Vol. 68, No. 5

Hiroshi AOKI and Atsushi HIRAMOTO
The mobilization of science and technology and 'the Research Neighborhood Groups': research collaboration in Japan during World War II

This article explores the activities of the Research Neighborhood Groups (kenkyu tonarigumi) in the context of the mobilization of science and technology during World War II, and throws light upon their influence on research collaboration in postwar Japan. Although research collaboration has recently attracted academic attention as a factor in the competitive ability of Japanese industry, its history has not yet been fully researched.

The Research Neighborhood Groups scheme played a unique and symbolic role in research collaboration activities of various kinds during the War because the aim was to organize research collaboration over the length and breadth of the country. It was planned by the Cabinet Technology Agency and carried out by its extra-governmental organization. The groups were in principle organized by young and promising researchers on the same special subject. The total number of researchers enrolled rose to about 3,000. Three typical examples, the vacuum tube, and vitamin and statistical quality control groups, clearly had decisive influence on the research collaboration activities which took their place after the war. The activities of the Research Neighborhood Groups scheme built connections between researchers belonging to various institutions which went on to provide a secure basis for successful research collaboration in postwar Japan.

Masafumi MIKI
The formation of the Korean community in inter-war Karafuto (Sakhalin)

Both Japanese and Russian studies of Koreans in Karafuto have focussed on those who were left behind after World War II. For this reason, Japanese scholars have not thought of possible connections with Koreans resident in Japan. This paper is a reconsideration of the inter-war history of Karafuto's Korean community which focusses on the fact that Karafuto provided a passage between mainland Asia and Hokkaido. It shows that Koreans in Japan were connected to Koreans in the maritime provinces of Siberia via those in Karafuto.

Because the original reason for the increase in the Korean population of Karafuto was recruitment by the Mitsui Mining Co. [the Kawakami Mining Station] in the 1910s, at first it was concentrated in the south. The 1920s saw an influx of refugees from the maritime provinces of Siberia who had escaped via northern Sakhalin from the eastern advance of the Russian Revolution. This coincided with an increase in the demand for workers caused by the boom in pulp factory construction in Estoru, Shiritoru and other parts of northern Karafuto. As a result, the Korean population of Karafuto increased by about 250 times in the period 1910~1930.

Toshitaka NAGAHIRO
Changing job mobility in the big coal mining companies of inter-war Japan: the case of the Mitsui mines of Tagawa and Yamano

The purpose of this article is to investigate why miners working for the big Japanese companies in inter-war Japan became less likely to search for work elsewhere, through a study of the Mitsui mines of Tagawa and Yamano.

Unlike heavy industry, the introduction of new techniques in the 1920s meant that workers in the coal-mining industry no longer needed special training. Miners were therefore able to move from Tagawa or Yamano to other mines. One important way in which management tried to keep workers was by developing welfare services. Reductions in the death and casualty rates and the introduction of relatively high wages were also effective. Towards the end of the decade the depression caused a fall in employment opportunities which further discouraged mobility. In this way, the employment situation at the two mines found stability.

Yuki NAKAJIMA
Trade associations and the standardization of electronic components in the1960s

At the beginning of the 1960s, electronics component makers experienced difficulties as a result of the increased variety of products, since this hampered the progress of mass-production and cost reductions. The Electronic Industries Association of Japan (EIAJ) tried to solve this problem by making group standards (Component Engineering Standards: CES) which were suited to the markets of the day.

In the process of making the draft standards, not only components makers but also television and radio set-makers joined the working groups and delivered their opinions. The working groups avoided setting strict standards so that members would not hesitate to use them. By the end of the 1960s, more than 80 CES had been established.

Many set-makers used the CES standards to reduce the variety of components they purchased and this enabled the components makers to increase the level of mass-production. JIS standards were only applied to the establishment of technical terms, to definitions and to methods of testing. A negative point, however, was that as the tolerance of CES was assumed to be at a level similar to JIS, CES standards could not serve as a target for components makers who had already attained manufacturing techniques superior to JIS. These firms therefore gave priority to in-house specifications rather than to CES when producing parts for which new techniques were required.

Tsugunori HITOMI
The significance of small-scale production in the fashion industry: the Saint-Etienne ribbon industry from the second half of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of small-scale production in the fashion industry with special reference to the organization of production. The development of the Saint-Etienne ribbon industry from the second half of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century will serve as an example.

Saint-Etienne specialized in high-grade articles. For the production of ribbons it relied on small-scale organizations called chefs-d'atelier, which consisted mainly of merchants and master ribbon weavers with ateliers equipped with a few looms. These organizations were able to produce a continuous stream of new articles in response to changes in fashion.

As the demand for low-grade articles grew with the 'democratization of fashion', people involved in the Saint-Etienne ribbon industry strove to improve productivity in their various capacities. A vital piece of evidence provided by these people is the fact that all their plans involved the retention of the chefs-d'atelier. This was because they all agreed to emphasize the production of high-grade articles with a high fashion sense rather than low-grade ones. This explains why chefs-d'atelier were able to maintain their central position in the production structure.