Vol. 67, No. 5

Keishi SHIRATORI
The bankruptcy and rescue of a local 'financing bank' during the Showa depression (1929~35): a case study of the rescue merger of Tateoka Bank by Ryou Bank

In the 1920s, Tateoka Bank faced a management crisis due to the bankruptcy of its main client, Hokugun Seishi Co. By 1929 it was clear that recovery was impossible, and the bank therefore made a successful appeal to Ryou Bank for rescue. Ryou Bank's condition was that the President of Tateoka, Isaburo WATANABE, would accept liability for the greater part of Tateoka's losses. This was because Tateoka's credibility was based on WATANABE's financial reputation. WATANABE accepted these terms, and the rescue merger began.

However, WATANABE's position was so damaged by the Showa depression that he tried to withdraw his agreement. The President of Ryou Bank, Shinshichi MIURA, did not wish to stop the merger because he wanted to preserve credibility, so he urged Watanabe to reconsider. The mayor of Yamagata, Katsubei TAKAHASHI, who belonged to the same political party as Tateoka Bank, produced a compromise which would lessen the burden on WATANABE. Ryou Bank agreed, making the merger possible. The roles played by WATANABE and TAKAHASHI are characteristic of rescue mergers in this period. However, without MIURA's encouragement, the merger plan would have failed.

Gakuto MATSUDA
The formation of the machine and tool casting industry in Osaka in the Meiji period (1868~1912)

In the Meiji period, foundries for machines and tools were separate from foundries for household goods such as pots and kettles. Most of the foundries in Osaka were small factories employing fewer than ten workers, and followed a process of modernization different from that of the government factories and the large privately owned ones, both of which were highly capitalized. While the latter modernized their casting processes with imported technology and under the tuition of foreign engineers, the small and medium foundries gradually adapted existing indigenous technology.

In the late Meiji period, there were five areas with clusters of foundries surrounding the center of Osaka. However, unlike Kawaguchi in Saitama prefecture, which specialized in casting, in Osaka machine workshops existed alongside foundries. The relationship between them was horizontal and interdependent rather than vertical.

Takuya HAYASHI
The export of Japanese tape recorders during the 1960s: the two export routes of Japanese tape recorders

The purpose of this article is to investigate one of the factors that made the Japanese tape recorder industry competitive on international markets during the 1960s. The article will focus on one characteristic of the industry, the fact that during the take off period of the product, it was only made for use in radio broadcasting. The relationship between the product and its market is therefore the key issue here.

The Japanese tape recorder industry had two export routes: 'products utilized rim drive system' and 'products utilized capstan drive system'. One factor in the international competitiveness of Japanese tape recorders stemmed from the latter. The products utilized capstan drive system created a new domestic market for Japanese tape recorders because of its potential as a study aide. The industry succeeded in making inexpensive and high quality products which were mass produced for the new market. It was because foreign producers could not match this achievement that Japanese tape recorders were able to make inroads into overseas markets in the 1960s.

Xianming ZENG
The establishment of modern banking in China: an analysis of the loan business of the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank, 1920~31

This is an analysis of the banking services of one of the biggest commercial banks in China's modern history, the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank, with reference to its Shanghai loan business. The bank had started on a small scale but achieved remarkable growth during the period 1920 to 1931 through two practices. The first was by entering the traditional Qian Zhuang (indigenous Chinese) banking system in order to establish a solid business foundation; the second was by providing a modern style banking service system suited to the socio-economic development of Shanghai during the 1920s. One of the basic issues surrounding the modernization of the Chinese economy is the problem of how to transplant modern systems into such a conservative society. The growth of the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank may provide answers for the banking industry.

Takaya INAGAKI
The landowning class and the development of the suburban residential areas of Berlin at the beginning of the twentieth century

This article is an examination of the formation of the residential areas of suburban Berlin at the beginning of the twentieth century, with special reference to the role of the class of individual landowners. My analysis made it clear that:
(1) The individuals who were actively engaged in the formation of these areas were primarily members of the Rentner and business classes.
(2) Many landowners bought plots of land with the intention of putting them on the market again after a short period. As a result the market for land became very active, and private real estate and construction companies made large profits.

These two points show that there was growth not a decline in the private real estate and construction sectors in Berlin at the beginning of the twentieth century.