Vol. 70, No. 3

Yasuo OKADA
Farm laborers on a family farm in New York, 1843~1879

The role of farm laborers has received little attention from economic historians studying the United States. Scholars have concentrated on slavery in the South and the family farm in the North, and on industrial laborers in the factory. When farm laborers were mentioned, they were simply described as workers on the first rung of the agricultural ladder, who would soon climb to be farm operators.

It is therefore the purpose of this paper to throw light on this neglected element in the agricultural history of the nineteenth century. We will focus on the farm laborers on a family farm in New York, and examine their conditions of employment, the nature of their work, the level of their wages, and the methods by which they were paid. The records of manuscript censuses will also be consulted. It will be shown that family farms depended on farm laborers to a considerable degree and that such workers therefore had an essential role to play in rural society.

Susumu ISHII
The Japanese apparel industry and consumer society: 1950 to the 1970s and beyond

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the development of the apparel industry in post-war Japan. Previous studies have emphasized how unique customary practices in the transactions between wholesalers and retailers contributed to the development of the industry. This paper proposes a broader historical view, which argues that the apparel industry experienced three different phases in the post-war period.

In the first phase (the 1950s), there was little progress in apparel production because the procurement of textiles was such an important factor in deciding the degree of competitiveness between apparel companies. In the second phase (the 1960s), products were rapidly improved, and ready-made apparel became available in various sizes and designs. In this phase, department stores and specialist shops provided different types of product and were drawn into fierce competition. In the third phase (from the 1970s onwards), apparel companies began to develop sophisticated strategies in the management of retail outlets and the pricing of products. This new phase occurred alongside a general rise in income levels and the appearance of a range of designs. Consumers developed diverse tastes that fluctuated in unpredictable ways. This paper identifies the third phase as consumer society and treats it as a typical socio-economic phenomenon of our time.

Nodoka YANAGISAWA
'Public welfare' in the field of house building in 1920s Germany

While existing studies focus on orders for buildings and regard the 1920s as a prosperous time for housing policy in Germany, this article concerns housing constructors. The article asks if the building industry shared a common understanding of 'public welfare' and focusses on the Bauh殳ten, a group who called themselves 'public welfare' constructors. 'Bauh殳te Solingen' is given as an example of a successful Bauh殳te company.

Since their statutes stressed the element of 'public welfare', the Bauh殳ten often received aid from public organizations. However, other private sector construction companies questioned the 'public welfare' nature of their activities and forced them to eliminate the articles mentioning this from their statutes. One factor in this situation was the lack of a settled definition for 'public welfare', as is clear from the fact that it was not mentioned in any nationwide regulations at that time. Even so, the Bauh殳ten continued to construct houses in order to remove the housing shortage. In conclusion, the example of Germany in the 1920s is significant because private sector building companies were able to participate in public welfare house construction even though there was no clear definition of 'public welfare'.

Kenji NISHIOKU
The financial background of the official grain purchase system in the Song dynasty of China (960~1279), with special reference to the stockpiling of grain

Although attention is often drawn to provincial grain shortages suffered by the military and official purchases of rice in the Song dynasty, there was no direct relationship between official purchases and the levels of grain stockpiles. In fact, official purchases of grain were carried out every year even though there were large stockpiles, and the Song government's policy was to maintain stocks of grain sufficient for two or three years. It is therefore difficult to explain the official purchase of grain under the Song dynasty simply as 'a means of securing military provisions'.
In this paper, the keywords of 'supplementation' and 'stockpile' are used to analyze and compare the role and function of official purchases of grain with regard to the finances of the Tang (618~907), Song, and Ming (1368~1644) dynasties. As a result it becomes clear that in the Song dynasty official purchases were important as 'a means of retaining stockpiles' as much as - or even more than - as 'a means of securing military provisions'. The financial background to the system of official grain purchases is also examined.