Vol. 67, No. 1

Yongdo KIM
Interfirm relations in the Japanese IC industry, 1966-1976

The goal of this paper is to analyze interfirm relations in the development of the ICs (Integrated Circuits) for calculators, which was the largest market for ICs in Japan in the late 1960s and the first half of the 1970s. The analysis focuses on the codevelopment of ICs between IC firms and calculator firms. The main data are interviews with IC engineers who were developing ICs for calculators during the period from 1966-76.

In the codevelopment of customized LSIs (Large-scale Integrated Circuits), calculator firms put more emphasis on low cost and on-time delivery than they had during the development of standard LSIs. However, the need for lower costs was also recognized by IC firms. In the process of developing customized LSIs, there was much exchange of technological information between firms. But, as the customers, calculator firms were unwilling to reveal core information about calculator development. In this respect, the codevelopment of ICs for use in calculators differed from the codevelopment of ICs for use in communication equipment developed for NTT. Moreover, the need to meet the stringent cost and delivery requirements of the calculator firms meant that IC firms tended to postpone the development of basic and advanced technologies.

Yoshitaka HORIUCHI
Industrialization and the rice processing industry in Taiwan under Japanese rule, 1895-1945

The purpose of this article 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 the small-scale industries in Taiwan. The analysis focuses on the development of the rice processing industry, which was a typical small-scale industry for Taiwan in this period. The conclusions can be summarized as follows:

The introduction of small motors in the 1920-30s turned rice processing in Taiwan into a newly rising small-scale industry. This was a result of the active response of Taiwanese rice dealers, who had reformed their collection network and processing techniques in response to Japanese agricultural policy, and the new economic relationship with Japan which developed as a result.

As a result of the development of the rice processing industry, the structure of small-scale industrialization became a pattern of colonial industrialization. It caused firstly, the formation by Taiwanese business owners of small-scale industries, which were based on their dominance over the circulation of rice in Taiwan, and secondly, the colonial limitation of industrialization, which appeared in the form of a strong connection with agriculture and a small scale of business.

Kiyonobu OKAZAKI
The reorganization of the financial system in China during the Great Depression: finance and the cotton trade in north China in the 1930s

This article examines the reorganization of the Chinese financial system during the period of the Great Depression, focusing on the shift in commercial finance through an analysis of finance and the cotton trade in north China in the 1930s. The main findings are as follows:

(1) The cotton trade in north China mainly depended on factor merchants as well as native banks. The factor merchants provided local cotton merchants with shipping and inventory finance with funds borrowed from financial institutions.

(2) The cotton trade throughout north China was stagnant during this period, because shipping finance was paralyzed by the weakening of the financial function of the factor merchants, and the contraction in credit caused by bankruptcies among native banks and the outflow of silver from rural areas.

(3) In this situation, modern banking developed as a substitute for the financial function of both the factor merchants and the native banks through the expansion of documentary exchange credit and secured loans.

(4) This change in the credit structure was backed by an increasing tendency toward integration in the domestic market in response to the development of cotton spinning and other industries, and was supported by fact that the improvement of railroad networks allowed the cotton-growing regions to become directly connected with Shanghai.

Keisuke TAHARA
The development of the Japanese postal service and problems of cost reduction in the early Meiji era: the case of Shiga prefecture

The purpose of this study is to consider how the costs of postal services were reduced in the early Meiji era, through focusing on the case of Shiga prefecture. First, I analyzed revenue and expenditure from all the post offices in Shiga prefecture. The offices can be classified into four main groups by the volume of mail handled and the balance of the accounts: (1) large-scale volume with a surplus balance of accounts, (2) middle-scale surplus, (3) middle-scale deficit, and (4) small-scale balanced. Second, I demonstrated the means of cost reduction in 'inter-city postal networks' and 'local postal networks'. 'Inter-city networks' are lines that followed already existing highways such as the Tokaido and the Nakasendo and connected Tokyo with places of political importance. 'Local networks' are lines that were extended within local areas. The means of cost reduction differed between the two, since in the case of 'inter-city networks' there was a regular flow of large volumes of mail, whereas in 'local networks' volume was small and the flow was irregular.

The most effective means of cost reduction in the case of 'inter-city networks' was caused by changing the mail-carrier from human messengers to horse-led carriages. On the other hand, the most effective means of cost reduction for 'local networks' came from various proposals deliberated by postmasters.