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Vol.
72, No.6
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Satoshi BABA
Housing policy in Birmingham and the British town planning movement
at the beginning of the 20th century: the activities and ideas of J.S. Nettlefold
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This paper aims to demonstrate the activities and ideas of J.S. Nettlefold
in the areas of housing policy and town planning, and his role in the
British town planning movement at the beginning of the 20th century.
As chairman of the Housing Committee of Birmingham City Council, Nettlefold
took a stance against slum clearance and municipal house building, and
repaired unsanitary houses in the city centre under Part II of the Housing
of Working Classes Act, 1890. At the same time, Nettlefold advocated
the introduction of a German-style town extension plan under the influence
of T.C. Horsfall’s book and from his own experience from visits
to German towns. In the report to the city council in 1906, Nettlefold
proposed town planning and municipal land purchase in the suburbs to
prevent the creation of future slums, and the city council approved
his motion for a national legislation. It was Nettlefold who popularised
the term ‘town planning’ in Britain. Thus Nettlefold, in
collaboration with the garden city movement, played a unique role in
the British town planning movement until the enactment of the Housing
and Town Planning etc. Act, 1909.
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Kazuhiro YUKUTAKE
Precise annual figures for Japanese-Dutch trade in the Edo
period: an analysis of account books kept at the Dutch factory in the
first half of the 17th century
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It is well known that the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische
Compagnie) conducted trade with Japan during the 17th and 18th centuries.
In 1609, the company established a factory in Hirado, which in 1641
was ordered to move to Nagasaki. In both factories, the Dutch merchants
kept their account books according to the Italian system of double-entry
bookkeeping. These account books—for example, the journals (Negotie
Journalen) and the ledgers (Negotie Grootboeken) —are preserved
in the Netherlands National Archives in The Hague.
In the past, Oskar NACHOD
and Japanese scholars have made use of these archival materials for
their analyses of the management of the Dutch factory in Japan. However,
because they did not entirely understand the bookkeeping system used,
the results of their calculations for the volume of trade are not
precise, and their results differ from each other.
This paper tries to clarify
how to calculate the actual figures of import and export goods for
Japanese-Dutch trade by analysing the account books in the first
half of the 17th century. It also seeks to correct the results of
the calculations by NACHOD and others. During this period, Japanese-Dutch
trade experienced transitions in scale and formation due to the foreign
and trade policies of both sides and the situation on the high seas
and coastal waters of East and Southeast Asia.
The account books are fundamental
archival sources, and they provide a detailed picture of the annual
trade between Japan and the Dutch East India Company. However, we
cannot understand the exact volume recorded unless we have a clear
idea of the way in which the books were organized.
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Ken'ichi
TOMOBE
Secular trends and short-term fluctuations of mean age
of menarche and an analysis of peak height velocity in modern
Japan: a reconsideration of economic darkness during the interwar
period from the viewpoint of anthropometric history
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Research on secular trends
and short-term fluctuations of the mean age of menarche in Japan from
the 1880s to the 1980s has revealed the following facts:
1.
From 1920, Japan’s mean age of menarche began an obvious decline,
which continued until 1945, with some short-term fluctuations. But
it rose soon afterwards and again began to decline drastically from
1950;
2. The mean age of menarche of schoolgirls and mill girls declined
from the 1910s to the 1930s. Because both of them were in relatively
disadvantaged positions within the Japanese household system of ‘ie’ in
terms of nutritional intake, the decline in mean age implied possible
improvement of the general standard of living in Japan during the
period;
3. Analysis of peak height velocity of elementary and secondary school
boys and girls showed PHV during the 1920s, and their tendency to
grow in height continued to the 1930s.
These findings allow us
to reconsider the evaluation of economic conditions during the interwar
period in Japan, especially from the 1910s to the 1930s.
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Sachiko KITAYAMA
Small retailing during the high-growth era in Japan
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Sufficient research on
case studies in the small retailing business during the high-growth
era has yet to be undertaken. Using internal documents to seek the
historical meaning of small retailers, this paper analyzes Kawatatsu
store, a food and miscellaneous-goods retailer in Shiga prefecture.
Previous research attributes the existence of large numbers of small
retailers to economic growth in Japan, and the cause of their decline
to their lack of desire to grow.
Kawatatsu store prospered
because its owner, Iwanosuke, was determined to see his business
succeed. His three management policies were as follows:
1.
For an effective selection of goods, make wholesalers compete with
each other.
2. Use cheap labor to increase added value on goods or services.
3. Actively adopt various types of sales promotional activities.
Using these policies, Kawatatsu
established its economic foundation during the high-growth era. Family
members and employees who served multi-functions and worked long
hours supported this economic foundation. From the 1970s, however,
Kawatatsu store was unable to maintain an effective labor force,
and in 1988, the store was closed.
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