or
creative ideas concerning whole systems. This criticism, however, confuses the problem of the areas
in which Japan had to concentrate its efforts to catch up with advanced nations with the question of the
textbook classification of areas in a modern technological system.
32. These industries could be competitive in the international market and play an important part in earning
foreign exchange precisely because they were labour-intensive. I have already pointed out in various
industries that the conversion of transferred technologies into labour-intensive technologies produced
unique link-ages between the traditional technologies and transferred technologies.
33. More typical cases can be found in agriculture; see, for example, S. Ishikawa, Labour Absorption in
Asian Agriculture (Singapore, ILO-ARTEP, 1978). This fact is important in considering the
characteristics of agricultural development in Japan.
34. The level of social mobility has fallen off in Japan along with its economic growth. This point seems
highly relevant in predicting the future of the Japanese economy.
35. W. W. Lockwood, The Economic Development of Japan (London, Oxford University Press, 1955),
chap. 10.
36. Few analyses of the kind I have attempted have been made of the situations of developing nations.
This nevertheless does not mean that such research is totally impossible. Some of the possibilities in
which comparative study can be fruitfully done in the future are suggested in Hirashima S., Local
Industries and Rural Agriculture (Tokyo, I.D.E., 1980) and D. A. Kahn, Hirashima S., and Takeuchi J.,
Small and Medium-scale Industries and Their Linkages with Rural Areas in Pakistan (Tokyo, I.D.E.,
1980).
37. Toyoda Toshio, ed., Waga kuni ririku-ki no jitsugyo kyoiku (Vocational education in Japan during the
takeoff period) (Tokyo, United Nations University Press, 1982), and idem, Waga kuni sangyoka to
jitsugyo kyoiku (Japanese industrialization and vocational education) (Tokyo, United Nations University
Press, 1984).
38. See, for example, Lockwood, Economic Development of Japan. Unfortunately, most of the studies on
the problems and history of Japanese agriculture are written in Japanese and scarcely known in the
rest of the world.
39. For more on this, refer to my "Kaiso kosei" (Class stratification), in The Society of Socio-economic
History, ed., 1930 nendai no Nihon keizai (The Japanese economy in the 1930s) (Tokyo, University of
Tokyo Press, 1982).