Vol. 73, No.2

Shigehiro NISHIMURA
Frontier orbital theory and industry-university cooperation: an analysis of Ken’ichi FUKUI’s patents

This paper aims to clarify the nature of industry-university cooperation by analyzing patents. The national research and development system during the era of high economic growth was characterized by the creation of direct and individual cooperation between industry and universities. Ken’ichi FUKUI’s scientific research on frontier orbital theory was accomplished through such cooperation.

Close relations between scientific and applied research had continued since the prewar era. FUKUI engaged in both theoretical and development work in polymerization of polyethylene and new plastics, topics that were of keen interest to the petrochemical industry.

One feature of this period was that FUKUI was able to manage his research by undertaking joint research projects in collaboration with many companies and benefit from funding and information on market needs to accomplish his frontier theory. The other feature was that the companies that took part in joint research with FUKUI utilized the laboratory results exclusively by applying for patents for FUKUI’s inventions in the names of the companies themselves. Thus one of the conditions of scientific research during this time was the flexibility that allowed academic research to undertake topics of practical application in society and direct and individual cooperation with industry.

Shuntaro WASHIZAKI
Asset market and investment in real estate in the second half of the Tokugawa period: an analysis of rents and real estate values in Edo using an income capitalization approach

The purposes of this paper are to analyze the structure of and changes in land values in the commercial district of Edo city in the second half of the Tokugawa period (eighteenth to mid-nineteenth century), and to take a new look at the stability of real estate as a long-term financial asset. This paper has an advantage in calculating real prices using an income capitalization approach, whereas previous studies have not examined the relationship between land utilization and land asset.

The first of two major discoveries is the rise of real land values in the eighteenth century, in spite of the decline in real land rents. It seems that the rise was caused by an economic environment characterized by: a decrease in money demand for commodity transactions, a reduction in interest rates, and an increase in currency issue. The second is the heavy fall in land values in the first half of the nineteenth century. Although the interest rates were lowered further, merchants lowered their main-street land price estimates down to back-street levels.
These facts suggest speculation in the real estate trade in Edo during the Tokugawa period.

Yasuhiko MATSUISHI
Organization and function of Shindo-kai at Kamaishi Ironworks during the interwar period: a case study of shop committees

The development of shop committees in Japan is one of the most important issues in Japanese management, and more case studies on shop committees should be undertaken. This article examines the organization and details of Shindo-kai at Kamaishi Ironworks (in Iwate Prefecture) during the 1920s and 1930s, as a case of Japanese shop committees.

Originally an all-employee organization under Tanaka Mining, the forerunner of Kamaishi Ironworks, Shindo-kai changed into an organization of workers after the ironworks became an affiliated company of Mitsui Mining. Its representative council also changed into a bipolar system consisting of a management side and a workers side. According to its mandate, Shindo-kai’s original functions were to negotiate wages and working conditions. However, records of meetings, accountings, and informal gatherings indicate that its actual functions were limited to consultations and petitions for workers’ welfare. Opinions were exchanged at friendly and informal gatherings, placing a positive effect on workers’ welfare, and Shindo-kai thus played an important role in contributing to the creation of a family-like and harmonious management.

Shuichi IWASAKI
The domain income structure of landlords in early modern Lower Austria

This paper aims to analyse the landlords’ domain income structure in early modern Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) in a case study using data from the first half of the seventeenth century and the mid-eighteenth century and taking into account the characteristics of the four regions (Viertel).
The dominant economic sectors of this land were forestry, farming, and cattle breeding. The income from the landlords’ own production, which was supported by the development of labor services during the seventeenth century, comprised about 30 to 50 percent of the total income. It was certainly significant but did not approach the level of income of areas where manorial lordship (Gutsherrschaft) dominated. On the other hand, landlords also increased their feudal income by developing the various estate taxes (especially rights of succession and tithes). Therefore it can be said that the landlords’ domain income in Lower Austria clearly increased throughout the early modern period.

The gradual accumulation of landed wealth allowed landlords not to be economically dependent on the Crown and to enjoy strong political power and social prestige. It was one of the main reasons why the Estates (Stände) were able to retain their privileges and independence during the early modern Habsburg monarchy.