Vol. 70, No. 5

Osamu SAITO
Two kinds of pre-modern economic growth: Japan in a comparative perspective

In early modern north-western Europe, real wages were on the decline while per capita GDP increased. In contrast, wage growth in Tokugawa Japan went hand in hand with output growth. Based on the author's own new estimates of real wage series, this paper examines several factors that are thought to have accounted for this contrast between Japan and the west: urban growth, overseas/long-distance trade, rural industrialisation, agricultural growth and an 'industrious revolution' in de Vries's sense. It is suggested, firstly, that the common denominator found in both European and Japanese cases was Smithian growth - a productivity growth associated with the proliferation of trades, which often took the form of the functional separation of the manufacturing of intermediate goods from other branches of the trade and, hence, of increasing market competition. Secondly, however, in Tokugawa society the upper and upper-middle layers remained thin: mercantile capitalism and the samurai were the losers in the process of economic change. Thirdly, at the bottom layer of the structure was the resilient and flexible peasant family, which could cope with both agricultural intensification and rural industrialisation without disintegrating. These accounted for the absence of any gap between real wage growth and per capita GDP growth in Japan's pre-modern economic development.

Masao INOUE
The nature of, and background to, the argument for excluding Song dynasty coins in the late twelfth century

Towards the end of the twelfth century, Chinese copper coins began to circulate in Japan. However, it is well documented that the rulers of the country at the time tried to exclude these coins. Up till now, researchers have ascribed this reaction to the entry of Chinese coins as ideological, due to the fact that they were a foreign currency, an obstacle to domestic trade and therefore the cause of price fluctuations. However, analysis of the contemporary legal situation regarding prices and interest rates, and the debates about them, reveals that the main reason lay elsewhere. It was a response to the fact that the circulation of Chinese copper coins resulted in a devaluation of rice, which the rulers used as currency.

In fact, the rulers did not think of the Song dynasty coins as the only cause of the problem, since they criticized all copper coins including Japanese ones. It is therefore clear that the argument was not ideological but economic. Moreover, comparison with the Liao dynasty of north China and the Koryo dynasty of Korea shows that gold dust for export was an important factor that allowed the circulation of copper coins in Japan.

Asuka NAGAO
Changes in the East India Company's cotton trading and development policies, 1803~1858

Indian cotton policies of the nineteenth century have long been analyzed within a framework of 'free trade imperialism'; stress has been laid on the firm connection between British cotton manufacturing interests and the Indian government that the latter imposed 'free trade' policy to India for the former's benefit. The aim of this paper is to express doubts on this stereotyped assessment by analyzing cotton related policies of the Bombay Presidency during the pre-Mutiny period. The findings are as follows:

First, the East India Company's cotton purchasing policies in Broach Pargana between 1803 and 1833, which compelled farmers to sell their cotton exclusively to the Company, could be described as 'monopolistic'. The major market then was China. Second, after 1833, the Company confined their cotton policies to technical experiments such as improving cotton gins, and direct promotion of India-Britain trade by strict quality control was avoided. This prudent attitude of the Company was in contrast with that of the 1860s. Fourth, the Charter of 1833 and the establishment of direct rule in 1858 were critical factors behind the above changes in cotton policies.

KU Ya-wen
Economic development and the incidence of malaria in colonial Taiwan, 1895~1945: a case study of a man-made 'hostile environment'

The purpose of this study is to examine malaria in colonial Taiwan as a 'developo-genic disease', from the viewpoint of environmental history. GIS was used as a tool to elevate the level of statistical analysis and the epidemiological structure of malaria was analysed both at regional levels and over the island as a whole in order to ascertain the extent to which economic development was linked to the incidence of malaria. In addition to forest development, this study analysed the environmental changes caused by large-scale irrigation works, particularly in Tainan county, and the consequences for malaria, an aspect not fully covered by previous research. From a comprehensive examination of statistics for illness and death, it was possible to indicate the likelihood of a close relationship of cause and effect between economic development and malaria.

This case study has added a new example of the complex relationship between development and disease, and also adds insights to the role of Japanese imperial medicine.